.r-i •vV . ^^ v^' 0>' x^^ ''^.. ^0O, v^^ -'t. „ ^ AV . o> „ ■> « " ■0' .0 o. '^s'^^^ *• ■*-' ■^ .0 o^ >. * vV^ ■J^- * .A -^>- v^ v^^^. ■'*, .-•^ <:, ■^\, ./^ A^^^' '"^:. .0 - A-' '->, ,-\- -•> ,\>' ^n X ^0 O^ ^oo^ v<^ >• '/"">' '^°V v^^ -% .:C^'" ^^ "^^ ' ,0- .•^'^ - A^^ ,^- ''^^ .V -^-<. c Life of General Philip Schuyler 1733-1804 By BAYARD TUCKERMAN ^ New York DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1903 Copyright, 1903, by Dodd, Mead and Company First edition published September, 1903 c~, THE LIBRARY OF COMbKcSS. Two Copies Recaivee OCT 16 190? Cop>rig;-it Entry cuss Ot wo, Mo 1 oca- ^ 1 COPY a. HILL AND LEONARD NEW YORK CITY, U. S. A. / , i^ '^ iL PREFACE THIS memoir is based on General Schuyler's papers and letter books, on the Gates papers belonging to the New York His- torical Society, on the archives of the State Depart- ment in Washington, and on some other collections of original historical material. Bayard Tuckerman. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. The Province of New York — The Hudson River Manors — The Schuyler Family I CHAPTER II. Youth of Philip Schuyler — The French and Indian War... 32 CHAPTER III. A Visit to England — Home and Business Life — Member of Provincial Assembly — The Revolution — Appointed Major-General 65 CHAPTER IV. Schuyler in Command of the Northern Department — The Invasion of Canada — The Johnsons and Tories 93 CHAPTER V. Failure of the Expedition Against Canada — New England Hostility to Schuyler — The Efforts of Gates to Supplant Him 129 CHAPTER VI. Burgoyne's Invasion — Evacuation of Ticonderoga — Schuy- ler's Military Operations 169 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER VII. PAGE British Defeats at Bennington and in the Mohawk Valley — Bright Prospects of the American Army — Schuyler Superseded by Gates — Saratoga — Last Services During the War 209 CHAPTER VIII. Schuyler's Political Career After the Revolution — His Part in the Development of New York State — His Family Life 248 ILLUSTRATIONS General Philip Schuyler Frontispiece Schuyler House at Albany 68 Map of the Northern Department 170 Life of General Philip Schuyler Chapter I. The Province of New York. — The Hudson River Manors. — The Schuyler Family. FROM the days when Philip Schuyler led his company of provincials in the forest fights of the French and Indian War, until he sat in the Senate of the United States as the representative of the State of New York, there elapsed about forty years. These years were replete with momentous changes for his country, and with patriotic thought and action on the part of Schuyler. The victory of Wolfe ended the long and bloody struggle between England and France for supremacy in North America. Thenceforth the English Colonies, which yet only skirted the Atlantic coast, were free to carry westward their course of empire. And, what was even more important, the colonists, relieved from the threatening pressure of French aggression, were enabled to sast LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER off the paralyzing reliance on the protection of the mother country; they were inspired to determine rea- sonably and to assert courageously their rights as free men ; finally to wring independence from the powerful England of Pitt, and to establish on enduring founda- tions a mighty nation. Those stirring years called as much for high thinking as for gallant fighting, and a patriot in that time had many parts to play. The province of New York, in the middle of the eighteenth century, was a fringe of settlements on the Hudson River, Manhattan Island and Long Island. The town of New York, marked by nature as the principal seaport of the Atlantic coast, contained the mass of the population. Along the banks of the Hudson River, scattered here and there through the vast expanse of forest, wherever nature offered least resistance to man, rose the farmhouses of Dutch and English settlers. At the northern end of the great watery highway stood Albany, the headquarters of the fur trade, the gateway to Canada and the western lakes. As the boy Is father to the man, the town of New York in its infancy of fourteen thousand inhabitants presented features which were destined to characterize the city throughout its magnificent growth. While Boston and Philadelphia were English towns. New York was cosmopolitan from the first. The Dutch predominated, followed by the English and French. While the English tongue was steadily making its way COLONIAL NEW YORK as the language of the province, forcing the domines to adopt it in their churches, Dutch and French were heard on every side. The same variety prevailed in religion. The Dutch Reformed, the Lutherans, the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians had their churches, and a synagogue was not wanting. The different nationalities, still looking to Europe for their standards of life, kept up as they could the customs and ambitions of the fatherland. The Dutchman, grown rich through the fur trade or the brewery, built his new house of brick with gable end to the street and roofed it with tiles imported from Holland. The English merchant or landed proprietor adopted the style which we call colonial with its simple and beautiful front extended toward the street. Within these doorways were to be found the furniture and the customs of the land still regarded as home. At the foot of Broadway stood Government House, the political and usually the social centre. There the English Governor lived in some state, and gath- ered about him was a little court composed of the provincial aristocracy, the proprietary families, the wealthier merchants, the lawyers, the clergymen and the officers of the garrison. Among these people was no little social activity, and when, on Sundays and holidays, they gathered to take the air on the Battery or the Mall, the lesser sort were expected not to approach too near. From this aristocratic circle the social scale descended through the tradesmen, the 3 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER mechanics, the shifting crowd of laborers and sailors to the negro slaves. As emigrants arrived, there was no lack of opportunity for employment, and the in- dustrious soon made their way forward to comfort. On the west side of Broadway, the pretty English and Dutch gardens of the principal houses sloped to the shore of the Hudson River. The most thickly inhabited district lay on the east side, between the dwellings on Broadway and the warehouses on the East River. But even here the buildings were de- tached, and the trees were so numerous that from the deck of the approaching vessel the town seemed built in a wood. Above Maiden Lane extended farms and orchards, watered by ponds and running streams. It was for material advancement that the seas had been crossed, and the pursuit of gain was the absorb- ing thought of the population. Nothing, as we are told by an intelligent contemporary, was more neg- lected than reading and education. While New England, with less wealth, had two colleges, it was not until 1754 that New York saw the founding of King's College. In the absence of mental cultiva- tion, as reached through books or the arts, the inhab- itants had much to stimulate their intelligence. The problems presented by life in a new country enclosed between the wilderness and the sea, the contest against nature and the effort to establish trade in the face of artificial obstacles, all tended to develop industry, 4 COLONIAL NEW YORK perseverance and ingenuity. Two great causes of division existed, provocative of much debate and tending to prepare the minds of men for the greater questions of public policy soon to be forced upon them. These were the struggle for supremacy between aris- tocratic and democratic sentiments, and, akin to it, the contest between episcopacy and the other Protes- tant bodies. The aristocratic traditions of the old world were adhered to by a majority of the upper classes, but some powerful families, like the Delanceys, and the mass of the people were becoming yearly more democratic. The effort to make the Episcopal church the established religion of the province aroused the strenuous opposition of other religious denomina- tions. The party lines drawn on these subjects were not wholly decided by wealth. The proprietor of land, whose ambition was to found a family of which the property and dignity should be entailed, might be a Presbyterian fighting the pretensions of episcopacy. The Episcopal merchant, maintaining the desirabihty of a state church, might oppose the aristocratic ten- dencies of a lord of the manor. The relations of the province to England contained much that was irritating, and the mental attitude of the people was constantly becoming more independent and self- reliant. Even in the cabinet at Versailles It was fore- seen that England would find It difficult to keep her colonies In subjection when the fall of New France removed the need of protection. 5 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER While the busy streets, fine houses and social amuse- ments of New York made it seem a great capital to the country dweller, and a very seat of luxury to the trader emerging from the forest, Albany was a primi- tive Dutch town, in which homely labors and simple amusements were varied only by the excitements incidental to its frontier position. The town stood on the side of the hill which formed the west bank of the Hudson, its few streets lined by gabled Dutch houses, some built with great solidity and no little beauty, all neatly kept. From each roof extended a spout, which in rainy weather cast a small cascade upon the pedestrian. Each house had the traditional stoop upon which the family sat In the evening ex- changing salutations with the passers-by. A crum- bling fort, useless except against Indians, represented the military power. The church stood prominent as the most important edifice, its windows adorned by the coats of arms of the principal families. Christen- ings, marriages and funerals were the chief causes of social reunion or excitement. The women were ab- sorbed in the ceaseless round of household duties in which they maintained the hereditary standard of Dutch neatness. Even in the wealthy families, there were no servants except the negro slaves, who were unequal to relieving their mistresses of more than the drudgery. An ambitious young man took up the career which contained the greatest promise of reward, the fur 6 COLONIAL ALBANY trade. For success, he needed all his hardihood and endurance. It was his perilous task to paddle a canoe, laden with hatchets, blankets, gunpowder, and rum, through the watery highways and byways of the forest; to seek his trade among the distant and roving savages; to paddle homeward his load of peltries, never secure until the canoe floated again upon the safe waters of the Hudson. When he did not return, his friends could only conjecture, whether the tomahawk of a covetous savage, or the whirling rapids, or the privations of the forest, had caused his end. Success meant the building of a sloop, the extension of trade to New York, even to the West Indies, the investment of gains in tracts of wild land, which had to be cleared, settled and made a source of income to the now wealthy father of a family. On the part of both women and men, the circumstances of life called for the cultivation of the qualities of industry and courage, while the intellectual and social side was of necessity neglected. This was true, only in a less degree, of the aristocracy of the town, the Van Rensselaers, the Schuylers, the Ten Broecks, the Cuylers and other allied families. It was a virtuous and orderly community, in which the domlne had little to do but to expound the Gospel and comfort the sick. The calm routine of Albany was rudely broken by the French and Indian War. As the headquarters for northern operations, the town became the rendez- ? LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER vous of scarlet-coated regiments, of boat-builders and militia. At times, the regular inhabitants seemed lost in the crowd, and the influx of rough men caused such disorders that the Mayor told the English com- mander that If he would take his men back to New York the Dutch would defend their frontiers them- selves. The dances and plays introduced Into the staid society of the place by the officers In garrison upset all the preconceived ideas of propriety, and fears for the spiritual welfare of his flock hastened the death of old domlne Frellnghuysen. Connecting the frontier town of the province with its capital and seaport, flowed the majestic Hudson, the great, almost the only highway for transportation and travel, and the natural feature of the country of the highest interest to the inhabitants. The sloops which tacked up and down its beautiful course fulfilled all the objects of railway, steamboat and telegraph. The movement of lumber and produce between the settlements, the exchange of business or social visits sought the pathway of the great river. It was with a sense of isolation that the inhabitants saw their road to market and to friends closed by the hand of winter; and In the spring, the distant boom which announced the breaking up of the ice was welcomed alike by the trader, the farmer and the Inmates of the manor house, who sought a view of the frozen river to watch with pleasurable anticipations the cracking and motion of its surface. In the cabinets THE HUDSON RIVER FAMILIES of Versailles and of London, where ministers of state bent over the map of America, the Hudson River, how to use, to gain or to defend it, was the absorbing consideration. The changes of time have altered the uses and the meaning of the Hudson. Its beauties and its romance enshrined in the immortal words of Irving, its shores adorned by fruitful farms and noble country seats, the river flows on as of old, a source of pride and pleasure to the living, and a bond of asso- ciation with the generations of the past who loved to live along Its wooded slopes. In the middle of the eighteenth century, there were four families in the province of New York whose intimate connection with each other and whose com- mon interests on the Hudson River make them a part of the time and events which we are considering. These were the Van Rensselaers, the Schuylers, the Van Cortlandts and the Livingstons. The first three were Dutch; the ancestor of the fourth was Scotch, but his descendants had more Dutch than Scotch blood. All were proprietary families, so connected by marriage, Intimacy and business interests that their Influence was usually exerted in harmony and was considerable in a community still dominated by aris- tocratic ideas. Of these families, the first to be established In New York and the only one which had the advantage of any wealth in the beginning, was that of Van Rensselaer. In 1629, the Dutch West India Com- 9 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER pany, which had planted the colony called New Netherland, realized its inability as a purely trading company to settle its territory with agricultural colonists whose presence would give value to the land. As the population of Holland was not so exuberant as to cause a natural overflow, it was necessary to offer special Inducements to emigrants. The company hoped to shift upon individuals the expenses and risks involved, and in pursuance of that poHcy, Invented the system of patroonships, founded on a national prejudice. The wealthy Dutch burgher nourished the ambition to rise in the social scale by becoming a proprietor of land and attaining the dignity thereto associated. In thickly settled Holland, the possibili- ties In this direction were exceedingly limited. To this ambition the West India Company offered a feudal lordship In New Netherland on condition of planting and maintaining there a colony of actual settlers. The offer was accepted in several cases, but in all, except in that of Kiliaen Van Rensselaer, the attempt was unsuccessful; the system was soon dis- avowed by the company, who bought up or abolished the rights already granted to patroons. They en- deavoured also to obtain possession of Rennselaer- wyck, but were balked by the persistency of that family, who made the sole permanent establishment of a patroonshlp. Rennselaerwyck was a tract of land beginning at the mouth of the Mohawk River, extending south- 10 THE HUDSON RIVER FAMILIES ward twenty-four miles along the banks of the Hud- son, and on either side of that river twenty-four miles east and west. It contained about seven hundred thousand acres; the present cities of Albany and Troy are within its limits. The family afterwards became possessed of Claverack, sometimes called the Lower Manor, containing sixty-two thousand acres, the land- ing place of which is now the town of Hudson. The territory of Rensselaerwyck was diminished from time to time from various causes, but it remained the largest estate in the province. Kiliaen Van Rensselaer was a director in the West India Company and a merchant of Amsterdam whose family had formerly possessed a manorial estate in Gelderland, adjoining that of John of Barneveld's family. He died in 1646 and never visited America. Nor did his son Johannes, the second patroon, who died young, leaving a son Kiliaen, the third patroon, who came to Albany and received from the English government the patent which changed the patroonship in New Netherland into a manor in the province of New York. Two years later, in 1687, he died with- out children. During the life of the first patroon, the colony was managed by his cousin, Arent Van Corlear, whose dealings with the Indians were so tactful and just that for more than a century afterwards the inhabit- ants of Albany were personified in their language by the word "Corlear." He was succeeded by Van LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Schlectenhorst, a man who needed all his rude courage to maintain the rights of the patroon against the assaults of Peter Stuyvesant, who, as director general of New Netherland, was hostile to the semi-independ- ence of Rensselaerwyck. The feudal sovereignty claimed by the patroon and the consequent quarrels with the government at New Amsterdam are illus- trated rather amusingly by the following incident. Govert Lookermans, a well known citizen of New Amsterdam, brother-in-law of Oloff Stevense Van Cortlandt, had been up to the Mohawk River trading with the Indians. On his return he sat smoking at the helm of his little sloop as she drifted slowly by the fort at Rensselaerwyck. One Nicholas Koorn, lately appointed "watchmeeister," bawled at him from the palisades, "Strike your flagl" "For whom shall I strike?" inquired Lookermans. "For the staple right of Rensselaerstein ! " " I strike for no man," replied Lookermans contemptuously, "but the Prince of Orange and those by whom I am employed." Be- fore he could pass out of range a cannon boomed and a shot struck the "princely flag" just above his head. The wrath of Lookermans lost no strength during the days which elapsed before his peltry laden sloop came to anchor in the East River, and at the report which he carried to the governor, old Stuyvesant stamped his wooden leg with rage. Three of the younger sons of the first patroon acted In turn as agents. One of these, Jeremias, lived at THE HUDSON RIVER FAMILIES Rensselaerwyck for seventeen years and died there. He married the daughter of Oloff Stevense Van Cort- landt, and one of his daughters married Peter Schuy- ler. Until 1695, Rensselaerwyck remained part of the first patroon's undivided estate. In that year the representative of the older branch of the family in Holland, named Klllaen, came out to Albany, met the representative of the younger branch, also named Killaen, and together they agreed that the older branch should take all the property In Holland and the younger all that in America. Thus Rennselaer- wyck came Into the possession of the children of Jeremias, younger son of the first patroon. These were Klliaen, Hendrick and two daughters. Killaen, as eldest son, took Rensselaerwyck proper, becoming fourth patroon and second lord of the manor. Hen- drick took the estate of Claverack, and the daughters each received a farm. When Killaen Van Rensselaer came out from Hol- land to make a settlement with his cousin Killaen in America, he was no doubt well pleased with the result. When he contrasted his life in the advanced civiliza- tion of Amsterdam with the problems of existence amidst the forests of the new world, he must have been glad to leave their solution to his relations. The American Van Rensselaers, although possessing privi- leges and a vast domain, were far from being placed beyond the common cares and efforts of their fellow colonists. The land was unproductive without the 13 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER labor of man. Slowly tenants were induced to settle at a nominal rent, who would fell the trees, plant wheat among the stumps and raise human dwellings through the hunting grounds of the savage. Grad- ually the elk and the deer became less frequent; year by year, the sound of the axe was heard deeper in the forest; one wild stream after another was set to work and its pleasant voice lost in the rasping of the saw. The colony founded by the enterprising mer- chant of Amsterdam yielded no profit to him. The descendants of his younger son reaped the advantage of the efforts and growth of a long series of years. By the middle of the eighteenth century Rensselaerwyck and Claverack contained many fine farms and a nu- merous tenantry. The proprietors lived quiet and uneventful lives, possessing much influence, but taking little part in public affairs. The Dutch title of patroon clung to the head of the family until 1839, a curious survival of an outgrown past. Philip Schuyler mar- ried a Van Rensselaer of Claverack, his daughter mar- ried the last patroon, and his son the patroon's sister. When the ship "Haring" cast anchor off the fort at New Amsterdam in 1637, with supplies and a gar- rison for the little trading settlement, there landed among the common soldiers one called Oloff Stevense, afterwards known as Van Cortlandt. Young, poor, ambitious, he had sailed away from Holland to carve out for himself in a distant wilderness a career and a fortune of which he saw small prospect at home. 14 THE HUDSON RIVER FAMILIES He soon left his messmates in the fort and entered the civil service of the company, where his education and industry caused his promotion to be keeper of the stores. The ready money saved in this employment enabled him to begin business for himself. Trade in furs increased his resources ; he established a brewery in Whitehall Street and soon became a leading man, respected as much for his character as for his wealth. He was successively captain of the train band, one of the Nine Men, the first representative body in the colony, a signer of the Remonstrance to the States General against the tyranny of Stuyvesant, burgo- master, a delegate to Hartford in 1663 to settle the New England boundaries, and one of the commis- sioners chosen to negotiate with Governor Nichols the surrender of the province to England in 1664. Before his death, in 1684, he had reached the goal of his ambition, as regarded both his own position and that of his children. His daughter married Frederick Philipse, the proprietor of the manor at Philipsburg, now Yonkers. His second son, Jacobus, married Eve Philipse, the heiress of extensive lands in Westchester County, and their daughter was the mother of John Jay. The eldest son, Stephanus, the founder of the manor of Cortlandt, married Gertruyd, the daughter of Philip Pieterse Schuyler. Like his father, Ste- phanus was a man of energy, force and breadth of 15 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER character, ready to serve his country as well as him- self. He accumulated a considerable property of his own independently of that left him by his father. In 1677, when thirty- four years old, he was appointed Mayor of New York and was the first native born citizen to hold that office. In 1680, he became a member of the King's Council and retained his seat until his death, except during the two years of Leisler's usurpation, during which exciting period he was obliged to seek refuge in turn at Albany, in New England and New Jersey. The absence of legal edu- cation in the province caused the appointment of intelligent laymen to judicial positions, and Van Cortlandt sat on the bench as justice of the Supreme Court and as the first judge of the Court of Common Pleas of King's County. He was always a valued adviser of the English governors, and for many years was entrusted by them with the collection of the provincial revenues. As soon as his means allowed, Stephanus Van Cort- landt gratified his ambition to become the proprietor of a manor. He purchased from the Indians a tract on the east side of the Hudson, beginning at the mouth of the Croton River, extending northward to Anthony's Nose and to the eastward twenty miles into the woods, for which he received a patent from William III. "The old manor house still stands, pro- tected by a hill from the north winds and looking southward for manv miles over the Tappan See. It 16 THE HUDSON RIVER FAMILIES has always been inhabited by descendants of the founder of the manor, and its hospitality was ever the dependence of travellers journeying up and down the river. From its veranda George Whitefield preached. During the Revolution, Franklin, Wash- ington, Rochambeau, Lafayette and Luzerne were its guests. It is probably the best example of a colonial house built for defence as well as for residence. Its thick stone walls pierced by loop holes for musketry, the Indian arrow heads which are picked up in its beautiful garden, make it an interesting relic of the past. Stephanus Van Cortlandt had numerous children who married into the Van Rensselaer, Schuyler, de Peyster, de Lancey, Bayard and Beeckman families. His youngest daughter, Cornelia, was the mother of General Philip Schuyler. At the time of the Revolu- tion, the proprietor of the manor was Pierre Van Cortlandt, who, with his son Pierre, rejected the overtures of Governor Tryon and supported with energy the patriot cause. The father was a member of the first provincial Congress and president of the Committee of Public Safety. The son became a lieutenant colonel in the continental service. The Van Rensselaer, Schuyler and Van Cortlandt families had been established for many years in the province when Robert Livingston arrived in 1674, at the same time that Governor Andros came to manage the colony for the Duke of York. Of worldly goods 17 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER he brought httle or nothing, but a great store of ambition and industry. His great-grandfather, his grandfather and his father were ministers of the church of Scotland. His father, banished for non- conformity, passed the last years of his life at Rotter- dam, where Robert obtained the famiharity with the Dutch language and people which was so useful to him in America. Although he was imbued with the religion of his ancestors, its profession did not appeal to his adventurous and acquisitive character. It was at the age of twenty that he ascended the Hudson River to the frontier town of Albany, and obtained the position of secretary to the commissioners to whom was entrusted the local government. With a thrift both Scotch and Dutch, he saved enough from his salary and fees to begin trading. In nine years he was sufficiently well off to make his first purchase of land on the east bank of the Hudson; and in 1683 he married Alyda, daughter of Philip Pieterse Schuyler, and widow of Rev. Nicholas Van Rensse- laer. In 1686, he received the patent erecting his lands into the manor of Livingston. In 1692, he built a small house above Livingston Creek, but he did not begin to live there until 171 1, his official duties requiring his presence at Albany. He died in 1728. At the time of the Revolution, several de- scendants of his were men of exceptional distinction and influence: Wilham Livingston, of New Jersey; Philip, signer of the Declaration of Independence; 18 THE SCHUYLER FAMILY Robert R., the chancellor of New York; and Edward, the author of the Louisiana Code. During the earlier years of the province of New York, before the issues involved in the Revolution were raised, the most important public interest of the inhabitants — the danger which touched them most nearly — was the attitude toward them of the Indian Confederacy called the Six Nations. Intelhgent, ferocious, and jealous of encroachment, these savages lived at the very doors of the province; they barred the road to the West, and were capable of overwhelm- ing the settlements about Albany and on the Hudson River. Moreover, the almost continuous hostility between the French in Canada and the English colonists gave to this Confederacy a balance of power of which they recognized the full value. They were able to make the northern portions of the province uninhabitable for white men; and had they given to the French their active alliance, and had they joined the scalping knife of the Iroquois to the cannon of the trained soldier in a united attack, the plans of Frontenac might have been carried out. The French Governor writing to Versailles, the English to Lon- don, bore the same testimony to the efficacy of the barrier between the rival nations which was formed by the Indian Confederacy. That this bulwark against French invasion was maintained, that good relations with the savages were kept up, that the fur trader could reach the western lakes, and that the 19 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Dutchman could sleep securely in Albany, were benefits due chiefly, before 1745, to members of the Schuyler family. In the wars and the diplomacy of the frontier, that name was most frequently heard, and men who bore it were most conspicuous in the pubhc service. In 1650, Philip Pieterse, the founder of the family, emigrated from Amsterdam to Rensselaerwyck, and soon after married the daughter of Van Schlechten- horst, the patroon's agent. In 1652, occurred one of the periodical conflicts between the West India Company's soldiers at Fort Orange and the repre- sentatives of the patroon. A son of Van Schlechten- horst was dragged through the street by soldiers, while the company's commissary stood by, crying, "Let him have it now and the devil take him !" At this juncture young Schuyler appeared, threw himself lustily into the fight and rescued his brother-in-law in spite of the odds. His hardihood, enterprise and faith in the future of his adopted country made him a leading and prosperous man. His pursuit of the fur trade was carried on not only with profit, but with a justice and intelligence which established relations of peculiar confidence between his family and the savage tribes. His house at The Flatts, a few miles north of Albany, lay directly in the path of the Indians on their way to the town by land or river. At the house they found a willing hospitality, and on the floor of the barn their dusky forms were stretched 20 THE SCHUYLER FAMILY almost nightly. Thus Schuyler and his sons acquired a familiarity with their character and a facIHty In dealing with them which proved of great value to the province. A personal feeling of friendship arose on the part of the Indians to which was due the fact that through all the disorders of the border no person at The Flatts, unprotected as It was, received harm from the savages. The success of Philip Pieterse's business operations can be judged by his investments. The great posses- sions of the Van Rensselaers made It necessary for a purchaser of land to go to a considerable distance. But Philip Pleterse secured two fine tracts within the manor; The Flatts which he bought of Richard Van Rensselaer when he returned to Holland, and the large farm on the east side of the Hudson which Joanna de Laet had received from Jeremiah Van Rensselaer In liquidation of her claims to a share of Rensselaerwyck. In Albany he owned a number of lots besides his house on North Pearl Street. He had a tract on the Mohawk River and another at Esopus, now Kingston. He even extended his Investments to New York. There he owned two houses on the corner of Exchange Place and Broadway, "one being a great new house, the other a small old one", and the lot on the corner of Rector Street and Broadway. These properties he gave to his son Brandt and his daughter Gertruyd when they married Cornelia and Stephanus Van Cortlandt. LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Philip Pieterse Schuyler died in 1683, and was buried from the old Dutch church where his arms were emblazoned on one of the windows. Although one of his daughters married the founder of the manor of Livingston, another that of the manor of Cortlandt, and his eldest son the granddaughter of the first patroon, neither he nor his sons seem to have had a similar aristocratic ambition. According to Dutch traditions, his property was divided equally among all his children, with the full consent of Peter, the eldest, who, under the English law, might have claimed all the lands. Among the sons and grandsons of Philip Pieterse were many who figure in the provincial annals and especially in the records of forest war and negotiation. The name occurs frequently and always creditably in the stirring narratives of Francis Parkman. The most distinguished was Peter, who, during the forty years from 1684 to 1724, constantly played a leading part. Judge of the Court of Oyer and Terminer, Mayor of Albany and chairman of the Board of Indian Commissioners, he was not only a force in his native town, but as a member of the council in New York and three times acting governor, his influence extended over the whole province. The familiarity with the language and character of the Indians which he acquired as a boy at The Flatts was the basis of a power in dealing with the tribes which had no rival in his time and afterwards was equalled only by the 22 THE SCHUYLER FAMILY ability of Sir William Johnson. In the provincial records we often see the figure of this sturdy and tactful Dutchman, sometimes alone, sometimes accom- panied by his brother-in-law, Livingston, and by Van Cortlandt, seated about the council fire, smoking the calumet and punctuating with belts of wampum the figurative oratory of the forest. The famous Jesuit Joncaire, naturahzed among the Senecas and devoting his life to winning over the Six Nations to the interests of France, could not prevail against Peter Schuyler, ascending the Mohawk in his birchbark canoe, follow- ing the trail through the wilderness and in every village " keeping bright the chain of friendship." From the savages who enjoyed the hospitality of The Flatts, Schuyler obtained information of the ceaseless intrigues of the French, and more than once was able to warn the frontiers of New England of approaching danger. A picturesque incident in his career occurred in 17 lo, when, partly to impress the Six Nations with the power of England and partly to excite English interest in the provincial struggles, Schuyler took four Mohawk chiefs to London. Received as the guests of the nation, fantastically attired by a theatrical cos- tumer, introduced as Kings to Queen Anne by the Earl of Shrewsbury, driven through the streets in royal carriages and made the subject of essays by Steele and Addison, they formed the sensation of the day. Peter Schuyler could fight as well as negotiate, 23 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER could lead his savage allies on the warpath as well as hold their allegiance by persuasion. The annals of the time reveal him enduring the hardships of partisan warfare, crouching at night in a hole scooped out of the snow, before a fire which lit up the faces of companions where ferocity was always present and treachery always to be dreaded. On one of these occasions, when in pursuit of a Canadian raiding party in the depth of winter, starvation was added to ex- posure and the danger of hostile rifles. The hungry Schuyler rose from his bed of hemlock boughs and was searching in the snow for a breakfast of nuts, when he was called to a camp fire where his red allies sat feasting about a steaming kettle. The kind of men which he had both to command and to fight was shown when a human hand ladled out of the kettle betrayed to Schuyler that a Frenchman slain in the previous day's encounter had furnished the savage meal. In 1 69 1, when aggressive measures against Fron- tenac became necessary, Major Schuyler gathered together a force of English, Dutch, Mohawks and Mohegans, in all two hundred and sixty-six men. He followed that warpath so long familiar to the colonists and often afterwards to be trodden in the French War and the Revolution — ^up the Hudson, through Lakes George and Champlain and down the Richelieu River to the waters of the St. Lawrence. The little army built their canoes and fashioned their paddles 24 THE SCHUYLER FAMILY In the woods, subsisting on the deer, elk and bear which their hunting parties brought into camp. Leav- ing his canoes hidden and guarded on the banks of the Richeheu, Schuyler followed the forest trails to La Prairie on the St. Lawrence. His plans were known to the French, who concerted measures to destroy him. While the French com- mander, Callieres, awaited his attack at La Prairie with the greatly superior force of seven hundred men, another body of Canadians and Indians equal to Schuyler's in number, under Valrenne, allowed him to pass by unmolested in the woods, and then, posting themselves on the return path to his canoes, prepared to cut to pieces what might remain of his retreating army. Between the two hostile forces, Schuyler must win two victories or be utterly destroyed. It was an hour before daylight when he reached La Prairie. A French sentinel perceived the shadowy forms of men gliding from tree to tree, shouted " Qui Vive," fired his musket and ran in shouting the alarm. CaUieres was ill and his men seem to have indulged in too much brandy the evening before. On one side of the fort were encamped the Canadians and Indians, on the other the French regulars. The former were first attacked and driven with loss into the fort. The regulars then rushed upon Schuyler's men, who met them with a volley which killed fifty and drove the rest to cover. Forming again, they made another attack, were again repulsed by a telling fire and were 25 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER forced to take refuge with the Canadians and Indians in the fort. Having accomplished his object of inflicting loss and defeat upon a force which he now perceived to be largely superior to his own, Schuyler retreated slowly, cutting down the growing corn as he went, and entered again upon the forest trail which led to his canoes on the Richelieu. His men had marched all night, had fought their fight in the early dawn, and now at nine o'clock, as they picked their way through the bushes and trees, the forest ahead sud- denly resounded with war whoops. Schuyler's scouts had met those of Valrenne's ambushed force. Upon a rocky ridge which crossed the trail, the French officer had posted his men, lying three deep behind fallen trees and hidden by bushes. The charge or- dered by Schuyler met with such volleys of musketry as to betray the great strength of the enemy. Then Schuyler realized the extent of his danger, between the semi-circle of rifles which barred his advance and the avenging enemy which was surely following. "I encouraged my men," says his terse account, "and told them there was no other choice, fight or die they must, the enemy being between us and our canoes," The conflict which ensued was reported by Frontenac himself as the most hotly contested ever fought on the border. Charge after charge was desperately made and furiously repelled, until the combatants mingled together and fought hand to hand. Many 26 THE SCHUYLER FAMILY Indians on both sides took to their heels, and the battle was fought out by the whites and the bravest of their savage allies. A French account says, "lis enfon- cerent notre ambuscade." "We broke through the middle of their body," reported Schuyler, "until we got into their rear, trampling upon their dead; then faced about them, and fought them until we made them give way; then drove them, by strength of arm, four hundred paces before us; and to say the truth we were all glad to see them retreat." And it was time, for the forces of La Prairie were approaching to avenge their discomfiture of the morning. Leaving the dead, the knapsacks and a flag behind them, Schuyler's party reached their canoes with the wounded, and after waiting for stragglers, of whom five came in, they paddled back to Albany. To the Six Nations, Peter Schuyler was known under the name of "Quider." According to the Indian habit of impersonating nations and collective powers, the name Corlear was always used to indicate the Dutch or English Governor in New York, and the authorities at Albany continued to be described, long after Schuyler's death, by the word Quider. The Individuals changed, but the treaties were still dis- cussed and concluded with Corlear and Quider. At the opening of the Revolutionary War, the com- mittee of the continental congress, In seeking the neutrality of the Six Nations, found It expedient to address them as, "We, the representatives of the 27 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Congress and the descendants of Quider." Thus, at this distant and momentous juncture, was Peter Schuyler's departed spirit still present at the council fire in the silent service of his country. Johannes, a younger son of Philip Pieterse, was only less active in public affairs than his distinguished brother Peter. Indian Commissioner, Mayor of Al- bany, the envoy of Governor Bellomont to Frontenac in 1798, member of the Colonial Assembly from 1705 to 17 13, he was also a fighter. When Winthrop's expedition against Canada was abandoned. Captain Johannes Schuyler resolved that at least one blow should be struck; and with a party of volunteers he made a successful attack upon La Prairie. After the fight there, he sat with his band of raiders at dinner in the forest, while the French alarm cannon boomed from fort to fort. " We thanked the governor of Canada," he wrote in his journal, " for his salute of heavy artillery during our meal." Johannes was the grandfather of General Schuyler and father of the "American Lady" whose memoirs were written by Mrs. Grant of Laggan. His eldest son, Philip, was living on the family lands at Saratoga, where he was occupied in clearing and settling the surrounding wilderness. In Novem- ber, 1745, the French officer Marin, leading a con- siderable force of Canadians and Indians, made a descent upon the English frontiers. They approached Saratoga at night, when the Inhabitants were unsus- 28 THE SCHUYLER FAMILY piclous of danger, and sleeping. While the body Qf the invaders scattered to attack the different houses, a party under an officer named Beauvals surrounded Schuyler's dwelling. The subsequent occurrences are related In a French manuscript written by a member of the expedition. "We went to the house of a man named Philip Skulle (Schuyler), a brave man who would have given us much trouble If he had had with him a dozen men as valiant as himself. Beauvals, who knew and liked him, went up to the house first, told him his name and asked him to surrender and save himself. The other replied that he was a dog and that he would kill him, and then fired upon him. Beauvals repeated his request to surrender, to which Philip answered by firing again. At last Beauvals, weary of receiving his fire, shot and killed him. We entered Immediately, and everything was pillaged In an Instant. This house was of brick, pierced with loop holes to the ground floor. Some servants were made prisoners, and It was said that some people who had taken refuge In the cellar were burned." This Philip was the uncle of General Schuyler, from whom he inherited the Saratoga lands. Another military Schuyler was Peter, a nephew of Quider, whose father Arent had left him an extensive estate now comprised in the city of Newark, New Jersey. He was colonel of militia In 1746, and com- manded the regiment called the Jersey Blues In the French War. In 1756, while stationed at Oswego, 29 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER the outpost on Lake Ontario, he was captured by Montcalm, escaped the Indian massacre which oc- curred there, and was sent a prisoner to Quebec. There he distinguished himself by his generosity and kindness to his fellow captives, among whom was Israel Putnam, who had escaped as by a miracle from the slow fire which his savage captors had kindled around him. Peter served under General Amherst and was present at the events ending in the conquest of Canada. Although some of the Schuylers established them- selves elsewhere, like Arent in New Jersey and Brandt in New York City, the family continued to be identi- fied with Albany. There were six mayors of the name before 1750. The original Dutch house of old Quider remained on the corner of State and North Pearl Streets until recent years. The homestead called The Flatts which Philip Pieterse had bought from the Van Rensselaers has never ceased to be inhabited by descendants of his. The name was derived from the fertile stretch of level meadow land which extends north of Albany along the west bank of the Hudson. The original house Avas burned more than a hundred years ago, but portions of the brick walls were left standing, and being rebuilt on the same lines, the house still appears very much as it was. The frame of the barn is the same as when the Iroquois made it their favorite lodging. The grounds about the house were the rendezvous of the 30 THE SCHUYLER FAMILY military parties which the Schuylers led against Can- ada. By the door marched the armies in the French War and the Revolution. There were entertained Howe, Abercrombie and Amherst, besides number- less other officers. There was passed the interesting and hospitable life of Aunt Schuyler, so pleasingly portrayed in the Memoirs of an American Lady. A few rods to the north of the house is the old family burying ground. As the visitor enters it, he finds himself in a dense wood. Unused for many years, nature has been allowed to resume her sway. Forest trees have grown to maturity; their spreading roots have overthrown headstones and unsettled the foundations of monuments. A thick undergrowth hides the moss-covered slabs beneath which sleep Quider and his hardy kinsmen. As the visitor parts the branches to read the names of the dead, he finds here a colonel and there a captain. In the forest their battles were fought, and now in a forest they lie, close by the banks of their beloved river. 31 Chapter II. Youth of Philip Schuyler. — The French and Indian War, PHILIP SCHUYLER had only Dutch blood in his veins. Fourth in descent from Philip Pleterse, he was grandson of Captain Jo- hannes and son of Johannes, Jr., Indian Commis- sioner and Mayor of Albany. Born November i ith, 1733, he lost his father when eight years of age and was brought up by his mother, Cornelia Van Cort- landt, partly at her house in Albany and partly at The Flatts, where Aunt Schuyler's model household was a second home to him. The surroundings of his boyhood were such as to develop the practical and hardy qualities necessary for success at a time when there was no specialization of activity, when a leading man had to be an adept not only in one but in various employments. Shooting and fishing were the natural amusements of the boy; to handle a horse or a canoe, to sail a sloop, to tread alone without fear the forest paths, became matters of course. Of moral training he had the best kind In the example of the simple and high minded lives which were lived about him In the family circle at The Flatts; and the religious 32 YOUTH OF PHILIP SCHUYLER impressions then made upon his youthful character were strong enough to endure as guides of conduct throughout a long life. Of the education to be derived from books, young Schuyler received a share unusual at that time, and equalled only by the advantages of the few graduates of Yale College in the province. A Huguenot tutor taught him until he was fifteen years old, when he was sent to New Rochelle, the home of the Huguenot refugees, and placed in charge of the Rev. Mr. Stouppe, the pastor of the French Protestant church. There he remained for three years in close application to study and learned to speak French, then an unusual accomplishment for a provincial. At New Rochelle, as previously at Albany, mathematics was young Schuyler's favorite subject, and the circumstance ac- cords with the methodical, orderly and accurate habit of mind which afterwards characterized him. Among his papers are a large number of mathematical cal- culations, generally made for a practical end, to deter- mine the height of canal locks or the sinking fund of the public debt, but often puzzling problems worked out for amusement only. This intellectual bent, pursued as it was with pleasure, lies close to the foundation of Schuyler's usefulness. The prob- lems which life was to present to him, in his private business, in his labors as soldier and statesman, were often novel, to be solved by independent thought, un- aided by previous education or experience. 