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THE


PICTORIAL FIELD —B
OF
THE REVOLUTION;
OR,
ILLUSTRATIONS, BY PEN AND PENCIL, OF THE HISTORY, BIOGRAPHY, SCENERY, RELICS, AND TRADITIONS OF THE
WAR FOR INDEPENDENCE.
BY BENSON JP"LOSSING.
WITH SEVERAL HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD, BY LOSSING AND BARRITT,
CHIEFLY FROM ORIGINAL SKETCHES BY THE AUTHOR.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL, I.
NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
82 CLIFF STREET.


18 5 1.




LS
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
eight hundred and fifty, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District
of New York.




HE story of the American Revolution has been well and often
-,  r.         told, and yet the most careless observer of the popular mind
may perceive that a large proportion of our people are but little
'instructed in many of the essential details of that event, so important for every intelligent citizen to learn. Very few are ig-.. —    norant of the more conspicuous circumstances of that period,
and all who claim to be well-informed have a correct general knowledge of the
history of our war for independence. But few even of that intelligent class
are acquainted with the location of the various scenes depicted by the historian, in their relation to the lakes and rivers, towns and cities, whose names
are familiar to the ears of the present generation. For example: the citizen of
Saratoga may have a thorough knowledge of the memorable places in his own
vicinage, and of the incidents which have hallowed them, yet how puzzled he
would be if asked to tell the inquiring stranger, or his more inquisitive children,
upon what particular stream, or lofty height, or broad plain, or in what mountain gorge, occurred the battles of Rocky Mount, King's Mountain, Eutaw Springs,
or the Cowpens. These are places widely known in their respective districts,
and the events connected with them form as important links in the chain of circumstances which were developed in the progress of the colonies toward independence, as the surrender of Burgoyne and his army upon the plain at Saratoga.
Among this class, claiming to be generally informed, but ignorant in many particulars, especially in relation to the character and situation of localities, the writer
places himself; and to an appreciation of the necessity of a more thorough knowledge of these places, and of the men who are identified with the Revolution, the
reader is partially indebted for the pages which follow this confession.
To obtain this accurate chorographical knowledge of our early history as a confederation of states, was not the only incentive to undertake a journey to the battlefields and other localities hallowed by the events of the Revolution. My limited
observation had perceived many remaining physical vestiges of that struggle. Half

170738




PREFACE.


hidden mounds of old redoubts; the ruined walls of some stronger fortification; dilapidated buildings, neglected and decaying, wherein patriots met for shelter or in
council; and living men, who had borne the musket and knapsack day after day in
that conflict, occasionally passed under the eye of my casual apprehension. For
years a strong desire was felt to embalm those precious things of our cherished household, that they might be preserved for the admiration and reverence of remote posterity. I knew that the genius of our people was the reverse of antiquarian reverence for the things of the past; that the glowing future, all sunlight and eminence,
absorbed their thoughts and energies, and few looked back to the twilight and dim
valleys of the past through which they had journeyed. I knew that the invisible
fingers of decay, the plow of agriculture, and the behests of Mammon, unrestrained
in their operations by the prevailing spirit of our people, would soon sweep away
every tangible vestige of the Revolution, and that it was time the limner was abroad.
I knew that, like stars at dawn which had beamed brightly through a long night,
the men of old were fast fading away, and that relics associated with their trials
and triumphs would soon be covered up forever. Other men, far more competent
than myself to use the pen and pencil, appeared indisposed to go out into the apparently shorn and unfruitful field upon which I looked with such covetous delight,
except to pick up a grain here and there for special preservation. I knew that the
vigorous reapers who had garnered the products of that broad field, must have let
fall from their full hands many a precious ear loaded with choice grain, and I resolved to go out as a gleaner, carefully gather up what they had left behind, and
add the winnings to their store. Like the servants of Boaz, when Ruth followed
the reapers, they seem to have " let fall also some of the handfuls of purpose for
me, that I might glean them," for I found a far greater abundance than hope had
promised. I have "gleaned in the field until even, and beat out that I have gleaned,"
and here is my " ephah of barley."
In the arrangement of a plan for presenting the result of these labors to the
public in an acceptable form many difficulties were perceptible. Other histories of
our Revolution had been written, embellished, and read; what could be produced
more attractive than they?  The exciting literature of the day, ranging in its intoxicating character from the gross pictures of sensual life drawn by the French writers of fiction, to the more refined, but not less intoxicating works of popular and
esteemed novelists, so cheaply published and so widely diffused, has produced a
degree of mental dissipation throughout our land, destructive, in its tendency, to
sober and rational desires for imbibing useful knowledge. Among the young,
where this dissipation is most rife, and deleterious in its effects, it seemed most desirable to have the story of our Revolution known and its salutary teachings pondered
and improved, for they will be the custodians of our free institutions when the active
men of the present generation shall step aside into the quiet shadows of old age.
Next to tales of love and gallantry, the young mind is most charmed by the narratives of the traveler. The woof of our history is too sacred to be interwoven with the
tinsel filling of fiction, and we should have too high a regard for truth to seek the
potential aid of its counterfeit in gaining audience in the ear of the million; but to
the latter tase we may consistently pay court, and in behalf of sober history, use its




PREFACE,


power in disputing for the preference with the tourist. As my journey was among
scenes and things hallowed to the feelings of every American, I felt a hope that a
record of the pilgrimage, interwoven with that of the facts of past history, would
attract the attention, and win to the perusal of the chronicles of our Revolution
many who could not be otherwise decoyed into the apparently arid and flowerless
domains of mere history. I accordingly determined to make the record of the tour
to the important localities of the Revolution a leading feature in the work. Here
another difficulty was encountered. So widely scattered are those localities, and so
simultaneous were many of the events, that a connected narrative of the journey
must necessarily break up the chronological unity of the history, and, at times,
produce some confusion. To give incidents of the journey, and sketches and descriptions of the scenery and relics as they appear at present, in fragmentary notes,
would deny to the work the charm of a book of travel, and thus almost wholly remove the prime object in view in giving such narrative. The apparently less objec.
tionable course was chosen, and the history was broken into fragments, arranged,
in the exhibition, in accordance with the order in which each locality was visited,
the fragments individualized as much as possible, yet always maintaining a tie
of visible relationship with the whole. The apparent difficulties in the way of
the student which this plan suggests, are removed by the aid of a complete Analytical Index at the close of the work, while the narrative of the tour remains unbroken, except by the continually recurring appendices of history. How far this
arrangement shall accomplish the desired result the candid judgment of the reader
must determine.
To collect the pictorial and other materials for this work, I traveled more than
eight thousand miles in the Old Thirteen States and Canada, and visited every important place made memorable by the events of the war; yet, in all that long and
devious journey, through cities and villages, amid mountains and vast pine forests,
along rivers and over fertile plantations, from New England to Georgia, with no
passport to the confidence, no claim to the regard of those from whom information
was sought, except such as the object of my errand afforded, and communing with
men of every social and intellectual grade, I never experienced an unkind word or
cold repulsion of manner. On the contrary, politeness always greeted my first sal.
utation, and, when the object of my visit was announced, hospitality and friendly
services were freely bestowed. Every where the memorials of our Revolution are
cherished with devotional earnestness, and a feeling of reverence for these things
abounds, though kept quiescent by the progressive spirit of the age. To those who
thus aided and cheered me in my enterprise, I here proffer my sincere thanks. I
can not name them all, for they are too numerous, but they will ever remain cherished "pictures on memory's wall."
It has been said that "diligence and accuracy are the only merits which a historical writer may ascribe to himself." Neither labor nor care has been spared in
the collection of materials, and in endeavors to produce a work as free from grave
errors as possible. It has imperfections; it would be foolish egotism to assert the
contrary. In the various histories of the same events many discrepancies appear;
these I have endeavored to reconcile or correct by documentary and other reliable




PREFACE.


testimony; and if the work is not more accurate than its predecessors, it is believed
to be equally so with the most reliable. Free use has been made of the available
labors of others in the same department of literature, always accrediting the source
from whence facts were derived. I have aimed to view men and events with an
impartial eye, censuring friends when they deserved censure, and commending enemies when truth and justice demanded the tribute. The historical events recorded
were those of a family quarrel concerning vital principles in jurisprudence; and
wisely did a sagacious English statesman console himself, at the close of the war,
with the reflection, " We have been subdued, it is true, but, thank Heaven, the
brain and the muscle which achieved the victory were nurtured by English blood;
Old England, upon the Island of Great Britain, has been beaten only by Young
England, in America."
I In the pictorial department, special care has been observed to make faithful delineations of fact. If a relic of the revolution was not susceptible of picturesque
effect in a drawing, without a departure from truth, it has been left in its plainness,
for my chief object was to illustrate the subject, not merely to embellish the book. I
have endeavored to present the features of things as I found them, whether homely
or charming, and have sought to delineate all that fell in my way worthy of preservation. To do this, it was necessary to make the engravings numerous, and no
larger than perspicuity demanded, else the work would be filled with pictures to
the exclusion of essential reading matter.
The plans of military movements have been drawn chiefly from British sources,
for very few were made by the engineers in the Continental service. These appear
to be generally pretty correct, so far as they represent the immediate movements
of the armies in actual conflict; but the general topographical knowledge possessed
by those engineers, was quite defective. I have endeavored to detect and correct their
inaccuracies, either in the drawings or in the illustrative descriptions.
- With these general remarks respecting the origin and construction of the work,
it is submitted to the reading public. If a perusal of its pages shall afford as
much pleasure and profitable knowledge as were derived from the journey and in
the arrangement of the materials for the press, the effort has not been unfruitful
of good results. With an ardent desire that it may prove a useful worker in the
maintenance and growth of true patriotism,




— =JlsC:_i
---— r;


OI.


"IZ


[An Analytical Index may be found at the And of the second volume.]


PREFACE................................. Page iii
INTRODUCTION.................................... V
CHAPTER I.
Classic Localities-Departure for Saratoga-Voyage up the
Hudson-Returning Volunteers-Albany-Troy-Fulton's
Steam-boat-Cohoes Falls-Van Schaick's Island-State of
Affairs in 1777-English Preparations for the CampaignInstructions of Lord George Germaine-Biographical Sketch
of Burgoyne-Burgoyne's Arrival in Canada-His Preparations for the Campaign-Appointment of General Schuyler
to the Command-Schuyler and Gates-Advance of Burgoyne-Condition of the Continental Army —Retreat of
Schuyler to the Mohawk-St. Leger in the Mohawk Valley
-Relief of the Valley proposed by Schuyler-Volunteers for
the Relief of Fort Schuyler-Position of the Americans at
Cohoes-Active Preparations to oppose Burgoyne-Schuyler
superseded by Gates-Factions in Congress-Noble Conduct
of Schuyler...............................33-43
CHAPTER II.
Canal Voyage from Waterford to Bemis's Heights-Appearance
of the Country-Young Tourists from Saratoga Springs
Gates and Burgoyne-An Evening Visit to Bemis's Heights
-View from Bemis's Heights-Topography-Origin of the
Name-Head quarters of Revolutionary Officers-Localities
about Bemis's Heights-Gates's Quarters-Willard's Mountain-Condition of the Northern Army-British Reverses in
the Mohawk Valley-Perplexity of Burgoyne-Advance of
Gates to Stillwater-Kosciusko-Fortifications at Bemis's
Heights-Their present Appearance-Preparations for Battle-Expedition against the Posts on Lakes George and Champlain-March of Burgoyne to Saratoga and Stillwater-Material of the American Army on Bemis's Heights-Relative
Position of the two Armies-Burgoyne's Plan of Attack-Approach of the two Armies-Engagement between the Advance Corps-Maneuvers of Arnold and Fraser-Approach
of a British Re-enforcement under Phillips-View of the Battle-ground-A Lull in the Battle-Renewal of the BattleLoss sustained by both Armies-The Number and the partioular Troops engaged-Baroness Reidesel's Notice of the
Battle-Major Hull-Narrow Escape of Burgoyne-Arnold
and the Testimony of History-Colonel Varick's Letter respecting Arnold-General Gates's Treatment of ArnoldRupture between them-Condition of the Armies after the
Battle-Burgoyne's Encampment-Poverty of the American
Commissariat-Fortifications of both Camps-Junction of
Lincoln with the Army at Bemis's-Relative Position of the
Armies-Effect of the Battle on the People-Diminution of
Burgoyne's Army and Increase of Gates's-Condition of the
Enemy-Hostile Movements of the British-Preparations of
the Americans for Battle-Second Battle of StillwaterBravery of both Armies-Quick and bold Movements of
Morgan-Impetuosity and Bravery of Arnold-General Fraser-His Death-Censure of Morgan-Panic in the British
Line-Timothy Murphy-Bravery of General Arnold-Asafallt on the German Works-Arnold wounded-Gates and


Sir Francis Clarke-Retreat of the Germans and Close of the
Battle-Preparations of Burgoyne to retreat-The Killed
and Wounded-Place of General Fraser's Death-Account
of his Death by the Baroness Reidesel-Fraser's last Request
granted-Burial of Fraser-Humanity of the Americans
Lady Harriet Ackland-Her Courage and Fortitude-Burgoyne's Request and Gates Generosity-Lines by Mrs. Morton-Death of Major Ackland-Second Marriage of Lady
Harriet...................................... Page 43-69
CHAPTER III.
Present Peacefulness at Saratoga-Curious Meteorologieal
Phenomena-Departure for Schuylerville-Approach of a
Tempest-A violent Gale-Misfortune of an Irish Way-passenger-Fraser's Grave-Do-ve-gat or Coveville-Colonel
Van Vechten-Origin of " Whig" and "Tory"-Arrival -at
Schuylerville-Beautiful Evening Scene-Commencement
of Burgoyne's Retreat toward Saratoga-His Retreat anticipated by Gates-Melancholy Condition of the British Army
-Gates's Kindness to the Invalids-Destruction of Schuyler's
Mills and Mansion-Situation of Fellow's Detachment-Conduct of the American Militia-Burgoyne's Attempt to retreat
-Unsuccessful Stratagem of Burgoyne-Perilous Situation
of two American Brigades-Deserters from the British Army
-Retreat of the Americans to their Camp-Perplexity of
Burgoyne-A scattered Retreat proposed-Relative Position
of the two Camps-Exposed Condition of the British Camp
-Burgoyne determines to Surrender-Proposition of Burgoyne to surrender his Troops-Terms proposed by Gates —
Terms finally agreed upon-Message to Burgoyne from General Clinton-Disposition of Burgoyne to withhold his Bignature-Laying down of Arms-Courtesy of General Gates
-The Place of Surrender-First personal Meeting of Gates
and Burgoyne-Humiliating Review of the British Prisoners
-Burgoyne's Surrender of his Sword-The Spoils of Victory-Yankee Doodle-The Germans and Hessians-Their
Arrival at Cambridge and wretched Appearance-Kindness
of the People-Relative Condition and Prospect of the Americans before the Capture of Burgoyne-Effect of that Event
-Wilkinson before Congress-Gold Medal awarded to Gates
-Proceedings of the British Parliament-Speech of Chatham
-The Opposition in the House of Commons —Policy of Lord
North-Exalted Position of the American Commissioners at
Paris-Our relative Position to the Governments of Europe
-Policy of Vergennes-Beaumarchais's Commercial Operations-Unmasking of the French King-Independence of the
United States acknowledged by France-Letter of Louis
XVI.............................................. 69-88
CHAPTER IV.
A Lady of the Revolution-Sufferings of herself and Family —
Her Husband's Pension allowed her-Remains of the Fortifications of Burgoyne's Camp-The Reidesel House-Narrative of the Baroness Reidesel-Her Companions in Miser —
Wounded Soldiers-Kindness of General Schuyler-Arrivnl
of the British Officers and Woman at Albany-Courtesy of
General Schuyler and Family-British Officers at Schuyler's




CONTENTS.


House-Execution Place of Lovelace-Active and Passive
Tories-Rendezvous of Lovelace-Capture and Death of
Lovelace-Daring Adventure of an American Soldier-Departure from Schuylerville-Visit to the Site of old Fort Miller-Tragedy of *Bloody Run"-Daring Feat by PutnamFort Miller- Fording-place-Canal Voyage to Fort EdwardScene on Board-Fort Edward-National Debt of EnglandDaring Feat of Putnam at Fort Edward-Jane M'Crea Tree
-Sir William Johnson and his Title-Fortifications-The
Fort Edward Romance-Mrs. M'Neil and her Grand-daughter
-Narrative of the latter-Residence of Jane M'Crea at Fort
Edward-The Betrothal-Abduction of Mrs. M'Neil and Jane
-Flight of the Indians toward Sandy Hill-Treatment of
Mrs. M'Neil-Indian Account of the Death of Jane-The
Spring-Massacre of the Allen Family-Gates's Letter-Inquiry respecting the Death of Miss M'Crea-Desertion of
Lieutenant Jones-Effect of Miss M'Crea's Death on Lieutenant Jones-Attack of Indians upon American Troops-Reinterment of Miss M'Crea-Young Girl struck by LightningVillage Burial-ground-Colonel Cochrane and his Adventures-Roger's Island-Relics found on Roger's IslandA remarkable Skull- Silver Coin found at Fort Edward
Page 88-104
CHAPTER V.
Ride from Fort Edward to Glenn's Falls-Appearance of the
Country-Interesting Character of the Region —Scenery
about the Falls-"Indian Cave" and "Big Snake"-Departure
for Lake George-William's Rock-Approach of DieskauHendrick the Mohawk Sachem-Speech of Hendrick-Fight
with the French, and Death of Colonel Williams and Hendrick-BloodyPond-Arrival at Caldwell-Indian and French
Names of Lake George-Fort William Henry-Attack upon
Johnson's Camp, 1755-Battle of Lake George and Death, of
Dieskau-Weakness of British Commanders-The Six Nations-Hendrick's Rebuke-Lord Lqudon-Montcalra's first
Attack on Fort William Henry-Perfidy and Cowardice of
Webb-Vigilance of Stark-Montcalm's second Attack on
Fort William Henry-Surrender of the Garrison-Perfidy
of the French and Indians-Destruction of Fort William
Henry-Brilliant Expedition under Abercrombie-Visit to
the Ruins of Fort George-Storm upon Lake George-Arrivals from Ticonderoga-Departure from Caldwell-Diamond Island-Successful Expedition under Colonel Brown
-Long Point, Dome Island, and the Narrows-Sabbath Day
Point-Skirmish in 1756-Halt of Abercrombie's ArmySplendid Appearance of the Armament-Skirmish at Sabbath Day Point, 1774-Rogers's Slide-Narrow Escape of
Major Rogers-Prisoners' Island- Debarkation of British
Troops-A Pleasant Traveling Companion-Trip from Lake
George to Ticonderoga-Topography of Ticonderoga-The
Fortress-Its Investment by Abercrombie-Bravery of Lord
Howe-Fight with the French and Death of Howe-Attack
on Ticonderoga and Defeat of the English-Other Expeditions-Siege and Capture of Louisburg-Preparations for the
Conquest of Canada-Capture of Ticonderoga and Crown
Point....................................... 104-121
CHAPTER VI.
Ticonderoga and its Associations-Visit to the Ruins of the
Fort-Isaac Rice-A living Soldier of the Revolution-Position of Affairs in the Colonies at the beginning of 1775-Secret
Agent sent to Canada-Report of the Secret Agent-Plan
formed in Connecticut to Capture Ticonderoga-Expedition
under Ethan Allen-Arnold joins Allen at Castleton-Dispute
about Rank-Surprise of the Garrison-Interview between
Allen and Delaplace-Allen's Order to Surrender obeyedTrouble with Arnold about Command-Forbearance of the
Colonists-Consistent course of their Delegates in Congress
-Various Addresses of the second Congress-Military Preparations made by Congress-The Continental Army-Spirit
of the People-Ticonderoga-Present Appearance of Fort
Ticonderoga and Vicinity-The Bakery-Grenadiers' Battery-The floating Bridge-View of the Ruins by Moonlight
-T-he old Patriot, his Memories and Hopes-Trip to Mount
Defiance-Ascent of the Mountain-An English Major and
Provincial Subaltern-View from the Top of Mount Defiance
-Mount Independence, Ticonderoga, the Lake, and the
Green Mountains-Crown Point and Ticonderoga invested
by Burgoyne-Material of his Army-Weakness of the Garrison at Ticonderoga-Outposts undefended-Fort on Mount
Independence-Tardiness of Congress in supplying Men and
Munitions-Ticonderoga invested by the British-Council
of War in the American Camp-The British on Mount Defiance-Retreat of the Americans from Ticonderoga and
Mount Independence-Imprudence of Fermoy-Pursuit by
the Enemy-Washington's Recommendation of Arnold-Acquittal of Schuyler and St. Clair of Blame-Return to Ticonderoga-Arrival at Whitehall or old Skenesborough-Historical Notice of the Place-Capture of Major Skene and his
People-Destruction of American Vessels at Skenesborough
-Flight of the Americans toward Fort Anne-Major Skene
-Whitehall in 1814-Ride to Fort Anne Village-Site of the
Fort-Present Appearance of the Locality-Putnam  and
Rogers near Fort Anne-Ambush of French and Indians-.
Desperate Battle-Perilous Situation of Putnam-Humnanity


of Putnam's Captor-Preparations for Torture-Interposition of Molang-Battle and Battle-ground near Fort AnneReturn to Whitehall-Visit to " Putnam Rock"-View of the
Scene-Putnam and Rogers on Lake Champlain-Attack of
the former on the French and Indians-The Saratoga and
Confiance-Departure from Whitehall-Sholes's LandingRide to the Battle-ground of Hubbardton- Picturesque
Scenery-View of the Battle-ground-The Battle-Retreat
and Surrender of Colonel Hale-His reasonable ExcuseDefeat of the Americans-Death of Colonel Francis-General
Schuyler's Forces at Fort Edward —Return to Lake Champlain-An old Soldier-Mount Independence-Present Appearance of Mount Independence-Graves of Soldiers-Vandalism-Money-digging-Return to Sholes's-Darkness on
the Lake-View from Sholes's Landing.......Page 121-150
CHAPTER VII.
Chimney Point-First Settlement by the French-Fort St.
Frederic-Distant View of Crown Point-Visit to Crown
Point-Description of the Fortress-Its present Appearance
-Proposed Attack on the French at Isle Aux Noix-Approach of Winter-Appearance of Crown Point-Inscription
-Search for Treasure in the Well —A venerable Moneydigger-Capture of Crown Point by the Patriots-Seth Warner-Expeditions of Allen and Arnold against St. John'sPreparations to oppose General Carleton on the Lake-Commission from Massachusetts-Re-enforcements for the Lake
Forts-Regiment of Green Mountain Boys-General View
of Affairs-The " Canada Bill"-Opposition to it in Parliament-Denunciations of Barr6-Passage of the " Canada Bill"
-Effect of the Measure in the Colonies-Boldness of Orators
and the Press-The British Government caricatured-Carleton's Attempt to seduce the Bishop of Quebec-Consistency
of the Prelate-Royal Highland Regiment, how raised-Our
Departure from Crown Point-Split Rock-War-feast on
the Bouquet River-Burgoyne's Interview with the Indians
- Speech of an Iroquois -Approach to Burlington — Sab
bath Morning in Burlington-Visit to the Grave of Ethan
Allen-Ira Allen-Burlington and Vicinity-Adjacent Lake
Scenery-Place of Arnold's first Naval Battle-Military Operations on the Lake-Formation of a little Fleet-Excursion
down the Lake-Appearance of the British Fleet-Plan of
the Battle-Severe Battle on the Lake-Escape of the Americans through the British Line-Chase by the Enemy-An.
other Battle-Bravery of Arnold on the Congress GalleyDesperate Resistance-Retreat to Crown Point-Effect of
the Battle-Battle of Plattsburg-Military Remains-Incidents of the Naval Battle-Relic of Washington-Rouse's
Point and Military Works-The Territorial Line-Isle Aux
Noix- Historical Associations - St. John's - Custom-house
Officer-Suspicions of an Israelite-Apparently treasonable
Acts of leading Vermonters-Military Remains at St. John's
-Present Works-St. Athenaise-Approach of the Americans in 1775-Advance of Montgomery against St. John'sMeeting in the American Camp-Operations at St. John'sAttack upon and Surrender of Fort Chambly-Repulse of
Carleton at Longueuil-Surrender of St. John's-The Spoils
-Insubordination-Retreat of the Americans out of Canada
-Rendezvous of Burgoyne's Army at St. John's-Departure
for Chambly-French Canadian Houses, Farms, and People
-The Richelieu and its Rapids-Chambly —The Fort-Beloeil Mountain-Large Cross-Francois Yest-His Age and
Reminiscences-Temperance Pledge-Ride to LongueuilA Caleche-Ride in a Caleche-Safe Arrival of my Companion-An Evening Stroll-Aurora Borealis.......150-176
CHAPTER VIIL
Montreal-A Ride to the Mountain-Interesting View-Visit
to the City Churches-Parliament House-Grey Nunnery —
The Grey Nuns at Prayer-First Settlement at MontrealCartier-Jealousy of the Indians-Montreal in 1760-Captured by the English-Ethan Allen in Canada-Proposed Attack on Montreal-Battle near Montreal-Capture of AllenBrutality of Prescott-Harsh Treatment of the PrisonersBiography of Allen-Montgomery's March upon MontrealFlight and Capture of Prescott-Escape of Carleton-Mutiny
in Montgomery's Camp-Return Home of the DisaffectedVisit to Longueuil-The Village Oracle-Fruitless Historical
Research-Arrival at Sorel-Voyage down the St. Lawrence
-Morning View of Quebec-Its Walls and Situation of the
City-Early Settlement and Growth-French Operations in
America-Approach of Wolfe to Quebec-Position of Montcalm's Army-British Possession of Orleans and Point Levi
-Landing near Montmorenci-Junction of the English Division-Severe Battle-Wolfe disheartened-Camp broken
up-Wolfe's Cove-Ascent of the English to the Plains of
Abraham-The Battle-ground-Preparations for BattleWolfe's Ravine-Battle on the Plains of Abraham-Bravery
and Death of Wolfe-Death of Montcalm-Burial-place of
Montcalm-Monument where Wolfe fell-Capitulation of
Quebec-Levi's Attempt to Recapture it-His RepulsionCapture of Montreal-Collection of an Army near BostonWashington's Appointment-His Generals-Expedition under Atnold planned-Arrival at Fort Western-Norridgewock Falls-The ancient Indians-Father Ralle-Fatiguing
Portage-Voyage up the Kennebee-'-The Dead River —El



CONTENTS.'


vated Country-A Freshet-Return of Enos-His Trial and,Acquittal-Lake Megantic and the Chaudidre-Perilous Voyage — Narrow Escape -Sertigan-Timely Relief for the
Troops-Valley of the Chaudiere-Washington's Manifesto
-Joined by Indians-Arrival at Point Levi-Incidents of the
March........ —...-................Page 177-195
CHAPTER IX.
American Army at Point Levi —Alarm of the Canadians —
Storm on the St. Lawrence-Passage of the Army-Arnold's
Troops on the Plains of Abraham-Expected Aid from within
-Arnold's formal Summons to Surrender-Junction of Montgomery and Arnold-Ineffectual Efforts against the Town
-Mutiny in the Camp-Plan of Assault-Montgomery's Approach to Cape Diamond-Opposing Battery-His Charge
upon the Battery-His Death-Arnold's Operations-Wounded-Assailants led by Morgan-Severe Fight-Capture of
Dearborn-Loss of the Americans at Quebec-Recovery
and Burial of Montgomery's Body-His Life and ServicesCourtesy of Carleton - Eminent Officers at Quebec - Promotion of Arnold-Blockade of Quebec-Honor to the Memory of Montgomery-Small-pox in the Army-Preparations
to Storm Quebec -Arrival and Death of General Thomas
-Temperance Cross-French Canadian Children-Falls of
Montmorenci-Island of Orleans-Point Levi-Quebec in
the Distance-Religious Edifices in Quebec-The Citadel
and the Walls-View from    Dalhousie Bastion-Plains of
Abraham-Historical Localities at Quebec-An alarmed Englishman-Wolfe and Montcalm's Monument-Departure
for Montreal-A Fop's Lesson-Arrival at La Chine-The
Cascades-Dangerous Voyage-Moore's Boat Song-Junction of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence-Cedars Rapids-Garrison there in 1776-Conduct of Bedell and Butterfield-Massacre of Sherburne's Corps-Attempt of Arnold to release
the Prisoners-Menaces of the Indians-Letter from Sherburne —Dishonorable Conduct of British CommandersWashington's Opinion-Final Adjustment-Cairn on the St.
Lawrence-St. Regis and its ancient Church-Passage of
Rapids —Wind-mill Point and Ogdensburgh —Loyalty of a
British Veteran-The " Patriots" of 1837-Preparations for a
Battle-Fort Wellington-Battle at Wind-mill Point-Defeat
of the "Patriots" -The Oswegatchie-Old French Fort at
Ogdensburgh-Putnam's Feats-Testimony of History-C apture of Fort Oswegatchie by the English-Attacks upon Ogdensburgh by the British in 1812-1813............. 195-214
CHAPTER X.
Departure from Ogdensburgh-The St. Lawrence and the
Thousand Islands-Kingston-Fort Frontenac-Its Capture
by Colonel Bradstreet-His Life —Bradstreet's OfficersLake Ontario-Oswego-Expedition of Frontenac-Fort
built by Governor Burnet-Fort Niagara-Description of
Burnet's Fort-Erection of other Fortifications-Fort Ontario-Shirley's Expedition against Niagara-Remains of the
- New Fort"-Shirley's Preparations at Albany-Montcalm's
Approach to Oswego-Attack on the Works-Surrender of
the Forts and Garrison to Montcalm-His Courtesy-Destruction of the Forts-St. Leger-Mrs. Grant-Willett's Attempt to Capture Fort Oswego-Oswego in 1798-Attack
upon Oswego in 1814-Fort Oswego-Result of the Battle
in 1814-Oswego at present-Major Cochran-Dr. John
Cochran-Attempted Abduction of General Schuyler by Waltermeyer-Alarm of the Family-Narrow Escape of an Infant-Robbery of General Schuyler's House-Retreat of the
Marauders-Abduction of other Patriots-Mrs. CochranDeparture from Oswego-The Genesee River-Storm on the
Lake-Sea-sickness-Fort Niagara-Attack on Fort Niagara
-Stratagem of the French-Traditions respecting the Fort
-A Refuge for Tories and Indians-The Niagara RiverEvents there of the War of 1812-American Militia-Brock's
Death-His Monument-Arrival at Niagara-Falls' VillageView from Goat Island-Biddle's Tower-Sublime Voyage
in the " Maid of the Mist"-Buckingham's Lines-Romantic
Marriage-The Whirlpool-The Suspension Bridge-Departure from the'Falls-A Day upon the Rail-road-SyracuseEarly History of that Region-The French-Stratagem of a
young Frenchman-Escape of the French-Early Explorations-Monumental Stone-Silver-bottomed Lake-RomeSite of Fort Stanwix-Forts Newport and Ball-The Portage
and Canal-The Mohawk Valley-Sir William Johnson and
his Associates-Effect of Political Movements upon the People
-Formation of Parties-Violence of Loyalists-Assault upon
Jacob Samanores - Caughnawaga Church - Meeting at
Cherry Valley-John Johnson-Attempted Removal of Mr.
Kirkland-Hostile Movements of theJohnsons-Indian Councils-Rev. Samuel Kirkland-Alarm of the People of the Mohawk Valley-Sir John Johnson and Highlanders —Orders
to General Schuyler-Disarming of the Tories at Johnson
Hall-Perfidy of SirJohn Johnson-His Flight-Royal Greens
-Repairs of Fort Stanwix-Brant at Oghkwaga-His hostile
Movements-Expeditions of Herkimer and of Colonel Harper
— Conference with Brant-His Frankness-Herkimer's precautionary Measures-Haughty Bearing of Brant-Breaking
up of the Council-Grand Council at Oswego-Seduction of
the Indians-Their Coalescence with the Whites....214-240


CHAPTER XI.
Indian Battle-ground-Fort Schuyler-Colonel Peter Gansevoort-A Spy's Intelligence-Rumored Prepatations for an
Invasion-Effect on the Whigs-Approach of St. Leger-Investiture of Fort Schuyler-A curious Flag-Arrival of St.
Leger-His pompous Manifesto-Siege of Fort SchuylerOperations of the Indians-Visit to the Oriskany Battle-ground
-General Herkimer and the Militia —Herkimer's Advance'to
Oriskany-Sortie from Fort Schuyler under Colonel Willett
-Biographical Sketch of Willett —Dispersion of Johnson's
Camp-Capture of Stores and other Valuables-View and
Description of the Oriskany Battle-ground-Indian Ambush
— Surprise of Herkimer and his Troops —The General
wounded-His Coolness-Desperate Battle-Intermission in
the Battle —Its Resumption —Unsuccessful Stratagem of
Colonel Butler-The Enemy routed-Mutual Losses-True
Aim of History-Capture of Billenger and Frey-St. Leger's
Messengers-Their Threats, Persuasions, and FalsehoodWReply of Colonel Willett to the Messengers-St. Leger's writ.
ten Demand of Surrender-Gansevoort's Reply-A Tory Address-Continuation of the Siege-Adventure of Willett and
Stockwell-Gansevoort's Resolution-Hon-Yost SchuylerHis successful Mission to St. Leger's Camp-Arnold's Proclamation-Alarm of the Indians-Flight of St. Leger's Forces
to Oswego-The Spoils-Amusement of the Indians-End
of the Siege-Captain Gregg-Return to Oriskany-Whitesborough-Utica-Little Falls-Visit to the German FlatsOrigin of the Name-Stone Church at German Flats-Its
Pulpit-The two Pastors-Fort Herkimer or Dayton-Plan
of Fort Herkimer-Destruction of Andrustown-Expedition
against the German Flats-Destruction of the SettlementIncursion of the Oneidas into the Unadilla Settlement-Damage to the Tories-Brant, or Thayendanegea-Return to Little
Falls-Cole's Pictures-Scenery at Little Falls-Evidences
of a great Cataract-Remarkable Cavity-Gulf below Little
Falls-The Erie Canal-Greatness of the Work-An Indian
Legend-View of Little Falls-First Settlement-Night Attack upon the Settlement-Escape of Cox and SkinnerRide to Danube-Herkimer's Residence-Hfe Family Burialground-Public Neglect of his Grave-Its Location-Incidents of Herkimer's Death-Castle Church-Residence and
Farm of Brant-Fort Plain-Plan of the Fortification-Fort
Plain Block-house-Trial of its Strength-Invasion of the
Settlement-True Location of Fort Plain-A Female's Presence of Mind-Burning of the Church-Indians deceivedTardiness of Colonel Wemple................ Page 240-264
CHAPTER XII.
Aspect of Affairs in Tryon County-The Western IndiansGirty and his Associates-Fidelity of White Eyes-Council at
Johnstown-Disposition of the different Nations-Colonel
Campbell and La Fayette-Forts strengthened-Settlers of
Tryon County-Destruction of Springfield-M'Kean and
Brant-Battle in the Schoharie Country-Arrival of Regulars
-Escape of Walter Butler-Treachery of Great Tree-Butler
and Brant march toward Cherry Valley-Colonel Alden
warned-Capture of American Scouts-Mr. Dunlap-Mr.
Mitchell-Destruction of the Settlement-Treatment of Prisoners-Butler's Savageism and Brant's Humanity-Character
of Walter Butler-The Settlements menaced-Expedition
against the Onondagas-Destruction of their Towns-Alarm
of the Oneidas-Expedition against Oswegatchie-Attack on
Cobleskill-Scalping Parties-Preparations to Invade the Indian Country-General Sullivan, Commander-in-chief-General James Clinton-Capture of Hare and Newbury-Information from General Schuyler-Mr. Deane —Damming
of Oswege Lake-Its Effects-March of Sullivan's Expedition-Fortifications of the Enemy-General Hand-The Battle-Effect of the Artillery-Retreat of the Enemy-Destruction of Catharinestown and other Plantations-Approach to
Genesee-Council of the Indian Villages-A Battle-Capture
and Torture of Lieutenant Boyd-Destruction of Genesee
and the surrounding Country-Picture of the DesolationName given to Washington-Corn Planter-Return of the
invading Army-A Celebration-Arrival of the Expedition at
Wyoming-The Oneidas driven from Home-Johnson's Incursions into the Schoharie Country-Attack on the Schatharie
Forts-Boldness of Murphy-Johnson's March to Fort Hunter-Destruction of Property-Expedition of General Van
Rensselaer-Death of Colonel Brown-Pursuit of Johnson
by Van Rensselaer-Inaction of the latter-Battle of Klock's
Field- Capture of some Tories- Pursuit of Johnson and
Brant-Conduct of Van Rensselaer-Capture of Vrooman
and his Party-Threatened Invasion-Gloomy Prospect in
the Mohawk Country-Patriotism of Colonel Willett-His
Command of the Tryon County Miltia........264-284
CHAPTER XIII.
Changes m the Mohawk Country-Present Aspect of the Mohawk Valley-Fultonville - Fonda-Caughnawaga-John
Butler's Residence-Johnstown-An Octogenarian-Biogtrphy of Butler-Johnson Hall-Its Stair-case and Brant'f
Hlttchet Marks-Progress of Western New York-Onfly
Baronial Hall in the United States-Sir William Johnson atn




CONTENTS.


his Wives-The Dutch Girl-Molly Brant-Sir William Johnson's Diploma-His Amusements and sudden Death-Flight
of Sir John —His Invasion of the Valley in 1780-Capture of
the Sammons Family-Cruelties and Crimes of the Invaders
-Johnson's Retreat-Recovery of his Negro and Plate-Pursuit of Johnson-Incursion of Ross and Butler-Action of
Willett-Battle at Johnstown-Adventures of the Sammonses
-Retreat of Ross and Butler-Fight on West Canada Creek
-Death of Walter Butler-Last Battle near the MohawkReturn to Fultonville-The Sammons House-Local Historians-The departed Heroes-The Kane House-Dutch
Magistrate and Yankee Peddler-Currytown-Jacob Dievendorff-Indian Method of Scalping-Attack on CurrytownThe Captives-Expedition under Captain Gross-Battle at
NewDorlach, now Sharon Springs-Death of Captain M'Kean
-The Currytown Prisoners-Dievendorff-Sharon Springs
-Analysis of the Waters-Arrival at Cherry Valley-Judge
Campbell and his Residence-His Captivity-Movements of
Brant — Brant deceived by Boys — Death of Lieutenant
Wormwood - Shrewdness of Sitz - "Brant's Rock" -
Morning Scene near Cherry Valley-Light-Departure for
Albany —Woodworlh's Battle-Descent of Tories upon
"Shell's Bush"-Shell's Block-house-Furious Battle-Capture of M'Donald-Luther's Hymn-Death of Shell and his
Son-Cessation of Hostilities-Departure from Fort PlainAlbany-Hendrick Hudson-Early History of Albany-Fort
Orange-First Stone House-The Church-The Portrait of
Hudson-Kalm's Description of Albany-Its Incorporation
-Destruction of Schenectady-Colonial Convention-Its
Proceedings-Walter Wilie-Names of the Delegates-Plan
of Union submitted by Franklin-Early Patriotism of Massachusetts-Albany in the Revolution —General Schuyler's
Mansion-Return to New York..............Page 284-305
CHAPTER XIV.
Departure for Wyoming-Newark and its Associations-The
Old Academy-Trip to Morristown-Arrival at Morristown
-Kimble's Mountain-Fort Nonsense-September Sunset-The "Head-quarters"-Spirit and Condition of the Continental Army-Place of Encampment-Free-masonry-Inoculation of the Army-Jenner-Proclamationof the Brothers
Howe-Disappointment of the People-Washington's counter
Proclamation-Opposition to Washington's Policy-His Independence and Sagacity-Good Effect of his Proclamation
-Winter'Encampment at Morristown-The Life-guard and
their Duties-Pulaski and his Cavalry-Effect of Alarum Guns
-Sufferings and Fortitude of the Army-Stirling's secret
Expedition-Extreme Cold-Chevalier Luzerne-Death of
Miralles-Mutiny at Morristown-Excuses for the Movement
- Injustice toward the Soldiers - Policy and Success of
Wayne-Final Adjustment of Difficulties-Emissaries of Sir
Henry Clinton-Patriotism of the Mutineers-Fate of the
Emissaries-Mutiny of the New Jersey Line-Prompt Action
of Washington-Success of Howe-Illustrations of Washington's Character-Prohibition of Gambling-Washington's
Religious Toleration-Anecdote of Colonel Hamilton-Room
occupied by Washington-View of an Eclipse of the Moon
-Reflections-Finances of the Revolutionary Government
-Emission of Bills of Credit-Continental Paper MoneyForm of the Bills-Devices and Mottoes-Paul Revere and
cotemporary Engravers- New Emissions of Continental
Bills-Plans for Redemption-Counterfeits issued by the
Tories-First coined Money-Depreciation of the Paper
Money-Confusion in Trade-Foreign and Domestic DebtSpecie Value of the Bills-Unjust Financial Law-Washington's Deprecation of it-Hopes of the Tories-Cipher Writing of the Loyalists-Charge against General Greene —Excitement throughout the Country-Riot in Philadelphia-Convention at Hartford-Battle-ground at Springfield-Invasion by
General Knyphausen-Clinton's Design-Plan of the Springfield Battle-Washington deceived by Clinton-Second Invasion under Knyphausen-Disposition of opposing TroopsThe Battle-Partial Retreat of the Americans-Burning of
Springfield-Retreat of the Enemy-Colonel Barber-Connecticut Farms-Murder of Mrs. Caldwell-Her Murderer
identified -Timothy Meeker and his Sons-His Idea of a
Standing Army-Burial-ground at Elizabethtown-Caldwell's Monument-Dickinson's Tomb- Boudinot's VaultDeath of Mr. Caldwell-Execution of his Murderer-Mr.
Caldwell's Funeral-His Orphan Family-Old Elizabethport
-Ancient Tavern and Wharf-Fortification of the PointNaval Expedition-Franklin's Stove-Capture of a Provision
Ship-Privateering-" London Trading"-" Liberty Hall"Designs against Governor Livingston-Scenes at Liberty
Hall-Spirit of Governor Livingston's Daughters-Sketch of
the Life of Livingston-Arrival at Middlebrook-Place of the
Encampment of the American Army-Howe's StratagemSkirmishes-Clinton's Operations in New Jersey-Disposition of the American Forces-Encampment at Middlebrook
-Pluckemin -Steuben's Head-quarters-Recollections of
Mrs. Doty-Visit to the Camp-ground-"Washington's
Rock"-View from it-Another similar Rock at PlainfieldCelebration at Pluckemin in 1779-Incident at PluckeminDeparture from. Middlebrook-Somerville-Incidents by the
Way-Arrival at Easton-Sullivan's Expedition-Indian
Council-Whitefield and Brainard.................305337


CHAPTER XV.
Departure for Wyoming-Nazareth-Its Origin-A chilling Mist
-Nap in the Coach-Passage through the Wind-gap-The
great Walk-Roscommon Tavern-An Office-hunter-Ascent
of the Pocono-The Mountain Scenery-Solitude of the Region - A Soldier Coachman -,First View of Wyoming-A
charming Landscape - Arrival at Wilkesbarre — Charles
Minor, Esq.-His Picture of old Wyoming-Ancient Beauty
and Fertility of Wyoming-Campbell's "Gertrude of Wyo:
ming"-Its Errors-First Tribes in the Valley-Count Zinzendorf-His Visit to Wyoming-Jealousy of the IndiansAttempt to murder him-Providential Circumstance-Toby's
Eddy-Zinzendorf's Camp-ground-Alienation of the Indians
-Gnadenhutten-The Susquehanna Company-Purchase of
Wyoming-The Delaware Company-Opposition of Pennsylvanians-Death of Teedyuscung —Hostilities between the
"Yankees" and " Pennymites"-Erection of Forts-Capture
of Durkbe-Surrender of Ogden-Treatment of Ogden-Another Attack on the Yankees-Capture of Fort Durkee-Pennymites expelled-New Fortifications-Close of the Civil
War-Organization of a Government-Effort to adjust Difficulties-" Lawyers and Bull-frogs"-Peace and Prosperity
of Wyoming-Renewal of Hostilities-Action of CongressExpedition of Plunkett-The Colonies before the Revolution-Exposed Position of Wyoming-Indian Outrage-Indian Speech-Colotel Butler deceived-Strangers in Wyoming-Suspicions of the People-The Wintermoots-Erection of a Fort-Counteraction of the old Settlers-Affair on
the Millstone River-Alarm in Wyoming-Condition of the
Settlement-Apathy of Congress-Patriotism of Wyoming
Women-Approach of Indians and Tories-Preparations for
Defense-Council of War-Position of the Wyoming Forts
-Decision of the Wyoming People-Preparations for Battle
-Forces of the Enemy-Campbell's Injustice toward Brant
-Disposition of the Belligerents for Battle-Speech of Colonel Zebulon Butler-The Attack-Colonel Zebulon ButlerBattle of Wyoming-Denison's Order mistaken-Retreat of
the Americans-Scene at Monocasy Island-Escape of Colonels Butler and Denison-Cruelties of the Indians-Scene at
"Queen Esther's Rock"-Queen Esther-Her CrueltiesScenes at Forty Fort-Negotiations for a Surrender-Escape
of Colonel Zebulon Butler-Surrender of the Fort-Treaty
Table-Conduct of the Tories-Bad Faith of the IndiansThe Treaty-Flight of the People over the Pocono-Incidents of the Flight-Providential Aid of Mr. HollenbackPreservation of Papers-Picture of the Flight-Story of the
Fugitives published at Poughkeepsie-Errors of HistoryBad Faith of the Invaders-Departure of the Invaders from
the Valley-Indian Cruelties-Arrival of Succor-Expedition
against the Indians-Return of Settlers-Continued AlarmMurder of Mr. Slocum-Sullivan's Expedition-Situation of
Wyoming............................   Page 337-364
CHAPTER XVI.
Present Scenery in Wyoming-Allusion to Campbell's Poem
-Visit to Kingston and Forty Fort-The " Treaty Table" at
Forty Fort-Site of the Fort-Visit to the Monument-Inscription upon it-Efforts to erect the Wyoming Monument
-Success of the Ladies-Incidents of the Battle-The Inman Family-Residence and Grave of Colonel Zebulon Butler-Mr. Slocum and his Family History-Abduction of his
Sister-Mrs. Slocum's Presentiments-A Foundling-Disappointment-Singular Discovery of the " Lost Sister"-Interview between the " Lost Sister" and her White kindred-Her
Narrative-Her Condition-Children and Grandchildren-A
Sabbath in Wyoming-Visit to Mrs. Myers-Incidents of her
Life-Escape of her Father and Brother from Indians-Revival of Civil War in Wyoming-Decree of Trenton-Its
Effect-Injustice toward the "Yankees"-Inaction of Congress-Great Deluge in Wyoming-Danger and Distress of
the Inhabitants-Reappearance of the Soldiers-Renewal of
Hostilities-Armstrong's Expedition-Stratagem-Change in
Public Sentiment-The Censors-Appeal for Relief-L,u
zerne-Timothy Pickering in Wyoming-Organization of the
County-Memoir of Pickering-New Difficulties in Wyoming
-John Franklin-Arrest of Franklin-Ethan Allen-Pickering's Escape to Philadelphia-His Return-Abduction and
Treatment-Wyoming quieted-Departure from Wyoming
-A Yankee Lumberman-Carbondale-The Coal Mines —
Fatal Accident-Heroic Benevolence of Mr. Bryden-Escape
of Mr. Hosea-Effects of the Concussion-Entrance and Exploration of the Mine-Interior Appearance-Fossils-Ascent
from the Mine-Night Ride-A Grumbler-Change in the
Coal Region-A Coach Load-Result of Politeness-Bad
Coach and Driver-Milford-The Saw Kill-Delaware River
and Valley-Port Jervis-The Neversink Valley-Shawangunk Mountains-Orange and Rockland............64-382
CHAPTER XVII.
Poughkeepsie-Origin of its Name-Condition of the State in
1777-Meeting of the Legislature at Kingston and Poughkeepsie-State Convention-Federal Constitution-Ann Lee
-Huddlestone-State Convention at Poughkeepsie-Patriot
Pledge-Federal Constitution-The Federalists-The Living:
ston Mansion-Henry A. Livingston, Esq.-Kingston or
Esopus-Its Dutch Name-Early Settlement at Kingston



CONTENTS.


xt


Indian Troubles-The Huguenots-Formation of the State
Constitution-Completion and Adoption of the ConstitutionIts Character-Subsequent Constitutions-Effects of a Mixture of Races-Marauding Expedition up the Hudson-Landing at Kingston-Burning of the Town-Rhinebeck FlatsLivingston's Manor-An Advantage thrown away-Gates's
Letter-Loyalists- Rondout-An Octogenarian - Landing.
places of the British-A frightened Dutchman-Departure
for the North-Ride to Iioosick Valley-Van Schaick's Mills
-Place of the Bennington Battle-ground-Baume's Dispatch
-Foraging Expedition to Bennington-Burgoyne's Instructions-Baume's Indian Allies-Skirmish near CambridgeMeasures for defending New Hampshire- Langdon's Patriotism-Raising of Troops-General Stark-Stark's Refusal
to accompany Lincoln-Censure of Congress-The Result —
Movements to oppose Baume-Life of Stark-Preparations
for Battle-Disposition of the Enemy's Troops-English Plans
of Battles-Errors and Difficulties in Correction —Skirmishing in the Rain-The Hessian Encampment-A bellicose
Clergyman-Stark's Promise and Fulfillment-Commencement of the Battle of Bennington-Terror and Flight of the
Indians-Victory of the Americans-Second Battle-Pursuit
of the Enemy —Loss in the Battle-Stark's Popularity-Visit
to the Battle-ground-Anecdotes-View of the Walloomschaick Valley —Incident while Sketching-Insurrection in
that Vicinity-Its Suppression-Stark and Governor Chittenden-End of the Insurrection-Ride to Troy-The Housa.
tonic Valley-Danbury.................. Page 382-401
CHAPTER XVIII.
Tryon's Expedition to Danbury-Trumbull's "M'Fingal"-Life
of the Author-Landing of the British at Compo-Object of
the Expedition-Rising of the Militia-Character of the People
-Enemy's March to Danbury-Entrance into the VillageAnecdotes of Holcolm and Hamilton-Officers' Head-quarters
-Imprudence of some Citizens-Retaliation of the British —
Destruction of Stores and of the Village-Estimated Damage
-Revolutionary Men-Levi Osborn-Joel Barlow-The Sandemanians-Obscurity of Wooster's Grave-Resolves of Congress-A Centennarian Loyalist-Treatment by his Neighbors
-Tory Guides-Night Ride toward Ridgefield- Return to
Danbury-Ridgefield-Military Movements-The British attacked by Wooster-Return Fire-Death of WoosterSketch of his Life-Approach of Arnold-Barricade at Ridgefield —Bravery of Arnold-Narrow Escape —March to Compo
-Skirmishes-Erskine's Maneuver-The Connecticut Militia-Action of Congress concerning Arnold —Place where
Wooster fell-Relic of the Revolution-Reading-Threatened Mutiny there —Putnam's Speech-Putnam at Greenwich
— Tryon's Expedition to Horseneck-Skirmish at Greenwich-Defeat of the Americans-Escape of Putnam-Putnam's Hill —Its present Appearauce-Norwalk-Fitch's Point
-Landing of Tryon at Norwalk-Destruction of the Village
-Conduct of Tryon-Scene at Darien Church-Visit to
Gregory's Point —The Cow Pasture-Ancient RegulationsGrummon's Hill - Nathaniel Raymond - Time of Tryon's
Landing-Departure from Norwalk-New England Villages
-The Green at Fairfield - Pequots - Their DestructionGreenfield Hill-Dwight's Poem —Journey to New HavenA Stroll to East Rock-View from its Summit-Quinnipiack
-Settlement of New Haven-Organic Law of the New Haven
Colony-The Regicides-Their Concealment-Friendship of
Davenport-Narrow Escape-Goffe at Hadley-Colonel Dix.
well-Tombstones of the Regicides-Stamp Act Proceedings
-Treatment of the Stamp Master-Joy on the Repeal of the
Stamp Act-Patriotism of the People-Boldness of Benedict
Arnold-March of Arnold and his Company to Cambridge
-Expedition under Tryon-Landing of British Troops near
New Haven-Alarm in New Haven-Bravery of the Militia
-Battle on Milford Hill-West Bridge-Death of Campbell
-HIis Grave-Entrance of the Enemy into New Haven-Dr.
Daggctt, and his Treatment - Landing of Tryon - Conduct
of the Enemy-People on East Rock-Evacuation by the
British-Destruction of Fairfield-Dwight's Account of itTryon's Apology-Extent of the Damage-The Buckley
HIouse-Treatment of Mrs. Buckley-Interference of General
Silliman-Humphreys's Elegy on the Burning of FairfieldTryon's Retreat-Journey resumed-Visit to West Bridge
and other Localities-Return to New Haven-The Cemetery
-Colonel Humphreys-His Monument-The Grave of Arnold's Wife - Her Character - Arnold's Disaffection - Dr.
Eneas Munson-Death of Colonel Scammell-His Epitaph
by Humphreys-Nathan Beers-Yale College-Its political
Character in the Revolution —A Tory Student..... 401432
CHAPTER XIX.
New England and its Associations-Arrival at Hartford-Continuation of the Storm-First Settlement at Hartford-First
Meeting-house in Connecticut-Government organizedUnion of the New England Colonies-Conjunction of New
Haven and Connecticut Colonies-James II.-Quo Warranto
-Governor Andross-The " Charter Oak"-Concealment of
the Charter-Expulsion of Andross-Aceident at HartfordWashington's Conference with Rochambeau —Conference
at the Webb House-Its Object-Junction of the allied Ar

mies-Attempt on New York-Windsor-Connecticut His.
torical Society-Dr. Robbins's Library-Brewster's ChestThe Pilgrim  Covenant-Names of the Pilgrims-Hand.
writing of the Pilgrims-Robinson's short Sword-Ancient
Chair-Putnam's Tavern Sign-Other interesting RelicsThe Connecticut Charter-Ride to Wethersfield-Arrival at
Boston-The May Flower-Rise of the Puritans-Bishops
Hooper and Rogers-Henry VIII.-Elizabeth-Puritan Boldness-Position of Elizabeth-The Separatists —Persecutions
-Puritans in Parliament-James I.-John Robinson-Character of the Puritan Pilgrims-Preparations to sail for America-Departure from Delfthaven-The May Flower-Exploration of the Coast -Attacked by Indians- First Sabbath of the Pilgrims in New England-Landing on Plymouth
Rock-Founding of Plymouth-Destitution and SicknessDeath of Carver-Election of Bradford-Defiance of the In.
dians-Condition of the Colony-Further Emigration from
England-Winslow-Standish-Settlement of WcymouthShawmut —Settlement of Endicott and others at SalemArrival of Winthrop-Founding of Boston-Progress of free
Principles - The Puritan Character -Witchcraft - English
Laws on the Subject-The Delusion in New England-Effects of the Delusion-Religious Character of the PuritansMildness of their Laws-The Representative System-Influx
of Immigrants-Trade of the Colony-First coined Money
-Marriage of the Mint-master's Daughter-The QuakersTheir Conduct and Punishment-Origin of the QuakersTheir Peculiarities-Sufferings in America of those calling
themselves Quakers-Arrival of Andross-His ExtortionsRevolution in England-Government of Massachusetts-Hostilities with the French-First American Paper MoneyProwess of Colonial Troops-The French and Indian War
-The Revolutionary Era-First Step toward AbsolutismDemocratic Colonies-Board of Trade-Courts of Vice-admiralty -Commercial Restrictions-First Act of Opposition
-Colonial Claims to the Right of Representation-The Right
acknowledged-Governor Burnet-Wisdom of Robert Walpole-Restraining Acts-Loyalty and Patriotism of the Col
onies-Heavy voluntary Taxation-Designs of the British
Ministry-Expenditures of the British Government on Account of America...........................Page 432-457
CHAPTER XX.
Death of George II. announced to his Heir-Influence of the
Earl of Bute-Cool Treatment of Mr. Pitt-Character of Bute
-His Influence over the King-Discontents-Resignation of
Pitt-Secret Agents sent to America-Writs of AssistanceOpposition-James Otis-Episcopacy designed for America
-Enforcement of Revenue Laws-Resignation of ButeGrenville Prime Minister-Opposition to Episcopacy-The
Stamp Act proposed-Right to Tax the Americans asserted
-Stamp Act not new -Postponement of Action on it-Opposition to Taxation by the Colonies-Instructions to their
Agents-The Stamp Act introduced in Parliament-Charles
Townshend-Barre's Speech rebuking Townshend-His Defense of the Americans-Effect of his Speech-Passage of
the Stamp Act-Excitement in Atnerica-A Congress pro.
posed-The Circular Letter of Massachusetts-Mrs. Mercy
Warren-Assembling of a Colonial Congress in New YorkDefection of Ruggles and Ogden-The Proceedings-Stampmasters-Franklin's Advice to Ingersoll-Arrival of the
Stamps-Patrick Henry's Resolutions-" Liberty Tree"Effigies-Riot in Boston-Destruction of private PropertyAttack on Hutchinson's House- Destruction of "Liberty
Tree"-Destruction of Governor Hutchinson's PropertyCharacter of the Rioters in Bbston-" Constitutional Courant"
-Proceedings in Boston in Relation to the Stamp Act-Effi.
gies burned-Effects of the Stamp Act-Non-importation Associations-Rockingham made Prime Minister-Apathy in
Parliament-Domestic Manufactures-Meeting of Parliament
-Speeches of Pitt and Grenville-Boldness of Pitt-Proposition to repeal the Stamp Act-Position of Lord CamdenRepeal of the Stamp Act-Causes that effected it-Rejoicings
in England and America-Rejoicings in Boston-Release of
Prisoners for Debt-Pyramid on the Common-Poetic Inscriptions-Hancock's Liberality —Liberality of Otis and
others-The Rejoicings clouded-New Acts of OppressionInsolence of Public Officers-Pitt created Earl ChathamPicture of his Cabinet by Burke-New Scheme of Taxation
-Commissioners of Customs —Fresh Excitement in the
Colonies -Increasing Importance of the News-papers-" Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer"-Honors to John Dickinson
— Massachusetts Circular Letter —Boldness of Otis and
Samuel Adams-The "Rescinders"-Treatment of a Tidewaiter-Seizure of the Sloop Liberty-Excitement of the
People-Public Meeting in Boston-.Attempted Bribery of
Patriots-Soundness of their Principles-Proposed Convention in Boston-Organization of the Meeting-Governor Bernard's Proclamation-Meeting of the Convention-Arrival of
Troops at Boston-Origin of Yankee Doodle —Landing of the
Troops-Imposing Military Display-Exasperation of the
People-Non-importation Associations-The Duke of Grafton
-The King's Speech and the Response-Proposed Re-enndt
ment of a Statute of Henry VII. —Lord North —Colonel
Barre's Warnings-General Gage in Boston-No Co-operation-Dissolution of Assemblies -Governor Bernard- His




CONTENTS.


Departure for England-Effect of the Non-importation Agreements-Hillsborough's Circular Letter........Page 457-485
CHAPTER XXI.
Secret Workings of the Spirit of Liberty-Brief Review-Alternative of the Colonies-The Newspaper Press-Bickerstaff's
Boston Almanac-Explanation of its Frontispiece-Revival
of the Terms "Whig" and "Tory"-Abuse of Mr. Otis-Massachusett's Song of Liberty-Evasion of the Non-importation
Agreements-Tea proscribed-Spirit of the Women-Spirit
of the Boys-Fracas at the Door of a Merchant-Death of a
Boy —ts Effects on the Public Mind-Pardon of the Murderer
-Riot in Boston-Attack of the Mob upon the Soldiers-Discharge of Musketry-Three of the Citizens killed-Terrible
Excitement in Boston —Delegation of Patriots before the
Governor-Boldness of the second Committee-Concessions
-Removal of the Troops-Defense of the Soldiers by Adams
-Result of the Trial-New Ministerial Proposition-Its Effects upon the Colonies-James Otis-The Boston PatriotsHutchinson made Governor-His asserted Independence of
the Assemblies-Further Agitation in Boston-Committee of
Correspondence-Letters of Hutchinson and others-Petition for their Removal-Franklin before the Privy Council
-Wedderburne's Abuse- Franklin's Vow- New Taxation
Scheme-East India Company-Tea Ships sail for America
-Preparations for their Reception at Boston-Treatment of
the Consignees -Hand-bills and Placards-Arrival of Tea
Ships-Proceedings in Boston-Monster Meeting at the " Old
South"-Speech of Josiah Quincy-Close of Quincy's Speech
-Breaking up of the Meeting-Destruction of Tea in the
Harbor-Apathy of Government Officials-East India Company the only Losers-Quiet in Boston-A Smuggler punished-Names of the Members of the " Tea Party"-Age of
Mr. Kinnison-Events of his Life-Escape from Wounds
during the Wars-Subsequent persdnal Injuries-No Knowledge of his Children- His Person and CircumstancesSpeech at a "Free Soil" Meeting-G. R. T. Hewes-Character and Patriotism of Hewes-His Death-Excitement in
Parliament in consequence of the Boston Tea Riot-The
Boston Port Bill proposed and adopted-Debates in Parliament-Apparent Defection of Conway and Barr —BurkeOpposition in Parliament to the Boston Port Bill-Passage
of the Bill-Goldsmith's " Retaliation"-Epitaph for BurkeOther oppressive Acts of Parliament-Madness of Ministers
-Warnings of the Opposition unheeded-The "Quebec
Act"-Proceedings in Massachusetts on Account of the Port
Bill-Recall of Hutchinson-Division of Sentiment-Quebec
Act-Arrival of General Gage in Boston-Meeting in Faneuil
Hall-Excitement among the People-Newspaper Devices
-Real Weakness of the British Ministry-Newspaper Poetry
-The Snake Device..-............-...........485-509
CHAPTER XXII.
General Gage at Boston-Proceedings of the Massachusetts
Assembly-Proposition for a General Congress-Boldness
of the Patriots — Attempt to Dissolve the Assembly —The
"League"-Appointment of Delegates to a Continental Congress-Denunciation of the "League"-Closing of the Port
of Boston-Peaceable Resistance of the People-Preparations
for War-Recantation of the Hutchinson Addressors-Spirit
of the American Press-Zeal of the Committees of Correspondence-Their Importance-Fortification of Boston Neck
-Attempted Seizure of Arms and Ammunition at Cambridge
-Alarm concerning Boston-Convention in Boston-Revolutionary Town Meeting-Order for convening the Assembly-Appointment of Committees of Safety and SuppliesAppointment of military Officers-Spiking of Cannon-Efforts of Franklin and others-Counteraction by Adam Smith
and others-Proceedings in Parliament-Appearance of Pitt
in Parliament-His Speech on American Affairs-His conciliatory Proposition-Virtual Declaration of War against the
Colonists —Warm  Debates in Parliament-Chatham and
Franklin-Gibbon and Fox-John Wilkes in ParliamentHis Character and Career-Bill for destroying the New England Fisheries-A conciliatory Bill-Singular Position of
Lord North-His Triumph-Action of the London Merchants
-The moral Spectacle in the Colonies-Carrying Ammunition out of Boston-Detection-Hostile Movements of GageCounteraction of the Whigs-British Expedition to Concord
-Its Discovery by the Americans-Lexington aroused-Midnight March of the Enemy-The British Troops and Minute
Men at Lexington-Conduct of Major Pitcairn-Battle on
Lexington Common-The Concord People aroused-Assembling of the Militia-Concord taken Possession of by the
Enemy-Colonel Barrett-Destruction of Property in Concord-Rapid Augmentation of the Militia-Preparations for
Battle-March toward the Bridge-Battle at Concord Bridge
-Retreat of the British to the Village-The Scalping Story
explained-Retreat of the Enemy from Concord-Their Annoyance on the Road by the Militia-Re-enforcement from
Boston-Junction of the Troops of Percy and Smith-Their
harassed Retreat to Charlestown-Skirmish at West Cam

bridge-British Encampment on Bunker Hill-Quiet the
next Day-General Effect of these Skirmishes-Unity of the
American People-Massachusetts Provincial Congress —Accounts of the Battles sent to England-Excitement in London-Government lampooned-List of the Names of the
first Martyrs...............................Page 509-533
CHAPTER XXIII.
Preparations for raising an Army in Massachusetts-Zeal of
the Committee of Safety-Circular of the Provincial Congress-Army collected at Boston-Organization of the Troops
-Preparations to besiege the City-Issue of Paper MoneyGage's Restrictions-Gloomy Prospects of the People of Boston-Arrangements with the Selectmen —Perfidy of GageBenevolence of the Provincial Congress of MassachusettsEfforts of other Colonies-Organization of the Army-Increase of British Troops in Boston-Arrival of experienced
Officers -Operations in the Vicinity-American Military
Works-Disposition of the American Troops-Preparations
for blockading Boston-Charlestown and adjacent Grounds
-Night March to Bunker and Breed's Hills —A Fortification
planned on Bunker Hill-British Vessels in Boston Harbor
-Construction of the Redoubt on Breed's Hill-Discovery
of the Works by the Enemy-Surprise of the People of Boston-Cowardice of the Tories-Crossing of a British Force
from Boston to Charlestown —Bravery of Prescott-New England Flag-Excitement in Cambridge-Re-enforcements for
both Parties-Sufferings of the Provincials-Warren and
Pomeroy-March of the British toward the Redoubt-Position of the American Troops-Cannonade of the RedoubtThe British Artillery-Silence of the Americans-Terrible
Volleys from the Redoubt-Flight of the Enemy-Burning
of Charlestown-Second Repulse of the British-Re-enforced
by Clinton-Ammunition of the Americans exhausted-Death
of Colonel Gardner-Third Attack of the British-Storming
of the Redoubt —Death of Warren and Pitcairn-Confusion
of the Americans-Efforts of Putnam to Rally them-Cessation of the Battle-The Loss-Spectators of the Battle-Reflections on the Battle-Burgoyne's Opinion of the ConflictThe Character of Warren-His Energy, Boldness, and Patriotism-Masonic Honors to his Memory-The old Monument on Breed's Hill-Character of the Troops engaged in
the Battle- Monument to Warren ordered by Congress
533-551
CHAPTER XXIV.
Boston Common-Trip to Concord-Major Barrett-His Connection with the Revolution-Concealment of Stores at Concord-Concord Monument-The Village —Ride to Lexington
-The Lexington Monument-The Clark House and its Associations-Tradition of the Surprise —Abijah HarringtonIncidents of the Battle at Lexington-Jonathan Harrington
and his Brother —Anniversary Celebration at Concord in
1850-Ride to Cambridge -Early History of the TownWashington's Head-quarters —Phillis Wheatley-Washington's Letter to her —The Reidesel House-Description of it
by the Baroness - Her Autograph -Phillis's Poetry - The
Washington Elm-Bunker Hill Monument-Desecration of
the Spot-Description of the Monument-View from its
Chamber-Its Construction and Dedication-" Hancock" and
"Adams"-View from the Monument-The Past and the
Present-Dorchester Heights-Condition of the Fortifications-Memen toes of John Hancock-The Boston State House
-Chantrey's Washington-Copp's Hill-The Mather Tomb —
Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society-Colonial
and other Relics-Departure from Boston-Appointment of
Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army-Washington's
Acceptance of the Office-His Modesty-His Departure for
the Camp-Reception at Places on the Way-Takes command of the Army-Council of War-Character of the Army
-Punishments-Riflemen-Number of Troops in the Field
-A model Order —Arrangement of the Army-Location of
the several Divisions-Officers of the same-General Joseph
Spencer-Relative Position of the belligerent Armies-American Fortifications-Emerson's Picture of the Camp-Action
of Congress-Treason of Dr. Church-The New England
Colonies-Franklin's Post-office Book-The Armies at Boston —Hostile Movements-Naval Operations on the CoastNavy Boards-Capture of Ammunition-Attempt to seize
Captain Manly-Repulse of Linzee-Scarcity of PowderExpected Sortie -Fortifications on Plowed Hill -Heavy
Bombardment-Condition of Troops and People in Boston
-American Hand-bills in the British Camp-Opinions con.
cerning the Provincials-Plan for relieving Boston-Council
of War-Situation of the Army-Washington's Complaints
-Gage recalled-His Life and Character-Loyal Address to
Gage-Superiority of Howe-Fortifications in Boston-The
"Old South" desecrated-Officers frightened-Harsh Measures and Retaliation-Congress Committee at Head-quarters
-Navy Organized-Floating Batteries-Vessels of War authorized by Congress-Letters of Marque and ReprisalCondition of the Army before Boston............551-576




ILLUSTRATIONS-Vol. I,


1. Illuminated Frontispiece.
2. Title-page.
3. Ornamental Head for Preface and Initial Letter... Page iii.
4. Tail Piece.....................................   vi.
5. Ornamental Head for Contents.................   vii.
6. Initial Letter-Introduction.....................  xv.
7. Portrait and Signature of Columbus.............. xviii.
8. Portrait of Isabella..............................  xxii.
9. Spanish Caravel................................  xxiii.
10. View  of Palos..................................  xxiii.
11. Ruins of the Pinzon Mansion..................... xxiii.
12. Landing of Columbus........................    xxv.
13. Banner of the Expedition........................  xxv.
14. Portrait of Sebastian Cabot...................... xxvii.
15. Portrait.of Amerigo Vespucci.................... xxviii.
16. Portrait of De Soto.............................. xxxi.
17. Portrait of Verrazzani......................... xxxii.
18. Initial Letter.................................... 33
19. The Clermont....................................... 35
20. Portrait of Lieutenant General Burgoyne............ 37
21. Portrait of General Schuyler...................... 38
22. Initial Letter................................... 43
23. Localities at Bemis's Heights....................... 46
24. Portrait of Thaddeus Kosciusko.................... 49
25. Battle-ground of Stillwater....................... 53
26. Burgoyne's Encampment on the Hudson........... 57
27. House in which General Fraser died.............. 64
28, 29. Tomahawks................................... 64
30. Fraser's Burial-place............................ 66
31. Lady Ackland proceeding to the American Camp.... 68
32. Initial Letter.......................................  69
33. Schuyler's Mill, Saratoga..........................  73
34. Schuyler's Mansion.............................. 74
35. General Gates's Head-quarters at Saratoga........... 75
36. Plan of the Armies at Burgoyne's Surrender.......... 77
37. Fac-simile of the Signatures of Burgoyne and Gates... 79
38. View of the Place where the British laid down their Arns 80
39. Site of the first Interview between Gates and Burgoyne......................................... 81
40. Medal struck in Honor of General Gates and his Army 83
41. Portrait of Silas Deane............................. 85
42. Initial Letter....................................... 88
43. The Riedesel House, Saratoga..................... 89
44. Cellar of the Riedesel House...................... 89
45. General Schuyler and Baroness Riedesel........... 91
46. Place where Lovelace was executed................. 92
47. Bloody Run.......................... 94
48. Fort Miller, Fording-place.......................... 94
49. Fort Edward................................... 95
50. Balm of Gilead at Fort Edward................. 95
51. Diagram illustrating a Fortification............. 96
52. Jane M'Crea Tree, Fort Edward.................... 97
53. A River Bateau....................... 98
54. Jane M'Crea Spring................................ 99
55. Grave of Jane M'Crea............................ 101
56. Colonel Cochran's Monument..................... 102
57. Mouth of Fort Edward Creek....................... 102
58. A curious Skull........................... 103
59. Two Sides of a Cross-pistareen..................... 103
60. Initial Letter............................ 104
61. View below Glenn's Falls........................... 105
62. Williams's Rock............................... 106
63. Portrait of King Hendrick.......................... 106
64. Bloody Pond...............................       107
65. Fort William Henry............................... 108
66. Ruins of the Citadel of Fort George................. 112
67. Head of Lake George........................... 113
68. Long Point and Vicinity............................ 114
69. Sabbath Day Point................................. 115
70. Lake George and part of Lake Champlain........... 115
71. Rogers's Rock....................................... 116
72. Ground Plan of Fort Ticonderoga............... 118
73. Initial Letter..................................... 121
74. Portrait of Isaac Rice.........................   122
75. Ruins at Ticonderoga.........................    127
76. The Bakery.......................... 128
77. View from the Top of Mount Defiance............... 131
78. Portrait of General St. Clair........................ 132
79. Site of Fort Anne..................................  139
80. Major Israel Putnam in British Uniform............. 140
81. Battle-ground near Fort Anne.................... 141
82. View at Putnam's Rock....................... 142
83. The Battle-ground at Hubbardton................... 145
84. Plan of the Battle............................. 146
85. Head-stone, Mount Independence................148


86. View from Sholes's Landing.................... Page 149
87. Initial Letter................................... 150
88. Plan  of the Fort.................................  151
89. Crown Point............-..................... 152
90. Inscribed Stone................................... 152
91. Well at Crown Point............................ 153
92. " Virtual Representation," a Caricature............. 158
93. Split Rock.......................................  159
94. Burgoyne addressing the Indians................ 160
95. Tomb of Ethan Allen............................. 161
96. Scene of Arnold's Naval Battle..................... 162
97. Plan of Arnold's first Engagement.................. 163
99. Washington's Hair-powder Pouch.................. 166
100. Isle Aux Noix, in the Sorel........................ 167
101. Military Establishment at St. John's.............. 169
102. Fort at Chambly.................................. 171
103. St. John's, on the Richelieu River.................. 172
104. Portrait of Lord George Germain.................. 173
105. French Canadian IHouse.......................... 173
106. Canadian Peasant Girl......................... 17
107. Beloeil Mountain................................... 174
108. Portrait of Francois Yest.......................... 175
109. A Thunderstruck Rock.......................... 175
110, 111. A Caleche-Aurora Borealis................ 17
112. Initial Letter........................... 177
113. Grey Nun Praying.......     -.............. 178
114. View of Montreal and its Walls in 1760............ 179
115. Signature of Ethan Allen.......................... 180
116. Portrait of Sir Guy Carleton..................... 181
117. Walls of Quebec.................................. 183
118. View of Point Levi from Durham Terrace.......... 185
119. Wolfe's Ravine................................... 187
120. Portrait of General Wolfe...................... 188
121. Wolfe's Monument.............................. 189
122. Norridgewock Falls, 1775........................... 191
123. Arnold's Route through the Wilderness, 1775....... 193
124. Initial Letter.....................................  195
125. St. John's Gate...................................  198
126. Cape Diamond....................... 198
127. Place where Arnold was wounded................. 199
128. Palace Gate, outside.............................. 199
129. Portrait of General Montgomery.............. 200
130. Montgomery's Monument.......................01
131. Palace Gate, inside................................ 202
132. Temperance Cross............................. 203
133. Montmorenci Falls............................... 203
134. Wolfe and Montcalm's Monument.................... 205
135. The Cascades, or St. Ann's Rapids................. 206
136. Cedar's Rapids, at St. Timothy..................... 207
137. Lumber Raft on the St. Lawrence................. 209
138. Cairn................................ 209
139. Sheldon House..................................... 210
140. Wind-mill Point.......................... 211
141. Portrait and Signature of Lord Amherst............ 213
142. Initial Letter............................ 211
143. Bomb-proof Tower................................. 214
144. Oswego in 1755................................... 217
145. Forts at Oswego.............................. 217
146. Remains of "New Fort," Oswego.................. 218
147. View of Oswego and the Fort in 1798............. 220
148. View of Oswego Harbor, 1848......................... 221
149. Portrait of Mrs. Cochran.......................... 23
150. Distant View of Fort Niagara................... 225
151. Niagara Suspension Bridge.......................  28
152. Sepulchral Stone......................    230
153. Site of Fort Stanwix.............................. 231
154. Portrait of Sir William Johnson................... 232
155. Fort Johnson.................................. 232
156. Caughnawaga Church............................... 233
157. Guy Park................................ 234
158. Initial Letter.................... 240
159. Portrait of Colonel Gansevoort..................... 240
160. Order of March of St. Leger's Forces............. 241
161. Portrait of Colonel Marinus Willett............... 244
162. Battle-ground of Oriskany....................... 245
163. Bowl of a Pipe.............................. 246
164. Fort Schuyler and Vicinity...................   249
165. Old Stone Church, German Flats................254
166. The Pulpit of the Church........................  54
167. Fort Herkimer................................ 255
168. Portrait of Joseph Brant.......................... 256
169. Hieroglyph of Teyendagages, or Little Hendrick.... 256
170. Hieroglyph of Kanadagea, or Hans................ 256
171. Signature tad Hieroglyph of King Hendrick........ 256




Xnv                                       ILLUSTRATIONS.
172. Cross of Kanadagea.......................Page 256 267. Arnold's Residence, New Haven...............Page 421
173. Cross of Tinyahasara, or Little Abraham........... 256 268. Savin Rock...................................... 422
174. Signature of Daniel............................ 256 269. West Bridge and Milford Hill.................... 423
175. Excavations at Little Falls.........-...............259 270. Campbell's Monument............................ 423
176. View of Little Falls............................ 259 271. Landing-place of General Tryon................... 424
177. View below Moss Island........................ 259 272. The Buckley House -—............................ 426
178. General Herkimer's Residence................... 260 273. Humphreys's Monument.......................429
179. Herkimer's Grave............................. 260 274. Portrait of Colonel Humphreys.................. 429
180. Castle Church.................................... 261 275. Portait of Dr. Eneas MIunson....................... 430
181. Fort Plain.................................... 261 276. Signature of Nathan Beers....................... 431
182. Fort Plain Block-house......................... 262 277. Initial Letter.................................. 432
183. Lipe's House.................................. 263 278. First Meeting-house in Connecticut............... 4.33
184. Old Parsonage and Church........................ 263 279. The Charter Oak............................ 4:34
185. Initial Letter.................................. 264 280. The Webb House............................. 436
186. Armed Settlers...... -........................... 266 281. Elder Brewster's Chest, brought in the May Flower. 437
187. Signature of Walter Butler......................... 270 282. Key of the Chest............................  437
188. Portrait of General Sullivan........................ 272 283. Fac-simile of the Signatures of the Pilgrims........438
189. Order of March against the Indians................ 274 284. Ancient Chair.................................... 438
190. Initial Letter................................. 284 285. Chopping-knife................................... 4,38
191. The Butler House............................. 285 286. Putnam's Tavern Sign........................... 439
192. Signature of John Butler......................... 285 287. The old Colony Seal.............................. 445
193. North Front of Johnson Hall..................286 288. Ancient Map of Massachusetts Bay................. 446
194. Signature of Sir John Johnson...................... 286 289. The "Pine tree Shilling".......................... 449
195. Vignette on Sir William Johnsos's Diploma......... 288 290. The Beacon in Boston............................. 451
196. The Kane House.......-......................... 292 291. Fac-simile of the first American Paper Money....... 452
197. Portrait, House, and Signature of J. Dievendorf.... 293 292. Seal of George III., the Purse, and Chancellor'S Mace. 456
198. Mansion of Judge Campbell........................ 296 293. Initial Letter..................................... 457
199. Distant View of Cherry Valley...................2. 297 294. Portrait of George III. at the Time of his Accession.. 457
200. Brant's Rock.................................. 297 295. Usual Appearance of King George III., 1776......... 458
201. Portrait of Hendrick Hudson...................... 301 296. Portrait of Queen Charlotte........................ 458
202. Schuyler's Mansion at Albany.................... 304 297. Portrait of George Grenville....................... 460
203. Initial Letter.................................. 305 298. Portrait of Colonel Barr6.......................... 463
204. Washington's Head-quarters at Morristown......... 309 299. Liberty Tree.................................466
205. Schuyler's Head-quarters at Morristown............ 315 300. Portrait of Governor Hutchinson............... 468
206. Fac-simile of the Continental Paper Money.......... 317 301. Portrait of Charles, Marquis of Rockingham........ 470
207. Fac.simile of the first Money coined in the United  302. Portrait of William Pitt........................... 472
States....................................... 318 303. The Province House........................... 474
208. Cipher Alphabet.............................. 320 304. Portrait of John Dickinson....................... 476
209. Fac-simile of Cipher Writing...................... 320 305. Faneuil Hall.................................. 479
210. Old Apple.tree at Springfield....................... 322 306. Portrait of Augustus Henry, Duke of Grafton..... 482
211. Plan of the Battle at Springfield.................... 322 307. Portrait of Lord North............................ 483
212. Mrs. Mathews's House.......................... 323 308. Initial Letter..................................... 485
213. Caldwell's Monument........................... 326 309. Title-page of the Boston Almanac, 1770............ 486
214. Boudinot's Vault.............................. 326 310. Music of the "Massachusetts Song of Liberty"..... 487
215. Old Tavern at Elizabethport....................... 328 311. The "Old South" Meeting-house................... 490
216. Franklin's Stove.................................. 328 312. Signature of James Otis........................... 492
217. "ILiberty Hall" -....................... — -........ 329 313. Portrait of Lord Dartmouth........................ 495
218. Portrait of Governor Livingston.................. 330 314. Portrait of David Kinnison......................... 499
219. Steuben's Head-quarters at Middlebrook............ 333 315. Portrait of G. R. T. Hewes........................ 501
220. Washington's Rock............................ 334 316. Portrait of Edmund Burke....................... 503
221. Initial Letter.................................. 337 317. Hancock's House, Boston......................... 507
222. Scene in the Wyoming Valley................... 341  318. Skull and "ICross-bones"........................ 507
223. Portrait of Count Zinzendorf..................... 342 319. Disjointed Snake-device at the head of Newspapers 508
224. View near Toby's Eddy........................ 343 320. Initial Letter.................................509
225. Site of Wintermoot's Fort......................... 351 321. Portrait of Samuel Adams....................... 510
226. Position of the Wyoming Forts.................... 353 322. View of Boston from Dorchester, 1774............ 512
227. Signature of Colonel Z. Butlcr....................355 323. View of the Lines on Boston Neck................ 513
228 The Susquehanna at Monocasy Island.............. 356 324. Portrait of John Itincock.......................... 515
229. Queen Esther's Rock............................ 357 325. Medallion Likeness of Adam Smith................. 517
230. The Treaty Table.............................. 359 326. Portrait of Edward Gibbon...................... 519
231. Initial Letter................................. 364 327. Medallion Likeness of John Wilkes............... 520
2:32, VWyoming Monument............................. 365 328. Clarke's House, Lexington......................... 523
233. Frances Slocum-Ma.con.a-qua.................... 369 329. Skirmish at Lexington......................... 524
234. Timothy Pickering................................ 374 330. Signature of Colonel James Barret................ 525
235. The "Red House"............................. 375 331. Colonel Barret's House......................... 526
236. Cars entering the Mines at Carbondale........... 378 332. Battle-ground at Concord........................ 526
237. Lamp of a Miner —..... ---    -   —..................... 378 333. Plan of the Monument at Concord.................. 527
238. Appearance of the Chambers in the Mines......... 379 334. Initial Letter..................................... 533
239. View from the Shawangunk Mountains............ 381 335. Reverse of a Massachusetts Treasury Note, 1775..... 534
240. Initial Letter.................................. 382 336. Charlestown and adjacent Hills in 1775............ 538
241. The Van Kleek House, Poughkeepsie.............. 383 337. Plan of the Redoubt on Breed's 1Iil................ 540
242. The Livingston Mansion......................... 385 338. The New England Flag.......................... 541
243. The Constitution House, Kingston................ 387 339. Action on Breed's Hill............................. 543
244. The Yeoman House............................... 88 340. Portrait of Joseph Warren....................... 548
245. Monument in Church-yard, Kipgston.............. 389  341. Warren's Monument........................... 549
246. View at the Mouth of the Rondaut................. 390 342. Initial Letter.................................... 551
247. Van Schaick's Mill........................ 391 343. Monument at Concord............................ 552
248. Portrait of General Stark..0...................... 394 344. Monument at Lexington............................... 553
249. Plan of the Battle of Bennington.................. 395 345. Near View of the Monument...................... 553
250. The Bennington Battle-ground....................... 396 346. Portrait of Jonathan IHarrington................... 554
251. Initial Letter.................................. 401  347. Washington's Head-quarters at Cambridge......... 555
252. Distant View of Compo......................... 402 348. The Riedesel House, Cambridge................. 557
253. Head quarters of Agnew and Erakine............... 403 349. Bunker Hill Monument............................ 558
9254. Dibble's Barn................................ 404 350. Signature of the Baroness Riedesel................ 558
255. Portrait of Joel Barlow........................... 405  351. Chantrey's Statue of Washington................. 561
256. Portrait of Joseph Dihble......................... 406 352. Mather's Vault................................... 561
257. Portrait of General Wooster....................... 408 353. Cotton Mather's Writing........................ 562
298. Place of the Barricades, Ridgefield................. 409 354. Speaker's Desk and Winthrop's Chair.............. 562
259. Place where Wooster Fell....................... 410 355. King Philip's Samp-pan......................... 562
260. Putnam's Quarters.............................. 411 356. Captain Church's Sword........................... 562
261. Putnam's Hill.................s................ 412 357. The Washington Elm, Cambridge.................. 564
262. Fitch's Point, the Landing-place of the British....... 413 358. Boston with its Environs, 1776..................... 566
263. Darien Church................................ 414 359. The Pine.tree Flag............................. 570
264. Grummon's Hill.................................. 415 360. Signature of Governor Gage.......................573
265. The Green, Fairfield.............................. 416 361. British Fort on Bunker Hill........................ 574
266. The Regicides' Tomb-stones....................... 420 362. American Floating Battery......................... 575




ANALYTICAL INDEX. —Vol I.


AARON, Little, Mohawk Chief, Notice of, 269.
Abercrombie, Colonel, killed at Battle of Bunker Hill, 546.
Abercrombie, General James-Expedition to Lake Champlain
in 1758, 112; Investment of Fort Ticonderoga, 118; Biographical Sketch of, 119.
Abraham, Plains of; described-Battle of, 187.
Ackland, Major, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Ackland, Lady Harriet, Courage and Fortitude of, 66, 67.
Acts-Showing despotic Tendency of parliamentary Measures,
156, 157, 506; Treasonable (apparently), of Vermonters, in
1780,168; First of Oppression, 454,455; Stamp Act, originated
by Grenville, and passed by Parliament in 1765, 463; Repealed in 1766, 472; Oppressive, 474; Quebec Act, passed in 1774,
505; Obnoxious to Americans prior to Revolution, Titles of,
518.
Adams, John, defends Captain Preston, 491; Appointed on Committee to draught Commission of and Instructions for Washington, 563.
Adams, Major, Notice of, 327.
Adams, Samuel, biographical Sketch of (see Biography of
Signers of Declaration of Independence, Appendix)-Boldness of, 477; Apprised of expected Arrival of British Troops
at Lexington, 522; Retires to Woburn for Safety, 523.
Address, Tory, 250.
Addressors to Hutchinson, Recantation of, 512.
Agent, Secret, sent to Canada in 1774,122; Sent to America in
1761, 459.
Agnew, General, Expedition to Danbury, 402.
Agreements, Non-importation, 470, 484, 488.
Albany, early History of, 30; Described by Kalm in 1749, 301;
Incorporated a City in 1686, 302; Seat of Power during the
Revolution-Mansion of General Schuyler-Head-quarters
for Officers in 1777, 304.
Alden, Colonel Ichabod, at Battle of Cherry Valley, 268.
Allen, Colonel Ethan, Expedition to Ticonderoga, 123; Interview with Delaplace —His Order to surrender obeyed —
Trouble with Arnold about Command, 125; Expedition
against St. John's-Preparations to oppose Carleton on Lake
Champlain in 1775, 154; Letters to Congress relative to Difficulties in Vermont, 168; Proposed Attack on Montreal,
179; Biographical Sketch of-Captured at Montreal-Brutal
Treatment of, by Prescott, 180; At Wyoming in 1787, 375;
Anecdote of, 508.
Allen, Family, Massacre of, 100.
Allen, Ira, biographical Sketch of, 161.
Allen, Reverend Mr., bellicose Ardor of, 396.
Almanac, Bickerstaff's, Explanation of Frontispiece of, 486.
Alsop, John, Delegate to first Continental Congress, 383.
America, early Notions concerning, by Europeans, 19; Discovery of, by Columbus, 25; Origin of the Name, 29.
Amerigo Vespucci, Voyages of, to America; Biographical Sketch
of, 28; Publishes the first Account of Discoveries of America, 29.
Ancram, Major, Speech of, at Siege of Fort Schuyler, 248.
Anderson, Dr. Alexander, Notice of, 513.
Anderson, Senior, Quotation from, 513.
Andross, Sir Edmund, first Governor General of Connecticut
-Demanded and refused Charter-Tyranny of-Proceeds
to Hartford with Soldiers-Charter placed before him, 434;
Arrested and sent to England for Trial, 435, 451; Arrives at
Boston with Title of Governor General, empowered to take
away Charters from Colonies-Flees from the Fort, 451.
Andrustown, Destruction of, 255.
Anecdote of Sir William Johnson and Mohawk Sachem, 106;
Colonel Stone and Mr. Forman, 229; Colonel Harper and Indian Peter, 237; Sir William Johnson and Servant Girl. 287;
Dutch Magistrate and Yankee Peddler, 292; Colonel Hamilton and Judge Ford when a Boy, 315; Timothy Meeker and
Standing Army, 325; Old Indian at Wind Gap, Pennsylvania,
338; Colonel Dyer in Satire of " Lawyers and Bull-frogs."
347; Mrs. Finch at Forty Fort, 362; Dutchman and Hay Rake
at Rondout, 390; Of Battle of Bennington, 398; Hamilton
and Holcomb in Expedition to Danbury, 403; Arnold and
Coon, a Tory, 409; Goffe and Fencing Master, 419; George
Grenville christened "Gentle Shepherd," 462; James Otis;
Jun., and Clerk with Water-pot, 493; Admiral Montague and
Pitts, 499; Ethan Allen and James Rivington, 508; Yankee
Doodle and Chevy Chase, 528; Colonel Prescott at Battle of
Bunker Hill, 541; General Putnam after Battle of Bunker
Hill, 547.
Angell, Colonel, at Battle of Springfield, 323.


Anstruther, Colonel, at Battle of Stillwater, 55.
Anti-rentism in New York, 391.
Arbuthnot, Admiral, off Block Island in 1781, 436.
Arkansas explored by De Soto in 1540, 31.
Armstrong, Colonel John, Expedition to Wyoming, 373.
Army, British, relative Position of, at Battle of Bemis's Heights,
51; Condition of, after Battle of Stillwater, 57; Melancholy
Condition of, after second Battle of Stillwater, 73; Deserters
from, at Stillwater, 75; Humiliating Review of, at Saratoga,
81; Royal Highland Regiment of Quebec, how Raised, 159:
Takes Fort Ontario in 1758, 219; Condition of, after Battle
of Bunker Hill, 571.
Army, Continental, Condition of, under Schuyler, 39; Position
at Cohoes in 1771. 41; Condition of, at Battle of Bemis's
Heights, 47; Condition of, after Battle of Stillwater, 57; Attacked by Indians at Moses's Creek, 101; Condition of, in
1775, 127; Re-enforcements for the Lake Posts in 1775, 155;
At Point Levi, in Canada, 195; Small-pox in, at Quebec, 202;
Small-pox in, at Morristown and Hudson Highlands —Encampment of, at Morristown, in 1777, 307; Encampment of
at same Place in 1779-80, 309; Sufferings of, from severity
of Winter of 1780, 310; Organization of, previous to Battle
of Bunker Hill, 536; Washington appointed Commander-inChief in 1775, 563; Punishments of, in 1775-Model Order of;
565; Condition of, near Boston, at close of 1775, 576.
Arnold, Benedict, Maneuvers of, at Stillwater, 52; Testimony
of Historians concerning, 55; Varick's Letter concerningGates's Treatment of-Rupture with Gates-Application to
join Washington, 56-Bravery of, at Battle of StillwaterWounded, 63; Joins Allen at Castleton-Disputes about
Rank, 124; Trouble with Arnold about Command at Ticonderoga, 125; Recommended by Washington, 136; Expedition
against St. John's-Preparations to oppose General Carleton
on Lake Champlain, 154; Place of first Naval Battle-Wounded at Isle Aux Noix, 162; Bravery of, on the Congress Galley,
165; Formerly a Dealer in Horses, 195; Summons to surrender at Quebec, 196; Junction with Montgomery, 197;
Operations after Montgomery's Death-Wounded, 199; Pro.
moted at Quebec, 201; Describes the Blackness of the Character of St. Leger, 251; Return to Stillwater from Siege of
Fort Schuyler, 252; At Expedition to Danbury, 402; At Ridgefield in 1777, 408; Bravery of-Narrow Escape of-Anecdote
of, and Tory, Coon, 409; Presented with a Horse by Cor.gress for valiant Deeds, 410; Residence of, in New HavenPatriotism at New Haven, 421; March of his Company to
Cambridge-A Druggist and Bookseller at New Haven, 422;
Mrs. Margaret (first Wife), Grave, Notice of, 429; Mrs. Margaret (second Wife), Notice of, 430; Associates with Tories in
Philadelphia-Disaffection, 430; Attempts to surrender West
Point in absence of Washington, 435.
Assembly, Rhode Island, authorize Army of Observation previous to Battle of Bunker Hill, 536.
Associations, Non-importation, in Boston in 1765, 469, 481.
Atlantis, Plato's Account of, 19.
Atyataronghta, Colonel Louis, at Battle of Klock's Field, 281
Austin, Reverend David, plants Elms at New Haven, 428.
Autograph of Christopher Columbus, 18; Philip Schuyler, 38;
Burgoyne and Gates, 79; Silas Deane, 85; Isaac Rice, 122;
Arthur St. Clair, 132; Ethan Allen, 180; Richard Montgomery,
200; Amherst, 213; Catharine Cochran, 223; Sir John Johnson, 232; Peter Gansevoort, 240; Colonel Marinus Willet,
244; Joseph Brant - Teyendagages, or Little Hendrick -
Kanadagea, or Hans-Great Hendrick-Daniel, 256; Walter
Butler, 270; John Sullivan, 272; John Butler, 285; John Johnson, 286; Jacob Dievendorff, 293; Governor William Livingston, 330; Colonel Zebulon Butler, 355; Colonel Timothy
Pickering, 374; John Stark, 394; Joel Barlow, 405; Joseph
Dibble, 406; David Wooster, 408; David Humphreys, 429;
Nathan Beers, 431; Pilgrim Fathers, 438; Elisha Hutchinson
-Timothy Thornton, 452; Thomas Hutchinson, 468; John
Dickinson, 476; James Otis, 492: David Kinnison, 499; G. R.
T. Hewes, 501; Samuel Adams, 510; Colonel James Barrett,
525; Joseph Warren, 548; Jonathan Harrington. 554; Baroness Reidesel, 558; Cotton Mather, 562; General Gage, 573.
Aztecs, Notice of, 16.
Bailey, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50i
Bailey, Quotation from, 519.
Baker, Amos, Notice of, 554.
Balcarras, Earl of, at Battle of Benis's Heights, 50.
Barber, Colonel Francis, biographical Sketch of, 324.




ANALYTICAL INDEX.-VoL. T.


Balow, Joel, biographical Sketch of-Quotation from, 404.
Barras, Count, prevented from meeting Washington at Weth.
ersfield, 436.
Barr6, Colonel Isaac, biographical Sketch of, 463; Predictions
of Result of Stamp Act-Warnings to the People, 483.
Barrett, Colonel James, at Battle of Lexington-Biographical
Sketch of, 525.
Barrett, Major James. Connection with Revolution, 551.
Batteries, American floating, 575.
Battle-ground of Bemis's Heights, 45, 46, 47; Stillwater, 53;
Saratoga, 77, 80; Bloody Run, 94; Sabbath-day Point-Lake
George and Lake Champlain, 115; Ticonderoga, 118, 127;
Near Fort Anne, 141; Hubbardton, 144, 146; Site of Arnold's
Naval Battle, Lake Champlain, 162, 163, 164; Plains of Abraham, 187; Near Fort Schuyler, 240. 249; Oriskany, 245;
Springfield, 322; Monocasy Island, 356; Van Schaick's Mills,
391; Bennington, 395, 396; Ridgefield, 409; West Bridge and
Milford Hill, 423; Lexington, 524; Concord, 526,527; Charlestown and Vicinity, 538; Breed's Hill, 540, 543; Boston and
Vicinity, 566; Bunker Hill, 574.
Battle of Bemis's Heights, Saratoga. or Stillwater (First)Condition of the Northern Army, 47; Reverses of the British
in Mohawk Valley-Perplexity of Burgoyne-Advance of
Gates to Stillwater, 48; These three Battles identical, 51;
Approach of the two Armies-Engagement between Advance
Corps-Maneuvers of Arnold and Fraser, 52; Approach of
a British Re-enforcement under Phillips-Battle-ground described-Lull in the Battle, 53; Renewal of the Battle-Loss
sustained by the two Armies-Number of Troops engaged,
54; Burgoyne's Encampment on West Bank of the Hudson
-Poverty of the American Commissariat, 57; Fortifications
of the two Camps-Junction of Lincoln with the Army at
Bemis's Heights-Relative Position of the Armies, 58; Effect
of the Battle on the People-Diminution of Purgoyne's Ar-my
t.nri Increasde of Gates's-Condition ot the Enemy, 59.
Second Battle-Hostile Movements of the British-Preparations
of the Americans for second Battle of Stillwater, 60: Bravery
of both Armies-Quick and bold Movements of MorganImpetuosity of Arnold, 61; General Fraser killed by Murphy
-Censure of Morgan-Panic among the British, 62; Bravery
of Arnold, 61, 63; Wounded-Assault on the German Works,
03; Retreat of the Germans and Close of the Battle-Preparations of Burgoyne to Retreat-The Killed and Wounded,
64; Bnrgoyne's Request and Gates's Generosity, 67; Commencement of Burgoyne's Retreat toward Saratoga-Anticipated by Gates. 72; Melancholy Condition of the British
Army-Gates's Kindness to the Invalids-Burning of Schuyl.
er's Mills and Mansion. 73; Situation of Fellows's Detachment-Conduct of American Militia-Burgoyne's Attempt to
retreat, 74; Unsuccessful Stratagem of Burgoyne-Perilous
Situation of two American Brigades-Deserters from the
British Army, 75; Retreat of Americans to their Camp-Perplexity of Burgoyne-A scattered Retreat proposed, 76; Rela.
tive Position of the two Camps-Exposed Condition of the
British-Burgoyne determines to surrender, 77; His Proposition-Terms proposed by Gates-Terms finally agreed upon,
78; Message to Burgoyne from General Clinton-Disposition.of Burgoyne to withhold his Signature-Laying down of
Arms, 79; Place where the British laid down Arms-First
personal Meeting of Gates and Burgoyne, 80; Humiliating
Review of the British Prisoners-Burgoyne surrenders his
Sword-Spoils of Victory-Yankee Doodle, 81; Relative
Condition and Prospect of the Americans before the Capture
'of Burgoyne-Effect of that Event, 83.
Battle of Bennington-Terror and Flight of Indians-Victory
of the Americans-Second Attack, 397; Pursuit of the Enemy-Loss-Popularity of Stark, 398.
Battle of Bunker and Breed's Hills-Disposition of American
Troops —Preparations for blockading Boston, 538; Night
March to Battle-ground-Plan of Fortifications-British Vessels in Harbor, 539; Construction of Redoubt on Breed's
Hill-Discovery of Works by Enemy. 540; Cowardice of the
Tories-British Cross from Boston to Charlestown-Bravery
of Prescott, 541; Excitement in Cambridge -Re-enforcements for both Parties-Sufferings of Provincials, 542; March
of British toward Redoubt-Position of American TroopsCannonade of Redoubt, 543; Ascent of Redoubt by British
Artillery-Silence of Americans-Terrible Volleys from Redoubt-Flight of Enemy, 544; Burning of Charlestown-Second Repulse of BritishReeenforced by Clinton-Ammunition of Americans exhausted, 545; Death of Colonel Gardner-Third Attack of British-Storming of Redoubt-Death
of Warren and Pitcairn, 546; Confusion of Americans-Efforts of Putnam to rally them -Cessation of Battle-LossSpectators of the Scene, 547; Reflections-Burgoyne's Opinion of the Conflict, 548 —Character of Troops engaged in
Conflict, 550.
Battle of Cherry Valley-Approach of Butler and Brant-Warning to Alden-Capture of American Scouts, 268; Destruction
of the Settlement-Treatment of Prisoners-Brutality of Butler and Humanity of Brant, 269.
Battle of Conewawah, 274.
BJttle neat Fort Ann, 138; Ambush of French and IndiansDesperate Fight-Capture of Putnam, 140; Humanity of his
Captor-Preparation for Torture-Interposition of Molang,
141


IBattle of Fort Keyser, 280.
Battle of Fort Niagara in 1759-Landing of Prideaux, 224; At.
tack and Stratagem of the French-The Latter routed by the
British-French and Indians made Prisoners-Indian Tales
of Atrocity, 225.
Battle of Fort Stanwix (see Battles of Fort Schuyler and Oriskany), 240.
Battle of Hubbardton, 39; Retreat and surrender of Hale —Iia
Excuse-Censured for Cowardice, 145; Battle-ground de
scribed, 144, 146; Defeat of Americans-Death of Colonel
Francis, 146.
Battle of Johnstown in 1781, 290.
Battle of Klock's Field, 281.
Battle, Last, in Mohawk Valley, 291.
Battle of Lake George in 1755-Death of Dieskau-Weakness
of British Commanders-The Six Nations-IIendrick's Rebuke, 109.
Battle of Lexington and Concord-Approach of British discovered by Patriots-Lexington aroused-Midnight March of
Enemy, 523; Citizens alarmed by Bells, Guns, and DrumsMilitia called on the Green -Skirmish ensues -Captain
Parker and seven other Patriots killed, 524; People of Concord in Arms-Assembling of Militia-Town invested by
British, 525; Destruction of Property-Rapid Augmentation
of Militia-Preparations for Battle, 526; Conflict at Concord
Bridge-Captain Davis and Abner Hosmer killed-Patriots
victorious-Retreat of Enemy to Village, 527; Colonel Smith
returns to Boston with his Troops-Assaulted on the Way
by Patriots-Many Regulars slain-Skirmish at Hardy's Hill,
528; Skirmish at West Cambridge and Prospect Hill, 529;
General Effect of these Skirmishes-Names of Officers and
Citizens of Note slain, 530, 553; Account of this Battle sent
to England at first doubted, 531.
Battle of Little Beardstown, 276.
Battle of Mu'ord llill in 1779-Death of Campbell, 423; Entrance of Enemy into New Haven-Dr. Daggett and his
Treatment-Landing of Tryon, 424; Conduct of the Enemy-People flee to East Rock-Evacuation of the British,
425.
Battle near Montreal-Capture of Allen-Brutality of Prescott
-Harsh Treatment of Prisoners, 180; Movements of Montgomery-Mutiny in his Camp-Flight and Capture of Prescott, 181; Return Home of the disaffected, 182.
Battle of Montmorenci-Junction of the English DivisionWolfe disheartened-Camp broken up, 186.
Battle, Naval, on Lake Champlain, in 1776, 163; Escape of the
Americans through the British Line-Chased by the Enemy
-Another Battle, 164; Bravery of Arnold on the Congress
Galley-Desperate Resistance-Retreat to Crown PointEffect of the Battle, 165.
Battle of New Dorlach, 294.
Battle of Oswego in 1755-Shirley's Preparations at AlbanyMontcalm's approach-Attack on the Works, 218; Surrender
of the Forts and Garrison to Montcalm-His Courtesy-Destruction of the Forts, 219.
Battle of Oswego in 1814-Attack, 220; Result of the BattleNumber killed and wounded, 221.
Battle of Plattsburgh, Remains of-Incidents, 166.
Battle of Quebec-Ascent of the English-Preparation for Battle, 187; Bravery and Death of Wolfe-Death of Montcalm,
188; American Army at Point Levi-Alarm of the Canadians
-Passage of the Army, 195; Arnold's Troops-Expected Aid
of Arnold from within the City-His formal Summons to surrender, 196; Junction of Montgomery and Arnold-Ineffectual
Efforts against the Town-Mutiny in the Camp-Plan of Assault, 197; Montaomery's approach to Cape Diamond-Op.
posing Battery-His Attack and Death, 198; Arnold's Operations —Wounded Assailants led by Morgan-Severe FightCapture of Dearborn, 199; Loss of Americans at QuebecRecovery and Burial of Montgomery's Body-Courtesy of
Carleton, 200; Promotion of Arnold-Blockade of QuebecHonor to the Memory of Montgomery, 201; Small-pox in the
Army-Preparations to Storm Quebec-Arrival and Death
of General Thomas, 201.
Battle of Schoharie-Arrival of Regulars-Escape of ButlerTreachery of Indian Chief. Great Tree, 267.
Battle of Springfield-Invasion by Knyphausen-Clinton's Designs-Plan of the Battle, 322; Washington deceived by Clinton-Second Invasion under Knyphausen-Disposition of opposing Troops-Engagement, 323; Partial Retreat of Americans-Burning of the Town-Retreat of the Enemy, 324.
Battle of St. John's in 1775-Approach of the Americans, 169,
Advance of Montgomery-Mutiny in American Camp, 170;
Attack upon, and surrender of Fort Chambly-Repulse of
Carleton at Longuenuil-Surrender of St. John's, 171; The
Spoils of Victory, 171, 172; Insubordination in American
Camp-Retreat of Americans out of Canada, 172-Rendezvous of Burgoyne's Army at St. John's, 173.
Battle of Ticonderoga in 1776-Investment of the Fort by Abercrombie-Bravery of Lord IHowe, 11 8; Fight with the French
-Death of Howe-Attack and Defeat of the English, 119;
Investment by Burgoyne-Material of his Army-Weakness
of the Garrison, 132; Outposts undefended, 133; Council of
War in American Camp-The British on Mount Defiance,
134; Retreat of Americans to Mount Independence-Imprudence of Fermoy-Pursuit by the Enemy, 135; Destruc



ANAIYTICAL INDEX. —VoL. I.


3'


tion of American Vessels at Skenesborough-Flight of Amer-  eral Thomas, 573; Gansevoort, Colonel Peter, 240; George
]cans toward Fort Ann, 138.                             III., 457; Gibbon. Edward, 519; Grafton, Duke of, 482; GronBattle at Wind-mill Point in 1838-Preparations for Action-  ville, George, 460; Gridley, Colonel Richard, 546; Hancock,
Evacuation of Ogdensburgh and Prescott-Colonel Worth    John (see Biography of Signers of Declaration of Independsent to maintain Neutrality with United States-The British  ence, Appendix) —Hand, General, 274; Hewes, G. R. T., 502;
repulsed-Defeat of the Patriots, 211.                   Howe, Lot d, 119; Hull, Major, 55; Humphreys, Colonel. 429;
Battle of Wyoming, 1778-Preparations-Forces of the Enemy,  Hutchinson, Governor, 467; Isabella of Castile and Leon, 22;
354; Disposition of the Belligerents for Battle-Speech of  Jenner, Edward. 307; J-n, Mrs., 88; Johnson, John, 285;
Colonel Z. Butler-Attack, 355; Denison's Orders mistaken  Johnson, Sir William, 232, 287; Kinnison, David, 500; Kirk-Retreat of Americans - Scene at Monocasy Island, 356;  land, Samuel, 234; Knyphausen, General Baron. 321; KosciEscape of Butler and Denison-Cruelties of the Indians-  uszko, Thaddeus, 48; Langdon, Governor, 393; Lee. Ann,
Scene at Queen Esther's Rock, 357; Cruelties of Queen   383; Livingston, Governor. 330; Livingston, Colonel Henry
Esther-Scenes at Forty Fort-Negotiations for Surrender-  A., 385; Minor, Charles, 240; Montcalm. Marquis De, 188;
Escape of Colonel Z. Butler, 358; Surrender of the Fort-  Montgomery, Richard, 200; Montour, Catharine (Queen
Conduct of Tories —Bad Faith of Indians-Treaty, 359;    Esther), 357; Munson, Dr., 308; Murphy, Timothy, 62; NixFlight of the People over the Pocono-Incidents of the Flight-  on, General, 76; North, Lord, 483; Oliver, Judge, 506; Otis,
Providential Aid of Mr. Hollenback-Preservation of Papers,  James, 493; Pickering, Colonel Timothy, 374; Prescott, Col360; Picture of the Flight-Bad Faith of Invaders-Story of  onel William, 539; Queen Esther (Catharine Montour), 357;
the Fugitives published at Poughkeepsie-Errors of History,  Quincy, Josiah, 498; Rogers, Major, 116; St. Clair, General
361; Departure of Invaders from the Valley-Indian Cruel-  Arthur, 132; St.Veran, Joseph De, 188; Smith, Adam, 517;
ties-Arrival of Succor-Butler's Expedition against Indians,  Spencer, General Joseph, 566; Standish, Miles, 445; Stark,
362; Return of Settlers-Continued Alarm-Murder of Slo-  John, 394; Sullivan, General, 272; Thomas. General, 202;
cum —Sullivan's Expedition-The Valley a Scene of War,   Trumbull, John, 401; Ward, Artemas, 190; Warner, Colonel
Blood, and Suffering, 363.                              Seth, 153; Warren, Dr. Joseph, 548; Warren, James, 494;.
Battles of Fort Schuyler and Oriskany-Appointment of Gen-  Warren, Mrs. Mercy, 464; Whitefield, Reverend George, 336;
eral Gansevoort, 240; Intelligence of Spencer the Spy-Ru-  Wilkes, John, 520; Willett, Colonel, 244; Winslow, Edward,
mored Preparations for Invasion-Effect on the Whigs-Ap-  445; Wolfe, General, 188; Wooster, General, 408; Yest,
proach of Johnson and St. Leger, 241; Investiture of Fort  Francois, 175; Zinzendorf, Count, 342.
Schuyler-Ingenious Flag-Arrival of St. Leger —His pom- Bishop, Caricature of attempt to Land in America, 459.
pouns Manifesto, 242; Siege of Fort Schuyler-Movements Bloody Pond, 107.
of Indians-General Herkimer and the Militia, 243; Advance Bloody Run, Tragedy of, 94.
to Oriskany-Sortie from  Fort Schuyler under Colonel Board of Trade and Plantations in 1696, 453.
Willet, 244; Dispersion of Johnson's Camp - Capture of  Bokum, Professor, Quotation from, 299.
Stores and other Valuables, 245: Indian Ambush-Surprise  Bolingbroke, Lord, elopes to America with German Girl, 329
of Herkimer and his Troops-Wounded-His Coolness-      Bombardment of American Works by British from Bunker Hii
Desperate Battle, 246; Intermission in the Battle —Its Re.  in 1775, 571.
sumption-Unsuccessful Stratagem of Colonel Butler-Ene- Boscawen, Admiral, sails from Halifax in 1758, 119.
my routed-Mutual Losses, 247; Capture of Billenger and  Boston, Origin and Names of, 445; Settlement of, 446; Firsa
Fry-Messengers sent by St. Leger-Their Threats, Persua-  Forts in-Erection of monumental Column on Beacon Hill,
sions, and Falsehoods, 248; Reply of Colonel Willett-St.  451; First open Resistance resolved upon against the Crown,
Leger's written Demand of Surrender-Gansevoort's Reply,  459; Arrival of Stamps in 1765 —Riot —Effigies burned,
249; A Tory Address-Continuation of the Siege-Adven.    466, 469; Destruction of Liberty Tree and other Property
ture of Willett and Stockwell-Gansevoort's Resolution, 250;  467; Attack on Hutchinson's House —Character of Rioters,
Hon-Yost Schuyler taken Prisoner-His successful Mission  468; Proceedings relative to Stamp Act-Non-importatio
to St. Leger's Camp-Arnold's Proclamation-Alarm of the  Associations formed, 469; Rejoicings on Repeal of Stamp
Indians, 251; Flight of St. Leger's Forces to Oswego-The  Act-Release of Prisoners for Debt-Pyramid on the ConiSpoils-Amusement of Indians-End of the Siege. 252.      mon-Liberality of Hancock. 473; Province House, 474;
Baume, F., Copy of Dispatch of, 391; Expedition to Benning-  Confinement of Tide-waiter, Kirke-Seizure of Sloop Liberty
ton-Indian Allies-Skirmish near Cambridge, 392.         -Excitement of the People-Public Meeting called at FanBeacon, on Beacon Hill, Boston, Notice of, 451.           euil Hall, 478; Convention proposed, 479; Convention held
Beauharnois, orders Burnet to desist from erecting Fort at  in Faneuil Hall —Arrival of British Troops, 480; Military DisOswego, 216.                                            play-Exasperation of the People-Non-importation AssociBeaumarchais, biographical Sketch of-Sent to London to con-  ations formed, 481; Daughters of Liberty hold Meeting-Arfer with Lee. 86.                                       rival of General Gage-Dissolution of Assemblies, 483; Bick.
Becraft, Tory, Castigation of, 278.                       erstaff's Almanack, 486; Assault on Mr. Otis, 487; Patriotism
Bedell, Colonel, Notice of, 207.                          of Women and Boys, 488; Murder of Boy Snyder-Pardon
Beers, Mr., Murdered at New Haven by British, 425.        of the Murderer-Riot, 489; Attack of Mob on the SoldiersBeers, Nathan, Notice of, 431.                            Attucks, Gray, and Caldwell shot, 490; Intense Excitement
Bemis's Heights, Origin of Name-Topography-View from-     -Old South Church —Delegation of Patriots before the GovHead-quarters of Revolutionary Officers, 45; Localities in  ernor-Removal of Troops-Trial of Captain Preston, 491;
Vicinity of-Willard's Mountain, 47; Fortifications - Their  Soldiers defended by John Adams and Quincy-Result of the
present Appearance-Preparations for Battle, 49.         Trial, 492; Patriots in 1770-Hutchinson made GovernorBenedict, Eli. Expedition to Danbury, 402.                Asserted Independence of Assemblies, 493; Preparation for
Benjamin, Park, Quotation from, 214.                      Reception of Tea Ships-Treatment of Consignees-HandBennett, Honorable Ziba, 370.                             bills and Placards issued, 496; Arrival of Tea Ships-Monster,
Bennington, Battle-ground described, 396, 399.            Meeting at Old South-Speech of Josiah Quincy, 497; DeBenson, Egbert, first Attorney General of State of New York,  struction of Tea in the Harbor, 498; Quietude of the Town
387.                                                    -Punishment of Smuggler-Names of Members of Tea Party,
Bernard, Governor Sir Francis, suspected of encouraging Stamp  499; Port Bill proposed and adopted, 503; Arrival of GenAct, 466; Copy of Proclamation to Gentlemen assembled in  eral Gage in 1774-Meeting in Faneuil Hall to consider Port
Faneuil Hall, 480; Petition for removal of, 483; Departure  Bill-Excitement of the People, 507; Boldness of Patriots,.
for England-Biographical Sketch of. 484.                510; Closing of the Port, 511.; Courts of Justice suspended
Betts, Captain Stephen, Skirmish with Tryon's Troops at Grum-  on Eve of Revolution, 512; Topography of, 512,513,551, 561,
mon's Hill in 1779, 414.                                566, 574; Peaceable Resistance of People on Eve of RevoluBettys, Joseph, biographical Notice of, 164.              tion-Spirit of the Press-Names of Boston Newspapers'in
Big Snake, Notice of. 105.                                1774 - Fortification of the "Neck"-Committee of CorreBill. Canada, Opposition to, in Parliament, 156; Passed in 1774,  spondence in 1774-Names of, 513; Arrival of British Troops
157; Boston Port, passed in 1774, 504; For destroying New  from the Jerseys, New York, and Quebec-Number of BritEngland Fisheries, passed in 1775-Conciliatory, 520.    ish Troops stationed at, 521; Arrival of Patriots from all
Billenger, Colonel, made Prisoner at Siege of Fort Schuyler,  Quarters after Battle of Lexington —Organization of Troops
248.                                                    under General Ward-Preparations to besiege the CityBillings, Captain, Killed, 312.                           Neck defended by Colonel Robinson, 534; Gloomy Prospects
Biographical Sketch of Abercrombie, General James, 119;   of People-All Intercourse with the Country cut off by Gage
Adams, Samuel (see Biography of Signers of Declaration of  -Surrounded by exasperated Patriots-Interview of Gage
Independence, Appendix)-Allen, Colonel Ethan, 180; Alien,  with the Select-men-His Perfidy. 535; Operations in Vicinity
Ira, 161; Barre. Colonel Isaac, 463; Barrett, Colonel James,  of, after Battle of Lexington, 537; Preparations for Block.
525; Bernard, Governor, 484; Bettys, Joseph, 164; Bradford,  ading, 538; British Men-of-war at, after Battle of Lexington,
William, 444; Bradstreet, Colonel, 215; Brainerd, Reverend  539; Common, 551; Number of yearly Passengers, 560; State
David, 336; Brent, Joseph, 256; Brown, Colonel, 280; Bur-  House-Copp's Hill-Statute of Washington-Mather's Vault,.
goyne, General, 37; Burke, Edmund, 503; Butler, Colonel  561; Belligerent Armies and Skirmishes at-After Battle of
John, 285; Butler, Colonel Zebulon, 355; Caldwell, Reverend  Bunker Hill —Condition of British Troops after Battle of'
James, 326; Clinton, Charles, 255; Clinton. General, 272;  Bunker Hill-Railroads-Population in 1775, 571; Plan of
Cochran, Dr.. 221; Columbus, Christopher, 18; Dayton, Col-  Relieving-Departure of Women of, with Spoons and Spe.
onel Elias, 323; Dean, James, 273; Denison, Colonel Nathan,  cie quilted into Garments, 572; Desecration of Old South.
361; Dickinson, John, 476; Dickenson, Reverend Jonathan,  574.
326; Durkee, Colonel, 345; Francis, Colonel, 324; Gage, Gen- Boudinot, Elias, Tomb of, 326.




4


ANALYTICAL INDEX.-VoL. I.


