X3 
 
CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 GIFT OF 
 Simon L. Alder 
 
Sullivan's Campaign in Western New York 
 
 1779. 
 
 By SIMON L. ABLER. 
 
 Read before the Rochester Historical Society 
 January 14, 1898. 
 
 " On the last day of July, 1779, after 
 many and vexatious delays, General Sul- 
 livan g^t his army in motion and beg-an 
 his northTVard march for the country of 
 the Iroquois. He had reached "Wyoming 
 cm the 23d of June wdth the main part 
 of his force and had expected to find 
 afWaitlng him there a colniplete supply of 
 provisions and facilities for 'their trans- 
 portation. But the quartermaster's and 
 the commissary's departMi'ents had failed 
 him and of the small quantity of provi- 
 sions which had been forwarded very 
 little was fit for use. Vlg'orous steps 
 were at onoe taken to collect what was 
 necessary for the supiport of the army; 
 but even with the greatest eflEorts it was 
 not until July 30th that the army was in 
 condition for an advance. 
 
 " Stillivan's orders were brief, but ex- 
 plicit. ' The Immediate otoject," said 
 Washington, ' Is the total destru'ction and 
 devastation of the settlements of the Six 
 Nations and the oapture of as many per- 
 sons as poBBlbie.' The reason for this 
 vigorous policy was later given by hita 
 in a letter to General Sullivan in which 
 he emphasized the 'necessity of pushing 
 the Indians to the greatest practicabl'e 
 distance from their OTvn set/tlements and 
 our frontiers; to the throwing them 
 wholly on the British enemy,' and 'mak- 
 ing the destru'Ction of th^ir settlements 
 so final and oomiDlete a<s to put it out of 
 their power to derive the smallest succor 
 from them in case they should arttempt 
 to return this season.' However we may 
 Judge the wisdom of this -policy, in the 
 light of stihsequent events, it Was de- 
 manded hy the urgent appeals of the dis- 
 tressed- population of our frontier settle- 
 ments. From them came almost daily to 
 the oommander-in-chlef and to congress 
 
 tales of massacre and devastaition ait- 
 tended with all the horrible details of In- 
 dian warfare. The massacres at Wyom- 
 ing and Cherry "Valley which even to- 
 day present to our minds pictures of 
 murder and rapine, had just taken place. 
 Every settlement oti the long frontier 
 line Which proteote?V the more populous 
 districts of the young colonies, was in 
 hourly fear of the tomahawk and torch 
 of the Indian and of the equally blood- 
 thirsty vengeance of the Tory. 
 
 " The influence brought to bear up'on 
 congress, and the Importance of prevent- 
 ing, and if po'SSible shutting off foirever, 
 attack from this quarter is evidenced by 
 the effedtive and for those days, large 
 army placed under Sullivan's command. 
 The men were well fitted, and the ofHcers 
 well selected for the work they had to do. 
 Colonel Butler, probably the most able 
 and active of the Tory leaders, said of 
 them, 'Some of the best continental 
 troops commanded by the most active 
 rebel generals and not a regiment of mil- 
 itia ajmong the whole.' Besides these 
 disciplined troops, among whom were 
 four companies of Morgan's celebrated 
 rifle corps, nearly, if not quite as skilled 
 in woodcraft as tlie Indians themselves, 
 there were the pioneers of the Wyoming 
 "Valley inspired with the hatred which 
 men feel Whose hamiee have been burned, 
 and whose kin have been murdered by 
 the Indian foe. Finally there were a 
 few friendly Indians, principally Oneidas, 
 to act as guides and scouts and to pilot 
 the army through the dense and 
 praotloally unknown ■wilderness. Not 
 less fltted for the enterprise were 
 the ofHcers. General SUlUvan had the 
 oonfldence of Washington which had 
 
been won by the courage and skill he had 
 shown in every position he had occupied; 
 and the wisdom of his choice for the 
 command of this important enterprise 
 was justified by his careful and thor- 
 ough condudt of the expedition. General 
 James Clinton, with the 'New York regi- 
 ments, joined Sullivan on August 22d. 
 He had built a dam at the outlet of Ot- 
 sego lake, whose sparkling water and 
 charming mountain scenery have been 
 celebrated by the pen of James Feni- 
 more Cooper, and on cutting it away was 
 enabled to float his division well on the 
 way towards its junction with the main 
 army. Clinton had shown first rate abil- 
 ity in the French and Indian war and 
 in the earlier years of the Revolution. 
 His experience on the frontier and his 
 education as an engineer and surveyor 
 well fitted him for an important com- 
 mand. The otiher brigadier-generals 
 were IVIaxwell, Poor and Hand, all of 
 whom had distinguished themselves in 
 the war as capable and reliable officers. 
 Hand, who was the youngest, had some 
 knowledge of the Indian country and 
 was familiar with their modes of war- 
 fare. His division had the right of the 
 line and his movements were conducted 
 with sagacity and spirit. 
 