33 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER John Jay as a boy was also one of Mr. Stouppe's scholars, and lived at his house some years after Schuyler. From him we learn that the diet provided by Mrs. Stouppe was meagre even for those simple days; and the future Chief Justice had sometimes to go hungry to bed in a room so ill protected from the winds of winter that he awoke to find the snow drifted upon the floor. Schuyler's experience was doubtless the same. It was while studying at New Rochelle that there first developed what was destined to be the chief drawback and Impediment in his life, the liability to attacks of rheumatic gout. This painful disease confined him to the house for a whole year while he was yet a growing youth; he never ceased to be subject to the infliction; and at important junc- tures, when he needed all his strength of body and mind, he had the mortification and sorrow of being totally incapacitated. After his studies at New Rochelle were concluded, Schuyler returned to Albany and there pursued a branch of education very different, but quite as important for him as the courses of Mr. Stouppe. The property which he inherited and upon which must be based his future fortune, consisted chiefly of lands, only a portion of which was redeemed from the forest. He had to familiarize himself with these lands, find tenants to clear and plant them, mark out the best sites for saw-mills, superintend their erection, and arrange for the marketing of the lumber. His 34 YOUTH OF PHILIP SCHUYLER business Interests required visits to Oswego, the dis- tant outpost on Lake Ontario, where the Dutch trader and the Indian hunter met to exchange peltry for guns, hatchets and whiskey. He had to know that watery highway, so often to be followed in peace and in war — up to Mohawk River, past the fortress- dwelling of William Johnson, through the country of the Iroquois, over the Great Carrying Place to Oneida Lake and down the Oneida River to the fort. Rough settlers and lawless traders were necessary associates among whom safety required the cultivation of firmness and tact. It was part of Schuyler's life to become familiar with the Indians, to learn their ways, how to influence and control them. The war- like confederacy of the Six Nations was still estab- hshed in the Long House as in the days of Peter Schuyler, and had still to be cajoled or overawed. The strong hand of Montcalm held the destinies of Canada and threatened those of the English colonies. The blackened ruins of the house at Saratoga, where lay the ashes of his murdered Uncle Philip, spoke strongly enough to the youthful Schuyler of dangers to be faced. This free and varied life of the frontier, in which civilized man was brought so close to nature in its wilder forms, was full of pleasures of its own and of stimulating contrasts. After the westward journeys through forest trails or In birch bark canoe amidst a wilderness whose human inhabitants were little less 35 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER wild than the bear and the elk, the home life at Albany, with its solid comforts. Its simple but lively social pleasures, acquired a peculiar zest. The winter's day passed on snowshoes or skates found a happy end with book or games before the roaring logs of a Dutch fire-place. The visits to each other of the Hudson River families, in winter on sledges skimming over the frozen surface, in summer by the leisurely sloop, tacking lazily between the wooded shores, yielded the more enjoyment that they were not of everyday occurrence. Many and gay were the house parties and river frolics among Livingstons, Van Rensselaers, Van Brughs, de Peysters, Ten Broecks, Ten Eycks, Bleeckers, Beeckmans, Lansings, Van Cortlandts and Cuylers. And the sledge or the sloop of young Philip Schuyler often took him down the river to Claverack, where Catherine, the daughter of John Van Rensselaer, was the magnet of greatest attraction. Before he had attained his majority, Schuyler paid several visits to New York, mingled with society there and formed Intimacies with young men who were to be his allies or adversaries in the exciting scenes of future years. As a relative of the principal pro- prietary families of the province, and as a young stranger who was committed to none of the political or religious parties of the city, all doors stood open to him. Both Livingstons and de Lanceys were friendly; he could be Intimate at the same time with Rev. Henry 36 YOUTH OF PHILIP SCHUYLER Barclay, rector of Trinity Church, and the arch-dis- senter, John Morin Scott. In the houses of Bayards, Van Cortlandts, Beeckmans, Watts, de Peysters, he met a circle of the chief families of the town all more or less connected with his own. New York was a royal province, differing radically in political and social ideas from the independent and democratic New England. In these years preceding the French and Indian War, English prejudices in favor of aristocratic forms and a state church were very strong. The Governor's council, th^e officials, the officers and the little court of provincial magnates who gathered at Government House gave the tone to a loyal and submissive community. But there was a party of opposition, republican in sentiment and op- posed to episcopacy. In this party the leaders were yet chiefly Presbyterians, because the causes of division were mainly religious. The clergy and laity of other denominations were forced to contribute to the salary of the rector of Trinity Church. The Archbishop of Canterbury was known to have a plan on foot, ap- proved by the ministry, for increasing the power of episcopacy in the province. Many men, distinctly aristocratic in their feelings, were driven by a dread of Church predominance and tyranny into an opposi- tion which became inevitably the party of democracy. In 1752, was formed the Whig Club, which met once a week at the King's Arms. Chief among the members were William Livingston, William Smith, 37 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Jr., John Morin Scott, Peter Van Brugh Livingston, Robert R. Livingston, David Van Home, William Alexander, William Peartree Smith and Dr. John Jones. These men discussed politics and government In a manner quite independent and radical, and scan- dalized loyal churchmen by drinking the health of Oliver Cromwell, John Hampden and Hugh Peters. Three members of the Whig Club took the lead: William Liv|_ngston, William Smith, Jr., and John Morin Scott, the "wicked triumvirate," to whom the loyalist Judge Jones ascribed the later troubles of the province. They were all graduates of Yale Col- lege, an institution remarkable for " Its republican principles. Its Intolerance In religion and Its utter aversion to Bishops and all earthly Kings." Of these men, William Livingston was destined to become the distinguished revolutionary patriot and governor of New Jersey; John Morin Scott, the leader of the "Liberty Boys" and a powerful factor In the resistance of New York to ministerial tyranny; William Smith, Jr., the amiable and witty companion, the cultivated author of the History of New York, was to go far with the friends of his youth, but to become at last a loyalist and an exile and end his days as Chief Justice of Canada. These three young lawyers car- ried the war Into Africa and earned the undying hatred of all churchmen by prosecuting at their own expense the great suit of the heirs of Anneke Jans against Trinity Church. With Livingston and Smith, 38 YOUTH OF PHILIP SCHUYLER Philip Schuyler formed a friendship destined to be intimate. The establishment of King's, now Columbia Col- lege, was then proposed, and the vestry of Trinity Church offered the land for a building on condition that the head of the college should always be a mem- ber of the Church of England and that the Episcopal ritual should always be used. This proposition at once became the subject of heated controversy and political division. William Livingston had lately founded a weekly publication called the Independent Reflector, in which the social and political interests of the province were discussed chiefly by himself. In the columns of this paper he continued a series of articles attacking the establishment of the college on the terms proposed, taking the ground that the money for Its support was to be raised by a general tax, while the Episcopalians were only a minority in the province. He was replied to in Gaine's Mercury by the church- men, Barclay, Johnson and Auchmuty. Regarding this controversy, Schuyler wrote to a friend in Al- bany: — "I send you the forty-sixth number of the Independent Reflector, which is making a notable stir here. The clergy and all churchmen are in arms against it, and our friend. Will Livingston, who is the principal writer, is thought by some to be one of the most promising men in the province. I esteem the Church and its liturgy, but I believe he is right in opposing the ridiculous pretensions of the clergy, who 39 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER would make It as infallible as the Popish church claims to be." During one of Schuyler's visits to New York, the first theatrical company arrived in the town. It was warmly welcomed by the Government House circle, but a number of the more staid gentlemen met and agreed not to countenance the theatre by their pres- ence. Apparently they had not consulted their wives and daughters, who were otherwise minded, and one by one they fell away from grace and were seen at the theatre, except William Livingston, who was not the man to yield a question of principle. Young Schuyler had no scruples in the matter. In September, 1753, he wrote to his friend " Brom," Abram Ten Broeck of Albany, afterwards an important per- sonage, one of those familiar and Illustrative letters of which we wish we had more : — "The schooner arrived at Ten Eyck's wharf on Wednesday at one o'clock, and the same evening I went to the play with Phil (Livingston). You know I told you before I left home that if the players should be here I should see them, for a player is a new thing under the sun in our good province. Phil's sweetheart went with us. She is a handsome brunette from Bar- badoes, has an eye like that of a Mohawk beauty and appears to possess a good understanding. Phil and I went to see the grand battery In the afternoon, and to pay my respects to the governor, whose lady spent a week with us last spring, and we bought our .40 YOUTH OF PHILIP SCHUYLER play tickets for eight shillings apiece, at Parker and Weyman's printing office in Beaver Street on our re- turn. We had tea at five o'clock, and before sundown we were in the theatre, for the players commenced at six. The room was quite full already. Among the company was your cousin Tom and Kitty Livingston, and also Jack Watts, Sir Peter Warren's brother-in- law. I would like to tell you all about the play, but I can't now, for Billy must take this to the wharf for Captain Wynkoop in half an hour. He sails this afternoon. A large green curtain hung before the players until they were ready to begin, when, on the blast of a whistle, it was raised, and some of them appeared and commenced acting. The play was called The Conscious Lovers^ written you know by Sir Richard Steele, Addison's help in writing the Spec- tator. Hallam, and his wife and sister all performed, and a sprightly young man named Hulett played the violin and danced merrily. But I said I could not tell you about the play, so I will forbear, only adding that I was not better pleased than I should have been at the club, where last year I went with cousin Stephen, and heard many wise sayings which I hope profited me something. Tomorrow I expect to go Into New Jer- sey to visit Colonel Schuyler, who was at our house four or five years ago, when he returned from Os- wego. He is a kinsman and good soldier, and as I believe we shall have war again with the French quite as soon as we could wish, I expect he will lead his 41 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Jerseymen to the field. I wish you and I, Brom, could go with him. But I must say farewell, with love to Peggy and sweet Kitty V. R. if you see her." In the autumn of 1754, Schuyler came of age. The English law of primogeniture gave to him, as eldest son, all the real estate which had belonged to his father, which meant substantially the whole family property. The justice of this law was no more ques- tioned in the province of New York than in England, nor had its privileges been refused by the eldest son in the circle of land-holding families with which he was connected. But Dutch tradition and the gen- erosity of Schuyler's character caused him to disregard the law. The estate was divided by him equally among his mother's children, and the considerable fortune which he afterwards possessed was due to his own enterprise and industry. It was in this year that the first shots were fired in the forests of Virginia by command of Colonel George Washington in that bloody and decisive struggle which in Europe was called the Seven Years' War and in America the French and Indian War. The importance of this great conflict is somewhat obscured by the grandeur of those other events, the American and the French revolutions, which soon followed and were in considerable measure its se- quence. But it largely determined the future of the world. Its results in Europe were to make England supreme on the seas, commercially and in war, to 42 . THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR make her the great colonial nation of the world, to give her control in America and in India. Its results in America were to abolish the French power, and thus to make possible the United States, both as to extent of territory and as to political independence. All the region between the Alleghany and the Rocky Mountains, from the Gulf of Mexico to the St. Law- rence River, was claimed by France by right of ex- ploration and occupation; the natural highways of that vast domain, the rivers Ohio, Mississippi, St. Lawrence and the great lakes, were jealously guarded by forts, under the command of officers from Ver- sailles, above which, in the endless expanse of leafy wilderness, floated the fleur-de-lis of the old mon- archy, — a flag which represented everything opposed to human progress. The prize grasped by the wisdom of Pitt and the valor of Wolfe became the inheritance of the men who were to build up the American nation. The perspective of time allows us to see the ulti- mate meaning of this great conflict, to view It as a necessary step in the world's advance from the ab- solutism of the past to the enlightenment of the present. But even to the more limited contemporary view the advantages to accrue to the English colonists were visible enough. Philip Schuyler could see that with Canada under British rule, he might rebuild the house at Saratoga without fear of midnight raids and conflagration; the tomahawk of the savage might be burled deep when a Frontenac or a Montcalm ceased 43 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER to incite to the warpath; every year might be pushed further to the westward the tide of colonization and enterprise. The youthful Schuyler played no such important part in the war as to make it appropriate to follow the course of military operations in any detail. But in this school he, like Washington, Putnam, Stark and many others afterwards distinguished in the Revolution, obtained such military experience as they had, and displayed the qualities which, in the later struggle, induced their fellow citizens to confide to their courage and abilities the safety of their country. Early in 1755, Schuyler had raised a company in the neighborhood of Albany and had received his com- mission as captain from Governor James de Lancey. Twt) of the young captain's friends, Henry Van Schaack and Philip Lansing, enlisted as lieutenants in his company. In that year two great expeditions took place against New France. In the south, the English general, Braddock, despising provincial ad- vice, clinging obstinately to European methods of warfare, led his regular troops into the Indian ambus- cade before Fort Duquesne. After that awful slaugh- ter in the forests of the western wilderness, while his own life was ebbing away, he realized that Colonel Washington of Virginia knew something about fight- ing French and Indians, In the north, this crushing defeat was redeemed by a victory won by provincials, fighting in provincial style. 44 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR The object of the northern expedition was Crown Point, a fort on a peninsula projecting into Lake Champlain, which commanded the passage of the lake and for many years had threatened the English colonies. The commander chosen was William John- son, an Irishman, nephew of Sir Peter Warren, who acquired extensive lands on the Mohawk River through his marriage with Miss Watts of New York, and had sent out this nephew to manage them. About nine years before this time Johnson was living ob- scurely among the Indians on the Mohawk, when an event occurred which opened a path to his ambition which he trod thenceforward to wealth and distinc- tion. Governor Clinton of New York and James de Lancey, the Chief Justice of the province, were Inti- mate friends and together controlled public affairs at their will. One night at Government House, when the two friends had been drinking together, a violent quarrel arose between them, and de Lancey left with revengeful threats which he did not fail to execute. The ensuing enmity between the Governor and the Chief Justice became a source of great divisions In the province. Clinton had his official power, and de Lancey his Influence with the Assembly to use In the conflict. Each dealt severe blows at the Interests and the friends of his opponent. Peter Schuyler, Philip's cousin, was then the Indian Commissioner for the Six Nations, an office almost hereditary In that family. But he was known as de Lancey's friend. Clinton put 45 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER in his place William Johnson, who was to show him- self wonderfully adapted for it. Johnson lived a wild and adventurous life in his fortified house on the Mohawk, wielding undisputed sway over his white tenantry and exerting the power of a sachem among the Six Nations. His house was always thronged with Indians whose sleeping forms encumbered the lower rooms and hall-ways at night. Fort Johnson, as it was called, was the chief stopping place on the route between the Hudson River and the fort on Lake Ontario. The fur trader and the land prospector received its hospitalities and protec- tion as they Ckme and went. Philip Schuyler knew it and its owner well. Over this semi-civilized house- hold presided for a time a Dutch wife who had two daughters. When she died her place was taken by a succession of squaws, among whom was a sister of the celebrated Brant. The two daughters were kept on an upper floor, isolated as much as possible from the wild life about them, under the charge of a gov- erness, who formed their only society. They both grew up and married. Johnson himself was power- fully built, with a good intelligence, rough but jovial, accustomed to adapt himself to any surroundings, painting and dressing like a savage when it suited his purpose, disputing with the Indian orators the palm of prolixity and imagery, yet keeping up his relations with civilization and always on good terms with Gov- ernment House. He had no knowledge of military 46 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR affairs, but he brought to his work his forest experi- ence. He was the very opposite of Braddock and met with an opposite fortune. The rendezvous of the forces Intended to attack Crown Point was at The Flatts, above Albany, near the Schuyler house. They numbered in all about three thousand, the New England men under General Ly- man, the New York regiment under Johnson, while the wise old chief Hendrick commanded the Tndians. Among the New Englanders was Colonel Ephraim Williams, whose will, then made at The Flatts, found- ed Williams College, Lieutenant John Stark and Israel Putnam, beginning brilliant careers. Johnson was very slow about starting. The New England men, then, as afterwards In the Revolution, were ready to leave their homes to fight; but to remain inactive In camp under military discipline was Intoler- able to them. To hold together his independent sol- diers, Lyman started out In advance, and through the hot July days slowly made his way northward to a point on the upper Hudson where began the long "carry" through the woods to Lake George. There he began the construction of a fort, called Fort Ly- man, but afterwards known as Fort Edward. In August, Johnson moved at last, with his New York companies and his Indians, stopping In the woods in the heat of the day, and In his jovial manner gathering his officers around a punch bowl. Arrived at Fort Lyman, he left five hundred men there to 47 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER finish and garrison the fort, and then with the rest of the troops he moved northward over the "great carrying place," a band of men with axes going ahead to clear a rough road through the forest. At length the little army arrived at the southern extremity of the beautiful lake, of which the quiet solitude was soon to be rudely broken. "I found," said Johnson, "a mere wilderness; never was house or fort erected here before." The waters which the French called Lac St. Sacrement, Johnson named Lake George, "not in simple honor of his Majesty, but to assert his undoubted dominion here." The army then went into camp, a motley and ill-disciplined assemblage, the New England ministers exhorting against "cursing and swearing," and preaching their sermons to sol- diers and savages. Meanwhile the French had no idea of waiting to be attacked. Baron Dieskau, with three thousand regulars, Canadians and Indians, had moved south- ward to Crown Point. He was not only a trained soldier, but far surpassed Johnson In energy and judg- ment. Finding no indications of an enemy at Crown Point, he continued southward to TIconderoga. There his scouts brought In a prisoner who gave him In- formation of Fort Lyman. The bold Dieskau pushed on, making a circuit to the east of Lake George by way of the South Bay, and at length found himself on the rough forest road which connected Fort Lyman with Johnson's Camp. He had hardly arrived there THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR when a man came galloping down the road. DIeskau's Indians shot and scalped him. Upon him was found a letter from Johnson to the officer in command of Fort Lyman, warning him of Dieskau's approach. Johnson's scouts to the eastward had come in report- ing the woods to be swarming with French and In- dians heading toward Fort Lyman, and Johnson had sent off the ill-fated messenger. This was the first that Dieskau knew of Johnson's Camp. Soon afterwards some mutinous waggoners who had deserted from the camp came down the road. Two were shot, two were made prisoners and gave Dieskau full information of the forces at Fort Lyman and the camp at Lake George. Others escaped and hastening backward, told Johnson of Dieskau's position. Each commander now understood the position of his enemy. Dieskau was anxious to continue southward and take Fort Lyman first. But his savage allies had a great dread of cannon which they supposed would be in action at the fort. They refused to follow the French there, but consented to attack the camp at Lake George, although it contained the main body of the enemy. Early the next morning Dieskau set out along the road to the north and had got within three miles of Johnson's Camp when his scouts brought in a prisoner who gave the information that an attacking force had left the camp. The news was true. Johnson had sent out a thousand men under Colonel Williams and Chief Hendrick. Dieskau 49 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER immediately disposed his Canadians and Indians on both sides of the road in ambush. Into the fatal am- buscade Williams and Hendrick marched at the head of their column and fell at the first fire. A panic seized the English force taken by surprise and a re- treat to the camp began. But the vanguard, now become the rear, fought so obstinately from behind the trees, that the retreat soon became orderly and Dieskau's force was by no means in a triumphant mood as it advanced. This engagement was long talked of at Dutch and New England firesides as "the bloody morning scout." In the camp, the sound of musketry was distinctly heard. It grew louder and louder, and then the Eng- lish knew that their comrades were retreating. At the eleventh hour, when almost too late, Johnson at- tempted to fortify his position. Trees were hastily felled and a rough obstruction raised. The ambushed column began to arrive, first frightened stragglers, then men carrying the wounded, then the main body in good order, firing to the last. Every man was placed in position. Some cannon were dragged up a bank in the rear of the camp and breastworks hastily thrown up about them. Dieskau's white-coated regu- lars soon appeared in serried rank, their bayonets flashing among the trees. The Canadians and Indians approached on either flank uttering frightful yells. It was the critical moment. The provincial troops within the camp had never been under fire before. 50 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR Many were seen to shrink. But the officers with drawn swords threatened and exhorted. The enemy was in front, the lake behind. The gallant French commander had hastened on in front, planning to enter the camp on the heels of the retreating column. Could he have done this, his success was assured. But the Canadians and Indians, at sight of the cannon, scattered widely among the trees, beyond the reach of orders. The French regu- lars received the full fire of cannon and musketry as they stood exposed and they too sought the shelter of the trees. Then for five hours raged the forest con- flict, five thousand muskets discharged as fast as they could be loaded, the cannon booming and the balls crashing among the branches. Dieskau had had a poor opinion of the English provincials, and when he heard their numbers, said there were only so many more to kill. But after this battle his opinion changed. "They fought in the morning like good boys, at noon like men and in the afternoon like devils." Johnson retired early to his tent with a shot through his hip. Lyman conducted the defence with the greatest in- trepidity, and its success was mainly owing to him. The French officer, St. Pierre, in command of the Indians, the same to whom Washington had carried Governor Dinwiddie's letter in the western forest, was killed. Dieskau, shot through the leg, sat on a log for hours giving his orders. The French fire slack- ened at last, and the English leaping over the breast- 51 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER work of logs, dashed upon their enemy hatchet in hand. Too exhausted to resist, the French fled through the woods and the day was won. The unfortunate Dieskau, as he sat wounded on a fallen tree, attended only by his aide-de-camj), Bernier, was shot twice again in this final onslaught. Carried into the camp, he was received into Johnson's tent, where his generous captor spared no effort to relieve his sufferings. The two commanders lay side by side, receiving the same medical attention, such as it was, and discussing in a friendly manner the past events. Schuyler's knowledge of the French language was now useful. He was assiduous in his attention to Dieskau and Bernier and became intimate with both. Johnson's Indians, when they returned from the woods with the scalps of the dead, were incensed that the prisoners were not delivered over to their venge- ance. Dieskau, especially, was the object of their bloodthirsty anger, and they demanded his life in re- turn for that of their fallen chiefs. Johnson was firm in defence of his prisoner and took every precaution to protect him. "What do they want of me?" asked Dieskau, observing the threatening concourse of sav- ages around the tent. "They want to kill and eat you, and put you in their pipes and smoke you," an- swered Johnson, "but they shall not while I live." It became imperative to send the prisoners away, and Captain Schuyler was ordered to convey them to 52 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR Albany. Johnson lent Dieskau fifty pounds on his departure. The wounded man was borne on a litter over the rough "carry" to the Hudson, and there Schuyler had him placed in a batteau. With the other prisoners, Schuyler hastened in advance and when Dieskau ar- rived, comfortable quarters were ready for him and Bernler, who was also wounded. The battle and its result were known in Albany, and the rejoicing was naturally great. Had Johnson's camp been defended with less valor, had the chances of war been less favor- able to him, Dieskau, with his white-coated French- men, his rough Canadians and his painted savages, would have entered the town as a conqueror instead of a shattered prisoner. The imagination of the in- habitants did not need to be vivid to portray to them the inevitable consequences. Hence, the young Schuyler, fresh from the bloody field where he had performed his part, met with a cordial reception. Nine days after the fight, on the 17th of September, he was married to the "sweet Kitty V. R.," mentioned in the letter to "Brom," the daughter of John Van Rensselaer of Claverack, and Hke himself a descendant of Philip Pleterse Schuyler. For a week after the wedding he remained in Albany, his attention divided between his bride and his French friends. How much the wounded officers owed to him, and after his departure, to the kindness of his wife and mother, is shown by the following letter written to 53 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER him in French by Bernier, October the 5th: — "I have received, sir, and dear friend, the letter which you have done me the honor to write to me from your camp. It is full of politeness and sentiment. As to the portion intended particularly for me, I am truly sensible; and I should esteem myself infinitely happy to be able to give you some marks of my gratitude, and of the esteem and friendship which are due to you. I have read the letter to the Baron Dieslcau. It has confirmed him in the good opinion of you, which, you know, he has reason to entertain. He is still as when you left him — still suffering, and uncertain how his wounds will end at last. He charges me to pray you, in his behalf, to present his compliments to M. de Johnson, and to assure him of the extent of his grati- tude to him. His greatest desire is to be able to write to him himself. I pray you add to the Baron's wishes my very humble respects. One can add nothing to the politeness of Madame, your mother, and Madame, your wife. Every day there come from them to the Baron, fruits and other rare sweets which are of great service to him. He orders me, on this subject, to express to you all that he owes to the attentions of these ladies. If it was permitted me to go out, I should already have been often to present to them his respects and mine. The Baron has been much pleased to learn by your letter that General de Johnson es- teems you and gives you marks of his consideration and kindness. If he shall have the happiness to be 54 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR restored to health, and to see your general again, he will himself be the proclaimer of all the good words which should be said of you, and which in justice he owes you, for the trouble and care you have had for him." Johnson showed his incapacity as a general by not following up his advantage and taking Crown Point when he could. Lyman would gladly have led his New England men to a second and decisive victory, but that Johnson's jealousy would not permit, and Crown Point remained as hitherto a constant menace. But the victory won at the camp at Lake George was the solitary success in a year of disaster. The King of England marked his appreciation by a gift to Johnson of five thousand pounds and by creating him a baronet. Hereafter he is known as Sir William Johnson of Johnson Hall. Schuyler remained in camp until it broke up late in the autumn, and during the winter, although able to be much in Albany with his family, he was employed in making Fort Edward a depot of military stores. There was stationed in Albany that winter an Eng- lish officer named Colonel John Bradstreet, who had already rendered good services to his government and was destined to be much employed in the future course of the war. Although Bradstreet was much the senior of Schuyler, the two men formed an intimate friend- ship which had important results for both. In the spring of 1756, Bradstreet was sent at the head of an SS LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER expedition to Oswego on Lake Ontario, with the double purpose of keeping open the communications with that western post and of supplying it with mili- tary stores. Schuyler received orders to accompany him. The expedition, which consisted of about two thou- sand boatmen and provincial soldiers, followed in safety the western route of river and lake and forest "carry" already familiar to Schuyler. The stores were deposited at the Oswego fort, where Peter Schuyler was in command with his "Jersey Blues," and where he was soon to be attacked and captured by Montcalm. In the beginning of July, Bradstreet's force started on its homeward journey. The long line of canoes was paddled slowly against the current of the Oswego River, between the shores of virgin forest. The van, consisting of about three hundred men, with Bradstreet and Schuyler at their head, had proceeded about nine miles, the silence of nature hardly broken by the sound of voice or paddle, when suddenly from the forest on the east bank came the rattle of musketry and a shower of bullets. The volley had been fired by a force of about seven hundred men under Coulon de Vllliers, whom Governor Vaudreuil had sent to close the communications between Oswego and Albany. In the canoes, many men had been struck. The rest, knowing themselves to be a shining mark for an enemy they could not see, paddled hastily for the west 56 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR bank and sought shelter among the trees. Elated by their success, the French started to cross the river by means of an island a little further up stream, with the intention of attacking the English before they could recover themselves. Bradstreet saw the move- ment and acted instantly. He, with Schuyler and six boatmen, paddled quickly to the island, reached it be- fore the French, jumped from their canoes, posted themselves behind trees and fired at the Frenchmen in the water as fast as they could load. For a few moments, but all important moments, they held the French in check. Then they were joined by twenty more boatmen. Three times the French attempted to cross, but they were no sooner in the river and ex- posed to fire than a well aimed volley drove them back to cover. Repelled at this point, Coulon de Villiers led his men up the east bank, with the intention of crossing by an upper ford. Meanwhile the English had recovered themselves and reinforcements had ar- rived. Bradstreet took two hundred and fifty men and marched up the west bank. But the French had crossed before he arrived and for some time an inde- cisive exchange of shots took place from behind trees. At last Bradstreet passed along an order for a charge. His men made a rush, drove the French across the river and shot many as they passed. Another party of French who had crossed further up and now sought to join their comrades were in turn attacked and 57 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER driven off. Thus the day, which had opened so in- auspiclously for Bradstreet's command, was, by cool- ness and vigor, victoriously ended. The expedition continued its journey to Albany with some prisoners and a goodly collection of French muskets and knap- sacks. Bradstreet's action in this engagement after- wards received the praise of Wolfe. Schuyler's humanity and generosity are illustrated by an occurrence which took place on the day of this fight. When Bradstreet and his little company on the island had repelled the French and saw them mov- ing up the river, they entered their canoes to join the force on the west bank. A Canadian had fallen just as he reached the shore of the island and as his enemies were departing begged them not to leave him there to a lingering death. The canoes were already full and his request was refused. But Schuyler jumped ashore, took the man on his back, waded across the stream and placed the wounded Canadian in the care of Dr. Kirkland, the army surgeon. In 1775, when Schuyler, in command of the northern department, was in camp at Isle aux Noix in Canada, this man enlisted in the continental army and appeared at the general's tent to thank him. In the Spring of 1758, Albany was the scene of unprecedented military preparations. The inhabitants of the quiet frontier town were almost lost in the crowd of soldiers and boatmen who were camped in its neighborhood and who thronged its streets with 58 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR little regard to discipline. The great and ill-fated ex- pedition against Ticonderoga was on foot, bringing together such a military assemblage as had never been seen in the province. For months there was a camp about Mrs. Schuyler's house at The Flatts, and there sat at her hospitable board many officers whose names were to be familiar in American history. There was Abercrombie, the incompetent general in command, who stupidly sacrificed his brave men before the breastworks of Ticonderoga. There was the gallant Lord Howe, elder brother of the Richard and Wil- liam Howe afterwards sent to subdue the colonies, now the second in command, but the soul of the army; whose death, as he led the van through the forest, involved the defeat and ruin of all. There was Gen- eral Gage, later to command the British troops against rebellious Boston; and Charles Lee, later to play so contemptible a part in the continental army. Among the provincials were Stark of New Hamp- shire, then a captain, and Putnam of Connecticut, then a major. At this interesting and exciting time, Philip Schuyler was living at The Flatts with his aunt. He was now deputy commissary with the rank of major. Constant association with the British officers was teaching him much of the principles of regular war- fare, of the discipline necessary to control large bodies of men, and of the measures to be taken to keep an army in supplies. It was for the latter service that he 59 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER was especially employed, his knowledge of the coun- try and its resources and his business ability being found valuable. The contempt felt or affected by the British officers for the provincials alienated many who might have been useful. It was only the more determined among the Americans who would endure the slights put upon them for the sake of remaining in the service. Lord Howe's mind was of too high an order to entertain such prejudices. A truly great soldier, he recognized that European methods of warfare were not to be rigidly followed in American forests. He made a friend of young Schuyler, who could tell him much of the geographical and natural conditions of the coming campaign; he was in frequent consultation with Stark, Rogers and Putnam, who knew the woods and the waterways and had experience of Indian and Canadian fighting. But the noble nature which made him beloved at The Flatts and its most welcome vis- itor, the military genius which attracted the universal confidence of the army, were not destined to fulfil their mission. "A few days after Lord Howe's departure, in the afternoon," says Mrs. Grant, "a man was seen coming on horseback from the north, galloping vio- lently without his hat. Pedrom, as he was familiarly called, the Colonel's only surviving brother, was with Aunt Schuyler, and ran instantly to inquire, well know- ing he rode express. The man galloped on, crying out that Lord Howe was killed. The mind of our good 60 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR aunt had been so engrossed by her anxiety for the event impending, and so impressed by the merit of her favorite hero, that her wonted firmness sunk under the stroke, and she broke out into bitter lamentations. This had such an effect on her friends and domestics that shrieks and sobs of anguish echoed through every part of the house." Philip Schuyler brought back the body of the lamented soldier and placed it in the family vault, where it remained until permanently interred under the Chancel of St. Peter's Church in Albany. Massachusetts erected a monument in West- minster Abbey which commemorates the universal grief of the colonies. When that army of fifteen thousand men, which had floated in grand procession over the waters of Lake George with flags flying and bands playing, had been repulsed with terrible slaughter by Montcalm at Ticonderoga ; when the incompetent Abercrombie re- mained in supine inactivity, unable to take measures to retrieve the disaster, there was great indignation among the lesser officers and the troops. None felt more strongly than Schuyler's friend, the enterprising Bradstreet. After urgent entreaties, he obtained per- mission to lead an expedition against Fort Frontenac on Lake Ontario. Fort Frontenac was situated on the north shore of the lake, and since the destruction of the rival English fort, Oswego, on the south shore, it commanded the passage of the western lakes. When Montcalm had forced Peter Schuyler of New Jersey 6i LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER to surrender at Oswego and had burned the fort, he considered that a great triumph had been achieved for Canada. No EngHsh military post then interfered with the French possession of that vast western do- main. Bradstreet, with a true mihtary instinct, saw the importance of taking Fort Frontenac and thus shutting off the western trade of Canada. And he gave Abercrombie no time to withdraw his permission. A contemporary says that "he flew rather than marched" over the route to the lake. He had been allowed three thousand men, nearly all provincials. Philip Schuyler, who understood boat building, pushed on in advance with a large party of carpenters and boatmen. He found Oswego a charred and desolate ruin, with no sign of human occupation but the huge wooden cross which the French had planted as a sign of their possession. He lost no time in set- ting about his work, and in three weeks had built a sloop which he called the Mohawk and which was capable of carrying the cannon of the expedition to Frontenac. With the Mohawk and a fleet of boats, Bradstreet appeared before Fort Frontenac on the evening of August 25th, to the astonishment of Noyau, its com- mander. He despatched couriers to M. de Vaudreuil at Montreal, begging for reinforcements. The French Governor, realizing the importance of the emergency, gathered fifteen hundred men from the harvest fields 62 THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR and sent them off in haste. But It was too late. Brad- street's cannon, unloaded from the Mohawk, and ad- vantageously posted, swept the interior of the fort. The Indians fled and the garrison soon surrendered. Noyau, the commander, was allowed to go to Mont- real on condition that he would effect an exchange between himself and Colonel Peter Schuyler, made prisoner at Oswego. The capture of Frontenac was felt as a very serious blow by Montcalm. It did much to retrieve the disgraceful defeat of Abercrombie and enhanced the reputation of Bradstreet. Again, the real work of the war was done by provincials. The active service of Philip Schuyler terminated with the expedition against Frontenac. During the campaign of Wolfe and Amherst, in 1759, he was employed at Albany in collecting and forwarding sup- plies for the army. Considering the duties which were to be laid upon him in the future, his military experi- ence had been of great value. In Johnson's camp at Lake George, by Bradstreet's side on the Oswego river, he had fought the close and desperate fight characteristic of American forests, where man was pitted against man, where dauntless courage was es- sential, where the scalping knife of the savage awaited the wavering or the disabled soldier. He had learned the methods of moving large bodies of men in a country of rivers and forests, the precautions against ambuscade, the building and management of boats. The collection and distribution of military stores had 63 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER been entrusted largely to him, and at the conclusion of the war there was no young man in the province who understood the duty better. His natural mental gifts and the constant association during five years with military officers had taught him what a soldier's life involved: the importance of discipline, the pro- vision for the future, the necessity of meeting varying conditions with new expedients. The trained and enterprising Bradstreet was a good teacher, the noble Howe, an example, the narrow and poor spirited Abercrombie a warning. 