Life of Joseph Brant—Thayandanegea (Vol. II) - Including the Border Wars of the American Revolution

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Title: Life of Joseph Brant—Thayandanegea (Vol. II) - Including the Border Wars of the American Revolution
Author: Stone, William L. (William Leete)
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Life of Joseph Brant—Thayandanegea (Vol. II) - Including the Border Wars of the American Revolution" ***

[ILLUSTRATION: Cover]

[Illustration: Frontispiece: Jos. Brant--Thayendanegea]

{Transcriber's Note: Quotation marks have been standardized to modern
usage. Footnotes have been placed to immediately follow the paragraphs
referencing them.}

Life
of

JOSEPH BRANT,
(THAYENDANEGEA)

INCLUDING THE
BORDER WARS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION,
AND
SKETCHES OF THE INDIAN CAMPAIGNS OF GENERALS
HARMAR, ST. CLAIR, AND WAYNE.
AND
OTHER MATTERS CONNECTED WITH THE INDIAN RELATIONS
OF THE UNITED STATES AND GREAT BRITAIN,
FROM THE
PEACE OF 1783 TO THE INDIAN PEACE OF 1795.

BY WILLIAM L. STONE.

IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

ALBANY, N.Y.:
J. MUNSELL, 78 STATE STREET.
1865.

LIBRARY OF THE
LELAND STANFORD JR. UNIVERSITY.

CONTENTS.

* * * * *

CHAPTER I.

Sullivan's campaign into the Seneca country--Different characteristics
among the Indian Nations--Mistakes upon the subject--Progress of
civilization among the Six Nations--Plan of the campaign--The command
offered to General Gates--His conduct--Clinton's preparations at
Canajoharie--Transportation of boats and stores across to Otsego
Lake--Arrest and execution of Newberry--Attempts to engage the
Oneidas--The Indians alarmed by an address from Gen. Haldimand--The
address--Intelligence from the enemy--Arrival of Oneida deputies at
Clinton's head-quarters--Their speech--Designs of the enemy--Letter of
Gen. Clinton to his brother--Remarkable escape of Elerson from an Indian
scout--Brave defence of his house by Mr. Shankland--Descent of the
Susquehanna--Dilatory proceedings of Sullivan--Junction of the
forces--Movement from Tioga to Newton--Battle of the
Chemung--Destruction of the crops--Advance to Catharine's town--Message
to the Oneidas--Destruction of Catharine's town--Evidences of
civilization--Destruction of Kendaia and Kanadaseaga--March upon
Kanandaigua--Its destruction--Honeoye destroyed--Melancholy story of
the Oneida brothers--Kanaghsaws destroyed--Horrible fate of Lieutenant
Boyd--Contrast between the conduct of Brant and Butler in the case of
Boyd--Indians in council resolve to fight no more--Sullivan advances to
Genesee--Beauty of the country--Conduct of Rod Jacket--Origin of Brant's
hostility to him--Sullivan sets out on his return--Destruction of the
Cayuga towns--Return of the army to Tioga--Strange directions to Colonel
Gansevoort respecting the Mohawks of the lower castle--Their
capture--Correspondence--Their release--Close of Sullivan's
campaign--His resignation--Colonel Brodhead's expedition against the
Senecas on the Allegheny--Huron and Shawanese chiefs meet him at Fort
Pitt--Their speeches--Severe Indian battle on the Ohio--Closing
incidents of the year.
Page 1

CHAPTER II.

Progress of the war in the South--Fall of Charleston--Brilliant
achievements--Rigorous winter of 1780--Destruction of the Oneida Castle
and villages--Third marriage of Brant--Irruption into
Harpersfield--Captivity of Captain Harper, Freegift Patchin, and
others--Conduct of Brant--Consultation whether to put the prisoners to
death--Sagacity and firmness of Harper--Marched off for
Niagara--Remarkable adventures by the way--Murder of an old man--Cure
of the fever and ague--A thrilling scene--Sufferings for food--Justice
and impartiality of Brant--Approach to Niagara--The ordeal--Humane
device of Brant to save his prisoners from the trial--Arrival at
Niagara--Farther irruptions of the Indians--Shawangunk--
Saugerties--Captivity of Captain Snyder and his son--Arrival at
Niagara--Examination--Guy Johnson, Butler and Brant--Prisoners sent to
Montreal--The Mohawk Valley--Bravery of Solomon Woodruff--Irruption to
Little Falls--Burning of Ellis's Mills--Incidents on the Ohio--Bold
exploit of McConnel--Attack of Colonel Bird, with his Indians, upon the
Licking Settlement--Colonel Clarke takes vengeance upon the Shawanese.

CHAPTER III.

Night invasion of Johnstown, by Sir John Johnson, with an army of Indians
and loyalists--The Visschers--The route of Sir John--Arrest of the
Sammons family--Destruction of their property--March along the
river--Burning of buildings, and murders of aged people--Destruction of
Caughnawaga--Return to Johnson Hall--Proceedings there--Thomas Sammons
escapes--Sir John moves off--Sampson Sammons applies for his
liberty--His speech--The object of the expedition--Recovery of the
Baronet's plate--A faithful slave--Character of the expedition--Sir
John returns to Montreal--Jacob and Frederick Sammons carried into
captivity--Imprisoned at Chamblee--Conspiracy to escape--Prisoners
refuse to join them--The brothers escape alone--The pursuit--
Separation--Journey, adventures and sufferings of Jacob Sammons--Arrives
at Schenectady--The narrative returns to Frederick--Perils of his
escape--Prosperous commencement of his journey--Dreadful sickness--His
recapture--Confined in irons at Chamblee--Removed to an Island--Projects
an escape--Plot discovered--Ironed again--Second plan of
escape--Perilous leap into the St Lawrence--Swimming the Rapids--Other
surprising adventures, by flood and field--Crossing the woods to
Schenectady--Remarkable fulfillment of a dream--Direct history of the
Mohawk country resumed--Destruction of Canajoharie by the
Indians--Conduct of Brant--Case of doubtful courage.

Page 72

CHAPTER IV.

General progress of the War--Design against New-York--Glance at the
Southern Campaigns--Treason of Arnold--Execution of Andre--Indian
deputation to Count de Rochambeau, in Rhode Island--Invasion of the
Schoharie-kill and the Mohawk Valleys, by Sir John Johnson, Brant, and
the Corn-planter--Surprise of the upper fort--The middle fort
invested--Conduct of Murphy in firing upon a flag--Singular prosecution
of the siege--Murphy's contumacy--The flags fired upon thrice--Sir John
proceeds to the lower fort--After a brief halt, advances again to the
Mohawk, destroying every thing in his way--Murder of the
inhabitants--The Vroomans--Heroism of a woman--Sir John arrives at Fort
Hunter--Ravages the Mohawk Valley--Battle of Stone Arabia and death of
Colonel Brown--His character--Remarkable anecdote of General Arnold--Sir
John proceeds to Klock's Field--Is pursued by Van Rensselaer, though
with unaccountable delay--Battle of Klock's Field--Flight of the
Indians--Strange retreat of Van Rensselaer--Affairs of the
night--Secret flight of the Greens and Rangers--The pursuit--General
Van Rensselaer prematurely relinquishes it--Capture of Captain Vrooman
and his company, by Brant, in the neighborhood of Oneida--Touching
incident at Fort Hunter--Singular story respecting the
Corn-planter--Major Carleton's expedition against Forts Anne and
George--Correspondence on the subject of prisoners--Affairs at
Niagara--Setting in of Winter.

CHAPTER V.

Gloomy opening of the year--Distresses of the army--Revolt of the
Pennsylvania line--Negotiations--Revolt of the New Jersey
troops--Arnold's expedition to Virginia--Progress of the war at the
South--Distresses at the North--Active movements of Brant in the Mohawk
country--Meditated attack upon the Oneidas--Letter of Colonel
Claus--Destitution of the country--Letter of General
Schuyler--Destruction of Fort Schuyler by fire and flood--Suspicions of
design--General Clinton's correspondence respecting that
catastrophe--Hostile indications in the North--Indications of extensive
treachery--Arrest of the disaffected at Ballston and its
vicinity--Bearing of Washington in adversity--Colonel Willett appointed
to the command of the Mohawk District--Slender means at his
disposal--Burning of Currie-town--Battle of Durlagh--Defeat of the
Indians--Death of Captain McKean--Irruption into Palatine--Willett's
letter to Washington--Willett's influence upon the broken
militia--Battle near the German Flats--Death of Solomon Woodworth--Story
of John Christian Shell--Invasion of Ulster County by Indians and Tories
under Captain Cauldwell--Another case of individual bravery--Incidents on
the Kentucky border.

137

CHAPTER VI.

Increase of disaffection in the North--Seizures of prominent citizens by
bands of loyalists from Canada--Captivity of John J. Bleecker--Plot
against General Gansevoort--Daring attempt upon General Schuyler in the
city of Albany, by John Waltermeyer--Intrepidity of Margaret
Schuyler--Arrest of loyalists at the Beaver Dams--Mysterious movements
of the enemy on Lake Champlain--Controversy with the New-Hampshire
Grants--Sketch of its origin--Outrages of the Vermont
insurgents--Declaration of Independence by the Grants--Interposition of
Congress--Its authority disregarded--Progress of the
controversy--Difficult situation of General Gansevourt--Suspected
intercourse of the Vermontese with the enemy--Letter of Governor
Clinton--Invasion of the Mohawk country by Major Ross--Warrens-bush
ravaged--March of the enemy to Johnstown--Followed by Willett with the
levies and militia--Battle of Johnstown--Ross defeated--Pursued by
Willett, and routed at Jerseyfield--Death of Walter N. Butler--General
progress of the war--Arnold in Virginia--Returns to the North, and
destroys Groton and New London--Siege of Yorktown and capture of
Cornwallis--Affairs of the North--Meditated treachery of
Vermont--Message of Governor Clinton--British open a correspondence with
the Vermont insurgents--Mission of Ira Allen to Canada--Separate
armistice with Vermont--Stipulations for erecting Vermont into a royal
colony--Correspondence with the enemy during the Summer--Negotiations
renewed at Skenesborough--St. Leger ascends the lake with a strong
force--An awkward occurrence for the Vermontese--Excitement at the seat
of Government of the Grants--Throwing dust in the eyes of the
people--News of the surrender of Cornwallis--Its effect in
Vermont--Causes the nasty return of St. Leger to Canada--Insurrection
in the north-eastern towns of New-York, in connexion with the
Vermontese--Troubles of General Gansevoort--Unable to quell the
insurgents--Cherokee Indians--Close of the year.

178

CHAPTER VII.

Character of Joseph Bettys--His exploits--Capture and execution--Progress
of the war--Gradual cessation of hostilities--Dwindling down to mere
affairs of outposts and scouting parties--Commissioners appointed to
negotiate a treaty of peace--Indian battles on the Kentucky
frontier--Defeat of Colonel Boon--Destruction of the Shawanese
towns--The Moravians on the Muskingum--Their removal to Sandusky by the
Wyandots--Return to secure their crops--Invasion of their towns by
Colonel Williamson--Treachery of Williamson and his men to the
Indians--Horrible massacre--Invasion of the Sandusky country by Crawford
and Williamson--Defeat of their army--Colonel Crawford
captured--Sentenced to die by torture--His interview with the sachem
Wingemund--His execution--Close of the year--Doubts as to a treaty of
peace--Colonel Willett's attempt to surprise Oswego--The news of
peace--Sufferings of Tryon County--Return of its population--End of the
wars of the Mohawk.

210

CHAPTER VIII.

The Treaty of Peace--Neglect of her Indian allies by Great
Britain--Brant's negotiations with General Haldimand for a new
territory--The Senecas invite the Mohawks to settle in the Genesee
Valley--Declined--The Grand River country granted to the Mohawks by Sir
Frederick Haldimand--Indian policy of the United States--Views of
Washington and General Schuyler--Treaty with the Six Nations at Fort
Stanwix--Corn-planter and Red Jacket take opposite sides--Peace with the
Six Nations--Dissatisfaction of the Indians--Of Thayendanegea in
particular--Letter of Brant to Colonel Monroe--Relinquishes his design
of going then to England--Returns to Grand River--Differences of opinion
wither John Johnson--Brant sails for England in the Autumn of 1785--His
arrival--Glimpses of his ulterior designs--His distinguished
reception--Enters upon the business of his mission--Letter to Lord
Sidney--Speech of Brant to Lord Sidney--Letter of Lord Sidney in
reply--Question of half-pay--Brant's Letter to Sir Evan Nepean--His
associations with the great--Keen sarcasm upon a nobleman--Striking
incident at a grand masquerade--Brant's attention to the moral wants of
his people--His return to Canada.
237

CHAPTER IX.

Difficulties between Great Britain and the United States after the
Treaty--Refusal of the former to surrender the western posts--Mission of
Baron Steuben to Canada--Indications of fresh Indian
hostilities---Movements of Captain Brant--Grand Indian Council at the
Huron Village--Address to the United States--Letter of the Secretary at
War, General Knox, to Captain Brent--Letter of Sir John Johnson to
Brant--Letter of Major Matthews to Brant, disclosing the views of Lord
Dorchester respecting the retention of the western posts--Message from
the Hurons to the Five Nations, proposing another grand
Council--Preparations of General St. Clair for negotiating with the
Indians--Brant begins to distrust them all--Letter of Brant to Patrick
Langan, Sir John Johnson's Secretary-Letter of Brant to Sir John
Johnson--Great Council at Miamis--Letter of Captain Brant to Patrick
Langan--St. Clair's negotiations at Fort Harmar--The policy of dividing
to conquer--Letter of Captain Brant to Major Matthews--Jealousies of
Brant among the Indians--Council against him at Montreal--Letter to him
from Major Matthews--Letter of Brant in reply--Letter to Colonel
McDonnell--Suspected plot against the English at Detroit, and Brant and
his Mohawks, by the Hurons, Chippewas, and Pottawatamies--Letter to
Brant from Sir John Johnson--Brant turns his attention to the
cultivation of letters--Endeavors to obtain a stated Missionary--Resumes
the preparation of Religious books--Letter from President Willard--John
Norton--Land difficulties among the Indians in the state of
New-York--Letter from Governor Clinton to Brant.
262

CHAPTER X.

Continued troubles with the Indians--English emissaries in
Kentucky--Mission of Antoine Gamelin--Preparations for war--Campaign of
General Harmar--Successive defeats of Colonel Hardin--Conduct of the
militia--Retreat of Harmar--Indian deputation to Lord Dorchester--Letter
of Sir John Johnson--Colonel Gordon--Letter of Brant to Colonel
McKee--Pacific views of Lord Dorchester--Renewed efforts of the United
States to bring the Indians to peace--Interposition of
Corn-planter--Mission of Corn-planter and Colonel Proctor--British
officers wish a mediation--Letter of Colonel Gordon--Colonel Pickering
holds an Indian Council at the Chemung--Red Jacket's course--Brant
interferes--Indian Councils at Buffalo--Influence of Colonel John Butler
and Brant--Mission of Colonel Proctor and Corn-planter
frustrated--Important position of Brant--Correspondence between the
Secretary of War and Governor Clinton--Colonel Pickering's Council with
the Indians at Painted Post--Mission of Hendrick, the Stock-bridge
chief--Renewal of hostilities--Campaign of General St. Clair--His
defeat--Thayendanegea among the Indian captains--The panic that
followed--Clamor against St. Clair--His resignation--Wayne appointed
his successor--Refusal of Colonel Willett to embark in an Indian war.

291

CHAPTER XI.

Preparations for an Indian Consultation at Philadelphia--Captain Brant
invited to attend--His objections--Letter of the Rev. Mr. Kirkland to
Captain Brant--Letter of the Secretary of War to the same--Letter of
Colonel Gordon to the same--Letter of Captain Brant to the Secretary of
War--The Secretary of War to Captain Brant--Attempts from Montreal to
prevent Brant from going to Philadelphia--His journey--Feelings against
him in the Mohawk Valley--His arrival at New-York and
Philadelphia--Liberal offers made him--Letter to the Count de Puisy--The
offers rejected--Undertakes a Mission of Peace to the Miamis--Returns to
New-York--Pursued by a German from the German Flats bent on taking his
life--Discovered in New-York--Brant returns to Niagara--Murder of
Colonel Harden and Major Trueman--Letters of Brant to the Secretary at
War--Feelings of the Western Nations--Correspondence between Brant and
McKee--Great Indian Council at the Au Glaize--Sickness of Captain
Brant--Hostilities deferred until Spring, and a treaty with the United
States ordered--Return of the Delegates of the Six Nations--Address to
President Washington--Separate organization of Upper Canada--Arrival of
Governor Simcoe--Letter to Brant from the Duke of
Northumberland--Preparations for the Great Council of 1783--Fresh
dissatisfaction of the Indians--Private Councils--They send their
ultimatum in anticipation--The American Commissioners depart for the
Indian country--Their arrival at Niagara--Friendly conduct of Governor
Simcoe--Celebration of the King's Birth-day--The Commissioners start for
the West--Their progress interrupted--Conduct of General Wayne--Brant
suddenly returns from the West with a Deputation--Council held at Fort
Erie--Commissioners return to Niagara--Council there--Speech of Captain
Brant--Reply of the Commissioners--Speech of Cat's-Eyes--Rejoinder of
Brant--Arrival of the Seven Nations--Brant proceeds to the Miami
Rapids--Followed by the Commissioners--Arrival at the Detroit
River--Their progress interrupted--Unexpected turn of
affairs--Explanations with Deputies from the Great Council--Long Debates
in the Indian Council--Brant speaks strongly for peace--Governor Simcoe
declines advising the Indians--The negotiations suddenly terminated by
the Indians--Their address--And sine qua non.

318

CHAPTER XII.

Suspected duplicity of the British authorities--Conduct of Simon
Girty--Disclosures upon the subject by Captain Brant--Council at
Buffalo, and Indian report of the doings of the Great Congress--Speech
of Captain Brant respecting the Miami council--Mission of General
Chapin to Philadelphia, with the speech--Answer unsatisfactory to the
Indians--Red Jacket--Indian council--Speech of Captain Brant in reply to
the answer of the United States--Troubles thickening between the United
States and Great Britain--Inflammatory speech of Lord
Dorchester--Question of its authenticity settled--Conduct of Governor
Simcoe--Indignation of President Washington--His letter to Mr.
Jay--Speech of Captain Brant against holding a council at Venango--The
design frustrated--Affairs farther in the West--Singular message from
the distant Indians under the Spanish and French influence--Their
speech--Operations of General Wayne--Encroachments of Pennsylvania upon
the Indian lands--Indian council upon the subject--Address to General
Washington--Important letter of Brant to Colonel Smith--Pennsylvania
relinquishes Presque Isle--Defeat of Major McMahon near Fort
Recovery--Indians repulsed in their attack upon the fort--Letter to
Brant giving an account of the battle--Advance of Wayne to the Au
Glaize and Miamis of the Lakes--Little Turtle apprised of his movements
and strength by a deserter--The Chief determines to give battle--Wayne
makes one more effort for peace--Failure of the attempt--Advance of
Wayne to the Rapids--Position of the Indians--Battle and defeat of the
Indians--Little Turtle opposed to the hazard of a battle--Opposed by
Blue-Jacket and overruled--Tart correspondence between Wayne and Major
Campbell--Destruction of Indian property by fire, and burning of Colonel
McKee's establishment--Disappointment of the Indians that Major Campbell
did not assist them--Letter of Governor Simcoe to Brant--Aggression at
Sodus Bay--Simcoe and Brant repair to the West--Interfere to prevent a
peace--Indian council--The hostiles negotiate with Wayne--Simcoe's
address to the Wyandots--Division in their counsels--Brant retires
displeased--Letter of apology from the Chiefs--The distant Indians
become weary of the war.

Page 357

CHAPTER XIII.

Thayendanegea in civil life--His activity--His efforts to accelerate the
civilization of his people--Difficulties respecting the title to his
lands--Successive Councils and Speeches--Governor Simcoe leaves the
province--Captain Claus appointed to the Indian Agency--President
Russell--Brant's Speeches asserting the absolute Independence and
Nationality of his people--Letter to Sir John Johnson--Correspondence
with Lord Dorchester--The Count de Puisy--Letter of Brant to Thomas
Morris--Sharp correspondence with Sir John Johnson--The St. Regis and
Caughnawaga Indians, and the State of New-York involved in the land
controversy--Brant's difficulties with the Caughnawagas--Letter to
Thomas Morris--Brant's visit to the Caughnawagas--Council--Satisfactory
explanations--Fresh difficulties at home--Norton's Mission to
England--Plots against the character of Brant--Alienation of some of his
friends--Conspiracy to depose him--Red Jacket and Farmer's Brother
active in the plot--Character of Red Jacket--Brant deposed by an illegal
Council--Letter to the Duke of Northumberland--A legal Council
convoked--Brant meets his accusers, and defends himself--Another
Council--Speech of Brant--Acquitted of all charges against him--Council
after the return of Norton from England--Proceedings of Red Jacket's
Council nullified--Brant re-instated--Letter to the Duke of
Northumberland--Letter of the Duke in reply--Last letter of Brant to the
Duke.

396

CHAPTER XIV.

Exertions of Thayendanegea for the moral and social improvement of his
people--His religions views--Efforts for the religious instruction of
his people--Letter to Sir John Johnson upon the subject of obtaining a
resident clergyman--Farther correspondence--Interview of Brant with the
Bishop--Disappointment--Letter to the Chief Justice--Appeal of Brant to
the Lord Bishop, but without success--Application to the American
church--Letter to Colonel Burr--Succeeds in obtaining the ordination of
Mr. Phelps--Estimate of Brant's character by the clergy--Letter of Rev.
Dr. Mason--Rev. Elkanah Holmes--Letter of Brant to the Rev. Dr.
Miller--Ardent spirits--Efforts of Brant to prevent their
introduction--Letter to Sir John Johnson--Interposition of the
women--Address of Brant in reply--Indian games and pastimes--National
game of Cricket--Great game at Grand River, between the Senecas and
Mohawks--Judge Woodruff's visit to Brant's residence--Description of his
person--Indian funerals--Respect for the dead--Estimate of women--Their
influence--Funeral speech of Seneca-George--Death of Mrs. Claus--Speech
of condolence by Captain Brant--Captain Claus in reply--Brant's visit to
New-York, Philadelphia, and Hartford, in 1797--Attentions to him in
Philadelphia--Dinner party of Colonel Burr--Talleyrand and other
distinguished guests--Letter of introduction from Colonel Burr to his
daughter--Dinner party in his honor by Miss Theodosia--His manners
described by Dr. Miller and by General Porter--Designs upon his life in
the Mohawk country--The late John Wells--Striking incident in
Albany--Anecdotes--Brant and General Gansevoort--Brant and Colonel Van
Courtlandt--Reasons of Brant for taking up arms for the King--His
reasonings in defence of the Indian mode of warfare.

Page 430

CHAPTER XV.

Domestic relations of Brant--Account of his family--Bad character of his
eldest son--His death by the hand of his father--Condolence of the
Chiefs--Grief of the father at the event--Anxiety for the education of
his sons--Proposed memorial to the Duke of Portland--Letter of Brant to
Colonel Smith--Correspondence with the Wheelock Family--Letter from
Brant to James Wheelock--Two of his sons sent to Dartmouth--Various
letters from and to the Wheelocks--Correspondence upon other
subjects--Reply to the questions, whether the Indians have
beards--Letter from Bishop Peters--Views or Brant on imprisonment for
debt--Tumuli--Opinion of Brant touching their origin--Indian tradition
of white settlements cut off in a single night--Investigations of Samuel
Woodruff--Brant's inquiries in Paris--The discoveries of the
Northmen--Review of the life and character of Brant--His death.

463

CHAPTER XVI.

Account of the family of Brant subsequent to his death--Catharine
Brant--The line of descent among the Mohawks--John Brant, the youngest
son, appointed to the Chieftainship--The war of 1812--General Van
Rensselaer on the Niagara frontier--Preparations for a descent upon
Queenston Heights--First attempt frustrated--Arrangement for a second
movement--Arrival of Lieutenant-colonel Scott on the lines--His efforts
to accompany the expedition--Landing of Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer
and his party--Intrepidity of the attack--Van Rensselaer and others
grievously wounded--Captain Wool carries the Heights--Advance of General
Brock--His defeat and fall--Arrival of Lieutenant-colonel Scott upon the
Heights--Attack of the Indians--General Sheaffe advances from Niagara
with reinforcements--Battle--The Americans driven down the
Heights--Attempts of Scott to capitulate--His flag-bearers shot
down--Determines to bear a flag himself--A young Indian leaps upon him
like a tiger--His rescue--Interview with General
Sheaffe--Capitulation--March to Niagara--Remarkable interview between
Scott and two Indians at Niagara, the younger of whom was John
Brant--Base poltroonry of the militia--Battle of the Beaver-dams--Close
of young Brant's military life--Removes to the Brant House with his
sister--Account of the family by Lieutenant Hall--Visit of the British
Consul to the Brant House--Controversy of John Brant with Archdeacon
Strachan--He visits England respecting the ancient land-title
controversy--Succeeds with the ministers--Disappointed by the Colonial
Government--Correspondence with Campbell respecting the memory of his
father--Attention to the moral wants of his people--Correspondence
respecting the Mohawk schools--Presentation of a silver cup--His
election to the Provincial Parliament--Seat contested--Death by
cholera--His character--Farther notices of the family--Description of
his sister, and of his successor--Death of Catharine Brant--Conclusion.

500

Life
of
JOSEPH BRANT--THAYENDANEGEA, &c.

* * * * *

CHAPTER I.

Sullivan's campaign into the Seneca country--Different characteristics
among the Indian Nations--Mistakes upon the subject--Progress of
civilization among the Six Nations--Plan of the campaign--The command
offered to General Gates--His conduct--Clinton's preparations at
Canajoharie--Transportation of boats and stores across to Otsego
Lake--Arrest and execution of Newberry--Attempts to engage the
Oneidas--The Indians alarmed by an address from Gen. Haldimand--The
address--Intelligence from the enemy--Arrival of Oneida deputies at
Clinton's head-quarters--Their speech--Designs of the enemy--Letter of
Gen. Clinton to his brother--Remarkable escape of Elerson from an Indian
scout-Brave defence of his house by Mr. Shankland--Descent of the
Susquehanna--Dilatory proceedings of Sullivan--Junction of the
forces--Movement from Tioga to Newtown--Battle of the
Chemung--Destruction of the crops--Advance to Catharine's town--Message
to the Oneidas--Destruction of Catharine's town--Evidences of
civilization--Destruction of Kendaia and Kanadaseaga--March upon
Kanandaigua--Its destruction--Honeoye destroyed--Melancholy story of the
Oneida brothers--Kanaghsawa destroyed--Horrible fate of Lieutenant
Boyd--Contrast between the conduct of Brant and Butler in the case of
Boyd--Indians in council resolve to fight no more--Sullivan advances to
Genesee--Beauty of the country--Conduct of Red Jacket--Origin of Brant's
hostility to him--Sullivan sets out on his return--Destruction of the
Cayuga towns--Return of the army to Tioga--Strange directions to Colonel
Gansevoort respecting the Mohawks of the lower castle--Their
capture--Correspondence--Their release--Close of Sullivan's
campaign--His resignation--Colonel Brodhead's expedition against the
Senecas on the Allegheny--Huron and Shawanese chiefs meet him at Fort
Pitt--Their speeches--Severe Indian battle on the Ohio--Closing
incidents of the year.

The policy of waging a more decisive war against the Indians, and the
loyalists associated with them in their barbarous irruptions upon the
frontier settlements, has been adverted to more than once already. General
Washington had long entertained the opinion that the mere establishment of
a chain of military posts along the Western and North-western frontiers
would not answer the purpose; and that the only method of affording
efficient protection to the inhabitants of those borders, would be to
carry the war into the heart of the enemy's country. By a resolution of
the 25th of February, Congress had directed the Commander-in-chief to take
the most effectual means for protecting the inhabitants, and chastising the
Indians for their continued depredations; and it was now his determination
to put the resolve in execution, by carrying the war directly into the
most populous country of the Six Nations; to cut off their settlements,
destroy their crops, and inflict upon them every other mischief which time
and circumstances would permit. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Letter of Washington of March 4, to Governor Clinton, and also from
the same to General Gates of March 6, 1779.

Those who have been accustomed to contemplate the whole race of North
American aboriginals as essentially alike, viewing them all as the same
roving, restless, houseless race of hunters and fishermen, without a local
habitation, and with scarce a name, have widely misunderstood the Indian
character, and must know but little of its varieties. They have, indeed,
many traits and characteristics in common; but in other respects the moody
Englishman is not more unlike his mercurial neighbor on the other side of
the channel, than is the Mohawk unlike the Sioux. It is the remark of a
popular writer of the day, [FN-1] that "those who are familiar with the
reserved and haughty bearing of the forest tribes, cannot fail, when an
opportunity of comparison is afforded, to be struck with the social air
and excitable disposition which mark their prairie brethren, and so
decidedly distinguish the '_gens du large_' from _les gens des feuilles,_'
as the voyageurs term the different races. The Pawnees, following the
buffalo in his migrations, and having always plenty of animal food to
subsist upon, are a much better fed and larger race than those who find
a precarious subsistence in the forest chase. While the woodland tribes,
who, though not so plump in form, are of a more wiry and perhaps muscular
make, have again a decided advantage in figure and gait over the '_gens du
lac,_' or fishing and trapping tribes of the North-west, that pass most
of their time in canoes. This difference in character and physical
appearance between the different Indian races, or rather between those
tribes who have such different methods of gaining a livelihood, has never
been sufficiently attended to by modern authors, though it did not escape
the early French writers on this country. And yet, if habit have any
effect in forming the temper and character of a rude people, it must of
course follow, that the savage who lives in eternal sunshine upon
flowery plains, and hunts on horseback with a troop of tribesmen around
him, must be a different being from the solitary deer-stalker, who wanders
through the dim forest, depending upon his single arm for a subsistence
for his wife and children." But the higher state of social organization
among the Six Nations greatly increased the difference. They had many
towns and villages giving evidence of permanence. They were organized into
communities, whose social and political institutions, simple as they were,
were still as distinct and well-defined as those of the American
confederacy. They had now acquired some of the arts, and were enjoying
many of the comforts, of civilized life. Not content with small patches
of cleared lands for the raising of a few vegetables, they possessed
cultivated fields, and orchards of great productiveness, at the West.
Especially was this the fact with regard to the Cayugas and Senecas. The
Mohawks having been driven from their own rich lands, the extensive
domains of the two westernmost tribes of the confederacy formed the
granary of the whole. And in consequence of the superior social and
political organization just referred to, and the Spartan-like character
incident to the forest life, the Six Nations, though not the most
numerous, were beyond a doubt the most formidable, of the tribes then in
arms in behalf of the Crown. [FN-2] It was justly considered, therefore,
that the only way to strike them effectively, would be to destroy their
homes and the growing products of their farms; and thus, by cutting off
their means of supply, drive them from their own country deeper into the
interior, and perhaps throw them altogether upon their British allies for
subsistence. It was likewise the design to extend the operations of the
expedition as far as Niagara, if possible--that post, of all others in the
occupation of the enemy, enabling his officers to maintain an extensive
influence over his savage allies. [FN-3]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Charles F. Hoffman, Esq.

[FN-2] "The Six Nations were a peculiar and extraordinary people,
contra-distinguished from the mass of Indian nations by great attainments
in polity, in negotiation, in eloquence, and in war."--_Discourse of
De Wilt Clinton before the New-York Hist. Society--_1811.

[FN-3] Since these sheets were in the hands of the printer, the author
has discovered an official manuscript account of a grand Indian council
held at Niagara, in September, 1776, by Colonel John Butler, and
Lieutenants Matthews, Burnit, and Kinnesley, and Ensign Butler, with the
Hurons, Chippewas, Ottawas, Pottawatamies, Missiasagas, Senecas, Cayugas,
Onondagas, Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Mohawks, Delawares, Nanticokes,
Squaneghiges{?}, and Conagreves{?}--in presence of Lieut. Colonel John
Caldwell, then in command at Niagara. It appears that only one Oneida
sachem was present and one Tuscarora. They {illegible} an address which
was unanimously signed{?} by the chiefs attending the Congress declaring
their intention to embark in the war, and abide the result of the contest
of the King with his people. They also made a strong appeal to the
Oneidas and the Tuscaroras, "to quit the {illegible}, and be strong and
determined to fulfill their engagements to the King." They also exhorted
the Mohawks to be strong, and assured them "that they all their western
brethren, would fly to their assistance at the first cal,"
&c.--_Manuscripts of Gen Gansevoort._

{Transcriber's Note: The above footnote, [FN-3], from the word
"Delawares" forward, the following paragraph, and its footnote are on a
page that did not scan well. It is nearly illegible. The transcription
presented here is a best guess.}

The plan of this campaign was well devised and matured{?}. It was to be
commenced by a combined movement of two divisions--the one from
Pennsylvania {transiting?} the valley of the Susquehanna to the
intersection of the Tioga river under General Sullivan, who was invested
with the command in chief; and the other from the north under General
James Clinton, which was to descend the Susquehanna from its principal
source, and after forming a junction with Sullivan, the whole to proceed,
by the course of the Chemung river, into the fertile country of the
Senecas and Cayugas. The expedition was intended as the principal campaign
of the year; since the relative military strength and situation of the
two contending powers rendered it impossible that any other offensive
operations could be carried on by the Americans at the same time. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] It was the original purpose of General Washington to invest General
Gates with the command of this expedition, and the appointment was
tendered to that officer by letter, on the 6th of March. Gates declined
it, in a manner not very agreeable to the Commander-in-chief. The latter,
in writing subsequently to the President of Congress upon the subject,
in the course of sundry explanations, not unmingled with strictures upon
the conduct of Gates, wrote as follows:--"The plan of operations for
the campaign being determined, a commanding officer was to be appointed
for the Indian expedition. This command, according to all present
appearances, will probably be of the second, if not of the first,
importance for the campaign. The officer conducting it has a flattering
prospect of acquiring more credit than can be expected by any other this
year; and he has the best reason to hope for success. General Lee, from
his situation, was out of the question; General Schuyler, (who, by the
way, would hare been most agreeable to me,) was so uncertain of
continuing in the army, that I could not appoint him; General Putnam I
need not mention. I therefore made the offer of it, for the appointment
could no longer be delayed, to General Gates, who was next in seniority,
though, perhaps, I might have avoided it, if I had been so disposed, from
his being in a command by the special appointment of Congress. My letter
to him on the occasion I believe you will think was conceived in very
candid and polite terms, and that it merited a different answer from the
one given to it"--_Letter of Washington to the President of Congress,
April_ 14th, 1779. The answer of Gates referred to by the
Commander-in-chief; was in the following words:--"Last night I had the
honor of your Excellency's Letter. The man who undertakes the Indian
service, should enjoy youth and strength; requisites I do not possess.
It therefore grieves me that your Excellency should offer me the only
command to which I am entirely unequal. In obedience to your command, I
have forwarded your letter to General Sullivan," &c--_Sparks's Life and
Correspondence of Washington._

On the 2d of June, General Clinton received his instructions from
Sullivan, to proceed forthwith in the measures of co-operation according
to the plan of the campaign already indicated, viz: the descent of the
Susquehanna by the northern forces to unite with the main division at
Tioga. Preparations for the enterprise, however, were already in a state
of great forwardness, since General Washington had been in free
communication with Governor Clinton upon the subject; and the latter, with
the General his brother, had been actively engaged in anticipation of the
order. [FN] Accordingly, batteaux had already been provided at
Schenectady, which, after ascending the Mohawk to Canajoharie, were thence
to be transported over land to the head of Otsego Lake at Springfield,
while at the same time a large quantity of provisions had been thrown into
Fort Schuyler in case of emergency. After making all his arrangements, and
ordering the different corps which were to compose his command, to
concentrate at Canajoharie, General Clinton arrived at that post on the
16th of June, where he found himself at the head of fifteen hundred
troops.

* * * * *

[FN] General James Clinton was at that time in command of the Northern
department. The troops assigned for this campaign were, the brigades of
Generals Clinton, Maxwell, Poor, and Hand, to which last brigade were
assigned, in addition, all the detached corps of Continental troops on
the Susquehanna. The independent companies of the State of Pennsylvania
were likewise ordered upon the expedition together with Colonel Van
Courtlandt's regiment, Butler's, Alden's, and the rifle corps. Colonel
Gansevoort's regiment formed a part of Clinton's brigade. The brigade
had already been ordered by the Commander-in-chief himself to rendezvous
at Canajoharie, subject to the orders of Sullivan, either to form a
junction with the main body by the way of Otsego, or to proceed up the
Mohawk and co-operate as circumstances might best permit.--_Letter of
instructions from the Commander-in-chief to General Sullivan._

The portage from the Mohawk river at Canajoharie to the head of Otsego
Lake is about twenty miles. On the 17th, General Clinton commenced the
transportation of his boats and stores across the country--the region
being hilly, and the roads excessively bad. Two hundred boats were found
to be necessary, and four horses were required for the draught of each
boat. The troops were disposed by regiments along the route, both for
safety, and to assist at difficult points of ascent. But, notwithstanding
these obstacles, and the magnitude of the enterprise, General Clinton was
enabled to announce to his immediate superior, by letter on the 26th, that
one hundred and seventy-three of the boats had already reached the head of
the lake; that thirty more were on their way; and that the residue, making
up the complement of two hundred and twenty, would be forwarded thither
immediately on their arrival from Schenectady. The provisions and stores
for a three months' campaign had likewise been already transported across
the carrying-place; so that the expedition was nearly in readiness to
commence its final movement. [FN-1] In a letter to General Schuyler
announcing the same intelligence, the General spoke particularly of the
alacrity and spirit with which the inhabitants of the country had rallied
to his assistance. He likewise bestowed high praise upon Colonel Willett,
acting as a volunteer, for his timely and energetic assistance in
forwarding the arrangements. In performing this labor, no other
interruption took place than what arose from the arrest of two spies,
formerly inhabitants of the county, one of whom was named Hare, a
lieutenant in the British service, and the other a Tory sergeant named
Newberry,--the same wretch whose name has already occurred as a brutal
murderer at Cherry Valley. They had left the Seneca country with sixty
warriors of that tribe, to be divided into three parties, one of which was
to fall upon Cherry Valley again, the other upon Schoharie, and the third
to be employed in lurking about Fort Schuyler. They were tried by a
court-martial, convicted, and "hanged pursuant to the sentence of the
court, and to the entire satisfaction of all the inhabitants of the
county." [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] General Washington was greatly displeased at the amount of stores
and baggage by which Clinton was encumbered, apprehending "the worst
consequences" from the obstacles his stores would interpose to the
rapidity of his march, and also from the publicity which would as a
consequence be given to his movements. Although he had left it optional
with Sullivan to direct Clinton to join him by the route of the
Susquehanna, yet the Commander-in-chief evidently preferred that the
more northern route should be taken. He wrote to Sullivan upon the
subject with more sharpness than he was wont to do--[_See Letter of
Washington to Sullivan, July_ 1, 1779.] The event, however, aided by the
sagacity of Clinton in the adoption of a measure presently to be noted,
proved that he took the right direction.

[FN-2] Letter from General Clinton to General Schuyler. In General
Schuyler's answer to this letter, he says, speaking of the execution of
Hare--"In executing Hare, you have rid the State of the greatest villain
in it. I hope his abettors in the country will meet with a similar
exaltation."--_Gov. Clinton's Manuscripts._

It was the desire of General Sullivan that Clinton should employ in his
division as large a number of the Oneida warriors as could be induced to
engage in the service. The latter officer was opposed to this arrangement;
but at the importunities of Sullivan, the Rev. Mr. Kirkland, their
missionary, who was now a chaplain in the army, had been summoned to
Albany for consultation. From thence Mr. Kirkland was despatched to
Pennsylvania directly to join Sullivan's division, while to Mr. Deane,
the interpreter connected with the Indian commission at Fort Schuyler,
was confided the charge of negotiating with the Oneida chiefs upon the
subject. At first all went smoothly with the Indians. The Oneidas
volunteered for the expedition, almost to a man; while those of the
Onondagas who adhered to the cause of the Americans, were equally desirous
of proving their fidelity by their deeds. Under these circumstances
Clinton wrote to Sullivan on the 26th, that on the following Saturday, Mr.
Deane, with the Indian warriors, would join him at the head of the lake.
A sudden revolution, however, was wrought in their determination by an
address to the Oneidas from General Haldimand, received at Fort Schuyler
on the 22d. This document was transmitted to them in their own language;
and its tenor was so alarming, as to induce them suddenly to change their
purpose--judging, very correctly, from the threats of Haldimand, that
their presence was necessary at home for the defence of their own castles.
Still, Mr. Deane wrote that an arrangement was on foot, by which he hoped
yet to obtain the co-operation of a considerable number of the Oneida
warriors. The basis of this arrangement was, that in the event of an
invasion of their country by the Indians, whom the Canadian commander had
threatened to let loose upon them, the garrison at Fort Schuyler should
not only assist them, but receive their women and children into the fort
for protection.

General Haldimand's address was written in the Iroquois language, of which
the following translation was made by Mr. Deane, and enclosed to General
Clinton:--

"_A translation of his Excellency Gen. Haldimand's speech
to the Oneida Indians in the Rebel Interest, as delivered
to them in the Iroquois language._" [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Copied by the author from the MS. among the papers of General
Clinton.

"Brothers: Be very attentive to what I, Ashanegown, the Great King of
England's representative in Canada, am going to say. By this string of
wampum I shake you by the hand to rouse you that you may seriously reflect
upon my words.

"_A string of wampum._

"Brothers: It is now about four years ago since the Bostonians began to
rise, and rebel against their Father, the King of England, since which
time you have taken a different part from the rest of the Five Nations,
your confederates, and have likewise deserted the King's cause, through
the deceitful machinations and snares of the rebels, who intimidated you
with their numerous armies, by which means you became bewildered, and
forgot all of your engagements with, and former care, and favor from the
Great King of England, your Father. You also soon forgot the frequent bad
usage, and continual encroachments of the Americans upon the Indian lands
throughout the Continent. I say, therefore, that at the breaking out of
these troubles you firmly declared to observe a strict neutrality in the
dispute, and made your declaration known to Sir Guy Carleton, my
predecessor, who much approved of it, provided you were in earnest. I have
hitherto strictly observed and examined your conduct, and find that you
did not adhere to your assertion, although I could trace no reason on the
side of government as well as the Indians, why you should act so
treacherous and double a part; by which means, we, not mistrusting your
fidelity, have had many losses among the King's subjects, and the Five
Nations your friends and connexions; and finding you besides, proud and
haughty on the occasion, as if you gloried in your perfidy, doubtless in
sure confidence as if your friends, the rebels, were getting the better
at last; and captivated with that pleasing opinion of yours, you have
presumed twice, during the course of last winter, to send impertinent and
daring messages to the Five Nations, as if you meant to pick a quarrel
with them. In consequence of this your daring and insolent behavior, I
must insist upon, by this belt of wampum, that you declare yourselves
immediately on the receipt of this my speech and message, whether you mean
to persist in this your daring and insulting course, and still intend to
act as you have hitherto done, treacherously under the cloak of
neutrality, or whether you will accept of this my last offer of
re-uniting, and reconciling yourselves with your own tribes, the Five
Nations. Do not imagine that the King has hitherto treated the rebels and
their adherents with so much mildness and indulgence, out of any
apprehensions of their strength, or getting the better! No, by no means.
For you will find that in case you slight or disregard this my last offer
of peace, I shall soon convince you that I have such a number of Indian
allies to let loose upon you, as will instantly convince you of your folly
when too late, as I have hardly been able to restrain them from falling
upon you for some time past. I must therefore once more repeat to you that
this is my last and final message to you; and that you do not hesitate,
or put off giving me your direct and decisive declaration of peace or war,
that in case of the latter, (knowing that there are still some of your
nation who are friends to the King and the Five Nations,) I may give them
timely warning to separate themselves from you.

"Brothers: Let me lastly convince you of the deceit and dissimulation of
your rebel brethren, General Schuyler, Parson Kirkland, and others; have
they not told you, in the beginning of the rebellion, that they wanted not
your assistance, and to have your blood spilt; and you likewise declared
that you would not join them, but remain neuter? Have either of you stuck
to your word? No! you basely broke it, and seemed from the beginning to be
of mutual hostile sentiments against the King and his allies, and soon
after manifested it by your actions. What confirms me in this opinion, and
proves your deceitful and treacherous dispositions, is your behavior
during the course of the last war, when you likewise acted a double part
in clandestinely joining and carrying intelligence to the French in this
country; which I myself am a witness to, and also was told of it by your
friend, the late Sir William Johnson, who, notwithstanding your base
behavior, upon promising that you would be true and faithful for the
future, forgave you, and received you into favor again, advising you to
be more prudent and honest in time to come; and frequently after that
loaded you with the King's bounty and favor. But he was no sooner dead
than you ungratefully forgot his good advice and benedictions; and in
opposition to his family and Indian friends, and every thing that is
sacred, adopted the cause of rebels, and enemies to your King, your late
patron Sir William Johnson, and your own confederacy and connexions. These
are facts, Brothers, that unless you are lost to every sense of feeling,
cannot but recall in you a most hearty repentance and deep remorse for
your past file actions.

"_The belt._

"Fred. Haldimand."

On the 30th of June, Clinton wrote to Sullivan that his arrangements were
complete--that all his stores and munitions of every description were at
the lake, with two hundred and ten batteaux--and every thing in readiness
for embarkation the moment his orders to that effect should be received.
On the 1st of July he proceeded to the lake himself, and the expedition
moved from its head to the Southern extremity--there to await the orders
of his superior. While lying at this place, a letter was received from
General Schuyler, announcing the return from Canada of a spy, who had been
despatched thither for information. He brought word, that on the 18th of
June four hundred and fifty regular troops, one hundred Tories, and thirty
Indians, had been sent forward from Montreal to reinforce the Indians
against whom this expedition was preparing; and that they were to be
joined by half of Sir John Johnson's regiment, together with a portion of
the garrison at Niagara. From this intelligence it was evident that the
Indian country was not to be taken without a struggle.

On the 5th Mr. Deane arrived, at the head of thirty-five Oneida warriors.
The object of their visit was in person to apologize for the absence of
their brethren from the expedition, and to make those explanations, in
regard to their own altered situation, already communicated by Mr. Deane
by letter, together with the address of General Haldimand, which had
caused their alarm. A conference took place with General Clinton on the
same day, at which the Oneidas delivered their message in the following
speech:--

"Brother: We suppose you imagine we have come here in order to attend you
upon your expedition, but we are sorry to inform you that our situation is
such as will not admit of it.

"Brother: From intelligence which we may depend upon, we have reason to
believe that the Six Nations mean to embrace the opportunity of our
absence in order to destroy our castles; these accounts we have by spies
from among them, and we know that a considerable body of them are now
collected at Cayuga for that purpose, waiting in expectation of our
warriors leaving the castle to join you.

"Brother: It was our intention to have joined you upon your intended
route, and hope you will not think hard of it that we do not; but such is
our present danger, that in case we leave our castle it must be cut off,
as a large party of the enemy are waiting for that purpose.

"Brother: This is a time of danger with us. Our brethren, the Americans,
have always promised us assistance for our protection whenever we stand
in need of it; we therefore request that, agreeable to these promises, we
may have some troops sent to our assistance in this time of great danger.
Should you send a body of troops to our assistance and protection, and the
enemy attack us, and we should have the fortune to beat them, we will
with those troops pursue them, and join you down in their country; or if
they should not make an attack upon our castle in a short time, we will
march through their castles until we join you."

_A belt._

To which General Clinton made the following reply:--

"Brethren: Our present expedition is intended to chastise those nations
who have broken their faith with us, and joined our enemies. The force we
have is quite sufficient for that purpose. Our route is planned in the
great council of this country. It is not my desire that the whole of your
warriors should leave their castles. I have given a general invitation to
our Brethren the Oneidas, the Tuscaroras, and such Onondagas as may have
entered into friendship with us. In order to give all our Indian friends
an equal chance of evidencing their spirit and determination to partake
of our fortune, I am entirely satisfied that such only should join me as
think proper. It is not for want of warriors that I have given you this
invitation, but that every warrior who is a friend to these United States
may have an equal opportunity of punishing the enemies of our country.

"As your situation is such as causes you to suppose your castle in danger
of being destroyed by your enemies in case of your absence, I by no means
desire that more of your warriors should leave your castles than your
council think proper to permit.

"As yet I am fully persuaded that all our enemies of the Six Nations will
find too much to do at home, to suffer any of their warriors to go abroad
to do mischief. If you should be satisfied after a little while that your
castles are out of danger, and the whole or any part of your warriors
think proper to come to us, I shall be glad to see you; and in the
meantime perhaps you may be as serviceable where you are, as if you were
with us.

"I shall immediately give orders to the officers commanding at Fort
Schuyler to send some troops to your castle, and write to Colonel Van
Schaick, who commands in my absence, to afford you every assistance in
his power, as I am not authorized to order any of the troops now with me
on any other command, being directed by our Great Chief and Warrior to
proceed with the whole of these troops on the present route."

In the course of the interview, the sachems informed General Clinton that
a party of about three hundred Indians, with a few Tories, had marched
from Cayuga ten days before, for the purpose of hanging upon his
outskirts and harassing his march to Tioga. Still it was supposed not to
be their intention to do any serious fighting, until the invading forces
should have advanced a considerable distance up the Tioga or Chemung
river. Indeed, it was evidently the purpose of the enemy to make no
stand, until the forces of Sullivan and Clinton should arrive in the
neighborhood of the works of defence which the Indians and Tories had
been constructing, even before the battle of Wyoming, on the banks of the
Chemung.

In consequence of the requisition of the warriors, in their speech,
General Clinton issued an order to the commanding officer at Fort
Schuyler to detach a command of thirty or forty men to the Oneida fort,
to be recalled as circumstances might require. With this understanding,
and the assurances in the General's answer to their speech, the ten
principal warriors, specially charged with the explanations, took their
departure the same evening for their own castle--leaving the remaining
twenty-five to accompany the expedition. [FN] General Clinton was
impatient of delay, as appears by a letter addressed to his brother of
the next day, from which the following is an extract:--

* * * * *

[FN] All but two of these, however, and those of the meaner sort,
deserted the expedition before they arrived at Tioga.

"General to Governor Clinton.

"_Camp on the south end of }
Otsego Lake, July_ 6th, 1779, }

"Dear Brother,

"I have the pleasure to inform you that I am now at this place, with two
hundred and eight boats, with all the stores, provisions, and baggage of
the army; and I am well convinced that such a quantity of each hath never
before been transported over so bad a road in so short a time and with
less accidents, and that I am now in the most readiness to move down the
Susquehanna, whenever I receive General Sullivan's orders for that
purpose. I have thrown a dam across the outlet, which I conceive will be
of infinite importance, as it has raised the lake at least two feet, by
which the boats may be taken down with less danger than otherwise,
although, from the intricate winding of the channel, I expect to meet
some difficulties on the way. It is uncertain when I shall leave this
place.

"I received a letter from General Sullivan yesterday, dated at Wyoming
July 1st, in which he informs me that he was anxiously waiting the
arrival of his stores from Sunbury--that he expected them daily--that it
was determined in council that that army should proceed almost as far as
Tioga previous to my leaving the lake, as by that means he might make a
diversion in my favor, and facilitate my movements down the river. This
I imagine to be in consequence of a letter which he probably has received
from General Washington, and one I received from him dated the first
instant, in which his Excellency expresses his surprise at my taking so
much stores with me, when it was determined that all the supplies of the
army should come up with General Sullivan, and that nothing more should
be brought with me than was absolutely necessary for the troops until
the junction was formed at Tioga. However, as it was General Sullivan's
orders to bring what provision I could, and as his Excellency added in
his letter to me that it was not his intention to contravene any orders
I may receive from General Sullivan, I ordered the whole to be forwarded
to this place; which I have happily effected, and of which I do not
repent, as I believe I shall fall short of many articles. . . . The
troops are in good health and high spirits, and every thing seems to
promise a most favorable and successful campaign." . . .

No attempts were made by the enemy to molest General Clinton while thus
detained at Otsego Lake. Still, his proceedings were not left entirely
without observation, and there were two individual affrays happening in
his vicinity, which deserve special mention. The name of David Elerson,
one of the bold spirits associated with Murphy in Morgan's rifle corps,
has already occurred in a former chapter. The detachment to which he
belonged had been ordered from Schoharie to join his expedition. While
lying at the head of the lake, Elerson rambled off to an old clearing,
at the distance of a mile or more from camp to gather pulse for dinner.
Having filled his knapsack, while adjusting it in order to return to
camp, he was startled at the rustling of the tall and coarse herbage
around him, and in the same instant beheld some ten or a dozen Indians,
who had crept upon him so cautiously as to be just on the point of
springing to grasp him. Their object was clearly rather to make him a
prisoner than to kill him, since he might easily have been shot down
unperceived. Perhaps they wanted him for an _auto-da-fe,_ perhaps to
obtain information. Seizing his rifle, which was standing by his side,
Elerson sprang forward to escape. A shower of tomahawks hurtled through
the air after him; but as he had plunged into a thicket of tall weeds
and bushes, he was only struck on one of his hands, his middle finger
being nearly severed. A brisk chase was immediately commenced. Scaling
an old brush-wood fence, Elerson darted into the woods, and the Indians
after him. He was as fleet as a stag, and perceiving that they were not
likely soon to overtake, the pursuers discharged their rifles after him,
but luckily without effect. The chase was thus continued from eleven till
three o'clock--Elerson using every device and stratagem to elude or
deceive the Indians, but they holding him close. At length, having gained
a moment to breathe, an Indian started up in his front. Drawing up his
rifle to clear the passage in that direction, the whiz of a bullet
fleshing his side, and the crack of a rifle, from another point, taught
him that delays were particularly dangerous at that spot. The Indian in
front, however, had disappeared on his presenting his rifle, and Elerson
again darted forward. His wounded side bled a little, though not enough
to weaken him. Having crossed a ridge, he paused a moment in the valley
beyond, to slake his thirst--his mouth being parched, and himself almost
fainting. On rising from the brook, the head of one of his pursuers
peeped over the crest of the hill. He raised his rifle, but such was his
exhaustion that he could not hold it steady. A minute more, and he would
have been in the power of the savage. Raising his rifle again, and
steadying it by the side of a tree, he brought the savage tumbling
headlong down the hill. In the next moment his trusty rifle was re-loaded
and primed, and in the next the whole group of his pursuers came rushing
over the ridge. He again supposed his minutes were numbered; but being
partly sheltered by the trunk of a huge hemlock, they saw not him, but
only the body of their fallen comrade yet quivering in the agonies of
death. Drawing in a circle about the body of their companion, they raised
the death wail; and as they paused, Elerson made another effort to fly.
Before they resumed the pursuit, he had succeeded in burying himself in
a dark thicket of hemlocks, where he found the hollow trunk of a tree,
into which he crept. Here he lay ensconced two full days, without food
or dressings for his wound. On the third day he backed out of "the
loop-hole of his retreat," but knew not which way to proceed--not
discerning the points of the compass. In the course of two or three
miles, however, he came to a clearing, and found himself at
Cobleskill--having, during his recent chase, run over hill and dale, bog,
brook, and fen, upward of twenty-five miles.

At about the same time, and probably by the same party of Indians, the
premises of a Mr. Shankland, lying in their track, situated in the
outskirts of Cherry Valley, were assaulted. Residing at the distance of
two or three miles from the village, his house had escaped the common
destruction the proceeding Autumn. But he had nevertheless removed his
family to the valley of the Mohawk for safety, and had returned to his
domicile accompanied only by his son. [FN-1] They were awakened just
before dawn by the assailants, who were endeavoring to cut away the door
with their hatchets. Taking down his two guns, Mr. Shankland directed his
son to load them, while he successively fired to the best advantage. But
not being able to see the enemy, he determined upon a sortie. Having a
spear, or espontoon, in the house, he armed himself therewith, and
carefully unbarring the door, rushed forth upon the besiegers, who fled
back at his sudden apparition. One of the Indians whom he was specially
pursuing, tumbled over a log, and as Mr. Shankland struck at him, his
spear entered the wood, and parted from the shaft. Wrenching the blade
from the log, he darted back into the house, barred the door, and again
commenced firing upon the assailants. They had been so much surprised by
his rushing out upon them, that they neither fired a shot, nor hurled a
tomahawk, until he had returned to his castle, and barred the sally-port.
During that part of the affray, his son, becoming somewhat frightened,
escaped from the house, and ran for the woods. He was pursued, overtaken,
and made captive. The father, however, continued the fight--the Indians
firing through the casements at random, and he returning the shots as
well as he could. At one time he thought of sallying forth again, and
selling his life to the best advantage; but by thus doing, he very
rightly judged that he should at once involve the life of his son. The
Indians, growing wearied of fighting at such disadvantage, at last
attempted to make sure of their victim by applying the torch, and the
house was speedily in flames, but it so happened that between the rear
of the house and the forest, a field of hemp interposed--into which Mr.
Shankland contrived to throw himself from the house, unperceived by the
Indians. Concealed from observation by the hemp, he succeeded in reaching
the woods, and making good his retreat to the Mohawk. Meantime the
Indians remained by the house until it was consumed, together, as they
supposed, with the garrison. They then raised a shout of victory, and
departed [FN-2]--several of their number having been wounded by the
courageous proprietor.

* * * * *

[FN-1] The late Thomas Shankland, Esq. of Cooperstown.

[FN-2] Campbell's Annals.

Greatly to his vexation, as appears from his letters. General Clinton was
detained at Otsego, by the tardy movements of his commander below, during
the whole month of July and the first week in August--until, indeed, his
troops became impatient to a degree. [FN] But the General was not idle
in respect to every arrangement that might add to their security or
contribute to their success. In the letter to his brother, last quoted,
he disclosed one capital stroke of generalship, which not only contributed
largely to his successful descent of the river, but was of great service
in other respects. The damming of the lake, and the accumulation, by this
means, of a vast reservoir of water, by rendering more certain and
expeditious the navigation of the river, was an exceedingly happy thought
And when at length orders were received for his embarkation on the 9th
of August, his flotilla was not only borne triumphantly along upon the
pile of the impatient waters accumulated for the occasion, but the
swelling of the torrent beyond its banks caused wide and unexpected
destruction to the growing crops of the Indians on their plantations at
Oghkwaga and its vicinity. They were, moreover, greatly affrighted at the
sudden and unexpected rise of the waters in the dryest season of the
year, especially as there had been no rains--attributing the event to the
interposition of the "Great Spirit," who thus showed that he was angry
with them. The whole expedition was indeed calculated to impress them
with terror--as it might have done a more enlightened and less
superstitious people. The country was wild and totally uninhabited,
excepting by scattered families of the Indians, and here and there by
some few of the more adventurous white settlers, in the neighborhood of
Unadilla. The sudden swelling of the river, therefore, bearing upon its
surge a flotilla of more than two hundred vessels, through a region of
primitive forests, and upon a stream that had never before wafted upon
its bosom any craft of greater burthen than a bark canoe, was a spectacle
which might well appall the untutored inhabitants of the regions thus
invaded.

* * * * *

[FN] By a letter from the Commander-in-chief to General Sullivan, it
appears that in the organisation of the expedition the latter had been
compelled to encounter greater difficulties than had been anticipated.
He wan disappointed in regard to the Pennsylvania independent
companies--to supply which deficiency, Lieutenant-Colonel Albert Pauling
was directed to march across from Warwasing, and join Clinton at
Oghkwaga. Governor Clinton himself had intended to lead this regiment,
but General Washington, believing that the influence of his presence
was needed elsewhere, induced him to relinquish that design. The delays
of Sullivan, therefore, may not nave arisen from any fault of his own.
Still, the inactivity of General Clinton at Otsego Lake, and of
Sullivan at Wyoming, was no more irksome to the former than to Brant
himself. This active warrior had probably led in person the three
hundred Indians spoken of by the Oneidas as having gone forth to hang
upon the flanks of General Clinton, and annoy his troops by skirmishes
during the march. Becoming weary, however, of waiting for a foe whose
movements were apparently so tardy, Brant determined on making the
irruption into Minisink, of which a history has been given in the last
preceding chapter.

During these energetic proceedings of Clinton, it has been seen that
Sullivan was very dilatory in his movements, and his conduct in the early
part of the campaign gave particular dissatisfaction to Congress. His
requisitions for supplies were enormous, and several of his specifications
of articles, such as eggs, tongues, and other luxuries, were considered
so unsoldier-like as to create disgust. However, having completed his
arrangements, he left Wyoming on the 31st of July, and ascended the
Susquehanna to Tioga, with an expedition far more formidable as to
numbers, and not less imposing in other respects, than was the descending
division under General Clinton--though he had not the advantage of riding
upon so majestic a flood. Sullivan reached Tioga on the 11th of August,
and on the following day pushed out a detachment twelve miles toward
Chemung, which was attacked by a body of Indians--losing, during the
brush, seven men killed and wounded. The detachment returned to Tioga on
the 13th, after having burnt one of the Indian towns.

General Clinton with his division, having been joined at Oghkwaga by a
detachment of Colonel Pauling's levies from Warwasing, arrived at Tioga
and formed a junction with Sullivan on the 22d of August. The entire
command amounted now to five thousand, consisting of the brigades of
Generals Clinton, Hand, Maxwell, and Poor, together with Proctor's
artillery and a corps of riflemen. So long had the expedition been in
progress, that it was well understood the Indians and Tories were not
unprepared to receive them; and in moving up the Tioga and the Chemung
rivers, the utmost degree of caution was observed to guard against
surprise. A strong advanced guard of light infantry preceded the main
body, which was well protected by large flanking parties. In this way
they slowly proceeded in the direction of the works of the enemy, upon
the Chemung at Newtown. On the 28th, an Indian settlement was destroyed,
together with fields of corn, and other Indian products yet
unharvested. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The instructions of the Commander-in-chief were peremptory, that
Sullivan was not even to listen to propositions of peace until after he
should have "very thoroughly completed the destruction of their
settlements."

[Illustration: Order of Battle-Order of March]

The Indians, determined to risk a general action in defence of their
country, had selected their ground with judgment, about a mile in advance
of Newtown. [FN-1] Their force was estimated by General Sullivan at
fifteen hundred, including five companies of British troops and rangers,
estimated at two hundred men. The enemy, however, only allowed their
force to consist of five hundred and fifty Indians, and two hundred and
fifty whites--in all, eight hundred. [FN-2] Brant commanded the Indians,
and the regular troops and rangers were led by Colonel John Butler,
associated with whom were Colonels Sir John and Guy Johnson, Major Walter
N. Butler, and Captain McDonald. [FN-3] The enemy had constructed a
breast-work of half a mile in length, so covered by a bend of the river
as to expose only the front and one of the flanks to attack; and even
that flank was rendered difficult of approach by resting upon a steep
ridge, "nearly parallel to the general course of the river, terminating
somewhat below the breast-work. Farther yet to the left was still another
ridge, running in the same direction, and leading to the rear of the
American army. The ground was covered with pine, interspersed with low
shrub oaks, many of which for the purpose of concealing their works, had
been cut and brought from a distance, and stuck down in their front,
exhibiting the appearance of untransplanted shrubbery. The road, after
crossing a deep brook at the foot of the hill, turned to the right, and
ran nearly parallel to the breast-work, so as to expose the whole flank
of the army to their fire should it advance without discovering their
position." [FN-4] Detachments of the enemy, communicating with each other,
were stationed on both hills, for the purpose of falling upon Sullivan's
right and rear the moment the action should commence.

* * * * *

[FN-1] The site of the present town of Elmira.

[FN-2] Gordon.

[FN-3] It is not quite certain whether both the Johnsons were engaged in
this action. Sir John was there, and the author has somewhere seen the
name of Guy Johnson as having likewise been in the battle of the Chemung.

[FN-4] Marshall.

The enemy's position was discovered by Major Parr, commanding the advance
guard, at about 11 o'clock in the morning of the 29th of August General
Hand immediately formed the light infantry in a wood, at the distance of
about four hundred yards from the breast-work, and waited until the main
body of the army arrived on the ground. A skirmishing was, however, kept up
by both sides--the Indians sallying out of their works by small parties,
firing, and suddenly retreating--making the woods at the same time to
resound with their war-whoops, piercing the air from point to point as
though the tangled forest were alive with their grim-visaged warriors.
Correctly judging that the hill upon his right was occupied by the
savages, General Sullivan ordered Poor's brigade to wheel off, and
endeavor to gain their left flank, and, if possible, to surround them,
while the artillery and main body of the Americans attacked them in
front. [FN-1] The order was promptly executed; but as Poor climbed the
ascent, the battle became animated, and the possession of the hill was
bravely contested. In front the enemy stood a hot cannonade for more than
two hours. [FN-2] Both Tories and Indians were entitled to the credit of
fighting manfully. Every rock, and tree, and bush, shielded its man, from
behind which the winged messengers of death were thickly sent, but with
so little effect as to excite astonishment. The Indians yielded ground
only inch by inch; and in their retreat darted from tree to tree with the
agility of the panther, often contesting each new position to the point
of the bayonet--a thing very unusual even with militiamen, and still more
rare among the undisciplined warriors of the woods. Thayendanegea was the
animating spirit of the savages. Always in the thickest of the fight, he
used every effort to stimulate his warriors, in the hope of leading them
to victory. Until the artillery began to play, the whoops and yells of
the savages, mingled with the rattling of musketry, had well-nigh
obtained the mastery of sound. But their whoops were measurably drowned
by the thunder of the cannon. This cannonade "was elegant," to adopt the
phraseology of Sullivan himself in writing to a friend, and gave the
Indians a great panic. Still, the battle was contested in front for a
length of time with undiminished spirit But the severity of fighting was
on the flank just described. As Poor gallantly approached the point which
completely uncovered the enemy's rear, Brant, who had been the first to
penetrate the design of the American commander, attempted once more to
rally his forces, and with the assistance of a battalion of the rangers
make a stand. But it was in vain, although he exerted himself to the
utmost for that purpose--flying from point to point, seeming to be
everywhere present, and using every means in his power to re-animate the
flagging spirits, and re-invigorate the arms of his followers. Having
ascended the steep, and gained his object without faltering, the enemy's
flank was turned by Poor; and the fortunes of the day decided. Perceiving
such to be the fact, and that there was danger of being surrounded, the
retreat-halloo was raised, and the enemy, savages and white men,
precipitately abandoned their works, crossed the river, and fled with the
utmost precipitation--the Indians leaving their packs and a number of
their tomahawks and scalping-knives behind them. The battle was long, and
on the side of the enemy bloody. [FN-3] Eleven of their dead were found
upon the field--an unusual circumstance with the Indians, who invariably
exert themselves to the utmost to prevent the bodies of their slain from
falling into the hands of their foes. But being pushed at the point of
the bayonet, they had not time to bear them away. They were pursued two
miles, their trail affording indubitable proof that a portion of their
dead and wounded had been carried off. Two canoes were found covered with
blood, and the bodies of fourteen Indian warriors were discovered
partially buried among the leaves. Eight scalps were taken by the
Americans during the chase. [FN-4] Considering the duration of the
battle, and the obstinacy with which it was maintained, the loss of the
Americans was small almost to a miracle. Only five or six men were
killed, and between forty and fifty wounded. Among the American officers
wounded were Major Titcomb, Captain Clayes, and Lieutenant Collis--the
latter mortally. All the houses of the contiguous Indian town were burnt,
and the corn-fields destroyed. [FN-5]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Letter from General Sullivan to a gentleman in Batten.

[FN-2] Idem. Vide Remembrancer, vol. vii.

[FN-3] Mr. John Salmon, late of Livingston County, (N. Y.) who was a
member of a detachment of the rifle corps in this expedition, in a
letter written for Mary Jemison's Narrative, speaks of a second stand
made by the Indians at a place above Newtown called the Narrows--"Where,"
he says, "they were attacked by our men, who killed them in great
numbers, so that the sides of the rocks next the river appeared as
though blood had been poured on them by pailfuls. The Indians threw
their dead into the river, and escaped the best way they could." No
other account makes mention of any such incident, unless, indeed, Mr.
Salmon refers to the killing of the eight warriors whose scalps were
taken during the flight, according to one of Sullivan's letters to a
gentleman in Boston, which may be found in Almon's Remembrancer, and
which is the authority for this statement in the text. The MS. journal
of Capt. Fowler, in the author's possession, commences only the day
after the battle.

[FN-4] "On the next morning [after Sullivan's arrival at Catharine's
town,] an old woman of the Cayuga nation was found in the woods, who
informed us that on the night after the battle of Newtown, the enemy
having fled the whole time, arrived there in great confusion early the
next day; that she heard the warriors tell their women that they were
conquered, and must fly; that they had a great many killed, and vast
numbers wounded. She likewise heard the lamentations of many at the
loss of their connexions. In addition, she assured us that some other
warriors had met Butler at that place, and desired him to return and
fight again. But to this request they could obtain no satisfactory
answer; for, as they observed, 'Butler's mouth was closed.' The
warriors, who had been in the action, were equally averse to the
proposal."--_Sullivan's Official Account._

[FN-5] The strength of the enemy's force at Newtown was never
ascertained with any degree of certainty; although, as heretofore stated
in the text, it was the opinion of Sullivan, and also of his general
officers, that it must have exceeded fifteen hundred. Still, the two
prisoners taken estimated them only at eight hundred. They admitted,
however, that, in addition to the five companies of rangers engaged in
the action, all the warriors of the Senecas, and six other nations of
Indians, were engaged. In order to determine the amount of their force
with as much accuracy as could be attained, General Sullivan examined
their breast-work, the extent of which was more than half a mile. The
lines were flanked in every part by bastions in front, and a
dwelling-house also, in front of the works, had been converted into a
block-house and manned. The breast-work appeared to have been fully
manned, though, as Sullivan supposed, by only a single rank. Some part
of the works being low, the enemy were compelled to dig holes in the
ground to cover themselves in part. A very thin scattering line,
designed, as was supposed, for communicating signals, was continued from
those works to that part of the mountain ascended by General Poor, where
a large body had been stationed, as heretofore stated, for the purpose
of falling upon the flank of the Americans. The distance from the
breast-work to that point was at least one mile and a half. From thence
to the hill on the American right was another scattering line of about
one mile, and on the hill a breast-work, with a strong party, destined,
as it was supposed, to fall upon the American rear. But this design was
frustrated by the movements of Clinton, as already mentioned.--_Vide
Sullivan's Official Report._

The Americans encamped that night on the field of battle, and on the
following day, the wounded, together with the heavy artillery, and
wagons, and all such portions of the baggage as would not be required,
and could not well be transported in the farther prosecution of the
flying campaign now to be performed, were sent back to Tioga. Only four
brass three-pounders and a small howitzer were retained; and the whole
army was at once placed upon short allowance,--the soldiers submitting
cheerfully to the requisition, the moment the necessity of the measure
was explained to them in a speech by their commander. These and other
dispositions having been made, the army moved forward on the 31st, in the
direction of Catharine's town, situated near the head of Seneca Lake, and
the residence of the celebrated Catharine Montour. On their way thither,
Sullivan destroyed a small settlement of eight houses, and a town called
Knawaholee, of about twenty houses, situated on a peninsula at the
conflux of the Tioga and Cayuga branches. Several cornfields were
destroyed at this place, and a number of others, also very large, about
six miles up the Tioga, by Colonel Dayton and the rifle corps, who were
detached thither upon that service.

The Indians and Tories acted unwisely in retreating so far as they did
from the battle of Newtown, since the march of Sullivan thence to
Catharine's town was of the most difficult and fatiguing description.
They were compelled to traverse several narrow and dangerous defiles with
steep hills upon either side, the passage of which might have been
rendered exceedingly annoying to their invaders by a vigilant enemy. The
route lay along the streams; and such was the sinuous course of one of
them, almost swelling to the size of a river, that they were obliged to
ford it several times--the men up to their middles in water. Worse than
all, they were compelled to thread their way through a deep-tangled
hemlock swamp. The night came on exceedingly dark, and the sufferings of
the troops were great. General Sullivan was advised not to enter the
swamp until the next day, but he rejected the counsel, and obstinately
pushed forward. So fatigued, however, was the army, that General Clinton,
whose division brought up the rear, was obliged to pass the night in the
swamp without pack or baggage. Neither Brant nor the Butlers displayed
their wonted sagacity on this occasion, or the Americans might have been
mads to suffer severely for their rashness in penetrating such a thicket
at such an hour. The excuse of the Indians, who were roasting corn not
many miles distant, was, that the way was so bad, and the night so dark,
they did not dream of Sullivan's advancing under such circumstances.

Disappointed by the Oneidas, upon whose assistance General Sullivan had
counted as guides and runners through the Indian country, but only four
of whom had continued with the expedition, the General despatched one of
these from Catharine's town to the castle of that nation, with an address,
calling upon all who were friendly to the Americans, to prove the
sincerity of their professions by joining his forces immediately. The
messenger, Oneigat, was also instructed to give his nation an account of
the battle at Newtown. He did not, however, rejoin the expedition until
near its close. He then reported that on his arrival at the Oneida
castle, a council was convened, and that his people were delighted with
the news of which he was the bearer. Obedient, moreover, to the summons
which he had borne thither, seventy of their warriors had set out with
him to join the army, and thirty more were to follow the next day. But
on that day, near the Onondaga village, they met their brother, Conowaga,
from the army, who informed them that the General had already advanced
as far as Kanasadagea, and had men enough--only wanting a few good guides.
In consequence of this information, the Oneida warriors had turned
back--transmitting, however, by him, an address to the General,
interceding in behalf of a clan of the Cayugas, who, they declared, had
always been friendly to the United States. As an evidence of this fact,
they referred to the cases of several prisoners, who, as it was alleged,
had been surrendered by them to General Schuyler. The Oneidas, therefore,
besought General Sullivan not to destroy the fields of these friendly
Cayugas, who, if deprived of their corn, would fall upon them for support,
and they already had a heavy burden upon their hands in the persons of
the destitute Onondagas. General Sullivan immediately sent a speech in
reply, commending the Oneidas for their fidelity to the United States,
but expressing his surprise at their interposing a word in behalf of any
portion of the Cayugas, whose whole course had been marked, not only by
duplicity, but by positive hostility. He therefore distinctly informed
the Oneidas that the Cayugas should be chastised. Nor did he fail to
execute his purpose, as will in due time appear. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] See Sullivan's address, and the message of the Oneidas in reply,
Almon's Remembrancer, for 1780, Part I.

The brigade of General Clinton rejoined the main army on the 2d of
September, and the whole encamped at Catharine's town, which was entirely
destroyed on the following day, together with the corn-fields and
orchards. The houses, thirty in number, were burnt. The work of
destruction, marking that extraordinary campaign, was now begun in
earnest It was considered necessary by the Commander-in-chief, or his
orders would not have been so peremptory upon the subject, nor his
satisfaction so great after its accomplishment. [FN-1] Still, at this
distance of time, when the mind glances back not only to the number of
towns destroyed, and fields laid waste, but to the war of extermination
waged against the very orchards, it is difficult to suppress feelings of
regret--much less to bestow a word of commendation. It has been asserted
that some of the officers, among whom were General Hand and Colonel
Durbin, objected to this wanton destruction of the fruit-trees, as
discreditable to American soldiers; but the Indians had been long and
cruelly provoking the Americans by the ferocity of their attacks upon the
border settlements, and it had been judged expedient to let the arm of
vengeance fall heavily upon them. "The Indians," said Sullivan, "shall
see that there is malice enough in our hearts to destroy every thing that
contributes to their support;" [FN-2] and well did he fulfill the threat.

* * * * *

[FN-1] See letter of Washington to Colonel John Laurens, Sept. 28, 1779;
to the President of Congress, Oct 9; and to the Marquis de Lafayette,
October 20, of the some year--_Sparks, Vol. vi._

[FN-2] Gordon.

The comparative state of civilization to which the Six Nations had
arrived, has been glanced at in the opening of the present chapter. Still
it is apprehended that but few of the present generation are thoroughly
aware of the advances which the Indians, in the wide and beautiful
country of the Cayugas and Senecas, had made in the march of civilization.
They had several towns, and many large villages, laid out with a
considerable degree of regularity. They had framed houses, some of them
well finished, having chimneys, and painted. They had broad and
productive fields; and in addition to an abundance of apples, were in the
enjoyment of the pear, and the still more delicious peach. But after the
battle of Newtown, terror led the van of the invader, whose approach was
heralded by watchmen stationed upon every height, and desolation followed
weeping in his train. The Indians everywhere fled as Sullivan advanced,
and the whole country was swept as with the besom of destruction. On the
4th, as the army advanced, they destroyed a small scattering settlement
of eight houses; and two days afterward reached the more considerable
town of Kendaia, containing about twenty houses neatly built, and well
finished. These were reduced to ashes, and the army spent nearly a day
in destroying the fields of corn and the fruit-trees. Of these there were
great abundance, and many of them appeared to be very ancient. While thus
engaged, the army was joined by one of the inhabitants of Wyoming, a
captive who had escaped from the Indians. He informed them that all had
been terror among tho Indians since the battle of Newtown, and that
Kendaia had been deserted two days before in the greatest confusion. He
likewise stated various reasons for believing that the enemy had suffered
greatly in that battle--that he had heard some of the Indian women
lamenting the loss of their connexions, and that Brant had taken most of
the wounded up the Tioga river in water craft, which had been previously
made ready in case of defeat. It was farther believed that the King of
Kanadaseagea had been killed at Newtown. He had been seen on his way
thither, and had not returned. From the description given of his dress
and person, moreover, it was believed by General Sullivan that he had
seen his body among the slain.

On the 7th of September, Sullivan crossed the outlet of the Seneca Lake,
and moved in three divisions upon the town of Kanadaseagea--the Seneca
capital--containing about sixty houses, with gardens, and numerous
orchards of apple and peach trees. It was Sullivan's object to surround
the town, and take it by surprise. But, although Butler had endeavored
to induce the Indians to make a stand at that place, his importunities
were of no avail. They said it was of no use to contend with such an army;
and their capital was consequently abandoned, as the other towns had been,
before the Americans could reach it. A detachment of four hundred men
was sent down on the west side of the lake, to destroy Gotheseunquean,
[FN-1] and the plantations in the neighborhood; while at the same time a
number of volunteers, under Colonel Harper, made a forced march in the
direction of the Cayuga Lake, and destroyed Schoyere. Meantime the
residue of the army was employed, on the 8th, in the destruction of the
town, together with the fruit-trees, and fields of corn and beans. [FN-2]
Here, as elsewhere, the work of destruction was thorough and complete.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Thus spelled by General Sullivan, whose official account is in
part the basis of this narrative. Captain Theodosius Fowler, in his
diary, writes it Karhauguash.

[FN-2] Journal of Capt. Fowler.

In leaving their town, the Indians had fled with such precipitancy that
a young white male child, about seven or eight years old, was left
behind, asleep. It was taken in charge by an officer, who, from ill
health, was not on duty. In retiring from the campaign, for the same
cause, he took the child with him, and nothing more of its history is
known. This flight of the Indians was universal; and of all commanders,
Sullivan seems to have been least successful in finding the enemy of whom
he was in search, save only when the enemy wished to be found. Upon this
feature of the present campaign it has been remarked, that although the
bravery of this officer was unimpeachable, yet he was altogether
unacquainted with the science of Indian warfare, and was sure to use the
best means to keep the savages at such a distance, that they could not be
brought unwillingly to an engagement. For instance, he persisted in the
practice of having cannon fired from his camp, mornings and evenings,
forgetting what every one else perceived, that the Indians were thus
notified of his position and the rapidity of his marches--thus being
enabled daily to retreat from his approach exactly in time. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Letter of John Salmon, in the Appendix of Mary Jemison's Life.

From this point a detachment of sixty men, with the lame and sick, was
sent back to Tioga. The main army then moved forward upon Kanandaigua, at
which place it arrived in two days. Here they "found twenty-three very
elegant houses, mostly framed, and in general large," [FN] together with
very extensive fields of corn--all of which were destroyed. From
Kanandaigua they proceeded to the small town of Honeoye, consisting of
ten houses, which were immediately burnt to the ground. A post was
established at Honeoye, to maintain which a strong garrison was left,
with the heavy stores and one field-piece. With this precautionary
measure the army prepared to advance upon the yet more considerable town
of Genesee--the great capital of the western tribes of the
confederacy--containing their stores, and their broadest cultivated
fields.

* * * * *

[FN] General Sullivan's official account.

Hearing of Sullivan's continued advance, and of his purpose to strike
their towns upon the Genesee, the Indians once more began to think of
giving battle. A council of their towns was convened, the result of which
was a determination to intercept the invaders, and strike another blow
in defence of their homes. They felt that if unopposed, the destruction
of their towns would be inevitable, and their fate could be no worse
should they meet and fight the conqueror--whatever might be the result.
Their first precaution was to place their women and children in a place
of security, in the woods at a distance from their town; so that, in the
event of being themselves defeated, the non-combatants would have an
opportunity to escape. Having made their preparations, the warriors took
the field again--selecting for their battle-ground a position between
Honeoye Creek and the head of Connissius Lake. [FN] Placing themselves
in ambush, they awaited the approach of Sullivan's forces. They rose,
however, upon the advance-guard of the Americans, and after a brisk
skirmish, the latter fell back upon the main body--of which the Indians
did not await the arrival. The only fruit of this attack, on behalf of
the Indians, was the capture of two Indian prisoners of the Oneida tribe.
Of itself, this incident was insignificant; but a transaction grew out
of it of thrilling interest, and strongly illustrative of Indian
character. One of the Indians thus taken, was General Sullivan's guide,
and had, moreover, been very active in the contest, rendering the
Americans frequent and important services. On that account he was a
prisoner of consequence. But there was another feature in the case not
altogether unworthy of note. This faithful Indian had an elder brother
engaged with the enemy, who, at the beginning of the war, had exerted
all his power to persuade the younger into the British service also, but
without success. At the close of this skirmish the brothers met for the
first time since their separation, when they had respectively chosen to
travel different war-paths; the younger a prisoner to the elder. The
latter had no sooner recognized his brother after the _melée_, than his
eyes kindled with that fierce and peculiar lustre which lights up the
burning eyes of a savage when meditating vengeance. Approaching him
haughtily, he spoke as follows:--

* * * * *

[FN] At or near a place now called Henderon's Flatta, Vide Life of Mary
Jemison and letter of John Salmon.

"Brother! You have merited death! The hatchet or the war-club shall
finish your career! When I begged of you to follow me in the fortunes of
war, you were deaf to my cries: you spurned my entreaties!

"Brother! You have merited death, and shall have your deserts! When the
rebels raised their hatchets to fight their good master, you sharpened
your knife, you brightened your rifle, and led on our foes to the fields
of our fathers!

"Brother! You have merited death, and shall die by our hands! When those
rebels had driven us from the fields of our fathers to seek out new
houses, it was you who could dare to step forth as their pilot, and
conduct them even to the doors of our wigwams, to butcher our children
and put us to death! No crime can be greater! But though you have merited
death, and shall die on this spot, my hands shall not be stained with the
blood of a brother!--_Who will strike?_"

A pause of but a moment ensued. The bright hatchet of Little Beard, the
sachem of the village, flashed in the air like the lightning, and the
young Oneida chief was dead at his feet. [FN] The other captive, who was
also an Oneida sachem, was then informed by Little Beard that he was
warring only against the whites, and that his life should be spared;
adding, farther, that at a suitable time he should be restored to liberty.
Distrusting the good faith of the chief, however, the captive watched an
opportunity for escape, and very shortly afterward accomplished his
purpose--but in a manner which produced another tragic catastrophe, as
will presently appear.

* * * * *

[FN] This was truly a shocking transaction, but not _so_ shocking as
that of the horrible fratricide before recorded at Wyoming, nor so
shocking as the attempt of the brother of Colonel Frey at Oriskany. The
Indian had far the most humanity, and far the highest sense of honor and
duty.

From Honeoye, General Sullivan advanced in two days upon a town
containing twenty-five houses, called Kanaghsaws. There were large
corn-fields to be destroyed here also, and a bridge to be constructed
over an unfordable creek intervening between Kanaghsaws and Little
Beard's town, lying next in the route to Genesee--so called from the name
of a celebrated chief then residing there. While delayed by these
obstacles, Lieutenant Boyd, of the rifle corps, was detached with
twenty-six men to reconnoiter that chieftain's town, where also was a
castle. Having performed that duty, and in doing so killed and scalped
two Indians [FN-1] in the otherwise deserted village, he had commenced
his return to the main division. It so happened that Boyd was passing at
no great distance from the party of Indians having the Oneida prisoner in
charge. The latter was guarded by two Indians, between whom he was walking
arm in arm, when, at a favorable moment, he suddenly broke from their
grasp, and fled at the top of his speed in the direction of Sullivan's
army. The Indians, in goodly numbers, turned out in pursuit, and while
running, fell in with the party of Lieutenant Boyd. [FN-2] By this time
the Indians in pursuit after the fugitive numbered several hundred, under
the immediate command of Joseph Brant, who seems suddenly to have made
his appearance for the occasion. [FN-3] Indeed, according to one
authority, Brant was not concerned with the pursuit, but had previously
secreted himself in a deep ravine, with a large party of his Indians and
Butler's rangers, for the express purpose of cutting off Boyd's retreat.
[FN-4] Discovering his situation, and in fact surrounded by fearful odds,
Boyd saw, of course, that his only chance of escape was to strike at some
given point, and cut his way through the ranks of the enemy. It was a
bold measure; but there was no alternative, and he made three successive
attempts to accomplish his purpose. In the first, several of the enemy
fell, without the loss of a single man on his own part. But he was
repulsed. The Indians stood their ground nobly; and in the second and
third attempts upon their line by Boyd, his whole party fell except
himself and eight others. In the next moment several of these were
killed, while a few succeeded in flight--among whom was the bold
Virginian, Murphy. Boyd was himself taken prisoner, and one other man
named Parker. The Lieutenant immediately solicited an interview with
Thayendanegea, and making himself known as a Freemason, was assured by
the chief of protection. [FN-5] One of the party under Lieutenant Boyd was
a brave Oneida warrior, named Honyerry, who served him as a guide. This
faithful Indian had served long with the Americans, and, as the reader has
already seen, was particularly distinguished in the battle of Oriskany,
where so many of the Mohawk and Seneca warriors fell. On the present
occasion, moreover, he acquitted himself with signal courage. Being an
excellent marksman, his rifle did great execution. The Indians knew him,
and as they closed in upon the little band, poor Honyerry was literally
hacked to pieces. [FN-6] It was a dear victory, however, to the enemy.
The firing was so close before the brave party was destroyed, that the
powder of the enemy's muskets was driven into their flesh. The enemy had
no covert, while Boyd's party was, for a portion of the time at least,
possessed of a very advantageous one. The enemy were, moreover, so long
employed in removing their dead, that the approach of General Hand's
brigade obliged them to leave one of the number among the dead riflemen;
together with a wagon load of packs, blankets, hats, and provisions,
which they had thrown off to enable them to act with more agility in the
field. [FN-7]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Captain Fowler's Journal. One of these Indians was shot and
scalped by Murphy, whose name has already occurred in connexion with the
Schoharie wars.

[FN-2] Life of Mary Jemison.

[FN-3] Captain Fowler and John Salmon both state the number of Indians
engaged in this affair at upward of five hundred.

[FN-4] John Salmon's letter.

[FN-5] Idem.

[FN-6] Captain Fowler's Journal.

[FN-7] Sullivan's Official Account.

From the battle-field Brant conducted Lieutenant Boyd and his fellow
captive to Little Beard's town, where they found Colonel Butler with a
detachment of the rangers. While under the supervision of Brant, the
Lieutenant was well treated and safe from danger. But the chief being
called away in the discharge of his multifarious duties, Boyd was left
with Butler, who soon afterward began to examine him by questions as to
the situation, numbers, and intentions of General Sullivan and his troops.
He, of course, declined answering all improper questions; whereat Butler
threatened that if he did not give him full and explicit information, he
would deliver him up to the tender mercies of the Indians. Relying
confidently upon the assurances of the generous Mohawk chieftain, Boyd
still refused, and Butler fulfilled his bloody threat--delivering him over
to Little Beard and his clan, the most ferocious of the Seneca tribe.
[FN-1] The gallant fellow was immediately put to death by torture; and
in the execution there was a refinement of cruelty, of which it is not
known that a parallel instance occurred during the whole war. Having been
denuded, Boyd was tied to a sapling, where the Indians first practised
upon the steadiness of his nerves by hurling their tomahawks apparently
at his head, but so as to strike the trunk of the sapling as near to his
head as possible without hitting it--groups of Indians, in the meantime,
brandishing their knives, and dancing around him with the most frantic
demonstrations of joy. His nails were pulled out, his nose cut off, and
one of his eyes plucked out His tongue was also cut out, and he was
stabbed in various places. [FN-2] After amusing themselves sufficiently
in this way, a small incision was made in his abdomen, and the end of one
of his intestines taken out and fastened to the tree. The victim was then
unbound, and driven round the tree by brute force, until his intestines
had all been literally drawn from his body and wound round its trunk. His
sufferings were then terminated by striking his head from his body. It
was then raised upon a pole in triumph. Parker, the other captive, was
likewise beheaded, but not otherwise tortured. After the conclusion of
this tragedy, the Indians held a brief council to determine whether to
offer any farther resistance to General Sullivan, or to yield their
country to his ravages without opposition. They finally came to the
decision that they were not sufficiently powerful to oppose the invaders
with success, and thereupon decided to leave their possessions, for the
preservation of their lives and those of their families. The women and
children were thereupon sent away in the direction of Niagara, while the
warriors remained in the forests about Little Beard's town, to watch the
motions of the Americans. [FN-3]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Letter of Salmon. There is some reason to doubt which of the
Butlers was the actor in this instance--the father, Colonel John, or the
more severe Captain, his son.

[FN-2] Sullivan's Official Account.

[FN-3] Life of Mary Jemison. According to Colonel Butler's statement,
after his examination Boyd was sent forward with a guard to Niagara; but,
while passing through Genesee village, an old Indian rushed out and
tomahawked him. But Salmon says he was put to death by the most cruel
tortures, and so says the official report of General Sullivan. Mary
Jemison, who was with the Indians gives the details from which the
present account is drawn. It is to be hoped, however, that Colonel Butler
was not accessory to the cruelty; and in justice to his memory, it must
be admitted that it was not a transaction characteristic of him.

As soon as the main division had heard of the situation of Boyd, they
moved forward--arriving, however, only in season to bury the bodies of
the slain. [FN-1] This tragic occurrence took place on the 13th of
September. On the same day Sullivan moved forward to a place called
Gathtsegwarohare, where the enemy, both Indians and rangers, were
apparently disposed to make a stand. The troops were immediately brought
into order of battle, and General Clinton's brigade commenced a movement
with a view of outflanking and gaining the enemy's rear. But discovering
the movement, the enemy retreated with precipitation. Sullivan encamped on
the ground--the men sleeping on their arms, in the expectation of an
attack. But the enemy did not disturb their repose; and on the 14th the
army continued its advance, and crossed the Genesee river. Arriving at
Little Beard's town, [FN-2] they found the mutilated bodies of Boyd and
Parker, which were buried on the bank of Beard's Creek, under a clump of
wild plum trees. [FN-3]

* * * * *

[FN-1] They were buried at a place now called Groveland, where the grave
was very recently to be seen.

[FN-2] The place is now called Leicester.

[FN-3] On the road now running from Moscow to Genesee.

The valley of the Genesee, for its beauty and fertility, was beheld by the
army of Sullivan with astonishment and delight. Though an Indian country,
and peopled only by the wild men of the woods, its rich intervales
presented the appearance of long cultivation, and were then smiling with
their harvests of ripening corn. Indeed, the Indians themselves professed
not to know when or by whom the lands upon that stream were first brought
into cultivation. Nearly half a century before, Mary Jemison had observed
a quantity of human bones washed down from one of the banks of the river,
which the Indians held were not the remains of their own people, but of a
different race of men who had once possessed that country. The Indians,
they contended, had never buried their dead in such a situation. Be all
this, however, as it may, instead of a howling wilderness, Sullivan and
his troops found the Genesee flats, and many other districts of the
country, resembling much more the orchards, and farms, and gardens of
civilized life. But all was now doomed to speedy devastation. The Genesee
castle was destroyed. The troops scoured the whole region round about,
and burnt and destroyed every thing that came in their way. Little Beard
himself had officiated as master of ceremonies at the torturing of Boyd;
and his town was now burnt to the ground, and large quantities of corn,
which his people had laid up in store, were destroyed by being burnt or
thrown into the river. "The town of Genesee contained one hundred and
twenty-eight houses, mostly large and very elegant. It was beautifully
situated, almost encircled with a clear flat, extending a number of miles;
over which extensive fields of corn were waving, together with every kind
of vegetable that could be conceived." [FN-1] But the entire army was
immediately engaged in destroying it, and the axe and the torch soon
transformed the whole of that beautiful region from the character of a
garden to a scene of drear and sickening desolation. Forty Indian towns,
the largest containing one hundred and twenty-eight houses, were
destroyed. [FN-2] Corn, gathered and ungathered, to the amount of one
hundred and sixty thousand bushels, shared the same fate; their
fruit-trees were cut down; and the Indians were hunted like wild beasts,
till neither house, nor fruit-tree, nor field of corn, nor inhabitant,
remained in the whole country. The gardens were enriched with great
quantities of useful vegetables, of different kinds. The size of the
corn-fields, as well as the high degree of cultivation in which they
were kept, excited wonder; and the ears of corn were so remarkably large,
that many of them measured twenty-two inches in length. So numerous were
the fruit-trees, that in one orchard they cut down fifteen hundred. [FN-3]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Sullivan's Account.

[FN-2] It has already been seen that this wide-spread destruction was the
result of the express instructions of General Washington. It was in
reference to this fact, that, when addressing President Washington at an
Indian council held in Philadelphia, in 1792, Cornplanter commenced his
speech in the following strain:--"Father: The voice of the Seneca nation
speaks to you, the Great Counselor, in whose heart the wise men of all
the Thirteen Fires have placed their wisdom. It may be very small in
your ears, and we therefore entreat you to hearken with attention: for
we are about to speak to you of things which to us are very great. When
your army entered the country of the Six Nations, we called you the
Town Destroyer; and to this day, when that name is heard, our women look
behind them and turn pale, and our children cling close to the necks of
their mothers. Our counselors and warriors are men, and cannot be afraid;
but their hearts are grieved with the fears of our women and children,
and desire that it maybe buried so deep as to be heard no more."

[FN-3] Ramsay. See, also, History of the British Empire, 2
volumes--anonymous. While Sullivan was at Genesee, a female captive from
Wyoming was re-taken. She gave a deplorable account of the terror and
confusion of the Indians. The women, she said, were constantly begging
the warriors to sue for peace; and one of the Indians, she stated, had
attempted to shoot Colonel Johnson for the falsehoods by which he had
deceived and ruined them. She overheard Butler tell Johnson that after
the battle of Newtown it was impossible to keep the Indians together,
and that he thought they would soon be in a miserable situation, as all
their crops would be destroyed, and they could not be supplied at
Niagara.

It is in connexion with this campaign that the name of the celebrated
Seneca orator, _Sagayewatha,_ or _Red Jacket,_ first occurs in history,
or rather, will now for the first time thus occur, since it has never yet
been mentioned at so early a date by any previous writer. It is well
known by all who are acquainted with Indian history, that Brant and Red
Jacket were irreconcilable enemies. The origin of this enmity has never
yet been known to the public, and it has by some been imputed to the
jealousy entertained by Brant of the growing reputation of his younger
and more eloquent rival. But such is not the fact Brant ever acknowledged
the great intellectual powers of Red Jacket, but always maintained that
he was not only destitute of principle, but an arrant coward. In support
of these opinions, he asserted that Red Jacket had given him much trouble
and embarrassment during this campaign of General Sullivan, and was in
fact the principal cause of the disgrace and disasters of the Indians. In
relating a history of the expedition to a distinguished American
gentleman, [FN] Brant stated that after the battle of Newtown, Red Jacket
was in the habit of holding private councils with the young warriors, and
some of the more timid sachems, the object of which was to persuade them
to sue for peace, upon any--even ignominious terms; and that at one time
he had so far succeeded as to induce them to send privately, and without
the knowledge of the principal war chiefs, a runner into General
Sullivan's camp, to make known to him the spirit of dissatisfaction and
division that prevailed among the Indians, and to invite him to send a
flag of truce with certain propositions calculated to increase their
divisions and produce a dishonorable peace. Brant, who was privately
informed of all these proceedings, but feared the consequences of
disclosing and attempting to suppress them by forcible means, despatched,
secretly also, two confidential warriors to way-lay the flag when on its
route from the American to the Indian camp, and to put the bearer of it
to death, and then return secretly with his despatches. This was
accomplished as he directed, and all attempts at farther negotiations
thereby prevented. It was certainly a bold measure; and how far Brant's
conduct therein is susceptible of justification, or even palliation,
will depend on a variety of minute circumstances which it is now too
late to ascertain.

* * * * *

[FN] The late Secretary of War, General Peter B. Porter.

Having completed the objects contemplated by the expedition to the point
at which he had arrived, General Sullivan re-crossed the Genesee with his
army on the 16th of September, and set out an his return. Why he did not
follow up his success and strike at the enemy's citadel at Niagara, which
at that time was in no situation for formidable resistance, is a question
difficult of solution. Unquestionably, in the organization of the
expedition, the conquest of Niagara, the head-quarters of the foe of all
descriptions, and the seat of British influence and power among the
Indians, was one of the principal objects in view. But perhaps the forces
of the American General had become too much weakened by sickness and
fatigue, (they had not lost a hundred men in battle,) to allow of a
farther advance. Certain it is, that the most important feature of the
enterprise was not undertaken; and it will be seen in the sequel, that
but small ultimate advantage resulted from the campaign. Stimulated by a
yet keener thirst for revenge, clouds of savages were afterward again and
again seen to sweep through the valley of the Mohawk with the scalping
knife and the torch. The excuse offered by Sullivan himself was, the want
of provisions; but this deficiency might have been most abundantly
supplied from the ample stores of the Indians, which were either burnt
or thrown into the river.

The return of the army was along the same track by which it had advanced.
On the 20th, having re-crossed the outlet of Seneca Lake, Colonel Zebulon
Butler was detached with the rifle corps and five hundred men, to pass
round the foot of Cayuga Lake, and lay waste the Indian towns on its
eastern shore; while on the next day, Lieutenant Colonel Dearborn, with
two hundred men, was detached to perform the same service along the
south-western shore. The main army pursued the most direct route to the
Chemung and Tioga. On the 26th Colonel Dearborn's detachment returned,
and on the 28th they were rejoined by Colonel Butler, who had burnt three
towns of the Cayugas, including their capital. [FN] Dearborn had burnt
six towns in his route, destroying at the same time large quantities of
corn. On the same day Colonels Van Courtlandt and Dayton were detached
upon a similar service, for the destruction of large fields of corn
growing upon the banks of the Tioga and its tributaries.

* * * * *

[FN] The Oneidas, it will be recollected, had been interceding in behalf
of the Cayugas, or at least a portion of them. Upon this point General
Sullivan wrote in his official report as follows:--"I trust the steps I
have taken in respect to the Cayugas will prove satisfactory. And here
I beg leave to mention, that on searching the houses of these pretended
neutral Cayugas, a number of scalps were found, which appeared to have
been lately taken, which Colonel Butler showed to the Oneidas, who said
that they were then convinced of the justice of the steps I had taken."

On the 30th of September the army reached its original point of
concentration at Tioga, where, it will be recollected, a fort had been
thrown up, and left in charge of a small garrison. This work was destroyed
on the 3d of October. The army then resumed its return march, and passing
through Wyoming, arrived at Easton on the 15th. The distance thence to the
Genesee castle was two hundred and eighty miles. With the exception of the
action at Newtown, the achievements of the army in battle were not great.
But it had scoured a broad extent of country, and laid more towns in ashes
than had ever been destroyed on the continent before. The red men were
driven from their beautiful country--their habitations left in ruins,
their fields laid waste, their orchards uprooted, and their altars and
the tombs of their fathers overthrown.

There was, however, an episode to this campaign, if such a phrase may be
allowed in military history, which, unexplained as it has been, appears
like a very strange movement on the part of General Sullivan. It has been
seen in the earlier portion of the present work, that when the great body
of the Mohawks retired to Canada with the Johnsons, preparatory to taking
up the hatchet against the Americans, the clan at the lower castle
declined accompanying them. Thus far, moreover, during the whole progress
of the war, they had preserved a strict neutrality. They had neither
molested their white neighbors, nor been molested themselves; but were
living quietly, cultivating their grounds in the midst of the best
settled portion of Tryon County, or following the chase at their
pleasure--and on terms of perfect amity and good-will with their white
neighbors. By some means or other, however, General Sullivan had imbibed
a distrust of these people, and on the 20th of September, while at the
foot of Seneca Lake, he detached Colonel Gansevoort, with a corps of one
hundred men, to Fort Schuyler From thence his orders were peremptory that
he should proceed forthwith down the Mohawk to the said lower Indian
castle, make all the Indians captives if possible, destroy their castle,
and then proceed immediately with the said prisoners to head-quarters--the
order explicitly forbidding that any of the prisoners so taken should be
left at Albany; and the Colonel was at the same time enjoined, amidst all
these measures of hostility, to show the Indians, so to be dispossessed
and carried away by violence, "such necessary marks of civility and
attention as might engage a continuance of their friendship, and give
evidence of our pacific disposition toward them!" This was truly a
surprising order, and, as the event proved, as uncalled for and unjust
as it was incomprehensible. As Colonel Gansevoort's official report of
his proceedings under this order will present the best view of the whole
transaction, it is inserted entire:--

"Colonel Gansevoort to General Sullivan.

"_Albany, October_ 8, 1779.

"Sir,

"Agreeably to my orders, I proceeded by the shortest route to the lower
Mohawk castle, passing through the Tuscarora and Oneida castles (towns),
where every mark of hospitality and friendship was shown the party. I had
the pleasure to find that not the least damage nor insult was offered any
of the inhabitants. On the 25th I arrived at Fort Schuyler, where,
refreshing my party, I proceeded down the river, and on the 29th
effectually surprised the lower Mohawk castle, making prisoners of every
Indian inhabitant They then occupied but four houses. I was preparing,
agreeable to my orders, to destroy them, but was interrupted by the
inhabitants of the frontiers, who have been lately driven from their
settlements by the savages, praying that they might have liberty to enter
into the Mohawks' houses, until they could procure other habitations; and
well knowing those persons to have lately lost their all, humanity
tempted me in this particular to act in some degree contrary to orders,
although I could not but be confident of your approbation; especially
when you are informed that this castle is in the heart of our settlements,
and abounding with every necessary; so that it is remarked that these
Indians live much better than most of the Mohawk river farmers. Their
houses were very well furnished with all necessary household utensils,
great plenty of grain, several horses, cows, and wagons; of all which I
have an inventory, leaving them in the care of Major Newkirk, of that
place, who distributed the refugees in the several houses. Such being the
situation, I did not allow the party to plunder at all.

"The prisoners arrived at Albany on the 2d instant, and were closely
secured in the fort. Yesterday, the 7th, I received a letter from General
Schuyler, (of which I enclose a copy,) respecting the prisoners, desiring
that the sending the prisoners down might be postponed until an express
shall arrive from General Washington. Agreeably to this request, a
sergeant and twelve men are detained to keep charge of the prisoners until
his pleasure is known.

"It is with the greatest regret I mention my indisposition being so great
as to hinder my taking charge of the party to headquarters. I have been
several days confined, and my surgeon informs me that my complaint is
bilious fever. Captain Sytez takes command of the detachment, and will
proceed with all expedition to head-quarters with the baggage of the
several regiments, where I hope shortly to join the army. I remain, &c.,
&c."

It seems that General Schuyler, then at the head of the Northern
Commission of the Indian Department, having heard of the harsh measure
adopted in regard to the lower castle Mohawks, had interposed in their
behalf. The following is the letter referred to by Colonel Gansevoort, a
copy of which was enclosed to General Sullivan:--

"General Schuyler to Colonel Gansevoort.

"_Albany October_ 7, 1779.

"Dear Sir,

"Having perused Gen. Sullivan's orders to you respecting the Indians of
the lower Mohawk castle and their property, I conceive they are founded
on misinformation given to that gentlemen; these Indians have peaceably
remained there under the sanction of the public faith repeatedly given
them by the commissioners of Indian affairs, on condition of peaceable
demeanor; this contract they have not violated to our knowledge. It is
therefore incumbent on us, as servants of the public, to keep the public
faith inviolate; and we therefore entreat you to postpone the sending the
Indians from hence until the pleasure of his Excellency, Gen. Washington,
can be obtained, and a letter is already despatched to him on the
occasion, and in which we have mentioned this application to you. I am,
dear Sir, your most obedient, humble servant,

"Ph. Schuyler,
_President of the Board of Commissioners
of Indian affairs, N. Department._"

Copies of these letters were at the same time enclosed to the
Commander-in-chief by Colonel Gansevoort, and the result was a speedy
release of the poor Indians, with directions from General Washington that
the Commissioners should "lay them under such obligations for their
future good behavior as they should think necessary." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] MS. letter of Washington to Colonel Gansevoort. In justice to
General Sullivan respecting this crusade against the little neighborhood
of friendly Mohawks, it should be stated that he acted under
misinformation. In his official report, written from Tioga, September 30,
he said:--"I directed Colonel Gansevoort to destroy the lower Mohawk
castle in his route, and capture the inhabitants, consisting of only six
or seven families, who were constantly employed in giving intelligence
to the enemy, and in supporting their scouting parties when making
incursions on our frontiers. When the Mohawks joined the enemy, those
few families were undoubtedly left to answer those purposes, and keep
possession of their lands."

Thus ended the memorable campaign of General Sullivan against the country
of the Six Nations; and, however harshly that officer may have been spoken
of by others, it is certain, from the letters of the Commander-in-chief,
that his conduct was viewed in that quarter with the most decided
approbation. The officers of the several corps engaged in the expedition
held separate meetings, and testified the warmest regard in his behalf,
and their approbation of the manner in which he had conducted the
campaign. On the 14th of October Congress passed a resolution of thanks
to General Washington for directing this expedition, and to "General
Sullivan and the brave officers and soldiers under his command for its
effectual execution." But at the very time of the adoption of the
resolution, it was evident that it was carried by a reluctant vote.
Sullivan had made such high demands for military stores, and had so freely
complained of the government for inattention to those demands, as to give
much offence to some members of Congress and to the Board of War. [FN] He,
in consequence, resigned his commission on the 9th of November, under the
convenient pretext of ill health. The resignation was accepted by
Congress on the 30th of that month--accompanied, however, by a vote of
thanks for past services.

* * * * *

[FN] Allen's Biographical Dictionary.

But there was yet another expedition against the Indians, devised and
executed in conjunction, or rather simultaneously, with that of General
Sullivan. This movement took place under the direction of Colonel Daniel
Brodhead, then commanding at Fort Pitt, and was originally designed by the
Commander-in-chief, after accomplishing the destruction of the Mingo,
Munsey, and a portion of the Seneca Indians settled on the Allegheny
river, for co-operation with that of Sullivan, by a junction at
Niagara--a point, as it happened, unattained by either. Preparatory to
this campaign, Washington had written to Colonel Brodhead, on the 22d of
March, directing him to throw forward detachments of troops, the first to
take post at Kittaning, and the second at Venango, and to build stockade
forts at both places--observing the greatest possible secrecy in regard
to ulterior operations. [FN-1] From various unforeseen difficulties, the
project of a direct co-operation with Sullivan was abandoned on the 21st
of April, and Colonel Brodhead was directed to make the necessary
reconnaissances for a movement against Detroit, should such an expedition
be deemed advisable. [FN-2] The result, however, was an independent
campaign against the tribes or clans of Indians last above mentioned,
inhabiting the head waters of the Allegheny river, French Creek, and other
tributaries of the Ohio. Colonel Brodhead left Pittsburgh on the 11th of
August, at the head of six hundred rank and file, including volunteers and
militia, with provisions for one month. The first Indian town designed to
be attacked was Cannowago. On their way thither, four days after their
departure from Fort Pitt, Colonel Brodhead's advanced guard met a party of
between thirty and forty Indian warriors descending the Allegheny in
canoes. The Indians landed to give battle; but were defeated after a sharp
brush, and put to flight, leaving five warriors dead, and evident marks
that others had been carried off wounded. On arriving at Cannowago, the
troops were mortified to find that the town had been deserted for eighteen
months. Proceeding onward, however, they successively entered several
towns, which were abandoned by the Indians on their approach. They were
all destroyed, together with the adjacent corn-fields. At the upper Seneca
town, called Yoghroonwago, they found a painted image, or war-post,
clothed in dog-skin. There were several towns in the vicinity of this
place, containing, in all, one hundred and thirty houses, some of which
were large enough to accommodate three or four families each. These were
all destroyed, together with their fields of corn, so extensive that the
troops were occupied three days in accomplishing the object. The old towns
of Buckloons and Maghinquechahocking, consisting of thirty-five large
houses, were likewise burnt. The Indians had fled so precipitately as to
leave some packages of skins and other booty, to the value of three
thousand dollars--all of which was taken. Fields of corn were destroyed
at least to the extent of five hundred acres. From the number of new
houses building, and the extent of lands preparing for cultivation, it was
conjectured that it was the intention of the whole Seneca and Munsey
nation to plant themselves down in those settlements. [FN-3] The distance
traversed by Colonel Brodhead, going and returning, was four hundred
miles, and not a man was lost during the expedition.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Letter from Washington to Colonel Brodhead, March 22, 1779--Vide
Sparks's Life and Correspondence, vol. vi.

[FN-2] Letter from the same to the same, April 21, 1779.

[FN-3] Official account of Colonel Brodhead. Upon this expedition, in
connexion with that of Sullivan, the historian, Ramsay, remarks--"In this
manner the savage part of the war was carried on. Waste, and sometimes
cruelty, were inflicted and retorted, with infinite variety of scenes of
horror and disgust. The selfish passions of human nature, unrestrained
by social ties, broke over all bounds of decency or humanity."

The thanks of Congress were likewise voted to General Washington for
devising, and to Colonel Brodhead for executing, this expedition. It has
already been remarked, that as but few of the enemy were slain in these
expeditions, the only immediate effect, beyond the destruction of
provisions and property, was to exasperate the Indians. A more remote
effect was to throw the whole body of the hostiles of the Six Nations
back upon their British employers, for their entire support the following
winter. Another consequence was, that from the want and distress of the
Indians during that winter, a mortal disease was superinduced among them,
which swept great numbers into eternity.

Still another effect of these sweeping invasions of the Indian country,
was, at least for the time being, to terrify some of the tribes yet more
remote. On Colonel Brodhead's return to Fort Pitt, September 14th, he
found the chiefs of the Delawares, the principal chiefs of the Wyandots
or Hurons, and the King of the Maquichee branch of the Shawanese, awaiting
his arrival. Three days afterward the Colonel held a council with these
forest dignitaries, on which occasion _Doonyontat,_ the Wyandot chief,
delivered the following speech:--

"Brother Maghingive Keeshuch, [FN] listen to me!"

* * * * *

[FN] The Indian name conferred upon Colonel Brodhead.

Brother: It grieves me to see you with the tears in your eyes. I know it
is the fault of the English.

"Brother: I wipe away all those tears, and smooth down your hair, which
the English, and the folly of my young men, have ruffled.

"Now, my Brother, I have wiped away all the stains from your clothes, and
smoothed them where my young men had ruffled them, so that you may now
put on your hat, and sit with that ease and composure which you would
desire.

"_Four strings of white wampum._

"Brother: Listen to the Huron chiefs.

"Brother: I see you all bloody by the English and my young men. I now
wipe away all those stains, and make you clean.

"Brother: I see your heart twisted, and neck and throat turned to the one
side, with the grief and vexation which my young men have caused; all
which disagreeable sensations I now remove, and restore you to your former
tranquility, so that now you may breathe with ease, and enjoy the benefit
of your food and nourishment.

"Brother: Your ears appear to be stopped, so that you cannot listen to
your Brothers when they talk of friendship. That deafness I now remove,
and all stoppage from your ears, that you may listen to the friendly
speeches of your Brothers, and that they may sink deep into your heart.

"_Seven strings of white wampum._

"Brother: Listen to me. When I look around me, I see the bones of our
nephews lie scattered and unburied.

"Brother: I gather up the bones of all our young men on both sides, who
have fallen in this dispute, without any distinction of party.

"Brother: I have now gathered up the bones of our relations on both sides,
and will bury them in a large deep grave, and smooth it over so that
there shall not be the least sign of bones, or any thing to raise any
grief or anger in any of our minds hereafter.

"Brother: I have now buried the bones of all our relations very deep. You
very well know that there are some of your flesh and blood in our hands
prisoners: I assure you that you shall see them all safe and well.

"_Eight strings of white wampum._

"Brother: I now look up to where our Maker is, and think there is some
darkness still over our heads, so that God can hardly see us, on account
of the evil doings of the King over the great waters. All these thick
clouds, which have arisen on account of that bad King, I now entirely
remove, that God may look and see us in our treaty of friendship, and be
a witness to the truth and sincerity of our intentions.

"_Four strings of white wampum._

"Brother: As God puts all our hearts right, I now give thanks to God
Almighty, to the chief men of the Americans, to my old father the King of
France, and to you, Brother, that we can now talk together on friendly
terms, and speak our sentiments without interruption.

"_Four strings of black and white wampum._

"Brother: You knew me before you saw me, and that I had not drawn away my
hand from yours, as I sent you word last year by Captain White Eyes.

"Brother: I look up to Heaven, and call God Almighty to witness to the
truth of what I say, and that it really comes from my heart.

"Brother: I now tell you that I have forever thrown off my father the
English, and will never give him any assistance; and there are some amongst
all the nations that think the same things that I do, and I wish that they
would all think so.

"Brother: I cannot answer for all the nations, as I don't know all their
thoughts, and will speak only what I am sure of.

"Brother: Listen to me. I love all the nations, and hate none, and when I
return home they shall all hear what you say and what is done between us.

"Brother: I have just now told you that I loved all the nations, and I see
you raising up the hatchet against my younger Brother, the Shawanese. [FN]
I beg of you to stop a little while, as he has never yet heard me; and
when he has heard me, if he does not choose to think as we do, I will tell
you of it immediately."

* * * * *

[FN] Colonel Clarke, the captor of Hamilton, was at that time preparing
to invade the principal Shawanese towns--a purpose which he executed
some time afterward.--_Author._

"Brother: I intend to speak roughly to my younger brother, and tell him
not to listen to the English, but throw them off, and listen to me, and
then he may live as I do.

"Brother: I thank you for leaving the fortress at Tuscarawas, and am
convinced by that that you have taken pity on us, and want to make us your
friends.

"Brother: I now take a firmer hold of your hand than before, and beg that
you will take pity upon the other nations who are my friends; and if any
of them should incline to take hold of your hand, I request that you
would comply, and receive them into friendship.

"_A black belt of eleven rows._

"Brother: Listen. I tell you to be cautious, as I think you intend to
strike the man near to where I sit, not to go the nighest way to where he
is, lest you frighten the owners of the lands who are living through the
country between this and that place." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Referring to the projected movement of Colonel Brodhead against
Detroit--a purpose never executed.

"Brother: You now listen to me, and one favor I beg of you is, that when
you drive away your enemies, you will allow me to continue in possession
of my property, which, if you grant, will rejoice me.

"Brother: I would advise you, when you strike the man near where I sit,
to go by water, as it will be the easiest and best way.

"Brother: If you intend to strike, one way is to go up the Allegheny, and
by Presq' Isle; another way is to go down this river and up the Wabash.

"Brother: The reason why I mentioned the road up the river is, that there
will be no danger of your being discovered until you are close upon them,
but on the road down the river you will be spied.

"Brother: Now I have told you the way by Presq' Isle, and that it is the
boundary between us and your enemies; if you go by the Wabash, your
friends will not be surprised.

"Brother: You must not think that what I have said is only my own
thoughts, but the opinion of all the Huron chiefs, and I speak in behalf
of them all. If you grant what favors I have asked of you, all our friends
and relations will be thankful and glad as far as they can hear all round.

"Brother: The reason why I have pointed out these two roads is, that when
we hear you are in one of them, we will know your intentions without
farther notice; and the Huron chiefs desired me particularly to mention
it, that they may meet you in your walk, and tell you what they have done,
who are your enemies, and who are your friends, and I, in their name,
request a pair of colors to show that we have joined in friendship.

"_Fourteen strings of black wampum._

"Brother: The chiefs desired me to tell you that they sent Montour before
to tell you their intention, and they leave him to go with you, that when
you meet your Brothers, you may consult together, and understand one
another by his means."

On the 19th Colonel Brodhead addressed the Huron chief in reply, after
the Indian form. He told him, distinctly, that fair words were no longer
to be taken, unless their sincerity was attested by their deeds. In
regard to the roads to Detroit, he said he should select whichever he
pleased. As for the Shawanese, the Colonel told the chief that he had
sent them a fair speech, which they had thrown into the fire, and he
should not now recall Colonel Clarke. And in regard to the people of the
chief himself, the Colonel demanded, as the basis of peace, that they
should stipulate to restore all American prisoners in their hands; to
kill, scalp, and take, as many of the English and their allies as they
had killed and taken of the Americans; and on every occasion to join the
Americans against their enemies. The Wyandots assented to the terms, and
hostages were required for the faithful performance of their agreement.

The Delawares were at that time at peace with the United States, and a
small body of their warriors had accompanied Colonel Brodhead on the
expedition from which he had just returned. The business having been
closed with the Huron chiefs the Delawares interposed in behalf of the
Maquichee clan of the Shawanese. These Indians were now apparently very
humble; but, apprehensive that they might not perhaps manage their own
case very well, the Delawares had kept them back from the council, and
undertaken their cause themselves. _Kelleleman,_ a Delaware chief,
informed Colonel Brodhead that on arriving there, their grand-children
[FN] had addressed them thus:--

* * * * *

[FN] In Indian parlance the Delawares were styled the "Grandfathers" of
the Shawanese; and hence the use, in these proceedings, of the terms
reciprocally of "Grand-children" and "Grandfathers."

"Grandfathers: We are humble, and are now come unto you. Now I am come to
you, I take my hands and wipe your eyes, that you may clearly see the
light, and that these are your grand-children who now appear before you,
and likewise remove every obstruction from your eyes, that you may hear
and understand me. I also compose your heart, that you may be disposed to
pity your poor grand-children, as your ancient chiefs used to pity their
grand-children, the Maquichees, when they were poor or humble before them.
Now, my grandfathers, I tell you to pity your grand-children, the
Maquichees, and whatever you direct them to do, will be done. Now you have
heard your grand-children speak, and you will judge what to say to your
brother, Maghingive Keeshuch:

"_Two strings of white wampum._

"Now, grandfathers, here is a little tobacco to fill your pipes, that you
may consider and pity your grand-children the Maquichees."

Kelleleman farther reported to Colonel Brodhead, that after the foregoing
speech, _Keeshmattsee,_ a Maquichee chief, rose and said to the
Delawares:--

"Grandfathers: I now take my chief and counselor, Nimwha, and set him down
on the ground before you, that he may assist you in considering the
distressed situation of your grand-children."

Another Delaware chief, named _Killbush,_ then addressed Colonel Brodhead
thus:--

"Brother Maghingive Keeshuch: Listen to me. You always told me that when
any nations came to treat of peace, I should first speak to them, and tell
you my sentiments of them; which I am now come to do in regard to my
grand-children, the Maquichees.

"I told them I was much obliged to them for clearing my eyes, my ears,
and composing my heart, and that it was time, for many bad things enter
into my ears."

Then turning to the Maquichees, Killbush continued his speech:--

"I remember you told me to pity you, and it is true I have pitied you,
my grand-children, the Shawanese.

"Now I tell you, my grand-children, it is very well you put me in mind of
my wise ancestors, who, out of pity, took you up and placed you before
them.

"My grand-children: The Maquichees, it is true, you have done no harm,
but I see some stains of blood upon you, which the mischief and folly of
some of your young men have occasioned. Now, my grand-children, I will
advise you how to be cleansed from your bloody stains; deliver to our
brother Maghingive Keeshuch all his flesh and blood which are prisoners
in your hands, and the horses you have stolen from the Americans. My
grand-children, when you have done this, you will then be clean; your
flesh and heart will be the same as mine, and I can again take you up and
set you down before me, as our wise chiefs formerly did.

"Now, my grand-children, I tell you that for several years past you have
been fraught with lies, which I am tired of hearing, and in future you
must tell me nothing but the truth.

"Now listen to me, my grand-children; you see how dreadful the day looks,
and how thick the clouds appear; don't imagine this day to be like that
on which you first came to your grandfathers. I tell you that I have
finished the chain of friendship. The thirteen United States and I are
one. I have already assisted my brother in taking the flesh of the
English and the Mingoes. You told me just now, that whatever I told you,
you would do; now I offer you the flesh of the English and Mingoes to
eat, and that is the only method I know of by which your lives may be
preserved, and you allowed to live in peace," (delivering them a
string of wampum and two scalps.) They received the string and scalps,
and said they were glad to know this; and, as they had before said,
whatever their grandfathers told them, they would do, so they told them
again on receiving the scalps. They said, "now, grandfathers, I am very
glad to hear what you have said; I have got in my hand what you say will
save my life," and immediately sang his war-song. The speaker, having
danced, delivered the scalps to the king, who likewise rose and sang the
war-song, and said; "Now, my grandfathers, although you have often sent
good speeches to the other tribes of the Shawanese nation, yet they would
not receive them, but still took up the tomahawk to strike your brothers.
I will now go and deliver them what I now have in my hands, which I
suppose they will receive."

These proceedings were closed by the following speech from one of the
Delawares to Colonel Brodhead:--

"Brother: We now let you know the result of our council respecting the
Maquichees.

"Brother: Listen. This is the way I have considered the matter, and if I
am mistaken I am very sorry for it Brother, let us both consider of it. I
thought when I looked in his eyes that he was sincere.

"Brother: I think the Maquichees are honest In former times they were the
best of the Shawanese nation. I think we may take them by the hand; and
you know you told me that any nation I took by the hand, you would also
receive."

The conference appears to have been satisfactory to Colonel Brodhead. But
if the Maquichee clan of the Shawanese preserved their fidelity, the main
body of the nation became none the less unfriendly by their means. And
although Colonel Brodhead had admonished them that he would not
countermand the orders to Colonel Clarke to strike them, it so happened
that the first and severest blow was struck by the Shawanese themselves.
It was but a short time after the closing of the council at Fort Pitt,
that a detachment of seventy men from the Kentucky district of Virginia,
under the command of Major Rodgers, was surprised while ascending the
Ohio, and nearly exterminated. The Kentuckians were drawn ashore by a
stratagem. At first a few Indians only appeared, standing upon a sand-bar
near the mouth of the Licking river, while a canoe, with three other
Indians, was paddling toward them as though to receive them on board.
Rodgers immediately put in to the Kentucky shore, and having made fast
his boats, went in pursuit. Only five or six Indians had been seen, and
Rodgers, presuming that the whole party would not probably exceed fifteen
or twenty at farthest, felt perfectly sure of an easy victory--having
seventy men, well armed and provided. Proceeding cautiously toward the
point where he supposed he should surround the enemy, and having adjusted
his movements with that design, at the very moment when he was preparing
to rush forward and secure them, he found himself with his whole force in
the midst of an ambuscade! The Indians rose in a cloud of hundreds on all
sides of him, and pouring in a close and deadly fire upon the Americans,
rushed upon the survivors tomahawk in hand. Major Rodgers, and forty-five
of his men were killed almost instantly. The residue ran for the boats,
but the guard of only five men who had been left in charge, had sought
security by putting off in one of them, while the Indians had already
anticipated the fugitives by taking possession of the others. The
possibility of retreat being thus cut off, the brave fellows now turned
furiously upon the enemy; and as night was approaching, after a sharp
fight for some time, a small number, aided by the darkness, succeeded in
effecting their escape to Harrodsburgh.

Among the wounded in this sharp and bloody encounter, who escaped both
death and captivity, were Captain Robert Benham, and another man, whose
cases, together, form a novel and romantic adventure. Benham was shot
through both hips, and the bones being shattered, he instantly fell.
Still, aided by the darkness, he succeeded in crawling among the thick
branches of a fallen tree, where he lay without molestation through the
night and during the following day, while the Indians, who had returned
for that purpose, were stripping the slain. He continued to lie close in
the place of his retreat until the second day, when, becoming hungry, and
observing a raccoon descending a tree, he managed to shoot it--hoping to
be able to strike a fire, and cook the animal. The crack of the rifle was
followed by a human cry, which at first startled the Captain; but the cry
being repeated, several times, the voice of a Kentuckian was at length
recognized; the call was returned; and the parties were soon together.
The man proved to be one of his comrades, who had lost both of his arms
in the battle. Never before did misery find more welcome company. One of
the parties could use his feet, and the other his hands. Benham, by
tearing up his own and his companion's shirts, dressed the wounds of both.
He could load his rifle and fire with readiness, and was thus enabled to
kill such game as approached, while his companion could roll the game
along upon the ground with his feet, and in the same manner collect wood
enough together to cook their meals. When thirsty, Benham could place his
hat in the teeth of his companion, who went to the Licking, and wading in
until he could stoop down and fill it, returned with a hat-full of water.
When the stock of squirrels, and other small game in their immediate
neighborhood, was exhausted, the man on his legs would roam away, and
drive up a flock of wild turkeys, then abundant in those parts, until
they came within the range of Benham's rifle. Thus they lived, helps meet
for each other, during the period of six weeks, when they discovered a
boat upon the Ohio, which took them off. Both recovered thoroughly from
their wounds. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Captain Benham afterward served with bravery in the Indian wars of
1789-94, sharing the disaster of St. Clair and the victory of Wayne. At
the close of the Revolution, he purchased the land whereon he was
wounded at the time of Rodgers's defeat, built a house there, and there
lived and died.

No other events of moment occurred in the region professedly embraced in
the present history, during the residue of the year 1779; and the progress
of the war in other parts of the Union had been marked with but few
signal actions. The active operations of this year between the British
forces proper and the Americans, had commenced in the south, to the
command of which section of the country General Lincoln had been assigned
at the close of 1778. The first occurrence was the surprise and defeat,
on the 3d of March, of General Ash, commanding a body of fifteen hundred
North Carolina militia, stationed at the confluence of Briar Creek, on the
Savannah river, by the British General Provost. There were about sixty
regular troops under General Ash, who fought well. But the militia, as
usual, threw away their arms and fled, with the exception of about three
hundred, who were either killed or taken. In May, General Provost
invested Charleston, but raised the siege on the approach of Lincoln upon
his rear. He at first retired to the island, but soon withdrew to
Savannah, where he was in turn besieged by Lincoln in October, on the
land side, and by the French fleet under the Count D'Estaing by water.
Repulsed in an injudicious assault, after much brave fighting by both
Americans and French, the fleet of the latter left the continent, and the
siege was raised--the militia flying to their homes, and General Lincoln
retiring to Charleston. In this assault, among other proud spirits, fell
the brave Polish Count Pulaski--who had signalized himself in his own
country by carrying off King Stanislaus from his capital, assisted by only
a party of associate Catholic conspirators. The only relief to this
disastrous affair, was the capture, by Colonel John White of Georgia, and
Captain Elholm, with four other men, of a British detachment of one
hundred men, forty sailors, and five armed vessels, at Ogechee, by a very
ingenious and efficacious stratagem. Kindling a large number of fires,
after the manner of an encampment, they summoned the British commander,
Captain French, to surrender, or they would cut his flotilla to pieces.
Supposing, by the lines of fires, that there was a greatly superior force
against them, the enemy surrendered at discretion.

In the middle and northern sections of the Union, the contest during the
Summer had assumed the character rather of a predatory warfare than of
regular campaigns. Sir George Collier and General Matthews made a
plundering expedition on the coast of Virginia, and after sacking Norfolk
and parts adjacent, returned to New-York with their booty. In July a
combined expedition by land and water was directed, under Sir George and
Governor Tryon, against Connecticut. New-Haven was taken and sacked.
Several houses in East Haven were burnt. Fairfield, Green's Farms, and
Norwalk, were likewise taken, plundered, and laid in ashes. The Americans,
consisting chiefly of militia, under General Lovell, made an attempt upon
a British post at Penobscot, which was commenced gallantly. But the
arrival of Sir George Collier's fleet, with reinforcements, obliged the
General to abandon the enterprise. These untoward events, however, were
relieved by Major Lee's surprise and capture of the British fort at
Paulus Hook, and by the still more brilliant affair of the capture of
Stony Point by General Wayne.

CHAPTER II.

Progress of the war in the South--Fall of Charleston--Brilliant
achievements--Rigorous winter of 1780--Destruction of the Oneida Castle
and villages--Third marriage of Brant--Irruption into
Harpersfield--Captivity of Captain Harper, Freegift Patchin, and
others--Conduct of Brant--Consultation whether to put the prisoners to
death---Sagacity and firmness of Harper--Marched off for
Niagara--Remarkable adventures by the way--Murder of an old man--Cure
of the fever and ague--A thrilling scene--Sufferings for food--Justice
and impartiality of Brant--Approach to Niagara--The ordeal--Humane
device of Brant to save his Prisoners from the trial--Arrival at
Niagara--Farther irruptions of the Indians--Shawangunk--Saugerties--
Captivity of Captain Snyder and his son--Arrival at
Niagara--Examination--Guy Johnson, Butler and Brant--Prisoners sent to
Montreal--The Mohawk Valley--Bravery of Solomon Woodruff--Irruption to
Little Falls--Burning of Ellis's Mills--Incidents on the Ohio--Bold
exploit of McConnel--Attack of Colonel Bird, with his Indians, upon the
Licking Settlement--Colonel Clarke takes vengeance upon the Shawanese.

The succeeding year opened inauspiciously to the American arms. No sooner
had Sir Henry Clinton heard of the departure of Count D'Estaing from the
Southern coast with the French fleet, than he prepared for a formidable
descent upon South Carolina. Charleston was the first and most prominent
object of attack. The expedition destined upon this service left New-York
about the close of January, and in due season the troops effected their
landing about thirty miles from Charleston. The object of the enemy could
not be mistaken, and General Lincoln made every exertion for the defence
of the important post entrusted to his command, by increasing his forces
and strengthening his works. Before the middle of April the town was
invested by sea and land, and Lincoln was summoned to surrender--which
summons with modest firmness he declined to obey. Clinton having succeeded
in all his preliminary operations--Tarleton having cut up Colonel White's
cavalry on the Santee, and Fort Moultrie having surrendered to the Royal
Navy--the garrison, finding itself without reasonable hope of relief,
proposed terms of capitulation, which were rejected by the British
commander. Hostilities were meantime prosecuted with great energy, and
after a tremendous cannonade and bombardment, lasting from the 6th to the
11th of May, General Lincoln was forced into a capitulation. His garrison
consisted, all told, of about five thousand men--of whom no more than two
thousand were continental troops. The loss was heavy--including upward of
four hundred pieces of cannon.

Having accomplished this object, Sir Henry divided his forces into three
columns, dispatching them in as many directions, with a view of
overrunning the whole Southern states. Clinton, himself, returned to
New-York; and then commenced that remarkable course of partizan warfare
in the South, which called forth so much of high and chivalrous daring
in Marion, Sumpter, and their associates in arms, and which was attended
with so many brilliant exploits. There are no more vivid and thrilling
pages in American history than the records of those partizan operations,
the incidents of which amounted to little in themselves, separately
considered; but in the general results they were of infinite importance
to the cause of the republic--since the invaders were, in fact, weakened
by every victory, while defeat did not discourage the Americans, who were
gaining both moral and physical strength by the protraction of the
struggle. But these distant glances are incidental--the North being the
main field of research.

The devastation of their country by General Sullivan--the destruction of
their houses, as well as their means of subsistence--had driven the
Indians back upon Niagara for the winter of 1779-80--the usual
winter-quarters of Brant, Guy Johnson, and the Butlers--father and son.
As had been anticipated by the American Commander-in-chief, the Indians
suffered greatly by destitution and consequent sickness during that
winter, which was one of unexampled rigor in North America. [FN-1] But
neither the inclemency of the weather, nor the wants of the Indians at
Niagara, prevented them from fulfilling the threat of Sir Frederick
Haldimand against the Oneidas. Their villages and castle were invaded by
the hostile Indians, aided by a detachment of British troops, or more
probably by a corps of Butler's rangers, and entirely destroyed--their
castle, their church, and their dwellings being alike laid in ashes;
while the Oneidas themselves were driven down upon the white settlements
for protection and support. They were subsequently planted in the
neighborhood of Schenectady, where they were supported by the government
of the United States until the close of the war. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] The harbor of New-York was not merely choked with ice for a time
during the Winter of 1779-80, but so thoroughly frozen that cannon were
wheeled over to the city on the ice from Staten Island.

[FN-2] There is difficulty in ascertaining the exact time of Brant's
invasion of the Oneida towns. Although an important event in the border
ware, the author has not been able to obtain dates or particulars. The
fact is well known; and President Kirkland, (son of the Oneida
Missionary,) has spoken of the incident several times in his
communications to the Massachusetts Historical Society--published in
their valuable collections. In one of those communications, Dr. Kirkland
remarks that this dispersion of the Oneidas, and the devastation of
their country, were greatly detrimental to their nation. When the war
came on, they had attained to some degree of regularity, industry, and
prosperity. But, driven from their homes, reduced to want, dependence,
and abject poverty, their habits became more intemperate and idle than
ever, and they never recovered from their depression.

Aside from the destruction of the Oneida country, it is believed that no
important object was undertaken by Thayendanegea until the opening of
Spring. It may be noted, however, incidentally, as an illustration of the
character of the Mohawk chief, that during this winter he was married to
his third wife, at the fort of Niagara, under circumstances somewhat
peculiar. Among the prisoners taken to that post from Cherry Valley, was
a Miss Moore, who, being detained in captivity with Mrs. Campbell and
others, was courted and married by an officer of the garrison.
Thayendanegea was present at the wedding; and although he had for some
time previous been living with his wife, bound only by the ties of an
Indian marriage, he nevertheless embraced the opportunity of having the
English marriage ceremony performed, which was accordingly done by
Colonel Butler, acting as one of the King's commission of the peace for
Tryon County.

But the chief was seldom inactive. The month of April found him on the
war-path, at the head of a small party of Indians and Tories, whom he
led against the settlement of Harpersfield, which was taken by surprise
and destroyed. In consequence of their exposed situation, most of the
inhabitants had left the settlement, so that there were but few persons
killed, and only nineteen taken prisoners. Proceeding from Harpersfield,
it was Brant's design to make an attack upon the upper fort of Schoharie,
should he deem it prudent to encounter the risk, after duly
reconnoitering the situation of the fort and ascertaining its means of
defence. The execution of this part of his project was prevented by an
unexpected occurrence. Harpersfield was probably destroyed on the 5th or
6th of April. It happened that nearly at the same time, Colonel Vrooman,
who was yet in command of Old Schoharie, had sent out a scout of fourteen
militia-minute-men, with directions to pass over to the head waters of
the Charlotte river, and keep an eye upon the movements of certain
suspected persons living in the valley of that stream. It being the
proper season for making maple sugar, the minute-men were likewise
directed to remain in the woods and manufacture a quantity of that
article, of which the garrison were greatly in want. On the 2d of April,
this party, the commander of which was Captain Alexander Harper,
commenced their labors in the "sugar-bush," at the distance of about
thirty miles from Schoharie. They were occupied in the discharge of this
part of their duty, very cheerfully and with good success, for several
days, entirely unapprehensive of danger; more especially as a new fall
of snow, to the depth of three feet, would prevent, they supposed, the
moving of any considerable body of the enemy, while in fact they were not
aware of the existence of an armed foe short of Niagara. But their
operations were most unexpectedly interrupted. It seems that Brant, in
wending his way from Harpersfield toward Schoharie, fell suddenly upon
Harper and his party on the 7th of April, at about two o'clock in the
afternoon, and immediately surrounded them--his force consisting of
forty-three Indian warriors and seven Tories. So silent and cautious had
been the approach of the enemy, that the first admonition Harper received
of their presence, was the death of three of his little band, [FN] who
were struck down while engaged in their work. The leader was instantly
discovered in the person of the Mohawk chief, who rushed up to Captain
Harper, tomahawk in hand, and observed--"Harper, I am sorry to find you
here!" "Why are you sorry, Captain Brant?" replied the other. "Because,"
rejoined the chief, "I must kill you, although we were school-mates in
our youth,"--at the same time raising his hatchet, and suiting the action
to the word. Suddenly his arm fell, and with a piercing scrutiny, looking
Harper full in the face, he inquired--"Are there any regular troops at
the forts in Schoharie." Harper caught the idea in an instant. To answer
truly, and admit that there were none, as was the fact, would but hasten
Brant and his warriors forward to fall upon the settlements at once, and
their destruction would have been swift and sure. He therefore informed
him that a reinforcement of three hundred Continental troops had arrived
to garrison the forts only two or three days before. This information
appeared very much to disconcert the chieftain. He prevented the farther
shedding of blood, and held a consultation with his subordinate chiefs.
Night coming on, Harper and his ten surviving companions were shut up in
a pen of logs, and guarded by the Tories, under the charge of _their_
leader, a cruel fellow named Becraft, and of bloody notoriety in that war.
Controversy ran high among the Indians during the night--the question
being, whether the prisoners should be put to death or carried to
Niagara. They were bound hand and foot, but were so near the Indian
council as to hear much of what was said, and Harper knew enough of the
Indian tongue to comprehend the general import of their debates. The
Indians were for putting them to death; and Becraft frequently tantalized
the prisoners, by telling them, with abusive tones and epithets, that
"they would be in hell before morning." Brant's authority, however, was
exerted effectually to prevent the massacre.

* * * * *

[FN] The late General Freegift Patchin, of Schoharie, was one of
Harper's party, as also were his brother, Isaac Patchin, Ezra Thorp,
Lt. Henry Thorp, and Major Henry. It is from Priest's Narrative of the
captivity of General Patchin, that the author obtained the facts of this
transaction.

On the following morning Harper was brought before the Indians for
examination. The Chief commenced by saying, that they were suspicious he
had not told them the truth. Harper, however, had great coolness and
presence of mind; and although Brant was eying him like a basilisk, he
repeated his former statements without the improper movement of a muscle,
or betraying the least distrustful sign or symptom. Being satisfied,
therefore, of the truth of his story, Brant determined to retrace his
steps to Niagara. This he did with great reluctance--admitting to Captain
Harper that the real object of his expedition was to fall upon Schoharie,
which place, as they had been informed, was almost entirely undefended.
He had promised to lead his warriors to spoils and victory, and they were
angry at being thus cut short of their expectations. Under these
circumstances of chagrin and disappointment, it had only been with great
difficulty that he could restrain his followers from putting them to
death. Brant then said to Captain Harper, that he and his companions
should be spared, on condition of accompanying him as prisoners of war to
Niagara.

Their march was forthwith commenced, and was full of pain, peril, and
adventure. The prisoners were heavily laden with the booty taken from
Harpersfield, and well guarded. Their direction was first down the
Delaware, where they stopped at a mill to obtain provisions. The miller
was a Tory, and both himself and daughters counseled Brant to put his
prisoners to death. On the following day they met another loyalist, who
was well acquainted with Brant, and with Captain Harper and his party.
He assured the former that Harper had deceived him, and that there were
no troops at Schoharie. The Captain was, therefore, brought to another
scrutiny; but he succeeded so well in maintaining the appearance of
sincerity and truth, as again to avert the upraised and glittering
tomahawk. On the same day an aged man, named Brown, was accidentally
fallen in with and taken prisoner, with two youthful grandsons; the day
following, being unable to travel with sufficient speed, and sinking
under the weight of the burden imposed upon him, the old man was put out
of the way with the hatchet. The victim was dragging behind, and when he
saw preparations making for his doom, he took an affectionate farewell
of his little grandsons, and the Indians moved on, leaving one of their
number, with his face painted black--the mark of an executioner--behind
with him. In a few moments afterward, the Indian came up, with the old
man's scalp dangling from between the ramrod and muzzle of his gun.

Having descended the Delaware a sufficient distance, they crossed over to
Oghkwaga, where they constructed floats, and sailed down the Susquehanna
to the confluence of the Chemung, at which place their land-traveling
again commenced. Being heavily encumbered with luggage, and withal
tightly pinioned, the prisoners must have sunk by the way, at the rate
the Indians traveled, and would probably have been tomahawked but for the
indisposition of Brant, who, providentially for the prisoners, was
attacked with fever and ague--so that every alternate day he was unable
to travel. These interruptions gave them time to rest and recruit. Brant
wrought his own cure by a truly Indian remedy. Watching upon the southern
side of a hill, where serpents usually crawl forth in the Spring to bask
in the sunbeams, he caught a rattlesnake, which was immediately made into
soup, of which he ate. A speedy cure was the consequence.

But a new trial awaited the prisoners soon after they reached the
Chemung. During his march from Niagara on this expedition, Brant had
detached eleven of his warriors to fall once more upon the Minisink
settlement for prisoners. This detachment, as it subsequently appeared,
had succeeded in taking captive five athletic men, whom they secured and
brought with them as far as Tioga Point. The Indians sleep very soundly,
and the five prisoners had resolved at the first opportunity to make their
escape. While encamped at this place during the night, one of the
Minisink men succeeded in extricating his hands from the binding cords,
and with the utmost caution unloosed his four companions. The Indians
were locked in the arms of deep sleep around them. Silently, without
causing a leaf to rustle, they each snatched a tomahawk from the girdles
of their unconscious enemies, and in a moment nine of them were quivering
in the agonies of death. The two others were awakened, and springing upon
their feet, attempted to escape. One of them was struck with a hatchet
between the shoulders, but the other fled. The prisoners immediately made
good their own retreat, and the only Indian who escaped unhurt, returned
to take care of his wounded companion. As Brant and his warriors
approached this point of their journey, some of his Indians having raised
a whoop, it was instantly returned by a single voice with the _death
yell!_ Startled at this unexpected signal, Brant's warriors rushed
forward to ascertain the cause. But they were not long in doubt. The lone
warrior met them, and soon related to his brethren the melancholy fate
of his companions. The effect upon the warriors, who gathered in a group
to hear the recital, was inexpressibly fearful. Rage, and a desire of
revenge, seemed to kindle every bosom, and light every eye as with
burning coals. They gathered round the prisoners in a circle, and began
to make unequivocal preparations for hacking them to pieces. Harper and
his men of course gave themselves up for lost, not doubting that their
doom was fixed and irreversible. But at this moment deliverance came from
an unexpected quarter. While their knives were unsheathing, and their
hatchets glittering, as they were flourished in the sunbeams, the only
survivor of the murdered party rushed into the circle and interposed in
their favor. With a wave of the hand as of a warrior entitled to be
heard--for he was himself a chief--silence was restored, and the prisoners
were surprised by the utterance of an earnest appeal in their behalf. It
has already been observed that Captain Harper knew enough of the Indian
language to understand its purport, though unfortunately not enough to
preserve its eloquence. In substance, however, the Chief appealed to his
brother warriors in favor of the prisoners, upon the ground that it was
not they who had murdered their brothers; and to take the lives of the
innocent would not be right in the eyes of the Great Spirit. His appeal
was effective. The passions of the incensed warriors were hushed, their
eyes no longer shot forth the burning glances of revenge, and their
gesticulations ceased to menace immediate and bloody vengeance.

True, it so happened that the Chief who had thus thrown himself
spontaneously between them and death, knew all the prisoners--he having
resided in the Schoharie canton of the Mohawks before the war. He
doubtless felt a deeper interest in their behalf on that account. Still,
it was a noble action, worthy of the proudest era of chivalry, and in the
palmy days of Greece and Rome, would have ensured him almost "an
apotheosis and rites divine." The interposition of Pocahontas, in favor
or Captain Smith, before the rude court of Powhattan, was perhaps more
romantic; but when the motive which prompted the generous action of the
princess is considered, the transaction now under review exhibits the
most of genuine benevolence. Pocahontas was moved by the tender
passion--the Mohawk sachem by the feelings of magnanimity, and the
eternal principles of justice. It is matter of regret that the name of
this high-souled warrior is lost, as, alas! have been too many that
might have served to relieve the dark and vengeful portraitures of Indian
character, which it has so well pleased the white man to draw! The
prisoners themselves were so impressed with the manner of their signal
deliverance, that they justly attributed it to a direct interposition of
the providence of God.

The march was now resumed toward Niagara, along the route traveled by
Sullivan's expedition the preceding year. Their sufferings were great
for want of provisions--neither warriors nor prisoners having any thing
more than a handful of corn each for dinner. A luxury, however, awaited
them, in the remains of a horse which had been left by Sullivan's
expedition to perish from the severity of the winter. The wolves had
eaten all the flesh from the poor animal's bones, excepting upon the
under side. When the carcass was turned over, a quantity of the flesh yet
remained, which was equally distributed among the whole party, and
devoured. On reaching the Genessee river, they met a party of Indians
preparing to plant corn. These laborers had a fine horse, which Brant
directed to be instantly killed, dressed, and divided among his famishing
company. They had neither bread nor salt; but Brant instructed the
prisoners to use the white ashes of the wood they were burning as a
substitute for the latter ingredient, and it was found to answer an
excellent purpose. The meal was partaken of, and relished as the rarest
delicacy they had ever eaten. In regard to provisions, it must be
mentioned to the credit of Captain Brant, that he was careful to enforce
an equal distribution of all they had among his own warriors and the
prisoners. All fared exactly alike.

On his arrival at the Genessee river, and in anticipation of his own
departure with his prisoners for Niagara, Brant sent forward a messenger
to that post, bearing information of his approach, with the measure of
his success and the number of his prisoners. But it was not merely for
the purpose of conveying this intelligence that he dispatched his _avant
courier._ He had another object in view, as will appear in the sequel, the
conception and execution of which add a link to the chain of testimony
establishing the humanity and benevolence of his disposition. Four days
more of travel brought the party to within a few miles of the fort; and
the Tories now took special delight in impressing upon the prisoners the
perils and the sufferings they must endure, in the fearful ordeal they
would have to pass, on approaching the two Indian encampments in front
of the fort. This ordeal was nothing less than running the gauntlet, as
it is called in Indian warfare--a doom supposed to be inevitable to every
prisoner; and one which, by direct means, even Thayendanegea himself had
not sufficient power to prevent.

The running of the gauntlet, or rather compelling their prisoners to run
it, on the return of a war-party to their camp or village, is a general
custom among the American aboriginals--a preliminary that must precede
their ultimate fate, either of death or mercy. It is not always severe,
however, nor even generally so, unless in respect to prisoners who have
excited the particular animosity of the Indians; and it is often rather
a scene of amusement than punishment. Much depends on the courage and
presence of mind of the prisoner undergoing the ordeal. On entering the
village or camp, he is shown a painted post at the distance of some
thirty or forty yards, and directed to run to, and catch hold of it as
quickly as possible. His path to the post lies between two parallel lines
of people--men, women, and children,--armed with hatchets, knives, sticks,
and other offensive weapons; and as he passes along, each is at liberty
to strike him as severely and as frequently as he can. Should he be so
unfortunate as to stumble, or fall in the way, he may stand a chance to
lose his life--especially if any one in the ranks happens to have a
personal wrong to avenge. But the moment he reaches the goal he is safe,
until final judgment has been pronounced upon his case. When a prisoner
displays great firmness and courage, starting upon the race with force
and agility, he will probably escape without much injury; and sometimes,
when his bearing excites the admiration of the savages, entirely unharmed.
But woe to the coward whose cheeks blanch, and whose nerves are untrue!
The slightest manifestation of fear will deprive him of mercy, and
probably of his life. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Heckewelder. "In the month of April, 1782, when I was myself a
prisoner, at Lower Sandusky, waiting for an opportunity to proceed to
Detroit, I witnessed a scene of this description which fully exemplified
what I have above stated. Three American prisoners were one day brought
in by fourteen warriors from the garrison of Fort McIntosh. As soon as
they had crossed the Sandusky river, to which the village lay adjacent,
they were told by the Captain of the party to run as hard as they could
to a painted post which was shown to them. The youngest of them, without
a moment's hesitation, immediately started for it, and reached it
fortunately without receiving a single blow; the second hesitated for a
moment, but recollecting himself, he also ran as fast as he could, and
likewise reached the post unhurt. But the third, frightened at seeing so
many men, women, and children, with weapons in their hands ready to
strike him, kept begging the Captain to spare his life, saying he was a
mason, and would build him a large stone house, or do any work for him
that he should please. 'Run for your life,' cried the Chief to him, 'and
don't talk now of building houses!' But the poor fellow still insisted,
begging and praying to the Captain; who, at last, finding his
exhortations vain, and fearing the consequences, turned his back upon
him, and would not hear him any longer. Our mason now began to run, but
received many a hard blow, one of which nearly brought him to the ground,
which, if he had fallen, would at once have decided his fate. He,
however, reached the goal, not without being badly bruised, and he was,
besides, bitterly reproached and scoffed at all round as a vile coward;
while the others were hailed as brave men, and received tokens of
universal approbation"--_Idem._

Such was the scene which Harper and his fellow-prisoners now had in near
prospect. They of course well knew the usages of Indian warfare, and must
expect to submit. Nor was the chance of escape from injury very cheering,
enfeebled and worn down as they were by their journey and its privations.
Miserable comforters, therefore, were their Tory guards, who were
tantalising them in anticipation, by describing this approaching
preliminary cruelty. But on emerging from the woods, and approaching the
first Indian encampment, what was the surprise of the prisoners, and the
chagrin of their conductors, at finding the Indian warriors absent from
the encampment, and their place supplied by a regiment of British
soldiers! There were only a few Indian boys and some old women in the
camp; and these offered no violence to the prisoners, excepting one of
the squaws, who struck young Patchin over the head with an instrument
which caused the blood to flow freely. But the second encampment, lying
nearest the fort, and usually occupied by the fiercest and most savage of
the Indian warriors, was yet to be passed. On arriving at this, also, the
Indians were gone, and another regiment of troops were on parade, formed
in two parallel lines, to protect the prisoners. Thus the Mohawk chief
led his prisoners directly through the dreaded encampments, and brought
them safely into the fort. Patchin, however, received another severe blow
in this camp, and a young Indian menaced him with his tomahawk. But as he
raised his arm, a soldier snatched the weapon from his hand, and threw it
into the river.

The solution of this unexpected deliverance from the gauntlet-race was
this:--Miss Jane Moore, the Cherry Valley prisoner whose marriage to an
officer of the Niagara garrison has already been mentioned, was the niece
of Captain Harper--a fact well known to Brant. Harper, however, knew
nothing of her marriage, or in fact of her being at Niagara, and the
chief had kept the secret to himself. On his arrival at the Genessee
river, his anxious desire was to save his prisoners from the cruel
ordeal-trial, and he despatched the runner, as before mentioned, with a
message to Jane Moore's husband, whose name was Powell, advising him of
the fact, and proposing an artifice, by which to save his wife's uncle,
and his associates, from the accustomed ceremony. For this purpose, by
concert with Brant, Powell had managed to have the Indian warriors
enticed away to the Nine Mile Landing, for a frolic, the means of holding
which were supplied from the public stores. Meantime, for the protection
of the approaching prisoners from the violence of the straggling Indians
who remained behind, Powell caused the two encampments to be occupied in
the manner just described. It was a generous act on the part of Brant,
well conceived and handsomely carried through. The prisoners all had
cause of gratitude; and in the meeting with his niece in the garrison,
Captain Harper found a source of pleasure altogether unexpected.

The prisoners, nevertheless, were doomed to a long captivity. From
Niagara they were transferred to Montreal, thence to a prison in
Chamblee, and thence to Quebec. They were afterward sent down to Halifax,
and only restored to their country and homes after the peace of 1783.
Their sufferings, during the three intervening years, were exceedingly
severe, particularly in the prison at Chamblee, which is represented as
having been foul and loathsome to a degree. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] In the early part of this narrative of Harper's and Patchin's
captivity, the name of Becraft, a Tory, occurs as one of their captors.
His conduct toward the prisoners was particularly brutal throughout. On
one occasion, when he and his Tory associates were enumerating their
exploits, Becraft boasted of having assisted in massacring the family
of a Mr. Vrooman, in Schoharie. The family, he said, were all soon
despatched, except a boy of fourteen years old, who ran from the house.
Becraft pursued and overtook him at a fence which he was attempting to
climb. He there deliberately cut his throat, took his scalp, and hung
his body across the fence! After the peace, he had the hardihood to
return to Schoharie. But no sooner was it known, than a party of several
indignant citizens, among whom were the prisoners who heard him make the
confession here given, assembled and seized him. They stripped him naked,
bound him to a tree, and ten of them, with hickory whips, gave him a
tremendous castigation. They plied the whips with full vigor, and at
intervals paused, and informed him for what particular misdeeds they
were to inflict the next ten scorpion lashes, and so on. Having punished
him thus, they dismissed him with a charge never to show himself in that
county again. He never did.

Another of these Tories, who were guarding Harper and his party during
the same night of their journey, made a yet more horrible confession
than that of Becraft. His name was Barney Cane. He boasted of having
killed, upon Diamond Island, (Lake George,) one Major Hopkins. A party of
pleasure, as he stated, had been visiting the island on a little sailing
excursion, and having lingered longer upon that beautiful spot than they
were conscious of, as night drew on, concluded to encamp for the
night--it being already too late to return to the fort. "From the shore
where we lay hid," said Cane, "it was easy to watch their motions; and
perceiving their defenceless situation, as soon as it was dark we set
off for the island, where we found them asleep by their fire, and
discharged our guns among them. Several were killed, among whom was one
woman, who had a sucking child, which was not hurt. This we put to the
breast of its dead mother, and so we left it. But Major Hopkins was only
wounded, his thigh bone being broken; he started from his sleep to a
rising posture, when I struck him," said Barney Cane, "with the butt of
my gun, on the side of his head; he fell over, but caught on one hand;
I then knocked him the other way, when he caught with the other hand, a
third blow, and I laid him dead. These were all scalped except the
infant. In the morning, a party from the fort went and brought away the
dead, together with one they found alive, although he was scalped, and
the babe, which was hanging and sobbing at the bosom of its lifeless
mother."--_Gen. Patchin's Narrative._

The Indians were likewise early busy in other directions. Some scattering
settlements, situated between Wyoming and the older establishments, were
fallen upon by them, and a number of persons killed, several houses
burned, and eight prisoners carried away.

But the Dutch border settlements along the base of the Kaatsbergs, or
Catskill mountains, from Albany down to Orange county, were again severe
sufferers during this period of the revolutionary war. Many of the
inhabitants were friendly to the royal cause, and numbers of them had
joined the royal standard. Some of these served as leaders and guides to
the Indians, in parties for prisoners, scalps, and plunder. This petty
mode of warfare was reduced to such a system, that those engaged in it
were supplied with small magazines of provisions, concealed in the earth
and among clefts of rocks at suitable distances from the western sides of
the Kaatsbergs, over to the Delaware, and thence down to the point whence
they were wont to cross with their prisoners and booty to the Susquehanna,
and thence again by the usual track, along the Chemung and Genessee rivers
to Niagara. The sacking of Minisink, and the incursions into Warwasing,
in the preceding year, have already been chronicled. But there were
several irruptions into the Dutch settlements farther north, along the
western borders of Ulster County, in the Spring of 1780, some of which
were marked by peculiar features of atrocity, or of wild adventure. Among
these was an attack, by a small party of Indians and Tories, upon the
families of Thomas and Johannes Jansen, wealthy freeholders in a beautiful
but secluded portion of the town of Shawangunk. One of these gentlemen
was a colonel of militia. Both had erected substantial stone-houses, and
were living in affluence. Their mansions were plundered by Indians and
Tories, who were known to them; several of their neighbors and their
Negroes were made prisoners; and among those who were slain, under
circumstances of painful interest, were a Miss Mack and her father,
residing somewhat remote in one of the mountain gorges; and also a young
lady on a visit at Shawangunk, from the city of New-York. From
considerations of acquaintanceship with the Jansens, however, the females
of their families were not injured, although their houses were plundered
and their barns laid in ashes. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] An elaborated narrative of this tragic visitation was published
fifteen or twenty years ago by Charles G. De Witt, Esq.

The same savage party, or rather a party composed in part of the same
band of Tories and Indians who had committed the outrages just related,
fell upon a settlement in the town of Saugerties, in May of the same
year--making prisoners of Captain Jeremiah Snyder and Isaac Snyder his
son. After plundering his house of provisions and money, they marched the
Captain and his son over the mountains to the Delaware, and thence to
Niagara, by the same route traversed by Thayendanegea and his warriors
in conducting Harper and his fellow captives to that post. The adventures
of these prisoners during their rough and wearisome journey were but the
counterpart of those endured a month before by Captain Harper and his
company, excepting that their captors, being acquaintances, rendered
their sufferings less severe. Their supplies of food, though coarse, were
sufficient. They were pinioned at night, and the Indians lay upon the
cords by which they were fastened to saplings, or other fixtures of
security. They met several parties of Indians and Tories after crossing
the Susquehanna, and on one occasion fell in with a beautiful white woman,
married to an Indian. By all these they were treated kindly. While
traversing the valley of the Genessee, their principal Indian conductor,
named Runnip, pointed them to a couple of mounds by the way-side. "There
lie your brothers," said he to Captain Snyder, in Dutch. "These mounds
are the graves of a scout of thirty-six men, belonging to Sullivan's army,
which had been intercepted and killed by the Indians." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The Indian referred to the company of Lieut. Boyd.

On their arrival at Niagara, the prisoners were less fortunate than Harper
and his companions had been, since they were compelled to run the gauntlet
between long lines of the savages--a ceremony which they looked upon with
great dread, particularly on account of their debilitated condition and
the soreness of their feet. But in this operation they were favored by
their captors, who interposed to prevent injury. In his narrative, Captain
Snyder described fort Niagara at that time as a structure of considerable
magnitude and great strength, enclosing an area of from six to eight
acres. Within the enclosure was a handsome dwelling-house, for the
residence of the Superintendent of the Indians. It was then occupied by
Colonel Guy Johnson, before whom the Captain and his son were brought for
examination. Colonel Butler, with his rangers, lay upon the opposite, or
northern side of the river. At a given signal, the Colonel, with two of
his subalterns, crossed over to attend the examination. Indeed, the
principal object for the capture of Captain Snyder seems to have been to
obtain information. Their examination was stern and searching, but the
examiners were unable to elicit enough of news to compensate for the
trouble of their taking.

Captain Snyder described Guy Johnson as being a short, pursy man, about
forty years of age, of stern countenance and haughty demeanor--dressed
in a British uniform, powdered locks, and a cocked hat. His voice was
harsh, and his tongue bore evidence of his Irish extraction. While in
the guard-house, the prisoners were visited by Brant, of whom Captain
Snyder says--"He was a likely fellow, of a fierce aspect--tall and rather
spare--well spoken, and apparently about thirty (forty) years of age. He
wore moccasins, elegantly trimmed with beads--leggings and breech-cloth
of superfine blue--short green coat, with two silver epaulets--and a
small, laced, round hat. By his side hung an elegant silver-mounted
cutlass, and his blanket of blue cloth, purposely dropped in the chair
on which he sat, to display his epaulets, was gorgeously decorated with
a border of red." He asked many questions, and among others, from whence
they came. On being answered AEsopus, he replied--"That is my fighting
ground." In the course of the conversation, Brant said to the younger
Snyder--"You are young, and you I pity; but for that old villain there,"
pointing at the father, "I have no pity." Captain Snyder was of course
not very favorably impressed toward the Mohawk chief, and has recorded
his dislike.

The Snyders found many acquaintances at the head-quarters of the Indians
and loyalists, some of whom were prisoners like themselves, and others in
the ranks of the enemy. From Niagara, the two prisoners were transported
by water, first to Carleton Island in the St. Lawrence, and thence, at a
subsequent period, to Montreal. At the latter place they were employed at
labor, and regularly paid their wages, which enabled them to purchase
various little comforts to meliorate their condition. Indeed, they were
so fortunate as to fall into the hands of humane people at every stage
of their captivity, and their lot was far less severe than that of most
of their countrymen in the like situation. At the end of two years,
having been transferred from Montreal to an island some distance higher
up the St. Lawrence, both father and son, with several other prisoners,
succeeded in effecting their escape. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Captain Snyder lived until the year 1827, and his narrative, taken
from his own lips, was written by Charles H. De Witt, Esq.

The Mohawk Valley proper, during the Winter of 1780, had enjoyed a period
of comparative repose--interrupted only by the common alarms incident to
an unprotected border, at all times liable to invasion, and the people,
as a consequence, feeling continually more or less insecure. Still, there
was not a single demonstration of the enemy in the lower part of the
country, during the cold season, worthy of note. Among the prisoners
taken by the Tories who two years before had returned from Canada after
their families, and who had most unaccountably been suffered to depart
unmolested, was a very brave fellow by the name of Solomon Woodworth. He
was entrusted to a party of Indians, acting in concert with the Tories
on their arrival at the Sacondaga, from whom he effected his escape on
the following day. These Indians, it appears, mortified at his successful
flight, had resolved either upon his recapture or his destruction.
Woodworth, in the Winter or Spring of 1780, was occupying, alone, a
block-house situated about eight miles north of Johnstown. While thus
solitary, his castle was attacked in the dead of night, by a small party
of Indians, who set fire to it. Regardless of danger, however, he ran
out amidst a shower of bullets, extinguished the fire, and retreated
within the walls again, before the Indians, who had withdrawn some
distance from the blockhouse, could re-approach sufficiently near to
seize him. As the night was not very dark, Woodworth saw a group of the
savages through the port-holes, upon whom he fired, not without
effect--one of their number, as it subsequently appeared, being severely
wounded. This disaster caused the Indians to retire. But Woodworth was
not satisfied. Collecting half a dozen kindred spirits, the next morning
he gave chase to the intruders, and after following their trail three
days, overtook them--they having halted to dress the wound of their
companion. The pursuers came so suddenly upon them, as to succeed in
despatching the whole number without allowing them time to offer
resistance. The little band returned to Johnstown in triumph; and their
leader was immediately commissioned a lieutenant in a regiment of nine
months men--in which service he had again an opportunity of showing his
prowess, as will be seen hereafter. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Information from the Rev. John I. Shew, of Northampton, N. Y.,
residing near the place where the block-house stood.

It was at about the same time that a party of Tories and Indians made a
descent upon the small settlement at the Little Falls of the Mohawk, for
the purpose of destroying the mills erected at that place by Alexander
Ellis. This gentleman was a Scotch merchant, who, under the favor of Sir
William Johnson, had obtained a patent of the wild mountain gorge through
which the Mohawk leaps from the upper into the lower section of the
valley. He had himself returned to his own country; but his mills were
particularly important to the inhabitants, and also to the garrisons of
Forts Dayton and Herkimer--more especially since the burning of the mills
at the German Flats by Thayendanegea two years before. Hence the present
expedition for their destruction, which was easily accomplished--the
enemy having stolen upon the settlement unawares, and the flouring mill
being garrisoned by not more than a dozen men. Only a few shots were
exchanged, and but one man was killed--Daniel Petrie. As the Indians
entered the mill, the occupants endeavored to escape as fast as they
could--some leaping from the windows, and others endeavoring to conceal
themselves below. It was night, and two of the number, Cox and Skinner,
succeeded in ensconcing themselves in the race-way, beneath the
water-wheel--Skinner having previously made fight hand to hand, and been
wounded by a cut from a tomahawk. Two of their companions, Christian
Edick and Frederick Getman, leaped into the race-way above the mill, and
endeavored to conceal themselves by keeping as much under water as
possible. But the application of the torch to the mills soon revealed the
aquatic retreat, and they were taken. Not so with Cox and Skinner, who
survived the storm of battle, and the mingled elements of fire and water;
the showers of coals and burning brands being at once extinguished as
they fell around them, while the water-wheel served as an effectual
protection against the falling timbers. The enemy retired after
accomplishing their object, carrying away five or six prisoners. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Conversations of the author with John Frank, Esq., of German Flats.