 "The route of the army lay northward 
 along the Indian trail leading into the 
 heart of the settlements and hunting 
 grounds of the Iroquois. This pathway 
 was narrow and inadequate for the pas- 
 sage of an army, but to stray from it 
 meant to be lost in the wilds of an un- 
 traveled and unknown land. The In- 
 dian trails, worn deep into the soil by 
 the tread of Iroquois moccasins, which 
 had traveled for centuries these hig<h- 
 ways of the forest, were direct and 
 clearly marked. On account of the skill 
 with which they took advantage of the 
 niatural conformation of the land, and 
 passed on their way the choice sites 
 which have since been utilized for our 
 cities and villages, these Indian paths 
 were broadened into the highways over 
 which the pioneers' wagon and the stage 
 coach carried civlMzatlon into the wil- 
 derness of Central and Western New 
 York. 
 
 "The journals of the officers of the ex- 
 pedition, because of 'the difficulties under 
 which they were written and perhaps 
 in most cases of the practical temper of 
 the men who wrote them, are meagre in 
 detail, and are not Inclined to abound 
 in description of the country through 
 which the army passed. Hardly had the 
 march begun before it was in the 
 midst of the beauties of the Valley of 
 the Susquehanna. Ldeutenant-Colonel 
 Hubley, wrote in his diary on August 
 
 Tst, 'To attempt a description of the most , 
 beautiful cataract at Dackawanna, 
 called the Spring Falls, would be almost 
 presumption.' And on August 5th Dr. 
 Jabez Campbell wrote, 'This place is a 
 plain covered with English grass of an 
 extraordinary growth and beautiful. In 
 the way we passed a very high moun- 
 tain, from which . we had an extensive 
 prospect of mountains and the river, a 
 most beautiful variety.' The beautiful 
 scenery called forth from time to iime 
 expressions of wonder and delight, de- 
 spite the difficulties experienced by the 
 army in miaking its way through this 
 wild country. 'Through this country,' 
 complains one officer, 'there is nothing 
 but woods and mounta;ins and swamps 
 perpetually.' " 
 
 "Despite these obstructions the army 
 made tolerable progress. The Indians 
 closely wiatched it on Its way but re- 
 mained themselves unseen. An occasion- 
 al rifle shot, or the arrival within the 
 lines of a backwoodsman who had bare- 
 ly escaped death and scalping alone told 
 of theiir proximity. On August 12th, they 
 appeared in some force near the present 
 village of Chemung and firing on Gen- 
 eral Hand's brigade at short range killed 
 six men and wounded twelve. They were 
 immediately charged and disappeared in 
 the forest. From this time the army pro- 
 ceeded with much greater caution and it 
 was this alone that prevented an ambus- 
 cade which might have checked the ex- 
 pedition at Newtown, near the site of El- 
 mira. Here the decisive battle of the 
 expedition was fought. The British and 
 Indians had carefully chosen their 
 ground and masked their position with 
 shub oaks/ cut the night before. The po- 
 sition was well selected and the enemy 
 determined; and had the army marched 
 blindly along the trail it probably would 
 have been cut to pieces. But by means 
 of climbing tall trees and surveying the 
 path for a considerable distance ahead, 
 the riflemen in advance discovered the 
 works of the enemy in time. General 
 Sullivan called a council of his officers 
 and a plan to dislodge the Indian and 
 Tory forces was agreed upon. Its wis- 
 dom was justified by its complete suc- 
 cess. Every effort of the Indians to 
 draw the American forces in front to an 
 attack, before the flanking divisions 
 which had been sent out to the rig'ht and 
 left had attained their positions, failed. 
 When all was in readiness the cannon 
 which had bSen advantageously placed 
 began to play upon the enemy's works 
 and the advance was begun. The In- 
 dians fought with a remarkable stead- 
 iness and bravery, when we remember 
 that the roar of cannon and the bursting 
 
of shells is most terrifying to Indian 
 ears. Wiien they found that they were 
 pracUoaliy surrounded they began a 
 masterly retreat about seven hours af- 
 ter the first gun was fired; and succeeded 
 in carrying off the greater part of their 
 killed and wounded. The American loss, 
 three killed and thirty-nine wounded, 
 was remarkably small considering the 
 number of men engaged, and the length 
 of the battle. It has been impossible to 
 ascertain the British and Indian loss, 
 but it must have been much greater. 
 There have been various estimates made 
 of the numbers engaged on either side. 
 The British say that they had in the flghc 
 from four to six hundred Indians and two 
 hundred English, which probably is few- 
 er than there were; while Sullivan's es- 
 timate of their numbers at fifteen hun- 
 dred is undoubtedly too great. This es- 
 timate is made from the number of men 
 it would take to man their works. To 
 have properly defended the long line 
 which they occupied would need many 
 more men than they had so that they 
 concentrated their force at certain points 
 in the line, leaving the intervening spaces 
 barely protected. The number of Aimer- 
 icans engaged seems also to be uncer- 
 tain, but a conservative estimate is thir- 
 ty-two hundred men. 
 
