P^3 ^Jr<^ sup3(\/sjmjafu 97»4 Cornell University Library E 81.F93 Indian wars of the ,'1'™},?'}, Sfatff,. j, , 3 1924 028 670 218 ^-TnAjLO/yi. }jj~a^^ CONTENTS. tsTRODUOTioN. — General Account of the Indians of North Ame- rica ; Page 9 CaiPTXR I. Early Indian Wars of Florida 50 II. Early Indian Wars of Virginia 90 III. Eariy Indian Relations of New England Ill rV The Peqnod War 118 V. King Philip's War 123 YI. King William's War 140 VII. Wars of the Five Nations (to the Close of the last French and Indian War) 153 VIII. Queen Anne's '^ar 174 IX. Lovewell's War 180 X. Last French and Indian War 185 XI. Pontia&'s War 204 XII. War of the Western Indians 210 XIII. Indian Wars of Carolina previous to the Revolution. .216 M XIV. Cresap's War 225 XV. Indian Wars of the Revolution 231 XVI. North- Western War (during Washington's Adminis- tration) 250 XVII. Tippecanoe War 256 XVIII. North-Western War (1812 and 1813) 266 XIX The Creek War ; 282 XX. Seminole War (1817) .....292 XXI. Black Hawk's War 300 XXII. SemJioleWar .- 30S 'I i T-firnHi» i itf:'f EV,- Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028670218 PREFACE. iN a general history of the United States, the Indian wiira are apt to be passed over rather slightly. The press of other matter leaves little room for the consideration of them; and they appear as detached and unimportant incidents. But when we consider that every inch of the soil, now in pos- session of the people of this republic, was either purchased or conquered from the aborigines, the means by which this immense acquisition was accomplished must certakily be regarded as highly worthy the attention of history. Nor is this the only reason why this subject should be distinctly treated, and attentively studied, by the people of this coun- try. Our citizens are too apt to forget what their ancestors did and suffered for their good; and the historian should faithfully remind them, as oflen as occasion may occur, of those times when the rifle was carried to the meadows and the corn-field as a protection to the husbandman ; and when the setting sun was the signal for transforming every dwell- ing-house into a garrisoned castle. In the hope of calling public attention to this portion of our history, by treating it distinctly and independently, the' following work has been composed. It comprises a narra- tive of all the Indian wars conducted within the territory of the United States, between the aborigines and the European race, from the discovery to the present time — al), which were deemed of sufficient importance, in their nature or results, to claim a place in general history. In order to bring the annals of so long a period within the compass of a moderafe-sized volume, it was necessary to avoid minute details, and to carry the narrative forward with an eye to the general nature and main results of each contest. Still the author hopes that there is enough of indi- vidual action and character in the history'to interest, with- out that prolixity which would weary the reader. The gene- ral subject is full of interest and instruction, and if the au- thor is deficient in either, it has not been for want of a fer- tile field of incident, and an infinite variety of characters and actions. (8) INDIAN WARS OP THE UNITED STATES. INTRODUCTION. GINERAL ACCOUNT OP THE INDIANS OP NORTH AMERICA, ORIGIN. T the time when North America was first visited by the EHropeans, it was inhabited by many inde- pendent savage tribes, who subsisted by hunting, fish- ing, the spontaneous pro- ductions of the earth, and some cultivation of the soil. These tribes com- monly lived remote from each other, in the bosom of immense forests ; and each claimed an extensive tract of land as its hiinti«g ground. But the great body of the North American Indians (9) 10 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. are evidently of a race different from the Esquimaux and concerning their origin various opinions have been entertained. Blome, Adair, and Boudinot, have thought them the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel ; others have imagined them the offspring of the Canaanites expelled by Joshua ; Grotius, adopting the opinion of Martyr, the companion of Columbus, believed part at least of America to have been peopled by ^Ethiopians and Christians ; and the late ingenious. De Witt Clinton, go- vernor of the state of New York, maintained that the American Indians are of Tartar origin; and that, in ages past, they overcame and exterminated a prior race of inhabitants, who had made greater progress in civilization than themselves. But, whatever may be the difficulty of accounting for the ancient fortifications to which this learned writer refers, his opinion seems to rest on no solid foundation ; for there is no appearance that, before their intercourse with the Europeans, the Indians had ever seen a people who had attained any considerable degree of improvement. But to enter into speculations of this kind is not the object of the present work ; and it may serve our pur- pose to allege, in general, that the progenitors of the Indian tribes emigrated from the north-east parts of Asia to the north-west parts of America, and thence gradually spread themselves over that great continent. At what time this emigration began, it is needless to en- quire and impossible to ascertain. It is not unreason- able to believe, that families or tribes performed the passage at different periods and at different places Savages are often carried to great distances in their frail barks. The islands of the South Sea^ although ORIGIN OF THE INDIANS. H widely separated from each other, are mostly inliabited ; and the person who thoroughly understands the lan- guage of any one island, is seldom at a loss to hold communication with the natives of any other; which proves that those people are all of one common stock, and that the period of their settlement in the islands is not very remote. In this inquiry, the Indians can give us no assistance ; for of their own history, beyond the traditionary re- cords of two or three generations, they know nothing ; and the strange notions which some of them entertain of their origin need not surprise us. According to the unambitious belief of the Osages, a people living on the banks of one of the lower tributaries of the Missouri, they are sprung from a snail and a beaver. The Man- dans believed their ancestors once lived in a large village under ground, near a subterranean lake ; that by means of a vine tree, which extended its roots to their cheer- less habitation, they got a glimpse of the light ; that in- formed by some adventurers, who had visited the upper world, of the numerous buffaloes pasturing on the plains, and of the trees loaded with delicious fruits, the whole nation, with one consent, began to ascend the roots of the vine ; but that, when about the half of them had reached the surface, a corpulent woman climbing up, broke the roots by her weight ; that the earth irtimedi- ately closed, and concealed for ever from those below, the cheering beams of the sun. From a people who entertain such fanciful notions of their origin, no valu- able information concerning their early history can be expected. The character of man, to a great extent, is formed by the circumstances in which he is placed ; and, as all 12 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. the North American nations, at the time of their first discovery by Europeans, were in the same savage state, and procured subsistence by similar means, there was a striking uniformity in their appearance, character, manners, customs, and opinions. But, by their inter- course with Europeans, that uniformity has, in some measure, been broken. Many of the tribes have re- ceived several articles of merchandise, horses, arms, cloth, culinary utensils", and intoxicating liquors, from their white neighbours or visiters, and this has had some influence on their habits of life. COLOUR. The colour of the human race seems to depend on two circumstances, — climate, and manner of life. In general, mankind are of a darker colour as we advance towards the equator, and whiter as we approach the polar regions. The complexion is afiected also by tne degree of elevation above' the level of the sea. Climate, however, is not the only circumstance on which colour depends : it is determined, in a considerable degree, by the manner of life. In the same parallel of latitude, savages who are almost always in the open air, and who live in a rude and dirty manner, are of a darker complexion than the members of more civilized society. Both of those causes have operated on the North American Indians. They are all of a red copper co- lour, with some diversity of shade. The men are tall, large boned, and well made; with small black eyes, lodged in deep sockets, high cheek-bones, nose more or less aquiline, mouth large, lips rather thick, and the hair of tne head black, straight, and coarse. In general, they carefully extract the hair of the beard and other EMPLOYMENTS AND DfiESS OF THE INDIANS. 13 parts of the body, and hence wei-e long believed desti : tute of that excrescence. The general expression of the countenance is thoughtful and sedate. Formerly some tribes flattened the heads of their infants by arti- ficial pressure; but at present that. practice is unknown to the east 'of the Rocky Mountains. They have a sound understanding, quick apprehension, an(f retentive memory, with an air of indifference in their general behaviour. The women, or squaws, differ considerably from the men, both in person and features. They are small and short, with homely, broad faces ; but have often an ex- pression of mildness and sweetness in their looks. EMPLOYMENTS AND DUES6. Except when engaged in war, hunting and fistiing are the sole employment of the men. By means of these, by the spontaneous productions of the eai'th, and by a partial cultivation of the soil, they procure a pre- carious subsistence ; feasting freely when successful in the chase, but capable of great abstinence when provi- sions are less plentiful. Some of the tribes, when first visited by Europeans, raised considerable crops; and they taught the early settlers in New England to plant and dress maize. At present several nations cultivate maize, beans, pump- kins, and water-melons ; and in this way considerably increase their means of subsistence. Hunting, war,, the desire of revenge, or the love of amusement, are the usual incitements of the men to ac tion. Subjected to much fatigue and many privations, exposed to continual dangers, and under perpetual ap- prehensions of being attacked by his enemies, the Indian »k INDIAM COSTUME. Page 15. EMPLOYMENTS AND DRESS OF THE INDIANS. I'd tive forests. They are fickle and capricious ; irascible and impetuous; kind to their friends, vindictive and cruel towards fheir enemies ; and in order to execute their revenge, they readily exercise dissimulation and deceit, and shrink from no toil or danger. Their dis- tinguishing qualities are strength, cunning, and ferocity ; and as war is their first employment, so bravery is their first virtue. The ancient weapon of the hunter was the bow and arrow ; but many of them have now procured muskets. Their dress differs considerably in different tribes. It consisted originally of skins; but many of them are now provided with blankets and different kinds of cloth. The dress of the Konzas, a tribe on the Missouri, may serve as a sample. They protect their feet with moc- casins, or shoes made of dressed deer, elk, or buffalo skin: leggins of deer-skin reach to the upper part" of the thigh : a breech-doth passes between the legs, and is attached to a girdle fastened round the loins. A blanket or skin covers the upper part of the body ; but in warm weather it is laid aside. In some tribes the hair is allowed to flow loosely over the face and shoulders ; in others it is carefully braided, knotted, and ornamented, and is always well greased. In many cases the head is bare, both in summer and winter ; but in others, both men and women wear a cap like an inverted bowl. The men have also a war cap, which they put on as a symbol of mourning, or when preparing for battle. It is commonly decorated with the feathers of rare birds, or with the claws of beavers or eagles, or other similar ornaments. A quill or feather is also suspended from it for every enemy that the warrior has slain in battle. They often suspend from their ears wampum beads, 16 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. silver and tin trinltets, and they are fond of bracelets and' rings. The face and body are often besmeared with a mixture of grease and coal. They are very attentive to personal decoration; and vermilion is an important article at their toilet. The faces of the men are painted with more care than those of the women ; and the- latter have more pride in adorning the counte- nances of their husbands than their own. A tobacco pouch, attached to the girdle or carried in the hand, is a usual part of their equipment. The women's dress is partly like that of the men; but their leggins only reach to the knee ; they have sleeveless shifts, wliich come down to the ankle, and a mantle covers all. On the north-west coast of America, between 5^° and 53° north latitude, the dress of the natives consists of a single robe, tied over the shoulders, falling down to the heels behind, and a little below the knee before, with a deep fringe round the bottom. It is generally made of the bark of the cedar tree, spun like hemp. Some of those garments are interwoven with stripes of the sea-otter's skin, which gives them the appearance of fur on one side : others have stripes of red and yel- low threads fancifully introduced towards the borders, which produce a very agreeable effect. The men have no other covering, and they unceremoniously lay it aside whenever it suits their convenience to do so. Be- sides the robe, the women have a close fringe hangin.t^ down before them, and they cut their hair so short that it needs little care or combing : the men have theirs in plaits, smeared with grease and red earth, and, instead of a comb, they have a small stick, suspended by a string from one of the locks, which they employ to alleviate any itching or irritation of the head. J DWELLINGS, FURNITURE, AND FOOD. 17 DWELLINGS, FURNITURE, AND FOOD. The wigwams, tents, or lodges of the Indians are dif- ferently constructed in different natrons. The rudest are formed of branches resting against each other at the top, covered with leaves or grass, and forming a very imperfect shelter against the weather. The na- tions on the west of the Rocky Mountains have houses formed of a frame of sticks, covered with mats and dried grass. Many tribes erect long poles, in a circular form at the bottom, and resting against each other at the top, which they cover with skins : others have ob- long lodges, consisting of a wooden frame, covered with grass mats and earth. The light is admitted by a small door, and by an aperture in the top, which serves also for the escape of the smoke. The fire is in the middle of the lodge; and the family sit round it on the bare ground; but they spread a skin for a stranger. They readily kindle a fire by rapidly turning one piece of smooth wood upon another ; but in the vicinity of Europeans, they are now generally provided with flint and steel. On the north-west coast, some tribes live in houses considerably elevated above the ground, and supported by upright posts. Their scanty and simple furniture and culinary uten- sils are suited to their humble dwellings and homely manner of hfe. A kettle, a wooden bowl, a couple of wooden or horn spoons, a few skins for beds and co- vers, and a buffalo's stomach for carrying water, are the chief articles of domestic accommodation. For- merly they used earthen pots ; but these are now gene rally superseded by metallic pots or kettles, purchased from the white traders. Some of the tribes on the B 18 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. north-west of Lake Superior, cook their victuals in ves- sels made of watape, the name given to the split roots of the spruce fir. These they weave so closely as to contain water, which they raise to the boiling point by putting into it a succession of heated stones. Many of the tribes are strangers to bread and salt. Besides fruits and roots, they feed on the flesh of thte animals they kill, boiled or rdasted. In travelling, pem- mican is their favourite food. It consists of flesh cut into thin slices, dried in the sun or over a slow fire, beat to a coarse powder between two stones, and then care- fully packed up. In different nations it is known by difierent names. Among the tribes who practise cultivation, maize is sometimes roasted in the ashes, and sometimes bruised and boiled, and is then called hominey. They also boil and eat wild rice, which grows in considerable quanti- ties in some parts of the country. They have no fixed time for meals, but eat when they are hungry, They present food to a stranger, at what time soever he en- ters their dvpelling. MARRIAGE AND EDUCATION. / Polygamy is not uncommon among them ; and the husband occasionally finc'f; it necessary to administer a little wholesome castigation to his more quarrelsome or refractory squaws. But many are satisfied with .one wife. The care of the tent and the whole drudgery of the family devolve on the women. They gather iiel, cook the provisions, and repair every article of dress ; cultivate the ground, where any is cultivated • carry the baggage on. a journey; and pitch the tent when they halt. In these and similar employments, MK. CATILIN, PAINTINO P0ETKA1T8 OF IHB INDIANS. Page 19. ' BIARRIAGE AND EDUCATION. 19 their lordly fathers, husbands, and brothers, think it de- grading to assist them, and unworthy of warriors to engage in such employments. Mr. Catlin, whose long residence among the Indians, and careful observation of their habits, entitle his opinion to great respect, regards this assignment of drudgery to the women as no more than an equitable distribution of the labour necessary to the support of the household. He considers the toils of war and the chase, which, are almost incessant, and are solely per- formed by the men, as a complete offset to the domestic and agricultural cares of the women. On the whole he thinks that the condition of the Indian \Pomen is as comfortable as it is possible to render it by any arrangement which would not completely change their mode of life. To withdraw the men from the chase and confine them to the culture of the ground, would render the Indians an agricultural and not a hunting people. Still the condition of the Indian woman is a miserable and degraded one, — a condition of incessant labour and care. In none of the tribes do the women experience much tenderness ; but among the Sioux they are so harshly- treated, that they occasipnally destroy their female in- fants, alleging that it is better for them to be put to death than to live as miserably as they themselves have done. Even suicide is not uncommon among them, although they believe it offensive to the Father of Life. The Indians never chastise their, children, especially the boys ; thinking that it would damp their spirjts, check their love of independence, and cool their martial ar- dour, which they wish above all things to encourage. " Reason," say they, " will guide our children, when 20 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. they come to the use of it : and before that, their faults cannot be very great." They avoid compulsory mea- sures, and allow the boys to act with uncontrolled free- dom ; but endeavour, by example, instruction, and ad- vice, to train them to diligence and skill in hunting; to animate them with patience, courage, and for-titude in war; and to inspire them with contempt of -danger, pain, and death, — qualities of the highest order in the estimation of an Indian. By gentleness and persuasion they endeavour to im- bue the minds of their children with virtuous sentiments, according to their notions of virtu^ The aged chiefs are zealous in this patriotic labour, and the squaws give their cordial co-operation. Ishuchenau, an old Kanza warrior, often admonished the group of young auditors who gathered around him, of their faults, and exhorted them never to tell a lie, and never to steal, except from an enemy, whom it is just to injure in every possible way. " When you become men," said he, "be brave and cunning in war, and de- fend your hunting grounds against all encroachments: never suffer your squaws and little ones to want ; pro- tect them and strangers from insult. On no occasion betray a friend ; be revenged on your enemies ; drink not the poisonous strong water of the white people, for it is sent by the bad spirit to destroy the Indians. Fear not death ; none but cowards fear to die. Obey and venerate old people, particularly your parents. Fear and propitiate the bad spirit, that he may do you no harm : love and adore the Good Spirit, who made us all, who supplies our hunting grounds, and keeps all alive." After recounting his achievements, he was wont to add, "Like a decayed prairie tree, I stand MARRIAGE AND EDUCATION. 21 alone : — the friends of my youth, the companions of my sports, my toils, and my dangers, rest their heads on the bosom of our mother. My sun is fast descending behind the western hills, and I feel it will soon be night with me." Then with hands and eyes lifted towards heaven, he thanked the Great Spirit for having spared him so long, to show the young men the true path to glory and fame. Their opinions, in many instances, are false, and lead to corresponding errors in conduct. In some tribes,-the young person is taught to pray, with various supersti- tious observances, that he may be a great hunter, horse- stealer, and warrior ; so that thus the fountain of virtue is polluted. The Indians are entirely unacquainted with letters ; but they ^lave a kind of picture writing, which they ^ practise ion the inside of the bark of trees, or on skins preparm for the purpose, and by which they can com- municate the'^knowledge of many facts to each other. The Indian names are descriptive of the real or sup- posed qualities of the persons to whom they belong : they often change them in the course of their lives. The young warrior is ambitious of acquiring a new name; and stealing ahorse, scalping an enemy, or kill- ing a bear, is an achievement which entitles him to >' choose one for himself, and the nation confirms it. The Indian women are industrious wives and affec- tionate mothers. They are attentive to the comfort of their husbands, watch over their children with the ut- most care and tenderness ; and if they die, lament the loss in the most affecting manner. Chastity is not reckoned a virtue ; and, as the women are considered the property of the men, a deviation ■■^:% 22 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. from it, with the consent of the father, husband, or bro. ther, is not looked on as an offence. Nay, to counte- nance their wives, sisters, or daughters, in conferring favours on strangers, is considered a strong expression of hospitality ; and the refusal of the proffered kindness is regarded by the lady as an unpardonable insult. But some husbands, on discovering unauthorized conjugal infidelity, punish it with severity ; others treat it very lightly. The Indians are kind and hospitable to their friends, and to those who are introduced to them in that char- acter. Although they themselves sit on the bare ground, yet they courteously spread a buffalo skin for their visiter ; smoke a pipe with him in token of peace and amity ; and the squaw prepares something for him to eat. They have little selfishness, and are ready to share their last morsel with their friends. MEDICINE AND SORCERY. They are immoderately addicted to intoxicating liquors, which they procure from the white traders, and which have been the means of destroying multitudes of them. Before their intercourse with white men they had no intoxicating beverage ; and, excepting the liquor which they procure from the merchants, their meals are temperate, and their habits of life active. Their dis- eases are few, and seldom of long duration. Many of them fall in battle ; and multitudes are occasionally swept away by small-pox. To' the healing art they are in a great measure strangers ; although, by means of simples, they in some instances perform surprising cures. In general, however, these pretenders to medical skill are mere quacks and jugglers, who affect to chase MEDICINE AND SORCERY. 23 away disease by howling,' blowing on the patient, and by various incantations, sleight-of-hand performances, and superstitious rites. Some of their medicine-men or conjurors, who are their only doctors, pretend to have seen the Great Spi- rit, and to have conversed with him in some visible form, as of a buflaio, beaver, or other animal; and to have received from him some medicine of peculiar effi- cacy. The animal whose form had appeared is con- sidered, to be the remedy; and they imitate its cry in making their medical applications. The medicine bag, in which these savage physicians have a few herbs, en- tire or pulverized, and which -they administer with a little warm water, is an indispensable requisite in Indian medical practice. Indeed, the head of every family has his medicine bag, which is a place of sacred deposit, and to the sanctity of which he commits his most pre- cious articles. The value of its contents an Indian only can appreciate. In every stage. of society, persons appear who ac- commodate themselves to the state of the public mind. Of this description are the jugglers, conjurors, or powahs, among the ignorant and superstitious Indians. They are partly medical quacks, partly religious im- postors. Many of them ^re dexterous jugglers and cunning cheats. They pretend to foretell future events, and even to influence the weather. It is likely that they are often, in some measure, the dupes of their own artifices. The sweating-houses of the Indians are often em- ployed for medical purposes, although they are places of social recreation also. A hole is dug in the ground, and over it is built a small close hut, with an opening 24 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. just large enough to admit the patient. A number of heated stones are placed in the bottom of the hole. Tha patient enters, having a vessel full of water along with him; and being seated, on a place prepared for his re- ception, the entrance is closed. He sprinkles water on the heated stones, and is soon, by the steam, thrown into a state of profuse perspiration. After this has con- tinued for some time, the person is taken out and plunged into cold water. This process is repeated seve- ral times, always ending with the steam-bath. The In- dians use this as a general remedy ; but its salutary effects are experienced chiefly in rheumatic diseases, in which its efhcacy is at times very great. The Indians bear disease with composure and re- signation ; and when far advanced in life, often long for the hour of dissolution. " It is better," said an aged sachem, " to sit than to stand, to sleep than to be awake, ' to be dead than alive." The dying man exhorts his children to be industrious, kind to their friends, but im- placable to their enemies. He rejoices in the hope of immortality. He is going to the land of spirits, that happy place where there is plenty of game and no want, — where the path is smooth and the sky clear. BURIAL CEREMONIES, MOURNING, &c. When the sick person expires, the friends assemble round the body, the women weep and clap their hands, and bewail their loss with loud lamentations. Different nations dispose of the bodies of departed friends, and express their grief, in different ways. Many Indian tribes bury their dead soon after death. They wrap up the body carefully in a buffalo robe, or dressed skin, and carry it to the grave on the shoulders of two or three BURIAL CEREMONIES AND MOURNING. 25 men. Along with the body they bury a pair' or two of moccasins, some meat, and other articles, to be used on the journey to the town of brave spirits, which thev generally believe lies towards the setting sun. The favourite weapons and utensils of the warrior are also deposited by his sid'e. It is believed that unless this be done, the spirit of the deceased appears among the trees near his lodge, and does not go to its rest till the pro- perty withheld be committed to the grave. In some places they discharge muskets, make a noise, and vio- lently strike the trees, in order to drive away the spirit, which they imagine fondly lingers near its old abode. A mound is sometimes raised over the grave, propor- tioned in size to the dignity of the deceased ; or the place is marked out and secured by short sticks driven into the ground over and around it. Some of those graves are commonly near each of their villages. The tribes on the Columbia construct long narrow sheds, in which they deposit the dead, carefully v?rapped up in skins, and covered with mats. The Killamucks, a tribe living near the shore of the Pacific Ocean, on the south of the Columbia, inclose their dead in an ob- long wooden box, which they place in an open canoe, lying on the ground, with a paddle and some other arti- cles of the deceased by his side. The Chinooks, Clat- sops, and neighbouring nations, support the canoe on posts, about six feet from the ground, and reverse a larger canoe over it. The whole is wrapped up in mats made of rushes, and fastened with cords, usually made of the bark of white cedar. But instead of laying the body in a box like the Killamucks, they roll it carefully in a dressed skin. Vancouver saw canoes, containing dead bodies, suspended from the branches of trees, 26 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. about twelve feet from the ground. The Chopunnish, a tribe living on the western side of the Rocky Mountains, lay their dead in burying places constructed of boards, like the roof of a house. The bodies are rolled in skins, laid over each other, and separated by a board above and below. They devote horses, canoes, and other kinds of property, to the dead. Carver mentions some tribes on the St. Peter's which annually carry their dead for interment to a cave on the banks of the Mississippi. It appears that some others occasionally burn the dead, or at least the flesh, and afterwards bury the bones. On the death of a relation, the survivors give way to excessive grief, bedaub themselves with white clay, blacken their faces, cut oif their hair, and not unfre- quently mangle themselves in a shocking manner, thrust- ing knives or arrows into the muscular j)arts of their thighs or arms, or cutting off a joint of one of their fingers. For & while they nightly repair to the place of sepulture to give expression to their grief; and may occasionally be seen affectionately plucking the grass from the grave of a deceased relation or friend. Among those tribes in the extreme northern parts of the continent, where provisions are scarce, and pro- cured with difficulty, it is not uncommon for an aged person, who is unable to provide for himself, to request his family to put him to death ; and the request is com- plied with, or he is treated with much neglect. But this V unnatural conduct results entirely from the pressure of circumstances, and the privations and sufferings to which those poor people are exposed; for in more favourable situations they behave towards the aged and mfirm with respect and tenderness. RELIGION. 27 RELIGION. Of the religion of the Indians we have no full and clear account. Indeed, of the opinions of a people who have nothing more than a few vague and indefinite no- tions, no distinct explanation can be given. On this subject the Indians are not communicative ; and to ob- tain a thorough knowledge of it would require familiar, attentive, unsuspected, and unprejudiced observation. But such observation is not easily made; and a few general, and on some points uncertain, notices only can be given. On looking at the most renowned nations of the an- cient heathen world, we see the people prostrating themselves before innumerable divinities ; and we are ready to conclude that polytheism is the natural belief of man, unenlightened by revelation'. But a survey of the vast wilds of America will correct this opinion. For there we find a multitude of nations, widely separated from each other, all believing in One Supreme God, a great and good spirit, the father and master of life, the maker of heaven and earth, and of all other creatures. They beheve themselves entirely dependent on him, thank him for present enjoyments, and pray to him for the good things they desire to obtain. They consider him the author of all good ; and believe he will reward or punish them according to their deeds. They believe, in inferior spirits also, both good ani bad ; to whom, particularly to the good, they give the name of Manitou, and consider them tutelary spirits. The Indians are careful observers of dreams, and think themselves deserted by the Master of life, till they re- ceive a manitou in a dream ; that is, till they dream of 28 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. some object, as a buffalo or beaver, or something else, which they think is an intimation that the Great Spirit has given them that object as a manitou, or medicine. Then they are full of courage, and proud of their pow- erful ally. To propitiate the manitou, or medicine, every exertion is made, and every personal considera- tion sacrificed. " I was lately the proprietor of seven- teen horses," said a Mahdan ; " but I have offered them all to my medicine, and am now poor." He had turned all these horses, which constituted the whole of his wealth, loose into the plain, committed them to his me- dicine, and abandoned them for ever. But, although they offer oblations to the manitous, they positively deny that they pay them any adoration, and aifirm that they only worship the Great Spirit through them. They have no regular periodical times either of pri- vate or public religious worship. They have neithdi: temples, altars, stated ministers of religion, nor regular sacrifices ; for the jugglers are connected rather with the medical art than with religious services. The In- dians in general, like other ignorant people, are be- lievers in witchcraft, and think many of their diseases proceed from the. arts of sorcerers. Thfese arts the jug- glers pretend to counteract, as well as to cure natural diseases. They also pretend to predict the weather and to make rain ; and much confidence is placed in their prognostications and their power. ^ The devotional exercises of the Indians consist in singing, dancing, and performing various mystical cere- monies, which they believe efficacious in healing the sick, frustrating the designs of their enemies, and se- curing their own success. They often offer up to the Great Spirit a part of the game first taken in a hunting RELIGION. 29 expedition, a part of the first produce of their fields, and a part of their food. At a feast, they first throw some of the broth, and then of the meat, into the fire. In smoliing, they generally testify their reverence for the Master of life, by directing the first puff upwards, and the second downwards, or the first to the rising, and the second to the setting sun : at other times they turn the pipe to every point of the compass. They firmly believe in the immortality of the soul, and in a state of future retribution: but their concep- tions on these subjects are modified and tinged by their occupations in life, and by their notions of good and evil. They suppose the spirit retains the same inclinations as when in the body, and rejoices in its old pursuits. At times, an Indian warrior, when about to kill and scalp a prostrate enemy, addresses him in such terms as the following : — " My name is Cashegra : I am a famous warrior, and am going to kill you. When you reach the land of spirits, you will see the ghost of my father : tell him it was Cashegra sent you there." The uplifted toma- hawk then descends upon his victim. The *Mandans expected, when they died, to return to^ the original subterraneous abode of their fathers: the good ::eaching the ancient village by means of the lake, which the weight of the sins of the bad will render them unable to pass. They who have behaved them- selves well in this life, and been brave warriors and* good hunters, will be received into the town of brave and generous spirits; but the useless and selfish will • The Mandan tribe is now entirely extinct. — Callitu 4 30 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. be doomed to reside in the town of poor and useless spirits. The belief of those untutored children of nature has an influence on their conduct. Among them the grand defect is, an erroneous estimate of good and evil, right and wrong. But how much soever we may lament their errors on these interesting points, we need not be sur- prised at them ; for how many, even in more enlightened communities, and with clearer means of information, can scarcely be said to have sounder principles, or a better practice 1 A reverential and grateful sense of the divine perfections and government, manifesting itself by a devout regard to his institutions, and obedience to his will, by benevolence, integrity, candour, and kindness towards men, and by sobriety and industry, is too little valued and practised by many wh6 enjoy the light of revelation. Hitherto the Indians have learned little but vice by their intercourse with white men. Although they have no regular system of religious worship, yet they have many superstitious notions ; some of them of a more general, others of a more local nature. The Mandans had their medicine stone, which was their great oracle ; and they beheved with implicit confidence whatever it announced. Every spring, and occasionally during summer, a deputation, accompanied, by jugglers, magicians, or conjurors, visited the sacred spot, where there is a large stone, about twenty feet in «. circumference, with a smooth surface: there the depu- ties smoked, taking a few whiffs themselves, and then ceremoniously offering the pipe t(? the stone. They left their presents, and withdrew to some distance during the night. Before morning the presents disappeared, the Great Spirit having, according to their belief, taken RELIGION. 31 them away ; and they read the destinies of their nation in some marks on the stone, which the jugglers, who made, them, and secretly managed the whole transaction, could easily decipher. The "Minnetarees have also a stone of the same kind. On the northern bank of the lower part of the Mis- souri there is a singular range of rocks, rising almost perpendicularly about 200 or 300 feet abpre the level of the river. These rocks the Indians call Manitou; and on or near them the neighbouring nations deposit most of their offerings to the Great Spirit or Father of Life ; because they imagine he either inhabits or fre- quently visits those rocks, and offerings presented there will sooner attract his notice and gain his favour than any where else. Those offerings consist of various articles, among which eagles' feathers are held in high- est estimation ; and they are presented in order to obtain success in war or bunting. , They believe also in the existence of evil spirits ; but think these malevolent beings gratify their malignity chiefly by driving away the game, preventing the effi- cacy of medicine, or similar injuries. But they do not always confine their operations to such petty mischiefs > for Mackenzie, in his first voyage, was warned of a manitou, or spirit, behind a neighbouring island, which swallowed up every person who approached it: and, near the White Stone river of the Missouri there is an oblong mound, about seventy feet high, called by ^he Indians the Mountain of Little people, or Little Spirits, which are supposed to be malignant beings in human shape, about eighteen inches high, with remarkably large heads. They are provided with sharp arrows; in the use of which they are very expert ; and they are 32 INDIAN WARS OF THE tJNITED STATES. always on the watch to kill those who approach the moontain of their residence. The tradition is that many persons have fallen victims to their malevolence ; and such is the terror of them among the neighbouring nations, that on no consideration will they approach the mound. GOVERNMENT. Among the Indians, society is in the loosest state in which it can possibly exist. They have no regular magistrates, no laws, no tribunals, to protect the weak or punish the guilty. Every man must assert his own rights, and avenge his own wrongs. He is neither restrained nor protected by any thing but a sense of shame, and the approbation or disapprobation of his tribe. He acknowledges no master, and submits to no superior authority ; so that an Indian community seems like a mound of sand on the sea-shore, which one gale has accumulated, and which the next may disperse. But, amid this apparent disunion, the Indian is strong- ly attached to his nation. He is jealous of its honour, proud of its success, and zealous for its welfare. Guided by a few traditionary notions, and by the opinion and example of those around him, he is ready to exert all his energies, and sacrifice even life itself for his country. Here sentiment and habit do more than wise laws can elsewhere accomplish. Where all are equally poor, the distinctions founded on wealth cannot exist ; and among a people where experience is the only source of knowledge, the aged men are naturally thB sages of the nation. Surrounded by enemies^ and exposed to continual peril, the strongest, boldest, and most successful warrior, is highly respected; and the influence gained in youth by courage and enter- GOVERNMENT. 33 prise is often retained in old age by wisdom and elo quenco In many of the tribes, the sachems or chiefs have a sort of hereditary rank ; but, in order to main- tain it, they must conciliate the good will of the most influential persons of the community. They have nothing like monarchial revenues, pomp, or authority; but maintain their distinction by bravery, good conduct, and generosity. The most important concerns of the tribe are dis- cussed in a council composed of the chiefs and warriors, in which the principal chief presides. Every member delivers his opinion with freedom, and is heard with attention. Their proceedings are considered sacred, and are kept a profound secret, unless it be thought the pub- lic good requires a disclosure. In that case the decision, with the reasons on which it is founded, is published by a member of the council, who recommends a compliance with it. In the stillness of the morning or evening this herald marches through the village, solemnly communi- cating the information, and giving suitable exhortations. He also instructs the young men and children how to behave, in order to gain the esteem of good men, and the approbation of the Good Spirit. The authority of the chiefs and warriors is hortatory rather than coercive. They have influence to persuade, but not power to compel. They are rather respected as parents and friends, than feared and obeyed as superiors. The chief is merely the most confidential person among the warriors ; neither installed with any ceremony, nor distinguished by any badge. He may recommend, or advise, or influence ; but he has no power to enforce his commands, or to punish disobedience. In many of the tribes he gradually acquires his rank by his own supe- C 34 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. rior merit, and the good opinion of his companions, and he may lose his authority as he gained it. The people commonly settle their controversies among themselves, and cio nqt apply to their chiefs, except for advice. In some of the tribes peace is preserved, and punishment inflicted in a very summary manner by offi- cers appointed by the chief for that purpose. These officers are distinguished by having their bodies black- ened, and by having two or three ravens' skins fixed in their girdles behind, so that the tails project horizontally. They have also a raven's skin, with the tail projecting from their forehead. These officers, of whom there are two or three in a village, and who are frequently , changed, beat any person whom they find acting in a disorderly manner. Their authority is held sacred, and none dares resist them. They often attend the chief, and consider it a point of honour to execute his orders at any risk. ELOQUSNCE. THfe eloquence of the Indian orators occasionally dis^ plays itself in strong and figurative- expressions, accom- panied with violent but not unnatural gesticulations. Many of their speeches are oh record ; and we shall give two of them, as a specimen of the manner in which these untaught children of nature express themselves. The first, is that of Logan. In the year 1774, the family of Logan, a distinguished chief, who had always been friendly to white men, was inhumanly massacred by a detachment of Virginia militia, acting under British authority. Logan was highly exasperated, and joined the hostile tribes. The Indians were defeated, and com- pelled to sue for peace. But Logan 'scorned to be seen among the suppliants. Lest, however, the sincerity of a ELOQUENCE. ' 35 tr^ty from which such an eminent chief absented him- self shodd be suspe^ited, he sent the following speech, by general Gibson, to Lord Dunmore, governor of the prpvince :— « I appeal to any white man to say if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him no tneat ; if ever he came cold and naked and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his lodge, the advocate of peace. Such was my love of the whites, that my coun- trymen pointed at me as they passed, and said, ' Logan is the friend of white men.' I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Last spring, colonel Cresap, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not sparing even my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it. I have killed many. I have glutted my vengeance. For my country 1 rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not think mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. Logan will not turn on his heel to save his life. "Who is there to mourn the death of Logan ? Not one." The second speech is that of a Pawnee chief, named Sharitarouish ; and we introduce it merely becailse it is recent, having been addressed to the president of the tJnited States, in council, on the 4th of February, 1822 ; and because the chief who delivered it^ on account of his remote situation, could have had little intercourse with white men, having been, along with other chiefs, conducted from the banks of the Platte to Washington. by Major O'Fallon, agent of the States among the In- dians of the Missouri. He spoke to the president as follows : — 36 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. " My great father, I have travelled a great way to see you : I have seen you, and my heart rejoices. I have heard your words : they have entered one ear, and shall not escape by the other. I will carry them to my people as pure as they came from your mouth. "My great father, I am going to speak the truth. The Great Spirit looks down upon us ; and I call him to witness all that may pass between us on this occasion. If I am here now, and have seen your people, your houses, your vessels on the big lake, and a great many wonderful things, far beyond my comprehension, which appear to have been made by the Great Spirit, and placed in your hands, I am indebted to my father here, (pointing to major O'Fallon,) who invited me from hom.e, and under whose wings I have been protected. Yes, my great father, I have travelled with your chief; I have followed him, and trodden in his trgcks. But there is still another great Father, to whom I am much in- debtedi He is the Father of us all. He made us, and placed us on this earth. I feel grateful to the Great Spirit for strengthening my heart for such an undex; taking, and for preserving the life which he gave me. The Great Spirit made us all. He made my skin red, and youfs white. He placed us on this earth, and in- tended that we should live differently from each other. He made the whites to cultivate the earth, and feed on domestic animals ; -but he made us red skins to rove through the uncultivated woods and plains, to feed on wild animals, and to -clothe ourselves with their skins. He intended also that we,should go to war, take scalps, steal b->rses from our ener»ies, and triumph over them, and tha' we should cultivate peace at home, and pro- mote the happiness of each other. I believe there are ELOQUENCE. 