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Sullivan Centennial. 
 
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 -BY- 
 
 REV. DAVID CRAFT. 
 
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 Gen. JOHN SULLIVAN. 
 
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 ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO. 
 
 THE STORY OF A CENTURY. 
 
 OUR CENTENNIAL AND ITS HISTORY. 
 
 Historical Address delivered by Rev. David Craft, at the Centennial Cele 
 
 bration of the Battle of Newtown, near Elmira, 
 
 N. Y., August 29th, 1879. 
 
 The centuries are the natural divisions on 
 Time's great calendar; the milestones that 
 mark the stages of human progress. We 
 propose to-day, for a little time, to step back- 
 ward a centennial milestone, to turn back the 
 pages, and read the story of a century agone, 
 aud recount the deeds of heroic sacrifice, of 
 soldierly courage and valor which transpired 
 on this very spot one hundred years ago this 
 very day, nay, this very hour. 
 
 To understand the story, allow me to re- 
 fresh your recollection by referring to some 
 facts of still earlier occurrence. A century 
 aud a half before the events we commemo- 
 rate to-day, a peculiar raee of men occupied 
 all this broad land. Their eai'lier history is 
 lost in the maze of uncertain traditions and 
 childish legends, their later has been preserv- 
 ed only by their foes and successful rivals for 
 the domination and possession of the ; onti- 
 nent. 
 
 When the country was first known to the 
 whites, the territory bounded on the north 
 by the St. Lawrence, on the east by the 
 Hudson and Delaware, on the south by the 
 Potomac, and on the west by the great lakes, 
 was inhabited by nations which from their 
 language, general customs and traditions, 
 seemed to be more closely related to each 
 other, than to the nations which surrounded 
 them. The confederated Five Nations, or as 
 they are commonly called, the Iroquois, oc- 
 cupied the north-east portion of this territory, 
 havii^ i; the Eries and Hurons on the west, 
 and tn the south the Andastes, or tribes 
 along the Susquehanna. These powerful 
 neighbors had greatly wealcened the strength 
 of the Iroquois, and weU nigh reduced them 
 to a condition of vassalage, and more than 
 once had even driven them from their an- 
 cestral seats. 
 
 For their mutual protection the Five Na- 
 
 tions entered into a confederation, and in at 
 rude way, anticipated the great F. deral Re- 
 public which is to-day exercising such con- 
 trolling power over the affairs of this conti- 
 nent, and such mighty influences over the 
 nations of the earth. By means of the mutu- 
 al aid iliey were thus able to give each other, 
 and of the rifle, which traders 5old to the 
 Mohawks prior to 1620, the Iroqnois soon 
 began to assert their independence, then to 
 make Avar upon their neighbors, and in a few 
 years from bemg vassals, they became mas- 
 ters and either exterminated or brought into 
 subjugation not only their former conquerors, 
 but carried their conquests to the Mississippi 
 on the West and the Gulf on the South. 
 
 When the English assumed control of New 
 York, they formed an alliance with the Iro- 
 quois against the French, the common enemy 
 of both, then in possesrion of Canada and 
 claiming all the country drained by the St. 
 Lawrence and the Mississippi. 
 
 The Irequois, strengthened by this alli- 
 ance, and becoming still more attached to 
 the English by the vdse policy and blandish- 
 ments of such shrewd agents as the John- 
 sons, declared themsslves to be the children 
 of the King of England, and the English to 
 be their brethi-en. At the beginning of the 
 war of the Revolution, they mustered nearly 
 2,000 warriors, which with their valor, their 
 peculiar methods of warfare, and the ad- 
 vantages of their situation, rendered them a 
 power whose hostility was greatly to be 
 feared. 
 
 The Indian had learned from the white 
 man not only the use of the rifle, but some 
 of the arts and appliances of civilization. 
 The lodge covered with poles and skins haet 
 been superceded by the log cabin with its 
 bark-covered roof, and in some instanced 
 with chimnks and glazed windows, and the 
 
village was surrounded with waving corn- 
 fields and fruitful orchards. Rude as their 
 husbandry was, they raised abundance of 
 corn, beans, squashes, potatoes, pumpkins, 
 cucumbers, melons, etc., and the squaws, 
 more provident than their lords, had learned 
 to store a portion of these for the winter's 
 necessities. They possessed also fowls and 
 swine, horses and c^ittle. ; 
 
 At the very beginning of the conflict be- 
 tween the American Colonies and the mother 1 
 country, the Con linen tal authorities sent a j 
 delegation to the Great Council of the Iro- i 
 quois, informing them that their difficulties 
 with the British king related to the white ; 
 people alone, and since it did not concern the | 
 Indians they ought to be neutral in the con- ! 
 test. To this policy the Great Council ■ 
 agreed; and it was declared that some of ■ 
 their chiefs even offered their ser vices to the 
 Americans, which however the commissioners ; 
 firmly, though kindly, declined. | 
 
 Sir William Johnson, Baronet, the popular 
 British Indian agent, died June 24, 1774, and | 
 his son. John, succeeded to his' titles and 
 estates, and his son-in-law, Col. Guy John- i 
 son, succeeded to the Indian agency. Col. '< 
 John Butler, a speculator in Indian lands, I 
 whose father had been a warm friend w the 
 Baronet's, was a near and wealthy neighbor 
 of the Johnsons; these were all active loyal- 
 ists, and in connection with Sir Guy Carlton, 
 then Governor of Canada, began to persua ie 
 the Iroquois to take up the hatchet in aid of 
 the British king. The celebrated Mohawk 
 warrior, Joseph Brant, who had been elevat- 
 ed to the military chieftaincy of his nation, 
 and was won over to the side of the British 
 government, from which he had received a 
 captain's commission, was lending all of his 
 powerful influence on the side of the crown. 
 Rev. Samuel Kirkland, a missionary among 
 the Oneidas, succeeded, however, in prevent- 
 ing a part of that nation, the Stockbridge 
 Indians and a part of the Tuscaroras, from 
 taking up arms against the States, and subi-e- 
 quently some of them joined the Americans 
 — Cajjtain Jehoiacim with a few Stockbridge 
 Indians, and Hanyerry, an Oneida, with 
 some of his nation, being connected with the 
 Sullivan expedition as guides. Without go- 
 ing into the particulars of the negotiations, it 
 is sufficient to say that, through this defec- 
 tion of the Iroquois, about 1,200 Indian war- 
 riors were brought into the field to strengthen 
 the British forces. 
 
 In the early part of the year 1776, Sir 
 John Johnson fled to Canada, where he was 
 commissioned a Colonel itj the British ser- 
 vice, and raised a command of two battalions, 
 composed mostly of Scotchmen living near 
 
 Johnstown, who had accompanied him in his 
 flight, and of other American loyalists, who 
 subsequently followed their example. From 
 the color of their uniform they were called 
 "Royal Greens." Johnson became not only 
 one of the most active, but one of the bitter- 
 est foes of his own countrymen, of any who 
 were engaged in the contest, and was repeat- 
 edly the scourge of his own former neighbors. 
 Besides the regularly enlisted and uniform- 
 ed companies of Gi eens or Rangers, a consid- 
 erable number of disaffected people had been 
 driven from the border settlements by the 
 Whigs, as public enemies, and became re- 
 fugees about the British camps and garrisons. 
 They by the patriots were called "Tories." 
 Tliepe burning with rage toward the Whigs, 
 and frequently disguised as Indians, either in 
 company with them, or in bands by them- 
 selves, kept up a predatory or guerilla war- 
 fare along the frontiers, and in their cruelty 
 and inhumanity far exceeded the savages 
 themselves. _ 
 
 Of Joseph Brant, or Thayertdanegea, as 
 the Indians called him who acted so conspic- 
 uous a part on our frontiers during the Revo- 
 lutionary war, a few words need be said. Of 
 more tlian average natural gifts, he had en- 
 joyed peculiar advantages for their cultivation. 
 His sister, Molly, being the mistress of Sir 
 William Johnson, that gentleman secured for 
 him a fair English education, and afterward 
 gave him a responsible position connected 
 with the Indian agency, which he held until 
 the beginning of the war, when he made a 
 visit to England, where he was received with 
 marked attention by the nobility and English 
 people, and persuaded that the ancient 
 treaties between the Iroquois and the British 
 bound him to support the crown in its 
 struggle with the colonies, and Brant returned 
 to America an avowed ally of the Bi-itish 
 government. He was descended from a 
 Sachem of the Mohawks, and attained the 
 hift,h honor of being recognized as the war 
 chief of the Confederacy, a position the 
 highest and the most honorable to which an 
 Iroquois "could aspire. As the leader 
 of his dusky warriors, he was foremost 
 in the fray, exhau^tiess in expedients 
 to harass his enemy, of tireless energy, 
 of dauntless courage, of lofty and chivalrous 
 bearing, commanding the entirest confidence 
 (»f his people, a tower of strength to his 
 friends and a terror to his foes. Even after 
 the lapse of a century, the mere mention of 
 his name calls up i ecollectians of slaughter 
 and massacres, of plunder and pillage, of 
 burning and devastation, for which men still 
 execrate his name and stigmatize his mem( iry. 
 With such a horde of white men and red, 
 
 (]f^Z-(^ 
 
of Indian wan-iors, refugees, Tories, uni- 
 formed militia, and a few regular troops, men 
 whose passions were inflamed with intensest 
 hatred against the patriots, who were stimu- 
 lated to deeds of reckless bravery by hope of 
 plunder, who were encouraged to a mad 
 rivalry with each other ia acts of savage 
 barbarism and merciless cruelty, with such a 
 horde, whose battle-cry was "No quarter," 
 and whose purpose was extermination, with- 
 out military discipline and without suscepti- 
 bility of control, let loose upon the scattered 
 and unprotected settlements on the frontiers, 
 British Generals and British statesmen sought 
 to subdue the rebellion in their western colo- 
 nies, and crush out life and liberty from the 
 new-born nation. 
 
 The great event of 1777 was the invasion 
 of Burgoyne, and the defeat and ca]^ture of 
 his armv. In this campaign the forces under 
 Butler and Brant were with St. Leger in the 
 siege of Fort Schuyler, and were engaged in 
 the battle of Oriskany. The next year was 
 marked by a series of attacks on the most 
 important fr<intier towns in New York and 
 Pennsylvania. In January predatoiy excur- 
 sions were begun against the settlers on the 
 Susquehanna, and before the clos-^ of spring, 
 of more than a hundred families scattered 
 along the river above the Lackawanna, not 
 one remained. Then came the destruction 
 of Wyoming, and the piteous tale of sorrow 
 and distress and death had hardly been told 
 when there followed in swift suceession the 
 destruction of Andrustown, of the German 
 Flats and of Cherry Valley. As the terror- 
 stricken fugitives fled to the adjoining settle- 
 ments, they told with every conceivable ex- 
 aggeration, the story of their sufferings, and 
 the hideous cruelty and savageness of both 
 Tory and Indian. Every messenger from the 
 frontiers brought a new tale of butchery, of 
 prisoners tortured, of scenes where every re- 
 finement of cruelty was in sharp competition 
 with the most shocking barbarism This 
 enemy in the rear, though of despicable cliar- 
 acter and of but little strength, when meas- 
 ured by the ordinary military standard, yet 
 proved to be far more annoying thin the 
 more formidable forces under Clinton and 
 Howe. 
 
 During the winter of 1778-79, bands of 
 savages or disguised tories were incessantly 
 prowling around the frontier settlements, 
 keeping the people in constant alarm and 
 terror. Military men began to discuss the 
 feasibility of what had for a year been advo- 
 cated by Washington, carrying the war into 
 the enemy's country. It was argued that the 
 sur^'^t and easiest way to protect the border 
 settlements, was to weaken the power of the 
 
 adversary. It was known that in the fertile 
 valleys of the the Genesee and along the 
 lakes of Central New York, large crops of 
 corn and other vegetables were raised, not for 
 the support of the Indians alone, but as sup- 
 plies for the British army. It was thought 
 that if these crops should be destroyed, and 
 the Indians driven back upon the British gar- 
 risons which were maintained at Niagara and 
 Oswego, it would largely increase the expense 
 of the British government in carrying on the 
 war, embarrass their operations through the 
 failure of their expected supplies, place a 
 greater distance between the Indians and the 
 frontiers, and teaeh them wholesome lessons 
 of the power of the colonies to visit upon 
 them the vengeance which their cruelties de- 
 served. The territorjr it was proposed to lay 
 waste was that occupied by the Senecas and 
 Cayugas, the two most powerful nations of 
 the Iroquois, and the most haughty and im- 
 placable in their enmity to the people of the 
 States. 
 
 In the autumn of 1778, the New York 
 authorities had determined to send a strong 
 force into the very heart of the Iroquois 
 country, to punish severely the Mohawks and 
 Onondagas for their breach of faith, and their 
 cruelties upon the patriot frontiersmen, but it 
 was abandoned on account of the lateness of 
 the season. The subject was however form- 
 ally brought to the attention of Congress, and 
 that body, Feb. 27, 1779, passed a resolution 
 authorizing Gen. Washington to take the 
 most effectual measures for protecting the 
 inhabitants of the States and chastising the 
 Indians. The Commander-in-Chief deter- 
 mined to carry out this resolution with vigor. 
 Gen. Hand, Col. .2'ebulou Butler, of Wyo- 
 ming, each of whom had extensive knowl- 
 edge of the Indian country, were consulted. 
 Lieut, [afterwards Col.] John Jenkins, by 
 profession a surveyor, who had recently been 
 a captive among the Indians, and had travel- 
 ed over the very country it was proi5osed to 
 send the army, was able to give information 
 of the greatest value, and^Vas retained as 
 chief guide to the expeditio'h. 
 
 The plan of the campaign contemplated 
 the entire* destruction of everything upon 
 which the Indians depended for food or shel- 
 ter. The invading army was to enter the 
 Indian country in three divisions ; one from 
 the south up the Susquehanna; the other trom 
 the east down that river, the third from the 
 west by the way of the Alleghany. These 
 were to form a junction at some convenient 
 point, advance against the strongholds of the 
 enemy in such force as could not possibly be 
 resisted, and then overrun the whole Iroquois 
 country west of the Oneida villages. 
 
6 
 
 In a letter to the President of Congress 
 dated April 14, 1779, Washington says: 
 "The plan of operations for the campaign 
 being determined, a commanding officer was 
 to be appointed for the Indian expedition. 
 This command, according to all present ap- 
 pearances, will probably be of the second, if 
 not of the first, importance of the campaign. 
 The officer conducting it has a flattering 
 prospect of acquiring more credit than can be 
 expected by any other this year; and he has 
 the best i-eason to hope for success. Gen. 
 Lee, from his situation, was out of the ques- 
 tion; Gen. Schuyler, [who, by the way, 
 would have been most agreeable to me], was 
 so uncertain of continuing in the army, that 
 I could not appoint him; Gen. Putnam I need 
 not mention. I therefore made the offer of 
 it, for the appointment could no longer be 
 delayed, to Gen Gates, who was fnext in 
 seniority, though perhaps I might have avoid- 
 ed, it if I had been so disposed, from his hav- 
 ing a command by the special appointment of 
 Congress. My letter to him on the occasion, 
 I believe you will think was conceived in 
 very candid and polite terms, and it merited 
 a different answer from the one given to it." 
 
 Washington had written to Gates on the 
 6th of Marcli, who answered: "Last night I 
 had the honor of your Excellency's letter. 
 The man who undertakes the Indian service, 
 should enjoy youth and strength; requisites 
 I do not possess. It therefore grieves me 
 that your Excellency should offer me the 
 unly command to which I am entirely un- 
 equal. In obedience to your command I have 
 forwarded j^our letter to Gen. Sullivan. 
 
 Sullivan accepted the command and imme- 
 diately began preparing the details for the 
 expedition. It was determined that the cen- 
 ter or main division of the army should ren- 
 dezvous at Wyoming, whence baggage and 
 supplies could be transported to Tioga and 
 beyond by water. This division was to be 
 made up of three Brigades, — the New Jer- 
 sey, commanded by Brig. Gen. William Max- 
 well, composed of the First Regiment, under 
 Col. Matthias Ogden; the Second, under 
 Col. Israel Shreve; the Third, commanded by 
 Col. Elias Dayton, and the Independent or 
 Fifth, better known from the name of its 
 commander as Col. Oliver Spencer's Reg't; 
 also Col. David Forsman's Reg't and Col. 
 Elisha Sheldon's Connecticut Riflemen, sub- 
 sequently merged into Spencer's Reg't^ the 
 New Hampshire Brigade, commanded by 
 Brig. Gen. Enoch Poor, comprising from that 
 State the First Reg't, under Col. Joseph 
 Cilley; the Second, commanded by Lt. Col. 
 George Reid; the Third, oi- Scammel's Reg't, 
 under command of Lt. Col. Henry Dearborn; 
 
 and the Second New York, commanded by 
 Col. Philip Van Cortlandt ; the Brigade of 
 Light Troops, under Brig. Gen. Edward 
 Hand, composed of the Eleventh Penn'a 
 Reg't, commanded by Lt. Col. Adam Hub- 
 ley: the German Reg't, or what there was • 
 left of it, commanded by Major Daniel Burk- 
 hardt; Capt. Simon Spalding's Independent 
 Wyoming company; the Wyoming militia, 
 under Capt. (afterward Col.) John Franklin, 
 and Schott's Rifle Corps, with Capt. Selin in 
 command. It was expected that the Penn- 
 sylvania and some other companies would be 
 filled up by enlistment, when the whole num- j^ ^ 
 ber would be about :3,500 men. There was,-i«**A 
 also a section of Artillery under command of 
 Col. Thomas Proctor, of Philadelphia. 
 
 The right division of the army was the 
 New York Brigade, commanded by Brig. 
 Gen James Clinton, consisting of the Third 
 Reg't, under Col. Peter Gansevoort, who in 
 1777 gained great renown for his heroic de- 
 fense of Fort Schuyler against St. Ledger; 
 the Fourth, or Livingston's Reg't, under Lt 
 Col. Frederick W eissenf eldts; the Fifth, or 
 Independent Reg't, commanded by Col. 
 Lewis Dubois; the Sixth Massachusetts, or 
 Alden's Reg't, commanded by Major Whit- 
 ing; the Fourth Pennsylvania Reg't, under 
 Lt. Col. WiUiam Butler; six companies of 
 Morgan's Riflemen, with Major James Parr 
 the senior officer, and a small command un- 
 der Col. John Harper. The nominal strength 
 of the Brigade was about 1,600 men. 
 
 The left division was to consist of troops at 
 Pittsburg, numbering about 600 or 800 men, 
 under command of Col. Broadhead. As this 
 force never became connected with the main 
 army, but acted entirely independent of it, 
 and never received orders from Gen. SuUi- 
 van, nothing further need be said of it. 
 
 Sullivan reached Easton, Penn'a, May 7, 
 and the next day writes to Washington say- ' 
 ing, "I will do everything in my power to 
 set the wheels in motion, and make the neces- 
 sary preparations for the army to move on. " 
 He adds, "the expedition is no secret in this 
 quarter. A sergeant of Spencer's who was 
 made prisoner at Mohacamoe and carried to 
 Chemung, .has just returned; he says they 
 (the enemy) know of the expedition and are 
 taking every step to destroy the communica- 
 tious on the Susquehanna. * * * I think 
 the sooner we can get into the country the 
 better." This last sentence is in allusion to 
 the verbal instructions of Washington not to 
 hasten his march from Easton until it was 
 known what would be the future movement 
 of D'Estaign, then in the West Indies, who 
 was expected soon to sail north, and with 
 whom the Commander-in-Chief wished to bo 
 
ready to co-operate in striking some decisive 
 blow upon the enemy. Sullivan was also di- 
 rected to so time his movements that he 
 should destroy the crops before the enemy 
 could gather them, and at the same time be 
 so late that they could neither rebuild nor 
 replant. There was no need however to cau- 
 tion against too much haste, as it was past 
 the middle of June before the road was opened 
 to Wyoming. 
 
 In the meanwhile some of the Jersey 
 troops were in a state of mutiny because the 
 authorities of that State had not only neg- 
 lected to provide for the depreciation of the 
 currency, but had failed to pay even the nom- 
 inal sum in the almost worthless Continental 
 paper money. It required all the address of 
 the officers to quell the minds of the soldiers, 
 and Washington declared that nothing had 
 occurred during the war which so filled him 
 with alarm Spies from the enemy were also 
 busily at work amongst the disaffected sol- 
 diers, urging them to desert the army and be- 
 tray their country. The apprehension of 
 some of these and the execution of the ring- 
 leaders put a stop to that business. Difficul- 
 ties of another sort began to present them- 
 selves. Many people in Pennsylvania had op- 
 posed 'the expedition from the first. The 
 Quakers of Philadelphia, opposed to all war 
 on principle, were specially averse to all 
 measures which looked toward punishing the 
 Indians, who, they alleged, were far more 
 deserving of pity than blame for any excesses 
 of which they might be guilty ; while what 
 was known in that State in the Wyoming 
 controversy as the Pennamite party, which 
 included men possessing large wealth and 
 much political influence, who held title under 
 Pennsylvania for considerable tracts of land 
 in the Wyoming valley, upon which the Con- 
 necticut people had settled, while they pro- 
 fessed to commisserate the sufferings of the 
 people, did not hesitate to express their satis- 
 faction at being clear of the hated ' 'Intruders, " 
 and their perfect willingness that the Indians 
 should keep them out until the war was over. 
 This opposition began to show itself early in 
 the campaign in the lack of hearty co-opera- 
 tion to furnish either their quota of men or 
 supplies for the army. 
 
 On the 12th of June Sullivan wrote to 
 Washington, giving him in detail the difficul- 
 ties he had been compelled to meet, who in 
 reply says (June 21st), "I am very sorry 
 you are like to be disappointed in the inde- 
 pendent companies expected from Pennsylva- 
 nia, and that yon have encountered greater 
 difficulties than you looked for. I am satis- 
 fied that every exertion in your power will be 
 made and I hope that your eventual opera- 
 
 tions will be attended with fewer obstacles." 
 
 On the ISth of June, Sullivan broke camp 
 at Easton, 'and on the evening of the 23d ar- 
 rived at Wyoming. Here, instead of finding 
 the supplies he had expected, a new disap- 
 pointment awaited him. Of the salted meat 
 not a pound was fit to eat. It is but just to 
 say that the reason rendered for this was that 
 the meat was necessarily packed in casks 
 made of green lumber, which soured the brine 
 and spoiled the meat, notwithstanding the ut- 
 most precautions were used. Of the cattle, 
 many of them were too poor to walk and 
 some could not even stand. Everything per- 
 taining to the commissary's department was 
 in a deplorable condition, and the clothing de- 
 partment was in no better. On the 21st of 
 July, Sullivan writes that more than a third 
 of his soldiers have not a shirt to their backs. 
 