 "After Newtown the army continued 
 its march practically unmolested. The 
 Indians seemed to feel the hopelessness 
 of staying ics progress. It appeared at 
 times as if a well directed attack would 
 seriously cripple the army, passing as it 
 did with difficulty through narrow 
 defiles in a long and slender line of 
 march and seriously encumbered 
 with the beasts of burden and 
 provisions. On September 1st, the 
 army was in a swamp and IL/ieutenant 
 Barton wrote in his diary, 'Had the sav- 
 ages availed themselves of this oppor- 
 tunity, it must have proved very fatal 
 to us, for they might with ease have de- 
 stroyed a great part of our provisions 
 with a party very inconsiderable.' An- 
 other officer wrote at about the same 
 time, 'I am sure that a. few men of spirit 
 might exceedingly retard our move- 
 ments.' But the Indians had been badly 
 beaten, and they believed the invading 
 army which advanced with the greatest 
 caution and whose numbers they exag- 
 gerated, was invincible. The fresh 
 bands of warriors which occasionally 
 joined them were eager to engage the 
 army, but the fighting spirit of those 
 who had been at Nerwtown was for the 
 time utterly broken, and their tales of 
 defeat effectually cooled the ardor of 
 the new men. Nor did complete harmony 
 
 of purpose exist in the Indian camp. 
 There was a powerful faction which 
 hoped to secure peace by taking a neu- 
 tral stand; and it is said that some of 
 the Indians, notably Red Jacket, then 
 a young warrior, afterwards to become 
 famous as an orator, attempted to enter 
 into negotiations to that end. 
 
 " Shortly after destroying and leaving 
 Newtown, the army reached Catherines- 
 town, the home of the celebrated Cath- 
 erine Montour, on the site of the present 
 village of Montour Falls and but two 
 miles from Watkins, and the head of 
 Seneca lake. Here they found an aged 
 squaw, the sole inhabitant of the desert- 
 ed village, who told them that the defeat 
 at Newtown had completely demoralized 
 the Indian warriors. She was well treat- 
 ed by the officers. After the destruction 
 of the village, a hut was erected, and 
 provisions were left for her use. So 
 bitter was the feeling of many of the 
 rank and file against the Indians that it 
 was with some difficulty that this old 
 woman was protected from violence. 
 
 "The course of the army was now 
 northward along the east shore of Seneca 
 lake, 'The most beautiful I have ever 
 seen,' said one of the officers. The coun- 
 try was comparatively level, and rapid 
 progress was made. The trail led to the 
 important Indian town of Kanadesaga, 
 at the' foot of the lake, very near where 
 Geneva now stands. It was believed that 
 the Indians had prepared to defend their 
 town and a plan of attack was agreed 
 upon. But when the men entered the 
 village, they found there as its sole de- 
 fender a little white boy, four or five 
 years of age, nearly" starved and 
 entirely naked. He was tenderly 
 cared for and adopted by the 
 officers. The army then destroyed 
 Kanadesaga with its fields of corn and 
 its orchards of apple, peach and multoer- 
 ry trees. General Sullivan now called 
 a council to discuss the advisability of 
 proceeding farther. The scarcity of pro- 
 visions, the fact that the army since it 
 began its march into the wilderness was 
 completely cut off from its base of sup- 
 plies, and the uncertainty of obtaining 
 sufficient sustenance from the country 
 through which it was passing, rendered 
 a further advance dangerous. The main 
 object of the exipedition, the intimida- 
 tion of the Indians and the destruction 
 of their principal settlements, seemed 
 already to have been accomplished. Sul- 
 livan had been informed, however, that 
 the principal village of the Seneoas, the 
 most numerous and formidable of the 
 Iroquois, was on the Genesee river and 
 that at that place were the largest and 
 
oholcest fields and orchards and the 
 greatest stores of provisions. These pro- 
 visions, it was believed, were coilected 
 to sustain the British, as weil as the In- 
 dian forces, and as the object of the 
 campalg-n was to out off every possibili- 
 ty of attack from this quarter, a further 
 advance was considered. The spirit of 
 the army was excellent, the men cheer- 
 fully living on one-half rations, although 
 these were abundantly supplemented by 
 the products of the country through 
 which they were marching. What was 
 not used by the army was completely de- 
 stroyed. It was decided to march to the 
 Genesee. 
 