37 no people, of any colour, on earth, who do not believe in the Gj-eat Spirit, and in rewards and punishments. We worship Him : but we worship him not as you do. We differ from you in appearance and manners, as well as in our customs ; and we differ from you in our reli- gion. We have no large houses, as you have, to wor- ship the Great Spirit in. If we had them to-day, we should want them to-morrow ; for we have not, like you, a fixed habitation. We have no settled home, except our villages, where we remain but two mbons in twelve. We, like the animals, rove through the country ; while you whites reside between us and heaven. But still, my great father, we love the Great Spirit ; we acknow- ledge his supreme power. Our peace, health, and happiness depend upon him ; and our lives belong to him* He made us, and he can destroy us. " My great father, some of your good chiefs, as they are called (the missionaries), have proposed to send some of their good people among us, to change our habits, to make us work, and live like the white people. I will not tell a lie ; I am going to speak the truth. You love your country ; you love your people ; you love the.'^^g^.ixi'.^^ which they live : and you think your people' l>t^^; 1 '^ am like you, my great father : I love my Cou^P^ I love my people ; I love the manner in which we live ; and I think myself and my warriors brave. Spare mcj then, my father ; let me etijoy my country, and pursue the buffalo and the beaver, and other wild animals ; and witb their skins I will trade with your people. I have grown up, and lived thus long, without working;. I^pe you will suffer me to die without it. We have '|i3i|.nty of buffalo, beaver, deer, and other wild animals ; we, have also abundance of horses ; we. have every thing 38 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. we want ; we have plenty of land, if you will keep your people off it. My father (Major O'Fallon) has a' piece of land, on which he Hves (Council Bluffs), and we wish him to enjoy it : we have enough without it. We wish him to live near us, to give us good counsel, to keep our ears and eyes open, that we may continue to pursue the right road, the road to happiness. He settles all differences between us and the whites, and between the red skins themselves. He makes the red skins do jus- tice to the whites; he saves the effusion of human blood ; and preserves peace and happiness in the land. You have already sent us a father. It is enough. He knows us, and we know him ; we have confidence in him ; we keep our eye constantly upon, him ; and since we have heard your words we will listen more atten- tively to his. " It is too, soon, my great father, to send these good men among us. We are not starving yet ; we wish you to permit us to enjoy the chase until the game of our country be exhausted ; until the wild animals be- come extinct. Let us exhaust our present resources, before you make us toil and interrupt our happiness. Let me continue to live as I have done ; and after I have passed t^ the Good or Evil Spirit from off the wilderness of my present life, the subsistence of my children may become so precarious as to need and embrace the assistance of those good people. "There was a time whep we did not know the whites. Our wants were then fewer than they are now ; they were always within our control ; we had seen nothing which we could not get. Before our intercourse with the whites, who have caused such a destruction in our game, we could lie down to sleep, WAR, CUSTOMS, ARMS, &c. 39 and when we awoke, we found the buffalo feeding lound our camp : but now we kill them for their skins, and feed the wolves with their flesh, to make our chil- dren cry over their bones. ' " Here, roy great father, ;s a pipe, which I present you, as I am accustomed to present pipes to all the red skins in peace with us. It is filled with such tobacco as we were accustomed to smoke before we knew the white people. It is pleasant, and the spontaneous growth of the most remote parts of our country. I know that the robes, leggins, moccasins, bear-claws, and other articles, are of little value to you ; but we wish you to deposit and preserve them in some con- spicuous part of .your lodge, so that when we are gone and the sod turned over our bones, if our children should visit this place, as we do now, they may see and recognise with pleasure the deposits of their fathers, and reflect on the times that are past." WAR, CUSTOMS, ARMS, &c. The form of government among the Indian tribes is not sufliciently strong to restrain the young warriors from the commission of excesses and outrages, which often involve the nation in protracted wars ; and the chiefs, desirous as they may be of checking those im- petuous and refractory spirits, have not the power Their wars most commonly originate in the stealing of horses, or in the elopement of squaws ; sometimes in engroachments on their hunting grounds, or in the pro- secution of old quarrels, and the desire of avenging the murder of relations. These wars are conducted in a predatory manner. 40 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. A single warrior sometimes undertakes an expedition against the enemy ; but, in cases of great provocation, the whole tribe engages in the enterprise, under the conduct of the principal chief. Even in this case, how- ever, none but volunteers join the army: no one ia obliged to march against his will. War is often carried on by a small predatory party, formed by the influence of some approved warrior. This warrior paints himself with white clay, and marches through the village, crying aloud to the IVah- conda, or Father of life, and entreating the young war- riors of the nation to have pity on him, and to accom- pany him in an expedition against their enemies. He gives a feast to those, who' are willing to follow him; and it is distinctly understood that they who partake of his hospitality, • pledge themselves to be partners in his enterprise. At the feast, he harangues them, and tells them they must gain celebrity by their martial prowess. This leader of the party, to whom the French gave the name of partisan, busies himself, before setting out, in making medicine, hanging out his medicine bag, fasting, attending to his dreams, and other superstitious observances. On the medicine bag much reliaiice is placed for the successful termination of the adventure. It usually contains the skin of a sparrow-hawk, and a number of small articles, such as wampum beads and tobacco, all attached to a belt, neatly enveloped in bark, and tied round with strings of the same material. It is of a cylindrical shape, about one, or sometimes two feet long, and is suspended on the back of the partisan by its belt, which passes round his neck. The mocca- fiins, leggins, and arms of the party are put in order, WAR, CUSTOMS, ARMS. 41 and each warrior furnishes himself with some provi- sions. With the partisan at their head, the party set out, march cautiously, following each other in a line, at a distance of two or three paces, often treading in each other's footsteps, that their number may not be disco- vered ; and they send out spies to explore their route. They easily find out whether any persons have lately passed the same way, by discerning their footsteps on the grass ; and as they have to deal with people whose organs of sense are as acute as their own, they are careful, as far as possible, to conceal their own tracks. On halting, the medicine bag is not allowed to touch the ground, but is suspended on a forked stick, firmly fixed in the earth for that purpose. They smoke to it, occasionally turning the stem of the pipe towards it, towards the heavens, and towards the earth. The par- tisan carefully attends to his dreams, and, if he think them ominous of evil, he at times abandons the en- terprise. When the spies bring information that they are near the enemy, the partisan opens his medicine bag, re- moves its barky envelope, and suspends the contents from his neck, with the bird skin, wampum, and other articles, hanging down on his breast. This is the sig- nal to prepare for action. If they have time, they paint themselves, and smoke; they also paint their shields with rude representations of the objects on which they rely for success. The partisan gives the order to ad- vance, and they move on with cautious steps, as their great aim is to fall upon the enemy by surprise. If they 'succeed in this, the attack begins with the horrible yielJ of the war whoop. This is their only martial music. 5 42 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. They kill indiscriminately all who fall in their way ; but if discovered, they either make a hasty retreat, or rush to the attack with impetuous but disorderly fury. If in the forest, they shelter themselves behind trees ; if on open ground, they leap nimbly from side to side, to pre- vent the enemy from taking a steady aim, and cover themselves with their bucklers. It is not the mere 'killing of an enemy that confers the highest honour on an Indian warrior, but the striking the body of his fallen foe on the field of battle, and in presence of his friends, who are eager to avenge iiis death. Scalping is an act of no small celebrity in Indian warfare ; and, in performing it, the victor sets one foot on the neck of his dead or disabled enemy, en- twines one hand in his hair, and, by a few slashes of the scalping-knife in his other, round the top of the head, is enabled to pull off the skin with the hair. Car- rying away the scalp is simply a mark of victory : the taking of prisoners is reckoned a high honour. The wounded of the .vanquished party are killed by the conquerors on the field of battle, and their bodies shockingly mangled ; the squaws so far overcoming by habit the tender feelings of the female breast as to take an active part in the inhuman scene. In his lodge, the Indian is indolent, sedate, and appa- rently callous ; but in hunting, or in quest of an enemy, he is keen, indefatigable, persevering : on the field of battle he seems an infuriated demon : so different are his appearances in different circumstances. The vic- torious party bury their dead, or cover them with bushes or stones. They remove their wounded in litters, borne on men's shoulders ; or, if they have horses, on a car of two shafts, with a buffalo skin stretched between WAR, CUSTOMS, ARMS. 43 them. They return rapidly to their village, and com- monly halt on some elevated ground in its vicinity Their friends, eager to be informed of the particulars of the expedition, hasten to meet them. The party en- ters the village with savage pomp, ostentatiously ex- hibiting the scalps which they have taken raised on poles. Many of the warriors bear the mark indicative of having diunk the blood of an enemy. This consists in rubbing the hand all over with vermilion, and then pressing it on the face and mouth, so as to leave a com- plete impression. On those occasions, the wives of the warriors who have been engaged in the enterprise attire themselves in the dress of their husbands, and, with rods in their hands, to which the scalps that have been taken are attached, dance round a large red post, and, in concert with the young warriors, sing the war and scalp songs. This barbarous dance, which is repeated every night for some weeks, is charming to the squaws ; a circumstance which shows how far the human char- acter may be perverted by fashion and habit. The Indians dance and sing at the same time : they have, however, but little grace or variety in their move- ments, and little music in their notes. Their musical instruments are a sort of drum, and a rattle or skin bag, with small shot or pebbles in it, which makes a noise when shaken. It is dangerous to meet a disappointed or defeated war party on its return, as the warriors are apt to in- demnify themselves for any disappointment, defeat, oi loss they may have sustained, by taking the property and scalps of the first weak or unguarded party, they may encounter. No offence against society is inquired into by the 44 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. chiefs : stealing from one ot their own tribe,- which is very rare, exposes the thief to contempt ; but cowardice is marked by the highest reprobation. When they go to war, they keep a watchful eye on such of the }'oung men as are making their first essay in arms. If they display the necessary qualifications, they are in due time admitted to the rank of warriors, or, as they ex- press it, of braves, or brave men. But if any give clear indications of cowardice, on the return of the party they are treated with neglect and contempt. A coward is at times punished even with death. The female prisoners are made slaves, a condition scarcely worse than that of the other squaws. The young male prisoners are often adopted by the families of the tribe which have taken them, and supply the place of the members that have fallen in the expedi- tion. Sometimes, on returning to their village, the party show their prisoner a painted red post, distant from twenty to forty yards, and bid him run and lay hold of it. On each side of his course stand men and women with axes, sticks, and other oflfensive weapons, ready to strike him as he passes. If he instantly spring forward with agility, he may perhaps reach the post without re- ceiving a stroke, and is then safe, till a general council of the warriors determine his fate ; but if he fall, he is generally dispatched. If the prisoner be rejected by the family to which he is offered, he is then put to death with every circum- stance of cruelty ; and the constancy and fortitude of the sufferer are as remarkable as the barbarity of his murderers. The victim, fastened to a stake, sings his death song, insults his tormentors, bears with unshrink- ng firmness the most dreadful torturfes, and expiies WAR, CUSTOMS, ARMS. 45 without a groan. He triumphs in his fortitude, not merely as a persona] virtue, but chiefly as a national characteristic. We are. to seek the cause of this patient endurance of the most excruciating pains, not in any nervous insensibility, any constitutional apathy, any muscular rigidity of the Indian, but in the sentiments ■which he has imbibed, and the habits to which he has been trained. He has been taught, from infancy, to consider courage and fortitude as the glory of man ; to endure privations and pain without a murmur, and' with an unsubdued heart, and to despise tortures and death ; and, in his last moments, he proves the efficacy of the education which he has received. In these tragical scenes the women often take an active part ; and their inhumanity, like the fortitude of the men, springs from education. Previous to their intercourse with Europeans, the arms of the Indians were bows and arrows, spears, tomahawks, scalping knives, and war clubs. Most of them, however, are now provided with fire-arms ; and, being eager to procure them, their quantity is continually increasing. But the use of these original weapons is far from being entirely superseded. At tinges the bow is formed of pieces of horn neatly spliced, but it is more commonly made of wood. For- merly the arrow was pointed with flint or bone, but now generally with iron : the spear is pointed in a simi- lar manner. The tomahawk is a hatchet or war axe. The scalping knife is used to cut and tear off the scalp. ' or integuments of the upper part of the skull with the hair, of their fallen enemies, which the Indians display as trophies of their victory, with as much exultation as ancient heroes manifested in showing the arms of their 46 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. vanquished foes. The head of the war club is globular and at times hollow, inclosing pieces of metal, which make a gingling noise when a stroke is given. Occa- sionally, the blade of a knife, or some other sharp in- strument, is fastened to the end of it at right angles. The tribes who dwell in the depth of the forest have no bucklers, but shelter themselves behind trees : those, however, who live in an open country, as on the banks of the Missouri, use bucklers or shields of a circular form, about two feet f^nd a half in diameter, and com- posed of three or four folds of buffalo's skin, dried in the sun and hardened. These shields are proof against arrows, but not against ball. In all their acts of devotion, and on all occasions where their confidence is to be won or their friendship secured, smoking is regarded as an inviolable token of sincerity. The pipe, or calumet, as some have called it, is the symbol of peace and the4)ledge of friendship. Among the rude dwellers of the desert, it serves the same pur- poses as a flag of truce in the armies of more civilized communities. The pipe is about four feet long; the bowl made of stone or clay, and the stem of a light w;ood. It is differently ornamented in difl'erent ijations. The bearer of this sacred symbol of friendship is never treated with disrespect, because they believe the Great Spirit would not allow such an iniquity to escape with impunity. , Peace is concluded, and treaties are ratified, by smok. ing. Wampum, and wampum belts, are also commonly • used on such occasions. Wampum, the current coin of the Indians, is formed 'of shells found on the coasts of New England and Virginia: some of those shells are of a LANGUAGES AND GENERAL TRAITS. 47 purple colour, others white, but the former are leckcned most valuable. They are cut intp the shape of oblong beads, about a quarter of an inch long, perforated, and strung on a small leathern thong: several of these strings, neatly sewed together by fine sinewy threads, form a belt, consisting of ten, twelve, or more strings. The value of each bead, and, consequently, of each string or belt, is -exactly known. The size of the belt, which is often about two feet long, and three or four inches broad, is proportioned to the solemnity and im- portance of the occasion on which it is given. The chiefs occasionally give strings to each other as tokens of friendship ; but belts are reserved for the ratification of national treaties, every stipulation of which is re corded to posterity by the hieroglyphics on the belt. Tribes in amity occasionally apply to each other for a supply of their wants. When one tribe is in need of any commodity with which another is well provided, the needy tribe send a deputation of their number to smoke with their wealthier neighbours, and to inform them of their wants ; and it would be a breach of In- dian courtesy to send them away without the expected supply. What they smoke is tobacco mixed with the leaves of sumach. The Shoshones, a band on the Rocky Mountains, before smoking with strangers, pull off their moccasins, in token of the sacred sincerity of their professions; and by this act they not only testify the.ir sincerity, but also imprecate on themselves the misery of going bare footed for ever, if they prove unfaithful to their word. LANGUAGES AND GENERAL TRAITS. A number of different languages are spoken by the 48 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. Indians ; and, in some cases, different dialects of the same language are found among different tribes. The original languages, besides that of the Esqui- maux, are said to be principally three, — the Iroquois, the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware, and the Floridian. These languages are so distinct, as to have no perceiv- able affinity. The Iroquois was spoken by the Iroquois or Six Nations, and several other tribes. The Iroquois, or Six Confederated Nations, so famous in Indian his- tory, and once so formidable by their numbers, laws, and military prowess, are the Mohawks, Oneidas,'Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagoes, and Tuscaroras. The Delaware language was spoken by many nations in the mid,dle provinces ; and the Floridian by the Creeks, Choctaws, Cherokees, Chickasaws, and other tribes in the southern states. Thfese languages are said to be copious and expressive : they often consist of long compounds, and comprise many ideas in one word. In their intercourse with the white men the Indians adopt none of their words or names, but apply names of their owfn invention both to persons and things. In short, in the .aboriginal inhabitants of North America, we find a race of men subsisting by fishing, hunting, and a partial cultivation of the soil. ' They are brave, active, shrewd, and penetrating; kind to their friends, but vindictive and cruel towards, their enemies ; capable of making great and persevering exertions, and of enduring the most excruciating torments without a sigh or a groan. They believe in one Great Spirit, the Creator and Governor of the world, on whom they continually de- pend, and from whom all their enjoyments flow. Al- though they have no public or social worship, yet they LANGUAGES AND GENERAL TRAITS. 49 are grateful to the Great Spirit for past favours, tliank him for present enjoyments, and implore from him fu- ture blessings ; this they sometimes do with an audible voice, but more frequently in the silent aspirations of the heart. They believe in the doctrine of immortality and future retribution; but their conceptions on the subject are vague, and modified by their peculiar man- ners and habits. Many attempts have been made to convert them to Christianity, but hitherto vyith little success. From their intercourse with white men they have derived no advantage : for since the commencement of that inter- course they have improved peither in civilization nor morality, and many powerful tribes have either totally disappeared, or present only a feeble remnant. The great diminutioh of their numbers is owing partly to war, partly to the ravages of small-pox, which seem to have been communicated to them by white men, but, above all, to the destructive effects of intoxicating liquors introduced among them by Europeans, and which have operated like a pestilence among these untutored tensmts of the wilderness. D CHAPTER I. EARLY INDIAN WARS OF FLORIDA. EFORE any permanent settlement was effected in the territory at present comprehended ;wilhin the limits of the United States, many years were spent in exploring the coasts of the continent, and in Y^ vainly attempting to plant J >; colonies on the shores. The English, under the command of the Cabots, were the first to discover the continent of North America, and they were also the first to reconnoitre the coast of Florida, without, how- ever, attempting a landing. In endeavours to gain possession of the country, they were preceded both by the Spaniards and the French. The first expedition to the coasts of Florida was made in 1512, by Juan Ponce de Leon, who had ac- companied Columbus in his second voyage. He had first employed his arms against the Moors, when they were expelled from the kingdom of Granada, and he was afterwards much noticed in the West Indies, on account of his courage and abilities. Ponce de Leon, becoming conqueror and governor of Porto Rico, learnt from some Indians, that there existed towards the north a rich and fertile country, the waters of which had the property of restoring youth ; and that a stream endowed with a similar virtue, passed through the island of Bim- ini, situated in the midst of the archipelago of Ba- (50) / UISCOVERY OF FLORIDA. 51 hama. The old warrior, desiring to signalize nimself by new enterprises, and periiaps seduced by a vain illu- sion, set out from Porto Rico with three ships. He directed his course towards this archipelago, and ex- plored several islands without finding this marvellous stream, and finally reached the cohtinent, at about 30 degrees 8 minutes of north latitude. This discover^' took place on Palm-Sunday, and therefore he gave the name of Florida to the country he had discovered. Ponce de Leon explored from north to south all the coast of this country ; he landed at different places, and had several engagements with the natives. After having sailed round the southern point of Florida, and disco- vered the archipelago of the Tortugas, he returned to Porto Rico, still dazzled by his first expectations. The treasures and youth that he sought, had escaped him ; but he found fame, and his memory has been conse crated by a great discovery. Perez de Ortubia afterwards undertook a voyage for the same purpose ; and several discoveries were made on other portions of this coast, in 1520, by Lucas Vas- ■ quez de Ayllon. A tempest having sui'prised him in an expedition against the Caribbees of the Lucayo islands, he was driven to the eastern coast of the continent, and pushed his discoveries towards the north, till he arrived at Cape St. Helena : he formed np settlement here, and the only result of his voyage was the kidnapping of thirty Indians, whom he took to Hayti, where they were compelled to labour in the mines, and they all soon died of sorrow and fatigue. To fill the place of the ancient inhabitants of this island and those of Cuba, who had nearly all been de- stroyed by the conquerors, they often fitted out slave expeditions for the Caribbean archipelago ; and when the continent was discovered, this species of piracy was practised on its shores, till they finally transported its bloody theatre to the shores of Africa. Ponce de Leon for some years had appeared to re- nounce his spirit of discovery, when the report of the ex- ploits of Ferdinand Cortez, the conqueror of Mexico, r&- 6 ' 52 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. ' animated his ambition. Moreover, the recent discoveries of Yasquez de Ayllon had acquainted him with the vast extent of Florida ; for this name was applied, one after another, to all the adjoining countries. Ponce de Leon set out in 1521, with two ships equipped at his own ex- pense, to form a settlement in this country ; but the In- dians advanced against him: most of his men were killed ; he himself having been wounded by an arrow, was compelled to return to his ship, and he set sail for Cuba, where he died some days after his arrival. A new expedition was fitted out in 1524, by Vasquez de Ayllon ; but he could not even reach the cape he had discovered on his first voyage. The Indians on the coast where he landed made a pretended feast, to draw a party of his soldiers into the interior of the country ; two hundred men were killed there ; the others were assailed on the shore, and Vasquez de Ayllon himself fell under the blows of the Indians. All the surround- ing tribes sought to repulse the ^Europeans : the report of the piracies committed on the shore, was spread throughout the country : the Indians were enraged, and they seized this occasion to take revenge. The eastern coast only of Florida had as yet been explored ; Pamphilo de Narvaez took another direction. This ancient rival of Ferdinand Cortez was already celebrated by his unfortunate expedition to Mexico ; he now wished to repair nobly his disgrace, and signalize himself in his turn, by discoveries. The squadron which he equipped at Cadiz, set sail in 1527, touched at the island of Cuba, and sailing towards the north, disco- vered the bay of Pensacola, where it came, to anchor in the month of April, 1528. Narvaez had with him three hundred rrten, forty of whom were cavalry: he penetrated into the interior at the head of his troops, and to gain the high region of the Apalachees, he had to surmount every obstacle that a wild country can op- pose to communication. The immense plains that ex- tended to the foot of these mountains were covered with thick forests, and they had great difficulty in making a passage through the confused remains of trees EXPEDITION OF NARVAEZ. 5S overturned by hurricanes, broken in pieces by lightning, or fallen from age : marshes, and small puddles of stag- nant water in which these ruins ot vegetation were heaped up, occupied all the lower ground. In one place the waters found no emission ; in another, it was neces- sary to overcome deep and rapid rivers, either by swimming, by rafts, or by canoes hastily constructed. They met with several Indian wigwra,ms surrounded by their plantations of maize; but more frequently they were in deserts that offered no means of subsistence ; and when they arrived at the Apalachees they found neither the p'enty nor riches which they came to seek. Narvaei, exposed to frequent attacks from the Indians, who were armed with bows and arrows, which they used with as much skill as strength, was not able to remain in their country. He returned to the sea-shore, and reached the mouth of the river Apalachicola. This voyage had lasted three months : the boats they had then to construct were not ready till the 20th of Sep- tember, and by going to sea immediately, they were ex- posed to the violent hurricanes which frequently ac- company the equinoxes. This adventurous flotilla kept at first along the shore, sailing from the east to the west: some maritime canals formed by the continent and narrow sandy isla,nds, sheltered them at inter- vals; but when they had no longer the shelter of these natural barriers, they became the sp6rt of the waves. The mouth of a great river was soon after- wards discovered: it was the Mississippi': the mass of its waters was so great that it prolonged its course to some distance in the sea, and they vifere thereby ena- bled to obtain fresh water, of which they stood in much need. But the same current compelled these feeble skiffs to recede froni the shore, and they were soon en- tirely dispersed by rough weather. Narvaez, who had hoped to gain a shore better sheltered, was carried out to sea, and never again seen. The other boats labori- ously pursued their voyage towards the west, and were cast on different parts of the continent or the islands along the shore, where most of them perished of sick • 54 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES nebs or hunger. Alvar Nunez, one of those who sur- vived this disastrous expedition, was reserved for other dangers ; he succeeded in gaining the confidence of the Indians, and acquired so much the more ascendency over them as they believed him able to predict future events and cure all diseases : three others of his ship- wrecked companions joined themselves to his destiny; many cures, which these people regarded as the effect of their attentions or charms, established their credit, and to their skill were attributed many prodigies. They shared for eight years a 'wandering life, the fatigues and toiseries of the savages ; and they afterwa'-'ls returned to Mexico, accompanied by thirty Indians beionging to the provinces through which they had passed. The conqueror of New Spain was still there, and Antonio de Mendoza exercised the authority of viceroy. They wished to profit by the accounts which these travellers gave, by attempting a new expedition into the interior of Florida, by land. Vasquez Coronado was appointed leader of it ; but he took another course ; he proceeded in a north-west direction towards the regions of Sinalsa and Sonora, and penetrated the territory of Quivira, seeking, on the authority of some vague tra- ditions, the. riches and wonders which vanished at his approach. Another expedition tookj. place at the same time; Ferdinand de Soto set out from Spain in 1538, with a body of twelve hundred men destined to form a settle- ment in Florida. This warrior sailed first to the island of Cuba, and then proceeded to the continent, landed in the bay of Spiritu-Santo, and penetrated towards the north, to 'the foot of the Apalachees. The Spaniards then changed their course; they went towards the west, through the countries watered by the Coosa, Ala- bama, and Tombigbee, and reached, successively, the Mississippi, the Red River, and the Brazos-de-Dios, which became the limit of their expedition. ■ It had lasted three years ; war, fatigue, and famine, had car- ried away most of his soldiers ; the spirit of discord broke out in the feeble remains of this army, and Fer-^ TEEDIHAND DE SOTO, DISOOVEEINO THE MISSISSIPPI. Page 55. EXPEDITION OF DE LUNA. r.5 dinand de Soto determined to return to the Mississippi. They again reached this river near the mouth of the Arkansas ; but the death of the commander put an end to the enterprise : this troop, reduced to three hundred men, renounced the design of forniing an establish- ment; they embarked on the Mississippi, made frequent incursions, which enfeebled them still more, and de- scended to the mouth of the river, whence they reached the coast of Mexico. Don Louis de Velasco, becoming viceroy of New Spain, was ordered to fit out another expedition for the settlement of Florida. He assembled all the men who had borne arms in that country, or who had been ship- wrecked there; and Tristan de Luila was appointed captain-geiieral of this corps of the army, which em- barlced at Vera Cruz, and landed, August 14, 1559, in the bay of Pensacola. Six days afterwards, the whole fleet was destroyed by a hurricane : they lost all the provisions they had on board, and they were now with- ' qut food, on a sterile coast. A detachment of four hun- dred men was then sent on an expedition to procure some : they were obliged to traverse an uncultivated and desert country, and finally reached the Indian vil- lage of Nanipacua. This nation had formerly been more numerous, and its ruin appeared to date from the period of the invasion of Ferdinand de Soto. Luna soon^proceeded thither with all bis troops ; some arrived by lana, others by ascending the river : this village re- ceived the name of Santa Cruz of Nanipacua. The Spanish commandant was favourably received there by the natives of the country. The produce of the chase and the harvest of maize, were sufficient to convince his troops that they would not be entirely without provisions ; but these were soon exhausted, and Luna, wishing to make new discoveries, placed himself at ftie head of three hundred men. He had heard of the province of Coosa, situated farther north: it was in this direction that the Spaniards proceeded, and, after travelling fifty days through a country intersected by rivers, meirshes, and forests, where they could not follow 50 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. any fixed direction, they reached the borders of Alabama. At a small distance from them, they saw several Indian villages. They encamped in this neighbourhood, and entered into a traffic with the people, that they might procure provisions. The presence of the strangers was not a new spec- tacle for the Indians: they recollected the expedition of Ferdinand de Soto: two of his followers had even lived tvvelve years among them, and had here peaceably ter- minated their lives. They would have received a few travellers without fear; but the number and strength of an armed troop excited the dread of this savage tribe ; and to get rid of the Spaniards, they engaged them in a military expedition, not unworthy of their valour, determining to assist the Indians ■ of Coosa, who were then but a few days' journey distant fronj them. These Indians were then at war with the Natchez, a revolted tribe who refused the payment of an ancient tribute. The Natchez had obtained several great advantages over them ; the widows of the Coosa warriors, who were killed in battle,, had cut off their hair, scattered it among the tombs of their ancestors, and, coming in a body to address the cacique, they cast themselves pn their knees before him, and implored vengeajice. On the arrival of the Europeans, who presented them- selves as allies, they ran to arms with the greatest con- fidence: the cacique had given the signal; cries of war were heard throughout the whole nation of Coosa. Three hundred men assembled in a plain, and divided into different parties, each of which had a guide ; fifty Spaniards on foot and fifty on horseback joinedjn this expedition. The next day eight Indian chiefs were seen running across the quarters allotted to the Spaniards, to their own,' and stopping near the cacique, raising great cries ; they took him on their shoulders, and car- ried him some distance, till they came to an alcove, the ^teps of which he ascended alone. The cacique walk- ed about for some time with gravity ; a sort of sceptre was handed to him, which was terminatedi«by a number of very beautiful feathers ; he raised it several times, *>~»-.i*t* i I? INDIANS AND SPANIARDS IN ALLIANCE. 59 pointing it towards the country of the Natcliez with a menacing gesture. Having put some seeds in his mouth, he bit them, and spit out the remains. He then addressed his warriors as follows ; — "Friends, our ene- mies will be vanquished, and their forces will be broken like these seeds which I have destroyed with my teeth." The cacique then took a shell filled with the water, and, pouring it out, drop by drop, exclaimed " May all their blood be thus poured out." AH the Indians repeated these imprecations with great shouts. The cacique now descended from the alcove, and led his troops to the war which he had just solemnly declared against the Natchez. (See Engraving, oJi the opposite -page.) The following night, new cries were heard in the camp of the Indians: their cacique again excited them to vengeance, 'and they swore never to return without having accomplished it. The spies sent by the Coosa Indiaris thought that the Natcihez were not upon their guard, and the cacique desired rather to surprise, than attack therri openly. They approached their first vil- • lage, and attempted to occupy the diflerent 'avenues, so that no person might escape ; but when the cacique en- tered with his troops, they found all the Natchez had fled: a confused noise had made them acquainted 'with the approach of their enemies. Their village was de- serted, and they found nothing but some provisions which the enemy, in their precipitate retreat, had left behind. Vengeance was thus deferred ; and their regret was more bitter when they saw in the place, round which their habitations had been built, large posts, marking the usual place of the execution of the prisoners they had taken. These posts were hung round with limbs and scalps ; and the appearance of these bloody trophies raised the fury of the warriors still higher. They gathered these miserable remains to bury them with superstitious rites ; ane| they spread through the village like madmen, some in the hope of finding ene- mies to sacrifice, others to plunder the cabins and set lire to them. After sun-set, they celebr'ated their vie- 60 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. tory by the light of the fire, with dances, songs, shouts and the confused noise of their warhke instruments. The cacique and the Spaniards determined to go in pursuit of the enemy, and advanced towards the moun- tain where they supposed they had taken refuge ; they could not discover any trace of them, but approached a large river, 'towards which they appeared to have retreated. The savages gave it the name of Ochechitou, and this name calls to mind that of N'achitoches, which is famiharized by many more recent associations. The Natchez had in effect crossed the river, and be- lieved themselves in safety ; but the Coosa Indians knew the place where the river could be forded. They cross- ed it, the water being up to the breast. The discharge of a musket, which killed a Natchez, put the others in confusion ; they were not able ta resist fire-arms, and, finding that they were pursued across anothfer river, they solicited peace, promising to pay the cacique of Coosa their ancient tributes. These consisted in pro- visions of grain and fruit which were sent three times a year. Such are the treasures for which savages make war ; so trifling are the causes of the battles which frequently happen between them. A greater ambition, a m®re intense and insatiable thirst for gold and power, is found only among civilized people". In penetrating into the interior of the country, the Spanish detachment, separated from the body of the army by extensive deserts, had no method of sending to Tristan de Luna any account of its situation and dis- coveries : it was believed that the whole detachment had perished ; and Tristan, wishing to be ready to re- ceive the reinforcement he expected' from Mexico abandoned Santa Cruz de Nanipacua, in order to return by descending the river, to Port St. Maria, which was about 120 leagues distant. t A captain and twelve men, sent by the commander' of the body that fought against .the Natchez, did not arrive at Santa Cruz till after the departure of the cap- tain-general. A note, lying at the foot of a tree, ac- quainted them with the direction he had, taken, and LUWAS TROOPS REVOLT. . 61 ihey encountered him at Port St. Maria. They then deliberated whether to endeavo'jr to keep possession of the province of Coosa, or to, abandon it. Tristan de Luna regarded it as unworthy of the courage of Spa- niards to be overcome with difficulties; and did not believe this country as poor as it was represented to be by the malcontents. " If we cannot live there," said he, " we will retire among the Natchez ; if their re- sources are exhausted, we will seek better countries, and, to reach them, we will brave every fatigue : it would be humiliating to fear it, and, however gi-eat it may be, we are determined to bear it." Luna was ready to struggle against all obstacles ; but his aid-de-Camp, Juan, Ceron, believing them insur- mountable, and seeing that his opinion was favoured by a majority of the soldiers, resolved to oppose the pro- ject of the captain-general. He secretly sent into the province of Coosa the twelve men who had returned, and he considered himself as having power to recall, by, virtue of the authority with which he was entrusted, the detachment which was on a voyage of discovery. Ceron persisted in ordering it to return ; and its com- mander, receiving a positive order, abandoned the pro- vince in which he was established : he had employed seven months in this expedition. Most of the troops were in a state of discontent when this detachment returned to St. Maria : the spirit of sedition every day increased ; the extreme severity of the captain-general only made its progress more rapid, and as he could not put in execution the rigour of his orders against a great number of undisciplined men, they passed soon from discontent to disdain of his authority. These troubles lasted five months ; they were finally terminated by the pious exhortations of Father Domingo, of the order of Annunciation, who made use of all the power of religion, to bring back the parties to a love of peace and an oblivion of mutual injuries. In the meanwhile, the viceroy of Mexico, Don Louis de Velasco. informed of these dissensions of the bodv 62 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. of the army, had appointed a successor to Tristan de Luna ; he had appointed Angpl de Villafana governor of Florida, and this new commander soon arrived at Port St. Maria, with a reinforcement of troops and some munitions. Villafana wished to profit by the ex- perience of his predecessors, in order that he might de- cide with more judgment whether he should occupy anew the province of Coosa, or abandon all thoughts of forming an establishment in a region so often repre- Bented as sterile. This last council prevailed, and Vil- lafana led his troops to Havana. Plis instructions or- dered him to return to the eastern coast of Florida, and explore it as far as Cape St. Helena ; but this plan was not put in execution. Tristan de Luna and a few of his followers were now the only persons who remained at Port St. Maria. This old commander could not renounce an enterprise the grandeur and advantages of which had so much engaged his attention ; and he wrote to the viceroy of Mexico, to submit to him a new plan of operations. He did not doubt of success ; but the viceroy, not see- ing any. possibility of it, ordered him to return to New Spain, which order he obeyed. These last events happened in 1561. Although Flo- rida had been explored at different points, since the- first discoveries of Ponce de Leon, no permanent settlement had yet been established, when a new flag appeared on the eastern coasts of the continent, now called Georgia and Carolina. Admiral Coligni, desiring to form a refuge for the Calvinists persecuted in France, had formed, under the reign of Henry IL, the project of founding a Protestant colony in America ; and Durand de Villegagnon, vice- admiral of Brittany, had been charged with ,this expe- dition. But the fort which he built on the coast of Bra- zil was soon destroyed by the Portuguese,, and Coligni cast his eyes on the countries situated to the north of Florida, which had formerly been discovered by Verra- zini. He proposed to the king to make a voyage of discovery, and Charles IX., who then reigned, placed EXPEDITION OF RIBAXJT. 63 two ships at his disposal, the command of which lie gave to Jean Ribaut of Dieppe, a mariner of great ex perience, who set sail from that port, February 15th, 1562. Ribaut and his crew were of the reformed reli- gion ; and the admiral, in protecting an expedition which would be useful to the Protestants, had regard also to the interests of France. He designed to form a retreat for the proscribed, and put an end to the civil and religious wars ; to separate the two parties, with- out, however, making them forget their common origin and country. Captain Ribaut reached the coasts of Florida in the 30th degree of north latitude; he followed it, sailing towards the north, and landed on the shores of a river, which he called the river May, because he discovered it in this month. This river is the same as that which was afterwards called by the Spaniards, St. Matthew. They raised there, as a sign of possession, a column on which were inscribed the arms of France, and they had friendly communications with the • natives of the country. Ribaut wished to prosecute his discoveries, that he might choose the most favourable place for forming a settlement ; he discovered the mouths of all the rivers of this coast, from the Altamaha to the Sa- vannah,, and he reached, by continuing his voyage, the entrance of a deep, bay, which he called Port Royal. The Coosa- Walchee, whose source is in the Apalachees, pours its waters into this vast basin, and divides itself into two branches before emptying into the sea; the one bends its course towards Port Royal, the other to- wards the bay of St. Helena; and this region has always been distinguished hy the natives as the first in which the Europeans established colonies. Ribaut considered as a southern prolongation of New France, the countries which he discovered, and the Spaniard, regarded them as a northern prolongation of • Florida. This was giving on both sides a great exten- sion to the right of discovery; that of occupation was more positive, and RJbaut had not been preceded by any colony 'on the coast where he intended to establish 7 e)4 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. one. He gave French names to the rivers he dis- covered ; they were the Seine, Garonne, Loire, Sou- rene, Charente and Sordogne. The fortress which he afterwards built on an island in the bay of Port Royal, received the name of Charlesfort. The command of it was given to Captain Albert ; and the chief of the ex- pedition before leaving him, addressed him in the fol- lowing words :. " I pray you, in the presence of all, to so worthily acquit yourself of your duty, and so mo- destly govern the little troop that I leave you, and who consent to remain under your orders with so much pleasure, that I shall never have cause to reprove you, and shall be able, as I wish, to declare to the king, the faithful service that, in presence of us all, you promiseH towards him in his New Spain." "And you, compa- nions," said he to the soldiers, " pray you to obey Cap- tain Albert, as if he was myself; rendering him the obedience that a true soldier should to his commander, being in unity with one another; and doing this, God will assist you and bless your undertakings." We have quoted the language of the authors of his time, that we might give in its native simplicity this admirable address. After leaving in the fort some provisions and muni- tions of war, Ribaut saluted with his artillery the new French establishment, and directed his course towards the north, with the intent of gaining the banks of the Jordan, now Santee, which a sailor, who had belonged to the expedition of Vasques de Ayllon had discovered forty years before; but the water became shallow as they approached the coast, and the mouths of the rivers which they fell in with were so obstructed with sand, that Ribaut, after having consulted, his crew, deter- mined to prosecute his discoveries no farther, but to go and render an account of what he had done. He re- turned to Dieppe, five months after his departure. Captain Albert's first communications with the In- dians were friendly; ascending th,e river, he visited the cacique Andusta, and many other chiefs of different tribes, who welcomed him with fetes, and presente THE FRENCH ABANDON THE SETTLEMENT. 