Bounary Line established between Canada and United States
in 1842,167.
Bounty offered American Recruits at Morristown, 312.
Boyd, Lieutenant, reconnoitres Beard's Town-Beheaded, 276.
Boys, Patriotism of, in Revolution, 296, 488, 512.
Bradford, William, biographical Sketch of. 444.
Bradstreet, Colonel John, biographical Sketch of-Captures
Fort Frontenac in 1758, 215.
Bragaw, Bergen, Notice of, 333.
Brainerd, Quotation from, 227.
Brainerd, Reverend David, biographical Sketch of, 336.
Brant, Joseph, Interview with General Herkimer at Ogkwaga,
near Susquehanna, 238; Withdraws Warriors from Susquehanna, and joins Butler and Johnson, 239; Approaches Oneida
Lake with Butler, Claus, and Johnson, 241; At Siege of Fort
Schuyler, 244; Destroys German Flats in 1778, 255; Biographical Sketch of, 256; Destroys Springfield, at Head of
tsego Lake, in 1778, 266; Humanity of-Challenged by
M'Kean, 270; In Western New York, 274; At Battle of
Klock's Field, 281; Captures Vrooman at Fort Schuyler, 282;
His Hatchet-marks at Johnstown, 286; Attempts to cut off
Settlement of Cherry Valley-Deceived by Boys, 296; Not
engaged in Invasion of Wyoming-Campbell's Injustice toward. 354.
Brant, Molly, Notice of, 287.
Brener, Colonel, wounded at Battle of Bunker Hill, 545.
Breyman, Colonel, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50; At Battle
of Bennington, 394.
Bricketts at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Bridge, Suspension, over Niagara River, 228.
Brock, General Sir Isaac, Death and Monument of, 226.
Brooks, Major, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50; At Battle of
Bunker Hill, 539, 541.
Brown, Captain Christian, overpowered at Battle of Schoharie,
267.
Brown, Colonel John, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50; Successful Expedition against British Posts between Lakes
George and Champlain, 114; Biographical Sketch of, 280.
Brush, Colonel, at Battle of Bennington, 394.
Bryant, Qpotation from, 88, 284.
Buckingham, Quotation from, 228.
Buckley, Mrs., Treatment of, by Tryon, 427.
Buckminster, wounded at Battle of Bunker Hill, 545.
Bunker Hill, Topography of, 538,540, 543; Battle of, 543; Names
of British Officers killed at, 545; Monument-Description,
Construction, and Dedication of, 558, 559; Scenery from, 560.
Burgoyne, General, biographical Sketch of-Intrusted with
Command of British Forces, 37; Arrives at Quebec-Receives Aid from Sir Guy Carleton-Congregates Forces at
St. John's, 38; Victorious from St. John's to Crown PointPrepares to besiege Ticonderoga, 39; His Force augmented
-Advances to Fort Anne-Reaches Fort Edward, 40; Perplexity in Mohawk Valley, 48; March to Saratoga and Stillwater, 51; Narrow Escape of, 55; Diminution of his Army
at Stillwater, 59; Preparations to retreat, 64; Retreat toward
Saratoga from Stillwater-Anticipated by Gates, 72; Attempts
to retreat to Fort Edward, 74; Stratagem unsuccessful, 75;
Perplexity-Determines to surrender, 77; Proposition, 78;
Message to Clinton-Disposition to withhold SignatureBritish Forces ground their arms, 79; Introduction to Gates,
80; Surrender of Sword at Saratoga, 81; Investment of Ticonderoga, 132; Proclamation, 133; Interview with Indians
at Bouquet River, 160; Rendezvous at St. John's, 173; Arrival at Boston after Battle of Lexington, 537; Opinion of
Battle of Bunker Hill, 548.
Burke, Captain, Continental Navy, 576.
Burke, Edmund, in House of Commons in 1776, 471; Picture
of Pitt's Cabinet, 475; Orations in behalf of American Liberty-Biographical Sketch of, 503; Goldsmith's Epitaph of, 504.
Burnet, Governor, erects Fort at Oswego in 1727, 216; Appointed Chief Magistrate of Massachusetts in 1728, 454.
Burr, Aaron. with Arnold on his Way to Quebec, 194.
Burr, Thaddeus, and Wife, Notice of, 425.
Bute, Earl of, Influence of, 457; Character of, 458; Resignation of, 460.
Butler, Colonel John, at Siege of Fort Schuyler, 244; Recruits
Tory Refugees on St. Lawrence River, 264; Breaks into Valley of Wyoming in 1778, 267; Residence of, in Mohawk
Valley-Biographical Sketch of, 285; Detachment of, at Tioga
Point in 1778, 352; Head-quarters of, at Wintermoot's Fort,
at Wyoming, 1778, 353; Demands Surrender of Forty Fort,
354.
Butler, Colonel, in Encampment at Morristown, 313.
Butler, Walter N., made Prisoner, 250; Imprisoned at Albany
in 1777 —Escapes-Commands Detachment of Rangers in
Expedition against Tryon County in 1778, 267; Marches with
Brant toward Cherry Valley, 268; Character-Slain by Oneida in 1781, 270; Incursion into Mohawk Valley, 290; Retreat
to Canada-Death of, 291.
Butler, Colonel William, takes Post at Schoharie in 1778, 267.
Batler, Colonel Zebulon, sent to destroy Indians at Cayuga Lake,
278; Notice of, 340, 346, 348; In Expedition to Wyoming in
1775, 348, 362; Sends Messengers to learn Intentions of Savages, 349; Deceived by Indian Messenger John-Writes Letter to Roger Sherman, 350; Made Commander-in-chief at
Wyoming in 1778, 353; Escape to Wilkesbarre Fort, 357;


Escape from Wyoming in 1778, 358; Speech of-Biograph.
ical Sketch of, 355; Residence and Grave of, 367.
Butterfield, Major, Notice of, 207.
Cabot, John, Voyage to North America, 28; True Discoverer
of North America, 29.
Cabot, Sebastian, Explores Coast North of Albemarle Sound,
27; Reaches Shores of Brazil and Rio de la Plata, 28.
Cairn, Scotch Canadian, 209.
Caldwell, Mrs., Murder of, 325; Monument of, at Elizabethtown, 326.
Caldwell, Reverend James, Notice of, 324; Biographical Sketch
of-Monument of, 326; Murder of-Execution of Murderer
-Funeral-Orphan Family of, 327.
California, ancient Inhabitants of, 16.
Callender, Captain, dismissed from Service for CowardiceReinstated by Washington for Bravery, 550.
Cambridge, attempted Seizure of Arms at, 514; Head-quarters
of American Army after Battle of Lexington, 534; Early
History of-Washington's Head-quarters, 555; Washington
Elm, 558, 564; Topography of, 566.
Campaign, British, Preparations for, in 1777, 36; Instructions
of Lord George Germain, 37.
Campbell, Honorable James S., Notice of Captivity of, 296.
Campbell, Honorable William W., Notice of, 296.
Campbell, Colonel Samuel, directs attention of La Fayette to
Forts in Schoharie Valley, 265.
Campbell, Major, Monument of, near New Haven-Grave ofDeath of, 423.
Campbell, Mrs., Captured by Indians, 269.
Campbell, Thomas, Errors in " Gertrude of Wyoming"-Injustice toward Brant, 354; Quotation from, 354, 357; Allusion to his Poem, 364.
Canada, Inhabitants of, addressed by American CongressSecret Agent sent to, 122; Report, 123; Bill for more effectual Provision for Government introduced into Parliament in
1774-Opposition-Denunciations of Barre, 156; PassageEffect of Measure in Colonies —Boldness of Orators and
Press, 157; Cessation of French Dominion in, in 1760, 179;
Patriots (so called) of 1837, 210.
Canadians, French, Superstition of, 173; Rural Occupations
of, 173, 174.
Canajoharie, Settlement of, invaded by Tories and Indians in
1780, 262; Female Presence of Mind-Burning of ChurchIndians deceived-Tardiness of Colonel Wemple, 263.
Cape of Good Hope discovered by Vasco de Gama, 26.
Cannon, Mrs., massacred by Indians, 269.
Caravel, Spanish, Description of, 23.
Carcass, defined, 545.
Carey, Mr., makes Cannon of Pepperidge Log, 347.
Carleton, Sir Guy, Governor of Canada, 38; Attempts to seduce Bishop of Quebec, 158; Notice of, 181; Courtesy to
Mrs. Montgomery, 200; Kindness to American Prisoners at
Quebec in 1776, 514.
Carleton, Colonel Guy, Spy in Schoharie Valley, 265.
Carolina, North, explored by Verrazzani, 32.
Carolina, South, discovered by D'Aillon, 30.
Cartier, Expedition up the St. Lawrence, 32.
Carver, Governor John, Notice and Death of, 444.
Castle, Genesee, Destruction of, 277.
Catharinestown, Destruction of, 275.
Caughnawaga, Notice of-Old Church, 233; Burned in 1780,
280; Description of, 285.
Cave, Indian, Notice of, 105.
Celebration at Chemung on Return of Genesee Valley Expedi
tion in 1779, 278.
Cemetery, at New Haven, 429; Indian, near Plymouth, 443.
Censors, Board of, in Pennsylvania, 373.
Chair, Pilgrim, 438.
Chandler, Mrs. Margaret, Account of Escape of Hancock and
Adams from Lexington, 553.
Chantrey, his Statue of Washington in State House, Boston, 553.
Charles II., Notice of, 434.
Charlotte, Queen of George III.-Character of, 458.
Charlestown, Topography of, 538, 540, 543, 566, 571; Burning
of, in 1775, 545.
Charter, Connecticut, Notice of, 439.
Charter Oak, at Hartford, Notice of, 434.
Chastellux, Marquis De, confers with Washington at Hartford
435.
Chatham, Earl of, Speech of, in Parliament, 84; Receives Earl
dom, 475; Unexpected Appearance in Parliament on Eve oi
Revolution-Speech on American Affairs-Conciliatory
Proposition, 518.
Cherry Valley, Whig Meeting at, in 1775, 233; Battle of, 268
269, Notice of-Residence of Judge Campbell, 296; Descrip
tion of, 297.
Chimney Point, Lake Champlain, first settled by French in
1731, 150.
Christie, Colonel, Notice of, 226.
Church, Dr. Benjamin, appointed Surgeon of Army Hospital
in 1775-Imprisoned for Treason-Banished from the Country-First Traitor to American Cause, 568.
Church, Old Caughnawaga, 233; Old South, Boston-Described
-Head-quarters of British Soldiers in Revolution, 490; Desecrated by British Troops, 574.




ANALYTICAL INDEX.-VL. I.


5


Cilley at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Circular Letter of Massachusetts in 1765, 464; Of Lord Hillsborough, 484.
Clark, Willis Gaylord, Quotation from, 418, 548.
Clarke, Sir Francis, Death of, 63.
Classic Localities, 34.
Claus, Colonel Daniel, Notice of-In Command of Indians at
Oswego, 241, 287.
Clergymen, Action of, 512; Congregational, preach Liberty in
Massachusetts, 521.
Clinton, General Sir Henry, sends Message to Burgoyne at
Saratoga, 79; Sails for Charleston in 1779, 309; Arrival of,
from the South in 1780-Designs on Washington at Short
Hills, 322; Operations in New Jersey in 1778, 332; Sends marauding Expedition up Hudson River in 1777, 388; Arrives at
Boston after Battle of Lexington, 537; At Battle of Bunker
Hill, 545; Advises Attack on Cambridge, 547.
Clinton, Governor George, Expedition to Tryon County, 280;
Pursues Sir John Johnson to Ticonderoga, 290; President of
New York State Convention in 1788, 384; First Governor of
State of New York, 387.
Clinton, General James, biographical Sketch of-Expedition to
Western New York against Indians in 1779, 272.
Clinton, Charles, biographical Sketch of, 255.
Clinton, De Witt, proposed Monument to, 259.
Clyde, Colonel, Notice of, 262.
Coal Mines at Carbondale, fatal Accident in, in 1846, 377; Exploration and Description of, 378.
Cochran, Colonel Robert, in Command at Fort Edward, 74;
Adventures of-Grave of-Sent to Canada as Spy, 102; In
Command, as Major, at Fort Schuyler, 256.
Cochran, Dr. John, biographical Sketch of, 221.
Cochran, Major, Notice of, 221; Death of, 222.
Cochran, Mrs. C. R., 223.
Code, American Naval, adopted in 1775, 576.
Colburn, Colonel. at Battle of Stillwater, 55.
Colfax, General William, at Morristown, 310.
College, Yale, Notice of, 431; Harvard, endowment of, 555.
Colonies American, State of, just previous to Revolution, 349;
Moral Spectacle of, on Eve of Revolution, 521.
Colonies, New England, Union of. 433; Conjunction of New
Haven and Connecticut in 1665-Charter of Connecticut
granted by Charles II., 434.
Colonists, American, Affairs of, in 1775, 122; Forbearance of,
before Revolution-Consistent Course of Delegates in Congress-Various Addresses of second Congress, 126; Military
Preparations by Congress-Army of-Spirit of, 127.
Columbus, Christopher, biographical Sketch of, 18; Grounds
of Belief in Existence of America, 19; Departure from Palos,
23; Mutiny among his Crew, 24; Discovery of America, 25;
Landing in South America-Return to Europe-Honors conferred on him-Imprisonment-Release-Subsequent Discoveries-Death, 26.
-ommissioners, Names of, at Convention at Albany in 1754,
303; At Trenton in 1782, to adjust Difficulties between Connecticut and Pennsylvania, 371; Appointed by Pennsylvania
to investigate Affairs of Settlers in Wyoming, 371, 375; Of
Customs, 475.
Committee, Boston, of Correspondence in 1774-Names of, 513;
Of Safety and Supplies appointed by Massachusetts Provincial Congress, 516; Names of-Empowered to regulate Movements of gathering Army previous to Battle of Bunker Hill,
536; Appointed to draught Commission of and Instruction
for Commander-in-chief of the American Army, 563; Of Congress arrive at Cambridge and confer with Washington respecting future Operations, 575.
Company, Susquehanna, Notice of, 343; Delaware, Notice ofPurchase Lands of Indians on Delaware River, 344; Establish Democratic Government in 1771, 347.
Compo, Landing of British at, in 1777, 402.
Concord, Skirmish at, in 1775, 190; Provincial Congress meets
at, in 1774, 515; Battle-ground of-Topography, 527; Concealment of Stores at-Monument-Village of, 552; Celebration at, in 1850, 554.
Congress, Continental, Factions in, 42; Ratification of agreement with British Government for return of Burgoyne, 82;
Secret Committee of, for obtaining Aid from France after
Battle of Saratoga, 86; Address to People of Canada. 122;
Holds Session at Baltimore in 1777, 307; Issues Bills, 317,
318; First authorizes Coinage of Money, 318; Adopts Resolutions urging Pennsylvania and Connecticut to cease Hostilities in 1775-Resolutions unheeded, 348; Recommends
Committees of Vigilance in 1775-Resolutions of, in 1778, to
raise Soldiers in Westmoreland, 352; Censures Stark for Insubordination, 394; Promotes him for valiant Deeds, 398;
Adopts Resolution to erect Monument in Memory of General
Wooster, 406; Action of, concerning brilliant Achievements
of Arnold at Danbury, 410; Appointment of Delegates from
Massachusetts to, in 1774, 510; Wisdom and Sagacity of, descanted on by Pitt-Orders Monument to be erected in Memory of General Warren, and that his eldest Son be educated
at Expense of United States, in 1775, 550; Establishes Postoffice System in 1775-Also, Army Hospital-Adopts Measures to strengthen Army and organize Civil Government in
1775, 568.
Congress. first Continental, Assembles at Philadelphia in 1774,


126; Address of, to People of Great Britain, Canada, and Ireland, 157.
Congress, second Continental, assembles at Philadelphia in
1775, 125; Consistent Course of Delegates-Various Ad.
dresses, 126; Military Preparations, 127; Tardiness in supplying Men and Munitions, 133; Suspends St. Clair-Appoints
Gates to succeed Schuyler, 136; Sends Committee of Inquiry to Lake Champlain in 1775,155; Appoints Washington
Commander-in-chief of American Forces in 1775, 190; Message of, to Shawnees to secure Neutrality in 1778, 264; Directs Washington to attack Enemy, 573.
Congress, General, proposed in Massachusetts in 1774, 509.
Congress, Provincial, of New York, changes Name to "Convention of Representatives of State of New York" in 1776 -Assembles at White Plains in 1776-Approves Declaration of
Independence, 386.
Congress, Provincial, of Massachusetts, assembles at Concord
in 1774, 515; Votes to enroll twelve Thousand Minute-men
in 1774-Invites Connecticut and Rhode Island to follow Example, 516; Orders purchase of Ammunition and Stores,
521; Assembles at Watertown in 1775, 531; Votes to increase
American Forces-Issues Circular Letter to Committees of
Safety of Province, 533; Issues Paper Money-Resolves that
Gage is unqualified to longer serve as Governor, &c., 534;
Benevolence of, 536; Passes Law prohibiting Waste of Gun
powder for Sporting, 570.
Congress Stamp Act, 1765, 522.
Connecticut, Assembly of; proposes to adjust Difficulties with
Pennsylvania in 1771, and sends Colonel Dyer as Agent to
England, 347; First Meeting-house in-First Court held inFirst Government organized-Criminal Code based on Jewish Laws, 433; Conjunction with New Haven-Charter of,
granted by Charles II.-Charter of, annulled by James II. in
1685-Sir Edmund Andross appointed first Governor General
-Demands and is refused Charter-Charter laid before him
-Seized and concealed in Oak Tree by Wadsworth, 434;
Charter still in full Force in Opinion of Jurists, 435; Historical Society, Notice of-Relics in Collection of, 437, 438,
439; Assembly appoints Military Officers in 1775, 522; Assembly votes to raise six Regiments previous to Battle of Bunker
Hill, 536.
Connecticut Farms, burning of, 322.
Constitution, Federal, similar Plan of, proposed by Franklin,
Coxe, and Penn, 303; Conventions relative to Adoption of,
382,384; Vindicated by Jay, Hamilton, and Madison in "'Federalist," 384; Names of Committee for draughting and reporting, 386.
"Constitutional Courant," Head-piece of, curious Device, 468,
508.
Convention at Saratoga for Release of Burgoyne, 82.
Convention, Colonial, at Albany in 1754, for renewal of Treaties
with Six Nations-Names of Delegates of, 303; At Hartford
in 1779, 321; At New York in 1765-Adopts Declaration of
Rights-Petition to King and Memorial to Parliament, 465.
Convention, New York State, held at Poughkeepsie in 1788,
382, 383, 384; Of Representatives of State of New York at
White Plains. Harlrem, Fishkill, and Kingston, in 1777, 387.
Convention held in Boston in 1768, 480; At Boston in 1774, resolve that no Obedience is due to late Acts of Parliament, 514.
Cook at Battle of Stillwater, 51.
Cook, Colonel, at Expedition to Danbury, 403.
Coon, Tory, Anecdote of, and Benedict Arnold, 409.
Cornelius, Lewis, Dimensions and Weight of, 380.
Corn Planter, Seneca Chief, Address to President at Philadelphia in 1792-Early Temperance Lecturer, 277; Supplanted by Red Jacket-On Incursion into Schoharie County, 279.
Cortereal, Gaspar, Voyage of, to North America-Kidnaps and
sells Indians to Portuguese as Slaves, 29.
Cortez, Fernando, 30.
Colton, Reverend John, Compliments to, 446.
Council of Six Nations of Indians in Genesee Valley in 1779,
276; Of Indians at Albany in 1754,303; Of Indians at Easton
with provincial Governors in 1758, 336, 344; At Fort Stanwix in 1768, 344.
Council of War at Forty Fort in 1778, 353; At Boston after
Battle of Lexington-Names of Officers, 534; Summoned by
Gage on Morning of Battle of Bunker Hill, 540; Called by
Washington at Cambridge, 1775, 565, 573.
Courts-martial of Schuyler and St. Clair, 136; General Enos,
192.
Courts of Vice Admiralty established throughout Colonies in
1696, 453.
Cow Boys and Skinners, Notice of, 502.
Cowper, Quotation from, 336.
Cox, Colonel, at Unadilla, 238; At Siege of Fort Schuyler, 243;
Killed, 246.
Coxe, Daniel, Letter of, to Joseph Galloway, 320.
Cradles of Liberty, May Flower, 440; Faneuil Hall, 479.
Crane, General, Tomb of, 326.
Crown Point. Capture of, in 1758, 120; Captured by Green
Mountain Boys in 1775, 153.
Cruisers, American, fitted out in 1775, 569.
Currytown, Attack on, by Doxstader-Captives, 294.
Cushing, Thomas, Chairman of Convention in Boston in 1768,
479.




6


ANALYTICAL INDEX.-VOL. 1.


Cushman, Reverend Robert, Notice of, 433.
Cuyler, Colonel, at Battle of Klock's Field, 281.
Daggett, Reverend Dr. Naphthali, biographical Sketch of-Inhumanly treated by the British at New Haven, 424.
Dana, Anderson, Notice of, 360.
Dana, Richard H., Quotation from, 360.
Danbury, Connecticut, Washington's Army at, in 1778, 332;
Original Proprietors of, 400; Tryon's Expedition to, in 1777,
401; Burned by British in 1777, 404.
Dartmouth, Lord, placed at Head of Board of Trade in 1772,
495; Card of, 531.
Davenport, Reverend Mr., Notice of, 419.
Davis, Captain, at Battle of Springfield in 1780, 324.
Davis, Captain Isaac, at Battle of Concord in 1775, 526.
Dawes, Honorable Thomas, Quotation from, 493.
Dayton, Colonel S., at Fort Stanwix, 236.
Dayton, Colonel Elias, at Battle of Springfield-Biographical
Sketch of, 323; Tomb of, 326.
Dean, James, biographical Sketch of, 273.
Deane, Silas, biographical Sketch of. 85.
Dearborn, Major, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Dearborn, Lieutenant, sent to destroy Indians in 1779, 278.
Debt, National, of England, 95; American, Foreign and Domestic, in 1777-81, 319.
Declaration of Independence-Manner received in Mohawk
Valley, 236.
De Gourges, Expedition to Florida-Avenges the Death of
Huguenots upon the Spaniards, 32.
De Grove, H., Notice of, 400.
Delancy, James, President of Convention at Albany in 1754, 303.
Denison, Colonel Nathan, Notice of, 348; Biographical Sketch
of, 361.
Derby, Honorable Richard, fits out Vessels to bear Dispatches
to London in 1775, 531.
De Salle at Mouth of Niagara River in 1725, 224.
De Soto, Fernando, Expedition to Florida in 1538, 30; Expedition up the Mississippi in 1540-Death of, 31.
D'Estang, Count, arrives at Sandy Hook with French Fleet in
1778, 331.
Devices on Continental Money, 317; on Newspaper Heads, 507,
508.
De Witt. Levi, Notice of, 290.
Diamond Island, Lake George, 109; A Military DepOt under
Burgoyne, 114.
Dibble, Joseph, Notice of, 406.
Dickenson, John, biographical Sketch of, 476; Honors to, 477;
Draws up Petition to the King, 568.
Dickinson, General, at Battle of Springfield, 323.
Dickinson, Reverend Jonathan, biographical Sketch of, 326.
Dieskau, Death of, 109.
Dievendorff, Jacob, Notice of, 293, 295.
Dillenback, Captain, assailed by Johnson's Greens, 248.
Dixwell, Colonel, English Regicide, concealed at New Haven
in 1638, 419, 420; Monument of, 420.
Dome Island, shelter for Putnam's Men, 114.
Doolittle, Amos, copper-plate Engraver, Notice of, 317
Dorchester Heights, Topography of, 560, 566.
Dorrance, Colonel, at Wyoming, 353.
Doty, Mrs. Jane, Recollections of, 333.
Douw, Volkert P., appointed Commissioner by Congress to attend Indian Council at Johnstown in 1778, 265.
Doxstader attacks Currytown, 293.
Duane, James. appointed Special Commissioner on Indian
Council at Johnstown, 265; Delegate to first Continental Congress, 383.
Du Bois, Colonel, at Battle of Klock's Field, 281.
Dudley, Governor, Quotation from, 447.
Dunlap, Reverend Mr., Notice of, 269.
Dupuys, Sieur, forms Settlements near Syracuse in 1655 -Escapes from hostile Indians to Montreal, 229.
Durkee, Captain Robert, in Command at Wyoming in 1776 -At Skirmish on Millstone River in 1777, 351; Refused Permission to return Home to Wyoming, 356.
Durkee, Colonel John, biographical Sketch of-At Wyoming
Valley, 345.
Dutch, used stamped Paper prior to Stamp Act, 461.
Dwight. Dr. Timothy, Notice of, 270; Pastor at Greenfield Hill
in 1779-His Poem "Greenfield Hill," 417; His Description
of Fairfield, 425.
Dyer, Captain, in Continental Navy, 576.
Dyer, Colonel Eliphalet, sent to England to adjust Difficulties
in Wyoming Valley-Anecdote of, about" Lawyers and Bullfrogs," 347.
East India Company, its Object and Extent, 495.
Easton, Pennsylvania, Notice of, 335.
Edwards, Gilbert, Notice of, 321.
Effigies burned in Boston on Account of Stamp Act, 466, 469.
Elderkin. Jedediah, Notice of, 345; Anecdote of, in " Lawyers
and Bull-frogs," 347.
Elizabeth Port, its Fortification-Ancient Tavern-Wharf, 328.
Elizabethtown, Notice of, 326; Washington's Army at, in 1778,
332.
Elliot, Joseph, Notice of, 358.
Elliot, Tory, 264.


Emerson, Reverend William, Letter of, describing Washington's Camp at Cambridge in 1775, 567.
Encampment of American Army at Middlebrook and Pluckemin in 1778, 332.
Encampment of American Army at Morristown in 1777-Spirit
and Condition of Continental Army-Place of QuartersFree-masonry-Inoculation of the Army, 307; Proclamation
of the Brothers Howe-Disappointment of the PeopleWashington's Counter Proclamation, 308; Opposition to
Washington's Policy-His Independence and Sagacity. 309.
Encampment of American Army at Morristown in 1779-80,
309; Life-guard and their Duties-Pulaski and his Cavalry
-Effect of Alarm Guns, 310; Sufferings and Fortitude of the
Army —Secret Expedition of Stirling- Extreme ColdDeath of Miralles, 311; Mutiny-Excuses for the Movement
- Injustice toward the Soldiers - Policy and Success of
Wayne, 312; Adjustment of Difficulties-Emissaries of Clinton-Patriotism of the Mutineers-Fate of the Emissaries,
313; Mutiny of the New Jersey Line-Prompt Action of
Washington-Success of Howe, 314.
Encampment of British on Bunker Hill, 530.
Encampment of Hessians near Bennington in 1777, 396.
Encampment of Washington at Cambridge in 1775, 567.
Engravers of the Revolution, Notice of, 317, 421.
Episcopacy designed for America, 459; Opposition to, 460.
Epitaph for Colonel Scammel, 431; Burke-Goldsmith, 504.
Erskine, Sir William, in Expedition to Danbury, 402; In Skir
mish at Compo, 410.
Esopus the Capital of New York in 1777, 388.
Evacuation of New Haven in 1779, 425.
Everett, Honorable Edward, Speech at Concord in 1850, 554.
Ewing, Colonel, Letter of, about Discovery of Frances Slocum,
368.
Expedition, Foraging, under Baume, to Bennington-Instructions from Burgoyne-Indian Allies-Skirmish near Cambridge, 392; Measure for defending new Hampshire-Langdon's Patriotism-Raising of Troops, 393; Stark's Refusal to
accompany Lincoln-Censure of Congress-Result-Movements to oppose Baume, 394; Preparations for Battle-Disposition of the British Troops-Errors and Difficulties in
Correction, 395; Skirmishing in the Rain-Hessian Encampment-Stark's Promise and Fulfillment, 396.
Expedition to Canada under Arnold in 1775, 90; Voyage up
the Kennebec-Dead River-Return of Enos to Cambridge
without Orders-His Trial and Acquittal, 192; Perilous Voyage down the Chaudiere-Narrow Escape-Timely Relief
for the Troops, 193; Manifesto of Washington to ArnoldJoined by Indians Natanis and Sabatis-Arrival at Point Levi
-Incidents of the March, 194.
Expedition to Currytown, under Captain Gross, in 1781-Battle at New Dorlach, 294; Death of Captain M'Kim-Prisoners, 295.
Expedition of Governor Tryon to Danbury in 1777-ObjectLanding of the British at Compo-Rising of the MilitiaCharacter of the People, 402; March of British into Danbury
-Head-quarters of Officers, 403; Imprudence of some Citizens-Retaliation of British-Burning of the Village, 404;
Estimated Damage, 405; British attacked by Wooster-Return Fire-Death of Wooster-Approach of Arnold, 408;
Barricade at Ridgefield-Bravery of Arnold-Narrow Escape
-March to Compo, 409; Skirmish with Erskine-Connecticut Militia-Action of Congress concerning Arnold, 410.
Expedition to Easton against Six Nations in 1779, under Sullivan, 336.
Expedition against German Flats in 1778, 225.
Expedition. marauding, up the Hudson, sent by Sir Henry Clinton, in 1777-Landing at Kingston, Rhinebeck Flats, and
other Places-Burning Houses-Destruction of other Property, 388.
Expedition to Horseneck Landing in 1779, under Tryon-Skir.
mish at Greenwich between British advance Guards and Iutnam's Scouts-Defeat of Americans-Escape of PutnamTryon plunders the Inhabitants, and retreats to Rye and
King's Bridge, 412.
Expedition against Indians in Western New York in 1779. under Sullivan, 272; Capture and Execution of Hare and Newberry-Information from General Schuyler-Damming Otsego Lake-Its Effects, 273; March of Sullivan's ForcesFortifications of the Enemy-Battle, 274; Effect of the Artil.
lery-Retreat of the Enemy —Destruction of Catherinestown
and other Villages and Plantations, 275; Approach to Genesee
-Council of Indian Villages-Battle-Capture and Torture
of Lieutenant Boyd, 276; Destruction of Genesee and surrounding Country-Picture of the Desolation-Washington
receives the Name of An-na-ta-kau-les (Town Destroyer), 277
Return of invading Army-Arrival at Wyoming - Oneidan
driven from Home, 278.
Expedition against Indians in the Ohio Valley, under M'Intosh
in 1778, 264.
Expedition against Indians in Onondaga Valley in 1779, undel
General Clinton-Destruction of Towns, 270; Alarm of the
Oneidas, 271.
Expedition against the Five Nations of Indians in 1696, under
Frontenac, 216.
Expedition against Indians at Oswegatchie in 1779. under Clinton-Attack on Cobelskill-Scalping Parties, 271.




ANALYTICAL INDEX. —VoL. I.


Expedition against Indians in Wyoming Valley in 1778, under
Butler, 362.
Expedition against Indians in Wyoming Valley in 1779, under
Sullivan, 363.
Expedition to Lexington and Concord under Colonel Smith
and Major Pitcairn-Lexington in Arms-Midnight March of
British, 523; Approach to Lexington-Citizens alarmed by
Bells, Guns, and Drums-Militia called to the Green-Skirmish-Eight Patriots killed, 524; Patriots disperse-People
of Concord aroused-Assembling of Militia-Town invested by British, 525; Destruction of Property-Rapid Augmentation of Militia-Preparations for Action, 526; Battle at
Concord Bridge-Retreat of British to Village —Scalping
Story explained, 527; Retreat of Enemy from Concord-Annoyance on Road by Militia, 528; Junction of Troops of
Percy and Smith-Retreat to Charlestown-Skirmishes at
West Cambridge and Prospect Hill, 529.
Expedition against Montreal, under Winthrop, in 1689-Failure, 451.
Expedition, Naval, off Sandy Hook in 1776, under Dayton and
Alexander, 328; Capture of British Provision Ship. 329.
Expedition, Naval, against Niagara in 1755, under Governor
Shirley, 217.
Expedition to New Haven, under Tryon, in 1779-Landing of
Troops, 422; Alarm-Bravery of Militia-Battle on Milford
Hill-Death of Campbell, 423; Entrance of Enemy-Treatment of Dr. Daggett-Landing of Tryon, 424; Conduct of
Enemy-People on East Rock-Evacuation by British, 425.
Expedition against New York, under Washington, in 1781 -Conference with the French at Wethersfield-Plans of Procedure-Junction of Armies near Dobb's Ferry-Ineffectual
Attempts upon New York-Enterprise abandoned-Washington and Forces proceed to Yorktown, 436.
Expedition, marauding, to Norwalk, under Tryon, in 1779 -Destruction of the Village-Conduct of Tryon, 414.
Expedition to Staten Island in 1780. under Lord Stirling. 311.
Expedition to Ticonderoga in pursuit of Johnson in 1781, under Clinton and Van Schaick, 290.
Expedition to Tryon County in 1780, under Clinton and Van
Rensselaer-Dispatch of Orders to Colonel Brown, at Fort
Paris-Engagement at Fort Keyser-Death of Brown, 280;
Pursuit of Johnson by Van Rensselaer-Inaction of the latter-Battle of Klock's Field-Capture of Tories, 281; Pursuit of Johnson and Brant-Conduct of Van RensselaerCapture of Vrooman and his Party-Threatened Invasion,
282; Gloomy Prospect in the Mohawk Country-Patriotism
of Colonel Willett —His Command of Tryon Militia. 283.
Expedition to Wyoming Valley in 1775, under Plunket-Repulsed by the Yankees-Council of War-Enterprise abandoned, 348.
Expedition to Wyoming in 1784, under Armstrong, 373.
Expenditures of British Government on Account of America
prior to Revolution, 456.
Fairfield-Origin of Name, 416; Described by Dr. Dwight-Destruction of, 425; Tryon's Apology-Extent of Destruction,
426; Treatment of Mrs. Buckley-Interference of General
Silliman-Humphrey's Elegy on Burning of, 427; Tryon's
Retreat to Huntington, Long Island, 428.
Falls, Cohoes', described, 35; Montmorenci, 203; St. Ann's Rapids, in River St. Lawrence, described, 206; Cedar Rapids, 207;
Niagara, 227.
Fanaticism in New England, 449.
Faneuil Hall described —Burned in 1761-Enlarged in 1805,
479; Meeting held in, to consider Port Bill in 1774, 507.
Faneuil, Peter, Founder of Faneuil Hall, 479.
Farrar, Captain Jonathan, at Battle of Lexington, 525.
Febiger, Adjutant Christian, at Battle of Bunker HIill, 546.
' Federalist," Notice of, 384.
Fellows, General, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50; Situation
of his Detachment, 74.
Fermoy, Gen. De, Imprudence of, at Mount Independence, 135.
Feu de Joie. Toast at. in Sullivan's Army, 270.
Finances of Revolutionary Government-Emission of Bills of
Credit, 316; Continental paper Money-Form of Bills-Devices and Mottoes, 317; New emissions of Bills-Counterfeits issued by Tories-First coined Money, 318; Depreciation of paper Money-Confusion in Trade-Foreign and
domestic Debt-Value of Bills in Specie, 319; Laws passed
making paper Money legal Tender-Washington's Deprecation of the Law-Its large Issues encourage Tories, 320;
General Greene charged with enriching himself at public
Expense-Excitement throughout the Country-Riot at
Philadelphia-Convention at Hartford, 321.
Finch, Mr., Prisoner at Wyoming, 361.
Fish, Jabez, Notice of, 360.
Fisheries, New England, Bill for Destroying, 520.
Fitch, Governor Thomas, Notice of, 414.
Flag, American, Devices of, 192; Ingenious, 242; American,
wanted by Indians for Decoy, 350; Pine Tree, described, 570,
576; Continental Marine. 576.
Fleet, Formation of, on Lake Champlain, 163; British, Arrives
off Sandy Hook in 1778, 331; Of Admiral Howe returns from
Newport to New York in 1778, 332; British, arrive off Norwalk Islands in 1777, 402; French, blockaded in Narragansett Bay by British. 435; British, off Block Island in 1781, 436.


Florida discovered by Ponce De Leon, 29; Invaded by De
Soto, 30.
Flucker, Thomas, Notice of, 515.
Fonda, Major Jelles, Notice of, 280.
Foot, Ezra, Notice of, 407.
Ford, Honorable Gabriel. Notice of, 306, 314, 315.
Ford, Mrs., House of, Head-quarters of Washington, Hamilton,
and Tilghman, 310.
Forman, Judge, Anecdote of. 229.
Fortifications at Van Schaick's Island, 36, 41; Fort Schuyler
or Fort Stanwix, 38, 231, 237; Mount Hope and Mount Defiance, 39; At Haver's Island. 41; At Bemis's Heights, 49; At
Stillwater, 58; Fort Hardy, 71; Of Burgoyne's Camp, Remains of, 89; Fort Edward, 93, 95; Fort Miller, 94; Terms
in, defined, 96; Fort William Henry-Fort George, 108; Fort
William Henry, Destruction of-Fort Gage-Fort George,
Ruins of. 112; Fort Ticonderoga or Carillon, 115, 118; Fort
Howe, 115; On Island of Cape Breton, 119; At Crown Point,
120; At Mount Independence, 133; Fort Ann-Present Appearance of, 139; Fort St. Frederick, 150; Crown Point Description and present Appearance of, 151; At Isle Aux Noix
-Near Plattsburgh, 166; At Rouse's Point, 167; At St. John's,
169,172; At Chambly, 171,174, 289; At Mouth of Sorel River,
183; At Cape Diamond, near Quebec, ]98; At Cedar Rapids,
207; Fort Wellington, near Wind-mill Point, on the St. Lawrence, 210; Near Ogdensburgh, 212; Fort Frontenac, on the
St. Lawrence, Captured by Colonel Bradstreet in 1758, 215;
At Oswego, 216, 217, 220; Fort Ontario, 217; Fort Niaga.
ra, 216, 224; Forts Stanwix, Newport, and Ball, 231; Fort
Johnson, 232; Fort Dayton, on German Flats, 243; Fort
Schuyler, Topography of, 249; Destroyed by Fire and Flood
in 1781, 252, 282; Fort Herkimer or Fort Dayton, 254; Fort
Herkimer, Topography of, 255; Fort Plain, Plan and Description of, 261; Fort Clyde-Fort Plank, 262; In Schoharie Valley, 265, 279, 280; In Cherry Valley, 268; Middle Fort, 279;
Lower Fort-Fort Hunter, in Mohawk Valley, 280, 290; Fort
Paris, in Stone Arabia, 280; Fort Rensselaer, in Mohawk
Valley, 283; Fort M'Kean, 295; Fort Orange (now Albany),
301; Fort Nonsense, 306; Fort Lee, 307; Forty Fort and Fort
Wintermodt, in Valley of Wyoming, 340, 351; Fort Durkee,
345; Fort Wyoming, 346; Fort Jenkins, at Wyoming, 351:
Names and Position of all Forts in Wyoming, 353; Forty
Fort, Site of, 365; Fort Dickinson. Wyoming, 373; Fitch's
Point, 413; Fort Hale or Little Fort, on Black Rock, New
Haven, 424, 425; Old Forts in, at Boston, 451; Fort Independence, Boston Harbor, 478; Of Boston Neck, 513; In
Vicinity of Boston after Battle of Lexington, 537, 560, 567,
571; On Breed's Hill, 540; At Boston, 574; On Bunker Hill,
539; On Plowed Hill, 571; At Lechmere Point, 555; At
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 568.
Forty Fort, 358, 365.
Fox, Charles James, first Speech of, in Parliament on Boston
Port Bill, 503; Satirizes George III., 519.
France acknowledges Independence of United States in 1778,
87.
Francis, Colonel, killed at Battle of Hubbardton, 146.
Franklin, Dr. Benjamin, Christening of, 114; Matures Plan for
Convention at Albany in 1754, 303; Invents Stove in 1742,
328; Advocates Stamp Act in Congress at Albany in 1754,
461; Advice to Ingersoll, 466; Republishes Letters of "PennPylvania Farmer" in London and Paris, 476; Chosen Agent
for Massachusetts, 493; Publishes Letters of Hutchinson and
others in London, 494; Summoned before Privy CouncilVow on dismissal as Post-master General, 495; Visits Dissenters in North of England to enlist them in American
Cause, 517; Sends forth Address to People of England and
others, 519; Sails for America, abandoning all Hope of Rec.
onciliation, 521; Appointed by Congress Post-master General in 1775-Post-office Account-book, 568; Receives Balance due for Services as Colonial Agent in England-Pays
five Hundred Dollars as charitable Donation for Relief of
wounded at Lexington and Concord, and Widows and Orphans of the killed, 575.
Franklin, Colonel John, invests Wilkesbarre Fort in 1784, 372;
Drives Commissioners from Valley of Wyoming-Arrested
for Treason, 375: Discharged, 376.
Fraser, General, at Battle of Bemis's Heights. 50: Death of, 52;
Account of Death of. by Baroness Reidesel-Place of Death
of-Last Request of, granted, 65; Burial of —Humanity of
Americans toward, 66; Burial-place of, 70.
Free-masonry at Morristown, 307.
Freneau. Philip, Quotations from. 37, 43, 533, 537, 571.
Frey, Major, captured at Siege of Fort Schuyler, 248.
Frontenac. Count Louis, Expedition against Five Nations in
1696, 216.
Frost, Captain. at Darien in 1781, 414.
Fulton, Robert, first Steam-boat on Hudson-Price of Passage
of, 35.
Gage, General Thomas, Notice of, 478, 480, 483; Arrives in
Boston in 1774, 507; Becomes a Tyrant in the Eyes of Bostonians. 509; Attempts to seize Arms and Ammunition at
Cambridge in 1774, 514; Sends Expedition against Concord
in 1775. 523; Restrictions and Perfidy of, in Boston after Battle of Lexington. 535; Soliloquy of 537; Summons Council
of War on Morning of Battle of Bunker Hill, 540; Burns






8                                ANALYTICAL
Charlestown with Carcass, 545; Recalled to make Explanation to King George after Battle of Bunker Hill-Biographical
Sketch of, 573.
Gall, General, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Gansevoort, Colonel Peter, appointed to Command Fort Schuyler-Biographical Sketch of, 240; Letters to General Schuyler imploring Aid, 241; In Expedition against Onondagas, 270.
Gardinier, Captain, at Siege of Fort Schuyler, 247.
Gardner, Henry, appointed Receiver General of Massachusetts
in 1774, 516.
Gardner, Colonel, at Battle of Bunker Hill-Death of, dramatized, 546.
Garrick's Couplet on Goldsmith. 504.
Garth, General, Notice of, 427, 428.
Gates, General, superseded by Schuyler, 38; Withdrawal, 39;
Supersedes Schuyler-Arrival at Van Schaick's Island, 42;
Quarters at Bemis's Heights, 47; Advances to Stillwater, 48;
Increase of Army at Stillwater, 59; Kindness to British Invalids at Stillwater, 73; Terms proposed to Burgoyne, 78;
Introduction to Burgoyne, 80; Awarded Gold Medal, 84;
Letter to Burgoyne relative to Massacre of Women and
Children, 100; Letter to Burgoyne in 1777, 389.
Geake, Samuel, Notice of, 242.
Genesee Valley, Destruction of, its Towns and Property in
1779, 277.
Genesee River, Notice of, 224.
George II., Death of, announced to his Heir, 457.
George III., Accession of, 456; Biographical Sketch of, 457;
Satirized by Fox, 519.
Gerard, M., Minister from France, succeeded by Luzerne, 311.
German Flats, Origin of Name, 253; Stone Church at, 254;
Expedition against-Destruction of Settlement by Brant in
1778, 255; Rencounter at, between Wordsworth and Indians, 298.
Gerrish, Colonel, at Battle of Bunker Hill, 544.
Gerry, Elbridge, at Head of Massachusetts Committee of Supply, 522.
Getman, Captain, at Schell's Bush, 299.
Gibbon, Edward, takes Sides with Americans on Eve of Revolution-Biographical Sketch of, 519.
Gien-gwa-tah, Seneca Chief, at Battle of Wyoming, 354.
Girty, Simon, Tory, 264.
Glen's Falls, Scenery and Incidents of, 105.
Glover at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Gnadenhutten, Destruction of, 343.
Goffe, General, English Regicide, concealed at New Haven,
419, 420.
Goldsmith, Oliver, Extracts from " Retaliation"-Epitaph for
Burke, 504.
Gore, Governor Christopher, wounded in Riot at Boston when
Boy, 489.
Gould, Colonel, Death of, 409.
Government, British, caricatured, 158.
Grafton, Duke of, Augustus Henry-Policy of-Biographical
Sketch of, 482.
Grasshopper, Field-piece, Notice of, 279.
Grave of M. Richardson Stoddard, 148; Ethan Allen, 161; Near
Fort Jenkins, Wyoming, of Victims scalped, 353; Colonel
Zebulon Butler, 367; Huguenots at Kingston, 389; General
Wooster-Its Marks obliterated, 406; Colonel Humphreys
4 at New Haven-Major Campbell, 424; Arnold's Wife, 429;
Vault of Mather Family, 561.
Graves, Admiral, in Command of British Fleet at Battle of
Bunker Hill, 540.
Great Tree, Seneca Chief, Treachery of, at Schoharie, 267.
Greene, General, charged with enriching himself at public Expense, 321; In Command at Springfield in 1780, 323; Headquarters near Middlebrook, with Washington, in 1778, 332;
At Bunker Hill, 566.
Greenland and Iceland, mild Climate of, in former Times, 21.
Green Mountain Boys, Regiment of, at Ticonderoga, 155; Captured Crown Point in 1775, 153.
Greenfield Hill, Notice of, 417.
Gregg, Captain, Adventure of, 252.
Gregg, Colonel, at Battle of Bennington, 394.
Grenville, George, biographical Sketch of-Originator of Stamp
Act, 460; Speech of, 471.
Gridley, Captain Samuel, at Battle of Bunker Hill, 539, 543.
Gridley, Colonel Richard, wounded at Battle of Bunker HillBiographical Sketch of, 546.
Gross, Captain, Expedition to Currytown, 294.
Grummon's Hill described, 415.
Gunn, Abel, Notice of, 384.
Guy, Park, 234.
Haddin, Lieutenant, at Battle of Stillwater, 54.
Haldimand, Sir Frederick, Threat of, executed against the
Oneidas in 1779, 278.
Hale, Captain Nathan, Notice of, 425.
Hale, Colonel, at Battle of Stillwater, 51; at Battle of Hubbardton-Censured for Cowardice-Death of, 145.
Halleck, Quotation from, 337, 364.
Hamilton, Brigadier General (English), at Battle of Bemis's
Heights, 50.
Hamilton, General Alexander, Anecdote of, 315; Advocate of
the Constitution-Suppresses Doctors' Mob in New York, 384.


INDEX.-VOL. 1.


Hamilton, Gerard (Single-speech Hamilton), Notice of, 476.
Hamilton, Mr., Anecdote of, at Expedition to Danbury, 403.
Hamilton, Mrs. (Miss Schuyler), Notice of, 315.
Hammell, Major, Notice of, 242.
Hammond, Lebbeus, Notice of, 358, 370.
Hand-bills issued at Boston, 496, 507, 572.
Hancock, John, Liberality of, 473; Member of Boston Committee of Correspondence in 1774, 513; Captain of Governor's Independent Cadets-Dismissal from, by Gage, 514;
Chosen President of Provincial Congress at Concord in 1774,
515; Biographical Sketch of (see Biography of Signers of
Declaration of Independence, Appendix)-Retires to Wo.
burn for Safety, 523; Anecdote of, on signing Declaration of
Independence, 537; Mementoes of, 561; On Committee to
draught Instructions for and Commission of General Washington, 563.
Hancock, John, Nephew of the Patriot, Notice of, 561.
Hand, General Edward, biographical Sketch of-In Sullivan's
Expedition, 274.
Han Yerry, Oneida Sachem, Notice of, 278.
Hare, Capture and Execution of, 273.
Hardenburg, Lieutenant, in Expedition against Oswegatchie,
271.
Harnage, Major, at Battle of Stillwater, 55.
Harper, Captain Alexander, Capture of, by Tories and Indians,
278.
Harper, Colonel John, sent to Oghkwaga-Returns to Harpersfield, 237; Destroys Schoyere in 1779, 275; In Mohawk Valley, 289.
Harrington, Jonathan, Caleb, and Abijah, Notice of, 553, 554.
Harrison, Robert H., succeeds Joseph Reed as Secretary to
Washington, 567.
Hartford, Convention at, in 1779, 321, 432; First Settlement
of-Organized as one of the United Colonies of New England
in 1643, 433; Incidents of, 434, 435.
Hartley, Colonel, at Wyoming, 3(;3.
Harvard, Reverend John, endows University bearing his own
Name in 1638, 555.
Haynes, John, first Governor of Connecticut, 433.
Head-quarters of Revolutionary Officers at Bemis's Heights in
1777, 45; Of Officers of Northern Army at Albany, 304; Of
Washington at Morristown, 306, 309, 310; At New Windsor,
on the Hudson, 313; At White Plains in 1778, 331; At Fredericksburgh-Middlebrook, 332; Of Steuben at Middlebrook
in 1779, 333; Of Colonel Butler at Wintermoot's Fort in 1778,
353; Of Agnew and Erskine on Expedition to Danbury in
1777, 403; Of Putnam at Reading in 1779, 411; Of Tryon at
Fairfield, 427; At Cambridge in 1775, 555, 556.
Heath, General, in Command of Hudson Highlands in 1777,
307; Receives his Appointment in 1775, 516; At Battle of
Bunker Hill, 566.
Hendrick, Mohawk Sachem, Notice of-Anecdote of, 106; His
Eloquence, 107; Rebuke to Governor Delancy, 109.
Henry, Patrick, Eloquence and Revolutions of, against Stamp
Act in 1765, 466.
Henry, Judge, Notice of-In Expedition to Canada in 1775,198.
Herkimer, Abraham and George, appointed to shoot Brant's
Attendants, 238.
Herkimer, General, sent to Oghkwaga-Interview with Brant,
238; At Siege of Fort Schuyler, 245; Wounded, 246; Residence of-His Grave, 260; Incidents of his Death, 261.
Herrick, Colonel, at Battle of Bennington, 397.
Hessians, Origin of Name of-At Battle of Stillwater, 51; Ludicrous Appearance of, after the Surrender of Saratoga-Advent into Cambridge —Kindness of the People toward, 82;
Encampment of, near Bennington in 1777, 396.
Hewett, Captain, at Wyoming, 353.
Hewes, George R. T., Member of "Boston Tea Party"-Iis
Character-Patriotism-Death, 509.
Hill, George, Quotation from, 485.
Hill, Thomas, Notice of, 554.
Hillhouse, Captain, at Battle of Milford Hill, 423.
Hillhouse, Honorable James, plants Elms at New Haven, 428.
Hillsborough, Earl of, circular Letter to Colonies, 484.
Historians, Local, of Central New York, 292.
Historical Society of Connecticut, Relics in Collection of, 437,
438, 439; Of Massachusetts, Relics in Collection of, 562.
History, early, of America, 15; Testimony of. relative to Benedict Arnold, 55; Of Skenesborough or Whitehall, 137; Of
Montreal, 178; Of Quebec, 183,184; Of Syracuse, 229; True
Aim of, 248; Of German Flats, 253: Of Tryon County, 292;
Of Albany, 301; Of Wyoming, 340; Of Kingston, 385, 386;
Of the Huguenots, 386; Of Salem, 416; Of N w Haven, 418;
Of Puritans, 440; Of Boston, 445; Of Quakers, 450; Of Cambridge, 555.
Hobart, John Sloss, one of the first Judges of New York Supreme Court in 1777, 387.
Holcomb, Luther, at Expedition to Danbury, 403.
HIolderness, Lord, Notice of, 302.
Hollenback, Mr., Notice of, 360.
Hompasch, Baron, Daughter of, elopes to America with Bolingbroke, 329.
Honeywood, Quotation from, 485.
Hooker, Reverend Thomas, Notice of, 433.
Hoosick Falls, Description of, 391.
House, Reidesel, at Saratoga, 89; Block, Fort Plain, 262; But



ANALYTICAL INDEX.-VOL. I.


9


ler, in Mohawk Valley, 285; Sir John Johnson (Hall), 286;
Kane, 292; Mansion of General Schuyler, Albany, 304; Washington and Schuyler's Head-quarters, Morristown, 315; Mathews, 323; Old Tavern, Elizabethport, 328; Liberty  HallElizabethtown Point, 329; Steuben's Head-quarters, Middlebrook. 333; Wintermoot's Fort, 351; Red, 375; Van Kleek,
Poughkeepsie, 383; Livingston, near Poughkeepsie, 385;
Constitution, Kingston, New York, 387; Yeoman, 388; Putnam's Head-quarters, Reading, Connecticut, 411; Buckley,
Norwalk, 416, 426; Residence of Arnold in New Haven. 421;
First Meeting, in Connecticut, 433; Webb, Wethersfield, 436;
Province, Boston, 474; Faneuil Iall, Boston, 479; Old South
Meeting, Boston, described, 490; Hancock, Boston, 507;
Clark, Lexington, Massachusetts, 523, 553; Barrett, Concord,
Massachusetts, 526; Washington's Head-quarters, Cambridge,
555; Reidesel, Cambridge, 557.
Howe, Lord Viscount George, Expedition of, under Abercrombie, 112; Bravery of, at Ticonderoga, 118; His Death-Biographical Sketch of, 119.
Howe, Admiral, Return of Fleet of, from Newport to New York
in 1778, 332; Arrives off Sandy Hook in 1776, 386.
Howe, General Robert, ordered to Pompton by Washington to
quell Rebellion in 1781, 314.
Howe, General Sir William, Duplicity of, concerning the Troops
of Burgoyne, 82; Sent with his Brother Richard on Commission to American Congress in 1777-Their Proclamation, 308;
Fits out Expedition to Danbury, 402; Arrival of, at Boston
in 1775, after Battle of Lexington, 537; In Command at Battle
of Bunker Hill, 541; His Esteem of Dr. Warren, 548; Left in
Command of Boston on recalling of Gage, 573; Issues Proclamations exciting Indignation of Washington, 574.
Hubbardton, first Settlement of-Battle-ground of, 144; Battlefield of, described, 146.
Hubley, Colonel, Notice of, 278.
ftuddlestone, Spy, Execution of, 384.
Hudson River, Steam-boats of, 35; Difficulty in crossing, in
1777, 41.
Hudson, Hendrick, explores North River in 1609, 300.
Huguenots, Colony of, destroyed by Spaniards, in Florida, in
1564, 32; History of, 386; Graves of, at Kingston, New York,
389.
Hull, Major, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50; Biographical
Sketch of, 55.
Huntington, Colonel, in Expedition to Danbury, 403.
Humphreys, Colonel David, Quotation from, 427, 428; Soldierpoet of the Revolution, 428, 431; Biographical Sketch of-His
Monument, 429.
Hurd, Nathaniel, copper-plate Engraver, Notice of, 317.
Hutchinson, Thomas, biographical Sketch of-His House attacked, 467; His other Property attacked in Boston in 1765,
468; appointed Governor of Massachusetts in 1771, 493.
Immigrants. Pilgrim, Influx of, in 1634, 448.
Incursion of Sir John Johnson into Schoharie Country in 1780 -Attack on Schoharie Forts-Boldness of Murphy, 279; Johnson's March to Fort Hunter-Destruction of Property, 280.
Incursion of Sir John Johnson with Indians and Tories into
Mohawk Valley in 1780, 288; Captures Sammons's FamilyDestroys their Dwelling-Cruelties and Crimes of Invaders
-Recovery of hidden Plate-Retreat to Canada, 289.
Incursion of Ross and Butler into Mohawk Valley in 1781-Action of Willett-Battle at Johnstown-Adventures of Sammons, 290; Retreat of British-Flight on West Canada Creek
-D-,lath of Walter Butler- Last Battle near the Mohawk,
291.
Independence of United States acknowledged by France in
1778. 87.
Independents or Separatists, 441.
Indians, American-Aztecs, 16; Bahama, t5; Origin and Name
of, 26; At Battle of Stillwater, 59; Hendrick, the Mohawk Sachem, Account of-Anecdote of, 106; Eloquence of, 107; Six
Nations, described, 109; In Ambush, near Fort Ann, 140; Molang rescues Putnam from, 141; War-Feast of, on Bouquet
River, 159; Interview of, with Burgoyne at Bouquet RiverSpeech of an Iroquois, 160; Jealousy of; near Montreal in 1760,
178; Norridgewock orAbenakes, 191; Natanis and Sabatis, join
Arnold's Expedition to Canada, 194; Massacre of Sherburne's
Corps, near Cedar Rapids-Caughnawagas-The seven Nations of Canada-Brant, 208; St. Regis Village, 210: Five Nations of New York attacked by Frontenac in 1696, 216; War
Feast, under Brant, at Oswego in 1777, 219; Capture at Fort
Niagara in 1759, 225; Onondagas-Hostility toward Dupuys,
near Syracuse, 229; Massacre French and Spanish, near Oswego, in 1669, 230; Councils of, in Mohawk Valley, 234; In
Valley of Charlotte River, 237; Council of Six Nations at
Oswego to form Alliance against Bostonians-Seduced by
Promises of Rewards by Guy Johnson-Their Coalescence,
239; At Siege of Fort Schuyler, 242; Amusement ot; 252;
Incursion of Oneidas into Unadilla Settlement-Five Nations,
Division of, according to Colden, 256; Caughnawagas and
other Tribes threaten Destruction of all the Settlements in
Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys in 1778-Oneidas and Tuscaroras neutral-Faithful to their Pledge-Fidelity of White
Eyes, 264; Council of, at Johnstown-Disposition of different Nations, 265; Treachery of Great Tree, 267; Onondagas,
Expedition against, in 1779, 270; Council of Six Nations in


Genesee Valley, 1769,276; Of Genesee Valley-Corn Planter,
Notice of-Address to President at Philadelphia-An early
Temperance Lecturer, 277; Attack on Schoharie Settlements
in 1780-Rendezvous, 279;Colonel Lewis Atyataronghta, an
Oneida Warrior, at Battle of Klock's Field, 281; Method of
Scalping, 293; Plunder and Burn Currytown, 294; Scalp
Mary Miller, 295; Skirmish with Captain Woodworth at German Flats, 298; Six Nations, Convention of, at Albany, in
1754, 303; Council of, at Easton, Pennsylvania, in 1758 -Teedyuscung, Diplomatist, at Easton, Pennsylvania, 336;
Anecdote of Old Indian at Wind Gap, Pennsylvania, 338;
Early Tribes of Wyoming Valley, Notice of, 341; Jealous of
Count Zinzendorf-Attempt to murder him, 342; Quarrel
between Shawnees and Delawares about Grasshopper, 343;
Speech of Messenger John in Wyoming Valley in 1775, 349;
Brant not engaged in Invasion of Wyoming, 354; Of Esopus,
massacre and capture Whites in 1663-Driven back to Mountains by Crygier, 386: Skirmish near Cambridge, 392; Panic
and Flight of, at Battle of Bennington, in 1777, 397; Pequots
and other Connecticut Indians, 416; Destruction of Pequots,
near Fairfield, in 1637, 417; War of Pequots in 1637, 433;
Attack on Pilgrims in 1620, 443; Defy Pilgrims, 444; Measures adopted by Congress for securing Neutrality in 1775,568.
Inglis, Reverend Charles, writes Letter to Joseph Galloway in
Cipher, 320.
Inman Family, at Battle of Wyoming, 366.
Irishmen, enlistment of, in American Army in 1775, 565.
Isabella of Castile and Leon, biographical Sketch of, 22; Aids
Columbus, 23.
Islands, Thousand, in River St. Lawrence, 214; In Boston Harbor, Skirmishes at, after Battle of Lexington, 537.
Isle Aux Noix, proposed attack of British on French, 152; Fortified, 162; Historic Associations of, 167.
Jackson, Colonel, at Battle of Stillwater, 51: At Battle of Spring.
field, 324.
Jarvis, Stephen, in Expedition to Danbury, 402.
Jay, John, Delegate to first Continental Congress, 383; Advocate of Constitution-Wounded by Stone in Doctor's Mob,
New York. 384; Chairman of Committee for draughting and
reporting State Constitution in 1776, 386; First Chief Justice
of State of New York, 387.
Jeffries, Dr., at Battle of Bunker Hill, 544.
Jenner, biographical Sketch of, 307.
Johnson, Sir John, strengthens Johnson Hall by Scotch Highlanders, 235; Perfidy of, toward Schuyler —Flight from
Caughnawaga, 236; In Command of Indians at Oswego, 241;
At Siege of Fort Schuyler, 245; Recruits Tory Refugees on
St. Lawrence, 264; In Western New York, 274; Incursion
of, into Schoharie Country-Attack on Schoharie Forts, 279;
March of, to Fort Hunter, 280; Flight toward Onondaga
Lake-Escape to Canada by Oswego, 282; Flight toward
Canada-Invasion of Mohawk Valley in 1780, 288; Retreats
from Johnstown-Recovers buried Plate, and conveys it to
Montreal, 289; Flight to Canada, 290.
Johnson, Lady of Sir John, conveyed to Albany and kept as
Hostage, 236.
Johnson, Sir William, Anecdote of, and Mohawk Sachem, 106;
Attack on his Camp in 1755, 108; Captures French and Indians at Fort Niagara in 1759, 225; Biographical Sketch ofSeat of-Dark Deeds of, in Mohawk Valley-Effect of his
Movements on People-Formation of Parties, 232; Indian
Diploma-Amusements-Death, 288.
Johnson, Guy, Residence of, in Mohawk Valley, 234; Summons Grand Council of Six Nations at Oswego, 239.
Johnson, Captain Edward, quaint Sayings of, 448.
Johnson Greens, 236, 241, 244, 246.
Johnson, Thomas, nominates Washington for Commander-inchief, 563.
Johnstone, Reverend Mr., of Johnstone Settlement, 237.
Johnstown, Battle of, in 1781. 290.
Jones, Major, at Battle of Stillwater, 54.
Jones, Lieutenant David, retirement to Canada in consequence
of Murder of Jane M'Crea, 100.
Junius, Letters of-Joint Authorship attributed to Colonel
Barre, Marquis of Landsdowne, and Counselor Dunning, 463.
Kalm's Description of Albany in 1749, 301.
Kean, John, Notice of, 329.
Keats, Quotation from, 44.
Kimble's Mountain, 306.
Kine-pox, Discovery of, by Jenner-Introduction of, by Lady
Montague, in 1721, 307.
Kingston. New York, Place of holding Legislature in 1777,358,
383; Description and early History of, 385; Indian Troubles
-Asylum for Huguenots, 386; Place of holding Convention
of Representatives of State of New York, and of draughting
and reporting Constitution of State in 1777,387; Burning of,
388; Scene of Execution of Tories in Revolution, 389; Scean
ery near-Birth-place of Vanderlyn the Painter, 390.
Kingston, Lieutenant, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Kingston, Upper Canada, Notice of, 214.
Kinnison, David, only Survivor of Boston Tea Party, 499; Life
and Adventures of; 500; Speech at Free Soil Meeting in 1848.
501.
Kirke, Tide-waiter-Confinement in Sloop Liberty, 478




ANALYTICAL INDEX.-VOL. I.


Kirkland, Samuel, biographical Sketch of, 234.
Klock, Colonel Jacob, at Siege of Fort Schuyler, 245; Descent
of Son of, upon Palatine, 298.
Knapp, Benjamin, Notice of, 403.
Knickerbocker Magazine, Quotation from, 533.
Knowlton, Captain Thomas, at Battle of Bunker Hill, 539.
Knox, General Henry, Head-quarters of, near Middlebrook,
with Washington, in 1778,332; At Battle of Bunker Hill, 545.
Knyphausen, General Baron, biographical Sketch of, 321; Invasion of Elizabethtown and Springfield, 322.
Kosciusko, biographical Sketch of, 48.
Labrador, Discovery of, by Cabot, 27.
La Fayette, Marquis De, accompanies Commissioner Duane to
Indian Council at Johnstown in 1778-Mans Forts of Schoharie Creek, 265; Escorted by Revolutionary Dragoons in
1825, 413; At Laying of Corner Stone of Bunker Hill Monument, 559.
Lake George, Discovery and Description of, 108; Scene of
Massacre in 1757, 110.
Lake, Silver-bottomed, fabled, near Syracuse, 230.
Lamb, Colonel John, Notice of, 459.
Lands, Grants of, extending to Pacific, 123, 343, 399; New
EIampshire Grants declared Free and Independent in 1777,
168.
Langdon, Governor John, biographical Sketch of, 393.
Langdon, Dr., Notice of, 459.
Langdon, President, Notice of, 539; Reads Declaration of Congress before Army at Cambridge in 1775, 569.
Latimer, at Battle of Stillwater, 51.
Laws, peculiar, in Connecticut, 433.
League and Covenant entered into by Massachusetts Assembly
in 1774, 510.
Leamington, Reverend Mr., Tory, left Norwalk with Tryon,
414.
Learned, General, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 49; At Siege
of Fort Schuyler, 250.
Lee, Ann, Founder of Shaking Quakers in America-Biographical Sketch of, 383.
Lee, Dr. Arthur, biographical Sketch of, 85; Card of, 531.
Lee, Major General Henry, at Battle of Springfield, 323; Accompanies Washington to Cambridge, 564.
Lee, Richard Henry, appointed on Committee to draught Instructions for and Commission of Washington, 563.
Legends of Indian Maiden, of Bear Tribe, at Little Falls, 258.
Legislature, New York, Held at Kingston and Poughkeepsie in
1778, 382.
Leslie, Captain William, Notice of, 332.
Letters of Louis XVI. to Charles IV. of Spain, 87; Of Junius,
463; Of Pennsylvania Farmer, 476; Of Marque and Reprisal
issued by Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, 576; Of
Washington to female Slave, Phillis, 556; Of Reverend William Emerson, describing Washington's Camp, 567.
Levi, M., Attempts to recapture Quebec, 189.
Lexington, Skirmish at, in 1775, 190; Topography of, 552;
Monument-Clark House and its Associations, 553; Incidents of Battle, 554.
Liberty, Sons of. Origin of Name, 463; Places of Meeting in
Boston, 478, 479; American Cradles of, 440, 479; Daughters
of, in Boston, Meeting of, in 1769, 482; Massachusetts Song
of, 487.
Liberty Hall near Elizabethtown, 329.
Lincoln, Benjamin, appointed Secretary of Provincial Congress
at Concord in 1774, 516.
Lincoln, General, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50, 58; At Diamond Island and Ticonderoga, 114; At Manchester in 1777,
394.
Linzee, Captain, of British Sloop of War Falcon, repulsed by
Captain Manly, 570.
Lipe, Johannes, House of, 263.
Little, Captain, at Battle of Springfield, 323.
Little Falls, described, 253, 257; Rocks at, present Appearance
of-Cyclopean Architecture, 257; Attack on, by Indians in
1780, 259.
Livingston, Henry A., Notice of, 385.
Livingston, Colonel Henry, at Battle of Stillwater, 51; At Siege
of Fort Schuyler, 250.
Livingston, Governor William, former Residence of, near Elizabethtown-Notice of-Property purchased by Lord Bolingbroke, 329; Biographical Sketch of-Spirit of his Daughters,
330; Writes against Episcopacy in America, 460.
Livingston, James, at Battle of Stillwater, 51.
Livingston, Philip, Delegate to first Continental Congress, 383.
Livingston, Robert R., Advocate of Federal Constitution, 384;
First Chancelor of State of New York, 387.
Lockwood, Larbert, at Expedition to Danbury, 403.
Longfellow, Quotation from, 555.
London, Lord, appointed Commander-in-chief of British Forces
In North America in 1757-Anecdote of, related by Franklin,
110.
Louis XVI., Letter of, to Charles IV. of Spain, urging Co-operation in American Cause, 87.
Louisburgh, Siege and Capture of, in 1758, 120.
Lovelace, Thomas, Capture and Execution of, 92.
Low, Isaac, Delegate to first Continental Congress, 383.
Luther, Hymn of, 299.


Luzerne, Chevalier De, arrives from France, 311; Namea after,
374.
Lyman, General, at Battle of Lake George, 109.
Magellan reaches Pacific Ocean, 16.
Mahew, Reverend Jonathan, Sermon of, against Stamp Act,
467.
Mallory, Edward, Notice of, 365.
Manifesto, pompous, of St. Leger on Arrival at Fort Sohuyler
in 1777, 242.
Manly, Captain, bravely captures three British Vessels in Boston Harbor, 569; Conflict with Sloop of War Falcon, 570.
Manor, Livingston-Burning of Houses at, in 1777, 388; Of
Rensselaer or Rensselaerwyck, 390.
Manufactures, American domestic, at Newport before Revolu
tion, 470.
Marriage, romantic, at Niagara Falls, 228; Of Mint Master's
Daughter-Curious Account of, 449.
Marshall, Captain, Death of, 478.
" Massachusettensis," Signature of Tory Writer, 513.
Massachusetts, early Patriotism of; 304; Old Map of Bay ot,
446; Circular Letter of, to all the Colonies, 477; Assembly,
Proceedings of, on account of Port Bill in 1774, 506, 509;
Gage attempts to Dissolve Assembly-Solemn League and
Covenant of Assembly, 510; Last Adjournment of Massachusetts Assembly under Royalty, 511; Prepares for War on
Eve of Revolution, 512; Assembly resolve themselves into
Provincial Congress-Organize at Concord, 515; Military
first organized by Ward and Pomeroy, 516; Provincial Congress orders Purchase of Ammunition and Stores in 1775 -Alarmist Companies formed by Citizens-British Troops Arrive, 521; Unity of People after Battle of Lexington-Provincial Congress summoned at Watertown, 531; Benevolence of Provincial Congress, 536; Relics in Collection of,
Historical Society, 562. 572; Organizes House of Representatives under original Charter in 1775, 568; Provincial Congress passes Law prohibiting Waste of Powder by Sporting
in 1775, 570; Pays Franklin Money due for Services as Co
lonial Agent in England, 575.
Massachusetts Spy, 515.
Mather, Cotton, Tomb of, 561; Letter and Autograph of, 562.
Mather, Dr. Samuel, Tomb of-Library of, burned by British
at Charlestown in 1775, 561.
Mather, Increase, Tomb of, 561; Portrait of, 562.
Mather, Reverend Moses, Notice of, 414.
Mathews, General, dispatched to Elizabethtown Point in 1780,
322.
Mathews, Mrs., Notice of. 323.
Maxwell, General, in Sullivan's Expedition, 274.
May Flower, Emigrants in-First Birth among-Copy of Comr
pact signed and entered into previous to Landing, 437; Fac
simile of Handwriting of Pilgrims, 438; Described as Cradle
of American Liberty, 440; Arrival at Cape Cod Bay, 442.
M'Crea, Jane, Murder of, 48, 96; Biographical Sketch of, 97
Account of-Death of, 99; Reinterment and Grave of, 101.
M'Donald, Captain, in Western New York, 274.
M'Donald, Colonel John, Monument of, 226.
M'Donald, Donald, attempts to burn Shell's Block house, 299.
M'Kean, Captain Robert, sent to reconnoitre Brant's Encampment at Oghkwaga in 1778-Letter to Brant from Cherry
Valley, 266; Challenges Brant, 270; At Battle of Klock's
Field, 281; Ordered to Currytown, 294; Death of, 295.
M'Kee, Tory, Notice of, 264.
M'Lellan, Quotation from, 195.
M'Lellan, Lieutenant, in Expedition against Oswegatchie in
1779, 271.
M'Neil, Mrs., abduction of, by Indians, 98.
M'Pherson killed at Siege of Quebec, 201.
Mead, General, Ebenezer, Notice of, 411.
Meeker, Timothy, at Battle of Springfield, 324; Idea of Standing Army, 325.
Mellon, Colonel, at Siege of Fort Schuyler, 242.
Merchants, Club of American, suggest Stamp Act in 1739, 461;
Of Boston express Willingness to pay for Tea destroyed,
512; London, rebuked by George III. for favoring American
Cause, 521.
Mexico, City of, founded, 16.
Middlebrook, Encampment of American Army at, in 1778, 79;
Howe's Stratagem-Skirmishes-Encampment of seven trigades of American Army at, 331; Washington's Army at, in
1778, 332.
Mifflin, Thomas, appointed by Washington Quarter-master General, 566.
Milford, Pennsylvania, Notice of, 380.
Miller, Quotation from, 136.
Miller, Mary, scalped by Indians, 295.
Minor, Charles, Historian of Wyoming-Quotation from, 340:
Letter to Colonel Stone relative to Invasion of Wyoming, 350.
Miralles, M. Juan De, accompanies Luzerne from FranceDeath of, 311.
Mississippi River ascended by De Soto in 1542, 31.
Mohawk River, Difficulty in Crossing, 41.
Mohawk Valley, early Hostilities in, 231; Seeds of Rebellion
implanted by Stamp Act-Effect of political Movements upon
People-Formation of Parties-Incidents prior to Revolution,
232; Violence of Loyalists-Assault upon Sammons —Meet.




ANALYTICAL INDEX.-VoL. I.


1 1


ing at Cherry Valley-Baronial Hall fortified by Colonel John Narvaez's Expedition to Florida and Mexico in 1528-Perishes
Johnson, 233; Attempted Removal of Kirkland-Hostile    in Storm at Sea, 30.
Movements of the Johnsons-Indian Councils, 234; Alarm  Navy, American Colonial, Boards formed in 1775, 569; First
of People-Congress orders Schuyler to seize Military Stores,  Organization of, in 1775, 575; Code of, adopted-Augmenta.
235; Disarming of Tories at Johnson Hall-Perfidy of John-  tion of, in 1776, 576.
esn-Flight, 2:36; Repairs at Fort Stanwix-Brant at Oghk- Naval Battle on Lake Champlain in 1776, 163, 164; Operations
waga-Hostile Movements-Expeditions of HIerkimer and     against Niagara, under Shirley, in 1755, 217; Expedition
Colonel Harper, 237; Conference with Brant-Frankness-  fitted out at Elizabethtown Point in 1776, 328; Operations
Herkimer's precautionary Measures —Haughty Bearing of   of British on Coast after the Battle of Bunker Hill, 569; ManBrant, 238; Breaking up of Council-Grand Council at Os-  ly's Engagement off Cape Ann in 1775, 570.
wego-Seduction of Indians-Coalescence with English, 239; Neal, John, Quotation from, 539.
Gloomy Prospects of, in 1781, 283; Description of, 284; Last Newark, Notice of-Associations of, 305.
Battle of, 291.                                       Newberry, Capture and Execution of, 273.
Molang rescues Putnam, 141.                             New Dorlach (Sharon Springs), Battle of, 294.
Money, Continental-Form of Bills-Devices and Mottoes, 317; New England- Its Associations, 432; Origin of Name, 433;
Plans for Redemption-Counterfeits of, by Tories, 318; De-  Bounds and Extent of original Territory, 434; People of,
preciation of-Value of, in Specie, 319; Paper, Value of, in  aroused to Arms in 1774, 514; Fisheries of, Bill proposed to
1778, 352.                                              destroy, 520; Flag of, at Battle of Bunker Hill, 541; Colonies
Money first coined by United States-Fac Simile of, 318; First  sustain and perfect their civil Government during the Revocoined in New England in 1652, 449; First Paper, issued in  lution, 568.
New England in 1690, 451; Paper, issued by Massachusetts Newfoundland discovered by Cabot in 1498, 27.
in 1775, 534.                                         New Haven, Settlement of-East Rock-Red Rock, 418; OrMoney Digging at Mount Independence, 148; At Crown Point,  ganic Law of New Haven Colony-Regicides, 419; Strenu152.                                                    ously opposes Proceedings of Stamp Act, 420; Early Patriots
Monkton, General. Landing of, near Montmorenci, 185.      of, 421; Landing of Tryon's Troops at, in 1779, 422.
Monocasy Island, Notice of, 356.                        Newport blockaded by the British in 1780-French Fleet at,
Montcalm, Marquis De, Louis Joseph De St. Veran. appointed  435; Domestic Manufactures ot, prior to Revolution, 470.
Successor to Dieskau-Attempt to capture Fort William  Newspaper Press, political Importance of, during Revolution,
Henry-Return to Ticonderoga, 110; Second Attack on Fort  476, 485;, Devices, 507, 508; Poetry, 508.
William Henry-Surrender of Garrison-Perfidy of French Newspapers, American, during Revolution-Anderson's Conand Indians, 111; Position of Army at Quebec, 185; Death  stitutional Gazette-Boston News Letter-Boston Post, 513;
and Burial place of-Biographical Sketch of, 188; Monument  Boston Journal of the Times, 480; Boston Gazette and Counof, 205; Approaches Oswego in 1756-Attack on the Works,  try Journal, 513; Essex Gazette, 467; Federalist, 384; Massa218; Victorious-Courtesy, 219.                          chusetts Gazette and Boston Post Boy and Advertiser, 513;
Montgomery, General Richard, captures Fort St. John's-Death  Massachusetts Spy, 513, 515; New England Ensigne, 449;
of, 162; At Battle of St. John's, 170; March upon Montreal-  New York Mercury, 460, 470; Pennsylvania Journal, 507;
Mutiny in Camp, 181; Approach to Cape Diamond-Attack    Rivington's Political Register, 459; Royal Gazette, 508.
upon British-Death of, 198; Biographical Sketch of, 200; Newspaper, English, London Chronicle, Notice of, 570.
Tomb of, 201.                                         New York, State of, organized at first Session of Legislature at
Montmorenci, Battle of, 186; Falls of, described, 203.   Kingston in 1777-Election for Members of Legislature held
Montour, Catharine, biographical Sketch of-Captivity with  in all Counties except New York, Kings, Queens, and Sut:
Indians-Accompanies Delegates of Six Nations to Phila-  folk-Names of State Officers elected, 387.
delphia, 357.                                         Niagara Falls, Incidents and Topography of, 328; River, Events
Montreal, first Settlements of, 178; Captured by English in  of, in War of 1812, 226; Suspension Bridge, 228.
1760, 179.                                            Nichols, Colonel, at Battle of Bennington, 397.
Montressor, Colonel, Notice of, 191.                   Niemcewicz, Count, Notice of, 329.
Monument of Brock and M'Donald, 226; Proposed, in Memory Nixon, General John, at Battle of Stillwater, 51; Biographical
of De Witt Clinton, 259; Caldwell's, at Elizabethtown, 326;  Sketch of, 76; wounded at Battle of Bunker Hill, 545.
Near Troy, in Memory of Battle of Wyoming, 365; Proposed  North-men, early Voyages of, to North America, 17.
by Congress in Memory of General Wooster, 406; Colonel Norridgewock Falls, Notice of, 191.
Dixwell at New Iaven, 420; Major Campbell, near Milford North, Lord Frederick, Earl of Guilford. Policy of, relative to
Hill, 423; Colonel David Humphreys at New Haven, 429;   Battle of Saratoga, 85; Biographical Sketch of, 483.
Dr. Joseph Warren on Breed's Hill, 549; At Concord in Norwalk described, 413; Destroyed by the British in 1779,
Memory of the Slain, 531, 552, 553; At Lexington, 531, 553;  414.
At Danvers, 531; Bunker Hill, 558.
Mooers, Benjamin, Notice of, 165.                       Oak, Charter, at Hartford, 434.
Moore, Major, killed at Battle of Bunker Hill, 545.     Officers, Public, Insolence of, 474; Names of, at Battle of BunMoravian Missionaries, Notice of, 343.                   ker Hill, 542; American, Salaries of, in 1775, 564; General,
Morgan, Colonel Daniel, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50; Cen-  under Washington-Stations of, near Boston in 1775, 566.
sure of, at Battle of Stillwater, 62; Joins Camp at Cambridge, Ogden, Captain Amos, in Wyoming Valley-Attacked by Yan565.                                                   kees, 345.
Morgan, John, succeeds Church as Surgeon to Army Hospital Ogden, Moses, Grave of, 326.
in 1775, 568.                                         Ogden, New Jersey Tory, Notice of, 313.
Morgan, James, murders Reverend James Caldwell, 327.    Ogden, Nathan, killed by Speddy, 346.
Morgan, General Lewis, at Battle of Klock's Field, 281; Order- Ogdensburgh attacked by the British in 1812, 213.
ed to Currytown, 294; Death of, 295.                  Oghkwaga, Indians at, in 1777, 237.
Morris, George P., Quotation from, 382, 480.           Oliver, Peter, biographical Sketch of, 506.
Morris, Robert, Notice of, 321.                        Oriskany, Description and View of, Battle-ground, 245.
Morris, Lieutenant, at Battle of Sillwater, 52.        Osborn, Levi, Founder of Osbornites, 405.
Morristown, New Jersey, Notice of-Fort Nonsense-Head- Oswald, Colonel, Notice of, 409.
quarters of Washington-Encampment at, in 1777, 306, 310; Oswegatchie, Fort, captured by the English in 1760, 212; ExRoom occupied by Washington, 315.                      pedition against, under M'Lellan and Hardenburgh, in 1779,
Mottoes on Continental Money, 317; At Celebration of Pluck-  271.
emin in 1778, 334, 335; On Newspaper Head, 508; On Pine Oswego, Topography of, 215, 217, 220, 221; Attempt to capture,
Tree Flag, 570, 576.                                   by Willett, in 1783-Attack upon, in 1814, 220.
Moulton, Mrs., extinguishes flames of Concord Court-house, Otis, James, Jun., patriotic Efforts of, 459; Liberality of, 474;
fired by British in 1775, 526.                          Boldness of, 477; Abuse of, 487; Assaulted by RobinsonMount Defiance, Ascent of, 130; View from, 131.          Recovers Damages by Law, 488; Biographical Sketch of,
Mount Independence, Assent and Topography of, 147.       492; Anecdote of-Killed by Lightning, 493.
Mowatt, Lieutenant, Descent of, upon Cape Ann with British
Brig of War-Sent to Portland to obtain Supplies, 569.  Paine, Robert T., conducts Prosecution of Preston for Murder,
Mumford, Adjutant, killed at Battle of Bunker Hill, 571,  492.
Munson, Dr. Eneas, Letter of, relative to Vaccination, 307; Paine, Thomas, Quotation from, 457.
Senior, Biographical Sketch of, 308; Notice of, 430.  Palmer, William P., Quotation from, 298.
Murphy, Timothy, biographical Sketch of-Account of his kill- Paris, Colonel, at Siege of Fort Schuyler, 243.
ing General Fraser, 62; Notice of. 267; Escapes from In- Parker, Captain Jonas, killed at Battle of Lexington, 525.
diana in Western New York, 276; Boldness of, at Schoharie, Parker, Capture and Execution of, in Western New York in
279.                                                    1779, 276.
Mutiny among Washington's Troops in New Jersey, 312, 314; Parliament, British, Proceedings of, relative to Burgoyne, 84;
In Regiment of Colonel Van Rensselaer, near Hoosick Four  Opposition in House of Commons relative to Burgoyne's DeCorners, in 1781, relative to New Hampshire Grants-General  feat, 85; Introduces Bill for the more effectual Provision for
Gansevoort directs Colonels Yates, Van Vechten, and Van  the Government of the Province of Quebec in 1774, 156;
Rensselaer to quell Disturbance-Troops raised for the Exi-  Discuss Right of Taxing Americans, 461; Passage of Stamp
gency, 399; End of Insurrection, 400.                   Act, 463; Apathy of, after its Passage, 470; Repeal of Stamp
Myers, Mrs., Notice of-Incidents of her Life-Escape of her  Act, 472; Proceedings in, on Eve of Revolution, 517; Warm
Father and Brother from Indians, 370.                   Debates in, in 1775, 519.




ANALYTICAL INDEX.-VoL. I.


Paterson at Battle of Bunker Hill, 545; At Battle of Bemis's
4eights, 49.
Patriots, American-Soundness of their Principles-Not to be
bribed, 479; Boldness of, in Boston in 1774, 510; Secretly
convey Arms and Ammunition out of Boston in 1775-Detection and seizure of, on Boston Neck, 522; Names of, slain
and wounded at Battle of Lexington and Concord, 532.
Patroon, Killian Van Rensselaer, 391.
Peck, Reverend Dr., Wife of, 370.
Penn, Governor John, entered Protest against the boundary
Section of the Canada Bill in 1774, 156; Refusal of, to treat
with Susquehanna Company in 1769, 345; Calls of, to General Gage for Troops from New York in 1769, 346.
Penn, Governor Richard, refuses to negotiate with Connecticut, 347.
Pennsylvania applies to Congress to appoint Commission relative to Dispute in Wyoming in 1782-Appeal unheeded-Appoints three Commissioners to repair to the Valley, 371.
Pennymites, civil commotion with Yankees at Wyoming Valley in 1770, 345, 346.
Percival, James G., Quotations from, 292, 531.
Perc, Lord, Anecdote of, while marching toward Lexington,
5.
Petrie, Dr., medical Adviser of General Herkimer, 260.
Philadelphia, second Continental Congress held at, in 1775, 125;
Riot at, in 1779, 321.
Phillips, Major General, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Phillis (Wheatley), Female Slave and Poet, Letter of Washington to-Biographical Sketch of-Quotation from, 556.
Phipps, Sir William, attempts to besiege Quebec in 1789, 451.
Pickering Colonel Timothy, biographical Sketch of, 374; Appointed Commissioner to Wyoming Valley in 1787-Repulsed
by Frankl~n, 375; Escapes to Philadelphia-Returns to Wyoming-Abduction and Treatment, 376.
Pierpont, Reverend John, Quotation from, 447.
Pigot, General, in Command at Battle of Bunker Hill, 541.
Pine Robbers (a Band of Tories), Notice of, 332.
Pitcairm in Expedition to Concord in 1775, 523; Shot by Negro
Soldier —His Widow pensioned by British Government, 546.
Pitt, William, Notice of, 457; Resigns his Ministry, 458; Speech
of, in Parliament in 1766, 471; Marble Statue of, in New York
City, 472; Created Earl of Chatham in 1766,475; Unexpected
Appearance in Parliament on Eve of Revolution-Speech on
American affairs-Conciliatory Proposition, 518.
Platt, Judge Zephaniah, Notice of, 165.
Pledge, Form of, to sustain Continental Congress by Patriots
of New York in 1775, 384.
Pluckemin, Notice of-Washington's Army at, in 1778, 332;
Celebration at, in 1779, 334.
Plunkett, Colonel, Expedition to Wyoming in 1775, 348.
Plymouth, Massachusetts, Landing of Pilgrims at-Rock-First
Sabbath at, 443; Founded in 1620, 444.
Pokono Mountain, Notice of, 339.
Pollard, Asa, killed at Battle of Bunker Hill, 541.
Pomeroy, Seth, appointed Commander of Massachusetts Militia, 516; At Battle of Bunker Hill, 542.
Ponce De Leon, Voyage to the Bahamas in Search of the fabled
"Fountain of Youth" in 1512 —Reaches Florida, 29; Killed
by Indians, 30.
Poor, General, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 49; In Sullivan's
Expedition to Wyoming, 274.
Port Bill, Boston, adopted and passed in 1774, 504.
Poughkeepsie, Origin of Name-Meeting of Legislature at, in
1778-State Convention at, 382.
Powell, General, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Powder, Scarcity of, after Battle of Bunker Hill-Private Vessels sent to West Indies for Supply, 570; Seasonable Supply
of, from Africa, 571.
Pownal, Governor, Notice of, 482; Remarks of, concerning
Spirit of American Patriots, 483; Statement of, in Parliament,
484.
Pratt, Chief Justice (afterward Lord Camden), Position of, on
Passage of Stamp Act, 472.
Prescott, Colonel William, at Battle of Bunker Hill-His Bravery-Biographical Sketch of, 539; Anecdote of, 541.
Prescott, Dr. Samuel, at Battle of Lexington, 525.
Prescott, General, at Battle of Montreal in 1775-His Brutality
toward Allen-Harsh Treatment to American Prisoners, 180;
His Flight and Capture, 181.
Prescott, Lieutenant, at Battle of Bunker Hill, 546.
Prescott, William H., Notice of, 539.
Preston, Captain, tried for Murder of Attucks, Gray, and Caldwell, 491.
Preston, Dr., Notice of, 554.
Press, American Newspaper, 507, 508, 513. 515.
Prideaux, General, at Crown Point in 1758,120.
Pringle, Captain, Naval Command of, on Lake Champlain in
1775, 162.
Prisoners' Island, Lake Champlain, Escape of Prisoners from,
117; Prescott's Brutality toward, 180; American Prisoners
at Cedar Rapids released by General Carleton, 209.
Privateering in 1775, 329.
Privateers, American, formidable to British in 1775, 569.
Privy Council, a Cabinet of thirty-five Peers, 494.
Protestant Colony in Florida destroyed by Spaniards in 1564,
32.


Provisions, Fresh, Scarcity of, in British Army in Boston in
1775, 571.
Pulaski, Count, at Morristown in 1780, 310.
Pulpit, Curious, at German Flats, 254.
Puritans, Origin of-Bishops Hooper and Rogers-Henry VIII.
-Elizabeth-Puritan Boldness, 440; Position of ElizabethThe Separatists-Persecutions-Puritans in ParliamentJames I.-Exile of Puritan Ministers, 441; Character of Puritan Pilgrims-Preparations for sailing to America-Departure
from Delfthaven-The May Flower, 442; Exploration of the
American Coast-Attacked by Indians-First Sabbath in New
England-Landing of, on Plymouth Rock in 1620,443; Founding of Plymouth-Destitution and Sickness-Death of Carver
-Election of Bradford-Defiance of Indians, 444; Condition
of the Colony-Further Emigration from England-Winslow
-Old Colony Seal-Standish-Settlement of Weymouth in
1622-Shawmut, 445; Settlement of Endicott and others at
Salem-Arrival of Winthrop-Founding of Boston in 1630 -Progress of free Principles, 446; The Puritan CharacterWitchcraft-English Law-Delusion, and its Effects in New
England, 447; Religious Character of the Puritans-Mildness
of their Laws-The representative System-Influx of Immigrants, 448; Trade of the Colony-First coined MoneyMarriage of Mint Master's Daughter-Conduct of so-called
Quakers-Punishment, 449.
Putnam, Garret, Notice of, 288.
Putnam, General Israel, daring Feats of, 94, 96; At Ticonderoga
in 1758, 118; Near Fort Ann-Perilous Situation of-Capture
of, by French and Indians, 140; Humanity of his Captor, 141;
On Lake Champlain-Attack upon French and Indians near
Fort Ann, 143; Feat of, at Fort Oswegatchie, 212; Controls
Cantonments between Princeton and the Hudson in 1777,
307; Head-quarters of, at Reading, Connecticut, in 1779 -Speech of-Encampment at West Greenwich or Horse-neck,
411; Once a Tavern-keeper-His Sign-Letter relative to
License of Public Houses, 439; At Battle of Bunker Hill, 541,
566; Anecdote of, 547.
Putnam's Hill, Notice of, 413.
Quakers, Origin, Peculiarities, and Sufferings of, in America,
450.
Quebec, Bishop of, Carleton's Attempt to seduce-Consistency
of the Prelate, 158; Early Settlement, Growth, and Topography of; 183, 184; Capitulation of-Levi's Attempt to recauture-His Retreat, 189; Description of, 204; Historical Localities at, 205; Passage of Quebec Act in 1774, 505; Shows
despotic Tendency of parliamentary Enactments of the
Times, 506, 156, 157.
Queen Esther (Catharine Montour), biographical Sketch of, 357.
Quincy, Josiah, defends Captain Preston, 492: Speech in Boston in 1773, 497; biographical Sketch of, 498.
Quo Warranto Writs defined, 434.
Rail-roads of Boston, Number of annual Passengers on, 560.
Ralle, Father, Notice of-Killed by Indians, 191.
Ransom, Captain, in Command at Wyoming in 1776, 350; At
Skirmish on Millstone River in 1777, 351.
Rations of Continental Soldiers, 576.
Raymond, Nathaniel, Notice of, 415.
Read, Colonel John, Notice of, 411.
Red Jacket at Battle of Chemung-Despised by Brant, 279.
Red River descended by De Soto, 31.
Reed, Joseph, Secretary to Washington, 567.
Regicides, Tomb-stones of, at New Haven, 420.
Relics of Pilgrims-Chest, Pot, and Key from May Flower,
437; Chopping-knife and Chair, 438; Governor Carver's
Chair-Governor Winslow's Chair-Sword of Miles Standish
-Key of Port Royal Gate-King Philip's Samp Pan, 562.
Relics of Revolution -Halbert, 47; Tomahawks, 64; Coins,
Skull, 103; Washington's Pouch and Puff-ball for hair powder, 166; Earthen Pipe at Oriskany, 246; Silver Spoon presented to Mrs. Ford, 314; Carpet at Judge Ford's, Morristown, 315; Tavern, and Franklin Stove at Elizabethport,
328; Treaty Table at Wyoming. 359; Grave-stone of Abraham De Witt at Kingston, 389; Drum, Musket, Sword, and
Cap from Bennington in Senate Chamber at Boston, 395;
Cannon-ball lodged in Post at Ridgefield, 411; Buckly House,
Norwalk, Connecticut, 416; Putnam's Tavern Sign -Mrs.
Washington's Ottoman, 439; Statue of William Pitt in New
York City, 472; Desk of Speaker of Massachusetts Colonial
Assembly, 562; Washington's Original Commission from
Congress at Patent Office in Washington, 564; Franklin's
Post-office Book at General Post office in Washington, 568;
Hand-bill in Massachusetts Historical Society, 572.
Rescinders in Massachusetts Assembly in 1768, 477.
Resolutions of Continental Congress for emission of Bills, 316,
317; Urging Pennsylvania and Connecticut to cease Hostilities in 1775-Unheeded, 348; Adopted at Wilkesbarre in 1777,
350; To erect Monument in Memory of General Wooster.
406.
Revenue Laws, enforcement of, in 1762, 460.
Revere, Paul, copper-plate Engraver, 317; Artistic Devices of,
507; Sent as Messenger to Lexington in 1775, 523.
Revolution, American, Events preceding, 349; First Step to
ward Absolutism-Democratic Colonies-Board of TradeCourts of Vice Admiralty- Commercial Restrictions, 4.3;




ANALYTICAL INDEX. —VoL. I.


1 3


First Act of Oppression-Colonial Claims to right of Representation-Right acknowledged -Burnet appointed Chief
Magistrate of Massachusetts, 454; Wisdom of Robert Walpole-Restraining Acts-Loyalty and Patriotism of Colonies
-Heavy voluntary Taxation, 455; Designs of British Ministry-Expenditures of British Government on Account of
America-Accession of George III., 456; Death of George II.
announced to the Heir-Influence of Earl of Bute-Cool
Treatment of Pitt, 457; Character of Bute-Still Influences
the King-Discontents-Resignation of Pitt, 458; Secret
Agents sent to America-Writs of Assistance-Opposition of
Bostonians-Episcopacy designed for America, 459; Enforcement of Revenue Laws-Resignation of Bute-Succeeded by Grenville-Opposition to Episcopacy, 460; Stamp
Act proposed-Right to tax Americans asserted-Postponement of Action, 461; Opposition to Taxation by the Colonies
-Instructions to their Agents-Stamp Act introduced in Parliament —Advocated by Townshend, 462- Barre's Speech
rebuking Townshend-His Defense of Americans-Effect of
his Speech-Passage of Stamp Act, 463; Excitement in America-A Congress proposed-Circular Letter of Massachusetts
to Colonial Assemblies in America, 464; Assembling of Convention in New York-Defection of Ruggles and OgdenAdoption of Declaration of Rights-Petition to the King, and
Memorial to both Houses of Parliament-Appointment of
Stamp Masters, 465; Franklin's Advice to Ingersoll-Arrival
of the Stamps-Patrick Henry's Resolutions-Outbreak in
Boston-Effigies hung on Liberty Tree, 466; Destruction of
private Property-Attack on Hutchinson's House-Destruction of Liberty Tree, 467; Destruction of Hutchinson's Property-Character of Rioters, 468; Proceedings in Boston relative to Stamp Act-Grenville and Huske burned in Effigy on
Liberty Tree-Effect of Stamp Act-Non-importation Associations formed, 469; Non-importation Agreements-Rockingham made Prime Minister-Apathy in Parliament-Domestic Manufactures, 470; Meeting of Parliament-Speeches
of Pitt and Grenville-Boldness of Pitt-Proposition to repeal Stamp Act, 471; Position of Lord Camden-Repeal of
Stamp Act-Causes of Repeal-Rejoicings in England and
America, 472; Release of Prisoners for Debt-Erection of
Pyramid on Boston Common-Liberality of Hancock, 473;
Liberality of Otis and others-New Clause in Mutiny AdtInsolence of Public Officers, 474; Pitt created Lord Chatham
-Picture of his Cabinet by Burke-New Scheme of Taxation
-Commissioners of Customs, 475; Fresh Excitement in the
Colonies-Increasing Importance of Newspapers-Letters of
a Pennsylvania Farmer, 476; Honors to John DickinsonCircular Letter of Massachusetts - Boldness of Otis and
Samuel Adams, 477; Treatment of a Tide-waiter-Seizure
of Sloop " Liberty"-Excitement of People-Public Meeting
in Boston, 478; Attempted Bribery of Patriots-Soundness
of their Principles-Proposed Convention in Boston, 479;
Governor Bernard's Proclamation-Meeting of Convention
-Arrival of British Troops at Boston-Origin of Yankee
Doodle, 480; Landing of the Troops-Imposing Military and
Naval Display-Exasperation of the People, 481; Policy of
Duke of Grafton-Speech of King, and Response-Proposed
re-enactment of a Statute of Henry VIII., 482; Policy of Lord
North-Warnings of Colonel Barr6-General Gage in Boston
-No Co-operation-Dissolution of Assemblies-Petition for
Removal of Bernard, 483; Bernard's Departure for England
-Effect of non-importation Agreement-Hlillsborough's circular Letter, 484; Secret Workings of the Spirit of Liberty
-Brief Review-Alternative of the Colonies-Newspaper
Press, 485; Bickerstaff's Boston Almanack-Explanation of
its Frontispiece-Revival of Terms "Whig" and "Tory,"
486; Abuse of Otis-Massachusetts Song of Liberty, 487;
Evasion of non-importation Agreements-Tea proscribedSpirit of Women and Boys, 488; Fracas at Lillie's DoorDeath of Boy Snyder-Its Efect on Public Mind-Pardon
of the Murderer- Riot in Boston, 489; Attack of Mob on
Soldiers-Discharge of Musketry-Three Citizens killed
-Terrible Excitement, 490; Delegation of Patriots before
the Governor-Boldness of second Committee-Removal of
Troops-Trial of Captain Preston for Murder, 491; Defense
of Soldiers by Adams and Quincy-Result of Trial-New
Ministerial Proposition-Effects on Colonies, 492; Boston
Patriots-Hutchinson made Governor-Asserted Independence of the Assemblies, 493; Further Agitation in BostonCommittees of Correspondence-Letters of Hutchinson and
others-Petition for their Removal, 494; Franklin summoned
before Privy Council in England-Abused by Wedderburne
-Franklin's Vow-New Taxation Scheme-Proposition of
East India Company, 495; Tea Ships sail for America-Preparations for their Reception at Boston-Treatment of Consignees-Hand-bills and Placards issued, 496; Arrival of Tea
Ships-Monster Meeting in Old South-Speech of Quincy,
497; Breaking up of the Meeting-Destruction of Tea in
Boston Harbor-Apathy of Government Officials, 498; East
India Company the only Losers-Quiet in Boston-Punishment of a Smuggler-Names of Members of Tea PartyThe only Survivor of, 499; Excitement in Parliament in
consequence of Boston Tea Riot, 502; Boston Port Bill proposed and adopted-Debates in Parliament-Apparent Defection of Conway and Barr6-Burke begins his series of
Orations in favor of American Liberty, 503; Opposition in


Parliament to Boston Port Bill-Its Passage, 504; Other oppressive Acts of Parliament-Madness of Ministers-Warn.
ings of Opposition unheeded-Passage of Quebec Act, 505;
Proceedings in Massachusetts on account of Port Bill-Recall of Hutchinson-Division of Sentiment, 506; Arrival of
General Gage in Boston-Meeting in Faneuil Hall to consider
Port Bill-Excitement among Bostonians-Newspaper Devices, 507; Weakness of British Ministry, 508; Tragi-Comedy, " Fall of British Tyranny, or American Liberty Triumphant," represents Scene in Boston while Regulars were flying
from Lexington-Proceedings of Massachusetts AssemblyProposition fbr a General Congress, 509; Boldness of Patriots
-Attempt to dissolve Assembly-Solemn League and Covenant of Patriots in Boston, 510; Appointment of Delegates
to Continental Congress-Denunciation of League-Closing
of Port of Boston, 511.
Revolution in England in 1688, 451.
Rhinebeck Flats invaded by British in 1777, 388.
Rhode Island Assembly authorize Army of Observation previous to Battle of Bunker Hill, 536.
Rice, Isaac, at Ticonderoga, 121.
Rice, Lieutenant, challenged by Church at Ticonderoga, 130.
Richardson found Guilty of murdering Boy Snyder-Pardoned
by the King, 489.
Riedesel, Baron De, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Riedesel, Baroness De, at Battle of Stillwater. 55; Narrative of
Battle of Saratoga, 89: Her Reception by General Schuyler,
91; Quotation from, 557; Autograph of, 558.
Riedesel Family, Residence of, at Cambridge, 557.
Rio de la Plata discovered by Cabot, 28.
Riot at Philadelphia in 1779, 321; Doctors' Mob in New York
in 1787, 384; In Boston in 1765, in consequence of Stamp
Act-Destruction of Property, 467; Character of Rioters, 468;
In Boston in 1770-Attack of Mob on Soldiers-Discharge of
Musketry-Three Citizens killed, 490.
Ripley, Reverend Dr., gives Ground for Monument at Concord,
552.
Rivington, James, King's Printer in New York, Notice of-Anecdote of, and Ethan Allen, 508.
Robinson, Colonel, at Battle of Concord, 527.
Robinson, Commissioner, Assault on Otis, 488.
Robinson, Reverend John, exiled Pastor of Pilgrims at Leyden,
438, 441.
Rochambeau, Count De, Conference with Washington, 435.
Rock, Williams's, 106; Rogers's, 116; Putnam's, 142; Split Rock,
below Crown Point, 159; Thunder-struck, 175; Brant's, 297;
Washington's, near Middlebrook, 333; At Plainfield, 334;
Dial or Campbell's Rock, 353; Queen Esther, 357; Prospect
-Bloody, 370; East, New Haven, 417; Savin's, at Orange,
Connecticut, 422; Forefathers', at Plymouth, 443.
Rockingham, Charles, Marquis of, made Prime Minister, 470.
Rogers, Major, biographical Sketch of, 116; Near Fort Ann,
140; On Lake Champlain, 143; Narrow Escape of, at Rogers's Slide, 557.
Rome, Notice of, 231.
Rondout Creek, Origin of Name, 385; Scenery near, 390.
Rosenkrans, Reverend Abraham, 254.
Ross, Major, Incursion of, into Mohawk Valley in 1781, 290.
Rowley, Colonel, at Battle of Johnstown, 290.
Ruggles, Timothy, President of Stamp Act Congress-Gets up
Counter Associations, called "Associated Loyalists," 522.
Rush, Dr. Benjamin, Notice of, 332.
Rutledge, Edward, appointed on Committee to draught Commission of, and Instructions for General Washington, 563.
Sabbath-day Point, Skirmish at, in 1756-Summer Residence
of Abercrombie in 1758, 115; Skirmish at, in 1776, 116.
Salary of Washington, 563; Of American Officers, 564.
Salem, Massachusetts, Settlement of, in 1628, 446; Revolution.
ary town Meetings at, in 1774, 515; Arrival of Gage's Troops
to seize Cannon-Repelled by Pickering, 522.
Salt, Manufacture of, near Onondaga Lake, 231.
Sammons, Frederick and Jacob, Adventures of, 290.
Sammons, Jacob, Assault upon, in Mohawk Valley, 233.
Sammons, Sampson, Notice of, 288; Capture of his FamilyBurning of his House, 289.
Sammons, Thomas, Notice of, 289.
Sandeman, Founder of Sandemanians, 405.
San Salvador, Discovery of, by Columbus in 1492, 25.
Saratoga, Heights of, 69, 72; Surrender of Burgoyne at, 81.
Scalping Story at Battle of Lexington explained, 527.
Scammel, Colonel, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50; Notice of
-Shot-Epitaph of, 430.
Shell, John Christian, Notice of —Builds a Block-house at
Shell's Bush, 299; Death of, 300.
Schenectady burned by Canadians and Indians in 1691-Formerly principal Seat of Mohawks, 302.
Schoharie Settlements attacked by Indians in 1780, 279.
Schuyler, Hon-Yost, Notice of, 251; Death of, 252.
Schuyler, General Philip, in command of the northern Division
of the Continental Army in 1777, 36; Biographical Sketch of,
38; Returns Home on account of Insubordination in his
Army, 39; Retreat to the Mohawk-Proposed Relief to the
Velley, 40; Volunteers for Relief of Fort Schuyler-Position
of his Forces at Cohoes-Preparations to oppose Burgoyne
-Appeal to the Eastern States, 41; Superseded by Gates



ANALYTICAL INDEX.-VOL. I.


His noble Conduct, 42; Acquittal of Blame, 136; Attempted
Abduction by Waltermeyer, 222; Robbery of his House,
223; Receives Orders from Congress to seize military Stores
in Mohawk Valley, 235; Ordered to repair Old Fort Stanwix,
236; Treaty with Indians at German Flats in 1777, 238; Appointed Commissioner by Congress to attend Indian Council
at Johnstown in 1778, 265; Mansion of, at Albany, 304; Headquarters at Morristown with Washington, 315; Receives Directions from Washington at New York in 1775, 564.
Schuylerville, Arrival at, 71; Scenery pt, 72.
Scott, General Winfield, Notice of, 226
Seal, Old Colony (Plymouth), 445.
Sears, David, Notice of, 466.
Seeker, Dr., Archbishop of Canterbury, proposes to establish
Episcopacy in America in 1748, 457.
"Separatists" (Independents), 441.
Shades of Death (Dismal Swamp), Pocono Mountains, Scene
of unparalleled Sufferings of Women and Children in 1778,
360.
Shakers, founded in America by Ann Lee in 1774, 383.
Shattuck, Colonel Daniel, Notice of. 552.
Sharon Springs, Battle of, in 1781, 294; Notice of-Analysis of
Waters of, 295.
Sheep, Saxony, introduced into Hoosick in 1820; Increase of,
in 1845, 400.
Shelly, Quotation from, 34, 240.
Sherburne, Major Henry, massacre of his Troops at Cedar
Rapids, 208.
Sheshequin (Queen Esther's Plantation), Notice of, 358.
Shirley, Governor, naval Expedition against Niagara in 1755,
217; Preparations at Albany to re-enforce Oswego in 1756,218.
Sholes's Landing, Scenery of, 149.
Shrieve, Colonel, at Battle of Springfield, 323.
Sigourney, Mrs., Quotation from, 443.
Silliman, General, at Expedition to Danbury, 402; At Destruction of Fairfield, 427.
Silliman, Professor Benjamin, Visit to Wyoming, 365.
Sitz, Peter, Bearer of Dispatches to Cherry Valley, 297.
Skene, Major, Jun., Capture of, 137; Notice of, 393.
Skenesborough, historical Notice of, 137.
Skinner, General, Notice of, 166.
" Skinners" and " Cow Boys," Notice of, 502.
Skirmish at Sabbath-day Point in 1756,115; Ditto, in 1776,116;
Of Major Sherburne with Indians near Cedar Rapids-Arnold's attempt to release the Prisoners-Menaces of the Indians-Letter from Sherburne, 208; Dishonorable Conduct
of British Commander-Washington's Opinion-Final Adjustment, 209; On West Canada Creek in 1781, 291; Of Captain Woodworth and Indians at German Flats, 298; At Shell's
Bush-Descent of Tories upon Shell's Block-house-Furious
Engagement-Capture of M'Donald, 299; Death of Shell and
his Son-Cessation of Hostilities, 300; Captain Ogden and
Yankees in 1770, 345; Near Cambridge, 392; Colonel Baume
and Americans at Walloomscoick, 396; At Saugatuck Bridge
in 1777, 409; At Compo with Sir William Erskine, 410; At
Rye Neck between British and Putnam's Scouts, 412; Near
Grummon's Hill. 414; Near Hew Haven in 1779,424; At Lexington, 524; At Concord Bridge, 527; At Hardy's Hill, 528;
At West Cambridge and Prospect Hill, 529; With British on
Islands in Boston Harbor after Battle of Lexington, 537; Near
Boston after Battle of Bunker Hill, 569.
Sleight, John, Notice of, 390.
Slocum, Frances, Capture and Discovery of, 368; Interview
with her white Kindred-Her Narrative-Condition-Names
of her Children-Exempted from Removal with the Miamies
-Congress grants her a Tract of Land, 369.
Slocum, Jonathan, Murder of, at Wyoming, 363.
Slocum, Joseph, and Family, Sufferers at Wyoming-Abduction of his Sister Frances, 367.
Slocum. Mrs., Presentiment of, 368.
Sloop Liberty, seizure of, in Boston in 1767, 478.
Small, Captain, at Shell's Bush, 299.
Small, Major, at Battle of Bunker Hill, 544.
Small-pox appears in American Camp in 1777-Alleged Vaccination in the Army refuted, 307.
Smith, Adam, Author of ' Wealth of Nations," active in writing
against American Cause-Biographical Sketch of, 517.
Smith, Captain, killed near Catskill, 267.
Smith, Captain John, gives Name to New England, 433.
Smith, Colonel, in Expedition to Concord in 1775, 523.
Smith, Ebenezer, Notice of, 415.
Smith's Cove, Washington's Army at, in 1778, 332.
Snake, curious Device of (Head-piece of Constitutional Courant), 468, 508.
Snyder, Christopher (Boy), first Martyr in Cause of American
Liberty. 489.
Strel or Richelieu River described, 174.
Spaulding, Captain, at Wyoming, 353, 362.
Speddy, William, tried for Murder of Ogden, 346.
Specht, General, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50
Speedlove. Major, killed at Battle of Bunker Hill, 546.
Spencer, General Joseph, at Battle of Bunker Hill-Biograph.
ieal Sketch of. 566.
Spencer, Thomas, sent to Canada as a Spy in 1777, 241.
Spinner, Reverend John P., of German Flats, 284.
Spoils of War taken by Colonel Gansevoort in 1777. 252.


Springfield, at Head of Oswego Lake, destroyed by Brant in
1778, 266.
Springfield, New Jersey, burning of, in 1780, 3h.
Springs, Salt, near Onondaga Lake, 231.
Staats, Abraham, Notice of, 331.
Stacia, Colonel, at Battle of Cherry Valley in 1778, 268.
Stamp Act, Excitement of; produced in Mohawk Valley-Political Movements of the People-Formation of Parties, 232,
Violence of Loyalists-Assault upon Sammons-Meeting at
Cherry Valley, 233; Attempted Removal of Kirkland —Hostile Movements of the Johnsons —Indian Councils, 234;
Treatment of Stamp-master at New Haven-Joy on Repeal
of Act, 421, 435; Proposed Postponement of Action-Derived
from the Dutch, 461; Suggested by a Club of American
Merchants in 1739-Approved by Franklin in Continental
Congress at Albany in 1754-Also, by Mr. Huske'in Parliament, in 1764, 461; Passage of the Act, 463; Appointment of
Stamp-masters, 465; Arrival of the Stamps, 466; Effect in
Boston, 469; Repeal of, 472; Rejoicing in Boston on Repeal
of the Act, 473.
Standish, Miles, biographical Sketch of, 445.
Stark, General John, biographical Sketch of-Refuses to Accompany Lincoln to the Hudson River-Censured by Congress-Proceeds to Battle at Bennington, 394; Presents Trophies to Massachusetts, 395; Laconic Speech at Battle of Bennington, 397; Popularity after Battle of Bennington-Promoted by Congress for Bravery, 398; At Battle of Bunker Hill,
541.
Stark, Lieutenant, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 49; Vigilance
of, at Fort William Henry, 110.
Starr, Major, Notice of, 403.
Staten Island, secret Expedition of Lord Stirling to, 311.
Steam-boats on the Hudson, 35.
Steamer Clermont, Fulton's, described, 35; Maid of the Mist,
228.
Steele, John, Notice of, 433.
Steuben, Baron, Notice of, 311; Head-quarters near Middlebrook in 1778, 332; Receives gold Medal from King of Prussia, 333.
Stewart, Colonel, in Encampment at Morristown in 1781, 313.
Stewart, Lazarus, at Wyoming Valley in 1770, 345.  *
Stillwater, first Battle of, in 1777, 51; Second Battle of, 60.
(See Bemis's Heights and Saratoga.)
Stirling, Lord, secret Expedition to Staten Island in 1780, 311.
Stockwell, Lieutenant, at Siege of Fort Schuyler in 1777, 250.
Stoddard, M. Richardson, Grave of, at Mount Independence,
148.
Stone, ancient Monumental, exhumed near Pompey Hill, 230.
Stone, Colonel William L., Anecdote of, 229; In Error with
regard to Brant, 238.
Street, Alfred B., Quotations from, 33, 104, 380.
St. Anthony's Nose, Notice of. 282.
St. Clair, General Arthur, Retreat from Ticonderoga to Fort
Edward in 1777-Pursued by the British, 39; Biographical
Sketch of, 132; Acquitted of Blame, 136.
St. John, Peter, made Prisoner in 1779, 414; Quotation from,
415.
St. John's, Expedition of Allen and Arnold against, in 1775,154;
Captured by Montgomery, 162; Rendezvous for Troops in
the Revolutionary War, 168.
St. Lawrence and its Islands, 214.
St. Lawrence, Gulf of, discovered by Cartier in 1523, 32.
St. Leger, Colonel Barrry, Expedition up St. Lawrence and Lake
Ontario with Rangers in 1777, 38; In Mohawk Valley, 40;
His Forces disperse, 41; Approaches Oneida Lake, 241; Letter to Burgoyne relative to Loss of Fort Schuyler, 247; Character of, described by Arnold, 251; Retreat from Oriskany,
252.
St. Regis, Incidents of, 210.
Sturgis, Captain, Notice of, 427.
Swain, Charles, Quotation from, 415.
Swartwout, Captain Abraham, at Siege of Fort Schuyler, 242.
Sullivan, General John, biographical Sketch of- Expedition
against Indians in Western New York in 1779, 272; Rendezvous of, in 1778, 336; At Battle of Bunker Hill, 566; At Intrenchments near Bunker Hill, 570.
Sword, Pilgrim Robinson's, at New Haven, 4:38.
Symonds, Colonel, at Battle of Bennington, 396.
Syracuse, early History of-Region about-Settled by Dupuys
in 1655-Hostility of the Indians-Stratagem of the French,
229; Settlements of French and Spaniards in 1669-Evidence
of earlier Explorations by Europeans, 230.
Tallmadge, Colonel Benjamin, arrives at Fairfield in 1779, 427.
Taxation, heavy voluntary. 455; New Scheme of, 475.
Tea proscribed, 488; Destruction of, in Boston Harbor, 498.
Tea Party, Boston, Names of Members of, 499.
Teedyuscung, Indian Diplomatist in Council at Easton in 1758,
336; Death of, 344.
Tenbroeck at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Ten Hills' Farm, Cannon planted on, 571.
Ternay, Chevalier De, in Command of French Fleet at New.
port, 435.
Thacher, Dr. James, at Hudson Highlands, 307; Allusion to
Inoculation in American Army, 308; Quotations from 308,
310, 311, 312, 574.




ANALYTICAL INDEX.-VOL. I.


Thomas, Colonel John, Death of-Biographical Sketch of, 202; Vespucci, Elena, applies to Congress for Grant of Land, 28.
Appointed General in 1775, 516; At Battle of Bunker Hill, Vessels of War, Confiance and Saratoga, 143; Constructed on
543, 566,                                                 Lake Champlain-Royal Savage, 163; Congress Galley, corn
Ticonderoga, Topography of, 115, 118; Capture of, in 1758,  manded by Arnold-Carleton, Inflexible, and Maria on Lake
120; Expedition of Ethan Allen to-Plan formed in Connec-  Champlain, 164; Camilla and Scorpion, 422; Romney, in
ticut to capture, 123; Arnold joins Allen at Castleton-Dis-  Boston, 478; Fleet of Eight, arrive in Boston in 1768, 480;
pute about Rank-Surprise of Garrison, 124; Interview be-  Arrival of the Cerberus, at Boston after Battle of Lexington,
tween Allen and Delaplace —Allen's Orders to surrender    537; Names of, at Boston after Battle of Lexington, 539;
obeyed-Trouble with Arnold about Command, 125; Ruins      Names of, authorized by Congress in 1775, 576; British Sloop
of, 127; Present Appearance and Condition of, 128; Invest-  Falcon attempts to seize Captain Manly, 570; Names of, first
ed b~ Burgoyne-Weakness of the Garrison, 132; Invested    constructed fbor Continental Navy, 575.
by British, 134; Retreat of Americans from, to Mount Inde- Visit of the Author to Places on the Hudson River, 34; Albany
pendence, 135.                                            -Troy, 35; Cohoes' Falls-Van Schaick's Island, 36; WaterTories, active and passive, 92; Violence of, in Mohawk Valley  ford, 43; Bemis's Heights-Saratoga, 44, 89; Schuylerville
in 1775, 233; Disarming of, at Johnson Hall, 236; Gort and  -Do-ve-gat, 71, 88; Fort Edward, 94; Rogers's Island, 102;
Platto, 288; Descent of, upon Shell's Bush, 299; Pine Rob-  Glenn's Falls, 104; " Big Snake" and " Indian Cave," 105; Caldbers, Notice of, 332; Tories and Indians invade Wyoming,  well —Lake George, 108; Ruins of Fort George, 112; Rog350; Execution of, at Kingston, 389.                      ers's Rock - Prisoner's Island, 116; Ticonderoga, 118, 121,
Tory, Elliot, 264; Ogden of New Jersey, 313; Writing in Ci-  136; Whitehall or Skenesborough, 137, 142; Fort Anne Vili
pher in 1779, 320; Guides, Benedict and Jarvis, 402, 407;  lage, 139; Putnam's Rock, 142; Battle-ground of Hubbardton.
Joseph Dibble, Notice of, 406; Student in Yale College, 431;  145; Sholes's Landing, 144, 149; Lake Champlain - Mount
Tory and Whig, revival of Terms, 486; Writer under Signa-  Independence, 147; Chimney Point, 150; Crown Point, 151;
ture Massachusettensis, 513.                              Split Rock, 159; Burlington, Vermont-Grave of Ethan Allen
Townshend, Charles, in Parliament in 1765, 462.             161; Rousse's Point-Isle Aux Noix, 167; St. John's, 168;
Treason, Acts of, proposed to be tried under Statute of Henry  Chambly, 174; Longueuil, 175, 182; Montreal, 177; SorelVIII., 482.                                               River St. Lawrence-Quebec, 183; Falls of MontmorenciTreaty of Amnesty with France after Battle of Saratoga, 86;  Point Levi, 203; Plains of Abraham, 204; Lachine-St. Ann's
General Schuyler with Indians at German Flats, 238; Be-  Rapids, 206; Cedars Rapids, 207; Scotch Canadian Cairn,
tween Colonel Denison and Continentals at Wyoming in 1778,  209; St. Regis-Ogdensburgh, 210; Kingston, Upper Canada,
358.                                                      214; Oswego, 215; Genesee and Niagara Rivers, 224; NiagTreaty Table at Forty Fort, Notice of, 359, 365.           ara Falls, 227; Suspension Bridge, 228; Syracuse, 229;
Tree, Balm of Gilead, at Fort Edward, 95; Jane M'Crea, 97;  Rome-Mohawk Valley-Fort Stanwix (Rome), 231; BattleApple, at Springfield, New Jersey, 322; Charter Oak, at  ground of Oriskany, 243; Whitesboro'-Utica-Little FallsHartford, 434; Liberty, in Boston, 466, 467; Washington   German Flats, 253; Fort Plain, 261; Mohawk Valley-Ful.
Elm, at Cambridge, 558, 564.                             tonville-Fonda, 284; Caughnawaga-Johnstown, 25; CsnaTrees, Elm, of New Haven planted by Austin and Hillhouse,   joharie-Currytown, 292; Sharon Springs, 295; Cherry Val428.                                                     ley, 296; Albany, 300; Newark-Morristown, 305; Spring.
Troops, British, Landing of, near New Haven, 422; Arrival of,  field, New Jersey, 322; Elizabethtown, 326; Elizabethtown
in Boston, under Colonels Dairymple and Carr, 480; Re-    Point, 327; Middlebrook, 331, 332; Camp-ground near MidmQval, 491; Number of, stationed at Boston on Eve of Rev-  diebrook- Washington's Rock, 333; Somerville —Easton,
olIfion, 521; Increase of, in Boston after Battle of Lexing-  Pennsylvania, 335; Pokono Mountain-Valley of Wyoming,
ton, 537; Condition of, in Boston in 1775, 571.           339, 370; Wilkesbarre, 340, 370; Toby's Eddy, 343; KingsTrumbull, John, LL.D., Quotation from, 374, 401; Biographical  ton and Forty Fort, 364; Monument to the Martyrs of WySketch of-Poem, M'Fingall, 401.                          oming, 365; Carbondale, Pennsylvania, Coal Mines, 377;
Trumbull, Governor Jonathan, offers to mediate between Gen-  Milford-Sawkill, 380; Port Jervis; Neversink Valley, 381;
eral Gage and Bostonians in 1775, 522.                    Poughkeepsie, 382; Kingston, New York, 385; Hoosick ValTrumbull, Joseph, appointed Commissary General by Wash-    ley - Bennington Battle-ground, 391, 398; Walloomscoick
ington in 1775, 567.                                      Valley, 398; Bennington, 399; Hopsatonic Valley-Danbury,
Tryon County (now Montgomery), Notice of, 232; Armed Set.  400; Ridgefield, 407, 412; Putnam's Hill. 412; Norwalk, 413;
tlers of, 266.                                           Gregory's Point-Grummon's Hill, 414; Fairfield, 416; GreenTryon, Governor William, Expedition to Danbury in 1777, 401;  field Hill-New Haven- East Rock, 417, 428; Westbridge
Expedition to Horse-neck Landing, 411; Landing of, at Nor-  and Milford Hill, near New Haven, 423, 428; Yale College,
walk in 1779, 414, 416; Expedition to New Haven in 1779,  431; Hartford, 432; Boston, 439, 561; Concord, 551; Lexing422; Head-quarters at Fairfield, 427; Arrival at New York  ton, 552; Cambridge, 555; Bunker Hill Monument, 558; Dorfrom England in 1775, 522.                                chester Heights, 560; Massachusetts Historical Society, 561.
Tucker, Reverend Josiah and Reverend Abraham, Notice of, Visscher, Colonel, at Siege of Fort Schuyler, 245.
519.                                                    Volunteers from New Hampshire join Army at Cambridge
previous to Battle of Bunker Hill, 536.
United States, relative Position of, to Governments of Europe, Vrooman, Captain, in Command of Fort Schuyler-Captured
86; Independence of, acknowledged by France in 1778, 87;  by Brant-Taken to Canada as Prisoner by Johnson, 282.
Foreign and domestic Debt of, in 1777-81, 319.
University, Harvard, Endowment of, 555.                  Wagner directed to shoot Brant, 238.
Wales's Hill, Roxbury, Massachusetts, Notice of, 565.
Van Courtlandt at Battle of Stillwater, 51.              Walker, Captain, at Battle of Springfield in 1780, 323; At BatVan Courtlandt, Pierre, first President of Senate of New York,  tie of Bunker Hill, 543.
387.                                                    Walloomscoick, Orthography and Signification of, 398.
Vanderburg, Colonel, Notice of, 436.                      Walloomscoick River, Notice of, 395.
Van Norden, Mrs. Polly, Notice of, 332.                  Walpole, Sir Robert, enlightened Views of, in regard to TaxVan Rensselaer, General Robert, Expedition to Tryon County,  ation, 454.
280; Pursues Johnson-His Inaction, 281; Abandons pur- Wampum described, 302.
suit-Dispatches Messenger to Captain Vrooman at Fort War between England and France in 1756 ("Seven Years'
Schuyler, 282.                                           War"), 95; Civil, between Yankees and Pennymites in Valley
Van Rensselaer, General Stephen, Notice of, 226.           of Wyoming, 1769-Erection of Forts-Capture of DurkeeVan Rensselaer, Colonel Solomon, Notice of, 226.           Surrender of Ogden, 345; Treatment of Ogden-Nathnn Og.
Van Rensselaer, William, Notice of, 391.                   den killed by Speddy-Another Attack on Yaukees-Penny.
Van Schaick, Colonel, at Cherry Valley, 237; In Expedition  mites expelled-New Fortifications, 346; Hostilities cease mn
against Onondagas, 270; Pursues Sir John Johnson to Ti-   1771, 347; Revival of the War in 1782-Decree of Trenton
conderoga, 290.                                           Its Effect-Injustice toward Yankees-Inaction of Congress,
Van Schaick's Mill, 391.                                   371; Great Deluge-Danger and Distress of Inhabitants.Van Slyk, Captain, killed at Siege of Fort Schuyler, 246.  Reappearance of the Soldiers-Renewal of Hostilities, 372;
Van Swearingen, Captain, at Battle of Stillwater, 52.      Armstrong's Expedition-Stratagem-Change in public Sen.
Van Vechten, Colonel, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 71.     timent-Censors hold Septennial Meeting-Appeal for BeVarnum, Colonel, at Battle of Bunker Hill, 571.            lief. 373; New Difficulties — Commissioners repulsed ly
Varrick, Colonel, at Battle of Stillwater-Rupture with Ar-  Franklin-His Arrest for Treason, 375; Discharged-Picker.
nold, 56.                                                 ing's escape to Philadelphia-Returns to the Valley-Abduct.
Vasco De Gama reaches India via Cape of Good Hope, 26.     ed-Difficulties cease, and the Vale ever after a Picture of
Vasquez D'Aillon, Lucas, reaches Combahee River in South    Prosperity and Repose. 376; King Philip's, in 1675, 420;
Carolina-Kidnaps Natives with Intention of selling them as  Virtual Declaration of, against the Americans in 1775, 519.
Slaves, 30.                                             Ward, General Artemas, appointed temporary Commander-inVeeder, Colonel, at Currytown, 295.                        chief in 1775, 190; Biographical Sketch of, 516; At Battle of
Vergennes, Count De, Policy of, relative to extending Aid to  Bunker Hill, 541, 556.
Americans, 86.                                          Warner, Colonel Seth, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 49; Bio.
Vermont demands Separation from the Union-Declared Free    graphical Sketch of, 153; At Battle of Bennington, 393, 394.
and Independent in 1777, under the Name of New Connecti- Warren, James, Biographical Sketch of, 494.
cut, 168.                                               Warren. Dr. Joseph, Orations of, in Boston Old South Church,
Verrazani, John, Expedition to North America, 31.          522; Presides in Provincial Congress of Massachusetts in




ANALYTICAL INDEX.-VoL. 1.