A few incidents of the more distant border operations of the opening
season will close the present chapter. The Shawanese and their immediate
allies continued to be exceedingly troublesome along the Ohio. Among the
single captives taken by them, by stratagem, early in the Spring, was a
man named Alexander McConnel, of the Kentucky settlers. He found his
captors, five in number, to be pleasant tempered and social, and he
succeeded in winning their confidence, by degrees, until they essentially
relaxed the rigors of his confinement at night. His determination was of
course to escape. At length his fastenings were so slight, that while
they were asleep he succeeded in the entire extrication of his limbs.
Still he dared not to fly, lest escape from so many pursuers should be
impracticable, and his life, should he be re-taken, would surely be
required in payment for the rash attempt. To strike them successively
with one of their own tomahawks would be impossible. His next plan was
cautiously to remove three of their loaded rifles to a place of
concealment, which should, nevertheless, be convenient for his own
purpose. Then placing the other two at rest upon a log, the muzzle of one
aimed at the head of one Indian, and the other at the heart of a second,
with both hands he discharged the rifles together, by which process two
of his enemies were killed outright. As the three others sprang up in
amazement, McConnel ran to the rifles which he had concealed. The work
was all but of a moment. Seizing another rifle, and bringing it in range
of two of the three remaining savages, both fell with the discharge, one
dead and the other wounded. The fifth took to his heels, with a yell of
horror which made the forest ring. Selecting the rifle which he liked
best, the subtle hunter pursued his way back at his pleasure.

On the 23d of June, Colonel Bird, at the head of five hundred Indians and
Canadians, or American refugees, with six pieces of light artillery, fell
upon the Kentucky settlement at the forks of the Licking river. Taken by
surprise, the inhabitants seem to have made little, if any, resistance.
Only one man was killed outright, and two women. All the others were
taken prisoners, the settlement plundered, and the inhabitants marched
off, bending beneath the weight of their own property for the benefit of
the spoiler. Those who sank under their burdens by the way, were
tomahawked. This outrage was promptly and severely avenged by Colonel
Clarke, commanding at the falls of the Ohio, who immediately led his
regiment into the heart of the Shawanese country--laying their principal
town on the Great Miami in ashes, and taking seventy scalps, with the
loss of only seventeen of his own men. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon. The British account of Colonel
Bird's expedition, as published in New-York, stated that he destroyed
several small forts, and made a number of prisoners. "Most of the
inhabitants of these new settlements," it was added, "from the
extraordinary mild treatment of the Colonel, accompanied him, preferring
to settle in the countries under the King to those of the Congress.
Several of them have gone to Detroit, Niagara, &c."--_Vide Almon's
Remembrancer, Part II._ 1780, _page_ 347.

CHAPTER III.

Night invasion of Johnstown, by Sir John Johnson, with an army of Indians
and loyalists--The Visschers--The route of Sir John--Arrest of the
Sammons family--Destruction of their property--March along the
river--Burning of buildings, and murders of aged people--Destruction of
Caughnawaga--Return to Johnson Hall--Proceedings there--Thomas Sammons
escapes--Sir John moves off--Sampson Sammons applies for his
liberty--His speech--The object of the expedition--Recovery of the
Baronet's plate--A faithful slave--Character of the expedition--Sir
John returns to Montreal--Jacob and Frederick Sammons carried into
captivity--Imprisoned at Chamblee--Conspiracy to escape--Prisoners
refuse to join them--The brothers escape alone--The pursuit--
Separation--Journey, adventures and sufferings of Jacob
Sammons--Arrives at Schenectady--The narrative returns to
Frederick--Perils of his escape--Prosperous commencement of his
journey--Dreadful sickness--His recapture--Confined in irons at
Chamblee--Removed to an Island--Projects an escape--Plot
discovered--Ironed again--Second plan of escape--Perilous leap into the
St. Lawrence--Swimming the Rapids--Other surprising adventures, by
flood and field--Crossing the woods to Schenectady--Remarkable
fulfillment of a dream--Direct history of the Mohawk country
resumed--Destruction of Canajoharie by the Indiana--Conduct of
Brant--Case of doubtful courage.

Although the struggle had now been maintained more than five years, still
the people of the lower section of the Mohawk Valley, severely as they
had experienced the calamities of the war, had not yet by any means
received the full measure of their suffering. Harassed by perpetual
alarms, and oppressively frequent calls to the field--their numbers
reduced by death and desertion, and by removals from a country so full of
troubles--their situation was far from being enviable. Though unconscious
of immediate danger from a formidable invasion, they were nevertheless in
more peril than at any former period, from their diminished ability of
self-protection. Hitherto, with the exception of small forays upon the
outskirts, the lower valley, containing by far the largest amount of
population, had not been traversed by an invading enemy. But it was their
lot, in the course of the present season, repeatedly to experience the
tender mercies of an exasperated enemy, armed with knife, and tomahawk
and brand, and to see their fairest villages laid waste, their fields
desolated, and their dwellings reduced to ashes.

The first blow was as sudden as it was unexpected--especially from the
quarter whence it came. On Sunday the twenty-first of May, at dead of
night, Sir John Johnson entered the north part of Johnstown at the head
of five hundred men, composed of some British troops, a detachment of his
own regiment of Royal Greens, and about two hundred Indians and Tories. Sir
John had penetrated the country by way of Lake Champlain to Crown Point,
and thence through the woods to the Sacondaga river; and so entirely
unawares had he stolen upon the sleeping inhabitants, that he arrived in
the heart of the country undiscovered, except by the resident loyalists,
who were probably in the secret. Before he reached the old Baronial Hall
at Johnstown--the home of his youth, and for the recovery of which he
made every exertion that courage and enterprise could put forth--Sir John
divided his forces into two detachments, leading one in person, in the
first instance, directly to the Hall, and thence through the village of
Johnstown; while the other was sent through a more eastern settlement,
to strike the Mohawk river at or below Tripe's Hill, from whence it was
directed to sweep up the river through the ancient Dutch village of
Caughnawaga, [FN-1] to the Cayadutta Creek--at which place a junction was
to be formed with Sir John himself. This disposition of his forces was
made at the still hour of midnight--at a time when the inhabitants were
not only buried in slumber, but wholly unsuspicious of approaching danger.
What officer was in command of the eastern division is not known, but it
was one of the most stealthy and murderous expeditions--murderous in its
character, though but few were killed--and the most disgraceful, too, that
marked the progress of the war in that region. During the night-march of
this division, and before reaching the river, they attacked the
dwelling-house of Mr. Lodowick Putnam, who, together with his son, was
killed and scalped. The next house assailed was that of a Mr. Stevens,
which was burnt, and its owner killed. Arriving at Tripe's Hill, they
murdered three men, by the names of Hansen, Platts, and Aldridge. Hansen,
who was a captain of militia, was killed by an Indian to whom he had
formerly shown great kindness, and who had in return expressed much
gratitude. The houses of all, it is believed, were plundered before the
application of the torch. Proceeding toward Caughnawaga, about day-light
they arrived at the house of Colonel Visscher--occupied at the time by
himself, his mother, and his two brothers. It was immediately assaulted.
Alarmed at the sounds without, the Colonel instantly surmised the cause,
and being armed, determined, with his brothers, to defend the house to
the last. They fought bravely for a time, but the odds were so fearfully
against them, that the house was soon carried by storm. The three brothers
were instantly stricken down and scalped, and the torch applied to the
house. Having thus completed their work, the enemy proceeded on their way
up the river. Fortunately, however, the Colonel himself was only wounded.
On recovering from the shock of the hatchet, he saw the house enveloped
in flames above and around him, and his two brothers dead by his side.
But, grievously wounded as he was, he succeeded in removing their mangled
bodies from the house before the burning timbers fell in. His own wounds
were dressed, and he lived many years afterward. Mrs. Visscher, the
venerable mother of the Colonel, was likewise severely wounded by being
knocked on the head by an Indian; but she also survived. The slaughter
along the Mohawk, to the village of Caughnawaga, would have been greater,
but for the alertness of Major Van Vrank, who contrived to elude the
enemy, and by running ahead, gave the alarm, and enabled many people to
fly as it were in _puris naturalibus_ across the river. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] More anciently still, the residence of the Caughnawaga clan of the
Mohawk Indians, who at so early day moved into Canada, and established
themselves on the St. Lawrence above the Lachine rapids.

[FN-2] The Visschers were important men among the Whigs of Tryon county.
There were four brothers of them at the commencement of the war, vis.
Frederick, (the Colonel,) John, William Brower, and Harmanus. William B.
died of scarlet fever in the Winter of 1776. A very bitter hostility
existed against this family among the loyalists, having its origin in
an unpleasant altercation between Colonel Visscher and Sir John Johnson,
in the Autumn of 1775. The circumstances of this affair, as recently
communicated to the author by the venerable Judge De Graff, of
Schenectady, a near connection of the family, were substantially
these;--In the year 1775, the Colonial Congress, having full confidence
both in his principles and discretion, appointed Frederick Visscher a
Colonel in the militia, furnishing him at the same time, commissions in
blank to complete the organisation of hie regiment. One of the
commissions of captain thus confided to his disposal, he conferred on
his brother John. In the Autumn of that year the Colonel directed his
regiment to parade for review on an elevated plain near the ancient inn
of Peggy Wymples, in Caughnawaga. It happened that while the regiment
was on parade, Sir John Johnson, with his lady, drove along the river
road. On descrying the regiment under arms, he ordered his coachman to
drive up the hill to the parade ground. He than demanded of the first
person to whom he had an opportunity to speak, who had called the
assemblage together, and for what purpose? The reply was, that Colonel
Visscher had ordered his regiment to parade for review. The Baronet
thereupon stepped up to the Colonel, and repeated the question. The
Colonel of course gave a similar reply. Sir John then ordered the
regiment to disperse, but the Colonel directed them to keep their
ranks--whereupon the Baronet, who was armed with a sword-cane, raised
his weapon to inflict a blow upon Visscher, but the latter grasped the
cane, and in the scuffle the sword was drawn--Visscher retaining the
scabbard. Sir John threatened to run him through the body, and the
Colonel told him if he chose to make the attempt he might act his
pleasure. Sir John then asked for the scabbard of his blade, which was
restored to him. Stepping up to his carriage, he directed Lady Johnson
to rise that he might take his pistols from the box. Her ladyship
remonstrated with him, but to no purpose, and having obtained his
pistols, the Baronet again demanded that the regiment should be
dismissed, for they were rebels. If not, he declared in a tempest of
passion that he would blow the Colonel through. "Use your pleasure," was
again the reply of Visscher. At this moment, a young Irishman, in the
domestic service of the Colonel, who was in the ranks, exclaimed--"By
J--s, if ye offer to lift hand or finger against my master, I will blow
you through." The Baronet now saw that an unpleasant spirit was kindling
against himself, whereupon he returned to his carriage, and drove away
in great wrath.

Meantime Sir John proceeded with his division through the village of
Johnstown, stopping before it was yet light at what was once his own hall,
where he made two prisoners. There was a small stockade, or picket fort,
in the village, which, under favor of darkness and sleeping sentinels,
was passed silently and unobserved. Directing his course for the
confluence of the Cayadutta with the Mohawk, Sir John arrived at the
residence of Sampson Sammons, whose name, with those of two of his sons,
has appeared in the earlier portion of the present work. There was a
third son, Thomas, a youth of eighteen. They all inherited the stanch
Whig principles of their father, and the whole family had rendered the
State efficient service in the course of the war. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Sampson Sammons was of German extraction, a native of Ulster County,
whence he had emigrated to Tryon County a few years before the war. In
the first stages of the war he was a member of the Committee of Safety.
In 1777, a corps of Exempts was organised under Colonel Jelles Fonda;
Fonda himself acting as Captain. Of this company, Sampson Sammons was
the Lieutenant. In 1779 the corps was re-organised and enlarged. On the
muster-roll of this year, Sammons was entered an an Ensign.

The particulars of the attack upon the family of Mr. Sammons are of
sufficient interest to warrant the giving them somewhat in detail. Mr.
Sammons, the elder, was well known to Sir John, between whom and himself
very friendly relations had existed; and in the early stage of the war,
the former had exerted himself with some degree of success to protect the
Baronet from the violence of the people. Soon after passing Johnstown,
Sir John detached those of the Indians yet remaining with him in other
directions, being desirous of making captives of Sammons and his sons,
but wishing, at the same time, to do them no personal injury. On arriving
in the neighborhood of the house, Sir John halted his division, and
directed a small detachment to move with the utmost stillness and caution,
and fall upon the house by surprise--observing that Sammons had some
stout sons, well armed, and unless they were very careful, there would be
trouble. The eldest of Mr. Sammons' sons was then the lessee of the
Johnson farm at the hall, which had been sold by the Committee of
Sequestrations, and which he was then cultivating; and Thomas, the
youngest, had risen at an unwonted hour, in order to feed his horses, and
go over to the hall to work with his brother. On coming down stairs,
however, and stepping out of doors half-dressed, to take an observation
of the weather--it being yet dark, though day was just breaking--the
thought occurred to him, that should any straggling Indians be prowling
about, he would stand but a poor chance if fallen upon alone. While
standing thus in doubt whether to proceed or wait for more light, he was
startled by a noise of heavy steps behind, and, as he turned, by the
glitter of steel passing before his eyes. At the same instant a hand was
laid upon his shoulder, with the words--"You are my prisoner!" In such
perfect stillness had the enemy approached, that not the sound of a
footstep was heard, until the moment when the younger Sammons was thus
arrested, and the house immediately surrounded. One of the officers, with
several soldiers, instantly entered the house, and ordered the family to
get up, and surrender themselves as prisoners. Jacob and Frederick, who
were in bed in the second story, sprang upon their feet immediately, and
seized their arms. The officer, who was a Tory named Sutherland, and
acquainted with the family, hearing the clatter of arms, called to them
by name, and promised quarter on condition of their surrender. Jacob
inquired whether there were Indians with them; adding, that if there were,
he and his brother would not be taken alive. On being assured to the
contrary, the brothers descended the stain and surrendered. The old
gentleman was also taken. While the soldiers were busied in plundering
the premises, the morning advanced, and Sir John Johnson came up with the
remainder of the division. The females were not taken as prisoners, but the
father and sons were directed to make ready to march immediately. Thomas
here remarked to the soldier who yet stood sentinel over him, that he
could not travel to Canada without his clothes, and especially without
his shoes, which he had not yet put on--requesting liberty to repair to
his chamber for his raiment. The sentinel sulkily refused permission; but
Thomas persisted that he must obtain his shoes at least, and was stepping
toward the door, when the barbarian made a plunge at his back with his
bayonet, which had proved fatal but for the quick eyes and the heroism of
a sister standing by, who, as she saw the thrust at her brother, sprang
forward, and seizing the weapon, threw herself across its barrel, and by
falling, brought it to the ground. The soldier struggled to disengage his
arms, and accomplish his purpose. At the same instant an officer stepped
forward, and demanded what was the matter. The girl informed him of the
attempt upon her brother, whereupon he rebuked the soldier by the
exclamation--"You d--d rascal, would you murder the boy?" Immediate
permission was then given him to procure whatever articles he wanted. The
work of plunder having been completed, Sir John, with his troops and
prisoners, proceeded onward in the direction of the river--about three
miles distant.

For the purpose of punishing the old gentleman for his whiggish activity,
some of the officers caused him to be tied to a Negro, who was likewise a
prisoner; but the moment Sir John discovered the indignity, he
countermanded the order. The hands of the young men were all closely
pinioned, and they, with their father, were compelled to march between
files of soldiers, and behold the cruel desolation of their neighborhood.
Their course thence was direct to the river, at Caughnawaga, at which
place they met the other division of Indians and rangers, who, among
others, had murdered and scalped Mr. Douw Fonda, a citizen of great age
and respectability. The whole army now set their faces westward,
traversing the Mohawk Valley several miles, burning every building not
owned by a loyalist, killing sheep and black cattle, and taking all the
horses that could be found for their own use. Returning again to
Caughnawaga, the torch was applied to every building excepting the church;
a number of prisoners were made, and several persons killed. Nine aged
men were slain in the course of this march, of whom four were upward of
eighty. From Caughnawaga, Sir John retraced his steps to Johnstown,
passing the premises of Mr. Sammons, where the work of destruction was
completed by applying the brand to all the buildings, leaving the females
of the family houseless, and taking away the seven horses which were in
the stables.

On the arrival of Sir John back to the homestead in the afternoon, he
halted upon the adjacent grounds for several hours--establishing his own
quarters in the hall of his father. The prisoners were collected into an
open field, strongly guarded, but not in a confined space; and while
reposing thus the Tory families of the town came in large numbers to see
their friends and relatives, who for the most part constituted the white
troops of the invading army. Thomas Sammons, during the whole morning,
had affected to be exceedingly lame of one foot; and while loitering
about the Hall he attracted the attention of the widowed lady of Captain
Hare, one of the British officers who had fallen in the battle of
Oriskany. Mrs. Hare, since the death of her husband, had occupied an
apartment of the Hall; and she now exerted herself successfully with Sir
John for the release of several of her personal friends among the
captives; and on going into the field to select them, she adroitly
smuggled young Sammons into the group, and led him away in safety.

It has already been mentioned that there was a small guard occupying the
little fort in the village, which had been avoided by Sir John in his
morning march. Toward night the militia of the surrounding country were
observed to be clustering in the village, and Sir John thought it
advisable to resume his march. He had collected a number of prisoners,
and much booty, besides recruiting his ranks by a considerable number of
loyalists, and obtaining possession of some eighteen or twenty of his
Negro slaves, left behind at the time of his flight in the Spring of 1776.
While they were halting, on the next day, the elder Sammons applied to
Sir John for an interview, which was granted in presence of his principal
officers. On inquiring what he wanted, Mr. Sammons replied that he wished
to be released. The Baronet hesitated; but the old man pressed his suit,
and reminded Sir John of former scenes, and of the efforts of friendship
which he himself had made in his behalf. "See what you have done, Sir
John," said the veteran Whig; "You have taken myself and my sons
prisoners, burnt my dwelling to ashes, and left the helpless members of
my family with no covering but the heavens above, and no prospect but
desolation around them. Did we treat you in this manner when you were in
the power of the Tryon County Committee? Do you remember when we were
consulted by General Schuyler, and you agreed to surrender your arms? Do
you not remember that you then agreed to remain neutral, and that upon
that condition General Schuyler left you at liberty on your parole? Those
conditions you violated. You went off to Canada; enrolled yourself in the
service of the King; raised a regiment of the disaffected, who abandoned
their country with you; and you have now returned to wage a cruel war
against us, by burning our dwellings and robbing us of our property. I
was your friend in the Committee of Safety, and exerted myself to save
your person from injury. And how am I requited? Your Indians have
murdered and scalped old Mr. Fonda at the age of eighty years; a man who,
I have heard your father say, was like a father to him when he settled in
Johnstown and Kingsborough. You cannot succeed, Sir John, in such a
warfare, and you will never enjoy your property more!"

The Baronet made no reply; but the appeal was effectual, and the old
gentleman was set at liberty. He then requested the restoration of a pair
of horses. Sir John replied that this should also be done, if the horses
were not in the possession of the Indians, from whom he could not safely
take them. On making the inquiry, a span of his horses were found and
restored to him. A Tory officer, named Doxstadter, was seen by Mr. Sammons
to be in possession of one of his horses, but he would not relinquish it,
pretending that he was merely entrusted with the animal by an Indian.
[FN-1] The two sons, Jacob and Frederick, were carried into captivity,
and suffered a protracted and severe imprisonment, interesting accounts
of which will presently be given. Several of the aged prisoners, besides
Mr. Sammons, were permitted to return, one of whom, Captain Abraham
Veeder, was exchanged for lieutenant Singleton, who had been taken at
Fort Schuyler by Colonel Willett, and was then in Canada on his
parole. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] After the war was over, Doxstadter returned from Canada upon some
business, was arrested in an action at law by Mr. Sammons, and made to
pay the value of the horse.

[FN-2] The present narrative of this irruption has been prepared almost
entirely from the manuscripts and conversations with Major Thomas
Sammons, the lad who was taken prisoner--after a diligent comparison of
his statement with other authorities. The author has also the written
narratives of Jacob and Frederick Sammons, before him, together with an
account written by the Rev. John I. Shew. Major Thomas Sammons is yet,
(February, 1838) well and hearty. He has formerly, for several years
represented Montgomery (late Tryon county) in Congress.

The immediate object of this irruption by Sir John Johnson, was to
procure his plate, which had been buried at the time of his flight in
1776, and not recovered with the iron chest. This treasure was not indeed
buried with the chest, but in the cellar, and the place of deposit was
confided to a faithful slave. While Sir John was in the hall, in the
afternoon, the slave, assisted by four soldiers, disinterred the silver,
which filled two barrels, brought it to the Baronet, and laid it down at
his feet. [FN-1] It was then distributed among about forty soldiers, who
placed it in their knapsacks--a quarter-master taking an account of the
names of the soldiers, and the articles confided to each--by whom it was
to be carried to Montreal. The irruption, however, was one of the most
indefensible aggressions upon an unarmed and slumbering people, which
stain the annals of the British arms. As the commanding officer, Sir John
is himself to be held responsible in a general sense. How far he was
directly and specially responsible for the midnight murders committed by
the barbarians, is a question which may, perhaps, bear a somewhat
different shade. Still, from the success which attended the expedition,
and the unaccountable inaction of the people against him, it is
sufficiently obvious that he might have recovered his plate without
lighting up his path by the conflagration of his neighbors' houses, or
without staining his skirts with innocent blood. [FN-2] But the most
remarkable circumstances attending this expedition are, that the
inhabitants were so completely taken by surprise, and that Sir John was
so entirely unopposed in his advance on the morning of the 22d, and
altogether unmolested on his retreat. The inhabitants, who had so often
proved themselves brave, appear to have been not only surprised, but
panic-stricken. True, as has already been incidentally stated, before Sir
John commenced his return march, the militia had begun to gather at the
village, a mile distant from the hall. They were led by Colonel John
Harper, who was beyond doubt a very brave man. With him was also Colonel
Volkert Veeder. But they were not strong enough to engage the enemy; and
when Thomas Sammons arrived among them after his release, this opinion
was confirmed by his report that the forces of Sir John exceeded seven
hundred men. Colonels Harper and Veeder thereupon marched back to the
river, and the invaders retired unmolested, [FN-3] save by Captain Putnam
and four men, who hung upon their rear, and observed their course to the
distance of twenty-five miles.

* * * * *

[FN-1] This faithful domestic had lived long with Sir William Johnson,
who was so much attached to him, that he caused him to be baptized by his
own name, William. When the estate was placed in the hands of {illegible
word} by the Committee, William was sold, and Sammons was the purchaser.
He lived with him until retaken by Sir John, but never gave the least
hint either as to the burial of the iron chest, or the plate, although
both had been hidden in the earth by him.

[FN-2] It is quite probable that Sir John's private papers, or
correspondence, if they have been preserved, might place this and other
dark transactions in a more favorable light. The author has exerted
himself in vain to discover any such papers. They are believed to have
been scattered, on the Baronet's decease at Montreal, some half a dozen
years since.

[FN-3] MS of Major Thomas Sammons.

Governor Clinton was at Kingston at the time of the Invasion. Hastening
to Albany on the first rumor of the intelligence, he collected such
militia and other forces as he could obtain, and moved to Lake George
with a view to intercept Sir John. It was supposed that the course of the
enemy might possibly lie in the direction of Oswegatchie, and for the
purpose of striking him upon such a march, Colonel Van Schaick, with
eight hundred men, followed him by the way of Johnstown. Descending Lake
George to Ticonderoga, the Governor was joined by a body of militia from
the New Hampshire grants. But all was of no use; the invaders
escaped--taking to their batteaux, probably, at Crown Point, whence they
proceeded down the lake to St John's. The captives were thence transferred
to the fortress of Chamblee.

The prisoners at this fortress numbered about forty. On the day after
their arrival Jacob Sammons, having taken an accurate survey of the
garrison and the facilities of escape, conceived the project of inducing
his fellow-prisoners to rise upon the guards and obtain their freedom.
The garrison was weak in number, and the sentinels less vigilant than is
usual among good soldiers. The prison doors were opened once a day, when
the prisoners were visited by the proper officer, with four or five
soldiers. Sammons had observed where the arms of the guards were stacked
in the yard, and his plan was, that some of the prisoners should arrest
and disarm the visiting guard on the opening of their door, while the
residue were to rush forth, seize the arms, and fight their way out. The
proposition was acceded to by his brother Frederick, and one other man
named Van Sluyck, but was considered too daring by the great body of the
prisoners to be undertaken. It was therefore abandoned, and the brothers
sought afterward only for a chance of escaping by themselves. Within
three days the desired opportunity occurred, viz. on the 13th of June.
The prisoners were supplied with an allowance of spruce beer, for which
two of their number were detached daily, to bring the cask from the
brew-house, under a guard of five men, with fixed bayonets. Having reason
to suppose that the arms of the guards, though charged, were not primed,
the brothers so contrived matters as to be taken together to the brewery
on the day mentioned, with an understanding that at a given point they
were to dart from the guard and run for their lives--believing that the
confusion of the moment, and the consequent delay of priming their muskets
by the guards, would enable them to escape beyond the ordinary range of
musket shot. The project was boldly executed. At the concerted moment,
the brothers sprang from their conductors, and stretched across the plain
with great fleetness. The alarm was given, and the whole garrison was
soon after them in hot pursuit. Unfortunately for Jacob, he fell into a
ditch and sprained his ankle. Perceiving the accident, Frederick turned
to his assistance; but the other generously admonished him to secure his
own flight if possible, and leave him to the chances of war. Recovering
from his fall, and regardless of the accident, Jacob sprang forward again
with as much expedition as possible, but finding that his lameness
impeded his progress, he plunged into a thick clump of shrubs and trees,
and was fortunate enough to hide himself between two logs before the
pursuers came up. Twenty or thirty shots had previously been fired upon
them, but without effect. In consequence of the smoke of their fire,
probably, the guards had not observed Jacob when he threw himself into
the thicket, and supposing that, like his brother, he had passed round it,
they followed on, until they were fairly distanced by Frederick, of whom
they lost sight and trace. They returned in about half an hour, halting
by the bushes in which the other fugitive was sheltered, and so near that
he could distinctly hear their conversation. The officer in command was
Captain Steele. On calling his men together, some were swearing, and
others laughing at the race, and the speed of the "long-legged Dutchmen,"
as they called the flying prisoners. The pursuit being abandoned, the
guards returned to the fort.

The brothers had agreed, in case of separation, to meet at a certain spot
at 10 o'clock that night. Of course Jacob lay ensconced in the bushes
until night had dropped her sable curtains, and until he supposed the
hour had arrived, when he sallied forth, according to the antecedent
understanding. But time did not move as rapidly on that evening as he
supposed. He waited upon the spot designated, and called aloud for
Frederick, until he despaired of meeting him, and prudence forbade his
remaining any longer. It subsequently appeared that he was too early on
the ground, and that Frederick made good his appointment.

Following the bank of the Sorel, Jacob passed Fort St. John's soon after
day-break on the morning of the 14th. His purpose was to swim the river
at that place, and pursue his course homeward through the wilderness on
the eastern shore of Lake Champlain; but just as he was preparing to
enter the water, he descried a boat approaching from below, filled with
officers and soldiers of the enemy. They were already within twenty rods.
Concealing himself again in the woods, he resumed his journey after their
departure, but had not proceeded more than two or three miles before he
came upon a party of several hundred men engaged in getting out timber
for the public works at the fort. To avoid these he was obliged to
describe a wide circuit, in the course of which, at about 12 o'clock, he
came to a small clearing. Within the enclosure was a house, and in the
field were a man and boy engaged in hoeing potatoes. They were at that
moment called to dinner, and supposing them to be French, who he had
heard were rather friendly to the American cause than other-wise--incited,
also, by hunger and fatigue--he made bold to present himself trusting
that he might be invited to partake of their hospitality. But, instead of
a friend, he found an enemy. On making known his character, he was
roughly received. "It is by such villains as you are," replied the
forester, "that I was obliged to fly from Lake Champlain." The rebels,
he added, had robbed him of all he possessed, and he would now deliver
his self-invited guest to the guard, which, he said, was not more than a
quarter of a mile distant. Sammons promptly answered him that "that was
more than he could do." The refugee then said he would go for the guard
himself; to which Summons replied that he might act as he pleased, but
that all the men in Canada should not make him again a prisoner.

The man thereupon returned with his son to the potato field, and resumed
his work; while his more compassionate wife gave him a bowl of bread and
milk, which he ate sitting on the threshold of the door, to guard against
surprise. While in the house, he saw a musket, powder-horn and
bullet-pouch hanging against the wall, of which he determined, if
possible, to possess himself, that he might be able to procure food
during the long and solitary march before him. On retiring, therefore,
he traveled only far enough into the woods for concealment--returning to
the woodman's house in the evening, for the purpose of obtaining the
musket and ammunition. But he was again beset by imminent peril. Very
soon after he entered the house, the sound of approaching voices was
heard, and he took to the rude chamber for security, where he lay flat
upon the irregular floor, and looking through the interstices, saw eleven
soldiers enter, who, it soon appeared, came for milk. His situation was
now exceedingly critical. The churlish proprietor might inform against
him, or a single movement betray him. But neither circumstance occurred.
The unwelcome visitors departed in due time, and the family all retired
to bed, excepting the wife, who, as Jacob descended from the chamber,
refreshed him with another bowl of bread and milk. The good woman now
earnestly entreated her guest to surrender himself, and join the ranks
of the King, assuring him that his Majesty must certainly conquer in the
end, in which case the rebels would lose all their property, and many
of them be hanged into the bargain. But to such a proposition he of
course would not listen. Finding all her efforts to convert a Whig into
a Tory fruitless, she then told him, that if he would secrete himself two
days longer in the woods, she would furnish him with some provisions, for
a supply of which her husband was going to the fort the next day, and she
would likewise endeavor to provide him with a pair of shoes. Disinclined
to linger so long in the country of the enemy, and in the neighborhood of
a British post, however, he took his departure forthwith. But such had
been the kindness of the good woman, that he had it not in his heart to
seize upon her husband's arms, and he left this wild scene of rustic
hospitality without supplies, or the means of procuring them. Arriving
once more at the water's edge at the lower end of Lake Champlain, he came
upon a hut, within which, on cautiously approaching it for reconnaissance,
he discovered a party of soldiers all soundly asleep. Their canoe was
moored by the shore, into which he sprang, and paddled himself up the
lake under the most encouraging prospect of a speedy and comparatively
easy voyage to its head, whence his return home would be unattended with
either difficulty or danger. But his pleasing anticipations were
extinguished on the night following, as he approached the Isle au Noix,
where he descried a fortification, and the glitter of bayonets bristling
in the air as the moonbeams played upon the burnished arms of the
sentinels, who were pacing their tedious rounds. The lake being very
narrow at this point, and perceiving that both sides were fortified, he
thought the attempt to shoot his canoe through between them rather too
hazardous an experiment. His only course, therefore, was to run ashore,
and resume his travels on foot. Nor, on landing, was his case in any
respect enviable. Without shoes, without food, and without the means of
obtaining either--a long journey before him through a deep and trackless
wilderness--it may well be imagined that his mind was not cheered by the
most agreeable anticipations. But without pausing to indulge unnecessarily
his "thick-coming fancies," he commenced his solitary journey, directing
his course along the eastern lake shore toward Albany. During the first
four days of his progress he subsisted entirely upon the bark of the
birch--chewing the twigs as he went On the fourth day, while resting by
a brook, he heard a rippling of the water caused by the fish as they were
stemming its current. He succeeded in catching a few of these, but having
no means of striking a fire, after devouring one of them raw, the others
were thrown away.

His feet were by this time cruelly cut, bruised, and torn by thorns,
briars, and stones; and while he could scarcely proceed by reason of
their soreness, hunger and fatigue united to retard his cheerless march.
On the fifth day his miseries were augmented by the hungry swarms of
mosquitoes, which settled upon him in clouds while traversing a swamp.
On the same day he fell upon the nest of a black duck--the duck sitting
quietly upon her eggs until he came up and caught her. The bird was no
sooner deprived of her life and her feathers, than he devoured the whole,
including the head and feet The eggs were nine in number, which Sammons
took with him; but on opening one, he found a little half-made duckling,
already alive. Against such food his stomach revolted, and he was obliged
to throw the eggs away.

On the tenth day he came to a small lake. His feet ware now in such a
horrible state, that he could scarcely crawl along. Finding a mitigation
of pain by bathing them in water, he plunged his feet into the lake, and
lay down upon its margin. For a time it seemed as though he could never
rise upon his feet again. Worn down by hunger and fatigue--bruised in
body and wounded in spirit--in a lone wilderness, with no eye to pity,
and no human arm to protect--he felt as though he must remain in that
spot until it should please God in his goodness to quench the dim spark
of life that remained. Still, he was comforted in some measure by the
thought that he was in the hands of a Being without whose knowledge not
a sparrow fells to the ground.

Refreshed, at length, though to a trifling degree, he resumed his weary
way, when, on raising his right leg over the trunk of a fallen tree, he
was bitten in the calf by a rattlesnake! Quick as a flash, with his
pocket-knife, he made an incision in his leg, removing the wounded flesh
to a greater depth than the fangs of the serpent had penetrated. His next
business was to kill the venomous reptile, and dress it for eating; thus
appropriating the enemy that had sought to take his life, to its
prolongation. His first meal was made from the heart and fat of the
serpent. Feeling somewhat strengthened by the repast, and finding,
moreover, that he could not travel farther in his present condition, he
determined to remain where he was for a few days, and by repose, and
feeding upon the body of the snake, recruit his strength. Discovering,
also, a dry fungus upon the trunk of a maple tree, he succeeded in
striking a fire, by which his comforts were essentially increased. Still
he was obliged to creep upon his hands and knees to gather fuel, and on
the third day he was yet in such a state of exhaustion as to be utterly
unable to proceed. Supposing that death was inevitable and very near, he
crawled to the foot of a tree, upon the bark of which he commenced
inscribing his name--in the expectation that he should leave his bones
there, and in the hope, that, in some way, by the aid of the inscription,
his family might ultimately be apprised of his fate. While engaged in
this sad work, a cloud of painful thoughts crowded upon his mind; the
tears involuntarily stole down his cheeks, and before he had completed
the melancholy task, he fell asleep.

On the fourth day of his residence at this place, he began to gain
strength, and as a part of the serpent yet remained, he determined upon
another effort to resume his journey. But he could not do so without
devising some substitute for shoes. For this purpose he cut up his hat
and waistcoat, binding them upon his feet--and thus he hobbled along. On
the following night, while lying in the woods, he became strongly
impressed with a belief that he was not far distant from a human
habitation. He had seen no indications of proximity to the abode of man;
but he was, nevertheless, so confident of the fact, that he wept for joy.
Buoyed up and strengthened by this impression, he resumed his journey on
the following morning; and in the afternoon, it being the 28th of June,
he reached a house in the town of Pittsford, in the New Hampshire
Grants--now forming the State of Vermont. He remained there for several
days, both to recruit his health, and, if possible, to gain intelligence
of his brother. But no tidings came; and as he knew Frederick to be a
capital woodsman, he of course concluded that sickness, death, or
re-capture, must have interrupted his journey. Procuring a conveyance at
Pittsford, Jacob traveled to Albany, and thence to Schenectady, where he
had the happiness of finding his wife and family. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] MS. narrative of Jacob Sammons. He died about the year 1810.

Not less interesting, nor marked by fewer vicissitudes, were the
adventures of Frederick Sammons. The flight from the fort at Chamblee was
made just before sunset, which accounts for the chase having been
abandoned so soon. On entering the edge of the woods, Frederick
encountered a party of Indians returning to the fort from fatigue duty.
Perceiving that he was a fugitive, they fired, and called out--"We have
got him!" In this opinion, however, they were mistaken; for, although he
had run close upon before perceiving them, yet, being like Asahel of old
swift of foot, by turning a short corner and increasing his speed, in ten
minutes he was entirely clear of the party. He then sat down to rest, the
blood gushing from his nose in consequence of the extent to which his
physical powers had been taxed. At the time appointed he also had
repaired to the point which, at his separation from Jacob, had been
agreed upon as the place of meeting. The moon shone brightly, and he
called loud and often for his brother--so loud, indeed, that the guard
was turned out in consequence. His anxiety was very great for his
brother's safety; but, in ignorance of _his_ situation, he was obliged to
attend to his own. He determined, however, to approach the fort--as near
to it, at least, as he could venture--and in the event of meeting any one,
disguise his own character by inquiring whether the rebels had been taken.
But a flash from the sentinel's musket, the report, and the noise of a
second pursuit, compelled him to change the direction of his march, and
proceed again with all possible speed. It had been determined by the
brothers to cross the Sorel, and return on the east side of the river and
lake; but there was a misunderstanding between them as to the point of
crossing the river--whether above or below the fort. Hence their failure
of meeting. Frederick repaired to what he supposed to be the designated
place of crossing, below the fort, where he lingered for his brother until
near morning. At length, having found a boat, he crossed over to the
eastern shore, and landed just at the cock-crowing. He proceeded directly
to the barn where he supposed chanticleer had raised his voice, but found
not a fowl on the premises. The sheep looked too poor by the dim twilight
to serve his purpose of food, but a bullock presenting a more favorable
appearance, Frederick succeeded in cutting the unsuspecting animal's
throat, and severing one of the hind-quarters from the carcase, he
shouldered and marched off with it directly into the forest. Having
proceeded to a safe and convenient distance, he stopped to dress his beef,
cutting off what he supposed would be sufficient for the journey, and
forming a knapsack from the skin, by the aid of bark peeled from the
moose-wood.

Resuming his journey, he arrived at the house of a French family within
the distance of five or six miles. Here he made bold to enter, for the
purpose of procuring bread and salt, and in the hope also of obtaining a
gun and ammunition. But he could neither obtain provisions, nor make the
people understand a word he uttered. He found means, however, to prepare
some tinder, with which he re-entered the woods, and hastened forward in
a southern direction, until be ascertained, by the firing of the evening
guns, that he had passed St. John's. Halting for the night, he struck a
light; and having kindled a fire, occupied himself until morning in
drying and smoking his beef, cutting it into slices for that purpose. His
knapsack of raw hide was cured by the same process. Thus prepared, he
proceeded onward without interruption or adventure until the third day,
when he killed a fawn and secured the venison. He crossed the Winooski,
or Onion river, on the next day; and having discovered a man's name carved
upon a tree, together with the distance from the lake, (Champlain) eight
miles, he bent his course for its shores, where he found a canoe with
paddles. There was now a prospect of lessening the fatigue of his journey;
but his canoe had scarce begun to dance upon the waters ere it parted
asunder, and he was compelled to hasten ashore and continue his march by
land.

At the close of the seventh day, and when, as he supposed, he was within
two days' travel of a settlement, he kindled his fire, and lay down to
rest in fine health and spirits. But ere the dawn of day, he awoke with
racking pains, which proved to be an attack of pleurisy. A drenching rain
came on, continuing three days; during which time he lay helpless, in
dreadful agony, without fire, or shelter, or sustenance of any kind. On
the fourth day, his pain having abated, he attempted to eat a morsel, but
his provisions had become too offensive to be swallowed. His thirst being
intense, he fortunately discovered a pond of water near by, to which he
crawled. It was a stagnant pool, swarming with frogs--another providential
circumstance, inasmuch as the latter served him for food. Too weak,
however to strike a light, he was compelled to devour them raw, and
without dressing of any kind. Unable to proceed, he lay in this wretched
condition fourteen days. Supposing that he should die there, he succeeded
in hanging his hat upon a pole, with a few papers, in order that, if
discovered, his fate might be known. He was lying upon a high bluff, in
full view of the lake, and at no great distance therefrom. The hat, thus
elevated, served as a signal, which saved his life. A vessel sailing past,
descried the hat, and sent a boat ashore to ascertain the cause. The
boatmen discovered the body of a man, yet living, but senseless and
speechless, and transferred him to the vessel. By the aid of medical
attendance he was slowly restored to his reason, and having informed the
Captain who he was, had the rather uncomfortable satisfaction of learning
that he was on board of an enemy's ship, and at that moment lying at
Crown Point. Here he remained sixteen days, in the course of which time
he had the gratification to hear, from a party of Tories coming from the
settlements, that his brother Jacob had arrived safe at Schenectady and
joined his family. He was also apprised of Jacob's sufferings, and of the
bite of the serpent, which took place near Otter Creek, close by the
place where he had himself been so long sick. The brothers were therefore
near together at the time of the greatest peril and endurance of both.

Frederick's recovery was very slow. Before he was able to walk, he was
taken to St John's, and thence, partly on a wheelbarrow and partly in a
calash, carried back to his old quarters at Chamblee--experiencing much
rough usage by the way. On arriving at the fortress, the guards saluted
him by the title of "Captain Lightfoot," and there was great joy at his
re-capture. It was now about the 1st of August. As soon as his health was
sufficiently recovered to bear it, he was heavily ironed, and kept in
close confinement at that place, until October, 1781--fourteen months,
without once beholding the light of the sun. Between St. Johns and
Chamblee he had been met by a British officer with whom he was acquainted,
and by whom he was informed that severe treatment would be his portion.
Compassionating his situation, however, the officer slipped a guinea and
a couple of dollars into his hands, and they moved on.

No other prisoners were in irons at Chamblee, and all but Sammons were
taken upon the parade ground twice a week for the benefit of fresh air.
The irons were so heavy and so tight, as to wear into the flesh of his
legs; and so incensed was Captain Steele, the officer of the 32d regiment,
yet commanding the garrison at Chamblee, at the escape of his prisoner,
that he would not allow the surgeon to remove the irons to dress the
wounds, of which they were the cause, until a peremptory order was
procured for that purpose from General St. Leger, who was then at St.
John's. The humanity of the surgeon prompted this application of his own
accord. Even then, however, Steele would only allow the leg-bolts to be
knocked off--still keeping on the hand-cuffs. The dressing of his legs
was a severe operation. The iron had eaten to the bone, and the gangrened
flesh was of course to be removed. One of the legs ultimately healed up,
but the other has never been entirely well to this day. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] April, 1837--fifty six years ago! Frederick Sammons is yet living,
and otherwise well; and was chosen one of the electors of President and
Vice-President of the United States in November 1836.

In the month of November, 1781, the prisoners were transferred from
Chamblee to an island in the St. Lawrence, called at that time Prison
Island--situated in the rapids some distance above Montreal. Sammons was
compelled to travel in his hand-cuffs, but the other prisoners were not
thus encumbered. There were about two hundred prisoners on the island, all
of whom were very closely guarded. In the Spring of 1782, Sammons
organised a conspiracy with nine of his fellow prisoners, to make their
escape, by seizing a provision boat, and had well-nigh effected their
object. Being discovered, however, their purpose was defeated, and
Sammons, as the ringleader, once more placed in irons. But at the end of
five weeks the irons were removed, and he was allowed to return to his
hut.

Impatient of such protracted captivity, Frederick was still bent on
escaping, for which purpose he induced a fellow-prisoner, by the name of
McMullen, to join him in the daring exploit of seeking an opportunity to
plunge into the river, and taking their chance of swimming to the shore.
A favorable moment for attempting the bold adventure was afforded on the
17th of August. The prisoners having, to the number of fifty, been allowed
to walk to the foot of the island, but around the whole of which a chain
of sentinels was extended, Sammons and McMullen, without having conferred
with any one else, watching an opportunity when the nearest sentinel
turned his back upon them, quietly glided down beneath a shelving rock,
and plunged into the stream--each holding up and waving a hand in token of
farewell to their fellow-prisoners, as the surge swept them rapidly down
the stream. The sentinel was distant about six rods when they threw
themselves into the river, and did not discover their escape until they
were beyond the reach of any molestation he could offer them.
Three-quarters of a mile below the island, the rapids were such as to
heave the river into swells too large for boats to encounter. This was a
frightful part of their voyage. Both, however, were expert swimmers, and
by diving as they approached each successive surge, both succeeded in
making the perilous passage--the distance of this rapid being about one
hundred and fifty rods. As they plunged successively into these rapids,
they had little expectation of meeting each other again in this world.
But a protecting Providence ordered it otherwise, and they emerged from
the frightful billows quite near together. "I am glad to see you," said
Sammons to his friend; "I feared we should not meet again." "We have had
a merry ride of it," replied the other; "but we could not have stood it
much longer."

The adventurous fellows attempted to land about two miles below the
island, but the current was so violent as to baffle their purpose, and
they were driven two miles farther, where they happily succeeded in
reaching the land, at a place on the north side of the St. Lawrence,
called by the Canadians "The Devil's Point." A cluster of houses stood
near the river, into some of which it was necessary the fugitives should
go to procure provisions. They had preserved each a knife and tinder-box
in their waistcoat pockets, and one of the first objects, after arming
themselves with substantial clubs, was to procure a supply of tinder.
This was effected by boldly entering a house and rummaging an old lady's
work-basket The good woman, frightened at the appearance of the visitors,
ran out and alarmed the village--the inhabitants of which were French.
In the meantime they searched the house for provisions, fire-arms, and
ammunition, but found none of the latter, and only a single loaf of bread.
They also plundered the house of a blanket, blanket-coat, and a few other
articles of clothing. By this time the people began to collect in such
numbers, that a precipitate, retreat was deemed advisable. McMullen,
being seized by two Canadians, was only released from their grasp by the
well-directed blows of Frederick's club. They both then commenced running
for the woods, when Sammons, encumbered with his luggage, unluckily fell,
and the loaf rolled away from him. The peasants now rushed upon them, and
their only course was to give battle, which they prepared to do in
earnest; whereupon, seeing their resolution, the pursuers retreated almost
as rapidly as they had advanced. This demonstration gave the fugitives
time to collect and arrange their plunder, and commence their travels
anew. Taking to the woods, they found a resting-place, where they halted
until night-fall. They then sallied forth once more in search of
provisions, with which it was necessary to provide themselves before
crossing to the south side of the river, where, at that day, there were
no settlements. The cattle fled at their approach; but they at length
came upon a calf in a farm-yard, which they captured, and appropriating
to their own use and behoof a canoe moored in the river, they embarked
with their prize, to cross over to the southern shore. But alas! when in
the middle of the stream their paddle broke, and they were in a measure
left to the mercy of the flood, which was hurrying them onward, as they
very well knew, toward the rapids or falls of the Cedars. There was an
island above the rapids, from the brink of which a tree had fallen into
the river. Fortunately the canoe was swept by the current into the
branches of this tree-top, among which it became entangled. While
struggling in this predicament, the canoe was upset. Being near shore,
however, the navigators got to land without losing the calf. Striking a
fire, they now dressed their veal, and on the following morning, by
towing their canoe along shore round to the south edge of the island,
succeeded in crossing to their own side of the river. They then plunged
directly into the unbroken forest, extending from the St. Lawrence to the
Sacondaga, and after a journey of twelve days of excessive hardship,
emerged from the woods within six miles of the point for which, without
chart or compass, Sammons had laid his course. Their provisions lasted
but a few days, and their only subsequent food consisted of roots and
herbs. The whole journey was made almost in a state of nudity--both being
destitute of pantaloons. Having worn out their hats upon their feet, the
last three days they were compelled to travel bare-footed. Long before
their journey was ended, therefore, their feet wore dreadfully lacerated
and swollen. On arriving at Schenectady the inhabitants were alarmed at
their wild and savage appearance--half naked, with lengthened beards and
matted hair. The people at length gathered round them with strange
curiosity; but when they made themselves known, a lady named Ellis rushed
through the crowd to grasp the hand of Frederick, and was so much
affected at his altered appearance that she fainted and fell. The welcome
fugitives were forthwith supplied with whatever of food and raiment was
necessary; and young Sammons learned that his father and family had
removed back to Marbletown, in the county of Ulster, whence he had
previously emigrated to Johnstown.

A singular but well-attested occurrence closes this interesting personal
narrative. The family of the elder Sammons had long given up Frederick as
lost. On the morning after his arrival at Schenectady, he despatched a
letter to his father, by the hand of an officer on his way to
Philadelphia, who left it at the house of a Mr. Levi De Witt, five miles
distant from the residence of the old gentleman. The same night on which
the letter was thus left, Jacob dreamed that his brother Frederick was
living, and that there was a letter from him at De Witt's announcing the
joyful tidings. The dream was repeated twice, and the contents of the
letter were so strongly impressed upon his mind, that he repeated what he
believed was the very language, on the ensuing morning--insisting that
such a letter was at the place mentioned. The family, his father in
particular, laughed at him for his credulity. Strong, however, in the
belief that there was such a communication, he repaired to the place
designated, and asked for the letter. Mr. De Witt looked for it, but
replied there was none. Jacob requested a more thorough search, and
behold the letter was found behind a barrel, where it had fallen. Jacob
then requested Mr. De Witt to open the letter, and examine while he
recited its contents. He did so, and the dreamer repeated it word for
word! [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The facts contained in this account of the captivity of Frederick
Sammons, nave been drawn from the narrative written by himself
immediately after his return. In regard to the dream, which I have
thought of sufficient interest to record in the text, Major Thomas
Sammons, who was at home at the time, has repeatedly assured me of the
fact, in conversations; and Mr. De Witt, when living, always confirmed
the circumstances related as occurring at his house. Jacob Sammons
himself says at the conclusion--"I write this to satisfy that class of
people who say there is nothing revealed by dreams."--_Author._

Returning from these digressions, the chain of historical events to be
recorded will be resumed in their order. Sir John Johnson having made good
his retreat, as heretofore described, no other transaction of consequence
occurred in the Mohawk Valley until the 2d of August, when the dreaded
Thayendanegea was again among the settlements on the river. Colonel
Gansevoort had been directed by General Clinton, on the 6th of June, to
repair to Fort Plank, with his regiment, to take charge of a quantity of
stores destined to Fort Schuyler. In his instructions to that officer,
General Clinton referred to the alarming situation of the Mohawk country,
and enjoined the most vigilant watchfulness against surprise. The
stores were of course to be transported in batteaux, carefully guarded
the whole distance. Aware of the movement of these stores, Brant had
caused the valley to be filled with rumors of his intention to capture
them, and even to take Fort Schuyler itself. In order to prevent either
occurrence, the militia of the county were sent forward to strengthen the
convoy, and repair to the defence of the Fort. Having thus diverted the
public attention, and caused the militia to be drawn from the lower
section of the valley, the wily Mohawk passed round in their rear, and
on the day above mentioned, made a sudden descent upon Canajoharie and
its adjacent settlements. [FN-1] There were several small stockades among
the different neighborhoods invaded, but the principal work of defence,
then called Fort Plank, and subsequently Fort Plain, was situated upon an
elevated plain overlooking the valley, near the site of the village yet
retaining the latter name of the fortress. [FN-2] A small garrison had
been left in this fort, but not of sufficient strength to warrant a field
engagement with the forces of Brant, while the latter, being unprovided
with artillery, had no design of assaulting the fort.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Annals of Tryon County.

[FN-2] For a drawing of Fort Plank, or Fort Plain, and a more particular
description, see Appendix, No. I. To a modern engineer, its form must
present a singular spectacle as a military structure. The drawing has
been preserved, as a specimen of the forts and block-houses of that
frontier during the war of the Revolution.

On the first approach of Brant in Canajoharie, a few miles eastwardly of
the fort, the alarm was given by a woman, who fired a cannon for that
purpose. But as the able-bodied men were absent, as already stated, the
chief met with no immediate opposition, and before the militia could be
rallied from Schenectady and Albany, he had ample time to effect the
object of the enterprise. The settlements on the south side of the river,
for several miles, were entirely laid waste. All the movable property that
could be taken off was secured as plunder; but no outrages were committed
upon the defenceless women and children, other than carrying them into
captivity--a circumstance that has been attributed to the absence of the
Tories in this expedition, and also to the fact that there was no divided
command--Brant being himself the sole leader. Be that as it may, the
Mohawk chief is entitled to the benefit of this instance of humanity, in
forming a final judgment of his character.

But the strength of the main fort did not deter the chief from leading
his warriors directly into its vicinity, where the church, distant about
a quarter of a mile, and the parsonage, together with several other
buildings, were burnt. Sixteen of the inhabitants were killed, between
fifty and sixty persons, mostly women and children, were taken prisoners,
fifty-three dwelling-houses, and as many barns were burnt, together with
a gristmill, two small forts, and a handsome church. Upward of three
hundred black cattle and horses were killed or driven away, the arms of
the people, their working-tools and implements of husbandry destroyed,
and the growing crops swept from the fields. [FN-1] Indeed, the fairest
district of the valley was in a single day rendered a scene of wailing
and desolation; and the ravages enacted in the Indian country by General
Sullivan the preceding year, were in part most unexpectedly re-enacted by
the Indian chieftain himself in the heart of the country of his
invaders. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] MS. letter of Colonel Clyde to Governor George Clinton.

[FN-2] A detachment from this expedition was sent by Brant, at the same
time, against the settlement on the Norman's Kill, in the very
neighborhood of Albany, when they succeeded in burning twenty
houses.--_Macauly._

The first admonition of the invasion in the neighborhood of Johnstown,
fifteen miles from Canajoharie, was by the ascending columns of smoke
from the burning buildings. The people were employed harvesting in the
fields, but they turned out immediately, and joining Colonel Wemple, who
advanced from below with the Schenectady and Albany militia, proceeded to
the scene of conflagration. But their movements were not sufficiently
expeditious to arrest the destroyer or to intercept his retreat. Indeed,
it is intimated, by good authority, that although the Colonel's forces
were superior to those of Brant, the former was, nevertheless, by no
means anxious to arrive in the immediate vicinity of the Indians too
soon. [FN-1] The Colonel lodged his men that night in the fort. The next
morning, while the troops, regular and irregular, were on parade, some
buildings were discovered on fire at a distance, which had escaped the
flames the day before. The attention of Colonel Wemple being directed to
the fact, he remarked, that if any volunteers were disposed to go in
pursuit, they might Major Bantlin, with a few of the Tryon County militia,
who had arrived that morning, immediately turned out. "We hastened to the
place as soon as we could. The enemy discovered us and ran off. It was a
small party sent out by Brant We pursued them, but they reached their
main body before we came up. We succeeded, however, in rescuing a little
girl, whom they had taken and painted." [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Major Thomas Sammons, who was in the wheat-field when the smoke
was seen, and who immediately repaired to the scene of action.

[FN-2] MSS. of Major Sammons.

The forts destroyed by Brant at Canajoharie, were built by the people
themselves, but had not yet been garrisoned. The inhabitants had
complained bitterly that they were thus compelled to leave their own
firesides unprotected, to assist the Government in re-opening the
communication with Fort Schuyler. But being assured that their town could
be in no danger, they submitted to the order, and their militia marched
to the upper section of the valley. The result was deplorable enough;
while the success of his stratagem added another plume to the crest of
"the Great Captain of the Six Nations." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] According to the British account of this irruption, as published in
New-York on the 6th of September, Sir John Johnson was in the expedition
with Captain Brant. But this could hardly have been the fact, and all
other authorities be silent upon the subject. The same account claimed
that in the Canajoharie settlements 67 houses and 48 barns were burnt;
17 persons killed, and 53 taken prisoners. At the same time, it was
stated that in one of the Schoharie settlements 87 houses were burnt;
7 persons killed; and 31 taken prisoners. At Norman's Kill, 30 houses
burnt. Total, 140 houses and barns burnt; 84 people killed; and 73 made
prisoners.--_Almon's Remembrancer, Part II._--1780.

CHAPTER IV.

General progress of the War--Design against New-York--Glance at the
Southern Campaigns--Treason of Arnold--Execution of Andre--Indian
deputation to Count de Rochambeau, in Rhode Island--Invasion of the
Schoharie-kill and the Mohawk Valleys, by Sir John Johnson, Brant, and
the Corn-Planter--Surprise of the upper fort--The middle fort
invested--Conduct of Murphy in firing upon a flag--Singular prosecution
of the siege--Murphy's contumacy--The flags fired upon thrice--Sir John
proceeds to the lower fort--After a brief halt, advances again to the
Mohawk, destroying every thing in his way--Murder of the
inhabitants--The Vroomans--Heroism of a woman--Sir John arrives at Fort
Hunter--Ravages the Mohawk Valley--Battle of Stone Arabia and death of
Colonel Brown--His character--Remarkable anecdote of General Arnold--Sir
John proceeds to Klock's Field--Is pursued by Van Rensselaer, though
with unaccountable delay--Battle of Klock's Field--Flight of the
Indians--Strange retreat of Van Rensselaer--Affairs of the night--Secret
flight of the Greens and Rangers--The pursuit--General Van Rensselaer
prematurely relinquishes it--Capture of Captain Vrooman and his
company, by Brant, in the neighborhood of Oneida--Touching incident at
Fort Hunter--Singular story respecting the Corn-Planter--Major
Carleton's expedition against Forts Anne and George--Correspondence on
the subject of prisoners--Affairs at Niagara--Seating in of Winter.

The active operations of the war, during the open months of the present
year, with the exception of the successive invasions of the Mohawk Valley
by Sir John Johnson and Captain Brant at the head of the loyalists and
Indians, were chiefly confined to the Southern states. True, indeed, in
anticipation of the arrival of another French fleet, with an army under
the Count de Rochambeau, for the land service, an attack had been
meditated by the Commander-in-chief upon New-York, and various preliminary
measures were adopted for that object. But, in order to cover the real
design, an attempt was made, after the return of the Marquis de Lafayette
from France, in the Spring, to divert the attention of the British
Commander by inducing a belief that Canada was again to be invaded by a
combined movement of the Americans and their allies. For this purpose,
proclamations, addressed to the Canadian people, were prepared, one of
which was written in French, and signed by Lafayette. These proclamations
were printed with great secrecy, but at the same time for the express
purpose of allowing copies of them to fall into the hands of the enemy,
to mislead Sir Henry Clinton. The printing was confided by Washington to
General Arnold; and as the stratagem was unsuccessful, subsequent events
induced a belief that the treasonable practices of that officer had then
already commenced. The letter from Washington to Arnold, respecting the
printing of those proclamations, was dated June 4th. It was afterward
satisfactorily ascertained, that "for several months previously Arnold
had endeavored to recommend himself to the enemy, by sending intelligence
concerning the movements and plans of the American army." [FN] Various
untoward circumstances concurred in frustrating the design of the
intended combined movement upon New-York. In the first place, although
Congress had made large promises to France, of efficient co-operation, in
the event of assistance from that quarter, yet the backwardness of many
of the States in furnishing their respective quotas of men, and the
continued deficiency of supplies, were serious discouragements to the
Commander-in-chief, and he almost began to despair of the undertaking
before the arrival of his allies. In the second place, the fleet of the
Chevalier Ternay, with the army of the Count de Rochambeau, did not
arrive so early by several weeks as was intended. In the third place, Sir
Henry Clinton having returned to New-York from the south, instead of
entering the harbor of New-York direct, the French admiral was
constrained to put into the harbor of Rhode Island, where the army was
landed; and before dispositions could be made for a combined movement
thence upon New-York, the British Admiral Graves arrived off Rhode Island
with a superior force, so that the Chevalier Ternay was blockaded. The
result of all these occurrences was a relinquishment, for the time, of the
enterprise against New-York; and the French and American armies were
doomed to comparative inactivity at the north the whole season.

* * * * *

[FN] Sparks's Life and Correspondence of Washington, vol. vii. Vide
several letters from Washington to Lafayette, Arnold, and others, during
the month of May, 1780.

Not so, however, at the south. After the fall of Charleston, in the
Spring, the British troops, under those able and active officers,
Cornwallis, Tarleton, Lord Rawdon, and others, almost entirely over-ran
the Southern States. Tarleton's first achievement was the cutting up of
Colonel Buford, with about four hundred men, at the Waxhaws. In South
Carolina all ideas of farther resistance seemed to be abandoned, until
Sumpter returned, and revived their spirits by proving at Williamson's
plantation that the invaders were not invincible. But in July, after
General Gates had assumed the command in the Southern Department, to which
the brave Baron De Kalb had opened the way, the severe disaster at Camden,
where the militia ran away, as usual, at the beginning of the battle,
rendered all again gloomy as before. [FN] The Baron De Kalb fell in this
action, covered with wounds. Close upon the heels of this defeat, followed
the surprise and all but annihilation of Sumpter's forces, by Tarleton, at
the Wateree. But the splendid affair at King's Mountain, on the 7th of
October, in which Ferguson, with a body of twelve or fifteen hundred
loyalists, and about one hundred British regulars, was defeated and taken
by Campbell, Shelby, and Cleaveland, at the head of the hardy mountaineers
of Virginia and North Carolina, with the re-appearance of Sumpter in the
field at the head of a body of volunteers--defeating Major Wemys at Broad
River, on the 12th of November, and repulsing Tarleton himself at
Black-stocks near the Tiger river, on the 20th,--contributed not a little
to revive the spirits of the Americans in that quarter. At the north, the
only considerable movement by the enemy was the expedition of the Hessian
General Knyphausen into New Jersey, during which he burnt thirteen houses
and the church at Connecticut Farms, and fifty houses at Springfield.
Fighting a battle at that place without achieving a victory, he returned
to Elizabethtown, and thence back to New-York.

* * * * *

[FN] From the time of his leaving the command at Providence in the
beginning of the preceding winter, General Gates had been residing at
his own home in Virginia. He was unanimously appointed by Congress, on
the 13th of June, to take command in the southern department.--_Sparks._

But the great event of the Summer at the north, was the capture of the
British Adjutant General, Major Andre, in the character of a spy, and the
consequent detection of the treason of General Arnold. The annals of war
furnish not a more flagrant instance of treachery than that Arnold was a
brave man, who had shared largely in the confidence of Washington during
the earlier years of the war; and although events had subsequently
occurred which must seriously have shaken the faith of the
Commander-in-chief in his private virtue and integrity, still he could
not have entertained the slightest suspicion of his patriotism, or his
integrity to the country; ignorant, probably, of the fact which will
appear a few pages ahead, that even that _had_ been questioned, during the
Canadian campaign of 1776. But, aside from Arnold's thirst for military
fame, which certainly cannot be denied to him, his ruling passion was
avarice. During his residence in Philadelphia, with the command of which
he was invested after its evacuation by the British troops in 1778, he
had lived in a style of splendor altogether beyond his means. Embarking
largely in privateering and other speculations, he had suffered heavy
losses; and to supply an exchequer which had been exhausted by an almost
boundless prodigality, he had resorted to acts of oppression and base
dishonor. Another device to obtain the means of indulging his
extravagance, was the exhibition of accounts against the public, so
enormous as to demand an investigation by a Board of Commissioners. Many
of these accounts being disallowed by the Commissioners, Arnold appealed
to Congress. A committee of re-examination was appointed; the report of
which was, that the Board of Commissioners had already allowed too much.
He was shortly afterward brought to answer for his peculations, and other
malpractices, before a General Court-martial; and he only escaped being
cashiered, by the death of one witness and the unaccountable absence of
another. Still, his conduct was pronounced highly reprehensible by the
Court, for which he was subjected to a reprimand from the
Commander-in-chief. The impression, however, was strong, and very general,
that he ought to have been dismissed from the army. Stung to the quick at
these censures of the Congress, the Court, and of his commander--hating
that commander now, if he had not done so before, fur the high-souled
honor of his sentiments, and the exalted virtue and moral purity of his
life--hating him the more bitterly because of his own fall--and stimulated
to the foul purpose, like the Thane of Cawdor, by his wife, who was a
traitress before him [FN-1]--Arnold had almost consummated his
long-meditated treachery, [FN-2] when the arrest of the unfortunate Andre
saved not only the citadel of the army, but probably the cause of the
country itself.

* * * * *

[FN-1] It is well known that, on the detection of Arnold's treason and
his flight, Mrs. Arnold was apparently deeply affected--tearing her hair,
and seeming almost frantic. So great was her agony, that the feelings of
Washington, Hamilton, and other officers, were greatly excited in her
behalf. The author has long been aware, through the confidential friends
of the late Colonel Burr, that Mrs. Arnold was only _acting a part_ when
she exhibited her distress. She was the daughter of Chief Justice
Shippen, of Pennsylvania, and had been married to Arnold at Philadelphia
in 1779. She had corresponded with Major Andre, during the Summer, under
a pretext of obtaining supplies of millinery, &c. Her habits were
extravagant, and had doubtless contributed to involve her husband more
deeply in pecuniary difficulties. Having obtained from General Washington
a passport, and permission to join her husband in New-York, Mrs. Arnold
stopped on the way At the house of Mrs. Provost, at Paramus, the lady of
a British officer, and afterward the wife of Colonel Burr, where she
stayed one night. Here the frantic scenes of West Point were re-enacted
while there were strangers present; but as soon as they were alone, she
became Tranquilized, and assured Mrs. Provost that she was heartily sick
of the theatrics she was playing. She stated that she had corresponded
with the British commander--that she was disgusted with the American
cause, and those who had the management of it; and that, through great
precaution and unceasing perseverance, she had ultimately brought the
General into the arrangement to surrender West Point to the British,
&c., &c. For farther particulars upon the subject, see Davis's Life of
Burr, pp. 219, 220. In his letter in her behalf to General Washington,
Arnold of course entirely exculpated his wife. The public vengeance, he
said, "ought alone to fall on me. She is as good and as innocent as an
angel, and is incapable of doing wrong."

[FN-2] Eighteen months before the consummation of his treason, General
Arnold commenced writing to Sir Henry Clinton anonymously, and from time
to time communicated to him important intelligence.--_Sparks._

With a seeming desire of active service, Arnold had urged forward his
trial, that, as he protested, he might be enabled the earlier to take the
field. But in pursuance, no doubt, of his understanding with Sir Henry
Clinton, his great anxiety was to obtain the command of West Point. With
this view he wrote to General Schuyler, who was then in camp, as one of
a Committee of Congress; and it is supposed that he likewise corresponded
with Robert R. Livingston upon the subject. At all events, Mr. Livingston
applied to General Washington for that station in behalf of Arnold. The
application was successful, though not immediately. On the first of
August Arnold was assigned to the command of the left wing of the army.
Complaining, however, that his wounds were yet too painful to allow him
to act with efficiency in the field, on the 3d of the same month he was
directed to repair to West Point, and take the command of the post. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Letter of Washington to General Arnold, August 3,1790. See, also,
note of Sparks to the same, and other antecedent letters.

It would be foreign to the main design of the present work, to
recapitulate the history of this memorable instance of the blackest
treachery. Suffice it to say, that, after his arrest, the conduct of
Andre was characterised by candor, manliness, and honor. He was tried by
a board of officers, and convicted on his own frank confessions, without
the testimony of a single witness. His main object, after he saw his
destiny was inevitable, was to relieve himself from the reproach of
having been guilty of any act of personal dishonor; and to show that in
fact he had bean compelled to assume the disguise in which he was taken,
by Arnold himself. And when he had expiated his error by his life, the
feeling was almost universal, that the iron hand of the law-martial had
fallen upon the wrong individual. For, although, in regard to Andre
himself it was doubtless right, under the circumstances of the case, that
justice should be inexorable; yet humanity cannot but weep over the hard
fate of the victim, while it marvels that an inscrutable Providence did
not so order events as to bring Arnold to the gibbet on which the
youthful stranger so nobly died. "Never, perhaps, did a man suffer death
with more justice, or deserve it less," was the remark of a gallant
soldier who was in attendance upon him during his imprisonment; and the
account of his character, written by that officer, and his demeanor
during the trying scenes intervening between his arrest and execution,
cannot be read without exciting emotions of high admiration and profound
regret. [FN] Happy, however, was his fate, compared with that of the
arch-traitor, whose moral leprosy, like the plague-spot, caused him to be
shunned through life by all honorable men--an object of loathing and
scorn, to fill--unregretted by anyone--a dishonorable grave!

* * * * *

[FN] The document referred to is a letter published in the Pennsylvania
Gazette of October 25th, 1790, written, as was supposed, by Alexander
Hamilton, at that time an Aid-de-camp to the Commander-in-chief. There
is, either in the library or the picture gallery of Yale College,
New-Haven, a likeness of Major Andre, sketched upon paper, by himself,
but a short time before his execution.

Resuming, again, the Indian relations of the North, the first occurrence
to be noted is a visit made by several of the Oneida, Tuscarora, and
Caughnawaga Indians to the French army in Rhode Island. The Caughnawaga
Indians, residing at the Lachine rapids near Montreal, had been altogether
in the interest of France down to the time of the conquest of Canada by
the British and Provincial arms; and it was supposed that the ancient
attachment of other branches of the Six Nations to the French had not
been entirely lost. It was also recollected, that "when M. de Vaudreuil
surrendered Canada to the English, he gave to the Indians, as tokens of
recognizance, a golden crucifix and a watch; and it was supposed that a
renewal of the impressions, which had been in some degree preserved among
them by these emblems of friendship, might have the effect to detach
them from the influence of the English, and strengthen their union with
the Americans and French." [FN-1] That the British officers were
apprehensive that an influence adverse to the cause of the King might be
awakened among the Indians by the alliance of the French with the
Americans, was rendered highly probable, from the pains taken by the
former to impress them with a belief that no such alliance had been
formed. [FN-2] Hence it was judged expedient by General Schuyler, who was
then at Albany, that a delegation of the Indians should be sent to Rhode
Island, where conviction of the fact might be wrought upon their senses
by the substantial evidence of the fleet and army. [FN-3] Thirteen Oneidas
and Tuscaroras, and five Caughnawagas, were accordingly despatched to
Rhode Island, under the conduct of Mr. Deane the Interpreter. They
arrived at Newport on the 29th of August, and were received with
distinguished marks of attention by the French commanders. "Entertainments
and military shows were prepared for them, and they expressed much
satisfaction at what they saw and heard. Suitable presents were
distributed among them; and to the chiefs were given medals representing
the coronation of the French King. When they went away, a written address
was delivered to them, or rather a kind of proclamation, signed by Count
Rochambeau, copies of which were to be distributed among the friendly
Indians." It was in the following words:--

* * * * *

[FN-1] sparks.

[FN-2] Letter from Washington to Count de Rochambeau.

[FN-3] Idem.

"The King of France, your father, has not forgotten his children. As a
token of remembrance, I have presented gifts to your deputies in his name.
He learned with concern, that many nations, deceived by the English, who
were his enemies, had attacked and lifted up the hatchet against his good
and faithful allies, the United States. He has desired me to tell you,
that he is a firm and faithful friend to all the friends of America, and
a decided enemy to all its foes. He hopes that all his children, whom he
loves sincerely, will take part with their father in this war against the
English."

The Caughnawagas being more conversant with the French than, with the
English language, the address was written in both languages, and signed
and sealed in due form. [FN] It is doubtful, however, whether either good
or ill came from the movement. The Oneidas and Tuscaroras were already
sufficiently true in their alliance with the Americans. The Caughnawagas
had made friendly advances to the Americans before, which resulted in
nothing. And as for the other and greater divisions of the Six Nations,
their hostility, it will soon be perceived, was not abated.

* * * * *

[FN] Note in the Life and Correspondence of Washington by Sparks, and
also a letter from the Count de Rochambeau, cited by him.

But even yet the desire of vengeance, on the part of the savages, had not
been satisfied. Smarting from the devastations of Sullivan's expedition,
neither the irruption of Sir John Johnson to Johnstown and Caughnawaga,
nor the invasion and destruction of Canajoharie by Thayendanegea, was
deemed by them a sufficient retaliatory visitation. Another and yet more
extensive expedition, both as to the numbers to be engaged, and the
object to be accomplished, was therefore planned and carried into
execution, under the auspices of Sir John Johnson, Joseph Brant, and the
famous Seneca warrior, the _Corn-Planter._ [FN-1] This latter chief was a
half-breed, his father being a white man, living in the Mohawk country,
named John O'Bail. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] This is the first time that the name of this chief, afterward
celebrated in our Indian annals, occurs in the history of the revolution,
although he was in the field with his tribe against General Sullivan.
There is some doubt as to the orthography of his parental name. It has
been written Abeel, O'Beal, and O'Bail. The latter is the name according
to Mary Jemison. He was, for a considerable period, the rival of the
eloquent Keeper-Awake, Red Jacket, by whom his influence was ultimately
destroyed and himself supplanted.

[FN-2] Mary Jemison.

The Indian portion of this expedition was chiefly collected at Tioga
Point, whence they ascended the Susquehanna to Unadilla, where a junction
was formed with Sir John Johnson, whose forces consisted, besides Mohawks,
of three companies of his own regiment of Greens; one company of German
Yagers; a detachment of two hundred men from Butler's rangers; [FN-1] and
one company of British regulars, under the immediate command of Captain
Richard Duncan, the son of an opulent gentleman residing, previous to the
war, in the neighborhood of Schenectady. [FN-2] The troops of Sir John
were collected at Lachine, near Montreal, whence they ascended the St.
Lawrence to Lake Ontario and Oswego. From this point they crossed the
country to the Susquehanna, where they were joined by the Indians and
Tories from Tioga. Sir John had with him two small mortars, and a brass
three-pounder, called a grasshopper, from the circumstance of its being
mounted upon iron legs instead of wheels. These pieces of ordnance were
transported through the woods upon pack-horses. Every soldier, and every
Indian, was provided with eighty rounds of cartridges. [FN-3]

* * * * *

[FN-1] MSS. of Major Thomas Sammons.

[FN-2] Giles F. Yates, Esq.

[FN-3] Major Sammons.

The Indians never breathed more fiercely for vengeance than at this time,
and they went forth upon the war-path with a determination that nothing
should impede their march or prevent their depredations. [FN] Their
numbers have been variously estimated at from eight hundred to fifteen
hundred and fifty--all descriptions of troops included. The latter
estimate is probably the nearest to the truth, judging from the results
of the campaign.

* * * * *

[FN] Mary Jemison, who seems to have been present at the gathering.

Their course was by their old route, along the Charlotte river,
(sometimes called the eastern branch of the Susquehanna,) to its source,
and thence across to the head of the Schoharie-kill, for the purpose of
making thorough work in the destruction of the continuous chain of
settlements through that beautiful valley to its junction with the Mohawk.
The enemy had designed to keep the movement a profound secret, until
proclaimed by his actual presence. Two of the Oneidas, in their service,
having deserted, frustrated that design by giving information of their
approach to the settlements. [FN] Whether from weariness of continual
alarms, or from ignorance or doubt as to the quarter where the blow was
to be struck, or from criminal negligence, cannot be told; but it is
certain that the surprise was as complete as the success of the campaign
was discreditable to those who did not prevent it.

* * * * *

[FN] Letter of General Haldimand to Lord George Germaine.

The plan of Sir John and Captain Brant was to enter the valley by night,
pass, if possible, the upper fort unobserved, and then, by silently
destroying the intervening settlements, attack the middle fort, at
Middleburgh, early in the morning. This fort was garrisoned by about one
hundred and fifty state troops, called three months men, exclusive of
some fifty militia-men--the whole under the command of Major Woolsey,
[FN-1] who, from all accounts, appears to have been an inefficient
officer, and by some writers has been represented as the most miserable
of poltroons. [FN-2] The design of passing the upper fort unperceived,
was in part successful; nor was the enemy's approach to the middle
fortress discovered until just at break of day, on the morning of the
16th of October, when a sentinel, named Philip Graft, standing upon the
parapet of a mud wall, discovered a fire kindling in some buildings not
more than a quarter of a mile distant. Calling to the sergeant of the
guard, he communicated the discovery through him to the commanding
officer. The drums at once beat to arms, and Major Woolsey requested
forty volunteers to sally forth and discover the cause of the alarm.
Every man on duty promptly responded to the invitation, and the
complement was thereupon counted off from the right, and sent out in
charge of Lieutenant Spencer. The little band proceeded with alacrity in
the direction of the burning buildings, until they suddenly encountered
the enemy's advance. Three shots were exchanged, when Spencer retreated,
and brought his detachment back into the fort without the loss of a
man. [FN-3] At this moment the concerted signal of three guns from the
upper fort came rolling down the gorge of the mountains, from which it
was evident that the enemy had passed that fortress without molesting it.
A proper degree of vigilance, however, ought certainly to have enabled
the sentinels of that garrison to observe the advance of the invading
army, instead of merely catching a glimpse of its rear. The moment the
enemy had thus been discovered, front and rear, concealment of his
approach being no longer possible, the torch was indiscriminately applied
to such houses and barns as came in his way. The season had been
bountiful, the rich alluvial bottoms of the Schoharie-kill producing an
unusually abundant harvest that year. The barns were therefore well
stored with the earlier grains, while the fields were yet heavily
burdened with the autumnal crops. But the husbandmen in the neighborhood,
or those lodging for greater security in the little apology for a
fortress, looked abroad at sunrise to behold the produce of their
industry in flames.

* * * * *

[FN-1] MS. statement of Philip Graft, in the author's possession.

[FN-2] "Woolsey's presence of mind forsook him in the hour of danger. He
concealed himself at first with the women and children in the house, and
when driven out by the ridicule of his new associates, he crawled round
the intrenchments on his hands and knees, amid the jeers and bravos of
the militia, who felt their courage revive as their laughter was excited
by the cowardice of their major."--_Campbell's Annals._

[FN-3] MS. statement of Philip Graft.

Soon after sunrise the main forces of the enemy had arrived, and the fort
was completely invested. A column of troops, with the pieces of light
artillery heretofore mentioned, passed round the north-east side of the
fort, and planted their guns upon an eminence commanding the American
works. An officer with a flag was now despatched toward the garrison, and
from the moment he was seen, an order was given to cease firing. All was
silent until he had approached to within the distance of fair rifle shot,
when the reader's old acquaintance, Murphy, recently of Morgan's rifle
corps, but now making war on his own responsibility, expressed a
determination to shoot down the officer by whom the flag was borne. He
was instantly ordered by the officers of the regular troops to forbear.
But the militia irregulars encouraged him to persist in his mutinous
determination. He did so; but for once his rifle was untrue, and the
flag-officer immediately faced about and retired to his own ranks.

Sir John thereupon opened his artillery upon the fort, while the Indians
and rangers kept up a brisk fire of musketry--both without much effect.
The enemy's field-pieces were probably of too small caliber for the
distance, and the shells were thrown with so little skill, for the most
part, as either to fall short, or fly over the works, or to explode in
the air. Two shells, however, fell upon the roof of the house within the
fort, one of which was precipitated down into a room occupied by two sick
women. It sank into a feather bed, and exploded--but without inflicting
farther injury. Fire was communicated to the roof of the building by the
other shell, and was extinguished with a single pail of water carried up
and applied by Philip Graft. Unfortunately the garrison was unable to
return the fire with spirit, for the want of powder. The regular troops
had only a few rounds each, and the militia were but little better
provided in that respect. Messengers had been despatched to Albany on the
preceding day for ammunition, and also far reinforcements; but neither had
yet been received, so that the fort was but ill prepared for protracted
or efficient resistance. But of this destitution the enemy was of course
ignorant; and the shooting at his flag-officer may have been, and probably
was, construed by Sir John as evidence of a determination to make no
terms. Expecting a desperate resistance, therefore, the Baronet may, from
that circumstance, have proceeded with the greater caution.

It was indeed a singular siege. The enemy, spreading over the whole of
the little plain, were now occupied in feeble attacks upon the fort, and
now dispersing in small detachments, to plunder another farm-house and
burn another corn-stack. There was one large barn, situated near the fort,
and around which stood a circle of stacks of wheat. These the enemy
attempted several times to fire, but Lieut. Spencer sallied forth with
his little band of forty, and so gallantly protected the property, that
the enemy reluctantly abandoned his design upon that point. Spencer was
fired upon briskly in this sortie, but lost only one of his men.

In the course of the forenoon, another flag was despatched toward the
fort by Sir John, which Murphy again determined to shoot down the moment
the officer came within range of his trusty rifle. Major Woolsey and the
officers interposed, but the militia again rallied round Murphy; and
although one of the officers drew his sword, and threatened to run the
offender through if he persisted, yet the rifleman coolly replied that he
had no confidence in the commanding officer, who he believed intended to
surrender the fort; that, if taken, he knew well what his own fate would
be, and he would not be taken alive. As the flag approached, therefore,
he fired again, but happily without effect; and the flag officer once
more returned to the head-quarters of Sir John. [FN-1] When the officers
of the regular troops remonstrated against such a barbarous violation of
the usages of honorable war, the militia soldiers replied that they were
dealing with a foe who paid no regard to such usages; and, however
strictly they might observe the rules of war and of etiquette themselves,
the besiegers would be the last men to exhibit a corresponding course of
conduct in the event of their success. The wailings of plundered and
murdered families without the fort, and the columns of smoke and flame
then ascending to the heavens, afforded ample testimony of the truth of
their position. "The savages, and their companions, the Tories, still
more savage than they, had shown no respect to age, sex, or condition;
and it was not without force that the question was repeated, are we bound
to exercise a forbearance totally unreciprocated by the enemy? Besides,"
it was added, "let us show that we will neither take nor give quarters;
and the enemy, discovering our desperation, will most likely withdraw."
[FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Statement of Philip Graft.

[FN-2] The Sexagenary.

The desultory battle was again renewed--small parties of the garrison
occasionally watching opportunities to sally forth and do what mischief
they could to the enemy, retreating within the gates again when likely to
be borne down by superior numbers. Sir John, perceiving at length that
neither shot nor shells made any impression upon the garrison, formed his
disciplined troops under shelter of a small building more immediately in
the neighborhood of the fort, and prepared for an attempt to carry it by
assault. A flag again approached, and Murphy, brought up his rifle to
fire upon it the third time. He was admonished, as before, to desist, and
an effort was made to arrest him. But he was a universal favorite, and
the soldiers would not allow the procedure. A white flag was then ordered
to be raised from the fort, but Murphy threatened instant death to any
one who obeyed the direction; and as the enemy's flag continued to
approach, he was again preparing his piece, when an officer once more
interposed. Captain Reghtmeyer, of the militia, standing by the side of
Murphy, gave him the order to fire. The continental officer made a
demonstration toward Reghtmeyer, by attempting to draw his sword; but
immediately desisted as the latter clubbed his fusee, and gave an
impressive motion with its breech, of an import not to be misunderstood;
whereupon the Major stepped back, and there the matter ended. [FN-1] The
officer bearing the flag, having been thus a third time repulsed, Sir
John convened a council of war, and after a brief consultation, abandoned
the siege, and proceeded on his Vandal march down the valley. The reason
of this hasty change of purpose has never been known. Some have asserted
that a pretended loyalist gave the Baronet an exaggerated account of the
strength of the garrison and its means of resistance. [FN-2] Others have
said that rumors of approaching reinforcements induced him to hasten
forward, lest his projected march of desolation should be interrupted.
But it is likely that the repeated violations of the flag had created an
impression that such an indomitable garrison might not prudently be
engaged steel to steel and hand to hand, by assailants not to be relied
upon with much confidence in such emergencies.

* * * * *

[FN-1] {illegible word--Idem.?}

[FN-2] Campbell.

The march of the invaders was rapid in the direction of Fort Hunter, at
the confluence of the Schoharie-kill with the Mohawk river, in the course
of which they destroyed the buildings and produce of every agricultural
description. [FN-1] On arriving in the vicinity of the Lower Fort at Old
Schoharie, Sir John divided his forces--the regulars continuing down on
the bank of the creek to the left of the fort, while the Indians skirted
the meadows half a mile distant on the right. Having thus gained the
north side of the fort, they made a stand for a brief space of time, and
a few shots were interchanged. Some sharp-shooters having been stationed
in the tower of the church, the enemy brought one of their field-pieces
to bear upon it. A single shot only struck, which lodged in the cornice,
and a discharge of grape from the fort drove the invaders back, [FN-2]
whereupon their march was resumed and continued to Fort Hunter; at which
place they arrived in the night without interruption. In their course the
whole valley was laid in ruins. The houses and barns were burnt, the
horses and cattle killed or taken; and those of the inhabitants who were
not safely within the walls of their little fortifications, were either
killed or carried into captivity. Not a building, known by the Indians
and Tories to belong to a Whig, was saved. Sir John had ordered his forces
to spare the church at the upper Fort, but his mandate was disobeyed, and
the structure was laid in ashes. The houses of the loyalists were passed
unmolested; but, exasperated by the destruction of their own habitations,
the Whigs soon caused these to be numbered in the common lot. [FN-3] Thus
was the whole Valley of the Schoharie-kill made desolate.

* * * * *

[FN-1] The destruction of grain was so great as to threaten the most
alarming consequences, in respect to the forming of magazines for the
public service at the North. But for that event, the settlement of
Schoharie, alone, would have delivered eighty thousand bushels of
grain.--_Letter of Washington to the President of Congress, Nov._ 7,
1780.

[FN-2] Campbell's Annals.

[FN-3] The Indians spared one house, from the consideration that it had
formerly been occupied at one of their treaties.

The loss of the Americans at the forts was very trifling. Only two were
killed, and one wounded, at the middle Fort, and none at the lower. But
of the unprotected inhabitants, numbers--according to some accounts, one
hundred--were killed. There were some individual occurrences during the
day, moreover, which are worthy of being specially noted. It happened
early in the morning, that John Vrooman and two of his neighbors were upon
a scout in the woods, about eight miles from the fort, when they
discovered an Indian. Vrooman fired, and the Indian fell. At the same
instant another Indian was discovered through the bushes, who was also
brought down by one of Vrooman's companions. A third savage was now seen;
but as Vrooman's third companion hesitated about firing, Vrooman himself
snatched his rifle from him, and brought that warrior also to the ground.
At the same instant--for it was all the work of a moment--up rose from
the ground a group of Indians and Tories, who set upon them with a
terrible yell. Vrooman and his companions fled in different directions at
the top of their speed, and succeeded, by reason of their wind and bottom,
and their zigzag flights, in making their escape. It was noon when the
former reached his own home,--only to behold his house in flames. His wife
and her mother were made captives by an Indian named Seth Hendrick, who
had formerly resided in Schoharie; but they were released and sent back
on the following day, by Captain Brant, together with a letter, written
upon birch bark, explaining his reasons for allowing their return. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The Sexagenary. The Vroomans were an extensive family in the
Schoharie settlements, and were severe sufferers. In the last preceding
chapter but one, the boastings of Becraft, who bad murdered one entire
family of that name, have been noted. During the present expedition, the
following persons, among others, were murdered, viz:--Tunis Vrooman, his
wife and son; while at the same time Ephraim Vrooman and his two sons,
Bartholomew and James, John Vrooman, Martin Vrooman, Bartholomew Vrooman,
Jun., Simon Vrooman, his wife and his son Jacob, were taken prisoners and
carried to Canada.--_Giles F. Yates._

One of the farmers, on that day, while engaged with his boys in unloading
a wagon of grain at the barn, hearing a shriek, looked about, and saw a
party of Indians and Tories between himself and the house. "The enemy, my
boys!" said the father, and sprang from the wagon, but in attempting to
leap the fence, a rifle ball brought him dead upon the spot. The shriek
had proceeded from his wife, who, in coming from the garden, had
discovered the savages, and screamed to give the alarm. She was struck
down by a tomahawk. Her little son, five years old, who had been playing
about the wagon, ran up to his mother, in an agony of grief, as she lay
weltering in blood, and was knocked on the head, and left dead by the
side of his parent The two other boys were carried away into Canada, and
did not return until after the war. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The Sexagenary. "Ephraim Vrooman himself was carried away by Seth
Hendrick, who treated him with much kindness by the way. There were two
or three other Indians in the immediate party with Seth. These, before
they arrived at their place of destination, grew tired of their prisoner,
and proposed to despatch him. Mr. Vrooman overheard the conversation,
which was conducted in a whisper, and repeated it to Hendrick. Hendrick
assured him, in the most positive manner, that 'not a hair of his head
should be touched' and gave his companions a severe reprimand for their
ungenerous conspiracy. After the termination of the revolutionary
contest, Hendrick paid Mr. Vrooman a visit, and apologised for his
conduct during the war, in the strong metaphorical language of his
nation. The tomahawk, said he, is used only in war; in time of peace it
is buried--it cuts down the sturdy oak as well as the tender vine; but I
(laying his hand on Mr. V's shoulder,) I saved the oak."--_Giles F.
Yates._

The family of Ephraim Vrooman was also particularly unfortunate. He was
at work in the field when he first discovered a straggling party of the
enemy approaching. He started at full speed for his house, in order to
obtain his arms, and sell his life as dearly as possible. But in climbing
a fence he was seized, and taken prisoner. His wife, in endeavoring to
escape by flight, was shot dead before his eyes. As she fell, her little
daughter, aged eleven years, ran up, and cast herself down by the side of
her dying parent, as clinging to her for protection, when an Indian came
up, and added to the agony of the father and the crimes of the day, by
crushing her head with a stone. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The Sexagenary.

There was an aged man in the middle Fort, who performed a bold exploit.
He was the owner of a mill about two miles distant, at which his son had
passed the night. Knowing that some one or more of the enemy's plundering
parties would assuredly visit the mill, at the instant Lieutenant
Spencer's party encountered Sir John's advance guard in the morning, the
old man sallied out and hastened to the rescue of his son. Mounting each
a horse to return to the fort, they found it already invested by the
enemy on their arrival. Nothing daunted, however, they passed within a
hundred yards of the enemy at full speed, dashed up to the rear of the
Fort, and were received in safety. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The Sexagenary.

There was another incident transpiring at the fort, which stands in happy
contrast with the conduct of the commanding major. The females within the
fortress are said to have displayed a degree of heroism worthy of
commendation and of all praise. Being well provided with arms, they were
determined to use them in case of an attempt to carry the works by storm.
One of them, an interesting young woman, whose name yet lives in story
among her own mountains, perceiving, as she thought, symptoms of fear in
a soldier who had been ordered to a well without the works, and within
range of the enemy's fire, for water, snatched the bucket from his hands,
and ran forth for it herself. Without changing color, or giving the
slightest evidence of fear, she drew and brought bucket after bucket to
the thirsty soldiers, and providentially escaped without injury. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Idem.

Sir John remained in the neighborhood of Fort Hunter on the 17th,
continuing the work of destruction in every possible direction. On the
evening of that day Captain Duncan crossed the river with three companies
of the Greens and some Indians. On the morning of the 18th, all that had
been left standing of Caughnawaga at the time of the irruption of Sir
John in the preceding Spring, and all that had been rebuilt, was
ruthlessly destroyed by fire. A simultaneous and most desolating march up
the river was then commenced by Sir John and the main body of his forces
on the south side of the river, and by Captain Duncan's division on the
north. As at Schoharie, the march of both was one of entire devastation.
Rapine and plunder were the order of the day, and both shores of the
Mohawk were lighted up by the conflagration of every thing combustible;
while the panic-stricken inhabitants only escaped slaughter or captivity
by flight--they knew not whither. [FN-1] Conspicuous among the sufferers
was Major Jelles Fonda, a faithful and confidential officer under the
father of Sir John; but who, having turned his back upon the royal cause,
was singled out as a special and signal mark of vengeance. His mansion at
"The Nose," in the town of Palatine, was destroyed, together with property
to the amount of sixty thousand dollars. The Major was himself absent.
[FN-2] His wife escaped under the curtain of a thick fog, and made her
way on foot, twenty-six miles, to Schenectady. [FN-3] Sir John encamped
with his forces on the night of the 18th nearly opposite, or rather above
the Nose. On the following morning, he crossed the river to the north
side, at Keder's Rifts. The greater part of the motley army continued its
progress directly up the river, laying waste the country as before. A
detachment of one hundred and fifty men was, however, dispatched from
Keder's Rifts against the small stockade called Fort Paris, in Stone
Arabia, some two or three miles back from the river, north of Palatine.
But, after marching about two miles, the main body also wheeled off to
the right, to assist in attacking the fort. The work of devastation was
continued also in this direction, as at other places.

* * * * *

[FN-1] MSS. of Major Thomas Sammons.

[FN-2] In the State Senate, the legislature being then in Session at
Poughkeepsie.

[FN-3] Antiquarian Researches, by Giles F. Yates.

The small fort just mentioned was at this time in command of Colonel
Brown, with a garrison of one hundred and thirty men. An unfortunate
occurrence induced him to leave his defences, and resulted in his
discomfiture and fall. The circumstances were these:--the moment tidings
that Sir John had broken into the settlements of the Schoharie reached
Albany, General Robert Van Rensselaer, of Claverack, at the head of the
Claverack, Albany, and Schenectady militia, pushed on by forced marches
to encounter him, accompanied by Governor Clinton. Having arrived at
Caughnawaga on the 18th, and having likewise ascertained that Fort Paris
was to be assaulted on the morning of the 19th, Van Rensselaer dispatched
orders to Colonel Brown to march out and check the advance of the enemy,
while at the same time he would be ready to fall upon his rear. Brown,
faithful to the hour designated, sallied forth, and gave Sir John battle
near the site of a former work, called Fort Keyser. But General Van
Rensselaer's advance had been impeded, so that no diversion was created
in Brown's favor; and his forces were too feeble to withstand the enemy,
or even to check his progress. Colonel Brown fell gallantly at the head of
his little division, of which from forty to forty-five were also slain.
The remainder of his troops sought safety in flight.

Colonel Brown, who fell on this occasion, was a soldier of great courage
and high moral worth. He was early in the service, and was engaged in the
memorable and ultimately disastrous campaign in Canada. While the
American army was at Sorel, he detected, or believed he detected, a
design on the part of General Arnold then to play the traitor. Arnold was
about making a mysterious night movement of the flotilla of light vessels
belonging to the Americans, then with the army in the St. Lawrence, which
Colonel Easton, suspecting all was not right, prevented--but not until he
had ordered two or three pieces of ordnance to bear upon the vessels,
threatening to fire upon them if they proceeded. The conviction upon the
minds of Easton and Brown was, that it was the purpose of Arnold to run
off with the flotilla, and sell out to Sir Guy Carleton.

After the close of the Canadian campaign, during the winter of 1776-77,
while Arnold and many of the officers were quartered in Albany, some
difficulty occurred between Brown and the former, which resulted in
ill-feeling between them. Arnold was at the head of a mess of sixteen or
eighteen officers, among whom was Colonel Morgan Lewis. Colonel Brown,
having weak eyes, and being obliged to live abstemiously, occupied
quarters affording greater retirement. In consequence of the
misunderstanding referred to, Colonel Brown published a hand-bill,
attacking Arnold with great severity; rehearsing the suspicious
circumstances that had occurred at Sorel; and upbraiding him for sacking
the city of Montreal while he was in the occupancy of that place. The
handbill concluded with these remarkable words:--"Money is this man's God,
and to get enough of it, he would sacrifice his country."

Such a publication could not but produce a great sensation among the
officers. It was received at Arnold's quarters while the mess were at
dinner, and read aloud at the table--the accused himself sitting at the
head. Arnold, of course, was greatly excited, and applied a variety of
epithets, coarse and harsh, to Colonel Brown, pronouncing him a scoundrel,
and declaring that he would kick him wheresoever and whensoever he should
meet him. One of the officers present remarked to the General, that
Colonel Brown was his friend; and that, as the remarks just applied to
him had been so publicly made, he presumed there could be no objection to
his repeating them to that officer. Arnold replied, certainly not; adding,
that he should feel himself obliged to any officer who would inform
Colonel Brown of what had been said. The officer replied that he should
do so before he slept.

Under these circumstances no time was lost in making the communication to
Colonel Brown. Colonel Lewis himself called upon Brown in the course of
the evening, and the matter was the principal topic of conversation. The
Colonel was a mild and amiable man, and he made no remark of particular
harshness or bitterness, in respect to Arnold; but, toward the close of
the interview, he observed--"Well, Lewis, I wish you would invite me to
dine with your mess tomorrow." "With all my heart," was the reply; "will
you come?" Brown said he would, and they parted. The next day, near the
time of serving dinner, Colonel Brown arrived, and was ushered in. The
table was spread in a long room, at one end of which the door opened
directly opposite to the fireplace at the other. Arnold was at the moment
standing with his back to the fire, so that, as Brown opened the door,
they at once encountered each other face to face. It was a moment of
breathless interest for the result. Brown walked calmly in, and turning
to avoid the table, passed round with a deliberate step, and advancing up
close to Arnold, stopped, and looked him directly in the eye. After the
pause of a moment, he observed: "I understand, Sir, that you have said
that you would kick me; I now present myself to give you an opportunity
to put your threat into execution!" Another brief pause ensued. Arnold
opened not his lips. Brown then said to him--"Sir, you are a dirty
scoundrel." Arnold was still silent as the sphinx. Whereupon Brown turned
upon his heel with dignity, apologised to the gentlemen present for his
intrusion, and immediately left the room.

This was certainly an extraordinary scene, and more extraordinary still
is the fact, that the particulars have never been communicated in any way
to the public. Arnold certainly did not lack personal bravery; and the
unbroken silence preserved by him on the occasion, can only be accounted
for upon the supposition that he feared to provoke inquiry upon the
subject, while at the same time he could throw himself upon his
well-attested courage and his rank, as excuses for not stooping to a
controversy with a subordinate officer. But it must still be considered
as one of the most extraordinary personal interviews to be found among
the memorabilia of military men. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The particulars of this interesting story were derived by the
author from the lips of General Lewis himself.

In the year following, during the campaign of Burgoyne, owing to the
intrigues of Arnold, Brown was left without any command. But he was too
much of a patriot to remain idle in such a moment of his country's peril.
He raised a corps of volunteers on his own account, and performed one of
the most daring exploits of the whole war. While Burgoyne was yet in the
full career of victory, Brown dashed into his rear, and proceeding down
to the north end of Lake George, fell upon a small post, which he carried
without opposition. The surprise was complete. He also took possession of
Mount Defiance, Mount Hope, the landing-place, and about two hundred
batteaux. With the loss of only three killed and five wounded, Colonel
Brown liberated one hundred American prisoners, and captured two hundred
and ninety-three of the enemy. He made an attempt on Mount Independence
and Ticonderoga; but, too weak for the investment of those works, he
returned through Lake George to Diamond Island, containing the enemy's
_depot_ of provisions. He attacked the works upon this island, but being
repulsed, burnt the vessels he had captured, and returned to his former
station. This brilliant affair by Colonel Brown took place at the time
when Arnold had the ear of General Gates; and the consequence was, that
in giving an account of the expedition, Gates carefully avoided even
naming the gallant officer who had planned and achieved it. It was an
instance of neglect for which that officer ought forever to have been
ashamed. Colonel Brown was a gentleman of education, bred to the bar, and
greatly respected by those who enjoyed the pleasure of his acquaintance.
But to return.

After the fall of Colonel Brown, and the defeat of his troops, Sir John
dispersed his forces in small bands, to the distance of five or six miles
in all directions, to pillage and destroy. Late in the afternoon he
reunited his troops, and leaving Stone Arabia a desert, marched back to
the river road, east of Caroga Creek. The detachment of Captain Duncan
having come up, Sir John again moved toward the west. There was a small
defence not far from the mouth of the creek, called Fox's Fort. Avoiding
this work by diverging from the road to the margin of the river on the
left, Sir John continued his course three miles farther, to a place
called Klock's Field, where, from the fatigue of his troops, and the
over-burthens of provisions and plunder with which they were laden, it
became necessary to halt.

General Van Rensselaer was now close in pursuit of Sir John, with a strong
force. Indeed, he ought to have overtaken him in the early part of the
day, since he had encamped the night before on the south side of the
river, at Van Eps's, nearly opposite Caughnawaga, while Sir John himself
was encamped opposite the Nose, only two or three miles farther up the
river. Sir John's troops, moreover, were exhausted by forced marches,
active service, and heavy knapsacks, while those of Van Rensselaer were
fresh in the field. On the morning of the same day, while continuing his
march on the south side of the river, Van Rensselaer was joined by Captain
McKean, with some eighty volunteers, together with a strong body of Oneida
warriors, led by their principal chief, Louis Atayataronghta, who, as
stated in a former chapter, had been commissioned a lieutenant colonel by
Congress. With these additions, the command of General Van Rensselaer
numbered about fifteen hundred--a force in every way superior to that of
the enemy.

Sir John had stationed a guard of forty men at the ford, to dispute its
passage. On approaching this point, General Van Rensselaer halted, and
did not again advance until the guard, of the enemy had been withdrawn.
Continuing his march still upon the South side of the river, while the
enemy was actively engaged in the work of death and destruction on the
North, Van Rensselaer arrived opposite the battle-ground where Brown had
fallen, before the firing had ceased, and while the savage war-whoop was
yet resounding. This was at 11 o'clock in the morning, and the Americans,
came to a halt, about three miles below Caroga Creek, still on the south
side. While there, some of the fugitives from Colonel Brown's regiment
came running down, and jumping into the river, forded it without
difficulty. As they came to the south bank, the General inquired whence
they came. One of them, a militia officer named Van Allen, replied that
they had escaped from Brown's battle. "How has it gone?" "Colonel Brown
is killed, with many of his men. Are you not going there?" "I am not
acquainted with the fording place," said the General. He was answered
that there was no difficulty in the case. The General then inquired of
Van Allen if he would return as a pilot, and the reply was promptly in
the affirmative. Hereupon Captain McKean and the Oneida chief led their
respective commands through the river to the north side, expecting the
main army immediately to follow. At this moment Colonel Dubois, of the
State levies, rode up to the General, who immediately mounted his horse,
and instead of crossing the river, accompanied the Colonel to Fort Plain,
some distance above, to dinner as it was understood. Meantime the baggage
wagons were driven into the river, to serve in part as a bridge for the
main body of Van Rensselaer's forces, and they commenced crossing the
stream in single files. The passage in this way was not effected until
four o'clock in the afternoon, at which time the General returned and
joined them, just as the last man had crossed over. Governor Clinton
remained at the fort. As the General arrived at the water's edge, Colonel
Louis, as the Oneida chieftain was called, shook his sword at him, and
denounced him as a Tory. Arrived on the north side, Colonel William
Harper took the liberty of remonstrating with the General at what he
conceived to be a great and unnecessary delay, attended with a needless
loss of life and property, on the part of the inhabitants who had been
suffered thus long to remain unprotected. From that moment Van
Rensselaer moved with due expedition. The troops were set in motion, and
marched in regular order, in three divisions, with the exception of the
Oneida warriors and the volunteers under McKean, who regulated their own
movements as they pleased--showing no disposition, however, to lag behind.
The advance was led by Colonel Morgan Lewis.

Anticipating that he should be compelled to receive an attack, Sir John
had made his dispositions accordingly. His regular troops, Butler's
rangers, and the Tories less regularly organized, were posted on a small
alluvial plain, partly encompassed by a sweeping bend of the river. A
slight breast-work had been hastily thrown across the neck of the little
peninsula thus formed, for the protection of his troops, and the Indians,
under Thayendanegea, were secreted among the thick shrub oaks covering the
table-land of a few feet elevation, yet farther north. A detachment of
German Yagers supported the Indians. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] These Yagers were a sort of rifle corps--using short rifles.

It was near the close of the day when Van Rensselaer arrived, and the
battle was immediately commenced in the open field. Two of the advancing
divisions of State troops, forming the left, were directed against the
regular forces of Sir John on the flats, commencing their firing from a
great distance with small arms only--the field-pieces not having been
taken across the river. Colonel Dubois commanded the extreme right, which
was so far extended that he had no enemies to encounter. Next to him were
McKean's volunteers and the Oneida Indians, whose duty it was to attack
Thayendanegea's Indians and the Yagers. These were supported by a small
corps of infantry, commanded by Colonel Morgan Lewis. The American left
was commanded by Colonel Cuyler of Albany. Sir John's right was formed of
a company of regular troops. His own regiment of Greens composed the
centre, its left resting upon the ambuscaded Indians. The latter first
sounded the war-whoop, which was promptly answered by the Oneidas. Both
parties eagerly rushed forward, and the attack, for the instant, was
mutually impetuous. Dubois, though too far extended, brought his regiment
speedily to the support of McKean's volunteers, who were following up the
attack of the Oneidas. The hostile Indians manifested a disposition to
stand for a few moments; but Dubois had no sooner charged closely upon
them, than they fled with precipitation to the fording place near the
upper Indian Castle, about two miles above--crossing the road in their
flight, and throwing themselves in the rear of the Greens as a cover. The
Mohawk chief was wounded in the heel, but not so badly as to prevent his
escape.

The enemy's regular troops and rangers, however, fought with spirit,
although Sir John himself was reported by some to have fled with the
Indians. [FN] On the flight of the Indians, Major Van Benschoten, of
Dubois's regiment, hastened to the General for permission to pursue the
flying enemy. It was just twilight; and the indications were not to be
mistaken, that the best portion of the enemy's forces were in confusion,
and on the point of being conquered. The disappointment was therefore
great, when, instead of allowing a pursuit of the Indians, or charging
upon the feeble breast-work on the flats, and thus finishing the battle,
General Van Rensselaer ordered his forces to retire for the night. His
object was to obtain a better position for a bivouac, and to renew and
complete the battle in the morning--for which purpose he fell back nearly
three miles, to Fox's Fort. His troops were not only disappointed, but
highly incensed at this order, believing that the contest might have been
victoriously ended in a very few minutes. Indeed, the brave Colonel Louis,
of the Oneidas, together with Colonel Clyde and Captain McKean, refused
to retreat, but sheltered themselves in the adjacent buildings--hanging
upon the enemy's lines several hours, and making some prisoners. In the
course of the evening Clyde, with a handful of Schoharie militia,
succeeded in capturing one of the enemy's field-pieces. The Americans were
still more chagrined on learning from one of the prisoners that the troops
of Sir John were on the point of capitulating at the very moment of Van
Rensselaer's order to retreat. And from the fact that the river was alike
too rapid and too deep, where it curved round the battle-field, to admit
of an escape in that direction, no doubt can be entertained that the
enemy had been entirely within their power. But it was now too late. The
golden opportunity had been lost. On the morrow's dawn there was no enemy
in the field to encounter. Under cover of darkness the Royal Greens and
Butler's Rangers had followed the example of the Indians, and made good
their escape.

* * * * *

[FN] Major Thomas Sammons, from whose manuscripts the author has chiefly
drawn the facts of this portion of the narrative--i. e. after the arrival
of Gen. Van Rensselaer at Van Eps's--is positive in his declarations,
that the British Commander was among the first to flee. Other accounts
speak differently. Major Sammons was in the battle, among the volunteers
of McKean.

Louis with his warriors, and McKean with his volunteers, crossed the river
early in the morning, in pursuit. General Von Rensselaer also arrived on
the battle-ground between 8 and 9 o'clock, for the purpose of completing
the work of the preceding day. While he was crossing the river and
preparing to follow on, some of McKean's volunteers, who were waiting for
the main army, in strolling about, came upon a little block-house, in
which they found nine of the enemy who had been made prisoners during the
night; One of the party making the discovery was Thomas Sammons, and among
the prisoners was a Tory who had been his near neighbor in Johnstown. On
being asked how they came there, this man, whose name was Peter Cass,
replied--"Why, I am ashamed to tell. Last night, after the battle, we
crossed the river. It was dark. We heard the word, 'lay u down your arms.'
Some of us did so. We were taken, nine of us, and marched into this little
fort by seven militia-men. We formed the rear of three hundred of
Johnson's Greens, who were running promiscuously through and over one
another. I thought General Van Rensselaer's whole army was upon us. Why
did you not take us prisoners yesterday, after Sir John ran off with the
Indians and left us? We wanted to surrender."

When Sir John fled from the field with the Indians and Yagers, he
doubtless supposed all was lost. He laid his course direct for the
Onondaga lake, where his boats had been concealed, pursuing the main road,
and making only a slight deviation to the south of the German Flats, to
avoid the forts at that place. His Greens and Rangers followed closely
upon his heels, and overtook him at Oneida. Van Rensselaer pressed forward
in pursuit, with all his forces, as far as Fort Herkimer, where he was
overtaken by Governor Clinton, who did not, however, interfere with the
command. Louis and McKean were now pushed forward in advance, with orders
to overtake the fugitive army if possible, and engage them--Van Rensselaer
promising to continue his march with all possible rapidity, and be at
hand to support them in the event of an engagement. On the next morning
the advance struck the trail of Sir John, and took one of his Indians
prisoner. Halting for a short time, Colonel Dubois came up, and urged them
forward, repeating the assurances of the General's near approach and sure
support. The march of the advance was then resumed, but they had not
proceeded far before they came upon the enemy's deserted encampment--the
fires yet burning. The Oneida chief now shook his head, and refused to
proceed another step until General Van Rensselaer should make his
appearance. There was accordingly a halt for some time, during which a
Doctor Allen arrived from the main army, informing the officers that the
pursuit had already been abandoned by the General, who was four miles
distant on his return-march!

The expedition was of course at an end. But fortune had yet another favor
in store for Sir John Johnson--to be won without the bloodshed that had
attended his desolating course through the Mohawk Valley. Having
ascertained where Sir John's boats were concealed, General Van Rensselaer
had despatched an express to Fort Schuyler, ordering Captain Vrooman, with
a strong detachment, to hasten forward in advance of the enemy, and
destroy them. Vrooman lost no time in attempting the execution of his
orders; but one of his men falling sick, or feigning himself to be so, at
Oneida, was left behind. Sir John soon afterward came up; and being
informed by the treacherous invalid of Vrooman's movement, Brant and his
Indians, with a detachment of Butler's rangers, were hastened forward in
pursuit They came suddenly upon Vrooman and his troops while they were
engaged at dinner, and every man was captured without firing a gun. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Major Sammons; also statement of John More, yet living, who was one
of Sir John's soldiers. According to the official returns of Sir John
Johnson, this affair of the capture of Captain Vrooman and his
detachment took place on the 23d of October, at a place called
Canaghsioraga. Two captains and one lieutenant were taken, together with
eight non-commissioned officers and forty-five privates. Three privates
and one lieutenant were killed.

The last obstacle to his escape having thus been removed, Sir John reached
Oswego without farther molestation. By this third and most formidable
irruption into the Mohawk country during the season, Sir John had
completed its entire destruction above Schenectady--the principal
settlement above the Little Falls having been sacked and burnt two years
before. General Van Rensselaer has always been censured for his conduct
in this expedition. Indeed his behavior was most extraordinary throughout.
On the night before the battle of Klock's Field, Sir John was not more
than six miles in advance--having left Van Eps's just before dark, where
Van Rensselaer arrived and encamped early in the evening; and it was
obvious to all that no extraordinary share of energy was required to
bring the enemy to an engagement, even before the encounter with Colonel
Brown. Major Sammons, at the close of his account of the expedition,
remarks with emphasis--"When my father's buildings were burnt, and my
brothers taken prisoners, the pain I felt was not as great as at the
conduct of General Robert Van Rensselaer." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] "With regard to the battle on Klock's Farm, and the facts stated in
those papers, I would say that I joined with Captain McKean as a
volunteer, and met Gen. Van Rensselaer on the south side of the river,
opposite Caughnawaga, early in the morning; and of my own knowledge I
know moat of the facts to be as they are stated. I staid with the
volunteers after the battle, and held the conversation with the prisoners
found in the little block-house the next morning, as stated. I was with
Capt. Kean when he had orders to advance and overtake Sir John, and a
short time after saw Dr. Allen, who came to inform us that Van Rensselaer
was re-turning. With regard to the route of Sir John, I received my
account from those of his own party who are now living, and men of
undoubted veracity."--_Note of Major Sammons_--1836.

But Sir John's escape, after all, was rather a flight than a retreat; and
had it not been for the capture of Vrooman's detachment--a most unexpected
conquest--the visible trophies of his expedition would have been few and
dearly purchased. Indubitable evidences were discovered by the pursuers,
that he was reduced to a most uncomfortable situation; and from the
Baronet's own letter to General Haldimand, it appears that there were many
missing, who it was hoped would find their way to Oswego or Niagara.
General Haldimand wrote to his government that Sir John "had destroyed the
settlements of Schoharie and Stone Arabia, and laid waste a great extent
of country, which was most true." It was added:--"He had several
engagements with the enemy, in which he came off victorious. In one of
them, near Stone Arabia, he killed a Colonel Brown, a notorious and
active rebel, with about one hundred officers and men. I cannot finish
without expressing to your Lordship the perfect satisfaction which I have,
from the zeal, spirit, and activity with which Sir John Johnson has
conducted this arduous enterprise." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Letter of Sir Frederick Haldimand to Lord George Germaine, New
Annual Register 1781.

While General Van Rensselaer was pushing forward in pursuit of Sir John
Johnson, an incident occurred at Fort Hunter, which speaks volumes in
favor of the character of Joseph Brant. The plundered and distressed
inhabitants of the Schoharie settlements, the day after the enemy had
departed from Fort Hunter, crowded about the fort, each his tale of loss
or grief to relate. Among them was a woman, whose husband and several
other members of the family were missing. She was in an agony of grief,
rendered more poignant by the loss of her infant, which had been snatched
from the cradle. Early the next morning, while the officers at Van
Rensselaer's head-quarters were at breakfast, a young Indian warrior came
bounding into the room like a stag, bearing an infant in his arms, and
also a letter from Brant, addressed "to the commanding officer of the
rebel army." General Van Rensselaer not being present at the moment, the
letter was opened by one of his suite, and read substantially as
follows:--

"Sir: I send you by one of my runners, the child which he will deliver,
that you may know that whatever others may do, _I_ do not make war upon
women and children. I am sorry to say that I have those engaged with me
in the service, who are more savage than the savages themselves."

Among those thus referred to, he proceeded to name several of the leading
Tories, including the two Butlers, and others whose names are not
recollected. [FN-1] It was very speedily ascertained that the infant was
none other than that of the disconsolate mother of whom mention has just
been made. Her sensations on again clasping her infant to her bosom need
not be described; nor could they be. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN] The bitter hostility of the Tories of the Mohawk country toward
their former neighbors, was at times exhibited in acts of such fiend-like
ferocity as to defy explanation and stagger belief. In a former chapter
the case of an infant murdered in its cradle by a Tory, after the refusal
of an Indian to kill it, has been stated. There was another like instance
in the neighborhood of the Little Falls, marked, if possible, by still
greater brutality. An Indian having refused to kill an infant as it lay
smiling in the cradle, the more savage loyalist, rebuking the compassion
of the red man, thrust it through with his bayonet as a fisherman would
spear a salmon, and held it writhing in its agonies in triumph above his
head. A gentleman of the Bar, late of Little Falls, has assured the
author, that to his knowledge the wretch who committed that diabolical
act had the effrontery a few years since to present himself as a
candidate for a pension, under one of the acts of Congress for rewarding
the surviving soldiers of the revolution. The fact just related was
fortunately elicited before his papers were completed, and the result
need not be stated.

[FN-2] The author has received the account of this interesting occurrence
from General Morgan Lewis, who was present at the time, a spectator of
all the particulars.

There was yet another adventure connected with this expedition, which was
alike interesting and amusing. The Senecas, it has already been stated,
were led by the Corn-Planter, whose father, as it has also been stated,
was a white man named O'Bail. According to Mary Jemison, the residence of
the Corn-Planter's father was in the vicinity of Fort Plank, and, of
course, not far from the battle-ground of Klock's Field. He had formerly
been in the habit of traveling back and forth from Albany through the
Seneca country, to Niagara, as a trader. Becoming enamored of a pretty
squaw among the Senecas, in process of time the Corn-Planter became one
of the living evidences of his affection. Whether the father was aware
that a chief of so much eminence was his own son, history does not tell;
but the son was ignorant neither of his parentage, nor of the residence
of his sire; and being now in his close vicinity, he took a novel method
of bringing about an acquaintance with him. Repairing with a detachment
of his warriors to his father's house, he made the old man a prisoner,
and marched him off. Having proceeded ten or twelve miles, the chief
stepped up before his sire, and addressed him in the following terms:--

"My name is John O'Bail, commonly called Corn-Planter. I am your son! You
are my father! You are now my prisoner, and subject to the customs of
Indian warfare. But you shall not be harmed. You need not fear. I am a
warrior! Many are the scalps which I have taken! Many prisoners I have
tortured to death! I am your son! I am a warrior! I was anxious to see
you, and to greet you in friendship. I went to your cabin, and took you
by force; but your life shall be spared. Indians love their friends and
their kindred, and treat them with kindness. If now you choose to follow
the fortunes, of your yellow son, and to live with our people, I will
cherish your old age with plenty of venison, and you shall live easy. But
if it is your choice to return to your fields, and live with your white
children, I will send a party of my trusty young men to conduct you back
in safety. I respect you, my father. You have been friendly to Indians;
they are your friends." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Life of Mary Jemison. In a letter written by Corn-Planter to the
Governor of Pennsylvania, in 1822, complaining of an attempt made by the
officers of that State to impose taxes upon him and the Senecas residing
on the Allegheny, he began as follows:--"When I was a child, I played
with the butterfly, the grasshopper, and the frogs. As I grew up, I began
to pay some attention, and play with the Indian boys in the neighborhood,
and they took notice of my skin being a different color from theirs, and
spoke about it. I inquired of my mother the cause, and she told me that
my father was a resident of Albany. I ate still my victuals out of a
bark dish: I grew up to be a young man, and married me a wife, but I had
no kettle or gun. I then knew where my father lived, and went to see him,
and found he was a white man, and spoke the English language. He gave
me victuals while I was at his house, but when I started to return home,
he gave me no provision to eat on the way. He gave me neither kettle nor
gun, neither did he tell me that the United States were about to rebel
against the government of England," &c., &c. By this statement it appears
that he must have seen his father several years before the Mohawk
campaign. This may very well have been, and yet the anecdote related by
Mary Jemison be true also. In every instance in which the author has had
an opportunity of testing the correctness of her statements by other
authorities, they have proved to be remarkably correct. Corn-Planter lived
to a great age, having deceased within the last eight or ten years. He
was an able man--distinguished in subsequent negotiations. He was
eloquent, and a great advocate for Temperance. He made a very effective
and characteristic speech upon that subject in 1822. "The Great Spirit
first made the world, and next the flying animals, and found all things
good and prosperous. He is immortal and everlasting. After finishing the
flying animals, he came down on earth, and there stood. Then he made
different kinds of trees, and woods of all sorts, and people of every
kind. He made the Spring, and other seasons, and the weather suitable
for planting. These he did make. But stills to make whiskey to give to
Indians, he did not make. . . . The Great Spirit told us there were
three things for people to attend to. First, we ought to take care of
our wives and children. Secondly, the white people ought to attend to
their farms and cattle. Thirdly, the Great Spirit has given the bears
and deers to the Indians. . . . The Great Spirit has ordered me to quit
drinking. He wishes me to inform the people that they should quit
drinking intoxicating drink." In the course of the same speech, he gave
evidence that he was not overmuch pleased with the admixture of his own
blood. . . . "The different kinds the Great Spirit made separate, and not
to mix with and disturb each other. But the white people have broken this
command, by mixing their color with the Indians. The Indians have done
better by not doing so."

The old gentleman, however, had sown his wild oats. His days of romance
were over. Preferring, therefore, the produce of his own fields, the
company of his white children, and the comforts of his own house, to the
venison, the freedom, and the forests of the western wilds, he chose to
return. His son, fulfilling his word, bowed to the election, and giving
his father in charge to a suitable escort, he was enabled to reach his own
dwelling in safety. The proud Seneca and his warriors moved off to their
own wilds.

Simultaneously with the movements of Sir John Johnson through the
Schoharie and Mohawk country, the enemy had been actively engaged against
the settlements at the North of Albany, between the Hudson and Lake
Champlain, and likewise against some of the upper settlements on the
Connecticut river. In order to create a diversion in favor of Sir John,
Major Carleton came up the lake from St. John's, with a fleet of eight
large vessels and twenty-six flat-bottomed boats, containing upward of
one thousand men, regular troops, loyalists and Indians. Fort George and
Fort Anne were both taken by surprise, and their garrisons, which were
not large, were surrendered prisoners of war. [FN-1] The party directed
against the upper settlements of the Connecticut river, was commanded by
Major Haughton of the 53d regiment, and consisted almost entirely of
Indians, of whom there were two hundred. This marauding incursion was
likewise successful. In addition to the booty taken, thirty-two of the
inhabitants were carried away prisoners. Several of the militia, who
turned out in pursuit of Major Haughton, were killed. In regard to Major
Carleton's expedition, sad tales of cruelty were reported. One of these
was a relation, by a deserter named Van Deusen, of a horrible case of
torture inflicted upon a soldier of Colonel Warner's regiment, taken by
Carleton in the action near Fort George. Van Deusen was a deserter from
the American army to the enemy; but having stolen back into his own
country, was apprehended and executed. Colonel Gansevoort, however, then
in command at the North, wrote to Major Carleton upon the subject on the
2d of November, stating the particulars of the story. Carleton repelled
the charge in the most positive and earnest manner, as will presently
appear. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Forts Anne and George were taken by Major Carleton on the 10th and
11th of October. In his official report, Major Carleton stated his own
loss, on both occasions, at four officers and twenty-three privates
killed. The number of prisoners taken is stated at two captains, two
lieutenants, and one hundred and fourteen privates.

[FN-2] Speaking of Carleton's expedition, Sir Frederick Haldimand, in a
letter to Lord George Germaine, observes:--"The reports assiduously
published on all occasions by the enemy, of cruelties committed by the
Indians, are notoriously false, and propagated merely to exasperate the
ignorant and deluded people. In this late instance Major Carleton informs
me, they behaved with the greatest moderation, and did not strip, or in
any respect ill use, their prisoners." Sir John Johnson had less control
over _his_ Indians at Schoharie.

The correspondence between Gansevoort and Carleton, however, was not
confined to this particular transaction. Indeed, that was altogether an
incidental affair, and the correspondence with Carleton himself was also
incidental, being part only of a more extended negotiation with other and
higher officers of the British army in Canada, the object of which was the
settlement of a cartel for an extensive exchange of prisoners at the
North. The story will be best told by the introduction of a portion of the
correspondence itself, while at the same time several other points will
receive satisfactory illustration.

"General Powell to Colonel Van Schaick.

"_St. John's, Sept._ 22_d,_ 1780.

"Sir,

"Agreeable to the promise made in my letter of the 15th of last March, I
send by your returning flag of truce, Mrs. Campbell, Mrs. Moore, and their
families, together with Matthew Cannon, and five others, made prisoners by
the Indians on the Mohawk river, whose advanced time of life and earnest
solicitations to return to their families, have induced General Haldimand
to grant them that permission; [FN] as also Mr. Williams of Detroit, who
desires to go to his relatives; and Mary and Betsey Lewis, who beg to go
to their father near Albany. His Excellency is sorry that the breach of
faith on the part of the colonists, in the cartel of the Cedars, has put
it out of his power to enter upon an exchange of prisoners, and,
notwithstanding their repeated attempts to escape, many throughout the
province are enlarged upon their parole. They have all a plentiful
allowance of wholesome provisions, and those whom it is thought necessary
to keep in confinement, are accommodated in the most comfortable manner
circumstances will admit off. They have, besides, received money to the
amount of the within accounts; and if this last indulgence is to be
continued, it is but reasonable it should be remitted in coin; to which
I am to desire your attention, as very heavy bills are every day presented
from our troops who are prisoners in the colonies."

* * * * *

[FN] The prisoners above-mentioned, it will be recollected, were taken
at Cherry Valley in 1778. See Mrs. Campbell's Narrative, sketched in
Vol. I.

"The attention which has been shown to Mrs. Campbell, and those in her
unfortunate circumstances, as well as the good treatment of the prisoners,
which it is hoped they will have the candor to acknowledge, is referred to
for comparison, to those by whose orders or permission His Majesty's
subjects have experienced execution, the horrors of a dungeon, loaded with
irons, and the miseries of want.

"The families specified in the enclosed list have been long in
expectation, and many of them promised permission, to join their husbands
and relatives in this province; it is therefore requested they may be
sent to your advanced post on the Skenesborough communication, and a flag
of truce shall be sent from hence, in the course of three weeks, in order
to receive them.

"I am, Sir,
Your most obedient,
Humble servant,
H. Watson Powell,
_Brigadier General_

"_To Colonel Van Schaick._"

"Colonel Gansevoort to General Powell.

"_Saratoga, Nov._ 2_d,_ 1780.

"Sir,

"Your letter of 22d September last, directed to Colonel Van Schaick, it
becomes my duty to answer, as commanding this department until the arrival
of General McDougall, who is daily expected. [FN] The prisoners whom you
noticed, I am informed, have taken the route to Albany, through
Bennington."

* * * * *

[FN] This reference to the expected arrival of General McDougall was not
exactly true, and was made as a _ruse de guerre_ to mislead the British
General as to the strength of the Northern Department. The truth was,
that Colonel Gansevoort was so weak in point of troops, that he was
apprehensive of a second visitation from St. John's should Powell and
Carleton obtain information of his actual means of resistance. Hence he
threw in the name of McDougall, in order to create an impression at St.
Johns that there was at least a General's command of troops at Saratoga.
Colonel Gansevoort wrote to General Washington upon the subject, and gave
this explanation for the deception he had practised in his letter to
General Powell. There was, indeed, good cause for apprehension at that
time. After Carleton had captured forts George and Anne, and returned
down the lakes to St John's, he had suddenly returned with
reinforcements. The leaders in Vermont were also at the same time
holding a correspondence with the British Commanders in Canada, of which
semi-treasonable conduct Ethan Allen himself was at the head, as will
appear hereafter. General Schuyler had obtained some knowledge upon the
subject, which he lost no time in communicating to the
Commander-in-chief. The consequence was, the ordering of several
regiments to the North, and the appointment of General James Clinton to
the command of the Department at Albany.--_Washington's Letters--Sparks._

"The families specified in your list, whom I believe to be all in the
vicinity of this place, were to have been sent to the British shipping
in Lake Champlain in the beginning of last month. Major Carleton's
incursion prevented their being forwarded then, and as all the batteaux
in Lake George were carried off by that gentleman, it may have been
impracticable to send them on since, if even it had been proper, while he
remained at Ticonderoga and Crown Point. I have written Major Carleton,
and requested him to send batteaux to Fort Anne or Fort George, if he can,
for their conveyance. As soon as I am advised of his determination, the
necessary measures will be taken. The accounts of cash advanced to the
prisoners in Canada, I shall do myself the honor to transmit to his
Excellency, General Washington."

* * * * *

[FN] The following is the list referred to, as enclosed by General
Powell, viz:--"Names of the different families belonging to the following
men of the 84th Regt. residing at Saratoga: John McDonell's family;
Donald McGrewer's family; Duncan McDonell's family; John McIntosh's
ditto; Duncan McDonell's ditto; Donald McDonald's ditto; Kenneth
McDonell's ditto; John McDonell's father and mother."

"It affords me great satisfaction to learn that the British have at length
found it prudent to follow the generous example exhibited to them by the
Americans, in the mild treatment with which the prisoners in the power of
the latter have been invariably indulged during the war.

"It is, however, a justice due to General Carleton and his successors to
declare that, from all accounts, the prisoners immediately in their power
have been treated with much leniency.

"But you, Sir, suppose that British subjects in our possession have
experienced executions, the horrors of a dungeon, loaded with irons, and
the miseries of want. It is true some spies have been executed, and
amongst these Major Andre, Adjutant General of the British army under the
command of Sir Henry Clinton. And even his death, although justice
required it, and the laws of nations authorised it, was and is lamented
by us with a feeling of generosity which does honor to human nature. None
have experienced the horrors of a dungeon, or been loaded with irons,
excepting a few on whom it was thought proper to retaliate for the many,
the very many, indeed, of ours, whom British cruelty and inhumanity could
suffer to perish for want in dungeons and prison-ships, loaded with irons
and with insults. If you are ignorant of these facts, I can excuse your
observations. If not, give me leave to tell you they are unworthy the
gentleman and the officer, and evince a degree of disingenuousness
unbecoming either.

"If General Haldimand considers the governing powers or these States to
have been guilty of a breach of faith with regard to the cartel of the
Cedars, he ought to apply to them in regard to that matter. Barely to
mention it to a subordinate officer, was indelicate and improper. But as
you have ventured to accuse, I will venture to deny the justice of the
charge; and, as far as my memory of that transaction serves, I think I
can do it with propriety." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The maxim of Colonel Gansevoort was, "his country, right or wrong."
He would have found it a difficult undertaking, however, to justify the
course adopted by Congress touching the cartel agreed upon by General
Arnold at the Cedars. Indeed, the violation of the stipulations made on
that occasion, had created difficulties in regard to exchanges of
prisoners during the whole war. It wan frequently a source of
embarrassment, and even of mortification, to General Washington, during
the course of nearly the whole war.

"The newspapers announce that a general exchange of prisoners is settled
below. Whether it extends to Canada, is not specified.

"I am, Sir,
Your most obedient,
Humble servant,
Peter Gansevoort,
_Col._3_d N. Y. Reg't._

"_To Brigadier General Powell._"

"Colonel Gansevoort to Major Carleton.

"_Saratoga, Nov._ 26, 1780

"Sir,

"This will be delivered you by Major Rosecrantz, of my regiment, who,
together with the persons named in my pass of this day's date, goes as a
flag to carry the letters he is charged with, and to return with your
answer.

"General Powell's letter of the 22d September last, Captain Monsell's of
the 19th, and your's of the 24th ultimo, were delivered me about noon
to-day.

"I have left the letter for General Powell under flying seal for your
perusal, that you may learn my determination respecting the families he
requested to have sent. Should you conclude to send batteaux for them,
they must come as far as Fort Anne, as the roads to Skenesborough are
impassable for carriages, or to the farther end of Lake George, which
would be much easier for the women and children. Their number amounts to
nearly three hundred; and I believe ten batteaux will be necessary to
carry them all at once. You will please to give directions to the officer
whom you may send with your flag, to pass his receipt for the number of
men, women, and children which shall be delivered. Pray advise me on what
day you think the batteaux will arrive at the place you may intend to
send them, that I may so arrange matters as to cause the least delay.

"A certain James Van Deusen, who deserted from our service to you, and
who, since you were on this side the lake, has stolen back into the
country, has been apprehended, and will suffer death as a deserter. He
confesses that after the rencontre near Fort George, with some of Colonel
Warner's men and your party, in which one of our Indians was killed, your
Indians, in cool blood, scalped one of Warner's men alive, tormented him
a considerable time, and afterward cut his throat--and all this in your
presence. Your character, Sir, suffers greatly on this account. It has
hitherto been marked by conduct the reverse of this sad catastrophe; and
men of honor are unwilling to believe Van Deusen. I wish you to explain
yourself to me on the subject.

"I am, Sir,
Your most obedient and
Humble servant,
Peter Gansevoort,
_Col._ 3d _N. Y. Reg't._

"_Major Carleton_"

"Major Carleton to Colonel Gansevoort.

"_Mile Bay, Nov._ 6_th._ 1780.

"Sir,

"By your flag I have this moment received your letter of the 2d instant,
with one directed to Brigadier General Powell. Respecting the families
intended to be sent in, I answer to both. Being entirely ignorant of the
purport of Brigadier Powell's letter to you on the subject, and having no
instructions from General Haldimand respecting that business, I can only
say that such persons as are specified in the Brigadier's list will be
received, provided the number of boats mentioned in my postscript can
contain them. Should there be room to spare, the names contained in the
enclosed list, or as many of them as can be taken on board, will be
received. My boats shall be at Skenesborough on the 9th, where they shall
remain till the 14th at night, and then return to me, as I could not take
upon me the risk of their being frozen up there.

"I should have expected Captain Chapman would hare given a flat
contradiction to James Van Deusen's confession. No prisoner was scalped,
or tortured alive. I saved the lives of several of the prisoners, who
were neither stripped nor insulted in the smallest degree after the
affair was over. I heard of one man being killed after he was taken
during the firing, owing to a dispute between the two Indians, of
different villages, who had taken him. He was either a Negro or a
Stockbridge Indian I believe, and he would not suffer himself to be
conducted to the British guard by a loyalist officer. The attention of
the officer was necessarily directed to the care of his own men; and
after the action I heard of the man being killed.

"I am, Sir,
Your most obedient, and
Most humble servant,
Chr. Carleton,
_Major_ 29_th Reg't._

"_Colonel Gansevoort._

"P. S. There being no idea of this business, the shipping went down some
days ago. I find it will not be in my power to furnish more than five
boats. Could not the boat I gave to carry up the last families, be sent
down with these?" [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] These letters are contained among the Gansevoort papers, and have
been copied from the originals by the author. The same papers, together
with a letter from General Haldimand to Lord George Germaine, are
likewise the author's authorities for the brief sketch of the expeditions
of Carleton and Major Haughton.

No farther outrages were committed on the northern and western frontiers
during that Autumn. The next information received of Brant and his
associates, was brought to Fort Schuyler by a family of Oneidas who had
been released from Niagara. They arrived at the Fort on the 6th of
December. Colonel Weisenfeldts, then in command, caused the head Indian
of the party, whose name was Jacob Reed, to be examined; and the whole
examination was transmitted, as taken down by question and answer, to
General Clinton. From this statement it appeared that Joseph Brant,
Colonel Butler, and Colonel Guy Johnson, were then in their old
winter-quarters at Niagara. Of the Oneida warriors only thirty-seven had
been persuaded to join the royal cause; one of whom had been killed, and
five others had returned with Reed. The forces at Niagara at this time
were stated to be sixty British regulars, commanded by a captain; four
hundred loyalists commanded by Colonel Butler, and twelve hundred Indians
(including women and children,) commanded by Brant and Guy Johnson. One
of the objects of the late expedition to the Mohawk was stated by Reed to
be the destruction of Schenectady; but as they had not penetrated so far,
Brant and Johnson were meditating another campaign. The prisoners taken
from Stone Arabia, after reaching Niagara, had been shipped for Buck
Island in the river St. Lawrence; but from the long absence of the vessel,
and the fragments of a wreck, drums, furniture, &c., which had been
washed ashore, it was believed that she had been lost, and that all on
board had perished. Reed farther stated, that as soon as the snow was
hard, Brant, with five or six hundred warriors, was coming to the Oneida
country, in order to keep within a convenient distance for sending scouts
down the Mohawk. One of their objects was to be at all times prepared for
cutting off the supplies proceeding for the garrison of Fort Schuyler.
The Indians at Niagara, according to Reed's account, were well provided
with every thing they could desire. [FN-1] But it was far otherwise with
Fort Schuyler at this time. The letters of General Schuyler were full of
complaints, not only of the difficulty of procuring provisions, but also
of forwarding them to the outposts. In one of his letters, written at
that period, he said there was not flour enough in Fort Schuyler to
suffice for a single day's consumption. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] General Clinton's Manuscripts.

[FN-2] MSS. of General Schuyler.

Thus ended the Indian campaigns of the North for the year 1780. There
were, indeed, other petty occurrences on the outskirts, alarms, and now
and then a few shots exchanged with a straggling Indian or Tory scout.
But no other occurrence of importance within the range of the present
history, marked the winter then closely advancing. And never did winter
spread his mantle over a scene of greater desolation than lay beneath it
in the Valley of the Mohawk.

CHAPTER V.

Gloomy opening of the year--Distresses of the army--Revolt of the
Pennsylvania line--Negotiations--Revolt of the New Jersey
troops--Arnold's expedition to Virginia--Progress of the war at the
South--Distresses at the North--Active movements of Brant in the Mohawk
country--Meditated attack upon the Oneidas--Letter of Colonel
Claus--Destitution of the country--Letter of General
Schuyler--Destruction of Fort Schuyler by fire and flood--Suspicions of
design--General Clinton's correspondence respecting that
catastrophe--Hostile indications in the North--Indications of extensive
treachery--Arrest of the disaffected at Ballston and its
vicinity--Bearing of Washington in adversity--Colonel Willett appointed
to the command of the Mohawk District--Slender means at his
disposal--Burning of Currie-town--Battle of Durlagh--Defeat of the
Indians--Death of Captain McKean--Irruption into Palatine--Willett's
letter to Washington--Willett's influence upon the broken
militia--Battle near the German Flats--Death of Solomon
Woodworth--Story of John Christian Shell--Invasion of Ulster County by
Indians and Tories under Captain Cauldwell--Another case of individual
bravery--Incidents on the Kentucky border.

The sun of the new year was veiled by a cloud of deeper gloom than had
previously darkened the prospects of the American arms at any period of the
contest. The whole army, in all its divisions, at the North and in the
South, was suffering severely both for clothing and provisions. Indeed,
the accumulated sufferings and privations of "the army constitute a large
and interesting portion of the history of the war of American
independence. At the date now under review, Winter, without much lessening
the toils of the soldiers, was adding to their sufferings. They were
perpetually on the point of starving, were often entirely without food,
were exposed without proper clothing to the rigors of the season, and had,
moreover, now served almost twelve months without pay." [FN] Such was the
general fact. The Pennsylvania troops had still farther grievances of
which to complain. They had been enlisted in ambiguous terms--to "serve
three years, or during the war." At the expiration of the stipulated
period, "three years," the soldier claimed his discharge, while the
officers insisted upon holding him to the other condition of the contract.
The consequence was great dissatisfaction, increased, of course, by the
much higher bounties subsequently paid for enlistments.

* * * * *

[FN] Marshall's Life of Washington.

The Pennsylvania line, consisting of six regiments, was cantoned at
Morristown, under the immediate command of Brigadier General Wayne. So
long had they been brooding over their wrongs, so intense had become
their sufferings, and so discouraging were the prospects of remedy or
redress, that the discontents which, down to the last day of the
preceding year, had only been nurtured, broke out into open mutiny on the
evening of the next. The spirit of insubordination was from the first so
decided, and the evidences of revolt were so general, as at once to
jeopard the cause. An effort was made to quell the mutiny, in the course
of which several of the turbulent soldiers were wounded, as also were
some of the officers, who were endeavoring to repress the disorder. One
of the officers, Captain Billings, was killed. But the cause of the
revolt was too deeply seated, and the disaffection too extensive, to be
easily overcome. Even Wayne himself, the favorite of the Pennsylvanians,
was without power. Drawing a pistol and threatening one of the most
turbulent of the revolters; a bayonet was presented at his own bosom.
[FN-1] In a word, the authority of the commissioned officers was at an
end. The non-commissioned officers were generally engaged in the mutiny,
and one of their number being appointed Commander-in-chief, they moved off
in the direction of Philadelphia, with their arms and six pieces of
artillery--deaf to the arguments, the entreaties, and the utmost efforts
of their officers to change their purposes. [FN-2] As a last resort, Wayne
and his officers attempted to divide them, but without effect. Those who
at first appeared reluctant, were soon persuaded to unite with their
comrades, to march upon Philadelphia and demand a redress of their wrongs
at the doors of Congress.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Marshall.

[FN-2] Letter of Washington to President Weare of New Hampshire. This
was a letter urging upon the government of New Hampshire to make some
exertion to relieve the distresses of the army. A circular was sent to
all the New England States to the same effect, and confided to General
Knox, as a special agent to enforce the appeal. To President Weare, the
Commander-in-chief said, plainly:--"I give it decidedly as my opinion,
that it is in vain to think an army can be kept together much longer
under such a variety of sufferings as ours has experienced; and that
unless some immediate and spirited measures are adopted to furnish at
least three months' pay to the troops in money, which will be of some
value to them, and at tho same time provide ways and means to clothe and
feed them better than they have been, the worst that can befall us may
be expected." The Legislatures of Massachusetts and New Hampshire nobly
responded to the call, and immediately voted a gratuity of twenty-four
dollars in hard money to each of the non-commissioned officers and
soldiers belonging to those States, who were engaged to serve daring the
war.--_Sparks._

The number of the revolters was about thirteen hundred--a loss that would
have been severe of itself. But the most unpleasant apprehensions arose
from the danger, not only that the spirit of insubordination might spread
to other corps of the army, but that the mutineers might fall away in a
body to the enemy, who would, of course, lose not a moment in availing
himself of such a diversion in his favor. Coercive measures having failed
to bring the revolters back to the path of duty, Wayne, with his principal
officers, determined to follow close upon their rear and after the first
transports of their passion should subside, try what virtue might be found
in the arts of persuasion. The General overtook them at night in the
neighborhood of Middlebrook, but being advised in their present temper
not to venture among them, he invited a deputation of one sergeant from
each regiment to meet him in consultation. The deliberations were
amicable, and the General suggested a mode of obtaining redress of their
grievances, which satisfied the delegates, who, on retiring, promised to
exert their influence in bringing the men back to duty. But the attempt
was ineffectual; and on the day following the mutineers marched to
Princeton--the few who were well disposed and willing to separate from the
mutineers, continuing with the majority at the request of their officers,
in the hope that their exertions might "moderate the violence of their
leaders, and check the contagion of their example."

The crisis was most critical. The Commander-in-chief, on receiving the
first advices of the revolt, was disposed to repair at once to the camp
of the mutineers; but on advisement and reflection, this course was
relinquished. The complaints of the Pennsylvania line, in regard to
destitution of provisions and clothing, were common to the whole army,
and it was doubtful how far the contagion of disaffection might already
have spread. Nor could the Commander-in-chief, whose head-quarters were
at New Windsor, venture upon a visit to the mutineers, without taking
with him a sufficient force to compel obedience to his commands should the
exertion of force become necessary. But a sufficient body of troops for
such an object could not be spared without leaving the fortresses in the
Highlands too weak to resist an attack from Sir Henry Clinton, who would
be sure to strike upon those important works at the first favorable
moment. The river being free from ice, Sir Henry would possess every
facility for such a movement the instant the back of Washington should be
turned upon the North. Under all the circumstances of the case, therefore,
the Commander-in-chief remained at his post, neglecting, however, no
measure of justice within his power to heal the discontents, or of
precaution to prevent their farther extension.

Meantime the mutineers remained several days at Princeton, refusing to
proceed to the Delaware and cross into Pennsylvania, while Sir Henry
Clinton made every disposition to avail himself of the revolt, and lost
not a moment in despatching emissaries to their camp, with tempting offers
to induce them to join the armies of the King. But, mutineers as they
were, they nevertheless spurned the proposition; and retaining the
emissaries in custody, handed the communications, of which they were the
bearers, over to General Wayne. Though in rebellion against their
officers, the soldiers were nevertheless indignant at the idea of turning
their arms, as Arnold had done, against their own country; and those about
them who were well disposed, availed themselves of the occasion, with much
address, to impress upon their minds the magnitude of the insult conveyed
in propositions made to them in the character of traitors. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Five days after their arrival among the mutineers, viz. on the 11th
of January, Sir Henry's emissaries were tried by a court-martial, and
executed.

News of the revolt had no sooner reached Philadelphia, than a committee
was appointed by Congress, consisting of General Sullivan, [FN-1] and two
other gentlemen, in conjunction with President Reed on behalf of the
Council of Pennsylvania, to meet the revolters, and attempt to bring them
back to reason. The demands of the mutineers were exorbitant, but were in
the end acceded to with some unimportant modifications. They then moved
forward to Trenton, and in the end, although better things were
anticipated from the stipulations agreed upon, the Pennsylvania line was
almost entirely disbanded. A voluntary performance, by Congress, of much
less than was yielded by the committee, would have averted the evil, and
saved the division. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Very soon after he left the army, at the close of the Seneca
campaign, General Sullivan was elected to Congress, of which body he
was an efficient and patriotic member. Afterward, in the years 1786,
1787, and 1788, he was President of New Hampshire, in which situation, by
his vigorous exertions, he quelled the spirit of the insurrection which
exhibited itself at the time of the trouble with Shays in Massachusetts.
In 1789 he was appointed a District Judge. He died in 1795, aged 54.

[FN-2] Although the Pennsylvania line was thus dissolved, the evil was
surmounted much sooner than had been anticipated. Before the close of
January, Wayne wrote to Washington that the disbanded soldiers were "as
impatient of liberty as they had bean of service, and that they were as
importunate to be re-enlisted as they had been to be discharged." A
_reclaimed_ and formidable line was the result in the Spring.

The success of the Pennsylvania mutineers induced the New Jersey line,
then stationed at Pompton, to follow the bad example; and on the night of
the 20th of January a large portion of the brigade rose in arms. Their
claims were precisely the same as those which had been yielded to the
Pennsylvanians. By this time, however, the Commander-in-chief had
satisfied himself that he could rely upon the eastern troops; and,
chagrined as he had been by the result of the Pennsylvania revolt, he
determined, not only that nothing more should be yielded to the spirit of
insubordination, but that such an example should be made as would operate
as a check to the like proceedings in future. A strong detachment of
troops was accordingly led against the insurgents by General Howe, with
instructions to make no terms whatsoever while they continued in a state
of resistance. General Howe was farther instructed to seize a few of the
ringleaders, and execute them on the spot. The orders were promptly
complied with, and the insurrection was crushed at a blow. The mutinous
brigade returned to its duty; and such vigorous measures were taken by the
States to supply the wants of the army, as effectually checked the
progress of discontent. [FN] But it was only by the strong process of
impressment that those supplies could be wrung from the people, whose
discontents, though less immediately alarming, were, nevertheless, as
great as had been those of the army.

* * * * *

[FN] Sir Henry Clinton endeavored to avail himself of this New Jersey
insurrection, in like manner as he had attempted to tamper with the
Pennsylvanians. But his emissary, who was in the American interest,
delivered his papers to the first American officer with whom he met.

The first active demonstration of Sir Henry Clinton, on the opening of
the new year, was the expedition against Virginia, under the conduct of
General Arnold. The arch-traitor had, in fact, sailed from New-York
toward the close of December, but he did not enter the Capes of Virginia
until the beginning of January--landing at Westover on the 6th. He marched
to Richmond, and after some trifling skirmishes on the way, destroyed the
stores at that place, and also at Westham; whereupon he retired to
Norfolk. This was a mere predatory expedition, attended by no important
result. Farther south, events were continually occurring of greater
moment. General Greene having been assigned to the command of that
department, after the signal discomfiture of Gates, affairs soon wore a
brighter aspect. The loss of the battle of Camden, a few months before,
was balanced, and, in its moral effect, more than balanced, by the
decisive victory over Tarleton, achieved by General Morgan at the Cowpens
on the 17th of January. And although Greene was defeated at Guilford on
the 15th of March, yet the victory was too dearly won by Earl Cornwallis
to render it a just occasion of triumph. So likewise in the repulse of
Greene by Lord Rawdon at Camden, owing to the misconduct of the militia,
the British commander was nevertheless so roughly handled that, although
he received a reinforcement in the course of the following night, he
deemed it expedient to destroy the town, and retire farther down the
Santee. But these apparent disadvantages were amply compensated by the
masterly manoeuvres of Greene, and the brilliant succession of victories
over the smaller works and detachments of the enemy. In these latter
affairs, Forts Watkinson, Orangeburgh, Motte, Silver Bluff, Granby, and
Cornwallis were successively taken, and the enemy was compelled to
evacuate other forts. Lord Rawdon was likewise obliged to fall back upon
Charleston, while Cornwallis was pursuing a doubtful march into Virginia.
The great disadvantage labored under by General Greene, was the necessity
of depending in a great measure upon the militia--not having regular
troops sufficient to cope with the veterans from Europe. But, though not
always victorious in battle, he was invariably so in the results. And his
masterly movements proved him far in advance of any of his antagonists,
in all the requisites of an able commander.

But while events thus propitious to the American arms were occurring at
the South, the aspect of affairs, as has already been seen, was sadly
discouraging at the North. In addition to the destitution of the main
army, causing the insurrections in the Pennsylvania and New-Jersey lines,
so wretchedly supplied were the small garrisons from Albany northward and
westward, both in respect to food and clothing, that it was only with the
utmost difficulty that the officers could keep the soldiers upon duty.
Ravaged as the whole Mohawk country had been the preceding Summer and
Autumn, no supplies could be drawn from the diminished and impoverished
inhabitants remaining in those settlements; while it was equally difficult
to procure supplies, either at Albany or below, or eastwardly beyond that
city. It is painful to read the private correspondence of General
Schuyler, and Governor and General Clinton upon this subject. Orders for
impressing provisions were freely issued, particularly against the
disaffected portion of the people, who had greatly increased in numbers
in that section of the country; but some of the supplies thus taken were
returned, from the knowledge of General Schuyler that they had nothing
more for their own support. Meantime, emboldened by his successes the
preceding year, the enemy hung around the skirts of the settlements,
approaching almost beneath the very guns of the forts, cutting off all
communication with them, unless by means of strong escorts, so that it
was difficult and often impossible even to throw such scanty supplies
into the garrisons as could be obtained.

The Oneidas having been driven from their country the preceding year, even
the slight barrier against irruptions from the more western tribes, who
were all hostile, into the Mohawk country, afforded by that slender
people, was gone. On the 15th of January, the scouts of Thayendanegea
appeared openly in the German Flats, and attacked some of the inhabitants.
During the months of February and March, Brant was hovering about the
Mohawk, ready to spring upon every load of supplies destined for Forts
Plain, Dayton, and Schuyler, not too strongly guarded, and cutting off
every straggling soldier or inhabitant so unfortunate as to fall within
his grasp.

On the 6th of March, Major Nicholas Fish wrote to General Clinton, from
Schenectady, informing him that a party of fifteen of Colonel Van
Cortlandt's regiment, at Fort Schuyler, had fallen into the hands of
Brant's Indians; and on the 2d of April, in moving to the neighborhood
of that fort, to cut off another escort of supplies, the same lynx-eyed
chieftain made prisoners of another detachment from that garrison of
sixteen men. The difficulty of transporting the provisions, however, the
unbeaten snow lying to a great depth, had so greatly retarded the progress
of the scouts, that the intrepid warrior was disappointed in this portion
of the spoils, having, as it subsequently appeared, attempted to strike
too soon.

But the hunted Oneidas, notwithstanding the neutrality of the greater part
of them, were not altogether safe in their new position near Schenectady.
It seems to have chafed both Brant and his employers, that a single tribe
of Indians had been detached from their influence or service; and their
destruction was again seriously meditated, with the sanction of Sir
Frederick Haldimand, as will more fully appear by the annexed letter from
Colonel Daniel Claus, the brother-in-law of Sir John Johnson, to Captain
Brant.

"Colonel Claus to Captain Brant.

"_Montreal,_ 3_d March,_ 1781.

"Dear Joseph,

"Captain John Odeserundiye, about a month ago, showed me a letter he
received from you, with a proposal to him about the Oneidas, telling me
he had answered you that he would join you with his party about the 20th
of this month, desiring me at the same time to keep it a secret from the
Mohawk Indians and others, for fear of being made public; he then asked
me where the Oneidas now lived, which then I could not tell him; but since
that I was informed that the rebels had posted themselves at a place
called Palmerstown, about twelve or fifteen miles west of Saraghtoga, of
which I acquainted His Excellency General Haldimand, together with your
intentions and plan; whereupon I received His Excellency's answer
enjoining the utmost secrecy to me, and which I hereby give you in the
words of his letter, by Captain Mathews his secretary, and is the occasion
of this express.

"His Excellency, General Haldimand, commands me to acquaint you that
Captain Brant's intention meets highly with his approbation, and wishes
to assist it; which might be done from this place in the following manner,
but the General desires you will keep it inviolably secret. He has for
some time intended sending a party of about sixty chosen loyalists, under
the command of Major Jessup, toward Fort Edward; this party might join
Joseph against Palmerstown could he ascertain the time and place, which
might be nearly done by calculating the time his express would take to
come from Carleton Island--his march from thence, and Major Jessup's from
Point au Fez, alias Nikadiyooni. If Joseph wishes to have this assistance,
he must confer with Major Ross, who will send off an active express;
otherwise, if Joseph should prefer aid from that quarter, Major Ross and
Captain Robertson are directed to afford it; and, indeed, the delays and
uncertainty of the parties joining punctually, incline the General to
think it more eligible.

"Should you upon this adopt the General's offer and opinion, and proceed
from Carleton Island to Palmerstown, which place I am sure several of
Major Ross's men and others at the island are well acquainted with, I
wish you the aid of Providence with all the success imaginable; in which
case it will be one of tho most essential services you have rendered your
king this war, and cannot but by him be noticed and rewarded; your return
by Canada will be the shortest and most eligible, and we shall be very
happy to see you here. As I received the General's letter this afternoon
only, I could not speak with Odeserundiye, but have wrote to him by
express to let you know the precise time he intends meeting you. Mrs.
Claus and all friends are well here, and salute you heartily; also your
sister and daughters; the others here are well, and desire their love and
duty. I hope she received the things safe which I sent lately by Anna.
Adieu. God bless and prosper you.

"Yours most sincerely,
Dan'l. Claus.

"_Captain Brant._

"P. S. The great advantage of setting out from Carleton Island, is the
route, which is so unexpected a one, that there is hardly any doubt but
you will surprise them, which is a great point gained. Whereas, were you
to set out from Canada, there are so many friends, both whites and
Indians, to the rebel cause, that you could not well get to the place
undiscovered, which would not do so well.

"D. C."

Happily, from some cause now unknown, this project, so well devised, and
apparently so near its maturity, was never executed. The narrative is
therefore resumed.

So great, and so universal, was the distress for provisions, already
adverted to, that, on the 29th of March, General Clinton wrote to the
Governor, "I am hourly under apprehensions that the remaining different
posts occupied for the defence of the frontiers of this State, will be
abandoned, and the country left open to the ravages of the enemy." Such
continued suffering of course produced disaffection in this department
also; and the greatest possible prudence was required, on the part of the
officers, to prevent desertions of whole bodies. So critical was their
situation, that in a letter to the Governor, of May 3d, General Clinton
mentions the fact, that a small scout, commanded by a corporal, in the
neighborhood of Port George, having captured a party of the enemy, "with
a packet, had been bribed to release them for a guinea each and two silk
handkerchiefs." Still worse than this was the fact that the General was
afraid to proceed openly to punish the delinquency. On the 5th General
Clinton again wrote to the Governor--"From the present appearance, I am
convinced that the troops will abandon the frontier. It is absurd to
suppose they can or will exist under the present circumstances. However,
let what will be the consequences, I have nothing to reproach myself with.
I have repeatedly called for assistance from every quarter, but could
obtain none." On the 8th of May, General Schuyler, writing from Saratoga,
said--"I wrote you this morning, since which, finding the troops
exceedingly uneasy, Colonel Van Vechten and I turned out each one of the
best cattle we had; the meat proved better than was expected, but the
soldiers still continue troublesome; they have hung part of it on a pole
with a red flag above a white one, and some of them hold very alarming
a conversation. I dread the consequences, as they can so easily a join
the enemy. If a body of nine-months men were here, it a would probably
deter the others from going off to the northward, [the enemy meaning] if
they should have such an intention."

Great blame was imputed to Congress; and likewise to the State
governments, for allowing the commissariat to come to such a deplorable
pass. The resources of the country were known to be abundant for the
comfortable sustenance of a much larger army than was at that time in the
field; but the efficient action of Congress was fettered by its want of
power. The States, jealous of their own sovereignty, had withholden from
the central government powers which were essential to the vigorous
prosecution of the war, while it was but seldom that they could be
brought into a simultaneous and harmonious exertion of those powers
themselves. Hence the frequent and keen distresses of the army, and the
complicated embarrassments under which the officers were compelled to
struggle during the whole war. Still, the blame did not rest wholly with
the States. There were jealousies, and heart-burnings, and intrigues, in
the Congresses of that day, as in later times; and their conduct was
often the subject of bitter complaint in the letters of the
Commander-in-chief. The following letter from General Schuyler bears hard
upon the officers of the federal government, while at the same time it
depicts the extreme destitution of the country at the north, at the
period under consideration:--

"General Schuyler to General Clinton.

"_Saratoga, May_ 13_th,_ 1781.

"Dear Sir,

"Your favor of the 8th instant, Captain Vernon delivered me last evening.
The distress occasioned by the want of provisions in every quarter is
truly alarming, but was the natural consequence of such a system as was
adopted for supplying the army. It is probable, if we should be able to
continue the war ten years longer, that our rulers will learn to conduct
it with propriety and economy; at present they are certainly ignoramuses.
Not a barrel of meat or fish is to be had in this quarter if an equal
weight of silver was to be offered for it, and as there is not above a
quarter of the flour or wheat sufficient for the use of the inhabitants,
it would be needless to appoint persons here to impress those articles.
I therefore return the blank warrants.

"It is probable that some flour may be obtained in the neighborhood of
Schaghticoke, and _I am certain_ that a very considerable quantity of
both wheat and flour is lodged in Albany. Major Lush could employ his
assistant at the former place, and he might impress all at the latter
_without much trouble._ A small collection of meat has been made at
Stillwater for the troops here, but that is already expended. If there
is any beef at Richmond, or Barrington, I think it would be well to send
a party of nine-months men under an active spirited officer, to impress
a number of wagons at Kinderhook and Claverack, and to attend them to the
former places, and back again to the respective landings of the latter on
Hudson's river. If an opportunity offers, pray send me some paper, as
this is my last sheet. Captain Arson is not yet returned from Jessup's.

"I am, dear Sir,
Yours sincerely, &c., &c.
Ph. Schuyler.

"_Gen. Clinton._"

It was, indeed, a trying situation for brave and patriotic officers to
find themselves in command of troops, driven, by destitution, to the very
point of going over to the enemy almost in a body. But another
disheartening occurrence was at hand. The works of Fort Schuyler, having
become much out of repair, sustained great injury by the swelling of the
waters in the early part of May. A council of officers was convened by
Lt. Colonel Cochran, then in command, on the 12th of that month, to
inquire and report what should be done in the premises. The council
represented that more than two-thirds of the works had been broken down
by the flood, and that the residue would be in the same condition in a
very few days; that the only remaining strength of the fort was to be
found in the outside pickets on the glacis; and that the strength of the
garrison was altogether inadequate to attempt to rebuild or repair the
works, for which purpose five or six hundred men, with an engineer,
artificers, &c., would be indispensably necessary.

But even if the works were not altogether indefensible on the 12th, they
were rendered so on the following day, when all that had been spared by
the deluge was destroyed by fire. Intelligence of this disaster was
received by General Clinton at Albany, on the 16th, in a letter from
Colonel Cochran. The following is an extract from General Clinton's reply
to that officer, from which it appears a strong suspicion was entertained
that the conflagration was the work of design--a suspicion that was never
removed:--"I have just received your favors of the 13th and 14th instants,
with the disagreeable intelligence contained in them. I cannot find words
to express my surprise at the unexpected accident, or how a fire should
break out at noon-day, in a garrison where the troops could not possibly
be absent, after a most violent and incessant rain of several days, and
be permitted to do so much damage. I am sorry to say that the several
circumstances which accompanied this melancholy affair, afford plausible
ground for suspicion that it was not the effect of mere accident. I hope,
when it comes to be examined in a closer point of view, such lights may
be thrown upon it as will remove the suspicion, for which there appears
too much reason. I have written to his Excellency on the subject, and
requested his farther orders, which I expect in a few days; in the
meantime I would request that you keep possession of the works, and
endeavor to shelter the troops in the best manner possible."

In his letter to the Governor, enclosing the dispatches of Colonel
Cochran, General Clinton suggested the expediency, under the circumstances
of the case, of abandoning the post altogether, and falling back upon
Fort Herkimer. On the following day he again wrote to his brother,
renewing and re-enforcing this suggestion:--

"General Clinton to the Governor.

"_Albany, May_ 17_th,_ 1781.

"Dear Sir,

"Since my last to you of yesterday, another letter, by express, has been
received from Fort Schuyler. Copies of the contents I enclose for your
information, under cover, which I wish you to seal and forward to the
Commander-in-chief. I informed you yesterday of the general prevailing
opinion among the better part of the people in this quarter respecting
Fort Schuyler. The recent loss of the barracks, and the ruinous situation
of the works, have confirmed them in the propriety and even necessity of
removing it to the German Flats near Fort Herkimer, where they are
disposed to afford every assistance in their power to build a formidable
work, confident that it will be able to afford more protection, not only
in that particular quarter, but also to the whole western frontier in
general. I must confess that I have long since been of this opinion. I
have not mentioned this circumstance to the General, [Washington,] as I
conceive it will come better from yourself, as you are acquainted with
every particular circumstance respecting it, and the numberless
difficulties which we shall labor under in putting it in any considerable
state of defence. As I have directed the troops to remain in possession
of the works until I shall receive instructions from head-quarters, I wish
that you might have it in your power to have a conference with the
General on the subject, and transmit to me the result of it without delay.

"I am, Sir, &c.
Jas. Clinton.

"_Governor Clinton._"

This suggestion was adopted, and the post so long considered the key to
the Mohawk Valley was abandoned. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] After the war the fort was rebuilt, and the ancient name of Fort
Stanwix restored. The works were repaired and substantially strengthened
as being an important post, during the administration of the elder
Adams.

In addition to this disheartening state of affairs at the westward of
Albany, intelligence was received that another storm was about breaking
upon the northern frontier. In a letter from General Schuyler to General
Clinton, from Saratoga, May 18th, after speaking of the "chagrin" he felt
at the destruction of the fort, Schuyler proceeds:--

"Last evening Major McCracken of White Creek came here, and delivered me
a copy of a paper which had been found there, in the same hand-writing as
one that was put in the same place last year, announcing the approach of
Major Carleton with the troops under his command. This contains in
substance--'That the writer had received a letter from a friend in Canada,
to give him notice of the danger which threatened these parts; that 1500
men were gone to Ticonderoga, from whence they were to proceed to Fort
Edward and White Creek; that they are to be down in this month, and from
what he could learn, they were to desolate the country.' The Major thinks
he knows the channel through which this intelligence is conveyed, and
that it may be depended upon;--as it in some degree corroborates that
given by Harris, and the person I had sent to Crown Point, it ought not
to be slighted. Please to communicate it to the Governor and General
Washington.

"Fourteen of the nine months men have already deserted, two of whom are
apprehended. There are now at this post only thirty-nine of them. As the
Continental troops here are without shoes it is impossible to keep out the
necessary scouts. Cannot a parcel of shoes be obtained at Albany, and
sent up to them? It will be of importance to give the earliest
intelligence if the party discovered by Colonel Lewis should appear on the
Mohawk river, that we may with the troops here, and what militia we may
be able to collect, try to intercept them."

In a postscript to a letter of the 21st, General Schuyler
observed:--"Since the above I have been informed _from very good
authority,_ that the enemy's morning and evening guns at Ticonderoga have
been distinctly heard near Fort Anne for three or four days past" And on
the 24th the General wrote more confidently still of the enemy's approach.
"Captain Gray is returned. He has not been near enough to determine the
enemy's force, but sufficiently so to discover, by the fires, that they
are numerous. Is it not strange, and subject of suspicion, that the
Vermonters should not afford us any intelligence of the enemy's approach,
as they must certainly know of his arrival at Crown Point and
Ticonderoga?" [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] This ambiguous conduct of Vermont was the consequence of the quarrel
between the settlers of the grants from New Hampshire, which were within
the chartered limits, and the government of New-York. Colonel Allen, not
long before, had been in Albany upon the business of the settlers, and
had come away dissatisfied--having uttered a threat on his departure. He
was at this time, as General Schuyler was informed, at the Isle Au
Noix--sick--as was pretended.

This was alarming intelligence, more especially when taken in connexion
with the reports simultaneously coming in from the west, of an expedition
meditated against Pittsburgh, to be led by Sir John Johnson and Colonel
Connelly; while other reports were rife, at the same time, of more
extensive combinations among the hostile Indians than had previously
marked the war. But even this was not all--nor by any means the worst of
the case. Treachery was at work, and from the temper of great numbers of
the people, the carriage of the disaffected, and the intelligence received
by means of spies and intercepted despatches, there was just cause to
apprehend that, should the enemy again invade the country, either from the
north or the west, his standard would be joined by much larger numbers of
the people than would have rallied beneath it at any former period. The
poison was actively at work even in Albany. On the 24th of May, General
Schuyler announced to General Clinton the return of a confidential agent
from the north, "where he met with five of the enemy, whose confidence he
so far obtained as to be entrusted with letters written on the spot to
persons at Albany, whose names I forbear to mention," (says Schuyler,) "for
fear of accidents. They contained nothing material, except the arrival of
the enemy in force at Crown Point and Ticonderoga, with this expression
in one,--'We shall make rare work with the rebels.'" But other, and more
"material" despatches were soon afterward intercepted, from the tenor of
which the conclusion was irresistible, not only that a powerful invasion
was about taking place from the north, but that very extensive
arrangements had been made in Albany, and the towns adjacent, for the
reception of the invaders, whose standard the disaffected were to join,
and whose wants they were to supply. Among the papers thus intercepted,
was the following letter, supposed to have been addressed to General
Haldimand:--

"_Albany,_ 9_th May,_ 1781.

"Your Excellency may learn from this that when I received your
instructions, &c., I was obliged at that time to put myself into a place
of security, as there were heavy charges laid against me. I thank God I
have baffled that storm. Your commands are observed to the letter, part
of them faithfully executed, the particulars of which I hope in a short
time to have the honor to acquaint you verbally. Now is the season to
strike a blow on this place, when multitudes will join, provided a
considerable force comes down. The sooner the attempt is made the better.
Let it be rapid and intrepid, carefully avoiding to sour the inhabitants'
tempers by savage cruelties on their defenceless families. If a few
handbills, intimating pardon, protection, &c., &c. were sent down, and
distributed about this part of the country, they would effect wonders;
and should your Excellency think proper to send an army against this den
of persecutors, notice ought to be given ten days before, by some careful
and intelligent person, to a certain Mr. McPherson in Ball's Town, who
will immediately convey the intention to the well-affected of New
Scotland, Norman's Kill, Hillbarack's, Neskayuna, &c., all in the vicinity
of Albany. The plan is already fixed, and should a formidable force
appear, I make no doubt provisions and other succors will immediately
take place. A few lines of comfort, in print, from your Excellency to
those people, would make them the more eager in prosecuting their designs;
and if the Vermonters lie still, as I have some hopes they will, there is
no fear of success. No troops are yet raised. There is a flag from this
place shortly to be sent; perhaps I may go with it; I expected before this
time I would 'be removed from my present situation,' &c.