65 him with some maize, game and fruits; he made them presents in return, so that a perfect understanding ex- isted between them. But he knew not how to gain the affection of his soldiers; he irritated them by many acts of rigour and injustice. A soldier had been de- graded for some fault, and left on a neighbouring island without provisions : others, menaced with a similar treatment, excited a sedition against Albert : they put him to death, brought back the banished soldier who was almost starved, and appointed for commander one of their number, named Nicholas Barre, who succeeded m estabhshing order in the colony. It was however in want of many things : the reinforcement they expected from France had not arrived, and having no vessel in which to leave the country, they began to construct a brigantine. The Indians furnished them with large ropes for the rigging : they caulked it with the moss which they gathered from trees and the resin of pine trees ; they made sails of their clothing, and departed in that feeble bark, after having distributed their last pre- sents among the Indians. The provisions which they received from them were insufficient for a long voyage ; the progress was impeded sometimes by storms, at others by calms: their provisions were finally ex- hausted, and the crew in despair decided that one of their number should be sacrificed to save the rest. Then the banished soldier, whom they had formerly saved from death, offered himself as a voluntary vic- tim : his offer was accepted ; hunger made them an- thropophagi. Finally, land was discovered ; they were transported with joy, and after having gone on shore, let their deserted vessel, which leaked in many places, float at the mercy of the waves. In this situa- tion they were discovered by the captain of an English vessel who took them on board ; many were taken to England, where they were interrogated respecting the shores of America, and on the possibility of establishing a colony there; others were landed on the coast of France, and arrived at Dieppe, in the month of July, J 504. This expedition had lasted twenty-nine months: E 66 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. it had been left to itself; civil war having prevented the mother country from sending assistance to this dis- tant colony. It was only after the return of peace that Admiral Coligni was authorized by the king to send three vessels to this part of the American continent. Rene de Laudonniere, who had accompanied Ribaut in his first expedition, was appointed commander of this one, and departed from Havre, April 22d, 1564. We rnay mention, among the persons who accompaniea him, Ottigny, Lacaille, Laroche-Ferriere, d'Erlac, Le- vasseur, who signalized themselves by their military- services. A painter, named Le Moine, accompanied them, and ' his drawings, afterwards engraved by Debry, made the Europeans acquainted with various scenes in the life of the Indians. The pictures by which a narrative is ornamented, have often been considered as a great help to the study of history. Nature has its spectacles, people have their monuments, and faithful representations aid to fix them in our memory. If they represent festivals or national solemnities, they spread more light on the description ; if they show the common occurrences of life, they allow us to dispense with details which suspend the interest in the event and the rapidity of recital. The writings of the ancients, at least in the condition in which we have received them, were not accompanied by them : this privation often keeps us in uncertainty respecting the progress of their industry and of their skill in the arts ; and we have in vain endeavoured to re-construct some of their inventions, by the aid of the writings they have left us. But in using this language of signs, we must not lose sight of its being only an accessary to our work, and that it should be bent to the will of the historian with- out ever serving him as a guide. Each place, each period does not offer the same number of figures ; his- tory has its deserts, as well as its fertile meadows ; in one place we have nothing to represent, in another a, long series of images is presented. The time at which Laudonniere set sail, was the LAUDONNIERE'S VOYAGK. 69 same as that in which the colonists of Charlesfort, who had been so long left without assistance, left the shores . of America to return to France. The two expeditions crossed each other in the midst of the ocean without meeting, and the project of Coligni could not be accom- plished: other destinies awaited the navigators on the shore where they were about to settle. Laudonniere reached the Canaries, whence he sailed towards the Antilles : he had on the island of Dominica, where he landed to take in some provisions, an engagement with the Caribbees; he rounded the islands of St. Christopher and Montserrat, reached the coasts of Florida, and on the 20th of June sailed up the river May. The Indians gave them a friendly recep- tion : their cacique, Saturiova, came to see them ; and Lacaille, who had imperfectly learned their language, in his voyage, made him understand that they were sent hither by a prince who governed all the East. They came to render homage to his goodness, to his valour and liberality, and they had surmounted many perils to form with him a treaty, of confederation and friendship. Saturiova was flattered by this honour ; he believed himself still more powerful, since so distant a sovereign sought his alliance, and conducted the French to the column that Ribaut had erected, two years be- fore, on the banks of the river. The warriors found it ornamented with flowers, branches of laurel and other trees : at]d provisions had been brought here for the new guests. {See Engraving, on the opposite page.) The intention of Laudonniere was to gain promptly the bay of Port Royal: he again set sail towards the nprth, and landed at several parts of the coast which had been discovered by the preceding expedition. Here they learnt that the post of Charlesfort had been aban- doned for several months, and they were compelled to choose a place on which to settle. This bay was the most beautiful and the most secure which the French had discovered, but the banks of the river May ap- peared more fertile and more favourable for the esta- blishxnent of a new colony. They hoped by ascending 70 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. the river, to reach the country , that contained the mines of gold of which they were in search, and this opinion was founded on the ill-understood information which they had i-eceived from the savages. They had told them that by following this directifin which led towards the mountains, they could easily establish com- munications with another sea ; and we have since dis- covered, by visiting this part of the Apalachees, that but a short distance separates the sources of the rivers which flow either east or south, the former towards the ocean, the latter towards the gulf of Mexico. These considerations made them prefer the banks of the river May to all other situation's. A triangular fort was constructed two leagues from its mouth; ai.d was called Carohna in honour of their king ; and the In- dians themselves laboured at the entrenchments which they surrounded With ditches and palisades. The natives then united into several confederacies. That along the sea shore was composed of thirty tribes, the principal of which was under the dominion of Satu- riova as cacique. A confederation more distant from the ocean, and extending to the Apalachee, acknowledged Outina for its head chief Other similarieagues were formed in the neighbouring territories ; and the popu- lation of the natives of the country was thus grouped round their , principal war-chiefs. Community of in- terests, similarity of language, family alliances, were the ioundation of these voluntary assqciations. If the bonds between several tribes of the same nation were broken, they could easily be re-established by the ad- vice and intervention of others ; but the rivalry which existed among the greater confederations was more inveterate, and their quarrels were transmitted from generation to generation. ^ Laudonniere did not desire to enter into the quarrels of the natives ; he had at first sought the friendship of Saturiova, whose good will was necessary for the safe- ty of the colony ; and when this chief asked his assist- ■ ance against the mountain tribes, Laudonniere, instead of uniting with one of the parties, made them become SATURIOVA. BATTLE WITH THE INDIANS. 71 reconciled. He did not, however, always preserve this neutrality : he several times rendered assistance to Outina, against the other tribes of the Apalachees ; the Indians of the coast became jealous of this, and the consequence of a change of policy finally rendered the situation of the French very difficult. In preferring the alliance of Outina to that of the other chiefs, Laudonniere sought to open communica- tions more easily with the mountains in which they hoped to find the mines of gold ; it was in this direction that he extended his discoveries. He gave to Outina the assistance of a body of twenty-five riflemen, com- manded by Ottigny, one of his bravest officers ; and the troops of the cacique, accompanied by their auxiliaries, marched with confidence against the enemy. The In- dian army stopped towards the evening, and separated into various groups, to keep watch during the night. A hundred warriors were ranged at some distance round the cacique ; two hundred men, farther off, form- ed a second circle round him, and they were themselves surrounded by another numerous circle. The Indians began their march at break of day, and, when they had arrived at the limits of the territory they intended to invade, Outina resolved to consult the sorcerer whom he had in his army, that he might know the force and position of his enemies. The sorcerer was an old man bowed down with years; he knelt on the ground, traced around him some unknown characters, murmured some unconnected words, fatigued himself by his violent con- vulsions, and, taking breath, he made known the number of the enemies, and the place where they were to be found. The cacique was discouraged ; but, on the en- treaties of Ottigny, he determined to march against them. This officer and the riflemen began the action : the enemy was conquered ; and those who were killed or taken prisoners were cut in pieces by the Indians, withoat Ottigny's being able to make them renounce so barbarous a custom ; and the savages, loaded with their bloody remains, matched back to their own territory. After having assisted the cacique in his expedition 12 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. Ottigny quitted the neighbourhood of the mountains, and returned to Fort Carolina. Their provisions were now almost exhausted; the bonds of discipline were relaxed, and the spirit of dissension increased every- day. The malcontents accused Laudonniere of appro- priating to his own use the money which had been sent for the purpose of buying provisions for the troops ; of sending only his friends for the discovery of the mines, and of depriving of these riches all the other soldiers ; of condemning them to severe labours ; of depriving them even of the consolations of religion; and of leaving without ministers all the reformers who had followed him. Some movements . of insubordination, at first timid and undecided, gave place to a conspiracy against Laudonniere. Desfourneaux was the leader of the sedi- tious : he proceeded, at midnight, at the head of twenty riiiemen, to the lodgings of this officer, took him pri- soner, and conducted him chained on board of a ship. The mutineers afterwards obUged him, under -pain of death, to sign a paper which authorized them to go into the SpanisK possessions to seek for provisions ; and, under this pretext, they armed two light vessels, sailed through the Archipelago of the Lucayos, and gained the shores of the island of Cuba, where they committed numerous depredations. The , governor of this island and his sons were seized by them in a caravel: he agreed with them on the price of his, ransom, and one of his sons was permitted to go on shore to procure this sum; but, according to the private instructions given him by the governor, he secretly gathered all the sol- diers in the neighbourhood, and attacked the pirates, The caravel which had been seized was retaken, with the crew that had been placed in it : one of their ships was destroyed, and there being only one brigantine con laining twenty-six men left, they believed themselves incapable of continuing their voyage, and determined to return to the river May. They no longer had power to excite a sedition : Laudonniere had beep set at liber- ty and his authority re-established, through the attention SCARCITY OF PROVISIONS. 73 of Ottigny, Caille, d'Erlac, and the other soldiers who had remained faithful. The corsairs only .wished to touch at the port, to take in some provisions, and their intention was to set sail afterwards for France; but their vessel was seized ; the four principal leaders were condemned to death ; the others were pardoned. These ads of piracy excited profound hatred in the Spanish colonies ; religious hatred was added to it, and tlaey determined to destroy a colony formed by Lu- therans. Although the punishment of the criminals was a reparation for their offences, they were not contented with it; and since they could no longer accuse the French colony of favouring piracy, they accused them of heresy. During the absence of these adventurers, which lasted nearly four months, Laudonniere had continued the building of Fort Carohna. He was on friendly terms with Saturiova, and the Indians of the shore often brought him fish, game, and maize, in exchange for arms an 1567 ; contrary winds kept them near Royau, and afterwards by the mouth of the Cha- rente, whence they gained the sea. Tl^^y reached the shores of Cuba, after a long voyage, and gained Cape St. Antonio, situated at the vi'estern eytreraity of this island. De Gourgues then assembled his crew and pictured to them the cruelties which the Spaniards had exercised towards the French, "Behold," added he, " the* crime of our enemies ; and what would ours be , should we longer defer to revenge the af&ont w^iiot? has been cast on the French nation ! It is' this that has engaged me to sell all my pi-operty ; it is this which has opened to me the 'purses of my ft iehds. I have reckoned upon you; I believed you jealous enough of the honour of your country, to sacrifice even your «^- lives on an occasion of this importance. Atn I de- ceived ? I hope to give you an example — to be always at your head; will you refuse to foUow me?" The soldiers declared that they would n?ver forsake him. The flotilla scudded along to the north of the island 86 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. to gain the Bahama channel ; it reaehed Ihe coasts of Florida,, passed the river May, where the Spaniards saluted them with tw6 cannons, and continued sailing along the coast till they he^d lost sight of the river. In the^beginning of the night, De Gqurgues landed, fifteen leagues to the north of the fortress, on the shores of the river which we have called Seine, and endeavoured to form amicable relations with Saturiova and the Indians, who were irritated at the ill treatment they had re- ceived since the departure of the Frenc.h. A young man, named Pierre de Bray, a native of Havre, was found among this tribe ; he was one of those who had escaped from Fort Carolina, when Melendez had seized it, and had been humanely received by Saturiova.- Dur- ing his stay among the savages he learnt their language ; he was able to serve as interpreter, and his intervention was so much the more useful, as the Indians joined De Gourgues' expedition. They agreed to meet him by the side of the river four leagues from the fort, and the captain sent some men to fifid out the condition of the enemy's entrenchments. Pedro Melendez had left there four hundred Spaniards, under the command of Villareal : they were distributed in three forts. The largest was that which hac^ belonged to the French, and which had been put in a condition for defence. The other two had, been built by Villardal, at the dis- tance of two leagues from the first, towards the lower part of the river, which separated them from one an- other. Each of these posts' was guarded by sixty men. The French and. Indians crossed, without being per- ceived, a small river near one of the smaller forts. De Gourgues attacked it on both sides at once, and the enemy, not being .able to withstand his impetuous sh~ock, took to flight. They were between two fires, and not one of them escaped. The greater part were 'killed in battle ; the others were reserved for a more dreadful death. The second fort was attacked with the same order: De Gourgues had crossed the river with twenty musketeers, and the Indians joined him by swimming. The enemy, forceji fronj their entrench- HEVENGE UPON THfi SPANIARDS. 87 ments, endeavoured to retreat through the '-woods to the principal fort; but they metwith the same fate as the first. Before jnarchitig towards the large fort which con- taitied two hundred and sixty men, De Gourgues sent the Indians to form ambuscades in the forest; he left an officer with fifteen musketeers in one of the small forts, ascended the river with his troops, atid sought, in approaching the fortress, the means of attacking it at the point which appeared rftost accessible. On the first rumour of his a'pjjroach, Villareal had sent a detachment of eighty men to watch the motions of the enemy. This corps was surrounded : De Gour- gues attacked it in person ; Casenova prevented their retreat, and they were cut iti pieces. This battle so terrified the Spaniards in the fort, that they no longer thought of defending it ; they precipitately escaped and fled into the forests; but they were there received by the Indians, who shot them with their arrows. The few who fell living into the hands of the conqueror, were hung on the same trees where, three years be- fore, they had hung the French. It is Said that Me5- lendez had attached to the place of execution the following inscription: "I do not treat them thus as Frenchmen, but as Protestants." De Gourgues placed the following inscription over his victims : " I dq not this ds unto Spaniards or mariners, but as unto traitors, robbers, and murderers." ^ -- The commander had not men enough to keep pos- session of the forts, and to establish themselves in a country where tie Spaniards could easily collect a more numerous body of troops : he made the Indians destroy the fortifications, after having conveyed to his ships the pieces of artillery he found there. Casenova was charged to conduct this convoy to the river Seine^ where the large ships had been left, and De Gourgues ff proceeded by land to the game point, with eighty mus- keteers, carrying with them lighted matches, and forty sailors armed with pikes. The Indians came from all 88 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. parts to honour him as their deliverer: he received them with many testimonials of friendship, and accord- ing to their wishes promised to return in twelve moons. His vessels were in a good condition, and ready to sail* he embarked ME^y 3d, 1558 ; his passage was pros- perous : he sailed eleven hundred leagues in seventeen days, and continuing his voyage, arrived at Rochelle on the 6th of June. After having received in this city the most distinguished honours, he embarked for Bour- deaux, and hastened to give an account of his expedi- tion to Montlucj'who had favoured him, and who was then in' the central part of France. The report of this courageous enterprise was soon every where spread, and the Spanish vessels, which were cruising along the shores, hastened towards the entrance of the port of Rochelle to arrest De Gourgues on his passage; but they arrived too late. This officer had departed. They followed him to the entrance of the Goronde, and ascended this river to Blaye withbut be- ing able to come up with him. De Gourgues after- wards went to Pfiris. He offered his services to the kihg, and proposed a plan for reducing to his authority the co.untry he had discovered ; but the. Spanish gbr vernment endeavoured to obtain justice from Charles IX. for this bloody outrage : they represented it as a crime against the alliance formed by the two .courts, and De Gourgues was forced to fly to Rouen, and keep in concealment for some time. This expedition will remain in history as a remark- able monument of patriotism and intrepidity; hut in honouring it under this title, we must lament an age in which such terrible reprisals were considered as an act of justice. ^ The reprisal not only reached the guilty ; it fell on th'e ! inriocent, and mingled the .grossest injus- tice with revenge. De Gourgues, persecuted and afterwards neglected by his sovereign, found strangers more benevolent to- wards him : Elizabeth, queen of England, gladly re- ceived him on account of his merit; an^ Don Antonio, REFLECTIONS. 89 who pretended to the succession of Sebastian, king of Portugal, chose him, twelve years after, to be admiral of the fleet which he had armed against Spain ; but De Gourgues was now enfeebled by age, and died before he had entered upon his duties. The countries which this enterprising man had wished to reconquer, were now forgotten. They had cost useless sacrifices ; an improvident policy had caused them to be abandoned ; and if we inquire into the causes which made these great enterprises mis- carry, we shall find them especially in the want of union. The men belonging to the first expedition were no longer ia America when -the government sent them its tardy assistance. Those of the second were pre- paring to quit their fortress ; they had torn down the fortifications, and made them unfit to - sustain a siegCj when they were suddenly assaulted by an enemy supe- rior in numbers. These contrarieties would not have taken place, had the project of founding a Colony been executed with a spirit of union, y^hich alone is suffi- cient to assure success. ' But the character of Protestants, impressed on this new colony, exposed itv from its origin, to all the perse- cutions directed at that time in France agiainst the Cal- vinists. It Could hot expecv any assistance from the sovereign, when the reformers were at war with hijn. It was protected only during the truces which were sometimes made; but then the opportunity was lost, the fruit of their former labours could not'be gathered in time, and the evil became irremediable when the government itself considered as mortal enemies all per- sons who were not of the Catholic faith. The other governments of Europe, if they did not show themselves more tolerant towards those v^ho had a different faith, had at least a policy more enlightened and nflore happy in its results. They exiled a part of the dissenters, and encouraged the others to emigrate ; but they sent them from home into their colonies ; they followed them with their supervision, and protected ~%- 90 \ INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITKD STATES them in their places of refuge : they only saw in these new establishments an increase of the power of the mother country. It was extending beyond the seas her power, commerce, and industry; and it opened to men discontented with their situatioip, another career and a new field for hope. CHAPTER II. EARLY INDIAN WARS OP VIRGINIA. PREVIOUS to the final set- tlement of Virginia, many ^„ attempts at colonization were made on the soil of the United States. Seve- ral expeditions were sent to the coasts of Maine; and all readers of Ameri- can history are famihar with the repeated unsuc- cessful attempts of Sir Walter Raleigh to establish a permanetit colony in Roanoke, in North CaroUna. At length, James I., having divided that portion of North America which extends from the thirty-eighth to the forty-fifth de- gree of north latitude, into two portions, the one called the first or south colony of "Virginia, and the other the second or north colony, authorized Sir Thomas Gates, Sir George Somers, and their asso- ciates in London, to settle any part of the former which they might choose ; -and several knights, gentle- men, and merchants, of Bristol and Plymouth, com SETTLEMENT OF THE ENGLISH. Q] monly called the Plymouth company, to oc.cvpv the After the lapse of a hundred and ten years from the discovery of the continent by Cabot, and twenty-two years .after its first occupation by Raleigh, , were the number of the English colonists limited to a hundred and five; and this handful of men proceeded to execute the arduous task of peopling a remote and uncultivated land, covered with woods and marshes, and inhabited only by tribes of savages and beasts of prey. Newport and his squadron, pursuing for some un- known reason the ancient circuitous track to America did not accomplish their voyage- in a shorter period than four months; but its termination was rendered , peculiarly fortun^.te by the efTect of a storm Vhich * overruled their destination to Roanoke, and carried them into the bay of Chesapeake. As they advanced into the bay that seemed to invite their approach, they beheld all the advantages of this spacious haven, re- plenished by the waters of so many great rivers 'that fertilize the soil of that extensive district of America, and affording commodious inlets into tfie interior parts, facihtate their foreign commerce and mutual communi- cation. Newport first landed on a promontory forming the southern boundary of the bay, which, in honour of the Prince of Wales, he named Cape Henry. Thence coasting the southern shore, he entered a river which .the natives called Powhatan, and explored its banks for the space of forty miles from its mouth. Strongly impressed with the superior advantages of the coast and region to which tfiey had been thus happily con- dupted, 'the adventurers unanimously determined to make this the place of their abode. They gave jtp their infant settlement, as well as to the neighbouring river, the name of their king; and Jamestown retains the distinction of being the oldest existing habitation of the English in America. But the dissensions that .broke out among the colo- ; nists soon threatened to deprive, them of all the advan- tages of their well-selected station. Their animosities 92 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. wore powerfully inflamed by an arrangement which, if It did not originate with the king, at least evinces a strong affinity to that ostentatious mystery and driftless artifice which he affected as the perfection of political dexterity. The names of the colonial council were not communicated to the a'dventurers when they departed- from England; but a commission which contained them was inclosed in a sealed packet, which was di- rected to be opened within twenty-four hours after their, arrival on the coast of Virginia, when the counsellors were, to be installed into their office, and to elect their own president. The dissensions incident to a long voyage, and a body of adventurers rather conjoined than united, had free scope among men unaware of the relations they were to occupy towards each other, and of the subordination which their relative stations * might imply ; and when the names of the council were proclaimed, they were far from giving general satisfac- tion. Captain Smith, whose superior talents and cou- rage had excited the envy and jealousy of his col- leagues, was excluded from the seat in council which the commission conferred on him, and even accused of traitorous designs so unproved and improbable, that none less believed the charge than the parties who pre- ferred it. The privation of his counsel and services in the difficulties of their outset was a serious loss to the ' colonists, and might have been attended with ruin to the settlement, if his merit and generosity had not been superior to their mean injustice. The jealous suspi- cions of the person who had been elected president restrained the use of arms, and discouraged the con- struction of fortifications ; and a misunderstanding hav- ing arisen with the Indians, the colonists, unprepared lor hostilities, suffered severely from one of the sudden attacks characteristic of the warfare of these savages. . Newport had been ordered to return with the ships to England; and as the time of his departure ap- proached, the accusers of Smith, affecting a humanity they did not feel, proposed that he should return with Newport, instead of being prosecuted in Virginia. But, THE INDIANS BRING PROVISIONS. 93 happily for the colony, he scorned so to compromise his integrity ; and demanding a trial, was honourably acquitted, and took his seat in the council. The fleet had been better victualled than the stores of the colony ; and while it remained with them, the * colonists were permitted to share the abundance enjoyed by the sailors. But when Newport set sail for England, they found themselves limited to scanty supplies of un- wholesome provisions ; and the sultry heat of the cli- mate, and moisture of a country overgrown with wood, concurring with the defects of their diet, brought on diseases that raged with fatal violence. Before the month of September, one half of their number had per- ished, and among them was Bartholomew Gosnold, who had planned the expedition, and eminently contMbuted to its accomplishment. This scene of distress was heightened by internal dissensions. The president was accused of embezzling the stores, and finally detected in an attempt to seize a pinnace and escape from the colony and its calamities. At length, in the extremity of their distress, when ruin seemed alike to impend from famine and the fury of the savages, the colony was delivered from danger by a supply which the piety of Smith is not ashamed to ascribe to the influence of God in suspending the passions and controlling the sen- timents of men. The savages, actuated by a 'sudden change of feeling, presented them with a supply of pro- visions so abundant as at once to dissipate their appre- hensions of famine and hostility. Resuming their spirit, the colonists now proved them- selves not entirely uninstructed by their misfortunes. In seasons of exigency, merit is illustrated, and the envy that pursues it, absorbed by interest and alarm. Their sense of common and inevitable danger suggested and. enforced submission to the man whose talents were most likely to extricate them from the difficulties with which they were surrounded. Every eye was now turned on Smith, and all willingly devolved on him the authority which thej'- had formerly evinced so much iealousy of his acquiring. This eminent person, whose 94 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. name will be for ever associated with the foundation of civilized society in America, was descended of a re- spectable family in Lincolnshire, and boi-n to a compe- tent fortune. At a very early age his ardent mind had been strongly smitten with the spirit of adventure that prevailed so powerfully in England during the reign of Elizabeth; and', yielding to his inclinations, he had passed through a vast variety of military service, with little gain, but great reputation, and with the acquisition of an experience the more valuable that it was obtained without exhausting his ardour or tainting his morals. The vigour of his constitution had preserved his health unimpaired amidst the general sickness ; his undaunted temper retained his spirits unbroken, and his judgment unclouded, amidst the general misery and dejection; and the ardour of his disposition, which once subjected him to the reproach of overweening ambition, was now felt to diffuse an animating glow of hope and courage among all around him. A strong sense of religion pre- dominated in the mind of this superior man, combined and subordinated all his faculties, refreshed his con- fidence, extended and yet regulated his views, and gave dignity to his character, and consistency to his conduct. Assuming the direction of the affairs of the colonists, he instantly adopted the only plan that could save them from destruction. Under his directions James-Town was fortified by such defences as were sufficient to repel the attacks of the savages ; and, by dint of great labour, which he was always the foremost to share, the colonists were provided with dwellings that aflbrded shelter from the weather, and contributed to restore and preserve their health. Finding the supplies of the sa- vages discontinued, he put himself at the head of a detachment of his people, and penetrated into the country; and by courtesy and liberality to the tribes whom he found well disposed, and vigorously repelling the hostilities of such as were otherwise minded, he obtained for the colony the most abundant supplies. In the midst of his successes he was surprised on an expedition, by a hostile body of savages, who, having NCAKOUWA. FvVt CAPTAIN SMITH A PRISONER. 97 succeeded in making him prisoner, after a gallant and nearly successful defence, prepared to inflict on him the usual fate of their captives. His eminent faculties did not desert him on this trying occasion. He desired to speaR with the sachem or chief, and, presenting him with a mariner's compass, expatiated on the wonderful discoveries to which it had led, described the shape of the earth, the vastness of its hinds and oceans, the course of the sun, the varieties of nations, and the sin- gularity of their relative positions, which made some of them antipodes to the others. With equal prudence and magnanimity he refrained from all solicitations for his life, which would only have weakened tlie impres- sion which he hoped to produce. The savages listened with amazement and admiration. They had handled the compass, and viewing with surprise the play of the needle, which they plainly saw, but found it impossible to touch, from the intervention of the glass, this mar- vellous object prepared their minds for the reception of those vast impressions by which their captive endea- voured to gain ascendency over them. For an hour after he had finished his harangue, they seem to have remained undecided; till their habitual sentiments re- viving, they resumed their suspended purpose, and. having bound him to a tree, prepared to dispatch him with their arrows. But a stronger impression had been made on their chief; and his soul, enlarged for a season by the admission of knowledge, or subdued by the influ- ence of wonder, revolted from the dominion of habitual fe- rocity. This chief was named Opechancanough, and des- tined at a future period to invest his barbarous name with terror and celebrity. Holding up the compass in his hand, he gave the signal of reprieve, and Smith, though still guarded as a prisoner, was conducted to a dwelling where he was kindly treated, and plentifully entertained. (See Engraving, on the opposite page.) But the strongest im- pressions pass away, while the influence of habit remains. After vainly endeavouring to prevail on their captive to betray the English colony into their hands„they refer- red his fate to Povvhatan, the king or pi'incipal sachem of G 98 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. the country, to whose presence they conducted him in triumphal procession. The king received him with much ceremony, ordered a plentiful repast to be set before him, and then adjudged him to suffer dea'th by having his head laid on a stone and beat to pieces with clubs. At the place appointed for this barbarous execu- tion, he was again rescued from impending fate by the interposition of Pocahontas, the favourite daughter of the king, who, finding her first entreaties disregarded, threw her arms around the prisoner, and declared her determination to save him or die with him. Her gene- rous affection prevailed over the cruelty of her tribe, and the king not only gave Smith his life, but soon after sent him back to James-Town, where the beneficence of Pocahontas continued to follow him with supplies of provisions that delivered the colony from famine. After an absence of seven weeks, Smith returned to James-Town, barely in time to prevent the desertion of the colony. His associates, reduced to the number of thirty-eight, impatient of farther stay in a country where they had met with so many discouragements, and where they seemed fated to re-enact the disasters of Roanoke, were preparing to abandon the settlement ; and it was not without the utmost difficulty, and alter- nately employing persuasion, remonstrance, and even violent interference, that Smith prevailed with them to relinquish their design. The provisions that Poca- hontas had sent to him relieved their present wants ; his account of the plenty he had witnessed among the savages revived their hopes ; and he endeavoured, by a diligent improvement of the favourable impressions he had made upon the savages, and by a judicious regulation of the • intercourse between them and the colonists, to effect a union of interests and mutual par- ticipation of advantages between the two races of peo- ple. His generous efforts were successful ; he preserved plenty among the English, and extended his influence and repute among the Indians, who began to respect and consult their former captive as a superior being. If Smith had sought only to magnify his own repute POOAHONTAS EESOUIHO OAPIAIK SMITH. Page 98. SMITH'S ATTEMPTS TO CONVERT THE INDIANS. 99 and establishing his dominion, he might easily have passed with the savages for a demigod ; for they were not more averse to yield the allegiance which he claimed for their Creator, than forward to render it to himself, and to embrace every pretension he might ad- vance in his own behalf. But no alluring prospect of dominion over men could tempt him tofforget that he was the servant of God, or aspire to be regarded in any other light by his fellow-creatures. He employed his best endeavours to divert the savages from their idolatrous superstition, and made them all aware that the man whose superiority they acknowledged despised their false deities, adored the true God, and obtained from Him, by prayer, the wisdom they so highly com- mended. The effect of his pious endeavours was ob- structed by imperfect acquaintance with their language, and very ill seconded by the conduct of his associates, which contributed to persuade the Indians that his reli- gion was something peculiar to himself. The influence, too, of human superiority, however calculated to im- press, is by no means formed to convert the mind. It is so apt to give a wrong direction to the impressions which it produces, and is so remote from the channel in vjfhich Christianity from the beginning has been appointed to flow, that the first and most successful efforts to convert , mankind were made by men who possessed little of it, and who renounced the little they possessed. Smith, paytly from the difficulties of his situation, partly from the defectiveness of his instruc- tion, and, doubtless, in no small degree, from the stub- born blindness and wilful ignorance of the persons he attempted to instruct, succeeded no farther than Heriot had formerly done. The savages extended their respect for the man to a Being whom they termed " the God of Captain Smith," and some of them acknowledged that this Being excelled their own deities in the same proportion that artillery excelled bows and arrows, and sent to James-Town to entreat that Smith would pray for rain when their idols seemed to refuse a supply. While the affairs of the colony were thus prosperous 100 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. under the direction of Captain Smith, a reinforcement of a hundred and twenty men, with an abundant stock of provisions, and a supply of seeds and instruments of husbandry, arrived in two vessels from England. Uni- versal joy was excited among the colonists by this accession to their comforts and their force. Of the recruits which were thus furnished to the colony, a large proportion were gentlemen jewellers and refiners of gold. Some of the latter fancied they had discovered gold dust in a small stream of water near James-Town ; and instantly the whole attention of the colonists was directed to the collection of this ma terial, of which a large quantity was shipped to Eng- land, and found to be worthless dross. While the colonists were thus occupied, Captain Smith explored the whole coast of Chesapeake bay, and furnished a valuable map of his discoveries, which has formed the groqndwork of all subsequent delinea- tions. On his return he was chosen president of the council ; which office he discharged with consummate ability. What one governor afterwards effected in this re- spect by the weight of an imposing rank, and others by the strong engine of martial law, Smith, without these advantages, and with greater success, accomplished by the continual application of his own vigour and activity. Some plots were formed against him ; but these he de- tected and defeated without either straining or compro- mising his authority. 'Jhe caprice and suspicion of the Indians assailed him with numberless trials of his tem- per and capacity. Even Powhatan, notwithstanding the friendly ties that united him to his ancient guest, was induced, by the treacherous artifices of certain Dutchmen, who deserted to him from James-Town, first to form a secret conspiracy, and then to excite and prepare open hostility against the colonists. Some of the fraudful designs of the royal savage were re- vealed by the unabated kindness of Pocahontas, others were detected by Captain Smith, and from them all he contrived to extricate the colony with honour and sue- SMITH RETURNS TO ENGLAND. 101 cess, and yet with little, and only defensive, bloodshed , displaying to the Indians a vigour and dexterity they could neither overcome nor overreach — a courage that commanded their respect, and a generosity that car- ried his victory into their minds, and reconciled sub- mission with their pride. In thus demonstrating (to use his own words) " what small cause there is that men should starve or be murdered by the savages, that have discretion to manage them with courage and industry," he bequeathed a valuable lesson to his successors in the American colonies, and to all succeeding settlers in the vicinity of savage tribes; and in exempUfying the power of a superior people to anticipate the, cruel and vulgar issue of battle, and to prevail over an inferior race without either extirpating or enslaving them, he obtained a victory which Ceesar, with all his boasted superiority to the rest of mankind, was too ungenerous to appreciate, or was incompetent to achieve. But Smith was not permitted to complete the work he had so honourably begun. A wound received from an explosion of glmpowder compelled his return to England. We pass over the events immediately subsequent to his departure, which took place in October, 1609. It was in the year 1613, and under the administration of Sir Thomas Gates, that an event took place of unusual interest to the readers of Indian history. The colony of Virginia had once been saved, in the person of its own deliverer Captain Smith, by Poca- hontas, the daughter of the Indian king Powhatan. She had ever since maintained a friendly intercourse with the English, and she was destined now to render them a service of the highest importance. A scarcity prevailing at James-Town, and supplies being obtained but scantily and irregularly from the neighbouring In- dians, with whom the colonists were often embroiled. Captain Argal was dispatched to the Potomac for a cargo of corn. Here he learned that Pocahontas was living in retirement at no great distance from him: and hoping, by possession of her person, to obtain such 102 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. I an ascendant over Powhatan as would enforce an am pie contribution of provisions, he prevailed on her, by some artifice, to coine on board bis vessel, and then set sail with her to James-Town, where she was detained in a state of honourable captivity. But Powhatan, more indignant at such treachery than overcome by his misfortune, rejected with scorn the demand of a ran- som; he even refused to hold any communication with the robbers who still kept his daughter a prisoner, but declared that if she were restored to him he would for- get the itijury, and, feeling himself at liberty to regard them as friends, would gratify all 'their wishes. But the colonists were too conscious of npt deserving the performance of such promises, to be able to give credit to them ; and the most injurious consequences seemed likely to arise from the unjust detention, which they could no longer continue with advantage nor relinquish with safety, when all at once the aspect of affairs un- derwent a surprising and beneficial change. During her residence in the colony, Pocahontas, who is repre- sented as a woman distinguished by her personal attractions, made such impression on Mr. Rolfe, a young man of rank and estimation among the settlers, that he offered her his hand, and, with her approbation and the warm encouragement of the governor, solicited the consent of Powhatan to their marriage : this the old prince readily granted, and sent some^ his rela- tions to attend the ceremonial, which was performed with extraordinary pomp, and laid the foundation of a firm and sincere frieifdship between his tribe and the English. This happy event also enabled the colonial government to conclude a treaty with the Chiccahomi- nies, a brave and martial tribe, who consented to acknowledge themselves subjects to the British mon- arch, and style themselves henceforward Englishmen, to assist the colonists with their arms in war, and to pay an annual tribute of Indian corn. From this period till the year 1622 no considerable Indian war occurred in Virginia. During this interval, Powhatan, who was, on the whole, rather friendly to STATE OF THE COLONY. 103 the colonists, had died and been succeeded in his in- fluence over the Indian tribes of the vicinity by Ope- chancanough, who was the implacable but secret enemy of the English. The colony had been steadily advancing in peace and prosperity, and the people had thrown off the vigilance so necessary to their preserva- tion among powerful and hostile tribes of savages They thought themselves secure. But a cloud had been for some time gathering over the colony, and even the circumstances that most forci- bly indicated the growing prosperity of the planters were but inviting and enabling the storm to burst with more destructive violence on their heads. Externally at peace with the Indians, unapprehensive of danger, and wholly engrossed with the profitable cultivation of their fertile territory, their increasing numbers had spread so extensively over the province, that no less than eighty settlements had already been formed ; and every planter being guided only by his own conve- nience or caprice in the choice of his dwelling, and more disposed to shun than to court the neighbourhood of his countrymen, the settlements were universally straggling and uncompact. The Scriptures, which the colonists received as their rule of faith, bore ample tes- timony to the cruelty and treachery of mankind in their natural state; and their past experience might have convinced them that the savages by whom they were surrounded could claim no exemption from this testi- mony of Divine wisdom and truth. Yet the pious labours by which the evil dispositions of the Indians might have been overcome, and the military exercises and precautions by which their hostility might have been overawed or repelled, were equally neglected by the colonists, while, at the same time, they contributed to fortify the martial habits of the Indians by employ- ing them as hunters, and enlarged their resources of destruction by furnishing them with fire-arms, which they quickly learned to use with dexterity. The mar- riage of Mr. Rolfe and Pocahontas had not produced as lasting a good understanding between the English 104 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. and the Indians as it had at first seemed lo betoken The Indians eagerly courted a repetition of such inter- marriages, and were deeply offended with the pride with which the English receded from their advances, and declined to become the husbands of Indian womert. The colonists forgot that they had inflicted this mortifi- cation; but it was remembered by the Indians, who never forgave an affront. Numberless earnest recom- mendations had been transmitted from England to attempt the conversion of the savages; but these recommendations had not been enforced by a sufficient attention to the means requisite for their execution. Yet they were not wholly neglected by the colonists. Some attempts at conversion were made by a few pious individuals, and the success of one of them un- doubtedly mitigated the dreadful calamity that was impending; but these efforts were feeble and partial, and the majority of the colonists had contented 'them- selves with cultivating a friendly intercourse and inti-. mate acquaintance with the Indians, who were admitted at all times into their habitations, and encouraged to consider themselves as familiar guests. It was in the midst of this free and unguarded intercourse that the Indians formed, with cold and unrelenting delibera'tion, the plan for a general massacre of the English, which should involve every man, woman and child in the colony in indiscriminate slaughter. The death of Povv- hatan, in 1618, devolved the power of executing a scheme so detestable in the hands of a man fully capa- ble of contriving and maturing it. Opechancanough, who succeeded, not only to the supremacj' over Pow- hatan's tribe, but to his influence over all the neigh- bouring tribes of Indians, was distinguished by his fearless courage, his profound dissimulation, and a ran- corous hatred and jealousy of the new inhabitants of America. He renewed the pacific treaty which Pow- hatan ' had made, and faithfully kept, with the English after the marriage of Pocahontas to Mr. Rolfe ; and he availed himself of the tranquillity it produced to pre- pare, during the four ensuing years, his friends and CONSPIRACy AGAINST THE ENGLISH. 