64 Chapter III. A Visit to England. — Home and Business Life. — Member of Provincial Assembly. — The Revo- lution. — Appointed Major-General. ON retiring from military service, Schuyler set- tled down at The Flatts with his young wife and children and devoted himself to his private business. But from this pleasant life, he was soon called away by a new and Interesting adventure. Colonel Bradstreet had another campaign on hand in 1760, against the Indian allies of the French In the west. His health was poor and he had accounts with the government covering several years which gave him much anxiety. In this difficulty he turned to his young friend Schuyler. "Your zeal, punctuality and strict honesty in his Majesty's service," he wrote, "under my direction, for several years past, are sufficient proofs that I can't leave my public accounts and papers In a more faithful hand than yours to be settled, should any accident happen to me this campaign; wherefore that I may provide against It and that a faithful ac- count may be rendered to the public of all the public money that I have received since the war, I now de- liver to you all my public accounts and vouchers and 65 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER do hereby empower you to settle them with whomso- ever may be appointed for that purpose, either in America or England." The difficulty of concluding such business satisfac- torily in the province determined Schuyler to go to London. A visit to Europe was a rare experience for a young provincial of those days and this one was destined to be adventurous and improving. It was in February, 1761, that he sailed in a packet called the "General Wall." His mathematical tastes were ap- plied at once to a study of navigation; and soon after, the captain dying, the proficiency he had acquired re- sulted in his being requested by passengers and crew to assume the command. Schuyler was then but twenty-eight years of age, but experience had given him the habit of authority and of self-rehance. He navigated the vessel successfully until the coast of Europe was near. Although the war was over in America, it was still raging between England and France, and the "General Wall" was captured by a French privateer which put a lieutenant and prize crew aboard. Schuyler's knowledge of French now stood him in good stead, and he had become on friendly terms with his captor, when, as the privateer and prize were approaching a French port, they were both taken by an English frigate. Thus Schuyler reached London in safety with his papers. This visit to England could not fail to be inspiring to a young man of so progressive a nature. The 66 A VISIT TO ENGLAND affairs of Colonel Bradstreet were settled permanently with the War Office, and his agent was complimented on their businesslike presentation. This done, Schuy- ler turned his attention to a study of various products which the colonies habitually imported from England and which he hoped could be produced as well at home. Among these were hemp and flax, the cultiva- tion of which was soon going on at Saratoga. The subject of canals interested him deeply and then began his lifelong belief in their importance to America. In the pursuit of these practical investigations he estab- lished friendly relations with several scientific English- men with whom he afterwards corresponded and who caused his election as a member of the Society of Arts in London. The voyage home was uneventful, but as the little sloop which took him up the Hudson arrived opposite Albany, his eye met an unfamiliar and very pleasing sight. A new house had been in contemplation, and during Schuyler's absence in Europe, a number of carpenters attracted to Albany by the war were left idle. Bradstreet advised Mrs. Schuyler to take advan- tage of the rare opportunity afforded by this abund- ance of skilled labor. The result was the large house in the English colonial style which Schuyler observed on the side of the hill about half a mile south of Albany, a landmark for many years until the town grew up around it, a hospitable home for which trav- ellers looked as they ascended the river, which still 67 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER stands in perfect preservation as a testimony to the architectural taste and the thorough workmanship of the time. The principal guest chamber was on the second story on the left hand side; there slept Lafay- ette and Lauzun, and Burgoyne after his surrender. The pleasure often given by the hospitality of this house, in those days of hard and difficult travelling, is well shown by an extract from the journal of the Mar- quis de Chastellux, written at the close of the Revolu- tion: "It was a difficult question to know where I should cross the Hudson River the next day, for I was told it was neither sufficiently frozen to pass over on the ice, nor free enough from flakes to venture it in a boat. ... I was only twenty miles from Al- bany; so that after a continued journey through a forest of fir trees, I arrived at one o'clock on the banks of the Hudson. ... A handsome house half way up the bank opposite the ferry seemed to attract attention and to invite strangers to stop at General Schuyler's, who is the proprietor as well as architect. I had recommendations to him from all quarters, but particularly from General Washington and Mrs. Car- ter. Besides, I had given the rendezvous there to Colonel Hamilton, who had just married another of his daughters, and was preceded by the Vicomte de Noailles and the Comte de Damas, who I knew were arrived the night before. The sole difficulty therefore consisted in passing the river. While the boat was making its way with difficulty through the flakes of 68 1 A VISIT TO ENGLAND ice, which we were obliged to break as we advanced, Mr. Lynch, who is not indifferent about a good din- ner, contemplated General Schuyler's house and mournfully said to me : 'I am sure the Vicomte and Damas are now at table, where they have good cheer and good company, while we are here kicking our heels, in hopes of getting this evening to some wretched ale-house.' I partook a little of his anx- iety, but diverted myself by assuring him that they saw us from the windows, that I even distinguished the Vicomte de Noailles who was looking at us through a telescope, and that he was going to send somebody to conduct us on our landing to that excel- lent house, where we should find dinner ready to come on table; I even pretended that a sledge I had seen descending towards the river was designed for us. As chance would have it, never was conjecture more just. The first person we saw on shore was the Chevaher de Manduit, who was waiting for us with the General's sledge, into which we quickly stepped and were conveyed in an instant into a handsome draw- ing-room, near a good fire, with Mr. Schuyler, his wife and daughters. While we were warming our- selves, dinner was served, to which every one did honor, as well as to the madeira, which was excellent, and made us completely forget the rigour of the sea- son and the fatigue of the journey." The beneficial effects of the conquest of Canada upon the prospects of the province of New York were 69 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER immediately realized. The ever threatening war clouds in the north were replaced by a clear sky. In the west the Indian Confederacy now stood alone, no longer holding a dangerous balance of power, no longer the object of an incessant diplomacy. Face to face with a superior race of men, their fate was al- ready sealed. Then began the westward movement of emigration which, taking on a tremendous impetus after the Revolution, never ceased to send its armies to the conquest of nature and savagery. It was at the beginning of this new sense of possible prosperity and expansion, of enterprise and specula- tion, that Schuyler returned from England, and he threw himself with enthusiasm into the work. From a utilitarian point of view, no man knew better the physical geography of the province. Already the Mohawk Valley was familiar to him, and the lands to the westward as far as Oswego had been often tra- versed. To the north, his experience in the French War had made known to him the character of the country about LakesGeorge andChamplain. Through his mother, he inherited about nine thousand acres in the manor of Cortlandt. His wife has a share of Claverack. He had interests in the Van Rensselaer property in Columbia County, and made purchases in addition to some inheritance in Dutchess County. Schuyler was at home in the forest and familiar with its signs. The soil where flourished the sugar maple and the chestnut, was chosen in preference to that 70 HOME AND BUSINESS LIFE where the birch reared its white shafts among the hemlocks and the pines. The clear spring and running stream had their element of value, and he recognized the dormant wealth in the waterfall's store of power. His judgment in matters of land and colonization soon became considered the best in the province and was sought by the governors, Sir Henry Moore and Tryon, and by such men as William Smith, Jr., Philip Livingston, James Duane. In sales and leases in the Hudson River manors his advice was constantly asked. His knowledge of the Indian character, of previous cessions of territory, of the tribal rights in the land, was continually called into requisition in new purchases and conflicting claims. In the summer of 1766, Sir Henry Moore left his wife and daughters with Mrs. Schuyler in Albany, while he and Schuyler journeyed together up the Mo- hawk Valley and purchased large tracts from the Indians for Sir Henry himself and for his friend. Lord Holland, the father of Charles James Fox. A long standing controversy over their boundaries be- tween John Van Rensselaer of Claverack and the second proprietor of the Livingston manor had caused a painful estrangement between their families. The genial William Smith, Jr., had met the two hostile old men one day in New York as they chanced to pass each other opposite his office. He had invited them In together, had Induced them to talk over their dispute and, as he hoped, had brought about an understanding 71 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER between them. But a return to their homes on the Hudson River seemed to bring about a return to the old animosity. It was Philip Schuyler, in whose judg- ment on such subjects both the old men had entire confidence, who finally settled the boundary and brought about a reconciliation. Schuyler's most valuable property, which he de- veloped with the utmost industry and intelligence, was the Saratoga patent. No longer in danger of mid- night attack and conflagration, this estate grew in beauty and productiveness from year to year. A saw- mill, erected under his supervision, and managed by men of his own training, converted the forest trees into boards and shingles. The woods were succeeded by fields of grain. A schooner and two sloops built by Schuyler carried the lumber and agricultural pro- duce to market at New York, whence they returned laden with manufactured articles for use and for sale. In those days when the subdivision of labor was yet impossible, Schuyler was at once boat builder, farmer, lumber and grain merchant, military agent of the gov- ernment and real estate expert. At Saratoga were tried novel experiments in agriculture, notably the cultivation of flax and hemp. In 1767, a large house was built there, on the bank of Fish Creek, and this became the summer home of the family. The point of prosperity and productiveness to which Schuyler brought the estate is indicated in a letter written in 1775, by Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, chaplain of a 72 THE FARM AT SARATOGA Connecticut regiment, to his wife: "I have been ab- sent from ye camp for eleven days, Gen'l Schuyler having wished me (as possessing some little skill in surgery) to accompany his wife's relative, young V. R., who was grievously wounded a short while ago. We had a very hard journey through ye wilderness carrying ye poor boy on a litter, but after four days we arrived safely at Schuyler's Town, where is ye Gen'l's country seat, and where Madam Schuyler, who is hospitable and handsome (but not so courtly in her ways as some one I know) , entertained us finely. Leav- ing our charge with her and remaining only over twenty-four hours, to give our horses rest, we returned to ye fort. I was greatly interested to see ye settle- ment at which ye Gen'l S. has laboured for several years. Herein he has sought to manufacture and to teach ye manufacture of those things which ye colonies most need. Here he has erected saw-mills and smithies and buildings wherein wool and flax may be spun and wove in large quantities, and near by are great fields where men and women were cultivating flax." During the years which preceded the Revolution, Schuyler was employed in various public affairs, of which the principal was the great quarrel between New York and New England regarding their bound- aries. This conflict did much to embitter the existing intercolonial prejudices; it was a serious obstacle to 73 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER union in the beginning of the Revolution; and Schuy- ler's official connection with it necessarily involved an unpopularity with New England men which had un- pleasant consequences. The old claim of New Netherland to all the land west of the Connecticut River was reluctantly aban- doned by Stuyvesant, and in his time a commission fixed the boundary line at twenty miles to the east of the Hudson. This arrangement settled the matter as far as Connecticut and Massachusetts were concerned. But New Hampshire did not yet exist as a separate colony. Consequently New York claimed that the twenty mile line stopped at Massachusetts and that all the country north of that colony and west of the line of the Connecticut River belonged to her. New Hampshire denied this, asserted that the twenty mile line ran northward indefinitely and gave her possession of what is now Vermont. Governor Wentworth issued patents to settlers in the disputed territory which thus became known as the Hampshire Grants. After the French War, when the danger of invasion was re- moved, settlers arrived in the Grants in considerable numbers, receiving their patents from Governor Wentworth, and the townof Bennington was founded. Governor Colden of New York protested; the matter was laid before the King, who, in 1764, gave judg- ment for New York. Wentworth accepted the result and the settlers would have done the same; but un- fortunately the governor of New York claimed that 74 THE HAMPSHIRE GRANTS not only he had jurisdiction, but that all the patents issued by Wentworth were void. The settlers were told that they must abandon or repurchase their lands ; and in default, these were in many cases assigned to New Yorkers. This unjust and unwise proceeding provoked an armed rebellion among the people of the Grants, in which they were supported by New Eng- land. New Yorkers who tried to take possession of lands were resisted with bloodshed. A state of civil war existed up to the Revolution, and the dispute was never settled until Vermont was admitted to the Union as a State. Although Schuyler had little to do with the rights and wrongs of the case, the responsibility for which belonged to Government House in New York, his position as a member of the commission on the bound- aries, his authority as colonel of militia to whom was confided the preservation of order in the northern part of the province, marked him as a champion of the cause of New York. His name became identified In the Hampshire Grants and to some degree In New England with proceedings rightly regarded as unjust and tyrannical. The deeply rooted prejudice of the New England men against a Dutchman was thus sup- plemented by animosity and suspicion. As we shall see, the result was unfortunate for Schuyler when called to command New England troops. In 1768, when thirty-five years of age, Colonel 75 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Schuyler was elected a member of the provincial as- sembly. This body was small in numbers, was chosen by freeholders only and sat for seven years; conse- quently its seats were the object of a lively competi- tion. Schuyler had been rather reluctant to take this step. His extensive and growing interests in the northern part of the province absorbed his attention; the hospitalities of his houses at Albany and Saratoga, where judges and lawyers on circuit, distinguished travellers and many relatives were constantly stopping, furnished him with sufficient society. But the times were troubled and a number of influential men urged him to take an active part in politics, not a few of whom, like Sir William Johnson, were afterwards to regret the presence of so powerful an opponent. When Schuyler took his seat in the last Assembly of the province of New York, the preliminary skirmish between the British Ministry and the colonies had been fought and won. At the time of the passage of the Stamp Act in 1765, the Colonial Assembly had a good majority of the popular party and were able to make a strong stand against the enforcement of the Act. In this opposition, the support given by all ranks of the people was nearly unanimous. The educated classes saw plainly that the principle involved in the Act was contrary to their hereditary rights as Englishmen and they opposed it with the reasonable determination of free and Intelligent men. John Cruger, Robt. R. Livingston, Philip Livingston, William Bayard and 76 THE STAMP ACT Leonard LIspenard represented the province in the Stamp Act Congress which met in New York and on behalf of nine colonies sent to England their Dec- laration of Rights and Petition to the King. The mer- chants struck a telling blow at British trade by ceasing their importations. The lower classes of the people were well instructed on the issues by the addresses and leadership of Alexander Macdougall, William Liv- ingston and John Morin Scott. The resolution not to receive the stamps was so strong, the riotous demon- strations of the patriot organization called the Sons of Liberty were so threatening, that neither Governor Moore nor General Gage dared to take any decisive steps. Not knowing what to do with the packages of stamps, the presence of which in any building invited the torch, the governor ordered them placed on board the British ship "Coventry," then lying in the harbor. But Archibald Kennedy, its commander, who had mar- ried Miss Watts and through her owned a beautiful house on Broadway opposite the Bowling Green and much other property in the city, had too much regard for his own interests to take the risk of receiving them. Reasonable resistance and popular force defeated the Stamp Act. The ministry despised the former and re- solved to crush the latter. During this struggle the province of New York hardly abated its loyalty to the King or its desire for continued union with the mother country. The quarrel had been with the ministry, and that over, the 17 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER people were glad to forgive and forget. However, there were some men who saw deeply Into the signifi- cance of what had passed, who anticipated a renewal of the struggle and began to speak of independence. Among these was the bold and eloquent lawyer, John Morin Scott, whose addresses had Instructed and aroused the meetings of the Sons of Liberty. His shrewd political Insight deduced from the circum- stances of the present the facts of ten years later. "If the Interest of the mother country and her colonies," he said In 1765, "cannot be made to coincide, If the same constitution cannot take place In both, If the wel- fare of the mother country necessarily requires a sacri- fice of the most valuable natural rights of the colonies, — their right of making their own laws and disposing of their own property by representatives of their own choosing, then the connection between them ought to cease, and sooner or later It must Inevitably cease. The English government cannot long act toward a part of its dominions upon principles diametrically opposed to its own without losing itself In the slavery it would impose upon the colonies, or teaching them to throw it off and assert Its freedom." The next step of the British Ministry was to place a military force In New York sufiiciently strong to in- sure the success of their new projects of taxation. The appearance of the soldiery aroused the old animosities and renewed the conflicts between them and the Sons 7S THE BEGINNING OE REVOLUTION of Liberty. The Assembly which had successfully op- posed the Stamp Act was now instructed by Governor Moore to vote the money for the maintenance of the military force which had been sent to crush the liber- ties of its constituents. Its persistent refusal was fol- lowed by prorogation. This new evidence of in- tended tyranny drew prophetic words from the pen of William Livingston, which voiced the sense of power and self-reliance in the colonies which had been grow- ing steadily since the French War. "Courage, Amer- icans!" he wrote in 1767, "Liberty, religion and science are on the wing to these shores. The finger of God points out a mighty empire to your sons. The savages of the wilderness were never expelled to make room for idolaters and slaves. The land we possess is the gift of heaven to our fathers, and divine provi- dence seems to have decreed it to our latest posterity. The day dawns in which the foundation of this mighty empire is to be laid, by the establishment of a regular American Constitution. All that has been done hith- erto seems to be little beside the collection of materials for this glorious fabric. 'Tis time to put them to- gether. The transfer of the European family is so vast, and our growth so swift, that before seven years roll over our heads the first stone must be laid." While such clear-sighted patriots as Scott and Wil- liam Livingston could look clearly into the future, the people in general mistook a truce for a peace. Sir 79 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Henry Moore's conciliatory attitude Induced a re- action toward loyalty, and when Schuyler took his seat in the Assembly In 1768, he found the Royalist party, led by the de Lanceys, In control. In this assembly, New York was represented by James de Lancey, Philip Livingston, Jacob Walton, James Jauncey, Isaac Low, John Cruger, and John Alsop. From Westchester, came Frederick Phlllpse; from the borough of Westchester, John de Lancey; from Ul- ster county, George Clinton. Schuyler's old friend " Brom," Abraham Ten Broeck, represented the manor of Rensselaerwyck ; Peter R. Livingston, that of Livingston, and Pierre Van Cortlandt, that of Cortlandt. Schuyler and Clinton were new members, both destined to long and distinguished careers. Now, and throughout the Revolution, we see them working in unison, for the independence of their country; but that attained, and In the face of new problems, they will be found In hostile camps. From the beginning of the dissensions between the mother country and the colonies, Schuyler had ranged himself distinctly on the American side. He was pres- ent at the great dinner In New York given to cele- brate the repeal of the Stamp Act, and he accom- panied the Sons of Liberty to Trinity Church to hear the congratulatory address delivered by Dr. Auch- muty. From 1768 to 1774, the records of the Assem- blyshow him to have been active in all matters pertain- ing to the industrial and commercial welfare of the 80 THE BEGINNING OF REVOLUTION colony, taking frequent part In debate, and asserting the rights of the province In the fitful but never-ending quarrel with the ministry In England. Of the pa- triotic resolutions introduced into the Assembly, some of the boldest were drafted by him, and It was at his suggestion that Edmund Burke was appointed the agent of New York In England. The frequent conflicts between the soldiery and the people, the Imprisonment of Alexander Macdougall, kept alive the fires of discord which were to burst into flame with the tax on tea in 1774. The Impatience of the colonists under the tyrannical assumptions of the English Ministry, and at the same time their senti- ment of conscious strength, are curiously exemplified In the following anecdote. Robert Livingston, the second son of the founder of the manor, was then a hale old man of eighty-five years of age, still wearing the wig, knee breeches, and large-skirted coat of a previous generation. He was conversing one day in the year 1773, In the library at Clermont, with his son. Judge Robert R., his grandson, Robert R., the future Chancellor, and Richard Montgomery, when he ex- clalmer* . " It is Intolerable that a continent like Ame'xa should be governed by a little Island, three thousand miles away. America must and will be independent. My son, you will not live to see It; Montgomery, you may; Robert," addressing his grandson, " you will." Judge Livingston died soon after, and It was on the eve of the Declaration of 81 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Independence that Montgomery fell gloriously at Quebec. The prophecy was fulfilled when the young Robert served with Jefferson, Franklin, Sherman, and Adams on the committee appointed by the continental congress to draft the Declaration. On the great questions of the time, public opinion in New York divided the people into three parties. There were the Sons of Liberty, representing the loudest, if not the sincerest patriotism, advocating ex- treme measures, under the leadership of Scott, Mac- dougall. Sears, and Lamb. They prevented by force the landing of the tea; and It was at their great meet- ing in " The Fields," where Alexander Hamilton made his maiden speech. At the other extreme were the Tories, disposed to submit to any measures which seemed good to the ministry of Great Britain. Be- tween these two stood a party considerable In wealth and influence, led by substantial merchants and able lawyers, having more at stake and being more con- servative than the Sons of Liberty, while excelling the Tories in attachment to their adopted country and in independence of character. This party, soon to be- come the bone and sinew of the Revolution, remained, up to the Declaration of Independence, sincerely desir- ous of a reconciliation with Great Britain, but deter- mined not to accept it at the expense of legitimate rights. The New York assembly, containing a majority 82 IN THE PROVINCIAL ASSEMBLY of Tories, became less and less representative as mat- ters advanced. The vote of thanks to the merchants for their non-importation agreement, the motion to appoint delegates to the continental congress, every patriotic movement, was defeated by the same major- ity, while in the minority were always recorded the names of Schuyler, Van Cortlandt, Clinton, Ten Broeck, and Livingston. In the spring of 1774, Governor Tryon departed for England to give personal information to the ministry of the situation in the colonies. During his absence, the executive office was held by Lieutenant- Governor Cadwallader Colden, " Old Caddy," as William Smith called him, a strong Tory. Colden kept Tryon informed of events in New York. " Colo- nel Schuyler and Clinton hold forth in the opposition," he wrote in February, 1775. A little later he mentions de Lancey and Wilkins as the strong men on the Royalist side, but Wilkins, he thought, was the only one who could hold his own in debate with Schuyler and Clinton. In April, he writes: " Our Assembly have pursued a plan of conduct which I hope will be satisfactory to his Majesty and his ministers. They have sent a petition to the King, a memorial to the Lords, and a remonstrance to the Commons, all ex- pressed, especially the petition to the King, in a very moderate, decent style. I am persuaded that It will give you some concern, sir, to hear that Colonel Schuy- ler, Ten Broeck, and Livingston made a violent oppo- 83 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER sitlon in the House to these measures, and have made it evident throughout the sessions that they wished to bring this colony into all the dangerous and extrava- gant schemes which disgrace too many of the sister colonies. They openly espoused the cause of the last congress, and strove hard to have delegates ap- pointed by the House for that which is to be held in May. They are now gone home to get that done by the election of the people which they could not effect in the House." In 1774, New York was represented in the conti- nental congress by Philip Livingston, John Alsop, Isaac Low, James Duane, and John Jay, who had been chosen by the Committee of Fifty-one. In 1775 a provincial convention was held to choose delegates who added to the previous list, George Clinton, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris, Robert R. Livingston, and Philip Schuyler. On the morning of Monday, April 24th, Schuyler left New York in one of his sloops for Albany. The same afternoon, the news of the battle of Lexington reached New York. A sloop was despatched at once to convey the intelligence to Albany, but it was four days on its journey, and it was not until Saturday that Schuyler received it at his country seat at Saratoga. That evening, he wrote to John Cruger, who was preparing for a voyage to England on account of ill- health, a letter which well expressed the sentiments 84 SCHUYLER'S VIEW OF THE CRISIS with which he viewed this great crisis in his country's history : "Of course, long ere this you have received the news from Boston. My heart bleeds as I view the horrors of civil war, but we have only left us the choice between such evils and slavery. For myself, 1 can say with Sempronius: * Heavens ! can a Roman Senate long debate Which of the two to choose, slavery or death ! No ; let us arise at once,' etc. for we should be unworthy of our ancestors if we should tamely submit to an insolent and wicked min- istry, and supinely wait for a gracious answer to a petition to the King, of which, as a member of the Assembly who sent it, I am ashamed. I know there are difficulties in the way. The loyal and the timid in this province are many, yet I believe that when the question is fairly put, as it is really so put by this m.assacre in Massachusetts Bay, whether we shall be ruled by a military despotism, or fight for right and freedom, the great majority of the people will choose the latter. For my own part, much as I love peace — much as I love my own domestic happiness and re- pose, and desire to see my countrymen enjoying the blessings flowing from undisturbed industry, I would rather see all these scattered to the winds for a time, and the sword of desolation go over the land, than to recede one line from the just and righteous position we have taken as free-born subjects of Great Britain. 85 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER I beg you, my dear sir, If your health shall permit when you arrive In England, to use all your Influence there to convince the people and the rulers that we were never more determined to contend for our rights than at this moment — that we consider ourselves not aggressors, but defenders — and that he who believes that our late Assembly truly represented the feelings and wishes of our people Is greatly deceived. I have watched the course of the poHtlcal currents for many months with great anxiety, and have been, for more than a year, fully convinced that unless Great Britain should be more just and wise than In times past, war was Inevitable. It is now actually begun; and In the spirit of Joshua I say, I care not what others may do, ' as for me and my house,' we will serve our coun- try." The next day Schuyler attended church In Albany, where the news from New England absorbed all at- tention. " I well remember," records an eye-witness, " the Impressive manner with which, in my hearing, my father told my uncle that blood had been shed In Lexington! The startling intelligence spread like wildfire among the congregation. The preacher's voice was listened to with very little attention. After the morning discourse was finished and the people were dismissed, we gathered about Philip Schuyler for further information. He was the oracle of our neighborhood. We looked up to him with a feeling 86 ATTITUDE OF NEW YORK of respect and affection. His popularity was un- bounded; his views upon all subjects were considered sound, and his anticipations almost prophetic. On this occasion he confirmed the intelligence already re- ceived and expressed his belief that an important crisis had arrived which must forever separate us from the parent state." In April, after the battle of Lexington, was organ- ized the Provincial Congress, which superseded the old Royal Assembly and formed the new government of New York. It is interesting to observe the con- servative nature of this Assembly, and, in the midst of a revolution, its wise dread of the consequences of revolution. These men were no lovers of change; if they rebelled, it was against their will. As late as the end of June, 1775, they wrote to the New York representatives in the continental congress at Phila- delphia : " Deeply impressed with the importance, the utility and necessity of an accommodation with our parent state, and conscious that the best service that we can render to the present and all future generations must consist in promoting it; we have laboured without intermission to point out such moderate terms as may tend to reconcile the unhappy differences which threaten the whole empire with destruction. We must now repeat to you the common and just ob- servation that contests for liberty, fostered in their infancy by the virtuous and wise, become sources of 87 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER power to wicked and designing men. Whence it fol- lows that such controversies as we are now engaged in frequently end in the demolition of those rights and privileges which they are instituted to defend. We pray you, therefore, to use every effort for the com- promising of this unnatural quarrel between the parent and child; and if such terms as you think best shall not be complied with, earnestly to labour that at least some terms may be held up, whereby a treaty shall be set on foot to restore peace and harmony to our country and spare the further effusion of human blood. So that, if even at the last our well-meant en- deavors shall fail of effect, we may stand fair and unreproachable by our own consciences, in the last sol- emn appeal to the God of Battles." The last solemn appeal was soon forced upon them ; and the provincial assembly of New York was re- quested by the continental congress to name one of the major-generals and one of the brigadier-generals who should lead the forces of the new nation in its com- ing struggle. It was in the following letter that the assembly unanimously recommended Philip Schuyler to be major-general, and Richard Montgomery to be brigadier-general. " We take the liberty for the present to furnish you with our sentiments on the appointment of a major- and a brigadier-general and submit them to your su- perior wisdom either for use or concealment. . . . APPOINTED MAJOR-GENERAL Courage, prudence, readiness In expedients, nice per- ception, sound judgment, and great attention — these are a few of the natural qualities which appear to us to be proper. To these ought to be added an exten- sive acquaintance with the sciences, particularly the various branches of mathematic knowledge; long practice in the military art, and above all a knowl- edge of mankind. On a general in America, fortune also should bestow her gifts, that he may rather com- municate lustre to his dignities than receive it; and that his country, in his property, his kindred and con- nections may have sure pledges that he will faithfully perform the duties of his high office and readily lay down his power when the general weal requires It. Since we cannot do all that we wish, we will go as far towards It as we can, and therefore you will not be sur- prised to hear that we are unanimous In the choice of Colonel Philip Schuyler and Captain Richard Mont- gomery to the offices of major- and brigadier-generals. If we knew how to recommend them to your notice more strongly than by telling you, that after consider- ing the qualifications above stated, these gentlemen were approved of without a single dissent, our regard to the public service would certainly lead us to do It in the most forcible terms. Nor will we enter Into a minute detail of the characters and situations of two gentlemen with whom our delegates cannot but be acquainted. In a word, we warmly recommend them, LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER because we have no doubts that their appointment will give general satisfaction." It was inevitable that the colony should seek the military services of Richard Montgomery and should give him a high rank in its new army. Formerly a captain in the British service and a man of the highest character, he did not need his connection with the Livingston family to recommend him for a position for which no one was better fitted. But in the choice of a major-general, the provincial assembly had a different and more difficult problem. This officer should have military capacity and experi- ence, but he must be more than a soldier; he must be an organizer of men, a provider of food and arms, an executive head of a new and now all important branch of the government. War existed, and generals were appointed; but the army was to be raised, clothed, armed and fed. Here was a vast and trying business necessarily placed on the shoulders of military leaders in a country where no ready machinery existed for providing the ways and means. As we look over the names of men who then, and for a decade afterwards, took the lead in New York, we can hardly find one whom the Assembly might have considered in compe- tition with Schuyler. George Clinton had as yet neither military experience nor the influence of family and business connections. The Van Rensselaer, Liv- ingston and Van Cortlandt families furnished good officers, but none who had seen service and none who 90 APPOINTED MAJOR-GENERAL attained positions of the first responsibility. Men in the province of New York who afterwards rose to high and some to the highest distinction in statesman- ship and diplomacy, men like Robert R. and Philip Livingston, James Duane, John Jay, and Gouverneur Morris, were not adapted for such an office as major- general in the Continental army. Schuyler was chosen at once and unanimously be- cause many circumstances pointed to him as pre- eminently fitted. He had an honorable military rec- ord, like Washington and Putnam, in the French and Indian War. He had not only seen fighting, but as commissary in the English army, he had learned the business of supplying and transporting the munitions of war in a country almost without roads. Von Moltke has said that geography was a principal element in military art. This saying was never more true than in Its application to our revolutionary cam- paigns. And in the geography of his native province Schuyler's knowledge was unrivalled. In his fond- ness for solving mathematical problems, In his navi- gation of the " General Wall " across the ocean, in the building of his mills and the development of his lands, he had shown that adaptability to circumstances and that fertility in expedients which the Assembly had considered essential in their general. The wealth which he had inherited, and still more, that which he had acquired, his extensive influence and family con- nections were recognized as additional recommcnda- 91 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER tlons In a man whose public career hitherto had given every proof of enlightened patriotism. Such were the qualifications which caused the choice of Schuyler as the major-general appointed by New York. But there were circumstances, not then apparent, which were destined to interfere with his success and happi- ness In the work which he undertook for his country. The rheumatic gout of his youth was an ever present menace and would attack him again when he needed all his strength. He was of Dutch descent, and a man identified with the New York side of the quarrel over the Hampshire Grants. These latter circum- stances were sure to excite the prejudice and mistrust of New England troops. 92 Chapter IV. Schuyler in Command of the Northern Department. — The Invasion of Canada. — The Johnsons and Tories. ON the morning of June 21, 1775, George Washington, Philip Schuyler, and Charles Lee rode out of the streets of Philadelphia, journeying northward. Among the many acts of wis- dom recorded of the first Congress of the United Colonies, none was destined to bear such precious fruit as the choice for commander-in-chief of him in whose keeping had been placed the country's defence. As dispassionately as those men had surveyed the is- sues of the conflict, as unerringly as they had defined their just rights, so had they chosen the man who, above all, was fitted to lead in action during the arduous and disheartening years to come. There were interesting points of contrast between the three general officers now earnestly conferring as they urged their horses along the Trenton road. Washington and Schuyler were both entering on mid- dle life; both tall, well-made men, impressive in as- pect. The first, an Englishman of Virginia, coming from his ancestral home on the banks of the Potomac; 93 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER the second, a Dutchman of New York, whose stately dweUing looked down upon the Hudson. Both were Americans at heart and in principle. Both represented the best class in their respective communities, and they were born in the two colonies of all the most aristo- cratic in social structure. Both had seen service in the old French and Indian War and knew the difficul- ties peculiar to fighting in a vast wooded and roadless country. Washington had been with Braddock on the disastrous day in the Virginia forest; and Schuy- ler with Sir William Johnson in the memorable fight at Lake George. The acquaintance of the two gen- erals dated from the recent meeting at Philadelphia, where they had served together on a military com- mittee. This journey ripened a friendship which never suffered any interruption. Washington ac- quired a regard for Schuyler's ability and character which he never failed to assert. Schuyler recognized the nobility of soul and the perfect balance of mind on which rested the superiority of the commander-in- chief, and from this time he never ceased to look up to him as to one to whom it was an honor to pay a tribute of devotion and affection. While Washington and Schuyler were Americans, staking their lands, their homes and their lives with patriotic self-sacrifice, Charles Lee was a selfish mili- tary adventurer, entering the quarrel for what he could make of it, even now nourishing a jealous hatred of Washington, whom he considered to have robbed 94 THE NEWS OF BUNKER HILL him of the position of commander-in-chief. Mean in spirit and slovenly in person, he presented the same contrast to his companions that his conduct In the war was to present to theirs. To Washington he was a recent acquaintance. But Schuyler could not have forgotten some scenes in which Lee had figured at The Flatts, seventeen years before, when, as a cap- tain in Abercromble's army, he had exhibited the stupid arrogance which formed the chief trait in his character. That the Congress at Philadelphia should have given high military rank to Lee, and that Wash- ington and Schuyler should have deferred at first to his supposed experience, was an illustration of the respect yet supposed to be due in the colonies to every- thing belonging to the mother country. The party had proceeded about twenty miles when a courier was met galloping toward Philadelphia with despatches for Congress which contained the news of the battle of Bunlcer Hill. In the excitement that ensued, Washington's inquiries went immediately to the main point : How did the militia behave? Did they hold their ground under fire? And when he heard the answer, he exclaimed: "The liberties of the country are safe." Then they hastened through the Jerseys, over the ground that was soon to be the battlefields of Trenton and of Princeton, past Nassau Hall to Newark, where General Montgomery was waiting to escort them to New York. On the same day, the British man-of-war upon 95 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER which Governor Tryon was returning from England was sighted in the lower bay. The almost simul- taneous arrival of the English governor and of the American commander-in-chief was a source of much embarrassment to the authorities of New York, di- vided and uncertain as they were. It was decided at last to pay equal honors to both in the order of their arrival. Washington appeared first, riding down Broadway with Schuyler and Montgomery. The militia saluted him, and Peter V. B. Livingston, as President of the Provincial Congress, made an address which showed how strong Was the old English dread of military domination: " Confiding in you, sir, and in the worthy generals immediately under your command, we have the most flattering hopes of success in the glorious struggle for American liberty, and the full- est assurances that whenever this important contest shall be decided by that fondest wish of every Ameri- can soul, an accommodation with our mother country, you will cheerfully resign the important deposit com- mitted into your hands, and re-assume the character of our worthiest citizen." To which Washington replied: "As to the fatal, but necessary operations of war: When we assumed the soldier, we did not lay aside the citizen; and we shall most sincerely re- joice with you in that happy hour, when the estab- lishment of American liberty on the most firm and solid foundations, shall enable us to return to our 96 POSITION OF NEW YORK private stations in the bosom of a free, peaceful, and happy country." In the evening, Governor Tryon landed, receiving the same honors from the militia and city officials, but, of course, no greeting from the Provincial Congress. A cheering crowd of loyalists accompanied him to Government House, and two British men-of-war rode at anchor off the Battery, ready to obey his commands. Tryon had been a popular official, and he now sought to avoid all unnecessary friction. Schuyler, who had been on terms of personal friendship with him, was not obliged, in these changed conditions, to do more than ignore his presence in Government House. That evening a conference took place between Washington and Schuyler, at which the latter received his instructions as commander of the Revolutionary forces in the province of New York. The next morn- ing Washington set out on his journey to Cambridge, there to take command of the American army and to conduct the successful campaign which expelled the British from Boston. Schuyler accompanied him as far as New Rochelle and then returned to face the new and trying situation in which his appointment placed him. New York was one of the smaller colonies, rank- ing only seventh in point of population. But it was strategically the most important of all. It separated New England from New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas. British control meant the division 97 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER of American forces and the prevention of co-opera- tion between the northern and the southern provinces. Vital as was its possession to the American cause, there were circumstances which rendered its security a matter of great doubt and difficulty. British sea- power marked for its own the port of New York. The colonies had not a ship to protect it; there Eng- lish fleets could enter and land troops at will. In the north was Canada, where hostile armies could muster undisturbed for invasion. To the west lay the wilder- ness with its Six Nations of Indians under the con- trol, as far as they submitted to any, of Sir John and Colonel Guy Johnson. The latter had come out un- reservedly for the King, and already disturbances and rumors of savage warfare were alarming the settle- ments west of the Hudson. Thus threatened from without, New York was subject more than any other colony to the internal danger of British loyalty or lukewarmness toward the patriot cause among its own inhabitants. Philip Schuyler, Philip Livingston, John Alsop, James Duane, John Jay, Francis Lewis, Alexander Mac- dougall, George Clinton, Lewis Morris, Philip Van Cortlandt, Robert R. Livingston, Egbert Benson, are names now distinguished because their bearers risked all and did all for their country. But there were many men of high social advantages and ability who held aloof and waited, or were actively hostile. The city of New York was commercial and aristocratic. Both 98 SCHUYLER IN COMMAND of these Interests were averse to disturbance and re- liant upon friendly Intercourse with the mother coun- try. However they might resent ministerial Injustice, they dreaded extreme measures which upset business, disturbed social order, and would end none could tell where. In the country districts were many settlers to whom English loyalty was a habit, who appreciated the possible hardships of a conflict much more vividly than the importance of the points at Issue. A con- siderable portion of the population, therefore, could not be relied upon for assistance. On the shoulders of Philip Schuyler now rested the responsibility for the military control of the northern portion of the province. He was not a soldier by profession. The abilities which In peaceful occupa- tions had raised him to leadership In his community must be applied to new and exacting problems. The Provincial Congress was ready to give him every sup- port In Its power, but It looked to him for informa- tion In military affairs. There was no governmental machinery for raising an army, nor for providing the great and varied supplies without which an army could not exist. For the present, Schuyler must be his own quartermaster, commissary and recruiting oificer. In a few days he had Informed himself and had reported to the Provincial Congress concern- ing the armed forces then available and the sup- plies most needed. In the neighborhood of the city were General Wooster's Connecticut regiment Lot C. LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER of about five hundred men and Colonel David Waterbury's of about nine hundred. At Ticon- deroga and at different points near Lake George were about twelve hundred more, chiefly from New England. The total was less than three thousand, and they were enlisted for such short terms that the army would speedily melt away unless constantly recruited. Among the supplies asked for were natu- rally such obvious requirements as tents, arms, pow- der, food, clothing, and medicines. But as we read the long lists of subsidiary articles requested of the Congress by Schuyler, the tools for the gunsmith, blacksmith, carpenter, and boat builder, the rope and oakum and nails for the boats to be built, the shovels and pickaxes for intrenching, we see the general's woodcraft, his personal knowledge of what men would need while campaigning in forests and over water- ways. Before leaving New York for the north, Schuyler made an address to the troops through the medium of a letter to General Wooster. " America," he said, " has recourse to arms merely for her safety and de- fence, and in resisting oppression she will not oppress. She wages no war of ambition, content if she can only retain the fair inheritance of English law and English liberty. Such being the purity of her intentions, no stain must be suffered to disgrace our arms. We are soldiers ambitious only to aid in restoring the violated rights of citizens, and these secured, we are to return 100 ADDRESS TO THE TROOPS Instantly to the business and employments of civilized life. Let it be a truth deeply impressed on the minds of everyone of us who bear arms, and let us evince to the world that, in contending for liberty, we abhor li- centiousness; that, in resisting the misrule of tyrants, we shall support government honestly administered. All unnecessary violence to the persons or property of his Majesty's subjects must, therefore, most strictly be forbidden and avoided. Let us act as becomes the virtuous citizen, who seeks for the aid of righteous heaven and the just applause of an impartial world. Liberty, Safety, and Peace are our objects — the es- tablishment of the Constitution and not the lust of dominion. . . . These are principles I wish deeply Implanted in the heart of every soldier I have the honor to command. They will lead us to glory — they will merit for us the esteem of our countrymen." While public sentiment In New York was yet in- clined to a policy of waiting and trusting to an accom- modation with the mother country, in New England the bloodshed at Lexington had aroused an aggressive feeling and a desire to strike some defiant blow at British power. In the old wars in America between England and France, It was well remembered that Ticonderoga had been the great military prize. The mountain fortress between Lakes George and Cham- plain which controlled the passage to Canada — there had been fought the bloodiest and the most decisive battles. Hence had come the suggestion of the bold i®i LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER expedition of Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen, which, on the night of the loth of May, had sur- prised the garrison of Ticonderoga and had placed the fort and its military supphes in the power of the Continental forces. This striking feat seemed to open the door to Canada. Congress, hitherto reluctant, now resolved upon an invasion and confided its conduct to Schuyler. He left New York on the fourth of July in a sloop, stopped at Albany for a few days to take measures for the protection of the western frontier against the Johnson family and their Indian allies, and arrived at Ticonderoga on the eighteenth. Then ensued six weeks of military preparations under great difficulties. Schuyler's letter books are filled with correspondence with the Congress at Phila- delphia, with the Provincial Congress at New York, with Governor Trumbull of Connecticut, relating to the accumulation of men, money, arms, clothing, lead, powder, and materials for boat-building at Ticon- deroga. His own ingenuity and credit were strained to the utmost. When he first arriv^ed the situation seemed almost hopeless. " I have neither boats suffi- cient," he wrote to Congress, " nor any materials for building them. The stores I ordered from New York are not yet arrived. I have, therefore, not a nail, no pitch, no oakum, and want a variety of articles indis- pensably necessary, which I estimated and delivered into the New York Congress on the 3d instant. An 10^ MILITARY DIFFICULTIES almost equal scarcity of ammunition exists, no powder having yet come to hand; not a gun carriage for the few proper guns we have, and as yet very little pro- vision. There are now two hundred less troops than by my last return. These are badly, very badly armed, indeed, and only one poor armorer to repair their guns." The Provincial Congress wrote : " Our troops can be of no service to you. They have no arms, clothes, blankets, or ammunition; the officers no commissions, our treasury no money, ourselves in debt. It is in vain to complain. We will remove difficulties as fast as we can, and send you soldiers whenever the men we have raised are entitled to that name." With these obstacles, great as they were, Schuyler was fitted to contend. He struggled hard, and by the end of August had fifteen hundred men fairly armed and equipped, and boats ready to convey them up the lake. But there were other difficulties more serious to Schuyler, and which his character and education were less adapted to meet successfully. In the preparation for this expedition it was understood that Connecti- cut should provide men and that New York should provide money and supplies. It turned out to be an unfortunate arrangement. The jealousy and enmity between the inhabitants of New York and of Con- necticut were strong. The New England troops were extremely averse to placing themselves under the command of a general from New York, especially 103 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER when that officer was " a Dutchman " who had main- tained the right of his colony to the Hampshire Grants. Schuyler naturally placed all provisions from whatever source at the disposal of the troops as a whole. But Connecticut officers objected to Connecti- cut flour being supplied to New York men, and claimed that they should have sole control over all provisions sent by their colony. Such an idea as continental union for the general good of all was too new yet for acceptance. Schuyler had requested the appointment of his nephew, Walter Livingston, as deputy commissary- general, and Congress had appointed him. When his commission arrived, Livingston happened to be in company with Elisha Phelps and Zebediah Strong, who had been sent as commissaries in charge of Con- necticut supplies. Livingston's commission as com- missary-general, issued by the Continental Congress, took precedence of those of Phelps and Strong. The result was a quarrel and an appeal to Schuyler. He explained the matter to Phelps, who yielded grace- fully, but Strong could not control his feeling at be- coming subordinate to a New York officer. *' God forbid," he wrote to Schuyler, " that any overgrown colony or overhearing man should at this critical junc- ture use such pernicious partiality as to attempt to monopolize every emolument." He apologized later for this language, but the incident was one of many 104 INSUBORDINATION OF MILITIA which kept up a disturbing friction and made organi- zation difficult. Connected with the intercolonial jealousies and still harder to deal with was the aversion to discipline and subordination on the part of the New England troops. These were composed of men accustomed to complete equality and individual liberty. Living isolated on their farms, with little distinction of wealth and none of social position, they had never known control or the habit of obedience. Their officers were chosen among themselves, and, while respected as leaders, were not regarded in any sense as superiors. They had little more thought of exercising authority than their soldiers had of acknowledging it. The dislike of discipline and subordination created difficulties enough in their own ranks, but when It met the mili- tary system of Schuyler, it developed into hatred of a supposed tyranny. Schuyler found the men crowded into barracks with entire disregard of sanitary pre- cautions, and their health becoming so bad that one- third were incapacitated for duty. His attempts to introduce reforms in this particular were sullenly re- sisted. At home the men were accustomed to severe physical labor. Since arriving at Ticonderoga they had done nothing but clean their guns and turn out for parade. They were spoiling for their accustomed exercise. Schuyler set them to work, partly as a health measure and partly to forward the boat-build- ing and other preparations for the expedition. This los LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER was regarded as a hardship, and made the subject of complaint. The commissary department was with- out regulation, the men helping themselves to what they wanted, and wasting ruinously. They considered that the provisions belonged to them and resented their control, especially by an officer from another colony. They were patriotic and brave, ready to fight, but wishing to do it in their own way, as par- tisans, not as a regular army. To introduce business order, to inculcate obedience on the part of officers and men, were tasks trying to a man of Schuyler's methodical habits and somewhat Imperious temper. The difficulty was deeply seated, as Montgomery found when he was making his campaign in Canada. " They are the worst stuff imaginable for soldiers," he wrote home. " They are homesick; their regi- ments are melted away, and yet not a man dead of any distemper among them. There is such an equality among them that the officers have no authority. . The privates are all generals, but not sol- diers." When experience in war had taught the New England men the necessity of unquestioning obedience, they made the very backbone of the American army. But meanwhile they were difficult to command. Schuyler lacked the patience and conciliatory dis- position which such work required. Habituated to order and system, he was irritated by the indifference to these qualities which he saw about him. Accus- tomed to the exercise of authority, and to the respect io6 INSUBORDINATION OF MILITIA which a man in his position received in the province of New York, he could not understand the familiarity and independence of the New England men. He de- scribed the situation to Washington, who thus re- plied from Cambridge: " I can easily judge of your difficulties in introducing order and discipline into troops who have from their infancy imbibed ideas of the most contrary kind. It would be far beyond the compass of a letter for me to describe the situation of things here on my arrival. Perhaps you will only be able to judge of it from my assuring you that mine must be a portraiture at full length of what you have had in miniature. Confusion and discord reigned in every department, which, in a little time, must have ended either in the separation of the army or fatal contests with one another. . . . However, we mend every day, and I flatter myself that in a little time we shall work up these raw materials Into a good manufacture. I must recommend to you, what I en- deavor to practise myself — patience and persever- ance." " I can easily conceive," answered Schuyler, " that my difficulties are only a faint semblance of yours. Yes, my general, I will strive to copy your bright example, and patiently and steadily persevere In that line which alone can promise the wished-for reformation." The New England opposition to Schuyler was destined to bear bitter fruit for him. A strong preju- dice existed against him before he assumed command. 