 "The army following the trail closely, 
 for there were no guides who could 
 otherwise find their way through this 
 country, moved to the westward and 
 soon reached Kanandaigua, where the 
 present village now is. From there the 
 trail led to the southwest, passing to the 
 north of Honeoye and Hemlock lakes, 
 and on the 12th of September the army 
 arrived at the head of Cenesus lake. 
 Here was the Indian village of Kanagh- 
 saws, the home of the famous chief. Big 
 Tree. Sullivan now believed that he was 
 near the great Seneca village of which he 
 was in search and which was to mark 
 the limit of the expedition, and he de- 
 termined to explore the trail to Uhe river 
 before proceeding with the army. - 
 
 "While Sullivan's soldiers were burn- 
 ing the houses and cutting down the corn 
 at the Indian village of Kanaghsaws, 
 numbers of bark canoes, freighted with 
 Indian warriors glided down the river, 
 flowing now rapidly, now placidly 
 through the valley which the Indians, 
 with the appropriateness which charac- 
 terizes their nomenclature, called the 
 Genesee, the beautiful valley. Guided by 
 skillful hand and practiced eye or driven 
 onward by long and powerful sweeps 
 of the paddle they moved rapidly down 
 the river to the great Seneca village at 
 the Western end of the Long House of 
 the Iroquois. The village was built on 
 the west bank of the river, where Cuy- 
 lerville now is, in the midst of acres of 
 cultivated fields, and thousands of fruit- 
 bearing trees. With the beautiful valley 
 stretching to the north and to the south, 
 and the magnificent forest scenery on 
 every hand and enclosing all, the whole 
 scene must have been one of peace and 
 beauty. Well might Sullivan's soldiers 
 believe that they had reached an earthly 
 paradise; and the men who first sought 
 flhis charming and fruitful country on an 
 errand of death and destruction and left 
 it in ruins and desolation came in later 
 days with their families and the arts of 
 peace to build it up again. 
 
 "The river had reflected many a. coun- 
 cil fire, but never during 'the centuries 
 that it, had floated the bark canoes of 
 the Iroquois had the chiefs met on its 
 banks in more solemn and anxious de- 
 liberation. But a few miles away a nu- 
 merous army, spreading destruction in 
 its path, was moving relentlessly onward 
 and penetrating the fastnesses of the wil- 
 derness which had hitherto been consid- 
 ered impregnable. The most famous 
 chiefs of the Confederacy were gathered 
 around the council fire and their delib- 
 erations were conducted with character- 
 istic solemnity and decorum, despite the 
 near and rapid approach of the enemy, 
 and the wailing of the frightened women 
 and children. The bolder spirits pre- 
 vailed, and on the night of the 12th of 
 September, the several bands of war- 
 riors under their favorite chiefs made 
 their way out of the village and across 
 the river to play their part in the attack 
 which had been determined upon, and 
 make a last and desperate effort in 
 defence of their homes. They 
 were animated with the cour- 
 age of desperation and hardly with the 
 hope of success. Mary Jemison, the 
 white captive of the Genesee, tells us 
 what 'the women and children were sent 
 into the w^oods to the west of the town 
 in order that we might make a good re- 
 treat if it should be necessary.' It must 
 have been with something like a feeling 
 of despair that the warriors, scantily 
 supported by tbe Tories, went out from 
 their village to attack an enemy many 
 times their num'ber, better armed than 
 themselves, active and vigilant, and 
 flushed with success. 
 
 "It was decided that the army should 
 be led into an ambuscade, the favorite 
 method of Indian warfare, and in its 
 success lay their only hope of victory. 
 If it failed, the only thing to be done 
 was to make good their retreat, and for 
 that all preparations had been made. 
 The army toad reached the head of Con- 
 esus lake and was engaged in building 
 a bridge over the inlet for the passage 
 of the artillery, when the British and In- 
 dian forces took up their position on the 
 hill to the west of the inlet. The trail 
 along which the army must pass con- 
 tinued obliquely up the hill, and followed 
 for nearly a mile the hea;ds of numerous 
 ravines which cut up t!he hillside. The 
 place chosen for the ambuscade was at 
 the north of the trail which held a gen- 
 erally westerly direction, and at the 
 heads of the ravines a'bout three-quart- 
 ers of a mile from a point where the 
 army, unconscious of the presence of 
 the enemy, was at work upon the bridge. 
 The place was admirably chosen, and the 
 
plan appears to have been to permit 
 part of the army to pass the place of 
 ambuscade before berlnnlng the attack. 
 There, on the morning of September 13th 
 with the Tories mingled with them, the 
 Indians lay In their place of conceal- 
 ment, anxiously and impatiently watch- 
 ing the army make its leisurely prepara- 
 tions to cross the inlet and proceed along 
 the trail. 
 