105 followers for the several parts they were to act in the tragedy he projected. The tribes in the neighbourhood of the English, except those on the eastern shore, whom, on account of their peculiar friendship for the colonists, he did not venture to intrust with the plan, were suc- cessively gained over; and all co-operated with that single-mindedness and intensity of purpose characteris- tic of a project of Indian revenge. Notwithstanding the long interval that elapsed between the formation and the execution of their present enterprise, and the perpetual intercourse that subsisted between them and the white people, the most impenetrable secresy was preserved ; and so consummate and fearless was their dissimulation, that they were accustomed to borrow boats from the English to cross the river, in order to concert and communicate the progress of their design. An incident, which, though minute, is too curious to be omitted, contributed to sharpen the ferocity of the Indians by the sense of recent provocation. There' was a man, belonging to one of the neighbouring tribes, "named Nemattanow, who, by his courage, craft, and good fortune, had attained the highest repute among his countrymen. In the skirmishes and engagements which their former wars with the English produced, he had exposed his person with a bravery that commanded their esteem, and an impunity that excited their aston- ishment. They judged him invulnerable, whom so many wounds seemed to have approached in vain; and the object of their admiration partook, or at least en- couraged, the delusion which seemed to invest hina with a character of sanctity. Opechancanough, thf king, whether jealous of this man's reputation, or de- sirous of embroiling the English with the Indians, sent a message to the governor of the colony, to acquaint him that he was welcome to cut INemattanow's throat. Such a representation of Indian character as this mes- sage conveyed, one would think, ought to have excited the strongest suspicion and distrust in the minds of the English. Though the offer of the king was disregarded, liis wishes were not disappointed. Nemattanow, having 10 106 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES murdered a planter, was shot by one of his servants in an attempt to apprehend him. Finding the pangs of death coming strong upon him, the pride, but not the vanity, of the savage was subdued, and he entreated his captors to grant his two last requests, one of which was that they would never reveal that he had been slain by a bullet, and the other, that they would bury him among the English, that the secret of his mortality might never be known to his countrymen. The request seems to infer the possibility of its being complied with, and the disclosure of the fatal event was no less impru- dent than disadvantageous. The Indians were filled with grief and indignation ; and Opechancanough inflamed their anger by pretending to share it. Having coun- terfeited displeasure for the satisfaction of his subjects, he proceeded with equal success to counterfeit placa- bility for the delusion of his enemies, and assured the English that the sky should sooner fall than the peace be broken by him. But the plot now advanced rapidly to its maturity, and, at length, the day was fixed on which all the English settlements were at the same instant to be attacked. The respective stations of the various troops of assassins were assigned to them ; and that they might be enabled to occupy them without ex- citing suspicion, some carried presents of fish and game into the interior of the colony, and others presented themselves as guests soliciting the hospitality of their English friends, on the evening before the massacre. As the fatal hour drew nigh, the rest, under various pretences, and with every demonstration of kindness, assembled around, the detached and unguarded settle- ments^ of the colonists ; and not a sentiment of mm- punction, not a rash expression of hate, nor an un- guarded look of exultation, had occurred to disconcert or disclose the designs of their well-disciplined ferocity. The universal destruction of the colonists seemed unavoidable, and was prevented only by the conse- quences of an event which perhaps appeared. but of little consequence in the colony at the time when it took place— the conversion of an Indian to the Chris., V MASSACRE or TIIL EJNULISH. 107 tian faith. On the night before the massacre, this man was made privy to it by his own brother, who commu- nicated to him the command of his king and his coun- trymen to share in the exploit that would enrich their race with spoil, revenge and glory. The exhortation was powerfully calculated to impress a savage mind ; but a new mind had been given to this convert, and as soon as his brother left him he revealed the alarming intelligence to an English gentleman in whose house he was residing. This planter immediately carried the tidings to James-Town, from whence.the alarm was communicated to the nearest settlers, barely in time to prevent the last hour of the perfidious truce from being the last hour of their lives. But the intelligence came too late to be more gene- rally available. At midday, the moment they had previously fixed for this execrable deed, the Indians, raising a universal yell, rushed at once on the English in all their scattered settlements, and butchered men, women and children with undistinguishing fury, and every aggravation of brutal outrage and enormous cruelty. In one hour, three hundred and forty-seven persons were cut off, almost without knowing by whose hands they fell. The slaughter would have been still greater if the English, even in some of those districts where the warning that saved others did not reach, had not flown to their arms with the energy of despair, and defended themselves- so bravely as to repulse the assailants, who almost universally displayed a cow- ardice proportioned to their cruelty, and fled at the sight of arms in the hands even of the women and boys, whom, unarmed, they were willing to attack and de- stroy. If in this foul and revolting exhibition of hu- manity some circumstances appear to be referable to the peculiarities of savage life and education, we shall greatly err if we overlook, in its more general and im- portant features, the testimony it has given to the deep depravity of fallen nature. More than one example may be found in the contemporary history of Europe, which, impartially considered, present, not only a bar- 108 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. barous people, but a civilized nation and an accom- plished court, as the rivals of these American savages in perfidy, fury and cruelty. The colony had received a wound no less deep and dangerous, .than painful and alarming. Six of the members of council, and many of the most eminent and respectable inhabitants, were among the slain ; at some of the settlements the whole of their population had been exterminated ; at others a remnant had escaped the general destruction by the efforts of des- pair; and the survivors were impoverished, terrified, and confounded by a stroke that at once bereaved them of friends and fortune, and showed that they were surrounded by legions of enemies, whose existence they had never dreamed of, and whose brutality and fero- city seemed to proclaim them a race of fiends rather than men. To the massacre succeeded a vindictive and exterminating war between the English and' the Indians; and the colonists were at last provoked to retaliate, in some degree, on their savage adversaries, the evils of which they had set so bloody an example, and which seemed to be the only weapons capable of waging effectual war upon them. Yet t'hough a dire- ful necessity might seem to justify or palHate the mea- sures which it taught the colonists to apprehend and provide for, their warfare was never wholly divested of honour and magnanimity. During this disastrous period, the design for erecting a colonial college, and many other public institutions, was abandoned; the number of the settlements was reduced from eighty to six; and the affliction of scarcity was added to the horrors of war. The hostility of Opechancanough did not terminate with the massacre. His implacable disposition was nianifested late in 1622, by his instigating Japazaws, king of the Patawomekes, to murder a party under Captain Croshaw, while on a trading expedition in his country. The colonists, however, were by no means unsuc- cessful in revenging the great massacre on their ene- FURTHER INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 109 mies ; and it is affirmed that in the autumn and winter ot 1622-3, more Indians were slain than had ever be- fore fallen by the hands of the English since the settle- ment of James-Town. But Opechancanough was still able to make a formidable opposition to his enemies, and at a battle which took place at his own village of Pamunkey, in 1625, his bowmen numbered eight hundred, inde- pendently of detachments furnished from distant tribes. The English on this occasion were led by Governor Wyatt, and although they drove the enemy from the field, they were unable to follow them up to their head- quarters at Matapony. An attempt to repeat the treacherous scheme by which the Indians had been defeated in 1622 was made in 1628 ; but was frustrated by the sagacity of Opechancanough; and the formal treaty of 1632 was little better than a hollow and de- ceitful truce. Opechancanough, however, was by no means back- ward in taking advantage of the repose afforded by this treaty. For the long period which elapsed between its conclusion and his final effort, in 1644, he was in- dustriously occupied in making preparations for a renewal of hostilities. An opportunity at length pre- sented itself for executing his long-cherished pur- pose. The colony was involved in intestine dissen- sions. An insurrection had taken place in consequence of the unpopularity of the governor, and at a moment when the people were occupied with internal disorders and heedless of danger from without, their great enemy struck a powerful and almost fatal blow. He was now advanced to extreme old age, being supposed to have numbered nearly a hundred years, but the powers of his mind were still so vigorous, that he was the leading spirit of a confederacy embracing all the Indian tribes distributed over a space of country six hundred miles in extent. Unable to walk, he was borne in a litter to the scene of action (April 18th, 1644,)' and thus led his warriors to the attack. Such was the skill with which his measures had been con- 110 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES- t certed that the whole force of the Indians commenced their operations upon the -entire line of the frontier at the same instant of time, with the intention of carrying a war of extermination down to the sea, and thus anni- hilating the colony at a single blow. In two days, five hundred persons had fallen in the massacre- Of course, every operation of industry was" instantly abandoned, and all who^were able to bear arms were embodied to oppose so terrible an invasion. Governor Berkeley, at the head of a chosen force, consisting of every twen- tieth man in the colony, marched into the enemy's country, and thus gave him the first check. Of the details of the campaign, in consequence of the confu- sion and distress prevailing at the time, no details are furnished by the contemporary historians. Beverly's account, the only one which survived the ravages of the time, is meagre and unsatisfactory. One result of the war, however, is sufficiently well attested, since it terminated the horrors of the season. This was the capture of the aged Opechancanough, \^ho was sur- prised and taken prisoner by a squadron of horse under the command of Governor Berkeley, who forthwith conducted him in triumph to James-Town. It was the governor's . intention to have Isent this remarkable person to England; but he was shot after being taken prisoner, by a soldier, in resentment of the calamities he had inflicted on the province. He lin- gered under the wound for several days, and died with the pride and firmness of an old Roman. Indignant. at the crowds who came to gaze at him on "his death-bed, he exclaimed: "If I had taken Sir William Berkeley prisoner, I would not have exposed him as a show to the people." Perhaps he remembered that he had saved the life. of Captain Smith, and forgot the number- less instances in which he had exposed other prisoners to public derision and lingering torture. After the (^cease of their great enemy, the colonists had no ditficulty in concluding a treaty with the In- dians, which gave tranquillity to the province for a long term of years. CHAPTER III. EARLY INDIAN RELATIONS OF NEW ENGLAND. was on the eighth of December, 1620, that the Brst act of hostility on the part of the Indians towij.rds the Pilgrim Fa- thers of New England took place. A party of eighteen men from the May-Flower, under the command of Governor ^^__=,^_-„^-«,=-_^„ Carver, were exploring the coast, in order to find a suitable place for forming a settlement, when a party who had landed were sud- denly surprised with the shrill war-cry of the natives, and a flight of arrows. They immediately seized their arms, and returned this rough salutation with a volley of musketrj'-, which instantly put their enemies to flight. On the eleventh of the same month, the Pilgrims went on shore , upon the main land, at the place which they called Plymouth. As they advanced into the country, they found corn- fields, and brooks, and an excellent situation for build- ing. " On the morning of the 20th," says the venerable Dr. Holmes, " after imploring divine guidance, they went on shore again, to fix on some place for imme- diate settlement. After viewing the country, they con- duded to settle on a high ground facing the bay, where the land was cleared, and the water was excellent.' This day, consecrated by the religious act abovemen- ■' (111) 112 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. the general court Keld at Hartford, it was decided that a force of ninety men DEFEAT OF THE PEQUODS 121 should be immediateljy raised in Hartford, Windsor, and Wethersfield ; and the other New England colonies agreed to send as many men as they could raise. In the beginning of the month of May, a force from Connecticut, at the head of whom was John Mason, con- sisting of ninety Englishmen, and about seventy Mohe- gan Indians under the command of Uncas, their sa- chem, departed for the country of the Pequods. When they arrived at Saybrook, Mason resolved to send back a part of his men to reinforce the settlements on the Connecticut. He was soon afterwards joined by a great number of Indians, so that when he again set out he had under his command seventy-seven Englishmen and about five hundred Indians. Mason and his party arrived in sight of the Pequod fort about sunset. When the Narragansetts learned that he meant to attack the enemy in their fortifications, a great many of them retired, and the English com- mander could hardly persuade the remainder of them to form themselves into a semicircle at some distance from the fort, in order to waylay such of the Pequods as might escape the hands of the English. It was nearly daybreak when Mason commenced his attack upon the fort. As he drew nigh to it, a dog barked, and an Indian sprang up and exclaimed that the Englishmen were coming. Had it not been for this occurrence, the fort would have been taken by surprise.' As it was, they made a vigorous resistance, and Mason was finally obliged to set fire to the fort. The Pequods then attempted to escape, but were nearly all killed. It is said that between five and six hundred of them per- ished in this . engagement. The English loss was two men killed and sixteen wounded. Sassacus, who was in the other fort, on hearing of this battle, sent a force of three hundred men against Mason. He was soon met by them ; but the English gave them such a check that they retired to the top of the hill on vjhich the fort had stood. On perceiving its ruins they were so greatly enraged, that, regardless of consequencies, they rushed down the hill and pursued 12 122 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. the English for about six miles. They, however, reached their vessels in safety and returned to Hart- ford The three hundred Pequods who had pursued the English returned to Sassacus. On deliberation, it was thought that they coald no longer remain in safety in the country. Thfey accordingly dispersed, and Sassa- cus, with a party of his warriors, after having de- stroyed the village, proceeded towards the Hudson river. The governor of Massachusetts, on hearing of the success of Mason, resolved to send an expedition to destroy all the straggling parties which might remain in the neighbourhood. A great battle was fought at a swamp in Fairfield, between this party and a nume- rous body of Indians whom they met there, in which a great number of the savages were killed and wounded and two hundred taken prisoners. Sassacus was not, .however, destined to be destroyed by the English. A Pequod, whose liberty had , been granted him on condition of finding and betraying him, finally succeeded in his search. He met him, but his courage failed and Sassacus escaped. He now took refuge among the Mohawks. But these Indians, instead of protecting him, put him to death.. His head was cut off' and sent to Connecticut, and tha country now became a province of the English. CHAPTER V KING PHILIP'S WAR. URING the reign of Mas- sasoit, the friendly rela- tions between the people of New England and the tribes under his influence, remained for . the most part undisturbed. The precise time of his de- cease is not known; but it is supposed by Hubbard that his death took place in 1656.* He was succeeded in the sovereignty of the Wampanoags by his eldest son, Moanam, or Wamsutta, called by the English, Alexander, a name which he re- ceived in open court at Plymouth, at the same time that the name of Philip was conferred on his younger bro- ther. This ceremony was performed at the request of the young men, during the life-time of their father, in token of their desire to preserve a good understanding with the English. The reign of Alexander was marked by no act of hostility towards his white neighbours, nor any misun- derstanding, until the circumstances took place which terminated the young sachem's life. The flagrant vio- lation of justice and international law, by the English, involved in this transaction, has doubtless been the oc- casion of the hasty and unsatisfactory manner in which * Drake dates it 1660. (133) 124 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. it has been' passed over by the historians of the time. Enough is known, however, to assign its true character to the act of the Plymouth government. It appears that the governor and council were in- formed that Alexander had solicited the PJarragansetts to join him in a war against the whites ; and ufon good proof thereof, as they said, ordered him to appear be- fore them. Upon his not instantly complying with their summons, Mr. Winslow was dispatched with an armed force of eight or ten stout men to bring him (July 1662). Meeting him at a wigwam, a few miles from his resi- dence, Sowams,* with a body of his followers, Winslow surprised the party, seized their arms, and summoned the sachem to attend him to Plymouth; at the same time threatening him with a pistol at his throat " that if he stirred or refused to go, he was a dead man." The feelings of grief, indignation and insulted dignity, occa- sioned by this requital of his white allies for the fifty years of friendship and protection accorded to them by his father, threw the high-spirited chief into a raging fever. In consideration of his sudden illness, he sought permissioii to return home, and was allowed to g6 on certain conditions ; but he died upon the way. . Thus an independent sovereign of a nation which had preserved the strictest amity for more than fifty years with the government of Plymouth, was, upon mere sus- Sicion of hostility, basely surprised and captured within is own territory, and literally insulted to death. No Indian torture ever inflicted in their most cruel triumphs could have equalled the mental sufierings inflicted on the unofl^ending prince by this, act of ingratitude and injustice. Surely, if there were no other, this single outrage were cause enough for the famous war of King Philip. But there were other causes. Philip, whose Indian name was Metacomet, suc- * Sowams, Pokanoket or Mount Hope, the principal residence of Massasoit and his successors, situated near the town of Bristol^ Rhode Island. From it Philip receives some of his titles, as Philip of Pokanoket, Philip of Mount Hope. PHILIP PREPARES FOR WAR. 125 ceeded his unfortunate brother in the sovereignty of his tribe, the Wampanoags. After assuming the govern- ment with every demonstration of attachment on the part of his people and the subject sachems, he imme- diately made his appearance before the court of Ply- mouth, after the example of his father and brother, in order to renew and confirm the long-existing league with. the colonists. An apparent good understanding subsisted between them for several years after this transaction. During this period he appears to have been involved in a dispute with the Mohawks, and to have lost fifty of his warriors in a battle with them, fought in 1669, in which, however, the Wampanoags gained the victory, and thus terminated the war. The first intimation of misunderstanding between Philip and the colonists, was in April, 1671, when the sachem complaining of certain encroachments -upon his planting grounds, on the one hand, and the Plymouth government charging him with me4itating ) hostilities, and actually arming and training his warriors on the other; a formal conference took place between the parties at Taunton, at which Philip admitted all that was alleged against him, promised amendment, and with his council signed new terms of submission. It is evident, from the whole history of this transaction, that Philip had already determined to engage in a war with the colonies ; and that his present acknowledgment was- a mere artifice to gain ttme. He doubtless had the same object in view, when, in August 1671, he paid a visit to Boston, and succeeded in completely lulling the suspicions of the Massachusetts government, whom he knew to be more friendly to him than that of Plymouth. This proceeding occasioned a . new conference with Philip at Plymouth, at which the authorities of Massa- chusetts as well as those of the old colony were present ; and a new instrument of submission was signed by Philip, containing abundance of promises, which the sachem took care never to fulfil. His purpose of gain- ing time, however, was fully answered, and nothing 126 vNDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STAT ES. further occurred for three years to rouse the suspicions of the colonists. During lall this time Philip was engaged in maturing the design of that grand enterprise which has given him the character of the most able and politic, as well as the most patriotic of Indian chiefs. This was.no-i thing less than the union of all the New England tribes in a war of extermination against the English colonists. The mutual hostilities of the various tribes rendered this an undertaking of exceeding difficulty ; but he so far succeeded in it as to extend his operations from the St. Croix to the Housatonic ; and to involve the colo- nies in the most formidable war with the natives which they have ever had to sustain. As the Indians had no historians of their own, the detaiils of his negotiaticJns with the surrounding aboriginal nations are, of course, unknown. The nature and extent of his operations can only be judged of by their success ; and when referred to this standard they certainly give us a high opinion of his talents a's a diplomatist and an orator. By his elo- quence, courage and address he united all the northern tribes as one man ; and if one untoward circumstance and the ungovernable fury of some of the young war- riors had not precipitated him into the war twelve months before he had intended to commence, and thus prevented the perfect maturing of his schemes, it is •probable that he would nearly have annihilated the New England colonies. As there are so many popular histories of this war, we shall condense its leading inci- dents in a summary manner. In 1674, information of Philip's designs was given to the magistrates at Plymouth by John Sassamon, an In- dian, who had been educated at Cambridge, and had been a schoolmaster among the Christianized Indians in one of Mr. Eliot's settlements. He had subsequently lived with Philip in the character of confidential secre- tary, had deserted him and turned informer, and still occasionally visited his tribe in the character of a spy. In January, 1675, Sassamon was found to have been murdered and thrust under, the ice in Assawomset pond WAR OF KING PHILIP. 127 in Middleborough. Three Indians, one of whom was a counsellor and particular friend bf Philip, were con- victed of the murder at Plymouth court, in June of the same year, and executed. Whether the testimony was sufficient to have convicted any one but an Indian, is doubtful. Philip, who had undoubtedly directed the spy to be privately assassinated, was probably appre- hensive that he might himself be surprised, taken to Plymouth, tried as an accessary before the fact, and executed in the same summary manner as his counsel- lor had been. Determined to be beforehand with his enemies, he commenced hostilities at once. His tribe, the Wampanoags, sent their wives and children to the Narragansetts for security, and began to alarm the English at Swanzey. From threatening and insulting the inhabitants, they proceeded to killing their cattle and rifling their houses. Exasperated by these out- rages, an Englishman shot one of the Indians; and eight or nine of the English were killed in retaliation. This took place on the 24th of June, 1675, thus com- mencing the memorable war of King Philip. On the same day the alarm of war was spread through Ply- mouth colony. On the 28th, a company of foot, ui^der Captain Henchman, and a company of horse under Captain Prince, with a hundred and ten volunteers, marching from'. Boston, joined the Plymouth forces at Swanzey, and marched into Philip's country. Some skirmishing took place with the Indians on that and the following day, and they retreated, with a trifling loss, into a neigh- bouring swamp. About the same time the Indians attacked the towns of Taunton, Namasket and Dartmouth, burning a con- siderable part of the houses and killing many of the inhabitants. On the 15th of July, Captain Hutchinson marched a large force into the country of the Narragansetts, and concuided a treaty with that tribe. Meantime a de- tachment under Captain Fuller and Lieutenant Church was dispatched to Pocasset, where Philip commanded 128 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. in' person. Here a skirmish took place, and the Indiana, after a loss of fifteen men, were driven into a swamp, where, as they could not be successfully attacked, it was decided to surround and starve them out: But Philip contrived to escape with the greater part- of his men, and retreated to the country of the Nipmucks in the interior part of Massachusetts. Captain Hutchinson, with twenty horse, was dispatched to the'NipmUcks in hopes of reclaiming them; but' they had already com- menced hostilities by killing five persons at Mendon. Hutchinson fell into an ambuscade at Bropkfield on the 2d of 7\ugust, and lost sixteen men; the rest fled' to Quaboag. The Indians, three hundred in number, pur- sued the fugitives to the town, to which they set' fire, and drove the* inhabitants into a fortified house, which they were on the point of taking by storm, when Major Willard arriving with forty-eiffht dragoons, succeeded in dispersing them and relieving the garrison.jt Philip joined the Nipmucks on the next day with forty men, and ai larger number of women and children. About this time the Indians on Connecticut river, near Hadley, Hatfield, Deerfield, and also at several places on the, Merrimack river, commenced their hostilities. Captains Lothrop and Beers with a small force drove the Hadley Indians from their dwellings, and pursued them^to Sugarloaf Hill, where a battle took place, in which ten of the English' and twenty-six Indians Were slain. Those who escaped joined Philip, and a few days afterward made an attack upon Peerfield, killing one man, and burning several houses. Hadley was also attacked on the same day, while the inhabitants were attending public worship ; but the Indians were repulsed by the English, whp were led by Goffe, one of the judges of Charles I., and who was at that time concealed ' in the town. Shortly after these events the Indians made an attack on Northfield, and killed several of the inhabitants. On the next day. Captain Beers, with thirty-six men, was waylaid and slain, together with twenty of his party. The soldiers and inhabitants of Notthfield were brought HDTCHIS30H PALLINQ INTO AS AMSrSOADB. Page 128, 13 PROGRESS OF THE WAR. 129 off a short time after by Major Treat ; and the town was soon after destroyed by the Indians. Captain Lothrop was dispatched from Hadley, by the command- ing officer of that place, to Deerfield, in order to bring back provisions and forage. He arrived at Deerfield in safety, with several teams, accompanied by a party of eighty men. Having purchased his provisions, he set out to return to Hadley. About three miles from Deerfield, near Sugarloaf Hill, he was waylaid by a body of about seven hundred Indians, and nearly all his party were destroyed. He was himself killed in the early part of the battle : out of the whole number only seven or eight escaped. The report of the guns was heard at Deerfield, and Captain Moseley hastened for- ward to the relief of Lothrop. He arrived at the close of the battle, and pursued the Indians from one place to another, till they were finally compelled to seek safe- ty in a distant forest. Soon after the town of Deerfield was abandoned by its inhabitants, and destroyed by the Indians. In October, the Springfield Indians, who had hitherto been friendly to the English, laid a plot to burn the town of Springfield. They received into their fort about three hundred of Philip's Indians. This plot was, however, disclosed by a friendly Indian, and Major Treat was dispatched with a body of troops to defeat their intentions. He arrived in time to save a quarter part of the town. Thirty-two houses were, however, destroyed. A party, consisting of seven or eight hun- dred Indians, attacked the town of Hadley on the 19th of October ; but they were repulsed by the troops sta- tioned at that place. At a meeting of the commissioners of three United Colonies, held on the 9th of September, those of the Plymouth colony presented a narrative, relating to the war with the Indians of Mount Hope and Pocasset ; and it was then concluded that the war was just, and that a force of one thousand men should be immediately ra(ised; and it was further considered, that as the Nai- ragansetts were accessary to most of the outrages 130 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. committed, another party of one thousand men should be raised to proceed against them. The troops were accordingly raised, and Winslow, the governor of Plymouth, was appointed commander-in-chief. On the 18th of December the forces of the three colonies were united at Petaquamscot, and they march- ed through a deep snow toward the enemy, who was encamped, at about fifteen miles distance, in a large swamp. The English arrived there at about one o'clock in the afternoon, and immediately marched forward in quest of the enemy's camp. The whole army entered the swamp, and followed the Indian^, who had retreat- ed into their fortress. This they attacked, but wc' t first driven back. They, however, made a second at- tack, which was successful. The wigwams were set on fire, and a great many women and children perished in the conflagration. The Indians who escaped fled to a cedar swamp, at a small distance. The Indians are supposed to have lost one thousand men in this engage- ment, while the English lost, in killed and wounded, only two hundred and thirty. The great body of the Narragansett warriors soon after proceeded to the Nipmuck cotintry. On the 10th of February, 1676, the town of Lancaster was plundered by a party of one thousand five hundred Indians, and about forty persons killed. Medfield and Weymouth were also attacked in this month, by two par- ties of Indians. Although various companies of Indians were scattered over the country, yet the main body of them lurked in the woods between Brbokfield, Marlbo- rough, and Connecticut river. On the 18th of April they attacked the town of Sudbury, and killed twelve persons. Captain Wadsworth, with a party of fifty men, who was dispatched from Boston to relieve the town of Marlborough, fell into an ambuscade of Indians. They fought with desperate yalour, but were finally overpow- ered; and the few who were taken prisoners were des- tined to torments, in comparison to which death would h^ve been far preferable. About this time a party of Indians attacked Scituate, t^^M^ NANNUTENOOr " PaRe 13L DEFEAT OF THE NARRAGANSETTS. 131 but they were repulsed by the inhabitants ; and in the month of May various parties of them attacked the towns of Bridgewater, Plymouth, and Namasket, at each of which places they burned several houses, be- sides committing other ravages. On the 18th of May, a party of one hundred soldiers marched silently in .the. dead of night to Deerfield, to attack a party of Indians stationed there. They sur- prised them about break of day, and succeeded in kill- ing about three hundred men, women, and children. The Indians soon after rallied and attacked the party, killing Captain Turner, the commander of the expedi- tion, and thirty-eight of his men. A party of six or seven hundred Indians appeai'ed before Hatfield on the 30th of May. After burning several houses and barns, they proceeded to attack the houses within. the palisades; but on the approach of a party of twenty-five young men, belonging to Had- ley, they instantly fled, with the loss of twenty-five men. In the month of March, Captain Denison of Stoning- ton, succeeded in capturing Nannuttenoo,- .the chief sachem of the Narragansetts. In the summer ija^dis, several volunteer companies made ten or twelve*^^%,, ditions, and succeeded in killing and capturing twSV hundred and thirty of the enemy. They drove all the Narragansett Indians, except those of Ninigret, out of their country. This sachem had formerly been an enemy of the colonies, but in this war he refused to join the other sachems, and some of his men bore arms with the Connecticut volunteers. A standing army of three hundred and fifty men was ordered to be raised by the Assembly of Connecticut. Its commander was Major John Talcot. Early in June, Talcot with two hundred and fifty soldiers, and two hundred Moheagan and Pequod Indians, marched from Norwich into the Wabaquasset country ; but he found it to be entirelv deserted, as well as the fort and wigwams at Wabaquasset. On' the 12th of June, the town of .Hadley was attacked by about seven hundred Indians, but Talcot and his soldiers soon appeared, and 132 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. drove off the enemy. On the 3d of July, the same troops came up with the main body of the Indians, near a large cedar swamp, and attacked them so suddenly, that a great number were killed on the spot. The others fled into the swamp, which was then surrounded by the English, who succeeded in killing and capturing one hundred and seventy-one more. About the 5th of July, the army retired" to Connecticut ; and on their return took sixty more of the enemy prisoners. The Indians, being thus hunted from one place to another, and disheartened by so many disastrous defeats, began to come in by small parties, and surrender to the English. Philip, who had fled to the Mohawks, had so provoked them, that he was compelled to fly ; and he was now with a large party of Indians lurking near Mount Hope. On the 2d of August, Captain Church surprised him in his camp, killed one hundred and thirty of his men, and took his wife and son prisoners. Philip himself barely escaped with his life. The personal adventures of Quanonchet and of Philip in the closing scenes of the war are thus given by a writer of our own times. Some events already noticed are mentioned in the extract. But the war began to draw to a close ; Quanonchet, venturing out with a few followers near the enemy, was pursued and taken. His behaviour under his mis- fortunes was very noble and affecting ; for when re- peated offers were made him pf life, if he would deliver up Philip, and submit his own people to the English, he proudly rejected them. They condemned him to die, and, by a refinement of cruelty, by the hands of three young Indian chiefs. The heroic man said, " that he liked it well, for he should die before his heart was soft, or he had spoken anything unworthy of himself." Philip was deeply moved by the death of the chieftain, for their friendship was Hke that of David and Jona- than, strongest in misery and exijp. He was not ye* left desolate: his beloved wife and only child were with him. They had shared all his sufferings ; in his flights, his inroads, his dwellings in the swamps, thev MISFORTUNES. OF PHILIP. 133 seem never to have left his side. The unfortunate prince now returned to Mount Hope, the scene of liis former power and happiness ; it was for no purpose of defence that he came, for it was too near the English settlements, byt merely to visit it once more. "He finds it," says Mather, " to be Mount Misei-y, Mount Confusion !" No doubt it was so to his bleeding spirit ; for, with all his savage propensities, this prince was susceptible of some of the finest feelings of our nature. He sat down mournfully on the beautiful Mount, on which were now the ruins of his fortress and camp ; but he could not remain long here, for the feet of his pursuers were nigh, and he was compelled to seek his distant retreats again : — there was a greater agony in store for him than the sight of his ruined home. Early one morning, his quarters were surprised by the Eng- lish, most of his followers slain, and his wife and son made captive. The chief fled, broken-hearted, but un- subdued, leaving all he loved on earth in the hands of those who had no mercy. " This was no small torment to him," quaintly says the historian. " Woe to him that spoileth! His peag, or silver belt, the ensign of his princedom, also remained in our hands, so hardly did hg escape." The measure of his woes was not yet full. The Indikn princess of Pocasset was warmly attached to his cause, and had more than once aided him in his extremity; she had received him beneath her roof, soothed his sorrows, and, what was more, sum- moned her people to fight for him; and saved him and his people in her canoes the year before. Now, she followed him in his flight, and, as the more devout said, as if by a judgment, could not find^a canoe to transport her, and, venturing over the river upon a raft, it broke under her, and she was drowned. Her body was soon after washed on shore, and the English, forgetful of all decency and delicacy to a woman of her rank, though a savage, cut off her head, and placed it on high, which, •when the Indians who were her people saw, they gathered round, and gave way to the most sad and touching lamentations. Philip now began, like Saul of 134 INDIAN WARS Of THE UNITED STATES. old, when earth was leaving him, to look to the powers beyond it, and to apply to his magicians and sorcerers, who, on consulting their oracles, assured him that no Englishman should ever kill him. This was a vague consolation, yet it seems to have given him, for a while, a' confidence in his destiny, and he took his last stand in the middle of a distant and almost inaccessible swamp. It was a fit retreat for a despairing man, be- ing one of those waste and dismal places to which few ever wandered, covered with rank and dense vegeta- tion. The moist soil was almost hidden by the cypress and other trees, that spread their gloomy shades over ' the treacherous shallows and pools beneath. In the few drier parts, oaks and pines grew, and, between them, brushwood so thick, that the savage could hardly penetrate : on the long rich grass of these parts, wild cattle fed, unassailed by the hand of map, save when they ventured beyond the confines of the swamp. There were wolves, deer, and other animals; and wilder men, it was said, were seen here ; it was sup- posed that the children of some of the Indians had either been lost or left here, and had thus grown up like denizens of this wild. Here the baffled chieftain gathered his little band around him, like a lion |?aited by the hunters, sullenly seeking his gloomy thickets, only to spring forth more fatally ; despair was his only friend; for what other was now left? his love was turned to agony ; his wife was in the hand of his ene- mies; and would they spare her beauty? His only son, the heir of his long line, must bow his head to their yoke ; • his chief warriors had all fallen, and he could not trust the few who were still with him. Qua- nonchet, whose fidelity and attachment were stronger than death, was in the land of spirits, chasing the sha- dowy deer, and solaced with many wives ; for Philip, to tne last, believed in the religion of his country. In this extremity, an Indian proposed to seek peace with the English ; — the prince instantly laid him dead at his feet. This man had a friend, who, disgusted with the deed, soon after fled from the place to Rhode, Island, PHILIPS DEATH. 137 where the English were recruiting their weary forces, and betrayed the place of his retreat. On this intelli- gence, a body of forces instantly set out. The night before his death, Philip, "like him in the army of Midian," says the historian, " had been dreaming that he was fallen into the hands of the English ; he awoke in great alarm, and told it to his friends, and advised them to fly for their lives, for that he believed it would come to pass." The place was well suited to awake all the terrors of the imagination ; to any eye but that of the savage, it was like the "valley of the shadow of death ; the cypress and oak trees hung heavy and still, over the accursed soil ; the faint gleam of the pools and sluggish lakes on every side, in the starlight, and the howl of the wolf, fitfully, as if it warned that the hour was nigh." "Now, just as he was telling his dj-eam. Captain Church, with his company, fell in upon them." They had been guided by the deserter to the swamp, and, with great difiiculty, across some felled trees, into its labyrinths. The. battle was fierce and short ; Philip fought till he saw almost every follower fall in his de- fence, then turned and fled; he was pursued by an EngKshman and an Indian ; and, as if the oracle was dootaed to be fulfilled, the musket of the former would not go off; and the latter fired, and shot himi through the heaft. {See Engraving on the opposite page.) With his death all resistance ceased ; his dominions fell into the hands of the colonists, and peace was re- stored to the settlements. "The fall of Philip," says an historian,* " was then considered as the extinction of a virulent and implacable enemy. It is now viewed as the fall of a great war- rior, a penetrating statesman, and a mighty prince. It then excited universal joy and congratulation as a pre- lude to the close of a merciless war. It now awakens sober reflections on the instability of empire, the pecu- liar destiny of the aboriginal race, and the inscrutable decrees of Heaven. The patriotism t)f the man was * Ramsay. 14 138 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. then overlooked in the cruelty of the savage ; and little allowance was made for the natural jealousy of Ate sovereign on account of the barbarities of the warrior, Philip, ih the progress of the English settlements, fore- saw the loss of his territory and the extinction of his tribe; and made one mighty effort to prevent these cajamities. He fell ; and his fall contributed to the rise of the United States. Joy for this event should be blended with regret for his misfortunes, and respect for his patriotism and talents." In this war, which lasted only about fourteen months, the colonists of New England lost six hundred, killed ; and had thirteen towns totally, and eleven partially, burnt. They also incurred a heavy debt for the ex- penses occasioned, by the contest. Not the least among the disastrous consequences of this war, was the intei- ruption of the pious exertions of that veneratjle mis- sionary, John Eliot, in converting the Indians to Chris- tianity. In 1674, the number of towns and settlement? inhabited by praying Indians, as they were then called, who received his ministry, — towns in which industry, good order, and the best instruction, were established, amounted to more than twelve, when the war came on and threw a cloud over all their prospects.^ In vain Eliot endeavoured to avert hostilities by visiting and exhorting the chief. When he saw there was no longer any chance of peace, he besouglit his people not to be moved by the example or seductions of either party. The contagion, however, was too; strong; and he at last saw many of them take up arms against their in- fidel countrymen. The order and harmony of their dwelling-places were for a time utterly blasted ; on the hills around Naticke and Pakeunit the watch-fires were blazing ; the war-whoops were often Reard in the night ; at intervals, a solitary musket, and then a signal-cry, came from the neighbouring woods ; and yet nearer, the poor Indians at last saw their plantations without the town, burning ; for Philip began hostilities by a sud- den attack on them, so that their taking up arms was partly in self-defence. This, however, did not preven^t TERMINATION OF THE WAR. i3Si their being suspected by the colonists; and a great number of them were confined on Long Island, cruelly treated, and threatened with death. Many of them fell in the contest ; fheir settlements were all desolated ; and when peace was restored, the indefatigable Eliot spent the small remnant of his days in gathering the scat- tered remains of his people together, and restoring their former habits of industiy and tranquillity.