107 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER His efforts to introduce military order into the army at Ticonderoga, his regulation of supplies, his sani- tary measures, his requirement of labor on the part of the soldiers, induced a feeling of animosity which took form in suspicions of his loyalty to the patriot cause. The situation is described in a curious con- temporary letter written from the camp in July, 1775. Accompanying Colonel Hinman's regiment, as chap- lain, was the Rev. Cotton Mather Smith, of Sharon, well known through western Connecticut as " Parson Smith." He wrote to his wife: " You wish to know if the rumors about General Schuyler are true, If he is secretly a Tory? Saying that you are requested to ask me. My dear wife, they are not true. Say this (to any who ask you) on my authority, for I speak whereof I do know. Gen'l Schuyler is as earnest a patriot as any in our land, and he has few superiors in any respect. I do grieve that so many of our New England men should so fail to do him justice. Yet are they not quite without excuse, not for their sus- picions, but for their dislike. The Gen'l is somewhat haughty and overbearing. He has never been accus- tomed to seeing men that are reasonably well taught, and able to give a clear opinion, and to state their grounds for it, who were not also persons of some wealth and rank; and when our blacksmith C ■ came up to the Gen'l without any preliminaries to offer him some information and advice, but withal not disrespectfully, the Gen'l, albeit the Information 108 INTERCOLONIAL JEALOUSY was of importance and should have speedy attention — spake very sharply to the poor man and bade him begone. He could easily have seen that the man meant no harm and was far more intelligent than the most of his ' stupid Dutchmen ' (as I grieve to say that our N. E. men are too apt to call 'em) even when they are officers ; but it was not until I had ex- plained to him that the man was well descended and only a blacksmith by reason that his grandfather's English estates had been forfeited to the crown, that the Gen'l could be prevailed upon to listen to him. This is our commander's one weakness, and I would not have you repeat it to any one. On the other hand, our men are much too free with their strictures. Full one-third of my time is taken up in trying to make them see that we have no warrant for suspicions of him and every reason for the greatest confidence. I am in a position to form a good judgment, and I consider Gen'l Schuyler to be an honorable gentle- man, a man of unusual probity, an excellent com- manding officer, and most devoted to our cause. Tell all who talk to you about him just what I here do say, and bid 'em to pay no heed to aught the perverse faultfinders like E. N. and N. W. may choose to say." Another contemporary letter, which throws much light on this subject so near to Schuyler, was written by James Lockwood to Silas Deane, from Fort George, in October, 1775, when the troops were on their way to Canada under Montgomery: "I am 109 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER not unacquainted how apt soldiers are to report groundless Ill-natured stories about officers, neither do I believe one-fiftieth part of the complaints against General Schuyler have any real foundation in truth. He has certainly had a most arduous, very disagree- able piece of business of It, and has done perhaps as much, If not more, than any other man could do; yet thus It is, neither the officers nor the soldiers of the army love him, and Montgomery, who has been the darling of the army, they now complain much of. In short, sir, it certainly ever was and ever will be of the greatest Importance that every general officer Is well acquainted with the genius, temper, and dispositions of the people that compose his army. Our New England people will not at once submit to the usages frequently practised among regular troops. It Is my opinion that the greater part of the uneasi- ness has arisen from this quarter." With Schuyler at TIconderoga was Richard Mont- gomery, the brigadier-general appointed from New York, one of the heroic figures of the Revolution. He was born December 2, 1738, at Conway House, near Raphoe, in the North of Ireland, the third son of an Irish baronet. His eldest brother was an officer In the English army, the second was a merchant at Lisbon, and a sister was married to Lord Ranelagh. He stud- ied at Dublin College, and at eighteen entered the English army as an ensign. During the Seven Years' War his regiment was ordered to Hah fax, and In 1758 no GENERAL MONTGOMERY he was with Wolfe at the capture of Louisburg, the French fortress which guarded the entrance to the St. Lawrence River. Here he was promoted to a lieu- tenancy. During the remainder of the war he served under Amherst and at its conclusion went to the West Indies, where, in 1762, he became captain. In 1772 he resigned his commission and sailed from England for New York with the design of settling there. He married Janet, eldest child of Judge Robert R. Liv- ingston, of Clermont, and began farming at Rhine- beck. In 1775 he was chosen a delegate from Dutchess County to the first Provincial Congress. There he felt himself to be of little use, as he had no facility in public speaking. But the scanty written records of him show that he could express himself in private In language both noble and much to the point. On receipt of his commission he wrote : " The Con- gress, having done me the honor of electing me a brigadier-general In their service, Is an event which must put an end for a while, perhaps forever, to the quiet scheme of life I had prescribed for myself; for though entirely unexpected and undesired by me, the will of an oppressed people, compelled to choose be- tween liberty and slavery, must be obeyed." It is related by L. L. Hunt, in notes on Montgomery, that, " he came Into his wife's room and asked her to make up for him the ribbon cockade which was to be placed on his hat. He saw her emotion and marked the starting tear. With persuasive gentleness, he said III LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER to her: Our country is in danger. Unsolicited in two instances, I have been distinguished by two honorable appointments. As a politician I could not serve them. As a soldier, I think I can. Shall I then accept the one and shrink from the other in dread of danger? My honor is engaged." On his departure for the army. Judge Livingston said to him: " Take care of your life." To which he replied, " Of my honor, you would say, sir." To his wife, his last words were, " You shall never blush for your Montgomery." By the middle of August, Schuyler had made great progress with the preparations for the expedition. Enough boats had been built to convey the troops down the lake and sufficient ammunition and food were at hand for immediate needs. Meanwhile great alarm was felt at Albany concerning the hostile atti- tude of the Indians in the Mohawk Valley, and Schuyler went south to attend a council with the savages. Before he could finish this business he re- ceived news from Montgomery that the activity of the enemy at St. John's necessitated the immediate move- ment of the troops and that he was about to start for the north. Schuyler was ill, but he made his way back to Ticon- deroga as fast as he could; and notwithstanding in- creasing illness, embarked In a small boat on which a bed was improvised and had himself taken to the Isle aux Noix, twelve miles south of St. John's, where, in a condition of great weakness, he joined Montgomery 112 SCHUYLER'S ILLNESS on the 5th of September. " Poor Schuyler," Mont- gomery wrote to his wife, " is in so miserable a state of health as to make him an object of compassion." Schuyler wrote and forwarded into Canada an address to the population intended to win their adhesion to the American cause, and considered with Montgomery the plans of the coming campaign; but his illness in- creased in the swampy country where the army was encamped, he felt himself to be useless and unable to endure the hardships of the campaign and returned to Ticonderoga on the i8th. On the 20th he wrote to Washington : " I find myself much better as the fever has left me, and hope soon to return where I ought and wish to be, unless a barbarous relapse should dash the cup of hope from my lips." But the com- bination of gout and bilious fever from which he suf- fered was not to leave him. The 25th of September he wrote to the Continental Congress : "The vexation of spirit under which I labor that a barbarous com- plication of disorders should prevent me from reaping those laurels for which I have so unweariedly wrought, since I was honored with this command, the anxiety of mind I have suffered since my arrival here lest the army should starve, occasioned by a scandalous want of subordination and inattention to my orders, in some of the officers that I left to command at the different posts; the vast variety of disagreeable and vexatious incidents that almost every hour arise in some depart- ment or other, not only retard my cure, but have put 113 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER me considerably back for some days past. If Job had been a general in my situation, his memory had not been so famous for patience. But the glorious end which we have In view, and which I have a confident hope will be attained, will atone for all." To the Provincial Congress, he wrote in October: " My dis- orders have taken such deep root, that I now begin to have little hope of recovery so as to take an active part in the future operations of the campaign. I hope, however, that I shall not be obliged to leave this place, unhealthy and unfavorable to my recovery as it is, lest it should involve General Montgomery in Irremediable inconveniences." Notwithstanding his illness, Schuyler carried on all the business of collecting and forwarding supplies to the army In Canada. Montgomery wrote to his wife : " General Schuyler's return to TIconderoga has been a most fortunate affair. We should most certainly have been obliged to return half starved, and to leave the unfortunate Canadians to take care of them- selves." " Your residence at TIconderoga," he wrote to Schuyler from St. John's, " has probably enabled us to keep our ground. How much do the public owe you for your attention and activity." The invasion of Canada at this early period of the struggle was an illustration of the aggressive deter- mination of the patriot party. Not content with re- sisting the armed attacks of the ministry, not content with the great fight which Washington was waging 114 MONTGOMERY'S EXPEDITION against the British army at Boston, the patriots under- took to carry the war into Africa and to wrest from England possessions which were not involved in the quarrel. It was an act of defiance, which emphasized the warlike feeling of the colonies and showed the mother country that a defensive war was not all she had to face. Moreover, an invasion of Canada seemed to be the best preventive of an invasion from Canada. For such reasons the expedition was well judged. But with the small force at the disposal of the colonies, with the extreme difficulty of obtaining and forward- ing military supplies, success was hardly possible. Montgomery started at the end of August, and reached St. John's, the fort which protected Montreal on the south, in the middle of September. A siege of fifty days ensued, the garrison surrendering November 3d. The long delay incurred at St. John's was very injurious to the prospects of the expedition, for win- ter, with its hardships, was brought so much the nearer. On the 1 2th, Montreal was taken, and Mont- gomery proclaimed the jurisdiction of the Continental Congress, to which he urged the inhabitants to send delegates. Although successful so far, the most diffi- cult task, the capture of Quebec, yet lay before him. At about the same time that he had left Ticonderoga, Washington had sent Benedict Arnold with a detach- ment from his own army at Cambridge with orders to reach Quebec by way of the Merrimac River. Through great labor and suffering, which reduced his us LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER command by one half, Arnold had surmounted every obstacle. Through an intercepted letter, Montgom- ery learned that Arnold was before Quebec, and that " the King's friends " there expected to be besieged, " which," said the gallant general, " with the bless- ing of God, they shall be, if the severe season holds off and I can prevail on the troops to accompany me." This last proviso indicated an impediment to Mont- gomery's success which so far had seemed to him more serious than any enemy. Among a considerable portion of his little army there existed a spirit of in- subordination which frustrated his plans and de- pressed his spirit. The example was set by officers. Captain Baker, a leader of the Green Mountain Boys, contrary to express orders, went up into Canada with five companions to see what he could do on his own account. Meeting with a party of Indians in a canoe, he wantonly fired upon them, killing two. He got a bullet through his own head, which was well deserved, but the surviving savages paddled off with their tale of injury, and did much to frustrate the efforts of Schuyler and Montgomery to keep the Indians neu- tral. Ethan Allen, " the hero of Ticonderoga," was proceeding at the head of his company to join Mont- gomery at the siege of St. John's. On the way it occurred to him that he might steal a march on his commanding officer and win much glory for himself by making an Independent attack on Montreal with ii6 MONTGOMERY'S EXPEDITION his own force. This he did, sacrificing his whole com- pany, which Montgomery much needed. He was himself taken prisoner, put into irons as a sort of pirate, and complained loudly of a punishment which was due entirely to his own folly and disobedience. In Montgomery's own camp there was a set of officers, some from New England, some from New York, who were constantly telling the general what they would do, what they would not do, and what he ought to do. All this was galling to the brave but not over-patient Montgomeiy. He was the leader of a guerrilla band, not the general of regular troops. As to the men, they were not soldiers by education or habit and a great many soon concluded that they did not want to be. They were homesick; they had enlisted for a few months from patriotic feeling, but their time was up. A considerable number refused to proceed after the taking of St. John's, and Mont- gomery had got them as far as Montreal only by promising to discharge them there. Now they de- clined to face the hardships of a winter campaign in Canada. Some alleged the expiration of their terms of enlistment, others their health, others again were mutinous, making their presence undesirable. Mont- gomery had to discharge a great many. Schuyler wrote to Congress of the arrival of some of these men at TIconderoga : " About three hundred of the troops raised In Connecticut passed here within a few days. An unhappy homesickness prevails. These all 117 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER came down as Invalids, not one willing to re-engage for the winter's service; and unable to get any work done by them, I discharged them en groupe. Of all the specifics ever invented for any there is none so efficacious as a discharge for this prevailing disorder. No sooner was it administered but it perfected the cure of nine out of ten; who, refusing to wait for boats to go by way of Lake George, slung their heavy packs, crossed the lake at this place, and undertook a march of two hundred miles with the greatest good will and alacrity." When Montgomery had joined Arnold before Quebec their combined forces numbered but twelve hundred men. As General Carleton, the British com- mander, would not come out to fight, it was resolved to storm the works. On the last day of December, 1775, at two o'clock in the morning, amidst a driving snow storm, Arnold and Montgomery attacked, on opposite sides of the town. Arnold fell badly wound- ed; Montgomery dead, struck by three bullets, when near his goal. His body was found at daybreak by a detachment sent out by Carleton, who had been his fellow officer In Wolfe's army. It lay between the bodies of his two faithful aides, MacPherson and Cheeseman, nearly hidden by the drifting snow, and was given a soldier's grave within the wall. Forty- three years later, In July, 18 18, his wife stood alone on the piazza of her house at Rhinebeck, while below, on the waters of the Hudson, paused for a while the 118 DEATH OF MONTGOMERY barge which bore the remains of Montgomery from the heights of Quebec to their final resting place at St. Paul's Church in New York. The monument visible from the street by the thousands who daily pass before it, was designed by the French sculptor, Caffieres, at the order of Congress, and bears an in- scription composed by Benjamin Franklin. The early successes of Montgomery and all that was known of him had created a strong feeling in his favor throughout the country. Proportionately great was the mourning when the news of his death was received. Thomas Lynch, attending Congress in Philadelphia, v.TOte to Schuyler: " Never was a city so universally struck with grief as this was on hearing of the loss of Montgomery. Every lady's eye was filled with tears. I happened to have company at dinner, but none had inclination for any other food but sorrow or resentment. Poor, gallant fellow ! If a martyr's sufferings merit a martyr's reward, his claim is indisputable. I am sure that from the mo- ment he left Ticonderoga to the moment of his re- lease by death, his sufferings had no interval. He now rests from his labor, and his works can't but fol- low him." The blow to Schuyler was a severe and personal one. Between the two generals there had never been a misunderstanding nor any feeling but perfect confi- dence and regard. In his last letter to Montgomery, Schuyler had said: " Adieu, my dear sir; may I have 119 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER the pleasure soon to announce another of your victor- ies, and afterwards that of embracing you." It was but a few days later when he was obliged to write to Washington : " I wish I had no occasion to send my dear general the enclosed melancholy accounts. My amiable friend, the gallant Montgomery, is no more I The brave Arnold is wounded, and we have met with a very severe check in an unsuccessful attempt on Quebec. May Heaven be graciously pleased to ter- minate the misfortune here. I tremble for our people in Canada." When the news of the death of Montgomery reached London, the opposition seized the occasion to sound his praises and to reprove the ministry. Chatham and Burke spoke feelingly, and Colonel Barre, a companion of Montgomery's in the French War, was deeply moved as he dwelt on the fine quali- ties of the dead. But Lord North declared : " I can- not join in lamenting the death of Montgomery as a public loss. He was undoubtedly brave, humane, and generous; but still he was only a brave, humane, and generous rebel. Curse on his virtues, they've undone his country." To which Fox pointedly replied : " The term rebel is no certain mark of disgrace. All the great assertors of liberty, the saviors of their coun- try, the benefactors of mankind in all ages, have been called rebels. We owe the constitution which enables us to sit in this house to a rebellion." During the progress of the expedition into Canada, MONTGOMERY'S DIFFICULTIES Montgomery had written to Schuyler several times regarding the insubordination of his troops and his desire to resign. On the 13th of October, at St. John's, he said: " When I mentioned my intentions regarding the campaign, I did not consider that I was at the head of troops who carry the spirit of freedom into the field and think for themselves. Upon con- sidering the fatal consequences which might flow from the want of subordination and discipline, should this ill humor continue, my unstable authority over troops of different colonies, the insufficiency of the military law, and my own want of powers to enforce it, weak as it is, I thought it expedient to call the field officers together. Enclosed I send you the result of our deliberations, which has deprived me of all hope of success." Again on the 3 ist of October : " I am exceedingly well pleased to see General Wooster here, both for the advantage of the service and upon my own account. For I must earnestly request to be suffered to retire, should matters stand on such a foot- ing this winter as to permit me to go off with honor. I have not talents nor temper for such a command. I am under the disagreeable necessity of acting eternally out of character, to wheedle, flatter, and he. I stand in a constrained attitude. I will bear with it for a short time, but I cannot support it long." And on November 24th: " An affair happened here yester- day which had very near sent me home. A number LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER of officers presumed to remonstrate against the indul- gence I had given some of the officers of the King's troops. Such an insult I could not bear, and imme- diately resigned. However, they have to-day quali- fied it by such an apology as puts it in my power to resume the command with some propriety, and I have promised to bury it in oblivion. Captain Lamb, who is a restless genius and of a bad temper, was at the head of it. He has been used to haranguing his fel- low-citizens in York, and cannot restrain his talents here. He is brave, active, and intelligent, but very turbulent and troublesome, and not to be satisfied." Schuyler informed Congress of Montgomery's in- tentions, adding: " My sentiments exactly coincide with his. I shall, with him, do everything in my power to put a finishing stroke to the campaign. This done I must beg leave to retire." Washington had the same difficulties to contend with which beset Mont- gomery and Schuyler. His correspondence during this year affords ample evidence that a spirit of dis- order and unmilitary independence pervaded the camp about Boston as well the army in New York. He wrote to that effect to Schuyler urging him to bear with everything for the sake of the cause. Schuyler agreed that such was the patriotic course, which he would wish to follow, but he added, " I think that I should prejudice my country by continuing any longer in this command. The favorable opinion you are 122 INTERCOLONIAL JEALOUSY pleased to entertain of me, obliges me to an explana- tion which I shall give you in confidence. I have al- ready informed you of the disagreeable situation I have been in during the campaign, but I would waive that, were it not that it has arisen chiefly from preju- dice and jealousy. For I could point out particular persons of rank in the army who have frequently de- clared that the general commanding In this quarter ought to be of the colony whence the majority of the troops come. But it is not from the opinion or prin- ciples of Individuals that I have drawn the following conclusion : That troops from the Colony of Con- necticut will not hear with a general from another colony. It is from the daily and common conversation of all ranks of people from that colony, both In and out of the army; and I assure you, that I sincerely lament that a people of so much public virtue should be actuated by such an unbecoming jealousy, founded on such a narrow principle — a principle extremely un- friendly to our righteous cause — as it tends to alienate the affections of numbers in this colony, In spite of the most favorable constructions that prudent men and real Americans among us attempt to put upon It. And although I frankly avow that I feel a resentment, yet I shall continue to sacrifice it to a nobler object — the welfare of that country in which I have drawn the breath of life." During the winter of 1775-76, much of Schuyler's 123 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER attention was occupied by the attitude of the John- son family, their Scotch dependents and the Indian tribes In the Mohawk Valley. DIsaffectlons and hos- tility there were extremely dangerous. When the city of New York and the lower Hudson fell Into the pos- session of the British, the State of New York, for all purposes of the war, consisted only of the upper Hud- son and the Mohawk valleys. The remarkable life of Sir William Johnson was suddenly terminated at Johnson Hall in July, 1774, by an attack of apoplexy, probably brought on by anxiety over the political situation. His title, his wealth, his office of Indian agent were derived from the Crown. The principles at Issue between the colo- nies and the ministry Interested him little In the Isola- tion of his forest domain. His death occurred before he was obliged to declare for either side; but the inchnatlon of his sympathy was shown by the attitude of his successors. His son John inherited the baron- etcy and Johnson Hall. His nephew and son-in-law Guy became Indian agent, and lived at his place, called Guy Park, on the Mohawk River, a mile from the present village of Amsterdam. Both the John- sons assumed a menacing attitude. Sir John fortified Johnson Hall, organized the Tryon County militia, and assumed its command. Guy held secret confer- ences with the Indians at Guy Park. After the news of Lexington and Concord had arrived, he became alarmed at the aspect of affairs, went up the Mohawk 124 CONCILIATION OF INDIANS Valley with his family to Fort Stanwix, and then pro- ceeded westward into the wilderness, stopping at all the Indian encampments and urging the chiefs to take sides with the British. The Continental Congress, realizing the impor- tance of keeping the Indians neutral, appointed a commission to meet them, consisting of Philip Schuy- ler, Joseph Hawley, Turbutt Francis, Oliver Wol- cott, and Volckert P. Douw. They held a council in the summer, taking the ground: "This is a fam- ily quarrel between us and Old England. You Indians are not concerned in it. We do not wish you to take up the hatchet against the King's troops. We desire you to remain at home, and not join on either side, but keep the hatchet buried deep." In September, 1775, another council was held at Albany, which terminated peacefully and calmed the fears of immediate danger from the Indians. It was the last Indian council ever held in Albany, and Schuyler presided over it until called away by the departure of Montgomery's army. During the early winter the Tories in Tryon Coun- ty continued their hostile attitude and numerous acts of violence against the Whigs were committed by them. When the first Liberty pole was set up in the Mohawk Valley, the sheriff, named White, led a band of loyalists who cut It down ; and White carried his aggressions so far that the Whigs organized against him and drove him av/ay. He sought safety LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER in Canada, was captured on the upper Hudson and sent by Schuyler as a prisoner to Albany. The Tryon County patriot committee, of which the famous Nicholas Herkimer was chairman, kept a watch over Sir John Johnson, but took no active measures against him as he committed no overt act. Early in January, 1776, Schuyler decided that a blow must be struck at the Tories in Tryon County which would discourage the disaffection there. News was brought to him at Ticonderoga that Sir John had seven hundred armed Tories in the neighborhood of Johnson Hall. Schuyler collected several hundred men in Albany, and on the i6th of January mached through the valley, collecting Whigs as he went, until he had about three thousand men. He met Sir John at Guy Park, where the baronet had repaired in com- pany with some chiefs of his Scotch Highlanders and Indians to show the support which he had at his back. Schuyler demanded Sir John's parole not to act in- imically to the patriot cause, the surrender of all arms and ammunitions in the possession of the Tories and Indians at Johnson Hall, and the cessation of hostile acts against the Whigs. Johnson asked for a delay of a day in sending his reply. Schuyler assented, but meanwhile moved on to Johnstown. There Sir John referred to his influence over the Indians and sug- gested terms of his own. " I have given Sir John," replied Schuyler, " until twelve o'clock to-day to con- sider my terms, after which, if he shall not comply, 126 THE JOHNSONS AND TORIES I shall take such measures as will make him, and who- ever assists him, feel the power in my hands." John- son yielded at the appointed time, gave his parole to commit no hostile act and not to go westward of the German Flatts. The arms and ammunition were given up, three hundred Scotch Highlanders laying down their arms in the street of Johnstown. Schuyler re- turned to Albany with two cannon, several swivels, a quantity of guns and ammunition, six chiefs of the Highlanders, and a hundred Tory prisoners whom he held as hostages. Washington was much pleased by this action and Congress voted that Schuyler had per- formed " a meritorious service." In the early spring, however, rumors arrived that Johnson was again inciting the Indians to war, and Schuyler summoned him to Albany. There he pro- tested that he would observe his parole, and, there being no definite proofs against him, he was allowed to return. At the same time Schuyler sent Samuel Kirkland, the missionary, and James Deane, the inter- preter, among the Indians to conciliate them and to spread the news of Washington's victory over the British at Boston. Their mission seemed to be suc- cessful, but in May it became evident to Schuyler that Johnson was not true to his word. He sent Colonel Dayton with three hundred picked men under a pre- text to Johnstown. At the first opportunity they were to arrest Sir John and carry him with all his papers to Albany. But Tory friends warned the Baronet. 127 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER When Dayton arrived, he had fled with some com- panions Into the forest, and Lady Johnson observed defiantly that his enemies would soon know where he was. He made his way with great difficulty and suffering through the Adirondacks to the St. Lawrence River and Montreal. There he was commissioned a Colonel in the British army, and raised among his royalist followers a regiment of about a thousand men, which, under the name of the Royal Greens, was afterwards to carry fire and sword along the frontiers of New York. Schuyler, since boyhood, had had social relations with the Johnsons, father and son. He considered Sir John as a gentleman who would observe his parole, and before the occasion arose for sending the Dayton expedition there were no acts sufficiently definite to justify arrest. But the Baronet's escape was made the most of by Schuyler's enemies, and it was freely stated in New England that his Tory sympathies had Induced him to connive at It. 128 \ Chapter V. Failure of the Expedition Against Canada. — New England Hostility to Schuyler. — The Efforts of Gates to Supplant Him. IN the spring of 1776, the expedition against Canada came to Its disastrous and Inevitable end. After the death of Montgomery, Arnold main- tained the siege of Quebec through the winter, en- during, with his reduced and heroic band, extreme sufferings from exposure and hunger. Schuyler's cor- respondence contains constant references to his anxiety concerning the expedition and his efforts to assist It, During the winter, communication was difficult and rare through the Intervening wilderness of snow- bound forest. In response to repeated prayers from Schuyler for men and money, the Congress at Phila- delphia could only pass resolutions: "That General Schuyler be directed to take any further measures for supplying the army In Canada with provisions which his prudence may suggest, In which Congress placed the highest confidence;" and again, "That General Schuyler be desired to take care that the army In Canada be regularly and effectually supplied with necessaries." Such were the barren replies to his 129 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER urgent requests at the time that he was writing to Washington: "Our mihtary chest is exhausted and we are deeply involved in debt. Ten thousand pounds will hardly pay what I am personally bound for on the public account." To forward supplies to Quebec during the winter was a physical impossibility. Money was what Arnold wanted, that he might purchase necessaries where he was. Congress failed to furnish it, and Schuyler sent his own to the full extent of his resources. He realized more than any one what must be the wants and privations of the army, and suffered acutely from his inability to afford sufficient relief. In April, Arnold was succeeded in command by Wooster. He and Schuyler, between whom the New York and New England prejudices had caused a breach, were not then on good terms. But Schuyler wrote him : "Whatever my sentiments are with re- gard to our private disputes, I assure you that I very sincerely pity your situation." At last the fresh troops and the money which Schuyler had long and urgently begged from Congress began to arrive in the north and were forwarded by him to Canada. They reached Quebec in May. But It was in vain. Fleets had arrived from England with an army of thirteen thousand men. General Carleton found himself at the head of an overwhelming force, and there was nothing left for the Americans but retreat. This was conducted with great skill by Gen- eral Sullivan, and the army might have been brought 130 THE RETREAT FROM CANADA home with small loss. But camp sickness attacked the troops with great virulence, and was soon followed by an outbreak of smallpox. By the time the army reached Crown Point in June many had died of dis- ease, and half of the remainder were ill. The camp was a hospital, in which the able bodied were all needed to care for their unfortunate companions. The failure of the expedition against Canada was due to the simple cause that the invaders were inferior in strength to the British. Montgomery, Arnold, Wooster, Sullivan and their troops had shown the greatest intrepidity and endurance. But the storming party which attacked the great fortress of Quebec on that winter night in 1775 was quite inadequate in numbers for such an enterprise. The small force of men which held General Carleton and his garrison as prisoners within their walls throughout the winter accomplished a great feat in doing so much. The American re-enforcements sent in May were outnum- bered two to one by the new troops received by the enemy. The colonies were as yet too little united and organized to conduct effectively an aggressive foreign campaign. Men and money could be raised to repel invasion, but not to carry on war outside the country. These circumstances were not understood at the time, and great disappointment followed the joy over Montgomery's early victories. The losses had fallen chiefly on western New England, whence had come most of the troops engaged. The soldiers who had 131 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER resented Schuyler's military discipline at Ticonderoga, who had given Montgomery such trouble and had finally left him in the lurch at Montreal in the autumn of 1775, had returned home, justifying themselves by accusing their commanders of tyranny. When the sick arrived at their homes after the retreat in the spring, they had real sufferings enough to relate. But these were incident to a soldier's life, aggravated by the special difficulties of a campaign in the wilderness. But the prejudice already existing against Schuyler made it easy to fasten upon him responsibility for every evil. It was openly and widely stated that he was at heart a Tory and had neglected the expedition with the secret desire of seeing it fail. Of the vague reports which were spread to Schuyler's discredit a sample occurs in a letter of Walter Livingston written in May, 1776: "Last Saturday evening, arrived in town Captain Sheldon, from Salisbury, Connecticut, who advises that upon his return from Hartford on Friday evening, he found the people greatly alarmed by an account that a formidable conspiracy was car- rying on by the Tories in this quarter; upon which he mounted his horse and proceeded toward Albany, till he came into Noble Town; where it was said that some person In King's District had pretended that he could make some important discoveries of the designs of the Tories, if the persons to whom he com- municated It would Inviolably keep his name a secret, which was done, as Is said upon oath. Upon which 132 ENMITY OF NEW ENGLAND he told them that General Schuyler, the committee of Albany and many others were in the Tory interest. That it was in the design of the general to draw all the provisions out of the country, up to the lakes, and there to betray them into the hands of the enemy and that the people in that part of the country were greatly alarmed and had sent to Gen- eral Washington and Governor Trumbull to acquaint them of the affair." Meetings were held in western Massachusetts and Connecticut in which attacks were made upon the general of the northern department, and the Com- mittee of Berkshire forwarded to Washington definite accusations against him of disloyalty. The com- mander-in-chief forwarded the papers to Schuyler with the words: "From these you will readily dis- cover the insidious diabolical acts and schemes carry- ing on by the Tories and friends of Government to raise distrust, dissensions and divisions amongst us. Having the utmost confidence in your integrity, and the most incontestible proofs of your great attachment to our common country and its interests, I could not but look upon the charges against you with an eye of disbelief, and sentiments of detestation and abhor- rence ; nor should I have troubled you with the matter had I not been informed that copies were sent to different committees, and to Governor Trumbull, which I conceived would get abroad, and that you, should you hear of my being furnished with them, 133 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER would consider my suppressing them as an evidence of my belief, or at best, my doubt of the charges." "While this was only report," replied Schuyler, "I treated It with contempt, without taking notice of it, but it is now become a duty I owe myself and my country to detect the scoundrels, and the only means of doing this Is by requesting that an Immediate in- quiry be made Into the matter, when I trust, it will evidently appear that it was a scheme more calculated to ruin me than to disunite and create jealousies in the friends of America. Your Excellency will, there- fore, please to order a court of inquiry, the soonest possible, for I cannot sit easy under such an Infamous imputation, as on this extensive continent numbers of the most respectable characters may not know what your Excellency and Congress do of my principles and exertions in the common cause." And to Con- gress he wrote: "I have requested my general for an inquiry to be made into my conduct. His soul is above the meanness of suspicion, for his feelings are the most delicate, and although his opinion does me the most ample justice, yet it is a most natural wish that my innocence should be made as public as the charge against me, which has been industriously pro- pagated, and ere this has probably reached every quarter of that country to the preservation of which my all is devoted." But Washington declined to order the court of Inquiry because, as he said, "the charges appeared so uncertain, vague and incredible 134 HIS CHARACTER ATTACKED that there is nothing to found proceedings on, were there the most distant necessity, for the scrutiny." But these accusations, unjustifiable as they were, spread far, and were very injurious to Schuyler. Even such a man as Robert Morris could write from Phila- delphia to Gates: "Is it possible that a man who writes so well and expresses such anxiety for the cause of his country as General S r does, I say is it pos- sible that he can be sacrificing the interest of that country to his ambition or avarice ? I sincerely hope it is not so. But such insinuations are dropped." Not only was Schuyler accused of neglecting the troops in Canada with the secret object of insuring their defeat, but his enemies went so far as to spread the calumny that he had embezzled the moneys sent to his care for the army. In May, Jonathan Trum- bull, Jr., thus referred to these accusations: "You have doubtless been informed of the Tory designs and reports spreading in the country respecting the combination which is said to have extended so far as to include many respectable characters, not excluding yours. I have this day heard from Connecticut, and am happy to find these reports have not had their designed effect there. If once our confidence in each other is destroyed, we are fatally wounded." In June, General Israel Putnam wrote to Schuyler: "I have lately received letters from several Committees in which they say they are now confident of your great 13s LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER zeal and attachment to your country, and are con- vinced that the late reports were raised by people notoriously inimical to this country, and that it was done with a view of dividing us." It is not difficult to imagine the feelings of Schuyler on being the object of such accusations. He made many efforts to dis- cover the identity of his accusers, and having traced, as he thought, some guilt to one Mr. Blackden of Salisbury, Connecticut, he complained to the Com- mittee of that town, and received from Joshua Porter, its chairman, the following curious though hardly satisfactory answer: "If Mr. Blackden really be- lieves you have detained the hard money which was sent to you to forward to Canada, and if he has publicly charged you with detaining the same, in this case we think, as you intimate, it is his duty to support the charge; and if it cannot be supported, the reproach must recoil upon himself, or those who have led him to believe the calumny . . . although (as you confess to believe of us) we should be equally willing to assist in the detection of a public robber, and of a calumniator, yet permit us to say it would give us the greatest uneasiness to think, that an officer of your honor's rank and elevated station should lose the confidence of the public, who have so long relied upon your great abilities and inclination to serve them. And though surmises to the prejudice of your honor's character have been as common, as we hope they were groundless; yet we cannot cease to wish that your 136 INTRIGUES OF GENERAL GATES good services may continue to merit the just applause and respect of your country; as conscious rectitude should never be dismayed, or discouraged, with the poet's assertion that * On eagles' wings, immortal scandals fly. While virtuous actions are but born to die.