1775, 531, 564; At Battle of Bunker Hill, 542; Killed, 546;
Biographical Sketch of, 548; Masonic Honors to his Memory
-Monument on Breed's Hill, 549.
Warren, Mrs. Mercy, Quotation from, 487; Biographical Sketch
of; 464.
Washington, General George, Manifesto of, issued at Middlebrook in 1777, 133; Recommends Arnold, 136; Visit to Boston in 1789, 143; Appointed Commander-in-chief of Continental Forces in 1775-Takes Command of Army at Cambridge-His Generals-Sends Arnold on Expedition to Canada, 190; Manifesto to Arnold, 194; Censure of Butterfield
and Bedell, 207; Opinion in regard to Convention of British
at Cedar Rapids, 209; Head-quarters at Morristown, 306;
Establishes Cantonments from Princeton to the Hudson, under control of Putnam. 307; Proclamation of, counter to that
of Brothers Howe, 308; Opposition to his Policy-His Independence and Sagacity-Leaves Head-quarters at Morristown, and proceeds to Middlebrook, 309; Head-quarters of,
at New Windsor, on the Hudson-Holds Council of War to
quell Rebellion at Princeton, 313; Recognition of Ford at
Mount Vernon-Illustration of his Character, 314; Prohibits
Gambling-His religious Toleration, 315; Deprecation of paper Money as legal Tender, 320; Deceived by Clinton at
Short Hills, 323; Head-quarters of, at White Plains in 1778,
331; First Conference with Rochambeau and Ternay at Newport in 1780-Returns to Camp at West Point-Second Conference with Rochambeau at Wethersfield, 435; Conference
at Webb House, Wethersfield, to Concert plan of Campaign
in 1781-Menaces New York-Abandons Siege-Proceeds
with Forces to Yorktown-Extract from Diary, 436; Headquarters at Cambridge, 555; Letter of, to Poet Slave, Phillis,
556; Chantrey's Statue of. in State House, Boston, 561; Appointed Commander-in-chief of American Forces in 1775 -Acceptance and Reply-Salary of-Modesty, 563; Leaves
Philadelphia for Cambridge-Reception at New York, Watertown, and Cambridge-Takes Command of Army, 564; Calls
Council of War-Organizes Army —Issues general Order,
565; Sends armed Vessels to intercept British Supplies from
Boston, 569; Sends Forces to Plowed Hill and Charlestown
Road, 571; Writes President of Congress, charging that body
with Neglect-Camp on Bunker Hill-Calls Council of War,
573; Proclamations of Howe-Retaliates by ordering Sullivan and others to seize all Officers of Government unfriendly
to Patriots, 575; Renders Account to Government for Expenses incurred by Lady Washington in visiting Camp during War-Explanation, 576.
Washington, Lady, with her Husband at Head-quarters, near
Middlebrook, in 1778, 332; Arrival at Cambridge in 1775, 576.
Waterbury, Colonel, at Expedition to Danbury in 1777, 402.
Water Gap, Pennsylvania, Notice of, 338.
Watts, Major, at Siege of Fort Schuyler in 1777, 244.
Wayne, General, in Command of Pennsylvania Troops in 1781,
312.
Webb, Colonel, at Battle of Springfield, 324.
Webb, General, Perfidy and Cowardice of, 110.
Webb, Dr., Notice of, 562.
Webster, Daniel, Orations at Bunker Hill Monument, 1825,
'1843, 559.
~VWeed, David, Notice of, 402.
Wells, Charles F., Notice of, 365.
Wells, Eleazer, Notice of, 286.
Wemple, Colonel, Notice of, 263.
Wentworth, Governor Benning, Flight to Boston for Safety in
1775, 568.
Wesson, Colonel, at Battle of Stillwater, 51; At Siege of Fort
Schuyler in 1777, 242.
West Point, Washington's Army at, in 1778, 332.
Weymouth, Massachusetts, Settlement of, in 1622, 445.
Whalley, General, English Regicide, concealed at New Haven,
419.
"' Whig" and " Tory," Origin of, 71; Renewal of Terms, 486.
Whigs, Meeting of, at Cherry Valley in 1775, 233.
Whipple, William, at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 49; At Battle
of Bennington, 393.
White Eyes, Indian Chief, Fidelity of, 264.
Whitefield, Reverend George, biographical Sketch of, 336; Acquaints Dr. Langdon with Secret of attempt to establish Episcopacy in America, 489.
Whitehall the Theater of hostile Preparations in 1812, 139.
Whittier, J. G., Quotation from, 150, 432.
Wilcox, Quotation from, 253, 305, 306.
Wilkes, John, biographical Sketch of, 520.
Wilkinson, General James, at Battle of Stillwater, 56; Biographical Sketch of-Speech before Congress, 84.
Willard, Counselor, at Battle of Bunker Hill, 541.
Willett, Colonel Marinus, joins the Garrison of Fort Schuyler,
242, 244; Biographical Notice of, 244; Volunteers to be a
Messenger, 250; Left in Command of the Garrison, 252;
Patriotism in Mohawk Valley —His Command of Tryon
County Militia, 283; At Fort Hunter, Mohawk Valley, 290;
Sends Expedition, to Currytown, 294.
Williams, Colonel Ephraim, Rock where shot, 106; Biographical Sketch of, 107.
Williams, Colonel, at Battle of Bennington, 394.
Williams, Major, killed at Battle of Bunker Hill, 546.
Williams, Otho H., Notice of, 565.


Willie, Walter, Notice of, 302.
Willis, Quotation from, 113.
Wilson cruelly treated by Indians-Speech of Indian Messen
ger John, 349.
Vind Gap, Pennsylvania, Notice of, 338.
Windmill Point. Post of Canada Patriots in 1837, 210.
Windsor, Connecticut, Notice of, 436.
Wine, Madeira, Seizure of, in Boston in 1767, 478.
Winslow, Edward, Biographical Sketch of, 445.
Wintermoot's Fort, 351.
Winthrop, Governor John, Arrival of, in New England, 446;
Expedition to Montreal, 451.
Witchcraft in New England, 447.
Woodworth, Captain Ephraim, at Battle of Stillwater, 58.
Woodworth, Captain Solomon, Skirmish of, with Indians at
German Flats, 298.
Wolcott at Battle of Bemis's Heights, 50.
Wolfe, General James, Appointment of, in 1758, 120; Approach
of, to Quebec, 184; Death of-Biographical Sketch of, 188;
Monument of, 189, 205.
Women, Patriotism in Revolution, 352, 488, 512.
Wool, General, Notice of, 226.
Woolsey, Major, at Middle Fort, Schoharie, 279.
Wooster, General David, at Expedition to Danbury, 402; Honor conferred on, by Congress, unheeded-Marks of Grave
obliterated, 406; Attacks British at Danbury-Killed-Biographical Sketch of, 408.
Wordsworth, Captain, conceals Charter of Connecticut in Oak
Tree at Hartford, 435.
Wormwood, Lieutenant, sent to Cherry Valley-Killed, 297.
Writs, Quo Warranto, defined, 434; Of Assistance, 459.
Wyllys, Honorable Samuel, Owner of Charter Oak, 435.
Wyoming Valley-Flight of the People over the Pocono-Incidents of the Flight-Providential Aid of Hollenback-Preservation of Papers, 360; Picture of the Flight-Bad Faith of
Invaders, 361; Their Departure from the Valley-Indian
Cruelties-Arrival of Succor-Expedition against the Indians, 362; Return of Settlers-Continued Alarmn-Murder
of Slocum-Sullivan's Expedition-The Valley a Scene of
War, Blood, and Suffering, 363; Efforts to erect a Monument-Ladies form Luzerne Monumental AssociaionSuccess, 366; Residence and Grave of Colonel Z. ButlerHistory of Slocum Family-Abduction of Frances Slocum,
367; Singular Discovery of her, 368; Interview with White
Kindred-Narrative and Condition-Names of her Children,
369; A Sabbath at Wyoming -Incidents of Life of Mrs.
Myers-Escape of her Father and Brother from Indians, 370;
Revival of Civil War-Decree of Trenton-Its Effect-Injustice toward the Yankees-Inaction of Congress, 371; Great
Deluge-Danger and Distress of Inhabitants-Reappearance
of Soldiers-Renewal of Hostilities, 372; Armstrong's Expedition-Stratagem-Change of Public Sentiment-CensorsAppeal for Relief, 373; Organization of Luzerne CountyNew Difficulties-Commissioners repulsed by Franklin-His
Arrest for Treason-Visited by Colonel Ethan Allen, 375;
Discharged-Pickering's Escape to Philadelphia-Returns to
the Valley-Abduction and Treatment-Difficulties cease, and
the Vale ever after a Picture of Repose and Prosperity, 376.
Wyoming, Authors on-Campbell, 341, 364; Minor, 340, 341,
350, 352, 357, 361, 362, 363, 365, 367, 376; Colonel Stone, 350,
354; Mallory, 365; Wells, 365; Silliman, 365; Stone, 376;
Gordon, Chapman, 376.
Wyoming, Description and Incidents of, 340; 341; Purchase
of, from Indians, 344; Civil War. at, in 1769-71, 345; Democratic Government established in 1771, 347; Under Protection of Connecticut in 1771-Enjoys Peace until 1775 —Iostilities renewed by Northumberland Militia-Inhabitants petition Congress for Redress, 348; Identified with General
History of the Union-Exposed Position, 349; Alarm at, in
1778-Condition of Settlement-Apathy of Congress-Patriotism of Women, 352; Approach of Indians and Tories-Preparations for Defense-Council of War —Position of Forts,
353; Decision of People-Preparations for Battle-Forces
of the Enemy-Campbell's Injustice to Brant, 354; Disposition of Belligerents for Battle-Speech of Colonel Z. Butler
-Attack, 355; Battle-Order of Denison mistaken-Retreat
of Americans-Scenes of Blood at Monocasy Island, 356;
Escape of Butler and Denison-Cruelties of Indians-Scene
at Esther's Rock, 357; Cruelties of Queen Esther (Catharine
Montour)-Scenes at Forty Fort-Negotiations for Surrender
-Escape of Colonel Z. Butler, 358; Surrender of the FortTreaty Table-Conduct of Tories -Bad Faith of Indians. 359
Yale College, Notice of-Political Character of, in Revolution.
431.
Yankee Doodle, Origin of, 81, 480; Played at Surrender of Bnlr
goyne, 81; Played in Lord Percy's Regiment at Roxbury, 528.
Yankee Lumberman, Anecdote of, 371.
Yankees and Pennymites, Hostilities between, 345; Injustice
toward Yankees in Valley of Wyoming in 1783, 371.
Yates, Robert, one of first Judges of N. Y. Supreme Court, 387
Yest, Frangois, biographical Sketch and Reminiscences of, 175.
Zinzendorf, Count Nicholas L., biographical Sketch of-First
Explorer in Wyoming Valley-Adventures with Indians, 342.
His Camp-ground, 343.




INTRODUCTION.
Far o'er yon azure main thy view extend,
Where seas and skies in blue confusion blend:
Lo, there a mighty realm, by Heaven design'd,
The last retreat for poor, oppress'd mankind;
Form'd with that pomp which marks the hand divine,
And clothes yon vault, where worlds unnumber'd shine.
Here spacious plains in solemn grandeur spread;
Here cloudy forests cast eternal shade;
Rich valleys wind, the sky-tall mountains brave,
And inland seas for commerce spread the wave.
With nobler floods the sea-like rivers roll,
And fairer luster purples round the pole.
TIMOTHY DWIGHT.
*                                              VERY nation eminent for its refineA.. ment, displayed in the cultivation
of the arts, had its heroic age-; a
i-  -:.......-.  period when its first physical and
'                  ~ 1- '  j  - i^    moral conquests were achieved,
and when rude society, with all
t   Y        When civilization first set up its. -:     -i standard as a permanent ensign
7- 'in the Western hemisphere, north-,
ward of the Bahamas and the
great Gulf, and the contests for
possession began between the wild
Aborigines, who thrust no spade
4^       into the soil, no sickle into ripe harvests, and those earnest delvers
i,,~ '-  ~ X from the Old World, who came with the light of Christianity to plant
N          a new empire and redeem the wilderness by cultivation, then commenced
the heroic age of America.  It ended when the work of the Revolution, in
1'</       the eighteenth century, was accomplished; when the bond of vassalage to
Great Britain was severed by her colonies, and when the thirteen confederated States ratified a federal Constitution, and upon it laid the broad foundation of our Republic.
Those ancient civilizations, registered by the stylus of history, were mere gleamings of
morning compared with the noontide radiance which now lights up the Western World;
and even the more modern nations of Europe, brilliant as they appear, have so many dark
spots upon the disk of their enlightenment, that their true glory is really less than that of
the waxing Star in the West. These ancient and modern civilizations, now past or at
their culminating points, were the results of the slow progress of centuries; the heroic age




INTRODUCTION.


of America, meteor-like, was brilliant and rapid in its course, occupying the space of only
a century and a half of time from the permanent implanting of a British colony, weak and
dependent, to the founding of our government, which, like Pallas Athena, was, at its birth,
full panoplied, strong, eminently individual in its character, and full of recuperative energies.
The head of Britannia was cleft by the Vulcan of the Revolution, and from its teeming
brain leaped the full-grown daughter, sturdy and defiant.
Long anterior to the advent of Europeans in America, a native empire, but little inferior
to Old Rome in civilization, flourished in that region of our continent which now forms the
southwestern portion of the Republic. The Aztec empire, which reached the acme of its refinement during the reign of Montezuma, and crumbled into fragments when Cortez dethroned
and murdered that monarch, extended over the whole of Central America; and when
the Spaniards came it was gradually pushing its conquests northward, where all was
yet darkness and gloom. To human apprehension, this people, apparently allied by various
ties to the wild nations of North America, appeared to be the most efficient instruments in
spreading the light of civilization over the whole continent; yet they were not only denied
this glorious privilege, but, by the very race which first attempted to plant the seeds of European refinement in Florida and among the Mobilian tribes, and to shed the illumination
of their dim Christianity over the dreary regions of the North, was their own bright light
extinguished.  The Aztecs and their neighbors were beaten into the dust of debasement by
the falchion blows of avarice and bigotry, and they form, apparently, not the most insignificant atom of the chain of events which connects the history of the empires of the Old World
with that of our Republic.
It is believed that, two hundred years before the Aztecs subdued the more ancient people
of the Mexican valley and founded Tenochtitlan,' a handful of rough, half-civilized adventurers from the wintery shores of Iceland and the neighboring main, driven by adverse winds
they knew not whither, touched upon the bleak shores of Labrador, and traversed the American continent southward as far as Rhode Island, and, it may be, the capes of Virginia.2
These supposed first modern discoverers of America were the children of the, mighty sea
kings" of the Teutonic romances-the Scandinavian reguli, who, scorning to own Gorrn
the Old of Norway, and Harold Fairhair of Denmark, their conquerors, as masters, forsook
their country and colonized Iceland, Greenland, Shetland, and the Orkney Islands, whence.they sent forth piratical expeditions, which became a terror to Western Europe.  They
traded as well as plundered, and by commerce and conquest became potential.  Every coast
was visited by their squadrons, either for war or traffic.  They swept over Denmark and
Germany, and by conquest obtained possession of the best portions of Gaul.8 They invaded
the British Islands, and placed the renowned Canute upon the throne of Alfred.
Long before Christianity had shed its genial rays over their frozen territory of the
North, and banished the barbarous rites of Pagan worship, the lamp of learning had been
l This city was founded about the year 1210, and was afterward called Mexico, which signifies the place
of Mexitli, the Aztec god of war. The present capital of Mexico is upon the site of that ancient city.
The Aztecs, at that time, were settled in Lower California. They were divided into six tribes. The
Mexican tribe wandered off southward, subdued the Toltecs, and founded the city around which the whole
Aztec nation subsequently gathered. The Toltecs were far more refined than their conquerors, and from
members of that dispersed nation the Aztecs were first made acquainted with painting, sculpture, astronomy,
and many of the useful arts, such as working in metals, building bridges and aqueducts, agriculture, &c.
2 See note on page 65, vol. ii.
3 Charles III., called the Simple, the eighth of the Carlovingian kings of France, ceded to Rolf or Rollo,
one of the Northmen chiefs, the large province called by them Normandy. This event occurred in the
year 918. Rollo and his subjects embraced Christianity, and became the guardians of France against
further invasion from the Northmen.




INTRODUCTION.


xvii


taken from the cloisters of the South and placed within their temples, and upon dreary
and desolate Iceland and Norway civilization erected its humanizing altars.  Ardent, imaginative, and devotional, they eagerly accepted Christianity, and it became to them really
a " Star in the East," leading to where " the infant Jesus laid."  It was not to them so
much a personal treasure to be valued for its immortal blessings, as a glorious idea full of
temporal advantage.   It became an intense passion, not a sober belief, and its warmth generated mighty events.  Among them the spirit of chivalry had its birth and early nurture;
and in those unholy wars against the possessors of the land of Palestine and of the sepulcher
of Christ, called the Crusades, which shook the nations during three consecutive centuries,
these Northmen furnished the bravest leaders.
From such a people, possessed of every attribute necessary to the successful founding of
new empires, having the ocean pathway to a broad and fertile continent made clear before
them, what great results might not be expected? But, with the prize just within their
grasp, they, too, were denied the honor of first peopling our land; yet their mixed descendants, the Anglo-Saxons, now possess it.  It is supposed that they attempted settlements,
but failed, and in the lapse of centuries their voyages were forgotten, or only remembered
in the songs of their bards or the sagas of their romancers.  For more than five hundred
years after the voyages of those navigators, America was an unknown region; it had no
place upon maps, unless as an imaginary island without a name, nor in the most acute geographical theories of the learned.'  It was reserved for the son of an humble wool-carder
of Genoa to make it known to the world.
During the first half of the fifteenth century, maritime discoveries were prosecuted with
untiring zeal by the people inhabiting the great peninsula of Southwestern Europe.  The
incentives to make these discoveries grew out of the political condition of Europe and the
promises of great commercial advantages.   The rich commerce of the East centered in
Rome, when that empire overshadowed the known world; when it fell into fragments, the
Italian cities continued their monopoly of the trade of the Indies.  Provinces which had
become independent kingdoms became jealous of these cities, so rapidly outstripping them in
power and opulence; and Castile and Portugal, in particular, engaged in efforts to open a
direct trade with the East. The ocean was the only highway for such commerce toward
which they could look with a hope of success.  The errors of geographical science interposed their obstacles; the belief that a belt of impassable heat girdled the earth at the
equator intimidated mariners, and none were willing to double Cape Bojador, beyond which
was the fancied region of fire.
Prince Henry of Portugal, son of John the First and Philippa of Lancaster (sister of
Henry the Fourth of England), having accompanied his father into Africa, in an expedition
against the Moors, received much information concerning the mineral riches and fertility
of Guinea and other portions of the coast.  The idea of making discoveries along the African shores filled his mind, and on his return to Portugal he abandoned the court, retired to
a secluded spot near Cape St. Vincent, in full view of the ocean, and drawing around him
the most eminent scientific men in the kingdom, pursued geographical and nautical inquiries
with untiring zeal. He became convinced that Africa was circumnavigable, and that the
1 "The [Atlantic] Ocean," observes Xerif al Edrisi, an eminent Arabian writer, quoted by Irving, " encircles the ultimate bounds of the inhabited earth, and all beyond is unknown. No one has been able to
verify any thing concerning it, on account of its difficult and perilous navigation, its great obscurity, its
profound depth, and frequent tempests; through fear of its mighty fishes and its haughty winds; yet there
are many islands in it, some of which are peopled and others uninhabited. There is no mariner who dares
to enter into its deep waters; or, if any have done so, they have merely kept along its coasts, fearful of
departing from them. The waves of this ocean, although they roll as high as mountains, yet maintain
themselves without breaking, for if they broke, it would be impossible for a ship to plow through them."
B




INTRODUCTION.


Indies might be reached by doubling its most southerly headlands.  Expeditions were fitted
out; the Cape de Verd and the Azore Islands were discovered; Cape Bojador was passed;
the tropical region was penetrated, and divested of its terrors; and at length the lofty promontory which terminates Africa on the south, was descried.   It was hailed as a har1486
binger of the coveted passage to the Indian Seas, and on that account King John gave
it the appellation of the Cape of Good Hope.
The Spaniards were also making
maritime discoveries at the same time,
but Lisbon was the point of great attraction to the learned, the curious,
and the adventurous, who were desir-:                        ous to engage in the expeditions then
continually fitting out there.                              Among
>1.      therm  came Christopher Columbus, or
Colombo, a native 'of Genoa, then in
s                                  the vigor of maturity.'   Already he
had made many a perilous voyage
upon the ocean, having engaged in
the life of a mariner at the age of
fourteen years.  The bent of his mind
for such pursuits was early discovered
by his father, and in the University
of Pavia he was allowed, by a short
____                   course of study, to obtain sufficient
Gelementary knowledge of geometry, astronomy, geography, and navigation,
and of the Latin language, to enable
him to make those sciences afterward
6  F   A            2       subservient to his genius.  From the; e  e nt o                                 commencement of his nautical career
to his landing in Portugal, his history
is very obscure.
There is some obscurity and doubt respecting the precise year in which Columbus was born. Munoz,
in his History of the New World, places it in 1446. Mr. Irving, relying upon the authority of Bernaldez,
w,;o says that "he died in 1506, in a good old age, at the age of seventy, a little more or less," places it
in 1436, which would make him about forty-eight years old when he landed in Portugal.
2 This peculiar signature of Columbus is attached to various documents written by him subsequent to
his first voyage. It was customary, in his time, to precede a signature with the initials (and sometimes with
the words in full) of some pious ejaculation. We accordingly find the signature of Columbus with initial
prefixes, thus:
S
S  A   S
X M Y
Xpo FERENS
The interpretation is supposed to be "Sancta! Sancta, Ave, Sancta! Christo, Maria, Yoseph;" id est,
Christ, Mary, Joseph. The Xpo are Greek letters; the word FERENS Roman capitals.  X, or a cross,
is the sign for Christo or Christ, and Xpo is an abbreviation of Xp&crror, anointed, and expressed the first
and chief portion of the Christian name of Columbus. The Latin word ferens (bearing, carrying, or endaring) expressed not only the latter portion of his name, but also his character, according to his own lofty
conceptions of his mission. He believed himself to be Christo ferens, Christ-bearer or Gospel-bearer, to
the heathen inhabitants of an unknown world. It may be added, that Colombo (Columbus), a dove or




INTRODUCTION.


XIX


In person, Columbus was tall and commanding; in manners, exceedingly winning and
graceful for one unaccustomed to the polish of courts or the higher orders in society.  He was
a strict observer of the rituals of his religion.  His piety was not a mere form, but an elevated and solemn enthusiasm, born of a deep conviction of the vital truths of Christianity.
While in Lisbon, he never omitted religious duties in the sanctuary.   At the chapel of the
Convent of All Saints, where he was accustomed to worship, he became acquainted with
a young lady of rank named Donna Felipa, the daughter of Mosis de Palestrello, an Italian
cavalier, who had been one of the most distinguished navigators in the service of Prince
Henry.    They loved, and were married.     His wife's sister was married to Pedro Correo,
a navigator of note.  In the family of his mother-in-law he learned all the incidents of the
voyages of her husband; and the charts, journals, and other manuscripts of that navigator
she delivered to Columbus.    These possessions awakened new aspirations in his mind.   He
had made himself familiar, by study and large experience, with all the nautical knowledge
of the day, and, in common with the most enlightened men of his time, he was disposed to
credit the narratives of Plato and other ancient writers respecting the existence of a continent beyond a glorious island called Atlantis,' in the waste of waters westward of Europe.
Such a continent was necessary to make his own geographical theory perfect.       The gorgeous pictures of Zipango or Cipangi and Cathay, op the eastern coast of Asia, drawn by
Marco Polo and Mandeville, also excited his warm      imagination; and the alleged apparitions of land seen to the westward by the people of the Canary Isles were treasured in his
mind as great realities.2  His comprehensive genius constructed a new and magnificent theory, and his bold spirit stood ready to act in unison with his genius.  He based his whole
theory upon the fundamental principle that the earth was a terraqueous globe, which might
be traveled round from east to west, and that men stood foot to foot at opposite points.
pigeon, was doubtless associated, in his imagination, with the carrier-bird, and had its due weight, not only
in his conceptions of his destiny, but in forming his sign-manual. The signature to his will is EL ALMIRANTE (the Admiral), with the above letters, instead of Xpo FERENS.
1 Ancient writers speak of an island which existed at a very early period in the Atlantic Ocean, and
said to have been eventually sunk beneath its waves. Plato, who gave the first account of it, says he obtained his information from the priests of Egypt. The island was represented to be larger than Asia and
Africa, as they were then known, and beyond it was a large continent. Nine thousand years before Plato's
time, this island was thickly inhabited and very powerful, its sway extending over all Africa, including
Egypt, and also a large portion of Europe. A violent earthquake, which lasted for the space of a day and
a night, and was accompanied by inundations of the sea, caused the island to sink, and, for a long period
subsequent to this, the sea in this quarter was impassable by reason of slime and shoals. Learned men
of modern times have been disposed to believe in the ancient existence of such an island, and suppose the
West India Islands to be the higher portions of the sunken land. If this belief is correct, then the continent beyond was America.
According to the account given to Plato, Atlantis was the most productive region upon the earth. It
produced wine, grain, and delicious fruits in abundance. It had wide-spread forests, extensive pasturegrounds, mines of gold and silver, hot springs, and every luxury for human enjoyment. It was divided into
ten kingdoms, governed by as many kings, all descendants of Neptune, and living in perfect harmony with
each other. It had splendid cities, rich and populous villages, vast fortifications, arsenals, and equipments
for navies. There was a temple in the island a stadium (six hundred and six feet nine inches) in length,
dedicated to Neptune. It was ornamented with gold, silver, orichalcium, and ivory. It contained a golden
statue of Neptune, representing the god as standing in his chariot, and holding the reins of his winged
steeds. Such was the ancient vision.
2 So confident were the people of the Canaries that land lay to the westward of them, that they sought
and obtained permission from the King of Portugal to fit out various expeditions in search of it. A belief
was so prevalent that a Scottish priest named Brandon discovered an island westward of the Canaries, in
the sixth century, that maps, in the time of Columbus, had the Island of St. Brandon upon them. It was
placed under the equator.




INTRODUCTION.


This was seventy years before Copernicus announced his theory of the form and motion of the planets,a and one hundred and sixty years before Galileo was obliged, before the court of the Inquisition at Rome, to renounce his belief in the diurnal revolution of the earth.b
Columbus divided the circumference of the earth at the equator, according to Ptolemy's
system, into twenty-four hours of fifteen degrees each, making three hundred and sixty degrees.  Of these he imagined that fifteen hours had been known to the ancients, extending
from the Fortunate or Canary Islands to the city of Thince in Asia, the western and eastern
boundaries of the known world.  By the discovery of the Cape de Verd and the Azore Islands, the Portuguese had advanced the western frontier one hour, leaving about one eighth
of the circumference of the globe yet to be explored.  The extent of the eastern region of
Asia was yet unknown, although the travels of Polo in the fourteenth century had extended
far beyond the Oriental boundary of Ptolemy's map. Columbus imagined that the unexplored part of Asia might occupy a large portion of the yet undefined circumference of the
earth, and that its eastern headlands might approach quite near to those of Western Europe
and Africa.  He therefore concluded that a navigator, pursuing a direct course from east to
west, must arrive at the extremity of Asia by a far easier and shorter route than following
the coast of Africa around the Cape of Good Hope.  Fortunately, he adopted the opinions
of Aristotle, Pliny, and other writers, who considered the ocean as but of moderate breadth,
so that it might be crossed from Europe in the space of a few days. A knowledge or suspicion of its actual extent would have deterred even the bold enterprise of Columbus from
attempting an exploration of its waters in the small ships of that day.  Reports of strange
trees, reeds of immense size, curiously-carved pieces of wood, and the bodies of two men-unlike, in color and visage, any of the known races extant-having drifted ashore upon the
Canary and Azore Islands by westerly winds, confirmed him in his belief, and a desire and
determination to undertake a demonstration of his theory by an exploring voyage absorbed
his whole attention.  "( He never spoke in doubt or hesitation," says Irving, " but with as
much certainty as if his eyes had beheld the Promised Land.  A deep religious sentiment
mingled with his thoughts, and gave them at times a tinge of superstition, but of a sublime
and lofty kind. He looked upon himself as standing in the hand of Heaven, chosen from
among men for the accomplishment of its high purpose.  He read, as he supposed, his contemplated discovery foretold in Holy Writ, and shadowed forth darkly in the prophecies.
The ends of the earth were to be brought together, and all nations, and tongues, and languages united under the banner of the Redeemer."'    The prophetic passage in Pulci's
i" Morgante Maggiore" was to him full of promise:
" Know that this theory is false; his bark
The daring mariner shall urge far o'er
The Western wave, a smooth and level plain,
Albeit the earth is fashion'd like a wheel.
Man was in ancient days of grosser mold,
And Hercules might blush to learn how far
Beyond the limits he had vainly set2
The dullest sea-boat soon shall wing her way.
Men shall descry another hemisphere,
Since to one common center all things tend.
So earth, by curious mystery divine
1 Life and Voyages of Columbus.
2 Calpe and Abila, or Gibraltar, on the Spanish, and Cape Serra, on the African shore of the Straits of
Gibraltar, were called the Pillars of Hercules; it being said, in ancient fable, that Hercules placed them
there as monuments of his progress westward, and beyond which no mortal could pass.




INTRODUCTION.


Well balanced, hangs amid the starry spheres.
At our antipodes are cities, states,
And thronged empires, ne'er divined of yore.
But see, the sun speeds on his western path
To glad the nations with expected light."
PRESCOTT'S TRANSLATION OF STANZA 229, 230, JANTO XXV.
While maturing his plans, Columbus extended the bounds of his observation and study by a
voyage to Thule, or Iceland, from which remote point he sayshe advanced one hundred
leagues northward, penetrated the polar circle, and convinced himself of the fallacy of the
popular belief that the frozen zone was uninhabitable.1 Whether he saw, in Iceland, written
accounts of the voyages of the Northmen to America, or heard of them as related by tradition or chanted in songs, we have no means of determining.    If he did, it is singular, as
Prescott remarks, that they were not cited by him in support of his hypothesis, while earnestly pressing his suit for aid before the courts of Portugal and Spain; and it is equally surprising that he did not, in his first voyage to America, pursue the route traversed by those
early navigators.  He probably heard little more than vague rumors of their voyages, such
as presented insufficient data even for a plausible opinion.  His magnificent idea was all
his own, sustained by the opinions of a few learned men, and confirmed by his observations
while on this northern voyage.
Filled with his noble resolutions and lofty anticipations, Columbus submitted the theory
on which rested his belief in a practicable western route to Asia, to King John the Second
of Portugal.  That monarch's sagacity perceived the promised advantages to be derived from
such an enterprise, and he eagerly sought the counsel of his ministers and wise men.  But
his court and the college of scientific sages could not comprehend the sublime project; and
after a long and fruitless negotiation, during which the Portuguese meanly attempted to avail
themselves clandestinely of his information, Columbus quitted Lisbon in disgust, determined
to submit his proposals to Ferdinand and Isabella, the Spanish sovereigns, whose wisdom and
liberal views were the admiration of men of science and learning.  His wife was dead; his
feelings had no hold upon Portugal, and he quitted it forever.
It was toward the close of 1484 when Columbus appeared at the Spanish court.2       It
was an unpropitious hour, for the whole resources of the nation were then employed in prosecuting a war with the Moors. For a long time he awaited the decision of the sovereigns,
employing his leisure in the alternate pursuits of science, and engagements in some of the
military campaigns. He was treated with great deference, and, after much delay, a council
of learned men were convened at Salamanca to consider his plans and propositions.   After
mature deliberation, they pronounced his scheme ( vain, impracticable, and resting ont
grounds too weak to merit the support of government."   A minority of the council were far
from acquiescing in this decision, and, with the Cardinal Mendoza and other officers of government, and Fray Juan Perez de Marchena, guardian of the ancient monastery of La Rabida,
1 In the age of Columbus, Greenland was laid down upon the maps as a continuation or projection westward of Scandinavia. Columbus discovered this error in his northern voyage, which discovery was a new
fact in support of his theory of a continent lying westward from Europe, or at least a proximity of the eastern coast of Asia. At that time the climate of Iceland and Greenland was far more genial than at present,
and there is reason to believe that those portions of the latter country which for two or three hundred years
have been ice-bound and uninhabitable, were then tillable. Philosophers of our day, who have studied the
phenomena of terrestrial magnetism with care, have advanced a plausible theory whereby to explain this fact.
2 It is asserted, but without positive proof, that Columbus, before going to Spain, made application to the
authorities of his native city, Genoa, for aid in his enterprise; but failing in this he went to Venice, and also
sent his brother Bartholomew to England, to lay his plans before Henry the Seventh. If these statements
are true, they exhibit his perseverance in a still stronger light than truthful history presents it.




INTRODUCTION.


they induced the sovereigns to soften the decisions of the council by a promise to give the
proposition a fair audience when their pressing state engagements should be ended.     Columbus, wearied by procrastination, at length lost all hope of effecting any thing with the
Spanish court.   He turned from it with disgust, and made application to two wealthy and
enlightened.Southern dukes, who had ample means at command. He was unsuccessful,
and with a heavy heart he left Spain, to carry his proposals to the King of France.
Isabella of Castile and Leon, sister of the profligate Henry the Fourth, was the successor
Ootober 19,  of that monarchs to the throne.  She married Ferdinand, the son of old John the
1469.    Second of Aragon, and, associating him with herself in the government, united the
two monarchies into one great kingdom, the renowned modern Spain. Isabella was eminently virtuous, and her piety and daily goodness were the fruit of a deep religious feeling.
Ferdinand was ambitious, and, in the midst
of his perplexity with the Moors, he felt a
strong desire to advance the interests and glory
of the new kingdom, by maritime discoveries;
yet he could not comprehend the vast plans
of Columbus, and he looked coldly upon the
project. To the pious sentiments of the queen,
Father Perez, a former confessor of Isabella
and a friend of Columbus, appealed with success; and before the navigator had entered
the dominions of France, he was summoned
back to the court, then in the camp at Santa
I                    Fe.   He arrived in time to witness the surrender of Grenada.   Joy and exultation perISABELLA OF CAsTILE3.1          vaded all classes.  Columbus took advantage
of this state of things, and while he excited
the acquisitiveness of the nobles by reciting wonderful tales of the riches of Cipangi and
Cathay, he eloquently portrayed to the queen the glorious prospect of extending the influence of the Gospel over benighted heathens, promising to devote the profits of the enterprise
to the recovery of the Holy Sepulcher at Jerusalem from the hands of the Paynim.   His eloquence was seconded by that of Louis de St. Angel, a favorite officer of the crown. The religious zeal of Isabella was fired, and, notwithstanding the extravagant demands of Columbus,' she resolved, in opposition to the wishes of Ferdinand, to aid him in fitting out an exl Isabella was of middle size, and well formed, with a fair complexion, auburn hair, and clear, blue eyes.
There was a mingled gravity and sweetness in her countenance, and a singular modesty, gracing, as it
did, great firmness of purpose and earnestness of spirit. Though strongly attached to her husband, and
studious of his fame, yet she always maintained her distinct rights as an allied prince. She exceeded him
in beauty, personal dignity, acuteness of genius, and grandeur of soul. Combining the active and resolute
walities of man with the softer charities of woman, she mingled in the warlike councils of her husband,
and, being inspired with a truer idea of glory, infused a more lofty and generous temper into his subtile and
calculating policy.-Washington Irving.
2 Columbus, in the demands set forth in his proposition, stipulated for himself and heirs the title and authority of admiral and viceroy over all lands discovered by him. This demand-was inadmissible, yet the
navigator persisted in it, though it appeared an effectual bar to any arrangement with the queen. His
Stipulations were finally acceded to, and Columbus always regarded the queen with feelings of the liveliest
gratitude.  "In the midst of the general incredulity," he said in a letter, "the Almighty infused into the
queen, my lady, the spirit of intelligence and energy, and while every one else, in his ignorance, was expatiating only on the inconvenience and cost, her highness approved it, on the contrary, and gave it all the
support in her power."




INTRODUCTION.


xxiii


pedition. These demands almost frustrated his designs, and Columbus had again turned his
back upon the Spanish court, when, through
the wise counsels of friends, the queen's objections were overcome, and the warmest     '
impulses of her nature aroused.  I will,
assume the undertaking," she said, when,: 1 <.?    i7 -opposed by her husband and his counsel-            j!i     i i1'  >         fi  i
ors, "for my own crown of Castile, and                                          -
am ready to pawn my jewels to defray,'i )!';'
the expense of it, if the funds in the treasury shall appear inadequate."
All preliminaries being arranged, the              A SPANISH CARAvEL.
queen lost no time in fitting out two vessels,1 and Columbus, aided chiefly by the wealthy and enterprising family of the Pinzons,
_  _                  equipped a third.  With this fee\  / / -\                     V      M    hla.nlran mnnnnpdl rit;h tirln;


I


UIJlt  IuI.ttlU   IIUI IIUt. WtI11 IIIIIU
mariners, Columbus left the little
port of Palos, upon the Tinto River, in Andalusia, on Friday, the
third of August, 1492, and, spreading his sails to an easterly breeze,
turned his prow toward the waste
of waters in the direction of the
setting sun.  He had no reliable
chart for his guidance, no director
in his course but the sun and stars,
and the imperfect mariner's compass, then used only by a few in


VIEW OF PALOS.




X The vessels furnished by Isabella were only caravels, light coasting ships, without decks, and furnished
with oars like the ancient galleys.  The picture here given is from a low relief sculpture, on the tomb of
Fernando Columbus, a son of the navigator, in the Cathedral of Seville. Such a vessel would be considered quite inadequate to perform a coasting voyage at the present day. The larger vessel, with a deck,
fitted out by Columbus and his friends, was called the Santa Maria; the caravels were named respectively Pinta and Mina. Martin Alonzo Pinzon commanded the Pinta, and Vincent Yanez Pinzon the Mina.
Garcia Fernandez, the physician of Palos, accompanied the expedition as steward. The whole number of
persons that embarked was one hundred and twenty. The whole expenditure of the queen in fitting out
the caravels amounted to only seventeen thousand florins, or
between eight and nine thousand dollars.*  These were small
preparations for an exploring expedition of such vast extent
and importance.
The descendants of the Pinzons are still quite numerous in
the vicinity of Palos. When Mr. Irving visited that town in
1828, he saw the ruins of a family mansion which belonged to
one of the two Pinzons who sailed with Columbus on his first
voyage.  Mr. Irving was accompanied in his visit to Palos, the -                        ~ B
monastery of Ribida, and other localities in the vicinity, by
Juan Fernandez Pinzon, a descendant of one of the compan-         THE PINZON MANSIOSN.
ions of Columbus.
2 The pile of buildings in this view, standing upon the bluff, is the ancient Church of St. George. For
some misdemeanor, the people of Palos were obliged to serve the crown for one year with two armed car* This is the amount given by Munoz, one of the most reliable of Spanish authors. Others have named a much higher sum.
Dr. Robertson rates the amount at ~4000 sterling, or about $20,000, but does not give his authority.




xxiv


INTRODUCTION.


navigating the pleasant seas of the Old World.  After various delays at the Canary Islands.
they passed and lost sight of Ferro, the most westerly one of the group, on Sunday, the ninth
of September. Now Europe was left behind, and the broad Atlantic, mysterious and unknown, was before them.   As the space widened between them and their homes, the hearts
September,  of the mariners failed; and when, on the thirteenth, the commander and his
1492.   pilots discovered the variations of the magnetic needle, misgivings arose in the
stout hearts of the explorer and his friends, the Pinzons.  They were now six hundred
miles westward of the Canaries, in an unknown sea. It was a phenomenon unknown to
the world of science, and Columbus tried in vain to satisfy himself respecting the cause.
He could not long conceal the fact from his seamen.   It filled them with consternation
and awe; for they believed they were entering another world, subject to the influence of laws
unknown and dreadful.   Columbus quieted their apprehensions by telling them that the needle did not point to the north star, but to an invisible point around which that star revolved
daily.  Thus he explained a phenomenon now well known; and his companions, relying
upon his astronomical knowledge, received his theory as truth, and their alarm subsided.
For several days after this event they were wafted pleasantly by the trade winds, which
blow continually from east to west. The air was balmy, and soon vast fields of sea-weeds,
and an occasional petrel upon the wing, heralded an approach to land; but head winds
and days of profound calm deferred the joyful consummation of their hopes; and the seamen, wearied and home-sick, resolved to retrace their path, and seek the shores of Spain.
Even the little land birds that came upon the spars, and sung merrily their welcome to the
New World, and then left at evening for their distant perches in the orange groves, failed
to inspire the mariners with confidence in the truth of their commander's reasonings, and
open mutiny manifested itself.  With gentle words, promises of rewards, and threats of
punishment against the most refractory, Columbus kept them from actual violence for several days.  One evening, just at sunset, Martin Alonzo Pinzon, mounted on
September 25.
the stern of the Pinta, shouted, "Land! land!  Senor, I claim the reward!"'
Along the southwestern horizon was stretched an apparent island.   Columbus, throwing
himself upon his knees, with all the crews, chanted Gloria in Excelsis!  In the morning
the island had vanished, for it was nothing but a cloud.  For a fortnight longer they floated
upon an almost unruffled sea, when land birds came singing again, and green herbage floated
by; but days passed on, and the sun, each evening, set in the waves.  Again the seamen
mutinied, and Columbus was in open defiance with his crew; for he told them   that the
expedition had been sent by their sovereigns, and, come what might, he was determined to
accomplish his purpose.  They were on the point of casting him into the sea, when, just at
sunset, a coast-fish glided by; a branch of thorn, with berries upon it, floated near; and a staff,
artificially carved, came upon the waters to tell them  of human habitations not far off.
'The vesper hymn to the Virgin was now sung, and Columbus, after recounting the blessings of God thus far manifested on the voyage, assured the crews that he confidently expected to see land in the morning.  On the high poop of his vessel he sat watching until
avels. They were under this penalty when Columbus made his arrangement with Isabella, and they were
ordered to fit out the two caravels for the expedition. In the porch of the old Church of St. George, Columbus first proclaimed this order to the inhabitants of Palos. Mr. Irving, who visited Palos in 1828, says
of this edifice, " It has lately been thoroughly repaired, and, being of solid mason-work, promises to stand
for ages, a monument of the discoverers. It stands outside of the village, on the brow of a hill, looking
along a little valley to the river. The remains of a Moorish arch prove it to have been a mosque in former
times. Just above it, on the crest of the hill, is the ruin of a Moorish castle."
I Columbus agreed to give a silk waistcoat, besides the royal pension of thirty dollars, to the person who
first discovered land.-Muknoz.




INTRODUCTION.


XXV


near midnight, when he saw the glimmer of moving lights upon the verge of the horizon
Fearing his hopes might have deceived his vision, he called Pedro Gutierrez, gentleman of
the king's bed-chamber, and also Rodrigo
Sanchez, of Segovia, to confirm his dis-                     n   ai Il loI
covery.  They also saw the gleams of
a torch.  All night the overjoyed Co-      ll \-\
lumbus watched.    At dawn, beautiful    t
wooded shores were in filll view; the
perfumes of flowers came upon the light
land breeze; and birds in gorgeous plumage hovered around the vessels, carol-        a
ing morning hymns, which seemed like          -
the voices of angels to the late despairOctober 12, ing seamen.  In small boats
1   they landed, the naked nalives, who stood upon the beach in wonder, fleeing to the deep shadows of the
forest in alarm.  Columbus, dressed in
gold-embroidered  scarlet, bearing  the
royal standard, first stepped upon the
shore.  He was followed by the Pinzons,
each bearing the banner of the enterprise.' On reaching the land, they all fell
upon their knees,
kissed the earth,
and, with tears of
joy in their eyes,
chanted   the  Te                LANDING OF COLUMBUS.3
Deunm     Laudanus.   Rising from the ground, Columbus displayed the royal standard, drew his sword, and took possession of the land in the name of
the Spanish sovereigns, giving the island the title of San Salvador.'
With the most extravagant demonstrations of joy, his followers
crowded around him.      The most insolent in the mutinous displays
were the most abject in making vows of service and faithfulness.
All present took an oath of obedience to him as admnliral and viceroy,
and representative of Ferdinand and Isabella.  The triumph of CoBANN~E OF THE EXPEDI. lumbus was complete.
TION.           The natives had beheld the approaching ships at dawn with fear
This was a white banner, emblazoned with a green cross, having on each side the letters F. and Y.,
the Spanish initials of Ferdinand and Ysabel, surmounted by golden crowns.
2 The island on which Columbus first set his foot in the New World is one of the Lucayas or Bahama
group, and was called by the natives Guanahana. The Spaniards and others still call it San Salvador;
the English have given it the vulgar name of Cat Island. It lies between the twenty-fourth and twentyfifth degrees of north latitude, and the second and third degrees of longitude east of the meridian of Washington city, eighty or ninety miles northeast of Havana, Cuba. Muiioz, a learned Spanish writer, thinks
Watling's Island, and not the one called San Salvador on our maps, was the first landing-place.
3 This is copied, by permission of the author, from Irving's Life of Columbus. It is a fac-simile of a
sketch supposed to have been made by Columbus, in a letter written by him to Don Raphael Xansis, treasurer of the King of Spain.




INTRO DU CTION.


and awe, regarding them as monsters of the deep. By degrees their alarm subsided, and
they approached the Europeans.     Each party was a wonder to the other.      The glittering
armor, shining lace, and many-colored dresses of the Spaniards filled the natives with admiration and delight; while they, entirely naked, with skins of a dark copper hue, painted
with a variety of colors and devices, without beards and with straight hair, were objects
of great curiosity to the Spaniards.  They were unlike any people of whom they had knowledge. Not doubting that he was upon an island near the coast of Farther India, Columbus called these wild inhabitants Indians, a name which all the native tribes of America
still retain.
It is not within the scope of my design to relate, in detail, the subsequent career of Columbus in the path of discovery, nor of those navigators who succeeded him, and share with
him the honor of making known our continent to the Old World. He was the bold pioneer who led the way to the New World, and as such, deserves the first and highest reward;
yet he was not truly the first discoverer of the continent of North America. Eager in
his search for Cathay, he coasted almost every island composing the groups now known as
the West Indies, during his several voyages, but he never saw the shores of the Northern
August,  Continent.  He did, indeed, touch the soil of South America, near the mouth of
1498.  the Oronoco, but he supposed it to be an island, and died in the belief that the
lands he had discovered were portions of Farther India.'
Intelligence of the great discovery of Columbus, though kept concealed as much as possible by the Spanish court, for reasons of state policy, nevertheless went abroad, and aroused
the ambition of other maritime powers. The story that Columbus had found vast and populous gold-producing regions in the Western Ocean excited the cupidity of individuals, and
Of1-      '':.-  -
1 Columbus returned to Europe in March, 1493. Ferdinand and Isabella bestowed upon him every
mark of honor and distinction, and the nobles were obsequious in their attentions to the favorite of royalty.
On the 25th of September, 1493, he left Cadiz, on a second voyage of discovery. He had three large ships
and fourteen caravels under his command. His discoveries were principally among the West India Islands,
where he founded settlements. He returned to Spain in June, 1496. Misfortunes had attended him, yet
the sovereigns treated him with distinguished favor. On the 30th of May, 1498, Columbus sailed from
San Lucar de Barrameda, with a squadron of six vessels, on a third voyage of discovery. He found the
settlements which had been planted in great confusion, and civil war among the Spaniards and natives was
ri inf Hispaniola.  In the mean while, intrigues against him were having due weight in the Spanish court.
It was alleged that Columbus designed to found an empire in the New World, cast off all allegiance to
Spain, and assume the title and pomp of king. He had already offended the conscientious Isabella by
persisting in making slaves of the natives, and she readily gave her consent to send out a commissioner to
investigate the conduct of the navigator. Bobadilla, a tool of Columbus's enemies, was intrusted with that
momentous duty; and, as might have been expected, he found Columbus guilty of every charge made
against him. Bobadilla seized Columbus, and sent him in chains to Spain. His appearance excited the
indignation of the sovereigns, and they declared to the world that Bobadilla had exceeded his instructions; yet justice was withheld, through the influence of Ferdinand, and Columbus was not reinstated as
viceroy of Hispaniola.
While these events were occurring, Vasco de Gama, a Portuguese navigator, had reached Calicut, in
the East Indies, by doubling the Cape of Good Hope, and traversing the Indian Ocean. But Columbus
still persevered in his determination to reach Asia by a western route. He induced Isabella to fit out a
fourth expedition for him, and on the 9th of May, 1502, he sailed for Hispaniola.  After many troubles and
hardships, he returned to Spain in 1504. His patron and best friend, the queen, died that same year.
Old age had made its deep furrows, and, in the midst of disappointment and neglect, the great discoverer
died on the 20th of May, 1506, at the age of seventy. He never realized his grand idea of reaching India
by a western route. The honor of that achievement was reserved for the expedition of Magellan, fourteen
years after the death of Columbus. That navigator passed through the straits which bear his name, at
the southern extremity of our continent, and launched boldly out upon the broad Pacific. He died on the
ocean, but his vessels reached the Philippine Islands, near the coast of India, in safety.  Magellan gave the
name of PAcIFIC to the pleasant ocean over which he was sailing.




INTROD UCTION.


many adventurers offered their services to sovereigns and men of wealth.  Almost simultaneously, John Cabot, a Venetian by birth, and Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine, sailed for
the lands discovered by Columbus; the former under the auspices of Henry the Seventh of
England, and the latter in the employment of Spanish merchants, with the sanction of Ferdinand. Although Cabot was an Italian, he had been long a resident of Bristol, then the
chief commercial mart of England.  The Northwestern seas were often traversed as far as
Iceland by the Bristol mariners, and they had probably extended their voyages westward to
Greenland in their fishing enterprises.  Cabot seems to have been familiar with those seas,
and the English merchants had great confidence in his abilities. He obtained a commission from Henry the Seventh, similar, in its general outline, to that given to Columbus by
Ferdinand and Isabella.  It empowered him and his three sons, their heirs or deputies, to
discover and settle unknown lands in the Eastern, Northern, or Western seas, such lands
to be taken possession of in the name of the King of England.  He fitted out two vessels
at his own expense, which were freighted by merchants of London and Bristol; and it was
stipulated that, in lieu of all customs and imposts, Cabot was to pay to the King one fifth
part of all the gains.
With his son Sebastian, a talented young man of only twenty years, and about three hundred men, John Cabot sailed from Bristol in May, 1497.  He directed his                        -
course to the northwest, until he reached the fifty-eighth degree of north lat-  A                  -
itude, when floating ice and intense
cold induced him to steer to the southwest.  Fair winds produced a rapid
voyage, and he discovered land on the               l
twenty-fourth of June, which he call-:
ed PRIMA VISTA, because it was his                      i
first view of a new region.  The exact point of this first discovery is not
certainly known; some supposing it to                    -
have been on the coast of Labrador,                                       i
and others the Island of Newfoundland or the peninsula of Nova Scotia.
He touched at other points, but did
not attempt a settlement; the climate                                          i
seemed too rigorous, the people too
fierce, and he returned to Bristol.
Cabot was authorized to make a
February, second voyage.  He did not
1498.  go in person, but fitted out               SEBASTIAN CABOT.
vessels for the purpose.  His son, Sebastian, was placed at the head of the expedition, and
in May, 1498, the month in which De Gama reached Calicut, in the East Indies, by way
of the Cape of Good Hope, he sailed for the New World with several ships.  He visited
the region first discovered by his father and himself, and called it NEWFOUNDLAND. It was
not rich in gold and spices, but its shoals abounded with vast schools of codfish; and within
a few years after his return to England a permanent fishery was established there. Cabot
sailed along the whole coast of the present United States, beginning at latitude fifty-six
degrees, and terminating at about thirty-six degrees, or Albemarle Sound.  His provisions
fiiling, he returned to England.  He made another voyage in 1517, as far south as the




1xviii


INTRODUCTION.


Brazils; but failing to discover a western passage to the East Indies, he again returned to
England.'
In the same month when John Cabot sailed from        Bristol, Amerigo Vespucci departed
from Cadiz on his first voyage to the New
World.    In that voyage he appears
May, 1497.
to have held a subordinate station.
i               The expedition under Ojeda, which Amerigo.'-  ->-1.                 calls his second voyage, was not undertaken
-.I      '         -         until 1499.   Whether any vessel in that ex-;\          pedition was under his command is questiont    K X          able. *Spanish writers assert to the contrary,
and say that he was first a captain when in
the service of Emanuel of Portugal; but it
\g \     is not my province to inquire into this disputed matter.    Spanish historians, jealous of
the fame of Columbus, charge Vespucci with
/Ki \'                         falsehood and fraud; but early Spanish authors were not always scrupulous in regard to
truth when national pride demanded prevariAMESIGO VESPUCCI.a              cation, or even absolute falsehood.    It was
After his second voyage, Sebastian Cabot was invited to Spain, and sailed on a voyage of discovery,
in the service of the Spanish monarch, in 1525. He visited Brazil, and, coasting southward to the thirtyfifth degree, he entered a large river, which he called Rio de la Plata. Up this river he sailed one hundred
and twenty leagues. After an absence of six years, he returned to Spain, but seems not to have been well
received by the sovereign. He made other, but less conspicuous voyages, and in his old age retired to
Bristol, where he died about the year 1557, at the age of eighty years. He received a pension from Edward the Sixth, and was appointed governor of a company of merchants associated for the purpose of
making discoveries.
2 The name of the Florentine is variously spelled, Amerigo Vespucci, Americus Vespucius, Amerigo
Vespuche. The latter orthography is according to the entry in an account-book containing the expenditure
of the treasurer of the royal mercantile house of Seville, quoted by Muioz, tome i., page xix of the Introduction. It appears by that account, that on the 24th of February, 1512, was paid to Manuel Catano,
executor of the will of Amerigo, "10937 and a half maravedis," which was due to him for services as
chief steersman to his majesty. Amerigo was appointed to that office in March, 1508, with a salary
of 50,000 maravedis a year.
Whether he ever commanded an expedition in the Spanish service is a disputed question. He made
several voyages to the New World between 1497 and 1512, the year of his death. With an expedition
under the command of Ojeda, in 1499, he visited the Antilles and the coast of Guiana and Venezuela.
On his return, Emanuel, king of Portugal, invited him to his capital, and gave him the command of three
ships for a voyage of discovery. He left Lisbon May 10th, 1501, visited Brazil, and traversed the coast
of South America as far as Patagonia, but failed to discover the straits through which Magellan passed at a
later day. He returned to Lisbon in 1502. He made a fourth voyage, and returned to Portugal in 1504.
Soon after this he wrote an account of his voyage. The book was dedicated to Rene II., duke of Lorraine. He again entered the service of the King of Spain, who appointed him to draw sea-charts, and
gave him the title and, salary of chief steersman or pilot, which commission he held until his death. According to some accounts, he died in the Island of Terceria, one of the Azores, in 1514; others affirm that
his death occurred at Seville.
The portrait of the navigator, here given, was copied, by permission, from the original picture by Bronzino, now in possession of C. Edwards Lester, Esq., late United States consul at Genoa. It was committed to his care by the Vespucci family, to be placed in the possession of our government. No arrangement for its purchase has yet been made, I believe.
An Italian woman named Elena Vespucci, bearing proofs of her lineal descent from the famous navigator, came to America a few years ago, and made application to our Congress for a grant of land, on account of her relationship to the Florentine from whom our continent derived its name. Subsequently, her




INTRODUCTI ON.


natural that they should be tender of the reputation of Columbus, although he was not a
Spaniard, for his discoveries reflected great luster upon the Spanish crown.  For this reason:
they have ever disputed the claims of Vespucci, and denounced him as a liar and a charlatan. These denunciations, however, prove nothing, and the fame of Columbus loses none
of its brightness by admitting the claims of the Florentine; claims, it must be acknowledged, that have sound logic and fair inferences as a basis.  Amerigo seems to have been
the first who published an account of the discoveries in the New World, and for this priority the narrow and selfish policy of the Spanish government is responsible.  His first announcement was made in a letter to Lorenzo de Medici,a and soon afterward he published a volume giving an account of his four voyages, which he dedicated to the
Duke of Lorraine.b  In these he claims the merit of discovering the continent, hav-  50
ing landed upon the coast of Paria,c in Colombia, South America, and traversed the c1497
shores, according to his own account, as far northward as the Gulf of Mexico. If this
statement is true, he visited the continent nearly a year previous to the landing of Columbus at the mouth of the Oronoco, in the same district of Paria.  From the circumstance
of Amerigo making the first publication on the subject, and claiming to be the discoverer of
the continent, the New World was called AMERICA, and the Florentine bears the honor of
the name; but to neither Columbus nor Vespucci does the honor of first discoverer of America properly belong, but to John Cabot, for he and his crew first saw its soil and inhabitants.  He alone, of all those voyagers in the fifteenth century, beheld North America.
Whether to Columbus, Vespucci, or Cabot, truth should award the palm, Italy bears the
imperishable and undisputed honor of giving birth to all three.
The discoveries of the Cabots turned attention to the regions north of the West India
Islands.  Emanuel of Portugal dispatched an expedition, under the command of Gaspar
Cortereal, in 1501, to follow in the track of the Cabots.  Cortereal sailed between two
and three hundred leagues along the North American coast, but his voyage was fruitless of
good results, either to science or humanity.  He made few discoveries of land, carried on no
traffic, planted no settlements, but kidnapped and carried to Portugal several friendly natives, to be sold as slaves! Perfidy and cruelty marked the first intercourse of the whites
with the tribes of our continent; is it to be wondered that the bitter fruits of suspicion and
hostility should have flourished among them?
Ponce de Leon, one of the companions of Columbus, and first governor of Porto Rico, a
small island sixty miles east of Haiti, sailed on a voyage of discovery among the Ba1512.
hamas, in search of the fabled Fountain of Youth.  It was generally believed in Porto
Rico, and the story had great credence in Old Spain, that the waters of a clear spring, bubbling up in the midst of a vast forest, upon an island among the Bahamas, possessed the
singular property of restoring age and ugliness to youth and beauty, and perpetuating the
lives of those who should bathe in its stream. De Leon was an old man, and, impressed
with the truth of this legend, he sought that wonderful fountain.  After cruising for a while
among the Bahamas, he landed upon the peninsula of Florida, in the harbor of St. Augustine.  It was on Palm Sunday when he debarked.    That day is called by the Spaniards
Pasqua de Flores, and, partly from that circumstance, and partly on account of the great
profusion of flowers which, at that early season of the year, were blooming on every side,
brother and two sisters, Amerigo, Eliza, and Teresa Vespucci, made a similar petition to Congress. They
mention the fact that Elena, "possessing a disposition somewhat indocile and unmanageable, absented herself from her father's house, and proceeded to London. Hence she crossed the ocean, and landed upon the
shores of Brazil, at Rio Janeiro, From that city she proceeded to Washington, the capital of the United
States."  Elena Vespucci was treated with respect. Possessed of youth and beauty, she attracted much
attention at the metropolis, but the prayer in the petition of both herself and family was denied. She was
living at Ogdensburgh, New York, when I visited that place in 1848.




INTRODUCTION.


Ponce decLeon gave the country (which he supposed to be a large island like Cuba) the:ame of FLORIDA. He took formal possession in the name of the Spanish monarch; but,
feeling unauthorized to proceed to making conquests without a royal commission, he sailed
for Spain to obtain one, after failing in his search after the Fountain of Youth.
He had plunged into every stream, however turbid, with the vain expectation of rising
from it young and blooming; but, according to Oviedo, instead of returning to vigorous
youth, he arrived at a second childhood within a few years. He was afterward appointed
Governer of Florida, and was killed while on an expedition against the natives.
While Ponce de Leon was in Europe, where he remained several years, some wealthy
gentcmen of Haiti fitted out two vessels to explore the Bahamas.  The squadron was
1520.
commanded by Lucas Vasquez d'Aillon or Allyon, a Spanish navigator.  Their vessels were driven northward by a hurricane, and came near being stranded upon the low
coasts. They finally made land in St. Helen's Sound, near the mouth of the Cornbahee
River, in South Carolina, about half way between Charleston and Savannah.  D'Aillon
called the river Jordan, and the country Chicora. He carried off several natives, whom he
enticed on board his ships, with the intention of selling them as slaves in Haiti.  A storm
destroyed one of the vessels, and the captured Indians in the other voluntarily starved themselves to death, so the avaricious whites were disappointed in their expectations of gain.
D'Aillon afterward returned, with three ships, to conquer the whole of Chicora. The natives feigned friendship, decoyed the whites on shore, and then, with poisoned arrows, massacred nearly the whole of them, in revenge for their former perfidy.  But few returned
with D'Aillon to Haiti.  This was the first discovery of the Carolina coast.
While these events were in progress, Cortez, at the head of an expedition fitted out by
Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, was destroying the empire of Montezuma, in Mexico, then
recently discovered.  The success of Cortez excited the jealousy of Velasquez, for he feared
a renunciation of his authority by that bold leader.  He sent Pamphilo de Narvaez, with
a strong force, to arrest and supersede Cortez; but he was defeated, and most of his troops
joined his enemy. Narvaez afterward obtained from the Spanish court a commission as
adelantado or Governor of Florida, a territory quite indefinite in extent, reaching from the
southern capes of the peninsula to the Panuco River in Mexico.  With a force of three
April22,  hundred men, eighty of whom were well mounted, Narvaez landed in Florida,
152:   where he raised the royal standard, and took possession of the country for the
crown.of Spain. With the hope of finding some wealthy region like Mexico and Peru, he
penetrated.the vast swamps and everglades in the interior of the flat country along the
northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico.  His men suffered terribly from the almost daily
attacks of the natives and the nightly assaults of the deadly malaria of the fens.  They
reached the fertile regions of the Appalachians; but the capital of the tribe, instead of being a gorgeous city like Mexico or Cuzco, was a mean village of two
hundred huts and wigwams.   Disappointed, and one third of his number dead, Narvaez
turned southward, reached the Gulf near the present site of St. Mark's, on the Appalachie
Bay, constructed five frail barks, and launched upon the waters. Nearly all his men, with
himself, perished during a storm. Four of the crew, who were saved, wandered for years
through the wild regions of Louisiana and Texas, and finally reached a Spanish settlement in Northern Mexico.  These men gave the first intelligence of the fate of the
expedition.
Two years after the return of these members of the expedition of Narvaez, Fernando de
Soto planned an expedition to explore the interior of Florida, as all North America
1538.
was then called, in search of a populous and wealthy region supposed to exist there.
By permission of the Spanish monarch, he undertook the exploration and conquest of Florida




INTRODUCTION.


xxxi


at his own risk and expense. He was commissioned governor-general of that country
and of Cuba for life. Leaving his wife to govern Cuba during his absence, he sailed in
June, 1539, and landed at Tampa Bay with
a force of six hundred men in corn-  une25
plete armor. There he established a  1539.
small garrison, and then sent most of the vessels of his fleet back to Cuba.  He found a
P                Spaniard, one of Narvaez's men, who had
learned the native language.  Taking him
with him as interpreter, De Soto marched
with his force into the interior.  For five
montths they wandered among the swamps
and everglades, fighting their way against the
*                   2        natives, when they reached the fertile region.l        ~of the Flint River, in the western part of
Georgia. There they passed the winter, with-. Iin a few leagues of the Gulf, making, through
exploring parties, some new discoveries, among
FERNANDO DE SOTO.         which was the harbor of Pensacola.  Early
in May they broke up their encampment,
and, marching northeasterly, reached the head-waters of the Savannah River.  After  1.
a brief tarry there, they turned their faces westward, and, on the twenty-eighth of October,
came upon a fortified town, near the junction of the Alabama and Tombeckbee Rivers.  A
severe battle of nine hours' duration ensued.  Several thousands of the half-naked Indians
were slain, and their village reduced to ashes.  Several of the mailed Spaniards were killed,
and the victory availed De Soto nothing. All his baggage was consumed, and much provision was destroyed.
The wild tribes, for many leagues around, were aroused by this event.  De Soto went
into winter quarters in a deserted Indian village on the Yazoo.  There he was attacked
by the swarming natives, bent on revenge.  The town was burned, all the clothing of the
Spaniards, together with many horses and nearly all the swine which they brought from
Cuba, were destroyed or carried away, and several of the whites were killed. Early in the
spring the shorn invaders pushed westward, and discovered the Mississippi. They crossed
it at the Chickasaw Bluffs, and traversed the country on its western shore up to the thirtyseventh degree, nearly opposite the mouth of the Ohio. They penetrated the wilderness
almost three hundred miles west of the Mississippi during the summer, and wintered upon
the Washita, in Arkansas.  They passed down the Red River to the Mississippi in the
spring, where De Soto sickened and died.a  He had appointed a successor, who now  MHy 3,
attempted to lead the remnant of the expedition to Spanish settlements in Mexico.  1542.
For several months they wandered in the wilderness, but returned in December,b
b 1543.
to winter upon the Mississippi, a short distance above the mouth of the Red River.
There they constructed seven large boats, and in July following embarked in them. On
reaching the Gulf of Mexico, they crawled cautiously along its sinuous coast, until the twentieth of September, when, half naked and almost famished, they reached a white settlement
near the mouth of the Panuco River, about thirty miles north of Tampico.
While the Spaniards were making these useless discoveries of the southern regions of our
Republic along the Gulf of Mexico, the French fitted out several expeditions to explore the
coast between the peninsula of Florida and the banks of Newfoundland.  John Verrazzani,
a celebrated Florentine navigator, proceeded to America with a squadron of four ships, under




INTRODUCTION.


the auspices of Francis the First of France, in 1523.  Three of his vessels were so damaged by a storm that they were sent back; in the fourth, he proceeded on,his voyage.
Weathering a terrible tempest, he reached our
coast near the mouth of Cape Fear River, in
North Carolina. He explored the whole coast
from the Carolinas to Nova Scotia, and taking
formal possession of the country in the name
of the French king, he called it NEW FRANCE,
the title held by Canada while it remained in
possession of the French. Verrazzani was followed, the next year, by Cartier (also in the
/  \  3  -- - service of the French king), who discovered
f  B l:::A  the Gulf and River St. Lawrence;1 and soon
\  w      afterward by the Lord of Roberval, a wealthy: \ ill  nobleman, who proposed to plant a colony in
I     the New World.   Roberval failed in his uni   >/dertaking, and returned to France. He sailed
\\\                        f /1      on another voyage, and was never heard of aftVEURAZZANI.               erward. Other eflbforts at settlement along the
southern coasts were made by the French, but
were unsuccessful.  A Protestant French colony, planted in Florida, was destroyed by the
Spaniards in 1564, and over the dead bodies of the Huguenots the murderers placed the
inscription, "We do this not as unto Frenchmen, but as unto Heretics."  In 1567, De
Gourgues, a Gascon soldier, fitted out an expedition at his own expense, to avenge this outrage.  He surprised the Spanish forts erected near St. Augustine, and hung the soldiers of
the garrison upon the trees.  Over them he placed the inscription,,' f do this not as unto
Spaniards or mariners, but as unto traitors, robbers, and murderers."  Thus whites were
exterminated by whites, and Indians again possessed the land.
The history of the early discoveries in North America forms a wonderful chapter in the
great chronicle of human progress and achievements, and in its details there are narratives
of adventure, prowess, love, and all the elements of romance, more startling and attractive
than the most brilliant conceptions of the imagination ever evolved. The story of the progress of settlements which followed is equally marvelous and attractive.  These tempt the
pen on every side, but as they are connected only incidentally with my subject, I pass them
by with brevity of notice.  In the preceding pages I have taken a very brief survey of
events in the progress of discovery which opened the way to settlements in the New World;
a brief survey of the progress of settlements will be found interwoven with the records upon
the pages which follow.  They are all united by the often invisible threads of God's providence; and each apparently insignificant event in the wondrous history of our continent is a
link as important in the great chain of human deeds, directed by divine intelligence, as those
which arrest the attention and command the admiration of the world.  Never was this
truth oftener and more strikingly illustrated than in our history of the war for independence; and the student of that history, desirous of understanding its true philosophy, should
make himself familiar with the antecedents which have a visible relation thereto.


I See page 178, vol. i.




P IC T O R IA L F I E L DB 0 OK
OF
THE REVOLUTIONo
CHAPTER I.
"Our young wild land, the free, the proud!
Uncrush'd by power, unawed by fear,
Her knee to none but God is bow'd,
For Nature teaches freedom here:
From gloom and snow to light and flowers
Expands this heritage of ours:
Life with its myriad hopes, pursuits,
Spreads sails, rears roofs, and gathers fruits.
But pass two fleeting centuries back;
This land, a torpid giant, slept,
Wrapp'd in a mantle thick and black
That o'er its mighty frame had crept,
Since stars and angels sang, as earth
Shot, from its Maker, into birth."
STREET.
> Pi                                          HE love of country, springing up from
} i <the rich soil of the domestic affections, is a
feeling coexistent and coextensive with social
B  Aunion itself.   Although a dreary climate, barren
X - lands, and unrighteous laws, wickedly administered, may
repress the luxuriant growth of this sentiment, it will still
maintain firm root in the heart, and bear with patience the
'most cruel wrongs.  Man loves the soil that gave him birth as
m   the child loves the mother, and from the same inherent im-;  pulses.  When exiled from his father-land, he yearns for it as a
child yearns for home; and though he may, by legal oath, disclaim allegiance to his own and swear fealty to another government,
the invisible links of patriotism which bind him to his country can
not be severed; his lips and hand bear false witness against his truth-               ful heart.
Stronger far is this sentiment in the bosom of him whose country
is a pleasant land, where nature in smiling beauty and rich beneficence
woos him on every side; where education quickens into refining activity
the intellect of society; and where just laws, righteously administered,
impress all possession, whether of property or of character, with the broad
f         seal of security.  An honest, justified pride elevates the spirit of the citi-,,' )'~ zen of a land so favored; makes him a vigilant guardian of its rights and
honor, and inspires him with a profound reverence for the men and deeds
consecrated by the opinions of the just as the basis upon which its glory rests.
C




34                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Classic Localities.              Departure for Saratoga.          Voyage up the Hudson.
It was under the influence of this sentiment, so natural to every American, and a strong
desire to make a personal visit to the classic grounds of my country, and portray their features before every ancient lineament should be effaced, that, during the sultriness of midsummer, I left behind me the cares of business life within the confines of our commercial metropolis, and commenced a pilgrimage to the most important localities connected with the
events of the war for our national independence. For many years, as I occasionally saw
some field consecrated by revolutionary blood, or building hallowed as a shelter of the heroes
of that war, I have felt emotions of shame, such as every American ought to feel, on seeing
the plow leveling the breast-works and batteries where our fathers bled, and those edifices,
containing the council-chambers of men who planned the attack, the ambuscade, or the retreat, crumbling into utter ruin. While England erects a monument in honor of the amputated leg of a hero who fought for personal renown, we allow these relics, sanctified by the
deeds of soldiers who were more than heroes as the world regards heroism, to pass away and
be forgotten.  Acquisitiveness is pulling down walled fortresses; the careless agriculturist,
unmindful of the sacredness of the ditch and mound that scar his fields, is sowing and reaping where marble monuments should stand; and improvement, a very Cambyses among
achievements of labor of former times, under the fair mask of refined taste, is leveling nearly
all that remains of the architecture of the Revolution. To delineate with pen and pencil
what is left of the physical features of that period, and thus to rescue from oblivion, before it
should be too late, the mementoes which another generation will appreciate, was my employment for several months; and a desire to place the result of those journeyings, with a
record of past events inseparably connected with what I have delineated, in an enduring
form before my countrymen, has given birth to these pages.
I resolved to visit the scenes of the northern campaigns during the summer and early autumn. With the exception of the historic grounds lying around New York and among the
Hudson Highlands, the fields of Saratoga, in point of importance and distance, invited the
initial visit.
I left New York on the evening of the 24th of July for Poughkeepsie, on the banks
of the Hudson, there to be joined by a young lady, my traveling companion for the
summer. For many days the hot sun had been unclouded, and neither shower nor dew
imparted grateful moisture to town or country.
"The whispering waves were half asleep,
The clouds were gone to play,
And on the woods and on the deep
The smiles of Heaven lay."
SHELLEY.
During the afternoon the barometer indicated a change, and portents of a gathering
storm arose in the west. At twilight we entered the great amphitheater of the Highlands,
and darkness came down suddenly upon us as a tempest of wind, thunder, and rain burst
over the Dunderberg and the neighboring heights. A thunder-storm at night in the Hudson Highlands! It is a scene of grandeur and sublimity vouchsafed to few, and never to be
forgotten. The darkness became intense, and echo confused the thunder-peals into one continuous roar. The outlines of the hills disappeared in the gloom, and our vessel seemed the
only object wrapped in the bosom of the tempest, except when, at every flash of lightning,
high wooded cones, or lofty ranges, or rocky cliffs burst into view like a sudden creation of
the Omnipotent fiat, and then melted into chaos again. The storm continued until we
passed West Point. The clouds then broke, and as we emerged from the upper gate of the
Highlands into the beautiful expanse of Newburgh Bay, the moon came forth, like a queen
from her pavilion, in beauty and majesty, the winds were quiet, the waters placid, and the
starry sky serene, for
"The thunder, tramping deep and loud
Had left no foot-marks.there."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


35


Returning Volunteers.                 Albany.                   Troy.                   Fulton'B Steam-boat


The next morning the air was clear and cool as in September.  At noon we took passage
in one of those floating palaces which are the pride of the Hudson River.  What a contrast to the awkward contrivance-the mere germ of the steam-boat of the present daythat gave such glory to Fulton, and astonished the world.l Her saloon, like a ducal drawing-room; her table, spread as with a royal banquet; her speed, like that of the swift bird,
are all the creations of one generation, and seem like works of magic. Among the passengers there were a few-plain and few indeed-who attracted general attention.        They
were a remnant of a regiment of Volunteers returning home, weary and spirit-broken, from
the battle-fields of Mexico. Of the scores who went with them, these alone returned to tell
of havoc in battle and slaughter by the deadly vomito. They were young, but the lesson
of sad experience might be read on each brow, and the natural joy of the homeward-bound
beamed not in their eyes. To them military glory was a bubble burst; and the recollections of the recent past brought not to them that joy which the soldier feels who has battled
in defense of country and home. At Albany preparations had been made to receive them,
and for half a mile the wharves, bridges, vessels, and houses were thickly covered with people anxious to see the returning heroes. We landed with difficulty in the midst of the excitement and noise, for cannon-peals, and drum and fife, and the rattle of military accouterments, and wild huzzas of the crowd, and the coaxing and swearing of porters and coachmen, were enough to confound confusion itself. How changed was the scene when we returned, a few weeks later. Wharves, bridges, and houses had been swept by conflagration,
and acres of the dense city were strewn with smoking ruins.
Early on the morning of the 26th we left Albany for Bemis's Heights, near the village
of Stillwater. An omnibus ride of an hour, over a fine McAdam road, placed us in Troy,
where we took stage for the Waterford ferry at Lansingburgh, four miles above. The day
was excessively warm, and eleven passengers occupied " seats for nine."  Not a zephyr stirred
the waters or the leaves. A funny little water-man, full of wine and wit, or something stronger
and coarser, offered to row us across in his rickety skiff.  I demanded the price for ferriage.
1 For the gratification of the curious, I here present a drawing of the " CLERMONT," Fulton's experiment boat, with some notices of her earlier voyages.
It was constructed under the personal supervision of Fulton,
in 1807. It was one hundred feet long, twelve feet wide, and
seven feet deep. In 1808 it was lengthened to one hundred and
fifty feet, widened to eighteen, and its name changed to NORTH
RIVER. The engine was constructed by Watt & Bolton, England, and the hull by David Brown, of New York. In August,
1807, the boat was propelled from the East River to the Jersey.... shore; and about the first of September it was started on its
first trip to Albany...:..                   The following advertisement appeared in the Albany Gazette,
THE C.            September 1st, 1807:
EMOT              The North River steam-boat will leave Paulus's Hook [Jersey
City] on Friday, the 4th of September, at 9 in the morning, and arrive at Albany on Saturday, at 9 in the
afternoon. Provisions, good berths, and accommodations are provided. The charge to each passenger is
as follows:
To Newburgh,    dolls. 3, time 14 hours.
" Poughkeepsie, "   4, "   17  "
" Esopus,        '    5, " 20  "
" Hudson,       "   51, " 30   "
" Albany,        "  7, " 36    " "
It is noticed in the same paper, of October 5th, 1807, that "Mr. Fulton's new steam-boat left New
York on the 2d, at 10 o'clock A.M., against a strong tide, very rough water, and a violent gale from the
north. She made a headway against the most sanguine expectations, and without being rocked by the
waves."  What a change in about forty years! Forty years ago a steam-boat voyage from Albany to
New York, one hundred and sixty miles, was accomplished in thirty-six hours, at an expense of seven dollars, exclusive of cost of meals. Now the passage is easily and often made in nine and a half hours, at a
cost of one dollar, and frequently for less. Now our first class steam-boats are nearly four hundred feet
long, and of proportionate depth and breadth of beam.




36                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Crossing the Hudson.    Cohoes' Falls.    Van Schaick's Island.   State of Affairs in 1777.
"Five thousand dollars," hiccoughed the Charon.  I did not object to the price, but,
valuing safety at a higher figure, sought the owner of a pretty craft near by, while the little
votary of Bacchus was tugging manfully, but unsuccessfully, at a huge trunk, to lift it into
his boat. Before he was fairly conscious that he was not yet toiling at our luggage, we were
out upon the stream in the ", Lady of the Lake." I compensated the tipsy boatman for his
labor of love by a brief temperance lecture; but the seed doubtless fell upon " stony ground,"
for he had the hard-heartedness to consign me to the safe keeping of him whom
" The old painters limned with a hoof and a horn,
A beak and a scorpion tail."
We pushed across the Hudson to the upper mouth or "' sprout" of the Mohawk, and,
gliding under the rail-road bridge and along a sluice of the Champlain Canal, clambered up
a high bank, and reached the packet office at Waterford' toward noon. The suppressed
roar of Cohoes' Falls, two miles distant, wooed us to the pleasures of that fashionable resort,
to while away the three hours before the arrival of the canal packet.
These falls, though not so grand as many others either in volume or altitude of cataract,
or in the natural scenery around, nevertheless present many points of beauty and sublimity
exceedingly attractive to the tourist. The Mohawk is here more than one hundred yards
wide, and perfectly rock-ribbed on both sides. The fall is nearly seventy feet perpendicular, in addition to the turbulent rapids above and below. A bridge, eight hundred feet
long, spans the river half a mile below the falls, from which a fine view may be obtained
of the whole scene.
Before entering the Hudson, the river is divided into four mouths or sprouts, as they are
called, by three rocky islands, Haver's, Van Schaick's or Cohoes', and Green's or Tibbetts's
Islands, which form a scene that is singularly picturesque. It is generally supposed that
Henry Hudson, the discoverer of the river bearing his name, ascended as far as this point in
1609, and that he and his boat's crew were the first white men who beheld the cataract
of Cohoes.
The mouth of the Mohawk was a point of much interest toward the close of the summer
of 1777, when Van Schaick's Island was fortified by General Schuyler, then in command
of the northern division of the Continental army. Properly to understand the position of
affairs at that period, it is necessary to take a brief view of events immediately antecedent
to, and intimately connected with, the military operations at this point, and at Stillwater a
few weeks later.
)   Incensed at the audacity of the American Congress in declaring the colonies free and independent states; piqued at the consummate statesmanship displayed by the members of that
Congress, and foiled in every attempt to cajole the Americans by delusive promises, or to
crush the spirit of resistance by force of arms, the British ministry, backed by the stubborn
king and a strong majority in both Houses of Parliament, determined to open the campaign
of 1777 with such vigor, and to give to the service in America such material, as should not
fail to put down the rebellion by midsummer, and thus vindicate British valor, which seemed to be losing its invincibility. So long as the Americans were tolerably united; so long
as there remained a free communication between Massachusetts and Virginia, or, in other
words, between the Eastern and the Middle and Southern States, permanent success of the
British arms in America was very questionable. The rebellion was hydra-headed, springing into new life and vigor suddenly and powerfully, from the inherent energies of union, in
places where it seemed to be subdued and destroyed. To sever that union, and to paralyze
the vitality dependent thereon, was a matter of great importance, and to effect this was a
paramount object of the British government.
General Howe was then in the quiet possession of the city of New York and its vicinity;


I Waterford is on the west bank of the Hudson, at the head of sloop navigation.




OF THE REVOLUTION.              37


English Preparations for the Campaign of 1777.  Instructions of Lord George Germain.  Biographical Sketch of Burgoyne.
a strong British force occupied Rhode Island and overawed the eastern coast; the patriot
insurgents had been driven out of Canada by General Carleton, and nothing remained to
complete the separation of the two sections of the American States but to march an invading army from    the north, which, forming a junction with.i Howe, should secure the country and the strong-holds upon
Lakes Champlain      and George and the Hudson River.'
Such an expedition was planned jointly by the king, Lord
\        George Germain, and General Burgoyne, and agreed upon
7  ~                   in council.'  The general command was intrusted to Burgoyne, who was a natural son of Lord Bingley, and at that
time high in the confidence of the king and his advisers.' He
was brave, skillful, and humane, proud of distinction, sanguine of success, and eager for military renown.   If the tactics of European warfare had been appropriate for the expedition, success might have attended his efforts.  But in his ap-.-... I/-     pointment, as well as in the minute and positive instructions
-           given him, without reference to any contingency that might
LIEUTENANT GENERAL BURGOYNE.    demand a wide departure from      their letter and spirit, the
From an English print, 1783.  British ministry, always at fault in the management of
Lord George Germain, then colonial secretary, in a letter to Governor Carleton, of Canada, dated
March 26th, 1777, observes, "With a view of quelling the rebellion as soon as possible, it is become
highly necessary that the most speedy junction of the two armies should be effected [the forces from Canada and those of General Howe at New York]; and, therefore, as the security and good government of
Canada absolutely require your presence there, it is the king's determination to leave about 3000 men under your command for the defense and duties of that province, and to employ the remainder of your army
upon two expeditions, the one under the command of Lieutenant General Burgoyne, who is to force his
way to Albany, and the other under Lieutenant Colonel St. Leger, who is to make a diversion on the Mohawk River."-Burgoyne's Statement of the Expeditionfrom Canada, &c. (Appendix), p. xiii., London, 1780.
2 Pictorial History of George III., vol. i., p. 306.
3 Lieutenant General Burgoyne was an illegitimate son of Lord Bingley. He entered the army at an
early age, and his education and the influence of-his father soon placed him in the line of promotion. In
1762 he was sent into Portugal with an English force to assist in the defense of that kingdom against the
Spaniards. He then held the commission of a brigadier, and distinguished himself in the capture of the
garrison of Almeida. After his return to England, he became a privy councillor, and was elected to a
seat in Parliament as representative for Preston, in Lancashire. He came over to America in 1775, and
was at Boston at the time of the battle of Bunker Hill. He was sent to Canada the same year, but early
in 1776 returned to England. Through the influence of the king and Lord George Germain, he was appointed to the command of the northern British army in America in the spring of 1777. After some successes, he was captured, with all his army, at Saratoga, in October of that year. After some delay, he
was allowed to return to England on parole, and he was actually engaged in debates upon the floor of the
British House of Commons at the very time he was a prisoner to the Americans. His misfortunes lost
him the friendship of the king, and he was denied access to his presence. In 1780 he published a narrative of his Expedition, together with the proceedings of his trial before a committee of Parliament, in which
he well vindicated his character. He soon afterward resigned his emoluments from government, amounting to $15,000 a year. In 1781 he joined the opposition in Parliament, and opposed the further prosecution of the war against the Americans as impolitic and cruel. From the conclusion of peace until his
death, he devoted his time to pleasure and literary pursuits. He died of an attack of gout, on the 4th of
August, 1792. Among his literary productions are The Maid of the Oaks, Bon Ton, and The Heiress,
dramas which at one time were highly popular. Benevolence and humanity were strong features in
Burgoyne's character, and I think the fierce anathema of Philip Freneau, a poet of the Revolution, was
altogether too severe. After giving Burgoyne several hard rubs in the course of his epic, he describes an
ice-bound, fog-covered, dreary island north of Scotland, and there consigns the Tories, with Burgoyne at
their head, as follows:
"There, Loyals, there, with loyal hearts retire,
There pitch your tents, and kindle there your fire;
There desert Nature will her stings display,
And fiercest hunger on your vitals prey;
And with yourselves let John Burgoyne retire,
To reign your monarch, whom your hearts desire."
FRENEAU'S Poems, p. 246.




38


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Brgoyne s Arrival in Canada.  Hi Preparations for the Campaign.  Appointment of General Schuyler to the Command.
American affairs, made a most egregious blunder. Sir Guy Carleton, then Governor of
Canada, and perfectly acquainted with the people and country, should have been placed in
command. Burgoyne was almost totally ignorant of the Canadians and Indians, who formed
a large part of his force, and he knew absolutely nothing of the true character and temper of
the people he was sent to oppose and oppress.
Burgoyne arrived at Quebec in March, 1777, bearing the commission of a lieutenant
general. Carleton, though greatly aggrieved, nobly aided Burgoyne in preparing the expedition.  By extraordinary activity, vessels were constructed, stores were collected, and a
force of more than seven thousand men was mustered at St. John's, at the foot of Lake
Champlain, on the first of June. Lieutenant Colonel St. Leger, with a detachment of
seven hundred Rangers, was sent up the St. Lawrence and Lake Ontario to Oswego, to
penetrate the country from that point, arouse and conciliate the Indians, capture Fort
Schuyler,' sweep the valley of the Mohawk with the aid of Johnson and his Tories, and
join Burgoyne at Albany when Lake Champlain and the valley of the Upper Hudson
should lie prostrate at his feet.
As soon as Congress perceived the storm that was gathering on the northern frontier,
they felt the necessity of prompt action and the services of an influential commander. Fear,
loyalty, British gold, would undoubtedly lead the van of the invading army, and none but a
wise and tried man could quiet the alarm of the people and command the fidelity of the militia.
Philip Schuyler,2 a gentleman of fortune, and possessed of military skill, experience, sound
judgment,   prudent                                               service to the colony
forethought, and lofty                                            and to the people of
patriotism, was reap-.(~                                         the northern frontier,
pointed to the com-,J                                  and his many virtues
mand of the forces of                                    i        endeared him to all
the north, in which                                    I          who knew him.    His
position he had been                                              large estate was lying
superseded, in effect,                                            directly in the path
a few  weeks before,                                              of the invader; and
by Horatio Gates, the                                             if a mercenary feeling
Adjutant General of'                                              could have existed in
the Continental ar-                                               a soul so noble as his,
my. No appointment    t       -e                                  the defense of his own
could have been more                                              broad acres and costly
popular with the peo-!.                                   mansion would have
ple of Northern New o                                             made   him   vigilant
York, who were in a                                               and brave.
state of great excite-                                               General Schuyler
ment and alarm.   In                                              arrived in Albany on
the late campaigns                                                the third day of
against the French,                                  June, where he
and   Indians  upon                                               met General Gates,
Lakes   George  and                    v                          and, with    all the
Champlain, he had                                                 frankness of a generrendered    essential                      l/                     ous and unsuspecting
1 Fort Schuyler stood at the head of boat navigation, on the Mohawk, where the village of Rome now
is, It was erected in 1758, and was then called Fort Stanwix. It was repaired in 1776, and named
Fort Schuyler, in honor of General Schuyler, in whose military department it was located.
2 General Philip Schuyler was born at Albany, on the 22d of November, 1733. His grandfather, Peter
Schuyler, was Mayor of Albany, and commander of the northern militia in 1690. His father, John Schuy.
ler, married Cornelia Van Courtlandt, a woman of strong mind, and Philip was their eldest son. By vir.
tue of primogeniture law, he inherited the real estate of his father at his death, but he generously shared
it with his brothers and sisters. His father died when Philip was young, and to the thorough training of




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                      3 9
Schuyler and Gates.            Advance of Burgoyne.             Condition of the Continental Army.'
nature, sought the aid of his counsel and his sword.  But he encountered a smaller mind
than his own, and both counsel and sword were refused.     He was coldly received by the
adjutant general, who was deeply offended because Congress had not allowed him to retain
his command.    A brave soldier always seeks the post of greatest danger; and General
Schuyler, not doubting' the courage or devotion of Gates, offered him the command of Ticonderoga, the point where the first conflict with Burgoyne would inevitably take place, and
where the first laurels were to be won. But the pride of Gates stifled his patriotism. He
refused to serve under Schuyler, and, at his own request, had leave to withdraw from the
department, where, indeed, he had done literally nothing.
All was terror and alarm among the inhabitants of the north, as Burgoyne victoriously
swept Champlain from St. John's to Crown Point, and with his formidable force, daily augmented by loyalists and savage allies, prepared to beleaguer the strong fortress of Ticonder-1
oga. Mount Hope, commanding the road to Lake George, was occupied; the American
outposts were driven in; the lake was studded with armed vessels, and the formidable
height of Mount Defiance was scaled, and artillery planted upon its very summit, seven
hundred feet above the fort below.
General St. Clair, who commanded the garrison, when he saw the battery above him,/
and the girdle of strong battalions that was closing around him, knew that resistance would
be madness. Under cover of night, he retreated across to Mount Independence, and, with
the small garrison there, fled toward Fort Edward by the way of Castleton and Skenesborough, leaving the stores and ammunition behind. The British eagerly pursued the flying
Americans. The battle of Hubbardton, so disastrous to the patriots, was fought. The
boom across the lake at Ticonderoga was broken, and a free passage made for the vessels
of the enemy.   They swept the lake to $kenesborough (now Whitehall), when the American works and the stores that were left became an easy prey to the invaders.
The army under General Schuyler was in a wretched condition, and daily diminishing.
Food, clothing, ammunition, and artillery were all wanting. The pecuniary resources and
credit of Congress were daily failing, and all the future seemed dark, and foreboding of evil.
The Eastern militia, sick and disheartened by late reverses, became restless and insubordihis gifted mother he was greatly indebted for his success in life. He entered the army against the French
and Indians in 1755, and commanded a company which attended Sir William Johnson to Fort Edward
and Lake George. He soon attracted the attention of Lord Howe, who commanded the first division of
the British army against the forts on Lake George and Lake Champlain, and was placed in the commissariat department. When Lord Howe fell at Ticonderoga, to Colonel Schuyler was intrusted the duty of
conveying the body of that greatly-beloved young nobleman to Albany for sepulture. After the peace oft,
1763, he was much in active service in the civil government of his state. In the Colonial Assembly of
New York, he was one of the warmest opponents of the British government in its attempts to tax the colonies without their consent. He was elected a delegate to the Continental Congress which assembled in
May, 1775, and in June following he was appointed by that body one of the major generals (the third) of
the American army. He was charged by Washington with the command of the army in the province of
New York, and directed to secure the lakes and prepare for invading Canada. He was taken sick, and
the command devolved on Montgomery. During 1776, he was active in Indian affairs, and in perfecting
the order and discipline of the northern army. For causes quite inexplicable, he was superseded, in effect,
by Gates in March, 1777, but was reinstated in May. Again, when Burgoyne drove St. Clair from Ticonderoga, and prudence caused General Schuyler to retreat with his army from Fort Edward down the
Hudson River, calumny, that had successfully poisoned the minds of the Eastern people and the militia, became so clamorous for his removal, that Congress placed Gates again in charge of the army in August.
Injured and insulted, the patriot still continued to devote his services and his fortune in aid of his country.
He demanded a court of inquiry, and its verdict, acquitting him of all blame, conferred as much honor upon
him as his successes won at Saratoga. He was urged by Washington to accept military command, but he
preferred to lend his aid to his country in another way. He was a member of the old Congress under the
Confederation; and after the adoption of the Constitution of the United States, he was a senator from New
York, with Rufus King. He was again a senator, in place of Aaron Burr, in 1797. He died at Albany,
November 18th, 1804, aged 71 years. He has two daughters still living-Elizabeth, the venerable widow
of General Alexander Hamilton, and now (1849) ninety-two years of age; and Catharine, his youngest:
daughter, widow of the late Major Cochrane, of Oswe~p, son of Dr. Cochrane, the distinguished Surgeon
General of the Revolutionary Army.




40                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Retreat of Schuyler to the Mohawk.  St. Leger in the Mohawk Valley.  Relief of the Valley proposed by Schuyler.
nate, and nearly all of them left the army and returned home. These things were exceedingly discouraging to the commander, yet his stout heart never failed.  " Should it be askJuly,  ed," he said, in a letter to the Albany Committee, from Moses's Creek, four miles belm.   low Fort Edward, ( what line of conduct I mean to hold amid this variety of difficulties and distress, I would answer, to dispute every inch of ground with General Burgoyne, and retard his descent into the country as long as possible."
Burgoyne's force, in the mean while, was constantly augmented by accessions from the
families of the loyal and the timid.  Slowly and surely he advanced from Skenesborough to
Fort Anne, and was pressing onward, in the midst of fearful obstacles, toward the Hudson.
Under all these circumstances, General Schuyler thought it prudent to retreat until new
recruits, or a re-enforcement from Washington, should give more strength to his army. He
accordingly fell back from Fort Edward, the general rendezvous of his forces after the evacuation of Ticonderoga, Mount Independence, and Fort George. As Burgoyne approached,
the people fled, in terror and dismay, toward Albany, leaving their ripe harvest fields and
pleasant homes to be trodden down or burned by the enemy. Burgoyne at length reached
Fort Edward; and as he marched slowly down the valley of the Hudson, Schuyler retreated in good order to Saratoga, then to Stillwater, and finally to Cohoes' Falls.
In the mean while the people in the Mohawk Valley were in the greatest consternation.
St. Leger had arrived from Oswego, and was besieging Fort Schuyler, while the Tories and
Indians were spreading death and desolation on every hand.    Colonel Gansevoort, with a
handful of men, was closely shut up in the fort; General Herkimer, with the brave militia
of Tryon county, had been defeated at Oriskany, and the people below hourly exugust. pected the flood of destroyers to pour down upon them.  It was a fearful emergency. Without aid all must be lost. Brave hearts were ready for bold deeds, and during a
night of fearful tempest of thunder and rain, Colonel Willett and Lieutenant Stockwell crept
stealthily from the fort, through groups of sleeping besiegers, beyond their lines, and at dawn
on the second day, mounted upon fleet horses, sped down the valley to the headquarters of
General Schuyler, at Stillwater, and, in the name of the beleaguered garrison and the people of Tryon county, implored assistance.
Not a moment was to be lost.     The subjugation of the whole valley would inevitably
fllow the surrender of Fort Schuyler, and the victors, gathering strength, would fall like an, valanche upon Albany, or, by junction, swell the approaching army of Burgoyne.     The
pu dent foresight and far-reaching humanity of General Schuyler at once dictated his course.
called a council,' and proposed sending a detachment immediately to the relief of Fort
i  huyler.   His officers opposed him, with the plea that his whole force was not then sufficient to stay the oncoming of Burgoyne. The clearer judgment of Schuyler made him persist in his opinion, and he earnestly besought them to agree with him.  While pacing the
floor in anxious solicitude, he overheard the half-whispered remark, (, He means to weaken
't  army."'   Treason in the heart of Philip Schuyler!   Never was a thought more foul
I l General Schuyler was then quartered in the house of Derrick Swart, Esq., at Stillwater. The house
is still standing, just at the foot of the hill.-Charles Neilson, Esq.
i At this time jealousy had created secret enemies for General Schuyler, and he was even charged with
being associated with St. Clair in preliminary acts of treason, about the time the latter evacuated Ticonderoga. The ridiculous story got abroad that they had been paid for their treason by the enemy in silver
balls, shot from Burgoyne's guns into the American camp!-See Thatcher's Military Journal, p. 86.
N NOTE.-It will be observed that, in this rapid view of events connected with the American encampment
at the mouth of the Mohawk, I have avoided all details, where, perhaps, the reader may have wished more
f:lute information. The necessity for this course arises from the nature of the plan of my work, which
to notice in detail the various important localities, in the order in which I visited them, and not in chrono.
togical succession, as the mere historian would do. For example, I visited Cohoes' and Bemis's Heights
a before Fort Edward and Ticonderoga. I therefore describe the scenery and events of the former places
minutely, and reserve similar minute details concerning the latter until, in the order of Wie narrative of my
tour, I reach them. This explanation is necessar, as some might suppose that important places are to
be slightly noticed, while others of less moment have an undue share of attention. I have visited all the




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                      41
Volunteers for the Relief of Fort Schuyler. Position of the Americans at Cohoes. Active Preparatiqns to oppose Burgoyne.
or charge more wicked.   Wheeling suddenly toward the slanderer and those around him,
and unconsciously biting into several pieces a pipe he was smoking, he indignantly exclaimed, " Gentlemen, I shall take the responsibility upon myself; where is the brigadier that
will take command of the relief?   I shall beat up for volunteers to-morrow."  The brave
and impulsive Arnold, ever ready for deeds of daring, at once stepped forward and offered
his services.  The next morning the drum beat, and eight hundred stalwart men August16,
were enrolled for the service before meridian.  Fort Schuyler was saved, and the   1777.
forces of St. Leger scattered to the winds. In after years the recollection of those burning
words of calumny always stirred the breast of the veteran patriot with violent emotions.
If ever a bosom glowed with true devotion to country, it was that of Philip Schuyler.
Such, in brief, were the events which placed the remnant of the main army of the north
at the mouth of the Mohawk in August, 1777, and caused Van Schaick's and Haver's
Islands to be fortified. That seemed to be the most eligible point at which to make a stand
in defense of Albany against the approaches of the enemy from the north and from the west.
Nowhere else could the comparatively feeble force of the Americans so effectually oppose the
overwhelming number of the invaders. At that time there were no bridges across the Hudson or the Mohawk, and both streams were too deep to be fordable except in seasons of extreme drought.   There was a ferry across the Mohawk, five miles above the falls,1 and one
across the Hudson at Half Moon Point,2 or Waterford.     The ( sprouts" of the Mohawk,
between the islands, were usually fordable; and as Burgoyne would not, of course, cross the
Hudson, or attempt the ferry upon the Mohawk, where a few resolute men could successfully oppose him, his path was of necessity directly across the mouth of the river. Fortifications were accordingly thrown up on the islands and upon the main land, faint traces of
which are still visible.
In this position, with his headquarters at Stillwater, in advance of his army, General
Schuyler brought all his energies and resources into requisition for the augmentation and
discipline of his troops, preparatory to a first determined conflict with Burgoyne. His private purse was freely opened,8 and by unwearied exertions day and night the army, rapidly
improved in numbers, discipline, and spirits. His correspondence at that time with men
of every degree, from the President of Congress and the commander-in-chief to subordinate
officers and private gentlemen, was very extensive, all having relation to the one great wish
of his heart, the checking of the progress of the British army. He addressed the civil and
military authorities in every direction, urging them to assist him with men and arms. The
Council of Safety, at Albany, was appealed to.  " Every militia-man," he said,, ought to
turn out without delay in a crisis the most alarming since the contest began."  He appealed
to the Eastern States.   " If," he said, in a letter to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut,
" the Eastern militia do not turn out with spirit and behave better, we shall be ruined."
To Washington he repeated, in substance, what he had said on the 12th of July previous.
" If my countrymen will support me with vigor and dexterity, and do not meanly despond,
most important localities of the Revolution, and each in its turn, in the course of the work, will receive.
its full share of notice.
It is my intention to give in notes, in the course of the work, brief biographical sketches of all the most
important actors in our Revolutionary war, both domestic and foreign. These sketches will be introduced
at points where the record exhibits the most prominent events in the life of the subject. Prominent men
will, therefore, be mentioned often before a biography will be given; but the reader may rely upon finding it in the work, if a memoir can be found.
1 Loudon's ferry. At this place the left wing of the army rested, under the command of General Arnold.
2 So called from the name of Henry Hudson's ship, the Half Moon.
3 General Schuyler never allowed his private interest to interfere in the least degree with the public
good. When the Continental army was retreating from Fort Edward, Mrs. Schuyler rode up from Albany
to their beautiful country seat at Saratoga, and superintended the removal of their furniture. While there
she received direction from her husband to set fire with her own hands to his extensive fields of wheat,
and to request his tenants to do the same, rather than suffer them to be reaped by the enemy.- Women of
the Revolution, vol. i., p. 60.




42                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Schuyler superseded by Gates.      Factions in Congress.         Noble Conduct of Schuyler.
we shall be able to prevent the enemy from penetrating much further into the country."
At the same time all was life and activity in his camp. From his own state recruits were
constantly filling his thinned regiments, and the heart of the patriot was cheered with the
prospect of soon winning back those laurels which, by the late reverses and the events of
the last campaign, had been, in a measure, stripped from his brow.
But secret enemies had been for some time plotting his disgrace by poisoning the minds
of the Eastern people, and raising a clamor in favor of the reinstatement of Gates, who as
yet, for obvious reasons, had met with no reverses. The friends of that officer were an active
faction in Congress at that time, sub rosa, but the next year were far more undisguised in
favoring the scheme for giving Gates the chief command in place of Washington. We are
so accustomed to look upon all the men of the Revolution who took sides with the friends
of America as pure and holy in all their thoughts and actions, that we reluctantly yield to
the conviction that they were ever actuated by motives less worthy and exalted than those
of the loftiest patriotism.  This is claiming too much for human nature.  While we may
award to them all that is noble and disinterested in feeling, when the good of the common
cause demanded personal sacrifice and pliancy of opinion, it is folly to deny that the spirit
of faction was rife among the members of the Old Continental Congress, and that selfish
motives often controlled their actions. Congress, listening to the clamors from the East,
the importunities of Gates's friends, and the suggestions of a false military philosophy, deprived General Schuyler of his command just as he was about to lead his troops to victory.
General Gates, with his new commission, arrived at Van Schaick's on the 19th of August, three days after the battle of Bennington, a battle which, in its effect upon the British
army, gave full assurance of future victory to the Americans. How nobly did the conduct
of Schuyler on this occasion contrast with that of Gates a few weeks previous. On Gates's
arrival, without the slightest indication of ill humor, the patriot resigned his command, communicated all the intelligence he possessed, and put every interesting paper into his hands,
simply adding,, I have done all that could be done, as far as the means were in my power,
to injure the enemy, and to inspire confidence in the soldiers of our own army, and, I flatter
myself, with some success; but the palm of victory is denied me, and it is left to you, general, to reap the fruit of my labors.  I will not fail, however, to second your views; and
my devotion to my country will cause me with alacrity to obey all your orders."'  "I am
sentble," he said, in a letter to Congress, " of the indignity of being ordered from the command of the army at the time when an engagement must soon take place;" yet he preferred
to suffer reproach in silence rather than allow his bleeding country to be injured by the withdrawal of a single arm from its support.  Although disgraced by the act of Congress, he
persevered assiduously in strengthening the army and preparing for the coming conflict.
" I shall go on," he said to Washington, ( in doing my duty and endeavoring to deserve
your esteem." And when General Gates arrived, he cordially proffered his co-operation,
was very active in promoting the success of the battles which soon after took place, was
present at Saratoga when Burgoyne surrendered his sword, and rejoiced, because his country
was the gainer, when the laurels which should have graced his brow were placed upon that
of another. Warmed by such impulses, who can doubt that the bosom of the generous
patriot on that day heaved with nobler pride and purer joy than that of the lauded victor?
1 Garden, p. 359.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


43


Canal Voyage from Waterford to Bemis's Heights.                   Appearance of the Country.
CHAPTER      II.
"Led on by lust of lucre and renown,
Burgoyne came marching with his thousands down;
High were his thoughts and furious his career,
Puff'd with self-confidence and pride severe;
Swoll'n with the idea of his future deeds,
Onward to ruin each advantage leads."
PHILIP FRENEAU, 1778..          ~    )    ^Cq, E left Waterford at two o'clock P.M. for Bemis's
(~ —                    Heights, the famous battle-ground where Burgoyne was./  checked and defeated in the autumn of 1777, a few weeks
after General Gates succeeded to the command of the northern
army.  Our conveyance was a neat little canal packet, its cabin crowded with passengers and a well-supplied dinner-table, and its deck piled
e.; with as much luggage and as mafy loungers as low bridges and a hot sun
i  '  /  would allow.  For a loiterer who takes no note of passing hours but to mark
W     and mourn their excessive length, and who loves to glide along listlessly among
X green fields and shady woods without the disturbance of even a carriage ride,
t''5  a day voyage upon a canal is really delightful, especially if the face of nature is
', attractive, and a pleasant companion or agreeable book assists in smoothing the
passage of time. Such seemed to be the character of nearly all our fellow-passengers, pleasure from personal enjoyment being their chief object. When dinner was over, some slept,
some read, and every body talked to every body as freely as old acquaintances would chat.
The country through which we passed is very fertile, and beautifully diversified in aspect.
The plain over which the Hudson here flows is a narrow alluvial bottom, of garden richness, along the western edge of which passes the canal. Green woods and cultivated fields
skirted the river on either side, and those conical hills and knolls, like western tumuli, which
are prominent features from Stillwater to Sandy Hill, here begin to appear.  Some of them
were still covered with the primeval forest, and others were cultivated from base to summit,.
giving a pleasing variety to the ever-changing landscape. The dark green corn, just flowering; the wheat ears, fading from emerald to russet; the blackberries, thick in the hedges;
the flowers innumerable, dotting the pasture fields, and the fragrance of the new-mown hay,
scattered in wind-rows along the canal, were pleasant sights to one just escaped from the
dust and din of the city, and imparted a gratification which only those can feel and appreciate who seldom enjoy it. There was one thing wanting, which leafy June would have
supplied-the melody of birds.: Silence girt the woods; no warbling tongue
Talks now unto the echo of the groves;
Only the curled stream soft chidings kept;
And little gales that from the green leaves swept
Dry summer's dust, in fearful whisperings stirr'd,
As loth to waken any singing bird,"
for it was just the season when the warblers of the forest are still, except at early morning,
when they carol a brief matin hymn, and then are quiet. Yet
" The poetry of earth is never dead.
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run




44 -

PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Young Tourists from Saratoga Springs.  Gates and Burgoyne.   An Evening Visit to Bemis's Heights.
From hedge to hedge about the newsmown mead;
That is the grasshopper's."
KEATS.
At the Borough, or Mechanicsville, nine miles above Waterford, the rail-road from Saratoga Springs reaches the canal. Here our boat was filled to repletion with a bevy of young
people, who, tired of medicinals and midnight merriment at that Mecca of fashion in summer, had determined to take a "t slow coach" to Whitehall, and meet the stronger tide of
gay tourists flowing to Ticonderoga from Lake George. They were full of life, and not one
of them had ever passed a night upon a canal-boat.   Poor souls! how we pitied them,
while we rejoiced at our own better fortune, intending, as we did, to debark toward cooling
sunset.  If, affliction is necessary to temper the over-joyous," our young travelers were
doubtless well annealed before morning in the vapor bath of a packet cabin.
One of the passengers was a roving journeyman printer, full of the general intelligence
of the craft, an inveterate tobacco chewer, and evidently a boon companion of John Barleycorn and his cousins. His hat was a-slouch and his coat seedy. His wit kept the deck
vocal with laughter; yet, when at times he talked gravely, the dignity of intelligence made
us all respectful listeners. He was perfectly familiar with the history of the classic grounds
through which we were then passing. His father was one of the special adjutants appointed
by General Gates on the morning of the action of the 19th of September, and from him he
had often received minute details of the events of that contest.  He mentioned a circumstance connected with the commander on that occasion, which, in some degree, explains the
singular fact that he was not upon the field of action-a fact which some have adduced as
evidence of cowardice. It is admitted that General Gates did not leave his camp during
the contest; and the special adjutant referred to asserted boldly that intoxication was the
chief cause. That, in the opinion of the world at that time, was a weakness far more excusable, and a crime less heinous, than cowardice; for a night's debauch and a morning of
dullness and stupidity were things too common among gentlemen to affect re-pation seriously, unless bad consequences ensued.  He was not alone in devotion to thdewine-cup at
that very time, for it is said that Burgoyne and Earl Balcarras did not leave their flagon
and their cards until dawn that morning. Burgoyne and the earl, however, had either
stouter heads or stouter hearts than Gates, for they were on duty in the field when the contest was raging.  It may be that neither wine nor cowardice controlled the American commander.   Let us charitably hope that it did not, and charge the fault upon a weak judgment; for we should be ever ready to act toward erring brother-man according to the glorious injunction of Prior:
"Be to his faults a little blind;
Be to his virtues very kind."
We reached Bemis's Heights between five and six o'clock in the evening.  The hotel is
situated a few rods south of the site of the old residence of Bemis. The obliging landlord
anticipated our impatience to view the battle-ground, and when supper was over we found
a horse and light wagon in readiness to carry us to the residence of Charles Neilson, Esq.,
on the summit of the heights, whence a fine view of the whole scene of conflict and of the
surrounding country might be obtained.1 It was too late for much observation, for twilight
soon spread its veil over every object. After spending an hour pleasantly and profitably
with Mr. Neilson and his family, I made an engagement to meet him early next morning,
to ridB and ramble over the historic grounds in the neighborhood.
Mr. Neilson occupies the mansion owned by his father, an active Whig, at the time of the battles there.
He has written and published a volume entitled " An original, compiled, and corrected Account of Burgoyne's Campaign and the memorable Battles of Bemis's Heights." It contains many details not found
in other books, which he gathered from those who were present, and saw and heard what they related.
It is valuable on that account.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                  45
View from Bemis's Heights.  Topography.  Origin of the Name.  Headquarters of Revolutionary Officers.
The morning broke with an unclouded sky, and before the dew was off the grass I was
upon Bemis's Heights, eager to see what yet remained of the military works of a former
time.  Alas! hardly a vestige is to be seen; but a more beautiful view than the one from
Mr. Neilson's mansion I have seldom beheld. The ground there is higher than any in the
vicinity, except the range of hills on the east side of the Hudson, and the eye takes in a varied
landscape of a score of miles in almost every direction. Bounding the horizon on the north
and west are the heights of Saratoga and the high mountains on the eastern shore of Lake
George. On the south stretch away into the blue distance toward Albany the gentle hills
and the pleasant valley of the Hudson.  On the east, not far distant, rises Willard's Mountain, and over and beyond its southern neighbors of less altitude may be seen the heights of
Bennington on the Walloomscoik,l the Green Mountains, and the lofty summit of far-famed
Mount Tom.
Bemis's Heights are situated on the right bank of the Hudson, about four miles north of
the pleasant village of Stillwater (which is on the same side of the river), and about twentyfive miles from Albany. The ground here rises abruptly from an extensive alluvial flat,
about half a mile in width a little above, but here tapering until it forms quite a narrow
defile of not more than thirty or forty rods on each side of the river.  At the time of the
Revolution, the whole country in this vicinity was covered with a dense forest, having only
an occasional clearing of a few acres; and deep ravines furrowed the land in various directions. Fronting the river, a high bluff of rocks and soil, covered with stately oaks and
maples, presented an excellent place on which to plant a fortification to command the passage of the river and the narrow valley below. The bluff is still there, but the forest is
gone, and many of the smaller ravines have been filled up by the busy hand of cultivation.
The only road then much traveled passed along the margin of the river. Upon the road,
at the southern extremity of the bluff, was a tavern kept by a man named Bemis, the only
one of note between Albany and Fort Edward.    Good wines and long pipes, a spacious
ball-room and a capital larder, made Bemis's house a famous place of resort for sleighing
parties in winter, throughout the whole of the Saratoga valley of the Hudson.  He owned
a portion of the heavy-timbered heights near him, and from that circumstance the hill derived its name.
On the summit of the height, three fourths of a mile northwest of Bemis's, the father of
Mr. Neilson owned a clearing of a few acres when the war broke out, and he had erected
a small dwelling and a log barn thereon. The dwelling, with large additions, is still there,
but the log barn, which was picketed and used for a fort, has long since given place to another. Around that old mansion cluster many interesting historic associations, and if its
walls could articulate, they might tell of heroism in action and patient endurance which
the pen of history has never yet recorded.
Upon the next page are given a group of localities about Bemis's Heights and a miniature map of the engagements there. The picture at the top of the page represents the
mansion of Mr. Neilson, as seen from the opposite side of the road, looking eastward. It
stands upon the east side of the highway leading to Quaker Springs, about one hundred rods
north of the road from Bemis's Heights to the watering places of Ballston and Saratoga. It
is a frame house, and the part next to the road is modern compared with the other and smaller
portion, which is the original dwelling. The room in the old part (a sketch of which is
given in the third picture from the top) is quite large, and was occupied by Brigadier-general Poor and Colonel Morgan as quarters at the time of the encampments there.  It was in
this room that Major Ackland, the brave commander of the British Grenadiers, who was
severely wounded in the battle of the 7th of October, was kindly received by the American
officers, and visited and nursed by his heroic wife, Lady Harriet Ackland, of whom, and
the event in question, I shall hereafter speak. The bed of the wounded officer was beneath
1 It is said that the smoke of the battle of Bennington, thirty miles distant, was distinctly seen from
Bemis's Heights.








OF THE REVOLUTION.