* * Although Philip's war is generally considered to have been virtually terminated by his death, the Indians of Maine, New Hampshire, and the British provinces east of these colonies, col- lectively called the " eastern Indians," remained hostile for some time longer. On the 6th of September, 400 Indians, who had already entered into a treaty, were treacherously seized at Co- checo (Dover, N. H.), where they had come to trade. , Some of them were hanged at Boston, for having been concerned in Philip's war, and 200 were sold into slavery. For his participation in this transaction, Major Waldron paid the forfeit of his life, thirteen years after. Mogg, a famous eastern chief, signed a treaty with the English, November 6, 1676. An armament, under Major Waldron,' met the Indians at Pemaquid, in February, 1677', for the purpose of treating With them ; but the negotiation terminated in a skirmish, in which ten of the Indians were killed and several captured. On the 19th of June of the same year. Captain Swett, with 60 Eng- lish and 200 friendly Indians, fell into an ambush'at Black Point, and was killed, with 60 of his party. In April, 1678, Governor Andros concluded a treaty with the. eastern Indians, |t Casco, which may be regarded, as the termination of King Philip s famous --IiIjV™ ■ CHAPTER VI. KING WILLIAM'S WAR. I ROM the time of King Philip's war (1688 to 1697), it is to be observed that ' scarcely any of the numerous contests be- tween the English colo- njsts'and the natives were of purely Indian origin; and it is highly probable that by far the greater portion of the bloodshed on our.borders, from that period to the present moment, might have been spared, if the Indians had not been stimulated to aggression by our foreign enemies. It has already been remarked that Spain considered the boundaries of Florida to be extended indefinitely to the north of its present limits, while the French claimed the territory on the Atlantic border, as far south as the fortieth degree of north latitude, and the whole valley of the Mississippi, under the name of New France. As England claimed the Atlantic coast, from Florida (as it is) to Nova Sc6tia, and always granted patents for the belts of territory between these limits extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, she was engaged in perpetual disputes with these two nations, respecting > the boundaries- of her American colonies. T^e Ftench and the Spaniards were both far more successful than the English, in engaging the sym- pathies and enlisting the services of the Indians, in the C140) KING WILLIAM'S WAR. 141 Dorder wars growing out of these disputes ; and hence it happeped that' the colonies, for a long peridd, were frequently assailed, on every side, by their combined savage?^and civilized enemies. All these wars were marked with the characteristic cruelties, of Indian war- fere ; and the history of almost every attack might be summed up in the words surprise,' massacre, conflagra- tion, and retreat. In the notices which we shall hereafter give of the wars of Carolina and Georgia,- it will be perceiyed that the Spaniards were generally the instigators of the ag^* gressions on that border; on the northern and western frontiers, the colonists had generally to contend with tJie allied forces of the Indians and French; and even when the French did not appear in arms with their re- ^ spectable allies, they, and especially their Jesuit priests, were usually the instigators of the attack. This was particularly the case in the war which we are now to notice, commencing in 1688, and terminating with the treaty of Ryswick, in 1697, commonly called by the colonists, King William's War. In this contest, the French, who had the good fortune to be commanded by the able and indefatigable Count de Frontignac, the governor of Canada, aimed at nothing less than the expulsion of the English from the northern and middle provinces, if not from the continent; and during its pro- gress, they fitted out powerful armaments more than once for this express purpose. The English, on the other hand, made repeated attempts to dislodge their enemy from Canada, which purpose they finally effected at a later period. As the French invariably availed themselves of the services of their Indian allies, they kept the frontiers in a state of continual alarm, and often penetrated into the heart of the colonies, spread- ing terror and desolation in every quarter. The first hostilities of this war occurred on the east- ern border of Maine, which was peculiarly exposed to the incursions of the Indians and French; and the cause of quarrel, as usual, was the vexed question of boundaries. 142 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. That portion of Maine which lies between Penobscpl and Nova Scotia had been given in exchange to the ,, French for the.island of St. Christopher. These land^ were occupied by the baron de St. Castine, who 'carried on a considerate trade with the neighbouring Indians ; but they were also included in a grant of land made by ' the King of England to the Duke of York, who, there- ; upon, in order to strengthen his claim by actual posses- *' sion, ordered a fort to be built at Pemaquid, and a garrison to be stationed there. Some time after a ship landed some wines at Penobscot, supposing this place to be within the French territory. The duke's agents seized the wine, but it was soon after restored, through the influence of the French ambassador in England ; but the boundary question was still undecided. In the beginning of the year 1688, Sir Edmund An- dros, at that time governor general of New England, by appointment of James II., sailed to ,the dispoted ter- ritory, in the Rose frigate, and plundered Castine's house of every thing valuable that it contained, leaving only the ornaments of his chapel to console him for the loss of his arms and goods. This base action provoked Castine to excite the Indians to war, pretences for which wete not wanting on their part. They comr plained of a variety of frauds and aggressions j and forthwith commenced hostilities. They began to make reprisals at North Yarmouth, by killing cattle. Justice Blackman ordered sixteen of thena to be seized, and confined at Falmouth ; but others continued to rob and capture the inhabitants. Andros, who pretended to treat the Indians with mildness, ordered those seized by Blackman to be liberated. But this mildness was disre- garded by the Indians, who kept their prisoners, and mur- dered some of them in their barbarous sports. Andros then changed bis mee^sures, and thought to frighten them with an army of seven hundred men, which he led into their country in the month of November. The rigour of the season proved fatal to some of his men ; but he never saw an Indian during his whole march. The enemy were quiet during the winter. SURPRISE OF DOVER. 143 (1689) After the revolution whiclv deprived Andros . of his office, the gentlemen who assumed the govern- ment of Massachusetts endeavoured to conciliate the Indians by embassies and presents ; but this policy was counteracted by a more successful system of diplomacy on the part of the French. ^ ' Several tribes now entered into a league of mutual protection and defence; these tribes, in revenge, for Major Waldron's having seized four hundred Indians at Dover, thirteen years before, as already related, re- solved to attack that place, in which were five garrison- ed houses under his command. The inhabitahts of this town had, for some time, neglected to keep a watch, imagining themselves to be in perfect security. The Indians, who often passed through the town, took notice of this, and determined to profit by it. The plan Which they laid was as follows : two squaws were to go in the evening to each of the, garrisoned houses, and demand a night's lodging there. As soon as the garrison should be asleep, they were to unbar the door, and by means of a whistle to apprise the Indians of this, who were then to rush . in, and massacre the garrison. The squaws accprdingly went to each of the above-mention- ed houses, arid were receivfed in them. When every thing appeared to be quiet, thei squaws got up and silent- ly opened the door, and gave the appointed signal. On hearing this, the Indians rushed in, destroying all they met with, and committing the greatest cruelties. Twen- ty-three persons, among whom was Major Waldron, were killed in this affair, and twenty-nine taken prfson- ers. These were, for the most part, taken into Canada, and sold to the French* Some of them were afterwards released, but the greater part remained in captiyity till death. Among the persons taken prisoners were Mrs. Otis and her daughter, who was only about three months old. The Fr^ench priests took this child under their care, and had her educated in a nunnery. She, how- ever, declined taking the veil, and was married to a Frenchman, by whom she had two children. In 1714, 144 . INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. being then a widow, she left her two children, and re- turned to New England, where she abjured the Catholic faith. Various methods were afterwards used in order to induce her to return to the Romish church ; but they were all without effect. She was afterwards married to Captain Thomas Baker. , In 1690, Count de Frdntignac, governor general of Canada, sent out three expeditions against the American colonies. The first of these proceeded against Sche- nectady, then a small village, situated on the Mohawk river. This party, after wandering for twenty-two days through deserts rendered trackless by snow, approached the village of Schenectady in so exhausted a condition, that they had determined to surrender themselves to the inhabitants as prisoners of war. But, arriving at a late hour on an inclement night, and hearing from the mes- sengers they had sent forward that the inhabitants were all in bed, without even the precaution of a public watch, they exchanged their intention of imploring mercy to themselves, for a plan of nocturnal attack and massacre of the defenceless people, to whose charity their own countrymen had once been so highly indebted.* This detestable requital of good with evil Was executed with a barbarity which, of itself, miist be acknowledged to form one of the most revoltihg and terrific pictures that has ever been exhibited of human cruelty and ferocity. Dividing themselves into a number of parties, they set fire "to the village in various places, and attacked the inhabitants with fatal advantage when, alarmed by the conflagration, they endeavoured to escape from their burning houses. The exhausted strength of the French- men appeared to revive with the work of destruction, and to gather energy from the animated horror of the scene. Not only were all the male inhabitants they could reach put to death, but women were murdered, and their infants dashed on the walls of the houses. But either the delay caused by this elaborate cruejty, or the more merciful haste of the flames to announce ♦ For the account of Corlear's kindness to the French, see Chap- ter VIII. M lul I I h PROGRESS OF INDIAN HOSTILITIES. 147 the calamity to those who might still fly from the assas- sins, enabled many of the inhabitants to escape. The efforts of the assailants were also somewhat impeded by a sagacious discrimination which they thought if ex- pedient to exercise. Though unmindful ■ of benefits, they were not regardless of policy ; and of a number , 4 i}i of Mohawk Indians who were in the village, not one sustained an injury. Sixty persons perished in the massacre, and twentyrseven were taken prisoners. Of the fugitives who escaped half naked, and tnade their way through a storm of snow to Albany, twenty-five lost their limbs from the intensity of the frost. The French, having totally destroyed Schenectady, retired loaded with plunder from a place where, we think, it must be acknowledged that even the accustomed atro- cities of Indian warfare had been outdone. (See En- graving on the opposite page.) Count Frontignac's second expedition mafchtd against the,settlement of Salmon Falls. This party, consisting of Indians and French to the number of fifty-two, fell on the village at day-break in three different places. The inhabitants made a bold resistance, but were finally overpowered. On the retreat of this party from the village, they were attacked by a force. of about one hundred and fifly men; but escaped without much loss. The third of the th^-ee parties attacked and destroyed the settlement at Casco. - In the month of May, an^assault was made on Fox Point in Newington, in which several persons were killed, and a few taten prisoners. On the 6th of July, two companies under the command of Captains Floyd and Wiswal, came up with a party of Indians near Wheelright's Pond, and a bloody efngagement took place, in which Wiswal and fourteen others were killed, and several wounded. The battle continued for several hours, and finally both parties retreated at the same time. The Indians proceeded westward and committed many and serious depredations. The inhabitants of New England having suflTered so much from the PVench in Canada, resolved to form an 148 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. orpedition to reduce it to the crown of England Accordingly an armament was equipped and placed under the command of Sir William Phipps. This exJDe- pcdition was,, however, retarded by some unforeseen events, so that it did not reach Quebec, the place of its destination, till the 5th of October, 1690, when it was time to return. They accordingly abandoned the en- terprise and returned home. After the destruction of Casco, in 1,690, all the eastern settlements were abandoned, and the people retired to the fort at Wells, in the southern part of Maine. On the 25th of January, 1692, the town of York, adjoining Well^, was surprised by the French and Indians, who killed seventy-fivei of the inhabitants, captured as many more, and burnt the town. Orfthe 10th of June, an army of French and Indians made a furious attack on the garrison at Wells, commanded by Convert who made a gallant defence, and drove the enemy off. . ' ' Sir William Phipps having received instructions from the sovereigns, William and Mary, to build a fort at Pemaquid, was incited to the prompt execution of his order by the recent aggressions of the Indians -^in that part of the province. He embarked at Boston with four hundred and fifty men, in August, 1690, and on arriving at Pemaquid proceeded to the erection of a fortress of greater strength and dimensions than any iiitherto erected in British America. It was built of stone and furnished with eighteen guns, six of whidh were eighteen pounders. It was garrisoned with sixty men, and served the purpose of keeping possession of Pemaquid, and was probably intended by the British to prevent the, French from claiming Acadie as a derelict coun- try. As a means of annoyance to the Indians it was not worth the cost, which was very considerable. The characteristic remark of the famous Colonel Church, who accompanied Phipps on his expe4ition, probably expresses the estimation in which it was held by most of the Massachusetts people. When the governor invited Church to go on shore and give his judgment ATTACK AT OYSTER R|VJEa 149 nbout erecting a fort, he replied, " that his genius did not incline that way, for he never had any value for them, being only nests for destructions." In 1693, Major Convers, with five hundred men, marched into the eastern part of Maine, without en- countering any Indians. On his return he built a fort on Saco river. The Indians soon after sued for peace, and a treaty was signed at Pemaquid, by which they renounced the French interest, promised, to maintain perpetual peace, restore all captives, and allojv-^- free trade. As a security for their fidelity they delivered hostages. This treaty was soon violated. The Indians would probably have observed, its conditions, if they had not been infliienced by the French, and particularly by the priests. The Sieur de Villiere, who had distinguished himself in the defence of Quebec, when Sir William Phipps was before it, and had contracted, a strong an- tipathy to the New Englanders, being now in command at Penobscot, he, with M. Thury the missionary, di- verted Madokawando and the other sachems from complying with their engagements ; so that pretences were found for detaining the English captives who were more in number, and of more consequence than the Indian hostages. Influenced by the same perni- cious counsels, they sought for a defenceless point of attack, and pitched upon the settlement of Oyster river, within the town of DoverJ N. H. ; and the design of surprising this place was publicly talked of in Quebec, two months before it was attacked. There were ' twelve garrisoned houses in the pjace ; but the people were off their guard, and wholly unprepared for an assault, when M. de Villiere with a body of two hun- dred and fifty Indians, collected from the tribes of St. John, Penobscot and Norridgwog, attended by a French priest, marched upon the devoted town. The enemy approached undiscovered, and halted near the falls on the 17th of June, 1694. Here they formed two divisions, one of which was to go on each side of the river, and plant th^ttiselves in ambush in small par- 15 150 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. lies near every house, so as to be ready for the attack at sunrise, the first gun to be the signal. John Dean, whose house stood by the saw-mill near the falls, leav- ing his house at daybreak, was shot as he came out of the door. This disconcerted their plan ; several par- ties who had some distance to go, had not then arrived at their stations ; the people were alarmed, some escaped, and others prepared for defence. The signal, however, being given,' the attack instantly cothmenced in all parts where the enemy was ready. ' Of the twelve garrisoned houses, five were destroyed ; most of their inhabitants were murdered in cold blood without resistance ; others surrendered on promise of safety, and were then treacherously butchered; the rest escaped in boats on the river, or by secreting them- selves in the bushe^ . The other seven garrisons were bravely and success- fully defended. One of these near the river, sursounded by a palisade, was preserved in a singular manner. Thomas Bickfo;-d, the owner, being alarmed before the enemy reached his house, sent off his family in a boat, and then shutting his gate, betook himself alone to the ' defence of his fortress. Despising alike' the threats and {)romises by which the Indians would have persiiaded lim to surrender, he kept up a constant fire at them, changing his dress as often as he could, showing him- self with a different hat, cap or coat, and sonietimes without either, and giving directions aloud as if he had, a numfcer of men with him. Finding their attempt vain, the enemy withdrew, leaving him sole master of the house which he had defended with such admirable address. When the enemy began to apprehend the approach of reinforcements from the surrounding settlements, they hastily retreated through the woods aftei- theif usual manner, having killed and captured 'between ninety and a hundred persons, and burned tvlrciity houses, five of which were garrisons. About forty of the enemy under Foxus, a Norridg- wog chief, resoWing on farther mischief, 'weat west* rWDl AN HOSTILITIES. 151 ward, ana did execution as far as Groton. A smaller party crossed the Piscataqua and killed several persons on Mrs. Cutts's farm, herselV among the number. The scalps taken in this expedition were carried to Canada by Madokawando, and presented to Count Frontignac, from whoih he received the reward of his treacherous adventure. After this affair, no considerable attack was made on the north-western border, until June 26th, 1696, when a surprise, took place on Portsmouth plain, about two miles from the town. Five houses were 'attacked at once; fourteen persons were killed and four cap- tured. The enemy was pursued, and the captives and plunder recovered ; but the Indians themselves escaped. On the 26th of July, the people of Dover were way- laid as they were returning from public worship : three were killed, three wounded, and three carried to Pe- nobscot prisoners. The plan of the French ministers for this year, 1696, had been to expel the English from their posts at Hud- son's Bay, Newfoundland, and Pemaquid. The expe- dition against Pemaquid was committed by the king to Iberville and Bonaventure, who anchored on the 7th of August, at Pentagroet, whfere their force was aug- mented by the junction of the Baron de Castine, with two hundred Indians, who accompanied the French fleet in their canoes. On the 14th, the fort was in- vested. To the summons to surrender, Chubb, the commander of the fort, replied, "that if the sea were covered with French vessels, and the land with Indians; yet he would not give up the fort." After a few shots from the Indians, which were returned without effect from the fort, batteries were raised, and a bombard- ment commenced. Castine now found means to con- vey a letter into the fort, intimating that if the besieged waited till an assault took place, they would then be at the mercy of the Indians, and must expect no •quiarter. Upon this, the garrison, consisting of but eighty men, required their valorous commander to ranitnlate, whidh he did on highly honourable and 152 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. advantageous terms. The famous fort of PemaquiA ■which had cost the Massachusetts colony an immense sum of money, was now demolished by the captors. The French then devastated a great part of Noy^. Scotia, but deferred their operations against the forts at Hudson's Bay and Newfoundland until the next year. In June, 1697, an ineffectual attempt was made by the Indians to surprise Exeter, N. H., and on the 4th of July, Major Frost of Kittery,- who had signalized himself on many occasions against the Indians, was waylaid and killed by them. , Very extensive preparations were made by the. French for the campaign of 1607; a large armamertt and fleet from France were to co-operate with the com- bined land forces of Indians and French from Canada, and the whole country from Newfoundland to New York was to be conquered and devastated. But the fleet sailed too late in the season, and did, not arrive at Placentia, the rendezvous, until the 24th of July, when a council of war, called to decide on the question, unanimously decided not to make, the proposed desrcent on Boston. The peace of Ryswick, which had been signed on the 20th of September, was proclaimed at Bostpn on the 10th of December, and the English colonies once more enjoyed repose, after a long and bloody war. By the seventh article of this treaty, it was agreed to make mutual restitution of all the countries, forts, and colo- nies, taken by each party during the war. After the treaty of Ryswick, Count Frontigriac in formed the Indians that he could no longer support them in their wars against the English, and, advised them to make a Ireaty with their late opponents. In conformity with this advice, they concluded a, treaty on the 7th of January, 1699, in which they ratified their former engagements ; acknowledged subjection to the crown of England ; and promised future peace and ■ good behaviour. It was signed by Moxus, and many, other sagamores, captains, and principal men of, the couHT lEOKTiaNAO. Page 152. WARS OF THE FIVE NATIONS. 153 In(liaus belonging to the rivers of the Kennebeqk, Am- rreriscoggin, and Saco, and the parts adjacent. Our notices of this war, it will be observed, are con- fined chiefly to the operations in New England, which, from its contiguity to Canada and Nova Scotia, was necessarily its principal theatre. The contests between the French and the Five Nations who were justly con- sidered the barrier between New York and the French colony, will be noticed in another chapter. CHAPTER VII. WARS/OP THE FIVE NATIONS. (TO THE CLOSE OF THE LAST FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.) 'ONE among all the Indian nations has acquired so much celebrity as that confederacy which, from its geographical position, formed the barrier be- tween the middle colonies of Great Britain and the French possessions on their north-western fron- tier, generally known by the denomination of the Five JVations of Cmada. This federal association is said to ha e derived its Origin from the most remote antiquity; and, as the name imports, it comprehended five Indian nations, of which the Mohawks have obtained the most lasting name, and which were united, on terms of the strictest equality^ in a perpetual alliance, for conquest and nnutual defence. The members of this confederation # ,i.54 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. reckoned themselves superior to all the rest of mankind) and the distinctive appellation which they adopted was expressive of this opinion. But the principles; pf , their confederacy display far more policy and 'refinement ihan we might expect from the arrogance of their bar- barous name. They had embraced the Roman maxim, of increasing their strength by incorporating the people of other nations with themselves. After every conquest of an enemy, when they had indulged their revenge by s,ome cruel executions, they exercised their usual policy in the adoption of the remaining captives ; and frequent- ly with so much advantage, that some of their most distinguished sachems and captains were derived from defeated and adopted foes. Each nation had its own separate republican constitution, in which rank and office were claimed only by age, procured only by merit, and enjoyed by the tenure of public efeteem ; and each was divided into three tribes, bearing respectively for their ensigns, and distinguished by the names of, the Tortoise, the Bear, and the Wolf. In no community was age graced with more respect, or youth endowed with greater beauty. Such was the efficacy of their mode of life in developing the. fin,e proportion^ of which the human frame is susceptible, that, when the statue of the Apollo Belvidere was beheld, for the first time, by the American Apelles, BenjaminWest, he started at the unexpected recognition, and exclaimed, "How like it is to a young Mohawk warrior !" The people of the several nations, and especially the Mohawks, were dis- tinguished by the usual Indian qualities of attachment to liberty, fortitude in the endurance of pain ; pre- ference of craft and stratagem to undisguised operation in war; and by a more than usual degree of pergeii verance, resolution, and active intrepidity. Almost all the tribes around this people, and even many at a great distance, who were not included in their confederacy, acknowledged a subjection to it, paid a tribute, which two aged sachems were annually depute4 to collect; and were restrained from making war or peace with" out the consent of the Five Nations. It was the policy POLITY OF THE FIVE NATIONS I55 of all the chiefs to affect superior poverty, and to dis- tribute among the people the whole of their own share of tribute and plunder. All matters of common con- cernment were transacted in general meetings of the sachems of each nation : and the influence of time, aided by a long course of judicious policy and victori- ous enterprise, had completely succeeded in causing the federal character and sentiments to prevail over the peculiarities of their subordinate national associa- tions. In the year 1677, the confederacy possessed two thousand one hundred and fifty fighting men. When the Tuscardra tribe was vanquished in Carolina, at a subsequent period, and expelled from its territory by the colonists of that province, the fugitives proposed, and were permitted, to revive their broken estate by engraft- ing it on this powerful confederacy; and as, (in conse- quence of a supposition, derived from similarity of lan- guage, of their original derivation from the same stock to which they now returned,) they were associated as a new member of the general union, instead of being intermingled with any particular portion of it ; the con- federacy soon after obtained the name of the Six Na- tions. Both the French and the English writers, who have treated of the character or afl'airs of this peoplp, hav:e concurred in describing them as at once the most judicious and politic of the native powers, and the most fierce and formidable of the native inhabitants of Amer- ica. There was only wanting to their fame, that lite- rary celebration which they obtained too soon from the neighbourhood of a race of civilized men, who were destined to eclipse, and finally extinguish, their great- ness\ and particularly froni the pen of a highly accom- plished writer, Cadwallader Golden, one of the governors of New York, they have received the same historic service which his own barbarian ancestors derived from the writings of Caesar and Tacitus. When the French settled in Canada, in the beginning of this century, they found the Five Nations engaged in a bloody war with the powerful tribe of Adirondacks ; in which, after having been themselves so severely press- 156 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. ed, that they were driven from their possessions rouna Montreal, and forced to seek an asylum on the south- east coast of Lake Ontario, the Five Nations had lat- terly succeeded in gaining a decided advantage, and had in turn constrained their enemies to abandon their land« situated above the Three Rivers, aiid fly for safety behind the strait where Quebec was built. The tide of success, however, was suddenly turned by the arrival of Champlain, who conducted the Ffench colonyj and who naturally joined the Adirondacks, because he had settled on their lands. The conduct, the bravery, and especially the fire-arms, of these new allies of the ene- my, proved an overmatch for the skill and iljtrepidity of the Five Nations, who were defeated in several bat- tles» and reduced to the greatest distress. It was at this critical juncture that the first Dutch ship arrived in Hud- son's river, with the colonists who established them- selves at Albany. The Five Nations, easily procuring from these neighbours a supply of that species of arms to which alone their enemies had been indebted for their superiority, revived the war with such impetuosity and success, that the nation of the Adii'ondacks was com- pletely annihilated ; and th^ French too late discovered, that they had espoused the fortunes of the weaker peo- ple. Hence originated the mutual dread and enmity that so long subsisted between the French and the con- federated Indians, and entailed so many calamities upon both. The French, less accustomed to the climate, and less acquainted with the country, than their savage ene- mies, attempted vainly to imitate their rapid and secret expeditions. A party dispatched in the winter of 1665, by Courcelles,. the governor of Canada, to attack the Five Nations, lost their way among wastes of snow, and after enduring the greatest misery, arrived, without knowing where they were, at the village of Schesecta- dy, near Albany, which a Dutchman of consideration, named Corlear, had recently founded. The French, exhausted and stupified with cold and hunger, resem- bled rather an army of beggarsthan of hostile invaders, and would have fallen an easy prey to a body of Indians GOTEENOE STUYVESABT. Page 157. POLICY OF THE DUTCH. 15T who were in the village, if Corlear, touched with com- passion at their miserable appearance, had not employ- ed both influence and artifice with the Indians, to per- suade them to spare their unfortunate enemies, and de- part to defend their own people against a more formi- dable attack in a different quarter, which he led them to, expect. When the Indians were gone, Corlear and his townsmen brought refreshments to the famishing Frenchmen, and supplied them with provisions and other necessaries to cjirry them home; having taught them by a sensible lesson, that it is the mutual duty of men to mitigate by, kindness and charity, instead of aggra- vating by ambition and ferocity, the ills that arise from the rigours of nature, and the frailty of humanity. The French governor expressed much gratitude for Corlear's kindness, and .the Indians never resented his benevolent stratagem : - but" their mutual warfare continued unaba- ted. At length, after a long period of severe but inde- cisive hostilities, both partiesi wearied of war, but not exhausted of animosity, agreed to a general peace, which was concluded in the year 1667, and had subsist- ed ever since without any considerable interruption, at the period when Colonel Dongan was made governor of, New. York. .. Of the relation that subsisted between the Dutch and the Five Nations, only confused and uncertain accounts have been preserved. The writers who have asserted that the Dutch were continually in close alliance and friendship with the, Indians,'seem to have derived their statements entirely from their own ideas of what was pro&able, and to have mistaken for an expression of particular friendship, the indiscriminate readiness of the Dutch to traffic with friend or foe. It is certain that at any. one time they were engaged in a bloody war with the Indians; though with what particular tribes, there are no means of ascertaining; and that during Stuyvesant's administration they enjoyed a peace with them, of which the benefit was transmitted to the Eng- lishv When -Colonel Nichols assumed the government of New York, he entered; into a friendly tieaty with 158 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. the Five Nations ; which, however, till the arrival of Dongan, seems to have been productive of no farther connexion than an extensive commercial intercourse, in which the Indians supplied the English with peltry in return for arms and ammunition, of the use oi\^hich. as long as they were not employed against themselvo's, tl\e venders were entirely, and, as -it proved, unfor- tunately, regardless. The Indians, adhered to the treaty with strict fidelity ; but always showed a scru- pulous niceness in exacting the demonstrations of re- spect due to an independent people ; and in particular when any of their forces had occasion to pass near the English forts, they expected to be saluted with militaYy honours. In the meantime the French Canadians were not remiss in availing themselves of their deliverance from the hostilities of these formidable Indians. They advanced their settlements along the river St. Law- rence, and in the year 1672 built Fort FrontigUac on its north-west , bank, where it rushes from the vast parent waters of Ontario. With a policy proportioned to the vigour of their advances, they filled the Indian settlements with their missionaries, who labouring with great activity and ■ success, multiplied converts to their doctrines, and allies to their countrymen. The praying Indians, as the French termed their converts, were either neutral, or, more frequently, their auxiliaries in war. The Jesuits preached not to their Indiari auditors the doctrines that most deeply wound the pride of hu- man nature, nor a lofty morality which the conduct of the bulk of its nominal professors practically denies and disgraces. They required of their converts but a su- perficial change ; an embracement of the external forms of Christianity ; and they entertained their senses, and impressed their imaginations, by a ceremonial at once picturesque and mysterious. Y*et as, from the weakness of man, an admixture of error is inseparable from the best system of doctrine, so, from the goodness- of God, a ray of truth is found to pervade even the slightest. The instructions of the Jesuits, from which the lineaments of Christianity were not wholly obliterated, FRENCH POLICY TOWARDS THE INDIANS. 159 may have contributed, in some instances, to fotm the divine image in the minds of the Indians; and the good seed, unchoked by the tares, may, in some places, have sprung up to everlasting life. The moral and domestic precepts contained in the Scriptures were communi- cated, in some instances, with a happy effect: and various congregations of Indian converts w^re per- suaded by the Jesuits to build villages ■ in Canada in the same style as the French colonists, to adopt Euro- pean husbandry, and to renounce spirituous liquors. The visible separation of the Catholic priests from the family of mankind, by a renunciation of conju- gal and parental ties, gave no small sacredness to their character, ^d a strong, prevailing power to their addresses. In the discharge of what they con- ceived their duty, theiiy courage and perseverance were equalled only by their address and activity. They had already compassed sea and land to make proselytes, and the threats of death and torture could not deter them from executing' their commission. Many of them, though commanded to depart, continued to remain among tribes that were at war with their coun- trymen ; and some of them, on the principle of becom- ing sAl things to all men, embraced Indian habits of livjng. One of these last, established himself so firmly in the affeqtions of a certain tribe of the Five Na- tions, that although they continued faithful to the na- ■ tionai enmity against the French, they adopted him as a brother, and elected him a sachem. With such industry, resolution, and insinuation, did the French Jesuits exert themselves to recommend their faith and their -country to the affections of the Indians. The French laity, too, and especially their civil and milital'y officers and soldiery, succeeded better than the gene- rality of the English, in recommending themselves to the good graces of the savages. French vanity was ,_ productive of more politeness and accommodation than English pridej and even the displeasure that the French sometimes excited by commission of injuries, was less intolerable than the provocation that the Eng- J ICO INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES !ish too frequently inspired by a display of insolence The stubborn disposition of the Eflglish was bes* fitted to contend with the obstructions of nature;' the pliancy and vivacity of the French, to prevail over the jealousy of the natives. Therte were as yet no Protestant mis- sions in this quarter of America, which, in the follow- ing century, some New England clergymen, aided by a religious society in Scotland, were destined , to illus- trate by noble and successful exertions of missionary labour. Colonel Dongan, who was not, like his predecessors, encumbered with a monopoly of all the functions of government, nor absorbed in struggles with popular dis- content, had leisure for a wider survey of the state of his countrymen's relations with the Indians, and very soon discovered that the peace which was so advantage- ous to the French Canadian colonists, by enabling them to extend their fortifications and their commerce over a vast extent of country, was productive of -severe in- convenience to some of the colonies of Britain, and throated serious danger to them all. The Five Nations, inflamed by their passion for war, and finding a pretext for its gratification in the recollection of numerous in- sults that had been offered to them in the season of their adversit)', had turned their arms southward, and con- quered the country from the Mississippi to the borders of Carolina ; externrtinating numerous tribes and nations in their destructive progress. Many of the Indian al- lies of Virginia and Maryland sustained their attacks; and these colonies themselves were frequently involved in hostilities, in defence both of their allies, and in pro^ tecting themselves against allies incensed by discover- ing that their invaders derived their means, of , annoying them from the English at New York. But, in 1684, Colonel Dongan, in conjunction with Lord Effingham, the governor of Virginia, concluded with the Five Na- tions a definitive treaty of peace, embracing all the English settlements, and all tribes in alliance with them, Hatchets, proportioned to the numbers of the English colonies, were solemnly buried in the ground : and the THE ENGLISH IN NORTH AMERICA. 161 arms of the Duke of York, as the acknowledged su- preme head of the English and Indian confederacy, were suspended along the frontiers of the territories of the Five Nations. 'This treaty was long inviolably ad- hered to; and the fidelity. of its observance was power- fully aided by a renewal of hostilities between the Five Nations, and their ancient enemies, the French. It was at this time that the merchants of New York first ad- ventured on the great lakes to the westward, hoping to participate in the trade which the French were carry- ing on with much profit in that quarter, and which they endeavoured to guard from invasion by prejudicing the Indians against the English, and by every art that seem- ed likely, to obstruct the advances of their rivals. Don- gan perceiving the disadvantages to which his country- men were exposed, solicited the English ministry to take measures for preventing . the French from navigating the lakes which belonged to the Five Nations, and, con- sequently, as he apprehended, to England. But he was informed that it was preposterous to ask, or expect, that France would command her subjects to desist from an advantageous commerce for the benefit of their rivals : and he was directed, rather by acts of kindness and courtesy, to encourage the Indians to retain their ad- herence to England, and to make it the interest of all the tribes to trade with the English in preference to the French; observing withal such prudence as might pre- vent offence to European neighbours. So far were these views from being realized, that from this time there com- menced a series of disputes between the two nations, which for the greater part of a century engaged them in coHtinual wars and hostile intrigues that threatened the destruction of their Colonial settlements, cost the lives of many of the European colonists, and wasted the blood, and prolonged the barbarism of those unfortu- nate Indians who were involved in the vortex of their hoBtili'tyt ,-On the death of Charles the Second, the Duke of York ascended his brother's throne, and the province of which he had been proprietary devolved, with all its 16 L 162 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. dependencies, on the crown, The peoplei of New York received, with improvident exultation, the accounts of their proprietary's advancement to royalty, , and pro- claimed him as their sovereign with the liveliest demon- strations of attachment and respect. They had been for some time past soliciting with much eagerness a for- mal grant of the constitution that was now established among ^them ; and the duke had not only promised to gratify them in this particular, but had actually proceed- ed so far as to sign a patent in conformity with their wishes, which, at his accession to the throne, required- only some trivial solemnity to render it complete and irrevocable. But James, though he could not pretend to forget, was not ashamed to violate, as King of Eng- land, the promise which he had made when Du^e of York ; and' a calm and unblushing refusal was now re- turned to the renewed solicitations of all the incorpora- ted bodies, and the great bulk of the inhabitants of the province. Determined to establish the same arbitrary system in New York which he designed for New Eng- land, so far from conferring new immunities, he with- drew what had been formerly conceded. In the secoild year of his reign he invested Dongan with a new com- mission, empowering him, with consent of a council, to enact the laWs, and impose the taxes ; and commanding him to suffer no printing-press to exist. Though he now sent Andros to New England, he paused awhile before he ventured to restore the authority of that obnoxious governor in New York. But the people beheld in his appointment to govern the colonies in their neighbour- hood, an additional indication of their prince's charac- ter and their own danger, and with impatient discontent endured a yoke which they were unable to break, and which they were prevented from exhibiting to public odium, and English sympathy, through the medium of the press. Dongan, having been a soldier all his life, seems to ■have been fitted rather by habit to regard with indiffer-, ence, than by disposition to enforce with rigour, a sys- tem of arbitrary power; and, accordingly, the remainder TEADINO WITH THE IHDIAMS. Page 163. INDIANS AND FBENCH. 163 of liis administration, though less favourable to his popu- larity, was not discreditable to his character, which continued to evince the same moderation, and the same regard to the public weal, as before. Though a Roman Catholic, he had beheld with alarm, and resisted with energy, the intrusion of the French priests into the set- tlements of the Five Nations ; and even when his bigoted master was persuaded by the court of France to com- mand him to desist from thus obstructing the progress of popish conversion, he continued nevertheless to warn his Indian allies, that the admission of the Jesuits among them would prove fatal to their own interests, and to their friendship with the English. He still insisted that the French should not treat with the Indians in alliance with his colony, without his privity and intervention : but the French court again employed their interest with his master; and he accordingly received orders to de- part from this pretension. The Five Nations, however, seemed more likely to need the assistance of his forces than the suggestions of his policy. Their untutored sagacity had long perceived what the ministers of the court of England were not skilful enough to discern, that the extensive projects of France both threatened themselves with subjugation, and involved, to the mani- fest disadvantage of the English colonies, a diminution of their trade, and a removal of the powerful barrier that still separated them from the rival settlement of Canada. The treaty that excluded the Five Nations from hostile expeditions against the more distant tribes allied to the other English colonies, gave them leisure to attend with less distraction to their nearer interests: and finding themselves inconvenienced by the supplies which their numerous enemies derived from the French, they had of late chosen to consider this as a hostile act which they were entitled to resent and obstruct, and had constantly attacked the Canadian traders who car- ried mihtary stores to any tribe with whom they, were at war. The French, under the conduct of two suc- cessive governors, De la Barre and Nouville, had vainly endeavoured, partly by treaty, and partly by force, to 164 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. repress proceedings so injurious to their commerce, their reputation, and their political views; when Dongan, perceiving that a war would probably ensue between the rivals and the allies of his countrymen, prevailed, by the most urgent entreaties, on the English court to invest him with authority to assist the Five Nations in the contest that menaced them. But the French minis- ters gaining information of these instructions, hastened to counteract them by a repetition of artifices which again proved successful. They had already more than once, by their hypocrisy and cunning, succeeded in out- witting the sincere bigotry of the English King ; and they had now the address to conclude with him a treaty of neutrality for America, by which it was stipulated that neither party should give assistance to Indian tribes in their wars with the other. Armed with so many ad- vantages, the French authorities in Canada resumed, with increased vigour, their, endeavours to chastise ,by force, or debauch by intrigue, the Indian tribes who had preferred the English alliance to theirs ; while Dongan was compelled to sacrifice the honour of his country to the mistaken politics of his master, and to abandon her allies to the hostility, "and her barrier to the violation, of an insidious and enterprising rival. He could not, however, divest himself of the interest he felt in the fortunes of the Five Nations, and seized every oppor- tunity of imparting to them advice no less prudent than humane, for the conduct of their enterprises, and the treatment of their prisoners. But his inability to fulfil former engagements, and afford them further aid, greatly weakened the eflicacy of his councils. Though the remonstrances of Dongan enabled the ministers of James to discover, in the following year, that the treaty of neutrality for America was prejudicial to the in- terests of England, it was impossible to prevent the king from renewing, in the close of the same year, this impolitic arrangement with France. • But the king had no intention of relinquishing his empire in America : and his mind, though strongly tinctured with bigptry, was not unsusceptible of politic NEW YORK ANNEXED TO NEW ENGLAND. 105 views; though he seems rarely to have minted these coDsiderations together. As his bigotry had prompted •him to give up the Indians to the French, his policy now suggested the measure of uniting all his northern colonies in one government for- their more effectual de- fence.