 "But when the army marched past the 
 heads of the ravines there were no In- 
 dians there to receive them. On the pre- 
 vious evening Lieutenant Boyd had 
 been sent out by Sullivan with instruc- 
 tions to take with him four riflemen and 
 an Indian guide and ascertain the loca- 
 tion of the Genesee Castle, which was 
 supposed to be on the east bank of the 
 river. Boyd disregarded the first part 
 of ihis instructions, and took with him 
 twenty-eig'ht men, including his guides. 
 They passed quietly up the trail towards 
 the river on the night of the 12th, prob- 
 a:bly before the Indians had taken up 
 their position at the point of ambuscade, 
 and went on unmolested and undis- 
 covered. They continued on the direct 
 trail, and in the evening arrived at the 
 Indian village of G-athtsegwarohare, a 
 short distance east of the river, instead 
 of at the Genesee Castle, which they ex- 
 pected to find. The old Indian village 
 of Chenusslo which was shown on the 
 maps in Sullivan's possession and which 
 was located on the east bank of the 
 Genesee at the junction of the Canaser- 
 aga creek with the river was no longer 
 in existence. Boyd found Gathtseg- 
 warohare abandoned, and after sending 
 back two men to report that fact to Sul- 
 livan, determined to await there the ad- 
 vance of the army. Some straggling In- 
 dians were fired upon by the party, one 
 of whoia was killed, and then thanking 
 that it would be safer to rejoin the 
 army, Boyd started back along the trail. 
 More Indians were seen, and these at the 
 sight of Boyd's party, instead of disap- 
 pearing into the woods, lured , Boyd in 
 pursuit directly Into the lines of the 
 ambuscade. Boyd and his men fought 
 bravely against fearful odds, but nearly 
 all of them were killed or captured. 
 
 "The Indians who had been for hours 
 lying in their cover, awaiting the ad- 
 vance of the main army, heard with dis- 
 may the heavy firing in their rear. Hav- 
 ing no knowledge of the size of Boyd's 
 force they believed they were surround- 
 ed, and those who did not go to the as- 
 sistance of the party that had attacked 
 Boyd made their way hastily to the riv- 
 er. "When the truth was learned It was 
 too late to take up their old position. An 
 incautious Indian had flred upon the sur- 
 
 veyor's party which had pushed ahead 
 of the main army, and an immediate ad- 
 vance was ordered, Sullivan soon learn- 
 ing from one of Boyd's men who es- 
 caped, of the disaster to his scouting 
 party. 
 
 "The ambuscade had completely failed. 
 Another council was immediately held in 
 the face of the advancing army and the 
 bolder warriors were in favor of making 
 still another and desperate effort to 
 check the foe. But a majority of the In-' 
 dians had already deserted, and all were 
 impressed with the hopelessness of the 
 struggle. When Sullivan was about to 
 enter the village of Gabhtsegwarohore, a 
 few of them were still drawn up in bait- 
 tie array, but they rapidly melted away 
 before the advancing columns of the 
 army. All resistence was now at an end 
 and Sullivan, unmolested, pushed his 
 way to ithe Genesee Castle. Now the 
 path of the army lay along the Genesee 
 flats on the east side of the river, 'con- 
 taining' says Major Fogg, 'about 20,000 
 acres with not a, stunup nor a tree upon 
 the whole, but grass six to ten feeit high.' 
 Colonel Henry Dearborn wrote, 'Our 
 army appeared there to a very great ad- 
 vantage moving in the exact order' of 
 march laid down in the plan but very 
 often we Who were on horseback could 
 see nothing but the men's guns above the 
 grass.' The river was soon reached and 
 forded and from an eminence on the west 
 side the army had a view of the great 
 town of the Senecas of which General 
 Sullivan in his offlcial report says, 'The 
 castle consisted of 128 houses, mostly 
 large and elegant. The place was beau- 
 tifully situated, almost encircled with a 
 cleared flat which extended for a nu'm- 
 ber of miles, where the most extensive 
 fields of corn were waving, and every 
 kind of vegetable that can be conceived." 
 The army marched 'into the town on the 
 14th of Septerruber and Immediately be- 
 gan its work of destruction. 
 