* '* The difficulties in the northern department would have been adjusted and time would have given the New England men a better appreciation of Schuyler's character had not the selfish intrigues of General Gates kept up a campaign of suspicion and dislike, in which Gates played the same part toward Schuyler that Lee played toward Washington. Gates had been an officer in the British army during the French and Indian War, attaining the rank of major, and after that war had settled on a plantation in Virginia. In 1775, he offered his services to Congress, and was appointed adjutant - general, with the rank of brigadier. Of small military capacity, vain and un- scrupulous, he had been seeking advancement in Philadelphia through the favor of delegates in Con- gress. In the displacement of Schuyler he saw a chance to obtain an independent command in the north; and he was untiring in his efforts to convince Congress that a change should be made there. The objection of the New England men to serve under a Dutch general from New York, and the unpopularity among them of Schuyler's military discipHne had been 137 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER known to the New England delegates in Congress. They were active and powerful at Philadelphia, and their chief, John Adams, was chairman of the board of war and in a position to carry out their designs. That they should have wished for a change of com- manders in the northern department is not to be placed to their discredit. It was a question of judgment. But that they should have chosen Gates as their candidate and should have allowed themselves to become the tools of his intrigue, was a mistake which time was to disclose very fully. Schuyler stood too high and his influence in the province of New York was too great for an imme- diate or complete displacement. If a new commander of the northern department were needed, the recom- mendation of Washington would naturally have been sought. But his known regard for Schuyler made it necessary to act in another way. Without consult- ing the Commander-in-Chief, the New England delegates procured the appointment of Gates as a major-general, and a little later his nomination as commander of the army "in Canada." This was to be the entering wedge which would lead to the higher and coveted command. At this time Sullivan was at the head of the Canadian army, the retreat of which he had con- ducted with great credit. He did not deserve to be superseded; and when he heard that Gates, who had 138 INTRIGUES OF GENERAL GATES hitherto been a brigadier-general, was placed in com- mand over him, he justly considered it an aspersion on his conduct. "I should not have the least objec- tion," he wrote to Schuyler, "to being commanded by General Gates — I have no personal objection to him — and would willingly have served under him had he in the first instance held a commission superior to the one Congress was pleased to honor me with. But this not being the case, and the procedure so strong an implication against my conduct, I must beg leave to quit this department with my family and baggage, as I cannot with honor act in future, and shall, as soon as possible, repair to Congress and petition for leave to resign my commission." When Sullivan took formal leave of his officers they presented him with an address expressive of their admiration for his services, to which were attached the valued names of Hazen, Stark, Poor, Antill and St. Clair. Thus the party in Congress opposed to Schuyler began their campaign against him by the injury of a deserving officer who had nothing to do with the quarrel. On the 25th of June, Schuyler heard of the appoint- ment of Gates to the command of the army in Canada and, unsuspicious of the intrigue which was proceed- ing, wrote him cordially to hasten up to Albany, "that we may advise together on the most eligible methods to be pursued to prevent an increase of our misfortunes in this unlucky quarter. Be so good as to take a bed with me, that whilst you remain here 139 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER we may be together as much as possible." Gates arrived, much pleased with his instructions, which gave him full and independent powers, but all quali- fied by the words which limited their operation to the army "in Canada." He was much crestfallen, therefore, when, at Albany, he found that his army was no longer "in Canada," but in New York and consequently under the command of Schuyler. Mindful, however, of the party in Congress at his back, he soon recovered his equanimity and proceeded to assert himself. Among other proceedings, he intro- duced to Schuyler a Mr. Avery, of Massachusetts; and Avery immediately made a formal demand upon Schuyler for money to conduct the commissary-gen- eral's department in Albany. Schuyler, much sur- prised, informed him that Walter Livingston was commissary of the northern department, and that, while in Albany, Avery must consider himself subor- dinate to Livingston. The latter's "great family connections in this country," added Schuyler, "have enabled him to carry on the service when others could not." And of this he gave instances. Gates could find no reply to make and left the room with Avery. But hardly outside he declared to Avery that as soon as they reached the army he would make him commis- sary. This remark was overheard and repeated to Schuyler, who saw that an issue was made which should be settled at once. For Gates to make such an appointment was to declare himself independent 140 INTRIGUES OF GENERAL GATES of Schuyler in New York. Schuyler recalled Gates, and the whole matter of the latter's powers was gone over between them. Schuyler made a complete statement of the Issue in a letter to Washington, which, being shown to Gates, was accepted by him as accurate. "If Congress," wrote Schuyler, "intended that General Gates should command the northern army, wherever it may be, as he assures me they did, it ought to have been signified to me, and I should then have immediately resigned the command to him; but until such intention is properly conveyed to me, I never can. I must therefore entreat your Excellency to lay this letter before Congress, that they may clearly and explicitly signify their intentions, to avert the dangers and evils that may arise from a disputed command; for after what General Gates has said, the line must be clearly drawn." When this letter was received from Washington by Congress, that body speedily declared "that Major-General Gates be in- formed that it was the intention of Congress to give him the command of the troops while in Canada, but that they had no design to invest him with a command superior to General Schuyler while the troops should be on this side of Canada." This decision and the apparent acquiescence in It by Gates set at rest the suspicions of Schuyler, and he wrote to the President of Congress on the 17th of July: "When gentlemen act with candor to each other, a difference In opinion will seldom be attended 141 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER with any disagreeable consequences. I am happy, sir, that I can assure you that the most perfect good understanding exists between General Gates and me. Insomuch that it gives him pain that I was under the necessity of quitting the army to repair here at this critical juncture. You will please to assure Congress that I am deeply Impressed with the necessity of mutual confidence among all its officers, and that I shall never neglect any measure that may have a tendency to so desirable an end. I have seen, with the deepest affliction, the unhappy jealousy which reigned in the Northern Army occasioned by colonial distinctions both Injurious to the cause of America and disgraceful to the authors of them." And to Washington he wrote: "It gives me a very sincere and a heartfelt pleasure that I can declare that differ- ence in opinion between General Gates and me has been simply such, unattended with that little jealousy which would have reflected disgrace upon both. Be assured, sir, that the most perfect harmony subsists between us, and that I shall, by every attention to General Gates, strictly cultivate It, as well to increase my own felicity as to promote the public service." How different was the attitude of Gates is shown by his correspondence, which discloses a definite scheme to supplant his superior officer. And the party which he had formed on his behalf continued their campaign of misrepresentation and abuse. Gov- ernor Trumbull of Connecticut, writing to Williams, 142 GATES AND SCHUYLER said; "It is justly to be expected that General Gates 19 discontented with his situation, finding himself limited and removed from the command, to be a wretched spectator of the ruin of the army, without power of attempting to save them." And the Gov- ernor's son Joseph wrote to Gates: "I find you are in a cursed situation; your authority at an end; and commanded by a person who will be willing to have you knocked in the head, as General Montgomery was, if he can have the money chest in his power." Elbridge Gerry, of the New England delegation in Congress, wrote him: "We want very much to see you with the sole command of the northern depart- ment, but hope you will not relinquish your exertions until a favorable opportunity shall effect It." Some members of Congress, knowing what was going on, tried to dissuade Gates from his course. Among these were Charles Carroll and Samuel Chase, both of whom had visited the northern department in the spring, and as Commissioners of Congress had ex- amined personally into all its affairs. Carroll wrote to Gates urging him to put away his prejudice against Schuyler, as he knew him to be "an active and deserv- ing officer;" and Chase recommended him to place "the most unreserved and unlimited confidence In Schuyler." The latter was still In Ignorance of Gates's character and wrote to him In August: "I find the jealousies with respect to me have not yet subsided in the country. I am informed that some committees 143 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER at the eastward, in this and the adjacent States, are trying me. I wish Congress may at last comply with my entreaties, and order an inquiry on the many charges made against me, that I may not any longer be insulted. I assure you that I am sincerely tired of abuse, that I will let my enemies arrive at the com- pletion of their wishes, by retiring as soon as I shall have been tried, and attempt to serve my injured country in some other way, where envy and detraction have no temptation to follow me." In July, while the disputed question of command was still unsettled, Schuyler preserved a friendly rela- tion with Gates, and the two generals journeyed northward together to visit the army just returning from Canada. John Trumbull, afterwards the dis- tinguished artist, was an officer in the suite of Gates, and has left a graphic account of what he saw. Gen- eral Gates, he says, landed at Albany in the evening, and "proceeded immediately to visit General Schuyler, whom we found with his family, just seated at supper, I was very much struck with the elegant style of everything I saw. We here learned the news of fresh disasters in Canada, and the next morning, accom- panied by General Schuyler, we departed on horse- back for Skeensborough. The road as far as Saratoga was good ; thence to Fort Edward tolerable ; but from that to the head of Lake Champlain, bad as possible, and not a bridge over any of the small streams and 144 THE NORTHERN ARMY brooks which fall into Wood Creek. From Skeens- borough we proceeded with all diligence by water to Ticonderoga, where we learned that the troops driven from Canada were beginning to arrive at Crown Point. The two generals went forward to that place without delay, leaving me with orders to examine the ground on the east side of the lake. . . . The next morning I went forward to Crown Point, where I rejoined my general, and there saw, in all its horrors, the calamities of unsuccessful war. "Early in May, re-enforcements from England had reached Quebec, and our troops were of course obliged to retire. They were constantly harassed in their retreat and, in addition, the smallpox, in its most virulent and deadly form, had made its appearance among them. General Thomas died of this loathsome disease at Chambly, and the command devolved on General Sullivan, who conducted this calamitous retreat in an admirable manner, but was driven from post to post until he reached St. John's, at the northern extremity of Lake Champlain. At that time no road existed on either side of the lake, and the only communication with Albany and the southern country was by its waters. General Sullivan having secured all the ves- sels and boats at St. John's and destroyed all which were not necessary for the conveyance of his troops, by this means effectually prevented the immediate advance and pursuit of the enemy. Thus the wretched remnant of the army reached Crown Point in safety, 145 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER but it is difficult to conceive a state of much deeper misery. The boats were leaky and without awnings ; the sick, being laid upon their bottoms without straw, were soon drenched In the filthy water of that pecu- liarly stagnant muddy lake, exposed to the burning sun of the month of July, with no sustenance but raw salt pork, which was often rancid, and hard bis- cuit or unbaked flour; no drink but the vile water of the lake, modified perhaps, but not corrected by bad rum, and scarcely any medicine. "My first duty, upon my arrival at Crown Point, was to procure a return of the number and condition of the troops. I found them dispersed, some few In tents, some In sheds, and more under the shelter of miserable bush huts, so totally disorganized by the death or sickness of officers that the distinction of regiments and corps was in a great degree lost; so that I was driven to the necessity of great personal examination, and I can truly say that I did not look into a tent or hut in which I did not find either a dead or a dying man. I can scarcely imagine any more disastrous scene, except the retreat of Bonaparte from Moscow — that probably was the very acme of human misery. I found the whole number of officers and men to be five thousand two hundred, and the sick who required the attentions of a hospital were two thousand eight hundred, so that when they were sent off with the number of men necessary to row them to the hospital, which had been established at 146 CROWN POINT AND TICONDEROGA the south end of Lake George, a distance of fifty miles, there would remain but the shadow of an army. Crown Point was not tenable by such a wreck, and we were ordered to fall back upon Ticonderoga imme- diately." In face of the situation which Schuyler found at Crown Point, he had to consider, first of all, the means of caring for and saving the sick, and of pre- venting the spread of disease in the army already present and among the troops which were on their way to join and re-enforce that army. He called a council of all the higher officers, and with their ap- proval ordered that those ill with contagious diseases should be sent to Fort George, where a hospital was immediately established; and that the army with the rest of the sick should abandon Crown Point and take post at Ticonderoga at the head of the lake. Crown Point was a low and insalubrious situation without buildings to protect the troops either sick or well, and now so tainted by disease that to bring re-enforcements there was, in the words of Gates, only to add one hospital to another. It was also a place far inferior to Ticonderoga in strength. The latter fortress was on high ground with barracks, accessible for supplies and the strongest natural position in the country. The course pursued by Schuyler appeared then, and was proved by its results to be, the wisest under the circumstances. But some of the lesser officers at Crown Point, all 147 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER New England men, held a council of their own in which they passed resolutions declaring that the aban- donment of the post left the lake open to the enemy, was dangerous to the New England colonies and contrary to the orders of Congress. They ignored entirely the infected condition of the place and the other reasons which had governed the decision of their superior officers in the previous council. This remonstrance was sent by its signers to officers in Washington's army; was by them considered without any hearing of the real reasons which caused the abandonment of Crown Point, and resulted in a vote of censure of that action. Washington was led by this one-sided presentation of the case to express his disapproval of the removal of the troops to Ticon- deroga. Schuyler was naturally indignant at this treatment. He, Gates, Arnold and the other general officers of the northern army, being on the spot and knowing all the facts, had agreed upon a course of action as in their opinion the best. Now councils of inferior officers were allowed to sit in judgment upon their superiors and to pass votes of censure upon them. In any regularly organized army such conduct would subject the offenders to court martial and pun- ishment. It was destructive of every notion of dis- cipline and order. Schuyler wrote to Congress several times, urgently requesting a court of inquiry into his own conduct. Congress not granting his request, on the 14th of September he sent in a formal resignation, 148 ASKS FOR COURT OF INQUIRY at the same time stating that it was not to elude any inquiry Congress might be pleased to make. "On the contrary," he said, "it is a duty I owe to myself, to my family and to the respectable Congress of this State, by whose recommendation, unsolicited by me. Con- gress, I believe, was induced to honor me with a command, that I should exculpate myself from the many odious charges with which the country resounds to my prejudice. I trust I shall be able fully to do It, to the confusion of my enemies and their abettors. But, aggrieved as I am, my countrymen will find that I shall not be influenced by any unbecoming resent- ment, but that I will steadily persevere to fulfil the duties of a good citizen, and try to promote the weal of my native country by every effort in my power." Schuyler's resignation and request for a court of inquiry were answered on the 2d of October by the following resolution: "That the President write to General Schuyler and Inform him that Congress can- not consent, during the present situation of their affairs, to accept of his resignation, but request that he continue the command that he now holds; that he be assured that the aspersions which his enemies have thrown out against his character have had no influence upon the minds of the members of this house who are fully satisfied of his attachment to the cause of freedom, and are willing to bear their testimony of the many services which he has rendered to his coun- try; and that, in order effectually to put calumny to 149 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER silence, they will, at any early day, appoint a com- mittee of their own body to inquire fully into his conduct, which they trust will establish his reputation in the opinion of all good men." A complimentary resolution was not what Schuyler wanted. He felt that a court of Inquiry to review and pass upon his official acts was due to him after his own repeated requests and the publicity of the attacks against him. He felt the mortification of an honorable man accused of Ill-conduct who Is denied the opportunity to vindicate himself. But worse was to follow. The party in Congress opposed to him succeeded in getting a committee appointed to inves- tigate the affairs of the northern department, which was directed to confer, not with Schuyler, but with Gates, his inferior in command. Schuyler must in- deed have been possessed of more than ordinary patience to endure without anger treatment so un- precedented. "I have suffered such brutal outrage from Congress," he wrote to General Scott, "that every gentleman who has ever honored me with his friendship ought to blush for me if I did not resent it. The treatment I have experienced puts it out of my power to hold any office, the appointment to which must be made by Congress. A late Instance of their conduct towards me Is equally replete with brutality and folly; they have sent up a committee to confer with my inferior officer upon what Is proper to be done in this department, and resolved that they will 150 ASKS FOR COURT OF INQUIRY not consent to my resignation." To Robert R. Liv- ingston he wrote : "Will you believe that Mr. Clymer and Mr. Stockton were ordered to repair to Ticon- deroga to confer with General Gates? They arrived here on Friday evening, dined and supped with me yesterday, but have not opened their lips on any public business; that is to be transacted with my inferior officer under my very nose. A more brutal insult could not be offered, an insult which I will not bear with impunity from any body of men on earth." Resolved to bring about the inquiry which he de- sired to clear his character, Schuyler requested per- mission of Congress to repair to Philadelphia, and received from the President in November an answer saying: "The situation of the northern army being at this juncture extremely critical, and your services in that department of the highest use and importance, the Congress wish for a continuance of your influence and abilities on behalf of your country. They have, however, agreeably to your request, consented that you should repair to this city whenever, in your opinion, the service will admit of your absence." Earnestly as Schuyler wished to make the journey to Philadelphia and to set himself right there, the projected visit was postponed from month to month by public business. He wrote to Congress in Decem- ber: "Much as I wish to do myself the )ionor to pay my respects to Congress, yet so much is to be done here, and no other general officer in the department, 151 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER that it would not be prudent for me to quit it in this conjuncture." "I am closely engaged," he wrote to George Clinton in January, "in preparation for the next campaign, and shall hope that if we can be fur- nished with men, cannon and ammunition, that the enemy will not be able to penetrate by the north." Washington conducting his great campaign in New Jersey, needed re-enforcements, and Schuyler sent Gates to him with a large portion of the northern army. Gates joined Washington in the dark days before the famous crossing of the Delaware. Not liking the outlook, inconsiderate of the great com- mander who then needed the assistance of every man in his little army, he got permission to repair to Philadelphia. Washington's army, with the regi- ments Gates had brought from Ticonderoga, endured the hardships and reaped the laurels of Trenton and Princeton. But Gates meanwhile was pursuing a cam- paign of another sort amidst the ease and comfort of Philadelphia. February and March were spent in strengthening his position with the New England delegation, in working upon their prejudice against Schuyler, in ingratiating himself with whomsoever might prove useful. He had been in command at Ticonderoga at the time of Arnold's gallant fight against Carleton on the lakes, which so intimidated the British commander that he had retired without attacking the fort. The merit which belonged to Arnold, Gates boastfully claimed for himself. When 152 SCHEME TO DISPLACE HIM Congress earnestly requested him to resume the office of adjutant-general in the newly organized army, he replied with scorn and not without Insolence to Presi- dent Hancock: "I had last year the honor to com- mand In the second post in America, and had the good fortune to prevent the enemy from making their so much wished for junction with General Howe. After this, to be expected to dwindle again to the adjutant- general requires more philosophy on my part and something more than words on yours." With the assistance of the active New England delegation, which controlled the Board of War, Gates made a strong party determined to procure his ap- pointment to independent command In the northern department. The difficulty was to set aside General Schuyler. They had already done all they could to make his post unpleasant, and had succeeded in dis- gusting him with public employment. But they were only a party. The Congress as a whole had always sustained Schuyler when a clear issue was brought before it. He had offered to resign In the autumn of 1775, and had been requested urgently not to do so. It was but a few months ago that his written resigna- tion was in the hands of Congress who had refused to accept it with assurances of respect and apprecia- tion. Something must be done to make him resign again, and this time the resignation must be accepted. The occasion for a concerted attack was found in a letter written to Congress by Schuyler on the 4th of 153 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER February. At the time of its reception it attracted no notice; but on the 15th of March it was brought before Congress as important business, and the Gates party was present in force to obtain the desired action upon it. Schuyler's letter had been on general subjects concerning his department, but it referred also to two special matters: the dismissal of a medical director in the northern department, and the conduct of Joseph Trumbull of Connecticut, a Commissary-General, toward himself. When Schuyler first took command at Ticonderoga there was a great deal of sickness among the men, and no provision for physicians or medicines. At his request, Dr. Samuel Stringer of Albany volunteered for the service and supplied a quantity of medicines at his own risk. His patriotic services were beyond question. Schuyler secured his reimbursement for his outlay and caused his appointment as medical director. Stringer continued to render faithful service and was particularly valuable among the sick at Crown Point and Fort George after the disastrous return from Canada. Schuyler had seen his work and believed that he deserved every recognition that his country could bestow. He was, therefore, much sur- prised and annoyed when a notice of dismissal from his post, without any given reasons, was received from Philadelphia by Dr. Stringer. The physician ap- pealed to him In vain. Who procured the dismissal and the grounds for It do not appear. Schuyler felt 154 SCHEME TO DISPLACE HIM sincere sympathy for the man who seemed to be treated with undeserved harshness; and under the circumstances his reference to this matter in the letter to Congress does not seem very reprehensible. His words were: "As Dr. Stringer had my recommenda- tion to the office he has sustained, perhaps it was a compliment due to me that I should have been advised of the reasons for his dismissal." The second sentence in the letter which seemed to the Gates party so offensive related to a New England man, Colonel John Trumbull, whose description of the camp at Crown Point has been quoted. He was on the best terms with Schuyler, and Schuyler had the kindliest feelings toward him. But his brother Joseph, Commissary-General, was an outspoken and well-known enemy. The enmity could be borne, but lately it had taken a form particularly galling to a man of Schuyler's sense of honor. On the first of January he had written to Congress : "Last evening I was informed that amongst the letters lately inter- cepted by the enemy was one from Colonel Trumbull, the Commissary-General, in which he insinuated that I had secreted his brother Colonel John Trumbull's commission as Adjutant-General. If it be true that he has asserted such a thing I shall expect from Con- gress that justice which is due to me. The commission was never sent; at least never received by me, and if it had been. Is there the least probability that I would secrete it, after having recommended Colonel John 155 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Trumbull to the office as an active, discreet and sensi- ble officer?" That a Commissary-General In the army should accuse him of secreting a commission Issued by Con- gress seemed to Schuyler to be a matter for Congress to Investigate; moreover, the continual attacks of this sort were wearing out his patience. Congress would not assist him by appointing a court of Inquiry which might silence the slanders which continually beset him. In this Instance he looked to it for a vindication. Having received no reply on this subject for more than a month, he then, in his letter of February 4th, enclosed the accusing letter of Trumbull, and added the following words: "I perceived by some of the resolutions that my letter of the 30th December con- tinued to the I St of January was received by Congress. I was In hopes some notice would have been taken of the odious suspicion contained in Mr. Commissary Trumbull's Intercepted letter to the Hon. W. Wil- liams, Esq. I really feel myself deeply chagrined on the occasion. I am incapable of the meanness he suspects me of, and I confidently expected that Con- gress would have done me that justice which It was in their power to give and which, I humbly conceive, they ought to have done." These remarks regarding Dr. Stringer and Com- missary Trumbull afforded the substance of the charges which the Gates party made against Schuyler. In a loosely constructed body like the Congress, with 156 HOSTILE ACTION OF CONGRESS seldom more than a bare quorum present, a small but determined minority may often carry through a preconcerted measure which a majority of the whole would never have approved. At this time the New York delegation was not present In Philadelphia, and the enemies of Schuyler succeeded In passing the fol- lowing resolutions, which they felt sure would bring about the desired resignation : — " Resolved, That as Congress proceeded to the dismission of Doctor Stringer, upon reasons satisfac- tory to themselves, General Schuyler ought to have known It to be his duty to have acquiesced therein, " That the suggestion in General Schuyler's letter to Congress, that It was a compliment due to him to have advised him of the reasons of Dr. Stringer's dis- mission, Is highly derogatory to the honor of Con- gress; and that the President be desired to acquaint General Schuyler that it Is expected his letters, for the future, be written in a style more suitable to the dignity of the representative body of these free and independent states, and to his own character as their officer. " Resolved, that it is altogether Improper and Inconsistent with the dignity of this Congress to inter- fere In disputes subsisting among the officers of the army; which ought to be settled, unless they can be otherwise accommodated. In a court martial, agreeably to the rules of the army, and that the expression in 157 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER General Schuyler's letter of the 4th of February, "that he confidently expected Congress would have done him that justice, which It was in their power to give, and which he humbly conceives they ought to have done, were, to say the least. 111 advised and highly in- decent." Soon after the passage of these resolutions. Gen- eral Gates was directed to repair immediately to TIconderoga to take the command there, and to em- ploy under him such of the French officers as he thought proper; and Major-General St. Clair was ordered to TIconderoga, there to serve "under Gen- eral Gates." Such orders virtually If not officially placed Gates at the head of the northern department. He left Philadelphia highly elated at the results of the winter's work. Schuyler duly received the resolutions of reprimand and soon after heard of Gates's appointment. The resolutions, in their severity, seemed to him so entirely out of proportion to any indiscretion he might have committed In his letter to Congress, and the appoint- ment of Gates to Independent command within his own department so unjust and insulting a reflection upon him, that he felt that he must go to Philadelphia to face his accusers and to settle his own future In regard to public employment. If he deserved such treatment his resignation must be given and accepted. If he did not deserve It, the resolutions must be ex- 158 • THE COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY punged from the journals of Congress and he must be reinstated in undisputed command of his depart- ment. He proceeded at once to Kingston, where the New York convention was in session, and explained his situation to the members. They appointed him a delegate to the Continental Congress, with William Duer, and also directed their other delegates, Philip Livingston and James Duane to go to Philadelphia and take their seats. When Schuyler arrived in Philadelphia, In April, he found it extremely difficult to ascertain the identity of his opponents. From the members in general he met with a very cordial reception, and those whom he believed to be against him alleged, as he wrote to his secretary. Colonel Varick, "that there were no complaints against me, and that they have never be- lieved in any of the malicious reports propagated to my disadvantage. They have, however, gone too far, and all that stands on their journals injurious to me must be expunged or I quit the service." A committee was appointed, consisting of one delegate from each State, Messrs. Thornton, Lovell, Ellery, Wolcott, Duer, Elmer, Clymer, Sykes, W. Smith, Page, Burke, Hayward and Brownson. Be- fore this committee the whole story of Schuyler's military command from the beginning was threshed over. When the report was made to Congress on the 22d of May, it was 159 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER " Resolved, That Albany, Ticonderoga, Fort Stanwix and their dependencies be henceforward con- sidered as forming the northern department, and that Major-General Schuyler be directed forthwith to pro- ceed to the northern department and to take command there." Then Congress withdrew its resolutions of censure by informing him officially that they " now entertain the same favorable sentiments concerning him that they had entertained before that letter (of February 4th) had been received." At the same time his finan- cial accounts with the Government were examined by the Board of Treasury, which discharged him " of all demands of the United States against him." A more complete vindication of his official career, and a more mortifying defeat for the Gates party could hardly have been devised. An honest attempt to replace Schuyler by a man against whom there was no sectional prejudice and who had greater military experience would have de- served respect even from Schuyler's friends. But that Gates was a small man, an inferior military officer, and a self-seeking schemer, he was himself to show conclusively. He left Philadelphia under orders, which he had sought eagerly and which were perfectly distinct, to take command at Ticonderoga. Every one knew that an invasion from Canada might take place at any time, and consequently that the officer in command at Ticonderoga would have enough to do 160 GATES AT ALBANY there In making preparations for It. But Gates ar- rived In Albany In the middle of April, and In that town, where he had no command, made himself at home. Not a step was taken toward TIconderoga. The malls to the fort were Infrequent and precarious. From Albany he could keep up his campaign In Con- gress much more conveniently, and there he remained directing the movements and arguments of his friends. On May ist Lovell of the New England delegation wrote him: "The affairs to the northeast are In a critical situation, for the State of New York In par- ticular. Disaffection, as you see. Is greatly prevalent, and those who profess well to our cause judge and say that there Is but one single man who can keep their subjects united against the common enemy, and that he stands In our books as commander-in-chief in the northern department; that his presence Is ab- solutely necessary In his home quarters for their Immediate succor and service, as well as that of the United States necessarily connected; that If he returns, he is a general without an army or military chest, and 'why Is he thus disgraced?' ... If you are not confined (to TIconderoga) you entirely destroy the Idea of their chief to whom they profess devotion unbounded. How this matter will be un- tangled, I cannot now exactly determine, but I expect not entirely agreeable to your sentiments^ "Why," replied Gates, "when the argument In support of General Schuyler's command was Imposed i6i LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER upon Congress, did not you, or somebody, say : 'The second post upon this continent next campaign will be at or near PeeksklU?' There General Schuyler ought to go and command ; that will be the curb In the mouth of the New York Tories and the enemy's army. He will then be near the convention, and In the centre of the colony, have a military chest and all the insignia of office. This command In honor could not be re- fused without owning there is something more allur- ing than command to General Schuyler, by fixing him at Albany. By urging this matter home, you would have proved the man. He would have resigned all command, have accepted the government of New York, and been fixed to a station where he must do good, and which could not Interfere with, or prevent, any arrangement Congress have made, or may here- after make. Unhappy State! that has but one man in It who can fix the wavering minds of its inhabitants to the side of freedom ! How could you sit patiently and uncontradicted suffer such impertinence to be crammed down your throats? . . .If Gen- eral Schuyler is solely to possess all power, all the intelligence, and that particular favorite, the military chest, and constantly reside at Albany, I cannot, with any peace of mind, serve at Ticonderoga." In such style did this great general address his political supporters. He belonged to that type of English soldier who considered all men not born in England and bred in her army as necessarily inferior 162 CORRESPONDENCE OF GATES to himself. Washington was no exception and came in for his share of disrespect. Gates took the time from his Philadelphia correspondence to send an aide-de-camp to Washington at Morristown to ask for a supply of tents. Washington replied that his army needed all the tents they had, and suggested that the northern army, being stationary, could be pro- tected in huts. Gates wrote back: "Refusing this army what you have not in your power to bestow, is one thing; but saying this army has not the same necessities as the southern armies, is another. I can assure your Excellency the northward requires tents as much as any service I ever saw." Then to his friend Lovell he insinuated that Washington was actuated by sectional motives: "Either I am exceed- ingly dull or unreasonably jealous, if I do not discover by the style and tenor of the letters from Morristown how little I have to expect from thence. Generals are so far like parsons they are all for christening their own child first ; but let an impartial moderating power decide between us, and do not suffer southern prejudice to weigh heavier in the balance than the northern." Lovell gave signs of being fatigued by this cor- respondence, and on the 2 2d of May brought that to an end, together with Gates's hopes, by informing him that: "Misconception of past resolves and con- sequent jealousies have produced a definition of the northern department, and General Schuyler is ordered to take command of it." Gates's anger was great 163 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER and freely expressed to all who would listen. Colonel Wilkinson, of his staff, who, like his chief, held the pen of a ready writer, wrote fromTiconderoga : "The manoeuvres of Congress really baffle my penetration; by no stretch of ingenuity can I discern the motives of their late conduct; they have injured themselves, they have insulted you, and by so doing have been guilty of the foulest ingratitude. How base, how pitiful, or how little deserving the name is that Public Power which individual consequence can intimidate or bribe to its purpose ! It can surely never sustain, unless ashamed of virtue, the just indignation of Injured honesty. No, my general, every satisfaction which justice demands, with every submission which pleases vanity, you will, you must, you shall, sooner or later receive." After all, what had Congress done? It had sim^ply declared that Schuyler's conduct in office had been without reproach and reaffirmed him in his command of the northern department. Gates's appointment to the command of Ticonderoga under Schuyler re- mained in force. His opportunity to display his mili- tary abilities, to be in the forefront of a great cam- paign, to render distinguished services to the State, was assured. It was common talk that Burgoyne was to lead a great attack upon New York from Canada, that such an attack was imminent. He himself had lately written to Lovell: "Nothing is more certain than that the onemy must first possess that single 164 CONDUCT OF GATES rock before they can penetrate the country. It is foolish in the extreme to beheve the enemy, this year, can form any attack from the northward but by Ticonderoga." And yet that post of honor, which must bear the brunt of attack, was left to take care of itself during the two months that he spent in Albany writing letters to his political friends in Philadelphia. And now, that the matter was settled, that Schuyler was to remain at the head of the north- ern department, and that he was to have command of the great fortress at the gateway of the country, what was his obvious duty and interest? Plainly, to repair to his post, to apply all his skill to making it impregnable, and to make a reputation in defending it in the approaching struggle. Such was the course natural to a soldier. Instead he sulked, applied to Schuyler for leave of absence and hastened to Phila- delphia. On the 1 8th of June, Roger Sherman, delegate from Connecticut, informed Congress that General Gates was waiting at the door for admittance. "For what purpose?" inquired William Paca. "To communicate intelligence of importance," replied Sherman. Being admitted. Gates took a seat, and of the ensuing scene a lively description is given by William Duer: — "The intelligence he communicated was that the Indians were extremely friendly, much delighted with seeing French officers in our service, and other com- monplace stuff, which at present I cannot recollect. .165 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Having thus gone through the ostensible part of the plan, he took out of his pocket some scraps of papers containing a narrative of his birth, parentage, and education, life, character, and behavior. He In- formed the House that he had quitted an easy and happy life to enter their service, from a pure zeal for the liberties of America; that he had strenuously exerted himself in its defence; that in some time in May last he was appointed to a command in the northern department, and a few days since, without having given any cause of offence, without accusation, without trial, without hearing, without notice, he had received a resolution by which he was in a most disgraceful manner superseded in his command. Here his oration became warm, and contained many reflec- tions upon Congress, and malicious insinuations against Mr. Duane, whose name he mentioned, and related some conversation which he said had passed between him and that gentleman on his way to Al- bany. Here Mr. Duane rose, and, addressing himself to the President, hoped that the General would ob- serve order, and cease any personal applications, as he could not, in Congress, enter into any controversy with him on the subject of any former conversation. Mr. Paca caught the fire, and immediately moved that the General be ordered to withdraw. I seconded the motion, observing that the conduct of the General was unbecoming the House to endure, and himself to be guilty of. Mr. Jerry Dyson, Mr. Sherman and i66 HUMILIATION OF GATES some others of his eastern friends rose, and en- deavored to palliate his conduct and to oppose his withdrawing; on this Mr. Middleton, Mr. Burke, Colonel Harrison and two or three others arose, and there was a general clamor in the House that he should immediately withdraw. All this while the General stood upon the floor, and interposed several times in the debates which arose on this subject; how- ever, the clamor increasing, he withdrew. A debate then ensued concerning the propriety of the General's conduct, and that of the members who, contrary to the rules of Parliament, contended for the propriety of his staying after a motion had been made and seconded that he should withdraw. The want of candor in Mr. Sherman, who asked for his admittance on the pretence of his giving the House intelligence, was much inveighed against, but he bore it all with a true Connecticut stoicism. Congress at length came to the determination that General Gates should not again be admitted to the floor, but that he should be informed that Congress was ready and willing to hear, by way of memorial, any grievances which he had to complain of. Here this matter ended. Not, as you will observe, to his credit or advantage. It is Impos- sible for me to give you an idea of the unhappy figure which G. G. made on this occasion. His manner was ungracious, and totally devoid of all dignity; his delivery incoherent and interrupted with frequent chasms, In which he was peering over his scattered 167 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER notes; and the tenor of his discourse was a compound of vanity, folly and rudeness. I can assure you that notwithstanding his conduct has been such as to have eradicated from my mind every sentiment of respect and esteem for him, I felt for him as a man, and for the honor of human nature wished him to withdraw before he had plunged himself into utter contempt." x68 Chapter VI. Burgoyne's Invasion. — Evacuation of Ticonderoga. Schuyler's Military Operations. IN the autumn of 1776 the British under Carleton had ascended Lake Champlain as far as Crown Point, had destroyed the American fleet under Arnold and had threatened Ticonderoga. But, im- pressed by the strength of that fortress, and fearing a long siege protracted Into the winter months, they had withdrawn Into Canada. Carleton's prudence had disappointed his government and had surprised the Americans, who were well prepared for attack. That the British should appear again before Ticon- deroga in the spring was a natural expectation. Schuyler had kept as strong a garrison there as he could during the winter, and in March he was actively employed In efforts to strengthen It. He represented to Congress the Importance of Ticonderoga and the certainty of Its being attacked. But little result was obtainable from Congress. That body had not much to give either In men or munitions of war. It was doing what It could for Washington, and hardly knew how to meet the demands which came from every military quarter. Moreover, the Board of War was i6g LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER THE NORTHERN DEPARTMENT AND BURGOYNE*S CAMPAIGN. 