47


Localities about Bemis's Heights.  Gates's Quarters.  Willard's Mountain.  Condition of the Northern Army.
the window on the left.   The door in the center opens into a small bed-room; and this,
as well as every thing else about the room, is carefully preserved in its original condition.
Where the smaller poplar tree stands was a building which General Arnold occupied; and
further to the left the small buildings are upon the spot where the fortified log barn stood,
which was at the northwest angle of the American works. In compliment to the owner,
the rude fortification was called Fort Neilson.
Between the smaller poplar tree and the house is seen Willard's Mountain, five miles
distant, on the east side of the Hudson. This eminence commands a fine view of the valley
for many miles.  From its summit a Mr. Willard and a few others, with a good spy-glass,
watched all the movements of Burgoyne, and made regular re/ports to General Gates.
This service was exceedingly valuable, for a fair estimate of the number of troops, their
baggage, stores, artillery, &c., was made from his observations. His name is immortalized
by a gigantic monument, which has borne it ever since.
The second vignette from the top is a view of Gates's headquarters at the time oA the
battle of the 7th of October.  He first made his headquarters at Bemis's house, but afterward removed them hither.    This house was demolished about four years ago, but, from a
sketch furnished by Mr. Neilson, I am enabled to give a correct view. The old well curb
is still there, and seems as though it might survive a generation yet. This house stood
about one hundred and fifty rods south of Fort Neilson, and the traces of the cellar may now
be seen a few yards to the left of the Ballston road, ascending from the river.
The third vignette represents the room mentioned above. The picture at the bottom of
the page is a view from the Bemis's Heights Hotel, representing the Champlain Canal, the
Hudson River, and the hills on the eastern side. Near the large trees on the left may be
seen traces of a redoubt which defended a floating bridge that was thrown across the river
here, and so constructed that one end could be detached at pleasure, allowing the bridge to
swing around with the current, and thus prevent the enemy from entering upon it. The
lumber for this bridge was furnished by General Schuyler, at his own private expense, and
floated down the river from Saratoga or Schuylerville.
The map I shall have occasion to refer to when noticing the fortifications and the battles.
The halbert, represented on the left of the picture, was plowed up in the neighborhood, and
is in the possession of,Mr. Neilson.  When found, it had a small British flag or cloven pelnon attached to it, which soon occupied the utilitarian and more peaceful position of patches
in the bed-quilt of a prudent housewife.
When General Gates took the command of the Northern army, a. events were oc- aAugust 19,
curring favorable to his success.  Burgoyne was at Fort Edward, paralyzed with   1777.
alarm and perplexity on account of the failure of an expedition to Bennington-a failure,
in its immediate as well as prospective effects, extremely disastrous.  The obstructions which
General Schuyler had thrown in the way on his retreat from Fort Anne, made the march
of the enemy slow and toilsome in the extreme.' The plethora of the commissariat department was rapidly subsiding by the delay; the supplies of the surrounding country, already
heavily levied on, were totally inadequate to the demand, and the capture of American
stores was an object called for by stern necessity.  Burgoyne, therefore, halted at Fort Edward, and sent an expedition to Bennington to seize a large quantity of clothing and proGeneral Schuyler felled large trees across the roads and bridle-paths through the woods, sunk deep
ditches, and destroyed all the bridges. These evils Burgoyne was obliged to overcome and repair. With
immense toil, the obstructions were removed, and no less than forty bridges over streams and morasses were
constructed, so as to allow the passage of artillery. It must be remembered, too, that a soldier in, actual
service is not so lightly accoutered as a soldier on parade. Besides the actual fatigue of traveling and labors, he has a heavy back-burden to bear. Respecting this, we quote Burgoyne's own words: " It consists
of a knapsack, containing his bodily necessaries, a blanket, a haversack with provisions, a canteen, a hatchet,
and a fifth share of the general camp equipage belonging to his tent." These articles (reckoning the provisions to be for four days), added to his accouterments, arms, and sixty rounds of ammunition, make a bulk
totally incompatible with combat, and a weight of about sixty pounds.




48                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
British Reverses in the Mohawk Valley.  Perplexity of Burgoyne.  Advance of Gates to Stillwater.  Kosciusko.
visions which the Americans had collected there.  The detachment sent thither so weakened his forces that he dared not proceed until it should return, bringing back, as he confidently expected, ample provisions for his army until he should enter Albany triumphant.
But the New England militia were on the alert, and they not only saved their stores and
live cattle at Bennington, but defeated and dispersed the enemy, capturing a large number,
6  together with arms and ammunition, then much needed by the growing ranks of
August. the volunteers.
Burgoyne had hardly recovered from this shock, before a courier, guided by a friendly
Indian, came in breathless haste by the way of Saratoga Lake and Glenn's Falls, bearing
the direful news of the desertion of the Indians, the defection of the loyalists of the Mohawk
Valley, and the complete defeat of St. Leger at Fort Schuyler.  These reverses
August  fell like an incubus upon the spirits of his army.  The Indians in his camp, already vexed because Burgoyne's humanity had restrained their purposes of rapine and murder, began to waver in their fidelity, and the Canadians and timid loyalists became lukewarm through very cowardice, and deserted by hundreds.
Burgoyne was greatly perplexed.  To proceed at that time would be madness; to retreat
would not only lose him a promised order, perhaps a peerage, but would operate powerfully
in giving friends to the republicans. The idea of British invincibility would be dissipated,
and thousands who favored the cause of the king on account of that supposed invincibility
and the hopelessness of resistance, would join the patriots, or would, at least, become mere
passive loyalists.  In view of all these difficulties, the British commander wisely resolved
to remain at Fort Edward until the panic should subside and stores should be brought forward from his posts on Lake George and Lake Champlain.      He was also in daily expectation of advices from General Howe or Sir Henry Clinton, at New York, announcing a
movement upon the Hudson for the purpose of producing a diversion in favor of Burgoyne,
by drawing away a portion of the American army from the North.
These disasters of the enemy greatly inspirited the Americans, and the Eastern militia,
among whom Gates was very popular, flocked to his standard with great alacrity. The
murder of Jane M'Crea at Fort Edward (of which I shall hereafter speak) was another
powerful agency in swelling the ranks of the patriots. Fierce indignation was aroused in
every honest heart by the highly-colored recital of that event, and, loyalists by hundreds
withdrew their support from a cause which employed such instrumentalities as savage warriors to execute its purposes.
Perceiving the disposition of Burgoyne to halt at Fort Edward, and the difficulties that
were gathering around him, General Gates advanced up the Hudson to Stillwater, and prepared to act offensively or defensively, as circumstances should dictate.  It was at first resolved to throw up fortifications at the place where the village of Stillwater now is; but
the narrowness of the valley and the abruptness of the bank on the western margin of the
flat at Bemis's offered a more advantageous position, and there, by the advice of Kosciusko,
who was an engineer in the army, General Gates made his encampment and fortified it.'
Thaddeus Kosciusko was born in Lithuania in 1736, of an ancient and noble family. He was educated
at the military school of Warsaw, and afterward became a student in France. There he became acquainted
with Dr. Franklin, and was by him recommended to General Washington. Before leaving Poland, he had
eloped with a beautiful lady of high rank. They were overtaken in their flight by her father, who made
a violent attempt to rescue his daughter. The young Pole had either to slay the father or abandon the
young lady. Abhorring the former act, he sheathed his sword, and soon after obtained permission of his
sovereign to leave his country. He came to America, and presented himself to the commander-in-chief.
He answered the inquiry of his excellency, " What do you seek here?" by saying, " I come to fight as a
volunteer for American independence." "' What can you do?" asked Washington. "Try me," was Kosciusko's laconic reply. Greatly pleased with him, Washington made him his aid. In October, 1776, he
was appointed engineer by Congress, with the rank of colonel. In the autumn of 1777 he fortified the
camp of Gates at Bemis's Heights, and afterward superintended the construction of the works at West
Point, among the Hudson Highlands. He was greatly esteemed by the American officers, and admitted
a member of the Cincinnati Society. At the close of our Revolution he returned to Poland, and was made




OF THE REVOLUTION.


49


Fortifications at Bemil's Heights.                Their present Appearance.                    Preparations for Battle.


Along the brow of the hill toward the river a line of breast-works was thrown up, about
three fourths of a mile in extent, with a strong
battery at each extremity, and one near the
center in such position as to completely sweep
the valley, and command even the hills upon
^        the eastern side of the river.  Faint traces of
these redoubts and the connecting breast-works
are still visible.  At the northern extremity,
X  -  where the largest and strongest battery was
X erected, the mound is leveled, but the ditch is
-i I  t                          quite deep, and may be traced many rods westward from the brow of the hill, along the line
of breast-works that were thrown up after the
first battle.  But every year the plow casts
7 '   in the soil of its furrows, and ere long no
vestige will remain of these intrenchments.
'       ~-            Within the area of the northeast redoubt, at
THADDEUS KOSCIUSKO.             the time of my visit, potatoes in desecrating
luxuriance were flourishing, except upon a
very small spot occupied as a burial-place for a few of the Vanderburgh family. It really
seemed sacrilegious for the vulgar vines of the nutritious tuber to intertwine with the long
grass and beautiful wild flowers that covered the graves. The elder one of those buried
there was an active republican, and had his house burned by the enemy. A few plain slabs
with inscriptions tell who lie beneath the several mounds, but no stone marks the grave
where sleeps that venerable patriot.
From the foot of the hill, across the flats to the river, an intrenchment was opened, and
at the extremity, on the water's edge, a strong battery was erected, which guarded the
floating bridge constructed there, and also commanded the plain on the east side of the river
in such a manner that the enemy might have been terribly enfiladed in case they had attempted to pass down the river or the valley.
Near where the road crossed Mill Creek, a small stream nearly half a mile above Bemis's
tavern, were a short line of breast-works and a strong battery, which, with those mentioned
above, composed all the fortifications previous to the first battle.  These being completed
about the 15th of September, and the enemy approaching, General Gates made preparations
for resistance. Brave officers and determined soldiers, in high spirits, were gathered around
him, and the latter were hourly increasing in numbers. The counsels of General Schuyler
and the known bravery of General Arnold were at his command; and he felt confident of
victory, aided by such men as Poor, Learned, Stark, Whipple, Paterson, Warner, Fellows,
a major general under Poniatowski. He commanded judiciously and fought bravely; and when, in 1794,
a new revolution broke out in Poland, he was made generalissimo, and vested with the power of a military
dictator. In October of that year he was overpowered, wounded, and taken prisoner. In reference to
this event, Campbell, in his Pleasures of Hope, says,
"Hope for a season bade the world farewell,
And freedom shrieked when Kosciusko fell."
He was kept in prison in St. Petersburg until the death of the Empress Catharine, when he was liberated
by Paul, loaded with honors, and offered a command in the Russian service, which he declined, The emperor besought him to accept the proffered honor, and presented him with his own sword. But bitterly
reflecting that his country had been annihilated, he refused to receive his sword, saying, " I no longer need
a sword, since I have no longer a country to defend." He visited the United States in 1797, and received
from Congress a grant of land for his services. He returned to Switzerland toward the close of his life,
and died there October the 16th, 1817. His remains were taken to Cracow, and at Warsaw a public funeral was made for him. At West Point, on the Hudson, the cadets erected a monument to his memory.
We shall give a drawing of the monument, and a more particular notice, in another part of this work.
D




5)                         PICTORIAL FtELD-BOOK
Expedition against the Posts on Lakes George and Champlain.  March of Burgoyne to Saratoga and Stillwater.
Bailey, Glover, Wolcott, Bricketts, and Tenbroeck, with their full brigades, and the brave
Virginian, Colonel Morgan, with his unerring marksmen, supported by the regiments of
Dearborn, Brooks, Cilley, Scammel, and Hull.
Small successes about this time, important in the aggregate result, tended materially to
keep up the spirits of the American troops, and made them eager to encounter the main
body of the enemy. General Lincoln, with about two thousand militia, got in the rear of
Burgoyne, and, by dividing his force into detachments, operated with much effect. One
detachment, under Colonel Brown, surprised the British posts on Lake George, captured a
vessel containing provisions for the enemy, took possession of Mount Hope and Mount Defiance, and, appearing before Ticonderoga, demanded its surrender. But the walls and garrison were too strong, and, after a cannonade of four days, the siege was abandoned, and all
the troops prepared to unite and attack the enemy in the rear.  The threatening aspect of
this movement of Lincoln at the beginning, and the probability of having his supplies from
the lakes cut off, induced Burgoyne, in self-defense, to move forward and execute promptly
what he intended to do. Having, by great diligence, brought forward provisions for about
thirty days, he advanced along the left bank of the Hudson to the mouth of the Batten
Kill, where he encamped preparatory to crossing the river.1  His officers were somewhat
divided in opinion in regard to the expediency of further attempts to reach Albany; and it
had been plainly intimated to Burgoyne that it might be greater wisdom to fall back from
Fort Edward, rather than advance, for it was evident that perils of no ordinary kind were
gathering around the invading army.
Unwilling to act in opposition to the expressed opinions of his officers, Burgoyne avoided
any intimations of judgment on their part by omitting to consult them at all; and he assumed the responsibility of crossing the Hudson, resting for his defense, if adversity should
ensue, upon the peremptory nature of his instructions.2  He constructed a bridge of boats,
and on the 13th and 14th of September passed his whole army over, and encamped on the
heights and plains of Saratoga, at the mouth of the Fish Creek, where Schuylerville now
is, and within about five miles of the American works below.  On the 15th, having succeeded in getting his artillery, baggage, and stores across the river, Burgoyne moved down
as far as Do-ve-gat (now Coveville), where he halted until the morning of the 17th, for the
purpose of repairing the roads and bridges before him, when he advanced as far as Swords's
house and encamped fbr the night. 'On the morning of the 18th he moved down as far as
the place now called Wilbur's Basin, within two miles of the American camp, and here he
made preparations for battle. His chief officers were Major-general Phillips, of the artillery,
who had performed signal service in Germany; Brigadier-general Fraser, commander of
the grenadiers and light infantry; Brigadiers Hamilton and Powell; and the Brunswick
major general, Baron de PBdesel, with his brigadiers, Specht and Gall.  Earl Balcarras,
Colonel Breyman, Major Ackland, Lieutenant 'Kingston, and others of minor grade, were
men of tried courage, and ardently attached to their general and the service.
When the defeat of Burgoyne, a few days later, became known in England, the crossing
of the Hudson River and his persistence in pressing toward Albany, with the American
army in front and a wilderness filling with armed republicans in his rear, formed the chief
theme for the vituperative assaults of his enemies; and to these steps all his subsequent
misfortunes were attributed. But, as we have seen, he retreated behind the peremptory
instructions of ministers; and Botta very justly observes, (, that at that time he had not
1 His place of encampment was about one hundred rods north of Lansing's saw-mill. The farm, till
within a few years,was occupied by Mr. Thomas Rogers. Burgoyne had quite an extensive slaughteryard there, which so enriched the soil, that its effects are still visible on the corn crops and other productions.-NC. Neilson.
s In his dispatch to Lord George Germain, dated at Albany, October 20th, 1777, Burgoyne alludes to
this fact, and says, "1 did not think myself authorized to call any men into council, where the peremptory
tenor of my orders and the season of the year admitted no alternative."-State of the Expedition, &c., Appendix, p. lxxxiv.




OF THE REVOLUTION.,5


Material of the American Army on Bemis's Heights.  Relative Position of the two Armies.  Burgoyne't Plan of Attack
yet received any intelligence either"of the strength of the army left at New York, or the
movements which Sir Henry Clinton intended to make, or had made, up the North River
toward Albany. He calculated on a powerful co-operation on the part of that general.
Such was the plan of the ministers, and such the tenor of their peremptory instructions."'
Whether the movement was judicious or injudicious we will not stop to inquire, but,
having arranged the two armies within cannon-shot of each other, will pass on to the consideration of an event which solved the question by arguments far more potential than logic
can commandTHE FIRST BATTLE OF STILLWATER.2
The morning of the 19th of September was clear and calm, and every thing without
1777. was white with hoar-frost.  The hostile armies, within ear-shot of each other's reveille, were disposed in similar order, each extending from the river westward over the hills.
The main body of the American army composing the right wing, which consisted chiefly of
Glover's, Nixon's, and Patterson's brigades, was under the immediate command of General
Gates, and occupied the hills near the river and the narrow flats below them. The left
wing, composed of the brigade of General Poor, consisting of Cilley's, Scammel's, and Hale's
regiments, of New Hampshire; Van Courtlandt's and Henry Livingston's, of New York;
Latimer and Cook's Connecticut militia; the corps of riflemen under Morgan, and infantry
under Dearborn, was posted on the heights about three fourths of a mile from the river, and
commanded by General Arnold.8 The center, on the elevated plain near the residence of
Mr. Neilson, was composed of Learned's brigade, with Bailey's, Wesson's, and Jackson's
regiments, of Massachusetts, and James Livingston's, of New York.
The left wing of the British army, which included the immense train of artillery under
Generals Phillips and Reidesel, rested upon the flats upon the bank of the river. The center and the right wing, composed principally of Hessians,' extended westward upon the hills,
and were commanded by Burgoyne in person, covered by General Fraser and Colonel Breyman, with the grenadiers and light infantry. The front and flanks were covered by the
Indians, Canadians, and loyalists, who still remained in the camp.
General Gates resolved to maintain a defensive position, and await the approach of k
Burgoyne, who, on the contrary, had made every preparation for advancing. Phillips and
Reidesel were to march with the artillery along the road on the margin of the river. The
Canadians and Indians in front were to attack the central outposts of the Americans, while
Burgoyne and Fraser, with the grenadiers -and infantry, in separate bodies, and strongly
flanked by Indians, were to make a circuitous route through the woods back of the river
hills, form a junction, and fall upon the rear of the American camp. It was arranged that
three minute-guns should be fired when Burgoyne and Fraser should join their forces, as a
signal for the artillery to make an attack upon the American front and right, force their
way through the lines, and scatter them in confusion.
At an early hour the American pickets observed great activity in the British camp; the
glitter of bayonets and sabers and the flashing of scarlet uniforms were distinctly seen through
Otis's Botta, vol. ii., p. 9.
2 The conflicts at this point are known by the several titles Bemis's Heights, Stillwater, and Saratoga, from
the fact that the battles occurred upon Bemis's Heights, in the town of Stillwater, and county of Saratoga.
3 These were the same troops which formed the left wing of the army when encamped at the mouth of
the Mohawk. They were stationed at London's ferry, five miles from the mouth of the river, and there
Arnold took the command after his return from Fort Schuyler.
4 The Hessians were some of the German soldiers, hired by Great Britain of their masters, petty German
princes, at a stipulated sum per head, to come to America and butcher her children. The Landgrave of
Hesse-Cassel furnished the larger number, and from that circumstance all of the Germans received the
general appellation of Hessians. I shall give a minute account of them, and of the debates in Parliament
which the infamous bill providing for the hiring of these mercenaries produced, when the battle of Long
Island, in 1776, is noticed. They were first let loose upon us in that bloody conflict.




62                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Approach of tlO two Armies.  Engagement between the Advance Corps.  Maneuvers of Arnold and Fraser.
the vistas of the forest as the troops of the enemy marched and countermarched to form the
various lines for battle. These movements were constantly reported to General Gates, yet
he issued no orders and evinced no disposition to fight.  About ten o'clock it was clearly
perceived that the whole of the enemy's force was in motion, and separated into three divisions.  Phillips and Reidesel, with the artillery, commenced marching slowly down the road
along the river; Burgoyne, with the center division, followed the course of the stream, now
forming Wilbur's Basin, westward; and Fraser and Breyman commenced a circuitous route
along a new road partially opened from the basin, and intersecting the road from Bemis's
about two and a half miles north of the American lines.
Arnold was fully apprised of all this, and became as impatient as a hound in the leash
His opinion, earnestly and repeatedly expressed to the commander during the morning, that
a detachment should be sent out to make an attack, was at length heeded. About noon,
Colonel Morgan with his light-horse, and Major Dearborn with his infantry, were detached
from Arnold's division, and, marching out, made a vigorous attack upon the Canadians and
Indians who swarmed upon the hills. They met at the middle ravine, south of Freeman's
cottage.' The enemy was repulsed; but so furious was Morgan's charge, that his men
became scattered in the woods, and a re-enforcement of loyalists under Major Forbes soon
drove the Americans back. Captain Van Swearingen and Lieutenant Morris, with twenty
privates, fell into the hands of the British.  For a moment, on finding himself almost alone,
Morgani felt that his corps was ruined; but his loud signal-whistle soon gathered his brave
followers around him, and the charge was renewed. Dearborn seconded him, and Cilley
and Scammel hastened to their support.  The contest was quite equal, and both parties at
length retired within their respective lines.
About the same time a party of Canadians, savages, and loyalists were detached through
the skirt of.the woods along the margin of the flats near the river. They were met by the
American pickets on a flat piece of ground near Mill Creek, and a smart skirmish ensued.
The enemy was much cut up and broken, and finally fled, leaving thirteen dead on the
field and thirty-five taken prisoners. In the mean while, Burgoyne and Fraser were making
rapid movements for the purpose of falling upon the Americans in front and on the left flank.
The center division marched through some partial clearings to Freeman's farm,2 while Fraser,
having reached a high point about one hundred and fifty rods north of the ", cottage," moved
rapidly southward for the purpose of turning the left flank of the Americans. Arnold, at
the same time, made a similar attempt upon Fraser. He called upon Gates for a re-enforcement from the right wing, but the commander deemed it prudent not to weaken it, for
the left of Burgoyne's army was then within half a mile of his lines, and spreading out upon
the heights.
Arnold resolved to do what he could with those under his command, which consisted of
General Learned's brigade and the New York troops. With these he attempted to turn
the enemy's right, and, if possible, cut off the detachment of Fraser from the main army.
So dense was the forest and so uneven was the ground, that neither party fairly comprehended the movements of the other, or knew that each was attempting the same maneuver.
They met suddenly and unexpectedly upon the level ground near Mill Creek, or Middle
Ravine, about sixty yards west of Freeman's cottage, and at once an action, warm and destructive, began. Arnold led the van of his men, and fell upon the foe with the fury and
impetuosity of a tiger.  By voice and action he encouraged his troops; but the overwhelming numbers of the enemy for a time repulsed them. By a quick movement, Fraser attacked
the left flank of the right wing of the American army; but fearing that Arnold (who had
The attention of the reader is called to the small map or plan of the engagement, upon page 46, while
perusing the notices of the battle.
I Freeman's farm, as it was called, was a small cultivated clearing, about half a mile east of the present
road leading to Quaker Springs. The farm was an oblong clearing in front of the cottage, about sixty
rods in length from east to west, skirted by thick woods, and sloping south.-Neilson, p. 141.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


53


Approach of a British Re-enforcement under Phillips.      View of the Battle-ground.        A Lll in the Battle.


rallied his troops, and was re-enforced by four regiments under Lieutenant-colonels Brookss
Cilley, and Scammel, and Majors Dearborn and Hull) might cut the British lines and separate the two wings, he brought up the twenty-fourth regiment, some light infantry, and
Breyman's riflemen, to strengthen the point of attack. The Americans made such a vigorous resistance, that the British began to give way and fall into confusion; but General
Phillips, who, from his position below the heights, heard the din of conflict on the right
wing of his army, hurried over the hills, through the thick woods, with fresh troops and
part of the artillery under Captain Jones, and appeared upon the ground at the very moment when victory seemed within the grasp of the Americans.        For an hour the republicans had disputed the ground inch by inch, but the crushing force of superior numbers
pressed them back to their lines.
THE BATTLE-GROUND.'
It was now about three o'clock.    The contest suddenly ceased, but it was only the lull
which precedes a more furious burst of the tempest. Each army took breath, and gathered
up new energies for a more desperate conflict. They were beyond musket-shot of each other,
and separated by a thick wood and a narrow clearing. Each was upon a gentle hill, one
sloping toward the south, the other toward the north. The Americans were sheltered by
the intervening wood; the British were within an open pine forest.    The Americans stood
This view is taken from near the house of Mr. Neilson, looking northwest. In the foreground, on the
right, are seen the remains of the intrenchments which here crossed the road from Fort Neilson, the fortified log barn. The light field in the distance, toward the right of the picture, with a small house within
it, is the old clearing called " Freeman's farm." On the rising ground over the tree upon the slope, near
the center of the foreground, is the place where Fraser wheeled southward to turn the right flank' of the
Americans. On the level ground, near the small trees on the right of the large tree upon the slope, is the
place where Arnold and Fraser met and fought. On the high middle ground beyond the woods, toward
the left, where several small houses are seen, the British formed their line for the second battle on the 7th
of October. The detachments under Poor, Learned, and Morgan, which marched to the attack on that
day, diverged from near the point seen in the foreground on the right, and marched down the slope by the
sheep, across the flat. The brigade of Learned passed on where are seen the dark trees on the left. Morgan kept further to the extreme left, and Poor made a direct line across the level ground and up the hill
in the direction marked by the four slender trees by the fence in the center of the picture. The range of
mountains inthe extreme distance borders the eastern shore of Lake George. The highest peak in the
center is Buck Mountain, and that upon the extreme left is French Mountain, at the foot of which are the
remains of Forts George and William Henry, at the head of Lake George.




54                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Renewal of the Battle.   Loss sustained by both Armies.  The number and the particular Troops engaged.
in determined silence, and heard distinctly the voices of the officers upon the opposite hill
as they gave their orders along the lines.
Again the enemy made the first hostile movement, and from a powerful battery opened
a terrible fire, but without effect.  To this the Americans made no reply.  Burgoyne then
ordered the woods to be cleared by the bayonet, and soon, across the open field, column after
column of infantry steadily advanced toward the patriot lines. The Americans kept close
within their intrenchments until the enemy fired a volley and pressed onward to the charge,
when they sprang upon their assailants with a force that drove them far back across the
clearing. Like the ebbing and flowing of the tide, the contending armies alternately advanced and retreated, and for more than three hours the conflict was severe and the result
doubtful. And it was not until the sun went down and darkness came upon them, that the
warriors ceased their horrid strife. Even amid the gloom of evening there were furious contentions.  Just at dusk, Lieutenant-colonel Marshall, with the tenth Massachusetts regiment, encountered some British grenadiers and infantry on a rise of ground a little west
of Freeman's cottage, and a brisk but short action ensued.1  The commander of the enemy
was killed, and the troops fled in confusion. Lieutenant-colonel Brooks, of the eighth Massachusetts regiment, remained upon the field until eleven o'clock at night, and in the course
of the evening he had a skirmish on the extreme left with some of Breyman's riflemen, whom
he knew as such only by the brass match-cases upon their breasts. He was the last to leave
the field of action.  The conflict at length ended.  The Americans retired within their
lines, and the British rested on their arms all night upon the field of battle.2
The loss of the Americans was, officers included, sixty-four killed, two hundred and seventeen wounded, and thirty-eight missing; in all, three hundred and nineteen.8  The British
lost, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, " rather more than less than five hundred."'  Both
parties claimed the honor of victory. The British, it is true, remained masters, or, at least,
possessors, of the field, but this was not their ultimate object.  It was to advance, and that
they failed to do; while the Americans were intent only upon maintaining their ground,
and this they accomplished. The advantage, therefore, was certainly on the side of the
republicans.
Very few battles have been marked by more determined bravery and patient endurance
on both sides than this. Phillips and Reidesel, who had. served in the wars in Flanders
and other parts of Europe, said they never knew so long and hot a fire; and Burgoyne, in
his defense before Parliament, remarked, ( few actions have been characterized by more obstinacy in attack or defense." The number of Americans engaged in the action was about
two thousand five hundred, and of the British about three thousand.  The whole British
army in camp and on the field numbered about five thousand, and that of the American
about seven thousand.
Although the aggregate number of killed on both sides did not exceed one hundred and
fifty, the slaughter and maiming were dreadful in particular instances. Major Jones, of
the British army, commanded a battery, and fell, while at his post, during the swaying to
and fro of the armies across the clearing, toward evening, when several of the cannons were
taken and retaken a number of times. Thirty-six out of forty-eight of his artillery-men were
killed or wounded.  Lieutenant Hadden was the only officer unhurt, and he had his, cap
shot from his head by a musket-ball while spiking the cannon.  The sixty-second rgiment6
J At the urgent solicitation of Arnold, Gates sent out this feeble re-enforcement, which was all that was
detached from the right wing during the action. Had fresh troops been supplied to support the left wing,
no doubt the Americans would have gained a decided victory.
' See Gordon, Ramsay, Botta, Marshall, Sparks, Pictorial History of the Reign of George III., Stedman,
Burgoyne:s State of the Expedition, Thatcher, Neilson, &e.
8 Report to the Board of War.
4 Lieutenant-colonel Kingston, the adjutant general, before a committee of Parliament.
b The particular troops engaged in this action were, of the British, the ninth, twenty.first, sixty-second,
and twentieth of Hamilton's brigade; the twenty-fourth, belonging to Fraser's brigade; Breyman's rifle



OF THE REVOLUTION.


55


Baroness Reidesel's Notice of the Battle. Major Hull. Narrow Escape of Burgoyne. Arnold, and the Testimony of History,
of Hamilton's brigade, which consisted of six hundred when it left Canada, was so cut in
pieces, that only sixty men and five officers were left capable of duty. The commander,
Colonel Anstruther, and Major Harnage, were both wounded.
The Baroness Reidesel, wife of General Reidesel, who accompanied her husband through
this whole campaign, wrote an admirable narrative of the various events connected therewith.   In relation to the battle of the 19th of September, she says, s An affair happened,
which, though it turned out to our advantage, yet obliged us to halt at a place called Freeman's farm.   I was an eye-witness to the whole affair, and, as my husband was engaged,
in it, I was full of anxiety, and trembled at every shot I heard. I saw a great number of
the wounded, and, what added to the distress of the scene, three of them were brought into
the house in which I took shelter. One was a Major Harnage, of the sixty-second regiment, the husband of a lady of my acquaintance; another was a lieutenant, married to a
lady with whom I had the honor to be on terms of intimacy; and the third was an officer
by the name of Young."
More than one half of an American detachment under Major Hull,' consisting of two
hundred men, was killed or wounded. Some of the Americans ascended high trees, and
from their concealed perches picked off the British officers in detail.  Several were killed
by the bullets of these sure marksmen. Burgoyne himself came very near being made a
victim to this mode of warfare. A bullet, intended for him, shattered the arm of Captain
Green, aid-de-camp to General Phillips, who at that moment was handing a letter to Burgoyne.   The captain fell from his horse.  In the confusion of the smoke and noise, it was
supposed to be Burgoyne, and such was the belief, for some hours, in the American camp.
Among the Americans who were killed in the battle were Colonels Adams and Colburn,
valuable officers. But it is unpleasant and unprofitable to ponder upon the painful details
of a battle, and we will pass on to the consideration of subsequent events.
Let us pause a moment, however, and render justice to as brave a soldier as ever drew
blade for freedom. Although in after years he was recreant to the high and sacred responsibilities that rested upon him, and committed an act deserving the execrations of all good men,
strict justice demands a fair acknowledgment of his brave deeds. I mean Benedict Arnold
The testimony of historians is in conflict respecting the part which Arnold performed in
the battle just noticed; and prejudice and evident falsehood have denied him the honor of
being personally engaged in it.  Gordon says, I Arnold's division was out in the action, but
he himself did not head them; he remained in the camp the whole time."      General Wilkinson, the adjutant general of Gates at that time, says in his Memoirs that,( no general
officer was on the field of battle during the day," and intimates that he himself chiefly conducted affairs. He further says, that when, toward evening, Gates and Arnold were together in front of the camp, Major Lewis' came in from the scene of action, and announced
that its progress was undecisive. Arnold immediately exclaimed, ( I will soon put an end
to it," and set off in a full gallop from the camp. Gates dispatched an officer after him,
and ordered him back. Botta, who was acquainted with many of the foreign officers wha
served in this war, and whose sources of correct information were very ample, observes,
men; a corps of grenadiers; a part of the artillery, and a motley swarm of Indians and loyalists. The
American troops in action were those under Morgan and Dearborn; the first, second, and third New Hamp.
shire regiments; the eighth, ninth, and tenth Massachusetts regiments; the second and third of New York,
and a Connecticut regiment of militia.
1 He was a major general in our war with Great Britain in 1812. He surrendered his whole army, with
all the forts and garrisons in the neighborhood of Detroit, to General Brock on the 16th of August of that year.
His wife, Sarah Hull, to whom he had been married but a few weeks when the battle of Stillwater occurred,
determined to share the fortunes and perils of her husband, was in the camp, and was active among those Amer.
ican women who extended comfort and kind attentions to the ladies of the British army after the surrender
of Burgoyne. Because of his surrender at Detroit, General Hull was tried for cowardice, treason, &c., and
condemned to be shot; but, in consideration of his Revolutionary services and his age, he was pardoned.
He lived to see his character vindicated, and died in 1825. His wife died the following year.
2 Morgan Lewis, afterward governor of the state of New York.




I!                 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Colonel Varice's Letter respecting Arnold.  General Gates's Treatment of Arnold.  Rupture between them.
"Arnold exhibited upon this occasion all the impetuosity of his courage; he encouraged his
men by voice and example." Stedman, a British officer who served under Cornwallis here,
says, in his, History of the American War," " The enemy were led to the battle by General Arnold, who distinguished himself in an extraordinary manner." Allen, in his Biographical Dictionary, says,, In the battle near Stillwater, September the 19th, he conducted
himself with his usual intrepidity, being engaged incessantly for four hours." M'Farlane,
in the Pictorial History of England, says,,( Gates's detachment, being re-enforced and led
on by Arnold, fell upon Burgoyne and the right wing."  Again: ( Arnold behaved with
extraordinary gallantry, but he could make an impression nowhere."  Again:, Every
time that Arnold was beaten back, Gates sent him more men from the star redoubt." The
well-founded traditions of the vicinity support the position that Arnold was actively engaged.in the conflict, and a knowledge of the locality is sufficient to cause a doubt of the correctness of Wilkinson's statement.
Finally, Colonel Varick, writing from camp to General Schuyler, three days after the
action, satid, " He [Gates] seems to be piqued that Arnold's division had the honor of beating the enemy on the 19th.  This I am certain of, that Arnold has all the credit of the
action.  And this I further know, that-Gates asked where the troops were going when
Scammel's battalion marched out, and, upon being told, he declared no more troops should
go; he would not suffer the camp to be exposed.  Had Gates complied with Arnold's repeated desires, he would have obtained a general and complete victory over the enemy.
But it is evident to me he never intended to fight Burgoyne, till Arnold urged, begged, and
entreated him to do it."  In another letter which he wrote to Schuyler, about a month
afterward, from Albany, Colonel Varick observed,,< During Burgoyne's stay here, he gave
Arnold great credit for his bravery and military abilities, especially in the action of the
19th, whenever he spoke of him, and once in the presence of Gates."
Under ordinary circumstances, the statements of General Wilkinson, he being adjutant
general at that time, and presumed to be cognizant of all the events of the battle, ought to
be received as semi-official; but in this case they must be taken with great allowance.
Gates was evidently jealous of Arnold's well-earned reputation and growing popularity with
the army; and Wilkinson, who was his favorite, and seemed ever ready to pander to his
commander's vanity, caused, by his officious interference at that very time, a serious misunderstanding between the two generals, which resulted in an open rupture.  In the first
place, he caused a part of Arnold's division to be withdrawn without his knowledge, and
he was put in the ridiculous light of presuming to give orders which were contravened by
the general orders of the commander-in-chief.  Wilkinson also insisted on the return of a
part of Arnold's division (Morgan's corps) being made directly to him, and Gates sustained
the unjust demand in general orders.  And then, to crown his injustice toward a brave officer, Gates, in his communication to Congress respecting the battle, said nothing of Arnold
or his division, but merely observed that, the action was fought by detachments from the
army."   This was ungenerous, not only to Arnold, but to the troops under his command,
and he justly complained of the neglect when it became known. Harsh words passed between the two officers, and Gates even told Arnold that he thought him of little consequence in the army, that when Lincoln arrived he should take away his command, and
that he would give him a pass to leave the camp as soon as he pleased.1
Under the excitement of his feelings, Arnold demanded a pass for himself and suite to
join General Washington. The pass was granted, but in his cooler moments he saw how
injurious it might be to the cause, and how hazardous to his reputation, if he should voluntarily leave the army when another battle was hourly expected. He remained, but without any employment in the camp, for Gates put his threat into execution, took command of
Arnold's division himself, and, on the arrival of General Lincoln, on the 29th, placed him
over the right wing.
Sparks's Life of Arnold.




OF THE REVOLUTION.            57


Condition of the Armies after the Battle.


Burgoyne's Encampment


Poverty of the American Commissariat.


The morning of the 20th of September was cloudy, dull, and cheerless, and with the
gloomy aspect of nature the spirits of the British army sympathized. The combatants had
slumbered upon the field during the night, and at dawn, seeing no disposition on the part
of the Americans to renew the conflict, they retired to their camp on the river hills, and
upon the flats at the mouth of the creek, now Wilbur's Basin


BlRGOYNE'S ENCAMPMENT ON THE WEST BANK OF THE HUDSON, SEPTE.M3BER 20. 1777
From a print published in London, 1779.


Burgoyne was surprised and mortified at the bold and successful resistance of the Americans, and saw clearly that it would be useless to attempt to carry the works by storm, or
in any other way to push forward toward Albany.  He resolved to strengthen his position,
endeavor to communicate with Howe and Clinton at New York, and effect by their co-operation what his own unaided troops could not accomplish.  Had he been aware of the
true condition of the Americans on the morning after the battle, he might easily have won
a victory, for the soldiers composing the left wing, which sustained the conflict, had only a
single round of cartridges left. Nor was the magazine in a condition to supply them, for
such was the difficulty of procuring ammunition at that time, that the army had a very
meager quantity when the conflict began the day previous, and now there were not in the
magazine forty rounds to each man in the service. At no time was there more than three
days' provisions in the camp, and on the day of action there was no flour. A supply arrived on the 20th, and the disheartening contingency of short allowance to the weary soldiers was thus prevented.  General Gates alone was privy to this deplorable deficiency, and
it was not until after a supply of powder and window-leads for bullets was received from
Albany that he made the fact known, and thus gave a plausible reason for not complying
with Arnold's urgent request to commence the battle early again the next morning.
Both parties now wrought diligently in strengthening their respective positions. The
Americans extended and completed their line of breast-works from the northeastern angle
on the river hills,1 westward about three fourths of a mile, to the heights, a few rods north
See the small map on page 46.




58                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Fortifications of both Camps.  Junction of Lincoln with the Army at Bemis's.  Relative Position of the Armies.
of the dwelling of Mr. Neilson.  From this point they were extended south and southwest
to a large ravine, now on the south side of the road leading to Saratoga Springs.  At the
northwest angle, near Mr. Neilson's, stood the log barn before alluded to.  This was
strengthened by a double tier of logs on three sides.  Strong batteries, in circular form, extended about one hundred and fifty feet south. The whole was encircled by a deep trench
and a row of strong palisades.  the area within was about half an acre.  When completed,
it formed quite a strong bulwark, and was named Fort Neilson.
About fifty rods south of the fort was a strong battery; and in the rear, near the center
of the encampment, stood the magazine, made bomb-proof. The front of the camp was
covered by a deep ravine skirted by a dense forest, running nearly parallel with the lines,
from the river hills westward. For some distance west of the fort, large trees were felled,
and presented a strong abatis toward the enemy.1
Burgoyne was equally busy in strengthening his position. His camp was pitched within
cannon-shot of the American lines. Across the plain to the river hills a line of intrenchments, with batteries, was thrown up, crossing the north ravine not far from its junction
with the Middle Ravine or Mill Creek.   The intrenchments extended northward on the
west side of Freeman's farm. The Hessian camp was pitched upon an eminence about
half a mile northwest of Freeman's farm, where a strong redoubt was reared, and a line of
intrenchments of a horse-shoe form was thrown up.  Intrenchments were also made along
the hills fronting the river; and four redoubts, upon four hills or huge knolls, were erected,
two above and two below Wilbur's Basin. A short line of intrenchments, with a battery,
extended across the flats to the river, and covered their magazine and hospital in the rear.
These composed the principal defenses of the enemy. In many places these works may
still be traced, especially by mounds and shallow ditches in the woods.
As soon as the works were completed, General Gates moved his quarters from Bemis's
house to the one delineated in the-second picture from the top, among the group of localities
on page 46. The house belonged to Captain Ephraim Woodworth. A barn, which
stood about fifteen rods east of the house, was used for a hospital.
September, General Lincoln, with two thousand New England troops, joined the main army
1777.  on the 29th.  Gates at once gave up the right wing to him, and assumed the
command of the left, which was composed of two brigades under Generals Poor and Learned,
Colonei Morgan's rifle corps, and a part of the fresh New England militia.  Morgan occupied the heights immediately south of the fort; Learned's brigade the plain on the east, and
General Poor's brigade the heights south of Morgan, between him and Gates's headquarters.g In fact, the position of the American army was about the same as at the time of
the battle of the 19th.  Burgoyne disposed his troops to the best advantage.  The Hessians, under Colonel Breyman, occupied a height on the extreme right, and formed a flank
defense rather than a wing of the main army. The light infantry, under Earl Balcarras,
with the choicest portion of Fraser's corps, flanked on the left by the grenadiers and Hamilton's brigade, occupied the vicinity of Freeman's farm; the remainder of the army, including the artillery under Phillips and Reidesel, occupied the plain and the high ground
north of Wilbur's Basin; and the Hessians of Hanau, the forty-seventh regiment, and some
loyalists, were situated upon the flats near the river, for the protection of the bateaux, hospital, and magazine.  Thus in parallel lines to each other, and within cannon-shot, the two
armies lay in menacing attitude from the 20th of September until the 7th of October.  Each
exercised the utmost vigilance, expecting the other to fall upon them in full power, or entangle them by strategy. There were constant skirmishes between small detachments, sometimes foraging parties, and at others a few pickets; and not a night passed without the per1,batis is a French word signifying trees cut down. It is a phrase used in fortifications; and an abatis which is composed of trees felled, so as to present their branches to the enemy, is frequently found in a
woody country one of the most available and efficient kinds of defense.
2 Neilson, p. 15, 35.




OF THE REVOLUTION


659


Effect of the Battle on the People.  Diminution of Burgoyne's Army, and Increase of Gates's.  Condition of the Enemy.
formance of some daring exploit, either for the sake of adventure, or to annoy each other.
The Americans were constantly gaining strength, and their superiority of numbers enabled
them to form expeditions to harass the British, without weakening their lines by fatigue or
endangering the safety of the camp.
The success of the Americans in the late battle, and the rapid increment of the army,
almost annihilated loyalty in the neighborhood, and made every republican, whether soldier
or citizen, bold and adventurous.  At one time about twenty young Americans, farmers residing in the vicinity, not belonging to the camp, and intent on having a frolic, resolved to
capture an advance picket-guard of the enemy, stationed on the north bank of the middle
ravine. They selected their officers, and each being armed with a fowling-piece and plenty.
of powder and shot, they marched silently through the woods in the evening, until they got
within a few yards of the picket. The captain of the party then gave a tremendous blast
upon an old horse-trumpet which he carried, and, with yells and the noise of a whole regiment, they rushed through the bushes upon the frightened enemy. No time was given for
the sentinel's hail, for, simultaneously with their furious onset, the captain of the frolickers,
cried out lustily,,( Ground your arms, or you are all dead men!" Supposing half the American army was upon them, the astonished pickets obeyed, and thirty British soldiers were
taken by the jolly young farmers into the republican camp with all the parade of regular
prisoners of svar. This was one of many similar instances, and thus the British camp was
kept in a state of constant alarm.'
Burgoyne saw, with deep anxiety, the rapid increase of the American forces, while his
own were daily diminishing by desertion. Nearly one hundred and fifty Indian warriors,
from the tribes of the Oneidas, Tuscaroras, Onondagas, and Mohawks, accepted the warbelt, partook of the feast, and joined the republican army within three days after the battle
of the 19th. The Indians with Burgoyne were so dissatisfied with the results of that battle, and so disappointed in their hopes of blood and plunder, that they deserted him in large
numbers in that hour of his greatest peril. It was their hunting season, too, and this was
another strong inducement to return to their wives and children, to keep starvation from
their wigwams.   The Canadians and loyalists were not much more faithful.2
Burgoyne used every means in his power to transmit intelligence of his situation to Howe,
and to implore his assistance either by co-operation or a diversion in his favor. But the
American pickets, vigilant and wary, were planted in all directions; and it was by the
merest chance that the British commander received a letter from  Sir Henry Clinton, at
New York,8 written in cipher on the 10th, informing him that he should make a diversion
in his favor by attacking Forts Clinton and Montgomery, in the Hudson Highlands, on the
20th.   This information raised the hopes of Burgoyne, for he supposed that the attack at
those points would draw off large detachments from Gates for their defense, and render the
belligerent forces at Stillwater nearly equal in numbers. He immediately dispatched two
officers in disguise, and several other persons in different directions, to Sir Henry Clinton,
with a letter, urging him to make the diversion without fail, and saying that he had provisions enough to hold out until the 12th of October.
Time rolled on, and Burgoyne heard nothing further from Clinton.  His provisions began
to fail, and on the 1st of October he was obliged to put his troops on short allowance.  Not
a man or a biscuit was allowed to reach him from any quarter. The militia were flocking
into Gates's camp from all directions, and perils of every kind were weaving their web
around the proud Briton. At last he was reduced to the alternative to fight or fly.
" I do not believe either officer or soldier ever slept during that interval without his clothes, or that
any general officer or commander of a regiment passed a single night without being upon his legs occasionally at different hours, and constantly an hour before daylight."-Burgoyne's "'Review of the Evidence," p. 166.
2 Marshall's Life of Washington.
3 General Howe had left Clinton in command at New York, and was then engaged against Washington
on the Delaware, for the purpose of making a conquest of Philadelphia.




60                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Hostile Movements of the British.  Preparations of the Americans for Battle.  Second Battle of Stillwater.
The latter was both impracticable and inglorious, and at a council of officers it was resolved to fight.
On the morning of the 7th of October, Burgoyne, at the head of fifteen hundred regular
troops, with two twelve pounders, two howitzers, and six six pounders, moved toward the
American left, to the northern part of a low ridge of land about three fourths of a mile
northwest from the American camp, where they formed a line in double ranks.  He was
seconded by Phillips, Reidesel, and Fraser. The guard of the camp upon the high grounds
was committed to Brigadiers Hamilton and Specht, and that of the redoubts and plain near
the river to Brigadier-general Gall. This movement was for a two-fold purpose, to cover
a foraging party sent out to supply the pressing wants of the camp, and, if the prospect was
favorable, to turn the left of the American army, and fall upon its flank and rear. Small
parties of loyalists and Indians were sent around through by-paths, to hang upon the American rear and keep them in check.
Before this movement was known to General Gates, he had ordered out a detachment
of three hundred men under Colonel Brooks, to gain the rear of the enemy and fall upon
his outposts. While Brooks was at headquarters, receiving his instructions, a sergeant arrived with intelligence of the movement of the British army. The order to Colonel Brooks
was revoked, the officers in camp were summoned to their posts, and an aid was sent out
by the commander-in-chief to ascertain the exact position and probable intentions of the enemy.  He proceeded to a rise of ground covered with woods, half a mile from Fort Neilson
(near the house of Asa Chatfield), where he discovered the British in a wheat field cutting
straw, and several officers on the top of a cabin (Joseph Munger's) with a spy-glass, endeavoring to ascertain the condition of the American left. The aid returned, and had just
reached headquarters with his intelligence, when a party of Canadians, Indians, and loyalists, who had been sent forward to scour the woods, attacked the American pickets near the
middle ravine. They were soon joined by a detachment of grenadiers, drove the Americans
before them, and pressed forward until within musket-shot of the republican lines. For
half an hour a hot engagement ensued at the breast-work, a little south of the fort.  Morgan, with his riflemen, supported by a corps of infantry, at length charged the assailants
with such deadly effect, that they retreated in confusion to the British line, which was
forming upon a newly-cleared field, preparatory to marching into action.
It was now two o'clock, about the same hour at which the two armies summoned their
strength for combat on the 19th of September.  The grenadiers, under Major Ackland, and
the artillery, under Major Williams, were stationed on the left, upon a gentle eminence on
the borders of a wood, and covered in front by Mill Creek or Middle Ravine. The light
infantry, under Earl Balcarras, were placed on the extreme right, and the center was composed of British and German troops, under Generals Phillips and Reidesel. Near the cabin
of Mr. Munger, and in advance of the right wing, General Fraser had command of a detachment of five hundred picked men, destined to fall upon the American flank as soon as
the action in front should commence.
This design was at once perceived, and, at the suggestion of Morgan, Gates dispatched
that sagacious officer, with his rifle corps and other troops amounting to fifteen hundred men,
in a circuitous route to some high ground on the extreme right of the enemy, thence to fall
upon the flanking party under Fraser at the same moment when an attack should be made
upon the British left. For the latter service the brigade of General Poor, composed of
New York and New Hampshire troops, and a part of Learned's brigade, were detached.
About half past two the conflict began. The troops of Poor and Learned marched
steadily up the gentle slope of the eminence on which the British grenadiers, and part of
the artillery under Ackland and Williams, were stationed, and, true to their orders not to
fire until after the first discharge of the enemy, pressed on in awful silence toward the battalions and batteries above them.  Suddenly a terrible discharge of musket-balls and grapeshot made great havoc among the branches of the trees over their heads, but scarcely a shot
took effect among the men. This was the signal to break the silence of our troops, and,




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                 61
Bravery of both Armies. Quick and bold Movements of Morgan. Impetuosity and Bravery of Arnold. General Fraser
with a loud shout, they sprang forward, delivered their fire in rapid volleys, and opened
right and left to avail themselves of the covering of the trees on the margin of the ridge on
which the artillery was posted.
The contest now became fierce and destructive. The Americans rushed up to the very
mouths of the cannon, and amid the carriages of the heavy field-pieces they struggled for
victory. Valor of the highest order on both sides marked the conflict, and for a time the
scale seemed equipoised. Five times one of the cannon was taken and retaken, but at last
it remained in possession of the republicans as the British fell back. Colonel Cilley, who,
during the whole contest, had fought at the head of his troops, leaped upon the captured
piece, waved his sword high in air, dedicated the brazen engine of death to " the American
cause," wheeled its muzzle toward the enemy, and with their own ammunition opened its
thunder upon them. It was all the work of a moment of exultation when the enemy fell
back from their vantage ground.  The effect was electrical, and seemed to give the republicans stronger sinews and fiercer courage.  The contest was long and obstinate, for the
enemy were brave and skillful. Major Ackland, who was foremost in the conflict, was at
last severely wounded, and Major Williams was taken prisoner. Suddenly deprived of
their superior officers, the grenadiers and artillery-men fled in confusion, and left the field
in possession of the Americans.
Almost simultaneously with the attack on the British left, Morgan with his corps rushed
down the hills that skirted the flanking party of Fraser in advance of the enemy's right,
and opened upon them such a destructive storm of well-aimed bullets, that they were driven
hastily back to their lines. Then, with the speed of the wind, Morgan wheeled and fell
upon the British right flank with such appalling force and impetuosity, that their ranks
were at once thrown into confusion. The mode and power of attack were both unexpected
to the enemy, and they were greatly alarmed. While thus in confusion, Major Dearborn,
with some-fresh troops, came up and attacked them in front. Thus assailed, they broke
and fled in terror, but were rallied by Earl Balcarras, and again led into action. The
shock on right and left shook the British center, which was composed chiefly of Germans
and Hessians, yet it stood firm.
General Arnold had watched with eager eye and excited spirit the course of the battle
thus far. Deprived of all command, he had no authority even to fight, much less to order.
Smarting under the indignity heaped upon him by his commander; thirsting for that glory
which beckoned him to the field; burning with a patriotic desire to serve his country, now
bleeding at every pore; and stirred by the din of battle around him, the brave soldier became fairly maddened by his emotions, and, leaping upon his large brown horse, he started
off on a full gallop for the field of conflict. Gates immediately sent Major Armstrong' after
him to order him back. Arnold saw him approaching, and, anticipating his errand, spurred
his horse and left his pursuer far behind, while he placed himself at the head of three regiments of Learned's brigade, who received their former commander with loud huzzas. He
immediately led them against the British center, and, with the desperation of a madman,
rushed into the thickest of the fight, or rode along the lines in rapid and erratic movements,
brandishing his broadsword above his head, and delivering his orders every where in person.
Armstrong kept up the chase for half an hour, but Arnold's course was so varied and perilous that he gave it up.
The Hessians received the first assault of Arnold's troops upon the British center with a
brave resistance; but when, upon a second charge, he dashed furiously among them at the
head of his men, they broke and fled in dismay. And now the battle became general along
the whole lines. Arnold and Morgan were the ruling spirits that controlled the storm on
the part of the Americans, and the gallant General Fraser was the directing soul of the
British troops in action. His skill and courage were every where conspicuous. When the
I The author of the celebrated "Newburgh letters," written in the spring of 1783. I shall have occasion hereafter to give a full account of that affair.




16                            PICTORIAL      FIELD-BOOK
Death of General Fraser.   Censure of Morgan.     Panic in the British Line.  Timothy Murphy.
lines gave way, he brought order out of confusion; when regiments began to waver, he infused courage into them by voice and example. He was mounted upon a splendid irongray gelding; and, dressed in the full uniform of a field officer, he was a conspicuous object
for the Americans.   It was evident that the fate of the battle rested upon him, and this
the keen eye and sure judgment of Morgan perceived.' In an instant his purpose was conceived, and, calling a file of his best men around him, he said, as he pointed toward the
British right, ", That gallant officer is General Fraser. I admire and honor him, but it is
necessary he should die; victory for the enemy depends upon him. Take your stations in
that clump of bushes, and do your duty." Within five minutes Fraser fell mortally wounded, and was carried to the camp by two grenadiers. Just previous to being hit by the fatal
bullet, the crupper of his horse was cut by a rifle-ball, and immediately afterward another
passed-through the horse's mane, a little back of his ears. The aid of Fraser noticed this,
-and said, "It is evident that you are marked out for particular aim; would it not be prudent for you to retire from this place?"  Fraser replied, (, My duty forbids me to fly from
danger," and the next moment he fell.2
Morgan has been censured for this order, by those who profess to understand the rules of
war, as guilty of a highly dishonorable act; and others, who gloat over the horrid details
of the slaying of thousands of humble rank-and-file men as deeds worthy of a shout for glory,
and drop no tear for the slaughtered ones, affect to shudder at such a cold-blooded murder
of an officer upon the battle-field. War is a monstrous wrong and cruel injustice at all
times; but if it is right to kill at all upon the field of battle, I can perceive no greater
wrong in slaying a general than a private.    True, he wears the badge of distinction, and
the trumpet of Renown speaks his name to the world, but his life is no dearer to himself,
and wife, and children, and friends, than that of the humblest private who obeys his commands. If Daniel Morgan was guilty of no sin, no dishonor, in ordering his men to fall
upon and slay those under the command of Fraser, he was also guiltless of sin and dishonor
in ordering the sacrifice of their chief.  Indeed, it is probable that -the sacrifice of his life
saved that of hundreds, for the slaughter was stayed.
As soon as Fraser fell, a panic spread along the British line. It was increased by the
appearance, at that moment, of three thousand New York troops, under General Tenbroeck.
Burgoyne, who now took command in person, could not keep up the sinking courage of his
men. The whole line gave way, and fled precipitately within the intrenchments of the
1 Samuel Woodruff; Esq., of Connecticut, a volunteer in the army at the time, visited Bemis's Heights
some years since, and wrote an interesting account of some of the transactions of the day. He says the
importance of the death of Fraser was suggested to Morgan by Arnold.
X The name of the rifleman who killed General Fraser was Timothy Murphy. He took sure aim from
a small tree in which he was posted, and saw Fraser fall on the discharge of his rifle. Fraser told his
friends before he died that he saw the man who shot him, and that he was in a tree. Murphy afterward
accompanied General Sullivan in his expedition against the Indians in Central and Western New York,
where he had a narrow escape from death. In the fall of 1778 he was stationed in Schoharie county,
where he became enamored of a young girl of sixteen, named Margaret Feeck. He was twelve years
her senior, yet his love was reciprocated. Her parents " denied the bans," and attempted to break off the
engagement by a forcible confinement. But "love laughs at locksmiths," and, under pretense of going
after a cow some distance from home to milk her, she stole away one evening barefooted, to meet her lover,
according to an appointment through a trusty young friend, upon the bank of the Schoharie Creek. He
was not there, and she forded the stream, determined to go to the fort where Murphy was stationed. She
found him, however, upon the opposite side of the stream, and, mounting his horse behind him, they entered the fort amid the cheering of the inmates. The young females there fitted her up with comfortable
attire, and the next day they set out for Schenectady. There the soldier purchased for his intended bride
silk for a gown, and several dress-makers soon completed it. They repaired to the house of Rev. Mr.
Johnson, where they were married, and then returned to Schoharie. The parents became reconciled, and
they lived happily together many years. Murphy was an uneducated man, but was possessed of a strong
intellect, and had a good deal of influence over a certain class. He was an early friend of the Hon. William
C. Bouck, late governor of New York, and was among the most active in bringing him forward in public
life. He lost his Margaret in 1807, and in 1812 married Mary Robertson. He died of a cancer in his
throat in 1818.-See Simm's "History of Schoharie County."




OF THE REVOLUTION.,:6*3
Bravery of General Arnold.  Assault on the German Works.  Arnold Wounded.  Gates and Sir Francis Clarke.
camp.   The tumultuous retreat was covered by Phillips and Reidesel.  The Americans
pursued them up to their very intrenchments in the face of a furious storm of grape-shot and
musket-balls, and assaulted their works vigorously without the aid of field pieces or other
artillery.
The conflict was now terrible indeed, and in the midst of the flame, and smoke, and metal
hail, Arnold was conspicuous. His voice, clear as a trumpet, animated the soldiers, and,
as if ubiquitous, he seemed to be every where amid the perils at the same moment.  With
a part of the brigades of Patterson and Glover, he assaulted the works occupied by the light
infantry under Earl Balcarras, and at the point of the bayonet drove the enemy from a
strong abatis, through which he attempted to force his way into the camp. He was obliged
to abandon the effort, and, dashing forward toward the right flank of the enemy, exposed to
the cross-fire of the contending armies, he met Learned's brigade advancing to make an
assault upon the British works at an opening in the abatis, between Balcarras's light infantry and the German right flank defense under Colonel Breyman. Canadians and loyalists defended this part of the line, and were flanked by a stockade redoubt on each side.
Arnold placed himself at the head of the brigade, and moved rapidly on to the attack.
He directed Colonel Brooks to assault the redoubt, while the remainder of the brigade fell
upon the front. The contest was furious, and the enemy at length gave way, leaving Breyman and his Germans completely exposed. At this moment Arnold galloped to the left,
and ordered the regiments of Wesson and Livingston, and Morgan's corps of riflemen, to
advance and make a general assault. At the head of Brooks's regiment, he attacked the
German works. Having found the sally-port, he rushed within the enemy's intrenchments.
'The Germans, who had seen him upon his steed in the thickest of the fight for more than
two hours, terrified at his approach, fled in dismay, delivering a volley in their retreat, which
killed Arnold's horse under him, and wounded the general himself very severely, in the same
leg which had been badly lacerated by a musket-ball at the storming of Quebec, two years
before. Here, wounded and disabled, at the head of conquering troops led on by his valor
to the threshold of victory, Arnold was overtaken by Major Armstrong, who delivered to
him Gates's order to return to camp, fearing he "might do some rash thing!"  He indeed
did a rash thing in the eye of military discipline. He led troops to victory without an order
from his commander. His conduct was rash indeed, compared with the stately method of
General Gates, who directed by orders from his camp what his presence should have sanctioned. While Arnold was wielding the fierce sickle of war without, and reaping golden
sheaves for Gates's garner, the latter (according to Wilkinson) was within his camp, more
intent upon discussing the merits of the Revolution with Sir Francis Clarke, Burgoyne's
aid-de-camp, who had been wounded and taken prisoner, and was lying upon the commander's bed at his quarters, than upon winning a battle, all-important to the ultimate triumph
of those principles for which he professed so warm an attachment. When one of Gates's
aids came up from the field of battle for orders, he found the general very angry because
Sir Francis would not allow the force of his arguments.  He left the room, and, calling
his aid after him, asked, as they went out, "Did you ever hear so impudent a son of a
b-h?"   Poor Sir Francis died that night upon Gates's bed.," It is a curious fact," says Sparks, " that an officer who really had not command in the
army was the leader of one of the most spirited and important battles of the Revolution.
His madness, or rashness, or whatever it may be called, resulted most fortunately for himself. The wound he received at the moment of rushing into the arms of danger and of
death added fresh luster to his military glory, and was a new claim to public favor and
applause. In the heat of the action, he struck an officer on the head with his sword, an
indignity and offense which might justly have been retaliated upon the spot in the most
fatal manner. The officer forbore; and the next day, when he demanded redress, Arnold
declared his entire ignorance of the act, and expressed his regret."'
Life of Arnold, p. 118.




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
etreat of the Germans, and Close of the Battle.  Preparations of Burgoyne to Retreat.  The Killed and Wounded.


It was twilight when Arnold was wounded and conveyed by Major Armstrong and a
sergeant (Samuel Woodruff) from the field. The Germans who fled at his approach, finding the assault general, threw down their arms and retreated to the interior of the camp,
leaving their commander, Colonel Breyman, mortally wounded. The camp of Burgoyne
was thus left exposed at a strong point. He endeavored to rally the panic-stricken Germans
in the midst of the increasing darkness, but they could not be again brought into action.'
In truth, both armies were thoroughly fatigued, and the Americans were as loth to follow
up the advantage thus presented as were the British to repair their discomfiture.  As night
drew its curtain over the scene, the conflict ended, the clangor of battle was hushed, and all
was silent except the groans of the wounded, an occasional word of command, and the-heavy
tread of retiring columns, seeking for a place of repose.
About midnight, General Lincoln, with his division, which had remained in camp during
the action, marched out to relieve those upon the field, and to maintain the ground acquired.
Perceiving this, and knowing the advantage the Americans would possess with fresh troops
and such an easy access to his camp, Burgoyne felt the necessity of guarding against the
peril at once by changing his position. Before dawn he removed the whole of his army,
camp, and artillery about a mile north of his first position, above Wilbur's Basin, whence
he contemplated a speedy retreat toward Fort Edward.
October,  Early on the morning of the 8th the Americans took possession of the evacuated
177.  British camp, and skirmishes took place between detachments from the two armies
during the day, in one of which General Lincoln was badly wounded in the leg. As the
news that the British had retreated spread over the surrounding country, a great number
of men, women, and children came flocking into camp to join in the general joy, or to perform the more sorrowful duty of seeking for relatives or friends among the wounded and slain.
The loss of the Americans in killed and wounded did not exceed one hundred and fifty.
Arnold was the only commissioned officer who received a wound.  The British army suffered severely, and their loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners was about seven hundred.'
Among the officers killed were the gallant Fraser, Sir Francis Clarke Burgoyne's aid-decamp, Colonel Breyman, and Lieutenant Reynell. The latter two died on the field; Sir
Francis Clarke was taken prisoner and carried to Gates's quarters, where he died that night.
Major Ackland, who was severely wounded, was also taken prisoner, and, with Major Williams, was carried into the American camp; and Fraser, who was
Octr  conveyed to the house of John Taylor, near Wilbur's
cb Basin, expired the next morning at about eight o'clock
Burgoyne had several narrow escapes.  One ball passed through
his hat and another his coat.
The house in which General Fraser died stood until 1846, upon
the right bank of the Hudson, about three miles above Bemis's
-H                  Heights, near Ensign's store, and exhibited the marks of the conHUoss I WinCH GENE2A          '
FaEB DIED.       flict there in numerous bullet-holes.  It was used by Burgoyne
Evidence of Captain Money before a committee of Parliament in the case of Burgoyne.
g4 The British and Hessian troops killed in the foregoing actions were slightly covered with earth and brush
on the battle-field. It was not uncom-           2     grape-shot, tomahawks, arrow-heads,
mon, after the land was cleared and cul-               buttons, knives, &c., and among them
tivated, to see many, sometimes twen-                  were some teeth, evidently front ones,
ty, human skulls piled upon stumps in  b-              A e  but double. It is supposed that they
the fields. I have myself, when a boy,                 belonged to the Hessians, for it is said
seen human bones thickly strewn about  P;             that many of them had double teeth all
the ground, which had been turned  0'                 around, in both jaws. The annexed
up by the plow."-C. Neilson. Bur-                      are drawings of two tomahawks in my
gone's Campaign, p. 182.                               possession. No. 1 is made ofiron, No
I saw, in the possession of Mr.   i!?               2 of stone. It is graywacke, and is
Neilson, many relics plowed up from  f '               creased for the purpose of securing the
the battle-field, such as cannon-balls, 9_ S-i ~  X    handle by a string or by green withes.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


6C


Place of General Fraser's Death.  Account of his Death by the Baroness ReideseL  Fraser's last Request granted.
for quarters when he first pitched his camp there, and it was a shelter to several ladies
attached to the British army, among whom were the Baroness Reidesel and Lady Harriet
Ackland.  General Fraser was laid upon a camp-bed near the first window on the right
of the door, where he expired.  I can not narrate this event and its attendant circumstances
better than by quoting the simple language of the Baroness Reidesel.
"But," she says, " severer trials awaited us, and on the 7th of October our misfortunes
began. I was at breakfast with my husband, and heard that something was intended.
On the same day I expected Generals Burgoyne, Phillips, and Fraser to dine with us.  I
saw a great movement among the troops; my husband told me it was merely a reconnoissance, which gave me no concern, as it often happened. I walked out of the house, and
met several Indians in their war dresses, with guns in their hands. When I asked them
where they were going, they cried out,' War! war!' meaning that they were going to
battle. This filled me with apprehension, and I had scarcely got home before I heard
reports of cannon and musketry, which grew louder by degrees, till at last the noise became
excessive.
" About four o'clock in the afternoon, instead of the guests whom I expected, General
Fraser was brought on a litter, mortally wounded. The table, which was already set, was
instantly removed, and a bed placed in its stead for the wounded general. I sat trembling
in a corner; the noise grew louder, and the alarm increased; the thought that my husband
might, perhaps, be brought in, wounded in the same manner, was terrible to me, and distressed me exceedingly.  General Fraser said to the surgeon, ' Tell me if my wound is
mortal; do not flatter me.' The ball had passed through his body, and, unhappily for the
general, he had eaten a very hearty breakfast, by which the stomach was distended, and
the ball, as the surgeon said, had passed through it. I heard him often exclaim, with a
sigh, ' O fatal ambition!  Poor General Burgoyne!  Oh! my poor wife ' He was
asked if he had any request to make, to which he replied that, if General Burgoyne would
permit it, he should like to be buried at six o'clock in the evening, on the top of a mountain, in a redoubt which had been built there.  I did not know which way to turn; all
the other rooms were full of sick. Toward evening I saw my husband coming; then I
forgot all my sorrows, and thanked God that he was spared to me.  He ate in great haste,
with me and his aid-de-camp, behind the house. We had been told that we had the advantage over the enemy, but the sorrowful faces I beheld told a different tale; and before
my husband went away, he took me aside, and said every thing was going very badly, and
that I must keep myself in readiness to leave the place, but not to mention it.to any one.
I made the pretense that I would move the next morning into my new house, and had
every thing packed up ready., I could not go to sleep, as I had General Fraser and all the other wounded gentlemen
in my room, and I was sadly afraid my children would wake, and, by their crying, disturb
the dying man in his last moments, who often addressed me and apologized 'for the trouble
he gave me.' About three o'clock in the morning I was told that he could not hold out
much longer; I had desired to be informed of the near approach of this sad crisis, and I
then wrapped up my children in their clothes, and went with them into the room below.
About eight o'clock in the morning he died.
", After he was laid out, and his corpse wrapped up in a sheet, we came again into the
room, and had this sorrowful sight before us the whole day; and, to add to the melancholy
scene, almost every moment some officer of my acquaintance was brought in wounded.  The
cannonade commenced again; a retreat was spoken of, but not the smallest motion was
made toward it. About four o'clock in the afternoon I saw the house which had just been
built for me in flames, and the enemy was now not far off. We knew that General Burgoyne would not refuse the last request of General Fraser, though, by his acceding to it, an
unnecessary delay was occasioned, by which the inconvenience of the army was much increased.  At six o'clock the corpse was brought out, and we saw all the generals attend it
to the mountain. The chaplain, Mr. Brudenell, performed the funeral service, rendered
E




66                                PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
1Bia of Fraser                       Humanity of the Americans.                     Lady Harriet Ackland.


nsally solemn and awful from its being accompanied by constant peals from the enemy's
rtillery.  Many cannon-balls flew close by me, but I had my eyes directed toward the
mountain where my husband was standing amid the fire of the enemy, and of course I
ould not think of my own danger."
It was just at sunset, on that calm October evening, that the corpse of General Fraser
was carried up the hill to the place of burial within the, great redoubt." It was attended
only by the members of his military family and Mr. Brudenell, the chaplain; yet the eyes
of hundreds of both armies followed
'                      the solemn procession, while the
Americans, ignorant of its true character, kept up a constant cannonade
oo o.upon the redoubt.            The chaplain,
unawed by the danger to which
d                                    he was exposed,   as the cannonhn   b allas that   struck the hill threw the
loose soil over him, pronounced the
impressive funeral service of the
Church of England with an unfaltering voice.8  The growing darkFmasnl's BUULiA-PLACE.            ness added solemnity to the scene.
Suddenly the irregular firing ceased,
and the solemn voice of a single cannon, at measured intervals, boomed along the valley,
and awakened the responses of the hills  It was a minute-gun fired by the Americans in
honor of the gallant dead.  The moment information was given that the gathering at the
redoubt was a funeral company, fulfilling, amid imminent perils, the last-breathed wishes
of the noble Fraser, orders were issued to withhold the cannonade with balls, and to render
military homage to the fallen brave.
How such incidents smooth the rough features of war  In contrast with fiercer ages gone
by, when human sympathy never formed a holy communion between enemies on the battlefield, they seem to reflect the radiance of the future, and exhibit a glimpse of the time to
which a hopeful faith directs our vision, when, nation shall not war against nation," when
sone law shall bind all people, kindreds, and tongues, and that law shall be the law of
UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD."
The   case of Major Ackland and his heroic wif  e presents kindred features. He belonged
to the corps of grenadiers, and was an accomplished soldier.  His wife accompanied him to
Canada in 1776, andduring the whole campaign of that year, and until his return to England after the surrender of Burgoyne, in the autumn of 1777, endured all the hardships,
dangers, and privations of an active campaign in an enemy's country. At Chambly, on the
Sorel, she attended him in illness, in a miserable hut; and when he was wounded in the
battle of Hubbardton, Vermont, she hastened to him at Skenesborough from Montreal, where
she had been persuaded to remain, and resolved to follow the army thereafter. Just before
crossing the Hudson, she and her husband came near losing their lives in consequence of
their tent taking fire from a candle overturned by a pet dog. During the terrible engagement of the 7th of October she heard all the tumult and dreadful thunder of the battle in
which her husband was engaged; and when, on the morning of the 8th, the British fell
The height occupied by Burgoyne on the 18th, which ran parallel with the river till it approached
General Gates's camp.
a The hill on which the "great redoubt" was erected, and where General Fraser was buried, is about
one hundred feet high, and almost directly west from the house wherein he died. The relative situation
of this eminence to the Hudson will be best understood by looking at the view of Burgoyne's encampment,
page 57. The center hill in that drawing is the one here represented. The grave is within the inclosure
on the summit of the hill.
Burgoyne's "State of the Expedition," p. 169. Lieutenant Kingston's Evidence, p. 107.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


67


Courage and Fortitude of Lady Harriet Ackland.          Burgoyne's Request and Gates's Generosity.
back in confusion to Wilbur's Basin, she, with the other women, was obliged to take refuge
among the dead and dying, for the tents were all struck, and hardly a shed was left standing. Her husband was wounded, and a prisoner in the American camp. That gallant
officer was shot through both legs when Poor and Learned's troops assaulted the grenadiers
and artillery on the British left, on the afternoon of the 7th. Wilkinson, Gates's adjutant
general, while pursuing the flying enemy when they abandoned their battery, heard a feeble
voice exclaim, "Protect me, sir, against that boy." He turned and saw a lad with a musket,
taking deliberate aim at a wounded British officer, lying in a corner of a worm fence. Wilkinson ordered the boy to desist, and discovered the wounded man to be Major Ackland.
He had him conveyed to the quarters of General Poor (now the residence of Mr. Neilson),
on the heights, where every attention was paid to his wants.
When the intelligence that he was wounded and a prisoner reached his wife, she was
greatly distressed, and, by the advice of her friend, the Baroness Reidesel, resolved to visit
the American camp, and implore the favor of a personal attendance upon her husband. On
the 9th she sent a message to Burgoyne by Lord Petersham, his aid, asking per- October,
mission to depart.  ( Though I was ready to believe," says Burgoyne, " that pa-  1777
tience and fortitude, in a supreme degree, were to be found, as well as every other virtue,
under the most tender forms, I was astonished at this proposal. After so long an agitation
of spirits, exhausted not only for want of rest, but absolutely want of food, drenched in rains
for twelve hours together, that a woman should be capable of such an undertaking as delivering herself to an enemy, probably in the night, and uncertain of what hands she might
fall into, appeared an effort above human nature. The assistance I was enabled to give
was small indeed; I had not even a cup of wine to offer her; but I was told she had found,
from some kind and fortunate hand, a little rum and dirty water. All I could furnish to
her was an open boat and a few lines, written upon dirty wet paper, to General Gates,
recommending her to his protection."1
She set out in an open boat upon the Hudson, accompanied by Mr. Brudenell the chaplain, Sarah Pollard her waiting-maid, and her husband's valet, who had been severely
wounded while searching for his master upon the battle-field. It was about sunset when
they started, and a violent storm of rain and wind, which had been increasing since morning, rendered the voyage tedious and perilous in the extreme.  It was long after dark when
they reached the American outposts. The sentinel heard their oars and hailed them.
Lady Harriet returned the answer herself. The clear, silvery tones of a woman's voice
amid the darkness filled the soldier on duty with superstitious fear, and he called a comrade
to accompany him to the river bank. The errand of the voyagers was made known, but
the faithful guard, apprehensive of treachery, would not allow them to land until they sent
for Major Dearborn. This delay was only for a few minutes, not "( seven or eight dark and
cold hours," as asserted by Burgoyne.  They were invited by that officer to his quarters,
where a cup of tea and other comforts were provided; and Lady Harriet was also comforted
by the joyful tidings that her husband was safe. In the morning she experienced parental
tenderness from General Gates, who sent her to her husband at Poor's quarters, under a
suitable escort.  There she remained until he was removed to Albany.2
The following is a copy of the note from Burgoyne to General Gates: " Sir-Lady Harriet Ackland,
a lady of the first distinction of family, rank, and personal virtues, is under such concern on account of
Major Ackland, her husband, wounded and a prisoner in your hands, that I can not refuse her request to
commit her to your protection. Whatever general impropriety there may be in persons in my situation
and yours to solicit favors, I can not see the uncommon perseverance in every female grace and exaltation
of character of this lady, and her very hard fortune, without testifying that your attentions to her will lay
me under obligations.                       "I am, sir, your obedient servant,
L J. BURGOYNE."*
2 Major Ackland reciprocated the generous treatment here extended, by doing all in his power, while
on parole in New York, to alleviate the condition of distinguished American prisoners there. After his
* The original is among Gates's papers (vol. x.), in the possession of the New York Historical Society, from which this was
copied.




68                           PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
ie by Mr. Morton.                Death of Major Ackland.           Second Marriage of Lady Harriet.
When we consider the delicate form, the gentleness and refinement in which she had
been nurtured in the lap of rank and fortune, the shining virtues of connubial constancy,
heroic devotion, and unbending fortitude stand out in bold relief in the character of Lady
Harriet Ackland; and these, in their practical development in her case, furnish romance
with a stranger page than imagination can command, and lend to poetry half its inspiration.
They gave impulse to the lyre of the accomplished lady of Perez Morton, Esq.; and I will
close this chapter with an extract from her poem, suggested by the events above noticed.
"To gallant Gates, in war serenely brave,
The tide of fortune turns its refluent wave;
Forced by his arms, the bold invaders yield
The prize and glory of the well-fought field:
Bleeding and lost, the captured.ckland lies,
While leaden slumber seals his Fraser's eyes;
Fraser  whose deeds unfading glories claim,
Endeared by virtues and adorned by fame.
*     *     *      *     *     *     *
'Twas now the time, when twilight's misty ray
Drops the brown curtain of retiring day,
The clouds of heaven, like midnight mountains, lower,
Waft the wild blast and dash the drizzly shower,
Through the wet path her restless footsteps roam,
To where the leader spread his spacious dome.
Low at his feet she pours the desperate prayerGive my lost husband to my soothing care,
Give me in yonder solitary cave,
With duteous love, his burning wounds to lave;
On the warm pillow which his breast supplies,
Catch his faint breath and close his languid eyes,
Or in his cause my proffered life resignMine were his blessings, and his pains were mine."
i K..                                                                                 ---
return to England, he warmly defended American courage, at a dinner party, against the aspersions of a
Lieutenant Lloyd. High words passed, and a duel ensued. The major was shot dead; Lady Harriet became a maniac, and remained so two years. After her recovery, she married Mr. Brudenell, the chaplain.
already mentioned.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                                         69
Present Peacefulness at Saratoga.            Curious Meteorological Phenomena.              Departure for Schuylerville.


CHAPTER III.
URGOYNE and his army are at Wilbur's Basin, prepared to retreat
~i /^ \ } l  toward Lake Champlain, but lingering to pay a last sad tribute of
^      i affectionate regard to the remains of the accomplished Fraser.  Night
has drawn its veil over the scene, and we will turn away for a moment
i   from the sorrowful contemplation of war and its horrid retinue, to glance
at a picture lovely to the eye, ennobling to the spirit, and fruitful of pleas-;  I  d'  ant impressions upon the heart and memory.
Like a ( dissolving view," the smoking ruins, the sodden field, the trailing banner, the tent and breast-work and abatis, and slaughtered hundreds, and wailing
families, painted in gore by the hand of human discord; and the roar of cannon,,I the rattle of musketry, the roll of drums, the hiss and detonation of bombs, the savage yell, the loud huzza, the shriek and groan, the prayer and curse made audible
by the boastful voice of physical strength, have all passed away with the darkness, and a
bright summer's sunlight is upon the landscape. Turning the eye northward from the
American camp, there are the same gentle slopes, and deep ravines, and clustering hills,
and flowing river; and the heights of Saratoga in the far distance loom up as of yore. But
herds are grazing upon the lowlands, and flocks are dotting the hills; the ring of the mower's
scythe is heard in the meadow, and the merry laugh goes up from the russet harvest-field.
Art, with its strong arm of industry, has dug another river along the plain for the use of
commerce; the forest has been reaped by agriculture, habitations of prosperity are on every
hand, and the white wing of peace is spread out over all. It is a pleasant sight; therefore
let us enjoy it, and, for a while, forget the dark picture of the past which we have been
contemplating.
I 'spent nearly the whole of the day rambling and sketching upon the camp and July 27.
battle grounds of Stillwater.  It was excessively warm, although a strong breeze  1848.
from the south constantly prevailed.  As early as ten o'clock dark clouds began to rise in the
west, and the rumbling of distant thunder was audible. All day long, shower after shower
arose threateningly, sometimes approaching so near that sharp claps of thunder would startle
us; but they all swept along the horizon west and north, and disappeared behind the eastern
hills.  Not a drop of rain fell at Bemis's.  I remarked the phenomenon, and was told that
showers never reached there from the west. Their birth-place seems to be Saratoga Lake,
about six miles westward from the Hudson, and the summer rain-clouds which rise there
generally pass up the lake to its outlet, the Fish Creek, and, traversing that stream until it
falls into the Hudson, cross the valley and pass on to the Green Mountains, or spend their
treasures upon the intervening country.
About half past three in the afternoon a canal packet arrived from the south, and we
embarked for Schuylerville, nine miles above Bemis's. As usual, the boat was crowded to
excess, and, the sun being veiled by the clouds in the west, the passengers covered the deck.
As we passed quietly along the base of the hills whereon was Gates's camp, crossed Mill
Creek or Middle Ravine, and approached Wilbur's Basin, it required but small exercise of
the imagination, while listening to the constant roll of thunder beyond the heights, to realize
the appalling sounds of that strife of armies which shook those hills seventy years before, as
it fell upon the eager ears of wives, and sisters, and children whose cherished ones were in
the midst of the storm.
Proceeding northward, we approached the track of the showers, and, just before we




70                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Approch of a Tempest.           A violent Gale.          Misfortunes of an Irish Way-passenger
reached Wilbur's Basin, a cloud, black as Erebus, and so low that it seemed to rest upon
the hill-tops, spread out above us like the wings of a monster bird; and in its wake huge
masses of vapor, wheeling like the eddies of a whirlpool, came hastening on.  The experienced boatmen understood these portents, and covering the baggage with strong canvas,
lashed it tightly to the vessel. The breeze was still, and a hot, suffocating calm ensued.
The passengers, warned by the helmsman, retreated into the cabin, and the windows were
closed.  The cattle in the fields huddled in groups, and every bird and fowl, conscious of
impending danger, sought shelter. A flash of lightning, followed instantly by a crashing
thunder-peal, broke over the valley, and seemed to sever the fetters of the wind. A sullen
roar was heard in the distance, like the rush of great waters; the trees of the forest began
to rock, and from the roads behind us clouds of dust arose and filled the air.  In a few moments a tornado was upon us in its strength. It lasted only two minutes, but in its track
the results of the labor of the farmer for many days were destroyed.  Hay-cocks and wheat
sheaves were scattered like thistle-down, and the standing grain was laid upon the earth as
by the tread of a giant footstep.  As the wind passed by, the rain came down gently, and
continued to fall until we reached Schuylerville.
There came on the boat at Bemis's ( a poor exile from Erin," with a patched coat and
pair of thin pantaloons hanging over one arm.  He was immediately introduced to the
captain by the attentive steward, when he pleaded poverty, and declared that he hadn't a
"cint in the world."  He was ordered ashore, and the boat was guided accommodatingly
near the bank.  The poor fellow urged fatigue, and the weight of his brogans testified to
the truth of the appeal, if he had walked a mile. It was cruel to doubt the honesty of
that hard-favored face, and fifty cents were soon collected for him as a peace-offering to the
captain.  When the gust came on, he refused to go into the cabin.  He had been in a
three days' gale upon the Atlantic, and was not to be frightened by a squall on land. The
first blast of the hurricane wheeled him several times around upon deck, and came very near
putting him ashore, willing or not willing.  While he was endeavoring to seize a support,
the wind grasped his extra pantaloons, and, in utter dismay, he saw them gyrating, like a
spread eagle, high in air, and becoming ", small by degrees and beautifully less" in the distance.  The loss distressed him greatly-far more than the helmsman thought necessary,
and he ordered him to be quiet.  (Indade," said the poor fellow, "do ye think a man can
be quiet when the wind is rolling him like a bag o' feathers tied fast at one end, and all he
has in the world snatched from him by the blackguard gale?" and he looked agonizingly
toward the point where his pantaloons had vanished.,, Precious small estate," answered the amused helmsman, " if a pair of old pantaloons is
all you have in the world. I'll give you a better pair than that if you'll stop your noise."
"( An' wid three Vickeys sowed up in the waistbands?" eagerly inquired the exile.
His cautiousness was here at fault.  He hadn't a < cint in the world," but he had three
sovereigns sewed up in the waistbands of the pantaloons which had gone a-ballooning.  As
soon as the gale passed by, a child of the Green Isle was a foot-passenger upon the towpath, bearing sorrowful testimony to the truth of the ethical maxim, that retributive justice
is always swift to punish offenders against truth and honesty. No doubt his thoughts were
all with his absconded sub-treasurer, and the prose of Holmes's poem evidently engrossed
his mind:
"I saw them straddling through the air,
Alas! too late to win them;
I saw them chase the clouds as if
The devil had been in them.
They were my darlings and my pride,
They carried all my riches:
'Farewell, farewell!' I faintly cried,
'My breeches I 0 my breeches! "
It was about four o clock when we passed the burial-place of General Fraser. It had
been my intention to stop there for an hour, and visit the last earth-home of the illustrious




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                      71
Fraser's Grave. Do-ve-gat or Coveville. Colonel Van Vechten. Origin of" Whig" and, Try." Arrival at Sehuylervlle.
dead. But the rain fell fast, and the day was so far consumed that I was obliged to forego
the melancholy pleasure. The canal is so near the base of the hill, that I easily made the
sketch of it (printed on page 67) from the cabin-window.   Many years ago a distant relative of the general proposed to remove his remains to Scotland, and lay them beside those
of his mother; but they are still undisturbed where his sorrowing comrades laid them.
We reached the little settlement of Coveville at half past four, the rain still falling gently.
This was formerly Do-ve-gat, or Van Vechten's Cove, as it was sometimes called, the place
where the British tarried from the 15th till the 17th of September, while a working
party repaired the roads and bridges in advance to Wilbur's Basin.   Here was the
residence of Colonel Van Vechten, of the Saratoga militia, one of General Gates's staff.  He
was a zealous Whig, and the active Tories, whose plans his vigilance often frustrated, were
greatly imbittered against him politically, while they honored him as a brave man and good
neighbor.1   Burgoyne, on his retreat to Saratoga after the battle of the 7th of October,
ordered the dwellings of several Whigs to be destroyed; and at Do-ve-gat the buildings
of Colonel Van Vechten were the first to which the torch of the invader was laid. His family
fled to Albany on the approach of Burgoyne from Fort Edward; and when they returned,
late in October, their fine estate was a perfect wreck, and they had no shelter for their heads.
Colonel Van Vechten was at Albany, on public business, at the time of the first battle
on Bemis's Heights. He had received an order from the Committee of Safety at that city,
when Burgoyne marched from Fort Edward, to remove every Tory or disaffected person
from his vicinage into Connecticut. This order touched his excellent heart with grief, for
many of those included in the proscription were his neighbors, and some were his personal
friends, who honestly differed from him in relation to the momentous political questions at
issue. Within six hours after receiving the order he was in Albany, and procured its recall. The humanity, policy, and sound wisdom of that step were soon illustrated by the firm
support which some of these disaffected ones gave to the American cause.
We landed at Schuylerville in the midst of " sun and shower," for the sky was clear in
the west, yet the rain-drops came glittering down profusely. The Fish Creek, which here
has a succession of falls and rapids for nearly a mile, affording fine water-power for several
mills, was brimful with the showers of the day, and poured its flood, roaring and foaming,
under the canal viaduct with such force as to shake the solid masonry.  It empties its waters
into the Hudson about one hundred rods east of the canal, at the southeast angle of Old Fort
Hardy, now among the buried things of the past.   Upon the plain north of the creek, near
the old fort, the forces of Burgoyne laid down their arms; and on every side of that pleasant village scenes of historic interest lie scattered.  The earth was too wet to invite a sunset ramble, and we contented ourselves with viewing the beauty of the scene that spread
out before us eastward while loitering upon the upper piazza of the Schuylerville House.
] I have already had occasion to use the terms Whig and Tory, and shall do so often in the course of this
work. They were copied by us from the political vocabulary of Great Britain, and were first used here,
to distinguish the opposing parties in the Revolution, about 1770. The term originated during the reign
of Charles II., or about that time. Bishop Burnet, in his History of his own Times, gives the following
explanation: "The southwest counties of Scotland have seldom corn enough to serve them round the year;
and the northern parts producing more than they need, those in the west come in the summer to buy at
Leith the stores that come from the north; and, from a word, whiggam, used in driving their horses, all
that drove were called whiggamores, and shorter, whiggs. Now in that year, after the news came down
of Duke Hamilton's defeat, the ministers animated their people to rise and march to Edinburgh, and then
came up marching at the head of their parishes, with unheard-of fury, praying and preaching all the way
as they came. The Marquis of Argyle and his party came and headed them, they being about six thousand. This was called the Whiggamore's inroad, and ever after that all that opposed the courts came, in
contempt, to be called Whigg; and from Scotland the word was brought into England, where it is now
one of our unhappy terms of distinction." Subsequently all whose party bias was democratic were called
Whigs. The origin of the word Tory is not so well attested. The Irish malcontents, half robbers and
half insurgents, who harassed the English in Ireland at the time of the massacre in 1640, were the first to
whom this epithet was applied. It was also applied to the court party as a term of reproach. —ee, also,
Macaulay's History of England, i., 240.




72                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Bautiful Evening Scene.  Commencement of Burgoyne's Retreat toward Saratoga.  His Retreat anticipated by Gates.
It, was, indeed, a charming scene, enhanced by the associations of the vicinity.  The face
of nature was washed clean by the drenching showers; the trees and shrubs were brilliant
green; and from the clustering knolls or loftier hills beyond the Hudson, once bristling with
bayonets or wreathed by the smoke of cannon, the evening sunlight was reflected back by
the myriad rain-drops lying upon trees, and grass, and blooming corn. Nor was this all.
Upon the dark background of the hills was Iris,
"That beautiful one,
Whose arch is refraction, whose keystone the sun;
In the hues of its grandeur sublimely it stood
O'er the river, the village, the field, and the wood."
CHARLES SWAIN.
Springing from the plain, its double arch spanned the whole ground where British pride
was humbled and American valor acknowledged. I never gazed upon the (, bow of promise" with so much interest, for thought unconsciously bridged over the chasm of seventy
buried years, and it seemed for a moment as if the dark hours of our rebellious conflict had
returned, and that in the covenant seal before me the eye of hope read prophetically the history of the happy present. As the sun went down and the bow faded, the Spirit of Beauty
left traces of its pencil on my thoughts, and I felt, with " AMELIA," that
"There are moments, bright moments, when the spirit receives
Whole volumes of thought on its unwritten leaves,
When the folds of the heart in a moment unclose,
Like the innermost leaves from the heart of the rose;
And thus, when the rainbow had passed from the sky,
The thoughts it awoke were too deep to pass by;
It left my full soul like the wings of a dove,
All fluttering with pleasure, and flutt'ring with love."
In the evening I visited the son of Colonel Van Vechten just named, a man of three
score and ten years. His memory is unclouded, and extends back to the closing scenes of
the Revolution.  His father stored that memory with the verbal history of his times, and
every noteworthy locality of Saratoga is as familiar to him as the flower-beds of his beautiful
garden. He kindly offered to be my guide in the morning to all the places here made memorable by the events connected with the surrender of Burgoyne.
While awaiting the dawn, let us turn to the past, and view occurrences from the burial
of Fraser to the closing scenes of the drama.
October,   As soon as the funeral ceremonies at Fraser's burial were ended on the evening
T77.   of the 8th, Burgoyne, fearing that the Americans (whose forces constantly increased,
and whose activity denoted preparations for some bold movement) might succeed in turning
his right and surrounding him, commenced a night march toward Saratoga. A retreat
was anticipated by General Gates, and, previous to the action on the 7th, he sent General
Fellows with a detachment of fourteen hundred men to occupy the high grounds east of the
Hudson, opposite the Saratoga ford, intending, in case the enemy retreated, to follow so
closely in pursuit as to be able to re-enforoe that officer from the ranks of the main army.
He also sent another detachment, after the action, to occupy ground higher up near Fort
Miller, and ordered a selected corps of two thousand men to push forward and occupy the
heights beyond Saratoga, in the direction of Lake George.  But the retreat of Burgoyne
was at a time when Gates least expected it. The troops of the former had been in motion
all the night before, and under arms all day on the 8th, and he supposed that they would
tarry for rest until the morning of the 9th.
At sunset on the 8th a lurid haziness in the west indicated an approaching storm, and
before midnight the rain began to fall. The enemy felt that his situation was too perilous
to be maintained, and the whole British army commenced its march at nine o'clock in the
evening. The loss of Fraser was now severely felt, for he had always showed as consummate skill inl managing a retreat as bravery in leading to an attack.  General Reidesel




OF THE REVOLUTION.


73


__ ____ ___ ___


Melancholy Condition of the British Army. Gates's Kindness to the Invalids. Destruction of Schuyler's Mills and Mansion
commanded the van-guard and General Phillips the rear-guard. The night was so dark,
the rain so incessant in the morning, and the roads were so bad, that the royal army did
not reach Saratoga until the evening of the 9th. They made a halt about six o'clock in
the morning, and General Reidesel, exhausted by fatigue, went into the caleche in which
his wife and children were, and slept soundly for about three hours.  Wet and weary, and
harassed by the Americans all the way, the poor soldiers were too much exhausted even to
cut wood for fires, and they lay down upon the cold, wet ground and slept. The generals
reposed in the open air, upon mattresses, with no other covering than oil-cloth.  The Baroness Reidesel and other women of the British camp were obliged to submit to these privations. (" My dress," the former says,, was wet through and through with rain, and in this
state I had to remain the whole night, having no place to change it; I, however, got close
to a large fire, and at last lay down on some straw. At this moment General Phillips
came up to me, and I asked him why he had not continued our retreat, as my husband had
promised to cover it and bring the army through.  ' Poor dear woman,' he said, I wonder
how, drenched as you are, you have the courage still to persevere, and venture further in
this kind of weather.  I wish,' he continued, ' you were our commanding general; General
Burgoyne is tired, and means to halt here to-night and give us our supper.' "1 No doubt
there was more sincerity than compliment in General Phillips's wish, for the frequent halts
and great delays of Burgoyne had dissatisfied his officers, and were, doubtless, chief causes
of his misfortunes. His ambition and his love of ease were often wrestling, and the latter
too frequently gained the mastery.
The retreat of Burgoyne was so sudden, that he left all his sick and wounded in the hospital behind him, together with a great number of wheel carriages and other things collected
at Wilbur's Basin. The invalids, amounting to about three hundred, were treated by General Gates with the utmost humanity, which Burgoyne afterward gratefully acknowledged.
On retiring, the English burned the houses they had occupied, and many other things which
they could not carry away with them. They also wantonly set fire to several buildings on
the way, by order of Burgoyne himself; and among others, when they crossed the Fish
Creek, the mansion of General Schuyler, his mills and other property, amounting in value
to twenty thousand dollars, were destroyed by them.
The house of General Schuyler was elegant for the times, and was very pleasantly situated upon the south bank of the Fish Kill or Fish Creek.  It was rebuilt after the war.
but in a style much inferior in beauty and expense.  It is still standing,
and in the present possession of George Strover, Esq.  The broad lawn r'.-..
in front is beautifully shaded with venerable trees; and the falls of the
Fish Creek close by contribute, by their music and wild beauty,  r ---
much to the interest of the scene.  The mill was also rebuilt in
the same style.  In the engraving is given a correct representation  -
of it.  Many of the logs in the dam are the same that
curbed the stream in the time of the Revolu-       -~      J:.
tion; and I was told that   id
the whole appear as at that
period, but that the sur-                           -
rounding hills should be x
covered with dense woods.                                                    t /l
The rain was so heavy C-'&on the 9th, that General
Gates did not commence
his pursuit until nearly
noon on the tenth.                        CHUYL' MILLS, SARATOGA.
noon on the tenth. The


1 Letters of the Baroness Reidesel.




7.4                                   PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Situation of Fellows's Detachment.          Conduct of the American Militia.          Burgoyne's Attempt to Retreat.


detachment under Fellows was unconsciously in a perilous situation for want of re-enforcements.   Resting in supppsed security on the. night of the 9th, his camp was left so entirely
unguarded that an officer, who had been sent
fbrward by Burgoyne to reconnoiter, marched
all around it without meeting a sentinel! This
neglect would have been fatal if Burgoyne had
known the exact position of his enemies around
-I-                   '  him. The officer urged him to allow him to surprise Fellows, but misfortune had made the British general wary and suspicious, and, fortunately
for the Americans, the request was denied.
GENERAL SCHfjYLE e' S M iANSION.    The main army of Gates reached the high
ridge between Saratoga Church and the Fish
Creek at about four in the afternoon of the 10th. The British had crossed over the creek,
and were encamped upon the high grounds on the slope of which Schuylerville is now built.'
The two armies were within the sound of each other's music.    The boats of Burgoyne,
with his baggage and provisions, were at the mouth of the creek. A fatigue party began
to carry the stores from the boats to the heights, but Fellows constantly played upon them
with two field pieces stationed on the fats beyond the river, and they were obliged to retreat
to the camp.   Several of the bateaux of the enemy, with their provisions, were captured,
and immediately became objects of plunder for the raw militia and motley followers of the
army.   Even the Continental troops were implicated in taking t, pay and rations" for services, directly from the enemy, instead of receiving them  through the paymaster.  These
irregularities became so extensive that General Gates issued an order on the 12th, in which
he declared that he " saw so many scandalous and mean transactions committed by persons
who sought more after plunder than the honor of doing their duty, that it was his unalterable resolution to have the first person who should thereafter be detected in pillaging the
baggage and stores taken from the enemy, tried and punished with the utmost severity of
the military law."2
Finding the ford across the Hudson strongly guarded by the Americans, Burgoyne resolved to continue his retreat up the right bank of the river to the front of Fort Edward,
force his way across, and take possession of that fortress.  He sent forward a working party,
consisting chiefly of loyalists, guarded by Fraser's marksmen, to repair the bridges and open
the roads, and also a detachment of troops to take possession of the fort.  The Americans,
who were spreading out in small detachments upon every height, on all sides, soon drove
the workmen back into the camp; and the British troops found the fort in the possession
of two hundred Americans, under Colonel Cochrane. The militia were flocking to the fort
to strengthen the garrison, and the enemy, believing the Americans to be as numerous in
front as in rear, hastily retreated back to their lines.
1 The village of Schuylerville is on the north bank of the Fish Creek. Old Saratoga, with its church,
was on the south side. The church was about eight hundred yards south of the creek, on the road to Albany.
2 It is said that when Burgoyne proposed in council, on the 13th, to retreat precipitately, he mildly res
proached Major Skene, a stanch loyalist, with having brought him into this difficulty by injudicious advice,
particularly with regard to the expedition to Bennington. " You have brought me into this difficulty," he
said; "now advise me how to get out of it."  " Scatter your baggage, stores, and every thing else that
can be spared, at proper distances," replied the major, "and the militia will be so engaged in collecting
and securing the same, that the troops will have an opportunity of getting clear off.
e The two victories on Bemis's Heights greatly inspirited the Americans, and when, after the last battle,
General Gates, in order to make victory secure, applied to the Legislature of New Hampshire for more
troops, the militia turned out with alacrity. The speaker of the Assembly, John Langdon, Esq., upon re.
ceiving the application, immediately proposed an adjournment, and that as many members as could should
set off directly as volunteers for the cause, taking with them all the men they could collect. It was agreed
to, and done by himself and others.-Gordon, ii., 262.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


Unsuccessful Stratagem of Burgoyne.  Perilous Situation of two American Brigades.  Deserters from the British Army.
Thus the cloud of perils thickened around Burgoyne. He now abandoned all idea of
saving his artillery and baggage, and saw no other mode of escape than a precipitate retreat.
The provisions and other stores in his bateaux were captured or destroyed by the republicans,
and from every direction he was galled by a desultory fire from cannon and small arms.
So overwhelming was the number of the Americans, that to fight would be madness, and
Burgoyne lost all hope of saving his doomed army.
But in the midst of all these perils and despondencies, a stratagem of the British commander, suggested by an erring apprehension on the part of General Gates, aided by the
occurrence of a natural phenomenon, came very near being successful, and for a time greatly
cheered the drooping spirits of the enemy.  Rumor reached General Gates that the whole
British army had moved toward Fort Edward, leaving only a small detachment, as a rearguard, in defense of the camp. This rumor originated from the march of the detachment
already mentioned, which was sent forward to Fort Edward. General Gates, therefore,
determined to cross the Fish Creek on the morning of the 11th, fall in full force upon and
crush the British rear-guard, and make a vigorous pursuit after the main body.
By some means this determination of Gates's became known to Burgoyne, and he resolved
to profit by the false rumor.  He left a strong guard at the battery on the creek, and concealed his troops in the thicket, a few rods in the rear. In the morning the sky was cloudless, but a thick fog rested upon the whole country and obscured every object. This was
hailed as a favorable event by both generals, Gates supposing that it would veil his movements from the British rear-guard, and Burgoyne confidently believing that it would conceal
his ambush, and that victory was now certain.
The brigades of Generals Nixon and Glover, and Morgan's corps, were ordered to cross
the creek and fall upon the enemy's camp. Morgan advanced at about daylight, the fog
being so thick that he could see but a few rods around him. He at once fell in with the
British pickets, who poured in a volley upon him and killed a lieutenant and several privates,
Morgan instantly conceived that the rumor was false, and that the enemy was in force near,
At that moment Deputy Adjutant-general Wilkinson, who had been sent by Gates to reconnoiter, rode up, and, coinciding in opinion with Morgan, hastened to report to his commander the supposed peril of his corps. The brigades of Patterson and Learned were immediately dispatched to its support.  Nixon and Glover were at the same time pressing
forward to attack the camp, while the whole army advanced to the heights immediately
south of the creek.  Nixon crossed the creek to the plain, and surprised a picket guard at
Fort Hardy; and Glover was about to follow him, when a British soldier was seen hastily
fording the stream.  He was captured, and professed to be a deserter.  Glover questioned
him, and was informed that the entire British army were in their camp, drawn up in order
of battle. The general suspected him of untruth, and threatened him with instant death
if he should deceive him. The soldier declared that he was an honest deserter, and solemnly affirmed the truth of his tale, which was soon confirmed by a German deserter, and by
the capture of a reconnoitering party, consisting of
a subaltern and thirty-five men, by the advance
guard, under Captain Goodale, of Putnam's regi-.. -..=
ment.  The deserter was immediately sent with
one of Glover's aids to General Gates, and information was forwarded to General Nixon, with
urgent advice to halt.  Satisfied of the deserter's
truth, Gates revoked all the orders of the evening
previous, and directed the troops to return to their
respective positions.  His headquarters were nearly a mile in the rear of his army, and his order
came almost too late to save the troops, who had  GENERAL GATES's HEADqUARTERS AT SARATOGA.'


1 This house is still standing. The view is taken from the road, a few rods southwest of the building




76


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Retreat of the Americans to their Camp.  Perplexity of Burgoyne.    A scattered Retreat proposed.
already crossed the creek, from destruction, for the fog soon passed away and discovered them
to the enemy, then in full view, and under arms upon the heights. Nixon, however, had
retreated, and the cannonade opened upon him by the British took effect only upon the rear
of his brigade.'
General Learned, in the mean while, with his own and Patterson's brigades, had reached
Morgan's corps, and was pressing on rapidly to the attack when Wilkinson came up, not
with a counter order from Gates, but with the intelligence that the right wing of the Americans had given way. The brave veteran disliked the idea of retreating, preferring to carry
out the standing order of the previous day to the very letter;2 but, on counseling with Colonels
Brooks and Tupper, and some other officers, a retreat was deemed advisable. As they turned, the British, who were awaiting an attack, opened a fire upon them; but the Americans
were soon masked by the woods, and Morgan took post upon the flank and rear of the enemy.
Thus, by the providential circumstance of a deserter flying to our camp, our army was
saved from a terrible, perhaps fatal, loss; for, had the several brigades of Nixon, Glover,
Learned, and Patterson been cut off, Burgoyne might have so much weakened the American army, and strengthened his own by the adherence of the now wavering loyalists and
Indians, as to scatter the remainder of the Continental forces and reach Albany, the darling
object of all his efforts.  But the breath of the deserter blasted all his hopes, and the incident
was, to use his own words, " one of the most adverse strokes of fortune during the campaign."'
Burgoyne now saw no way of escape. He sent out scouts toward the north, who reported
the roads impassable and the woods swarming with republicans. The few Indians who had
remained now left him, utterly disheartened; and the loyalists, feeling that their personal
security would be jeoparded in case of a surrender, left the army every hour. It was proposed to make a scattered retreat, each soldier carrying in his knapsack provisions enough
for two or three days, Fort George being the place of rendezvous; but such a step would
be perilous in the extreme, for the Americans, apparently as numerous as the leaves upon
the trees, and ever on the alert, would cut them off in detail.  In battle, a fortunate circumstance might occur in their favor; but General Gates, assured that he had his enemy
in his power, could not be induced to jeopard the lives of his troops by an engagement.
Burgoyne's only hope rested upon aid from Clinton below. Not a word, however, could he
get from that general; yet, clinging with desperation to every hope, however feeble, he resolved to await that succor quietly in his strong camp as long as his exhausted stores and a
powerful enemy would allow.
Burgoyne's camp, upon the heights near the Fish Creek, was fortified, and, extending
more than half a mile in the rear, was strengthened by artillery. On an elevated plain,
northwest of the 'village of Schuylerville, his heavy guns were chiefly posted. Directly in
his rear Morgan and his corps were stationed. In front, on the east side of the Hudson,
It is of wood, and has been somewhat enlarged since the Revolution. It was used by General Gates for
his quarters from the 10th of October until after the surrender of Burgoyne on the 17th. It belonged to a
Widow Kershaw, and General Gates amply compensated her for all he had, on leaving it. It is now well
preserved. It stands on the east side of the Albany and Whitehall turnpike, about a mile and a half south
of the Fish Creek. The Champlain Canal passes immediately in the rear of it; and nearly half a mile
eastward is the Hudson River.
1 John Nixon was born at Framingham, Massachusetts, March 4th, 1725. He was at the siege of
Louisburg in 1745, was captain in the provincial troops under Abercrombie at Ticonderoga, and was esteemed a valiant soldier during the whole of the French and Indian war. He took the patriot side when
our Revolution broke out. He was one of the minute men at the Lexington battle, was at the head of a
regiment in the battle of Bunker Hill, and was made a brigadier in the Continental army in August, 1776.
He was then placed in command at Governor's Island, near New York. In the battle of Bemis's Heights
a cannon-ball passed so near his head it impaired the sight of one eye and the hearing of one ear. On ac.
count of ill health, he resigned his commission in 1780. He died March 24th, 1815, aged 90 years.
g The standing order was, "In case of an attack against any point, whether front, flafik, or rear, the
troops are to fall on the enemy at all quarters."
s Letter to Lord George Germain, dated Albany 20th, 1777.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                                   77
Relative Position of the two Camps.   Exposed Condition of the British Camp.   Burgoyne determines to Surrender


Fellows, with three thousand troops, was strongly intrenched. The main body of the Amer
ican army, under Gates, was on the south side of the Fish Creek; and in every direction
small detachments of Continentals or republican militia were vigorously watching the enemy
at bay.' Fort Edward was in possession of the Americans, and upon high ground in the
vicinity of Glenn's Falls they had a fortified camp.
Burgoyne was completely environed, and every part of the royal camp was exposed to
the fire of cannon and musketry. The
soldiers slept under arms continually.
There was not a place of safety for the
^                     sick, wounded, and dying, or for the womb\RRtEN D    Ei!en and children of the officers and soldiers:
'                          There was no secure place for a council.
-      U IBGOfI  YN I.               None dared go to the river for water, and
thirst began to distress the camp.'                      The
-,4 a       s                desertions of the Indians and Canadians,
-               -         the cowardice and disaffection of the loy-,,, o                   alists, and the losses in killed and woundIRRorTE rq WA                  ed, had so thinned Burgoyne's ranks, that
his army was reduced one half, and a large
proportion of those who remained were
not Englishmen.                        There was not bread
i.-a -9'AI                            could- be obtained.  Not a word came./....'!:                  from General Clinton, and Burgoyne was
2    I 20      I ~ I    "fT - " "totally ignorant of his having made any
r                   jl            =2 movement up the Hudson.  The last ray
-. n            l     of hope faded away, and toward the even-  ^l [ t                             ing of the 12th the British commander
- Ps Gi t                 held a council with Generals Reidesel,.                             4 I    Phillips, and Hamilton.  It was decided
o i^/<xxs@;k7y  >     E ^          to retreat before morning, if possible; but
t-     (ilfwl /.                         returning scouts brought only hopeless in}rj            '~               i "^    telligence respecting the roads and the
strength of the enemy.
'^ ^ 3       -.   *   (~ j              On the morning of the 13th Burgoyne
1 g                  \Vt   I ( (called a general council of all officers, ineluding captains of companies.                  Their devs           * 1    'i'',/\,          liberations were held in a large tent, which
^naoN ill               \ Xi               was several times perforated by musketD it p / z       /     balls from the Americans. Several grape-^   I /                 shot struck near the tent, and an eighteen
/                                pound cannon-ball swept across the table
/              \         at which sat Burgoyne and the other genA Y*nsJ 0       erals.  Their deliberations were short, as
__ -_:    — __           _ -   might be expected, and it was unanimously resolved to open a treaty with General
Gates for an honorable surrender.  It was a bitter pill for the proud lieutenant general, but
there was no alternative.


By reference to the above map, the position of the two armies at this juncture will be more clearly understood. They held the same relative position until the surrender on the 17th.
2 The consideration of Americans for women was conspicuously displayed at this time. While every
man who went to the river for water became a target for the sure marksmen of the Americans, a soldier's
wife went back and forth as often as she pleased, and not a gun was pointed at her.




78                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Proposition of Burgoyne tsurrender his Troops.  Terms proposed by Gates.  Terms finally agreed upon.
Toward evening a flag was sent to General Gates, with a note, intimating that General
Burgoyne was desirous of sending a field officer to him upon a matter of great moment to
both armies, and wishing to know at what hour the next morning it would suit General
Gates to receive him.  The reply was,, At ten o'clock, at the advanced post of the army
of the United States." Accordingly, Lieutenant Kingston, Burgoyne's adjutant general, appeared at the appointed hour and delivered the following note from his commander:, After
having fought you twice, Lieutenant-general Burgoyne has waited some days in his present
position, determined to try a third conflict against any force you could bring against him.
He is apprized of your superiority of numbers, and the disposition of your troops to impede
his supplies, and render his retreat a scene of carnage on both sides. In this situation, he
is impelled by humanity, and thinks himself justified by established principles and precedents
of state and war, to spare the lives of brave men upon honorable terms.  Should Majorgeneral Gates be inclined to treat upon that idea, General Burgoyne would propose a cessation of arms during the time necessary to communicate the preliminary terms by which, in
any extremity, he and his army mean to abide."
General Gates had already prepared a schedule of terms upon which he lwas willing to
treat. It enumerated the distresses of the British army, and declared that they could only
be allowed to surrender as prisoners of war, and that they must lay down their arms in
their camp. Burgoyne replied, with spirit, that he would not admit that the retreat of his
army was cut off while they had arms in their hands, and that the degrading act of laying
down their arms within their own camp would not be submitted to. The latter condition
was waived, and in the afternoon General Gates ordered a cessation of hostilities till sunset.
Negotiations continued until the 16th, when every thing was agreed upon and adjusted,
ready for the signatures of the contracting parties. This last act was to be performed on
the morning of the 17th.
The substance of the, Convention between Lieutenant-general Burgoyne and Majorgeneral Gates," as the British commander superscribed it, was, 1st. That Burgoyne's troops
were to march out of their camp with all the honors of war, the artillery to be moved to the
verge of the Hudson, and there left, together with the soldiers' arms-the said arms to be
piled by word of command from their own officers; 2d. That a free passage should be
granted the troops to Great Britain, on condition of their not serving again during the war;
3d. That if any cartel should take place by which Burgoyne's army, or any part of it, should
be exchanged, the foregoing article should be void as far as such exchange should extend;
4th. That the army should march to the neighborhood of Boston by the most expeditious
and convenient route, and not be delayed when transports should arrive to receive them;
6th. That every care should be taken for the proper subsistence of the troops till they should
be embarked; 6th. That all officers should retain their carriages, horses, bat-horses, &c.,
and their baggage, and be exempt from molestation or search; 7th. That on the march,
and while the army should remain at Boston (the port selected for their embarkation), the
officers should not be separated from their men; 8th. That all corps whatsoever, whether
composed of sailors, bateaux-men, artificers, drivers, independent companies, or followers of
the army, of whatever country they might be, should be included in the fullest sense and to
the utmost extent of the articles, and comprehended in every respect as British subjects,
whose general had capitulated for them;1 9th. That all Canadians and persons belonging
to the Canadian establishment should be permitted a free return to Canada, should be conducted by the shortest route to the British posts on Lake George, should be treated in all
respects like the rest of the army, and should be bound by the same conditions not to serve
during the war, unless exchanged; 10th. That passports should be immediately granted
for three officers, to carry Burgoyne's dispatches to General Howe at Philadelphia, to Sir
Guy Carleton in Canada, and to the government of Great Britain by way of New York;
11th. That all officers, during their stay in Boston, should be admitted to parole, and from
This was to afford protection to the loyalists or Tories.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


79


Message to Burgoyne from General Clinton.  Disposition of Burgoyne to withhold his Signature.  Laying down of Arms.
first to last be permitted to wear their side-arms; 1 2th. That if the army found it necessary
to send for their clothing and other baggage from Canada, they should be permitted to do
so, and have the necessary passports granted them; 13th. That these articles should be
signed and exchanged on the following morning at nine o'clock, the troops to
march out of their intrenchments at three o'clock in the afternoon. Appended Octoher17.
to these articles was an addendum or postscript, signed by General Gates, declaring that
General Burgoyne, whose name was not mentioned in the above treaty, was fully comprehended in it.'
(-     FAc-SIMILE OF THE SIGNATURES OF BURGOYNE AND GATES
TO THE "CONVENTION."
During the night of the 16th Captain Campbell
succeeded int eluding the American sentinels, and
reached the British camp with dispatches from Sir
Henry Clinton announcing his capture of the forts among the Hudson Highlands, and the
expedition of Vaughan and Wallace as far up the river as Esopus. Here was a ray of
hope, and Burgoyne felt disposed to withhold his signature from the " convention." General Gates was apprized of this, and of the cause which had excited new hopes in the British commander. He was better acquainted, too, with the threatening aspect below than
Burgoyne, and he knew that " delays are dangerous."    He drew up his army on the morning of the 17th in order of battle, and then sent a peremptory message to Burgoyne, that
if the articles were not signed by him immediately, he should open a fire upon him. Under
the circumstances, the terms were exceedingly humane and honorable; far more so than
might be expected if the negotiation should be here broken off and again commenced.
With reluctance Burgoyne subscribed his name, and preparations were immediately made
for the ceremonies of surrender.
The British, army left their camp upon the hills, and marched sorrowfully down upon
the " green" or level plain in front of old Fort Hardy,' where the different companies were
drawn up in parallel lines, and, by order of their several commanders, grounded their arms
and emptied their cartridge-boxes. They were not subject to the mortification of thus submitting under the gaze of an exulting foe, for General Gates, with a delicacy and magna1 A copy of these articlds, said to be in the handwriting of General Gates, and signed by the two commanders, is in the possession of the New York Historical Society, from which the above fac-similes were
copied.
2 Fort Hardy was situated at the junction of the Fish Creek with the Hudson River, on the north side
of the former. It was built of earth and logs, and was thrown up by the French, under Baron Dieskau,
in 1755, when Sir William Johnson was making preparations at Albany to march against the French on
Lakes Champlain and George. It was abandoned by the French, and named by the English Fort Hardy,
in honor of Sir Charles Hardy, who was that year appointed Governor of New York. The lines of the intrenchments of the fort inclosed about fifteen acres, bounded south by the Fish Creek and east by the Hudson River. This fort was a ruin at the time of the Revolution; yet, when I visited it (July, 1848), many
traces of its outworks were still visible. Its form may be seen by reference to the map, page 77. Many
military relies have been found near the fort, and I was told that, in excavating for the Champlain Canal,
a great number of human skeletons were found. The workmen had, doubtless, struck upon the burialplace of the garrison.




80


PICTORIAit AL FIELD-I I -BOOK


Courtesy of General Gates.         The Place of Surrender.          First personal Meeting of Gates and Burgoyne.


nimity of feeling which drew forth the expressed admiration of Burgoyne and his officers,
had ordered all his army within his camp, out of sight of the vanquished Britons.1 Colonel Wilkinson, who had been sent to the British camp, and, in company with Burgoyne,
selected the place where the troops were to lay down their arms, was the only American
officer present at the scene.'
' —a- o      The sketch here presented, of the place where the British army surt,.t.. - rendered, was made from one of the canal bridges at Schuyler-.n of S:- ville, looking east-northeast.     The stream of water in the
d — p:n        fore-ground is Fish Creek, and the level ground seen between
t i- t                it and the distant hills on the left is the place where the
s     l an          humiliation of the Britons occurred.  The tree by the
dcd  Ge      l Gts-he      e- fence, in the center of the picture, designates the norths,.         e    west angle of Fort Hardy, and the other three trees
v-foX.                     on the right stand nearly on the line of the north'  m                        ern breast-works.  The row of small trees, ap— '  I
NP
r, -                                                                          -
VIEW OF THE PLACE WHERE THE BBITISH LAID DOWN THEIR ARM8.
patently at the foot of the distant hills, marks the course of the Hudson; and the hills
that bound the view are those on which the Americans were posted.  This plain is directly
in front of Schuylerville, between that village and the Hudson.  General Fellows was stationd, upon the high ground seen over the barn on the right, and the frninence on the extreme left is the place whence the American cannon played upon the house wherein the
Baroness Reidesel and other ladies sought refuge.
As soon as the troops had laid down their arms, General Burgoyne proposed to be introduced to General Gates. They crossed Fish Creek, and proceeded toward headquarters,
Burgoyne in front with his adjutant general, Kingston, and his aids-de-camp, Captain Lord
Petersham and Lieutenant Wilford, behind him.  Then followed Generals Phillips, Reidesel, and Hamilton, and other officers and suites, according to rank. General Gates was
informed of the approach of Burgoyne, and with his staff met him at the head of his camp,
about a mile south of the Fish Creek, Burgoyne in a rich uniform of scarlet and gold, and
Gates in a plain blue frock-coat. When within about a sword's length, they reined up and
halted. Colonel Wilkinson then named the gentlemen, and General Burgoyne, raising his
hat gracefully, said, ", The fortune of war, General Gates, has made me your prisoner."
The victor promptly replied,, I shall always be ready to bear testimony that it has not




Letter of Burgoyne to the Earl of Derby. Stedman, i., 352. Botta, ii., 21.