 " Hardly had they entered the village, 
 when they discovered the headless bodies 
 of Boyd and a private named Parker, 
 who was captured with him by the In- 
 dians. Parker had been apparently 
 killed at once, but Boyd's body was ter- 
 ribly mutilated and he had been sub- 
 jected to the most exquisite tortures. 
 They were buried with military honors. 
 Much hias been written of Boyd's appeal 
 for protection to the famous Mohawk 
 chief, Brant, on the score of free mas- 
 onry, and of his being put to the torture 
 only after that chief's departure from 
 the village, and on Boyd's patriotic re- 
 fusal to give Information of the numtoers 
 and plans of the Americans. There seems 
 to be no authentic corroboration of this 
 
 S 
 
tale. On the other ihand, Butler the Tory 
 leader wrote to headquarters, tha>t Boyd 
 informed him that Sullivan had a force 
 of 5,000 men and that its destination was 
 the G-enesee Castle. He adds that the 
 officer appeared to be intelligent and 
 well informed. Terrible as Boyd's fate 
 was his torture was but a natural out- 
 break of the hatred of the Indian war- 
 riors against the enemy that was laying 
 waste their country. The misfortune to 
 the scouting party was probably the 
 means of saving the army; or at least, 
 of preventing a much greater loss of life. 
 Had Boyd in the first instance taken 
 with him but the four men he was di- 
 rected to take, they probably would have 
 been killed or captured without drawing 
 tile main body of the Indians from their 
 amsuscade. Had he returned with his 
 whole force to the main army at the time 
 he sent two of his men to report to Sul- 
 livan, he would have returned unmol- 
 ested and with his report that the path 
 was clear and the Indian village aband- 
 oned, the army probably would have 
 marched confidently along the trail and 
 fallen into the trap laid for it. Had he 
 instead of going to the village of G-ath- 
 tsegwarohare followed the other trail 
 to the old Chenussio, he probably would 
 have been attacked so far from the main 
 force that the Indians in amibuscade 
 would not have been deonoralized. What 
 actually would have occurred in these 
 contingencies we can only conjecture; 
 but the desperate fight to the death made 
 by Boyd and his men was the means of 
 disorganizing the Indian and Tory forces 
 and consequently spoiling their plan for 
 attacking the army. 
 - " There was no more fighting. The 
 Genesee Castle was burned; its thou- 
 sands of fruit trees were destroyed; and 
 the corn and vegetables cut down and 
 thrown Into the river. So thoroughly 
 was the work of destruction done, that 
 Mary Jemlson tells us that on the In- 
 dians returning to take possession of the 
 village ' "W^hat were our feelings when 
 we found that there was not a mouthful 
 of sustenance left, not even enough to 
 keep a child one day from perishing from 
 hunger.' She also said that 'Our corn 
 was good that year, a part of which we 
 had gathered and secured for winter.' " 
 "The frultfulness of ttie country was a 
 constant marvel to the men of Sullivan's 
 army, many of whom, in times of peace, 
 wrung their livelihood from the more 
 sterile soil of the Eastern Colonies. The 
 principal product of the Indians was 
 com, which was ripening when destroyed 
 by the army. Lieutenant Beatty wrote 
 in his diary on August 30th, 'Our brigade 
 destroyed atiout 150 acres of the best 
 
 corn that I ever saw (some of the stalks 
 grew sixteen feet hig'h,)' and another of- 
 ficer wrote on the same day tha;t 'The 
 land exceeds any that I have ever seen. 
 Some corn stalks measured eighteen 
 feet, and a cob one foot and a. half long.' 
 The vegetables, found in great quanti- 
 ties, were beans, cucumbers, watermel- 
 ons, pumpkins, onions, squash, turnips, 
 cabbages, carrots and parsnips. Along ^ 
 the east bank of Seneca lake were great 
 fields of pea vines. The orchards, some 
 of which were very large, containing as 
 many as 1,500 trees, were principally ap- 
 ple and peach. Were it not for this 
 quantity of corn, vegetables and fruits 
 found on every hand, the army must 
 have turned back long before reaching 
 the Genesee Valley. The day after the 
 battle of Newtown, an order was issued 
 that t'he men draw only half rations; 
 and on arriving at Kanadesaga, now 
 Geneva, Major Burroughs wrote 'The 
 country abounds with corn and beans, 
 which we solely live on;' and later, 'Corn 
 and beans plenty, which is now of great 
 consequence to us.' General Sullivan re- 
 ported that 'The quantity of corn de- 
 stroyed, at a moderate computation, 
 must amount to 160,000 bushels, with a 
 vast quantity of vegetables of every 
 kind.' 
 