170 THE SITUATION IN THE NORTH not inclined to pay much attention to Schuyler's rep- resentations, because, as we have seen, it was en- deavoring to place the military control of the northern department in the hands of General Gates. At the end of March this was actually done. Whatever Gates's commission might mean, it certainly gave him command over Ticonderoga. Thus Schuyler not only found himself debarred from proceeding in his work at that fortress, but he was obliged to leave Albany, to go to Philadelphia and to spend as much time there as Congress might require to investigate his past con- duct and to define his military status. During the most important months of April and May he was necessarily at Philadelphia, and without power or responsibility in the northern department. During these months Gates was the commanding officer there. But he, absorbed in his correspondence with his friends in Congress, worrying lest his plans to super- sede Schuyler should prove ineffective, remained in- active In Albany, paid not a single visit to Ticon- deroga, and contented himself with telling St. Clair to "call lustily for aid of all kinds, for no general ever lost by surplus numbers or overpreparation." Thus, when Schuyler returned to Albany on the 8th of June, once more in command of the depart- ment, he found everything as he had left it, except that two months' provisions had been consumed and not replaced. The two precious months of spring which should have been devoted to adding troops, 171 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER provisions and ammunition to the military resources of his department were gone. Of the magnitude of the invasion which was impending, of the great force gathering at Quebec under Burgoyne, he knew noth- ing. But that Ticonderoga and the province of New York were threatened by an attack of some kind from Canada, he felt sure. His incessant efforts to obtain more men and supplies were rewarded by an addi- tion of five hundred men, which he sent to St. Clair with a good supply of provisions. He gave detailed directions to St. Clair regarding the further fortifying of the defences about Ticonderoga, and ordered him to keep scouting parties in the woods along the shores of Lake Champlain to report any approach of the enemy. On the 15th of June a British spy was captured, and from him Schuyler obtained the first definite information of the enemy's plans. The spy reported that General Burgoyne was at Quebec and intended to attack the province of New York by way of Lake Champlain, while Sir John Johnson at the head of Canadians and Indians was to descend the Mohawk Valley and join Burgoyne near Albany. Schuyler assumed this information to be true. But he had as yet no idea of the great size of the invading force. As far as his knowledge went of troops then in Canada he felt that he could hold Ticonderoga with the gar- rison already there. But against the expedition of Sir John Johnson down the Mohawk Valley, he had 172 PREPARATIONS AT TICONDEROGA no force to oppose. He wrote to Washington at once, stating the circumstances and asking for re-enforce- ment to defend the Mohawk. Valley. Washington was then near MIddlebrook, in New Jersey, opposing General Howe. Gates had arrived in camp from Philadelphia, and he assured Washington that there was no likelihood of Invasions of any consequence from Canada at the time. Washington, In his uncer- tainty, sent no troops, but ordered General Putnam, who was encamped near the Hudson Highlands, to be ready to move up the river at a moment's notice with four Massachusetts regiments. Schuyler then went to TIconderoga, and on the 20th of June, after an inspection of the troops and defences, held a council of war, which was attended by Major-General St. Clair and Brigadier-Generals Poor, Patterson and de Fermoy. The situation was far from satisfactory, but as the force of the enemy expected was unknown and much underestimated, the outlook was by no means discouraging. The whole number of troops was about three thousand, of whom five hundred were sick or otherwise Ineffective. Many were "actually barefooted and most of them ragged." The requests for clothing which Schuyler had made to Congress In March had met with no response, and Gates had made no efforts to supply the troops during his two months of command. There were provisions enough for the present, and a few days later Schuyler sent up a further supply which he had collected from 173 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER different points and concentrated at Fort George. The men were in good spirits and ready to fight. But they were too few for the extent of ground to be covered. There were two forts, one on either side of the narrow passage which connects Lakes George and Champlain. One was the old fort taken by Ethan Allan and Benedict Arnold in May, 1775; the other a star fort built in 1776 under Schuyler's orders. The two were connected by a floating bridge four hundred yards long, built of heavy timbers connected by iron chains and supported by twenty-two sunken piers. To the north of the bridge was a great boom carrying a double iron chain with links an inch and a half thick. The bridge was protected by batteries at either end, and with the boom formed a barrier to the pas- sage of vessels. Connected with the two forts were quite extensive outworks, but these, as well as emi- nences in the immediate neighborhood. Sugar Loaf Hill and Mt. Hope, could not be occupied for want of men and cannon. Against such an attack as was anticipated, of perhaps three thousand men, Ticon- deroga was considered defencible. The men on the ground could hold the two forts and the bridge, and it was resolved to defend them to the last. As to the outworks, and the neighboring hills, it was recog- nized that, unless re-enforcements came, they could not be defended. On the other hand, it was not sup- posed that the enemy would come in sufficient force 174 APPROACH OF BURGOYNE to take possession of them. As yet there was no news of the British, only the knowledge that an attack from Canada was to be expected. Schuyler, having the business and safety of the whole northern department to provide for, then re- turned to Albany. Having received confirmatory information regarding the invasion of the Mohawk Valley, he took measures to organize the Whigs there, and instructed Colonel Nicholas Herkimer, who lived near the Little Falls of the Mohawk and commanded the Tryon County militia, to prepare his men for the protection of the western frontier. To Washington he described his plans and his needs. Not only was he without any adequate force to meet Sir John Johnson in the west, but in case of weakness or dis- aster at Ticonderoga, he had no reserve to call upon. In all the northern department outside of the forts at Ticonderoga, there were hardly seven hundred men under arms, and these were dispersed at several posts guarding supplies. In this situation, on the 27th of June, he received word from St. Clair that the enemy was approaching. Burgoyne's army was ascending the lake, was already assembling at Crown Point ; the water was dotted with vessels conveying the troops from St. John's, and the wooded shores were swarm- ing with savages in war paint. The army now invading New York, of the size and objects of which so little was known to the Americans, was intended by the British ministry to be the means 175 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER of dividing the rebellious country into two parts, rendering their co-operation impracticable, and thus making easy the separate conquest of New England and the southern colonies. A similar idea had pre- vailed in the military operations of the year before, when the British had taken possession of New York City and the lower Hudson, and Carleton had made his attack from Canada. But now the plan was to be carried to completion by an overwhelming force. General John Burgoyne was a distinguished officer and had done good service in the recent war in Portugal, causing Carlyle to speak of him as "the Burgoyne who begins In this pretty way at Valencia d' Alcantara." He had made himself well known by the development of light cavalry, and his regiment, called Burgoyne's Light Horse, was a favorite feature of the British army and much valued by the King. He had made a runaway match with the daughter of the Earl of Derby, was a courtier, having the ear of George III. and on the best of terms with the ministry. He had written some military treatises of value and was always pleased to take a pen In hand. Proclamations which he wrote for Gage at Boston, and during this campaign for himself, were expressed in the pompous manner of the expiring Johnsonian style. He was a member of Parliament. His char- acter and intentions were good and his disposition humane. While with Gage's army at Boston he had acquired much respect for the fighting qualities of the 176 BRITISH PLAN OF CAMPAIGN rebels, which was not diminished during his campaign with Carleton in the autumn of 177.6. When that campaign was concluded he obtained leave to return to England for the winter, carrying with him a plan for the operations of 1777 which coincided so nearly with the ideas of the ministry that it was readily adopted. A powerful army was to invade New York from Canada by way of the Sorel River and Lake Cham- plain, take Ticonderoga and descend the Hudson Valley to Albany. Another force made up of Cana- dians and Indians under Sir John Johnson was to approach from the west by way of Oswego, reduce the Mohawk Valley and join the main army at Albany. At the same time General Howe, then at New York, was to ascend the Hudson and form a junction with the other divisions. If successful the campaign would cause the complete reduction of New York, the division of the colonies into two parts unable to assist each other and liable in turn to over- whelming attack. The plan seemed a good one and, if followed out exactly, gave every promise of suc- cess. There was one alteration which Burgoyne sought to have made in it: that in case he found it inexpedient or impossible to perform his part, he should be allowed some latitude of action, such as to divert his course into New England. But the ministers refused his request. The orders were posi- tive. Burgoyne must march on Albany; Howe must 177 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER ascend the Hudson to meet him. Burgoyne, being in London, received and understood his orders. But, extraordinary to relate, Howe never received his. That he made no movement in the direction of Albany gave as much surprise to Washington as anxiety to Burgoyne. The reason was unknown until long after- wards, when Howe's orders were found unsigned in a pigeonhole in the War Office. There came to light among the papers of Lord Shelburne a memorandum stating that Lord George Germaine, " having among other peculiarities a particular aversion to be put out of his way on any occasion, had arranged to call at his office on his way to the country in order to sign the despatches; but as those addressed to Howe had not been 'fair copied' and he was not disposed to be balked of his projected visit into Kent, they were not signed then, and were forgotten on his return to town." Such being the business methods of Lord George Germaine's office, the expedition against Al- bany was limited to the attacks under Johnson and Burgoyne. But even thus, it might well seem over- whelming in numbers and strength. Burgoyne arrived at Quebec in May, and trans- ports continued to land troops until he had an army of nearly eight thousand men, of which about four thousand were British regulars, three thousand Ger- mans and one thousand Canadians and Indians. The army was thoroughly equipped and had a fine train of brass cannon. The soldiers, both German 178 BURGOYNE AND THE INDIANS and British, were veterans; and the officers had been selected for ability. Generals Fraser, Phillips, and Hamilton, Majors Lord Ackland and Balcarres had reputations founded on active service; General Rie- desel, in command of the Germans, had served with credit through the Seven Years' War. Burgoyne ordered the concentration of all his forces at St. John's at the foot of Lake Champlain on June the ist, and they had assembled there by the i8th, about the time that the first news reached Schuyler of an intended invasion. Here the army was joined by four hundred In- dians, whom, It should be said, Burgoyne employed only because his orders required It. With the vain desire to control their ferocity and to limit their ac- tivities to legitimate warfare, he made them an ad- dress in his best Johnsonian style, which, in the rough version of an Indian interpreter, must have puzzled a band of savages bent upon loot and scalps: "War- riors, you are free! Go forth in the might of your valor and your cause; strike at the common enemJes of Great Britain and America, disturbers of public order, peace and happiness, destroyers of com- merce, parricides of the state. The circle around you, the chiefs of His Majesty's European forces and of the Prince's, his allies, esteem you as brothers in the war. . . . Be it our task, from the dic- tates of our religion, the laws of our warfare, and the principles and Interest of our policy, to regulate 179 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER your passions when they overbear, to point out where it is nobler to spare than to revenge, to dis- criminate the degrees of guilt, to suspend the up- lifted stroke, to chastise and not to destroy. I posi- tively forbid bloodshed whenever you are not op- posed in arms. Aged men, women, and children and prisoners must be held secure from the knife or hatchet even in the time of actual conflict. In conformity and indulgence to your customs, which have affixed an idea of honor to such badges of victory, you will be allowed to take the scalps of the dead when killed by your fire or in fair opposi- tion, but on no account or pretence or subtlety or prevarication are they to be taken from the wounded or even from the dying." Burke ridiculed this speech amidst the laughter of the House of Commons. "Suppose," he said, "that there was a riot on Tower Hill. What would the keeper of his Majesty's lions do? Would he not fling open the dens of his wild beasts, and then address them thus: * My gentle lions, my humane bears, my tender- hearted hyenas, go forth ! But I exhort you, as you are Christians and members of civilized society, to take care not to hurt any man, woman, or child." From St. John's the British army was conveyed southward in boats to Crown Point, where Bur- goyne reviewed them and made an address ending with the words: "This army must not retreat." On the 27th of June the army began its movement upon 180 INVESTMENT OF TICONDEROGA Ticonderoga ; the Indians and Canadians posting themselves in the neighboring woods, the regular troops taking up commanding positions which the Americans, for lack of men, had been unable to occupy. By July 5 th Ticonderoga was invested by an army of more than seven thousand regular troops. Within the main works were about three thousand provincials indifferently armed, but de- termined and confident. St. Clair had no idea of the size of the army which was attacking him. On July 3d he wrote to General Heath: "They have ap- proached to within three miles of Ticonderoga, where they are intrenching themselves and also are throwing a boom across the lake. This does not convey with it an idea that they have any great force." On the 27th of June Schuyler was in Albany pro- viding for the defence of the Mohawk Valley, when he received news from St. Clair that a British force had arrived at Crown Point. He sent off imme- diate expresses to Washington, to the governors of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire, and to the Committees of Berkshire and New York, stating that an invasion was actually in progress and begging for re-enforcements. It was the great dif- ficulty of Schuyler's situation that he belonged to a colony sparse in population, of which the southern portion was already in possession of the enemy and the remainder too thinly settled to furnish troops. i8i LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER He must depend for soldiers upon the neighboring colonies, and they would not withdraw men from the fields until the danger was known to be immi- nent. Thus, while TIconderoga was being attacked, weeks must ensue before troops could be gathered in New England and forwarded to him. When Washington received Schuyler's informa- tion that the British had occupied Crown Point he had a difficult problem to solve before he could think of sending help. Howe was evidently about to make some movement. His army had left Perth Amboy and had camped on the shores of New York Bay. Howe himself had made his headquarters on Staten Island, off which the fleet had anchored. He was going somewhere; was it North or South? The movement against TIconderoga might be a feint, while the main British army in Canada proceeded by sea to join Howe. If Burgoyne were really invad- ing New York in force, Howe would surely ascend the Hudson to join him. If Washington should move up the Hudson ahead of Howe, the latter might march southward upon Philadelphia. Wash- ington could do nothing but watch Howe and go where he went. At present all he could do for Schuyler was to order some troops then at PeeksklU to march to Albany. "If we can keep General Howe below the Highlands," he wrote to Schuyler July 2d, "I think their schemes will be entirely baf- fled." 182 TICONDEROGA EVACUATED During those few days in Albany, Schuyler was absorbed in providing for the defence of the west- ern frontier, whence came alarming news. Savages were scalping settlers and burning houses along the border from Fort Stanwix to the Susquehanna River. The threatened invasion from Oswego under Johnson had spread terror through Tryon County, the inhabitants of which made constant ap- peals for aid. Through Colonels Van Schaick and Herkimer, Schuyler organized the Whigs and sent them arms. He urged the patriot inhabitants to join in efforts for their own protection, and assured them of Continental support, " If we act with vigor and spirit," he wrote to Herkimer, "we have noth- ing to fear, but if once despondency takes place the worst consequences are to be apprehended." While thus providing for the various needs of his department, Schuyler was awaiting Impatiently the arrival of the promised troops from Peeksklll, for whom he had sent sloops down the river. There was no sign of them on the 5th. "If they do not arrive by to-morrow," he wrote to Congress, "I shall go on without them, and do the best I can with the militia." They did not arrive, and Schuyler set out alone for Ticonderoga. When between Sara- toga and Stillwater he was met by Colonel Hay bearing the astounding and Incomprehensible news that St. Clair had evacuated Ticonderoga with all his men. 183 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Schuyler knew that the fortress was insufficiently manned; that its capture by a superior force was only too possible. But that it should have been evac- uated without a struggle was beyond explanation. And St. Clair had disappeared absolutely. Colonel Hay could not tell where he was. Several days elapsed before any word was received from him. Presuming that the American army must have pro- ceeded southward Schuyler despatched couriers into the woods with orders for St. Clair or the officer in command to join him at Fort Edward on the Hudson River, south of Lake George, There he went himself at once and established headquarters. To Washington, to Congress, and to the Committee of Safety he communicated the bare fact of the evacuation, for which as yet he could give no reason. The news of the loss of Ticonderoga spread with great rapidity through the country. Unaccom- panied as it was by any explanation, the worst con- struction was put upon it for both St. Clair and Schuyler. Accusations of treachery were loudly made and readily believed. All of northern New York was in consternation, even the people of Al- bany preparing for flight. The militia, which Schuyler had been organizing, lost heart and melted away. In New England prevailed an intense feel- ing of anger and discouragement. Pierre Van Cort- landt wrote to General Putnam : "The evacuation of 184 EFFECT OF THE NEWS Ticonderoga appears to the Council highly reprehen- sible, and it gives them great pain to find that a measure so absurd and probably criminal should be imputed to the direction of General Schuyler, in whose zeal, vigilance, and integrity the Council re- pose the highest confidence." On July i8th Wash- ington wrote to Schuyler: "I will not condemn or even pass a censure upon any oflicer unheard; but I think it a duty which General St. Clair owes to his own character to insist upon an opportunity of giv- ing the reasons for his sudden evacuation of a post which, but a few days before, he, by his own letters, thought tenable, at least for a while. People at a distance are apt to form wrong conjectures; and if General St. Clair had good reason for the step he has taken I think the sooner he justifies himself the better. I have mentioned these matters because he may not know that his conduct is looked upon as very unaccountable by all ranks of people in this part of the country. If he is reprehensible, the pub- lic have an undeniable right to call for that justice which Is due from an officer who betrays or gives up his post In an unwarrantable manner." Schuyler found himself the object of the most violent personal attacks. In New England espe- cially, he was openly accused of having treacher- ously delivered the fortress Into the hands of the enemy. He wrote to Jay: "Those that form un- favorable conclusions from my absence from Ticon- 185 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER deroga ought to know that I hastened from It in order to provide for its safety, to throw In a greater quantity of provisions and those reinforcements of men which I had appHed for; that I had everything to do; nothing, hterally nothing, having been done whilst the department was committed to General Gates's direction." "I might easily have exculpated myself from the many heavy charges which have been brought against me," he wrote to Congress, "if I had dared to venture a publication, which must necessarily have contained extracts from my letters to Congress, to His Excellency General Washington, and to the general officers under my command; but as such a step might have prejudiced the public, I have hitherto waived it, hoping that a little time will discover that I have labored under unmerited cal- umny." He wrote to Washington : "I will, how- ever, go on smiling with contempt on the malice of my enemies, doing my duty, and attempting to de- serve your esteem, which will console me for the abuse that thousands may unjustly throw out against me." Amid the general blame and clamor it is not difficult to imagine the state of feeling in Congress and the effect on Schuyler's reputation and pros- pects. The Gates party, whose schemes had so late- ly come to naught, now felt Itself justified, and seized so favorable an opportunity to carry out its defeated purpose. John Adams exclaimed: "We i86 CAUSE OF THE EVACUATION shall never be able to defend a post until we shoot a general!" Samuel Adams wrote to Richard Henry Lee: "I confess it is no more than I expected when he (Schuyler) was again appointed to the command there. . . . Gates is the man of my choice." The news of the evacuation of Ticonderoga, at first unexplained, and when explained not well under- stood as a military necessity, gave to the New Eng- land delegation the excuse they needed to put their unworthy favorite in Schuyler's place. Let us see what had caused this event, so discouraging to the country, so injurious at the time to the reputation of St. Clair, so unjustly fatal to Schuyler's military career. Ticonderoga, while a very strong position if fully manned, was untenable by a force insufficient to de- fend its whole extent. The narrow pass through which flowed the waters of the lake was surrounded by eminences which commanded the main works be- low and which should have been occupied by bat- teries. In the previous assaults on Ticonderoga the contending forces were not possessed of cannon of long range. Thus these distant eminences had been useless, and the struggle had occurred below at the forts near the water. The Americans under St. Clair were too few to man more than the lower forts. There were several outlying works recently constructed, which they had been obliged to leave empty. To defend the forts and outworks and to 187 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER keep on the neighboring hills a force sufficient to prevent the enemy from taking possession of them would have required between six and eight thousand men. St. Clair had only about three thousand, enough to defend the lower forts where they were concentrated. That St. Clair was hopeful of his ability to hold the position was due to his ignorance of the size of the attacking army, and especially of the long range of their guns. Three-quarters of a mile south of Ticonderoga rises six hundred feet above the surface of the lake a rocky crag then called Sugar Loaf Hill. The practised military eye of General Phillips took in the position. He knew that some of his fine guns could carry from that crag into the forts. That it was inaccessible for cannon he did not believe. " Where a goat can go," he said, "a man can go; and where a man can go, he can haul up a gun." Working at night Phillips placed a battery on the top of Sugar Loaf Hill, which he renamed Mount Defiance. On the morning of July 5th the American army saw the British artillery frowning above them. The red- coats on Mount Defiance could look down into the American works and count the men. Their guns could rake the forts. Ticonderoga had become a trap in which the American army was caught and could be destroyed. St. Clair saw that his position was lost. His duty now was to save his army. 188 TRUMBULL'S ACCOUNT That night he marched It out of the forts and south- ward Into the forest. The next day the British flag was flying In triumph over Ticonderoga, while a strong detachment pursued the Americans up Lake George and through the woods. The difliculties of the retreat and of communication made It Impossible for St. Clair to Inform Schuyler of what had hap- pened or of his line of march until several days had passed. That St. Clair, under the circumstances, had done his duty as a prudent officer, was In time universally acknowledged. Of this unfortunate and final appearance of Ticonderoga In our military an- nals so interesting an account is given In the autobiog- raphy of John Trumbull, the artist, that It may be repeated here. Trumbull was an aide on Gates's staff when the latter was in command at Ticonder- oga in the previous autumn: "The position of our army extended from Mount Independence on the right and east side of the lake to the old French lines on the west forming our left, protected at various points by redoubts and batteries, on which were mounted more than a hun- dred pieces of heavy cannon. After some time It was seen that the extreme left was weak and might easily be turned; a post was therefore established on an eminence, nearly half a mile in advance of the old French lines, which was called Mount Hope. Thus our entire position formed an extensive cres- cent, of which the centre was a lofty eminence, called 189 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Mount Defiance, the termination of that mountain ridge which separates Lake George from Lake Champlain, and which rises precipitously from the waters of the latter to a height of six hundred feet. The outlet of Lake George enters Champlain at the foot of this eminence, and separates it from the old French fort and lines of Ticonderoga. This im- portant position had hitherto been neglected by the engineers of all parties, French, English, and Amer- ican. "I had for some time regarded this eminence as completely overruling our entire position. It was said, indeed, to be at too great a distance to be dan- gerous; but by repeated observation I had satisfied my mind that the distance was by no means so great as was generally supposed, and at length, at the table of General Gates, where the principal officers of the army were present, I ventured to advance the new and heretical opinion that our position was bad and untenable, as being overlooked in all its parts by this hill. I was ridiculed for advancing such an extravagant idea. I persisted, however, and as the truth could not be ascertained by argument, by theory, or by ridicule, I requested and obtained the general's permission to ascertain it by experiment. General (then Major) Stevens was busy at the north point of Mount Independence in examining and proving cannon; I went over to him on the following morn- ing, and selected a long, double-fortified French 190 TRUMBULL'S ACCOUNT brass gun (a twelve-pounder), which was loaded with the proof charge of best powder and double shotted. When I desired him to elevate this gun so that it should point at the summit of Mount Defi- ance he looked surprised, and gave his opinion that the shot would not cross the lake. 'That is what I wish to ascertain. Major,' was my answer; 'I believe they will, and you will direct your men to look sharp, and we, too, will keep a good look-out; if the shot drop in the lake their splash will easily be seen; if, as I expect, they reach the hill, we shall know it by the dust of the impression which they will make upon its rocky face.' The gun was fired, and the shot were plainly seen to strike at more than half the height of the hill. I returned to headquarters and made my triumphant report; and after dinner re- quested the general (Gates) and ofiicers who were with him to walk out upon the glacis of the old French fort where I had ordered a common six- pound field gun to be placed in readiness. This was, in their presence, loaded with the ordinary charge, pointed at the top of the hill, and when fired it was seen that the shot struck near the summit. Thus the truth of the new doctrine was demonstrated; but still it was insisted upon that this summit was inac- cessible to the enemy. This also I denied, and again resorted to experiment. General Arnold, Colonel Wayne, and several other active ofiicers accom- panied me in the general's barge, which landed us at 191 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER the foot of the hill, where It was most precipitous and rocky, and we clambered to the summit In a short time. The ascent was difficult and laborious, but not impracticable, and when we looked down upon the outlet of Lake George it was obvious to all that there could be no difficulty In driving up a loaded carriage. Our present position required at least ten thou- sand men and a hundred pieces of artillery for Its doubtful security. I assumed that it would be found Impossible for the government, in future campaigns, to devote so great a force to the maintenance of a single post; and as there was no road on either side of the lake by which an enemy could penetrate into the country south, he must necessarily make use of this route by water; and as the summit of Mount Defiance looked down upon and completely com- manded the narrow parts of both the lakes, a small but strong post there, commanded by an officer who would maintain it to the last extremity, would be a more effectual and essentially a less expensive de- fence of this pass than all our present extended lines. "The events of the succeeding campaign demon- strated the correctness of my views; for General St. Clair was left to defend Ticonderoga without any essential addition to the garrison which had been placed under his command by General Gates In the preceding November, because the Congress could 192 RESPONSIBILITY OF GATES not spare more men or means; so that, when Gen- eral Burgoyne presented himself at Three-Mile Point no opposition could be hazarded to his move- ments, and instead of assaulting the works (as had been formerly done by General Abercrombie in 1757), he silently turned the left of the position, crossed the outlet of Lake George, and established a battery of heavy guns on the summit of Mount De- fiance, the shot from which plunged into the old French fort and lines, and reached all points of Mount Independence, so that, as I had predicted, the whole position became untenable and was im- mediately abandoned. General St. Clair became the object of furious denunciations, whereas he mer- ited thanks for having saved a part of the devoted garrison, who subsequently formed the nucleus of that force by which, in the course of the campaign. General Burgoyne was ultimately baffled, and com- pelled to surrender his victorious army by the con- vention of Saratoga." Schuyler had his share in the responsibility for the neglect to secure Mount Defiance, but the respon- sibility of Gates was far greater. He was in com- mand at TIconderoga when the subject was so for- cibly called to his attention by Trumbull. Yet he was satisfied with casting ridicule upon the discovery of a young American officer. During these last two months, April and May of 1777, while he had the independent command of TIconderoga, and should 193 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER have been there examining and Improving Its de- fences, he had remained In Albany, writing to his friends In Congress and scheming to supplant his fellow-officer. And yet this was the man who was now to profit by the misfortune which was largely the result of his own negligence and want of judg- ment. When St. Clair left TIconderoga he had no boats to convey his army up the lake, and so struck off to the southeast through the woods, where he would be out of the way of a force pursuing by water. When his rear guard was at Hubbardton, a few miles south of TIconderoga and east of Lake George, It was attacked by General Fraser and a, thousand men. In this engagement the Americans were at first successful and beat back the British. But a re- inforcement of Hessians coming up under Riedesel, the Americans retreated, leaving about three hun- dred killed and wounded. The pursuit, however, had been so checked that St. Clair joined Schuyler at Fort Edward on the 12th without further casual- ties. The long march through the woods had pre- vented his sending an earlier account of himself to Schuyler, who had been much blamed for not know- ing the situation of this part of the army. The re- treating troops had saved nothing but their arms and clothing. They were much discouraged by the hardship of the flight, and on the way many militia- men had deserted and gone home. Harvest time 194 THE ARMY AT FORT EDWARD was approaching. As long as victory seemed prob- able the mllltia were willing to remain and fight. But, disheartened by this reverse, two complete New England regiments went off in a body. It was not, perhaps, a technical military desertion. The terms of enlistment were so loose that the men could al- most choose the day when they saw fit to declare their time to be up. But these desertions left St. Clair not more than fifteen hundred men. At Fort Edward, Schuyler found himself In a position of extreme difficulty. Including five hun- dred men under Nixon who had at last arrived from Peeksklll, mllltia whom he had collected himself, and St. Clair's troops, his army numbered about three thousand. They were diminishing rather than increasing. While the continental troops remained faithful, the militia were constantly dropping off. There was almost no artillery. Scouts reported the enemy to be approaching by the lake and by land — an army of six thousand veterans, furnished with fine artillery and elated by an easy success. While Frazer and Riedesel were working southward through the woods on the trail of St. Clair, Bur- goyne with the rest of his army advanced in the same direction by the lake. Within two days after Schuyler had reached Fort Edward, twenty miles south of Lake George, the enemy was at Skeensbor- ough, east of the lake, and rapidly approaching Fort George at Its head. On July loth, two days before 195 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER St. Clair arrived, Burgoyne's army was distant from Schuyler only twenty miles. In the neighborhood south of Lake George were three so-called forts, but rather fortified store- houses: Fort George at the head of the lake, Fort Anne to the southeast, and Fort Edward twenty miles south on the east bank of the Hudson. The latter was the largest and the best protected, but yet was not to be considered defencible against such an army as Burgoyne's. The Marquis de Chastellux, who visited it soon after, said that it could be taken easily by five hundred men with four siege guns. Forts George and Anne were depots for stores with small garrisons to guard them. Schuyler burned these two forts, added their garri- sons to that of Fort Edward, and removed the stores to the same place. He thus secured a supply of provisions ample for his small army at present, and concentrated all his men in his strongest posi- tion. The problem of getting provisions was al- ready becoming serious for Burgoyne and British detachments soon after attacked Forts George and Anne only to find them empty. The news that these two positions had been abandoned was received at Philadelphia with unjust and ignorant blame, Schuyler, it was said, had given up two more forts to the British. Instead of which he had saved the provisions from two store-houses. Schuyler's correspondence at this juncture shows 196 HIS MEASURES FOR DEFENCE constantly his appreciation of the most important work before him, of the only military policy which could avert defeat. That policy was to delay the British advance. If Burgoyne could continue his rapid progress southward there was no force now between him and Albany capable of preventing his arrival there. But time must bring re-enforcements to the American army. When the people of the river counties of New York and Western New Eng- land reahzed that Burgoyne with his German mer- cenaries and Indians was actually upon them, they would leave their fields and homes and help defend them. Assistance, too, would surely come from the Continental army near New York. Besides, and quite as important a fact, Schuyler realized that the longer Burgoyne was delayed the more impossible would it be for him to keep his army in provisions. What he possessed he had brought from Canada and captured at Ticonderoga. But the supply was limited; it could not last long. The great dis- tance from his base in Canada made that resource impracticable. Moreover, his communication with that base, through the long stretch of devious water- way and forest, could be, and before long was, cut off. The evacuation of Ticonderoga and the pos- session of boats on the lake had made it easy for the British to reach Fort George, only twenty miles from their insignificant enemy. But Schuyler knew so well the physical geography of those twenty miles 197 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER that he felt able to hold off Burgoyne for a long time. The land was covered by heavy forest, and Intersected by streams which formed frequent swamps. Several roads existed, rough, but practi- cable. Schuyler sent a thousand men up these roads with axes. The trees were cut on either side so that they fell across each other, with trunks and branches intersecting, till a tangle was formed which a man could hardly penetrate. Every bridge was de- stroyed and the streams choked with fallen trees. The success of Schuyler's operations was shown by the fact that while the British army had been only four days from Ticonderoga to the head of Lake George, they required twenty days of the hard- est work to reach Fort Edward, only twenty miles further. And these twenty days were of decisive importance. They gave to the American re-enforce- ments the time to collect. And they saw the begin- ning of Burgoyne's fatal difficulty, the want of sub- sistence for his men. Although Schuyler's prompt action m this emer- gency had obtained the delay so vital to the Ameri- can cause, the situation at Fort Edward might well have seemed hopeless. While he sought to en- courage the army by promises of speedy help, he could not conceal from Congress and from Wash- ington the true state of affairs. " Desertions pre- vail," he wrote to the latter, " and disease gains ground; nor is it to be wondered at, for we have CONDITION OF HIS ARMY neither tents, houses, barns, boards, or any shelter, except a little brush. Every rain that falls — and we have It In great abundance — wets the men to the skin. We are besides In great want of every kind of necessaries, provisions excepted. Camp kettles we have so few that we cannot afford above one to twenty men." There were thirty pieces of cannon In the fort, but no carriages for them. Nixon had brought up two from Peeksklll, which formed the available artillery in case of a movement. " I have Indeed written to Springfield," continued Schuyler, " for the cannon which were there. But the an- swer I got was that they were all ordered another way. I have also written to Boston, not that I expect anything will be sent me, but that I may stand justified; for I have never yet been able to get much of anything from thence. In this situa- tion I can only look up to your Excellency for re- lief; and permit me to entreat you to send me a re- enforcement of troops and such a supply of artillery, ammunition, and every other necessary (except pro- visions and powder) which an army ought to have, if It can possibly be spared." Washington replied that to detach any consider- able number of men from his own army would be to weaken himself too much. Howe's troops were partly embarked upon the fleet off Staten Island, whether to ascend the Hudson to Burgoyne's assist- ance or to proceed southward could not be learned. 199 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Howe might suddenly re-la-nd, and Washington must watch him with all the force at his command. The most that he could do at present was to hold Glov- er's brigade in readiness to march northward If cir- cumstances permitted. But he was able to assist Schuyler In another way. The latter had written regarding the desertions which were weakening the army at Fort Edward. Some of these were due to the privations endured since the loss of Ticonderoga. But another cause contributed much to the depletion of the army. It was nearly harvest time. The militia were anxious to return home to gather crops; they were unwilling to make sacrifices for a colony not their own, and the terms of enlistment were too loose to hold them. As they were resolved to go, Schuyler made the best terms he could by obtaining the promise that one- half would remain for three weeks longer If the other half were discharged. Bancroft blames Schuyler for this action, saying: "There could be no hope of a successful campaign, but with the hearty co-operation of New England; yet Schuyler gave leave for one-half of its militia to go home at once, and the rest to follow in three weeks." The Injustice of this blame Is shown by Schuyler's own account of the event to the Committee of Safety of New York: " It was evident that if we had not consented to suffer part of the militia to return to their habitations, we should have lost the whole. It 200 DEFECTION OF MILITIA was therefore resolved, in full council of general officers, that half should be permitted to leave us, provided the others would remain three weeks. These conditions were accepted by them, and one thousand and forty-six, officers included, of the militia of this State remained; but not above three hundred out of twelve of those from the county of Berkshire, in the State of Massachusetts; and out of about five hundred from the county of Hamp- shire, in the same State, only twenty-nine commis- sioned and non-commissioned officers and thirty-four privates are left, the remainder having infamously deserted." Gouverneur Morris, present at the time, wrote thus regarding the desertions of the militia: " Three hundred of the mihtia of Massachusetts Bay went off this morning, in spite of the opposi- tion — we should have said entreaties — of their offi- cers. All the militia on the ground are so heartily tired, and so extremely desirous of getting home, that it is more than probable that none of them will remain here ten days longer. One-half was dis- charged two days ago, to silence, if possible, their clamor, and the remainder, officers excepted, will soon discharge themselves." The militia who re- mained were restless, and their promised three weeks of service of little help. In this difficulty Schuyler asked Washington for one or two general officers. New England men, who would have influence in holding the New England troops already there, and 201 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER who might recruit others. Washington sent Gen- erals Arnold and Lincoln. They were both popu- lar among Eastern troops, and proved of the high- est value. As Washington could not send continental troops to Schuyler, he did his best to procure militia for him. To the brigadier-generals of militia in west- ern Massachusetts and Connecticut he wrote, point- ing out the danger to New England should Bur- goyne be successful, and the calamity involved in the threatened division of the Eastern from the Southern States. " It cannot be supposed," he said, " that the small number of continental troops as- sembled at Fort Edward is alone sufficient to check the progress of the enemy. To the militia, there- fore, must we look for support during this time of trial; and I trust that you will, immediately upon the receipt of this, if you have not done it before, march with at least one-third part of the militia under your command, and rendezvous at Saratoga, unless directed to some other place by General Schuyler and General Arnold, who, so well known to you all, goes up, at my request, to take command of the militia in particular. I have no doubt that you will, under his conduct and direction, repel an enemy from your borders who, not content with bringing mercenaries to lay waste your country, have now brought savages, with the avowed and express intent of adding murder to desolation." To this 202 INVASION OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY appeal of Washington response was made, slowly at first, but increasing as the danger became more widely understood. Schuyler had to face Burgoyne with his small and waning force for three weeks be- fore he could even know that substantial help was on its way. But not only was Burgoyne to be faced; provision must be made against the invasion of the Mohawk Valley, and the courage of the people must be kept up. The Committee of Tryon County and the in- habitants of western New York, instead of taking their own measures and arranging for their own defence, kept applying to Schuyler for the protection of continental troops, of which he had so few him- self. " I am sorry, very sorry," he wrote to them, " that you should be calling upon me for assistance of continental troops when I have already spared you all I could; when no army has yet made its ap- pearance; when the militia of every county in the State except yours is altogether called out. For God's sake do not forget that you are an over-match for any force the enmy can bring against you, if you will act with spirit. I have a large army to oppose, and trust I can do it effectually, and prevent their penetrating to any distance into the country. Keep up your spirits; show no signs of fear; act with vigor; and you will not only serve your coun- try, but gain immortal honor." To General Herki- mer, in command of the Tryon County militia, he 203 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER wrote: "We must oppose the enemy where they show themselves; that is here at present; and al- though Ticonderoga Is abandoned, I am neverthe- less not afraid that they will be able to get much lower Into the country. Keep up the spirits of the people, and all will be well." At the end of July he replied to a discouraged appeal from the Com- mittee of Safety at Albany: "When an enemy threatens to Invade a country, alarms, real or false, arise in every quarter. Some of these are created by the fears of good subjects, whilst others are propagated by friends of the enemy. Schoharie may labor under apprehensions that have arisen in one or the other of these ways, or from some real cause. I will at present admit the latter; but is that reason sufficient for free men to lay down their arms — Ignobly submit to the enemy, and betray their own, their posterity's, and their country's dear- est rights to a cruel and relentless enemy, whose greatest strength consists not In their numbers, but in our apprehensions? Let not a base or womanish timidity take place of that prowess which but a little while ago was so conspicuous. Let the Inhabitants of Schoharie determine to repulse the enemy, if they should attempt an attack. Let them hunt after and seize every Tory in their vicinity, and let a few gen- tlemen from Albany who are acquainted with the people in that quarter go into that district and revive 204 WASHINGTON AND HOWE the spirits of the people; but never let them talk of submission." Washington, who had been watching Howe so long and anxiously, at last knew that the latter was bound for Philadelphia, and therefore that place must be his own destination with all the men at his command. Regarding the continental troops at Peekskill, he wrote to Governor Trumbull: "No more can be detached from thence to the Northern army than have already gone. Two brigades, Nixon's and Glover's, have been ordered from thence to their aid. Not a man more can go, as all the Continental troops at that post, excepting two thousand, are called to join this arniy. For I am to inform you that General Howe's object and operations no longer remain a secret. At half after nine o'clock this morning I received an express from Congress, advising me that the enemy's fleet, con- sisting of two hundred and twenty-eight sail, were at the capes of the Delaware yesterday in the fore- noon. This being the case, there can be no doubt that he will make a vigorous push to possess Phila- delphia, and we should collect all the forces we can to oppose him." To Schuyler he wrote that he could send no troops except those under Glover. But he felt sure that " the New England States, which are so intimately concerned in the matter, will exert themselves to throw in effectual succors to enable you to check the progress of the enemy, and 205 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER repel a danger with which they are so Immediately threatened." Thus the main reliance of Schuyler for men must be on the New England mllltla. They were so distant and so scattered, and the means of communication were so slow, that none could tell in what numbers nor at what day they might be expected. On July 27th the advance of the British under General Fraser was announced by scouts to be near Fort Edward, where It had arrived after three weeks of cutting through Schuyler's obstructions. Whether or not to defend this position was now the question. Schuyler heard from Philadelphia that his enemies there were talking about Fort Edward as a strong place, which if abandoned would be con- sidered a repetition of Ticonderoga. " I find from letters from below," he wrote to Washington on the 26th, " that an Idea prevails that Fort Edward is a strong and regular fortification. It was once a regular fortification, but there Is nothing but the ruins of It left, and they are so utterly defenceless that I have frequently gallopped my horse In at one side and out at the other. But when it was in the best condition possible, with the best troops to gar- rison it, and provided with every necessary, it would not have stood two days' siege after the proper bat- teries had been opened. It is situated in a bottom on the banks of the river, and surrounded with hills 206 THE ARMY AT STILLWATER from which the parade may be seen within point- blank shot. I doubt not that it will be said that Fort Miller, Fort Saratoga, and Stillwater are con- siderable fortifications, of neither of which is there a trace left, although they still retain their names." Generals Arnold and Lincoln were now with Schuy- ler. A council of war, at which all the general offi- cers were present, decided unanimously that no stand could be made at Fort Edward, which was never Intended to resist an enemy with artillery. Further, that the army should cross the Hudson and take position on a high ground out of the forest, near Stillwater or Saratoga. This move was made im- mediately, Arnold accompanying Schuyler, while Lincoln went to the eastward into Vermont to rouse the militia there, some of whom were already col- lected under General Warner. By July 31st the American army had camped on a hill near Still- water, about thirty miles north of Albany, while Burgoyne's army had occupied Fort Edward and spread southward along the west bank of the Hudson. On August 5th Schuyler wrote to Washington: " By the unanimous advice of all the general officers, I have moved the army to this place. Here we pro- pose to fortify a camp. In expectation that re- enforcements will enable us to keep the ground and prevent the enemy from penetrating further Into the country. But If It should be asked from whence 207 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER I expect re-enforcement, I should be at a loss for an answer, not having heard a word from Massa- chusetts on my repeated application, nor am I cer- tain that Connecticut will afford us any succor. Our Continental force is daily decreasing by deser- tion, sickness, and loss in skirmishes with the enemy, and not a man in the militia now with me will re- main above one week longer, and while our force is diminishing, that of the enemy augments by a con- stant acquisition of Tories; but if by any means we could be put in a situation of attacking the enemy and giving them a repulse, their retreat would be so extremely difficult that, in all probability, they would lose the greater part of their army." This was the darkest moment of the campaign. Events were about to occur which would strengthen the Americans and weaken the British. Although Schuyler could not know it, New England was gath- ering and sending the men whom he needed so much. 208 Chapter VII. British Defeats at Bennington and in the Mohawk Valley. — Bright Prospects of the Ameri- can Army. — Schuyler Superseded by Gates. — Saratoga. — Last Services During the War. WHILE Schuyler was at Stillwater recruit- ing and organizing his army, Burgoyne remained on the east bank of the Hudson. As Schuyler had anticipated, every day of delay was favoring the Americans, while the British were get- ting deeper and deeper into difficulty. Their first embarrassment was caused by the In- dians. Burgoyne had disliked the employment of such allies, but his orders on the subject were positive. The speech by which he had sought to establish among savages the rules of civilized warfare had been, of course, fruitless. They burned and murdered on the line of march without discriminating between loyalist and rebel, and thus sent many indignant waverers into the American camp. They robbed the commissary stores, wasted the provisions, and defied all discipline. At the end of July an Incident occurred which turned the Indian alliance into a boomerang. A marauding 209 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER party of savages, under a chief called the Panther, captured near Fort Edward the young daughter of a Scotch clergyman named Jeanie McCrea, who was visiting the house of a Mrs. McNeil. Both women were loyalists, and Jeanie was engaged to a Tory officer In the British army. The Indians were taking their captives toward the British camp when, being pursued by a party of Americans, they became sepa- rated. Mrs. McNeil arrived In