 As early as May 19, Col. Pickering, then 
 on Gen. Washington's staff, wrote to Presi- 
 dent Reed, stating the necessity of hastening 
 forward the supplies for the army, and adds, 
 ' 'we expected ere this time that all the stores 
 would have been at least on their way to Es- 
 therton, but for want of wagons three-fourths 
 of them are in this city." The next day the 
 Board ask that they may have immediately 
 80 to 100 wagons to convey supplies to the 
 Susquehanna. On the 31st of May Gen. 
 Washington himself writes to President Reed 
 urging that the stores be sent forward with 
 all expedition. 
 
 Instead of exertmg themselves to forward 
 the supplies so urgently demanded, and which 
 had been faithfully promised beforehand, the 
 authorities complained that the requisitions 
 of Sullivan were exorbitant and threatened to 
 prefer charges against him before Congress. 
 
 Sullivan says also that the executive coun- 
 cil of Pennsylvania engaged T20 rangers and 
 riflemen, and on the 21st of July "not a man 
 of them had joined the army, nor are any 
 about to do it.'' The excuses rendered were 
 that the Quarter Master paid such large wages 
 for boatmen that no one could be persuaded 
 into the military service — and Sullivan was 
 further told that he had men enough for his 
 expedition, although it was the opinion of 
 both himself and Washington that his force 
 was too small for the exigencies of the cam- 
 paign. 
 
 The commander at once set about with 
 great vigor to supply his army with the nec- 
 essary stores and means for their transporta- ^ 
 tion. Boats were secured, 450 boatmen were 
 enlisted and soldiers were detailed, who under 
 the direction of Gen. Hand and other officers, 
 were busily engaged for six weeks in collect- 
 ing the supplies which he expected would be 
 in Wyoming on his arrival there. 
 
Sullivan was by no means the only officer 
 who complained of the delinquency and crim- 
 inal neglect in the State commissary depart- 
 ment. In a letter to President Reed of July 
 22, William Maclay, the Lieutenant of North- 
 umberland, says : "I wish not to complain 
 of any one, nor would be understood so. 1 
 however know the wretched slothfulness of 
 many who are engaged in the public depart- 
 ment, and would rather do a piece of busi- 
 ness myself than have the trouble of calling 
 on them." Under date of July 14, Col. Hub- 
 ley writes to President Reed: "Our expedi- 
 tion is carrying on rather slow, owing to the 
 delay of our provisions, &c. I sincerely pity 
 Gen. Sullivan's situation. People who are 
 not acquainted with the reasons of the delay, 
 I'm informed censure him, which is abso- 
 lutely cruel and unjust. No man can be 
 more assiduous than he is. Unless some 
 steps are taken to find out and make an ex- 
 ample of the delinquent (Quartermasters and 
 Commissaries) I fear our expedition will be 
 reduced to a much less compass than was in- 
 tended." July 30th he writes again : "To- 
 morrow we march, and I am sorry to say ex- 
 ceedingly ill provided to carry through the 
 extensive expedition. The same unparalleled 
 conduct of those employed in supplying this 
 army, seems still to exist. I hope to see the 
 day when the delinquents will be brought to 
 proper punishment. My regiment I fear will 
 be almost totally naked before we can possi- 
 bly return. I have scarcely a coat or blanket 
 for every seventh man. The State stores are 
 all issued and delivered to the regiment." 
 The testimony on all sides is that the com- 
 missary department was in the hands of men 
 who were either entirely mcapable or grossly 
 negligent. Of course great allowance should 
 be made for the depressed condition of the 
 country, the worthlessness of the currency, 
 and the poverty of the people, but the real 
 cause was mainly to be found in the coldness 
 and real disfavor with which the State au- 
 thorities regarded the expedition and the en- 
 tirely inadequate idea they had of its extent 
 and necessities. 
 
 On the evening of the loth of July, 33 of 
 the German Regiment deserted, on the plea 
 that their term of enlistment had expired. 
 They were apprehended, brought back, tried 
 by court martial, the leaders condemned to 
 suffer death, and the others to severe punish- 
 ment. On the petition of the criminals, with 
 the promise to serve faithfully until properly 
 discharged, and the recommendation of a 
 board of officers, they were pardoned and 
 cheerfully took their places in the ranks. 
 
 The movements of Sullivan had not been 
 unobserved by the enemy, who naturally con- 
 
 cluded that the gathering of such a force and 
 the collection of such extensive stores indi- 
 cated some offensive movement, and that the 
 invasion, which they they had treated with 
 so much ridicule, might be a more serious af- 
 fair than they had anticipated. 
 
 Bold and desperate measures were under- 
 taken to divert his attention, divide his force, 
 and, if possible, embarrass or delay his move- 
 ments, by maldng vigorous attacks on the 
 right and on the left of him. 
 
 For the protection of the scattered settle- 
 ments on the West Branch of the Susque- 
 hanna, a fort had been erected fifteen miles 
 above Northumberland, called Freeland Fort. 
 On the 28th of July 100 British soldiers, un- 
 der command of Capt. Macdonald, and 200 
 Indians, invested the fort. Capt. Hawkins 
 Boon, a few miles below, hearing the firing, 
 started with tMrty men for the relief of the 
 garrison. Before reaching there, the garrison, 
 which consisted of 32 men, surrendered, and 
 Capt. Boon's party were surrounded by the 
 enemy and fourteen of his men were slain. 
 Great panic ensued, and express after express 
 arrived at Wyoming beseeching Sullivan to 
 send them aid. In reply he wrote to Col. 
 Cook : "Nothing could afford me more pleas- 
 ure than to relieve the distressed, or to have 
 it in my power to add to the safety of your 
 settlement, but should I comjily with the 
 requisition made by you, it would effectually 
 answer the intention of the enemy and destroy 
 the grand object of this expedition To- 
 morrow the army moves from this place, and 
 by carrying the war immediately into the In- 
 dian country, it will most certainly draw 
 them out of yours." 
 
 The same week Brant with a party of war- 
 riors fell upon^ the Minnisink settlements in 
 Orange Co., N. Y., killing several of the in- 
 habitants and making others prisoners. One 
 hundred and fifty Orange Co. militia march- 
 ing for their relief were decoyed into an am- 
 bush and more than a hundred of them slain. 
 An attack followed on the settlement of 
 Lackawaxen, which was broken up with the 
 loss of several lives and a number taken pris- 
 oners. Sullivan however was too good a 
 general to divide his force in the presence of 
 the enemy. He detached not a man from 
 his main body, but hastened the preparations 
 for his departure. 
 
 On the last day of July, everything being 
 in readiness, so far as circumstances would 
 allow, about one o'clock in the afternoon, the 
 army broke camp at Wyoming and began its 
 forward march. Two captains, six subal- 
 tans and one hundred men were left as the 
 garrison for Wyoming under command of 
 Col. Zebulon Butler, who was charged with 
 
forwarding such supplies as might be col- 
 lected. The Artillery consisted of eight 
 brass pieces, viz : two six -pounders, 
 four three-pounders, two howtzers carrying 
 5| inch shells, ^M a light piece for carrying 
 either shot or shell called a cohorn. A co- 
 horn is a small brass piece mounted on a 
 wooden block with handles, so that it could 
 be carried a short distance by hand. Col. 
 Pr|[ctor conceived the idea of putting legs 
 under it, and placing it on board one of the 
 light boats which was to preceed the fleet, 
 and called it the " grasshopper." The Artil- 
 lery, amunition, the salted provisions, flour, 
 liquors, and heavy baggage were loaded on 
 two hundred fourteen boats, manned by 450 
 enlisted boatmen, Col. Proctor's Regiment, 
 and 250 soldiers ; all under the command of 
 Col. Proctor. To Gen. Hand and his light 
 troops was assigned tlie post of honor, the 
 front of the column, who was directed to 
 keep about a mile in advance of the main 
 body. An advanced guard, and flanking 
 parties were kept out to guard against sur- 
 prise from the enemy, and his brigade was so 
 arranged as to be instantly effective in case 
 of sudden attack. Then followed the pack 
 horses about 1,200 in number and 700 beef 
 cattle, then Maxwell's Brigade advancing by 
 its right in files, sections or platoons accord- 
 ing to the nature of the country, then Poor's 
 brigade by the left in the same manner. A 
 regiment taken alternately from Maxwell's 
 and Poor's brigades was detailed as rear 
 guard, sixty men under Capt. Gifford of the 
 3d Jersey Regiment were directed to go up 
 ^he west side of the river to prevent any sur- 
 /)rise or interruption from that quarter ; and 
 rour light boatb, well manned, were directed 
 to keep abreast of them, to bring them over to 
 the main body, in case of an attack by a su- 
 perior force. 
 
 The firing of a gun from the "Adventure," 
 Col. Proctor's flag boat, at 1 o'clock, p. m. was 
 the signal for the fleet to weigh anchor. In 
 a few moments the whole army was in mo- 
 tion with flags flying, drums beating, flfes 
 screaming, and Col. Proctor's regimental 
 band playing a lively air. Passing the fort a 
 salute of 13 guns was fired which was ans- 
 wered by a like number from the fleet. When 
 the whole line got in motion the distance was 
 about two miles from front to rear, and some- 
 times farther, while the fleet was spread out 
 at least an equal distance. Owing to un- 
 skillful loading or mismanagement, the fleet 
 experienced great difliculty in making head- 
 way against the rapid current of the Susque- 
 hanna, and equal difliculty was experienced 
 with the pack horses, the lading either being 
 badly packed, or the slings improperly ad- 
 
 justed, packs were frequently falling ofl', or 
 the horses liable to stumble and fall. 
 
 On the 9 th of August the army encamped 
 at Sheshequin, on the 11th forded the Susque- 
 hanna a mile below the junction, crossed the 
 Tioga or Chemung and encamped at Tioga, 
 the site of an Indian town on the peninsula 
 betweeen the rivers. 
 
 On the first flat above the present villae 
 of Chemung, stood the Indian town Clie- 
 mung in 1779. The old town, abandoned a 
 number of years previous, was nearly three 
 miles below, and near the present village. 
 Sullivan determined, if possible, to surprise 
 this town and destroy it, and thus prevent it 
 from being used as a rendezvous for parties 
 to commit depredations upon his camp. Ac- 
 cordingly the same evening of his arrival at 
 Tioga (August 11th) Capt John N. Cum- 
 ming, of the 2d N. J. Regiment, Lieut. 
 Jenkins, the guide, Capt. Franklin, of the 
 Wyoming mihtia and five others were sent 
 to reconnoitre Chemung. Carefully they 
 threaded their way through the tangled for- 
 ests, avoiding the trail, yet keeping sufiicient- 
 ly near it not to loose their way, watchful of 
 an ambush and listening for the footfall of a 
 foe, they made their way to the crest of the 
 high hill now owned by Miles C Baldwin, 
 Esq., where they could look down upon the 
 town. There all was bustle and confusion. 
 The Indians were evidently expecting an at- 
 tack, and were hastening to a place of safety. 
 The scout returned the next day about 3 
 o'clock p, M. On hearing their report the 
 commander-in-chief issued orders for the sol- 
 diers to be in readiness to march at a mo- 
 ment's notice, and at 8 p. m., (August 12th,) 
 with the greater part of the troops under 
 command of Generals Poor and Hand, Sulli- 
 van set out from Tioga, leaving Gen. Max- 
 well in command of the camp. 
 
 Night marches are attended with great fa- 
 tigue and many inconveniences, but here they 
 were greatly augmented The path lay 
 through deep woods and tangled thickets, 
 down into dai'k valleys and over precipitous 
 hills ; at one time the soldiers are floundering 
 thi'ough a swamp, at another feeling their 
 way along a narrow path on the hillside, 
 where there is scarcely room for two to walk 
 abreast, and where a single misstep would 
 plunge headlong the unfortunate comradi' 
 upon the rocks hundreds of feet below ; 1 he 
 day began to dawn ere the tired troops reached 
 the last narrows. Covered by the fog, hd v- 
 ever, they pushed on their way, Gen. Hniid 
 taking a little more circuitous route to strilie 
 the town in the rear, while Gen. Poor ad- 
 vanced upon the front. But, lo ! the bird 
 had flown. Only two or three straggling In- 
 
10 
 
 dians were discovered, and these ran away as 
 soon as our men came in sight, which was a 
 little before sunrise. 
 
 The town consisted of between 30 and 40 
 houses, built, some with split plank, and some 
 with hewed logs, covered with bark, but 
 without chimnays or floors. "There were 
 two larger houses, whjch from extraordinary 
 rude decorations, we took to be public build- 
 ings. There was little furniture left in the 
 houses except bearskins, some painted feath- 
 ers and knicknacks. In what we supposed 
 to be the chapel," says Major Norris, whose 
 journal I have quoted, "was found indeed an 
 idol which might well enough be worshipped 
 without a breach of the Second Command- 
 ment, on account of its likeness to anything 
 in heaven or earth. About sunrise the. Gen- 
 eral gave orders for the town to be illumina- 
 ted, and accordingly we had a glorious bon- 
 fire of upwards of 80 build 'ngs at once." 
 
 At his own request. Gen. Hand was per- 
 mitted to pursue the retreating enemy, and 
 with Hubley's Regiment and the Wyoming 
 troops, had advanced about a mile, the latter 
 a httle in front, Capt. Bush, whose company 
 was on the right of the regiment, following 
 closely, and possibly with too little caution, 
 just as they reached the broken ground above 
 Chemung known as the "Hog-backs" were 
 fired upon by the Indians in ambush, killing 
 six men, viz : 1 sargent, one drummer, and 4 
 privates all of the 11th Pennsylvania, wound- 
 ing Capt. Franklin, Capt. Carbmy and Adju- 
 tant Huston and 6 rank and file. Our nien 
 returned the fire, pushed up the hill on a run 
 and the enemy beat a hasty retreat. It was 
 afterwards known that the Indians had three 
 killed and a number wounded. Gen. Hand 
 was recalled by orders from Sullivan. 
 
 Nearly 100 acres of excellent corn, just in 
 the milk, were near this town the greater part 
 of which Gen. Poor was ordered to destroy. 
 A party of the enemy on the other side of 
 the river fired upon the troops just as they 
 were entering a field, killing one and wound- 
 ing five. About 40 acres of corn were left 
 for the future use of the army, the rest de- 
 stroyed, the town burned, the troops returned 
 to their encampment, reaching Tioga near 
 evening, of the 13th, greatly wearied with 
 the fatigue of the journey and the extreme 
 heat of the weather. The casualties were 7 
 killed and 14 wounded. All were brought 
 to Tioga, where the slain were buried with 
 mihtary honors in one grave, Chaplain Rog- 
 ers ofliciating at the religious services. 
 
 We can hardly imagine a scene in military 
 experience mo^e tenderly solemn than this, 
 when after the fatigues of that long march 
 and conflict, in the terrible heat of that Au- 
 
 gust day, just at sunset, beneath the "shadows 
 of Nature's leafy temples," more than an 
 hundred miles distant from the home of a 
 white man, these dust-bcgrimmed soldiers 
 gather in silence and in sorrow, to consign their 
 comrades, the flrstto fall by the enemy's bullets 
 in the campaign, to the rest of their quiet 
 gi'aves. With what readiness they listen as 
 their chaplain pronounces the brief discourse, 
 and how reverently they bow their heads as he 
 ^' went to prayer." We can well believe it was 
 m ex-aggeration vhenhei'ecordsinhis jom-nal 
 " The regiment very solemn and attentive. 
 The see je was e x ceedingly affecting. ' ' These 
 were emong the heioes who sleep in nameless 
 gia,ves. No living soul knows the exact 
 place where their ashes lie, and probably no 
 one knows the name of a single one of the 
 slain, unless Joseph Davis and Ezekial Davis 
 both of Amhertt,of the 3d Company of Alley's 
 Regiment, wno were kiUed previous to Aug. 
 29, were tvio of them. 
 
 For the protection of the stores and boats 
 left at. Tioga during the absence of the army, 
 a fortification was erected which the soldiers 
 in honor of their commander, called Fort 
 Sullivan. The site selected was near the 
 centre of the present village of Athens, where 
 the two rivers approach very near each other. 
 Four strong block houses set in the angles of 
 a parallelogram served as bastions for the 
 work, the two opposite ones resting on 
 the bank of each riv'r, and the othc two 
 about midway between, and at a distance of 
 about one hundred yards from each other. 
 The curtain was made by setting logs end- 
 wise into the ground, the whole being sur- 
 rounded by a diuCh, making a work of am- 
 ple strength for the place. 
 
 General Clinton with hisbrigade and stores 
 was at lake Otsego, the head waters of the 
 Susquehanna, the early part of July, where, 
 awaiting orders from Gen. Sifllivan, he re- 
 mained until the 9th of August. Lest the 
 river would be rendered unnavigable by the 
 drought which frequently occurs in July and 
 August, he had thiown a dam across the 
 outlet of the lake by which its waters were 
 raised about 4 feet above usual high water 
 mark The boats, "^50 in number, were taken 
 into the Susquehanna, loaded with the stores 
 and two small cannon, and manned with 
 three men to each boat, when the dam was 
 broken up, and on the flood thus created the 
 fleet floated grandly over the shoals and bars 
 which abound in the upper part of the stream, 
 and the army took up its course, by easy 
 marches, *or Tioga. Not reaching there as 
 soon as expected, and Clinton having ex- 
 pressed fears tha^ his advance would be im- 
 peded by the enemy, on the 16th Sulhvan 
 
11 
 
 ordered a detachment of 900 men, properly 
 officered, under command of General Poor, 
 to ^o up the river and render Clinton all need- 
 ful aid in reaching Tioga. The brigade met 
 the detachment on the morning of the 19th 
 near the present village of Union, when they 
 proceeded together to Fort Sullivan which 
 they reached about noon on Sunday the 22d, 
 and were welcomed with salvos of artillery, 
 the cheers of the men, while Col. Proctor's 
 band enlivened the scene by playing martial 
 airs. Col. Pawling with a regiment of levies 
 was to have joined Clinton at Anaquaga, but 
 failing to make connection returned to War- 
 warsiug. 
 
 On the arrival of Clinton with the stores 
 he had collected, preparations for the onward 
 movement of the army were prosecuted with 
 great vigor. Some changes were made in 
 the organization of the army. The 4tli Penn- 
 sylvania Regiment and the companies of rifle- 
 men were trrnsferred to Hand's Brigade. 
 Alden's regiment was transfered from Clin- 
 ton's to Poor's and Cortlandt's from Poor's 
 to Clinton's brigades. The riflemen were 
 formed into an advauce guard, and a pioneer 
 corps was organized under Capts. Selin and 
 Ballard. The German Battalion was reor- 
 ganized into four companies of 25 men each , 
 two of these companies with two hundred 
 picked men in addition, formed the right 
 flanking division commanded by Col. Dubois 
 ard Lt. Col. Regnier, under the direction of 
 Gen. Poor. An equal number under the di- 
 rection of Gen. Maxwell and commanded by 
 Col. Ogden and Lt. Col. Willett formed the 
 left flankmg division. The flom* and amuni- 
 tion were packed in canvass sacks made of 
 teats ; commissary and hospital stores- were 
 placed in kegs, the two six-pounders were 
 left with the garrison, and the rest of the ar- 
 tillery was taken with the army. In the 
 order of march, Gen. Hand's Brigade was 
 in advance, Gen. Poor on the right, Gen. 
 Maxwell on the left and Gen. Clinton in the 
 rear. The artillery preceeded by the pioneers 
 in the center, followed by the packhorses and 
 beef cattle ; all cumbrous and unnecessary 
 baggage was ordered to be stored with the 
 garrison at Tioga, which was to consist of 
 250 men besides the invalids under the com- 
 mand of Col. Shreeve. 
 
 On the 26th of August the army took up 
 the line of its march to an unknown country, 
 through leagues of unbroken forests, into the 
 very heart of the enemy's territory, relying 
 on their own valor alone for success, without 
 hope of relief or of reinforcements, or in case 
 of defeat of any quarter. It was an expedi- 
 tion in which not only peculiar hai-dships 
 might be expected, but it was one without 
 
 scarcely a parallel in the world's history for 
 the boldness of its design, and the courage 
 with which it was undertaken. To transport 
 an army with its equipments and supplies, 
 through an uncivilized country, Avithout 
 roads, for much of the way without water 
 communication, to cut loose from their base 
 of supplies and communications ; to be shut 
 up for weeks fro m the intelligence of the 
 world, where to fa-// was to die, and ordin- 
 arily to die by torture, was an exauple of 
 heroic bravery which the world has seldom 
 witnessed. Sherman's march to the sea has 
 received and justlv merits the applause of 
 men for its daring an d its success ; but this 
 expedition was far m ore daring, and if the 
 loss of life and the eads secared by it, be 
 taken into the account, equally as successful 
 in its execution, and deserves first rank 
 among the great military movements in our 
 country's history. 
 
 It was known that the enemy were assem- 
 bled in force somewhere on the Chemung 
 river, where it was thought they would dis- 
 pute the passage of our army. Some boats 
 carrying supplies and baggage, were to ac- 
 company the army until it met the enemy 
 and then return. 
 
 The army reached the site of Old Chemung 
 on the evening of the 27th. Between this 
 point and the town, ihree miies above, the path 
 led over t^ very high hill, which comes sharp- 
 ly down to the water's edge, was found so seri- 
 ous an obstruction, that the artillery, bag- 
 gage, ammunition wagons, packhorses and 
 Maxwell's brigade forded the river twice. 
 The current was swift and the water deep, 
 and the crossing attended with considerable 
 difficulty, and some of the loading lost. The 
 other troops passed over the mountain, aid 
 the army encamped near the site of the town 
 destroyed on the 1 3th. 
 
 During the evening a scout came in with 
 the information that the enemy were busily 
 at work on a lortification a few miles above. 
 The advance guard could easily hear- the 
 sound of their axes, and see the hghtof their 
 fires beyond the hills. 
 
 Early on Sunday, the 29th of August, rhe 
 army moved with great circumspection. Gen. 
 Hand marched at 8 o'clock, and before nine, 
 all the troops were in motion. They had 
 gone scarcely two miles before the advanced 
 guard began to discover Indian scouts or spies 
 150 or 200 yards in front, who, upon being 
 discovered, ran off at full speed. A small 
 party was also seen on the opposite side of 
 the river, who kept nearly abreast our front 
 line. Tlie farther our men proceeded the 
 bolder and the rhore numerous these scouts 
 became. After marching about 4 miles, the 
 
12 
 
 fortifications of the enemy were discovered. 
 In order to obtain a better idea of the po- 
 sition of the defenses and the plan of the 
 battle, allow me to call attention to the topo- 
 graphy of the place. Standing at this point 
 and looking to the eastward, we hare the 
 Chemung (the old Tioga) river on om- right, 
 and running first in a southerly direction, 
 then sweeping around the northeast it form- 
 ing nearly a semi-circle, of which, the road 
 leading to Elmira is the diameter. The 
 road to Wellsburg divides this space into two 
 nearly equal areas or quadrants. Coming 
 down between the hills from the north is 
 Baldwin's creek, which a little south of the 
 main road, turns sharply to the east, and 
 reaches the river some distance below. Be- 
 ginning near the river, and nearly opposite 
 of what was formerly the lower point of 
 Baldwin's Island, now, owing to a change in 
 the main current of^the stream, near the 
 middle of it, begins -tiais ridge of land, run- 
 ning in a south-easterly direction for about 
 3,500 feet, and crossing the Wellsbm-g road, 
 when it turns nearly at right angles, and ex- 
 tends in almost a direct northerly course 
 about 1,200 feet fm'ther until it reaches the 
 creek. The side of this ridge toward the 
 streams was steeper and hight-r than it now 
 is, it having been measurably levelled down 
 by ninety years of cultivation. Between 
 this ridge and the hill on the north on which 
 the monument stands, and is now called Sul- 
 livan Hill, is a hollow, along which the El- 
 mira road is laid, and which a mile to the 
 west of the creek expands into a wider fiat, 
 where was the site of an Indian town of 25 
 or 30 houses, called Newtown. At present 
 only two or three old apple trees indicate its 
 site, but for many years, the settlers were ac- 
 customed to find in abundance, all those rel- 
 ics and marks which indicate the locality of 
 the abandoned villages of the aboriginees. 
 