^ It must be confessed, indeed, that he seems to have beenat least as strongly prompted to this design by the desire of facilitating his own arbitrary govern- ment in the colonies, as by concern for their safety, or for the integrity of his dominions. As this scheme in- cliBied New York, and as he thought the people of this province now sufficiently prepared to abide the extrem- ity of his will, he indulged the more readily the dis- .pleasure that Dongan had given him by obstructing the Prench Jesuits, which had been a subject of continual complaint from the court of France. The commission of this meritorious officer was accordingly superseded by a royal command to deliver up his charge to Sir Edmund Andros : and New York not only reverted to the dominion of its ancient tyrant, but beheld its exist- ence as a separate province completely merged in its annexation to the government of New England. An- dros remained at Boston as the metropolis of his juris- diction ; committing the administration of New York to Nicholson, his lieutenant-governor: and though by the vigour of his remonstrances, and his reputation for ability, he compelled the French to suspend some en- croachments which they were making or threatening to make on the English territories, he could lend no assist- ance to the Five Nations in the hostilities that were now carried on between them and the French with a mutual fury and .ferocity that seemed to obliterate the distinction between civilized and savage men. The people of New York, deprived of their liberties, and mortified by their annexation to New England, felt themselves additionally; ill used by the policy which compelled them to stand aloof and behold the fate of the allies to whom they' had promised protection, to- gether with their own most important interests, suspend- ed on the issue cf. a contest in which they were not 166 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STAFEa suffered to take a share ; while all the while ^heir coun- trymen in the eastern part of New England were harassed by a dangerous Indian war which was be- lieved on strong reasons to have been excited by the intrigues of, the French. But though deserted by the English, the Five Nations maintained the struggle with an energy that promised the preservation of their inde- pendence, and finally with a success that excited hopes even of the subjugation of their, civilized adversaries. Undertaking an expedition with twelve hundred of their warriors against Montreal, they conducted their march with such rapidity and secresy as to surprise the French in almost unguarded security. The sud- denness and fury of their attack proved irresistible. They burned the town, sacked the plantations, put a thousand of the French to the sword, and carried away a number of prisoners whom they burned alive ; re- turning to their friends with the loss of only three of, their own number. It was now that the disadvantage arising from the neutrality of the English was most sensibly felt, both in the cruelties with which the In- dians stained the triumphs they obtained, and which the influence of a humane ally might have contributed to moderate ; and also in the inability of the savages to improve their victories into lasting conquest. They strained every nerve indeed to follow up their advan- tage, and shortly after their attack on Montreal possess- ed themselves of the fort at Lake Ontario, which the garrison in a papic abandoned to them ; and being now reinforced by the desertion of numerous Indian allies of the French, they reduced every station thsit this people possessed in Canada to a state of the utmost terror and distress. Nothing could have saved the French from utter destruction but the ignorance which disabled the Indians from attacking fortified places: and it was evident to all that a single vigorous act of interposition by the English colonists would have suf- ficed to terminate for ever the rivalry of PVance and England in this quarter of the world. In the early part of the contest which we ha^ve INDIAN WARFARE AGAINST THE FRENCH. 167 already noticed under the name of King "William's War, the Five Nations, somewhat offended by the re- cent impolitic neutrality of the English, took no part on either side. In 1691, however, when Colonel Sloughter was governor of New York, they were induced to a change of policy. The most respectable act of Sloughter's short ad- ministration was a conference which he held with the chiefs of the Five Nations, who acfmitted that they had so far relaxed their hostile purposes against the French, ds to entertain propositions for a lasting peace with them ; but now willingly consented to brighten, as they termed it, their ancient belt of'Jriendship, and to renew a league, offensive and defensive, with the English. " We remember," they declared, " the deceit and trea- chery of the French : the belt they have sent us is poi- son ; we spew it out of our mouths ; and are resolved to make war with them as long as we live." On his return from this conference, a sudden death put a pe- riod to Sloughter's administration. To animate the Indians in the purposes they had now professed, and to sharpen,- by exercise, their hostility against the. French, Major Schuyler, who had acquired extraordinary influence with the Five Nations by his courage, good sense, and friendly attention to their in- terests, undertook, in the close of this year, an expedi- tion against Montreal, at the head of a considerable body of colonial and Indian forces. Though the in- vaders were finally compelled to retreat, the French sustained great loss in several encounters, and the spirit and animosity of the Five Nations were whetted to such a pitch, that even when their allies retired, they pontinued during the winter to wage incessant and harassing hostilities with the French. Count Fron- tignac, whose sprightly manners and energetic char- acfier supported the spirits of his countrymen amidst every reverse, was at length so provoked with what he deemed the ingratitude of the Five Nations for his kindness to them at Schenectady, that, besides encou .-aging his own Indian allies to burn their prisoners 168 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. alive, he at length condemned .to a death still more dreadful, two Mohawk warriors who had fallen into his hands. In vain the French priests remonstrated against this sentence, and urged him not tp bring so foul a stain on the Christian name : the count declared that every consideration must yield to the safety and defence of his people, and that the Indians must not be encpnraged to believe that they might practise the extreme of cruelty on the French without the hazard of having it retorted on themselves. If he had been merely adu- lated by politic considerations, without being stimulateid by revenge, he might have plaiiily perceived, from the conduct of all the Indian tribfes in theii; wars'with each other, that the fear of retort had no efficacy whatever to restrain them from their barbarous practices, which he now undertook to sanction as far as his example was capable of doing. The priests, finding that -their humane intercession was ineffectual, repaired to the prisoners, and laboured to persuade them to embrace the Christian name, as a preparation for the dreadful fate which they were about to receive from Cl^ristian hands; but their instructions were rejected with scorn and derision, and they found the prisoners determined to- dignify, by Indian sentiments and demeanour, the Indian death which they had been condemned to un- dergo. Shortly before the execution, some Frenchman, less inhuman than his governor, threw a knife into the prison, and one of the Mohawks immediately dispatched himself with it: the other, expressing contempt at his companion's mean evasion from glory, walked to the stake, singing in his death-chant, that he was a Mo- hawk warrior, that all the power of man could not ex- tort the least expression of suffering from his lips, and that it was ample consolation to him to reflect that he had made many Frenchmen feuffer the same pangs that he must now himself undergo. When attached to the stake, he looked round on his executioners, their in- struments of torture, and the assembled multitude of spectators, with all the complacency of heroic fortitude ; and, after enduring for some hours, with composed mien THE FIVE NATIONS AIDED BY THE ENbLiSH. 169 and triumphant language, a series of barbarities too atrocious and disgusting to be recited, his sufferings were terminated by the interposition of a French lady, who prevailed with the governor to order that mortai blow, to which human cruelty has given the name of COMB de grace, or stroke of favour. During Colonel Fletcher's administration (169,3), he paid but little personal attentionto Indian affairs. It was fortunate for New York that the incapacity of her governor was prevented from being so detri- mental as it might otherwise have proved to her Indian interests, by the confidence he reposed in Major Schuy- ler, whose jveighty influence was employed to-preserve the affections and' sustain the spirit of the Five Nations. Yet so imperfectly were they assisted by the colony, that Frontignac, even while occupied with other hos- tiUties in N^w England, was able by bis vigour and activity to give them a severe defeat. Roused by this intelligence, Fletcher assembled the militia of New York, and abruptly demanding who was willing to march to the aid of their allies againsf the French, the men threw up their hats in the air and answered unani- mously, " One and all." The march was effected with a rapidity that highly gratified the Indians ; and though It produced no. substantial advantage to them, it was so favourably regarded as a demonstration of promptitude to aid them; that they were prevented from embracing Frontignac's offers of peace. They could not help ob- serving, liowever, that it was too frequent with the English to defer their succours tijl they had become unavailing ; and that while the whole power of France in, America was concentrated in simultaneous efforts to maintain the French dominion, the English colonies acted with partial and divided operation, and Maryland and Delaware in particular (though the quar- rel was said to be a national one) took no share in the hostilities at all. The remainder of Fletcher's administration was not distinguished by any occurrence that deserves to be particularly commemorated. (1695.) The war between 170 JNDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES the French and the Five Nations sometimes languishqd by the address of Frontignac's negotiations, and was oftener kindled into additional rage and destruction by his enterprise and activity. Neither age nor decrepi- tude could chill the ardour of this man's spirit, or im- pair the resources of his capacity. On the threshold of his own fate, and supported in a litter, he flew to every point of attack or defence, to animate the havoc of war, and contemplate the execution of his plans. His own bodily situation had as little eflTect in mitigating his rigour, as in diminishing his activity : and as their hostilities were prolonged, the French and the Indians seemed to be inspired with a mutual emulation of cru- elty in victory, no less than of prowess in battle. The prisoners on both sides were made to expire in tor- tures ; and the French, less prepared by education and physical habits for such extremities of suffering, en- dured a great deal more evil than they were able to inflict. (1696.) On one occasion, when Frontignac succeeded in capturing a Mohawk fort, it was found deserted of all its inhabitants except a sachem in ex- treme old ?ige, who sat with the composure of an ancient Roman in his capitol, and saluted his civilized compeer in age and infirmity, with dignified courtesy and venerable address. Every hand was instantly raised to wound and deface his time-stricken frame; and ■while French and Indian knives were plunged into his body, he recommended to his Indian enemies rather to burn him with fire, that he might teach their French allies how to suffer like men. " Never, perhaps," says Charlevoix, " was d man treated with more cruelty ; nor ever did any endure it with superior magnanimity and resolution." The governor of New York, mean while, encouraged the Five Nations, from time to time, to persevere in the contest, by endeavouring to nego-> tiate alliances between them and other tribes, and by sending them valuable presents of ammunition and of the European commodities which they principally es- teemed : and their intercourse with him fluctuated be- tween grateful acknowledgments of these occasional PEACE OF RYSWICK. 171 supplies, and angry complaints that he fought all his battles by the instrumentality of the Indians. Indeed, except repelling some insignificant attacks of the French on the frontiers of the provincej the English governor took DO actual share in the war, and left the most im- portant interests of his countrymen to be upheld agaiast the efforts of a skilful and inveterate foe, by the un aided valour of theiir Indian allies. (September, 1697.) The peace of Ryswick, which interrupted the hostilities of the French and English, threatened at first to be attended with fatal conse- quences to the allies, to whose exertions the English had been so highly indebted ; and if Fletcher had beetl ?irmittect to continue longer in the government of New ork, this result, no less dangerous than dishonourable to his countrymen, would most probably have ensued. A considerable part of the forces of Count Frontignac had been employed hitherto in warlike operations against Massachusetts and New Hampshire, in conjunc- tion with the numerous Indian allies whom he possessed in that quarter. (1698. Peace of Ryswick.) But the peace of Ryswick, of which he now received intelli- gence, enabled him to concentrate his whole disposable force ' against the only foe that remained to him : and refusing to consider the Five Nations as identified with the English, he prepared to invade them with such an army as they never before had to cope with, and over- whelm 'them with a vengeance which they seemed in- capable of resisting. (April.) But Fletcher had now been very seasonably succeeded by the Earl of Bella- mont, who was appointed governbr both of New Yorl^ and Massachusetts ; and this nobleman being endowed with a considerable share both of resolution and capa- city, clearly perceived the danger and injustice of suf- fering the f'rench project to be carried into effect, and promptly interposed to counteract it. He not only furnished the Five Nations with an ample supply of ammunition and military stores, but notified to Count Frontignac, that if the French should presume to attack them, he would march with the whole fornes of his 172 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. province to their aid. The count thereupon abandoned his enterprise, and complained to his sovereign (Louis the .Fourteenth) of the interruption it had received {, while Lord Bellamont, in like manner, apprised King William of the step he had taken. The two . kings commanded their respectiv,e governors to lend assist- ance to each other and evince a spirit of accommoda'- tion in making the peace effectual to both nations, and to leave all disputes concerning the dependency of ^he Indian tribes to the determination of the commissioners who were to be named in pursuance of the treaty of Ryswick. Shortly after the reception of these man- dates, a peace was concluded between the French and the Five Nations: but not till English insolence and French cunning had nearly detached these tribes 'en- tirely from the alliance they had so steadily maintained, by leading them to believe that the English interposed in their concerns for no other reason than that they ac- counted them their slaves. The French endeavoured to take advantage of their ill humour by prevailing with them to receive an establishment of Jesuits ifito their settlements. But although the Indians at first en- tertained the oifer, and listened with their usual gra- vity and politeness to the speech of a Jesuit who had been sent to enforce it, their habitual sentiments soon prevailed over a transient discontent, and they declared their determination to adhere to the English, and to receive, instead of the French priests, a ministry of Protestant pastors which Lord Bellamont had pro- posed to establish among them. The war waged by the Corees and Tuscaroras against > the Carolinians, noticed in another chapter of this history, was the occasion of addii^g another tribe to the confederacy of the Five Nations. After the ter- rible defeat suffered by the Indians on that occasion, the Tuscaroras abandoned their ancient residence, in Carolina, and, travelling to the north, united themselves to the Five Nations, whose allies they had been in some of the southern expeditions of the confederated tribes. From a similarity in their language, they were believed THE TUSCARORAS. 173 U) have had a common origin, and perhaps for this rea- son ihey were the more readily received by the haughty magnates of the confederacy. They were readily ac- commodated with a section of territory to dwell in : and after this, the allied powers were styled the Six Nations. The Tuscaroras, however, were not Mo- hawks; they were less remarkable for strength and courage than the northern tribes, and consequently were always regarded as inferiors. From the commencement of the eighteenth century to 1750, the Jesuit missionaries and trading agents of the French succeeded in exerting considerable influ- eace over the Six Nations. By accommodatirig.them- selves to the martial tastes of the savages, and dazzling them with the splendid and imposing ceremonies of the Catholic church, they so far ingratiated themselves with the Indians ' as to obtain their permission to build forts in their territory ; and when the last French and Indian war broke out (1754), they even induced four of the tribes to go over to the French and take an active part against the British colonists. Beforej how- ever, this war had terminated in the total defeat nf the French, the Indians had returned and renewed their alliance with the English. 17 CHAPTER VIII. QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. ECURITY seemed at ihe close of King William's Wdr to be assured to the people long unaccustomed to it. But 'Jieiace, now ap- parently restored to the colonies by the treaty of Ryswick, conferred her ^' blessings but' for a short season. The recOgnitiph of the Pretender's claims to the British crown by the Pretich court, forth-with led to a declaration of war by Queen Anne, in May, 1702. Villebon, the governor of Canada, began to make encroachments on the English territory; their fishery was interrupted by French ships of war ; and a French mission was established af Norridgwog, on the upper part of the Kennebeck. The influence of the French was by this means extended over the In dians ; and the governor of Canada instigated them to prevent the English frorh settling east of the K^enfiebeck Dudley, who was now governor of Massachusetts, had received orders to rebuild the fort at Pemaquid; but could not prevail on the assembly to bear the expense of it. He, however, determined to visit Maine ; and taking several gentlemen with him, held a conference at Casco, with delegates from nearly all the surround- ing tribes, June 20th, 1703. They there concluded a treaty of peace with the customary formalities ; and the Indians assured them that their union should be as BORDER WAR IN MAINE. 175 firm as a mountain, and should continue as long as the sun and moon. Notwithstanding these protestations, Ihey made an attack a few weeks' after upon all the settlements from Casco to WeUs, and killed and took one hundred and thirty persons, burning and destroy- ing all before them. A week after, Augqst 17th, 1703, a party of Indians killed five people at Hampton village ; they also plun- dered two houses ; but the country being now alarmed, they fled without doing any further injury. In the fall of the same year. Colonel March, of Casco, killed six of the enemy, and took six more prisoners ; this en" couraged the government to ofier a bounty of forty pounds for scalps. Daring winter, hostilities were suspended, but they commenced with the return of spring. In May, Colo- nel Church, having planned an expedition to the eastern shore, sailed from Boston with several small boats, for the purpose of ascending rivers. In this expedition he destroyed the towns of Minas and Chignecto; and did considerable' damage to the French and Indians at Pen- obscot and Passamaquoddy. In the winter, Colonel Hilton, with two hundred and seventy men, proceeded to Norridgwog; but, on ar- riving there, they found no enemy to contend with ; and therefore burnt the deserted wigwams and the chapel. TJSe governor of Canada encouraged the Indians who inhabited the borders of New England to remove to Canada, which they did, and have ever since re- mained there. By this policy they became more firmly attached to the French interests. Dudley, who kept a vigilant eye upon them, apprehended a rupture in the winter, and, therefore, made preparations to receive them. But they did not appear till AprU, 1706 ; when a small party attacked a house on Oyster river, where they killed eight and wounded two. Pn July, Colonel Schuyler, from Albany, informed Dudley that two hundred and seventy of the enemy were on their march toward Piscataqua. He imme- 176 . INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. diately informed the people of it, ordered them to close g^irrison, and one half of the mihtia to be ready at a, moment's warning. The first appearance of the enemy was at Dunstable. Major Hilton, with sixty-four men, marched forward to meet them, but was obliged to re- turn without accomplishing his object. The enemy had determined to destroy Hilton , on account of his bravery and activity ; for this purpose a small party continually hovered around his hoyse ; and seeing seve- ral men advance out of the house with scythes on theii shoulders for the purpose of mowing, they attacked them, killed four, wounded one, and took three prison- ers. The major, however, escaped. In the winter of 1707, Hilton made another excur- sion eastward. In this expedition thej' killed twenty- one men, and took two prisoners. This was considered a great triumph, since it was so difficult to come to the haunts of the Indiai'is. It was now the intention of Governor Dudley to make an attack on Port Royal. Early in the spring he applied to the colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut for one thousand men for his expedition. The number was soon raised, and divided into two regimenfs, one of which was commanded by Colonel Wainwrlght, and the other by Colonel Hilton. The chief commc^nder was Colonel March. They embarked, and in a few days arrived before Port Royal. They burned several' houses, killed some cattle, and made an attempt to bom bard the fort; but a disagreement, arising between the officers, the army broke up, and re-embarked in a dis- orderly manner. Some of the officers went to Boston for orders, and some of the vessels put in at Casco. A sloop containing Captain Chesley's company arrived at Portsmouth ; he allowed his men to go on shore, order- ing them to return at the beat of the drum. Being called to account for this conduct, he alleged that orders had been given at Port Royal for every man to make the best of his way home. The governor was in a great rage on hearing this, and ordered that if any more vessels should come on the coast the men should not be HAVERHILL SUBPEISED. Page 177 ATTACK ON HAVERHILL. I77 permitted to land under pain of death. In a short timo lie ordered Chesley's company to be re-embarked, ofier- ing a pardon to those who returned, and threatening those who would not return with a severe punishment! Bj the latter end of July they got on board, and with the rest, of the army proceeded to the place of action. On landmg, they were greatly annoyed by an ambus- cade of Indians. Major Walton, with the New Hamp- shire companies, attacked and soon put them to flight. The command of the army was now given to Wain- wright. By the last of August the whole affair was terminated ; and the army returned sickly, disheartened, and ashamed, having lost sixteen killed and as many wounded. In September, a party of French Mohawks, painted red, attacked a company of English who were in the woods hewing timber, near Oyster river. At the first fire they killed seven and mortally wounded another. Chesley, the commander of the English, with a few others, kept the enemy in check for some time ; but being overpowered by numbers, he at length fell. He was much lamented by his companions, being at that time one of their bravest officers. In 1708 a large army was prepared in Canada to make an attack on the frontiers of New England. Dudley, receiving information of this, immediately made great preparations for defence. Spy boats were kept out at sea between I'iscataqua and Winter har- bours. Four hundred Massachusetts soldiers were also posted in this province. At length the storm fell on Haverhill ; but the enemy's force being diminished by Vcirious accidents, they proceeded no further; and every part of New Hampshire was in a short time again quiet. The principal object of the colonies was now to wipe away the disgrace they had brought on themselves the last year by their fruitless attempt on Port Royal, by an attempt to conquer Canada itself. For this pur- pose solicitations had been made in England. These were successful ;- an expedition was determined on. and M 178 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. Orders were sent to the governors of the several' pro- . vinces to raise men for the service. After mucn trouble the troops were raised and all ready to proceed, when news arrived that the fleet promised by the queen was destined to another quarter. But in July, 1710, the British ministry sent out five frigates for the purpose of reducing Port Royal. Troops were raised in the colo- nies to assist in the expedition, and the whole arma- ment sallied from Boston on the 18th of September, 1710. On the 24th they arrived before th& place, and after a few shots were fired it was surrendered. Its name was changed, in honour of the queen, from Port Royal to Annapolis. ' After the reduction of Port Royal, Nicholson, , the commander of the expedition, went to England to so- licit an expedition against Canada. He was successful; and on the 8th of June, 1711, Nicholson came to Bos- ton with orders for the northern colonies to get ready their quotas of men and provisions by the arrival of the fleet and army from Europe, which happened within sixteen days. This army consisted of seven veteran regiments of the Duke of Marlborough's army, and- a battalion of marines under the command of Brigadier General Hill, which, joined with the New England troops, made a body of about six thousand five hundred nien, provided with a fine train of artillery. The fleet consisted of fifteen ships of war, of from eighty to thirty- six guns, with forty transports, and six store-ships, unier the command of Admiral Walker. The fleet sailed from Boston on the 30th of July; but the sanguine hopes of success entertained by the colonies were blasted in one night ; for the fleet having arrived near the river St. Lawrence in the night of the 23d of August, eight of the vessels were wrecked^ on Egg Island, and, one thousand men perished. After holding a consultation, the expedition was broken up, thp fleet returned to England, and the New England troops to their homes. 1712. The Indians now began to commit more ra- vages than ever; but happily news of the treaty of LOSSES BY THE WAR. 179 Utrecht arrived at this time, and the Indians, restrained by the French, committed no further ravages. They shortly after made a treaty of peace with governor Dudley, at Portsmouth, N. H. This war had burdened New England and New York with debt. None of the provinces, however, suffered from it so severely as Massachusetts and New Hamp- . shire. Twenty-five years was the term usually required for doubling, the population of the North American colo- nies by tlfe mere progress of native increase. But during the latter part of the seventeenth and the earlier part of the eighteenth century, the principle of increase was less efficient in Massachusetts and New Hampshire than in any of the other colonies ; and in the year 1713, Massachusetts did not contain double the number of inhabitants that it contained fifty years before. The heavy taxes that prevailed during that period, doubtless induced some of the inhabitants to emigrate to other provinces; but the actual carnage of the war appears chiefly to have contributed to repress the increase of population. From the year 1675, when Philip's war began, till the close of Queen Anne's war in 1713, about six thousand of the youth of the country had perished by the stroke of the enemy m by diseases contracted in military service. From the frequency and fertility of marriage in New England, nine tenths of these men, if they had been spared to their country, would have become fathers of families, and in the course of forty years have multiplied to an hundred' thousand souls. CHAPTER IX. LOVEWELL'S WAR. PDURING causes erf ho?. tility between* the New England colonies and their savage enemies still renaained. The situation of the eastern Indians g prevented them frontj rer maining t[uiet any length of time. The French on the one side treated them :^^r?^?^ as an independent nation ; the English on the other called them subjects of their king, on account of the patents giving the lands to his people. The English had purchased the land of the Indians, sometimes giving not one-fourth of their worth;- at others, paying amply for them. But notwithstanding their just claims to them, the Indians, instigated by the French, found various pretences for evading them, The New England colonies being desirous to avoid a war, held several' conferences with them in 1717, but with no satisfactory result. Governor Shute met a large number of chiefs at Orrorosic, and offered them an Indian bible and a missionary. This was rejected; nothing would satisfy them but a settlement of the boundaries, which the governor refused ; and this re- fusal may be considered as the principal cause of the war in which the two parties were shortly after in- volved. At the head of the Jesuits who were among these tribes, was one Sebastian Ralle, a Frenchman. He made use of every Opportunity to excite the sa- (iSfl) RENEWAI, OF THE WAR. Im chems against the English, and at length succeeded, as we shall se6. The government of Massachusetts saw his influence, and dispatched Colonel Westbrooke to Norridgwog to take him ; but he escaped, leaving his papers, which were taken to the governor, (1722.) The Indians, upon this new aggression, com- menced hostilities. They first made an attack, upon Fort Georg^, but were foiled by the spirited defence. Furious at this disappointment, they attacked and took the town of Brunswick, which was soon after de- stroyed.. Massachusetts now found it necessary to make a de- claration of war. This was published simultaneously at Boston and Portsmouth. The vigilance of the border garrisons was only exceeded by that of ^^ieutenant- governor Wentworth, who spent the most of his time in visiting the garrisons and cheering the soldiers. The assembly offered a reward of £100 for every Indian scalp which should be presented to any magistrate. The first place that was visited by the savages jn New Hampshire was Dover, where they killed one, Joseph Ham, with three of his children; the remainder es- caping to the fort. In the spring of 1724, Kingston was surprised by the Indians. They took' four persons, one of whom, a Peter Colcord, escaped and returned to Kingston,' where he was revyarded by the assembly, for his ingenuity and the information which he communicated to' them con- cerning the Indians. At Oyster Bay, Moses Davis, with his son, going to their work in the fields not far distant from the village, discovered several bundles belonging to the Indians, lying on the banks of a brook. Supposing that the owners must be near, they started for the village, where Abraham Renwick, with a company of volunteers, was stationed. Davis reported to him what he had seen, and offered to guide him to the spot. They accordingly started, with Davis and his son in the advance. When within a shdrt distance of tbe place, a fire from the Indians, who lay in ambush, killed Davis and his son 182 INDIAN WARS OF THE UPHTED STATES. The English returned the fire, killing one ^nd wound- S' ig two; the remainder of the party fled. The one ain was apparently a chief, for he was dressed in the richest manner, wearing a coronet of fur, to whi<;h was attached some small bells to show his followers his -path when leading them through a thicket The scalp was presented to govjemment, who gave the- re- ward to Captain Matthews, for the company. , Aniong the Quakers who dwelt at Dover, was John Hanson, who, like his brethren, refused to make any efforts for the defence .of his family in case of an attack, A party of Mohawks seeing this negligence, concealed themselves in the woods about his house waiting for a good opportunity to assault it. One soon offered itself; Hanson, having gone to meeting with his oldest daugh- ter, left two sons at work at a good distance from his house. The Indians immediately entered th^ house, killed tWo small babes, and took his wife, and a child fourteen days old, the nurse, and a son and two daugh- ters. These were carried to Canada and sold, but were all redeemed by their father, except one daughter, who married a Frenchman. During these incursions, the colonists were not idle. Two officers, Captains Harman and Moulton, were ap- pointed by the governments of Massachusetts and New- Hampshire to conduct an expedition against Norridg-i wog. This was executed with so much secresy and success, that Ralle, the Jesuit, with eighty Indians were slain ; and the plate and furniture of the chapel, together with the sacred banner, on which was painted a cross surrounded with bows and arrows, were all carried honrie as trophies.. The efl;bct of this' expedition on ihe Indians was to intimidate them ; so much so, that when volunteer companies visited their villages for scalps they found them all deserted. Captain John Lovewell, of Dunstable, raised a volun- teer company and met with great success. At one time he fell in with an Indian trail and pursued it till he dis- covered them asleep on the bank of a pond. They were all killed, and their scalps, stretched upon hoops, Vi \ INDIANS lAKINO PMSONEKS. ?A Til Page 183 LOVEWELL'S DEATH. 183 served to decorate their triumphal return. They, of course, received the bounty, which amounted to ten pounds. (1735.) Lovewell, having augmented his company to 46 men, again set out with the intention of attacking an Indian town on the Saco. They built a fort on the Great Ossapy pond, and then proceeded, leaving one of their number sick, ai!id eight men to guard the fort. When about 22 miles from the fort they rested on the banks of a pond, where they discovered a single Indian at a distance, on a point of land, and rightly judgihg that he was attached to a large party of Indians, Love- well determined to advance and attack them. Accord- ingly the whole company threw off their packs in one place among the brakes ; aiid, to gain the advantage, the men were spread so as partially to surround the wa- ter. Lovewell had, however, mistaken the -position of the Indians, who were alreadyon his track, and coming to 'the place where the packs were deposited, by count- hig them discovered the number of English to be cless^ than their own. They, therefore, . marched to assault the English in the rear, and actually hemmed them in between the mouth of a brook, a rocky point, a deep bog, and the pond. The company, completely sur- rounded, fought desperately till nightfall, when the In- dians, tired of the Conflict, moved off. The number of killed and wounded amounted to 23, Lovewell being among the former. The remainder of the party re- turned to the fort which had been deserted, in conse- quence of the arrival of one of Lovewell's men who fled at the beginning of the fightj and reported all the rest killed. After resting, they started for home, where they arrived, to the great joy of their friends, after en- during the severest hardships. The survivors were lib- erally compensated, and the widows and families of the slain were provided for by the government of the pro- vince. In the same yeai', with the ■ battle just mentioned, three commissioners were dispatched from Massachu- setts and New Hampshire to present a remonstrance to 18 184 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. the governor of Canada. The governor, at first, denied all connexion with the Indians ; but when the letters to Ralle were produced, he pron:iised to endeavour to pa- cify them. The commissioners had an interview with the hostile chiefs, but came to no accommodation with them, for their powers did not extend so far. The depu- tation returned and made their report,, whic|i deter- mined the states to carry on the war with .more spirit. Every provision that could be was made for defence. In the meanwhile, the Indians repeated their slttacks on Dover, where they took three or four prisoners. John Evans was wounded, and the blood flowing very plen- tifully, the Indians scalpfed him, and left hirh as dead.. But he was in perfect possession of his faculties allJthe time the cruel operation of scalping was performed, and lived afterwards fifty years. This was the last action in the war, a treaty having been ratified at Boston. The chief calamities and expenses of this war fell upon New Hampshire. The hatred existing between the Indians and English was continually fanned by the former, who would often boast to the latter hoW many they had slain or tortured, naming among the victims, very often, members of the family to which they were telling their adventures. CHAPTER X. LAST IFRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. (1754 to 1759.) ^N forming their first set- tlements in Louisiana, the French endeavoured to connect thdr possessions in that region with those of Canada, by a chain of intermediate posts. Fort Niagara had ^een erected between Lakes Erie. and Optario,and Crown Point, on the south-west of Lake Champlain. This state, of things was preserved by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748; and the French, wishing to make the communication between the lakes and the Mississippi more certain, erected new forts along the banks of the Ohio, that they might prevent any other European colony from forming an estaiblish- ment there. The planters of Virginia now began to cast their eyes upon this country; the cultivation of tobacco quickly exhausted the land, and they proceeded gradually, farther' and farther into the country, that they might have a richer soil to cultivate. The in- crease of their productions encouraged them to pursue their labours^ and when a large number of them had arrived at the foot of the AUeghanies, tliey endeavoured to cross them, and settle on their western side. In London there was forihed, in 1749, an association (18S) 1S6 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. which was established under the name of the Ohio Company : the British government granted it six hun- dred thousand acres of land, and a superintendent was sent, in 1751, to choose the site of this grant, and to establish commejrciai relations with the Indians. But when the governor of Canada heard , of this, he gave notice to the English colonies to recall the merchants and planters who had settled on this territory, and de- clared that he would seize on the persons of those who refused to retire. The English did not yield to this command, and the governor of Virginia sent, in 1753, a message to the commander of the forts on the Ohio, requesting him to wit-hd,raw; but the commander replied that he received no orders but from his most Christian Mivjesty or the governor of Canada ; that the country belonged to the French, and that no Englishman should be allowed to, settle, upon it. It was necessary to sustain; so positive a declaration with energy, and Fort.du .Quesfne.was- immediately constructed at the confluence of the Alle- ghany and Monongahela, where the waters of tliese two rivejs unite and form the Ohio. The discontent - increased on both sides; complaints multiplied, and finally hostilities broke out, -which changed the political- situation of this part of the New World. The English, in this struggle; had a decided supe- riority in numbers ; in the colonies there were twenty times as many inhabitants as in Canada and Louisiana. To balance this, the French had recourse to the Indian nations; theii' influence over the minds of the savages was skilfully increased by means of their missionaries ; ■ they had. acquired over some tribes in Louisiana the same ascendency as in Canada, and they formed of them useful auxiliaries. But the minds of the Indians were so wavering that they could not be counted on for continued and vigorous assistance. , ■ When hostilities first commenced, the colonies petit' tioned England for aid. Little intercourse at that time prevailed,, between them : they were alj independent of one another ; and as the mother country had not re- Si a o » SI o ill /,*i"li' , r|i|||ii '|i t ^^ - - EXPEDI-MON AGAINST FORT DU QUESNE. 187 served the same rights over all of them, she could not enjoy an equal influence in their deliberations, nor com- pel <^em to divide among themselves, in a manner pro- poruoned to their resources, all the charges of .the common defence. The colonies which were nearest the disputed territory were first engaged ip the quarrel which soon became general. An expedition was prepared against Fort du Quesne, and the English first established a small fort, some leagues from that place; but in the month of April, 1754, the French .commander marched to the post, at the head of a detachment, and ordered them to depart. As they were^very inferior in numbers, they obeyed his orders, and abandoned their works, which were immediately destroyed. ' This retreat was but momentary, and the English fell back upon new troqps whom they had expected. A regiment raised in Virginia, and placed under the command of Colonel: Frye, was proceeding at the same time, towards the banks of the Monongahela : George Washington, then twenty-two years of age, was lieu- tenant-colonel of the regiment, to which several bodies of Indians were attached. He did not wait the com- plete formation of this corps to proceed to the theatre of military operations ; he conducted the ; recruits first raised to the Great Meadows, where he commenced the construction' of Fort Necessity; and, with two companies of soldiers and' a body of Indians, he ap- proached Fort du Quesne, that he might discover the best way in which the troops could reach it. Arrived within some leagues of the fort, he met a French de- tachment of twenty or thirty men, who received at first from the English two discharges of musketry. Inmonvillc'the commander of the detachment, endea- voured to make it understood that he had a commission for the English commander ; but before he could make this known he was kified by a musket-ball ; his troops were surrounded, and all were taken prisoners except one, who made his escape and carried the news to Fort du Quesne. 188 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES., After this event, Warshirigton returned to Fort Necessity, taking with him ^ his prisoners, who were afterwards sent to Virginia; and whilst they jw-ere continuing to fortify this post, where the English were receiving new troops, the French resol'ved to attack them. A body of five huttdred' regular troops with a great number of Indians, was charged With this expedition, which set out June 28th, under the com- mand of Captain Villiers, brother of Inmonville. On the 3d of July, they arrived before Fort Neces- sity and immediately began the attack. A- continual fire was kept up; this lasted till evening; the English had already lost one hundred and fifty men ; and' Vil- liers, wishing to spare a farther eifusion of blood, sum- moned them to surrender under articles of capitulation. The conditions were signed in the night ; and Wash- ington having become commander of the fort in con- sequence of the death of CoIonelFrye, retired from the place with the honours of war. The English engaged on their part to send immediately to Fort du Quesne the prisoners whom they had formerly taken. On the 1st of February, 1755, General- Brad^ock arrived in Virginia and took command of the army^ He established nis head-quarters at Alexandria, where he assembled his troops, and on the 18th of April con- yoked a congress of the different colonies, to concert with thfem the system of operation for the ensuing cam- paign. It was then determined to form three expeditions, one near the boundaries of Acadia, another near Lake Champlain, and a third near Lake Ontario, whilst Brad- dock himself should march to the Ohio and take Fort du Quesne. He had under his command three thousand troops, consisting of regulars and militia, besides a small body of Indians, and marched forward till he arrived at the Great Meadows, where he made a fortified camp, and left Colonel Dunbar there with eight hundred men. He himself proceeded with the main body till he arrived within seven miles of the fort. Braddock was a very able - general, but he had never before served in America, and was wholly unacquainted with the Indian mode of fighting. BRADDOCK'S DEFEAT. 191 Captain Contracceur, commander of Fort du Quesne, learned, on tfae 8th of July, that the English were ap- proaching ; he had but few men under his command, but he placed all the troops he could dispose of undtjr the direction of Captain Beaujeu. They left the fort at eight -o'clock in the mornirig, and met the English about mid-day. They immediately began the attack, whilst their Indian auxiliaries sought to surround the English by Spreading frpm right to left in the thick forr est. Braddock, instead of sending out an advanced guard to scoBr the thickets, bore down with his whole force agaitKt th6 enemy who were before him. Beau- jeu was killfed at the third discharge, and Captain Du- mas took the command. The Indians, concealed in the woods, shot down the English while they themselves were- invisible; and the ranks of Braddock's army were so thin- ned in a short time that they ceased to resist,.and began to fly ; most of the officers were either killed or wounded in attempting to restore order. Braddock, himself, was mortally Wounded, and carried from the field of battle, where he left his artillery, ajid a t4lird part of his sol- diers. (See Engraving on opposite page.) Those who survived this disaster,, and could have rallied round Col^ ionel Dunbar, only joined him to carry coiifusion into his camp, and to drag him with them in their flight. They did not stop till they reached Virginia ; and the establis'hments of the interior were thus left to the mer- cy of the Indians. Previous to the battle, Washington, who was aid to Braddock, had warned him of the dan- ger of a surprise, atid advised him to send forward, scouts to prevent it ; but his advice was scornfully re- jected. It was chiefly owing to his skill and ba-avery that the remnant of the army was saved. The war in America now took different forms. Col- onel Monckton, an English officer, had been charged to extend' towards the north the boundaries of Acadia, which was still limited to the peninsula of that name. On the isthmus which separates the continent fromi this peninsula, the' French had erected two forts, named Gasparaux and B6ausejour. But Great Britain wished 192 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. to possess all the region situated , between Acadia and New England : . she demanded of France the cession of a territory of twenty leagues in width, along the whole northern shore of the bay of Fundy; and, not being able to obtain it by the negotiations of commission- ers charged with the making of the limits, Colonel Monckton suddenly attacked Fort Beausejour with three thousand men. This forti-ess sustained the siege for fourteen days, and did not capitulate till the 16th of June. The reduction of this fort led to that pf Fort Gasparaux, which had a garrison of but forty men; and the English spreading themselves to the north of the bay, proceeded to attack Fort St. John, near thp river of this name. The commander having but a few men, burnt the fort, and retired into the interipr of the country where the Abenaquis (or eastern Indians) had taken arms, a,nd from whence they made frequent incur- sions into Acadia. While these events were passing in Acadia, a body of English trpops, and three hundred Indians froth the Six Nations, under the command of General William Johnson, advanced towards Crown Point, but first de- termined to attack Fort . Ticonderoga, theti recently erected by the French ; biit the governor of Canada had « already provided for its defence, and the French wish.