safety. But there was no news of Jeanie until the next day, when the Panther appeared bearing a scalp which, from the long hair attached to it, Mrs. McNeil recognized as belonging to her unfortunate companion. A search revealed the body in the forest, pierced by three bul- lets. Various stories were told of how the young woman came to her death. But the exact circumstances were immaterial. Great Indignation was aroused in the British camp, and Burgoyne was the last man to endure such enormities. He Issued a strict order that no party of Indians should be allowed to pass out of the lines unless accompanied by an English officer. The savages, already restless, became enraged at this order. That night, after loading themselves with all the provisions they could carry, they decamped, scattering into the Adirondacks. Burgoyne thus lost a body of men who, however troublesome, might have proved of great assistance as scouts. But the loss of the Indians was only a part of the damage caused by the murder of Jeanie McCrea. The story of her 210 BURGOYNE'S DIFFICULTIES fate spread far, angering patriots and loyalists alike, bringing home to all the realities of war. Great was the effect in New England. There the people were slow to rouse. They were busy with their harvest; the British army was attacking another and a little- liked colony. There was a disposition to let New York and the Continentals take care of Burgoyne. But the story of the Panther striding into the British camp swinging the long hair of a murdered American girl recruited the ranks and quickened the steps of every militia company in Massachusetts and Con- necticut. Burgoyne's next and very serious difficulty was to procure provisions for his men. The roads from Ticonderoga were almost impassable, and besides, he had neither the wagons nor horses for transportation. His reliance on foraging had proved quite vain. As the army advanced the people fled, driving their cattle before them. The Tories, instead of giving the ex- pected assistance, came into camp to be supported, adding a new embarrassment of mouths to feed. In this emergency Burgoyne listened readily to Major Skene, a loyalist, who told him that the New England mlhtia had collected a quantity of horses, ammuni- tion, and provisions at a village called Bennington, in the Hampshire Grants, which they intended as a point of distribution for the troops then recruiting. To capture Bennington, therefore, would mean to the British not only a supply of provisions for present 211 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER needs, and horses to convey their own supplies from the north, but also a severe blow to the New England forces which Burgoyne knew to be gathering in his rear. To accomplish this important object, Colonel Baum was sent off with five hundred Germans and a hundred Indians who had just arrived from Canada. Colonel Skene had assured Burgoyne that on the appearance of this force Tories in large numbers would join it; so he was sent too, with other loyalist officers, to com- mand the expected accessions. But Baum had been hardly a day on his march when the actions of the inhabitants convinced him that no help could be ex- pected from that source, and he wrote to Burgoyne for re-enforcement. The British commander des- patched Colonel Breyman, with five hundred more Germans and two cannon. They were most inappro- priate troops for a purpose requiring rapidity and enterprise. The hat and sword of a Hessian dragoon weighed nearly as much as the whole equipment of an English soldier, and the men were so little accustomed to lay aside their habits of discipline that while march- ing through thick woods they would stop evei*y ten minutes to re-form their ranks. With such slow prog- ress, the Americans had ample warning and time to prepare. The action at this time of the New England militia and of their commander, General Stark, is a good illustration of the peculiarities of these soldiers, of 212 THE NEW ENGLAND MILITIA their splendid qualities as defenders of their own homes, and of their uncertain usefulness in a regular army. General Stark was a veteran of the French and Indian War; he had fought at Bunker's Hill, and had served as a continental officer with Washing- ton at Trenton and Princeton. But in recent promo- tions Congress had passed him over, and he had retired in disgust to his Hampshire home. When Burgoyne's invasion was in progress, and General Lincoln was mustering in troops at Manchester, he conveyed to Stark the orders of Schuyler to join the main army at Stillwater. Stark flatly refused, alleg- ing that he owed allegiance only to his native State of New Hampshire, and that it was "his option to act in conjunction with the continental army or not." Lincoln wrote to Schuyler: "Whether he will march his troops to Stillwater or not, I am quite at a loss to know. But if he doth, it is a fixed point with him to act there as a separate corps, and take no orders from any officer in the northern department, saving your honor." When Congress heard of the attitude of Stark, it declared it to be "destructive of military subordination, and highly prejudicial to the common cause." Schuyler wrote at once to Lincoln: "You will please to assure General Stark . . . that I trust and entreat that he will, on the present alarm- ing crisis, waive his right; as the greater the sacrifice he makes to his feelings, the greater will be the honor due to him, for not having suffered any consideration 213 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER to come in competition with the weal of his country, and I entreat him to march immediately to this army." How much this provincial jealousy added to the difficulties of Schuyler's position is plain to see. He had a great invasion to repel. He had to rely for men almost entirely on volunteer militia from neighboring colonies. But he had to beg instead of to command. Whether the militia would come, or in what numbers, could not be definitely known ; and if they came, the length of time that they would remain was equally uncertain. Under such circum- stances, to make plans, to map out a campaign, was nearly impossible. But when Baum was known to be approaching Bennington with his Germans, there was no uncertainty regarding the action of Stark and his militia. The men who refused to join Lincoln's continental army at Manchester to fight in New York were eager to serve with Stark as a partisan officer and repel the foreign mercenaries who dared to at- tack their native colony. On August 15th, Baum arrived at Bennington with his dragoons and Indians and entrenched himself to wait for Breyman and the re-enforcement. But that purpose he was not allowed to attain. The next morning Stark and a thousand provincials had sur- rounded him. Five hundred rustic marksmen poured in a fire on his flanks and rear while Stark charged with the rest of his men. The Indians ran off yelling into the woods, and in two hours Baum had been 214 THE BATTLE OF BENNINGTON killed and his Gennans captured. The Americans were busy plundering the enemy's camp when Brey- man arrived with his five hundred Hessians, and might have turned the tables. But Colonel Warner came up at about the same time with fresh provin- cials. Breyman was assailed on all sides and was glad to escape with sixty men, leaving all the rest either killed or prisoners. These sixty were all that ever returned to Burgoyne out of the thousand which he had sent. One-seventh of the army which he had brought from Canada was lost with all the arms and four cannon. And the prospect of drawing provisions from the country was destroyed. This victory, so discouraging to the British, was of immense benefit to the Americans. All western New England was fired by It. No more was heard of reluctance to serve in another colony, nor of officers unwilling to take orders from continental generals. Lincoln's army at Manchester and Stark's at Bennington grew rapidly and were soon marching to join Schuyler at Still- water. Another disaster now befell Burgoyne in the destruction of the army which was to invade the Mohawk Valley and to join him at Albany. On July 15th, St. Leger landed at Oswego on Lake Ontario, where he was joined by Sir John Johnson with his Royal Greens, Colonel Butler with his Tories, and a body of Indians under Joseph Brant. The expedi- tion, about seventeen hundred strong, took the old 215 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER fur trade route, up the Onandaga River, through Oneida Lake, and over the long carry to Fort Stan- wix or Schuyler, which stood at the head of the Mohawk River. On August 3d, St. Leger had in- vested the fort and summoned it to surrender. But its gallant commander. Colonel Peter Gansevoort, sent back a message of defiance. When General Nicholas Herkimer of Tryon County heard that Fort Schuyler was besieged, he gathered his militia and marched to the rescue. On August 5th he was at Oriskany, on the Mohawk, eight miles below the fort. Here he made a plan of operations, and messengers were sent ahead to com- municate it to Colonel Gansevoort within the fort. The plan was that Herkimer should march up and attack St. Leger from the rear at the same time that the garrison made a sally upon his front. The signal for concerted action was to be given by three guns from the fort. Unfortunately the messengers had so much difficulty in getting into the fort that they were delayed in communicating the plan. When the expected time for the attack arrived, the three guns were not heard at Oriskany. Herkimer wished to wait. But some of his officers accused him of treachery or cowardice and insisted on an advance. Against his better judgment, Herkimer yielded and led his men up the river bank. But his presence at Oriskany had been reported by some of St. Leger's Indians. A strong force of Royal Greens and 216 BATTLE OF ORISKANY Mohawks had been posted in ambuscade in the forest. In this trap Herkimer's men were soon caught. A fierce hand-to-hand battle ensued, the most bloody of the Revolution. Herkimer, with a leg shattered by a bullet, sat on a stump and gave orders while smoking his pipe. His men fought with such fury that finally the Indians fled and the Royal Greens soon followed. But the Americans, although victorious in holding the ground, had suffered such losses that they could do no more than carry their wounded back to Oris- kany, leaving the garrison at the fort to take care of itself. When Herkimer's messengers made their way into the fort, the sounds of the distant battle could be heard. Gansevoort understood the situation, fired his three guns, and made an impetuous sally. Sir John Johnson's men, taken by surprise, were driven across the river. Gansevoort looted the British camp, loading seven wagons with booty, including all Sir John's papers. Five British flags were taken, which Gansevoort raised on his fort with an improvised American flag hoisted above them. The result of the two fights was greatly in favor of the Americans. St. Leger still kept up his siege of Fort Schuyler. But his losses at Oriskany were severe, and the suc- cessful sortie of the garrison so affected his prestige that the Indians became insolent and rebellious. Un- able to take the fort before, his prospects were now much worse. 217 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Colonel Gansevoort, although so far successful and resolved to defend Fort Schuyler to the last extremity, feared that St. Leger might receive re-enforce- ments or that he might be able In time to starve out the garrison. From the battered force at Orlskany there was no hope of further assistance. Hence Gansevoort sought for It from Schuyler. Colonel Marlnus Willett, who had led the late gallant sortie, stole out of the fort with one companion, with Infinite skill and labor passed St. Leger's lines, reached Schuyler's camp at Stillwater, and asked him to re- heve the fort. Schuyler then knew unofficially that Congress had superseded him, but he was working none the less hard In the Interest of the country. He called a council of war to determine means to relieve the fort. He told the assembled officers that It was of the utmost Importance to destroy St. Leger's force at once. If the fort were taken, the Mohawk Valley would be at the mercy of the British, and a large detachment of the army would be needed In that quarter. If St. Leger could be driven off now, while Burgoyne was quiet on the other side of the Hudson, there would remain but one enemy to face, against whom all the American forces could be concentrated'. Several officers spoke In opposition, alleging that the army then present was too weak to meet Burgoyne, and objecting to any detachment. Schuyler was walk- ing the floot in anxious reflection when he overheard the whispered remark of one of the officers: "He ;!i8 RELIEF OF FORT SCHUYLER means to weaken the army." This remark, a repeti- tion of the ceaseless accusations of treachery made against him since the fall of Ticonderoga, angered him so that he bit in two the pipe which he held in his mouth. He turned upon the council, saying: "Gentlemen, I shall take the responsibility upon my- self. Where is the brigadier that will take command of the relief? I shall beat up for volunteers to- morrow." Arnold, soured by the neglect of Con- gress, but always ready for a deed of daring, offered at once to go. The next morning, in response to Schuyler's call, eight hundred men joined Arnold and set off up the Mohawk. When arrived at the German Flatts, twenty miles below the fort, Arnold resorted to a stratagem to encourage the garrison and to intimidate the enemy. A half-witted fellow, named Jan Jost, and his brother, both well-known Tories, had been captured. Arnold threatened to hang them both, and then offered to Jan Jost his own and his brother's life if he would spread the news at the fort of a large force advancing to its relief. Jan arrived at St. Leger's camp with bullet holes through his coat and apparently overcome by terror. He was known to be a violent Tory, and when he described the coming enemy as numerous as the leaves upon the trees, he was readily believed. St. Leger had a motley force composed of British, Indians, Canadians and Ameri- can Tories. They were bound together more by the 219 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER hope of plunder and scalps than by a common senti- ment or military discipline. The fight at Oriskany, where many Indians had been killed, left the savages in bad humor, and the successful sortie of the gar- rison had injured the prestige of St. Leger and Sir John Johnson. Demoralization had already begun. When Jan Jost arrived with his discouraging news, the Indians made up their minds that there was no profit in the business for them. They seized some barrels of rum, got very dnmk and ran amuck through the camp. A free fight was kept up all night. The next morning St. Leger and Sir John had lost all control. They retreated, abandoning everything in the camp. The garrison sallied forth and pursued for a time. Many of the invaders were lost in the forest and many shot by the Indians, who cared little from whose heads they took their scalps. It was a very small band that embarked at Oswego for Canada with Sir John Johnson and St. Leger. The great expedition which had terrified the Mohawk Val- ley, which had given so much anxiety to Schuyler and upon which Burgoyne depended as an important part of his plan, thus melted away; and Arnold returned without loss to the main army. Looking at the situations of Burgoyne and of Schuyler after the battle of Bennington and the retreat of St. Leger, it is evident that the tables were turned. Burgoyne had taken Ticonderoga without loss and had advanced to the Hudson River with a 220 DISCOURAGEMENT OF BURGOYNE flourish of trumpets; and King George at the news had rushed into the Queen's room, exclaiming tri- umphantly, "I have beat them; I have beat all the Americans." But Schuyler had prevented Burgoyne from reaching Fort Edward until the 30th of July, and now, three weeks later, the British general was still on the same ground, beset by difficulties and uncertain what course to pursue. At the news from Bennington and Fort Schuyler, the Tories and Cana- dians began to drop off. If he once left his com- munication with Lake George, he would have no means of getting provisions. The assistance which he had been led to believe would be given by the loyalist population turned out to be a dream. "The great bulk of the country," he wrote home, "is un- doubtedly with the Congress in principle and zeal, and their measures are executed with a secrecy and despatch that are not to be equalled. . . . The Hampshire Grants, in particular, a country unpeo- pled and almost unknown last war, now abounds in the most active and rebellious race on the con- tinent, and hangs like a gathering storm on my left." He had been obliged to leave a large force at Ticon- deroga to protect his rear; a thousand of his men were lost at Bennington; St. Leger was gone; from Sir William Howe nothing could be heard. How he iwas to provision his army when he left his communi- cation with Lake George, he could not tell. There could be no re-enforcement for him, while he knew LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER that his enemy's army was growing every day. Yet positive orders compelled an advance. Concerning his situation at this time, he wrote afterwards: "The expedition which I commanded was at first evidently intended to be hazarded; circumstances might require it should be devoted^ Burgoyne was already a beaten man, and every day made his position worse. "I do not despair," he wrote. "Should I succeed in forcing my way to Albany and find that country in a state to subsist my army, I shall think no more of a retreat, but, at the worst, fortify there, and await Sir William's operations." It was not until the 13th of September, nearly a month later, that he had gathered enough provisions to enable him to cross the Hudson. On the other hand, Schuyler's army was growing in strength and confidence. It was stationed on the west bank of the Hudson about thirty miles below the British, from Stillwater to the mouth of the Mohawk. It had been re-enforced by General Put- nam's regiment from Peekskill and by Morgan's riflemen. Volunteers were arriving In small groups every day. Lincoln wrote that he was on his way with two thousand men from the Hampshire Grants; Stark, that he was coming with the victors of Ben- nington. Arnold was returning from the Mohawk, not only with his own detachment, but with a large body of militia whose services were no longer needed to defend the West. The whole country was aroused. 222 SUPERSEDED BY GATES With an enemy approaching and fighting imminent, every man was ready to leave his farm and carry a rifle into the continental camp. Schuyler was sure of ten thousand men. The dark days of uncertainty had gone and a bright prospect was opening. At this juncture, on the 19th of August, General Gates arrived in the American camp bearing a com- mission as commander-in-chief of the northern de- partment. The causes which brought about this change of commanders are to be found partly in inter-colonial prejudice and partly in the selfish Intrigues of General Gates. Immediately after the evacuation of Ticon- deroga, the New England delegates in Congress re- newed their campaign to substitute Gates for Schuyler, which had been defeated the previous month. They secured the support of southern mem- bers, who, discouraged by that disaster, were ready for a change; and they had the assistance of Gates himself, who had been pushing his own Interests at Philadelphia while Schuyler was facing Burgoyne at Fort Edward. On the 29th of July It was resolved that an investigation should be made of the evacua- tion of Ticonderoga. But as it speedily became known that St. Clair accepted full responsibility for that event, and the justification for it was recognized, another ground for action had to be found. This was that the New England militia disliked Schuyler and would not join the northern army while he was 223 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER in command. On August ist, Congress recalled Schuyler and asked Washington to appoint a new general-in-chief. A memorial in the handwriting of Samuel Adams and signed by all the New England delegates, requested him to appoint Gates. Wash- ington, who had seen enough of Gates, refused to interfere and left the matter in the hands of Con- gress. On August 5th Gates received his appoint- ment. Governeur Morris and John Jay had gone to Philadelphia to represent to Congress the situation in the north, but arrived the day after Gates's ap- pointment. Morris wrote to Schuyler: "You will readily believe that we were not pleased at this resolution, and I assure you for my own part I feel exceedingly distressed at your removal, just when changing fortune began to declare in your favor. Congress, I hope, will perceive that our successes have been owing to the judicious plans adopted pre- vious to your removal." Jay wrote him: "Wash- ington and Congress were assured that unless another general presided in the northern department the militia of New England would not be brought into the field. The Congress, under this apprehension, exchanged their general for the militia — a bargain which can receive no justification from the supposed necessity of the times." James Duane wrote : "Your enemies, relentless, and bent on your destruction, would willingly include you in the odium of losing 224 CAUSES OF HIS REMOVAL TIconderoga. The change of command was not, however, founded on this principle, but merely on the representation of the Eastern States that their militia, suspicious of your military character, would not turn out in defence of New York while you pre- sided in the northern department." The reason for superseding Schuyler which was urged by the New England delegates was a serious accusation for them to make against their own people. Generals Lincoln, Putnam, Stark and Arnold, who were the officers under whom the New England militia would actually serve, were all New England men and all popular with eastern troops. To say that under these leaders of their own they would not rally to defend their country against the British, the Germans and the savages who were invading it, while Schuyler remained commander-in-chief, was to accuse them of a lack of patriotism, of a narrowness and intensity of prejudice which would have made them little deserving of consideration. But the accusation was false and so proved by the facts. When the knowledge that Burgoyne's army was penetrating southward reached the scattered settlements of west- ern New England, when it was realized that a great fight was imminent, the militia flocked to the stand- ards of Lincoln and Stark. The murder of Jeanie McCrea came like an alarm bell to call them to action. The victory at Bennington filled them with confidence and enthusiasm. Long before Gates's 225 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER appointment was known In the north, the eastern mlHtIa was marching to join Schuyler. By the time Gates arrived, and he brought with him the first definite news of his appointment, Schuyler had in camp, or known to be approaching It, an army of ten thousand men. Of course, a strong prejudice against each other existed between tne colonies of New England and New York. An amusing instance of it Is given In the will of Lewis Morris of Morrlsania, who wrote in 1762: "It Is my desire that my son, Gouverneur Morris, may have the best education that Is to be had in Europe or America, but my express will and directions are, that he be never sent for that purpose to the Colony of Connecticut, least he should Imbibe in his youth that low craft and cunning so Incident to the people of that country, which Is so interwoven in their constitutions, that all their art cannot disguise It from the world, though many of them under the sanctified garb of religion, have endeavored to Impose themselves on the world for honest men." On the other hand, democratic New England disliked aris- tocratic New York. That Schuyler was of Dutch descent, and that he had supported the claim of New York to the Hampshire Grants, were sufficient causes for the early prejudice against him. This feeling was Increased by Schuyler's attempt to Introduce the military disclphne which he had learned In the British army during the French war, and which was in ac- 226 THE NEW ENGLAND MILITIA cordance with the Dutch spirit of order and system which was an essential part of his character and of his success In private life. But military discipline was unendurable to these Independent, self-reliant New Englanders. They re- garded It as tyranny and aristocratic assumption. That they w^t not allowed to help themselves to commissary stores at will, that they were subjected to sanitary regulations, that they were constrained to a silent obedience, were regarded as so many en- croachments on their liberties. They enlisted only for short periods, and considered themselves free to join the army or to leave It as they pleased. All this was galling to Schuyler, whose temper was by no means easy. These remarks apply to eastern men when employed as militia, not when acting as con- tinental soldiers. It Is well known that the New England portion of the continental army was Its very backbone; that these hardy soldiers, when used to discipline, formed the certain reliance of Washing- ton. But let us see what Washington himself had to say about the New England troops when employed as militia : "Our situation Is truly distressing," he wrote to Congress, September 2d, 1776. "The check our detachment sustained on the 27th ultimo has dispirited too great a proportion of our troops, and filled their minds with apprehension and despair. The militia. Instead of calling forth their utmost efforts to a brave and manly opposition in order to 227 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER repair our losses, are dismayed, Intractable and im- patient to return. Great numbers of them have gone off, in some Instances, almost by whole regiments, by half ones, and by companies at a time. When their example has Infected another part of the army, when their want of discipline, and refusal of almost every kind of restraint and government, have produced a like conduct but too common to the whole, and an entire disregard of that order and subordina- tion necessary to the well doing of an army, . our condition becomes still more alarming." Again, September 2 2d, he writes his brother: "The de- pendence which the Congress have placed upon the militia has already greatly Injured, and I fear will totally ruin our cause. Being subject to no control themselves, they introduce disorder among the troops, whom we have attempted to discipline, while the change In their living brings on sickness; this causes an Impatience to get home, which spreads uni- versally, and introduces abominable desertions." And to Congress, on the 24th September, he wrote; "To place any dependence upon militia is assuredly resting upon a broken staff. Men just dragged from the tender scenes of domestic life, unaccustomed to the din of arms, totally unacquainted with every kind of military skill (which Is followed by want of con- fidence in themselves, when opposed to troops regu- larly trained, disciplined and appointed, superior in knowledge and superior In arms), are timid and 228 THE NEW ENGLAND MILITIA ready to fly from their own shadows. Besides, the sudden change in their manner of living, particularly in their lodging, brings on sickness in many. Impa- tience In all, and such an unconquerable desire of returning to their respective homes, that it not only produces shameful and scandalous desertions among themselves, but infuses the like spirit into others. Again, men accustomed to unbounded freedom and no control cannot brook the restraint, which is indis- pensably necessary to the good order and government of an army; without which licentiousness and every kind of disorder triumphantly reign. To bring men to a proper degree of subordination Is not the work of a day, a month or even a year. . . . If I was called upon to declare upon oath whether the militia have been most serviceable or hurtful upon the whole, I should subscribe to the latter." In the light of Washington's own experience of militia, which at the time he wrote were chiefly from New England, It Is easy to see with what a problem Schuyler had had to deal. When he first gathered his little army together at Ticonderoga for the In- vasion of Canada his efforts to establish military regulations, to control the distribution of stores, to enforce sanitary rules, met with rebellious resistance. His own exertion of authority was stigmatized as aristocratic pride. He was disliked for trying to be a soldier himself and for trying to make his army 229 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER soldierlike. Montgomery met the same fate; Pop- ular at first for his gallant and generous qualities, as soon as the men were in the field and began to feel the tpials and rigor of a mihtary life, his popularity waned. Of the trials which he endured from the insubordination of his men, how nearly half of them deserted him at Montreal, leaving him to go on to Quebec with a remnant, has been told in a previous chapter. The same unwillingness to endure the re- straints of military discipline and to remain away from their homes for more than a short time, had made the militia an extremely doubtful reliance for Schuyler through the year 1776. When he returned from Philadelphia in June and had the invasion of Burgoyne to face, it was this uncertainty about the militia which made his chief difficulty. He was told by Congress and by Washington that he must draw his army from New England volunteers. He sent to the governors and received promises. But it was impossible to tell whether the men would come in sufficient numbers or would come in time. No ag- gressive plan could be made when the material of the army was so indefinite. Bancroft blames Schuyler for appealing to Washington for continental troops. But it was natural that a general facing a great invasion of trained veterans should prefer a thousand regular soldiers who would certainly stay with him to a possible three thousand who might or might not join him, and might or might not choose to remain 230 THE CHARACTER OF GATES until the campaign was over. On the eve of the battle of Bennington the Rev. Mr. Alkn, who had come up from Pittsfield, Massachusetts, with the militia of his neighborhood, said to Stark: "Colonel, our Berkshire people have often been called out to, no purpose, and if you don't let them fight now they will never turn out again." That was exactly the spirit of the New England militia. Fight they would when there was a fight on hand. But the general who was to benefit by their services must have the battle already arranged and the enemy on the spot so that they could fight and return without loss of time. To join an army, wait perhaps for months, march and counter-march through a campaign while their crops were ungathered, that they would not do. Nor should Congress have expected it of them. The general military outlook was gloomy when the resolution to supersede Schuyler was passed. Howe's army was superior to Washington's, and in the north Burgoyne seemed to have an overwhelming force. Congress acted in accordance with its best lights in yielding to the claim of the New England delegates that their men would not come out at Schuy- ler's call. The retirement of Schuyler was an error excusable under the circumstances. But the choice of his successor was a great mistake. Gates had done nothing during his employment in the northern de- partment in 1776. The two months of his command there in 1777, before the approach of Burgoyne, were 231 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER spent in Albany in writing letters to his political sup- porters, while Ticonderoga, his special charge, was left to itself and never even visited. We shall see how little the victory of Saratoga was due to him; and later history tells of his disgraceful connection with the Conway Cabal, his incompetence at Camden and the final pricking of the bubble of his military reputation. Useless as a general as Gates turned out to be, the worst feature of his career was the constant base intrigue by which he sought to supplant a fellow soldier who had shown him nothing but generosity and kindness. His own correspondence with the New England delegates places his conduct in the worst light. Of the reprehensible character of such in- trigue, evidence enough is given by the way another Englishman looked at a similar accusation made against himself. When Burgoyne returned to Eng- land a defeated man, there were many attacks made upon him. But the one that angered him most was that he had intrigued at court to obtain the command of an expedition which rightfully belonged to Sir Guy Carleton, the senior officer in Canada. Before the committee of the House of Commons, Burgoyne said: "The next tendency was to Impress the public with an opinion that I was endeavoring to supplant Sir Guy Carleton In the command of the northern army, an action abhorrent to the honor of an officer and the liberality of a gentleman, and of which, 232 THE TEST OF CHARACTER thank God, I can prove the falsehood by Irrefragable evidence upon your table." That Gates pursued per- sistently during a whole year a course of action which Burgoyne considered "abhorrent to the honor of an officer and the liberality of a gentleman" is exposed in his correspondence with the New England dele- gates. Schuyler's character was severely tried when he received the humiliating news that after his untiring and successful labors, when a bright military prospect seemed before him, when the wished-for army was assured and a decisive battle imminent, another man was to take his place. By the way he bore this trial he must be judged as a man and a patriot. To President Hancock he wrote : "I am far from being insensible of the indignity of being ordered from the command of the army at a time when an engagement must soon take place. It, however, gives me great consolation that I shall have an opportunity of evincing that my conduct has been such as deserved the thanks of my country." A few days later he wrote to James Duane: "Last night I was advised that General Gates is on the point of arriving to relieve me. Your fears may be up, lest the ill-treat- ment I have experienced at his hands should so far get the better of my judgment as to embarrass him. Do not, my dear friend, be uneasy on that account. I am Incapable of sacrificing my country to a resent- ment however just, and I trust I shall give an example 233 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER of what a good citizen ought to do when he is in my situation. I am nevertheless daily more sensible of the affront Congress has so unjustly given me.'* General Stark had just informed Schuyler that he had waived his military claims and would march his Hampshire troops to Stillwater. In thanking him Schuyler said: "In this critical conjuncture, if a gentleman, while he asserts his rights, sacrifices his feelings to the good of his country, he will merit the thanks of his country." In such a spirit Schuyler himself acted. From the time that he heard of his retirement until the arrival of Gates, he worked as hard as ever. It was in this interval that Arnold was sent up the Mohawk, and that great progress was made in organizing and provisioning the army. Schuyler's generous acceptance of this humiliation marks the climax of his revolutionary career and constitutes his best claim to the respect of his country- men. Many men have put life and property in jeopardy for their country's sake; but few men, hold- ing high commands, have borne calumny from the people and unjust treatment from the government as Schuyler did: without being soured, without vin- dictive feeling, without any diminution of pubhc spirit. This test of character, so nobly met, touches the highest note of patriotism. When Gates arrived in camp on August 19th with his commission as commander-in-chief, Schuyler re- ceived him with politeness, gave him all the informa- 234 THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA tion he possessed regarding the enemy and his own army, and offered his assistance in any capacity. But Gates ignored him completely. Although he invited everybody to his first council of war, even calling up General Ten Broeck from Albany, he did not ask Schuyler to attend it. Upon which Gouverneur Mor- ris remarked with his usual trenchant phrase: "The new commander-in-chief of the northern department may, if he please, neglect to ask or disdain to receive advice; but those who know him will, I am sure, be convinced that he needs it." As Schuyler's active military service terminated on the 19th of August, when he left the camp for Al- bany, a detailed account of the battles of Saratoga need not be repeated here. But the circumstances which led to the surrender of Burgoyne show clearly that the result was not due to the change in com- manders. That Schuyler would have contributed more to the victory than Gates is, to say the least, probable. That he would have contributed less Is incredible. Burgoyne's position became more embarrassing every day. It was not until the 13th of September that he had acquired enough provisions to enable him to cross the Hudson on the march to Albany. Hear- ing no word from Howe, knowing that St. Leger had been driven off, he was loath to advance further into a hostile country where he might be unable to subsist his army. But his orders were positive. On the 19th 23s LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER occurred the first conflict at Bemis Heights and Free- man's Farm, where the British advance was checked by Generals Morgan and Arnold, without assistance from Gates. For nearly three weeks more Burgoyne remained inactive and uncertain, his situation becom- ing desperate for lack of provision, while the Ameri- can army increased to sixteen thousand men. October 7th occurred the second battle of Freeman's Farm, resulting in a decisive victory for the Americans under the leadership chiefly of Morgan and Arnold, while Gates was quarrelling in his tent with a wounded English prisoner. During the next ten days the American army had increased to twenty thousand men; the British were surrounded and as- sailed from every side; retreat to Ticonderoga was cut off; provisions were exhausted, even water unob- tainable. On the 17th followed the inevitable capitu- lation. The credit for the destruction of Burgoyne's ex- pedition belongs to no one man. Schuyler contributed largely to it by the courage and energy with which he held together the little army left after the loss of Ticonderoga, kept up a bold front toward a greatly superior enemy, delayed and harassed his advance. To Schuyler's prompt action, as to Herkimer and Arnold, was due the safety of the Mohawk Valley. Stark's victory at Bennington contributed much. Lincoln's aid in raising the New England militia was of great value. Looking at the military operations, 236 THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA which together constitute the battle of Saratoga, it is impossible to credit Gates with any definite plan of campaign, or to trace to orders of his any im- portant movement. On the contrary, he obstructed Arnold as much as he could, and at decisive moments was complaining and arguing to no purpose. The two battles were fought on the part of the Americans according to no plan but that of attacking the enemy whenever he moved. Arnold, Morgan and Lincoln were partisan leaders, acting on the spur of the moment, agreeing among themselves and assisting each other, but under direction of no single authority. Arnold, indeed, had been deprived of all command by Gates, and was no more than a private citizen when he led the impetuous and decisive charge on Eraser's line at the second battle of Freeman's Farm. It is certain that Schuyler's intimate knowledge of the country where the battles were fought, his energy of character, his readiness to work with and for his fellow officers, his confidential relations with Lincoln, Morgan and Arnold would have made him a more useful man than Gates at the head of the northern army. After Burgoyne had been defeated by Mor- gan and Arnold with their unorganized but hardy followers. Gates first appeared as a real commander- in-chief and carried out very well the part of a generous and magnanimous victor. Schuyler, in his retirement at Albany, was kept informed of the course of events at Saratoga by his 2Z7 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER friends in the army. "I am chagrined to the soul," wrote Henry Brockholst Livingston, in September, "when I think that another person is to reap the fruits of your labors. The candid and impartial will, however, bestow the honor where it is due. And although the ungrateful and envious are making use of every art to ruin you in the esteem of your country- men, I flatter myself you will rise superior to them all and receive the thanks of your country for those ser- vices of which it is at present unmindful." During the military operations the British burned to the ground Schuyler's fine country house, with its barns, granaries and stables, which had been the result of many years of economy and industry. The news of this personal disaster reached him at Albany at the same time as that of the American victory. "The event that has taken place," he wrote to Colonel Varick, "makes the heavy loss I have sustained sit quite easy on me. Britain will probably see how fruitless her attempts to enslave us will be. I set out today." At Saratoga he was introduced to Burgoyne. The latter afterwards described the meeting in a speech before the House of Commons : "I expressed to General Schuyler my regret at the event which had happened, and the reasons which had occasioned it. He desired me to think no more of it, saying that the occasion justified it, according to the rules of war. He did more : he sent his aide-de-camp to conduct me to Albany, in order, as he expressed it, 238 AFTER THE BATTLE to procure me better quarters than a stranger might be able to find. This gentleman conducted me to a very elegant house, and, to my great surprise, pre- sented me to Mrs. Schuyler and her family; and in this General's house I remained during my whole stay at Albany, with a table of more than twenty covers for me and my friends, and every other possible demonstration of hospitality." The wife of the German General Riedesel, who with two children had accompanied her husband through the campaign, left an interesting account of these events. "In the passage through the American camp," she said, "I observed, with great satisfaction, that no one cast at us scornful glances. On the con- trary, they all greeted me, even showing compassion on their countenances at seeing a mother with her little children in such a situation. I confess that I feared to come into the enemy's camp, as the thing was so entirely new to me. When I approached the tents, a noble looking man came toward me, took the children out of the wagon, embraced and kissed them, and then with tears in his eyes helped me also to alight. 'You tremble,' said he to me; 'fear noth- ing.' *No,' replied I, 'for you are so kind and have been so tender toward my children, that it has in- spired me with courage.' He then led me to the tent of General Gates, with whom I found Generals Burgoyne and Phillips, who were upon an extremely friendly footing with him. Burgoyne said to me, 239 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER 'You may now dismiss all your apprehensions, for your sufferings are at an end.' . . . All the gen- erals remained to dine with General Gates. The man who had received me so kindly came up and said to me, 'It may be embarrassing to you to dine with all these gentlemen; come now with your children into my tent, where I will give you, it is true, a frugal meal, but one that will be accompanied by the best of wishes.' 'You are certainly,' answered I, *a hus- band and a father, since you show me so much kind- ness.' I then learned that he was the American General Schuyler. He entertained me with excellent smoked tongue, beef steaks, potatoes, good butter and bread. Never have I eaten a better meal. I was content. ... As soon as we had finished dinner, he invited me to take up my residence at his house, which was situated in Albany, and told me that General Burgoyne would also be there. . The day after this we arrived at Albany, where we had so often longed to be. But we came not, as we supposed we should, as victors ! We were, never- theless, received in the most friendly manner by the good General Schuyler, and by his wife and daugh- ters, who showed us the most marked courtesy, as also General Burgoyne, although he had — without any necessity, it was said — caused their magnificently built houses to be burned. But they treated us as people who knew how to forget their own losses in the misfortunes of others. Even General Burgoyne 240 BURGOYNE AT ALBANYj was deeply moved at their magnanimity, and said to General Schuyler, 'Is It to me, who have done you so much Injury, that you show so much kindness?' 'That Is the fate of war,' replied the brave man; 'let us say no more about It.' " De Chastellux tells the following anecdote of Bur- goyne's visit to the Schuylers: "The British com- mander was well received by Mrs. Schuyler, and lodged In the best apartment In the house. An excellent supper was served him In the evening, the honors of which were done with so much grace that he was affected even to tears, and said with a deep sigh, 'Indeed, this Is doing too much for a man who has ravaged their lands and burned their dwellings.' The next morning he was reminded of his misfortunes by an Incident that would have amused anyone else. His bed was prepared In a large room; but as he had a numerous suite, or family, several mattresses were spread on the floor for some oflicers to sleep near him. Schuyler's second son,* a little fellow about nine years old, very arch and forward, but very amiable, was running all the morning about the house. Opening the door of the saloon, he burst out a laughing on seeing all the English collected, and shut it after him, exclaiming, 'You are all my prisoners!' This inno- cent cruelty rendered them more melancholy than before." *Philip J. Schuyler, father of George L. Schuyler. 241 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER John Trumbull, in his painting of the surrender of Burgoyne for the rotunda of the Capitol at Washing- ton, represents Schuyler as standing in citizen's dress among his countrymen in continental uniform. To continue his military services and finally to receive the sword of the enemy were privileges which un- fortunate circumstances had taken from him. But Trumbull portrayed truly the judgment of his time and of posterity in placing Schuyler, the patriot, in the forefront of that great scene which his faithful and unselfish labors had done so much to make pos- sible. After the events at Saratoga, Schuyler applied for a court martial to investigate his conduct during the war, and especially his relation to the evacuation of Ticonderoga, of which his enemies had been able to make so fatal a use. In December, 1777, he wrote to Congress: "When a man of sentiment labouring under odious and injurious suspicions has in prospect a period which promises to afford him relief and restore quiet to his mind, it is natural that he should anxiously wish for its arrival. The conviction of a good and a clear conscience leaves not a doubt in my mind that the result of the inquiry into my conduct will have that effect and restore me to the full con- fidence of such of my honest countrymen as have been led away by popular clamor, and that I shall stand confessed the sincere and affectionate friend of my country. Congress will therefore pardon me If I am 242 RESIGNATION FROM THE ARMY importunate on this subject. I have suffered so much m public life that it cannot create surprise if I anx- iously wish to retire and pay that attention to my private affairs, which the losses I have sustained by the enemy and the derangement occasioned by devot- ing all my time to the duties of my offices have occasioned, and yet the impropriety of resigning them before the inquiry has taken place or the committee reported my innocence, is too striking to need dwell- ing on." Congress procrastinated, and it was not until the following year that his repeated requests were granted. The court martial acquitted him on every count, and in December, 1778, Congress ap- proved the verdict "with the highest honor." Schuyler then sent in his resignation as Major- General, whereupon Jay wrote him in March, 1779, from Philadelphia: "Congress has refused to accept your resignation. Twelve States were represented. New England and Pennsylvania against you. The delegates of the latter are new men and not free from the influence of the former. From New York south you have fast friends. . . . Were I in your sit- uation I should not hesitate a moment to continue in the service. I have the best authority to assure you that the Commander-in-Chief wishes you to retain your commission. The propriety of your resignation is now out of the question. Those laws of honor which might have required it are satisfied. Are you certain they do not demand a contrary conduct? You 243 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER have talents to render you conspicuous in the field; and address to conciliate the affections of those who may now wish you ill. Both these circumstances are of worth to your family, and, independent of public considerations, argue forcibly for the army. Gather laurels for the sake of your country and your children. You can leave them a sufficient share of property; leave them also the reputation of being descended from an incontestably great man — a man who, unin- fluenced by the ingratitude of his country, was un- remitted in his exertions to promote her happiness. You have hitherto been no stranger to these senti- ments, and therefore I forbear to enlarge." But Schuyler felt that there were other directions in which he could exert a useful patriotism; and he pressed his resignation, which was accepted the next April. While the court martial was still in session, he had been elected a delegate to the Continental Congress. He refused to take his seat while charges were pending against him, but after his acquittal he did so and rendered constant service at Philadelphia. During the remainder of the war public business made continual demands. Washington depended upon him for finding and forwarding provisions for the army, an occupation to which he devoted a great deal of time, and in which he was often obliged to pledge his private credit. Negotiations with the! Indian tribes and the disordered condition of the Newl York frontier required his frequent presence In Al- 244 PROTECTION OF THE FRONTIER bany. In May, 1780, when at Washington's camp at Morristown, he was recalled by the following letter from Colonel Morgan Lewis: "Sir John Johnson, we are credibly informed, is in force at Jesup's Creek. An universal consternation has seized the frontier inhabitants, and upwards of one hundred and fifty persons, heretofore esteemed good Whigs, imagining themselves neglected, and fearing the resentment of the enemy, have, within these three days, gone off and joined them. All Tryon County is on the move to Schenectady, which, in a few days more, must be our western frontier. Threats are thrown out against Saratoga, and 'tis the prevailing opinion, an attempt will be made to destroy it. The strength of the country would be quite sufficient to render this banditti truly despicable could it be exerted. The spirit of the people is good, but we are destitute of the means of subsisting them, not having provision for even our artificers and labourers. Your knowledge of the resources of the country and influence with the ruling powers will be of great service in this critical juncture, and I confess my apprehensions for those unfortunate people who lie exposed and unprotected are greatly alleviated in the reflection that nothing in your power will be left unessayed." Schuyler's activity against the Tories and their Indian allies who worried the western frontier was of such effect that in 1781 they made a determined effort to capture him. A band of Tories, Canadians 245 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER and Indians surrounded and broke Into the house. The raihng of the stairway still bears the mark of a tomahawk thrown by a savage at Miss Margaret Schuyler as she ran through the hall with her little sister in her arms. Schuyler collected his family in an upper room, and by keeping up a musketry fire from the window, and by calling out orders, as if to a rescuing party, he succeeded in frightening the raid- ers, who fled with the family silver. Washington wrote to congratulate him on his escape, which "was attended by the flattering circumstance of being ef- fected entirely by your own presence of mind." When, in May, 178 1, Robert Morris had con- sented to undertake the charge of the continental finances, he apphed to Schuyler for his assistance. It is a station, wrote Morris, "that makes me tremble when I think of it, and which nothing could tempt me to accept but a gleam of hope that my exertions may possibly retrieve this poor distressed country from the ruin with which it is now threatened merely for want of system and economy in expending and vigour in raising the public monies. Pressed by all my friends, acquaintances and fellow citizens, and still more pressed by the necessity, the absolute neces- sity of a change in our monied systems to work salva- tion, I have yielded and taken a load on my shoulders which it is not possible to get clear of without the faithful support and assistance of those good citizens, who not onb^ wish but will promote the service of 246 OTHER PUBLIC SERVICES their country. In this light I now make application to you, sir, whose abilities I know and whose zeal I have every reason to believe." To this appeal Schuyler responded with his usual patriotic energy, and later on Morris wrote him : "I am happy to find your exertions so cheerfully and usefully ex- tended to the public service." 