 A mile or more to the north of the main 
 road, Baldwin's creek runs between two high 
 ridges parallel with the stream, the slope of 
 the western one, which is Sullivan Hill com- 
 ing sheer down to the water's edge, -gliere 
 Jacob Lowman's sawmill now stands, in the 
 woods, on both sides of the creek, were about 
 20 or 30 houses, which had never been inhab- 
 ited, and were supposed to have been built 
 for storing the crops growing in the vicinity. 
 A few houses near the bend ol the creek 
 were torn down by the enemy, and the logs 
 used in their fortification. 150 to 200 acres 
 of magnificent corn just ripening for the 
 sickle were on the flats near the river. The 
 Indian path from Chemung, probably, was 
 nearer the creek than the present road ; after 
 the creek was crossed, the path turaad to the 
 
 right, until it reached the Elmira road, when 
 it took about the direction of the highway to 
 Newtown. The slope of Sullivan Hill was 
 covered with pine and dense growth of shrub - 
 oaks. 
 
 Along the crest of the ridge, or " Hog- 
 back" as the old settlers were wont to call 
 these ridges, from the river to the creek ^the 
 enemy had erected a fortification, in mos 
 places breast high or more, in others lower, 
 but pits or holes were dug, in which the de- 
 fenders could be nrotected. The work was 
 very artfully maiked bj'- the slope of the 
 ridge being thickly set with the shrub oaks 
 cut the nigh before from the hillside Stand- 
 ing a little in front of the line of fortifica- 
 tion were one or two log houses which served 
 as bastions for the woi'k. 
 
 The enemy seem first to have concentrated 
 their main force at the angle in the fortified 
 line. From this point a thin line was con- 
 tinued on one side to the river, and on the 
 other to the creek. On the crest of the ridge 
 just above the sawmill before spoken of, a 
 considerable force was stationed to repel any 
 flank movement which might be attempted, 
 and was connected with the main force by a 
 scattering line. On the very summit of the 
 hill just will re the monument stands, was 
 placed a corps for observation, as also one on 
 the opposite hill, on the east side of the 
 creek. There was a small party also on the 
 opposite side of the river. 
 
 The plan of the enemy seems to have been 
 tilts : — Presuming their fortification to be 
 perfectly concealed, and that the army would 
 follow the Indian tr^l, as it turned to the 
 right after crossing the creek, a sudden and 
 severe fire opened on its exposed flank would 
 create confusion in tlie ranks, and in the sur- 
 prise of the unexpected attack, the party on 
 the eastern hill, and that over the river hav- 
 ing faUen back and crossed over, would 
 fall on om' rear, increase the consternation, 
 stampede the cattle and pack horses, and if 
 they did not destroy the army would so crip- 
 ple its resources as to prevent its further pro- 
 gress. For the purpose of the enemy the 
 place was admirably adapted. In addition 
 to occupying a position tb«s naturally strong, 
 they had the inside line and could concen- 
 trate their forces in much shorter space than 
 their opponents. 
 
 The force behind the ramparts consisted of 
 a few regular British soldiers, the two Bal- 
 talions of Royal Greens^ Tories and Indians. 
 The whites were commanded by Col. John 
 Butler, with his son, Capt. W alter N- Butler 
 and Capt. Macdonald, and the Indians by the 
 great Mohawk warrior, Joseph Brant. Other 
 celebrated Indian Chiefs, but of less note 
 
13 
 
 than Braat, were also present. The appear- 
 ance of these noted" captahis in border war- 
 fare, was an indication of tlie importance at- 
 tached to the pending contest and an assur- 
 anne that if cunning, bravery and every de- 
 vice known to savage warfare would secure 
 success, victory would perch upon the banners 
 of the motley herd 
 
 As soon as the riflemen discovered what 
 they supposed to be the fortification, which 
 was about 11 o'clock a. m., they halted, and 
 one of them climbing a tall tree near by, dis- 
 tinctinctly saw the breastwork and painted 
 Indians behind it. All doubt being dispelled 
 as to the character of the work, General 
 Hand ordered the riflemen to form in line at 
 about 300 yards from the enemy, open fire 
 upon him and to hold their position until the 
 remaining part of the brigade should come 
 up or uniil further orders. This was 
 scarcelv done, before about 400 of the enemy 
 made a sortie, and, delivering their lire, rap- 
 idly retreated to their works. This was re- 
 peated a number of times, with the manifest 
 intention of drawing our men into their lines. 
 This scheme which had too often been suc- 
 ceesful in alluring the millitia into ambush 
 failed with the disciplined troops of this army, 
 and, at length, the enemy sullenly retired be- 
 hind his entrenchments to await the issue of 
 the attack. 
 
 In the meanwhile. Gen. Hand drew up 
 his brigade in line of battle and advanced it 
 to support the riflemen, and informed Sulli- 
 van of his discovery and the disposition he 
 had made of his brigade. 
 
 The commander at once summoned a 
 council of his general officers, who after 
 thoroughly reconnoitreing the ground, agreed 
 upon the plan of attack, While tliey are 
 standing upon that hill lop yonder, a mile or 
 more in front of the enemy's works, where 
 one sweep of the glass reveals the salient 
 points of the enemy s position, let us for a 
 moment survey that group of remarkable 
 men, whose names are so intimately asso- 
 ciated with the events we are commemorat- 
 ing, and whose deeds brought lustre to our 
 Country's arms, and glory to this place of 
 their triumph. "Monuments and eulogy," 
 said Webster at Bunker Hill, "belong to the 
 dead." Who were these men whose deeds 
 we this day commemorate ? 
 
 The central figure, that man of robust 
 form slightly tending to corpulence, whose 
 dark gray eyes are piercing as an eagle's, 
 whose swarthy complexion is still deeper 
 browned by almost constant exposure to 
 storm and wind and an xlugust sun, whose 
 hair, black as a raven's wing, falls in thickly 
 clustering locks upon his shoulders, whose 
 
 mien and bearing are every whit a soldier- 
 that man is Major General John Sullivan. 
 Born in Dover N. H., in 1741, he is 38 years 
 of age. He had acquired a good education 
 under the direction of his father, who was a 
 school teacher, and commenced the practice 
 of law ?t Durham, N. H., which continued 
 to be his place of residence until his death. 
 In 1772 he was Major of the New Hampshire 
 Regiment. In 1774 and 1775 he was Dele- 
 gate to Congress, and by that body was ap- 
 pointed Major -General in July, 1776. His 
 courage, bravery and skill were unques- 
 tioned. He enjoyed thn confidence of 
 Washington and his compatriots. His con- 
 duct in this expedition was the subject of 
 severe criticism in certain circles, and char- 
 acterized as vandal and unmilitary. His 
 usual practice of firing a morning and even- 
 ing gun, his destruction of the houses and 
 orchards of the enemy, were declared to be 
 unwise and unsoldierly. Sullivan bore these 
 criiicisms in patience and for the most part 
 in silence; and such was his love for Wash- 
 ington, that never did he allude to the fact, in 
 his own defense, that in tliose things for 
 which he was blamed, he was acting under 
 the express directions of the Commander-in 
 Chief, preferring rather himself to suff- r in 
 silence than that his beloved Washington 
 should airiT -er reproach. Owing to exposure ^« 
 in this expedition, and the derangement of 
 his business growing out of his prolonged ab- 
 sence in the camp, he asked leave to retire 
 from the army at the close of the campaign. 
 But his subsequant life was largely spent in 
 the pubMc business. In 1780 and 1781 he 
 was a delegate to Congress, in 1782 was ap- 
 pointed Attorney -General, and re-appointed 
 on the adoption of the new Constitution in 
 1784 In 1786 and 1787 he was President of 
 the State. In 1788 he was Speaker of the 
 House of Representatives of Kew Hamp- 
 shire, and President of the t 'onvention 1 hat 
 ratified the Constitution of the Uniti d States. 
 In 1789 he he was Presidential Elector and 
 voted for Washington; and in March of the 
 same year was elected President of the State 
 for the third time. In 1789 he was appoint- 
 ed by Washington Judge of the ! )istrict 
 Court of New Hampshire, which office he 
 held until his death. January 23, 1795, at the 
 age sf 54 years. One of New Hampshire's 
 honored sons, at whose name we this day 
 uncover our heads with reverence, ^fd/i^^yi 
 
 Near by his commander, ijj the second ^ 
 order of rank. Owing to the positioii of his 
 Brigade, he was the last to arrive at the 
 council. Dignified, thoughtful, earnest 
 brave, with a mind of broad grasp, and a will 
 resolute to execute, he readily seconded the 
 
u 
 
 plan of Sullivan, and is ready to carry out 
 his part in the work of that memorable d^y. 
 To you, standing on the soil of his native 
 State, I need hardly mention the name of 
 Brigadier-General James Clinton, t he brother 
 of one Governor and the father of another, 
 a name intimately blended with the civil and 
 military history of this commonwealth. Born 
 in Ulster county, N. Y , he was in age three 
 years the senior of his commander. With 
 the rank of Colonel he was with Montgomery 
 in the invasion of Canada. In 1777 he was 
 promoted to be Brigadier- General, and held 
 various important commands prior to the ex- 
 pedition. After the war he held several 
 civil positions, and died in Orange Co., N. 
 Y., greatly beloved and honored, December, 
 1812, at the age of 74 years. 
 
 The next in order of rank is Brigadier- 
 General William Maxwell, commandant of 
 the Jersey line, a gentleiiian of refinement 
 and an officer of high character. Of his per- 
 sonal history but little is known. It is be- 
 lieved he was born in Ireland, but at an early 
 age was brought by his parents to New Jer- 
 sey. When quite young he entered the mil- 
 itary si-rvice, and at the breaking out of the 
 Revolutionary war was made CoL mel of the 
 Second Battalion of the First Establishment, 
 was with Montgomery in his Canada cam- 
 paign, promoted to Brigadier -General Oct., 
 
 1776, and commanded the Jersey Brigade in 
 the battles of Brandy wine and Germantown, 
 and indeed all the battles in wliich the Jersey 
 Brigade was engaged, until he resigned his 
 commission, July, 1780. He died Nov., 1798. 
 
 The commander of the right wing of the 
 army was Brig. Gen. Enoch Poor, of Exeter, 
 N. H., who in early life had been a success- 
 ful shipbuilder, became connected with the 
 3d N. H., or Scammel's Keg't, and on the 
 appointment of Bcammel to be Adjutant Gen- 
 eral of the army, was put in command of the 
 regiment, and promoted to a Brigadier in 
 
 1777. xlfter his service with Sullivan on 
 this campaign, at the request of LaFayette, 
 Poor was appointed to the command of a 
 brigade of light troops under that General, 
 and it has been mentioned as no small tribute 
 to his memory, that the Marquis, on his sec- 
 ond visit to this country, at a public enter- 
 tainment should have proposed the sentiment, 
 "The memory of Light Infantry Poor and 
 Yorktown Scammel." At Hackensack, N. 
 
 lJ" J., he BLU&L-kakd Sept. 8, 178 C, in a duo 
 with a French offlcur, but so great wag his 
 popularitj^ with tho4roops, that a lupLuitT was 
 foai'ed 4 f tiic truth was kn o wn ; IL was ihin ' ii - 
 foi'o ouH'ontly fcpo r tod ho died of bilious 
 
 * fever. He was in the *M year of his age."' 
 Brig. Gen. Edward Hand, though the 
 
 ■^ {H i-ir^ ('^^^^ ^u^yu. li. ijiC, 
 
 youngest of the Brigadiers, held the most im- 
 portant position in the command, next to Sul- 
 livan himself. Born in Ireland the last day 
 of 1744, he entered the British army as en- 
 sign, served for two years in his regiment in 
 this country, then resigned and settled in 
 Pennsylvania. A t the beginning of the Rev- 
 olution he entered the Continental service as 
 Lt. Colonel, but was made Colonel of a rifle 
 corps in 1776, was m the battles of Long 
 Island and Trenton, and in the summer and 
 fall of 1777 was in command at Pittsburg, 
 where he acquired such knowledge of the In- 
 dian country and their modes of warfare as 
 made his services indispensible to the expedi- 
 tion. Washington placed great confidence in 
 his judgment, and consulted him freely in re- 
 gard to the feasibility of the enterprise. In 
 1780 he succeeded Scammel as Adjutant 
 General of the army, and held the position 
 until the close of the war. He was known 
 as a lover of fine horses and an excellent 
 horseman. He died in Lancaster Co., Pa., 
 Sept. 3, 1802, aged 58 years. 
 
 Col. Thomas Proctor of the Artillery, was 
 doubtless invited to the consultation, whose 
 stalwart person must have ()een conspicuous 
 in the group. He too was born in Ireland, 
 but in early life came to Philadelphia whei-e 
 he worked at the trade of a carpenter until 
 the beginning of the war, when he raised a 
 company, was commissioned captain, and 
 was soon promoted to c<jlonel. He was a 
 man of ' great executive ability and was fre- 
 quently serviceable to the government in oth- 
 er than a military capacity. In 1791, he 
 was sent on a mission to the Western Indi- 
 an s, which he performed to the satisfaction 
 of the government. He died in March, 
 1806. 
 
 It was three hours from the time the ene- 
 my was discovered, before the ground was 
 reconnoitered, the plan of attack matured, 
 aud the troops came up. It was determined 
 that the artillery should be stationed on a 
 slight rise of ground about oOO yards from 
 the angle of the enemy's fortified position in 
 such a way as to enfilade his lines and com- 
 mand the space behind them ; Gen. Hand to 
 advance a portion of his light troops near the 
 breast-work, and d^e t the enemy's atten-i!lW< 
 tion from the movements on the flank ; and 
 the rest to support the artillery ; the left 
 flanking division to push up the river as far 
 as prudent in order to gain the enemy's flank, 
 cut off his retreat in that direction, and join 
 in the pursuit when he left the works ; Gen. 
 Poor with his brigade, the Riflemen, and the 
 right flanking division, supported by Clin- 
 ton's brigade, to march by a circuitous route, 
 and gBin the mountain (SuUivan Hill) on the 
 
15 
 
 enemy's left ; Maxwell's brigade to remain a 
 corps de reserve, to act as occasion might 
 demand. 
 
 It was about 3 o'clock p. m., when at a 
 point a little more than a mile to the east- 
 ward of where the ptith crossed Baldwin's 
 creek, Poor, " marching by columns from 
 the right of regiments by files," followed by 
 Clinton, who was ordered to march to the 
 rear and the right of him, struck off to the 
 right from the path, his movement being 
 concealed from the enemy by a considerable 
 hill, which also hid a swamp that was direct- 
 ly in his path. He had not proceeded far be- 
 fore he found himself floundering in this mo- 
 rass which was so thickly grown up with 
 alders and bushes that his men could only 
 with great difficulty make their way through 
 them. An hour had been allowed as suffi- 
 cient time for Poor's troops to be in position 
 to turn the enemy's left, at which time the 
 attack should be made in force on the front, 
 the artillery fire being the signal for a simul- 
 taneous attack on both front and flank. The 
 advance of Poor's brigade had, however, just 
 reached the creek where the group of houses 
 stood near the sawmill, when Sullivan, ignor- 
 ant of Poor's delay, ordered the artillery to 
 open fire, and the Light infantry to advance. 
 They pushed forwai'd and formed in line un- 
 der the bank of the creek, which afforded a 
 secure protection within 120 yards of the 
 enemy's line. Proctor whose battery it will 
 be remembered consisted now of six three- 
 pounders, the light cohorn, andtwohowtzers, 
 carrying 5J inch shells, opened Tvith a sharp, 
 severe fire of shell and solid shot. Such a 
 scene this valley never before witnessed and 
 to such music never before did these hills 
 send back their answering echoes. 
 
 To endure a protracted cannonade is one 
 of the severest tests to the discipline and 
 fortitude of experienced troops, while to 
 the Indian the roar of cannon is as terrify- 
 ing as tiiough it were the harbinger of the 
 day of doom ; yet such was the command- 
 ing presence of the great In dian Captain 
 and such the degree of confidence he in- 
 spired, that his undisciplined warriors 
 stood their ground lilie veterans for more 
 than half an hour, while the shot went 
 crashing through the tree-tops or plowing 
 up the earth under their feet, and shells 
 went screaching over their ln-ads, or 
 bursting in their ranks, and high above 
 the roar of the artillery and the rattle of 
 small arms, coald be heard rhe voice of 
 Brant (encouraging his men for the cou 
 flict, and over the heads of all his cr-tsted 
 plume could be seen waving where the 
 fight was the hottest and where the con- 
 
 test was like to be most sharp. At length 
 word came from the party on the moun- 
 tain top, whose keen eyes hyd discovered 
 the advance of Pour's brigade by the 
 gleaming of their arms in the sunlight, of 
 the threatened attack on the flank, and 
 with a chosen band of his warriors, Brant 
 hastened to repel this new danger, leaving 
 a few oE his Indians, with the troops un- 
 der Butler, to hold the ground in front. 
 
 Emergine from the swamp, Poor Ijore 
 off considerably to the left, Clinton follow- 
 ing with his left exactly in the rear of 
 Poor's right, and his right as he turned 
 toward the creek sweeping over the lower 
 part of the hill on the east side of the 
 creek, uncovered the party of the enemy 
 stationed there and compelled their pre 
 cipitate retreat, 
 
 On reaching Baldwin's creek. Poor drew 
 up his brigade in line of battle — Lt, Col. 
 Reid's 2d N. H. Reg'c on the left, L,t. Col. 
 Dearborn's 3d N. H. next, then Aloen's, 
 the 6ch Mass., and Col. Cilley's, the Ist JS. 
 H., on the right; and on tbe right flank 
 of the brigade the 250 picked men under 
 Cul. Dubois, while the riflemen were de- 
 ployed in front of the line as skirmishers. 
 
 By this time the advance of Clinton, 
 who was to support Poor, began to arrive, 
 and his brigade was placed" in order of 
 battle with Gansevoort's Reg't, the 3d JN. 
 Y., on the left, Dubois, the 5th N. Y., 
 next, then Livingston's, which was the 
 4th N. Y., and Cortland's-, the 2d N. Y., 
 on the right. 
 
 Having formed the line of battle, Poor 
 advanced his brigade with as much rapid- 
 ity as the nature of the ground and the 
 heat of the day would admit. No sooner 
 had he crossed the creek than he was met 
 by a sharp but somewhat random fire from 
 the enemy stationed along the slope tow- 
 ard the creek, and protected by the trees 
 which thickly ; tudded the hill side. The 
 riflemen returned the fire, but the brigade 
 pressed rapidly forward, without firing a 
 shot, and with fixed bayonets, steadily 
 driving the enemy before them, who, as 
 our men advanced, retreated, darting for 
 cover from tree to tree with the agility of 
 panthers. 
 
 When about two-thirds of the distance 
 up the hill, the left part of the brigade 
 was met by the party of the enemy from 
 the breastwork, led by Brant in person. 
 They falling like a thunder bolt upon Col. 
 Reid's regiment, which it will be remem- 
 bered was the lett wing of the brigade and 
 nearest the foe, checked his advance, and 
 
16 
 
 before lie had time to recover frora the 
 shock, his men oui of breath from their 
 run up the hill, foiiud himself in the midst 
 of an ludiiiii torce outnumbering his own, 
 three to une, who were swarming in a 
 semi-circle about his regiment, threaten- 
 ing to cut it off from the support of the 
 rest of the brigade, and leaving him the 
 alternativo either to fall back on Clinton 
 for support or to force his way through at 
 the point of the bayonet. Gen Poor be- 
 ing with the right wing of the brigade, 
 urging forward his men that he might cut 
 off the retreat of tlie, Indians toward New- 
 town, was not riwart! ol the serious danger 
 which threatened Reid, l>ut Ool. Dear- 
 born, whose regiment was on Reid's right, 
 immediately and on his own responsibili- 
 ty ordered his regiment to change or re- 
 verse front, by a right about face, and 
 just as Rei(t had given orders to charge. 
 Dearborn's Reg't poured in a volley upon 
 Brant's force w;iic,h tirsr !<tagg<Ted them, 
 and then a second vollej", when they beat 
 a hasty retreat. 
 
 About the same time Clinton perceived 
 the critical condition of Rpid. and pushed 
 forward Gansevoort's and Dubois' regi- 
 ments for his support, who reached him 
 just in time to hasten the flight of the ene 
 my. Brant observing the movement tow 
 ard his rear and understanding its mean- 
 ing, sounded the retreat, and the enemy 
 fled from all parts of the field tovvard New- 
 town and the ford of the Chemung, pur- 
 used by Hand and the riflemen. The two 
 Regiments on the right of Poor's Brigade 
 and the flanking division of Dubois, reach- 
 ed the river above Newtown, at a point 
 where the old Fountain Inn, now owned 
 by Willard Harrington, stands ; but this 
 f<.>rce was not sufficient successfully to re- 
 sist the demoralized mass of the enemy, 
 whose only means of escape led in this 
 direction ; and which being thus inter- 
 cepted, they broke through Poor's line 
 with such impetuosity, as for a time, to 
 endanger his flank. Some shots were ex- 
 changed, with(>ut serious casualty to our 
 troops, although Sullivan and others say 
 the enemy did not so escape. At the same 
 ^.fy time Col. John came very near being 
 taken prisoner. 
 
 Clinton with his two remaining regi- 
 ments followed in the track of Poor, burn- 
 ing the houses which lay in his path, and 
 joined the other troops near Newtown. It 
 was now about 6 o'clock in the afternoon, 
 and seven hours since the first gun was 
 fired, when three rousing cheers announced 
 that the battle was ended and Sullivan's 
 
 gallant army was in possession of the con- 
 tested battle field. 
 