2 See Wilkinson.




OF THE REVOLUTION.'           81


Humiliating Review of the British Prisoners. Burgoyne's Surrender of his Sword. The Spoils of Victory. Yankee Doodle.
been through any fault of your excellency." The other officers were introduced in turn, and
the whole party repaired
to  Gates's headquarters,
where a sumptuous dinner
L                     —; -  Bwas served.'
After dinner the Ameri-                    can army was drawn up in
o    parallel lines on each side
cs -                                                of the road, extending near-ly a mile.                               Between these
victorious troops the British army, with light infanc  try in front, and escorted
--                                   -     by  a  company of light
SITE OF THE FIRST INTERVIEW BETWEEN GATES AND BURGOYNE.2  dragoons, preceded by two
mounted officers bearing
the American flag, marched to the lively tune of Yankee Doodle.' Just as they passed, the
two commanding generals, who were in Gates's marquee, came out together, and, fronting
the procession, gazed upon it in silence a few moments. What a contrast, in every partic
ular, did the two present! Burgoyne, though possessed of coarse features, had a large and
commanding person; Gates was smaller and far less dignified in appearance. Burgoyne
was arrayed in the splendid military trappings of his rank; Gates was clad in a plain and
unassuming dress. Burgoyne was the victim of disappointed hopes and foiled ambition, and
looked upon the scene with exceeding sorrow; Gates was buoyant with the first flush of a
great victory. Without exchanging a word, Burgoyne, according to previous understanding, stepped back, drew his sword, and, in the presence of the two armies, presented it to
General Gates. He received it with a courteous inclination of the head, and instantly returned it to the vanquished general.  They then retired to the marquee together, the British army filed off and took up their line of march for Boston, and thus ended the drama.
upon the heights of Saratoga.
The whole number of prisoners surrendered was five thousand seven hundred and ninetyone, of whom two thousand four hundred and twelve were Germans and Hessians.         The
force of the Americans, at the time of the surrender, was, according to a statement which
General Gates furnished to Burgoyne, thirteen thousand two hundred and twenty-two, of
which number nine thousand and ninety-three were Continentals, or regular soldiers, and
four thousand one hundred and twenty-nine were militia.  The arms and ammunition which
came into the possession of the Americans were, a fine train of brass artillery, consisting of
2 twenty-four pounders, 4 twelve pounders, 20 sixes, 6 threes, 2 eight inch howitzers, 5 five
and a half inch royal howitzers, and 3 five and a half inch royal mortars;' in all forty-two
See Wilkinson.
This view is taken from the turnpike, looking south. The old road was where the canal now is, and
the place of meeting was about at the point where the bridge is seen.
3 Thatcher, in his Military Journal (p. 19), gives the following account of the origin of the word Yankee and of Yankee Doodle: "A farmer of Cambridge, Massachusetts, named Jonathan Hastings, who lived
about the year 1713, used it as a favorite cant word to express excellence, as a yankee good horse or yan.
kee good cider. The students of the college, hearing him use it a great deal, adopted it, and called him
Yankee Jonathan; and as he was a rather weak man, the students, when they wished to denote a charac.
ter of that kind, would call him Yankee Jonathan. Like other cant words, it spread, and came finally to
be applied to the New Englanders as a term of reproach. Some suppose the term to be the Indian corruption of the word English-Yenglees, Yangles, Yankles, and finally Yankee.
"A song, called Yankee Doodle, was written by a British sergeant at Boston, in 1775, to ridicule the
people there, when the American army, under Washington, was encamped at Cambridge and Roxbury."
The original song will be found in another part of this work.
4Two of these, drawings of which will be found in this work, are now in the court of the laboratory
of the West Point Military Academy, on the Hudson.
F




88                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK,
The G(rmans and Hessians.  Their Arrival at Cambridge and wretched Appearance.  Kindness of the People
pieces of ordnance.  There were four thousand six hundred and forty-seven muskets, and
'iz thousand dozens of cartridges, besides shot, carcasses, cases, shells, &c. Among the English prisoners were six members of Parliament.1
Cotemporary writers represent the appearance of the poor German and Hessian troops as
extremely miserable and ludicrous. They deserved commiseration, but they received none.
They came not here voluntarily to fight our people; they were sent as slaves by their masters, who received the price of their hire.  They were caught, it is said, while congregated
in their churches and elsewhere, and forced into the service. Most of them were torn reluctantly from their families and friends; hundreds of them deserted here before the close
of the war; and many of. their descendants are now living among us. Many had their
wives with them, and these helped to make up the pitiable procession through the country.
Their advent into Cambridge, near Boston, is thus noticed by the lady of Dr. Winthrop of
that town, in a letter to Mrs. Mercy Warren, an early historian of our Revolution: " On
Friday we heard the Hessians were to make a procession on the same route.    We thought
we should have nothing to do but view them as they passed. To be sure, the sight was
truly astonishing.  I never had the least idea that the creation produced such a sordid set
of creatures in human figure-poor, dirty, emaciated men.   Great numbers of women, who
seemed to be the beasts of burden, having bushel baskets on their backs, by which they were
bent double.  The contents seemed to be pots and kettles, various sorts of furniture, children
peeping through gridirons and other utensils. Some very young infants, who were born on
the road; the women barefooted, clothed in dirty rags. Such effiuvia filled the air while
they were passing, that, had they not been smoking all the time, I should have been apprehensive of being contaminated."'
The whole view of the vanquished army, as it marched through the country from Saratoga
to Boston, a distance of three hundred miles, escorted by two or three American officers and
a handful of soldiers, was a spectacle of extraordinary interest.  Generals of the first order
of talent; young gentlemen of noble and wealthy families, aspiring to military renown; legislators of the British realm, and a vast concourse of other men, lately confident of victory and
of freedom to plunder and destroy, were led captive through the pleasant land they had coveted, to be gazed at with mingled joy and scorn by those whose homes they came to make desolate.  ( Their march was solemn, sullen, and silent; but they were every where treated
with such humanity, and even delicacy, that they were overwhelmed with astonishment and
gratitude.  Not one insult was offered, not an opprobrious reflection cast;"" and in all their
long captivity' they experienced the generous kindness of a people warring only to be free.
I Gordon, ii., 267.
2 Women of the Revolution, i., 97.
3 Mercy Warren, ii., 40.
4 Although Congress ratified the generous terms entered into by Gates with Burgoyne in the convention
at Saratoga, circumstances made them suspicious that the terms would not be strictly complied with.
They feared that the Britons would break their parole, and Burgoyne was required to furnish a complete
roll of his army, the name and rank of every officer, and the name, former place of abode, occupation, age,
and size of every non-commissioned officer and private soldier. Burgoyne murmured and hesitated. General Howe, at the same time, was very illiberal in the exchange of prisoners, and exhibited considerable
duplicity. Congress became alarmed, and resolved not to allow the army of Burgoyne to leave our shores
until a formal ratification of the convention should be made by the British government. Burgoyne alone
was allowed to go home on parole, and the other officers, with the army, were marched into the interior
of Virginia, to await the future action of the two governments. The British ministry charged Congress
with positive perfidy, and Congress justified their acts by charging the ministers with meditated perfidy.
That this suspicion was well founded is proved by subsequent events. In the autumn of 1778, Isaac Ogden, a prominent loyalist of New Jersey, and then a refugee in New York, thus wrote to Joseph Galloway,
an American Tory in London, respecting an expedition of four thousand British troops which Sir Henry
Clinton sent up the Hudson a week previous: " Another object of this expedition was to open the country
for many of Burgoyne's troops that had escaped the vigilance of their guard, to come in. About forty of
these have got safe in. If this expedition had been a week sooner, greater part of Burgoyne's troops probAbly would have arrived here, as a disposition of rising on their guard strongly prevailed, and all they
wanted to effect it was some support near at hand."




O F THHE REVOLUTION. P4


is


OF THE- REOLTIN                                      83


Relative Condition and Prospect of the Americans before the Capture of Burgoyne.  Effect of that Eve
The surrender of Burgoyne was an event of infinite importance to the struggling republic
ans.  Hitherto the preponderance of success had been on the side of the English, and only
a few partial victories had been won by the Americans. The defeat on Long Island had
eclipsed the glory of the siege of Boston; the capture of Fort Washington and its garrison
had overmatched the brilliant defense of Charleston; the defeat at Brandywine had balanced
the victory at Trenton; White Plains and Princeton were in fair juxtaposition in the account current; and at the very time when the hostile armies at the north were fighting fot
the mastery, Washington was suffering defeats in Pennsylvania, and Forts Clinton, Mont.
gomery, and Constitution were passing into the hands of the royal forces. Congress had
fled from Philadelphia to York, and its sittings were in the midst of loyalists, ready to attack or betray.  Its treasury was nearly exhausted; its credit utterly so.  Its bills to the
amount of forty millions of dollars were scattered over the country.  Its frequent issues were
inadequate to the demands of the commissariat, and distrust was rapidly depreciating their
value in the public mind.   Loyalists rejoiced; the middlemen were in a dilemma; the
patriots trembled. Thick clouds of doubt and dismay were gathering in every part of the
political horizon, and the acclamations which had followed the Declaration of Independence,
the year before, died away like mere whispers upon the wind.
All eyes were turned anxiously to the army of the north, and upon that strong arm of
Congress, wielded, for the time, by Gates, the hopes of the patriots leaned. How eagerly
they listened to every breath of rumor from Saratoga! How enraptured were they when the
cry of victory fell upon their ears!  All over the land a shout of triumph went up, and
from the furrows, and workshops, and marts of commerce; from the pulpit, from provincial
halls of legislation, from partisan camps, and from the shattered ranks of the chief at Whitd
Marsh, it was echoed and re-echoed. Toryism, which had begun to lift high its head, retreated behind the defense of inaction; the bills of Congress rose twenty per cent. in value;
capital came forth from its hiding-places; the militia readily obeyed the summons to the
camp, and the great patriot heart of America beat strongly with pulsations of hope. Amid
the joy of the moment, Gates was apotheosized in the hearts of his countrymen, and they
N D EDl-Jm.MCCDET O
MEDAL STRUCK IN HONOR OF GENERAL GATES AND HIS ARMY.
1 The engraving exhibits a view of both sides of the medal, drawn the size of the original. On one
side is a bust of General Gates, with the Latin inscription, "HORATIO GATES DUCI STRtBwUO COMITIA
AMERICANA;" literal English, Horatio Gates, brave leader of the American forces. On the other side, or
reverse, Burgoyne is represented in the attitude of delivering up his sword; and in the background, on
either side of them, are seen the two armies of England and America, the former laying down their arms.
At the top is the Latin inscription, "SALUS REGIONvM SEPTENTRIONAL;" literal English, Safety of th
northern region or department. Below is the inscription, " HOSTE AD SARATOGUM IN DEDITION, ACCEPTO
DIE xvn. OCT., MDCCLXXVII.;" English, Enemy at Saratoga surrendered October 17th, 1777.




84                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Wilkinson before Congress. Gold Medal awarded to Gates. Proceedings of the British Parliament. Speech of Chatham.
generously overlooked the indignity offered by him to the commander-in-chief when he refused, in the haughty pride of his heart in that hour of victory, to report, as in duty bound,
his: success tthe national council through him.  Congress, too, overjoyed at the result, forgot its-own dignity, and allowed Colonel Wilkinson,1 the messenger of the glad tidings, to
stand upon their floor and proclaim, "< The whole British army have laid down their arms
at Saratoga; our own, full of vigor and courage, expect your orders; it is for your wisdom
to decide where the country may still have need of their services."  Congress voted thanks
to General Gates and his army, and decreed that he should be presented with a medal of
gold, to be struck expressly in commemoration of so glorious a victory.
This victory was also of infinite importance to the republicans on account of its effects
beyond the Atlantic.  The highest hopes of the British nation, and the most sanguine expectations of the king and his ministers, rested on the success of this campaign.  It had
been a favorite object with the administration, and the people were confidently assured that,
with the undoubted success of Burgoyne, the turbulent spirit of rebellion would be quelled,
and the insurgents would be forced to return to their allegiance.
Parliament was in session when the intelligence of Burgoyne's defeat reached England;
December 3, and when the mournful tidings were communicated to that body, it instantly
1777.  aroused all the fire of opposing parties.2  The opposition opened anew their eloquent batteries upon the ministers.  For several days misfortune had been suspected.  The
last arrival from America brought tidings of gloom. The Earl of Chatham, with far-reaching comprehension, and thorough knowledge of American affairs, had denounced the mode of
warfare and the material used against the Americans. He refused to vote for the laudatory address to the king. Leaning upon his crutch, he poured forth his vigorous denunciations against the course of the ministers like a mountain torrent.  " This, my lords," he
said,, is a perilous and tremendous moment! It is no time for adulation.  The smoothness of flattery can not now avail-can not save us in this rugged and awful crisis.  It is
now necessary to instruct the throne in the language of truth........... You can not,
I venture to say it, you can not conquer America.  What is your present situation there?
We do not know the worst, but we know that in three campaigns we have suffered much
and gained nothing, and perhaps at this moment the northern army (Burgoyne's) may be a
total loss......... You may swell every expense, and every effort, still more extravagantly? pile and accumulate every assistance you can buy or borrow; traffic and barter
with every little pitiful German prince that sells and sends his subjects to the shambles of
a foreign power; your efforts are forever vain and impotent; doubly so from this mercenary
aid on which you rely, for it irritates to an incurable resentment the minds of your enemies.
To overrun with the mercenary sons of rapine and plunder, devoting them and their possessions to the rapacity of hireling cruelty! If I were an American, as I am an Englishman,
while a foreign troop was landed in my country, I never would lay down my arms-never,
never, never!"
The Earl f Coventry, Earl Temple Chatham's brother-in-law, and the Duke of Richmond, all spoke in coincidence with Chatham. Lord Suffolk, one of the Secretaries of State,
undertook the defense of ministers for the employment of Indians, and concluded by saying,
"( It is perfectly justifiable to use all the means that God and nature have put into our
hands."  This sentiment brought Chatham upon the floor.   " That God and nature put
James Wilkinson was born in Maryland about 1757, and, by education, was prepared for the practice
of medicine. He repaired to Cambridge as a volunteer in 1775. He was captain of a company in a regiment that went to Canada in 1776. He was appointed deputy adjutant general by Gates, and, after the
surrender of Burgoyne, Congress made him a brigadier general by brevet. At the conclusion of the war
he settled in Kentucky, but entered the army in 1806, and had the command on the Mississippi. He commanded on the northern frontier during our last war with Great Britain. At the age of 56 he married a
young lady of 26. He died of diarrhea, in Mexico, December 28th, 1825, aged 68 years.
8 Pitkin, i., 399.
3 Parliamentary Debates.




OF THE REVOLUTION.              83.The Opposition in the House of Commons. Policy of Lord North. Exalted Position of the American Commissioners at Paris.
into our hands!" he reiterated, with bitter scorn.  " I know not what idea that lord may
entertain of God and nature, but I know that such abominable principles are equally abhorrent to religion and humanity. What! attribute the sacred sanction of God and nature to
the massacres of the Indian scalping-knife, to the cannibal and savage, torturing, murdering,
roasting, and eating-literally, my lords, eating-the mangled victims of his barbarous battles.........     These abominable principles, and this most abominable avowal of them,
demand most decisive indignation. I call upon that right reverend bench (pointing to the
bishops), those holy ministers of the Gospel and pious pastors of the Church-I conjure
them to join in the holy work, and to vindicate the religion of their God."
In the Lower House, Burke, Fox, and Barr6 were equally severe upon the ministers;
and on the 3d of December, when the.news of Burgoyne's defeat reached London, the latter arose in his place in the Commons, and, with a severe and solemn countenance, asked
Lord George Germain, the Secretary of War, what news he had received by his last expresses from Quebec, and to say, upon his word of honor, what had become of Burgoyne
and his brave army.    The haughty secretary was irritated by the cool irony of the question, but he was obliged to unbend and to confess that the unhappy intelligence had reached
him, but added it was not yet authenticated.'
Lord North, the premier, with his usual adroitness, admitted that misfortune had befallen the
British arms, but denied that                                 troops were by foreign aid,
any blame could be imputed,                               placed the prowess of the
to ministers themselves, and  il!!,     United States in the most
proposed an adjournment of!l                              favorable light upon   the
December, Parliament on the   '["       ~     < A!1l Continent.            Our urgent so1777.   11th (which was 1                -              \'licitations for aid, hitherto
carried) until the 20th of                                    but little noticed except by
January.'   It was a     -                              France, were now    listened
lwns.
8 clever trick  of the                                      wtfh to with respect, and the
premier to escape the cas-           'American commissioners at
tigations which  he knew        '           Q     ^l          Paris, Dr. Franklin, Silas
the opposition would inflict                            - -   Deane,8 and Arthur Lee,4
while the nation was smart-                                 I.'  _ -.  occupied a commanding poing under the goadings of                                     sition among the diplomamortified pride.                                              tists of Europe.   France,
The victory over Bur-                    c                      Spain, the States Gengoyne, unassisted as our                                          eral of Holland, the
Prince of Orange, and even Catharine of Russia and Pope Clement XIV. (Ganganelli), all
History of the Reign of George III., i., 326.
2 Pitkin, i., 397. Annual Register, 1778, p. 74.
3 Silas Deane was a native of Groton, Connecticut. He graduated at Yale College, 1758, and was a
member of the first Congress, 1774. He was sent to France in June, 1776, as political and commercial
agent for the United Colonies, and in the autumn of that year was associated with Franklin and Lee as
commissioner. He seems to have been unfit, in a great degree, for the station he held, and his defective
judgment and extravagant promises greatly embarrassed Congress. He was recalled at the close of 1777,
and John Adams appointed in his place. He published a defense of his character in 1778, and charged
Thomas Paine and others connected with public affairs with using their official influence for purposes of
private gain. This was the charge made against himself, and he never fully wiped out all suspicion. He
went to England toward the close of 1784, and died in extreme poverty at Deal, 1789.
4 Dr. Lee was born in Virginia in 1740-a brother to the celebrated Richard Henry Lee. He was educated at Edinburgh, and, on returning to America, practiced medicine at Williamsburgh about five years.
He went to London in 1766, and studied law in the Temple. He kept his brother and other patriots of
the Revolution fully informed of all political matters of importance abroad, and particularly the movements
of the British ministry. He wrote a great deal, and stood high as an essayist and political pamphleteer.
He was colonial agent for Virginia in 1775. In 1776 he was associated with Franklin and Deane, as minister at the court of Versailles. He and John Adams were recalled in 1779. On returning to the United
States, he was appointed to offices of trust. He died of pleurisy, December 14th, 1782, aged nearly 42.




846                            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK.Oar relative Position to the Governments of Europe.  Policy of Vergennes.  Beaumarchais's Commercial Operations
of whom feared and hated England because of her increasing potency in arms, commerce,
diplomacy, and the Protestant faith, thought kindly of us and spoke kindly to us.        We
were loved because England was hated; we were respected because we could injure England by dividing her realm and impairing her growing strength beyond the seas. There
was a perfect reciprocity of service; and when peace was ordained by treaty, and our independence was established, the balance-sheet showed nothing against us, so far as the governments of continental Europe were concerned.
INovember  n the autumn of 1776, Franklin and Lee were appointed, jointly with Deane,
resident commissioners at the court of Versailles, to negotiate a treaty of amity
and commerce with the French king. They opened negotiations early in December with
the Count De Vergennes, the premier of Louis XVI. He was distinguished for sound wis.
dom, extensive political knowledge, remarkable sagacity, and true greatness of mind.     He
foresaw that generous dealings with the insurgent colonists at the outset would be the surest
means of perpetuating the rebellion until a total separation from the parent state would be
accomplished —an event eagerly coveted by the French government.          France hated England cordially, and feared her power. She had no special love for the Anglo-American
colonies, but she was ready to aid them in reducing, by disunion, the puissance of the British empire. To widen the breach was the chief aim of Vergennes. A haughty reserve,
he knew, would discourage the Americans, while an open reception, or even countenance,
of their deputies might alarm the rulers of Great Britain, and dispose them to a compromise
with the colonies, or bring on an immediate rupture between France and England. A
middle line was, therefore, pursued by him.1
While the French government was thus vacillating during the first three quarters of
1777, secret aid was given to the republicans, and great quantities of arms and ammunition
were sent to this country, by an agent of the French government, toward the close of the
year, ostensibly through the channel of commercial operations.2 But when the capture of
1 Ramsay, ii., 62, 63.
a In the summer of 1776, Arthur Lee, agent of the Secret Committee of Congress, made an arrangement by which the French king provided money and arms secretly for the Americans. An agent named
Beaumarchais was sent to London to confer with Lee, and it was arranged that two hundred thousand
Louis d'ors, in arms, ammunition, and specie, should be sent to the Americans, but in a manner to make it
appear as a commercial transaction. Mr. Lee assumed the name of Mary Johnson, and Beaumarchais that
of Roderique, Hortales, & Co. Lee, fearing discovery if he should send a written notice to Congress of
the arrangement, communicated the fact verbally through Captain Thomas Story, who had been upon the
continent in the service of the Secret Committee. Yet, after all the arrangements were made, there was
hesitation, and it was not until the autumn of 1777 that the articles were sent to the Americans. They
were shipped on board Le Henreux, in the fictitious name of Hortales, by the way of Cape Francois, and
arrived at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on the 1st of November of that year. The brave and efficient
Baron Steuben was a passenger in that ship.
This arrangement, under the disguise of a mercantile operation, subsequently produced a great deal of
trouble, a more minute account of which will be hereafter given.
Beaumarchais -was one of the most active business men of his time, and became quite distinguished in
the literary and political world by his "Marriage of Figaro," and his connection with the French Revolution in 1793. Borne, in one of his charming Letters from Paris, after describing his visit to the house
where Beaumarchais had lived, where " they now sell kitchen salt," thus speaks of him: "By his bold and
fortunate commercial undertakings, he had become one of the richest men in France. In the war of American liberty, he furnished, through an understanding with the French government, supplies of arms to the
insurgents. As in all such undertakings, there were captures, shipwrecks, payments deferred or refused,
yet Beaumarchais, by his dexterity, succeeded in extricating himself with personal advantage from all
these difficulties.
"Yet this same Beaumarchais showed himself, in the (French) revolution, as inexperienced as a ohild
and as timid as a German closet.scholar. He contraoted to furnish weapons to the revolutionary government, and not only lost his money, but was near losing his head into the bargain. Formerly he had to
deal with the ministers of an absolute monarchy. The doors of great men's cabinets open and close softly
and easily to him who knows how to oil the locks and hinges. Afterward Beaumarohais had to do with
honest, in other words with dangerous people; he had not learned to make the distinction, and accordingly
he was ruined."  He died in 1799, in his 70th veai, and his death, his friends suppose, was voluntary.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                        8)
Unmasking of the French King.  Independence of the United States acknowledged by FranCe.  Letter of Louis XVL
Burgoyne and his army (intelligence of which arrived at Paris by express on the 4th of December) reached Versailles, and the ultimate success of the Americans was hardly problematical, Louis cast off all disguise, and informed the American commissioners, through M.
Gerard, one of his Secretaries of State, that the treaty of alliance and commerce, already
negotiated, would be ratified, and " that it was decided to acknowledge the independence
of the United States."   He wrote to his uncle, Charles IV. of Spain, urging his co-operation; for, according to the family compact of the Bourbons, made in 1761, the King of
Spain was to be consulted before such a treaty could be ratified.' Charles refused to cooperate, but Louis persevered, and in February, 1778, he acknowledged the independence of the United States, and entered into treaties of alliance and com- February 6.
merce with them on a footing of perfect equality and reciprocity. War against England
was to be made a common cause, and it was agreed that neither contracting party should
conclude truce or peace with Great Britain without the formal consent of the other first obtained; and it was mutually covenanted not to lay down their arms until the independence
of the United States should be formally or tacitly assured by the treaty or treaties that
should terminate the war.2 Thus allied, by treaty, with the ancient and powerful French
nation, the Americans felt certain of success.
1 This letter of Louis was brought to light during the Revolution of 1793. It is a curious document,
and illustrates the consummate duplicity practiced by that monarch and his ministers. Disclosing, as it
does, the policy which governed the action of the French court, and the reasons which induced the king
to accede to the wishes of the Americans, its insertion here will doubtless be acceptable to the reader. It
was dated January 8th, 1778.
"The sincere desire," said Louis, " which I feel of maintaining the true harmony and unity of our system of alliance, which must always have an imposing character for our enemies, induces me tb state to
your majesty my way of thinking on the present condition of affairs. England, our common and inveterate
enemy, has been engaged for three years in a war with her American colonies. We had agreed not to
intermeddle with it, and, viewing both sides as English, we made our trade free to the one that found most
advantage in commercial intercourse. In this manner America provided herself with arms and ammunition, of which she was destitute; I do not speak of the succors of money and other kinds which we have given
her, the whole ostensibly on the score of trade. England has taken umbrage at these succors, and has not
concealed from us that she will be revenged sooner or later. She has already, indeed, seized several of
our merchant vessels, and refused restitution. We have lost no time on our part. We have fortified our
most exposed colonies, and placed our fleets upon a respectable footing, which has continued to aggravate
the ill humor of England.
" Such was the posture of affairs in November last. The destruction of the army of Burgoyne and the
straitened condition of Howe have lately changed the face of things. America is triumphant and England
cast down; but the latter has still a great, unbroken maritime force, and the hope of forming a beneficial
alliance with the colonies, the impossibility of their being subdued by arms being now demonstrated. All,
the English parties agree on this point. Lord North has himself announced in full Parliament a plan of
pacification for the first session, and all sides are assiduously employed upon it. Thus it is the same to us
whether this minister or any other be in power. From different motives they join against us, and do not
forget our bad offices. They will fall upon us in as great strength as if the war had not existed.. This
being understood, and our grievances against England notorious, I have thought, after taking the advice
of my council, and particularly that of M. D'Ossune, and having consulted upon the propositions which the
insurgents make, to treat with them, to prevent their reunion with the mother country. I lay before your
majesty my views of the subject. I have ordered a memorial to be submitted to you, in which they are
presented in more detail. I desire eagerly that they should meet your approbation. Knowing the weight
of your probity, your majesty will not doubt the lively and sincere friendship with which I am yours," &o. —
Quoted by Pitkin (i., 399) from Histoire, &c., de la Diplomatic Francais, vol. vii.
2 Sparks's Life of Franklin, 430, 433.




8.             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


A Lady of the Revolution.  Sufferings of herself and Family.  Her Husband's Pension allowed her.
t.......
CHAPTER IV.
"The sun has drunk
The dew that lay upon the morning grass;
There is no rustling in the lofty elm
That canopies my dwelling, and its shade
Scarce cools me. All is silent save the faint
And interrupted murmur of the bee,
Sitting on the sick flowers, and then again
Instantly on the wing. The plants around
Feel the too potent fervors; the tall maize
Rolls up its long green leaves; the clover droops
Its tender foliage, and declines its blooms.
But far in the fierce sunshine tower the hills,
With all their growth of woods, silent and stern,
As if the scorching heat and dazzling light
Were but an element they loved."
BRYANT..' iS^   j:^     T was early in the morning of such a day as the poet refers to that we
I,\' commenced a ride and a ramble over the historic grounds of Saratoga near;'   Schuylerville, accompanied by the friendly guide whose proffered services I have
i already mentioned.  We first rode to the residence of Mrs. J-n, one of the almost centenarian representatives of the generation cotemporary with our Revolution, now so few and hoary.  She was in her ninety-second year of life, yet her
mental faculties were quite vigorous, and she related her sad experience of the
3   trials of that war with a memory remarkably tenacious and correct.  Her sight
and hearing were defective, and her skin wrinkled; but in her soft blue eye, regular features, and delicate form were lingering many traces of the beauty of her
early womanhood.   She was a young lady of twenty years when Independence
y    was declared, and was living with her parents at Do-ve-gat (Coveville) when Burgoyne came down the valley.  She was then betrothed, but her lover had shouldered
his musket, and was in Schuyler's camp.
While Burgoyne was pressing onward toward Fort Edward from Skenesborough, the
people of the valley below, who were attached to the patriot cause, fled hastily to Albany.
Mrs. J-n and her parentswere among the fugitives.  So fearful were.they of the Indian
scouts sent forward, and of the resident Tories, not a whit less savage, who were emboldened
by the proximity of the invader, that for several nights previous to their flight they slept in
a swamp, apprehending that their dwelling would be burned over their heads or that murder
would break in upon their repose. And when they returned home, after the surrender of
Burgoyne, all was desolation. Tears filled her eyes when she spoke of that sad return.
" We had but little to come home to," she said.,( Our crops and our cattle, our sheep,
hogs, and horses, were all gone, yet we knelt down in our desolate room and thanked God
sincerely that our house and barns'were not destroyed."  She wedded her soldier soon afterward, and during the long widowhood of her evening of life his pension has been secured to
her, and a few years ago it was increased in amount. She referred to it, and with quivering lip-quivering with the emotions of her full heart-said, ( The government has been
very kind to me in my poverty and old age." She was personally acquainted with General
Schuyler, and spoke feelingly of the noble-heartedness of himself and lady in all the relations
of life.  While pressing her hand in bidding her farewell, the thought occurred that we




OF THE REVOLUTION.


89


Remains of the Fortifications of Burgoyne's Camp.   The Reidesel House.       Narrative of the Barones ReideseL


represented the linking of the living, vigorous, active present, and the half-buried, decaying
past; and that between her early womanhood and now all the grandeur and glory of our
Republic had dawned and brightened into perfect day.
From Mrs. J-n's we rode to the residence of her brother, the house wherein the Baroness Reidesel, with her children and female companions, was sheltered just before the surrender of Burgoyne. It is about a mile above Schuylerville, and nearly opposite the mouth
of the Batten Kill. On our way we paused to view the remains of the fortifications of
Burgoyne's camp, upon the heights a little west of the village. Prominent traces of the
mounds and ditches are there visible in the woods. A little northwest of the village the
lines of the defenses thrown up by the Germans and Hessians of Hanau may be distinctly
seen.  (See map, page 77.)
The house made memorable by the presence and the pen of the wife of the Brunswick
general is well preserved.          At the time of. the Revolution it was owned by Peter Lansing, a relative of the chancellor of that name,
and now belongs to Mr. Samuel Mar-           shall, who has the good taste to keep  1848.
up its original character.                        It is upon the high.  bank west of the road from Schuylerville to
l  t t-                      Fort Miller, pleasantly shaded in front by locusts, and fairly embowered in shrubbery and
fruit trees.
id                     We will listen to the story of the sufferings
of some of the 'women of Burgoyne's camp in
i- it'   -.     e that house, as told by the baroness herself:
TE IDESEL oUE, SadnO       i About two o'clock in the afternoon we again
THE REIDESEL HOUSE, SARATOGA.
heard a firing of cannon and small arms; instantly all was alarm, and every thing in motion. My husband told me to go to a house
not far off. I immediately seated myself in my caleche, with my children, and drove off;
but scarcely had we reached it before I discovered five or six armed men on the other sidq
of the Hudson. Instinctively I threw my children down in the caleche, and then concealed
myself with them. At this moment the fellows fired, and wounded an already wounded
English soldier, who was behind me. Poor fellow! I pitied him exceedingly, but at this
moment had no power to relieve him.
", A terrible cannonade was commenced by the enemy against the house in which I sought
to obtain shelter for myself and children, under the mistaken idea that all the generals were
in it. Alas! it contained none but wounded and women. We were at last obliged to resort to the cellar for refuge, and in one corner of this I.....
remained the whole day, my children sleeping on the earth
with their heads in my lap; and in the same situation I
passed a sleepless night.' Eleven cannon-balls passed
through the house, and we could distinctly hear them roll
away.  One poor soldier, who was lying on a table for
the purpose of 'having his leg amputated, was struck by   -
a shot, which carried away his other; his comrades had  CELLA OF THE REIDEBL EOUSE.
left him, and when we went to his assistance we found him in a corner of the room, into.which he had crept, more dead than alive, scarcely breathing.2 My reflections on the, dan.
ger to which my husband was exposed now agonized me exceedingly, and the thoughts of
my children, and the necessity of struggling for their preservation, alone sustained me.


1 The cellar is about fifteen by thirty feet in size, and lighted and ventilated by two small windows only.
g The place where this ball entered is seen under the window near the corner, and designated in the
picture by a small black spot.




90                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Oom{asnon in Miery of the Baroness Reidesel.  Wounded Soldiers.  Kindness of General Schuyler.
' "he ladies of the army who were with me were Mrs. Harnage, a Mrs. Kennels the
widow of a lieutenant who was killed, and the lady of the commissary. Major Harnage,
his wife, and Mrs. Kennels made a little room in a corner with curtains to it, and wished to
do the same for me, but I preferred being near the door, in case of fire. Not far off my
women slept, and opposite to us three English officers, who, though wounded, were determined not to be left behind; one of them was. Captain Green, an aid-de-camp to Major-general Phillips, a very valuable officer and most agreeable man. They each made me a most
sacred promise not to leave me behind, and, in case of sudden retreat, that they would each
of them take one of my children on his horse; and for myself one of my husband's was in
constant readiness...........  The want of water distressed us much; at length we
found a soldier's wife who had courage enough to fetch us some from the river, an office
nobody else would undertake, as the Americans shot at every person who approached it;
but, out of respect for her sex, they never molested her., I now occupied myself through the day in attending the wounded; I made them tea
and coffee, and often shared my dinner with them, for which they offered me a thousand
expressions of gratitude. One day a Canadian officer came to our cellar, who had scarcely
the power of holding himself upright, and we concluded he was dying for want of nourishment; I was happy in offering him my dinner, which strengthened,him, and procured me
his friendship. I now undertook the care of Major Bloomfield, another aid-de-camp of General Phillips; he had received a musket-ball through both cheeks, which in its course had
knocked out several of his teeth and cut his tongue; he could hold nothing in his mouth,
the matter which ran from his wound almost choked him, and he was not able to take any
nourishment except a little salp or something liquid.  We had some Rhenish wine, and, in
the hope that the acidity of it would cleanse his wound, I gave him a bottle of it.  He
took a little now and then, and with such effect that his cure soon followed; thus I added
another to my stock of friends, and derived a satisfaction which, in the midst of sufferings,
served to tranqtiilize me and diminish their acuteness.
i" One, day General Phillips accompanied my husband, at the risk of their lives, on a visit
to us.  The general, after having beheld our situation, said to him, ' I would not for ten
thousand guineas come again to this place; my heart is almost broken.'
" In this horrid situation we remained six days; a cessation of hostilities was now spoken
of, and eventually took place."
The baroness, in the simple language of her narrative, thus bears testimony to the generous courtesy of the American officers, and to the true nobility of character of General
Sehuyler in particular: " My husband sent a message to me to come over to him with my
children. I seated myself once more in my dear caleche, and then rode through the American camp. As I passed on I observed, and this was a great consolation to me, that no one
eyed me with looks of resentment, but they all greeted us, and even showed compassion in
their countenances at the sight of a woman with small children. I was, I confess, afraid
to go over to the enemy, as it was quite a new situation to me. When I drew near the
tents a handsome man approached and met me, took my children from the caleche, and
hugged and kissed them, which affected me almost to tears., You tremble,' said he, addressing himself to me; ' be not afraid.', No,' I answered, ( you seem so kind and tender
to my children, it inspires me with courage.' He now led me to the tent of General Gates,
where I found Generals Burgoyne and Phillips, who were on a friendly footing with the
former.  Burgoyne said to me, ' Never mind; your sorrows have now an end.' I answered
him that I should be reprehensible to have any cares, as he had none; and I was pleased
to see him on such friendly footing with General Gates. All the generals remained to dine
with General Gates.
"( The same gentleman who received me so kindly now came and said to me, 'You will
be very much embarrassed to eat with all these gentlemen; come with your children to
my tent, where I will preparefor you a frugal dinner, and give it with a free will.'  I
said, ' You are certainly a husband and a father, you have shown me so much kindness.'




OF THE REVOLUTION.               9 t


Arrival of the British Officers and Women at Albany.


Courtesy of General Schuyler and Family.


--. now found that he was GENERAL SCHUYLER.     He treated me with excellent smoked
GZNERAL SCHUYLER AND BARONESS RM&ESEL.  aJ(
"-'__
tongue, beef-steaks, potatoes, and good bread and butter! Never could I have wished to eat
a better dinner; I was content; I saw all around me were so likewise; and, what was
better than all, my husband was out of danger.
" When we had dined he told me his residence was at Albany, and that General Burgoyne intended to honor him as his guest, and invited myself and children to do so likewise.  I
asked my husband how I should act; he told me to accept the invitation. As it was two
days' journey there, he advised me to go to a place which was about three hours' ride distant.
"Some days after this we arrived at Albany, where we so often wished ourselves; but
we did not enter it as we expected we should-victors!' We were received by the good
General Schuyler, his wife, and daughters, not as enemies, but kind friends; and they treated
us with the most marked attention and politeness, as they did General Burgoyne, who had
caused General Schuyler's beautifully-finished house to be burned. In fact, they behaved
like persons of exalted minds, who determined to bury all recollections of their'own injuries
in the contemplation of our misfortunes.  General Burgoyne was struck with General Schuyler's generosity, and said to him,, You show me great kindness, though I have done you
much injury.'  'That was the fate of war,' replied the brave man; ', let us say no more
about it.'"
General Schuyler was detained at Saratoga when Burgoyne and suite started for Albany.


General Burgoyne boasted at Fort Edward that he should eat a Christmas dinner in Albany, surrounded
by his victorious army.




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


British Officers at Schuyler's House. Execution-place of Lovelace. Active and Passive Tories. Rendezvous of Lovelace.
He wrote to his wife to give the English general the very best.reception in her power.
" The British commander was well received," says the Marquis de Chastellux,1 in his Travels in America, " 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 the 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 any
one 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 officers to sleep near him.  Schuyler's
second son, a little fellow about seven 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 innocent cruelty rendered them more melancholy than before."
We next visited the headquarters of General Gates, south of the Fish Creek, delineated ot
page 75. On our way we passed the spot, a few rods south of the creek,
where Lovelace, a prominent Tory, was hung.  It is upon the high bluff
seen on the right of the road in the annexed sketch, which was taken
from the lawn in front of the rebuilt mansion of General Schuyler.
Lovelace was a fair type of his class, the bitterest and most implacable foes of the republicans.  There were many  I        L
Tories who were so from principle, and refused to take sides against the parent country from honest convictions of the wrongfulness of such a course.  They looked upon
the Whigs as rebels against their sovereign;       -
condemned the war as unnatural, and regarded the final result as surely disastrous   PLACE WHERE LOVELACE WAS EXECUTED.
to those who had lifted up the arm of opposition.  Their opinions were courteously but firmly expressed; they took every opportunity
to dissuade their friends and neighbors from participation in the rebellion; and by all their
words and acts discouraged the insurgent movement. But they shouldered no musket, girded
on no sword, piloted no secret expedition against the republicans.- They were passive, nobleminded men, and deserve our respect for their consistency and our commiseration for their
sufferings at the hands of those who made no distinction between the man of honest opinions and the mnarauder with no opinions at all.
There was another class of Tories, governed by the footpad's axiom, that " might makes
right." They were Whigs when royal power was weak, and Tories when royal power was
strong. Their god was mammon, and they offered up human sacrifices in abundance upon
its altars. Cupidity and its concomitant vices governed all their acts, and the bonds of consanguinity and affection were too weak to restrain their fostered barbarism. Those born in
the same neighborhood; educated (if at all) in the same school; admonished, it may be, by
the same pastor, seemed to have their hearts suddenly closed to every feeling of friendship or
of love, and became as relentless robbers and murderers of neighbors and friends as the savages of the wilderness.  Of this class was Thomas Lovelace, who, for a time, became a terror to his old neighbors and friends in Saratoga, his native district.
At the commencement of the war Lovelace went to Canada, and there confederated with
five other persons from his own county to come down into Saratoga and abduct, plunder, or
betray their former neighbors. He was brave, expert, and cautious. His quarters were in
a large swamp about five miles from the residence of Colonel Van Vechten at Do-ve-gat,
but his place of rendezvous was cunningly concealed. Robberies were frequent, and several
inhabitants were carried off. General Schuyler's house was robbed, and an attempt was


- A French officer, who served in the army in this country during a part of. the Revolution.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


93


Capture and Death of Lovelace.  Daring Adventure of an American Soldier.  Departure from Schuylervill.
made by Lovelace and his companions to carry off Colonel Van Vechten; but the active
vigilance of General Stark, then in command of the barracks north of the Fish Creek,1 in
furnishing the colonel with a guard, frustrated the marauder's plans.  Intimations of his intentions and of his place of concealment were given to Captain Dunham, who commanded
a company of militia in the neighborhood, and he at once summoned his lieutenant, ensign,
orderly, and one private to his house.2 At dark they proceeded to the ( Big Swamp," three
miles distant, where two Tory families resided. 'They separated to reconnoiter, but two of
them, Green and Guiles, got lost. The other three kept together, and at dawn discovered
Lovelace and his party in a hut covered over with boughs, just drawing on their stockings.
The three Americans crawled cautiously forward till near the hut, when they sprang upon a
log with a shout, leveled their muskets, and Dunham exclaimed,,( Surrender, or you are all
dead men!" There was no time for parley, and, believing that the Americans were upon
them in force, they came out one by one without arms, and were marched by their captors to
General Stark at the barracks.  They were tried by a court-martial as spies, traitors, and
robbers, and Lovelace, who was considered too dangerous to be allowed to escape, was sentenced to be hung.  He complained of injustice, and claimed the leniency due to a prisoner
of war; but his plea was disallowed, and three days afterward he was hung upon the brow
of the hill at the place delineated, during a tremendous storm of rain and wind, accompanied
by vivid lightning and clashing thunder-peals. These facts were communicated to me by
the son of Colonel Van Vechten, who accompanied me to the spot, and who was well acquainted with all the captors of Lovelace and his accomplices.
The place where Gates and Burgoyne had their first interview (delineated on page 81)
is about half way between the Fish Creek and Gates's headquarters. After visiting these
localities, we returned to the village, and spent an hour upon the ground where the British
army laid down their arms. This locality I have already noted, and will not detain the
reader longer than to mention the fact that the plain whereon this event took place formed
a part of the extensive meadows of General Schuyler, and to relate a characteristic adventure which occurred there.
While the British camp was on the north side of the Fish Creek, a number of the officers' horses were let loose in the meadows to feed. An expert swimmer among the Americans who swarmed upon the hills east of the Hudson, obtained permission to go across and
capture one of the horses. He swam the river, seized and mounted a fine bay gelding, and
in a few moments was recrossing the stream unharmed, amid a volley of bullets from a party
of British soldiers.  Shouts greeted him as he returned; and, when rested, he asked permission to go for another, telling the captain that he ought to have a horse to ride as well
as a private. Again the adventurous soldier was among the herd, and, unscathed, returned
with an exceedingly good match for the first, and presented it to his commander.3
Bidding our kind friend and guide adieu, we left Schuylerville toward evening, in a private carriage, for Fort Miller, six miles further up the Hudson. The same beautiful and
diversified scenery, the same prevailing quiet that charmed us all the way from Waterford,
still surrounded us; and the river and the narrow alluvial plain through which it flows,
bounded on either side by high undulations or abrupt pyramidal hills, which cast lengthened
shadows in the evening sun across the meadows, presented a beautiful picture of luxurious
repose. We crossed the Hudson upon a long bridge built on strong abutments, two miles
and a half above Schuylerville, at the place where Burgoyne and his army crossed on the
12th of September, 1777. The river is here quite broad and shallow, and broken by frequent rifts and rapids.
We arrived at Fort Miller village, on the east bank of the river, between five and six
o'clock; and while awaiting supper, preparatory to an evening canal voyage to Fort Edward, nine miles above, I engaged a water-man to row me across to the western bank, to
The place where these barracks were located is just within the northern suburbs of Schuylerville.
2 Davis, Green, Guiles, and Burden.                             3 Neilson, 223.




94                       PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK....... -~_______________


Vblt to the Site of old Fort Edward.  Tragedy of ' Bloody Run."  Daring Feat by Putnam.  Fort Miller Fording-place.
view the site of the old fort.  He was a very obliging man, and well acquainted with the
localities in the neighborhood, but was rather deficient in historical knowledge.  His attempts to relate the events connected with the old fort and its vicinity were amusing; for
Putnam's ambush on Lake Champlain, and the defeat of Pyles by Lee, in North Carolina,
with a slight tincture of correct narrative, were blended together as parts of an event which
occurred at Fort Miller.
We crossed the Hudson just above the rapids.  A dam for milling purposes spans the
stream, causing a sluggish current and deeper water for more than two miles above. Here
was the scene of one of Putnam's daring exploits.  While a major in the English provincial
army, nearly twenty years before the Revolution, he was lying in a bateau on the east side
of the river, and was suddenly surprised by a party of Indians.  He could not cross the
river swiftly enough to escape the balls of their rifles, and there was no alternative but to
go down the foaming rapids. In an instant his purpose was fixed, and, to the astonishment of
the savages, he steered directly down the current, amid whirling eddies and over shelving rocks.
In a few moments his vessel cleared the rush of waters, and was gliding upon the smooth current below, far out of reach of the weapons of the Indians. It was a feat they never dared attempt, and Superstition convinced them that he was so favored by the Great Spirit that it would
be an affront to Manitou to attempt to kill him with powder and ball. Other Indians of the
_tribe, however, soon afterward gave practical
evidence of their unbelief in such interposition.
There is not a vestige of Fort Miller left,
'....    and maize, and potatoes, and pumpkin vines
i'  -               were flourishing where the rival forces of Sir
William Johnson and the Baron Dieskau al-.te,[~]                                  ternately paraded.  At the foot of the hill, a
few rods below where the fort stood, is a part,            is all that remains even of the outworks of.                                         the fortification.
- -     ling cascades from the hills, and affords fine
-      -              trout fishing.  It derives its name from the
fact that, while the English had possession of
the fort in 1759, a party of soldiers from the garrison went out to fish at the place represented
in the picture.  The hills, now cultivated, were
then covered with dense forests, and afforded the
Indians excellent ambush.  A troop of savages,,   B        lblying near, sprang silently from their covert upon
the fishers, and bore off nine reeking scalps be-           n
fore thse who escaped could reach the fort and
give the alrrt.
This clear mountain stream enters the Hudson
a liftle above Fort Miller, where the river makes
a sudden curve, and where, before the erection of
the dam at the' rapids, it was quite shallow, and..-.    -
usually fordable.  This was the crossing-place
for the armies; and there are still to be seen some of the logs and stones upon the shore which
formed a part of the old  King's Road" leading to the fording-place.  They are now sub

This view is taken from the site of the fort, looking northward. The fort was in the town of Northumberland. It was built of logs and earth, and was never a post of great importance.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


96


Canal Voyage to Fort Edward.          Scene on Board.           Fort Edward.           National Debt of Englan&


merged, the river having been made deeper by the dam; but when the water is limpid they
can be plainly seen. It was twilight before we reached the village on the eastern shore.
We supped and repaired to the packet office, where we waited until nine o'clock in the
evening before the shrill notes of a tin horn brayed out the annunciation of a packet near.
Its deck was covered with passengers, for the interesting ceremony of converting the diningroom into a dormitory, or swinging the hammocks or berths and selecting their occupantsi
had commenced, and all were driven out, much to their own comfort, but, strange to say;
to the dissatisfaction of many who lazily preferred a sweltering lounge in the cabin to the
delights of fresh air and the bright starlight. Having no interest in the scramble for beds,
we enjoyed the evening breeze and the excitement of the tiny tumult.  My companion, fearing the exhalations upon the night air, did indeed finally seek shelter in one end of the cabin,
but was driven, with two other young ladies, into the captain's state-room, to allow the
" hands" to have full play in making the beds. Imprisoned against their will, the ladies
made prompt restitution to themselves by drawing the cork of a bottle of sarsaparilla and
sipping its contents, greatly to the consternation of a meek old dame, the mother of one of
_____                   he girls, who was sure it was ( bed-bug pizen, or something a pesky sight worse."   We landed at Fort Ed-                       ward at midnight, and took lodgings at a small but
'c                  tidily-kept tavern close by the canal.
' ll       -              Fort Edward was a military post of considerable im\ "              t J       portance during the French and Indian wars and the
\               evolution.1  The locality, previous to the erection of
l      'fl~i X\   S ^          the fortress, was called the first carrying-place, being
IAla l^           ^ 1            the first and nearest point on the Hudson where the
| 1i'|1l -                    troops, stores, &c., were landed while passing to or from
I|p' },K: f s  Xthe south end of Lake Champlain, a distance of about
i\                      twenty-five miles.  The fort was built in 1755, when
F Lsix thousand troops were collected there, under General
Lyman, waiting the arrival of General Johnson, the comi          F ' FORT ODWRARO CREOKE.  mander-in-chief of an expedition against Ticonderoga and
___                     Crown Point.    It was at first called Fort Lyman, in
FORT EDWARD.2         honor of the general who superintended its erection.  It
1 I refer particularly to the war between England and France, commonly called, in Europe, the Seven
Years' War. It was declared on the 9th of June, 1756, and ended with the treaty at Paris, concluded
and signed February 10th, 1763. It extended to the colonies of the two nations in America, and was carried on with much vigor here until the victory of Wolfe at Quebec, in 1759, and the entire subjugation of
Canada by the English. The French managed to enlist a large proportion of the Indian tribes in their
favor, who were allied with them against the Britons. It is for that reason that the section of the Seven
Years' War in America was called by the colonists the " French
and Indian War."  I would here mention incidentally that that           ^'
war cost Great Britain five hundred and sixty millions of dollars, and laid one of the largest foundation stones of that national
debt under which she now groans. It was twenty millions in
the reign of William and Mary, in 1697, and was then thought
to be enormous; in 1840 it was about four thousand millions
of dollars!
a EXPLANATION: a a a a a a, six cannons; A, the barracks;:
B, the store-house; C, the hospital; D, the magazine; E, a   '
flanker; F, a bridge across Fort Edward Creek; and G, a
balm of Gilead tree which then overshadowed the massive
water-gate. That tree is still standing, a majestic relic of the
past, amid the surrounding changes in nature and art. It is  -
directly upon the high bank of the Hudson, and its branches,
heavily foliated when I was there, spread very high and wide.
At the union below its three trunks it measures more than..
twenty feet in circumference.                             BALI OF GILRAD AT FORT EDWARD




96                            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
buring Feat of Putnam at Fort Edward.  Jane M'Crea Tree.  Sir William Johnson and his Title.  Fortifications.
ras built of logs and earth, sixteen feet high and twenty-two feet thick, and stood at the
junction of Fort Edward Creek and the Hudson River. From the creek, around the fort to
the river, was a deep fosse or ditch, designated in the engraving by the dark dotted part
outside of the black lines.
There are still very prominent traces of the banks and fosse of the fort, but the growing
village will soon spread over and obliterate them forever. Already a garden was within
the lines; and the old parade-ground, wherein Sir William Johnson strutted in the haughty
pride of a victor by accident,' was desecrated by beds of beets, parsley, radishes, and onions.
Fort Edward was the theater of another daring achievement by Putnam.            In the winter of 1756 the barracks, then near the northwestern bastion, took fire. The magazine was
only twelve feet distant, and contained three hundred barrels of gunpowder. Attempts were
made to batter the barracks to the ground with heavy cannons, but without success.        Putnam, who was stationed upon Rogers's Island, in the Hudson, opposite the fort, hurried
thither, and, taking his station on the roof of the barracks, ordered a line of soldiers to hand
him water. But, despite his efforts, -the flames raged and approached nearer and nearer to
the magazine.    The commandant, Colonel Haviland, seeing his danger, ordered him down;
but the brave major did not leave his perilous post until the fabric began to totter.       He
then leaped to the ground, placed himself between the falling building and the magazine,
and poured on water with all his might. The external planks of the magazine were consumed, and there was only a thin partition between the flames and the powder. But Putnam succeeded in subduing the flames and saving the ammunition. His hands and face
were dreadfully burned, his whole body was more or less blistered, and it was several weeks
before he recovered from the effects of his daring conflict with the fire.'
The first place of historic interest that we visited at Fort Edward was the venerable and
blasted, pine tree near which, tradition asserts, the unfortunate Jane M'Crea lost her life
while General Burgoyne had his encampment near Sandy Hill.            It stands upon the west
side of the road leading from  Fort Edward to Sandy Hill, and about half a mile from the
canal-lock in the former village.   The tree had exhibited unaccountable signs of decadence
for several: years, and when we visited it, it was sapless and bare.   Its top was torn off by
a November gale, and almost every breeze diminishes its size by scattering its decayed twigs.
The trunk is about five feet in diameter, and upon the bark is engraved, in bold letters,
JANE M'CREA, 1777.        The names of many ambitious visitors are intaglioed upon it, and
reminded me of the line " Run, run, Orlando, carve on every tree."        I carefully sketched
all its branches, and the engraving is a faithful portraiture of the interesting relic, as viewed
from the opposite side of the road.   In a few years this tree, around which history and romance have clustered so many associations, will crumble and pass away forever.
The sad story of the unfortunate girl is so interwoven in our history that it has become a
component part; but it is told with so many variations, in essential and non-essential parSir William Johnson had command of the English forces in 1755, destined to act against Crown Point.
He was not remarkable for courage or activity. He was attacked at the south end of Lake George by the
French general, Deiskau, and was wounded at the outset. The command then devolved on Major-general
Lyman, of the Connecticut troops, who, by his skill and bravery, secured a victory over the French and
Indians. General Johnson, however, had the honor and reward thereof. In his mean jealousy he gave
General Lyman no praise; and the British king (George II.) made him a baronet, and a present of twenty
thousand dollars to give the title becoming dignity.
NOTe.-As I shall have frequent occasion to employ technical terms used in fortifications, I here give a diagram, which, with
the explanation, will make those terms clear to the reader. The figure is a vertical
i,< A        section of a fortification. The mass of earth. a b c d ef g A, forms the rampart with
its parapet; a b is the interior slope of the rampart; b c is the terre-plein of the ram.. part, on which the troops and cannon are placed; d e is the banquette, or step, on
which the soldiers mount to fire over the parapet; efg is the parapet; g A is the
exterior slope of the parapet; h i is the revnetmnt, or wall of masonry, supporting the rampart; h k, the exterior front covered
with the revetment, is called the escarp; i k I m is the ditch; I m is the counterscarp; m n is the covered way, having a banquette
n op; a r is the glacis. When there are two ditches, the works between the inner and the outer ditch are called ravelins, and
all outside of the ditches, outworks.-See Brande's Cyc., art. Fortifcation.
Peabody's Life of Putnam, American Biography, vii., 131.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


l


The Fort Edward Romance.       Mrs. M'Neil and her Grand.daughter.  Narrative of the ltter.
ticulars, that much of the narratives we have is evidently pure fiction; a simple tale of Indian abduction, resulting in death,
having its counterpart in a hundred like occurrences, has been gar-             'Aj    f
nished with all the high coloring              )
of a romantic love story.  It seems         '
a pity to spoil the romanca of the        A.
matter, but truth always makes sad
havoc with the frost-work of the imagination, and sternly demands the
homage of the historian's pen.
All accounts agree that Miss
M'Crea was staying at the house.
of a Mrs. M'Neil, near the fort, at                            _the time of the tragedy.  A granddaughter of Mrs. M'Neil (Mrs.,
F ---n) is now living at Fort
Edward, and from her I received a minute account of the                                             '
whole transaction, as she had heard.
it a "thousand times" from her                             -                    -
grandmother. She is a woman of     -s    l
remarkable intelligence, about sixty  '
years old.  When I was at Fort
Edward she was on a visit with                                      S
her sister at Glenn's Falls.  It had
been my intention to go direct to!..
Whitehall, on Lake Champlain,     ai
by way of Fort Ann, but the tra-.        Xditionary accounts in the neigh- -


I.
A\


-~               -.. - "                 -
JANE M'CREA TREE, FORT EDWARD.
borhood of the event in question were so contradictory of the books, and I received such assurances that perfect reliance might be placed upon the statements of Mrs. F-n, that, anxious to ascertain the truth of the matter, if possible, we went to Lake Champlain by way of
Glenn's Falls and Lake George.  After considerable search at the falls, I found Mrs. F-n,
and the following is her relation of the tragedy at Fort Edward:
Jane M'Crea was the daughter of a Scotch Presbyterian clergyman of Jersey City, opposite New York; and while Mrs. M'Neil (then the wife of a former husband named Campbell) was a resident of New York City, an acquaintance and intimacy had grown up between
Jenny and her daughter. After the death of Campbell (which occurred at sea) Mrs. Campbell married MNeil. He, too, was lost at sea, and she removed with her family to an estate
G




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Reidence of Jane M-Crea at Fort Edward.. Her Betrothal.   Abduction of MrN M'Neil and Jane.
owned by him at Fort Edward.   Mr. M'Crea, who was a widower, died, and Jane went to
live with her brother near Fort Edward, where the intimacy of former years with Mrs.
M'Neil and her daughter was renewed, and Jane spent much of her time at Mrs. MNeil's
house. Near her brother's lived a family named Jones, consisting of a widow and six sons,
and between Jenny and David Jones, a gay young man, a feeling of friendship budded and
ripened into reciprocal love.  When the war broke out the Joneses took the royal side of the
question, and David and his brother Jonathan went to Canada in the autumn of 1776.
They raised a company of about sixty men, under pretext of re-enforcing the American garrison at Ticonderoga, but they went further down the lake and joined the British garrison at
June 1, Crown Point. When Burgoyne collected his forces at St. John's, at the foot of Lake
1777.  Champlain, David and Jonathan Jones were among them.    Jonathan was made
captain and David a lieutenant in the division under General Fraser, and at the time in question they were with the British army near Sandy Hill. Thus far all accounts nearly agree.
The brother of Jenny was a Whig, and prepared to move to Albany; but Mrs. M'Neil,
who was a cousin of General Fraser.(killed at Stillwater), was a stanch loyalist, and intended
to remain at Fort Edward. When the British were near, Jenny was at Mrs. M'Neil's, and
lingered there even after repeated solicitations from her brother to return to his house, five
wiles further down the river, to be ready to flee when necessity should compel.  A faint
hope that she might meet her lover doubtless was the secret of her tarrying. At last her
brother sent a peremptory order for her to join
him, and she promised to go down in a large
bateaul which was expected to leave with
several families on the following day.
- Early the next morning a black               July 27,
--  servant boy belonging to Mrs. M'Neil  1777.
espied some Indians stealthily approaching the... -.-.- --- -.   house, and, giving the alarm to the inmates,
A Rxvznt BATZAU.
A R   Be fled to the fort, about eighty rods distant.
Mrs. MNeil's daughter, the young friend of Jenny, and mother of my informant, was with
some friends in Argyle, and the family consisted of only the widow and Jenny, two small
children, and a black female servant.  As usual at that time, the kitchen stood a few feet
from the house; and when the alarm was given the black woman snatched up the children,
fled to the kitchen, and retreated through a trap-door to the cellar.2 Mrs. M'Neil and Jenny
followed, but the former being aged and very corpulent, and the latter young and agile, Jenny
reached the trap-door first. Before Mrs. MNeil could fully descend, the Indians were in
the house, and a powerful savage seized her by the hair and dragged her up. Another
went into the cellar and brought out Jenny, but the black face of the negro woman was
not seen in the dark, and she and the children remained unharmed.
With the two women the savages started off, on the road toward Sandy Hill, for Burgoyne's camp; and when they came.to the foot of the ascent on which the pine tree stands,
where the road forked, they caught two horses that were grazing, and attempted to place
their prisoners upon them. Mrs. M'Neil was too heavy to be lifted on the horse easily, and
as she signified by signs that she could not ride, two stout Indians took her by the arms and
hurried her up the road over the hill, while the others, with Jenny on the horse, went along
the road running west of the tree.
The negro boy who ran to the fort gave the alarm, and a small detachment was immeBateaux were rudely constructed of logs and planks, broad and without a keel. They had small draught,
and would carry large loads in quite shallow water. In still water and against currents they were propelled by long driving-poles. The ferry-scows or flats on the southern and western rivers are very much
like the old bateaux. They were sometimes furnished with a mast for lakes and other deep water, and
had cabins erected on them.
$ Traces of this cellar and of the foundation of the house are still visible in the garden of Dr. Norton, in
Fort Edward village, who is a relative of the family by marriage.




OF THE REVOLUTION.             99


Flight of the Indians toward Sandy Hill.  Treatment of Mrs. M'Neil. Indian Account of the Death of Jane.  The Spring,
diately sent out to effect a rescue.  They fired several volleys at the Indians, but the aavages escaped unharmed. Mrs. M'Neil said that the Indians, who were hurrying her up the
hill, seemed to watch the flash of the guns, and several times they threw her upon her face,
at the same time falling down themselves, and she distinctly heard the balls whistle above
them.   When they got above the second hill from the village the firing ceased; they then
stopped, stripped her of all her garments except her chemise, and in that plight led her into
the British camp. There she met her kinsman, General Fraser, and reproached him bitterly for sending his I scoundrel Indians" after her.  He denied all knowledge of her being
away from the city of New York, and took every pains to make her comfortable. She was
so large that not a woman in camp had a gown big enough for her, so Fraser lent her his
camp-coat for a garment, and a pocket-handkerchief as a substitute for her stolen cap.
Very soon after Mrs. M'Neil was taken into the British camp, two parties of Indians arrived with scalps.  She at once recognised the long glossy hair of Jenny,' and, though shuddering with horror, boldly charged the savages with her murder, which they stoutly denied.
They averred that, while hurrying her along the road on
horseback, near the spring west of the pine tree, a bullet
~.        from one of the American guns, intended for them, mortally
E          -      wounded the poor girl, and she Jell from the horse.  Sure
of losing a prisoner by death, they took her scalp as the next
'-;,I                 best thing for them to do, and that they bore in triumph to
the camp, to obtain the promised reward for such trophies..II                     Mrs. M'Neil always believed the story of the Indians to be
true, for she knew that they were fired upon by the detach' Il-                  ment from the fort, and it was far more to their interest to
Il   carry a prisoner than a scalp to the British commander, the. -,.                  price for the former, being much greater.  In fact, the In'.                   dians were so restricted by Burgoyne's humane instructions
respecting the taking of scalps, that their chief solicitude
S                   was to bring a prisoner alive and unharmed into the camp.9
''   And the probability that Miss M'Crea was killed as they.
alleged is strengthened by the fact that they took the corTHE SPRING3           pulent Mrs. MNeil, with much fatigue and difficulty, uninjured to the British lines, while Miss M'Crea, quite light
and already on horseback, might have been carried off with far greater ease.
It was known in camp that Lieutenant Jones was betrothed to Jenny, and the story got
abroad that he had sent the Indians for her, that they quarreled on the way respecting the
reward he had offered, and murdered her to settle the dispute. Receiving high touches of
coloring as it went from one narrator to another, the sad story became a tale of darkest horror, and produced a deep and wide-spread indignation. This was heightened by September 2,
a published letter from Gates to Burgoyne, charging him with allowing the In-      1777.
It was of extraordinary length and beauty, measuring a yard and a quarter. She was then about
twenty years old, and a very lovely girl; not lovely in beauty of face, according to the common standard
of beauty, but so lovely in disposition, so graceful in manners, and so intelligent in features, that she was
a favorite of all who knew her.
"  I positively forbid bloodshed when you are not opposed in arms. Aged men, women, children, and
prisoners must be held sacred from the knife and hatchet, even in the time of actual conflict. You shall
receive compensation for the prisoners you take, but you shall be called to account for scalps. In conformity and indulgence of your customs, which have affixed an idea of honor to such ladges of victory, you
shall be allowed to take the scalps of the dead when killed by your fire and in fair opposition; but on no
account, or pretense, or subtilty, or prevarication are they to be taken from the wounded, or even the dying; and still less pardonable, if possible, will it be held to kill men in that condition on purpose, and upon
a supposition that this protection to the wounded would be thereby evaded."-Extract from the Speech of
Burgoyne to the Indians assembled upon the Bouquet River, June 21, 1777.
3 This is a view of a living spring, a few feet below the noted pine tree, the lower portion of which is
seen near the top of the engraving. The spring is beside the old road, traces of which may be seen.




100                       PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Mlsacre of the Allen Family. Gates's Letter. Inquiry respecting the Death of Miss M'Crea. Desertion of Lieutenant Jones.
dians to butcher with impunity defenseless women and children. (" Upward of one hundred men, women, and children," said Gates,, have perished by the hands of the ruffians, to
whom, it is asserted, you have paid the price of blood."  Burgoyne flatly denied this assertion, and declared that the case of Jane M'Crea was the only act of Indian cruelty of which
he was informed. His information must have been exceedingly limited, for on the same
day when Jenny lost her life a party of savages murdered the whole family of John Allen,
of Argyle, consisting of himself, his wife, three children, a sister-in-law, and three negroes.
The daughter of Mrs. M'Neil, already mentioned, was then at the house of Mr. Allen's
father-in-law, Mr. Gilmer, who, as well as Mr. Allen, was a Tory. Both were afraid of
the savages, nevertheless, and were preparing to flee to Albany. On the morning of the
massacre a younger daughter of Mr. Gilmer went to assist Mrs. Allen in preparing to move.
Not returning when expected, her father sent a negro boy down for her.  He soon returned,
screaming, (, They are all dead-father, mother, young missus, and all!"  It was too true.
That morning, while the family were at breakfast, the Indians burst in upon them and
slaughtered every one. Mr. Gilmer and his family left in great haste for Fort Edward,
but proceeded very cautiously for fear of the savages.  When near the fort, and creeping
warily along a ravine, they discovered a portion of the very party who had plundered Mrs.
M'Neil's house in the morning.  They had emptied the straw from the beds and filled the
ticks with stolen articles. Mrs. MNeil's daughter, who accompanied the fugitive family,
saw her mother's looking-glass tied upon the back of one of the savages. They succeeded
in reaching the fort in safety.
Burgoyne must soon have forgotten this event and the alarm among the loyalists because
of the murder of a Tory and his family; forgotten how they flocked to his camp for protection, and Fraser's remark to the frightened loyalists,,, It is a conquered country, and we
must wink at these things;" and how his own positive orders to the Indians, not to molest
those having protection, caused many of them to leave him and return to their huntinggrounds on the St. Lawrence. It was all dark and dreadful, and Burgoyne was willing to
retreat behind a false assertion, to escape the perils-which were sure to grow out of an admission of half the truth of Gates's letter. That letter, as Sparks justly remarks, was more
ornate than forcible, and abounded more in bad taste than simplicity and pathos; yet it was
suited to the feelings of the moment, and produced a lively impression in every part of America. Burke, in the exercise of all his glowing eloquence, used the story with powerful effect
in the British House of Commons, and made the dreadful tale familiar throughout Europe.
Burgoyne, who was at Fort Ann, instituted an inquiry into the matter. He summoned
the Indians to council, and demanded the surrender of the man who bore off the scalp, to
be punished as a murderer. Lieutenant Jones denied all knowledge of the matter, and utterly disclaimed any such participation as the sending of a letter to Jenny, or of an Indian
escort to bring her to camp. He had no motive for so doing, for the American army was
then retreating; a small guard only was at Fort Edward, and in a day or two the British
would have full possession of that fort, when he could have a personal interview with her.
Burgoyne, instigated by motives of policy rather than by judgment and inclination, pardoned
the savage who scalped poor Jenny, fearing that a total defection of the Indians would be
the result of his punishment.1
Lieutenant Jones, chilled with horror and broken in spirit by the event, tendered a resignation of his commission, but it was refused.  He purchased the scalp of his Jenny, and
with this cherished memento deserted, with his brother, before the army reached Saratoga,
and retired to Canada.  Various accounts have been given respecting the subsequent fate
of Lieutenant Jones.  Some assert that, perfectly desperate and careless of life, he rushed
into the thickest of the battle on Bemis's Heights, and was slain; while others allege that
he died within three years afterward, heart-broken and insane.  But neither assertion. is
true.  While searching for Mrs. F-n among her friends at Glenn's Falls, I called at the
Earl of Harrington's Evidence in Burgoyne's "State of the Expedition;" p. 66.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


Effect of Miss M'Crea's Death on Lieutenant Jones. Attack of Indians upon American Troops. Reinterment of Miss M'Creia
house of Judge R ---s, whose lady is related by marriage to the family of Jones.  Her aunt
married a brother of Lieutenant Jones, and she often heard this lady speak of him.  He
lived in Canada to be an old man, and died but a few years ago.  The death of Jenny was
a heavy blow, and he never recovered from it. In youth he was gay and exceedingly garrulous, but after that terrible event he was melancholy and taciturn. He never married,
and avoided society as much as business would permit. Toward the close of July in every
year, when the anniversary of the tragedy approached, he would shut himself in his room
and refuse the sight of any one; and at all times his friends avoided any reference to the'
Revolution in his presence.
At the time of this tragical event the American army under General Schuyler was encamped at Moses's Creek, five miles below Fort Edward.  One of its two divisions was
placed under the command of Arnold, who had just reached the army. His divi- July 23,
sion included the rear-guard left at the fort.  A picket-guard of one hundred men,  1777.
under Lieutenant Van Vechten, was stationed on the hill a little north of the pine tree;
and at the moment when the house of Mrs. M'Neil was attacked and plundered, and her
self and Jenny were carried off, other parties of Indians, belonging to the same expedition,
came rushing through the woods from different points, and fell upon the Americans. Lieutenant Van Vechten and several others were killed and their scalps borne off. Their bodies,
with that of Jenny, were found by the party that went out from the fort in pursuit.  She
and the officer were ling near together, close by the spring already mentioned, and only a
few feet from the pine tree.  They were stripped of clothing, for plunder was the chief incentive of the savages to war. They were borne immediately to the fort, which the Americans at once evacuated, and Jane did indeed go down the river in the bateau in which she
had intended to embark, but not glowing with life and beauty, as was expected by her fond
brother. With the deepest grief, he took charge of her mutilated corse, which was buried
at the same time and place with that of the lieutenant, on the west bank of the Hudson,
near the mouth of a small creek about three miles below Fort Edward.
Mrs. M'Neil lived many years, and was buried in the small village cemetery, very near
the ruins of the fort.  In the summer of 1826 the remains of Jenny were taken up and deposited in the same grave'with her. They were followed by a long train of young men and
maidens, and the funeral ceremonies were conducted by the eloquent but unfortunate Hooper
Cummings, of Albany, at that time a brilliant light in the American pulpit, but destined,
like a glowing meteor, to go suddenly down into darkness and gloom.. Many who were then
young have a vivid recollection of the pathetic discourse of that gifted man, who on that occasion " made all Fort Edward weep," as he delineated anew the sorrowful picture of the
immolation of youth and innocence upon the horrid altar of war.
A plain white marble slab, about three feet high,
with the simple inscription Jane M'Crea, marks
the spot of her interment.  Near by, as seen in the
Jf            l          picture, is an antique brown stone slab, erected to
the memory of Duncan Campbell, a relative of Mrs.
i-, M'Neil's first husband, who was mortally wounded
at Ticonderoga in 1758.1   Several others of the......                 same name lie near, members of the family of Donaid Campbell, a brave Scotchman who was with
GRavE OF JANE M'CREA.
GAE OF JANE MCA.     Montgomery at the storming of Quebec in 1775.
We lingered long in the cool shade at the spring before departing for the village burialground where the remains of Jenny rest. As we emerged from the woods we saw two or


The following is the inscription:
HERE LYES THE BODY OF DUNCAN CAMPBELL, OF INVERSAW, ESQR., MAJOR TO THE OLD HIGHLAND
REGT., AGED 55 YEARS, WHO DIED THE 17TI JULY, 1758. OF THE WOUNDS HE RECEIVED IN THE
ATTACK OF THE. RETRENCHMENTS OF TICONDEROGA OR CARILLON THE 8TH JULY, 1758.




102


PILC TORIAL I;A.,.F I EEL D- B 0 OXK


1 0    P-B


Youag Girl struck by Lightning.  Village Burial-ground.  Colonel Cochran and his Adventures.  Rogers's Island.
three persons with a horse and wagon, slowly ascending the hill from the village.  In the
wagon, upon a mattress, was a young girl who had been struck by lightning, two days before, while drawing water from a well.1 Although alive, her senses were all paralyzed by
the shock, and her sorrowing father was carrying her home, perhaps to die. With brief
words of consoling hope, we stepped up and looked upon the stricken one. Her breathing
was soft and slow-a hectic glow was upon each cheek; but all else of her fair young face
was pale as alabaster except her lips.  It was grievous, even to a stranger, to look upon a
young life so suddenly prostrated, and we turned sadly away to go to the grave of another,
who in the bloom of young womanhood was also smitten to the earth, not by the lightning
from Heaven, but by the arm of warring man.
The village burial-ground is near the site of the fort, and was thickly strewn with wild
flowers.  We gathered a bouquet from the grave of Jenny, and preserved it for the eye of
the curious in an impromptu herbarium made of a city newspaper.  A few feet from her
s( narrow house" is the grave of Colonel Robert Cochran, whom I have
already mentioned as commanding a detachment of militia at Fort Edward at the time of Burgoyne's surrender.  He was a brave officer, and
was warmly attached to the American cause.  In 1778 he was sent to
Canada as a spy. His errand being suspected, a large bounty was offered  I     -
for his head.  He was obliged to conceal himself, and while doing so at
one time in a brush-heap, he was taken dangerously ill.  Hunger and disease made him venture to a log cabin in sight.  As he approached he     '^I
heard three men and a woman conversing on the subject of the reward for  ^
his head, and discovered that they were actually forming plans for his capture.  The men soon left the cabin in pursuit of him, and he immediately
crept into the presence of the woman, who was the wife of one of the men, frankly told her
his name, and asked her protection. That she kindly promised him, and gave him some
nourishing food and a bed to rest upon. The men returned in the course of a few hours,
and she concealed Cochran in a cupboard, where he overheard expressions of their confident
anticipations that before another sun they would have the rebel spy, and claim the reward.
They refreshed themselves, and set off again in search of him. The kind woman directed him
to a place of concealment, some distance from her cabin, where she fed and nourished him until
he was able to travel, and then he escaped beyond the British lines. Several years afterward,
when the war had closed, the colonel lived at Ticonderoga, and there he accidentally met his
deliverer, and rewarded her handsomely for her generous fidelity in the cause of suffering
humanity. Colonel Cochran died in 1812, at Sandy Hill, and was buried at Fort Edward.
It was hot noon when I left the village cemetery, and took shelter under the shadow
of the venerable balm of Gilead tree at the place of the water-gate of the fort. A few rods below is the mouth of Fort Edward Creek, on
the south of which the British army were
encamped when Burgoyne tarried there to
send an expedition to Bennington, and, after that disastrous affair, to recruit and discipline his forces.  Dividing the waters of
the Hudson in front of the fort is Rogers's
Island, a beautiful and romantic spot, which
was used as a camp-ground by the English
and French alternately during the French
MOUTH OF FORT EDWARD CREEK.2      and Indian war.   Almost every year the


1 This mournful event occurred in the village, very near the same spot where, a year before, five men
in a store were instantly killed by one thunder-bolt.
2 This sketch is taken from within the intrenchments of Fort Edward, near the magazine, looking southwest. On the left, just beyond the balm of Gilead tree, is seen the creek, and on the right, across the
water, Rogers's Island.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                 10 3
Relics found on Rogers's Island.  A remarkable Skull.        Silver Coin found at Fort Edwar&
plow turns up some curious relics of the past upon the island, such as bayonets, tomahawks,
buttons, bullets, cannon-balls, coin, arrow-heads, &c. Dr. Norton, of Fort Edward, gave
me a skull that had been exhumed there, which is remarkable for its       -
excessive thickness; not so thick, however, as to resist the force of a  A-   X
musket-ball which penetrated it, and doubtless deprived its owner of  /7'  i > ^
life.  It is three eighths of an inch thick where the bullet entered in;  i  1
front, and, notwithstanding its long inhumation, the sutures are per- L  BB
fect.  Its form is that of the negro, and it probably belonged to the.M l
servant of some officer stationed there.
The silver coin found in the vicinity of Fort Edward is called by the people " cob money."
--                     The derivation of this name I could not learn.  I
i   \ 1d       00-"a ~o ^\ % obtained two pieces of it, both of which are Spanish
/  d  M  X S       i \\   coin.  The larger one is a cross-pistareen, of the value
E '!!! |1'  E   v!; i ll~~l1!) lof sixteen cents; the other is a quarter fraction of the
*\ f i9l6l ''   h 1)iJ)1 l      same coin.  They are very irregular in form, and the:!,.IBF  X/ X ^           devices and dates are quite imperfect.  The two in
J  l t            my possession are dated respectively 1741, 1743.
These Spanish small coins composed the bulk of specie
Two SIDES OF A CuOSS-PISTAREEN.  circulation among the French in Canada at that time.




1O)4             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Rit from Fort Edward to Glenn's Falls.  Appearance of the Country.  Interesting Character of the Region.
CHAPTER V.
"Though of the past from no carved shrines,
Canvass, or deathless lyres, we learn,
Yet arbor'd streams and shadowy pines
Are hung with legends wild and stern
In deep dark glen-on mountain side,
Are graves whence stately pines have sprung
Naught telling how the victims died,
Save faint tradition's faltering tongue."
STREET.
v ~"       ~E dined at three, and immediately left the pleasant little
j           "g /village of Fort Edward in a barouche for Glenn's Falls, by
a  the way of Sandy Hill, a distance of six miles.  The latter village
is beautifully situated upon the high left bank of the Hudson, where the
river makes a sudden sweep from an easterly to a southerly course.
Here is the termination of the Hudson Valley, and above it the river
Courses its way in a narrow channel, among rugged rocks and high, wooded
bluffs, through as wild and romantic a region as the most enthusiastic
- of traveler could desire.
It was early in the afternoon when we reached the Mansion House at Glenn's
Falls, near the cataract.  All was bustle and confusion, for here is the brief
tarrying-place of fashionable tourists on their way from Saratoga Springs to Lake George.
There was a constant arrival and departure of visitors. Few remained longer than to dine
or sup, view the falls at a glance, and then hasten away to the grand summer lounge at
Caldwell, to hunt, fish, eat, drink, dance, and sleep to their heart's content.  We were
thoroughly wearied by the day's ramble and ride, but time was too precious to allow a moment of pleasant weather to pass by unimproved.  Comforted by the anticipation of a Sabbath rest the next day, we brushed the dust from our clothes, made a hasty toilet, and started
out to view the falls, and search for the tarrying-place of Mrs. F-n, of Fort Edward.
Here the whole aspect of things is changed. Hitherto our journey had been among the
quiet and beautiful; now every thing in nature was turbulent and grand. The placid river
was here a foaming cataract, and gentle slopes, yellow with the ripe harvest, were exchanged
for high, broken hills, some rocky and bare, others green with the oak and pine or dark with
the cedar and spruce.  Here nature, history, and romance combine to interest and please,
and geology spreads out one of its most wonderful pages for the scrutiny of the student and
philosopher.  All over those rugged hills Indian warriors and hunters scouted for ages before
the paleface made his advent among them; and the slumbering echoes were often awakened in the last century by the crack of musketry and the roar of cannon, mingled with the
loud war-hoop of the Huron, the Iroquois, the Algonquin, the Mohegan, the Delaware, the
Adirondack, and the Mohawk, when the French and English battled for mastery in the vast
forests that skirted the lakes and the St. Lawrence.  Here, amid the roar of this very cataract,
if romance may be believed, the voice of Uncas, the last of the Mohegans, was heard and
heeded; here Hawk Eye kept his vigils; here David breathed his nasal melody; and here
Duncan Heyward, with his lovely and precious wards, Alice and Cora Monroe, fell into
the hands of the dark and bitter Mingo chief.'


I See Cooper's " Last of the Mohicans."




OF THE REVOLUTION.-                                                  106
Scenery about the Falls.                "Indian Cave" and "Big Snake.".                Departure.for Lake George.


The natural scenery about the falls is very picturesque, but the accompaniments of puny
art are exceedingly incongruous, sinking the grand and beautiful into mere burlesque. How
expertly the genius of man, quickened by acquisitiveness, fuses the beautiful and useful in
the crucible of gain, and, by the subtle alchemy of profit, transmutes the glorious cascade
and its fringes of rock and shrub into broad arable acres, or lofty houses, or speeding ships,
simply by catching the bright stream in the toils of a mill-wheel. Such meshes are here
spread out on every side to ensnare the leaping Hudson, and the rickety buildings, the clatter of machinery, and the harsh grating of saws, slabbing the huge black marble rocks of the
shores into city mantels, make horrid dissonance of that harmony which the eye and ear expect and covet where nature is thus beautiful and musical.
A bridge, nearly six hundred feet long, and resting in the center upon a marble island,
spans the river at the foot of the falls, and from its center there is a fine view of the cataract.  The entire descent of the river is about sixty feet.  The undivided stream first pours
over a precipice nine hundred feet long, and is then separated into three channels by rocks
piled in confusion, and carved, and furrowed, and welled, and polished by the rushing waters.
Below, the channels unite, and in one
deep stream the waters flow on gently
between the quarried cliffs of fine black: A?:         marble, which rise in some places from,    -*      --- thirty to seventy feet in height, and are
-  -                beautifully stratified. Many fossils are
-.                imbedded in the rocks, among which
the trilobite is quite plentiful.                            Here
-     the heads (so exceedingly rare) are frequently found.
- -.                         -                By the contribution of a York shil- --.. wa.  ling to an intelligent lad who kept, watch and ward":e  -  u:'                    e at a flight of steps below the bridge, we procured his
permission to descend to the rocks below, and his serv'- 'rices as guide to the n Big Snake" and the 's Indian Cave."  The
VIEW BELOW THE FL   former is a petrifaction on the surface of a flat rock, having the appearance of a huge serpent; the latter extends through the small
island from one channel to theother, and is pointed out as the place where Cooper's sweet
young heroines, Cora and Alice, with Major Heyward and the singing-master, were concealed.  The melody of a female voice, chanting an air in a minor key, came up from the cavern, and we expected every moment to hear the pitch-pipe of David and the i Isle of Wight."
The spell was soon broken by a merry laugh, and three young girls, one with a torn barege,
came clambering up from the narrow entrance over which Uncas and Hawk Eye cast the
green branches to conceal the fugitives.  In time of floods this cave is filled, and all the
dividing rocks below the main fall are covered with water, presenting one vast foaming
sheet. A long drought had greatly diminished the volume of the stream when we were
there, and materially lessened the usual grandeur of the picture.
We passed the Sabbath at the falls.  On Monday morning I arose at four, and went
down to the bridge to sketch the cascade.  The whole heavens were overcast, and a fresh
breeze from the southeast was driving portentous scuds before it, and piling them in dark
masses along the western horizon. Rain soon began to fall, and I was obliged to retrelt
under the bridge, and content myself with sketching the more quiet scene of the river and
shore below the cataract.
We left Glenn's Falls in a ", Rockaway" for Caldwell, on Lake George, nine miles northward, at nine in the morning, the rain falling copiously. The road passes over a wild,


1 This view was taken from under the bridge, looking down the river. The noted cave opens upon the
river just below where the figures stand.




I fO                             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Wiltiams'. Rock.                    Approach of Dieskau.                    Hendrick, the Mohawk Sachem.


broken, and romantic region. Our driver was a perfect Jehu. The plank road (since finished) was laid a small part of the way, and the speed he accomplished thereon he tried to
keep up over the stony ground of the old track, to "prevent jolting!".
On the right side of the road, within four miles of Lake George, is a huge boulder called, Williams's Rock."  It was so                          party of Indians under Hendrick,
named from the fact that near it                        the famous Mohawk sachem.
Colonel Ephraim Williams was                            Dieskau, who was at Skenesborkilled on the 8th of September,  A                      ough, marched along the course
1755, in an engagement with                            of Wood Creek to attack Fort
the French and Indians under                            Edward, but the Canadians and
Baron Dieskau.   Major-general                          Indians were so afraid of cannon
(afterward Sir William) John-      '                    that, when within two miles of
son was at that time at the head                       the fort, they urged him to change
of Lake George, with a body of      WILLIAMS'8 ROCK.'   his course, and attack Johnson in
provincial troops, and a large                          his camp on Lake George.   To
this request he acceded, for he ascertained by his scouts that Johnson was rather carelessly
y _encamped, and was probably unsuspicious of danger.
a         Information of his march was communicated to the
English commander at midnight, September 7th,
1755.
and early in the morning a council of war was
held.   It was determined to send out a small party to
meet the French, and the opinion of Hendrick was asked.   He shrewdly said, (, If they are to fight, they are
' /                         h (   too few; if they are to be killed, they are too many."
His objection to the proposition to separate them into
three divisions was quite as sensibly and laconically expressed.  Taking three sticks and putting them together, he remarked, i, Put them together, and you can't
~""7:1 break them. Take them one byone, and you can break
them easily."  Johnson was guided by the opinion of
Hendrick, and a detachment of twelve hundred men in
a,                  one body, under Colonel Williams, was sent out to meet.      the approaching enemy.
Before commencing their march, Hendrick mounted
HENDPCK.. a gun-carriage and harangued his warriors in a strain
of eloquence which had a powerful effect upon them. He was then about sixty-five years
old. His head was covered with long white locks, and every warrior loved him with the
deepest veneration.8  President Dwight, referring to this speech, says,,( Lieutenant-colonel
This view is taken from the road, looking northward. In the distance is seen the highest point of the
'French Mountain, on the left of which is Lake George. From this commanding height the French scouts
had a fine view of all the English movements at the head of the lake.
3 The portrait here given of the chief is from a colored print published in London during the lifetime of
the sachem. It was taken while he was in England, and habited in the full court dress presented to him
by the king. Beneath the picture is engraved, " The brave old Hendrick, the great sachem or chief of the
Mohawk Indians, one of the six nations now in alliance with, and subject to, the King of Great Britain."
3 Hendrick (sometimes called King Hendrick) was born about 1680, and generally lived at the Upper
dastle, upon the Mohawk. He stood high in the estimation of Sir William Johnson, and was one of the
most active and sagacious sachems of his time. When the tidings of his death were communicated to his
son, the young chief gave the usual groan upon such occasions, and, placing his hand over his heart, exclaimed, " My father still alive here. The son is now the father, and stands here ready to fight."-Gentiemen's Magaezine.
Sir William Johnson obtained from Hendrick nearly one hundred thousand acres of choice land, now
lying,chiefly in Herkimer county, north of the Mohawk, in the following manner: The sachem, being at
the baronet's house, saw a richlyeembroidered coat and coveted it. The next morning he said to Sir William, "Brother, me dream last night."  "Indeed," answered Sir William; "what did my red brother




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                                 107
Speech of Hendrick.         Fight with the French, and Death of Colonel Willianm and Hendrick.: Bloody Pond.


Pomeroy, who was present and heard this effusion of Indian eloquence, told me that, although he did not understand a word of the language, such were the animation of Hendrick,
the fire of his eye, the force of his gestures, the strength of his emphasis, the apparent propriety of the inflections of his voice, and the natural appearance of his whole manner, that
himself was more deeply affected with this speech than with any other he had ever heard."
The French, advised by scouts of the march of the English, approached with their line
in the form of a half moon, the road cutting the center. The country was so thickly wooded
that all correct observation was precluded, and at Rocky Brook, four miles from Lake George,
Colonel Williams and his detachment found themselves directly in the hollow of the half
moon.   A heavy fire was opened upon them in front and on both flanks at the same moment, and the.slaughter was dreadful.   Colonel Williams was shot dead near the rock before mentioned, and Hendrick fell, mortally wounded by a musket-ball in the back.   This
circumstance gave him great uneasiness, for it seemed to imply that he had turned his back
upon his enemy. The fatal bullet came from one of the extreme flanks. On the fall of
Williams, Lieutenant-colonel Whiting succeeded to the command, and effected a retreat so
judiciously that he saved nearly all of the detachment who were not killed or wounded by
the first onslaught.1
So careless and apathetic was General Johnson, that he did not commence throwing up
breast-works at his camp until after Colonel Williams had marched,.and Dieskau was on
the road to meet him. The firing was heard at Lake George, and then the alarmed commander began in earnest to raise defenses, by forming a breast-work of trees, and mounting
two cannon which he had fortunately received
from Fort Edward the day before, when his men.
thus employed should have been sent out to reenforce the retreating regiment.  Three hundred were, indeed, sent out, but were totally in-           -
adequate.   They met the flying English, and,
joining in the retreat, hastened back to the camp,
closely pursued by the French.                             1 2
A short distance from  Williams's Rock is a
small, slimy, bowl-shaped pond, about three
hundred feet in diameter, and thickly covered                          i
wsith the leaves of the water-lily.  It is near the
battle-ground where Williams and his men were             -
slain, and the French made it the sepulcher for
the slaughtered Englishmen.    Tradition avers          -
that for many years its waters bore a bloody hue,            BLOODY POND.
-    -    --
dream?"  "Me dream that coat be mine."  "It is yours," said the shrewd baronet. Not long afterward
Sir William visited the sachem, and he too had a dream. "Brother," he said, "I dreamed last night."
"What did my pale-faced brother dream?" asked Hendrick. "I dreamed that this tract of land was
mine," describing a square bounded on the south by the Mohawk, on the east by Canada Creek, and north
and west by objects equally well known. Hendrick was astonished. He saw the enormity of the request,
but was not to be outdone in generosity. He sat thoughtfully for a moment, and then said, " Brother, the
land is yours, but you must not dream again." The title was confirmed by the British government, and
the tract was called the Royal Grant.-Simms's Schoharie County, p. 124.
1 Colonel Ephraim Williams was born in 1715, at Newton, Massachusetts. He made several voyages
to Europe in early life. Being settled at Stockbridge when the war with France, in 1740, commenced,
and possessed of great military talent, he was intrusted with the command of the line of Massachusetts
forts on the west side of the Connecticut River. He joined General Johnson, at the head of a regiment,
in 1755, and, as we have seen, fell while gallantly leading his men against the enemy. By his will, made
before joining Johnson, he bequeathed his property to a township west of Fort Massachusetts,. on the con.
dition that it should be called Williamstown, and the money used for the establishment and maintenance
of a free school. The terms were complied with, and the school was afterward incorporated (1793) as a
college. Such was the origin of Williams's College. Colonel Williams was forty years old at the time
of his death




108            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Arrival at Caldwell. Indian and French Names of Lake George. Fort William Henry. Attack upon Johnson's Camp, 1755.
and it has ever since been called Bloody Pond.  I alighted in the rain, and made my way
through tall wet grass and tangled vines, over a newly-cleared field, until I got a favorable
view for the sketch here presented, which I hope the reader will highly prize, for it cost a
pair of boots, a linen "( sack" ruined by the dark droppings from a cotton umbrella, and a
box of cough lozenges.
It was almost noon when we reined up at the Lake House at Caldwell. We had anticipated much pleasure from the first sight of Horicon, but a mist covered its waters, and
its mountain frame-work was enveloped in fog; so we reserved our sentiment for use the
next fair day, donned dry clothing, and sat quietly down in the parlor to await the sovereign pleasure of the storm.
Lake George is indeed a beautiful sheet of water, and along its whole length of thirty-six
miles almost every island, bay, and bluff is clustered with historic associations. On account
of the purity of its waters, the Indians gave it the name of Horicon, or Silver Water.  They
also called it Canideri-oit, or The Tail of the Lake, on account of its connection with Lake
Champlain.1   It was visited by Samuel Champlain in 1609, and some suppose that he gave
his name to this lake instead of the one which now bears it. It is fair to infer, from his
own account, that he penetrated southward as far as Glenn's Falls; and it is not a little
remarkable that in the same year, and possibly at the same season, Hendrick Hudson was
exploring below the very stream near the head-waters of which the French navigator was
resting.  Strange that two adventurers, in the service of different sovereigns ruling three
thousand miles away, and approaching from different points of the compass, so nearly met
in the vast forests of wild America. The French, who afterward settled at Chimney Point,
on Lake Champlain, frequently visited this lake, and gave it the name of Sacrament, its
pure waters suggesting the idea.2
The little village of Caldwell contains about two hundred inhabitants, and is situated
near the site of Fort William Henry, at the head of
-     '     ^              the lake, a fortress erected by General Johnson to-LAKE OGOROE. ___           ward the close of 1755, after his battle there with, —             the French under Dieskau.    That battle occurred
/                          \     on the same day when Colonel Williams and his de\                   tachment were routed at Rocky Brook.  The French
(  bl             \   pursued the retreating English vigorously, and about
^                         T   noon they were seen approaching in considerable force
and regular order, aiming directly toward the center
of the British encampment.                         When within one hundred rods of the breast-works, in the open valley in
/                      front of the elevation on which Fort George (now a
picturesque ruin) was afterward built, Dieskau halted and disposed his Indians and Canadians upon the
FORT WILLIAM HENBY.3        right and left flanks.  The regular troops, under the
immediate command of the baron, attacked the English center, but, having only small arms, the effect was trifling. The English reserved
their fire until the Indians and Canadians were close upon them, when with sure aim they
poured upon them a volley of musket-balls which mowed them down like grass before the
1 Spafford's Gazetteer of New York.
2 The bed of the lake is a yellowish sand, and the water is so transparent that a white object, such as
an earthen plate, may be seen upon the bottom at a depth of nearly forty feet. The delicious salmon
trout, that weigh from five to twenty pounds, silver trout, pike, pickerel, and perch are found here in great
abundance, and afford fine sport and dainty food for the swarms of visitors at the Lake House during the
summer season.
a The extent of the embankments and fosse of this fort was fourteen hundred feet, and the barracks were
built of wood upon a strong foundation of lime-stone, which abounds in the neighborhood. This plan is
copied from a curious old picture by Blodget, called a " Prospective Plan of the Battles near Lake George,
1755."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


109


Battle of Lake George, and Death of Dieskau. Weakness of British Commanders. The Six Nations. Hendrick's Rebuke.
scythe.  At the same moment a bomb-shell was thrown among them by a howitzer, while
two field pieces showered upon them a quantity of grape-shot. The savage allies, and almost as savage colonists, greatly terrified, broke and fled to the swamps in the neighborhood.
The regulars maintained their ground for some time, but, abandoned by their companions,
and terribly galled by the steady fire from the breast-works, at length gave way, and Dieskau attempted a retreat,   Observing this, the English leaped over their breast-works and
pursued them. The French were dispersed in all directions, and Dieskau, wounded and
helpless, was found leaning upon the stump of a tree.  As the provincial soldier' who discovered him approached, he put his hand in his pocket to draw out his watch as a bribe to
allow him to escape.   Supposing that he was feeling for a pocket pistol, the soldier gave
him a severe wound in the hip with a musket-ball. He was carried into the English camp
in a blanket and tenderly treated, and was soon afterward taken to Albany, then to New
York, and finally to England, where he died from the effects of his wounds.  Johnson was
wounded at the commencement of the conflict in the fleshy part of his thigh, in which a
musket-ball lodged, and the whole battle was directed for five consecutive hours by General
Lyman, the second in command.'
Johnson's Indians, burning with a fierce desire to avenge the death of Hendrick, were
eager to follow the retreating enemy; and General Lyman proposed a vigorous continuation
of efforts by attacking the French posts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, on Lake Champlain.  But Johnson, either through fear, a love of ease, or some other inexplicable cause,
withheld his consent, and the residue of the autumn was spent in erecting Fort William
Henry.
In the colonial wars, as well as in the war of our Revolution, the British government
was often unfortunate in its choice of commanders.  Total inaction, or, at best, great tardiness, frequently marked their administration of military affairs. They could not comprehend
the elastic activity of the provincials, and were too proud to listen to their counsels'  This
tardiness and pride cost them many misfortunes, either by absolute defeat in battle, or the
theft of glorious opportunities for victory through procrastination.  Their shrewd savage
allies saw and lamented this, and before the commissioners of the several colonies, who met
at Albany in 1754 to consult upon a plan of colonial alliance, in which the Six NATIONS8
were invited to join, Hendrick administered a pointed rebuke to the governor and military
commanders.    The sachems were first addressed by James Delancy, then lieutenant-governor of New York; and Hendrick, who was a principal speaker, in the course of a reply
remarked, "Brethren, we have not as yet confirmed the peace with them (meaning the
French-Indian allies).  'Tis your fault, brethren; we are not strengthened by conquest, for
we should have gone and taken Crown Point, but you hindered us. We had concluded to
go and take it, but were told it was too late, that the ice would not bear us.  Instead of
this, you burned your own fort at Sar-ragh-to-gee [near old Fort Hardy], and ran away
from it, which was a shame and a scandal to you.     Look about your country, and see; -
you have no fortifications about you-no, not even to this city.   'Tis but one step from
Canada hither, and the French may easily come and turn you out of doors.
" Brethren, you were desirous we should open our minds and our hearts to you: look at
This soldier is believed to have been General Seth Pomeroy, of Northampton, Massachusetts.-Everett's Life of Stark.
2 At this battle General Stark, the hero of Bennington, then a lieutenant in the corps of Rogers's Rangers,
was first initiated in the perils and excitements of regular warfare.
3 The Six NATIONS consisted of the tribes of the Mohawks, Onondagas, Oneidas, Senecas, Cayugas, and
Tuscaroras. The first five were a long time allied, and known as the Five Nations. They were joined
by the Tuscaroras of North Carolina in 1714, and from that time the confederation was known by the title
of the Six Nations. Their great council fire was in the special keeping of the Onondagas, by whom it
was always kept burning. This confederacy was a terror to the other Indian tribes, and extended its con.
quests even as far as South Carolina, where it waged war against, and nearly exterminated, the once powerful Catawbas. When, in 1744, the Six Nations ceded a portion of their lands to Virginia, they insisted
on the continuance of a free war-path through the ceded territory.




t Q                         PICTORIAL. FIELD-BOOK
Lord. Loudon.  Montoalm' first Attack on Fort William Henry.  Perfidy and Cowardice of Webb.  Vigilance of Stark.
the French, they are men-they are fortifying every where; but, we are ashamed to say it,
you are like women, bare and open, without any fortifications."'
The head of Lake George was the theater of a terrible massacre in 1757.  Lord Loudon, a man of no energy of character, and totally deficient in the requisites for a military
leader, was appointed that year governor of Virginia, and commander-in-chief of all the
British forces in North America. A habit of procrastination, and his utter indecision,
thwarted all his active intentions, if he ever had any, and, after wasting the whole season in
getting here and preparing to do something, he was recalled by Pitt, then prime minister,
who gave as a reason for appointing Lord Amherst in his place, that the minister never
heard from him, and could not tell wlut he was doing.'
Opposed to him was the skillful and active French commander, the Marquis Montcalm,
who succeeded Dieskau. Early in the spring he made an attempt to capture Fort William
March 161 Henry. He passed up Lake George on St. Patrick's eve, landed stealthily behind
1757.  Long Point, and the next afternoon appeared suddenly before the fort.  A part of
the garrison made a vigorous defense, and Montcalm succeeded only in burning some buildings and vessels which were out of reach of the guns at the fort.'  He returned to Ticonderoga, at which post and at Crown Point he mustered all his forces, amounting to nine
thousand men, including Canadians and Indians, and in July prepared for another attempt
to capture Fort William Henry.
General Webb, who was commander of the forces in that quarter, was at Fort Edward
with four thousand men.   He visited Fort William Henry under an escort of two hundred
men commanded by Major Putnam, and while there he sent that officer with eighteen
Rangers down the lake, to ascertain the position of the enemy on Champlain.  They were
discovered to be more numerous than was supposed, for the islands at the entrance of Northwest Bay were swarming with French and Indians.     Putnam returned, and begged General Webb to let him go down with his Rangers in full force and attack them, but he was
allowed only to make another reconnoissance, and bring off two boats and their crews which
he left fishing.  The enemy gave chase in canoes, and at times nearly surrounded them,
but they reached the fort in safety.
Webb caused Putnam     to administer an oath of secrecy to his Rangers respecting the
proximity of the enemy, and then ordered him to escort him back immediately to Fort Edward.   This order was so repugnant to Putnam, both as to its perfidy and unsoldierly character, that he ventured to remonstrate by saying, " I hope your excellency does not intend
to neglect so fair an opportunity of giving battle should the enemy presume to land."  Webb
coolly and cowardly replied, " What do you think we should do here?"  The near approach
of the enemy was cruelly concealed from the garrison, and under his escort the general returned to Fort Edward.   The next day he sent Colonel Monroe with a regiment to re-enforce and to take command of the garrison at Lake George.
Montcalm, with more than nine thousand men, and a powerful train of artillery, landed
Reported for the Gentlemen's Magazine, London, 1755.
s This is asserted by Dr. Franklin in his Autobiography (Sparks's Life, 219), where he gives an anecdote illustrative of the character of Loudon. Franklin had occasion to go to his office in New York, where
he met a Mr. Innis, who had brought dispatches from Philadelphia from Governor Denny, and was awaiting his lordship's answer, promised the following day. A fortnight afterward he met Innis, and expressed
his surprise at his speedy return. But he had not yet gone, and averred that he had called at London's
office every morning during the fortnight, but the letters were not yet ready. "Is it possible," said Franklin, " when he is so great a writer? I see him constantly at his escritoire."  "Yes," said Innis, " but he
is like St. George on the signs, always on horseback, but never ridesforward."
3 The garrison and fort were saved by the vigilance of Lieutenant Stark, who, in the absence of Rogers,
had command of the Rangers, a large portion of which were Irishmen. On the evening of the 16th he
overheard some of these planning a celebration of St. Patrick's (the following day). He ordered the sutler
not to issue spirituous liquors the next day without a written order. When applied to he pleaded a lame
wrist as an excuse for not writing, and his Rangers were kept sober. The Irish in the regular regiments
got drunk, as usual on such an occasion. Montcalm anticipated this, and planned his attack on the night
of St. Patrick's day. Stark, with his sober Rangers, gallantly defended and saved the fort.




OF THE RE:VOLUTION.


11 1


Moutcalm's second Attack on Fort William Henry.  Surrender of the Garison.  Perfidy of the French and Indians.
at the head of the lake, and beleaguered the garrison, consisting of-less than three thousand
men.' He sent in proposals to Monroe for a surrender of the fort, urging his humane desire
to prevent the. bloodshed which a stubborn resistance would assuredly cause.  Monroe, confidently expecting re-enforcements from Webb, refused to listen to any such proposals. The
French then commenced the siege, which lasted six consecutive days, without much slaughter on either side. Expresses were frequently sent to General Webb in the mean while,
imploring aid, but he remained inactive and indifferent in his camp at Fort Edward. General Johnson was at last allowed to march, with Putnam and his Rangers, to the relief of
the beleaguered garrison; but when about three miles from Fort Edward, Webb recalled
them, and sent a letter to Monroe, saying he could render him no assistance, and advising
him to surrender.   This letter was intercepted by Montcalm, and gave him great joy, for
he had been informed by some Indians of the movements of the provincials under Johnson
and Putnam, who represented them to be as numerous as the leaves on the trees. Alarmed
at this, Montcalm was beginning to suspend the operations of the. siege preparatory to a retreat, when the letter from the pusillanimous Webb fell into his hands. He at once sent it
in to Monroe, with proposals for an immediate surrender.
Monroe saw that his case was hopeless, for two of his cannon had bursted, and his ammunition and stores were nearly exhausted. Articles of capitulation were agreed upon, and,
under promise of protection, the garrison marched out of the fort preparatory to being es.
corted to Fort Edwar4.d
The savages, two thousand warriors in number, were enraged at the terms of capitulation, for they were induced to serve in this expedition by a promise of plunder.' This was
denied them, and they felt at liberty to throw off all restraint. As soon as the last man
left the gate of the fort, they raised the hideous war-whoop, and fell upon the English with
the fury of demons. The massacre was indiscriminate and terrible, and the French were
idle spectators of the perfidy of their allies.  They refused interference, withheld the promised escort, and the savages pursued the poor Britons with great slaughter, half way to
Fort Edward.4 Fifteen hundred of them were butchered or carried into hopeless captivity,
Montcalm utterly disclaimed all connivance, and declared his inability to prevent the massacre without ordering his men to fire upon the Indians. But it left a deep stain upon his
otherwise humane character, and the indignation excited' by the event aroused the English
colonists to more united and vigorous action.
Montcalm burned and otherwise destroyed every thing connected with the forti- August 9,
fication.  Major Putnam, who had been sent with his Rangers from Fort Edward        1757.
to watch the movements of Montcalm, reached Lake George just as the rear of the enemy
left the shore, and truly awful was the scene there presented, as described by himself: " The
fort was entirely demolished; the barracks, out-houses, and buildings were a heap of ruins;
the cannon, stores, boats, and vessels were all carried away. The fires were still burning,
the smoke and stench offensive and suffocating.  Innumerable fragments, human skulls and
bones, and carcasses half consumed, were still frying and broiling in the decaying fires.
The place where Montcalm landed is a little north of the Lake House, at Caldwell, and about a mile
from the site of the fort.
2 It was stipulated, 1st. That the garrison should march out with their arms and baggage; 2d. Should
be escorted to Fort Edward by a detachment of French troopst and should not serve against the French for
a term of eighteen months; 3d. The works and all the warlike stores should be delivered to the French';
4th. That the sick and wounded of the garrison should remain under the protection of Montcalm, and should
be permitted to return as soon as they were recovered.
3 Dr. Belknap.
4 The defile through which the English retreated, and in which so many were slaughtered, is called the
Bloody Defile. It is a deep gorge between the road from Glenn's Falls to Lake George and the high range
of hills northward, called the French Mountain. In excavations for the plank road near the defile a large
number of skeletons were exhumed. I saw the skull of one, which was of an enormous size, at least one
third larger than any other human head I ever saw. The occipital portion exhibited a long fracture, evil
dently made by a tomahawk.






1 12                      PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Destruction of FortPWilliam Henry.  Brilliant Expedition under Abercrombie.  Visit to the Ruins of Fort George.
Dead bodies, mangled with scalping-knives and tomahawks in all the wantonness of Indian
fierceness and barbarity, were every where to be seen. More than one hundred women,
butchered and shockingly mangled, lay upon the ground, still weltering in their gore.  Devastation, barbarity, and horror every where appeared, and the spectacle presented was too
diabolical and awful either to be endured or described."
Fort William Henry was never rebuilt.  Upon an eminence about a mile southeast of it,
and half a mile from the lake, Fort George was erected, but it was never a scene of very
stirring events. A little south of Fort George was a small fortification called Fort Gage,
so named in honor of General Gage, who served under Lord Amherst, and succeeded him in
the command of the forces in America in 1760, and was Governor of Massachusetts when
the Revolution broke out. Hardly a vestige of this fort can now be seen.
The English, under General Abercrombie and the young Lord Howe, quartered at Fort
George in 1758, preparatory to an attack upon the French posts upon Lake Champlain.
Seven thousand regulars and nine thousand provincial troops were there assembled, with a
fine train of artillery and all necessary military stores, the largest and best-appointed army
yet seen in America. On the 5th of July they embarked on Lake George, on board nine
hundred bateaux and one hundred and thirty-five whale-boats, and the next day landed at
the foot of the lake and pushed on toward Ticonderoga. Of the events which befell them
there I shall hereafter write. Let us glance a moment at the present.
Toward evening the rain abated, and, accompanied by an old resident shoemaker as guide,
1 made a visit to the remains of the two English forts.  The elder one (Fort William Henry)
stood directly upon the lake shore, on the west side of a clear mountain stream called West
Creek, the main inlet of Lake George. Nothing of it now remains but a few mounds and
shallow ditches, so leveled and filled that the form of the works can not be distinctly traced.
The road along the lake shore passes across the northeast and northwest angles, but the features of the past are hardly tangible enough to attract the attention of a passer-by.  A little
southwest of the fort, at the base of Rattlesnake or Prospect Hill, is a level clearing called
the French Field. It is the place where Dieskau halted and disposed his troops for action.
Many of the slain were buried there; and I saw a rough-hewn stone at the head of a grave,
upon which was inscribed, in rude characters, " Jacques Cortois, 1755."
Fort George, the remains of which are scattered over several acres, was situated about a
mile southeast from William Henry, upon an eminence gently sloping back from the lake.
The dark limestone or black marble, such as is found at Glenn's Falls, here every, where
approaching near the surface or protruding above, formed a solid foundation, and supplied
ample materials for a fortress. A quadrangular citadel, or sort of castle, was built within
the lines of breast-works, and the ruins of this constitute all that is left of the old fort.  I
observed vestiges of the foundations of the barracks and other buildings; and the quarries
whence materials were taken for the buildings and ramparts seem almost as fresh as if just
opened. The wall of the citadel, on the eastern side (the left of the picture), is now about
twenty feet high.  Within the ancient area
of the fort there is just sufficient earth to nourish a thick growth of dark juniper bushes,     -
which, with the black rocks and crumbling      -   'q
masonry, presented a somber aspect.  Both   it
obrts commanded a fine view of the lake for
ten miles north.                                                               /:
The indications of fair weather which lured  '                               --
me out suddenly disappeared, and before I..   -..
reached the Lake House the heavy clouds            -
that came rolling up from the south poured     RUINs oF THE CITADEL OF FORT GEORGE.
down their contents copiously. Dark masses
of vapor hovered upon the mountains that begirt the lake, and about sunset the tops of all




OF THE REVOLUTION.


113


Storm upon Lake George.                   Arrivals from Ticonderoga.                 Depafture from Caldwell.


were buried in the driving mists.  We seemed to be completely shut up within mighty
prison walls, and early in the evening vivid lightning and heavy thunder-peals contributed
to produce a scene of singular grandeur and awe.  In the midst of the elemental strife the
steam-boat arrived with passengers from Ticonderoga, and those pleasure seekers who came
in her, bedraggled and weary, were capital studies for an artistic Jeremiah in search of lamentations personified. But an excellent supper, in dry quarters, soon brought the sunshine
of gladness to every face, and before ten o'clock more than half the new-comers were among
the liveliest in quadrille, cotillion, waltz, or gallopade.
I arose the next morning at four. The scene from my chamber window was one of quiet
beauty.  The sky was cloudless, and the lake, without a ripple, was spread out before me,
"A glorious mirror of the Almighty's form."
The east was all glowing with the soft radiance of approaching sunlight, giving a deeper
gray to the lofty hills that intervened, and every tree was musical with the morning song
of the birds.
" The south wind was like a gentle friend,
Parting the hair so softly on my brow.
It had come o'er the gardens, and the flowers
That kissed it were betrayed; for as it parted
With its invisible fingers my loose hair,
I knew it had been trifling with the rose
And stooping to the violet. There is joy
For all God's creatures in it."
WILLIS.
From                                      the piazza of the Lake
House, fronting the water, a compreable,                                       hensive view of the historic grounds
min the vicinage may be seen, as delin-.!                                     i peated in the picture.  In the extreme
e-distance on the left is the range of the
ha OF i   w -            e. L          French Mountain, and on the right
s  GEis Rattlesnake Hill (one thousand
five hundred feet high), with other lofty elevations, heavily wooded to
their very summits.  By the trees on the shore, in the center of the
picture, is the site of Fort William Henry; and further on the left, and
directly over the flag-staff, is the site of Fort George.
We left this fine summer resort in the steam-boat William Caldwell,
at eight in the morning.  The air was clear and cool, the company agreeable, and the voyage down the lake delightful. The mountain shores, the deep bays, and
the numerous islands (said to be three hundred and sixty-five, the number of days in the
year) present a constant variety, and all that the eye takes in on every side is one vision of
beauty. I procured a seat in the pilot's room aloft, whence I had a broad view of the whole
ever-changing panorama of the lake in the course of the voyage.
The first island which we passed, of any considerable size, was Diamond Island,' lying


This name was given it on account of the number and beauty of the quartz crystals which are found
upon it. In shape and brilliancy tley resemble pure diamonds.
H




114                                PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Pamond Iland.          Successful Expedition under Colonel Brown.      Long Point, Dome Iland, and the Narrows.


directly in front of Dunham's Bay.  Here was a depot of military stores for Burgoyne's
army in 1777, and the scene of a sharp conflict between the small garrison that defended
it and a detachment of Americans under Colonel Brown. Between the actions of the 19th
of September and 7th of October at Bemis's Heights, General Lincoln, with a body of New
England militia, got in the rear of Burgoyne near Lake Champlain. He sent Colonel Brown
with a strong division to attempt the recapture of Ticonderoga and the posts in the vicinity,
and thus to cut off the retreat of the British as well as their supplies.  It was a service
September 25, exactly suited to Brown's active and energetic character, and, by a rapid and
lm.      stealthy movement on a stormy night, he surprised and captured all the British outposts between the landing-place at the north end of Lake George and the main fortress at Ticonderoga. Mount Hope, Mount Defiance, the French lines, and a block-house,
with an armed sloop, two hundred bateaux, and several gun-boats, fell into his hands. He
also captured two hundred and ninety-three prisoners, and released one hundred Americans;
and, among other things, he retook the old Continental standard which St. Clair left at Ticonderoga when he evacuated that post. He then attacked the fortress, but its walls were
impregnable, and he withdrew.
Flushed with success, Colonel Brown determined to sweep Lake George, and in the vessels they had captured the Americans proceeded to Diamond Island. The little garrison
there made a vigorous resistance, and the republicans were repulsed with some loss. They
then pushed for the shore on the south side of Dunham's Bay, where they burned all the
vessels they had captured, and returned to Lincoln's camp.
A little north of Diamond Island is Long Island, which lies directly in front of Long.PC
LONG POINT AND VICINITY.!
Point, a narrow, fertile strip of land that projects far into the lake from the eastern shore.
The estuary between the north side of the point and the mountains is Harris's Bay, the
place where Montcalm moored his bateaux and landed on the 16th of March, 1757.
About twelve miles from Caldwell, in the center of the lake, is Dome Island, which, at
the distance of two or three miles, has the appearance of the upper portion of a large dome,
with an arch as regular as if made by art. This island was the shelter for Putnam's men
whom he left in the two boats while he informed General Webb of the presence of the French
and Indians upon the two islands near the entrance of Northwest Bay, and nearly in front
of the landing-place at Bolton, on the western shore.
Shelving Rock, a lofty cliff on the eastern shore, and Tongue Mountain, a bold, rocky
promontory on the west, flank the entrance to the Narrows, where the islands are so numerous, varying in size from a few rods to an acre, that there is only a very narrow channel for
a steam-boat to pass through.  A little north of Shelving Rock is the Black Mountain, its
summit twenty-two hundred feet high, thickly covered with the dark spruce, and its sides
robed with the cedar, fir, pine, and tamarac. There the wild deer, the bear, and the catamount have free range, for the hunter seldom toils up its weary ascent.


S.
I This little sketch was taken from the steam-boat, near the south end of Long Island, which appears in
the foreground. Long Point is seen in the center, and on the right are Dunham's Bay and the northern
extremity of the French Mountain. The highest peak on the left is Deer Pasture, or Buck Mountain.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


115...


Sabbath Day Point.  Skirmish in 1756.  Halt of Abercrombie's Army.  Splendid Appearance of the Armamnt
A few miles beyond the entrance to the Narrows, on the western shore, is another fertile
strip of land projecting into the lake, called Sabbath Day Point.  It is between three and four
miles from the little village of Hague, in the
^:..v             midst of the most picturesque scenery imaginable.                            Here, in 1756, a small provincial force,
pressed by a party of French and Indians, and
SABBATH DAY POINT.           unable to escape across the lake, made a desperate resistance, and defeated the enemy with
considerable slaughter. Here, in the summer of 1758, General Abercrombie, with his fine
army, already noticed as having                                        --
embarked in bateaux and whale-                             -V o
boats at the head of the lake,.                  j
landed for refreshments.  It was                c..,       'li
just at dark, on a sultry Saturday             v          j1<
July 5, evening, when the troops                 R[ilf ' R'f~;85       < "
1758.  debarked and spread over      i!                 A/          I D
the beautiful cape for a few hours'       B. I
repose.  The young Lord Howe,                                      /
the well-beloved of both officers    l. O
and soldiers, was there, and call-    'W "'                         * "! 'I
ed around him, in serious consul-    t
tation, some of the bravest of the^             SOfir
youthful partisans who accompailied the expedition.  Captain               4,      v    '
Stark (the Revolutionary gener-  ^B- dj                              '   r'
al) was invited to sup with him;,                     '' rl
and long and anxious were the                                          l!
inquiries the young nobleman                                   r. rr
made respecting the fortress of                                    B
Ticonderoga and its outposts,        F:/t.   \         C     IlO.J
which they were about to assail,                                       ' l
as if a presentiment of personal
disaster possessed his mind.                         x
It was after midnight when
It was after midniht O en         LAK   E GO AND PART OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN.1
the whole armament moved slowly down the lake, and it was late on the Sabbath morning before they reached the landingplace at the foot of it.' The scene exhibited by this strong and well-armed force of sixteen
thousand men was very imposing.   " The order of march," says Major Rogers, 4, exhibited
a splendid military show." Howe, in a large boat, led the van of the flotilla. He was
accompanied by a guard of Rangers and boatmen. The regular troops occupied the center
and the provincials the wings. The sky was clear and starry, and not a breeze ruffled the
dark waters as they slept quietly in the shadows of the mountains. Their oars were mufExplanation of the references: 1. Fort Ticonderoga. 2. Fort Howe. 3. Mount Defiance. 4.
Mount Independence. 5. Village of Alexandria. 7. Black Point. 8. Juniper Island. 9. Anthony's
Nose. 10. M'Donald's Bay. 11. Rogers's retreat on the ice to Fort William Henry. 12. Cook's f1lands. 13. Scotch Bonnet. 14. Odell Island. 15. Buck Mountain and Rattlesnake Dens. 16. Shelv.
ing Rock. 17. Phelps's Point. 18. Long Point. 19. Long Island. 20. Dome Island. 21. Diamond
Island. 22. Dunham's Bay. 23. Harris's Bay. 24. The route of Dieskau from Skenesborough to Fort
William Henry.
3 It being early on Sunday morning when the army left the point, General Abercrombie named the place
Sabbath Day Point. The little sketch here given was taken from the steam-boat, half a mile above, looking northeast.




1 16


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Skirmish at Sabbath Day, Point, 1776.    Rogers's Slide.     Narrow Escape of Major Rogers.       Prisoners' Island.


fled; and so silently did they move on in the darkness, that not a scout upon the hills observed them. Day dawned just as they were abreast of the Blue Mountain, four miles
from the landing-place; and the first intimation which the outposts of the enemy, stationed
there, had of the approach of the English was the full blaze of red uniforms which burst
upon their sight as the British army swept around a point and prepared to land.
At Sabbath Day Point a party of American militia of Saratoga county had a severe battle with Tories and Indians in 1776. Both were scouting parties, and came upon each
other unexpectedly. The Americans repulsed the enemy, and killed and wounded about
forty. There are now a few buildings upon the point, and the more peaceful heroism of
the culturist, in conflict with the unkindness of nature, is beautifying and enriching it.
On the western shore of the lake, three miles northward of the little village of Hague, is
Rogers's Rock, or Rogers's Slide.  The lake
is here quite narrow, and huge masses of rocks,
some a hundred feet high, are piled in wild
confusion on every side.  The whole height.-..     '....      of Rogers's Rock is about four hundred feet,. -i                r            and the  slide," almost a smooth surface, with
a descent on an angle of about twenty-five
degrees from  meridian, is two hundred feet.
-                 --        This hill derives its name from the fact, that
from its summit Major Rogers, commander of
a corps of Rangers, escaped from Indian purROE8'8 Roc.l               suers.  With a small party who were reconnoitering at the outlet of the lake, in the winter of 1758, he was surprised and put to flight by a band of Indians.  He was equipped
with snow-shoes, and eluded pursuit until he came to the summit of the mountain.  Aware
that they would follow his track, he descended to the top of the smooth rock, and, casting
his knapsack and his haversack of provisions down upon the ice, slipped off his snow-shoes,
and, without moving them, turned himself about and put them on his feet again. He then
retreated along the southern brow of the rock several rods, and down a ravine he made his
way safely to the lake below, snatched up his pack, and fled on the ice to Fort George.
The Indians, in the mean while, coming to the spot, saw the two tracks, both apparently
approaching the precipice, and concluded that two persons had cast themselves down the
rock rather than fall into their hands.  Just then they saw the bold leader of the Rangers
making his way across the ice, and believing that he had slid down the steep face of the
rock, considered him (as did the Indians Major Putnam at Fort Miller) under the special
protection of the Great Spirit, and made no attempt at pursuit.2
In consequence of a detention at Bolton, we did not reach the landing-place at the outlet
of the lake until noon. Within ga mile of the landing is a small island covered with shrubbery, called Prisoners' Island, where the French, in the Seven Years' War, kept their English captives who were taken in that vicinity. The first party confined there easily es' This sketch is from the lake, a little south of Cook's Point, seen just over the boat on the left. Immediately beyond is seen the smooth rock. Nearly opposite the "slide" is Anthony's Nose, a high, rocky
promontory, having the appearance of a human nose in shape when viewed from a particular point.
s Major Rogers was the son of an Irishman, who was an early settler of Dumbarton, in New Hampshire.
He was appointed to the command of a party of Rangers in 1755, and with them did signal service to the
British cause. In 1759 he was sent by General Amherst from Crown Point to destroy the Indian village
of'St. Francis. He afterward served in the Cherokee war. In 1766 he was appointed governor of Michillimackinac. He was accused of constructive treason, and was sent in irons to Montreal for trial. In 1769
he went to England, was presented to the king, but soon afterward was imprisoned for debt. He returned
to America, and in the Revolution took up arms for the king. In 1777 he returned to England, where he
died. His name was on the proscription list of Tories included in the act of New Hampshire against them,
in 1778. His journal of the French War, first published at London in 1765, was republished at Concord
in 1831




OF THE REVOLUTION.