"25th May. N. B. This I expected should reach you before now, but had no
opportunity. Excuse haste." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] This document has been discovered by the author among the papers of
General Clinton. It is endorsed as follows:--"A copy of a letter in
Doctor Smyth's handwriting, supposed to General Haldimand. Intercepted
27th of May, 1781." The author has not been able to ascertain who Doctor
Smith was, farther than that he hat been informed at Albany, that he was
a brother to Smith the historian of New-York, afterward Chief Justice of
New Brunswick. Some time afterward Governor Clinton transmitted a
special message to the legislature, then sitting at Poughkeepsie,
containing important information respecting the designs of the
Vermonters, by which it appears that Dr. Smith was actively engaged in
fomenting disaffection in that quarter, and had held interviews with
Ethan Allen upon the subject in Albany, &c. Smith is spoken of in that
message as having been appointed a Commissioner by the British officers
to treat with the Vermonters.

Accompanying this letter were several pages of memoranda, in the same
hand-writing, giving particular information upon every point which the
enemy could desire. The deplorable situation of Albany, and the whole
Mohawk country, was described; the temper of the people in the towns
around Albany and elsewhere set forth; the strength of the main army in
the Highlands given with all necessary accuracy; and the mission of Ethan
Allen to Albany, and the probable defection of Vermont, announced. Indeed,
the character of these communications showed but too plainly that treason
was deeply and extensively at work, and that the enemy was, beyond doubt,
correctly advised of the true situation of the country. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] See Appendix, No. II.

Under all these circumstances of internal and external danger--with but
slender garrisons at the points of greatest exposure, and those so
miserably provided that the soldiers were deserting by dozens, showing
dispositions not equivocal of going over to the enemy--without provisions
or the means of procuring them, and scarcely knowing whom to trust among
their own people, lest the disaffection should prove to be even more
extensive than recent disclosures had taught the officers to suppose,--the
Spring of 1781 may well be counted as the darkest period of the
revolution. Had it not been for the gleams of light shooting up from the
south, all indeed would have been sullen blackness, if not despair. But
the truth of the homely adage, that the darkest hour is always just before
day, received a glorious illustration before the close of the year.
"Accustomed to contemplate all public events which might grow out of the
situation of the United States, and to prepare for them while at a
distance, the American chief was not depressed by this state of affairs.
With a mind happily tempered by nature and improved by experience, those
fortunate events which had occasionally brightened the prospects of his
country, never relaxed his exertions or lessened his precautions; nor
could the most disastrous state of things drive him to despair." [FN]
Fortunately, in the Clintons and their associate officers at the north,
the American Commander had subordinates possessing in no small degree the
same great characteristics. Every possible precaution against lurking
treason within, was taken, and every practicable means of preparation
means of preparation and defence against invasion from abroad, was
adopted.

* * * * *

[FN] Marshall.

Anticipating, from the presence of the enemy at Ticonderoga, that Tryon
county might again be attacked from that direction by the way of the
Sacondaga, Captain John Carlisle was despatched into the settlements of
New Galway, Peasley, and Ballston, accompanied by Captain Oothout and a
small party of Indians, to make prisoners of certain persons suspected of
disaffection to the American cause, and to remove all the families from
those towns to the south side of the Mohawk river. About sixty families
were thus removed, and all the suspected persons arrested. The Captain,
in his report of the expedition, gave a deplorable account of the poverty
of the people. He could scarcely procure subsistence for his party during
his mission. On arriving at Ballston, however, he drew more liberally upon
the stores of the disaffected, and then arrested them. But their
disposition, Captain Oothout was glad to inform the Commissioners, was
such as to "prevent his setting fire to their houses agreeably to the
letter of his orders." [FN] Happily these measures of precaution, and the
other preparations, were for that time unnecessary--the enemy, if he was
in actual force at Crown Point or Ticonderoga, not then venturing another
invasion from that quarter.

* * * * *

[FN] Manuscripts of Gen. Clinton. Indeed, the materials for this whole
section of the northern history of the Spring of 1781, have principally
been drawn from the Clinton papers, so often referred to.

But the Mohawk Valley was continually harassed by the Indians and
Tories--even to the very precincts of the stockades and other small
fortifications. The spirit of the people had in a great measure been
crushed, and the militia broken down, during the repeated invasions of the
preceding year. The Rev. Daniel Gros, [FN] writing to General Clinton from
Canajoharie, upon the importance of having at least a small detachment of
regular troops at Fort Rensselaer, observed--"It would serve to bring
spirit, order, and regularity into our militia, where authority and
subordination have vanished. If it should last a little longer, the
shadow of it will dwindle away; and perhaps the best men in the state will
be useless spectators of all the havoc the enemy is meditating against the
country. The militia appears to me to be a body without a soul. Drafts
from the neighboring counties, even of the levies under their own
commanders, will not abate the fatal symptoms, but rather serve to
produce a monster with as many heads as there are detachments." Having no
other defenders than such as are here described, with the exception of a
few scattered companies, or rather skeletons of companies, at the
different posts extending along the Valley, the prospect of the opening
Summer was indeed gloomy--more especially when men's thoughts reverted to
the sufferings of the past. Nor were the inhabitants encouraged to expect
any considerable reinforcements from head-quarters, since the
Commander-in-chief, in concert with the Count de Rochambeau, was again
evidently preparing for some enterprise of higher moment than the defence
of those remote settlements against any force that could be brought down
upon them from the north.

* * * * *

[FN] Afterward a Professor in Columbia College, and author of a work on
Moral Philosophy.

Still, there was one officer whose name, among the people of that
district, was a tower of strength. That man was Colonel Marinus Willett;
who, at the consolidation of the five New-York regiments into two--an
event happening at about the same time--was induced by the strong
solicitation of Governor Clinton to take the command of all the militia
levies and State troops that might be raised for the protection of the
country. It was only with great reluctance that Colonel Willett was
persuaded to leave the main army, and enter upon this difficult and
hazardous service. But the appeal of Governor Clinton was so strong, and
enforced with so much earnestness, that he could not resist it. The
Governor urged the high confidence reposed in him by the people of Tryon
county--and reminded him of the cruelties of the Indians and
Tories--speaking of the latter with great emphasis, as "cruel monsters
worse than savages;" [FN-1] and Colonel Willett, feeling a hearty
good-will to chastise such an enemy--the Tories especially--repaired to
the north, and assumed the command. He arrived at Fort Rensselaer
(Canajoharie), where he established his head-quarters, toward the close
of June. The country he was to defend embraced all the settlements west
of the county of Albany, including Catskill and the Hudson river. A
fortnight after his arrival he ascertained that the following skeleton
detachments composed the full complement of the forces under his command:
one hundred and thirty levies, including officers, and Captain Moody's
artillery, numbering twenty men, at the German Flats; at Schoharie he
stationed a guard of twenty men; at Catskill about the same number, and
about thirty men at Ballston. Exclusive of these diminutive fragments of
corps, stationed at great distances apart, the levies of the county
amounted to no more than ninety-six men. In a letter to Governor Clinton,
making known the paucity of his numbers, Colonel Willett added:--"I
confess myself not a little disappointed in having such a trifling force
for such extensive business as I have on my hands; and also that nothing
is done to enable me to avail myself of the militia. The prospect of a
suffering country hurts me. Upon my own account I am not uneasy. Every
thing I can do, shall be done; and more cannot be looked for. If it is,
the reflection that I have done my a duty, must fix my own tranquility."
[FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Willett's Narrative.

[FN-2] Idem.

Depressed, however, as were the people, and inefficient as, from the
preceding descriptions, the militia must have become, these circumstances
were, no doubt, in a great degree attributable to the want of officers in
whom the people could repose confidence. Colonel Willett had very soon
an opportunity to make trial of their spirit, and he found them "a people
who, having experienced no inconsiderable portion of British barbarism,
were become keen for revenge and properly determined." [FN-1] The occasion
was the following:--On the 30th of June, several columns of smoke were
discovered by the garrison of Fort Rensselaer, ascending as from a village
on fire, in the direction of Currietown, lying eleven miles down the
river, near the estuary of the Schoharie-kill. Having previously sent
forth a scout of thirty men, commanded by Captain Gross, to patrol the
country south as far as a settlement called Durlagh, [FN-2] an express
was despatched to overtake that officer, with information of the probable
presence of the enemy below, and with instructions, if possible, to fall
upon his trail. Meantime Captain McKean was ordered to Currietown, with
sixteen levies only, but with instructions to collect as many of the
militia in his way as possible. Such was the celerity of McKean's
movements, that he arrived at Currietown so soon after it had been ravaged
and deserted by the enemy, as to enable him to assist in quenching the
fires of some of the yet unconsumed buildings. Colonel Willett was himself
actively employed during the day in collecting the militia, while, through
the vigilance of Captain Gross, not only the trail of the Indians was
discovered, but the place of their encampment. Having reason to suppose
they would occupy the same encampment that night, and being joined before
evening by the detachments of Gross and McKean, the Colonel determined,
with these forces, and such few militia-men as he had been able to
collect, to march directly for the encampment, and, if possible, take them
by surprise before morning--perhaps while asleep. This encampment was in
a thick cedar swamp, five or six miles to the north-east of Cherry Valley,
and of course to reach it by a march through the woods, during an
exceedingly dark night, and without any better road than a bridle-path,
was no small undertaking. It had been ascertained that the Indians
numbered between two and three hundred, commanded by a Tory named John
Doxstader, in connexion with an Indian chief named Quackyack. Colonel
Willett's strength, levies and militia included, did not exceed one
hundred and fifty rank and file. The plan of falling upon the enemy while
asleep did not exactly succeed, in consequence of the difficulties of the
march--occasioned by the darkness, the thickness of the woods, and, worse
than all, the losing of his way by the guide. It was therefore nearly
six o'clock in the morning when they arrived in the vicinity of the
encampment; and, instead of falling upon the enemy by surprise, they
found him occupying a more favorable situation, and awaiting their
reception. Immediate dispositions were made to engage the enemy, with a
view to which a stratagem was laid to draw him from the advantageous
situation which he had chosen. For this purpose, before the Indians had
become fully aware of Willett's near approach, Jacob Sammons, now a
lieutenant in the New-York levies, was detached with ten resolute men, to
steal as near to them as possible, give them one well-directed fire, and
retreat. The ruse succeeded. Sammons and his men turned their backs on the
first yell of the Indians, and the latter sprang forward in pursuit.
[FN-3] They were soon met by Colonel Willett in person, advancing at the
head of his main division, which consisted of one hundred men, while
Captain McKean was left with fifty more as a reserve, to act as occasion
might require, on the right. The enemy did not wait an attack, however,
but, with great appearance of determination, advanced with their wonted
shouts and yells, and began the fire. The onset of the Indians was
furious; but they were received with firmness, and in turn the Americans
advanced upon them with loud huzzas, and such manifestations of spirit as
soon caused them to give way. Simultaneously with their attack upon the
main body in front, the Indians had made an equally desperate rush upon
the right wing, which might have been attended with disaster, but for the
destructive fire poured in upon them by the reserve of McKean. The
Indians, thus driven back, now betook themselves to their old game of
firing from behind the trees; but Willett's men understood that mode of
fighting as well as themselves. They did not, however, practise it long.
Willett pressed forward waving his hat and cheering his men--calling out
that he could catch in his hat all the balls that the enemy might send;
and in the same breath exclaiming, "the day is ours, my boys!" These
inspiriting demonstrations being followed up by a timely and efficient
use of the bayonet, the whole body of the enemy was put to flight in half
an hour after the commencement of the action. They retreated upon their
old path down the Susquehanna, and were pursued to a considerable
distance. Their camp was, of course, taken, and the plunder they had
gathered recaptured. The loss of the Indians was severe--nearly forty of
their dead being left on the field. Colonel Willett's loss was five
killed, and nine wounded and missing. Among the wounded was the brave
Captain McKean, fatally. He received two balls early in the engagement,
but kept at his post until it was over, and the rout of the enemy
complete. [FN-4]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Letter of Colonel Willett to General Washington.

[FN-2] Sometimes spelt Turlock. Now the town of Sharon, Schoharie
County.

[FN-3] MS. narrative of Jacob Sammons.

[FN-4] Willett's Narrative--Campbell.

There was one very painful circumstance attending this battle. In their
excursion to Currietown, the day before, Doxstader and his Indians had
made nine prisoners, among whom were Jacob and Frederick Diefendorff,
Jacob Myers and a son, a black boy, and four others. The moment the
battle commenced, the prisoners, who were bound to standing trees for
security, were tomahawked and scalped by their captors, and left as dead.
The bodies of these unfortunate men were buried by Colonel Willett's
troops. Fortunately, however, the graves were superficial, and the
covering slight--a circumstance which enabled Jacob Diefendorff, who,
though stunned and apparently dead, was yet alive, to disentomb himself.
A detachment of militia, under Colonel Veeder, having repaired to the
field of action after Willett had returned to Fort Rensselaer, discovered
the supposed deceased on the outside of his own grave; and he has lived
to furnish the author of the present work with an account of his own
burial and resurrection. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Statements of Jacob Diefendorff and Jacob Sammons, in the author's
possession.

Captain McKean died, greatly lamented, a few days after the detachment
had returned to the fort, as will be seen by the annexed letter, addressed
by Colonel Willett to the commanding officer at Albany:--

"Colonel Willett to General Clinton.

"Sir:--I have just sent some of the wounded levies to Schenectady, there
being no surgeon here. Doctor Petrie, the surgeon of the levies, is at
German Flats, where he has several sick and wounded to attend; and the
intercourse between here and there is too dangerous to allow traveling
without a guard; I could wish, therefore, to have a surgeon from the
hospital posted in this quarter.

"This place does not afford a gill of rum to bathe a single wound. The two
barrels designed for this quarter a few days ago, met with a regular
regiment passing down the country, who very irregularly took away from
the person that had them in charge those two barrels of rum. I need not
mention to you, Sir, that the severe duty and large portion of fatigue
that falls to the lot of the troops in this quarter, make rum an article
of importance here, and that I should be glad to see some in the County
of Tryon.

"This morning Captain McKean died of the wound he received yesterday. In
him we have lost an excellent officer. I feel his loss, and must regret
it." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Clinton papers.

Shortly after the irruption of Doxstader, there was another descent of
Indians and Tories upon Palatine, which was an event of more singularity
than importance. A son of Colonel Jacob Klock, with several of his Tory
friends, went off to Canada. He returned in about four weeks with a band
of Indians and Tories to fall upon the settlement, and encamped for one
night in the vicinity of his own neighborhood. During the night, one of
the number, Philip Helmer, having discovered that a part of their object
was to plunder and murder the family of his relative, John Bellinger,
determined to save that family. Taking a young Indian with him, therefore,
under the pretext of reconnoitering the settlement, he proceeded so near
to some of the houses, that the Indian, becoming suspicious, ran back to
his comrades. Helmer's object was to surrender himself, and cause the
Indian to be taken prisoner; and he accordingly delivered himself up to
Judge Nellis. Expresses were immediately sent to Fort Plain and Stone
Arabia for assistance; and the enemy, finding themselves betrayed, took
to the woods. Lieutenant Sammons, with twenty-five men, was ordered by
Colonel Willett to go in pursuit; and so rapid were they of foot, as to
arrive at the enemy's encampment before his fires had gone out. William
Feeter, with six other volunteers, was sent forward to keep his trail.
In about two miles after entering the woods, most luckily they discovered
a number of the Indians lying flat upon the ground. The latter no sooner
discerned Feeter's approach, than they rose and fired; but one of their
number having fallen grievously wounded by the return fire of Feeler's
party, while they were stooping down to re-load, they sprang to their
feet and fled--Tories and all--leaving their provisions, knapsacks, and
some of their muskets. They ran down a steep hill, and were measurably
shielded from Feeter's fire by the thickness of the shrubbery and trees.
One of them gave himself up as a prisoner; three more were wounded, and
died on their way to Canada. The poor Indian first wounded, was put to
death by Helmer, who ran up and despatched him while he was begging for
quarter! [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Narrative of Colonel William Feeter, in the author's possession,
and also of Jacob Sammons. Colonel Feeter is yet living, (1837.)

Colonel Willett took early occasion to make the Commander-in-chief
acquainted with the deplorable situation to which this fine region of
country had been reduced by the repeated visitations of the enemy. In his
letter to General Washington upon the subject, he describes the beauty,
the productiveness, and the natural advantages of the country with a
glowing pen. From this communication it appears, that at the commencement
of the war, the number of enrolled militia in Tryon county amounted to
not less than two thousand five hundred; but at the date of the letter,
(July 6, 1781,) the number of inhabitants liable to pay taxes, or to be
assessed to raise men for the public service, was estimated at no more
than twelve hundred; while the number liable to bear arms did not exceed
eight hundred. To account for so large a reduction of the population, it
was estimated that one-third had been killed or made prisoners; one-third
had gone over to the enemy; and one-third, for the time being, had
abandoned the country. The situation of those that remained, the Colonel
described as so distressing as to provoke sympathy from even the most
unfeeling heart. Those who could afford the expense, or perform the labor,
had erected block-houses on their own farms, for the protection of their
families. Each neighborhood had been compelled to erect a fortification
for itself within which their families resided for safety--from ten to
fifty families crowding together in a fort. Of these works there were
twenty-four between Schenectady and Fort Schuyler. At the time of writing
this letter--or rather memoir, for the communication was extended through
several sheets--Colonel Willett stated that the whole number of men then
under his command, exclusive of the militia, did not exceed two hundred
and fifty. But he, nevertheless, kept up a good heart, and in the course
of his anticipations of bringing about a better state of things,
added--"Nor shall I exceed my hopes, if, in the course of less than
twelve months, I shall be able to convince the enemy that they are not
without vulnerable quarters in these parts." The following quotation will
illustrate alike the wisdom, the activity, and the skill of the
dispositions made by Willett, for the purpose not only of bringing order
out of confusion, but of displaying his strength before an invisible foe,
lurking stealthily about in every place of concealment, on all sides and
every hand. After stating that he had fixed his head-quarters at
Canajoharie, on account of its central position, he proceeds:--"My
intention is to manage business so as to have an opportunity of
acquainting myself, as well as possible, with every officer and soldier
I may have in charge. In order the better to do this, I propose, as far
as I can make it any way convenient, to guard the different posts by
detachments, to be relieved as the nature of the case will admit. And as
the relieved troops will always return to Fort Rensselaer, where my
quarters will be, I shall have an opportunity of seeing them all in turn.
Having troops constantly marching backward and forward through the
country, and frequently changing their route, will answer several
purposes, such as will easily be perceived by you, sir, without
mentioning them. This is not the only way by which I expect to become
particularly acquainted with the troops and their situation. I intend
occasionally to visit every part of the country, as well to rectify such
mistakes as are common among the kind of troops I have at present in
charge, as to enable me to observe the condition of the militia, upon
whose aid I shall be under the necessity of placing considerable
reliance."

The effect of Colonel Willett's presence and example was very soon
perceptible. The people reposed the most unlimited confidence in him; and
so rapidly did he infuse something of his own fire and energy into the
bosoms even of the dispirited and broken militia, that they presently
appeared like a different race of men. An illustration of this fact
occurred one night early in July. The Colonel was informed, at the hour
of one o'clock in the morning, of the presence of fifty or sixty Indians
and Tories in the neighborhood, at only about six miles distance. Having
barely troops enough in the fort to guard it, he sent immediately for a
Captain of the militia, and in one hour's time that officer was in search
of the enemy at the head of seventy men. It is not often that much good
results from the employment of militia. Few officers can do any thing with
them. Most commanders nothing. But Willett was an exception in those days,
as General Jackson has been since. Willett, like Jackson, possessed the
faculty, by looking into the eyes of his men, of transfusing his own
native fire into their bosoms in spite of themselves.

Fortunately, however, less trouble was experienced from the enemy during
the Summer, in the lower section of the Mohawk Valley, than had been
anticipated. The summary and severe chastisement inflicted upon Doxstader
and his party had a powerful effect upon that irritating branch of the
enemy's service; and for more than three months afterward the inhabitants
were only troubled occasionally, and then merely by small flying parties
of the enemy, who accomplished nothing worthy of record.

But in the upper section of the Valley, the German Flats, it was
otherwise, and several spirited affairs occurred in that neighborhood,
attended by great bravery, though not by important consequences. The name
of Solomon Woodworth has twice or thrice occurred in the preceding pages;
once, as having been taken a prisoner and making his escape, and again as
alone defending a block-house north of Johnstown, and repulsing the enemy
from his fortress. In the year 1781 he was commissioned a captain, for
the purpose of raising a company of rangers to traverse the wooded country
north of Fort Dayton and the German Flats. He succeeded in enlisting a
company of forty brave and kindred spirits; at the head of whom, well
armed and provided, he marched from Fort Dayton, striking in the direction
of the Royal Grant, [FN-1] for purposes of observation. After a few hours'
march, one of Woodworth's men, being a short distance in advance,
discovered an Indian, evidently in ambuscade, upon whom he immediately
fired. Instantly the forest resounded with the war-whoop, and Woodworth
with his little band was surrounded by double his own number. A furious
and bloody engagement followed, in which the Rangers and Indians fought
hand to hand with great desperation; and, for the numbers engaged, there
was cruel slaughter. A fiercer engagement, probably, did not occur during
the war. Woodworth fell dead. The savages were the victors; and of the
rangers, only fifteen escaped to tell the melancholy fate of their
comrades. Several were taken captive, and subsequently exchanged. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] A large tract of land, so called from the fact that it was a
grant from the King, under his own sign manual, to Sir William Johnson.

[FN-2] Manuscripts of the Rev. John I. Shaw.

Another affair, as an individual exploit, was as remarkable for its
coolness and bravery, as for the singular incident occurring in the
course of the battle, or rather siege, by which the leader of the enemy
was made to supply ammunition to be used against his own troops. There
was, and is to this day, a wealthy German settlement about four miles
north of the village of Herkimer, called Shell's Bush. Among those of the
settlers who had built block-houses of their own, was John Christian
Shell. His stockade was large and substantial, and well calculated for
defence. The first story had no windows, but small loop-holes, through
which the inmates could fire upon any persons venturing to assail them.
The second story projected two or three feet over the first, so
constructed that the garrison could either fire upon those who approached
too near, or cast down missiles upon their heads. Shell had a family of
six sons, the youngest two of whom were twins and but eight years old. In
the afternoon of the 6th of August, Donald McDonald, one of the Scotch
refugees who fled from Johnstown, made an attack upon Shell's Bush at the
head of a band of sixty-six Indians and Tories, among the latter of whom
were two celebrated traitors, named Empie and Kassellman. [FN-1] Most of
the inhabitants of Shell's Bush, however, had taken refuge in Fort
Dayton--four miles distant; but John Christian Shell, being a sturdy
believer in the doctrine that every man's house is his castle, refused to
quit his own domicile. He and his sons were at work in the field when
McDonald and his party made their appearance; and the children were
unfortunately separated so widely from their father, as to fall into the
hands of the enemy. Shell and his other boys succeeded in reaching their
castle, and barricading the ponderous door. And then commenced the battle.
The besieged were well armed, and all behaved with admirable bravery; but
none more bravely than Shell's wife, who loaded the pieces as her husband
and sons discharged them. The battle commenced at two o'clock, and
continued until dark. Several attempts were made by McDonald to set fire
to the castle, but without success; and his forces were repeatedly driven
back by the galling fire they received. McDonald at length procured a
crow-bar and attempted to force the door; but while thus engaged he
received a shot in the leg from Shell's blunderbuss, which put him _hors
du combat._ None of his men being sufficiently near at the moment to
rescue him, Shell, quick as lightning, opened the door, and drew him
within the walls a prisoner. The misfortune of Shell and his garrison was,
that their ammunition began to run low; but McDonald was very amply
provided, and to save his own life, he surrendered his cartridges to the
garrison to fire upon his comrades. Several of the enemy having been
killed and others wounded, they now drew off for a respite. Shell and his
troops, moreover, needed a little breathing time; and feeling assured
that, so long as he had the commanding officer of the besiegers in his
possession, the enemy would hardly attempt to burn the citadel, he ceased
firing. He then went up stairs, and sang the hymn which was a favorite of
Luther during the perils and afflictions of the Great Reformer in his
controversies with the Pope. [FN-2] While thus engaged, the enemy likewise
ceased firing. But they soon afterward rallied again to the fight, and
made a desperate effort to carry the fortress by assault. Rushing up to
the walls, five of them thrust the muzzles of their guns through the
loop-holes, but had no sooner done so, than Mrs. Shell, seizing an axe,
by quick and well-directed blows ruined every musket thus thrust through
the walls, by bending the barrels! A few more well-directed shots by Shell
and his sons once more drove the assailants back. Shell thereupon ran up
to the second story, just in the twilight, and calling out to his wife
with a loud voice, informed her that Captain Small was approaching from
Fort Dayton with succors. In yet louder notes he then exclaimed--"Captain
Small, march your company round upon this side of the house. Captain
Getman, you had better wheel your men off to the left, and come up upon
that side." There were, of course, no troops approaching; but the
directions of Shell were given, with such precision, and such apparent
earnestness and sincerity, that the stratagem succeeded, and the enemy
immediately fled to the woods, taking away the twin-lads as prisoners.
[FN-3] Setting the best provisions they had before their reluctant guest,
Shell and his family lost no time in repairing to Fort Dayton, which they
reached in safety--leaving McDonald in the quiet possession of the castle
he had been striving to capture in vain. Some two or three of McDonald's
Indians lingered about the premises to ascertain the fate of their leader;
and finding that Shell and his family had evacuated the post ventured in
to visit him. Not being able to remove him, however, on taking themselves
off, they charged their wounded leader to inform Shell, that if he would
be kind to him, (McDonald,) they would take good care of his (Shell's)
captive boys. McDonald was the next day removed to the fort by Captain
Small, where his leg was amputated; but the blood could not be stanched,
and he died in a few hours. [FN-4] The lads were carried into Canada. The
loss of the enemy on the ground was eleven killed and six wounded. The
boys, who were rescued after the war, reported that they took twelve of
their wounded away with them, nine of whom died before they arrived in
Canada. [FN-5]

* * * * *

[FN-1] MS. notes of Lauren Ford.

[FN-2] A literal translation of this hymn has been furnished the author
by Professor Bokum of Harvard University, which will be found in No.
III. of the Appendix.

[FN-3] One of Shell's neighbors lay in ambush during the battle, and
heard Shell's directions to Small and Getman.

[FN-4] McDonald wore a silver-mounted tomahawk, which was taken from him
by Shell. It was marked by thirty scalp-notches, showing that few Indiana
could have been more industrious than himself in gathering that
description of military trophies.

[FN-5] Among the slain was a white man, who had two thumbs on one hand.
One of Shell's sons is yet living in Canada, being a member of the
Dunkard's Society, in the neighborhood of Toronto.

At a subsequent day, Shell; being at work in the field with his two sons
at no great distance from the fort, was fired upon by a party of Indians
concealed in the standing wheat, and severely wounded. He called to his
sons not to allow the Indians to scalp him; and neither of the brave boys
would retreat until a guard came from the fort to their relief. But in
the discharge of this filial duty, one of them was killed and the other
wounded. John Christian Shell himself died of his wound, in the fort. His
deeds were commemorated in one of the most rude and prosaic of ballads.
But his memory is yet green in the remembrance of the German population
of Herkimer. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] This account of John Christian Shell's exploit has been drawn
chiefly from the MS. statement of the venerable Col. William Feeter, yet
living in that town, (Feb. 1838,) and from the ballad mentioned in the
text, which contains a patriotic and particular recitation of the facts.
This use of contemporaneous ballads as authority for facts is well
sustained by precedent. Thierry makes bold use of English Norman ballads
for his history of the Norman Conquest; and Prescott, in his late
invaluable history of the reigns of Ferdinand and Isabella, has done the
like with the ancient Castilian romance and Moorish ballad.

The policy of the enemy at the north, during the whole season, was to
divide their own forces into small detachments, and harass the border
settlements at as many different points as possible--thus distracting the
attention of the people, and by allowing them neither a sense of security
nor repose, rendering them disgusted with the protracted struggle. The
most formidable movement of the Indians and Tories during the Summer
months, was the descent of Captain Cauldwell, from Niagara, upon the
border of Ulster County, at the head of about four hundred Indians and
Tories. The first intelligence of this irruption was received in Albany
by General Gansevoort, [FN] by letter, as follows:--

* * * * *

[FN] In the re-organization of the army, at the close of the year 1780,
Colonel Gansevoort was left out of service in the line, by seniority in
rank of other officers. Being a brigadier general of the militia,
however, stationed at Albany, his services were in continual requisition,
since, in the absence of regular troops, his brigade was the chief
dependence of the northern section of the State. His activity in the
State service was incessant, and his correspondence with the Governor and
the general officers of the regular array at the north, heavier than at
any former period. See Appendix, No. IV.

"Governor Clinton to General Gansevoort.

"_Poughkeepsie, August_ 14, 1781

"Sir,

"Last Sunday, a body of the enemy, to the amount of about three hundred
Indians and ninety Tories, appeared on the frontiers of Ulster County.
They took a small scout Colonel Pauling had sent out, and from them it is
supposed obtained information of the disposition of the levies in that
quarter, whom they passed by, and were first discovered at the settlement
of Warwasing. From the last accounts they had retired; but how far, is not
known. The militia have been collected and marched to oppose or pursue
them, as circumstances may render expedient. From their force, it is not
probable they will leave the country without attempting farther mischief
in that or some other quarter. I conceive it necessary, therefore, to give
you this information that you may take proper steps with your militia in
case this party should take their route toward the frontier of your
county; and I would particularly recommend that a part of your brigade be
immediately marched to Schoharie, for the protection of that settlement
until this party shall entirely have gone off. The account of the enemy's
strength is from one Vrooman, who deserted them; which is confirmed from
their appearance to a small party of levies, who saw them paraded at a
house they attacked, and which the party defended. By a more particular
account received this morning, (and which was the first that demanded
credit,) they have burnt and destroyed about a dozen houses, with their
barns, &c., among which are those of John G. Hardenburgh, Esq. They killed
only one of the inhabitants, the rest having made a timely escape from
their houses. The levies stationed there were by no means sufficient to
turn out and oppose them; but those who were in the house defended
themselves with spirit against the assaults of the enemy, by which means
several of them are said to have fallen, and many houses were saved.

"I am, with great esteem,
Sir, your most obd't serv't,
Geo. Clinton.

"_Brig. Gen. Gansevoort._" [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Colonel Vrooman, at Schoharie, having heard of the invasion of
Ulster County by Cauldwell, wrote a pressing letter to General
Gansevoort, for assistance, on the same day that the Governor wrote from
Poughkeepsie. Colonel Henry Van Rensselaer was forthwith ordered to
Schoharie with his regiment, and Colonel Wemple was directed to send a
detachment of his regiment thither, from Schenectady, together with as
many of the Oneida Indians as he could engage. Fortunately, their
services were not required in action.

Captain Cauldwell was an officer in Butler's rangers. Who was the Indian
leader on the occasion, is not known. Their route from Niagara had been
by way of the Chemung, and thence, after crossing the Susquehanna, by the
Lackawaxen to the Delaware. The stockade forts at the north of the
Lackawaxen, and at Neversink, had been passed unobserved. Luckily,
however, for the inhabitants, shortly before Cauldwell reached the
settlements, a scouting party had descried his advance, and, eluding the
enemy's pursuit, had succeeded in communicating the alarm to the people,
who at once fled with their most valuable effects to the picket forts
erected for exactly such emergencies.

It was just at the first blush of morning that Cauldwell passed the small
fortress on the frontier of Warwasing. Being fired upon by the sentinel,
the report alarmed Captain Hardenburgh, who, with a guard of nine men,
was stationed at a point about three miles distant from the fort.
Proceeding immediately in the direction of the sound, Hardenburgh and his
little band met the enemy on his way, directing their course toward the
adjoining settlement of Mombackus--now called Rochester. Nothing daunted,
the Captain gave the enemy battle; but being closely pressed, he soon
discovered that his retreat had been cut off by a party of Indians, who
had gained his rear. In this dilemma, it being yet not quite light,
Hardenburgh with his party took refuge in a small stone house nearby,
owned by a Mr. Kettle, which had probably not been observed by the enemy.
Here they found six militia-men more--making sixteen in all, and being
well armed, they gave the invaders a warm reception. The latter advanced
several times to carry the house by assault, but as some of their number
were each time doomed to fall, they as often gave way, and in the end
relinquished the undertaking--leaving thirteen dead upon the field. In
marching forward two miles to Hardenburgh's house, the enemy fell in with
Kettle, the owner of the premises where they had been so roughly handled.
He, poor fellow, was killed and scalped. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] MS. statement of Captain Valentine Davis, in the author's
possession.

Captain Henry Pauling, with a detachment of the regiment of State levies
commanded by Colonel Albert Pauling, was stationed at a point about six
miles distant from the scene of the action just described. He hastened
forward, but arrived too late to have a brush with the enemy, and only in
season to capture one straggling prisoner who was lingering for fruit in
an apple orchard. [FN-1] Finding his reception rather warm, and perceiving
indications of farther and more powerful opposition to his advance,
Cauldwell was already in full retreat. Nor did he commence retracing his
steps a moment too soon for his own safety. The news of his advance having
reached the west bank of the Hudson, where Colonel Pauling, of the State
levies, and Colonel John Cantine, with a body of militia, were stationed,
those officers marched immediately to the relief of the invaded
settlements. They arrived at the outskirts in time to catch a glimpse of
the enemy's rear, and to relieve some of the inhabitants, among whom were
a man and his wife, who had conducted themselves with distinguished
bravery. His house was constructed of unhewn logs, in the woods, and in
advance of all others. On the appearance of the foe, he fled to his castle
with his wife, and securing it in the best manner he could, gave battle
to a party of the Indians who laid siege to his fortress. Being well
armed, he defended himself with so much spirit, that they recoiled with
loss. Finding, after several attempts, that they could not force an
entrance, the Indians collected a heap of combustibles, and set fire to
the premises. Retiring a short distance to see the result, the man watched
his opportunity, and rushing out with a couple of buckets, he procured
water, which was close at hand, and extinguished the fire. The Indians,
of course, ran down upon him; but not being quick enough of foot to
prevent his gaining the door, hurled their tomahawks at his head--happily
without effect. He entered his castle, made fast his sally-port, and
re-commenced his defence. Just at this moment Colonel Pauling with his
troops appeared in sight, whereupon the Indians raised the siege and
departed. Colonel Pauling was absent in pursuit seven days, but did not
overtake them. The enemy suffered severely. They lost a goodly number of
their men; took only two prisoners and but little plunder; and were so
near starvation, that they were compelled to devour their dogs before
they reached their head-quarters. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] MS. of Major Thomas Sammons, who was at this time serving in the
corps of Captain Pauling. The prisoner taken from the enemy was
recognized as an old neighbor of his father's at Johnstown, who had
served in the company of which Jacob Sammons was the lieutenant.

[FN-2] Major Sammons.

The Shawanese and other western Indians seem to have remained
comparatively quiet during the Spring and Summer of 1781. The Kentucky
settlements were for the most part unmolested, save by a feeble attack
upon McAfee's station near Harrodsburgh. The assailants, however, were
but a straggling party of Indians, who hung about the stockade, and were
ultimately punished severely for their temerity. Two of them were killed
by an equal number of the McAfees, whom, having left the fort for some
purpose, the Indians attempted to cut off on their return. The Indians
then commenced an attack upon the fort, but a party of cavalry arriving
suddenly from Harrodsburgh, the garrison sallied forth, and the savages
were quickly dispersed, with a loss of six killed outright, and several
others, whom they bore away, wounded. A few days afterward, Bryant's
station, which was yet more exposed, was visited by the Indians. Bryant,
who was a brother-in-law of Colonel Boon, having arranged a large hunting
party of twenty men, left his fort on an expedition down the Elk-horn.
Having divided his company in order to sweep a broader extent of country
for game, by reason of a fog, and other untoward circumstances, they
failed of uniting at the points designated. Meantime the Indians were
hanging about both divisions, and by stratagem succeeded in defeating
both. In one of their skirmishes Bryant was mortally wounded, and another
man severely. It was reported that the hunters, taken by surprise, were
deficient in firmness, when Bryant fell. On the following day they
encountered the Indians again, and defeated them.

CHAPTER VI.

Increase of disaffection in the North--Seizures of prominent citizens by
bands of loyalists from Canada--Captivity of John J. Bleecker--Plot
against General Gansevoort--Daring attempt upon General Schuyler in the
city of Albany, by John Waltermeyer--Intrepidity of Margaret
Schuyler--Arrest of loyalists at the Beaver Dams--Mysterious movements
of the enemy on Lake Champlain--Controversy with the New-Hampshire
Grants--Sketch of its origin--Outrages of the Vermont
insurgents--Declaration of Independence by the Grants--Interposition of
Congress--Its authority disregarded--Progress of the
controversy---Difficult situation of General Gansevoort--Suspected
intercourse of the Vermontese with the enemy--Letter of Governor
Clinton--Invasion of the Mohawk country by Major Ross--Warrens-bush
ravaged--March of the enemy to Johnstown--Followed by Willett with the
levies and militia--Battle of Johnstown--Ross defeated--Pursued by
Willett, and routed at Jersey field--Death of Walter N. Butler--General
progress of the war--Arnold in Virginia--Returns to the North, and
destroys Groton and New London--Siege of Yorktown and capture of
Cornwallis--Affairs of the North--Meditated treachery of
Vermont--Message of Governor Clinton--British open a correspondence with
the Vermont insurgents--Mission of Ira Allen to Canada--Separate
armistice with Vermont--Stipulations for erecting Vermont into a royal
colony--Correspondence with the enemy during the Summer--Negotiations
renewed at Skenesborough--St. Leger ascends the lake with a strong
force--An awkward occurrence for the Vermontese--Excitement at the seat
of Government of the Grants--Throwing dust in the eyes of the
people--News of the surrender of Cornwallis--Its effect in
Vermont--Causes the nasty return of St. Leger to Canada--Insurrection
in the north-eastern towns of New-York, in connexion with the
Vermontese--Troubles of General Gansevoort--Unable to quell the
insurgents--Cherokee Indians--Close of the year.

Emboldened by the feeble state of the country, and by the increased
numbers of the disaffected in the neighborhood of Albany, especially at
the north of that city, in consequence of the equivocal indications in
Vermont, the scouting parties of the enemy were exceedingly active and
audacious in their incursions. Their chief object was to seize the
persons of the most conspicuous and influential inhabitants, for transfer
into Canada as prisoners. Among the notable leaders in this species of
warfare were two bold partisans, named Joseph Bettys and John Waltermeyer.
The daring misdeeds of Bettys, if collected, would of themselves furnish
materials for a small volume. Waltermeyer was perhaps equally daring, but
less savage in his disposition. In the month of April, a party of fifteen
or sixteen of the enemy broke in upon the town of Coxsackie and the
contiguous settlements, carrying off several prisoners; among whom were
David Abeel and his son, residing a few miles south of Catskill.

At the north of Albany several active citizens were seized and carried
away in the course of the season; among whom was Mr. John J. Bleecker, of
Tomhanic, whose family had been broken up on the approach of Burgoyne,
four years previous. After the surrender of Burgoyne, Mr. Bleecker
returned to his sylvan plantation, where he had lived in tranquility until
the month of August of the present year; at which time he was surprised
in the field, while assisting his laborers in the wheat harvest, and
carried away with two of his men. The enemy having stolen upon him in
silence, and seized him without permitting an alarm, Mrs. Bleecker was
ignorant of the occurrences. But, her husband not returning, as he was
wont, on the approach of night, her suspicions were awakened that all was
not right. When she sent to the field, he was not there, nor could trace
of him or his laborers be found. But as such sudden disappearances were
not unusual, his fate was not difficult of conjecture. The neighborhood
was alarmed, and search for him made, but in vain. Mrs. Bleecker,
overwhelmed with grief, gave him up as lost, and once more set her face
for Albany. Fortunately, however, the captors of her husband fell in with
a party of militia-men from Bennington, who rescued the prisoners; and Mr.
Bleecker had the happiness to rejoin his wife after six days' absence.
[FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The joy experienced by Mrs. Bleecker on again beholding her husband,
so far overcame her as to bring on a fit of sickness, so severe as nearly
to prove fatal. Indeed, the events of 1777, particularly the loss of her
daughter, made so deep an impression upon her mind, that she never
recovered her happiness. Hence the pensive character of her writings.
She died at Tomhanic in 1783, at the early age of 31.

An attempt was also made, during the same season, to seize the person of
General Gansevoort. Although, as has already been stated, General
Gansevoort was no longer in the regular service, yet, as an experienced
officer, and the commander of the militia in that part of the state, his
services and his counsels were in continual requisition; nor was there a
more active officer in the service, regular or irregular, or one more
burdened with duties. It was therefore an object with the enemy to remove
him from his post if possible. A scheme was therefore devised to seize him
at one of the ferries which he was about to cross; the execution of which
was entrusted to a hostile partisan named Tanckrey. By some means,
however, Colonel Henry Van Rensselaer, at Half Moon, obtained information
of the project, and lost no time in admonishing the General of his danger
by letter. Having also heard of the rendezvous of Tanckrey and his gang,
Van Rensselaer despatched a detachment of troops under Major Schermerhorn,
for their apprehension. They were found at the house of a Mr. Douglass;
but before Schermerhorn's troops had surrounded the house, their approach
was discovered, and they were fired upon by the marauders; all of whom,
with a single exception, succeeded in getting off through the rear of the
house. Two of Schermerhorn's militia were wounded. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] MS. Letter of Col. Henry Van Rensselaer to General Gansevoort.

But the boldest enterprise of the kind was the projected abduction of
General Schuyler from his residence in Albany, or rather in the suburbs of
that city, in the month of August. Schuyler was not at that time in the
army, having exchanged the military for the civil service of his country
two years before. [FN-1] Still, his military exertions were almost as
great, and his counsels were as frequently sought and as highly valued,
as though he were yet in command of the department. Added to which, he
had been specially charged by the Commander-in-chief with the prosecution
of all practicable measures for intercepting the communications of the
enemy. [FN-2] Aside from this circumstance, the acquisition of a person
of his consideration as a prisoner, would have been an important object
to Sir Frederick Haldimand, the British Commander in Canada. A desperate
effort was therefore resolved upon for his capture. For this purpose John
Waltermeyer, the bold and reckless Tory partisan already mentioned, was
despatched to the neighborhood of Albany, at the head of a gang of Tories,
Canadians, and Indians. He had, as it subsequently appeared, been lurking
about the precincts of Albany for eight or ten days, sheltered by the
thick growth of low pines and shrub-oaks, which yet spread over much of
the common lands appertaining to that city; and some dark intimations had
been conveyed to General Schuyler that his person was in danger. These
premonitions, it is believed, came first from a Dutch rustic who had
fallen into the hands of Waltermeyer, and been examined as to the means
of defence and the localities of the General's house, and who had been
released only after taking an oath of secrecy. A similar caution had also
been conveyed to him by a loyalist to whom the intention of Waltermeyer
was known, but who was General Schuyler's personal friend. Of course the
General and his family were continually on the _qui vive,_ since the
frequency with which leading citizens had been decoyed into ambush and
taken, or snatched away by sudden violence, afforded ample cause for the
exercise of all possible vigilance and caution. In addition, moreover, to
his own household proper, the General had a guard of six men; three of
whom were on duty by day, and three by night.

* * * * *

[FN-1] "It was not until the Autumn of 1778 that the conduct of General
Schuyler, in the campaign of 1777, was submitted to the investigation of
a court-martial. He was acquitted of every charge with the highest honor,
and the sentence was confirmed by Congress. He shortly afterward, upon
his earnest and repeated solicitations, had leave to retire from the
army, and devoted the remainder of his life to the service of his country
in its political councils. He had previously been in Congress, and on his
return to that body, after the termination of his military life, his
talents, experience, and energy, were put in immediate requisition; and
in November, 1779, he was appointed to confer with General Washington on
the state of the southern department. In 1781 he was in the Senate of
this state; and wherever he was placed, and whatever might be the
business before him, he gave the utmost activity to measures, and left
upon them the impression of his prudence and sagacity."_Chancellor Kent._

[FN-2] Letter from Washington to General Schuyler, May 14, 1781.

It was in the evening of a sultry day in August, that the General was
sitting with his family, after supper, in the front hall of his house,
all the doors being open, when a servant entered to say that a stranger
waited to speak with him at the back gate. Such an unusual request at
once excited suspicion. The evening was so exceedingly warm that the
servants had dispersed. The three sentinels who had been relieved for the
night, were asleep in the cellar; and the three who should have been on
duty, were refreshing themselves at full length on the grass-plot in the
garden. Instead, however, of responding to the invitation to meet the
stranger at the back gate, the doors of the house were instantly closed
and fastened. The General ran to his bed-chamber for his arms; and having
hastily collected his family in an upper apartment, and discovered from
the windows that the house was surrounded by armed men, a pistol was
discharged for the purpose of alarming the neglectful guards, and
perchance the people of the city. At the same moment Mrs. Schuyler
perceived that her infant child had been left in their bustle, in the
cradle, below two flights of stairs. In an agony of apprehension she was
flying to its rescue, but the General would not permit her to leave the
apartment. The third daughter, Margaret, [FN-1] instantly rushed forth,
and descending to the nursery, which was upon the ground floor, snatched
the child from the cradle, where it was yet lying unmolested. As she was
leaving the room to return, a tomahawk was hurled at her by an unseen
hand, but with no other effect than slightly to injure her dress. On
ascending a private stairway, she was met by Waltermeyer himself, who
exclaimed--"Wench! where is your master?" She replied, with great
presence of mind--"Gone to alarm the town." The villains had not, indeed,
entered the house unopposed, for, on hearing the noise when they were
breaking in the doors, the three men in the cellar sprang up, and without
stopping to dress, rushed up stairs to the back hall, where their arms
had been left standing for convenience if wanted, and into which the
assailants were forcing their way. Most unluckily, however, the arms of
the guards were not at hand. Mrs. Church, [FN-2] who had lately returned
from Boston, perceiving that her little son [FN-3] was playing with the
muskets, and not entertaining the slightest suspicion that they would be
wanted, had caused them to be removed a few hours before the attack,
without informing the guard of the circumstance. The brave fellows had
therefore no other means of resistance, after the yielding of the doors,
than by dealing blows as soundly as they could with their fists, and also
by embarrassing the progress of the enemy otherwise as they might, while
the General was collecting his family aloft.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Afterward the first lady of the present venerable and excellent
General Stephen Van Rensselaer.

[FN-2] Another daughter of General Schuyler, married to John B. Church,
Esq., an English gentleman, contractor for the French army in America,
and afterward a member of Parliament. He died in 1818. [The venerable
widow of Alexander Hamilton is also a daughter of General Schuyler.]

[FN-3] The present Captain Philip Church, of Allegheny county, (N. Y.)

But to return: Miss Margaret had no sooner informed Waltermeyer that her
father had gone abroad for reinforcements, than the traitor recalled his
followers from the dining-room--where it appeared they were at the moment
engaged in bagging the plate, from which work of plunder he had in vain
urged them to desist, that they might perform the more important object
of their mission--for consultation. Just at that moment, the General threw
up a window, and with great presence of mind called out--"Come on, my
brave fellows, surround the house and secure the villains who are
plundering." [FN-1] The stratagem succeeded, and the party made a
precipitate retreat, carrying with them the three men who had vainly, and
without arms, opposed their entrance, [FN-2] one of whom had been wounded
in defending the passage, while Waltermeyer himself was slightly wounded
by one of the shots of Schuyler from the window. Thus, providentially,
was the third conspiracy against the person of General Schuyler defeated.
[FN-3] The alarm was heard in the city, for the General had fired several
shots during the affray; but before any of the citizens arrived at the
scene of action, the enemy had fled.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Letter of Schuyler to General Washington, Aug. 1781.

[FN-2] The names of the guard were, John Tubbs, John Corlies, and Hans
(John) Ward. They were carried to Canada, and when exchanged, the General
gave them each a farm in Saratoga County. Ward is still, or was very
lately, living, (Dec 1837.)

[FN-3] The particulars of this interesting adventure have been chiefly
derived by the author from Mrs. Cochran, of Oswego, the infant who was
rescued from the cradle by her sister Margaret.

From Albany, Waltermeyer directed his course to Ballston, where he arrived
at about day-break on the next morning. Taking General Gordon, of that
place, a prisoner from his bed, the Tory leader pursued his journey back
to Canada--having failed in the principal object of his expedition.

It may well be imagined that the situation of a people dwelling in such
perpetual insecurity, was exceedingly unpleasant. Nor were they in dread
only of a most subtle and wary foe from without. The disaffected were more
numerous than ever among themselves, and the inhabitants scarcely knew who
among their own neighbors could be trusted. Early in September it was
represented to General Gansevoort that the disaffected had not only become
formidable in numbers in the western and south western parts of the County
of Albany, but were harboring and administering comfort to parties of the
enemy sent from Canada, for the farther prosecution of the species of
warfare already described in the present chapter--adding to the seizure
of those men who were most active in the cause of their country, the
destruction of their dwellings, and the murder of their women and
children. [FN] Under these circumstances, Colonel Philip P. Schuyler;
with a strong detachment of militia from Gansevoort's brigade, was
despatched into the settlements designated, particularly to the Beaver
Dams, where the family of Captain Deitz had been so cruelly murdered in
1777, with orders to arrest the disaffected, and bring them to Albany,
together with their families and effects. The orders of General Gansevoort
were issued on the 9th of September. On the 16th, Colonel Schuyler
reported that he had executed his commission. From seventy to a hundred
families "of the most notoriously disaffected," were arrested and brought
into the city, where they were placed under a more vigilant surveillance
than could be exercised over them in their own township.

* * * * *

[FN] MS. order of General Gansevoort.

But while these summary proceedings were rendering the country about
Albany more secure in its internal relations, the inhabitants at the
north were for several months kept in a state of ceaseless inquietude and
alarm, by the movements of the enemy on Lake Champlain. General Heath was
at that time invested with the command of the Northern Department, his
head-quarters being in the Highlands. At Saratoga General Stark was in
command, and Lord Stirling was also at the north. But as the
Commander-in-chief had drawn the main army to Virginia, there were but
few regular troops at the disposal of those officers. The consequence was,
that with every alarm from Lake Champlain, (and the mysterious movements
of the enemy rendered those alarms most inconveniently frequent,) General
Stark was making pressing applications to General Gansevoort for
assistance. The conduct of the enemy in the lake was indeed passing
strange. It was ascertained that he had more than once ascended the lake
from St. John's, with a force sufficiently strong, in the then exposed
situation of the northern frontier, to make a formidable inroad upon the
settlements; and the inhabitants of the New Hampshire Grants, then
arrogating to themselves the character of citizens of the _State_ of
Vermont--not being in the secrets of their leaders--were as frequently
alarmed as were those of the settlements _admitted_ by the Vermontese to
belong to New-York. Still the enemy attempted nothing beyond landing at
Crown Point and Ticonderoga, and making a few occasional and inexplicable
manoeuvres with his flotilla upon the lake. These questionable movements
were no less annoying than perplexing to the American generals. That a
descent upon some point was intended, there seemed little reason to doubt.
It was most likely to come from the north; but whenever the fleet was
withdrawn down the lake, the idea prevailed that the movements there were
intended to create a diversion, while the actual blow might be anticipated
from the west. In support of the latter opinion was positive information,
of a party of returning prisoners from Montreal, on the 19th of September,
of the movements of between two and three hundred of Sir John Johnson's
regiment, who were evidently preparing for an expedition in some
direction. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] MSS. and correspondence of General Gansevoort.

There was yet another source of distraction to the state authorities,
civil and military, threatening nothing short of hostilities between
New-York and the occupants of the New Hampshire Grants. A brief sketch of
the cause and progress of the difficulties here referred to, though
apparently foreign to the main subject of the present work, is
nevertheless deemed essential to a just understanding of the situation of
affairs in the Northern Department. Those who are versed in the early
history of New-York and Vermont, cannot be ignorant of the fact, that for
many years anterior to the war of the Revolution, a controversy had
existed between the Governors of New Hampshire and New-York respecting
the jurisdiction of the territory now constituting the State of Vermont.
This controversy was begun in 1749, and continued fifteen years; during
which period the Governor of New Hampshire was in the practice of making
grants of lands and townships in the disputed territory. In 1764 the
question was carried up to the King in council, and a decision rendered
in favor of New-York, confirming her claim to the territory north of
Massachusetts, as far east as the Connecticut river. Under this decision,
the Colonial Government of New-York unwisely gave the Order in Council a
construction of _retrospective_ operation, involving the question of
title. The grants from the Governor of New Hampshire were declared void,
and the settlers were upon this ground called on either to surrender their
charters, or to re-purchase their lands from New-York. This demand they
resisted, and with this resistance the controversy was renewed in another
form, and continued with great vehemence, and with but little
interruption, for many years. [FN-1] About the year 1770 the celebrated
Ethan Allen became conspicuous as a leader of "the Green Mountain Boys"
in these proceedings. A military organization was adopted, and the
mandates of the courts of New-York were disregarded, and its officers and
ministers of justice openly set at defiance. When the sheriff of Albany
appeared with his _posse comitatus,_ the Green Mountain Boys opposed
force to force, and drove them back. Lord Dunmore was then at the head of
the colonial government of New-York, and exerted himself actively to
maintain its territorial claim. An act of outlawry against Allen and
several of his most prominent associates was passed, and a reward of
fifty pounds offered for Allen's head. Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation,
commanding the sheriff of Albany county to apprehend the offenders, and
commit them to safe custody, that they might be brought to condign
punishment; [FN-2] but the friends of Allen were too numerous, resolute,
and faithful, to allow of his arrest, or in any manner to suffer his
personal safety to be compromised. [FN-3]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Slade's Vermont State papers, Introduction, p. 17.

[FN-2] Sparks's Life of Ethan Allen.

[FN-3] President Allen's Biographical Dictionary.

Governor Tryon, who succeeded Lord Dunmore, endeavored, both by force and
by conciliation, to pacify the people of the Grants, and bring them back
to their fealty to New-York. But in vain. Within the boundaries of the
disputed territory, the laws of New-York were inoperative. It was to no
purpose that civil suits, brought by the New-York grantees, were decided
in their favor; process could not be executed; the settlers who had
purchased farms under the New-York grantees, were forcibly driven away;
surveyors were arrested, tried under the _Lynch code,_ and banished under
the penalty of death should they ever again be caught within the bounds
of the interdicted territory; [FN-1] and those who presumed to hold
commissions of the peace under the authority of New-York, were tried by
the same courts, and inhumanly chastised with rods on their naked backs,
to the extent of two hundred stripes. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Sparks--Life of Allen.

[FN-2] By way of indicating their feelings toward the New-Yorkers, there
was an inn at Bennington, called the "_Green Mountain Tavern,_" the sign
of which was the skin of a catamount stuffed, and raised on a post
twenty-five feet from the ground, with its head turned toward New-York,
giving defiance to all intruders from that quarter. It was at this tavern
that that powerful and inexorable though ideal personage, _Judge Lynch,_
was wont to hold his courts before he took up his abode at the South.
Sometimes the delinquents, who were so unfortunate as to be obliged to
answer in his court for the crime of purchasing lands of the real owners,
or for acknowledging the government to which by law they belonged, were
punished by being suspended by cords in a chair, beneath the catamount,
for two hours. This was a lenient punishment. The more common one, was
the application of the "_beech seal_" to the naked back--or, in other
words, a flagellation with beechen rods.

Such was the posture of affairs between New-York and the people of the
New Hampshire Grants, at the commencement of the Revolution. But the
battle of Lexington produced a shock which, for the time being, arrested
the prosecution of the controversy. New-York was called to nerve her arm
for a higher and nobler conflict, in the early stages of which she was
gallantly assisted by the recusant settlers of the Grants. Ethan Allen
himself struck the first blow at the north, by the capture of Ticonderoga;
and his martial companion in resisting the authorities of New-York,
Colonel Seth Warner, rendered efficient service at the battle of
Bennington. Still, the Vermontese did not forget, while New-York was
exerting her energies elsewhere, to prosecute their own designs for an
entire alienation from New-York, and a separate state organization. [FN-1]
To this end all the energies of the chief men of the Grants were directed;
and the result was, that the Declaration of Independence of the British
crown, by Congress, on the behalf of the twelve United Colonies, of July
4th, 1776, was followed by a convention of the people of the disputed
territory; which convention, on the 15th of January, 1777, declared the
New Hampshire Grants to be a free and independent State, [FN-2] and
forwarded a memorial to Congress, praying for admission into the
Confederation.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Blade's Vermont State Papers--a valuable work.

[FN-2] Idem.

Indignant at this procedure, the state of New-York sought the
interposition of Congress. The justice of the claim of New-York was fully
recognised by that body; and the memorial from the Grants was dismissed,
by a resolution "that the independent government attempted to be
established by the people of Vermont, could derive no countenance or
justification from any act or resolution of Congress." But the people of
the Grants persisted in their determination to assert and maintain their
independence. Nothing daunted, therefore, by the adverse action of
Congress, they proceeded to form a constitution and to organise a State
Government; the machinery of which was fully set in motion in the
following year, 1778.

The Legislature of New-York still attempted to assert its right of
jurisdiction, but made liberal proffers of compromise in regard to titles
of lands--offering to recognise and confirm all the titles which had
previously been in dispute. A proclamation to this effect, conceived in
the most liberal spirit, was issued by Governor Clinton, in February,
1778; avowing, however, in regard to the contumacious, "the rightful
supremacy of New-York over their persons and property, as disaffected
subjects." [FN-1] But, like every preceding effort, either of force or
conciliation, the present was of no avail. Ethan Allen issued a
counter-proclamation to the people of the Grants, and the work of their
own independent organization proceeded without serious interruption.
[FN-2] They were the more encouraged to persevere in this course, from
an impression that, although Congress could not then sanction proceedings
in regard to New-York that were clearly illegal; the New England members,
and some of the Southern also, would, nevertheless, not be very deep
mourners at their success. Roger Sherman maintained that Congress had no
right to decide the controversy, and was supposed to countenance the
proceedings of which New-York complained. Elbridge Gerry held that
Vermont was _extra-provincial,_ and had a perfect right to her
independence. [FN-3] But so thought not New-York and Governor Clinton;
and the organization of a state government revived the heart-burnings that
had subsided, and re-enkindled the fires of discord which had been
inactive during the first three or four years of the war. The causes of
irritation became daily more frequent and exasperating, until, during the
Summer and Autumn of the present year, the parties were again on the verge
of open hostilities. The people of the Grants, as they had grown in
strength, had increased in their arrogance, until they had extended their
claims to the Hudson river; and it was no diminution of the perplexities
of New-York, that strong indications appeared in several of the northern
towns, to which the people of the Grants had previously interposed not
even the shadow of a claim, of a disposition to go over to Vermont.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Slades's Vermont State Papers.

[FN-2] Respecting this manifesto, John Jay wrote to Governor
Morris--"Ethan Allen has commenced author and orator. A philippic of his
against New-York is handed about. There is quaintness, impudence, and art
in it."

[FN-3] Life of Governor Morris.

Meantime Governor Clinton, inflexibly determined to preserve the disputed
jurisdiction, was exerting himself to the utmost for that object; and in
order, apparently, to bring the question to a test, several persons were
arrested in the course of the Summer of 1781, within the territory of the
Grants, under the pretext of some military delinquency. This procedure
was the signal for another tempest. Governor Chittenden wrote to officers
of New-York, demanding the release of the prisoners taken from the
Grants--asserting their determination to maintain the government they had
"set up," [FN-1] and threatening that, in the event of an invasion of the
territory of New-York by the common enemy, unless those prisoners were
given up, they would render no assistance to New-York. This letter also
contained an admonition, "that power was not limited only to New-York."
[FN-2] Nor was this all. While the country was threatened by invasion
both from the north and the west, the spirit of the Vermont insurgents
began to spread among the militia in the northern towns east of the
Hudson, belonging to General Gansevoort's own brigade. Thus, on the one
hand, General Stark was calling upon him for assistance against the enemy
apparently approaching from Lake Champlain, at the same time that Governor
Clinton was directing him to quell the spirit of insubordination along the
line of the New Hampshire Grants; and both of these duties were to be
discharged, with a knowledge that a portion of his own command was
infected with the insurgent spirit. Added to all which was, the necessity
of watching, as with an eagle's eye, the conduct of the swarms of
loyalists within the bosom of Albany and in the towns adjacent; while for
his greater comfort, he was privately informed that the Green Mountain
Boys were maturing a plot for his abduction. Meantime the government of
the Grants had effected an organization of their own militia, and
disclosures had been made to the government of New-York, imputing to the
leading men of the Grants a design, in the event of a certain contingency,
of throwing the weight of their own forces into the scale of the Crown.
The following letter may be considered important in this connexion:--

* * * * *

[FN-1] MS. Letter from Thomas Chittenden to Captain Van Rensselaer,
among the Gansevoort papers.

[FN-2] This dark and rather awkward saying was full of meaning, as will
appear in a subsequent portion of the present chapter.

"Governor Clinton to General Gansevoort.

"_Poughkeepsie, Oct._ 18, 1781.

"Dear Sir,

"Your letter of the 15th instant was delivered to me on the evening of the
16th. I have delayed answering it, in hopes that the Legislature would
ere this have formed a quorum, and that I might have availed myself of
their advice on the subject to which it relates; but as this is not yet
the case, and it is uncertain when I shall be enabled to lay the matter
before them, I conceive it might be improper longer to defer expressing
my own sentiments to you on this subject.

"The different unwarrantable attempts, during the Summer, of the people
on the Grants to establish their usurped jurisdiction, even beyond their
former claim, and the repetition of it (alluded to in your letter,) in
direct opposition to a resolution of Congress injurious to this State and
favorable to their project of independence, and at a time when the common
enemy are advancing, can only be accounted for by what other parts of
their conduct have given us too much reason to suspect--disaffection to
the common cause. On my part, I have hitherto shown a disposition to evade
entering into any altercation with them, that might, in its most remote
consequence, give encouragement to the enemy, and expose the frontier
settlements to their ravages; and from these considerations alone I have
submitted to insults which otherwise would not have been borne with; and
I could have wished to have continued this kind of conduct until the
approaching season would have secured us against the incursions of the
common enemy. But as from the accounts contained in Colonel Van
Rensselaer's letter, it would appear that the militia embodying under Mr.
Chittenden's orders are for the service of the enemy, and that their first
object was to make you a prisoner, it would be unjustifiable to suffer
them to proceed. It is therefore my desire that you maintain your
authority throughout every part of your brigade, and for this purpose,
that you carry the laws of the State into execution against those who
shall presume to disobey your lawful orders. I would only observe that
these sentiments are founded on an idea that the accounts given by Col.
Van Rensselaer in his letter may be relied on; it being still my earnest
desire, for the reasons above explained, not to do any thing that will
bring matters to extremities, at least before the close of the campaign,
if it can consistently be avoided.

"In my last, I should have mentioned to you that it was not in my power
to send you a supply of ammunition; but, as I had reason to believe you
were gone to Saratoga, I conceived it improper to say any thing on the
subject lest my letter might miscarry. You may recollect that of the whole
supply ordered by General Washington, last Spring, for the use of the
militia, five hundred pounds is all that has been received in the state
magazine, which you will easily conceive to be far short of what was
necessary for the other exposed parts of the state. With respect to
provisions, it is equally out of my power to furnish you with any, but
what the state agent, who is now with you, may be able to procure.

"I am, with great respect and esteem,
Dear Sir,
Your most obed't serv't,
Geo. Clinton.

"_Brig. Gen. Gansevoort._"

But the controversy with the people of the Grants was suddenly
interrupted, just at this juncture, though for a short period only, by the
most formidable invasion of the Mohawk Valley which had taken place during
the present year. Indeed, it was the last irruption of the enemy into that
section of the country, of any importance, during the struggle of the
revolution.

It has been seen, from the commencement of the contest, that the Johnsons,
and those loyalists from Tryon County most intimate in their alliance
with them, appeared to be stimulated by some peculiar and ever-active
principle of hostility against the former seat of the Baronet, and the
district of country by which it was environed. Another expedition against
Johnstown was therefore secretly planned in the Summer of 1781, and
executed with such silent celerity, that on the 24th of October "the
Philistines" were actually "upon" the settlements before their approach
was suspected. This expedition was organized at Buck's Island, in the
river St. Lawrence, a few miles below the foot of Lake Ontario, and
consisted of four companies of the second battalion of Sir John Johnson's
regiment of Royal Greens, Colonel Butler's rangers, under the direction
of Major Butler, his son, and two hundred Indians--numbering in all about
one thousand men, under the command of Major Ross. [FN-1] Proceeding from
Buck's Island to Oswego, and thence through the Oneida Lake, they struck
off through the south-eastern forests from that point, and traversed the
woods with such secrecy as to break in upon Warrensbush, [FN-2] near the
junction of the Schoharie-kill with the Mohawk river, as suddenly as
though they had sprung up from the earth like the warriors from the
dragon's teeth of Cadmus, full grown, and all in arms, in a single night.
This was on the 24th of October. [FN-3] Warrensbush was about twenty miles
east from Fort Rensselaer, the head-quarters of Colonel Willett; so that
Ross and Butler had ample time for the work of havoc and devastation on
the south side of the river, and to cross over to the north side, before
the former could rally his forces and dispute their farther progress. Not
a moment was lost by Colonel Willett, on hearing the news, in making such
dispositions to repel the unexpected invaders, as were within his limited
means. With such forces as were in the garrison, together with such
additional recruits from the militia as could be collected in the
neighborhood, Willett marched for Fort Hunter on the same
evening--simultaneously despatching orders for the militia and levies in
contiguous posts and settlements, to follow and join him with all possible
expedition. By marching all night, the Colonel reached Fort Hunter early
in the following morning, where he learned that the enemy were already in
the occupation of Johnstown. The depth of the river was such that floats
were necessary in crossing it, and although Willett had but four hundred
and sixteen men all told--only half the enemy's number, exclusive of the
Indians--yet it was afternoon before the crossing was effected. Boss and
Butler had crossed the river some distance below Tripe's Hill the
preceding day, and moved thence directly upon Johnstown--killing and
taking the people prisoners, and destroying buildings, and cattle, and
whatsoever came in their way. Soon after ascending the hill just
mentioned, the enemy came upon a small scouting party commanded by
Lieutenant Saulkill, who was on horseback. He was fired upon by the
enemy's advance, and fell dead to the ground. His men sought safety in
flight, and succeeded. [FN-4] This was early in the morning of the 25th.
The advance of the enemy being slow, they did not arrive at the village
of Johnstown until past 12 o'clock at noon. Even then, the main body of
their forces, avoiding the town, marched round to the west, halting upon
the grounds of the Baronial hall. The enemy's baggage wagons, however,
passed through the village, and their conductors were fired upon from the
old jail--then serving the purpose of a fortress. One man only was wounded
by this consumption of ammunition.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Such is the estimate of the manuscript accounts which have been
furnished to the author. It is, however, too high, unless Major Butler
carried an erroneous statement in his pocket. According to a memorandum
found in his pocket-book, after his fall, the force of Major Ross wan
made up as follows:--Eighth regiment, twenty-five; thirty-fourth ditto,
one hundred; eighty-fourth ditto, Highlanders, thirty-six; Sir John's,
one hundred and twenty; Lake's Independents, forty, Butler's rangers,
one hundred and fifty; Yagers, twelve; Indians, one hundred and
thirty.--Total six hundred and seventy.--_Vide Letter of Colonel Willett
to Lord Stirling. Almon's Remembrancer._

[FN-2] A settlement planted by Sir Peter Warren, the uncle of Sir William
Johnson--and the first place of residence of the latter gentleman after
his arrival in America.

[FN-3] Campbell states that this invasion was in August. Major Sammons
dates it the 22d of that month. Colonel Willett gives the date of Oct.
24--which was obviously correct, since the second part of the battle was
fought in a snow-storm.

[FN-4] In one of the manuscript accounts of this battle, the fruit of my
researches in the Mohawk Valley, it is stated that Saulkill was not
connected with the scout, but was passing at the moment on his way to
Albany.

Having effected the passage of the river, Colonel Willett pushed on in
pursuit with all possible expedition. But deeming it unwise, where the
disparity of their respective forces was so great, to hazard an attack
in front with his whole force, the position of the enemy was no sooner
ascertained with certainty, than Major Rowley, of Massachusetts, was
detached with a small body of the Tryon County militia, and about sixty
levies from his own state, for the purpose, by a circuitous march, of
out-flanking the enemy, and falling upon his rear--thus attacking in front
and rear at the same time. These, and other necessary dispositions having
been adjusted, Willett advanced upon the enemy at the head of his column.
Entering an open field adjoining to that occupied by the enemy, Willett
displayed his right into line, and pressed Major Ross so closely as to
compel him to retire into the fringe of a neighboring wood. Here a
skirmishing was kept up while the remainder of the Americans were
advancing briskly in two columns, to bear a part. The battle became
spirited and general; and although the only field-piece belonging to the
Americans was taken, it was speedily re-taken, and for a time the action
proceeded with a promise of victory. But just at the crisis, the militia
of Willett were seized with one of those causeless and unaccountable
panics, which on most occasions render that description of troops worse
than useless in battle, and without any cause the whole of the right wing
turned about and fled. [FN] The field-piece was abandoned and the
ammunition wagon blown up. The former, of course, fell into the hands of
the enemy. Colonel Willett did his utmost to rally his men, but to no
purpose. They ran in the utmost confusion to the stone church in the
village. Here, having induced them to make a halt, the Colonel commenced
bringing them again into such order as best he might But the defeat would
still have been complete, had it not been for the precautionary
disposition previously made of Major Rowley. Most fortunately, as it
happened, that officer emerged from the woods, and arrived upon the field,
just in time to fall upon the enemy's rear in the very moment of their
exultation at their easy victory. Rowley pressed the attack with great
vigor and intrepidity, while the enemy were engaged in making prisoners
of the stragglers, and the Indians were scalping those who fell into
their hands. The fight was now maintained with equal obstinacy and
irregularity for a considerable time. Major Rowley was early wounded by
a shot through the ankle, and carried from the field; and the enemy were
engaged in different bodies, sometimes in small parties separated nearly
a mile from each other. In some of these contests the advantage was on
the side of the enemy, and in others the Americans were the temporary
victors. The battle continued after this fashion until near sunset, when,
finding such to be the fact, and that Rowley's detachment alone was
holding the enemy at bay, Willett was enabled to collect a respectable
force, with which he returned to the field, and again mingled in the
fight The battle was severely contested until dark, when the enemy,
pressed upon all sides, retreated in discomfiture to the woods--nor
stopped short of a mountain top, six miles distant. Among the officers
who signalised themselves on this occasion, in addition to the two
leaders, Willett and Rowley, was the brave Captain Gardenier, who fought
with such desperation at the battle of Oriskany, and was so severely
wounded in the death-struggle with one of the McDonalds. After the enemy
had retired, Colonel Willett procured lights, and caused the wounded of
the enemy, as well as his own, to be collected, and their wounds carefully
dressed. The loss of the Americans was about forty. The enemy lost about
the same number killed, and some fifty prisoners. The Tryon County
militia, under Major Rowley, behaved nobly.

* * * * *

[FN] Letter of Colonel Willett to Lord Stirling.

Knowing the direction from which Ross and Butler had approached, and that
their batteaux had been left at the Oneida Lake, Colonel Willett lost not
a moment in making arrangements to cut off their means of retreat by the
destruction of their boats, while he likewise determined, if possible, to
throw himself info their front. Having been apprised by some of Ross's
prisoners, who had made their escape in the night, that it was his
intention to strike at the frontiers of Stone Arabia, in order to obtain
a supply of provisions, Willett marched to that place on the following
morning, and encamped there that day and night, pushing forward a
detachment of troops, with instructions to proceed by forced marches to
the Oneida Lake and destroy the boats. Ascertaining, on the morning of the
27th, that Ross had avoided Stone Arabia by striking deeper into the
wilderness, Willett hastened forward to the German Flats, where he had
the mortification, on the 28th, to learn that the party ordered to the
lake had returned without performing their duty. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Willett's Letter to Lord Stirling.

While at Stone Arabia, a scouting party had been sent upon the enemy's
trail by Willett, to ascertain whether he had laid his course in the
anticipated direction, or whether he might not have inclined farther to
the north, with a view of returning directly through the wilderness to
Buck's Island. The scouts having satisfied themselves that the latter
course would be taken by Ross, hastily returned; and the result of their
observation was communicated to Willett by express. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] This scouting party was composed of Captain John Little, William
Laird, and Jacob Shew.

Immediately on the receipt of this intelligence, Willett determined, if
possible, to strike another blow. Having been joined by about sixty
warriors of the Oneida tribe, together with some additional levies and
militia-men, the Colonel selected about four hundred of his choicest
troops, and furnishing them with provisions for five days, on the 29th
struck off to the northward, along the course of the West Canada Creek.
They marched the whole of that day through a driving snow-storm, halting
at night in a thick wood on the Royal Grant Supposing it probable that the
enemy could not be far distant Jacob Sammons was detached with two Oneida
Indians to advance yet farther into the wilderness, and, under cover of
the darkness, make such discoveries as might be in their power. "It was
with much reluctance," says Sammons in his narrative, "that I undertook
this business." They had not proceeded far before the Indians discovered
the prints of footsteps. Having knelt down and scrutinised them closely,
they pronounced them fresh, and refused any longer to advance. Taking
Sammons by the arm, they entreated him to return; but he declined, and
they separated. The intrepid scout soon descried fires kindling amid the
deep forest-gloom, toward which he cautiously approached until he was
enabled to take a survey of the enemy's camp. Having obtained all
necessary information, and narrowly escaped detection withal, he returned
to the camp of the Americans. Willett had kept his troops under arms
awaiting the return of Sammons; but learning from the latter that the
enemy were well provided with bayonets, of which his own men were
deficient, a night attack upon the camp was judged imprudent, and he
bivouacked his forces on the spot. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Narrative of Jacob Sammons.

Willett lost no time in advancing on the following morning, with a view
of bringing the enemy to an engagement. But the latter had been as early
on foot as himself, so that it was not until one o'clock in the afternoon
that the Americans came up with a small party of the enemy's rear,
consisting of about forty men, together with a few Indians, who had been
detached from his main body for the purpose of obtaining provisions. A
smart brush ensued, during which some of the enemy were killed, others
were taken prisoners, while the residue fled. Among the prisoners was a
Tory lieutenant named John Rykeman. Pursuing on the enemy's trail, the
Americans came up with his main body in a place called Jerseyfield, on the
north side of the Canada Creek. A running fight ensued, but the enemy made
a very feeble resistance--exhibiting symptoms of terror, and attempting to
retreat at a dog-trot by Indian files. Late in the afternoon, as they
crossed the Creek to the west or south-western side, Butler attempted to
rally his forces and make a stand. A brisk engagement ensued, the parties
being on opposite sides of the Creek; during which about twenty of the
enemy fell. Among them was their bold and enterprising but cruel leader,
Walter N. Butler. He was brought down by the rifle of an Oneida Indian,
who, happening to recognize him as he was looking at the battle from
behind a tree, took deliberate aim, and shot him through his hat and the
upper part of his head. Butler fell, and his troops fled in the utmost
confusion. The warrior, who made the successful shot, sprang first across
the Creek in the general rush, and running directly up to Butler,
discovered that he was not dead, but sorely wounded. He was in a sitting
posture near the tree, and writhing in great agony. The Indian advanced,
and while Butler looked him full in the face, shot him again through the
eye, and immediately took his scalp. The Oneidas no sooner saw the
bleeding trophy, than they set up the scalp-yell, and stripping the body,
left it lying upon the face, and pressed forward in pursuit of the
fugitive host. On coming to the guard, where Rykeman and the other
prisoners were confined, the Indian attempted to flout the unhappy
prisoner by slapping the scalp of his late commander in his face; but the
lieutenant avoided the blow. The pursuit was closely followed up; but
darkness and fatigue compelled the Colonel to relinquish it until morning.
The enemy, however, continued their flight throughout the night. [FN-1]
And, truly, never were men reduced to a condition more deplorable. The
weather was cold, and they had yet a dreary and pathless wilderness of
eighty miles to traverse, without food, and without even blankets--having
been compelled to cast them away to facilitate their escape. [FN-2] But,
scattered and broken as they were, and having the start of one night, it
was judged inexpedient to give longer pursuit; especially as Willett's
own troops were supplied with provisions for but two days more. The
victory was, moreover, already complete. The Colonel therefore wheeled
about, and led his little army back in triumph to Fort Dayton. The loss of
the Americans in the pursuit was only one man. That of the enemy was
never known. In the language of Colonel Willett's official despatches,
"the fields of Johnstown, the brooks and rivers, the hills and mountains,
the deep and gloomy marshes through which they had to pass, these only
could tell; and, perhaps, the officers who detached them on the
expedition."

* * * * *

[FN-1] "Strange as it may appear, it is nevertheless true, that,
notwithstanding the enemy had been four days in the wilderness, with only
half a pound of horse-flesh per man per day, yet in this famished
situation they trotted thirty miles before they stopped. Many of them,
indeed, fell a sacrifice to such treatment."--_Col. Willett's Letter to
Lord Stirling._

[FN-2] "In this situation I left the unfortunate Major Rom; unfortunate
I call him, for he was surely so in taking charge of such a fine
detachment of men to execute so dirty and trifling a piece of business
as he was sent on, at such immense hazard and exquisite toil. . . . We
left them in a situation, perhaps, more suited to their demerit than a
musket, a ball, a tomahawk, or captivity."--_Col. Willett's Letter to Lord
Stirling._

In re-passing the battle-ground, the body of Butler was discovered as it
had been left; and there, without sepulture, it was suffered to
remain. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Various statements of the circumstances attending the death of
Walter N. Butler have been published. Marshall, in his Life of
Washington, states it thus--"In the party at Canada Creek, was Major
Walter Butler, the person who perpetrated the massacre at Cherry Valley.
His entreaties for quarter were disregarded; and he fell a victim of that
vengeance which his own savage temper had directed against himself."
According to Colonel Willett's account, he was shot dead at once, having
no time to implore for mercy. President Dwight, in his travels, given an
account corresponding with the following by Campbell:--"He was pursued by
a small party of Oneida Indians; when he arrived at West Canada Creek,
about fifteen miles above Herkimer, he swam his horse across the stream,
and then turning round, defied his pursuers, who were on the opposite
side. An Oneida immediately discharged his rifle and wounded him, and he
fell. Throwing down his rifle and his blanket, the Indian plunged into
the Creek and swam across; as soon as he had gained the opposite bank,
he raised his tomahawk, and with a yell, sprang like a tiger upon his
fallen foe. Butler supplicated, though in vain, for mercy; the Oneida,
with his uplifted axe, shouted, in his broken English,--'Sherry Valley!
remember Sherry Valley!' and then buried it in his brains." It is
apprehended that neither of these statements is exactly correct. The
account in the text has been drawn by the author from the manuscript
statements of Philip Graft, who was a spectator of the transaction, then
attached to the company of Captain Peter Van Rensselaer, who was stationed
at Fort Herkimer, and was engaged in this expedition. The statement of
Jacob Simmons corresponds with that of Graft, though less circumstantial.

So perished Walter N. Butler, one of the greatest scourges, as he was one
of the most fearless men, of his native county. No other event of the
whole war created so much joy in the Mohawk Valley as the news of his
decease. He is represented to have been of a morose temperament,
possessing strong passions, and of a vindictive disposition. He was
disliked, as has already more than once appeared, by Joseph Brant, who
included him among those whom he considered greater savages than the
savages themselves. It is quite probable, however, that Walter Butler may
have possessed other and better qualities, his friends being judges, than
have been awarded to him by his enemies. It has been asserted, that after
the massacre of Cherry Valley General Haldimand refused to see him. But
this fact may well be questioned, inasmuch as Haldimand not only approved
but encouraged the despatching of a similar expedition against the
scarcely offending Oneidas, who had removed, and were living peaceably in
the neighborhood of Schenectady.

This expedition of Ross and Butler closed the active warlike operations at
the north for that year; but while the events traced in the few preceding
pages were in progress, others were occurring in a different quarter of
the country, both in themselves and in their results of far greater
moment. In the bird's-eye glance taken of the progress of the war in other
parts of the confederacy during the first quarter of the year, Arnold was
left at Portsmouth, contiguous to Norfolk. He afterward made various
movements of the character heretofore described; visiting Richmond again,
and committing outrages there and elsewhere. On the death of the British
Major General Phillips, the traitor succeeded to the command of the King's
troops in Virginia, and maintained himself there against the Baron
Steuben, and afterward against the Marquis de Lafayette, [FN-1] until Lord
Cornwallis, having traversed North Carolina, and entered Virginia, formed
a junction with him, and assumed the command; sending Arnold from his
presence to Portsmouth as soon as possible. After his return to New-York,
Arnold led another piratical expedition, early in September, against New
London and Groton. The former town was burnt, and Fort Griswold, on the
opposite side of the river, having been carried by assault, was the scene
of a bloody massacre; the brave Ledyard, who commanded, being thrust
through with his own sword. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] On succeeding to the command of Phillips, Arnold addressed a
letter to the Marquis de Lafayette; but the latter informed the officer
who bore it, that he would not receive a letter from the traitor. Indeed,
Arnold was despised by the officers in the British service; and how could
it be otherwise? Even Sir Henry Clinton had no confidence in him: and in
detaching him to the south, had taken special care to send Colonel
Dundas and Colonel Simcoe, two experienced officers, with him, with
instructions to Arnold to consult them in regard to every measure and
every operation he might desire to undertake.

[FN-2] "It has been said, that Arnold, while New London was in flames,
stood in the belfry of a steeple and witnessed the conflagration; thus,
like Nero, delighted with the ruin he had caused, the distresses he had
inflicted, the blood of his slaughtered countrymen, the agonies of the
expiring patriot, the widow's tears, and the orphan's cries. And, what
adds to the enormity, is, that he stood almost in sight of the spot
where he drew his first breath."--_Sparks._

Meantime, the American Commander-in-chief was meditating a blow, which,
if successful, could not but have an important, and perhaps a decisive,
bearing upon the great question of his country's final emancipation. While
the Marquis de Lafayette was circumventing and perplexing Cornwallis in
Virginia, Washington was preparing for an attempt upon the citadel of the
British power in the United States--New-York. This design, as has been
formerly stated, had been projected the season before, immediately after
the arrival of the Count de Rochambeau with the French army of alliance,
in Rhode Island. But so many difficulties arose, and so many supervening
obstacles were to be overcome, that, in obedience to stern necessity, the
project was for that year abandoned. With the opening of the Spring of the
present year it was revived, and after the respective commanders had held
another personal consultation, the French army moved from Rhode Island
across the country to the Hudson. But other obstacles arose, which
compelled an entire change in the plan of the campaign. Fortunately,
however, the British commander in New-York was not quick to discover the
change, and the demonstration served to divert his attention from the
right object until it became too late to repair his error. The combined
French and American forces, by an unsuspected but effectual basis of
operations, had been tending as upon a central point toward Virginia,
until, before he was aware of serious danger, Earl Cornwallis found
himself shut up in Yorktown. The event was fatal to him and to the cause
of his master. The post was completely invested by the 30th of September.
On the 9th of October the French and Americans opened their batteries.
And on the 19th, his two advanced redoubts having been carried by storm
a few days before, despairing of receiving the promised succors from Sir
Henry Clinton, and having, moreover, failed in a well-concerted attempt
to evacuate the fortress by night, Lord Cornwallis, submitting to
necessity, absolute and inevitable, surrendered by capitulation. The loss
of the enemy during the siege was five hundred and fifty-two, killed,
wounded, and missing; and the number of prisoners taken, exclusive of the
seamen, who were surrendered to the Count de Grasse, was seven thousand
and seventy-three, of of whom five thousand nine hundred and fifty were
rank and file.

It would have been perfectly natural, and in fact no more than even-handed
justice, had the recent massacre at Fort Griswold been avenged on this
occasion. But, happily, it was otherwise ordered; and the triumph was
rendered still more memorable by the fact, that not a drop of blood was
shed save in action. "Incapable," said Colonel Hamilton, (who led the
advance of the Americans in the assault,) "of imitating examples of
barbarity, and forgetting recent provocation, the soldiers spared every
man that ceased to resist." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Colonel Alexander Hamilton's report--Marshall.

The joy at this surrender of a second army was as great as universal. The
thanks of Congress were voted to the Commander-in-chief, to the Count de
Rochambeau, and the Count de Grasse, and to the other principal officers
of the different corps, and the men under them. It was also resolved by
Congress to erect a marble column at Yorktown, with designs emblematic of
the alliance of France and the United States--to be inscribed with a
narrative of the event thus commemorated. But, like all other monumental
structures by Congress, it yet exists only on paper.

The Commander-in-chief availed himself of the occasion to pardon and set
at liberty all military offenders under arrest. Ever ready and forward to
acknowledge the interposition of the hand of Providence in the direction
of human events, this truly great commander closed his orders in reference
to this event, in the following impressive manner: "Divine service shall
be performed to-morrow in the different brigades and divisions. The
Commander-in-chief recommends that all the troops not upon duty, do
assist at it with a serious deportment, and that sensibility of heart,
which the recollection of the surprising and particular interposition of
Divine Providence in our favor claims."

Recurring, again, to the progress of events at the North, the enigmatical
conduct of the British commander in Canada, and the mysterious movements
of his forces upon Lake Champlain, remain to be explained. On the 9th of
November, General Heath, commanding the department, issued the following
general order; a copy of which has been preserved among General
Gansevoort's papers:--

"_Head-Quarters, Continental Village, Nov._ 9, 1781.

"The General has the pleasure of acquainting this army, that the enemy
have been completely disappointed in their designs on the northern
frontiers of this State, in consequence of the measures adopted to
receive them in the vicinity of the lakes, in which the General is much
indebted to Major General Lord Stirling, Brigadier General Stark, and the
other officers and soldiers, both of the regular troops and the militia,
who, with great zeal and alertness, pressed to meet the enemy. That part
of their force which was coming by way of the lakes has not dared to land
on this side of them.

"Major Ross, who had advanced from the westward as far as Johnstown, with
a body of between six and seven hundred regular troops, Rangers, Yagers,
and Indians, was met by Colonel Willett, defeated, and pursued into the
wilderness, where many of them probably must perish; the number of the
enemy killed is not known. Major Butler, who has frequently distressed
the frontiers, is among the slain. A number of prisoners, chiefly British,
have been taken and sent in.

"The General presents his thanks to Colonel Willett, whose address,
gallantry, and persevering activity exhibited on this occasion, do him
the highest honor; and while the conduct of the officers and soldiers in
general, who were with Colonel Willett, deserves high commendation, the
General expresses a particular approbation of the behavior of Major
Rowley, and the brave levies and militia under his immediate command,
who, at a critical moment, not only did honor to themselves, but rendered
a most essential service to their country.

"Transcript from general orders:
Thos. Fred. Jackson,
_Aid-de-camp._"

General Heath, and many others, doubtless supposed that the anticipated
invasion had been averted by the dispositions of Lord Stirling, and
Generals Stark and Gansevoort, as set forth in the first paragraph of
these general orders; but the facts of the case, without detracting an
iota from the distinguished merits of those officers, will inevitably
lead to a different conclusion.

A summary view of the controversy between New-York and the people of the
New Hampshire Grants, has already been given--in addition to which several
incidental allusions have been made to the equivocal movements and
intentions of Ethan Allen. Reference was also made, by way of a note in
the preceding chapter, to a special message from Governor Clinton to the
Legislature of New-York, communicating important information respecting
the designs of Allen and his associates, which had been derived from two
prisoners who had escaped from Canada in the Autumn of the present
year--John Edgar and David Abeel. The substance of the statements of these
men was, that several of the leading men of the New Hampshire Grants were
forming an alliance with the King's officers in Canada. Among these
leaders were Ethan and Ira Allen, and the two Fays. A man named Sherwood,
and Doctor Smith of Albany, whose name has already been mentioned, were
the agents of the negotiation on the part of Great Britain, and their
consultations were sometimes held at Castleton, on the Grants, and
sometimes in Canada. According to the statement of Edgar, it was
understood that the Grants were to furnish the King with a force of two
thousand men. Mr. Abeel's information was, that fifteen hundred was the
number of men to be furnished, under the command of Ethan Allen. Mr. Abeel
also stated that Ethan Allen was then in Canada upon that business, and
that he had seen Major Fay at the Isle au Noix, on board of one of the
King's vessels; and that he, Fay, had exchanged upward of thirty Hessians,
who had deserted from Burgoyne's army, delivering them up to the British
authorities. The statements of Edgar and Abeel, the latter of whom had
been taken a prisoner at Catskill the preceding Spring, were given under
the sanction of an oath; and although they were not fellow-prisoners, and
had derived their information from different sources; and although
escaping at different times, under dissimilar circumstances, and by routes
widely apart, yet there was a strong coincidence between them. A third
account submitted to the Legislature by the Governor was somewhat
different, and more particular as to the terms of the proposed
arrangement. In this paper it was stated, first, that the territory
claimed by the Vermontese should be formed into a distinct colony or
government. Secondly, that the form of government should be similar to
that of Connecticut, save that the nomination of the Governor should be
vested in the crown. Thirdly, that they should be allowed to remain
neutral, unless the war should be carried within their own territory.
Fourthly, they were to raise two battalions, to be in the pay of the
crown, but to be called into service only for the defence of the Colony.
Fifthly, they were to be allowed a free trade with Canada. General
Haldimand had not deemed himself at liberty to decide definitively upon
propositions of so much importance, and had accordingly transmitted them
to England for the royal consideration. An answer was then expected. Such
was the purport of the intelligence; and such was the weight of the
testimony, that the Governor did not hesitate to assert that they "proved
a treasonable and dangerous intercourse and connexion between the leaders
of the revolt in the north-eastern part of the State, and the common
enemy." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] These and other documents may be found in Almon's Remembrancer,
Vol. ix.--for 1732.

The fact is, according to the admissions, and the documents published by
the Vermont historians themselves, [FN-1] that the people of Vermont,
though doubtless for the most part attached to the cause of their country,
nevertheless looked upon New-York "as a more detested enemy" than Great
Britain; [FN-2] and the officers of the latter were not slow in their
efforts to avail themselves of the schism. Accordingly, Colonel Beverley
Robinson sought to open a correspondence with Ethan Allen as early as
March, 1780. The first letter was handed to Allen in Arlington, but was
not answered. A second letter from Robinson was received by Allen in
February, 1781, which, with the first, he enclosed to Congress in March,
accompanied by a letter plainly asserting the right of Vermont to agree to
a cessation of hostilities with Great Britain, provided its claims, as a
State, were still to be rejected by Congress. It does not appear, however,
that the threat had any effect upon that body.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Slade's State Papers.

[FN-2] Idem.

In the months of April and May following, the Governor and Council of
Vermont commissioned Colonel Ira Allen, a brother of Ethan, to proceed to
the Isle au Noix, to settle a cartel with the British in Canada, and also,
if possible, to negotiate an armistice in favor of Vermont. The
arrangements for this negotiation were conducted with the most profound
secrecy; only eight persons being cognizant of the procedure. [FN-1]
Colonel Allen, accompanied by one subaltern, [FN-2] two sergeants, and
sixteen privates, departed upon his mission on the first of May; and
having arrived at the Isle au Noix, entered at once upon his
business--negotiating with Major Dundas, the commander of that post, only
on the subject of an exchange of prisoners, but more privately with
Captain Sherwood and George Smith, Esq. on the subject of an armistice.
The stay of Allen at the island was protracted for a considerable time,
and the conferences with the two commissioners, Sherwood and Smith, on the
subject of the political relations of Vermont, were frequent, but
perfectly confidential; Allen carefully avoiding to write any thing, to
guard against accidents. But from the beginning, it seems to have been
perfectly understood by both parties that they were treating "for an
armistice, and to concert measures to establish Vermont as a colony under
the crown of Great Britain." [FN-3] In the course of the consultations,
Allen freely declared "that such was the extreme hatred of Vermont to the
state of New-York, that rather than yield to it, they would see Congress
subjected to the British government, provided Vermont could be a distinct
colony under the crown on safe and honorable terms." He added, "that the
people of Vermont were not disposed any longer to assist in establishing
a government in America which might subject them and their posterity to
New-York, whose government was more detested than any other in the known
world." [FN-4] These were encouraging representations in the ears of his
Majesty's officers; and, after a negotiation of seventeen days, the cartel
was arranged, and an armistice verbally agreed upon, by virtue of which
hostilities were to cease between the British forces and the people under
the jurisdiction of Vermont, until after the next session of the
Legislature of Vermont, and even longer, if prospects were satisfactory
to the Commander-in-chief in Canada. Moreover, as Vermont had then
extended her claims of territory to the Hudson river, all that portion of
New-York lying east of the river, and north of the western termination of
the north line of Massachusetts, was included in the armistice. It was
also stipulated that, during the armistice, the leaders in Vermont were
to prepare the people by degrees for a change of government, and that the
British officers were to have free communication through the territory of
the new State--as it claimed to be. [FN-5]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Thomas Chittenden, Moses Robinson, Samuel Safford, Ethan Allen,
Ira Allen, Timothy Brownson, John Fassett, and Joseph Fay.

[FN-2] Lieutenant Simeon Lyman.

[FN-3] Political History of Vermont, published by Ira Allen in London,
in 1798.

[FN-4] Allen's Political History of Vermont.

[FN-5] Idem.

But, notwithstanding the veil of secrecy drawn over the proceedings, dark
suspicions got afloat that all was not right. The sincere Whigs among the
people of the Grants became alarmed, and were apprehensive that they might
be sold ere yet they were aware of it. When the Legislature met, the
people whose jealousies had been awakened, flocked to the place of
meeting to ascertain whether all was well; and it was only by much
dissimulation on the part of those in the secret, that the friends of the
Union were pacified. There were also other spectators present, from
different States, who felt an equal interest to ascertain whether the
great cause of the nation was not in danger of being compromised. The
result was, that the agents succeeded in throwing dust into the eyes of
the people; and so adroit was their management, that the Allens held
communication with the enemy during the whole Summer without detection.
On more than one occasion, British guards, of several men, came to the
very precincts of Arlington, delivering and receiving packages in the
twilight.

In September the negotiations were renewed, the commissioners of both
parties meeting secretly at Skenesborough, within the territory of
New-York, and farther progress was made in the terms of the arrangement,
by which Vermont was in due time to throw herself "into the arms of her
legitimate sovereign." Sir Frederick Haldimand, however, was becoming
impatient of longer delay; and a strenuous effort was made for an
immediate and open declaration on the part of Vermont. To this proposition
the Vermont commissioners, Ira Allen, Joseph Fay, and a third person,
whose name is not given, pleaded that there had not yet been time to
prepare the people for so great a change, and that they should require the
repose of the approaching Winter for that object. It was at length
stipulated, however, that inasmuch as the royal authority had been
received by Sir Frederick Haldimand for that purpose, an army might
ascend the lake, with proclamations offering to confirm Vermont as a
colony under the crown, upon the principles and conditions heretofore
indicated, on the return of the people to their allegiance; the
commissioners interposing a request, that the General commanding the
expedition would endeavor to ascertain the temper of the people before
the proclamation should be actually distributed.

The Legislature of the Grants assembled at Charlestown in October.
Meantime General St. Leger, agreeably to the arrangement with Allen and
Fay, ascended the lake to Ticonderoga with a strong force, where he
rested. In order to save appearances, the Vermontese had stationed a
military force on the opposite shore, under the command of General Enos,
to whom was necessarily confided the secret. But on neither side would it
answer to entrust that secret to the subordinates. _They_ must, of course,
regard each other as enemies in good faith; and the fact that they did so
consider themselves, was productive of an affair which placed the
Vermontese in a peculiarly awkward predicament The circumstances were
these: In order to preserve at least the mimicry of war, scouts and
patrols were occasionally sent out by both parties. Unluckily one of these
Vermont patrols happened one day to encounter a similar party from the
army of St. Leger. Shots were exchanged with hearty goodwill; the Vermont
sergeant fell, and his men retreated. The body was decently interred by
order of General St. Leger, who sent his clothes to General Enos,
accompanied by an open letter apologizing for the occurrence, and
expressing his regret at the result.

It was hardly probable that an unsealed letter would pass through many
hands, and its contents remain unknown to all save the person to whom it
was addressed. Such, certainly, was not the fact in regard to the letter
in question. Its contents transpired; and great was the surprise at the
civility of General St. Leger in sending back the sergeant's clothes, and
deploring his death. A messenger was despatched by General Enos to
Governor Chittenden at Charlestown, who, not being in the secrets of his
employers, failed not, with honest simplicity, to proclaim the
circumstances of the sergeant's death, and the extraordinary message of
General St. Leger. The consequence was excitement among the people
assembled at Charlestown, attended with a kindling feeling of distrust.
"Why should General St Leger send back the clothes?" "Why regret the
death of an enemy?" were questions more easily asked by the people, than
capable of being safely and ingenuously answered by their leaders. The
consequence was, a popular clamor unpleasant to the ears of the initiated.
Major Runnels confronted Colonel Ira Allen, and demanded to know why St.
Leger was sorry for the death of the sergeant? Allen's answer was evasive
and unsatisfactory. The Major repeated the question, and Allen replied
that he had better go to St. Leger at the head of his regiment, and
demand the reason, for his sorrow, in person. A sharp altercation ensued,
which had the effect, for a short time, of diverting the attention of the
people from the dispatches which they had been clamoring to have read.
These were precious moments for the Governor and the negotiators with the
enemy. The Board of War was convened, the members of which were all in the
secret, and a set of pretended letters were hastily prepared from such
portions of General Enos's dispatches as would serve the purpose in hand,
which were read publicly to the Legislature and the people; and which had
the effect of allaying the excitement and hushing suspicion into silence.

Meantime a rumor of the capture of Cornwallis and his army at Yorktown was
wafted along upon the southern breeze; the effect of which was such upon
the people, as to induce Allen and Fay to write to the British
commissioners with St Leger, that it would be imprudent at that particular
conjuncture for him to promulgate the royal proclamation, and urging delay
to a more auspicious moment The messenger with these despatches had not
been longer than an hour at the head-quarters of St. Leger at Ticonderoga,
before the rumor respecting Cornwallis was confirmed by an express. The
effect was prodigious. All ideas or farther operations in that quarter
were instantly abandoned; and before evening of the same day, St. Leger's
troops and stores were re-embarked, and with a fair wind he made sail
immediately, back to St. John's.

From this narrative of facts, as disclosed in London many years afterward
by Colonel Ira Allen himself, it will be seen at once that General Heath
was in error, when, in his general orders of November 9th, he attributed
the inaction of General St. Leger, and his ultimate retreat, to the
preparations of Lord Stirling, and Generals Stark and Gansevoort, for his
reception. The digression which has been judged necessary to elucidate
this portion of the operations in the north, during the Summer and Autumn
of 1781, may by some readers be thought wide of the leading design of the
present work. Still, it is believed that to a majority of the public, the
facts detailed in this connexion will be new, as they must be curious in
the estimation of all. They are at the same time held to be essential to
a just appreciation of the difficulties with which the military officers
in the Northern Department, and the Government of the State of New-York,
were obliged to contend during the period under consideration. Strong
light is also reflected by them upon that portion of the history of the
war itself with which they are interblended. Every close reader of
American history is aware that there was a correspondence, of some
description, between the leaders of the people occupying the New Hampshire
Grants and the common enemy, during the later years of the Revolutionary
war. But neither the precise character, nor the extent, of that
correspondence, has been generally understood; while it has, for obvious
reasons, been the desire of those most directly concerned in those
matters, to represent the whole as a game of dissembling with an enemy
who had attempted to tamper with the patriotic sons of the Green
Mountains. [F-1] Be this as it may, it is in the secret proceedings of the
Vermont conspirators, that the key is found to the mysterious movements
of the enemy on Lake Champlain, which had so greatly harassed the American
commanders at the north during that Autumn. It was known that St. Leger
was upon the lake in great force; and having landed at Ticonderoga, to all
human calculation an invasion was intended, which the country was then
ill prepared to resist. At times he was apparently balancing upon what
point to move. With the means of striking, he did not strike; and his
dilatoriness, and apparent indecision, were alike inexplicable. The
effect was to keep the northern part of the state in constant alarm, and
to harass the militia by frequent calls to the field, against an enemy
hovering upon the shore of the lake, always, apparently, just ready to
make a descent, and yet idling away the season without farther
demonstration. Much greater quietness might have been enjoyed by the
people of New-York, so far as the common enemy was concerned, had it been
known that his hands were fettered by an armistice with a contiguous
territory, claiming to be an American state, and professing at the same
time to be at open war with the self-same enemy with whom the government
of the said territory was at that moment in secret alliance. [FN-2] When
to this singularly embarrassing position, those other difficulties which
have been passed in review are added, such as an exhausted and ravaged
country; an unfed, unclothed, unpaid and deserting army; [FN-3] extensive
disaffection among the people immediately at home; continual irruptions of
hostile partisan bands in every quarter; mobs of insurgents setting the
laws at defiance in one direction; the militia regiments in the district
thus lawless, more than half disposed to join the disorganizers; with an
actual and somewhat formidable invasion from the west; it must be
conceived that both civil and military authorities were laboring under a
complication of evils, requiring for their control all that prudence and
energy, discretion, perseverance and courage, combined, could accomplish.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Sparks, adopting the views of earlier writers, has noticed the
case in this favorable aspect in his late sketch of the Life of Ethan
Allen. The author certainly agrees with Mr. Sparks in the opinion that
"there was never any serious intention on the part of the Vermontese to
listen to the British proposals." But with great deference, after a full
examination of the case, the same cannot be said of the _leaders_ of the
Vermontese. _They_ had determined that New-York should be dismembered;
and if they could not force themselves into the confederation as a State,
they were willing to fall back into the arms of Great Britain as a
Colony. But it is very certain, from the conduct of the people of the
Grants when they heard of St. Leger's regrets at the killing of the
sergeant, that they were prepared for no such arrangement.

[FN-2] Of course General Heath was not aware of the proceedings of the
Vermontese when he issued his general orders above cited, nor was the
Government of New-York acquainted with them. Although, from the necessity
of the case, a considerable number of the Vermont leaders must have been
in the secret, it was nevertheless exceedingly well kept. It was not
until the month of March of the following year, (1782,) that Governor
Clinton communicated the affidavits of Edgar and Abeel to the
Legislature, the substance of which has been embodied in the preceding
narrative. Those affidavits explained the threats murmured by Ethan
Allen, when in Albany the Spring before. They also explained the threat
contained in a letter from Governor Chittenden, referred to in a
preceding page, while they strengthened the suspicions that had for
months been entertained by General Schuyler and Governor Clinton. But it
was not until years had elapsed that the whole truth came out.

[FN-3] "From the post of Saratoga to that of Dobbs's Ferry inclusive, I
believe there it not at this moment one day's supply of meat for the army
on hand. Supplies, particularly of beef cattle, must be speedily and
regularly provided, or our posts cannot be maintained, nor the army kept
in the field much longer."--_Letter of Washington to President Weere of
New Hampshire._

With the discomfiture and retreat of Major Ross on the one hand, and the
return of St. Leger to St. John's on the other, all active operations
ceased with the enemy at the north. But the difficulties of the state
Government with the New Hampshire Grants were on the increase; and the
controversy ran so high, that by the 1st of December an insurrection broke
out in the regiments of Colonel John Van Rensselaer and Colonel Henry K.
Van Rensselaer, in the north-eastern towns of the State; while the
regiment of Colonel Peter Yates--also belonging to the brigade of General
Gansevoort--was in a condition not much better. These disturbances arose
in Schaghticoke, Hoosic, and a place called St. Coych, and parts adjacent,
belonging then to the county of Albany; but being on the east side of the
Hudson, north of the parallel of the northern line of Massachusetts, the
Government of the New Hampshire Grants had extended its aegis over that
section of country, claiming jurisdiction, as heretofore stated, to the
Hudson river. General Gansevoort was apprised of the insurrection on the
5th. He immediately directed Colonels Yates and Henry K. Van Rensselaer,
whose regiments, at that time, were the least affected with the insurgent
spirit, to collect such troops as they could, and repair to St. Coych, to
the assistance of Colonel John Van Rensselaer. An express being dispatched
to the Governor, at Poughkeepsie, with the unwelcome information, and a
request for directions what course to pursue in the emergency, the return
of the messenger brought very explicit orders from the indomitable chief
magistrate:--"I perfectly approve of your conduct," said the Governor;
"and have only to add, that should the force already detached prove
insufficient to quell the insurrection, you will make such addition to it
as to render it effectual. I have transmitted to General Robert Van
Rensselaer the information, and have directed him, in case it should be
necessary, on your application, to give assistance from his brigade."
[FN-1] Although the fact had not been stated in the dispatches forwarded
to Governor Clinton, that the movement was beyond doubt sympathetic with,
or instigated from, the Grants, yet the Governor was at no loss at once to
attribute it to the "usurped government of that pretended State;" [FN-2]
and it was his resolute determination to oppose force to force, and, in
regard to the Grants themselves, to repel force by force.

* * * * *

[FN-1] MS. letter of Governor Clinton to General Gansevoort, Dec 11,
1781.

[FN-2] Idem.

Gansevoort did not receive his instructions from the Governor until the
15th. Meantime Colonels Yates and Henry Van Rensselaer had made no
progress in quelling the insurrection; the insurgents, on the other hand,
being on the increase, and having thrown up a block-house for defence. On
the 16th General Gansevoort took the field himself, repairing in the first
instance to the head-quarters of General Stark at Saratoga, in order to
obtain a detachment of troops and a field-piece. But the troops of Stark
were too naked to move from their quarters; and it was thought improper
for him to interfere without an order from General Heath. [FN-1]
Gansevoort then crossed over to the east side of the river, in order to
place himself at the head of such militia as he could muster in
Schaghticoke and Hoosic; but was soon met by Colonel Yates, in full
retreat from the house of Colonel John Van Rensselaer. He had been able
to raise but eighty men to put down the insurgents of John Van
Rensselaer's regiment; and on arriving at St. Coych, he discovered a force
of five hundred men advancing from the Grants to the assistance of the
rebels. Gansevoort retired five miles farther, in order to find
comfortable quarters for his men, and then attempted, but without success,
to open a correspondence with the leader of the insurgents. Calls had been
made upon four regiments, viz. those of Colonels Yates, and Henry K. Van
Rensselaer, as heretofore stated, and upon Colonel Van Vechten and Major
Taylor. But from the whole no greater force than eighty men could be
raised. Of Colonel Van Vechten's regiment, only himself, a few officers,
and one private could be brought into the field. Under these discouraging
circumstances, the General was compelled to relinquish the expedition, and
the insurgents remained the victors, to the no small terror of those of
the inhabitants who were well-disposed, inasmuch as they were apprehensive
of being taken prisoners and carried away, as had been the case with
others, should they refuse taking the oath of allegiance to the government
of Vermont. [FN-2] Thus terminated the military events of the north, of
all descriptions, for the year 1781.

* * * * *

[FN-1] In his official report upon the subject, Gansevoort rather
distrusted whether Stark assigned the true reason for withholding his
aid on this occasion. Governor Chittenden, of the Grants, having just
addressed him a letter requesting him not to interfere with hie troops.

[FN-2] The materials for this rapid sketch of the insurrection of Dec.
1781, at the north-east of Albany, have been drawn from the Gansevoort
papers, which are broken and imperfect. The controversy with Vermont was
continued, with greater or less force, and in different ways, for several
years. But a calm and powerful letter from General Washington to Governor
Chittenden, written early in January, 1782, had great influence in
causing the government of the Grants to relinquish the territory of
New-York, twenty miles broad, upon the eastern side of the Hudson, upon
which they had seized. The leaders who had entered upon the
correspondence with the enemy in Canada, continued an interchange of
communications during several months of the following year; but the
course of things soon stripped that strange negotiation of its danger,
and rendered it of no importance. Meantime, although Governor Clinton was
fully determined to subdue the refractory spirits of the Green Mountains,
the latter continued to gain strength and friends, and as their local
government became settled, it was for the most part wisely and
efficiently administered. Time and again the question was brought before
Congress, where nobody cared to act upon it definitively. Hamilton, Jay,
and Governeur Morris, all seemed to think it the part of wisdom to allow
the secession and independence of Vermont. Things remained in an
unsettled state, however, until after the adoption of the federal
constitution by New-York in 1788, after which the controversy was
amicably adjusted; Vermont agreeing to pay thirty thousand dollars as a
full indemnification to persons in New-York holding titles to lands
within its boundaries.

There yet remain a few occurrences, connected with the Indian operations
of the year, to be noted before closing the present chapter. It was in
the Spring of this year that what was called the Coshocton campaign of
Colonel Brodhead was performed, and was attended by circumstances that
cannot be recalled with other than painful emotions. [FN-1] It had at
different times been the purpose of the Commander-in-chief that Colonel
Brodhead should penetrate through the Ohio territory to Detroit; but that
design was never accomplished. The expedition now under review was led by
Brodhead against the villages of the unfriendly Delaware Indians at the
forks of the Muskingum. In passing through the settlement of the
Moravian Indians at Salem, under the religious care of the Rev. Mr.
Heckewelder, some of Brodhead's men manifested a hostile disposition
toward those inoffensive noncombatants; but their hostile feelings were
repressed by Brodhead, whose exertions were seconded by Colonel Shepherd,
of Wheeling. The towns against which the Americans were proceeding were
under the control of Captain Pipe, who had espoused the cause of the crown
at the instigation of McKee, Elliott, and Girty. On approaching Coshocton,
Brodhead's forces were divided into three divisions; and so secret and
rapid was their march, that the villages on the eastern bank of the river
were fallen upon, and all the Indians who were at home taken, without
firing a gun. [FN-2] The immediate object of this visitation was to
punish, as it was alleged, the Indians of those towns for some recent
cruelties of unwonted atrocity. They had made a late incursion upon the
frontiers of Virginia, in the course of which a considerable number of
prisoners were taken; but, having been disappointed in the measure of
their success, in a moment of rage they bound all the adult male captives
to trees, and put them to death by torture, amidst the tears and
lamentations of their families. [FN-3] It was now Colonel Brodhead's
design to inflict summary vengeance for those murders. He had with him a
friendly Delaware chief, named _Pekillon,_ who pointed out sixteen of the
captive warriors, upon whom he charged the murders in question. A council
of war was convened in the evening, which decided that those sixteen
warriors should be put to death. They were therefore bound, and despatched
with tomahawk and spear, and scalped. [FN-4]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Doddridge, in his Indian Wars, dates the expedition referred to
in 1790. Drake, who follows Heckewelder, states that it occurred in 1781.

[FN-2] Doddridge.

[FN-3] Drake.

[FN-4] Doddridge.

A heavy rain had swollen the river, so that Colonel Brodhead could not
cross over to the villages upon the opposite side. On the following
morning an Indian presented himself upon the other side, and called for
an interview with the "Great Captain," meaning the commander of the
expedition. Colonel Brodhead presented himself, and inquired what he
wanted. "I want peace," was the reply. "Send over some of your chiefs,"
said the Colonel. "Maybe you kill," rejoined the Indian. "They shall not
be killed," was the answer. A fine-looking sachem thereupon crossed the
river, and while engaged in conversation with Colonel Brodhead, a white
savage, named Wetzel, stole treacherously behind the unsuspecting warrior,
and struck him dead to the earth. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Doddridge.

Some ten or twelve prisoners were taken from another village farther up
the river; and Brodhead commenced his return on the same day, committing
the prisoners to a guard of militia. They had not proceeded far, however,
before the barbarian guards began to butcher their captives; and all,
save a few women and children, were presently despatched in cold blood.
[FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Idem.

Glancing yet farther south, the Cherokee Indians having again become
troublesome, and made an incursion into South Carolina, massacring some
of the inhabitants and burning their houses, General Pickens proceeded
into their own country, and inflicted upon them severe and summary
chastisement. In the space of fourteen days, at the head of less than
four hundred men, he killed upward of forty of the Indians, and destroyed
thirteen towns. His troops were mounted men, who charged rapidly upon the
Indians, cutting them down with their sabres with great effect. Unused to
this mode of warfare, they sued immediately for peace.

The fall of Cornwallis was, in fact, the last important act of that great
drama--The American Revolution. Although the British were yet in
considerable force in New-York, and were likewise in the occupancy of
various posts in the southern states, still the season for active
operations was past; and after the loss of the army of Cornwallis, they
were not in sufficient force in the north to resist the troops that could
now be directed against them. The campaigning of the year 1781, and in
fact of the war of the Revolution, were therefore at an end. Still, there
were other belligerent incidents occurring for months afterward, the
record of which will require another chapter.

CHAPTER VII.

Character of Joseph Bettys--His exploits--Capture and execution--Progress
of the war--Gradual cessation of hostilities--Dwindling down to mere
affairs of outposts and scouting parties--Commissioners appointed to
negotiate a treaty of peace--Indian battles on the Kentucky
frontier--Defeat of Colonel Boon--Destruction of the Shawanese
towns--The Moravians on the Muskingum--Their removal to Sandusky by the
Wyandots--Return to secure their crops--Invasion of their towns by
Colonel Williamson--Treachery of Williamson and his men to the
Indians--Horrible massacre--Invasion of the Sandusky country by
Crawford and Williamson--Defeat of their army--Colonel Crawford
captured--Sentenced to die by torture--His interview with the sachem
Wingemond--His execution--Close of the year--Doubts as to a treaty of
peace--Colonel Willett's attempt to surprise Oswego--The news of
peace--Sufferings of Tryon County--Return of its population--End of the
wars of the Mohawk.

Among the minor, but yet not unimportant events of the border war at the
north and west of Albany, was the capture, some time in the Winter of
1781--'82, of the celebrated loyalist marauder, Joseph Bettys, whose name
has occurred in connexion with that of John Waltermeyer in the preceding
chapter. Bettys, or "Joe Bettys" as he was commonly called, was a man of
uncommon shrewdness and intelligence. Bold, athletic, and of untiring
activity; revengeful and cruel in his disposition; inflexible in his
purposes; his bosom cold as the marble to the impulses of humanity; he
ranged the border settlements like a chafed tiger snuffing every tainted
breeze for blood, until his name had become as terrific to the borderers,
as were those of Kidd and Pierre le Grande upon the ocean in the
preceding century. At the commencement of the war, Bettys was an
inhabitant of Ballston. He early took the field in the cause of the
republic, and a sergeant's warrant was conferred upon him in Colonel
Wynkoop's regiment. But he had a proud, independent spirit, that could
ill brook the severity of military discipline; and for some act of
contumacy, he was reduced to the ranks. Still, knowing well his determined
character and unflinching courage, and unwilling that his country should
lose his services, the same gentleman [FN] who had obtained his first
warrant, procured him another, and a transfer to the fleet under the
command of General Arnold on Lake Champlain, in the Summer of 1776.

* * * * *

[FN] The late Colonel Ball, of Balston.

In the severe naval engagement fought on that lake between Arnold and
Sir Guy Carleton, on the 11th of October of that year, Bettys exhibited
great bravery, and was of signal service during the battle, which lasted
four hours. He fought until every commissioned officer on board his
vessel was either killed or wounded. Assuming the command then himself,
he continued the fight with such reckless and desperate intrepidity, that
General Waterbury, Arnold's second in command, perceiving that his vessel
was about to sink, was obliged to order Bettys and the survivors of his
crew on board his own vessel. Having thus observed his good conduct,
General Waterbury stationed him by his side on the quarter-deck, and gave
orders through him, until his own vessel in turn became entirely
crippled--the crew mostly killed--the General himself wounded--and only
two others, exclusive of Bettys, left in fighting condition--when his
colors were struck to the enemy. General Waterbury afterward spoke in the
most exalted terms of the high courage of Bettys, adding, that the
shrewdness of his management showed that his conduct was not inferior to
his courage.

While a prisoner in Canada, the arts of the enemy subverted his
principles. He was seduced from the service of his country, and entered
that of the enemy with the rank of ensign--proving himself an enemy
equally subtle and formidable. From his intimate knowledge of the country
and his artful address, he was frequently employed, sometimes as a
messenger, at others as a spy, and at others, again, in the double
capacity of both. During one of his missions of this nature, he was
captured, tried, and condemned to the gallows. But the entreaties of his
aged parents, and the solicitations of influential Whigs, induced General
Washington, on a promise of reformation, to grant him a pardon. Yet if
honor, generosity, and gratitude, had ever been qualities of his soul,
they had taken their departure.

Losing no time in rejoining the ranks of the enemy, he became alike
reckless of character and the dictates of humanity; and instead of
suitably requiting the kindness which had successfully interposed to save
him from an ignominious death, he became the greatest scourge of his
former friends and neighborhood. Ballston, in particular, had long reason
to deplore the ill-judged leniency. He returned, and recruited soldiers
for the King in the midst of the settlements; he captured and carried off
the most zealous and efficient Whigs, and subjected them to the severest
sufferings; and those against whom he bore the strongest hate, lost their
dwellings by fire or their lives by murder. No fatigue weakened his
resolution--no distance was an obstacle to his purpose--and no danger
appalled his courage. No one of the borderers felt secure. Sometimes in
the darkness of the night he fell upon them by stealth; and at others,
even at mid-day, he was seen prowling about, as if scorning disguise, and
unconscious of danger. Indeed, he boldly proclaimed himself a
desperado--carrying his life in his hand--equally careless of it as he
said he should be of the lives of others were any again to attempt his
arrest. His liberty, he declared, would only be yielded with his life;
and whoever should attempt to take him, might rest assured that their
heart's blood would in the same moment be drunk by the earth. His threats
were well understood to be no unmeaning words; and, what added to the
apprehension of the people, was the well-known fact, that he had always
at his beck, openly or in concealment, according to the nature of the
purpose immediately in hand, a band of refugees partaking of his own
desperate character.

His adventures while engaged in this species of warfare were many and
hazardous. Nor did he always confine his operations to the
border-settlements, since he at one time entered the precincts of Albany,
and made a similar attempt to that of Waltermeyer to abduct General
Schuyler from the mansion of the Patroon, where he was then lodged. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] This account of Joe Bettys has been written from a Fourth-of-July
speech delivered by the late Colonel Ball some ten or twelve years ago.
Among the prisoners made by Bettys and Waltermeyer from Ballston, in the
Spring of 1781, were the following persons, viz: Samuel Nash, Joseph
Chord, Uri Tracy, Ephraim Tracy, Samuel Patchin, Epenetus White, John
Fulmer, and two men named Bontas, who were brothers. They were all taken
to Canada, and roughly used.

It must not be supposed, however, that all hearts quailed before Joe
Bettys. Far from it; and many were the ineffectual attempts made for his
arrest before the measures undertaken for that purpose were again crowned
with success. But in the course of the Winter now under consideration his
wonted vigilance was at fault. A suspicious stranger having been observed
in the neighborhood of Ballston, upon snow-shoes, and well-armed, three
men of that town, named Cory, Perkins, and Fulmer, little doubting as to
the identity of the man, immediately armed themselves and went in pursuit.
He was traced by a circuitous track to the house of a well-known loyalist,
which was fortunately approached with so much circumspection as to enable
the scouts to reach the door unobserved. Breaking the barrier by a sudden
effort, they sprang in upon the black and doubly-dyed traitor, and seized
him before he had opportunity of resistance. He was seated at dinner when
they entered, his pistols lying upon the table, and his rifle resting upon
his arm. He made an attempt to discharge the latter; but forgetting to
remove the deer-skin cover of the lock, did not succeed. Powerful and
muscular as he was, the three were an over-match for him, and he was
immediately so securely pinioned as to render resistance useless and
escape morally impossible.

Apparently resigning himself to his fate, Bettys now requested permission
to smoke, which was readily granted. While taking the tobacco from his
box, and making the usual preparations, he was observed by Cory adroitly
to cast something into the fire. It was instantly snatched from thence
with a handful of coals, and proved to be a small leaden box, about the
eighth of an inch in thickness, and containing a paper in cipher, which
the captors could not read; but it was subsequently ascertained to be a
despatch addressed to the British commander in New-York. It also contained
an order for thirty guineas, provided the despatch should be safely
delivered. Bettys pleaded hard for permission to burn the paper, and
offered a hundred guineas for the privilege. But they refused his gold,
and all his proffered bribes for the means of escape, with the most
unyielding firmness. He then exclaimed--"I am a dead man!" It was even
so. He was taken to Albany, where he was tried, convicted, and executed
as a spy and traitor.

If the conduct of the three captors of Major Andre was patriotic, that of
the three captors of Joe Bettys was both patriotic and brave. Andre was
a gentleman, and without the means of defence; Bettys was formidably
armed, and known to be a desperado. The capture of Andre was by accident;
that of Bettys, by enterprise and design. The taking of the former was
without danger; that of the latter a feat of imminent peril. Andre was
a more important man, by rank and station, than Bettys; but not more
dangerous. Both tempted their captors by gold, and both were foiled. [FN]
The captors of Andre were richly rewarded, and the achievement has been
emblazoned in history, and commemorated by monumental granite. The captors
of Bettys have, until now, never been known to history; and their only
visible reward was the rifle and pistols of their terrible captive. With
such partial hand are the honors and rewards of this world bestowed!

* * * * *

[FN] Colonel Ball.

As already remarked, the substantial fighting of the war was ended by the
surrender of Cornwallis. It is true, there were affairs of outposts
occurring afterward, and some partial fighting took place at the south
early in the season of 1782, between General Wayne and sundry small
British posts, after General Greene had detached the former into Georgia.
The most serious of these affairs was a smart brush with a party of Creek
Indians, near Savannah, on which occasion the British garrison sallied
out to their assistance, but were repulsed. For the most part, however,
the year 1782 was rather a period of armed neutrality than of active war.
The news of the catastrophe at Yorktown at once and materially
strengthened the opposition to the farther prosecution of the contest in
the House of Commons, by which a resolution was soon afterward passed,
declaring "That the House would consider as enemies to his Majesty and
the country, all who should advise or attempt the farther prosecution of
offensive war on the Continent of North America." Sir Henry Clinton was
superseded in the chief command by Sir Guy Carleton, who was specially
instructed to use his endeavors to effect an accommodation with America.
Commissioners for the negotiation of a treaty of peace were soon
afterward appointed, viz: John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and
Henry Laurens on the part of the United States, and Mr. Fitzherbert and
Mr. Oswald on that of Great Britain. On the 30th of November these
commissioners had agreed on provisional articles of peace, as the basis
of a treaty by which the Independence of the United States was
acknowledged in its fullest extent.

As the surrender of Earl Cornwallis was the last important military event
between the main armies, so was the disastrous expedition of Majors Ross
and Butler the last attempt of any magnitude upon the Valley of the
Mohawk. True, indeed, that beautiful region of country had been so utterly
laid waste, that there was little more of evil to be accomplished. But
the chastisement of Major Ross, equally severe and unexpected, had
discouraged the enemy from making any farther attempt in that quarter.
Not, however, that the Indians were entirely quiet. On the contrary, they
hung around the borders of the settlements in small parties, sometimes
causing serious alarms, and at others great trouble and fatigue, and
likewise inflicting considerable injury. On one occasion a party of
thirty-five Indians crossed over from Oswegatchie to Palatine. Falling in
with a scouting party, consisting of Jacob Timmerman and five others, the
Indians fired upon them. Timmerman was wounded, and with one of his
comrades taken prisoner. Two of the party were killed, and the other two
succeeded in making their escape. The prisoners were taken to Oswegatchie,
and thence down to Montreal, where they were confined until the peace.
In consequence of exposures of this description, a vigilant watchfulness
was necessary at all points; and Colonel Willett, who retained the
command, was exactly the officer for the station. He had frequent occasion
to despatch considerable bodies of troops against the straggling parties
of Indians and Tories; but their lightness of foot, and dexterity in
threading the mazes of the forests, generally, if not always, enabled them
to escape. So that no important event transpired in that section of
country during the year.

But while there was so little active warfare on the frontiers of New-York
during the Summer of 1782, the Indians of the remoter west were more
active along the Kentucky frontier than in the preceding year. In May they
ravished, killed, and scalped a woman and her two daughters near Ashton's
station. [FN] The Indians perpetrating this outrage were pursued by
Captain Ashton, at the head of a band of twenty-five men. Being overtaken,
a battle ensued, in which the Indians were victorious. The Captain was
killed, together with eight of his men, and four others were mortally
wounded. In the month of August another Kentucky settlement, called Hoy's
Station, was visited by the Indians, by whom two lads were carried into
captivity. This band was also pursued by Captain Holder, with a party of
seventeen men, who, coming up with the Indians, were likewise defeated
with a loss of seven killed and two wounded. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Adventures of Colonel Daniel Boon. There is strong reason to doubt
whether the Indians abused the persons of the women. If true, it was the
only instance of the kind that is believed to have occurred during the
war. It is a proud characteristic of the Indians, that they never
violate the chastity of their female prisoners.

On the 15th of August, the post at Briant's station, five miles from
Lexington, was invested by a far more considerable party of the enemy,
numbering five hundred Indians and Canadians. After killing all the cattle
in the neighborhood, they assaulted the post on the third day but were
repulsed with a loss of about eighty killed and numbers wounded;--how
many, was not known. They were pursued on their retreat by Colonels Todd,
Trigg, and Boon, and Major Harland, at the head of one hundred and
seventy-six men, well armed and provided. The Indians drew the pursuers
into an unfavorable position on the 19th, when a severe battle ensued,
in which the Kentuckians were beaten with the loss of seventy-six men;
among whom were Colonels Todd and Trigg, Major Harland, and a son of
Colonel Boon. The battle lasted only fifteen minutes. The retreat from the
field was yet more disastrous than the battle itself. It was fought on the
banks of the main fork of the Licking river, at the great bend,
forty-three miles from Lexington. The Kentuckians were pursued across the
river, some on horseback and others on foot. Some were killed in the
river, and others while ascending the cliffs beyond. The arrival of the
fugitives at Lexington with the melancholy tidings, occasioned a scene of
weeping and deep lamentation, since a large portion of the male population
had fallen. Being reinforced a few days afterward, Colonel Boon returned
to bury the dead, which he represents as an affair of a most painful
description. So mangled and disfigured were the bodies, that their
identity could not be ascertained. The Colonel was afterward informed that
when the Indians discovered their own loss to have been four more than
that of the Kentuckians, four of the seven prisoners they had taken were
handed over to their young men to be put to death by torture.

On hearing of this disastrous affair, General Clark, who was at the Falls
of the Ohio, directed a pursuit of the Indians to their own towns of Old
and New Chilicothe, Peccaway, and Wills Town. Colonel Boon seems to have
led this expedition, although the fact is not expressly stated in his
narrative. Failing in an attempt to fall upon the Indians by surprise, the
Colonel took possession of their deserted towns, which were burnt with
fire. Seven prisoners and fifteen scalps were taken by the Kentuckians,
whose own loss was but four men; two of whom were killed by accident, not
by Indians. With these incidents closed the Indian war of the Revolution
on the Kentucky border.

But there yet remains a tale of murderous character to be recorded, which,
in its black and inexcusable atrocity, transcends any and every Indian
massacre which marked that protracted and unnatural contest It is a tale
of blood, too, in which the white men--not the Indians--are to be branded
as the savages.

On the banks of the Muskingum resided several communities of Indians, who
had embraced the peaceable tenets of the Moravians. They were of the
Delaware nation, and had removed to the Muskingum from Friedenshutten on
the Big Beaver, and from Wyalusing and Sheshequon on the Susquehanna, in
the year 1772. Notwithstanding the annoyance experienced by them in
consequence of the Cresap war, in 1774, their settlements, which were
named Schoenbrunn, Salem, and Gnadenhuetten, rose rapidly in importance,
and in a short time numbered upward of four hundred people. Among their
converts was the celebrated Delaware chief _Glickhickan,_ famous alike
for his bravery on the war-path, his wisdom in council, and his eloquence
in debate. Their location, being a kind of half-way station between the
white settlements and the hostile Indians of the lakes, was unpleasant
after the war of the Revolution came on, and subjected them to
difficulties alternately arising from the suspicions of both or all of
the belligerent parties, against whose evil intentions toward them they
were occasionally admonished. Still, their labors, their schools, and
their religions exercises were conducted and practised as usual.

Their spiritual guides, at the period now under discussion, were, Michael
Jung, David Zeisberger, and John Heckewelder, known in later times as the
Indian Historian. These people looked upon war with abhorrence;
maintaining that "the Great Being did not make men to destroy men, but to
love and assist each other." They had endeavored to dissuade some of
their own race from taking any part in the contest, and had likewise given
occasional information to the white settlements when threatened with
Indian invasions.

The hostile Indians frequently hovered around their settlements, and
sometimes threatened their destruction, under the pretext that their
neutrality was equivocal, and that they were secretly in alliance with the
Americans, to whom they were in the practice of giving timely notice of
the hostile advances of the Indians in the service of the King. [FN] In
1777 they were visited by the noted Huron chief, _Half King,_ at the head
of two hundred of his warriors, on his way to attack some of the frontier
settlements of Virginia. Half King at first menaced the Moravian
non-combatants; but Glickhickan appeased his ire by a timely supply of
refreshments, and diverted him from his purpose by an opportune speech,
declaring their religious sentiments and praising their missionaries.

* * * * *

[FN] Doddridge.

The British authorities at Detroit were by no means friendly to these
Moravian towns; early in the year 1781 they applied to the Great Council
of the Six Nations, assembled at Niagara, to remove them out of the
country. A message was accordingly sent by the Iroquois to the Ottawas and
Chippewas to this effect: "We herewith make you a present of the Christian
Indians to make soup of;" a figurative Indian expression equivalent to
saying--"We deliver these people to you to be killed." But neither the
Ottawas nor Chippewas would receive the message, which was returned with
the laconic reply--"We have no cause for doing this." The same message was
next sent to the Wyandots, but they at that time were equally indisposed
to make war upon their inoffensive brethren. [FN] But in the Autumn of
the same year, under the influence of McKee and Elliott, who had now
become captains in the ranks of the crown connected with the Indian
service at Detroit, and by reason of the more immediate persuasions of
Simon Girty, the bloodthirsty refugee associate of McKee and Elliott, who
was living among the Wyandots, over whom he had acquired great influence,
the poor Moravians, with their pious and self-denying ministers, were
forcibly removed, or rather compelled, by the hostile Indians, at the
instigation of those men, to remove to Sandusky. The leaders of the
Wyandots compelling this emigration, were Girty, Half King, and the
celebrated Captain Pipe. The sachem-convert, Glickhickan, was also carried
to Sandusky; and a young female relation of his, by her courage and
generosity, had well-nigh cost him his life. Apprehending that evil would
befall her friends, she stole a fine horse belonging to Captain Pipe, and
rode to Pittsburgh, to give the alarm in regard to the captive
missionaries and their congregations. In revenge for this courageous
action, Glickhickan was seized by a party of the Wyandot, or Huron
warriors, who raised the death-song, and would have put him to death but
for the interference of the Half King in his favor. Glickhickan was
subsequently examined by his captors, and his innocence of all
participation in the mission of the heroic squaw fully made to appear.

* * * * *

[FN] Heckewelder.

It was at a great sacrifice of property and comfort that these Indians
were torn thus from their homes. They had more than two hundred heads of
black cattle, and upward of four hundred swine, of which they were
deprived, together with large stores of corn, and three hundred acres more
just ripening for the harvest. They arrived at Sandusky on the 11th of
October--a distance of one hundred and twenty-five miles from their homes.
They were treated with great harshness on their march, especially by
Girty, who, in the course of the Winter subsequent to their removal,
caused their missionaries to be arrested by order of the commandant at
Detroit, to which place they were transferred. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] These good men, after many trials and vexations, were ultimately
released, and Half King charged all the blame upon Girty, whose iniquity
in the premises the Indian prince indignantly exposed and denounced. The
British Government also censured the conduct of its officers in regard
to the proceedings, especially the harsh treatment of the missionaries.

While the meek and pious missionaries, amid the tears and other
manifestations of grief of their people, were preparing for the journey
to Detroit, intelligence of a most painful character was received. Being
pressed by hunger at Sandusky, a considerable number of the Moravian
Indians, with some of their families, had been allowed to return to their
former habitations on the Muskingum, to secure their corn, and such other
provisions as they could find, and forward the same from time to time to
their suffering brethren. Unhappily, while this peaceable party were thus
engaged at Salem and Gnadenhuetten, the weather being favorable for the
operations of scalping parties, a few hostile Indians of Sandusky had made
a descent upon the Pennsylvania frontier, and murdered the family of Mr.
William Wallace, consisting of his wife and five or six children. A man
named John Carpenter was taken prisoner at the same time.

Enraged at these outrages, a band of between one and two hundred men, from
the settlements of the Monongahela, turned out in quest of the marauders,
thirsting for vengeance, under the command of Colonel David Williamson.
Each man provided himself with arms, ammunition, and provisions, and the
greater number were mounted. They bent their course directly for the
settlements of Salem and Gnadenhuetten, arriving within a mile of the
latter place at the close of the second day's march. Colonel Gibson,
commanding at Pittsburgh, having heard of Williamson's expedition,
despatched messengers to apprise the Indians of the circumstance, but they
arrived too late.

It was on the morning of the 7th of March that Williamson and his gang
reached the settlement of Gnadenhuetten, the very day on which the
Indians, having accomplished their labors, were bundling up their luggage
for retracing their steps to Sandusky. Some of their number, however, were
yet in the fields gathering corn, as were many others in the town of
Salem, at no great distance thence. The party of Williamson divided
themselves into three detachments, so disposed as to approach the
settlements from as many different points at once. The Indians had indeed
been apprised of Williamson's approach by four Delaware Indians on the
day before; but, conscious of their own innocence, and least of all
anticipating harm from the Americans, they continued in their pacific
occupations without suspicion of danger.

When within a short distance of the settlement, though yet in the woods,
the advance guard of one of Williamson's divisions met a young Indian
half-blood, named Joseph Shabosh, whom they murdered in the most cruel and
wanton manner. The youth was catching horses, when he was shot at and
wounded so badly that he could not escape. He then informed them who he
was; stated that his father was a white man and a Christian; and begged
for his life. But they regarded not his entreaties. His arm had been
broken by the first shot. He was killed by a second, tomahawked and
scalped, and cut into pieces with the hatchets of his murderers. Another
Indian youth, a brother-in-law of young Shabosh, who was engaged in
binding corn, about one hundred and fifty yards from the town, saw the
white men approaching. Knowing some of them, however, and supposing them
to be friends, he addressed them as such. But he was soon undeceived. He
saw them shoot one of his Indian brethren who was crossing the river in
a canoe, and immediately ran away in affright. Unfortunately, in his panic
he ran from the village instead of toward it, so that no alarm was given
until the Americans had quite proceeded into the heart of the town.

Many of the Indians were scattered over the fields at work, and were
hailed by Williamson's men representing themselves as "friends and
brothers, who had come purposely from Fort Pitt to relieve them from the
distress brought upon them by the enemy, on account of their being friends
to the American people." The Indians, not doubting their sincerity, gave
credence to their professions, and walking up to them, thanked them for
their kindness. Their treacherous visitors next persuaded them to cease
work and go into the village; as it was their purpose to take them to
Fort Pitt, in order to their greater security from the Wyandots, where
they would be abundantly supplied with all they might want. Delighted with
such an unexpected friendly visitation, the Indians mingled with the
strangers with the utmost cordiality, walking and conversing with them
like old acquaintances. They delivered up their arms, and began with all
alacrity to prepare food for their refreshment. Meantime a messenger was
despatched to Salem, "to inform the brethren and sisters there of what had
taken place at Gnadenhuetten; the messenger giving it as his opinion that
perhaps God had ordained it so, that they should not perish upon the
barrens of Sandusky, and that those people were sent to relieve them."

Pleased with the communication, and yet unwilling to act precipitately,
the party at Salem deputed two of their number to confer with their
brethren and the white men at Gnadenhuetten. Communications were
interchanged, which were mutually satisfactory. The dissembling of
Williamson and his men was so complete as to win the entire confidence of
the simple-minded people; and at the solicitation of the party at
Gnadenhuetten, those at Salem came over and joined their insidious
visitors, for the purpose of removing to the white settlements, where, as
they were farther assured, all their wants would be supplied by the
Moravian brethren at Bethlehem. A party of Williamson's men were detached
to Salem to assist in bringing all the Indians and their effects to
Gnadenhuetten; and, still farther to win upon the easy confidence of
their victims, this precious collection of assassins made zealous
professions of piety, and discoursed to the Indians, and among each other,
upon religious subjects. On leaving Salem, the white men applied the
torch to the houses and church of the village, under the pretext of
depriving the hostile Indians of their benefit.

Having, like their brethren at Gnadenhuetten, delivered up all their arms,
their axes, hatchets, and working-tools, under the stipulation that they
were all to be returned to them at Pittsburgh, the party from Salem set
out with light hearts to enjoy the white man's kind protection. But on
approaching the other village, their apprehensions were awakened, by marks
in the sand, as though an Indian had recently been weltering there in his
blood. They, nevertheless, proceeded to the village to join their
brethren; but on their arrival thither a sad change came over their
waking dream of happiness. Instead of being treated as Christian friends
and brothers, they were at once roughly designated as warriors and
prisoners; and already, previous to their arrival, had their brethren,
sisters, and children at Gnadenhuetten, been seized and confined for the
purpose of being put to death. The party from Salem were now completely
within the toils of their enemies. They could neither fight nor fly.
Besides that their religious creed forbade them to do the one, they had
no weapons of defence, and they were surrounded by armed men, who would
not suffer them to escape.

As a pretext for this usage, Williamson and his men now charged them with
having stolen their horses, and all their working tools and
furniture--charges not only untrue, but known to be so by their accusers.
A more humble, devout, and exemplary community of Christians, probably,
was not at that day to be found in the new world. Under the untiring
instructions of their missionaries, they had been taught the dress and
practices of civilized life. They were tillers of the soil, and had become
so well acquainted with the usages of society, and were so well furnished
with the necessaries and some of the luxuries of life, that they could set
a comfortable table and a cup of coffee before a stranger. All the animals
and articles charged upon them as having been stolen, were their own
private property, honestly acquired. But their protestations of innocence,
and their entreaties, alike were vain. Their betrayers were bent upon
shedding their blood.

Still, the officers were unwilling to take upon themselves the exclusive
responsibility of putting them to death, and the solemn farce of a council
was held upon the subject. By this tribunal it was determined that the
question of life or death should be decided by a vote of the whole
detachment. The men were thereupon paraded, and Williamson put the
question, "whether the Moravian Indians should be taken prisoners to
Pittsburgh, or put to death?" requesting all in favor of saving their
lives to advance in front of the line. Only sixteen or eighteen of the
whole number were by this process found to be inclined to mercy, and the
poor trembling prisoners were immediately admonished that they must
prepare to die.

Some, indeed, there were among the blood-thirsty gang eager to commence
the work of death _instanter_; but as the victims united in begging a
short delay for their devotions, the request was granted. "Then, asking
pardon for whatever offence they had given or grief they had occasioned
to each other, the Indians kneeled down, offering prayers to God their
Saviour--and kissing one another under a flood of tears, fully resigned
to his will, they sang praises unto Him, in the joyful hope that they
would soon be relieved from all pains, and join their Redeemer in
everlasting bliss. During the time of their devotions, the murderers were
consulting on the manner in which they would put them to death." Some
were for setting fire to the houses, and dispatching them as by an _auto
da fe_; others were for killing them outright, and bearing their scalps
as trophies back to their homes; while those who had opposed the execution
yet protested against "the deep damnation of their taking off," and
withdrew. Impatient of delay, the blood-thirsty wretches interrupted the
last hymn they could sing in this world, and demanded if they were not
ready for death. They were answered in the affirmative--the victims
adding: "That they had commended their immortal souls to God, who had
given them the assurance in their hearts that he would receive their
souls." Then seizing a mallet from a cooper's shop, one of the ruffians
commenced the work of murder by knocking the Indians on the head. Having
killed fourteen successively in this manner, he desisted, and handing the
weapon over to another, remarked--"Go on in the same way; I think I have
done pretty well!" Those who had opposed the murder stood at a distance,
wringing their hands, and calling God to witness "that they were innocent
of the lives of these harmless Christian Indians."

The first victim in the other slaughter-house--for such both in which the
Indians were confined became--was an aged Indian woman named Judith, a
widow, of great piety. In a few minutes the work of death was completed.
Ninety Indians, Christians and unarmed--unoffending in every respect--were
murdered in cold blood. Among them were old men and matrons, young men and
maidens, and infants at their mothers' breasts. Sixty-two of the number
were grown persons, one third of whom were women, and the remaining
thirty-four were children. Five of the slain were assistant teachers, two
of whom had been exemplary members of the pious Brainard's congregation
in New Jersey. The convert chief Isaac Glickhickan, was also among the
slain. Only two of the captives escaped this shocking massacre. They were
both young. One of them eluded the murderers by creeping unobserved into
a cellar, from whence he stole into the woods; and the other having been
knocked down and scalped, feigned death, and escaped after the murderers
left the place. This they did not do, however, until they supposed all
were dead. On completing the work, they retired for a short distance to
recruit their strength; but, as though resolved that not a living soul
should have the remotest chance of escape, they returned to take another
look at the dead; and observing a youth, scalped and bloody, supporting
himself with his hands upon the floor in order to rise, the monsters
dispatched him with their hatchets! As night drew on, they set fire to the
buildings, and thereupon departed for their own homes, singing and yelling
with demoniac joy at the victory they had achieved. According to the
accounts of the American newspapers of that day, this massacre was a very
commendable transaction; it was represented that the attack of Williamson
was made upon a body of warriors, who had been collecting a large quantity
of provisions in the Muskingum, for supplying their own warriors and other
hostile savages. It was stated, as the cause of their destruction having
been so complete, that they were surprised and attacked in their cabins
at night; and it was exultingly added, that "about eighty horses fell
into the hands of the victors, which they loaded with the plunder, the
greatest part furs and skins--and returned to the Ohio without the loss
of a man!" [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Pennsylvania Gazette, April 17,1782. The author will add, in this
place, that the preceding account of this unparalleled case of wholesale
murder has been chiefly prepared from the accurate and laborious
Heckewelder, together with extracts from Doddridge's Notes on the Indian
Wars, and Loekiel, as quoted in Drake's Book of the Indians.

If through the whole extent of the voluminous records of savage wars in
America, a deed of darker treachery, or of deeper atrocity, than this
massacre of the Moravian Indians, is to be found, it has thus far escaped
the research of the author of the present work. The uncivilized and
unchristianized savages themselves were amazed at the enormity of the
bloody deed. But the construction they put upon the transaction, as a
providential occurrence, was curious and striking. They said they had
envied the condition of their relations, the believing Indians, and could
not bear to look upon their happy and peaceful lives in contrast with
their own lives of privation and war. Hence they had endeavored to take
them from their own tranquil homes, and draw them back, into heathenism,
that they might be reduced again to a level with themselves. But the
Great Spirit would not suffer it to be so, and had taken them to himself.
[FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Heckewelder--Nar. Moravian Missions.

After this massacre, the Indians at Sandusky--not only those who were
Christians, but the Wyandots, and others who were hostile, watched the
movements of the whites along the Ohio with ceaseless vigilance. Two
months having expired after the destruction of the Moravians, another
expedition was organized to go against the Wyandots and other Indian
tribes in the Sandusky country. The number of men volunteering for the
campaign, was four hundred and eighty. They were mustered at the old
Mingo towns on the western bank of the Ohio. An election was held for the
office of Commander-in-chief of the expedition--Colonels Williamson and
William Crawford being the candidates. The choice devolved upon the
latter, who was an unwilling candidate, and accepted the post with
reluctance. The same men who had murdered the Moravians, composed the
present army in part, and the march was commenced with a determination
that not the life of an Indian, friend or foe, should be spared. The
expedition had been organized with great secrecy, as it was supposed; and
as the men were mounted, the intention was by a rapid march to fall upon
the Wyandot towns by surprise. Arriving, however, at the Moravian towns
where the murders had been committed, three Indians were discovered by
Crawford, who fled at a pace too rapid to be overtaken. The pursuit of
them was disorderly, and from the conduct of his men on that occasion,
their commander lost confidence in them, and from that moment entertained
a presentiment of defeat. So far from the advance of Crawford being a
secret, it ultimately appeared that the Indians had been narrowly watching
his progress at every step. They saw the gathering at the Mingo towns, and
counted their numbers. They had also been apprised of the resolve that
"no quarter was in any instance to be given." [FN] It was to be expected,
then, that at some point they would be prepared for Crawford's reception.

* * * * *

[FN] Doddridge.

Crawford and Williamson had intended first to strike upon the Moravian
town on the Sandusky; but on arriving at that place, they discovered that
the Indians had seasonably withdrawn so that the brave Williamson had no
non-combatants to vanquish. The town was, in fact, covered with tall
grass, the Indians having removed to the Scioto some time before. Crawford
and Williamson then directed their course for several towns of the hostile
Indians--by whom they were unexpectedly drawn into an engagement upon an
open prairie, the Indian warriors themselves being concealed by the
shrubbery upon its margin. Night came on before the battle was terminated;
and the Indians, expecting a reinforcement from the Shawanese before
morning, made their dispositions for surrounding the Americans at
daylight. But when morning came, the white man was not there. The
Americans, indeed, had not acquitted themselves like soldiers during the
engagement of the preceding afternoon, and they availed themselves of the
darkness to escape--greatly to the mortification of the Indians and their
daring leader, Captain Pipe. They had encamped upon the prairie; and so
silent was their flight, that some of them, not aware of the retreat, were
found by the Indians in the morning still sleeping amid the tall
prairie-grass, where they had laid themselves down.

An active pursuit of the fugitives took place, and many straggling
parties were overtaken and cut to pieces. Upward of a hundred were thus
either killed outright or taken. Among the latter were Colonel William
Crawford, his son, and Doctor McKnight. The former of these gentlemen
had rendered himself particularly offensive to the Indians by his
successful campaigns against them, so that his capture was a triumph. It
was still more unfortunate for him that he was taken while serving with
such a commander as Williamson--against whom, for his cruel treachery at
Gnadenhuetten, the savages were cherishing the bitterest feelings of
revenge. Crawford, however, had not been engaged in that shameful affair,
but being found among the same men who had murdered their friends and
relations in March, the Indians could not draw the distinction. They had
anxiously sought for Williamson, but on being informed that he was among
the first to escape, they called out "revenge! revenge!" on whomsoever
they had in their power.

Crawford would probably have made good his retreat but that he lingered
behind in anxiety for his son, whom he supposed yet to be in the rear.
After wandering two days in the woods with Dr. McKnight, both were taken
by a party of Delawares, and conducted to the Old Wyandot town. Here
Captain Pipe, with his own hands, painted the prisoners black, a certain
premonition of the doom that awaited them. From thence they were taken to
the New Wyandot town, passing on the way the mangled remains of a number
of their fellow-captives. At the new town, the place appointed for the
execution of Crawford, they found the noted Simon Girty. It had been
decided that Crawford should die by the most aggravated torture, to atone
in some degree for the murders by Williamson and his men at Gnadenhuetten.
After he was bound to the fatal post, the surviving Christian Indians were
called upon to come forth and take vengeance on the prisoner; but they had
withdrawn, and their savage relations stepped forward in their stead.
Before the work of torture was commenced, Captain Pipe addressed the
Indians at some length, and in the most earnest manner, at the close of
which they all joined in a hideous yell, and prepared for the work in
hand. The fire was kindled, when it occurred to poor Crawford, that among
the sachems he had a particular friend, named Wingemund. "Where is my
friend Wingemund?" he asked, "I wish to see him." It is true that this
chief had been the warm friend of Colonel Crawford, by whom he had been
entertained at his own house. Under these circumstances Crawford indulged,
a faint degree of hope, that if he could see the chief, his life might yet
be saved. Wingemund was not far distant, having, in fact, retired from the
place of execution, that he might not behold what he could not prevent. He
was sent for, however, and an interesting and even affecting conversation
ensued between himself and the prisoner. This conversation was commenced
by Crawford, who asked the chief if he knew him. He replied that he
believed he did, and asked--"Are you not Colonel Crawford?" "I am,"
replied the Colonel; and the conversation was thus continued--the chief
discovering much agitation and embarrassment, and
ejaculating--"So!--Yes!--Indeed!"

"_Colonel Crawford._ Do you not recollect the friendship that always
existed between us, and that we were always glad to see each other?

"_Sachem._ Yes, I remember all this; and that we have often drunk
together, and that you have been kind to me.

"_Col. C._ Then I hope the same friendship still continues.

"_Sachem._ It would, of course, were you where you ought to be, and not
here.

"_Col. C._ And why not here? I hope you would not desert a friend in time
of need; now is the time for you to exert yourself in my behalf, as I
should do for you were you in my place.

"_Sachem._ Colonel Crawford, you have placed yourself in a situation which
puts it out of my power, and that of others of your friends, to do any
thing for you.

"_Col. C._ How so, Captain Wingemund?

"_Sachem._ By joining yourself to that execrable man, Williamson, and his
party. The man who, but the other day, murdered such a number of the
Moravian Indians, knowing them to be friends; knowing that he ran no risk
in murdering a people who would not fight, and whose only business was
praying.

"_Col. C._ But, I assure you, Wingemund, that had I been with him at the
time, this would not have happened. Not I alone, but all your friends, and
all good men, reprobate acts of this kind.

"_Sachem._ That may be, yet these friends, these good men, did not prevent
him from going out again to kill the remainder of those inoffensive yet
foolish Moravian Indians. I say _foolish,_ because they believed the
whites in preference to us. We had often told them that they would one day
be so treated by those people who called themselves their friends. We told
them there was no faith to be placed in what the white men said; that
their fair promises were only intended to allure, that they might the more
easily kill us, as they have done many Indians before they killed those
Moravians.

"_Col. C._ I am sorry to hear you speak thus. As to Williamson's going out
again, when it was known that he was determined on it, I went out with him
to prevent him from committing fresh murders.

"_Sachem._ This the Indians would not believe, were I to tell them so.

"_Col. C._ And why would they not believe it?

"_Sachem._ Because it would have been out of your power to prevent his
doing what he pleased.

"_Col. C._ Out of my power? Have any Moravian Indians been, killed or hurt
since we came out?

"_Sachem._ None. But you went first to their town, and finding it empty
and deserted, you turned on the path toward us. If you had been in search
of warriors only, you would not have gone thither. Our spies watched you
closely. They saw you while you were embodying yourselves on the other
side of the Ohio. They saw you cross that river; they saw where you
encamped at night; they saw you turn off from the path to the deserted
Moravian town; they knew you were going out of your way; your steps were
constantly watched; and you were suffered quietly to proceed until you
reached the spot where you were attacked.

"_Col. C._ (With emotion.) What do they intend to do with me?

"_Sachem._ I tell you with grief. As Williamson, with his whole cowardly
host, ran off in the night at the whistling of our warriors' balls, being
satisfied that now he had no Moravians to deal with, but men who could
fight, and with such he did not wish to have any thing to do; I say, as he
has escaped, and they have taken you, they will take revenge on you in his
stead.

"_Col. C._ And is there no possibility of preventing this? Can you devise
no way to get me off? You shall, my friend, be well rewarded, if you are
instrumental in saving my life.

"_Sachem._ Had Williamson been taken with you, I and some friends, by
making use of what you have told me, might, perhaps, have succeeded in
saving you; but as the matter now stands, no man would dare to interfere
in your behalf. The King of England himself were he to come to this spot
with all his wealth and treasure, could not effect this purpose. The blood
of the innocent Moravians, more than half of them women and children,
cruelly and wantonly murdered, calls aloud for _revenge._ The relatives of
the slain, who are among us, cry out and stand ready for _revenge._ The
Shawanese, our grand-children, have asked for your fellow-prisoner; on him
they will take _revenge._ All the nations connected with us cry out,
_revenge! revenge!_ The Moravians, whom you went to destroy, having fled
instead of avenging their brethren, the offence has become national, and
the nation itself is bound to take _revenge._

"_Col. C._ My fate is then fixed, and I must prepare to meet death in its
worst form.

"_Sachem._ Yes, Colonel. I am sorry for it, but I cannot do any thing for
you. Had you attended to the Indian principle, that good and evil cannot
dwell together in the same heart, so a good man ought not to go into evil
company, you would not have been in this lamentable situation. You see
now, when it is too late, after Williamson has deserted you, what a bad
man he must be. Nothing now remains for you but to meet your fate like a
brave man. Farewell, Colonel Crawford! They are coming. I will retire to
a solitary spot." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Heckewelder's Indian Nations.

On turning away from his friend, whom it was not in his power to assist,
it is said the old Sachem was affected to tears, and could never
afterward speak of the incident without deep emotion. The moment the chief
had left the Colonel, a number of the executioners rushed upon him, and
commenced the work of torture, which was in progress three hours before
the victim fell upon his face and expired with a groan. During the
proceedings against him, he was continually and bitterly upbraided for the
conduct of the white men at Gnadenhuetten. If not himself a participator
in that atrocious affair, they reproached him for having now come against
them with the worst kind of murderers--such as even Indians had not among
them. "Indians," said they, "kill their enemies, but not their friends.
When once they have stretched forth their hand, and given that endearing
name, they do not kill. But how was it with the believing Indians on the
Muskingum? You professed friendship for them. You hailed and welcomed them
as such. You protested they should receive no harm from you. And what did
you afterward to them? They neither ran from you, nor fired a single shot
on your approach. And yet you called them warriors, knowing they were not
such! Did you ever hear warriors pray to God, and sing praises to him, as
they did? Could not the shrieks and cries of the innocent little children
excite you to pity, and to save their lives? No! you did not! You would
have the Indians believe you are Christians, because you have the Great
Book among you, and yet you are murderers in your hearts! Never would the
unbelieving Indians have done what you did, although the Great Spirit has
not put his Book into their hands as into yours! The Great Spirit taught
you to read all that he wanted you to do, and what he forbade that you
should do. These Indians believed all that they were told was in that
Book, and believing, strove to act accordingly. We knew you better than
they did. We often warned them to beware of you and your pretended
friendship; but they would not believe us. They believed nothing but good
of you, and for this they paid with their lives." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Heckewelder's Narrative of the Moravian Missions. "There was farther
a circumstance much against this unfortunate man, which enraged the
Indians to a high degree. It was reported that the Indian spies sent to
watch their movements, on examining a camp which Crawford and Williamson
had left, west of the Ohio, had found on trees peeled for the purpose,
the words, written with coal and other mineral substances--'_No quarters
to be given to an Indian, whether man, woman, or child._' When the
Indians find inscriptions on trees or other substances, they are in the
habit of making exact copies of them, which they preserve until they find
some one to read or interpret them. Such was the fact in the present
case, and the inscription was sufficient to enrage them."--_Idem._

It was, indeed, most unhappy for Colonel Crawford, that he had been
captured in such company; but never were reproaches more righteously
heaped upon the heads of the guilty than on this occasion. Never was the
scorpion lash of satire more justly inflicted--could but the really guilty
have been there to feel its withering rebuke. The son of Colonel Crawford,
himself doomed to the same fate, was present with Dr. Knight, {_sic_} and
obliged to behold the torture, and listen to the agonising ejaculations of
his parent, without being able to render assistance or offer a word of
consolation. [FN] The sufferings of the son followed close upon those of
the father; but with Dr. Knight it was otherwise. He was reserved for
sacrifice by the Shawanese, and while on his way thither contrived to
escape, and, after twenty-one days of hardship and hunger in the
wilderness, succeeded in gaining Fort McIntosh.

* * * * *

[FN] Withren's Chronicles, quoted by Drake in his Book of the Indians.
Dr. Ramsay says it was Colonel Crawford's son-in-law who was present, and
subsequently underwent the same fate.

The defeat of Colonel Boon at the Blue Licks in August, the massacre of
the Moravian Indians, and the fate of Crawford and his expedition, are the
last tales of blood connected with the American Revolution. It is true
that in September following, a large body of Indians laid siege to the
fort at Wheeling, but the siege was raised without farther bloodshed than
the death of one man in the fort and of three or four without. A barn was
burnt at Rice's fort, which was also invested, but not seriously, and the
Indians withdrew to their own wilds. Should the details of the last few
pages be considered rather too ample for the general plan of the present
work, it must be remembered that the awarding of justice to the Indian
character also entered largely into its design. The transaction on the
Muskingum forms one of the darkest pages in the records of civilized war;
unsurpassed, certainly, if not unparalleled, in the history, written or
unwritten, of the whole aboriginal race. The victims were not only
innocent and harmless, but, obedient to the precepts of their religion,
offered no resistance to their hypocritical murderers, and poured out
their blood like water--crimson libations in sacrifice to the white man's
rapacity and hate. Nor can the Indians be censured for the fate of
Crawford.

With the exception of the Indian details in the present chapter, the year
1782 passed away without furnishing any military operations of moment,
under the immediate direction of the respective Commanders-in-chief. Sir
Guy Carleton had probably been restrained from offensive war by
instructions conforming to the pacific vote of the House of Commons, cited
in the early part of the present chapter; while the condition of the
American army, had Washington been otherwise disposed, disabled him from
making any attempt on the posts in possession of the British. Generals
Greene and Wayne had reconquered the south; and Sir Guy Carleton had
directed the officers of his Majesty in the north to send out no more
Indian expeditions and to recall those already on foot. Still,
notwithstanding all these conciliatory indications, there remained a
possibility that the conflict was not yet ended. A change of ministers in
England might produce a change of policy. In view of this uncertainty, the
Commander-in-chief relaxed none of his efforts during the year to
preserve the discipline of the army, and keep the country in an attitude
of defence. In pursuance of this policy, in the month of January, 1783,
news of the signing of a treaty of peace not having yet been received,
the Commander-in-chief conceived the project of surprising and obtaining
possession of the important fortress of Oswego. It was the occupation of
this post which gave the British such ready facilities for intriguing with
the Six Nations on the one hand, and for pouring their motley battalions
down upon the American settlements; and the Commander-in-chief judged
wisely, that in the event of another campaign the possession of that
fortress would be of the first consequence to the Americans, being then
one of the most formidable military defences on the Continent.

* * * * *

[FN] Marshall.

Having determined to attempt its capture by surprise, the execution of the
project was confided to Colonel Willett. With the utmost secrecy
therefore, as to destination, the troops of his command were suddenly
assembled at Fort Herkimer on the eighth of February. Commencing their
march immediately, on the night of the 9th they crossed the Oneida lake,
and arrived at Oswego Falls, a few miles only from the fortress, by two
o'clock P. M. on the following day. With the small force under his
command, and without the means of prosecuting a siege, it was of course
necessary to carry the works by escalade if at all. Halting, therefore, at
the Falls, the necessary ladders were constructed and the march was
resumed. At 10 o'clock in the evening they were within four miles of the
fort. After which, having marched about two hours, and not coming in sight
of the point of destination, an investigation of the cause was undertaken,
when, to the astonishment and mortification of the Commander, and to the
vexation of the whole corps, it was ascertained that, by diverging from
the river, their guide, a young Oneida Indian, had lost his way. The
situation was, indeed, awkward and perplexing. They had been at one time
nearly within speaking distance of the works, and the shout of victory was
almost raised in anticipation, when suddenly they discovered that they
were lost in a deep forest, in the depth of winter, and amid mountains of
snow. It was too late to prosecute the enterprise any farther that night.
They could not remain in the vicinity of the fortress over the ensuing
day without being discovered. And the instructions of the
Commander-in-chief were peremptory, that if they failed in surprising the
fort, the attempt would be unwarrantable. The only alternative, therefore,
was to relinquish the enterprise, and reluctantly retrace their steps. It
was a sad mistake of the poor Indian, but not an error of design. The
march had been one of great severity and fatigue. The guide had led them
into a swamp, and while they were standing still, after discovering
themselves to be lost, so cold was the weather, that the feet of some of
the men froze into the mire. The return march was even more painful still,
because of the lameness of some and the varied sufferings of others. One
man was frozen to death. But all happened well in the end, for on Colonel
Willett's return to Fort Rensselaer, and thence to Albany, he arrived at
the ancient Dutch capital just in season to hear the welcome news of peace
proclaimed by the Town Clerk at the City Hall, and to mingle his
rejoicings with those of the inhabitants.

An agreement for the cessation of hostilities between the United States
and Great Britain was signed by the respective commissioners of the two
powers on the 20th of January, upon the basis of the articles stipulated
in Paris on the 30th of the preceding November. And on the 24th of March,
a letter was received from the Marquis de Lafayette, announcing a general
peace. On the 11th of April Congress issued its proclamation, declaring
the cessation of arms by sea and land.

In regard to the failure of Colonel Willett's last expedition, no possible
censure was imputable to him. In reply to the Colonel's official account
of the affair, General Washington wrote a characteristic letter,
approving of his conduct, and consoling him for his disappointment.
"Unfortunate as the circumstance is," said the Commander-in-chief, "I am
happy in the persuasion that no imputation or reflection can justly reach
your character; and that you are enabled to derive much consolation from
the animated zeal, fortitude, and activity of the officers and soldiers
who accompanied you. The failure, it seems, must be attributed to some of
those unaccountable events which are not within the control of human
means, and which, though they often occur in military life, yet require,
not only the fortitude of the soldier, but the calm reflection of the
philosopher to bear. I cannot omit expressing to you the high sense I
entertain of your persevering exertions and zeal on this expedition; and
beg you to accept my warm thanks on the occasion; and that you will be
pleased to communicate my gratitude to the officers and men who acted
under your command, for the share they had in that service."

Thus ends the history of the border wars of the American Revolution--the
principal theatres of which were in the districts north and west of
Albany. The vale of the Mohawk, including its intersecting valley of the
Schoharie-kill, was among the most thickly populated and wealthy
agricultural districts of the country at the commencement of the war. The
productiveness of its soil, and the riches of its people, rendered it
ever an inviting object of plunder to the enemy--especially to the
savages, and the swarms of refugees who had fled from the country, and
were sharing a precarious livelihood among the Indian wigwams and in the
wilds of Canada. Its geographical position, moreover, rendered it the
most easily assailable of any well-peopled section of the whole Union;
while at the same time the larger armies of the enemy were employed
elsewhere, and of course required the greatest portion of the physical
strength of the country elsewhere to oppose them. The consequence of
these, and other circumstances that might be enumerated, was, that no
other section or district of country in the United States, of the like
extent, suffered in any comparable degree as much from the war of the
Revolution as did that of the Mohawk. It was the most frequently invaded
and overrun; and that, too, by an enemy far more barbarous than the native
barbarians of the forest. Month after month, for seven long years, were
its towns and villages, its humbler settlements and isolated habitations,
fallen upon by an untiring and relentless enemy, until, at the close of
the contest, the appearance of the whole district was that of wide-spread,
heart-sickening, and universal desolation. In no other section of the
confederacy were so many campaigns performed, so many battles fought, so
many dwellings burnt, or so many murders committed. And those who were
left at the return of peace, were literally a people "scattered and
peeled." It was the computation, two years before the close of the war,
that one third of the population had gone over to the enemy, and that one
third had been driven from the country, or slain in battle and by private
assassination. And yet, among the inhabitants of the other remaining
third, in June, 1783, it was stated, at a public meeting held at Fort
Plain, that there were three hundred widows and two thousand orphan
children. But with the news of peace the dispersed population began to
return to the sites of their former homes. [FN] Their houses were rebuilt,
and their farms once more brought into cultivation; while different and
not less enterprising occupants, deriving their titles from the state,
took possession of the confiscated lands of those who had adhered to the
cause of the crown. The spirit of industry and enterprise, so
characteristic of the American people, was not long in imparting a new
aspect to the scene; and Tryon County, exchanging her name for that of the
patriot Montgomery, soon smiled through her tears.

* * * * *

[FN] Along with the returning patriots, as Satan was wont in the olden
time occasionally to present himself in better company, some of the
Tories began to steal back into the country they had forsaken, and
assisted to drench in tears of blood. But the Whig population would not
endure their presence. The preceding narrative of events has shown that
the Tryon County loyalists, who had taken arms in company with the
Indians, were far more revengeful and bloody than were the Indians
themselves. It is no marvel, therefore, that a feeling of peculiar
bitterness against them existed in the bosoms of those who had suffered
so keenly at their hands. These feelings were embodied and declared at
two public meetings held in different sections of Tryon County, in June,
1783; for which, see Appendix, No. V.