 (.Jur men fought with great valor ai.d 
 determination. The horrors of Wyoming, 
 of Cherry Valley, of the West Branch, of 
 iMinnirfink and (J-erman Flats, were fresh 
 in their recollections, and many of the sol- 
 diers had lost some of their nearest rela- 
 tivrs in these strifes where savage hordes 
 and tory outlaws held high carnival. 
 There is a tradition thftt as Poor's men be- 
 gan the charge up the hill, some one said, 
 "Remember Wyoming," which was taken 
 up alung the line as the watchword K,nd 
 battle cry of the hour ; l)ut tht-re is not a 
 lisp in confirmation of this in any of the 
 numerous journals which have been pre- 
 served to us, and like a multitude of other 
 traditions was doubtless the after thought 
 of some one ot wliat might have been 
 rather than a relation of what actually oc- 
 curred. 
 
 The exact numbers engaged on either 
 side cannot now be apcertained. Sullivan 
 and his officers after going over the whole 
 field, examining the line occupied by the 
 enemy and comparing tlie accounts and es- 
 timates of those in best position to know, 
 put their strength at 1,500 men, while the 
 two men who were captured on the even- 
 ing of the battle gave the number as low 
 as 700 or 800. vSomewhere between these 
 extremes is doubtless the ruth. There 
 were fifteen British regulars, both compa- 
 nies of the Royal Greens, and the Tory 
 militia, all told from 200 to 250 white 
 men. Besides these there were all the In- 
 dian warriors of the Senecas. Cay ii gas, 
 Mohawks and part of the Onondagas, 
 Oneidas and Tnscaroras, ami some 
 of the Northern tribes. Sullivan s ays 
 the warriors of the seven Nations, 
 at least 1,000 men, making the entire 
 force of the enemy not far from 1.200. 
 That this estimate of the number of Indi- 
 an warriors is not too great is evident 
 when we remember that in 1763 from an 
 actual census the Six Nations mustered 
 1,950 fighting men, of whom 1,050 be- 
 longed to tiie Senecas alone; and accord- 
 ing to the calculation of Briti.sh Indian 
 agent the English had in her military ser- 
 vice during the Revolutionary war no less 
 thon 1,580 men. It is granted on all sides 
 that Brant used bis utmost eudi avors to 
 make a grand rally of all his warriors for 
 this battle. Allowing, however, that he 
 succeeded in collecting but two-t!iii-ds of 
 them, certainly a moderate estimate, and 
 he must have had more than 1 0(10 braves 
 under hia command. 
 
17 
 
 At Catherines Towu about iiOO Indians 
 from Canada joined Brant, and a couple 
 of days after, at Kendaia, he reported 
 that he had over 1,000 Indian warriors in 
 his army. Deducting the losses at New- 
 town, and from disertion which is always 
 lai'ge after a dif-astroiis battle, and his 
 force at Kendia could not have been 
 much, if any greater than at Newtown. 
 
 The numbers in Gen. Sullivan's com- 
 mand are equally uucertain. At Wyom- 
 ing his force was said to be 3,500 men, 
 and the number who came with Clinton 
 in round numbers to have been 1,500 or 
 1,600, making a total of 5,000 in the grand 
 army. But this is evidently- much too 
 large. To begin with, Pennsylvania failed 
 to furnish the 750 men required to fill up 
 her quota, leaving not more than 2,750 
 men in actual service ; and this must be 
 some hat diminished. Jily 22d, nine 
 days bi fore the army marched from Wy- 
 oming, but alter the arrival of all his 
 troops, the returns comprise 3 Brigadiers, 7 
 Colonels, 6 Lieutenant-colonels, 8 Majors, 
 48 Captains, 3 Chaplams, 10 Surgeons, 11 
 Drum and Fife Majors, 131 Drummers 
 and Filers, 2,312 rank and file, or a total 
 of 2,539 men of all grades and ranks.- — 
 Clinton's Brigade consisted of five regi- 
 ments^ and six companies of riflemen. 
 The 4th Pennsylvania Regiment, which 
 was one of the number, by a return dated 
 June 18, 1779, numbered of all grades 248 
 men. Taking them as the standard and 
 the five regiments would have about 1,250. 
 Of the riflemen. Major James Poor's com- 
 pany contained when enlisted in 1776, 48 
 men, in 1779 could not have mustered 
 more than half that number, or the six 
 companies in the Brigade about 150 men. 
 '! hese figures cannot be far from correct, 
 and make the sum total of the army a 
 trifle less than 4,000 men of all ranks. 
 From these deduct 5 per cent, for sick 
 and absent, the 100 left at Wyoming, 300 
 left at Port Sullivan, 250 pack-horse dri- 
 vers, and Sullivan's effective force could 
 not have exceeded 3,100 or 3,200 men. 
 The loss of the enemy was severe. 
 Eleven warriors and one squaw were left 
 dead on the battlo-fleld, proof of the 
 fearfully demoralized condition of the In- 
 dian army, who make it a matter of relig- 
 ious duty and national pride that their 
 dead shall not fall into the hands of their 
 enemies. Besides these, a number, given 
 as 19 by one writer, were found the next 
 day hidden in the brush or hastily cover 
 ed with leaves, and some were known to 
 H have been cast in the river. All the re- 
 
 ports made by them on their retreat were 
 that their loss in killed and wounded was 
 very heavy, but the precise number can- 
 not be ascertained, A great number of 
 packs, Butler's orderly book, the commis- 
 sion of Walter Butler and other things of 
 value, fell into the hands of the victors. 
 Two prisoners were captured, one a white 
 man, Clinton says " one Hogtailer from /^ 
 the Helder Barrack," taken on the battle- 
 field, and the other a Negro taken by the 
 riflemen at evening, near Newtown. 
 
 The loss in Sullivan's army was three 
 kUled on the field, viz : Corporal Hunter 
 and two privates ; the wounded were Ben- 
 jamin Titcomb, of Dover, Major in the 2d 
 N. H. through the abdomen and arms, 
 Elijah Clay es, Captain of the 7th Company 
 of the 2d N. H. through the body ; Na- 
 thaniel McCauley, of Litchfield, 1st Lieut, 
 of the 4th Company of the 1st N. H., Ser- 
 geant Lane wounded in two places, Ser- 
 geant Oliver Thurston, and 31 rank and 
 file, all but four of whom were of Poor's 
 brigade and nearly all from Reid's regi- 
 ment, Lieut. Mscauley had his knee shat- 
 tered making amputation necessary, and 
 died before morning, and Abner Dear- 
 born died a few days after he was removed 
 to Tioga, Sergeant Demeret, Joshua 
 Mitchell and Sylvester Wilkins died previ- 
 ous to Sept. 19th, making a total of eight. 
 
 Those who died upon the field were 
 buried separately, near where they fell 
 and fires were built upon their graves to 
 conceal them from the enemy, lest after 
 the departure of the aimy their bodies 
 should be desecrated ; a practice shame- 
 fully prevalent on both sides in Indian 
 warfare. It seems strange thd.t in a con- 
 test waged between such numbers and 
 for so long a time, the casuabies should 
 have been so few, laut our men were well 
 protected by the bank of the creek on 
 the front, and the Indians probably shot 
 over the heads of those coming up the 
 hill. 
 
 While Poor's Brigade was pushing up 
 the hill, Lieut. Jonathan Cass (father of 
 the late eminent statesman Hon, Lewis 
 Cass,) stumbled over an Indian slightly 
 wounded lying in his path, stopping long 
 enough to snatch the Indian's tomaha^ k 
 from his belt despatched him, and imme- 
 diately jomed his company. Col. Jenk- 
 ins says that when the Riflemen brougli t 
 the Negro prisoner to the General he in- 
 quired of him what the Indians said when 
 the cannon began to play upon fchem ; lie 
 replied the Indians ran and so did the 
 Rangers, that the officers shouted " 'Top, 
 
18 
 
 Bangers ! 'top Rangers ! but Rans^ers not 
 'top." In Stonte's Lite of Brant, the au- 
 thor re'ates thatj sometime jHter the war 
 JJrant met Col. Van Oortlan/St, and "while 
 conversing upon me subject of the battle 
 at Newtown, Brawt inqiared : 'General, 
 when jou were standing by a large tree 
 during that battle, aow near to your head 
 Which struck a little 
 f^eneral paused a mo- 
 about two inches 
 Chief then related 
 'I\iad remarked your 
 he, 'and call- 
 
 did a bullet come, 
 above you ?' The 
 men+,, and replied- 
 abovemyhat.' T/ 
 the circumstances./ 
 activity in the ba 
 
 mg one ot my /best 
 
 you out, and (Jirected 
 
 down. He 
 
 your head th^ instant I 
 
 would stri 
 
 told my wpd'rior that he 
 
 YOU, and 
 
 xksmen, pointed 
 
 im to bring you 
 
 I Tgaw you dodge 
 
 osed the ball 
 
 id not fall, I 
 
 ust missed 
 
 tree.' " 
 
 you 
 
 d the ball in 
 
 That the plans of the enemy were skill- 
 fully laid, and the disposition of his force 
 evinced wisdom and foresight, and that 
 his warriors fought valiantly, heroically, 
 none will deny. But the various ruses by 
 which he had so frequently allured unsus- 
 pecting militia into an. bush, did not Mvail 
 to entrap the more careful commander of 
 this expedition. The consequence was 
 that all those arrangements, which were 
 made in anticipation of a panic, were of 
 no accouat, and really weakened the ene- 
 my's line just the number of men who had 
 been stationed on the Eastern Hill, and on 
 the south side of the river. And then 
 the line of the enemy was so thin and 
 weak that when Sullivan hurled his regi- 
 ments of disciplined troops against it at 
 any point, it must give way under the 
 shock. Braut was overpowered by the 
 weight of superior numbers. His braves 
 could not for a moment stand against the 
 momentum of such an attack. 
 
 Disheartened, terror-stricken, and hope 
 Iciss of further resistance, the enemy fled 
 with all possible speed, not daring even to 
 look behind them; and such was the mor- 
 al eftect of the victory, that all the persua- 
 sion of Butler and all the authority of 
 Brant could not induce them to make 
 another stand against the invaders, but 
 without thought for else but their lives, 
 they abandoned their villages to the torch 
 and their cornfields to the destruction of 
 the victorious foe. 
 
 The remaining part of our story must be 
 briefly told. 
 
 The day after the battle was spent in 
 destroying the crops in the neighborhood, 
 sending the wounded, four heavy guns, 
 
 ammunition wagons, etc., back to Tioga; 
 and while here, owing to the prospective 
 scarcity of beef and flour, and the abund- 
 ance of corn, beans, potatoes, squashes, 
 etc. , the army agreed without a dissent to 
 subsist ou half rations of the former arti- 
 cles. 
 
 On the 31st of August the army again 
 started westward. On the 15th of iSep- 
 tember it reached the Indian town Chen- 
 nese on the Genesee river, near present 
 Cuylerville, in Livingston Co., N. Y. ; 
 thence turned on its homeward path, ar- 
 riving at Canadaseago, at the outlet of 
 Seneca Lake, the 19th of September, 
 whence parties were sent in various direc- 
 tions, who swept before them every vestige 
 of the fruit of human toil. 
 
 On the 24th of Sept. the army returned 
 ti 1 Kanawaholla,present Elmira, where Capt 
 Reid had erected a little stockade and accu- 
 mulated a magazine of supplies for the ar- 
 my. Here after a day of rejoicing, while 
 waiting for the several detachments of his 
 army to come in, Sullivan sent a force up 
 the Chemung, who destroyed everything 
 as far as Painted Post. On the 30th of 
 September the army returned to Fort 
 Sullivan, having burned forty Indian vil- 
 lages, destroyed 200,000]? bushels of corn, 
 besides thousands of fruit trees and great 
 quantities of beans and potatoes. It might 
 be said to be literally true of this army 
 that " the land was as the Garden of Eden 
 before them, and behind them a desolate 
 wilderness." 
 
 Sullivan returned to Easton where a 
 thanksgiving service was held, and then 
 the army hasted to join that of Washing- 
 ton. Congress passed a vote of thanks in 
 which the officers and men were compli- 
 mented in the highest terms, and v ash- 
 ington did not hesitate to express his sat- 
 isfaction with the management of the 
 •campaign and its results in the most flat- 
 tering language. 
 
 Tha expedition was more disastrous to 
 the Indians than at first might appear. 
 They returned to their blackened homes 
 and wasted confields and looked with de- 
 spair upon the waste and ruin before 
 them. They now began to feel the iron 
 they had so ruthlessly thrust into the 
 bosom of others. Mary Jenison says there 
 was nothing left, not enough to keep a 
 child. Again they wended their way to 
 Niagara, where huts were built for them 
 around the fort. The winter following 
 was 'he coldest ever known, and prevent- 
 ed the Indians going on their winter hunt. 
 Cooped up in their little huts and obliged 
 
19 
 
 to subsist on salted provisions, the scurvy 
 broke out amongst them, and hundreds of 
 them died. Those the sword had spared 
 the pestilence destroyed. 
 
 The power of the Iroquois was broken. 
 That great confederation whose influence 
 had once been so potent, crumbled under 
 the iron heel of the invader, and the na- 
 tion which had made so many tremble, it- 
 self quailed before the white man's steel. 
 It is true that as long as the war continued 
 they kept up their depredations, but it 
 was in squads of five or six, seldom as 
 many as twenty. We have no repetitions 
 of Wyoming or Cherry Valley. It was a 
 terrible blow, but one which they brought 
 upon themselves by their own perfidy and 
 treachery and cruelty. The sacking of so 
 many homes, the destruction of so much 
 that was valuable, awakens in every civil- 
 ized heart the sentiment of pity for their 
 loss, but the act was as justidable as that 
 which slays the assassin at your door, or 
 the man who is applying the torch to your 
 dwelling. 
 
 " We often build wiser than we plan." 
 When the little army of Sullivan broke 
 the prestige and the pride of the Iroquois, 
 it opened the door of civilization to an 
 empire ; and the sound of the bugle had 
 hardly ceased to echo from the mountains 
 ere the sound of the woodman's axe was 
 heard to ring in the forests, and a new 
 civilization came in the stead of chat which 
 was destroyed. The names of those who 
 fought and fell on this spot have been 
 forgotten. Thousands who live all over 
 the Iroquois country would never have 
 known of this campaign had this celebra- 
 tion not aroused their attention, but the 
 great country has become the home ot 
 thousands and hundreds of thousands. 
 Teeming cities have grown up beside its 
 streams ; the products of its soil and the 
 fruit of its industry are found in every 
 clime ; through its broad valleys pass the 
 commerce of nations, and the iron horse 
 thunders over the red man's trail. And 
 westward still the star of empire takes its 
 way. 
 
 Dedicated August 29, 1879, in Commemoration of the Victorv of the Americans, under 
 
 Command of Gen. John Sullivan, over the Six Nations, under Command 
 
 of Joseph Brant, at the Battle of Newtown, "August 29, 1779. 
 
SULLIVAN CENTENNIAL. 
 
 Waterloo, JVew York, Sept. 3d, 1879. 
 
 In the current of human history, there 
 arise great events which naturally modify 
 the structure of society, turn the stream of 
 national life into new channels, give a 
 new coloring to national character, and 
 secure devulopmeut of new resources. 
 They are the events which designate his- 
 torical epochs, and become focal dates 
 which the historian uses to mark the pro- 
 gress of civilization, and trace the devel- 
 opment of social and national life. 
 
 Such an event, to this country, was the 
 SullivaDE xpeditit)n, whose centennial an- 
 niversary we commemorate to-day. It 
 was the beginning of a new era in the 
 htstory of this Empire State. It deter- 
 mined at a single blow, whether white 
 men or red men should hold domination 
 over these fertile vales and along these 
 it_ streams, and over the- lakes and moun- 
 tains. At a single stroke it solved the 
 question whether the American Indi m, 
 with his deeply rooted prejudices, with 
 his unconquerable aversion to civilization, 
 with his undisguised hatred for the reli- 
 gion and the culture of the European, 
 was longer to stand in the way of human 
 progress; whether he was longer to main- 
 tain a barrier as cold and forbidding, as 
 restless and yet as immovable as his own 
 nature, to the advancement of the insti- 
 tutions and the ideas of the white man, 
 or whether he must go down before the 
 antagonism of another race, which was 
 every day gathering new strength and pre- 
 paring itself for a fresi; onset. 
 
 To whichever party our sympathy may 
 cling, in whatever speculations the phi- 
 lanthropist may indulge, whatever charges 
 of cruelty, of greed, of rapacity may be 
 made against the white man, we shudder 
 to think what might have been the fate of 
 free institutions on this Western conti- 
 nent, had the wage^'of battle between the 
 races, at that awful crisis, given victory 
 to the vanquished. 
 
 Instead of indilging in speculations, 
 however interesting they may be, we must 
 rather spend this hour in the recital of 
 those important facts and movements of 
 the campaign of a century past, which 
 brought such renown to the actors^ in it, 
 anu such benign results to succeeding gen- 
 erations. 
 
 At the very outset allow me to say, that 
 the story is not one of thrilling adventure, 
 of hair breadth escapes, of the exhibition 
 of that exalted courage which leads one to 
 " stand in some imminent deadly breach;" 
 not the marshaling of forces in hostile ar- 
 ray ; not the picture of war in garments 
 crimsoned with blood ; but the far less 
 attractive representation in robes soiled 
 with the dust of heated and fatiguing 
 marches, rent and torn by the bushes and 
 brambles in the way, and besooted and be- 
 grimmed with the smoke of burning towns 
 and pertumed with the odor of wasted 
 corn-fields. In its important facts, the 
 story has been repeated by the public 
 press until the great masses have become 
 familiar with its outline, and many of them 
 with its minutest details. I shall have the 
 disadvantage of telling a thrice told tale ; 
 but the interest you manifest in this topic 
 by assembling here to day encourages me 
 to proceed. That I may refresh your 
 recollections with the facts of the deepest 
 local interest, I shall confine myself to 
 that part of the campaign which stands 
 closest related to this locality — that part 
 which transpired north of Newtown and 
 east of Seneca Lake. [ufiyyi^yu^yt^ 
 
 It will be remembered that at the elea© ' 
 of the Revolutionary war the confederate 
 Six Nations, or Iroquois, as they are com- 
 monly called, occupied all that part of 
 New York west of the German Flats. 
 They were accustomed to speak of their 
 territory as their Long House, whose east- 
 ern door was gnardedgby the Mohawks, its 
 western by the Senecas, and its southern, 
 
21 
 
 which was at Tioga, the junction of the 
 Susquehanna and Tioga, or Chemung, by 
 the Cayugas. To this point all the trails 
 coming from the southward centered, and 
 here was stationed a Sachem who opened 
 or closed the door to messengers, traders 
 or travellers, as he saw fit. 
 
 The Iroquois claimed the territory of 
 Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Southvyard 
 to the Carolinas, by right of conquest, 
 and to the Cayugas was committed the 
 duty of governing these dependences on 
 the South, over which the Iroquois had 
 established a protectorate, and until 1768, 
 when a greater part of tbis vast territory 
 had been sold to the whites, deputations 
 were frequently passing up the Susque- 
 hanna to Cajuga Castle to negotiate with 
 Togahaju, the chief Cayuga Sache'ii and 
 the Iroquois Deputy, in regard to compli- 
 cations growing out of the relations of 
 white settlers to these nations. In conse- 
 quence of this long intercourse and com- 
 plicated diplomacy with the white people, 
 the Cayugas assumed to possess control- 
 ling influence in the Great Council of the 
 Confederacy, and this assumption was 
 maintained both by their strength in 
 warriors and their suffrage in the Coun- 
 cil. In the latter they hid the largest 
 representation of any but the Onondagas, 
 and in the number of their warriors they 
 held a very respectable position. Thus in 
 1677, out of 2,150 fighting men, the Sene- 
 cas counted 1,000, the Onondagas 350, the 
 Ontjidrts 200, the Mohawks and Cayugas 
 each 300,. A census taken in 1763, nearly 
 a century later, out of 1,950 warriors, the 
 Senecas claimed 1050, the Oneidas 350, the 
 Cayugas 200, the Mohawks 160, the Onon- 
 dagas 150 and the Tuscororas, who had 
 been admitted as the sixth nation of the 
 Confederacy, 140. The British Indian 
 agent reported that during the Revolution- 
 ary war the English had in their service 
 400 Seneca warriors, 300 each of Ononda- 
 gas and Mohawks, 230 Cayugas, 200 Tus- 
 caroras and 150 Oneidas These figures 
 will give a pretty fair ida of the compara- 
 tive strength of the nations which formed 
 the Confederacy. 
 
 After the sale of the Susquehanna 
 Valley in 1768, and even before, the Cayu- 
 gas admitted into their ancient towns, or 
 gave, permission to build separate villages, 
 to the Nanticoke, Monseys and others who 
 had bean (4spossessed of their ancient 
 seats by the sale of their lands. The peo- 
 ple therefore, who inhabited the immedi 
 ate territory of the Cayugas, from the 
 
 Susquehanna to Lake Ontario, were a 
 mixture of national ides, but all obedient 
 to the mandates of the Great Council and 
 the Chiefs of the Cayugas. 
 
 As early as 1775, Sir John Johnson and 
 Major John Butler called a secret council 
 of the Indians at Oswego, which was 
 attended principally by the Senecas and 
 Cayugas, who, henceforth, with the cele- 
 brated Joseph Brant, became prominent 
 in their opposition to the colonists, and 
 foremi st in the various marauds made 
 against the frontier settlements. 
 
 At the very outset of the Revolutionary 
 war, great effort was made to pledge the 
 Iroquois to be neutral in the impending 
 conflict. To this the greater part of the 
 Nations solemnly agreed, but though the 
 pledge was shamefully broken at Oriskany 
 in 1777, Congress determined to make a 
 still further eifort to secure their good 
 will, and sent a deputation to meet them 
 !it Johnstown in 1778. It was estimated 
 that 700 savages were present at this coun- 
 cil, but of these there were only three or 
 four Cayugas and rot a single Seneca, the 
 latter nation not only refusing to attend 
 the conference, but sent a most insolent 
 message in which they affected great sur- 
 prise, using their own language "that 
 while our tomahawks were sticking in 
 their heads, [meaning the Continentals], 
 their wounds bleeding and their eyes 
 streaming with tears for the loss of their 
 friends at German Plats," (Oriskany), the 
 commission should think of inviting them 
 to a treaty. Says Col. Stone, in his life of 
 Brant, " While the impression at the time 
 seemed to be that the Oneidas, the Tuscaro- 
 ras and the Onondagas would remain neu- 
 tral and restrain their warriors from tak- 
 ing part with the British,the commission- 
 ers left the Council under the full persua- 
 sion 'hat from the Senecas, the Oayvigas, 
 and the greater part of the Mohawks, 
 nothing but revenge for their lost friends 
 and tarnished glory at Oriskany and Fort 
 Schuyler, was to bf. anticipated. 
 
 Of the massacres and pillaging of the 
 frontiers during the rest of the year 1778, 
 of Wyoming, German Fiats a ad Cherry 
 Valley, it is not needful here to speak, ex- 
 cept to s&y the Senecas, Cayugas, Mo- 
 hawks and many of the warriors of the 
 Onondagas, were engaged uu each of these 
 bloody fields. 
 