117


Debarkation of British Troops.  A pleasant traveling Companion.  Trip from Lake.George to,Tconderoga1
caped, in consequence of the carelessness of the victors in not ascertaining the depth of the
water, which on one side is fordable.  A small guard was left in charge of them, and, as
soon as the main body of the French had retreated, the English prisoners waded from the
island and escaped.
Directly west of this island is Howe's Landing, the place where Lord Howe with the
van-guard of Abercrombie's army first landed, the outlet, a mile below, being in possession
of the enemy.  The whole British force debarked here on the morning after leaving Sabbath Day Point, and before noon the Rangers under Rogers and Stark were pushing  Ju; 6
forward toward Ticonderoga, as a flank or advance-guard to clear the woods, while  17
the main army pressed onward.
The distance from the steam-boat landing to Fort Ticonderoga is four miles. We found
vehicles in abundance awaiting our arrival, and prepared to carry passengers with all their
baggage, from a clean dickey only to a four-feet trunk, for twenty-five cents each. I succeeded in securing my favorite seat on a pleasant day, the coachman's perch.  At the Lake
House we became acquainted with a young lady from the vicinity of the lofty Catskills,
whose love of travel and appreciation of nature made her an enthusiast, and one of the most
agreeable companions imaginable. She fairly reveled in the beauties of Lake George, not
exhibited in the simpering lip-sentimentality, borrowed from the novelist, which so often
annoys the sensible man when in the midst of mere fashionable tourists, but in hearty, intelligent, and soul-stirring emotions of pleasure, which lie far deeper in the heart than mortal influence can fathom, and which gleam out in every lineament of the face.  While others
were afraid of spoiling their complexions in the sun, or of crumpling their smooth dresses or
fine bonnets, she bade defiance to dust and crowds, for her brown linen " sack," with its
capacious pockets for a guide-book and other accessories, and her plain sun-bonnet gave her
no uneasiness; and her merry laughter, which awoke ringing echoes along the hills as she,
too, mounted the coachman's seat to enjoy the fresh air and pleasant landscape, was the
very soul of pleasure.  We rambled with herself and brother that afternoon over the ruins
of Ticonderoga, and at evening parted company. We hope her voyage of life may be as
pleasant and joyous as those few hours which she spent that day, where,
"In the deepest core
Of the free wilderness, a crystal sheet
Expands its mirror to the trees that crowd
Its mountain borders."
The road from the foot of Lake George to Fort " Ty" is hilly, but the varied scenery
makes the ride a pleasant one.  We crossed the outlet of the lake twice; first at the Upper
Falls, where stands the dilapidated village of Alexandria, its industrial energies weighed
down, I was told, by the narrow policy of a " lord of the manor" residing in London, who
owns the fee of all the land and of the water privileges, and will not sell, or give long leases.
The good people of the place pray for his life to be a short and a happy one-a verygenerous supplication. From the high ground near the village a fine prospect opened on the eastward; and suddenly, as if a curtain had been removed, the cultivated farms and pleasant
villages of Vermont along the lake shore, and the blue line of the Green Mountains in the
far distance, were spread out before us.
The second or Lower Falls is half way between the two lakes, and here the thriving village of Ticonderoga is situated. A bridge and a saw-mill were there many years before the
Revolution; and this is the spot where Lord Howe, at the head of his column, crossed the
stream and pushed forward through the woods toward the French lines, a mile and a quarter
beyond.  We arrived at the Pavilion near the fort at one o'clock, dined, and with a small
party set off immediately to view the interesting ruins of one of the most noted fortresses in
America.   Before noticing its present condition and appearance, let us glance at its past
history.
Ticonderoga is a corruption of Cheonderoga, an Iroquois word, signifying Sounding wa



118                               PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Topography of Tlconderoga.      The Fortress.      Its Investment by Abercrombie.      Bravery of Lord Howe.


ters, and was applied by the Indians to the rushing waters of the outlet of Lake George at
the falls.  The French, who first built a fort at Crown Point (Fort St. Frederic), established themselves upon this peninsula in 1755, and the next year they began the erection
of a strong fortress, which they called Fort Carillon.'  The Indian name was generally
applied to it, and by that only was it known from
the close of the French and Indian war in 1763.'
The peninsula is elevated more than one hundred feet above the lake, and contains about five                c
hundred acres.  Nature and art made it a strong
place.  Water was upon three sides, and a deep
swamp extended nearly across the fourth.  Within                      e
a mile north of the fortress intrenchments were
thrown up, the remains of which may still be seen,^
at each side of the road, and are known as the
French lines.  The whole defenses were completed
by the erection of a breast-work nine feet high, upon
the narrowest part of the neck between the swamp.
and the outlet of Lake George; and before the          -TNDC         ER O   k
breast-work was a strong abatis.                                         i
Here, as I have already mentioned, was the
general rendezvous of the French under Montcalm,              GBOUND PLAN.
Augugt 3, preparatory to the attack on Fort William Henry. It continued to be the head1757.  quarters of that general until Quebec was threatened by an expedition under Wolfe,
up the St. Lawrence, when he abandoned the posts on Lake Champlain, and mustered. all his forces at the capital of Lower Canada.
Montcalm commanded a force of four thousand men at Ticonderoga when Abercrombie
JAy 6, approached, and was in daily expectation of receiving a re-enforcement of three thou178*  sand troops under M. de Levi.   The English commander was advised of this expected re-enforcement of the garrison, and felt the necessity of making an immediate attack
upon the works.   His army moved forward in three columns; but so dense was the forest
that covered the whole country, that their progress was slow. They were also deficient in
suitable guides, and in a short time were thrown into a great deal of confusion. They pressed
steadily forward, and the advanced post of the French (a breast-work of logs) was set fire to
by the enemy themselves and abandoned. Lord Howe, who was Abercrombie's lieutenant,
or second in command, led the advanced column; and as they pressed onward after crossing
the bridge, Major Putnam, with about one hundred men, advanced as a scouting party to
reconnoiter. Lord Howe, eager to make the first attack, proposed to accompany Putnam,
but the major tried to dissuade him, by saying,,( My lord, if I am killed the loss of my life
will be of little consequence, but the preservation of yours is of infinite importance to this
army."   The answer was,, Putnam, your life is as dear to you as mine is to me.  I am
determined to go."'  They dashed on through the woods, and in a few minutes fell in with
the advanced guard of the French, who had retreated from the first breast-works, and, without a guide and bewildered, were endeavoring to find their way back to the lines. A sharp
skirmish ensued, and at the first fire Lord Howe, another officer, and several privates were
1 This is a French word, signifying chime, jingling, noise, bawling, scolding, racket, clatter, riot.Boyer. Its application to this spot had the same reference to the rush of waters as the Indian name Cheonderoga.
i This fortress was strongly built. Its walls and barracks were of limestone, and every thing about it
was done in the most substantial manner.
Explanation of the ground plan: a, entrance and wicket gate; b, counterscarp twenty feet wide; c c,
bastions; d, under-ground room and ovens; e e e e, barracks and officers' quarters; f, court or paradeground ~ g g, trench or covert-way, sixteen feet wide and ten feet deep; h, the place where Ethan Allen
and his men entered by a covert-way from the outside.
3 Humphrey's Life of Putnam.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                    119
Pight with the French, and Death of Howe.  Attack on Ticonderoga, and Defeat of the Englith.  Other Expeditions.
killed.'  The French were repulsed with a loss of three hundred killed and one hundred
and forty-eight taken prisoners. The English columns were so much broken, confused, and
fatigued, that Abercrombie marched them back to the landing-place on Lake George, to
bivouac for the night. Early the next morning Colonel Bradstreet advanced and took possession of the saw-mills, near the present village of Ticonderoga, which the enemy had
abandoned.
Abercrombie sent an engineer to reconnoiter, and on his reporting that the works were
unfinished and might easily be taken, the British troops were again put in motion toward
the fortress. As they approached the lines, the French, who were completely shel- July 8,
tered behind their breast-works, opened a heavy discharge of artillery upon them, but  1758.
they pressed steadily forward in the face of the storm, determined to assault the works, and
endeavor to carry them by sword and bayonet. They found them so well defended by a
deep abatis, that it was almost impossible to reach them; yet, amid the galling fire of the
enemy, the English continued for four hours striving to cut their way through the limbs and
bushes to the breast-works with their swords. Some did, indeed, mount the parapet, but
in a moment they were slain. Scores of Britons were mowed down at every discharge of
cannon. Perceiving the rapid reduction of his army, Abercrombie at last sounded a retreat;
and, without being pursued by the French, the English fell back to their encampment at the
foot of Lake George, from which the wounded were sent to Fort Edward and to Albany.
The English loss was nearly two thousand men and twenty-five hundred stand of arms.
Never did troops show bolder courage or more obstinate persistence against fearful obstacles.
The whole army seemed emulous to excel, but the Scotch Highland regiment of Lord John
Murray was foremost in the conflict, and suffered the severest loss. One half of the privates
and twenty-five officers were slain on the spot or badly wounded. Failing in this attempt,
Abercrombie changed his plans. He dispatched General Stanwix to build a fort near the
head-waters of the Mohawk, at the site of the present village of Rome, Oneida county.
Colonel Bradstreet, at his own urgent solicitation, was ordered, with three thousand troops,
mostly provincials, to proceed by the way of Oswego and Lake Ontario, to attack Fort Frontenac, where Kingston, in Upper Canada, now stands; and himself, with the rest of the
army, returned to Albany.2
While misfortunes were attending the English under the immediate command of Abercrombie, and the power and influence of the French were gaining strength on the lake, a
British force was closely beleaguering Louisburg, on the Island of Cape Breton, at the mouth
of the St. Lawrence, then the strongest fortification in America, and the rallying point
of French power on this Continent.   Early in 1758 Admiral Boscawen sailed from     ay
George, Lord-viscount Howe, was the eldest son of Sir E. Scrope, second Viscount Howe in Ireland.
He commanded five thousand British troops which landed at Halifax in 1757, and, as we have seen, the
next year accompanied General Abercrombie against Ticonderoga. Alluding to his death, Mante observes, " With him the soul of the army seemed to expire." He was the idol of his soldiers, and, in order
to accommodate himself and his regiment to the nature of the service, he cut his hair short, and fashioned
his clothes for activity. His troops followed his example, and they were, indeed, the soul of Abercrombie's
army. He was in the thirty-fourth year of his age when he fell. The General Court of Massachusetts
Bay, as a testimony of respect for his character, appropriated two hundred and fifty pounds sterling for the
erection of a monument in Westminster Abbey.
Captain (afterward general) Philip Schuyler, who was highly esteemed by Lord Howe, and who at that
time was employed in the commissary department, was commissioned to carry the young nobleman's remains to Albany and bury them with appropriate honors. They were placed in a vault, and I was informed by a daughter of General Schuyler (Mrs. Cochran, of Oswego) that when, many years afterward,
the coffin was opened, his hair had grown to long, flowing locks, and was very beautiful.
2 General James Abercrombie was descended from a wealthy Scotch family, and, in consequence of
signal services on the Continent, was promoted to the rank of major general. In 1758 fifty thousand troops
were placed under his command by Mr. Pitt, and sent with him to America to attempt a recovery of all
that the French had taken from the English. He was the successor of Lord Loudon, but was not much
superior to the earl in activity or military skill. He was superseded by Amherst after his defeat at Ticon.
deroga, and in the spring of 1759 he returned to England.




120                      PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Sege and Capture of Louisburg.  Preparations for the Conquest of Canada.  Capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point.
Halifax, Acadia,1 with forty armed vessels, bearing a land force of twelve thousand men
under General Amherst.  General Wolfe was second in command; and in appointing that
young soldier to a post so important, Pitt showed that sagacity in correctly appreciating
character for which he was so remarkable.
On the 2d of June the fleet anchored in Gabarus Bay, and the whole armament reached
the shore on the 8th. The French, alarmed' at such a formidable force, called in their outposts, dismantled the royal battery, and prepared for a retreat. But the vigilance and act,
12. ivity of Wolfe prevented their escape. He passed around the Northeast Harbor,
and erected a battery at the North Cape, from which well-directed shots soon silenced the guns of the smaller batteries upon the island.  Hot shots were also poured
ue  into the small fleet of French vessels lying in the harbor of Louisburg, and three
of them were burned. The town was greatly shattered by the active artillery; the vessels
which were not consumed were dismantled or sunken; and several breaches were
Juy21. made in the massive walls.  Certain destruction awaited the garrison and citizens,
and at last the fortress, together with the town and St. John's (now Prince EdJuly6. ward's) Island, was surrendered into the hands of the English by capitulation.
The skill, bravery, and activity of General Amherst, exhibited in the capture of Louisburg, gained him a vote of thanks from Parliament, and commended him to Pitt, who, the
next year, appointed him to the chief command in America, in place of the less active Abercrombie. So much did Pitt rely upon his judgment and ability, that he clothed him with
discretionary powers to take measures to make the complete conquest of all Canada in a
single campaign. His plans were arranged upon a magnificent scale. Appreciating the
services of Wolfe, one expedition was placed under his command, to ascend the St. Lawrence
and attack Quebec.  General Prideaux was sent with another expedition to capture the
strong-hold of Niagara, while Amherst himself took personal command of a third expedition
against the fortress on Lake Champlain. It was arranged for the three armies to form a
junction as conquerors at Quebec. Prideaux, after capturing the fort at Niagara, was to
proceed down the lake and St. Lawrence to attack Montreal and the posts below, and Amherst was to push forward after the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, down the
Richelieu or Sorel River to the St. Lawrence, and join with Wolfe at Quebec.
Amherst collected about eleven thousand men at Fort Edward and its vicinity, and,
moving cautiously along Lake Champlain, crossed the outlet of Lake George, and appeared
before Ticonderoga on the 26th of July.  He met with no impediments by the way,
and at once made preparations for reducing the fortress by a regular siege.  The garrison were strong, and evinced a disposition to make a vigorous resistance. They soon discovered, however, that they had not Abercrombie to deal with, and, despairing of being
able to hold out against the advancing English, they dismantled and abandoned the fort,
and fled to Crown Point. Not a gun was fired or a sword crossed; and the next day Amherst marched in and took possession of the fort. He at once set about repairing and enlarging it, and also arranging an expedition against the enemy at Crown Point, when, to
his astonishment, he learned from his scouts that they had abandoned that post also, and
fled down the lake to Isle Aux Noix in the Richelieu or Sorel.  Of his operations in that
direction I shall hereafter write.
1 Acadia was the ancient name of the whole country now comprehended within the boundaries of Nova
Scotia, or New Scotland.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                                     121
Ticonderoga and its Associations.           Visit to the Ruins of the Fort.         A living Soldier of the Revolution.


CHAPTER VI.
"I'm not romantic, but, upon my word,
There are some moments when one can't help feeling
As if his heart's chords were so strongly stirred
By things around him, that 'tis vain concealing
A little music in his soul still lingers,
Whene'er the keys are touched by Nature's fingers."
C. F. HOFFMAN.
ATURE always finds a chord of sympathy in the human heart harmonic.j ously respondent to her own sweet music; and when her mute but elo\  ^/   quent language weaves in with its teachings associations of the past, or
\    when, in the midst of her beauties, some crumbling monument of history
\    stands hoary and oracular, stoicism loses its potency, and the bosom of
/_!._ the veriest churl is opened to the genial warmth of the sun of sentiment.
Broken arches and ruined ramparts ore always eloquent and suggestive
7 3-         of valiant deeds, even where their special teachings are not comprehended; but manifold greater are the impressions which they make when the
patriotism we adore has hallowed them. To impressions like these the American heart is
plastic while tarrying among the ruins of Ticonderoga, for there the first trophy of our war
for independence was won, and there a soldier of the British realm first stooped a prisoner
to the aroused colonists, driven to rebellion by unnatural oppression.
A glimpse from the coach, of the gray old ruins of the fortress of -t Ty," as we neared the
Pavilion, made us impatient as children to be among them. Our own curiosity was shared
by a few others, and a small party of us left early and ascended the breast-works, over scattered fragments of the walls, and eagerly sought out the most interesting localities, by the aid
of a small plan of the fort which I had copied for the occasion. Without a competent guide,
our identifications were not very reliable, and our opinions were as numerous and diverse as
the members of our party. We were about to send to the Pavilion for a guide and umpire,
when a venerable, white-haired man, supported by a rude staff, and bearing the insignia of
the " Order of Poverty," came out from the ruins of the northern line of barracks, and offered
his services in elucidating the confused subject before us. He was kind and intelligent, and
I lingered with him among the ruins long after the rest of the party had left, and listened
with pleasure and profit to the relation of his personal experience, and of his familiar knowledge of the scene around us.
Isaac Rice was the name of our octogenarian guide, whose form and features, presented upon
the next page, I sketched for preservation.1 Like scores of those who fought our battles for
freedom, and lived the allotted term of human life, he is left in his evening twilight to depend
upon the cold friendship of the world for sustenance, and to feel the practical ingratitude of a
people' reveling in the enjoyment which his privations in early manhood contributed to secure.
He performed garrison duty at Ticonderoga under St. Clair, was in the field at Saratoga
in 1777, and served a regular term in the army; but, in consequence of some lack of doc1 Mr. Rice sat down in the cool shadow of the gable of the western line of barracks while I sketched his
person and the scenery in the distance. He is leaning against the wall, within a few feet of the entrance
of the covert-way to the parade-ground, through which Allen and his men penetrated. In the middle
ground is seen the wall of the ramparts, and beyond is the lake sweeping around the western extremity of
Mount Independence, on the left beyond the steam-boat. For a correct apprehension of the relative position of Mount Independence to Ticonderoga, the reader is referred to the map, ante page 115.




122


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Isua Rice.      Position of Affairs in the Colonies at the beginning of 1775.  Secret Agent sent to Canada.
uments or some technical error, he lost his legal title to a pension, and at eighty-five years
of age that feeble old
soldier was obtaining a
precarious support for                                             i.
himself from the free-                         -'.....,                  A '
will offerings of visitors:  -
to the ruins of the fortress where he was garrisoned when it stood in.                                                e.:
the pride ofits strength,       -                   -. _
before Burgoyne scaled                                             --
the heights of Mount                                  -
Defiance.  He iws now
alone, his family and                   1A                                    i
kindred having all gone                                                  1
down into the grave.f                                                   o    and
His elder -brother, and;the last of his race, who
died in 183&, was oe oe
of the little band who,     and
under Colonel Ethan o
deroga in the spring of
1775.   We will con-      i    f
sider that event and
its consequences before
further examining the
old ruins around us.the momentou
The contempt with                  /
which the loyal and            -
respectful addresses of                                ' `      -'+
the first Continental
Congress of 1774 were treated by the  /,<                           at Boston, and
British ministry and a majority in Par-          -                  of other cololiament; the harsh measures adopted by                              nial  governthe government early in 1775, to coerce                 C           ors, convinced
the colonists into submission, and the                 ~ /the Americans
methodical tyranny of General Gage                                  that an appeal
to arms was inevitable. They were convinced, also, that the province of Quebec, or Canada, would remain loyal,' and that there would be a place of rendezvous for British troops
when the colonies should unite in open and avowed rebellion. The strong fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown Point formed the key of all communication between New York and
Canada, and the vigilant patriots of Massachusetts, then the very hot-bed of rebellion, early
perceived the necessity of securing these posts the moment hostilities should commence.
Early in March, Samuel Adams and Joseph Warren, members of the Committee of Correspondence of Boston, sent a secret agent into Canada to ascertain the opinions and temper
of the people of that province concerning the great questions at issue and the momentous


1 On the 26th of October, 1774, the Congress adopted an address to the people of Canada, recounting
the grievances the American colonies suffered at the hands of the parent country, and including that province
in the category of the oppressed, urging them to affiliate in a common resistance. But its Legislative Assembly made no response, and Congress construed their silence into a negative.-Journals of Congress, i., 55.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                    123
Report of the secret Agent.  Plan formed in Connecticut to Capture Ticonderoga.  Expedition under Ethan Allen.
events then pending. After a diligent but cautious performance of his delicate task, the
agent sent word to them from Montreal that the people were, at best, lukewarm, and advised that, the moment hostilities commenced, Ticonderoga and its garrison should be seized.
This advice was coupled with the positive assertion that the people of the New Hampshire
Grants were ready to undertake the bold enterprise.'
Within three weeks after this information was received by Adams and Warren, the battle of Lexington occurred.  The event aroused the whole country, and the patriots April 16,
flocked to the neighborhood of Boston from all quarters.  The provincial Assembly  1775
of Connecticut was then in session, and several of its members' concerted and agreed upon
a plan to seize the munitions of war at Ticonderoga, for the use of the army gathering at
Cambridge and Roxbury. They appointed Edward Mott and Noah Phelps a committee
to proceed to the frontier towns, ascertain the condition of the fort and the strength of the
garrison, and, if they thought it expedient, to raise men and attempt the surprise and capture of the post. One thousand dollars were advanced from the provincial treasury to pay
the expenses of the expedition.
The whole plan and proceedings were of a private character, without the public sanction
of the Assembly, but with its full knowledge and tacit approbation. Mott and Phelps collected sixteen men as they passed through Connecticut; and at Pittsfield, Massachusetts,
they laid their plans before Colonel Easton and John Brown (the latter was afterward the
Colonel Brown whose exploits on Lake George have been noticed), who agreed to join them.
Colonel Easton enlisted volunteers from his regiment of militia as he passed through the
country, and about forty had been engaged when he reached Bennington. There Colonel
Ethan Allen, a man of strong mind, vigorous frame, upright in all his ways, fearless in the
discharge of his duty, and a zealous patriot, joined the expedition with his Green Mountain Boys, and the whole party, two hundred and seventy men, reached Castleton, fourteen
miles east of Skenesborough, or Whitehall, at dusk on the 7th of May. A council of war
was immediately held, and Allen was appointed commander of the expedition, Colonel
James Easton, second in command, and Seth Warner, third. It was arranged that Allen
and the principal officers, with the main body, should march to Shoreham, opposite Ticonderoga; that Captain Herrick, with thirty men, should push on to Skenesborough, and capture the young Major Skene (son of the governor, who was then in England), confine his
people, and, seizing all the boats they might find there, hasten to join Allen at Shoreham;
1 By the grant of Charles II. to his brother James, duke of York, the tract in America called New York
was bounded on the east by the Connecticut River, while the charters of Massachusetts and Connecticut
gave those provinces a westward extent to the "South Sea" or the Pacific Ocean. When, toward the
middle of the last century, settlements began to be made westward of the Connecticut River, disputes
arose, and the line between Connecticut and New York was finally drawn, by mutual agreement, twenty
miles east of the Hudson. Massachusetts claimed a continuation of the Connecticut line as its western
boundary, but New York contested the claim as interfering with prior grants to that colony. New Hamp.
shire, lying north of Massachusetts, was not as yet disturbed by these disputes, for the country west of the
Green Mountains was a wilderness, and had never been surveyed. When Benning Wentworth was made
Governor of New Hampshire, he was authorized to issue patents for unimproved lands within his province,
and in 1749 applications were made to him for grants beyond the mountains. He gave a patent that year
for a township six miles square, having its western line twenty miles east of the Hudson, and in his honor
it was named Bennington. The Governor and Council of New York remonstrated against this grant, yet
Wentworth continued to issue patents; and in 1754 fourteen townships of this kind were laid out and settlements commenced. During the French and Indian war settlements increased tardily, but after the victory
of Wolfe at Quebec numerous applications for grants were made; and at the time of the peace, in 1763,
one hundred and thirty-eight townships were surveyed west of the Connecticut River, and these were termed
the New Hampshire Grants. The controversy between New York and the Grants became so violent that
military organizations took place in the latter section to resist the civil power of New York, and about
1772 the military thus enrolled were first called Green Mountain Boys; among the most active and daring
of whom were Ethan and Ira Allen and Remember Baker, men of whom I shall have occasion to speak
hereafter.-See Sparks's Life of Ethan Allen, and Thompson's Vermont, part ii.
i Among these were Silas Deane, David Wooster, Samuel H. Parsons, and Edward Stevens, all distinguished men during the Revolution.




1 24


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Expedition against Ticonderoga.  Arnold joins Allen at Castleton.  Dispute about Rank.  Surprise of the Garrison.
and that Captain Douglas should proceed to Panton, beyond Crown Point, and secure every
boat or bateau that should fall in his way.
Benedict Arnold, who joined the army about this time, doubtless received a hint of this
expedition before he left New Haven, for the moment he arrived at Cambridge with the
company of which he was captain, he presented himself before the Committee of Safety, and
proposed a similar expedition in the same direction. He made the thing appear so feasible,
May 3, that the committee eagerly accepted his proposal, granted him a colonel's commission,
1775. and gave him the chief command of troops, not exceeding four hundred in number,
which he might raise to accompany him on an expedition against the lake fortresses. Not
doubting his success, Arnold was instructed to leave a sufficient garrison at Ticonderoga,
and with the rest of the troops return to Cambridge with the arms and military stores that
should fall into his possession. He was also supplied with one hundred pounds in cash, two
hundred pounds weight each of gunpowder and leaden balls, one thousand flints, and ten
horses, by the provincial Congress of Massachusetts. His instructions were to raise men in
Western Massachusetts, but, on reaching Stockbridge, he was disappointed in finding that
another expedition had anticipated him, and was on its way to the lake. He remained only
long enough to engage a few officers and men to follow him, and then hastened onward and
May 9, joined the other expedition at Castleton.  He introduced himself to the officers, pulled
1775. a bit of parchment from his pocket, and, by virtue of what he averred was a superior
commission, as it was from the Massachusetts Committee of Safety, claimed the supreme
command. This was objected to, for he came single-handed, without officers or troops;
and the soldiers, a large proportion of whom were Green Mountain Boys, and who were
much attached to Allen, declared that they would shoulder their muskets and march home
rather than serve under any other leader. Arnold made a virtue of necessity, and united
himself to the expedition as a volunteer, maintaining his rank, but having no command.
The momentary interruption of Arnold produced no change in the plans, and Allen
marched to the shore of the lake, opposite Ticonderoga, during the night. He applied to a
farmer in Shoreham, named Beman, for a guide, who offered his son Nathan, a lad who
passed a good deal of time within the fort, with the boys of the garrison, and was well acquainted with every secret way that led to or within the fortress.' But a serious difficulty
now occurred. They had but a few boats, and none had been sent from Skenesborough or
MA 10, Panton.  The day began to dawn, and only the officers and eighty-three men had
1775.  crossed the lake.  Delay was hazardous, for the garrison, if aroused, would make
stout resistance.  Allen, therefore, resolved not to wait for the rear division to cross, but to
attack the fort at once. He drew up his men in three ranks upon the shore, directly in
front of where the Pavilion now stands, and in a low but distinct tone briefly harangued
them; and then, placing himself at their head, with Arnold by his side, they marched quickly
but stealthily up the height to the sally port. The sentinel snapped his fusee at the commander, but it missed fire, and he retreated within the fort under a covered way. The
Americans followed close upon his heels, and were thus guided by the alarmed fugitive directly to the parade within the barracks. There another sentinel made a thrust at Easton,
but a blow upon the head from Allen's sword made him beg for quarter, and the patriots
met with no further resistance.
As the troops rushed into the parade under the covered way, they gave a tremendous
shout, and, filing off into two divisions, formed a line of forty men each along the southwestern and northeastern range of-barracks.  The aroused garrison leaped from their pallets, seized their arms, and rushed for the parade, but only to be made prisoners by the intrepid New Englanders. At the same moment Allen, with young Beman at his elbow as
guide, ascended the steps to the door of the quarters of Captain Delaplace, the commandant
1 He died in December, 1846, in Franklin county, New York, when nearly ninety years old. He had
lied to see our confederacy increase from thirteen to thirty states, and from three millions of people to
twenty millions.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


125


Interview between Allen and Delaplace.  Allen's Order to surrender obeyed.  Trouble with Arnold about command
of the garrison, and, giving three loud raps with the hilt of his sword, with a voice of-peculiar power, ordered him to appear, or the whole garrison should be sacrificed. It was about
four o'clock in the morning.  The loud shout of the invaders had awakened the captain and
his wife, both of whom sprang to the door just as Allen made his strange demand. Delaplace appeared in shirt and drawers, with the frightened face of his pretty wife peering over
his shoulder. He and Allen had been old friends, and, upon recognition, the captain assumed
boldness, and authoritatively demanded his disturber's errand.  Allen pointed to his men
and sternly exclaimed, " I order you instantly to surrender."  "By what authority do you
demand it?" said Delaplace., In the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental
Congress!"' thundered Allen, and, raising his sword over the head of the captain, who was
about to speak, ordered him to be silent and surrender immediately.  There was no alternative.  Delaplace had about as much respect for the "Continental Congress" as Allen had
for "Jehovah," and they respectively relied upon and feared powder and ball more than
either. In fact, the Continental Congress was but a shadow, for it did not meet for organization until six hours afterward,' and its " authority" was yet scarcely acknowledged even
by the patriots in the field. But Delaplace ordered his troops to parade without arms,
the garrison of forty-eight men were surrendered prisoners of war, and, with the women and
children, were sent to Hartford, in Connecticut. The spoils were one hundred and twenty
pieces of iron cannon, fifty swivels, two ten-inch mortars, one howitzer, one cohorn, ten tons
of musket-balls, three cart-loads of flints, thirty new carriages, a considerable quantity of
shells, a ware-house full of material for boat building, one hundred stand of small armseteh
casks of poor powder, two brass cannon, thirty barrels of flour, eighteen barrels of pork, and
some beans and peas.
Warner crossed the lake with the rear division, and marched up to the fort just after the
surrender was made. As soon as the prisoners were secured, and all-. had breakfasted, he
was sent off with a detachment of men in' boats to take Crown Point; but a strong head
wind drove them back, and they slept that night at Ticonderoga.  Another and successful
attempt was made on the 12th, and both fortresses fell into the hands of the patriots without bloodshed.
Arnold, who yielded his claims to supreme command at Castleton, assumed control the
moment the fort was surrendered. But his orders were not heeded, and the Connecticut
Committee,s of semi-official origin, which accompanied the expedition, interposed, formally
installed Colonel Allen in the command of Ticonderoga and its dependencies, and authorized
him to remain as such until the Connecticut Assembly or the Continental Congress should
send him instructions. They affirmed that the government of Massachusetts had no part
in the transaction; that the men from Pittsfield were paid by Connecticut; and that Arnold
could be considered only as a volunteer. Finding his commands unheeded, and unwilling
to allow personal considerations to affect, inimically, the public good, Arnold again yielded.
He sent a written protest, with a statement of his grievances, to the Massachusetts Legislature. The Connecticut Committee also sent a statement to the same body. The appointment of Allen was confirmed, and the Assembly of Massachusetts directed Arnold not to interfere. He soon afterward went down the lake to seize a British sloop of war at St. John's,
and to seek other occasions where glory might be won in the service of his country.
The capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point was an event wholly unlooked for by the
According to Mr. Rice, history has omitted the suffix to this demand, which in those days was considered a necessary clincher to all solemn averments. It is characteristic of the man and the times. 'Rice's
brother was within a few feet of Allen, and said he exclaimed, " In the name of the Great Jehovah and
the Continental Congress, by God."
2 The second Continental Congress assembled at Philadelphia at ten o'clock that day (May 10th), and
chose Peyton Randolph President, and Charles Thompson Secretary.
3 One of the committee, Mr. Phelps, visited the fort, in disguise, the day before Allen and his men arrived. He pretended to be a countryman wishing to be shaved, and, while looking about for the garrison
barber, observed every thing carefully, and saw the dilapidation of the walls and the laxity of duty and
discipline, particularly as to sentinels.




126                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Forbsarance of the Colonists. Consistent Course of their Delegates in Congress. Various Addresses of the second Congress.
Continental Congress, then in session at Philadelphia, and many members were alarmed at
the serious aspect of affairs at the east and north, for as yet the Americans had harbored no
distinct thought or wish derogatory to the truest loyalty. They were aggrieved by the rulers
and legislators of the parent country, and were earnestly seeking redress.  Ten years they
had been petitioning the king and Parliament to exercise righteousness and equity toward
them, but their prayers were unheeded and their warnings were scoffed at and answered by
new oppressions. Yet the colonists remained loyal, and never breathed an aspiration for
political independence. The colonial Assemblies, as well as the mass of the people, looked
forward with anxiety for a reconciliation, for they felt proud of their connection with the
British realm, whose government was then among the most powerful upon earth.'
When the news of the capture of the forts on Champlain reached Congress, they recommended to the committees of New York and Albany to remove the cannon and stores to the
south end of Lake George, and to erect a strong post at that place.  They also directed an
exact inventory of the cannon and military stores to be taken,, in order," as the dispatch
said, " that they may be safely returned when the restoration of harmony between Great
Britain and the colonies, so ardently desired by the latter, shall render it prudent and consistent with the over-ruling law of self-preservation."2
The delegates to the first Continental Congress, who met in September of the pre1774.
vious year, while they exhibited rare firmness of purpose in tone and manner, again
and again avowed their loyalty, and made most humble petitions to the king and the Legislature for a redress of grievances. And those of the Congress in session when the first hostile movements on Lake Champlain occurred, while they saw clearly that nothing but a
general resort to arms was now left for the colonists, resolved to make fresh appeals to the
king and Parliament before taking decidedly offensive steps in acts of open hostility. They
felt quite certain, however, that the haughtiness of power would not bend so long as its pride
was wounded, and that it would never yield to an agreement for a reconciliation upon terms
other than the absolute submission of the insurgents.  Congress, therefore, correctly representing the public sentiment, resolved to be, at the same time, free men and loyal subjects
as long as a link of consistency should bind those conditions in unity.  They adopted an
May 29, address to the inhabitants of Canada;a a declaration, setting forth the causes and
b Juy6.  the necessity for the colonies to take up arms;b an humble petition to the king;
July 85  an address to the Assembly of Jamaica;d3 and an address to the people of Ired july 25.
*July28. land.e'  To the king they expressed their continued devotion to his person, and
their deep regret that circumstances had in the least weakened their attachment to the
crown. To the people of Great Britain they truthfully declared that their acts were wholly
defensive; that the charge which had been made against them, of seeking absolute independence, was a malicious slander; and that they had never, directly or indirectly, applied to a
foreign power for countenance or aid in prosecuting a rebellion. They truly set forth that
the rejection of their petitions and the accumulation of oppressive acts of Parliament were
the causes that placed them in the attitude of resistance which they then assumed-an attil The affections of the people of the colonies were very much alienated by the grievances of the Stamp
Act in 1765, and kindred measures, yet they still had a strong attachment to the mother country, even
when the Revolution finally broke out. Dr. Franklin's testimony in 1766 may be quoted as illustrative
of the temper of the people nearly ten years later. In answer to the question concerning the feelings of
the people of America toward Great Britain before the passage of the Stamp Act, he said, " They had not
only a respect but an affection for Great Britain, for its laws, its customs, and its manners, and even a fondness for its fashions, that greatly increased the commerce. Natives of Britain were always treated with.particular regard; and to be an Old Englandman was of itself a character of some respect, and gave a
kind of rank among us."-Examination of Dr. Franklin before the British House of Commons relative to the
Repeal of the American Stamp Act.
s Pitkin, i.i 355.
8 Jamaica, one of the West India Islands, was then a British colony, with a provincial Legislature like
those on the American Continent.
4 See Journals of Congress, i., p. 100-168.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


127


Military Preparations made by Congress.     The Continental Army.       Spirit of the People.     Ticonderoga.


tude at once necessary and justifiable, and worthy of the free character of subjects of the British realm. (" While we revere," they said, (, the memory of our gallant and virtuous ancestors,
we never can surrender*these glorious privileges for which they fought, bled, and conquered:
your fleets and armies can destroy our towns and ravage our coasts; these are inconsiderable
objects-things of no moment to men whose bosoms glow with the ardor of liberty.  We can
retire beyond the reach of your navy, and, without any sensible diminution of the necessaries
of life, enjoy a luxury which, from that period, you will want-the luxury of being free."
Hii
'\! 41
T;ICONDEROGA AT SUNSET.
While petitions and addresses were in course of:"am?              'TKe7    -- preparation and adoption, Congress proceeded to make
of  o                       extensive military arrangements.  The militia of the?                                 ivarious colonies, and such volunteers as could be ob-,              tained, were mustered into service under the title of the CNrIens      NENTAL ARMY; and the troops which had flocked to the vicinity of Boston from all parts of New England after the skirmishes at Lexington and
Concord,a and were then investing that city, were adopted and enrolled under the a Aprl 19,
same title.b  Congress voted to issue bills of credit, or paper money, to the amount  1775.
of three millions of dollars, for the pay of the army, and also took measures for the bJune, 1775.
establishment of provisional Assemblies in the several colonies instead of the royal governments; for acts of Parliament, declaring the colonies in a state of rebellion, and providing
for the destruction of the commerce of several sea-port towns, and for the sending of fleets
and armies to enforce submission, were regarded by the Americans as virtual acknowledgments of the abdication of all power here.' Thus, while the colonists kept the door of reconciliation wide open, they prepared to maintain the righteous position which they had assumed at all hazards.
Let us for a moment close the chronicles of the past, and consider one of the most interesting relics of the Revolution yet remaining —the ruins of Ticonderoga.  I lingered with
the old soldier among the fragments of the fortress until sunset; and just as the luminary


1 See Parliamentary Register (1775), p. 6-69.




128


PICTORIAL FIELtD-BOOK


Present Appearance of Fort Ticonderoga and Vicinity.            The Bakery.                Grenadiers' Battery.


went down behind Mount Defiance I made the preceding sketch, which may be relied upon
as a faithful portraiture of the present features of Fort Ticonderoga. The view is from the
remains of the counterscarp, near the southern range of barracks, looking northward.  The
barracks or quarters for the officers and soldiers were very substantially built of limestone,
two stories high, and formed a quadrangle.  The space within was the parade.  Upon the
good authority of his brother, our venerable guide pointed out the various localities of interest, and, having no doubt as to the correctness of his information, I shall accord it as truth.
The most distinct and best-preserved building seen in the sketch is the one in which the
commandant of the garrison was asleep when Allen and his men entered the fort. On the
left of the group of figures in the fore-ground is the passage leading from the covered way
into the parade, through which the provincials passed. The two lines of forty men each
were drawn up along the range of buildings, the remains of which are seen on the right and
left of the picture.  The most distant building was the officers' quarters.  A wooden piazza,
or sort of balcony, extended along the second story, and was reached from the ground by a
flight of stairs at the left end.  The first door in the second story, on the left, was the entrance to Delaplace's apartment. It was up those rickety steps, with young Beman at his
side, that Colonel Allen ascended; and at that door he thundered with his sword-hilt, confronted the astonished captain, and demanded his surrender. Between the ruined walls on
the extreme left is seen Mount Defiance, and on the right is Mount Hope.  The distant wall
in the direction of Mount Hope is a part of the ramparts or out-works, and the woods beyond it mark the location of the remains of the " French lines," the mounds and ditches of
which are still very conspicuous.
Near the southeastern angle of the range of barracks is the bakery; it is an under-ground
arched room, and was beneath the glacis, perfectly
bomb-proof, and protected from all danger from with-.-'         x.
out.  This room is very well preserved, as the annexed
sketch of it testifies; but the entrance steps are much
broken, and the passage is so filled with rubbish that a
descent into it is difficult.  It is about twelve feet wide  -
and thirty long.  On the right is a window, and at the
end were a fire-place and chimney, now in ruins.  On  Ii
either side of the fire-place are the ovens, ten feet deep.          i
We had no light to explore them, but they seemed to
be in good condition.  This bakery and the ovens areE Bg
the best-preserved portions of the fortress.  For more
than half a century the walls of the fort have been common spoil for all who chose to avail
themselves of such a convenient quarry; and the proximity of the lake affords rare facility
for builders to carry off the plunder. The guide informed me that sixty-four years ago he
assisted in the labor of loading a vessel with bricks and stones taken from the fort, to build
an earthen-ware factory on Missisqui Bay, the eastern fork of the lower end of Lake Champlain. Year after year the ruins thus dwindle, and, unless government shall prohibit the
robbery, this venerable landmark of history will soon have no abiding-place among us.  The
foundation is almost a bare rock, earthed sufficient to give sustenance to mullens, rag-weed,
and stinted grass only, so that the plowshare can have no effect; but desecrating avarice,
with its wicked broom, may sweep the bare rock still barer, for the site is a glorious one for
a summer hotel for invalids. I shall, doubtless, receive posthumous laudation for this suggestion from the money-getter who here shall erect the colonnade, sell cooked fish and flavored ices, and coin wealth by the magic of the fiddle-string.
On the point of the promontory, just above the steam-boat landing, are the remains of
the "Grenadiers' Battery," a strong redoubt built of earth and stone.  It was constructed
by the French, and enlarged by the English.  It commanded the narrow part of the lake,
between that point and Mount Independence, and covered the bridge, which was made by
the Americans, extending across to the latter eminence.  The bridge was supported by




OF THE REVOLUTION,


129


The floating Bridge.    View of the Ruins by Moonlight.  The old Patriot, his Memories and Hopes.
twenty-two sunken piers of large timber, at nearly equal distances; the space between was
made of separate floats, each about fifty feet long and twelve feet wide, strongly fastened
together by chains and rivets, and also fastened to the sunken piers.  Before this bridge was
a boom, made of very large pieces of timber, fastened together by riveted bolts and chains
of iron, an inch and a half square.' There was a battery at the foot of Mount Independence, which covered that end of the bridge; another half way up the hill; and upon the
table-land summit was a star fort well picketed. Here, strongly stationed, the Americans
held undisputed possession from the 10th of May, 1775, until the 5th of July, 1777, when
they were dislodged by Burgoyne, who began to plant a battery upon Sugar Hill, or Mount
Defiance. This event we shall consider presently.
I went up in the evening to view the solitary ruins by moonlight, and sat upon the green
sward of the old esplanade near the magazine. All was hushed, and association, with its
busy pencil, wrought many a startling picture. The broken ruins around me, the lofty hills
adjacent, the quiet lake at my feet, all fading into chaos as the evening shadows came on,
were in consonance with the gravity of thought induced by the place and its traditions.
"The darkening woods, the fading trees,
The grasshopper's last feeble sound,
The flowers just waken'd by the breeze,
All leave the stillness more profound.
The twilight takes a deeper shade,
The dusky pathways blacker grow,
And silence reigns in glen and glade —
All, all is mute below."
MILLER'S EVENING HYMN.
So smoothly ran the current of thought, that I was almost dreaming, when a footstep
startled me. It was that of the old patriot, who came and sat beside me. He always
spends the pleasant moonlight evenings here, for he has no companions of the present, and
the sight of the old walls kept sluggish memory awake to the recollections of the light and
love of other days.  I am alone in the world," he said, ", poor and friendless; none for me
to care for, and none to care for me. Father, mother, brothers, sisters, wife, and children
have all passed away, and the busy world has forgotten me. I have been for almost eighty
years a toiler for bread for myself and loved ones, yet I have never lacked for comforts.  I
can say with David, 'Once I was young, but now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging bread.'  I began to feel my strength giving way last spring,
and looked fearfillly toward the poor-house, when I heard that the old man who lived here,
to show visitors about, was dead, and so I came down to take his place and die also." He
brushed away a tear with his hard and shriveled hand, and, with a more cheerful tone, talked
of his future prospects.  How trie it is that blessed
"Hope springs immortal in the human breast,"
for this poor, friendless, aged man had bright visions of a better earthly condition even in the
midst of his poverty and loneliness. He took me to an opening in the broken wall, which
fronted a small room near the spot where the provincials entered, and with a low voice, as
if afraid some rival might hear his business plans, explained how he intended, another year,
to clear away the rubbish, cover the room over with boards and brush, arrange a sleepingplace in the rear, erect a rude counter in front, and there, during the summer, sell cakes,
beer, and fruit to visitors. Here I saw my fancied hotel in embryo. He estimated the
cash capital necessary for the enterprise at eight dollars, which sum he hoped to save from
his season's earnings, for the French woman who gave him food and shelter charged him but
a trifling weekly sum for his comforts. He calculated upon large profits and extensive sales,
and hoped, if no opposition marred his plans, to make enough to keep him comfortable through
Burgoyne's Narrative, Appendix, p. xxx.
I




130                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Trip to Mount Defiance.     Ascent of the Mountain.      An English Major and Provincial Subaltern.
life.  He entertained me more than an hour with a relation of his own and his father's adventures,' and it was late in the evening when I bade him a final adieu.  "( God bless you,
my son," he said, as he grasped my hand at parting.. " We may never meet here again,
but I hope we may in heaven!"
August2,   Early the next morning I started for Mount Defiance in company with an En1848.  glish gentleman, a resident of Boston.  We rode to the " lower village," or Ticonderoga, where we left our ladies to return by the same stage, while we climbed the rugged
heights.  We hired a horse and vehicle, and a lad to drive, who professed to know all about
the route to the foot of the mountain.  We soon found that he was'bewildered; and, unwilling to waste time by losing the way, we employed an aged resident near the western
slope to pilot us to the top of the eminence.  He was exceedingly garrulous, and boasted,
with much self-gratulation, of having assisted in dragging a heavy six pounder up to the top
of the mountain, five years ago, for the purpose of celebrating the " glorious Fourth" on the
very spot where Burgoyne planted his cannon sixty-six years before.   We followed him
along a devious cattle-path that skirted a deep ravine, until we came to a spring that bubbled up from beneath a huge shelving rock whose face was smooth and mossy. The trickling of the water through the crevices within, by which the fountain below was supplied,
could be distinctly heard.  From a cup of maple-leaves we took a cool draught, rested a
moment, and then pursued our toilsome journey.
Our guide, professing to know every rock and tree in the mountain, now left the cattlepath for a  shorter cut," but we soon wished ourselves back again in the beaten track.
The old man was evidently " out of his reckoning," but had too much, grit" to acknowledge it.  For nearly an hour we followed him through thickets tangled with vines, over the
trunks of huge trees leveled by the wind, and across a dry morass covered with brakes and
wire-grass shoulder high, where every trill of the grasshopper sounded to our suspicious and
vigilant ears like the warning of a rattle-snake, until at length we were confronted by a wall
of huge broken rocks, almost perpendicular, and at least fifty feet high. -It seemhed to extend north and south indefinitely, and we almost despaired of scaling it. i The guide insisted
upon the profundity of his knowledge of the route, and we, being unable to contradict his
positive assertions that he was in the right way, followed him up the precipice.  It was a
toilsome and dangerous ascent, but fortunately the sun was yet eastward of meridian, and
we were in shadow.   We at last reached a broad ledge near the summit, where, exhausted,
we sat down and regaled ourselves with some mulberries which we had gathered by the way.
A large wolf-dog, belonging to our guide, had managed to follow his master, and seemed
quite as weary as ourselves when he reached us. Another scramble of about twenty minutes, over broken rocks and ledges like a giant's stair-case, brought us upon the bold, rocky
summit of the mountain. The view from this lofty hill is one of great interest and beauty,
including almost every variety of natural scenery, and a region abounding with historical
1 His father was a lieutenant in the English service, and belonged to the Connecticut troops that were
with Amherst when he took Ticonderoga. While the English had possession of that post, before seizing
Crown Point, he was much annoyed by a swaggering English major, who boasted that no American in the
country could lay him upon his back. Lieutenant Rice accepted the general challenge. For twenty minutes it was doubtful who the successful wrestler would be. Rice was the more agile of the two, and, by
a dexterous movement, tripped his adversary and brought him upon his back. The burly major was greatly
nettled, and declared the act unfair and unmanly. Rice made a rejoinder, and hard words passed, which
ended in a challenge from the major for a duel. It was accepted, and the place and time of meeting were
appointed. But the fact having reached the ears of Amherst, he interposed his persuasion. The Englishman was resolved on fighting, and would listen to no remonstrance until Amherst touched his national and
military pride. "Consider," he said, "how glorious is our conquest. We have taken this strong fortress
without shedding one drop of blood. Shall Britons be such savages, that, when they can not spill the blood
of enemies, they will shed that of each other?" The.appeal had the desired effect, and the parties sealed
their reconciliation and pledged new friendship over a glass of grog. They then tried their strength again.
The major was prostrated in an instant by a fair exertion of superior strength, and from that hour he was
Rice's warmest friend. The major's name was Church. He was a lieutenant colonel under Prevost, and
was killed at Savannah on the 16th of September, 1779.




OF THE REVOLUTION.          13


View from the Top of Mount Defiance.


Mount Independence, Ticonderoga, the Lake, and the Green Mountains.




associations.  The fore-ground of the picture represents the spot whereon Burgoyne began
the erection of a battery; and a shallow hole, drilled for the purpose of making fastenings
= T;=
_. =_.
~ X..:"~-:  -,-   __-  -..      --— _ —E —r — -eD -_ e
-1                                                                    F
VIEW FROM THE TOP OF MOUNT DEFIANCE.
for the cannon, may still be seen. The sheet of water toward the left is the outlet of Lake
George, where it joins Lake Champlain, which sweeps around the promontory in the middle
ground, whereon Fort Ticonderoga is situated. Gray, like the almost bald rock on which
they stand, the ruins were scarcely discernible from that height, and the Pavilion appeared
like a small white spot among the green foliage that embowers it.  On the point which the
steam-boat is approaching is the Grenadiers' Battery already mentioned, and on the extreme right is seen a portion of Mount Independence at the mouth of East Creek. This
eminence is in Vermont-Mount Defiance and Fort Ticonderoga are in New York.  The
point beyond the small vessel with a white sail is the spot whence the Americans under Allen
and Arnold crossed the lake to attack the fort; and between Mount Independence and the
Grenadiers' Battery is the place where the bridge was erected. The lake here is quite
narrow, and, sweeping in serpentine curves around the two points, it flows northward on
the left, and expands gradually into a sheet of water several miles wide. The hills seen in
the far distance are the Green Mountains of Vermont, between which lofty range and the
lake is a beautifully diversified and fertile agricultural country twelve miles wide, a portion
of the famous New Hampshire Grants. From this height the eye takes in a range along
the lake of more than thirty miles, and a more beautiful rural panorama can not often be
found.  Let us retreat to the cool shadow of the shrubbery on the left, for the summer sun
is at meridian; and, while gathering new strength to make our toilsome descent, let us open
again the volume of history, and read the page on which are recorded the stirring events
that were enacted within the range of our vision.




1 32


P ItCTOQRIA- L FIELD L-B OOK


1 32              PI'CTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Crown Point and Ticonderoga invested by Burgoyne.  Material of his Army.  Weakness of the Garrison at Ticonderoga.
Lieutenant-general Burgoyne, with a strong and well-appointed army of more than seven
thousand men,' including Indians, came up Lake Champlain and appeared before Crown
Point on the 27th of June. The few Americans in garrison there abandoned the fort
and retreated to Ticonderoga.     The British quietly took possession, and, after establishing a magazine, hospital, and stores there, proceeded to invest Ticonderoga on the 30th.
Some light infantry, grenadiers, Canadians, and Indians, with ten pieces of light artillery,
under Brigadier-general Fraser, were encamped on the west side of the lake, at the mouth of
Putnam's Creek.    These moved up the shore to Four Mile Point, so called from being that distance from Ticonderoga.    The German reserve,
consisting of the chasseurs, light infantry, and./                              grenadiers, under Lieutenant-colonel Breyman,
i..      -"..         were moved at the same time along the eastern
shore, while the remainder of the army, under the
' "                       immediate command of Burgoyne himself, were on
r       S                    C         board the Royal George and Inflexible frigates
a                                      and several gun-boats, which moved up the lake
between the two strong wings on land.        The
' y,         land force halted; and the naval force was anchor-!                           e! ed just beyond cannon-shot from the American
works.
Major-general Arthur St. Clair' was in com1:        mand of the American garrison at Ticonderoga,
a post of honor which Schuyler had offered to
A        Gates.    He found the garrison only about two.               thousand strong; and so much were the stores
reduced, that he was afraid to make any considerable addition to his force from the militia who
were coming in from the east, until a replenishment of provisions could be effected.   Had the
garrison been well supplied with stores, six or
eight thousand men might have been collected there before the arrival of the enemy.
1The day when the British army encamped before Ticonderoga (July 1st), the troops consisted of British, rank and file, three thousand seven hundred and twenty-four; Germans, rank and file, three thousand
and sixteen; Canadians and provincials about two hundred and fifty, and Indians about four hundred, making a total of seven thousand four hundred and ninety.
2 Arthur St. Clair was a native of Edinburgh, in Scotland. He was boYn in 1734, and came to America,with Admiral Boscawen in 1755. He served in Canada in 1759 and 1760, as a lieutenant under General
Wolfe, and, after the peace of 1763, was appointed to the command of Fort Ligonier, in Pennsylvania. In
January, 1776, he was appointed a colonel in the Continental army, and was ordered to raise a regiment
destined for service in Canada.  Within six weeks from his appointment his regiment was on its march.
He was appointed a brigadier in August of that year, and was an active participant in the engagements at
Trenton.and Princeton. In February, 1777, be received the appointment of major general, and on the 5th
of June was ordered by General Schuyler to the command of Ticonderoga. He reached that post on the
12th, and found a garrison of two thousand men, badly equipped and very short of ammunition and stores.
He was obliged to evacuate the post on the 5th of July following. In 1780 he was ordered to Rhode
Island, but circumstances prevented him from going thither. When the allied armies marched toward
Virginia, in 1781, to attack Cornwallis, St. Clair was directed to remain at Philadelphia with the recruits
of the Pennsylvania line, for the protection of Congress. He was, however, soon afterward allowed to join
the army, and reached Yorktown during the siege. From Yorktown he was sent with a considerable force
to join Greene, which he did at Jacksonville, near Savannah. He resided in Pennsylvania after the peace;
was elected to-Congress in 1786, and was president of that body in 1787. Upon the erection of the Northwestern Territory into a government in 1788, he was appointed governor, which office he held until 1802.
when Ohio was admitted as a state into the Union, and he declined an election to the post he had held.
His military operations within his territory against the Indians were disastrous, and when he retired from
office he was almost ruined in fortune. He made unsuccessful applications to Congress for the payment
of certain claims, and finally died almost penniless, at Laurel Hill, near Philadelphia, August 31st, 1818,
aged 84 years.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


133


Outposts undefended.  Fort on Mount Independence.  Tardiness of Congress in supplying Men and Munitions
St. Clair was an officer of acknowledged bravery and prudence, yet he was far from being
an expert and skillful military leader.  His self-reliance and his confidence in the valor and
strength of those under him often caused him to be less vigilant than necessity demanded;
and it was this fault, in connection with the weakness of the garrison, which gave Burgoyne
his only advantage at Ticonderoga. He soon perceived, through the vigilance of his scouts,
that St. Clair had neglected to secure those two important eminences, Mount Hope and
Sugar Loaf Hill (Mount Defiance), and, instead of making a direct assault upon the fortress,
the British general essayed to possess himself of these valuable points.
When Burgoyne approached, a small detachment of Americans occupied the old French
lines north of the fort, which were well repaired and guarded by a block-house. They also
had an outpost at the saw-mills (now the village of Ticonderoga), another just above the
mills, and a block-house and hospital at the entrance of the lake. Between the lines and
the old fort were two block-houses, and the Grenadiers' Battery on the point was manned.
The garrison in the star fort, on Mount Independence, was rather stronger than that at
Ticonderoga, and better provisioned.  The fort was supplied with artillery, strongly picketed,
and its approaches were well guarded by batteries.   The foot of the hill on the northwestern side was intrenched, and had a strong abatis next to the water. Artillery was placed
in the intrenchments, pointing down the lake, and at the point, near the mouth of East Creek,
was a strong circular battery. The general defenses of the Americans were formidable to
an enemy, but the tardiness of Congress in supplying the garrison with food, clothing, ammunition, and re-enforcements, made them quite weak.' Their lines and works were extensive, and instead of a full complement of men to man and defend them, and to occupy Sugar
Loaf Hill and Mount Hope, the whole force consisted of only two thousand five hundred and
forty-six Continentals and nine hundred militia.  Of the latter not one tenth had bayonets.
While at Crown Point, Burgoyne sent forth a pompous and threatening proclamation, intended to awe the republicans into passiveness, and confirm the loyalists
in their position by a sense of the presence of overshadowing power.' In his proclamation
the British commander set forth the terrible character of the Indians that accompanied him,
greatly exaggerated their numbers, and magnified their eagerness to be let loose upon the
republicans, whether found in battle array or in the bosom of their families.  " I have," he
said, ", but to give stretch to the Indian forces under my direction, and they amount to thousands, to overtake the hardened enemies of Great Britain and America. I consider them
the. same wherever they may lurk." Protection and security, clogged with conditions,
were held out to the peaceable who remained in their habitations. All the outrages of war,
arrayed in their most terrific forms, were denounced against those who persisted in their
' It was generally believed, until Burgoyne appeared at St. John's, that the military preparations in
progress at Quebec were intended for an expedition by sea against the coast towns still in possession of
the Americans; and influenced by this belief, as well as by the pressing demands for men to keep General
Howe and his army from Philadelphia, Congress made but little exertion to strengthen the posts on Lake
Champlain. This was a fatal mistake, and it was perceived too late for remedy.
2 This swaggering proclamation commenced as follows: "By John Burgoyne, Esquire, lieutenant general of his majesty's forces in America, colonel of the Queen's regiment of Light Dragoons, governor of
Fort William, in North Britain, one of the Commons of Great Britain in Parliament, and commanding an
army and fleet employed on an expedition from Canada," &c. " From the pompous manner in which he
has arrayed his titles," says Dr. Thatcher, " we are led to suppose that he considers them as more than a
match for all the military force which we can bring against them."-Military Journal, p. 82.
General Washington, from his camp at Middlebrook, in New Jersey, issued a manifesto or counter proclamation, which, in sincerity and dignity, was infinitely superior to that issued by Burgoyne. He alluded
to the purity of motives and devotion of the patriots, the righteousness of their cause, and the evident guardianship of an overruling Providence in the direction of affairs, and closed by saying, "Harassed as we are
by unrelenting persecution, obliged by every tie to repel violence by force, urged by self-preservation to
exert the strength which Providence has given us to defend our natural rights against the aggressor, we
appeal to the hearts of all mankind for the justice of our cause; its event we leave to Him who speaks the
fate of nations, in humble confidence that as his omniscient eye taketh note even of the sparrow that falleth
to the ground, so he will not withdraw his countenance from a people who humbly array themselves under
his banner in defense of the noblest principles with which he has adorned humanity."




134                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Ticonderoga invested by the British.  Council of War in the American Camp.  The British on Mount Defiance.
hostility.  But the people at large, and particularly the firm republicans, were so far from
being frightened, that they treated the proclamation with contempt, as a complete model
of pomposity.'
On the 2d of July the right wing of the British army moved forward, and General St. Clair believed and hoped that they intended to make a direct assault upon the
fort. The small American detachments that occupied the outposts toward Lake George
made but a feeble resistance, and then set fire to and abandoned their works.  Generals
Phillips and Fraser, with an advanced corps of infantry and some light artillery, immediately took possession of Mount Hope, which completely commanded the road to Lake George,
and thus cut off all supplies to the patriot garrison from that quarter.  This accomplished,
extraordinary energy and activity were manifested by the enemy in bringing up their artillery, ammunition, and stores to fortify the post gained, and on the 4th Fraser's whole
corps occupied Mount Hope.   In the mean while Sugar Loaf Hill had been reconnoitered by Lieutenant Twiss, the chief engineer, who reported that its summit had complete command of the whole American works at Ticonderoga and Mount Independence, and
that a road to the top, suitable for the conveyance of cannons, though difficult, might be
made in twenty-four hours.  It was resolved to erect a battery on the height, and, by arduous and prolonged labor, a road was cleared on the night of the 4th. The Thunderer,
carrying the battery train and stores, arrived in the afternoon, and light twelve pounders,
medium twelves, and eight-inch howitzers were landed.
So completely did the enemy occupy the ground between the lake, Mount Hope, and
Sugar Loaf Hill, that this important movement was concealed from the garrison; and when,
at dawn on the morning of the 5th, the summit of Mount Defiances glowed with the scarlet
uniforms of the British troops, and heavy artillery stood threateningly in their midst, the
Americans were paralyzed with astonishment, for that array seemed more like the lingering
apparitions of a night vision than the terrible reality they were forced to acknowledge.
From that height the enemy could look down into the fortress, count every man, inspect all
their movements, and with eye and cannon command all the extensive works of Ticonderoga
and Mount Independence.    St. Clair immediately called a council of war, and presented to
them the alarming facts, that the whole effective strength of the garrison was not sufficient
to man one half of the works; that, as the whole must be constantly on duty, they could
not long endure the fatigue; that General Schuyler, then at Fort Edward, had not sufficient troops to re-enforce or relieve them; that the enemy's batteries were nearly ready to
open upon them, and that a complete investment of the place would be accomplished within
twenty-four hours.  It seemed plain that nothing could save the troops but evacuation, and
the step was proposed by the commander and agreed to by his officers.  It was a critical
and trying moment for St. Clair.  To remain would be to lose his army, to evacuate would
Jul 6  be to lose his character.  He chose to make a self-sacrifice, and at about two o'clock
1777. on the following morning the troops were put in motion.
As every movement of the Americans could be seen through the day from Mount Defiance, no visible preparations for leaving the fort were made until after dark, and the purpose
of the council was concealed from the troops until the evening order was given. It was
arranged to place the baggage, and such ammunition and stores as might be expedient, on
board two hundred bateaux, to be dispatched, under a convoy of five armed galleys, up the
lake to Skenesborough (Whitehall), and the main body of the army to proceed by land to
~1 Gordon, ii., 205.
2 This title was given to it by General Fraser, in allusion to the hope they entertained of dislodging the
Americans.
3 I was informed by an old man, ninety years of age, residing at Pittsford, not far from the battle-ground
at Hubbardton, that the British gave the name of Mount Defiance to Sugar Loaf Hill on the day when they
erected their battery upon it, for from that height they defied the Americans either to resist or dislodge
them. The old man was one of the British regulars under Burgoyne, but soon afterward deserted to the
Continentals.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


1 3 5


Retreat of the Americans from Ticonderoga and Mount Independence.  Imprudence of Fermoy.  Pursuit by the Enem).
the same destination, by way of Castleton.  The cannons that could not be moved were to
be spiked; previous to striking the tents, every light was to be extinguished; each soldier
was to provide himself with several days' provisions; and, to allay any suspicions on the
part of the enemy of such a movement, a continued cannonade was to be kept up from one
of the batteries in the direction of Mount Hope until the moment of departure.
These arrangements were all completed, yet so short was the notice that a good deal of
confusion ensued.  The garrison of Ticonderoga crossed the bridge to Mount Independence
at about three o'clock in the morning, the enemy all the while unconscious of the escape of
their prey. The moon was shining brightly, yet her pale light was insufficient to betray
the toiling Americans in their preparations and flight, and they felt certain that, before daylight should discover their withdrawal, they would be too far advanced to invite pursuit.
But General De Fermoy, who commanded on Mount Independence,-regardless of express
orders, set fire to the house he had occupied as the troops left.  The light of the conflagration revealed the whole scene and every movement to the enemy, and the consciousness of
discovery added to the confusion and disorder of the retreating republicans.  The rear-guard,
under Colonel Francis, left the mount at about four o'clock in the morning, and the whole
body pressed onward in irregular order toward Hubbardton, where, through the energy and
skill of the officers, they were pretty well organized after a halt of two hours.  The main
army then proceeded to Castleton, six miles further, and the rear-guard, with stragglers
picked up by the way, were placed under the command of Colonel Seth Warner, and remained at Hubbardton until some, who were left behind, should come up. Here a desperate, and, to the Americans, a disastrous battle was fought the next morning, the details
of which will be given hereafter.
As soon as the movement of the Americans was perceived by the British, General Fraser
commenced an eager pursuit with his pickets, leaving orders for his brigade to follow.  At
daylight he unfurled the British flag over Ticonderoga, and before sunrise he had passed
the bridge and Mount Independence, and was in close pursuit of the flying patriots.1 Majorgeneral Reidesel and Colonel Breyran, with their Germans and Hessians, soon followed to
sustain Fraser, while Burgoyne, who was on board the Royal George, prepared for an immediate pursuit of the bateaux and convoy by water.  The Americans placed great reliance
upon their strong boom at Ticonderoga, and regarded pursuit by water as almost impossible;
but the boom and bridge were speedily cleft by the enemy. Long before noon a free passage was made for the gun-boats and frigates, and the whole flotilla were crowding all sail
to overtake the American bateaux. These, with the baggage and stores, were all destroyed
at Skenesborough before sunset.
The evacuation of Ticonderoga, without efforts at defense, was loudly condemned throughout the country, and brought down a storm of indignant abuse upon the heads of Generals
St. Clair and Schuyler, for much of the responsibility was laid upon the latter because he
was the commander-in-chief of the northern department. The weakness of the garrison,
the commanding position of the enemy upon Mount Defiance, where they could not be
reached by the guns of the fort, and the scarcity of stores and ammunition, were not taken
into the account, and, consequently, the verdict of an excited public was very unjust toward
those unfortunate officers.  Washington had placed great reliance upon them both; nor did
the event destroy his confidence in their ability and bravery, yet he was perplexed,' and
This was the third time in consecutive order that the fortress was captured by an enemy to the garrison without bloodshed, namely, in 1759, by the English under General Amherst; in 1775, by the New
England provincials under Colonel Ethan Allen, and now (1777) by the British under Lieutenant-general
Burgoyne.
a The chief thus wrote to General Schuyler on hearing of the disaster: " The evacuation of Ticonderoga and Mount Independence is an event of chagrin and surprise not apprehended nor within the compass
of my reasoning. I know not upon what principle it was founded, and I should suppose it would be still
more difficult to be accounted for if the garrison amounted to five thousand men in high spirits, healthy,
well supplied with provisions and ammunition, and the Eastern militia were marching to their succor; as
- you mentioned in your letter of the 9th [June] to the Council of Safety of New York."




t3                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
WVahingtot's Recommendation of Arnold.  Acquittal of Schuyler and St. Clair of Blame.  Return to Ticonderoga.
caearly foresaw that some other leader would be necessary to inspire sufficient confidence in
the minds of the Eastern militia to cause them to turn out in force to oppose the progress
of Burgoyne.   Accordingly, he recommended Congress to send an " active, spirited officer
to conduct and lead them (the militia) on."1 But Congress went further. Unwisely listening to and heeding the popular clamor, they suspended St. Clair from command, and appointed Adjutant-general Gates to supersede General Schuyler. St. Clair did not leave the
army, but was with Washington at the battle of Brandywine. By a general court-martial,
held in the autumn of 1778, he was acquitted of all blame, with the highest honor, and
this decision was fully confirmed by Congress in December following. The noble conduct
of General Schuyler toward Gates, and his continued patriotic efforts in behalf of his country
after suffering the injustice inflicted by Congress, have been mentioned in another chapter.
After the lapse of several months the public mind was brought to bear with calmness upon
the subject, and, before the close of the war, both generals were fully reinstated in the confidence of the people.
Our historic picnic upon the mountain-top is ended, and, being well rested, let us " gather
up the fragments, that nothing be lost," and descend to the village of, Ty," by the way of
the military road which was made impromptu by General Phillips for his cannon, up the
northern slope of Defiance. Very slight traces of it are now visible, and these consist chiefly
of a second growth of timber, stahding where the road was cut.
We parted with our guide at the foot of the mountain. Our boy-driver and the vehicle
had disappeared, and we were obliged to walk in the hot sun to the village. Our good tempers were not at all improved when we learned the fact that the stage from Lake George
had passed nearly an hour before, and that no conveyance could be procured until toward
evening to take us to the fort, unless the boy, who had not returned, should make his appearance; and where he had gone was a mystery.     Dinner at the Pavilion was an event
only a half hour in the future, and two miles in distance stretched between us and the viands.
So we stopped grumbling, trudged on, and, whiling away the moments by pleasant conversation, we reached the Pavilion in time to take our places at table, too much heated and fatigued,
however, to enjoy the luxuries set before us. Our Boston friends left that afternoon, but we
tarried until two o'clock the next morning, when we departed on the Burlington for Whitehall.
The air was cool and the sky unclouded when we left Ticonderoga. The moon had gone
down, and it was too dark to see more than the outlines of the romantic shores by which
we were gliding, so we took seats upon the upper deck and surveyed the clear heavens, jeweled with stars. The Pleiades were glowing in the southern sky, and beautiful Orion was
upon the verge of the eastern horizon. Who can look upward on a clear night and not feel
the spirit of worship stirring within! Who can contemplate those silent watchers in the
firmament and not feel the impulses of adoration!
"I know they must be holy things
That from a roof so sacred shine,
Where sounds the beat of angels' wings,
And footsteps echo all divine.
Their mysteries I never sought,
Nor hearken to what science tells:
For oh, in childhood I was taught
That God amid them dwells."
MILLE R.
1 In his letter to Congress (from which this sentence is quoted), dated at Morristown, July 10th, 1777,
Washington continues, " If General Arnold has settled his affairs, and can be spared from Philadelphia, I
would recommend him for this business, and that he should immediately set out for the northern department. He is active, judicious, and brave, and an officer in whom the militia will repose great confidence.
Besides this, he is well acquainted with that country, and with the routes and most important passes and
defiles in it. I do not think he can render more signal services, or be more usefully employed at this time,
than in this way. I am persuaded his presence and activity will animate the militia greatly, and spur
them on to a becoming conduct." Arnold was sent accordingly, and his signal services at Bemis's Heights
we have already considered.




.OF THE REVO:LUTIO'N. '


131


Arrival at Whitehall or old Skenesborough.  Historical Notice of the Place.  Capture of Major Sbene and his People
Just as the day dawned tiny spiral columns of vapor began to rise from the lake, and
before sunrise we were completely wrapped in a dense fog.  After passing the bay south of
Mount Independence, the lake becomes very narrow, and the channel is so sinuous that our
vessel proceeded very cautiously in the dense mist. At the Elbow, half a mile from White.
hall Landing, a rocky point containing ", Putnam's Ledge" projects from the west, and occasions such a short and narrow turn in the lake, that it is with much difficulty large class
steam-boats make their way through. It can only be done by the use of hawsers attached
to the bow and stern, and this process requires an annoying delay. We reached Whitehall,
at the mouth of Wood Creek,1 at the head of the lake, about seven in the evening, and found
comfortable quarters at a well-conducted temperance hotel near the landing.'
This is ancient Skenesborough, and was a point of considerable importance during the
wars on our northern frontier, from 1745 till the close of the Revolution.  Here armies
halted, and provisions, ammunition, and stores were collected and distributed.  A picketed
fort was erected here during the French and Indian war, upon the brow of the hill east of
Church-street.  Soon after the peace of Paris, in 1763, Philip K. Skene, an English major
under half pay, purchased several soldiers' grants located here, and, to make his title secure,
procured a royal patent. He effected a small settlement at this point, and named it Skenesborough, which title it bore until after the Revolution. He had procured a second patent,
and became possessor of the whole of the land comprised within the present township of
Whitehall, except four thousand acres on its eastern border.  He was a magistrate of the
crown, the owner of black slaves, and was sometimes honored with the title of governor, on
account of having held the office of Lieutenant-governor of Crown Point and Ticonderoga.
In addition to a stone residence, he erected another stone edifice, one hundred and thirty feet
long, for a military garrison and depot, upon the spot used as a garden by the family of the late
Judge Wheeler. Near the east end was an arched gateway, the key-stone of which is now in
the north basement wall of the Baptist Church, and bears the initials "P. K. S.," and date
"1770."
Skenesborough was a point included in the programme of operations against Ticonderoga,
in the expedition under Colonel Allen in 1775. The council held at Castleton, where Allen
was appointed commander-in-chief, resolved to send thirty men, under Captain Herrick, to
surprise Skenesborough, capture the son of the proprietor (the latter was then in Europe),
his negroes and tenantry, seize all the boats and other vessels that might be found there, and
hasten down the lake with them to Shoreham. The surprise was so complete, that the plan
was all accomplished without bloodshed. Major Skene the younger was captured while out
shooting; the twelve negroes and fifty tenants were secured, and the governor's strong stone
buildings were taken possession of by the captors. In the cellar of his house was found the
body of the wife of the elder Skene, where it had been preserved many years to secure to
the husband an annuity devised to her ", while she remained above ground!"   The AmerIn the older histories and in the geographies of the state of New York the whole narrow part of Lake
Champlain south of Ticonderoga was called respectively Wood Creek and South River. For fifty years
these names for that portion of the lake have become obsolete, and as historians write for the future, they
should be careful to note these changes, so as not to mislead the student. Mr. Headly carelessly observes,
when speaking of the retreat from Ticonderoga, that "their long procession of boats began by moonlight
to wind up Wood Creek," &c. Again, speaking of Putnam's position when he attacked the French and
Indians in their canoes, he represents the place as upon " Wood Creek where it falls into the lake." The
fact is, the spot is upon the lake, about a mile below where Wood Creek proper " falls into the lake." He
says again, "A whole fleet of canoes, filled with soldiers, was entering the mouth of the creek." The
mouth of the creek being a cascade, it would have been difficult for the canoes to enter it. Wood Creek
proper rises in French Pond, in Warren county, and, flowing by Fort Anne in a deep and sluggish stream,
receives the waters of the Pawlet, and falls into Lake Champlain at Whitehall.
2 Whitehall is a growing and flourishing village. It is within a rocky ravine at the foot of a high eminence called Skene's Mountain, at the mouth of Wood Creek and the northern terminus of the Champlain
Canal and Rail-road. It has a beautiful agricultural country behind it, and the natural scenery in the vicinity is very picturesque. The Indian name of the locality, when the whites first explored the neighborhood, was Kah-cho-qua-na, which, literally interpreted, is, " place where dip fish."




1 3.8


PICT T- RRIAAL FIELD_'BOOK.0


Detruction of American Vessels at Skenesborough.  Flight of the Americans toward Fort Anne.  Major Skene.
icans buried the body in the rear of the house, and, embarking on board a schooner in the
harbor, belonging to Skene, they sailed down the lake to join Allen at Shoreham.'
A garrison was stationed at Skenesborough in 1776, and there the vessels of the little fleet
which Arnold commanded in an action on the lake, below Crown Point, were constructed and
partially armed. The Americans strengthened the military works there, and made it quite a
strong post. This was the stipulated point for rendezvous of the army under St. Clair, on
its retreat from Ticonderoga in 1777.  I have already observed that those who escaped by
water were unsuspicious of pursuit, and that the flotilla was scarcely moored at Skenesborough before the frigates appeared and attacked the galleys.  Two of them were captured,
and the other three were blown up. Unsupported by the feeble garrison at Skenesborough
or by detachments from the army retreating by land,2 and conscious of the futility of contention with such a force as Burgoyne presented, the Americans abandoned their bateaux, set
fire to them, together with the fort, mills, block-houses, &c., and fled toward the camp of
General Schuyler at Fort Edward.8 At Fort Anne they were joined by a few other troops
sent forward with provisions and ammunition by General Schuyler, but it was a feeble reenforcement, for he had with him at Fort Edward only about seven hundred Continentals
and fifteen hundred militia. The supplies which he sent so reduced the ammunition and
stores of his garrison, that they were several days without lead, except a small quantity
which they received from Albany, and which was obtained by stripping the windows.
The troops borne by the flotilla under Burgoyne, and those that marched from Ticonderoga in pursuit of the Americans, conjoined at Skenesborough, where the British commander
resolved to make thorough preparations for pushing forward to the Hudson River. He was
informed by the people at Skenesborough that the Americans were retreating toward Fort
Edward.    Lieutenant-colonel Hill, of the ninth regiment, was sent forward on the
uly, 177. 7th to take post at Fort Anne and watch the movements of the republicans.  The
rest of the British army were encamped at Skenesborough and vicinity, where they remained
nearly three weeks, while detachments were repairing the roads and bridges, and constructing new ones on the way to Fort Anne.    Burgoyne and his staff were entertained at the
mansion of Major Skene, whose familiarity with the country and the people caused him to
be introduced into the military family of the commander.  He was considered a valuable
acquisition, but the result proved otherwise.  He advised the disastrous expedition to Bennington, and accompanied the enemy there.    He was personally known to many of the
Americans engaged in that affair, who made great efforts to capture him alive.  Four horses
were shot under him, but, mounting a fifth, he made his escape, although the poor animal
fell and expired from the effects of a shot, after carrying his rider beyond the reach of his
foes.  Skerie was with Burgoyne when his army surrendered at Saratoga.    He dared not
return honie under his parole, but went to England.  He ordered his house'to be burned, to
prevent its falling into the hands of the Americans.  His lands were confiscated and sold by
the state,4 and soon after the Revolution the name of Skenesborough was repudiated
by the people, and that of Whitehall substituted.  Hardly.,a vestige of the Revolution
See Reverend Lewis Kellogg's Historical Discourse, Whitehall, 1847.
2 At Castleton St. Clair was informed of the approach of Burgoyne by water, and, instead of marching
to Skenesborough, he struck off into the woods on the left, fearing that he might be intercepted by the enemy at Fort Anne.
3 General Mattoon, late of Amherst, Massachusetts, was a subaltern in the American convoy. According to his account, there were then only four houses at Skenesborough, besides those belonging to Skene.
While he was in one of them, occupied by a French family, and just in the act of partaking of some refreshments, a cannon-ball from the enemy's fleet entered, crushed the table, and scattered the victuals in all directions over the room.-Kellogg's Discourse, p. 6.
4 The place was very unhealthy at that time. The mortality from sickness among the troops stationed
there during the Revolution was fearful; and so bad was the reputation of Whitehall in this particular at
the close of the war, that, when the lands of Skene were offered for sale, no competitor appeared, and 29,000
acres were struck off at the first offer of ~14 10s. to an agent of the purchasers, John Williams, Joseph
Stringham, and John Murray.-Kellogg's Discourse, p. 14.
A remarkable case of longevity occurred near Whitehall. Henry Francisco, a native of England, died




O F THHE REVO OLUTI OON.


139


Whitehall in 1814.       Ride to Fort Anne Village.     Site of the Fort       Present Appearance of the Locality.


is now left there.  When another war was waged against us by the same enemy, in 181'2,)
this was again the theater of hostile preparations. The block-house within the old fort
was repaired, furnished with artillery, and garrisoned for the defense of-the place.  Intrenchments and a magazine were constructed on an island a few hundred yards north of the village, and barracks were erected on the brow of the hill west of Church Street, the remains
of which have but recently been demolished. The American fleet engaged in September 11,
the battle of Plattsburgh, with the vessels captured from the enemy in that en-   1814.
gagement, were anchored in the harbor at Whitehall soon after that event; and the remains
of some of the vessels of both nations may now be seen decaying together in the lake, a short
distance from the harbor.
After breakfast, on the morning of our arrival at Whitehall, I rode to Fort Anne August 3,
Village, eleven miles south, accompanied by the editor of the ( Democrat,"' whose  1848.
kind attentions and free communications of valuable knowledge concerning historical localities in the vicinity contributed much to the pleasure and instruction of the journey thither.
It is a pleasant little village, situated upon a gently undulating plain near the junction of
Wood Creek and East Creek, and exhibited a charming picture of quiet and prosperity.
There I found a venerable kinsman, nearly eighty years of age, who, in the vigor of manhood,
fifty years ago, purchased an extensive tract of land in this then almost unbroken wilderness.a
His dwelling, store-house, and barns occupy the site of Fort Anne, the only traces of which
II
SITE OF FOBT ANNE.3
are the stumps of the strong pine pickets with which it was stockaded. It was built by the
English, under General Nicholson, in 1757, two years after the construction of Fort Edward.   It was a small fortress, and was never the scene of any fierce hostility.  Although
ninety years had elapsed since its pickets were set in the ground, what remained of them
near there in November, 1820, aged one hundred and thirty-four years. He was present at the coronation of Queen Anne, March 8th, 1702. He served in the French wars and in the Revolution, and lived
in this country nearly ninety years.
D. S. Murray, Esq.
2 William A. Moore, Esq., president of the Whitehall Bank.
3 This view is from the bridge which crosses Wood Creek, looking south. The distant building on the
right is the dwelling of Mr. Moore. Nearer is his store-house, and on the left are his out-houses. The
stumps of the pickets may be traced in a circular line from his dwelling along the road to the crook in the
fence, and so on to the barns and in their yards.




140            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


PUtnam and Rogers near Fort Anne.  Ambush of French and Indians.  Desperate Battle.  Perilous Situation of Putnam.
exhibited but slight tokens of decay, and the odor of turpentine was almost as strong and
fresh when one was split as if it had been planted but a year ago.
august,   About a mile northwest of Fort Anne is the place where a severe battle was
1758.  fought between a corps of five hundred Rangers, English and provincials, under Putaam and Rogers, and about the same number of French and Indians, under the famous partisan Molang. Putnam and Rogers were sent by Abercrombie to watch the enemy in the
neighborhood of Ticonderoga. When they arrived at South Bay, an expansion of Lake
Champlain near Whitehall, the two leaders separated, taking with them their respective
divisions, but, being discovered by the watchful Molang, they deemed it expedient to reunite
and return immediately to Fort Edward.    Their troops were marched in three divisions,
the right commanded by Rogers, the left by Putnam, and the center by Captain Dalzell
(sometimes written D'Ell). They halted at evening on the border of Clear River, a fork
of Wood Creek before its junction with East Creek, and within a mile of Fort Anne. Early
in the morning, while the lines were forming, Major Rogers, regardless of the teachings of
the Ranger's great virtue, precaution, amused himself by firing at a target with a British
officer.  The sound reached the vigilant ears of Molang and his Indian allies, who, unknown
to the Americans, were then encamped within a mile of them. He had been searching for
the Rangers to intercept them, and the firing was a sure guide. His men were posted in ambush along the paths which he knew they must take, and as the Americans, just at sunrise,
emerged from a dense thicket into the open woods, Molang and his followers fell upon them
with great fury.  Rogers seemed to be appalled by the fierce onslaught and fell back, but Put---    -     nam and Dalzell sustained their position
and returned the fire.  The conflict beI-SAEPTNA                          came desperate.  At length Putnam's fu_rom osee missed fire when the muzzle was within..... a few inches of the breast pf a giant savage,
i             -      who thrust it aside and fell upon the major
with the fierceness of a panther, made him
prisoner, bound him firmly to a tree, and
then returned to the battle. Captain Dalzell now assumed the command.     The
provincials fell back a little, but, rallying,
the fight continued with great vigor.  The
tree to which Putnam   was bound was
about midway between the combatants,
and he stood in the center of the hottest
fire of both, utterly unable to move body
-   Por limb, so firmly had the savage secured
him.  His garments were riddled by bullets, but not one touched his person.  For
an hour he remained in this horrible position, until the enemy were obliged to retreat, when he was unbound and carried
off by his savage captors.1
Wounded, exhausted, and dispirited,
MATRoz I8sL PUTNAM IN BRITISH UNIFORM.  Putnam  was forced to make a weary
From an old picture in the posession of a gentleman in New London, Connecticut march over a rough country, led on by
At one time, when the provincials fell back, and the Indians were near him, a young warrior amused
himself by trying his skill in throwing his tomahawk as near Putnam's head as possible without hitting
him. When he was tired of his amusement, a French subaltern, more savage than the Indian, leveled his
musket at Putnam's breast, but it missed fire. The major claimed the consideration due to a prisoner of
war, but the barbarous Frenchman was unmoved, and, after striking him a violent blow upon his cheek
with the butt end of his musket, left him to die, as he thought.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


141...


Humanity of Putnam's Captor.  Preparation for Torture.  Interposition of Molang.  Battle-ground near Fort Anne.
the savages, who had tied cords so tightly around his wrists that his hands were swolleh
and dreadfully tortured.  He begged for release either from the pain or from life.  A French
officer interposed and unbound the cords; and just then his captor came up, and, with a sort
of savage humanity, supplied him with moccasins, and expressed great indignation because
of the harsh treatment his prisoner had endured.  I say savage humanity, for it was present kindness, exercised while a dark and atrocious intention for the future made the Indian
complaisant-the prisoner was reserved for the stake, and all those exquisite tortures with
which savage cruelty imbitters the death of its victims.  Deep in the forest he was stripped
naked, and with green withes was bound fast to a sapling. The wood was piled high around
him, and the wild death-songs of the savages, mingled with fierce yells, were chanted. The
torch was applied, and the crackling flame began to curl around the fagots, when a black
cloud, that for an hour had been rising in the west, poured down such a volume of water
that the flames were nearly extinguished.  But they burst forth again in fiercer intensity,
and Putnam lost all hope of escape, when a French officer dashed through the crowd of
savages, scattered the burning wood, and cut the cords of the victim. It was Molang himself. Some relenting savage had told him of the horrid orgies in the forest, and he flew to
the rescue of Putnam, just in time to save him. After enduring much suffering, he was
delivered to Montcalm at Ticonderoga, and by him sent to Montreal, where he experienced
great kindness from Colonel Peter Schuyler, a fellow-prisoner, through whose influence he
was exchanged for a prisoner taken by Colonel Bradstreet at Fort Frontenac.1
About three fourths of a mile north of Fort Anne is a narrow, rocky defile, through which
Wood Creek and the Champlain Canal flow and the rail-road is laid.  Art has widened the
defile by excavation, and cultivation has swept away much of the primitive forest. Here
in this rocky gorge, then just wide enough for the stream and a narrow pathway, a severe
BATTLE-GROUND NEAR FORT ANN.9...
engagement occurred between the ninth British regiment, under Lieutenant-colonel Hill,
and a detachment of Americans, under Colonel Long.   This officer, with about five  Julys,
hundred republicans, principally of the invalids and convalescents of the army, was  77.posted at Fort Anne by General Schuyler, with directions to defend it.  Warned of the
approach of the enemy, Colonel Long prepared not only for defense, but to go out and meet
him. The Americans fit for duty were mustered, and early in the morning they marched
up to the southern edge of the defile.  "At half past ten in the morning," said Major
1 See Humphrey's and Peabody's Biographies of Putnam.
2 This sketch was taken from the rail-road, looking north. The forest upon the left is the "thick wood"
of the Revolution, but on the right cultivated fields have taken the place of the forest to a considerable extent. On the right is seen the Champlain Canal, here occupying the bed of Wood Cieek. The fence on
the left indicates the place of the public road between Fort Anne and Whitehall. When this sketch was
made (1848) the rail-road was unfinished.




142             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Batte near Fort Anne.    Return to Whitehall     Visit to "Putnam's Rock."  View of the Scene.
Forbes in his testimony on the trial of Burgoyne,,( they attacked us in front with a heavy
and well-directed fire; a large body of them passed the creek on the left, and fired from a
thick wood across the creek on the left flank of the regiment; they then began to recross
the creek and attack us in the rear; we then found it necessary to change our ground, to
prevent the regiment being surrounded; we took post on a high hill to our right.  As soon
as we had taken post, the enemy made a very vigorous attack, which continued upward of
two hours; and they certainly would have forced us, had it not been for some Indians that
arrived and gave the Indian hoop, which we answered with three cheers; the rebels soon
after that gave way."'   The major's facts are correct, but his inferences are wide of the
mark.   The Americans were not frightened by the Indian war-hoop, for it was a sound
very familiar to their ears, but they "( gave way" because their ammunition gave out. Had
Colonel Long been well supplied with powder and ball, the British troops would have been
destroyed or made prisoners. Captain Montgomery, of Hill's regiment, was severely wounded and captured by the Americans, who, when they gave way, set fire to Fort Anne and
retreated to the headquarters of General Schuyler at Fort Edward.
We returned to Whitehall toward evening. The ride was delightful through a country
ever-changing and picturesque, particularly when approaching the lake.
On the left rise the lofty summits of
the hills on Lake George; on the
-- east those of Vermont and Massa-                                 chusetts; and down the lake, north- --- —:  _~                               ward, Mount Defiance may be plainly
o                              oseen.  After an early evening meal,
_                                   aI procured a water-man and his boat,
and, accorhpanied by my traveling.                 a       f.          companion and Mr. M., proceeded to
" aPut's Rock," near " the Elbow," a
mile from the landing, and near the
o  -                      entrance of South Bay.2    The lake is
here very narrow, and the shores on either
s                               side are abrupt, rocky, and wooded.   It was
about sunset when we arrived at the scene of
Putnam's exploit, and the deep shadows that gathered upon
-                          the western shore, where the famous ledge is situated, heightened the picturesque character of the scenery and the force
of the historical associations which lionize the spot.        Upon
the rough ledge of rocks seen on the right of the picture Major Putnam   and fifty men boldly opened a musket battery
upon about five hundred French and Indian warriors under the
famous Molang, who were.in canoes upon the water.2     This
VIEW AT PUTNAM'S ROCE.
event occurred a few days previous to the unfortunate battle
' Burgoyne's State of the Expedition, &c., p. 81.
s Here I will correct a serious geographical error which I find in Peabody's Life of Putnam. He says,
" Abercrombie ordered Major Putnam to proceed with fifty men to South Bay, in Lake George."  Again,
" The detachment marched to Wood Creek, near the point where it flows into South Bay."  South Bay
is in Lake Champlain, and Wood Creek does not flow into it at all. See note respecting Wood Creek,
ante, page 137.
3 The view is taken-from the Vermont shore, where rafts of timber and piles of lumber (as seen on the
left) betoken the chief article of commerce here. The ledge of rocks, which rises about fourteen feet in
height, is on the New York side. From the perpendicular point, rugged and broken, there is a gentle slope
'thidlkly civered with timber and shrubbery, and affording an excellent place for an ambuscade. The small
triees; i'/the distance mark the polni at the Elbow, and the hill beyond is a portion of Skene's Mountain,
which overlooks the harbor at Whitehall.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                 143
Putnam and Rogers on Lake Champlain.  Attack of the former on the French and Indians.  The Saratoga and Confianoe
near Fort Anne, where Putnam was taken prisoner.  Major Rogers, who was also sent by
Abercrombie to watch the movements of the. enemy, had taken a station twelve miles distant, and Putnam and his fifty rangers composed the whole force at this point.  Near the
front of the ledge he constructed a parapet of stone, and placed young pine trees before it in
such a natural manner that they seemed to have grown there, and completely hid the defense from observers on the water below.  Fifteen of his men, disabled by sickness, were
sent back to the camp at Fort Edward, and with his thirty-five he resolved to attack whatever force might appear upon the lake. Four days he anxiously awaited the appearance of
the enemy, when early one evening he was gratified by the intelligence that a large fleet of
canoes, filled with warriors, was leisurely approaching from South Bay. It was the time
of full moon, the sky was unclouded, and from his hiding-place every movement of the Indians could be distinctly seen. Putnam called in all his sentinels, and in silence every man
was stationed where his fire might be most effective.  Not a musket was to be moved until
orders were given by the commander. The advanced canoes had passed the parapet, when
one of the soldiers hit his firelock against a stone.  The sound was caught by the watchful
ears of Molang and his followers. The canoes in the van halted, and the whole fleet was
crowded in confusion and alarm directly beneath the ledge.  A brief, consultation ensued,
and then they turned their prows back toward South Bay.  As they wheeled the voice of
Putnam shouted "( Fire," and with sure aim each bullet reached a victim.  The enemy returned the fire, but without effect, and for a time the carnftge produced by the Rangers was
dreadful in that dense mass upon the waters.  Molang soon perceived by the firing that his
assailants were few, and detached a portion of his men to land below and attack the provincials in the rear.  Putnam had perceived this movement, and sent a party of twelve men,
under Lieutenant Durkee, who easily repulsed them when they attempted to land.  About
daybreak he learned that the enemy had actually debarked at a point below, and was marching to surround him.  This fact, and the failure of his ammunition, warned him to retreat.
Nearly half the number of the enemy perished on that fatal night; while. Putnam lost but
two men, who were wounded.'    While retreating through the thick forest, an unexpected
enemy fired upon them, but wounded only one man.  Putnam inst&ntly ordered his men to
charge, when his voice was recognized by the other leader, who cried out, "Hold, we are
friends!"  "Friends or foes," shouted Putnam, " you deserve to perish for'doing. so little execution with so fair a shot."  The party proved to be a detachment sent to cover their retreat.
It was late in the evening twilight before I finished my sketch, but our obliging waterman would not consent to row us back until we should go to his house near by and see his
"pullet and chickens"-his wife and children.  His dwelling was at the foot of the steep
Vermont shore, completely hemmed in by rocks and water, but embowered in shrubbery.
His children brought us fruit, and we were refreshed by draughts of water from a mountain
spring close by, of icy coldness.  The moon was shining brightly when we passed the Elbow
on our return, and by its pale light we could see the ribs and other decaying timber of the
British ship of war Confiance and the American ship Saratoga. The former was sunk there
in 1814, and the latter, which was afterward used as a store-ship, was scuttled by some
miscreants while her officers and crew were at the village participating in a Fourth of July
celebration.  It was about nine in the evening when we reached the hotel.  There I met
that distinguished and venerable divine, Rev. Mr. Pierce, of Brookline, Massachusetts, and
was charmed and edified by his conversation for more than an hour.'  His memory was
These men, one a provincial, the other an Indian, were placed under an escort of two others, and sent
toward the camp. They were pursued and overtaken by the Indians. The wounded men told the escort
to leave them to their fate, which they did. When the savages came up, the provincial, knowing that he
would be put to death, fired and killed three. He was instantly tomahawked. The Indian was kept a
prisoner, and from him Putnam learned the above facts when they met some time afterward in Canada.
2 Mr. Pierce was seventy-five years old. He distinctly remembered Washington's visit to Boston in 1789.
The cavalcade halted near the entrance to the city, and Washington was obliged to sit on horseback two
hours, while the state authorities and the selectmen decided a point of etiquette-whose province it was to




144


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Departure from Whitehall.  Sholes's Landing.  Ride to the Battle-ground of Hubbardton.  Picturesque Scenery.
richly stored with historic learning, and our intercourse was to me a pleasant and profitable
appendix to the events and studies of the day.
Early the next morning we left Whitehall on the steamer Saranac, and landed at Chipman's Point, or Sholes's Landing, the port of Orwell, and the most eligible point whence to
reach the battle-ground of Hubbardton. The morning was delightful, and the ride in a light
wagon, accompanied by the intelligent son of Mr. Sholes, proved to be one of peculiar pleasure.  Our route was through the pleasant little village of Orwell,. five miles southeast of
the landing. There we turned southward, and followed the margin of the broad ravine or
valley through which the retreating Americans and pursuing British passed when St. Clair
evacuated Ticonderoga.    The road was made very tortuous to avoid the high ridges and
deep valleys which intersect in all directions, while at the same time it gradually ascends
for several miles.  I never passed through a more picturesque country.    The slopes and
valleys were smiling with cultivation, and in every direction small lakes were sparkling in
the noonday sun. Within about six miles of the battle-ground we descended into a romantic valley imbosomed in a spur of the Green Mountains. We passed several small lakes,
lying one below another, over which arose rough and lofty precipices, their summits crowned
with cedar, hemlock, pine, and spruce.  The tall trunks of the pines, black and branchless,
scathed by lightning and the tempest, arose above the surrounding forests like mighty sentinels, and added much to the wild grandeur of the scene. From the rough and narrow valley we ascended to a high, rolling table-land, well cultivated; and upon the highest part of
July 7, this tract, surrounded on the south and east by loftier hills, the battle of Hubbardton
1777.  occurred.
General Fraser, whom I have already mentioned as having started after the Americans
from Ticonderoga, continued his pursuit of St. Clair and his army through the day,
and, learning from some Tory scouts that they were not far in advance, he ordered
his men to lie that night upon their arms, to be ready to push forward at daybreak. About
three in the morning his troops were put in motion, and about five o'clock his advanced
scouts discovered the American sentries, who discharged their pieces and retreated to the
main body of the detachment, which was left behind by St. Clair, under the command of
Colonels Warner and Francis. Their place of encampment was in the southeast part of
Hubbardton, Rutland county, near the PittSford line, upon the farm of John Selleck,' not
far from the place where the Baptist meeting-house now stands.   The land is now owned
by a son of Captain Barber, who was in the engagement.     He kindly accompanied me to
the spot, and pointed out the localities, according to the instructions of his patriotic father.
The engraving on the opposite page represents the general view of the place of encampment
and the battle-ground.  When the British advanced guard discovered the Americans, they
were breakfasting near a dwelling which stood close by the Baptist meeting-house, the twostory building seen in the center of the picture.  The dark spot near the fence, seen between
the larger trees in the foreground (I in the map of the battle), marks the remains of the cellar of the old house.  The road on the right is that leading toward Ticonderoga; and the
roofs of the houses, seen over the orchard on the right, mark the direction of the road leadreceive him. The selectmen carried the day. He explained to me the nature of the apparent error in the
registration of the birth and christening of Dr. Franklin. The entries of both events are upon the same
day, Sunday, 17th of January, 1706. An old man, who remembered the circumstance well, for it caused
some gossip at the time, told him that Dr. Franklin's mother went to church and received the communion
in the morning, gave birth to her son at noon, and in the afternoon the child was christened.
1 The first settlement in this town was in the spring of 1774, and consisted of only two families. In
1775 seven other families joined them, among whom was Mr. Selleck, and these nine constituted the whole
population of the town when the battle occurred. On the day previous a party of Indians and Tories, under Captain Sherwood, came upon the inhabitants and made prisoners of two farmers named Hickock, and
their families, and two young men named Keeler and Kellogg. They captured two or three others, and
carried them all off to Ticonderoga, leaving their families to shift for themselves. The sorrowing wives
and children made a toilsome journey over the mountains to Connecticut, whence they had emigrated.
The men remained prisoners at Ticonderoga (except two who escaped) until after the surrender of Burgoyne in October, when that fortress was retaken by the Americans.-See Thompson's Gazetteer of Vermont.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


View of the Battle-ground.  The Battle.  Retreat.and Surrender of Colonel Hale.  His reasonable Excua,.
ing down to the valley toward Castleton.  The large boulder in front is famed by loal.tra-:=' = ---                   7 -L=
-   dition as the observatory of the first man of the J3ritish
van who discovered the Americans; and it is related
that he was shot by a sentinel before he could leap
down.   The range of hills in the distance are the Pitts-                   5,   ford Mountains, over which a portion of the Americans:e fled toward Rutland.       A small branch of a tributary,
of Castleton Creek runs through the intervale between
THE BTTLe OUND  OF HBB.  the meeting-house and the hills beyond.  The hottest
THE BATTLE-GROUND OF HUBBARDTON.
of the fight occurred upon the slope between the large
tree and the meeting-house. It was covered with ripe grain when I visited it, and -Augti
the achievements of the tiller gathering his sheaves seemed more truly great than all 1848.
the honors and renown which wholesale slaughter ever procured fbr a warrior chieftain.
It was an excessively hot morning in July when the battle of Hubbardton corm-  uly 7,
menced.   The American force consisted of the three regiments of Warner, Francis,  1777;
and Hale, and such stragglers from the main army then at Castleton (six miles in advance)
as had been picked up on the way.  The Americans were about thirteen hundred strong,
and the British, under Fraser, about eight hundred.  Reidesel and his Germans were still
in the rear, but, expecting his arrival every moment, Fraser began the attack at seven in
the morning, fearing that the Americans might escape if he delayed.  The charge of the
enemy was well received, and the battle raged furiouslyc, Had Warner been well sustained
by the militia regiment under Colonel Hale, he might have secured a victory; but that
officer, with his troops, fled toward Castleton, hoping to join the main army there under St,
Clair, leaving the commander with only seven hundred men to oppose the enemy. On the
way, Hale and his men fell in with an inconsiderable party of British soldiers, to whom they
surrendered, without offering any resistance, although the numbers were about equal.' They
Colonel Hale has been severely censured for this act of apparent cowardice, but when every circum,
stance is taken into account, there is much to induce a mitigation of blame. Himself and a largo portion
of his men were in feeble health, and quite unfit for active service, and his mover/ent was om of p1crtau
tion rather than of cowardly alarm. Rivals, soon after he surrendered, circulated reports unfavormb   to -his
reputation. On hearing of them, he wrote to General Washington, asking him to obtain his exchange, that
he might vindicate his character by a court-martial; but before this could be accomplished he died, while
a prisoner on Long Island, in September, 1780.
K




146                                 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Battle of Hubbardton.                       Defeat of the Americans.                      Death of Colonel Francis.


were well stationed upon the brow of the hill, but so sudden and unexpected was the attack,
that no other breast-works could                                                  ed, his
be thrown up than such as a few  I/r                                              drums
trees afforded.  For a                                                           b/_ (~  eating
long time the conflict X/:.                                                     and banwas severe, for Reide-                          -                           nersflying.
sel still did not make his  <                          -. The firing
appearance.  The British                  -      x *    l                    reaching his
grenadiers occupied  the..                       'k      e ars, he had
Castleton road, and pre-   '     -     S                               // pre   d on as
vented  the Americans        'n                                           rapidly as the
from retreating in that                                                  rough forest road
direction; but the re-                                                 would allow. His
publicans poured in                             F O   -               Chasseurs,   under
such a galling fire                                                 Major Barner, were
upon them, that                                                    immediately   brought
and victory was                          -l Fraser's left flank.                      At
almost within /br             F                              that moment     the   whole
the grasp of /n.British line made a bayonet
the patriots.                   _... /  charge upon the Americans with
At that mo-         w                                 terrible effect.  The latter, supposment Rei-                                      ing that the Germans in full force were
desel with of W       bt   ei/      'd coming upon them, broke and fled with great
his com-                               precipitation, some over the Pittsford Mountains
panions f        ew toward Rutland, and others down the valley toward Castleton.'
appear-         The Americans lost three hundred and twenty-four in killed, wounded, and
prisoners.  The brave Colonel Francis was slain while gallantly fighting at the head of his
regiment, and twelve offiers were made prisoners.  The British loss was one hundred and
eighty-three, among whom were Major Pratt and about twenty inferior officers.2 The
British also captured about two hundred stand of arms.
When General St. Clair heard the firing at Hubbardton, he attempted to send a force to
the relief of Warner, but the militia abs9lutely refused to go, and the regulars and others
were. too far on their way to Fort Edward to be recalled.  St. Clair had just learned, too,
that Burgoyne was at Skenesborough, and he hastened forward to join General Schuyler,
which he did on the 12th, with his troops worn down by fatigue and lack of prouy,  i. visions.   The loss to the Americans by the evacuation of these posts on the lake
was one hundred and twenty-eight pieces of cannon and a considerable quantity of ammuEXPLANATION OF THE MAP.-A, advanced corps of General Fraser, attacked at B; C, position of the
corps while it was forming; D, Earl of Balcarras detached to cover the right wing; E, the van-guard
and Brunswick company of Chasseurs. coming up with General Reidesel; F, position of the Americans
after Reidesel arrived. The lines extending downward show the course of the retreat of the Americans
over the Pittsford Mountains. H, position of the British after the action; I, house where the wounded
were carried, mentioned in the description of the picture on page 144; 0, position of the Americans previous to the action. This map is a reduced copy of one drawn by P. Gerlach, Burgoyne's deputy quartermaster general.
Many of the Americans, in their precipitate retreat, threw away their muskets to rid themselves of
the encumbrance. Some have been found, within a few years, in the woods on the line of the retreat.
One of them, of American manufacture, is in my possession, and dated 1774. The bayonet is fixed, the
flint is in the lock, and the powder and ball are still in the barrel.
8 The statements concerning the loss in this battle are various and contradictory. Some accounts say
that hearly six hundred, who were wounded, crawled off into the woods and died; and others, again, put
the American loss down at less than three hundred. There is a preponderance of testimony in favor of
the number I have given, and it is, doubtless, near the truth.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


147


T-i
General Schuyler's Forces at Fort Edward.  Return to Lake Champlain.  An old Soldier.  Mount Independence.
nition and stores.  In every respect the event was disastrous, and, as we have seen, produced much discontent in the army and disappointment throughout the country.
General Schuyler summoned the fragments of the broken armies to his camp at Fort Ed4
ward. All united, numbered only four thousand four hundred men, and, this was the whole
effective force opposed to the southward progress of Burgoyne.  Nearly one half of these deserted, not to the enemy, but to their homes, before the end of the month. Yet the general
neither despaired nor remained idle.  He kept his men busily engaged in destroying bridges,
felling trees, digging deep trenches, and making other obstructions in the forest paths from
Fort Anne to Fort Edward, to delay the progress of the'enemy; and this labor resulted in
greatly impeding Burgoyne's march, and in delaying his arrival upon the Hudson. The
subsequent events connected with these two armies, excepting the battle of Bennington and
the expedition of St. Leger, have already been noticed in detail. The latter will be considered in their proper order.
I lingered upon the battle-ground in Hubbardton as long as time would allow, for the
view from that lofty table-land is both beautiful and grand, particularly in, the direction of
Castleton, on the southwest.  A broad valley, bounded on either side by ranges of high hills,
cultivated to their summits, and diversified by rich intervales covered with ripe harvests and
dark green corn, spread out below us, a lovely picture of peace and prosperity.  The view
at its further extremity is bounded by the high hills near the Hudson, and on the left some
of the higher summits were dark with spruce and cedar trees.  We returned to Sholes's by the
way of Hyde's, in Sudbury, where we dined. As usual, every delicacy of the season was upon
his table.  Indeed, " a table equal to Hyde's" has become a proverbial expression of praise
among tourists, for it is his justifiable boast that he spreads the choicest repasts that are
given between Montreal and New Orleans. His beautifully embowered mansion is near
the base of the Green Mountains, by the margin of a charming lake, on the borders of a
rich valley, about twelve miles east of Lake Champlain, and a more delightful summer
retreat can not well be imagined.  Our route thither was over a rough mountain road.
Among the rugged hills we met a venerable, white-haired man leaning upon two canes, and
greatly bowed by the weight of years.  I accosted him; with reverence, and, in answer to
my inquiry whether he was a soldier of the Revolution, he informed me that he was with
General Sullivan on Rhode Island, and was on duty in the fort on Butt's Hill at the time
of the engagement there on the 29th of August, 1778, known as the battle of Quaker Hill.
We arrived at Sholes's between five and six o'clock in the evening.  Our excellent host
and his neighbor and friend, living at the foot of Mount Independence, anticipating my
wishes, had a skiff in readiness to convey us across the bay to visit that memorable spot.
Although I had ridden forty miles during the day, and storm-clouds had been gathering
thick and fast for two hours, and now threatened a speedy down-pouring, I was too anxious
for the visit to allow fatigue or rain to thwart my purpose. Accompanied by my companion
and another young lady, the daughter of Mr. S., we pushed across the bay-five of us in a
light skiff, and the wind rising-to the foot of Mount Independence, on its steep southern side.
We ascended by the old road constructed in 1776.  The top of the summit is flat tableland, and afforded a very eligible site fo strong military works.  It was first occupied by
the Americans early in 1776, when they commenced the erection of batteries, barracks, and
houses, with the view of making it a place of general rendezvous, and a recruiting station
for the army of the north.1  It was heavily timbered when they took possession of it, but
almost all the trees were felled for building purposes and for fuel. A second growth of tim1 Mount Independence is situated in the southwest corner of Orwell, in Vermont, one mile north of Sholes's
Landing, and contains about two hundred and fifty acres of land, some of which is arable. The troops stationed there in 1776 received the news of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, by the Continental Congress, with the most extravagant demonstrations of joy. It was just after the reveille, on the
morning of the 18th of July, that a courier arrived with the glad tidings; and, by a general order, a gala
day for the soldiers ensued. At sunset they fired a salute of thirteen guns, in honor of the confederation,
and named the place on which they were encamped Mount Independence, in commemoration of the event.




148                                   PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Piesent Appearance of Mount Independence.             Graves of Soldiers.          Vandalism.            Money-digging.


ber now covers it, except where the parades were. The trees are chiefly maple, some of them
twenty inches in diameter.  There are about two hundred of them on the mount, large
enough for the extraction of sap for sugar.  The young shoots never sprang up where the
old parades were, and they present bald spots, bearing only stinted vegetation.
During the summer and autumn of 1776 the Americans were diligent in fortifying this
spot. They erected a picketed fort and several batteries, dug many wells, and constructed
nearly three hundred houses for the use of the soldiers.  The remains of these are scattered
in all directions upon the mount; and the foundation walls of the hospital, just commenced
when the evacuation in 1777 took place, are now nearly as perfect as when first laid.  Narrow ditches, indicating the line of pickets on the north part of the mount, and running in
various directions and at every angle, are distinctly seen; and the remains of the " horseshoe battery," on the extreme north end, are very prominent. Near this battery is a flint
quarry, which seems to have been well known and used by the Indians, for arrow-heads in
every stage of manufacture, from the almost unshapei flint to the perfect weapon, are found
there, I was told, in abundance. Toward the close of 1776 a fatal epidemic prevailed in
the garrison there, called the ", camp distemper," and the graves of the victims are thickly
strewn among the trees. At one time the deaths were so numerous that it was found impossible to dig a grave for each, and the spot was shown to me where fourteen bodies were
deposited in a single broad grave, about daylight one morning.  Among the hundreds of
these mounds of the dead, scattered over the mount, there was only one individualized by an
inscribed stone. The rude monument is a rough limestone,
and the inscription, " M. Richardson Stoddard," appeared as,iv cR -Dinss)    if carved with the point of a bayonet.  The tenant was probhSi sTOcDAsn          ably an officer of militia from a town formerly named Stod-!!         dard, in Vermont.  Already some Vandal visitor had broken;   off a " relic" from its diminutive bulk, and ere this some patriotic antiquary has doubtless slipped the whole stone into his
pocket, and secured a legacy of rare value for his wondering children! A propensity to appropriate to private use a fragment of public monuments, and a pitiful ambition, allied in
kind to that of the Ephesian incendiary, to associate one's name by pencil or penknife inscription with places of public resort, have already greatly marred and disfigured a large proportion of our few monuments, and can not be too severely condemned. Charity, that "( covereth the multitude of sins," has not a mantle broad enough to hide this iniquity, for none
but heartless knaves or brainless fools would thus deface even the meanest grave-stone in a
church-yard.  Wolfe's monument on the Plains of Abraham, and the monuments at Red
Bank and Paoli, bear mournful testimony of this barbarism which is abroad.
At various times Mount Independence, as well as Crown Point and other localities in the
neighborhood of Lake Champlain, has been scarred by money-diggers.  In 1815 a company
came hither from Northern Vermont, to search for military treasures which wise seers and
the divining rod declared were buried there.  The chief of the party, entertaining misgivings on his arrival as to the success of money-digging, purchased land in the neighborhood,
and while his more credulous companions were diging deep into the mount, he was plowing
deep into his land.  He raised grain and esculent roots-they raised gravel and worthless
clay. When their patience and money were exhausted, they shouldered their picks and departed for Western New York. He remained, became a thrifty farmer, and, by the unerring divining rod of industry, found the treasure.  Credulous people still dig at these localities, and several pits were pointed out to me which had been recently excavated.'
Three or four years ago the white wife of a negro dreamed three times-the cabalistic number-that
at a certain place on Mount Independence immense treasures were buried when the Americans evacuated
that post. They were, doubtless, the identical silver balls which calumny asserted Burgoyne fired into St.
Clair's camp as the price of treason. The negro procured aid, and a pure white dog to watch them while
digging. A moonlight night was the chosen time. The secret leaked into the ears of some boys, and set
their mischievous wits at work. A large pumpkin was emptied of its seeds, and staring eyes, wide nos.




OF TsHE REVOLU:TION.


149


Return to Sholes's.            Darkness on the Lake.            View from Sholes's Landing.
Darkness came on, and the rain pattered upon the leaves before we descended to the
shore; and by the time we were fairly out upon the lake our destined haven was invisible.
The wind was fresh and the waters rough. One of the ladies guided the helm, but her
bright eyes could not discern the distant shore, and her nautical skill was unavailing, The
son of Mr. S., anticipating such a dilemma, discharged a small swivel at the landing, and by
its beacon flash we were safely guided until we came within the rays of the candles at the
house. Wet and weary, we supped and retired early, to resume our journey in the morning.


VIEW FROM SHOLES'S LANDING.1
trils, and grinning teeth were cut out of the rind, and a lighted candle was placed within the sphere. This
hideous head, with its fiery eyes and nostrils, was placed on the caput of a bold boy, who marched up to
the pit where the money-diggers were at work. The dog first discovered the grinning specter, and, with
a loud yell, leaped from the cavity and ran for life. The men followed, leaving pick, spade, hat, and coat
behind, quite sure that the " gentleman in black" was close upon their heels; and they have ever since believed that he guards the treasures, and sometimes takes an evening stroll on Mount Independence.
lThis is a view from Chipman's Point, or Sholes's Landing, looking north. The high ridge on the right,
in the distance, is Mount Independence. The higher and more distant hill on the left, over the cedar, is
Mount Defiance, and the elevation beyond is Mount Hope. Fort Ticonderoga is on the other side of Mount
Independence, in a line with the highest part.




t'60


PICTORIAL IA L FIELD-BOOKf)  O


Chimney Point.         First Settlement by the French.     Fort St Frederic.       Distant View of Crown Point


CHAPTER VII.
"The green earth sends its incense up from every mountain shrine,
From every flower and dewy cup that greeted the sunshine.
The mists are lifted from the rills like the white wing of prayer;
They lean above the ancient hills, as doing homage there.
The forest-tops are lowly cast o'er breezy hill and glen,
As if a prayerful spirit pass'd on nature as on men."
WHITTIER..    LIGHT mist was upon the water when we departed from Sholes's, but
a gentle breeze swept it off to the hills as we turned the point of Mount
"?f'* '     Independence and entered the broader expanse near Ticonderoga.    We
P:   l-      \   caught a last glimpse of the gray ruins as our boat sped by, and before
nine o'clock we landed at Chimney Point, opposite Crown Point, where
the lake is only half a mile wide.'             Here the French established their
first settlement on Lake Champlain, in 1731, and commenced the cultin                vation of the grains of the country.  They erected a stone wind-mill in
the neighborhood, which was garrisoned and used as a fort during the
wars with the English colonies.   When Professor Kalm, the Swedish
naturalist and traveler, during his botanical tour through New York and
Canada in 1749, visited this settlement, five or six cannons were mounted in the mill. The
place was then called Wind-mill Point.2
The same year in which the French settled at Chimney Point, they built a strong fort
upon the shore opposite, and                                   church within the ramparts,
called it Fort St. Frederic,              -       -            and every thing betokened
in honor of Frederic Mau-                                      a smiling future for a haprepas, the then Secretary of                                   py and prosperous colony.
State. It was a starwork, in                                   But the rude clangor of war
the form of a pentagon, with          a                        disturbed their repose a few
bastions at the angles, and --   -   -  -            i   f     years afterward; the thunsurrounded by a ditch walled    i3                             der of British artillery frightin with stone.  Kalm says                                      ened them away, and they
there was a considerable set-                                 retired to the north end of
tlement around the fort, and                              '    the lake.  For many years
pleasant, cultivated gardens        Ithe chimneys of their desertadorned the rude dwellings.                                    ed dwellings on the eastern
There was a     neat little        CHNE POINT Lshore were standing, and
gave the name of Chimney Point to the bold promontory.
1 Chimney Point is in the southwestern corner of Addison town, Vermont, and is the proper landing-place
for those who desire to visit the ruins of Crown Point fortress, on the opposite side of the lake.
s From Kalm's account it appears probable that the wind-mill was upon the shore opposite, at the point
where now may be seen the ruins of what is called the Grenadiers' Battery. He says it was " within one
or two musket-shots of Fort St. Frederic," a fortification immediately on the shore opposite Chimney Point.
3 This view is taken from the green in front of the inn at Chimney Point, looking west-southwest. The
first land seen across the lake is Crown Point, with the remaining barracks and other works of the fortress,
and the dwellings and outhouses of Mr. Baker, a resident farmer. Beyond the point is Bulwaggy Bay, a
broad, deep estuary much wider than the lake at Chimney Point. Beyond the bay, and rising from its
western shore, is Bulwaggy Mountain, varying in perpendicular height from four to nine hundred feet, and
distant from the fort between one and two miles. A little to the right of the larger tree on the shore is the




OF THE REVOLUTION.


151


Visit to Crown Point.             Description of the Fortress.         Its present Appearanqe,
Anxious to leave in the evening boat for Burlington, we sent our light baggage to the inn,
and immediately crossed over to Crown Point on a horse-boat, the only ferry vessel there,
Mr. Baker, an aged resident and farmer upon the point, kindly guided us over the remains
of the military works in the vicinity, where we passed between three and four hours.. We
first visited old Fort St. Frederic, the senior fortress in chronological order.  It is upon the
steep bank of the lake, and the remains of its bomb-proof covered way, oven, and magazine
can still be traced; the form of its ramparts is indicated by a broken line of mounds.
The average width of the peninsula of Crown Point is one mile, and the principal works
are upon its highest part, near the northern end.. The peninsula is made up of dark limestone, covered quite slightly with earth.  This physical characteristic lent strength to the
post, for an enemy could not approach it by parallels or regular advances, but must make an
open assault.  St. Frederic, standing close by the water, lacked this advantage; and the
French, feeling their comparative weakness; exercised the valor of prudence, and abandoned
it on the approach of the English and provincials under General Amherst, in 1759,
and retired to the Isle Aux Noix,' in the Sorel.  The British commander took im- July26
mediate possession, but the works were so dilapidated that, instead of repairing them, he at
once began the erection of a new ahd extensive fortress about two hundred yards southwest of it, and upon
more commanding.  ' -.  -'                   ground. Theramparts were about
win:.-,.r                                    twenty-five   feet.- thick, and nearly
the same in height,
of solid masonry...... - The curtains varied in length from fiftyWESTERN LINE OF ARRAC,                     two to one hundred yards, and the whole
circuit, measuring along the ramparts,
and including the bastions, was eight hundred and fifty-three
I  ^  D.    i y    yards, a trifle less than half a mile.  A broad ditch cut out of
solid limestone surrounded it.  The fragments taken from the excavation were used to construct the reveting, and the four rows
of barracks erected within.  On the north was a gate, and from
-              Q>       d ^the northeastern bastion was a covered way leading to the lake.
- 5               Within this bastion a well, nearly eight feet in diameter and nineI >:...         ty feet deep, was sunk, from which the garrison was supplied with??     -                water.   This fortress was never entirely finished, although the
18:                    British government spent nearly ten millions of dollars upon it and
its outworks.  Its construction was a part of the grand plan dePLAN OF THE FORT.
THE FORT.      vised by Pitt to crush French power in America, and hence, for
site of Fort St. Frederic, and at the edge of the circle on the left, along the same shore, is the locality of the
Grenadiers' Battery. The wharf and bridge in the foreground form the steam-boat and ferry landing at
Chimney Point.                                                I This is pronounced 0 Noo-ah.
2 There were four large buildings used for barracks within the fort, the walls or chimneys of which were
built of limestone. One of them has been entirely removed, and another, two hundred and eighty-severn
feet long, is almost demolished. Portions of it are seen on the left, in the foreground of the picture. The
walls of the other two-one, one hundred and ninety-two, and the other two hundred and sixteen feet long,
and two stories high-are quite perfect, and one of them was roofed and inhabited until within two or three
years. At each end, and between these barracks, are seen the remains of the ramparts. The view is from
the northwestern angle of the fort, a little south of the remains of the western range of barracks, and look,
ing southeast. The hills in the distance are the Green Mountains on the left, and the nearer range called
Snake Mountain, on the right.
Explanation of the Plan.-A, B, C, the barracks; D, the well; the black line denotes the ramparts, with
its parapet; the white space next to it the ditch, and the shaded part outside, the covered way, banquette;
and glacis.




162


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Poeed Attack on the French at Isle Aux Noixt.  Approach of Winter.  Appearance of Crown Point.  Inseriptionst
this as well as for every other part of the service here, the most extraordinary efforts were
made, and pecuniary means were freely lavished.'
Amherst constructed several small vessels at Crown Point, and, leaving a garrison to defend the partly finished fort, embarked with the rest of his troops, and sailed down the lake,
to attack the French in their new position in the Sorel.  Storm after storm arose upon the
lake, and greatly endangered the safety of his men and munitions in the frail vessels. The
season.being considerably advanced, he abandoned the design, and resolved not to risk the
snow-storms that would soon ensue, and the general barrenness of-food and forage that now
October, prevailed in an enemy's country. So he returned to Crown Point, and went into.
t759.  winter-quarters.
The works at Crown Point are much better preserved than those at Ticonderoga, and the
present owner of the
ground, with a resolution which bespeaks
-                              his taste and patriot-i,:                                        ism,.will not allow a
I. he-: - g                             stone to be removed.
/____The view here given: i i                      is from  the parapet
_                                               near the end of the
southeastern range of
d obarracks, where the
flag-staff was, looking
u th  tdown the lake northwest.  At the foot of
i        the hills on the lake
shore, toward the left,
is Cedar Point, at the
entrance of Bulwaggy Bay, and a little
north of it is the vilCaowN POINT.                        lage of Port Henry,
the location of the
works of a large iron company, composed chiefly of Bostonians. There is a ferry between
this place and Chimney Point, the boats touching at Crown Point.
In the gable wall of the nearest barracks in the view are two inscribed stones, faced smooth
where the inscription is carved.  One bears the initials.,G.
R.,". George Rex or King; the rude form of an anchor, a mark.
peculiar to Great Britain, and placed upon her cannon-balls  /
and other military articles; and the date of the construction of:
the fortress, ", 1759."  The other stone has the initial  G G."
without the R., the monogram of Amherst, the anchor, and a   -       -—.
number of rectangular and diagonal lines of inexplicable meaning,. The deep well, aleady alluded to, is close by the covered    l
way that leads to the iked, and a few rods northeast from the
eastern range of barracks. It was nearly filled with rubbish,
and almost hidden from view by the weeds and shrubbery upon its margin.  I was informed
that a general impression prevailed in the vicinity, about twenty-five years ago, that this deep
well was the depository of vast treasures, which were cast into it by the French for conceal-, For the campaign of 1759 the Legislature of New York authorized the levy of two thousand six hundred and eighty men, and issued the sum of five hundred thousand dollars in bills of credit, bearing interest,
and redeemable in 1768 by the proceeds of an annual tax.