^ ing to be beforehand with Johnson, first defeated a de- tachment of one thousand men, and on the €th of Sep- tember, 1755 attacked his camp ; but in this affair Dies- kau, their commander, was mortally wpunded and taken prisoner; they were defeated with the loss of seven hundred men, and were driven back upon Fort Ticon- deroga. Johnson was also wounded, and his loss m these two battles, or his want of activity, prevented him from accomplishing the purposes of his expedition. > The defeat of the English near Fort du Quesne gave the advantages of the war thus far to the French. The Cherokees took advantage of this event to rise up against the English. They were, besides, stimulated to do this by emissaries froni the Indians of the Ohio. But they were met in conference by Governor Glen, of South mA. CAMPAIGN OF 1757. ' 193 Carolina, and renewed their treaties, making also addi- tional grants of land. War had not been formally declared between France and England. But France seizing on the island of Mi- norca, Greaf Britain declared war on the 17th of May, 1756. Lord Loudoun, the commander-in-chief of the English troops in America, a most inefficient officer, was at first obliged to act on the defensive ; he estab- lished his head-quarters at Albany, when be Contented himself with protecting the threatened territories. New England raised a force of three thousand ' men ; New York contributed a like number ; and these, joined to the forc6 of General Johnson, agAin prepared to attack Ti- eonderoga and Crown Point. But diiFing the prepara- tions for this expedition, the Marquis de Montcalm at- tacked Ibrt Oswego, sittiated on the southern shore of Lake Ontario. This fortress was occupied by fifteen hundred men; it surrendered on the 14th of August, 1756, after having sustained the siege for some days. The garrison were made prisoners ; and being mei^ci- lessly abandoned to the cruelties of the Indians by the French, many of them were murdered. This loss hav- ing disconcerted the plan of operations of the English, they could not, during the remainder of the campaign, accomplish any thing efl^ctual. Lord Loudoun commenced the campaign of 1757 at the head of six thousand troops, raised in New Eng- land, New York, and New Jersey, with which, it was expected, by the Americans, that he would ag&in attempt the reduction of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. But the news of a considerable armament having been dis- patched from Britain to Nova Scotia, caused him to al- ter his intention and unite his force with this armament at Halifax and attempt the reduction of Louisburg, But he discovered, when too late, that this place was garri- soned by six thousand troops, besides militia,, and de- fended by seventeen line-of-battle ships. He therefore dismissed the provincial troops, and returned to New York, there to learn the disaster which his conduct had 19 - N 194 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. occasioned in another quarter, and which crowned thfl disgrace of this, inglorious campaign. ., Montcalm, the French commander, tating, advantage of Lord Loudoun's absence frord the proper scene of action, advapqed with an army of {line thousand men, and laid siege to Fort William Henry-, which was gar- risoned by nearly three thousand troops, partly English and partly American, and commanded by an English officer, Colonel Monroe. The security of this import- ant post was supposed to be further promoted by its proximity to Fort Edward, fourteen miles distant .from it, where the English general, Webb, was stationed with four thousand men. Had Webb done his duty. Fort William Henry might have been saved. But he gave no succour to the besieged, nor did he even endeavour to aid the place by summoning the American govern- ments to send mihtia to their relief. He merely wrote a letter to Monroe, advising him tp surrender. Mont- calm, on the .other hand,, pressed the assault on Fprt William , Henry with the utmost vigour and skill. He had inspired his own daring spirit into the French sol- diers, and had roused the fury and enthusiasm of his Indian allies by promises of revenge and plunder. Af- ter a spirited resistance of six days, Monroes having ex- hausted his ammunition, and seeing not the slightest prospect of relief, was compelled to surrender the place by a capitulation, the ternis of which were, that th6 gar- rison should not serve agkinst the French for eighteen months ; that they should march out with the honours of war ; and, retaining their private baggage, be escort- ed to Fort Edward by the French troops, as a security gajnst the lawless ferocity of the Indians. This treaty of capitulation was violated by Montcalm in a manner which fixes eternal disgrace on his memo- ry. No sooner had the garrison marched out, and sur- rendered their arms, in relisince upon the pledge of the French general, than a furious and irresistible attack was made upon them by the Indians, who stripped thera both pf their baggaige and clothes, and murdered of made prisoners of all who attempted resistance. At CAPTURE OF LOUISBURG. 197 least fifteen hundred persons were thus slaughtered o* carried into captivity. Such, was the lot of eighty knen belonging to a New Ktampshire regiment, of which the complement was but two hundred. A number of the Indian allies of the English, who had formed part of the garrison, fared still more miserably. They wtere seized by their savdge enemies, and perished in Hngering and barbarous torture. (See Engraving on the opposite page.) Of the garrison of Fort William Henry, little more than half were enabled to gain the shelter of Fort Edward, in a straggling and wretched condition. 'this disaster roused the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut, who raised and dispatched a force to arrest the further progress of the French. But Mont- calm, content with this savage triumph, attempted no- thing further in that quarter: the only additional opera- tion of the French, for this season, was a predatory excursion in concert ■with their Indian allies against the flourishing settlement of German Flats, in the province of New York, and along the Mohawk river, which region they utterly wasted with fire and sword. The English now determined to attempt the conquest of Cape Breton. Accordingly a fleet under Admiral Boscawen sailed for this island, and arrived on the 2d of June, J 758, in the bay of Gabori. The troops were landed ; their chief commander was General Amherst, and under him were Brigadier-Generals Lawrence, Wolf and Whitmore. They proceeded towards Louis- burg, which place, after a severe resistance,' capitulated : it was stipulated that the garrison should depart with the honours of war, that the island of Cape Breton should be surrendered, and that the island of St. John should also be given up. G'enerai Abercrombie, who succeeded Lord Loudon in the command of the army, now determined to pro- ceed against General Montcalm, who was encamped near Ticonderoga with three thousand regular troops, 6nd twelve hundred Canadians and Indians, They were attacked by the English on the 8th of July, 1768 198 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. but the 'British were defeated. with the loss of two thou- sand men, killed or taken prisoners. Notwithstanding th^ loss which the English had sus- tained, ihey still had the advantage of numbers, and formed other enterprises. Colonel Bradstreet pro- ceeded towards Fort. Frontighac, situated op the east- ern extremity of Lake Ontario, and on the 27th of August, succeeded in making himself master of it. This capture interrupted the con\munications of Liower Canada with the great lakes ; and the English found in the arsenal a great quantity of arms and munitiqns of war, destined for the French troops on the banks of the Ohio. Another expedition was now directed towards Fort du Quesne, which could no longer receive froni Canada the assistance which if previously had enjoyed. But before attacking this place the English had sought to detach the Delawares, Shawanese, Mingoes, and several, other Indian tribes adjacent to the river, fronl their alliance with the French. In the preceding year, a treaty of peace had been concluded at Eastoh, be- tween the Pen^sylvanians and the Delawares; and this treaty led to a good understanding with the other tribes. A Moravian brother, named Frederick Post, of Ger- man origin, was charged with this important mission. He had lived seventeen years in the midst of the Mo* hican Indians, with the design of converting them to Christianity. He departed from Philadelphia July 15th, 1758, and soon arrived on the. banks of the Mon^ ongahela. . The bhief of the Delaware tribe was with him ; he wished that all the Indians from the rising to the setting of the sun, would form b"t one body ; he desired to inspire them with the love of peace ; and he sent messengers to all the neighbouring tribes, to invite their chiefs to assemble with him around the council fire and smoke together the pipe of peace. A deputation of Shawanese and Mangoes soon joined him ; they proceeded nearer to Fort du Quesne, from which they were now no longer separated except by ihe bed of the river. The French commander could GBHBUAL woiFE, Page 201 THE ENGLISH INVADE CANADA. 201 not prevent this interview, although he feared its results. Post now rose and explained the objects of the meeting in a few words, stating that the English sought their love instead of hatred, and that they desired a peace with them. (See Engraving on the opposite page.) After having heard these propositions, the chiefs pro- ceeded to deliberate upon them, and a few days after they declared that they would accede to the conditions of peace already concluded with the Delawares. Post having accomplished his mission, quitted the banks of the Ohio, August 27th, and returned to give an account of the success of his expedition. Post afterwards proceeded to the valley of Beaver Creek, among the Shawanese, whose territory extended as far as the Scioto. The French sent messengers to these Indians inviting them to come to Fort du Quesne in all haste, to assist, them against the English; but' their opinions had by this time been changed ; they re- fused to go ;- and the successive abandonment of the different tribes took from the French all power of de- fending the place ; they therefore resolved to abandon it, and await assistance in some other place. Accord- ingly, on the 25th of November, they left the post, and a few days afterwards. General Forbes arrived and took possession of it. The loss of Fort du Quesne led to that of air the other French posts situated on and near the Ohio. In 1759, the English fitted out a maritime expedition against the French possessions in the Anti3es. They landed eight thousand men on the 16th of February, on the island of Martinico. But General Beauharnais, governor of the island, marched against them at the nead of the troops and colonists, and compelled them to re-embark. The fleet then sailed to Guadaloupe. The preparations for the invasion of Canada Were now nearly completed. A fleet set out under the com- mand of Admiral Saunders, and ten thousand men were placed under the orders of General Wolf. A part of the army landed, June 29th, 1759, on the west- 202 INDIAN WAES OF THE UNITED STATES. em extremity of the island of Orleans ; two other di- visions afterwards landed, one near Point Levi, the other near Montmorency Falls. The English army was thus divided into three bodies, placed at the dis- tance of some miles from one another; and it was at first unknown to the French upon what point the prin- cipal attack would be made. The French camp charged with protecting the capi- tal was established in the plains of Beaufort, separated from Quebec by the. river St. Charles: Montcalm was commander of the army ; but he had to concert his operations with the Marquis de Vaudreuil, governor of Canada, one of whose officers was then in the camp. On the 12th of July, the English batteries on the heights of Lausou began a destructive fire, and the shells they threw into the lower city soon destroyed a great part of it. On the 31st of the same month the English made an attack on the left wing of the French camp, but were defeated: They now placed small detachments in light vessels which ravaged the shores of the river, and distracted the attention of the French, who were finally obliged to send a detachment of two thousand men under the command of Bougainville to protect the shores. This officer established his head- quarters at the village of Sillery,. about three leagues from Quebec, and placed a line of sentinels along the river, so that the English could now make no attempt at landing without being, discovered. General Wolf having now by degrees assembled all his forces at Point Levi, on the night of the 12th of September, embarked in vessels and landed on the left side of the river. He surprised the first post of the enemy ; and finally succeeded in reaching the heights of Abraham without giving the alarm to the French. As soon as day broke the English were perceived by their astonished enemy, ranged in battle order ; and a :ouncil of the principal French officers being held, it was resolved to march immediately against them. Accordingly, Montcalm proceeded against the Eng- lish • many charges were made, and the engagement THE ENGLISH CONQUER CANADA. 203 was SO destructive as to occasion considerable disorder in both armies. The English had the advantage of numbers, and were ranged in two lines; so that' if the first were broken they could rally behind the second. But the French were drawn out in a single line, and they were soon thrown into confusion. Montcalm himself was mortally wounded, and Seunezergue, the second in command, was killed on the spot. The Eng- lish now soon put to flight the army which was desti- tute of a commander, and was already in utter disorder. General Wolf, the brave commander of the English, was also, killed, so that both the generals shared the same fate. Vaudreuil now left Quebec 'With his troops, and authorized Ramsay, the commander of the city, to capit- ulate on the best conditions that he could obtain. Ac- cordingly, on the 18th of September articles of capitu- lation were signed ; the garrison left the city with their arms and baggage, drums beating, and embarked, to be landed at the first port of France. George Town- send, becoming commander of the English army after the death of General Wolf, took possession of the place. This, important conquest led to the immediate submis- sion of Upper Canada, while the French still occupied Montreal and several other fortified places; but they had lost, in the begmning of the siege of Quebec, Ni- agara fort. This loss, and that of Fort Frontignac, gave to the English the navigation of Lake Ontario, . and enabled them to send by this route a new body of troops to Montreal and the neighbouring places ; and the conquest of all Canada, and the consequent expul- sion of the f'reneh power from this part of North America, was the immediate consequence. CHAPTER XL PONTIAC'S WAR. REAT as were many of the western Indian war- riors, none was greater than Pontiac, a chief whose fame was not only spread throughout Amer- ica, but widely diffused in Europe. He was the chief of all the Indians on 1,he chain of lakes: the Ottawas, to which he belonged, the Miamis, Chippewas, Wyandots, Potta- watomies, Winnebagoes, Shawanese, Ottagamies, and Mississagas, all of which tribes afterwards were led by Tecumseh. Pontiac is said to have possessed a majestic and princely appearance, so pleasing to the Indians, and this in part accounts for his popularity among them. In 1760, after the capture of Quebec, Major Rogers was sent into the country of Pontiac to drive the French from it. Being informed of his approach, Pontiac sent word to him to wait until he came to him. The major waited, and when Pontiac came, that chief asked him why he entered his dominions without permission. The major answered that he came not against the natives but the French ; and at the same time gave the chief several belts of wampum ; whereupon Pontiac replied, " I stand in the path you travel until to-morrow morn- ing." By this was meant that he must not proceed (204) PONTIAC. Page 201. PONTIAO TAKES THE BEAJJDT. Page 205. PONTIAC. . 2(15 until the next morning. Upon an offer of the Indian, Major Rogers bought a large quantity of parched corn, and other provisions. The next day Pontiac offered him every facility for the undertaking. Messengers were sent to the different tribes to assure . them that the English had his permission to pass through the country, and he even accompanied the major and troops as far as Detroit. He was noted for the desire of knowledge, and while the English were in his country, he was very curious in examining their arms, clothes, &c., and ex- pressed a wish to go to England. He said that he would allow white settlements within his domains ; and was willing/to call the king of England uncle, but not master. He further told the soldiers th^t they must behave themselves peaceably while in his country, or he would stop the way. Pontiac had distinguished himself at Detroit and Michillimackinac. , When the f'rench gave up Canada (1760), their Indian allies still preserved their hatred tovsrards the English, and as Pontiac was the most con- siderable enemy of th^t nation, the adjacent tribes all came to him as a support against them. Pontiac had advanced farther in civilization' than any of the neigh- bouring chiefs : he appointed a commissary during the war of 1763, called Pontiac's war; and issued bills of credit, on each of which was pictured the thing desired, and the flgure of an otter, the symbol of his' tribe. In 1763 Major Rogers sent a bottle of brandy to him, which Pontiac was counselled not to drink, as it probably con- tained poison. But with the greatest magnanimity he exclaimed, " It is not .in his power to kitt him who has so lately saved his life." Early in 1763 indications began to exhibit themselves of an unfriendly disposition among the tribes of Pon- tiac ; and some persons informed Major Gladwin, who commanded at Detroit, of this circumstance. The commander immediately sent some soldiers into the Indian country, who returned, saying that all was peaceable. About the same time, some traders reported at Fort ^0 206 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED, STATES. Michillimackinac that the Indians were preparing for hostilities. Major Etherington, the commander, re- fused credit to any such stories, and even threatened to send the next, person who retailed such false reports prisoner to Detroit. It was also observed that the In- dians began to assemble in large numbers,' and even spread themselves in the towrt. This latter circumstance was reported to the major by one of his friends, who added that they should not be trusted. This advice was received with derision, and he was accused of timidity. \ - On the king's birth-day, June 4th, a large band of Indians collected without the palisades of the fort, to play ball. This was played virith a bat, which knocked the ball a great distance ; jind a« the game was inte- resting, the whole of the garrison, about ninety men, were lookers-on. In the midst of the game, the ball was intentionally knocked^ into the fort, and all the In- dians leaping the palisades, took the guards and gar^ rison prisoners, and thus obtained possession of Michilli- mackinac. Seventy of the garrison were slaughtered, and the other twenty made slaves. A day or two after, a party, in a vessel from Montreal, not knowing of the capture, came to the fort and were taken by the Indians. In this affair, Pontiac did not engage in per- son, but connived at it. Within ten days after this, every post in Michigan, except Detroit, fell into the hands of Pontiac. This was closely invested by Pontiac, before the taking of Michillimackinac. The garrison consisted of three hun- dred men. The Indians, on their first appearance, had their wives, and commodities for trade ; and from this, no suspicion of stratagem was aroused. The chief en- camped near the fort, and sent word to Major Gladwin that he wished to have a talk with him, to brighten the chain of peace between the English and him. To this the major agreed, and fixed the ensuing motning for the meetingi In the meantime, an incident' occurred which prevented the destruction of the fort. An Indian woman who had been making moccasins PONTIAC'S CONSPIRACY. 207 of elk-skin, came to Major Gladwin with a pair of them, and brought the remaining skin. The major rfeturned the skin for her to make another pair, and then dismissed her. When the time came for strangers to leave the place, she remained in the area. When questioned as to her stay, she would not answer, and her strange demeanour being reported to the major, she was ordered into his presence. The major having inquired' why she stayed, she answered with much hesi- tation, that she did not wish to take away the. skin, as he valued it so much. He inquired why she did not object to it before. She answered, with some confu- sion, that if she took 'it, she could never return it to him- Judging,, from this, that the woman knew of some plot of the Indians for the capture of the fort, he promised her protection and reward, if she would tell what was the matter. Reassured, she informed him that each Indian that would attend the council on the morrow, would have a fusil under his blanket, and when Pontiac should give the signal by handing the peace-belt of wampum to the commander, they would commence the attack. While the council vvas sitting, a large num- ber of warriors were to enter the town to assist in the massacre. After obtaining all possible information from the wo- man, he discharged her, and proceeded to make ar- rangements for a counterplot. He put the soldiers in possession of the information, and, after seeing that the guards for the night were placed, he retired to his house. During the night, a strange war-cry sounded from the Indian quarters. Each man repaired to his post, but no attack was made. At the hour of ten next day, Pontiac, with a number of warriors, was admitted, and then the gates were closed. This, and the number of soldiers that sur- rounded the council-house, did not fail to attract the notice of the chief. But Major Gladwin told him that the troops were only drilling, and this seemed to satisfy him. The council opened by a speech of Pontiac, in 208 INDIAN WAR^ IN THE UNITED STATES the midst of whioh he passed the belt to the governor, but neglected the signal, for he saw, from the half- drawn swords of the officers, that they were betraypds With great presence of mind, he continued his speech, which contained numberless protestations qf eternal friendship to the English. When he concluded, Major Gladwin spoke, and reproached him with the con- spiracy. Pontiac denied that any such, plot had been contrived; but when the governor drew aside the blanket of the chief nearest him, and disclosed the ^un, the Indian was silenced. The governor ordered them to leave the fort, and it was with the greatest difficulty, that the men cquld be restrained from cutting them to pieces. , So jealous was Gladwin of his honour^ that he^ retained no one of thetn for a hostage; but kept his word to let them go unharmed and without hindrance. On the next day, a furious attack was made by Pon- tiac's warriors on the fort. They thrust a cart full of combustibles against the pickets : they began, to shoot fire-arrows at a church, but were stopped by ,a French priest, who assured the: chief that it would bring down the vengeance of God upon him. At length they com- rnenced making a breach in the pickets, and the govern- or ordered his men to assist them from the inside. When a passage was opened, the savages rushed forward ; but were almost all destroyed by a four-pounder which was fired among them as they entered. The rest retreated ; and the place was repaired. This defeat, however, pre- vented them from assaulting the fbrt any more ; but they commenced a blockade which caused great distress in the garrison. Fort Pitt and Fort Niagara were closely besieged at the same time, which prevented any succour being sent to Detroit, but being relieved by Colonel Bouquet, Cap- tain Dalyell was sent on the 29th July. A day or two after. Captain Dalyell, with two hundred and forty-sev- en men, attempted to surprise Pontiac in his camp ; but that chief being apprised by his runners of his coming Erepared for them near a bridge, where he concealed is men behind a picket fence. When the troops came BATTLE OF DBIEOIT Page 209. SIEGE OF DETROIT. 209 to this ambush, they received a destructive fire from their unseen enemy. They immediately turned and strove to repass the bridge, but this wras not accomplished with- out great loss. About two hundred men regained the fort without Captain Dalyell, who. Was slain on the bridge., In this affair, commonly called the battle of Detroit, nineteen men were killed and forty-two wound- ed ; among the latter were Captain Gi'ay and Lieuten- anls Bro^n apd Luke. The bridge on which, it was fought has, since then, been called "Bloody Bridge." Shoirtly after the battle, several vessels, bringing pro- visions to the besieged, were intercepted by Pontiac, and their crews were ' cruelly' treated. On the 8th Sep- tember, a schooner from Fort Niagara, manned with eighteen men, arrived near Detroit, but being fired upon by the Indians, tacked and stood out into the sttait. She was followed by the Indians in their canoes, who, after killing almost all the crew, boarded her and began to ransack the cabin. The captain, seeing that he would be killed if he fell into their hands, resolved to effect their destruction with his own. He cried out to the gunner to fire the magazine. A Huron, who understood English, hearing, this,vtold his fellows, and a general pe- treat to the canoes ensued, and the schooner' sailed' up' :to the fort. The governor was so grate/ul for this de- liyerance from starvation, that he had, steer medals • ,stri(ck. commemoratyje of the . event, an^^^resented to every one df the crew. ' •■ :,,i^" ,; The siege of Detroit lagM^twe]'(i-e months, an4 by that time General Br^ttt^li'ifl'atched for the r^elief of it. Pontiac beings, iaftlmed of this, sued for peace, which was gramt^'and he returned to his own. coun- try. He was a good friend; fo the English after this war, and the government rewarded him with a pension. He wal" inclined,,(i.Us ,sai4^^to assist the Americans in the Revolution,'but ^isffb vented by General Hamil- ton of Detroit. ; , jjfc'- DurinM|e war"He went into Illinois ;to an Indian councilSrl, sephth^ English, suspecting him, employ- eel atjjfdian^^s a spy upon him. When he attended ' ■ ' O 210 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES the cotincii he made a speech unfriendly to the English, a|,d was stabbed to the heart by the treacherous Spy. Pontiae was an uncommon man for talents and saga- city. Every war in which he engaged waS favourable to his tribes ; and he never allowed himself to be ttiis- led by either the English or French. He was as cau- tious in the coUncil as in the field ; deternjihed and su&r cessful in his- schemes ; and, in short^as unequalled by any Indian chief, unless we except Philip^ of Pokano- ket. CHAPTER XII. WAR OF THE WESTERN INDIANS. (1763.) ANADA, and all the de- pendenti provinces east of tjie Mississippi, were now lost to France; and the renunciation of these pos- sessions entirely changefi " the situation of the In- dians? those who dwelt south of the great lakes experienced, above all, the effects of this cession. The French had occupied there but a few -establish- ments ; and they had formed around these posts, -and under their shelter, several plantations, the addition of which was hardly taken notice of; these positions offer ed, in time of war, means of defence, and rallying points ; they insured during peace commercial commu- nications, and a mutual confidence reigned between the French and a great many of the tribes. INDIAN CONFEDERACY AGAINST THE ENGLISH. 211 The Indian nations placed between the colonies of France and England enjoyed, besides, a great influence in the quarrels of the two nations; they both sought to gain their friendship, and to employ them as auxiliaries. This politicalimportance of the Indians was materially diminished when> they had only one European p6werfor neighbours, and when they were surrounded by its pos- sessions. The fehain of fortified posts which were oc- cupied by the English,, was composed of Forts Fron- tignac and Niagara, near Lake Ontario; those of Buffalo, Presqueile, and Sandusky, to the south of Lake Erie; Forts, -Miami and Detroit, towards its western extremity ; those of St." Joseph, Green-Bay, and Michil- limackinac, around Lake Michigan ; the posts of the west were those of Illinois, Chartres, and Kaskaskia ; and in the interior were found the Forts of Vincennes, on the, Wabash; of Massiac, near the mouth of the Tennessee ; of William, near the mouth of the Ken- tucky ; and of Pittsburg, upon the Ohio. The Indians on the territory over which these differ- ent posts were dispersed, were thus suddenly deprived of the assistance of a power which had habitually protected them; and were consequently much alarmed. They re- garded theseforts as the cradles of so many new colonies ; and seeing the rapid increase of the English in all the regions they had conquered,, they feared that each of these new establishnlents would extend in the same manner ; and that all the American nations finally crowd- ed upon one another would lose, progressively,- their territory. Struck with this opinion, which so many successive losses had greatly strengthened in their minds, the Indians sought to unite, and prevent, by an unforeseen attack, the perils with which they believed themselves to be menaced. The Shawanese, Dela- wares, and the Indians of the Ohio, put themselves at the head of this confederation, which was formed m 1763 ; the operations of war were distributed among all the tribes, and the forts occupied by the English on the frontiers of their new territory were simultaneously attacked by the neighbouring Indians. The greater 212 , INDIAN WARS OF THE TiKITED^STATEa ' part of these posts had but feeble garrisons ; the recent conclusion of peace augmented, their Security, and a-s they were not on their guard, the succeiss of the enemy was more easy. The for^ts of Niagara, Detroit, and Pittsburg, were the Only ones they did not seize ; the garrisons in them were, more numerous, and they were better, provisioned.. The first was not even attacked ; Major Gladwin gallantly defended the second against the Ottawas ; and Fort Pittsburg, comtaanded by Cap- tain Ecuyer, resisted all the. efforts of the Indians of the Ohio. A body of troops, -under the command of Colonel Bouquet, was sent to the assistance of this place; he proceeded towards Fort Sigonier, and gain- ed afterwards* by forced marches^ the valley of Bushy- Run; the defiles appeared.to.be still free; but on the 5th of August, 1763, the English were suddenly sur- i;ounded by a ploud of enemies, who rushed down from the neighbouring heights, and assailed them on all sides in this narrpw pa-ssage. The Indians have a, manner of fighting 'vvhich alvi^ays renders tham formidable iii this woody country. Their skirmishes are frequent; they know well how to form ambuscades ; motionless during whole days, they await in silence the arrival of an enemy ; if they are too feeble to capture them; they only fly to return to the charge at another point; their retreat is but a stratagem ; they, fly so swiftty that they cannot be overtaken ; and it is necessary to surround them on every side in order to conquer them. In this sequel of engagements ; which began about mid-day, the English troops finally drove the Indians from all their positions; but the next morning at dayi break, they were again surrounded by more numerous forces. Colonel Bouquet resolved to come to a decisive battle ; and when the action was commenced, he ordered the centre of the line to fall back with the view of draw- ing upon this point the principal attack of the Indians. His design was successful; the savages rushed into the passage thus opened to them; .but the troops wko re- treated hastily proceeded to form an ambuscade, upon, a height, covered with underwood, where their, move* INDIANS DEVEATED Bt THE BRITISH. 213 ments could not be perceived : suddenly they appeared, and rushed with" impetuosity upon the' flanks of the eiiemy, who, surprised and disconcerted by this unex- pected attack, were neither able to sustain the shock, nor to gain 'th&ir places of retreat. A greal number of them perished in these two battles of the 5th and 6th of August. This was the last attempt of the savages; and Colonel Bouquet, pursuing his course towards Pitts- bfirg, arrived there four days afterwards with his don- Toy, of which he had been obliged to destroy a, part, because a great number of the horses had sunk under the fatigue and perils of the march. The object of his expedition, was accomplished^; Pittsburg was relieved,. The Indians, discouraged by two successive defeats, tad abandoned the siege ; and Colonel Bouquet, having not enough' troops lo pursue them tnto their forests, re- turned to take up his winter quarters in Pennsylvania. The savages, descending the vall/sys of the Ohio, did not believe themselves in safety till they arrived at the Muskingum. There, they collected their forces ; they sought other allies, and awaited the spring to renew their hostilities, and again ravage the frontiers. But General Gage, becoming commander of the British army, prepared two expeditions against them. A body of troops, under the command of Colonel Bradstreet, proceeded against the Wyandots, Ottawas, Chippewas, and other nations near the great lakes : another body, under Cojonel Bouquet, was, as in the preceding cam-, paign, to attack the nations situated between the great lakes and the Ohio. Bradstreet proceeded rapidly to^San- dusky, and again took possession of all the forts of the north-west, that he might be able to restrain the Indians of these countries, and compel them to demand peace but the preparations for the expedition of the south re- quired much more time, and the troops that formed a part of it did not arrive at Pittsburg till the 17lh of September, 1764. The Indians of Ohio were then dis- eoncerted with their imminent danger, and they sent messengers to Colonel Bouquet to treat for peace; as their propositions, however, were still ambiguous, the 214 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. colonel, wishing to put an end to their uncertainty, pen- etrated farther into the interior of their country ; he gained the valleys of Beaver Creek and Muskingum; and the Indians, not being able to stop his march, de.- manded, on the 17th of Qctober, a conference to be he)d next da)'. That officer .proceeded' to the place ap- pointed with ; a body of regular troops, the Virginia volupteers, and a troop of light-horsemen: the chiefs of the Delawares, ^bawanese, and Senecas, appeared with their principal warriors; and the colonel, a,fter having recounted the infractiqns of their late treaty, told them that he WQuld not ' grant them peace unless they would deliver to him all the prisoners whom they had in their possession : " I have with me,'" said he, "thg relations and friends of those whom you have captured: they burn with /the, desire of reyengCf and demand satisfaction. The Ottawas, Chippewas,, and Wyandots,, have already made a treaty of peace; we are masters of the Ohio, the-' Mississippi, the.Miamis, and^the lakes ; we have, surrounded you on every side, and could extirpate your whole nation ; buit we will not treat you with so much rigour, if you deliver to us within twelve days, and without exception, all your pri- soners, English and French, men, women, and children, and also all the blacks whom you have taken away." On the first day, the Delawares restored eighteen Europeans, and they collected together, as a symbol of the other restitutions which they would make, a bundle of eighty-three stalks of young plants, expressing the number of prisoners who were then abseat. The Shawanese hesitated to make such an engagpment; and to compel them to do it. Colonel Bouquet advance4 into their country as fap as the Scioto : they then agreed to restore thetr prisoners. On the 9th of November, two hundred and six of them were brought into the campi On the same day a new conference was held for a treaty of peace: a treaty was first concluded between the Senecas and Delawares, aijd their orator, foyashuta> gave the necklaces or accustomed presents. " I oifer this wampum to dry up the tears of your eyes. INDIANS SURRENDER THEIR PRISONERS. 215 and I restore unto you the last man of your flesh and hlood who remains in the hands of the Senecas and Delawares. Let us bury with this, other wampum all the men who have perished during the war which the evil spirit has raised up ; and let us again cover with- earth and leaves their dead bodies, so that they may no longer be seen, and that all the traces of our hate may be buried." The same conditions were afterwards made with the Shawanese ; and these, still pi'eserving in their defeat their proud and noble character, declared that they did not renounce the war on account of their feebleness and exhaustion, but in commiseration of their wives and children. The arrival of all the prisoners in the camp afforded a very affecting scene. Fathers, husbands, and brothers recognised their sons, wives, and sisters, from whom they had been separated : other? seeking iri vain for those whom they had lost, did not dare to inquire c'6n- cerning their fate. Tiie Indians themselves delivered up their captives with great regret ; for they han be- come attached to them, and had admitted them into their families ; they, therefore, lefl them with tearg, and recomniended them to the; English comniiander. These prboners had never been treated like slaves, and the In- dians, in granting them life, had adopted and cherished them as brothers, sisters, and children; many had settled among the savages ; they had learned their language, arid - adopted their customs, but were compelled to re- turn among the Europeans : some of them escaped and returned to the Indian settlements. ' The army hjiving accomplished its design, proceeded homeward on the 18th of November ; they reached Pitts- burg on the 2Sth; garrisons were sent to, the different posts. The prisoners proceeded towards their native countries ; and Colonel Bouquet returned, in the begin- ning, of January, 1765, to Philadelphia, where the repre- sentatives of Pennsylvania rendered him and his soldiers the thanks due to their services. The same was done by the representatives ' of Virginia ; and the King of England, George III., honoured the merits of the colo- 216 INDIAN WARS IJf THE UNITED STATES. nel by appoihting him brigadier-general of his| armies and by confiding to him a command in the sputherh provinces of North America. CHAPTER XIII. INDIAN WARS OP CAROLINA PREVIOUS TO THE REVOLUTION. 'ERY soon after the Eng- lish first settled in South Carolina, it was ascertain- ed that this state was oc- cupied by .about twenty different tribes of Indians. These Indians viewed the* encroachments made on their territories by the whites with a jealous eye, but yet did not take any measures to resist them r and the whites finally gained possession of a great part of the territory. Bat in ' the end the Indians began to perceive that if matters, ■went on in this way the English would soon expelthem from their native forests ; and contests, therefore,, soon broke out between the planters and parties of Indians, in which many lives were lost. A price was at last fixed on every Indian taken prisoner and brought to Charlestqn, from whence they were sent to the West In- dies ^nd sold as slaves. This measure may appear to nave been very inhuman; but the planters had no other means of geitting rid of such troublesome enemies, and therefore necessity pleaded, in its vindication. • Ih the year 1680, a war broke out with the Westoes,. MAS8A0EH IB THB HEIOHBOBHOOD OS EOASOKB. Page 217. INDIAN WARS IN CAROLINA. 217 me of the' most powerful tribes in'the province: a peace was concluded in the subsequent year, and not much loss was sustained by either party. In the year 1702, Governor Moore -marched into the country occupied by the Apalachian Indians, who, being instigated by the Spaniards, had commenced hostilities, took a great num- ber of them prisoners, arid obliged the rest to Submit to the English govertiment. . The next war with the Indians broke out in 1712. Several of the most powerful tribes of Indians, among whom were the Tuscaroras and ^orees, united together, and formed a plot to murder or expel the English. Their plan was carried on with a profound secrecy. Their principal town was fortified, in order to afford protec- tion to their women and children; and the warriors of tiie different tribes, to the number of twelve hundred, met here and matured their murderous design. At length, when they thought they had a fit opportunity they dispersed into small parties, and, entering the houses of the planters, demanded something to eat. They ap- peared to be displeased with the provisions that were set before them, and immediately began to murder the men, women, and children! without distinction. In the neighbouirhood of Roanoke one hundred and thirty- seven settlers were murdered. A few who had hid themselves in the woods, escaped and carried the ti- dings into the neighboaring settlements, thus preventing the total destruction of the colony. , Active measure were instantly taken against the In- (fia'ns. The Assembly voted four thousand pognds to- wards the war. A body of six hundred men, under Colo- nel Barnwell, marched against the savages. " They were joined by parties of Indians belonging to several tribes in the neighbourhood, so that the whole force con- sisted of upwards of a thousand men. The army had to march through a wilderness in which no provisions could be procured, and it was reduced to great straits ; but, finally, came up with the enemy, and defeated them with great slaughter* In the first battle about three hundred of the Indians were killed and one hundred 21 S18 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. taken prisoners.- The Indians then retreated to the town, which they had fortified. Here they were sur- ■• rounded, a large number were killed, and the-rest were compelled to sue for peace. This was granted them. In tJiis expedition, -it was c&lculated that a thousand Tuscaroras were either killed, wounded, or taken pri- soners. The survivors abandoned their potintry, emi- grated to the north, and joined the Five Nations, thus making this confederacy consist of six tribes, -In 1715, South Carolina was visited with an Jndiafl war so formidable as to threaten its extirpation. , The Yemasse'es were the chief instruments in promoting this conspiracy against the English. They had hitherto been on terms) of great intimacy and friendship with the Carolinians. For about a yeai' before the war brokte out, it was observed that the Indians went frequently to St. Augustine, and ire-tuTOed loaded with presents. About a week before the commencement of hostili- ties, an Indian warrior attached to the family of one Fraser; a trader, told his wife that the English were all heretics, and would go to hell when they.died, and that the Yemassees would go there, too, if they did not ex- pel the English; that the governor of St. AugUgtine was their king, and that a bloody War would soon break out with the English; he afterwards advised Fraser to fly, which he did, and escaped to Charleston with his family and effects. ' , On the 15th of April, 1715,. about day-break, the Eng- lish traders at Pocotaligo were alarped by the cries of war.. The Indians massacred above -ninety- persons in that place and the neighbouring plantations. A man who escaped fled to Port Royal and alarmed the town. The inhabitants went on board the shipping and sailed to Charleston. It was soon found that all the Indian tribes from Florida to Cape Fear river had joined in this conspiracy to massacre jand extirpate the English. The planters frOm every quarter fled to Charleston. The governor proclaimed martial law, and laid an em- bargo on all ships, besides obtaining p^mission from the Assembly to impress men, arms, and ammunition YEMASSEE WAR. 219 into the service. Robert Daniel was appointed deputy- governor, whilst Governor Craven marched at the head of the militia against the largest body of savages. In the mean time, Thomas Barker, with a company of ninety horsemen, proceeded against the enemy. But, by the treachery of an Indian guide, he was le4 into an ambush of the enemy. Barker and several others were killed M the fii;st fire, and the remainder retreat- ed. After this, a party of four hundred Indians ad- vanced to <5oose-creek. At this place a small fort had been erected, containing seventy white men and forty negroes. ,0n the approach of the Indians, the garrison became discouraged, and agreed to terms of peace ; and. having admitted, the enemy within their works,, the whole garrison was barbarously murdered. Governor Craven now advanced cautiously against the enemy. He was well acquainted with the Indian mode of ^fighting, and therefore took every precaution against a sudden surprise. He knew that the fate of South Carolina, depended on the issue of the contest ; and his men had no alternative but to conquer or suffer a painful death. * He marched forward without opposition till he ar- rived at Saltcatchers, where, the enemy had pitched his camp.. Here a severe contest took place. The In.., dians, firing from behind trees and other places of con- cealment, killed a great number of the English. They were several times compelled to retreat, but again re- turned to ihe charge with redoubled fury. The, governor finally succeeded in driving them from their ,covei:ts, and kept his troops at their heels till they had crossed Savannah river. . This victory raised the inhabitants of South Carolina from the greatest despondency to the highest pitch of joy. The expedition not only disconcerted the greatest conspiracy ever formed against the colony, but also placed it in a state of greater security than it had hitherto enjoyed. i The Yemassees, aft^r their defeat, tetreal^ to St* Augustine, where they were received with the firing of 220 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. guns, the ringing of bells, and every other demonstration of welcome. They were furnished by the Spaniards with' arms, and again began their depredations. Governor Craven, with a body of militia, meeting a p&rty of these Indians near Stone Ferry, attacked and entirely defeat- ed them. This was the last general attempt of the Yemassees against the settlers, pf South Garoliiiq. A few years after it became' a rdyal province ; and the wise and prudent measures of the governor, Sir Fran- cis Nicholsbn, contributed to restore harmony, 50 that for many years after the Yemassee war, the peace of the province was preserved without any considerable interruption. When the French had been defeated in the war which led to the conquest of Canada, and compelled to abandon Fort Duquesne, retreating down the Ohio and Mississippi, they had the address to involve the Indians in a serious war with Carolina. It was the Cherokees that the French, who had evacu- ated th& fort and fled to their country, endeavoured to excite against the Carolinians. A quarrel occurred at this juncture which helped materially to fan the flame of dissatisfaction arnong them. The facts are as fol- lows : It had always been the custom for the Indians and English colonists to seize the horses that ran wild in the woods. It happened that a party of Cherpkefes, returning from Fort Duquesne, seized some stray horses, in order that they might reach home the sooner. But it appears that the animals belonged to the whiter, who, instead of taking legal means for redress, pursued the Indians* and killed twelve or fourteen of them. The Cherokees were enraged when they heard of this. The young men proposed to fall upon the border towns, and notwithstanding the arguments of the elder chiefs, the Cherokees destroyed and massacred the inhabitants of several settlements on the Carolina frontier. The garrison of Fort Loudon was attacked several times when on excursions for game ; so that it became necessary to keep within the fort. Information reaching Governor Lyttleton of thes0 WAR WITH THE CHEROKEES. 221 hipstile ants, he made every preparation to invade the Cherokee villages. The Indians no sooner heard of these preparations than they sent thirty-two chiefs to make a treaty with the governor ; but he refused to forego*the war; and detaining tlie chiefs prisoners, he marched for Port Prince George.* When he reached theCongaree-he received additional troops, which augmented his force to fourteen hundred men. , , By this time their valour and ardour began to dimin- ish ; and when they arrived at Fort Prince George they became mutinous and ungovernable. Governor Lyttle- ton saw the necessity of a peace, and accordingly in- vited AttatuUakulla, the wisest of the Cherokees, to a conference, and concluded a treaty;' but it was never regarded by the Indians ; for the treachery of detaining their chiefs was yet to be revenged. Occonostota, one of their chiefs, was the principal promoter of a war, and, indeed, very few were loath to attack the border settlements nndj if possible, rescue their imprisoned friends.