 As to this latter nation, it may here 
 be noted, that to punish them for their 
 repeated treachery and cruelty, Gen. 
 Schuyler, then in command at Albany, 
 
22 
 
 with the approval of Washington, 
 directed General Clinton to send out 
 a strong detachment and destroy their 
 towns and break up their haunts. Ac- 
 cordingly Col. Van Shaick, commanding 
 the 1st New York Regiment, with a de- 
 tachment of 558 men including officers, 
 made a forced march to their towns, 
 which being taken partly by surprise, 12 
 Indians were slain, 33 taken prisoners, 
 their three villages entirely destroyed with 
 a considerable quantity of corn, beans and 
 other vegetables, most of their arms cap- 
 tured, a swivel at the council house disa- 
 bled, their council fire extinguished, and 
 the troops returned after an absence ot 
 six days, having made a journey of 180 
 miles, without the loss of a single man. 
 
 From what lias been said it will readily 
 be understood why Washington, in his in- 
 structions to General Sullivan, gave spe- 
 cific instructions for the entire destruction 
 of the towns and crops of the Senecas 
 aid Cayugas. They were the undisguis- 
 ed, bitter and implacable enemies of the 
 States, the sworn and pledged allies of 
 Grreat Britain, whose cruel hatred and in- 
 satiable thirst for blood had been gratified 
 in the destruction of many a settler's 
 home, and whose huts were adorned with 
 many a dangling scalp of white man, wo- 
 man and child. It was not until all ofiers 
 for peace had been repelled with scorn, 
 all overtures for a better understanding 
 had been treated with derision, and the 
 messengers of Congress had been haught- 
 ily told that the Six Nations were the 
 King's children, that the warm advocacy 
 of Washington succeeded in persuading 
 Congress to carry the war into the Iro* 
 quois country. It was not expected that 
 their warriors would be subdued by fight- 
 ing, for to fight in open field and pitched 
 battle was not their policy. It became 
 necessary, therefore, to touch them at the 
 only point they could be reached, lay 
 waste their country at such a time of the 
 year that the approach of winter would 
 find them houseless and foodless. This 
 extreme measure, when it once had been 
 adopted, was pursued with great rigor. 
 
 It will be remembered that on the 11th 
 <,f August, Gen. Sullivan reached Tioga 
 with about 2,500 men, destroyed Chemung 
 on the morning of the 13th, and the same 
 evening returned to Tioga, where he 
 awaited the arrival of Gen. Clinton's brig- 
 ade from the eastward. 
 
 Gen. James Clinton, with the Bd, 4th 
 and 5th New York Regiments, the 6th 
 Massachusetts, and the 4th Pennsylvania, 
 
 and a detachment of six companies of 
 Morgan's Riflemen, under Major James 
 Parr, of Northumberland Co., Pa., num- 
 bering all told, 1,600 men, reached the 
 south end of Otsego Lake, which is the 
 head of the Susquehanna, the early part 
 of fJuly, having transported his boats, 
 baggage and provisions overland from the 
 Mohawk river, a distance of 29 miles. 
 Here he remained awaiting orders from 
 Gen. Sullivan, until the 9th of August,- 
 when he loaded his baggage, ammunition 
 and provisions on the fletit, which had 
 been hauled into the river, struck tents, 
 and began his march for Tioga. He pro- 
 ceeded down the river by easy marches, 
 and on the evening of the 14th of August 
 encamped at Anaquaga, where he halted 
 two days awaiting the arrival of Col. 
 Pawling, who, with a regiment of J!^ew 
 York levies, was stationed at Warwassing, 
 and had been ordered to join in the expe- 
 dition. Owing to some misunderstanding, 
 Pawling arrived at Anaquaga one day af- 
 ter ''/linton's departure, when he immedi- 
 ately returned to Warwaising. 
 
 Clinton not reaching Tioga as soon as 
 expected, Sullivan detached General Poor 
 with 900 men properly officered, to meet 
 him. The two forces met on the morning 
 of August 19th, near the present village of 
 Union, opposite the mouth of the Ohoco- 
 nut Creek, at the Indian village Choconut, 
 which consisted of 20 houses, and had 
 been burned by Poor the evening before. 
 The village was within the limits of the 
 Cayugas' territory. In the evening the 
 united force encamped at Owego, which 
 after the destruction and abandonment of 
 Tioga, became the "fore town" of the 
 Confederacy. This town consisted of 
 about twenty houses, some of which were 
 surrounded with gardens and fruit trees, 
 with about 500 acres of cleared land, a 
 part of which was planted to corn, and a 
 part covered with a luxuriant growth of 
 English grass. Major Norris says that 
 on their arrival at this place, the town 
 was burned to grace their meeting. They 
 enjoyed their bonfire, however, a little too 
 soon, as the log houses would have afford- 
 ed comfortable shelter through the next 
 day's drenching rain storm, which Poor's 
 men, who were without baggage, found it 
 necessary to face without shelter. On the 
 next day the march was resumed, and the 
 day after the troops reached Tioga, to the 
 joy of all. 
 
 Preparations were speedily commenced 
 for the onward march of the army, which 
 were completed, and Sullivan broke camp 
 
23 
 
 on the 26th, and fought the battle of New- 
 town the 29th, at which the combined 
 forces undei' Bntler and Brant were badly 
 beaten and utterly dispersed by the terri- 
 ble blows which they had received from 
 our army,and fled in haste and terror toward 
 their chief towns in the center of the State. 
 After caring for his wounded, sending 
 back to Tioga four of his heaviest pieces 
 of artillery and other cumbrous baggage, 
 with his ammunition and stores and part 
 of his provisions, loaded on pack horses, 
 with four light cannon and the little how- 
 itzer, or cohorn, and an army'slightly 
 more than 3,000 men, and each man load- 
 ed with from eight to fifteen days rations, 
 Sullivan set out to finish the work for 
 which the expedition had been organized. 
 
 About two miles above Newtown a little 
 village of eight good houses "was found, 
 which was burned, and the army passed 
 on to Konawaholla, a pleasant town of 
 twenty good houses, which Lieut. Barton 
 says were the best he had seen since leav- 
 ing Wyoming, and Capt. Livermore adds, 
 were ot English construction. This town 
 was situated on the point at the junction 
 of present Newtown Creek with the Che- 
 mung, near the city of Elmira, and four 
 and a half miles above the battle ground. 
 Here, as at Chemung and Newtown, the 
 corn-fields bore marks of having been 
 planted under the supervision of white 
 people, whom it is well known were di- 
 rected by the British government to aid 
 the Indians in raising supplies for the 
 British army and garrisons. 
 
 From this point Col. Dayton, with the 
 3d New Jersey Regiment and a detach- 
 ment of the Hiflemen, was sent up the 
 river in pursuit of some of the enemy 
 whom the advanced guard saw escaping 
 with their canoes. He chased them for 
 eight miles up the river, but their speed 
 was too great, and the nimble-footed sav- 
 ages escaped. At this point Col. Dayton 
 found an Indian village which was near 
 present Big Flats, where he encamped for 
 the night. The next morning he burned 
 the village, destroyed about thirty acres 
 of corn and a quantity of hay, and rejoin- 
 ed the main arm^ just as it was leaving its 
 encampment. Col. Dayton was a valued 
 and trusted officer in the New Jersey line, 
 having been commissioned Colonel in Feb.. 
 1776. He was promoted to Brigadier- 
 General Jan. 7, 1783, commanded the 
 Jersey Brigade after the resignation of 
 Maxwell, and continued in the service un- 
 til the close of the war. 
 
 From Kanawaholla the path turned 
 
 northward ; the army marched about five 
 miles farther and encamped for the night 
 near the present village of Horseheads. 
 The next morning tents weie struck at 
 eight o'clock, and for three miles the path 
 lay through an open plain, then they 
 entered the low ground which forms the 
 divide of the waters flowing into the 
 Susquehanna and into the St. Lawrence, 
 at that time a deep, miry swamp covered 
 with water from the recent rains, dark 
 with the closely ishadowing hemlocks, the 
 path studded with rocks and thickly in- 
 terspersed with sloughs ; it was the most 
 horrible spot they had met with. It was 
 past seven o'clock, just in the dusk of the 
 evening, when the advanced guard emerg- 
 ed from the gloomy' shadows of the morass 
 and formed themselves in line just on the 
 outskirts of the village Sheaquaga, or 
 French Catherine'stown. The Indians 
 were amazed that the army should have 
 made this difficult passage in so short a 
 time. Immediatly after the batle at 
 Newtown the Indians had removed their 
 families from this place, leaving a strong 
 rear guard which kept just far enough in 
 advance of our front to be out of danger, 
 but near enough to observe every move- 
 ment of our army, and take advantage of 
 any want of precaution on the part of the 
 men or their commander. This party were 
 just cooking their suppers in the town as 
 their scouts rushed in with breathless 
 haste to inform them that the army of the 
 Town-burner was at their doors, when, 
 leaving their fires burning, t'aeir sup- 
 pers uncooked and untasted, they fled 
 with precipitate haste. The very bold 
 ness of Sullivan's advance doubtless 
 saved him from being harassed by the en- 
 emy. They did not expect he would at- 
 tempt to penetrate the swamp until the 
 next day, or doubtless his army would 
 have been assaulted in some of the numer- 
 ous hiding places with which the morass 
 abounded, at which many times the sol- 
 dieis would have been almost a help- 
 less prey to their assailants. It was 
 pitchy dark before Hand's brigade got out 
 of the wilderness. To the rest of the ar- 
 my it was a night ot horrors. It was so 
 dark the men could not see the path, and 
 could keep it only by grasping the frocks 
 of their file leaders. Poor's and Max- 
 well's Brigades did not reach the town 
 until ten o'clock. Many of the soldiers, ut- 
 terly worn out with heat and fatigue, fell 
 exhausted by the wayside, and did not 
 join the army until the next day. Clinton's 
 Brigade spent the night in the swamp, 
 
24 
 
 without supper or shelter. Two of the 
 pack horses fell and broke their necks, 
 others became exhausted and died in the 
 path, while the stores of food and ammu- 
 nition were sadly depleted. The town was 
 built on both sides of the Inlet to Seneca 
 Lake, and about three miles from the 
 lake, on the site of present Havana. It 
 consisted of between 30 and 40 good 
 houses, some good cornfields and orchards. 
 The soldiers iouncf^m^ iiorses, cows, 
 calves and hogs, which they ajapropriat- 
 ed. In most of the jorunals the name 
 given to this place is French Catherine's 
 Town. While it is not my purpose at 
 this time to discuss questions of Archseol- 
 ogy or general history, the following para- 
 graj)h from Lieut. Barton's journal will be 
 of interest : 
 
 " Catherine is the most important Sene- 
 ca town we have met with since entering 
 their nation. It derives its name from 
 French Catherine, who in her infancy was 
 taken from Canada by the savages and 
 became accustomed to their manners, mar 
 rying au Indian Chief who was said to 
 be half French himself, from which mar- 
 riage she claimed this part of the country. 
 Here she raised a great number of horses 
 for sale." 
 
 Although she, Mandame Montour, and 
 Queen Esther have often been confound- 
 ed, yet they were three distinct persons. 
 Madame Montour's romantic history cov- 
 ered the first half of the 18th century. In 
 1749 she was very aged and blind, and 
 probably died prior to 1752. Catherine 
 was young enough to have been her 
 granddaughter. The reputed father of 
 her children was Edward Pollard, an In- 
 dian trader, and a sutler at Niagara, who 
 was also the father of the famous Seneca 
 warrior, Capt. Pollard. Catherine had two 
 sons, Rowlan 1 and John, and one daugh- 
 ter, Belle. The sons were actively en- 
 gaged during the Revolution, were both 
 at Wyoming in 1778, and at Newtown in 
 1779, where John was wounded in the 
 back. Rowland's wife was the daughter 
 of the chief Sachem of the Senecas. 
 After the campaign of 1779, they were all 
 settled near Niagara. Of Queen Esther, 
 but little is known. She was settled op- 
 posite Tioga Point in 1772, and had a sis- 
 ter Mary. She was a coarse, bold, reck- 
 less, bloodthirsty squaw. After the war 
 she settled on the banks of Cayuga Lake, 
 where she died. 
 
 All of Thursday was spent in resting, 
 bringing up the wearied horses and ex- 
 hausted soldiers, burning the houses, de- 
 
 stroying the trees and corn, and scouring 
 the country for straggling Indians. A 
 very old squaw was found hidden in the 
 bushes. She was accosted by one of the 
 Indian guides in various dialects, but 
 shook her head as if she could not under- 
 stand. At length the General, becoming 
 convinced that her ignorance was only 
 assumed, threatened her with punishment 
 if she did not an-.wer. She replied that 
 Butler and the hiefs held a council here, 
 and many of the old Chiefs and women 
 desired peace, but Butler told them Sulli- 
 van's army would kill them all if they 
 surrendered, and they had better run ofi 
 into the woods ; that Brant received a re- 
 inforcement of 200 Indian warriors, who 
 were eager to fight, but those who had 
 been in the Battle of Newtown shook 
 their heads and would not agree to it. 
 She further said that the Indians lost 
 very heavily in killed and wounded, and 
 she heard many women lamenting the 
 death of their relatives. 
 
 On Fridayj Sept. 3d, having built a 
 comfortable hut for the old squaw, and 
 left her a supply of provisions, the army 
 resumed its march and encamped twelve 
 miles from Sheaquaga, the route most of 
 the way being through open woods, over 
 level country, and the journey devoid of 
 special incident. The place of the en- 
 campment was on the lake side where 
 there were a few houses and plenty of 
 corn, and near what has since been called 
 Peach Orchard, where it is said the early 
 settlers found conclusive evidences of In- 
 dian occupation. One of these cornfields 
 an Indian scout left just as our men came 
 up, who found the corn roasting by the 
 fire and the supper left untasted. 
 
 ..Ibout ten o'clock the next morning the 
 army moved from its encampment, and 
 after proceeding four miles, came to what 
 is known as North Hector, but the Indi- 
 an town was called Con-daw-haw, and 
 consisted of one long house built accord- 
 ing to Indian custom, to contain several 
 fires, but in utter defiance of the white 
 man's proverb about no roof being large 
 enough for two families. There were 
 several smaller houses besides. Destroy- 
 ing these and the cornfields, the army 
 went eight miles further and encamped. 
 
 On Sunday, the 5th of September, the 
 army marched three miles and encamped 
 at au Indian town called Kendaia, or 
 Appletown, pleasantly situated, a half a 
 mile from the lake, consisting of 20 or 
 more houses of hewn logs, covered with 
 bark, and some of them were well paint- 
 
25 
 
 ed. Here was an apple orchard of sixty- 
 trees, besides others ; also peach trees and 
 other fruits. The houses were burned for 
 firewood, and the trees were cut down or 
 girdled. The most noticeable thing 
 about this town were the showy tombs 
 erected over some of their Chiefs, one 
 of which, larger and more conspicuous 
 than the others, is described by one of 
 the journals as a casement or box made 
 of hewed planks, about four feet high 
 and somewhat larger than the body over 
 which it was placed, and which was ap- 
 propriately dressed. This casement was 
 painted with bright colors, and 
 had openings through which the body 
 could be seen, and the whole was covered 
 with a roof to protect it from the weath- 
 er. Although this was evidently an old 
 town, yet there was such a scarcity of 
 pasturage, that during the night twenty- 
 seven of the cattle strayed off and were 
 not found until afternoon. While here, 
 Luke S wetland, who had been taken 
 from Wyoming the ytar before, came to 
 the army — Mr. Jenkins says, almost over- 
 joyed to see his old friends again. 
 
 On the 6tb the army encamped three 
 miles north of Kendaia, on the shore of the 
 lake, and opposite a consideiable Indian 
 town on the other side. This camping 
 place has been identified by Gen. Clark, 
 of Auburn, N. Y. , as near the ravine 
 called on the old maps Indian Hollow. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 7th, the 
 army again struck tents, and after march- 
 ing about eight miles, came to the outlet 
 of Seneca Lake. They were then in the 
 country properly of the Senecas. Passing 
 a small town at the foot of the lake, 
 near the canal bridge, called Butler's 
 buildings, five miles further around the 
 lower end of the lake brought them to the 
 first important Seneca town, of about 50 
 houses, surrounded by orchards and corn- 
 fields, and called Kanadaseaga, occupying 
 nearly the site of present Geneva. Here 
 the army lay by during Wednesday, the 
 8th, while several detachments were sent 
 out in various ways to explore the country, 
 discover and destroy the neighboring vil- 
 lages and cornfields. Sullivan was now 
 in a strange country. He had not a single 
 guide ^■vho knew the exact locality of a 
 town beyond him, hence he was compelled 
 to rely upon his own scouts for informa- 
 tion. 
 
 Among the companies which were thus 
 sent out, was a party of volunteers under 
 Col. John Harper, who, following down 
 the Seneca river about eight miles, came 
 
 to a pleasantly situated town consisting 
 of eighteen houses on the north side of 
 the river, called Scawyace, and occupying 
 the site of yom: own handsome and thriv- 
 ing village, whose enterprise and public 
 spirit are indexed by this Centennial 
 gathering. Near this town were some 
 fish ponds, the remains of which were 
 found by the early settlers without know- 
 ing their use — a peculiar enterprise for an 
 Indian village, and one which I do not 
 remember to have seen elsewhere. Here, 
 too, were fields of corn whose golden ears 
 were waiting the sickle of the harvester ; 
 and orchards whose trees were bending 
 rmder their load of ripening fruit. The 
 scout found the village abandoned by the 
 Indians, burned the houses, and hastened 
 theii- return to Kanadaseaga. 
 
 This Col. Harper, whose name I have not 
 met with elsewhere in the journals or re- 
 ports of this campaign, in hia life of 
 Brant, (Vol. II, p. 26) Col. Stone says, was 
 Col. John Harper, who was one of four 
 brothers, William, John, Alexander and 
 Joseph, who, with eighteen others, settled 
 Harpersfield in 1768, a brave and daring 
 o£&cer, to whom was entrusted several 
 delicate and dangerous enterprises, and 
 who was throughout the war a prominent 
 actor in the stirring scenes of the frontier. 
 As was frequently the case, he may have 
 been in command of a small squad of 
 men wno volunteered for this especial 
 service, or have been serving as a volun- 
 teer without any command. He was 
 doubtless somewhat acquainted with the 
 country, and may have known of the ex- A«*^ 
 istence of this very town. 
 
 Scawyace seems to have been, not the 
 capitolof the Cayugas, but one of their 
 important towns, and the probable resi- 
 dence of one or more of their Sachems. 
 Situated upon the western frontier of their 
 particular territory, and on the great trail 
 which extended east and west through 
 the whole extent of the Confederacy, and 
 far beyond, it was guarded with especial 
 care and watchfulness by the nation. Its 
 destruction was only the forerunner of 
 that entire destruction of their nation 
 which they had every reason to expect 
 was soon to follow. It may be added that 
 Norris and one or two others call the place 
 Large Falls, and FeUows says Long 
 Falls. Having totally destroyed Kandase- 
 aga, after sending back to Tioga under 
 an escort of fifty men, the sick and the 
 lame, on the 9th the army resumed its 
 westward march through the country of 
 the Senecas as far as the Genesee river 
 
26 
 
 which they crossed, and having burned the 
 Genesee Castle and devastated their coun- 
 try, the army returned to Kanadeseaga 
 on the evening of Sunday, the 19th of 
 September. Here Sullivan was met by a 
 delegation from the Oneidas, who came to 
 excuse themselves for not joining the ex- 
 pedition, and also to intercede on behalf 
 of the Cayugas east of the lake, who 
 claimed to be friendly to Congress ; they 
 were also closely united to the Oneidas by 
 intermarriages ; who thought that if the 
 fowns were destroyed and the means of 
 subsistence laid waste, their families would 
 come to them for support, which, added 
 to their already heavy burdens, would be 
 more than they could endure. In reply, 
 General Sullivan informed them that the 
 whole course of the Cayugas had been 
 marked by duplicity, and hostility, for 
 which he had determined they should be 
 chastised, and he should not be turned 
 from his purpose 
 
 On Monday morning, the 20th of Sep- 
 tember, Gen. Sullivan detached Col. 
 GaneSvoort with 100 men selected from 
 the New York Regiments with instruc- 
 tions to go to Fort Schuyler and Albany 
 and bring forward the heavy baggage 
 which had been stored at those places 
 previous to the setting out of the expedi- 
 tion. A few families of the Mohawks who 
 professed to be friendly to the United 
 States, occupied what was known as the 
 Lower Mohawk Castle. By some means 
 Sullivan was informed that these Indians 
 were acting as spies for the hostile part of 
 the nations, and directed Col. Ganl|voort 
 to capture the inhabitants and destroy 
 their town. ..n the representations of 
 their neighbors of the fnendly disposi- 
 tion of these Indians he s»t a guard over 
 their town but took the men to Albany ; 
 where, upon the statement of Schuyler, 
 Washington ordered their immediate re- 
 lease with directions " To lay them under 
 such obligations for their future good be- 
 havior as th€'y should thiak necessary." 
 
 At the same time a detachment of 600 
 men under the command of Lieut. -Col. 
 William Butler, of the 4th Pennsylvania 
 Regt. was sent to lay waste the towns on 
 each side of the Cavuga Lake. Thomas 
 Grant accompanied this detachment, and 
 his journal, which unfortunately ends 
 abruptly Sept. 25th, and the journal of 
 Geo. Grant, Sergeant- Major of the 3d N. J. 
 Regiment, with Sullivan's Report, are the 
 principal sources of information in regard 
 to the movements of this detachment. 
 
 Of Col. Wm. Butler, to whom Gen. 
 
 Sullivan entrusted the largest detachment, 
 the most important and the most respon- 
 sible duties committed to any Colonel 
 during the expedition, a brief sketch may 
 be of interest on this occasion. He was 
 the second of five brothers of a family 
 who came from Ireland and settled in 
 Cumberland County, Penna., prior to 
 1760. 
 
 On the formation of the 4th Regiment 
 he was commissioned Lieut. Colonel Oct. 
 25, 1776. As a military officer he early 
 acquired considerable distinction. When 
 in the Spring of 1778, the whole frontier 
 was threatened by Indians and tories, Tim- 
 othy Pickering wrote to Washington for 
 "an officer of established reputation for 
 bravery and capacity," and adds "if we 
 are not misinformed Lieut. Col. Willliam 
 Butler has been most conversant with the 
 Indians and their mode of fighting." 
 Immediately after the battle of Mon- 
 mouth, in which both his regiment and 
 himself bore an important part, his reg- 
 iment with six companies of riflemen, 
 was stationed at Schoharie. Here his 
 bravery j^jmd experience as an ofiicer, 
 which \i»s second to none of his rank, 
 rendered him greatly efficient in quelling 
 the disaffected, and establishing confi- 
 dence and courage among the people. In 
 order to break up the haunts of the hos- 
 tile Indians on the Susquehanna, Ool. 
 Thomas Hartley with the 11th Pennsylva- 
 nia ascended the river as far as Tioga 
 which he destroyed, together with Queen 
 Esther's Plantation and Wyalusing ; and 
 about the same time. Col. Butler, the 
 riflemen and a corjss of 20 rangers, marched 
 to the waters of the Delaware, descended 
 that stream for two days, and then struck 
 off for the Susquehanna which he reached 
 at Unadilla. The Indians fled on his 
 approach, leaving behind great quanti- 
 ties of corn, some cattle and much of 
 their household goods. Sutler pushed 
 on to Oghkwaga which was a well built 
 Indian town, there being a number of 
 good farm houses on each side of the riv- 
 er. Destroying both these towns, and an 
 Indian castle three miles below, the 
 mills at Unadilla, and the corn, Butler re- 
 turned to Schoharie. He went down the 
 river with Clinton in 1779, to Tioga, 
 where he was transferred to Hand's brig- 
 ade. He served until the close of the 
 war, when he moved to Pittsburg, and is 
 said to have established the first news- 
 paper printed west of the Alleghany 
 Mountains. 
 