Other scenes and other wars will afford materials for the remaining
chapters of the present volumes, as connected with the subsequent life
and career of Joseph Brant--Thayendanegea.

CHAPTER VIII.

The Treaty of Peace--Neglect of her Indian allies by Great
Britain--Brant's negotiations with General Haldimand for a new
territory--The Senecas invite the Mohawks to settle in the Genesee
Valley--Declined--The Grand River country granted to the Mohawks by Sir
Frederick Haldimand--Indian policy of the United States--Views of
Washington and General Schuyler--Treaty with the Six Nations at Fort
Stanwix--Corn-planter and Red Jacket take opposite aides--Peace with the
Six Nations--Dissatisfaction of the Indians--Of Thayendanegea in
particular--Letter of Brant to Colonel Monroe--Relinquishes his design
of going then to England--Returns to Grand River--Differences of
opinion with Sir John Johnson--Brant sails for England in the Autumn of
1785--His arrival--Glimpses of his ulterior designs--His distinguished
reception--Enters upon the business of his mission--Letter to Lord
Sidney--Speech of Brant to Lord Sidney--Letter of Lord Sidney in
reply--Question of half-pay--Brant's Letter to Sir Evan Nepean--His
associations with the great--Keen sarcasm upon a nobleman--Striking
incident at a grand masquerade--Brant's attention to the moral wants of
his people--His return to Canada.

The treaty of November, 1782, restoring peace between the United States
and Great Britain, and recognising the unconditional independence of the
former, was such as to gratify every reasonable wish of the American
people. In regard to questions of boundary and the fisheries, it was,
indeed, more liberal than their allies, France and Spain, desired.
Professedly, France had drawn the sword in behalf of the United States;
but the negotiations for peace presented the singular fact, that but for
the diplomacy of the former, the treaty of peace would have been sooner
completed. The negotiation was a work of intricacy, requiring skill,
penetration, judgment, and great firmness on the part of the American
commissioners--qualities which their success proved them to possess in an
eminent degree. But, although the American treaty was first definitively
concluded, less than two months elapsed before preliminary articles of
peace were agreed upon and signed between Great Britain, France, and
Spain; France having the satisfaction of seeing her great rival
dismembered of the fairest portion of her American possessions, as she
herself had been by that very power twenty years before.

In the treaty with the United States, however, Great Britain had made no
stipulation in behalf of her Indian allies. Notwithstanding the alacrity
with which the aboriginals, especially the Mohawks, had entered the
service of the crown--notwithstanding their constancy, their valor, the
readiness with which they had spilt their blood, and the distinguished
services of their Great Captain, Thayendanegea, the loyal red man was not
even named in the treaty; while "the ancient country of the Six Nations,
the residence of their ancestors from the time far beyond their earliest
traditions, was included within the boundary granted to the Americans."
[FN-1] What with the descent of Colonel Van Schaick upon the Onondagas,
and the expedition of General Sullivan into their territory farther west,
their whole country had been ravaged with fire and sword; and the Mohawks,
in particular, had sacrificed the entire of their own rich and beautiful
country. It appears, however, that when the Mohawks first abandoned their
native valley to embark in his Majesty's service, Sir Guy Carleton had
given a pledge, that as soon as the war was at an end they should be
restored, at the expense of the government, to the condition they were in
before the contest began. In April, 1779, General Haldimand, then Captain
General and Commander-in-chief in Canada, ratified the promise of his
predecessor, pledging himself, under hand and seal, as far as in him lay,
to its faithful execution "as soon as that happy time should come." [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] MS. memorial of the Six Nations, presented to Lord Camden by
Teyoninhokarawen, commonly called John Norton.

[FN-2] MS. order of General Haldimand, among the Brant papers.

At the close of the war the Mohawks were temporarily residing on the
American side of the Niagara river, in the vicinity of the old
landing-place above the fort. The Senecas, who had been in closer alliance
with the Mohawks during the war than any other of the Six Nations, and who
had themselves been chiefly induced by the former to take up the hatchet
against the United States, offered them a tract of land in the valley of
the Genesee. But, as Captain Brant long afterward said in one of his
speeches, the Mohawks were determined "to sink or swim" with the English;
and besides, they did not wish to reside within the boundaries of the
United States. The generous offer of the Senecas was therefore declined,
and the Mohawk Chief proceeded to Montreal to confer with the
Superintendent General of Indian Affairs, Sir John Johnson, and from
thence to Quebec, to claim from General Haldimand, the Commander-in-chief,
the fulfillment of his pledge. The General received the warrior with great
kindness, and evinced every disposition to fulfill the pledge in the most
honorable manner. The tract upon which the chief had fixed his attention
was situated upon the Bay de Quinte, on the north side of the St.
Lawrence, or rather of Lake Ontario; and at his request General Haldimand
agreed that it should be purchased and conveyed to the Mohawks.

On the return of Thayendanegea to Niagara, the Senecas were disappointed
at the arrangement, and pained at the idea that their friends were to be
located at so wide a distance from them. They were apprehensive that their
troubles with the United States were not yet at an end; and were,
therefore, exceedingly desirous that the Mohawks should reside so near as
to assist them in arms if necessary, or afford them an asylum should they
be obliged to flee from the oppression of the United States. Under these
circumstances Captain Brant convened a council of his people, and it was
resolved that he should make a second visit to Quebec, and, under the
peculiar circumstances of the case, request another and more convenient
territory. The country upon the Ouise, or Grand River, flowing into Lake
Erie some forty miles above the Falls of Niagara, was indicated to
General Haldimand as a location every way convenient, not only for
maintaining a ready intercourse with the residue of the Six Nations, but
also as affording facilities for corresponding with the nations and tribes
of the upper lakes. His Excellency approved of the suggestion, and
promptly ordered a second purchase to be made in conformity with the
request. On inquiring the extent of the territory expected by the Mohawks,
the Captain replied, "Six miles on each side of the river, from the mouth
to its source." With assurances that the grant should be formally secured
in fee, in due season, the chief returned once more to Niagara, and
shortly afterward entered into possession of the lands allotted for the
new home of his people. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] This narrative of facts is derived from a long speech of Captain
Brant, made in council, to Gov. Simcoe, in 1795, a copy of which is
preserved among the Brant papers.

In the Autumn of 1784, having learned that General Haldimand was about
returning to England, the vigilant chief repaired to Quebec a third time
upon this business, in order to make sure of the title deed. The result of
this visit was a formal grant by Sir Frederick Haldimand, in the name of
the crown, of a tract of land "upon the banks of the river Ouise, commonly
called Grand River, running into Lake Erie, of six miles breadth from each
side of the river, beginning at Lake Erie, and extending in that
proportion to the head of said river; which the Mohawks, and others of the
Six Nations who had either lost their possessions in the war, or wished to
retire from them to the British, with their posterity, were to enjoy
forever." [FN-1] The course of the river Ouise is about one hundred miles,
so that the grant embraced a territory of that extent in length by twelve
miles in width. "This tract, though much smaller than that which they had
been obliged to forsake within the United States, amply satisfied these
loyal Indians, who preferred living under the protection of His Britannic
Majesty, (ready to fight under his standard again, if occasion should
require,) to a more extensive country." [FN-2] The district of country
thus granted, is said to be alike beautiful and fertile. The Grand River
rises in the interior of the country toward Lake Huron, and winds its way
to Lake Erie through a long and picturesque course. It is navigable for
small vessels many miles upward, and for large boats a much greater
distance still. The land along its whole course is uncommonly productive.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Copy of the Grant, among the Brant papers.

[FN-2] Norton's Memorial to Lord Camden.

The policy to be observed by the United States toward the Indians residing
within their borders, was a question of grave and weighty importance, and
early arrested the consideration of American statesmen. Very soon after
the English came into possession of the Colony of New-York, the Six
Nations relinquished their own primitive right of absolute sovereignty,
and placed themselves and their lands under the protection of the
government of New-York, [FN-1] reserving to themselves a kind of qualified
sovereignty. The immediate object of this act, on the part of the Indians,
was to secure the alliance of the English in their wars with the French,
and the Huron and Algonquin Indians in Canada. [FN-2] Subsequently, during
the Colonial administration, the Indians were considered as separate but
dependent nations. [FN-3] Aside from this circumstance, however, by the
treaty of peace the sovereignty of all the Indian countries within the
prescribed limits granted to the United States by Great Britain, became
vested in the former, to the same extent, of course, as it had been
exercised by Great Britain. With that sovereignty, moreover, the exclusive
right of preemption to all the Indian lands lying within the territory of
the United States also became vested in them--subject to the possessory
right only of the natives. [FN-4] These rights had been acquired by
England by discovery, which, under the practice of the European nations,
was held to be equivalent to conquest; and although the natives were
admitted to possess a just and legal claim, as the original occupants of
the soil, to retain and use it according to their own discretion, still
they were not allowed to dispose of the soil at their own will, except to
the government claiming the right of preemption. [FN-5] Such was the
practice of Spain, France, Holland, and England; and as early as 1782,
Mr. Jay, then the American Minister at the Court of Madrid, in his
correspondence with the Count d'Aranda, asserted the adoption of the same
principle on the part of the United States. [FN-6] But while the right of
sovereignty, as it had been exercised by England, passed over to the
United States by virtue of the treaty, under the complicated system of the
confederacy, the preemptive right to the soil became vested in the
respective States within whose boundaries or grants they were
situated--the States themselves being so many sovereign powers in all
matters of national import which had not been specially conceded to the
Government of the Union under the Articles of Confederation.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Kent's Commentaries, vol. iii. p. 399.

[FN-2] Colden's Canada.

[FN-3] Kent's Commentaries.

[FN-4] Kent's Commentaries, vol. i. p. 257.

[FN-5] Idem, vol. iii. p. 379.

[FN-6] Life and Writings of John Jay.

The treatment of the Six Nations by the Dutch Colonial Government had been
kind and liberal. So, also, had it been under the Colonial Government of
England--the Indians, in no instance, being dispossessed of a rood of
ground, except by purchase. Immediately on the conclusion of the war,
however, England having made no stipulation in behalf of the Indians, a
disposition was manifested by the Legislature of New-York to expel the
Six Nations from all the country within the bounds of that state, which
had not been ceded by them previous to the war. [FN] This disposition,
which seems, likewise, to have been entertained to some extent in other
states, was viewed with great concern by Generals Washington and Schuyler,
who united in the opinion that such a line of policy would be alike
injudicious, inhuman, and unjust. General Schuyler addressed a memorial
to Congress upon the subject in July. Coinciding entirely in the
sentiments of Schuyler, Washington followed up that communication by a
long letter to James Duane, then in Congress, in September. The views of
these gentlemen were, that the most liberal and humane policy should be
adopted in respect to the Indians. True, they had taken up the hatchet in
favor of the crown, and by a rigid construction of the laws of conquest,
they might be dispossessed of their lands, and driven, with their allies,
north beyond the lakes. But General Washington strongly urged, that while
the Indians should be informed of the strict right of the United States
to deal thus severely with them, and compel them to share the same evil
fortune with those whom they had chosen for their allies, nevertheless,
looking upon them as a people who had been deluded into the service of the
crown, they should be allowed honorable terms of peace, and to retain the
possession of lands and hunting grounds, to be designated by treaty,
within the boundaries of which they should not be molested. It was the
desire of Washington, that with regard to these children of the forest, a
veil should be drawn over the past, and that they should be taught that
their true interest and safety must henceforward depend upon the
cultivation of amicable relations with the United States. In regard to the
Six Nations, he thought the course which the Legislature of New-York
seemed desirous of pursuing would involve the country in another Indian
war, since the Indians would never surrender their whole territory without
another struggle; while he justly held that all the territory that was
actually wanted by the people of the United States might be obtained by
negotiation and compromise. As a general principle, moreover, it was held
that, in all time to come, it would be much cheaper to obtain cessions of
land from the Indians, from time to time, as they should be required for
the extension of settlements, by purchase, than to acquire them by
conquest--to say nothing of the sufferings, the evils, and the guilt of
war. Upon this whole subject of Indian policy there was an entire
coincidence of opinion between Washington and Schuyler. Most happily it
prevailed, and the subsequent cession by the states of their Indian lands
to the general government, facilitated the benevolent action of the latter
under that system; the wisdom of which, irrespective of its justice and
humanity, has become every year more apparent since.

* * * * *

[FN] Letter of Washington to James Duane, Sept 7, 1783.

It was while the Mohawk chief was occupied in making his final
arrangements with the Canadian Commander-in-chief, as has been seen a few
pages back, that the sachems and warriors of the Six Nations were holding
a treaty with the United States at Fort Stanwix. At this negotiation, the
Mohawks, Onondagas, Senecas, Oneidas, Cayugas, Tuscaroras, and
Seneca-Abeal [FN-1] nations were represented. The Commissioners on the
part of the United States were Oliver Wolcott, Richard Butler, and Arthur
Lee. The records of this treaty, containing the speeches interchanged on
the occasion, seem not to have been preserved, as has been usual in
diplomatic matters with the Indians. Nothing appears upon the subject
among the Indian state-papers at the seat of Government, save the naked
result of the council, in the form of a very brief treaty, signed by the
nations represented instead of the several chiefs. It is known, however,
that among the leading chiefs who took an active part in the negotiations,
were the Corn-planter and Red Jacket; and enough is to be gathered from
the records of subsequent transactions with the Indians, to afford a
general idea of the course of these proceedings. Beyond doubt the
representatives of the Six Nations at that council were opposed to a
separate negotiation with the United States. Their desire was, that no
definitive treaty of peace and boundaries should be concluded, unless the
whole ground was covered at once; and, as a consequence, they strenuously
urged that the Hurons, Ottawas, Shawanese, Chippewas, Delawares,
Pottawattamies, the Wabash Confederates, and the Cherokees, should be
represented, in order that the whole question of boundaries, on all the
Indian borders, might be determined. [FN-2] But the Commissioners on the
part of the United States would listen to no such delay. The Six Nations,
as such, had taken up the hatchet in favor of the crown, and it was
determined to punish them by a dismemberment of their territory. Red
Jacket, a somewhat younger chief than the Corn-planter, was opposed to a
burial of the hatchet, and spoke with great eloquence and vehemence in
favor of a continuance of the war by the Indians on their own account.
"His speech was a masterpiece, and every warrior who heard him was carried
away with his eloquence." [FN-3] The Corn-planter was a wiser man than his
junior associate. He saw the folly of a war to be waged by the Indians
single-handed against the United States, and he exerted himself with all
his power in favor of peace. He saw that the only alternative of his
people was the relinquishment of a portion of their territory by
compromise, or the loss of the whole by force. His efforts were in the end
successful, and on the 22d of October a treaty was signed, by which the
United States gave peace to the Mohawks, Senecas, Onondagas, and
Cayugas--the four hostile nations of the confederacy--and received them
under their protection on condition that all the prisoners, white and
black, in the possession of the said nations, should be delivered up; the
Oneidas and Tuscaroras were secured in the possession of the lands then
in their occupation; the Six Nations at the same time relinquishing all
claims to the country west of a line beginning at the mouth of the
Oyonwayea Creek, flowing into Lake Ontario four miles east of Niagara;
thence southerly, but preserving a line four miles east of the carrying
path, to the mouth of the Tehoseroron, or Buffalo Creek; thence to the
north boundary of Pennsylvania; thence west to the end of that boundary;
and thence south along the Pennsylvania line, to the river Ohio. All the
Six Nations were to be secured in the possession of the lands they were
then occupying; and six hostages were to be delivered to the United
States, to remain in their possession until all the prisoners, whose
liberation was stipulated, should be surrendered by the Indians. [FN-4]
There was likewise a stipulation that the Indians should deliver up
certain persons of their own people, who were considered very great
offenders, to be tried by the civil laws of the United States. Two
persons were surrendered under this stipulation; but the Indians afterward
complained, that, instead of being tried according to law, they were
wrested from the hands of the magistrate by some of the lowest of the
white people, and immediately put to death. [FN-5]

* * * * *

[FN-1] The clan of the Senecas residing with the Corn-planter on the
Allegheny.

[FN-2] Speech of the united Indian nations at a confederate council,
holden at the month of the Detroit River, November and December, 1786.

[FN-3] Drake, who translates from Levasseur's Lafayette in America. The
Marquis de Lafayette was present at the treaty, and, when visited by Red
Jacket at Buffalo, during his tour through the United States in
1824-25, the General was reminded by the venerable chief of the
circumstance of their former meeting at Fort Stanwix. This is the
earliest account given of the eloquence of the man of the woods who
afterward became so renowned for his oratory.

[FN-4] Vide the treaty itself, American State Papers, Indian Affairs,
vol. i. Originally the Five Nations claimed "all the land not sold to the
English, from the mouth of Sorel River, on the south side of Lakes Erie
and Ontario, on both sides of the Ohio until it falls into the
Mississippi; and on the north side of those lakes, that whole territory
between the Ottawa river and Lake Huron, and even beyond the straights
between that and Lake Erie."--_Smith's History._

[FN-5] Speech of Big Tree, Corn-planter, and Half-Town, to President
Washington, in 1790.

The result of this negotiation gave great dissatisfaction to the Indians
generally; and the crafty Red Jacket afterward availed himself of the
advantages of his position, in stealing the hearts of the Senecas from the
Corn-planter to himself. The Mohawk chief, Thayendanegea, was likewise
highly displeased with the conditions of the treaty, the more so,
doubtless, from the circumstance that Captain Aaron Hill, a subordinate
chief of the Mohawk nation, was detained as one of the hostages under the
treaty. When he heard of the proceedings, the old chief was at Quebec. He
had completed his business with Sir Frederick Haldimand, and was on the
point of embarking for England, to adjust the claims of his nation upon
the crown for their sacrifices during the war. The design of going abroad
was immediately relinquished for that season, and Captain Brant hastened
back to his own country, to look after the welfare of his own people at
home. He arrived at Cataraqui on the 27th of November, and two days
afterward addressed a long letter to Colonel James Monroe, [FN] in which,
after expressing a wish that the letter may find the Colonel in health,
and thanking him for some recent personal civilities, he says--

* * * * *

[FN] Whether the Colonel Monroe, to whom this letter was addressed, was
the late President of the United States, the author has not ascertained;
and if so, it does not appear how he was connected with the Fort Stanwix
treaty.

"I was at Quebec, getting ready to set off from thence for England (you
know my business there perfectly well.) About the same time I received an
account that our chief, Capt Aaron Hill, [FN] was detained, and kept as a
prisoner at Fort Stanwix by the commissioners of Congress, and understood
that he was to be kept until all the American prisoners returned to their
own places, from the different nations of Indians, who are still remaining
amongst them. When I received, this disagreeable news, I immediately
declined going any farther from there. It did alarm me very much of
hearing this, because it was me that encouraged that chief to come and
attend that meeting at Fort Stanwix."

* * * * *

[FN] This chief was connected with the family of Thayendanegea. Aaron
Henry Hill married one of his daughters, and is spoken of by Captain
Brant, fifteen years afterward, in his correspondence with Thomas Morris,
Esq.

"I never did expect that it should be the cause of detaining chiefs in the
matter; for I thought the affair was too far gone to happen any such
things. The Congress have past their words to us that they wish to be
friends with all the Indians; and we likewise did the same to them.
However, suppose the commissioners of Congress did find it necessary for
them to detain some of the chiefs, I should have thought they could
reasonably have excused our chief, and let him gone, and kept other right
persons, who ought to be detained, because we are clear from keeping
prisoners since peace. As soon as the word came, peace, we let all our
prisoners go, except one or two children which could not help themselves.
Captain Aaron Hill had no conveniences to take with him when he went to
Fort Stanwix. We also all along advised the other tribes of Indians, since
peace, that the prisoners should go to their homes; and have during the
war always favored the prisoners, especially women and children; and
likewise did push the matter forward since, to promote peace, and to renew
the friendship with you again as we formerly had, in honestly manner. We
mean to go through with it and be done with it, that every body should
mind their own business and be happy. This is our customs and manners of
the Mohocks, whenever engaged any thing. They are all-ways active and
true;--no double faces at war, or any other business. All this makes me
think the commissioners should consider this, and our chief should [have]
gone home, for we have been a generous enemy to you during the war, and
very active in forwarding the matters of settling peace with you all last
Summer. I believe the commissioners must have some spite against the
Mohocks of using them so, through the advice of Priest Kertland and the
Oneidas, and he did likewise even to the Senekas, who were our friends. He
tried all he could that they should themselves be against the Mohocks; all
this I am well informed. Sir, these low-live tricks (it is very odd to me
why it should be so,) confuses me very much. I believe we shall be at
last prevented of becoming good friends with you. If it should be the
case, the fault shall not be ours, which I hope you will find so. It would
relieve me many points if you would be so kind as to answer me this
letter, as far as you will understand my English, and please to explain
me at once of your sentiments concerning this kind of complaint of mine,
let it be what it will, because whatever must be done its no help for it,
it must be so. If I could see you, and talk with you, I could explain
myself better than a letter half English half Indian. You remember I told
you that I should be happy to be present if any council-fire of yours
should be held in the Spring; I mean about the Indian affairs; and I
wanted to see you in New Jersies if I had time. But, my dear sir, I begin
to be backward about going there, since my chief is detained. Perhaps I
should be served the same, and be kept from my different sweethearts,
which would be too hard for me. It is the very thing which will deprive
me from having the pleasure to see you, and attending your council in the
Spring--except the affairs change in different footing. But believe me
this, let the affairs turn out what it will, I should be always very happy
to see you. I shall winter here, myself and family; early in the Spring I
shall leave this, and go to my new country at Grand River.

"I am your well-wisher,
And humble servant,
JOS. BRANT, or
Thayendanegea. [FN]

"_To Col. James Monroe._"

* * * * *

[FN] The MS. of this letter, preserved among the papers of Capt. Brant,
is probably the first rough draft. It was evidently written in great
haste, and the author has made a very few corrections where the errors
seemed clearly to be the effect of carelessness. Otherwise, it stands
as it was written. Captain Brant improved in his English composition
very much and very rapidly in after years.

What effect was produced by this letter, or how just were the complaints
set forth therein, is not known; but the probability is, that the
difficulty in regard to the detention of Hill was satisfactorily adjusted.
In any event, Captain Brant accomplished his purpose of visiting England
at the close of the year following, (1785.) Before his embarkation,
however, he seems to have formed a plan somewhat analogous to that
entertained, and in part accomplished, twenty years before, by
Pontiac--that of combining all the great north-western Indian nations into
a single grand confederacy, of which he was to be chief. In furtherance of
this design, he visited the country of the upper lakes, and held councils
with the nations. It is not known whether, like Pontiac, he meditated war
upon the United States, unless in the event of being attacked. Still, he
could not but look upon hostilities, in the event of the formation of his
confederacy, as more than probable. Ostensibly, his visit to England was
undertaken for the purpose of adjusting the claims of the loyal Mohawks
upon the crown, for indemnification of their losses and sacrifices in the
contest from which they had recently emerged. And such, probably, was the
sole design of the visit, when originally projected, the preceding year.
But the dissatisfaction existing in regard to the treaty of Fort Stanwix,
and other indications among the Indians, had probably increased the
objects of his mission. At all events, it soon appeared that, coupled with
the special business of the Indian claims, was the design of sounding the
British government, touching the degree of countenance or the amount of
assistance which he might expect from that quarter, in the event of a
general Indian war against the United States.

Sir John Johnson, who visited England immediately after the war, had
returned to Canada during the Summer of 1785. He seems likewise to have
been charged with the claims of the Mohawks, but accomplished nothing to
their satisfaction. Still, he was opposed to the mission of Captain Brant,
and wrote on the 6th of November, strongly dissuading him from undertaking
the voyage. Sir John thought the claims in question might be adjusted to
mutual satisfaction before the lapse of another year; and he hinted to his
friend that his own interest required his attention at home. "I need not,
I am sure," said the Baronet, "endeavor by many words, to point out to you
the critical situation of your own affairs; I mean those of your
confederacy; and how much the aid of every man of weight and influence
among you is wanting at present, to guard against the designs of your
enemies, who, by calling meetings at this time in every quarter, mean to
spare no pains to divide and separate your interests, thereby to lessen
your consequence and strength, and to answer their designs upon your
country and liberty." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] MS. Letter of Sir John Johnson, among the Brant papers.

But the chief was not to be diverted from his purpose. Embarking
immediately, and having a short passage, he was received by the nobility
and gentry with great consideration and respect. His arrival at Salisbury
was thus noted in a letter from that place, dated December 12, 1785, and
published in London. "Monday last, Colonel Joseph Brant, the celebrated
King of the Mohawks, arrived in this city from America, and after dining
with Colonel De Peister, at the head-quarters here, proceeded immediately
on his journey to London. This extraordinary personage is said to have
presided at the late grand Congress of confederate chiefs of the Indian
nations in America, and to be by them appointed to the conduct and chief
command in the war which they now meditate against the United States of
America. He took his departure for England immediately as that assembly
broke up; and it is conjectured that his embassy to the British Court is
of great importance. This country owes much to the services of Colonel
Brant during the late war in America. He was educated at Philadelphia; is
a very shrewd, intelligent person, possesses great courage and abilities
as a warrior, and is inviolably attached to the British nation."

What particular Indian council is referred to in the preceding quotation,
is unknown. Most likely it was connected with the ambitious project of
Thayendanegea already indicated; and it is, moreover, very likely that the
discontents of the north-western Indians, chiefly in relation to questions
of boundary, which ultimately produced the war of 1789-'95--may, even thus
early, have been at work in the bosoms of the Indians. Undoubtedly, if
such a council was held, "the Great Captain of the Six Nations" was
present. Certain it is, that while prosecuting the just claims of the
Mohawks at the British Court, he did not fail, with great adroitness,
though indirectly, to present the other subject to the consideration of
Lord Sidney, then Secretary for the Colonies. Indeed, it appears from a
passage in the letter of Sir John Johnson, already quoted, that that
gentleman had previously been sounding the government on the same
question. "With regard to the assistance required or expected in case of
war," said the Baronet in the letter referred to, "I think I explained
that to you also, and shall more fully when I see you."

The reception of the distinguished Mohawk in the British capital was all
that the proudest forest king, not unacquainted with civilized life, could
have desired. In the course of the war he had formed many acquaintances
with the officers of the army, upon whom he must have made a highly
favorable impression, since all who met him in London recognised him with
great cordiality. Some of these he had met in the salons of Quebec, as
well as been associated with them in the field. His visits to the Canadian
capital had been frequent during and subsequent to the war. On one of
these occasions the Baroness Riedesel met him at the provincial court,
which gave her occasion to speak of him thus in her memoirs:--"I saw at
that time the famous Indian chief, Captain Brant. His manners are
polished; he expressed himself with fluency, and was much esteemed by
General Haldimand. I dined once with him at the General's. In his dress he
showed off to advantage the half military and half savage costume. His
countenance was manly and intelligent, and his disposition very mild."
[FN-1] Aside, therefore, from the novelty of gazing upon an Indian prince
in the British capital, his education and associations, his rank as a
warrior, and his bravery, were so many substantial reasons why he should
be received with kindness and courtesy. Sir Guy Carleton, afterward Lord
Dorchester, who was then on the point of embarking for America to relieve
Sir Frederick Haldimand in the government of the Canadas, was well
acquainted with the Chief. Earl Moira, afterward Marquis of Hastings, who
had served in America as Lord Rawdon, had formed a strong attachment to
Captain Brant, and gave him his picture set in gold. [FN-2] The late
General Sir Charles Stuart, fourth son of the Earl of Bute, who, while
serving in America, had often slept under the same tent with him, had the
warmest regard for him, [FN-3] and cordially recognised him as his friend
in London. With the late Duke of Northumberland, then Lord Percy, he had
likewise formed an acquaintance in America, which ripened into a lasting
attachment, and was maintained by a correspondence, continued at intervals
until his death. With the Earl of Warwick, and others of the nobility and
gentry, he had become acquainted during his first visit, ten years before.
His acquaintance was also sought by many of the distinguished statesmen
and scholars of the time; among whom were the Bishop of London, Charles
Fox, James Boswell, and many others. He sat for his picture for Lord
Percy, as he had done for the Earl of Warwick and Boswell when first in
England; and Fox presented him with a silver snuff-box, bearing his
initials. [FN-4] With the King and royal family he was a great
favorite--not the less so on the part of his Majesty, for having proudly
refused to kiss his hand on his presentation. The dusky Chief, however,
in declining that ceremony, with equal gallantry and address remarked that
he would gladly kiss the hand of the Queen. George the Third was a man of
too much sterling sense not to appreciate the feelings of his brother
chief, and he loved his queen too well not to be gratified with the
turning of a compliment in her Majesty's favor, in a manner that would
have done no discredit to the most accomplished cavalier of the Court of
Elizabeth--Sir Walter Raleigh.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Letters and memoirs of the Baroness de Riedesel.

[FN-2] Now in possession of the lady of Colonel William J. Kerr, the
daughter of Thayendanegea.

[FN-3] Letter of Thomas Campbell to the late John Brant, or Ahyonwaeghs,
the son of Thayendanegea; of whom more hereafter.

[FN-4] Still in the possession of Mrs. Kerr.

Equally well did he stand in the graces of the Prince of Wales, [FN] who
took great delight in his company; sometimes inviting him in his rambles
to places "very queer for a prince to go to," as the old chief was wont to
remark in after-life. He was also, it is believed, an occasional guest at
the table of the Prince, among that splendid circle of wits, orators, and
scholars, who so frequently clustered around the festive board of the
accomplished and luxurious heir apparent. It has been asserted, likewise,
that these associations, and the freedom with which the leading Whigs were
accustomed to speak of the King, had an unhappy effect upon the mind of
the warrior, by lessening his reverence for the regal office, if not for
his Majesty's person.

* * * * *

[FN] His late Majesty George IV.

But, amidst all the attractions of the metropolis, and the hospitalities
in which he was called to participate, the Chief did not neglect the
special object, or _objects,_ of his mission. He had left his nation
suffering from their losses of property and other sacrifices, by which,
as well as their arms, they had proved their loyalty, or rather their good
faith to the King as allies, during the late war, and his first object was
to obtain relief. The claims of his people had previously been presented
to the consideration of his Majesty's Government, as already staled, by
Sir John Johnson; but, apparently receiving no attention, on the 4th of
January, 1786, Captain Brant addressed the following letter to Lord
Sidney, his Majesty's Secretary for the Colonial Department:--

Captain Brant to Lord Sidney.

"My Lord,

"The claims of the Mohawks for their losses having been delivered by Sir
John Johnson, His Majesty's Superintendent General for Indian affairs, to
General Haldimand, and by him laid before your Lordship, who cannot but be
well informed that their sufferings, losses, and being drove from that
country which their forefathers long enjoyed, and left them the peaceable
possession of, is in consequence of their faithful attachment to the King,
and the zeal they manifested in supporting the cause of His country
against the rebellious subjects in America.

"From the promises made by the Governor and Commander-in-chief of Canada,
that their losses should be made good, and that soon, when I left them, I
was desired to put His Majesty's ministers in mind of their long and
sincere friendship for the English nation, in whose cause their ancestors
and they have so often fought and so freely bled,--of their late happy
settlements, before the rebellion, and their present situation,--and to
request their claims might be attended to, and that orders may be given
for what they are to receive to be paid as soon as possible, in order to
enable them to go on with the settlement they are now making; in some
measure stock their farms, and get such articles and materials as all
settlements in new countries require, and which it is out of their power
to do before they are paid for their losses.

"On my mentioning these matters, since my arrival in England, I am
informed orders are given that this shall be done; which will give great
relief and satisfaction to those faithful Indians, who will have spirit to
go on, and their hearts be filled with gratitude for the King, their
father's, great kindness, which I pray leave, in their behalf, to
acknowledge, and to thank your Lordship for your friendship.

"JOSEPH BRANT, _Captain,_ or
Thayendanegea.

"_London,_ 4_th January,_ 1786."

On the same day Captain Brant was honored by an interview with the
Secretary, on which occasion he addressed his Lordship in the following
speech, a copy of which was delivered in writing.--

Speech of Captain Brant to Lord Sidney.

"My Lord,

"I am happy at the honor of being before your Lordship, and having an
opportunity of delivering the following speech to you, in behalf of the
Five United Nations of Indians, and their confederates in North America.

"The cause of my coming to England being of the most serious consequence
to the whole Indian Confederacy, I intreat your Lordship patiently to hear
and listen to what I am going to say.

"We hope it is a truth well known in this country, what a faithful part we
took in their behalf in the late dispute with the Americans; and though we
have been told peace has long since been concluded between you and them,
it is not finally settled with us, which causes great uneasiness through
all the Indian nations.

"When we heard peace was made between his Majesty and the Americans, we
made application to General Haldimand at Quebec, to know our situation,
delivering him a speech at the same time, which we requested might be sent
to the King--a copy of which I now deliver to your Lordship.

"Having in that speech, in as few words as possible, pointed out what
friendship we had shown to the English from the earliest time of their
arrival in America, and being conscious of the active part our forefathers
and we had taken in their favor in every dispute they have had with their
enemies, we were struck with astonishment at hearing we were forgot in the
treaty. Notwithstanding the manner we were told this, we could not believe
it possible such firm friends and allies could be so neglected by a nation
remarkable for its honor and glory, whom we had served with so much zeal
and fidelity. For this reason we applied to the King's Commander-in-chief,
in Canada in a friendly and private way, wishing not to let those people
in rebellion know the concern and trouble we were under. From the time of
delivering that speech, near three years, we have had no answer, and
remain in a state of great suspense and uneasiness of mind. This is well
known to the officers who commanded at the upper posts in America, as is
also our zeal for His Majesty's service during the war.

"Our trouble and distress is greatly increased by many things the
Americans have said, to whom we have avoided giving any direct answers, or
entering into any engagements with, before we have an answer. On the
arrival of Sir John Johnson, our Superintendent-General, in Canada, we
hoped to have received it; in full expectation of which, several of our
first and principal chiefs came down the country to meet him and hear it,
and were very much mortified and sorry at being disappointed. It was then
resolved that I should come to England, and I hope the necessity we are
under of getting this answer will plead my excuse for the trouble I give
your Lordship.

"It is, my Lord, the earnest desire of the Five United Nations, and the
whole Indian Confederacy, that I may have an answer to that speech; and
from our present situation, as well as that of the American States, who
have surveyed and laid out great part of the lands in our country, on our
side of the boundary line fixed at Fort Stanwix in 1765, the last time we
granted any territory to the King, (at which time some of the governors
attended in person, and where they did not, commissioners, vested with
full powers, appeared on their behalf; so that we had all the reason to
hope that the transaction was binding with respect to all parties,) but
through their encroaching disposition, we have found they pay little
regard to engagements, and are therefore apprehensive of immediate
serious consequences. This we shall avoid to the utmost of our power, as
dearly as we love our lands. But should it, contrary to our wishes,
happen, we desire to know whether we are to be considered as His Majesty's
faithful allies, and have that support and countenance such as old and
true friends expect.

"I beg liberty to tell your Lordship, that your answer to these matters
will be the means of relieving all our nations from that very troublesome
and uneasy suspense they now labor under, and this they all hope for on
my return.

"JOS. BRANT, _Captain,_ or
Thayendanegea.

"_London,_ 4_th Jan._ 1786.
_The Right Hon. Lord Sidney._"

The forest chief was not an unsuccessful envoy, as will appear by the
subjoined communication from Lord Sidney--so far at least as relates to
the indemnification claimed by the Mohawks and their allies of the Six
Nations:--

Lord Sidney to Captain Brant.

"_Whitehall,_ 6th _April,_ 1786.

"Sir,

"The King has had under his royal consideration the two letters which you
delivered to me on the 4th of January last, in the presence of Colonel
Johnson and other officers of the Indian Department; the first of them
representing the claims of the Mohawks for losses sustained by them and
other tribes of Indians, from the depredations committed on their lands by
the Americans during the late war; and the second, expressing the desire
of the confederacy to be informed what assistance they might expect from
this country in case they should be engaged in disputes with the Americans
relative to their lands, situated within the territory to which His
Majesty has relinquished his sovereignty.

"Were the right of individuals to compensation for losses sustained by the
depredations of an enemy to be admitted, no country, however opulent it
might be, could support itself under such a burthen, especially when the
contest happens to have taken an unfavorable turn. His Majesty, upon this
ground, conceives that, consistently with every principle of justice, he
might withhold his royal concurrence to the liquidation of those demands;
but His Majesty, in consideration of the zealous and hearty exertions of
his Indian allies in the support of his cause, and as a proof of his most
friendly disposition toward them, has been graciously pleased to consent
that the losses already certified by his Superintendent-General shall be
made good; that a favorable attention shall be shown to the claims of
others, who have pursued the same system of conduct; and that Sir Guy
Carleton, his Governor General of his American dominions, shall take
measures for carrying his royal commands into execution immediately after
his arrival at Quebec.

"This liberal conduct on the part of His Majesty, he trusts, will not
leave a doubt upon the minds of his Indian allies that he shall at all
times be ready to attend to their future welfare; and that he shall be
anxious, upon every occasion wherein their happiness may be concerned, to
give them such farther testimonies of his royal favor and countenance, as
can, consistently with a due regard to the national faith, and the honor
and dignity of his crown, be afforded to them.

"His Majesty recommends to his Indian allies to continue united in their
councils, and that their measures may be conducted with temper and
moderation; from which, added to a peaceable demeanor on their part, they
must experience many essential benefits, and be most likely to secure to
themselves the possession of those rights and privileges which their
ancestors have heretofore enjoyed.

"I have the honor to be,
With great truth and regard,
Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
Sidney.

"_To Captain Joseph Brant,
Thayendanegea._"

It appears, that during his negotiations with the ministers, conversations
had been held touching his claim to half-pay; but from the loss of papers,
it is difficult to arrive at the precise circumstances of the case.
Captain Brant held His Majesty's commission during the war as a Captain.
But it was probably a special commission, not in the regular line of the
army, and consequently there may have been doubts as to his title to
half-pay on the reduction which followed the war. No matter, however, for
the exact circumstances of the case, such doubts were entertained, and
were the occasion of the following magnanimous letter from the chief to
one of his Majesty's under Secretaries, a copy of which was preserved
among the private papers of the warrior:--

Captain Brant to Sir Evan Nepean. (No Date.)

"Sir:--

"Since I had the pleasure of seeing you last, I have been thinking a great
deal about the half-pay, or pension, which you and I have talked about.

"I am really sorry that I ever mentioned such a thing to you. It was
really owing to promises made to me by certain persons several times
during the late war, that I should always be supported by the government,
at war or peace. At that time I never asked any body to make me such a
promise. It was of their own free will.

"When I joined the English at the beginning of the war, it was purely on
account of my forefathers' engagements with the King. I always looked upon
these engagements, or covenants, between the King and the Indian Nations,
as a sacred thing. Therefore I was not to be frighted by the threats of
the rebels at that time. I assure you I had no other view in it. And this
was my real case from the beginning.

"However, after this, the English gave me pay and a commission from the
Commander-in-chief, which I gladly received as a mark of attention, though
I never asked for it; and I believe my trouble and risques was of equal
value to the marks of attention I received; I am sure not too much in the
eyes of the Indians, or I should not have accepted them, as I should be
sorry to raise jealousies. My meaning for mentioning those things to you,
is because I saw there was some difficulty on your part how to act on this
head relative to half-pay or pension;--and when it does not seem clear,
I should be sorry to accept it. Therefore I beg of you will say no more
about it;--for was I to get it when there were doubts about the propriety
of it, I should not be happy. For which reason I think it is best to go
without it.

"I am now, Sir, to beg you will return my best thanks to Government for
what they [have] done for me, and am, Sir,

"Your most obedient,
Humble servant,
Joseph Brant.

"_To Sir Evan Nepean, Under Secretary, at Home._"

There are a frankness and manliness of tone and spirit in this letter,
which will illustrate a striking feature in the character of the writer,
and are worthy of high approbation. It is the only paper of any
consequence connected with the Captain's mission to England, in addition
to those already cited, that remains.

The chieftain's visit must have been most agreeable, since, in addition to
the success which crowned his labors in regard to the claims of the
Indians, no pains were spared to render his residence in London one of
uninterrupted gratification. He was caressed by the noble and the great,
and was alike welcome at court or at the banquets of the heir
apparent--who, with all his faults, was "the first gentleman in the
realm;"--a fine classical scholar himself, and a lover of genius and
intellect---of letters and men of letters--of sparkling wit, as well as
wine. Among his most frequent guests were Fox, Burke, and Sheridan, and
others of that splendid galaxy of eloquence and intellect--the master
spirits of the opposition in the House of Commons--who were at that time
basking in the sunshine of the Prince's favor, and living in the hope of
more substantial things to come. Though deficient in his literary
acquisitions, Brant, with great strength of mind and shrewdness of
observation, had, moreover, sufficient taste and cultivation to appreciate
society, even of this elevated and intellectual character. The natural
reserve of the Indian temperament he could assume or throw off at
pleasure, and with a keen sense of the ludicrous, he could himself use
the weapons of humor and sarcasm with a good share of skill and dexterity.

Several anecdotes have been preserved in well-authenticated tradition,
illustrative of these traits of character. One of these is the
following:--Among the gentlemen of rank with whom Brant was acquainted,
was a nobleman of whom it was scandalously reported that his place was
purchased by the illicit favors bestowed upon another by his beautiful
wife. On one occasion his Lordship undertook to rally the forest chief
upon the subjects of the wild and rude manners and customs of the Indians,
to which they pertinaciously adhered notwithstanding all the attempts made
to improve them by the arts of civilization. Some of their absurd
practices, of which the English, as his Lordship remarked, thought very
strange, were particularised. Brant listened very patiently until it
became his turn to speak, when he replied that there were customs in
England, also, of which the Indians thought very strange. "And pray what
are they?" inquired his Lordship. "Why," answered the chief, "the Indians
have heard that it is a practice in England for men who are born chiefs to
sell the virtue of their squaws for place, and for money to buy their
venison!" The Mohawk occupied a position which enabled him to say what he
pleased with impunity. But in the present instance the rebuke was doubly
withering,--from the gravity and assumed simplicity with which it was
uttered, and the certainty that the titled gentleman could not mistake the
direction of the arrow, while he could neither parry nor avoid, nor appear
to notice it.

During his stay in London, a grand fancy ball, or masquerade, was got up
with great splendor, and numerously attended by the nobility and gentry.
Captain Brant, at the instance of Earl Moira, was also present, richly
dressed in the costume of his nation, wearing no mask, but painting one
half of his face. His plumes nodded as proudly in his cap as though the
blood of a hundred Percies coursed through his veins, and his tomahawk
glittered in his girdle like burnished silver. There was, likewise, in the
gay and gallant throng a stately Turkish _diplomat_ of rank, accompanied
by two houris, whose attention was particularly attracted by the grotesque
appearance of the chieftain's singular, and, as he supposed, fantastic
attire. The pageant was brilliant as the imagination could desire; but
among the whole motley throng of pilgrims and warriors, hermits and
shepherds, knights, damsels, and gipsies, there was, to the eye of the
Mussulman, no character so picturesque and striking as that of the Mohawk;
which, being natural, appeared to be the best made up. He scrutinised the
chief very closely, and mistaking his _rouge et noir_ complexion for a
painted visor, the Turk took the liberty of attempting to handle his nose.
Brant had, of course, watched the workings of his observation, and felt
in the humor of a little sport. No sooner, therefore, had Hassan touched
his facial point of honor, under the mistaken idea that it was of no
better material than the parchment nose of the Strasburgh trumpeter, than
the Chieftain made the hall resound with the appalling war-whoop, and at
the same instant the tomahawk leaped from his girdle, and flashed around
the astounded Mussulman's head as though his good master, the Sultan, in a
minute more, would be relieved from any future trouble in the matter of
taking it off. Such a piercing and frightful cry had never before rung
through that _salon_ of fashion; and breaking suddenly, and with startling
wildness, upon the ears of the merry throng, its effect was prodigious.
The Turk himself trembled with terror, while the female masquers--the
gentle shepherdesses, and fortune-telling crones, Turks, Jews and gipsies,
bear-leaders and their bears, Falstaffs, friars, and fortune-tellers,
Sultans, nurses and Columbines, shrieked, screamed and scudded away as
though the Mohawks had broken into the festive hall in a body. The matter,
however, was soon explained; and the incident was accounted as happy in
the end as it was adroitly enacted by the good-humored Mohawk. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] This incident was somewhat differently related by the British
Magazine, which represented that the weapon was raised by Brant in sober
earnest; he having taken the freedom of the Turk for a real indignity.
But such was clearly not the fact. His friends never so understood it.

But neither the pleasures of society, nor the follies of the Prince of
Wales, nor the special business of his mission, nor the views of political
ambition which he was cherishing, made him forgetful of the moral wants of
his people. Notwithstanding the ceaseless activity of his life, he had
found time to translate the Gospel of Mark into the Mohawk language; and
as most of the Indian Prayer and Psalm Books previously in use had been
either lost or destroyed during the war, the opportunity of his visit was
chosen by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts,
to bring out a new and superior edition of that work, under Brant's own
supervision, and including the Gospel of Mark as translated by him. This
was the first of the Gospels ever translated entire into the Mohawk
language. The book was elegantly printed in large octavo, under the
immediate patronage of the King. It was printed in alternate pages of
English and Mohawk; and the volume contained the psalms and occasional
prayers before published, together with the services of communion,
baptism, matrimony, and the burial of the dead. It was embellished with a
number of scriptural engravings, elegant for the state of the arts at that
day; the frontispiece representing the interior of a chapel, with
portraits of the King and Queen, a bishop standing at either hand, and
groups of Indians receiving the sacred books from both their Majesties.
[FN]

* * * * *

[FN] A handsome copy of this valuable book, in morocco gilt, has been
loaned to the author by Mrs. Kerr. It belonged to the widow of the old
chief, and contains the record of his death.

It is not known at what time of the year 1786 Captain Brant turned his
back upon the gay metropolis of England, to bury himself once more in the
deep forests toward the setting sun. It must, however, have been soon
after receiving Lord Sidney's dispatch of April 6th, since, among the
papers of the chief, there is a letter addressed to him after his return,
by Major Matthews, who was attached to the military family of Sir Guy
Carleton, dated at Montreal, July 24, 1786. Early in the month of December
following he will also be found attending an Indian Council far in the
country of the Great Lakes.

CHAPTER IX.

Difficulties between Great Britain and the United States after the
Treaty--Refusal of the former to surrender the western posts--Mission of
Baron Steuben to Canada--Indications of fresh Indian
hostilities--Movements of Captain Brant--Grand Indian Council at the
Huron Village--Address to the United States--Letter of the Secretary at
War, General Knox, to Captain Brant--Letter of Sir John Johnson to
Brant--Letter of Major Matthews to Brant, disclosing the views of Lord
Dorchester respecting the retention of the western posts--Message from
the Hurons to the Five Nations, proposing another grand
Council--Preparations of General St. Clair for negotiating with the
Indians--Brant begins to distrust them all--Letter of Brant to Patrick
Langan, Sir John Johnson's Secretary--Letter of Brant to Sir John
Johnson--Great Council at Miamis--Letter of Captain Brant to Patrick
Langan--St. Clair's negotiations at Fort Harmar--The policy of dividing
to conquer--letter of Captain Brant to Major Matthews--Jealousies of
Brant among the Indians--Council against him at Montreal--Letter to him
from Major Matthews--Letter of Brant in reply--Letter to Colonel
McDonnell--Suspected plot against the English at Detroit, and Brant and
his Mohawks, by the Hurons, Chippewas, and Pottawattamies--Letter to
Brant from Sir John Johnson--Brant turns his attention to the
cultivation of letters--Endeavors to obtain a stated
Missionary--Resumes the preparation of Religious books--Letter from
President Willard--John Norton--Land difficulties among the Indians in
the state of New-York--Letter from Governor Clinton to Brant.

Unhappily the treaty of peace did not bring the United States and Great
Britain immediately to so good an understanding with each other as could
have been desired. Several important questions remained for subsequent
arrangement. The treaty proposed a general restoration of confiscated
property to all such loyalists as had not actually borne arms in the
service of the King. The American Congress passed a resolution
recommending the fulfillment of this clause of the treaty by the several
states; but it was not considered binding, and South Carolina alone
approached to a compliance therewith. There was, likewise, an explicit
provision in the treaty, respecting the payment of debts due by Americans
to British subjects, not resting upon a recommendation only; the
fulfillment of which was sadly neglected. Indeed, the states in which
those debts chiefly lay, showed but too plainly an indisposition to aid
in carrying the stipulation into effect. On the other hand, the Negroes
belonging to American citizens who were in the possession and service of
the officers of the British army, were not restored; and, contrary to all
expectation, Great Britain refused to surrender the military posts upon
the American side of the great lakes. The surrender of those posts was
expected with the utmost conscience, as one of the most immediate
consequences of the ratification of the treaty. To this end, Congress
instructed the Commander-in-chief to make all the necessary arrangements
to receive and occupy the posts in the Summer of 1783; and in July of that
season, the Baron Steuben was despatched by General Washington on a
mission to Sir Frederick Haldimand at Quebec, to concert the necessary
dispositions, and proceed along the frontiers as far as Detroit, to
examine the different posts, and report in regard to their condition, and
how many and which of them it would be expedient for the United States
permanently to occupy. [FN-1] The Baron met General Haldimand at Sorel, on
his way to visit the country of the lakes himself. But on making known his
business, the British commander informed him that he had received no
instructions for the evacuation of the posts, or for any other objects
than a cessation of hostilities, with which he had complied. He did not
consider himself at liberty to enter, into any negotiations with the Baron
upon the subject, and even refused him the necessary passports for
visiting Niagara and Detroit. [FN-2] In addition to this, under the
pretext that the government of the United States had not sufficient power
to enforce the observance of a commercial treaty, Great Britain refused to
join in the negotiation of such an instrument. [FN-3] Thus situated--the
government and people of each nation complaining of the other--crimination
and recrimination ensued, until the public feeling became irritated almost
to exasperation.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Letter of Washington to General Haldimand, July 12, 1783. Also,
Instructions of the same to Baron Steuben.

[FN-2] Sparks.

[FN-3] The fact was but too true. After the common danger of the war had
ceased to bind the States together, the articles of the Confederation
were but a rope of sand. The government was, indeed, but a rickety
concern until the formation of the Constitution of 1787.

The Indians, in the mean time, brooding over the real or fancied wrongs
they had sustained at the treaty of Fort Stanwix, and irritated at the
onward current of the white population pressing in their own direction,
were becoming restiff; particularly the more distant tribes at the
south-west; and their movements indicated any thing but pacific
intentions. Indeed, along some portions of the western frontier,
particularly on the Ohio river, it could scarcely be said that they had
been at peace. Both in 1785 and in 1786, acts of individual hostility were
not unfrequent on the banks of the Ohio and on the Kentucky border; and
in both of those years larger parties had repeatedly attacked the crews of
boats descending the river. It was likewise certain that two years only
had elapsed after the close of the war before a hostile combination of
the great north-western nations was supposed to have been formed; and
documentary proof has been adduced in the preceding pages that a powerful
and influential messenger, in the person of Captain Brant, had been
instructed by those nations to ascertain prospectively the measure of
assistance they might, in the event of hostilities, expect to receive from
Great Britain. It is true that Lord Sidney, in his reply to the message of
Thayendanegea, had avoided committing himself either way upon this point.
But the message of the Mohawk chief; and the reply of the minister, were
alike unknown to the public at that day. Still, it was to the detention of
the posts on the lakes that the hostile temper manifested by the Indians,
and their frequent outrages on the frontier, were ascribed; with more
justice, as will hereafter appear, than Great Britain would be willing to
allow.

The conduct of Captain Brant, moreover, when illustrated by his private
correspondence as well as his public actions, will presently appear very
mysterious, if not equivocal. By retiring with his own nation into Canada,
the Mohawks had not withdrawn from the Confederacy of the Six Nations,
nor had Thayendanegea relinquished his official rank as the principal or
superior chief of the whole, though five of them remained within the
United States. The differences which thus early sprang up between the
United States and the Indians, arose upon a question of boundary; the
latter maintaining that the Ohio river was not to be crossed by the
people of the former. Captain Brant espoused the cause of the Indians at
large upon this question, and had early and strenuously exerted himself to
compass a grand confederation of all the north-western tribes and nations,
of which, it is believed, he intended to be the head. The incipient steps
to the formation of such a confederacy, the reader has already seen, had
been taken in 1785, previous to his departure for England. On his return
in the following year, his efforts for that object were renewed. [FN] In
December, 1786, a grand confederate council of the Indians north west of
the Ohio, including the Six Nations, was held at Huron Village, near the
mouth of the Detroit River. This council was attended by the Six Nations,
and the Hurons, Ottawas, Twitchtwees, [Miamis,] Shawanese, Chippewas,
Cherokees, Delawares, Pottawattamies, and the Wabash Confederates. On the
18th of that month, an address to the Congress of the United States was
agreed upon, the tone of which was pacific--provided the United States
made no encroachments upon their lands beyond the Ohio. After a
declaration of their surprise that they were not included in the treaty of
peace, they observed that they had nevertheless received a message from
the King, advising them to remain quiet. They had likewise received two
very agreeable messages from the thirteen States, from the tenor of which
they had anticipated a period of repose. But while they were devising the
best measures to secure this result and form a lasting
reconciliation--while they had "the best thoughts in their minds, mischief
had happened." Still, they were anxious to prevent farther trouble, as a
principal means of which they recommended that no treaties should be
formed by the United States with separate Indian tribes or nations; but
that all treaties for lands should be negotiated openly and above board,
in the most public manner, and by the united voice of the Confederacy.
They attributed the "mischief and confusion" that had arisen, to the fact
that the United States would have every thing their own way--that they
would "kindle the council-fires wherever they thought proper, without
consulting the Indians." At the treaty of Fort Stanwix in 1784, they had
urged a different policy; and they believed that, had the course then
recommended, of treating only in a general conference of the nations, been
pursued, all would have continued peace and concord between them.
Notwithstanding the mischiefs that had happened, the council professed
their strong desire of peace. "This," they said, "is the determination of
all the chiefs of the Confederacy, now assembled, notwithstanding that
several Indian chiefs were killed in our villages, even when in council,
and when absolutely engaged in promoting peace with you, the thirteen
United States." In order to ensure this desirable result, they proposed a
grand confederate council, to be holden at some half-way place in the
ensuing spring--recommending to the United States, in the meantime to
prevent their surveyors and other people from crossing to the Indian side
of the Ohio. This important address concluded in the following
words:--"Brothers: It shall not be our faults, if the plans which we have
suggested to you should not be carried into execution. In that case the
event will be very precarious, and if fresh ruptures ensue, we hope to be
able to exculpate ourselves, and shall most assuredly, with our united
force, be obliged to defend those rights and privileges which have been
transmitted to us by our ancestors; and if we should be thereby reduced to
misfortunes, the world will pity us when they think of the amicable
proposals we now make to prevent the unnecessary effusion of blood. These
are our thoughts and firm resolves, and we earnestly desire that you would
transmit to us, as soon as possible, your answer, be it what it may."

* * * * *

[FN] Letter of General Knox, Secretary of War--11th May, 1786.

This address, the ultimatum antecedent to the general war that afterward
arose, was not signed by individual chiefs, but by the nation, the name of
the nation being written, and the bird or animal adopted as the national
emblem rudely marked upon the paper. Thayendanegea was present and active
at this council, as will appear by the annexed letter, found among his
papers, from the American Secretary of War, General Knox:--

"General Knox to Captain Brant.

"_War Office, July_ 23_d_, 1787.

"Sir:--

"On the 17th instant, and not before, I received the favor of your letter,
dated 'Huron Town, Dec. 18th, 1786,' enclosing the original speech by the
several nations of Indians met at the same time and place, to the United
States in Congress assembled.

"It appears from the information of General Butler, the Superintendent,
that the Shawanese neglected to forward the above despatches at the time
it was expected they would; and it appears by a letter from Captain Pipe,
of the Delawares, and the Half-King of the Wyandots, dated at Sandusky the
3d of June, that they forwarded the despatches finally to Fort Pitt--at
which place, and at the same time also, your messengers arrived with your
letters to General Butler, dated Buffalo Creek, the 16th of May, 1787,
enclosing a copy, or translation, of the speech of the chiefs, transmitted
by Captain Pipe and the Half-King of the Wyandots.

"I mention these circumstances, to convince you that the result of your
council, at the Huron village, in December, has been a long time in
traveling to this city.

"On the receipt of your papers, they were submitted to Congress, who have
taken the same, into consideration, and will soon come to some decision
thereon, which will be communicated to the Superintendent, in order to be
transmitted to you.

"I have the honor to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient,
Humble servant,
H. Knox.

"Colonel Joseph Brant,
_One of the Chiefs of the Mohawk Nation._"

Neither the preceding letter, nor that in reply to which it was written,
has been preserved in the archives of the American Department of War. The
signature of "_The Five Nations,_" however, stood at the head of the list,
and from the rank and superior intelligence of Thayendanegea, there can be
little doubt that the address to the Government of the United States was
dictated, if not written, by him. That it was in entire accordance with
his views, appears most fully by the following letter from Sir John
Johnson. This letter is worthy of preservation, as affording the first
authentic evidence of the equivocal attitude Great Britain was assuming
in regard to the Indian relations of the United States.

"Sir John Johnson to Captain Brant.

"_Quebec, March_ 22d, 1787.

"Dear Sir,

"I have received your letter of the 14th of February. I am happy to find
things turned out as you wished at your several meetings in the Indian
country near Detroit, and I hope it may have the effect you wish in
preventing the Americans from incroaching on your lands. Your conduct, I
hope, for your own sake, will always be such as to justify the good
opinion that has been entertained of you by your friends the English, and
such as will merit the continuance of their friendship. I hope in all your
decisions you will conduct yourselves with prudence and moderation, having
always an eye to the friendship that has so long subsisted between you and
the King's subjects, upon whom alone you can and ought to depend. You have
no reason to fear any breach of promise on the part of the King. Is he not
every year giving fresh proofs of his friendship? What greater could you
expect than is now about to be performed, by giving an ample compensation
for your losses, which is yet withheld from us, his subjects? Do not
suffer bad men or evil advisers to lead you astray; every thing that is
reasonable and consistent with the friendship that ought to be preserved
between us, will be done for you all. Do not suffer an idea to hold a
place in your mind, that it will be for your interests to sit still and
see the Americans attempt the posts. [FN-1] It is for your sakes chiefly,
if not entirely, that we hold them. If you become indifferent about them,
they may perhaps be given up; what security would you then have? You would
be left at the mercy of a people whose blood calls aloud for revenge;
whereas, by supporting them, you encourage us to hold them, and encourage
the new settlements, already considerable, and every day increasing by
numbers coming in, who find they can't live in the States. Many thousands
are preparing to come in. This increase of his Majesty's subjects will
serve as a protection for you, should the subjects of the States, by
endeavoring to make farther encroachments on you, disturb your quiet.
At present I think there is little to apprehend from any but the Southern
States; those to the eastward are already opposed to each other in arms,
[FN-2] and have shed blood, and the disorder seems to be spreading
throughout. Men of character are coming in here to see if no assistance
will be given them; and the people of New England, who were the most
violent at the commencement of the war, are now the most desirous of
returning under the British government, should Great Britain incline to
receive them, which many think they would not."

* * * * *

[FN-1] Oswegatchie, Oswego, Niagara, Detroit and Mackinaw--withheld from
the United States, as heretofore stated in tho text.

[FN-2] This allusion refers to the memorable insurrection of Captain
Shays, in Massachusetts.

"Remember me in the most friendly manner to Mrs. Brant, all your family,
and to all my brothers in your settlement, and tell them to be patient,
and that they will find that all that has been promised them, coming
within my knowledge, will be per-formed. I hope to see you in the course
of the summer; in the mean time, I remain with truth,

"Dear Sir,
Your friend and
Humble servant,
John Johnson." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Copied from the original, among the Brant papers.

The object of this communication will be seen at a glance. It is
unfortunate, that the letter of Thayendanegea, giving the private history
of the great Amphictyonic council of the Indians, has not been discovered.
Still, enough can be learned from the scattered correspondence that
remains, to show that Great Britain was by no means an indifferent
observer of the storm gathering in the north-west. It is also evident that
the officers of the crown in Canada were rejoicing in the insurrection of
Captain Shays in Massachusetts; which, though at one moment of threatening
importance, had been crushed but a few days before the Baronet's letter
was written, of which result he had not then been apprised. That
insurrection was a consequence, in the main, of the weakness of the
government of the confederacy. Fortunately, however, instead of working
farther detriment to the republic, its influence was not inconsiderable
in binding the states more firmly together, by means of the Constitution,
which arose from the ruins of the old Articles of Confederation in the
course of the same year. There is another feature in the letter of Sir
John deserving to be noted. It discloses the fact, that already, even so
early as the year 1787, had the British authorities imbibed the absurd
notion that the people of New England, who had been first in raising the
standard of revolt, wearied with their freedom, were seeking a
dismemberment of the Union, that they might throw themselves back into the
arms of their former sovereign. Nor was this idea eradicated until after
the failure of a miserable intrigue, under the Canadian administration of
Sir James H. Craig, with a worthless fellow named John Henry, in 1810.

Great Britain not only continued to retain possession of the north-western
posts, but added to their strength. Upon this subject, and the policy by
which she was governed in regard to it, the following letter reflects
additional light. It was addressed to Captain Brant by Major Matthews,
whose name has already occurred as an officer in the suite of Sir Guy
Carleton--who had now become Lord Dorchester. Matthews had been assigned
to the command of Detroit, and was on his way thither when the letter was
written:--

"Major Matthews to Captain Brant.

"_Niagara,_ 29_th May,_ 1787.

"My Dear Friend,

"A few days before I left Quebec, I had the pleasure to receive your
letter of the 3d April, and was happy at the prospect I had of so soon
answering it in person, and once more shaking hands together upon our old
ground. On my arrival yesterday, I was much disappointed to hear that you
had left this place, and gone by a route which, for the present, prevents
our meeting; for though there is nothing I wish more than to pay you a
visit in your settlement, and to have a conversation with you, the
despatch which I am under the necessity of making to Detroit, renders it
impossible. I therefore sit down to thank you for the information in your
last, and to renew our old agreement of communicating freely to each other
whatsoever we may know or think is for the mutual advantage and well-being
of that cause, which has always been common, and which, I am persuaded, is
equally dear to us both; and being better informed of what relates to the
situation of affairs in this quarter than when I last wrote to you, I
shall begin by informing you of what his Excellency, Lord Dorchester,
desired I would, should I chance to fall in with you. His Lordship wishes
you should be acquainted that, when he arrived at Quebec last fall, it was
too late to forward any thing more than a few provisions necessary for the
posts and Indians, a part of which even could not proceed on account of
the ice; but that he did not forget the presents intended for the Indians;
and had, as soon as the communication opened, ordered them to be sent up
from Montreal. At the same time his Lordship was sorry to learn, that
while the Indians were soliciting his assistance in their preparations for
war, some of the Six Nations had sent deputies to Albany to treat with
the Americans, who, it is said, have made a treaty with them, granting
permission to make roads for the purpose of coming to Niagara; but that,
notwithstanding these things, the Indians should have their presents, as
they are marks of the King's approbation of their former conduct. In
future his Lordship wishes them to act as is best for their interest; he
cannot begin a war with the Americans, because some of their people
encroach and make depredations upon parts of the Indian country; but they
must see it is his Lordship's intention to defend the posts; and that
while these are preserved, the Indians must find great security therefrom,
and consequently the Americans greater difficulty in taking possession of
their lands; but should they once become masters of the posts, they will
surround the Indians, and accomplish their purpose with little trouble.
From a consideration of all which, it therefore remains with the Indians
to decide what is most for their own interest, and to let his Lordship
know their determination, that he may take his measures accordingly; but,
whatever their resolution is, it should be taken as by one and the same
people, by which means they will be respected and become strong; but if
they divide, and act one part against the other, they will become weak,
and help to destroy each other. This, my dear Joseph, is the substance of
what his Lordship desired me to tell you, and I request you will give his
sentiments that mature consideration which their justice, generosity, and
desire to promote the welfare and happiness of the Indians, must appear to
all the world to merit.

"In your letter to me, you seem apprehensive that the English are not very
anxious about the defence of the posts. You will soon be satisfied that
they have nothing more at heart, provided that it continues to be the
wish of the Indians, and that they remain firm in doing _their_ part of
the business, by preventing the Americans from coming into their country,
and consequently from marching to the posts. On the other hand, if the
Indians think it more for their interest that the Americans should have
possession of the posts, and be established in their country, they ought
to declare it, that the English need no longer be put to the vast and
unnecessary expense and inconvenience of keeping posts, the chief object
of which is to protect their Indian allies, and the loyalists who have
suffered with them. It is well-known that no encroachments ever have or
ever will be made by the English upon the lands or property of the Indians
in consequence of their possessing the posts, how far that will be the
case if ever the Americans get into them, may very easily be imagined,
from their hostile perseverance, even without that advantage, in driving
the Indians off their lands and taking possession of them.

"In regard to myself, I have to acquaint you, that in consequence of the
reports which reached Quebec from the upper country respecting the
intentions of the Americans against the posts, Lord Dorchester has been
pleased to permit me to take the command of Detroit, which is garrisoned
by the regiment I am in, and has ordered that another regiment be sent up
for the protection of the posts in general, two companies of which, under
the command of your acquaintance, Captain Malcolm, arrived with me in the
Seneca, and I am to take two companies of the 53d from hence, to reinforce
Detroit; so that I think we shall have but little to apprehend from any
thing in the power of the Americans to attempt. I confess to you I have
no idea they have any serious intention of the kind, the few troops they
can muster not being sufficient to support their government; they are,
besides, in rebellion, and cutting each others throats. A people in this
situation are but ill able to march considerable armies with artillery and
the necessary stores, (which they must have to be successful,) through a
distant and difficult country.

"Inclosed I send you a letter from Sir John Johnson. It will probably
inform you that the presents mentioned by Lord Dorchester are sent up;
they crossed the lake in the ship with me, and are stored here, waiting
the arrival of Sir John for the distribution of them.

"On your way to the Southern Council, I shall hope for the satisfaction of
seeing you at Detroit; in the meantime I remain, with very sincere regard,

"My dear friend,
Your faithful and obedient servant,
R. Matthews.

"If Mrs. Brant is with you, I beg you will recommend me in the kindest
manner to her."

There can be no misunderstanding touching the purport of this letter. Lord
Dorchester would no more commit himself on the question of a direct
participation, in the event of actual declared hostilities between the
Indian Confederacy and the Americans, than Lord Sidney had done. Captain,
now Major Matthews, was anxious to confer with Captain Brant "for the
mutual advantage and well-being of _that cause,_ which had always been
common, and equally dear," &c. His Lordship wished the Indians to act as
was best for their own interest--"he could not _begin_ a war with the
Americans," but "they must see that it was his Lordship's intention to
defend the posts; and while these were preserved, the Indians must find
great security therefrom, and the Americans greater difficulty in taking
possession of their lands," &c. Indeed, the whole tenor of the letter was
to promote a feeling of hostility in the bosoms of the Indians against the
United States, with a mutual understanding that the British government was
maintaining the posts for the benefit of the Indians; while the Indian
hostilities, should they ensue, would serve to check or prevent the
Americans from obtaining possession of them.

There are neither printed nor written records, from which any additional
information can be drawn respecting the conduct and movements of Captain
Brant during the residue of the year 1787. The delay in the transmission
of his despatches to the government of the United States, as mentioned in
the letter of General Knox, had of course disappointed the Indians in
their expectation of an early reply from Congress. In consequence of this
delay, another grand council was determined upon by the western Indians,
of which, among the papers of Captain Brant, is the following notification
to his nation:--

"Message from the Hurons of Detroit to the Five Nations.

"_January_ 2l_st,_ 1788.

"Brethren,

"Nothing yet has reached us in answer to the messages sent to the
Americans on the breaking up of our General Council, nor is it now
probable we shall hear from them before our next meeting takes place; a
circumstance that ought to expedite us in our business. The nations this
way have adhered hitherto to the engagements entered into before we
parted, at least as far as has come to our knowledge; and we intend
immediately to call them to this council-fire, which shall be uncovered at
the time appointed; that without farther delay some decisive measures may
be finally fixed upon for our future interest, which must govern hereafter
the conduct of all the nations in our alliance; and this we intend to be
the last council for the purpose; therefore it is needless for us to urge
farther the indispensable necessity of all nations being present at the
conclusion of affairs tending so much to their own future welfare and
happiness. And we do in a particular manner desire you, the Five Nations,
to be strong and punctual in your promise of being with us early and in
time; and that not only the warriors, but the chiefs of your several
nations attend on this occasion. We shall therefore endeavor to have as
many of the western and southern Indians as possible collected.

"_Strings of Wampum._"

Accompanying this address to the Five Nations, was another of similar
import, (save only that it expressed the dissatisfaction of the Hurons at
the proceedings of the former grand council,) directed to the other tribes
of Canadian Indians, and summoning them to appear at the great
council-fire of the Confederacy in the Spring.

It will appear by the three letters next successively to be introduced,
that Captain Brant was preparing in March to attend the proposed council,
and that, having attended the said council, his views became more pacific.
He had, however, begun to distrust all the nations of his own confederacy,
excepting only the Mohawks--and probably not without reason. The Congress
of the United States; in the Autumn of the preceding year, had given
instructions to Major General St. Clair, then Governor of the
North-western territory, to inquire particularly into the temper of the
Indians, and if he found it still hostile, to endeavor to hold as general
a treaty with them as he could convene; and although the purchase of the
Indian right to the soil was not to be considered a primary object, yet
he was instructed if possible to extinguish their title as far westward
as the Mississippi river. It will be seen presently, that Brant had, even
thus early, reason to suppose, that in a war with the United States the
majority of the Five Nations would not be found in arms. The gentleman to
whom two of these letters were addressed, was Patrick Langan, Esq. private
secretary to Sir John Johnson:--

"Captain Brant to Lieutenant Langan. [FN]

"_Grand River, March_ 20_th,_ 1788.

"Dear Sir,

"I hope you have enjoyed your health since I had the pleasure to see you
last. We have had no particular news here from the southward, only they
are preparing to have another great Council in that country early in the
Spring, and I am obliged to attend myself there. As for the Five Nations,
most of them have sold themselves to the Devil--I mean to the Yankeys.
Whatever they do after this, it must be for the Yankeys--not for the
Indians or the English. We mean to speak to them once more. We must, in
the first place, get the Mohawks away from the Bay of Quinte. As soon as
we can get them here, we shall begin to argue to the Five Nations, and
will show our example of getting together ourselves; also, we shall know
who is for the Yankeys and who is not. I forgot to mention to Sir John I
wanted very much to have the papers here. I mean the list of our losses
and claims, and our names. I should be much obliged to you if you would
be so kind as to send me those papers, or the copies of them, as there are
some disputes here concerning those lists. I should be exceeding happy if
you could get me a quarter of a pound of sewing thread, of silk, of
different colors, and send me the account and the money I owed you before.
Also, I wish you could get me a pipe tomahawk. Please to get the best, if
you can.

"Sir, I remain
Your most obedient, humble servant,
Joseph Brant."

"_To Lieutenant Langan._"

* * * * *

[FN] Copied from the original by the author.

There is no farther information of Brant or his movements until the
closing week of August, at which time he was in the neighborhood of
Detroit, preparing to mingle in the deliberations of the great council
spoken of in the preceding letter. The following is a copy of a letter
found among his papers, written at this time:

"Captain Brant to Sir John Johnson.

"_Huron Village, mouth of the Detroit._ }
_28th August, 1788._ }

"Sir,

"I am happy to inform you of our having arrived at Detroit the 10th inst.
The party with Capt. David who went by water, and those with myself who
went by land, being so lucky as to arrive the same inst. And wishing to
lose as little time as possible, the next day we met the principal men of
the Hurons, Chippewas, Ottawas, and Pottawattamies. As they had lost three
of their Chiefs, we went through our ancient custom of condoling with
them, by giving about 10,000 wampum, as we could not proceed with our
public business till such time as that ceremony was over; when, upon
examining into the business we came about, I plainly foresaw numberless
difficulties, owing to the people here not being so unanimous as the
situation of affairs requires. The Wyandots do not wish to attend at the
place that was last Fall agreed upon, but wish to have the Council at this
place; but that we strenuously opposed, and have got them to consent to
meet at the Miamis; their reason is, I believe, that they would wish to
have a private and separate meeting with the Americans to settle matters
for themselves. On the other hand, the Twightwees or Miamis are quite the
reverse,--wishing by no means to fall in with the Hurons in their way of
thinking, but would wish to be at open war with the Americans. Thus are
matters here situated. However, I have some reason to think that if we can
get them at the appointed place of rendezvous, we will be able to point
out to them their error, and get them again to adopt the measures that the
whole of us agreed upon, and cause that unanimity to subsist among us,
which is so requisite in our situation, and without which we cannot expect
the business will terminate so much to our satisfaction as it otherwise
would. In case that they should be headstrong, and not wish to fall in
with our plan of operation, I shall scarcely know how to act upon it, but
shall take every necessary precaution to prevent the minds of those who
unanimous being any ways inflamed by those nations in opposition and
wavering. Still I hope to have the pleasure of writing to you a more
favorable account after we have had a meeting. Capt McKee has given us
every assistance that he could towards forwarding our business, and I
expect will attend the Council at the Miamis, which I sincerely hope will
now be soon. Upon leaving Niagara, I found from the multiplicity of
business which we should have, that it would be highly requisite to have
a man with us who understood the English language, and capable of
transacting business, for which purpose we have thought proper to appoint
Ralph Clement, and will make him some allowance out of the money we are
to receive next summer for the lands sold the Americans. In the meantime
I have to request you will be so kind as to allow him something towards
defraying his necessary expenses out of the Indian store at Niagara. Upon
application made to Col. Butler, he did not think proper to advance him
any thing without he should have your order for it. As to the news from
the Southern Indians and American Commissioners, we have some accounts,
but must refer you to Capt McKee, who writes you by this vessel, for the
particulars. This is the fourth letter I have written you since I had the
pleasure of seeing you last.

"Your most obedient servant,
Joseph Brant.

"_Sir John Johnson._"

From the nomadic habits of the Indians, and the long distances most of
their nations were obliged to travel, the gathering of their great council
was a work of time. Thus it will be seen that six weeks more elapsed,
before the kindling of the council-fire, and how much longer it is
impossible to tell, from the brokenness of the correspondence of the
chief, who was probably the only writer among them. On the 7th of October
the Captain wrote as follows:--

"Captain Brant to Lieutenant Langan.

"_Miamis River,_ 7_th October,_ 1788.

"Dear Sir,

"The business I have been obliged to attend to since I had the pleasure
of seeing you, had so much taken up my attention, and kept me so busily
employed, that I have scarcely had time to write any of my friends. And,
indeed, nothing worth communicating has occurred, or otherwise I should
have strained a point to have dropt you a line, as my intention always was
to correspond with you, who, I am certain, would at any time spare a
moment to acknowledge the receipt. I have done myself the pleasure of
writing four letters to Sir John, who, I hope, has received them, [FN] as
I would wish to give him every information affecting our proceedings.
Probably his time is too busily employed to attend to them, and that it
would be more agreeable to him if I corresponded with you on public
business. I should be happy to hear from time to time whether my conduct
met with his approbation, as I would not wish to act in any manner that
he would not approve; he being at the head of the department, is the one
we look to for advice."

* * * * *

[FN] One only of these has been discovered--that of the 25th of August,
on the preceding page. The author has made many efforts to obtain the
papers of Sir John Johnson, where these letters, probably, may yet be
found--but without success. They are either scattered and lost, or have
been taken to England.

"Upon my arrival at Detroit I found the nations there. All had forgot our
last Fall's agreements, and were averse to attend the council at this
place. However, we talked over matters with them, and convinced them of
the necessity there was for our being unanimous, and determining the
business that has been so long in agitation, and after some time, I
prevailed, and have got them all here. After waiting at this place, for
near five weeks, the arrival of the Shawanese, Miamis, Onias, and the rest
of the nations westward of this, are at last arrived; so that I am in
hopes in a few days to be able to give you the particulars of our meeting.
I have still my doubts whether we will all join or not, some being no ways
inclined for peaceable methods. The Hurons, Chippewas, Ottawas,
Pottawattamies, and Delawares, will join with us in trying lenient steps,
and having a boundary line fixed; and, rather than enter headlong into a
destructive war, will give up a small part of their country. On the other
hand, the Shawanese, Miamis, and Kickapoos, who are now so much addicted
to horse-stealing that it will be a difficult task to break them of it,
as that kind of business is their best harvest, will of course declare for
war, and not giving up any of their country, which, I am afraid, will be
the means of our separating. They are, I believe, determined not to attend
the treaty with the Americans. Still I hope for the best. As the major
part of the nations are of our opinions, the rest may be brought to, as
nothing shall be wanting on my part to convince them of their error. I
sincerely hope our business may terminate to our general interest and
satisfaction. We have not as yet entered upon public matters, as the
Shawanese have a great feast, which will take up a couple of days, after,
which we will have a general meeting, and then we will be certain of each
other's opinions. Till then, I am, with compliments to Sir John and Mrs.
Claus,

"Your most obed't friend,
And very humble serv't,
Jos. Brant.

"_P. Langan._"

The tone of the three immediately preceding letters, is more pacific than
might have been anticipated. Indeed, they seem to indicate a change in the
intentions of the writer, which it will be found somewhat difficult to
reconcile with portions of his subsequent conduct. He is in these
letters--particularly the last addressed to Lieutenant Langan, though
intended more especially for the information of Sir John Johnson--the
friend of peace--perhaps being compelled to assume that attitude by the
force of circumstances--having reason to anticipate the
success--temporary, as it proved--which was to crown the Indian diplomacy
of General St Clair. In his first letter to Langan, Brant had declared
that "the Six Nations had sold themselves to the devil," or, in other
words, "to the Yankees," which in his opinion was equivalent thereto--and
the result was shortly afterward such as to sustain his sagacity.

No records of the proceedings of the grand council so long assembling in
the Autumn of 1788, have been discovered, although it appears by a letter
from Captain Brant to his friend Matthews, who had returned once more to
Quebec, written in March, 1789, that all the proceedings and speeches had
been forwarded--by Captain McKee probably--to Lord Dorchester. The
presumption is, that the council came to no harmonious conclusion,
inasmuch as a treaty was shortly afterward held with the Americans at Fort
Harmar, which was attended by only a part of the Indians, while its
proceedings were subsequently disavowed by other and the larger portions
of the nations.

Be these things, however, as they may, on the 2d of May following,
(1789, [FN-1]) General St. Clair wrote to President Washington from
New-York, announcing that on the 9th of the preceding month of January,
he had concluded two separate treaties with the Indians assembled in
council at Fort Harmar; the first with the sachems and warriors of the
Five Nations, the Mohawks excepted--and the second with the sachems and
warriors of the Wyandot, Delaware, Ottawa, Chippewa, Pottawattamie and
Sac Nations. The reason of these separate negotiations, as explained by
General St. Clair, Was found in the Roman maxim--"_Divide et impera._"
"A jealousy," says the General, "subsisted between them, which I was not
willing to lessen by appearing to consider them as one people. They do not
so consider themselves; and I am persuaded their general confederacy is
entirely broken. Indeed, it would not be very difficult, if circumstances
required it, to set them at deadly variance." [FN-2] This Machiavellian
policy of dividing to conquer--of poising nations, tribes, and factions
against each other, that all may the more easily be crushed at will--is
an ancient mode of war, and has been practised by every government having
the opportunity. Its morality, however, cannot be defended--more
especially in regard to the simple children of the American forests,
against whom it has been prosecuted with the greatest success. Still,
there was an approximation to justice, in a pecuniary point of view,
toward the Indians, in these negotiations of General St Clair, which had
not been previously countenanced by Congress. From the date of the peace
with England, to the reception of the address of October, 1786, from the
Grand Council at Huron Village, Congress had acted upon the principle that
the treaty with Great Britain invested them with the fee of all the
Indian lands within the boundaries of the United States. The address of
the Indian Council, of December, 1786, written, as has been assumed, by
Captain Brant, asserted a contrary principle--viz: that the Indians were
the only rightful proprietors of the soil. And this principle was acceded
to in the instructions of Congress to General St. Clair, of October, 1787,
and July, 1788. [FN-3] However greatly the Indians may have been defrauded
since that date, such has at least been the basis of all subsequent
negotiations with them for lands.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Erroneously dated, May 2d, 1788, in the State Papers as will be
seen by the dates of the treaties, and by the Report of the Secretary of
War, July 7, 1789.

[FN-2] St. Clair's letter, Am. State Papers, Vol. IV. p. 10.

[FN-3] Vide State Papers, Vol IV. p. 9; and report of the Secretary of
War, July 15, 1789--same vol. p. 13.

Although the Mohawks were not parties to the treaty of Fort Harmar, yet it
appears that they, at least their chief, Thayendanegea, must have been
present at its negotiation. This fact is disclosed in a passage in his
letter to Major Matthews, already referred to: "You'll hear by this
opportunity the result of our jaunt to the southward, as Captain McKee
has sent down all the proceedings of our councils with the American
Commissioners, speeches, and answers. Our proceedings have been such as I
hope will be approved of. I must farther mention that much may yet be
done, if we meet with necessary assistance, as business cannot be carried
on in the upper country to advantage without the attendance of the Five
Nations, which they cannot do without being more amply supplied than
heretofore with ammunition, provisions, &c. I have ever been forward in
pointing out what I thought would tend to the good of our service, and
which has ever been attended to, notwithstanding that my friends below
seem to credit these reports. Still, my attachment to government is such,
that personal injury will not have sufficient weight to make me swerve
from the duty I owe my King." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Letter from Joseph Brant to Capt. Matthews, March 8,1789, among the
Brant papers. Writing to Governor Clinton respecting the conduct of
Captain Brant touching St. Clair's proceedings at Fort Harmar, President
Washington said--"Captain Brant has not been candid in his account of
General St. Clair, nor done justice in his representation of matters at
Muskingum. It is notorious that he need all the art and influence of
which he was possessed to prevent any treaty being held; and that,
except in a small degree, General St. Clair aimed at no more land by the
treaty of Muskingum than had been ceded by the preceding
treaties."_Letter from President Washington to Governor Clinton,
Dec. 1, 1790._

There is an allusion, in the closing sentences of this quotation, to
certain "private griefs" of the writer, requiring an explanation. Captain
Brant was no more exempt than other men from the ill-will and evil
machinations of the envious and jealous. "Great honors are great burdens"
as well among the red men as the white; and it was the fate of the noble
Mohawk to encounter his full share of trials of this description.
Difficulties had already sprung up in the administration of his affairs,
not only with the Provincial Government, in regard to the nature of the
title which the Mohawks were to receive of the lands granted them on the
Ouise or Grand River, but also between the chief and some of the Indians
themselves; not Mohawks, but stragglers from other tribes of the Iroquois
Confederacy. During the protracted absence of the Captain to the councils
of the preceding year, in the country of the great lakes, it appears that
a council of disaffected Indians had been held at Montreal; the object of
which was to denounce the conduct of Brant, but in what respects does not
exactly appear. Strong complaints were preferred against him, however, at
that council, "not only in the name of the Five Nations, but by some of
his relations and intimate friends," under circumstances, and with an air
so imposing, as to give serious alarm to his friends at the castle of St.
Lewis.

On the 3d of January, 1789, Major Matthews addressed a long letter to his
Mohawk friend, on the subject of that council, and the charges then and
there preferred against him. This letter was written by Matthews with the
knowledge and approbation of a distinguished personage, who, although his
name is not given, must have been Lord Dorchester. Major Matthews did not
specify the charges made against his friend, and they can only be vaguely
surmised from the following extract: "The circumstances which have been
alleged against you, you have no doubt been minutely informed of. It is
therefore unnecessary, and would be painful to me, to recapitulate them.
Your friend [FN] wishes you to reflect seriously upon the fatal
consequences that must attend a misunderstanding and disunion of your
nation, and of those Indians who might make the settlement upon the Grand
River a happy retreat for themselves and their posterity, by a cordial and
friendly union. How materially the contrary must weaken their interest,
and yours in particular, in the great scale of the Indian Confederacy; and
how heavy the blame must fall upon whoever shall be considered the
promoter of so great a calamity. He therefore recommends to you, as the
safest and surest road to consequence and fame, to effect, without loss of
time, a perfect reconciliation with your friends and fellow-settlers;
convincing them, by your mildness and generosity, and still more by a
strict attention to justice, that you are worthy of their confidence;
exert all your powers in establishing perfect union and friendship among
your own nation, and you will convince those at a distance that you are
capable and worthy of cementing a general union for good purposes."

* * * * *

[FN] Lord Dorchester doubtless, meaning.

"Having thus far given you the sentiments of a hearty well-wisher, I
cannot conclude without adding from myself, in the language and with the
heart of an old and sincere friend, that I feel more sensibly than I can
find words to express, for the critical situation in which every person
who was present at the Council must consider you to stand with your
nation. For my own part I could scarce believe my own eyes and ears, when
I saw and heard our old friends, whose hands and hearts have been so long
joined together in one common cause, pour out complaints against you; and
they did it at the same time with such reluctance and concern, that it was
the more affecting. It is impossible that men who were born, brought up,
who have so oft fought by each others' sides, and bled together, can
seriously disagree. The whole must be a misunderstanding, and must be
explained with reconciliation. It is noble and generous to acknowledge an
error, and mutually to forgive injuries; and, my dear Joseph, listen to
mine, and to the voice of your friends, who wish your happiness by seeing
you so firmly re-united with your own flesh and blood as to resist any
power on earth that would separate you from them." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Extracted from the original letter of Capt. Matthews, among the
Brant papers.

It is from the reply of Captain Brant to this communication, that the
brief reference to the proceedings of the western councils has been
quoted. In regard to the proceedings at Montreal to which his attention
had been so earnestly invited by his correspondent, the answer of Captain
Brant was full and frank, manifesting on his own part, a feeling of
dignified and conscious rectitude. The charges themselves were not
specified by the chief in his defence, but the inference deduced from his
language is, that his integrity had been impeached in regard to their
lands, and his loyalty questioned to the King; and farther, that he had
been censured for introducing a few white settlers upon the Indian
lands--his object in so doing, being to benefit the Indians by the better
examples of the whites in husbandry, and also by the introduction of some
of the mechanic arts among them. He regrets that his enemies, few in
number, as he says, had availed themselves of his absence to assail his
character, at a moment, too, when in a distant country he was exerting
all his energies for the benefit of his people; and regrets still more
that his friends in Montreal had listened to the charges for a moment,
until after he could have a hearing. If he had erred at all, he maintained
that it could only have been in the warmth of his ardour in promoting the
substantial interests of his nation. In the course of his letter, he
pointed with modest exultation to the proceedings of a full Council of the
Five Nations, held at Niagara, in presence of the agent and the commanding
officer, subsequent to the denunciation at Montreal, by which his conduct
had been approved. Should the proceedings of this council be insufficient
to remove "the censure thrown upon him by a seditious and discontented
few, and make the complainants appear in their proper light," the Captain
suggested that he should make application to the agents at Detroit and
Niagara for certificates of his conduct during the war and since the
peace; and thus provided, he would repair to head-quarters with all the
principal men, both sachems and warriors, [FN] of all the nations settled
in that country, and let them speak freely. After which, he hoped to stand
better with "the great men below" than he had reason to suppose he did at
that time.

* * * * *

[FN] "Both Sachems and warriors." "A Sachem is considered a civil
magistrate, who takes precedence of all war-chiefs in time of peace, and
is hereditary. Not so the war-chiefs. They, as by all the rest of the
world, are made by the voice of the nation for their gallantry in the
field. In time of war, the war-chiefs take the commend, and direct all
the movements,--what is called in civilized life,--martial law."
_Letters to the editor from Colonel William J. Kerr._ The distinction is
scarcely ever observed in writing of Indian affairs, since sachems,
warriors, chiefs, are most usually written indiscriminately, as it
happens.

With the conclusion of the treaties of January, 1789, by General St.
Clair, the purpose of forming a grand Indian Confederacy, to include the
Five Nations, which should be lasting, was defeated, at least for that
time; and although peace had not been restored to the south-western
settlements on the Ohio, yet the name of Captain Brant does not again
appear in connexion with the affairs of the western Indians during the
residue of the year 1789 and the two succeeding years. It appears,
however, by the copy of a letter found among his papers, addressed by him
to Colonel McDonnell, in September, that the Shawanese had then just sent
an embassy, "inviting the Five Nations very strongly to a grand council
of the different nations, to be held at the Wyandot Town, near Detroit,
for the purpose of renewing and strengthening the Confederacy." "We left
it," the letter continues, "entirely to the Buffalo Creek people to
determine how to act, because they are in general backward and dilatory;
but for our parts, we can always be ready at the shortest notice. I,
however, think, myself, that it cannot take place until next Spring, since
by this time the young men have begun to scatter in the woods for hunting;
and it would be necessary to have them present to hear what is agreed upon
by the chiefs; and by that means whatever may be agreed on will more
firmly effect and unite the different nations. The larger number present
from the different nations the better." Whether the proposed council was
held, or whether, if held, Captain Brant participated in its
deliberations, is not known.

But while Thayendanegea had successfully vindicated himself from the
aspersions of the disaffected of his own people, as has been seen, and
while he was pondering upon the invitation of the Shawanese to attempt the
assembling of another great council in the west, he was admonished of the
rumored existence of a plot against the English garrison at Detroit, and
also against himself and his own people in their new location, concerted
by his recent _quasi_ confederates, the Hurons, Pottawattamies, and
Chippewas. The inauspicious rumor was communicated to him in writing by
Sir John Johnson.

"Sir John Johnson to Captain Brant.

"_Montreal,_ 4_th Nov._ 1789.

"Dear Joseph,

"I do not think I should be justifiable in not acquainting you (though
perhaps you may have heard the report,) that an account has been received
at Detroit, upon the oath of one the party concerned, that the Hurons,
Pottawattamies, and Chippewas are concerned in a plot to cut off the
garrison at Detroit, and your settlement, this Winter, or as soon as the
navigation of the lakes is shut up. Though this information wants farther
confirmation, and I give very little credit to it, I think you had better
be on your guard, and try to find out the real situation, designs, and
disposition of those nations, by sending some trusty, unsuspected persons
among them. I should imagine that you had some friends among the Hurons
that you could rely upon to give you all the information you want, and
that some trusty Messissagoes might be got to go among the other nations
to watch their motions; any recompense for these services will be readily
granted, if you think them necessary, upon producing this letter to Lieut.
Col. Butler, or Mr. McKee.

"I have your letter to Langan of the 23d of September. As to the business
of Aaron and Isaac, so much has been said on that already, and, in fact,
it is so trifling, that nothing farther is necessary to be said in answer
to that part of your letter; but I must acknowledge that I am a little
hurt at the other queries you put to him, as they are the offspring of an
ungenerous suspicion, and ill-founded doubts of the conduct and sincerity
of your best and only friends. Rest assured that we know nothing of the
intentions of government to relinquish or give up the posts; so far from
any appearance of it, I am well informed that the post of Niagara is put,
or putting, into the best state of defence the nature of the works will
admit of, as I believe all the others are likewise; and I am confident no
such step will ever be taken without some previous notice given to all
interested. As to the department I have the honor to superintend, I have
no reason to think any change or alteration will take place in it, that
can in any manner affect the interests of the Indians.

"You wish to know our news. All we have that can be interesting to you is,
that one of the most wonderful revolutions has happened in France that
ever was known in so short a time. The people have been made, by the more
enlightened part of the nation, to view their situation in its proper
light, and to throw off the yoke of bondage, slavery, and oppression,
under which they have for ages groaned, and have compelled their grand
monarch to yield to a Constitution similar, in most respects, to the happy
one under which we live. They have abolished all their monks and
nunneries, and have made such changes as are wonderful to relate. With my
best regards to Mrs. Brant, &c. and to all at the village, I remain, as
ever,

"Your friend and faithful servant,
John Johnson." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Respecting the rumor which elicited this letter, there is no farther
information. Indeed, the letter of Sir John itself has been inserted in
the text, more for the purpose of disclosing the liberal spirit in which
the Baronet hailed the beginning of the French Revolution, (as all the
civilized world did at first,) as the dawn of liberty in France, than
for any other purpose.

Relieved, temporarily at least, from the cares and labors of diplomacy
among the nations of the more distant lakes, Brant was enabled, early in
the year 1789, to direct his attention more closely to other matters of
business; not forgetting the pursuits of literature, so far as under the
disadvantages of his situation he was enabled to attend to its
cultivation. He was ever anxious for the moral and intellectual
improvement of his people; and as a primary means of such improvement, he
now earnestly sought for the settlement of a resident clergyman among
them. Visiting Montreal for that purpose, he wrote to Sir John Johnson,
who was absent (probably at Quebec) at the time, and through him appealed
to Lord Dorchester to procure the removal of the Rev. Mr. Stuart from
Kingston to the neighborhood of Grand River. Many of the Indians, he said,
wished to be near a church where there should be a proper minister; and
nowhere, as he thought, could one be found who would suit their
dispositions so well, and exert such a desirable influence over the morals
of the young people, as Mr. Stuart, who had been a missionary among them
in the Valley of the Mohawk. "This good thing," he said in his letter to
Sir John, "I know must be done by his Lordship, and through your kind
interposition; which, be assured, I would not mention, if I was not very
well a convinced of the good that would arise from it." [FN] He wrote
other pressing letters to the same purport; but the transfer of Mr. Stuart
was not effected.

* * * * *

[FN] MS. letters among the Brant papers.

He is believed at about the same time to have resumed the labor of
translating devotional books into the Mohawk language. In addition to the
work published in England in 1786, as already mentioned, he translated the
entire liturgy, and also a primer; a copy of each of which works was
presented to Harvard University. The donation was acknowledged by a vote
of thanks, which was enclosed in the following letter from the President
of that institution:--

"President Willard to Captain Brant.

"_Cambridge, July_ 20th, 1789.

"Sir,

"I have the pleasure of enclosing you a vote of thanks of the Corporation
of the University in this place, for your present of books to the library,
which were received but a little while before the date of the vote. [FN]
To the vote of thanks from the whole corporate body for this acceptable
present, give me leave, Sir, as head of the University, to add my thanks
in particular.

"I am pleased to hear, from the Rev. Mr. Kirkland, that you are writing a
history of the natives of this country. I hope, when you have finished it
in your own language, you will give us a translation in English, as I
doubt not we shall have many curious and important things contained in it,
respecting the various Indian nations, that we are now unacquainted with.

"Mr. Kirkland is so obliging as to take charge of this letter, and I doubt
not will convey it to you as soon as possible,

"I am, Sir,
With sentiments of great esteem,
Your very humble servant,
Joseph Willard.

"_Colonel Joseph Brant._"

* * * * *

[FN] See Appendix, No. VI.

The historical work mentioned in the preceding letter, it is believed,
was never commenced, although it had been projected, or rather, Captain
Brant had designed writing a history of the Six Nations. But he had,
probably, too many demands upon his time, and cares upon his mind, to
allow of the execution of his plan. The work of translating the New
Testament was continued by Captain Brant's friend and fellow-chief, John
Norton, alias Teyoninhokaraven, which was his Indian name. This chief
translated the Gospel of John, which was printed by the British and
Foreign Bible Society; and he intended to proceed with the Gospels of
Matthew and Luke, but probably the work was not completed. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Norton's name will appear frequently hereafter. He was a half-breed,
his father being an Indian, and his mother a Scotch woman. He received a
classical education at an English school. Next to Thayendanegea,
Teyoninhokaraven was the moat distinguished of the modern Mohawks. His
observations were said to be acute, and his language in conversation
strong and elegant. He was well versed in ancient and modern history, and
particularly well informed in geography. On every subject connected with
his own country and people his knowledge was minute. In his person he was
tall and muscular, with a large and expressive eye.

But, aside from the cultivation of letters, Captain Brant had ample
employment, for both mind and body, in regulating his domestic Indian
relations. The planting of his own nation upon their new territory at
Grand River, and the exertions necessary to bring them into order, and
persuade them to substitute the pursuits of husbandry for the chase, were
labors of no small moment. The grant of land on the Grand River was
doubtless intended solely for the Mohawks, who had been dispossessed of
their own native valley; but other Indians of the Six Nations intruded
upon them, even some of those who had borne arms against the crown and
the Mohawks. Jealousies and heart-burnings were the consequence, which
occasionally called for the interposition of the chief, sometimes to the
injury of his popularity, as has already appeared.

Nor was his attention alone required to regulate the affairs of the
Indians on the British side of the line. Difficulties sprang up as early
as 1789 among the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas, in consequence
of the intrusion of the whites upon their lands, and the unlawful
purchases effected by some of them, from Indians not authorized to sell.
All the weight of these troubles seemed to fall upon the shoulders of
Captain Brant, between whom and Governor George Clinton an active
correspondence took place upon the subject, in 1789 and the following
year. The Governor made every possible effort to cause justice to be done
to the Indians; for which purpose, several councils were held at Fort
Stanwix, and at least one special interview was held between the Governor
and the chief in relation to it. The result was an amicable arrangement.
In his letters, Governor Clinton treated the Indian chieftain not only
with marked respect, but with evident personal kindness and regard. The
following letter will serve as a specimen of this correspondence on the
part of that distinguished man:--

"Governor Clinton to Captain Brant.

"_New-York,_ 1_st September,_ 1790.

"Sir,

"I was favored with your letter of the 21st of July yesterday, and am
happy to hear of your health and safe arrival at your place of residence.

"A rumor of a Spanish war also prevails among us. It is certain, that both
that and the British nation are equipping powerful naval armaments; the
ostensible object of which is the settlement of a dispute which has taken
place between them, with respect to their possessions on the north-west
part of this Continent, and the right of fishery in that quarter. It is,
however, probable that all this political bustle may terminate in
negotiation, by one conceding and the other accepting of what neither have
any well-founded pretensions to, farther than mere discovery and the
displaying of a national flag by the permission of the hospitable and
unsuspecting natives.

"The gentlemen who are appointed commissioners of Indian affairs, and whom
you saw with me at Fort Stanwix, chiefly reside in the country, and are
now so dispersed that it is not practicable to confer with them. I
perfectly recollect the conversation which passed between you and me
relative to the land you was to have had from Doctor Benton, and I
communicated the import of it at the time, to the commissioners; and you
will remember I afterward informed you that, however strong their
dispositions were to serve you, yet they could not consent to any thing
that would give the least sanction or countenance to any part of Benton's
transactions, as they considered them not only contrary to law, but
committed by him in open defiance of the authority of the State. They
expressed, at the same time, sentiments of the warmest friendship for you;
and I considered the present which they directed me to make you, as the
only way they had in their power to evince the sincerity of their
professions.

"I shall be happy to see you here next Summer, and will endeavor to make
your visit agreeable to you. Colonel Varick and your brother, the sachem,
are the only two of the gentlemen who were at Fort Stanwix, now in town.
They request you to accept of their best respects. I will not fail to
communicate your expectations to Mr. L'Hommedieu, that he may stand
prepared to discharge the tribute.

"I am
Your most obed't servant,
Geo. Clinton.

"_Captain Joseph Brant._"

CHAPTER X.

Continued troubles with the Indians--English emissaries in
Kentucky--Mission of Antoine Gamelin--Preparations for war--Campaign of
General Harmar--Successive defeats of Colonel Hardin--Conduct of the
militia--Retreat of Harmar--Indian deputation to Lord Dorchester--Letter
of Sir John Johnson--Colonel Gordon--Letter of Brant to Colonel
McKee--Pacific views of Lord Dorchester--Renewed efforts of the United
States to bring the Indians to peace--Interposition of
Corn-planter--Mission of Corn-planter and Colonel Proctor--British
officers wish a mediation--Letter of Colonel Gordon--Colonel Pickering
holds an Indian Council at the Chemung--Red Jacket's course--Brant
interferes--Indian Councils at Buffalo--Influence of Colonel John Butler
and Brant--Mission of Colonel Proctor and Corn-planter
frustrated--Important position of Brant--Correspondence between the
Secretary of War and Governor Clinton--Colonel Pickering's Council with
the Indians at Painted Post--Mission of Hendrick, the Stockbridge
chief--Renewal of hostilities--Campaign of General St. Clair---His
defeat--Thayendanegea among the Indian captains--The panic that
followed--Clamor against St. Clair--His resignation--Wayne appointed his
successor--Refusal of Colonel Willett to embark in an Indian war.

Notwithstanding the treaties of peace concluded by General St. Clair with
all the Six Nations, the Mohawks excepted, and with several of the great
north-western tribes, the tranquility of the frontier settlements, now
extending four hundred miles along the Ohio, had not been secured. The
Shawanese, Miamis, and Wabash Indians [FN-1] still kept up a bloody war,
ravaging the settlements of Kentucky, and the territory now known as Ohio,
and causing serious apprehensions in the frontier settlements of Virginia.
The President had made every possible effort to conciliate the Indians by
just and pacific overtures, but in vain. [FN-2] Even the Indians with whom
one of the treaties had been formed, could not all of them be restrained
from the warpath. There was, moreover, another angry cloud lowering in the
western sky. The governments of the United States and Spain were at issue
on the question of the navigation of the Mississippi, respecting which
strong solicitude was felt by the people of the west--especially of
Kentucky. Not satisfied with fomenting discontents among the Indians at
the north, the English government, availing itself of the Spanish
question, and hoping, should the mouth of the Mississippi be ultimately
closed against the commerce of the United States, that disaffection might
ensue in the west, was believed to have despatched secret agents into
Kentucky, with propositions to test the fidelity of the people to the
Union. Among these emissaries was Lieutenant Colonel Connolly, of Detroit,
a loyalist formerly of Fort Pitt, who had espoused the cause of the crown
in the Revolution. He held several confidential conferences with some of
the most influential citizens of Kentucky, and attempted to seduce them
into a project for making a descent upon New Orleans, seizing the city,
and securing the navigation of the Mississippi by force, as a necessary
consequence. Information of these secret proceedings was transmitted to
the President, who, looking upon the intrigue as an attempt to divide the
Union, was prompt in concerting measures to detect any farther
machinations of the kind. [FN-3] What progress was made in sowing the
seeds of disaffection, or whether any, does not appear.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Such were the statements of the accounts of that day. In the early
part of the present year, however, Captain McKee, the active (British)
Indian Agent at Detroit, wrote to Captain Brant--"The Indians of the
Miamis, I understand, have been more quiet than usual this year, few
hostilities having been committed, and those by that nation alone." In
the same letter Captain McKee stated that a quarrel had arisen between
the Miamis and Delawares respecting the lands occupied by the latter,
who were so much offended as to be preparing to retire across to the
Spanish side of the Mississippi. The Captain added:--"Their withdrawing
themselves at this time will be extremely detrimental, not only to the
Indian confederacy, but to the country in general, as it will draw a
number of others after them who do not consider the consequences." McKee
invoked Captain Brant to send the disaffected Delawares a speech, to
prevent their separation. But if this request was complied with, it
failed of the desired effect. The Indians in question carried their
design of a removal into execution.

[FN-2] "The basis of our proceedings with the Indian nations has been,
and shall be, _justice_, during the period in which I have any thing to
do with the administration of this government"--_Letter of President
Washington to the Marquis de Lafayette, Aug._ 1790.

[FN-3] Sparks's Life and Correspondence of Washington, vol. ix. pages
473, '76. Letter of President Washington to Mr. Innes, and Notes. These
attempts upon the fidelity of Kentucky were made in 1788 and 1789. In the
following year, in the prospect of a war between Great Britain and Spain,
apprehensions of trouble between the United States and the former arose
from the same quarters, but upon a very different question. From certain
circumstances which came to the knowledge of the President, it was
believed that Lord Dorchester, in the event of a war with Spain, had it
in contemplation to send an expedition from Detroit for the invasion of
Louisiana. This could not be done without marching an army across the
whole breadth of the territory of the United States. On the 25th of
August, President Washington communicated his apprehensions to the
members of his cabinet, the Vice-President, and the Chief Justice, (Jay,)
requiring their opinions in writing upon the course proper to be pursued
by the Government of the United States in such an emergency.

In the Spring of 1790, Antoine Gamelin, an experienced Indian merchant,
was despatched to visit all the principal tribes of the west, as a
messenger of peace, with a view of ascertaining the general temper of the
Indians. Among the tribes who had entered into the treaty, he found the
old chiefs and warriors generally well disposed, and by no means hostile.
But with these exceptions, the war feeling was almost universal. Of the
spirit that prevailed, an idea may be formed from the following notes of
Gamelin, of his interview with the Ouiatanons and Kickapoos:--"After my
speech, one of the head chiefs got up and told me: 'You, Gamelin, my
friend and son-in-law, we are pleased to see in our village, and to hear
by your mouth the good words of the Great Chief. We thought to receive a
few words from the French people, [traders,] but I see the contrary. None
but the Big Knife is sending speeches to us. You know that we can
terminate nothing without the consent of our elder brethren, the Miamis.
I invite you to proceed to their village, and to speak to them. There is
one thing in your speech I do not like. I will not tell of it. Even was I
drunk, I would not perceive it; but our elder brethren will certainly take
notice of it in your speech. You invite us to stop our young men. It is
impossible to do it, being constantly encouraged by the British.'" Another
chief said: "The Americans are very flattering in their speeches; many
times our nation went to their rendezvous. I was once there myself. Some
of our chiefs died on the route, and we always came back all naked; and
you, Gamelin, you came with a speech, but with empty hands." Another chief
said: "Know ye that the village of Ouiatanon is the sepulchre of our
ancestors. The chief of America invites us to go to him, if we are for
peace; he has not his leg broke, being able to go as far as the Illinois.
He might come here himself, and we should be glad to see him in our
village. We confess that we accepted the axe, but it was by the reproach
that we continually receive from the English and other nations, which
received the axe first, calling us women; at the same time they invite our
young men to war. As to the old people, they are wishing for peace." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Gamelin's Journal, Am. State Papers, Vol IV. p. 93.

All the endeavors of the President to give security to the parties by
peaceful arrangements having proved unavailing, vigorous offensive
measures were determined upon, and an expedition against the hostile
tribes was entrusted to General Harmar, a veteran of the revolution. His
force consisted of fourteen hundred and fifty men, three hundred and
twenty of whom were regular troops, and the residue levies of the
Pennsylvania and Kentucky militia. The object was to bring the Indians to
an engagement, if possible; if not, in any event to destroy their
settlements on the waters of the Scioto and Wabash. [FN-1] The expedition
left Fort Washington on the 30th of September, 1790. The Indians at first
abandoned their principal town, after applying the torch to it, but
rallied subsequently upon a detachment of two hundred and ten men,
commanded by Colonel Harden, thirty of whom were regulars, and gave
battle. At the first fire Harden's militia all ran away. The regulars
maintained their ground for a time, and fought bravely until but seven of
their number were able to escape. On the next day Col. Harden, at the head
of three hundred and sixty men, sixty of whom were regulars, undertook to
retrieve their disgrace. They were met by the Indians, and a bloody
conflict ensued near the junction of the St. Joseph and St. Mary rivers.
The militia, for a miracle, fought bravely on this occasion. Overpowered
by numbers, however, they were defeated, with the loss of several gallant
officers, and one hundred and eighty-three men--seventy-five of whom were
regulars. Among the former were Majors Fontaine and Wyllys, and Lieutenant
Frothingham. Ten militia officers were also among the slain. The Indians
lost about one hundred and twenty warriors. The battle was severely
fought, and ended in the flight of the Americans. General Harmar thereupon
returned to Fort Washington and claimed the victory--with what propriety
has never been ascertained. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Holmes--Marshall.

[FN-2] A letter to Captain Brant, written from Detroit, gave a still more
disastrous account of this affair than was admitted by the American
authorities. The following is an extract:--"I have to inform you that
there have been two engagements about the Miami towns, between the
Americans and the Indians, in which, it is said, the former had about
five hundred men killed, and that the rest have retreated. The loss was
only fifteen or twenty on the side of the Indians. The Shawanese, Miamis,
and Pottawattamies were, I understand, the principal tribes who were
engaged; but I do not learn that any of the nations have refused their
alliance or assistance, and it is confidently reported that they are now
marching against the frontiers on the Ohio. As Mr. McKee writes to the
chiefs at the Grand River, he will be able to state circumstances more
particularly than I can. The gentlemen of the garrison beg their
compliments."---MS. _Letter of John Smith to Captain Brant._

Flushed and emboldened by their success, the depredations of the Indians
became more frequent, and the condition of the frontier was more
deplorable than it had been previous to this ill-fated expedition. [FN-1]
Nor were their aggressions confined to the settlements along the Ohio and
the Kentucky border. Two of the Seneca Indians having been murdered by the
whites, that nation, with others among the warriors of the Six Nations,
were becoming more hostile; and the consequence was, that early in the
Spring of 1791, the Pennsylvania settlements along the Allegheny river,
above Pittsburgh, experienced repeated and fearful visitations of Indian
retribution. Several stations of the settlers were entirely broken up. The
murders of women and children were frequent, and were often attended with
circumstances of undiminished inhumanity, while many people were carried
into captivity. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] "It appears, from the most indubitable testimony, that from 1783,
when peace was made, to October, 1790, when the United States commenced
offensive operations against them, on the Ohio and the frontiers, the
Indians killed and wounded, and took prisoners, about fifteen hundred
men, women, and children; besides taking away two thousand horses and a
large quantity of other property"--_Narrative and Sufferings of Massy
Harbison._

[FN-2] Idem.

News of the disastrous victory of General Harmar having reached the seat
of government, a regiment was added to tho permanent military
establishment, and the President was authorised to raise a body of two
thousand men for six months, to appoint a major and a brigadier general
to continue in command so long as he should think their services
necessary. [FN-1] No time was lost in calling this augmented force into
the field, and Major General Arthur St. Clair, Governor of the territory
north west of the Ohio, was appointed Commander-in-chief, and charged with
the conduct of the meditated expedition; the immediate objects of which
were to destroy the Indian villages on the Miamis, to expel the Indians
from that country, and to connect it with the Ohio by a chain of posts
which would prevent their return during the war. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Marshall's life of Washington.

[FN-2] Holmes's Annals.

It appears that on the repulse of Harmar, the confederated nations of the
Chippewas, Pottawattamies, Hurons, Shawanese, Delawares, Ottawas, Tustans,
and Six Nations--after a consultation at the foot of the Miami Rapids with
Capt. McKee,--deputed a representation of chiefs and warriors to visit
Lord Dorchester at Quebec, for the purpose of consultation, and also to
ascertain whether any, and if any, what, assistance might be expected from
the British or provincial government. Lord Dorchester's views were
doubtless at that time pacific, as also were those of Captain
Brant--provided always that the United States would establish the Ohio as
the boundary, and relinquish all claims of jurisdiction beyond that river.
On the 22d of February, 1791, Sir John Johnson addressed a letter to
Captain Brant, from Montreal, enclosing a copy of a letter from Lord
Dorchester to himself and another copy of the same to Captain McKee, the
purport of which can only be inferred from the letter of the Baronet. It
is accordingly inserted:--

"Sir John Johnson to Captain Brant. (Private.)

"_Montreal,_ 22_d Feb'y,_ 1791.

"Dear Joseph,

"As I think the Six Nations much interested in the business proposed by
the inclosed copy of a letter from Lord Dorchester, (another copy of which
I transmit to Mr. McKee,) I could not think of withholding it from you,
that you may take such steps, in concert with Mr. McKee and the western
nations, as you may judge most conducive to their interest and honor. As
you certainly are all free and independent, I think you will have a right
to insist upon disposing of whatever lands you judge fit to reserve for
the General Confederacy, in whatever manner, and to whomsoever you please.
The idea of the States claiming a jurisdiction up to the line of
separation settled between Great Britain and them, must arise from a
supposition that the Indians, at some time or other, allowed that power
to our Provinces for the better government of their subjects. Whether or
not that is the case, I know not, nor can I at present find out; but
certain I am that without such a cession of power on the part of the
Indians, no just right or claim to such a power can be supported beyond
the line of 1768, and to the western line of the land ceded or sold by the
Indians to the States since the war. This is certainly a nice point, and
may not be proper to insist upon too positively; but in justice I believe
it is as I have stated. When the Indians allowed the English and French to
build forts for the protection and support of their subjects and trade,
they no doubt had a right to a certain jurisdiction or command round those
places, but I never believe it extended farther, or that the Indians meant
it should. Upon the whole, you understand your own rights better than I
do. I shall therefore say no more than to recommend coolness and a manly
firmness in whatever you may determine on. As I mean this letter as
entirely private, I shall acquaint you that I believe this measure has
been thought of by Lord Dorchester, in consequence of my writing to him
on receiving the account of the expedition carried on last Fall by the
Americans against the Miamis, at which time I took the liberty of saying
that the Americans had no claim to any part of the country beyond the
line established in 1768, at Fort Stanwix, between the Indians and the
Governors and agents of all the Provinces interested, and including the
sales made since the war; and that I therefore thought, as we could not
afford them assistance in arms, we should at least afford them our
mediation to bring about a peace between them and the States, on terms
just and honorable, or something to that purpose. You may converse with,
or write freely to Mr. McKee upon the subjects of this letter, but let it
be as from yourself--perhaps I may say something similar to him if time
will permit. I have wrote Lord Dorchester that an answer might be had to
his inquiries by some time the beginning of May, but I fear not; a great
deal will depend on you, however, in forwarding the packet to Mr. McKee,
which let me intreat you to lose no time in doing. My best wishes attend
you all, and believe me as ever sincerely yours,

"John Johnson.

"_Captain Brant._"

Colonel Gordon, commanding the British post at Niagara, was also at that
time and afterward, a friend of peace. On the 4th of March he addressed a
letter to Captain Brant, from which the following is an extract:--"I hope
you will embrace the present opportunity of the meeting of the chiefs of
the Five Nations in your neighborhood, to use your endeavors to heal the
wounds between the Indians and Americans. I dare say the States wish to
make peace on terms which will secure to the Indians their present
possessions in the Miami country, provided the young men are restrained
from committing depredations in future." The temper of the chief himself,
at this period, can best be determined by the following extracts from a
letter addressed by himself to Captain McKee, three days after the letter
from Colonel Gordon was written, and probably immediately on its
receipt:--

"Captain Brant to Captain McKee. (Extracts.)

"_Grand River, March_ 7, 1791."

* * * * *

"I have received two letters from the States, from gentlemen who have been
lately in Philadelphia; by which it appears the Americans secretly wish to
accommodate the matter--which I should by all means advise, if it could be
effected upon honorable and liberal terms, and a peace become general."

* * * * *

"I am happy to see in Sir John's last letter to me, that he has suggested
to his Lordship the necessity of their interference in bringing about a
peace between the Indians and the United States; by which it appears he
has an idea of recommending the line settled in 1768 [qu? 1765] between
the Indians and government, as the northern and western boundary of the
States in that quarter. I expect to hear more from him in the Spring on
that subject, as I have pressed him hard to give me his sentiments on the
utility of my interference in the present dispute."

Lord Dorchester's speech in reply to the deputation already mentioned, was
of a similar tenor to the preceding letter of Sir John Johnson. His
Lordship informed them that he should be glad to be instrumental in
restoring peace. He informed them that the line marked out in the treaty
of peace with the United States, implied no more than that beyond that
line the King their father would not extend his interference; and that the
King had only retained possession of the posts until such time as all the
differences between him and the United States should be settled. In regard
to the questions of the deputation, whether it was true that, in making
peace with the States, the King had given away their lands, his Lordship
assured them that such was not the fact, inasmuch as the King never had
any right to their lands, other than to such as had been fairly ceded by
themselves, with their own free consent, by public convention and sale.
On this point, his Lordship likewise referred to the treaty with Sir
William Johnson, at Fort Stanwix, in 1766. In conclusion, he assured the
deputation, that although the Indians had their friendship and good-will,
the Provincial Government had no power to embark in a war with the United
States, and could only defend themselves if attacked. He also informed
them that the command of the province was about to devolve upon General
Clarke; and that Prince Edward, [FN-1] who had just arrived with a chosen
band of warriors, would be the second in command. His Lordship himself was
on the eve of embarking for England, where it would afford him great
pleasure to hear that peace had been established between the Indians and
United States upon a just and solid foundation. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] The late Duke of Kent, father of the present young Queen of
England.

[FN-2] Journal of Major General Lincoln, which will be more particularly
referred to hereafter.

This speech afforded but small encouragement to the Indians, and most
likely but ill corresponded with the expectations that had been raised by
McKee, and other subordinate officers in the British Indian Department at
the remote posts--of whom several, like McKee, were refugee Americans,
indulging bitter hatred toward the country which they had deserted in the
hour of its peril. Indeed, there is no reason to distrust the manly and
honorable conduct of Lord Dorchester during the greater part of this
singular border contest, the progress of which was marked by so many
vicissitudes of feeling and action on the part of many of the Provincial
authorities. And besides, the attitude of the two nations was at that
moment less seemingly belligerent than it shortly afterward became.

During these side negotiations in Canada, and while the preparations for
another campaign by the American government, as already mentioned, were
in progress, no relaxations of efforts to prevent the farther effusion of
blood were allowed to take place. Captain O'Bail, or the Corn-planter as
he was usually called, the principal chief of the Senecas, being in
Philadelphia in the month of December, after the defeat of General Harmar,
was induced not only to use his influence to prevent the warriors of the
Six Nations from taking a part in the contest, but also to undertake a
mission with other friendly Indians to the country of the Miamis, to
persuade them to peace, also, if possible. In March following, the
Corn-planter, with whom Colonel Proctor, an active officer in the
(American) Indian Department had been associated, set out upon the
mission. Meantime, measures were adopted to draw the Indians of the Six
Nations to a general conference at a distance from the theatre of war, in
order, not only to prevent their joining the war, but, if necessary, to
obtain some of their young warriors for the service against the Miamis and
the other hostile tribes. This attempt to create a diversion of the Six
Nations, however, was looked upon with displeasure by the Provincial
authorities in Canada, as will be seen by the annexed letter from Colonel
Gordon to Captain Brant. It also appears from this letter, that these
Provincials were ambitious of being appealed to by the government of the
United States as mediators in the controversy. Nor was this an individual
conceit of Colonel Gordon, inasmuch as Sir John Johnson had hinted the
same thing, as was evident from his letter, after consultation with Lord
Dorchester. It will farther appear by the address of the letter, that the
ever-vigilant Brant was already once more in the country of the Miamis,
although but a very few days previous he had been assisting at a private
council at Buffalo. His movements in all these matters, as in the war of
the Revolution, seem to have been as rapid as the light.

"Colonel Gordon to Captain Brant.

"_Niagara, June_ 11_th,_ 1791.

"Dear Sir,

"I was glad to find by your letter, from the foot of the Rapids, to
Colonel Butler, that you was in good health; and I very sincerely hope the
business you are engaged in, will be attended with success.

"From the inconsistent proceedings of the Americans, I am perfectly at a
loss to understand their full intentions. Whilst they are assembling
councils at different quarters with the avowed purpose of bringing about
a peace, the Six Nations have received a speech from General St. Clair,
dated at Pittsburgh, 23d April, inviting them to take up the hatchet
against their brothers the western nations.

"Can any thing be more inconsistent? or can they possibly believe the
Indians are to be duped by such shallow artifices? This is far from being
the case; the Indians at Buffalo Creek saw the business in its proper
light, and treated the invitation with the contempt it deserved. It must
strike you very forcibly, that in all the proceedings of the different
Commissioners from the American States, they have cautiously avoided
applying for our interference, as a measure they affect to think perfectly
unnecessary; wishing to impress the Indians with ideas of their own
consequence, and of the little influence, they would willingly believe,
we are possessed of. This, my good friend, is not the way to proceed. Had
they, before matters were pushed to extremity, requested the assistance of
the British Government to bring about a peace on equitable terms, I am
convinced the measure would have been fully accomplished long before this
time.

"I would, however, willingly hope they will yet see the propriety of
adopting this mode of proceeding; and that peace, an object so much to be
desired, will at length be permanently settled.

"I am the more sanguine in the attainment of my wishes, by your being on
the spot, and that you will call forth the exertion of your influence and
abilities on the occasion. Let me hear from time to time how matters are
going forward, and with my wishes for your health, believe me

"Your friend,
A. Gordon.

"_Captain Brant._"

The Council of the Six Nations, always excepting the Mohawks, was
successfully held by Colonel Timothy Pickering, in the Chemung country,
in the month of June. But the Corn-planter and Colonel Proctor met with
insurmountable difficulties in the prosecution of their mission. The
special object of that mission, after traversing the country of the Six
Nations, and exerting such wholesome influence upon them as might be in
their power, was to charter a vessel at Buffalo Creek, and proceed to
Sandusky, and if possible induce the Miamis to meet General St. Clair in
council on the Ohio. They were every where well received on the route from
Allegheny to Buffalo Creek, at which place a grand Council was called in
honor of their arrival, and attended by Red Jacket and other chiefs.
After having been welcomed by a speech from Red Jacket, Colonel Proctor
opened to them the message from General Washington, the great chief of the
Thirteen Fires. Red Jacket replied, that many persons had previously at
different times been among them, professing to come by the authority of
the Thirteen Fires, but of the truth of which declarations they were not
always convinced. In the course of the conversation, it was ascertained
that at a private council held at that place one week before, at which
Captain Brant and Colonel Butler, of the British Indian department, were
present, these officers had uttered the same doubts now started by Red
Jacket. Brant had advised the Indians to pay no attention to Proctor and
O'Bail, of whose approach and purpose he was aware, and to render them no
assistance in their projected visit to Sandusky, assuring them it should
do no good; but that Colonel Proctor, and all who would accompany him to
the country of the Miamis, would be put to death. They also ascertained,
that while holding the said private council, in anticipation of their
visit, Captain Brant had received secret instructions from
"head-quarters," [FN] to repair to Grand River, and from thence to
Detroit. It was believed by a French trader who gave the information, and
also by Captain Powell of the British service, who confirmed it, that the
Mohawk chief had been sent to the Indians hostile to the United States,
with instructions of _some_ kind; and the Indians at Buffalo Creek had
been charged by Brant to conclude upon nothing with Proctor and O'Bail
before his return.

* * * * *

[FN] The words used in Col. Proctor's narrative; but whether he meant the
British or Indian head-quarters, the author cannot say. Probably the
former.

Colonel Proctor and O'Bail continued at Buffalo from the 27th of April to
the 22d or 23d of May. The Indians collected in large numbers, and many
councils were held. On the 8th of May, the Fish-carrier, one of the
principal Cayuga chiefs, and the right hand man of Captain Brant, declared
in a speech that O'Bail had taken a course that was not approved by
them--that more than one half of the Indians there, _were not for peace,_
[FN-1] and that Captain Brant had been sent to the council-fire of the
Miamis. "We must, therefore," he added, "see his face, for we can't
determine until we know what they are about. So we beg you to grant our
request, to keep your mind easy; for we, who do this business, look on
you, and hold ourselves to be slaves in making of peace. Now, we all say
you must look for Captain Brant's coming, to hear the words that come from
his mouth, for then we can say to you, what towns will be for peace; and
this is all that we have to say to you for this time." [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Proctor's Journal

[FN-2] American State papers--Indian Department.

An effort was made by Red Jacket to induce Proctor and O'Bail to go down
to the British fortress at Niagara to hold a consultation with Colonel
Butler; but Colonel Proctor declined the adoption of any such course. The
Indians thereupon despatched a messenger for Colonel Butler to meet them
at Buffalo Creek, which he accordingly did--but previously called a
separate council at Fort Erie. He afterward had an interview with Proctor,
and endeavored to dissuade him from visiting the country of the hostile
Indians,--proposing that the negotiations for a peace should be left to
Captain Brant and McKee, who, Colonel Butler thought, could best manage
the business. Of course a proposition going to clothe British subjects
with power to negotiate for the government of the United States, was
promptly rejected.

One of the leading objects of Colonel Proctor in meeting the Six Nations
at Buffalo, was to induce as many of their sachems and warriors as he
could, to accompany the Corn-planter and himself to the Miamis country,
to aid, by their influence, in bringing the hostile Indians into a more
pacific temper; but from the whole cast of the deliberations, it was
perfectly evident that the majority of the leading chiefs were under the
direct influence of the British officers, who, it was obvious, had now
suddenly become less pacific than they had very recently been. Colonel
Proctor met with but little success in persuading a portion of the
warriors to accompany him to the Miamis; and on applying to Colonel
Gordon, commanding at Niagara, for permission to charter a British
schooner on Lake Erie, to transport himself and such Indians as might
feel disposed to accompany himself and Corn-planter to Sandusky, the
request was peremptorily refused. The expedition was thus abruptly
terminated, and Colonel Proctor returned to Fort Washington.

Before leaving Buffalo, however, according to an entry in his journal,
Colonel Proctor seems to have been apprised of the fact, which will
subsequently appear, that Captain Brant had not gone to the Miamis as a
messenger, or an observer merely, but that he had actually gone to join
them with his warriors:--

"_May_ 21st. Being in private conversation this evening with Captain
O'Bail, and sitting between him and the New-Arrow sachem, I hinted to
Captain O'Bail that if he would go and join General St. Clair with
thirty-five or forty of his warriors, as well equipped as he could make
them, purely to counterbalance the force that Brant had taken with him to
the unfriendly Indians, I would use endeavors with the Secretary of War
to procure him a commission that should yield to him and his people a
handsome stipend. He replied, that the Senecas had received a stroke from
the bad Indians, by taking two prisoners, a woman and a boy, from Conyatt;
and that, should the hatchet be struck into the head of any of his people
hereafter, he would then inform me what he would undertake to do."

The natural import of this entry in Proctor's journal is, that Captain
Brant had at that time actually joined the Miamis in hostile array against
the United States. It is possible, however, that such was not _at that
time_ the fact; and it is certain that General Knox, the Secretary of War,
after the return of Colonel Proctor to Philadelphia, did not so construe
it. In writing to Colonel Pickering respecting the council which he was
then preparing to hold at the Painted Post on the 13th of June, the
Secretary speaks of Brant's journey to the western Indians as having
probably been undertaken for pacific purposes, under the direction of the
British officers, who were using him with a view to a peace, of which they
intended to claim the merit at some future time. And this construction
would comport with the idea of a British intervention, as heretofore
suggested by Colonel Gordon and Sir John Johnson.

But it is, nevertheless, a curious fact, which speaks largely of the
talents and address of Brant, and the high importance which was attached
to his influence; that if the British authorities were then thus using his
services, the American government was at the same time seeking his
assistance for the same object. Colonel Pickering was instructed to treat
him with "great kindness" if he could be persuaded to attend the council
at the Painted Post; and on the 12th of April, the Secretary of War
addressed a latter to Governor Clinton, from which the following is an
extract:

"Aware of your Excellency's influence over Captain Joseph Brant, I have
conceived the idea that you might induce him, by proper arrangements, to
undertake to conciliate the western Indians to pacific measures, and bring
them to hold a general treaty. This measure would be abundantly more
compatible with the feelings and interest of the United States than to
extirpate the Indians, which seems to be the inevitable consequence of a
war of long continuance with them. You are entirely able to estimate
Brant's talents, and the degree of confidence that might be placed in him
on such an occasion. Perhaps Colonel Willett, of whose talents in managing
the minds of men I have a high opinion, might accept of an agency on this
occasion, as it might respect Brant. If your Excellency should entertain
the opinion strongly that Brant might be employed with good effect, I
earnestly request that you would take the necessary measures for the
purpose, according to your own judgment."

Other topics were embraced in the Secretary's letter, to all of which
Governor Clinton replied on the 27th of April. The following extract
relates to the subject of this biography:--

"I have communicated to Colonel Willett your confidence in his talents and
desire for the interposition of his influence with Brant, but have it not
in my power to inform you of his explicit answer. . . . I had, in June
last, appointed an interview with Brant, contemplating the danger you
appear to apprehend from his address and his influence with several of the
Indian nations, (which, I am persuaded, is very considerable,) and from
different letters I have since received from him, I have reason to hope he
will give me the opportunity of a personal conference with him at this
place, (New York,) the beginning of the ensuing summer, if the proposed
convention, to which I will not venture to say he may not be opposed,
should not prevent it. But the good understanding between us, and the
friendly and familiar intercourse I have successfully endeavored to
preserve, will, I doubt not, predominate over any transient disgust that
the measures of the Union may have heretofore excited in his mind, and
enable me to procure an interview with him at any time and place not
particularly inconvenient. To accomplish this, however, with certainty,
it may require the personal application of some one expressly delegated,
and in whom he will confide."

Captain Brant has been charged with great vanity, and with attaching undue
importance to his position and influence. But how few are the men, Indians
or whites, who would not have stood in danger of being somewhat inflated,
on finding two such nations as Great Britain and the United States,
apparently out-bidding each other for his services and friendship? Still,
he was looked upon with no inconsiderable distrust by the American
Secretary of War. In his letter of reply to Governor Clinton, dated May
11th, the Secretary, after speaking of the hostility of Brant to the
Corn-planter, refers to the former design of the Mohawk chief to place
himself at the head of the great Indian confederacy, so often spoken of,
north-west of the Ohio, the Six Nations included; and cites a letter which
he had just received from the Rev. Mr. Kirkland, the Indian missionary,
intimating that he had not yet abandoned that project. Indeed, Brant
himself had then just written to Mr. Kirkland that he should yet like to
compass that measure, should he find it practicable. The United States
could not, of course, be favorable to the formation of any confederacy, by
which the whole of the then vast body of Indians might be moved by a
single impulse; and with a view of diverting him from such a purpose, and
of securing his friendship to the United States, Governor Clinton was
requested, if possible, to effect the interview of which he had spoken,
with Captain Brant. Authority was also given the Governor to enter into
any pecuniary engagements which he should judge necessary, to make sure of
his attachment to the United States.

It has already been observed that the council held with the Six Nations by
Colonel Pickering, at the Painted Post, in June, had been to a great
extent successful. Although the chiefs at Buffalo were for the most part
under the influence of the British officers in Upper Canada, and of course
not very friendly to the United States at that time, yet the warriors in
general were more amicably disposed. The women, moreover, were anxious for
peace, and addressed Colonel Proctor upon the subject. Before that officer
left Buffalo, the Indians began to draw off to meet Colonel Pickering, and
the council with him was well attended--serving, if no other good purpose,
to divert the attention of the Indians, and by the distribution of
presents to keep the young warriors from indulging their favorite
propensity, by stealing away and joining the Miamis. Colonel Pickering had
also induced Captain Hendrick Aupamut, the justly celebrated chief of the
Muhheconnuck, [FN] to undertake the mission to the Miamis, which Colonel
Proctor and Corn-planter had been prevented from performing. Captain
Brant, it was also reported to the War Department, about the 1st of
August, had returned to Niagara from the Miami town, accompanied by some
of the western chiefs. The Indians at Pickering's treaty had asserted
that, after all that had transpired, Brant's designs were still pacific;
and since Lord Dorchester, as already stated, had expressed himself
favorable to a pacification of the Indian tribes, and Sir John Johnson was
about to assemble the Six Nations again at Buffalo, strong hopes were
entertained by the American government, that the border difficulties would
soon be adjusted without the necessity of another appeal to arms.

* * * * *

[FN] The Stockbridge Indians, who had removed from Massachusetts to the
Oneida country in 1785.

But, notwithstanding these favorable indications, the preparations for
another offensive campaign were not relaxed. And it was well that they
were not. The movements of Brant, beyond doubt the most influential
warrior of his race, were yet mysterious, and his designs too cautiously
veiled to be penetrated. The unlimited power with which the President had
been clothed, the preceding year, to call mounted militia into the field,
had been exercised by General Washington as far as was deemed necessary,
and two expeditions had been conducted against the villages on the
Wabash,--the first led by General Scott, in May, and the second by General
Wilkinson.. These desultory excursions, however, were unattended by any
beneficial results. A few warriors had been killed, and a small number of
old men, women, and children captured. But such results were not
calculated to make any serious impression upon the savages, or to have any
particular influence on the war. It was likewise well known that the
Indians had received from the British posts large supplies of provisions
and ammunition, immediately after the defeat of General Harmar the
preceding Autumn. This fact, it is true, was disclaimed by Lord
Dorchester, but it was nevertheless certain; and it was also certain that,
in addition to the unfriendly influence of the British officers on the
frontiers the English and French traders, scattered among the Indian
towns, were constantly inciting them to acts of hostility.

Under these circumstances, all the efforts of the United States to bring
the hostile Indians to a friendly council having failed, the conquest of
the Miami country and the expulsion of the Indians became necessary. The
most vigorous measures within the power of the Executive had failed in
raising the troops and bringing them into the field until the month of
September. On the 7th of that month General St. Clair moved from Fort
Washington, north, toward the Miamis--establishing, on his way, two
intermediate posts, at the distance of more than forty miles from each
other, as places whence to draw supplies should the army be in need, or
upon which to fall back in the event of disaster. At the farthest of these
posts, called Fort Jefferson, reinforcements of militia, to the number of
three hundred and sixty, were received--augmenting the army to about two
thousand men. With this force St. Clair moved forward, but the necessity
of opening a road through the forests rendered his progress slow. The
Indians hung in small scattered parties upon the flanks, and by the
skirmishing that took place, were somewhat annoying. Added to these
vexations, the militia began to desert; and as the army approximated more
nearly to the enemy's country, sixty of them went off in a body. It was
likewise reported to be the determination of those "brave defenders of
their country's soil" to fall upon the supplies in the rear; to prevent
which act of moral treason, it was judged necessary to detach Major
Hamtramck in pursuit.

After these reductions, the effective force of St. Clair that remained did
not exceed fourteen hundred men--including both regulars and militia.
Moving forward with these, the right wing commanded by General Butler and
the left by Lieutenant Colonel Darke, both, like the Commander-in-chief,
veterans of Revolutionary merit, on the 3d of November they had approached
within about fifteen miles of the Miamis villages. The army encamped for
the night on the margin of a creek, the militia crossing in advance, to
encamp on the other side. Here a few Indians were discovered; but these
fleeing with precipitation, the army bivouacked for the night--the
situation, and the dispositions both for defence and to guard against
surprise, being of the most judicious character.

This position had been selected with a view of throwing up a slight
defence, and awaiting the return of Major Hamtramck with the first
regiment. Both designs were anticipated and circumvented by the Indians.
About half an hour before sunrise on the morning of the 4th, just after
the soldiers were dismissed from parade, the militia, who were about a
quarter of a mile in front, were briskly attacked by the Indians. Like
most militiamen, their first impulse was to run--and that impulse was
obeyed in the greatest terror and wildest confusion. Rushing through the
main encampment, with the enemy close upon their heels, no small degree of
confusion was created there also. The lines had been formed at the firing
of the first gun; but the panic-stricken militia broke through, and thus
opened the way for the enemy--an advantage which was not lost upon him.
The officers endeavored to restore order in vain, although, for a time,
the divisions of Butler and Darke, which had encamped about seventy yards
apart, were kept in position. But the Indians charged upon them with great
intrepidity--bearing down upon the centre of both divisions in great
numbers. The artillery of the Americans was of little or no service, as
the Indians fought in their usual mode, lying upon the ground and firing
from behind the trees--springing from tree to tree with incredible
swiftness, and rarely presenting an available mark to the eye even of the
rifleman. Having, in the impetuosity of their pursuit of the fugitive
militia, gained the rear of St. Clair, they poured a destructive fire upon
the artillerists from every direction--mowing them down by scores, and
with a daring seldom practised by the Indians, leaping forward, and
completing the work of death at the very guns. General St. Clair was
himself sick, having been severely indisposed for several weeks. He
assumed his post, however, and though extremely feeble, delivered his
orders in the trying emergency with judgment and self-possession. But he
was laboring under the disadvantage of commanding militia upon whom there
was no reliance, and having few, if any, but raw recruits among his
regulars. These, too, had been hastily enlisted, and but little time for
drill or discipline had been allowed. Hence, though brave, and commanded
by officers of the highest qualities, they fought at great disadvantage.
General Butler fell early in the action, mortally wounded, and was soon
afterward killed outright, under circumstances of deep atrocity. Among the
Indian warriors were considerable numbers of Canadians, refugees from the
United States and half-breeds--young men born of Indian mothers in the
remote Canadian settlements. [FN] These motley allies of the savages were
even more savage than their principals. Among them was the noted and
infamous Simon Girty, whose name has occurred in a former part of the
present work. After the action, Girty, who knew General Butler, found him
upon the field, writhing from the agony of his wounds. Butler spoke to
him, and requested him to end his misery. The traitor refused to do this,
but turning to one of the Indian warriors, told him the wounded man was a
high officer; whereupon the savage planted his tomahawk in his head, and
thus terminated his sufferings. His scalp was instantly torn from his
crown, his heart taken out, and divided into as many pieces as there were
tribes engaged in the battle.

* * * * *

[FN] "A great many young Canadians, and, in particular, many that were
born of Indian women, fought on the aide of the Indians in this action;
a circumstance which confirmed the people of the States in the opinion
they had previously formed, that the Indians were encouraged and abetted
in their attacks upon them by the British. I can safely affirm, however,
from having conversed with many of these young men who fought against St.
Clair, that it was with the utmost secrecy they left their homes to join
the Indians, fearful lest the government should censure their
conduct."--_Wald's Travels in Canada._

The Indians had never fought with such fury before. The forest resounded
with their yells, and they rushed upon the troops, under their favorite
shelter of trees, until they had partially gained possession of the camp,
artillery and all. Ascertaining that the fire of their troops produced no
perceptible effect upon the Indians, recourse was had to the bayonet.
Colonel Darke made an impetuous charge at the head of the left wing, and
drove the enemy back about four hundred yards, with some loss. But not
having a sufficient number of riflemen to maintain his advantage, he gave
over the pursuit--being instantly pursued in turn under a deadly fire. The
same gallant officer was subsequently ordered to make a second charge,
which he performed with equal bravery--clearing for the moment that
portion of the camp to which his attention was directed. But the Americans
were now completely surrounded; and while he was driving the Indians in
one direction, clouds of them were seen to fall, "with a courage of men
whose trade is war," upon another point--keeping up a most destructive
fire from every quarter. The use of the bayonet was always attended with
temporary success, but each charge was also attended by severe loss,
especially of officers; nor in a single instance were the Americans able
to retain the advantage thus severely gained. Finally, a large proportion
of the best and bravest officers having fallen, nearly all that had been
preserved of order disappeared. The men huddled together in groups, and
were shot down without resistance. Having done all, under the
circumstances, that a brave man could do, and finding that the day was
lost past recovery, General St. Clair directed Colonel Darke, with the
second regiment, to charge a body of Indians who had gained the road in
the rear, and thus open a door of retreat. The order was promptly and
successfully executed, and a disorderly flight ensued. The victorious
Indians followed up their advantage to the distance of only four miles,
when, leaving the pursuit, they directed their attention to the plunder,
and ceased fighting to revel in "the spoils of the vanquished." The
fugitives continued their flight thirty miles, to Fort Jefferson. Here
they met Major Hamtrack with the first regiment; but it was not deemed
advisable to make a stand, and the remains of the army fell back to Fort
Washington, as Harmar had done the year before. The retreat was indeed
most disorderly and cowardly. "The camp and the artillery," says General
St. Clair in his narrative of the campaign, "were abandoned; but that was
unavoidable, for not a horse was left to draw it off, had it otherwise
been practicable. But the most disgraceful part of the business is, that
the greatest part of the men threw away their arms and accoutrements, even
after the pursuit had ceased. I found the road strewed with them for many
miles, but was not able to remedy it; for, having had all my horses
killed, and being mounted upon one that could not be pricked out of a
walk, I could not get forward myself, and the orders I sent forward,
either to halt the front, or prevent the men parting with their arms, were
unattended to."

This was one of the severest battles ever fought with the Indians--the
latter being unaided by any other description of force, excepting the wild
half-breed Canadians already mentioned. The loss of the Americans, in
proportion to the number engaged; was very severe. Thirty-eight
commissioned officers were killed on the field, and four hundred and
ninety-three non-commissioned officers and privates killed and missing.
Twenty-one commissioned officers were wounded, several of whom mortally,
and two hundred and forty-two non-commissioned officers and privates were
also wounded. General Butler, who fell early in the action, was a brave
man; and with many other excellent officers who fell, "had participated
in all the toils, the dangers, and the glory, of that long conflict which
terminated in the independence of their country." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Marshall's Life of Washington. For a ballad giving an account of
this disastrous battle, see Appendix, No. VII.

The loss of the Indians, was about one hundred and fifty killed and a
considerable number wounded. Their immediate booty was all the camp
equipage and baggage, six or eight field-pieces, and four hundred horses.
As the contest was one for land, the Indians, in their mutilations of the
dead, practised a bitter sarcasm upon the rapacity of the white men, by
filling their mouths with the soil they had marched forth to conquer. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Two years afterward, when the battle-ground was re-occupied by the
army of Wayne, its appearance was most melancholy. Within the space of
about three hundred and fifty yards square were found five hundred skull
bones, the most of which were collected and buried. For about five miles
in the direction of the retreat of the army, the woods were strewn with
skeletons and muskets. Two brass field-pieces were found in a creek not
far distant.--_Drake's Book of the Indians._

General St. Clair imputed no blame to his officers. On the contrary, he
awarded them the highest praise for their good conduct; and of those who
were slain, he remarked,--"It is a circumstance that will alleviate the
misfortune in some measure, that all of them fell most gallantly doing
their duty." From the fact of his being attacked at all points as it were
at the same moment, it was the General's opinion that he had been
overwhelmed by numbers. But from subsequent investigation it appeared that
the Indian warriors counted only from a thousand to fifteen hundred. But
they fought with great desperation. Their leader, according to the
received opinion, was _Meshecunnaqua,_ or, the _Little Turtle,_ a
distinguished chief of the Miamis. He was also the leader of the Indians
against General Harmar the year before. It is believed, however, that
though nominally the commander-in-chief of the Indians on this occasion,
he was greatly indebted both to the counsels and the prowess of another
and an older chief. One hundred and fifty of the Mohawk warriors were
engaged in this battle; and General St. Clair probably died in ignorance
of the fact, that one of the master-spirits against whom he contended, and
by whom he was so signally defeated, was none other than Joseph
Brant--Thayendaneqea. [FN] How it happened that this distinguished chief,
from whom so much had been expected as a peace maker, thus suddenly and
efficiently threw himself into a position of active hostility, unless he
thought he saw an opening for reviving his project of a great
north-western Confederacy, is a mystery which he is believed to have
carried in his own bosom to the grave.

* * * * *

[FN] This interesting fact has been derived by the author from
Thayendanegea's family. He has in vain sought for it in print. It is the
circumstance of Brant's having been engaged in this battle, that prompted
the author to give so full a narrative of the event, and the incidents
attending it, in this place. It would seem that the government of the
United States was sadly at fault as to the numbers and tribes of the
Indians who fought this battle; and when, in the month of January, 1798,
Captain Peter Pond and William Steedman were sent into the Indian country
as messengers, it was a part of their instructions to obtain information
upon these points.--Vide Indian State papers, vol. iv. p. 227.

The news of the decisive defeat of General St. Clair spread a gloom over
the whole country--deepened by the mourning for the many noble spirits who
had fallen. The panic that prevailed along the whole north-western border,
extending from the confines of New-York to the estuary of the Ohio, was
great beyond description. The inhabitants feared that the Indians,
emboldened by success, and with greatly augmented numbers, would pour
down upon them in clouds, and lay waste all the frontier settlements with
the torch and the tomahawk, even if some modern Alaric of the forest did
not lead his barbarians to the gates of Rome. Nor were these apprehensions
by any means groundless. During the twelve months that followed the rout
of St. Clair, the depredations of the savages became more furious and
ferocious than ever before; and some of the most tragical scenes recorded
in history took place on the extended line of the frontiers. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Thatcher's Lives of the Indian Chiefs--Little Turtle. As an example,
the author cites a well-authenticated case, occurring in what was then
perhaps the moat populous section of the west. The proprietor of a
dwelling-house in Kentucky, whose name was Merrill, being alarmed by the
barking of his dog, on going to the door received a fire from an
assailing party of Indians, which broke his right leg and arm. They
attempted to enter the house, but were anticipated in their movement by
Mrs. Merrill and her daughter, who closed the door so firmly as to keep
them at bay. They next began to cut their way through the door, and
succeeded in breaking an aperture, through which one of the warriors
attempted to enter. The lady, however, was prepared for the event, and
as he thrust his head within, she struck it open with an axe, and
instantly drew his body into the house. His companions, not knowing the
catastrophe, but supposing that he had worked his way through
successfully, attempted one after another, to follow. But Mrs. Merrill
dealt a fatal blow upon every head that pushed itself through, until
five warriors lay dead at her feet. By this time the party without had
discovered the fate of their more forward companions, and thought they
would effect an entrance by a safer process--a descent of the chimney.
The contents of a feather-bed were instantly emptied upon the fire,
creating a smoke so dense and pungent, as to bring two more warriors
headlong down upon the hearth in a state of half-suffocation. The moment
was critical, as the mother and daughter were guarding the door. The
husband, however, by the assistance of his little son, though sorely
maimed, managed to rid himself of those two unwelcome visitors by a
billet of wood. Meantime the wife repelled another assault at the
door--severely wounding another Indian; whereupon the assailants
relinquished the siege. For another highly interesting narrative of
border sufferings in the Spring of 1792, see Appendix, No. VIII.

There was another cause of disquietude. It was feared that, flushed with
this defeat of a second expedition, even the five of the Six Nations who
had concluded treaties with the United States, but of whose ultimate
fidelity many grains of distrust had been entertained, would now grasp
their hatchets, and rush to the ranks of the Miamis and their western
allies. The most earnest appeals to the government for protection were
therefore sent forward by the inhabitants of the border towns, to which a
deaf ear could not be turned.

The popular clamor against St. Clair, in consequence of his disastrous
defeat, was loud and deep. With the great mass of the people, it is
success only that constitutes the general, and St. Clair had been
unfortunate. The surrender of Ticonderoga in 1777, was an event which had
occasioned great disappointment and dissatisfaction at the time, and the
recollection was revived, in connection with this signal reverse. But in
neither instance did the fault lie at the door of the commanding General,
Ticonderoga was evacuated because indefensible, and the battle lost by the
cowardice of the militia. Fully conscious, himself, that no blame was
justly attributable to him, General St. Clair applied to the President
for an investigation by a court of inquiry. The request was denied, only
for the reason that there were not officers enough in the service, of the
requisite rank, to form a legal court for that purpose. [FN-1] Aware of
the prejudices excited against him in the public mind, the unfortunate
General spontaneously announced his intention of resigning his commission,
suggesting, however, that he should prefer retaining it until his conduct
could be investigated in some way; but as the military establishment at
that time allowed only one Major General, and as the service required the
speedy designation of a successor, this request was also denied, though
with reluctance, by the President. [FN-2] Complaints, it is true, were
poured into the ears of the President against him. Among others, General
John Armstrong, the hero of Kittaning, and an experienced Indian fighter
in Pennsylvania, addressed a letter to the President, censuring the
generalship of St. Clair. [FN-3] It is believed, however, that the veteran
Governor of the North-western Territory continued in the full enjoyment of
the President's confidence to the last.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Letter of President Washington to General St. Clair, March 28,
1792.

[FN-2] Letter of the President to General St. Clair, April 4, 1792.

[FN-3] Sparks's Life and Correspondence of Washington, Vol. X, p. 223.

The appointment of a successor to St. Clair as Commander-in-chief of the
army, was a source of no little perplexity to the President. His own
inclinations were in favor of Governor Henry Lee of Virginia; but it was
apprehended that difficulties would arise in procuring the services of
officers who had been his seniors in the army of the Revolution, as
subordinates under him. There appear to have been several candidates,
among whom were Generals Morgan and Scott, and Colonel Darke, who had
served under St. Clair during the last campaign. Ultimately the
appointment was conferred upon General Anthony Wayne. The selection was
most unpopular in Virginia; but the result demonstrated its wisdom. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Governor Lee wrote to President Washington on the 15th of June,
respecting the selection of a successor of General St. Clair at large,
and on the subject of Wayne's appointment in particular, he said:--"You
cannot be a stranger to the extreme disgust which the late appointment
to the command of the army excited among all orders in this state." To
this letter the President replied at length. The following paragraph
contains the answer to the remark of Governor Lee given above:--"How far
the appointment of General Wayne is a popular or an unpopular measure,
is not for me to decide. It was not the determination of the moment, nor
was it the effect of partiality or of influence; for no application (if
that in any instance could have warped my judgment) was ever made in his
behalf from anyone who could have thrown the weight of a feather into his
scale; but because, under a full view of all circumstances, he appeared
most eligible. To a person of your observation and intelligence it is
unnecessary to remark, that an appointment, which may be unpopular in one
place and with one set of men, may not be so in another place or with
another set of men, and _vice verse;_ and that to attempt to please
every body is the sure way to please nobody; because the attempt would be
as idle as the exertion would be impracticable. General Wayne has many
good points as an officer, and it is to be hoped that time, reflection,
good advice, and, above all, a due sense of the importance of the trust
which is committed to him, will correct his foibles or cast a shade over
them."

Rufus Putnam, a son of the veteran of Bunker Hill, who had served with
credit in the war of the Revolution, and who had settled in the
North-western Territory soon after the close of that contest, was
appointed a brigadier-general, to serve with Wayne. This appointment was
tendered to Colonel Willett of New-York, but declined by that gentleman
upon the ground of conscientious scruples with regard to fighting the
Indians. "It has been uniformly my opinion," said the Colonel in a letter
to the President, "that the United States ought to avoid an Indian war. I
have generally conceived this to be our wisest policy. The reasons alleged
in support of the present Indian war have never brought conviction to my
mind. From my knowledge and experience of these people, I am clear that it
is not a difficult thing to preserve peace with them. That there are bad
men among them, and that these will at times do acts which deserve
punishment, is very clear. But I hold, that to go to war is not the proper
way to punish them. Most of the Indians that I have had any knowledge of,
are conceited and vain. By feeding their vanity, you gain their good
opinion; and this in time procures their esteem and affection. By
conciliating their good-will, you will render them susceptible of almost
any impression. They are credulous, yet suspicious. They think a great
deal; and have in general good notions of right and wrong. They frequently
exhibit proofs of grateful minds; yet they are very revengeful. And though
they are not free from chicanery and intrigue, yet if their vanity is
properly humored, and they are dealt justly by, it is no difficult matter
to come to reasonable terms with them. The intercourse I have had with
these people, the treatment I have myself received from them, and which I
have known others to receive, make me an advocate for them. To fight with
them, would be the last thing I should desire. And yet, Sir, I declare,
from the experience I have had, I do not conceive it difficult to beat
them when brought to action. When in small parties they scatter
themselves along a frontier, they have always been found exceedingly
troublesome and dangerous. This kind of warfare is their forte; and in it
they are found to be truly tremendous. But when they attempt anything in
large bodies, I have found, notwithstanding their great dexterity in the
wilderness, and the advantage they usually derive from the admirable
position they take, that they are easily beat. In marching through woods,
where troops are exposed to attacks from Indians, particular attention
should be paid not only to the mode and line of march, but also to extend
small parties and single men far on the flanks in front and in rear. But
whenever a serious attack is made, which is usually furious, an
instantaneous charge, with huzzaing sufficiently loud to drown the noise
the Indians make, will never fail to repel them. And this stroke repeated
and pursued, will, I am well convinced, terminate in victory. And yet
victory even over Indians is generally paid for; but defeats are terrible.
The honour, however, of fighting and beating Indians, is what I do not
aspire after. If in any way I could be instrumental in effecting and
maintaining peace with them, it would be a source of great gratification."

CHAPTER XI.

Preparations for an Indian Consultation at Philadelphia--Captain Brant
invited to attend---His objections--Letter of the Rev. Mr. Kirkland to
Captain Brant--Letter of the Secretary of War to the same--Letter of
Colonel Gordon to the same--Letter of Captain Brant to the Secretary of
War--The Secretary of War to Captain Brant--Attempts from Montreal to
prevent Brant from going to Philadelphia--His journey--Feelings against
him in the Mohawk Valley--His arrival at New-York and
Philadelphia--Liberal offers made him--Letter to the Count de Puisy--The
offers rejected--Undertakes a Mission of Peace to the Miamis--Returns to
New-York--Pursued by a German from the German Flats bent on taking his
life--Discovered in New-York--Brant returns to Niagara--Murder of Colonel
Harden and Major Trueman--Letters of Brant to the Secretary at
War--Feelings of the Western Nations--Correspondence between Brant and
McKee--Great Indian Council at the Au Glaize--Sickness of Captain
Brant--Hostilities deferred until Spring and a treaty with the United
States ordered--Return of the Delegates of the Six Nations--Address to
President Washington--Separate organization of Upper Canada--Arrival of
Governor Simcoe--Letter to Brant from the Duke of
Northumberland--Preparations for the Great Council of 1783--Fresh
dissatisfaction of the Indians--Private Councils--They send their
ultimatum in anticipation--The American Commissioners depart for the
Indian country--Their arrival at Niagara--Friendly conduct of Governor
Simcoe--Celebration of the King's Birthday--The Commissioners start for
the West--Their progress interrupted--Conduct of General Wayne--Brant
suddenly returns from the West with a Deputation--Council held at Fort
Erie--Commissioners return to Niagara--Council there--Speech of Captain
Brant--Reply of the Commissioners--Speech of Cat's-Eyes--Rejoinder of
Brant--Arrival of the Seven Nations--Brant proceeds to the Miami
Rapids--Followed by the Commissioners--Arrival at the Detroit
River--Their progress interrupted--Unexpected turn of
affairs--Explanations with Deputies from the Great Council--Long Debates
in the Indian Council--Brant speaks strongly for peace--Governor Simcoe
declines advising the Indians--The negotiations suddenly terminated by
the Indians--Their address--And sine qua non.

At the treaty with the Six Nations, except the Mohawks, holden by Colonel
Pickering at the Painted Post, [FN] in the preceding month of June, an
arrangement was made with certain of their chiefs to visit Philadelphia,
then the seat of government of the United States, during the session of
Congress to ensue in the winter of 1791--92. The motive for this
invitation was threefold. First, if possible, to attach them more
cordially to the interests of the United States. Secondly, to consult as
to the best methods of extending to them the advantages and blessings of
civilization. Thirdly, to impress them with just opinions as to the
physical and moral strength of the country, that they might see with their
own eyes how futile must be every warlike effort of the Indians against
the United States. The improvement of the moral and social condition of
the Indians was an object dear to the heart of the President, and he lost
no opportunity, on all proper occasions, of impressing upon their minds
the desire of the United States to become the protectors, friends, and
ministers of good to all the sons of the forest peaceably disposed. From
the great influence of Captain Brant, not only with the Six Nations, but
over all the Indian nations, it was deemed an important point to persuade
him to attend the anticipated Council at Philadelphia. Great efforts were
accordingly made for the attainment of that object.

* * * * *

[FN] From the earliest knowledge the white men have possessed of the
country of western New-York, the Painted Post has been noted as a
geographical landmark. When first traversed by the white men, a large
oaken post stood at the spot, which has retained the name to this day.
It was painted in the Indian manner, and was guarded as a monument by the
Indians, who renewed it as often as it gave evidence of going to decay.
Tradition says it was a monument of great antiquity, marking the spot of
a great and bloody battle, according to some statements. According to
others, it was erected to perpetuate the memory of some great war-chief.

The first invitation was given by Colonel Pickering by letter.
Apprehending, however, that a mere invitation would not be a sufficient
inducement for the veteran chief to undertake the journey, the Secretary
of War, on the 20th of December, wrote to the Rev. Mr. Kirkland, the
well-known Indian missionary, requesting him to repair from Oneida to
Genesee, to meet the chiefs of the Six Nations who were going to
Philadelphia, and conduct them thither. Arriving at that place, Mr.
Kirkland was instructed to write to Captain Brant in his own name, and
dispatch messengers, assuring him of his welcome reception by the
government of the United States, and pledging himself for his personal
safety. These steps were promptly taken by Mr. Kirkland, to whom Captain
Brant wrote a reply, declining the invitation--for what reasons, as this
letter seems not to have been preserved, can only be inferred from the
subsequent correspondence of the Secretary of War and Mr. Kirkland. By a
letter from the former, it appears that the chief thought the invitation
not sufficiently formal. By a letter from Mr. Kirkland, also addressed to
the chief himself it would seem that the latter was apprehensive that,
should he undertake the journey, the American government would expect him
to travel like the common herds of Indians who frequently, as now, were
in the habit of visiting the capital of the Republic,--and who are
usually led through the country in a drove by a single conductor. Such,
however, was not the intention of the government, as will more fully
appear by the following correspondence:--

"Rev. Mr. Kirkland to Captain Brant. (Extract.)

"_Genesee, February_ 17, 1792."

* * * * *

"My dear and worthy friend, it is not in my power, at this instant, even
to attempt such a reply to your letter by Dr. Allen as it justly merits.
Suffice it to say, it was not in my idea that you should be crowded into
the company of all the old chiefs, and dragged along promiscuously with
them through the proposed tour to Philadelphia. No, Sir; the respect I
have for your character and happiness would have spurned at the thought.
Dr. Allen was apprised of this, and directed to acquaint you with my
instructions relative to the same. You need, Sir, be under no
apprehensions of any neglect, or want of proper attention on my part, in
the proposed tour, or of a cordial reception upon your arrival at the seat
of government. Pardon me, if I say you will have occasion much more to
fear the opposite extreme. There are so many matters of importance
relative to the Indians upon which I have a desire to converse with you,
that I cannot willingly relinquish the idea of a personal interview.

"Believe me, my dear friend, that your honor and happiness, as well as the
cause of humanity, have a share of my affection and concern. It is very
possible I may be partial in your favor by reason of your rescuing my life
at the beginning of the late war, which instance I can never forget, and
have thousands of times mentioned to your praise. I cannot but flatter
myself from the sensibility of soul you possess, that you will so adjust
your domestic affairs as to honor me with a short visit in this vicinity
next Spring, should I return here at that season; and should you, upon
mature deliberation, conclude to come down sooner, General Chapin and Dr.
Allen will be ready to wait on you wherever you please to go. Excuse the
abruptness with which I close, being much crowded--wishing you every form
of happiness, believe me to be, in great truth and esteem,

"Dear Sir, your affectionate friend
And very humble serv't.
S. Kirkland.

"_Col J. Brant._

"P. S. Please remember me respectfully to Dr. Kerr and his lady. I am
exceedingly sorry for the detention of my former letter, which deprived
me of the happiness of a personal interview. I hope this will be delivered
by the bearer's own hand, your friend, Captain Hendrick."

Nearly at the same time that Mr. Kirkland was thus endeavoring to persuade
the chief to comply with the request of the government in this matter, the
Secretary of War addressed directly to him a letter as full, courteous,
and formal, as the most fastidious diplomatist could have desired:--

"The Secretary of War to Captain Brant.

"_Philadelphia, February_ 20_th,_ 1792.

"Sir,

"Colonel Pickering, who had some communications with the Senecas and
others of the Six Nations, during the last two years, was duly authorised
to invite you to visit this city, in order to consult you upon the best
means of civilizing and advancing the happiness of the Indians. Some
information has been recently received from Mr. Kirkland, intimating your
disposition to perform the visit, but declining to do it upon the former
invitation, as not being sufficiently explicit.

"I now repeat to you this invitation, accompanied with a wish that you
would repair to this city, being the seat of the American government; and
I _can_ assure you that the President of the United States will be highly
gratified by receiving and conversing with a chief of such eminence as
you are, on a subject so interesting and important to the human race.

"This invitation is given to you from the fairest motives. The President
of the United States is conscious of the purest disposition to promote,
generally, the welfare of the Indians; and he flatters himself that
proper occasions only are wanting to impress them with the truth of this
assertion. He considers your mind more enlightened than theirs, and he
hopes that your heart is filled with a true desire to serve the essential
interests of your countrymen. The United States, much against the
inclination of the government, are engaged in hostilities with some of the
western Indians. We, on our parts, have entered into it with reluctance,
and consider it as a war of necessity; and not, as is supposed, and
industriously propagated, by many, for the purpose of accumulating more
land than has been ceded by the treaty with the Indians, since the peace
with Great Britain. We are desirous of bringing it to a conclusion, not
from any apprehension as to a favorable result, because, by a comparison
of forces and resources, however troublesome a perseverance therein may be
to us, it must be utter destruction to the hostile Indians. We are
desirous, for the sake of humanity, of avoiding such a catastrophe.

"This is the main business which will be mentioned to you on the part of
the United States; and it is an object worthy of the best cultivated head
and heart. If you should enter into this view, Mr. Kirkland has directions
to concert with you the most satisfactory mode of your performing the
journey. The nature of the case will show the necessity of your coming
without delay, if you incline to accept the invitation.

"I am, Sir,
H. Knox.

"_To Capt. Joseph Brant._"

This letter was enclosed by General Knox to Mr. Kirkland, who was assured
that the "presence of Captain Brant in Philadelphia was considered of
great importance." Mr. Kirkland was accordingly enjoined "to spare no
pains in endeavoring to induce him to come," and "to arrange with him the
most satisfactory mode of traveling--to make it as flattering to him as
might be, and to accompany him." Mr. Kirkland despatched the letter of the
Secretary immediately to Colonel Gordon, at Niagara, by the hand of Dr.
Allen, with a request that it might be transmitted by the Colonel to its
place of destination--Grand River. But Mr. Kirkland's messenger disclosed
to Colonel Gordon the contents of the package, thereby enabling that
officer to exert an immediate influence upon the mind of the chief, if he
chose to do so. The result was, that, accompanying the Secretary's letter,
Captain Brant received the following communication:--

"Colonel Gordon to Captain Brant.

"_Niagara,_ 20_th March,_ 1792.

"My Dear Friend,

"The packet which I now send you was brought here by a Doctor Allen, from
Canadasago. I do not know the contents, farther, than the bearer tells me
it is a letter from the Secretary at War of the United States, inviting
you to Philadelphia on business of consequence.

"Your own good sense will best dictate the answer you ought to give.

"Should it have a reference to the bringing about a peace with the
Western Indians, I cannot conceive that Philadelphia is the place where a
conference of so much moment ought to be held; as it is evident none of
the Western Indians, whose dearest interests are concerned in the event,
can be present; and if any steps are taken by the Six Nations without
their concurrence, it is much to be feared it will give rise to
jealousies, which may be attended with disagreeable consequences
hereafter.

"If the United States have at length seriously determined to do justice
to, and make peace with, the Western Indians, a general council should be
convened in some convenient situation, where deputies from all the nations
concerned, as well as commissioners on the part of Great Britain and
America, can be assembled. The views of all parties would then be clearly
defined; an accurate boundary ascertained; past acts of hostility be
buried in oblivion; and such measures adopted as would tend to establish
permanent peace and friendship on a solid and equitable basis.

"In the many conversations we have had on this subject, we have generally
agreed, that from the line of conduct the United States have hitherto
pursued, it did not appear that they had this object seriously in view;
and I am sorry to observe, from the mode of proceeding on the present
occasion, there is too much reason to suspect they have not yet seen their
error.

"In almost every transaction they have had with the Six Nations during the
course of the last two years, there has appeared a duplicity and
inconsistency, on which it is impossible to put a liberal construction.

"The Six Nations, in the present critical situation of affairs with their
western brethren, ought to be exceedingly cautious how they involve
themselves either one way or another. Great Britain is at peace with the
United States, and it is therefore anxiously wished that her friends, the
Indians in general, should be so likewise; every advice which has been
given to them had that object in view; and I still hope the period is at
no great distance, when this desirable event will be accomplished on
equitable terms, and to the mutual satisfaction of all parties.

"I have thus, my dear friend, been induced to give you my private opinion
on the present occasion, and I am fully persuaded you will pursue a line
of conduct that will deserve the approbation of your brethren and friends.

"Accept my sincere good wishes, and believe me, with much regard, your
friend,

"A. Gordon.

"P. S. I understand some of the Senecas from Buffalo Creek are gone to
Philadelphia on Colonel Pickering's former invitation, which, I am told,
causes much uneasiness in the village.

"A.G.

"_Captain Joseph Brant, Grand River._"

This was certainly an artful communication. His Majesty's commander at
Niagara was desirous that peace should be restored between the Indians and
the United States, but takes care not to omit the oft-repeated
insinuations of injustice and bad faith on the part of the latter toward
the former. In one word, notwithstanding his pacific protestations,
Colonel Gordon was desirous of peace only through the agency of British
intervention, and his present purpose was, to prevent the influential
chief of the Mohawks from visiting the seat of the American government.
Notwithstanding the Colonel's letter, however, the chief addressed the
following conditional acceptance of the invitation to the Secretary of
War:--

"Captain Brant to General Knox.

"_Nassau, March_ 27_th,_ 1792.