I


OF THE REVOLUTION.                                    1'53
Search for Treasure in the Well.  A venerable Money-digger.  Capture of Crown Point by the Patriots.  Seth Warned
ment when they abandoned the fort in 1759.     Accordingly, a stock company of fifty men,
whose capital was labor, and whose dividends were to by
- _       the treasure found, cleared the well of all its rubbish, in
--- '  -search of the gold and silver.           One of the company fur.
nished the whisky which was drunk on the occasion, and
--     agreed to wait for his pay until the treasure was secured.
--            The men," kept their spirits up by pouring spirits down,"
1  f-    -      and before the work was completed nearly three hogsheads of alcohol were swallowed by them.    They cleared
-                    and drained the well to its rocky bottom, and all the metal
r/-                     which they found was iron in the form of nails, spikes,.......- i                bolts, axes, shovels, &c.  The whisky and the labor,                     were lost to the owners, but they found the saying correct, that, truth lies at the bottom of a well," for they
discovered, when, at the bottom, the important truth,
which doubtless taught them wisdom, that credulity is a
-faithless though smiling friend, and a capricious and hard
TIE WELL.             master to serve.  Money-digging still continues in the
neighborhood, and several excavations within the fort were pointed out as the scene of quite
recent labor in that line.
In 1844 a venerable, white-haired man, apparently between eighty and ninety years of
age, leaning upon a staff, and accompanied by two athletic men, came to the fort and began
to dig.  They were observed by Mr. B., and ordered away.     The old man was urgent for
leave to dig, for he had come from the northern part' of Vermont, was very poor, knew exactly where the treasure was, as he had assisted in concealing it, and asked but thirty minutes to finish his work.  Mr. B. left them, and, returning an hour afterward, saw quite a
deep hole, but no man was near.    The diggers were gone, and the impression is that they
really ",found something!"  There has been a great deal of money-digging upoh Snake
Mountain, on the eastern side of the lake, induced, to some. extent, by the wonderful discovery
of a crucible there.  Among those rugged hills was doubtless the residence of "May Martin,"
the lovely heroine of the (, Money-diggers."1
Crown Point remained in the quiet possession of the British from 1759 until 1775, when
it was surprised and taken by a small body of provincials called,( Green Mountain Boys,"
under Colonel Seth Warner.2    I have already mentioned the fact that he attempted its capture on the same day that Delaplace surrendered Ticonderoga to Ethan Allen, but was
thwarted and driven back by a storm.   That was on the 10th of May.    The attempt   1
was renewed on the 12th, with success, and the garrison, consisting of only a sergeant
and eleven men, were made prisoners without firing a shot.'  Among the spoils were a hundred and fourteen cannons, of which only sixty-one were fit for service.
t See Thompson's pretty fiction, "May Martin, or the Money-diggers."
2 Seth Warner was born in Woodbury, Connecticut, about 1744. He moved to Bennington, Vermont,
in 1773, and was noted for his skill in hunting. He and Ethan Allen were the leaders of the people of the
New Hampshire Grants in their controversy with New York, and on the 9th of March, 1774, the Legislea
ture of the latter province passed an act of outlawry against them. After the capture of Ticdnderoga add
Crown Point, he received a colonel's commission from the Continental Congress and joined,,Montgomery
in Canada. His regiment was discharged at St. John's, and, after the death of his general, he raised an.
other body of troops and marched to Quebec. He covered the retreat of the Americans from Canada to
Ticonderoga, was with the troops when they evacuated that post in 1777, and commanded the rear-guard
that fought a severe battle at Hubbardton. He was one of General Starks's aids at the battle of Benning.
ton, and then joined the army under Gates at Stillwater. His health soon afterward gave way, and he died
at Woodbury in 1785, aged forty-one years. The state of Vermont gave his widow and children a valuable tract of land. —Allen's American Biography.
3 On the day when Allen captured Ticonderoga, he sent a message to Captain Remember Baker, one
of his colleagues in the violent boundary disputes between the New Yorkers and the people of the New
Hampshire Grants, to join him at that post. Baker obeyed the summons, and when he was coming ul




A154                      PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Expeditions of Allen and Arnold against St. John's.  Preparations to oppose General Carleton on the Lake.
Arnold arrived at Ticonderoga the same evening, and on the 14th about fifty men, who
had. enlisted in compliance with his orders given by the way while hurrying on to Castleton
to pvertake Allen, arrived from Skenesborough, and brought with them the schooner which
belonged to Major Skene.  He manned this vessel instantly, armed it with some of the guns
taken at the fort, and sailed down the lake to St. John's, on the Sorel.  There he surprised
and made prisoners the garrison, consisting of a sergeant and twelve men; captured a king's
sloop with seven men; destroyed five bateaux; seized four others; put on board some of
the valuable stores from the fort, and with his prisoners, and favored by a fair wind which
had chopped around from south to north just as he had secured his prizes, he returned to
Ticonderoga. Colonel Allen, with one hundred and fifty men in bateaux, started upon the
same expedition, but Arnold's schooner outsailed the flat-boats, and Allen met him within
fifteen miles of St. John's, returning with his prizes.  Arnold was on board the king's sloop,
where Allen visited him, and, after ascertaining the actual state of affairs, the latter determined to go on to St. John's and garrison the fort with about one hundred men.  He landed
just before night, marched about a mile toward Laprairie, and formed his men in ambush
to attack an expected re-enforcement for the enemy. He soon learned that the approaching
force was much larger than his own, and retired across the river, where he was attacked
early in the morning by two hundred men. He fled to his boats and escaped to Ticonderoga, with a loss of three men taken prisoners. Thus within one week the strong fortresses
of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, with all their dependencies upon the lake, were snatched
from the British by the bold provincials, without their firing a gun or losing a man; and
their little fleet upon the lake, their only strength left, was captured and destroyed in a day.
These events aroused General Carleton, the governor of Canada, and a re-enforcement of
more than four hundred British and Canadians was speedily sent to St. John's.  It was determined to send small water craft from Chambly and Montreal, to be armed and manned
at St. John's; and other measures were planned for dispatching a sufficient force up the lake
to recapture Ticonderoga and Crown Point.  Tidings of these preparations soon reached the
ears of Arnold, and afforded him an opportunity to sever his connection with Allen, so ill
suited to his restless and ambitious spirit.  A fleet to oppose the enemy was now necessary,
and, having had some experience at sea in earlier life, Arnold assumed to be the commander
of whatever navy should be fitted out. His assumption was not complained of, and he pro.
aeeded vigorously in arming and manning Skene's schooner, the king's corvette, and a small
flotilla of bateaux.  With these and about one hundred and fifty men, he took post at Crown
Point to await the approach of the enemy.  There he organized his little navy by the appointment of a captain and subordinate officers for each vessel. He mounted six carriage
guns and twelve swivels in the sloop, and four carriage guns and eight swivels in the schooner.
He was also active in sending off the ordnance from Crown Point to the army at Cambridge,
and at the same time he sent emissaries to Montreal and the Caughnawagas to sound the intent
tions of the Canadians and Indians, and ascertain what was the actual force under Carleton
and the nature of his preparations.  He also wrote to the Continental Congress in June,
1775.
proposing a plan of operations whereby, he confidently believed, the whole of Canada
might be conquered by two thousand men.  He asserted that persons in Montreal had agreed
to open the gates when a strong Continental force should appear before the city; assured
Congress that Carletqa had only five hundred and fifty effective men under him; and offered
to lead the expedition and to be responsible for consequences.  His representations were doubtless true, but Congress was not prepared to sanction such an expedition.  Allen, in a letter
dated Crown Point, June 2d, 1775, made a similar proposition to the Provincial Congress
of New York.   In the mean while letters had been sent from Ticonderoga to the Provincial
Congress of Massachusetts, complaining of Arnold's arrogant assumptions, and otherwise disthe lake with his party, he met two small boats with British soldiers, going to St. John's with the intelligence of the reduction of Ticonderoga, and to solicit a re-enforcement of the garrison at Crown Point. Baker seized the boats, and with his prisoners arrived at the fort just in time to join Warner in taking possesWion of it.-Sparks's Life of Ethan Allen.




OFO FTHR REVOLUTION..155


Commission from Massachusetts.  Re-enforcements for the Lake Forts.  Regiment of Green Mountain Boyd.
paraging his deeds. A committee of inquiry was appointed, who proceeded to Lake Champlain. Arnold was at Crown Point, acting as commandant of the fort and commodore of
the navy, and, not suspecting the nature of their visit, he was enthusiastic in his discourse
to them of his expected victories.  The first intimation of their errand aroused Arnold's indignation; and when he fully understood the purport of their commission, he wrote them a
formal letter of resignation, discharged his men, and returned to Cambridge, uttering loud
complaints of ill usage by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. Thus ended the naval
operations upon the lake in 1775.
When Ticonderoga and Crown Point were securely in the power of the provincials, Colb
onel Easton went to Massachusetts and Connecticut, and explained to the respective governments all the transactions connected with the reduction of these important posts.  The
Massachusetts Assembly wrote to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, expressing their will,
ingness to allow that colony all the honor, and to withhold all interference in future operations in that quarter. Trumbull immediately prepared to send a re-enforcement for the
garrisons, of four hundred men. Meanwhile messages were sent to the Continental Congress, and, through courtesy, to the Provincial Congress of New York, within whose jurisdiction the fortresses were situated, to ascertain their views.  The Continental Congress
approved the measures of Governor Trumbull, and requested the Convention of New York
to supply the troops with provisions.   The four hundred men were immediately sent,
under Colonel Hinman, who superseded Colonel Allen in the command at Ticonderoga.
The latter, with Warner, set off for the Continental Congress at Philadelphia, to procure
pay for their soldiers, whose terms had expired, and to solicit authority to raise a new regiment in Vermont. The appearance of these men occasioned a great sensation in Philadelphia, and they were introduced upon the floor of Congress, to make their communications to
that body orally.  Congress at once acquiesced in their wishes, granted the soldiers the same
pay as was received by those of the Continental army, and recommended to the New York
Convention that, after consulting General Schuyler, they should " employ in the army to be
raised in defense of America those called Green Mountain Boys, under such officers as the
said Green Mountain Boys should choose."      This resolution was dispatched to the New
York Convention, and thither Allen and Warner repaired, and obtained an audience.' The
Assembly resolved that a regiment of Green Mountain Boys, consisting of seven companies,
and not exceeding five hundred men in number, should be raised. The matter was referred
to General Schuyler, who immediately notified the people of the New Hampshire Grants,
and ordered them to raise the regiment. Allen and Warner were not members of the regiment, but soon afterward they both joined General Schuyler at Ticonderoga, where he was
stationed with about three thousand troops from New York and New England, pre- August
paratory to an invasion of Canada.    Early in September Generals Schuyler and       1775
Montgomery sailed from Ticonderoga and Crown Point with their whole force, and appeared
before St. John's, on the Sorel. Let us for a moment take a general view of affairs having
a relation to the northern section of operations at this juncture and immediately anteced&
ent thereto.
The Assembly of New York was embarrassed when Allen and Warner appeared at the door of its hall
and asked for admission, and a warm debate ensued. During the then recent controversy of the Legislature
of New York with the people of the New Hampshire Grants, these men had been proclaimed outlaws, an4
that attainder had never been wiped off by a repeal. There were members of that body who had taken a
very active part, personally, in the controversy, and they were unwilling to give their old enemies a friendly
greeting. Their prejudices, and the scruples of others who could not recognize the propriety of holding
public conference with men whom the law of the land had declared to be rioters and felons, produced a
strong opposition to their admission to the hall. The debates were becoming very warm, when Captain
Sears (the noted " King Sears") moved that " Ethan Allen be admitted to the floor of the House."  It was
carried by a very large majority, as was also a similar resolution in regard to Warner. Allen afterward
wrote a letter of thanks to the New York Assembly, in which, after referring to the formation of the battalion of Green Mountain Boys, he concluded by saying, " I will be responsible that they will reciprocate
this favor by boldly hazarding their lives, if need be, in the common cause of America."




1 56                       PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
General View of Affairs.  The " Canada Bill."  Opposition to it in Parliament.  Denunciations of Barr6.
* The British ministry, alarmed at the rapid progress of the rebellion in America, and particularly at the disaffection to the royal government which was manifest in Canada, and observing that all their coercive measures in relation to Massachusetts had thus far augmented
rather than diminished the number and zeal of the insurgents in that colony, determined, in
1774, to try a different policy with Canada, to secure the loyalty of the people.  A large
proportion of the inhabitants were of French descent, and members of the Romish communion. Those who composed the most influential class were of the old French aristocracy, and
any concessions made in favor of their caste weighed more heavily with them than any that
might be made to the whole people, involving the extension of the area of political freedom,
an idea which was a mere abstraction to them. Religious concessions to the other and
more ignorant class were a boon of great value, and by these means the king and his advisers
determined to quiet the insurrectionary spirit in Canada.  A bill was accordingly introduced
into Parliament, "( For making more effectual provision for the government of the province
of Quebec, in North America." It provided for the establishment of a Legislative Council,
invested with all powers except that of levying taxes. It was provided that its members
should be appointed by the crown, and continue in authority during its pleasure; that Canadian subjects professing the Catholic faith might be called to sit in the Council; that the
Catholic clergy, with the exception of the regular orders, should be secured in the enjoyment
of their professions, and of their tithes from all those who professed their religion; that the
French laws without jury should be re-established, preserving, however, the English laws,
with trial by jury, in criminal cases. The bill also provided that the limits of Canada should
be extended so as to inclose the whole region between the lakes and the Ohio and Mississippi
Rivers, regardless of the just claims of other colonies under old and unrepealed charters.'
These liberal concessions to the Canadians would have been highly commendable, had not
other motives than a spirit of liberality manifestly actuated ministers.  The most obtuse observer could plainly perceive their object to be to secure a strong footing north and west of
the refractory colonies, where troops might be concentrated and munitions of war collected,
to be used at a moment's warning, if necessary, in crushing rebellion near. Such a design
was at once charged upon ministers by the ever-vigilant Colonel Barre, on the floor of the
British House of Commons.   "A very extraordinary indulgence," he said, "( is given to the
inhabitants of this province, and one calculated to gain the hearts and affections of these
people.  To this I can not object, if it is to be applied to good purposes; but if you are about
to raise a popish army to serve in the colonies, from this time all hope of peace in America
will be destroyed. The Americans will look on the Canadians as their task-masters, and,
in the end, their executioners." It was urged by ministers that common justice demanded
the adoption of such a measure, for a very large proportion of the people of Canada were
Roman Catholics.2 Edmund Burke, Thomas Townshend, Charles Fox, Sergeant Glynn,
and others joined Colonel Barre in his denunciations of the bill, particularly in relation to
the clauses concerning the Roman Catholic religion, and that providing for the establishment
of a Legislative Council to be appointed by the crown. The former were considered a dangerous precedent for a Protestant government, and the latter was regarded as shadowing
forth the ultimate design of the king and his ministers to subvert the popular form of government in America, and to make the legislators mere creatures of the crown. By its provisions the Governor of Canada was vested with almost absolute and illimitable power, and
permitted to be nearly as much a despot, if he chose, as any of the old Spanish viceroys of
Thomas and John Penn, son and grandson of William Penn, then the. proprietaries of Pennsylvania and
Delaware, entered a protest against the boundary section of this bill, because it contemplated an encroachnent upon their territory. Burke, who was then the agent of the colony of New York, also opposed this
section of the bill for the same reason, in behalf of his principal. The letter of that statesman to the Assembly of New York on the subject is puilished among the Collections of the New York Historical Society,
and is said to be the only one known to be extant of all those which he wrote to that body.
2 Governor Carleton asserted, on oath, before a committee of Parliament, that there were then only about
three hundred and sixty Protestants in Canada, while the Roman Catholics numbered one hundred and fifty
thousand.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


157


Passage of the " Canada Bill."  Effect of the Measure in the Colonies.  Boldness of Orators and the Pres.
South America.   On this point Lord Chatham (William Pitt) was particularly eloquent,
and he also took ground against the religious features of the bill, as an innovation dangerous
to the Protestant faith and to the stability of the throne.  The bill, however, with all its
exceptionable clauses, was adopted by quite a large majority in both Houses, and received
the royal assent on the 22d of June.  It was introduced into the House of Lords by  1774
the Earl of Dartmouth, and passed that House without opposition. This bill is referred to in our Declaration of Independence as one of the " acts of pretended legislation" that
justified the separation from the parent country.
While this act, with the Boston Port Bill, that for the subversion of the charter of Massachusetts, and the law authorizing the transportation of criminals to Great Britain for trial,
were in transit through Parliament and receiving the royal signature, the colonists were preparing to make a successful resistance against further legislative encroachments. Throughout the whole summer and autumn of 1774 the greatest excitement prevailed. The committees of correspondence were every where active and firm, and were constantly supplied
with minute knowledge of all the movements of the home government by secret agents in
the British metropolis. The people by thousands signed non-importation agreements, and
otherwise attested their willingness to make personal sacrifices in the cause of freedom. The
press spoke out boldly, and orators no longer harangued in parables, but fearlessly called
upon the people to UNITE.  The events of the French and Indian war had demonstrated the
prowess and strength of the Anglo-Americans against the foes of Britain, and they felt confident in that strength against Britain herself, now tiat she had become the oppressor of her
children, if a bond of union could be made that should cause all the colonies to act in concert. A general Congress, similar to that which convened in New York in 1765, was
therefore suggested.  Throughout the colonies the thought was hailed as a happy one, and
soon was developed the most energetic action.  The Congress met in September, adopt- 1
ed loyal addresses to the king and Parliament, to the people of the colonies, of Canada,
of Ireland, and of Great Britain, and took precautionary measures respecting future aggressions upon their rights.  The people, highly indignant, every where evinced the strength of
that feeling by open contempt for all royal authority exercised by officers of the crown.  The
acts alluded to were denounced as " barbarous and bloody," the British ministry were published in the gazettes, and placarded upon the walls as papists and as traitors to the Constitution, and the patriots even had the boldness to lampoon the king and Parliament.  (For
an illustration, see next page.)
Such was the temper of the Americans at the opening of the year 1775. The events at
Lexington and Concord added fuel to the flame of indignation and rebellion. As we have
seen, Ticonderoga and other posts on Lake Champlain were assailed, and fell into the hands
of the Americans.  In June the battle of Bunker Hill was fought.  A Continental June17,
army was speedily organized.  Hope of reconciliation departed.  The sword was  1775.
fairly drawn, and at the close of summer an expedition was arranged to invade Canada, for
which an armament was collected at Ticonderoga. Such a step seemed essential for two
reasons: first, to confirm the Canada patriots (who were chiefly in the neighborhood of Montreal) in their opposition to Great Britain by the pressure of armed supporters; and, secondly, to secure the strong-hold of Quebec while its garrison was yet weak, and before General Carleton could organize a sufficient force to defend it.  That officer, it was well known,
was vested with almost unlimited power as governor of the province, under the act which
we have just considered; and it was also well known that he was using every means at his
command to induce the Canadians to take up arms against the rebellious colonists.  Neither
bribes nor promises were spared.  The imperial government resolved to send out fifteen
thousand muskets to arm the French Catholics, and agents of the crown were busy among
the Indian tribes upon the St. Lawrence and the Ottawa, inciting them to an alliance with
the army of the king.
Congress had already sent an affectionate address, To the oppressed inhabitants  May29,
of Canada," and its effects were so palpable to Governor Carleton, that he feared -1775




158            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


The British Government caricatured.  Carleton's attempt to seduce the Bishop of Quebec.  Consistency of the Prelate.
entire disaffection to the royal government would ensue. The people were disappointed in
the operations of the act of 1774, and all but the nobles regarded it ag tyrannical.    Unable
VIRTUAL REPRESENTATION, 1775.1
I.   -     /-: i^ '
April 1, 1775.                                                           trice, 6d
1. One String Jack, Deliver your property.  6. I shall be wounded with you.
2. Begar, just so in France. Accomplice.   7. 1 am blinded.
3. Te Deum.            ccompces. The French Roman Catholic town of Quebec.
4. I give you that man's money for my use.  9. The English Protestant town-of Boston.
5. I will not be robbed.
to make an impression favorable to the king upon the Canadians by an appeal to their loyalty, Carleton had recourse to the authority of religion.     He endeavored to seduce Brand,
the Roman Catholic bishop of Quebec, from his exalted duties as a Christian pastor, to engage in the low political schemes of a party placeman, and publish a mandement, to be read
from the pulpit by the curates in time of divine service.     He also urged the prelate to exhort the people to take up arms against the colonists.     But the consistent bishop refused to
exert his influence in such a cause, and plainly told Carleton that such conduct would be
unworthy of a faithful pastor, and derogatory to the canons of the Romish Church. A few
priests, however, with the nobility, seconded Carleton's views, but their influence was feeble
with the mass of the people, who were determined to remain neutral. The governor now
tried another scheme, and with better effect. He could make no impression upon the masses
by appeals to their loyalty or their religious prejudices, and he determined to arouse them   by
The above engraving is an exact copy, reduced, of a caricature which I found in the possession of the
Massachusetts Historical Society at Boston, entitled " Virtual Representation."  On the back of it, apparently in the hand-writing of the time, is the following:
" A full explanation of the within print.-No. 1 intends the K-g of G. B., to whom the House of Commons (4) gives the Americans" money for the use of that very H. of C., and which he is endeavoring to
take away with the power of cannon.  No. 2, by a Frenchman, signifies the tyranny that is intended for
America.  No. 3, the figure of a Roman Catholic priest with his brucifix and gibbet, assisting George in
enforcing his tyrannical system of civil and religious government. Nos. 5 and 6 are honest American yeomen, who oppose an oaken staff to G-'s cannon, and determine they will not be robbed.  No. 7 is poor
Britannia blindfolded, falling into the bottomless pit which her infamous rulers have prepared for the Americans. Nos. 8, 9 represent Boston in flames and Quebec triumphant, to show the probable consequence
of submission to the present wicked ministerial system, that popery and tyranny will triumph over true religion, virtue, and liberty.
" N.B. Perhaps this may remind the Bostonians of the invincible attachment of the Numantines* to their
liberty," &c.
* The Numantines inhabited a city on the banks of the Douro, in Spain. Twenty years they were besieged by the Romans,
until at length the younger Scipio Africanus entered their city (one hundred and thirty-three years B.C., and twelve years after
the destruction of Carthage). The Numantines, seeing all hope gone, set fire to their city and perished in the flames rather
than become slaves to their oppressors.


D




OF 'THE~ REVOLUTION.


159


OF ~ ~ ~ ~ _ TH  EOUIN  5


Royal Highland Regiment, how raised. Our Departure from Crown Point  Split Rock. War-feast on the Bouquet River,
appealing to their cupidity.  Accordingly, he caused the drums to beat up for volunteers in
Quebec, and by offers of good pay, privileges, and bounties, he succeeded in enrolling a few,
under the title of the Royal Highland Regiment.'     About the same time Colonel July,
Guy Johnson arrived at Montreal with a large number of Indian chiefs and warriors   1775.
of the Six Nations, who, despite their solemn promises of neutrality, were induced to join the
soldiers of the king.  They made oath of allegiance to the crown in the presence of Carleton, and were held in readiness to serve him when he should call.
A small number of regular British troops, with the volunteers and Indians, composed the
bulk of Carleton's army at the close of the summer of 1775, the-time when General Schuyler was preparing, at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, for a campaign against Canada.   We
thus come back from our historic ramble to our starting-place at Crown Point. The ruins
are sufficiently explored; let us pass over to Chimney Point and dine, for the steamer will
soon come down the lake to convey us to our Sabbath resting-place at Burlington.
We left Chimney Point in the evening, a cool, gentle breeze blowing from the northwest.
The western shore is bold, and in many places precipitous, and in the distance the blue peaks
and lofty ridges of the Adirondack Mountains skirt the horizon.  The eastern margin is the
termination of the pleasant slopes and beautiful intervales between the Green Mountains and
the lake, cultivated and wooded alternately to the water's verge.  At dusk we reached the
famous Split Rock.    The moon was shining
brightly in the west, where faint tints of daylight still lingered, and we passed so near that
we had a fine view of that geological wonder.
it is on the west side of the lake, about thirty
miles below Crown Point.     Here is a sharp
PLIT ROC.            promontory jutting into the lake, the point of
which, containing about half an acre, and covered with bushes, is separated from the main land by a cleft fifteen feet wide. It was observed as a curiosity by the old French explorers.  Soundings to the depth of five hundred
feet have been made between the fragment and the main rock, without finding a bottom.
Geologists differ in opinion respecting the cause which formed the chasm, some ascribing it to
an earthquake, and others to the slow attrition of the current upon a portion of the rock of
softer texture than the rest.  A light-house stands near as a guide to the navigator, for the
lake is only a mile wide at this point.  Here it suddenly expands, and at the mouth of the
Bouquet River, eight miles above, it is about five miles wide.
At the falls in the Bouquet, two miles from the lake, is the village of Willsborough, the
place where Burgoyne encamped and gave a war-feast to about four hundred Indians of the
tribes of the Algonquins, Iroquois, and Ottawas, who, accompanied by a Roman Catholic
priest, joined him there.  Both he and Carleton were averse to the measure of em- June 21,
ploying the savages in the British army, but the express instructions of ministers  177.
demanded it, and he dared not disobey.2 He made a speech to them, in which he humanely
endeavored to soften their savage ferocity and restrain their thirst for rapine and blood.  His
exordium was words of flattery in praise of their sagacity, faithfulness, forbearance, and loy-alty. He then spoke of the abused clemency of the king toward the colonies, and declared
to the warriors their relief from restraint.  ( Go forth," he said, (, in the might of your valor
Their time of service was limited to the continuance of the disturbances; each soldier was to receive
two hundred acres of land in any province in North America he might choose; the king paid himself the
accustomed duties upon the acquisition of lands; for twenty years new proprietors were to be exempted
from all contribution for the benefit of the crown; every married soldier obtained other fifty acres, in consideration of his wife, and fifty more for account of each of his children, with the same privilege and exemptions, besides the bounty of a guinea at the time of enlistment.-Botta, vol. i., p. 220.
2 The employment of Indians by the British ministry, in this campaign, has been excused upon the lame
plea, which has not the shadow of truth, that, unless they were thus employed, the Americans would havq
mustered them into their service.-See Knight's Pictorial England, vol. v., p. 306.




160                                 PICTORIAL, FIELD-BOOK                                     '
Burgoyne's Interview with the Indians.               Speech of an Iroquois.                Approach to Burlington.


and your cause.  Strike at the common enemies of Great Britain and of America; disturbers of public order, peace, and happi-. -ness; destroyers of commerce; parricides of the state."  He told them
that his officers. and men would endeavor to imitate their example in
operseverance, enterprise, and con\-' ' stancy, and in resistance of hunger,
e  i      weariness, and pain.  At the same
time he exhorted them to listen to
t                      his words, and allow him to regulate
i of                                their passions, and to conform their
e             warfare to his, by the rules of European discipline and the dictates of
e                                 "s  whis religion and humanity.  He reminded them that the king had many
faithful subjects in the provinces,
and, therefore, indiscriminate butch-; ery of the people might cause the
sacrifice of many friends.  He then
charged them, in the words quoted
p- t                              from his speech in the note on ante,
page 99, not to kill for scalps, or deBUaO!NE ADDRME8SING THE INDIANS~.      stroy life except in open warfare, and
claimed for himself the office of umpire on all occasions.  When he had finished, an old Iroquois chief arose and said:
I stand up in the name of all the nations present, to assure our father that we have attentively listened to his discourse.  We receive you as our father, because when you speak
we hear the voice of our great father beyond the great lake.  We rejoice in the approbation
you have expressed of our behavior.  We have been tried and tempted by the Bostonians,'
but we loved our father, and our hatchets have been sharpened upon our affections.  In
proof of the sincerity of our professions, our whole villages able to go to war are come forth.
The old and infirm, our infants and wives, alone remain at home.  With one common assent we promise a constant obedience to all you have ordered and all you shall order; and
may the Father of Days give you many and success."&
These promises were all very fine, and Burgoyne, to his sorrow, had the credulity to rely
upon them. At first the Indians were docile, but as soon as the scent of blood touched their
nostrils their ferocious natures were aroused, and the restraints imposed by the British commander were too irksome to be borne. Their faithfulness disappeared; and in the hour of
his greatest need they deserted him, as we have seen, by hundreds, and returned home.
As the lake widened and the evening advanced, the breeze freshened almost to a gale,
and, blowing upon our larboard quarter, it rolled up such swells on our track that the vessel
rocked half the passengers into silent contemplation of the probability of casting their supper
to the fishes. The beacon upon Juniper Island was hailed with delight, for the Burlington
break-water was just ahead. We entered the harbor between nine and ten in the evening,
The old chief spoke truly. They had been " tempted by the Bostonians," but not by the Boston patriots. General Gage, then governor of Massachusetts, and other loyalists in Boston, sent emissaries among
the Indians in various ways, and these were the tempters which the old chief confounded with the enemies
of the crown. I shall have occasion hereafter to speak of Connelly, one of Gage's emissaries, who went
to Virginia, and, under the auspices of Lord Dunmore, carried promises and money to the Indians on the
frostier, to instigate them to fall upon the defenseless republicans of that stanch Whig state.
g So interpreted by Burgoyne in his "State of the Expedition," &c.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


Sabbath Morning in Burlington.          Visit to the Grave of Ethan Allen.       Ira Allen.
and were soon in comfortable quarters at the American, fronting the pleasant square in the
center of the village.
The next morning dawned calm and beautiful.     The wind was hushed, and the loveliness of repose was upon the village, lake, and country. It was our second Sabbath from
home, and never was its rest more welcome and suggestive of gratitude, for the preceding
week had been to me one of unceasing toil, yet a toil commingled with the most exalted
pleasure. I had been among scenes associated with the noblest sentiments of an American's
heart; and when, mingling with the worshipers in St. Paul's Church, the clear voice of
Bishop Hopkins repeated the divine annunciation, " From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord," I felt
that our own country, so late a wilderness and abiding-place for pagans, but now blooming
under the beneficent culture of free institutions that were born amid the labor-throes of the
Revolution, was a special illustration of that glorious declaration.
Early on Monday morning we procured saddle horses and rode out to the resting-place of
General Ethan Allen, a burial-ground embowered
in shrubbery, lying upon the brow of the hill overlooking the Winooski, and within sound of its cascades.  It is on the south side of the road leading              f    0 J
east from Burlington, nearly half a mile from the
University of Vermont, that stands upon the sum-                                          j
mit of the hill, upon the western slope of which is
the village.  Allen's monument is a plain marble....
slab, resting upon a granite foundation, and bearsB OF E....                             TOBa OF ETiHAN ALLEN.
the following inscription:
THE
CORPOREAL PART
OF
GENERAL ETHAN ALLEN
RESTS BENEATH THIS STONE,
THE 12TH DAY OF FEB., 1789,
AGED 50 YEARS.
IIIS SPIRIT TRIED THE MERCIES OF HIS GOD,
IN WHOM ALONE HE BELIEVED AND STRONGLY TRUSTED.
Near his are the graves of his brother Ira' and several other relatives.  The whole are inclosed within a square defined by a chain supported by small granite obelisks. A willow
drooped over the tombs of the patriot dead, and rose-bushes clustered around the storm-worn
monuments. The dew was yet upon the grass, and its fragrant exhalations filled the air
with such grateful incense, that we were loth to leave the spot.  We galloped our horses
back to the village in time for breakfast, delighted and profited by our morning's ride.  Halt] Ira Allen was born in Salisbury, Connecticut, in 1752. He went to Vermont in early life, and became
one of the most active citizens of that state, particularly in the controversy between Vermont and' New
York respecting the territory called the New Hampshire Grants. It is said that when the Revolution broke
out he sided with the crown and went to Canada. His stanch Whig brother, Ethan, indignant at his choice,
recommended the Vermont Assembly to confiscate his brother's property. Ira heard of it, and challenged
Ethan to fight a duel. Ethan refused, on the ground that it would be "disgraceful to fight a Tory," and
so the matter ended. Ira finally became a warm republican, and was active during the remainder of the
war. He was a member of the Convention which formed the Constitution of Vermont, and became the first
secretary of the state. He was afterward treasurer, member of the council, and surveyor general. He
rose to the rank of major general of militia, and in 1795 he went to Europe to purchase arms for the supply of his state. Returning with several thousand muskets and some cannon, he was captured by an English vessel and carried to England, where he was accused of supplying the Irish rebels with arms. A
litigation for eight years, in the Court of Admiralty, was the consequence, but a final decision was in his
favor. He died at Philadelphia, January 7th, 1814, aged 62 years.
L




162             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Burlington and Vicinity. Adjacent Lake Scenery. Place of Arnold's first Naval Battle. Military Operations on th ILake.
ing near the university a few minutes, we enjoyed the beautiful view which the height commands. The Green Mountains stretched along the east; the broken ranges of the Adirondack, empurpled by the morning sun, bounded the western horizon; and below us, skirting
the lake, the pleasant village lay upon the slope, and stretched its lengthening form out toward the rich fields that surrounded it.  To the eye of a wearied dweller in a dense city all villages appear beautiful in summer, but Burlington is eminently so when compared with others.
We left the metropolis of the lake for Plattsburgh about noon. On our left, as we emerged
from the harbor, were the Four Brothers, small islands swarming with water-fowl, and the
bald point of Rock Dunder, a solitary spike rising, shrubless and bare, about twenty feet
above the water.  Before us spread out the two Heros (North and South), green islands,
which belonged to the Allen family during the Revolution. The first landing-place below
Burlington is Port Kent, on the west side of the lake, ten miles distant.  A little below is
Port Jackson, nearly west of the south end of Valcour's Island.  This is an interesting portion of the lake to the
American tourist, for it
is the place where our
first naval battle with
Great   Britain  was
i                            -          took  place  October
thell th, 1776.     The
American flotilla was
commanded by Benedicet Arnold, and                                        th    e
SCENz OF ARNOLD'S NAVAL BATTLE.1             dit Arnold, and the
English vessels by Captain Pringle, accompanied by Governor Carleton.  In order to a lucid understanding of the
position of affairs at that time, we must consider for a moment the connecting chain of events
from the autumn of 1775, when General Schuyler was at Ticonderoga and Crown Point
preparing to invade Canada, to the meeting of the belligerents in question.
The forces under Generals Schuyler and Montgomery proceeded to execute the will of
September 10, Congress, and in September appeared before St. John's, at the Sorel.  Finding
77i.    the fort, as they supposed, too strong for assault, they returned to and fortified
Isle Aux Noix.  Schuyler went back to Ticonderoga and hastened forward re-enforcements,
but was unable to return on account of sickness. Montgomery succeeded him in command.
He captured Fort St. John's and Fort Chambly, and entered Montreal in triumph. He
then pushed on to Quebec, when he was joined by a force under Arnold, and early in December laid siege to that city.  After besieging it unsuccessfully for three weeks, the AmerDecember 31, icans commenced an assault. Montgomery was killed, the Americans were re1775.   pulsed, and many of them made prisoners.  Arnold was wounded.  He became
the chief in command, and kept the remnant of the republican army together in the vicinity
of Quebec, until the arrival of General Wooster early in the spring and General Thomas
1776.
in May.   General Carleton soon afterward received re-enforcements from England,
and by the middle of June the Americans, after retreating from post to post, were driven
out of Canada.
Not doubting that Carleton would follow up his successes by providing water craft upon
the lake, to attempt the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, a council of officers, under General Gates, who in the spring was appointed to the command of the Northern army,
resolved to abandon the latter post and concentrate all their forces at the former.  Accord

t This sketch was made from the pilot's room of the steam-boat just after leaving Port Jackson.  On the
left is a point of the main land, and on the right is seen a portion of Valcour's Island. The high ground in
the extreme distance, on the left, is Cumberland Head, and that dimly seen in the center of the picture is
the Vermont shore.




OF THE REVUL~UTIO N.


16 3


Formation of a little Fleet.  Excursion down the Lake.  Appearance of the British Fleet.  Plan of the Batthe.
ingly, General Sullivan, who was at Crown Point, withdrew with his forces to Ticonderoga,
and active measures for offensive and defensive operations were there adopted.  Materials
for constructing vessels, as well as skillful artisans, were scarce.  The latter had to be obtained from the sea-ports; yet such was the zeal of the Americans, that by the middle of
August a small squadron, consisting of one sloop, three schooners, and five gondolas, was in
readiness and rendezvoused at Crown Point under Arnold, who received the command of it
from General Gates.   The sloop carried twelve guns, one schooner the same number, the
others eight, and the gondolas three each.  Toward the close of the month Arnold sailed
down the lake, under positive instructions from Gates not to pass beyond Isle Aux Tetes,
near what is now called Rouse's Point, and to act only on the defensive.  He halted at
Wind-mill Point, four miles above Isle Aux Tetes, to reconnoiter, and anchored his vessels
across the lake, to prevent any boats of the enemy from passing up.
As soon as Carleton was advised of the movements of the Americans at Ticonderoga, he
sent seven hundred men from Quebec to St. John's, to construct a fleet, and in the course
of a few weeks several strong vessels were finished and armed for duty. A radeau called
the Thunderer (a kind of flat-bottomed vessel carrying heavy guns), and twenty-four gunboats, armed each with a field piece or carriage gun, were added to the fleet.  Forty boats
with provisions accompanied the expedition.
Convinced that his position was dangerous, for the British and Indians were collecting on
the shores, Arnold fell back about ten miles to Isle La Motte, where he need not fear an attack from the main land.  Here his fleet was considerably increased, and consisted of three
Schooners, two sloops, three galleys, eight gondolas, and twenty-one gun-boats.  Ignorant
of the real strength of the armament
which he knew Carleton was preparing at St. John's, and unwilling to en-    ----          BET. L      --
gage a superior force on the broad lake,  ALCOUR /. & THE WES  M SHORE (. CHAMPLAIN)
Arnold withdrew his fleet still further
back, and anchored it across the narrow-channel between Valcour's Island    ^ —..a^ 'i/
and the western shore.                i k \            )))1.    i l
Early on the morning of the    1 \\ 1
1 1th of October the British fleet l                ' -":
appeared off Cumberland Head, mov-      \!                                       I
ing up the lake, and in a short time                                             I
it swept around the southern point of      ^                i(' ~:"Q               I
Valcour's Island.  The enemy's force
was formidable, for the vessels were     -      -  1,   l //
manned by seven hundred chosen sea-     /            '
men.   Captain Pringle was commo-        '          w
dore, and made the Inflexible his flag-  /   -
ship.  Among the young officers in                   r    d7t SJ>ri —, /
the fleet was Edward Pellew, afterward Admiral Viscount Exmouth,,.; "  % *.l{[l\\,\\ (:
one of the most distinguished of England's naval commanders.  The action began about twelve o'clock, by the attack of the Carleton upon the American schooner
Royal Savage and three galleys.  The latter, in attempting to return to the line, grounded,
EXPLANATION OF THE MAP.-A, American fleet under Arnold; B, 21 gun-boats; C, schooner Carleton,
12 six pounders; D, ship Inflexible, 18 twelve pounders; E, anchorage of the British fleet during the night,
to cut off the Americans' retreat; F, radeau Thunderer, 6 twenty-four pounders and 12 six pounders; G,
gondola Loyal Convert, 7 nine pounders; H, schooner Maria, 14 six pounders, with General Carleton on
board; I, the place where the American schooner Royal Savage, of 8 six pounders and 4 four pounders.
was burned. This plan is copied from Brasrier's Survey of Lake Champlain, edition of 1779.




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Severe Battle on the Lake.  Escape of the Americans through the British Line.  Chase by the Enemy.  Another Battle.
and was burned, but her men were saved.  Arnold was on board the Congress galley, and
conducted matters with a great deal of bravery and skill.  About one o'clock the engagement became general, and the American vessels, particularly the Congress, suffered severely.
It was hulled twelve times, received seven shots between wind and water, the main-mast
was shattered in two places, the rigging cut to pieces, and many of the crew were killed or
wounded. Arnold pointed almost every gun on his vessel with his own hands,1 and with
voice and gesture cheered on his men.  In the mean while the enemy landed a large body
of Indians upon the island, who kept up an incessant fire of musketry, but with little effect.
The battle continued between four and five hours, and the Americans lost, in killed and
wounded, about sixty men.
Night closed upon the scene, and neither party were victors.  The two fleets anchored
within a few hundred yards of each other. Arnold held a council with his officers, and it
was determined to retire during the night to Crown Point, for the superiority of the vessels,
and the number and discipline of the men composing the British force, rendered another engagement extremely hazardous. Anticipating such a movement on the part of the Americans, the British commander anchored his vessels in a line extending across from the island
to the main land. A chilly north wind had
been blowing all the afternoon, and about
v.<  <           sunset dark clouds overcast the sky.  It was
-  ';'?i                      at the time of new moon, and, therefore, the
Wnight was very dark, and favored the design
of Arnold.     About ten o'clock he weighed
anchor, and with the stiff north wind sailed
with his whole flotilla, unobserved, through
/                  the enemy's lines.  Arnold, with his crippled
v   -)               jI             galley, brought up the rear.  It was a bold
-        i\                         movement. At daybreak the English watch
//  W    i   fl          \\    on deck looked with straining eyes for their
expected prey, but the Americans were then
at Schuyler's Island, ten miles south, busily
engaged in stopping leaks and repairing sails.
The British weighed anchor and gave chase.
tToward evening the wind changed to the
pfH\\ ij frs,       south, and greatly retarded the progress of
<l X^Y^                      both fleets during the night.  Early on the
morning of the 13th the enemy's ves- October,,l                         sels were observed under full sail, and  1776.
I          rapidly gaining upon the Americans.  The
Congress galley (Arnold's " flag-ship") and
I lON e,              -                    the Washington, with four gondolas, were be-,iA:'' '  aeUy   5 '  *h hind, and in a short time the British vessels
i  C.y Byyay                         Carleton, Inflexible, and Maria were alongside, pouring a destructive fire upon them.
The Washington soon struck, and General
Waterbury the commander, and his men, were made prisoners.2   The whole force of the
Sparks's Life of Arnold.
2 Among the prisoners was Joseph Bettys, afterward the notorious outlaw and bitter Tory, better known
as "Joe Bettys."  He was a native of Saratoga county, and joined the Whigs on the breaking out of the
Revolution. While a captive in Canada, after the battle on Lake Champlain, he was induced to join the
royal standard, and was made an ensign. He became notorious as a spy, and, having been caught by the
Americans, he was at one time conducted to the gallows. At the instance of his aged parents, Washington granted him a reprieve on condition of his thoroughly reforming. But he immediately joined the enemy
again, and for a long time his cold-blooded murders, his plunder and incendiarism made him the terror of




OF THE REVOLUTION.


16/


Bravery of Arnold on the Congress Galley.  Desperate Resistance.  Retreat to Crown Point  Effect of the Battle.
attack now fell upon the Congress, but Arnold maintained his ground with unflinching resolution for four hours. The galley was at length reduced almost to a wreck, and surrounded
by seven sail of the enemy.  Longer resistance was vain, and the intrepid Arnold ran the
galley and four gondolas into a small creek on the east side of the lake, about ten miles below Crown Point, and not far from Panton.  He ordered the marines to set fire to them as
soon as they were grounded, leap into the water and wade ashore with their muskets, and
form in such a manner upon the beach as to guard the burning vessels from the approach
of the enemy. Arnold remained in his galley till driven off by the fire, and was the last
man that reached the shore.   He kept the flags flying, and remained upon the spot until
his little flotilla was consumed, and then, with the small remnant of his brave soldiers,
marched off through the woods toward Chimney Point, and reached Crown Point in safety.
The rapidity of his march saved him from an Indian ambush that waylaid his path an hour
after he passed by. Two schooners, two galleys, one sloop, and one gondola, the remnant
of his fleet, were at Crown Point, and General Waterbury and most of his men arrived there
on parole the next day, when all embarked and sailed to Ticonderoga. General October 14,
Carleton took possession of Crown Point, and for a few days threatened Ticon-   1776
deroga, but the season was so far advanced that he prudently withdrew, and sailed down the
lake to go into winter-quarters in Canada.' The whole American loss in the two actions
was between eighty and ninety, and that of the.enemy about forty.
Although the republicans were defeated, and the expedition was disastrous in every particular, yet such were the skill, bravery, and obstinate resistance of Arnold and his men
against a vastly superior force, the event was hailed as ominous of great achievements on
the part of the patriots when such fearful odds should not exist. Arnold's popularity, so
justly gained at Quebec, was greatly increased, and the country rang with his praises.
Sparks justly observes, respecting Arnold's conduct in the engagement on the 13th, that
"( there are few instances on record of more deliberate courage and gallantry than were displayed by him from the beginning to the end of this action."
We arrived at Plattsburgh at about two o'clock in the afternoon. The day was excessively warm, and I felt more like lounging than rambling. In fact, the spot has no Revolutionary history worth mentioning, for its existence as a lonely settlement in the wilderness
is only coeval with that of our independence. Count Vredenburgh, a German nobleman,
who married a lady of the household of the queen of George II. of England, obtained a grant
for thirty thousand acres of land on Cumberland Bay, and just before the Revolution he settled there.  When the war broke out he sent his family to Montreal, and soon afterward
his splendid mansion, which stood where the Plattsburgh Hotel now is, and his mills, three
miles distant, were burned. He had remained to look after his property, and it is supposed
that he was murdered for his riches, and his house plundered and destroyed. In 1783 some
Canadian and Nova Scotia refugees, under Lieutenant (afterward Major-general) Mooers,who were stationed on the Hudson near Newburgh, left Fishkill Landing in a boat, and,
proceeding by the way of Lakes George and Champlain, landed and commenced the first
permanent settlement in that neighborhood, within seven or eight miles of the present village of Plattsburgh. 'Judge Zephaniah Platt and others formed a company, after the war,
to purchase military land-warrants, and they located their lands on Cumberland Bay, and
organized the town of Plattsburgh in 1785.  Such is its only connection with the history
the whole region in the neighborhood of Albany. At last he was captured (1782), and was executed as
a spy and traitor, at Albany.
It is related that while Carleton was at Ticonderoga, Arnold ventured in the neighborhood in a small
boat. He was seen and chased by young Pellew (afterward Lord Exmouth), and so rapidly did his pursuers gain upon him, that he ran his boat ashore and leaped on land, leaving his stock and buckle behind him.
It is said that the stock and buckle are still in possession of the Pellew family.-See Ostler's Life of Admiral Viscount Exmouth.
2 Benjamin Mooers served as a lieutenant and adjutant in the Revolution. He commanded the militia
in the battle of Plattsburgh in 1814. For thirty years he was county treasurer, and often represented his
county in the Assembly and Senate of New York. He died in February, 1838.




166                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Battle of Plattsburgh.  Military Remains.    Incidents of the Naval Battle.  Relic of Washington.
of our Revolution.  It is a conspicuous point,'however, in the history of our war with Great
Britain commenced in 1812, for it is memorable as the place where one of the severest engagements of that contest took place, on the 11th of September, 1814, between the combined
naval and military forces of the Americans and British. General Macomb commanded the
land, and Commodore M'Donough the naval forces of the former, and General Prevost and
Commodore Downie' those of the latter. The engagements on the land and water were
simultaneous, and for some time the issue was doubtful. The Americans, however, were
successful.  When the flag of the British commodore's ship was struck, the enemy on land,
disheartened and confused, retreated across the Saranac, and the carnage ceased.  The loss
of the Americans was about one hundred and fifty; that of the enemy, in killed, wounded,
prisoners, and deserters, more than one thousand.
I passed a considerable portion of the afternoon with General St. John B. L. Skinner,
who was a volunteer under Macomb in the battle.      He was a member of a company of
young men and boys of the village, who, after the military had gone out on the Chazy road,
organized and offered their services to the commander-in-chief.  They were accepted, and
the brave youths were immediately armed with rifles and ordered to the headquarters of
General Mooers.    Only three of the company were over eighteen years old, and not one of
them was killed, though for a long time they were exposed to a hot fire while occupying a
mill upon the Saranac and keeping the enemy at bay.     General Skinner's beautiful mansion and gardens are upon the lake shore, and from an upper piazza we had a fine view of
the whole scene of the naval engagement, from Cumberland Head on the north to Valcour's
Island on the south, including in the far distance eastward the blue lines of the northern
range of the Green Mountains.   The bay in which the battle occurred is magnificent, fringed
with deep forests and waving grain-fields.  A substantial stone break-water defends the harbor from the rude waves which an easterly wind rolls in, and the village is very pleasantly
situated upon a gravelly plain on each side of the Saranac River.
A short distance from the village of Plattsburgh are the remains of the cantonments and
breast-works occupied by Macomb and his forces; and to the kind courtesy of General Skinner, who accompanied me to these relics of the war, I am indebted for many interesting details in relation to that memorable battle.'  But as these have no necessary connection with
our subject, on account of their remoteness from the time of the Revolution, I will bid adieu
to Plattsburgh, for the evening is far gone, the lights of the " Burlington" are sparkling upon
the waters near Valcour's Island, and the coachman at the hotel front is hurrying us with
his loud "All aboard!"
It was nearly midnight when we passed the light on Cumberland Head,' and we reached
Commodore Downie was slain in the battle and buried at Plattsburgh. His sister-in-law, Mary Downie,
erected a plain monument to his memory over his remains.
2 General S. mentioned one or two circumstances connected with the naval engagement worth recording.
He says that, when the fleet of the enemy rounded Cumberland Head, M'Donough assembled his men on
board his ship (Saratoga) on the quarter-deck. He then knelt, and, in humble, fervent supplication, commended himself, his men, and his cause to the Lord of Hosts. When he arose, the serenity of faith was
upon his countenance, and seemed to shed its influence over his men. A curious incident occurred on his
ship during the engagement. The hen-coop was shot away, and a cock, released from prison,
flew into the rigging, and, flapping his wings, crowed out a lusty defiance to the enemy's guns.
There he remained, flapping his wings and crowing, until the engagement ceased. The seamen
regarded the event as encouraging, and fought like tigers while the cock cheered them on. A
notice of a relic of Washington, in the possession of General S., may not be inappropriate here.
It is a pouch and puff-ball, for hair-powder, which belonged to the chief several years. It is
miade of buckskin, and is about twelve inches long. The puff is made of cotton yarn. Mr.
Gray, who was a number of years sheriff of Clinton county, readily recognized it as the one
i   used by himself in powdering Washington's hair, when he was a boy and attached to the general in the capacity of body servant. When La Fayette was at Burlington, in 1824, Mr. Gray
went up to see him, and the veteran remembered him as the "boy Gray" in Washington's
military tamily.
3 On this point is situated the farm presented to Commodore M'Donough by the Legislature of Vermont.
The point is connected with Grand Island, or North Hero (the largest island in the lake), by a ferry.




A     tow-  To-  TE  St  r  w  s   et     s a


Ut    lit Kr IE V ULU TIU N.                        167
Rouse's Point and Military Works.  The Territorial Line.  Isle Aux Noix.  Historical Associations.
Rouse's Point, the last landing-place on the lake within " the States," between one and two
in the morning, where we remained until daylight, for the channel here, down the outlet of
the lake, is so narrow and sinuous that the navigation is difficult in the night.  On a low
point a little northward of the landing the United States government commenced building a
fort in 1815, and, after expending about two hundred thousand dollars, it was discovered
that the ground was British soil.  The work was abandoned, and so remained until the conclusion of the treaty formed by Daniel Webster and Lord Ashburton in 1842, when the
territorial line was run a little north of the fort.  It is now in course of completion.
The morning on which we left Rouse's Point was clear and calm.     A slight  Agut 8
mist lay upon the water, and over the flat shores of the Richelieu or Sorel River,  1848.
which we had entered, a thin vapor, like a gauze veil, was spread out.  We watched with
interest for the line of separation between the territories.  It was about four o'clock in the
morning when we crossed it, twenty-three miles south of St. John's, and so became "foreigners."  A broad stripe like a meadow-swathe, running east and west, cut in the dwarf forest
upon either side, denotes the landmark of dominion, and by a single revolution of the paddlewheel we passed from the waters of our republic to those of the British realm.  In less than
an hour we were at the landing-place on Isle Aux Noix, a small low island in the Sorel, strongly
fortified by the British as one of their most important outposts in the direction of the United
States.  This island is all clustered with historic associations.  While the fussy custom-house
officer and his attendants are boarding our boat, let us look into the mirror of retrospection.
When the French settlement at Chimney Point was broken up on the approach of Gen-......... --.,~ =
ISLE Aux Noix, IN THE SOREL.!
eral Amherst, in 1.759, the people fled down the lake, and, landing
upon this island, fortified it.  The walnut and hazel abounded there,
and they gave it a name significant of this fact.  Commanding, as
it does, completely the outlet of Lake Champlain, the importance of
its position, in a military view, was at once appreciated.  But the French held possession
only a few months, for in the spring of 1760 they were driven from it by Amherst in his
march toward Montreal.    After the treaty of Paris in 1763, the necessity for a garrison
upon Isle Aux Noix no longer existed, and the fortifications were allowed to crumble into ruins.
In the autumn of 1775 the island was occupied by the Americans, under General Schuyler.  With a considerable force, destined to invade Canada, he sailed down the lake and appeared before St. John's. Informed that the garrison there was too strong for September 6
him, he returned to Isle Aux Noix and fortified it.  From this post he sent out'  1775
a declaration among the Canadians, by Colonel Allen and Major Brown, assuring them that
the Americans intended to act only against the British forts, and not to interfere with the
people or their religion.
The sketch was made from the pilot's room of the steam-boat, about half a mile above the island, looking east-northeast. The landing is a little beyond the trees on the right, where sentinels are stationed.
The island is small, and wholly occupied by the military works. A broad fen extends some distance from
the northern side, and the wild ducks that gather there afford fine amusement for sportsmen during the
hunting season.




168


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


t. John's.  Customnhouse Officer.  Suspicious of an Israelite.  Apparently treasonable Acts of leading Vermonters.
Early in October the Americans, under General Montgomery (Schuyler being ill), left
the island and proceeded to St. John's, whence they marched victoriously to Quebec.       From
that time until the close of the Revolution no permanent garrison was established there, but
the island was the halting-place for the troops of both parties when passing up and down
the lake. It was the principal scene of the negotiations between some of the leading men
of Vermont and British officers, which were so adroitly managed by the former as to keep
an English army of ten thousand men quite inactive on our northern frontier for about three
years.'   The British strongly fortified it in 1813, and it has been constantly garrisoned since.
We arrived at St. John's, on the, Richelieu or Sorel River, between six and seven o'clock
in the morning, where our luggage was overhauled by the custom-house officer, who was received on board at Isle Aux Noix. The operation was neither long nor vexatious, and seemed
to be rather a matter of legal form than induced by a desire or expectation of detecting contraband articles.   In fact, the polite government functionary seemed to have great faith in
mere assertions, and to rely more upon physiognomy than personal inspection of the luggage
for assurance that her majesty's revenue laws were inviolate.     He looked every trunk-owner
full in the face when he queried about the nature of his baggage, and only two persons were
obliged to produce their keys for his satisfaction.  Our trunk was of prodigious size and weight,
and made him very properly suspicious of the truth of my allegations that its contents were
only articles for personal use. A descendant of Abraham at my elbow, with nothing but a
rotund bandana handkerchief, appeared to be my scape-goat on the occasion, for while the
officer was making him untie its hard knots, he ordered my luggage to pass.      I was told that
the word of a poor Jew is never believed by the uncircumcised Gentile who ( sits at the receipt of customs;" but in this instance his incredulity was rebuked, for the Israelite's bundle
contained nothing but a tolerably clean shirt, a cravat, and a small Hebrew Bible.     At eight
1 In 1779-80 the partial dismemberment of Vermont and its connection with New York and New Hampshire produced great bitterness of feeling, and the Legislature of the former demanded of Congress the entire separation of that state from the other states, and its admission into the confederacy upon a basis of
perfect equality. The disputes ran high, and the British entertained hopes that Vermont would be so far
alienated from the rebel cause, by the injustice of Congress, as to be induced to return to its allegiance to
the Britisb, crown. Accordingly, in the spring of 1780, Colonel Beverly Robinson wrote to Ethan Allen
from New York, making overtures to that effect. The letter was not answered, and in February, 1781,
he wrote another, inclosing a copy of the first. These letters were shown to Governor Chittenden and a
few others, and they concluded to make use of the circumstances for the benefit of Vermont. Allen sent
both letters to Congress, and at the same time wrote to that body, urging the justice of the demand of his
state. He closed his letter by saying, " I am as resolutely determined to defend the independence of Vermont as Congress is that of the United States; and, rather than fail, I will retire with the hardy Green
Mountain Boys into the desolate caverns of the mountains and wage war with human nature at large."*
In the mean while, some British soouting parties had captured some Vermonters, and Governor Chittenden
sent Ira Allen and others to negotiate with Colonel Dundas for an exchange of prisoners. They met upon
Isle.Aux Noix, and there Dundas, under the direction of General Haldimand, made verbal overtures similar to the written ones of Robinson to Ethan Allen. The proposals of the British officers were received by
Allen with apparent favor.  Haldimand and Dundas were delighted with their skill in diplomacy, and readily
acceded to the proposition of Allen not to allow hostilities on the Vermont frontier until after the next session of its Legislature. The British force, consisting of about ten thousand men, was thus kept inactive.
These negotiations with the enemy excited the suspicion of the Whigs and the fears of Congress; yet with
such consummate skill did Allen manage the affair, that when he reported the result of his mission to the
Legislature of Vermont, where British emissaries as well as ardent Whigs were in waiting, he satisfied
both parties. Soon afterward a letter from Lord George Germain to Sir Henry Clinton was intercepted
and sent to Congress. It contained so much evidence of the treasonable designs of the leading men in Vermont, that Congress felt more disposed to accede to the demands of that state, and thus retain her in the
Union. Peace soon afterward ensued, and Vermont was one of the United States included in the treaty.
How far the designs of the Aliens, of Chittenden, the Fays, and others, were really treasonable, or were
measures of policy to bring Congress to terms, and prevent hostilities upon their weak frontier, can not be
certainly determined. The probabilities are in favor of the ruse rather than the treason. At any rate, they
should have the benefit of a doubt, and a verdict of acquittal of all wrong intentions.
* A convention, held at Westminster on the 15th of January, 1777, declared " That the district and territory comprehending
and usually known by the name and description of the New Hampshire Grants of right ought to be and is declared forever hereafter to be a free and independent jurisdiction or state, to be forever hereafter called, known, and distinguished by the name
of New Connecticut, alias VERMONT."-See Slade's State Papers, p. 70.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


1 6.9


Military Remains at St. John's.  Present Works.  Athenaise.   Approach of the Americans in 1775.
o'clock my companion and our luggage proceeded by rail-road by way of La Prairie to Montreal, while I prepared to journey to the same city in a light wagon by way of Chambly and
Longueuil.
St. John's is pleasantly situated upon the western side of the Sorel, at the termination of
steam-boat navigation on Lake Champlain, and near the head of Chambly Rapids.   It has
always been a place of considerable importance as a frontier town since the Revolution, although its growth has been slow, the population now amounting to not quite four thousand.  The country on both sides of the river here is perfectly flat, and there is no
place whence the town may be seen to advantage. A little south of the village, and directly'
upon the shore, is a strong military establishment, garrisoned, when we visited it, by three
MILITARY ESTABLISHMENT AT ST. JOHN'S.
companies of Highland infantry.  Accompanied by an intelligent young gentleman of the
village as guide, I visited all the points of historic interest in the vicinity.  We crossed the
deep, sluggish river in a light zinc shallop, and from the middle of the stream we obtained
a fine view of the long bridge2 which connects St. John's with St. Athenaise on the opposite
shore, where the steep roof and lofty glittering spire of the French church towered above
the trees.' After visiting the remains of Montgomery's block-house, we recrossed the river
and rambled among the high mounds which compose the ruins of old Fort St. John's. They
occupy a broad area in the open fields behind the present military works. The embankments, covered with a rich green sward, averaged about twelve feet in height, and the whole
were surrounded by a ditch with considerable water in it. We lingered half an hour to view
a drill of the garrison, and then returned to the village to prepare for a pleasant ride to
Chambly, twelve miles distant.
Military works were thrown up at St. John's by the French, under Montcalm, in 1758,
and these were enlarged and strengthened by Governor Carleton at the beginning of our
Revolution. Here, as we have seen, the first organized American flotilla, under Arnold,
made a regular assault upon British vessels and fortifications, and aroused Sir Guy Carleton
to a sense of the imminent danger of Montreal and Quebec.  Here too was the scene of the
first regular siege of a British fort by the rebellious colonists.  In September,
1775, the Americans, as we have already noticed, sailed down the Richelieu    eemer
and appeared before St. John's. They were fired upon by the English garrison when about
two miles distant, but without effect. They landed within about a mile and a half of the
fort, and, while marching slowly toward the outworks, a small party of Indians attacked
them and produced some confusion. In the evening General Schuyler was informed, by a
man who appeared to be friendly and intelligent, that, with the exception of only fifty men
retained in Montreal by General Carleton, the whole regular British force in Canada was
in the garrison at St. John's; that this and the fort at Chambly were strongly fortified and
well supplied; that one hundred Indians were in the fort at St. John's, and that another
large body, under Colonel John Johnson, was hovering near; that a sixteen gun vessel was
This view is taken from the eastern side of the river, near the remains of a block-house erected by Montgomery when he besieged the fort in 1775. On the right is seen the fort, which incloses the magazine;
in the center is the building occupied by the officers, on either side of which are the barracks of the soldiers.
The large building on the left is the hospital, and the smaller one still further left is the dead-house. The
river here is about a quarter of a mile wide. The present military works are upon the site of those of the
Revolution.
2 It was built by the Honorable Robert Jones, the proprietor, and is called Jones's Bridge.
3 This spacious church was not finished. The old one, a small wooden structure, was undisturbed within
the new one, and was used for worship until the completion of the exterior of the present edifice.




170                       PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Advance of Montgomery against St. Jdhn's.  Mutiny in the American Camp.  Operations at St. John's.
about ready to weigh anchor at St. John's; and that not a single Canadian could be induced
to join the insurgent standard.  The informer was doubtless an enemy to the Americans,
for his assertions were afterward proved to be untrue.  General Schuyler, however, gave
credence to them, and returned with his troops to Isle Aux Noix, where illness obliged him
to leave the army in charge of Montgomery, and retire to the healthier post of Ticonderoga.
Thence he soon went to Albany, and, his health being partially restored, he was active in
forwarding re-enforcements to Isle Aux Noix.
Montgomery, with more impetuosity and less caution than Schuyler, determined to push
forward at once, for the season was near when military operations there would be difficult.
About this time a small train of artillery and a re-enforcement arrived, and he made vigorous preparations to invade Canada.  Before leaving the island, a chevaux-de-frise was thrown
across the channel to intercept the progress of Carleton's vessels up the lake.  On the sevSeptember, enteenth his whole force was landed on the west side of the Richelieu. -On the
1775.  eighteenth he led a corps of five hundred men, in person, to the north side of the
fort, where the village now is. There he met a detachment from the garrison, which had
just repulsed and pursued a small party of Americans under Major Brown, and a short
skirmish ensued. Two field pieces and the whole detachment would doubtless have been
trophies for the Americans had they been true to themselves; but here that insubordination
which gave Montgomery so much trouble was strongly manifested, and caution, secrecy, and
concert of action were out of the question.' Montgomery pushed on a little further northwest, and, at the junction of the roads running respectively to Montreal and Chambly, formed
an intrenched camp of three hundred men to cut off supplies for the enemy from the interior,
and then hastened back to his camp to bring up his artillery to bear upon the walls of the
fort.  The supplies for a siege were very meager.  The artillery was too light, the mortars
were defective, the ammunition scarce, and the artillerists unpracticed in their duties.  The
ground was wet and swampy, and in many places closely studded with trees. In a day or
two disease began to appear among the troops, and, in consequence of their privations, disaffection was working mischief in the army.  To escape these unfavorable circumstances,
Montgomery proposed to move to the northwest side of the fort, where the ground was firm
and water wholesome, and commence preparations for an assault.  But the troops, unused to
military restraint, and judging for themselves that an attack would be unsuccessful, refused
to second the plan of their leader.  Unable to punish them or convince them of their error,
Montgomery yielded to the pressure of circumstances, and so far gratified the mutinous regiments as to call a council of war.  It resulted, as was expected, in a decision against his
plan.  Disorder continually reigned in the American camp.  Irregular firing occurred almost daily, and the enemy threw some bombs, but it was a waste of ammunition by both
parties.  At length the proposed plan of Montgomery was adopted, and the camp was moved
October 7 to the higher ground northwest of the fort, where breast-works were thrown up.
1775.  While the main army was thus circumvallating St. John's, but, for want of ammunition and heavy guns, unable to breach the walls, small detachments of Americans, who
were joined by many friendly Canadians, were active in the vicinity. One, under Ethan
Allen, attempted the capture of Montreal.  Of this foolish expedition I shall hereafter write.
But another, and a successful one, was undertaken, which hastened the termination of
the siege of St. John's.  Carleton, supposing that the fort at Chambly, twelve miles northward, could not be reached by the Americans unless the one at St. John's was captured, had
neglected to arm it, and kept but a feeble garrison there.  Montgomery was informed of
this by Canadian scouts, and immediately sent Colonel Bedell of New Hampshire, Major
Brown of Massachusetts, and Major Livingston of New York, with detachments, to capture
the fort.  The method of attack was planned by Canadians familiar with the place.  Artillery was placed upon bateaux, and during a dark night was conveyed past the fort at St.
John's to the head of Chambly Rapids, where it was mounted on carriages and taken to the
Montgomery's dispatch to General Schuyler.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


171




Attack upon and Surrender of Fort Chambly.  Repulse of Carleton at Longueuil.  Surrender of St. John's.  The Spoils.
point of attack.  The garrison made but a feeble resistance, and soon surrendered.  This
FORT AT CHAMBLY. 1
was a most important event, for it furnished Montgomery with means to carry on the siege
of St. John's vigrorously.2 The large quantity of ammunition that was captured was sent
immediately to the besiegers, who, by vigorous exertions, erected a strong battery within
two hundred and fifty yards of the fort.  A strong block-house was also erected before it,
on the opposite side of the river.  The former was mounted with four guns and
six mortars, and-the latter had one gun and two mortars.                         October30.
While these preparations were in progress, Carleton, informed of the capture of Fort
Chambly, left Montreal with a re-enforcement for the garrison at St. John's.  He embarked
upon the St. Lawrence in bateaux and flat-boats, and attempted to land at Longueuil, a mile
and a half below the city. Colonel Seth Warner, with three hundred Green Mountain Boys,
was on the alert in the neighborhood, and lay in covert near the spot where Carleton was
about to land.  He allowed the boats to get very near the shore, when he opened a terrible
storm of grape-shot upon them from a four pound cannon, which drove them across the river
precipitately and in great confusion.  The tidings of this event reached Mont- November 1,
gomery toward evening, and Colonel Warner soon afterward came in with several      1775.
prisoners captured from one of Carleton's boats that reached the shore.  The commanderin-chief immediately sent a flag and letter to Major Preston, the commandant of the garrison, by one of Warner's prisoners, informing him of the defeat of Carleton, and demanding
a surrender of the fortress to prevent further effusion of blood.  Hostilities ceased for the
night, and in the morning Preston asked for a delay of four days before he should make proposals to surrender.  The request was denied and the demand renewed.     There was no alternative, and the garrison surrendered prisoners of war.  The siege had continued six weeks,
and the bravery and perseverance of the British troops were such, that Montgomery granted
them honorable terms.   They marched out of the fort with the honors of war, and the troops
This is a view of the south and west sides of the fort, looking toward the river. It stands directly upon
the Richelieu, at the foot of- the Chambly Rapids, and at the head of the navigation of the river up from
the St. Lawrence. It is strongly built of stone, and, as seen in the picture, is in a state of excellent preservation.
2 The spoils taken at Chambly were 6 tons of powder; 80 barrels of flour; a large quantity of rice,
butter, and peas 134 barrels of pork; 300 swivel shot; 1 box of musket shot; 6364 musket cartridges;
150 stand of French arms; 3 royal mortars; 61 shells; 500 hand grenades; 83 royal fusileer's muskets
with accouterments; and rigging for 3 vessels. The prisoners consisted of 1 major, 2 captains, 3 lieutenants, captain of a schooner, a commissary and surgeon, and 83 privates. The colors of the seventh regiment of British regulars were there, and were captured. These were sent to the Continental Congress,
and were the first trophies of the first trophies of th at'body received. There were a great number of women
and children in the fort, and these were allowed to accompany the prisoners, who where sent with their
baggage to Connecticut.
Crsnr   atrdfo        n   fCreo'       oasta      ece     h   hr.Tecm           adr




172                         PICTORIAL      FIELD-BOOK
Surrender of St. John's.        Insubordination.           Retreat of the Americans out of Canada.
Nomber 3. grounded their arms on the plain near by.   The officers were allowed to keep
their side-arms, and their fire-arms were reserved for them.  Canadian gentlemen and others at St. John's were considered a part of the garrison.  The whole number
of troops amounted to about five hundred regulars and one hundred Canadian volunteers.'
The Continental troops took possession of the fort, and Montgomery proposed to push on to
Montreal.
Insubordination again raised its hydra-head in the American camp. The cold season was
near at hand, and the raw troops, unused to privations of the field, yearned for home, and
refused, at first, to be led further away.  But the kind temper, patriotic zeal, and winning
eloquence of Montgomery, and a promise on his part that, Montreal in his possession, no
further service would be exacted from them, won them to obedience, and all but a small
garrison for the fort pressed onward toward the city.'
The fort at St. John's remained in possession of the Americans until the latter part of
May, 1776, when they were completely driven out of Canada. Arnold and Sullivan, with
their detachments, were the last to leave that province. The former remained in Montreal
until the last moment of safety, and then pressed on to St. John's, with the enemy close at
his heels.  Two days before, he had ordered the encampment closed there, and a vessel upon
-.:.
ST. JOHN'S, ON THE RICHELIEU on SOREL.
From a drawing by Captain Aubrey, who assisted at its capture in 1776.
the stocks to be taken apart and sent to Ticonderoga.  Sullivan, who was stationed at the
mouth of the Sorel, also retreated to St. John's.  The commanders wished to defend the fort
against the pursuing enemy, but the troops absolutely refused to serve longer, and they all
embarked, and sailed up the lake to Isle Aux Noix. When every loaded boat had left the
shore, Arnold and Wilkinson, his aid, rode back two miles and discovered the enemy in rapid
march under Burgoyne. They reconnoitered them a few moments, and then 'galloped back,
The spoils of victory were 17 brass ordnance, from two to twenty-four pounders; 2 eight-inch howitzers; 7 mortars; 22 iron ordnance, from three to nine pounders; a considerable quantity of shot and small
shells; 800 stand of arms, and a small quantity of naval stores. The ammunition and provisions were in
considerable, for the stock of each was nearly exhausted.
2 Armstrong's Life of Montgomery.




OF THE REVOLUTION                                 173
Rendezvous of Burgoyne's Army at St. John's.  Departure for Chambly.  French Canadian Houses, Farms, and People.
stripped and shot their horses, set fire to the works at St. John's, pushed off from shore in a
small boat, and overtook the flotilla before they reached Isle Aux Noix.  Having no vessels
with which to pursue the Americans, Burgoyne rested at St. John's. In the course of the
autumn he returned to England.
Early in the summer of 1777 St. John's was the theater of active preparations, on the
part of the British, for the memorable campaign which terminated in the capture of Burgoyne and his whole army at Saratoga. This campaign was planned chiefly by Lord George
Germain, the Secretary of War, and Burgoyne, with the approval
of the king and the full sanction of the Council.  Burgoyne was
made commander of the expedition, and arrived at Quebec on the
/,     6th of May.  Carleton gave him his cordial co-operation,, S            and St. John's was the place of general rendezvous for all
T      N        the regulars, provincials, and volunteers.  On the 1st of June an
army of six thousand men was collected there, and, embarking in
boats, sailed up the lake to Cumberland Head, where it halted
to await the arrival of ammunition and stores.  These collected,. nthe whole armament moved up the lake to the north of the Boull   quet, where, as already narrated, a council was held with the In-.. —'.        dian tribes.  As the rest of the story of that campaign, so disas- \            trous to British power in America, has been told in preceding
l                chapters, we will return to St. John's, and pass on to Chambly.
I left St. John's about eleven o'clock in a light wagon, accomLOBD GEORGE GESMAIN.     *
LORD GEORGE GERMAIN.  panied by the young man who acted as guide among the old military remains.  There is but little in the appearance of St. John's to distinguish it from a
large village in the States, but the moment we emerged into the country I felt that I was
in a strange land.  The road traverses the line of the Chambly Canal, which runs parallel with the Richelieu or Sorel River.  The farm-houses are thickly planted by the roadside; so thickly that all the way from St. John's to Chambly and Longueuil we seemed to
be in a village suburb. The farms are diminutive compared with ours, averaging from fifteen to forty acres each, and hence the great number of dwellings and out-houses.  They
are generally small, and built of hewn logs or stone. Most of the dwellings and out-houses
are whitewashed with lime, even the roofs, which gives them a very neat appearance, and
forms a beautiful contrast in the landscape to the green foliage
which embowers them.   I was told that each house contains a
consecrated broom.  When a new dwelling is erected, a broom    |       -
is tabooed by the priest and hung up in the dwelling by the owner,
where it remains untouched, a sort of Lares or household god.    G
Many of them have a cross erected near, as a talisman to guard
the dwelling from evil. They are generally dedicated to St. Peter,
the chief patron saint of the rural French Canadians.  A box,
with a glass door, inclosing an image of the saint, a crucifix,,or  -
some other significant object, is placed upon or within the body
of the cross, and the whole is usually surmounted by a cock.  A  —. —v
singular choice for a crest, for it is a fowl identified with St. Peter's weakness and shame.
It was in the time of hay harvest, and men, women, and children were abroad gathering
the crops.  As among the peasantry of Europe and the blacks of our Southern States, the
women labor regularly in the fields.  They are tidily habited in thin stuff of cotton or
worsted, generally dyed blue, and all of domestic manufacture.  Their costume is graceful,
and, sitting loosely, gives full play to the muscles, and contributes to the high health which
every where abounds in the rural districts of this region.  Their broad-rimmed straw hats,
like the Mexican sombrero, afford ample protection against the hot sun. These also are
home-made, and the manufacture of them for our markets, during the long Canadian winters, affords quite a cash revenue to most of the families. These simple people are generally




1 74


PICC:TORIAL FIELD-BOOK


The Richelieu and its Rapids.  Chambly.    The Fort.      Beloeil Mountain.   Large Cross.
uneducated, and superstition is a strong feature in their religious character.  They are
honest, kind-hearted, and industrious, have few
wants, live frugally, and, in their way, seem to
enjoy a large share of earthly happiness.
The Richelieu has either a swift current or
noisy rapids nearly the whole distance between
St. John's and Chambly. The stream is broad,
and in many places deep, for it is the outlet for
the whole volume of the waters of Lake Champlain into the St. Lawrence.  In some places
the foaming rapids produce a picturesque effect
to the eye and ear, and vary the pleasure of
the otherwise rather monotonous journey between the two villages.
Chambly is an old town, at the foot of the
i- -'   /1'      rapids; and bears evidence of thrift. A French_                                    man bearing that name built a small wood fort
there, which was afterward replaced by the
^-S                            solid stone structure pictured on page 171.
The latter retained the name of the original
-.'.::             -  fort, as also does the village.  It is a military
CANADIAN PEASANT GIRL.         station at present, and, being at the head of
the navigation of the Richelieu or Sorel from the St. Lawrence, has a commanding position.
The river here, at the foot of the falls, expands into a circular basin about a mile and a half
8 in diameter.  The old fort is dismantled and ungarrisoned, and is now used only for a
store-house.  Near it are seen the remains of the battery erected by Bedell, while preparing to storm the fort in 1775.  I tarried at Chambly long enough only to reconnoiter and
sketch the old fortress and the features of the Beloeil, the only mountain range in view, and
BELOEIL MOUNTAIN.'
then went to an inn to dine, a mile on the road toward Longueuil. There I learned that
a French Canadian, nearly one hundred years old, was living near. Although the sun was
declining, and we had seventeen miles' travel before us, I determined to visit the old man
'This sketch is taken from the southeast angle of old Fort Chambly, showing the rapids in the foreground. The mountain is twenty miles distant, near the Sorel. On the highest point of the range the
Bishop of Nancy, a French prelate, erected a huge cross in 1843, the pedestal of which was sufficiently
large to form a chapel capable of containing fifty persons. In November, 1847, during a severe thundergust, the lightning and wind completely demolished the cross, but spared the pedestal, and that, being
white, may be seen at a great distance.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                 175
Francois Yest.  His Age and Reminiscences.  Temperance Pledge.  Ride to Longueuil.  A Caleche.
and sound his memory.  We met him upon the road, coming toward the inn.  He had just
left his rake in the field, and had on a leather apron and broad-rimmed hat. He was a small,
firmly-built man, apparently sixty-five years old.  Conversation with him was difficult, for
his dialect, professedly French, was far worse than Gascon.  Still we managed to understand each other, and I gleaned from him, during our brief interview, the facts that he was
born in Quebec in 1752; remembered the storming of the city by the English under Wolfe;
removed to Chambly in 1770; was a spectator of the capture of the fort by a detachment
from Montgomery's army in 1775; assisted in furnishing stores for Burgoyne's army at St.
John's in 1777; and has lived upon and cultivated the same small farm of thirty acres from
that time until the present.  He was ninety-six years old, and appeared to have stamina sufficient for twenty years more of active life.  He seemed to be a simple-hearted creature, ignorant of the world beyond the Richelieu and the adjacent village, and could not comprehend
my movements while sketching his honest countenance. He was delighted, however, when
he saw the outlines of an                                    fore, and he felt insulted
old man's face, and knew             -                       by the seeming attempt
them to be his own; and,                              to win him from his alwhen I presented him       /          ~'";          \       legiance.  Glorious old
with a silver coin, he,. convert, and firm  old
laughed like a pleased   '\                                  preacher of principle in
child.  But when the               -                     \   the very den of the fierce
young naan who accom-           -                            lion, for decanters were
panied me, with intend-                                      at his elbow, and a
ed  generosity,  offered                                     friendly hand proffered
him a glass of brandy,   \       \        '     s     - /    the contents to his lips
his eves sparkled with                                  / i;' '/  A vow  of total abstiindignation, and in his                                      nence from intoxicating
bad French he uttered.drinks at the age of
an emphatic refusal. lie                                     ninety-five  For that
had signed the temper-              FRANCOIS YEST.           I pressed the hard hand
ance pledge a year be-                                       of FRANCOIS YEST with
a firmer grasp when I bade him adieu.
We had a pleasant ride from Chambly to Longueuil (seventeen miles) over a plank road.
Unlike similar roads in New York, the planks were laid diagonally. They had been in use
twelve years, and were but little decayed.  The country all the way to the St. Lawrence
is flat.  The soil, though rather wet, is productive, and almost every rood of it was under
cultivation.  Here and there were a few groves, but no forests; and a solitary huge bowlder
by the road-side, shivered by lightning, was the
only rock that I saw between the Richelieu and: ' I     AJk                 the St. Lawrence.  When within three miles of.:iuiyh                               Longueuil, the glittering domes and spires of Mont-: j     -                           real appeared in the distance like gems set in the...dark mountain that formed a background beyond.
A THUNDERSTRUCK ROCK.           It was five o'clock when we reached Longueuil, a mile and a half below Montreal, on the opposite side of the river. There I parted
from the young gentleman whose light wagon had conveyed me from St. John's, and proceeded to Montreal on the steam ferry-boat that connects it with Longueuil.  Neither cab
nor omnibus was in waiting, and I was obliged to ride a mile in a rickety caleche,' drawn
1 The caleche is a two-wheeled vehicle, much used in Lower Canada. It is similar in form to our gig,
but, instead of having but one seat, there is one for the driver upon the dash-board. Four can ride comfortably in one of them. Some are made elegantly, with a folding cover to ward off the sun or rain, and
they are a pleasant vehicle to ride in. I found them in universal use in the narrow streets of Quebec. Such
was the vehicle in use in Canada at the time of our Revolution, and mentioned by the Baroness Reidesel
as the kind in which she and her children traveled with the British army.




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Rid in a Caleche.      Safe Arrival of my Companion..An Evening Stroll.    Aurora Borealis.
by a representative of Rosinante.  The vehicle, horse, driver, and ride altogether made a
funny affair. The driver was a little Frenchman, with a
jocky-coat and breeches, and a red tasseled skull-cap.  All.
the way he belabored his beast with blows and curses, but                     -
the animal's hide and ears seemed impervious.  I could think
of nothing but a parody on a couplet of the old song, ( If I
had a donkey," &c.   As we wheeled up a narrow court from
St. Paul's Street to the Exchange Hotel, a merry laugh of
half a furlong's audibility rang out from a group of young           -
ladies upon an upper piazza, and that was my first evidence           A CALECHE.
that my traveling companion, Miss B-, had arrived safely,
as per consignment in the morning to the care of the urbane proprietors of that excellent
establishment.  She had rambled through the city with pleasant company until thoroughly
wearied, so I took an evening stroll alone. The day had been very warm, but the evening
was cool. The stars were brilliant, yet it was too dark to see much beyond the dim forms
of massy buildings, wrapped in deep shadows. But above, in the far north, a phenomenon
seldom exhibited in summer was gorgeously displayed; more so than we often see it in
lower latitudes in winter, and I stood an hour in the Place d'Arms, watching the everchanging beauties of the brilliant Aurora Borealis. It is a strange sight, and well might
the ignorant and superstitious of other times regard it with fearful wonder. Lomonosov, a
native Russian poet, thus refers to the sublime spectacle:
"What fills with dazzling beams the illumined air?
What wakes the flames that light the firmament?.
The lightning's flash; there is no thunder there,
And earth and heaven with fiery sheets are blent;
The winter's night now gleams with brighter, lovelier ray
Than ever yet adorned the golden summer's day.
"Is there some vast, some hidden magazine,
Where the gross darkness flames of fire suppliesSome phosphorous fabric, which the mountains screen,
Whose clouds of light above those mountains rise,
When the winds rattle loud around the foaming sea,
And lift the waves to heaven in thundering revelry?"




OF THE REVOLUTIO N.


177


OTHREOUOFN17


Montreal. A Ride to the Mountain. Interesting View. Visit to the City Churches. Parliament House. Grey Nunnery.
CHAPTER VIII.
HE pleasure-seeker will find much about Montreal to amuse him; and the
staid traveler, searching for the gold of general knowledge, might fill a large
chapter in his journal, in recording what is noteworthy among present things.      there.  Mine is a tour too specific in its aim to allow much latitude of de\L       parture from historic research, and, therefore, things irrelevant, yet incident^      M     ally. connected with the objects of the journey, must be passed by with brief
notice.
Early on the morning after our arrival we joined purses and com- August 9,
pany with a young married couple from Burlington, who were on a    1848.
wedding jaunt, and, procuring a barouche, went out to visit the " lions" of the
city and suburbs.  We first rode to the "I Mountain," a lofty hill on the west,
in the rear of the city, composed chiefly of a sort of compound trap-rock slightly
covered with soil upon its summit, and crowned with a forest of small trees. The road, as
it winds up its southern slope, passes the Priests' Farm,1 the Governor's Palace, and many
beautiful villas, and opens to the view a lovely, cultivated country on the western part of the
island and the Isle of Jesus beyond. Near the summit of the mountain is a cottage completely enveloped in trees and shrubbery, where ices, wines, and fruit tempt the appetite.
We loitered in its sweet flower-gardens for half an hour, and then ascended to the hill-top.
Beautiful panorama! The city, with its numerous polished tin roofs, lay glittering at our
feet in the morning sun. The broad St. Lawrence, cleft by St. Helen's and one or two
smaller islands, was teeming with water craft, and in every direction the landscape was
dotted with little villages, each having its church, " pointing its taper spire to Heaven."
We descended the northern slope of the mountain to the city, and visited St. James's or
the Bishop's Church, one of the largest and most richly decorated church edifices in the
province. It is the cathedral of the titular Bishop of Montreal, and contains many fine
European paintings over the several altars. There were worshipers at all the altars, and
some of the confessionals were occupied by penitents and priests. An attendant, a devout
old Frenchman, showed us a number of relics, and assured us, by a printed placard in French,
that certain prayers and money-offerings at the different shrines would blot out a host of
transgressions.  Our Protestant education taught us that prayers without faith avail nothing; and our faith in this particular being like a " grain of mustard seed," we saved our
money and time, and hastened to the Parliament House and the Grey Nunnery near.    We
stepped into the capacious parish Church or Cathedral of Notre Dame on our way. It has
a marble font said to be twelve hundred years old, having belonged to a church in Rome in
the seventh century. We visited the Legislative chambers and the valuable library in the '
Parliament House,2 and then rang for entrance at the gate of the GREY NUNNERY, or General Hospital of the Charitable Sisters. This, as an almoner of comforts to the aged and
lonely, is a noble institution, the income of the establishment, and the whole time of the SisThe "Priests' Farm" (La Maison des Pretres) is an ecclesiastical establishment situated on the south
side of the " Mountain." The buildings, inclosed within high walls, with massive round towers, are large,
and have an antique appearance. They are surrounded by several fine gardens and orchards, and, in summer, are a weekly resort for the professors and pupils of the seminary and college.
2 The Parliament House and the valuable library within it, containing the Legislative records of the
province, were burned by a political mob in April, 1849. The loss is irreparable, for many of the book
were too rare to be replaced.


M




178


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


The Grey Nuns at Prayer.    First Settlements at Montreal.  Cartier.    Jealousy of the Indians.
ters of Charity connected with it, being devoted to the relief of poor and infirm old persons,
and the nurture and education of orphans.' The building is spacious, and a large number
of both classes are there made comfortable.  Our visit was at mid-day.   When the clock
struck twelve, a long procession of the nuns, veiled, marched slowly into the chapel, singing
a Gregorian chant, and knelt within the nave in prayer. We followed in respectful silence.
Each nun had a small crucifix and string of beads attached; and whatever may have been
the case with their thoughts, their eyes never wandered, notwithstanding strangers were gazing upon them.     They were habited in dark
drab dresses, bound with black velvet and looped up behind; aprons
with stripes, and over the head (on which they wore a cap with a deep
border), covering the face and neck, a thin black veil was thrown,
through which the features were discernible.  Some were young and
pretty, others old and plain,' but the sacred character of their labor of
love invested them all with beauty.  We visited a few other places
of note, and, after, lunch," I left my company and went down to
Longueuil, where Carleton was defeated by Warner in 1775.      We
are upon historic ground; let us open the old volume a few moments.
Montreal is built upon an island thirty miles long and twelve wide,
and is upon the site of ancient Hochelaga, a noted Indian village
which gave its name to the river in this vicinity.  The first white
man who visited the spot was Jaques Quartier or Cartier, a  October 3,
French navigator, who discovered the Gulf and River St.      1535.
Lawrence, and gave them the name they bear.2      The vicinity, even
GREY NUN PAYING.    up the slopes of the mountain, was tilled and covered with corn-fields.
Cartier was enchanted with the view from the mountain-a view of
"thirty leagues radius"-and, in honor of his king (Francis I.), he called it Mount Royal.
In time the name was modified to Montreal, and in this form was borne by the white settlement that gathered there in 1640.   The spot was consecrated by the superior of the Jesuits,
and a chapel built in 1642.
The Indians, at first'friendly, became jealous, and at length hostile. The town was stockaded and slight bastions were built, but finally a strong wall of masonry was constructed,
fifteen feet high, with battlements and six gates.  The town gradually increased in size and
commercial importance, and at the time of our Revolution was nearly as populous as Quebec.
When, toward the middle of the last century, hostilities commenced between the English and
French colonies, Montreal was an important place as a frontier town.     There Duquesne
de Menneville' and Vaudreuil de Cavagnal, French governors of Canada, fitted out their expeditions against the English on the Ohio and the unfriendly Indians of New York. Montreal was threatened by the English under Amherst in 1759, but it was not until the autumn
September 8, of 1760 that it passed out of the possession of the French.  Quebec surrendered
1760.    a year before, and Vaudreuil retreated to Montreal, with a determination to make
l This hospital was founded by M. Charron and others, in 1692. In 1748 it passed into the hands of a
society of ladies, at the head of whom was Madame Youville, who, being left a widow at the age of twentyeight, determined to devote her life and fortune to the relief of the infirm poor. In 1755 the plan of the
establishment was enlarged, so as to embrace orphans, the cause of which was singular, as given in Bosworth's "'Picture of Montreal." One winter day, as Madame Y. was passing the " Little River," she saw
an infant hard frozen in the ice, with a poniard sticking in its throat, and one of its little hands raised through
the ice as if in the attitude of demanding justice against the perpetrator of the crime. Madame Y. was
dreadfully shocked at the sight, and, on consultation with her associates, it was resolved to extend their
charity and protection to orphans and foundlings.
2 He arrived in the gulf on the festival of St. Lawrence (10th of August), and, on account of that circumstance, named the waters in honor of the saint.
3 He built a fort on the Ohio, which was called Fort Duquesne. It is memorable as the place near
which Braddock was defeated in 1755, when Washington's military talents were first conspicuously developed. The name of the fort was changed to Pitt, and the present city of Pittsburgh stands upon its site.




OF THE REVOLUTION.             179


'Montreal in 1760.  Captured by the English.  Ethan Allen in Canada.  Proposed Attack on Montreal.
there a bold stand in defense of French dominion in Canada. The English invested MontVIEW OF MONTREAL AND ITS WALLS IN 1760.1
From an old French print.
real in September, 1 760.  Amherst approached down the St. Lawrence from Oswego, General Murray advanced up the river from Quebec, and Colonel Haviland took post on the
south side of the St. Lawrence, opposite the city.  Vaudreuil perceived that re- September 6,
sistance would be vain, and two days afterward the city was surrendered to the  1760.
English.  With this event French dominion ceased in Canada.  The terms of capitulation
were honorable to both parties.  Private property was respected; the revenues of the priesthood were held sacred to their use; the.Roman Catholic religion was undisturbed; the
privileges of all classes were preserved and guarantied; and every thing was done to reconcile the people to their new masters. General Gage, afterward Governor of Massachusetts,
was appointed Governor of Montreal.
Montreal remained in quiet possession of the English until 1775, when the invading army
of the insurgent colonies disturbed its repose, after the capture of Forts St. John's and Chambly. A month previous to these events the town was alarmed by the appearance of' an
American detachment under Ethan Allen, but the result quieted their fears. When the
command of the Northern army devolved upon Montgomery, he sent Allen, who had been
traversing Canada in the neighborhood of the St. Lawrence, to retrace his steps and further
arouse the people in favor of the rebellion.  Active and brave, Allen gathered a large number to his standard. ' A week after he left the American camp at Isle Aux Noix he was at
St. Ours, twelve miles south of the Sorel, with two hundred and fifty Canadians under arms.
He wrote to Montgomery that within three days he would join him in laying siege to St.
John's, with at least five hundred armed Canadians. On his way to join the main army,
he marched up the east side of the St. Lawrence to Longueuil. When between that place
and La Prairie, he fell in with Major Brown, at the head of an advanced party of Americans and Canadians, who informed him that Montreal was weak and defenseless, and proposed to make a joint attack upon the city.  Allen had confidence in the courage and judgment of Brown, and, as the scheme opened an adventurous field, he agreed to the proposition.


1 The island with buildings, seen on the left, is St. Helen's or Helena, now strongly fortified. It is in
front of the city, a mile distant, and is a beautiful summer resort. It formerly belonged to the Barons of
Longueuil, and is now the property of the crown. The picture is a fac-simile of the print, with all its defects in drawing.




I 80                         PICTORIAL        FIELD-BOOK
Battle near Montreal.  Capture of Allen. Brutality of Prescott  Harsh Treatment of the Prisoners. Biography of Allen.
Allen was to return to Longueuil, procure canoes, and cross the St. Lawrence with his troops
below the city, while Brownvas to cross above the town, with two hundred men, and the
attack was to be made at opposite points simultaneously.
September 24,  Allen crossed the river at night with eighty Canadians and thirty Americans.
1775.    It was a rough, windy night, and so few were the canoes that they had to cross
'three times, yet the whole party passed the foaming waters in the light vessels safely before
daylight. At dawn Allen expected to hear the signal of Brown, but the morning advanced,
and it was evident that the latter had not crossed over.  Guards were placed upon the roads
to prevent persons from carrying intelligence into the town, and Allen would have retreated
if his boats could have carried all over at once.
The Americans being discovered, armed men were soon seen issuing from the gates. A
force of forty British regulars, more than two hundred Canadians, and a few Indians came
down upon them from the town; but, notwithstanding the disparity in numbers, such was
the bravery of some of the Americans, that the engagement lasted an hfur and three quarters. At length, his men having all deserted but twenty-eight, seven of whom were wounded, Allen agreed to a surrender upon being promised honorable terms. They were marched
to Montreal, and the officers who were on the field acted very civilly toward them; but when
they were delivered into the custody of General Prescott, they experienced the most brutal
treatment at his hands. On learning, by conversation with Allen, that he was the same
man who had captured Ticonderoga, Prescott was greatly enraged, threatened him with a
halter, and ordered him to be bound hand and foot in irons and placed on board the Gaspee
war schooner. A bar of iron eight feet long was attached to his shackles, and, with his fellow-prisoners, who were fastened together in pairs with handcuffs, he was thrust into the
lowest part of the ship, where neither seat nor bed was allowed them.' We shall have cont Ethan Allen was born in Roxbury, Litchfield county, in Connecticut. He went to Vermont at an early
age, and about 1770 took an active part in the disturbances that occurred between the Hampshire Grants
and the state of New York. The Legislature of the latter province proclaimed him an outlaw, and offered
fifty pounds sterling for his apprehension. A party, determining to capture him while on a visit to his friends
in Salisbury and lodge him in the jail at Poughkeepsie, came near effecting their object. He afterward led
the expedition against Ticonderoga, and his former sins were forgotten by his enemies. In the autumn of
1775 he was twice sent into Canada to observe the disposition of the people, and, if possible, win them
over to the American. cause. On returning from his last tour to camp, he was induced by Major Brown to
cross the St. Lawrence and attack Montreal. The former failed to eo-operate with him, and he was captured and put in irons. He remained five weeks in irons on board the Gaspee, at Montreal, and when
Carleton was repulsed by Warner at Longueuil, the vessel was sent down to Quebec. There he was transferred to another vessel, where he was treated humanely, and sent to England to be tried for treason. He
was placed in charge of Brook Watson, a resident of Montreal, and afterward Lord Mayor of London. 'Allen, in his grotesque garb, attracted great attention in the streets of Falmouth, where he was landed. He
was confined for a time in Pendennis Castle, near Falmouth, and was sent to Halifax in the spring of 1776.
He was confined in jail there until autumn, and was then sent to New York, then in possession of the British. There he was kept about a year and a half. In May, 1778, he was exchanged for Colonel Campbell, and returned to his fireside in Vermont. He never afterward actively engaged in military service.
He died at Colchester, Vermont, February 13th, 1789, and his remains repose in a beautiful cemetery near
the Winooski, at Burlington. Ethan Allen was a blunt, honest man, of purest virtue and sternest integrity.
In religion he was a free-thinker, and passed for an infidel. An anecdote is related of him, which illustrates the purity of his principles. He owed a citizen of Boston sixty pounds, for which he gave his promissory note. It was sent to Vermont for collection. It was inconvenient for Allen to pay, and the note
was put in suit. Allen employed a lawyer to attend the court, and have the judgment postponed until he
could raise the money. The lawyer determined to deny the genuineness of the signature, as the readiest
method of postponing the matter, for in that case a witness at Boston would have to be sent for. When
the case was called, it happened that Allen was in a remote part of the court-house, and, to his utter astonish    /
ment, heard his lawyer gravely deny the signature of the
note. With long and fierce strides he rushed through
the crowd, and, confronting the amazed " limb of the law," t' /P
rebuked him in a voice of thunder. " Mr. --, I did not
hire you to come here and lie. That is a true note-I        SIGNATURE OF ETHAN ALLEN.
signed it-I'll swear to it-and I'll pay it. I want no
shuffling, I want time. What I employed you for was to get this business put over to the next court, not




OF THE REVOLUTION.


1 8 I


Montgomery's March upon Montreal. Flight and Capture of Prescott. Escape of Carleton. Mutiny in Montgomery's Camp.


siderable to say of the character and career of the brutal Prescott, while commanding afterward on Rhode Island.
The cause of Major Brown's failure to cross, and, with Allen, attack Montreal,. has never
been explained.  The plan was good, and would doubtless have been successful.  Half carried out, it proved disastrous, and both Brown and Alien were blamed, the one for proposing, the other for attempting, such a hazardous enterprise.
After the fall of St. John's, General Montgomery pressed on toward Montreal. Carleton
knew its weakness, and at once retreated on board one of the vessels of a small fleet lying in
the river.  Montgomery entered the town in triumph the day after Carleton and November I,
the garrison left it.  He treated the people humanely, and secured their confi-  1775.
dence and good will. Finding there a large supply of woolen goods, he set about clothing
his army, so that those who accompanied him further in the campaign might be prepared
for the rigors of a Canadian winter.
As soon as Montgomery saw the disposition of the garrison to flee, he dispatched Colonel
Easton with Continental troops, cannon, and armed gondolas to the mouth of the Sorel.
This force was so advantageously posted that the British fleet could not pass, and General
Prescott, several officers, members of the Canadian Council, and one hundred and twenty
private soldiers, with all the vessels, surrendered by capitulation.' At the midnight preced.
ing Governor Carleton was conveyed in a boat, with muffled oars, past the American post
to Three Rivers, and                                         the important posts in
arrived safely at Que-        /                  \           Canada except Quebec
bec.  The Americans         /                                were now in possession
were very anxious to      /                                  of the Americans, Montsecure Governor Carle-   /                                   gomery justly asserted,
ton, for his talents, judg-                             \    in a letter to Congress,
ment,  and   influence                                       that, "till Quebec is
formed  the  basis of                                     \  taken, Canada is unstrength  against the                                        conquered."  Impressinvaders.  They were             ~-:                         ed with this idea, he
watchful in their guard-                                     determined to push forboats, but a dark night way                               ' ward to the capital deand a secret way fa-                             Ispite the inclemency of.


vored his escape, and                                        i  the season and the dethey secured a far in-                                          sertion  of his troops.
ferior captive in Pres-                                         The term of service of
cott, whose conduct, on    1                                    many had expired, and
many occasions, made                                            others absolutely refus'
him  a disgrace to the                                          ed to proceed further.
British army.                       Sm Guy CArLETON.2           Insubordination  mani-~...,.,,            From a London print dated 178',.  r  _.  a.
Notwithstanding all             rested itself among the
officers, and it required all the address the general was master of to induce a respectable
force to march to Quebec, after garrisoning Montreal.  But amid all these discouragements


to come here and lie and juggle about it."  The result was, that the postponement of the claim was amicably arranged between the two lawyers.
1 There were eleven sail of vessels. Their contents were 760 barrels of flour, 675 barrels of beef, 376
firkins of butter, 3 barrels of powder, 4 nine and six pounders, cartridges and ball, 2380 musket cartridges.
8 chests of arms, 200 pairs of shoes, and a quantity of intrenching tools.
2 Guy Carleton, afterward Lord Dorchester, was Wolfe's quartermaster at the storming of Quebec, and
was appointed a major in the British army in 1772. In 1774 he was constituted Captain-general and Governor of Quebec or Canada. He successfully commanded the British at Quebec when attacked by Montgomery in 1775, compelled the Americans to raise the siege in 1776, and drove them out of the province.
In October he recaptured Crown Point. He was unjustly superseded in military command by Burgoyne
in 1777. 'He was appointed to succeed Sir Henry Clinton in 1782, and was in command of the British
troops when they evacuated New York on the 25th of November, 1783. He died in England at the close
of 1808, aged 83 years.




182                       PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Return Home of the Disaffected.  Visit to Longueuil.  The Village Oracle.  Fruitless Historical Research.
the hopeful general did not despair.  He knew that Arnold was traversing the wilderness
along the Kennebeck and the Chaudiere to join him, and was then, perhaps, menacing Quebec; and.he knew also that the troops under Carleton and M'Lean were hardly adequate to
defend the city, even against a smaller force than his own. He winnowed his army of the
recusant and mutinous, and then pushed onward down the St. Lawrence.1
I remarked that I left my pleasant company at Montreal, and went down to Longueuil.
My object was to ascertain, if possible, the place where Warner planted his battery and repulsed the boats of Carleton. Longueuil is an old town, chiefly composed of small stone
houses with steep roofs. It has a spacious French church, of antique appearance, though
not more than thirty years old. The people all speak bad French, and for more than an
hour I sought the ( oldest inhabitant."  That mysterious creature was an old woman of
unknown age, and so deaf that she could not hear half I said, or understand a word. I reciprocated the latter infirmity, and now confess profound ignorance of all she attempted to
say.  An intelligent lad came to the rescue, and silenced our jargon batteries by referring
me to his uncle, who lived near the beach, and ( knew every thing." He was a man about
fifty, and spoke English pretty well. I made my business known, and he at once assumed
the patronizing air of Sir Oracle, said he knew it all, and pointed to the shore a little above
as the very spot where ( the cavalry horses were stabled," and where, the English dragoons
drank a health to King George and vowed death to the Yankees." He knew Sir George
Prevost, and praised the veterans of Wellington who accompanied him. As British dragoons and Wellington's veterans were not with Carleton, and as my mentor's first birth-day
doubtless occurred twenty years after the time in question, I properly doubted his knowledge
of the facts I was in search of. I told him that it was the American Revolution I was inquiring about.  He did not seem to understand me, and I called it rebellion.  ", Oh oui
yes, yes, I know," he exclaimed.  ( Two hundred crossed here for St. John's.  Captain
Glasgow was a fine fellow. Pity Lord Elgin wasn't as great a man as Sir John Colborne."
With exhausted patience, I explained to him the time and nature of the revolution of the
last century, but he had never heard of it! He knew nothing behind his own " life and
times." As he represented the, collective wisdom" of the village, I despaired of better
success, and returned to Montreal with the fruit of a three hours' expedition under a hot
sun-a Yankee's postulate-a shrewd guess.    I was as little successful in my search at
Montreal for the battle-ground where Ethan Allen and his men were made prisoners. An
intelligent gentleman, who was one of the leaders in the rebellion there in 1837, assured
me that the spot was unknown to the inhabitants, for tradition has but little interest in keeping its finger upon the locality, and not a man was living who had personal knowledge of
the event. It is probable that the northern suburbs of the city now cover the locality, and
that the place is not far from the present Longueuil ferry-landing.
Having accomplished my errand at Montreal, we departed for Quebec toward evening,
in the fine steamer John Munn, accompanied by our Burlington friends of the morning.
The magnificent stone quays were crowded with people, and our boat had a full complement
of passengers.  At the lower end of St. Helen's we entered the St. Mary's Rapids, and,
darting past Longueuil, were soon out of sight of the spires of Montreal.  The banks of the
river are low, and on either side villages and cultivated fields exhibited an ever-changing and
pleasing panorama. Belceil Mountain loomed up eastward of us, and the white chapel, the
pedestal of the bishop's huge cross upon the loftiest summit, sparkled like a star in the beams
of the setting sun. It was twilight when we arrived at William Henry, or Sorel, an old
town, forty-five miles below Montreal, at the mouth of the Richelieu or Sorel River.  A
1 Several hundred of the militia, regardless of order, took the nearest route to their respective homes in
New England and New York. About three hundred arrived in a body at Ticonderoga, and, flinging their
heavy packs over their shoulders, crossed the lake on the ice, and traversed the wilderness through the deep
snow to their homes in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. It was an undertaking quite as
perilous as the siege of Quebec. The endearments of home were the goal of the one, military glory was
that of the other. The choice, though not creditable to them as patriots, deserves our respectful homage.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


183


Arrival at Sorel.  Voyage down the St. Lawrence.  Morning View of Quebec.  The Walls of Quebec.
French engineer named Sorel built a fort there as early as 1665, and the present town occupies its site.  Our boat tarried there an hour for passengers and freight, but it grew too
dark to see much of the town. A motley group crowded the narrow wharf, and when we
left, the forward deck was covered with cabbages, leeks, and onions for the Quebec market,
which afforded perfume gratuitously for the whole boat.
Sorel was a place of considerable importance at the time of our Revolution.  Standing
at the mouth of a navigable river, and at the narrowest part of the St. Lawrence between
Montreal and Quebec, its possession was important to both belligerents. When the Americans approached Canada in 1775, Colonel M'Lean, with a Scotch regiment of Royal Highlanders, went up from Quebec and took station there.  When Carleton left Montreal to reenforce the garrison at St. John's, M'Lean was to join him near Longueuil; but the unexpected repulse of the former by the Green Mountain Boys, and the spreading of American detachments over the country east of the St. Lawrence, between it and the Richelieu, so alarmed M'Lean, that he not only fell back precipitately to Sorel, but abandoned that post to Colonel Easton, and retired to Quebec. At Sorel, Colonel Easton did good service a few weeks
later, when, with floating batteries and cannon on shore, he disputed the passage of the British fleet retreating from Montreal, and captured the whole flotilla, with General Prescott.
Leaving Sorel, we passed several islands, and then entered Lake St. Peter's, an expansion of the St. Lawrence about twenty-five miles long, and having an average width of
nine miles. A half moon dimly lighted the sluggish waters, and defined an outline of the
huge serpent of smoke which our vessel left trailing behind. The shores disappeared in the
night shadows, and one after another of the passengers retired to bed, until the promenade
deck was deserted, except by two young ladies, whose sweet voices charmed us for an hour with
( Dearest May" and kindred melodies.  It was near midnight when the nightingales ceased
their warbling, and I sought the repose of my state-room.
Three Rivers, St. Anne's, the Richelieu Rapids, Cape Rouge, Chaudiere, Sillery Cove,
and New Liverpool were all passed during our slumbers, but we were upon the deck in the
morning in time to catch the first glimpse of Quebec in the distance. A forest of masts,
above which loomed Cape Diamond crowned with the gray citadel and its threatening ord.
nance, were the first objects in view.  But as our vessel made a graceful sweep toward Point
Levi, and,( rounded to" at the Queen's Wharf, I think I never saw a more picturesque scene.
It was just at sunrise, and the morning was cloudless.  As the orb...,",'            of day came up from the eastern hills, the city, spread out upon the
)     a[ /^    $     steep acclivities and along the St. Charles, reflected back its bright
/b L      A.:  rays from a thousand windows, and roofs of polished tin.  All was
f        -fM-   a-glow with luster, except the dark walls and the shipping, and for
1 oTPP R     J/   ' the moment the creations of Aladdin's Lamp seemed before us.
TOWTN 9s         The enchantment was soon over, and was succeeded by the sober
1c       ";    'prose of travel, as we passed slowly to the upper town along the
L  y< '" l narrow and crooked Mountain Street, through Prescott Gate, closely
-—, 0    jammed in a pigmy coach.    We found comfortable quarters at the
Cd'tadedo..     Albion, on Palace Street, one of the most respectable English hotels in
\  ^      the upper city.  After breakfast we ordered a barouche, to visit the Falls of
1/y' "t  Montmorenci, the Plains of Abraham, and other places of note, and obtained,' - '      a permit from the commandant to enter the citadel.  Before making the interesting tour, let us turn to a map of the city, trace out its walls and gates
and general topography, and consult the chronicle of its history; then we shall view its celebrities understandingly.
EXPLANATION OF THE DIAGRAM.-A is the St. Charles River; B, the St. Lawrence; a is Palace Gate;
b, Gate St. John's; c, Gate St. Louis; d, Governor's Garden, wherein is a stone monument in memory of
Wolfe and Montcalm; e, the portion of Cape Diamond at the foot of which Montgomery was killed; f, the
grand battery; g, Prescott Gate; h, Hope Gate; o is a bold point of rock in the 'Satdt-au-Matelot, where
Arnold was wounded. The walls here given, with the citadel, incloso the upper town.




184                        P CTORIAL FIELD-BOO'K
Sitation of Quebec.  Early Settlements and Growth.  French Operations in America.  Approach of Wolfe to Quebec.
Quebec is situated upon and around a lofty promontory at the -confluence of the St. Lawrence and the St. Charles Rivers, and is so strongly guarded against intruders, by steep acclivities on nearly three sides, that it has been aptly named the " Gibraltar of America,"
Art has added strength to these natural defenses, and, except on the rear, it is absolutely
impregnable to any known implements of war. Before it spreads out a magnificent basin,
where a hundred ships of the line might ride at anchor; and around it, as far as the eye
can reach, industry has planted a beautiful garden.  The plains of the St. Charles, the towering Cap Tourment, the Falls of Montmorenci and of the Chaudiere, the lovely Island of
Orleans, and the pleasant slopes of Point Levi, unite, with the city itself, to make up a
cluster of attractions with which those of few places on earth can vie.
July,   The foundation of the city was laid two hundred and forty years ago, by Samuel
1608. Champlain, and yet it is just upon the margin of the primeval forest, which extends
from a narrow selvage of civilization along the St. Lawrence to the Arctic regions. When
Champlain, with great parade, laid the foundation stone of the future city, Old Hochelaga
(now Montreal), discovered by Cartier more than a hundred years before, was blotted from
existence, and but a few whites were planting corn and sowing wheat where the Indian
gardens had flourished. Religion and commerce joined hands, and the new city soon became
the capital of French dominion in America. From it missionaries and traders went westward to obtain peltry and furs, make geographical discoveries, and convert the heathen, and
in a few years the French language was heard in the deep forests that skirted the vast lakes,
from the Thousand Islands at the foot of Ontario to the broad waters of the Huron. Immigration steadily augmented the population, churches and convents were erected,1 and the
bastioned walls of old Fort St. Louis, mounted with cannon, were piled around the temples
of the Prince of Peace at Quebec; for the treacherous Algonquin, the wily Iroquois, and the
bloody Huron, though mutual enemies, coalesced in jealousy of the French and a desire to
crush their rising strength. As the colony increased in power, and, through its missionaries, in influence over the Indian tribes, the more southern English colonies became jealous,
and a.deep-seated animosity between them prevailed for a generation.  At length the two
governments quarreled, and their respective colonies gladly espoused each the cause of the
parent state.  To guard the St. Lawrence, the French built a strong fortress upon the Island
of Cape Breton, and also began a cordon of forts along the lakes and the Ohio and Mississippi.
Frontenac, Oswego, Niagara, Duquesne, and Detroit arose along the frontier. Fleets and
armies came from the Old World; the colonists armed and formed strong battalions,; the
savage tribes were feasted, and bribed, and affiliated with European warriors, and wilderness America became a battle arena. In a little while the different fortresses changed masters; Louisburgh, the strong-hold of French military power in America, fell before the skill
and bravery of Amherst and Wolfe; and at the beginning of 1759 Quebec was the only
place of considerable importance. in possession of the French.
We have considered, in a preceding chapter, the success of Amherst and Wolfe in the
capture of Louisburgh, and the high reputation which that event gave them. Pitt, relying
upon the skill and bravery of these two commanders, resolved, if possible, to conquer all Canada in a single campaign, intrusting the chief command to Amherst. That general, with a
large force, attempted to join Wolfe at Quebec, by sweeping Lake Champlain and capturing
Montreal; he was unsuccessful, and Wolfe alone had the glory of the siege of Quebec.
Wolfe embarked eight thousand troops at Louisburgh, under convoy of a fleet of twentytwo ships of the line, and an equal number of frigates and smaller armed vessels, commanded
iby Admirals Saunders and Holmes.  He landed his army safely near the Church of St. LauJune 7, rent, upon the Island of Orleans, a few miles below Quebec, where, under the direc1759.  tion of Sir Guy Carleton (afterward governor of Canada), batteries were erected.
t These were placed upon the most accessible portions of the promontory, and near them the rude buildings of the people wore erected. To these circumstances Mr. Hawkins, author of a capital " Guide to
Quebec," ascribes the present irregular course of the streets.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


186


Position of Montcalm's Army.          British Possession of Orleans and Point Levi.     Land near Montmoreact.


The brave and accomplished Montcalm, with an army of thirteen thousand men, six battalions of which were regulars, and the others Canadians and Indians, occupied the city
with a garrison, and a strongly intrenched camp upon the heights of Beaufort, extending
from the St. Charles to the River Montmorenci.  The center of the camp and Montcalm's!                                -
-..-.. —
I-,
headquarters were at Beaufort. i
The whole front was intrenched
and well defended from the English cannon.  Beyond the right
wing a bridge was thrown acrossi
the St. Charles, and strongly protected, to keep up a communication with the city.  There were     VIEW OF POINT LEVI FROM DURHAM TERRACE, QUEBEC.1
also two batteries for its defense, placed upon hulks sunk in the channel.
Wolfe sent General Monkton to take possession of Point Levi, opposite Quebec.
He landed at Beaumont, and marched up to the point with little opposition, where e
he erected batteries, from which the shots dealt destruction upon the lower town lying upon
the St. Charles, but had no effect upon the walls of the city.  Finding efflrts from that
point unavailing, Wolfe, with his division on Orleans, crossed the north channel of the St.
Lawrence, and encamped near the left bank of the Montmorenci, within cannonshot of the left wing of the enemy on the other side of the river.  He met with
fierce opposition, but succeeded in maintaining his ground and erecting two batteries there.
Still, Quebec was too distant to be affected by any of his works, and he resolved upon the
bold measure of storming the strong camp of the enemy.  On the last day of July the troops
at Point Levi, and a large number of grenadiers under General Monkton, crossed the St. Lawrence in the boats of the fleet, and landed a little above the Montmorenci. At the same
time those below Montmorenci, under Generals Townshend and Murray, crossed that stream
by fording it near its mouth, at low water, and joined the other division upon the beach.
The enemy at once made arrangements to receive them.   The right of the French was
This sketch is taken from Durham Terrace, near the north wall of the Castle Garden. In the foreground are the tops of the houses below in Champlain, Notre Dame, and St. Peter's Streets, and in the distance, across the St. Lawrence, is seen Point Levi, with its pretty little village, its church and wharves.
On the extreme left, in the distance, is the upper end of the Island of Orleans, which divides the channel.
The point seen is the place where Wolfe erected batteries.




186                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
unetidn'of the English Division.  Severe Battle.  Wolfe disheartened.  Camp broken up.  Wolfe's Cove.
under Baron de St. Ours, the center under De Senezergues, and the left under M. Herbin.
The garrison in the city was commanded by M. de Ramezay.
It was nearly night when the English divisions joined, and heavy thunder-clouds were
rolling up from the west. The grenadiers, impatient of restraint, rushed madly upon the
enemy's works, before the other troops that were to sustain them had time to form.  Consequently they were driven back to the beach with a severe loss, and sought shelter behind a
redoubt which had been abandoned by the enemy. The French kept up a galling fire, till
the gathering tempest burst with great fury upon the belligerents. Night closed in while the
storm was yet raging. The tide came roaring up against the current of the St. Lawrence with
uncommon strength, and the British were obliged to retreat to their camp across the Montmorenci, to avoid submersion on the beach by the foaming waters. The loss of the English in that
unfortunate attempt was one hundred and eighty killed and six hundred and fifty wounded.
Wolfe was greatly dispirited by this event, for he was very sensitive to censure, and that
he expected for this miscarriage.  The emotions of his mind, co-operating with fatigue of
body upon his delicate constitution, brought on a fever and dysentery, that nearly proved
fatal.  It was nearly a montlB before he was able to resume the command.  When suffi2ciently recovered to write, he drew up a letter to Pitt, in which, after detailing
ptmr  the events, referring to his illness, and frankly confessing that he had called a
council of war, he said, " I found myself so ill, and am still so weak, that I begged the general officers to consult together for the general safety.......  We have almost the whole
force of Canada to oppose us.  In this situation there is such a choice of difficulties, that I
own myself at a loss how to determine. The affairs of Great Britain require the most vigorous measures; but then the courage of a handful of brave men should be exerted only
where there is some hope of a favorable event." When this letter reached England, it excited consternation and anger.1 Pitt feared that he had mistaken his favorite general, and
that the next news would be that he had either been destroyed or had capitulated. But in
the conclusion of his melancholy epistle Wolfe had said he would do his best; and that best
turned out a miracle of war. He declared that he would rather die than be brought to a
court-martial for miscarrying, and, in conjunction with Admiral Saunders, he concerted a
plan for scaling the Heights of Abraham, and gaining possession of the elevated plateau at
the back of Quebec, on the side where the fortifications were the weakest, as the French engineers had trusted to the precipices and the river beneath.2
The camp at Montmorenci was broken up, and the artillery and troops were conveyed
across to Point Levi, whence they were taken some distance up the river by a
etember  portion of the fleet under Holmes, while Saunders, with the rest of the fleet, remained behind to make a feigned attack upon the intrenchments at Beauport.  Montcalm,
unable to comprehend these movements, remained in his camp, while Bourgainville was stationed a little above the Plains of Abraham, to watch the operations of the division of the
English fleet that sailed up the river.
At night the troops were all embarked in flat-boats, and proceeded up the river with the
tide.  Bourgainville saw them, and marched up the shore to prevent their landing.  It was
starlight, yet so cautiously did the boats, with muffled oars, move down the river toward
daylight, with ebb tide, that they were unperceived by the French detachment, and landed
safely in a cove below Sillery, now called Wolfe's Cove.  The first division was commanded
by Lieutenant-colonel (afterward General) Sir William Howe, and were all on shore at dawn.
The light infantry scrambled up the woody precipice, and dispersed a French guard under
Captain de Verjer,; while the rest of the army clambered up a winding and steep ravine.
The news of the failure of Wolfe at Montmorenci reached England on the morning of the 16th of October, and was published in an extra.Gazette of that date. The same evening Captain Hale arrived and
brought the news of the triumph upon the Plains of Abraham. The general grief was suddenly changed
into great joy, and a day for public thanksgiving was set apart by the old king.
Pictorial History of England, iv., 609.
3 The French guard, who could not comprehend the noise below them, fired down the precipice at ran



OF THE REVOLUTION.


187


Ascent of the English to the Plains of Abraham.  The Battle-ground.    Preparations for Battle.   Wolfe's Ravine.