 It was 3 o'clock p. m., when the de- 
 
27 
 
 tacliinents of Ganesvoort and Butler set 
 out from Kauadaseaga for Scawyace^ 
 which they reached at dark and encamp 
 ed there for the night. The next morn- 
 ing several fields of corn were discovered 
 about the town and Major Scott with 200 
 men was detailed to destroy it. Major 
 WiUiam Scott, of Cilley's 1st N. H. Regt. 
 was of Scotch Irish descent, his father 
 Alexander being one of the first settlers 
 of Peterborough, moving into that town 
 in 1742. While prepttring a permanent 
 settlement, he left his wife in Townsend, 
 Mass., where William was born May 
 1743. When 17 years of age he became 
 connected with Gofl''s regiment, and was 
 noted for his energy and courage. In 
 1775, he was a Lieutenant in one of the 
 Mass. Regts and fought with desperate 
 courage, His leg was fractured early in 
 the engagement, but he continued light- 
 ing until receiving other wounds, he fell 
 and was taken prisoner. Upon the evacua- 
 tion of Boston he was carried to Halifax 
 and thrown into prison, but escaped by 
 undermining its walls. He was in Fort 
 Washington at the time of its surrender, 
 Nov. 17, 1776, and was the only person 
 who escaped, which he effected by swim- 
 ming the Hudson by night where it was a 
 mile in width. He was promoted to a 
 captaincy in a Mass. Begt, but preferring 
 the N. H. line he accepted a captaincy in 
 Cilley's Eegt. He was with the army un- 
 til 1781, when he entered the naval ser- 
 vice in which he continued until the close 
 of the war. He died at Litchfield, N. 
 Y., Sept. 10, 1796, aged 56 years. 
 
 While Major Scott and his party were 
 engaged in completing the destruction of* 
 Scawyace, the rest of the detachment 
 pushed forward at 7 o'clock in the morn- 
 ing. A march of eleven miles brought 
 them to Cayuga Lake whose outlet they 
 crossed where it was 70 perches m width, 
 wading up to their breasts in water. 
 Just at the outlet of this lake was the old 
 Indian town Tiohero, which the Jesuit 
 fathers called St. Stephen. The journalist 
 says, "Near the outlet destroyed two Indi- 
 an houses. The name of the place is Cho- 
 haro. " The site was on the east side of 
 the river, at the point where it was crossed 
 by the great trail, and near where it was 
 afterward crossed by the Northern Turn- 
 pike. While they were destroying this 
 place Major Scott and his party overtook 
 them. Five and a half miles farther, or 
 16 miles fmrn Scawyace, the detachment 
 encamped for the night at a small Indian 
 settlement a mUe aud a half from the 
 
 Cayuga Castle, called Gewawga, located 
 on the site of Union Springs. After 
 leaving Choharo, he path kept near the 
 lake shore, along wiiich were several 
 houses and corn flelils fhat the detach- 
 ment destroyed as it passerl ahmg. 
 
 Early in the morning of Weduesd-y, 
 Sept. 22cl, the detacliment reached Cay- 
 uga Castle. Thomas (J-rant describes this 
 town as containing 15 vei-y Inrge square 
 log house.-, and adds, "I think the build- 
 ings superior to any 1 have yet seen." 
 Two other towns were in the immediate 
 neighborhood ; one, a mile south from 
 the Ci'stle and called by our men Upper 
 Cayuga, containing 14 large houses, and 
 the othei, two miles, north-east of the 
 Castle, Grant says called by our men 
 Cayuga, sometimes East CayugH, or old 
 town. In the vicinity of the Castle, were 
 110 acres of corn; besides apples, 
 peaches, potatoes, turnips, onions, pump- 
 kins, squashes and other vegetables in 
 abur, dance. . Major Grant describes Cay- 
 uga as a large and commod ous town con- 
 sisting of about 50 houses, bur, he evi- 
 dently includes three towns menthmed ?^ 
 by Thomas Grant, he also adds that the 
 troops found salt here, manufactured by 
 the Indians trom the salt springs near 
 Choharo; some United States muskets 
 and a few regimental coats. The Onei- 
 das, who had besought clemency for the 
 Cayugas were somewhat displeased with 
 Gen. Sullivan's answer to their petitirm. 
 They accompanied the detachment of 
 Col. Butler on their return to their own 
 country. On searching the houses at 
 Cayuga some fresh scalps were discover- 
 ed, which were shown to the Oneidas and 
 convinced them of the justice of the 
 course pursued by Sullivan. This town, 
 the Cayuga Castle, probably occupied the 
 same site as the one called by the French 
 Jesuits, Goi-o-gouen, at which the mis- 
 sion of St. Josephs was established, and 
 which Gen. Clark locates on the north 
 side of Great Gully Brook. Phis corres- 
 ponds with the distance (10 miles,; re- 
 corded by Mr. Benjamin Lodge, the Sur- 
 veyor of the expedition, who accompan- 
 ed this detachment. On his map Cayuga 
 Castle is located on the north side of the 
 stream, and Upper Cayuga on the south 
 side of it 
 
 The troops were employed until 3 
 o'clock p. M., of the next day, in destroy- 
 ing this place when they marched to 
 Ohonodote, 4)^ miles from Cayuga Castle, 
 and which Mr. Lodge jaotes as "Remark- 
 able for its Peach trees " There were 
 
28 
 
 1,500 of them, some apple trees, and a 
 number of acres of corn. This town 
 consisted of 12 or 14 houses, chiefly old 
 buildings, and stood on the site of the 
 village of Aurora. Here the army en- 
 camped for the night. Early the next 
 morning the work of destruction com- 
 menced. As remorseless as a cannon 
 shot, the ax levelled every tree though 
 burdened with its load of luscious fruit, 
 and the freshly lipeued corn was gathered 
 only to be destroyed. At 10 o'clock a. m. 
 the torch was applied to the dwellirgs, 
 and as the crackling flames lifted their 
 fiery heads over this scene of havoc and 
 destruction, the detachment resumed its 
 </'^ march. It was an hour before the next 
 encampment was reached'^ which was 16}4 
 miles south of Chonodote, beside a fine 
 stream of water. 
 
 Early on Saturday morning, the 25th, 
 the detachment resumed its march. Alter 
 travelling seven miles they reached the 
 southern extremity of Cayuga Lake; go- 
 ing five miles farther they came to the 
 smoking ruins of a town destroyed by a 
 party under Col. Dearborn the day be- 
 fore, of which I shall speak presently. 
 Having destroyed the corn which was 
 overlooked by the party who burned the 
 town, the detachment encamped here for 
 the night. 
 
 On the 26th and the 27th the route tor 
 most of the way was through a pathless 
 wilderness, whera the sun and the sur 
 veyor's compass were the only guides. 
 On the 28th the detachment rejoined the 
 main army at Fort Reid, at Kanawsholla. 
 In his report Gen. Sullivan sums up 
 the results of this branch of the expedition 
 as follows : "Col. Butler destroyed, in 
 the Cayuga country, five principal towns 
 and a number of scattering houses, the 
 whole making about one hundred in num- 
 ber exceeding large and well built. He 
 also destroyed 200 acres of excellent corn, 
 with a number of orchards, one of which 
 had 1,500 fruit trees. " The five towns 
 destroyed were Scaryace, the three Cay- 
 ugas and Chonodote 
 
 We left Gen. Sullivan with the main 
 army at Kanadaseaga on the 20th. That 
 day he crossed to the east side of the out- 
 let and encamped. From this point on 
 Tuesday morning the 21st, Col. Dearborn 
 with 200 men was sent to lay waste the 
 country on the west side of Ciiyuga Lake. 
 Gen. Sullivan says: "I detached Col. 
 Dearborn to the west side of Cayuga lake, 
 to destroy all the settlements which might 
 be found there, and to intercept the Cay- 
 
 ugas if they should attempt to escape 
 Col. Butler.' 
 
 Henry Dearborn was born at Hampton, 
 March 1751, studied medicine, but hear- 
 ing of the battle of Lexiugtom enlisted 
 sixty volunteers and joined Staek's N. H. 
 Regt. He was at Bunker Hill with his 
 company, where he fought most bravely. 
 In September he joined Arnold's expedi- 
 dition and marched through the wilds of 
 Maine and Canada for Quebec, and in the 
 assault upon that city was taken prisoner. 
 In March, 1777, he was exchanged and 
 appointed Major of Scamme(.'s Regt. He 
 fought with such gallantry in the battle 
 of Stillwater and Saratoga as to be 3 o- 
 ticed in orders by Gen. Gates. He was 
 at York town in 1781, at the surrender 
 of Oornwallis, he was two ti mt e e mem- zfey 
 ber of Congress, and Secretary of 
 War from 1801 to 1809 under Jeff'erson, 
 after which he was appointed collector of 
 the port of Boston. In 1812, he was ap- 
 pointed senior Major-General in the Army 
 of the United States, and captured York 
 in Canada, and Fort George, at the 
 mouth of the Niagara. He was recalled 
 from the frontier and put in command of 
 New York City. In the summer of 1822, 
 he was appointed minister plenipotentia- 
 ry to Portugal but after an absence of two 
 years was recalled at his own request, and 
 retired to private life. Gen. Dearborn 
 was a man of large size, gentlemanly de- 
 portment, and one of the beavioot and^?** 
 most gallant men of his time. He died 
 at Roxbury, June 6, 1829, aged 78 years. 
 
 A copy of the journal of Col. Dear- 
 born which I obtained after a good deal 
 of research and the journal of Mijor 
 James Norris of the same Regiment, 3d 
 N. H., and the enterprise of your own 
 local press, the Seneca County Courier, 
 are the principal sources of information. 
 
 At 8 o'clock the detachment left the 
 main army, and taking almost a direct 
 easterly course, came to the wigwams in 
 the woods where were also several patches 
 of corn, cucumbers, melons, peas, etc.; 
 they also found here 15 houses. Advan- 
 cing 4 miles farther, they reached the 
 shore of Cayuga Lake at a very pretty 
 town consisting of 10 houses, which, with 
 a considerable quantity of corn, was de- 
 stroyed. A mile south of this point was 
 another town called Skanagutenate; going 
 a mile further south and they found a 
 third village, described by Norris as a 
 new town, consisting of 9 houses, and 
 another mile they found a large house, all 
 which they burned, and Dearborn en 
 
29 
 
 camped for the night about two miles 
 above the large house. Counting the 
 three wigwams a village, as both Dear- 
 born and Norris do, and the results ot 
 this day's work were the destruction of 
 four towns and numerous corn fields, and 
 a march estimated at 17 miles. The rela- 
 tive situation of these three towns on the 
 west side of the lake was very similar to 
 that of the three Cayugas on the opposite 
 side. The first little cluster of wigwams 
 was located near the reservation line on 
 the small stream that enters the Seneca 
 river a! ove Seneca Falls, in the town of 
 Payette. Skanagutenate, the central one 
 of the three was situated on the bank of 
 Canoga Creek, the second, the one un- 
 named, being a mile north, and the one 
 called Newtown on the Desinger farm, a 
 a mile south. This is a point hardly sec- 
 ond in historical interest to Cayuga itself, 
 and its destruction was a severe blow to 
 the Cayuga nation. While it is not ger- 
 main to my topic to discuss questions of 
 general history on^de of this campaign, 
 but it may be allowed to say that as the 
 birth-place of Eed Jacket, the great Iro- 
 quois orator and opposite the burial place 
 of Queen Esther, of Wyoming notoriety, 
 this point must possess peculiar interest 
 to the antiquarian, and the student of 
 Indian history. 
 
 After marching five miles the next day, 
 the detachment came to the ruins of a 
 town burned by the pack horse drivers 
 connected with Col. Granesvoort,s Regt. 
 Beaty under date of Sept. 6 says : "This 
 evening came up 4 or five pack-horsemen, 
 which lost themselves yesterday, and told 
 us that they took the wrong path and 
 went on till near night when they camo 
 to a small Indian town on Cayuga Lake, 
 which the Indians had abandoned, they 
 then found out their mistake and came to 
 us as soon as possible, after burning the 
 houses. They likewise got a very fine 
 horse, and a great number of peaches and 
 apples which they brought to camp." 
 Dr. Camfield adds they were Col. Ganes- 
 voort's servants. This town Dearborn 
 calls Swah-ya-wa-nah and adds "a half a 
 mile distant found a large field of corn 
 and three houses. We gathered the corn 
 oat and burnt it in the houses." This 
 town was built (m the banks of a stream 
 which passed through the farm of Edward 
 Dean, Esq., nearly opposite of Aurora. 
 
 The detachment pushed on about five 
 miles where they found a hut occupied 
 by three squaws and a crippled Indian lad. 
 Two of the squaws were taken 
 
 captive. the others were left. — 
 Three miles beyond this they found an- 
 other hut and afield of corn ; both were 
 destroyed and the party encamped four 
 miles farther up the lake, 12 miles from 
 Swah-ya-wa-nah, and 17 from the last en- 
 campment. 
 
 The march on the 23d was one of great 
 fatigue. Setting out at sunrise, without 
 any path, or map, or guide, no one of the 
 party having ever been there before, they 
 advanced over what both journalists call 
 "a horribly rough country" which was so 
 thickly covered with bushes the men 
 with great difficulty pushed their way 
 through them. After travelling about 9 
 miles they found themselves at the end of 
 a long cape, now known as Goodwin's 
 Point or Taghanic, which they had mis 
 taken for the end of the Lake, The de- 
 tachment then struck ofl two or three 
 miles to the west, and after marching by 
 point of compass, about 8 miles farther 
 came to the end of the Lake and en- 
 camped. 
 
 On the 24th Dearborn pat his force in 
 motion at sunrise, and soon struck an old 
 path which led to some huts and corn 
 fields. Supposing that he was near an 
 important Indian town which was re- 
 ported to be at the head of the Lake, he 
 divided his force into small parties and 
 sent them in diilerent directions to look 
 for it. In their search several scattered 
 houses and corn fields were discovered 
 and destroyed. At length the town was 
 found situated on the Inlet creek, about 
 three miles from the Lake. The town 
 consisted of^ouses, and, says Norris, is 2 J 
 called Oo-re-or-go-nel, who adds that "it 
 is the capital of a small nation or tribe 
 
 called . Mnjor Grant, who was in 
 
 Butler's detachment and reached this 
 town the next day after Dearborn, calls 
 the place De Ho Riss Kanadai, and says 
 it was situated on the west side of the 
 stream in a beautiful valley, and the 
 creek was deep enough for canoes to pass 
 from the town to the lake at any time. 
 Tite site of this town has been identified 
 by Gen. Clark at a point of rising ground 
 south of the school-house on the farm of 
 James Elemming, Esq., and opposite to 
 Buttermi.k Falls. Dearborn's party 
 were from nine o'clock in the morning 
 until sunset in destroying the crops and 
 orchards about this place. The next day 
 some of Col. Butler's men found here the 
 hofse of the Rev. Dr. Kirklaad, the mis- 
 sionary to the Oneidas, and one of the 
 chaplains to the expedition. 
 
30 
 
 The locality of this town is one of great 
 interest to the antiquarian. In 1753, a 
 remnant of a nation of the Catawbas 
 called Ohristannas, having been nearly 
 exterminated by the Iroquois, were 
 planted here by the CaMugas. Soon af. 
 ter the Mosseys, and the Tutelos, the 
 remnant of that nation were allowed to 
 settle here. In 1765, the Cayuga Sachem 
 desired to remove the Christian Indians 
 at Wyalusing, to the head of Cayuga 
 Lake. But now as for nearly a century 
 past over their buried bones and slumber- 
 ing ashes, the march of the white man's 
 civilization goes sweeping by; and the 
 shimmering waters of the Lake over 
 which the Cayuga skimmed in his birchen 
 canoe, are whitened by the sails of the 
 white man's commerce. 
 
 Early in the morning of the 25th Col. 
 Dearborn set out to join the main army, 
 and by taking a due west course reached 
 Catharines about 4 o'clock p. m. Find- 
 ing the army had passed that place, his 
 men, though wearied by the difficult 
 march, pushed on six miles farther and 
 encamped on the edge of the swamp 
 and the next day reached the main 
 army. 
 
 Gen. Sullivan thus reports concerning 
 this detachment. "Col. Dearborn burnt 
 in his route, six towns, which include one 
 that had before been partly destroyed by 
 a small party, destroying at the same 
 large quantities of corn. He took an In- 
 dian lad and three women, prisoners; one 
 of the women being very ancient, and 
 the lad a cripple, he left them and 
 brought on the other two and joined the 
 army on the evening of the 26th." The 
 six towns destroyed, were the four burned 
 the first day, together with Swahyawana, 
 and Co-re-or-go-nel. 
 
 The main army which we left at the 
 Seneca on the 21st, reached Kanawaholla 
 on the 24th, where Capt. Eeid had col- 
 lected considerable stores of provisions 
 and liquor., which were hberally distrib- 
 uted among the men, and the 25th was 
 given as a day of rejoicing over the news 
 of the alliance between Spain and the 
 United .States and over the success of the 
 expedition. Col. Jenkins says, "Five 
 oxen were barbacued, and a great plenty 
 of liquor to drink." In Gen. Hand's 
 Brigade 13 fires and 13 candles were kept 
 . _ burning, and 13 toasts were drank. A 
 ^li^ salute of 13 cannon and a /i f w) d^ pf were 
 fired at evening. Col. Butler's detach- 
 ment joined the main army on the 28th, 
 and the next day it set out for Tioga, 
 re when, on the 30th Col. Shreeve received 
 them with demonstrations of joy, amid 
 
 thunders of artillery, the lively strains of 
 music, aided by Procter's regimental 
 band. After feasting both officers and 
 men, and pouring out pretty free liba- 
 tions to Bacchus, the whole was conclud- 
 ed with an Indian dance under the di- 
 rection of an Oneida Chief led off by 
 Gen. Hand. One of the journals says 
 the clothes of the men were torn into 
 shreds by the bushes and brambles 
 through which for more than a month 
 they had been marching, and observes 
 that as the men joined in the dance, with 
 their heads powdered with flour, their 
 faces bedaubed with paint, and their 
 fringed shreded rifle frocks streaming in-****' 
 the wind, they presented an appearance 
 at once wierd an d grotesque. One of the 
 narrators of the story says every body 
 laughed; even oae grave chaplain could 
 not repress a smile. 
 
 Sullivan reached Wyoming on the 7th 
 of October, having notwithstanding the 
 severities of the campaign, lost both in 
 action, and otherwise, less than 40 men, 
 or one per cent, of his force. 
 
 Col. Stone, in the Life of Brant re- 
 marks, "After the battle of Newtown ter- 
 ror led the van of the invader, whose ap- 
 proach was heralded by watchmen sta- 
 tioned upon every height, and desoiation 
 followed weeping in his train. The Indi- 
 ans everywhere fled as Sullivan ad- 
 vanced, and the whole country was swept 
 as with the besom of destruction." 
 "With the exception of Newtown, the 
 achievements of the army in battle were 
 not great. But it had scoured a broad 
 extent of country, and laid more towns in 
 ashes than had ever been destroyed on 
 the continent before. The red men were 
 driven from their beautiful country — 
 their habitations left in ruins, their fields 
 laid waste, tlieir orchards uprooted, and 
 their altars and the tombs of their fath- 
 er's overthrown." 
 
 To the New England troops, who had 
 been accustomed to the rocky soil and the 
 steep hillsides of their native States, 
 these broad and fertile valleys seemed 
 like another Eden, and no sooner had 
 war furled her crimson banners than 
 these hardy sons cf the east, shouldered 
 knapsack and ax and again bent their 
 footsteps toward these beautiful valleys ; 
 here they built their homes and reared their 
 children, planted the institutions of liber- 
 ty and religion and builded an empire 
 whose exhaustless wealth and tireless en- 
 terprise and increasing grandeur, make it 
 the crowning glory of this Empire State, 
 and a living example of her glorious 
 motto Excelsior 
 
SULLIVAN CENTENNIAL. 
 
 GeneseOf New York, Sept, 16 , 1879, 
 
 From the planting of the first colony of 
 the European race on this Western Continent 
 until now, there has been going on a conflict, 
 not as between «^hite men and red, but as be- 
 tween civJTzHtioi; and barbarism. The In- 
 dian, hi- , a supplanter, is in turn being 
 suppla . _ ! , by ne who is mightier than he. 
 The 1 ^'^Ist part of American history is a 
 record '* the various phases and changing 
 scen^' ,^; this conflict in which ihe white man 
 has t,'' ^ gradually pushing the red man 
 from r''^^, ancient seats, and building upon 
 them ^^ own cities and temples, crowding 
 oS the'^.^.^ioe to make place for the steam- 
 boat, coul "ucting canals and railroads over 
 his trails, sweeping off the forests by the in- 
 coming tide of civilization, and filling the 
 solitudes with the busy haunts of men. 
 
 The event we commemorate today, is an 
 interesting chapter in this conflict. I need 
 hardly remind you of the fact that at the be- 
 ginning of our Revolutionary war, the Iro- 
 quois, or Six ISations, as they were usually 
 called by the English and by themselves, oc- 
 cupied all the vast territory of this State 
 west of Schoharie county. ' Of these the Sen- 
 eeas were the westernmost and the most pow- 
 erful. Brought in contact with the great In- 
 dian nations to the south and west of them, 
 their martial skill and valor were developed' 
 by constant warfare, and their pride and 
 prowess raised to the highest pitch by the 
 successful result of the contest, and the ex- 
 termination of their enemies. Their position 
 and duty of guarding the western approaches 
 to the Iroquois confederacy rendered them 
 watchful and vigilant. 
 
 In point of numbers they coiild muster 
 nearly as many warriors as all the rest of the 
 confederacy combined. In 1677, out of 2,- 
 150 braves in the Iroquois nations, the Sene- 
 cas had 1,000, and in 1763 they claimed 1,050 
 out of 1,950. Prior to the Revolution, the 
 Indians had been a prominent party in all of 
 the wars which had been waged in this coun- 
 try. This was particularly the case in the 
 long struggle between the English and the 
 
 French for the mastery of the continent. In 
 these wars the Iroquois had been for the 
 most part the steadfast friends and allies of 
 the English, and the protectors of their set- 
 tlements. In all treaties for the sale of lands, /^ 
 in all conferences to - J aoightoe the olaim of ^ 
 friendship, the voice of the Senecas had been 
 heard above all the others. Wise, politic, 
 powerful, they had secured an acknowledge- 
 ment of their prowess from their confeder- 
 ates by their sagacity, and from others by 
 the demonstration of their strength. 
 