"Sir:--

"Yours of the 25th of February I have the pleasure of acknowledging the
receipt of, and entertain the highest sense of the honor done me by the
invitation and flattering compliment contained therein. It is a visit I
have long been desirous of making, and the time now seems not to be far
distant when that desire will be accomplished. Visiting you as an
individual, would be by no means tending to the accomplishing any good
end, as those meetings must show that have hitherto been held with people
not deputized by the nation in general to transact business. I should
therefore wish to visit you, vested with some power that will enable me
to speak with certainty as to what I may assert, and not assert what I, at
the same time, must well know would be by no means approved of. This has
been too much the case of late years, and in my opinion is principally
the cause of the present disturbances. An explanation of grievances it is
absolutely necessary should be made, and that to the head of the United
States, from whom I entertain not the smallest doubt but justice will be
given where due. To accomplish such desirable ends as civilization and
peace-making, no exertions on my part shall be wanting; and though
circumstances render it impossible for me to do myself the honor of
accepting the invitation at present, as I cannot say whether the western
nations would approve of it, I shall nevertheless despatch messengers
immediately to the Miamis, with your invitation, to have the opinion of
the people there, who, I have no great reason to suppose otherwise than
that they'll approve of my going, and very possibly invest me with such
powers as will give energy to what I may do.

"My messengers, I suppose, will return here in about thirty days, until
when, I shall remain at home. If visiting you after that would not be too
late to answer the good end intended, I shall endeavor to accomplish my
wished-for journey--at least if I may hear from you in answer to this,
ere that period.

"I am, Sir,
With esteem,
Yours, &c.
Joseph Brant.

"_The Secretary of War._"

Immediately on the receipt of this letter at the War Department, General
Israel Chapin, of Genesee, was appointed a Deputy Indian Agent by the
President, with instructions to transmit the following communication to
Captain Brant, and make all needful preparations for his journey:--

"The Secretary of War to Captain Brant

"_April_ 23d, 1792.

"Sir: I have received your letter of the 27th of March, postponing your
visit to this city until a period of thirty days after that date.

"I regret exceedingly the existence of any circumstance which suspended
your visit. But as the dispositions of the President of the United States
remain the same, as to the objects mentioned in my former letter, I can
with great truth assure you that your visit at the time you have proposed,
will be cordially received.

"General Chapin, who is appointed an agent of the Five Nations, will
either accompany you to this city, or he will obtain some other person for
that purpose, as shall be agreed upon between you and him,

"I am, &c. &c.
H. Knox

"_To Captain Joseph Brant._"

Pending this correspondence, however, the proposed conference with a
deputation of the Six Nations, referred to in the postscript of Colonel
Gordon's letter, took place in Philadelphia. It was begun on the 13th of
March, and protracted until near the close of April. Fifty sachems were
present, and the visit resulted to the mutual satisfaction of the parties.
In addition to arrangements upon other subjects, the delegations agreed to
perform a pacific mission to the hostile Indians, and endeavor to persuade
them to peace. But such were their dilatory movements, that they did not
depart from Buffalo for the Miamis until the middle of September. At the
head of this embassage was that fast friend of the United States, the
Corn-planter.

In regard to the mission of Captain Brant, in addition to the dissuasions
of Colonel Gordon, strenuous efforts were made by the official friends of
the chief at Montreal, to prevent his visit to the federal capital. On the
1st of May he was addressed by Mr. Joseph Chew, an officer under Sir John
Johnson, expressing much satisfaction at the refusal of the first
invitation by Captain Brant, and advising the chief of the preparations
the Americans were making for another Indian campaign. The following
passage occurs in this letter:--"I see they expect to have an army of
about five thousand men, besides three troops of horse. By the
advertisements for supplies of provisions, &c., it seems this army will
not be able to move before the last of July. What attempts Wilkinson and
Hamtrack may make with the militia, is uncertain. _Our friends ought to
be on their guard._ I long to know, what they think in England of the
victory gained over St. Clair's army." [FN-1] On the 23d of May, Brant
advised Mr. Chew that he had accepted the invitation; [FN-2] and on the
19th of June, the latter gentleman replied--expressing his regrets that
several of his letters to the Chief had not been received prior to his
taking that resolution. Mr. Chew, who doubtless expressed the views of Sir
John Johnson and the Executive government of the province, thought the
Captain should not have accepted such an invitation without previously
knowing the wishes of the King, in regard to the means of bringing about
a peace between the Americans and the Indians. In the same letter he also
announces to "his namesake," as he calls the Captain, that a Mr. Hammond
was on his way to the Indian country, charged with an offer of his
Majesty's-mediation. [FN-3]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Original letters among the Brant papers.

[FN-2] Idem.

[FN-3] Idem.

The necessary arrangements having been adjusted, the journey was commenced
early in June. General Chapin not being able to accompany the Chief to the
seat of government, he was attended by the General's son, and by Doctor
Allen, and two body servants of his own--all mounted. Their route from
Niagara to Albany was taken through the Mohawk Valley. At Palatine, by
previous invitation, the Captain visited Major James Cochran, who had then
recently established himself in that place. But the feelings of the
inhabitants had become so embittered against him during the war of the
Revolution, and such threats were uttered by some of the Germans, of a
determination to take his life, that it was deemed prudent for him
privately to leave the inn, where his friend Major Cochran was then at
lodgings, and sleep at the house of Mrs. Peter Schuyler in the
neighborhood, where he would be-less likely to be assailed. He did so,
and the next morning pursued his journey. [FN] With this exception, he was
well received at every point of his journey. His arrival in New-York was
thus announced in the newspapers:--"On Monday last arrived in this city,
from his settlement on Grand River, on a visit to some of his friends in
this quarter, Captain Joseph Brant of the British army, the famous Mohawk
chief who so eminently distinguished himself during the late war as the
military leader of the Six Nations. We are informed that he intends to
visit the city of Philadelphia, and pay his respects to the President of
the United States."

* * * * *

[FN] Letter of Major Cochran to the author.

He arrived in Philadelphia on the 20th of June, where he was announced in
terms very similar to the above, and received by the Government with
marked attention. But few memorials of this visit have been preserved. The
President announced his arrival in respectful terms, on the 21st of June,
in a letter addressed to Gouverneur Morris; and he speaks of the
circumstance again in a subsequent letter, but makes no allusion to the
result of his interviews with him. No doubt, strong efforts were made, not
only to engage his active interposition with the Indians to bring about a
peace, but likewise to win him over permanently to the interests of the
United States. In a letter subsequently addressed by Captain Brant to the
Count de Puisy, [FN] in regard to his difficulties with the British
government touching the title to the Grand River territory, while pleading
the claims of his Indians to the favorable consideration of the Crown, and
repelling certain charges of selfishness which had been bruited respecting
himself, the following passage occurs on the subject of the proposals made
to him by the American Executive:--"I am sorry to find that my
perseverance in endeavoring to obtain our rights, has caused unjust
surmises to be formed of my intentions, notwithstanding the many evident
proofs I have shown of my integrity and steady attachment to the British
interest. Had I not been actuated by motives of honor, and preferred the
interests of his Majesty, and the credit of my nation, to my own private
welfare, there were several allurements of gain offered me by the
Government of the United States when I was at Philadelphia, during the
time the Shawanese and other tribes maintained a war against them. I was
offered a thousand guineas down, and to have the half-pay and pension I
receive from Great Britain doubled, merely on condition that I would use
my endeavors to bring about a peace. But this I rejected. I considered it
might be detrimental to the British interests, as also to the advantage
and credit of the Indian nations, until the Americans should make the
necessary concessions. Afterward I was offered the preemption right to
land to the amount of twenty thousand pounds currency of the United
States, and fifteen hundred dollars per annum. This I considered as
inconsistent with the principles of honor to receive, as by accepting of
any of these offers, they might expect me to act contrary to his Majesty's
interest and the honor of our nations; and from the repeated assurances of
his Majesty's representatives, I had full confidence his bounty would
never fail."

* * * * *

[FN] The Count de Puisy was one of the French nobles driven into exile by
the revolution of 1789. He subsequently held a commission as Lieutenant
General in the British service, and commanded a detachment of the
emigrants in the Quiberon expedition. Receiving a grant of land in Canada
from the British crown, as did several of the exiles, the Count came
over, and resided for a time near Niagara. During this period he formed
an intimate acquaintance with Captain Brant, who corresponded with him
after his return to England. The Count resided somewhere in the
neighborhood of London until his death, which happened many years
afterward.

But notwithstanding his refusal of these propositions, the result of the
interview seems at the time to have been mutual satisfaction. The true
causes of the war with the western Indians were explained to him; and
great pains were taken by the President and Secretary of War to impress
upon his mind the sincere desire of the United States to cultivate the
most amicable relations with the sons of the forest, of any and every
tribe. In the end, the Chief was induced to undertake a mission of peace
to the Miamis, for which purpose he was furnished with ample instructions
by the Secretary of War. Most emphatically was he enjoined to undeceive
the Indians in regard to their apprehensions that the United States were
seeking to wrest from them farther portions of their lands. On this point
the Government solemnly disclaimed the design of taking a foot more than
had been ceded in the treaty of Muskingum in 1789. The Chief left
Philadelphia about the 1st of July, on which occasion the Secretary of War
wrote to General Chapin, among other things, as follows:--"Captain Brant's
visit will, I flatter myself, be productive of great satisfaction to
himself, by being made acquainted with the humane views of the President
of the United States." To Governor Clinton the Secretary likewise wrote
as follows:--"Captain Brant appears to be a judicious and sensible man. I
flatter myself his journey will be satisfactory to himself and beneficial
to the United States."

The Chief returned by the same route, lingering a few days in New-York,
where he was visited by some of the most distinguished gentlemen in the
city. It has been mentioned, a few pages back, that Brant was apprehensive
of some attempt upon his life in the Mohawk Valley. Indeed, he had been
informed that it would be unsafe for him to traverse that section of
country, lest some real or fancied wrong, connected with the war of the
Revolution, should be avenged by assassination. Nor were these
apprehensions groundless; for while resting in New-York, he ascertained
that he had not only been pursued from the German Flats, but that the
pursuer was then in the city watching for an opportunity to effect his
purpose. The name of this pursuer was Dygert. Several members of his
father's family had fallen in the battle of Oriskany, fifteen years
before, and this man had deliberately determined to put the leader of the
Indian warriors to death in revenge. Brant's lodgings were in Broadway,
[FN-1] where he was visited, among others, by Colonel Willett and Colonel
Morgan Lewis, both of whom he had met in the field of battle in years gone
by. While in conversation with these gentlemen, he mentioned the
circumstance of Dygert's pursuit, and expressed some apprehensions at the
result, should he be attacked unawares. Before his remarks were concluded,
glancing his quick eye to the window, he exclaimed, "there is Dygert now!"
True enough, the fellow was then standing in the street, watching the
motions of his intended victim. Colonel Willett immediately descended into
the street, and entered into a conversation with Dygert, charging his real
business upon him, which he did not deny. "Do you know," asked Willett,
"that if you kill that savage, you will be hanged?" "Who," replied the
ignorant German, "would hang me for killing an Indian?" "You will see,"
rejoined the Colonel; "if you execute your purpose, you a may depend upon
it you will be hanged up immediately." This was presenting the case in a
new aspect to Dygert, who, until that moment, seemed to suppose that he
could kill an Indian with as much propriety in a time of peace as in
war--in the streets of New-York as well as in legal battle in the woods.
After deliberating a few moments, he replied to Colonel Willett that if
such was the law, he would give it up and return home. [FN-2] He did so,
and the Mohawk chief shortly afterward reached Niagara in safety.

* * * * *

[FN-1] The old wooden building where the City Hotel now stands.

[FN-2] These particulars have recently been communicated to the author in
a conversation with the venerable Governor, then Colonel Lewis, and
confirmed by a letter from Major Cochran, with whom Brant conversed on
the subject. Indeed the hostility of the Mohawk-Germans toward all
Indians, after the close of the war, was deep and universal. The author
well remembers a pensioner living in the neighborhood of the village of
Herkimer, named Hartmann, who, some years after the war, deliberately
killed an Indian at the German Flats, moved only by his revolutionary
thirst for vengeance. Hartmann, it is true, had been grievously hacked
and wounded by the Indians, so that he was disabled from labor for life.
He was a very ignorant man, and thought it no harm to kill an Indian at
any time. Happening one day, in after years, to fall in with a son of the
forest, he persuaded the savage to let him examine his rifle. The moment
he obtained the weapon, he dropped slowly behind, and shot his confiding
companion. He was arrested and carried to Johnstown for trial, but the
investigation was so managed as to produce an acquittal. The excuse of
Hartmann for the commission of the deed, was, that he saw the Indian's
tobacco-pouch, which was, as he said, made of the skin of a child's hand.
It was, probably, a leather glove which the Indian had found.

Independently of the proposed mediation of Captain Brant, the Government
of the United States, in its great solicitude to prevent the effusion of
blood, had employed a large number of messengers of peace, among whom, in
addition to the fifty chiefs of the Six Nations already mentioned, were
the Rev. Mr. Heckewelder, General Rufus Putnam, Colonel Hardin, Major
Trueman, and a man named Freeman. The celebrated Hendrick, chief of the
Stockbridge Indians, was also employed upon the same service. It is
possible that Captain Brant was not well pleased at the appointment of so
large a number of pacificators--very naturally preferring the honor of
being the sole agent of terminating the war. It would have been no
inconsiderable subject of boasting, to be enabled to say "Alone I did it!"
Hence, we may reasonably infer, the tone of the annexed letter, addressed
to the Secretary of War by Captain Brant on his arrival at Niagara--a
fitting occasion for writing it having been furnished by the murder of
Major Trueman. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Three of the messengers of peace above mentioned, Messrs. Trueman,
Freeman, and Hardin, were murdered by the Indians during that season.
Formerly no nations on earth were wont to respect the sacred character of
"the man of peace" more than the Indians. But they had now become
treacherous even to them. They pleaded, however, the example of the
whites, who, they alleged, paid no attention to treaties with the
Indians, but treated them as a contemptible race, and had killed several
of their own messengers of peace, some of whom were chiefs.--Vide
Heckewelder's History of Indian Nations, chapter xxi. President
Washington, who was then at Mount Vernon, announced the death of Hardin
and Trueman, together with "the harbingers of their mission," in a letter
to Mr. Jefferson, Secretary of State, on the 23d of August. Everything
then looked hostile at the west; added to which were rising difficulties
with the Cherokees, occasioned, as was supposed, by the intrigues of
Spain. "If Spain is really intriguing with the Southern Indians," said
the President, "I shall entertain strong suspicions that there is a very
clear understanding in all this business between the Courts of London and
Madrid; and that it is calculated to check, as far as they can, the rapid
increase, extension, and consequence of this country; for there cannot be
a doubt of the wishes of the former, if we may judge from the conduct of
its officers, to preclude any _eclaircissement_ of ours with the Western
Indians, and to embarrass our negotiations with them, any more than there
is of their traders and some others, who are subject to their government,
aiding and abetting them in acts of hostility."--_Letter of Washington to
Jefferson, August_ 23_d,_ 1792.

"Captain Brant to the Secretary of War.

"_Niagara,_ 26_th July,_ 1792.

"Sir,

"Since my arrival here, I am sorry to have to say that intelligence
respecting Major Trueman's being killed by an Indian boy, who met with him
a hunting, has arrived. This will induce you to recollect what passed
between us relative to messages being sent. The route by Presque Isle I
again recommend as the most eligible; from thence keeping along the lake
to the Miamis, at which place the chiefs are aptest to be met with; and
when once there, they are safe. Sending such number of messengers rather
makes the Indians suspicious of your intentions, and by any other route
they are much more liable to meet with hunters. There are now great
numbers of Indians collected, and, from all their councils, seem
determined upon a new boundary line. In short, they are all sensible that
what has hitherto been done, (which I fully explained to you,) was unfair;
and I am of opinion peace will not easily be established without your
relinquishing part of your claim. The purchases were all made from men who
had no right to sell, and who are now to be thanked for the present
difficulties." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The writer here refers to the treaty of Fort Harmer, which the great
majority of the Indians always maintained was unauthorized by their
people, and therefore of no binding force upon them.

"The Senecas and Seven Nations of Canada are now waiting at Fort Erie for
a passage for Detroit, on their way to the Miamis. I shall be able to go
up by the next trip of the vessel. My intention and wish is still for the
accomplishing of peace. 'Tis a business will require time; things too
rashly or hastily agreed upon, seldom have the effect of those seriously
and coolly reflected on; knowing the foundation to be just, and the
benefits that will arise therefrom, affords a greater space for forwarding
the business.

"After leaving your place until my arrival here, I had a tedious journey.
The fatigue is done away by the recollection of the politeness and
attention showed me by your officers of government, for which I cannot but
return my warmest thanks, and request you to communicate the same. If any
return should be in my power to make, I shall think myself particularly
happy.

"And am, Sir,
Yours, &c.
Jos. Brant.

"_The Secretary of War._"

Apprehensive, from the opposition of his friends to his Philadelphia
mission, that evil reports might have been circulated concerning him, and
distrust of his fidelity engendered among the upper nations, on the 29th
of July the Captain wrote to his friend McKee, at Detroit, making
inquiries as to that and various other points, and also with a view of
ascertaining whether his presence would be acceptable at the then
approaching council at the Miamis. In reply, Colonel McKee assured him
that, "whatever bad birds had been flying about," the opinions of the
western Indians respecting him were unchanged, and that they were anxious
for his presence among them, to aid in their consultations for the general
welfare. In regard to the murder of the American messengers, Colonel McKee
said they were killed by a banditti, and the circumstance was
regretted,--"although the Indians considered that the messengers had been
sent more with a view to gain time, and lull the confederacy into a fatal
security, than to effect a peace, since they have proposed no other terms
than what the nations rejected at first; and you must be perfectly
sensible," (added Colonel McK.) "that after two successful general
engagements, in which a great deal of blood has been spilt, the Indians
will not quietly give up by negotiation what they have been contending for
with their lives since the commencement of these troubles." Captain Brant
having expressed an opinion that the hostile nations would not be likely
to move again until the effect of farther negotiation should be known,
McKee replied, that the Indians did not look upon "the hostile
preparations" of the Americans, "such as forming posts and magazines in
the heart of their country, as indicating much sincerity on their part;
nor do they [the Indians] think that such establishments would tend to
conciliate or convince them that the Americans wish for peace on any
reasonable terms, or on the terms proposed by the confederacy the
beginning of last year. A great council is soon to be held at the Au
Glaize--the chiefs not judging it proper to move lower down at present, on
account of the American force collecting at Fort Jefferson." In regard to
the treaty of Muskingum, (Fort Harmar,) Colonel McKee said--"Daintate,
the Chief who conducted that business, is dead; but he always declared
that he, and all the chiefs who were with him there, were imposed
upon--imagining that what they signed was a treaty of amity, and not a
cession of country; and were not undeceived until they had been some time
returned to their respective villages, and had their papers explained to
them. Some messengers are arrived at the Glaize from the westward of the
Mississippi, announcing that large bodies of their nations are collected,
and will shortly be here to give their assistance to the general
confederacy; so that, in all probability, more nations will soon be
assembled here than at any former period." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Correspondence among the Brant papers.

The letter from which the preceding extracts have been made, was dated
from the "Foot of the Miami Rapids, September 4th, 1792." The council of
which it speaks, was held at the An Glaize, on the Miami of Lake Erie, in
the course of the Autumn. A fit of sickness, however, prevented the
attendance of Thayendanegea. The Corn-planter, and forty-eight of the
chiefs of the Six Nations, residing within the boundaries of the United
States, repaired thither, together with about thirty chiefs and warriors
of the Mohawks, and other Canada Indians. But they were not well received,
in their character of peace-makers, by the hostiles, who were sturdily
bent upon continuing the war. The council was numerously attended on the
part of the western tribes; the Shawanese were the only speakers in favor
of war, and Red Jacket from the Senecas was alone the orator in
opposition, or in behalf of the friendly Indians. The Shawanese taunted
the Six Nations with having first induced them to form a great
confederacy, a few years before, and of having come to the council now
"with the voice of the United States folded under their arm." [FN] There
were indications of an angry passage between the two parties in the
earlier stages of the council; but after mutual explanations, harmony was
restored. The result was, that the hostile Indians finally agreed to
suspend belligerent operations for the winter, and to meet the United
States in council at the Rapids of the Miami in the following Spring. The
basis of the proposed armistice, however, was, that the United States
should withdraw their troops from the western side of the Ohio. Nor did
they hold out any prospect of treating in the Spring, upon any other
principle than that of making the Ohio the boundary, and receiving payment
for their improvements on the south-eastern side of that river. They
insisted that the United States should allow them all the lands they
possessed in Sir William Johnson's time, and that upon no other terms
would they agree to a treaty of peace. The council was dissolved about the
10th or 12th of October; and Captain Brant did not arrive at the Au Glaize
until after it had broken up. It was a very large council. There were
representatives in attendance from the Gora nations, whom it had taken a
whole season to travel thither. There were also present, besides the Six
Nations and the north-western tribes, twenty-seven nations from beyond the
Canadian territory.

* * * * *

[FN] Alluding to the belt by which they were to speak.

On the return of the friendly Indians to Buffalo, a grand council was
called, at which the Indian agents of the Five Nations were present, and
also Colonel Butler, and a number of other gentlemen from Niagara. At this
council, the proceedings and speeches at the Au Glaize were rehearsed, and
in conclusion of their mission, the Six Nations transmitted the following
speech to the President of the United States; from which it will appear
that, though friendly to them, the Six Nations, after all, were yet more
friendly to the Miamis, and their claim of the Ohio for a boundary:--

"Speech from the Six Nations to the President.

"You sent us on to the westward, with a message of peace to the hostile
Indians.

"We proceeded accordingly to your directions, and was protected, going and
coming, by the Great Spirit.

"We give thanks to the Great Spirit, that we have all returned safe to our
seats.

"While we was at the westward, we exerted ourselves to bring about peace.
The fatigues we underwent are not small. Now, it is our desire for your
people on the Ohio to lay down their arms, or otherwise it is all in vain
what we have done.

"Now, if you wish for peace, you must make every exertion, and proceed
through this path we have directed for you. If peace does not take place,
the fault must arise from your people.

"We now desire you, Brothers, to send forward agents, who are men of
honesty, not proud land-jobbers, but men who love and desire peace. Also,
we desire they may be accompanied by some friend, or Quaker, to attend the
council.

"Wish you to exert yourself to forward the message to the western Indians
as soon as possible; and we are taken by the hand, and have agreed, next
Spring, to attend the council at the Rapids of Miami, when we shall hear
all that takes place there."

Notwithstanding the stipulations of the Shawanese and Miamis to call in
their warriors, and commit no farther hostilities until the grand council
should be held in the following Spring, the armistice was not very rigidly
observed, and skirmishes were frequent along the border. On the 6th of
November, Major Adair, commanding a detachment of Kentucky volunteers, was
attacked by a large body of Indians in the neighborhood of Fort St. Clair.
The battle was sharp and severe, and the Indians were rather checked than
defeated. General Wilkinson, who was in command of the fort, could render
no assistance, from the strictness of his orders to act only on the
defensive. He bestowed high praise on the good conduct of Major Adair, as
the latter did upon his officers and men.

It was at about this period that a change was made in the Canadian
government, which, from the character and dispositions of the new officers
introduced upon the stage of action, may not have been without its
influence in the progress of Indian affairs. During the visit of Lord
Dorchester to England of 1791, '93, what had previously been the entire
province of Canada was divided, and an upper province with a lieutenancy
created. Colonel J. G. Simcoe was the first Lieutenant Governor assigned
to the newly organized territory--an able and active officer, who, in the
progress of events, though very friendly at first to the United States,
was not long disposed to manifest any particular good-will for them,
farther than courtesy to public officers and the discharge of
indispensable duties required. He arrived at Quebec in the Spring of 1792,
but was detained in the lower province several months, while waiting for
other officers from England, whose presence and assistance were necessary
to the organization of the new government. Colonel Simcoe established his
head-quarters at Niagara, which was temporarily constituted the seat of
government. He was the bearer of a letter of introduction from the Duke of
Northumberland to the Mohawk Chief, Thayendanegea. The Duke, who had
served in the Revolutionary war as Lord Percy, had been adopted by the
Mohawks as a warrior of their nation, under the Indian name, conferred by
Brant himself, of _Thorighwegeri,_ or _The Evergreen Brake._ The name
involves the very pretty conceit that a titled house never dies. Like the
leaves of this peculiar species of the brake, the old leaf only falls as
it is pushed from the stem by the new; or rather, when the old leaf falls,
the young is in fresh and full existence. The following is the letter,
which the character of the parties and the circumstances of the case
render worthy of preservation:--

"The Duke of Northumberland to Captain Brant

"_Northumberland House, Sept._ 3d, 1791

"My Dear Joseph,

"Colonel Simcoe, who is going out Governor of Upper Canada, is kind enough
to promise to deliver this to you, with a brace of pistols, which I
desire you will keep for my sake. I must particularly recommend the
Colonel to you and the nation. He is a most intimate friend of mine, and
is possessed of every good quality which can recommend him to your
friendship. He is brave, humane, sensible, and honest. You may safely rely
upon whatever he says, for he will not deceive you. He loves and honors
the Indians, whose noble sentiments so perfectly correspond with his own.
He wishes to live upon the best terms with them, and, as Governor, will
have it in his power to be of much service to them. In short, he is worthy
to be a Mohawk. Love him at first for my sake, and you will soon come to
love him for his own.

"I was very glad to hear that you had received the rifle safe which I sent
you, and hope it has proved useful to you. I preserve with great care your
picture, which is hung up in the Duchess's own room.

"Continue to me your friendship and esteem, and believe me ever to be,
with the greatest truth,

"Your affectionate
Friend and Brother,
Northumberland,
_Thorighwegeri._

"Captain Joseph Brant,
_Thayendanegea._"

Thus strongly and affectionately introduced, by the head of the British
peerage to the head chief of a nation, a close intimacy was formed between
Governor Simcoe and Captain Brant, as will more clearly be disclosed in
the progress of these pages. The regular chain of history will now be
resumed.

On the 19th of February, 1793, pursuant to the arrangement made by the
Indians at the Au Glaize in the preceding Autumn, General Benjamin
Lincoln, Beverley Randolph, and Colonel Timothy Pickering, were
commissioned by the President, to attend the great council at the Miamis,
to be held in the course of the ensuing Spring.

Meantime the Indians of the confederate nations, dissatisfied with what
they considered the evasive reply which had been received from the
President to the address on their behalf, transmitted by the Six Nations,
held another council at the Glaize in February, at which a very explicit
address upon the Subject was framed, and transmitted to the Six Nations.
They were apprehensive that the Six Nations had either not understood
them, or, that in communicating with the Executive of the United States
they had not made themselves understood. Reminding the Six Nations that
when in council they had understood them to be of one mind with themselves
touching the boundary question, they now repeated that they would listen
to no propositions from the United States, save upon the basis of the Ohio
for a boundary and the removal of the American forts from the Indian
territory. This was the irrevocable determination of the confederates, and
they deemed it right and proper that the government of the United States
should be fully apprised of the fact before the commissioners should set
out upon their journey. They likewise advised the Six Nations, in this
address, of their determination to hold a private council at the Miami
Rapids before they would proceed to meet the American commissioners at
Sandusky, that they might adjust their own opinions, so as to be of one
mind, and speak one language in the public council. It was their farther
determination, before they would consent to meet the Commissioners at all,
to ascertain whether the Commissioners had been clothed with authority to
meet them upon the terms thus preliminarily prescribed. This letter, or
message, was concluded thus:--"Brothers: We desire you therefore, to be
strong, and rise immediately to meet us at the Miami Rapids, where we want
the advice and assistance of our elder brethren in the great work which we
are about. The western nations are all prepared and in daily expectation
of the arrival of our brothers, the Creeks, Cherokees, and other southern
nations, who are on their legs to join us, agreeably to their promise.
And we desire you will put the Seven Nations of Canada in mind of their
promise last Fall, to be early on their legs to join us, and that you will
bring them in your band. [_Four double strings of black and white Wampum_]
A postscript enjoined that the United States should send no messengers
into their country, except through the Five Nations." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Original document from among the Brant papers.

The communication was dated February 27th. On the same day the
Commissioners left Philadelphia for Buffalo Creek, accompanied, as the
Indians had requested, by several members of the society of Friends--so
strongly had the nations become attached to the disciples of the
beneficent Penn. [FN] Colonel Pickering and Mr. Randolph proceeded
directly across the country, while General Lincoln took the route via
Albany, to superintend the forwarding of supplies. General Wayne, now in
command of the North-western army, had been instructed in the meantime to
issue a proclamation, informing the people of the frontiers of the
proposed treaty, and prohibiting all offensive movements on the part of
these people until the result of the council should be known.

* * * * *

[FN] The names of the Quaker gentlemen who went upon this benevolent
errand were, John Parish, William Savory, and John Elliott, of
Philadelphia; Jacob Findlay, of Chester County; and Joseph Moore and
William Hartshorn, of New-Jersey. It may be noted as a singular fact,
that while the Quakers solicited the appointment on this pacific mission
at the hands of the President, the Indians, at about the same time, and
evidently without consultation or arrangement, requested of some of the
American agents, that some Quaker might be appointed on the Commission to
treat with them.

Messrs. Randolph and Pickering arrived at the Queenston landing, (Niagara
river,) on the 17th of May. Governor Simcoe, who was at home, had no
sooner heard of their arrival in his vicinity, than he sent invitations
insisting that they should consider themselves his guests during their
stay at that place. He treated them with great hospitality, and at their
request readily despatched a vessel to Oswego, to receive General Lincoln
and the stores for the expedition. The latter gentleman did not reach
Niagara until the 25th.

On their arrival at that place, the Commissioners were informed that
Captain Brant, with a body of Mohawks, had set off for the west about the
5th of May. There was a preliminary council to be held at the Miami
Rapids, which it was the purpose of that Chief to attend. The United
States had fixed the 1st of June for the time of meeting; but Colonel
McKee had written to Niagara, stating that that period would be quite too
early, since the Indians were ever slow in such proceedings, and withal
would not then probably have returned from their hunting. The Indians,
however, were collecting at the Au Glaize, and Colonel McKee advised
Governor Simcoe that the conference with the American Commissioners would
probably be held at Sandusky. In the meantime it was proposed that the
Commissioners should remain at Niagara until all things were ready for the
conference.

Such being the position of affairs, the commissioners were detained with
Governor Simcoe--occasionally visiting some of the Indian towns in that
region--until near the middle of July. Every hospitable attention was
bestowed upon them by the Governor, who spared no pains to render their
sojourn with him agreeable. On the 4th of June, the King's birth-day was
celebrated, on which occasion the Governor gave a _fete_, ending with a
ball in the evening, which was attended by "about twenty well-dressed and
handsome ladies, and about three times that number of gentlemen. They
danced from 7 o'clock until 11 when supper was announced, and served in
very pretty taste. The music and dancing were good, and every thing was
conducted with propriety. What excited the best feelings of the heart,
was the ease and affection with which the ladies met each other, although
there were a number present whose mothers sprang from the aborigines of
the country. They appeared as well dressed as the company in general, and
intermixed with them in a manner which evinced at once the dignity of
their own minds and the good sense of others. These ladies possessed great
ingenuity and industry, and have great merit; for the education they have
received is owing principally to their own industry, as their father, Sir
William Johnson, was dead, and the mother retained the manners and dress
of her tribe." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Private Journal of General Lincoln--Massachusetts Historical
Collections. This incident has been preserved in the text by the author,
as a curiosity; it being the first gala of a representative of royalty
in the western woods.

Thus far the deportment of Governor Simcoe was conciliatory, and in all
respects indicative of any thing rather than a hostile spirit. Reports
having reached the ears of the Commissioners, that the Governor had
qualified the expressions of his desire that the Indians might determine
upon a peace with the United States, by advising them that they should not
relinquish any of their lands to obtain it, those gentlemen addressed him
a note upon the subject. The imputation was promptly and satisfactorily
disclaimed; and at the request of the Commissioners, several British
officers were detailed to accompany them to the council. Colonel Butler,
the British Indian Superintendent of that station, [FN] had already
departed with a large number of the Six Nations residing at the Buffalo
Creek, to attend with Captain Brant the preliminary council at Miami.

* * * * *

[FN] The British commander at Wyoming.

Advices from Colonel McKee, at Detroit, having communicated the fact that
all was ready on the part of the Indians, and urged them forthwith to
repair to Sandusky and meet them, the Commissioners took their departure
from Niagara on the 26th of June. Reports had been bruited about, however,
that, should the council break up without making peace, it was the
determination of the hostile Indians to fall upon the Commissioners and
sacrifice them. In consequence of this intimation they were furnished with
a letter from the Governor, expressed in the strongest terms, enjoining
the officers in the Indian Department at the west to take care that they
should be neither injured nor insulted by the savages; adding, "that an
injury to them I would greatly affect him, the Commander-in-chief, the
British nation, and even the King himself." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] General Lincoln's Journal.

The Commissioners were detained by contrary winds at Fort Erie, at which
point they were to embark, until the 5th of July. Here another serious
interruption to their progress took place. The extreme jealousy of the
Indians naturally prompted them to magnify every thing bearing a hostile
appearance; and they had been watching with much suspicion, during the
whole season, the movements of General Wayne, who was then occupying the
country about Fort Washington. It was understood that he was not to
advance beyond that position pending the negotiations. But the Indians
were nevertheless suspicious lest he should avail himself of the absence
of their chiefs and warriors at the council, and fall upon their towns.
Governor Simcoe had called the attention of the Commissioners to this
subject, and they, in turn, had urged the consideration, through the
Secretary of War, upon General Wayne. But, notwithstanding every
precaution that could be adopted, the Indians at the preliminary council
became alarmed; and, greatly to the surprise of the Commissioners, while
waiting to embark at Fort Erie, on the 5th of July a vessel arrived from
Miami, having on board Captain Brant, Colonel Butler, and a deputation of
about fifty Indians from the north-western tribes, attending the council,
with instructions to have a conference with the American Commissioners in
the presence of Governor Simcoe. The object of their visit was twofold;
first, they were desirous of being enabled "to possess their minds in
peace in regard to the movements of General Wayne with the army; secondly,
they were desirous of obtaining information whether the Commissioners were
empowered to establish a new boundary line, or rather to stipulate that
the American settlers should fall back upon the Ohio--since the great
majority of the Indians had uniformly disclaimed the boundary specified in
the treaty of Fort Harmar. An immediate interview between the deputation
and the Commissioners was arranged, at the request of the former, at which
a Shawanese chief, called Cat's-Eyes, addressed them as follows:--

"Brothers: We are sent by the nations of Indians assembled at the Rapids
of Miami, to meet the Commissioners of the United States. We are glad to
see you here. It is the will of the great chiefs of those nations that our
Father, the Governor of this province, should be present, and hear what we
have to say to you, and what you have to say to us.

"Brothers: Do not make yourselves uneasy that we did net meet you at the
time you proposed, at Sandusky. The reasons thereof will be mentioned at
another time.

"_Four strings of black and white wampum._"

To which the Commissioners replied:--

"Brothers: The Commissioners are glad to see you. We will confer with you
in presence of your Father, the Governor of this province, at any time and
place which shall be convenient to you and him.

"_Returned the four strings._"

The parties then separated; but the Indian deputation, after a brief
consultation, requested another interview, and proposed that the meeting
with Governor Simcoe should be at his own house at Niagara. To this
arrangement the Commissioners assented, and agreed to return thither on
the following day. Accordingly, on the 7th of July, a conference was held
at the council-house at Niagara. The Governor and the Indians having
arrived at the council-chamber a few minutes in advance of the
Commissioners, Captain Brant addressed the former thus:--

"Brother: It being agreed at the Rapids that we should come and meet the
Commissioners in our Father's presence, we return our thanks to the Great
Spirit for seeing your Excellency well this day. Our intention and
business is peaceable, and our inclination is to do what is right and
just. We are all of one mind, and wished your Excellency to be present.

"_A belt of wampum._"

His Excellency replied:--

"Brothers: I am happy to see you so well. The Commissioners have expressed
a wish to meet you in my presence, and I shall be happy to hear what they
have to say.

"_Belt returned._"

The Commissioners having arrived, the conference commenced, in the
presence not only of the Governor, but also of a large number of the civil
and military officers of that station. The proceedings were opened on the
part of the Western deputation by Captain Brant, who rose, with a belt
and string of wampum, and said:--

"Brothers: We have met to-day our brothers, the Bostonians and English. We
are glad to have the meeting, and think it by the appointment of the Great
Spirit.

"Brothers of the United States: We told you the other day, at Fort Erie,
that at another time we would inform you why we had not assembled at the
time and place appointed for holding the treaty with you. Now we inform
you, that it is because there is so much the appearance of war in that
quarter.

"Brothers: We have given the reason for our not meeting you, and now
request an explanation of these warlike appearances.

"Brothers: The people you see here are sent to represent the Indian
nations who own the lands north of the Ohio as their common property, and
who are all of one mind--one heart.

"Brothers: We have come to speak to you for two reasons: one, because your
warriors, being in our neighborhood, have prevented our meeting at the
appointed place; the other, to know if you are properly authorized to run
and establish a new boundary line between the lands of the United States
and the lands of the Indian nations. We are still desirous of meeting you
at the appointed place.

"Brothers: We wish you to deliberate well on this business. We have spoken
our sentiments in sincerity--considering ourselves in the presence of the
Great Spirit, from whom, in times of danger, we expect assistance." [_With
this speech a belt of twelve rows, and thirty strings of wampum, in five
bunches, were presented._]

The Commissioners answered:--

"Brothers: We have attended to what you have said. We will take it into
our serious consideration, and give you an answer to-morrow. We will
inform you when we are ready."

Captain Brant rejoined:--

"Brothers: We thank you for what you have said. You say that you will
answer our speech to-morrow. We now cover up the council-fire."

On the next day the Commissioners replied at length, in the Indian form of
speech. In regard to the warlike indications of which the deputation
complained, the Commissioners assured them that they might "possess their
minds in peace;" and stated to them the orders that had been transmitted
to General Wayne, and the other precautionary measures adopted by the
Great Chief, General Washington, to prevent any act of hostility during
the negotiations. On the subject of the second query of the Indians, the
Commissioners replied explicitly, that they had authority to run and
establish a new boundary. This question, they were aware, was to be the
great subject of discussion at the council, and they hoped that the result
would be satisfactory to both parties. But, in saying this, they reminded
the Indians, that in almost all disputes and quarrels there was wrong upon
both sides, and consequently that in the approaching council both parties
must be prepared to make some concessions. The Commissioners requested
information as to the names of the nations, and the number of the chiefs
assembled at the Rapids of the Miami; and in conclusion re-assured the
chiefs of the groundlessness of their apprehensions respecting the
movements of General Wayne, and explained to them that they might place
themselves perfectly at rest upon this point; promising, moreover,
immediately to send a messenger on horseback "to the Great Chief of the
United States, to desire him to renew and strongly repeat his orders to
his head-warrior, not only to abstain from all hostilities against the
Indians, but to remain quiet at his posts until the event of the treaty
should be known." Having returned the Belt, Cat's-Eyes, the Shawanese
leader, replied:--

"Brothers, the Bostonians, attend! We have heard your words. Our fathers,
the English people, have also heard them. We thank God that you have been
preserved in peace, and that we bring our pipes together. The people of
all the different nations here salute you. They rejoice to hear your
words. It gives us great satisfaction that our fathers, the English, have
also heard them. We shall for the present take up our pipes and retire to
our encampments, where we shall deliberately consider your speech, and
return you an answer tomorrow."

The conference was re-opened on the 9th, when Captain Brant arose, with
the belt and strings in his hands which had been presented by the
Commissioners on the preceding day, and addressing himself to the English
and Americans, said:--

"Brothers: We are glad the Great Spirit has preserved us in peace to meet
together this day.

"Brothers of the United States: Yesterday you made an answer to the
message delivered by us, from the great council at the Miami, in the two
particulars we had stated to you.

"Brothers: You may depend on it that we fully understand your speech. We
shall take with us your belt and strings, and repeat it to the chiefs at
the great council at Miami."

[_Laying down the belt and strings, the Captain took up a white belt, and
proceeded:_]

"Brothers: We have something farther to say, though not much. We are
small, compared with our great chiefs at Miami; but, though small, we have
something to say. We think, brothers, from your speech, that there is a
prospect of our coming together. We, who are the nations at the westward,
are of one mind; and if we agree with you, as there is a prospect that we
shall, it will be binding and lasting.

"Brothers: Our prospects are the fairer, because all our minds are one.
You have not spoken to us before unitedly. Formerly, because you did not
speak to us unitedly, what was done was not binding. Now you have an
opportunity to speak to us together; and we now take you by the hand to
lead you to the place appointed for the meeting.

"Brothers: One thing more we have to say. Yesterday you expressed a wish
to be informed of the names of the nations and number of chiefs assembled
at the Miami. But as they were daily coming in, we cannot give you exact
information. You will see for yourselves in a few days. When we left it,
the following nations were there, viz: Five Nations, Wyandots, Shawanese,
Delawares, Munsees, Miamis, Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattamies, Mingoes,
Cherokees, Nantikokes. The principal men of all these nations were there.

"_A white belt of seven rows._"

The Commissioners then replied:--

"Brothers: Our ears have been open to your speech. It Is agreeable to us.
We are ready to proceed with you to Sandusky, where, under the direction
of the Great Spirit, we hope that we shall soon establish a peace on terms
equally interesting and agreeable to all parties."

While these deliberations were in progress, a deputation from the Seven
Nations of Canada arrived at Niagara, to the number of two hundred and
eighty. The proceedings were terminated with a confident expectation on
all hands that the result of the mission would be a pacific arrangement.
With the public dispatches transmitted to the Secretary of War from this
place, however, General Lincoln addressed a private letter to that
officer, advising him that if the reports in circulation were in any
degree true, General Wayne must have violated the clearest principles of
a _truce,_ and expressing great solicitude for the result--less, however,
on account of the personal safety of the Commissioners, whose lives would
be thereby jeoparded, than for the apprehensions felt for the honor of the
country. Captain Brant had given information as to the movements of Wayne,
of the certainty of which there could be but little doubt; and those
movements caused the Commissioners as much uneasiness as they did the
Indians; being moreover viewed by the British officers at Niagara as
unfair and unwarrantable.

Captain Brant and the Indian deputation proceeded on their return to
Miami, in advance of the Commissioners, the latter embarking from Fort
Erie on the 14th. On the 21st they arrived at the mouth of the Detroit
river, where they were obliged to land--the British authorities at Detroit
forbidding their approach farther toward the place of meeting. They were,
however, hospitably entertained at the landing-place by Captain Elliot,
Colonel McKee's assistant in the Indian Department. The latter officer was
in attendance upon the council at the Rapids, to whom the Commissioners
lost no time in addressing a note, apprising him of their arrival, and of
their design to remain there until the Indians should be ready to remove
the council to Sandusky. They also requested the good offices of Colonel
McKee in expediting the proceedings of the Indians. This dispatch was
borne by Captain Elliot himself, who returned on the 29th, bringing an
answer from the Colonel, and attended by a deputation of upward of twenty
Indians from the different nations in council. An audience of these
Indians was had on the day following, at which a Wyandot Chief, whose name
in English was _Carry-one-about,_ opened their business with the following
unexpected address:--

"Brothers, listen! We are glad to see you here in peace, and thank the
Great Spirit that has preserved us to meet again.

"Brothers: We were sent to speak with you some time ago at Niagara. Some
chiefs are now here who were then present.

"Brothers: We did not explain ourselves to each other, and we did not
rightly understand each other.

"Brothers: We desire that we may rightly understand each other. We have
thought it best that what we had to say should be put into writing, and
here is the meaning of our hearts."

Saying which, the Wyandot chief put a paper into the hands of the
Commissioners, which read as follows:--

"To the Commissioners of the United States.

"Brothers: The Deputies we sent you did not fully explain our meaning. We
have therefore sent others to meet you once more, that you may fully
understand the great question we have to ask you, and to which we expect
an explicit answer in writing.

"Brothers: You are sent here by the United States in order to make peace
with us, the Confederate Indians.

"Brothers: You know very well that the boundary-line, which was run by the
white people and us, at the Treaty of Fort Stanwix, was the river Ohio.

"Brothers: If you seriously design to make a firm and lasting peace, you
will immediately remove all your people from our side of that river.

"Brothers: We therefore ask you, Are you fully authorised by the United
States to continue and fix firmly on the Ohio river as the boundary-line
between your people and ours?

"Done in General Council, at the foot of the Miami Rapids, 27th July,
1793. In behalf of ourselves and the whole Confederacy, and agreed to in
full council."

This missive was signed by the Wyandots, Delawares, Shawanese, Miamis,
Mingoes, Pottawattamies, Ottawas, Connoys, Chippewas, and Munsees; but not
by the Six Nations. The Commissioners replied to them at great length in
the afternoon. They began, after the Indian custom, by repeating their
speech and then gave a succinct statement of the conferences at Niagara,
and the perfect understanding then had, that some concessions would be
necessary on both sides, and of which they were to speak face to face.
They had already been detained sixty days beyond the time appointed for
the meeting, and were desirous of proceeding to business in council
without farther delay. The Commissioners next recited briefly the history
of all the treaties that had been formed with the north-western Indians,
from the treaty of Fort Stanwix, held before the Revolution, to that which
was commenced at the falls of the Muskingum, by General St. Clair, and
completed at Fort Harmar. At this treaty the Six Nations renewed their
treaty of Fort Stanwix, of 1784, and the Wyandots and Delawares renewed
and confirmed the treaty of Fort McIntosh. There were also parties to this
treaty from the Ottawas, Chippewas, Pottawattamies and Sacs. Under these
treaties the United States had acquired the territory, now claimed by the
Indians, north of the Ohio, and on the faith of these, settlements had
been formed, that could not now be removed; and hence the Commissioners
replied explicitly to the first question, that the Ohio could not be
designated as the boundary. After attempting to explain the impossibility
of uprooting the settlements beyond the Ohio, and the great expenses
incurred by the people in forming them, they spoke again of the promised
"mutual concessions," and proposed, as the basis of negotiation, that the
Indians should relinquish all the lands ceded by the treaty of Fort
Harmar, and also a small tract of land at the Rapids of the Ohio, claimed
by General Clark; in return for which they proposed to give the Indians
"such a large sum in money or goods as was never given at one time for any
quantity of Indian lands since the white people set their foot on this
island." They likewise proposed a large annuity in addition to the amount
to be paid in hand. Originally, under the treaty of peace with England,
the American Commissioners had claimed the right to the soil of all the
lands south of the great lakes; but this claim, the Commissioners said
they thought, was wrong; and as a farther concession, if the lands already
specified were relinquished by the Indians, the United States would
relinquish all but the right of preemption to the vast tracts that
remained. In conclusion, the Commissioners said:--

"Brothers: We have now opened our hearts to you. We are happy in having
an opportunity of doing it, though we should have been more happy to have
done it in full council of your nations. We expect soon to have this
satisfaction, and that your next deputation will take us by the hand, and
lead us to the treaty. When we meet and converse with each other freely,
we may more easily remove any difficulties which may come in the way.

"_A white belt with thirteen stripes of black wampum._"

The speech having been interpreted fully to the deputation, the council
was adjourned until the next day, when, having reassembled, the Wyandot
chief rose, and replied as follows:--

"Brothers: We are all brothers you see here now. Brothers, it is now three
years since you have desired to speak with us. We heard you yesterday, and
understand well, perfectly well. We have a few words to say to you.

"Brothers: You mentioned the treaties of Fort Stanwix, Beaver Creek, and
other places. Those treaties were not complete. There were but few chiefs
who treated with you. You have not bought our lands; they belong to us.
You tried to draw off some of us.

"Brothers: Many years ago we all know that the Ohio was made the boundary;
it was settled by Sir William Johnson. This side is ours; we look upon it
as our property.

"Brothers: You mention General Washington. He and you know you have houses
and people on our lands. You say you cannot, move them off; and we cannot
give up our lands.

"Brothers: We are sorry that we cannot come to an agreement. The line has
been fixed long ago.

"Brothers: We do not say much. There has been much mischief on both sides.
We came here upon peace, and thought you did the same. We wish you to
remain here for an answer from us. We have your speech in our breasts, and
shall consult our head warriors."

From the 1st to the 14th of August the Commissioners were detained at the
place of their first landing, in the daily expectation of receiving an
invitation to join the council at the Rapids. They had information from
thence several times, and on the 8th were informed that all the nations
were disposed for peace, excepting the Shawanese, Wyandots, Miamis, and
Delawares. The Six Nations, and the Seven Nations of Canada, exerted
themselves strongly to bring about a pacification. It was understood,
however, that the debates had been long and animated. Captain Brant and
the Corn-planter were unwearied in their efforts to accomplish this
desirable object, and both spoke much in council. The discussions being
thus protracted, the former availed himself of the time to endeavor to
enlist the direct interposition of Governor Simcoe to bring the Indians
into a more pacific temper. For that purpose the Captain dispatched
messengers to York, at which place [FN-1] the Upper Canadian Government
was about being established, with letters to the Governor, informing him
of the intractable disposition of the Indians, and soliciting his
influence to induce them to compromise the boundary question. Governor
Simcoe wrote back on the 8th of August, declining any interference. His
Excellency declared in this letter, that, as his correspondent (Brant)
well knew, he had always, both in private conversation and in public
messages, endeavored to impress a disposition and temper upon the Indians,
that might lead to the blessing of peace. Still, he thought the Indians
were the best judges as to the terms upon which a treaty of peace should
be negotiated; and at their request he had directed the Indian Agents to
attend their councils, and explain to them any circumstances which they
might not clearly understand. There was another circumstance which
Governor Simcoe thought would render it improper for him to interfere,
which will be best understood by quoting his own words from the
letter:--"Since the Government of the United States have shown a
disinclination to concur with the Indian nations in requesting of his
Majesty permission for me to attend at Sandusky as mediator, it would be
highly improper and unseasonable in me to give any opinion relative to the
proposed boundaries, with which I am not sufficiently acquainted, and
which question I have studiously avoided entering into, as I am well aware
of the jealousies entertained by some of the subjects of the United
States, of the interference of the British Government which has a natural
and decided interest in the welfare of the Indian nations, and in the
establishment of peace and permanent tranquility. In this situation I am
sure you will excuse me from giving to you any advice, which, from my
absence from the spot, cannot possibly arise from that perfect view and
knowledge which so important a subject necessarily demands." [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Now Toronto, the capital of Upper Canada.

[FN-2] From the original letter among the Brant papers.

This letter contains the only authority extant for the fact that Governor
Simcoe himself had been proposed as the mediator, and rejected, and he may
have been piqued thereat. Still, although he cautiously abstained from the
remotest interference, there was nothing in this communication calculated
to defeat a pacific determination of the council. The Commissioners were
yet anxiously awaiting the result at the mouth of the Detroit River. On
the 11th of August they were informed that the debates were still running
high in council; that the chiefs of the Six Nations had spoken twice, and
were about to speak a third time. Indeed, so desirous were they now of
effecting a pacific arrangement, that Thayendanegea was determined to
transcend the ordinary rules of an Indian council, and speak a fourth
time, should it become necessary. [FN] It was added, that nearly half the
four tribes, who were persisting for war, had been won over; and hence,
when the messengers left the council, they even anticipated that runners
with pacific news would overtake them. Having waited, however, until the
14th, and receiving no farther news, the Commissioners proposed to repair
to the council in person--but were prevented by the British authorities,
who would not suffer them to move in that direction, unless by special
invitation from the council. Impatient of longer delay, their next measure
was to send a speech to the council, with a request to Captain Brant to
bring it before them, urging upon them the necessity of a speedy
determination of the question of peace or war, one way or the other. The
conclusion of this address was thus:--

* * * * *

[FN] What a pity that at such an Indian Congress, where the great
warriors and rulers of so many nations were assembled to discuss subjects
at once the most {illegible word--"exciting"?} and of the deepest
moment to them, a bench of stenographers could not have been present!
What bursts of thrilling eloquence--the unsophisticated{?} language of
nature--gathering all its metaphors fresh and glowing from her own rich
store-house--the flowers, the forests, and the woods{?}--the sun, the
stars, and the blue sky--the winds, the earthquake, and the storm--must
there have been poured forth but to die away upon the ears that heard
them.

"Brothers: We have waited fourteen days, and no answer has arrived.

"Brothers: It is time to bring the business to a conclusion. The summer
has almost passed away, and we do not yet even know whether we are to have
a treaty.

"Brothers: You know that we came to treat with you of peace. We again tell
you, that we earnestly desire to make peace; and in the terms of peace we
are disposed to do you ample justice. But if no treaty is to be held, if
peace is not to be obtained, we desire immediately to know it, that we may
go home."

But all the anticipations of a pacific adjustment of the difficulties
proved fallacious. Two days after this address had been dispatched to the
care of Captain Brant and the Corn-planter, the Commissioners received a
long address from the council, in writing, in answer to their own speech
of July 31st, which put an end to the negotiation. It was addressed,

"To the Commissioners of the United States.

"Brothers: We have received your speech of the 31st of last month, and it
has been interpreted to all the different nations. We have been long in
sending you an answer, because of the great importance of the subject. But
we now answer it fully, having given it all the consideration in our
power."

In their address the council entered upon an extended review of the
negotiations heretofore referred to, and the circumstances under which the
treaties of Fort McIntosh and Fort Harmar were made. They contended that
these treaties had not been properly obtained, and were not binding upon
the Indians, inasmuch as but few of their chiefs and warriors had been
present at the councils, and those few were not empowered to cede away any
of their lands. Of this fact they said they had apprised General St. Clair
before the treaties were made, and admonished him not to proceed. But he
persisted in holding councils in which their nations were not consulted,
and in receiving cessions of an immense country, in which the few who,
under constraint, had signed the treaty, were no more interested than as
a mere branch of the General Confederacy, and had no authority to make any
grant whatever. In reply to the remarks of the Commissioners respecting
the impracticability of breaking up the settlements on the disputed
territory, and their offers of large sums of money for a confirmation of
the grant under the treaty of Fort Harmar, the speech of the Council was
ingenious and forcible. Indeed, the residue of this document is worth
transcribing entire:--

"Brothers: Money to us is of no value, and to most of us unknown; and as
no consideration whatever can induce us to sell our lands, on which we get
sustenance for our women and children, we hope we may be allowed to point
out a mode by which your settlers may be easily removed, and peace thereby
obtained.

"Brothers: We know that these settlers are poor, or they never would have
ventured to live in a country which has been in continual trouble ever
since they crossed the Ohio. Divide, therefore, this large sum of money
which you have offered to us among these people; give to each also a
proportion of what you say you would give us annually, over and above this
large sum of money; and we are persuaded they would most readily accept of
it in lieu of the lands you sold to them. If you add, also, the great sums
you must expend in raising and paying armies with a view to force us to
yield you our country, you will certainly have more than sufficient for
the purposes of repaying these settlers for all their labor and
improvements.

"Brothers: You have talked to us about concessions. It appears strange
that you expect any from us, who have only been defending our just rights
against your invasions. We want peace. Restore to us our country, and we
shall be enemies no longer.

"Brothers: You make one concession to us by offering to us your money, and
another by having agreed to do us justice, after having long and
injuriously withheld it; we mean, in the acknowledgment you have now made
that the King of England never did, nor ever had a right to give you our
country by the treaty of peace. And you want to make this act of common
justice a great part of your concession, and seem to expect, that because
you have at last acknowledged our independence, we should for such a favor
surrender to you our country.

"Brothers: You have also talked a great deal about preemption, and your
exclusive right to purchase the Indian lands, as ceded to you by the King
at the treaty of peace.

"Brothers: We never made any agreement with the King, nor with any other
nation, that we would give to either the exclusive right to purchase our
lands; and we declare to you, that we consider ourselves free to make any
bargain or cession of lands whenever and to whomsoever we please. If the
white people, as you say, made a treaty that none of them but the King
should purchase of us, and he has given that right to the United States,
it is an affair which concerns you and him, and not us. We have never
parted with such a power.

"Brothers: At our general council held at the Glaize last Fall, we agreed
to meet Commissioners from the United States, for the purpose of restoring
peace, provided they consented to acknowledge and confirm our boundary
line to be the Ohio; and we determined not to meet you until you gave us
satisfaction on that point. That is the reason we have never met.

"Brothers: We desire you to consider that our only demand is the peaceable
possession of a small part of our once great country. Look back and view
the lands from whence we have been driven to this spot. We can retreat no
farther, because the country behind hardly affords food for its present
inhabitants; and we have therefore resolved to leave our bones in this
small space, to which we are now consigned.

"Brothers: We shall be persuaded that you mean to do us justice, if you
agree that the Ohio shall remain the boundary line between us. If you will
not consent thereto, our meeting will be altogether unnecessary. This is
the great point, which we hoped would have been explained before you left
your houses; as our message last Autumn was principally directed to obtain
that information.

"Done in General Council at the foot of the Miami Rapids, on the 13th day
of August, 1793."

This address was signed by the Wyandots, the Seven Nations of Canada, the
Delawares, Shawanese, Miamis, Ottawas, Chippeways, Senecas (of the
Glaize), Pottawattamies, Connoys, Munsees, Nantikokes, Mohegans,
Missisaguas, Creeks, and Cherokees--the name of each nation being written,
and its emblem or escutcheon rudely pictured opposite the name. [FN] The
Six Nations did not sign it. Indeed, it is believed that Captain Brant and
the Six Nations "_held fast together_" in their efforts to make peace, to
the last; and that the character of the final answer of the council was
not communicated to them previous to its being sent off. On the contrary,
they were told that it was a proposition to meet the Commissioners on the
Miami instead of Sandusky, about five miles below their then place of
sitting; and so well assured were they of the fact, that they proposed
removing thither the day after the runners were dispatched from the
council-fire.

* * * * *

[FN] Thus, according to the original communication in the author's
possession:--

Wyandots, A Bear. Senecas of the Glaize, A Turtle.
Seven Nations of Canada A Turtle. Pottawattamies, A Fish.
Delawares, A Turtle. Connoys, A Turkey.
Shawanese, Munsees,
Miamis, A Turtle. Nantikokes, A Turtle.
Ottawas, A Fish. Mohegans {A Turtle.
Chippeways, A Crane. {A Turkey.

Nothing could be more explicit than this ultimatum of the Indians. Their
_sine qua non_ was the Ohio for the boundary. To this proposition the
Commissioners could never assent, and they accordingly wrote to the chiefs
and warriors of the council at the Rapids, that "the negotiation was at
an end." So imperfect are the records of Indian history, preserved, as
they are, for the most part, only in the tablets of the brain, the memory
being aided by belts and other emblems--that it is a difficult matter to
determine the precise merits of the controversy sought to be terminated at
this council. Being the weaker party, belonging to a doomed race, the law
of the strongest was of course left to decide it in the end, and the
Indians were driven beyond the Mississippi. But an impartial survey of the
case, at the distance of only forty years, presents strong reasons for
believing that the Indians were the party aggrieved. Certainly, it would
form an exception in the history of their dealings with the white man, if
they were not; while it is very evident that they themselves solemnly
believed they were the injured party. And, thus believing, nothing could
have been more patriotic than the attitude assumed in their address, or
more noble than the declarations and sentiments it contained.

CHAPTER XII.

Suspected duplicity of the British authorities--Conduct of Simon
Girty--Disclosures upon the subject by Captain Brant--Council at
Buffalo, and Indian report of the doings of the Great Congress--Speech
of Captain Brant respecting the Miami council--Mission of General Chapin
to Philadelphia, with the speech--Answer unsatisfactory to the
Indians--Red Jacket--Indian council--Speech of Captain Brant in reply to
the answer of the United States--Troubles thickening between the United
States and Great Britain--Inflammatory speech of Lord
Dorchester--Question of its authenticity settled--Conduct of Governor
Simcoe--Indignation of President Washington--His letter to Mr.
Jay--Speech of Captain Brant against holding a council at Venango--The
design frustrated--Affairs farther in the West--Singular message from
the distant Indians under the Spanish and French influence--Their
speech--Operations of General Wayne--Encroachments of Pennsylvania upon
the Indian lands--Indian council upon the subject--Address to General
Washington--Important letter of Brant to Colonel Smith--Pennsylvania
relinquishes Presque Isle--Defeat of Major McMarion near Fort
Recovery--Indians repulsed in their attack upon the fort--Letter to
Brant giving an account of the battle--Advance of Wayne to the Au Glaize
and Miamis of the Lakes--Little Turtle apprised of his movements and
strength by a deserter--The Chief determines to give battle--Wayne makes
one more effort for peace--Failure of the attempt--Advance of Wayne to
the Rapids--Position of the Indians--Battle and defeat of the
Indians--Little Turtle opposed to the hazard of a battle--Opposed by
Blue-Jacket and overruled--Tart correspondence between Wayne and Major
Campbell--Destruction of Indian property by fire, and burning of Colonel
McKee's establishment--Disappointment of the Indians that Major Campbell
did not assist them--Letter of Governor Simcoe to Brant--Aggression at
Sodus Bay--Simcoe and Brant repair to the West--Interfere to prevent a
peace--Indian council--The hostiles negotiate with Wayne--Simcoe's
address to the Wyandots--Division in their counsels--Brant retires
displeased--Letter of apology from the Chiefs--The distant Indians
become weary of the war.

The return of the Commissioners to the eastern extremity of Lake Erie was
immediate; from whence both the government of the United States and
General Wayne were apprised of the failure of the negotiation, for which
such long and anxious preparation had been made. It has been charged that,
notwithstanding the apparent friendship of Governor Simcoe and his little
court at Niagara, and their seeming desire of peace, this unpropitious
result was measurably, if not entirely, produced by the influence of the
British officers in attendance upon the Indian councils--Colonel McKee,
Captain Elliot, and the notorious Simon Girty. The Rev. Mr. Heckewelder,
at the request of General Knox, accompanied the Commissioners, and was
present at the delivery of the last message from the council, refusing an
interview, which, as delivered, both in matter and manner was exceedingly
insolent. Elliot and Girty were both present when this message was
delivered, the latter of whom supported his insolence by a quill, or long
feather run through the cartilage of his nose cross-wise. He was the
interpreter of the message; and Mr. Heckewelder states that he officiously
added a sentence not transmitted from the council. Two Delaware chiefs,
visiting the Commissioners from the council, while at Detroit River, on
being questioned by Mr. Heckewelder why the Commissioners were not allowed
to proceed to their quarters at the Rapids, replied:--"All we can say is,
that we wish for peace; but we cannot speak farther, our mouths being
stopped up when we left the council!" In other words, they had been
forbidden to disclose any of its secrets.[FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Heckewelder's Narrative of the Moravian Missions.

These circumstances, from the pen of such a witness, furnish strong
presumptive testimony of duplicity on the part of the Canadian
administration. But there is yet other evidence of the fact, so strong as
to be indisputable. It is that of Captain Brant himself, who, of all
others, participated most largely in the deliberations of those councils.
In one of the speeches delivered by him in the course of his land
difficulties with the Canadian government, some time subsequent to the
war, the following passage occurs:--"For several years" (after the peace
of 1783,) "we were engaged in getting a confederacy formed, [FN-1] and the
unanimity occasioned by these endeavors among our western brethren,
enabled them to defeat two American armies. The war continued without our
brothers, the English, giving any assistance, excepting a little
ammunition; and they seeming to desire that a peace might be concluded,
we tried to bring it about at a time that the United States desired it
very much, so that they sent Commissioners from among their first people,
to endeavor to make peace with the hostile Indians. We assembled also for
that purpose at the Miami River in the Summer of 1793, intending to act
as mediators in bringing about an honorable peace; and if that could not
be obtained, we resolved to join with our western brethren in trying the
fortune of war. But to our surprise, when on the point of entering upon
a treaty with the Commissioners, we found that it was opposed by those
acting under the British government, and hopes of farther assistance were
given to our western brethren, to encourage them to insist on the Ohio as
a boundary between them and the United States." [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] In another portion of the same speech, Captain Brant stated that
General Haldimand exhorted them to the formation of that union with the
different nations.

[FN-2] Quoted from the manuscript copy of the speech, contained among the
Brant papers, in the hand-writing of the Chief himself.

The deputation from the Six Nations and the Seven Nations of Canada, (the
Caughnawagas,) having returned from the Miami, a council was convened at
the village of the Onondagas residing at Buffalo Creek, to hear their
report--intended not only for their own people, but for the information of
the British and American Superintendents, Colonel Butler and General
Chapin. The council-fire was kindled on the 8th of October. The procedure,
it will be seen, was characteristic and striking. The belts, pictures, and
emblems used by the several nations represented in the Grand Council at
the Miami Rapids, were forwarded to the Six Nations by the hands of their
deputies, and after the council had been regularly opened, these were
produced, and the speeches with which their delivery had been accompanied,
were repeated, in the form of a report, with incidental explanations. By
this process, though tedious, the proceedings of the Grand Congress were
probably reported to the Buffalo council, with as much accuracy as though
they had been written out in form by a committee of the more civilized
"Congress of the Thirteen Fires."

All things being ready, the proceedings were commenced by Clear-Sky, a
chief of the Onondagas, who spoke as follows:--

"Brothers: We thank the Great Spirit for our happy meeting, that he has
preserved us through all difficulties, dangers, and sickness, and given us
an opportunity of meeting together at this place."

The ceremony of condolence for the loss of friends since the last council,
having been regularly performed and reciprocated by all the tribes
present, and also by the Superintendents, the business of the council was
resumed by the Farmer's Brother, who delivered the speech of the
Shawanese, Delawares, and Twithuays, as follows:--

"Brothers: Colonel Butler and General Chapin, we wish you to attend the
Shawanese and other nations of Indians. We thank the Six Nations for their
attention. We were glad to see them at the Great Council-fire which had
been kindled some time at the Rapids of the Miami." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] In order to understand the report, the reader must bear in mind that
the speech of each belt is delivered by the bearer of it, as though he
were in fact a delegate from the nation whose report he is making.

"Brothers: You are acquainted with the friendship that once subsisted
between you and our fathers, and the reason that the present fire is
kindled, is to renew that friendship.

"Brothers: We mentioned this to you last Fall at a council at the Glaize,
and we now repeat it to put you in mind of that friendship which once
subsisted between you and our wise forefathers."

[A belt of white wampum was here presented, made in a circular form,
representing their place of meeting, as in the centre, and crossed by four
stripes of black wampum, representing all their confederates, East, West,
North, and South.]

"Brothers: The ancient confederacy which subsisted between us and the Five
Nations, [FN] was, that if any of the Five Nations were in distress, we
would take them to us; we now see that you are in distress; that you are
surrounded by water, and have not any land to stand upon; that a large
white beast stands with open mouth on the other side, ready to destroy
you. We have dry land for you to stand on; and we now take you by the
hand, and invite you to come, and bring your beds, and sit down with us."

[_Belt of seven rows of black and white wampum._]

* * * * *

[FN] In answer to a question by the Seven Nations of Canada, how long
this confederacy had existed between the Shawanese, &c. the reply was,
"_three lives._"

The warriors here joined with the Chiefs, and repeated the ancient
agreement, recommended a union of all the different nations, and asked
them to follow what was recommended by the chiefs. Puck-on-che-luh, head
warrior of the Delawares, [FN] then spoke:--

* * * * *

[FN] After the defeat of St. Clair, on which occasion the Delawares
fought bravely, the Mohawks, who had formerly declared the Delawares to
be women, or, in other words, degraded them from the rank of warriors,
reversed the sentence of disgrace, and wiped out the stigma, by formally
declaring the Delawares no longer women, but MEN.

"Brothers: I call you my uncles, and all the other Indians my
grand-children. Them I have already united and bound together, and I now
bind you all together with this string."

[_A large bunch of black wampum._]

The Sachems of the Delawares then spoke:--

"Brothers: You have heard the speech of the chief warriors. We join with
them, and are glad to hear they have bound all their grand-children
together, and that they have spoken with great respect to their uncles,
and recommended to them to be of one mind."

[_A large bunch of black wampum._]

The Wyandots then spoke:--

"Brothers: You came to us one hundred and fifty years ago, when we lived
above Detroit, with a speech from the Six Nations, assembled at their
council-fire at Onondaga Hill, and recommended to us to be friends, and
advised us not to listen to any bad report, or any thing that would
disturb our minds.

"Brothers: Listen to a few words more we have to say to you. We hear the
Virginians are near us; we shall not go to meet them; but if they should
come among us, we do not know what will be the consequence."

[The Wyandots spoke with a very large belt of wampum, with three pictures
upon it, one in the middle, and one at each end, representing the
Americans at one end, the Six Nations in the middle, and themselves at the
other end, and expressed their sorrow that the Americans were gone before
they had had an opportunity of speaking to them.]

The Chippewas and twenty-six other nations, their confederates, then
spoke:--

"Brothers: We are sorry that the business for which the council-fire at
the Rapids of the Miami was kindled has not been completed as we could
wish. We were desired by the different nations which we represent, to
attend the council, and use our efforts to bring about a general peace,
and unite all nations."

The Chippewas, Ottawas, and Pottawattamies, deputies from twenty-seven
nations, inhabiting along the lakes, and above Michilimackinack, then
spoke:--

"Brothers: We are sorry that we have attended all Summer at the
council-fire, and have not done any business as we expected.

"Brothers: We are now united with you, the Six Nations, and ask you to
return to your seats, and let the United States know our determination,
and return with an answer to us by the middle of winter, and not stop, as
some nations may confuse you and make your minds bad."

To which the Six Nations replied:--

"Brothers: We thank you, and as soon as we get to our seats we will
kindle our council-fire, and call Canadasago, an agent, appointed by the
United States to meet with us, and through him will have our determination
communicated to Congress."

The Six Nations then, addressing General Chapin and Colonel Butler,
said:--

"Brothers: We have now made known to you our proceedings at the late
proposed treaty at the Rapids of the Miami, and have informed you of the
proposed line between the Indians and the United States, which if
accepted, we shall assist the white people to make peace."

Captain Brant and the Mohawks were not present at the council on the 8th,
a circumstance regretted by the deputation in making their report. The
Farmer's Brother remarked that Captain Brant would be able to give fuller
explanations than they had done of the proceedings at Miami, and the
determination at which the nations there assembled had arrived. The Mohawk
having arrived on the 9th, the council-fire was again raked open, when
Captain Brant thus addressed Colonel Butler the British, and General
Chapin the American Superintendent:--

"Brothers: You, the King, our father, and you, our brother, the United
States, attend to what we have to say. We will now explain to you the
material point upon which we have requested your attendance at this
council, and which has not been fully explained. We wish to act openly,
that the world may judge of our proceedings.

"Brothers: It is unnecessary to repeat what passed at the great council at
the Miami Rapids, as we know that you are already acquainted therewith.
We shall therefore point out the cause of our parting from the meeting in
the manner we did.

"Brothers: When the first deputation from the confederate Indians met the
Commissioners of the United States at Niagara, every thing seemed to
promise a friendly termination of the treaty; but before their return to
the council-fire at the Rapids of the Miami, messengers from the Creek
nation arrived there, and brought authentic information of the white
people having encroached upon that part of the confederacy.

"This intelligence at once gave a change to the face of our proceedings,
and, probably, was the sole cause of the abrupt termination of the
negotiations for peace. Thus you see that claims upon our lands always
have been, and still continue to be, the cause of war.

"Brothers: About five years ago we agreed upon a line of demarcation with
the United States, which you know to be the Muskingum; and,
notwithstanding the various accidents that have since occurred, we will
still adhere to that boundary.

"Brothers: We think the United States will agree to this line, which will
show the sincerity and justice they always profess for the Indians; should
they agree to this, we sincerely hope that peace will still take place,
and we think that the weight of our branch of the confederacy will be able
to accomplish peace upon the reasonable line we have just mentioned, and
we shall be exceeding sorry to find that this proposal should not be
generally accepted by the confederacy. If it is rejected, we must be
involved in difficulties in our own country.

"Brothers: We will now proceed to explain the line upon which we hope
peace will be made. We know that the lands along the Ohio are claimed by
the Indians, but we propose to give up such part of these lands as are
actually settled and improved, which settlements are to be circumscribed
by a line drawn around them, and no farther claims are to be admitted
beyond such line. The remainder of the boundary to be explained by General
Chapin, for which purpose it is the general wish of the Six Nations that
General Chapin, himself, will proceed with the speech to Congress."

[_A belt of black and white wampum._]

Agreeably to this request, General Chapin proceeded to the seat of
government, to submit their speech to the President, and make the
necessary explanations. The Secretary of War replied on the 24th of
December, reiterating the desire of the United States to cultivate
relations of friendship with the Indians, evading a decision upon the
boundary recommended by Captain Brant, and proposing another Indian
Council in the spring, to be held at Venango. But in the event of the
Indians, hostile or otherwise, agreeing to meet in such council, they
were distinctly told that the army would not in the mean time be
restrained from hostile operations, as had been the case the preceding
season. Farther to secure the good-will of the Six Nations, however, a
supply of warm winter clothing was sent to them, with the letter from the
Secretary containing the President's decision, which was delivered, and
well received at a council holden at Buffalo Creek on the 7th of February,
1794. This council had been convened expressly to receive the answer to
the proposals of Captain Brant; and the same having been read, it was soon
perceived to be less acceptable to the Indians than they had anticipated.
Red Jacket, after a long pause, replied to General Chapin:--

"Brothers (of the United States:) We have heard the speech that has been
delivered to us with great attention, and shall now remove the
council-fire to our castle, to take it into private consideration."

Two days afterward, the council was re-opened, when Red Jacket spoke:--

"Brothers: We have taken your speech into consideration, and our eldest
brother, Captain Brant, is to relate the result of our meeting in private
council yesterday."

Captain Brant then spoke as follows, with nine strings of white and black
wampum:--

"Brothers: I now address to you, General Chapin of the United States, and
to you, Major Littlehales [FN] in behalf of the King, and thank the Great
Spirit for bringing us again together in council, as what we are a going
to relate we wish the world to know."

* * * * *

[FN] Private Secretary of Governor Simcoe attending the council in
his absence.

"Brothers: You have both heard the message we delivered to our brothers of
the United States, last Fall, relative to a boundary line; and we expected
a positive answer from you, brothers of the United States, whether you
would accept of it or not.

"Brothers: When we delivered the message to you last Fall for the United
States, we had first taken it into serious consideration; we spoke the
language of our hearts, and the Great Spirit knew our minds; all the Six
Nations were of tho same opinion, and we are well assured that, had the
United States accepted our proposed boundary line, peace would certainly
have taken place.

"Brothers: The speech you have brought us, has given us great uneasiness;
we are greatly at a loss how to act; we expected a direct answer to our
proposals of a boundary line; now we are much distressed that you have
brought us but half an answer; the kindling a council-fire at a distant
place is what we are not prepared to give a reply to.

"Brothers: Provided the United States had accepted our proposed boundary
line, we should have sent immediately to our Western brethren, who know
our sentiments, and we should have attended your council and confirmed it.

"Brothers: Make your minds easy; but, in consequence of the importance of
your speech, we must have time to deliberate very seriously upon it; we
cannot give you an immediate answer; we must have a general council of all
the Chiefs; only a few are now present, and we should all be together. The
reason of so much counseling at different times has proceeded from so
small a number of our sachems and chiefs being assembled, and this has
been the principal cause of the present trouble.

"Brothers: You, General Chapin, live near us; we have two months and a
half to consider of your speech, and by that time we will give you a final
answer. We pray the Great Spirit that these difficulties may terminate to
the happiness of both parties.

"Brothers: You requested an answer as soon as was convenient, but in such
very weighty business, it is impossible to give one immediately. With
regard to provision, there is plenty in your country; and if we should
agree to meet you, you need not be particular about what we shall consume,
for we shall not expect any thing but provision.

"Brothers: We now conclude, and we pray the Great Spirit to protect you
safe home, and we desire you will bear it continually on your minds, that
you will soon receive an answer."

[_The nine strings of wampum, delivered to General Chapin._]

Notwithstanding the postponement of a definitive answer, on the part of
the Indians, to the proposition for the assembling of another council at
Venango, it was the opinion of General Chapin, at the close of these
proceedings, that they would yet accede to it. Circumstances, however,
arose during the intervening period, which materially changed the aspect
of the border relations of the United States, and the tone and temper of
the Six Nations. The protracted and sanguinary wars between England and
the French Republic had then commenced, as also had the invasions of the
rights of neutrals by those powers, so frequent and so aggravated during
that furious contest. In order to cut off the supplies of bread stuffs
from France, Great Britain had resorted to the strong and questionable
measure of stopping all vessels loaded in whole or in part with corn,
flour, or meal, bound to any port in France, and sending them in to the
most convenient ports, where their cargoes were to be purchased for his
Majesty's service, at a fair value, after making a due allowance for
freight, &c. The British government labored to justify this measure by
citations from some modern writers upon national law, but it was
nevertheless esteemed a violation of neutral rights, and produced much
feeling among the American people, and strong remonstrances from the
government The assumption set up by Great Britain, of the right of
impressing seamen, British subjects, from neutral vessels, by the
exercise of which it was asserted that many American seamen had been
seized, and carried forcibly into foreign service, was now producing
farther and still greater irritation. Added to all which were the
incendiary machinations of Citizen Genet to undermine the administration
of Washington, alienate from his government the affections of the people,
and involve the United States in a war with Great Britain. Party spirit
was already running high, and from the blind zeal with which the
anti-federalists had espoused the cause of revolutionary France, as
against England, very serious apprehensions wore entertained that another
war between the latter power and the United States would be the result.

One of the consequences of the apparent probability of such an event, was
a manifest change of temper on the part of the British officers in the
Canadas, and at the posts yet in British occupancy along the north-western
frontier of the United States. That during the whole controversy between
the Indians and the United States, from 1786 to the defeat of St. Clair,
the former had been countenanced and encouraged by English agents, and
repeatedly incited to actual hostilities by the traders, there was no
doubt. Latterly, however, a better state of feeling had been manifested.
Lord Dorchester, previous to a visit to England at the close of the year
1791, had sent a speech to the Indians, of a complexion rather pacific;
and it has been seen, that in the Summer of the preceding year, (1793,)
Governor Simcoe had displayed a better feeling than had previously been
evinced by the officers of that nation, since the close of the
Revolutionary contest. But the difficulties between the two nations,
already referred to, now daily becoming more serious, and threatening, at
no distant day, a resort to the _ultima ratio regum,_ had wrought a
decided change in the views of the Canadian authorities respecting an
Indian pacification. In the event of a war, the Indians would again be
found valuable auxiliaries to the arms of his Majesty, for the annoyance
they would inflict upon the United States, if not by reason of any
important victories they might gain. Hence, instead of promoting a
pacification, the efforts of the Canadian government were obviously
exerted to prevent it. _Meshecunnaqua,_ or the _Little Turtle,_ had made a
visit to the province of Lower Canada, after the victory over St. Clair,
for the purpose of engaging all the Indian forces he could, in that
quarter, in the farther prosecution of the war. Lord Dorchester had now
returned from England, and was waited upon by the Indians of the Seven
Nations of Canada, as a deputation from all the Indians at the Grand Miami
council of the preceding Autumn. Their object was to ask advice, or
procure countenance or assistance, in regard to the boundary for which
they had been so long contending. His Lordship answered the deputation on
the 10th of February, in language, respecting the United States, far from
conciliatory or pacific. After referring to the proceedings of a council
with the Indians, held at Quebec, previous to his departure for Europe,
two years before, and the expression in his speech on that occasion, of a
hope that he should hear in England of a satisfactory adjustment of their
difficulties with the United States, his Lordship proceeded:--

"Children: I was in expectation of hearing from the people of the United
States what was required by them; I hoped that I should have been able to
bring you together, and make you friends.

"Children: I have waited long, and listened with great attention, but I
have not heard one word from them.

"Children: I flattered myself with the hope that the line proposed in the
year eighty-three, to separate us from the United States, _which was
immediately broken by themselves as soon as the peace was signed,_ would
have been mended, or a new one drawn, in an amicable manner. Here, also,
I have been disappointed.

"Children: Since my return, I find no appearance of a line remains; and
from the maimer in which the people of the United States rush on, and act,
and talk, on this side; and from what I learn of their conduct toward the
sea, I shall not be surprised if we are at war with them in the course of
the present year; and if so, a line must then be drawn by the warriors.

"Children: You talk of selling your lands to the State of New-York. [FN]
I have told you that there is no line between them and us. I shall
acknowledge no lands to be theirs which have been encroached on by them
since the year 1783. They then broke the peace, and as they kept it not
on their part, it doth not bind on ours."

* * * * *

[FN] The Caughnawaga Indians, residing near Montreal, were about this
time in treaty with Governor George Clinton for the sale of some of their
lands lying within the boundaries of the state of New-York. The late
Egbert Benson was a Commissioner on the part of the State.

"Children: They then destroyed their right of preemption. Therefore all
their approaches toward us since that time, and all the purchases made by
them, I consider as an infringement on the King's rights. And when a line
is drawn between us, be it in peace or war, they must lose all their
improvements and houses on our side of it. Those people must all be gone
who do not obtain leave to become the King's subjects. What belongs to the
Indians will, of course, be secured and confirmed to them.

"Children: What farther can I say to you? You are witnesses that on our
parts we have acted in the most peaceable manner, and borne the language
and conduct of the people of the United Stales with patience. But I
believe our patience is almost exhausted." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The authenticity of this speech of Lord Dorchester is denied by
Chief Justice Marshall, and Mr. Sparks, in his Life and Correspondence of
Washington, notes that denial without dissent. Hence it hat been received
as spurious, and Lord Dorchester, with his Government, has escaped the
responsibility of having uttered such an unwarrantable document. The
first copy was forwarded to President Washington by Governor Clinton, who
did not doubt its genuineness. Neither did the President; since, in his
letter to Governor Clinton acknowledging its receipt, he scales his
reasons at large for dissenting from the opinions of those who were
proclaiming it to be spurious. On the contrary, he declared that he
entertained "not a doubt of its authenticity." Equally strong was he in
the opinion, that in making such a speech Lord Dorchester had spoken the
sentiments of the British Cabinet, according to his instructions. [_See
Letter of President Washington to Governor Clinton, March_ 31, 1794.] On
the 20th of May the attention of the British Minister, Mr. Hammond, was
called to the subject by the Secretary of State, Edmund Randolph, who
remonstrated strongly, not only against the speech, but against the
conduct of Governor Simcoe, who was then engaged in measures of a hostile
character. Mr. Hammond replied on the 22d of May rather tartly; and, what
renders the denial of the speech by Marshall and Sparks the more
singular, is the fact that the British Minister said in that letter,--"I
am willing to admit the authenticity of the speech." [_See T. B. Wait &
Sons' Edition of American State Papers,_ Vol. I. pages 449--453.] But if
doubt has existed before, as to the genuine character of that document,
it shall no longer exist. I have myself transcribed the preceding
extracts from a certified manuscript copy, discovered among the papers of
Joseph Brant in my possession.--_Author._

There could be no doubt as to the effect of such an address upon the
warlike tribes of the upper lakes, chafed, as they were, by what they
really believed to be wrongs, and by the presence of a hostile army in the
heart of their own country--buoyed up in their spirits, moreover, by the
complete success which had crowned their arms in the two preceding
campaigns. But the Governor General did not here cease his exertions to
keep the Indians, the Six Nations not excepted, on the _qui vive_ of the
war feeling. Soon after the close of the council at Buffalo in the same
month, his Lordship transmitted an inflammatory speech to those tribes,
which was interpreted to them by Colonel Butler, and produced an obvious
and decided change in their feelings toward the United States. Large
presents were likewise sent up from Quebec, and distributed among them,
and the British officers in the Indian Department took pains, on all
occasions, to represent to them that a war between the two nations was
inevitable. [FN] Such was doubtless their opinion, for with the arrival of
Lord Dorchester's speech, early in April, Governor Simcoe repaired
overland to Detroit, and with a strong detachment of troops proceeded to
the foot of the Miami Rapids, and commenced the erection of a fortress at
that place. This movement caused fresh irritation among the American
people, since the retention of the old posts had been a continual source
of dissatisfaction, although the non-fulfillment of a portion of the
treaty of peace by the United States still furnished the pretext for such
occupancy. But the movement of Governor Simcoe into the Miami country, and
the erection of a fortress there--the territory being clearly within the
boundaries of the United States--awakened yet stronger feelings of
indignation in the bosom of the President. Mr. Jay was at that time the
American minister near the Court of St. James, and the President gave vent
to his feelings in a private letter to that functionary, in the most
decided terms of reprobation. "Can that government," asked the President
in the letter to Mr. Jay, "or will it attempt, after this official act of
one of their Governors, to hold out ideas of friendly intentions toward
the United States, and suffer such conduct to pass with impunity? This may
be considered as the most open and daring act of the British agents in
America, though it is not the most hostile or cruel; for there does not
remain a doubt in the mind of any well-informed person in this country,
not shut against conviction, that all the difficulties we encounter with
the Indians--their hostilities, the murders of helpless women and innocent
children along our frontiers--result from the conduct of the agents of
Great Britain in this country. In vain is it, then, for its administration
in Britain to disavow having given orders which will warrant such conduct,
whilst their agents go unpunished; whilst we have a thousand corroborating
circumstances, and indeed almost as many evidences, some of which cannot
be brought forward, to know that they are seducing from our alliance, and
endeavoring to remove over the line, tribes that have hitherto been kept
in peace and friendship with us at a heavy expense, and who have no causes
of complaint, except pretended ones of their creating; whilst they keep in
a state of irritation the tribes who are hostile to us, and are
instigating those who know little of us or we of them, to unite in the
war against us; and whilst it is an undeniable fact that they are
furnishing the whole with arms, ammunition, clothing, and even provisions,
to carry on the war; I might go farther, and if they are not much belied,
add men also in disguise."

* * * * *

[FN] Letter from General Israel Chapin to the Secretary of War, April 29,
1794. _See Indian State Papers_--p. 480.

It was under these altered circumstances that General Chapin met the Six
Nations again in council on the 21st of April, to receive their reply to
the communication from the Secretary of War, General Knox, proposing the
holding of another treaty at Venango, as heretofore mentioned. The
proceedings were opened by the Onondaga chief, Clear Sky, who addressed
the Superintendents as follows:--

"General Chapin: We are happy to see that you are arrived safe at our
council-fire, and that you have been preserved by the Great Spirit in good
health.

"Colonel Butler: We are also very happy to see you at our council-fire,
as representing the King."

Captain Brant thereupon rose, and addressed the two Superintendents as
follows:--

"Brothers: You of the United States listen to what we are going to say to
you; you, likewise, the King.

"Brothers: We are very happy to see you, Colonel Butler and General
Chapin, sitting side by side, with the intent of hearing what we have to
say. We wish to do no business but what is open and above-board."

Then addressing himself exclusively to General Chapin, he proceeded:--

"Brother: You, of the United States, make your mind easy, on account of
the long time your President's speech has been under our consideration;
when we received it, we told you it was a business of importance, and
required time to be considered of.

"Brother: The answer you have brought us is not according to what we
expected, which was the reason of our long delay; the business would have
been done with expedition, had the United States agreed to our proposal.
We would then have collected our associates, and repaired to Venango, the
place you proposed for meeting us.

"Brother: It is not now in our power to accept your invitation; provided
we were to go, you would conduct the business as you might think proper;
this has been the case at all the treaties held, from time to time, by
your Commissioners.

"Brother: At the first treaty after the conclusion of the war between you
and Great Britain, at Fort Stanwix, your Commissioners conducted the
business as it to them seemed best; they pointed out a line of division,
and then confirmed it; after this they held out that our country was ceded
to them by the King; this confused the Chiefs who attended there, and
prevented them from making any reply to the contrary; still holding out,
if we did not consent to it, that their warriors were at their back, and
that we could get no farther protection from Great Britain. This has ever
been held out to us by the Commissioners from Congress; at all the
treaties held with us since the peace, at Fort McIntosh, at Rocky River,
and every other meeting held, the idea was still the same.

"Brother: This has been the case from time to time. Peace has not taken
place, because you have held up these ideas, owing to which much mischief
has been done to the southward.

"Brother: We, the Six Nations, have been exerting ourselves to keep peace
since the conclusion of the war; we think it would be best for both
parties; we advised the confederate nations to request a meeting, about
half way between us and the United States, in order that such steps might
be taken as would bring about a peace; this request was there proposed by
us, and refused by Governor St. Clair, one of your Commissioners. The
Wyandots, a few Delawares, and some others, met the Commissioners, though
not authorized, and confirmed the lines of what was not their property,
but common to all nations.

"Brother: This idea we all entertained at our council at Lower Sandusky,
held for the purpose of forming our confederacy, and to adopt measures
that would be for the general welfare of our Indian nations, or people of
our color; owing to these steps taken by us, the United States held out,
that when we went to the westward to transact our private business, that
we went with the intention of taking an active part in the troubles
subsisting between them and our western brethren; this never has been the
case. We have ever wished for the friendship of the United States.

"Brother: We think you must be folly convinced, from our perseverance last
summer, as your Commissioners saw, that we were anxious for a peace
between you. The exertions that we, the Six Nations, have made toward the
accomplishing this desirable end, is the cause of the western nations
being somewhat dubious as to our sincerity. After we knew their doubts,
we still persevered; and, last Fall, we pointed out methods to be taken,
and sent them, by you to Congress; this we certainly expected would have
proved satisfactory to the United States; in that case we should have more
than ever exerted ourselves, in order that the offers we made should be
confirmed by our confederacy, and by them strictly to be adhered to.

"Brother: Our proposals have not met with the success from Congress that
we expected; this still leaves us in a similar situation to what we were
in when we first entered on the business.

"Brother: You must recollect the number of chiefs who have, at divers
times, waited on Congress; they have pointed out the means to be taken,
and held out the same language, uniformly, at one time as another; that
was, if you would withdraw your claim to the boundary line and lands
within the line, as offered by us; had this been done, peace would have
taken place, and, unless this still be done, we see no other method of
accomplishing it.

"Brother: We have borne every thing patiently for this long time past; we
have done every thing we could consistently do with the welfare of our
nations in general, notwithstanding the many advantages that have been
taken of us by individuals making purchases of us, the Six Nations, whose
fraudulent conduct towards us Congress never has taken notice of, nor in
any wise seen us rectified, nor made our minds easy. This is the case to
the present day; our patience is now entirely worn out; you see the
difficulties we labor under, so that we cannot, at present, rise from our
seats and attend your council at Venango agreeable to your invitation. The
boundary line we pointed out we think is a just one, although the United
States claim lands west of that line; the trifle that has been paid by the
United States can be no object in comparison to what a peace would be.

"Brother: We are of the same opinion with the people of the United States;
you consider yourselves as independent people; we, as the original
inhabitants of this country and sovereigns of the soil, look upon
ourselves as equally independent, and free as any other nations. This
country was given to us by the Great Spirit above; we wish to enjoy it,
and have our passage along the lake within the line we have pointed out.

"Brother: The great exertions we have made, for this number of years, to
accomplish a peace, have not been able to obtain it; our patience, as we
have already observed, is exhausted, and we are discouraged from
persevering any longer. We therefore throw ourselves under the protection
of the Great Spirit above, who, we hope, will order all things for the
best. We have told you our patience is worn out; but not so far but that
we wish for peace, and, whenever we hear that pleasing sound, we shall pay
attention to it."

[_The belt and speech sent by General Knox were then returned to General
Chapin._]

Thus was extinguished the hope of a council of pacification at Venango;
and not only that, but the altered temper of the Six Nations seemed to
threaten an augmentation of the hostile Indian power at the west, by the
desertion to their cause of the whole of the Iroquois Confederacy, under
a leader whose prowess and wisdom had both often been tested. In the mean
time all the accounts from the west concurred in the fact, that the
distant tribes were gathering for a renewal of the conflict--encouraged as
they were by promises of strong assistance from the English. The traders
and the "mixed multitude" constituting the refugees and parti-colored
inhabitants of Detroit, were doubtless active in promoting these
hostilities, and very probably made promises to the credulous Chiefs as
coming from Governor Simcoe, of which he himself was ignorant. Two
Pottawattamies were taken prisoners on the 5th of June by the troops of
General Wayne, who made a variety of disclosures upon this subject. They
represented, and intelligence to that effect was dispatched to the
interior tribes by their Chiefs, that Governor Simcoe was to march to
their assistance with fifteen hundred men. He was giving them clothing and
all necessary supplies, and "all the speeches received from him were red
as blood. All the wampum and feathers were painted red; the war-pipes and
hatchets were red; and even the tobacco was painted red." Several
Shawanese prisoners, however, were soon afterward captured, who were less
confident of English assistance. They said "they could not depend upon the
British for effectual support; that they were always setting the Indians
on like dogs after game, pressing them to go to war and kill the
Americans, but did not help them."

Another influence was brought to bear upon the Indians of the west at this
conjuncture, from a most unexpected quarter. It was the arrival at the
Miamis Rapids, early in May, of a messenger from the Spanish settlements
on the Mississippi, charged with a spirited war-speech to the confederacy.
This messenger was conducted to the Miamis by a deputation from the
Delawares, who had emigrated beyond the Mississippi four years previous.
He admonished the confederates of the gathering of the "Big-Knives,"
meaning the troops of the United States, and offered assistance from the
Spanish and French settlements in the south-west, who, he said, were
preparing to come to their help.

"Children!" said the Spaniard, "you see me on my feet, grasping the
tomahawk to strike them. We will strike together. I do not desire you to
go before me, in the front, but to follow me.

"Children: I present you with a war-pipe, which has been sent in all our
names to the Musquakies, and all those nations who live towards the
setting sun, to get upon their feet and take hold of our tomahawk; and as
soon as they smoked it, they sent it back with a promise to get
immediately on their feet, and join us, and strike this enemy.

"Children: You hear what these distant nations have said to us, so that we
have nothing farther to do but put our designs into immediate execution,
and to forward this pipe to the three warlike nations who have so long
been struggling for their country, and who now sit at the Glaize. Tell
them to smoke this pipe, and forward it to all the lake Indians and then
northern brethren. Then nothing will be wanting to complete our general
union from the rising to the setting of the sun, and all nations will be
ready to add strength to the blow we are going to make." [FN]

[_Delivered a war-pipe._]

* * * * *

[FN] MS. among the Brant papen.

The Spaniard farther assured them that the Creeks, Cherokees, Choctaws and
Chickasaws, had also charged him with a message, assuring them that their
hearts were with the Confederacy, and that eleven nations of the southern
Indians were then on their feet, with the hatchet in their hand, ready to
strike their common enemy.

The Chiefs to whom these messages from the west and south were delivered
at the Rapids, immediately convened a council, composed of the Wyandots,
Ottawas, Chippewas, Mingoes, Munseys, and Nantikokes, before whom the
intelligence was repeated. They were then addressed as follows:--

"Brothers: You have now heard the speeches brought to our council at the
Glaize a few days ago from the Spaniards; and as soon as they heard them,
and smoked the pipe, their hearts were glad, and they determined to step
forward and put into execution the advice sent to them. They desire you to
forward the pipe, as has been recommended, to all our northern brethren;
not doubting but as soon as you have smoked it, you will follow their
example, and they will hourly expect you to join them, as it will not be
many days before the nearness of our enemies will give us an opportunity
of striking them."

[_Delivered the pipe._]

_Egouchouoy_ answered for all the nations present:--

"Brothers: I am happy at the good news you have told us, and we will
immediately go and collect all our people, and be with you as soon as
possible." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The reader must bear in mind that these speeches and proceedings of
the Indian Councils, exclusively such, were written down by the British
agents and officers among the Indians, who attended to assist them. The
author finds many of them among the papers of Captain Brant--some from
the Upper Lake tribes in French. The account of this Spanish writer, his
message, and the consequent address to the Lake tribes, the author has
found among these papers, signed by Colonel McKee as _Deputy Agent of
Indian Affairs,_ and the copy certified by Thomas Talbot. Several
paragraphs of both addresses have been omitted, as not material to the
history. See Appendix, No. IX.

There is mystery attached to this mission of the Spaniard, concerning
which no farther information has been obtained. The Indians of the
Confederacy were greatly encouraged by the assurances of assistance, and
it will soon appear that some tribes came to their help from a very great
distance. The employment of a Spanish Envoy, however, was a remarkable
circumstance, and serves to strengthen the suspicions entertained by
Washington two years before, that, even at that early day, the possessors
of the estuary of the Mississippi, and of the vast Spanish territories
above, had already become alarmed lest what has happened respecting that
territory, would happen, unless the power of the United States should be
crippled. But the promised Spanish and French assistance from that
direction did not arrive, nor were the Confederates aided in their
subsequent operations by the Creeks, Cherokees, and Chickasaws, as
promised.

The United States were not inactive during these hostile movements and
preparations among the Indians. General Wayne, or _Sukach-gook_ as he was
called by the Indians, [FN] was making the most vigorous preparations for
opening the campaign with decision. Among other measures, it was
determined, while he was approaching the Miami towns with a force
sufficient, as it was hoped, to end the war at a blow, to occupy a station
at Presque Isle, and fortify it. This movement not only gave great
uneasiness to the confederates, but, in connexion with another, of a
different description, adopted by the State of Pennsylvania, had well-nigh
driven the whole of the more ancient alliance of the Six Nations at once
into hostilities against the United States under their old leader
Thayendanegea. Pennsylvania, it seems, claimed a district of country on
the south shore of Lake Erie, including Presque Isle, under color of a
purchase from the Corn-planter--which purchase the Six Nations, to whom
the territory in question had belonged, held to be invalid. Regardless of
the objections and remonstrances of the Indians, thus claiming
proprietorship, the Corn-planter having, as they contended, sold it
without authority, Pennsylvania was now planting settlers upon this
territory and erecting an establishment at Presque Isle; at which
aggression, as they esteemed it, Captain Brant and his nations were
greatly incensed. A council was thereupon held, to take that and other
subjects into consideration, at Buffalo, the sittings of which were
commenced on the 24th of June. General Chapin was in attendance, at the
urgent solicitation of the Indians, and Captain O'Bail (the Corn-planter)
was the speaker. He complained first of the absence of several of their
warriors, who were believed to have been killed by the Americans. One of
their chiefs, Big Tree, he said, had some months before gone to the camp
of the Americans in the most friendly manner, and had been put to death;
while another of their warriors had been killed at Venango "while sitting
easy and peaceable on his seat." He next entered upon the subject of the
Pennsylvania encroachments, of which he complained bitterly, insisting
that the sale alleged to have been made by himself was not in any manner
obligatory upon the Indians. The erection of the fort at Presque Isle was
likewise a theme of complaint. The determination of the council was to
send a delegation of their Chiefs into the disputed territory, to request
a removal of the intruders; and General Chapin was solicited to accompany
the deputation. He did so, but the mission was executed to no good
purpose.

* * * * *

[FN] Sukach-gook is the Delaware name for black snake, which they called
General Wayne by, saying that he possessed all the art and cunning of
that reptile; which was known to be the greatest destroyer of the small
birds and animals of the snake tribe.--_Heckewelder._

On the return of the delegation to Buffalo Creek, another council was held
to receive the report. This convention was on the 4th of July. The report,
being unfavorable, of course gave no satisfaction, and the Indians
immediately manifested a still greater degree of alienation from the
United States. The general boundary question was revived during the
discussions, and an address from the council to the President, spoken by
O'Bail, was written down, and transmitted by General Chapin. In this
address the Indians re-asserted their determination to insist upon the
Ohio and Muskingum boundary. The following is an extract:--

"General Washington, attend! What gives us room for the making of so many
speeches, is, because you relate all the former deceptions that have been
used.

"General Washington: I depend upon you to gratify our request, and that
will make my mind easy. Sometimes I hear that I am going to flee from my
seat, for the injuries I have done. These reflections make me so unhappy,
that I am almost tempted to die with the Six Nations.

"Brother: We are determined now, as we were before, that the line shall
remain. We have fully considered on the boundary we have marked out. We
know all that we have received from time to time, and we think if you
establish this line, it will make us about even.

"Brother: If you do not comply with our request, we shall determine on
something else, as we are a free people.

"Brother: We are determined to be a free people. You know, General
Washington, that we, the Six Nations, have always been able to defend
ourselves, and we are still determined to maintain our freedom.

"Brother: You must not suspect that any other nation corrupts our minds.
The only thing that can corrupt our minds, is not to grant our request.

"Brother: If this favor is not granted, I wish that my son may be sent
back with the answer, and tell me which side he means to join. If he
wishes to join that side, he is at liberty."

Although the name of Brant does not often occur in the proceedings of the
councils touching the movement of Pennsylvania upon Sandusky, yet he was
by no means a passive spectator of passing events. There were no hours of
idleness in his life, and when not engaged in the field, or in attendance
upon councils, or upon foreign missions, his mind was occupied in the work
of improving the minds and morals, and adding to the comforts, of his own
people. In the Spring of the present year he was engaged in the erection
of a council-house for his nation at Grand River. But the Sandusky affair
called him again to the field; and while others were deliberating in
council, and attempting to negotiate, the Chief was preparing to contest
the disputed title by arms--directly aided, as will be seen from the
following letter, by the Executive of Upper Canada:--

"Captain Brant to Colonel Smith--('for Governor Simcoe.' [FN])"

* * * * *

[FN] So filed in Brant's own hand, on the copy preserved among his
papers.

"_Grand River,_ 19_th July,_ 1794.

"Sir: I have to acknowledge the receipt of your favor of the 16th instant,
enclosing the extracts his Excellency has been pleased to favor me with,
for which I have to request you would have the goodness to thank his
Excellency for me.

"I am much concerned to find that the Lake Indians think their belts
completed. [FN-1] I foresaw the event, [FN-2] for which reason it has ever
been my opinion that they should avoid coming to any considerable
engagement, because it is a custom among the Indians, that after having
struck a good blow, and having taken prisoners and scalps, they return
home. Nevertheless I hope they will not go."

* * * * *

[FN-1] Captain Brant had just received a letter from Detroit, dated on
the 5th of July, one paragraph of which explains the signification of
this expression: "The Mackinaw and Lake Indians, having _completed the
belts_ they carried, with scalps and prisoners, seem resolved on going
home again. The return of these people will considerably weaken the
defence expected from the collected sections of two thousand Indians."

[FN-2] Referring, doubtless, to an engagement between Little Turtle and
Major McMahon, which will be more particularly noted a page or two
onward.

"In regard to the Presque Isle business, should we not get an answer at
the time limited, it is our business to push those fellows hard, and
therefore it is my intention to form my camp at Pointe Appineau; and I
would esteem it a favor if his Excellency the Lieutenant Governor would
lend me four or five batteaux. Should it so turn out, and should those
fellows not go off, and O'Bail continue in the same opinion, an expedition
against those Yankees must of consequence take place.

"His Excellency has been so good as to furnish us with a cwt. of powder,
and ball in proportion, which is now at Fort Erie; but in the event of an
attack upon Le Boeuf people, I could wish, if consistent, that his
Excellency would order a like quantity in addition to be at Fort Erie, in
order to be in readiness: likewise I would hope for a little assistance
in provisions.

"I would request that his Excellency would favor me with an answer by the
bearer, Seth. I would also trouble his Excellency in regard to those
people who went with him to Detroit. They were promised to be handsomely
rewarded, which as yet has not been done; and as they now expect to go
upon service, they are rather impatient; and if it was convenient that
they could be satisfied, either by borrowing goods, or otherwise, as his
Excellency would think fit, I would be extremely happy.

"I understand some new regiments are raising, or to be raised. In that
case I would consider myself much favored should some of my relations,
young men, have an equal chance of being provided for.

"A few days ago I sent seven men to Cadaragara, to remind O'Bail that he
should watch any movement of those people [FN] very narrowly; and that he
should be ready to march immediately after the expiration of the time,
should they, not then evacuate that place."

* * * * *

[FN] The settlers at Presque Isle.

The insertion of this letter at length is deemed important, showing, as it
does, and that, too, beyond the power of contradiction, that the Indians
were supplied purposely, with their munitions of war, by the officers of
the British crown. The fact was denied by Great Britain, or at least it
was argued, that if the Indians drew their supplies from the Canadians,
they were furnished by individuals, as such, over whose actions in the
premises the government had no control. Independently of these
circumstances, moreover, the detention of the boats, and the erection by
Governor Sinclair of a new fortification, heretofore spoken of, on the
Miamis of the Lakes, fifty miles South of Detroit, afforded strong
evidence of a design on the part of Great Britain, to avail herself of the
non-execution of that article in the treaty of peace stipulating for the
payment of debts, for the purpose of establishing a new boundary line, by
which the great lakes should be entirely comprehended in Upper Canada. An
animated correspondence took place on the whole subject, between the
American Secretary of State and Mr. Hammond, the diplomatic representative
of Great Britain, in which a considerable degree of mutual irritation was
displayed, and in which each supported the charges against the nation of
the other much better than he defended his own. [FN] Had the Secretary of
State been in possession of the preceding letter from the Mohawk Chief, he
would not have argued upon uncertainties--at least so far as a supply of
powder and ball to the Indians by the Governor of Upper Canada would have
sustained his case. In any event, the charge is now brought home with
sufficient distinctness to put the question at rest. Captain Brant,
however, found no occasion for a farther requisition upon his Excellency
for ammunition at that time. The interposition of the President deterred
Pennsylvania from the farther prosecution of her designs upon Presque
Isle, and the projected expedition of the Six Nations was accordingly
relinquished.

* * * * *

[FN] Marshall.

The desultory contest with the Indians, so long protracted, and at times
so bloody, was now approaching its termination. On the 30th of June a
sharp action took place under the walls of Fort Recovery--a fortress which
had been thrown up by General Wayne on the battle-ground of St. Clair's
defeat. The primary object of the Indians, who were the assailants, was
the capture of a large number of pack-horses, recently arrived at that
fort with provisions, which were returning to Fort Grenville, guarded by
a company of cavalry under Captain Gibson, and a detachment of ninety
riflemen, the whole under the command of Major McMahon. Taken by surprise,
and finding the Indians in great force, the Americans sought speedy refuge
within the walls of the fort. The Indians were led by the distinguished
Miami Chief, Little Turtle. Pressing close upon the garrison, with an
evident design to carry it, the moment McMahon's troops had regained the
fortress a fire was opened upon the assailants, which drove them back with
great slaughter. They rallied again, however, and maintained the
engagement through the day, but keeping at a more respectful distance. The
night, which was thick and foggy, was employed by them in removing their
dead by torch-light. On the next day the assault was renewed; but the
Indians were ultimately compelled to retreat, with loss and
disappointment, from the field of their former triumph. Both in advance
and retreat, in this expedition, the Indians marched with perfect order.
Their encampments were square and regular, and they moved upon the fort
in seventeen columns, at wide distances apart. Many white men were in
their ranks, supposed to be the inhabitants and militia of Detroit.
Officers in British uniform were likewise so near the scene of action as
to be distinctly discerned. Several valuable officers of Major McMahon's
corps fell at the first onset, among whom was the gallant Major himself.
The total loss of the Americans was twenty-two killed and thirty wounded.
The Indians suffered very severely. In their retreat it was ascertained
that a large number of pack-horses were literally loaded with their slain.
Such, at least, were the facts in regard to this affair, as derived from
the most ample and apparently authentic accounts of the Americans. Nor did
the Indian accounts differ from the American as widely as is often the
case between opposite statements of antagonist parties. As an evidence of
which, and to show how accurately and promptly Captain Brant was advised
of the progress and events of the war, the following extract is given from
his correspondence:--

"Extract from a Letter to Captain Brant.

"_Detroit, July_ 5, 1794.

"An attack was made on the 30th of June by the Indians, on three hundred
pack-horses returning to Fort Grenville, from whence they came the day
before with provisions. All of these, with the pack-horsemen, were either
taken or killed close by Fort Recovery, together with thirty bullocks.
Captain Gibson, the officer commanding, on perceiving the attack made on
his horses, ordered a troop of dragoons, or light-horse, to charge the
Indians, and at the same time he drew up his garrison in front of the
fort, as if with a design to sustain his cavalry. But they were all beaten
back in a few minutes, and pursued to the gate of the fort, with the loss
of about fifty men and upward of twenty-five horses. The loss of the
Indians commenced from this period; for they kept up a useless attack upon
the fort, while the troops within were firing at them through loop-holes.
Seventeen were killed, and as many wounded.

"The _Mountain Leader_ was killed two days before the action, by a
scouting party of the Hurons. He was the chief of the Chickasaws. Wells,
(a scout from Wayne's army,) was killed in the engagement; and May is
reported to be so by one of three prisoners who were taken, together with
two more Chickasaws. Captain Gibson and two other officers are also among
the killed.

"My information states that these prisoners report there are sixty
Chickasaws with their army, twenty of whom are at Fort Recovery and forty
at Fort Grenville. They also say that the horses which are now taken and
killed, were the only means General Wayne had of transporting
provisions--that he was to commence his campaign about the middle of next
month--waiting for an augmentation of his force of three thousand militia
from Kentucky--and that he is to build a fort at the Glaize, and proceed
from thence to Detroit.

"The Chiefs of several nations are now in council at the Glaize, adopting
measures to re-unite their force if possible."

Taught by the unfortunate experience of Harmar and St. Clair, General Wayne
moved not but with the utmost caution, and all the preparation which a
prudent forecast required. He had not therefore advanced beyond Fort
Recovery until sufficient strength had been concentrated, and such other
dispositions made as would enable him not only to strike a decisive blow,
but retain possession of the country he might conquer. The delays incident
to these preparations carried the active prosecution of the campaign into
midsummer. The richest and most extensive towns of the hostile Indians
lay about the confluence of the Au Glaize and the Miamis of the Lakes. At
this place General Wayne arrived on the 8th of August, where some works of
defence were thrown up for the protection of the magazines. It was thirty
miles thence to the Rapids, where, as has been already seen, Governor
Simcoe had recently erected a strong fortress, fifty miles within the
stipulated and understood boundary, as between the British possessions and
those of the United States. At this latter place, in the immediate
neighborhood of the fort, the Indian forces were collected to the number
of nearly two thousand. The Continental legion under General Wayne was of
about equal strength, exclusive of eleven hundred mounted Kentuckians
under General Scott. Here the Black Snake had intended to surprise the
neighboring villages of the enemy; and the more effectually to ensure the
success of his _coup de main,_ he had not only advanced thus far by an
obscure and very difficult route, but taken pains to clear out two roads
from Greenville in that direction, in order to attract and divert the
attention of the Indians while he marched upon neither. But his
generalship proved of no avail. The Little Turtle was too wary a leader to
be taken by surprise--to say nothing of the desertion of a villain named
Newman, an officer in the Quarter-master General's department, who gave
the Indians warning of Wayne's advance. Little Turtle thereupon retired to
the Rapids; and having been apprized by the deserter of the strength of
the Americans, determined to give battle, and made dispositions for that
object.

Having learned on the 12th, from Indian prisoners who were brought in, the
position of the enemy, in close proximity to the British garrison at the
Rapids, and being yet desirous of bringing the Indians to terms, if
possible, without the farther effusion of blood, the American commander
despatched another messenger of peace. The name of the envoy selected for
the occasion was Miller--a man who had been so long a captive among the
Indians as to have acquired their language. He was exceedingly reluctant
to undertake the hazardous enterprise. But being strongly urged upon the
service, with an assurance from the General that eight of the Indian
warriors, who were prisoners, should be held as pledges of his safety, he
at last assented--taking two of the prisoners, a warrior and a squaw,
along with him. He was received in a very hostile mood, and his life
threatened. But addressing them in their own language, displaying a flag,
and explaining the object of his visit, the menacing blow was suspended,
and he was placed in confinement while the Chiefs deliberated in council
upon the letter from the General, of which he was the bearer. Assuring
them that every prisoner in the American camp would be put to death unless
he should be sent back in safety before the 16th, he was liberated on the
preceding day--with a message to Wayne, that if he waited where he was
ten days, they would then treat with him, but if he advanced at an earlier
day they would fight. Impatient of delay, however, Wayne had taken up his
line of march on the 15th--the day of Miller's release. The message which
he met did not check his advance, and the General arrived in the vicinity
of the Rapids on the 18th. The 19th was occupied in reconnoitering the
positions of the enemy, and throwing up a slight fortification for the
protection of the stores, which was appropriately named Fort Deposite.

The enemy had taken post behind a thick wood, rendered almost inaccessible
by a dense growth of under-brush and fallen timber, marking the track of
a tornado, and almost under the guns of the fort that had been erected by
Simcoe. Their left was secured by the rocky bank of the river. The
Americans advanced for the attack early on the morning of the 20th. At
about ten o'clock, having proceeded nearly five miles, the advance guard,
commanded by Major Price, received so brisk a fire from the enemy, who
were secreted in the woods and the tall grass, as to compel it to fall
back. The ground was most happily chosen by the enemy for their mode of
warfare, so obstructed and difficult of access as to render it almost
impossible for the cavalry to act. Immediately on the attack upon the
corps of Major Price, the legion was formed in two lines and moved rapidly
forward. The thick forest and old broken wood already described, extended
to the left of the army several miles--the right resting on the river. The
Indians were formed in three lines within supporting distance of each
other, and extending for about two miles at right angles with the river.
The American commander soon discovered, from the weight of his fire, and
the extent of his lines, that it was the design of the enemy to turn his
left flank. The second line was thereupon ordered to advance in support
of the first, while, by a circuitous route, Scott was directed with his
Kentuckians to turn the enemy's right. In concert with this movement, the
front line ordered by General Wayne to charge with trailed arms, and
rouse the Indians from their covert at the point of the bayonet. Having
started them up, the Americans were directed to fire, and charge them so
closely as to allow no time for re-loading. The open ground by the river
permitted the movements of cavalry, with which the right flank of the
enemy was gained and turned. Indeed, such were the promptness of movement
on the part of the Americans, and the impetuosity of the charge of the
first line of infantry, that the Indians, together with the Detroit
militia and volunteers, were driven from all their coverts in so brief a
space of time that the mounted men, though making every possible exertion
to press forward, were many of them unable to gain their proper positions
to participate in the action. In the course of an hour, the enemy,
notwithstanding all the embarrassments of the ground already enumerated,
were driven more than two miles, by a force of less than half their
numbers actually engaged. The victory was complete and decisive, both
Indians and their allies, composed of the "mixed multitude" already more
than once referred to, abandoning themselves to flight in terror and
dismay,--leaving the field of battle in the quiet possession of the
Americans. The commanding General stated in his official report of the
action, that "it was terminated under the influence of the guns of the
British garrison,"--the pursuit having continued until they were within
reach of those guns. The loss of the Americans in killed and wounded,
including officers, was one hundred and seven. Among the slain was
Captain Campbell, commanding the cavalry, who fell in the first charge.
[FN]

* * * * *

[FN] It was in this memorable action that Captain Solomon (now General
Van Rensselaer) of Albany, an officer of dragoons, received a wound in
the commencement of the battle, by being shot through the lungs. General
Wilkinson, who was also in the battle, states, in his Memoirs, that Van
Rensselaer kept his horse, and continued fighting until the blood spurted
from his month and nostrils. General Van Rensselaer was afterward
dreadfully wounded in half a dozen places, at the daring assault upon
Queenston Heights in 1812. He yet lives, and, after having served the
State of New-York several years as Adjutant General, and been repeatedly
elected to Congress, has for the last fifteen years held the office of
Post-master in Albany.

The loss of the Indians is not known. It must, however, have been very
severe. Seven Nations were engaged in the action, viz: the Miamis,
Wyandots, the Pottawattamies, Delawares, Shawanese, Chippewas, Ottawas,
and a portion of the Senecas. All the Chiefs of the Wyandots engaged in
the battle, being nine in number, were killed. [FN-1] Great slaughter was
made by the legionary cavalry in the pursuit, so many of the savages being
cut down with the sabre, that the title of "_Long Knives,_" years before
given to the Americans, was brought again into general use among the
Indians. [FN-2] It was believed by many that the Indians would not have
incurred this signal disaster had the advice of the _Little Turtle_ been
heeded. He was opposed to the policy of a general engagement at that time,
and it has even been asserted that he was rather inclined to peace. During
the night preceding the engagement, the Chiefs of the several tribes were
in council, and a proposition was submitted to make a night attack upon
the Americans in their encampment. The proposal was overruled, and a
general engagement on the following morning was determined upon. _Little
Turtle_ alone was opposed to the plan, while _Blue Jacket,_ a Shawanese
warrior of high character and influence, strenuously supported the course
adopted by the council. Colonel McKee was in the council, and is believed
to have urged the Indians to fight. _Little Turtle_ was inspired with a
presentiment that they could not successfully encounter the Black Snake.
"We have beaten the enemy," said the Turtle, "twice, under separate
commanders. We cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us.
The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night and the
day are alike to him; and during all the time that he has been marching
upon our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we
have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is something
whispers me it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace." For
holding language like this, he was reproached by some of the Chiefs with
cowardice, and that ended the conference. Stung to the quick by an
imputation which he was conscious he had never merited, he would have laid
the reviler dead at his feet; but his was not the bravery of an assassin.
Suppressing his resentment, he took part in the battle, and performed his
duty with his wonted bravery. The event proved that he had not formed an
erroneous estimate of the character of Wayne; and that his rival, _Blue
Jacket,_ though equally brave, was less of a prophet than himself. [FN-3]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Drake's Book of the Indians.

[FN-2] Thatcher's Lives of the Indian Chiefs.

[FN-3] Schoolcraft's Travels. Thatcher. Drake.

Excepting the militia and refugees gathered about Detroit, the British or
Canadian authorities took no part in the battle; but the direction in
which ran their sympathies could not be mistaken, from the tone of a
somewhat tart correspondence occurring after the battle, between General
Wayne and Major Campbell, commanding the British garrison. On the day
after the engagement, Major Campbell addressed a note to General Wayne,
expressing his surprise at the appearance of an American force at a point
almost within reach of his guns, and asking in what light he was to view
such near approaches to the garrison which he had the honor to command.
General Wayne, without questioning the propriety of the interrogatory,
replied, that even were the Major entitled to an answer, "the most full
and satisfactory one was announced the day before from the muzzles of his
small arms, in an action with a horde of savages in the vicinity of the
fort, and which terminated gloriously to the American arms." But, added
the General, "had it continued until the Indians were driven under the
influence of the fort and guns mentioned, they would not have much impeded
the progress of the victorious army under my command, as no such post was
established at the commencement of the present war between the Indians and
the United States." Major Campbell rejoined, complaining that men, with
arms in their hands, were approaching within pistol shot of his works,
where his Majesty's flag was flying, and threatened hostilities should
such insults to that flag be continued. Upon the receipt of this letter,
General Wayne caused the fort to be closely reconnoitered in every
direction. It was found to be a strong and regular work, with two bastions
upon the near and most accessible face of it, mounting eight pieces of
artillery upon that side and four upon the front facing the river. This
duty having been discharged, General Wayne addressed a letter to the
British commander, disclaiming, of course as Major Campbell had previously
done any desire to resort to harsh measures; but denouncing the erection
of that fortress as the harshest act of aggression toward the United
States, and requiring him to desist from any farther act of hostility, and
to retire with his troops to the nearest British post occupied by British
troops at the peace of 1783. To this requisition, Major Campbell answered
that he should not abandon the post at the summons of any power whatever,
unless in compliance with orders from those under whom he served. He
likewise again warned the American commander, not to approach within the
reach of his guns without expecting the consequences that would attend it.

The only notice taken of this last letter was, by immediately setting fire
to, and destroying every thing within view of the fort, and even under the
muzzles of his Britannic Majesty's guns. But no attempt was made by Major
Campbell to carry his threat into execution. Among the property thus
destroyed were barns and fields of corn, above and below the fort,
together with "the barns, stores, and property of Colonel McKee, the
British Indian Agent and principal stimulator of the war between the
United States and the savages." [FN-1] The American army lay three days
before the fort, when it returned to the Grand Glaize, arriving at that
place on the 28th of August. A vast destruction of Indian property took
place during this expedition. The Miamis and Grand Glaize ran through the
heart of the country of the hostile Indians. "The very extensive and
highly cultivated fields and gardens showed the work of many hands. The
margins of those beautiful rivers the Miamis of the lakes, and the Au
Glaize," wrote General Wayne, "appeared like one continued village for
many miles; nor have I ever before beheld such immense fields of corn in
any part of America, from Canada to Florida." [FN-2] All were laid waste
for twenty miles on each side of the river, and forts erected to prevent
the return of the Indians.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Letter of General Wayne. State Papers, Vol. IV.

[FN-2] Letter of General Wayne to the Secretary of War.

There is reason to believe that the Indians were grievously disappointed
in the conduct of Major Campbell during the action. Among the papers of
Captain Brant, is the copy of a letter addressed by him to Sir John
Johnson, in April, 1799, wherein the Baronet is reminded of various wrongs
alleged to have been suffered by the Indians, at the hands even of his
Majesty's government. The following remarkable passage in this letter
induces a belief that the Indians expected that, in the event of defeat,
the garrison would come to their succor, or, at least, that the gates of
the fortress would be thrown open to them as a place of refuge on their
retreat:--"In the first place," wrote the Mohawk Chief to Sir John, "the
Indians were engaged in a war to assist the English--then left in the
lurch at the peace, to fight alone until they could make peace for
themselves. After repeatedly defeating the armies of the United States,
so that they sent Commissioners to endeavor to get peace, the Indians were
so advised as prevented them from listening to any terms, and hopes were
given to them of assistance. A fort was even built in their country, under
pretence of giving refuge in case of necessity; but when that time came,
the gates were shut against them as enemies. They were doubly injured by
this, because they relied on it for support, and were deceived. Was it not
for this reliance of mutual support, their conduct would have been
different. I imagine that your own knowledge of these things, and
judgment, will point out to you the necessity of putting the line of
conduct with the Indians on a more honorable footing, and come as nigh as
possible to what it was in the time of your father."

Considering the distance, and the difficulties of traveling at that time,
intelligence of the disaster which had befallen his Indian friends was
very rapidly conveyed to Governor Simcoe at Niagara, and by him
communicated to Captain Brant in the following letter:--

"Governor Simcoe to Captain Brant.

"_Navy Hall,_ 28_th August,_ 1794.

"Dear Sir,

"I understand that the Indians and Wayne had an action on the 20th near
McCormack's; that the Indians, who amounted to nine hundred, retreated
with the loss of some principal chiefs of the Hurons, Ottawas, and
Shawanese; a deserter reports that the Americans lost an hundred men.

"The Wyandots, and a friend [FN] of your's, most gallantly covered the
retreat."

* * * * *

[FN] Although the fact does not appear, yet it is believed that a goodly
number of the Mohawk warriors were in the battle against Wayne, and Brant
was likewise to have been in the field with them. Several years
afterward, Brant stated these facts in a conversation with the venerable
Jacob Snell, Esq. yet living (1837) in Palatine. The Chief stated to Mr.
Snell that he obtained the ammunition used by the Indians, himself, at
Quebec, and that he should have led his Mohawks in person but was
detained by sickness.

"The Indians having retreated to the Miami Bay, Major Campbell was
summoned to deliver the post, which of course he refused, and reports that
he considered it tenable against Wayne's force.

"The Indians having placed their women and children in safety, have again
moved forward to an advantageous position, I imagine Swan Creek, where
they wait for reinforcements, and I hope will recover their spirits.

"All the militia on the La Branche are gone to Detroit.

"I shall proceed in the first vessel, and am, in great haste, your
faithful humble servant,

"J. G. Simcoe,

"_To Captain Brant._"

The difficulties between Great Britain and the United States not having
yet been adjusted, and a war between the two nations continuing still a
probable event, it suited not the Canadian authorities to allow the
Indians to conclude a peace, notwithstanding their signal overthrow. The
north-western posts, moreover, within the territory not only of the far
west, but within the boundaries of the State of New-York, were obstinately
retained, while an attempt was made to grasp additional territory on the
south side of Lake Ontario. It was during the Summer of this year, that
Captain Williamson commenced a settlement on the Great Sodus Bay, about
forty miles from Oswego; and in this same month of August, Governor Simcoe
despatched Lieut. Sheaff to that place, to demand by what authority such
an establishment was forming, and that it should be immediately
relinquished. [FN] General Simcoe himself, pursuant to the intimation in
his letter to Brant, hastened to the west, as also did the Chief, attended
by one hundred and fifty of his warriors--evidently for the purpose of
continuing in the exercise of an unfriendly influence upon the minds of
the Indians against the United States. The Governor was at the fort near
the battle-field, on the 30th of September, as also were Captain Brant
and Colonel McKee. The Indians had already made some advances to General
Wayne toward a negotiation for peace; but their attention was diverted by
Simcoe and Brant, who invited a council, of the hostile nations to
assemble at the mouth of the Detroit river on the 10th of October. This
invitation was accepted, as also was an invitation from General Wayne,
who was met by a few of their Chiefs; so that the wily savages were in
face sitting in two councils at once, balancing chances, and preparing to
make peace only in the event of finding little farther encouragement to
fight.

* * * * *

[FN] Marshall. Captain Williamson being absent from Sodus at the time of
Lieut. Sheaff's visit, that officer left a written declaration of which
the following is a copy:--"I am commanded to declare that, during the
inexecution of the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United
States, and until the existing difficulties respecting it shall be
mutually and finally adjusted, the taking possession of any part of the
Indian territory, either for the purposes of war or sovereignty, is held
to be a direct violation of his Britannic Majesty's rights, as they
unquestionably existed before the treaty, and has an immediate tendency
to interrupt, and in its progress to destroy, that good understanding
which has hitherto subsisted between his Britannic Majesty and the United
States of America. I therefore require you to desist from any such
aggression."

At the council on the 10th of October, the Wyandot Chiefs addressed
Governor Simcoe as follows:--

"Father: We request of you to give your sentiments candidly; we have been
these many years in wars and troubles; you have, from time to time,
promised us your assistance. When is your promise to be fulfilled?"

"Their Father's Answer.

"Children: Your question is very difficult to be answered. I will relate
an ancient history, perhaps before any of you here were born. When I first
came into this country, I found it in the possession of your fathers, the
French. We soon became enemies of each other. In time, the Great Spirit
above gave the conquest in my favor. In those days the United States were
my subjects. We lived in this state for many years after. At last the
Americans began to act independently, which caused a rupture between us.
The contest lasted for a while. At last we made peace. From that period
they have been encroaching upon your lands. I looked on as a
spectator--never would say a word; they have even named the rivers that
empty themselves into the Ohio.

"Children: I am still of the opinion that the Ohio is your right and
title. I have given orders to the commandant of Fort Miami to fire on the
Americans whenever they make their appearance again. I will go down to
Quebec, and lay your grievances before the great man. From thence they
will be forwarded to the King, your father. Next Spring you will know the
result of every thing, what you and I will do."

The particulars of this council, and the labors of Governor Simcoe and
Captain Brant in otherwise tampering with the Indians, transpired through
some prisoners taken by General Wayne, and also through the means of a
confidential deputation of the Wyandots of Sandusky, who were disposed to
peace. According to their statements, Governor Simcoe advised them not to
listen to any terms of pacification, which did not secure to them their
long-contested boundary. He moreover proposed to them to convey all their
lands west of that river to the King, in trust, that a pretext might be
furnished for a direct interposition of his Majesty's arms in their
behalf. In furtherance of this object, he advised them to obtain a
cessation of hostilities until the Spring following; when a great council
of all the warriors and tribes should take place, which might call upon
the British for assistance. The English would at that time be prepared to
attack the Americans from every quarter, and would drive them back across
the Ohio, and compel the restoration to the Indians of their lands.

Captain Brant's counsel was to the same effect. He told them to keep a
good heart and be strong; to do as their father advised; that he would
return home at present with his warriors, and come again in the Spring
with a stronger force. They would then have the whole Summer before them
for operations, and the Americans would not be able to stand before them.
He had always been successful, and with the force they would then be able
to bring into the field, he would ensure them a victory. He told them,
however, that he could not attack the Americans at that time, as it could
do no good, but would bring them out against the Indians with more troops
in the Winter. He therefore advised the Chiefs to amuse the Americans with
a prospect of peace until the Spring, when the Indians might be able to
fall upon and vanquish them unexpectedly.

There was considerable division of opinion in the council; the Wyandots
being inclined to peace, and also portions of the other tribes. But large
presents were given, and the counsels of Brant and Governor Simcoe
prevailed--the Indians returning to their temporary homes, consisting of
huts and tents in the neighborhood of the fort at the Rapids. Captain
Brant, however, left these councils under high displeasure toward the
Chiefs of the three principal tribes, in consequence of some neglect which
he construed into an insult. What was the precise nature of the
circumstances, his papers do not disclose. But among those papers, is a
letter from seven of the Chiefs of those tribes, couched in terms of
humble apology. The following passages are cited from this letter:--

"The Chiefs of the three nations are very sorry, and in great trouble,
that Colonel Brant was obliged to leave them so precipitately; that it was
their intention to be in the greatest friendship with him, and that they
intended to hold council with him immediately after that with the Governor
was finished.

"They sincerely hope Colonel Brant will take their apology for not waiting
upon him when his messenger arrived with his pipe. They own themselves
much in fault, but are willing by their future services to convince him
that they esteem and honor him.

"In token of friendship they send Colonel Brant their Union Belt of
wampum, as a pledge that they now will, and their children in future
generations will, be in peace and unity with him and the Six Nations, and
wish a correspondence to commence immediately by express between them, on
the most friendly terms.

"They have heard with grief that Colonel Brant departed hence with a heavy
heart and full of sorrow for their negligence and misbehavior, and
therefore send him an additional string of wampum to enlighten his heart,
and renew friendship with him." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] This letter, or "speech" as it was called, was signed as
follows--the names being written in full by a gentleman named William
Bailey, who subscribes the paper as a witness, and each Chief drawing his
own mark rudely with the pen:--Aqushua, the mark of a _Fox;_ Sowosat--a
_Beaver;_ Quagerwon--a _Crane;_ Cucherwaskiseegua--a _Hatchet;_
Bouemawcutus--a _Wolf;_ Gowsowainse--a _Turtle;_ Clappum--an
_Arrow-head._

Such was the posture of Indian affairs at the close of the year 1794; and
the prospect then was, certainly, that another campaign of active
hostilities must ensue. But it was otherwise ordered. The Indians
themselves were growing weary of the contest, and becoming more and more
convinced that they could not contend successfully against the Americans,
of whose leader, General Wayne, they stood in great fear. Before the close
of the season, it was ascertained that the warriors from a distance were
re-crossing the Mississippi, declaring that it was useless to attempt
longer to fight. In March, the difficulties between the United States and
Great Britain were adjusted by the treaty of Mr. Jay, which, despite the
influence of France and the fierce clamors of the democratic opposition,
General Washington had the sagacity and firmness to ratify; so that the
Indians were deprived of even the expectation of farther assistance from
the accustomed quarter. The restlessness of the Six Nations, the Mohawks
excepted, had been quieted by the victory of Wayne; so that no farther
support could be anticipated from that direction. The result of all these
circumstances was, that by the treaty of Greenville, concluded with the
hostile Indians by General Wayne, on the 3d of August, 1795, the long,
expensive, and destructive war, which had for so many years desolated that
frontier, was terminated in a manner perfectly satisfactory to the United
States. In the language of Captain Brant in one of his speeches delivered
long afterward, "the Indians, convinced by those in the Miami fort, and
other circumstances, that they were mistaken in their expectations of any
assistance from Great Britain, did not longer oppose the Americans with
their wonted unanimity. The consequence was, that General Wayne, by the
peaceable language he held to them, induced them to hold a treaty at his
own head-quarters, in which he concluded a peace entirely on his own
terms." With this event closed the military career of Joseph
Brant--Thayendanegea.

CHAPTER XIII.

The termination of Brant's military life brought not therewith a state of
inactivity. The proverbial indolence of his race in regard to all matters
excepting the war-path and the chase, was not a characteristic of him. On
the contrary, the history of man scarcely supplies a parallel instance of
such active, unremitting, and unwearied public service, as well in the
council as in the field, as was performed by this celebrated man, from the
day when he first fleshed his youthful tomahawk at Lake George, until his
death more than half a century afterward. The war of the American
Revolution being ended, it has already been seen that he early thereafter
directed his attention to the improvement of the moral and social
condition of his nation. Nor did he lose sight of this object during the
years of his active interposition in the complicated affairs of the
western nations with the United States.

Mention has been made in a former chapter of the difficulties in which,
subsequent to the Revolution, the Six Nations were involved, respecting
their lands in the State of New-York, the adjustment of which repeatedly
demanded the attention of Captain Brant. There were, likewise, similar
difficulties to be adjusted with the purchasers of the Connecticut
reservation in Ohio, respecting which formal negotiations were held. Nor
did these constitute all his troubles. But a few years had elapsed after
the grant of the Grand River country had been obtained, before
difficulties sprang up between the Indians and the Provincial Government,
in regard to the nature of the title by which the former were to hold
their new possessions. The Chief and his people supposed that the
territory allotted to them had been conveyed in fee by a perfect title.
But in this supposition they were disappointed. There is scarcely a finer
or more inviting section of country in North America than the peninsula
formed by Lake Ontario on the east, Lake Erie on the south, and Lake Huron
on the west--through the heart of which flows the Grand River. The
Indians, therefore, had not long been in the occupancy of their new
country, before the white settlers began to plant themselves down in their
neighborhood. To a man of Brant's sagacity, it was at once obvious that
in such an attractive region of country the approach of the white man
would soon circumscribe the hunting-grounds of his people, within the
narrow boundaries of their own designated territory. He also saw, and
without regret, that the effect would be to drive his people from the
hunter to the agricultural state; in which case, while his territory was
too small for the former, it would be far larger than would be necessary
for the latter condition of life. As a compensation for the loss of his
game, therefore, he conceived the idea of making sales of portions of his
lands, for the creation of an immediate fund for the benefit of the
nation, and of leasing other portions in such manner as to ensure a
perpetual revenue. There was no selfish design in this project, farther
than may be found in the fact, that his own fortunes were identified with
those of his people. However covetous Captain Brant may have been of honor
and power, he was neither covetous nor mercenary in regard to property.
In one of his speeches he declared, with all solemnity, that he had never
appropriated a dollar of money, or its value in other property, belonging
to his nation, to his own use. Nor had he ever charged his nation a dollar
for his services, or even for his personal expenses, in all the journeys
he had performed upon their business. All his personal wants, under all
circumstances, had been supplied from his own private funds.

There was another consideration connected with his desire to make sales
and leases of lands to white settlers. He was anxious to promote the
civilization of his people; and in his first negotiations with General
Haldimand, after the close of the war, he made provision for the erection
of a church and school-house; and it is an interesting fact, that the
first temple erected for the worship of the true God in Upper Canada, was
built by the Chief of a people recently pagan; and the first bell which
summoned the people to the house of prayer in that province on the
Christian Sabbath, was carried thither by him. In the furtherance of his
plans of civilization, the Chief knew very well that an increasing
contiguous white population would be the means of introducing such of the
common arts and employments of life, as would materially contribute to the
comfort and happiness of his people, while at the same time their
progress in civilization would be greatly accelerated.

But he had no sooner commenced disposing of some small portions of land,
than the colonial government raised objections. It was alleged that his
title was imperfect--that a preemptive right to the soil had been retained
by the government; and, as a consequence, that the Indians had no right to
sell a rood of ground, since it was their's no longer than they themselves
should occupy it. The question proved a fruitful source of disagreement
between the parties, and of perpetual vexation to the old Chief until the
day of his death. Council after council was holden upon the subject, and
conference after conference; while quires of manuscript speeches and
arguments, in Brant's own hand, yet remain to attest the sleepless
vigilance with which he watched over the interests of his people, and the
zeal and ability with which he asserted and vindicated their rights.

Even his friend Governor Simcoe was among the most strenuous opponents of
the claim of the Indians to the fee of the soil, and in one instance
attempted to curtail their grant by directing the land board to run a line
due west from the head of Lake Ontario, which would have stripped the
Mohawks of the fairest half of their possessions. On examining the grant
from General Haldimand, however, the Governor desisted from this purpose;
but still was determined that the Indians should neither lease nor sell
any portion of their grant, nor make any manner of use of it, excepting
such portions as they should cultivate with their own hands. By these
proceedings, the situation of the Indians was rendered truly
uncomfortable. Reduced to a narrow strip of land of only twelve miles in
breadth, their hunting was of course seriously affected; while their skill
in agriculture was so imperfect, that some other resources were
indispensable to their sustenance.

In order to define more clearly and explicitly the rights of the Indians,
two other deeds were successively framed and presented for their
acceptance--both of which were promptly rejected, as being less favorable
than their original grant. Finally, in 1795, Governor Simcoe visited Grand
River with his councilors, for the purpose of ascertaining, as he said,
the real wishes and condition of the Indians. A Council was holden, and
the Chief delivered an elaborate speech, containing the whole history of
the grant, the circumstances under which it had been made, and the
difficulties they had been called to encounter. Among other objections, it
seems to have been alleged by the Provincial authorities, as a pretext for
dealing hardly by the Indians, that the government had been deceived in
regard to the location and value of the territory. General Haldimand had
supposed that the territory in question lay a long distance from Niagara,
and would not be approached by a white population for an age to come.
These assertions were sternly denied by Brant, who declared that the
Commander-in-chief, at the time of making the grant, was thoroughly
acquainted with the situation, its peculiar advantages, and its value.

This conference with Governor Simcoe resulted in nothing more than a
promise that the speech of Thayendanegea should be forwarded to Lord
Dorchester. Governor Simcoe left the province soon afterward, and a change
was made in the administration of the Indian department, by the
appointment of Captain Claus to the Indian agency at Niagara. It appears
that before his departure, the Governor had confirmed such sales as had
been previously made by the Indians; but difficulties arose on making the
surveys, which once more placed everything afloat. The consequence was,
that another hearing took place before Mr. Claus at Niagara, in October,
1796, at which, in another written speech, the Chief gave a historical
argument of his case. From portions of this speech, it appears that Upper
Canada had already become infested with unprincipled land-jobbers, who
were the especial dislike of the Chief. "I cannot help remarking," said
he, "that it appears to me that certain characters here, who stood behind
the counter during the last war, and whom we knew nothing about, are now
dictating to your great men concerning our lands. I should wish to know
what property these officious persons left behind them in their own
country, or whether, through their loyalty, they ever lost any! I doubt it
much. But 'tis well known that scarcely a man amongst us but what
sacrificed more or less property by leaving our homes. I again repeat,
that if these officious persons have made the smallest sacrifice of
property then I think they may in some measure be allowed to interfere,
although it may be well known that personal interest prompts them to it,
not the public good."

This speech, the Chief declared, should be his final effort to obtain
justice from the "great men below"--the provincial government meaning. If
not successful there, he declared his purpose of proceeding to England,
and bringing his case in person before the King. But this resolution was
contingent, and was not kept. On the departure of Governor Simcoe, the
Executive government of the colony devolved upon the Hon. Peter Russell,
President of the Executive Council of the province. For the more
convenient administration of the Indian affairs of the province, Mr.
Russell was clothed with all the powers upon that subject previously
exercised by the General-in-chief at Quebec, acting under the advice of
the Superintendent-General of Indian Affairs, Sir John Johnson. Captain
Brant lost no time in bringing the subject of his land title before Mr.
Russell, and he speedily succeeded in part. The sales already made were
confirmed, and the old Chief wrote to his friend and correspondent,
Thomas Morris, Esq., then a resident of Canandaigua, that their
difficulties respecting lands were nearly removed, and he had reason to
believe that henceforth their affairs would go on to their satisfaction.
[FN] The basis of the arrangement sanctioned by the acting Governor, was,
that the lands then sold, or intended to be sold, by the Indians, should
be surrendered to the government, which, upon the good faith of the
agreement, was to issue grants to the persons nominated as purchasers by
the agent transacting the land business of the nation. Captain Brant was
acting in that capacity. The lands were of course to be mortgaged as
security for the payment of the principal and interest of the purchase
money. It was, moreover, the duty of the Agent to appoint three trustees,
to receive the payments in trust for the Indians, and to foreclose the
mortgages in cases of default--the lands to revert to the Indians. Captain
Brant fulfilled his part of the agreement to the letter; but the
government failed altogether to comply with its own corresponding duty.
Some of the purchasers had paid their interest for several years, but
could not obtain their titles; others died, and the heirs were in the like
predicament, and the whole business became involved more than ever in
difficulty. Added to all which, as the Indians themselves improved in
their agricultural labors, the system of possessing all things in common
operated unequally, and interposed great embarrassments to individual
industry. But so long as the government refused to the Indians the
privilege of disposing of the fee of the soil, the nation could not convey
any portion of its own domain to its own people. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Letter to Thomas Morris, Esq, July 30, 1797. [Mr. Morris has
furnished the author with a package of letters from Capt. Brant, written
between the years 1796 and 1801, which, though chiefly upon private
business, have nevertheless been found of use in the present work.]

[FN-2] Memorial of John Norton to the Marquis of Caurden.

There were other difficulties in the business, which it would be tedious
to enumerate, the result of all which was, that the arrangement was in
fact a nullity. Not only so, but the Mohawks felt themselves to be an
independent nation, and they, or perhaps more correctly speaking, their
proud and indomitable Chief, could ill brook submission to such a species
of guardianship. The "satisfaction" arising from the arrangement under the
auspices of President Russell, was consequently of but short continuance,
and the Captain was compelled to fight his land battles over again. Many
were the councils and conferences which succeeded, in all of which Brant
was the principal speaker and defender of the rights of his people to the
fee of their lands. The design of the British government was to hold the
Indians in a state of pupilage, according to the practice of the United
States; and consequently to allow them merely the occupancy of lands of
which the government claimed the title. But neither the Mohawks nor their
indefatigable leader would listen to any such doctrine; always, on all
occasions asserting their own complete and entire independence as a
nation. They were an independent nation in the Valley of the Mohawk,
argued the Chief in one of his speeches, [FN] and were the undisputed
owners of the soil of their country. Their right in this respect had
never been questioned. On the breaking out of the war, they had
relinquished their country--their all--because of their friendship and
loyalty to the King. "In the year 1776," said the old Chief in the speech
now referred to, "Lord Dorchester, then Sir Guy Carleton, at a very
numerous council, gave us every encouragement, and requested us to assist
in defending their country, and to take an active part in defending his
Majesty's possessions; stating, that when the happy day of peace should
arrive, and should we not prove successful in the contest, that he would
put us on the same footing in which we stood previous to our joining him.
This flattering promise was pleasing to us, and gave us spirit to embark
heartily in his Majesty's cause. We took it for granted that the word of
so great a man, or any promises of a public nature, would ever be held
sacred." Again, in another part of the speech, the Captain remarked:--"We
were promised our lands for our services, and those lands we were to hold
on the same footing with those we fled from at the commencement of the
American war, when we joined, fought, and bled in your cause. Now is
published a proclamation, forbidding us leasing those very lands that were
positively given us in lieu of those of which we a were the sovereigns of
the soil. This, brothers, is surely a contradiction that the least
discerning person amongst you must perceive, and which we think wonderful.
Of those lands we have forsaken, we sold, we leased, and we gave away,
when and as often as we saw fit, without hindrance on the part of your
government; for your government well knew we were the lawful sovereigns of
the soil, and they had no right to interfere with us as independent
nations." In support of this assertion, the Chief proceeded to enumerate
various sales and gifts of their lands; among which he mentioned the
large and celebrated tract to Sir William Johnson, commonly called the
Royal Grant, and for signing the conveyance of which the Captain asserted
that he received a present of fifty pounds.

* * * * *

[FN] Speech delivered at a meeting of the Chiefs and warriors at Niagara
before Colonel Scheaffe, Colonel Claus, and others, in August, 1803, on
the occasion of a government proclamation forbidding the sale or leasing
of any of their lands by the Indians.

The history of the whole controversy was very clearly stated in the speech
just cited, and the argument throughout exceedingly well put. The Captain,
in some of his speeches, dwelt with emphasis upon another feature of his
case, affording a farther example of the magnanimity of the Mohawks in
their dealings with the government, and the want of that attribute as
evidenced in the manner of their requital. The Indians never asked of the
crown any compensation for the vast tracts of their hunting-grounds
relinquished by adhering to the cause of the crown. In a letter written to
Sir John Johnson at this stage of the controversy, the veteran Chief cut
with a two-edged blade:--"You know we demand nothing new. We have made no
demand for compensation for our hunting-grounds, which were very
extensive, nor for our wood-lands adjoining our improvements. All we ask
is a confirmation of our just right to this very land, which we receive
in lieu of those for which we received no compensation. I presume few
loyalists have omitted charging, and receiving pay for their woodlands,
as we did; many of whom received lands who had never possessed one foot
before." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] In a letter subsequently addressed to Lord Dorchester, after the
relinquishment by that officer of the Canadian Government, Captain Brant
estimated those hunting grounds relinquished by his tribe at more than
two millions of acres.

But the prospect of obtaining justice from the Provincial Government
becoming less and less favorable by the lapse of time, the Chief again
directed his attention to the parent government. Availing himself of the
return to Europe of the Count De Puisy, whom he describes "as a brother
soldier and fellow-sufferer in the cause of loyalty," [FN-1] the Captain
placed in his hands a succinct history of the troubles he was laboring to
remove, with an urgent request that he would lay the same before his
Majesty's ministers. By the same conveyance he likewise addressed a
vigorous appeal to Lord Dorchester, then in England, enclosing to his
Lordship a copy of his original promise to him (Brant) as written down in
1775, and also the subsequent confirmation of that promise by General
Haldimand. [FN-2] He was, moreover, in active-correspondence upon the
subject with the Duke of Northumberland, in whom the Mohawks had ever a
constant friend.

* * * * *

[FN-1] In one of Captain Brant's speeches, dated October 28, 1800, this
passage occurs:--"It had for some time been observed that the too large,
uninhabited space between York and the head of the Lake was a great
inconvenience to the communication by land, we therefore thought it a fit
occasion to remove the difficulty, by presenting the Count de Puisy and
his adherents a tract of land in this space--sympathizing with them as
having suffered in the cause of loyalty, and being obliged to quit their
native clime on that account, and seek an asylum in this uncultivated
region. This was objected to," &c., &c. When the younger Brant visited
London, twenty years afterward, he refers to the Count as then living in
retirement in the neighborhood of that capital.

[FN-2] The copy of this letter to Lord Dorchester is not entire. Two
foolscap pages have only been preserved, or rather, all but the first two
pages has been lost.

These attempts to enlist the parent government in behalf of the Indian
claim, were backed by the mission to England of Teyoninhokarawen, alias
John Norton, who spread the case before the ministers in a strong and
lucid memorial addressed to Lord Camden, then one of his Majesty's
ministers. Among other considerations, it was urged by Norton, that in
case their lands should be released from all incumbrances, and every tribe
and family be allowed to have their just portion of land confirmed to
them, the province would be strengthened by the emigration thither of the
major part of the tribes of the Six Nations, who still remained in the
United States. It had, doubtless, entered into the policy of Brant to
bring the ancient confederacy of the Six Nations once more together,
within the jurisdiction either of England or the United States. The
removal of the Mohawks into Canada had not dissolved the union of those
nations, although their separation, thrown, as they were, under the action
of different superior laws, and obliged sometimes to hold their own
councils within the boundary of one nation, and at other times within the
limits of another, could not but be attended with many embarrassments.
Indeed, so numerous were the difficulties they were obliged to encounter,
and such was the conduct of the provincial government in regard to their
lands, that the Mohawk Chief not withstanding his attachment to the crown,
had at one period contemplated withdrawing from Canada with his people in
disgust. That such a project was actually entertained, appears by the
following letter to his friend Morris:--

"Captain Brant to Thomas Morris, Esq.
(secret and confidential.)

"_Grand River, December_ 26, 1800.

"Dear Sir,

"From our friendship, and the regard you have continually shown to Indians
in general, I flatter myself you will be so good as to assist in what I am
about to communicate to you.

"There are numbers of our people scattered about in the westward at
Sandusky, the Miami, &c. I wish to have them collected in one place, and
for that purpose intend making a purchase of the Western Indians, so that
any moving from here may also find a place to go to. We are certain that
the Indians there will be very happy at the proposal, and that they even
would give it for nothing; but we rather wish to buy, that it may be
indisputably our own. The favor I have to ask of you is, that you would
please to oblige us so far as to sound some of your friends in Congress if
such a thing could be confirmed by them, for if we should move there, we
would desire to be under the protection of the United States. What you may
say on the subject to any one, I hope you will do it in a confidential
manner; you may learn the general sentiments in the way of conversation,
without making known our real intentions. The reason of my being so
cautious, is the great jealousy of the British.

"Dear Sir,
I am in truth,
Your sincere friend
And humb. serv't,
Jos. Brant.

"_Thomas Morris, Esq._"

Nothing farther is disclosed among the manuscripts of Brant respecting
this design of removal into the United States, and the suggestion was
most likely owing to a momentary feeling of despondency and vexation. But
it was his fortune soon afterward to encounter an annoying circumstance
from another and most unexpected quarter--his long and well-tried friend,
Sir John Johnson. The circumstance referred to was the receipt of a letter
from the Baronet, then at Niagara, under date of September 1st, 1801, in
which, after apologizing for his long delay in answering certain letters,
from an apprehension that he could not so frame his communications as to
avoid hurting the old Chiefs feelings, the writer adverted to the
difficulties respecting the lands. He spoke of some uneasiness prevailing
at Grand River; and stated that he had given his views, as to these
troubles, to Captain Claus, in writing, and advised the Chief to aid in
getting up a council, and adjusting the matter upon the basis he had
proposed. In regard to the claim of the Mohawks upon a portion of the
Mississagua reservation, the Baronet advised the Chief to abandon it at
once, admonishing him that the government was determined, under no
circumstances whatsoever, to sanction that claim; but on the contrary
would protect the Mississaguas in the quiet and peaceable possession of
all their lands. The letter concluded as follows:--"Let me therefore once
more advise you to give up all concern in their affairs, and desist from
assembling the different nations in distant parts of the country, and only
attend to the business of your settlement, except when called upon by
government to do otherwise; as it gives opening to the world to put
unfavorable constructions on your conduct, which must tend to lessen your
consequence in the opinion of those at the head of affairs; and I much
fear may do you serious injury. And as you can have no doubt of my
friendship for you and your fine family, I earnestly request you will
maturely weigh what I now recommend to you, and consider it as the result
of serious reflection."

This missive kindled the indignation of Brant, and elicited some spirited
letters in reply. Its burden was the existence of difficulties among the
Indians themselves, arising, as the Baronet had left the Chief to infer,
from their distrust of the proceedings of Brant himself. The council,
which the Superintendent-General had directed his Deputy, Captain Claus,
to convoke, had been held, but does not seem to have been attended by any
other results than an entire exoneration, by the sachems, of their
principal Chief from all censure. [FN] The Captain, however, was not
satisfied with allowing the matter to rest there; and he wrote the
Baronet, in a tone of decision, demanding specific charges, if any could
be produced against him, accompanied by the names of his accusers. He
likewise severely upbraided the officers of the government for their
conduct toward him, charging the fact upon them, explicitly, of having not
only sanctioned the great Indian Confederacy of which there has been
occasion so frequently to speak, but of having caused the formation of
that confederacy under their own immediate auspices. This letter, as a
historical document, bearing upon other relations than those appertaining
to the writer, as an individual, deserves preservation, and is accordingly
transcribed:--

* * * * *

[FN] See Appendix, No. X.

"Captain Brant to Sir John Johnson, Bar't.

"_Grand River, November,_ 1801.

"Dear Sir,

"When I answered your favor of the first of September last, I promised to
let you hear farther from me after the meeting should have taken place,
which you then said Captain Claus was to hold for the purpose of
satisfying the discontented, &c.

"He did not, however, do any thing in the business, as I expected, from
your letter, he would have done; but the Chiefs, on being made acquainted
with the contents of it, became uneasy, and called a scrutiny to find who
it was among the Indians on this river that had expressed dissatisfaction
at my conduct respecting the public lands. The dissatisfied party was
found to be only a few of the lower Mohawks, mostly women, and no real
chief among them. Afterwards, the Chiefs unanimously expressed their
general approbation of my conduct as their agent in land matters, in a
speech to Captain Claus. They at the same time hinted at the almost
impossibility of things being done in such a manner as to please every
particular individual, which was also the case in the discharge of his
own duty as Superintendent; but assured him that they, the Chiefs, who had
constituted me their agent in land affairs, were perfectly satisfied.
Since that I hear no more of the discontented; all seem quiet. Then I was
prepared to give a full explanation of all my transactions, and also put
them in mind of the trouble and expense I had been at on their business;
but this conduct of the Chiefs prevented me, thinking if I yet persevered
it would be wantonly ripping up old grievances, &c.

"I hope you will do me the favor to let me know who informed you that
there prevailed such an universal discontent among the Grand River Indians
at my transactions, as you said was the case; and you will infinitely
oblige me by making me acquainted with the author of this rumor, which has
not a little hurt my feelings; and it would also give satisfaction to the
greater part of the Chiefs here.

"Respecting your advice not to have more councils of other nations, &c,
the Chiefs, both here and at Buffalo, cannot comprehend the meaning of it;
and I have been particularly requested, by two messengers from the latter,
to remain unshaken in my public capacity, and attend to their common
interests as usual; I therefore hope you will do me the kindness to
acquaint me with the reason why I should desist from attending any
councils of the nations of the General Confederacy which we formed under
the auspices of Great Britain; and if our friendly intercourse with each
other is supposed to be detrimental to the interests of government, and in
what measure; for, since the year 1760, I perfectly remember what has
passed at most councils, and I never recollect an instance of government
interfering to prevent our mutual correspondence, but, on the contrary,
they have rather encouraged our uniting. Should it therefore be the case,
that what formerly gave satisfaction, has now quite a different, effect,
it will be very difficult for me to act so as not to get censured, without
I am well acquainted with the change of politics. Also, the serious
consequences you mention, that the not complying with your advice may be
of to me, I would be glad to know what it is. I hope that laws and
customs are not so far changed, as that punishment is first to be
inflicted, and the trial brought on afterwards, and you should give me no
plainer hint of it than that. In short, your advice seems no other than a
threat in disguise. Still, my dear friend, don't think that I suspect you
to be the author of it; but rather that you have softened the original so
as to save my feelings.

"During the war, although _I bore the commission of a captain,_ I never
received commands as such, but acted as War Chief, which I believe was of
more utility than if I had been in the other capacity--generally having
more men under my command than is customary for one of that rank. Since
the peace, I have attended to our affairs as a sachem. I never supposed
it to be wrong my so doing; if it is so, I could wish to have written
instructions how I am to conduct myself, so as to prevent the serious
consequences spoken of, by which, probably, may be meant the taking from
me my half-pay or pension. I hope to have the pleasure to hear from you as
soon as possible, at the same time I remain

"Dear Sir,
Your very humble
And obed't servant,
Jos. Brant

"_Sir John Johnson, Bar't._"

Norton had been furnished by Brant with letters to his friends in England,
and among them to the Duke of Northumberland, who interested himself
warmly in behalf of the object of his mission. Such, moreover, were the
zeal and ability with which he discharged the duties of his errand, that
for a time there was a prospect of his mission being crowned with entire
success. The decision of the ministers was favorable to the Indians, and
letters to that effect were dispatched to the Provincial government.
These, however, were met by an unexpected movement at home, which palsied
the exertions of the agent, and caused his return with hopes at least
deferred, if not blighted. The cause of this untoward change in the course
of the parent government will be developed in a few succeeding pages.

It appears that in the course of the controversy violent disagreements had
arisen between Captain Brant and the Deputy Superintendent, which were
ultimately embittered by mutual allegations of pecuniary delinquency. A
charge of this description had been made against Brant, a few years
before, in connexion with a negotiation between the government of the
State of New-York and the Caughnawaga and St. Regis Indians, calling
themselves the Seven Nations of Canada. These nations, as the reader has
been informed in a former part of the present work, were clans of the
Mohawks, who had long before separated from the principal nation, and
settled upon the banks of the St. Lawrence. In the year 1792, they sent a
deputation to the government of the State of New-York, claiming a tract of
land covering a large portion of the northern part of the state; all,
indeed, lying between Lake Champlain on the East, and the head waters of
the Mohawk on the West, bounded north by the St. Lawrence, and south by a
line to be drawn from a point between Fort Edward and Lake George to the
junction of Canada Creek with the Mohawk River, in the neighborhood of the
Little Falls. This extensive claim was resisted by the state upon several
grounds. One of these was, that the Indian title had been extinguished to
a portion of the territory in question by the French; another, that
several patents from the English crown had extinguished their title to
other portions of it; added to all which, it was held by the state that
the Caughnawagas had never any just title to the land, inasmuch as it
originally belonged to the Six Nations, of whom the claimants formed but
a small number. As proof of this position, it was contended by the state
that the Six Nations had themselves sold this same territory, together
with a large additional tract, extending from the Mohawk River to the
Pennsylvania line, to Colonel John Livingston. This sale to Colonel
Livingston was first made by forty-five chiefs of the Six Nations in 1787,
and was confirmed in the following year, by a second deed, signed by
sixty-five of their chiefs, and witnessed by Colonel John Butler and
Joseph Brant. The purchase by Colonel Livingston being unconstitutional,
was annulled; but the fact that such a sale had been made by the Six
Nations at large, was adduced against the claim of the Caughnawagas, by
way of showing that it was unfounded. Still as the St. Regis and
Caughnawaga Indians persisted in their claim, a commission, consisting of
Egbert Benson, Richard Varick, and James Watson, was appointed to treat
with their Chiefs upon the subject; and it was not until the Summer of the
year 1796 that an arrangement was effected, by virtue of which the Seven
Nations relinquished their claim, with the exception of the St. Regis
reservation, for a small sum in hand paid, and a yet smaller perpetual
annuity.

It was as a witness only to the deed of sale to Colonel Livingston, that
the name of Captain Brant came to be involved in this controversy. The
Commissioners maintained to the last that the Six Nations had sold the
lands, and that their great chief, Brant, was a witness to the sale. In
reply to which, the Caughnawagas insisted that the Six Nations had no more
right to sell the lands they claimed than they had to dispose of the city
of New-York. [FN-1] The Caughnawaga Chiefs, probably, did not exactly
understand the case of the sale to Colonel Livingston, which was set aside
as being contrary to the fundamental law of the state, nor the position
in which the name of Joseph Brant stood upon the deed. On the contrary,
they seem to have been impressed with an idea that Brant and the Mohawks
had been selling _their_ lands _to the state._ The consequence was a
controversy between the Caughnawagas and the Mohawks, which gave the old
Chief an infinite deal of trouble--even after the affair between the
former and the State of New York had been amicably closed. The charges of
the Caughnawagas amounted to this--that Brant and the Mohawks had sold
their lands to the state, and pocketed the avails. Brant repelled the
charge with indignation. In regard to the deed of sale to which he was a
witness, he affirmed that not a foot of the territory claimed by the
Caughnawagas was embraced within it, but that the sale was of a portion
only of lands belonging to the Senecas. He demanded of the Caughnawagas
their authority for the charge against himself and the Grand River
Indians. They replied, that their information was derived from the
representations of the officers of the State of New-York at Albany. Brant
opened a correspondence with George Clinton [FN-2] and Governor Jay upon
the subject, the negotiations having commenced under the administration of
the former and been concluded under the latter. But not satisfied with
anything resulting from the correspondence, he caused a deputation of his
tribe to repair to Albany, [FN-3] at the head of which was his adopted
nephew, John Norton, to meet a similar deputation from the Caughnawagas,
face to face, and to require his accusers connected with the government of
the State of New-York, either to substantiate their charges or acquit him
in the presence of both delegations. The papers of Captain Brant are
pretty full in regard to this controversy, which seems to have affected
him with the keenest sensibility. The result of this double mission to
Albany, however, does not exactly appear, save that the Chief was not well
satisfied with it. At least thus much is evident from the tone of the
annexed letter to his friend, Thomas Morris, who was a member of the
Legislature of New-York at that time, and to whom he had given his
deputies, letters of introduction:--

* * * * *

[FN-1] Talk of the Seven Nations, delivered to the Commissioners at
Albany, May, 1796.

[FN-2] See Appendix, No. XI.

[FN-3] Brant had previously, in 1797, visited Albany on the same
business, accompanied by Corn-planter and two or three other sachems.
Arriving at Canajoharie in the evening, Brant called with his party upon
Major Hendrick Frey, who had served in the cause of the crown during the
war of the Revolution, but returned to his native county after the close
of the contest. The meeting of Brant with Frey was like that of two
brothers. The party adjourned to a tavern, where they had a merry time of
it during the live-long night Many of their adventures during the war
were recounted, among which was a duel that had been fought by Frey, to
whom Brant acted as second. In the course of those relations,
Corn-planter acknowledged that he shot the girl who was gathering berries
in the neighborhood of Fort Stanwix, as related by Colonel Willett and
cited in the first volume of the present work. Corn-planter said he was
lurking about the fort in order to seize a prisoner; but failing in that
object, fired upon the girl. The landlord of the inn, named Rolfe, had
resided near Fort Stanwix at the time, and could hardly be restrained
from doing violence upon Corn-planter on hearing the
relation.--[_Conversations of the author with Dr. Jonathan Eights of
Albany, who, being at the time a resident with Major Frey, was one of the
party._]

"Captain Brant to Thomas Morris, Esq.

"_Grand River, April_ 4, 1799.

"Dear Sir,

"It is now some time since the return of Mr. Norton and the Cayuga Chiefs
from Albany; they have acquainted me with their treatment there, and that
of the business they went on; and particularly of your friendship and
assistance to them while there; for which I could not omit taking the
earliest opportunity of testifying to you my most hearty thanks for the
friendship you showed them, and hope you will not find us unmindful of the
favor.

"At the same time I cannot avoid expressing my surprise to you at the
conduct of your government respecting the affair of the Caughnawagas. In
the first place, it appears their Commissioners treated the business so
mysteriously as to make these people believe we had sold their lands;
first having defrauded us by having all that country included in the
confirmation of Mr. Livingston's deed to Mr. Oliver Phelps, to which the
Senecas signed their names, only supposing that they sold part of their
own country, and to which I signed as a witness. This was made use of to
convince the Caughnawagas they had no right to the country they inhabit;
and I learn that it was not till after much argument that your Government
owned that they never paid any money to me or the Five Nations on account
of these lands, and that they never looked on any Indians to have a right
to them, either Caughnawagas or Five Nations. Had they only said this at
first, when they treated with the Caughnawagas, and not brought our name
in question, they would have saved us immense trouble. And now I cannot
imagine what good reasons they could have to refuse our Deputies to
certify in writing that they never paid us any money on account of these
lands claimed by the Caughnawagas, which it is certain they never did. It
still appears they wish to make the affair mysterious, and evade, as much
as they can, the thoroughly clearing up of the business, so as to keep the
Caughnawagas from making farther claims on them; for it now appears pretty
clear to us that they have wronged these people. However, their conduct
comports a good deal with the uncivilized character of Judge Benson, who,
I find, was one of the Commissioners; and how the Governor left the
business mostly to him, who I know would skin a flint if it was possible,
should it belong to the Indians." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Judge Benson was only one of the Commissioners; but it is probably
true that the business was confided entirely to him. In the original
account of the treaty with the Caughnawagas, of May, 1796, containing the
speeches written out in full on both sides, found by the author among
Brant's papers, Judge Benson's signature stands alone at the close of the
whole.

"I intend, for my own satisfaction, to have the whole affair, from the
beginning to ending, published in the newspapers.

"Dr. Sir,
I am your most humble and
Obd't. Serv't
Jos. Brant.

"_Thomas Morris, Esq'r._"

In July of the same year, Brant proceeded to the Caughnawaga country in
person, accompanied by a body of Chiefs of several of the tribes, for the
purpose of a thorough investigation in General Council. Such a council was
convened; and the difficulties, from the reports of the speeches preserved
in writing by Captain Brant, were fully discussed--and that, too, in the
most amicable manner. From several intimations in these speeches, it
appears that the whole difficulty had been caused "by chattering birds,"
and by the machinations against Captain Brant, of the old Oneida Sachem,
Colonel Louis. The Council-fire was Kindled on the 8th of July. On the 9th
Captain Brant was satisfied by the explanations given, and remarked "that
he had pulled up a pine, and planted down beneath it the small bird that
tells stories;" on the 10th, the Caughnawaga Chief replied--"Brother, we
return you thanks; we also join with you to put the chattering-bird under
ground from where the pine was taken up, there being a swift stream into
which it will fall beneath, that will take it to the Big Sea, from whence
it never can return."