- The opportunity now offered was in every ■way advantageous. The Carolinians were rejoicing in the peace, and nothing could have been more unexpeet* ed than hostility with the Cherokees at that moment. * After the success of the French at Fort Duquesne, in 1755, the Indians conceived a high opinion of their valour; apd the Cherokees were disposed to enter into alliance with them. Their chief warrior gave notice of this intention ,to Gover;ior Glen, of South Carolina, who had the prudence and address to engage them in a treaty which was concluded at a place in their own Country, two hundred miles from Charleston. He al^o obtained ^rom them the cession of an immense tract of land, which occasioned the removal of the Indians to a greater distance from the English. Soon after this cession of lands, the governor built a fort about three hundred miles from Charleston, afterwards called Fort Prince George, which was situated on the banks of the Savannah river, and within gun-shot of an Indian town called Keowee. It con tained barracka for one hundred men, and was designed for the defence of the western frontiers of Carolina. The Cherokees could, at this time, bring about three thousand men into the field ; but were unprovided with arms or ammunition for their own dw fence. 222 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. The war was commenced by the Indians cutting off the soldiers' at Port Prince George whenever afchance presented itself. , Fourteen were slain in this way, and it became necessary to keep the strictest guard. In fact, Fort Prince George was invested by Occohostfta with his Cherokees. That chief at length became convinced that the place could not be taken but by stratagem. In order to effect this purpose he stationed his men in the thickets which surrounded the fort, and then dispaitfihed a squaw to Captain Coytmore, inviting him to a confer- ence on the river bank. The captain went with two lieutenants. In the midst of the conference, the chief made a signal, and the Indians firing, killed the captain and wounded the two officers. They however reached the fort, and ordered the thirty-two hostages' to be put in irons. While the soldiers were executing their orders the Indians stabbed one with a knife. The soldiers, ex- asperated to the greatest pitch, fell upon them and mas- sacred the whole. This act exasperated the Indians to frenzy, and preparations were made on both sides for a bloody struggle. ^ Scarcely any one of the Cherokees but had a friend among the slaughtered chiefs. Revenge being the uppermost object with them now, they fell upon the border villages and committed the most un- paralleled cruelties, In this extremity a messenger was sent to Lord Am- herst for aid, who dispatched Colonel Montgomery with two regiments to South Carolina. Bull, who succeeded Lyttleton.exerterf himself stren- uously to raise soldiers ; he put the forts into better or- der, and placed stronger garrisons in them. As soon as Montgomery reached ^Carolina, in April, 1760, the provincials joined him, and, in a short time, he was on his way for the Cherokee country. His first attempt was to surprise Estatoe. Oh his way thither he sur- prised a little village, and put every inhabitant to the sword. The Indians at Estatoe having, by this time, received notice of his approach, fled ; and when the troops arrived, they found nothing but the empty huts, which, with the flourishing crops around, were destroy* INDiANS CAPTtRE FORT LOUDON. 223 ed. He then advanced to the lower towns, where sixty Indian's were killed and forty taken prisoners. The troops next marched to the Relief of Fort Prince George, which was closely invested by the Indians. The sav- ages being dispersed, Montgomery determined to rest his troops for a while. In the meantime offers of peace had been made to the Middle village of the Cberokees, but they had been rejec;ted'. Colonel Montgomery, therefore, found it necessary lo go into the Cherokee country again. On his way to Etchoe, the nearest town, he was attacked, and a des- perate battle ensued. The Indians fought with the greatest bravery in the defence pf their town; but they were at length compelled to fly. The English had ninety-six killed and, wounded. The victory rendered it useless to proceed, and (he troops returned to Fort Prince George. The time allotted for the stay of Montgomery in Car- olina now expired, and he prepared to embark for New York with his two regiments, but at the solicitation of the governor he left Major Frederick Hamilton with four companies. In the meantime Fort Loudon had been compelled to surrender from the scarcity of provisions, and it re- ceived the most honourable terms from the Cherokees. But, as the garrison was on its march homeward, they were attacked by the Indians and nearly all cut to pieces. Encouraged at this success, the Indians wfere induced to attempt the capture of Fort Prince George. In the midst of their preparations they were told that one of their prisoners. Captain Stuart, had escaped, and knowing that he would apprise the people at the fort of their intention, they gave up the project. Stuart, the officer who escaped, informed Governor Bull of their design upon Fort Prince George, and advised him to provide for its defence. The governor strengthen- ed the garrison, and sent word to the Indians that if they attacked the fort they would be destroyed by the gun- powder that was buried around the walls. Presents were also sent to the Indians to induce them to release 224 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. their white prisoners. The Cherokees set them free, and in a short time the worn-out captives returned to their homes. The, people, at length, thought that the Indians would come to terms, but they were sadly disappointed ; for, instigated by a Frenchman, they recomimeneed the war. Application was again made to Lord Amherst, who sent Lieuenant-Colonel Grant with a Highland regiment Grdnt arrived at Charleston early, in 1761, but was pre- vented from beginning operations on account of a sick- ness which broke out among the troops ; but by the kind nursing of the Charleston people they nearly, all -recovered. A, regiment of provincials having jomed the Highlanders, the march commenced. The army^ including Indian allies, amounted to two thousand six hundred. JJ very precaution was taken to guard against surprise. The march of Grant's army lay through the same valley where Montgomery had defeated the Cher- okees the previous year. As he entered this pass, the Cherokees commenced an assault.,, A, battle was thus begun which terminated in favour of the Carojinians, who, having sunk the dead in the river, proceeded to Etchoe, which place was reduced to asides. After stay- ing a long while in the Cherokee country. Colonel Grant returned to Fort Prjnce George. A few days after his return to the fort, the Indians sued for peace, which was granted ; and thus ended a war which, destroyed entirely the French power ia North America. CHAPTER XIV. CRBSAP'S WAR. OGAN, the celebrated Mingo chief, was the son of , Shikellima, chief of theCayugas. He is said to have been named fron;i Dr. James Logan, who was much beloved by his father. Logan bore a high character for mag- nanimity and the other qualities that distinguish a great man. He was not at all concerned in the wars of 1760; but in 1774 be was provoked to fierce hostility against the whites by a series of unprovoked aggres- sions. The Indians, it appears, had robbed some whites who contemplated a settlement on the Ohio river. The settlers immediately collected at Wheeling Creek, and one- proposed to go after the Ihdians and kill them. Actjorjlingly Captain Michael Cresap was sent with a party in pursuit of them, and two Indians were killed. Cresap the same day fell upon a party of unoffending Indians, and slew several of them. Among these were some of Logan's relations. Another murder of still more horrid character was committed soon after, by David Greathouse and one Tomlinson. Hearing that a party of Indians was en- camped on the banks of the Ohio, opposite to the place where they lived, aJbout thirty miles above Wheeling, they collected a considerable body of men, and invited p (235) 226 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. tiie Indians" to come over the river and drink rum with them, and having succeeded in getting them intoxicated, they murdered all of the party but one. Among the slain were a brother and sister of Logan. The re- maining Indians on the other side of the river, hearing the firing and, coming to the relief of their friends, were fired upon, and many of them kilted. The rest retreated. This took pldce on the 24th of May, ITTi. These aggressions of the wnites led to an immediate war, which was prosecuted on the part of the Indians with their usual cruelty, which spared no age nor sex. By the exertions of the injured Xogari, and the, chiefs under his influence, the Shawanese, Mingoes, Dela- wares, Wyandots, and Cayugas, were united ih hos- tilities against the Virginians. The celebrated chief, Cornstalk, was among the most conspicuous of their leaders. On the 12th of July, 1774, Logan, accompanied by eight warriors, made an unexpected attack upon some inhabitants upon the Muskingum, in which one man was killed aijd two captured, one of whom, Robinson, was saved from the torture by/Logan, and adopted as his secretary. The Virginia legislature being in session when the news of the commencement of hostilities arrived, Governor Dunmore ordered a levy of three thousand men. Half of" these troops were to march to the mouth of the Great Kanhawa, under ^General Andrew Lewis ; and the remainder, with the governor in person,. were to proceed to a higher point on the Ohio, in ordei* to attack the Indian settlements in the rear. He was then to form a junction with Lewis at Point Plea'sant. Gene- ral Lewis, with a force of one thousand one hundred men, commenced his march from Camp Union through the wilderness, on the 11th of September, and arrived at Point Pleasant (one hundred and sixty miles) on the 30th. Here he waited until the 10th of Octobei" for the arrival of Governor Dunmore, who, it is now be- lieved, did not intend to join him until the fighting was over. On the morning of the 10th a hunter, just es- 1 » his own regiment, and another ttnder Colonel Fleming, to reconnoitre the ene- my, while he should prepare the main body to support them. At four hundred yards from the camp they were met by the enemy just after sunrise, and the battle com- menced^ after the Indian manner, eacl^ p^rty availing themselves of the trees for shelter and defence. Colo- nel Lewis was so6n shot down, and the advanced regi- ments were on the retreat, when Colonel Field's regiment coming to their support, they rallied, and drove the In- dians behind a rough breastwork of logs and bush which they had erected, and which being extended from river to river, so as to inclose the Virginians on the point, would have insured their utter destruction in case of a defeat. The ground was obstinately defended by the Indians till 'hear the close of the day. Logan, Cornstalk, Red Eagle, and other distinguished chi'efs led therfi on in successive charges upon the Virginians, until Colonels -Field and Fleming having both fallen, and General Lewis finding his ranks fearfully thinned by each qharge of the enemy, resolved to throw a body of troops into their rear. Captain Isaac Shelby, afterwards so celebrated, together with Captains Matthews and Stewart, being detached with three companies fofeither could I, until several other volleys had been fired at us, see an enemy — and when I did, I could only see their heads and arms peering out from the long grass, far and near, and from behind the pine trees. The ground seemed to me an open pine barjjen, no hammock near that I could see. On ofar right, and a little to our rear, was a large pond of water, some distance off". All around us were heavy pine trees, very open, particularly towards the left, and abounding with long high grass. The first fire of the Indians was the most .destructive, seemingly killing or disabling one half our men. "We promptly threw ourselves behind trees, and opened a sharp fire of musketry. I, for one, never fired without seeing my man, that is, his head and shoulders. The Indians chiefly fired lying or squatting in the grass. Lieutenant Bassinger fired five or six pounds of cannister from the cannon. This appeared to frighten the Indians, and they retreated over a little hill to our left, one-half or three-quarters of a mile ofl^, after having fired not more than twelve or fifteen rounds. We immediately then began to fell trees, and erect a little triangular breastwork. Some of us went forward to gather the cartridge boxes from the dead, and to assist the wound- ed. I had seen Major Dade fall to the ground by the first volley, and his horse dashed into the midst of the enemy Whilst gathering the cartridges, I saw Lieu- DESTRUCTION OF DADE'S DETACHMENT. 311 tenant Mudge sitting with his back reclining against a tree, his head fallen, and evidently dying. I spoke to him, but he did not answer. The interpreter, Louis, it is said, fell by the first fire.* " We had barely raised our breastwork knee high, when we again saw the Indians advancing in great numbers over the hill to our left. They came on boldly till within a long musket shot, when they spread them- selves from tree to tree to surround us. We immediately extended as Light Infantry, covering ourselves by the trees, and opening a brisk fire from cannon and musketry. The former I dont think could have done much mischief, the Indians were so scattered. {See Engraving on the opposite page.) "Captain Gardiner, Lieutenant Bassinger, and Dr. Gatlen, were the only officers left unhurt by the volley which killed Major Dade. Lieutenant Henderson had his left arm broken, but he continued to load his musket and to fire it, resting on the stump, until he was finally shot .down ; towards the close of the second attack, and during the day, he kept up his spirits, and cheered the men. Lieutenant Keyes had both his arms broken in the first attack ; they were bound up and slung" in a handkerchief, and he sat for the remainder of the day, until he was killed, reclining against the breastwork, his head often reposing upon it, regardless of everything that was passing around him. " Our men were by degrees all cut down. We had maintained a steady fight from eight until two, P. M., or thereabouts, and allowing three quarters of an hour interval between the first and second attack, had been pretty busily engaged for more than five hours. Lieu- tenant Bassinger was the only officer left alive, and he severely wounded. He told me as the Indians ap- proached to lie dovpn and feign myself dead. I looked through the logs, and saw the savages approaching in *It has since been learned that this person only feigned death, and that he was spared, and read all the dispatches and letters ihat were found upon the dead to the victors.— CoAen. u. 312 INDIAN WARS OF THK UNITED STATES. great numbers. A heavy-made Indian, of middle stature painted down to the waist, and whon\ I suppose to have been Micanope, seemed to be the chief. He made them a speech, frequently pointing to the breastwork. At length, they charged into the work ; there was none to offer resistance, and they did not seem to suspect the wounded being alive — offering no indignity, but stepping about carefully, quietly stripping off our accoutrements, and carrying away our arms. They then retired in a body in the direction from whence they came. " Immediately upon their retreat, forty or fifty negroes on horseback, galloped up and alighted, tied their beasts, and commenced with horrid shouts and yells the butch- ering of the wounded, together with an indiscriminate plunder, stripping the bodies of the dead of clothing, watches, and money, and splitting open the heads of all who showed the least signs of life with their axes and knives ; and accompanying their bloody work with obscene and taunting derision, and with frequent cries of " what have you got to sell?' " Lieutenant Bassinger hearing the negroes butcher- ing the wounded, at length sprang up, and asked them to spEtre his life. They met him with the blows of their axes, and their fiendish laughter. Having been wounded in five different places myself, I was pretty well covered with blood, and two scratches that I had received on my head, gave me the appearance of having been shot through the brain, for the negroes, after catching me up by the heels, threw me down, saying, ' damn him, he 's dead enough !' They then stripped me of my clothes, shoes, and hat, and left me. After stripping all the dead in this manner, they trundled off the cannon in the direction the Indians had gone, and went away. I saw them first shoot down the oxen in their gear, and burn the wagon. " One of the other soldiers who escaped, says they threw the cannon in the pond, and burned its carriage also. Shortly after the negroes went away, one Wilson, of Captain Gardiner's company, crept from under some of the dead bodies, and hardly seemed to be hurt at all. ESCAPE OF A PRIVATE SOLDIER. 313 He asked me to go with him back to the fort, and i was going to follow higi, when, as he jumped over the breastwork, an Indian sprang from behind a tree and shot him down. I then lay quiet until nine o'clock that night, when D. Long, the only living soul beside myself, and I, started upon our journey. We knew it was nearest to go to Fort King, but we did not know the way, and we had seen the enemies retreat in that di- rection. As I came out, I saw Dr. Gatlin lying stript amongst the dead. The last I saw of him whilst living, was kneeling behind the breastwork, with two double barrel guns by him, and he said, ' Well, I have got four barrels for them !' Captain Gardiner, after being se- verely wounded, cried out, ' I can give you no more orders, my lads, do your best!' I last saw a negro spurn his body, saying, with an oath, ' that 's one of their officers.' " My comrade and myself got along quite well until the next day, when we met an Indian on horseback, and with a rifle, coming up the road. Our only chance was to separate — we did so. I took the right, and he the left of the road. The Indian pursued him. Shortly afterwards I heard a rifle shot, and a little after another. I concealed myself among some scrub, and saw pal- metto, and after a while saw the Indian pass, looking for me. Suddenly, however, he put spurs to his horse, and went off" at a gallop towards the road. " I made something of a circuit before I struck the beaten track again. That night I was a good deal an- noyed by the wolves, who had scented my blood, and came very close to me ; the next day, the 30th, I reached the fort." The following is the report of Captain Hitchcock concerning this affair : "Western DepartjIent, ) Fort King, Florida, Feb. 22, 1836. ) " General — Agreeably to your directions, I observed the battle ground six or seven miles north of the With- lacoochee river, where Major Dade and his command were destroyed by the Seminole Indians, on the 28th 314 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. December last, and have the honour to submit the fol- .owing report : , " The force under your command, which arrived at this post to-day from Tampa Bay, encamped on the 19th Instant, on the ground occupied by Major Dade on the night of the 27th Decembei*. He and his party were destroyed on the morning of the 28th, about four • miles in advance of that position. He was advancing towards this post, and was attacked from the north ; so that on the 20th instant we came upon the rear of his oattle ground, about nine o'clock in the morning. Oui- advanced guard had passed the ground without halting, when the General and his Staff came upon one of the most appalling scenes that can be imagined. We first saw some broken and scattered bones ; then a cart, the two oxen of which were lying dead, as if they had fallen asleep, their yokes still on them ; a little to the right, one or two horses were seen. We then came to a small enclosure, made by felling trees in such a man- ner as to form a triangular breast-work for defence. Within the triangle, along the north and west faces of it, were about thirty bodies, mostly mere skeletons, al- though much of the clothing was left upon them. These were lying, every one of them, in precisely the same position they must have occupied during the fight ; their heads next to the logs over which they had delivered their fire, and their bodies stretched with striking regu- larity parallel to each other. They had evidently been shot dead at their posts, and the Indians had not dis- turbed them, except by taking the scalps of most of them. Passing this little breast-work, we found other bodies along the road, generally behind trees, which had been resorted to for covers from the enemies' fire. Ad- vancing about two hundred yards farther, we found a cluster of bodies in the middle of the road. They were eV^idently the advanced guard, in the rear of which was the body of Major Dade, and to the right that of Captain Fraser. " These were doubtless all shot down by the first fire of the Indians, except, perhaps, Captain Fraser, who APPEARANCE OF DADE'S BATTLE GROUND. 315 must, however, have fallen very early in the fight- Those in the road, and by the trees, fell during the first attack. It was during a cessation of the fire, that the little band still remaining, about thirty in number, threw up the triangular breast-work, which, from the haste with which it was constructed, was necessarily defective, and could not protect the men in the second attack. '" We had with us many of the personal friends of the officers of Major Dade's command ; and it is grati- fying to be able to state, that every officer was identi- fied by undoubted evidence. They were buried, and the cannon, a six-pounder, that the Indians had thrown mto a swamp, was recovered, and placed vertically at the head of the grave, where it is to be hoped it will long remain. The bodies of the non-commissioned officers and privates were buried in two graves, and it was found that every man was accounted for. The command was composed of eight officers, and one hundred and two non-commissioned officers and pri- vates. The bodies of eight officers and ninety-eight men were interred ; four men having escaped, three of whom reached Tampa Bay ; the fourth was killed the day after the battle. " It may be proper to remark, that the attack was not made from a hammock, but in a thinly wooded country ; the Indians being concealed by palmetto and grass, which has since been burned. " The two companies were Captain Frazer's of the 3d Artillery, and Captain Gardiner's of the 2d Artillery. The officers Avere, Major Dade of the 4th Infantry, Captains Fraser and (Gardiner, Second Lieutenant Bas- singer. Brevet Second Lieutenants R. Henderson, Mudge and Keyes, of the Artillery, and Dr. J. S. Gatlin. « I have the honour to be, with the highest respect, your obedient servant, E. A. HITCHCOCK, Captain 1st Infantry, Act. In. General. Major General E. P. Gaines, Commanding Western Department, Fort King, Florida.'' 816 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. Thus perished the gallant Dade and his command by the hand of a cruel ahd savage foe. They maintained their ground until none were left unwouiided, and then those who were not dead were massacred by a cruel and bloodthirsty foe. Their names are honoured by all, and it is hoped that the nation may erect some enduring memorial which shall mark the scene of their suffering, and record the virtues of these martyrs in their country's cause. On the 6th of January, 1836, a party of thirty Indians made an attack on Mr. Cooly's family, settled on New River, about twelve miles from Cape Florida, whilst he was absent from home. They murdered his wife, three children, and a Mr. Flinton, who was employed as their teacher. Mr. Cooly had long resided among the Indians, learnt their language, and uniformly treated them with kindness. But, notwithstanding these circumstances, they massacred his whole family in cold blood. The families in the neighbourhood, seeing what was going on, made their escape, and thus avoidjed a similar fate. On the 31st of December, 1835, General Clinch pushed forward across the Ouithlacoochee, to attack the Indians who were encamped about a mile from that river. The following account of this engagement is taken from the general's official report : " Head Quarters, Territory op Florida, } Fort Drane, Jan. 4, 1836. \ " Sir — On the 24th ultimo. Brigadier General Call, commanding the volunteers callgd into service by order of his Excellency G. R. Walker, Acting Governor of Florida, formed a junction with the regular troops at this post, and informed me that his command had been raised to meet the crisis ; that most of their terms of service would expire in a few days, which made it necessary to act promptly. Two large detachments were sent out on the 15th, to scour the country on our right and left flank. Lieut. Col. Fanning, with three companies from Fort King, arrived on the 27th ; and on the 29th, the detachment having returned, the Bri- BATTLE OF THE OUITIILACOOCHEE 317 gade of Mounted Volunteers, composed of the 1st and 2d regiments, commanded by Brigadier General Call, and a battalion of regular troops, commanded by Lieut. Col. Fanning, took up the line of march for a point on the Ouithlacoochee river, which was represented by our guides as being a good ford. About four o'clock on the morning of the 31st, after leaving all our baggage, pro- visions, &c., protected by a guard commanded by Lieut. Dancy, we pushed on with a view of carrying the ford, and of surprising the main body of Indians, supposed to be concentrated on the west bank of the river ; but on reaching, it, about day-light, we found, instead of a good ford, a deep and rapid stream, and no means of crossing, except in an old and damaged canoe. Lieut. Col. Fanning, however, soon succeeded in crossing ; the regular troops took a position in advance, whilst Brig. Gen. Call was actively engaged in crossing his brigade, and in having their horses swum over the river. But before one half had crossed, the battalion of regu- lars, consisting of about two hundred men, were attacked by the enemy, who were strongly posted in the swamp and scrub which extended from the river. This little band, however, aided by Col. Warren, Major Cooper, and Lieut. Yeoman, with twenty-seven volunteers, met the attack of a savage enemy, nearly three times their number, headed by the Chief Osceola, with Spartan valour. The action lasted nearly an hour, during which time the troops made three brilliant charges into the swamp and scrub, and drove the enemy in every direc- tion; and after the third charge, although nearly one- third their number had been cut down, they were found sufficiently firm and steady to fortify the formation of a new line of battle, which gave entire protection to the flanks, as well as to the position selected for re- crossing the troops. Brig. Gen. Call, after using every efibrt to induce the volunteers remaining on the east bank, when th^ action commenced, to cross the river, and in arranging the troops still remaining on that bank, crossed over, and rendered important service by his coolness and judgment in arranging part of his corps 818 INDIAN WARS IN THE UNITED STATES. on the right of the regulars, which gave much st/'ength and security to that flank." Here the general goes into a pretty minute enume- ration of the signal services performed by sundry cap- tains, lieutenants, and sergeants, of whom he gives the names, regiments, &c., after which he thus concludes: " The term of service of the volunteers having ex- pired, and most of them having expressed an unwilling- ness to remain longer in service, it was considered best, after removing the dead, and taking care of the wounded, to return to this post, which we reached on the 2d in- stant, without the least interruption ; and on the follow- ing day the Volunteers from Middle Florida took up the line of march for Tallahassee, and this morning those from East Florida proceeded to their respective homes, leaving me. a very few men to guard this extensive frontier. I ain.now fully convinced, that there has been a great defection among the -Florida Indians, and that a great many Creeks have united with them, consequently it will require a strong force to put them down." While these operations were going forward in the western part of the peninsula, the plantations and set- tlements in the neighbourhood of St. Augustine were ravaged by the enemy, many of the inhabitants slain, and the negroes taken away. General Hernandez, who was in command at that place, ordered out the militia, who were ill supplied with munitions and provisions; and were, for the most part, unable to follow the rapid movements of the Indians, or even to arrest the pro- gress of their devastations. A detachment under Major Putnam, succeeded in bringing the Indians to action at Dunlawton, the plantation of George Anderson ; a skir- mish took place, in which, according to the official report, one negro was killed outright, and seventeen more wounded — two mortally. The same report claim- ed to have killed ten of the Indians ; and assigns the immense superiority of the enemy's force as a reason for his retreating after what is humorously denominated the Battle of Dunlawton. At this period of the war it was asserted without GAINES'S EXPEDITION TO THE OUITHLACOOCHEE 319 contradiction in congress, that in East Florida five hun- dred families had been driven from their homes, and their possessions destroyed by the Indians ; and that all this individual suffering, and every other calamitous con- sequence of the contest, had been caused, not by the hostility of the savages to the citizens, but by the de- termination of the enemy to resist the fixed policy of the government to remove them to the region west of the Mississippi. An appropriation was then voted by congress for the relief of the families suffering by the hostilities of the Indians. _ General Gaines, the commander of the southern di- vision of the army of the United States, was on a tour of observation, remote from the scene of action, when hostilities commenced. Arriving at New Orleans, Jan- uary 15th, and learning the state of affairs, he called on the governor of Louisiana to have a body of volun- teers in readiness for service, and proceeded himself to the seat of war. At Pensacola he found some armed vessels under Commodores Dallas and Bolton, and Cap- tain Webb, who had commenced operations near Tampa Bay. Colonel Twigs was' ordered to receive into ser- vice the Louisiana volunteers, which, with the regular troops in the neighbourhood, amounted to one thousand one hundred men. General Gaines now returned to New Orleans to hasten the reinforcements, and on the 9th of February arrived at Tampa with the forces, in three steam-boats. He then marched for Fort King, where he arrived on the 22d February, and thence moved down the Ouith- lacoochee. On the 27th, at General Clinch's crossing Elace, he had a slight skirmish with the enemy, in which e lost one killed, and eight wounded. On the 28th, the army was again attacked on its march, and the firing continued half a day, during which Lieutenant Izard, of the United States Dragoons, fell mortally wounded ; one other was killed, and two wounded. On the 29th another attack look place, the Indians appearing in considerable force, (one thousand five hundred or two thousand.) One man was killed> 320 INDIAN WARS OF THE UNITED STATES. and thirty-three wounded ; General Gaines among tho latter; he having received a shot in the under lip. Skir- mishes followed till the 5th of March, when Osceola, who commanded the Indians, requested a parley, which accordingly took place on the morning of the 6th, when the Indians were informed that a larger force was coming to the support of the army before them, and that unless they submitted, every Indian found in arms would be shot. They replied, that they would hold a council, and give, their answer in the afternoon. At the afternoon conference, they professed to be tired of the war, and asked for further time to learn the wishes of their governor, Micanopy, who was absent. They were told that on condition of their retiring south of the Ouithlacoochee, and attending a council when called on by commissioners on the part of the United States, they shoul3 not be molested. To this they agreed ; but General Clinch, who had been summoned by express from Fort Drane, coming upon the main body of the Indians, at this moment, they supposed themselves to h^ve been surrounded by deliberate stratagem, and that they were about to be cut off; and they incontinently fled, probably in no humour to renew the negotiation. General CUnch brought five hundred men, and abundant supplies, of which General Gaines's army was in great need, no competent pro^sion having been previously made by the commissariat department. General Gaines now transferred his command to General Clinch, and returned to New Orleans. Clinch retired with his whole force to Fort Drane. In this expedition, the whites lost five killed, and sixty wounded ; the Indians acknowledged a loss of thirty men. In January, 1836, General Scott was ordered to as- sume the chief command in Florida. He arrived at the seat of war in February, and immediately com- menced a series of operations, differing in many re- spects from any that had formerly been acted upon. After placing his troops in as good a condition as pos- sible, he marched them, in three divisions, across the hostile country as far as Tampa Bay, where sickness TRIAL OF GENERAL SCOTT. Qoi and scarcity of provisions arrested their further pro- gress. Tn spite of these discouraging circumstances. Scott_ employed the soldiers who were fit for duty, in scouring the territory and penetrating as far as possi- ble into the morasses. But these exertions, though made at the expense of much care and labour, resulted in little good. The Indians if surprised on the plains could glide into the swamps, where they contrived -to bafiie all pursuit. The general was subjected to the mortification of seeing his plans frustrated, the cam- paign failing, and his troops wasting under disease and discouragement. To this was added the loss of the confidence of government. He was superseded in July ; and on receiving the intelligence departed for Washington. A narrative of the subsequent trial to which the general was subjected does not^ perhaps, properly belong to a mere sketch of the war ; yet it may be justice to remark that the members of the court expressed their unanimous opinion " that the plan of the campaign 'adopted by General Scott was well cal- culated to lead to successful results, and that it was prosecuted by him, as far as practicable, with zeal and ability until recalled from the command." General Scott was succeeded by General Jessup, who during the greater part of his term of command was stationed on or near the Withlacoochee. During the summer and fall the Indians remained quiet ;- but in winter they collected in bands, made descents upon the plantations, burning or destroying all grain and other productions, and murdering the inhabitants. A con- siderable force of regular troops and volunteers was sent against them, but without success. They were followed by the greater part of the southern army. Exasperated by resistance, the Seminoles united with several other tribes, and began a desperate struggle to expel the army. The Creeks were speedily reduced and transported beyond the Mississippi. The Semi- noles continued hostilities, wasting and massacring 322 INDIAN WAES OJ THE UNITED STATES. ■whenever opportunity permitted, and evading pursuit by retiring to the morasses. Toward the, close of 1837, the Indian chiefs amused General Jessup by overtures of treaties, and proposals to accept the' mediation of a delegation from the Cherokees. The general's hopes of effecting, what so many of his predecessors had failed to effect, were cruelly disappointed ; and on the 19th of December, he communicated that fact to Colonel Taylor, then sta- tioned at Fort Gardner, south of the Withlacoochee. The colonel was instructed to proceed with the least possible delay against any portion of the enemy he might hear of within striking distance, and to destroy or capture it. Next day Colonel Taylor marched with about one thousand men in pursuit of the enemy. In the even- ing of the same day, he was met by sixty-three Indians, headed by the chief Jumper. They surrendered. Next day he received information of a large body of Indians in his front ; but soon after, twenty-two of all ages and both sexes met and surrendered. But the Indian chief Alligator, having sent a message of defiance, Taylor laid out a small stockade fort, where he left his heavy baggage and artillery with eighty-five sick. These were guarded by Captain Monroe with his company. The colonel then pushed forward, and early the next day reached Alligator's encampment', situated on the edge of Oabbage-tree hammock. It had been deserted, but at some distance in advance several Indians were ' taken, from whom important information concerning the enemy was obtained. Another deserted encampment was reached next morning, and about noon of the same day the colonel came up with the main body of the enemy. They were hidden in a hammock, which was protected in front by a swamp three-quarters of a mile broad and covered with saw-grass five . feet high. It was knee deep in mud and water, and totally impassa- ble tp cavalry. On reaching the swamp, the colonel dismounted hia BATTLE OP OKEECHOBEE. 333 cavaby and formed the order of tattle. The whole force then pressed through the swamp, wading the •whole distance to the edge of the hammock. Here the advance guard, voluDteers and spies, under Colonel Gentry, received a heavy fire, and were put to flight with the loss of their commander. The regulars pressed forward in good order. The Indians concen- trated their fire on six companies of infantry, killing the commander. Lieutenant-colonel Thompson, and kill- ing or wounding every other oflScer except one. When these companies retired, one of them had but four men untouched. The Indians were however charged, and driven from the hammock to the lake of Okeechobee, on which their encampment extended for more than a mile. The colonel ordered their right flank t;o be turned, which was executed in a handsome manner; and the Indians, after delivering another fire, broke and fled in all directions. They were pursued until sundown. The action, from its commencement until the time when the enemy began their retreat, lasted nearly three hours. In the battle of Okeechobee the Americans lost twenty-six killed and one hundred and twelve wounded, including some of their most valuable officers. The loss of the Indians is supposed to have been about the same. The results of this expedition, Colonel Taylor sums up as follows : — " This column in six weeks penetrated one hundred and fifty miles into the enemy's country ; opened roads and constructed bridges and causeways when necessary, on the greater portion of the route ; established two depfits and the necessary defences for the same, and finally overtook and beat the enemy in his strongest position. The results of which move- ment and battle have been the capture of thirty of the hostiles, the coming in and surrendering of more than one hundred and fifty Indians and negroes, the cap- turing and driving out of the country six hundred head of cattle, upwards of one hundred head of horses, besides obtaining a thorough knowledge of the country 30 324 INTIAJI WAES OF THE UNITED STATES. through which we operated, a greater portion of which was entirely unknown except to the enemy." The importance of this battle was duly appreciated by government. Colonel Taylor was raised to the brevet rank of brigadier-general, and subsequently in- trusted with the chief command in Florida. He es- tablished his head-quarters at Tampa Bay, from which he directed the remaining operations of the war until 1840. He wag, however, unable to bring the Indians to a second general engagement. They had been dis- couraged by the affair of Okeechobee, and, as is gene- rally the case with their tribes, entertained strong ap- prehensions concerning the good luck of the officer who had defeated them. Hence the operations of the war at this period were merely predatory incursion's on the part of the Seminoles, on villages or single plan- tations, which they could rob or devastate in a night and escape before news of the depredation reached the American head-quarters. Still the American forces, by separating into small parties which scoured the open country, were enabled to prevent much mischief and to keep the savages in awe. In May, 1839, General Macomb, commander-in- chief of the United States army, arrived at Fort King in Florida, and invited the Indian chiefs to a confer- ence. They consented, and arrangements were entered into, which, as the general supposed, were about to terminate the war. The futility of the supposition was speedily apparent. Early in July, travellers and trains were attacked on the highway, plantations ra- vaged, and settlers murdered or driven northward. At Charlotte's harbour, Lieutenant-colonel Harney, with thirty dragoons, was surprised while asleep by two hundred and fifty Seminoles. Twenty-four were killed in their beds, or while escaping. Harney saved his life by swimming to a fishing-smack. This disaster might probably have been avoided, but for the feeling of security inspired by the previous treaty. Soon after, the legislature of Florida authorized the employ- . COL. WORTH COMMANDER. 325 ment of blood-hounds to track the Indians to their lurking places. The attempt was made with thirty- three dogs' imported from Cuba, but failed completely. In 1840, General Taylor requested and obtained per- mission to retire from the command in Florida. He ■was succeeded by General Armistead. The end of the war seemed distant as ever. On the 7th of August a party of Spanish Indians in boats attacked Key Island, murdered several of the inhabitants, among whom was Dr. Perrine, a distinguished naturalist, and set fire to the buildings. They then retired with their scalps and booty. The American troops, on account of sickness,/ the great heat of the weather, and their totally insuffi- cient numbers, were obliged to remain tame spectators of these outrages. On the 28th of December, Lieu- tenant Sherwood and twelve men, acting as an escort -to Mrs. Montgomery, were attacked at Martin's Point. The lady and two privates were instantly killed, and the lieutenant, with his remaining men, after fighting hand to hand with the savages, was overpowered by numbers. The attacking party were soon afterwards captured. In March, 1841, two slight skirmishes oc- curred with celebrated chiefs, in which the Indians were worsted. A few then surrendered, but every thing was as yet uncertain and desultory. In the same month, the great chief Coacoochee surrendered to Colonel Worth. On the 31st of May, "Worth received the chief com- ■ mand in Florida. He was instructed by government " to terminate as speedily as possible the protracted hostilities in Florida." The duty, as may easily be imagined, was one of no easy execution. Forty-seven thousand square miles were occupied by Indians, and they kept that immense extent of country in alarm, without once appearing in an open battle, or, to any great extent risking their personal safety. Hitherto, owing to the heat and unhealthfulness of the climate, no campaign had been carried on during the summer. Worth resolved on adopting a new plan, by pursumg 326 INDIAN WARS OP THE UNITED STATES. the Indians during the entire year. He determined also to change the mode of action to that of partisan warfare— ^his commands being " Find the enemy, cap- ture or exterminate." The first act, in obedience to this order, was the destroying of the Indian corn-fields, so that during the month of June destruction wAS carried into a large portion of the enemy's country. In July, Coacoochee's band, consisting of seventy-eight warriors, sixty-four women, and forty-seven children, surrendered. Soon after, another great chief with eighteen warriors was decoyed on board a vessel, by promises of a conference, and secured. Other cap- tures or surrenders followed ; and a large number of the Indians were sent to the "West. They now appeared discouraged, especially as their provisions had been destroyed, and their swampy fastnesses invaded. Yet for several months they maintained a kind of guerrilla warfare, ravaging the remote borders, shooting the unguarded traveller, and harassing the soldiery. The Americans suffered greatly from sickness, especially yellow fever and dysentery, brought on by the heat. Many died of sheer exhaustion. On the 20th of December, the settlement of Man- darin was attacked by seventeen Indians. Two men, two women, and an infant, were butchered ; and the dwellings burned. Reports of other atrocities roused the jaded soldier to further duty. In April, 1842, Colonel Worth set out on an expedition to scour the swamps in the vicinity of St. John's river. On the 17th, it was ascertained that a party of Indians were concealed in the Palaklaklaha hammock ; and at day- break the troops, in order of battle, were in full march for that station. After a march of several miles, through mud and water, they reached the enemy's po- sition. It was defended by a mass of foliage, seem- ingly impenetrable. The American fire was immedi- ately returned with the war whoop and a volley of rifle- shots, but the troops pressed on steadily with the bayonet. The Indians defended themselves obsti* AFPAIU OF PALAKLAKLAHA. 327 nately, keeping up a continuous discharge of fire-arms. Seeing this, Worth attacked their rear, when a desper ate struggle ensued. It was maintained until the troops gained the hammock, when the Indians separ- ated into small parties, the better to effect their escape. They were followed, as far as the nature of the ground permitted, yet with indifferent success. Their camp, containing great quantities of meat and clothing, fell into the hands of the victors. In this affair the In- dians lost two killed, three wounded, and one captured. The Americans, one killed and four wounded. Eleven days after, Halleek-Tuttenuggee, the chief who had commanded in the battle, visited Worth's camp, and expressed his desire for peace. Some time after, twenty-five of, the most influential chiefs were invited to a feast, and made prisoners while partaking of it. Halleek was taken in the same manner. He contrived various stratagems to effect an escape; but, bafiled in all, he consented to emigrate, and employed his influ- ence with the Indians to persuade them to do the same. In July, he and his band sailed for Arkansas. Billy Bowlegs and other chiefs from the south came in dur- ing the following month, with full power from the In- dians who remained there, to negotiate a treaty of peace. On the 14th, Colonel Worth announced that hostilities in the territory had ceased. The Indians surrendered or captured were to be sent to the West ; and those who remained were temporarily assigned a portion of Florida, south of a specified boundary. Three days after, Worth resigned the command, and repaired to Washington to make final arrangements with the government. Colonel Vose assumed the command. The Florida war was not yet ended. Even before Worth left the territory, hostilities had recommenced at San Pedro. The exasperation and chagrin of the inhabitants broke forth into loud murmurs against the government and the army. Colonel Vose was ordered to take the field immediately, and another series of 328 INDIAN WAES 01? THE UNITED STATES. negotiations, skirmislies, butcheries, and hoHow truces ensued. The details might well fatigue, but could not pleasa or instruct the reader. It may be sufficient to know that in November^ Colonel Worth, lately breveted brigadier-general, resumed the command ; that a few more chiefs were captured, a few driven into the ever- glades, and a few decoyed and afterwards retained ; that several hundred Indians, desolate, friendless, and heart-broken, were despatched to the West ; that the military force was now reduced, and now augmented, according as the war-temperament dictated the ther- mometer-like policy; and that, November, 1843, has generally been regarded as the time when this whole affair, dignified by the appellation of a national contest, may be supposed to have been concluded. That fact was duly announced by General Worth in a despatch to the adjutant-general. Since that time peace has, with few interruptions, been maintained. The Indian warriors now in Florida number, perhaps, one hundred and fifty. Recently some outrages were committed, which caused some anxiety least the war was about to be renewed ; but it is believed that no plot for that purpose exists among (he Indians. IHK E\D.