 "After the destruction of the Genesee 
 Castle was completed the army began 
 its homeward march, returning the same 
 way it came. No more hostile Indians 
 were seen, A party was detached from 
 the main army to destroy the corn, 
 which had not been cut down on the 
 west side of Seneca lake, and another 
 body of 600 men, under Colonel Butler, 
 circled Cayuga lake and destroyed the 
 villages of the Cayugas and hundreds 
 of acres of corn and orchards. When 
 the campaign was over. General Sulli- 
 van reported to congress in the following 
 words: 'It is with pleasure I inform the 
 congress that this army has not suffered 
 tlie loss of forty men in action or other- 
 wise since my taking the command; 
 though, perhaps, few troops have experi- 
 enced a more fatiguing campaign. Be- 
 sides the difficulties which naturally at- 
 tended marching through an enemy's 
 country, abounding in woods, creeks, riv- 
 ers, mountains, morasses and defiles, we 
 found no sm'all inconvenience from the 
 want of proper guides, and the maps of 
 the country are so exceedingly erroneous 
 that they serve not to enlighten, but to 
 perplex. We had not a person who was 
 sufficiently acquainted , with the coun- 
 try to conduct a party out of the Indian 
 path by day or scarcely in it by night; 
 though they were the best I possibly 
 
could prcvoure. Their Ignorance doubt- 
 less arose from the Indians having- ever 
 taOten the best measures in their power 
 to prevent their country's being explored. 
 We had much labor in clearing out the 
 roads for the artillery, notwithstanding 
 which the army moved from twelve to 
 sixteen miles every day, when not de- 
 tained by rains or employed in destroy- 
 ing settlements. The number of towns 
 destroyed by this army amounted to 
 forty besides scattering houses. Every 
 creek and river has been traced, 
 and th« whole country explored 
 in search of Indian settlements, and I 
 am well persuaded that, except one town 
 situated near Allegana, about fifty miles 
 from Chinesse, there Is not a single town 
 left in the country of the Five Nations." 
 
 "Sullivan had apparently done all that 
 he was ordered to do with one exception. 
 He had made no captives, and had Icilled 
 very few Indians. But this was hardly 
 his fault. Except at Newtown he had 
 seen very few Indians to kill or capture. 
 They had constantly watched the army 
 on its course, from their points of van- 
 tage back from the beaten trail's; but 
 there the army could not follow them. 
 The destruction of the settlements and 
 crops had been very complete, although 
 there were three villages instead of one, 
 as stated hy Sullivan, that were not en- 
 tered and destroyed by the army. The 
 most important of these was a town on 
 the Genesee river, where Avon now is, 
 which was called by the Indians, on ac- 
 count of the sulplhur springs in the vicin- 
 ity, CanewauguB, meaning literally, 
 "stinking water.' The Indians had also 
 managed to conceal, before the arrival 
 of the army, the portion of their crops 
 which had already been gathered. 
 
 "Successful though the campaign was 
 in the manner of its execution, its results 
 were not what it was hoped or expected 
 that they would be. The greater part 
 of the Indians journeyed to the fort at 
 Niagara, after abandoning the Genesee 
 Castle. From there on September 20th, 
 Colonel Bolton wrote to General Haldi- 
 mand, the British comniander at Mon- 
 treal: 'Butler assures me that if 500 men 
 had joined the Rangers in time, instead 
 of 300, at least 1,000 Warriors would have 
 turned out and with this force he is con- 
 vinced Mr. Sullivan would have had some 
 reason to repent his expedition. B\it the 
 Indians, not being supported, as they ex- 
 pected, they thought of nothing more 
 than carrying off their families.' And 
 Butler himself wrote at about the same 
 time: "The reinforcements your excel- 
 lency is sen-ding out are too late to save 
 the country of the Five Nations. This 
 