The result of the Council seems to have been satisfactory on all hands.
Indeed, as Brant himself wrote to a correspondent "in the States," [FN] a
short time afterward, he was rather surprised that he had so little to
encounter at their meeting:--"We expected they would have had a great deal
to say to us; but instead of that, they said they had never accused us of
themselves--that it was only from what the people of New-York said that
they had inquired about the matter; and that now they hoped we would be
so good as to agree to bury the whole affair under ground." To Sir John
Johnson he subsequently wrote in the following terms:--"Without doubt,
long before this you have received an authentic account of our business
with the Caughnawagas, which has convinced you and the world of our
innocence. You know that I was supposed to be a leader in that business,
and how often I have been falsely accused. But upon investigation my
rectitude has ever been sufficiently proved. This groundless accusation of
theirs created a great expense to government as well as us, and I should
expect that, after being convinced of their error, some acknowledgment
should be made for the great trouble they have put us to."

* * * * *

[FN] The name of this correspondent it not given in the original draught
of the letter preserved among Brant's papers.

But the Caughnawaga difficulties were no sooner at an end, than it was his
lot to encounter others yet more nearly touching his pecuniary integrity,
which annoyed him not a little. There were active spirits about him,
official and unofficial, who, for reasons of their own, looked with no
favorable eye upon the mission of Teyoninhokarawen. So strongly indeed
were these men opposed to the claims of the Indians, that they were led to
the adoption of very unjustifiable means, not only to circumvent the
negotiations of Norton, but to prostrate the power and influence of the
old Chief himself. To this end, domestic dissensions were fomented, even
among his own kindred, the Mohawks. The Chief was again accused of
peculations; and although the grant of the Grand River territory had been
notoriously made for the exclusive benefit of the Mohawk nation, yet the
Senecas, and others of the Iroquois Nations, not residing in Canada, were
stirred up to claim a voice in the disposition of those lands, and in the
domestic relations of that nation, by virtue of their confederate league,
which had never before been construed as clothing them with any such
rights or powers. In furtherance of the design of prostrating Brant and
thwarting the efforts of Norton in England, a Council of the Six Nations
was held at Buffalo Creek, under the direction of the Seneca Chiefs, Red
Jacket and the Farmer's Brother; at which all the proceedings of Brant and
Norton were formally disavowed, and Brant himself deposed from the
chieftainship of the Confederacy, at the head of which he had stood for
more than a quarter of a century. His associate Mohawk Sachems were
likewise removed, and others, taken, as Jeroboam selected his priests,
from the lowest of the people, appointed in their stead. None of the
Mohawk Chiefs were present at this Council, but only a few of the
discontents, and of the more worthless members of the nation, who had been
wrought upon by the white opponents of the principal Chief. The whole
movement was illegal, according to the ancient usages of the Confederacy,
in other respects. The Council was not convened at the National
Council-fire, which had years before been regularly removed from Buffalo
Creek to the Onondaga Village on the Grand River. Nor, aside from the
fact that the Senecas, and others residing within the United States, had
no right to a voice in regard to the domestic affairs or the lands of the
Mohawks, was the General Confederacy properly or legally represented. Red
Jacket, however, was both a ready and a willing instrument in the hands of
Brant's opponents. In all the councils in which it had been the fortune of
the two Chiefs to meet for the transaction of business, there had been
little of cordiality between them, and much less of friendship.
_Yau-go-ya-wat-haw,_ or Red Jacket, was not a chief by birth, but had made
himself such by his cunning. He was artful, eloquent, and ambitious.
Aspiring to the rank of a chief, he availed himself of the superstitious
dispositions of his people to attain his object. His first essay was, to
dream that he was, or should be, a Chief, and that the Great Spirit was
angry because his nation did not advance him to that dignity. These
dreams, with the necessary variations, were repeated, until, fortunately
for him, the small-pox broke out among the Senecas. He then proclaimed the
loathsome infliction as a judgment of the Great Spirit, because of the
ingratitude of the nation to him. The consequence, ultimately, was, that
by administering flattery to some, and working upon the superstitious
fears of others, he reached the goal of his ambition. Brant, however, had
always, on all suitable occasions, pronounced him a coward--the greatest
coward of his race. He used to say that Red Jacket was always valiant for
fight with his tongue; but that, although by his eloquence he persuaded
many warriors to fight, he was ever careful not to get into personal
danger himself. He also asserted as a fact, that having sent others upon
the war-path, he would turn to, and steal and kill their cows for his own
use. [FN-1] Smarting under the contemptuous treatment of the Mohawk Chief,
therefore, the eloquent demagogue of the Senecas was not backward in
compassing, as he hoped, the overthrow of his enemy, if not his rival.
Hence, for years antecedent to the council called clandestinely for the
deposition of Brant, Red Jacket had labored, with all art and diligence,
to create jealousies and distrust against him. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Conversations of the author with Thomas Morris, Esq. This
gentleman, during his residence in the western part of New-York, became
intimately acquainted with the Senecas and Mohawks--especially with their
Chiefs--having assisted at several treaties with them. He once
entertained Brant, Red Jacket, and a number of other chiefs, at his own
house in Canandaigua. At dinner, Brant was very amusing; and among other
stories, related the cow-killing exploits of a Seneca Chief, in such an
arch manner as to direct the attention of the whole company upon Red
Jacket, and yet compel Red Jacket himself to raise an affected laugh.

[FN-2] See the certificate of Israel Chapin, as to the general character
of Brant, and the unfounded jealousies excited against him by his
opponents, Appendix, No. XII.

The Chief himself was, of course, early apprised of what had taken place,
and the manner of the conspiracy, of which he appears to have written a
full account to his friend, the Duke of Northumberland. The copy of only
a portion of that communication has been discovered. It is without date,
but must have been written in A. D. 1805.

"Captain Brant to the Duke of Northumberland.

"May it please your Grace:

"As my nephew, Teyoninhokarawen, has safe returned, gratitude prompts me
to return you my most hearty thanks for the very kind reception and aid
you gave him, and express the regret myself and the other Chiefs of the
Five Nations inhabiting the Grand River feel, that after the trouble your
Grace has taken in our affairs, he should have been frustrated of having
them concluded to our satisfaction by the intrigues of the Agent for
Indian affairs, (a Mr. Claus,) of which I shall take the liberty to give
you a succinct account.

"When, in consequence of the warm support you gave my nephew, dispatches
were received by the late Governor from England, in favor of the Indians,
the Agent insinuated, through his instruments of intrigue, that he was
about effecting something much to their detriment, should they not
immediately prevent it. But finding that he could not succeed at the Grand
River, a few of the common people went to Buffalo Creek, a village of the
Five Nations within the American line, where they had a council, and then
went to Niagara, [FN] where Mr. Claus, the Agent, dictated to them what
was sent to England. . . . Several of the principal Chiefs from Buffalo,
who signed, are pensioners to the Americans; one of them, Red Jacket, or
the _Cow-killer,_ the speaker, and the greatest coward of all the Five
Nations, at the Connecticut (in New-England) Assembly swore, or promised,
kissing the portrait of General Washington, to be true to their interests.
But to make their numbers appear more respectable, all the common people
signed as Chiefs, from the villages on the American side, as did the few,
with three or four petty chiefs, who went from the Grand River. The poor
fellows, in consequence of the promises, and having signed together with
the officers, have been long expecting to receive their commissions; and
even some of them have been expecting to receive tidings of them by
Teyoninhokarawen. The purport of the writing was, that the mission and
proceedings of Teyoninhokarawen should be disallowed of and disavowed;
that I should be displaced from being Chief; and that a few settlers
introduced by the Chiefs--."

* * * * *

[FN] Vide certificate of Captain Leonard, and other American officers,
then stationed at Niagara.--Appendix, No. XIII.

Here the copy of this communication abruptly breaks off. But although the
proceedings referred to were transmitted to England by the opponents of
the Chief, and followed by consequences fatal to the mission of Norton;
yet the failure, so far as the Chief himself was concerned, was as signal
as the plot in all respects was indefensible and unjust. It was but a few
months anterior to these proceedings, founded, in the main, upon alleged
embezzlements, or mal-appropriations, of the revenue of his nation, that
a General Council had been holden at Grand River, which was attended by
the chiefs and warriors, the Deputy and Superintendent-General, and the
principal military officers of the province, and at which the pecuniary
transactions of Captain Brant had been fully investigated--found to be
accurate, and approved. The proceedings at this council appear to have
been dictated in the most amicable spirit; and from their complexion,
nothing could have been more unlikely than the revival of charges, then
so thoroughly shown to be without foundation in truth. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] See Appendix, No. XIV.

But the old Chief, did not remain passive under his persecutions. He took
an early occasion to meet a council of the faction of his own nation who
were opposing him, and to upbraid them in no very measured terms for their
ingratitude. His address was written out in full, in the Mohawk dialect,
and was afterward circulated in the form of an appeal to his nation. [FN]
After a spirited review of his life, and the services he had rendered them
from the commencement of the war of the Revolution, the appeal
proceeded:--

* * * * *

[FN] This document was never translated by Captain Brant. Portions of the
manuscript are illegible; but all that can be read has been translated
for the use of the author.

. . . "It astonishes me, therefore, after all that I have done for you,
to hear almost all of you, young and old, joining your voices with Colonel
Claus, and saying of me that I have embezzled your property, and such
like hard speeches, which you know are false,--while you never so much as
think of mentioning the many important services I have rendered you, the
many privations I have suffered on your account, and the journies I have
undertaken for your benefit--for the time and expenses of which you have
never paid me one penny. . . . At Philadelphia the Americans spoke in a
very friendly manner to me, and made me large offers of presents for
myself and family if I would prevent any farther attacks from the Indians.
But I positively refused to accept of any thing from them, lest I should
injure your good name as the Six Nation Indians. And again, I knew that
the King would not suffer me to be in want; and had I accepted anything
at this time, it might have been thought that I had been bribed, and
become a traitor, which, when made public, would have been disgraceful to
me, and injurious to you as my people. I thought I could depend on our
white brethren, the King's subjects, should I at any time need their
assistance. . . . There was the Grand River Tract, upon which I might have
had a farm, and lived on its produce. These considerations were more than
sufficient to deter me from receiving the valuable presents offered for my
acceptance. . . . I think the only way I could satisfy you, would be for
me to pay out of my own purse for every item that has to be expended for
your public uses. My only crime is, that I want to make you a happy
people, and for you to be enabled to call your land your own forever; and
not leaving it doubtful whether it is yours or not. I say you would be
well pleased if every thing could be done for the general good of the Six
Nations, without parting with a foot of land to pay for contingencies.
Colonel Claus asks you where your money is gone to? He never asks where
the proceeds of sales of your lands are gone to, else you might tell him
that it is gone to assist in building his splendid house. Whenever I have
had occasion to use any of your money, I have never touched any but the
interest, and have left the principal entire. But your friend Claus has
devoted principal and interest together; and yet you come to my house
complaining. . . . I ask again, what do you find in my conduct to
disapprove of? If you can point any thing out, I should like to hear it.
Or, will you say that every thing that I have done has been for your
injury and not for your benefit?"

* * * * *

"I say I cannot find, in all that I have done, that anything has tended
to your injury, or the injury of the King's cause. Yet you speak of me as
one who is your enemy--as one who does what he can to injure you; and I
have no doubt that you, who are hearing me, feel so toward me in your
hearts, although I have reiterated in your hearing many instances where
what I did tended to raise your name as well as my own; and in other
instances, when I might have been enriched, I have refused receiving for
fear of your name being tarnished. Still, you would almost brand me with
the name of thief, although not one of you have ever subscribed a penny to
pay my expenses when I have traveled on your public business."

The original manuscript of this address is much broken, especially in that
portion of it containing a review of his services in connexion with the
wars of the north-western Indians with the United States. The following
fragments of sentences upon that subject, only, have been translated:--

. . . "Every man of us thought, that by fighting for the King, we should
ensure to ourselves and children a good inheritance. . . . At another
time, at the last council we held, when the Americans were talking with
the Indians, I spoke to Otsinarenta, and said, 'if the Americans fail in
. . . I should like to go and surprise Wayne when he least expects it.'"

It was very soon manifest that the pretended deposition of the veteran
Mohawk, at the instigation of white men, and through the immediate agency
of Red Jacket, was no act of the great body of the Six Nations, much less
of his own nation; and the attempt to shake the faith of their "fathers in
council," in the perfect integrity of the Chief who had so long been their
leader in the cabinet and in the field, was a signal abortion. A meeting
of the chiefs and warriors was soon afterward held, at which the whole
controversy seems again, from the fragments of the proceedings yet in
existence, to have been renewed. From one of the speeches, the following
passages, connected immediately with the position and conduct of Brant,
and the proceedings against him, are extracted:--

"Brother, listen! Is it not thus, when a present is given, that the
bestower will not think of again grasping hold of it? But it seems as if
we were in that predicament--not being considered as real proprietors. We
are grieved and ashamed that so much should have been said on the subject,
without it being confirmed according to the first promise.

"Brother: We find divisions among us. The young men think to take the
lead, who know nothing of our affairs nor what we suffered in the war.
According to the first formation of our confederacy, the Mohawk was the
leading nation. So it has been since our establishment at the Grand River.
Therefore our leading Chief, Captain Brant, has stood foremost in our
affairs, with which he is thoroughly acquainted.

"Brother: There have been rumors concerning our money, and the application
made of it. We, that have been engaged in the public affairs, know where
it is gone. He has not been always traveling, and employed on his own
concerns--it has been on those of the public. He has been to the other
side of the water, and several times to Quebec; and always in these
journies expended his own property, we never making any collection for him
whatever. And now what he may have made use of is only the interest.
Nothing has been taken from the principal. The payment for one township
has been made without any delinquency whatever. We are perfectly satisfied
with all his transactions.

"Brother, listen! That which was done at Buffalo, and which you have
confirmed and sent to the other side of the water, was a thing that had
never before taken place, in which they pretend to break our Chief,
Captain Brant. But we assure you, brother, that this shall not be; for we
know not his having so transgressed as to merit such treatment. Neither is
it proper that such a proceeding within the American line, and done by
Indians inhabiting that territory, should be countenanced by you."

At the same setting, _Tchaosennoghts,_ or _Duguoin,_ a Seneca Chief, spoke
as follows:--

"Brother: You see here a remnant of the warriors that fought last war,
whose hearts are grieved that they have lived to see the present change of
our treatment, and our situation. The divisions existing among us, and the
attempts of the young men to put the Chiefs aside, have no other origin
than the Indian store. It is there the young men receive from his
Majesty's bounty that which was designed for those who fought and suffered
in his cause, and who are now treated with neglect. It is from this they
are led to imagine themselves men of ability and consequence. It is easy
for them to say, now, there is nothing to be done, or no danger--that they
are loyal, and side with government. We are no less loyal, we assure you,
now; and when occasion required, we gave proofs of our attachment. But we
know our Great Father is no less generous than opulent, and does not want
our lands. Neither can we think ourselves departing from our duty in
wishing to preserve them for our posterity, for we are poor. It is not
Captain Brant who is the sower of dissension; but it is what I just
mentioned that causes the division amongst us.

"Brother: The right of being chief, according to our customs, arises
either from hereditary line on the female side, or from having been
distinguished by meritorious conduct, so as to be accepted as such. This
has not been the case in the late appointment you sanctioned. One of them,
to whom you pay great regard, we know has been distinguished in your
opinion far some things which we have not been accustomed to pay that
respect to."

Finally, at this, or a subsequent General Council, a speech, drawn up in
the form of a declaration, was executed, under the sanction of the
signatures and seals of sixteen of the most distinguished chiefs,
residents upon the Grand River, and representing the Mohawks, Cayugas,
Oghkwagas, Tuscaroras, and one Delaware chief; bearing the most
unequivocal testimony to the integrity of Thayendanegea, and asserting
their undiminished confidence in his faithful management of their
business, as agent in the matter of their lands. It was stated in this
paper that he had desired, of himself, some time before, to withdraw from
that agency, and that he had only consented to remain therein at their
urgent solicitation--he requiring that a board of twenty-four chiefs might
be selected from the different tribes, to act as counselors, and probably
to determine all questions of doubt or controversy. "This," says the
declaration, "has been done--but at the same time we desired that he might
continue at the head. And farther hearing that there are many obstacles
yet preventing the equitable conclusion of our land business, we now
unanimously renew and strengthen him in quality of agent, which, from the
confidence we have in his integrity from what has already passed, we
assure ourselves he will exert himself in that office, as far as lies in
his power, to promote the general welfare. With these strings we
therefore exhort him to continue with moderation and patience, and flatter
ourselves from the equity of our brethren, the British government, and his
abilities, all difficulties will at last be surmounted."

Nothing could be more explicit than this testimony of exoneration, so far
as the charges against the Chief were connected with his management of the
land concerns of his people. But his vindication did not rest here. Soon
after the return of Teyoninhokarawen to the Grand River, a general council
of the Six Nations was convened at Niagara, for the purpose of meeting the
Deputy Superintendent-General, and entering a solemn protest against the
proceedings of the council at which Red Jacket and the Farmer's Brother
had pretended to depose Thayendanegea. For several days the Deputy
declined meeting the Council, upon the plea of waiting for the attendance
of Mr. Selby, a gentleman from Detroit. But as that gentleman did not
arrive, and it was uncertain when he would come, if at all, the Chiefs
determined to proceed with their business. The Deputy, accompanied by
Colonel Proctor, met the Chiefs only to repeat his excuse, and to declare,
that under existing circumstances, he would not listen to what they had
to say. The Chiefs, however, resolved to proceed with their deliberations;
and their protest, yet existing in the chirography of Captain Brant, was
read and sanctioned by the council, in presence of several officers of the
garrison, and also of several distinguished civilians. This paper
contained a succinct review of the controversy respecting the lands; the
object of Norton's mission to England; the partial success of that
agent--thwarted only by the use that had been made of the proceedings of
Red Jacket's unauthorized and illegally-constituted council--a review of
those proceedings; and a protest against the whole. [FN] After the reading
had been concluded, _Okoghsenniyonte,_ a Cayuga Chief, rose, and declared
the general approbation of the document by the council.

* * * * *

[FN] See Appendix, No. XV.

With these proceedings, it is believed, the efforts to prostrate Brant,
and deprive him of the chieftainship, ceased. In any event they were not
successful, and he remained at the head of the Mohawks, and consequently
at the head of the Confederacy, until the day of his decease.

But, even under all these discouragements, it was not the design of the
indefatigable Chief to relinquish his exertions to obtain justice for his
people at the hands of the parent government. For this purpose another
visit to England was determined upon, to be performed, either by himself,
or Norton, or perhaps by both. This determination was announced to the
Duke of Northumberland by letter, early in the year 1806:--

"Captain Brant to the Duke of Northumberland.

"_Grand River, January_ 24_th_, 1806.

"My Lord Duke,

"The kind and affectionate letter I received from your Grace, has deeply
penetrated our hearts with a sense of the honor you confer on the Five
Nations in the sincere regard you express for their welfare; and we hope
that our future conduct, and that of our descendants, may never fail to
cause such sentiments to be cherished in the noble hearts of the leaders
of the British nation. For, however wounding to our feelings, or
detrimental to our interests, may be the treatment we have received, and
yet continue to receive, in this country, our reliance on the fatherly
protection of his Majesty, and the confidence we have ever placed in the
humanity, love of justice, and honor of your nation, is not weakened.

"The reason of my having delayed so long writing to your Grace, is, that
from the arrival of a new Governor, [FN-1] I received some hopes that what
respects our land affairs might have been accomplished to our satisfaction
in this country. But these hopes are now vanished--for appearances give
me reason to apprehend that the old council, (principally composed of men
influenced by an insatiable avarice for lands,) have so prejudiced his
Excellency against us, as to disappoint what otherwise we might have
expected from the innate benevolence of our father's representative. It is
therefore the determination of the real chiefs and faithful warriors to
comply with the brotherly advice of your Grace. [FN-2] Therefore, either
both of us, or Teyoninhokarawen, [FN-3] shall make another attempt in
England, invested with full powers from our nations, in writing, according
to European customs, which your distance and our situation at present
render absolutely necessary. Some small difficulties necessitate delay,
or we would immediately be on the road."

* * * * *

[FN-1] Sir Francis Gore.

[FN-2] Contained, probably, in a letter from the Duke, which has not been
found.

[FN-3] John Norton.

"His Excellency has expressed that he will only hear from us through Mr.
Claus, the head of the Indian Department, who is our implacable enemy; and
from what has already passed, we are well assured will do every thing in
his power to thwart our success. Previous to receiving any speech, he
requests that we give him a copy of it; but himself, when he pretended,
last of all, to make a defence to what we had expressed at Niagara in
July, in reference to his having deceived the British ministry by the
improper names sent to England to thwart the mission of Teyoninhokarawen,
he read his speech in such a low voice that it could only be heard by
those who sat next to him, and afterwards refused to give us a copy of it.
So we remain as ignorant of what he alleged in his defence, as if he had
made no speech.

"The same confidence in the good faith of our allies, which animated my
courage to persevere in the most trying situations during the war, and
exhort to a similar perseverance those whom extraordinary difficulties,
or American intrigue, might stagger, yet encourages me to hope for
justice, notwithstanding the clouds that shade us from it.

"Mr. Wyatt, Surveyor General of this province, does me the favor to take
this. The copy of the speech delivered at Niagara last July,
Teyoninhokarawen sent you several months ago; so I hope you have received
it by this time. With the sincerest respect and gratitude, I remain,

"Your Grace's
Faithful friend and
Brother warrior,
Jos. Brant,
_Thayendanegea._

"His Grace the Duke of Northumberland,
_Thorighwageri._"

"The Duke of Northumberland to Captain Brant.

"_Northumberland House,_ 5_th May,_ 1806.

"My very good Friend and Brother Warrior:

"I have received safely your letter of the 24th January, which reached me
on the 23d of last month, with all that pleasure which is naturally felt
by one friend when he receives a letter from another friend. I am happy to
find that the interest I took in the affairs of the Five Nations has been
acceptable to their Board, as I am by being one of their community. They
may rest assured I shall always be happy to assist them to the utmost of
my power.

"I was very sorry that the zeal of my brother Teyoninhokarawen failed of
success; but I can assure you and the Chiefs of the Five Nations, that it
was not for want of constant attention and the most unremitting zeal on
his part. No person could possibly execute the mission on which he was
sent, with more ability than he did. It is only a piece of justice due to
him, to desire you to mention this to the General Council when they meet.

"The names of those who gave credit to Mr. Claus's fictitious council, are
washed out from the administration of this country, and a more sensible
set of ministers are appointed in their room, and I think those who now
fill the high offices of State in this kingdom, would listen to the wishes
of our brethren in the Five Nations. [FN] I shall be happy if I can be of
service in procuring for them the accomplishment of their wishes. But
before I attempt any thing, I must desire clearly to understand what are
the wishes of the Five Nations. Do they desire to have a confirmation of
the grant of Sir Frederick Haldimand and (if possible) to have it under
the Great Thayendanegea, &c. with the Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland? Would they consent, (if such a thing is proposed) to
have a clause inserted in the confirming grant declaring the grant to be
vacated, if the Five Nations should at any time part with the territory
thus granted to them, either to the Americans, or to any other nation of
Indians, or to any other person or persons not being of the Five Nations,
or a British subject, without the consent of the crown of Great Britain? I
mention this circumstance, because I think something of this kind was
hinted at by Mr. Cooke, and the improper manner in which it was stated,
gave reason to suppose that the Five Nations could not alienate it, or any
part of it, from one Indian of the Five Nations to another Indian of the
Five Nations, which never was intended to be prevented."

* * * * *

[FN] The Duke, probably, referred to the dissolution of Mr. Addington's
Administration in 1801, and the return to power of Mr. Pitt. True, the
ministry of the latter was dissolved by the decease of that incomparable
premier, in January antecedent to the time the Duke was then writing; but
it must have been the Addington ministry which was in power at the time
of Norton's mission, and which was "washed out" by dissolution after Pitt
had abandoned it, and made a speech in opposition, even on the same side
with Fox.--_Author._

"I should, however, advise that either yourself, Teyoninhokarawen, or some
other chief, should come over, properly authorised by the chiefs, to
transact and finally settle all this business.

"There are a number of well-meaning persons here, who are very desirous of
forming a Society to better (as they call it,) the condition of our
nation, by converting us from hunters and warriors into husbandmen. Let
me strongly recommend it to you, and the rest of our chiefs, not to listen
to such a proposition. Let our young men never exchange their liberty, and
manly exercises, to become hewers of wood and drawers of water. If they
will teach our women to spin and to weave; this would be of use; but to
endeavor to enervate our young men by doing nothing but tilling the earth,
would be the greatest injury they could do the Five Nations. Nine hundred
or a thousand warriors, enured to hardship by hunting, are a most
respectable and independent body; but what would the same number of men
become who were merely husbandmen? They would hardly rate a small parish,
seeking for protection from others, scarcely heard of and known, and
obliged tamely to submit to laws and regulations made by other people, and
incapable of defending themselves. If you want an example of what the Five
Nations would soon become, look only at the Stockbridge Indians. They,
like us, were once a noble and formidable tribe; they now are less than
women. Some of the persons who propose this plan, have their own private
reasons. They wish to go over among you, and when they have collected you
together in order to teach you to cultivate the ground, they will then
show you how very small a part of the land granted you is sufficient for
to supply your wants, and will next endeavor to prevail upon you to grant
them the remainder, in gratitude for the trouble they have had in
instructing you in agriculture. No, my dear friend and brother warrior,
never suffer yourself, or your Chiefs, to be induced by their plausible
arguments. If you do, remember I now foretell that you will become a poor,
dependent, and insignificant body, instead of continuing a free, warlike,
and independent nation as we now are. I wish to see the Christian
religion, sobriety, and good morals, prevail among our nation; but let us
continue free and independent as the air that blows upon us; let us
continue hunters and warriors, capable of enforcing respect, and doing
ourselves justice; but let us never submit to become the tillers of land,
hewers of wood, and drawers of water, by the false and interested advice
of those who, from being our pretended friends, would soon become our
imperious masters. Accept this, my good friend and brother warrior, from
one who wishes the Five Nations ever to continue a formidable nation,
commanding respect from all its neighbors, and who interests himself most
sincerely in their welfare. Say every thing proper for me to my brother
Chiefs, and believe me,

"Your faithful friend and brother warrior,
Northumberland,
_Thorighwageri_

"PS Dezonhighkor (Lord Percy) desires to return his thanks, and to offer
his compliments to you and to Teyoninhokarawen, (Norton,) to whom I desire
you to give my compliments likewise. I have received his letter, and will
write to him by this mail if I possibly can."

Pursuant to the suggestions of the preceding correspondence, the
preparations were made for another mission to London, by Thayendanegea
himself. He actually commenced his journey, and proceeded as far as
Albany, with the design of embarking at New-York. Circumstances, however,
occurred, which rendered it necessary for him to return to his own
country. Afterward, owing to pecuniary difficulties, the undertaking was
indefinitely deferred, as will be seen by the annexed communication to the
Duke, which was probably the last ever addressed to that nobleman by his
brother warrior of the forest:--

"Captain Brant to the Duke of Northumberland.

"_Head of Lake Ontario, June_ 26, 1807.

"My Lord Duke,

"I wrote you last by the Surveyor General, Mr. Wyatt, acquainting your
Grace that Teyoninhokarawen or myself should again cross the sea on the
subject of our land affairs, &c. Shortly after that we have been formally
deputed, either jointly or separately, by a general council of the chiefs
and warriors of the Grand River, held at the Onondaga Village, according
to the ancient custom of the Five Nations.

"The want of money for the journey, and suspicions of new intrigues being
attempted in our absence again to frustrate our endeavors for the public
good, have deterred us for the present from undertaking the intended
journey. But, confiding in the regard which we know that your Grace has
for your brethren of the Five Nations and their interests; in the fatherly
affection of his Majesty; and in the justice of the British nation; we
send you the powers we have received; and beg that your Grace may grant us
your aid to obtain from his Majesty a confirmation of General Haldimand's
grant to the Five Nations under the Great Seal; and that the part we have
surrendered to Government for sale, they shall guarantee to us and our
heirs the regular payment of the purchase money stipulated, according to
former representation.

"With the greatest respect and esteem, I have the honor to be

"Your Grace's humble servant, and
Faithful brother warrior"

For a good and sufficient reason, which will appear in the closing pages
of the present work, the claims of the Mohawks were prosecuted no farther
by their old and vigilant Chief, Thayendanegea. Nor have their
difficulties with the officers of the crown entirely ceased to this day.

CHAPTER XIV.

Exertions of Thayendanegea for the moral and social improvement of his
people--His religious views--Efforts for the religions instruction of
his people--Letter to Sir John Johnson upon the subject of obtaining a
resident clergyman--Farther correspondence--Interview of Brant with the
Bishop--Disappointment--Letter to the Chief Justice--Appeal of Brant to
the Lord Bishop, but without success--Application to the American
church--Letter to Colonel Burr--Succeeds in obtaining the ordination of
Mr. Phelps--Estimate of Brant's character by the clergy--Letter of Rev.
Dr. Mason--Rev. Elkanah Holmes--Letter of Brant to the Rev. Dr.
Miller--Ardent spirits--Efforts of Brant to prevent their
introduction--Letter to Sir John Johnson--Interposition of the
women--Address of Brant in reply--Indian games and pastimes--National
game of Cricket--Great game at Grand River, between the Senecas and
Mohawks--Judge Woodruff's visit to Brant's residence--Description of his
person--Indian funerals--Respect for the dead--Estimate of women--Their
influence--Funeral speech of Seneca-George--Death of Mrs. Claus--Speech
of condolence by Captain Brant--Captain Claus in reply--Brant's visit to
New-York, Philadelphia, and Hartford, in 1797--Attentions to him in
Philadelphia--Dinner party of Colonel Burr--Talleyrand and other
distinguished guests--Letter of introduction from Colonel Burr to his
daughter--Dinner party in his honor by Miss Theodosia--His manners
described by Dr. Miller and by General Porter--Designs upon his life in
the Mohawk country--The late John Wells--Striking incident in
Albany--Anecdotes--Brant and General Gansevoort--Brant and Colonel Van
Courtlandt--Reasons of Brant for taking up arms for the King--His
reasonings in defence of the Indian mode of warfare.

Had no other subjects demanded the consideration, and required the active
personal exertions, of Captain Brant, during the last twelve years of his
career, than those already reviewed, his life must still have been
considered one of uncommon industry. But the cares upon his hands were
multitudinous in other respects. His desire for the moral and social
improvement of his people led him to a vigilant oversight of all their
domestic concerns. Rude as was their government, it was still to be
administered, and a domestic police, of some kind, was to be observed. The
administration of their government, moreover, was probably attended by
none the less difficulty from the peculiar position in which the Mohawk
Indians were placed at that particular period of their history. Their
society was in a transition state--being neither the hunter nor the
agricultural, but partaking in part of both; while, notwithstanding the
advice of the Duke of Northumberland, it was the strong desire of the
Chief to draw them from the former to the latter course of life. Before
their transplantation from their native valley, they had, many of them,
made considerable advances in the pursuit of husbandry, Brant himself
having cultivated an excellent farm in the neighborhood of General
Herkimer's residence, near the Upper Mohawk Castle; [FN] and though the
vicissitudes of war had cast them once more into a primitive forest,
entirely unsubdued, the Chief had no idea of relinquishing the certainty
of agricultural competence for the precarious supplies of the chase.

* * * * *

[FN] The author visited the plantation formerly belonging to Brant in the
Autumn of 1836. Nothing of his domicile, save the cellar, remained. His
orchard of apple-trees, however, was thrifty and in full bearing.

Nor was he ignorant of what alone can form the basis of an industrious and
truly moral community. Whether he was himself a man of experimental
religion, in the evangelical sense of the term, is a question which it is
not the province of the historian to decide. There is no doubt that he
was a believer in the great and essential truths of revelation, and it is
equally certain that after his return from Dr. Wheelock's school, he was
the subject of deep religious impressions. But whether these impressions
were entirely effaced during the long years of arduous and active public
service in which he was subsequently engaged, both as a warrior and a
politician--in the battle-field, in the council of war, and in the Indian
Congress--threading the solitudes of his native forests, or amidst the
splendid gaieties of the British metropolis--is not for this writer to
affirm or deny. Be this, however, as it may, he was a man of too much
sagacity not to perceive the importance of education and religion, as
auxiliaries in carrying forward the moral and social improvement of his
nation; and the preponderance of testimony favors the opinion that he was
never careless of the spiritual interests of his charge. It has been seen,
that when quite a young man, he was engaged with the Episcopal and other
Christian missionaries, assisting in translating the Church Prayer Book
and the Holy Scriptures. And immediately after the close of the long
conflict in which he had borne so active a part, he was again found
recurring, of his own volition, to the same labors, and superintending the
printing of the Gospel of Mark, and other religious works, in London. One
of his first stipulations with the Commander-in-chief, on the acquisition
of his new territory, was for the building of a church, a school-house,
and a flouring mill; and no sooner had the North-western Indian wars been
brought to an end, than the religious principle was again in action, and
his thoughts and exertions once more directed to the means of imparting to
his people a knowledge of their relation to God, and the consequences
flowing therefrom. In proof of this assertion, the following letter may be
appropriately introduced:--

"Captain Brant to Sir John Johnson, Bar't.

"_Grand River, Dec._ 15, 1797.

"Dear Sir,

"Since writing the letter accompanying this, the Chiefs have conferred
together respecting the state of religion among the Five Nations, which
now appears to be a subject of more serious consideration among them than
formerly. We are sensible, Sir, of the goodness of Government, among other
benefits, in accommodating us with a church, and we have long been
desirous of having a clergyman to reside constantly with us; this, we
apprehend, would be highly promotive of morality and the Christian virtues
among our people. We do not complain, Sir, of the neglect of the society
in this respect, as we are satisfied that their benevolent attention to
mankind has been equal to their means; for this reason we have hitherto
omitted making application to them upon this head. Besides, we are
sensible how difficult it must be for them to find a suitable character
willing to settle among us in this rude and distant quarter.

"In order to discharge my duty in this important affair, and that I may
rest in peace, I have conferred with a gentleman of a liberal education,
Mr. Davenport Phelps, with whose character and family I have long been
acquainted, who has ample testimonials respecting his literary and moral
qualifications, and who, I believe, will consent to devote his life to the
service of the Church among us, provided his Lordship, the Bishop of
Quebec, shall think proper to ordain him to the sacred office. Mr. Phelps
with great candor observes, that from his not having been so conversant
with books for a number of years past as he could have wished,
particularly classical ones, he is diffident of a critical examination in
the dead languages. But, Sir, from his general, I may say almost
universal, character among the discerning, I consider the prospect of his
usefulness among us very great; and assure you that it is the desire of
the Chiefs in general, and my most ardent wish, that he may be ordained a
missionary for the Five Nations on this river. And from your official
relation to us, I take the liberty of begging you to communicate our
wishes to his Lordship the Bishop respecting this gentleman, that we may
be informed, if possible, before the opening of the Spring, whether a
character of Mr. Phelps's description will be approved by his Lordship,
and deemed a proper subject for ordination.

"I am, dear sir,
Your most obedient
And humble serv't,
Jos. Brant.

"_Sir John Johnson, Bar't._

"P. S. I know you will excuse my observing that we shall be glad to know
what sum the society, and what government will severally think proper to
allow our missionary; since, should their allowances be insufficient for
his support, by other means it must be made adequate."

The Baronet lost no time in bringing the subject before the Bishop, but
difficulties were interposed by his Lordship, and an occasional
correspondence of two or three years ensued, before the wishes of the
Indians, for the ordination of a spiritual teacher, were complied with.
The first objection was that the candidate for orders had not been
examined. In reply, Captain Brant apologized for their ignorance as to the
prerequisites, and urged that an examination might be undergone before the
Rev. Mr. Addison, "who, having gone through the forms himself, must be
acquainted with the business." Both the Chief and his people were
impatient of delay; and the Captain reminded the Bishop, through Sir John,
of the pledge which the Archbishop of Canterbury had made to him in the
presence of the King, that whenever the Indians, by the erection of a
church, should be ready for religious instruction, he would do all in his
power to supply their wants.

In the Spring of 1798, the Chief had an earnest correspondence with Mr.
Russell, the provincial Governor, upon the subject, in the course of
which, in one of his letters, he said:--"With respect to any uncertainty
or difficulty there may be in obtaining a salary from government, we would
wish that that should not entirely restrain his Lordship; for, should
government not be willing to grant an allowance for a clergyman, sooner
than want one we would strain every point ourselves to procure a salary,
and would be joined by several respectable families of white people in the
neighborhood."

In the Summer of the following year, on his return from a visit to the
lower province, the Captain met with the Lord Bishop at Kingston, and
again urged his attention to the subject; and, as he supposed, arranged
matters for an examination of Mr. Phelps at Niagara, to which place his
Lordship was preparing to extend his visit. But there was again
disappointment, arising from a cause altogether unexpected. The following
spirited letter will disclose the motive of the delay:

"Captain Brant to the Chief Justice.

"_Grand River,_--" [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The date is wanting in the copy. It must have been, however, toward
the close of 1799.

"Sir,

"I feel myself under the necessity of representing to your Honor, that
from the consideration of the great importance of having a missionary
resident among the Indians, and that from the knowledge I have long had
of Mr. Davenport Phelps, and my particular acquaintance with his family
and connexions, I have been earnestly desirous that he might be ordained
to that office. To this end, the Winter before last I wrote the Honorable
Sir John Johnson, who communicated my wishes, and those of the other
chiefs, in this respect, to his Lordship the Bishop of Quebec. No
determinate answer was given, and in consequence the subject thus remained
till the Summer past, when, on my return from Lower Canada, at Kingston,
in a conversation with his Lordship, he was pleased to express the utmost
readiness to do what was incumbent on him to carry what was desired into
effect--manifesting a cheerful willingness to examine Mr. Phelps, in order
to his ordination.

"Thus circumstanced, I requested Mr. Phelps to accompany me to Newark,
[FN] to offer himself for examination; but to my great disappointment
found, that previous to our arrival his Lordship had sailed for Quebec. I
was, Sir, however, surprised to learn, that he had left information
pointedly against the expected examination; which, though then to me
mysterious, I more fully understand since the arrival of his Excellency
Governor Hunter, at that place, who has told me that he had been informed
that Mr. Phelps had been at the head of a mob in the province. This
charge, replete with odium, I have good evidence to believe was originally
made by Mr. White, Attorney General, and as long ago as 1795. I must
acknowledge, Sir, that it is unaccountable in my mind how a charge of this
nature, made by one whose duty it is to prosecute seditious practices,
should remain unnoticed until so late a period, and then be suggested, as
I have too much reason to believe, to defeat a purpose earnestly desired
by many friends to the cause of religion and morality."

* * * * *

[FN] Formerly a town on the Niagara--now called Niagara.

"I cannot, in justice to truth, omit to observe that the proposal of Mr.
Phelps's being ordained to the church did not originate with him, (nor has
it since been solicited by him,) but by myself and others of
respectability, who have long known his virtues and abilities; who have
an indubitable claim to the honor of having defended this country against
the King's enemies; and whose loyalty and discernment cannot with decency
be disputed. If, however, a charge of this nature be proved, I shall
remain silent. If not, I humbly conceive justice and humanity require that
due reparation be made.

"Your Honor's love of justice makes me confident of your best advice, and
wise interference in this affair.

"I cannot but farther observe, that, considering the nature and
circumstances of this affair, I have a right to expect that Mr. White, or
whoever else has made this charge, be called on to prove it without delay.
I shall be much obliged by your answer to this by the bearer. I have the
honor to be, &c."

It is manifest from this letter, that the government were entertaining
political objections to the candidate. The conduct of the
Attorney-General, however, would not stand the scrutiny to which the
Mohawk was disposed to subject it. Nothing could be more apparent than
that the charge was either frivolous, or adduced as a pretext, or that the
Attorney General had been remiss in the performance of his own official
duty. The Indians still adhered to Mr. Phelps; and such was the strength
of their attachment to him, that Captain Brant subsequently prepared a
formal memorial to the Lord Bishop, setting forth his excellent
qualities--his talents, his virtues, and his loyalty--and urging his
ordination, "as their choice had been, and still was, fixed on him, in
preference to any other." [FN] But every effort to obtain the ordination
of Mr. Phelps from the English prelate was fruitless, and the attention of
Captain Brant was thereupon directed to the Episcopal Church of the United
States, through the interposition of General Chapin, the American Indian
Agent residing at Canandaigua, and Colonel Aaron Burr. Mr. Phelps, the
candidate for orders, visited the city of New-York, and was the bearer of
the following letter to Colonel Burr upon the subject:--

* * * * *

[FN] The warmth of Brant's friendship for Mr. Phelps, and the strength of
his attachment to him, are explained by the circumstance that Mr. Phelps
had married the daughter of the elder President Wheelock, with whom the
Chief had doubtless' become acquainted while at the Moor Charity School.
As Mr. Phelps subsequently became the pioneer of the Episcopal Church in
the western part of the State of New-York, some farther notice of him
will be proper in this place. He was a native of Hebron, (Connecticut,)
where he was born in 1755. He was graduated at Yale College, with high
credit for his classical attainments, in 1775. Soon afterward he entered
the army of the Revolution, in Colonel Beadle's regiment--was made
prisoner and taken to Montreal, where he remained so long that he
acquired the French language so as to speak it with elegance. He was
married to Catharine Wheelock in 1785, and was for a time engaged in the
mercantile business, in company with his brothers-in-law, Ebenezer and
James Wheelock, in Hartford (Conn.) He afterward removed to
New-Hampshire, where he practised law, and served as a magistrate. In
1798 he visited Upper Canada in company with James Wheelock, where they
jointly obtained a grant of eighty-four thousand acres of land from
Governor Simcoe. Soon afterward he removed his family to Upper Canada,
and settled for a time at Niagara, where he commenced the practice of the
law, and established a printing-office. He also had a mercantile concern
at that place, the business of which was chiefly conducted by an agent.
He had a taste for agricultural and horticultural pursuits, and paid much
attention to husbandry and the cultivation of fruit. A close intimacy
subsisted between himself and Captain Brant, and between their families.
He appears to have been early a religious man, and had, for some time
anterior to Brant's application in his behalf for orders, a strong
desire to enter the Episcopal Church.--_MS. Life of Rev. Davenport
Phelps, in preparation by the Rev. Dr. Rudd of Utica._

"Captain Brant to Colonel Burr.

"_Grand River, May_ 7, 1800.

"Sir,

"About three weeks since, I received a message from O'Bail to attend a
council at Buffalo, where I expected the pleasure of seeing you. We
attended, and waited a few days; but the chiefs there not being ready to
meet us, and we having business that required our attendance at this
place, were under the necessity of coming away. Had I been so fortunate as
to have met you there, it was my intention to have conversed with you upon
a subject which I have long considered as most important to the present
and future well-being of the Indians on both sides of the lakes and at
large; namely, their situation in a moral point of view, and concerning
measures proper to be taken in order that regular and stated religious
instruction might be introduced among them.

"You well know, Sir, the general state of the Indians residing on Grand
River, as well as in other parts. A considerable number of some of these
nations have long since embraced Christianity, and the conversion of
others must depend, under the influence of the Great Spirit, on the
faithful labors of a resident minister, who might visit and instruct both
here and elsewhere, as ways and doors might from time to time be opened
for him.

"The establishment and enlargement of civilization and Christianity among
the natives must be most earnestly desired by all good men; and as
religion and morality respect mankind at large, without any reference to
the boundaries of civil governments, I flatter myself that you, Sir, will
approve what many of the chiefs here, with myself, are so greatly desirous
of.

"I have in view, as I have before suggested, the welfare of the Indians at
large; being fully persuaded that nothing can so greatly contribute to
their present and future happiness as their being brought into the habits
of virtue and morality, which, I trust, may and will be gradually effected
by instruction, if properly attended and enforced by example.

"I well know the difficulty of finding a gentleman suitably qualified, and
willing to devote his life to the work of a missionary among them; and
especially one of talents and manners to render him agreeable in a degree
highly to favor his usefulness. And, in order to satisfy myself in this
respect, I faithfully inquired and consulted, and am clearly of opinion,
that Mr. Davenport Phelps, who is recommended as a gentleman of virtue and
respectable accomplishments, is the most suitable character for this
office of any one within my knowledge. My long acquaintance with his
family, and particular knowledge of him, as well as the opinion and wishes
of the most respectable characters among the white people in this
vicinity, who earnestly wish, for themselves as well as for us, that he
may be ordained a missionary, make me earnestly hope that you will
officially recommend both the design and him to the Right Reverend Bishops
in the United States, or to some one of them, and to such other characters
as you may think proper.

"From the consideration that religion and politics are distinct subjects,
we should not only be well satisfied to receive a Missionary from a Bishop
in the United States, but, for various other reasons, would prefer one
from thence.

"We shall be able here to do something considerable towards Mr. Phelps's
support; and I doubt not but others, who have ability, will be disposed to
assist in promoting so good a work. I will add no more than that I have
great satisfaction in being confident of your friendly and influential
exertions in this important affair, and that I am, with great sincerity,
yours, &c.,

"Joseph Brant." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Brant had had some previous acquaintance with Colonel Burr and his
family, as will appear in a subsequent page. This letter was enclosed by
Colonel Burr to his daughter Theodosia, then Mrs. Alston, in December,
1801, with the following remark:--"Yesterday Mr. Phelps, mentioned in the
enclosed, delivered to me two pair of moccasins, directed--'From Captain
Joseph Brant to Mr. and Mrs. Alston.' Your ship having sailed, I don't
know how or when I shall forward them to you; but we will see. I send
the original letter of Captain Brant, merely to show how an Indian can
write. It is his own hand-writing and composition. Upon this notice of
his attention you should write him a letter of acknowledgment for his
hospitality," &c. The author will here remark, that the orthography of
Captain Brant was remarkable and almost invariably accurate.

The application to the American Church was successful, and the Missionary
was ordained. [FN-1] But whether the measure was facilitated by the
exertions of Colonel Burr, is not known. The subject has been treated
thus at large, for the purpose of developing with more distinctness the
religious bias of the Chieftain's character, as illustrated by the
earnest perseverance with which he sought the Christian improvement of his
people. From other letters and documents among his papers, it is farther
rendered certain that several religious gentlemen of distinction in the
United States were in occasional correspondence with him upon religious
and other subjects connected with the history and condition of his people.
His house, likewise, seems to have been the free and open quarters of the
Missionaries employed at that early stage of the modern missionary
enterprise, among the borderers, both Anglo-Saxon and Aboriginal. [FN-2]
As an example of this description of correspondence, the following letter
is given--for the double purpose of showing the estimate placed upon the
character of Captain Brant by the great and good of that day, and of
embalming the name of one of the most devout and faithful pioneers of
Christianity that ever made the wilderness ring with the Gospel
trumpet--the Rev. Elkanah Holmes:

* * * * *

[FN-1] Mr. Phelps was ordained a Deacon in Trinity Church, in the city
of New-York, by Bishop Benjamin Moore, on Sunday, December 13, 1801. He
immediately returned to Canada, and entered upon the active duties of a
missionary, holding frequent services, and traveling far and wide in the
discharge of his duties. His residence then, and for several years
before, was upon his farm about three miles from Burlington Bay. Captain
Brant had repeatedly endeavored to induce him to accept a grant of land,
probably with a view to his residence with, or near him, at Grand River,
but without success--as the accumulation of wealth was not the desire of
Mr. Phelps. In 1803 he was ordained as a priest in St Peter's Church,
Albany, also by Bishop Moore. Thenceforward he entered upon the life of
a missionary in the western part of New-York, and in 1805 removed his
family from Upper Canada to Onondaga. He subsequently removed to Geneva,
where he died some years since.--_MS. Account of his life by Dr. Rudd._

[FN-2] Mr. Phelps had much intercourse with Captain Brant and his family.
When he preached in the vicinity of the family of Brant, that household
formed a part, and a very attentive part, of his audience.--_MS. of the
Rev. Dr. Rudd._

"Rev. John M. Mason, D. D., to Captain Brant.

"_New-York, June_ 16, 1801.

"Sir,

"The Directors of the New-York Missionary Society have instructed me to
tender you their acknowledgments for your friendship to their missionary,
the Rev. Elkanah Holmes. [FN] This gentleman, in whose discretion and
integrity they repose entire confidence, they have employed in a second
mission to those tribes of Indians whom your influence particularly
affects. The purity of their views, embracing the moral and religions
interests of the Indians, induces them to believe that their attempts will
not be unacceptable to you; and your former kindness to Mr. Holmes
emboldens them to ask for him such countenance and advice as your intimate
knowledge of Indian affairs, and the weight of your opinion in directing
them, render it expedient for you to give. For your farther satisfaction
with regard to the missionary system, Mr. Holmes will present you with a
volume containing the sermons preached before the Society, and the annual
accounts of their procedure; of which the directors do themselves the
pleasure to request your acceptance."

* * * * *

[FN] Mr. Holmes devoted many years to missionary labors among the
Indians, of whom he took his leave about the year 1812. He lived many
years afterward, and died at a very advanced age. Like Heckewelder, he
imbibed the most enthusiastic admiration of the Indian character in its
native unsophisticated state. In the course of his experience, however,
he arrived at the painful conclusion that it is all but impossible to
do any good to them while subject to the moral contagion of white men and
strong drink. His appearance in the latter years of his life was truly
patriarchal. His hair, long and white, fell down upon his shoulders; his
manner was remarkably impressive, and his whole demeanor that of one who
was ripe for heaven. He was a Calvinistic Baptist.

"With respect, I am, Sir,
Your obedient servant,
John M. Mason, _Secretary._

"_Captain Joseph Brant._"

The Chief was likewise in correspondence with the Rev. Samuel Miller of
New-York, now Doctor Miller, of Princeton, as appears by the following
letter:--

"Captain Brant to the Rev. Samuel Miller.

"_Grand River, Feb._ 9, 1801.

"Sir,

"I feel a particular satisfaction that I have now had an opportunity of
answering your letter by the Rev. Mr. Holmes. I have explained, as far as
in my power, the queries you have proposed. I hope you will excuse the
long delay I have made since I received your letter, and not altogether
attribute it to neglect or unwillingness to serve you; for I have myself
a strong inclination for searching into the antiquities of our nations and
others, but the multiplicity of business I have always had on hand, has
hitherto prevented me. Even now, what I have said on the subject is in
haste, and as brief as possible. Should it so happen that I might have it
in my power further to assist you, I shall do it with pleasure." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] It is a matter of no small regret that the author has not been able
to procure a copy of the letter referred to. At the time when the now
venerable Dr. Miller opened a correspondence with Brant, he was
projecting a _History of New-York,_ and was then collecting materials for
that object. Brant had also contemplated writing a history of _The Six
Nations;_ and it is quite probable that his reply to the queries of Doctor
Miller was both a valuable and a curious document. When Doctor Miller
removed from New-York to Princeton, in the year 1813, he was just
recovering from a fit of sickness, which disabled him from attending to
his papers. The consequence was, that owing to the carelessness of
others, his manuscripts and historical collections were greatly
scattered, and many of them irrecoverably lost. Among the latter were the
letters of Captain Brant, as the author has been informed by the Doctor
himself, in reply to a letter addressed to him. After stating the
circumstance attending the loss of his manuscripts, the Doctor
says--"after the most diligent search that I can make, I cannot find a
line of what I received from that remarkable man."

"I cannot omit acknowledging the satisfaction I feel from what the Rev.
Mr. Holmes has acquainted me with, respecting the generous intentions of
your society for diffusing religion and civilization among the Indian
nations in general. I would be happy to hear from you, how far your
society may propose to extend their goodness, with respect to the
education of Indian youths that might be well recommended to them. And
also, if they would be willing, and it might be consistent with their
constitution, to assist some Indians who have yet claims on lands in the
United States, such as the Nantikokes in Maryland, and the Munsees near
Minisink, who have requested me to make the application. The Rev. Mr.
Holmes can more particularly inform you on this subject."

Unfortunately the Mohawks, like all other primitive American nations with
whom the white people have come in contact, were lovers of rum, and
subject, of course, to the evils consequent upon that species of
debasement. The prevalence of this vice seems to have been viewed with
deep solicitude by Captain Brant, and a system of prevention early entered
into his views on commencing the labor of building up his nation anew. But
all experience has shown how futile are these attempts to keep the
fire-waters from the lips of the Indian, so long as unprincipled white men
are permitted to approach their borders with their alembics, or minister
the ready-made liquor to their burning appetites. In like manner were the
efforts of Captain Brant frustrated. In a letter to Sir John Johnson,
dated June 30th, 1800, in reference to this subject, he said:--"The
accidents which have happened in the drunken frolics here, have
principally proceeded from an opposition party to those chiefs who wished
to adopt some necessary regulations. Captain Clans seems very uneasy, and
wishes to take some steps to prevent those melancholy misfortunes. He
urges me to point out some mode in which it can be effected. In answer I
furnished him in writing with a detail of the plan, (of which I presume he
will send you a copy,) which was adopted when we first settled here, and
which could at that time have been carried into effect, but for the
insurmountable impediments thrown in the way by the government. I should
be glad of your opinion on this unfortunate subject."

It must be reckoned among the mysteries in the economy of Providence, that
women, of every age, and hue, and clime, are doomed to suffer more
severely from the effects of intemperance in the other sex than men. The
maddening poison of the intoxicating cup infuriates the stronger passions
of the men, and imparts fiend-like energy to their already superior
physical powers; and among savage as well as civilized men, those under
its diabolical influence often wreak their senseless violence upon the
least offending and the least capable of resistance. It was thus among the
Mohawks. At least nothing less can be inferred from the following
memoranda of proceedings upon this subject, among the papers of Captain
Brant:--

"On the 22d of May, 1802, the women assembled in council, to which they
called the chiefs. They then addressed them as follows:

"Uncles: Some time ago the women of this place spoke to you; but you did
not then answer them, as you considered their meeting not sufficient. Now,
a considerable number of those from below having met and consulted
together, join in sentiment, and lament as it were with tears in our eyes,
the many misfortunes caused by the use of spirituous liquors. We therefore
mutually request that you will use your endeavors to have it removed from
our neighborhood, that there may be none sold nigher to us than the
mountain. We flatter ourselves that this is in your power, and that you
will have compassion on our uneasiness, and exert yourselves to have it
done."

_Strings of Wampum._

How like woman! She discerned the cause of the evil she saw and felt: yet
she indulged no resentments--she complained not of her sufferings--but
mildly entreated that the cause might be removed. Thus, ever forward to
shield those she loved from temptation and danger, by her influence and
persuasions exerting might in her weakness, and rendering tho strong man
stronger by her anxious yet watchful guardianship of his virtue. But their
counsel did not end here. There had been domestic feuds and collisions
among their lords. The Seneca demagogue had sown dissensions between the
warriors and their chiefs, and the Mohawk women appeared also in their own
true and beneficent character of peace-makers. After the portion of their
address quoted above had been delivered, "some others," (says the
manuscript,) spoke thus:--

"Uncles: The division and separation of the warriors from the chiefs gives
us much uneasiness; we therefore entreat you, both chiefs and warriors,
that you will bury all dispute, that your affairs may go on with the usual
friendship and tranquility. As for our part, we have been, in a great
measure a principal cause in influencing our male relations; but we now
drop it, and promise to observe a quite different conduct, and we hope in
future that no reports shall be able to rekindle the fire of contention."

_Strings of Wampum._

The manner in which these rude females of the forest made their appeal,
might serve as a pattern of delicacy to many of the sex of loftier
pretensions. Nor was it without its effect upon the council of chiefs to
whom it was addressed. After adjourning a short time for consideration,
they returned, and Captain Brant delivered their reply to the following
purpose:--

"Nieces: We are fully convinced of the justice of your request; drinking
has caused the many misfortunes in this place, and has been, besides, a
great cause of the divisions, by the effect it has upon the people's
speech. We assure you, therefore, that we will use our endeavors to effect
what you desire. However, it depends in a great measure upon government,
as the distance you propose is within their line. We cannot therefore
absolutely promise that our request will be complied with."

_Strings._

"Nieces: With respect to your request to bury all differences, we heartily
comply with it, and thank you for the wisdom yon showed in here
interfering. It was the custom of our ancestors for the women, by their
moderation, to heal up all animosities. Be assured, therefore, that we
bury every thing disagreeable that may have happened hitherto; and in
future we shall be upon our guard against tales, and also saying anything
thoughtlessly ourselves; we only regret that the warriors are not here
present, to concur with us in re-establishing unity and amity."

_Strings._

If the proceedings of this female council appear rather too episodical for
direct historical narrative, they are nevertheless illustrations of Indian
manners and character. It is, moreover, a satisfaction thus to secure from
oblivion, and preserve, a document bearing beautiful testimony, that even
in a barbarous state of society, women are still found foremost in the
conservation of virtue, and as persevering peace-makers in the midst of
anarchy and strife. And besides, the females of no other race have had so
little justice done to their character as those of the American Indian.
While the women of every other people have been apotheosized, even down to
the ebon daughter of Africa who moistened the parched lips of Mungo Park;
who has ever rendered the just meed of homage to the patient,
unostentatious virtues, and the noble qualities, of the tawny daughters of
the American forest, save in the case of Pocahontas?

The reader has already seen that the religious tenets of Captain Brant
were Episcopalian. It came not within the requisitions of his creed,
therefore, even had policy been out of the question, to discountenance the
games and amusements of his people. On the contrary, he loved to encourage
their pastimes and divertisements, and by so doing, gave evidence of his
wisdom. Indeed, it may well be doubted whether, in this respect, the
ancients, and all uncivilized nations, have not been wiser in their
generations than the modern Anglo-Saxons and their American children.
Relaxation of mind and body is necessary alike to the health and
elasticity of both. When the Puritans of New England banished the merry
Christmas festival of Old England, they soon saw the necessity of creating
a substitute, which was found in the feast of Thanksgiving. Still, the
people of the United States have ever been so thoroughly utilitarian in
the use of their hours, as really to deny themselves time for a suitable
indulgence in rational amusements. Thus the harvest-home is forgotten; the
rustic gambols of Christmas are almost unknown; no joyous groups dance
around the Maypole, or twine the garland for the brow of its queen. The
Americans have no seasons for reinvigorating their systems by wholesome
athletic exercises, or dispelling care by rural sports among flowers, and
groves, and fountains. The native sports of the Indians are less refined
and poetical than were the pastimes and festivals of the Greeks and
Romans; but they doubtless contribute as much to the enjoyment of the
people, while they are no less rational, and are marked by a high degree
of moral purity.

The neglect of athletic exercises, and games, by the white people,
moreover, works positive injury. Contrast the tall, erect posture, the
elastic tread of the Indian, with the plodding pace and inclining gait of
the white man! Is it not obvious that the difference is attributable to
the difference of physical training? The white laborer is generally worked
too hard when young. His labors, whether in the field or the work-shop,
are invariably such as to draw the body forward, while there is no
exercise allowed the antagonistic muscles--those which sustain the body
in an upright position. The consequence is, that while the Indian indulges
in those sports which expand the chest, and throw back the shoulders, and
impart agility and grace to the movements of the limbs, the white man,
instead of looking upward to the heavens, is bowed down to the posture of
the brute creation.

Among other amusements, in addition to their own native sports of running,
wrestling, and leaping [FN]--their dances and songs--their sacrifices, and
other festivals of war and of thanksgiving--the Six Nations had adopted
from the whites the popular game of ball, or cricket. Indeed, so much
attached were they to this manly exercise, that the game had become
national throughout the Confederacy; and it was no uncommon thing for one
nation to challenge another to play a match--upon a much larger scale,
beyond doubt, than was ever practised among the pale-faces.

* * * * *

[FN] Mary Jemison states that these athletic games and exercises were
practised, not only that their bodies might become more supple, or rather
that they might not become enervated, but that they might be enabled to
make proper selection of chiefs for the councils of the nation and
leaders for war.

A game of this kind was commenced on one occasion, in the year 1794,
between the young Mohawks and Senecas, which was well nigh attended with
fatal consequences. The Mohawks were the challengers. After the game had
proceeded for a considerable time, one of the Mohawks, in a struggle with
a Seneca for a stroke at the ball, struck his antagonist a sharp blow with
his bat. The occurrence having been observed by the players, the Senecas
dropped their bats instantly, to a man, and retired to their posts with
silent, though evident resentment. Without speaking a word, but with
bosoms heaving with indignation, they took up the stakes they had
deposited, and retired to their own country, on the upper waters of the
Genesee, toward the northern spur of the Alleghenies. About three weeks
subsequent to the occurrence, a Seneca messenger arrived at the Mohawk
village, dispatched thither by Red Jacket, the Corn-planter, and others,
complaining of the insult, demanding satisfaction for the affront, and
denouncing war in case of refusal. The Mohawks, feeling that they were in
the wrong, were somewhat troubled at the message. Brant convened a council
of his chiefs, and after consultation, a message was returned to the
Senecas, proposing an amicable meeting of the chiefs of both nations, to
confer upon the subject matter of complaint, with a view of healing the
wound by compromise and explanation, and of course without bloodshed. The
Senecas, anxious to avoid hostilities against a nation with which they had
been in alliance so long, acceded to the pacific proposition, and a joint
council was the consequence. Red Jacket, however, did all he could to
prevent a reconciliation. He delivered an inflammatory speech, laboring
with all his art and eloquence to aggravate the insult, and urging his
nation to avenge the insult by an appeal to arms. But Captain O'Bail, and
some others of the older Seneca chiefs, were for the adoption of a more
conciliatory course. They were little moved by the exciting philippic of
Red Jacket, and desired nothing more of the Mohawks than a reasonable and
honorable atonement for the wrong done to their young warrior by the party
offending. The proposition was met with equal magnanimity on the part of
the Mohawks, and the result of the council was an adjustment of the
difficulty. The calumet was smoked, and the chiefs--all save the
disappointed demagogue, Red Jacket--separated upon the most amicable
terms. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Notes of a visit to Captain Brant, and of conversations with him,
by Samuel Woodruff, Esq. of Windsor, Con.

Three years afterward, in the Summer of 1797, another match of cricket was
played between the two nations. The Senecas were this time the
challengers, but the game was played at the Mohawk village, on the Grand
River, and was commenced during the visit of the gentleman to whom Captain
Brant had related the particulars of the foregoing unpleasant occurrence.
It was, in fact, the conversation naturally flowing from the pending match
that led the Chief to speak of the incidents connected with the former.
The playing was to commence at 9 o'clock in the morning, and the
invitation of Captain Brant to see the amusement, was accepted by his
guest.

The place selected for the trial of strength, agility, and skill, was a
broad and beautiful green, of perhaps one hundred acres, perfectly level,
and smooth as a carpet, without tree or shrub, or stone to encumber it.
On one side of the green the Senecas had collected in a sort of irregular
encampment--men, women, and children--to the number of more than a
thousand. On the other side the Mohawks were actively assembling in yet
greater numbers. The stakes deposited by each party were laid upon the
ground in heaps, consisting of rifles, hatchets, swords, belts, knives,
blankets, wampum, watches, beads, broaches, furs, and a variety of other
articles of Indian utility and taste--amounting, in the whole, according
to the estimate of Captain Brant, to upward of a thousand dollars a side.
By the side of the stakes were seated a group of the aged Chiefs--"grave
and reverend seigniors," whose beards had been silvered by the frosts of
many winters, and whose visages gave evidence of the toils of war and the
chase.

The combatants numbered about six hundred upon a side, young and
middle-aged men--nimble of foot, athletic and muscular. Their countenances
beamed with animation and high hope. In order to the free and unfettered
use of their sinewy limbs, their persons were naked with the exception of
a single garment like an apron, or kilt, fastened around the waist, and
descending nearly to the knee. The area of the play-ground was designated
by two pair of "byes," placed at about thirty rods distant from each
other, and the goals of each pair about thirty feet apart. The combatants
ranged themselves in parallel lines on each side of the area, facing
inward, and leaving a space between them of about ten rods in breadth.
Their bats were three feet six inches in length, curved at the lower end
somewhat in the form of a ladle, the broad part for striking the ball
being formed of net-work, woven of thongs of untanned deer-skin, strained
to the tension of tight elasticity. The ball, large as a middling-sized
apple, was also composed of elastic materials.

On one side of the area, near the centre of the line, and in a conspicuous
place, were seated a body of elderly sachems, of each nation, with knives
and tally-sticks, to score the game. The rules governing the game were
somewhat intricate. None of the players were allowed to touch the ball
with hand or foot, until driven beyond the "byes" or land-marks. It was
then thrown back by hand toward or into the centre of the area, when the
game proceeded as before. Their mode of counting the game was peculiar,
the tallies-men not being in all cases bound by arbitrary rules, but left
to the exercise of a certain degree of discretionary power. Each passage
of the ball between the goals, at the end of the play-ground, counted one,
so long as the contest was nearly equal; but, for the purpose of
protracting the game, whenever one party became considerably in advance of
the other, the tally-chiefs were allowed to check or curtail their count
in proportion to the excess. For instance, if the leading party had run up
a regular count to thirty, while their opponents had numbered but fifteen,
the tallies-men, at their discretion, and by consent of each other, though
unknown to the players, would credit the winning party with only two
notches for three passages of the ball--varying from time to time,
according to the state of the game. The object of this course was to
protract the game, and to increase the amusement, while despondency upon
either side was prevented, and the chance of ultimate victory increased.
Frequently, by this discretionary mode of counting, the game was continued
three or four days.

The game on this occasion was commenced by about sixty players on a side,
who advanced from their respective lines with bats in their hands, into
the centre of the play-ground. Of this number about twenty were stationed
at the end land-marks, to guard the passage of the ball. The players who
were to begin, were apparently mingled promiscuously together. All things
being thus ready, a beautiful maiden, richly dressed in the native costume
of her people, wearing a red tiara plumed with eagles' feathers, and
glittering with bracelets and other ornaments of silver, came bounding
like a gazelle into the area, with the ball, which she placed upon the
ground in the centre. Instantly the welkin rang with the shouts of the
whole multitude of spectators, and the play began; while the bright-eyed
maiden danced back, and joined her own circle among the surrounding
throng. The match was begun by two of the opposing players, who advanced
to the ball, and with their united bats raised it from the ground to such
an elevation as gave a chance for a fair stroke; when, quick as lightning,
it was sped through the air almost with the swiftness of a bullet. Much
depends upon the first stroke, and great skill is exerted to obtain it.

The match was played with great spirit, and the display of agility and
muscular strength was surprising. Every nerve was strung; and so great
were the exertions of the players, that each set was relieved by fresh
hands every fifteen or twenty minutes; thus alternating, and allowing
every player of the whole number to perform his part, until the game was
finished. The scene was full of excitement and animation. The principal
Chief entered fully into the enjoyment, and by his explanations to his
guest heightened its interest, which of itself, the latter declared to
have afforded him a greater degree of satisfaction than any game or
pastime that he had ever beheld. The contest was continued three days, at
the end of which, after a severe struggle, the Senecas were proclaimed the
victors, sweeping the stakes, to the great mortification of the
proud-spirited Mohawks--the head of the Confederacy.

Mr. Woodruff, from whose notes the preceding description has been derived,
was highly gratified with his visit to the Chief, with whom he passed
several days. In his person he said he was graceful and dignified--easy
and affable in conversation. His stature was five feet eleven inches--of
the finest form and proportions--robust and firm, and possessing great
muscular power. His countenance was open, placid, and inviting--his eyes
brilliant and expressive--in short, every thing in relation to his person
was engaging and prepossessing.

No people are more particular in paying honors to the dead than the
Indians, and their funerals are marked with deep and affecting solemnity.
As among civilized nations, the pomp and pageantry of woe vary according
to the rank of the deceased and the wealth of the family, or the ability
and disposition of friends to defray the expenses of the funeral, the
entertainment at the grave, and the presents to be distributed. But,
however humble the deceased, the remains are never unhonored or unwept;
and among no people on earth are stronger evidences given of tender
affection. Nor are funeral honors bestowed only upon the men. There is a
mistaken idea generally prevalent, that the Indian woman is treated with
contempt, arising from the well-known fact, that certain offices and
labors, accounted as menial among the whites, or as improper to be imposed
upon women, are always performed by them among the Indians. But the
allotment of those duties to the women has arisen from their usages, and
the peculiar structure of their society, time immemorial. Nor is the
custom any evidence of disrespect or contumely. On the contrary, it may be
doubted whether the females of the white people, even among nations of the
most refinement, exercise a higher or more salutary degree of influence,
than do the Indian women. Nor, when dead, are they treated with less
respect than the warriors. "The greatest honors are paid to the remains of
the wives of renowned warriors and veteran chiefs, particularly if they
were descended themselves of a high family, which is by no means an
indifferent thing among the Indians, who love to honor the merit of their
great men in the persons of their relatives." [FN] The funerals of chiefs
and warriors, and of distinguished women, were attended by the heads of
the tribe, and all the people, and their ceremonies were highly
impressive. On the opening of all their councils, a ceremony of
condolence was performed, and an appropriate speech delivered, in memory
of those who had died, or been slain on the war-path, since their last
meeting. These ceremonies were solemn, and their speeches often full of
simplicity, tenderness, and pathos. Among the papers of Sir William
Johnson is a manuscript of a speech of condolence, delivered at the
opening of a council in 1761, by Seneca George, a few passages of which
may be cited as an example:--

* * * * *

[FN] Heckewelder.

"Brothers: We suppose that in the late troubles you may have lost many of
your people, either by sickness or war, since we were last together; by
this string, therefore, we wipe away the tears from your eyes, clear your
throats, wash away the blood from your bodies, sweep the council chamber,
and throw the dirt out of doors, that you may see and speak to us clearly
at the present conference."

[_A String._]

"Brothers: We are sorry, from the bottom of our hearts for the death of
your men, women, and children, and by this belt we collect all their bones
together, bury them in one grave, and cover them up."

[_A black belt, eight rows, streaked with white._]

"Brothers: We are at great loss, and sit in darkness as well as you, by
the death of Conrad Weiser, [FN] as, since his death, we cannot so well
understand one another. By this belt we cover his body with bark."

[_A white belt of seven rows, with four black streaks._]

* * * * *

[FN] Celebrated in the Indian Annals, for many years, as an interpreter.

"Brothers: By the last belt, I mentioned to you that we both sat in
darkness. Now, by this belt I remove the clouds from before the sun, that
we may see it rise and set, and that your hearts may be eased from sorrow
on account of what I mentioned before. [_Delivered a white belt of five
rows, with three black bars._] We pray the Great God above, who can
enlighten our hearts, that we may live in love and peace until death."

From the manuscripts of Captain Brant, it seems frequently to have been
his duty to perform the ceremony of condolence, and he sometimes speaks of
making a journey to a considerable distance for that sole purpose. Only
one of his speeches, however, on such an occasion, remains among his
papers. That was delivered in the name of the Five Nations, on the 24th of
February, 1801, at Fort George, (Niagara,) on the death of Mrs. Claus,
[FN] the mother of the Deputy Superintendent:--

* * * * *

[FN] Daughter of Sir William Johnson.

"Speech of Condolence to Captain Claus.

"Brother: We are here now met in the presence of the Spirit above, with
intent to keep up the ancient custom of condolement. We therefore condole
with you for your late loss of our well-beloved sister, whom now you have
interred.

"Brother: We hope that this may not damp your heart so much as to make
you forget us, who are your brothers--not only ourselves, but our wives
and children.

"Brother: We say now again, that by our late loss, it seems our fire is
somewhat extinguished. But we have now found a few brands remaining, and
have collected them together, and have raised a straight smoke to the
clouds.

"Brother: We therefore with this string of wampum wipe away the tears from
your eyes, and would take away all sorrow from your heart. But that is
impossible: still, it is the customary way of making the speech. We
therefore mention it: and with the said wampum we wipe away all stains of
whatever should remain on your seat, so that you may sit down in comfort.

"Brother: We say again with this string of wampum, as you seem to be all
in darkness, we with the same string enlighten the skies above us, so that
it may appear to us all as it formerly used to do.

"Brother: We say again with this string of wampum, as we have now made our
speech of condolement, we hope to raise you upon your feet, as you
formerly used to be; for since our late loss, it seems you have been
confined as one absent." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Captain Claus had been so much affected by the death of his mother,
as to be confined to his room; and although he met the Chiefs in council
on this occasion, he was unable to reply---but sent his speech afterward
in writing.

"Brother: We hope you will not forget our calamities--hoping that this
shock may not put us out of your memory entirely--and also that you may
continue to help us, as you formerly used to do.

"Brother: This last string which now I give you, is given by the whole Six
Nations, so as to strengthen your mind and body--that you may not be too
much cast down by the occasion of our late loss."

An address was likewise transmitted to the council from the women, which
was delivered by a sachem called Old Thomas; but a copy has not been
preserved. Only the last half sheet of Captain Claus's reply is now to be
found. The conclusion was this:--

". . . She was good, and was a friend to you all, as far as she had it in
her power, by speaking in your favor always. But was I to continue, I
should again bring to my memory her great love for me, and fill my eyes
and heart again, so that I could not attend to your affairs. Accept my
grateful thanks for your condolence, and allow me to look upon you as my
friends--wishing you, and all belonging to you, health and all happiness.

"Brothers, I now address myself again to you. As the business is now over,
and you will be turning your faces toward home, I pray to the Great Spirit
that he will make your road smooth, and leave no obstacle in the way, that
will either hurt or stop you; but that you may get safe home, and meet
your friends all well; whom I beg you will salute for me. I shall always
be happy to be numbered among your friends."

In private life, the character of Brant was estimable, and in the social
circle often very agreeable. The testimony of the Baroness De Reidesel,
who met him at the castle at Quebec, has already been cited in a former
chapter. During the portion of his life now under review, being the last
twelve years, he had many journies to perform,--to the lower province to
look after the interests of his own immediate people; to the upper lakes,
to keep the chain of friendship with his old confederates from becoming
rusty; and to Canandaigua, and elsewhere, to visit his friends, and upon
matters of business. In addition to all these, early in the year 1797 he
made another visit to Albany and Philadelphia, striking from New-York
into New England on his return. [FN] Judging from the tone of a letter
which he wrote after his arrival home, to a friend among the upper Indian
nations, he must have encountered some unpleasant circumstances during
that journey. It was not, however, entirely divested of agreeable
associations; and several incidents have been collected by the author,
which will serve as better illustrations of his social character than any
other in the entire history of his career. An extract from the letter
just referred to follows:--

* * * * *

[FN] His quarters in the city of New-York, daring that visit, were at
Batton's Hotel, the old brick edifice yet standing on the south corner of
Nassau and John streets. The Hon. Jeromus Johnson, of New-York, has
furnished the author with an account of a visit made by him to the Chief
in that hotel, in company with Dr. Dinglej and the celebrated Dr.
Priestley. See Appendix, No. XVI.

"_Grand River, July_ 2, 1797,

"Dear Sir,

"It is some time since I received your letter, and I have already answered
it by way of Fort Erie; but I did not in it mention the particulars of my
jaunt to the States. In the first place, I met with a very cool reception,
insomuch that I did not see any of the great men at Philadelphia. I
suppose, by this, that they must have forgot that I was a Yankee when I
was there before, and also at the last meeting we had at the foot of the
Rapids, when it was reported among you, gentlemen of the Indian
department, that I was favoring the Yankee interest. I expected they might
have paid a little more attention to me, after the great service you
supposed I had done them. I was greatly insulted on the road between
Philadelphia and Jersey, by a Yankee colonel whose name I don't recollect,
insomuch that the affair was nearly coming to blows. At New-York they were
very friendly, and likewise in Connecticut, (in New England,) they were
very civil. At Albany there were several people who threatened to kill me
behind my back; so that the great men there thought it necessary to send
a man with me, as a protector, to the end of the settlement at German
Flats. I suppose these people have also forgot that I was a Yankee."

By the term "great men at Philadelphia," the old Chief must have meant the
heads of the administration, since he was most hospitably entertained by
some distinguished gentlemen then at the seat of government. The
attentions which he received from "the great men at Philadelphia," five
years before, were bestowed under peculiar circumstances. He was there at
that time in a semi-official capacity, and at the urgent solicitation of
the government itself; and it was the duty of the government to render all
those civilities which might contribute to the pleasure of his visit. The
government, moreover, were hoping that important results might flow from
that visit, and very marked attentions were the natural consequence. It
is, indeed, too much the way of the world--especially of courts, whether
republican or monarchical--to caress and flatter where they have a purpose
to serve, as in turn the great are caressed and flattered by those hanging
upon their favors. But, under the circumstances of this second visit of
the Mohawk, divested, as it was, altogether of official character and
importance, his expectations of particular official attentions were
probably unreasonable. He had seen far too much of the world, and had
mingled too much in society of all ranks and conditions, yet to retain the
simplicity of unsophisticated nature, and he might therefore have
understood his altered position, and spared his sarcasm. Certainly, though
he might not have breathed the air of the court, or been shouldered by the
factious bandyings of its favorites, he was treated with marked attention
by gentlemen at that time of high distinction, and his society much
courted. Among others, the late Colonel Burr, then a Senator in Congress,
gave him a brilliant dinner party. The Senator had previously been in
correspondence with the Chief, and liked him much. Indeed, it was upon the
Colonel's invitation that he visited Philadelphia at that time. Among the
guests from abroad assembled on that occasion, were the minister of the
French Republic; Volney the traveler; Talleyrand, and other distinguished
gentlemen of that nation, brought hither by the political troubles of
their own country. Knowing his colloquial powers to be very good, and that
he had the faculty of rendering himself not only agreeable but fascinating
in conversation, the Colonel and his friends were somewhat disappointed,
in the earlier stages of the entertainment, at the Chieftain's
taciturnity. All the cold reserve of his race seemed to have come over
him, and for a while every effort to draw him out in discourse was
ineffectual. Meantime the Indians, their character, history, and destiny,
became the leading topics of conversation. At length, after various
suggestions had been made as to the most feasible and effectual methods of
their civilization, Brant suddenly joined in the discussion; treating the
subject with good sense, but with alternate gravity and humor. He avowed
it as his settled conviction, however, that the only effectual process of
civilizing his people, must be their amalgamation with the blood of the
whites; that the Indian could only be tamed by intermarriages.
Occasionally during his own participation in this discussion, there was a
drollery in his manner that created great amusement. During the residue
of the evening he contributed his full share to the conversation,
exhibiting at all times sterling good sense, and enlivening the hours with
sallies of pleasantry and wit which "set the table in a roar." The result
was not only an agreeable, but highly intellectual entertainment. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Conversations of the author with Colonel Burr, noted down on the day
they were held.

On leaving Philadelphia for New-York, Colonel Burr gave the Chief the
following letter of introduction to his youthful and gifted daughter
Theodosia [FN]--afterward Mrs. Alston:--

* * * * *

[FN] Miss Burr was then in her fourteenth year.

"Colonel Burr to his Daughter.

"_Philadelphia, Feb._ 28, 1797.

"This will be handed to you by Colonel Brant, the celebrated Indian Chief.
I am sure that you and Natalie [FN] will be happy in the opportunity of
seeing a man so much renowned. He is a man of education--speaks and writes
the English perfectly--and has seen much of Europe and America. Receive
him with respect and hospitality. He is not one of those Indians who drink
rum, but is quite a gentleman; not one who will make you fine bows, but
one who understands and practices what belongs to propriety and good
breeding. He has daughters--it you could think of some little present to
send to one of them--a pair of ear-rings, for example,--it would please
him. You may talk to him very freely, and offer to introduce him to your
friend Mr. Witbeck, at Albany. Vale, et ama,

"A.B.

"Miss Theodosia Burr,
_No. 30 Partition-street, New-York._"

* * * * *

[FN] Natalie Delagie, an adopted child of Colonel Burr, born in France,
and Subsequently married to a son of General Bumpier, of South Carolina.

Miss Theodosia received the forest Chief with all the courtesy and
hospitality suggested; and, young as she was, she performed the honors of
her father's house in a manner that must have been as gratifying to her
absent parent as it was creditable to herself. Among other attentions, she
gave him a dinner party selecting for her guests some of the most eminent
gentlemen in the city, among whom were Bishop Moore and Doctors Bard and
Hosack. In writing to her father upon the subject, she gave a long and
sprightly account of the entertainment. She said that, in making the
preliminary arrangements she had been somewhat at a loss in the selection
of such dishes as would probably suit the palate of her principal guest.
Being a savage warrior, and in view of the many tales she had heard, of

The Cannibals that each other eat,
The anthropophagi, and men whose heads
Do grow beneath their shoulders--

she added, sportively, that she had a mind to lay the hospital under
contribution for a human head, to be served up like a boar's head in
ancient hall barberic. But, after all, she found him a most Christian and
civilized guest in his manners. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Conversations of the author with Colonel Burr. The Colonel was
anxious that this letter from his daughter should be found among his
papers; but Mr. Davis, his biographer, after diligent search, has not
discovered it--nor has he been able to find the correspondence between
Brant and Colonel Burr. By the papers of Captain Brant, it appears that
Miss Burr visited him at Grand River, after she became Mrs. Alston, in
company with her husband. Seeing that when the Chief saw her in New-York
"she was very young, and had since assumed a new name," Governor George
Clinton gave the young married couple a cordial letter of introduction to
the Chief.

It has been seen from his own letter, that the Chief was well pleased
during his visit in New-York. He had, indeed, reason to be gratified, for
he was treated with marked kindness and consideration. His own deportment
was, moreover, such as to secure the respect and esteem of those with whom
he came into association. The Rev. Dr. Miller, who became acquainted with
him during that visit, in a letter to the author already referred to in a
note, thus speaks of him:--"I have called Joseph Brant 'a remarkable man.'
He was, in my opinion, truly so. My personal intercourse with him was not
considerable; but it was quite sufficient to impress me with most
respectful sentiments of his intellectual character, his personal dignity,
and his capacity to appear well in any society. I met with him
repeatedly;--was with him at a dining party--and listened to his
conversation in various situations--some of them rather trying; and was
surprised at the simple, easy, polished, and even court-like manners which
he was capable of assuming; though, at the same time, I was assured that
he was capable of being as great a savage as any individual of his nation.
I remember, on one occasion, that when some very impertinent and
unseasonable questions were addressed to him by a gentleman who ought to
have known better, he evaded them with perfect civility, and at the same
time with an adroitness and address which showed that he was fitted to be
no mean diplomatist."

Another gentleman, whose opportunities of studying the manners and
character of Captain Brant were extended through several years of
occasional intercourse with him, remarks:--"His manners, which were
greatly improved, if not formed, by a constant intercourse, not only with
the best society in the province, but also in England--which he visited
more than once, and was there received and caressed in the families of the
nobility and gentry--were remarkably easy and dignified. When among
strangers, or in mixed company, he was reserved and taciturn; but
extremely affable and communicative when with friends in whom he could
confide. Although not particularly distinguished as a public speaker, he
was a man of strong mind, possessed a voice of surpassing softness and
melody, a fascinating address, and great colloquial powers, which rendered
him a most interesting companion. He lived in the style of a gentleman,
and was punctilious in the observance of the rules of honor and etiquette
practised among individuals of that caste in their social relations." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Letter to the author, from General Peter B. Porter.

From New-York, the Chief made a trip through Connecticut and into
Massachusetts, in the course of which he was well received, as appears
from his own letter. At Northampton he purchased an elegant horse, which,
greatly to his regret, sickened and died in Albany. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] My venerable friend Douw Fonda, now of Albany, says Brant was an
excellent horseman, and remarkably fond of fine horses. After the death
of his Northampton horse he purchased another in Albany, to pay for
which Mr. Fonda loaned Him the money. The note for the amount was
promptly met at maturity.--_Author._

It was during this visit in Albany, that he was again exposed to some
danger, by threats against his life. The sufferers of the Mohawk Valley
had neither forgotten nor forgiven the ravagers of their country in the
Revolutionary war; and "the monster Brant" was still held responsible for
every act, either of barbarity, or of death, or devastation, by the wonted
usages of war. The Mohawk Germans of that day were neither educated nor
discriminating; and knowing that Brant was the great leader of the
Indians, they attributed every torch that had been applied, and every
butchery committed, to his own single hand. Hence, as has been stated
before, it was notoriously the purpose of many in the valley to take his
life if possible, during some of his transits through that country. And it
is not unlikely that some persons from the valley might have been watching
for an opportunity to accomplish the purpose in Albany, as had been
desired by a Mohawk German in New-York, during his visit in 1792.

Added to these unpleasant designs, was an incident coming somewhat nearer
to the point of action, which is worth recording as an illustration both
of history and character. In the account of the ravaging of Cherry Valley,
the reader will doubtless recollect the massacre of the entire family of
Mr. Wells, with the exception of John, then a lad at school in
Schenectady. But that lad was now a member of the bar, of high spirit and
uncommon promise. The tragedy by which his whole family had been cut off,
had imparted a shade of melancholy to his character, deepening with the
lapse of time, and descending with him to the grave. Nineteen years had
elapsed since it was enacted; but there was a feeling in the breast of
young Wells, which only wanted awakening by opportunity, to prompt a
strong desire of avenging the foul murders. He happened to be in Albany
during the visit of the Chief, and erroneously looking upon him as the
author of the murders, his feelings by proximity became exceedingly bitter
and exasperated. Indeed, he could not restrain his desire of revenge; and
hastening to the tavern at which Brant had put up, he inquired furiously
where he should find his enemy--declaring that he would slay him on the
spot. Of course his friends remonstrated, and otherwise opposed his
purpose; but it was not without difficulty that he was persuaded to
forego it. Brant, hearing the disturbance, asked what caused it; and was
told that a young man, whose father had perished at Cherry Valley, was
below, and threatening to take his life. His answer was brief, and given
with a remarkably fine assumption of dignity and composure. Not a feature
changed--not a muscle of his countenance was seen to move--but, slightly
drawing himself up as he sat, and his eyes glittering for an instant more
keenly, even than was their wont, he said, calmly and quietly, "Let him
come on;" and nothing more escaped him on the subject, until word was
brought that Mr. Wells had left the house. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] The particulars of this incident have been derived from William
Inman, Esq. now of Leyden, N. Y. who was at the hotel at the time of its
occurrence.

It was in consequence of these unpleasant indications that Governor Jay
directed a guard to accompany him through the Mohawk Valley on his return
to Upper Canada. But, notwithstanding these drawbacks to the pleasure of
his visit in Albany, there were circumstances and incidents contributing
to render it otherwise than disagreeable on the whole. He was hospitably
received and entertained by some of the most respectable citizens; and
during that and a subsequent visit, made to Albany in 1805 or 1806, had
opportunities of meeting at the festive board some of the veteran officers
of the American army, whom he had met in the field, or rather in the
forest fights of the frontiers; on which occasions, with the best feelings
possible, the old soldiers "fought their battles o'er again," as old
soldiers are wont to do. Dining with General Gansevoort, the hero of Fort
Stanwix, their conversation turned upon the memorable campaign of
Sullivan, and the march of Gansevoort with his regiment at the close of
that campaign, through the wilderness from Seneca Lake to Fort Schuyler.
Although Gansevoort had no idea that Brant was nearer to him than Niagara,
Brant assured him that he was hovering about him during the whole march;
and was so near that, to use his own words, "I roasted my venison by the
fires that you left." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Conversations of the author with Gen. Peter Gansevoort, of Albany,
who was present at the dinner, though a lad at the time.

He also met, on one of these occasions, with the late General Philip Van
Courtlandt, who had served in the New-York line, and who was one of the
expedition of Sullivan and Clinton to Chemung, and thence into the Seneca
country. While conversing upon the subject of the battle at Newtown,
Brant inquired--"General, while you were standing by a large tree during
that battle, how near to your head did a bullet come, which struck a
little above you?" The General paused for a moment, and replied--"about
two inches above my hat." The Chief then related the circumstances. "I had
remarked your activity in the battle," said he, "and calling one of my
best marksmen, pointed you out, and directed him to bring you down. He
fired, and I saw you dodge your head at the instant I supposed the ball
would strike. But as you did not fall, I told my warrior that he had just
missed you, and lodged the ball in the tree."

Another incident may be introduced in this connexion, illustrative at once
of his sagacity, his strong sense of justice, and his promptness of
decision and execution. Among the border settlers west of the Hudson,
opposite the Manor of Livingston, was an opulent farmer named Rose. He was
an Irishman; and having no child to inherit his wealth, had sent to the
Emerald Isle for a nephew, whom he had adopted. In one of Brant's hostile
incursions upon the settlements, during the war of the Revolution, Rose
and his nephew, with others, were taken prisoners, and marched in the
direction of Niagara. During the journey, Brant took Rose aside one
morning, and admonished him not to move far away from himself (Brant,) but
at all times on their march to keep within call. "I have reason to
believe," said the Chief, "that that nephew of yours is plotting your
death. He is endeavoring to bribe one of my Indians to kill you. I shall
keep an eye upon them, and if I find my suspicions true, I will execute
him on the spot." The caution was observed by Rose, and no long time
elapsed before Brant informed him that his suspicions were well-founded.
The nephew, for the purpose of an earlier possession of his confiding
uncle's estate, had agreed upon the price of his murder with the savage
who was to do the deed. Having full evidence of the fact, the stern
purpose of the Chief was executed upon the ingrate by his own hand, and
the life of the uncle was saved. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Conversations of the author with General Morgan Lewis, of whose
family connexions Rose had purchased his land.

His notions on the subject of public wars were founded, however, upon
those of a savage. The reader has already seen that he was perfectly aware
of the detestation in which his name was held in different parts of the
United States, and particularly among the inhabitants of the Mohawk and
Susquehanna countries, where some of the most revolting scenes of savage,
Tory, and Indian barbarity were perpetrated during the war of the
Revolution, in which he bore so prominent a part; and he always seemed
particularly anxious to justify, by frank and gratuitous explanations to
those who received him as friends--for he was too proud to make
explanations to his enemies--the course he had taken in the commencement
and conduct of that war; and his plausible statements and reasonings were
well calculated to lessen the horror and execration with which the public
have been too prone to regard the Indian character, in consequence of
their atrocities in war.

The Indians, he said, engaged in that contest reluctantly, but from
necessity. At the period of its commencement, the Americans, he said, as
well as they, acknowledged the authority of the British government, and
were living under its protection; that none of the inducements which led
the colonies to revolt had any place with them, and that they fought
against the colonies to protect their women and children, and to preserve
the lands which God had given to them, and of which the British
authorities threatened to deprive them unless they would join in their
defence; and it is apprehended that stronger or better reasons for going
to war will rarely be found, even among civilized nations.

In justification of the savages' practices of Indian warfare, his course
of reasoning was somewhat like the following: That the object of each
party, when engaged in war, was to destroy his enemy, or to weaken and
intimidate him so much as to force him into a reasonable peace. The
Indians, he said, were destitute of many of the means and implements of
war which the white people possessed. They could not successfully contend
with them in the open field, man to man, because they had no artillery, so
indispensable to, and so destructive in, a field fight. Besides, if they
could, the Indians being generally inferior in numerical force to their
white enemies, would soon be subdued by an equal sacrifice of man for man;
that the Indians had no forts to resort to for protection after a
discomfiture in the field; no battering trains to dislodge the enemy after
they had retired to theirs; and no depots or jails for securing the
prisoners they might capture. The simple and necessary principle,
therefore, of Indian warfare, was extermination--to destroy as many of the
enemy, and save as many of themselves, as practicable; and for this
purpose, to resort to ambuscades, stratagems, and every species of
deception, direct or indirect, to effect their object. Brant justified
taking the lives of prisoners, but disapproved the practice, so common
among savages, of torturing them; and he always maintained that he had
himself at different times, by great efforts, saved several, not only from
torture, but death. As to taking life, he thought (and with some truth,)
that in this respect there was but little practical difference between the
red and white men; for the death of an Indian prisoner was as certain a
consequence of his capture, as that of a white man taken by the Indians.
[FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Conversations of Brant with General Peter B. Porter.

CHAPTER XV.

Domestic relations of Brant--Account of his family--Bad character of his
eldest son--his death by the hand of his father--Condolence of the
Chiefs--Grief of the father at the event--Anxiety for the education of
his sons--Proposed memorial to the Duke of Portland--Letter of Brant to
Colonel Smith--Correspondence with the Wheelock family--Letter from
Brant to James Wheelock--Two of his sons sent to school at
Plymouth--Various letters from and to the Wheelocks--Correspondence upon
other subjects--Reply to the question, whether the Indians have
beards--Letter from Bishop Peters--Views of Brant on imprisonment for
debt--Tumuli--Opinion of Brant touching their origin--Indian tradition
of white settlements cut off in a single night--Investigations of Samuel
Woodruff---Brant's inquiries in Paris--The discoveries of the
Northmen--Review of the life and character of Brant--His death.

The life and character of the Mohawk Chief in his domestic relations,
remain to be considered. These have never been accurately illustrated or
understood; or rather, they have been greatly misrepresented and
misunderstood, from the circumstance of a severe family affliction, the
particulars of which have never been truly set before the public. Those
even partially acquainted with the domestic history of Brant will readily
perceive that reference is here made to the death of one of his sons by
his own hands. Several accounts of this unfortunate transaction have been
published by travelers, missionaries, and others, but most of them darkly
shaded, and reflecting in a greater or less degree upon the father. In the
preparation of material for the present work, great efforts have been made
to arrive at the truth in regard to this painful incident.

Captain Brant, it will be recollected, was thrice married. By his first
wife, the daughter of an Oneida Chief, he had two children, Isaac and
Christiana. His great solicitude for the well bringing up of those
children has been noted in the early history of his life. By his second
wife, the sister of his first, he had no children. By his third he had
seven, [FN] the eldest of whom, Joseph, was born in 1783.

* * * * *

[FN] Joseph, Jacob, John, Margaret, Catharine, Mary, and Elizabeth, (the
present Mrs. Kerr.) Joseph, John, and Mary, are dead.

Isaac, the eldest of the children, was partly educated at a school in the
Valley of the Mohawk, and his education was completed at Niagara. His
disposition, bad, from his youth, grew worse as he increased in years, and
was not improved by his associations at the military post of Niagara,
after the war of the Revolution. Many of the officers on that station were
free, sometimes to excess, in their living; and in the progress of his
intercourse with them he became addicted to strong drink. When in his
cups, he was always quarrelsome, even toward his parents--forgetting the
honor due from a son to a father, and particularly disrespectful to his
step-mother. As the younger family grew up, he became jealous of them,
imagining that they received a larger share of parental favor than his
sister and himself. Nothing could have been more groundless than were his
suspicions, since from the concurrent testimony of the survivors of the
family, and the aged contemporaries of the old Chief yet living at Grand
River, no parent was ever more scrupulous in the impartial bestowment of
his affection among all his children than Captain Brant. As an evidence of
this fact, it may be mentioned, that when in England, in 1786, he sat for
his likeness in miniature, which he transmitted in a golden locket to
Christiana, the sister of Isaac. Isaac himself, moreover, notwithstanding
his untoward conduct, received the most indubitable evidence of parental
affection. With a view of keeping him more immediately under his own eye,
and if possible reclaiming him, his father had caused him to be married to
a beautiful girl, the daughter of a chief of the Turtle tribe, and
installed him in the capacity of his own secretary. [FN] But all to no
purpose. The demon of jealousy had gained possession of his bosom; and
during his drunken frolics, among his Indian associates, he often
threatened to take the life of his father. Still, he was treated with
kindness, and his step-mother invariably kept silent during his paroxysms
of insult and abuse.

* * * * *

[FN] MS. notes of conversations with Brant, by Samuel Woodruff.

His career, however, in addition to his intemperance, without the circle
of his own family, was marked by outrage and blood. On one occasion, long
before the catastrophe fatal to himself, soon to be recorded, he
grievously assaulted a young man, who was riding on horseback on the
King's highway--killed the horse, and sadly maimed the young man himself.
His father was obliged to pay a large sum of money by way of compensation
for the outrage.

Subsequently to this brutal affair, and not long before the painful
incident with his father soon to be noted, he killed a white man at the
Mohawk (Grand River) village, outright, and in cold blood. The name of his
victim was Lowell, a harness-maker by trade. He was busily engaged in his
shop at work, when Isaac Brant entered, and said--"Lowell, I am going to
kill you." The man, supposing him to be jesting, at first laughed at the
threat; and then remarked--"Why should you kill me? I have never injured
you, neither have we ever quarreled." The savage then deliberately drew a
pistol and shot him.

But his reckless and cruel career was soon arrested, by a death wound,
received, under the highest degree of provocation, at the hand of his
father. The circumstances were these: At the time of the occurrence there
was an assemblage of the Six Nations at Burlington Heights, near to the
residence of Colonel Beasley, for the purpose of receiving the annual
bounty of the government, consisting of presents of clothing and other
articles. On this occasion Isaac, with some of his young Indian
companions, again drank to intoxication, and renewed his threats against
the life of his father, declaring his intention to kill him that night.
The Chief had that evening taken tea with Colonel and Mrs. Beasley, (who
then lived near the margin of Burlington Bay,) and afterward walked up to
a small inn upon the hill, at a short distance from the Colonel's
residence, to lodge for the night. Isaac followed his father to the inn,
entered an adjoining room, and began abusing him to the people about, in
language perfectly audible to his parent, the two apartments being divided
only by a board partition. Becoming quite violent in his conduct, his
father entered his son's apartment, but had no sooner done so, than the
latter sprang toward him for the purpose of assault--armed, as it was
asserted by some, though the fact was denied by others, with a
sharp-pointed knife. Be that as it may, the Captain was badly wounded by
a cut across the back of his hand. Young Brant had been seized around the
waist by some of the Indians, at the instant he was leaping upon his
father; while the latter, irritated by the wound, had also been seized in
like manner by some white men, to prevent farther injury. The affray was
the work of an instant, during which Captain Brant had drawn a large dirk,
which he always carried upon his thigh, and with which he struck at his
son. In the descent of the blow, the point of the dirk fell upon the head
of Isaac, and, cutting through his hat, inflicted a wound which would have
been more severe had the position of the parties been that of closer
proximity. The wound was by no means considered dangerous at the time it
was inflicted, although, from excitement and intoxication, it bled
profusely. But such were the rage and violence of the young man, that he
resisted all attempts to dress the wound--tearing off the bandages as fast
as they could be applied, until, ultimately, they were compelled to bind
him fast for the return of sobriety. He then allowed his head to be
dressed properly; but the next day he resumed his drinking, and tearing
the dressings from his wound, caused it of course to bleed afresh. His
perverse conduct continued several days; a severe fever of the brain
ensued, and the result was a speedy termination of his life. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Such were the real facts of this unhappy affair, as collected,
recently, for the use of the author, from the statements of the witnesses
of the transaction, and the surviving contemporaries of Captain Brant.
And yet Dr. Morse and Dr. Belknap, who in the year following the event
were sent forth by the Board of Commissioners of the society established
in Scotland for the propagation of Christian Knowledge, to visit the
Oneida and Mohokunuh, or Stockbridge Indians, recorded the incident in
their report as a murder:--"Last Summer, Joseph Brant, a Mohawk Chief,
and a captain in the British service, formerly one of Doctor Wheelock's
scholars, murdered his own son, who was, indeed, a bad fellow, and had
attempted the life of his father."

This painful transaction took place in the year 1795. The afflicted father
immediately surrendered himself to the civil authorities, and resigned the
commission which he yet retained in the British service, and upon which he
drew half pay. Lord Dorchester, however, would not accept the resignation;
and the death of Isaac was universally regarded as in the main accidental,
and in any aspect of the case justifiable homicide. [FN] The Chief called
a council of his elderly sachems and warriors on the occasion, to whom,
when assembled, he related the circumstances of the melancholy
catastrophe. After great deliberation--for the Indians never decide
hastily upon questions of moment--the council delivered an opinion nearly
in the following words:--

* * * * *

[FN] Morse and Belknap's Report to the Scot's Society.

"Brother: We have heard and considered your case. We sympathise with you.
You are bereaved of a beloved son. But that son raised his parricidal hand
against the kindest of fathers. His death was occasioned by his own crime.
With one voice we acquit you of all blame. We tender you our hearty
condolence. And may the Great Spirit above, bestow upon you consolation
and comfort under your affliction." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] "The account of this proceeding I received from the Secretary of the
Upper Province, at Newark, while at his office to obtain the copy of an
Indian deed."--_Note by Samuel Woodruff._

But the affliction was a very severe one to the old Chief, notwithstanding
the condolence of his people, the convictions of his own conscience that
he had not done intentional wrong, and the acquittal of all. Doctor Allen,
President of Bowdoin College, has stated, upon the authority of Joseph
Brant, jun., that as his father lay upon his bed and looked at the dirk
with which the wound was inflicted, and which hung up in his room, he was
accustomed to cry in the sorrow of his heart. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Allen's Biographical Dictionary. Isaac Brant left a widow and two
children. Judge Woodruff, in his notes, says--"The widow and two lovely
children which he left, I saw in Brant's family." The eldest of these
"lovely children," was Isaac, to whom his grandfather, the old Chief,
left a just proportion of his real estate. He also devised an equal
proportion of his real estate to his eldest daughter, Christiana. The
younger Isaac, however, grew up with the same disposition, and walked in
the footsteps of his father. He was nevertheless a brave fellow in the
field, and exhibited his prowess during the late war between the United
Slates and Great Britain, 1812--15. He was afterward killed in a drunken
frolic, at Brantford, by a blow with a gun-barrel, inflicted, as was
supposed, by a white man. But so bad had his character become, that his
poor mother, then living, seemed rather relieved than otherwise by the
occurrence, being in constant fear that he would commit some dreadful
act which would bring him to an ignominious end.

Taking all the circumstances of this trying event into consideration,
notwithstanding the unfavorable impressions, arising from prejudice and an
imperfect knowledge of the facts, that may have prevailed, no just
conclusion can be drawn to the disadvantage of the Chief as a parent.
While, on the other hand, all the evidence that can be obtained, goes to
establish the fact that both in husband and father, his own family circle
was most happy. Certainly nothing could have been stronger than his desire
for the education and moral culture of his children. Knowing his
solicitude upon this subject, and appreciating the disadvantages of his
position in that respect, several gentlemen, in the year 1800, suggested
to him the expediency of an appeal to the parent government for the
education of his sons at the expense of the crown. A memorial for that
object, addressed to the Duke of Portland, was drawn up by one of his
friends in the Upper Canadian administration, and submitted for his
consideration. In this document a strong case was made, arising from the
peculiar services which the Captain had rendered to the Crown, and the
policy of having his sons educated in sound principles of loyalty. But the
Chief peremptorily declined making such an overture. The following is an
extract from his letter announcing his determination:--

"Captain Brant to Colonel Smith.

"_Grand River, September_ 20, 1800.

"Dear Sir,

"I have very seriously considered the petition to his Grace the Duke of
Portland, for the education of my sons, which your friendship for me
prompted you to advise me to make, and must acknowledge the particular
satisfaction I feel at this further instance of your inclination to serve
me with your friendly advice. I am confident it must have been suggested
to your mind from the most friendly motives, of which I have had
sufficient proofs since our acquaintance. But I am sorry I cannot
altogether comply with your opinion on this point; for, considering the
many oppositions I have met with since the establishment of the government
of this province, in obtaining what I only considered as our rights, and
which indeed seems yet to be in some measure undetermined, I cannot
flatter myself with any prospect of succeeding in asking such a particular
favor. I therefore decline, purely from the apprehensions of having my
feelings farther hurt by a refusal. Notwithstanding, I think such a thing
being granted would be extremely for the good of my family, and give me
heartfelt satisfaction, could it be obtained for me by my friends, without
my running the risk of meeting with farther rebuffs."

The Chieftain's papers afford evidence that an occasional correspondence
must have been maintained between Captain Brant and the family of his old
preceptor, President Wheelock, for many years. The venerable founder of
Moor's Charity School, and subsequently of Dartmouth College, had slept
with his fathers, before the close of the Revolutionary war, being
succeeded in the presidentship of the college by his eldest son, John
Wheelock, Esq., who was recalled from active service in the army, to
assume the duties of that station. James Wheelock, another son, had
resided near the Chief in Upper Canada, after the conclusion of the Indian
wars, and there was a renewal of ancient acquaintance and friendship.
During this period, Mr. Wheelock had proposed taking charge of the eldest
surviving son, Joseph; and having relinquished the project of applying to
the government for assistance in the premises, the Captain once more
turned his attention to the land in which, and the friends with whom,
forty years before, he had acquired the rudiments of his imperfect
education. With this view a correspondence was opened with James Wheelock,
and his brother, the president, which was attended by the desired results.
Extracts from this correspondence will not be found uninteresting,
affording, as they will, farther and very gratifying illustrations of the
Chieftain's domestic character:--

"Captain Brant to James Wheelock, Esq.

"_Niagara,_ 3_d October,_ 1800.

"Dear Sir,

"Although it is long since I have had the pleasure of seeing or
corresponding with you, still I have not forgot there is such a person in
being, and now embrace the kind offer you once made me, in offering to
take charge of my son Joseph, whom I certainly should at that time have
sent out, had it not been that there was apparently a jealousy subsisting
between the British and Americans; however, I hope it is not yet too late.
I send both my sons, Joseph and Jacob, who, I doubt not, will be
particularly attended to by my friends. I could wish them to be studiously
attended to, not only as to their education, but likewise as to their
morals in particular; this no doubt is needless mentioning, as I know of
old, and from personal experience at your seminary, that these things are
paid strict attention to. Let my sons be at what schools soever, your
overseeing them will be highly flattering to me. I should by this
opportunity have wrote Mr. John Wheelock on the same subject, but a hurry
of business at this time prevents me. I shall hereafter take the first
opportunity of dropping him a few lines; until when, please make my best
respects to him, and I earnestly solicit his friendship and attention to
my boys, which be assured of, I shall ever gratefully acknowledge. I am,
dear Sir, wishing you and your family health and happiness,

"Your friend and well wisher,
Jos. Brant.

"_Mr. James Wheelock._"

The lads were sent to Dartmouth in charge of Colonel Benjamin Sumner, of
Claremont, (N. H.) a gentleman who had resided fifteen months among the
Canadian Indians. Colonel Sumner gave Dr. Wheelock a very gratifying
account of the surprising progress the Mohawks had made in the art of
husbandry, and the conveniences of living, in consequence of the influence
exercised over them by Captain Brant. He also repeated to the Doctor the
anxious charge which he had received from the Chief, that his sons should
be educated not only in letters, but in piety and virtue. [FN] The lads
arrived at Hanover safely, were well received by President Wheelock and
his brother James, and domesticated in the family of the latter. Both the
President and James Wheelock wrote to the Captain on the 3d of November,
announcing the fact, and informing him of the arrangements that had been
made. These were highly satisfactory to the parent, as will appear from
the subjoined letters:--

* * * * *

[FN] McClure's Life of Wheelock.

"Captain Brant to President John Wheelock.

"_Grand River, Feb._ 9, 1801.

"Dear Sir,

"I have received your favor of the 3d of November last. I have delayed
answering it until the return of Captain Brigham.

"I receive an inexpressible satisfaction in hearing from you, that you
have taken my sons under your protection, and also to find that you yet
retain a strong remembrance of our ancient friendship. For my part,
nothing can ever efface from my memory the persevering attention your
revered father paid to my education, when I was in the place my sons now
are. Though I was an unprofitable pupil in some respects, yet my worldly
affairs have been much benefited by the instruction I there received. I
hope my children may reap greater advantages under your care, both with
respect to their future as well as their worldly welfare.

"Their situation at your brother's meets my highest approbation. Your
goodness, in having provided for them out of the funds, far exceeds my
expectations, and merits my warmest thanks. The reason that induced me to
send them, to be instructed under your care, is the assurance I had that
their morals and education would be there more strictly attended to than
at any other place I know of.

"I am much pleased at the kindness you show in pressing them to be
familiar at your house. I beg you will be constant in exhorting them to
conduct themselves with propriety. The character you give me of the worthy
gentleman, their preceptor, is extremely pleasing. From the whole, I feel
perfectly easy with respect to their situation, and the care taken of
their education, and am fully convinced that all now depends on their own
exertions. The steady friendship you do me the honor to assure me of, is
what, from numberless obligations, I doubly owe your family on my part;
and I beg leave to assure you, that until death, I remain your sincere
friend.

"Should there be any thing you might wish from these parts, curiosities
or the like, I shall be happy to send them to you.

"Dear Sir, I am
Your very humble serv't.
Jos. Brant.

"_Hon. John Wheelock._"

"From same, to James Wheelock, Esq.

"_Grand River, Feb._ 9, 1801.

"Dear Sir,

"It is now some time since I had the pleasure of receiving your kind
letter of the 3d of November, 1800. It gives me unspeakable satisfaction
to find that my boys are with you, as I am fully confident they could not
have a better or more agreeable situation. I am assured, from the known
reputation of the President, that if they do not make a progress in their
studies, it will be owing to themselves. I therefore hope you will shew me
the kindness to make free, and be particular in exhorting them to exert
themselves, and to behave in a becoming manner.

"I am happy to find you yet retain the same sentiments of friendship for
me that you have ever testified. I was apprehensive the manner in which I
disappointed you respecting my son, when you was here, would have too much
affected you. The occasion of it then was, the too great jealousy showed
by our government here.

"I yet add, that I should wish them to be learned that it is their duty to
be subject to the customs of the place they are in, even with respect to
dress, and the cutting of their hair.

"The reason I did not answer you sooner, is that I have expected Captain
Brigham back this way, and thought him the safest opportunity to send by.
Any thing you might want from this quarter, I should be happy to assist
you in.

"Dear Sir, I am,
With respect and esteem,
Your friend and humble servant.
Jos. Brant.

"_James Wheelock, Esq._"

"James Wheelock to Captain Brant.

"_Hanover May_ 1, 1801.

"Very Dear Sir,

"I received your polite and very agreeable letter of February 9th some
days ago, for which please to accept my sincere and cordial thanks.

"I am very happy in again gratifying your parental feelings, with the
information that your very worthy sons conduct themselves still in a most
agreeable manner; are quite attentive to their school, and make, I
believe, very laudable progress in learning. By their amiable dispositions
and manly behavior they are continually growing in our esteem; and I
sincerely hope and trust that _your_ and our _expectations_ concerning
their future _usefulness_ and _respectability_ in life, will be highly
gratified. You may depend on my friendly freedom in advising and exhorting
them whenever I may see occasion. But, Sir, (without flattery,) such
occasions will be very rare.

"What has become of my old friend, Mr. Phelps? I want to hear from him;
but I have written so often without return, that I have done. Please when
you see him to remember and mention me to him with cordial affection, and
ask him to think of our former friendly days.

"I wish we could have the pleasure of seeing you here--perhaps, some time
or other, we may be indulged in this wish. Please to remember me, with
Mrs. Wheelock, affectionately to your lady, and believe that I continue
to be, with attachment and respect, very dear Sir,

"Your sincere friend,
And humble servant,
Jas. Wheelock.

"_Captain Joseph Brant._"

"President Wheelock to Captain Brant.

"_Dartmouth College, May_ 6, 1801.

"Dear Sir,

"Though I have but a moment now allowed me to write, yet I cannot omit
embracing it to express my thanks for your kind favor of February 9th ult.

"I rejoice to hear of your good health; and great also is my happiness to
be able to inform you of the regular conduct, and steady application, and
laudable improvements of your dear sons with me. I will do all I can for
their good, and future usefulness; and may God grant that they shall be,
and long continue, great sources of comfort and assistance to you in the
sublime business of enlightening and meliorating your nations. I will
write longer when I may have a good opportunity, and can now only ask the
favor that you will accept this as a token of my cordial respect, and
perfect friendship; I am,

"Dear Sir,
Your most ob'dt serv't,
John Wheelock.

"_Capt. J. Brant, &c. &c._"

"Captain Brant to President Wheelock.

"_Buffalo Creek, July_ 23, 1801.

"Dear Sir,

"It gives me great satisfaction to hear that my sons have so conducted
themselves as to merit your approbation. The hope you form of them, is
pleasing beyond expression. When my sons went away, I promised they should
remain only one year; but as they seem to make progress, I hope you will
begin by times to convince them it is their interest to remain another
winter, and exert themselves in their studies. I intend going to England
this Fall, and should I return safe in the Spring, I will see them, and
they might then come out on a visit home.

"I am, Dear Sir,
Your friend sincerely,
Jos. Brant.

"_Hon. John Wheelock._"

"The same to James Wheelock, Esq.

"_Buffalo Creek, July_ 23, 1801.

"Very Dear Sir,

"Your kind letter gives me an extreme pleasure to find that you and family
are well, and that my sons grow in your esteem. I hope sincerely they may
continue to behave in such a manner as to deserve a continuance of it. I
have not seen Mr. Phelps since I received your favor, but expect I shortly
shall, and I will then mention what you desire. We are likely to succeed
in getting him ordained for a minister.

"It is a long time since I sent any pocket money to the boys. I shall in
a few days send by Mr. Gideon Tiffany, a note for a hundred pounds,
N. Y. C. I would do it sooner, but have not had the opportunity of
conveyance. My best respects to Mrs. Wheelock and family.

"I am, Dear Sir, sincerely,
Your friend and
Humble servant,
Jos. Brant.

"P. S. I send a letter of Captain Elliott's son, their cousin, who is much
younger than they, to shew them how he improves. [FN]

"_James Wheelock, Esq._"

* * * * *

[FN] The name of Captain Elliott has repeatedly occurred before, in
connexion with the British-Indian affairs at Detroit and the Miamis.
Captain Brant, in one of his letters to Sir John Johnson, complained that
Elliott was dismissed from the public service, for some reason not
stated, and without trial.

"James Wheelock to Captain Brant.

"_Marcellus, Sept._ 19th, 1801.

"Very Dear and Respected Sir,

"I am almost overjoyed at meeting your worthy son, Joseph, this morning,
on his way homeward. By him I have only a moment to write to express my
respect for you, and my attachment and regard for your dear and promising
sons. They have been so long in my family, that to see Joseph seems like
meeting one of my own children; indeed they are both, by their pleasing
conduct, which has been uniform, highly esteemed by all their acquaintance
with us. I sincerely hope that your expectations concerning them will be
answered, and that they will both be _good, useful,_ and _honorable_ in
the world.

"It is some weeks since I left home. I want much to see you, and Joseph
mentions that by a letter from you since I left home, we may expect that
pleasure next Spring, on your return from your intended European tour. I
hope we shall not be disappointed. I wish I could have the pleasure of my
friend Joseph's company on my return home, as I have mentioned to him.
May every blessing and happiness constantly attend you and yours, is the
sincere wish of,

"Dear Sir, your very
Sincere friend, and
Humble servant,
Jas. Wheelock.

"_Capt. Joseph Brant._"

"Captain Brant to Mr. Wheelock.

"_Grand River,_ 22_d Oct._ 1801.

"My Dear Sir,

"I received your kind letter favored by my son Joseph, and am extremely
happy to find they both give such great satisfaction to their friends, of
their good conduct, as well as to me. I cannot express myself the great
pleasure you give me by the great attention to my children. I would really
wish you to take the opportunity to continue them as your own children,
and give them every good advice, so they may be useful and honorable in
the world. As for my European route, it is uncertain.

"I remain, Dear Sir,
Your sincere friend,
And very humble serv't,
Jos. Brant.

"_Jas. Wheelock, Esq._"

Unfortunately, while thus happily situated, pursuing their studies with
diligence, and so demeaning themselves toward their friends as to win
golden opinions from all, some difficulty arose between the brothers
themselves, which produced a separation; Joseph, the eldest, leaving the
school and returning home. Jacob followed in the course of the Spring, on
a visit only, returning to the school again in the Autumn. Two or three
letters more will close all that can be found of this interesting
correspondence.

"Captain Brant to Mr. James Wheelock.

"_Grand River, March_ 20, 1802.

"My Dear Sir,

"I received your favor of the 25th January, and I am sorry to learn by it
that your friendly arguments had not the desired effect of dissuading
Joseph from his determination of coming this way. I regret very much his
leaving, so unreasonably, the advantageous situation he was in, for
improvement; for I am fully confident he could not have been in a better
place, and I shall ever remain thankful for your kind attention and that
of the President, although the imprudence of youth has rendered it
ineffectual. At the same time I must assure you that Joseph has a grateful
remembrance of the civilities he received from you and family, and
acknowledges to have been as happy and comfortable as he could wish to be;
and perfectly at home in your house.

"After the great care and attention the worthy President has been pleased
to show to my sons, it doubly grieves me that any part of their conduct
should have the least appearance of neglect, or disrespect to a character
that it was their duty to revere, and to which they were so much indebted.

"The only reason Joseph can allege for his coming away, is the perpetual
disagreement between him and his brother Jacob. Mrs. Brant joins me in
thanks and best respects to you and Mrs. Wheelock, and be assured we think
equally well of your kind endeavors as if they had had the desired effect.

"My best respects to the President, and in a short time I shall write him
in answer to the letter I received.

"My Dear Sir,
I remain, affectionately,
Your friend and
Humble servant,
Jos. Brant.

"_James Wheelock, Esq'r._"

"James Wheelock to Captain Brant.

"_Hanover, April_ 19, 1802.

"Very Dear Sir,

"It is with much pleasure I acknowledge the receipt of your friendly and
obliging letter of March 20th,--am glad to learn that Joseph arrived at
home; for I assure you, I felt not a little anxious for him, on his
setting out, horseback, at such a season of the year, so long a journey.
I hope he, as well as Jacob, will somewhere complete his education, and
that they both will have a disposition and abilities, to follow the
example of their worthy parent, in promoting eminently the happiness,
prosperity and advantage of their fellow men, _while you and I shall be
asleep with our fathers._

"My brother, the President has mentioned particularly concerning the
conduct, &c. of Jacob, which renders any thing from me in his praise
unnecessary; however, I must just say, that from what I have seen and
understood since he left our house, (not from our desire, but his own,)
his conduct has been quite unexceptionable, amicable, and pleasing; and I
shall always rejoice in an opportunity to shew him any mark of friendship,
by advice, or otherwise, that may be in my power.

"My brother has likewise mentioned to him Captain Dunham, [FN] the
gentleman who will accompany Jacob. He is a gentleman we highly esteem and
respect, and I doubt not but he will meet with your friendly notice and
attention."

* * * * *

[FN] Captain Josiah Dunham, an officer in the American service--a
gentleman of talents and letters. After the surrender of the Northwestern
posts, so long retained by Great Britain, Captain Dunham was stationed at
Michillimackinack. Subsequently, during the earlier part of Mr. Madison's
administration, Captain D. edited a political paper with signal ability,
in Vermont.

"I shall always be happy in an opportunity to render you, or any of yours,
any services that may be in my power; but how happy should I be in an
opportunity, especially at my own house, to see you, and to manifest that
respect to which you are so justly entitled, and to which my own feelings
so warmly would prompt me. Mrs. Wheelock joins me in cordial respects to
yourself and Mrs. Brant.

"I am, very Dear Sir, &c. &c.
Jas. Wheelock.

"_Capt. Joseph Brant, &c. &c._"

"From Captain Brant to James Wheelock.

"_Niagara,_ 17_th December,_ 1802.

"My Dear Sir,

"I received your very polite and friendly letter by my son Jacob, and am
very much obliged to you, your brother, and all friends, for the great
attentions that have been paid to both my sons; likewise to Captain
Dunham, for the great care he took of Jacob on the journey.

"My son would have returned to you long before this but for a continued
sickness in the family for three months, which brought Mrs. Brant very
low; my son Jacob and several of the children were very ill.

"My son now returns to be under the care of the President, and I sincerely
hope he will pay such attention to his studies, as will do credit to
himself, and be a comfort to his parents. The horse that Jacob rides out,
I wish to be got in good order after he arrives, and sold, as an attentive
scholar has no time to ride about. Mrs. Brant joins me in most
affectionate respects to you and Mrs. Wheelock.

"I am, Dear Sir,
With great respect, your sincere friend and
Humble servant,
Jos. Brant.

"_James Wheelock, Esq.,
Hanover._"

The only remaining letter of this branch of Captain Brant's correspondence
which has been obtained, was addressed to James Wheelock, in October,
1804. It relates to matters indifferent to the present work, save only the
mention that by the bursting of a gun, his son Jacob's left hand had been
shattered, and that he was "about marrying one of our Mohawk girls." [FN]
The whole of this correspondence, however, speaks the old Chief
exceedingly well in his domestic relations. No parent could have been more
solicitous for the moral and intellectual training of his offspring. His
letters are characterised by an amiable temper, and by good, sound,
common sense--breathing a spirit of kindness and affection throughout. And
such was his general character in his family.

* * * * *

[FN] Joseph Brant, Jr. died several years ago. Jacob Brant is yet living,
[July, 1837.] A daughter of Captain Brant married a Frenchman, who, in
June, 1789, was killed by a party of Indians while peaceably traveling
up the Wabash River. He was in company with nine others, four of whom
were killed, and three wounded. When the hostile party came up to them,
and discovered the son-in-law of the Mohawk Chief, they assisted in
drawing the arrows from the wounded, and then went off--_Carey's
Museum--quoted by Drake._

In addition to his correspondence upon public affairs, upon the business
of his own nation exclusively, and in regard to his private and domestic
concerns, which must have been very extensive, Captain Brant wrote many
letters upon miscellaneous subjects to which his attention was from time
to time invited. His fame was co-extensive with England and the United
States, and he must have had acquaintances in France. His personal friends
were very numerous, and those to whom he was known, far more numerous
still. The consequence of these friendships and this celebrity, was
frequent applications analogous to those made by Doctor Miller, for
information in regard to the history, condition, and polity of his own
people, or for the purpose of eliciting his own views and opinions upon
given subjects. Of these miscellaneous letters, but few have been
preserved. The annexed is given as an example. It had long been contended
by physiologists, both in Europe and America, that the American
aboriginals naturally have no beards. Nor is the opinion uncommon at the
present day. It was for a solution of this question that a Mr. McCauseland
wrote to Brant, soon after the close of the American war. The following
was the Chiefs reply:--

"_Niagara, April_ 19, 1783.

"The men of the Six Nations have all beards by nature; as have likewise
all other Indian nations of North America, which I have seen. Some Indians
allow a part of the beard upon the chin and upper lip to grow, and a few
of the Mohawks shave with razors, in the same manner as Europeans; but the
generality pluck out the hairs of the beard by the roots, as soon as they
begin to appear; and as they continue this practice all their lives, they
appear to have no beard, or, at most, only a few straggling hairs, which
they have neglected to pluck out. I am however of opinion, that if the
Indians were to shave, they would never have beards altogether so thick
us the Europeans; and there are some to be met with who have actually very
little beard.

"Joseph Brant,
_Thayendanegea._"

Among others, the late eccentric Samuel Peters, LL. D., either opened, or
attempted to open, a correspondence with the Chief, a few years before his
decease. Dr. Peters was a native of Hebron, (Conn.) He was graduated at
Yale College in 1757, and, taking orders in the Episcopal Church, had
charge of the churches at Hartford and Hebron, at the commencement of the
Revolutionary contest. Being a friend of the crown, he went to England,
where he remained many years, and in 1781 published his extraordinary, and
in many respects fabulous, history of his native state. In the year 1805,
he returned to the United States; and in 1817 or 1818, made a journey into
the country of the great northwestern lakes, to the Falls of St Anthony;
claiming a large extent of territory in that region, under a grant to the
ancient traveler, Captain Carver. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] A letter of Dr. Peters to Captain Brant, written in April, 1803, is
so characteristic of its author that a place has been assigned to it in
the Appendix, (No. XVII,) as a curiosity. Doctor, or Bishop Peters, as he
was called, died in the city of New-York, April 19,1826, at the advanced
age of 90. His remains were interred at Hebron.

On the subject of imprisonment for debt, his views were those of an
enlightened philosopher and philanthropist, as will be manifest from the
following interesting letter discovered among the papers of the late
Thomas Eddy; a name ever to be revered, as among the most honorable, if
not the brightest, adorning the annals of humanity. [FN] Mr. Eddy was at
the period mentioned, and for years afterward, directing his attention to
the subject of prison discipline, and his mind was much occupied on the
question of imprisonment for debt. The views of the Mohawk Chieftain were
coincident with his own. Both were more than a quarter of a century in
advance of public opinion in the United States, in that important feature
of English and American jurisprudence; and how much in advance of England,
remains to be seen.

* * * * *

[FN] This letter was transcribed by Thomas Eddy, into a volume of Indian
documents, speeches &c., collected by him while in the discharge of his
duties as an Indian commissioner for certain purposes. He had much
intercourse with the Oneida, Stockbridge, and some other tribes of
Indians, some forty years ago, and was led to inquiries and exertions for
their moral and social improvement.

"Letter from Joseph Brant to--

"My Dear Sir,

"Your letter came safe to hand. To give you entire satisfaction I must, I
perceive, enter into the discussion of a subject on which I have often
thought. My thoughts were my own, and being so different from the ideas
entertained among your people, I should certainly have carried them with
me to the grave, had I not received your obliging favor.

"You ask me, then, whether in my opinion civilization is favorable to
human happiness? In answer to the question, it may be answered, that there
are degrees of civilization, from Cannibals to the most polite of European
nations. The question is not, then, whether a degree of refinement is not
conducive to happiness; but whether you, or the natives of this land, have
obtained this happy medium. On this subject we are at present, I presume,
of very different opinions. You will, however, allow me in some respects
to have had the advantage of you in forming my sentiments. I was, Sir,
born of Indian parents, and lived while a child among those whom you are
pleased to call savages; I was afterward sent to live among the white
people, and educated at one of your schools; since which period I have
been honored much beyond my deserts, by an acquaintance with a number of
principal characters both in Europe and America. After all this
experience, and after every exertion to divest myself of prejudice, I am
obliged to give my opinion in favor of my own people. I will now, as much
as I am able, collect together, and set before you, some of the reasons
that have influenced my judgment on the subject now before us. In the
government you call civilized, the happiness of the people is constantly
sacrificed to the splendor of empire. Hence your codes of criminal and
civil laws have had their origin; hence your dungeons and prisons. I will
not enlarge on an idea so singular in civilized life, and perhaps
disagreeable to you, and will only observe, that among us we have _no_
prisons; we have no pompous parade of courts; we have no written laws; and
yet judges are as highly revered amongst us as they are among you, and
their decisions are as much regarded.

"Property, to say the least, is as well guarded, and crimes are as
impartially punished. We have among us no splendid villains above the
control of our laws. Daring wickedness is here never suffered to triumph
over helpless innocence. The estates of widows and orphans are never
devoured by enterprising sharpers. In a word, we have no robbery under the
color of law. No person among us desires any other reward for performing
a brave and worthy action, but the consciousness of having served his
nation. Our wise men are called Fathers; they truly sustain that
character. They are always accessible, I will not say to the meanest of
our people, for we have none mean but such as render themselves so by
their vices.

"The palaces and prisons among you form a most dreadful contrast. Go to
the former places, and you will see perhaps a _deformed piece of earth_
assuming airs that become none but the Great Spirit above. Go to one of
your prisons; here description utterly fails! Kill them, if you please;
kill them, too, by tortures; but let the torture last no longer than a
day. Those you call savages, relent; the most furious of our tormentors
exhausts his rage in a few hours, and dispatches his unhappy victim with
a sudden stroke. Perhaps it is eligible that incorrigible offenders should
sometimes be cut off. Let it be done in a way that is not degrading to
human nature. Let such unhappy men have an opportunity, by their
fortitude, of making an atonement in some measure for the crimes they have
committed during their lives.

"But for what are many of your prisoners confined?--for
debt!--astonishing!--and will you ever again call the Indian nations
cruel? Liberty, to a rational creature, as much exceeds property as the
light of the sun does that of the most twinkling star. But you put them
on a level, to the everlasting disgrace of civilization. I knew, while I
lived among the white people, many of the most amiable contract debts, and
I dare say with the best intentions. Both parties at the time of the
contract expect to find their advantage. The debtor, we will suppose, by
a train of unavoidable misfortunes, fails; here is no crime, nor even a
fault; and yet your laws put it in the power of the creditor to throw the
debtor into prison and confine him there for life! a punishment infinitely
worse than death to a brave man! And I seriously declare, I had rather die
by the most severe tortures ever inflicted on this continent, than
languish in one of your prisons for a single year. Great Spirit of the
Universe!--and do you call yourselves Christians? Does then the religion
of Him whom you call your Saviour, inspire this spirit, and lead to these
practices? Surely no. It is recorded of him, that a bruised reed he never
broke. Cease, then, to call yourselves Christians, lest you publish to the
world your hypocrisy. Cease, too, to call other nations savage, when you
are tenfold more the children of cruelty than they."

Few subjects of greater interest have been presented for the consideration
of antiquaries in North America, than those monuments of an age and a
people that are lost, found scattered over western New-York, through the
state of Ohio, and in great numbers in the valley of the Mississippi,
called Tumuli. These mounds, or barrows, as they are usually termed in
older countries, have been objects of extensive inquiry and much
speculation; but their origin, in America, and the purposes of their
erection, are yet among those hidden mysteries which it is probable that
even time itself will not unfold. Among the Greeks, on the steppes of
Tartary, in the north of Europe, in England, Ireland, and New South Wales,
in all which countries, and several others, they abound, it has been well
ascertained that these Tumuli were monumental heaps, of greater or less
extent, raised over the remains of the dead. But in the United States, and
in Mexico, where similar barrows are numerous, appearances, in regard to
very many of them, have seemed to warrant a different opinion as to the
object of their formation. Their magnitude in this country is much greater
than in any other, some of the largest American Tumuli being approached
in dimensions only by the celebrated Irish barrow at New Grange, described
by Governor Pownall; [FN] while the form of very many of the American has
induced at least a plausible conjecture, that they were the military
defences of a people long since become extinct.

* * * * *

[FN] The Irish barrow in New Grange, county Meath, covers two acres at
the base, the circumference at the top being three hundred feet, and its
height ninety. It consists of small pebbles, and has a gallery within,
sixty-two feet long, leading to a cave. There is one near Wheeling, on
the Ohio, between thirty and forty rods in circumference at the base,
one hundred and eighty at the top, and seventy feet high. Near Cahokia
there is a numerous group, stated at about two hundred in all--the
largest of which is a parallelogram, about ninety feet high, and eight
hundred yards in circuit. [_Ency. Americana._] There are some very large
and of evident military formation, in the Wyoming Valley.

While, therefore, every inquiry of the white man concerning these remains
in America has ended as it began, leaving the subject of investigation as
deep in obscurity as before, the opinion of a man of Brant's information
and sagacity, thoroughly conversant, as he was, with the traditions of his
own people, may not be unacceptable to the curious reader. That opinion,
or rather such information as the Chief had derived from the dim light of
Indian tradition, has been supplied in the manuscript notes of Mr.
Woodruff, already referred to several times in the preceding pages. A few
extracts follow:--

"Among other things relating to the western country," says Mr. Woodruff,
"I was curious to learn in the course of my conversations with Captain
Brant, what information he could give me respecting the _Tumuli_ which are
found on and near the margin of the rivers and lakes, from the St.
Lawrence to the Mississippi. He stated, in reply, that the subject had
long been agitated, but yet remained in some obscurity. A tradition, he
said, prevailed among the different nations of Indians throughout that
whole extensive range of country, and had been handed down time
immemorial, that in an age long gone by, there came white men from a
foreign country, and by consent of the Indians established trading-houses
and settlements where these Tumuli are found. A friendly intercourse was
continued for several years; many of the white men brought their wives,
and had children born to them; and additions to their numbers were made
yearly from their own country. These circumstances at length gave rise to
jealousies among the Indians, and fears began to be entertained in regard
to the increasing numbers, wealth, and ulterior views of the new comers;
apprehending that becoming strong, they might one day seize upon the
country as their own. A secret council, composed of the chiefs of all the
different nations from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi, was therefore
convoked; the result of which, after long deliberation, was a resolution
that on a certain night designated for that purpose, all their white
neighbors, men, women and children, should be exterminated. The most
profound secrecy was essential to the execution of such a purpose; and
such was the fidelity with which the fatal determination was kept, that
the conspiracy was successful, and the device carried completely into
effect. Not a soul was left to tell the tale.

"The Captain expressed no opinion himself as to the truth of the tale, but
added, that from the vessels and tools which had been dug up in those
mounds, or found in their vicinity, it was evident that the people who had
used them were French.

"In the year 1801, having occasion to travel through the States of
New-York and Ohio, and a part of Pennsylvania," (continues Judge
Woodruff,) "I had frequent opportunities of viewing these artificial
mounds, as well as the entrenched plots of land contiguous to them. They
are all placed upon small and handsome elevations of ground. The
entrenched plots are of various dimensions, from six to ten rods square.
The ditches and their banks are yet plainly visible. Their antiquity may
be inferred from the size of the trees standing both in the ditches and
on the banks--being as large as any of those in their vicinity. Many of
these trees I saw which were more than two feet in diameter. Near one
corner of each of these areas, is a space of twelve feet in width, where
the ground appears never to have been broken. It is evident that these
spaces were used for gate-ways. About ten or fifteen yards from these
gate-ways, stand the mounds. These are of different dimensions, in
different places, from ten to fifteen feet in diameter at the base, and
from six to twelve feet elevation, being now much flattened down.

"Various have been the conjectures for what use these mounds were raised.
Some have supposed they were made as depositories of the dead; others, for
places in which to store provisions in winter; and others, for
watch-towers, on which sentinels were posted to guard the garrisons from
approaching danger. While in Ohio, I felt an anxiety to satisfy myself,
if possible, for which of these uses, or for what other, these Tumuli were
designed. I employed a party of young men to dig down through one of them,
beginning at the centre of the apex. When they had descended through to
the natural surface of the ground, it appeared by the mould, or soil, that
the earth had not there been broken. All we found there, were a few oaken
chips, nearly sound, and bearing the mark of the axe. These circumstances,
in my judgment, served greatly to strengthen the probability that the
mounds had been designed and used only for watch-towers. Mr. Quimby, the
owner of the land, shewed me a tinner's anvil, a pair of shears, and an
adze, which he had found on the area within the lines of the entrenchment.
All these were evidently of French origin. Many other tools and vessels,
as I was well informed, had been found at other of these stations, in
different parts of the western country, all of the same character.

"In farther conversation with Captain Brant, he informed me that he had
ever entertained a strong desire to know something more decisive
concerning those white people--their former neighbors--and that while in
England, he made a visit to the French capital for the purpose of pushing
his inquiries upon the subject. Letters of introduction were furnished by
his friends in London, to some literary gentlemen in Paris, by whom he was
received with great politeness and respect, and kindly assisted in making
researches in the public libraries. Nothing, however, could be found in
any of their histories, respecting the object of his inquiries, excepting,
that about the year 1520, (if I rightly remember,) several ships were
fitted out and sailed from L'Orient, bound to North America, freighted
with goods suitable for that market, and carrying out a number of traders,
and other enterprising individuals, with their families, to plant a colony
in that part of the world. But nothing farther was recorded concerning the
enterprize. Hence Captain Brant was induced to give additional credit to
the tradition before mentioned." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] John Norton, the intelligent Mohawk Chief, heretofore repeatedly
mentioned, gave a different version of the tradition upon this subject.
Being at Albany, upon the business of the St. Regis Reservation, during
the administration of Governor Jay, the Governor took occasion to ask
Norton if he knew any thing concerning the origin of the Indian
fortifications, as they were called, found in such numbers in many parts
of the United States. He answered, that there was a tradition in his
tribe that they were constructed by a people who in ancient times
occupied a great extent of country, but who had been extirpated; that
there had been long and bloody wars between this people and the Five
Nations, in which the latter had been finally victorious. He added, that
one of the last of the fortifications which was taken, had been
obstinately defended; that the warriors of the other four nations of the
Confederacy had assaulted it without waiting for the Mohawks, and had
been repulsed with great loss, but that the latter coming to their
assistance the attack was renewed, the place taken, and all who were in
it destroyed.--_Letter to the author from the Hon. Peter Augustus Jay,
who was present during the conversation._

There seem to be many strong reasons for believing, that at some remote
period of time, a race of men, different from the Indians found in
occupancy by the English, farther advanced in civilization, and possessed
of arts of which they were ignorant, must have been in possession of
portions of this country. The Indians have various traditions upon the
subject of such a lost race of men, differing, however, among different
tribes, and often among individuals of the same tribes. Mary Jemison, who
was raised among the Senecas, and spent a long life with them, states that
the Indians held that the flats of the Genesee were cleared, and had been
cultivated, by another people, before the Indians came into possession.
They were a people of whom they could give no account, because "their
fathers had never seen them." By the sliding of a bank of Mary's farm
into the river, a burial-place was discovered, of which the Indians had
no knowledge, and they held that the bones were not those of Indians.
[FN-1] But of what race, nation, or complexion, were this ancient people,
will probably never be known. That the continent of North America was
discovered by the Normans, during the patriarchal government of the Colony
of Greenland, by Erik the Red, five centuries before the voyages of
Columbus, is no longer a matter of doubt. The shores of the Gulf of St.
Lawrence, and the coast of New England, were visited by Lief and Thorwald,
the sons of Erik, and colonies planted, as far back as the tenth century.
These colonies, however, were soon lost or extirpated; and from the
Icelandic records, and the histories of the Northmen, [FN-2] there is
but faint reason for supposing that the few colonists of Vinland, as the
new country was named, or their descendants, could have extended
themselves from the estuary of the St Lawrence across into the valley of
the Mississippi. [FN-3]

* * * * *

[FN-1] See Appendix, No. XVIII.

[FN-2] Vide, History of the Northmen, by Henry Wheaton; Voyages of
Sebastian Cabot, &c. &c.

[FN-3] See Appendix, No. XIX.

The tradition recited by Brant, however, tends, especially in its details,
to corroborate the well-known legend of the Welsh, concerning Prince
Madog, or Madoc, which has occasioned so many stories of White and Welsh
Indians, rather than any other tale of discovery and colonization with
which the public is acquainted. According to the Welsh tradition,
Madoc--if indeed there was such a veritable personage--in consequence of
some domestic dissensions, went to sea, with ten ships and three hundred
men, in the twelfth century, and discovered land far to the west. He made
several voyages to and from this unknown land, but finally, with all his
followers, was lost to the knowledge of his countrymen. The tradition of
Brant, that the white strangers made annual voyages to and from their own
country for several years, corresponds with the story as related in the
Welsh Triads, and by Hakluyt, who has given an account of the supposed
voyages of the Prince. The cutting off of the colonists at one fell
stroke, as related by Brant, also shows very satisfactorily why his fate
was never known. OEdipus solved the riddle of the Sphinx; but unless he
was able to solve still greater mysteries, the origin and uses of the
American Tumuli present questions that would have baffled the wisdom even
of the accomplished though unfortunate son and husband of Jocasta.

In bringing the life and actions of Joseph Brant--Thayendanegea, to a
close, something in the form of a summary review of his character will
doubtless be expected at the hands of the biographer. This task can be
readily and expeditiously executed, from the method adopted in the
composition of the work itself. Nor, after the record already given of his
public life and conduct, and the occasional anecdotes and illustrations of
character introduced in the regular progress of the narrative, will the
reader be surprised to find the author disposed, not only to set aside,
but to reverse the popular estimate, and all previous decisions of
history, in relation to the character of that remarkable man.

His fine personal appearance in the full maturity of manhood has already
been described from the notes of Mr. Woodruff and General Porter. His
early advantages of education were limited, but of these he evidently made
the best use. Probably, being connected by the alliance of his sister with
Sir William Johnson, he may have attended some of the missionary schools
in the Mohawk Valley previous to his being sent by the Baronet to the
Moor charity school, under the care of the elder Doctor Wheelock. But as
he had already, though at so early an age, been upon the war-path in two
campaigns, his opportunities of study could not have been great,--to say
nothing of the reluctance with which an ardent youth, looking with delight
upon the pride, pomp and circumstance of glorious war, and inpatient of
military renown, might be expected to confine himself to the dull and
quiet pursuits of the school-room. Still, he acknowledged in after-life
that he had derived great and lasting advantages from the instructions of
Doctor Wheelock. The wars of Pontiac a third time called him to the field;
but the campaign was no sooner ended, than he was again engaged in
literary pursuits under the direction of the missionaries. The influence
of his sister in the administration of the Indian department, called him
more directly into active public life on the death of Sir William Johnson,
although he had been much employed in the transaction of business with
the Indians previous to that event. These avocations had of course
deprived him of much time which might otherwise have been devoted to
study; and when upon him had devolved the chieftainship of the whole
confederacy of the Six Nations, it may well be imagined that the official
claims upon his attention were in themselves sufficient to occupy,
unremittingly, the most active mind. Then followed the protracted conflict
of the American Revolution, requiring, from his position, and the side he
espoused, the exercise of all his energies, physical and intellectual. But
his return to his books, the moment that the great contest was ended; the
progressive improvement in the style of his letters; and the fruits of his
labors in the translations he produced, are circumstances proving his
perseverance amidst the most harassing cares and perplexities of his
after-life, and that he had a natural taste for literature, and was
zealous in the acquisition of knowledge. His solicitude was great for the
thorough education of his children; and he had himself not only projected
writing a history of his own people, but had it in contemplation himself
to acquire the knowledge of the Greek language, that he might be enabled
to read the New Testament in the original, and thus make a more perfect
translation of the Greek Scriptures in the Mohawk tongue.

His character has been represented as savage and cruel; and in the meagre
sketches of his life hitherto published, although an occasional redeeming
virtue has been allowed by some, anecdotes of treachery and blood have
been introduced, to sustain the imputed disposition of relentless
ferocity. [FN-1] The causes of this general libel upon the native
character of the Indians, and upon that of Brant in particular, have been
indicated in the commencement of the present work. Such, however, was not
the fact. On the contrary, making the necessary allowances for his
position, his own blood, and the description of warriors he commanded,
after the most diligent and laborious investigation, the author is free to
declare his belief that Brant was no less humane than he is on all hands
admitted to have been brave. He was an Indian, and led Indians to the
fight, upon their own principles and usages of war. Bold and daring,
sagacious and wily, he often struck when least expected; but the author
has in vain sought for an instance of wanton cruelty--of treachery--or of
the murder of prisoners, or others, by his own hand, or by his permission,
in cold blood. At the first outbreak of the American revolution, he
interposed and saved the life of the Rev. Mr. Kirkland when on the point
of becoming a victim to Indian fury, although not at that time on the very
best terms with that gentleman. The first battle of the revolutionary war
in which Brant was engaged, was that of the Cedars, on the banks of the
St. Lawrence. Immediately after the fate of the day was decided, he
interposed to save the prisoners, and actually, at his own private
expense, appeased the Indians, and prevented the sacrifice of the brave
Captain McKinstry. This gentleman was well known to the author, and he
ever entertained a high regard for Captain Brant, by whom he was afterward
visited on the manor of Livingston. The Chieftain's efforts at the
massacre of Cherry Valley, to stay the effusion of innocent blood, have
been mentioned in the account of that tragic irruption. In addition to the
circumstances there narrated, Doctor Dwight, who was as careful as he was
diligent in the collection of his facts, relates, that on entering one of
the houses in Cherry Valley, Walter Butler ordered a woman and child, who
were in bed, to be killed; but the Mohawk Chief interposed, and
said--"What! kill a woman and child! No! That child is not an enemy to the
King, nor a friend to the Congress. Long before he will be big enough to
do any mischief, the dispute will be settled." At the affair of Wyoming,
for which he has always received the severest condemnation, he was not
present. His conduct to Captain Harper and his fellow-prisoners was
anything but cruel, in the Indian acceptation of the term, although the
execution of the aged and weary prisoner, if done with his knowledge or
by his direction, was indefensible. But at Minisink, according to his own
relation of the circumstances, (and his veracity has never been
questioned,) his conduct has been grossly misrepresented. He exerted
himself in the first instance to avert the effusion of blood, and was
fired upon while in the act of making pacific overtures. True, Colonel
Wisner was finally killed by his own hand; but the very blow was prompted
by humanity, according to the reasoning of an Indian. The soldier was
wounded past cure or removal; and after reflection upon the painful case,
to prevent his dying agonies from being aggravated by beasts of prey, the
Chief put an end to his sufferings through an honest dictate of
compassion. A thoroughly civilized warrior would neither have reasoned nor
acted as he did under the circumstances. Still, the act was prompted by
feelings of humanity, and was doubtless such in reality. Lieutenant
Wormwood was killed at Cherry Valley by mistake, and after refusing to
stand when hailed. Lieutenant Boyd and his companion were treated with
humanity by Brant after the capture in the Genesee country, and the
dreadful tragedy which ended their lives was not enacted until Brant had
departed for Niagara. The reader cannot well have forgotten the touching
and beautiful incident of the restoration of the infant to its mother, at
Fort Hunter, as related to the author by Governor Lewis, an eye-witness of
the transaction. To all which may be added, that his last act of the last
battle he fought was the rescuing of an American prisoner from a savage
Irish ally of his own Indians, who was about to murder him. [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] As a specimen of these bloody anecdotes, take the following,
related many years since by a traveler named Weld, from whom it has been
universally copied since. And yet there is not a syllable of truth in its
composition:--"With a considerable body of his troops, he joined the
forces under the command of Sir John Johnson. A skirmish took place with
a body of American troops; the action was warm, and Brant was shot by a
musket ball in his heel; but the Americans in the end were defeated and
an officer and eighty men were taken prisoners. The officer, after having
delivered up his sword, had entered into conversation with Sir John
Johnson, who commanded the British troops, and they were talking to
either in the most friendly manner, when Brant, having stolen slyly
behind them, laid the American officer low with a blow of his tomahawk.
The indignation of Sir John Johnson, as may be readily supposed, was
roused by such an act of treachery, and he resented it in the warmest
terms. Brant listened to him unconcernedly, and when he had finished,
told him that he was sorry for his displeasure, but that indeed his heel
was extremely painful at the moment, and he could not help revenging
himself on the only chief of the party that he saw taken. Since he had
killed the officer, he added, his heel was much less painful to him than
it had been before."

[FN-2] This incident was mentioned to me by Colonel Kerr, his son-in-law.
The occurrence was at the defeat of St. Clair.

In the course of his conversations with Major James Cochran and General
Porter, long after the war, in regard to the alleged cruelty of his
career, Brant assured those gentlemen that he had always spared in battle
whenever it could be done without bringing upon himself the censure of his
own people. In more instances than one, he said, he had been instrumental
in preserving life when exposed to the fury of his warriors, and that he
had winked at the escape of white prisoners, whose sufferings would not
permit them to proceed on their march. He related one instance in
particular, in which a young female prisoner had lagged behind, and whom
he himself hid in the bushes that she might escape and return to her home.
This account of himself was subsequently confirmed by Captain Philip Frey,
son of Colonel Hendrick Frey, of Tryon county, of most respectable
character and connexions, and an officer in the British army, who had
served with Brant on several military expeditions, and shared with him the
dangers of several battles. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Letter of Major Cochran to the author. In farther illustration of
Brant's general desire to prevent the shedding of blood unnecessarily,
the following incident has been communicated to the author while these
sheets were passing through the press:--"The late Jonathan Maynard, Esq.
of Framingham, (near Boston,) Massachusetts, formerly a member of the
Senate of that State, was actively engaged in the war of the Revolution,
and, as he was in the habit of relating to his friends, was taken
prisoner at one time in the western part of New-York by a party of the
enemy, composed chiefly of Indians, under the command of Brant. The
savages were disposed to put him to death according to the exterminating
mode of warfare practised in that section of the country by the combined
Indians and Tories; and preparations were making to that effect, when,
having been partially stripped, Brant discovered the symbols of
Freemasonry marked upon the prisoner's arms, which led him to interpose
and save his life. Mr. Maynard was then sent a prisoner to Canada, where,
after remaining several months, he was finally exchanged, and returned
home. He lived to an advanced age, universally respected in the town
where he resided, as an upright man and faithful magistrate; and was
favorably known throughout the county of Middlesex, which he represented
in the Senate of the commonwealth."--_Letter to the author by George
Folsom, Esq._

Having thus disposed of the principal events in his career during the war
of the Revolution, in respect to which his conduct was certainly the
opposite of savage and blood-thirsty, this point of his vindication may
be appropriately closed by the following extract from a letter addressed
to him in February, 1792, by the Rev. Mr. Kirkland, than whom none was
more intimately acquainted with his general character and disposition:--

"Rev. Mr. Kirkland to Captain Brant.--(Extract.)

"_Genesee, February_ 17_th,_ 1792.

"My Dear Friend,

"I was honored with your very polite and affectionate letter of the 1st
inst. by Dr. Allen, last Saturday. The opportunity which now presents of
addressing you, is very unexpected. Yesterday I had the pleasure of a
short interview with Captain Williamson, who had lately passed through
Philadelphia, where he received a large packet for Colonel _Gordon,_
commanding at Niagara, soliciting his aid in behalf of a disconsolate
mother, to inquire after the fate of her son, _Captain Turner_--an
unfortunate officer, who is supposed to be a prisoner among the Miamis,
and taken in the action of last Fall. I told Mr. Williamson that no
person would be more willing and ready on such an occasion to make
inquiry, and perhaps no one under equal advantages, to obtain the
much-desired information, than your self; and that, _notwithstanding all
your martial fire and heroism, you possessed a sensibility of soul that
would weep at the tale of woe._ He gave me a most affecting account of the
situation of the afflicted mother--probably he was a darling son. Mr.
Williamson has accordingly written you on the subject."

One of the distinguishing features of his character was his strong sense
of justice. It will be recollected, in the narrative of the captivity of
Alexander Harper and others, that during their long and fatiguing march,
when his own warriors and himself were suffering almost the extremity of
hunger, he saw with his own eyes the most rigid impartiality exercised in
the distribution of such scanty supplies of food as they were able
casually to procure. Every prisoner was allowed a full share with himself;
and at the end of their march, it has been seen how adroitly he averted
the torture of the gauntlet-running, which it was so customary with the
Indians to inflict upon their prisoners. This same love of justice,
moreover, marked his conduct during the Indian wars of 1789--'95, and
pervaded his correspondence connected with those wars, and his own
subsequent difficulties with the British Government touching the Grand
River land title, and in all his negotiations with the State of New-York.
He honestly thought the claim of the north-western Indians to the Ohio and
Muskingum boundary a just one. Hence his untiring exertions, year after
year, to adjust the difficulties between the Indians and the United States
upon that basis. When he thought the Indians claimed too much, he opposed
them; and so far as he thought them in the right, he was ready to fight
for them. In a letter to General Chapin upon this subject, written in
December, 1794, he says:

"Your letters from Kanandaigua are now before me. I have to say that our
meetings during the whole of last summer, at all of which our thoughts
were solely bent on fixing a boundary line, such as we thought would be
the means of fixing a peace on a solid basis, for which reason we pointed
out the line we did, well knowing the justness of it, and being certain
that the whole Indian confederacy would ratify it.

"I must regret, as an individual, to find that this boundary has been
abandoned, as I am well convinced a lasting peace would have ensued had it
been adopted. I, therefore, ever have, to bring about this desirable end,
exerted every nerve, wishing for nothing more than justice between us.
This line, you will recollect, was offered to Governor St. Clair at
Muskingum. Notwithstanding the two successful campaigns of the Indians, I
still adhered to the same line, and still do. This, I hope, will satisfy
you that my wish ever was for peace. The offer made was rejected by Mr.
St. Clair, and what the consequences have been you well know. . . . You
will recollect that I differed even with my friends, respecting the
boundary, [FN] and to the two last messages that you then received, my
name was to neither, for the reason that I thought them [the Indians] too
unreasonable. For this reason I was obliged to take more pains and trouble
to bring the Indians and you to an understanding, than I was under any
obligation to do, otherwise than having our mutual interests in view. As
to politics, I study them not. My principle is founded on justice, and
justice is all I wish for. Never shall I exert myself for any nation or
nations, let their opinions of me be what they will, unless I plainly see
they are sincere and just in what they may aim at, and that nothing more
than strict justice is what they want. When I perceive that these are the
sentiments of a people, no endeavors ever shall be wanting on my part to
bring nations to a good understanding."

* * * * *

[FN] Captain Brant had proposed a compromise boundary line, of which he
was here speaking. But neither the United States nor the Indians would
listen to it.

These views are frank, manly, and honorable; and correspond with the whole
tenor of his speeches and correspondence, as well upon that as all other
questions of controversy in which he was called to participate.

His efforts for the moral and religious improvement of his people were
indefatigable. In addition to the details already presented upon this
point, the fact is no less interesting than true, that the first
Episcopal church erected in Upper Canada was built by Brant, from funds
collected by him while in England in 1786. The church was built the same
year, and the first "church-going bell" that tolled in Upper Canada, was
placed there by him. [FN-1] The Rev. Davenport Phelps, in writing to
President John Wheelock, November, 1800, upon the subject of the
exertions of Captain Brant, and the progress his people were making in
religious knowledge and the arts of civilized life, under his influence,
remarks:--"I cannot, sir, but here observe, that strong hopes may be
entertained that we may yet see the wilderness bud and blossom like the
rose. There is already a degree of civilization among a number of the
Indians which would surprise a stranger. And with some of them there is
such an appearance of Christianity, that many of the whites who possess
it, might well blush at a comparative view. Of this great and important
alteration, and of the present pleasing prospect of success in extending
the knowledge of the Redeemer among them, I am fully persuaded the labors
of your venerable predecessor, under God, have been the cause. Colonel
Brant greatly encourages civilization and Christianity. Through his
exertions and influential example among the Indians, it is to be hoped
their progress toward refinement may yet be considerable." [FN-2] His
earnest desire, beyond a doubt, was to render himself a benefactor to his
people.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Letter to the author from Colonel W. J. Kerr.

[FN-2] McClure's Life of Wheelock.

As a warrior, he was cautious, sagacious and brave; watching with
sleepless vigilance for opportunities of action, and allowing neither
dangers nor difficulties to divert him from his well-settled purposes. His
constitution was hardy, his capacity of endurance great; his energy
untiring, and his firmness indomitable. His character, in his social and
domestic relations, has been delineated at length, and needs no farther
illustration. In his dealings and business relations he was prompt,
honorable, and expert; and, so far as the author has been able to obtain
information from gentlemen who knew him well, he was a pattern of
integrity. The purity of his private morals has never been questioned, and
his house was the abode of kindness and hospitality.

His manners in refined society have been described by Dr. Miller and
General Porter. Without divesting himself altogether of the characteristic
reserve of his people, he could, nevertheless, relax as occasion required,
and contribute his full share, by sprightly and intelligent conversation,
to the pleasures of general society. He was at once affable and dignified,
avoiding frivolity on the one hand and stiffness on the other; in one
word, unbending himself just to the proper medium of the well-bred
gentleman. He has been described by some as eloquent in his conversation.
Others, again, deny him the attribute of eloquence, either in public
speaking or in the social circle; asserting that his great power lay in
his strong, practical good sense, and deep and ready insight into
character. Mr. Thomas Morris avers that his sagacity in this respect
exceeded that of any other man with whom he has been acquainted. His
temperament was decidedly amiable; he had a keen perception of the
ludicrous, and was both humorous and witty himself--some times brilliant
in this respect; and his conversation was often fascinating, by reason of
its playfulness and vivacity. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] As an illustration of his shrewdness and sagacity, the following
anecdote of Brant has been communicated to the author by Professor
Griscom:--"When Jemima Wilkinson, (who professed to be, in her own
person, the Saviour of the world in his second appearance on earth,) was
residing on her domain in western New-York, surrounded by her deluded and
subservient followers, she could not fail to attract the notice of
Colonel Brant; while the celebrity of the Chieftain must, in turn, have
forcibly commended itself to her attention. This led, of course, to a
mutual desire to see each other, and Brant at length presented himself
at her mansion, and requested an interview. After some formality he was
admitted and she addressed to him a few words in the way of a welcome
salutation. He replied to her by a formal speech in his own language, at
the conclusion of which she informed him that she did not understand the
language in which he spoke. He then addressed her in another Indian
dialect, to which, in like manner, she objected. After a pause, he
commenced a speech in a third, and still different American language,
when she interrupted him by the expression of dissatisfaction at his
persisting to speak to her in terms which she could not understand. He
arose with dignity, and with a significant motion of the hand,
said--'Madam, you are not the person you pretend to be. Jesus Christ can
understand one language as well as another,' and abruptly took his
leave." Since this striking and characteristic anecdote was received from
Dr. Griscom, I have discovered that it has been attributed to Red Jacket.
This Chief; however, was a Pagan--a disbeliever in Jesus Christ; and as
Brant was the opposite, the anecdote is more characteristic of him than
of the Seneca orator.

The implacable resentments imputed to the American Indians were not
characteristic of him. In a speech to a council of Misissaguas--a clan of
the Hurons, located on the Bay of Quinte,--on the occasion of certain
grievous personal insults, of which some of their people were complaining,
he remarked:--"Brothers, I am very glad you suffer these abuses so
patiently. I advise you to persevere in your patience and prudence, never
allowing yourselves to feel and exercise revenge, until every regular
step be taken to remove them." [FN] In the whole course of his
correspondence, positive hostility, of a personal character, seems only to
have been cherished toward Colonel Claus, the Deputy Superintendent
General of the Indian Department. The precise nature of this difficulty
the author has not ascertained. It was connected, however, with the
pecuniary affairs of the Indians, in regard to which Brant was exonerated
from censure at every scrutiny. Still, perfection cannot be predicated of
the Mohawk Chief more than other men, and the author has not discovered a
particle of evidence, going to inculpate the moral or official conduct of
Colonel Claus--save that he appears to have connived at the unsuccessful
machinations of Red Jacket and other enemies of Brant, to effect the
chieftain's deposition.

* * * * *

[FN] MS. speech among the Brant papers.

Like other men, Brant doubtless had his faults, but they were redeemed by
high qualities and commanding virtues. He was charged with duplicity, and
even treachery, in regard to the affairs of the Indians and the United
States, in connexion with his first visit to Philadelphia. But the
aspersion was grievously unjust. During the years of those wars, his
position was trying and peculiar. He had his own ulterior objects to
consult in regard to the Indians of the upper lakes. He desired to see
justice done to them, and also to the United States. And he likewise
desired not to impair his own influence with those Indians. At the same
time he had a difficult game to play, with the Colonial and British
governments. The doubtful relations between England and the United States
induced the former to keep the Indians in a very unpacific mood toward the
latter for a series of years; sometimes even pushing them into
hostilities, by means and appliances of which policy required the
concealment, and the means of diplomatic denial, if necessary. At the same
time, while Brant was thoroughly loyal to the King, he was nevertheless
resolved upon maintaining the unfettered independence of his own peculiar
nation; friendly relations with the Colonial government being also
essential to his desire of a perfect title to his new territory.

Such a position must at all times have been full of embarrassment and
difficulty, and at some conjunctures could not have been otherwise than
deeply perplexing. And yet he sustained himself through the whole--proving
himself above the influence of gold at Philadelphia, and passing the
ordeal without dishonor. In letters, he was in advance of some of the
Generals against whom he fought; and even of still greater military
chieftains, who have flourished before his day and since. True, he was
ambitious--and so was Caesar. He sought to combine many nations under his
own dominion--and so did Napoleon. He ruled over barbarians--and so did
Peter the Great.

A few years before his death, Captain Brant built a commodious
dwelling-house, two stories high, on a tract of land presented him by the
King at the head of Lake Ontario--directly north of the beach which
divides the lake from the sheet of water known as Burlington Bay. The
situation is noble and commanding, affording a glorious prospect of that
beautiful lake, with a fruitful soil and a picturesque country around it.
At this place, on the 24th of November, 1807, he closed a life of greater
and more uninterrupted activity for the space of half a century, than has
fallen to the lot of almost any other man whose name has been inscribed by
the muse of history. He was a steadfast believer in the distinguishing
doctrines of Christianity, and a member of the Episcopal church at the
time of his decease. He bore his illness, which was painful, with patience
and resignation. He died in the full possession of his faculties, and,
according to the belief of his attendants, in the full faith of the
Christian religion. [FN] His age was sixty-four years and eight months.
His remains were removed to the Mohawk Village, on the Grand River, and
interred by the side of the church which he had built. The interests of
his people, as they had been the paramount object of his exertions through
life, were uppermost in his thoughts to the end. His last words that have
been preserved upon this subject, were contained in a charge to his
adopted nephew, Teyoninhokarawen:--"Have pity on the poor Indians: if you
can get any influence with the great, endeavor to do them all the good you
can." With great justice the surviving Mohawks might have, made a similar
exclamation to that of King Joash at the bed of the dying prophet--"My
father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!"

* * * * *

[FN] See Appendix, No. XX.

[Illustration: John Brant]

CHAPTER XVI.

Account of the family of Brant subsequent to his death--Catharine
Brant--The line of descent among the Mohawks--John Brant, the youngest
son, appointed to the Chieftainship--The war of 1812--General Van
Rensselaer on the Niagara frontier--Preparations for a descent upon
Queenston Heights--First attempt frustrated--Arrangement for a second
movement--Arrival of Lieutenant-colonel Scott on the lines--His efforts
to accompany the expedition--Landing of Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer
and his party--Intrepidity of the attack--Van Rensselaer and others
grievously wounded--Captain Wool carries the Heights--Advance of General
Brock--His defeat and fall--Arrival of Lieutenant-colonel Scott upon
the Heights--Attack of the Indians--General Sheaffe advances from
Niagara with reinforcements--Battle--The Americans driven down the
Heights--Attempts of Scott to capitulate--His flag-bearers shot
down--Determines to bear a flag himself--A young Indian leaps upon him
like a tiger--His rescue--Interview with General
Sheaffe--Capitulation--March to Niagara--Remarkable interview between
Scott and two Indians at Niagara, the younger of whom was John
Brant--Base poltroonry of the militia--Battle of the Beaver-dams--Close
of young Brant's military life--Removes to the Brant House with his
sister--Account of the family by Lieutenant Hall--Visit of the British
Consul to the Brant House--Controversy of John Brant with Archdeacon
Strachan---He visits England respecting the ancient land-title
controversy--Succeeds with the ministers--Disappointed by the Colonial
Government--Correspondence with Campbell respecting the memory of his
father--Attention to the moral wants of his people--Correspondence
respecting the Mohawk schools--Presentation of a silver cup--His
election to the Provincial Parliament--Seat contested--Death by
cholera--His character--Farther notices of the family--Description of
his sister, and of his successor--Death of Catharine Brant--Conclusion.

Catharine Brant, the widow of Thayendanegea, was forty-eight years old at
the time of his decease. According to the constitution of the Mohawks,
which, like that of Great Britain, is unwritten, the inheritance descends
through the female line exclusively. Consequently the superior
chieftainship does not descend to the eldest male; but the eldest female,
in what may be called the royal line, nominates one of her sons or other
descendants, and he thereby becomes the chief. If her choice does not fall
upon her own son, the grandson whom she invests with the office must be
the child of her daughter. The widow of Thayendanegea was the eldest
daughter of the head chief of the Turtle tribe--first in rank of the
Mohawk nation. In her own right, therefore, on the decease of her husband,
she stood at the head of the Iroquois Confederacy, alone clothed with
power to designate a successor to the chieftaincy. The official title of
the principal chief of the Six Nations, is Tekarihogea; to which station
John, the fourth and youngest son, whose Indian name was Ahyouwaighs, was
appointed.

On the removal of the old Chief, Thayendanegea, to his new establishment
at the head of Lake Ontario, he had adopted the English mode of living,
and arranged his household accordingly. Mrs. Brant, however,--the Queen
mother she might be styled in Europe--preferred the customs of her people,
and soon after the death of her husband returned to the Mohawk Village on
the Grand River, where she ever afterward resided.

The young Chief was born at the Mohawk Village on the 27th of September,
1794--being at the time of his father's decease thirteen years of age. He
received a good English education at Ancaster and Niagara, under the
tuition of a Mr. Richard Cockrel; but through life improved his mind
greatly, by the study of the best English authors, by associations with
good society, and by travel. He was a close and discriminating observer
of the phenomena of nature, upon which he reasoned in a philosophical
spirit. Amiable and manly in his feelings and character, and becoming well
acquainted with English literature, his manners were early developed as
those of an accomplished gentleman.

When the war of 1812-'15, between the United States and England, broke
out, the Mohawks, true to their ancient faith, espoused the cause of the
latter, and the _Tekarihogea_ took the field with his warriors. He was
engaged in many of the actions on the Niagara frontier, in all of which
his bearing was chivalrous and his conduct brave. His first effort was at
the battle of Queenston--commenced so auspiciously for the American arms
by the gallant and daring Van Rensselaer, and ended so disastrously by
reason of the cowardice of the militia on the American side, who refused
to cross the river and secure the victory which had been so bravely won.

There were incidents marking that battle, however, involving the conduct
of the young Chief, and connected with the life of an American officer
whose name from that day forth has been identified with the military glory
of his country, which forbid that the transaction should be thus
summarily despatched. Aside, moreover, from the part borne by John Brant
in the battle, and the exciting incidents to be related, sufficient of
themselves to form a chapter that might well be entitled "the romance of
history," many facts connected with that singular engagement have to this
day remained unwritten.