 In the beginning of our Revolutionary 
 struggle, they and the Cayugas gave a re- 
 luctant assent to '.he policy of neutrality 
 which the colonists urged upon the Iroquois, 
 but when the first opportunity offered eager- 
 ly embraced it to make new professions of 
 loyalty to the British King, and to proffer 
 their aid in assisting him to subdue his re- 
 bellious children. There is good reason also 
 to believe that aside from the long alliance 
 and friendship with the British government, 
 the demoralizing effect of British gold and 
 British rum and the great influence of Brant, 
 that the Iroquois themselves had begun to 
 feel the mortification of having their own 
 subjects maintain a successful revolt against 
 their authority, and their alliance with the , 
 British meant ultimately the assurance of 
 English rule over the white people, and of 
 Iroquois supremacy over the Indians on this 
 continent. The Senecas therefore seized the 
 very first opportunity that was 'offered to 
 throw off the guise of friendship toward the 
 Congress, refused to attend the conferences 
 appointed by our commissioners, spurned 
 with unutterable disdain and contempt all 
 overtures for peace and friendship, and de- 
 clared their unyielding purpose to carry on 
 the war against the "Boston people," as they 
 called the patriots, until they acknowledged 
 the authority of the British government. In 
 the several battles and massacres in which 
 Indians were engaged during the Revolu- 
 tionary contest and previous to 1779, the 
 Senecas bore a prominent part. They were 
 
34 
 
 at Oriskany in 1777, at Wyoming in 1778, 
 and to-day the question as to whom belongs 
 the bad eminence of having been the chief- 
 tain of the Indian braves in that ill-starred 
 battle, is thought to lie between Brdnt 
 the Mohawk, and Gruyanguahta, the King of 
 the Senecas. Although it is doubtful if 
 either of these celebrated warriors were pres- 
 ent, it is an indication of the prominence of 
 their position in Indian affairs, that their 
 names have been preserved for a century as 
 connected with that fearful butchery. 
 
 The country occupied by the Senecas was 
 the granary not only of the confederacy, but 
 of the whole country occupied by the whites. 
 The broad plains of the Lake region and of 
 the Genesee river were then, as now, as re- 
 markable for their exhaustless fertility as 
 for their surpassing beauty, in which vast 
 fields of corn, beans and other vegetables 
 were cultivated by white men and Indians 
 for the supply not only of the sons of :^he 
 forest, but for Tories and for British garri- 
 sons. There were orchards of apple and 
 peach trees, well built houses, and large 
 herds cf horses and cattle. There were, 
 therefore, e.special reasons for the instruc- 
 tions given to Sullivan to lav in utter waste 
 the country of the Senecas, and to make it 
 the principal object of the expedition to 
 overrun their territory, destroy their crops, 
 burn their dwellings and cripple their re- 
 sources. 
 
 As it would weary your p itience should I 
 go into a detailed account of the expedition 
 from its beginning to its close, I must con- 
 tent myself with recounting but a single sec- 
 tion of this important chapter of our Revo- 
 lutionary history, and that I may refresh 
 your recollection by a recital of that which 
 possesses most of local interej-t for you, I 
 have selected that which transpire, i west of 
 Seneca Lake, depending upon your general 
 knowledge of its connection with those 
 causes which seemed to render this expedi- 
 tion necessaiy, the organization of the ar- 
 m\ , the diiJiculties the commander was com- 
 pelled to surmount, the gathering of forces 
 at Easton, the march to Wyoming, and 
 thence to Tioga, the affair at Chemung, the 
 arrival of Clinton, the battle of New Town, 
 with its victory, the passage of the great 
 swamp to Catharinestowu, the devastation 
 of the country on the way, it must suifi?e to 
 say that on the evening of Sept. 7th, with 
 about 3,000 men, Sullivan reached 
 Kanadeseaga, where, as usual, he 
 encamped in order of battle, to-wit: — 
 Gen. Hand's brigade of light troops in front, 
 Gen. Poor's N. H brigade on the right. Gen. 
 Maxwell's brigade on the left. Gen. Clinton's 
 N. Y. brigade in the rear, with the artillery, 
 pack horses and cattle in the centre. 
 
 It may be remarked that at or nearKendia 
 "the army found a tree marked 1779, Than- 
 dagana, 12 men, marked on it with arrows 
 pieced through them, signifying the number 
 they had lost in the action of the 29th; also, 
 small tree twisted around tike a rope and 
 bent down, which signified tbatif we drove 
 and distressed them, yet we would not con- 
 quer them." 
 
 Although the enemy had not attempted to 
 resist his march since the battle on the 29th 
 of August, yet he had not been unobserved 
 by them. 'Their scouts and runners were 
 upon every mountain, and every movement 
 of the army was speedily reported to Brant 
 and Butler, who, with the mam force under 
 their command, had retired, first to Kana- 
 daseaga, and then to Canawaugus, where 
 Butler was September 10, while his rear 
 guard kept only far enough in front of our 
 men to be out of danger, but near enough to 
 seize upon any advantage which might arise 
 from want of caution on the part of the com- 
 mander or of his men. A soldier inH^utler's 
 army writes, "they march in suchcl.ose or- 
 der that a prisoner cannot be taken, though 
 the Indians are often very close to th a." 
 
 On reaching the north end of th ' lake, 
 Sullivan expected the enemy would f n at- 
 tack him, while fording the outle The 
 army was halted and the woods car .'uUy re- 
 connoitered, but "finding the co ,st clear," 
 the troops passed the ford, destroyed a small 
 settlement a little beyond it, and reached 
 Kanadaseaga, three miles further on. This 
 was a large and important town, consisting 
 of 50 houses and 30 more in the immediate 
 vicinity, and being the capitoi of the nation 
 was frequently called the Seneca Castle. Its 
 site was on the present Castle road, a mile 
 and half west from Geneva. The town was 
 divided by Kandaseaga or Castle creek. It 
 was regularly laid out, enclosing a large 
 green plot, on which, during the "old French 
 war" in 1756, Sir Wm. Johnson had erected 
 a stockade fort, the remains of which were 
 plainly visible by our army and spoken of in 
 a number of the journals. Orchards of ap- 
 ple, peach, and mulberry trees- surrounded 
 the town. Fine gr?rdens with onions, peas, 
 beans, squashes, potatoes, turnips, cab- 
 bages, cucumbers, water melons, carots 
 and parsnips, abounded, and large 
 cornfields were to the north and north- 
 east of the town. All were destroyed on the 
 8th of September. Here was found a little 
 white boy, about three years of age, which 
 had been stolen by the Indians from the 
 frontiers. The little fellow was nearly starv- 
 ed when our men found him. No clue to his 
 parentage was ever obtained. The officers 
 of the expedition were greatly interested in 
 the little waif and tenderly eared for him, 
 
85 
 
 but he died a few months after the return of 
 the expedition. 
 
 Here was the residence of Siangorochti, or 
 Guanguhta, or as commonly called Grahta, 
 or Old Smoke, from the fact that he carried 
 the fire-brand by which the council fires were 
 lighted, an honor held by no other. At the 
 time of Sullivan's expedition the old king 
 was so aged that he took no part in war, but 
 fled in advance of the army *^n the British 
 fort at Niagara, while theyoungking was too 
 young, being only twelve years of age, to en- 
 gage in military affairs. A daughter of the 
 old king married Rolland, a son of Catherine 
 Montour. 
 
 The army remained at this encampment 
 until noon of the 9th of September. On the 
 8th among the detachments sent out to ravage 
 the surrounding country, was one of 200 men 
 seut up the west side of Seneca lake to a 
 town seven miles south of Geneva, called 
 Gothseuoqean, or Kashong. Majcir Beatty 
 thus tells the story : "About 10 o'clock Ma- 
 jor Parr with the rifle corps was going up the 
 lake to destroy a little town called Kashong. 
 I, with a number of others, went as volun- 
 teers, and got there about 13 o'clock; found 
 it about 8 miles from camp, and the town op- 
 posite to where we lay two nights ago. The 
 town consisted of about 15 houses, tolerably 
 well built, and all together. We got herfe 5 
 horses and a ereat number of potatoes, ap- 
 ples, peaches, cucumbers, watermelons, fowls, 
 etc., and found a great quantity of corn here 
 which we went about to destroy, after burn- 
 ing the houses. Major Parr sent for a rein- 
 forcement to come. We all lay under a bank 
 that night." The reinforcement of 300 men, 
 under Col. Smith, arrived about three o'clock 
 the next mprning. After destroying 
 the place we joined the main army the 
 next day. During the night of the 8th a 
 very heavy thunder storm passed over the 
 camp which delayed the movements of the 
 army until noon, when, after sending back 
 to Tioga all the invalids under an escort of 
 50 men, commanded by Capt. Ried who also 
 had orders to forwaad supplies to Kanawa- 
 hoUa, against the return of the army, they 
 marched 71 miles and encamped on the banks 
 of a beautiful stream of water." 
 
 Starting i he next morning at 8 o'clock, 
 Sept. 10, after marching 11 miles the army 
 came to Kanandaigua Lake; and fording its 
 outlet marched a mile farther, when they 
 found the town of Kanandai[j:ua consisting 
 of 33 elegant houses, some of them framed, 
 others log, but large and new, pleasantly sit- 
 uated about a mile from the west shore of 
 ^ the lake, in the^^part of the present Canan- 
 daigua. At this place, the rear guard of the 
 enemy remained so long, that their fires were 
 found burning. The torch was soon applied 
 to the buildings, and the army advanced a 
 
 mile farther where the cornfields were and 
 encamped, when, fatigue parties were de- 
 tailed to destroy the crops, which was pretty 
 thoroughly accomplished before dark. 
 
 Before daylight on the morning of Satur- 
 day, Sept. 11. the troops were again in mo- 
 tion. A march of 14 miles brought them to 
 the Indian town Ean-ne-ya-ye, which con- 
 tained about 30 houses, and was near the site 
 of present Houeoye, at the foot of Honeoye 
 lake, on ihe east side of its outlet. When 
 the riflemen entered the town, a few Indians 
 just made their escape, leaving their packs 
 and blankets behind them, and their potatoes 
 roasting in the fire. Fine cornfields near the 
 town afforded abundant forage tor the stock 
 and food for the men. When the army left 
 Newtown they were obliged for the want oi 
 pack horses to carry a large part of their ra- 
 tions on their backs; and as in the prosecu- 
 tion of their journey the horses fmled faster 
 than the provisions were consumed the bur- 
 dens of the men increased rather than 
 become- lighter. When the army reached 
 Han-ne-ya-ye, Sullivan estimated that he was 
 within twenty-five miles, or two days easy 
 march of the great town of the Senecas, 
 which was. the objective point of the cam- 
 paign. Ordering his men to take four days 
 half rations, sufficient ammunition, and what 
 baggage a few of the horses could carry, the 
 remainder of the stores, horses and cattle 
 were left at this place, under the command 
 of Capt. Cummings, fifty good men, and the 
 invalids, or as one journal has it, "the lame 
 and the lazy," making a total force of three 
 hundred men. 
 
 John N. Cummings was a tried and trust- 
 ed officer of the Second New Jersey Regi- 
 ment. At the beginning of the Revolution 
 he entered the patriot army, was commis- 
 sioned First Lieutenant, November 39, 1775, 
 in a year was promoted to a Captaincy. On 
 the arrival df the army at T:oga he was sent 
 in command of a scout to reconnoitre Che- 
 mung, a dehcate and hazardous undertaking. 
 The position at Hen-ne-ya-ye, where with a 
 mere handful of men he was to care for all 
 the supplies of the army,in a cjuntry swarm- 
 ing with Indians, was one demanding e^ual 
 pluck and character. It may be observed 
 that Captain Cummings continued in the mil- 
 itary service of the country until the close of 
 the war, having been promoted to Lieutenant 
 Colonel, crimmanding the Third Regiment 
 February 11th, 1783. The Captain at once' 
 set about fortifying his camp with true sol- 
 dierly skill, ^electing the largest and strong- r, 
 est log house" in the town, ^-pierced it with A< 
 loop holes, strengthened^ts walls with kegs 
 of flour and boxes of ammunition,surrounding 
 it with a strong abattis, made :with the large 
 and branching apple trees which the men 
 had cut do.wn. Here Sullivan left also two 
 
36 
 
 of the three pounders which he had brought 
 from Newtown. This work the men named 
 Fort Cummings in honor of the Captain. 
 
 Sunday morning, September 12, was rainj? 
 ijjg, with thunder and lightning, so that it 
 was noon before tbe army broke camp, after 
 which it marched eleven miles and encamped 
 in the woods nearly two miles from Kanagh- 
 saws, which Sullivan would have reached 
 that day but for the rain, but arrived there 
 early the next morning. This town 
 which IS also called Adjuton, and several 
 other names, in the journals, consisted of 
 eighteen houses on the east side of the inlet 
 to Conesus Lake, and a short distance south- 
 east of the head of the lake, and about one 
 mile northwest of Conesus Center, on the 
 north and south road that passes through 
 the McMillan farm. Between the town and 
 the lake, on what were afterwards known as 
 Henderson's Flats, were the corn fields. The 
 main army encamped nearly two miles north, 
 on the flats southwest of Foot's Corners. 
 The local tradition that Hand took the road 
 through Union Corners, and encamped on 
 the L. B. Richardson farm, at the False 
 Faces, is not mentioned in any journal, and 
 is without doubt incorrect. George Grant 
 says that a fine stream of water ran through 
 the town, an^] that an enterprising negro, 
 called Captain Sunflsh, who had acquired 
 considerable wealth and influence, resided 
 here. It was also the home of the well-known 
 Seneca chieftain, Big Tree, of whom Mr, 
 Doty says that he was a useful friend of the 
 American cause in the Revolution, and a 
 leading adviser in all treaties and councils of 
 the Senecas. In the summer of 1778, he 
 was sent by Washington to the towns along 
 the Genesee in the hope that his personal in- 
 fluence and eloquence might win the Senecas 
 to the cause of the States. He found his 
 countrymen disposed to listen until they 
 learned from a spy that the Americans were 
 about to invade their country, when all flew 
 to arms, Big Tree put himself at their head, 
 as he said, "to chastise an enemy that would 
 n^ seam to encroach upon his people's territory." 
 This last sentence cannot be accepted as cor- 
 rect. Col. Dearborn says that Big Tree 
 "made great pretentions of friendship to- 
 ward us; has been inPhiladelphia and at Gen. 
 Washington's headquarters since the war 
 commenced. He received a number of pres- 
 ents from General Washington and Congress, 
 " yet we presume he is again with Butler." 
 The facts seem to be these : Though a real 
 friend to the Americans, yet on coming to 
 his own country he found the feeling of en- 
 mity so strong and so universal among the 
 Senacas, that he was overborne by it and 
 obliged to submit. Mr. Doty quotes from 
 President Dwight to the effect that Big Tree, 
 in company with some other Indians, was 
 
 standing on the hill overlooking Kanaghsaws, 
 where he saw his own possessions given to 
 the flames. "You see how the Americans 
 treat their friends," said some of those around 
 him, favorable to Great Britain. "What I 
 see," calmnly replied the Chief, "is only the 
 common fate of wars. It cannot be supposed 
 that the Americans can distinguish my prop- 
 erty from yours, who are their enemies.' 
 After the war he returned to the Genesee' 
 valley, and lived in the town called by his 
 name. He continued to possess great influ- 
 ence until his death, which occurred in Phil- 
 adelphia, after a short illness in 1792. 
 
 When Gen. Sullivan reached his encamp- 
 ment on the evening of Sept. 12, he supposed 
 he was in the vicinity of the great Genessee 
 town, of which he had heard so much, and 
 sent Lieut. Boyd of the Riflemen, to reconnoi- 
 tre it. The town which Sullivan supposed 
 Boyd would find on the east side of the Gen- 
 nesee river, at the mouth of the Canaseraga 
 Creek, though it had no existence at the time 
 of the campaign, yet bears such a relation to 
 the movements about to be related, and the 
 General's misinformation in regard to it was 
 attended with such serious consequences, 
 that a few words of explanation are necessa- 
 ry. This great town, formerly called Chen- 
 ussio, and which name some of the journals 
 by mistake gave to Little Beard's town, as 
 early as 1750 and as late as 1770 was located 
 on the site of ancient Williamsburg, near the 
 confluence of the Canaseraga with the Gan- 
 essee. Mary Je^fflson also located it here. 
 It appears on the Guy Johnson map of 1771 
 as Chenussio, on the Ponehot map of 1758 
 as Connecchio — in both cases at the point 
 described; Cammerh.off andtteisberger, two *Z* 
 Moravian missionaries, visited it in 1750, cal- 
 ling it Connesschio, and describe it as con- 
 taining 40 large huts. In 1768, Gaustarax, 
 the principal Sachem, was thoroughly in 
 sympathy with the French, and whose in- 
 fluence it required all the diplomacy of Sir 
 William Johnson and the influence of the 
 other tribes to overcome. Gaustarax was 
 present at the great treaty at Fort Stanwix 
 in 1768, where he said "he would 
 remove the door of the Six 
 Nations, which was formerly at his village at 
 Chenussio, down to Scioto plains, and that 
 he expected their assistance to enable him to 
 fight his way there." Sullivan was there- 
 fore misled, from the fact that the Indian 
 town which, when the maps he had were 
 made, was at the mouth of the Canaseraga, 
 had been removed. The maps, which he 
 unsparingly condemns, were doubtless cor- 
 rect when made, but the site of the town had 
 been changed. Col. Dearborn says express- 
 ly that the General expected to find the great 
 Genesee town a mile and a half from 
 Gathtstsegwarrohare, and on the east side of 
 
87 
 
 the river, but upon reconnoitering found it 
 was five miles distant and on the other side 
 of the river. 
 
 All day of the 13th the Indians had been 
 so near our army that their tracks were fresh 
 on the path, and the water through which 
 y they passed was loiled. Reaching Kanagh- 
 saws a little after 7 o'clock the next morn- 
 ing, it was found that the enemy had de- 
 stroyed the bridge over the inlet to the lake, 
 which ran through a soft mirey bottom sev- 
 eral rods in width, over which a man could 
 go on foot, but where it would be impossible 
 to take the pack horses and artillery. The 
 General therefore detailed a portion of the 
 army to destroy the town and corn fields, 
 and another portion to aid the pioneers in 
 building a corduroy causeway over the marsh 
 and in repairing the bridge. It was near 
 noon when the work was done and the army 
 was ready to march. 
 
 In the meanwhile events of a most serious 
 character were transpiring on the front, to 
 which we must now turn our attention. 
 
 Those of you who are familiar with the 
 topography of the country about the head 
 or south end of Gonesus lake will remember 
 that-the inlet comes from the south, and for 
 some distance before entering the lake flows 
 through a strip of low ground, which in 1779 
 was the mirey marsh over which the road had 
 to be built. Bounding this slough on the west 
 !s a considerable hill running north and south. 
 Dr. Campfleld describes it in his journal as 
 ''a very high hill covered with open woods." 
 The eastern face of this hill is cut up by ra- 
 vines and is so steep that it is with considera- 
 ble diflficulty one can climb straight up it. 
 The trail ran obliquely along its side in a 
 south-westerly di'-ection. 
 
 After the battle of Newtown, Butler re- 
 tired with the main part of his army to Can- 
 awaugus, near the site of present Avon, where 
 he received reinforcements, and where he 
 remained until the 12th of September, when 
 learning by his scouts of the approach of 
 Sullivan to Kanaghsaws, and knowing the 
 diflB.culty he would have in crossing the 
 morass, determined, if possible, to surprise 
 and destroy that portion of the army which 
 should first cross the bridge,before the others 
 could come to their assistance. The place 
 was well chosen and the plan skillfully 
 made. For this purpose Butler and Brant 
 with their forces left Cauawaugus early in 
 the morning of the 13th, and posted them- 
 selves near the crest of the ridge overlooking 
 the marsh, and a sufficient distance north of 
 the path to escape the observation of Sulli- 
 van's advanced guard. They were within 
 musket shot of the creek, and could observe 
 every movement of our army, while them- 
 selves were entirely concealed. Here the 
 enemy anxiously awaited the advance of our 
 
 army. It waa while waiting here, that the 
 incident before related of Big Tree occurred. 
 In Gen. Sullivan's orders to Boyd on the 
 evening of the 13th he was directed to take 
 five or six men with him, make a rapid re- 
 eonnoissance, and report at headquarters as 
 early as sunrise the next morning. He took 
 however twelve riflemen, six musketmen of 
 the 4th Penn. Reg't. and six ralunteers, whe 
 with himself and Hanyeiy, an Oneida 
 Indian guide, and Jehoiakim a Stockbridge 
 Indian made twenty-seven men in all. The 
 party left camp north of Kauughaaa y at H^^ 
 o'clock in the evening and set out on the 
 trail leading to the great Town. Owing to 
 his misinformation, Sullivan's directions had 
 been confusing and misleading. It was 
 found that the principally traveled trail took 
 a direction different from what the Com- 
 mander expected. Boyd did not lose his 
 way, but instead of taking the unused path 
 that led to the abandoned Chenussio, he took 
 the one which brought him to an important 
 town two miles farther up the Canaseraga, 
 the only one between the army and the 
 Genessee. In the darkness he had passed 
 Butler's right flank without either party 
 having discovered the other. Boyd reached 
 the town which the enemy had abandoned, 
 early in the mornmg, without having en- 
 countered any difficulty. Halting his force 
 at the outskirt '- of the village, himself and 
 one of his men carefully reconnoitred the 
 place, then rejoined the rest of the party and 
 concealed themselves in the woods 
 near the town. He sent back 
 two of his men to report the 
 discoveries he had made, and awaited the 
 light of the day, whose morning was just 
 breaking. Soon four Indians on horseback 
 were seen entering the town, and Boyd sent 
 a party to take or kill them. They killed one 
 and wounded another. The wounded man 
 and the two others escaped. Boyd then set 
 out for camp. Having gone four or five 
 miles, and thinking the army must be on its 
 march toward him, he sat down to rest. — 
 Af ter a 6 hort halt he dispatched two of his 
 men to inform the General where he was and 
 of his intention to await the coming of the 
 army. In a short time these men returned 
 with the information that they had discover- 
 ed five Indians on the path. Boyd again «4- «£ 
 sumed his march and had gone bat a short 
 distance, when he discovered the same party 
 and fired on them. They ran, and Boyd, 
 against the advice of Hanyerry, pursued 
 them. The chase was kept up some distance, 
 the Indians succeeding in alluring the scout- 
 ing party near the enemy's lines. They then 
 
 allowed the party to approach sufficiently ^ 
 
 near to draw, but kept out of danger. But- ^^^ 
 ler, hearing The firing on his right, as his / 
 force was arranged facing Conesus, and fear- 
 
Y38 
 
 ing that he had been discovered and that an 
 attempt was being made to surprise his camp, 
 hastened to the spot, where he found Boyd's 
 party still followmg the Indians. Without 
 being aware of their presence, Boyd was al- 
 ready within the fatal embrace of the enemy, 
 and nearly surrounded, when Butler gave 
 such orders as to completely surround hioi 
 Once and again he attempted to break their 
 line but without success ; he then sought to 
 retreat, but he was encompassed on all sides. 
 The odds were fearf ul,800 of the Indians and 
 y Tories to'Sf Americans, but the scouts deter- 
 ' mined to sell their lives as dearly as possible^ 
 and relief from our army, which was only 
 about a mile distant, was expected every mo- 
 ment. Covered by a clump of trees our men 
 poured a murderous fire upon the enemy as 
 they were closing around them, numbers of 
 whom were seen to fall. In all fifteen of 
 Boyd's party, including Hanyerry, were 
 . slain, eight escaped, while Boyd and his ser- 
 geant , Parker 'who were captured, and two 
 had been sent early in the morning to report 
 to General Sullivan. The bodies of the 
 slain were found on the 16th and buried 
 with military honors; that of Hanyerry 
 with the others, although literally hacked to 
 pieces. The story of his capture, the theat- 
 rical address of his brother, and his tragic 
 end, as told by Stone and repeated by others 
 lacks both confirmation and probability. Of 
 -^ ^ fehgrfi^ e who escaped, one was the noted 
 Timothy Murphy, an account of whose hair- 
 breadth escapes and deeds of reckless daring 
 would fill a volume; ^Se others were Blerson, 
 , , McDonald, Garrett Putnam, afid a French 
 'V''^ Canadian. Boyd and Parker were hastened 
 ^kljn to Little'lBeard's town, where they were put 
 to death with cruel tortures. It has been 
 currently reported that after his capture 
 Boyd approached Brant under the sign of a 
 Free Mason, of which ancient fraternity both 
 were members, that the chieftain recognized 
 the bond of brotherhood and promised him 
 protection, but being unexpectedly called 
 away, the captives were placed in charge of 
 Butler (probably Walter N.) who, becoming 
 exasperated with Boyd's persistent refusal to 
 disclose any information in regard to the 
 army, handed them over to the Indians to be 
 put to death. The whole story, however, is 
 extremely doubtful, and it is now difficult to 
 ascertain how much, if any, should be re- 
 ceived as true. The most that can be said 
 with certainty is, that the next day the bodies 
 of the unfortunate men were found by our 
 troops horribly mangled, and bearing marks 
 of having suffered unspeakable torture. 
 