 h'as been very rapidly effected by the 
 rebels, whose superior strength and 
 numbers made all efforts to stop their 
 progress oif small avail.' 'Notwithstand- 
 ing their losses, the Indians seem un- 
 shaken in their attachment to his ma- 
 jesty's cause.' 'They are bringing their 
 families wHth them, and after leaving 
 them at Niagara, will return for re- 
 venge.' The measures taken by con- 
 gress to punish the Iroquois were so se- 
 vere that it would seem that there could 
 be little hope of tJheir remaining neutral 
 during the remainder of the war. That 
 some such idea was held by Washington 
 is evidenced by a letter that he wrote on 
 January 30, 1780, to General Schuyler. He 
 said, 'The hour of victory, we are in- 
 formed by Lord North, is the time for 
 negoitiation. That hour, so far as they 
 (the Iroquois) are concerned, is come, 
 and it would be wrong, in my judgment, 
 to force them irrevocably in the arms of 
 the enemy. To compel a people to re- 
 main in a state of desperation, and to 
 keep them at enmity with us when no 
 good is to be expected from it and much 
 evil may follow, is playing the whole 
 game against us.' But Sullivan's work 
 had been too well done. In the spring of 
 1780, Colonel Bolton wrote to Haldimand, 
 'Had Sullivan acted with more prudence 
 and less severity, I am satisfied that we 
 should not have had one-third of the 
 Six Nations in our interest at this time.' 
 "The winter of 1779 and '80, was one 
 of greaJt severity, and it is said that in 
 Western New York and Upper Canada 
 the snow fell to a depth of nearly eight 
 feet. The sufferings of the Indians from 
 disease and want of adequate provisions 
 were intense. Hardly had the spring 
 opened, however, than the Iroquois be- 
 gan their depredatitons on the fron- 
 tier settlements ' with an eagerness 
 and ferocity born of anger and revenge. 
 The Inhabitants of the frontier rwho had 
 abandoned their hoimes in fear the year 
 before were led to helieve that the blow 
 given by Sullivan crushed out forever the 
 spirit of the Indian tribes; and lulled 
 into security they again took up their 
 lives on the outskirts of the settlements. 
 Unfortunately, they little understood 
 the indomitable spirit and wonderful vi- 
 tality of the Iroquois, reduced though 
 they were in numbers and power. The 
 revenge taken by the Indians for the 
 desolation left by Sullivan's army, though 
 not so complete, may be compared with 
 the terrible retaliation of the Iroquois 
 nations on the French settlements at 
 Montreal after the destructive campaign 
 of the French under De Nonville into the 
 Iroquois country, in 1687. Mary Jemison 
 
tells the story of one of the first of these 
 expeditions as follows: 'The next sum- 
 mer after Sullivan's campaign, our In- 
 dians, highly incensed at the whites for 
 the treatment they had received, and the 
 sufferings which they had consequently 
 endured, determined to obtain some re- 
 dress by destroying their frontier settle- 
 ments. Cornplanter, otherwise called 
 John O'Ball led the Indians. An offi- 
 cer by the name of Johnson com- 
 manded the British in the expedi- 
 tion. The force was large, and so 
 strongly bent on retaliation that ap- 
 parently nothing could avert its march 
 or prevent its depredations. After leav- 
 ing Genesee they marched directly to 
 some of the headwaters of the Susque- 
 hanna river and Schoharie creek, went 
 down that creek to the Mohawk river; 
 thence up that river to Port Btanwix 
 and from thence came home. In their 
 route they burned a number of places, de- 
 stroyed all the cattle and other property 
 that came in their way, killed a number 
 of white people and brought home a few 
 prisoners.' These expeditions, or raids 
 against the frontier settlements contin- 
 ued until the close of the war. After Sul- 
 livan's campaign the Iroquois were the 
 implacable enemies of the colonists. In 
 July, 1780, Colonel Guy Johnson wrote to 
 General Haldimand at Montreal, 'Sulli- 
 van's announcement to congress that the 
 Six Nations are hum'bled and the fron- 
 tier secure proved to be an error. The 
 Indians are in high spirits from the hope 
 of reducing the rebels.' The English 
 officers made many unsuccessful at- 
 tempts to restrain their ferocity. In 
 August, 1782, Captaiin Powell wrote to 
 Montreal from Nli'agara 'The shocking 
 cruelties of the Indians have been 
 
 ordered to be stopped. The rebel prison- 
 ers shall be sent down as soon as col- 
 lected.' It can well be understood that 
 these orders, had but little effect on the 
 revengeful spirit of the Iroquois. 
 
 "Sullivan has heen severely criticized 
 for not pushing on to Niagara and cap- 
 turing the fort there, which was the 
 principal stronghold of the British in this 
 section, and the point at which were or- 
 ganized the destructive Indian expedi- 
 tions of the later years of the war. He 
 was not directed to do so in his instruc- 
 tions and there 'were good military rea- 
 sons for abandoning the project If. he 
 seriously considered it. The limited stock 
 of provisions carried by the army would 
 not warrant it; the season was too far 
 advanced; and If he had succeeded in 
 reaching Niagara and taking the fort. It 
 would have been impossible for the army 
 to exist there entirely cut off from any 
 base of supplies. A Colonial army, in 
 the wilds of Western New York, during 
 the severe winter of 1779-80 would have 
 suffered disaster more crushing than 
 that of Napoleon's in its invasion of Rus- 
 sia. 
 
 "But the ultimate results of this ex- 
 pedition into the country of the Iroquois 
 were vastly different in character, and 
 more far reaching than were conceived 
 of by the men who planned it. It opened 
 the eyes of the people of the Colonies to 
 the 'beauty and capabilities of this great 
 section of our state. No sooner had war 
 ended, than colonization began; and the 
 nations of the Iroquois which had held 
 this country for centuries against the 
 attack of warlike foes, were rapidly and 
 completely subdued and driven from 
 their hunting grounds by the army of 
 civilization." 
 
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