247 Chapter VIII. Schuyler's Political Career After the Revolution. His Part in the Development of New York State. — His Family Life. WHILE the war was still in progress, and while he was absorbed in military duties, Schuyler was called upon to take part in the political affairs of his native State which, at this formative period, demanded the best efforts of in- telligent patriots. The struggle for Independence necessarily Involved the building up of a new political system. The old Provincial Assembly, in which Schuyler and Clinton had opposed the oppressive acts of the British ministry, had been succeeded In the beginning of the war by the Provincial Congress, which assumed the government of the revolted colony. On the 9th of July, 1776, immediately after the Declaration of Independence, this Congress marked the change from colony Into Independent State by resolving Itself into a convention of representatives of New York. The first business of the convention was to appoint a committee to prepare a form of gov- ernment for the new State, and of this committee John Jay was made chairman. In March, 1777, Jay 248 POLITICS IN NEW YORK presented the constitution, which he had drawn up with his colleagues, and it was adopted in April. It provided for a government by the people, but the aristocratic ideas still prevalent and embodied in Jay's declaration that the men who owned the country ought to govern it, appeared in a property qualifica- tion for the ballot which restricted the right of suf- frage. The convention appointed John Jay, Chief Justice; Robert R. Livingston, Chancellor; Robert Yates and John Sloss Hobart, Judges of the Supreme Court, and Egbert Benson, Attorney-General. The Governorship, however, was thrown open to popular election. As there were no political parties, the candidates were suggested only by their own prominence before the public. Four men were considered chiefly by the electors: John Morin Scott, John Jay, Philip Schuyler and George Clinton. Scott, one of the leaders of the Liberty Boys and a patriot of great usefulness during the popular resistance to the acts of the British ministry, would have made a strong candidate; but the county of New York, which con- tained his principal constituency, was in the power of the British army and no election was held there. Jay, satisfied with the office of Chief Justice, did not want the governorship and supported Schuyler. The Council of Safety, which then had charge of ad- ministrative affairs, also favored Schuyler. The elec- tion took place during the anxious days of the Bur- 249 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER goyne campaign. Schuyler was absorbed In the effort to arrest the progress of the British army, and neither considered himself a candidate nor encouraged his friends to do so. Thus the office of Governor fell to Clinton. Pierre Van Cortlandt was chosen Lieuten- ant-Governor. George Clinton, destined to play a great part In the public affairs of his native State, was of Scotch- Irish extraction, the son of a farmer In Ulster County. In almost boyish days he had served with Schuyler In the French and Indian War. Later he studied law In New York In the office of William Smith. During the political struggle In the Provincial Assembly which preceded the Revolution he and Schuyler had been the chief supporters of the patriot cause against the ministerial majority. In 1775 they were elected together as delegates to the second Continental Congress. Like Schuyler, Clinton left his seat In Congress for the military service, and at the time of the election for the governorship he was brigadier- general In command of the mllltia defending the Hudson River. He was then thirty-seven years of age, of a burly frame, a hearty manner, active, vigor- ous, Intelligent, a natural leader, and uniting more qualities for general popularity than any other public man In the State. Neither wealth nor family connec- tions had assisted him. His native talents had raised him to office and were to maintain him there for eighteen consecutive years. Before him no man of a 250 CLINTON AND SCHUYLER similar social position had occupied high political office. He symbolized In his career the new democ- racy which was arising. Clinton owed his election to his popularity among the general mass of voters, rather than to the influence of the leading men. Schuyler had worked with him since early youth, knew and liked him. For Gov- ernor he would have preferred Jay, but he looked with satisfaction upon Clinton's candidacy. There were, however, a number of influential men who were not well pleased with the result of the election, who would have wished the office held by a man more In line with the conservative traditions of the State. They seemed to feel instinctively that Clinton, al- though now working with them, might In the future be working against them. There was a feeling of antagonism none the less real that it was vague and as yet without definite cause. Among the accusations made against Schuyler by George Bancroft was that while Washington wrote of Clinton's election, "His character will make him peculiarly useful at the head of your State," Schuyler wrote, "His family and connections do not entitle him to so distinguished a predomlnence." Bancroft inferentlally represented Schuyler as having no stand- ard for public office other than aristocratic position. The phrase which he quoted, isolated from Its context and without intimation as to whom or under what circumstances it was written, gave a totally incorrect 251! LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER and unfair idea of Schuyler's views. Schuyler knew of the opposition to Clinton among many of his friends; he was anxious to secure harmonious support for the new government; and he wrote confidentially to Jay: "I hope General Clinton's having the chair of government will not cause any divisions among the friends of America, although his family and con- nections do not entitle him to so distinguished a pre- dominence; yet he is virtuous and loves his country, has abilities and is brave, and I hope he will experi- ence from every patriot what I am resolved he shall from me, support, countenance and comfort." And to Clinton himself, Schuyler wrote soon after: "I sincerely congratuate you on the honour your country- men have conferred on you, and assure you that I shall embrace every opportunity to make you sit as easy in the chair of government as the times will ad- mit. Your virtue, the love of my country, and that friendship which I have always and with great truth professed, are all so many inducements to it." While Schuyler was visiting Washington's camp at Morristown, in 1779, In company with his daugh- ter Elizabeth, the latter became engaged to Alexander Hamilton and they were married the following year. Schuyler's interest in political affairs, naturally deep, was intensified by his intimacy with Hamilton. The relationship formed the beginning of a friendship of unusual strength on both sides, in which personal 252 HAMILTON AND SCHUYLER affection was Increased by entire agreement and sym- pathy on public questions of absorbing Interest. Dur- ing the next twenty years the foundations of the nation were laid and Its future determined. Into the burning questions then arising for settlement Schuyler entered with all the more heartiness that his son-in-law was the prime mover on the right side. It was a time of Intense political feeling; men were drawn closely together or separated widely, according to their views on public policy. During this period, Schuyler living generally In Albany, and Hamilton In New York, their views were often exchanged by letter. After Schuyler's death, this correspondence, with other Interesting political papers, was found In a trunk In Albany. Its v^alue historically was great. It could have thrown light on the early history of the Federalist party, and perhaps would have cleared up some Incidents which now remain obscure. The Intimate, unguarded views of Hamilton were there. But the son of one of Schuyler's executors, looking over the papers and finding expressions which he con- sidered too personal, took upon himself the responsi- bility of burning the whole ! From 1780 to 1790, Schuyler was almost continu- ously a member of the State Senate and a member of the Council of Appointment, which shared the appointing power with the Governor. He was also a commissioner on the Massachusetts and the Penn- sylvania boundaries, chairman of the Board of Indian 253 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER Commissioners and surveyor-general of the State. One of the most important measures which he carried through the Legislature was the repeal of the re- strictive laws against the loyalists, which he had al- ways opposed as cruel and impolitic. Through those disorderly and dangerous years preceding the adoption of the national constitution, when the slight bond which joined the States was often strained to near the breaking point, Schuyler was constant in urging a closer union and a stronger central government. He procured the passage through the New York Legislature of resolutions to that end which Hamilton had drawn up, and he kept the subject foremost in all political talk. In 1787, when the Constitution of the United States, lately formulated by the convention at Philadelphia, was before the people for ratification, the two great par- ties, Federalist and Anti-Federalist, began to take form. On the one side were the advocates of a strong centralized government which could make an Ameri- can nation; on the other those who preferred a loose confederation of independent States. It was the vital question in our history, not settled finally until the Civil War. In New York, party feeling ran high. Hamilton, Jay and Schuyler were foremost in work- ing for the adoption of the Constitution. Clinton and his friends were against it and had a strong majority with them. In January, 1788, when the great question was paramount in every mind, the 254 IN THE NEW YORK SENATE Governor made no mention of it in his message to the Legislature. In June a convention to consider ratification met at Poughkeepsie, Governor Clinton presiding. His friends, led by Robert Yates, John Lansing, Jr., Samuel Jones, and Melancthon Smith largely outnumbered their opponents. But the Fed- eralists, led by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, Rich- ard Morris, John Sloss Hobart, Robert R. Living- ston and James Duane, had not only on their side the strength of great and enlightened ideas, but also the advantage of superior abilities. A long struggle en- sued, in which the brilliant arguments of Hamilton disconcerted the opposing majority. But it was not until it became known that enough States had ratified to show that New York would be left alone in her independence, that Clinton's party gave up the fight, and the constitution became law in New York. As Schuyler remarked, " Perseverance, patience, and abilities prevailed against numbers and prejudice." In the Legislature of 1788 Clinton's party had a majority in the Assembly, but Hamilton, Schuyler, and the Federalists controlled the senate. The Clin- tonians claimed that the choice of United States Sena- tors and Presidential electors should be by joint ballot of both Houses; the Federalists that the choice should be by the concurrent vote of the separate houses. On this question no agreement was reached until the following year, so that New York had no part in electing Washington for his first term nor in 25s LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER confirming his early appointments. In April, 1789, the first great test of parties in New York occurred in the election for governor. Clinton was a candidate to succeed himself. On the Federalist side Jay de- clined to run, as he was too much taken up with na- tional affairs. Schuyler also refused, as he wished to enter the United States Senate. The only other man who seemed to have any chance of defeating Clinton was Judge Yates. He had been an anti-Federalist, but in a speech to the grand jury had declared that the Constitution having been ratified, it was every man's duty to support it. This seemed to be good enough Federalism for the emergency, and Yates was nominated. Clinton's popularity, however, pre- vailed, and he was again elected Governor, although the Legislature became Federalist in both branches. Since the formation of the national Government Hamilton had been rising in political importance un- til now he was second only to Washington. As the head of the Treasury Department there devolved upon him the solution of the most vital problems which the administration had to solve. His activity in all political affairs was untiring and his influence paramount. When the newly elected New York Legislature was called in extra session for the election of United States Senators, Hamilton's power was ex- erted in a direction which caused much jealousy. One of the Senatorships was universally conceded to Schuyler. But there were several pretenders to the 256 IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE other, whose claims on account of previous patriotic service were well founded. Among these was Robert R. Livingston. He and Philip Livingston had been candidates for Governor at the first election in 1777; but they had polled a very small vote. Now the Livingstons and their friends thought that the Chan- cellor should have the other seat in the United States Senate. Hamilton, however, had fixed upon Rufus King, a man of the highest character and abilities, but a New Englander who had only recently estab- lished himself in New York. The influence of Ham- ilton prevailed and King was elected. But the Liv- ingstons felt a not unnatural resentment, and soon afterwards went over to the anti-Federalists or Dem- ocratic party. Schuyler and King had to draw lots to determine which should have the short term of two years or the long one of six years. Schuyler drew the short term. From 1790 to 1792 he had the satisfaction of sup- porting in the United States Senate Hamilton's great financial measures which so immeasurably increased the stability and credit of the Government. In 1792 he was again a candidate for Senator. But the wily Aaron Burr, uniting in his own support the Clinton- ian party and the Livingstons, anxious to strike a blow at Hamilton, secured the seat for himself. Schuyler returned to the State Senate, where he led the defence of the Jay Treaty. In 1797, at the ex- piration of Burr's term, he had his revenge, for the 257 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER New York Legislature returned him to the United States Senate almost unanimously. His health, near- ly always poor, began to give way after this election, and soon after taking his seat he retired finally from public life. Schuyler was a Federalist from the first moment that circumstances suggested the dominant Idea of that party. During the " critical period " he saw in the principle of Federalism the only salvation of the jarring and disunited States. While Clinton and his political friends refused to look beyond the boundary of New York with anything but narrow jealousy and prejudice, while they sent two obstructionists to tie Hamilton's hands in the Constitutional Convention, Schuyler's voice was always heard urging national unity. His feelings were warmly aroused, and his efforts unremitting to procure the adoption of the constitution In his own hostile State. During the fifteen years of national life which he was permitted to see he was never without thought for the great cause: the welding of the States Into one people and one nation, respecting Itself and respected by others. The noble aim, the vision of future greatness, were to be achieved, If at all, by the Federalist party. And Schuyler was a partisan. His political associates had his time and his means always at command. And he can be forgiven if he saw in the enemies of his party his personal enemies and the enemies of his country. The reverence which he felt for the great leader of 258 DEVELOPMENT OF NEW YORK the revolution, for the chief of the Federalists, for him who stood "first," was a part of Schuyler's life. That base libellers, aided and abetted by leaders of the opposing party, should cast mud at him and seek to degrade in the public eye what was best in Ameri- can manhoo'd, made Schuyler's blood boil, made it easy for him to believe any evil of such "miscreants,'* and made him on such issues a very warm partisan. In addition to his political interests Schuyler took an active part in the development of his native State. From his youth up he had made a study of the physi- cal geography of New York. None was a better judge of the quality of land; none more surely could foresee its value by observation of the forest growth and the water courses. His own purchases were for improvement, seldom for speculation. His posses- sion of land meant the erection of saw-mills, the clear- ing of the forest, and the beginning of cultivation. The most favorable terms were offered to tenants. The old parchment leases mention so many bushels of grain, so many fowls, or day's labor as rent. The in- dividual payments were trifling, but in the aggregate they brought a considerable income to the large land- owner. After the Revolution, with the changed so- cial and political conditions, Schuyler foresaw the dif- ficulties in the path of a great landlord, caused by the uncertainties of title and tenure. He made definite arrangements with his tenants regarding their future purchase of their holdings, and thus spared his de- 259 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER scendants the troubles and losses of the "anti-rent" agitation. His judgment regarding land was sought by intending purchasers, and his knowledge was put to public use in marking the boundaries between Massachusetts on the east and Pennsylvania on the south. As surveyor-general he had more or less to do with all the public works of the progressive times that followed the war; the dividing up of Tryon County, the settlement of the towns of Ontario, Gen- essee, and Oneida, the construction of new roads from the Mohawk River to the lakes, and from Gen- essee to what are now Buffalo and Lewiston. With the opening of the interior of the State to settlers he saw Albany lose its old frontier position as headquar- ters of the fur trade to assume that of centre of a grain-producing country. Lie saw a line of stages established down the Hudson River, and the Institu- tion of a regular mail carrier every two weeks be- tween Albany and the Genessee Valley, In this transformation of savage hunting grounds into a cultivated country, the question of transporta- tion soon became of great Importance. The old waterways and carrys had been supplemented by rough roads cut through the forest between the larger settlements. But a better means of transporting emi- grants and freight became Imperatively necessary. Schuyler saw In canals the solution of this problem. The waterways of his native land suggested the Idea; and when a young man visiting England In 1761, he 260 DEVELOPMENT OF CANAL SYSTEM had already studied the subject. In 1776, when Charles Carroll and Benjamin Franklin were visiting the northern department, Schuyler showed them his plans for connecting the Hudson River and Lake Champlain by a canal, thus making an uninterrupted water carriage between New York and Quebec. In 1792, with Elkanah Watson, he took up the project of a canal between the Hudson River and Lake On- tario by way of the Mohawk, Oneida Lake, and the Onondaga River. Watson examined this route in company with Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, Philip Van Cortlandt and Stephen N. Bayard. Schuyler was then a State Senator, and he procured an act of the Legislature chartering two companies to carry out this design, of both of which he was made president. With Goldsbrow Banyer and Elkanah Watson, in the summer of 1792, he made a thorough examination of the route from Schenectady to Lakes Seneca and Ontario, a country which a short time before had been in exclusive possession of the Indians. In 1793 work was begun, and in 1796 boats of sixteen tons burden passed from Schenectady to Lake Ontario. In 1794 Schuyler was interested in the northern or Champlain Canal, constructed by the French engi- neer, Brunei. During the remainder of his life he continued his efforts In this direction, and In the sum- mer of 1802, when sixty-nine years old, he examined personally the entire western canal route, devising Improvements for locks and solving the engineering 261 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER and mathematical problems himself. Such work was done by him in his age in a land where in his youth he had gone by an Indian trail and only by savage permission. With the Indians, the great Iroquois Confed- eracy, Schuyler continued the close relations which had been hereditary In his family. In his youth he had often travelled the western trail by the Long House; he had fought against the savages and with them In the French and Indian war. He had known them in their power, hemming in the whites, keeping them close to the Hudson, an endless menace on the west in conjunction with the French or English in Canada. He held the office of Indian commissioner for many years, attending all the important council fires, and was regarded by the savages as the heredi- tary representative of the whites. The chiefs who came to Albany always appeared at the Schuyler house, where, although "troublesome visitors," they were hospitably received. During the Revolutionary War Schuyler was the principal Instrument in limiting their hostility. During the ravages of Sir John John- son, of Brant, and the Cornplanter on the western frontier he was the chief organizer of resistance. Whenever business arose between the United States and the Six Nations, Schuyler's experience was used. General Knox, the Secretary of War, relied upon him. Governor Clinton wrote him in 1784: "You were so obliging as to promise to draft a letter proper to be 262 RELATIONS WITH THE INDIANS addressed to the Indians for inviting them to the pro- posed treaty. I am utterly unacquainted with the etiquette to be used on such occasions; may I there- fore venture to request that with the draft of the let- ter you will please to Inform me whether It will be necessary to send copies to the different tribes and, If so, give me the proper addresses, and whatever other information you may conceive necessary." And Schuyler lived to see the decline of the Six Na- tions as a power to be dreaded. The treaty at Fort Stanwix pushed the boundary of New York far west- ward. The canals, which opened a road for men and goods to the Great Lakes, meant the end of savage possession. The great chiefs, with whom Schuyler had struggled and negotiated, saw the inevitable conclu- sion. The Cornplanter, who had ravaged Wyo- ming and Cherry Valley at the head of his Senecas, paid the penalty when he reluctantly signed away the old hunting grounds of his nation at Fort Stan- wix; and he felt the full force of the irresistible change when he received a tax bill from the State of Pennsylvania. Red Jacket, the great orator of the Sen- ecas, shed tears when he found his hunting expedi- tions interrupted again and again by fences. Brant, the brother-in-law of Sir William Johnson, whose long and bloody career had made his name a terror along the border, realized the ruin of his race when, on his death-bed, he charged his nephew : "Have pity on the poor Indians; if you can get any Influence 263 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER with the great, endeavor to do them all the good you can." Such was the end of the dominating confed- eracy, yielding before the irresistible advance of civ- ilization. Schuyler had always a feeling of sym- pathetic interest in the Indians, and he often inter- vened to protect their interests. Among the mass of addresses and petitions regarding them which remain among his papers are not a few letters thanking him for services rendered and signed by the mark of once well-known chiefs. With the substitution of the State for the old Prov- ince of New York, with the succession of George Clinton to the Crown governorships of Sir Henry Moore, Lord Dunmore and William Tryon, Schuy- ler saw some marked social changes. The manors of the Hudson and the political influence of prominent famihes disappeared. Landed estates were divided up among many heirs. Ambitious young men went to the cities to practice law or to engage in commerce, where town lots soon became a more profitable form of investment than the wild lands which their fathers had sought to acquire. Very quickly and naturally the English idea of a landed aristocracy was forgot- ten; old prejudices fell away; and among all ranks arose the free and eager competition for wealth and success which is characteristic of our time and coun- try. Schuyler's domestic life was happy, and the family letters which have been preserved display strong af- 264 FAMILY LIFE fectlons. He lost several children In infancy, but lived to see eight grow to manhood and womanhood and become well established in life.* The estate at Saratoga, where he had built a small house to replace the large one burned by the soldiers of General Bur- goyne, was given by him to his son John Bradstreet on his marriage to the daughter of the patroon; and on the occasion of this gift, in 1784, he wrote to his son: — "My Dear Child: I resign to your care and to your sole emolument a place on which I have for a long series of years bestowed much care and atten- tion, and I confess I should part from it with many a severe pang did I not resign it to my child. I feel none now because of that paternal consideration. It is natural, however, for a parent to be solicitous for the weal of a child who Is now to be guided by, and in a great measure to rely on his own judgment and prudence. Happiness ought to be the end and aim of the exertions of every rational creature, and spir- itual happiness should take the lead, in fact tem- poral happiness without the former does not really exist except in name. The first can only be obtained by an improvement of those faculties of the mind which the beneficent Author of Creation has made all *John Bradstreet Schuyler, Philip J. Schuyler, Van Rensselaer Schuyler, Mrs. John B. Church, Mrs. Alexander Hamilton, Mrs. Stephen Van Rensselaer, Mrs. Washington Morton, Mrs. Mal- colm, afterwards Mrs. Cochran. 265 LIFE OF GENERAL (PHILIP SCHUYLER men susceptible of, by a conscious discharge of those sacred duties enjoined on us by God, or those whom he has authorized to promulgate His Holy will. Let the rule of your conduct then be the precept con- tained In Holy Writ (to which I hope and entreat you will have frequent recourse). If you do, virtue, honor, good faith, and a punctual discharge of the social duties will be the certain result, and an Internal satisfaction that no temporal calamities can ever de- prive you of. Be Indulgent, my child, to your In- feriors, affable and courteous to your equals, respect- ful, not cringing, to your superiors, whether they are so by superior mental abilities or those necessary dis- tinctions which society has established. With regard to your temporal concerns. It Is Indispensably neces- sary that you should afford them a close and continual attention. That you should not commit that to others which you can execute yourself. That you should not refer the necessary business of the hour or the day to the next. Delays are not only dangerous ; they are fatal. Do not consider anything too Insig- nificant to preserve; if you do so the habit will steal on you and you will consider many things of little Importance and the account will close against you. iWhereas a proper economy will not only make you easy, but enable you to bestow benefits on objects who may want your assistance, and of them you will find not a few. Example Is infinitely more lasting than precept; let, therefore, your servants never discover a 266 FAMILY LIFE disposition to negligence or waste; if they do they will surely follow you in it, and your affairs will not slide, but gallop into Ruin. ... I must once more recommend to you as a matter of Indispensable Importance to love, to honor, and faithfully and with- out guile to serve the eternal, incomprehensible ben- eficent and gracious Being by whose will you exist, and so insure happiness, in this life and in that to come. And now, my dear child, I commit you and my daughter and all your concerns to His gracious and good guidance; and sincerely entreat Him to enable you to be a comfort to your parents and a pro- tector to your brothers and sisters, an honor to your family and a good citizen. Accept my blessing, and be assured that I am your affectionate father." Schuyler's wife, the "Sweet Kitty V. R." of his youth, was spared to him for forty-eight years. She was a woman of strong character and intelligence, able and glad to second her husband's public labors. When Burgoyne's army was advancing southward, she went to Saratoga and with her own hands applied the torch to the fields of growing grain in order that they should not afford sustenance to the enemy. She died In 1803, and Schuyler wrote of his bereavement to Hamilton : "Every letter of yours affords a means of consolation ; and I am aware that nothing tends so much to the alleviation of distress as the personal intercourse of a sincere friend, and the endearing at- tentions of children. I shall, therefore, delay no 267 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER longer than Is indispensably necessary, my visit to you. My trial has been severe. I shall attempt to sustain it with fortitude. I have, I hope, succeeded in a degree, but after giving and receiving, for nearly half a century, a series of mutual evidences of an affection and of a friendship which increased as we advanced in life, the shock was great and sensibly felt, to be thus suddenly deprived of a beloved wife, the mother of my children, and the soothing companion of my declining days. But as I kiss the rod with humility, the Being that inflicts the stroke will enable me to sustain the smart, and progressively restore peace to a wounded heart; and will make you, my Eliza and my other children, the Instruments of con- solation." Schuyler's affection for Hamilton could not have been greater had the latter been his own son. The news of the fatal result of the duel July 12, 1804, reached him in Albany when he himself was very ill. In this calamity he wrote to his daughter: "My Dear, Dearly Beloved and Affectionate Child: This morning Mr. Church's letter has an- nounced to me the severe affliction which it has pleased the Supreme Being to Inflict on you, on me and on all dear to us. If aught, under Heaven, could aggravate the aflllctlon I experience, it is that, inca- pable of moving or being moved, I can not fly to you to pour the balm of comfort Into your afflicted bosom, to water it with my tears, and to receive yours on 268 DEATH OF HAMILTON mine. In this distressing situation — under the pres- sure of this most severe calamity, let us seek consola- tion from that source where it can only be truly found, in humble resignation to the will of Heaven. Oh, my beloved child, let us unanimously entreat the Supreme Being to give you fortitude to support the affliction, to preserve you to me, to your dear children and relations. Should it please God so far to restore my strength as to enable me to go to you, I shall embrace the first moment to do it; but, should It be otherwise, I entreat you, my beloved child, to come to me as soon as you possibly can, with my dear grand- children. Your sisters will accompany you. May Almighty God bless and protect you, and pour the balm of consolation Into your distressed soul is, and will always be, the prayer of your affectionate and dis- tressed parent." And four days later he wrote his eldest daughter, Mrs. Church, who was with Mrs. Hamilton: "The dreadful calamity, my dearly beloved child, which we have all sustained, affected me so deeply as to threaten serious results; but when I received the account of his Christian resignation, my afflicted soul was much tran- quilized. Oh, may Heaven indulgently extend forti- tude to my afflicted, my distressed, my beloved Eliza. I trust that the Supreme Being will prolong my life, that I may discharge the duties of a father to my dear child and her dear children. My wounds bear a 269 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER favorable aspect, and the paroxysms of the gout have not been severe for the last two days. Yesterday I was able to sit up all the day. God grant that my recovery may be accelerated to enable me to go to New York and embrace my distressed children. Should, however, my restoration be retarded, I wish to see you all here. The change of scene, may, perhaps tend to soothe my beloved Eliza and children. She knows how tenderly I loved my dear Hamilton ; how tenderly I love her and my dear children ; that I feel all the duties that are devolved on me. The evening of my days will be passed in the pleasing occupation of administering comfort and relief to a child and grandchildren so highly entitled to my best exertions." The strong affections which appear in these family letters were extended by Schuyler to his friends. His correspondence with Washington, John Jay, James Duane, William Smith, Jr., and others with whom he was closely associated give evidence on both sides of feelings deeper than ordinary friendship and regard. Dangers and difficulties courageously faced bring men close together. In 1784 Washington wrote him from Mount Vernon: "In recollecting the vicissitudes of fortune we have experienced and the difficulties we have surmounted, I shall always call to mind the great assistance I have frequently received from you, both in your public and private character. May the bless- ings of Peace amply reward your exertions. May you and your family long continue to enjoy every 270 CAREER AND CHARACTER species of happiness this world can afford. With sentiments of sincere esteem, attachment and affec- tion." Schuyler survived the death of his wife and of Hamilton but a short time. He died on the i8th of November, 1804, in his seventy-first year. His ca- reer, honorable to himself, useful to the community in which his lot was cast, and to the nation which he helped to found, owed its success to sterling qualities of head and heart. Without genius, without extraor- dinary talent in any particular, he had that combina- tion of ability and character which makes a trusted leader. A genuine love of country lay at the base of all his public actions. The fair land which his ances- cestors had travelled so far and worked so hard to possess, he rejoiced in possessing and in improving. The noble river, which attracted the affection of his earliest youth and was nearly concerned in all the in- terests of his later life; the forests and lakes and waterways of the interior, beautiful to him as they stood in their wildness and inviting to a development of infinite value; his neighbors the Indians for whom he felt an hereditary interest and responsibility — all these were real and deep sources of attachment to the country of his birth. But beyond the advantages of beautiful and fertile lands, he valued the higher bless- ings of an enlightened liberty, of political rights, of a just and stable government. For the security of these blessings, he unhesitatingly placed his life and prop- 271 LIFE OF GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER erty In jeopardy, and bore with magnanimity a cruel injustice. He labored long and unselfishly not only to preserve them from foreign attack, but to establish them on the enduring foundation of the Constitution of the United States. 273 INDEX Abercrombie, Gen., 31, 62, 193. Ackland, Maj., 179. Adams, John, 186. Adams, Samuel, 187. Addison, 23, 41. Albany, 6. Alexander, William, 38. Alsop, John, 80, 84. Amherst, Gen., 31, 65. Andros, Gov., 17. Arnold, Benedict, 115, 118, 120, 131, 191, 202, 219. Auchmuty, Dr., 80. Baker, Capt., 116. Balcarres, Maj., 179. Bancroft, George, 200, 230, 251. Banyer, Goldsborough, 261. Barclay, Rev. Henry, ZT- Barre, Col., 120. Battery, The, 3. Bayard family, 17. Bayard, Stephen N., 261. Bayard, William, "jG. Beauvais, 29. Beeckman family, 17. Bennington, battle of, 74, 212, 215- Benson, Egbert, 98, 240. Bernier, 52, 54. Bonaparte, Napoleon, 146. Bowling Green, tj. Bleecker, 2)^. Braddocic, Gen., 44. Bradstreet, Gen. John, 55, 62,65. Brant, 46, 215. Brownson, Mr., 159. Burgoyne, Gen., 172, 175, 176, 178, 182, 196, 209, 241. Burke, Edmund, 80, 120, 180. Burke, Mr., 159, 167. Burr, Aaron, 257, Caffieres, II9, Callieres, 25. Canals, 261. Carleton, Gen., 118, 131, 169. Carlyle, Thomas, 176. Carroll, Charles, 143. Chastellux, Marquis de, 68, 241. Chatham, Lord, 120. Cheeseman, Col., 118. Church, Mrs., 269. Claverack, 13. Clinton, George, 84, 90, 249, 250, 255, 256. Clymer, Mr., 151, 159. Colden, Gov., 74, 83. Corlear, 11. Cromwell, Oliver, 38. Crown Point, 45, 48, 147. Cruger, John, 76, 80, 84. Cuyler, 36. Damas, Comte de, 68. Dayton, Col., 127. Deane, Silas, 109. De Laet, Johanna, 21. De Lancey family, 17, 80. De Lancey, James, 44, 45, So. De Lancey, John, 80. De Peyster family, 17. Derby, Earl of, 176. Dieskau, Baron, 48, 49, 53, 54. Dinwiddie, Gov., 51. Douw, V. P., 125. Duane, James, 71, 84, 159, \.fli, 224, 255. Duer, William, 159, 165. Dyson, Jerry, 166. Ellery, Mr., 159. Elmer, Mr,, 159. 273 INDEX Fermoy, Gen. de, 173. Flatts, The, 20. 30. Fort Anne, 196, 206. Fort Edward, 196, 206. Fort George, 196, 206. Fort Miller, 207. Fort Saratoga, 207. Fort Stillwater, 207. Fort Stanwix, 219. Fox, Charles James, 71, 120. Francis, Turbutt, 125. Franklin, Benjamin, I7, 82. Fraser, Gen., 179, 194, 195, 206. Frontenac, 19, 61. Gage, Gen., 59. Gansevoort, Peter, 216, 218. Gates, Gen., career of, 137; intrigues of, 137; appointed to command of army in Can- ada, 139; conflict of author- ity, 140; continues intrigues, 142; leaves Washington in New Jersey to seek favor of delegates in Congress, 152, 153; appointed to command, 158; defeat of his party, 160; conduct at Albany, 161; correspondence with dele- gates, 161, 162; defeat of his projects, 164; his conduct at Albany, 164; his appeal to Congress, 165 ; his neglect of Ticonderoga, 171, 186, 190, 193 ; is appointed to com- mand northern department, 223 ; his character, 232 ; his military operations, 237. George III., 176. Germaine, Lord George, 178. Gerry, Elbridge, 143. Glover, Gen., 205. Government House, 3. Grant, Mrs., of Laggan, 28, 61. Hamilton, Alexander, 82, 252, 253, 254, 255, 256. Hampden, John, 38. Hampshire Grants, 74. Harrison, Col., 167. Hawley, Joseph, 125. Hay, Col., 184. Hayward, Mr., 159. Hazen, Gen., 139. Hendrick, 47. Herkimer, Nicholas, 175, 183, 216. Hinman, Col., 108. Hobart, John S., 240, 255. Holland, Lord, 71. Howe, Gen., 31, 59, 173, 177, 182. Howe, Lord, 59. Howe, Richard, 59. Hunt, L. L., III. Jauncey, James, 80. Jay, John, 15, 34, 84, 98, 185, 224, 243, 249, 255, 257. Jefferson, Thomas, 82. Johnson, Guy, 98, 144, Johnson, Sir John^ 98, 124, 126, 127, 172, 175, 177, 215. Johnson, Sir William, 23, 35, 45, 46, 48. 55, 124. Toncaire, 23. Jones, Dr. John, 38. Jones, Samuel, 255. K-ennedy, Archibald, 77. King, Rufus, 257. King's Arms, 37. Kirkland, Dr., 58. Koorn, Nicholas, 12. Lafayette, Gen., 17, 68. Lansing, John, Jr., 36, 255. Lansing, Philip, 44. La Prairie, 25. Lauzun, 68. Lee, Charles, 59, 93, 94. Lewis, Francis, 84. Lewis, Morgan, 245. Lincoln, Gen., 202, 213. Lispenard, Leonard, 76. Livingston, Edward, 18. Livingston, Henry B., 238. Livingston, Kitty, 41. Livingston Manor, 18. Livingston, Peter R., 80. 74 INDEX Livingston, P. V. B., 38. Livingston, Philip, 18, 40, y6, ISP- Livingston, Robert, 17, 81. Livingston, Robert R., 18, 38, 76, 240, 255. Livingston, Walter, 104, 140. Livingston, William, 18, 2>7, 38, 76, 79- Lockwood, James, 109. Long House, The, 35. Loockermans, Govert, 12. Lovell, James, 159, 161, 163, 164. Low, Isaac, 80, 84. Luzerne, 17. Lyman, Gen., 47, 51, Lynch, Thomas, 119. Macdougall, Alexander, 76. McCrea, Jeanie, 210. McPherson, Col., 118. Manduit, Chev. de, 69, Manors, Hudson River, 9. Marin, 28. Middleton, Mr., 167. Militia, The, 116, 117, 121, 194, 200, 211, 225, 227, 228, 230. Mohawk Chiefs, 23. Montcalm, 30, 35, 61. Montgomery, Gen., 81, 88, 95, no, 117, 118, 119, 121. Moore, Gov., 71. Morris, Gouverneur, 201, 224, 226. Morris, Lewis, 84, 226. Morris, Richard, 255. Morris, Robert, 135, 246. Nassau Hall, 95. New York City, 3, 5, 37, 38, 39. New York, province of, 2. Nixon, Gen., 195. Noailles. Vicomte de, 68. North, Lord, 120, Noyau, 62. Oriskany, 216. Oswego, 61. Paca, William, 165, 166. Page, Mr., 159. Parkman, Francis, 22. Parties in New York, 82. Patroonships, 10, 14. Patterson, Gen., 173. Peters, Hugh, 38. Philipse, Eva, 15. Philipse, Frederick, 15, 80. PhiHpse Manor, 15. Philipsburg, 15. Phillips, Gen., 179, 188. Pitt, William, 43. Poor, Gen., 173. Putnam, Israel, 30, 44, 59, 135, 184. Quider, 27. Rensselaerwyck, 10, 12, 13. Riedesel, Gen., 194, 195. Riedesel, Mme., 239, 240. Rochambeau, 17. Saratoga, battle of, 235, 237; Schuyler's estate at, 72, 265. Schuyler, Alyda, 18. Schuyler, Arent, 29. Schuyler, Aunt, 31. Schuyler, Brandt, 21, 30. Schuyler cemetery, 31. Schuyler, Elizabeth, 252. Schuyler family, 20 et seq. Schuyler, Gertruyd, 15. Schuyler, George L.,'241. Schuyler, Johannes, 28. Schuyler, Johannes, Jr., 32. Schuyler, John Bradstreet, 165. Schuyler, Margaret, 246. Schuyler, Peter, 22, 24, 45. Schuyler, Col. Peter, 29, 30. Schuyler, Philip Pieterse, 20, 21. Schuyler, Philip, 28, 29. Schuyler, Philip, Jr., 241. Schuyler, Mrs. Philip, 42, 53, 54, 267. Schuyler, General Philip, birth, 32; youth, 2,2)', education, 2,3', mathematical taste, ZZ ', early 275 INDEX Schuyler, General Philip — Con- tinued. life at Albany, 35; visit to New York, 40 ; comes of age, 42; in the French and Indian war, 52, S3, 56, 59, 63; kind- ness to French prisoners, 54, 58; marries, 53; accompanies General Bradstreet, 62; visit to England, 65 ; House at Albany, 67, 68; business en- terprise, 70; his property, 70, 72; knowledge of Indians, 71 ; and the Hampshire Grants, 75 ; member of pro- vincial assembly, 76, 80, 83 ; member of Continental Con- gress, 84; views on the revo- lution, 85 ; appointed major- general, 91; in command cf northern department, 97; ex- pedition to Canada, 102, 103, 106; illness, 113 ; wishes to re- sign, 123 ; appointed Indian commissioner, 125 ; moves against Tories and Johnsons, 126 ; efforts to relieve army in Canada, 129; attacks upon his character, 132; New England hostility to, 135, 136; conflict with Gates, 142; goes to Crown Point with Gates, 144; removes troops to Ticonde- roga, 147; criticism of this action, 148; Congress refuses to accept his resignation, 149; ill-treatment by Congress, 150; intrigues of Gates against him, 153; his letter to Congress which gave offence, ISS. 156; action of Congress on the letter, 156, 158, 160; goes to Philadelphia, 158; vindication in Congress, 160; returns to Albany and pre- pares for invasion from Can- ada, 169, 171 ; at Ticonderoga, '^73', protects the western frontier, 175 ; hears of Bur- goyne's invasion, iSi; evacu- Schuyler, General Philip — Con- tinued. ation of Ticonderoga, 184; establishes headquarters at Fort Edward, 184, 195 ; meas- ures for defence, 196, 198, 203 ; relieves Fort Stanwix, 219; his military position in contrast to Burgoyne's, 220, 222; is superseded by Gates, 223 ; cause of this action by Congress, 223, 224; his con- duct at this juncture, 233, 234; meeting with Burgoyne, 238; hospitality to Burgoyne and to Mme. Riedesel, 239; applies for court martial, 242 ; is acquitted, 243 ; resigns from army, 243 ; other public services in revolution, 244, 246; attempt to capture him, 246; in New York political life, 249, 253 ; supports United States Constitution, 254; in United States Senate, 257; part in development of New York, 259; in canal system, 261 ; relations with Indians, 263 ; domestic life, 264 ; death, 271. Schuyler house at Albany, 67. Scott, Gen., 150. Scott, John Morin, 38, 77, 78, 249. Seven Years' War, 42. Shelburne, Lord, 178. Sherman, Roger, 82, 165, 166, 167. Six Nations, the, 19. Smith, Cotton Mather, 72, 108. Smith, Melancthon, 255. Smith, William, Jr., 37, 38, 71, 159- Smith, Wm. Peartree, 38. Stamp Act, 77. Stark, Gen., 44, 59, 139, 213. Steele, Richard, 23, 41. Stevens, Gen., 190. Stockton, Mr., 151. Stouppe, Rev. Mr., 33. Z76 INDEX Stringer, Dr., I54- Strong, Zebediah, 104. St. Clair, Gen., 158, 172, 184, 185, 187, 192, 194. St. Leger, Col., 215, 216, 219. St. Peter's Church, Albany, 61. St. Pierre, 51. Stuyvesant, P., 12. Sullivan, Gen., 131, 138, 139, 145- Sykes, Mr., 159. Ten Broeck, Abram, 36, 40, 80. Ten Eyck, 36. Theatre in New York, 40. Thornton, Mr., 159. Ticonderoga. 173, 174; evacuat- ed, 183 ; taken, 188, 190. Trumbull, John, 144, 155, 156, 189, 242. Trumbull, Jonathan, Jr., 135. Trumbull, Joseph, 143, 154, 155, 156. Tryon, Gov., 71, 83. Valrenne, 25. Van Brugh, ^6. Van Corlear, Arent, 11. Van Cortlandt, Cornelia, 17, 21. Van Cortlandt family, 15, 16. Van Cortlandt, Jacobus, 15. Van Cortlandt Manor, 16. Van Cortlandt, Oloff Stevense, 14. Van Cortlandt, Pierre, 17, 80, 184, 250. Van Cortlandt, Stephanus, 15, 16, 21. Van Home, David, 38. Van Rensselaer family, 9, 11, 13- Van Rensselaer, Hendrick, 13. Van Rensselaer, Jeremias, 12, 13- Van Rensselaer, John, 71. Van Rensselaer, Kiliaen, 11. 13. Van Rensselaer, Nicholas, 18. Van Schaack, Henry, 44. Van Schlechtenhorst, 12, 20. Villiers, Coulon de, 56. Varick, Col., 159. Vaudreuil, 56, 62. Walton, Jacob, 80. Warner, Gen.. 207. Warren, Sir Peter, 41, 45. Washington, George, 42, 93, 173, 182, 185, 199, 202, 205, 207, 227, 270. Waterbury, David, 100. Watson, Elkanah, 261. Watts, Jack, 41. Watts, Miss, 45. Wayne, Col., 191. Wentworth, Gov., 74. Westminster Abbey, 61. Whig Club, :-i7. Whitefield, George, 17. Wilkinson, Col., 164. Williams, Ephraim, 47, 5a Williams, W.. 156. Winthrop, John, Jr., 28. Wolcott, Oliver, 125, 159. Wolfe, Gen., 43, 63. Wooster, Gen., 100, 130, 131. Wynkoop, Capt., 41. Yates, Robert, 240, 255, 256. York, Duke of, 17. 277 V^ <^^ "^ ,<,^ O %. ■^o,<^ .4" -y. .-^' '^^ .^^ -■-. .<^ .•■* ^^-_ '^^ v^' ^Oc ^\d^ '^^^'^ -v. v^^ " -f^ o<:^ ,0 c .r-iv^ A^ 0^. ,.-^ % A^" ^„ •^^, ^^~^ -^^^ ,-^'« A^^-^. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS mm Hiiiyiiiiilii^iiiiii i-' ilij 011 699 639 A % ^^■■■■II^^^^^^^^^^^^^Br ioaB^^^^^^Bt ^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 ^^^^^^^^^^B^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^1 it t ;> vHRI imi!. Ms '' , iiL.. A'h.:^' iii.iitin