 Sullivan had established a line of sentries 
 along the base of the hill next the morass, to 
 guard the pioneers against surprise while re- 
 pairing the bridge and causeway. Captain 
 Benjamin Lodge, who was the surveyor for 
 
 the expedition, and with chain and compass 
 "had measured the entire route from Baston, 
 about half an hour after the skirmish with 
 Boyd on the hill, had gone a short distance 
 beyond the picket line, when he was set 
 upon by a party ot Indians, who. Dr. Camp- 
 field says, were pursuing the fugitives of the 
 scouting party. Thomas Grant, who was 
 one of the surveying party, thus tells the 
 story: "Myself and four chain carriers, 
 who were about one and a half miles 
 advanced of the troops, were fired 
 on by several Indians, who lay in ambush; a 
 corpora,! by the name of Calhawn, who came 
 voluntarily with me, was mortally wounded 
 and died the next day. The Indians pur- 
 sued us a fourth of a mile, but without suc- 
 cess, — we being unarmed were obliged to 
 run." Mr. Lodge was compelled to leave his 
 compass and run towards the nearest senti- 
 nel, who shot the Indian chasing him with 
 uplifted tomahawk, and Mr. Lodge escaped. 
 Gen. Sullivan ordered Hand's brigade to 
 cross the morass, pueh up the hill and dis- 
 lodge the enemy. Butler on returning to his 
 forces on the crest of the hill found them in 
 confusion, who seeing the preparations made 
 to attack them beat a hasty retreat, leaving 
 their hats, packs, etc., behind them. . Butler 
 being thus thwarted in his plans to surprise 
 the army, withdrew his forces to Ghthtsgwa- 
 rohare. *■ 
 
 While the sad fate of Boyd and his party 
 deserves our heartiest commiseration, yet 
 his management of the scout was both un- 
 wise and unmilitary, and seems marked by a 
 succession of rash and fatal blunders, and a 
 deliberate disobedience to the orders of his 
 commandeiji utterly inexcusable in a soldier. 
 Not only did he greatly exceed his orders in 
 the number of men he took with him, but his 
 delay to return until the daylight revealed 
 his position, and his allowing his men to fire 
 upon the enemy when he was not attacked, 
 were all, under the circumstances, acts of 
 great folly. He was advised by Hanyerry 
 to take a different path on his return to camp 
 and warned of the danger of pursuing the 
 five Indians who were evidently trying to 
 decoy him into an ambush, but he stubbornly 
 refused to hear the advice. Altogether he 
 exhibited a rashness and temerity ill becom- 
 ing the . responsible position he occupied. 
 When he found himself assailed by the enemy 
 without doubt he fought with desperation. 
 His only hope was to keep the enemy at bay 
 until our army should come up. The story 
 which has passed current among us, that 
 Buyd endured torture, rather than disclose 
 anything relating to the army is of doubtful 
 authenticity. Several of the journals express 
 the relief experienced when on the return of 
 the army to Hennayaye they found 
 Captain Cummings safe, as they 
 
39 
 
 feared that Boyd had revealed his 
 defenceless position to the enemy. The Brit- 
 ish reports say he told everything. In a let- 
 ter dated Niagara, Sept. 19th, addressed to 
 Mr. Robert Hamilton, the author says : — 
 "The Lieucenant was examined, and told 
 that there were about five thousand, consist- 
 ing of Continental troops, with fifteen hund- 
 red riflemen, with four six, and three pound- 
 ers, and a small mortar, commanded by 
 General Sullivan and two other general ofii- 
 eers — one regiment of five hundred men left 
 at Tioga, and another at Genesee, which 
 completed the whole six thousand, and that 
 they had only one month's provisions with 
 them and intended to destroy the Indian 
 country and then return." With some ex- 
 aggeration, this was substantially the condi- 
 tion of the army at the time, and places the 
 conduct of Boyd in a light materially differ- 
 ent from the generally accepted account. 
 
 On the 37th of March. 1780, a party of 
 Indians captured Thomas Bennett and oth- 
 ers in the Wyoming valley. The leader had 
 a very fine sword, which he said belonged to 
 Boyd, and added, "Boyd brave man." The 
 prisoners rose upon their captor;;, killed rev- 
 eral of them, re-captured the sword, and re- 
 turned in safety to Wyoming. 
 
 Had Butler succeeded in surprising our ar- 
 my instead of being surprised, the results 
 might have been still more disastrous to our 
 trooDS. This, however, is one of those in- 
 stances in which conjecture is useless, and 
 we will return to the actual movements of 
 the main army. 
 
 Having destroyed Kanaghsaws and com- 
 pleted the bridge and causeway, Sullivan 
 pushed forward on the trail taken by Boyd 
 the night before, a distance of seven miles to 
 Gathtsegwarohare, or as it is sometimes call- 
 ed Gaghehegwaiehale, or Cassawaughlough- 
 ly. This was an Indian town of 25 houses, 
 mostly new, on the east side of the Oanaser- 
 aga creek, about two miles above its conflu- 
 ence with the Genesee. The site is now oc- 
 cupied by the house and surrounding 
 grounds of the "Hermitage," the ancestral 
 home of the Carrolls. The tribe residing 
 here, called by Sullivan Squatchegas, by the 
 Onondagas Tchou-era gak, signifying Wild- 
 Cats, and by others Kai7*kwas, were the 
 same that afterwards settled on Squakie 
 Hill, to whom two miles square was 
 reserved in the treaty of 1789. They were a 
 a remnant of one of the tribes of the historic 
 j^j tCTbcs , who occupied the territory south and 
 east of Lake Erie, whose blood, language 
 and league did not differ materially from the 
 Iroquois. 
 
 As the advance of the army approached 
 the town, about dusk of Sept. 13th, they 
 found themselves confronted by a strong 
 force of Indians and Rangers drawn up in 
 
 battle array to dispute their further progress. 
 The General at once pushed forward the 
 flanking divisions to cut off their retreat, 
 but the enemy, seeing the troops come into 
 position, fled without firing a gun, and the 
 army encamped in the town without opposi- 
 tion. There were extensive corn fields adja- 
 cent to the town, which it took 3,000 men six 
 hours the next day to destroy. This being 
 accomplished, about noon of the 14th they 
 set out for the great Genesee town. Major 
 Norris' description is so vivid I will quote it. 
 He says : "At 13 o'clock we marched, after 
 fording the small river that the town stands 
 on, and passing through a small grove of 
 wood, we entered upon what are called the 
 great Genesee Flats, which is a vast body of 
 clear intervale, twelve or fourteen miles up 
 and down the river, and several miles back 
 from the river, on both sides, and cov- 
 ered with grass from five to eight feet high 
 and so thick that a man can get through it 
 but very slowly. Our army appears to very 
 great advantage, moving on in the exact or- 
 der of march laid down in the plan; but 
 very often we that are on horseback would 
 see nothing but the men's guns above the 
 grass. After marching about two miles on 
 the flat we came to the river, which we ford- 
 ed, passed over a body of flats on the other 
 side, and ascended on to oak land, proceed- 
 ed four miles and arrived at the town which 
 we found deserted." Other journals describe 
 the site of the town as on higher ground than 
 the surrounding plain, and as being nearly 
 encircled by a bend of the river, and that a 
 pretty brook ran through it. The army 
 reached here about sunset. 
 
 The location of this great Seneca Castle 
 was on the west side of the Genesee river, 
 on the flat immediately in front of Cuylers- 
 ville, in the town of Leicester, on the oppo- 
 site side of the valley from Geneseo. It ap- 
 pears on Evans map as Chenandoanes; in 
 1776 it was called Chenondanah; by Morgan 
 is called De-o-nun-da-ga-a, as a more mod- 
 ern Seneca name, signifying "where 
 the hill is near," but is more often called Lit- 
 tle Beard's town, from the name of the noted 
 Seneca chieftain who resided here in 1779. 
 
 The castle consisted of 138 houses, of 
 which the most were large and elegant, and 
 was surrounded by about 300 acres of corn- 
 fields and gardens filled with all kinds of 
 vegetables. It was the western door of the 
 Long House to which the Iroquois were ac- 
 customed to liken their confederacy. Near 
 this town were found the bodies of Lieut. 
 Thomas Boyd and Sergeant Parker, horribly 
 mutilated by the tortures to which they had 
 been subjected. They were buried that even- 
 ing with the honors of war, near the spot 
 where thjy were found, under a clump of 
 wild plums, standing near the junction of 
 
Boyd's and Parker's Creeks. A large mound 
 by the roadside still marks their first burial 
 place. The town bore evidences of having 
 been deserted in hurry and confusion. This 
 place was the extreme limit of the westward 
 march of the army. Sullivan says he was 
 told there were no towns between that and 
 Niagara. • 
 
 There was, however, an Indian town 
 twelve miles from the Great Castle, near the 
 site of Avon, called Canawaugus, which has 
 been reported to have been destroyed by a 
 detachment under Poor and Maxwell, but 
 this is a mistake. All the journals agree 
 that Little Beard's town was the last de- 
 stroyed, and make no mention whatever of 
 Canawaugus. 
 
 At 6 o'clock in the morning of the 15th of 
 September, the whole army was turned out 
 to destroy the crops, orchards, houses and 
 gardens of the place. The corn was piled 
 up in the houses and burned with them, or 
 consumed on log heaps. It was estimated 
 that from 15,C00 to 30,000 bushels were de- 
 stroyed at this place. It was the largest corn 
 the troops had ever seen, some of the ears 
 being 22 inches in length. It was about 2 
 o'clock p. M. when, the fields having been 
 overrun, the abundant harvest destroyed, the 
 trees hewn down, and naught of the great 
 town was remaining but smoking ruins and 
 blackened logs, there came the joyful order 
 to about face and return. While the army 
 remained at this town, Mrs. Lester, with a 
 child in her arms, came to our troops. 
 The autumn previous (Nov. 7,) her 
 husband with others was captured near Nan- 
 ticoke, Pennsylvaaia, by the Indjansj he was 
 slain, but his wife was carried into captivity. 
 In their baste to escape our army, her cap- 
 tors left her behind, and she escaped to our 
 lines. Her child died a few days after. She 
 subsequently became the wife of Capt. Ros- 
 well Franklin, who was in the first party that 
 settled Aurora, on Cayuga lake. 
 
 The army retuned by the same route it 
 came. It left Little Beardstown about three 
 o'clock, p. M., and marched in the following 
 order : ''The little gun was mounted on a 
 block of wood, to which handles were attach- 
 ed so that it could be carried by hand. It 
 was so taken to Chemung on the 12th of 
 August, and was so carried on much of the 
 return march. Gen. Clinton's brigade fol- 
 lowed in four columns, the other troops fol- 
 lowing nextj Gen. Hand's brigade brought 
 up the rear] the two pieces of artillery were 
 in the rear of him,? and the riflemen in the 
 rear of the whole. The army encamped that 
 night on ihe flats near Gathtsegwarrohare. 
 
 On Thursday, the 16th, the army were at 
 work completing the destructon of some 
 crops left on the 14th. The march was re- 
 sumed at ten o'clock. Capt. Henderson, with 
 
 60 men, was detailed to bury the dead who 
 fell on the 13th. Fifteen bodies were found. 
 Norris says : "Fourteen of Lieut. Boyd's 
 party were found dead this afternoon, near 
 together, scalped. Honyose (Hanyerre), an 
 Oneida Indian of considerable note, who was 
 with Lieut. Boyd, was among the dead." 
 These were buried in the presence of the 
 troops with the honors of war, and the army 
 proceeded to Kanagh saws and encamped. 
 
 The place where Boyd's men were buried 
 was near where they fell. It is at the head 
 of the first ravine south of the road which 
 passes by the cemetery on the hill west of the 
 head of Conesus lake. The point is within a 
 half mile of the cemetery and about ten rods 
 directly south of Mrs. Boyd's barn. 
 
 The next morning was cold, with severe 
 frost, but the troops were in motion at sun- 
 rise, and hastened to Haneyaye, which they 
 reached at one o'clock, and, to the great joy 
 of the General and the army, found Capt. 
 Cummings and his party safe and sound. 
 Here the full ration was again issued, which, 
 says one of the journals, "came very wel- 
 come, as we can now sit down and eat a 
 hearty meal of victuals with a clear eon- 
 science, and before, on oiur half ration, we 
 dare not." 
 
 On the evening of the 19th, the army 
 reached Kanadaseaga without any occur- 
 rence worthy of note, except that scattered 
 dwellings and fields of corn which had 
 been overlooked, or purposely spared were 
 completely destroyed, and a number of the 
 pack horses being unable to travel further 
 were shot. At Kanadaseaga a detachment 
 under Colonel Smith was sent up the west 
 side of Seneca lake to complete the destruc- 
 tion of Kefshong; another under Col. Butler 
 up the east side of Cayuga lake, and a third 
 under Colonel Dearborn up the west side of 
 Cayuga, which efiected the devastation of 
 that whole region. They reached Konawa- 
 holla, the site of present Elmira, on the 24th 
 of September, where Capt. Reid had brought 
 up an abundance of provisions and stores, 
 and who received the advancing army with 
 demonstrations of joy. The next day was 
 spent in rejoicing, and two following detach- 
 ments were sent up the Tioga, one under Col. 
 Courtlandt and the other under Capt. Simon 
 Spalding, who laid waste the country as far 
 as Painted Post. The detachments having 
 come in, the army reached Fort Sullivan 
 September 30th, and Easton on the 15th of 
 October. 
 
 An eminent military man has said that 
 "the importance of a military movement is 
 not to be measured by the number of lives it 
 cost, but by the results which have flowed 
 from it." The almost bloodless victories 
 have oft times been the most valuable ones. 
 Such was the case with this expedition. It 
 
has been too much the fashion 
 among the writers of American his- 
 tory to pass over this expedition as 
 a trifling affair, because like our modern 
 Antietam or Gettysburg, it did not cost heca- 
 tombs of human lives; it was nevertheless 
 one of the almost critical events of the Revo- 
 lution. At the commencement of this dis- 
 course I alluded to the alliance between the 
 Iroquois and the British government having 
 for its end the establishment of British su- 
 premacy over the European races, and of 
 Iroquois rTile over the Indian. This cam- 
 paign materially weakened this alliance and 
 broke the power of the confederation. Their 
 Long House had been forcibly entered, and 
 the feet of strangers and enemies had pollu- 
 ted its sacred threshold. Those whose slight- 
 est whisper had made nations tremble, who 
 had ruled their vassals with a rod of iron, 
 were made to feel the weight of the white 
 man's wrath. From that day the glory of 
 the Iroquois nations has departed, the luster 
 of their arms has been growing dim, their 
 pride humbled and their numbers depleted. 
 Upon the ashes of their burned villages the 
 pale face has builded towns and cities; the 
 songs of the war dance have been 
 hushed by the hum of the manufactory, 
 the vast forests have melted awej before the 
 woodman's ax, and the great wilderness has 
 not only been made to blossom Jn beauty, 
 but to bear the various products of human 
 industry. 
 
 It was needful that both British and Indi- 
 ans should be taught that blows could be 
 given as well as taken; and this lesson they 
 earned effectually. The Indians never for- 
 got the terror which the marching army 
 with its big guns inspired, nor the famine 
 and woe which followed the destruction of 
 their homes and fields. 
 
 In the "History of New York during the 
 Revolutionary war." by Thomas Jones, of 
 the Supreme Court of the Province, he says: 
 "Though several times attacked upon the 
 march by a number of Indians, refugees and 
 tories, under the commsnd of Col. Butler, of 
 Tryon county, and the famous Mohawk 
 warrior. Captain Brant, no kind of impres- 
 sion could be made by them upon so firm, 
 so stubborn, and so well constituted a pha- 
 lanx. I have heard Col. Butler compare it 
 to the driving of a wedge into a stick of 
 wood. Nothing stopped or disturbed its mo- 
 tion." 
 
 The expedition was not only necessary for 
 the defence of our frontiers, which had so 
 often been ravaged by the merciless Iroquois, 
 but was necessary to the development, if not 
 to the integrity of the Republic. Let those 
 who speak harshly of Sullivan and of Wash- 
 ington and of Congress for their part in this 
 expedition, if they feel no sentiment of vin- 
 dictive justice for the hundreds of massacred 
 women and children, no commiseration for 
 the tortures of their kindred blood, no re- 
 grets for the burning of whiie men's towns 
 
 and villages, if all their pity must be lavish- 
 ed on homeless squaws, and all their indig- 
 nation must be expended over burning wig- 
 wams and wasted cornfields and prostrate 
 orchards, yet it might be worth a thought to 
 consider what this great State would have 
 been, nay what the country would have been 
 without the substantial fruits of this expedi- 
 tion, without the Iroquois country. Here are 
 the sou'*ces of the great rivers of the conti- 
 nent, across its plains stretch the canals and 
 railroads over which are borne the produc- 
 tions and commerce of all climes, and its 
 fertile fields are now as they were a hundred 
 years ago, the garden and granary of this 
 Empire State. 
 
 CONCLUDING NOTE. 
 
 In General Sullivan's official reports, he 
 claimed to hava lost fram all causes less than 
 forty men, and to have destroyed forty towns, 
 fourteen of which were destroyed by Clinton 
 and himself, prior to the 30th of August. 
 This statement has been doubted by some 
 critics, and Sullivan's veracity in his official 
 report virtually questioned. A careful colla- 
 tion of the journals gives the following re- 
 sults : 
 
 LOSS OF MEN. 
 One, a boatman drowned, a soldier died at Van- 
 derlip's and i^erg't Martin Johnson at Wyalusing, 
 all Aug. 5. At Tioga, Jabez Elliott was killed by 
 Indians, Aug 15; Philip Helter, Aug. 17, and Capt. 
 Benj . Kimball, accidentally Aug 23. Seven werw 
 killed at Chemung, Aug. 12; 3 were killed and 5 
 di d (of wounds from the battle of Newtown; 17 per- 
 ished iit Groveland, making a total of 38. Besides 
 these Hauyerry was killed at Groveland, one soldier 
 died at Wyoming, and one rifleman was killed 
 while Clinton was at the foot of Otsego Lake. 
 
 TOWNS DBSTBOYBD. 
 
 The following are the fourteens towns destroyed pre- 
 vious to the 3Uth of August with the date of their de- 
 struttion : 
 
 1. jStewtychanning, at the mouth of Sugar creek, 
 AuguHt9. 
 
 2. Old Chemung, near present town, Aug. 13. 
 
 3. New i,/heinung, Aug. 13. 
 
 4. Newtown. 6. Small village at the fortifications. 
 6. New bui dings, Aug. ^9 
 
 7. Small town south of Elmira, Aug. 30. Destroyed 
 by Clinton and Poor. 
 
 8. Albout, .vug. 12. 9. Oneguga. 10. Ingaren, 
 Aug. 17. il. Otsiningo, Aug. 18. 12. ChoWnut, e<* 
 Aug. 18. 13 Owegy, Aug. 19. 14. Majickatawan- 
 gum, Aug. 'il. '*■ 
 
 Subsequently the following which altogether count 
 up to f jrty-two : 
 Iri. Middletown, 3 miles a'love Newtown, Aug. 31. 
 
 16. KanawahoUa, site of Elmira, Aug. 31. 
 
 17. Bunonvea, near iJig Flats, Aug. 31, Col. Day- 
 ton. 
 
 18. Sheoquaga, Havana, Sept. 1. 
 
 19. Peach Orchard, .'^ept. 3. 
 
 20. Condawhavv, North Hector, Sept. 4. 
 
 21. Kendaia, Sept. 5. 
 
 22. Nugfiage, at the foot of Seneca Lake, Sept. 7. ^^ 
 
 23. Kauadaseaga, 2 miles east of Geneva, Sept. 7. 
 
 24. Kershong, on the west side of Seneca Lake. 
 Sept. 8. 
 
 25. Kanandaigua, Sept. 10. 
 
 26. Haueyaye, Sept. 11. 
 
 27. Kanaghsaws, Sept. 13. 
 
 28 Gathsegwarohare, Sept. 13. 
 
 29. Genesee Castle, Sept. 15. 
 
 Sis towns were destroyed by Col. Dearborn and 5" 
 by Col Butler. Besides Sullivan says a large town 
 of 39 houses near 'Be«town. which make 41, without Nt\/lf 
 counting Kna^to 12 miles above Elmira, and Painted <? 
 Post, destroyed by Col Spalding, Sept. 29. 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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