The command of the Niagara section of the American frontier, during the
Autumn of 1812, had been committed by Governor Tompkins to Major General
Stephen Van Rensselaer, the senior officer of the State Cavalry of
New-York. Attached to his staff was Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, an
officer who, as a subaltern in the regular service, had signalized himself
by his undaunted bravery, and coolness and intrepidity in action, during
the Indian wars, and particularly under the command of General Wayne at
the Miamis. The situation of General Van Rensselaer had been exceedingly
embarrassing during the whole period of his command, or nearly three
months before the movement under review. His selection for that post by
the Commander-in-chief of New-York, considering the adverse state of their
political relations, was deemed an equivocal act on the part of the
Governor. But, although opposed to the policy of the war, and in the
possession of the first paternal estate in America, and in the enjoyment
of every blessing which can sweeten life, General Van Rensselaer hesitated
not to comply with the call of his country, and took the field
immediately. [FN-1] After reconnoitering the frontier from Ogdensburgh to
Lake Erie, he determined to establish his head-quarters at Lewiston, on
the Strait of Niagara. After the failure of the expedition of General
Hull, who had been ingloriously captured with his army at Detroit, the
next point of attack upon the enemy's country was obviously the Canadian
peninsula at Niagara. But the season for active military operations had
almost glided away under the tardy levy of regular troops, and the
uncertain assemblages of the militia; and it was October before General
Van Rensselaer found himself in force to warrant offensive operations. His
solicitude, not only for the interests of the public service and the
honor of his country, but for his own reputation, determined him to strike
a blow at the enemy if possible, [FN-2] in order to obtain a position for
winter-quarters on the Canada shore. Added to which was the manifestation
of a strong and impatient desire by the militia to be led against the
enemy. This desire rose to such a height that resistance seemed scarcely
possible, and patriotism was apparently passing the limits of
subordination. [FN-3] Indeed, the determination of the militia was
expressed to the General through various channels, as an _alternative,_
that they must have orders to _act_ against the enemy or they would go
home. [FN-4] Nor was the General himself less desirous of action than his
troops professed to be. He felt that the disgrace of the American arms at
Detroit, at the opening of the campaign, could only be wiped away by a
brilliant close of it; and that unless a signal blow should be struck, the
public expectation would be disappointed; all the toil and expense of the
campaign would be thrown away; and, worse than all, the whole would be
tinged with dishonor. [FN-5]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Memoirs of General Wilkinson.

[FN-2] Ibid.

[FN-3] Low's History of the War.

[FN-4] General Van Rensselaer's official report.

[FN-5] Letter of General Van Rensselaer to Governor Tompkins, Oct 8,
1812.

Impressed by considerations like these, and encouraged by the apparent
desire of the militia to take the field, dispositions were made for an
attack upon Queenston Heights, with a view of moving thence upon Fort
George at Niagara, which it was proposed to carry by storm, and then take
up the quarters of the army there for the winter--an excellent position
for obtaining supplies, and making the necessary arrangements for opening
the campaign early in the following Spring. [FN-1] General Brock, the
British commander on the opposite shore of the river, was watching the
motions of the Americans with unwearied vigilance; but a spy, who had been
despatched across the river, having returned with the erroneous
information that that officer had moved in the direction of Detroit with
all his disposable force, arrangements were made by General Van Rensselaer
for crossing the river and attacking Queenston Heights early on the
morning of the 11th of October. The design, however, was frustrated,
either by the ignorance, the cowardice, or the treachery of a boatman, who
had been selected as the leading waterman for his skill and steadiness.
The enterprise was to be led by Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer,--"The
corps designated for the expedition, and principally composed of militia,
assembled punctually and in good order at the place of rendezvous, and,
with the exception of the weather, which was wet and windy, every thing
wore a propitious aspect. But when, after long and patiently abiding the
pelting of a north-easterly storm, the embarkation was ordered and the
boats called for, none were found to be in readiness; and on inquiry it
was discovered that the person having charge of them had not only
withdrawn himself, but had carried with him all the oars necessary for the
service. For this unexpected occurrence there was no remedy but patience;
the expedition was accordingly suspended, and the troops sent back to
their cantonments." [FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Ibid.

[FN-2] General Armstrong's Notices on the war of 1812.

The impatience of the militia continuing, and having received a
reinforcement of three hundred and fifty regular troops under
Lieutenant-colonel Chrystie, the General determined to renew the attempt
before daylight on the morning of the 13th. Colonel Van Rensselaer was to
command the expedition as before, and lead the attack with three hundred
militia, to be followed by Lieutenant-colonel Chrystie with three hundred
regulars. Lieutenant-colonels Chrystie and Fenwick had agreed to waive
rank, and serve under Colonel Van Rensselaer. Lieutenant-colonel Fenwick,
with Major Mullaney, was to follow Chrystie with three hundred and fifty
regular troops and some pieces of artillery, after whom the greater body
of the militia were to succeed in order. Such is an outline of the
dispositions for the movement on the morning of the 13th of October.
Meantime Lieutenant-colonel, (now Major general Scott) had arrived with
his regiment of artillery at Schlosser, two miles above the Falls, and
twelve from Lewiston, on the day before the engagement. Having heard from
Colonel Stranahan, of the Otsego militia, whose regiment, stationed at the
Falls, was on the move, that an expedition of some kind was contemplated
by General Van Rensselaer, Scott, then young, and ardent as he is now,
impatient of an early opportunity to meet an enemy, mounted his horse and
rode full speed to Lewiston. He forthwith presented himself to the
Commanding General, from whom he learned the character of the enterprise
on foot, and of whom he solicited the privilege of taking a part. The
General replied that the details had all been arranged--that Colonel
Solomon Van Rensselaer was to have the command, and that
Lieutenant-colonels Fenwick and Chrystie had waived their rank, and were
to serve under that officer. But such was the urgency of Scott, that the
General gave him permission to accompany the expedition as a volunteer,
if he also would waive his rank. This proposition was declined; but as
Scott was anxious to bring his regiment down to Lewiston, it was
ultimately stipulated that he might select a position upon the bank of the
river, and use his artillery to such advantage as opportunity might
afford. Under this arrangement he hastened back to his regiment at
Schlosser, which, although wearied by its long journey, was nevertheless,
by a forced march, over horrible roads, brought down to Lewiston all in
good time in the evening. Scott again importuned for permission to
participate directly in the enterprise. But in vain. Had he been in the
field, his rank in the line of the regular service would have given him
the command of a Colonel of militia--in which only Van Rensselaer bore a
commission; and as the whole project had originated with the latter, the
commanding General designed that he should reap the laurels in expectancy.

It would be foreign from the purpose of this narrative to dwell upon the
variety of untoward and vexatious circumstances which delayed, and had
nearly caused a total failure of, the enterprise. Suffice it to say, that
after those difficulties had been in part surmounted, the expedition
departed upon its perilous undertaking. It has already been remarked that
the enemy was keeping a vigilant watch over the motions of the Americans,
and they had discovered indications of a movement of some kind during the
last few preceding days. The narrowness of the river, without the agency
of spies, enabled them to make these observations; added to which the
sound of the oars had been heard, so that, instead of being surprised,
the enemy was measurably prepared for Van Rensselaer's reception. Indeed,
a fire was opened before the boat of Colonel Van Rensselaer had reached
the shore, and Lieutenant Rathbone was killed in the Colonel's boat. Two
companies of regular troops, however, and Captains Armstrong and Malcolm,
had previously landed without annoyance or discovery. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Armstrong's Notices of the War.

Other boats successively followed, and the landing of two hundred and
thirty-five men was effected, although the detachments first arriving
suffered severely from the fire of the enemy, especially in the loss of
their officers. The troops formed under a very warm fire, climbed the
bank, Van Rensselaer himself leading the detachment, and routed the enemy
at the point of the bayonet without firing a shot. In this operation
Ensign Morris was killed, and Captains Armstrong, Malcolm, and Wool were
wounded, the latter slightly. Colonel Van Rensselaer himself was a severe
sufferer, having received one ball in his hip, which passed out at his
spine, two in his thigh, one of which lodged, two in his leg, and a sixth
in his heel. Lieutenant-colonel Fenwick was also severely wounded, and
Colonel Chrystie slightly. Indeed Captain Wool, himself wounded also, was
now the senior officer fit for duty. The gallant leader, concealing his
wounds under his great-coat as long as he could, immediately on the
retreat of the enemy toward the town, ordered Captain Wool, the senior
officer capable of duty, to ascend the mountain and carry the battery,
giving him a direction for the movement by which he would avoid the fire
of the enemy's artillery--placing Lieutenants Randolph and Gansevoort, who
volunteered, at the head of the little column, and Major Lush, another
volunteer, in the rear, with orders to put to death the first man who
should fall back. [FN-1] This enterprise was gallantly executed by Captain
Wool, and the battery was carried "without much resistance." [FN-2]
Colonel Van Rensselaer, however, unable longer to sustain himself, fell
to the ground soon after the party had filed off before him; but he did
not lose his consciousness, and the pains of his wounds were soon
alleviated by the shouts of victory.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Wilkinson's Memoirs.

[FN-2] Report of Captain Wool. The officers engaged in storming the
battery were Captains Wool and Ogilvie; Lieutenants Kearney, Huginen,
Carr, and Sammons of the 13th regiment; Lieutenants Gansevoort and
Randolph of the light artillery, and Major Lush of the militia.

Meantime, the most intense anxiety was felt on the American shore to learn
the result of the daring attempt; and before it was well light, the
painful intelligence was received that the gallant leader had fallen,
covered with wounds. And upon the heels of that unpleasant news, the
report came that Colonel Fenwick had also fallen, dangerously wounded. Had
Scott been in the field, Fenwick would have ranked him, being the oldest
in commission. Chrystie was younger in rank than Scott; but while the
latter was again urging to be sent across, Chrystie himself appeared at
General Van Rensselaer's marquee, having received a slight wound in the
hand. Scott was now entitled to the post he had been seeking, and was
immediately gratified with directions to cross the river, and assume the
command.

But while these arrangements were concerting on the American side, and
before Lieutenant-colonel Scott had arrived at the scene of action,
another important act in the changing drama of the day had been performed.
The landing of the Americans had been opposed by the light company of the
49th regiment of grenadiers, and the York volunteer militia, together with
a small number of Indians. The light troops had been dislodged by the
Americans on ascending the heights, and an eighteen pounder battery taken.
[FN-1] The fortress on the heights, carried by Captain Wool, was manned by
a detachment of the grenadiers, the whole numbering, as was supposed, one
hundred and sixty regulars. [FN-2] The heights having been cleared of the
enemy, who retired upon the village of Queenston, the Americans were
allowed to repose a short time upon their laurels. But the respite was
brief. General Brock being at Niagara when the action commenced, was
startled from his pillow by the roar of the artillery; but so rapid were
his movements, that he arrived at Queenston ere the grey of the morning
had passed, accompanied by his Provincial aid-de-camp, Lieutenant-colonel
McDonell. [FN-3] Placing himself immediately at the head of four companies
of his favorite 49th grenadiers and a body of militia, General Brock
advanced for the purpose of turning the left of the Americans, and
recovering the ground that had been lost. A detachment of one hundred and
fifty men, directed by Captain Wool to take possession of the heights
above the battery, and hold General Brock in check, was compelled to
retreat by superior numbers. An engagement ensued, in the course of which,
after some fighting, the Americans were driven to the edge of the bank.
With great exertions, Captain Wool brought his men to a stand, and
directed a charge immediately on the exhaustion of his ammunition. This
order was executed, though with some confusion. It was, nevertheless,
effectual, and the enemy in turn were driven to the verge of the heights,
where Colonel McDonell, having his horse shot under him, fell, himself
mortally wounded. [FN-4] In the meantime General Brock, in attempting to
rally his forces, received a musket ball in his breast, and died almost
immediately. The last words he uttered as he fell from his horse, were,
"Push on the brave York Volunteers." [FN-5] The enemy thereupon dispersed
in every direction; [FN-6] and Captain Wool, receiving at that time a
small reinforcement of riflemen from the American side, set about forming
a line on the heights, fronting the village, detaching flanking parties,
and making such other dispositions as were first prompted by the
exigencies of the occasion.

* * * * *

[FN-1] Chrystie's account of the Canadian War.

[FN-2] Wilkinson's Memoirs.

[FN-3] Chrystie.

[FN-4] Captain Wool's official Report.

[FN-5] Chevatler.

[FN-6] Captain Wool.

It was at this point of time, being yet early in the morning, that
Lieutenant-colonel Scott arrived on the heights, where he found the
troops, both regulars and volunteers, in considerable disorder. He
immediately announced his name and rank, and assuming the command, with
the assistance of his adjutant, an officer of great activity and
intelligence, brought them into line. On counting his men, he found that
of regular troops there were three hundred and fifty rank and file, all
told, and two hundred and fifty-seven volunteers, under General Wadsworth
and Colonel Stranahan, the former of whom at once waived his rank in favor
of Scott. Just before Scott had arrived upon the ground, Captain Wool had
ordered Lieutenants Gansevoort and Randolph, with a detachment of
artillery, to drill out the eighteen pounder heretofore spoken of as
having been taken from the enemy, at a point some distance below the
crest of the heights, but which had been spiked before its capture.
Hearing of the circumstance, and being told that the gun had been spiked
only with a ramrod, Scott hurried away in person to direct the process of
extracting this impediment to its use. He was not long absent, and on
reascending the heights, great was his astonishment to find a cloud of
Indians in the act of rushing upon his line, tomahawk in hand, while his
troops were breaking, and evidently on the point of a general flight. The
Indians bore down fiercely, and were, some of them, within ten paces of
his men, when he gained his place just in season to prevent total
disorder, and bring them to the right about, facing the enemy, upon whom
they were turning their backs. All this was but the work of a moment. The
Indians, finding this sudden change in the mode of their reception,
recoiled; and after a sharp engagement, were compelled to retreat. Their
leader was a dauntless youth, of surprising activity; dressed, painted and
plumed _en Indien,_ cap-a-pied.

The Americans, it will be recollected by those familiar with the history
of the war, retained possession of the heights, and of the little
fortress they had taken, during several hours--undisturbed by the regular
troops of the enemy, who was waiting for reinforcements from Fort George
at Newark, six miles below. But they were incessantly harassed by the
Indians, who hovered about them, occasionally advancing in considerable
numbers, but who were invariably put to flight when seriously engaged by
the Colonel's handful of an army. The stripling leader of the Indians was
of graceful form and mould, and, as already remarked, of uncommon agility.
He was often observed by Colonel Scott, and others, and was always
accompanied by a dark, stalwart chief, evidently of great strength, who
was subsequently known as Captain Jacobs. It was discovered that these two
Indians in particular were repeatedly making a mark of Scott, who, like
the first monarch of Israel, stood a full head above his soldiers, and
who was rendered a yet more conspicuous object by a new and brilliant
uniform, and a tall white plume in his hat. The conduct of these two
Indians having been particularly observed by an officer, a message was
instantly sent to Scott upon the subject, with his own overcoat, advising
the Colonel to put it on. But the disguise was declined; and the Indians,
having taken refuge in a wood at some distance on the left, were driven
thence by a spirited charge, gallantly led by Scott in person.

By these successive actions, however, the numbers of the Americans, both
regulars and volunteers, had been sadly reduced, the wounded having been
sent across the river to the American shore in the few boats not rendered
useless by the enemy's fire in the morning. The British column, led by
General Sheaffe, the successor of General Brock, was now discovered
advancing in the distance from Niagara. Its approach, though slow and
circumspect, was steady and unremitting; and of its character and objects
there could be no doubt. [FN-1] The column with which General Sheaffe was
thus advancing, consisted of three hundred and fifty men of the 41st
regiment, several companies of militia, and two hundred and fifty Indians.
Reinforcements, both of troops and Indians, arriving from Chippewa, the
force of the enemy was augmented to eight hundred. [FN-2] Major-General
Van Rensselaer, having crossed the river before he made this discovery,
hastened back to his own camp, to make another appeal to the militia to
cross over to the rescue of the little band of their own countrymen, now
in such imminent peril. But in vain. Not a man could overcome his
constitutional scruples about crossing the confines of his own country;
and for more than two hours the troops and volunteers upon the heights
were allowed to behold an advancing enemy, in numbers sufficient to
overwhelm them, while by looking over their right shoulders they could
see an army of American militia, abundantly sufficient to defeat the
approaching column, and maintain the victories of the morning. [FN-3] The
march of General Sheaffe was protracted by an extensive detour to the
west, beyond the forest heretofore spoken of as having been a shelter to
the Indians. Scott and his officers, in consideration of their own
diminished numbers, marveled greatly at this fatiguing measure of
precaution on the part of the enemy, but were afterward informed by the
officers into whose hands they fell, that the enemy had no idea that the
diminutive force they saw upon the heights constituted the whole of the
army they were marching to encounter.

* * * * *

[FN-1] General Armstrong's Notices

[FN-2] This is the estimate of the Canadian historian, Robert Chrystie.
Colonel Chrystie of the American forces, in his estimate, stated the
force of Sheaffe at from four to five hundred regulars, with four pieces
of artillery, from five to six hundred militia, and three hundred
Indians.

[FN-3] "Neither entreaty nor threats, neither arguments nor ridicule,
availed any thing. They had seen enough of war to satisfy them that it
made no part of their special calling; and at last, not disdaining to
employ the mask invented by faction to cover cowardice or treason,
fifteen hundred able-bodied men, well armed and equipped, who a week
before boasted largely of patriotism and prowess, were now found openly
pleading constitutional scruples in justification of disobedience to the
lawful authority of their chief."--_General Armstrong's Notices of the
War._

During the breathing-time thus enjoyed by the Americans, and prolonged by
the extreme caution of the enemy, a note from General Van Rensselaer was
received by General Wadsworth, informing him of the facts heretofore
stated respecting the cowardice of the militia, and advising a retreat.
The General stated that not a company could be prevailed upon to cross the
river; that he had himself seen the movements of the enemy, and knew that
they were too powerful to be resisted by the handful of men upon the
heights; and that he would endeavor to furnish boats and cover a retreat.
Still, he left it optional with Wadsworth and his officers, to govern
themselves according to circumstances under their own more immediate view.
A consultation of the officers was immediately held; but nothing was
decided upon. Meantime the enemy continued to approach, but with
undiminished circumspection--"maneuvering from right to left, and from
left to right, and counter-marching nearly the whole length of the
American line twice, as if determined to count every man in the ranks, and
to make himself familiar with every foot of the position before he
hazarded an attack." [FN-1] This deliberation gave time for renewed
councils on the part of the American officers. A retreat, however, was
considered hopeless; whereupon Colonel Scott literally mounted a stump,
and made a short but animated address to his soldiers:--"We cannot
conquer; we may fall; we must die," said Scott; "but if we die like
soldiers, we effect more by our example of gallantry upon a conquered
field, than we could ever have done for our countrymen if surviving a
successful one." A unanimous shout of approval answered the stirring
appeal. Nor were the militia volunteers, who had continued faithful
through the morning skirmishings, backward in seconding the determination.
Indeed, though inexperienced, there were no braver men upon the field
than Wadsworth and Stranahan. [FN-2] The British advanced steadily in
column, reserving their fire, as did the Americans, excepting the single
piece of artillery in their possession, until they came within eighty
paces. Several well-directed and effective fires succeeded--the Americans
maintaining their ground firmly until actually pricked by the bayonets of
the enemy. They then retreated toward the river, the side of the steep
being at that day covered with shrubs, which enabled the soldiers to let
themselves down from one to another, with sufficient deliberation to
allow an occasional return of the fire of their pursuers. Presently,
however, the Indians came springing down from shrub to shrub after them;
which circumstance somewhat accelerated the retreat of the Americans. On
reaching the water's edge not a boat was at command; and to avoid the
galling fire of the pursuers, Scott drew his men farther up the river, to
obtain shelter beneath the more precipitous, and, in fact, beetling
cliffs.

* * * * *

[FN-1]General Armstrong's Notices of the War.

[FN-2] The late Colonel Farrand Stranahan, of Cooperstown. General
Wadsworth and Colonel Stranahan have both since deceased.

Escape was now impossible, and to fight longer was not only useless but
madness. After a brief consultation with Gibson and Totten, therefore,
(the latter officer having returned to the field in the afternoon,) a
capitulation was determined upon. A flag was accordingly sent, with a
proposition. After waiting for some time without any tidings, another was
sent, and afterward yet another--neither of which returned; and it
subsequently appeared that the bearers had been successively shot down by
the Indians. Scott thereupon determined to go with the flag himself. But
while preparing to execute his hazardous purpose, his attention was
attracted by two of his men, who were deliberately stripping themselves
to the skin. On inquiring their motive, they replied that they might as
well drown as be hanged, as they were sure to be if taken, since they
acknowledged themselves to be deserters from the ranks of the enemy.
Saying which they plunged into the dark torrent flowing madly along in
its mighty eddies and whirlpools. It was a fearful leap, but both
succeeded in reaching the American shore in safety, and the Colonel
afterward saw and conversed with them.

But to resume. Colonel Scott having determined to bear the fourth flag
himself, Totten's cravat was taken from beneath his stock for that
purpose. Totten and Gibson both resolved to accompany their commander,
who, being the tallest, bore the handkerchief upon the point of his sword.
Keeping close to the water's edge, and sheltering themselves as well as
they could behind the rocks, the Indians continually firing in the
meantime, they passed down until the bank afforded no farther protection,
when they turned to the left to take the road. But just as they were
gaining it up rose the two Indians who had been aiming at Scott in the
morning--the young and agile chief, and the more muscular Captain
Jacobs--who both sprang upon them like tigers from their lairs. Scott
remonstrated, and made known the character in which he was seeking the
British commander, but to no purpose. The Indians grappled with them
fiercely, and Jacobs succeeded in wrenching the sword from the Colonel's
hand. The blades of Totten and Gibson instantly leaped from their
scabbards, and the Indians were raising their hatchets when a British
serjeant rushed forward, hoarsely exclaiming--_"Honor! Honor!"_--and
having a guard with him, the combatants were separated, and Colonel Scott
was conducted to the presence of General Sheaffe, to whom he proposed a
surrender, and with whom terms of capitulation were speedily arranged--the
General at once saying that they should be treated with all the honors of
war. Orders were immediately given that the firing should cease; but these
orders were not promptly obeyed, which caused a remonstrance from Colonel
Scott, and finally a peremptory demand to be conducted back to his troops.
This prolonged fire was from the Indians, whom General Sheaffe admitted
he could not control, as they were exceedingly exasperated at the amount
of their loss. Scott passed a rather severe rebuke upon an enemy who
avowed allies of such a character; but officers being ordered among them
in all directions, they were presently compelled to desist.

The prisoners surrendered by Scott numbered one hundred and thirty-nine
regular troops, and one hundred and fifty-four volunteers, just--the
Colonel accurately counting them of himself. [FN] They were all marched
down to Newark, (now Niagara,) the same evening, where the Colonel and his
two principal officers were quartered in a small tavern, having
invitations the first evening to dine with General Sheaffe. While waiting
for the arrival of an officer to conduct them to the General's quarters,
another incident occurred, equally spirited, and even more startling than
the scene with the two Indians by the road-side. Just at twilight, a
little girl entered the parlor, with a message that somebody in the hall
desired to see the "tall officer." Colonel Scott thereupon stepped out of
the parlor, unarmed, of course, into the hall, which was dark and narrow,
and withal incommoded by a stairway; but what was his astonishment on
again meeting, face to face, his evil geniuses, the brawny Captain Jacobs
and the light-limbed chief! The Colonel had shut the door behind him as
he left the parlor; but there was a sentinel standing at the outer door,
who had improperly allowed the Indians to pass in. The dusky visitors
stepped up to the Colonel without ceremony, and the younger, who alone
spoke English, made a brief inquiry as to the number of balls which had
cut through his clothes, intimating astonishment that they had both been
firing at him almost the whole day, without effect. But while the young
Indian was thus speaking, or rather beginning thus to speak--for such,
subsequently, seemed to be the import of what he meant to say--Jacobs,
rudely seizing the Colonel by the arm, attempted to whirl him round,
exclaiming in broken English, "Me shoot so often, me sure to have hit
somewhere." "Hands off, you scoundrel," cried Scott, indignant at such
freedom with his person, and adding a scornful expression reflecting upon
the Indian's skill as a marksman, as he flung him from him.

* * * * *

[FN] When, shortly afterward, the general order of Sheaffe appeared, it
was announced that two hundred of the Americans were drowned and nine
hundred taken prisoners. Colonel Scott immediately called upon General
Sheaffe, and remonstrated against such an exaggeration; since he had
himself counted his own men, and knew that the number was less than
three hundred, all told. Sheaffe replied that the numbers he had
announced had been reported to him, and he felt strong confidence in the
accuracy of the statement. In conclusion, he invited Scott to go to the
barracks and see for himself. He did so and to his deep mortification
found that the statement of the general order was true! On an
investigation of the discrepancy, it appeared that the number of
prisoners had bean swollen to that amount by several hundred cowardly
rascals of the militia, who, upon landing on the Canadian shore, had
availed themselves of the darkness and other facilities, to hide
themselves away among the clefts of the rocks; where they had remained
in concealment during the day, and were only dragged by the legs from
their lurking-places by the British troops after the surrender. So much
for militia.

The Indians drew instantly both dirk and tomahawk, when, with the rapidity
of lightning, Scott, who had fortunately espied a number of swords
standing at the end of the passage, seized one from its iron sheath, and
placed himself in a posture of defence against the menacing Indians. As
they stood in this picturesque attitude, Scott with his sword ready to
strike, and the Indians with their tomahawks and dirks in the air,
frowning defiance upon each other,--both parties awaiting the first
blow,--Colonel Coffin, who had been sent with a guard to conduct Scott to
the General's quarters to dinner, sprang into the passage, and cried
"Hold!" Comprehending at a glance the dangerous position of Scott, he
interfered at once, by sharp remonstrance, and also by weapon, in his
defence. Jacobs, exasperated, turned Upon Colonel Coffin, and, uttering a
menace, his companion also unguardedly turned to observe the issue of the
new combat. The scene was of the most exciting and earnest character. The
Indians having thus turned upon Coffin, one of them exclaimed--"I kill
you!" Scott instantly raised his sabre, which was heavy and substantial,
so that a descending blow would have fallen upon both the savages at once,
and called out, "If you strike, I will kill you both!" For a moment they
stood frowning; the piercing eyes of the Indians gleaming with wild and
savage fury, while Scott and Coffin alike looked upon both with angry
defiance, all with upraised arms and glittering steel. Recovering somewhat
from the gust of passion into which they had been thrown, the Indians then
slowly dropped their arms and retired. The officer who thus came to the
rescue, was the aid of General Sheaffe, whose errand was to conduct the
Colonel to dinner, and who, by this timely arrival, probably saved his
life. It can hardly be necessary to mention who was the young chief that
had sustained himself so actively and bravely through the day, as the
reader will already have anticipated the name--John Brant--the successor
of the great Captain, his father, who, as has already been stated, though
not eighteen years of age, had that day, for the first time, led his
tribe upon the war-path. Beyond doubt it was no part of the young Chief's
design to inflict injury upon the captive American commander. His whole
character forbids the idea, for he was as generous and benevolent in his
feelings as he was brave. Having been exhausting much ammunition upon the
Colonel during the day, this visit was one of curiosity, to ascertain how
near they had come to the accomplishment of their object. Like Cassius,
the Indian bears anger as the flint does fire, though not always cold
again so soon. It was the same with Scott. Neither would allow of personal
freedom--the Colonel did not fully comprehend the object of their visit,
and a sudden rencontre; that had well nigh proved fatal, was the
consequence. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] General Sheaffe is an American by birth, and he took an early
opportunity of explaining to Colonel Scott how it happened that, most
reluctantly, he was in arms against the land of his birth. He stated that
he was a lad at the commencement of the war of the American Revolution,
living with his widowed mother at Boston. While the British army was in
the occupancy of that town, Earl Percy's quarters were in the house of
his mother. His Lordship manifested a strong degree of partiality for
him, and took him away with a view of providing for him. He gave him a
military education, and placed him in the army, purchasing commissions
and promotion for him as far as promotion can be acquired by purchase in
the British service. His subsequent promotion to the rank of
Major-general had been acquired by service. The breaking out of the war
had found him stationed in Canada. He lost no time in stating his
reluctance to serve against his own countrymen, and solicited a transfer
to some other country. But his request had not been complied with at the
time of the events now under review. For his exploit in capturing Scott
and his little band at Queenston Heights, he was created a Baronet.

In the successive battles fought on that hardly-contested frontier during
the years 1813 and 1814, young Brant, as the Indian leader, sustained
himself with great credit, as well for his bravery as for his intelligence
and activity. In the course of the extraordinary campaign of 1813,
commenced so brilliantly for the American arms at York, and followed up
in the same spirit and with the same success at Fort George, (Niagara,)
and yet attended with such surprising disasters as the capture by the
enemy of Generals Chandler and Winder, and the surrender of Colonel
Boerstler at the Beaver Dams, young Brant had several opportunities of
distinguishing himself. He was in the affair of Fort George, under General
Vincent, when that fortress was so gallantly carried by the American
troops under the immediate command of Major-general Lewis.

After Vincent retired into the interior, with a view of taking up a
position at Burlington Heights, and after the disaster of Winder and
Chandler at Forty Mile Creek, Colonel Boerstler was pushed forward with
six hundred men of all arms--dragoons, artillery and infantry--to dislodge
a strong picquet of the enemy posted in a stone house about two miles
beyond a hilly pass called the Beaver Dams, seventeen miles from Fort
George. [FN-1] Arriving at the Beaver Dams, Colonel Boerstler was
surprised by a large body of Indians under the conduct of young Brant and
Captain William J. Kerr, numbering about four hundred and fifty warriors.
The battle was maintained for about three hours--the Indians, of course,
fighting after their own fashion, in concealment--having apparently
surrounded Colonel Boerstler in the woods. Indeed, the enemy must have
conducted the battle with remarkable adroitness; for Colonel Boerstler,
galled upon all sides, dared neither to advance nor retreat, while the
result of every observation was a conviction that he was surrounded by
far superior numbers. At length Lieutenant Fitzgibbons, of the 49th
enemy's regiment, arriving on the ground with forty-six rank and file,
sent a flag to Colonel Boerstler, demanding a surrender. After some
parleying--the British lieutenant magnifying the number of their troops,
and pretending to conduct the negotiation in the name of Major De Haren,
[FN-2] not forgetting a few occasional suggestions touching the horrors of
an Indian massacre--Colonel Boerstler, having neither reserve to sustain,
nor demonstration to favor him, [FN-3] surrendered his detachment as
prisoners of war. This battle occurred on the 24th of June, and was a
brilliant affair for young Brant, since it was fought by the Indians
alone, not a single cartridge being expended by the regular troops of the
enemy. [FN-4]

* * * * *

[FN-1] General Armstrong.

[FN-2] Chrystie's History of the War in Canada.

[FN-3] General Armstrong's "Notices."

[FN-4] Letter to the author from Colonel William J. Kerr. This singular
battle was the subject of much controversy at the time, and of not a
little ridicule. The American accounts first published, stated that
Boerstler was attacked by five hundred regular troops and one hundred
Indians Colonel Bosrstler's own account of the affair dwells largely upon
the great odds in numbers against him; but although the reader is left
to infer that he fought long against regular troops as well as Indians,
yet the fact is nowhere expressly stated. The Colonel maintained that it
was an ill-advised expedition, detached in consequence of false
information communicated by Major Cyrenius Chapin, commanding a
detachment of volunteers. The Major, he averred, behaved like a
consummate coward during the engagement. In regard to the battle itself,
there is no doubt that the Colonel was out-generaled by Captain Kerr and
young Brant, and having been kept at bay for several hours, was at
length induced to surrender by stratagem.

After this achievement, young Brant participated in almost all the
skirmishes that took place on the Niagara frontier while the American
army occupied Fort George and the village of Niagara; and in the summer
of 1814 he was engaged in the memorable battles of Chippewa, Lundy's Lane,
and Fort Erie, while that post was invested by the British forces. In all
these engagements his conduct was such as to command the admiration not
only of his own people, but of the British officers--affording promise to
all who marked his prowess, of becoming a very distinguished warrior.

At the close of the war, having attained the age of manhood, John Brant,
and his youthful sister Elizabeth, the youngest of his father's family,
returned to the head of Lake Ontario, and took up their residence in the
"Brant House"--living in the English style, and dispensing the ancient
hospitalities of their father. Lieutenant Francis Hall, of the British
service, who traveled in the United States and Canada in 1816, visited the
Brant House, and saw the old lady Chieftainess at that place. He also
speaks highly of the youthful Chief, John, as "a fine young man, of
gentleman-like appearance, who used the English language agreeably and
correctly, dressing in the English fashion, excepting only the moccasins
of his Indian habit."--Lieutenant Hall also visited the Mohawk village on
the Grand River, where Elizabeth happened at that time to be, and of whom
he gives an interesting account in his notice of the Brant family, their
situation, and the people as he found them. Speaking of Thayendanegea,
this intelligent traveler remarks:--"Brant, like Clovis, and many of the
early Anglo-Saxon and Danish Christians, contrived to unite much religious
zeal with the practices of natural ferocity. His grave is to be seen under
the walls of his church. I have mentioned one of his sons; he has also a
daughter living, who would not disgrace the circles of European fashion;
her face and person are fine and graceful; she speaks English not only
correctly, but elegantly; and has, both in her speech and manners, a
softness approaching to oriental languor. She retains so much of her
native dress as to identify her with her people, over whom she affects no
superiority, but seems pleased to preserve all the ties and duties of
relationship. She held the infant of one of her relations at the font, on
the Sunday of my visit to the church. The usual church and baptismal
service was performed by a Doctor Aaron, an Indian, and an assistant
priest; the congregation consisted of sixty or seventy persons, male and
female. Many of the young men were dressed in the English fashion, but
several of the old warriors came with their blankets folded over them
like the drapery of a statue; and in this dress, with a step and mien of
quiet energy, more forcibly reminded me of the ancient Romans than some
other inhabitants of this continent who have laid claim to the
resemblance. Some of them wore large silver crosses, medals, and trinkets
on their arms and breasts; and a few had bandeaus, ornamented with
feathers. Dr. Aaron, a grey-headed Mohawk, had touched his cheeks and
forehead with a few spots of vermilion, in honor of Sunday. He wore a
surplice, and preached; but his delivery was monotonous and unimpassioned.
Indian eloquence decays with the peculiar state of society to which it
owed its energy." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Hall's Travels, pp. 135, 136.

Three years afterward, in 1819, James Buchanan, Esq., H. B. M. consul for
the port of New-York, made the tour of Upper Canada, accompanied by two of
his daughters. In the course of his journey Mr. Buchanan visited the Brant
House, of which circumstance he subsequently published the following
agreeable account in his little volume of Indian sketches:--

"After stopping more than a week under the truly hospitable roof of the
Honorable Colonel Clarke, at the Falls of Niagara, I determined to proceed
by land round Lake Ontario, to York; [FN-1] and Mrs. Clarke [FN-2] offered
to give my daughters a letter of introduction to a Miss Brant, advising us
to arrange our time so as to sleep and stop a day or two in the house of
that lady, as she was certain we should be much pleased with her and her
brother. Our friend did not intimate, still less did we suspect, that the
introduction was to an Indian prince and princess. Had we been in the
least aware of this, our previous arrangements would all have given way,
as there was nothing I was more anxious to obtain than an opportunity such
as this was so well calculated to afford, of seeing in what degree the
Indian character would be modified by a conformity to the habits and
comforts of civilized life."

* * * * *

[FN-1] Now Toronto, or, more properly, Taranto, which is the Indian name.

[FN-2] Mrs. Clarke was the daughter of the late Dr. Robert Kerr, of
Niagara, and grand-daughter of Sir William Johnson, by Molly Brant. She
was of course by blood one quarter Mohawk. Colonel Clarke's residence was
upon the banks of the Niagara, a short distance above the great cataract.
His gardens and grounds were extensive, highly cultivated, and laid out
with the taste of a landscape gardener--washed by the mighty stream
thundering over the rapids past it on one side, and bounded on the other
of its sides by a deep, dark glen, of rocks, and trees, and wild
turbulent waters. Mrs. Clarke was a lady of noble appearance, of highly
cultivated mind and manners, and of sincere and unostentatious piety.
Her husband died two or three years since; and a letter to the author,
from her brother, Colonel Kerr, of Brant House, received while these
pages were in preparation for the press, announced her decease, on the
2d of March, 1837. An agreeable visit at her seat, in September preceding
her decease, enlightened by her eloquence and vivacity, will not soon be
forgotten.--_Author._

"Proceeding on our journey, we stopped at an inn, romantically situated,
where I determined to remain all night. Among other things I inquired of
the landlord if he knew the distance to Miss Brant's house, and from him
I learned that it was about twenty miles farther. He added, that young Mr.
Brant had passed that way in the forenoon, and would, no doubt, be
returning in the evening, and that if I wished it, he would be on the
look-out for him. This I desired the landlord to do, as it would enable me
to intimate our introduction to his sister, and intention of waiting on
her the next morning.

"At dusk Mr. Brant returned, and being introduced into our room, we were
unable to distinguish his complexion, and conversed with him, believing
him to be a young Canadian gentleman. We did not, however, fail to
observe a certain degree of hesitation and reserve in the manner of his
speech. He certainly expressed a wish that we would do his sister and
himself the favor of spending a few days with them, in order to refresh
ourselves and our horses; but we thought his style more laconic than
hospitable. Before candles were brought in, our new friend departed,
leaving us still in error as to his nation.

"By four o'clock in the morning we resumed our journey. On arriving at the
magnificent shores of Lake Ontario, the driver of our carriage pointed
out, at the distance of five miles, the house of Miss Brant, which had a
very noble and commanding aspect; and we anticipated much pleasure in our
visit; as besides the enjoyment of so beautiful a spot, we should be
enabled to form a competent idea of Canadian manners and style of living.
Young Mr. Brant, it appeared, unaware that with our carriage we could have
reached his house so soon, had not arrived before us; so that our approach
was not announced, and we drove up to the door under the full persuasion
that the family would be apprised of our coming. The outer door, leading
to a spacious hall, was open. We entered, and remained a few minutes,
when, seeing no person about, we proceeded into the parlor, which, like
the hall, was for the moment unoccupied. We therefore had an opportunity
of looking about us at our leisure. It was a room well furnished, with a
carpet, pier and chimney glasses, mahogany tables, fashionable chairs, a
guitar, a neat hanging book-case, in which, among other volumes, we
perceived a Church of England Prayer Book, translated into the Mohawk
tongue. Having sent our note of introduction in by the coachman, and still
no person waiting on us, we began to suspect (more especially in the
hungry state we were in,) that some delay or difficulty about breakfast
stood in the way of the young lady's appearance. I can assure my readers
that a keen morning's ride on the shores of an American lake, is an
exercise of all others calculated to make the appetite clamorous, if not
insolent. We had already penetrated into the parlor, and were beginning to
meditate a farther exploration in search of the pantry, when, to our
unspeakable astonishment, in walked a charming, noble-looking Indian girl,
dressed partly in the native and partly in the English costume. Her hair
was confined on the head in a silk net, but the lower tresses, escaping
from thence, flowed down on her shoulders. Under a tunic or morning dress
of black silk, was a petticoat of the same material and color, which
reached very little below the knee. Her silk stockings and kid shoes were,
like the rest of her dress, black. The grace and dignity of her movement,
the style of her dress and manner, so new, so unexpected, filled us all
with astonishment. With great ease, yet by no means in that common-place
mode so generally prevalent on such occasions, she inquired how we found
the roads, accommodations, &c. No flutter was at all apparent on account
of the delay in getting breakfast; no fidgeting and fuss-making, no
running in and out, no idle expressions of regret, such as 'O! dear me!
had I known of your coming, you would not have been kept in this way;' but
with perfect ease she maintained conversation, until a squaw, wearing a
man's hat, brought in a tray with preparations for breakfast. A table
cloth of fine white damask being laid, we were regaled with tea, coffee,
hot rolls, butter in water and ice coolers, eggs, smoked beef, ham, and
broiled chickens, &c.; all served in a truly neat and comfortable style.
The delay, we afterward discovered, arose from the desire of our hostess
to supply us with hot rolls, which were actually baked while we were
waiting. I have been thus minute in my description of these comforts, as
they were so little to be expected in the house of an Indian.

"After breakfast Miss Brant took my daughters out to walk, and look at the
picturesque scenery of the country. She and her brother had previously
expressed a hope that we would stay all day; but though I wished of all
things to do so, and had determined, in the event of their pressing their
invitation, to accept it, yet I declined the proposal at first, and thus
forfeited a pleasure which we all of us longed in our hearts to enjoy;
for, as I afterward learned, it is not the custom of any uncorrupted
Indian to repeat a request if once rejected. They believe that those to
whom they offer any mark of friendship, and who give a reason for refusing
it, do so in perfect sincerity, and that it would be rudeness to require
them to alter their determination or break their word. And as the Indian
never makes a show of civility but when prompted by a genuine feeling, so
he thinks others are actuated by similar candor. I really feel ashamed
when I consider how severe a rebuke this carries with it to us who boast
of civilization, but who are so much carried away by the general
insincerity of expression pervading all ranks, that few indeed are to be
found who speak just what they wish or know. This duplicity is the effect
of what is termed a high state of refinement. We are taught so to conduct
our language, that others cannot discover our real views or intentions.
The Indians are not only free from this deceitfulness, but surpass us in
another instance of good-breeding and decorum, namely, of never
interrupting those who converse with them until they have done speaking;
and then they reply in the hope of not being themselves interrupted. This
was perfectly exemplified by Miss Brant and her brother; and I hope the
lesson my daughters were so forcibly taught by the natural politeness of
their hostess, will never be forgotten by them, and that I also may profit
by the example.

"After stopping a few hours with these interesting young Indians, and
giving them an invitation to pay us a visit at New-York, which they
expressed great desire to fulfill and which I therefore confidently
anticipated, we took our leave with real regret on all sides. As we passed
through the hall, I expected to see some Indian instruments of war or the
chase; but perceiving the walls were bare of these customary ornaments, I
asked Mr. Brant where were the trophies that belonged to his family? He
told me, and I record it with shame, that the numerous visitors that from
time to time called on him, had expressed their desire so strongly for
these trophies, that one by one he had given all away; and now he was
exempt from these sacrifices by not having any thing of the kind left. He
seemed, nevertheless, to cherish with fondness the memory of these relics
of his forefathers. How ill did the _civilized_ visitors requite the
hospitality they experienced under the roof whose doors stand open to
shelter and feed all who enter!

"As all about our young hostess is interesting, I will add some farther
particulars. Having inquired for her mother she told me she remained
generally with her other sons and daughters, who were living in the Indian
settlement on the Grand River, that falls into Lake Erie; that her mother
preferred being in the wigwams, and disapproved, in a certain degree, of
her and her brother John's conforming so much to the habits and costumes
of the English."

In the opening chapter of the present work, the Rev. Dr. Stewart, formerly
a missionary in the Mohawk Valley, and subsequently Archdeacon of the
Episcopal church of Upper Canada, was several times referred to as
authority for a variety of particulars in the early life of the elder
Brant. The sketches of his life thus referred to, were in fact written by
the present honorable and venerable Archdeacon Strachan, of Toronto, from
conversations with Dr. Stewart, and published in the Christian Recorder,
at Kingston, in 1819. There were portions of those sketches which gave
offence to the family of Thayendanegea, and his son and successor entered
upon the vindication of his father's character with great spirit. Dr.
Strachan had used an unfortunate epithet in reference to the old Chief,
and virtually charged him with having been engaged in the bloody affair of
Wyoming; accused him of having entertained designs hostile to the
interests of the crown; of wavering loyalty; and, before his death, of
intemperance. These and other matters, contained in the before-mentioned
sketches, tending seriously to detract from the respect previously
entertained for the memory of the father, were repelled with vigorous and
virtuous indignation by the son in the course of a correspondence with the
Reverend Archdeacon; and were it not for the circumstance that the matter
was in the end satisfactorily adjusted, some extracts from this
correspondence might here be presented, by way of exhibiting the tact and
talent with which a Mohawk Chief could manage a controversy in the field
of letters. The offensive statements in the sketches of the Christian
Recorder were clearly shown to have arisen from mistakes and
misrepresentations; and in the course of the explanations that ensued, the
conduct of the Archdeacon "was most honorable." [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Letter of William Johnson Kerr to the author.

The difficulties between the Mohawks and the Provincial Government,
respecting the title to the lands of the former, which the elder Brant had
so long labored, but in vain, to adjust, yet continuing unsettled, in the
year 1821 John Brant, alias Ahyouwaeghs, was commissioned to proceed to
England, as his father had been before him, to make one more appeal to the
justice and magnanimity of the parent government. He urged his claim with
ability, and enlisted in the cause of his people men of high rank and
influence. Among these was the Duke of Northumberland, the son of the old
Duke--the Lord Percy of the American Revolution, and the friend of his
father, who had deceased in 1817. The Duke, like his father, had been
adopted as a warrior of the Mohawks under the aboriginal cognomen of
_Teyonhighkon;_ and he now manifested as much zeal and friendship for the
Mohawks, in the controversy which had carried John Brant to England, as
the old Duke had done for Thayendanegea twenty years before. The young
chief likewise found an active and efficient friend in Saxe Bannister,
Esq., a gentleman bred both to the navy and the law, who had resided for
a time in Upper Canada. Mr. Bannister espoused the cause of the Indians
with laudable zeal, and wrote several papers for the consideration of the
ministers in their behalf. [FN] The result was, that before leaving
England in 1822, the agent received a promise from the Secretary of the
Colonies, Lord Bathurst, that his complaints should be redressed to his
entire satisfaction. Instructions to that effect were actually transmitted
to the Colonial Government, then administered by Sir Peregrine Maitland,
and Ahyouwaeghs returned to his country and constituents with the
well-earned character of a successful diplomatist.

* * * * *

[FN] Mr. Bannister afterward held an appointment in New South Wales, and
subsequently still was Chief Justice of the colony of Sierra Leone,
where he died.

But the just expectations of the Chief and his people were again thwarted
by the provincial authorities. The refusal of the local government to
carry into effect the instructions from the ministers of the crown, the
pretexts which they advanced, and the subterfuges to which they resorted
as excuses for their conduct, were communicated by the chief to his friend
the Duke of Northumberland, by letter, in June, 1823. He also wrote
simultaneously to Mr. Bannister upon the subject. A correspondence of some
length ensued between the Chief and those gentlemen, and repeated efforts
were made to compass a satisfactory and final arrangement of the vexed and
long-pending controversy. But these efforts were as unsuccessful in the
end as they had been in the beginning.

While in England upon this mission, the young Chief determined to
vindicate the memory of his father from the aspersions that had been cast
upon it there, as he had already done in his own country. Campbell's
"_Gertrude of Wyoming_" had then been published several years. The
subject, and general character of that delightful work, are too well and
universally known to require an analysis in this place. With a poet's
license, Mr. Campbell had not only described the valley as a terrestrial
paradise, but represented its inhabitants as being little if any inferior,
in their character, situation, and enjoyments, to the spirits of the
blessed. Into a community thus innocent, gay, and happy, he had introduced
the authors of the massacre of 1778, led on by "the monster Brant." This
phrase gave great offence to the family of the old chief, as also did the
whole passage in which it occurred. The offensive stanzas purport to form
a portion of the speech of an Indian hero of the tale, an Oneida Chief,
who is made to interrupt a domestic banquet, under most interesting
circumstances, in the following strains, prophetic of danger near at
hand:--

"But this is not the time,"--he started up,
And smote his heart with woe-denouncing hand--
"This is no time to fill the joyous cup,
The mammoth comes,--the foe,--the monster Brant,--
With all his howling, desolating band;--
These eyes have seen their blade, and burning pine
Awake at once, and silence half your land.
Red is the cup they drink--but not with wine:
Awake, and watch to-night! or see no morning shine!

"Scorning to wield the hatchet for his tribe,
'Gainst Brant himself I went to battle forth:
Accursed Brant! he left of all my tribe
Nor man, nor child, nor thing of living birth:
No! not the dog that watch'd my household hearth
Escaped that night of blood, upon our plains!
All perish'd--I alone am left on earth!
To whom nor relative, nor blood remains,
No!--not a kindred drop that runs in human veins!"

This paraphrase of the celebrated speech of Logan--less poetical, by the
way, than the original--was illustrated by notes, asserting positively
that Brant was the Indian leader at Wyoming, and proving his cool-blooded
ferocity by citing the anecdote from Weld's Travels, quoted, for denial,
as a note on a preceding page. John Brant had previously prepared himself
with documents to sustain a demand upon the poet for justice to the memory
of his father; and in December, 1821, his friend Bannister waited upon Mr.
Campbell, with an amicable message, opening the door for explanations. A
correspondence ensued, only a portion of which has been preserved among
the papers of John Brant; but in a note of the latter to the poet, dated
the 28th of December, the young chief thanked him for the candid manner in
which he had received his request conveyed by Mr. Bannister. The documents
with which the Chief had furnished himself for the occasion, were
thereupon enclosed to Mr. Campbell, and the result was a long explanatory
letter from the poet, which has been very generally re-published. Candor,
however, must admit that that letter does but very partial and evidently
reluctant justice to the calumniated warrior. It is, moreover, less
magnanimous, and characterised by more of special pleading, than might
have been expected. [FN-1] In addition to this, it appears, by a
communication from the young chief to Sir John Johnson, dated January 22,
1822, that Mr. Campbell had not only expressed his regret at the injustice
done the character of his father, but had promised a correction in the
next edition--then soon to be published. This correction, however, was not
made, as it should have been, in the text, but in a note to the subsequent
edition; and although, at the close of that note, Mr. Campbell says, for
reasons given, that "the name of Brant remains in his poem only as a pure
and declared character of fiction," yet it is not a fictitious historical
character, and cannot be made such by an effort of the imagination. The
original wrong, therefore, though mitigated, has not been fully redressed,
for the simple reason that it is the poem that lives in the memory, while
the note, even if read, makes little impression, and is soon forgotten.
[FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] See close of the Appendix.

[FN-2] The note referred to, is as follows:--"I took the character of
Brant in the poem of Gertrude from the common histories of England, all
of which represented him as a bloody and bad man, (even among savages,)
and chief agent in the horrible desolation of Wyoming. Some years after
this poem appeared, the son of Brant, a most interesting and intelligent
youth, came over to England; and I formed an acquaintance with him, on
which I still look back with pleasure. He appealed to my sense of honor
and justice, on his own part and on that of his sister, to retract the
unfair assertion which, unconscious of its unfairness, I had cast on his
father's memory. He then referred to documents which completely satisfied
me that the common accounts of Brant's cruelties at Wyoming, which I had
found in books of travels, and in Adolphus's and similar histories of
England, were gross errors; and that, in point of fact, Brant was not
even present at that scene of desolation. . . . I ascertained, also,
that, he often strove to mitigate the cruelty of Indian warfare. The
name of Brant, therefore, remains in my poem, a pure and declared
character of fiction." This is something like knocking a man down, and
then desiring that he would regard the blow as purely a phantasy of the
imagination.

During his sojourn in London, the young chief seems to have paid
considerable attention to the public institutions, particularly those of
a humane and benevolent character. He was introduced by Mr. Butterworth
to the British and Foreign School Society; and in his diary mentions an
interesting visit to the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons. Other
objects of interest or curiosity, which attracted his attention, were
noted in his diary, a small fragment of which only remains among his
papers. The following entry is not very flattering to British beauty:--

"_Thursday Evening,_ 16th _May,_ 1822, I went to Mr. C. A. Tulk's, M. P.
party, to hear a little music. There were twenty-two ladies--one only
pretty--Casweighter, said to be the best violin player in Europe, and
Solly, celebrated for the guitar and piano. I met a gentleman well
acquainted with my father--formerly of the Queen's Rangers."

But his attention to other matters did not lead him to forgetfulness of
the moral wants of his people. The war between the United States and Great
Britain, the principal seat of which was in the vicinity of the Mohawks'
territory, had had a most unhappy effect upon their social condition.
Their farms had been neglected, their buildings had suffered from the same
cause, as also had their church and schools. It is likewise probable, that
after the decease of Thayendanegea, in the absence of a directing master
mind, there had been but little advance in the work of public instruction
before the war; and it was the design of young Brant, on his return to
Canada, to resuscitate and extend the schools among his nation. For this
purpose he procured an appropriation, in 1822, from the New-England
Corporation for the civilization of Indians, which had been chartered as
far back as 1662. After his return to Grand River, the young chief entered
zealously upon the work, as appears from an active correspondence
maintained for several years with the officers of that institution. The
following extracts, from a mass of his letters, are given, not only as
examples of his epistolary style, but for the purpose of showing the
extent and nature of the exertions he was making, and the prospects of
good which were opening upon him:--

"John Brant, (Ahyouwaeghs) to James Gibson.

"_Mohawk Village, Grand River, U. C._ }
19th _June,_ 1824. }

". . . I have attended to the subject of your letters with the greatest
satisfaction, and I hope that the report I am now about to make to you,
will be equally satisfactory to the humane and benevolent members of the
New England Corporation. I set out with observing that the appointed
teacher conducts himself in every point of view corresponding to our
expectations. The children are particularly taught religious and moral
duties; the hours of prayer are rigidly attended to; and on the Sabbath
the scholars attend divine service. Cleanliness is strictly enforced, and
all laudable means are resorted to in order to excite a liberal spirit of
emulation. Corporeal punishment is discountenanced, except in cases of
flagrant indifference. Upon the whole, I have the pleasure of announcing,
through the medium of you, Sir, to the Corporation, that the donation so
liberally applied, will, in my opinion, be attended with the most salutary
effects. It is an agreeable sight to observe the rising generation of the
aborigines employed in acquiring knowledge, and in a spirit of true
worship attending divine service on the Sabbath. . . .

"One of our tribes, the Oneidas, [FN] are very anxious to have a school
established for them. The chiefs have assured me that not less than thirty
children would attend the school if established. . . ."

* * * * *

[FN] A section of the Oneida nation. After the war of the Revolution,
portions of all the Six Nations emigrated to the new Mohawk territory,
although the majority of all the nations, except the Mohawks, remained
within the United States--on their ancient territory.

"Seven of the oldest children in our school read in the Mohawk
Prayer-book, repeat the catechism, and answer responses in church. The
others use our primers, and spell very well in them to seven and eight
syllables. The number of scholars is twenty-one. . . . I am sensible of
the generous aid that the Corporation have already afforded, and I am
requested by the Chiefs of my tribe to return their sincere thanks to the
members of the New England Corporation.

"I am, Sir,
Your very obedient servant,
J. Brant,
_Ahyouwaeghs_

"_James Gibson, Esq.
Treasurer New England Corporation._"

"The Same to the Same.

"_Mohawk Village, Grand River, U. C._ }
19_th July,_ 1826. }

"Dear Sir,

"After having visited the schools which are supported by the New England
Corporation, where more than sixty children are taught to read and write
in the Mohawk dialect and the English language, I beg to communicate to
you the state of the church in our village. It being the first built in
the province, is now in a very dilapidated state, and we have not the
funds to rebuild. We have made an allotment of two hundred acres of land
for the use of a resident clergyman, and fifty acres for the use of the
school; and we have appropriated six hundred dollars, or 150 pounds
province currency, toward defraying the expenses of building a parsonage;
and although that sum is quite insufficient for the object, yet it is the
utmost we can do, considering the circumstances and wants of our
respective tribes. We would be very thankful if we could obtain pecuniary
aid sufficient to finish the parsonage and rebuild our church; and would
rejoice to have a resident clergyman amongst us, who would not consider it
too laborious frequently to travel to our several hamlets, to preach the
Gospel of the meek and lowly Jesus; to visit the sick; and always to
evince, not only by preaching, but by example, his devotion to the church
of Christ.

"I am, dear Sir,
Your friend and servant,
J. Brant."

"Letter from the Same to the Same.

"_Mohawk Village, Grand River, U. C. }
October_ 27, 1828. }

"Dear Sir,

"I have the pleasure to acknowledge your communication of the 17th August
last, subjoining copies of the resolutions of the New England Corporation
at a meeting held on the 8th of March, 1825. Permit me to repeat the
grateful sentiments formerly expressed on the part of my tribe to the
members of the Corporation for their liberal contributions, as also for
the farther support they have now afforded to the most efficient and
practical plans of promoting education and the diffusion of knowledge
among the Mohawks.

"I have received a letter from the Rev. Mr. West, dated at New-York; but
have not as yet arranged any plans with that gentleman relative to his
mission; being satisfied, that after a personal conference and actual
observation, we can in a much better way arrange such measures as may
appear most beneficial.

"Mr. West mentions that he will visit me in the month of May next. I
anticipate much satisfaction in meeting the reverend gentleman. It is
undoubtedly the best mode of ascertaining our relative situations,
circumstances, &c. &c. This I ardently desire for several reasons. It will
enable the company to judge how far it may be useful to extend the means
of education, and of the probable results; as also the difficulties in
which, for very many years, a continuation of unfavorable circumstances
has involved the Five Nations. To effect a complete change in manners and
customs, that have been long established, will indeed be an arduous task.
Let not the difficulties terrify us from the attempt. The more arduous,
the more animating--inasmuch as if the attempt succeed, the reward will
be great. Not that those who commence this work of humanity are to
flatter themselves with the hope of seeing the complete effect of their
labors; time will be required; and when the foundation is laid in the
spirit of sincerity, no doubt can remain that, with the help of God, the
edifice will be raised.

"With respect to that part of your letter which refers to the religious
faith of a part of the Five Nations, I beg for a short time to defer a
reply; as it embraces a variety of important considerations, in connexion
with the attempt to introduce religious instruction among them. The first
great restraint, as to civilization, is removed; I mean by their local
situation, in possessing permanent, or rather fixed places of residence.
The commencement must be among the youth, with mildness and assiduity. To
render the task not only a good, but a lasting work, it will be necessary
to obtain the consent of parents. Care should be taken to explain matters,
that the object of instruction be understood as clearly as possible by the
parents.

"In my next I shall draw on you for the amount appropriated for the
building of the Mohawk and Oneida school-houses, as also for the
schoolmaster at Davis's hamlet. This is a proper season for entering into
contracts for building, as our sleighing season is nigh at hand, which
affords great facility in the way of collecting materials. As you have not
mentioned Lawrence Davids, I shall continue to draw for his salary as
usual, out of the 200 pounds appropriated by the Corporation in 1822.

"In my next I will tell you how the scholars get on. All my letters have
been on business. I will in a few days write in a more friendly way, for
I remember your kindness to me at Epsom.

"I beg my best respects to the Governor, Mr. Solly, and the other members
of the Corporation, with whom I have the pleasure to be acquainted.

"I am, very truly, Dear Sir,
Your obedient servant,
J. Brant.
_Ahyouwaeghs._

"_James Gibson, Esq.,_
_Treasurer New England Corporation, London._"

These letters breathe the spirit of an enlarged and noble philanthropy,
guided by true wisdom. The writer had formed a just estimate of the
importance of the work in which he engaged, and the difficulties to be
encountered; and he had the sagacity to perceive the only practicable
method of accomplishing it--a knowledge of the only means that could be
successfully adapted to the end. The society of which he was the
judicious almoner appreciated his worth, and in the year 1829 presented
him with a splendid silver cup, bearing the following inscription:--

"Presented by the New England Corporation,
Established in London by charter, A. D. 1662, for the civilization
of Indians,
To JOHN BRANT, Esq.,
Ahyouwaeghs,
One of the Chiefs of the Mohawk Nation,
In acknowledgment of his eminent services in promoting the
objects of the Corporation. A. D. 1829."

In the year 1827, Ahyouwaeghs was appointed by the Earl of Dalhousie,
then Commander-in-Chief of the British American provinces, to the rank of
Captain, and also Superintendent of the Six Nations. It was early in the
same year that the Chief heard that a liberty had been taken with his name
in the American newspapers, which kindled in his bosom feelings of the
liveliest indignation. Those familiar with that deep and fearful
conspiracy in the western part of New-York, in the Autumn of 1826, which
resulted in the murder of William Morgan by a small body of over-zealous
Freemasons, will probably remember that the name of John Brant appeared in
a portion of the correspondence connected with that melancholy Story. The
circumstances were these: It was well ascertained, that in the origin and
earlier stages of that conspiracy no personal injury was designed against
the unhappy victim of Masonic fanaticism. The immediate object of the
conspirators was to send Morgan out of the country, under such
circumstances, and to so great a distance, as to ensure his continued
absence. But they had adjusted no definite plans for the execution of that
purpose, or distinct views upon the subject of his destiny. Having
abducted and illegally carried him away, those entrusted with his
safekeeping found him upon their hands, and knew not what to do with or
whither to send him. In this dilemma, one of their projects was to convey
him to Quebec, and procure his enlistment on board of a British
man-of-war. Another suggestion, under the supposition that the Mohawk
chief was a Freemason himself, and would of course embark in any
practicable scheme to prevent the disclosures of the secrets of
Freemasonry, which Morgan was in the act of publishing when seized, was,
that Brant should take charge of the prisoner, and cause his transfer by
the Indians to the North-western Fur Company. But every device for the
banishment of the unhappy man failed, and he was buried at the solemn hour
of midnight in the rocky caverns of the Niagara. The suggestion in regard
to the transfer of the prisoner to Ahyouwaeghs, however, became public,
and for a time it was supposed by those unacquainted with his character,
that he might have been consulted in regard to that murderous transaction.
The imputation was most unjust, and was repelled with a spirit becoming
the man and his race, as will appear by the following letter:--

"To the Editor of the York Observer.

"_Wellington Square, Feb._ 29, 1827.

"Sir,

"I have read a paragraph in the New-York Spectator of the 16th instant,
wherein it is stated that the fraternity at Niagara had sent for me to
receive and sacrifice the unhappy Morgan, of whom so much has been lately
spoken.

"You will oblige me by contradicting this report, which is wholly false.
Neither in that instance, nor any other, has such a barbarous proposal
been made to me; nor do I believe the man exists who would dare to wound
my feelings in such a heinous manner.

"I know nothing of the man, nor of any transaction relating to him; and I
am much surprised that my name has been called in question.

"I am, Sir, your's respectfully,
J. Brant."

In the year 1832 John Brant was returned a member of the Provincial
parliament for the county of Haldimand, comprehending a good portion of
the territory originally granted to the Mohawks. The right of the Indians
to this territory yet depended upon the original proclamation of Sir
Frederick Haldimand, which, according to the decision of the courts of
Upper Canada, conveyed no legal title to the fee of the land. The Indians
had been in the practice of conveying away portions of their lands by
long leases--for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years--and a
large number of those persons by whose votes Brant was elected, had no
other title to their real estate than leases of that description. As the
election laws of Upper Canada very wisely require a freehold qualification
for county electors, Mr. Brant's return was contested by the opposing
candidate, Colonel Warren, and ultimately set aside, and the Colonel
declared to be duly chosen. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Letter to the author from the Hon. M. S. Bidwell, who sat in
Parliament with the Mohawk Chief.

It was of but small moment to either candidate, however, which of the two
should be allowed to wear the parliamentary honors. The desolating scourge
of India--the cholera--was introduced upon the American continent in the
Summer of that year, commencing its ravages at Quebec; and among the
thousands who fell before the plague, as it swept fearfully over the
country of the great lakes, were John Brant--Ahyouwaeghs--and his
competitor.

He was a man of fine figure and countenance, and great dignity of
deportment, though by no means haughty--having the unassuming manners of
a well-bred gentleman. "The first time I ever saw him, was at a court at
Kingston, where he acted as an interpreter on the trial of an Indian
charged with murder. Another Indian was a witness. One of the Indians was
a Mohawk and the other a Chippewa, of the Mississagua tribe. It was
necessary, therefore, that the questions should be interpreted to the
witness in one language, and to the prisoner in the other, which afforded
me an opportunity to compare the sounds of the one with the other; and
the harsh and guttural language of the Mohawk [FN-1] was, indeed,
singularly contrasted with the copiousness and smoothness of the Chippewa.
But what impressed me most on the trial, was the noble appearance of
Brant, and the dignity and composure with which he discharged his duty."
[FN-2]

* * * * *

[FN-1] Not "harsh and guttural," when spoken by the youngest daughter of
Joseph Brant.

[FN-2] Letter to the author from the Hon. M. S. Bidwell.

Ahyouwaeghs was a member of the Church of England, though not a
communicant. A number of his friends and relations were with him when he
died, all of whom believed his death was that of a happy and sincere
Christian. In closing the present imperfect sketch of this remarkable man,
who had but just attained the prime of manhood, and was cut off as it were
in the dawn of a career bright with hope and brilliant with promise, the
Christian philanthropist may pause a moment in the contemplation of at
least one proud example of what letters and civilization may accomplish
with the sons of the American forest.

Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Joseph Brant, whose name has already
been repeatedly mentioned in the foregoing pages, was married several
years ago to William Johnson Kerr, Esq. son of the late Dr. Robert Kerr
of Niagara, and a grandson of Sir William Johnson. Mrs. Kerr, as the
reader must have inferred from what has been previously said respecting
her, was educated with great care, as well in regard to her mental culture
as her personal accomplishments. With her husband and little family she
now occupies the old mansion of her father, at the head of Lake
Ontario--a noble situation, as the author can certify from personal
observation. Though fully conscious of the delicacy due to a lady living
in unostentatious retirement, yet, as the daughter of Joseph Brant, the
author trusts that, should this page meet her eye, the enthusiasm of her
father's biographer may plead his apology for introducing her before the
public--more especially as it shall be done in the language of one of the
fair companions [FN] of his journey:--

* * * * *

[FN] Miss Ann Elizabeth Wayland.

". . . Let, then, my reader present to himself a lady of rather more than
middling stature, of dignified, reserved, and gentle address, most
pleasing in person, and attired in a costume sufficiently Indian to retain
the flow and drapery, but donned with the ease, adaptation, and grace, so
peculiarly the attributes of an elegant mind.

"Let my reader mark the keen, penetrating glance of that dark eye, as now
it rests upon the stranger, whose too eager interest might be deemed
obtrusiveness, or anon, its soft, tender, or melting expression, when it
falls upon the portraits of her brother, is cast upon her father's
miniature, or bides upon her children.

"Let him mark the haughty curl of that lip as she speaks of those who
depreciate her people, its sarcastic curve when she alludes to the
_so-called_ delineations of her father's character, or its fond smile as
she looks upon her husband; let him have before him a being in whom mind
rules every action, and predominates above all; and let him attach this
idea to one who glories in the fact, that the blood of the Mohawk courses
in her veins; and he will know the daughter of Joseph Brant. But no; he
must yet learn that this mind and these energies are devoted not alone to
her immediate circle; but have been exerted most faithfully for the
improvement and well-being of her race. She has, within a few years,
translated portions of the New Testament into her vernacular, and is
devising various means for the elevation of the Indian character."

Colonel Kerr, her husband, is the eldest of three brothers, William
Johnson, Walter, and Robert, all of whom bore commissions, and fought the
Americans bravely on the Niagara frontier during the last war. They were
likewise all wounded, and two of them taken prisoners, and brought to
Greenbush and Pittsfield, whence they escaped, striking first upon
Schoharie, and thence across the country from the Mohawk Valley, through
the woods to the St. Lawrence--though, it is believed, not both at the
same time. Walter was accompanied in his escape and flight by a
fellow-prisoner named Gregg. In the course of their travels through the
county of St. Lawrence, they fell in with a courier going from the
American commander at Sackett's Harbor to General Wilkinson, then below,
on his successful approach to Montreal. The fugitives had the address to
pass themselves off for Yankees looking for lands, and obtained from the
express such information as they desired. Gregg was disposed to rob him
of his dispatches, but Walter Kerr would not consent. He subsequently died
from the effects of his wound in London. Inheriting a share of Indian
blood, from their grandmother, Molly Brant, the young Kerrs have been
represented to the author by an American gentleman, who has known them
well, "as being alike fearless in battle, and full of stratagem."

On the death of her favorite son, John, the venerable widow of Joseph
Brant, [FN] pursuant to the Mohawk law of succession heretofore explained,
being herself of the royal line, conferred the title of Tekarihogea upon
the infant son of her daughter, Mrs. Kerr. During the minority, the
government is exercised by a regency of some kind; but how it is
appointed, what are its powers, and at what age the minority terminates,
are points unknown to the author. The infant chief is a fine-looking lad,
three quarters Mohawk, with an eye piercing as the eagle's. But the people
over whom he is the legitimate chief--the once mighty Six Nations--the
Romans of the new world--whose conquests extended from Lake Champlain west
to the falls cf the Ohio, and south to the Santee--where are they? The
proud race is doomed; and Echo will shortly answer, where?

* * * * *

[FN] This remarkable Indian princess died at Brantford, on the Grand
River, on the 24th day of November, 1837--thirty years, to a day, from
the death of her husband. Her age was 78 years.

NOTE TO THE FOURTH EDITION.

Since the 1st edition of this work was printed, the author has
ascertained that his account of the battle of Queenston is not complete,
nor entirely accurate although pains were taken to consult the best
authorities, and all known to be extant. The reader, therefore, is
requested to examine that account again, commencing at page 505, with
the following amendments and additions.

The American force that first crossed the river, consisted of _three_
companies, viz., those of Captains Wool, Malcolm and Armstrong. They were
not undiscovered by the British, but were seen and fired upon before they
reached the bank. The enemy, however, fled as the Americans landed, and
the three companies mounted the bank and formed in line fronting the
heights, Captain Wool commanding, as the senior officer. A few moments
afterward, Captain Wool was informed of Col. Van Rensselaer's landing,
and ordered to prepare for storming the heights--and soon the command was
brought him to march. The detachment did march to the base of the
heights, where it was ordered by an aid from Col. Van Rensselaer to halt;
and in a few minutes it was attacked by a party of British from
Queenston, which, after a short but severe struggle, was repulsed. In
this affair, Lieut. Wallace and Ensign Morris were killed, and Captains
Wool, Malcolm and Armstrong, and Lieut. Lent, wounded.

Shortly after this success, word was brought to Captain Wool that Col.
Van Rensselaer was mortally wounded, and the detachment was ordered to
return to the bank of the river. Captain Wool repaired to the Colonel,
and volunteered to storm the battery on the heights--and this service
was gallantly performed by the three companies of the 13th Infantry
under his command, and a small detachment of artillery commanded by
Lieuts. Gansevoort and Randolph. Through some cause, (probably the
severe wounds of Col. Van Rensselaer,) full credit was not given to
Captain Wool, in the official accounts, for his successful gallantry.
From this point the narrative is correct, as it proceeds on page 507.

APPENDIX.

* * * * *

No. I.

[Reference prom Page 95.]

DESCRIPTION OF FORT PLAIN.

The following is said to be a correct drawing of Fort Plain, sometimes
erroneously called Fort Plank. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Fort Plank, as it is written in the books, was situated two and a
half miles from Fort Plain. The true name was Fort Blank, from the name
of the owner of the farm on which it stood--Frederick Blank.

[Illustration: Fort Plain]

The Fort was situated on the brow of the hill, about half a mile
north-west of the village, so as to command a full view of the valley, and
the rise of the ground, for several miles in any direction; and hence it
doubtless derived its name, because its beautiful location commanded a
"_plain_" view of the surrounding country. It was erected by the
government, as a fortress, and place of retreat and safety for the
inhabitants and families in case of incursions from the Indians, who were
then, and, indeed, more or less during the whole Revolutionary war,
infesting the settlements of this whole region. Its form was an octagon,
having port-holes for heavy ordnance and muskets on every side. It
contained three stories or apartments. The first story was thirty feet in
diameter; the second, forty feet; the third, fifty feet; the last two
stones projecting five feet, as represented by the drawing aforesaid. It
was constructed throughout of hewn timber about fifteen inches square;
and, beside the port-holes aforesaid, the second and third stories had
perpendicular port-holes through those parts that projected, so as to
afford the regulars and militia, or settlers garrisoned in the fort,
annoying facilities of defence for themselves, wives, and children, in
case of close assault from the relentless savage. Whenever scouts came in
with tidings that a hostile party was approaching, a cannon was fired from
the fort as a signal to flee to it for safety.

In the early part of the war there was built, by the inhabitants probably,
at or near the site of the one above described, a fortification, of
materials and construction that ill comported with the use and purposes
for which it was intended. This induced government to erect another,
(Fort Plain,) under the superintendence of an experienced French engineer.
As a piece of architecture, it was well wrought and neatly finished, and
surpassed all the forts in that region. After the termination of the
Revolutionary war, Fort Plain was used for some years as a deposit of
military stores, under the direction of Captain B. Hudson. These stores
were finally ordered by the United States Government to be removed to
Albany. The fort is demolished. Nothing remains of it except a
circumvallation or trench, which, although nearly obliterated by the
plough, still indicates to the curious traveler sufficient evidence of a
fortification in days by-gone.--_Fort Plain Journal,_ Dec 26, 1837.

* * * * *

No. II.

[Reference from Page 153.]

_"Copy of another paper in the same hand-writing, taken with the
letter to General Haldimand from Dr. Smith._

"April 20,1781.

"Fort Stanwix.

"This post is garrisoned by about two hundred and sixty men, under the
command of Colonel Courtlandt. It was supplied with provision about the
14th of last month, and Brant was too early to hit their sleys; he was
there on the 2d; took sixteen prisoners. A nine-inch mortar is ordered
from Albany to this fort, to be supplied against the latter end of May.
The nine months' men raised are to join Courtlandt's.

"25th May.--Fort Stanwix is entirely consumed by fire, except two small
bastions; some say by accident, but it is generally thought the soldiers
done it on purpose, as their allowance is short; provision stopped from
going there, which was on its way.

"John's Town.

"At this place there is a captain's guard.

"Mohawk River.

"There are no troops, or warlike preparations (as yet) making in this
quarter; but it is reported, that as soon as the three years and nine
months' men are raised, they will erect fortifications. From this place
and its vicinage many families have moved this winter, and it is thought
more will follow the example this spring.

"Schenectady.

"This town is strongly picketed all round; has six pieces of ordnance, six
pounders, block-houses preparing. It is to be defended by the inhabitants;
(except about a dozen) are for Government. There are a few of Courtlandt's
regiment here; a large quantity of grain stored here for the use of the
troops; large boats building to convey heavy metal and shot to Fort
Stanwix.

"Albany.

"No troops at this post, except the Commandant, General Clinton, and his
Brigade Major. Work of all kinds stopped for want of provisions and money.
The sick in the hospitals, and their doctors, starving. 8th May--No troops
yet in this place; a fine time to bring it to submission, and carry off a
tribe of incendiaries.

"Washington's Camp.

"The strength of this camp does not exceed twenty-five thousand.
Provisions of all kinds very scarce. Washington and the French have agents
through the country, buying wheat and flour. He has sent to Albany for all
the cannon, quick-match, &c., that was deposited there. Desertions daily
from the different posts. The flower of the army gone to the southward
with the Marquis De La Fayette.

"May 8th. They say Washington is collecting troops fast.

"Southern News.

"On the 15th of March, Lord Cornwallis attacked General Green at Guilford
Court House, in North Carolina, and defeated him with the loss on Green's
side of thirteen hundred men killed, wounded, and missing; his artillery,
and two ammunition wagons taken, and Generals Starns and Hegu wounded.

"May 25th. Something very particular happened lately between here and
New-York, much in the King's favor, but the particulars kept a secret.

"Eastern News.

"The inhabitants between Albany and Boston, and several precincts, drink
the King's health publicly, and seem enchanted with the late proclamation
from New-York. By a person ten days ago from Rhode Island, we have an
account that the number of land forces belonging to the French does not
amount to more than three hundred; that when he left it, he saw two of the
French vessels from Chesapeake much damaged and towed in; that several
boats full of wounded were brought and put into their hospitals, and that
only three vessels out of the eight which left the island escaped, the
remainder brought into York. Out eastward of Boston is acting on the
Vermont principle.

"State of Vermont.

"The opinion of the people in general of this State is, that its
inhabitants are artful and cunning, full of thrift and design. About
fifteen days ago Colonel Allen and a Mr. Fay was in Albany. I made it my
particular business to be twice in their company; at which time I
endeavored to find out their business, and on inquiry I understood from
Colonel Allen that he came down to wait on Governor Clinton, to receive
his answer to a petition which the people of Vermont had laid before the
Assembly; that he had been twice at the Governor's lodging, and that the
Governor had refused to see or speak to him. Allen then said he might be
damned if ever he would court his favor again; since that time they have
petitioned the Eastern States to be in their Confederacy, to no purpose.
I heard Allen declare to one Harper that there was a North Pole and a
South Pole; and should a thunder-gust come from the south, they would shut
the door opposite to that point and open the door facing the north.

"8th May. By this time it is expected they will be friendly to their King;
various opinions about their flag.

"Saratoga.

"At this post there is a company belonging to Van Schaick's regiment,
lately come from Fort Edward; which garrison they left for want of
provision; and here they are determined not to stay for the same reason.
A fort erecting here by General Schuyler. Two hundred and fifty men at
this place.

"Fort Edward.

"Evacuated. Now is the time to strike a blow in these ports. A party
toward Johnstown, by way of Division, and a considerable body down here,
will effect your wish.

"General Intelligence.

"Norman's Kill, Nisquitha, Hill Barrack, and New-Scotland, will
immediately on the arrival of his Majesty's troops, join and give
provision. Several townships east of Albany and south-east, are ready to
do the like. Governor Trumbull's son was hanged in London for a spy; he
had several letters from Dr. Franklin to some lords, which were found upon
him. [FN] No mention in the last Fishkill papers that Greene obliged his
Lordship to retreat, as has been reported. The Cork fleet, of upward of
one hundred sail, are safely arrived in York. No hostile intentions on
foot against the Province of Canada."

* * * * *

[FN] The reference here is to Colonel John Trumbull, the former Adjutant
General of the northern department, who, so far from having been hanged
at the time mentioned, is yet living, (Feb. 1839,) having served his
country faithfully and successfully in a high civil capacity since the
war of the Revolution, but, more to its glory still, by his contributions
to the arts. It is true, that at the tame referred to by the writer of
these memoranda, Colonel Trumbull was in London. He had repaired thither
to study the divine art which he has so long and successfully cultivated,
under the instruction of his countryman, West, and with the tacit
permission of the British ministers. Owing, however, to the intrigues of
some of the American loyalists in London, who hated him bitterly, he was
arrested in London during the Autumn of 1780, on a charge of treason, and
committed to the common prison. He had a narrow escape, especially as
great exasperation was kindled by the execution of Andre, and it was
hoped that an offset might be made in the person of the son of a rebel
Governor. West interceded with the King, and Trumbull was liberated.
Colonel Trumbull's Memoirs, which are in course of preparation, will
contain an interesting account of this affair, which was most disgraceful
to those who compassed his arrest--_Author._

"May 25. I just received advice from T. H. but before his arrival, I
despatched a courier on the point of a sharp weapon, to which I refer you;
and lest that should miscarry, I send you my journal, from which, and the
extract sent forward, you may, if it arrives, form something interesting.
For God's sake, send a flag for me. My life is miserable. I have fair
promises, but delays are dangerous."

With the above was taken another paper in the same hand-writing, of which
the following is a copy:

"Y. H. is disobedient, and neither regards or pays any respect to his
parents; if he did, he would contribute to their disquiet, by coming down
contrary to their approbation and repeated requests.

"The necessaries you require are gone forward last Tuesday by a person
which the bearer will inform you of. I wish he was in your company, and
you all safely returned, &c.

"My life is miserable. A flag--a flag, and that immediately, is the
sincere wish of

"H. Senior."

No. III.

[Reference from Page 165.]

A firm fortress is our God, a good defence and weapon;
He helps us free from all our troubles which have now befallen us.
The old evil enemy, he is now seriously going to work;
Great power and much cunning are his cruel equipments,
There is none like him on the earth.

With our own strength nothing can be done, we are very soon lost;
For us the right man is fighting, whom God himself has chosen.
Do you ask, who he is? His name is Jesus Christ,
The Lord Jehovah, and there is no other God;
He must hold the field.

And if the world were full of devils, ready to devour us,
We are by no means much afraid, for finally we must overcome
The prince of this world, however badly he may behave,
He cannot injure us, and the reason is, because he is judge;
A little word can lay him low.

That word they shall suffer to remain, and not to be thanked for
either;
He is with us in the field, with his Spirit and his gifts.
If they take from us body, property, honor, child and wife,
Let them all be taken away, they have yet no gain from it,
The kingdom of heaven must remain to us.

[The above if from a hymn book A. D. 1741. In one printed in 1826, and
now in use in Pennsylvania, the following is added:]

Praise, honor and glory to the Highest God, the Father of all Mercy.
Who has given us out of love His Son, for the sake of our defects,
Together with the Holy Spirit. He calls us to the Kingdom;
He takes away from us our sins, and shows us the way to heaven;
May He joyfully aid us. Amen.

No. IV.

[Reference from Page 167.]

_Colonel Gansevoort's Address to the late_ 3_d New-York Regiment._
[Regimental Orders.]

"_Saratoga, Dec._ 30th, 1780.

"The Colonel being by the new arrangement necessitated to quit the command
of his regiment, and intending to leave this post on the morrow, returns
his sincerest thanks to the officers and soldiers whom he has had the
honor to command, for the alacrity, cheerfulness, and zeal, which it
affords him peculiar satisfaction to declare they have so frequently
evinced in the execution of those duties which their stations required
them to discharge, and for their attention to his orders, which, as it
ever merited, always had his warmest approbation.

"Though he confesses that it is with some degree of pain he reflects that
the relation in which they stood is dissolved, he will endeavor to submit
without repining to a circumstance which, though it may have a tendency
to wound his feelings, his fellow-citizens who form the councils of the
states have declared would be promotive of the public weal.

"In whatever situation of life he may be placed, he will always with
pleasure cherish the remembrance of those deserving men who have with him
been sharers of almost every hardship incident to a military life. As he
will now probably return to that class of citizens whence his country's
service at an early period of the war drew him, he cordially wishes the
day may not be very remote when a happy peace will put them in the full
enjoyment of those blessings for the attainment of which they have nobly
endured every inconvenience and braved many dangers.

"P. Gansevoort."

* * * * *

_An Address to Colonel Peter Gansevoort, by the Officers of his
Regiment, on his retiring from service, in consequence of the new
arrangement ordered by Congress._

"_Saratoga, Dec._ 31, 1780.

"Sir,

"Permit us, who are now with reluctance separated from your command, and
deprived of the benefits which we frequently experienced therefrom, to
declare our sentiments with a warmth of affection and gratitude, inspired
by a consciousness of your unwearied attention to the welfare, honor, and
prosperity of the Third New-York Regiment, while it was honored by your
command.

"We should have been peculiarly happy in your continuance with us. From
our long experience of your invariable attachment to the service of our
country, your known and approved abilities, and that affable and
gentleman-like deportment by which (permit us to say) you have so endeared
yourself to officers and soldiers, that we cannot but consider the
separation as a great misfortune.

"Although your return to the class of citizens from whence our country's
cause, at an early period, called you, it is not a matter of choice in
you, nor by any means agreeable to us; yet it cannot but be pleasing to
know that you retire with the sincerest affection, and most cordial esteem
and regards of the officers and men you have commanded.

"We are, with the utmost respect,
Sir,
Your most humble servants,

"Jas. Rosekrans, Major, B. Bogardus, Lieutenant,
Corn's. T. Gansen, Captain, J. Bagley do.
J. Gregg, do. Chrs. Hatton, do.
Leonard Bleeker, do. W. Magee, do.
Geo. Sytee, do. Prentice Bowen, do.
Henry Tiebout, do. Saml. Lewis, do.
Hunloke Woodruff, Surgeon, John Elliot, Surgeon's Mate,
J. Van Rensselaer, Paymaster, Benj. Herring, Ensign,
Douw T. Fonday, Ensign, Gerrit Lansing, do."

* * * * *

No. V.

[Reference from Page 236.]

_At a meeting of the principal inhabitants of the Mohawk District,
in Tryon County, Colonel Josiah Throop in the Chair,_

Taking into consideration the peculiar circumstances of this country,
relating to its situation, and the numbers that joined the enemy from
among us, whose brutal barbarities in their frequent visits to their old
neighbours, are shocking to humanity to relate:

They have murdered the peaceful husbandman and his lovely boys about him,
unarmed and defenceless in the field. They have, with a malicious
pleasure, butchered the aged and infirm; they have wantonly sported with
the lives of helpless women and children; numbers they have scalped alive,
shut them up in their houses, and burnt them to death. Several children,
by the vigilance of their friends, have been snatched from flaming
buildings; and, though tomahawked and scalped, are still living among us;
they have made more than three hundred widows, and above two thousand
orphans in this county; they have killed thousands of cattle and horses
that rotted in the field; they have burnt more than two millions of
bushels of grain, many hundreds of buildings, and vast stores of forage;
and now these merciless fiends are creeping in among us again, to claim
the privilege of fellow citizens and demand a restitution of their
forfeited estates; but can they leave their infernal tempers behind them,
and be safe or peaceable neighbors? Or can the disconsolate widow and the
bereaved mother reconcile her tender feelings to a free and cheerful
neighborhood with those who so inhumanly made her such? _Impossible!_
It is contrary to nature, the first principle of which is
self-preservation; it is contrary to the law of nations, especially that
nation, which, for numberless reasons, we should be thought to pattern
after. Since the accession of the House of Hanover to the British throne,
five hundred and twenty peerages in Scotland have been sunk, the Peers
executed or fled, and their estates confiscated to the crown, for adhering
to their former administration after a new one was established by law. It
is contrary to the eternal rule of reason and rectitude. If Britain
employed them, let Britain pay them! We will not.

Therefore, _Resolved unanimously,_ that all those who have gone off to the
enemy, or have been banished by any law of this state, or those who we
shall find tarried as spies or tools of the enemy, and encouraged and
harbored those who went away, shall not live in this district on any
pretence whatever; and as for those who have washed their faces from
Indian paint, and their hands from the innocent blood of our dear ones,
and have returned either openly or covertly, we hereby warn them to leave
this district before the twentieth of June next, or they may expect to
feel the just resentment of an injured and determined people.

We likewise unanimously desire our brethren in the other districts in this
county to join with us, to instruct our representatives not to consent to
the repealing any laws made for the safety of the state, against treason
or confiscation of traitors' estates; or to passing any new acts for the
return or restitution of Tories.

By order of the Meeting,
Josiah Throop, Chairman.

_May_ 9, 1789

At a meeting of the freeholders and inhabitants of Canajoharie District,
in the County of Tryon, held at Fort Plain in the same district, on
Saturday the 7th day of June, 1783, the following resolves were
unanimously entered into. Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Clyde in the Chair:

_Whereas,_ In the course of the late war, large numbers of the inhabitants
of this county, lost to every sense of the duty they owed their country,
have joined the enemies of this state, and have, in conjunction with the
British troops, waged war on the people of this state; while others, more
abandoned, have remained among us, and have harbored, aided, assisted, and
victualed the said British troops and their adherents; and by their
example and influence have encouraged many to desert the service of their
country, and by insults and threats have discouraged the virtuous
citizens, thereby inducing a number to abandon their estates and the
defence of their country; _and whereas,_ the County of Tryon hath, in an
especial manner, been exposed to the continued inroads and incursions of
the enemy, in which inroads and incursions the most cruel murders,
robberies, and depredations have been committed that ever yet happened in
this or any other country; neither sex nor age being spared, insomuch that
the most aged people of each sex, and infants at their mothers' breasts,
have inhumanly been butchered; our buildings (the edifices dedicated to
the service of Almighty God not excepted) have been reduced to ashes; our
property destroyed and carried away; our people carried through a far and
distant wilderness, into captivity among savages (the dear and faithful
allies of the merciful and humane British!) where very many still remain,
and have by ill usage been forced to enter into their service.

_And whereas,_ Through the blessings of God and the smiles of indulgent
Providence, the war has happily terminated, and the freedom and
independence of the United States firmly established.

_And whereas,_ It is contrary to the interests of this county, as well as
contrary to the dictates of reason, that those persons who have, through
the course of an eight years' cruel war, been continually aiding and
assisting the British to destroy the liberties and freedom of America,
should now be permitted to return to, or remain in this county, and enjoy
the blessings of those free governments established at the expense of our
blood and treasure, and which they, by every unwarrantable means, have
been constantly laboring to destroy.

_Resolved,_ That we will not suffer or permit any person or persons
whatever, who have during the course of the late war joined the enemy of
this state, or such person or persons remaining with us, and who have any
ways aided, assisted, victualed, or harbored the enemy, or such as have
corresponded with them, to return to, or remain in this district.

_Resolved,_ That all other persons of disaffected or equivocal character,
who have by their examples, insults, and threatenings, occasioned any
desertions to the enemy, or have induced any of the virtuous citizens of
this county to abandon their habitations, whereby they were brought to
poverty and distress. And all such as during the late war have been deemed
dangerous, shall not be permitted to continue in this district, or to
return to it.

_Resolved,_ That all such persons now remaining in this district, and
comprehended in either of the above resolutions, shall depart the same
within one month after the publication of this.

_Resolved,_ That no person or persons, of any denominations whatever,
shall be suffered to come and reside in this district, unless such person
or persons shall bring with them sufficient vouchers of their moral
characters, and of their full, entire, and unequivocal attachment to the
freedom and independence of the United States.

_Resolved,_ That we will, and hereby do associate, under all the ties held
sacred among men and Christians, to stand to, abide by, and carry into
full effect and execution, all and every the foregoing resolutions.

_Resolved,_ That this district does hereby instruct the members in Senate
and Assembly of this state from this county, to the utmost of their power
to oppose the return of all such person or persons who are comprehended
within the sense and meaning of the above resolutions.

_Ordered,_ That the preceding votes and proceedings of this district be
signed by the Chairman, and published in the New York Gazetteer.

Samuel Clyde, _Chairman._

* * * * *

No. VI.

[Reference from Page 288.]

"At a meeting of the President and Fellows of Harvard College, June 5th,
1789--

"_Voted,_ That the thanks of this Corporation be presented to Colonel
Joseph Brant, Chief of the Mohawk Nation, for his polite attention to this
University, in his kind donation to its library of the Book of Common
Prayer of the Church of England, with the Gospel of Mark, translated into
the Mohawk language, and a Primer in the same language.

"Attest,

"Joseph Willard, _President._"

* * * * *

No. VII.

[Reference from Page 312.]

SAINCLAIRE'S DEFEAT.

'Twas November the fourth, in year of ninety-one,
We had a sore engagement near to Fort Jefferson;
_Sainclaire_ was our commander, which may remembered be,
For there we left nine hundred men in t' West'n Ter'tory.

At Bunker's Hill and Quebec, where many a hero fell,
Likewise at Long Island, (it is I the truth can tell,)
But such a dreadful carnage may I never see again
As hap'ned near St. Mary's upon the river plain.

Our army was attacked just as the day did dawn,
And soon were overpowered and driven from the lawn;
They killed Major _Ouldham, Levin,_ and _Briggs_ likewise,
And horrid yell of savages resounded thro' the skies.

Major _Butler_ was wounded the very second fire;
His manly bosom swell'd with rage when forc'd to retire;
And as he lay in anguish, nor scarcely could he see,
Exclaimed, "Ye hounds of hell, O! revenged I will be."

We had not been long broken when General _Butler_ found
Himself so badly wounded, was forced to quit the ground;
"My God!" says he, "what shall we do; we're wounded every man
Go, charge them, valiant heroes, and beat them if you can."

He leaned his back against a tree, and there resigned his breath,
And like a valiant soldier sunk in the arms of death;
When blessed angels did await, his spirit to convey;
And unto the celestial fields he quickly bent his way.

We charg'd again with courage firm, but soon again gave ground.
The war-whoop then redoubled, as did the foes around;
They killed Major _Ferguson,_ which caused his men to cry,
"Our only safety is in flight, or fighting here to die."

"Stand to your guns," says valiant _Ford,_ "let's die upon them there,
Before we let the sav'ges know we ever harbored fear."
Our cannon balls exhausted, and artillery-men all slain,
Obliged were our musket-men the en'my to sustain.

Yet three hours more we fought them, and then were forc'd to yield,
When three hundred bloody warriors lay stretched upon the field.
Says Colonel _Gibson_ to his men, "My boys, be not dismayed,
I'm sure that true Virginians were never yet afraid.

"Ten thousand deaths I'd rather die, than they should gain the field;"
With that he got a fatal shot, which caused him to yield.
Says Major _Clark,_ "My heroes, I can here no longer stand,
We'll strive to form in order, and retreat the best we can."

The word "Retreat" being past around, there was a dismal cry
Then helter-skelter through the woods, like wolves and sheep they fly;
This well-appointed army, who, but a day before,
Defied and braved all danger, had like a cloud pass'd o'er.

Alas! the dying and wounded, how dreadful was the thought,
To the tomahawk and scalping-knife, in mis'ry are brought;
Some had a thigh and some an arm broke on the field that day,
Who writhed in torments at the stake, to close the dire affray.

To mention our brave officers is what I wish to do;
No sons of Mars e'er fought more brave, or with more courage true.
To Captain _Bradford_ I belonged, in his artillery;
He fell that day amongst the slain, a valiant man was he.

* * * * *

No. VIII.

[Reference from Page 314.]

_Narrative of the Captivity and Sufferings of Massy Harbison, in the
Spring of 1792, who resided in the neighborhood of Pittsburgh,
together with the Murder of her children, her own Escape, &c._

On the return of my husband from General St. Clair's defeat, mentioned in
a preceding chapter, and on his recovery from the wound he received in the
battle, he was made a spy, and ordered to the woods on duty, about the 22d
of March, 1792. The appointment of spies to watch the movements of the
savages was so consonant with the desires and interests of the
inhabitants, that the frontier now resumed the appearance of quiet and
confidence. Those who had for nearly a year been huddled together in the
block-house were scattered to their own habitations, and began the
cultivation of their farms. The spies saw nothing to alarm them, or to
induce them to apprehend danger, till the fatal morning of my captivity.
They repeatedly came to our house, to receive refreshments and to lodge.
On the 15th of May, my husband, with Captain Guthrie and other spies, came
home about dark, and wanted supper; to procure which I requested one of
the spies to accompany me to the spring and spring-house, and Mr. William
Maxwell complied with my request. While he was at the spring and
spring-house, we both distinctly heard a sound like the bleating of a
lamb or fawn. This greatly alarmed us, and induced us to make a hasty
retreat into the house. Whether this was an Indian decoy, or a warning of
what I was to pass through, I am unable to determine. But from this time
and circumstance, I became considerably, alarmed, and entreated my husband
to remove me to some more secure place from Indian cruelties. But
Providence had designed that I should become a victim to their rage, and
that mercy should be made manifest in my deliverance.

On the night of the 21st of May, two of the spies, Mr. John Davis and Mr.
Sutton, came to lodge at our house, and on the morning of the 22d, at
day-break, when the horn blew at the block-house, which was within sight
of our house, and distant about two hundred yards, the two men got up and
went out. I was also awake, and saw the door open, and thought, when I was
taken prisoner, that the scouts had left it open. I intended to rise
immediately; but having a child at the breast, and it being awakened, I
lay with it at the breast to get it to sleep again, and accidentally fell
asleep myself.

The spies have since informed me that they returned to the house again,
and found that I was sleeping; that they softly fastened the door, and
went immediately to the block-house; and those who examined the house
after the scene was over, say both doors had the appearance of being
broken open.

The first thing I knew from falling asleep, was the Indians pulling me out
of the bed by my feet. I then looked up, and saw the house full of
Indians, every one having his gun in his left hand and tomahawk in his
right. Beholding the dangerous situation in which I was, I immediately
jumped to the floor on my feet, with the young child in my arms. I then
took a petticoat to put on, having only the one in which I slept; but the
Indians took it from me, and as many as I attempted to put on they
succeeded in taking from me, that I had to go just as I had been in bed.
While I was struggling with some of the savages for clothing, others of
them went and took the two children out of another bed, and immediately
took the two feather beds to the door and emptied them. The savages
immediately began their work of plunder and devastation. What they were
unable to carry with them, they destroyed. While they were at their work
I made to the door, and succeeded in getting out, with one child in my
arms and another by my side; but the other little boy was so much
displeased by being so early disturbed in the morning, that he would not
come to the door.

When I got out, I saw Mr. Wolf, one of the soldiers, going to the spring
for water, and beheld two or three of the savages attempting to get
between him and the block-house; but Mr. Wolf was unconscious of his
danger, for the savages had not yet been discovered. I then gave a
terrific scream, by which means Mr. Wolf discovered his danger, and
started to run for the block-house; seven or eight Indians fired at him,
but the only injury he received was a bullet in his arm, which broke it.
He succeeded in making his escape to the block-house. When I raised the
alarm, one of the Indians came up to me with his tomahawk, as though about
to take my life; a second came and placed his hand before my mouth, and
told me to hush, when a third came with a lifted tomahawk, and attempted
to give me a blow; but the first that came raised his tomahawk and averted
the blow, and claimed me as his squaw.

The Commissary, with his waiter, slept in the store-house near the
block-house; and upon hearing the report of the guns, came to the door to
see what was the matter, and beholding the danger he was in made his
escape to the block-house, but not without being discovered by the
Indians, several of whom fired at him, and one of the bullets went through
his handkerchief, which was tied about his head, and took off some of his
hair. The handkerchief, with several bullet holes in it, he afterward gave
to me.

The waiter, on coming to the door, was met by the Indians, who fired upon
him, and he received two bullets through the body and fell dead by the
door. The savages then setup one of their tremendous and terrifying yells,
and pushed forward, and attempted to scalp the man they had killed; but
they were prevented from executing their diabolical purpose by the heavy
fire which was kept up through the port-holes from the block-house.

In this scene of horror and alarm I began to meditate an escape, and for
that purpose I attempted to direct the attention of the Indians from me,
and to fix it on the block-house; and thought if I could succeed in this,
I would retreat to a subterranean rock with which I was acquainted, which
was in the run near where we were. For this purpose I began to converse
with some of those who were near me respecting the strength of the
block-house, the number of men in it, &c, and being informed that there
were forty men there, and that they were excellent marksmen, they
immediately came to the determination to retreat, and for this purpose
they ran to those who were besieging the block-house, and brought them
away. They then began to flog me with their wiping sticks, and to order
me along. Thus what I intended as the means of my escape, was the means of
accelerating my departure in the hands of the savages. But it was no doubt
ordered by a kind Providence, for the preservation of the fort and the
inhabitants in it; for when the savages gave up the attack and retreated,
some of the men in the house had the last load of ammunition in their
guns, and there was no possibility of procuring any more, for it was all
fastened up in the store-house, which was inaccessible.

The Indians, when they had flogged me away along with them, took my oldest
boy, a lad about five years of age, along with them, for he was still at
the door by my side. My middle little boy, who was about three years of
age, had by this time obtained a situation by the fire in the house, and
was crying bitterly to me not to go, and making bitter complaints of the
depredations of the savages.

But these monsters were not willing to let the child remain behind them;
they took him by the hand to drag him along with them, but he was so very
unwilling to go, and made such a noise by crying, that they took him up by
the feet and dashed his brains out against the threshold of the door. They
then scalped and stabbed him, and left him for dead. When I witnessed this
inhuman butchery of my own child, I gave a most indescribable and terrific
scream, and felt a dimness come over my eyes next to blindness, and my
senses were nearly gone. The savages then gave me a blow across my head
and face, and brought me to my sight and recollection again. During the
whole of this agonizing scene I kept my infant in my arms.

As soon as their murder was effected, they marched me along to the top of
the bank, about forty or sixty rods, and there they stopped and divided
the plunder which they had taken from our house; and here I counted their
number, and found them to be thirty-two, two of whom were white men
painted as Indians.

Several of the Indians could speak English well. I knew several of them
well, having seen them go up and down the Allegheny river. I knew two of
them to be from the Seneca tribe of Indians, and two of them Munsees; for
they had called at the shop to get their guns repaired, and I saw them
there.

We went from this place about forty rods, and they then caught my uncle,
John Currie's horses, and two of them, into whose custody I was put,
started with me on the horses, toward the mouth of the Kiskiminetas, and
the rest of them went off toward Puckety. When they came to the bank that
descended toward the Allegheny, the bank was so very steep, and there
appeared so much danger in descending it on horseback, that I threw myself
off the horse in opposition to the will and command of the savages.

My horse descended without falling, but the one on which the Indian rode
who had my little boy, in descending, fell, and rolled over repeatedly;
and my little boy fell back over the horse, but was not materially
injured. He was taken up by one of the Indians, and we got to the bank of
the river, where they had secreted some bark canoes under the rocks,
opposite to the island that lies between the Kiskiminetas and Buffalo.
They attempted in vain to make the horses take the river. After trying
some time to effect this, they left the horses behind them, and took us in
one of the canoes to the point of the island, and there they left the
canoe.

Here I beheld another hard scene, for as soon as we landed, my little boy,
who was still mourning and lamenting about his little brother, and who
complained that he was injured by the fall in descending the bank, _was
murdered._

One of the Indians ordered me along, probably that I should not see the
horrid deed about to be perpetrated. The other then took his tomahawk from
his side, and with this instrument of death _killed and scalped him._ When
I beheld this second scene of inhuman butchery, I fell to the ground
senseless, with my infant in my arms, it being under, and its little hands
in the hair of my head. How long I remained in this state of
insensibility, I know not.

The first thing I remember was my raising my head from the ground, and my
feeling myself exceedingly overcome with sleep. I cast my eyes around, and
saw the scalp of my dear little boy, fresh bleeding from his head, in the
hand of one of the savages, and sunk down to the earth again upon my
infant child. The first thing I remember after witnessing this spectacle
of woe, was the severe blows I was receiving from the hands of the
savages, though at that time I was unconscious of the injury I was
sustaining. After a severe castigation, they assisted me in getting up,
and supported me when up.

Here I cannot help contemplating the peculiar interposition of Divine
Providence in my behalf. How easily might they have murdered me! What a
wonder their cruelty did not lead them to effect it! But, instead of this,
the scalp of my boy was hid from my view and, in order to bring me to my
senses again, they took me back to the river and led me in knee deep; this
had its intended effect. But "the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel."

We now proceeded on our journey by crossing the island, and coming to a
shallow place where we could wade out, and so arrive to the Indian side of
the country. Here they pushed me in the river before them, and had to
conduct me through it. The water was up to my breast, but I suspended my
child above the water, and, through the assistance of the savages, got
safely out.

From thence we rapidly proceeded forward, and came to Big Buffalo; here
the stream was very rapid, and the Indians had again to assist me. When
we had crossed this creek, we made a straight course to the
Connequenessing creek, the very place where Butler now stands; and from
thence we traveled five or six miles to Little Buffalo, and crossed it at
the very place where Mr. B. Server's mill now stands, and ascended the
hill.

I now felt weary of my life, and had a full determination to make the
savages kill me, thinking that death would be exceedingly welcome when
compared with the fatigue, cruelties, and miseries I had the prospect of
enduring. To have my purpose effected, I stood still, one of the savages
being before me and the other walking on behind me, and I took from off my
shoulder a large powder born they made me carry, in addition to my child,
who was one year and four days old. I threw the horn on the ground, closed
my eyes, _and expected every moment to feel the deadly tomahawk._ But to
my surprise the Indians took it up, cursed me bitterly, and put it on my
shoulder again. I took it off the second time, and threw it on the ground,
and again closed my eyes with the assurance that I should meet death; but,
instead of this, the savages again took up the horn, and with an
indignant, frightful countenance, came and placed it on again. I took it
off the third time, and was determined to effect it; and therefore threw
it as far as I was able from me, over the rocks. The savage immediately
went after it, while the one who had claimed me as his squaw, and who had
stood and witnessed the transaction, came up to me, and said, "well done,
I did right, and was a good squaw, and that the other was a lazy son of a
b--h; he might carry it himself." I cannot now sufficiently admire the
indulgent care of a gracious God, that at this moment preserved me amidst
so many temptations from the tomahawk and scalping knife.

The savages now changed their position, and the one who claimed me as his
squaw went behind. This movement, I believe, was to prevent the other from
doing me any injury; and we went on till we struck the Connequenessing at
the Salt Lick, about two miles above Butler, where was an Indian camp,
where we arrived a little before dark, having no refreshment during the
day.

The camp was made of stakes driven in the ground sloping, and covered with
chestnut bark, and appeared sufficiently long for fifty men. The camp
appeared to have been occupied for some time; it was very much beaten, and
large beaten paths went out from it in different directions.

That night they took me about three hundred yards from the camp, up a run,
into a large dark bottom, where they cut the brush in a thicket, and
placed a blanket on the ground, and permitted me to sit down with my
child. They then pinioned my arms back, only with a little liberty, so
that it was with difficulty that I managed my child. Here, in this dreary
situation, without fire or refreshment, having an infant to take care of
and my arms bound behind me, and having a savage on each side of me who
had killed two of my dear children that day, I had to pass the first night
of my captivity.

Ye mothers, who have never lost a child by an inhuman savage, or endured
the almost indescribable misery here related, may nevertheless think a
little (though it be but little) what I endured; and hence, now you are
enjoying sweet repose and the comforts of a peaceful and well-replenished
habitation, sympathize with me a little, as one who was a pioneer in the
work of cultivation and civilization.

But the trials and dangers of the day I had passed had so completely
exhausted nature, that, notwithstanding my unpleasant situation, and _my
determination to escape if possible,_ I insensibly fell asleep, and
repeatedly dreamed of my escape and safe arrival in Pittsburgh, and
several things relating to the town, of which I knew nothing at the time,
but found to be true when I arrived there. The first night passed away,
and I found no means of escape, for the savages kept watch the whole of
the night, without any sleep.

In the morning, one of them left us to watch the trail or path we had
come, to see if any white people were pursuing us. During the absence of
the Indian, who was the one that claimed me, the other, who remained with
me, and who was the murderer of my last boy, took from his bosom his
scalp, and prepared a hoop and stretched the scalp upon it. Those mothers
who have not seen the like done by one of the scalps of their own
children, (and few, if any, ever had so much misery to endure,) will be
able to form but faint ideas of the feelings which then harrowed up my
soul! I meditated revenge! While he was in the very act, I attempted to
take his tomahawk, which hung by his side and rested on the ground, and
had nearly succeeded, and was, as I thought, about to give the fatal blow;
when, alas! I was detected.

The savage felt me at his tomahawk handle, turned round upon me, cursed
me, and told me I was a Yankee; thus insinuating he understood my
intention, and to prevent me from doing so again, faced me. My excuse to
him for handling his tomahawk was, that my child wanted to play with the
handle of it. Here again I wondered at my merciful preservation, for the
looks of the savage were terrific in the extreme; and these, I apprehend,
were only an index to his heart. But God was my preserver.

The savage who went upon the look-out in the morning came back about 12
o'clock, and had discovered no pursuers. Then the one who had been
guarding me went out on the same errand. The savage who was now my guard
began to examine me about the white people, the strength of the armies
going against them, &c., and boasted largely of their achievements in the
preceding fall, at the defeat of General St. Clair.

He then examined into the plunder which he had brought from our house the
day before. He found my pocket-book and money in his plunder. There were
ten dollars in silver, and a half a guinea in gold in the book. During
this day they gave me a piece of dry venison, about the bulk of an egg,
and a piece about the same size the day we were marching, for my support
and that of my child; but owing to the blows I had received from them in
my jaws, I was unable to eat a bit of it. I broke it up, and gave it to
the child.

The savage on the look-out returned about dark. This evening, (Monday the
23d,) they moved me to another station in the same valley, and secured me
as they did the preceding night. Thus I found myself the second night
between two Indians, without fire or refreshment. During this night I was
frequently asleep, notwithstanding my unpleasant situation, and as often
dreamed of my arrival in Pittsburgh.

Early on the morning of the 24th, a flock of mocking birds and robins
hovered over us, as we lay in our uncomfortable bed, and sung, and said,
at least to my imagination, that I was to get up and go off. As soon as
day broke, one of the Indians went off again to watch the trail, as on the
preceding day, and he who was left to take care of me, appeared to be
sleeping. When I perceived this, I lay still and began to snore as though
asleep, and he fell asleep.

Then I concluded it was time to escape. I found it impossible to injure
him for my child at the breast, as I could not effect any thing without
putting the child down, and then it would cry and give the alarm; so I
contented myself with taking from a pillow-case of plunder, taken from our
house, a short gown, handkerchief, and child's frock, and so made my
escape; the sun then being about half an hour high.

I took a direction from home, at first, being guided by the birds before
mentioned, and in order to deceive the Indians, then took over the hill,
and struck the Connequenessing creek about two miles from where I crossed
it with the Indians, and went down the stream till about two o'clock in
the afternoon, over rocks, precipices, thorns, briars, &c., with my bare
feet and legs. I then discovered by the sun, and the running of the
stream, that I was on the wrong course, and going from, instead of coming
nearer home. I then changed my course, ascended a hill, and sat down till
sunset, and the evening star made its appearance, when I discovered the
way I should travel; and having marked out the direction I intended to
take the next morning, I collected some leaves, made up a bed and laid
myself down and slept, though my feet being full of thorns, began to be
very painful, and I had nothing still to eat for myself or child.

The next morning, (Friday, 25th of May,) about the breaking of the day I
was aroused from my slumbers by the flock of birds before mentioned, which
still continued with me, and having them to guide me through the
wilderness. As soon as it was sufficiently light for me to find my way, I
started for the fourth day's trial of hunger and fatigue.

There was nothing very material occurred on this day while I was
traveling, and I made the best of my way, according to my knowledge,
towards the Allegheny river. In the evening, about the going down of the
sun, a moderate rain came on, and I began to prepare for my bed by
collecting some leaves together, as I had done the night before; but could
not collect a sufficient quantity without setting my little boy on the
ground; but as soon as I put him out of my arms he began to cry. Fearful
of the consequence of his noise in this situation, I took him in my arms,
and put him to the breast immediately, and he became quiet. I then stood
and listened, and _distinctly heard the footsteps of a man coming after
me_ in the same direction I had come! The ground over which I had been
traveling was good, and the mould was light; I had therefore left my
footmarks, and thus exposed myself to a _second captivity!_ Alarmed at my
perilous situation, I looked around for a place of safety, and
_providentially_ discovered a large tree which had fallen, into the tops
of which I crept, with my child in my arms, and there hid myself securely
under the limbs. The darkness of the night greatly assisted me, and
prevented me from detection.

The footsteps I heard were those of a savage. He heard the cry of the
child, and came to the very spot where the child cried, and there he
halted, put down his gun, and was at this time so near that I heard the
wiping stick strike against his gun distinctly.

My getting in under the tree, and sheltering myself from the rain, and
pressing my boy to my bosom, got him warm, and most providentially he fell
asleep, and lay very still during the time of my danger at that time. All
was still and quiet, the savage was listening if by possibility he might
again hear the cry he had heard before. My own heart was the only thing I
feared, and that beat so loud that I was apprehensive it would betray me.
It is almost impossible to conceive or to believe the wonderful effect my
situation produced upon my whole system.

After the savage had stood and listened with nearly the stillness of death
for two hours, the sound of a bell, and a cry like that of a night-owl,
signals which were given to him from his savage companions, induced him to
answer, and after he had given a most horrid yell, which was calculated to
harrow up my soul, he started, and went off to join them.

After the retreat of the savage to his companions, I concluded it unsafe
to remain in my concealed situation till morning, lest they should
conclude upon a second search, and being favored with the light of day
find me, and either tomahawk or scalp me, or otherwise bear me back to my
captivity again, which was worse than death.

But by this time nature was nearly exhausted, and I found some difficulty
in moving from my situation that night; yet, compelled by necessity and a
love of self-preservation, I threw my coat about my child, and placed the
end between my teeth, and with one arm and my teeth I carried the child,
and with the other arm groped my way between the trees, and traveled on as
I supposed a mile or two, and there sat down at the root of a tree till
the morning. The night was cold and wet; and thus terminated the fourth
day and night's difficulties, trials, hunger, and danger.

The fifth day, Saturday, 26th May, wet and exhausted, hungry and wretched,
I started from my resting-place in the morning as soon as I could see my
way, and on that morning struck the bead waters of Pine Creek, which falls
into the Allegheny about four miles above Pittsburgh; though I knew not
then what waters they were, but crossed them, and on the opposite bank I
found a path, and discovered in it two moccasin tracks, fresh indented,
and the men who had made them were before me, and traveling on the same
direction that I was traveling. This alarmed me; but as they were before
me, and traveling in the same direction as I was, I concluded I could see
them as soon as they could see me; and therefore I pressed on in that path
for about three miles, when I came to the forks where another branch
empties into the creek, and where a hunter's camp, where the two men,
whose tracks I had before discovered and followed, had been, and kindled
a fire and breakfasted, and had left the fire burning.

I here became more alarmed, and came to a determination to leave the path.
I then ascended a hill, and crossed a ridge toward Squaw run, and came
upon a trail or path. Here I stopped and meditated what to do; and while
I was thus musing, I saw three deers coming toward me in full speed; they
turned to look at their pursuers; I looked too with all attention, and saw
the flash of a gun, and then heard the report as soon as the gun was
fired. I saw some dogs start after them, and began to look about for a
shelter, and immediately made for a large log, and hid myself behind it;
but most providentially I did not go clear to the log; had I done so, I
might have lost my life by the bites of rattle-snakes; for as I put my
hand to the ground to raise myself, that I might see what was become of
the hunters and who they were, I saw a large heap of rattle-snakes, and
the top one was very large, and coiled up very near my face, and quite
ready to bite me. This compelled me to leave this situation, let the
consequences be what they might.

In consequence of this occurrence, I again left my course, bearing to the
left, and came upon the head waters of Squaw run, and kept down the run
the remainder of that day.

During the day it rained, and I was in a very deplorable situation; so
cold and shivering were my limbs, that frequently, in opposition to all
my struggles, I gave an involuntary groan. I suffered intensely this day
from hunger, though my jaws were so far recovered from the injury they
sustained from the blows of the Indians, that wherever I could I procured
grape vines, and chewed them for a little sustenance. In the evening I
came within one mile of the Allegheny river, though I was ignorant of it
at the time; and there, at the root of a tree, through a most tremendous
night's rain, I took up my fifth night's lodgings; and in order to shelter
my infant at much as possible, I placed him in my lap, and placed my head
against the tree, and thus let the rain fall upon me.

On the sixth (that was Sabbath) morning from my captivity, I found myself
unable, for a very considerable time, to raise myself from the ground; and
when I had once more, by hard struggling, got myself upon my feet, and
started upon the sixth day's encounter, nature _was so nearly exhausted,
and my spirits were so completely depressed,_ that my progress was
amazingly slow and discouraging.

In this almost helpless condition, I had not gone far before I came to a
path where there had been cattle traveling; I took the path, under the
impression that it would lead me to the abode of some white people, and by
traveling it about one mile, I came to an uninhabited cabin; and though I
was in a river bottom, yet I knew not where I was, nor yet on what river
bank I had come. Here I was seized with the feelings of despair, and
under those feelings I went to the threshold of the uninhabited cabin, and
concluded that I would _enter and lie down and die;_ as death would have
been to me an _angel of mercy_ in such a _situation,_ and would have
removed me from all my misery.

Such were my feelings at this distressing moment, and had it not been for
the recollection of those sufferings which my _infant_ would endure, who
would survive for some time after I was dead, I should have carried my
determination into execution. Here, too, I heard the sound of a cow bell,
which imparted a _gleam of hope to my desponding mind._ I followed the
sound of the bell till I came opposite to the fort at the Six Mile Island.

When I came there, I saw three men on the opposite bank of the river. My
feelings at the sight of these were better felt than described. I called
to the men, but they seemed unwilling to risk the danger of coming after
me, and requested to know who I was. I replied that I was one who had been
taken prisoner by the Indians on the Allegheny river on last Tuesday
morning, and had made my escape from them. They requested me to walk up
the bank of the river for a while, that they might see if the Indians
were making a decoy of me or not; but I replied to them that my feet were
so sore that I could not walk.

Then one of them, James Closier, got into a canoe to fetch me over, and
the other two stood on the bank, with their rifles cocked, ready to fire
on the Indians, provided they were using me as a decoy. When Mr. Closier
came near to the shore, and saw my haggard and dejected situation, he
exclaimed, "who, in the name of God, are you?" This man was one of my
nearest neighbors before I was taken; yet in six days I was so much
altered that he did not know me, either by my voice or my countenance.

When I landed on the inhabited side of the river, the people from the fort
came running out to the boat to see me; they took the child from me, and
now I felt safe from all danger, I found myself unable to move or to
assist myself in any degree; whereupon the people took me and carried me
out of the boat to the house of Mr. Cortus.

Here, when I felt I was secure from the ravages and cruelties of the
barbarians, for the first time since my captivity my feelings returned
with all their poignancy. When I was dragged from my bed and from my home,
a prisoner with the savages; when the in-human butchers dashed the brains
of one of my dear children out on the door-sill, and afterward scalped him
before my eyes; when they took and tomahawked, scalped, and stabbed
another of them before me on the island; and when, with still more
barbarous feelings, they afterward made a hoop, and stretched his scalp
on it; nor yet, when I endured hunger, cold, and nearly nakedness, and at
the same time my infant sucking my very blood to support it, I never wept.
No! it was too, too much for nature. A tear then would have been too great
a luxury. And it is more than probable, that tears at these seasons of
distress would have been fatal in their consequences; for savages despise
a tear. But now that my danger was removed, and I was delivered from the
pangs of the barbarians, the tears flowed freely, and imparted a happiness
beyond what I ever experienced before, or ever expect to experience in
this world.

When I was taken into the house, having been so long from fire, and having
endured so much from hunger for a long period, the heat of the fire, and
the smell of the victuals, which the kindness of the people immediately
induced them to provide for me, caused me to faint. Some of the people
attempted to restore me and some of them put some clothes upon me. But the
kindness of these friends would, in all probability, have killed me, had
it not been for the providential arrival from down the river, of Major
McCulley, who then commanded the line along the river. When he came in and
saw my situation, and the provisions they were making for me, he became
greatly alarmed, and immediately ordered me out of the house, from the
heat and smell; prohibited my taking any thing but the whey of buttermilk,
and that in very small quantities, which he administered with his own
hands. Through this judicious management of my almost lost situation, I
was mercifully restored again to my senses, and very gradually to my
health and strength.

Two of the females, Sarah Carter and Mary Ann Crozier, then began to take
out the thorns from my feet and legs; and Mr. Felix Negley, who now lives
at the mouth of Bull Creek, twenty miles above Pittsburgh, stood by and
counted the thorns as the women took them out, and there were one hundred
and fifty drawn out, though they were not all extracted at that time, for
the next evening, at Pittsburgh, there were many more taken out. The flesh
was mangled dreadfully, and the skin and flesh were hanging in pieces on
my feet and legs. The wounds were not healed for a considerable time.
Some of the thorns went through my feet and came out on the top. For two
weeks I was unable to put my feet to the ground to walk.

Besides which, the rain to which I was exposed by night, and the heat of
the sun, to which my almost naked body was exposed by day, together with
my carrying my child so long in my arms without any relief, and any
shelter from the heat of the day or the storms of the night, caused nearly
all the skin of my body to come off, so that my body was raw nearly all
over.

The news of my arrival at the station spread with great rapidity. The two
spies took the intelligence that evening as far as Coe's station, and the
next morning to Reed's station, to my husband.

As the intelligence spread, the town of Pittsburgh, and the country for
twenty miles round, was all in a state of commotion. About sunset the same
evening, my husband came to see me in Pittsburgh, and I was taken back to
Coe's station on Tuesday morning. In the evening I gave the account of the
murder of my boy on the island. The next morning (Wednesday) there was a
scout went out, and found it by my direction, and buried it, after being
murdered nine days.

_Copy of a Letter from Mr. John Corbly, a Baptist Minister, to his
friend in Philadelphia, dated_

Muddy Creek, Penn, Sept. 1, 1793.

"Dear Sir,

"The following are the particulars of the destruction of my unfortunate
family by the savages:--On the 10th May last, being my appointment to
preach at one of my meeting houses, about a mile from my dwelling-house,
I set out with my loving wife and five children for public worship. Not
suspecting any danger, I walked behind a few rods, with my Bible in my
hand, meditating. As I was thus employed, on a sudden I was greatly
alarmed by the shrieks of my dear family before me. I immediately ran to
their relief with all possible speed, vainly hunting a club as I ran. When
within a few yards of them, my poor wife observing me, cried out to me to
make my escape. At this instant an Indian ran up to shoot me. I had to
strip, and by so doing outran him. My wife had an infant in her arms,
which the Indians killed and scalped. After which they struck my wife
several times, but not bringing her to the ground, the Indian who
attempted to shoot me approached her, and shot her through the body; after
which they scalped her. My little son, about six years old, they
dispatched by sinking their hatchets in his brains. My little daughter,
four years old, they in like manner tomahawked and scalped. My eldest
daughter attempted an escape by concealing herself in a hollow tree, about
six rods from the fatal scene of action. Observing the Indians retiring,
as she supposed, she deliberately crept from the place of her concealment,
when one of the Indians, who yet remained on the ground, espying her, ran
up to her, and with his tomahawk knocked down and scalped her. But,
blessed be God, she yet survives, as does her little sister whom the
savages in the like manner tomahawked and scalped. They are mangled to a
shocking degree, but the doctors think there are some hopes of their
recovery.

"When I supposed the Indians gone, I returned to see what had become of my
unfortunate family, whom, alas! I found in the situation above described.
No one, my dear friend, can form a true conception of my feelings at this
moment. A view of a scene so shocking to humanity quite overcome me. I
fainted, and was unconsciously borne off by a friend, who at that instant
arrived to my relief.

"Thus, dear sir, have I given you a faithful, though a short narrative of
the fatal catastrophe; amidst which my life is spared, but for what
purpose the Great Jehovah best knows. Oh, may I spend it to the praise and
glory of His grace, who worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will. The government of the world and the church is in his hands. I
conclude with wishing you every blessing, and subscribe myself your
affectionate though afflicted friend, and unworthy brother in the gospel
ministry,

"John Corbly"

* * * * *

No. IX.

[Reference from Page 376.]

_Miamis Rapids, May_ 7th, 1794.

Two Deputies from the Three Nations of the Glaize arrived here yesterday,
with a speech from the Spaniards, brought by the Delawares residing near
their posts, which was repeated in a council held this day, to the
following nations now at this place, viz:--

Wyandots, Mingoes,
Ottawas, Munseys,
Chippewas, Nanticokes.

Grand-children and Brethren,

We are just arrived from the Spanish settlements upon the Mississippi, and
are come to inform you what they have said to us in a late council. These
are their words:

Children Delawares,
_Six Strings White Wampum,_

{TN: Icon of finger pointing to right} "Pointing to this country." When
you first came from that country to ask my protection, and when you told
me you had escaped from the heat of a great fire that was like to scorch
you to death, I took yon by the hand and under my protection, and told you
to look about for a piece of land to hunt on and plant for the support of
yourselves and families in this country, which the Great Spirit had given
for our mutual benefit and support. I told you at the same time that I
would watch over it, and when anything threatened us with danger, that I
would immediately speak to you; and that when I did speak to you, that it
would behoove you to be strong and listen to my words.

_Delivered six Strings White Wampum._

The Spaniard then, addressing himself to all the nations who were present,
said,--

Children, These were my words to all the nations here present, as well as
to your grand-fathers, the Delawares. Now, Children, I have called you
together to communicate to you certain intelligence of a large force
assembling on the Shawanoe river to invade our country. It has given me
very great satisfaction to observe the strong confederacy formed among
you, and I have no doubt of your ready assistance to repel this force.

Children, You see me now on my feet, and grasping the tomahawk to strike
them.

Children, We will strike them together. I do not desire yon to go before
me, in the front, but to follow me. These people have too long disturbed
our country, and have extinguished many of our council fires. They are
but a trifling people compared to the white people now combined against
them, and determined to crush them for their evil deeds. They must by this
time be surrounded with enemies, as all the white nations are against
them. Your French Father also speaks through me to you on this occasion,
and tells you that those of his subjects who have joined the Big-knives,
are only a few of his disobedient children who have joined the disobedient
in this country; but as we are strong and unanimous, we hope, by the
assistance of the Great Spirit, to put a stop to their mischievous
designs.

_Delivered a bunch Black Wampum._

Children, Now I present you with a war-pipe, which has been sent in all
our names to the Musquakies, and all those nations who live toward the
setting of the sun, to get upon their feet and take hold of our tomahawk;
and as soon as they smoked it they sent it back, with a promise to get
immediately on their feet to join us and strike this enemy. Their
particular answer to me was as follows:

"Father, We have long seen the designs of the Big-knives against our
country, and also of some of our own color, particularly the Kaskaskies,
who have always spoke with the same tongue as the Big-knives. They must
not escape our revenge; nor must you, Father, endeavor to prevent our
extirpating them. Two other tribes of our color, the Piankishaws and the
Cayaughkians who have been strongly attached to our enemies the
Big-knives, shall share the same fate with the Kaskaskies."

Children, You hear what these distant nations have said to us, so that we
have nothing farther to do but put our designs in immediate execution, and
to forward this pipe to the three warlike nations who have so long been
struggling for their country, and who now sit at the Glaize. Tell them to
smoke this pipe, and to forward it to all the Lake Indians and their
northern brethren; then nothing will be wanting to complete our general
union from the rising to the setting of the sun, and all nations will be
ready to add strength to the blow we are going to make.

_Delivered a War-Pipe._

Children, I now deliver you a Message from the Creeks, Cherokees, and
Choctaws and Chickasaws, who desire you to be strong in uniting
yourselves; and tell you it has given them pleasure to hear you have been
so unanimous in listening to your Spanish Father; and they acquaint you
that their hearts are joined to ours, and that there are eleven nations of
the southern Indians now on their feet with the hatchet in their hand,
ready to strike our common enemy.

_Black Strings of Wampum._

The Deputies of the Three Nations of the Glaize, after speaking the above
speeches from the Spaniards, addressed themselves to the several nations
in council, in the following manner:

Brothers, You have now heard the speeches brought to our council at the
Glaize a few days ago from the Spaniards, and as soon as they heard them
and smoked the pipe, their hearts were glad, and they determined to step
forward and put into execution the advice sent them. They desire you to
forward the pipe, as has been recommended, to all our northern brethren,
not doubting but as soon as you have smoked it, you will follow their
example; and they will hourly expect you to join them, as it will not be
many days before the nearness of our enemies will give us an opportunity
of striking them.

_Delivered the Pipe._

Brothers, Our Grand-fathers, the Delawares, spoke first in our late
council at the Glaize, on this piece of painted tobacco and this painted
Black Wampum, and expressed their happiness at what they had heard from
their Spanish Father and their brethren to the westward, and desired us
to tell you to forward this tobacco and Wampum to the Wyandots, to be sent
to all the Lake Indians, and inform them that in eight days they would be
ready to go against the Virginians, who are now so near us, and that
according to the number of Indians collected, they would either engage
the army or attempt to cut off their supplies. The Delawares also desired
us to say to the Wyandots, that, as they are our elder brethren, and took
the lead in all our affairs last summer, it was thought strange that none
of them were now there to put the resolution then formed into execution.
It is true, some of them went last Fall when it was thought too late, and
the assembling of the nations put off till spring; but the spring is now
far advanced, and none of them have yet come.

_Delivered the Tobacco and Wampum._

Egouchouay answered for all the nations present:--Brothers, I am happy at
the good news you have told us, and we will immediately go and collect
all our people, and be with you as soon as possible.

(Signed) A. McKee, D. A. I. A.

A true copy, Thomas Talbot.

* * * * *

No. X.

[Reference from Page 406.]

The Chiefs to Sir John Johnson.

"_Grand River, Feb._ 6, 1802.

"Our Dear Friend,

"We take the opportunity of Moses Johnson's going to Canada, to trouble
you with this the easiest method that the distance of our situation from
each other allows of, to communicate our sentiments to you. We wish to
acquaint you, that last Fall, at our usual meeting at the beach, we made
a speech to Captain Claus, which he has not yet fully answered. It was
principally respecting the letter you wrote to Captain Brant, when you was
at Niagara last summer, which we were sorry to find so severe; and as we
are sensible that he has never attempted any thing to the detriment of the
British interest, we were much surprised to find that his conduct seemed
to give umbrage there. As to the uneasiness you mentioned prevailed at
Grand River, we are entirely ignorant of any such thing among us who
manage the affairs of the tribes living here; and as he is our appointed
agent, he yet never acts without our approbation in whatever regards the
public; consequently, if any of his transactions have given offence, we
are all equally culpable. Therefore, if customs are so much changed with
you, that the following the tracks of our predecessor gives umbrage, we
hope, from our ancient friendship, you will inform us wherein it injures
the interests of our brethren, for then our regard for their welfare will
cause us to desist; and if there is a change in politics, don't let us
remain ignorant of it; for ignorance might cause us unwittingly to give
offence. As you know that not long ago a friendly correspondence and union
with the different nations seemed to give pleasure to our brothers, we yet
remain of the same sentiments, for we could not lightly drop what we took
so much pains to begin; and we can yet hardly persuade ourselves that you
have changed your sentiments; but if it is the case, we hope you will do
us the favor fully to acquaint us, that we may not be liable to give
uneasiness where we really mean none.

"I have the honor to be
Your humble and most obed't servt.,
(Signed) Aaron Hill.

"In behalf of the Chiefs of the Mohawk,
Oghkwaga, Onondaga, Cayuga,
and Seneca Nations, living on the
Grand River."

* * * * *

No. XI.

[Reference from Page 411.]

Governor Clinton to Captain Brant.

"_Greenwich,_ 1_st December,_ 1799.

"Dear Sir,

"On my return from the country about a month ago, I was favored with your
letter of the 4th of September. I am much gratified by the determination
you express of furnishing Doctor Miller with the information he requested
of you, and I hope, as the work for which it is wanted is progressing,
you will find leisure to do it soon. I am confident he will make a fair
and honorable use of it; and, as far as he shall be enabled, correct the
erroneous representations of former authors respecting your nations.

"I am surprised to find that you have not received my answer to your
letter of the 11th January last. It was inclosed and forwarded as
requested, to Mr. Peter W. Yates of Albany. Had it reached you, I presume
you will find, from the copy I now inclose, it would have been
satisfactory; but as a particular detail of what passed between the
Coghnawagoes and me, respecting their lands, may be more agreeable, I will
now repeat it to you as far as my recollection will enable me:--

"In the Winter of 1792-1793, our Legislature being in session in Albany,
a committee from the seven nations or tribes of Lower Canada attended
there, with whom I had several conferences. They complained that some of
our people had settled on their lands near Lake Champlain and on the River
St. Lawrence, and requested that Commissioners might be appointed to
inquire into the matter, and treat with them on the subject. In my answer
to their speeches I mentioned that it was difficult to define their rights
and their boundaries; that it was to be presumed that the Indian rights to
a considerable part of the lands on the borders of the lake had been
extinguished by the French Government before the conquest of Canada, as
those lands, or the greater part of them, had been granted to individuals
by that government before that period. In their reply, they described
their southern boundary as commencing at a creek or run of water between
Forts Edward and George, which empties into South Bay, and from thence
extending on a direct line to a large meadow or swamp, where the Canada
Creek, which empties into the Mohawk opposite Fort Hendrick, the Black and
Oswegatchie Rivers have their sources. Upon which I observed to them that
this line would interfere with lands patented by the British Government
previous to the Revolution, and particularly mentioned Totten and
Crossfield's purchase and Jessup's patent; but I mentioned, at the same
time, that I was neither authorised nor disposed to controvert their
claims, which I would submit to the Legislature, who I could not doubt
would pay due attention to them, and adopt proper measures to effect a
settlement with them upon fair and liberal terms. This I accordingly did;
and some time after Commissioners were appointed to treat with them in
the presence of an agent of the United States, the result of which I find
you are informed of.

"I believe you will readily agree that no inference could be drawn from
anything that passed on the above occasion to countenance the charge made
against your nations. The mentioning and interference of their boundaries,
as above stated, with tracts patented under the British Colonial
Government, could certainly have no allusion to the cessions made by the
Six Nations, or either of them, to the state; especially as (if I
recollect right) those cessions are of the territory of the respective
nations by whom they were made without defining them by any particular
boundaries, and subject only to the reservations described in the deed.

"I wish it was in my power to transmit you copies of their speeches and
my answers at full length; but it is not, for the reasons mentioned in my
former letter. Should they, however, be deemed necessary by you, I will
endeavor to procure and forward them. In the meantime you may rest assured
that what I have above related the substance of them.

"I am, with great regard and esteem,
Your most obed't servant,
Geo. Clinton.

"_Col. Joseph Brant._"

* * * * *

No. XII.

[Reference from Page 416.]

CERTIFICATE OF GENERAL CHAPIN.

I certify I have been personally acquainted with Captain Joseph Brant for
fourteen years past; that during this time have frequently been with him
in treaties and councils held between the people of the United States and
the Five Nations of Indians. That during the time aforesaid, my father,
Israel Chapin, Esq. held the office of Indian affairs for the Five Nations
of Indians, under the President of the United States; and during his
agency, Captain Brant was several times in the States in transacting
business of importance. At one time, in particular, he was invited to the
seat of Government of the United States for the purpose of consulting upon
means for restoring the Indians then hostile to the United States to a
general peace; which visit occasioned some suspicions and censures against
Captain Brant by certain characters residing in the province where he
belonged. That, through the instigation of certain persons, jealousies
have arisen, not only among some white people, but among his own also.
That the jealousies of his own people are easily awakened; and solely upon
this ground they have proceeded in the Indian forms to disown him as a
Chief. That the Seneca Indians, with some others residing within the
territory of the United States, who have had the disposal of a
considerable part of the Five Nations' lands, and have sold, and do
actually receive annuities from the people of the United States annually
for the same, have been the principal actors in deposing him. That after
the death of my father I succeeded him in the office, as aforesaid, and
during my own agency had frequent meetings with Captain Brant in Indian
councils, &c. And I do further certify, that during the whole of my
acquaintance with Captain Brant, he has conducted himself with honor and
integrity. That, so far from conducting himself in secrecy, or in any way
inclining to alienate himself from the British government, or in doing
anything that might be prejudicial to the Indians; on the other hand, he
has frankly avowed that he would strenuously adhere to the Government and
interest of the people to which he belonged; that his honor and friendship
for the Indian nations were so near his heart, that nothing should
occasion him to do any thing incompatible with his duty; and that his own
time and trouble have been expended and greatly prolonged in doing every
thing in his power to promote the interest of his nation and those allied
to them. And Captain Brant having called on me to certify my opinion as
aforesaid, I am free to declare to any who may be concerned, that from a
long and intimate acquaintance I have good reason to make the remarks as
aforesaid.

Israel Chapin,
_Agent of Indian Affairs for the Five Nations._

Canandaigua, in the western part of the }
State of N. Y., Oct. 28th, 1805. }

* * * * *

No. XIII.

[Reference from Page 417.]

CERTIFICATE OF CAPTAIN LEONARD AND OTHERS.

We, the subscribers, certify, that in the month of April last there came
to Fort Niagara about forty Seneca Indians, among whom were the Farmer's
Brother, Red Jacket, Jack Berry, and other Chiefs. While at Niagara,
detained by ice, we heard them say in public and private conversation,
that they were going into Upper Canada for the express purpose of breaking
Captain Brant, a Mohawk Chief. We also certify that the Seneca Chiefs
above named reside within the United States.

Given under our hands at Fort Niagara, this 20th day of October 1805.

W. Leonard, Capt. U. S. Artillery,
G. Armistead, Lieut. U. S. Artillery.
H. M. Allen, Lieut. U. S. Artillery,
Robert Lee, Col. of the Revenue.

* * * * *

No. XIV.

[Reference from Page 418.]

Proceedings of a Council held at the Grand River, the 29th day of June,
1804, with the Six Nations, viz: Mohawks, Oneydas, Onondagas, Cayougas,
Senecas, and Tuscaroras; and the following Nations,--Tutulies, Delawares,
and Nanticokes.

Present,

Lieut. Col. Brock, 49th _Reg't. Commanding,_
William Claus, Esq., _Dept'y Supt. Gen. of Indian Affairs._
James Gwins, Esq., _Agent of Indian Affairs._
Lieut. Cary, 49th _Regiment._
Lieut. Stratton, 49th _Regiment._
William Dickson, Esq.
Richard Beasley, Esq.
Alexander Stewart, Esq.
Mr. W. I. Chew, _Store-keeper and Clerk Indian Dep._
Benj. Fairchild, }
J. B. Rousseau, } _Interpreters Indian Dep._

The Deputy Superintendent General addressed the Chiefs as follows:--

Brethren, It gives me great satisfaction to meet you at this place, and
in presence of so many of the King's officers and others this day, to
renew our assurances of friendship, which I hope will continue
uninterrupted as long as the waters run.

I dispel the darkness which hangs over you by reason of your many losses.
I most heartily wish you may enjoy a serene and clear sky; so that you may
be able to see your brethren from the sun-rising to the sun-setting.

Brethren, I must admonish and exhort you that you will at all times, but
more especially at this juncture, pluck from your hearts and cast away all
discords, jealousies, and misunderstandings which may subsist among you,
or which any evil spirits may endeavor to raise in your breasts.

I therefore, with this Wampum, make this Council-room clean from every
thing offensive, and hope that you will take care that no snake may creep
in among us, or any thing that may obstruct our harmony.

_Bunch of Wampum._

Brethren, I have but a few words to speak, as the fewer that is said the
easier you will understand and comprehend. Last year, about the time your
corn was getting hard, I had the pleasure of seeing you at the King, your
Great Father's council fire at Niagara. I then addressed you on the
business of your land transactions. I informed you then that General
Hunter had taken your affairs into his most deliberate consideration, and
what the result of those considerations were.

Since that time some people have come forward to pay for the township
which was sold to Mr. Beasley and his associates; and the only thing which
now remains upon the minds of your trustees, and which they cannot answer
for, (unless you, in the most public manner, express your satisfaction,)
is the statement made by Mr. Beasley of monies said to have been paid on
your account to your agent, Captain Brant.

I will here explain to you the sums said to have been paid; and if you are
satisfied, the necessary discharges will then be given, and your business,
I hope, carried on in future more to your satisfaction, and also of the
others concerned.

Brethren, The following sums are stated by Mr. Beasley to have been paid
by him, and boards delivered by his order.

[Here follows the statement of the pecuniary transactions of Captain
Brant, as the agent of the Mohawk Nation, which there is no occasion to
transcribe in this place.]

If you wish to consult among yourselves before you give your answer, as I
wish you to do, I shall wait until you are ready, as it is necessary that
this business should come to a close; but do not let us hurry, take time
and weigh the matter well; if you are satisfied that the statement of the
account is just, I will lay before you a paper to sign, which shall be
explained to you, that you may perfectly comprehend and understand it.

I must farther inform you, that I hope every man that attends for the
purpose of executing the above papers may keep from liquor, as I am
determined no name shall appear there, unless the whole council are
perfectly sober.

Before we cover the fire to-day, I must inform you that the King's
Council, with the approbation of General Hunter, have given themselves a
great deal of pains in inquiring and seeing that justice should be done to
the Six Nations in this business, for which I am confident you will
acknowledge yourselves sensible.

I have further to mention to you, that the Governor in Council have
thought it for the advantage, benefit, and interest of the Six Nations,
that Sir John Johnson should be added as a Trustee for the Six Nations,
but it is left for you to consider and say whether he is, or is not, to be
added to those who are now acting for you.

I shall now retire, and when you have finished consulting, I shall be
ready to attend you.

[_Large Bunch of Wampum._]

30_th June._ Present the same as yesterday.

I am much pleased that you have so clearly comprehended what I said to you
yesterday, and as you are unanimously agreed to admit of the account as
just, the following is the paper which it will be necessary for your
principal people to sign; but before I go further, I must tell you that
your expressions of friendship for me draws from me the warmest sense of
feeling. I shall ever endeavor to preserve your esteem and regard, and
you may rest assured that my constant exertions shall be for your interest
and happiness.

We, the Sachems and principal War Chiefs, Warriors, and principal women of
the Six Nations, having taken into mature consideration the said account,
and having examined the several items and entries therein, and the whole
having been explained to us in the fullest manner, declare that we
perfectly understand and comprehend the same; do hereby unanimously
approve thereof as just and true; and do fully admit and acknowledge that
the several sums of money set down and charged in the said account as
payments made by Mr. Beasley, to and for the use of the Six Nations, were
really and truly made; and that the boards and materials charged in the
same accounts were actually furnished by Mr. Beasley, also to and for the
use of the Six Nations.

In testimony whereof, the aforesaid Sachems, principal War Chiefs,
Warriors, and principal Women of the Six Nations, in behalf of the Body of
the said Six Nations, have to these presents (done in triplicate) set our
hands and affixed our seals at the Council House at the Mohawk Village on
the Grand River, this 30th day of June, in the year of our Lord, 1804, and
forty fourth year of his Majesty's reign.

his his
Tekarihoken X Gonesseronton X
mark mark
his his
Thaweyogearat X Shagogeaseronni X
mark mark
his his
Oghnaongoghton X Ojageghte X
mark mark
his his
Otoghaeronge X Waorighonti X
mark mark
his his
Aonghwicjaga X Tekaenyough X
mark mark
his his
Otyoghwawagon X Ogpaghsaneyout X
mark mark
his his
Aghetugwaresera X Thaoeonnenghton X
mark mark
his his
Tekahentakwa X Teghsitaasgowa X
mark mark
his his
Oghsonwalagette X Arenghoot X
mark mark
his his
Yoghstatheaugh X Nihaweanaagh X
mark mark
his his
Araghkwente X Karrhageayate X
mark mark
his his
Oghgwarioghseta X Kaweanontye X
mark mark

We do certify that the within proceedings were held in our presence, and
that the accounts and different items were explained to the Sachems. War
Chiefs, and principal Women under the direction of the Deputy
Superintendent General of Indian Affairs; that they seemed perfectly to
understand and comprehend the same, and acknowledged that they did so, and
were perfectly satisfied therewith. We do also certify that those whose
names, marks and seals are hereunto affixed, as well as the whole Council,
were perfectly sober when they executed the within.

_Council Room, Grand River,_ 30_th June,_ 1804.
ISAAC BROCK, _Col._ 49_th Regt._
_Commissioners._
William Carey, _Lieut._ 49_th Regt._
William Stratton, _Lieut._ 49_th Regt._

After finishing, the usual ceremony of taking leave was gone through and,

[_A large bunch of Wampum delivered._]

* * * * *

No. XV.

[Reference from Page 423.]

COUNCIL HELD AT NIAGARA.

[This speech was made by Capt. Brant at Niagara to Col. William Claus,
Deputy Superintendent General of Indian affairs--after John Norton, alias
Teyoninhokarawen, had returned from England, who had been sent there by
Capt. Brant.]

[W. J. Kerr.]

Brother,--We have now come to this place, the Council-fire of our Great
Father the King, to explain, in a public manner, the foundation of our
claim to the lands we now possess, the attempts made in this country to
curtail and invalidate our title to them, and latterly the means taken to
obstruct the just decision of his Majesty's Right Honorable Privy Council
on the subject.

Brother,--In the year 1775, when hostilities had commenced, the Mohawks,
always faithful to the royal interest, brought off the Indian Department,
in company with the Oghkwagas, from the Mohawk River to Canada. Upon our
arrival there, this conduct was approved of by Sir Guy Carleton, who, in
a public Council, desired us to take up the hatchet and defend our
country, and that any losses we might sustain by the war, he promised
should be replaced.

When the support given the Americans by the various European powers gave
us reason to apprehend, that the war might take such an unfavorable
conclusion as to deprive us of the happiness of return to our homes, and
to the re-enjoyment of our forsaken lands, we applied to Sir Frederick
Haldimand, then Governor and Commander-in-Chief, for a confirmation of
General Carleton's promise; this he readily granted us, and we have it now
in our possession.

When the line drawn at the peace, and the manner in which that was
concluded, left us no hopes of regaining our former possessions, we
applied to His Excellency Sir Frederick Haldimand for a grant in the Bay
of Quinte.

On this becoming known to the Senecas and others at Buffalo Creek, they
upbraided us with having treated them unfairly, after having been the
most forward to engage in the royal cause, and having drawn them into the
contest, now to abandon them in the present critical situation, to be
exposed alone to such retaliation as revenge might urge the Americans to
attempt.

We were struck with the justness of their argument, and in consequence
relinquished the place we had first chosen, and applied for the Grand
River in lieu of it; as there being more conveniently situated either to
give assistance to our brethren, if assistance was wanted, or to afford
them a comfortable asylum should superior numbers oblige them to retreat.
His Excellency expressed his satisfaction at our determination, and the
terms of his grant will confirm the accuracy of this assertion.

In a little time the Senecas were relieved from their apprehensions, they
remained on their lands, and sold them gradually to the Americans; for
which they receive annually six thousand five hundred dollars, besides
four thousand five hundred dollars which they get in common with others of
the Six Nations inhabiting within the territories of the United States,
from whom also several of their Chiefs receive pensions; with these
arrangements they have appeared to remain contented on the reserves they
have retained.

General Haldimand was on the eve of embarking for Europe when he executed
the grant. This we may suppose to have been the reason why it was not
registered at Quebec; and from this circumstance, shortly after the
formation of the Canadian government, an attempt was made to curtail our
land.

After we came to a proper understanding on this head, from the
consideration that the animals were becoming scarce for the hunters, we
proposed leasing a part of our lands, not in our power to occupy, to
receive therefrom an annual income; the leasing was objected to by the
Executive, but they were sold with the sanction of the Canadian
Government, and mortgaged for the payment of the interest; the
incumbrances, however, annexed to these arrangements, have prevented us
as yet deriving the benefit therefrom we had reason to expect.

We have asked for a confirmation of the remaining lands, that our
posterity might enjoy in security the benefits of our industry, and of
their own; but this request has never yet met with an answer.

What we asked for, seemed to be of such a nature as not to render it
necessary to apply to higher authority than there was in this country,
(providing the inclination should be favorable to grant us our requests,)
was the reason we persevered in entreating for a satisfactory decision of
the Executive for many years; notwithstanding repeated retardments in our
business, we were reluctant to trouble his Majesty's Government in Britain
with so trifling an affair.

However, at the time my nephew Teyoninhokarawen desired to go to Europe to
serve in the war, we hoped, should an opportunity occur for him to make
representation of our situation, it might expedite the conclusion of the
business to our satisfaction. This he was well enabled to do from his
knowledge of the subject, and authorized as being an adopted Chief; as
such, I gave him letters of introduction to my friends there; and from the
generosity and love of justice, which ever distinguishes his Majesty's
Government, and is peculiarly prevalent in the British nation, it appears
he was attended to, and in consequence of his representation, letters in
our favor were wrote to the Government here.

Brother,--You then, as Agent for Indian Affairs, sent notice to the Grand
River, as we have evident proof, through the medium of a Cayuga Chief named
Tsinonwanhonte, who acquainted the other Chief of that tribe,
Okoghsaniyonte, that Teyoninhokarawen had been making use of their names
to their detriment, and that I had got to my highest, and would soon fall;
that the method they were to take to prevent evil arriving to them, was
to come to Niagara, protest against and disavow all the proceedings of
Teyoninhokarawen, depose me from being chief, and disannul all that we had
done from the time we formed the settlement.

The Chiefs of the Grand River would not listen to this, but many of the
common people were thereby prevailed on to go to Buffalo Creek on the
American side. There they held a Council with the Senecas and others of
the Five Nations living within that territory, made new chiefs contrary
to our established customs, came to Niagara, complied in every respect
with your desires; so as to contradict the application of Teyoninhokarawen
on our behalf, and prevent him obtaining that confirmation to our grant
which he hoped for from the justice of his Majesty's Government, and which
apparently was on the point of being accomplished to our satisfaction.

Brother,--We protest against this your proceeding for these reasons, that
you knew the Five Nations living within the American territories, and who
composed the principal part of that council, were not the real proprietors
of the Grand River, according to Sir. Frederick Haldimand's Grant; neither
did they deserve to be so from their subsequent conduct since we settled
there; that several of these Chiefs were pensioners to the United States;
that the names of many who were not Chiefs were sent to England, and that
none of the principal men from the Grand River were there. Those who were
made chiefs at Buffalo, we cannot allow of, as being contrary to all
authority and custom, as well as their ignorance of public affairs
rendering them absolutely unfit for such a situation.

The Farmer's Brother and Red Jacket, two of these Chiefs, pensioners to
the United States, a few years ago at Hartford, in the Assembly of the
Connecticut State, declared "that they were subjects to the United States,
and would never cross the river, kissing the medal of General Washington
in token of their steady attachment to the United States, vowing that they
would ever remain united."

Is it such men as these you should represent as being the proprietors of
the Grand River? No; they were granted to us as loyalists, that had fought
and lost our lands in support of his Majesty's interests; and the love we
bear our Great Father the King, and the desire we have of living under his
protection, is the reason we set so great a value on these lands, and
persevere to obtain a confirmation of them. Neither is there any reason
why you should prefer the title or claims of the opposite party of our own
dialect, inhabiting at present the same village with us; but who have
joined those people in opposition, to promote anarchy among us. Before the
war, they lived at Fort Hunter, and had sold the most of their lands
before hostilities commenced; what they lost, therefore, is more to be
imputed to their imprudence than to their loyalty. This was not the case
with us of Canajoharie or Oghkwaga. When we took up the hatchet, our lands
remained almost entire and unbroken, like those of the tribes to the
westward.

Brother,--We, the principal Chiefs of that part of the Five Nations
inhabiting the Grand River, who obtained the grant from General Haldimand
in consequence of our services and losses, now affirm that we approve in
every respect of the representation of our affairs made by
Teyoninhokarawen in England; and also of his request in our behalf; but
so much having been said on the subject for these many years past renders
so necessary a discussion, that we entreat the Government to direct an
inquiry to be made into the conduct of those concerned.

Brother,--Since we appointed Trustees by the direction of the Executive
in this province, we have found the appointment very insufficient, both
as to the speedy execution of our business, as also to the giving us the
proper security for the property which may pass through their hands. The
confidence we ever entertained of being protected in all our rights by our
Great Father, caused us to remove to the place we now occupy within his
dominions. We therefore petition that his Majesty's Government appoint
such other medium for the transaction of our business as to their wisdom
may appear proper, and which to us may be more satisfactory and secure.

Brother,--You know, that some years ago our Council-fire was taken from
Buffalo Creek and kindled at the Onondaga Village on the Grand River; it
is there that in a general Council we determined on what we now
communicate at the Council fire-place of our Great Father, in consequence
of our being made acquainted with the effect the Council held here last
spring twelvemonth had in England.

We have delayed some time, in hopes to have had previously a fair
discussion of the affair at our General Council, and to have convinced the
people of Buffalo Creek of the mistake they had fallen into, in thinking
that they had any right to hold councils at their village to interfere in
our land affairs; especially as our Council-fire, which had been
extinguished by the Americans, was now rekindled under the protection of
our Great Father, at the Grand River; from whose benevolence we now hold
that land, of which the Onondagas, the keepers of our Council-fire, are
joint proprietors; which is not the case at Buffalo Creek on the American
side; for which reason it certainly deserves the preference, as most
likely of duration through the blessing of God and the support of our
Great Father the King. From the time that our forefathers formed the
confederacy, it has been with these that the General Council Fire-place
has been kept, and there that every thing relating to the welfare of the
whole has been deliberated on; and, as such, it was regarded by all the
neighboring nations.

Brother:--It is with pain and regret we have to observe that you received,
as Trustee, thirty-eight thousand dollars of our money near two years ago,
and that you have not since accounted to us for principal or interest, or
given us any satisfactory account of the application of the same; and we
therefore are so convinced that you have forfeited our esteem and
confidence, that we desire our Great Father will appoint some other
person to superintend our affairs, and render us that justice, which, as
strict adherents in loyalty and attachment to our Great Father, we have
so long and faithfully deserved.

[Additional Memoranda, by Captain Brant.]

The Agent had deferred meeting us the three preceding days, giving for the
reason, that he waited for a Mr. Selby from Detroit; but the Chiefs
gaining information that this gentleman's arrival was uncertain, insisted
on meeting him that day between twelve and one o'clock, he came with the
commanding officer. Col. Proctor said, as he had before said, he would not
meet them in Council; so he remained in resolution, and would not hear
them, giving the same excuse for it; but as this had never been the case
before, nor the attendance of Mr. Selby required at any former council,
the chiefs resolved to deliver their sentiments in the house built by his
Majesty for that purpose, where they were assembled in the presence of
several officers of the garrison, of Judge Thorpe, Mr. Weeks, Mr. Addison,
Mr. Edwards, and several other gentlemen of the place.

Okoghsenniyonte, a Chief of the Cayugas, then rose, and expressed the
general approbation of what was said, alleging it was the sentiment of the
whole; that the satisfaction they had felt on having the lands granted
them according to the promise of his Majesty's representatives, was
greatly weakened and disappointed by the disputes raised against their
title, and the right to make the use of it they desire.

* * * * *

No. XVI.

[Reference from Page 453.]

"_New-York,_ 1_st Dec._ 1837.

"Dear Sir,

"In the year 1797, I visited Col. Brant on his return from Philadelphia to
his home on Grand River, seventy miles north of Niagara, in company with
Doctor Dingly and Doctor Priestley, _at the Hotel kept by Mr. James
Batten,_ corner of John and Nassau streets. He appeared to be in good
health and spirits, rather inclined to corpulency, of the middling
stature, his dress that of a private citizen; was very communicative. In
the course of our interview he told us of his reception at the Court of
St. James, spoke of our revolutionary war, and the active part he took,
assisted by the English, which he now had reason to regret; would never
again take up the tomahawk against these United States; gave us a pressing
invitation to call and see him at his residence on Grand River; stated
that he had large possessions, and could make his friends very
comfortable; that he had many black slaves, which he had taken prisoners
in the revolutionary war, who appeared to be happy, and entirely willing
to live with him; pleased with the Indian habits and customs, and never
expressed a wish to return into civil society, where they were sure to be
slaves to the white people, as they had been before the war. He seemed to
be pleased with the attention he had received from the citizens of
New-York. We took leave of him, and promised if either of us ever visited
that part of Canada, we would call and see him. I think Doctor Priestley,
in his tour of the United States, did call and see him.

"Respectfully, your ob't serv't,
Jeromus Johnson.

"_William L. Stone, Esq._"

* * * * *

No. XVII.

[Reference from Page 480.]

"_London, April_ 2_d,_ 1803.

"My dear Col. Joseph Brant,

"Years may have banished me out of the temple of your memory, but I have
not yet forgot you, Sir William Johnson, his Lady and children. You will
graciously receive this letter, which is to inform you that I esteem and
reverence the virtues of Great Hendrick, yourself, and those of the Mohawk
nation and their Allies; while I do not admire the policy, humanity, and
justice of the English nation towards the Mohawks and their Allies, in
aiding and assisting their enemies to rob them of their territory and
country, and compelling them to seek shelter and lands amongst the
Ottawawas and Mississagas, formerly their enemies, by the arts and
intrigues of the French. The Christian rules are good and excellent; yet
few Christians of the Roman and Protestant kind love or practise those
rules. What is remarkable to me is, that Popes, Bishops. Nobles and Kings,
who ought to be wise in doctrine and example, are the greatest strangers
and enemies to Christianity.

"The reason of such conduct, no doubt, is pride; yet Solomon, in wisdom
great, says, 'Pride was not made for man.' I conclude, therefore, that
great men in state and church, having robbed Lucifer of his pride, they
stole all his cruelty, and so became legislators; made laws to deprive
the multitude of rational freedom, and plunder Gentiles without sin,
because they are honest and good; and not Christians.

"The Pope, in 1492, gave, by his Bull to the King of Spain, all America,
only because America was owned by the Gentiles, and because the Pope was,
by his claim, successor of Christ, 'to whom God had given the heathen for
his inheritance, and the western parts of the earth for his possession.'
Had the Apostles and Christian Bishops, for the first six hundred years,
understood Christ's words, 'I have other sheep which are not of this
fold, them I will gather in,' the Pope would have not been content with
his triple crown, which represents Asia, Africa, and Europe, but would
have put on a quadruple crown to include America.

"It is evident that Christ commissioned his twelve Apostles to teach and
baptize the people in Asia, Africa, and Europe, but not in America; for
Christ said to them, 'I have other sheep which are not of this fold, them
I will gather in,' and not depend on the twelve Apostles to do that
benevolent work.

"What right then could the Pope, in 1492, have over America, when his
predecessor, St. Peter, and the other eleven Apostles, held no commission
in America or over America. Hence, as the King of Spain had no valid title
to America from the Pope, what right has the King of England in and over
America, who is an excommunicated heretic from the church of Rome. I
conclude that the people of America belong to '_the fold of Christ,_' not
to the fold of the twelve Apostles, because God gave America to Christ,
Psalm 2, v. 8, the Pope, Kings, and Bishops in the old world, have not,
and never had, any divine authority in America, over Christ's sheep, the
Gentiles; of course they are usurpers, robbers and deceivers.

"I consider you, Sir, as the Chief of the Mohawks, and the other five
nations of Indians, the legal and just owners of the country lying between
the waters St. Lawrence, Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Champlain, and Hudson's
River to the forks of Susquehanna, which you have lost for fighting your
Gentile brethren in behalf of English Christians; and the good and honest
Mississagas have in part lost their country, for fighting you, their
Gentile brethren, in behalf of French Christians. Thus, I see you and the
Mississagas have been crucified like Christ between two thieves, (i. e.)
Jews and Romans. I have seen so much of Christian knavery and policy, that
I am sick of Europe, which loves war and hates peace; therefore I want and
long to have a wigwam near Great Pontiack, King by divine right of the
Mississaga Nation and Tribes near Detroit and Lake Michigan. Great
Pontiack has adopted my grandson, Nikik, Samuel Peters Jarvis. Should you
judge it proper to explain my obligations to Great Pontiack, [FN] and
thereby induce the Great Chief to patronize me also, I will go with Nikik
to Michigan, and teach Nikik the rules and laws, how he shall defend in
all shapes his brothers and sisters of the Mississaga Nation."

* * * * *

[FN] It would seem from these references to Pontiac, that the eccentric
writer of this letter was ignorant of his death years before.--_Author._

"I beg you to accept a portrait of Nikik my grandson, a captain and prince
of the Mississagas, by creation of Great Pontiack; as I suppose he is
successor of the wise and great Pontiack, King and Lord of that country,
A. D. 1760.

"I know you and your generosity and benevolence, and therefore ask you to
accept my gratitude, and to give me, (via.) Mr. Jarvis, such an answer as
your goodness shall dictate to be due to, Sir,

"Your friend and servant,
Samuel Peters."

* * * * *

No. XVIII.

[Reference from Page 487.]

The following brief but very interesting account of a French Colony,
located in the town of Pompey, in the year 1666, is taken from "A Memoir
on the Antiquities of the western parts of the State of New-York," by
De Witt Clinton.

After informing us that the statement is collected partially from the
Sachems of the Six Nations, and partly from a manuscript journal of one
of the French Jesuits, he proceeds to remark:--

"From the Jesuits' journal it appears, that in the year 1666, at the
request of Karakontie, an Onondaga chieftain, a French Colony was directed
to repair to his village, for the purpose of teaching the Indians arts and
sciences, and to endeavor, if practicable, to civilize and christianise
them.

"We learn from the Sachems, that at this time the Indians had a fort, a
short distance above the village of Jamesville, on the banks of a small
stream near; a little above which, it seems, the chieftain, Karakontie,
would have his new friends sit down. Accordingly they repaired thither and
commenced their labors, which being greatly aided by the savages, a few
months only were necessary to the building of a small village.

"This little colony remained for three years in a very peaceable and
flourishing situation, during which time much addition was made to the
establishment, and, among others, a small chapel, in which the Jesuit used
to collect the barbarians, and perform the rites and ceremonies of his
church.

"But the dire circumstance which was to bury this colony in oblivion, and
keep their history in secret, was yet to come. About this time, (1669,) a
party of Spaniards, consisting of twenty-three persons, arrived at the
village, having for guides some of the Iroquois, who had been taken
captive by the southern tribes. It appears evident that this party came up
the Mississippi, as it has been ascertained that they passed Pittsburg,
and on to Olean Point; where, leaving their canoes, they traveled by land.
They had been informed by some of the southern tribes that there was a
lake at the north of them, whose bottom was covered with a substance
shining and white, [FN] and which they took, from the Indians'
description, to be silver; and it is supposed that the idea of enriching
themselves upon this treasure, induced them to take this long and
desperate journey; for silver was the first thing inquired for on their
arrival, and on being told that none was ever seen in or about the
Onondaga lake, they became almost frantic, and seemed bent upon a quarrel
with the French, and charged them with having bribed the Indians, and even
those who had been their guides, that they would not tell where the mines
might be found. Nor dare they, finding the French influence to prevail,
venture out on a search, lest the Indians might destroy them. A compromise
was however made, and both parties agreed that an equal number of each
should be sent on an exploring expedition, which was accordingly done. But
the effect of this upon the minds of the Indians was fatal. Upon seeing
these strangers prowling the woods with various kinds of instruments, they
immediately suspected some plan to be in operation to deprive them of
their country."

* * * * *

[FN] The salt crystallizes at the present time on the grass and upon the
naked earth in the immediate vicinity of the springs, though the water
of the lake is fresh.

"Nor was this jealousy by any means hushed by the Europeans. The Spaniards
averred to the Indians that the only object of the French was to tyrannize
over them; and the French, on the other hand, that the Spaniards were
plotting a scheme to rob them of their lands.

"The Indians by this time becoming equally jealous of both, determined,
in private council, to rid themselves of so troublesome neighbors. For
aid in this, they sent private instructions to the Oneidas and Cayugas,
who only wanted a watchword to be found immediately on the ground. The
matter was soon digested, and the time and manner of attack agreed upon
A little before day-break, on _All-Saints_ day, 1669, the little colony,
together with the Spaniards, were aroused from their slumbers by the
roaring of fire-arms and the dismal war-whoop of the savages. Every house
was immediately fired or broken open, and such as attempted to escape from
the flames met a more untimely death in the _tomahawk._ Merciless
multitudes overpowered the little band, and the Europeans were soon either
lost in death or writhing in their blood; and such was the furious
prejudice of the savages, that not one escaped, or was left alive _to
relate the sad disaster._ Thus perished the little colony, whose labors
have excited so much wonder and curiosity.

"The French in Canada, on making inquiries respecting the fate of their
friends, were informed by the Indians that they had gone towards the
south, with a company of people who came from thence, and at the same time
showing a _Spanish coat of arms_ and other national trinkets, confirmed
the Canadian French in the opinion that their unfortunate countrymen had
indeed gone thither, and in all probability perished in the immense
forests. This opinion was also measurably confirmed by a Frenchman who had
long lived with the Senecas, and who visited the Onondagas at the time the
Spaniards were at the village, but left before the disaster, and could
only say that he had seen them there."

This history accounts, in the opinion of its learned author, for the
appearance at this place of a small village, with evident remains of a
blacksmith's shop, &c. to be seen at the first settlement of the country
by the English. The account appears every way credible, and the
explanation satisfactory. But in several other places in the country, the
remains of blacksmiths' shops have been discovered, and in some instances
the tools used by the trade. A blacksmith's vise was found, buried deep
in the ground, on a farm in Onondaga Hollow, about three-fourths of a mile
south of the turnpike. But the existence of a fort near this spot, every
vestige of which is now nearly obliterated, readily accounts for the
existence of these relics of civilization. In the cultivation of the lands
lying upon the Onondaga Creek, innumerable implements of war and of
husbandry have been found, scattered over a territory of four or five
miles in length. Swords, gun-barrels, gun-locks, bayonets, balls, axes,
hoes, and various other articles made of iron, have been found, and many
of them are still preserved. I have now in my possession a sword that was
dug up on the farm at present owned by Mr. Wyman, where have been found
all the different kinds of articles mentioned above. On this farm, also,
was found a stone of considerable dimensions, on which were rudely carved
some European characters. But the stone has been lost, and the import of
the characters is not remembered. It is proper also to remark here, that
a stone, which has been preserved, and is now in the Albany museum, was
found some years ago in the town of Pompey, containing inscriptions. The
stone was of an oblong figure, being fourteen inches long by twelve broad,
and is eight inches in thickness. It had in the centre of the surface the
figure of a tree, with a serpent climbing it, and the following is a
_fac simile_ of the characters that were inscribed upon each side of the
tree.

Leo X De The tree, &c. Ls
Vix 1520 {TN: Cross icon--inverted U}

"We have here the true chronology of the pontificate of Leo X., and,
without doubt, the year in which the inscriptions were made. This pontiff
came to the papal chair in the year 1518 or 1514, and consequently the
sixth year of his pontificate would be as stated above. The inscription
may be thus translated:--'Leo X. by the grace of God; sixth year of his
pontificate--1520.' The stone was doubtless designed as a sepulchral
monument, and the letters Ls were probably the initials of the name of the
person whose grave it designated. The Cross informs us that the deceased
was a Catholic, and the inverted U, was probably some other emblem, which
the hand of time had in a great measure effaced. The supposition is not
incredible that this stone was carved by a Spanish hand on or near the
spot where it was found, and there deposited by him. Mexico was settled by
the Spaniards in 1521. But previously to this period, Spanish adventurers
frequently arrived upon the American coast. Florida was discovered by them
in 1502. The French voyager Verrazano explored nearly the whole coast of
the present United States in 1524, but a little subsequent to the date
which forms the subject of our inquiry. And De Soto, who had been
constituted Governor of Cuba and President of Florida, performed his
celebrated expedition into the interior of America, having with him six
hundred men, as early as 1538. He spent four years in the country, and as
Florida then extended to an indefinite point in the north, embracing all
that tract of country which has since been called Virginia, and as
mention is made by his historian of 'extreme cold,' and of a place called
_Saquechama,_ it is reasonable to conjecture that they penetrated to the
north as far as the _Susquehanna._ [FN] But in the course of his travels,
he fell in with a body of natives, who had with them a Spaniard by the
name of John Ortez, of Seville. He had then been a captive for nearly ten
years. It is not incredible, when all these facts are taken into
consideration, that eight years anterior to the time of Ortez being taken
prisoner, two or three, or half a dozen Spaniards, should have been taken
by misfortune or the spirit of adventure to Pompey Hill, where one of them
dying, the survivor or survivors prepared and placed this monument over
his remains. It is also quite possible, that the visit of the Spanish
adventurers, to which the narrative furnished by De Witt Clinton and
recited above, relates, was at a period much earlier than that which he
assigns for it. De Soto himself was amused by similar stories told him by
the savages of the existence of gold and silver in regions that were
always beyond him. In this way he was taken many hundred leagues into the
bosom of a country filled only with savages, and never before trodden by
the foot of an European. But he returned vexed to find that he had been
amused only with golden dreams. The story of a lake at the north, whose
bottom was lined with silver, was sufficient to fire the bosom of a
Spaniard with an ungovernable spirit of daring in pursuit of that object;
and as the date of this enterprise was left to be established by
tradition, that erring chronicler of events, it is altogether probable
that a mistake in time, sufficient to explain the subject of our inquiry,
was committed. However this may be, there can be little doubt but
Spaniards, carried there as captives or allured by the love of gold, were
at Pompey Hill as early as 1520.--_Lectures of Rev. Mr. Adams, of
Syracuse, (N. Y.)_"

* * * * *

[FN] See Sandford's Aborigines, p. cxiv. note. Also, "Yates and Moulton's
Hist."

* * * * *

No. XIX.

[Reference from Page 487.]

Since the text of the present volume was written, the Antiquarian world
has been gratified by a publication issued by the Society of Northern
Antiquities of Copenhagen, which is creating a great sensation among men
of letters. It is entitled

"Antiquitates Americanae sive Scriptores Septentrionales rerum
Ante-Columbianarum in America. (Antiquities of America, or Northern
writers of things in America before Columbus.) Hafniae, 1837, 4to. pp.
486."

The following summary notice of this most important work is copied from
the New Haven Chronicle of the Church, of December 15, 1837:--

This interesting and erudite volume is composed of ancient Icelandic
histories relative to America, being mostly accounts of voyages of
discovery to this country, made by the Northmen in the 10th, 11th, 12th,
and 13th centuries, that is, anterior to the time of Columbus. To these
are added critical and explanatory notes, chronological and genealogical
tables, archaeological and geographical disquisitions, concerning the
migration of the Northmen to this country, their first landing-places, and
earliest settlements, with the vestiges of the same now remaining. We give
the following summary of the conclusions drawn by the author of this work
in reference to the discovery and settlement of this country by the
Norwegians.

In the spring of 986, Eric the Red emigrated from Iceland to Greenland,
and formed a settlement there. In 994, Biarne, the son of Heriulf Bardson,
one of the settlers who accompanied Eric, returned to Norway, and gave an
account of discoveries he had made to the south of Greenland. On his
return to Greenland, Leif, the son of Eric, bought Biarne's ship, and with
a crew of thirty-five men, embarked on a voyage of discovery, A. D. 1000.
After sailing some time to the south-west, they fell in with a country
covered with a slatey rock, and destitute of good qualities; and which,
therefore, they called _Helluland,_ (Slate-land.) They then continued
southerly, until they found a low, flat coast, with white sand cliffs, and
immediately back, covered with wood, whence they called the country
_Markland,_ (Woodland.) From here they sailed south and west, until they
arrived at a promontory which stretched to the east and north, and sailing
round it, turned to the west; and sailing westward, passed between an
island and the mainland, and entering a bay through which flowed a river,
they concluded to winter there.

Having landed, they built houses to winter in, and called the place
_Lefsbuthir,_ (Leifs-booths.) Soon after this they discovered an abundance
of vines, whence they named the country _Vinland_ or Wineland.
Antiquarians have been much puzzled to know where _Vinland_ was located;
but the Antiquarian Society, to whose exertions we owe the above work,
after the most careful examination of all the evidence on the subject, do
not hesitate to place it at the head of Narragansett Bay, in Rhode Island.
Every thing in the description of the voyage and country agrees most
exactly with this. The promontory extending east and north, corresponds
closely with that of Barnstable and Cape Cod, and the islands they would
encounter immediately upon turning west, would be Nantucket and Martha's
Vineyard.

Two years after, 1002, Thorwold, the brother of Leif, visited Vinland,
where he spent two years, and was finally murdered by the natives. Before
his death, he coasted around the promontory, and called the north end, now
Cape Cod, _Kjalarnes,_ (Keel-Cape.) He was killed and buried on a small
promontory, reaching south from the mainland, on the west side of the Bay,
inclosed by the promontory of _Kjalarnes,_ and which answers most
accurately to the strip of land on the east side of Plymouth Harbour, now
called Gurnet's Point. The Norwegians called it _Krassanes,_ (Crossness or
Crossland,) because the grave of Thorwold had a cross erected at both
ends.

In 1007, three ships sailed from Greenland for Vinland, one under the
command of Thorfinn Karlsefne, a Norwegian of royal descent, and Snorre
Thorbrandson, of distinguished lineage; one other commanded by Biarne
Grimalfson and Thorhall Gamlason; and the third by Thorward and Thorhall.
The three ships had 100 men, and carried all sorts of domestic animals
necessary for the comfort and convenience of a colony. An account of this
voyage, and a history of the country, by Thorfinn Karlsefne, is still
extant, and forms one of the documents in the _Antiquities Americana._
They sailed from Greenland to _Helluland,_ and passing _Markland,_ arrived
at _Kjalarnes,_ whence sailing south by the shore of the promontory, which
they found to consist of trackless beaches and long wastes of sand, they
called it _Furthutrstrandir,_ (Wonder-Strand, or Beach;) whether on
account of the extensive sandy shore, or from the mirage and optical
illusion so common at Cape Cod, it is impossible to determine. Passing
south, they sailed by the island discovered by Leif, which they called
_Straumey,_ (Stream-Isle,) probably Martha's Vineyard, and the straits
between _Straumfjothr,_ (Stream-Firth,) and arrived at Vinland, where they
spent the winter. The Bay into which they sailed, they called _Hopsvatn,_
and their residence received the name of _Hop,_ (_English_ Hope, _Indian_
Haup,) the identical Mount Hope, so much celebrated as the residence of
King Philip. After various successes, Thorfinn returned to Greenland, and
finally went to Iceland and settled.

From a comparison of all the remaining accounts of these voyages, the
geographical, nautical and astronomical facts contained in them, with the
natural history and geography of this country when first settled by the
whites, there can be little doubt that Vinland has been correctly located
by the learned Society. By similar evidence it also appears, that
_Markland_ was what is now called Nova Scotia; that _Litla Helluland_
(Little Helluland) was Newfoundland; and that _Helluland it Mikla,_
(Greater Helluland,) was the coast of Labrador. We ought also to have
observed above, that _Straumfjothr_ (Stream-Firth) probably included the
whole of Buzzard's Bay.

Of the _climate_ of Vinland, the Northmen say, it was, when they were
there, so mild, that cattle would live out-doors during the year; that the
snow fell but lightly, and that the grass continued to be green in some
places nearly all winter. Among the _productions_ of Vinland, were
abundance of vines, a kind of wild wheat, (_maize,_) a beautiful wood
which they called _mazer_ (Birdseye-maple, _Acer Saccharinum,_) a great
variety of forest animals, Eider Ducks in great plenty; and the rivers and
bays they describe as filled with fish, among which they reckon salmon,
halibut, whales, &c. It is also said by the same historians, that the sun
rose at half past seven o'clock in the shortest days, which is the exact
time it rises at Mount Hope.

Subsequent to this time, explorations were made to the south of Vinland
along the eastern shore, and judging from the fragments of voyages, it
would seem that some penetrated as far south as Florida. The whole country
south of Chesapeake Bay is called by them _Hvitamannaland,_
(white-man's-land,) or _Ireland it Mikla,_ (Ireland the Great.) In 1121
Vinland was visited by Bishop Eric, and as there is no account of his
return, it seems probable that he spent his days there. Other explorations
were made by the Norwegians and Greenlanders to the north, who penetrated
as far as Barrow's Straits, which they called _Kroksfjorthr,_
(Kroks-Firth or Strait,)and the land on the northern side, now known as
the Cumberland Mountains, they denominated _Kroksfjarltharheithi,_
(Barren-highlands-of-Kroks-Strait.) There are several other particulars
we should be glad to notice, but the length of this article will not
allow.

Among other matters, curious and important, contained in this valuable
publication from Copenhagen, not noted by the New-Haven Chronicle, are one
or more readings of the celebrated hieroglyphic inscription upon "Dighton
Rock," in Fall River, Massachusetts, and of which no satisfactory
explanation has previously been given. These Northern Antiquaries profess
at length to have mastered that inscription. They pronounce the characters
to be Runic, and read therein a confirmation of their theory, that a
settlement was formed by the Northmen at Fall River as early as the tenth
century. But this is not all. Since the work of the Copenhagen Antiquaries
has been published, another discovery has been made in the immediate
neighborhood of Dighton Rock, which is equally curious and important as
connected with this investigation. The discovery referred to may be
considered the most interesting relic of antiquity ever discovered in
North America, viz:--the remains of a human body, armed with a breast
plate, a species of mail, and arrows of brass; which remains we suppose to
have belonged either to one of the race who inhabited this country for a
time anterior to the so-called Aborigines, and afterwards settled in
Mexico or Guatemala, or to one of the crew of some Phoenician vessel,
that, blown out of her course, thus discovered the western world long
before the Christian era.

These remains were found in the town of Fall River, in Bristol county,
Massachusetts, about eighteen months since.

In digging down a hill near the village, a large mass of earth slid off,
leaving in the bank, and partially uncovered, a human skull, which on
examination was found to belong to a body buried in a sitting posture; the
head being about one foot below what had been for many years the surface
of the ground. The surrounding earth was carefully removed, and the body
found to be enveloped in a covering of coarse bark of a dark color. Within
this envelope were found the remains of another of coarse cloth, made of
fine bark, and about the texture of a Manila coffee bag. On the breast
was a plate of brass, thirteen inches long, six broad at the upper end and
five at the lower. This plate appears to have been cast, and is from one
eighth to three thirty-seconds of an inch in thickness. It is so much
corroded, that whether or not any thing was engraved upon it has not yet
been ascertained. It is oval in form--the edges being irregular,
apparently made so by corrosion.

Below the breast-plate, and entirely encircling the body, was a belt
composed of brass tubes, each four and a half inches in length, and three
sixteenths of an inch in diameter, arranged longitudinally and close
together; the length of a tube being the width of the belt. The tubes are
of thin brass, cast upon hollow reeds, and were fastened together by
pieces of sinew. This belt was so placed as to protect the lower parts of
the body below the breast-plate. The arrows are of brass, thin, flat, and
triangular in shape, with a round hole cut through near the base. The
shaft was fastened to the head by inserting the latter in an opening at
the end of the wood, and then tying it with a sinew through the round
hole--a mode of constructing the weapon never practised by the Indians,
not even with their arrows of thin shell. Parts of the shaft still remain
on some of them. When first discovered the arrows were in a sort of quiver
of bark, which fell in pieces when exposed to the air.

The skull is much decayed, but the teeth are sound, and apparently those
of a young man. The pelvis is much decayed, and the smaller bones of the
lower extremities are gone.

The integuments of the right knee, for four or five inches above and
below, are in good preservation, apparently the size and shape of life,
although quite black.

Considerable flesh is still preserved on the hands and arms, but none on
the shoulders and elbows. On the back, under the belt, and for two inches
above and below, the skin and flesh are in good preservation, and have the
appearance of being tanned. The chest is much compressed, but the upper
viscera are probably entire. The arms are bent up, not crossed; so that
the hands turned inwards touch the shoulders. The stature is about five
and a half feet. Much of the exterior envelope was decayed, and the inner
one appeared to be preserved only where it had been in contact with the
brass.

The following sketch will give our readers an idea of the posture of the
figure and the position of the armor. When the remains were discovered,
the arms were brought rather closer to the body than in the engraving. The
arrows were near the right knee.

[Illustration: Sketch of Remains.]

The preservation of this body may be the result of some embalming process;
and this hypothesis is strengthened by the fact, that the skin has the
appearance of having been tanned; or it may be the accidental result of
the action of the salts of the brass during oxydation; and this latter
hypothesis is supported by the fact, that the skin and flesh have been
preserved only where they have been in contact with, or quite near, the
brass; or we may account for the preservation of the whole by supposing
the presence of _saltpetre_ in the soil at the time of the deposit. In
either way, the preservation of the remains is fully accounted for, and
upon known chemical principles.

That the body was not one of the Indians, we think needs no argument. We
have seen some of the drawings taken from the sculptures found at
Palenque, and in those the figures are represented with breast-plates,
although smaller than the plate found at Fall River. On the figures at
Palenque the bracelets and anklets appear to be of a manufacture precisely
similar to the belt of tubes just described. These figures also have
helmets precisely answering the description of the helmet of Homer's
{quote in Greek script.}

* * * * *

No. XX.

[Reference from Page 499.]

We the subscribers, having been requested to give our opinion with regard
to the religious and moral character of the late Capt. Joseph Brant, and
the state of his mind as it appeared to us at its dissolution--hereby
declare, that having lived a number of years a near neighbor of his, (our
farms adjoining the place of his residence,) we were intimately acquainted
with him; in conversation he would often begin the subject, and dwell upon
the duties that we owed one to another. He was a believer in the Christian
religion, and was brought up in the doctrine of the Episcopal Church of
England, of which he was a member when he died. During his illness we were
often with him, and were present at his dissolution. During his sickness,
(which was painful,) he was patient and resigned, and appeared always
thankful to his friends for the attention paid to him. It is our opinion
that during his sickness, and at the close of it, he was possessed of his
rational faculties, and that he lived and died in the faith of the
Christian religion.

Augustus Bates,
Asahel Davis.

Wellington Square, U. C. }
_August_ 15_th_, 1837. }

* * * * *

No. XXI.

[Reference from Page 526.]

_Letter to the Mohawk Chief Ahyonwaeghs, commonly called John Brandt
Esq. of the Grand River, Upper Canada._

_London, January_ 20, 1822.

Sir,

Ten days ago I was not aware that such a person existed as the son of the
Indian leader Brant, [FN] who is mentioned in my poem "Gertrude of
Wyoming." Last week, however, Mr. S. Bannister of Lincoln's Inn, called to
inform me of your being in London, and of your having documents in your
possession which he believed would change my opinion of your father's
memory, and induce me to do it justice. Mr. Bannister distinctly assured
me that no declaration of my sentiments on the subject was desired but
such as should spontaneously flow from my own judgment of the papers that
were to be submitted to me.

* * * * *

[FN] The name has been almost always inaccurately spelt Brandt in English
books.

I could not be deaf to such an appeal. It was my duty to inspect the
justification of a man whose memory I had reprobated, and I felt a
satisfaction at the prospect of his character being redressed, which was
not likely to have been felt by one who had willfully wronged it. As for
as any intention to wound the feelings of the living was concerned, I
really knew not, when I wrote my poem, that the son and daughter of an
Indian chief were ever likely to peruse it, or be affected by its
contents. And I have observed most persons to whom I have mentioned the
circumstance of your appeal to me, smile with the same surprise which I
experienced on first receiving it. With regard to your father's character,
I took it as I found it in popular history. Among the documents in his
favor I own that you have shown me one which I regret that I never saw
before, though I might have seen it, viz. the Duke of Rochefoucault's
honorable mention of the chief in his travels. [FN] Without meaning,
however, in the least to invalidate that nobleman's respectable authority,
I must say, that even if I had met with it, it would have still offered
only a general and presumptive vindication of your father, and not such a
specific one as I now recognize. On the other hand, judge how naturally I
adopted accusations against him which had stood in the Annual Register of
1779, as far as I knew, uncontradicted for thirty years. A number of
authors had repeated them with a confidence which beguiled at last my
suspicion, and I believe that of the public at large. Among those authors
were Gordon, Ramsay, Marshall, Belsham, and Weld. The most of them, you
may tell me, perhaps, wrote with zeal against the American war. Well, but
Mr. John Adolphus was never suspected of any such zeal, and yet he has
said in his History of England, &c. (vol. iii. p. 110) "that a force of
sixteen hundred savages and Americans in disguise, headed by an Indian
Col. Butler, and a half Indian of extraordinary ferocity named Brant,
lulling the fears of the inhabitants (of Wyoming) by treachery, suddenly
possessed themselves of two forts, and massacred the garrisons." He says
farther, "that _all_ were involved in unsparing slaughter, and that even
the devices of torment were exhausted." He possessed, if I possessed them,
the means of consulting better authorities; yet he has never to my
knowledge made any atonement to your father's memory. When your Canadian
friends, therefore, call me to trial for having defamed the warrior Brant,
I beg that Mr. John Adolphus may be also included in the summons. And
after his own defence and acquittal, I think he is bound, having been one
of my historical misleaders, to stand up as my gratuitous counsel, and
say, "Gentlemen, _you must acquit my client, for he has only fallen into
an error, which even my judgment could not escape._"

* * * * *

[FN] The following testimony is borne to his fair name by Rochefoucault,
whose ability and means of forming a correct judgment will not be denied.
"Col. Brant is an Indian by birth. In the American war he fought under
the English banner, and he has since been in England, where he was most
graciously received by the King, and met with a kind reception from all
classes of people. His manners are semi-European. He is attended by two
Negroes; has established himself in the English way; has a garden and a
farm; dresses after the European fashion; and nevertheless possesses much
influence over the Indians. He assists at present (1795) at the Miami
Treaty, which the United States are concluding with the western Indians.
He is also much respected by the Americans; and in general bears so
excellent a name, that I regret I could not see and become acquainted
with him."--_Rochefoucault's Travels in North America._

In short, I imbibed my conception of your father from accounts of him that
were, published when I was scarcely out of my cradle. And if there were
any public, direct, and specific challenges to those accounts in England
ten years ago, I am yet to learn where they existed.

I rose from perusing the papers you submitted to me certainly with an
altered impression of his character. I find that the unfavorable accounts
of him were erroneous, even on points not immediately connected with his
reputation. It turns out, for instance, that he was a Mohawk Indian of
unmixed parentage. This circumstance, however, ought not to be overlooked
in estimating the merits of his attainments. He spoke and wrote our
language with force and facility, and had enlarged views of the union and
policy of the Indian tribes. A gentleman who had been in America, and from
whom I sought information respecting him in consequence of your
interesting message, told me that though he could not pretend to
appreciate his character entirely, he had been struck by the _naivete_
and eloquence of his conversation. They had talked of music, and Brant
said, "I like the harpsichord well, and the organ still better; but I like
the drum and trumpet best of all, for they make my heart beat quick." This
gentleman also described to me the enthusiasm with which he spoke of
written records. Brant projected at that time to have written a History of
the Six Nations. The genius of history should be rather partial to such a
man.

I find that when he came to England, after the peace of 1763, the most
distinguished individuals of all parties and professions treated him with
the utmost kindness. Among these were the late Bishop of London, the late
Duke of Northumberland, and Charles Fox. Lord Rawdon, now Marquis of
Hastings, gave him his picture. This circumstance argues recommendations
from America founded in personal friendship. In Canada the memorials of
his moral character represent it as naturally ingenuous and generous. The
evidence afforded, induces me to believe that he often strove to mitigate
the cruelty of Indian warfare. Lastly, you affirm that he was not within
many miles of the spot when the battle which decided the fate of Wyoming
took place, and from your offer of reference to living witnesses, I cannot
but admit the assertion. Had I learnt all this of your father when I was
writing my poem, he should not have figured in it as the hero of mischief.
I cannot, indeed, answer by anticipation what the writers who have either
to retract or defend what they may have said about him, may have to
allege; I can only say that my own opinion about him is changed. I am now
inclined exceedingly to doubt Mr. Weld's anecdote, and for this reason:
Brant was not only trusted, consulted, and distinguished by several
eminent British officers in America, but personally beloved by them. Now I
could conceive men in power, for defensible reasons of state politics, to
have officially trusted, and even publicly distinguished at courts or
levees, an active and sagacious Indian chief, of whose private character
they might nevertheless still entertain a very indifferent opinion. But I
cannot imagine high-minded and high-bred British officers forming
individual and fond friendships for a man of ferocious character. It comes
within my express knowledge that the late General Sir Charles Stuart,
fourth son of the Earl of Bute, the father of our present Ambassador at
Paris, the officer who took Minorca and Calvi, and who commanded our army
in Portugal, knew your father in America, often slept under the same tent
with him, and had the warmest regard for him. It seems but charity to
suppose the man who attracted the esteem of Lord Rawdon and General Stuart
to have possessed amiable qualities, so that I believe you when you affirm
that he was merciful as brave. And now I leave the world to judge whether
the change of opinion, with which I am touched, arises from false delicacy
and flexibility of mind, or from a sense of honor and justice.

Here, properly speaking, ends my reckoning with you about your father's
memory; but as the Canadian newspapers have made some remarks on the
subject of Wyoming, with which I cannot fully coincide, and as this letter
will probably be read in Canada, I cannot conclude it without a few more
words, in case my silence should seem to admit of propositions which are
rather beyond the stretch of my creed. I will not, however, give any
plain truths which I have to offer to the Canadian writers the slightest
seasoning of bitterness, for they have alluded to me, on the whole, in a
friendly and liberal tone. But when they regret my departure from
historical truth, I join in their regret only in as far as I have
unconsciously misunderstood the character of Brant, and the share of the
Indians in the transaction, which I have now reason to suspect was much
less than that of the white men. In other circumstances I took the liberty
of a versifier to run away from fact into fancy, like a school-boy who
never dreams that he is a truant when he rambles on a holiday from school.
It seems, however, that I falsely represented Wyoming to have been a
terrestrial paradise. It was not so, say the Canadian papers, because it
contained a great number of Tories; and undoubtedly that cause goes far to
account for the fact. Earthly paradises, however, are not earthly things,
and Tempe and Arcadia may have had their drawbacks on happiness as well as
Wyoming. I must nevertheless still believe that it was a flourishing
colony, and that its destruction furnished a just warning to human beings
against war and revenge. But the whole catastrophe is affirmed in a
Canadian newspaper to have been nothing more than a fair battle, if this
be the fact, let accredited signatures come forward to attest it, and
vindicate the innocence and honorableness of the whole transaction, as
your father's character has been vindicated. An error about him by no
means proves the whole account of the business to be a fiction. Who would
not wish its atrocity to be disproved? But who can think it disproved by
a single defender, who writes anonymously, and without definable weight
or authority?

In another part of the Canadian newspapers, my theme has been regretted
as dishonorable to England. Then it was, at all events, no fable. But how
far was the truth dishonorable to England? American settlers, and not
Englishmen, were chiefly the white men calling themselves Christians, who
were engaged in this affair. I shall be reminded, perhaps, that they also
called themselves Loyalists. But for Heaven's sake let not English loyalty
be dragged down to palliate atrocities, or English delicacy be invoked to
conceal them. I may be told that England permitted the war, and was
therefore responsible for its occurrences. Not surely universally, nor
directly. I should be unwilling to make even Lord North's administration
answerable for all the actions of Butler's rangers; and I should be still
more sorry to make all England amenable either for Lord North's
administration, or for Butler's rangers. Was the American war an unanimous
and heartfelt war of the people? Were the best patriots and the brightest
luminaries of our Senate for, or against it? Chatham declared that if
America fell she would fall like the strong man--that she would embrace
the pillars of our constitution and perish beneath its ruins. Burke, Fox,
and Barre kindled even the breasts of St. Stephen's chapel against it; and
William Pitt pronounced it a war against the sacred cause of Liberty. If
so, the loss of our colonies was a blessing, compared with the triumph of
those principles that would have brought Washington home in chains. If
Chatham and Pitt were our friends in denouncing the injustice of this war,
then Washington was only nominally our foe in resisting it; and he was as
much the enemy of the worst enemies of our constitution, as if he had
fought against the return of the Stuarts on the banks of the Spey or the
Thames. I say, therefore, with full and free charity to those who think
differently, that the American war was disgraceful only to those who were
its abettors, and that the honor of Englishmen is redeemed in proportion
as they deprecate its principles and deplore its details. Had my theme
even involved English character more than it does, I could still defend
it. If my Canadian critic alleges that a poet may not blame the actions
of his country, I meet his allegation, and deny it. No doubt a poet ought
not forever to harp and carp upon the faults of his country; but _he may
be her moral censor, and he must not be her parasite._ If an English poet
under Edward III. had only dared to leave one generous line of
commiseration to the memory of Sir William Wallace, how much he would have
raised our estimation of the moral character of the age! There is a
present and a future in national character, as well as a past, and the
character of the present age is best provided for by impartial and
generous sentiments respecting the past. The twentieth century will not
think the worse of the nineteenth for regretting the American war. I know
the slender importance of my own works. I am contending, however, against
a false principle of delicacy that would degrade poetry itself if it were
adopted;--but it never will be adopted.

I therefore regret nothing in the historical allusions of my poem, except
the mistake about your father. Nor, though I have spoken freely of
American affairs, do I mean to deny that your native tribes may have had
a just cause of quarrel with the American colonists. And I regard it as a
mark of their gratitude that they adhered to the royal cause, because the
governors, acting in the king's name, had been their most constant
friends; and the colonial subjects, possibly at times their treacherous
invaders. I could say much of European injustice towards your tribes, but
in spite of all that I could say, I must still deplore the event of
Christians having adopted their mode of warfare, and, as circumstances
then stood, of their having invoked their alliance. If the Indians
thirsted for vengeance on the colonists, that should have been the very
circumstance to deter us from blending their arms with ours. I trust you
will understand this declaration to be made in the spirit of frankness,
and not of mean and inhospitable arrogance. If I were to speak to you in
that spirit, how easily and how truly could you tell me that the American
Indians have departed faster from their old practices of warfare, than
Christians have departed from their habits of religious persecution. If I
were to preach to you about European humanity you might ask me how long
the ashes of the Inquisition have been cold, and whether the slave-trade
be yet abolished? You might demand, how many--no, how few generations have
elapsed since our old women were burnt for imaginary commerce with the
devil, and whether the houses be not yet standing from which our great
grand-mothers may have looked on the hurdles passing to the place of
execution, whilst they blessed themselves that they were not witches! A
horrible occurrence of this nature took place in Scotland during my own
grandfather's life-time. As to warlike customs, I should be exceedingly
sorry if you were to press me even on those of my brave old ancestors,
the Scottish Highlanders. I can, nevertheless, recollect the energy,
faith, and hospitality of those ancestors, and at the same time I am not
forgetful of the simple virtues of yours. [FN]

* * * * *

[FN] Considering the filial motives of the young chief's appeal to me, I
am not afraid that any part of this letter, immediately relating to him,
will be thought ostentatious or prolix. And if charitably judged, I hope
that what I have said of myself and of my poem will not be felt as
offensive egotism. The public has never been troubled with any defences
of mine against any attacks on my poetry that were mere literary;
although I may have been as far as authors generally are from bowing to
the justice of hostile criticism. To show that I have not been
over-anxious about publicity, I must mention a misrepresentation
respecting my poem on Wyoming which I have suffered to remain
uncontradicted for ten years. Mr. Washington Irving, in a biographical
sketch prefixed to it in an American edition, described me as having
injured the composition of the poem by shewing it to friends who struck
out its best passages. Now I read it to very few friends, and to none at
whose suggestion I ever struck out a single line. Nor did I ever lean on
the taste of others with that miserable distrust of my own judgment which
the anecdote conveys. I knew that Mr. Irving was the last man in the
world to make such a misrepresentation intentionally, and that I could
easily contradict it; but from aversion to bring a petty anecdote about
myself before the world, I forbore to say any thing about it. The case
was different when a Canadian writer hinted at the patriotism of my
subject. There he touched on my principles, and I have defended them,
contending that on the supposition of the story of Wyoming being true,
it is a higher compliment to British feeling to reveal than to palliate
or hide it.

I have been thus special in addressing you from a wish to vindicate my
own consistency, as well as to do justice to you in your present
circumstances, which are peculiarly and publicly interesting. The chief
of an aboriginal tribe, now settled under the protection of our sovereign
in Canada, you are anxious to lead on your people in a train of
civilization that is already begun. It is impossible that the British
community should not be touched with regard for an Indian stranger of
respectable private character, possessing such useful and honorable views.
Trusting that you will amply succeed in them, and long live to promote
improvement and happiness amidst the residue of your ancient race,

I remain, your sincere well-wisher,
Thomas Campbell.

THE END

INDEX.

* * * * *

Aaron, vol. II, 286, 518.
Abel, David, II, 173, 197, 198, 204.
Abercrombie, Gen., I, 7, 11.
Acker, Benjamin, I, 357, 358.
Ackland, Major, I, 271 272.
Ackland, Lady, I, 272, 468, 469, 476, 481.
Acknowledgments of Author, I, xxi to xxxi.
Adair, Major, II, ii, 336.
Adams, Col., I, 269.
Adams, John, I, 266.
Adams, John, II, 150, 214.
Adams, Samuel, I, 266.
Adams, Mr. I, 137.
Addison, Rev. Mr. II, 426, 433, 584.
Addresses, prepared by Congress, I, 91.
Adolphus, John, II, 597.
Affidavit of Dr. Younglove, I, 459.
Aghstugwaresera, II, 576.
Agonuschioni, I, 406.
Alihannuaowaumut, Solomon, sent
to Congress, I, 58;
speech, 58;
Reply to, 59.
Ahyouwaeghs, II, 250, 500, 524, 528, 529, 530, 531,
532, 533, 534, 535, 595.
Albany Council, I, 430, 94, 98, 103, 104, 430.
Albany, Ancient seat of
Mohegans, I, 57;
Indian name of, 57;
Replies to Guy Johnson, 67, 69;
Council fire removed to, xxv.
Albany, II, 411, 428, 456, 458.
Alden, Col. Ichabod, I, 354, 372, 373.
Alden's Corps, II, 5.
Aldrich killed, II, 73.
Algonquins hostile to Six
Nations, I, 87.
Algonquins, II, 240.
Allegheny, II, 41, 45, 301.
Allen's Biographical Dictionary,
on Brant, I, 18.
Allen, Capt. I, 234.
Allen, Dr., II, 128, 125, 320, 322, 327, 467, 493.
Allen, Ethan captured, I, 78, 116, 157, 165, 392.
Allen, Ethan, II, 153, 180, 181, 182, 197, 198, 199,
200, 201, 202, 203.
Allen, Ira, II, 154, 197, 202, 203.
Allen, Lt. H. M., II, 572.
Allen, President, Remarks on
Brant, I, 19.
Allentown, I, 343.
Allies arrive from France, I, 346.
Alston, Mrs., II, 455, 457.
Ames, Ezra, paints portrait of
Brant, I, xxviii.
Amherst and Glen, I, 11, 18
Amusements, II, 445.
Anaquaqua, I, 178.
Ancaster, II, 501.
Ancrom, Major, I, 250, 252.
Andre, capture of, I, 258.
Andre, Major, II, 101, 102, 103, 132, 213, 214.
Andrustown, I, 362, 363.
Anguaga, I, 378.
Antiquities of North America, II, 483, 484.
Aonghwuigaga, II, 576.
Aqushua, II, 394.
Araghkwente, II, 576.
Aranda, Count, II, 241.
Arbitrary arrests denounced, I, 66.
Arbuckle, Capt. I, 191, 193.
Arenghoot, II, 576.
Arlington, II, 200.
Armistead, Lt. G., II, 572.
Armstrong, Capt., II, 505, 506.
Armstrong, Gen., I, 286.
Armstrong, Gen. John, II, 315.
Arnent, Ensign, I, 234.
Arnold, Gen., I, 117, 153, 156, 157, 362, 173, 174,
200, 246, 255, 256, 257, 258, 259, 260,
261, 262, 267, 268, 273, 283, 301, 369,
464, 482.
Arnold, Gen., I, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 116,
117, 118, 133, 140, 141, 193, 194,
210, 211.
Arnold, Mrs., II, 101, 102.
Aroghyadagha, Old Brant, I, 5.

Aroghyadecka, alias Old Brant, I, 12, 16.
Arson, Capt., II, 148.
Articles of Confederation, I, 297.
Articles of Confed., II, 241.
Asgill, Col., I, 170.
Ash, Gen., II, 51.
Ashton, Capt., II, 215.
Ashton's Station, II, 215.
Asia, man of war, I, 105.
Assumpinck Creek, I, 175.
Atayataroughta, Louis, I, 401.
Atayataroughta, II, 119, 120, 122, 123, 151, 413.
Aubrey, Lieut., I, 465.
Au Glaize, II, 334, 335, 338, 340,355, 360, 375,
376, 383, 389, 565, 567.
Aupament, Capt. Hendrick, II, 307.
Badlum, Major, I, 239.
Badlock, Capt, I, 338.
Bagley, Lt. J., I, 546.
Bailey, Ensign, I, 234.
Bailey, Wm., II, 393.
Ball, Capt., I, 287.
Ball, Col., II, 110, 212, 214.
Ball, Lieut., I, 234.
Bald eagle, an old Delaware I, 40.
killed,
Ballad, Sinclair's Defeat, II, 551.
Ballston, I, 212, 310.
Ballston, II, 152, 154, 156, 210, 211, 212.
Bannister, Saxe, II, 524, 526.
Bantlin, Major, II, 97.
Barclay, Rev. Dr., I, 26.
Bard, Dr., II, 456.
Barker, Dr., I, 164.
Barker, Wm., I, 421.
Baronial Hall, fortified, I, 54.
Barrington, II, 147.
Bathust, Lord, II, 524.
Bates, Augustus, II, 595.
Batten, James, II, 582.
Battenkill, I, 271.
Batton's Hotel, II, 453.
Baum, Col., defeated, I, 232, 267, 277, 479.
Bay of Quinte, II, 239, 275, 497, 572.
Baylor, Col., I, 347.
Beacraft, II, 57, 64.
Beadle, Col., II, 436.
Beard plucked by Indians, II, 479.
Beard's Creek, II, 33.
Beasley, Col., II, 365.
Beasley, Richard, II, 573, 574, 575.
Beaver Creek, II, 350.
Beaver Dams, II, 178, 516.
Beaverton, I, 350.
Bedell, Colonel, I, 153.
Behmus Heights, I, 270.
Belknap, Dr., II, 466.
Bell, Mr., murdered, I, 363.
Bellinger, Lt. Col., Frederick, I, 242.
Bellinger, John, II, 160.
Bellinger, Col. Peter, I, 242, 249;
forced letter of, 460.
Bemis, James, D., I, 187.
Benham, Capt. Robert, II, 50, 56.
Bennington, I, 232, 265, 277, 302, 479.
Bennington, II, 131, 181.
Benson, Egbert, II, 368, 410, 413.
Berne, I, 287, 288.
Bernett, Captain, I, 310.
Berry, Jack, II, 572.
Bethlehem, II, 221.
Bettys Joseph, II, 172, 210, 211, 212, 213.
Bible of Sir John Johnson, I, 145.
Bidwell, Hon. M. S., II, 534.
Big Beaver, II, 217.
Big Knives, II, 293, 375, 566.
Big Tree, II, 245, 377.
Billings, Capt., II, 138.
Billington, Samuel, I, 242.
Bird, Capt., I, 339.
Bird, Col., I, 283.
Bird, Col., II, 71.
Bird, Lieut. Henry, I, 220, 221, 222, 227, 229.
Bishop of London, II, 251.
Bishop of Quebec, II, 432, 433, 434.
Black River, II, 570.
Black snake, II, 381, 387.
Blackstocks, II, 100.
Blauvelt, Major, I, 242.
Bleecker, Mrs. Ann Eliza, I, 206, 207.
Bleecker, Capt., I, 234, 357, 358.
Bleecker, John J., I, 121, 124, 128, 129, 131, 206.
Bleecker, John J., II, 173.
Bleecker, Capt. Leonard, II, 546.
Bleecker, Rutgers, I, 133.
Bliven, John, on committee, I, 73.
Bloodgood, S. De Witt, I, 408.
Bloomfield, Major, I, 472.
Blucher, anecdote of, I, 242.
Blue Jacket, II, 387, 388.
Blue Licks, II, 232.
Boerstler, Col., II, 516, 517.
Bogardus, Lieut., I, 234.
Bogardus, Lt. B., II, 546.
Bokum, Prof., II, 165.
Bolland, Mr., in behalf of I, 49.
Colonies.
Bolton, Lt. Col., I, 384.
Bone, Peter, I, 107.
Bontas, II, 212.
Boon, Col. Daniel, I, 349, 351,423.
Boon, Daniel, II, 71, 171, 215, 218, 232.

Boone, Capt. Hawkins, I, 422.
Boonesborough, I, 349, 351.
Boston, I, 29, 79, 115, 160, 161, 162, 196.
Boswell, James, describes Brant, I, 151.
Boswell, James, II, 251.
Bonemawcutus, II, 394.
Boundary troubles, II, 237, 364, 373, 378.
Bounties to Indians, I, 159.
Bounties for scalps, I, 227.
Bowen, Peter, I, 110, 114.
Bowen, Lt. Prentice, II, 546.
Bowman, Col., I, 422, 423.
Bowman, Jacob, I, 242.
Bowman, Capt. Joseph, I, 353.
Bowman, Mr., I, 309.
Bowman's Creek, I, 311.
Boyd, James, I, 427.
Boyd, Lieut., II, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 67, 491.
Brainerd, Rev., II, 224.
Bradley, Commodore, I, 221.
Bradstreet, Gen., makes a peace, I, 25.
Brandywine, I, 197, 284.
Brant, Catharine, II, 500.
Brant, Elizabeth, II, 517, 518, 519, 520, 521.
Brant, Elizabeth, marries, II, 535;
described, 535, 536;
her children, 536;
title, 537.
Brant, Isaac, killed by his II, 465, 466;
father,
his family, 467.
Brant, Jacob, II, 463, 469, 470, 477, 478.
Brant, John, II, 500, 501;
sides with British, 501;
at Battle of Queenston, 509;
rescues Col. Scott, 515, 516;
exploit at Beaver Dams, 516;
at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, 517.
Brant, John, manners of, II, 518, 523;
goes to England, 524;
vindicates his father's name, 525, 526.
Brant, John, Correspondence of, II, 528.
Brant, John, his connection with II, 533.
Morgan affair,
Brant, John, elected to Prov. II, 533.
Parl.,
Brant, John, dies of cholera, II, 534;
letter of Tho. Campbell, II, 595.
Brant, Joseph, Orthography of I, xv;
name,
papers left by, xxli;
portraits of, I, xxviii;
birth and parentage of, I, 1, 2, 3;
life published at Kingston, I, 2;
Wampum delivered to, I, 7;
goes with Sir Wm. Johnson I, 16;
to Detroit,
early on the war-path, I, 19;
at Battle of Lake George, I, 19;
goes to Niagara, I, 20;
sent to school at Lebanon, I, 20;
an interpreter, 1, 22;
goes on an expedition I, 24;
against Pontiac,
marries and settles, I, 25, 27;
assists in Missions, I, 26, 27;
removes to Ft. Hunter, I, 27;
becomes religions, I, 27;
intimate with Lt. Provost, I, 28;
with Guy Johnson, I, 34, 86, 149;
distrusts Kirkland's I, 55;
loyalty,
letter to Oneidas, II, 63;
destroys Oneida, II, 55;
at Schoharie, II, 55, 56, 57, 106;
returns to Niagara, II, 63, 64, 67;
invades Mohawk country, II, 95, 97;
destroys Fort at II, 97, 105;
Canajoharie,
releases prisoners, II, 102;
speech to Indians, I, 90;
not at Albany Treaty, I, 104;
statement concerning rescue I, 144;
of Johnson,
promoted, I, 147;
traits of, I, 149;
visits England, I, 149, 150, 151, 249;
portraits, I, 151;
returns to New York, I, 151;
takes up the hatchet, I, 151;
his motives, I, 152, 153;
retort upon Pres. Wheelock, I, 153;
at Battle of Cedars, I, 151, 153, 155, 179;
prevents a massacre, I, 155, 156;
a Freemason, I, 155;
joins British army, I, 170;
at Oghquaga, I, 179, 181, 182, 189;
his grievances, I, 180;
meeting at Unadilla, I, 182, 183, 214, 297;
proposition to assassinate, I, 185;
at Oswego, I, 186;
Chief of Six Nations, I, 188;
at Cherry Valley, I, 189;
with St. Leger's expedition, I, 209, 218, 222, 229, 230;
at Battle of Oriskany, I, 235, 240, 243, 244;
attempt to seize Mr. Taylor, I, 290;
in league with Western I, 304;
Indians,
on Susquehanna, I, 310;
his activity as a partisan, I, 310;
attacks Springfield, I, 312;
not at Wyoming, I, 338;
attacks Cobbleskill, I, 364;
attacks Andruston, I, 362;
invades German Flats, I, 364, 365;
not in a gathering at Tioga, I, 371;
attacks Cherry Valley, I, 372, 379, 380;
an enterprise checked, I, 400, 401, 403, 404;
attacks Minisink, I, 415, 417;
opposes Sullivan's II, 19;
Expedition,
in Battle of Newtown, II, 20, 26;
captures Lt. Boyd, II, 30, 31;

hostile to Red Jacket, II, 35;
in Battle of Klock's Fields, II, 124, 125;
at Niagara, II, 136;
expedition proposed by, II, 136;
hovers in Mohawk II, 143, 144;
settlements,
plans an attack, II, 144;
differs from Walter Butler, II, 193;
neglected in Treaty, II, 238, 239;
convenes a Council, II, 239;
displeased with Treaty, II, 245;
writes to Col. Monroe, II, 246;
receives great attentions, II, 249, 250;
writes to Lord Sidney, II, 252, 253;
applies for half pay, II, 256;
letter to Sir Evan Nepean, II, 257;
withering retort of, II, 259;
attends a masquerade, II, 259;
translates prayer book and II, 260;
psalms,
returns to Canada, II, 261;
boundary question, II, 363, 364;
negotiations among Indians, II, 264, 358;
letter from Gen. Knox, II, 266;
letter from Sir John II, 267, 285, 287, 296, 389;
Johnson,
letter from Major Matthews, II, 270;
prepares to attend a II, 274;
Council,
letter to Lieut. Langdon, II, 275, 277;
letter to Sir John Johnson, II, 276, 407;
attends at Fort Harmar, II, 281;
introduces white settlers, II, 283;
letter from Pres. Willard, II, 288;
proposes to write a History II, 288, 441;
of Six Nations,
letter from Gov. Clinton, II, 289;
corresponds with McKee, II, 291;
letter from Detroit, II, 294;
letter to Capt. McKee, II, 298;
letter from Col Gordon, II, 300, 320;
holds a private Council, II, 302;
negotiations westward, II, 302, 303, 304;
his influence sought, II, 305, 306, 319, 331;
charged with vanity, II, 306;
designs pacific, II, 307;
in Battle of Miamis, II, 313;
letter from Rev. S. II, 320;
Kirkland,
letter from Secretary of II, 321;
War,
letter to Sec. War, II, 324, 332, 333;
letter from Sec. War, II, 325;
visits Philadelphia, II, 327, 328, 329;
threatened in Mohawk Valley, II, 327, 330;
does not attend Treaty at II, 334, 335;
Miami,
complimentary letter of Duke II, 337;
of Northumberland,
attends Treaty at Miami II, 340;
Rapids,
returns to Buffalo, II, 342;
speech at Council, II, 343, 344, 346, 352;
goes to Miami, II, 347;
effort to secure Indians' II, 351, 352;
rights
did not concur in a treaty, II, 356;
at a Council at Buffalo II, 362;
Creek,
speech of, II, 362, 364;
hostilities threatened by, II, 377;
letter to Col. Smith, II, 379;
preparing for hostilities, II, 379, 381;
letter from Gov. Simcoe, II, 390, 392;
hostile negotiations, II, 393, 394;
end of military career, II, 395;
land negotiations, II, 396, 397, 401, 403, 409;
settles whites on Grand II, 397, 398;
River,
opposed to land-jobbers, II, 399, 400;
his plan of tenure, II, 402;
letter to Tho. Morris, II, 405;
bitterness towards Deputy II, 409;
Supt.,
engaged in sale to II, 410, 411;
Livingston,
blamed by Caughnawagas, II, 411;
visits Albany, II, 411, 412;
letter to Thomas Morris, II, 412;
visits Caughnawaga, II, 413;
amicable settlement, II, 414;
hostile to Red Jacket, II, 416, 417;
letter to Duke of II, 417, 424, 429;
Northumberland,
his acts investigated, II, 418;
his appeal, II, 419, 420, 421;
speech in his behalf, II, 422;
exonerated, II, 422, 423;
Council at Buffalo, II, 423;
proposes to visit England, II, 424;
letter from Duke of II, 426;
Northumberland,
starts for England, II, 428;
visit deferred, II, 428;
his care of the Mohawks, II, 430;
as a farmer, II, 431;
literary labors, II, 431;
letter to Sir John Johnson, II, 432;
attempts to procure a II, 433, 434, 435, 436;
pastor,
letter to Chief Justice, II, 434;
letter to Aaron Burr, II, 436;
procures a pastor from, II, 438;
U S.,
letter from Rev. J M. Mason, II, 439;
temperance measures, II, 441, 442;
Council to settle a II, 446;
difficulty,
games, II, 447;
condolence, II, 451;
speech and reply, II, 401, 452, 453;
letter describing a journey, II, 453;
letter from Burr, II, 455, 456, 457;
received at Burr's house, II, 456;
opinion of Dr. Miller, II, 457;
visits New England, II, 458;
hostility in Mohawk, II, 458, 459;
threatened by Wells, II, 459;
entertained at Albany, II, 459, 460;
anecdotes told by, II, 460, 461;
his motives as a warrior, II, 461, 462;
in domestic life, II, 463;

thrice married, II, 363;
his children, II, 363;
kills his son Isaac, II, 365, 366;
tenders resignation, II, 366;
opinion of Council, II, 366;
appeal for education of his II, 468;
children,
letter to Col. Smith, II, 468;
letter to James Wheelock, II, 469, 471;
letter to John Wheelock, II, 470, 473, 475;
letter of James Wheelock, II, 472, 474;
letter from John Wheelock, II, 473;
letter to James Wheelock, II, 476, 478;
from James Wheelock, II, 478;
correspondence of, II, 479, 481;
letter to Mr. McCauseland, II, 479;
antiquarian researches, II, 486;
personal appearance, II, 488, 496;
proposes to learn Greek, II, 489;
letter from Mr. Kirkland, II, 493;
builds First Episcopal II, 495;
church in U. C,
character, II, 496;
retorts upon Jemima II, 497;
Wilkinson,
builds a house, II, 498;
dies, II, 499;
his family, II, 500;
wife returns to Mohawks, II, 501;
Wyoming, II, 525, 526;
death of widow, II, 537;
vote of thanks, II, 549;
letter from Gov. Clinton, II, 569;
Chapin's certificate, II, 571;
certificate of Capt. II, 572;
Leonard,
speech at Niagara, II, 577;
letter of Jeromus Johnson, II, 582, 583;
letter from Saul Peters, II, 583;
at his death, II, 595.
Brant, Joseph, Jr., II, 463, 469, 470, 478.
Brant, Mary, alias Molly, I, 18, 33, 34, 87, 183, 387.
Brant, Molly, II, 519, 536.
Brant, Nickus, I, 3, 4, 6, 10, 11, 16, 17, 18.
Brantford, II, 467, 537.
Brant House, II, 517, 513.
Breadley, Capt. John, I, 242.
Breyman, Col., I, 268, 273.
Briant's station, II, 216.
Briar Creek, II, 51.
Briggs, Capt, I, 397.
Brigham, Capt., II, 470, 472.
Broad River, II, 100.
Brock, Lt. Col., II, 573.
Brock, Gen. Wool, II, 507, 508, 509, 576.
Brodack's house occurrence at, I, 357.
Brodhead, Col Daniel, II, 41, 42, 43, 45, 46, 47, 49, 207,
208, 209.
Bronkahorse, I, 461.
Brooklyn, British at, I, 170.
Brooks, Col., I, 273.
Brother, murder by, II, 28.
Brown, Capt. Christian, I, 313, 353, 354.
Brown, Col., II, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120,
124, 125.
Brown, John M., I, 313.
Brown, killed, II, 58.
Brown's Schoharie quoted, I, 57.
Brownson, Timothy, II, 199.
Brudenell, I, 272, 469.
Brunswick troops, from Duke of, I, 167.
Bryant's Station, II, 171.
Buchanan, James, II, 519.
Buck Island, II, 136, 186, 189.
Buckloons, II, 42.
Buffalo, II, 244, 300, 326, 335, 377, 408,
421, 436, 555.
Buffalo Creek, I, xxx.
Buffalo Creek, II, 244, 266, 285, 301, 302, 303, 306,
324, 339, 359, 364, 378, 415, 417,
579.
Buford, Col., II, 99.
Bull, Capt., I, 33, 183.
Bullet, dispatches in, II, 213.
Bunker Hill, battle of, I, 79, 115.
Burgoyne, Gen., I, 79, 195, 196, 197, 198, 20l, 203,
204, 205, 206, 208, 209, 229, 231, 232,
241, 249, 250, 261, 264, 265, 268, 269,
270, 271, 272, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278,
279, 280, 282, 286, 287, 299, 300, 462,
465, 467, 469, 470, 473, 474, 475, 476,
477, 478, 480, 481, 483.
Burgoyne, II, 118, 173.
Burke, Mr., I, 60, 115,
Burke, II, 258.
Burlington Bay, II, 498.
Burlington Heights, II, 365.
Burnet, Gov., I, 363.
Burnet's Field, I, 7, 363.
Burnet, Lt., II, 3.
Burr, Aaron, II, 101, 102, 436, 439, 455, 456, 457,
458.
Burr, Theodosia, II, 455, 456, 457.
Bute, Lord of, II, 598.
Butler, Col. John, I, 34, 52, 54, 86, 118, 186, 210, 230,
235, 238, 240, 241, 242, 250, 253,
255, 256, 260, 291, 293, 306, 329,
331, 332, 334, 336, 338, 340, 344,
366, 373, 378, 381, 384, 385, 386,
387, 391, 459, 462, 464.
Butler, Col. J., II, 3, 9, 19, 22, 26, 31, 34, 54, 67,
126, 135, 186, 187, 189, 277, 286,
300, 302, 303, 306, 335, 341, 342,
359, 362, 368, 371, 410.
Butler, Walter N., I, xxiii, 34, 86, 336, 355, 358, 365,
369, 370, 371, 372, 378, 381, 382,
383, 884, 386, 390.

Butler, Walter N., II, 3, 19, 54, 126, 186, 191, 192, 193,
196, 214, 491.
Butler, Gen., II, 266, 308, 309, 310, 312.
Butler, Col. Wm., I, 355, 356, 367, 368.
Butler, Col. Zebulon, I, 326, 327, 328, 332, 333, 334, 335,
338, 340, 341.
Butler, Col. Zebulon, II, 36.
Butler, Mrs., I, 377, 384, 392.
Butler's Rangers, I, 392, 414.
Butler's Rangers, II, 5, 54, 105, 120, 122, 123, 164, 168.
Butler, Pa., II, 556, 557.
Butterfield, Major, I, 153, 154, 155.
Butternuts, I, 366.
Butterworth, Mr., II, 527.
Buxton family massacred, I, 378.
Cabot, Sebastian, II, 487.
Cadaragara, II, 380.
Caldwell, Lt. Col., II, 4.
Camden, Lord, I, 323.
Camden, Lord, II, 238, 404.
Camden, Gen., II, 142.
Campbell's Gertrude of Wyoming, II, 525, 526, 527.
Campbell, John, I, 382.
Campbell, Col. Samuel, I, 72, 168, 189, 281, 282, 307, 371,
376, 382, 395.
Campbell, Major, II, 388, 389, 390.
Campbell, Mrs., I, 377, 378, 387, 388, 389, 390, 391,
392.
Campbell, Mrs., II, 55, 130.
Campbell, Capt., II, 386.
Campbell, Thomas, II, 100, 250, 595.
Campbell, Wm. W., facts from, I, xx, xxi, xxiv.
Campendown, I, 218.
Canada expedition, I, 5, 112, 116, 162, 163, 164, 165,
300, 393.
Canada, invasion from, I, 198 to 264.
Canada Creek, II, 570.
Canadasago, II, 322, 362.
Canaghsioraga, II, 124.
Canadiorba, alias Nickus Brant, I, 6.
Canajoharie, I, 3, 4, 7, 11, 15, 25, 27, 52, 112,
113, 114, 291.
Canajoharie, II, 5, 37, 38, 39, 95, 96, 97, 105,
155, 156, 411, 548.
Canandaigua Lake, I, 217.
Canandaigua, II, 401, 416, 436, 453.
Canaseraga, I, 367, 408.
Cane, Barney, II, 64, 65.
Canestoga, Indians at, I, 38.
Cannassateego, I, 99, 320, 436, 437, 445, 449.
Cannibalism charged, I, 241, 460.
Cannon, Matthew, II, 130.
Cannon, Mrs., I, 378, 391.
Cantine, Col. John, II, 170.
Cape Cod, II, 590, 591.
Carlton, Sir Guy, I, 89, 109, 112, 117, 149, 151, 153,
157, 162, 163, 165, 173, 174, 195,
197, 199, 204, 243, 308.
Carlton, Sir Guy, II, 8, 116, 128, 129, 132, 211, 214,
233, 238, 250, 261, 402, 577.
Carleton, Major, II, 131, 132, 133, 135, 150.
Carleton Island, II, 68, 145.
Carlisle, Karl of, I, 394.
Carlisle, Capt. John, II, 154.
Carpenter, John, II, 220.
Carr, Lt., II, 506.
Carr, Purcifer, I, 313.
Carroll, Mr., in Canada, I, 162.
Carry-one-about, II, 348.
Carey, Lt. Wm., II, 573, 576.
Caroga Creek, II, 119.
Carter, Sarah, II, 563.
Cartwright's, I, 430.
Carver, Capt., II, 480.
Cass, Peter, II, 123.
Cassassenny, Indian castle of, I, 209.
Castleton, I, 392.
Castleton, II, 197.
Caswell, Col., I, 119.
Casweighter, II, 527.
Catamount sign, II, 181.
Cataraghqui, French buy furs at, I, 6.
Cataraqui, I, 438.
Cataraqui, II, 245.
Catawbas, I, 340.
Catherinestown, I, 340.
Catherinestown, II, 21, 22, 23.
Catlin, Geo., portrait of
Brant by, I, xxix.
Cats eyes, II, 342, 345.
Catskill, I, 356.
Catskill, II, 156, 173, 198.
Cauhow, I, 353.
Caughnawaga, I, 52, 106, 136, 142, 410, 434, 447,
449, 456.
Caughnawaga, II, 73, 74, 77, 78, 108, 114, 119, 125.
Caughnawagas, I, 89, 90, 94, 96, 103, 117, 149, 158.
Caughnawagas, II, 103, 104, 105, 368, 409, 410, 411,
412, 413, 414, 69.
Cauldwell, Capt., II, 167, 168, 169, 170.
Cayuga Lake, I, 217.
Cayuga Lake, II, 36.
Cayugas, I, 12, 13, 14, 42, 86, 182, 244, 304,
305, 307, 446.
Cayugas, II, 3, 23, 24, 25, 36, 243, 244, 289,
302, 412, 422, 423, 569.

Cayadutta, II, 73, 75.
Cayaughkiass, II, 566.
Cazenovia Lake, I, 217.
Cedars, Battle of, I, 151, 153, 154, 155, 157, 158, 159.
Cedars, Battle of, II, 93, 130, 133, 490.
Census Indian, mentioned, I, 86.
Chamberlain, Rev. Theophilus,
missionary, I, 25.
Chamblee, I, 116.
Chamblee, II, 64, 81, 90, 91.
Champlain Lake, fortresses on, I, 163, 164.
Chandler, Gen., II, 516.
Chapin, Gen. Israel, II, 320, 325, 326, 327, 329, 359, 362,
363, 364, 365, 366, 369, 370, 371,
374, 377, 378, 416, 436, 494, 571.
Chapin, Maj. Cyrenus, II, 517.
Chapman, Capt., II, 135.
Chard, Joseph, II, 212.
Charleston expedition, I, 166, 170.
Charleston, II, 51, 52, 53, 142, 201, 202.
Charlotte River, I, 178, 312, 356.
Charlotte River, II, 56.
Chase, Ensign, I, 234.
Chase, Mr., in Canada, I, 162.
Chatham, Earl of, favors
Colonies, I, 49.
Chatham, II, 600.
Chemung, I, 392.
Chemung, II, 19, 36, 58, 59, 65, 128, 169, 460.
Chennessio, fort building at, I, 6.
Cherokees, I, 295.
Cherokees, II, 209, 243, 265, 331, 339, 346, 355,
375, 377.
Cherry Valley, I, 52, 53, 106, 167, 168, 181, 189,
190, 191, 307, 311, 312, 313, 336,
341, 371, 373, 374, 375, 376, 381,
382, 383, 385, 387, 391, 292.
Cherry Valley, II, 6, 15, 55, 63, 157, 192, 193, 459,
491.
Chesapeake, I, 195, 197, 284, 346.
Chester, I, 285.
Chew, Joseph, II, 326, 327.
Chew, W. G., II, xxxv.
Chickasaus, I, 295.
Chickasaus, II 375, 383, 567.
Chilicothe, I, 42, 48, 349, 422.
Chilicothe, II, 216.
Chippewas, I, 56, II, 3, 218, 243, 264, 265, 278,
285, 295, 348, 349, 355, 361, 376,
387, 510.
Chippewa, II, 517, 534.
Chittenden, Gov. Tho., II, 183, 184, 202, 204, 206, 207.
Chittenden, Timothy, II, 199.
Choctaws, I, 296.
Choctaws, II, 375, 377, 567.
Church, John B., II, 176.
Church, Mrs Philip, II, 176.
Churches built by Sir Wm.
Johnson, I, 20.
Chrystie, Lt. Col., II, 504, 506.
Chrystie, Col., II, 512, 513.
Christie, Robert, II, 510, 512.
Clappum, II, 394.
Clarke, Col., II, 45, 46, 49, 71, 519.
Clark, Gen., II, 216, 299.
Clarke, Col. Geo. Rogers, I, 352, 398, 400.
Clarkson, Gen. Matthew, I, 267.
Claverack, II, 115, 148.
Claus, Col. Daniel, I, 27, 33, 34, 52, 154, 209, 210, 230,
253, 255, 256, 260, 304, 464.
Claus, Col. Daniel, II, 144, 145, 417, 418, 419, 425, 426,
441, 451, 452, 497.
Claus, Capt., II, 399, 402, 406, 407, 468.
Claus, Wm., II, 461, 465.
Claus, Mrs., II, 451.
Clayes, Capt., II, 22.
Clayton, Col. Asher I, 327.
Clear sky, II, 359, 371.
Clement, Jacobus, I, 6.
Clement, Lewis, I, 110, 114.
Clement, Ralph, II, 277.
Cleveland, II, 100.
Clinton, A., papers in
possession of, I, xxii.
Clinton, De Witt, II, 585.
Clinton, Gov George, I, 278, 280, 281, 302, 303, 304, 306,
307, 382, 421.
Clinton, Gov. George, II, 2, 17, 81, 95, 96, 115, 120, 123,
143, 146, 149, 150, 153, 154, 167,
168, 182, 184, 185, 197, 198, 204,
206, 281, 287, 304, 305, 306, 329,
368, 369, 411, 457, 569.
Clinton, Sir Henry, I, 79, 169, 170, 171, 264, 280, 281,
282, 344, 345, 347, 358, 359, 360,
370, 373, 395, 478.
Clinton, Sir Henry, II, 53, 54, 98, 99, 102, 132, 139, 140,
141, 195, 218.
Clinton, Gen. James, I, xxii, 116, 248, 288, 307, 358, 359,
375, 382, 383, 384, 386, 394, 401,
403, 404, 410, 411, 421, 480.
Clinton, Gen. James, II, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 16, 17,
18, 23, 24 32, 135, 143, 146, 147,
148, 149, 150, 151, 154, 155, 160,
461.
Clozier, James, II, 562.
Clyde, Samuel, I, 72, 168, 182, 371.

Clyde, Col, II, 96, 122, 548, 549.
Clyde, Mrs., I, 375.
Cobleskill, I, 313, 353, 411, 412.
Cobleskill, II, 15.
Corbley, John, letter of, II, 564, 565.
Cochran, Major James, I, 366, 367, 370, 405, 407.
Cochran, Major James, II, 327, 330, 492.
Cochran, Lt. Col., II, 148, 149.
Cochran, Mrs. James, I, 207, 291.
Cochran, Mrs., II, 177.
Cochran, Maj Robert, I, 357, 358.
Cockrel, Richard, II, 501.
Coe's station, II, 564.
Coffin, Col., II, 514, 515.
Colborn, Col., I, 269.
Colden, Dr.. on Mohawks, I, xviii.
Collier, Sir George, II, 52.
Collis, Lieut., II, 22.
Collyer, Mr., I, 363.
"Col. Louis," (see Atagataronghta).
Colonies, driven to rebellion, I, 49, 50.
Commissions issued to Indians, I, 401.
Committees in Tryon co., I, 52.
Companionships among Indians, I, 28;
among the Greeks, I, 28.
Concord, collision at, I, 37, 51.
Condolence, speech of, II, 441.
Congress, I, 35, 36, 51, 91, 92, 93, 111,
143, 145, 156, 158, 159, 246, 263,
292.
Connecticut, I, 37, 115, 322.
Connecticut Reserve, II, 396.
Connell, declaration of, I, 120, 142.
Connally, Lieut. Col., II, 292.
Connally, Col., II, 151.
Connequeuesling Creek, II, 556, 559.
Connissius Lake, II, 28.
Connoys, II, 3, 4, 348, 355.
Cennowango, II, 24, 41.
Continental Village, II, 196.
Conway, Gen., I, 115, 301, 303.
Conyat, II, 304.
Conyne, Lieut., I, 234.
Cooke, Mrs., II, 427.
Cook, Col. Lewis, I, 401.
Cook, Lewis, (see Atagataronghta), II.
Cook, Sir Francis, I, 272.
Cooper, Gen. John, I, 7, 290.
Copp, Captain, I, 403.
Cork, Jacob R., I, 410.
Corlies, John, II, 177.
Cornelius, I, 367.
Cornplanter, II, 34, 105, 126, 127, 128, 243, 244,
245, 299, 303, 306, 307, 326, 334,
350, 355, 377, 411, 446.
Cornstock, I, 12, 43, 44, 45, 191, 192, 193,
194.
Cornwallis, Gen., I, 172, 173, 175, 287, II, 99, 142,
193, 194, 195, 202, 203, 209, 214,
541.
Cortus, Mr., II, 562.
Cory, II, 212, 213.
Cosby's manor council appointed
at, I, 72;
not held, I, 76.
Coshocton, II, 207, 208.
Cough, Mr., I, 309.
Council Fire, transferred to
Albany, I, xxv.
Council Fire, kept at Onondaga, I, xxv.
Council Fire extinguished, I, 176.
Cowboys, I, 258.
Cowley, Mr., I, 410.
Cowpens, II, 142.
Cox, Col. Ebenezer, I, 72, 109, 181, 184, 233, 234, 236,
242, 461.
Cox, Mr., II, 70.
Coxsackie, II, 173.
Craig, Sir James H., II, 269.
Crawford, James, alleged
letter of, I, 427.
Crawford, Wm., II, 225, 226, 227, 228.
Crawford, Col., II, 231, 232.
Crawford, Lieut., I, 394.
Creeks, I, 296.
Creeks, II, 214, 339, 355, 362, 375, 377.
Cresap's war, I, 38, 39, 40, 46, 191, 192, 446.
Cresap's war, II, 217.
Cricket games, II, 445, 446, 447.
Crim, Mr., I, 363.
Crouse, Robert, I, 242.
Crown Point, I, 15, 78, 163, 164, 165, 173, 174,
195, 199, 201, 384, 392, 438.
Crown Point, II, 73, 81, 90, 132, 150, 151, 152,
155, 178.
Crozier, Mary Ann, II, 563.
Cuchehwaskiseegua, II, 394.
Currie, John, II, 555.
Currietown, II, 157, 159.
Cusick, David, quoted, I, 147.
Cuyler, Col., II, 121.
Dalhousie, Karl, II, 532.
Danbury, attacked, I, 283.
Danvers, Sir Robert, meets
Johnson, I, 18.
Darke, Col., II, 308, 309, 310, 311, 315.
Dartmouth, Earl of, founds
college, I, 22.
Dartmouth college, II, 468, 470, 473.
David, Captain, II, 276.
Davis, Ashbel, II, 595.
Davis, Hamlet, II, 531.

David Lawrence, II, 531.
Davis, Capt. John, I, 236, 242, 342.
Davis, John, II, 552.
Davis, Mr., I, 459.
Davis, Col. Valentine, II, 169.
Dayton, Col., I, 143, 145, 168, 169, 217, 223.
Dayton, Col., II, 23, 37.
D'Aubrey, M., at siege of
Niagara, I, 20.
Dean, James, I, 131, 142, 370, 407.
Deane, Mr., II, 7, 10, 104.
Diane, Silas, I, 298.
Dearborn, Lt. Col., II, 36.
Dearborn, Col., I, 271, 272.
Decker, Maj. Hans, I, 421.
De Couagre, movement against, I, 6.
D'Estaing, Count, I, 346.
D'Estaing, Count, II, 53, 54.
De Graffe, judge, II, 74.
De Grasse, Count, II, 195.
De Haven, Major, II, 517.
Deitz, William, I, 287, 315, 316.
Deitz, Peter, I, 287.
Deitz, Capt., II, 178.
De Kalb, Baron, I, 301.
De Kalb, Baron, II, 100.
Delagie, Natalie, I, 40, 42, 95, 118, 149, 403, 415,
II, 456.
Delawares, I, 319, 320, 321, 323, 324, 329, 347,
348, 349, II, 3, 43, 46, 47, 49, 65,
66, 69, 208, 217, 220, 221, 227, 243,
265, 266, 278, 291, 295, 346, 348,
349, 350, 355, 358, 359, 360, 361,
372, 373, 377, 386, 422, 565, 566,
567.
Denniston, Col., I, 333, 334, 335, 341, 385.
Denniston, Ensign, I, 234.
Denniston, Nathan, I, 328.
De Peister, Col., II, 249.
De Puisy, Count, II, 328, 403.
Derby, Karl of, I, 276.
Desertions, I, 166, 171, 173, 360, 361.
De Soto, II, 1.
Detroit, I, 16, 24, 25, 102, 103, 304, 339, 348,
349, 350, 352, 392, 393, 399, 400,
434, 456, II, 41, 45, 46, 62, 71,
130, 208, 218, 219, 241, 232, 233,
243, 263, 265, 267, 268, 270, 274,
275, 278, 284, 285, 291, 292, 294,
302, 347, 352, 358, 361, 379, 381,
382, 391, 423, 474, 502, 503.
Devil's Point, II, 92.
De Witt, Capt., I, 357.
De Witt, Charles H., II, 66, 68.
De Witt, Levi, II, 94.
Dezonhighkor, II, 428.
Dick, Capt., I, 327.
Dickson, Wm. II, xxxv.
Diefendorf, Frederick, II, 159.
Diefendorf, Capt. Henry, I, 242.
Diefendorf, Lieut., I, 234.
Diefendorf, Jacob, II, 159.
Dieskan, Baron, defeated and
wounded, I, 19.
Dillenback, Capt. Andrew, I, 240, 242.
Dingley, Dr., II, 453, 582.
Dionondadles, I, 288.
Disaffection prevails, I, 166, 173, 211, 213, II, 137, 138,
139.
Dobbs Ferry, II, 205.
Dodge, John, I, 400.
Dodridge's history quoted, I, 40, 44.
Dodridge, Rev. Mr., I, 397.
Dog, fidelity of, I, 226.
Dog sacrifice, I, 389, 390.
Dorchester Heights, occupied, I, 161.
Dorchester, Lord, of, I, 90, II, 180, 236, 250, 270, 272,
279, 282, 286, 295, 296, 297, 299,
300, 207, 366, 367, 368, 369, 399,
402, 403, 404.
Doonyontal, II, 43.
Douglass, Mr., II, 174.
Dougherty, Capt., I, 422.
Douw, Mr., in charge of Indian
affairs, I, 101, 103.
Douw, Volket P., I, 93, 94, 304, 430, 431, 435, 451.
Doxstader, II, 79.
Doxstader, John, II, 157, 159, 160, 163.
Drakes History quoted, I, 43, 44, 339.
Duane, James, I, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307.
Duane, James, II, 242.
Duanesburg, I, 314.
Dubois, Col., II, 120, 121, 122, 123.
Duel, II, 411.
Duer, Wm., I, 137, 263.
Duguoris, II, 421.
Duintate, II, 334.
Duncan, Capt., I, 418, 421.
Duncan, Capt., II, 114, 119.
Duncan, Major, I, 218.
Duncan, Richard, II, 106.
Dundas, Major, II, 199.
Dunham, Capt. Josiah, II, 477, 478.
Dunlap's Hist. American Stage
quoted, I, 52.
Dunlop, Samuel, I, 168, 374.
Dunmore, Lord, I, 41, 45, 47, 116, 119, 191, 194, 349.
Dunning, Lt. Benj., I, 421.
Dunop, Count, I, 287.
Duplessis, Mr., I, 287.
Duquesne, Capt., I, 251.
Durbin, Col., II, 25.

Durkee, Col., I, 335, 338.
Durlogh, II, 157.
Dutch treatment of Indians, II, 241.
Dwight, Pres., statement by, I, 226.
Dwight, Pres., II, 192, 491.
Dyer, Eliphalet, I, 266.
Dygert, John, I, 242.
Dygert, William, I, 266.
Dygert, II, 330.
East Haven burnt, II, 52.
Eastern news, II, 542.
Easton, Pa., council held at, I, 10.
Easton, II, 37.
Easton, Col., II, 116.
Ecker, Geo., Jr., on committee, I, 72.
Eddy, Thomas, II, 480.
Eden, Wm., I, 394.
Edgar, John, II, 197, 198, 204.
Edick, Christian, II, 70.
Edineston settlement, I, 364, 366.
Edwards, Dr., on Mohegans, I, 56.
Edwards, Mr., II, 580.
Edward, Prince, II, 299.
Egouchouoy, II, 376.
Eights, Jonathan, II, 411.
Eisenlord, Col., I, 181.
Eisenlord, Maj. John, I, 242.
Elerson, David, I, 356.
Elerson, David, II, 14, 15.
Elholm, Capt., II, 52.
Elizabethtown, II, 100.
Elkhorn, II, 171.
Ellinipsico, I, 42, 191, 192.
Elliot, a loyalist, I, 348, 349.
Elliott, Capt., II, 208, 218, 347, 357, 474.
Elliot, John, II, 339, 546.
Ellis, Alexander, II, 69.
Ellis, II, 94.
Elmira, II, 19.
Elmore, Col., I, 175, 176, 222.
Engravings, historical notice
of, I, xxviii.
Enlistments, term of, I, 161;
of Indians, I, 159.
Enos, Gen., II, 201, 202.
Epidemic among Indians, I, 104.
Erik, II, 487, 590.
Esopus, I, 182, 282.
Esopus, II, 68.
Etherington, Capt., meets
Johnson, I, 18.
Eusenia, wife of Mikus Hance, I, 17.
Exeter, I, 328, 332.
Fairchild, Benj., II, 573.
Fairfield, I, 283.
Fall Hill, I, 292, 366.
Falls of Ohio, II, 216.
Falls of St. Anthony, II, 480.
Falmouth burned, I, 116.
Families of Indian warriors
supplied, I, 16.
Fantine Kill, I, 414.
Farmers Brother, II, 359, 362, 415, 423, 572.
Fassett, John, II, 199.
Fay, Joseph, II, 197, 199, 201, 202.
Fay, brothers, II, 197.
Feeter, Col. Win., II, 161, 167.
Female captives never
dishonored, I, xiv.
Fenn, Rev. Mr., I, 413.
Fenwick, Lt. Col., II, 504, 506.
Ferguson, II, 100.
Festivals, their influence, II, 444.
Field, Col., decides a battle
and is killed, I, 43.
Fink, Andrew, on committee, I, 72.
Fish Carvier, II, 302.
Fish Creek, I, 216, 291, 476, 477.
Fish, Nicholas, II, 143.
Fisher, Frederick, on committee, I, 73.
Fisher, Col., I, 163.
Fisheries interrupted, I, 49.
Fishkill, I, 395.
Fitzherbert, Mr., II, 214.
Flatbush, I, 170.
Fleming, Col., wounded, I, 42.
Florida, I, 394.
Folsom, Nathaniel, I, 266.
Fonda, Adam, on committee, I, 73.
Fonda, Douw, I, 26.
Fonda, Douw, II, 77, 458, 546.
Fonda, Capt., I, 6, 12.
Fonda, Major Jelles, I, 177, 182, 230, 403.
Fonda, Col. Jelles, II, 75, 114.
Fonda, John, arrested, I, 106.
Fonda's bush, I, 309.
Fontaine, Major, II, 294.
Force, Peter, papers in hands
of, I, xxiii, 123.
Ford, Lauren, II, 164.
Forster, Capt., I, 153, 154, 155.
Forks of Unadilla, I, 366.
Fort Ann, I, 202.
Fort Anne, II, 129, 131, 133, 151.
Fort Brewerton, I, 405.
Fort Bull, I, 169.
Fort at Chennessio, (Genesee), I, 6.
Fort at Cherry Valley, I, 189.
Fort Clinton, I, 280, 281, 395.
Fort Constitution, I, 282.
Fort Dayton, I, 224, 233, 255, 256, 258, 262, 364,
365.
Fort Dayton, II, 69, 143, 163, 164, 166, 192.
Fort Deposite, II, 385.
Fort Edward, I, 202, 203, 204, 205, 213, 267, 275,
478, 479.

Fort Edward, II, 144, 150, 409, 542, 570.
Fort Erie, I, 333.
Fort Erie, II, 303, 332, 342, 344, 347, 380, 452,
517.
Fort Forty, I, 332, 333.
Fort Freeland, I, 432.
Fort George, I, 163, 164, 231, 266, 267, 270, 275.
Fort George II, 129, 131, 132, 134, 451, 503, 509,
516, 517.
Fort Greenville, II, 321, 383.
Fort Griswold, II, 195.
Fort Harmer, II, 279, 280, 281, 332, 338, 349, 353,
392.
Fort Hardy, I, 447.
Fort Hendrick, II, 570.
Fort Henry, I, 257.
Fort Herkimer, I, 364, 365. 366.
Fort Herkimer, II, 69, 123, 149, 233.
Fort Hunter, I, 26, 27, 52, 309, 450.
Fort Hunter, II, 111, 114, 125, 186, 187, 491.
Fort Jefferson, II, 308, 311, 339.
Fort Keyser, II, 115.
Fort Laurens, I, 351, 396, 397, 399.
Fort Lee, I, 172.
Fort McIntosh, II, 62, 232, 349, 353, 372.
Fort Miami, II, 392, 395.
Fort Montgomery, I, 280, 281, 282, 395.
Fort Moultrie, II, 53.
Fort Newport, I, 169.
Fort Niagara, II, 64, 572.
Fort Paris, II, 115.
Fort Pitt, I, 25, 351, 413.
Fort Pitt, II, 41, 43, 49, 221, 260, 292.
Fort Plain, II, 35, 120, 143, 160, 539, 548.
Fort Plank, I, 409.
Fort Plank, II, 95, 127, 539.
Fort Recovery, II, 381, 383.
Fort Rensselaer, II, 155, 156, 157, 159, 186, 233.
Ft. St. Clair, II, 336.
Forts at Schoharie, I, 307.
Fort Schuyler, I, 168, 169, 175, 176, 179, 210, 211,
213, 216, 217, 222, 228, 229, 232,
233, 253, 256, 259, 262, 263, 277,
291, 307, 330, 357, 358, 359, 360,
361, 362, 366, 370, 371, 372, 373,
383, 392, 400, 402, 403, 404, 405,
406, 407, 409, 410, 411.
Fort Schuyler, II, 5, 6, 7, 12, 37, 38, 80, 95, 97,
135, 136, 143, 148, 149, 150, 162.
Fort Stanwix, I, xxviii, 7, 12, 13, 14, 76, 83, 221,
222, 223, 228, 262, 263, 327, 433,
434, 455, 461, 463.
Fort Stanwix, II, 150, 243, 244, 245, 246, 248, 254,
263, 265, 289, 290, 297, 298, 349,
350, 371, 411, 460, 540, 541.
Fort Van Dyck, I, 403.
Fort Washington captured, I, 172, 173.
Fort Washington, II, 294, 303, 308, 311, 342.
Fort Watkinson, II, 142.
Fort Wm. Henry besieged, I, 5.
Fort Wintermoot, I, 332, 333.
Fort Wyoming, I, 326, 327, 335, 341.
Forty Mile Creek, II, 516.
Fowler, Theodosius, diary of, I, xxiii.
Fowler, Capt. Theodosius, II, 21, 26, 29, 31.
Fox, Capt. Christopher, I, 72, 242.
Fox, Frederick, on committee, I, 73.
Fox Creek, I, 355.
Fox's Fort, II, 119, 122.
Fox, Charles, II, 251, 258, 426, 598.
France, alliance with, I, 298, 299, 343, 394.
France at war with England, II, 366.
Francis, Turbot, a commissioner, I, 93, 94, 97, 430, 431, 435.
Frank, Judge, I, 367, 370.
Frank, John, I, 363, 370.
Frank, John, II, 70.
Franklin, Benj., I, xvi, 39, 47, 49, 162, 298, 394, 427.
Franklin, Benj., II, 214.
Framingham, II, 492.
Fratricide at Wyoming, I, 337.
Fraser, Gen., I, 163, 268, 271, 272, 274, 472, 478,
480, 482.
French colony, Onondaga co., II, 585.
French Creek, II, 41.
French give presents to Indians, II, 104.
French, Capt., II, 62.
French hostilities with, I, xix.
French hatred to Six Nations, I, 5, 6.
Freeman, II, 331.
Frey, Barent, I, 354.
Frey, Major John, I, 72, 110, 116, 240, 242, 249, 460.
Frey, Maj. Hendrick, II, 411, 492.
Frey, Philip R., I, 339.
Frey, Capt. Philip, II, 492.
Frey, Samuel C., I, 338.
Friedenshutten, II, 217.
Frink, John, on committee, I, 73.
Frink, Adj. Nathaniel, I, 421.
Frontenac, Count, I, 217, 340, 406.
Frothingham, Lieut., II, 294.
Fry, Col., II, 29.

Fulmer, John, II, 212.
Funeral of Gen. Fraser, I, 274.
Gage, Gen., I, 99, 117, 433, 435.
Gage, Gov., belt from, I, 99.
Gahonto, I, 319.
Gameleis, Antoine, II, 292, 293.
Gansevoort, Gen. Peter, I, 163, 164, 217, 223, 224, 226, 227,
229, 233, 234, 249, 250, 251, 252,
253, 255, 257, 258, 262, 263, 308,
345, 354, 355, 357, 358, 360, 361,
367, 377, 404, 410, 454, 460, 461,
463, II, 4, 5, 37, 38, 39, 40, 95,
129, 131, 133, 134, 167, 168, 173,
177, 178, 179, 183, 187, 197, 203,
205, 206, 207, 480, 506, 545.
Ganson, Capt. Cor's. T., II, 546.
Gaol, question of jurisdiction
of, I, 110, 111.
Garanguli, I, 411.
Gardenier, Capt. Jacob, I, 238, 239, 242.
Gardenier, Lt. Samuel, I, 242.
Gardenier, William, I, 238, 339.
Gardenier, Capt., II, 189.
Gates, Gen. Horatio, I, 163, 164, 173, 174, 203, 205, 223,
227, 257, 262, 264, 265, 267, 268,
269, 270, 271, 272, 273, 274, 275,
276, 277, 278, 279, 300, 301, 302,
303, 309, 343, 349, 392, 466, 474,
476, 478, 479, 480.
Gates, Gen., II, 4, 99, 100, 118,142.
Gathtsegwarohore, II, 32.
Gauntlet, II, 61, 62.
Geake, Samuel, I, 358, 359, 362.
Geismar, Capt., I, 469.
Genesee, II, 27, 29, 32, 35, 61, 63, 65, 60,
238, 319, 325.
Genet, Citizen, II, 366.
Gentleman, Indian notion of a, I, 23.
Georgia, I, 394.
Georgia, II, 52, 214.
Gerard, Mr., I, 394.
Germaine, Lord George, I, 229, 425.
Germaine, Lord George, II, 106, 124, 125, 136.
Germans, Whigs, I, 106.
German Flats, I, xviii, 7, 8, 72, 80, 83, 95, 98,
104, 106, 139, 140, 168, 180, 184,
187, 233, 255, 257, 262, 294, 305,
312, 361, 362, 363, 364, 365, 366,
367, 369, 370, 430, 433, 435.
German Flats, II, 69, 70, 123, 143, 149, 136, 160,
163, 189, 330, 331, 434.
German Flats district, I, 52.
Germantown, I, 197, 285, 286.
Gerriah, Capt, alleged letter
to, I, 427.
Gerry, Elbridge, I, 266.
Gerry, Elbridge, 11, 182.
Gertrude of Wyoming, I, 3l, 379.
Gertrude of Wyoming, II, 525, 526, 527, 596.
Getman, Frederick, II, 70, 166.
Gibson, Capt., II, 381, 383.
Gibson, Col. John, I, 45, 46, 47, 396, 397, 398.
Gibson, Col., II, 220.
Gibson, James, II, 528, 529, 531.
Gilmore, an Indian, I, 192.
Girard, Mr., I, 299.
Girty, Simon, I, 348, 349.
Girty, Simon, II, 208, 218, 219, 227, 310, 357.
Glen, Henry, I, 133, 137.
Glickhickan, II, 217, 218, 219, 224.
Gloucester Heights, exploit of, I, 162.
Gnodenhaltters, II, 217, 219, 220, 221, 222, 227, 231.
Gobesseronton, II, 575.
Good, Peter, I, 407, 408.
Goodrich, William, speech
sent by, I, 59.
Gorah, Quedars, I, 452.
Gora nations, II, 335.
Gordon, Brig. Gen., I, 157.
Gordon, statement by, I, 261.
Gordon, Col., II, 297, 298, 299, 300, 303, 304, 322,
324, 326, 493.
Gordon, Gen., II, 177.
Gore, Sir Francis, II, 424.
Goschochking, I, 349.
Goshen, I, 415, 417, 418, 420.
Gospels printed, II, 288.
Gospels translated, II, 431.
Gotheseunquen, II, 26.
Gowaowainse, II, 394.
Grabouski, Count, I, 281.
Graft, Philip, II, 107, 108, 109, 192.
Grafton, Duke of, II, 115.
Graham, Capt., I, 403, 405, 406.
Granby, II, 142.
Grand Glaize, II, 389.
Grand Miami, II, 367.
Grand Rapids, council at, II, 573.
Grand River, II, 239, 240, 247, 282, 287, 288, 294,
302, 322, 327, 328, 364, 365, 379,
397, 399, 406, 407, 411, 415, 417,
418, 419, 422, 423, 429, 437, 447,
499, 568, 569, 578, 579.
Grant, Gen., I, 284.
Grant, Mrs., I, 4, 18, 218.
Grasshopper, I, 366.
Grassy Brook, I, 415.
Graves, Admiral, II, 99.
Graves, Capt., I, 242, 461.

Gravesend, troops at, I, 170.
Gray, Gen., I, 284, 285, 347.
Gray, Capt., II, 151.
Great Tree, I, 370.
Greathouse, Daniel, murdered, I, 39, 40.
Green, Capt., I, 472.
Green, Col. Christopher, I, 287.
Greene, Gen., I, 171, 346.
Greene, Gen., II, 142, 233, 541, 543.
Greenbush, II, 535.
Greenland, II, 487, 590.
Green Mountain boys, II, 180, 183, 207.
Greenville, II, 384, 395.
Gregg, Captain, I, 226, 227, 228, 359.
Gregg, Capt, II, 536, 546.
Grenville, James, I, 115.
Grinnis, Mr., I, 459.
Griscom, Prof., II, 496, 497.
Groat, Lieut., I, 242.
Gros, Rev. Daniel, II, 155.
Gross, Capt., II, 157.
Groton, II, 194.
Groveland, II, 32.
Guilford, I, 284.
Guilford, II, 142.
Guilford, C. H., II, 541.
Guthrie, Capt, II, 552.
Gwins, James, II, 573.
Guy Park, council at, I, 71.
Guyanguahta, I, 391.
Hair, Lieut., I, 221.
Hakluyt, II, 488.
Haldimand, Gen. Sir Fr., I, 89, 100, 103, 149, 384, 390, 393,
427, II, 7, 8, 9, 54, 106, 125, 129,
130, 131, 132, 134, 136, 144, 152,
153, 174, 193, 198, 201, 238, 239,
245, 250, 252, 253, 263, 358, 398,
399, 404, 426, 429, 533, 540, 577,
578, 579.
Halifax, I, 169.
Half King, II, 218, 219, 266, 267.
Half Moon, II, 174.
Half Town, II, 245.
Half-way Creek, I, 310, 416.
Hall, Capt., I, 192.
Hall, Lt. Francis, II, 517, 518.
Hamilton, Capt., I, 422.
Hamilton, Col., I, 278, 304, 349, 399, 400, 401, 403,
404.
Hamilton, Col., II, 45.
Hamilton, Wm. O., I, 458.
Hamilton, Alexr., II, 107, 195, 207.
Hammell, Major, I, 358, 359, 360, 362.
Hammond, Mr., II, 327, 369.
Hamtramck, Major, II, 309, 311, 326.
Hanau, troops from Count of, I, 167.
Hancock, John, I, 143, 158.
Hand, Brig. Gen., I, 382, II, 5, 18, 19, 25, 31.
Hanover, II, 470.
Hansen killed, II, 73.
Hansjurie, Tewahongrahkon, I, 367.
Harbison, Massy, captivity of, II, 295, 551.
Hardenburgh, Lt., I, 410.
Hardenburgh, John G., II, 168, 169.
Hardin, Col., II, 294, 331.
Hare, Capt., I, 243.
Hare, II, 6, 78.
Harland, Major, II, 216.
Harlem Heights, I, 171.
Harmar, Gen., II, 294, 295, 299, 307, 312, 383.
Harnage, Major, I, 470, 473, 476.
Harper, Capt. Alexander, I, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 63, 64, 67, 493.
Harper, Col. John, II, 177, 178, 179, 181, 214, 354, 355;
William, II, 178;
Joseph, I, 178;
Alexander, II, 178.
Harper, Col. John, II, 26, 81, 120, 542.
Harpersfield, I, 52, 178, 179, 312, 413.
Harpersfield, II, 55, 58.
Harris captured, I, 309.
Harris, Mr., II, 150.
Harrod, Col., I, 423.
Harrodsburgh, II, 50, 171.
Hartman, II, 331.
Hartford, I, 330.
Hartley, Col., I, 341, 354, 385.
Hartshorn, Gen., II, 339.
Harvard College, vote, II, 287, 549.
Hastings, Marquis of, II, 250, 598.
Hatchet buried, I, 14.
Hathorn, Col., I, 416, 417.
Hatton, Lt. Chas., II, 546.
Haughton, Major, II, 129, 135.
Hawley, Joseph, I, 93, 98, 430.
Hay, Col. A. Hawkes, I, 174.
Head, Capt. Jacob, brings in
scalps, I, 17.
Heath, Gen., II, 178, 196, 197, 203, 204, 206.
Hebron, II, 436, 480.
Heckewelder, I, xviii, 47, 56, 318, 322.
Heckewelder, II, 62, 208, 217, 225, 231, 331, 357,
358, 439.
Hegu, Gen., II, 541.
Helmer, Adam, I, 233.
Helluland, II, 590, 591.
Helmer, Capt. Fred'k, I, 73, 242.
Helmer, John, I, 364, 393, 394.
Helmer, Philip, II, 160, 161.
Hendrick, King, I, 17, 19, 53, 147, 323.

Hendrick, II, 331, 583.
Hendrick, Seth, II, 112, 113, 321.
Henrique, a Mohawk, I, 221.
Henry, Thomas, I, 72.
Henry, John, II, 269.
Henry, Major, II, 56.
Herkimer, George, on Committee, I, 73.
Herkimer, Gen. Nicholas, I, xxii, 72, 74, 85, 88, 108, 110, 114,
136, 142, 175, 177, 181, 182, 183,
186, 188, 213, 214, 215, 217, 233,
234, 235, 236, 240, 241, 244, 246,
247, 248, 250, 297, 461.
Herkimer, Gen., II, 331, 431.
Herkimer village, I, 364.
Herrick, Col., I, 392.
Herring, Ensign Benj., II, 546.
Hess, Augustus, on Committee, I, 73.
Hesse Casael, troops from,
levying, I, 167, 170, 229.
Hessians, I, 277.
Hewett, Capt., I, 332, 335.
Highlanders, I, 54.
Highlanders, II, 186.
Hill, Capt. Aaron, II, 245, 246, 247, 569.
Hill, Thomas, I, 338.
Hillbaracks, II, 152, 543.
Historians partial to their
own race, I, xiii.
History proposed by Rev. S.
Miller, II, 441.
Hite, Capt. John, I, 353.
Hoffman, Charles, II, 2.
Holder, Capt., II, 216.
Holmes, Rev. Elkanah, II, 439, 440, 441.
Honeoye, II, 27, 28, 29.
Honeoye Creek, II, 28.
Honest John, I, 323.
Honyerry, I, 367.
Honyerry, II, 30, 31.
Hopkins, Major, II, 64, 65.
Hoosick, II, 206, 456.
Hostages, I, 194.
Hotham, Commodore, I, 171, 280, 282, 395.
House, Mr., I, 421.
Houston, Gen., I, 336.
Howe, Robert, I, 394.
Howe, Sir William, I, 79, 157, 161, 169, 170, 174, 195,
196, 197, 282, 284, 285, 286, 346,
347, 394, 395, 470.
Howe, Gen., II, 141.
Hoy's Station, II, 215.
Hoyer, Mr., I, 363.
Hudson, Brant attends a
lodge at, I, 156.
Haginen, Lt., II, 506.
Hull, Gen., II, 502.
Hunt, Lt. Col., I, 242.
Hunter. Gen., II, 574.
Hunter, Gov., II, 435.
Huroun, I, 340.
Hurons, II, 3, 43, 46, 47, 218, 219, 240, 243,
265, 273, 276, 278, 295, 383, 390,
497.
Huron Village, II, 265, 266, 267, 280.
Huntington, Col., I, 283.
Huntington, I, 328.
Hutton, Adjutant, I, 361.
Hymn, German, II, 543.
Illinois, I, 353.
Independence closed, I, 166.
Indians, Census of, I, 86.
Inman, Wm., II, 459.
Innes, Mr., II, 292.
Irving, Washington, II, 601, 602.
Isaac, II, 286.
Isle Au Noix, II, 85, 154, 197, 199.
Ittig, Michael, on Committee, I, 73.
Jackson, Gen., II, 163.
Jackson, Tho. Fred., II, 197.
Jacobs, Capt., II, 509, 512, 514.
Jansen, Johannes, II, 65, 66.
Jansen, Thomas, II, 65, 66.
Jasper, Sergeant, I, 166.
Jay, John, I, 211, 212.
Jay, John, II, 207, 214, 241, 285, 287, 292, 370,
395, 411, 459, 486.
Jefferson, Thomas, I, 46, 298.
Jefferson, Tho., II, 331.
Jemison, Mary, I, 187, 188, 243, 244, 390.
Jemison, Mary, II, 21, 27, 28, 30, 32, 33, 105, 106,
127, 128, 445, 487.
Jenkins killed, I, 332.
Jennesee, I, 370.
Jersey field, II, 191.
Jesuits at Oneida, &c. I, 7.
Jessup, Major, II, 144, 145.
Jessups, II, 148.
Johnson, Archibald, I, xxi, 16.
Johnson, Capt, I, 234.
Johnson, Guy, I, 6, 152, 179, 186, 209, 230, 297, 432,
433, 434, 435;
succeeds Sir William, 33;
interrupts pole raising, 52;
vigilant loyalist, 55;
tries to influence Oneidas, 64;
is watched by General
Schuyler, 64;
writes to upper Mohawk
settlements, 65;
is denounced by whigs, 66;
threatens the whigs, 67;
letter to Albany and
Schenectady, 67;
reply from Albany, 69;
apprehends abduction, 69;
holds a council at Guy Park 71;
addressed by Committee, 72;
his reply, 74;
proposed council at Cosby's
Manor not held, 76;
goes to Fort Stanwix, 76;
leaves the Mohawk valley, 61;
provisions cut off, 82;
goes to Ontario, 83;
replies to New York letter, 83, 84;
alarm concerning, 87, 88;
holds council at Oswego, 88;
at German Flats, 98;
vicious influence of, 99, 100;
at Oswego, 100, 102, 103.

Johnson, Guy, I, 19, 67, 135, 136.
Johnson, Hon. Thomas, I, 413, 582.
Johnson, Sir John, I, 132, 167, 108, 170, 186, 209, 210,
220, 230, 235, 242, 245, 253, 255,
256, 260, 261, 262, 288, 289, 291,
293, 309, 321, 356, 393, 422, 424,
425, 445, 446, 454, 455, 456, 457,
459, 464;
attempt to arrest, xxiii;
goes to Detroit, 16;
summoned at death of father, 32;
succeeds to his estates, 33;
expedition to Oquaga, 33;
marriage of, I, 33;
a scuffle with Jacob Sammons, 53;
fortifies the Baronial Hall, 54;
suspected of treachery, 54;
has reason to dread Kirkland's
influence, 60;
effects his removal, 61;
sustained by loyalists, 88;
attachment of Indians, 101;
influence of, 105;
addressed by committee, 100;
his reply, 110;
suspected, 108, 109, 120, 123, 124;
meets Gen. Schuyler, 133;
terms offered to, 133;
Indians support, 135;
reply to Gen. Schuyler, 136, 138;
Mrs., notified to leave, 137;
agrees to certain terms, 139, 141;
delivers arms, 141;
breaks his treaty, 143;
attempts to capture, 143;
escapes to Canada, 144;
his sufferings on flight, 144;
lady removed to Albany, 145;
raises troops, 145.
Johnson, Sir John, II, 10, 34, 38, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 78,
79, 80, 81, 95, 97, 98, 105, 106,
108, 109, 110, 114, 115, 119, 120,
121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 128, 129,
144, 151, 178, 179, 185, 186, 238,
248, 249, 252, 254, 267, 269, 272,
274, 277, 278, 279, 285, 296, 298,
304, 307, 326, 389, 400, 403, 405,
407, 414, 432, 433, 441, 474, 490,
526, 568, 574.
Johnson, Sir William, I, xx, 147, 148, 149, 218, 309, 322,
340, 367, 373, 387, 394, 447, 455,
461;
papers of, xxi;
by some thought the father of
Brant, 1;
diary of, 5, 6;
leads Indians, I, 7;
beloved by Mohawks, I, 8;
urged to keep away from
Onondaga, 9, 13;
holds a council at
Canajoharie, 11;
gave jail to the county, 111;
speech by, 11, 15;
decides not to visit Onondaga, 13;
meets Mohawks at Canajoharie, 15;
journey to Detroit, 16;
battle of Lake George, 19;
expedition to Niagara, 20;
builds Indian churches, 20;
interest in school for Indian
youths, 21;
powerful influence of, 30;
position on approach of
revolution, 30, 31;
death of, 31;
memory cherished, 72;
great influence of, 87;
great popularity of, 101;
a hostile Indian, 114;
(Reporter), 373, 379;
(Indian), 183.
Johnson, Sir William, II, 9, 10, 69, 80, 164, 186, 298, 335,
341, 350, 402, 450, 489, 519, 583.
Johnson, Lady, I, 289, 290.
Johnson's Greens, I, 230, 235, 237, 238, 239, 240, 241,
243.
Johnson's Greens, II, 73, 114, 121, 122, 123, 179, 186.
Johnstone, Gov., I, 394.
Johnstone, Rev. Mr., I, 180.
Johnstone Settlement, I, 178, 180.
Johnstown, I, 52, 88, 109, 120, 129, 130, 141,
145, 168, 212, 288, 291, 304, 305,
306, 307, 308, 354, 364, 387, 393,
404, 423.
Johnstown, II, 69, 72, 73, 75, 79, 81, 96, 105,
123, 163, 164, 170, 185, 187, 192,
331, 541, 542.
Jones, Capt. Samuel, I, 342, 418, 421.
Jones, Mr., I, 205, 206.
Judith, murder of, II, 224.
Kattsbergs, II, 65.
Kayinguaraghtoh, I, 452.
Kanaghquaesa, I, 95, 444.
Kanaghsaws, II, 29.
Kanadeseago, I, 370, 387, 388.
Kanasedaga, II, 24, 26.
Kanandaigua, II, 27, 491.
Kanhawa, I, 40, 41, 191, 192, 352.
Karaghquadirhon, Mr. Deane, I, 131.
Karakonti, II, 585.
Karhauguash, II, 26.
Karrhageayate, II, 576.
Kartele, Sergeant, I, 359.
Karauduaan, "Great Tree,"
Hancock's name, I, 158.
Kaskaskias, I, 352, 353.
Kaskaskias, II, 566, 567.
Kaweanontye, II, 576.
Kayinguaraghtoh, I, 433.

Kearney, Lt, II, 506.
Keder's Rift, II, 115.
Kelleleman, II, 47.
Kendaia, II, 25, 26.
Kent, Chancellor, I, 266, 279.
Kentucky, I, 23, 117, 351.
Kentucky, II, 49, 70, 71, 169, 171, 215, 217,
264, 291, 292, 294, 295, 313, 336,
384, 385.
Kerr, Robert, II, 320, 519, 535, 536.
Kerr, Walter, II, 536.
Kerr, Wm. Johnson, II, 152, 250, 492, 495, 516, 517, 535,
536.
Kerr, Mrs. Wm. J., daughter of
Brant, I, xxii, xxx.
Kettles, presents of, I, 188.
Kickapoos, II, 278, 293.
Killbush, II, 47, 48.
King, Brants, I, 151, 152.
Kingsborough, I, 52, 109.
Kingsborough, II, 79.
Kingsbridge, I, 171.
Kingsland, I, 52, 82, 139, 140.
Kings Mountain, II, 100.
Kingston, I, 211, 263, 282, 328, 414.
Kingston, II, 81, 287, 434, 523, 534.
Kinnesley, Lt., II, 3.
Kirkland, Rev. Mr., I, 20, 23, 25, 261, 435, 402, 456.
Kirkland, Rev. Samuel, attempt
to remove, I, 55;
sustained by Oneidas, 55;
opens correspondence with
Mohawks, 55;
is compelled to leave Oneida, 61;
obtains a council, 80;
labors to preserve neutrality, 81, 87;
at Treaties, 99, 100;
Mr. suspected by Johnson, 102.
Kirkland, Rev. Samuel, II, 7, 9, 55, 148, 246, 288, 306, 319,
320, 321, 322, 490, 493.
Kickiminetas, II, 555.
Kittorning, II, 41, 315.
Kjalarnes, II, 590, 591.
Klepsattle, Maj. Enos, I, 242.
Klock, Col. Jacob, I, 72, 181, 190, 191, 233, 240, 242.
Klock, Jacob, II, 160.
Klock, John James, I, 109.
Klock's Field, II, 119, 124, 127.
Knapp, Lt Samuel, I, 418, 421.
Knawaholee, II, 23.
Knox, Gen. Henry, II, 138, 264, 266, 267, 273, 304, 321,
322, 324, 357, 371, 374.
Knyphausen, Gen., I, 172, 284.
Knyphausen, Gen., II, 100.
Koquethagaeehlon, I, 348.
Kosciusko, Thaddeus, I, 27.
Krassanes, II, 590.
La Branche, II, 391.
Lachioe, II, 103, 106.
Lackawana, I, 328, 332.
Lackawaxen, I, 416.
Lackawaxen, II, 169.
La Fayette, Gen., I, 256, 300, 301, 302, 303, 305, 307,
308, 343, 369, 371, 410.
La Fayette, Gen., II, 25, 98, 193, 194, 233, 244.
Laird, Wm., II, 190.
Lake's Company, II, 186.
Lake Champlain, battle on, I, 173, 174.
Lake Champlain, II, 178, 183, 196, 204, 210, 570.
Lake Erie, II, 239, 240, 244, 245, 357, 397.
Lake George, I, 19, 199, 200, 201, 232.
Lake George, II, 64, 81, 118, 134, 396, 409.
Lake Huron, II, 240, 245, 397.
Lake Ontario, II, 239, 244, 397, 398.
Lamb, Col., I, 281.
Lancaster, I, 100, 141, 436, 445.
Lands, grievance about, I, 101.
Land Jobbers, II, 399, 400.
Langan, Lt., II, 274, 275, 277, 279, 286.
Lansing, Ensign Garrett, II, 546.
La Potherie, I, 288.
Laprairie, I, 157.
Larned, General, I, 255, 268.
Laurens, Henry, II, 214.
Laurens, Col. John, II, 25.
Lawyer, Mr., I, 410.
Leasee, Company, II, 290, 410, 412.
Le Boeuf, II, 380.
Ledyard, Col., II, 194.
Lee, Arthur, I, 148, 196, 298.
Lee, Gen. Charles, I, 169, 172, 344, 345.
Lee, Henry, II, 315.
Lee, Col. Robert, II, 572.
Lee, Major, II, 52.
Lee, in behalf of Colonies, I, 49.
Legislature, address to troops, I, 263.
Leicester, II, 33.
Lenni Lenape, I, 319.
Leonard, Capt. W., II, 417, 572.
Lepper, Mr., I, 363.
Leslie, Col., opposed by Col.
Pickering, I, 51.
Letters, their value in history, I, xxvi, xxvii.
Letters conveyed by Indians, I, 108.
Levassear's Lafayette, II, 244.
Lewis, Col. Andrew, I, 41, 42, 44, 45.

Lewis, Col. Charles, killed, I, 42.
Lewis, Mary, II, 3;
Betsey, 130.
Lewis, Col. Morgan, I, 268, 420.
Lewis, Col. Morgan, II, 116, 117, 118, 120, 121, 121, 330,
461, 491.
Lewis, Lt. Sam'l, II, 546.
Lewis, Ensign, I, 234.
Lewiston, II, 502, 504, 505.
Lexington, I, 29, 30, 51.
Lexington, II, 181, 216.
Leyden, N. Y., II, 459.
L'Hommedieu, Mr., II, 290.
L'Orient, II, 486.
Liberty poles, I, 34, 52, 106, 364.
Licking river, II, 49, 51, 71, 216.
Lightfoot, Capt., II, 90.
Lillington, Col., I, 119.
Lincoln, Gen., I, xxx, 43, 274, 301, 415.
Lincoln, Gen., II, 51, 52, 53, 99, 338, 339, 341, 347.
Lindlay, Jacob, II, 339.
Little, Aaron, I, 374.
Little, Abraham, I, 71, 96, 100, 102, 121, 133, 147,
444, 455.
Little Beard, II, 29, 31, 33.
Little Beardstown, II, 29, 31, 32, 33.
Little Buffalo, II, 456.
Little, Capt. John, I, 421.
Little Falls, II, 69, 124, 126, 410.
Little Lakes, I, 363.
Little Turtle, II, 312, 313, 367, 379, 382, 384, 387.
Little, Capt. John, II, 190.
Littlehales, Maj., II, 364.
Liverpool, man-of-war, I, 119.
Livingston, Lt. Col., I, 281.
Livingston, Col., I, 308
Livingston, Col. John, II, 410, 412.
Livingston, Peter V. P., letter
of Guy Johnson to, I, 84.
Livingston, Robert R., II, 102.
Livingston, Walter, I, 98, 432.
Livingston, Gov. Wm., I, 345.
Livingston Manor, II, 491.
Logan, the Mingo Chief, I, 38, 89, 46, 191, 446.
Logan takes revenge, I, 41;
expedition against, 41,42;
fights the invaders, 42;
speech of, 46;
its authenticity examined, 46, 47;
murder of, 48.
Logan, James, I, 38.
Logan, Col., I, 349.
Long, Capt., I, 356.
Long, Co|., I, 202.
Long Island, Battle of, I, 170.
Long Knives, II, 387.
Longueil, loyalists repulsed, I, 112.
Loekiel, II, 225.
Lotteridge, Capt, recruits for, I, 15.
Loudon, Lord, expedition to
Canada, I, 5.
Louis, Col., I, 401.
Louisiana, II, 292.
Lovell, Gen., II, 52.
Lowell, II, 365.
Lower Sandusky, II, 62, 372.
Lundy's Lane, II, 517.
Lush, Major, II, 147, 506.
Luther, II, 105.
Luttereil, Col., I, 115.
Lyconia, I, 421.
Lydius, Col., I, 449.
Lyman, Lt. Simeon, II, 199.
Lynch Code, II, 180, 181.
Lyttleton, Lord, I, 115.
Mack, Miss, II, 66.
McAfee station, II, 171.
Macauley's History (so called), I, 376.
McCauseland, Mr., II, 479.
McClellan, Lt., I, 358, 410.
McClennen, Lieut., II, 234.
McConnell, Alexander, II, 70, 71.
McCormicks, II, 390.
McCracken, Major, II, 150.
McCrea, Jane, murdered, I, 203, 204, 205, 207.
McCulley, Major, II, 563.
McDonald, Gen., defeated, I, 119.
McDonald, Capt., I, 243.
McDonald, Capt., II, 19.
McDonald, Donald, II, 131, 164, 165, 166.
McDonald, II, 189.
McDonald, Lieut, killed, I, 239.
McDonald, I, 212, 154, 422.
McDonald, Capt. Allen, I, 136, 137, 140, 141, 150, 424, 455.
McDougal, Daniel, I, 72.
McDougal, Duncan, I, 73.
McDonnell, Duncan, II, 131.
McDonnell, John, II, 131.
McDonnell, Kennith, II, 131.
McDonnell, Col., II, 284.
McDonnell, Lt. Col., II, 507.
McDougall, Gen., I, 283.
McDougall, Gen., II, 131.
McGinnis, Mr., I, 364.
McGower, Donald, II, 131.
McIntosh, General, I, 350, 351, 396, 398, 399.
McIntosh, John, II, 131.
McKean, Capt, I, 311, 312, 380.
McKean, Capt., II, 119, 120, 157, 158, 159, 160.
McKean, Col., II, 121, 122, 123, 125.
McKean, Robert A., I, 168.

McKee, A., II, 568.
McKee, Capt., II, 276, 277, 281, 291, 295, 296, 297,
298, 299, 303, 333, 334.
McKee, Col., II, 340, 341, 347, 357, 376, 387, 389,
392.
McKee, I, 348, 349.
McKee, II, 218, 286, 294.
McKinan, II, 268, 279.
McKinstry, Capt. John, I, 155, 156; II, 490.
McKnight, Dr., II, 227, 232.
McKown, Wm., I, 310.
McMaster, James, I, 73, 109.
McMichael, John, murder of, I, 11, 13, 14.
McMahon, Major, II, 379, 382.
McMullen, II, 91, 92, 93.
McPherson, Mr., II, 152.
Madison, Corporal, killed, I, 226.
Madog, or Madoo, II, 487.
Magaw, Col., I, 172.
Magee, Ensign, I, 234.
Magee, Lt. W., II, 546.
Maghinquechahocking, II, 42.
Maghingive Keeshuch, II, 47.
Mahingaus, I, 56.
Mahickanders, I, 56.
Malcolm, Capt., II, 272, 505, 506.
Manifesto of St. Leger, II, 230.
Manly, Capt., captures prizes, I, 115.
Mann, Capt. George, I, 314, 315, 316, 317.
Manor of Livingston, II, 460.
Maquichee, II, 43, 47, 48.
Marbatt, John, I, 114.
Marbletown, II, 94.
Marchant, Henry, I, 266.
Marinus, Mr., I, 309.
Mark upon captives, I, 380.
Markland, II, lii, liii.
Marquizee, Captain, I, 224, 226.
Marsh, Prof., facts from, I, xxiv.
Marshall's Washington, I, xvii, xxvi, 338.
Martin, Capt., I, 309, 460.
Maryland, Revolution in, I, 37.
Mason, Rev. John M., II, 439, 440.
Masonic signals, I, 419.
Massacre of Moravians, II, 223, 224, 225.
Massachusetts, I, 36, 37, 51, 55, 58, 59, 77, 115.
Matthews, Capt., II, 144, 283.
Matthews, Gen., I, 172.
Matthews, Gen., II, 52.
Matthews, Major, II, 270, 272, 273, 281, 282.
Matthews, II, 3, 279.
Maughwauwama, I, 319, 320.
Maxwell, David, I, 414.
Maxwell, Gen., I, 343.
Maxwell, Gen., II, 5, 18.
Maxwell, Wm., II, 552.
May, II, 383.
Maynard, Jonathan, II, 492.
Meeker, Maj. Samuel, I, 416, 421.
Meigs, Col., I, 165, 283, 284.
Meller, Col., I, 250.
Mellon, Lt. Col., I, 229.
Memoirs, Author's plan of
writing, I, xxvi.
Mewill, Mrs., II, 313, 314.
Meshecannaqua, II, 312, 367.
Messesaugues, I, 220, 221.
Messessaugues, II, 286.
Mexico, II, 483.
Miami Bay, II, 390.
Miami, II, 71, 307, 309, 310, 342, 346, 356,
358, 362, 377.
Miami, battle of, II, 502.
Miami of the Lakes, II, 381, 383.
Miami Rapids, II, 295, 334, 336, 339, 340, 342, 344,
348, 355, 359, 360, 361, 362, 369,
375, 384.
Miamis, II, 265, 276, 277, 278, 291, 293, 297,
299, 300, 303, 304, 308, 314, 326,
329, 332, 335, 338, 348, 350, 355,
386, 389, 405.
Michilimackinack, I, 352.
Michilimackinack, II, 361, 477.
Middlebrook, II, 139.
Middleburgh, I, 317.
Middleburgh, II, 107.
Midway, I, 394.
Militia, I, 7, 106, 123, 136, 171, 173.
Miller, Adam, I, 235, 339.
Miller, Rev. Samuel, II, 440.
Miller, Rev. Dr., II, 457, 479, 496.
Miller, II, 384, 385.
Miner's Wyoming, I, xvii, 339.
Mingos, I, 38, 42.
Mingos, II, 41, 48, 225, 346, 348, 376.
Mingoes, II, 565.
Minisink, I, 415, 417, 418. 421, 422.
Minisink, II, 59, 65, 441, 491.
Missions, Indian, I, 26.
Missisnagays, II, 3, 355, 497, 534.
Mississagua reservation, II, 406.
Mitchell, Mr., I, 374, 375.
Mohawk District, I, 52.
Mohawk Dist., Meeting, II, 546.
Mohawk Prayerbook, I, 26, 27.
Mohawks, I, xviii, xxiv, 7, 14, 15, 25, 57, 71,
86, 101, 112, 114, 158, 181, 244,
304, 805, 307, 410, 446, 447, 454.
Mohawks, II, 2, 8, 88, 238, 242, 244, 245, 281,
282, 289, 291, 301, 318, 318, 324,
335, 401, 402, 408, 404, 406, 407,
409, 411, 415, 416, 422, 424, 426,
427, 568.

Mohawk Valley, settlement of, I, xvii, 30, 31.
Mohegans, I, 56.
Mohegans, II, 355.
Moheakounucks, II, 56.
Moheakounnuck tribe, congress
sends speech to, I, 59.
Mohiccons, I, 56.
Mohuccans, I, 56.
Mohickanders, I, 56.
Mohickannituck, or North River, I, 56.
Moira, Earl of, II, 250, 259.
Mombackas, II, 169.
Monmouth, I, 343, 344, 345, 356, 395.
Monockonock, I, 387.
Monongalla, I, 418.
Monongahela, II, 220.
Monroe, Col. James, II, 245, 247.
Monsell, Capt., II, 188.
Montcalm, Marquis, at Lake
George, I, 5.
Montgomery, Gen., I, 108, 112, 116, 117, 162.
Montgomery Co. named, II, 286.
Montour, Capt., I, 340.
Montour, Catharine, I, 389, 391.
Montour, Catharine, II, 23.
Montreal, I, 89, 109, 117, 218, 300, 392, 393.
Montreal, II, 68, 270, 282, 288, 284, 326.
Monument voted to Herkimer, I, 248.
Monument at Paoli, I, 285.
Moody, Capt., II, 156.
Moore, Bishop, II, 456.
Moor Charity School, II, 488.
Moore, Gen., I, 119.
Moore, James, on committee, I, 168.
Moore, John, I, 72, 168.
Moore, Joseph, II, 389.
Moore, John, I, 371.
Moore, Miss, II, 66, 68.
Moore, Mrs., I, 377.
Moore, Mrs., II, 130.
Moore's Creek Bridge, battle of, I, 119.
Moravians, I, 319, 321, 322, 328.
Moravians, II, 217, 218, 219, 228, 225, 226, 228,
229, 280, 282, 358.
Muskingum, II, 208, 217, 219, 224, 231, 232, 281,
329, 334, 363, 378, 494.
Musquakies, II, 375, 566.
Mutiny in American army, II, 189, 141, 146.
Myers, Jacob, II, 159.
Nanticokes, I, 328.
Nanticokes, II, 4, 346, 355, 376, 441, 565.
Narragansetts join Mohegans, I, 67.
Nash, Gen., I, 286.
Nash, Samuel, II, 212.
Navisink, I, 415.
Negley, Felix, II, 563.
Nellis, Judge, II, 160.
Nepean, Sir, Evan, I, 152.
Nepean, Sir Evan, II, 257.
Neskayuna, II, 157.
Neutrality of Indians given up, I, 159.
Neversink, II, 169.
Newark, I, 172.
Newark, II, 484, 509, 513.
Newbury, a Tory, I, 375.
Newbury hung, II, 6.
New Brunswick, I, 175.
New England Corporation, II, 529, 530, 531, 532.
New Galway, II, 164.
New Grange, II, 488.
New Hampshire, I, 37.
New Hampshire Grants, II, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182, 183, 184,
197, 199, 206.
New Haven plundered, II, 52.
New Jersey, I, 172, 192, 196, 197.
New Jersey, II, 224.
Newkirk, Major, II, 89.
New London, II, 194.
Newman, II, 384.
New Orleans, II, 292.
Newport, I, 346, 347.
Newport, II, 104.
New Scotland, II, 152, 543.
New South Wales, II, 524.
Newtown, Battle of, I, xxiii.
Newtown, II, 19, 20, 21, 23, 25, 26, 84, 85,
87, 460.
New Rochelle, I, 206.
New Windsor, II, 139.
New York, I, 49, 77, 78, 105, 162, 169, 171, 343.
New York, II, 100.
New York Bay frozen, II, 54.
New York Legislature on Indian
Titles, II, 241, 242.
New York Spectator, II, 533.
Niagara, I, 20, 26, 82, 210, 218, 288, 304,
321, 340, 356, 358, 366, 369, 371,
378, 382, 388, 384, 386, 387, 391,
398, 403, 438.

Niagara, II, 3, 4, 10, 32, 34, 36, 41, 54, 55,
57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 63, 66, 67, 68,
71, 125, 127, 186, 167, 218, 239,
258, 268, 270, 271, 284, 286, 297,
303, 307, 322, 324, 327, 328, 331,
335, 336, 340, 343, 347, 348, 357,
363, 364, 390, 399, 402, 405, 417,
423, 425, 434, 436, 460, 461, 491,
493, 501, 502, 507, 509, 519, 533,
536, 577, 582.
Nickus, Peter, I, 9, 314, 317.
Nikadiyooni, II, 145.
Nihweanuagh, II, 576.
Nimwha, II, 47.
Nine Mile Point, I, 221, 222.
Nine Mile Landing, II, 64.
Nisquitha, II, 543.
Norfolk, I, 119.
Norfolk, II, 52, 142, 198.
Norman Emigrants, II, 487.
Normans Kill, II, 96, 97, 152, 543.
North, Lord, I, 116.
North, Lord, II, 590.
Northampton, I, 421.
Northampton, II, 69, 458.
North Carolina, I, 110, 422.
North Carolina, II, 51, 100, 193, 546.
Northmen, II, 487.
Northmen, Voyages of, II, 590, 591, 592, 593.
Northumberland, Duke of, II, 251, 337, 404, 409, 416, 417, 424,
426, 430, 524, 598.
Norton, John, I, 168.
Norton, John, II, 238, 288, 404, 409, 412, 414, 415,
418, 422, 424, 428, 486, 577.
Norwalk, I, 283.
Norwalk, II, 52.
"Nose," on Mohawk, II, 115, 119.
O'Bail, John, II, 105, 127.
O'Bail, Capt, II, 127, 299, 302, 304, 377, 378, 380,
436, 446.
Oboylaco, I, 296.
Ocoum, Samson, at School, I, 21.
Odeserundige, Capt. John, II, 144.
Ogaghto, news brought by, I, 6.
Ogden, Amos, I, 324, 325, 326, 327.
Ogden, Nathan, I, 326.
Ogdensburgh, II, 502.
Oghgwarioghreta, II, 576.
Oghkwaga, I, 33, 168, 177, 178, 179, 180, 181,
182, 189, 310, 341, 367, 374.
Oghkwaga, II, 17, 18, 58, 569.
Oghnaongoghton, II, 575.
Oghquaga, I, 33, 167, 168.
Oghsouwalagette, II, 576.
Ogilvie, Rev. John, I, 26.
Ogilvie, Capt, II, 506.
Ogongksaneyont, II, 576.
Ohio, II, 264, 265, 295, 301, 336, 338, 348,
354, 355, 358, 363, 378, 392, 393,
494.
Ohio, Indian hostilities in, I, 348.
Ojageghte, II, 575.
Okoghsenniyonte, II, 423, 579.
Olean Point, II, 585.
Oneaquaga, I, 33, 168.
Oneida, I, 307.
Oneida, II, 29, 80, 123, 191, 319.
Oneida Lake, I, 8, 209, 217, 261, 404, 405.
Oneida Lake, II, 186, 189, 233.
Oneida Mission, I, 20, 25.
Oneidas, I, 7, 12, 13, 47, 58, 80, 82, 86, 87,
149, 215, 227, 244, 269, 260, 306,
306, 366, 367, 370, 372, 401, 402,
408, 409, 411, 432, 433, 434, 435,
564.
Oneidas, II, 3, 7, 10, 11, 17, 23, 24, 36, 54,
56, 108, 104, 106, 119, 121, 122,
135, 143,144, 168, 190, 242, 244,
246, 289, 480.
Oneigat, II, 24.
Onondaga, central council fire, I, XXV.
Onondaga, council fire
extinguished, II, 76.
Onondaga Creek. I, 405, 406.
Onondaga Hill, II, 361.
Onondaga Lake, I, 405.
Onondaga Lake, II, 123.
Onondaga Landing, I, 405.
Onondagas, I, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 86, 217, 293, 294,
296, 304, 305, 306, 307, 370, 372,
402, 403, 404, 406, 407, 408, 409,
411, 413.
Onondagas, II, 3, 7, 11, 24, 238, 243, 244, 289,
359, 429, 569, 585.
Ontario, Council at, I, 83, 86, 149.
Oosterhoudt, Mr., I, 363.
Oothout, Capt., II, 154.
Oquaga, I, 33.
Orange Co. invaded, I, 415, 418.
Orangeburgh, II, 142.
Orendorf, Frederick, on
committee, I, 73.
Oriskany, I, 233, 234, 235, 236, 237, 240, 241,
242, 249, 307, 367, 459, 461.
Oriskany, II, 29, 30, 78, 189, 330.
Oswald, Wm., II, 214.
Oswegatchie, I, 153, 210, 410.
Oswegatchie, II, 81, 215, 268, 670.
Oswego, I, 6, 7, 88, 100, 102, 103, 149, 186,
196, 209, 210, 211, 215, 217, 218,
226, 237, 261, 262, 291, 306, 350,
358, 366, 383, 884, 386, 393, 404,
445, 454, 455, 456, 460.

Oswego, II, 106, 124, 126, 186, 233, 268, 340.
Oswego Falls, II, 233.
Otoghseronge, II, 575.
Otqueandageghte, body of found, I, 8.
Otsego Lake, I, 312, 421.
Otsego Lake, II, 5, 13, 14, 17.
Otsego, II, 4, 16, 504.
Ottawannio, a Cayuga, I, 14.
Ottawas, I, 17.
Ottawas, II, 8, 218, 243, 261, 265, 276, 278,
348, 349, 355, 376, 387, 390, 565.
Otter Creek, II, 90.
Otsinarenta, II, 420.
Otyoghwawagon, II, 576.
Ouiatauons, II, 293.
Ouise River, II, 239, 240, 282.
Owasco Lake, I, 217.
Oyonwayea Creek, II, 244.
Oylikwagas, II, 422.
Painted Post, II, 304, 306, 318.
Palatine, I, xviii, 34, 62, 64, 389, 409, 410.
Palatine, II, 115, 160, 215, 327.
Palmerstown, II, 144, 146.
Paoli, I, 284, 285, 347.
Papers Concealed by Johnson, II, 80.
Paramus, II, 102.
Paris, Isaac, I, 179, 213, 234, 240, 242, 460, 461.
Parish, John, II, 339.
Parker, John, I, 310.
Parker, Sir Peter, I, 166.
Parker, killed, II, 32, 33.
Parliament on Colonies, I, 49, 50, 116.
Parr, Major, II, 19.
Parraderaski, I, 353.
Patrick, Captain, I, 354, 418.
Party factions, II, 366.
Patchin, Freegift, II, 52, 56.
Patchin, Isaac, II, 56, 83.
Patchin, Samuel, II, 212.
Patriots of Mohawk Valley, I, 84, 85.
Paulding, Capt. Henry, II, 169, 170.
Paulding, Lt. Col. Albert, II, 17, 18, 167, 169, 170.
Paulus, wampum delivered to, I, 7.
Paulus Hook, II, 52.
Peace declared, II, 214, 233, 237.
Peasley, II, 154.
Peccaway, II, 216.
Pekillon, II, 208.
Peltry, Harman, letter
concerning, I, 427.
Pempotowwuthut, Muhhecanneuw, I, 67.
Penn, Gov. John, I, 324, 449, 451.
Penn, William, I, 145, 320, 328.
Penn, II, 339.
Penobscots, plan to employ, I, 159.
Pequods join Mohegans, I, 57.
Percy, Lord, I, 172.
Percy, Lord, II, 337, 428, 515, 524.
Perkins, II, 212.
Peter, a Mohawk, I, 178, 179.
Peter, Samuel, II, 480, 583.
Petersham, Lord, I, 469.
Petrie, Daniel, II, 69.
Petrie, Dr., I, 246.
Petrie, Dr., II, 160.
Petrie, Lieut., I, 242.
Petry, John, on Committee, I, 73.
Petry, William, on Committee, I, 72.
Pettingill, Capt. Samuel, I, 242.
Phelps, Rev. Davenport, II, 432, 433, 434, 435, 436, 437, 439,
472, 495.
Phelps, Oliver, II, 413.
Philadelphia, I, 102, 197, 284, 285, 286, 319, 324,
327, 348, 350, 359.
Philadelphia, II, 94, 101, 138, 140, 249, 298, 299,
304, 318, 319, 320, 322, 323, 324,
326, 328, 329, 339, 419, 453, 454,
455, 497, 498.
Philistines, II, 185.
Phillips, Gen., I, 201, 268, 270, 271, 467, 469, 472,
478.
Phillips, Gen., II, 193.
Piankishaus, II, 566.
Pickard, John, on Committee, I, 72.
Pickering, Timothy, I, xxx, 61, 342.
Pickering, Timothy, II, 209, 301, 304, 306, 307, 318, 321,
338, 339, 340.
Pigott, Sir Robert, I, 346, 347.
Pine Creek, II, 560.
Pipe, Captain, I, 348.
Pipe, Capt., II, 208, 218, 219, 226, 227, 266, 267.
Pipe of Peace, I, 99, 436.
Pitt, Mr., II, 426, 600.
Pittsburgh, I, 25, 118, 350.
Pittsburgh, II, 41, 151, 219, 220, 222, 223, 295,
300, 551, 560, 563, 564.
Pittsfield, II, 536.
Pittsford, II, 87.
Platts killed, II, 73.
Plunkett, Col., I, 329.
Plymouth, I, 328.
Plymouth, II, 590.

Pocahontas, II, 60.
Pointe, Appineau, II, 380.
Pointaufer, II, 145.
Point Pleasant, I, 41, 191, 192.
Point Creek, I, 351.
Pompey, French in, II, 585, 588.
Pompton, II, 141.
Pond, Capt. Peter, II, 313.
Pontiac, I, 24, 26, 33.
Pontiac, II, 248, 289, 584.
Poor, Gen., I, 271.
Poor, Gen., II, 5, 18, 20, 21.
Popham, Maj. Wm., I, 289, 290.
Poppino, Major, I, 418.
Porter, Peter B., I, xxiii, 149.
Porter, Peter B., II, 468, 462, 488, 492, 496.
Portland, Duke of, II, 467, 468.
Portsmouth, II, 193, 194.
Ports, Northern retained, II, 269.
Pottowattamies, II, 8, 248, 266, 276, 278, 285, 295,
348, 349, 355, 361, 374, 386.
Poughkeepsie, I, 338, 358.
Powder, wanted, I, 160.
Powell, Maj. I, 341.
Powell, II, 64, 130, 131, 133, 134.
Pownall, Gov., II, 483.
Pratt, Mr., I, 323.
Prejudices of Historians, I, xiii, xvi.
Prescott, General, I, 157.
Presents to Indians, I, 188.
Presque Isle, II, 45, 46, 332, 377, 378, 381.
Price, Major, II, 385.
Prideaux, Gen., Death of, I, 29.
Priestley, Dr., II, 453, 582.
Prince of Wales, II, 250, 268, 260.
Princeton, Battle of, I, 175.
Princeton, II, 139, 140, 440, 441.
Prison, Island, II, 91.
Proceedings of Patriotic
meeting, I, 83.

{Transcriber's Note: in the next eleven entries, one or more illegible
words or characters are represented by #.}

P#, Col., II, 299, 301, 302, 303, 304, 306, 428.
Provincial Assembly, I, 36.
Providence, II, 100.
P#, Lieut., intimate with
Brant, I, 28.
P#, Gen., II, 51.
P#, Mrs., II, 101, 102.
P#, II, #.
P#, II, #.
P#, I, #.
P#, II, #.
P#, II, #.
P#, #, 247, 278, 280, 282, #.
Putnam, Gen., II, 4.
Putnam, John, I, 9, 309.
Putnam, Lodowiek, II, 73.
Putnam, Rufus, II, 316, 331.
Quackenbush, Abraham, I, 114.
Quackenboss, Abraham D., I, 461.
Quackenboss, John S., I, 461.
Quaekyack. II, 158.
Quago, I, 168.
Quageewon, II, 394.
Quaker agents, II, 339.
Quaker Hill, I, 347.
Quebec, II, 239, 245, 250, 263, 270, 279, 296,
337, 360, 367, 391, 392, 400, 421,
434, 453.
Quebec besieged, I, 117, 162, 218.
Queden-Gorah, I, 433.
Quedar, I, 431, 436, 448.
Queens' Rangers, II, 527.
Queenston, II, 340, 501, 508, 507, 516.
Quiquago Indians, I, 401.
Quimby, Mr., II, 486.
Raleigh, Sir Walter, II, 251.
Ramsay's History, I, 88, 339.
Randolph Beverley, holds a
treaty, I, xxx.
Randolph Beverley, II, 338, 339, 340.
Randolph Edmund, II, 369.
Randolph. Lt., II, 506, 508.
Rangers, I, 168, 235, 242.
Ranson, Capt., I, 335, 338.
Rapids of Ohio, II, 349.
Rathbone, Lt., II, 505.
Rawdon, Lord, II, 99, 142, 250, 600.
Raulings, Col., I, 172.
Reading, prisoners to go to, I, 141.
Red Bank, I, 287.
Red Eagle with Logan, I, 4.
Redhawk, I, 192, 193.
Red Hook, I, 207.
Red Jacket, Portrait of, I, xxx.
Red Jacket, II, 34, 35, 105, 135, 136, 243, 244,
245, 301, 302, 303, 335, 364, 415,
416, 417, 420, 428, 446, 497.
Reeber, Andrew, on Committee, I, 72.
Reed, Pres., II, 140.
Reads Station, II, 564.
Reghtmeyer, Capt., II, 110.
Remission of Sins, I, 389.
Revolution, I, xxviii, 36, 37.
Reynell, Mrs., I, 471, 472.
Rhode Island, I, 37, 115, 173, 346, 347.
Rhode Island, II, 99, 108, 194.
Rice, Mr., I, 309.
Richer, Capt., I, 409, 410.

Richey, James, on Committee, I, 168.
Richmond, II, 142, 147, 232.
Ridgeway, I, 288.
Ridyard, Wm., I, 327.
Riedesel, General, I, 268, 270, 271, 278, 274.
Riedesel, Baroness,
narrative of, I, 273, 274, 276, 279;
465, 472, 476, 482.
Riedesel, Baroness, II, 250, 453.
River Indians, I, 56, 57, 149.
Robertson, Capt., II, 145.
Robin's Travels quoted, I, 46.
Robinson, Col. Beverly, II, 198.
Robinson, Moses, II, 199.
Robinson, II, 199.
Rocheblave, Philip, I, 352.
Rocky River, II, 372.
Rochambeau, Count, II, 98, 99, 104, 106, 155, 194, 195.
Rochefoucault, II, lviii.
Rochester, II, 169.
Rodgers, Major, II, 49, 50, 51.
Roff, Col. John, I, 246, 247.
Rolfe, II, 411.
Romney, George, paints portrait
of Brant, I, xxviii, 151.
Rose, Mr., II, 460, 461.
Rosecrantz, Major James, II, 188, 546.
Ross, Major, II, 145, 187, 188, 189, 190, 192, 193,
196, 205, 214, 215.
Rousseau, J. B., II, 573.
Rowley, Maj., II, 187, 189, 196.
Royal Grant, II, 164, 190, 408.
Royal Greens, I, 145, 220.
Royal Greens, II, 105, 186.
Runnells, Major, II, 202.
Runnip, II, 66.
Russell, Peter, II, 400, 401.
Russel, Mr., II, 433.
Rykman, John, II, 191.
Sacondaga, I, 144, 291, 309, 404.
Sacondaga, II, 98, 154.
Sacs, II, 349.
Sachems, how chosen, I, 148.
Sachems taken to England, I, 4.
Sadakenaghtie, I, 411.
Safford, Samuel, II, 199.
Sag Harbor, I, 283.
Sagugewatha, II, 34.
St. Augustine, prize taken off, I, 115.
St. Clair, Gen. Arthur, I, 163, 199, 200, 201, 202, 266.
St. Clair, Gen. Arthur, II, 61, 274, 278, 279, 280, 281, 284,
291, 295, 300, 301, 304, 309, 311,
312, 313, 314, 315, 327, 349, 353,
360, 357, 372, 381, 383, 494.
St. Coych, II, 205, 206.
St. Francis, I, 393.
St. Johns, I, 112, 130, 157, 165, 196, 300, 301,
309.
St. Johns, II, 81, 83, 89, 90, 128, 180, 181, 203.
St. Joseph, II, 294.
St. Laurence Co., II, 536.
St. Leger, Col. Barry, I, xxviii, 209, 216, 217, 218, 219,
220, 221, 222, 226, 227, 229, 230,
231, 232, 233, 235, 237, 241, 243,
244, 245, 249, 250, 252, 253, 255,
256, 257, 259, 260, 261, 262, 277,
286, 287, 293, 330, 457, 468, 460,
461, 462, 463, 464.
St. Leger, Col., Barry, II, 91, 201, 202, 203, 204, 205.
St. Lewis, II, 282.
St. Mary, II, 294.
St. Phillips, I, 358.
St. Regis, Council at, I, 209, 216.
St. Regis, II, 409, 410, 486.
St. Vincent, I, 400.
Salem, I, 51, 328.
Salem, II, 217, 219, 220, 221, 222.
Salisbury, Mr. I, 309.
Salisbury, II, 249.
Salmon, John, II, 21, 27, 30, 31.
Salt Lick, II, 556.
Sammons, Frederick, I, 243.
Sammons, Frederick, II, 76, 79, 80, 82, 88, 87, 88, 91, 92,
98, 94.
Sammons, Jacob, I, 58, 394.
Sammons, Jacob, II, 76, 79, 80, 81, 82, 88, 84, 86, 87,
88, 90, 94, 95, 158, 159, 190.
Sammons, Sampson, I, 52, 78, 106.
Sammons, Sampson, II, 76, 76, 78, 79.
Sammons, Major, Thomas, I, xxi.
Sammons, Major, Thomas, II, 75, 76, 77, 80, 81, 96, 97, 114,
121, 122, 123, 124, 170, 185.
Sammons, Lieut., I, 288.
Sammons, Lt., II, 161, 506.
Sandusky, I, 296, 354.
Sandusky, II, 218, 219, 224, 266, 301, 303, 341,
346, 351, 356, 379, 393, 405.
San Jacinto, I, 336.
Santee, II, 142.
Saratoga, I, 207, 213, 267, 272, 275, 279, 291,
301, 469, 475, 478.
Saratoga, II, 181, 144, 160, 178, 185, 205, 542.
Sarver, B., II, 556.

Saulkill, Lt., 187.
Savage, Capt., I, 225.
Savannah, I, 395.
Savannah, II, 17, 214.
Savory, William, II, 339.
Sawyer, Mr., I, 355.
Sehaghticoke, II, 147, 205, 206.
Scalp-lock, on Emblem of
Chivalry, I, xvi.
Scanandanani, I, 449.
Schaticooks, I, 56.
Scheeban, Mrs., I, 385.
Schenectady, I, 67, 101, 128, 289, 403, 407, 410.
Schenectady, II, 54, 144, 541.
Schermehorn, Major, II, 174.
Sciota Indians, I, 349, 351.
Schlosser, II, 504.
Schoenbrunn, II, 217.
Schoharie, I, xviii, 104, 106, 178, 181, 218, 307,
311, 313, 314, 354, 355, 356, 357,
367, 368, 410, 412.
Schoharie, II, 6, 14, 55, 56, 57, 58, 64, 106,
107, 108, 111, 112, 114, 115, 122,
125, 129, 157, 168, 186, 235, 536.
School for Indian youth, I, 21, 22.
Schools with Mohawks, II, 529.
Schoyere, II, 26.
Schuyler, Brandt, I, 206.
Schuyler, Hanyost, I, 258, 259, 260, 262, 292.
Schuyler, Nicholas, I, 258, 259.
Schuyler, Col. Peter, takes
Sachems to England, I, 4.
Schuyler, Gen. Philip, I, 64, 73, 93, 101, 103, 112, 116, 120,
121, 123, 128, 131, 132, 133, 136,
137, 138, 140, 141, 142, 159, 160,
163, 166, 168, 173, 176, 177, 181,
184, 196, 197, 202, 203, 204, 207,
208, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 216,
221, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 232,
250, 255, 265, 266, 267, 275, 277,
278, 279, 288, 290, 301, 304, 305,
378, 382, 392, 407, 423, 425, 430,
431, 435, 451, 475, 471, 473, 477.
Schuyler, Gen., Philip, II, 4, 6, 9, 10, 24, 39, 40, 79, 102,
131, 136, 143, 146, 147, 148, 150,
151, 152, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178,
204, 212, 242, 542.
Schuylkill, I, 284, 285.
Scioto, II, 226, 294.
Scotch Hostages, I, 139, 141, 142.
Scotch Loyalists, I, 105, 108, 120, 134, 142.
Scott, James, on Committee, I, 168.
Scott, Joseph, I, 309.
Scott, Gen. Winfield, I, 344.
Scott, Col., II, 307, 316, 384, 504, 505, 507, 508,
509, 511, 512, 513, 514, 515, 516.
Scouts sent to Oneida Lake, I, 8.
Seaghuagerat, speech by, I, 98, 432, 435.
Seeber, Capt. Henry, I, 234, 237.
Seeber, Jacob, I, 110, 237, 242.
Seeber, Lt. William, I, 72, 242.
Siege of Fort Schuyler raised, I, 257, 258, 259, 260, 261.
Siege of Fort Stanwix, I, 280.
Selby, Wm., II, 423.
Seneca, Abeal, II, 243.
Seneca, George, II, 441.
Seneca Lake, I, 217, 340, 460.
Seneca, Country invaded, I, 350.
Seneca Lake, II, 23, 26, 36, 37.
Senecas, I, 86, 182, 243, 244, 304, 305, 307,
371, 378, 380, 389, 390, 391, 410,
446.
Senecas, II, 8, 41, 126, 233, 244, 245, 289,
295, 324, 332, 355, 387, 411, 412,
415, 416, 446, 447, 460.
Sergeant, Rev. John, at
Stockbridge, I, 57.
Seth, II, 380.
Seven Nations of Canada, (see
Caughnawagas), I.
Seven Nations of Canada, II, 332, 339, 350, 355, 359, 360, 367,
409, 410.
Shabosh, Joseph, II, 220.
Shades of Death, I, 336.
Shagogeaseronni, II, 575.
Shamokin, I, 88, 89, 320.
Shankland, Mr., II, 15, 16.
Sharon, II, 157.
Shawanese, 39, 41, 42, 56, 102, 103, 191, 192,
193, 295, 313, 319, 320, 347, 349,
408, 422, 446, 449, 456.
Shawanese, II, 40, 43, 45, 47, 48, 49, 71, 101,
164, 165, 166, 167, 171, 226, 230,
232, 236, 243, 265, 278, 285, 291,
295, 335, 342, 345, 346, 348, 350,
355, 359, 360, 374, 390.
Shawangauk, II, 66.
Shay's Rebellion, II, 140, 258, 268.
Sheafe, Gen., II, 391, 402, 509, 510, 513, 515.
Shelby, Cap. Isaac, in battle, I, 43.
Shelby, flanks the Indians, I, 43.
Shelby, II, 100.
Shell's Bush, II, 164, 165.
Shepard, Abraham, I, 421.
Sherburne, Major, I, 154, 156, 156.

Sheridan, II, 258.
Sherman, Roger, II, 182.
Sherwood, Capt., II, 197, 199.
Sheshequon, II, 217.
Shew, Godfrey, I, 309.
Shew, Jacob, II, 190.
Shew, John and Sons, I, 309.
Shew, John, J. I, 310.
Shew, Rev. John I., II, 69, 80, 164.
Shikellimus, father of Logan, I, 88, 89.
Shirley, Gen., I, 57, 218.
Shoemaker, a loyalist, I, 255, 258, 365.
Sidney, Lord, II, 249, 252, 253, 255, 264, 273.
Sierra Leone, II, 524.
Silliman, Gen., I, 283.
Silver Bluff, II, 142.
Silver Heels murdered, I, 41.
Singleton, Lieut., I, 246, 459.
Simcoe, Governor I. G., I, 239, 336, 337, 338, 340, 341, 342,
351, 352, 357, 364, 367, 369, 370,
374, 379, 384, 385, 390, 391, 392,
398, 398, 399, 400.
Sinclair, Gov., II, 381.
Sinclair's, Defeat, (app), II, 550, 551.
Sioux, II, 2.
Sitz, Peter, I, 190, 191.
Six Nations, I, xx, 55, 56, 92, 94, 158, 292.
Six Nations, II, 355.
Six Mile Island, II, 562.
Skanarady, a Cayuga, I, 14.
Skenandoah, I, 407.
Skeneateles Lake, I, 217.
Skenesborough, I, 78, 164, 165, 202, 342.
Skenesborough, II, 133, 134, 201.
Skeleton with armor, II, 594.
Skinner, Mr. II, 70.
Slaves, Indians sold as, I, xv.
Small, Capt., II, 166.
Small Pox, I, 163, 164.
Smith, Capt., I, 356.
Smith, Col. II, 379, 468.
Smith, Rev. Charles Jeffrey I, 22, 23.
Smith, George, II, 199.
Smyth, Doctor, II, 153, 197, 540.
Snell, Jacob, I, 242.
Snell, Mr., II, 391.
Snyder, Isaac, II, 66, 68.
Snyder, Jeremiah, II, 66, 67.
Snyder, Lodwig, I, 314.
Soc. Northern Antiquities, II, 1.
Sodus, Settlements, II, 391.
Solihoana, (Col. Francis), I, 57, 95.
Solly, Mr., II, 531, 527.
Sonughsas takes the war belt, I, 15.
Sorel, expedition from, I, 168.
Sorel, II, 83, 88, 244, 263.
Sortie at Fort Schuyler, I, 244, 245, 249
South Carolina, I, 115, 137, 416.
South Carolina, II, 58, 99, 262.
Southern News, II, 541.
Sowosay, II, 394.
Shafford, H. G., I, 288.
Spaniard, speech from, II, 565.
Spaniard, reply to, II, 567.
Spaniards in Western N. Y., II, 586, 588.
Spanish interference, II, 289, 292, 375, 376.
Speeches, I;
author's plan of giving, xxvi, xxvii;
by old Nickus, 9, 12;
by Sir William Johnson, 11;
by Cayuga deputies, 14.
Speech of Sir William Johnson, I, 15;
Aroyhigadecka, 16;
Logan, the Mingo Chief, 46;
remarks on authenticity of, 46, 47;
Indian Chief before Congress, 68;
Congress to Indians, 69;
Little Abraham, 71;
to Oneidas and reply, 82;
Col. Francis to Indians, 94, 96;
of Kanaghquaesa, 95;
of Little Abraham, 96.
Speech of Tiahogwando, I, 97, 101;
Col. Francis, 97;
of Commissioners, 98;
Seaghnagerat, 98;
Little Abraham, 100, 102, 124, 131;
Canajoharie Indians, 118;
Mr. Bleecker, 121;
Mohawks to Mr. Bleecker, 122;
Gen. Schuyler, 128;
Indian deputies in Congress, 158;
Oneida Chiefs to Col. Elmore, 176;
Thomas Spencer, an Oneida, 210;
condolence of Oneidas
answered, 227;
Major Ancrom, 260;
Col. Willett, 251;
of Oneidas, 366;
of Good Peter, 407;
of Col. Van Schaick, 409.
Speech of Seaghnagerat, I, 482, 485;
of Albany Com'rs, 435, 450, 456, 452;
Kanaghquaesa, 444, 436;
Little Abraham, 444, 455;
Tiahogwando, 449;
to Gov. Clinton, II, 10;
Geo. Clinton to Oneidas, 11;
of Wyandot Chief, 43;
of Delaware, 47, 49;
of Cornplanter, 127;
Indians to Gamelin, 298;
of Six Nations, 335, 362;
of Cats Eyes, 342, 345;
by Brant, II, 343, 344, 346, 253, 364;
of Carry-one-about, 348;
of Wyandots, 348;
of Wyandot Chief, 350;
of Clear Sky, 359, 370;
of Chippewas and others 361;
of Delawares, 361;
of Red Jacket, 364;
of Lord Dorchester, 367;
of Egouchouoy, II, 376;
of Wyandots to Gov. Simcoe, 392;
Simcoe to Indians, 392;
of Duguoin, 421;
temperance, 441, 442;
of condolence, 450, 451;
from Spaniards, 375, 378, 565;
Brant, 89.

Spencer, Lieut., II, 107, 109, 118.
Spencer, Thomas, an Indian, I, 209, 210, 216, 217.
Spencer, Thomas, whig orator, I, 59.
Spirits among Indians,
pernicious effects of, I, 11.
Sporr Ensign, I, 225.
Springfield, I, 312.
Springfield, II, 5, 100.
Squaghkies, II, 4.
Squaw Run, II, 551.
Stacey, Col., I, 386, 387.
Stacia, Lt. Col., I, 372, 374,
Staving, Mr., I, 363.
Starke, Gen., I, 232, 265, 302, 358, 368.
Starke, Gen., II, 178, 183, 196, 197, 208.
Starks, Gen., II, 541.
Staten Island, I, 197.
Steedman, Wm., II, 313.
Steel, Capt., II, 83, 91.
Sternberg, Lambert, I, 316.
Sternberg, Nicholas, I, 314, 315, 316, 317.
Steuben, Baron, II, 193, 263.
Stevens, Mr., II, 73.
Stewart, Alex., II, 573.
Stewart, Charles, I, 324, 326, 327.
Stewart, Lazarus, I, 325, 326.
Stewart, Rev. Mr., I, 19, 21, 26, 27, 28, 101, 147, 148,
180, 447.
Stewart, Rev. Dr., II, 287, 528.
Stillwater, I, 267, 268, 366.
Stillwater, II, 147.
Stirling, Lord, I, 170.
Stirling, Lord, II, 178, 188, 196, 197, 208.
Stockbridge Indians, I, 56, 57, 58, 59, 61, 62, 63, 172,
234, 254, 257.
Stockbridges, II, 231, 307, 427, 480.
Stone Arabia, I, 52, 409.
Stone Arabia, II, 115, 118, 125, 136, 160, 189.
Stoney Point, I, 280.
Stoney Point, II, 52.
Strachan, Dr., Notice of Brant
by. I, 2.
Stranahan, Col., II, 504, 508, 514, 523.
Stratton, Wm., II, 576.
Stratton, Lt., II, 573.
Stringer, Samuel, I, 98, 432.
Stroudsburg, I, 340.
Stuart, Capt., I, 198.
Stuart, Sir Charles, II, 250, 598.
Sugar Hill, defence of, I, 200, 201.
Sukachgook, II, 377.
Sullivan, Gen., I, xxiii, 168, 170, 341, 342, 346, 347,
411, 422.
Sullivan, II, 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 16, 17, 18,
19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,
29, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39,
40, 41, 42, 54, 60, 61, 106, 140,
288, 460.
Sumner, Benjamin, II, 470.
Sumter, Gen., II, 100, 456.
Sunbury, I, 421.
Sunbury, II, 13.
Surrender of Burgoyne, I, 275.
Susquehanna, I, 312, 322, 323, 324, 332, 356, 357,
358.
Susquehanna, II, 65, 106, 159, 217.
Sutton, Mr., II, 562.
Swan Creek, II, 391.
Swartwout, Capt. Abraham, I, 234, 359.
Swegachy, I, 8.
Sword voted to Col. Willett, I, 246.
Sylvester, Francis, I, 370.
Syter, Capt. Geo., II, 39, 546.
Tadeuskund, I, 323.
Tobaddy, a Chief stopped by
French, I, 6.
Taicarihogo, alias Nickus Hance, I, 17.
Talbot, Thomas, II, 376.
Tarleton, Gen., II, 99, 100, 142.
Tarrawarrix, a Seneca, I, 12.
Tayler, John, I, xxi, 145, 288, 289, 290, 347.
Tchaosennoghts, II, 421.
Teghsitaasgowa, II, 576.
Tehoseroron, II, 244.
Tehowaghwengaraghkwin, I, 3, 18.
Tekaenyongh, II, 576.
Tekaharawa falls, I, 190.
Tekahentakwa, II, 576.
Tekarihoken, II, 575.
Tekarihogea, II, 500, 501, 537.
Tekeyanedonhotte, Col. Elmore, I, 176.
Ten Broeck, Gen., I, 128.
Ten Eyek, Col., I, 178.

Ternay, Chevalier, II, 99.
Terry, Thomas, I, 338.
Teughsaragarat, a Cayuga, I, 14.
Teyonhighkon, II, 524.
Teyoninhokarawen, II, 288, 288, 404, 414, 417, 423, 425,
426, 427, 428, 429, 577, 578, 579,
580.
Thanksgiving dance, I, 388.
Thanksgiving, II, 444.
Thaosonnenghton, II, 576.
Tharighwegiri, II, 337, 338.
Thatcher's Indian Biography, I, 46.
Thatcher's Military Journal, I, xvii, 337, 338.
Thaweyogearat, II, 575.
Thayendanegea, signification of, I, 1.
Thayendanegea, (see Brant), I.
Thomas, General, I, 161, 162, 163.
Thompson, Gen., I, 163.
Thompson, John, I, 397.
Thompson's, at German Flats, I, 72, 85.
Thorp, Ezra, II, 66.
Thorp, Henry, II, 56.
Thorpe, Judge, II, 580.
Thorwald, II, 487, 590, 591.
Three Islands, I, 332.
Three Rivers, (Canada), I, 117, 404.
Three Rivers, N. Y., I, 216, 220.
Throop, Col. Joseph, II, 546, 547.
Tiahogwando, Speech of, I, 96, 97, 101, 449.
Tice, Capt. Gilbert, I, 266, 150, 157.
Ticonderoga, I, 7, 78, 102, 108, 178, 197, 200, 201,
202, 209, 210, 211, 212, 216, 262,
266, 270, 292, 438, 453.
Ticonderoga, II, 81, 132, 150, 151, 152, 155, 178,
181, 201, 203, 204, 314.
Tiehout, Capt. Henry, II, 546.
Tienderago, preparations for
scout to, I, 15.
Tiffany, Gideon, II, 474.
Tiger River, II, 100.
Timmerman, Jacob, I, 241.
Timmerman, Jacob, II, 215.
Tioga, I, 331, 370, 372, 378, 392, 421.
Tioga, II, 5, 12, 13, 18, 22, 23, 26, 27, 36,
37, 59, 105, 106.
Titcomb, Major, II, 22.
Tiverton, I, 346.
Tizederonderon, Mr. Bleecker, I, 131.
Todd, Col., II, 216.
Tomhanic, II, 173.
Tomlinson, Murdered, I, 39, 40.
Tompkins, Gov., II, 502, 508.
Toronto, II, 351, 519, 523.
Torture at Wyoming, I, 338.
Totems, Indian, II, 355, 394.
Totten and Crossfield's
Purchase, II, 570.
Townsend, Robert, I, 418, 421.
Towson, II, 512, 513.
Tracy, Ephraim, II, 212.
Tracy, Uri, II, 212.
Trade, Indian, I, 6.
Treaties, I, 430, 452, 456.
Treaties, II, 243, 244, 262.
Trenton, Battle of, I, 174, 175.
Tribes of Indians, how
designated, I, 3.
Trigg, Col., II, 216.
Tripes Hill, II, 73, 187.
Troy, I, 476.
Trueman, Major, II, 331, 332.
Trumbull, Col. John, I, 165, 200, 347.
Trumbull, Gov., I, 62, 234, 242, 286, 327.
Trumbull, Gov., II, 548.
Tryon Co., I, xx, xxi, xxxiii, 51, 52, 63, 64, 66,
67, 70, 72, 74, 105, 106, 128, 140,
167, 168, 177, 211, 212, 213, 214,
242, 258, 256, 264, 283, 424, 425,
468.
Tryon Co., name changed, II, 236.
Tryon, Gov., II, 52, 180.
Tsinonwanhonte, II, xli.
Tsklelele, I, 454.
Tubbs, John, II, 177.
Tulk, C. A., II, 527.
Tunadilly, I, 180.
Tupper, Col., I, 181.
Turlock, I, 354.
Turlock, II, 157.
Turner, Capt., II, 493.
Tuscarora, I, 351, 396.
Tuscaroras, I, 80, 86, 87, 297, 305, 306, 360, 366,
367, 401, 402, 408, 409, 453.
Tuscaroras, II, 3, 4, 11, 88, 108, 104, 105, 242,
244, 422.
Tustans, II, 295.
Tusten, Benj. Jr., I, 421.
Tusten, Dr. I, 415, 416, 418.
Twightwees, [Miamis,] Message
from, I, 6.
Twitchtwees, II, 268.
Twithways, II, 359.
Tyler, Capt. Robt., I, 416, 421.
Ulster, frontiers, I, 414.
Ulster Co., II, 167.
Unadilla, I, 178, 180, 181, 182, 183, 214, 291,
297, 310, 312, 313, 341, 364, 366,
368, 376, 408.
Unadilla, II, 17.
Upper Mohawk Castle, II, 481

Utica, Site of, I, 288.
Vail, Capt. Benj., I, 418, 421.
Vail, Gilbert, I, 421.
Valley Forge, I, 286, 297, 301.
Van Allen, II, 120.
Van Bensehoten, Captain, I, 284.
Van Bensehoten, Major, II, 122.
Van Courtlandt, Col. Philip, I, 414.
Van Courtlandt, Col., II, 5, 37, 148, 460, 540.
Van Cortlandt, Pierre, I, 218.
Van Deusen, James, II, 129, 134, 135.
Van Dyck, Col., I, 400, 401.
Van Eps, II, 119, 121, 124.
Van Horne, Abraham, on
committee, I, 73.
Van Rensselaer, Col. Henry, II, 168, 174, 184, 185.
Van Rensselaer, Henry K., II, 205, 206, 207.
Van Rensselaer, Jeremiah, I, 98, 432.
Van Rensselaer, Col. John, II, 205, 206, 546.
Van Rensselaer, Capt. Peter, II, 192, 188.
Van Rensselaer, Col. Robert, I, 212.
Van Rensselaer, Gen. Robert, II, 115, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124,
125, 126, 206.
Van Rensselaer, Col. Solomon, II, 386, 501, 502, 503, 504, 505, 506.
Van Rensselaer, Gen. Stephen, II, 502, 503, 507, 510.
Van Schaick, Col., I, 168, 168, 181, 214, 362, 403, 404,
405, 406, 407, 409, 411.
Van Schaick, Col., II, 12, 81, 130, 131, 238, 542.
Van Sluyck, Major, I, 72, 286, 242.
Van Sluyck, II, 81.
Van Veghten, Anthony on
Committee, I, 72.
Van Vechten, Col. II, 146.
Van Vrank, Maj., II, 74.
Varick, Col. Richard, I, 123, 279, 354, 359, 360, 413.
Varick, Col. Richard, II, 290, 410.
Vandreuil, Arnold at, I, 154.
Vandreuil, Mde., II, 103.
Vaughan, General, I, 282.
Veeder, Abraham, II, 80.
Veeder, John, I, 62.
Veeder, Volkert, I, 73.
Veeder, Col. Volkert, II, 81, 159.
Venango, II, 41, 147, 363, 365, 371, 372, 374,
377.
Vermont Controversy, II, 152, 158, 178, 179, 180, 181, 182,
183, 184, 197, 198, 200, 201, 202,
203, 204, 205, 206, 207, 208, 542.
Vernon, Maj., I, 399.
Versailles, Treaty of, I, 298, 299.
Vinland, II, 591.
Virginia, I, 37, 44, 116, 119.
Virginia, II, 198, 194.
Visscher, Col. Frederick, I, 233, 236, 242.
Visscher, Col. Fred'k, II, 73, 74, 75.
Visscher, Harmanus, II, 74.
Visscher, John, II, 74.
Visscher, Wm. Brower, II, 74.
Vrooman, Col., I, 354, 355.
Vrooman, Bartholomew, II, 112.
Vrooman, Bartholomew Jr., II, 112.
Vrooman, Capt., II, 124.
Vrooman, Col., II, 56.
Vrooman, Ephraim, II, 112, 113.
Vrooman, John II, 112, 113.
Vrooman, Josias, II, 112.
Vrooman, Martin, II, 113.
Vrooman, Simon, II, 112.
Vrooman, Tunis, II, 112.
Vrooman, II, 64, 124, 168.
Wabash, I, 400.
Wabash, II, 45, 46, 248, 265, 291, 294, 307,
478.
Wabingas, I, 56.
Wadsworth, Gen., II, 508, 510, 511.
Waggoner, Joseph, I, 184, 185.
Waggoner, Peter, I, 72, 410.
Wall, Edward, I, 72, 74, 81.
Wall, Mrs., I, 385.
Wallace, Wm., II, 220.
Walradt, Henry, I, 242.
Walter, George, I, 234, 240.
Waltermeyer, John, II, 172, 174, 175, 176, 177, 210, 211,
212.
Wanton Island, tradition of
battle, I, 67.
Waorighonti, II, 575.
Ward, John, II, 177.
Warner, Col. Seth, I, 78, 112.
Warner, Col. Seth, II, 129, 134, 181.
Warren, Col., II, 534.
Warren, Joseph, eloquence of, I, 30.
Warren, Sir Peter, II, 186.
Warrensbush, II, 186.
Warren, town of, I, 362, 363.
Warraghiyaghy, see Johnson,
Sir Wm., I.
Warwick, I, 416.
Warwick, Earl of, I, 151, 322.
Warwick, Earl of, II, 251.
Washington, Gen. George, I, 91, 115, 149, 157, 159, 161, 165,
169, 170, 173, 174, 175, 196, 197,
202, 266, 267, 284, 285, 286, 301,
303, 333, 339, 343, 344, 345, 346,
360, 361, 362, 370.

Washington, Gen., II, 1, 4, 13, 17, 39, 40, 41, 42, 98,
99, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 111,
138, 144, 149, 150, 157, 194, 211,
235, 242, 245, 263, 281, 331, 345,
366, 368, 369, 370, 376, 378, 385,
386, 395, 417, 541.
Washington, John Augustine, I, 172, 344.
Waterbury, Gen., II, 211.
Waterford, I, 476.
Watson, James, II, 410.
Watts, John, I, 170, 237, 248.
Watts, Major, I, 220, 235, 237, 242, 243.
Wawarsing, I, 414.
Wawarsing, II, 17, 18, 65, 169.
Waxhaws, II, 99.
Wayne, Gen. Anthony, II, 51, 52, 138, 139, 140, 141, 214,
288, 312, 315, 339, 342, 345, 347,
357, 377, 381, 383, 384, 388, 389,
390, 391, 392, 393, 395, 420, 502.
Weeks, Mr. II, 580.
Weisenfeldts, Col., II, 185.
Weiser, Conrad, II, 451.
Weld, Mr., II, 490, 526, 598.
Wells, Jane, I, 387.
Wells, John, I, 378, 379.
Wells, John, II, 383, 459.
Wells, Robert, I, 168, 173, 174, 372, 373, 380, 381.
Welsh, Pioneers, II, 487.
Welsh Triads, II, 488.
Wemple, Col., II, 97.
Wemys, Major, II, 100.
Wentz, George, on committee, I, 78.
Wesson, Col., I, 214.
West Canada creek, I, 363.
West Canada creek, II, 190, 191, 192.
West, Rev. Mr., II, 530.
Western, Indian rear, II, 292.
Westham, II, 142.
Westmoreland Co., Pa., I, 328.
Weston, Col., I, 229, 255.
Westover, II, 141.
West Point, II, 101, 102.
Wheeling, I, 89.
Wheeling, II, 208, 232, 483.
Wheelock, Rev. E., I, 4, 21, 22, 23, 24, 26, 153.
Wheelock, James, II, 436, 470, 471, 474, 476, 477, 478.
Wheelock, John, II, 468, 470, 478, 495.
Wheelock, Pres., II, 431, 436, 466, 468, 488, 489.
Wheelock, Rev. Ralph, I, 25.
White, Sheriff Alexander, I, 106, 107, 112, 364.
White Creek, II, 150.
White, Epenetus, II, 212.
White Eyes, I, 118, 149, 348, 349.
White Eyes, II, 44.
White, Col. John, II, 52, 53.
White, Mr., II, 435.
White Plains, I, 172, 346, 361, 362.
Whitestown, I, 233.
Wilkesbarre, I, 328.
Wilkinson, Jemima, II, 496, 497.
Wilkinson, Gen., I, 266, 268, 269, 271, 272, 273, 276,
277, 278.
Wilkinson, General, II, 326, 327, 336, 386.
Willard, Pres. Joseph, II, 287.
Willett, Col. Marinus, I, 228, 225, 226, 228, 229, 234, 235,
242, 244, 245, 246, 247, 249, 250,
265, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256, 257,
345, 357, 362, 406, 407.
Willett, Col. Marinus, II, 6, 80, 155, 156, 158, 159, 160,
161, 168, 186, 187, 188, 189, 190,
191, 192, 196, 215, 233, 234, 235,
305, 316, 330, 411.
William, an Indian pupil, I, 22, 28.
Williams, Col., I, 467.
Williams, William, I, 266.
Williamsburgh, I, 194, 358.
Williamson, Col. David, II, 220, 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226,
227, 228, 229, 230, 231.
Williamson, Capt., II, 99, 130, 391, 493.
Willoe, Capt., I, 469.
Willstown, II, 266.
Wilson, Capt., I, 248.
Wilson, Col., remarks on
Cornstock, I, 45.
Wilson, Rev. Dr., I, 418, 419.
Winder, Gen., II, 516.
Wingemund, II, 228.
Winn, Capt., I, 168.
Winosski, II, 89.
Wisner, Lt. Col. Gabriel, I, 418, 420, 421.
Wisner, Col., II, 491.
Witbeck, Mr., II, 456.
Wither's Chronicles, II, 232.
Wolf, a son of Cornstock, I, 194.
Wolf, Mr., II, 553.
Wood, Capt. John, I, 421.
Wood, Lt. John, I, 421.
Wood, Major, I, 419.
Woodlake, Capt., I, 315, 316, 317.
Wood Creek, I, 8, 209, 210, 221, 224, 262, 404,
406.

Woodhull, Gen, I, 112, 170, 283.
Woodruff, Hunloke, II, 546.
Woodruff, Samuel, I, 240, 244, 419, 475, 483, 595.
Woodruff, Samuel, II, 364, 446, 449, 467.
Woodruff, Wm., II, 484, 485, 488.
Woodstock, I, 414.
Woodworth, Solomon, I, 309.
Woodworth, Solomon, II, 68, 69, 163, 164.
Wool, Capt., II, 506, 507, 508.
Wolcot, Oliver, I, 98, 430, 431, 435.
Woolsey, Major, II, 107, 109.
Wooster, Gen., I, 162.
Women, Indian, address Sir
Wm. Johnson, I, 10.
Wormwood, Lieut, killed, I, 190, 191.
Wormwood, Lt. II, 491.
Wyandots under Logan, I, 42.
Wyalusing, II, 217.
Wyandots, II, 48, 218, 219, 221, 224, 225, 266,
267, 276, 280, 285, 346, 347, 348,
349, 350, 355, 361, 372, 376, 386,
387, 390, 392, 393, 565, 567.
Wyatt, Mr., II, 425, 429.
Wyllys, Major, II, 294.
Wymples, Peggy, II, 74.
Wynkoop, Col., II, 210.
Wyoming, I, 101, 168, 288, 313, 318, 319, 320,
322, 330, 331, 342, 350, 354, 369,
374, 379, 381, 383, 385, 391, 422,
449.
Wyoming, II, 12, 13, 18, 20, 29, 34, 37, 65,
341, 488, 523, 525, 527, 598, 599,
602.
Yates, Abraham, I, 432.
Yates, Abraham, Jr., I, 433.
Yates, Col. Christopher P., I, 35, 72, 73, 108.
Yates, Giles F., II, 112, 113, 115.
Yates, Col. Peter, II, 205, 206, 207.
Yates, Peter W., II, 569.
Yates, Robert, I, 137.
Yagers German, II, 105, 121, 186.
Yaghroonwago, II, 42.
Yoghstatheagh, II, 576.
York, II, 350, 516, 519.
Yorktown, I, 300, 301.
Yorktown, II, 194, 195, 202.
Yaugoyawathaw, II, 415.
Young, Mr. I, 466.
Young's Settlement, I, 363.
Younglove, Moses, I, 240, 241, 242, 459.
Yung, Michael, II, 217.
Zeisberger, David, II, 217.
Zinsendorf, Count, I, 38, 319, 221, 322.

*** End of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "Life of Joseph Brant—Thayandanegea (Vol. II) - Including the Border Wars of the American Revolution" ***

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