The second division, under General Townshend, landed in good order, and before sunrise five
thousand British troops were drawn up in battle array upon the Plains of Abra- September 13,
ham, three hundred feet above the St. Lawrence.                              1759.
The appearance of the English troops upon the heights was the first intimation Montcalm
had of the real intentions of his enemy. He at once saw the imminent danger to which the
city and garrison were exposed, and immediately marched his whole army across the St.
Charles to attack the English. He brought his troops into battle line about ten o'clock in
the morning. He had two field pieces; the English but one, a light six pounder, which
some sailors succeeded in dragging up the ravine at.. about eight o'clock in the morning.. ':t-.              I am indebted to Alfred Hawkins, Esq., of Quebec,
for the following account of the position of the two
armies, and the present localities identified therewith:
L   "The battle-ground presents almost a level surface
from the brink of the St. Lawrence to the St. Foy Road.
The Grand Alle, or road to Cape Rouge, running parallel to that of St. Foy, passes through its center.  That
road was commanded by a field redoubt, a four-gun bat'                         tery on the English left, which was captured by the light
Ie  I               infantry.  The remains of this battery are distinctly
seen near the present race-stand.  There were also two
other redoubts, one upon the rising ground in the rear
WOLFE'S RAVINE.I        of Mr. C. Campbell's house-the scene of Wolfe's death
-and the other toward the St. Foy Road, which it was
intended to command.   On the site of the country seat called Marchmont, at present the
residence of Major-general Sir James Hope, K.C.B., there was also a small redoubt commanding the intrenched path leading to the cove.  This was taken possession of by the advanced guard of the light infantry immediately on ascending the height. At the time of
the battle the plains were without fences or inclosures, and extended to the walls on the St.
Louis side. The surface was dotted over with bushes, and the roads on either side were
more dense than at present, affording shelter to the French and Indian marksmen.
"( In order to understand the relative position of the two armies, if a line be drawn to the
St. Lawrence from the General Hospital, it will give nearly the front of the French army at
ten o'clock, after Montcalm had deployed into line.  His right reached beyond the St. Foy
Road, where he made dispositions to turn the left of the English. Another parallel line,
somewhat in advance of Mr. C. G. Stewart's house on the St. Foy Road, will give the front
of the British army before Wolfe charged at the head of the grenadiers of the twenty-second,
fortieth, and forty-fifth regiments, who had acquired the honorable title of the Louisburgh
Grenadiers, from having been distinguished at the capture of that place, under his own comr
mand, in 1758.   To meet the attempt of Montcalm to turn the British left, General Townshend formed the fifteenth regiment en potence, or representing a double front.  The light
infantry were in the rear of the left, and the reserve was placed near the right, formed in
eight subdivisions, a good distance apart."
Wolfe placed himself on the right, at the head of the twenty-eighth regiment of Louis"
burgh Grenadiers, who were burning with a desire to avenge their defeat at the Montmorenci. The English had waited four hours for the approach of the French, and were fully
dom, and so the British fired up. They all fled but the captain, who was wounded and taken prisoner.
It is said the poor fellow begged the British officer to sign a certificate of his courage and fidelity, lest he
should be punished for accepting a bribe, in the belief that Wolfe's bold enterprise would be deemed impossible without corruption.
This scene is about half way up the ravine from Wolfe's Cove, looking down the road, which is a steep
and winding way from the river to the summit of the Plains of Abraham. It is a cool, shaded nook-a delightful retreat from the din and dust of the city in summer.




t88


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Battle on the Plains of Abraham.  Bravery and Death of Wolfe.  Death of Montcalm.  Burial-place of Montcalm,
prepared for action. Montcalm was on the left of the French, at the head of the regiments
of Languedoc, Bearne, and Guienne. Wolfe ordered his men to load with two bullets each,
and reserve their fire until the French should be within forty yards.  These orders were
strictly obeyed, and their double-shotted guns did terrible execution.  <I The hottest of the
fight occurred," says Hawkins,,( between the right of the race-stand and the martello towers."' After delivering several rounds in rapid succession, which threw the French into confusion, the English charged furiously with their bayonets. While urging on his battalions
in this charge, Wolfe was singled out by some Canadians on the left, and was slightly wounded in the wrist. He wrapped a handkerchief around
to stanch the blood, and, while still cheering on his
men, received a second wound in the groin; a few
minutes afterward another struck him in the breast
and brought him to the ground, mortally wounded.
At that moment, regardless of self, he thought only of
the victory for his troops.  " Support me," he said to
an officer near him; "let not my brave soldiers see me
drop.   They day is ours-keep it."   He was taken to
the rear, while his troops continued to charge.  The
officer on whose shoulder he was leaning exclaimed,
L^;:- "They run, they run!"                       The light returned to the
dim eyes of the dying hero, and he asked, with emotion,
1 -— '-:-_:!                      "Who runs?"      "The enemy, sir; they give way
GENERAL WOLpF.2           every where."    " What," feebly exclaimed Wolfe,
(( do they run already?  Go to Colonel Preston and
tell him to march Webb's regiment immediately to the bridge over the St. Charles, and cut
off the fugitives' retreat.  Now, God be praised, I die happy!"  These were his last words,
and in the midst of sorrowing companions, just at the moment of victory, he died. Montcalm, who was gallantly fighting in the front rank of the French left, received a mortal
wound, and died the next morning about five o'clock, and was buried in an
eptembor    excavation made by the bursting of a shell within the precincts of the Ursuline
Convent, where his remains still rest.3 When Lord Aylmar was Governor of Canada, he
The Martello Towers are four strong circular structures erected at different distances in rear of the city,
between the St. Lawrence and the St. Charles. Cannons are mounted upon their tops. They are very
thick on the side toward the open country, but thin toward the city. The object of this manner of construction is, that, if taken by an enemy, they can easily be laid in ruins by the shot of the garrison.
2 James Wolfe was born in Westerham, in Kent, January 2d, 1727. He entered the army very young,
and soon distinguished himself by skill, judgment, and bravery. After his return from the expedition
against Louisburgh, in 1758, he was appointed to the command of that section of the expedition against
Canada that went up the St. Lawrence. His assault on Quebec was one of the boldest military achievements ever attempted, but, just at the moment of victory, he lost his life, at the early age of 32 years. His
body was conveyed to England on board the Royal William, and buried at Greenwich on the 20th of November, 1759, where, in the family vault, the hero rests by the side of his father and mother. His father,
Edward Wolfe, was a lieutenant general, and died in March of the same year, aged 74. The British government erected a monument to the memory of the young hero, in Westminster Abbey.
3 Lewis Joseph de St. Veran, Marquis de Montcalm, descended from a noble family of Candiac, in France.
He was educated for a soldier, and distinguished himself at the battle of Placenza in 1746. He rose by
degrees to the rank of field marshal, and in 1756 was appointed Governor of Canada. He ably opposed
the English under Abercrombie, but fell while gallantly fighting Wolfo at Quebec, on the 13th of September, 1759. His remains are within the grounds of the Ursuline Convent at Quebec. A few years ago a
plain marble slab was placed to his memory, in the chapel of that nunnery, by Lord Aylmar, on which is
the following inscription:
Honneur
a
MONTCALM
Le destin, en lui derobant
La victoire,
L' a recompensE par
Une mort glorieuse.




OF THE REVOLUTION.            189


Monument where Wolfe fell. Capitulation of Quebec. Levi's Attempt to recapture it. His Repulsion. Capture of Montreal.
caused a small granite pillar, about ten feet high, to be erected upon the spot where Wolfe
fell upon the Plains of Abraham, now just within the
southern suburb of Quebec.  It bears the brief inscription, HERE DIED WOLFE, VICTORIOUS.  That Vandalism under the specious guise of reverence for the great,
of which I have already had occasion to speak, has sadly
et M      mutilated this monument, as may be seen in the engraving.  The pedestal has lost many a pound of relic, and
Ifthe iron railing around the monument has been broken
down.... 11..^      Wolfe and Montcalm were both able commanders,. and were idolized by their respective troops. The
-'           former, though so young, was almost reverenced by his
- WOLE  M  1          officers, for to bravery and great military skill he united
WOLFE'S MONUMENT.1
all the virtues and graces of the perfect gentleman.
The expressions of attachment made by General (afterward Marquis) Townshend illustrate
the sentiment of his officers and men.  In a letter written just after the battle, he says, -( I
am not ashamed to own to you that my heart does not exult in the midst of this success.  I
have lost but a friend in General Wolfe. Our country has lost a sure support and a perpetual honor. If the world were sensible at how dear a price we have purchased Quebec
in his death, it would damp the public joy.  Our best consolation is, that Providence seemed
not to promise that he should remain long among us. He was himself sensible of the weakness of his constitution, and determined to crowd into a few years actions that would have
adorned length of life."
Five days after the battle the city of Quebec capitulated and passed into the  September 18,
possession of the English, and the remnant of the grand army of the French,  1759.
under M. Levi, who succeeded Montcalm, retired to Montreal. General Murray was left
to defend battered and half-ruined Quebec, and the British fleet, fearful of frost, retreated
down the St. Lawrence to the ocean. Levi determined on attempting to regain all that
the French had lost, and in the spring of 1760 he marched upon Quebec with a motley
army of ten thousand men, composed of French, Canadians, and Indians. Murray, with
seven thousand men, went out and attacked 'him, but was sorely defeated, lost all April28,
his guns, and was nearly cut off in his retreat back to the city.  Levi followed up  1760.
his success vigorously, and as soon as the ice left the St. Lawrence he brought up six French
frigates and prepared to beleaguer the city by land and by water. He encamped upon the
heights above Point Levi, and felt sure of his prey.  Fortunately for the English, Lord Colville arrived at this juncture with two good frigates, and destroyed the French vessels
under the eyes of Levi.  Thoroughly frightened by the suddenness of the event, and y 16
learning that these two fast sailers were only the van of a powerful fleet, the French commander retreated precipitately to Montreal, leaving his artillery and stores behind him.
Vaudreuil, the governor general of the province, was at Montreal, and Amherst, Murray,
and Haviland proceeded to invest that city.  Despairing of succor from abroad, Vaudreuil
capitulated on the 8th of September, and on that memorable day French power in
Canada expired and hostilities in America ceased.  Peace ensued between the two
governments by the conclusion and signing of a treaty at Paris, on the 1 0th of February,
1763, and thus ended the famous i Seven Years' War." From that time the two races
have not been arrayed in battle against each other in the Western world, except while the
French were here as allies in 1780-81, and assisted in the battle at Yorktown and the
capture of Cornwallis.


1 Since my visit to Quebec (August, 1848) the remains of this monument have been removed, and a column forty feet high, surmounted by a bronze helmet and sword, has been erected. The monument is from
the design of Sir James Alexander.




190                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Collection of an Army near Boston.  Washington's Appointment.  His Generals.  Expedition under Arnold planned.
Quebec enjoyed tranquillity until the Americans, under Montgomery and Arnold, invaded
Canada in the autumn and winter of 1775. We left the former pressing forward toward
the city, with the rigors of a Canadian winter gathering around him. Let us return and
watch the progress of that little army of patriots, and also consider the wonderful expedition
*of the brave Arnold through the wilderness of the east.
We mentioned incidentally, in a previous chapter, that when the tidings of the capture
of the forts on Lake Champlain reached the Continental Congress, that body promptly took
action to defend the liberties of the people, and secure their rights by force of arms, if necessary. The skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, the menaces against Massachusetts, and
Boston in particular, fulminated by the home government, and the arrival of several regiments of British troops, for the avowed purpose of crushing the anticipated rebellion, aroused
a spirit of resistance in the colonies hitherto unknown, even when the Stamp Act, ten
years before, had awakened a terrible storm of indignation throughout the land. From all
directions men flew to arms, and in a few weeks a large patriot army invested Boston, and
threatened Governor Gage and his mercenary troops with destruction. The incongruous
material which composed the army was partially organized by appointing Artemas Ward'
commander-in-chief until the general Congress should act in the premises. That action
was not long delayed, and on the 15th of June Congress adopted a resolution to ap177  point a general " to command all the Continental forces raised for the defense of Amer.
ican liberty."  George Washington was unanimously chosen to fill the important office,2
July 12, and he repaired to Cambridge, near Boston, and took command of the army. He
1775.  set about organizing and disciplining the troops, and making preparations for an active campaign.
About the middle of August, a committee of Congress visited Washington in his camp,
and a plan was then devised to send a force to Canada, by way of the Kennebec River, to
co-operate with Schuyler, already preparing to invade that province by way of the Northern lakes. Arnold was then at Cambridge, uttering loud complaints of ill usage upon Lake
Champlain. His bravery was well known, and the proposed expedition was exactly suited
to his adventurous disposition.  To silence his complaints and to secure his services, Washington appointed him to the command of that perilous expedition, and at the same time
gave him a commission of colonel in the Continental army. Eleven hundred hardy men
were detached for the service from the army, consisting of ten companies of musketeers from
New England and three companies of riflemen from Virginia and Pennsylvania.   Arnold's
field officers were Lieutenant-colonel Christopher Greene (the hero of Red Bank, on the
Delaware), Lieutenant-colonel Roger Enos, and Majors Meigs and Bigelow. The riflemen
were commanded by Captain Daniel Morgan, the renowned partisan leader in subsequent
years of the war.
Arnold and his troops marched from Cambridge to Newburyport, where they embarked
on board eleven transports for the mouth of the Kennebec.    They reached
epteber. Gardiner in safety, and found two hundred bateaux ready for them at Pittston, on the opposite side of the river.  Carpenters had been previously sent to construct
1 Artemas Ward was a native of Massachusetts, and graduated at Harvard in 1748. He was successively a representative in the Legislature and member of the Council of his state. He was also a justice
of the Court of Common Pleas for Worcester county. Having considerable military knowledge, he was
chosen to command the army that gathered around Boston in the spring of 1775. Congress appointed
him the first of the four major generals under Washington, and to him was assigned the division of the
army at Roxbury, when the siege of Boston, in 1776, took place. He resigned his commission a month
after that event, yet, at the request of Washington, he continued in command till toward the last of May.
He was a member of Congress under the Confederation, and also after the adoption of the present Constitution. He died at Shrewsbury in 1800, aged 73 years.
i Four major generals and eight brigadiers were appointed at the same time. To the former rank
were chosen Artemas Ward, Charles Lee, Philip Schuyler, and Israel Putnam (the Major Putnam in the
French and Indian war); to the latter, Seth Pomeroy (supposed to be the soldier who shot Dieskau), Richard Montgomery, David Wooster, William Heath, Joseph Spencer, John Thomas, John Sullivan, and Nathaniel Greene. Horatio Gates was appointed adjutant general, with the rank of brigadier.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


191


Arrival at Fort Western.  Norridgewock Falls.  The Ancient Indians.  Father Ralle.  Fatiguing Portage.
these vessels.  The troops then rendezvoused at Fort Western, opposite the present town
of Augusta.   This was on the verge of an uninhabited and
almost unexplored wilderness,1 and toward its fearful shadows
-,     --- _           these brave men turned their faces.
A small reconnoitering party was sent in advance to Lake
Megantic, or Chaudiere Pond, and another to survey the course
and distances of the Dead River, a tributary of the Kennebec.
The main body moved forward in four divisions, a day apart in
time.   Morgan, with the riflemen, was in the van; next were
Greene and Bigelow, with their companies of musketeers;
Meigs, with four other companies, followed, and the rear was
brought up by Enos, with three remaining companies.       Arnold
was the last to leave Fort Western.   He proceeded in a birch
th-e: -::from  canoe, passed the several parties, and overtook Morgan on the
third day at Norridgewock Falls.  Here, upon a beautiful plain
on the eastern bank of the river, the ancient Norridgewock Indians, a tribe of the ABENAKES, had a village, and in the midst
l ri,         t   of the grandeur, beauty, and fertility of nature, and the barbarous heathenism of man in this picturesque region, Father Ralle,
a French Jesuit, had erected a Christian altar, and taught the
sublime truths of the Gospel.2
Here the first severe toils of the little army began, for they
tm  He                 were obliged to carry all their bateaux, provisions, and stores
-            around the falls, a mile and a quarter, into the navigable waters above.   The banks were rocky and precipitous.     They
found, too, that their boats were leaky, and much of their
provisions was spoiled
or greatly damaged.
XI\                                              Seven days were consumed in passing the
falls and repairing the
-J~-3
NORRIDGEWOcIC FALLS, 1775.
vessels.  The same labor, though not so fatiguing, was demanded at the Carratunc Falls.
Colonel Montressor, a British officer, had traversed the wilderness fifteen years before. He ascended
the Chaudiere from Quebec, crossed the Highlands near the head waters of the Penobscot, passed through
Moose-head Lake, and entered the eastern branch of the Kennebec. Arnold possessed an imperfect copy
of the printed journal of Montressor, and this, with information received from some St. Francis Indians
who visited Washington's camp, gave him an idea of the country and the privations his men must suffer.
The same region was traversed by a French missionary named Dreuillettes, more than two hundred
years before. He crossed the St. Lawrence to the sources of the Kennebec, down which river he descended
to its mouth, and thence coasted eastward to the missionary station on the Penobscot.-Hildreth, ii., 84.
2 Father Ralle resided among the Norridgewocks twenty-six years, and possessed great influence over
them. He was considered an enemy to the British settlers in Massachusetts, and an expedition was planned against him and the settlement. A party fell upon them suddenly, and killed and scalped the priest
and thirty of the Indians. This event occurred in 1724, and when Colonel Arnold was there, in 1775, the




192                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Voyage up the Kennebec. The Dead River. Elevated Country. A Freshet. Return of Enos. His Trial and Acquittal.
Desertions and sickness reduced their number to about nine hundred and fifty effective men
when they arrived at the great carrying-place, twelve miles below the junction of Dead River
with the Kennebec. So rapid was the stream, that the men waded more than half way,
pushing the bateaux against the current; yet they were in good spirits, and seemed to partake of the enthusiasm of their leader.
Arnold now examined his muster-roll and commissariat.  The troops, though somewhat
reduced in number, were strong and enthusiastic, and he ascertained that he had twenty-five
days' provisions in store.  The Chaudiere, on which were French settlements, he estimated
to be at a distance of ten days' travel.  The weather was fine, and the prospect so encouraging that they pushed forward with alacrity. The great carrying-place was a portage of
fifteen miles, broken by three ponds.  Oxen dragged the bateaux part of the way on sleds,
and the baggage and stores were carried on the shoulders of the men. Over craggy knolls
and tangled ravines, through deep morasses, creeks, and ponds, they pursued their journey,
sometimes carrying their vessels and the vessels sometimes bearing them, until they reached
the Dead River.   The ponds afforded an abundance of delicious salmon-trout, and want of
food had notyet been among their privations. The surface of the Dead River was smooth,
and the waters flowed on in a gentle current in the midst of the magnificent forest, now rendered gorgeous by the brilliant hues imparted to the foliage by early frost,  Occasional falls
interrupted their progress, but the labors of the men were far less severe than hitherto.  Suddenly the monotony of the vast forest was broke4 by the appearance of a lofty mountain covered with snow, at the foot of which Arnold encamped three days, raising the Continental
flag over his tent.' A small hamlet called Flag-staff, in commemoration of the event, is
upon the camp-ground, and the lofty eminence bears the name of Mount Bigelow.2
When the expedition moved forward, a heavy rain set in, which sent down such torrents
from the hills that the river arose eight feet in one night, overflowing its banks
October 22-23.
and filling its channels with rafts of drift wood.  So suddenly did this freshet occur, that the water came roaring down the valley where the soldiers were encamped, so unexpectedly and powerfully that they had barely time to retreat to their bateaux before the whole
plain was overflowed. Seven boats were overturned and the provisions lost, and others were
in imminent peril in the midst of the flood. They were yet thirty miles from the head of the
Chaudiere, and but about twelve days' provisions remained. The storm and exposure made
many sick, and despondency supplanted cheerfulness, for the future seemed pregnant with
misery. A council of war was held, and it was decided to send the sick and feeble back,
and to press forward with the healthy.  Arnold wrote to-Greene and Enos, who were in
the rear, to select as many of their best men as they could supply with fifteen days' provisions, and come on with them, leaving the others to return to Norridgewock. Enos, either
through a false construction of the order or willful disobedience, returned to Cambridge with
his whole division. His appearance excited the greatest indignation in the Continental camp,
and Enos was looked upon as a traitor for thus deserting his companions and endangering the
whole expedition. He was tried by a court-martial, and it being proved that he was short
of provisions, and that none could be procured in the wilderness, he was acquitted. He
never was restored in public estimation, however, and soon afterward left the army.
In the mean while Arnold, with the rest of the troops, pressed onward.  The rain changed
to snow, and ice formed upon the water in which the men waded to push the bateaux as
foundations of the church and altar were still visible, but the red men had forever departed. Father Ralle
left a manuscript dictionary of the Abanake language (the dialect of the Norridgewocks), which is preserved
in the library of Harvard University.
' What the device on this flag, or what its color was, we have no means of ascertaining. The stripes
and stars were not used until 1777. On the 14th of June that year, Congress "resolved that the flag of
the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that,,the Union be thirteen stars,
white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."  Since then we have added a star for every new state.
g Tradition asserts that, while the Americans encamped there, Major Bigelow ascended to the summit
of the mountain, with the expectation of seeing the spires of Quebec I From this supposed adventure the
mountain derives its name.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


193


_1_1_1_ _


Lake Megantic and the Chaudidre.  Perilous Voyage.  Narrow Escape.  Sertigan.  Timely Relief for the Troops.
they passed the numerous ponds and marshes near the sources of the Dead River.        Seventeen falls were passed, and on a bleak day, marching through snow two inches deep, they
reached the Highlands which separated the waters of New England from Canada.          A portage of four miles brought them to a small stream, down which they pushed their vessels and
reached Lake Megantic, the great source of the Chaudiere. There they found Lieutenants
Steele and Church, who had been sent forward from the great carrying-place to explore and
clear the portages. Here also was Jakins, who had been sent to the French settlers on the
Chaudiere to ascertain their political sentiments, which he reported to be favorable.1
The little army encamped on the eastern shore of the lake, and the next morning Arnold, with a party of fifty-five men on shore, under Captain Hanchet, and
thirteen men with himself, in five bateaux and a birch canoe, pushed onward down the Chaudiere to the French settlements, there to
obtain provisions and send them   back to meet the main forces.     It
was a fearful voyage.    As soon as they left the lake and    October27,
l      r         entered the river, the current ran with great rapidity, boil-   1775.
<^          ing and foaming over a rocky bottom.      They had no guide.    They
lashed their baggage and provisions to the bateaux and committed
\^  9           themselves to the mercy of the stream.   At length the fearful roar of,             " rushing waters met their ears, and in a few minutes they were plung/,       ing amid rapids.   Three of the boats were dashed in pieces upon the
rocks and their contents ingulfed, but, fortunately, no lives were lost.
C,            ^       Six men struggled long in the waters, but were saved.      The other
i Mtc             bateaux were moored in shallow estuaries, while aid was rendered to....            those in the stream, and this proved the salvation of the whole party.
Il ',      The apparent calamity was a mercy in disguise, for had they not been
i"    thus checked, they must all have plunged into destruction over a fall
just beyond, which was discovered by one of the rescued men.      For
seventy miles falls and rapids succeeded each other, but the voyagers;  By,  L       reached Sertigan (four miles below the mouth of Des Loupis), the first French settlement, in safety.     The people    October30
i               X!  were friendly, and sold provisions freely.  As soon as the wants of
his own party were supplied, Arnold sent back some Canadians and
Indians with flour and cattle for the approaching troops, who were in
rj jiit;great distress, all their boats having been destroyed, with their provisions.  They had slaughtered their last ox several days before.   In a
OUTTHRUH         few days the whole army emerged in detachments from        the forests,
ROUTE THROUGH THE WILDERNESS.        and united at Sertigan.2
Two Indians were sent forward with Jakins to carry letters, one to General Schuyler on Lake Champlain, the other to some persons in Quebec. They betrayed their trusts, for the latter, named Eneas, was
known to have reached Quebec, but the letters went into the hands of Lieutenant-governor Carmah6 instead
of those for whom they were intended.  The letters to General Schuyler never reached him.
2 Judge Henry, who at the close of the last century was president of the second judicial district in Pennsylvania, was one of the soldiers in this expedition, and has left behind him a lucid and exceedingly interesting narrative of the "hardships and sufferings of that band of heroes." In reference to the destitute
condition of the troops before food was sent back from Sertigan, he says, " Coming to a low, sandy beach
of the Chaudiere, for we sometimes had such, some of our companies were observed to dart from the file,
and with their nails tear out of the sands roots which they esteemed eatable, and ate them raw, even without washing. The knowing one sprang; half a dozen followed; he who obtained it ate the root instantly....... They washed their moose-skin moccasins in the river, scraping away the dirt and sand with great
care. These were brought to the kettle and boiled a considerable time, under the vague but consolatory
hope that a mucilage would take place. The poor fellows chewed the leather, but it was leather still.
They had not received food for the last forty-eight hours. Disconsolate and weary we passed the night."
A dog was killed and furnished material for broth, but starvation would have destroyed them all in a few days.*
* "My dog was very large ana a great favorite. I gave him up to several men of Captain Goodrich's company. They carried him to their company, and killed and divided him among those who were suffering most severely from hunger. They ate
every part of him, not excepting his entrails."-Letter of General Dearborne to the Rev. William Allen.
N




1 94


PICTORIALC FIELD-BOOK


Valley of the Chaudidre.  Washington's Manifesto.  Joined by Indians.  Arrival at Point Levi. Incidents of the March
The beautiful valley of the Chaudiere was now before them, enlivened with a friendly
population and blessed with abundance of provisions. Arnold had been furnished with
printed copies, in French, of a manifesto by Washington, to be distributed among the people. It explained the causes of the contest, and asked them, as neighbors and friends, to
join the standard of liberty.   Arnold, with great discretion, circulated these freely, at the
same time acquiescing in the wishes of Washington by treating the inhabitants with the
greatest respect.  Every thing received from    them was paid for, and they rendered aid in
return with a hearty good will.1
About forty Indians of the Norridgewocks, under the famous Natanis and his brother
Sabatis, here joined the Americans, and on the 9th of November the whole army that remained arrived at Point Levi, opposite Quebec, after one of the most wonderful marches on
record, during the space of two months. Thirty-two days they traversed the gloomy wilderness without meeting a human being. Frost and snow were upon the ground, and ice
was upon the surface of the marshes and streams, which they were obliged to traverse and
ford, sometimes armpit deep in water and mud; yet they murmured not, and even women
followed in the train of the suffering patriots.2 It was an effort in the cause of freedom
worthy of its divine character; and the men who thus periled life and endured pain, whatever may have been their course in after life, deserve the highest praise from the hearts and
lips of posterity.8
1 I met a gentleman at Quebec (August, 1848) who had just made a journey across the country from
the Kennebec to the St. Lawrence by the way of the Chaudiere. He said that many of the old habitans
were still living in that beautiful valley, and spoke very highly of the ",good Bostonians," whose passage
through their country was one of the greatest events in the quiet lives of those isolated and simple people.
He showed me an order for flour and cattle, signed by Arnold at Sertigan, which he procured from an old
man 93 years of ahe. Many documents of the kind are, he said, preserved in the families of the old settlers.
3 Judge Henry speaks of two women, the wives of soldiers attached to the division of the army to which
he belonged. Their names deserve preservation for the admiration of posterity. " One was the wife of
Sergeant Grier, a large, virtuous, and respectable woman." The other was the wife of a private soldier
named Warner. Judge H. says, in reference to their march through the wet country near Megantic Lake,
" Entering the ponds, and breaking the ice here and there with the butts of our guns and feet, we were
soon waist deep in mud and water. As is generally the case with youths, it came to my mind that a better
path might be found than that of the more elderly guide. Attempting this, the water in a trice cooling my
armpits, made me gladly return in the file. Now Mrs. Grier had got before me. My mind was humbled,
yet astonished, at the exertions of this good woman. Her clothes more than waist high, she waded on
before me to firm ground. Not one, so long as she was known to us, dared to intimate a disrespectful
idea of her."
3 Those most prominent afterward in the history of our country, who accompanied Arnold on that expedition, were Morgan, Greene, Dearborne, Febiger, Meigs, and Burr. " Here it was" (near Sertigan), says
Judge Henry, " that, for the first time, Aaron Burr. a most amiable youth of twenty, came to my view.
He was then a cadet."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


1 95


American Army at Point Levi.      Alarm of the Canadians.     Stortn on the St Lawrence.     Passage of the Army.


CHAPTER IX.
"Oh, few and weak their numbers were,
A handful of brave men;
But to their God they gave their prayer,
And rush'd to battle then.
They left the plowshare in the mold,
Their flocks and herds without a fold,
The sickle in the unshorn grain,
The corn half garner'd on the plain,
And muster'd in their simple dress
For wrongs to seek a stern redressTo right those wrongs, come weal, come wo,
To perish or o'ercome their foe."
M'LELLAN.
UCH were the men who followed the bold Arnold, through terrible difficulties
and privations, from their quiet homes in New England, and, in the midst of
light falling snow, appeared like a specter army on the heights of Point Levi,
to the wondering people of Quebec.    Through the treachery of the Indian
Eneas (who pretended to have been taken prisoner), Cramahe and his council
knew that a small American force was in the wilderness, but they would not
believe that it would ever reach Quebec; therefore the fact was not made
known to the military or the people.   They had taken the precaution, however, to keep all boats on the Quebec side of the river.  It was about eight
o'clock in the morning when Arnold and his followers emerged from the forest
and displayed upon the banks of the St. Lawrence.   Quebec was at once in a
tumult.     The drums beat to arms, and the Canadians were terribly alarmed.
Some near Point Levi had fled across to the city, and their fears caused them to greatly
magnify the number and character of the Americans.     By a mistake of a single word the
fears of the people were greatly increased, for the news spread that the mysterious army that
descended from the wilderness was clad in sheet iron.'
Arnold resolved to cross the river immediately, and found means to communicate his intentions to his friends in Quebec.2 But for several days and nights a tempest of wind and
sleet raged upon the St. Lawrence, and he was obliged to wait its pleasure at Point Levi.
In the mean while the garrison of the city was strengthened by troops from Sorel, under
M'Lean, and the prospect of success for the patriots was proportionably lessened. At length
the wind ceased.   Between thirty and forty birch canoes were procured, and about nine
o'clock in the evening of the 13th the first division crossed; before daylight five  November,
hundred Americans landed safely, and rendezvoused at Wolfe's Cove.    The ene-    1775
my had placed a frigate (the Lizzard) and a sloop in the river, to intercept them, but the
vigilance of these they eluded until just as the last party passed a guard-boat.  One hundred and fifty men were at Point Levi, but it was too late to return for them. No time was
1 Morgan's riflemen wore linen frocks, their common uniform. The Canadians, who first saw these
emerge from the woods, said they were vetu en toile-clothed in linen cloth. The word toile was changed
to tole, iron plate.
2 In earlier life Arnold was engaged in trafficking in horses, and shipped many for the West Indies. He
visited Quebec several times to procure stock, and thus became well acquainted with the place and many
people there. His knowledge of the city arid vicinity was doubtless one cause that led to his appointment
to the command of the expedition.




1 96


PICTORIAL FIELDI-BOOK


Arnold's Troops on the Plains of Abraham.  Expected Aid from within.  Arnold's formal Summons to surrender.
to be lost, for the garrison would soon be alarmed. Arnold, placing himself at the head of
his little band of heroes, scaled the heights where Wolfe had ascended sixteen years before,
and at dawn they stood upon the lofty Plains of Abraham. That goal where glory was to
be won and freedom vindicated, which had lured them from the camp at Cambridge, and
haunted them in their disturbed dreams amid the perils of the wilderness, was now before
the zealous patriots; but their hearts sank, and the whisperings of hope were like the breathings of despair, when they saw the dark castle and the massy walls that inclosed the garrison of the enemy.  They numbered only seven hundred and fifty men.   They had no artillery, and nearly half their muskets were rendered useless during their march through the
wilderness. They learned, too, that troops from Sorel and Newfoundland had been added
to the garrison, making an attack upon the town a hopeless waste of effort.' But Arnold
relied upon the friendly disposition of the Canadian militia and the people of the city, and,
to ascertain their feelings, he drew up his men within eight hundred yards of the walls and
gave three cheers, hoping that the regulars would sally out to attack them, and that then,
the gates being unclosed, he might rush in, and, by the aid of friends within, secure the city.
The parapets of the walls were lined by hundreds of the people, and many of them huzzaed
in return.  Several guns were fired by the Americans, but without effect.  The British at
length brought a thirty-two pounder to bear upon the patriots, but not a shot injured them.
Lieutenant-governor Cramahe and M'Lean were too wary to be lured into such a snare as
making a sortie, for they knew well the disloyalty of the French citizens and most of the
leading men of Quebec. The English citizens were much dissatisfied with the French laws
that had governed them since the passage of the " Quebec Bill," the previous year.
The French, on the other hand, though petted, so as to be won, could not forget their
ancient national animosities, and were willing to see the English discomfited.  The unruly
conduct of the soldiery had also disgusted the people, and some were loud in their complaints
against Carleton and his deputy, for exposing Quebec, by withdrawing its garrison when
Montreal was threatened. The Royal Irish, under MLean, were all that could be certainly relied upon. These elements of disaffection combined, made the force in the city, securely sheltered, quite inactive, for M'Lean well knew that Arnold's little army was too
weak to attempt an assault, and he felt sure that the fierce winter winds and driving snow
would soon force them from their bleak encampment.
Finding his attempts vain, by frequent hostile displays upon the heights, to draw out the
garrison, Arnold, in accordance with military usage, sent a flag to M'Lean, with a formal
summons to surrender, threatening him with terrible disasters if he refused. The movement
was exceedingly ridiculous, and was not only treated with utter contempt by the British commander, but the bearer was fired upon.' About this time Arnold learned that Carleton,
who had fled from Montreal, was approaching Quebec. He also inspected his ammunition
and stores, and to his surprise found that nearly all the cartridges were spoiled, hardly five
rounds to a man being left fit for use. Learning, also, from his friends in the city, that a
sortie was about to be made, he broke up his camp and retreated to Point aux Trembles,
twenty miles above Quebec, to await the approaching troops of Montgomery. On his arrival
at Aux Trembles, Arnold was informed that Carleton had gone from that place but a few
hours before, and shortly afterward was heard the cannonading at Quebec that welcomed his
I The garrison, including the regulars and militia within the town, and the marines in the ships, was
about eighteen hundred strong. Surprise has been expressed that these did not march out and destroy the
feeble force of the Americans. The obvious reason was, that the majority of the garrison troops were militia, and supposed to be ready to join the Americans in the event of a battle.
2 " It must be confessed," says Judge Henry, " that this ridiculous affair gave me a contemptible opinion
of Arnold. Morgan, Febiger, and other officers did not hesitate to speak of it in that point of view. However, Arnold had a vain desire to gratify. He was well known at Quebec. Formerly, he had traded from
this port to the West Indies, most particularly in the article of horses; hence he was despised by the principal people. The epithet of horse-jockey was freely and universally bestowed upon him by the British.
Having now obtained power, he became anxious to display it in the faces of those who had formerly despised and contemned him."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


197


Junction of Montgomery and Arnold.  Ineffectual Efforts against the Town.  Mutiny in the Camp.  Plan of Assault.
return to the city.  Montgomery landed at Point aux Trembles on the 1st of Decem- 1775
ber, his troops, by sickness and desertion, reduced to a mere handful.  There he took
command of the combined troops, amounting to only about nine hundred effective men. He
brought clothing from Montreal for Arnold's half-naked troops.  The next day,
in the face of a driving snow-storm, they started for Quebec, and arrived in sight
of the city on the 5th. Their march was slow and excessively fatiguing, for the snow was
deep, and drifted high in the roads. Montgomery established his headquarters at Holland
House, and Arnold occupied a house near Scott's Bridge. The Americans were chiefly encamped near the Intendant's Palace, by the -St. Charles, in the suburb St. Roche.
The American forces were considerably inferior in numbers to those of the garrison, but
this was unknown within the city. Montgomery endeavored to send a summons to surrender, but Carleton would not allow a flag to approach the walls.  At length a letter was
conveyed by a citizen to Governor Carleton, in which Montgomery demanded an immediate
surrender, at the same time magnifying the number of his followers, and threatening all the
calamities of an assault. Although Carleton thought Montgomery's army larger than it
really was, he was not easily frightened. Montgomery, like Arnold, counted upon friends
within the city, but they were paralyzed by the presence of troops, and dared do nothing
favorable to the besiegers. With no other ordnance than some light cannon and a few mortars, a feeble, ill-clad, and ill-fed army, exposed to the severest frost in the open fields, and
snow falling almost constantly, the American commander nearly despaired of success; yet
the love of his adopted country, and thoughts of the depression of spirit throughout the colonies which a failure would produce, moved him to extraordinary efforts. He resolved to annoy the people into submission by harassing attacks upon the city, and accordingly attempted
to throw bombs over the walls. These efforts were unavailing, and he then erected a sixgun battery upon some heaps of snow and ice within seven hundred yards of the walls, but
his guns were too light for any efficiency. Nearly three weeks were thus consumed in unavailing attempts to make an entrance.  Mutinous murmurs were audible in the camp, the
term of service of many of the troops had nearly expired, the small-pox appeared among the
soldiers, and the general looked for a speedy dissolution of his whole army.
Perils were gathering a fearful web around the brave Montgomery. He called a council
of war, and it was resolved, as a last resort, to make a regular assault upon the town at different points.  The troops were accordingly ordered to parade in three divisions at two o'clock
on the morning of the 31 st of December.  All obeyed with alacrity, except three companies of Arnold's detachment, whose term of service was about expiring.  They threatened to leave the army at once unless transferred to another command, but the firmness and
wisdom of Montgomery restored order, and they took their places in the ranks.'  The New
York regiments and a part of Easton's militia paraded at Holland House, under the immediate command of Montgomery; the Cambridge detachment and Colonel Lamb's company
of artillerists, with one field piece, at Morgan's quarters; and the two small corps of Livingston and Brown at their respective parade-grounds.  The plan was, for the first and second divisions to assault the lower town on opposite sides, and the third, under Livingston
and Brown, to make feigned attacks, from the Plains of Abraham, upon the upper town, in
the neighborhood of St. John's and St. Louis Gates and Cape Diamond Bastion.
Montgomery, at the head of the first division, descended from the Plains of Abraham to
Wolfe's Cove, south of the city, and commenced his march toward the lower town by a road
(now Champlain Street) that ran along the margin of the river, under Cape Diamond. ArThe cause of this outbreak is not known. Montgomery, in a letter to Schuyler (the last he ever wrote),
spoke of the occurrence, and intimated that Major Brown was at the bottom of it. He promised a full explanation in his next, but, alas! " the next" was never written. It appears that Arnold had quarreled with
Hanchet, one of his captains, before reaching Point Levi, and two others took sides with the captain. Brown
and Arnold had quarreled at Ticonderoga. and it is supposed that the former took this opportunity to gall
Arnold, by widening the breach between him and his captains, and endeavoring to get them detached from
Arnold's command and joined to his own.




198                                 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Montgomery's Approach to Cape Diamond.        Opposing Battery.      His Charge upon the Battery.     His Death.


nold, at the head of the second division, advanced from the general hospital, around the
-             north side of the town, on the St. Charles.  Both parties....: -                were to meet at Mountain Street, and force Prescott Gate.
"-               -      The snow was falling fast, and furious winds were piling
it in frightful drifts.  Cautiously Montgomery led his men
-          in the dark toward the narrowest point under Cape Diamond, called Pres de Ville, where the enemy had planted
c  -  a battery of three pounders.1  This post was in charge
of a captain of Canadian militia, with thirty-eight men,
-and nine British seamen, under Captain Barnsfare, mas-  ter of a transport, to work the guns.  On the river side
was a precipice, and on the left the rough crags of dark
ST. JOHN'lS GATES, OUTSIDE.                'I
slate towered far above him.   When within fifty yards
of the battery, the Americans halted to                         -
reconnoiter.  The guard at the battery                         -
and the artillerymen with lighted matches were perfectly silent, and Montgomery kle               ~
concluded that they were not on the alert.
But Barnsfare, through the dim light of
early dawn and the drifting snow, saw
faintly their movements.   Montgomery, in
the van of his troops, cried out,, Men of
New York, you will not fear to follow where
your general leads.  March on!" and rushed boldly over heaps of ice and snow to charge the
battery.  At that moment, when the Americans
were within forty paces, Captain Barnsfare gave
the word, the match was applied, and a discharge
of grape-shot swept the American column with terrible effect.  Montgomery and both his aids (Captains Cheeseman and M'Pherson) were killed, to-.i
gether with several privates near.  The rest, appalled at
the dreadful havoc and the death of their general, fled in
confusion back to Wolfe's Cove, where Colonel Campbell
took the command, but made no further attempts to force
a junction with Arnold. Ten minutes the battery belched
its iron storm in the dim space, but, after the first discharge,
there was no enemy there to slaughter.                               CAPE DIAMOND.2
Judge Henry, who was one of the American prisoners at Quebec, was allowed, with some others, to
go out and see the place where Montgomery was slain. He thus describes the British fortification there:
It was a sort of block-house forty or fifty feet square. The logs, neatly hewn, were tightly bound together
by dove-tail work. The lower story contained loop-holes for musketry, so narrow that those within could
not be harmed by those without. The upper story had four or more port-holes for cannon of a large caliber. These guns were charged with grape and canister shot, and were pointed with exactness toward the
avenue at Cape Diamond. The block-house seemed to take up the space between the foot of the hill and
the river, leaving only a cart-way on each side. The bulwarks of the city came only to the edge of the
hill, above that place; hence down the side of the precipice, slantingly to the brink of the river, there was
a stockade of strong posts fifteen or twenty feet high, knit together by a stout railing at bottom and top
with pins. It was asserted that Montgomery sawed four of these posts himself, so as to admit four men
abreast to attack the block-house.
2 This is a view of the spot where Montgomery was killed. The cliff is Cape Diamond, crowned with
the citadel. The street at the foot of it is called Champlain, and is inhabited chiefly by a mixed population
of French, Canadians, and Irish. It extends from Mountain Street south almost to Wolfe's Cove. This
view is from Champlain Street, a few rods south of Pres de Ville, looking north. High upon the rocks Alfred
Hawkins, Esq., of Quebec, has placed a board with this inscription: " HERE MAJOR-GENERAL MONTGOMERY FELL, DECEMBER 31ST, 1775."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


199




Arnold's Operations.  Wounded.   Assailants led by Morgan.  Severe Fight  Capture of Dearborn.
While this dreadful scene was in progress at Cape Diamond, Arnold, at the head of the
second division, was pressing onward along the St. Charles, where the snow was worse drifted
than on the St. Lawrence.  He led his men in files until he reached the narrow street called
Sault au Matelot, where, under a high, jutting rock,
the enemy had a two-gun picketed battery, well manned.   Like Montgomery, he headed his men, and,
- e                       while leading Lamb's artillery to the attack upon the
_p                                  barrier, was completely disabled by a musket-wound
t:c=e      =           in the knee, and was carried back to the general hosIn -t                             - l pital, where he heard of the death of Montgomery.
t                   The command of his division now devolved upon Mor-.  =.  C       gan, and for more than an hour the Americans withstood the storm of grape-shot and musket-balls at the
first barrier, and finally carried it, for the deadly aim
of the riflemen caused great consternation in the ranks
of the enemy.  Passing the first barrier, the patriots
rushed on to the second, which commanded both Sault
aut Matelot and St. Peter's Streets.  The defenses
here extended from the cliff to the river; and the
present custom-house, then a private dwelling, had
cannons projecting from the windows of the gable.
Here a fierce contest of three hours ensued, and many
were killed on both sides.  At length the Americans
took shelter from the fire of the battery, in the houses
on both sides of the street, and in the narrow pass that
PLACE HEE Ao   WAs WOU i  leads up to Hope Gate.  The English and Canadians
already occupied houses near, and the patriots were
terribly galled on all sides, and from the walls of the city above them.  Captain Lamb was
severely wounded by a grape-shot, which carried away a part of his cheek-bone, and other
officers were more or less injured. The Americans finally captured the barrier, and were
preparing to rush into the town, when Carleton sent a large detachment from the garrison, through Palace Gate, to attack them
in the rear.  The news of the death of Montgomery and the retreat of his detachment gave the people and the troops within the
walls fresh courage.  Captain Dearborne, with some provincials,
was stationed near Palace Gate, and was completely surprised
when its leaves were thrown open and the troops rushed out.  It
was a movement entirely unlooked for; and so suddenly and in
such overwhelming force did the enemy pour upon them, that
they were obliged to surrender.                                  PALACE GATE, OUTSIDE.2
While Morgan was pressing on vigorously into the town, he
heard of the death of Montgomery, the capture of Dearborne and his company, and the advance of the enemy in his rear.  Surrounded by foes on all sides, and every support cut off,
This view is in a narrow alley near the north end of Sault au Matelot Street, in the rear of St. Paul's
Street. At the time in question St. Paul's Street did not exist, and the water, at high tide, came nearly up
to the precipice. The first barrier and battery extended from the jutting rock seen in the picture, to the
water. The present alley was then the beach. The circular wall on the top of the rock is a part of the
grand battery, one of the most formidable and commanding defenses in the world.
2 This is one of the most beautiful gates of the city, and opens toward the St. Charles, on the northern
side of the town. A strong guard-house is seen at the left, pierced for muskets to defend the entrance.
Immediately adjoining this gate are the artillery barracks. The gate is at the northern extremity of Palace
Street, one of the broadest in the city, and " so named," says Hawkins, " from the circumstance that it led
out to the Intendant's house, or palace, which stood on the beach of the St. Charles, where the queen's
wood-yard now is."




200              PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Los of the Americans at Quebec. Recovery and Burial of Montgomery's Body. His Life and Services. Courtesy of Carleton
the patriots yielded, and surrendered themselves prisoners of war.' The remainder of the
division in the rear retreated to their camp, leaving behind then one field piece and some
mortars in a battery at St. Roche. The whole loss of the Americans at Cape Diamond and
Sault au Matelot, in killed and wounded, was about one hundred and sixty. The British
loss was only about twenty killed and wounded.
As soon as hostilities ceased, search was made
for the bodies of those who fell with Montgomery.
Thirteen were found nearly buried in the snow,
/                     and with them was Montgomery's orderly sergeant,.....          dreadfully  wounded, but alive.    The   sergeant
'  - -           would not acknowledge that his general was killed,
-        -.       and persisted in his silence until he died, an hour
X afterward.                              For several hours Carleton was uncertain whether the general was slain; but a field
officer among the captured troops of Arnold's division recognized the body of the young hero among
those in the guard-house, and, it is said, he there
- NHB~                   - pronounced a most touching eulogium on the bravery and worth of the deceased, while tears of grief
l -   1 _coursed down his cheeks.'           Cramah6, the lieutenant governor, who had known Montgomery years
before, took charge of the body, and it was buried
g^ 4 ^^ 69 2   mY        - t/ ^     within a wall that surrounded a powder magazine,
near the ramparts bounding on St. Louis Street,
where it remained forty-two years.3   It has been well observed that it would be difficult to
select, from so small a body of men as that engaged in besieging Quebec, so large a number
who afterward distinguished themselves for patriotism and courage, as that little band presented.   Morgan and his rifle corps became world renowned.     Dearborn was distinguished
The force that surrendered consisted of 1 lieutenant colonel, 2 majors, 8 captains, 15 lieutenants, 1
adjutant, 1 quartermaster, 4 volunteers, 350 rank and file, and 44 officers and soldiers, who were wounded,
making a total of 426. The prisoners were treated humanely. The officers were confined in the seminary,the oldest literary institution in Quebec. Major Meigs was sent out for the clothing and baggage of
the prisoners, and all testified to the humanity of Carleton.
" Montgomery had a watch in his pocket which Mrs. M. was very desirous of obtaining. She made her
wishes known to Arnold, who sent word to Carleton that any sum would be paid for it. Carleton immediately sent the watch to Arnold, and refused to receive any thing in return.
Richard Montgomery was born in the north of Ireland in 1737. He entered the army at the age of
twenty, and was with Wolfe at the storming of Quebec in 1759. He was in the campaign against the
Spanish West Indies, and afterward resided some time in this country. He quitted his regiment on his return to England in 1772. While here he imbibed an attachment for the country, and returned to make it
his home. He purchased an estate upon the Hudson, in Rhinebeck, Dutchess county, and married the
daughter of Robert R. Livingston. When the Revolution broke out, he espoused the cause of the colonists,
and in the autumn of 1775 was second in command, under Schuyler, in the expedition against Canada, with
the rank of brigadier. The illness of Schuyler caused the chief command to devolve upon Montgomery,
and in the capture of St. John's, Chambly, and Montreal, and his attack on Quebec, he exhibited great
judgment and military skill. He was commissioned a major general before he reached Quebec. In that
campaign he had every difficulty to contend with-undisciplined and mutinous troops, scarcity of provisions
and ammunition, want of heavy artillery, lack of clothing, the rigor of winter, and desertions of whole companies. Yet he pressed onward, and, in all probability, had his life been spared, would have entered Quebec
in triumph. His death was a great public calamity, and throughout the land public honors were paid to
his memory. The eloquence of Chatham, Burke, and Barre sounded his praises upon the floor of the British Parliament, and the prime minister (Lord North), while acknowledging his worth, and reprobating the
cause in which he fell, concluded by saying, " Curse on his virtues, they have undone his country."  As
soon as the news of his death reached Congress, resolutions of condolence with his family for their bereavement, and expressive of their " grateful remembrance, profound respect, and high veneration," were adopted.
It was voted to erect a monument to his memory, which was accordingly done, in the front of St. Paul's
Church in New York city, on which is the following inscription:




OF THE REVOLUTION.


201




Eminent Officers at Quebec.  Promotion of Arnold.  Blockade of Quebec.  Honor to the Memory of Montgomery.
as a skillful officer at Saratoga and other fields of the Revolution, and commanded the troops
that captured York, in Upper Canada, in the spring of 1813.    Meigs boldly attacked
and destroyed shipping and stores at Sag Harbor, and his regiment, and that of Febiger, were of the forlorn hope at Stony Point.  Greene's prowess and skill were well attested
at Red Bank, on the Delaware. Thayer behaved nobly in defense of Fort Mifflin, opposite
Red Bank. Lamb was distinguished at Compo, Fort Montgomery, and Yorktown. Oswald was at Compo, and fought bravely at Monmouth; and Poterfield was killed at Camden, in South Carolina, when Gates was so terribly defeated there.  M'Pherson and Cheeseman,' Montgomery's aids, were brave and accomplished, and gave assurance of future renown; but they fell with their leader, and share with him the grateful reverence of posterity.
Colonel Arnold took command of the remnant of the patriot army after the death of Montgomery, and was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He could muster only about
eight hundred men; and, feeling unsafe in his camp under the walls of the city, he retired
about three miles from the town, intrenched himself as well as circumstances would allow,
and assumed the attitude of a blockade, hoping, by cutting off supplies for the city from the
country, to bring the enemy to terms.    Carleton, feeling secure within the walls, and expecting re-enforcements from England as soon as the ice should move out of the St. LawTHIS
monument is erected by order of Congress,
25th of January, 1776,
to transmit to posterity a grateful remembrance of the patriotic conduct, enterprise, and perseverance
of Major-general RICHARD MONTGOMERY,
who, after a series of success amid the most discouraging difficulties, Fell in the attack on
QUEBEC, 31st December, 1775, aged 37 years.
In 1818 a request in behalf of the widow of General Montgomery was
made to the Governor-in-chief of Canada, Sir John Sherbrooke, to allow
his remains to be disinterred and conveyed to New York. The request
was readily acceded to, and Mr. James Thompson, of Quebec, who was
one of the engineers at the time of the storming of the city, and assisted
in burying the general, also assisted in the disinterment, making an affidavit to the identity of the body. He said, in his affidavit, that the body      *1..
was taken to the house of Mr. Gobert, and placed in a coffin lined with  0l
flannel and covered with black cloth; that Rev. Mr. de Montmolin, chaplain to the garrison, performed the funeral service; that Montgomery's   ';
aids (M'Pherson and Cheeseman) were buried in their clothes, without  A.
coffins; and that he (Thompson) afterward wore Montgomery's sword,
but the American prisoners were so affected by the sight of it, that he
laid it aside. He identified the coffin taken up on the 16th of June, 1818,  MONTGOMERY'S MONUMENT.
as the one. The remains were placed in another coffin and deposited beneath the monument. The following is the inscription upon a silver plate on the coffin: " The state of
New York, in honor of General Richard Montgomery, who fell gloriously fighting for the independence and
liberty of the United States before the walls of Quebec, the 31st of December, 1775, caused these remains
of the distinguished hero to be conveyed from Quebec, and deposited, on the 8th day of July (1818), in St.
Paul's Church, in the city of New York, near the monument erected to his memory by.the United States.:'
General Montgomery left no children whom " the state, in gratitude toward their father, distinguished
with every mark of kindness and protection," as Botfa asserts. His widow survived him more than half a
century. When at the house of his brother-in-law, the late Peter R. Livingston, at Rhinebeck, a few years
ago, I saw an interesting memento of the lamented general. A day or two before he left home to join the
army under Schuyler, he was walking on the lawn in the rear of his brother-in-law's mansion with the
owner, and as they came near the house, Montgomery stuck a willow twig in the ground, and said, " Peter,
let that grow to remember me by." It did grow, and is now a willow with a trunk at least ten feet in
circumference.
This officer had a presentiment that he should not survive the battle. When preparing to go forth on
that stormy December morning, he dressed himself with more care than usual, and putting a considerable
sum of money, in gold, in his pocket, remarked, with a smile, " This will insure me a decent burial." He
was of the New York line. A sergeant and eleven men fell with him. He was not instantly killed, but
arose to press forward to charge the battery. It was a feeble effort, and he fell back a corpse, in a winding-sheet of snow.




202


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


202              PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Small-pox in the Army.  Preparations to storm Quebec.  Arrival and Death of General Thomas.  Temperance Cross.
rence, remained quiet; and in this relative position the belligerents continued until the 1st
of April, when General Wooster, who had remained inactive all winter in Montreal, came
down, and, being superior in rank to Arnold, took the chief command. The force which he
brought with him, and the small addition made by troops that reached the encampment
from New England during the winter, and Canadian recruits, swelled the army to nearly
three thousand, eight hundred of whom were sick with the small-pox, which raged terribly
in the American camp.
Preparations were made to beleaguer the city at once. A battery was erected upon the
Plains of Abraham, and another at Point Levi, and a cannonade was opened upon the town,
but without effect. At that moment the falling of Arnold's horse upon his wounded leg so
disabled him, that he was unfit for active service, and he asked and obtained leave from General Wooster (with whom he was upon unfriendly terms) to retire to Montreal. General
1776  Thomas, who was appointed to succeed Montgomery, arrived early in May, but Carleton having received re-enforcements under Burgoyne, the Americans were obliged to
make a hasty retreat, leaving their stores and sick behind.  The latter were kindly treated,
and finally sent home. At the mouth of the Sorel the Americans were re-enforced, but
they could not brave the power of the enemy. General Thomas died there of small-pox,
and Sullivan succeeded to the command.'   But Burgoyne, with a considerable force, was
pressing forward, and ultimately, as we have noted in a preceding chapter, the patriots
were driven out of Canada.
We have taken a long historic ramble; let us vary our pleasure by a ride to Montmorenci, and a visit to other celebrities about Quebec.
The morning was excessively hot when we left the city for the falls of the Montmorenci.
Our egress was from the Palace Gate, and with us was quite
a train of vehicles destined for the same point.   We passed
-..        through the suburb of St. Roche, in the lower town, and cross-..               ed over Dorchester Bridge, a noble structure which spans the
St. Charles, a short distance below the site of the old bridge
fortified by Montcalm.    The distance from Quebec to the
L^||:I,  Montmorenci is between seven and eight miles.  The road
(McAdamized) is very good, and passes through a rich and!             I       thoroughly cultivated region. Like the road from St. John's
i  to Chambly and Longueuil, it is so thickly strewn with farmhouses that we seemed to be in a suburban street the whole
distance.  The village of Beauport, an old town, where MontPALAC GAT, INSID2       calm's headquarters were, is about midway between the St.
Charles and the Montmorenci, and, like other Lower Canadian
villages, has an antiquated appearance. Between Quebec and Beauport we passed a large
gilt cross reared upon the top of a beautiful Corinthian column, painted white, green, and
vermilion. It was erected, as we were told, by some priests in Quebec, and consecrated to
the cause of temperance.  A strong iron railing incloses it, except in front, where two or
three steps lead to a platform at the foot of the column, whereon devout passers-by may
kneel in prayer.
1 John Thomas was descended from a respectable family of Plymouth, Massachusetts. He served, with
reputation, in the French and Indian war. At the head of a regiment raised by himself in Kingston, Massachusetts, he marched to Roxbury in 1775, and joined the Continental army. Co gress appointed him
one of the first eight brigadier generals, and he commanded a division at the siege of.Boston. In March,
1776, he was appointed a major general, and on the 1st of May following joined the army before Quebec.
He died of small-pox, at Chambly, on the 30th of the same month. General Thomas was greatly beloved
by his soldiers, and his judgment, prudence, and firmness commended him to Washington as one promising
to do much for the cause of the colonists.
2 This sketch is a view from within Palace Street, looking out upon the open country beyond the St.
Charles. The river, with a few masts, is seen just over the top of the gate. Adjoining the gate, on the
right, is seen a portion of the guard-house.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


203


French Canadian Children.  Falls of Montmorenci.  Iland of Orleans.  Point Levi.  Quebec in the Distance.
After passing Beauport, we were beset by troops of urchins, who stood in groups making
polite bows to win attention and coin, or ran beside the carriage
with the speed of trotting horses, lustily crying out, with extended hand, "i un sou! un sou!"  They were miniature Falstaffs
in figure, some not more than four or five years old, with dark
skins and lustrous black eyes.  It was amusing to see their vigorous but good-natured scrambles for a sou when cast among
them, and the persevering race of the unsuccessful for the next
expected piece of copper.  Many a dollar is thus scattered and          -
picked up by the road side to Montmorenci, during "the season," for the amusement of the passengers and the comfort of
the habitans.
We left our barouche on the south side of the Montmorenci,
and crossing, upon a bridge, the turbulent stream that rushes,
leaping and foaming among broken rocks, toward the cascade
just below, we paid a sou each to a pretty French girl who
guarded a gate opening to a winding pathway through the fields
to the margin of the bank a little below the falls.  The path is
down a gentle slope for several rods, and at almost every step
the picturesque scenery of the cascade assumes a new aspect.  *
These falls, though much high-   TEMPERANCE Cuoss.
er than those of Niagara, have none of the grandeur of that
great wonder.  Our first thought here is, How beautiful!
but when the eye and the ear are first impressed with the
avalanche of waters at Niagara, the solemn thought is, How
-  sublime and wonderful! When we visited the Montmorenci, a long drought had greatly diminished the volume of
its waters, yet it exhibited a scene strikingly picturesque and
t~ - -    pleasing.  For two or three hundred yards the river is con1- ^ P^ -fined in a narrow limestone bed,1 whence it rushes with great
H          r     r velocity to the brink of the precipice, and leaps into a cres/ -cent-shaped bay of the St. Lawrence, more than two hundred feet below.  There, at low tide, the bare rocks receive
the flood, and send up clouds of spray a hundred feet or more,
ion which the rays of the evening sun often depict the beautiful bow.  In front, cleaving the broad bosom of the St.
Lawrence, is the Island of Orleans, a paradise of beauty in
I1   summer, and a place of much resort by the citizens of Quebec, particularly the English residents, who see in it much,Iiililil ~                that resembles their "- sweet Devonshire coast."  Its length
is nineteen miles, and its average breadth about five.  A
-population of five thousand inhabit it, and its rich soil is
ni >iJ                ithoroughly cultivated for the production of vegetables for the
Quebec market.  Beyond, on the right, is Point Levi, and up
the St. Lawrence, glittering in the sun, lies Quebec.  Grouping the beauties of the natural scenery, the historical associations, and the delights of a summer ride, a trip to Montmorenci is an event to be long remembered with pleasure.
MONTMORENCI FALLS.    The sun was at meridian, and the mercury indicated ninety

I The river, in this channel, is not more than twelve feet wide, and here the Natural Steps occur. They
rise on one side of the stream like irregular stairs. They have been formed by the action of the water on
the softer layers of limestone, and present a curiosity for the visitor.




204                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Religious Edifices in Quebec.  The Citadel and the Walls.  View from Dalhousie Bastion.  Plains of Abraham.
three degrees in the shade.  The points of view were sparsely shadowed by trees, and we
tarried only long enough to glance at the beauties of the fall and steal its features with a
pencil, and then returned to Quebec, where, before dinner, we visited several churches, the
chapel of the Ursuline Convent,' the Seminary of Quebec,' the chapel of the Hotel Dieu,'
and the citadel.
The citadel crowning Cape Diamond is a combination of powerful works.    It is three
hundred and fifty feet above the river, and is terminated on the east by a round tower, over
which floats the national standard of England, the flag
"That's braved, a thousand years,
The battle and the breeze."
The approach to the citadel is by a winding road through the acclivity of the glacis from St.
Louis Gate.   It is foreign to my plan to notice in detail modern fortifications upon Revolutionary ground, and we will stop to consider only a few points of interest in this most perfect
military work. The main entrance is through Dalhousie Gate, where we presented our permit, and were joined by a young Highland soldier to guide and guard us.  On the top of
Dalhousie Bastion is a covered way with a broad gravel walk, from which is obtained the
finest view of the city, harbor, and surrounding country.  The St. Charles is seen winding
through a beautiful undulating plain, and the spires of Beauport, Charlesbourg, and Lorette,
with the white cottages abound them, form a pleasing feature in the landscape.  The citadel and its ravelins cover about forty acres; and the fortifications, consisting of bastions,
curtains of solid masonry, and ramparts twenty-five to thirty feet in height, mounted with
cannon, are continued entirely around the upper town. Upon the cliffcalled Sault au Matelot is the grand battery, of eighteen thirty-two pounders, commanding the basin and harbor
below.   At the different gates of the city sentinels are posted day and night, and in front
of the jail and other public buildings the solemn march of military guards is seen  The
garrison at Quebec numbered about three thousand soldiers. Among them was the 79th
regiment of Scotch Highlanders, lately from Gibraltar. They were six hundred strong, and,
dressed in their picturesque costume, made a fine appearance.  To a stranger the military
forms a principal feature of Quebec, and the mind is constantly carried back to the era of
Froissart, when ( Everie fayre towne had strong high walls, and bowmen and spearmen
were more numerous than all others."
We left the citadel, emerged from St. Louis Gate, and, after visiting the monument where
" Wolfe died victorious," rode over the battle-ground upon the Plains of Abraham, and, crossing to the St. Foix Road, went into the country as far as Holland House (the headquarters
of Montgomery), and then returned, pleased and wearied, to the Albion. We strolled at
evening through the governor's garden, rested upon Durham Terrace (see view on page
185), which was crowded with promenaders, and, losing our way in trying to ferret out the
Albion, found ourselves at Hope Gate, where a kind priest, in long black cassock and broad
beaver, conducted us back to Palace Street.
I devoted the following day to business.  Before breakfast I went to Durham Terrace,
1 The Ursuline Convent is situated on Parloir Street, near the English Cathedral. Influenced by an appeal from the French Jesuits of Canada, a young widow of Alenfon, named Madame de la Peltrie, resolved
to devote her life and fortune to the work of establishing a convent in Quebec. She founded the Ursuline
Convent in 1641. An excellent school for the education of females is attached to it. In the chapel, as
already noticed, is an inscribed marble slab, in memory of Montcalm, whose body lies within the grounds
of the institution.
2 This literary institution was founded in 1633, by De Laval de Montmorency, the first bishop of Canada.
The professors, and all attached to it, receive no money compensation; they are simply guarantied "food
and raiment, in sickness and in health." The chapel contains several fine paintings. The library has
nearly 10,000 volumes.
3 The Hotel Dieu, a nunnery, stands between Palace and Hope Gates. It was founded in 1636, by the
Duchess d'Aquillon, a niece of the famous Cardinal Richelieu. The cardinal was a liberal benefactor of
the establishment during his life. The chapel is plain, and has but a few paintings.




OF THE REVOLUTIO N.


205


Historical Localities at Quebec. An alarmed Englishman. Wolfe and Montcalm's Monument. Departure for Montreal
and sketched Point Levi and the adjacent scenery beyond the St. Lawrence; and after receiving explicit directions respecting the various historical localities about the city from an
old and intelligent resident, I procured a caleche and started in search of them, the result
of which is given in the several sketches and the descriptions on preceding pages. As the
day advanced, the heat became almost intolerable, until we reached the cool retreats of Wolfe's
Cove, where, in the shade of a maple that overhangs a bubbling spring, I loitered an hour,
dreading my intended ramble over the Plains of Abraham above. We slowly ascended the
steep and winding road up Wolfe's Ravine (in pity for the poor horse, walking half the way),
and at the top I dismissed the vehicle and went over the plains on foot. Hardly a shrub
breaks the smooth surface. The ground slopes from the city, and only a few chimney-tops
and a roof or two indicated the presence of a populous town.
While sketching the broken monument on the spot where Wolfe fell, a young Englishman, full of zeal for the perpetuity of British colonial rule, was a spectator, and was very
inquisitive respecting my intentions.  With a pointer's keen perception, he determined my
whereabout when at home, and of course looked upon me as a meddling foreigner. He saw
me using the pencil on Durham Terrace in the morning, and also happened to pass while I
was delineating Palace Gate.  The idea of " horrible rebellion" and "( Yankee sympathy"
seemed to haunt his mind, and I fed his suspicions so bountifully with sinless fibs, that before I finished my sketch he started off for the city, fully impressed with the notion that he
had discovered an emissary from the War Department at Washington, collecting military
data preparatory to an invasion of her majesty's dominions! I soon followed him, glad to
escape from the.burning heat upon the plains, and took shelter under the lofty trees in the governor's garden, near the citadel, a delightful public promenade on the west side of Des Carrieres Street.  In the garden, near the street, is a fine monument, consisting of an obelisk and pedestal of granite, erected to the memory of Wolfe and Montcalm.    At the sugges/.. tion of Earl Dalhousie, who was Governor of Canada in 1827,
a subscription was opened for the purpose, and when it reached seven hundred pounds, the earl made up the deficiency
^-:::            and superintended the erection of the monument. It bears:ii-                the names of WOLFE and MONTCALM, and a Latin explana-                  tory inscription.1
We left Quebec toward evening for Montreal, August 11,
on our way up the St. Lawrence to Ontario.  A   1848.
f  gentle shower crossed our track two miles distant, leaving a.e.      cool breeze upon the waters, and dispelling the haziness of
the atmosphere.  Like a thin veil, it hung athwart the eastern sky, not thick enough to cover the face of the moon that
WOLFE AND MONTcAM' MONUMENT. gleamed dimly through it, yet sufficiently dense to refract and
reflect the solar rays, and exhibit the radiant bow. While
admiring the beautiful phenomenon, I had occasion to administer a quiet rebuke to a young
fop, whose attempts at wit, loud tone, and swaggering manner had attracted our attention at
the dinner-table at Quebec. He was accompanied by an elderly lady and two young maidens, and on the boat I observed him contributing largely to the amusement of the latter by
asking silly questions of unsuspecting passengers, and receiving grave and polite answers, over
which they made merry.  At length it was my turn to be his " subject."  " Can you tell
me," he said, " what causes that rainbow?"  " Do you ask for information?" I inquired,
in return.  " Well, yes," he said, a little confused.  " Do you understand the Newtonian


The following is the inscription: Mortem virtus, communem famam historia monumentum posteritas
dedit. Hane columnam in virorum illustrium memoriam. WOLFE et MONTCALM P. C. Georgius Comes
De Dalhousie in Septentrionalis Americas partibus ad Britannos pertimentibus summano rerum administrans; opus per multos annos praetermissum, quid duel egregio convenientius? Auctoritate promorens,
exemplo stimulans, munificentia fovens A.S., MDCCCXXVII., Georgio IV., Britanniarum Rege.




206


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


- - -


A Fop' Lesson.    Arrival at La Chine.  The Cascades.   Dangerous Voyage.   Moore's Boat Song.
0
theory of light? the laws of refraction and reflection? and are you familiar with the science
of optics?" I asked, with a serious manner.  " No, not much," he mumbled, with an effort
to assume a careless air.  ( I perceive, sir, that you are not far enough advanced in knowledge to understand an explanation if I should give it," I mildly replied, and left him to his
own reflections.  Perhaps I was rude in the presence of that matron and those young girls,
but the injunction of high authority, to " answer a fool according to his folly," did not parley
with politeness. The maidens, half smiling, bit their lips, while the young man gazed steadfastly from the window of the saloon upon the beautiful shores we were passing by. They
were indeed beautiful, dotted with villages, neat white farm-houses, fields of grain, and widespreading woods bathed in the light of the evening sun; and I hope the calm beauty of the
scene, above and below, soothed the disquieted spirit of the young gazer, and awakened in
his bosom aspirations for that wisdom which leads her willing pupils to perceive
"Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing."
We- arrived at Montreal at six in the morning, left it by rail-road at ten for La Chine,
nine miles distant, and at the head of La Chine Rapids embarked in the steamer British
Queen for Ogdensburgh. We were soon at the foot of the Cascades, or St. Ann's Rapids,
near the southwestern extremity of the Island of Montreal.
< 4 -THE CASCADES, OR ST. ANN'S RiPIDS.1
The St. Lawrence here falls eighty-seven feet in the distance of seven miles.    Steamboats and other vessels go down the rapids, but are obliged to ascend through the Beauharnois Canal, which we entered at about noon. This canal is fifteen miles long, fifty feet
wide, and nine feet deep. The navigation of the rapids is very dangerous, and vessels are
sometimes wrecked upon the submerged rocks. A sloop, loaded with staves and lumber,
was lying in the midst of the foaming rapids, where it had struck the day before while guided
by an unskillful pilot. The canal voyage was slow, for we passed nine locks before we reached the waters above Lake St. Louis, an expansion of the river, where the Ottawa or Utawas comes sweeping around each side of Isle Pero, at its mouth, and swells the volume of
1 These rapids are so called from the circumstance that a village of the same name is near. This was
considered by the Canadian voyageurs the place of departure when going from Montreal on fur-trading excursions, as here was the last church upon the island. This fact suggested to Moore the thoughts expressed
in the first verse of his Canadian Boat/Song:
" Faintly as tolls the evening chime,
Our voices keep tune and our oars keep time;
Soon as the woods on shore look dim,
We'll sing at St. Ann's our evening hymn.
Row, brothers, row, the stream runs fast,
The rapids are near, and the daylight's past"
Moore says, in reference to this song, " I wrote these words to an air which our boatmen sung to us frequently while descending the St. Lawrence from Kingston to Montreal. Our voyageurs had good voices,
and sung perfectly in tune together. I remember when we had entered, at sunset, upon one of those beautiful lakes into which the St. Lawrence so grandly and unexpectedly opens, I have heard this simple air
with a pleasure which the finest compositions of the first masters have never given me."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


207


Junction of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence.  Cedars Rapids.  Garrison there in 1776.  Conduct of Bedell and Butterfield.
the St. Lawrence with its turbid flood.1   We were most of the time in full view of the river,
and had a fine opportunity to observe the people, dwellings, and agricultural operations along
the line of the canal.
We passed the Cedars Rapids, twenty-four miles from La Chine, at about three o'clock.
These rapids vary in intricacy, depth, and rapidity of current, and are nine miles long, running at the rate of nine to twelve miles an hour.   In some places the rocks are covered with
only a few feet of water, and the descent is at all times rather perilous.  Small islands, covered with trees and shrubbery, accelerate the speed of the waters.   These rapids derive their
CEDARS RAPIDS, AT ST. TIMOTHY.
name from the village of Cedars, on the north side of the St. Lawrence, in Vaudreuil district. The sketch was made from the steam-boat, in the canal, while stopping for wood
and water at St. Timothy.
The Cedars occupy quite a conspicuous place in the annals of the Northern campaign of
1 7 7 5-7 6. Three hundred and ninety Americans, under Colonel Bedell, of the New Hampshire line, occupied a small fortress there in the spring of 1776. Early in May, Captain
Foster, of the British army, with a detachment of forty regulars, one hundred Canadians,
and five hundred Indians, under the celebrated Brant, or Thayendanegea, descended from
the British station at the mouth of the Oswegatchie (now Ogdensburgh), and approached
the fort.  Bedell, under pretense of going to Montreal for re-enforcements, left the garrison
in command of Major Butterfield, an officer quite as void of courage as his superior. Both
have been branded by cotemporary writers as cowards, and their conduct on this occasion
confirms the opinion.2 Butterfield did not even make a fair show of resistance, but quietly
1 For several miles below the confluence of the two rivers the muddy water of the Ottawa and the clear
stream of the St. Lawrence are seen contending for the mastery. The line of demarkation may be traced
by the color even below the St. Ann's Rapids.
2 Washington, writing to General Schuyler under date of June 10th, 1776, said, " If the accounts of Colonel Bedell and Major Butterfield's conduct be true, they have certainly acted a part deserving the most
exemplary notice. I hope you will take proper measures, and have good courts appointed to bring them,
and every other officer that has been or shall be guilty of misconduct, to trial, that they may be punished
according to their offenses. Our misfortunes at the Cedars were occasioned, as it is said, entirely by their
base and cowardly behavior, and can not be ascribed to any other cause." A late writer for one of our
weekly papers, in giving a " true account of the Northern campaign," is particularly laudatory of the brav.
ery of Colonel Bedell at St. John's and Chambly. He seems to regard all the official and other records of
the events there as quite erroneous, and "sets the matter right" by quoting a letter written by Bedell to
the Committee of Safety of New Hampshire. He calls the style of the letter " Caesarean," and in the free
use of the pronoun I there is certainly a similarity to Caesar's Veni, Vidi, Vici. Taking the colonel's letter
as verity, we must suppose that, in the capture of Forts Chambly and St. John's, Montgomery and all other
officers were mere puppets in his hands. In a postscript he says, " This moment I have got possession of
St. John's; and, the post being obliged to set off, have not time to copy the articles of capitulation; and
to-morrow shall march for Montreal, leaving a detachment to keep the fort." Other portions of his letter
plainly indicate that he wished to impress those who sent lim to the field with the idea that he was the
master-spirit there. I should not have noticed this matter so minutely but for the disposition of a class of
writers at present to make prominent the exploits of subalterns, upon ex-parte evidence, by hiding the brill
iant deeds of those to whom compatriots and cotemporary historians have awarded the highest meed of
praise. It is an easy, and the only, way to make a sapling conspicuous, to fell the noble trees that surround and overshadow it.




.208                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Massacre of Sherburne's Corps. Attempt of Arnold to release the Prisoners. Menaces of the Indians. Letter from Sherburne.
Hy 15, surrendered the fort and garrison as soon as Foster arrived.    Meanwhile, Major
1775.  Henry Sherburne was sent by Arnold from Montreal, with one hundred and forty
men, to re-enforce the garrison, but Bedell, "( valuing safety more than fidelity and honor,"'
refused to accompany him. Sherburne arrived upon the shore of Lake St. Louis on the day
of the surrender, and, having crossed the day after, left forty men as guards, and, with one
hundred, proceeded toward the fort, unconscious of the disgraceful conduct of Butterfield.
About five in the evening the whole force of Foster's Canadians and Indians burst from an
ambuscade and fell upon the republicans. They made a brave defense for nearly an hour
and a half, when the Indians, in number greatly superior, formed a girdle around them, and
at a given signal rushed upon the devoted little band and disarmed them.  Infuriated by the
obstinate resistance of the Americans, the Indians butchered about twenty of them with knives
and tomahawks, and, stripping the remainder almost naked, drove them in triumph to the
fort.2 The loss of the Americans, in the action and by massacre, was fifty-eight; the enemy lost twenty-two, among whom was a brave of the Senecas.
As soon as Arnold heard of the disasters at the Cedars, he marched with about eight
hundred men against the enemy, then at Vaudreuil, for the two-fold purpose of chastising
May, them   and releasing the American prisoners.  He arrived at St. Ann's on the after1776. noon of the 20th, at which time the bateaux of the enemy were distinctly seen taking
the American prisoners from an island three miles distant, toward the main land on the
south side of the St. Lawrence. About the same time a party of Caughnawaga Indians,s
whom Arnold had sent to the hostile savages in the morning, demanding a surrender of the
prisoners, and threatening them with extermination if any more murders of Americans should
be perpetrated, returned with an answer of defiance. The Indians sent back word to Ar
nold that they were too numerous to fear him, and that if he should attempt to cross the
river and land, for the purpose of rescuing the Americans, every prisoner should be immediately put to death. Unmindful of this threat, Arnold filled his boats with men, and proceeded to the island which the enemy had just left. Five Americans, naked and almost
famished, were there, and informed him that all the other prisoners, except two (who, being
sick, were butchered), had been taken to Quinze Chiens, four miles below. Arnold, with
his flotilla, proceeded thither.  The enemy opened an ineffectual fire upon them, but as night
May26, was closing in, and his men were fatigued, the general returned to St. Ann's and called
1776.  a council of war.  He there received a flag from the British commander, accompanied by Major Sherburne, giving him the most positive assurances that if he persisted in his
design of attacking him, it would be entirely out of his power to restrain his savages from
disencumbering themselves of the prisoners, by putting them to death.   Major Sherburne
confirmed the information that a massacre had already been agreed upon.   Foster also demanded of Arnold an agreement, on his part, to a proposed cartel which Sherburne and the
other officers had been compelled to sign.  This agreement covenanted for the delivery of
'Gordon, ii., 65.
Stone, in his Life of Brant, asserts that that chief used his best endeavors to restrain the fury of the Indians after the surrender of Sherburne. Captain M'Kinstry (late Colonel M'Kinstry, of Livingston's Manor,
Columbia county) commanded the company, on that occasion, which fought most obstinately with the Indians. On that account the savages had determined to put him to death by the torture, and had made preparations for the horrid rite. Brant interposed, and, in connection with some humane English officers, made
up a purse and purchased an ox, which the Indians roasted for their carousal instead of the prisoner. Brant
and M'Kinstry became personal friends, and the chief often visited the latter at the manor after the war.Life of Brant, i., 155.
3 The Caughnawagas called themselves the Seven Nations of Canada. Many of them were with the
Mohawks and others of the Six Nations of New York in the battle of the Cedars, but those upon the Island
of Montreal were friendly to the republicans. A remnant of the tribe now inhabit a village called Caughnawaga, about twelve miles from Montreal, and profess Christianity. They have a handsome church, are
industrious, temperate, and orderly, and, unlike others of the Indian tribes, increase rather than diminish in
population. I saw several of them in Montreal selling their ingenious birch bark and bead work. They
are quite light, having doubtless a liberal tincture of French blood. Their language is a mixture of Iroquois and French.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


209




Dishonorable Conduct ofa British Commander.  Washington's Opinion.  Final Adjustment.  Cairn on the St. Lawrence.
an equal number of British soldiers in exchange for the Americans, with the condition that
the latter should immediately return to their homes, and not again take up arms.  Four
American captains were to go to Quebec as hostages till the exchange should be effected.
Arnold was strongly averse to making such an agreement, but the dictates of humanity and
the peculiar circumstances of the case caused him to yield to the terms, except the conditions
that the Americans should not again take up arms, and that they should be pledged not to
give any information, by words, writings, or signs, prejudicial to his majesty's service.  Foster waived these points, and the convention was signed.'
The part performed by Foster in coercing the American officers into compliance with his
demands, by suspending the bloody hatchet of the Indians over their heads, was thought disgraceful, and Congress refused to ratify the agreement, except upon such terms as the British government would never assent to.  Although Washington abhorred the act, he considered the convention binding; and General Howe complained of the bad faith of Congress.
The British government, however, indicated its appreciation of the matter by letting the
waters of oblivion flow quietly over the whole transaction.  The prisoners were finally released by General Carleton, and the hostages at Quebec were sent home on parole.
Arnold, with his detachment, returned to Montreal, where, a few days afterward, a Committee of Congress, consisting of Franklin, Chase, and Carroll, arrived, to inquire into the
state of affairs.  Their mission was fruitless, for all hope of maintaining a foothold in Canada was abandoned by the military leaders, and, as previously noted, the Americans soon
afterward withdrew entirely from the province.
We entered the lake near Grand Island, above Cedars Rapids, and, passing the Rapids
of Coteau du Lac, six miles above the latter, landed at a pretty little village of the same
name. Here the St. Lawrence expands into one of those broad lakes which mark its course
from Ontario to the gulf.  It is called Lake St. Francis, and is forty miles long, and in some
places twelve or thirteen broad.  Beautiful islands, covered with timber and luxuriant shrubbery, are scattered                                               b....erer-which indicate
over its bosom. We                       -                        a chief feature in the
passed many of those -          -                                 commerce of that nofloatingislands-ex-          LUaER RFT ON THE Ti. COn one
luLUMBER RAFT ON THE ST. LAWRENCE
tensive rafts of lum-                                             of the small islands
ont the northern shore, opposite the district of Glengary, is a huge "cairn," sixty feet high,
the pinnacle of which is an iron cannon, from whose muzzle a flag-staff is projected.  A
spiral path-way leads from base to summit, sufficiently
wide for a person to pass up and down by it in safety.
It is built of loose stones, without mortar or cement.
The people of the neighboring parish of Glengary (who             j
are chiefly Scotch), under the direction of Colonel Carmichael, reared it, in general testimony of their loyalty   -   M
during the Canadian rebellion so called, of 1837-8, and;
in especial honor of Sir John Colborne (now Lord Seaton), who was the commander-in-chief of the British,.,
forces in Canada at that time.   In imitation of the
manner in which tradition asserts that the ancient      -:
cairns were built, each person in the district, man,
woman, and child, capable of lifting a stone, went to
the island and added one to the pile.  We passed St.              CAIRN.2
I Marshall, Gordon, Allen, Sparks.
2 This is probably the only structure of the kind on the American continent. Cairn is a word of Celtic
origin, used to denote the conical piles of stones frequently found upon the hills of Britain. These piles
are supposed by some to have been erected as memorials of some local event, while others assign to them
a sepulchral character. Some are supposed to be sacrificial, like the carnedd of the Welsh. They all
have a similar appearance wherever found, being composed of loose stones piled in a conical form.
0 -



210             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


St Regis and its ancient Church.  Passage of Rapids.  Wind-mill Point and Ogdensburgh.  Loyalty of a British Veteran.
Regis,l the first village upon the St. Lawrence within the territory of the United States,
about sunset, and before the twilight had entirely faded we were again out of the river and
in the Cornwall Canal, on the north side of the St. Lawrence, to avoid the swift rapids, called the Long Sault, nearly two miles in extent.     We passed the Du Platte Rapids in the
night, and at dawn entered the Gallopes or Galoose Rapids, nine miles below Ogdensburgh.
These are a mile and a half long, and present a formidable obstacle to the upward passage
of vessels.  The channel is exceedingly narrow, and very near the southern shore.       With
three men at the tiller-wheel, and a full head of steam, our goodly ( Queen" came up to the
most rapid and intricate part, where, for nearly ten minutes, it was difficult to determine
whether an inch of progress was made, and we were more than half an hour in making the
mile and a half.    The usual time occupied in going down from Ogdensburgh to Montreal
by steam-boat is nine hours.   On account of rapids and currents, and the canal navigation,
the voyage up occupies about seventeen hours.
We caught the first rays of the morning sun reflected from     the spires at Prescott and
Ogdensburgh, flourishing villages, which flank the St. Lawrence at the head of dll its numerous rapids. Wind-mill Point, on the Canada side, is close by, and as we passed the
famous cape we were edified with a running commentary on the beneficence of monarchy
and the horrors of republicanism, from an old officer of a British corps of marine engineers,
who, with his daughter, was a passenger from Montreal. He had amused me for an hour
the evening previous, after passing St. Regis, by a relation of his personal adventures in that
vicinity during our last war with Great Britain.  He then commanded a gun-boat with eighty
men; and he boasted, with much warmth and satisfaction, of the terrible manner in which
he galled the Yankees with " grape and cannister" at the time of the engagements at Chrysler's Farm, Williamsburgh, and near St. Regis.      He was bubbling over with loyalty, and
became rabid at the mere mention of annexation.      His head was white with the bleaching
of threescore and ten years.  Great experience and extensive practical knowledge, with frankness and volubility in conversation, made him a most agreeable companion, and we much
regretted parting with him and his amiable daughter at Kingston.
I called Wind-mill Point a " famous cape."     Its notoriety is very youthful, yet its history
is one of those epitomes of progress worth noticing, which make up the movements of the
nations.   It was here that the Canada patriots (so called) in 1837 took post with a view
of attacking Fort Wellington, a small fortification between the point and Prescott.    There
St. Regis is an old Indian village, and contains a small Roman Catholic Church, built about the year
1700. When completed, the priest informed the Indians that a bell was highly important to their worship,
and they were ordered to collect furs sufficient to purchase one. They obeyed, and the money was sent to
France for the purpose. The French and English were then at war. The bell was shipped, but the vessel that conveyed it fell into the hands of the English, and was taken into Salem, in the fall of 1703. The
bell was purchased for a small church at Deerfield, on the Connecticut River, the pastor of which was the
Rev. Mr. Williams. The priest of St. Regis heard of the destination of his bell, and, as the Governor of
Canada was about to send an expedition, under Major Ronville, against the colonies of New England, he
exhorted the Indians to accompany him and get possession of it. Ronville, with 200 French and 142 Indians, arrived near Deerfield in the evening of the 29th of February, 1704. During the night they attacked
the unsuspecting villagers, killed 47, and made 112 prisoners. The latter, among whom were the pastor
and a part of his family, were taken to Canada. The only house left standing was that of
Captain Sheldon, which the assailants themselves occupied in securing their prisoners. It
is still standing, near the center of the village, and is represented in the annexed cut. The
bell was conveyed in, triumph through the forest to Lake Champlain, to the spot where Burlington now stands, and there they buried it with the benedictions of Father Nicolas, the
priest of St. Regis, who accompanied them. Thus far they had carried it, by means of timber, upon their shoulders. They hastened home, and returned in early spring with oxen  SHELDON
and sled to convey the sacred bell, now doubly hallowed in their minds, to its destination.  HOUSE.
The Indians of the village had never heard the sound of a bell, and powerful was the impression upon their minds when its deep tones, louder and louder, broke the silence of the forest as it approached their village at evening, suspended upon a cross piece of timber, and rung continually by the delighted carriers. It was hung in the steeple with solemn ceremony, and there it remains. The polished
tin that covers the steeple of the old church was glittering in the last rays of the evening sun as we passed
far away on the northern shore.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


2 1 1


L


The " Patriots" of 1837. Preparations for a Battle. Fort Wellington. Battle at Wind-mill Point. Defeat of the " Patriot."
were several stone buildings and a strong stone wind-mill on the point.  These were taken
possession of by the insurgents toward noon on the 12th of November, 1838. They numbered about two hundred, many of them being from our frontier towns. They came in two
schooners, which were towed down the St. Lawrence by the steamer United States, the captain (Van Cleve) supposing them to be, as represented by a passenger, laden with merchandise. As soon as he discovered the character of the vessels, he resolved to go no further,
and stopped at Morristown, ten miles above Ogdensburgh. The schooners' lines were cast,
and the next morning, filled with armed men, they were at anchor between Ogdensburgh
and Prescott. The insurgents landed at Wind-mill Point, and commenced fortifying their
position.  Recruits from our shores swelled their ranks for the first twelve hours after their
landing. Ogdensburgh and Prescott were in great commotion, and before night not a living
being was to be seen in the latter place, for there would evidently be the battle-field.
Preparations were immediately made at Fort Wellington to dislodge the patriots, and a
British armed steam-boat, lying at Prescott, prepared to co-operate with the garrison.  During the evening the steam-boat Telegraph arrived, having on board Colonel Worth, of the
United States army, and two companies of troops, with a marshal, to maintain neutrality.
Early next morning two armed British steamers arrived with troops, and an assault was
commenced upon the patriots by throwing. " ---,      bombs upon the houses and the mill.   The
-m.;y                               field pieces of their battery on shore returned
-              - -lthe fire, and, after a fight of an hour, the British were driven back into the fort, with the loss,~i|^|..;       of about one hundred men killed, and many
Ii —:....1             w.ounded. Many of the patriots had fled in
I       G       the morning, and when the action commenced
-                there were only a hundred and twenty-eight: —::left on the point, while the government troops
amounted to more than six hundred.     The
W-IND-MILL POINT.
insurgents lost five men killed and thirteen
wounded.   The next day they sent out a flag, but the bearer was shot.  On the 15th the
British received a re-enforcement of four hundred regulars, with cannon and gun-boats. The
patriots were also re-enforced, and numbered more than two hundred. The government
troops, with volunteers from Kingston, in all about two thousand men, surrounded the patriots by land and water, and kept up a continual cannonading until the evening of the 16th,
when the latter surrendered. A white flag was displayed from the mill, and three or four
others were sent out by the patriots, but the bearers were shot down.' Indeed, there seemed. to be but little disposition on the part of the conquerors to give quarter.  The dwellings in
the vicinity of the wind-mill were burned, and it is asserted that a number of the patriots
were consumed in one of them, which stood upon the beach. Other buildings have been
burned since, and their blackened ruins, with the wind-mill, battered by cannon-balls, stand
there now, gloomy mementoes of an abortive attempt to sever the chains of colonial vassalage.
According to Theller, thirty-six patriots were killed, two escaped, and ninety were made
prisoners. The British lost a hundred and fifty men and twenty officers killed, among whom
was Captain Drummond. The commander of the insurgents was a young Pole, only thirtyone years of age, named Von Schoultz, who, with ten others, was hung, and a large portion
of the remainder of the prisoners was banished to Van Diemen's Land.
At Ogdensburgh we left the British Queen, and went on board the Lady of the Lake,
bound for Oswego. Having an hour to pass before her departure, we employed it in a pleas

This view was sketched from the steam-boat, when a little below the wind-mill, looking west-northwest. The mill is a stiong stone structure, and answered a very good purpose for a fort or block-house.
Its narrow windows were used by the patriots as loop-holes for their muskets during the action.
2 See "Theller's Canada in 1837-8."




212                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
The Oswegatchie.    Old French Fort at Ogdensburgh.  Putnam's Feats.  Testimony of History.
ant ramble through the town and along the banks of the dark Oswegatchie. It was Sabbath morning, and all was quiet in that pleasant village. We traversed the high banks of
the stream, along its majestic course from the bridge to the dam, about half a mile. The
declivity of the bank is studded with oaks, sycamores, and pines, and lofty trees shade the
~pleasant pathway the whole distance, making it a delightful promenade either at hot noon
or in the evening twilight. The water is of an amber color when not turbid, and from this
one of its chief tributaries, the Black Lake, derives its name.
Ogdensburgh is near the site of the old French fort generally known as Fort Oswegatchie,
but on their maps, as early as 1740, it is called Fort Presentation, and sometimes La Gallette.  This fort was garrisoned by the French during a part of the Seven Years' War, but
was taken by the English in 1760, while they were descending the St. Lawrence to attack
Montreal.  It is related that Putnam, then a lieutenant colonel, performed one of his daring
and original feats here, in the attack upon the fort and upon the two armed vessels that lay
at the mouth of the Oswegatchie River. Humphreys says that he undertook, with one thousand men in fifty bateaux, to capture the vessels by boarding. With beetle and wedges, he
proceeded to secure the rudders, to disable the vessels and prevent them from bringing their
broadsides to bear, and then to make a furious attack upon and board them. As they approached, the crew of one of the vessels, panic-struck, forced the commander to surrender,
and the other vessel was run ashore.  The fort was the next object of solicitude.  With the
permission of Amherst, Putnam caused a number of boats to be prepared with musket-proof
fascines' along the sides, so as to form a shelter from the fire of the enemy.  The fort was
defended by an abatis overhanging the water; and, to overcome such a formidable obstacle,
he caused a broad plank, twenty feet in length, to be attached to the bow of each boat, so
that it might be raised and lowered at pleasure. This was to form a bridge over the projecting abatis, on which the besiegers might pass to the attack on the fort.  As soon as the
boats, thus strangely equipped, began to move toward the fort, the alarmed garrison, unused
to such martial enginery, surrendered without firing a shot.
These tales, like many others of which Putnam is the reputed hero, partake somewhat of
the marvelous, and in this instance rather conflict with cotemporary history as well as probability. Colonel Mante, who was intimate with Rogers and Putnam, says that one of the
vessels was grounded before the attack, and that an action of four hours occurred with the
other. He also says that "( the general ordered the vessels [of the English] to fall down the
stream, post themselves as close to the fort as possible, and man their tops well, in order to
fire upon the enemy, and prevent their making use of their guns, while the grenadiers rowed
in with their broadswords and tomahawks, fascines and scaling-ladders, under cover of the
light infantry, who were to fire into the embrasures."2 He says nothing about Putnam's
project or the "( planks." Dr. Trumbull says, "( The general, receiving intelligence that one
of the enemy's vessels was aground and disabled, and that another lay off La Gallette, determined, with the utmost dispatch, to go down the river and attack Oswegatchie and Isle
Royal.   On the 17th of August the row-galleys fell in with the French sloop com1760.
manded by M. de la Broquirie, who, after a smart engagement, surrendered to the English galleys....... By'the 23d two batteries were opened against the fort, and it was
cannonaded by them in concert with the row-galleys in the river. M. Ponchaut, the commander, beat a parley, and surrendered the fort on terms of capitulation."3 From personal
observation of the ground, I am inclined to think that a plank twenty feet long could hardly
have reached the abatis from the water, even in a perpendicular position, unless the altitude
of the shores was less then than now. Very possibly the ingenious idea of wedging up the
rudders of the vessels and of scaling the outworks of the fort was conceived by the fertile
1 Fascines, from the Latin fascina, fagot, is a term used in fortifications to denote bundles of fagots, twigs,
or branches of trees, which, being mixed with earth, are used for filling up ditches, forming parapets, &c.
g History of the Late War in North America, &c., by Thomas Mante, major of a brigade in the campaign of 1764; London, 1772.
3 History of Connecticut from 1630 to 1764, by Benjamin Trumbull, D.D.




OF THE REVOLUTION.            213


Capture of Fort Oswegatchie by the English.


Attacks upon Ogdensburgh by the British in 1812-13.


mind of Putnam, but it is not one of the strong points upon which the reputation of the general for skill and bravery rests, for it must have been a failure if attempted.  One thing is
certain-Fort Oswegatchie fell into the hands of the English at that time, after a pretty
warm engagement. Lieutenant-colonel Massey, with the grenadiers, took possession of the
fort, the garrison were sent to New York, and the post was named by Amherst Fort Will:
iam Augustus.
Ogdensburgh was a place of considerable importance, in a military point of view, during
our war with England, begun in 1812. Lying directly opposite a Canadian village (Prescott) and a military post, it was among the earliest of the points of attack from Canada.
As early as the 2d of October, 1812, it was assaulted by the enemy. General Jacob Brown,
with four hundred Americans, commanded there in person. On Sunday, the 4th, the British, one thousand in number, in forty boats, approached to storm the town, but, after a sharp
engagement, they were repulsed.  Another attack was planned, and in February following it was carried into effect. On the 21st of that month, the British, twelve hund- 1
red strong, attacked it in two columns, and, after an hour of hard fighting, drove Captain
Forsyth and his troops out of the place as far as Black Lake, and took possession of the village. The Americans lost twenty men in killed and wounded, the British about sixty.
We can not stay longer upon the beautiful banks of the Oswegatchie, for the signal-bell for
departure is ringing merrily upon the Lady of the Lake.


W-vcc




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


--.-.- -..
Departure from Ogdensburgh.       The St. Lawrence and the Thousand Islands.  Kingston.
-`  -'. -.            -------------. -... —
CHAPTER <.
' Billows! there's not a wave! the waters spread
One broad, unbroken mirror; all around
Is hush'd to silence-silence so profound
That a bird's carol, or an arrow sped
Into the distance, would, like 'larum-bell,
Jar the deep stillness and dissolve the spell."
k \          '               PARK BENJAMIN.
8       CALM, sweetly consonant with ideas of Sabbath rest, was upon the main,
A, the islands, and the river, and all the day long not a breath of air rippled
the silent-flowing but mighty St. Lawrence.  We passed the   Aupst 13
morning in alternately viewing the ever-changing scene as our  1848.
\ -   ~   vessel sped toward Ontario, and in perusing Burke's " Essay on the Sublime and Beautiful."  I never read that charming production with so much
pleasure as then, for illustrative examples were on every side.  And when, toward noon, our course was among the Thousand Islands, the propriety of his;, citation of the stars as an example, by their number and confusion, of the cause
of the idea of sublimity was forcibly illustrated.  ( The apparent disorder," he
i says, "augments the grandeur, for the appearance of care is highly contrary to
our idea of magnificence."  So with these islands.  They fill the St. Lawrence
through nearly sixty miles of its coursb, commencing fifteen miles below Kingston, and vary
in size from a few yards to eighteen miles in length.  Some are mere syenite rocks, bearing
sufficient alluvium to produce cedar, spruce, and pine shrubs, which seldom grow to the dignity of a tree; while others were beautifully fringed with luxuriant grass and shaded by lofty
trees.  A few of the larger are inhabited and cultivated.  They are twelve hundred and
twenty-seven in number. Viewed separately, they present nothing remarkable; but scattered, as they are, so profusely and in such disorder over the bosom of the river, their features constantly changing as we made our rapid way among them, an idea of magnificence
and sublimity involuntarily possessed the mind, and wooed our attention from the tuition of
books to that of nature.
We reached Kingston, Upper Canada, at about four o'clock, where we remained until
nearly sunset. This is a large and flourishing town, at the lower end of Lake Ontario, and
its commercial position is valuable and important. It stands near the site of old Fort Frontenac, and is now a British military post. It seems strongly fortified, and completely commands, by its military works, the entrance of the St. Lawrence from Ontario. A strong
bomb-proof round tower stands upon Cedar Island, just below the
-           city.  Similar structures guard the portals of Fort Henry, the
open space between the city and the fort, and one is a huge sentinel
in the harbor, directly in front of the magnificent market-house
that fronts upon the quay.   They are mounted with cannon, and
the hollow buttresses are pierced for musketry.  A flourishing Indian settlement, called Candaragui, was upon the site of Kingston when first discovered by the French, and traces of the builder's art, evidently older than the fortifications of the whites, have
been discovered. I was informed by a resident at Kingston, whom I met at Quebec, that
while excavating to form a terrace near his residence, a few months previous, his workmen




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                    215
Fort Frontenac.  Its Capture by Colonel Bradstreet.  His Life.  Bradstreet's Ofcers.  Lake Ontario.. Owege.
struck the stump of a tree three feet in diameter, and, upon removing it, a stone wall, regularly laid, was found beneath it.
This spot, known as Fort Frontenac, was a place of much importance during the intercolonial wars of the last century.  It was first a fur trading and missionary station of the
Quebec colony.   In 1673, Count Louis Frontenac, governor of Canada, erected a fort there
and gave it his own name, and for eighty years it was one of the strongest military posts in
America.   It was from this point that Father Marquette (under the patronage of Frontenac) and other missionaries took their final departure for explorations in the Far West, and
here provisions and stores were kept to supply other military and religious establishments
upon the great lakes.   Fort Frontenac remained in possession of the French until 1758,
when Colonel Bradstreet,' with a detachment of men, chiefly provincials of New York and
New England, captured it. After the disastrous defeat of Abercrombie at Ticonderoga,
Colonel Bradstreet solicited and obtained permission to undertake that expedition.  He traversed the wilderness to Oswego, where he embarked in three vessels already prepared for him,
descended the lake, and suddenly appeared before Frontenac.     The weak garrison, overwhelmed by numbers, surrendered without resistance.   The commander of the fort was exchanged for Colonel Peter Schuyler, then a prisoner in Canada.
Leaving a small garrison to keep the post, Bradstreet and his troops returned and aided
in building Fort Stanwix, upon the Mohawk, at the portage between that river and Wood
Creek, a tributary of Oneida Lake.   Among his officers were, Colonel Charles Clinton, of
Ulster county, New York; Major Nathaniel Woodhull, who fell on Long Island in 1776;
and Goosen Van Schaick, of Albany, and Lieutetant Marinus Willett, of New York, who
were afterward colonels in the New York Revolutionary line.2
We did not land at Kingston, for the tarrying time of the boat was uncertain. It was
nearly sunset when we left, and we passed the southern extremity of Gage Island just in
time to see its last rays sparkling upon the tree-tops on Amherst Island, in the far distance.
Ontario, like the St. Lawrence, was unruffled, and the evening voyage between Kingston
and Sackett's Harbor was exceedingly pleasant, rendered so chiefly by a cool breeze, cushioned seats, agreeable company, and the anticipations of meeting dear friends at Oswego the
next morning.   We landed there a little after daybreak, and tarried three days before starting for the " Niagara frontier."
Oswego is beautifully situated upon Lake Ontario, on each side of the Onondaga or Oswego River, a large and rapid stream, through which flow the waters of eight considerable
lakes in the interior of New York-the Canandagua, Crooked, Seneca, Cayuga, Owasoo,
Skaneateles, Ononiaga, and Oneida, with their numerous little tributaries-and drains a
surface of four thousand five hundred square miles.  Beautifully significant are the Indian
names of Oswego and Ontario-rapid water and pretty lake-for the river comes foaming
John Bradstreet was a native of England.- He was Lieutenant-governor of St. John's, Newfoundland,
in 1746, and ten years afterward accompanied the expeditions against the French on the frontier of New
York. In 1756 he was commissary general, and engaged in keeping up a communication between Albany
and Oswego. He had charge of boats that carried provisions, and so much were they annoyed by the Indians in the French service, while passing down the Onondaga or Oswego River, that it required a great
deal of skill and bravery to defend them. A small stockade fort near the site of the present village of Rome
was cut off by the enemy, and they were obliged to depend upon their own power, in the open forest, for
protection. He had a severe engagement near the margin of Oneida Lake, with a large war party of savages, but gained a victory, leaving nearly two hundred of the enemy dead upon the field. His own loss
was about thirty. His capture of Fort Frontenac, in 1758, put into the possession of the English the fort,
nine armed vessels, forty pieces of cannon, a vast quantity of provisions and stores, and one hundred and
ten prisoners. In the summer of 1764 he was employed against the Indians on the borders of Ontario, and
at Presque Isle he compelled the Delawares, Shawnees, and other tribes to agree to terms of peace. He
was appointed major general in 1772, and died at New York, October 21st, 1774.
2 The captains of the New York troops engaged in this expedition were, Jonathan Ogden, of West Chester; Peter Dubois, of New York; Samuel Bladgely and William Humphrey, of Dutchess; Daniel Wright
and Richard Howlet, of Queens; Thomas Arrowsmith, of Richmond; Ebenezer Seely, of Ulster; and
Peter Yates and Goosen Van Schalck, of Albany.




2 1 6


PICTORIAL FIEL1D-BOOK


Oswego.         Expedition of Frontenac.  Fort built by Governor Burnet.  Fort Niagara.
down broad rapids several miles before it expands into the harbor and mingles its flood with
the blue waters of Ontario. Its hydraulic power, its commercial position relative to Canada and the great West of our own dominion, and the healthfulness of its climate, mark out
Oswego for a busy and populous city. These advantages of locality were early perceived
by the English, and were probably not entirely overlooked by the French.  But military
occupation, for the purpose of spreading wide the overshadowing wings of empire, through
the two-fold influences of religion and traffic, seemed to be the chief design of the French
in planting small colonies at commanding points.
As early as July, 1696, Frontenac, governor of Canada, fitted out an expedition to attack
the Five Nations in New York,' and Oswego was made his place of rendezvous. There he
built a small stockade fort on the west side of the river, and then proceeded with fifty men
into the interior as far as the Onondaga Valley.  The Indians fled before him, but upon the
shore of Onondaga Lake, near the present Salina, they left their emblem of defiance-two
bundles of rushes suspended from a branch.  The governor returned to Oswego, and sailed
for Fort Frontenac, without accomplishing any good for himself or harm to the Indians, except burning their dwellings when they fled from them. Three years previously, Frontenac,
by another route, fell upon the Indians on the Mohawk, near Schenectady, slew many, and
took about three hundred prisoners.
These expeditions seemed to be a part of the grand scheme of the French to confine the
English, now pushing into the wilderness in all directions, to the Atlantic sea-board; but
their forts on the lakes and upon the Ohio, and their extensive alliances with Indian tribes,
could not repress the spirit of adventure and love of gain which marked their southern neighbors.  The great confederacy of the FIVE NATIONS of New York remained for a long time
the fast friends and allies of the English, none but the Caughnawagas, as the French Jesuits termed their converts of the confederacy, lifting the hatchet against them.  Protected
by these friendly savages, trading posts were founded, and these in turn became military establishments. in 1722, Governor Burnet, of New York (son of the celebrated English bishop
of that name), established a trading house at Oswego. His object seemed to be political
rather than commercial, for he desired to gain a foothold there, and thus, in a measure, command Lake Ontario. He had been advised by the Board of Trade, after the treaty of Utrecht
in 1713, " to extend with caution the English settlements as far as possible, as there was no
probability of obtaining an arrangement of general boundaries."  Acting under this advice
and the promptings of his own clear judgment, he planted the English standard, for the first
time, upon the great lakes, and, in spite of the remonstrances of the French and the murmurings of the Oneidas and Senecas (who disliked to see fortresses rising in their neighborhood), he built and armed, at his own expense, a small fort at Oswego in 1727.  The French,
in the mean while, had strongly fortified their trading post at the mouth of the Niagara
River, and thus outflanked the English so far as the lake was concerned.  Beauharnois,
the governor of Canada, ordered Burnet to desist.  Burnet defied, the Frenchman threatened, but, after blustering for a while, the latter, as a countervailing measure, took possession
of-Crown Point and built Fort St. Frederic there.  From that time until 1755, the English had undisturbed possession of Burnet's fort, and kept it garrisoned by a lieutenant and
twenty-five men.
I am indebted to E. W. Clarke, Esq., of Oswego, for much local information concerning
that city and neighborhood.  He kindly permitted me to use the manuscript of a lecture delivered by him before a literary society there, and from it I gleaned a description of the trading-house and fort erected by Governor Burnet.  It was situated on the west side of the
river, directly on the bank of the lake, and forty feet above the water.  The bank, composed
of rock and hard-pan, was almost perpendicular. The building was of stone, and about
ninety feet square.  The eastern end was circular.  It was provided with port-holes and a
The name of the Confederation of the Five Nations was changed to that of Six Nations when it was
joined by the Tuscaroras of Carolina in 1714.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


217


- - -


Description of Burnet's Fort.  Erection of other Fortifications.  Fort Ontario.  Shirley's Expedition against Niagara.
deep well.  The ascent to it from the south was a flight of stone steps (see engraving), the
remains of which have been visible. -:        within a few years.  The earth em- - -                     bankments of the fort, with its ditch
e  a-                               and palisades, were about two hundf.o -- la                                     red feet west of the building, upon
is              arch                            higher ground, and traces of these
riv-e a   ---- "                                  might be seen until the late growth
intelligc o. c   d                          of the city obliterated them.  The
co n                   lbluffon which the trading-house and
r                    -~    fort rested has been leveled in filling.... e. 1   in the basin, for the construction of
OswEao Ix' 1755.1
wharves.
While Braddock was making his fatal march against Fort Duquesne, at the junction gf
the Ohio and Monongahela, in 1755, Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, with a force of
about one thousand five hundred men, composed of provincials and Indians, was on the march
from Albany to Oswego, for the purpose of making attacks simultaneously upon Niagara and
Frontenac. His march through the wilderness was perilous and fatiguing, and when he arrived at Oswego in August, his troops were reduced by sickness, and dispirited by the
175,5.
intelligence of Braddock's defeat.  But Shirley, who succeeded Braddock in the chief
command, was not disheartened.  He strengthened Oswego by erecting two other forts one
westward of old Fort Oswego, called New Fort, one hund-  -ll!   a!l! l    I
red and seventy feet square, with bastions and a rampart  oll
of earth and stones; and another on the opposite side of the   N
basin, four hundred and seventy yards distant from the old t r  5' i  i
fort.  The east fortification, called Fort Ontario, was built  I fK        r
of logs from twenty to thirty inches in diameter.  It was. le    -sep
eight hundred feet in circumference, and its outer walls
were fourteen feet high.  Around it was a ditch fourteen            s
feet wide and ten deep, and within were barracks for three             Fort Ontario
hundred men.   It was intended to mount sixteen pieces of              i
cannon.  This fort was on a commanding site, the perpen-         t    t
dicular bank being higher than that upon the west side.2  li' in            h ll ' i
Shirley built vessels and made other great preparations FORTS AT OsWEo.3
at Oswego to proceed against Niagara.  He constructed and equipped a sloop and schooner
of sixty tons each, two row-galleys of twenty tons each, and eight whale-boats, each capable
of carrying sixteen men. His views were promptly seconded by the New York Assembly.
That body had already voted eight thousand pounds toward the enlistment of two thousand
men in Connecticut, and raised four hundred men of their own in addition to their eight
hundred then in the field.  Shirley was also directed to complete the forts, and prepare for
building one or more vessels of a large class, to mount ten six pounders besides swivels, two
more row-galleys, and one hundred whale-boats. But heavy rains delayed his embarkation
so long, that winter approached, and he abandoned the expedition against Niagara. He
left seven hundred men in garrison at Oswego, and returned to Albany, where the remainder
of his troops were disbanded.  Additional fortifications, to complete the works, were made to
the fort on the west side of the rivert, and stronger outworks were added to Fort Ontario.
This view is looking north toward the lake. It is a reduced copy of the frontispiece to Smith's History
of New York, first edition, London, 1757, and represents the encampment of Shirley there at that time.
2 Smith's History of New York; Clarke's MS.
3 There are but few traces left of old Fort Ontario. The light-house that stood upon the bluff between
the old fort and the present Fort Oswego is removed, and another substantial one is erected upon the left
pier, in front of the harbor. The city, on the east, is now fast crowding upon. the ravelins of Fort
Oswego.


9




218


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


- - -


Remains of the " New Fort." Shirley's Preparations at Albany. Montcalm's Approach to Oswego. Attack on the Works.
The remains of the ramparts and ditches of the New Fort are now quite prominent at the
junction of Montcalm and Van Buren Streets. The annexed engraving is a view of the
appearance of these remains when I August,
visited them.  The view is from    1848.
Montcalm Street, looking north, toward the
lake.  The mounds and ditch were covered
with a green sward; and decayed stumps of
trees, three feet in diameter, were upon the
former.   The fort had been abandoned about
ninety years (for Fort Ontario became the
wd  main fortification after 1758), and, therefore,,                            those large trees must have been produced
EMAINS OF "NEW FORT," AT OSWEGO.   within that time.
*                               Shirley made vigorous preparations at Albany to re-enforce Oswego, the following spring, for the Marquis de Montcalm, an
1756.
enterprising and experienced commander, was governor of Canada, and offensive
operations on the part of the French were certainly expected.  Colonel Bradstreet was appointed commissary general, and, aided by Captain (afterward General) Philip Schuyler, forwarded large quantities of provisions to Oswego.  William Alexander, afterward Lord Sterling, of the Revolutionary army, was Shirley's secretary.  Early in the spring an army of
sevet thousand men, under General Winslow, was at Albany, waiting the arrival of the
commander-in-chief; Lord Loudon. His procrastination, which defeated all the plans for the
season's campaign, was fatal in this instance. He did not arrive until late in the summer.
In the mean while the French, about five thousand in number, under the Marquis de Montcalm, came up the lake from Fort Frontenac, and landed stealthily behind a heavily-wooded
cape (now called Four-mile Point), a few miles below Oswego. Montcalm was there nearly
two days before the fact was known to the garrison.  He had thirty pieces of heavy artillery, and was about commencing a march through the forest, to take Fort Ontario by surprise, when he was discovered by the English.  Colonel Mercer, the commandant of the
garrison, ordered a brigantine to cruise eastward, and prevent any attempt of the enemy to
approach the fort by water.  The next day a heavy gale drove the brigantine ashore, and
while she was thus disabled, the French transported their cannon, unmolested, to within two
miles of the fort.  One or two other small vessels were sent out to annoy them, but
August 1. the heavy guns of the French drove them back to the harbor.  The enemy pressed
steadily forward through the woods, and toward noon of the same day invested the fort with
thirty-two pieces of cannon, ranging from twelve to eighteen pounders, several large brass
pounders and hoyets, and about five thousand men, one half of whom were Canadians and
July 9, Indians.  Some of this artillery was taken from the English when Braddock was de1755. feated.  The garrison, under Colonel Mercer, numbered only one thousand four hundred, and a large portion of these were withdrawn to the fort on the west side of the river, to
strengthen it, and to place the river between Mercer's main body and the enemy.  The French
began the assault with small arms, which were answered by the guns of Fort Ontario, and
bombs from the small fort on the other side of the basin.  Finding an open assault dangerous, Montcalm commenced approaching by parallels during the night, and the next
August 1  day he began another brisk fire with small arms.  On the day following he opened
a battery of cannons within sixty yards of the fort.  As soon as Colonel Mercer perceived
this, he sent-word to the garrison, consisting of three hundred and seventy men, to destroy
their cannon, ammunition, and provisions, and retreat to the west side.  This they effected
without the loss of a man.  During the night of the 13th the enemy were employed, in the
face of a destructive cannonade, in erecting a heavy battery to play upon the fort.  On the
morning of the 14th they had finished their battery of twelve heavy guns, and under its
cover two thousand five hundred Canadians and Indians crossed the river in three divisions.
Colonel Mercer was killed during this movement, and the command devolved upon Colonel
f




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                    219
Surrender of the Forts and Garrison to Montcalm.  His Courtesy.  Destruction of the Forts.  St. Leger.  Mrs. Grant.
Littlehales.  The enemy had a mortar battery in readiness by ten o'clock, and their forces
were so disposed that all the works of defense were completely enfiladed. At the same time,
the regulars, under the immediate command of Montcalm, were preparing to cross to the
attack.  Colonel Littlehales called a council of war, and, it being agreed that a defense was
no longer practicable, a chamade, or parley, was beaten by the drums of the fort, and the
firing ceased on both sides.  Two officers were sent to the French general to inquire upon
what terms he would accept a surrender. He sent back a polite and generous answer, remarking, at the same, time that the English were an enemy to be esteemed, and that none
but a brave nation would have thought of defending so weak a place so long.1 The fort,
the whole garrison, one hundred and twenty cannons, fourteen mortars, a large quantity of
ammunition and stores, and quite a respectable fleet in the harbor, were the spoils of victory.
The forts were dismantled, the prisoners were placed on transports for Frontenac, and, without leaving a garrison behind, the whole military armament went down the lake, and left
Oswego solitary and desolate.
The destruction of the forts was a stroke of policy on the part of Montcalm.  They had
been a continual eyesore to the Six Nations, for they had reason to suspect that, if the English became strong enough, their fortifications would be used as instruments to enslave the
tribes. This act of Montcalm was highly approved by the Indians, and caused them to assume a position of neutrality toward the belligerent Europeans. This was what Montcalm
desired, and he gained far more power by destroying the forts than he would by garrisoning
them. French emissaries were sent among the Indians, and by their blandishments, and in
consequence of their successes, they seduced four of the tribes wholly from the British interest. These were the Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas.
The following year English troops again took possession of Fort Ontario, and par- 1757
tially restored it to its former strength, and in 1759 it was rebuilt on a larger scale.
They also erected a small stockade fort near the Oswego Falls, and built Fort Stan-  1758
wix, on the Mohawk. Thus, in a military point of view, Oswego remained until our
war for independence broke out.2
This post was rather too remote for active operations, during the first years of the war,
to attract the serious attention of either party, and the fort was garrisoned by only a few
men until the summer of 1777, when St. Leger, with seven hundred Rangers, detached
from the army of Burgoyne at St. John's, on the Sorel, made this his place of rendezvous
preparatory to his incursion into the Valley of the Mohawk. Here he was joined by Sir
John Johnson and Colonel Daniel Claus, with nearly seven hundred Indians, under Brant,
and four hundred regular troops.  Here a war feast was given, and, certain of success, the
party, in high spirits, departed to invest Fort Stanwix. A different scene was exhibited a
few weeks later at Oswego.   St. Leger, foiled, and his troops utterly routed, came hastening
back in all the terror and confusion of a retreat, the victors in hot pursuit.  His Indian allies, greatly alarmed, were scattered over the vast forests, and a mere remnant of his army,
His note to Colonel Littlehales was as follows: " The Marquis of Montcalm, army and field marshal,
commander-in-chief of his most Christian majesty's troops, is ready to receive a capitulation upon the most
honorable conditions, surrendering to him all the forts. They shall be shown all the regard the politest
nation can show. I send an aid-de-camp on my part, viz., Mons. de Bougainville, captain of dragoons;
they need only send the capitulation to be signed. I require an answer by noon. I have kept Mr. Drake
for a hostage.                                                              ' MONTCALM.
"August 14, 1756."
3 Mrs. Grant, of Edinburgh, Scotland, in her " Memoirs of an American Lady," gives a charming picture of the scenery about Oswego in 1761-2. She was then a child, and resided there with her fatheri
and her book presents all the vividness of a child's impressions. She noted, in particular, a feature in the
forest scenery which now delights the sojourner upon the southern shores of Lake Ontario-the sudden
bursting forth of leaves and flowers in the spring. Major Duncan, who was in command of the fort at that
time, was a gentleman of taste, and, in addition to a large and well-cultivated garden, he had a bowling
green and other pleasure grounds. These were the delight of the author of the " Memoirs," whose pleasing pictures may be found in chapters xliv. to xlvii. inclusive.




220


PICTORIAL FIIELD-BOOK


220              PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Willett's Attempt to Capture Fort Oswego.  Oswego in 1798.  Attack upon Oswego in 1814.  Fort Oswego.
without arms, half naked, and nearly starved, followed him to Fort Ontario, whence he fled
to Montreal.  The details of the siege of Fort Stanwix will be given hereafter.
There was no engagement at Oswego during the Revolution.     Just at the close of the
war, Washington conceived the design of securing Fort Ontario, and sent an expedition
thither under the command of Colonel Marinus Willett, who had been an efficient officer in
the Mohawk Valley from the time of the siege of Fort Stanwix. Preliminary articles of
peace had been signed in November previous, but as the terms were not definitely agreed
upon, it was the policy of the commander-in-chief to be prepared for the reopening of hostilities, and, therefore, until the settlement was finally made, in September, 1783, by the signing of the definitive treaty, his vigilance was unrelaxed. This enterprise was undertaken in
mid-winter. Willett assembled his troops at Fort Herkimer, on the German Flats, and on
the 9th of February crossed the Oneida Lake on the ice, and reached Oswego Falls
1783.
the next morning.   Not being strong enough in numbers to attempt a siege or an open
assault, he there prepared scaling-ladders, and determined to surprise the garrison that night.
A deep snow lay upon the ground, and the weather was so intensely cold that one of the soldiers was frozen to death.  A young Oneida Indian acted as guide, but the snow and the
darkness caused him to lose his way.
- u At daylight they found themselves in
-  sight of the fort, and soon afterward
they discovered three wood-choppers
tha        near.  Two of them were captured, but
the third escaped to the fort and gave
the alarm.   Willett and his party immediately retreated, and thus ended the
expedition.'    In ] 796 this post, with
w                      all others upon the frontier, was given
VIW OF OSWGO AND Te FT iN 12           up by the English to the United States.
VIE5W OF 0sWEO0 AND THE FORT IN 1798.2
A prize, in the shape of public stores
From a drawing by Dewitt, surveyor general.ein the        e     u
deposited at the Oswego Falls, attracted
the attention of the British in 1814, and a fleet, bearing three thousand men, appeared before the town on the 5th of September.   Fort Oswego, lying nearer the shore of the lake
than old Fort Ontario, on the same side of the harbor, was quite dilapidated, and the little
garrison had small means of defense.  They had only six cannons, and three of these had
lost their trunnions.  As soon as the sail of the enemy appeared, information was sent to
Captain Woolsey, of the navy, then at the village on the west side of the river, and to the
neighboring militia.  Four large ships, three brigs, and a number of gun and other boats
1814  appeared, about seven miles distant, at dawn on the morning of the 5th of September.
The Americans prepared a battery on the shore, and gave the enemy such a warm reception, while approaching in boats to land, that they returned to their ships.  Early on the
morning of the 6th the fleet came within cannon-shot of the works, and for three hours kept
up a discharge of grape and heavy balls against the fort and batteries.3 The troops finally
effected a landing, and the little band of Americans, not exceeding three hundred in number, after maintaining their ground as long as possible, withdrew into the rear of the fort,
and halted within four hundred yards of it. After fighting about half an hour, they marchIClarke's MS.
This view is from the west side of the river, near the site of the present United States Hotel.
3 I visited Fort Oswego, which is now a strong and admirably appointed fortification. A small garrison
is usually stationed there, but at the time of my visit the fort was vacated by troops and left in charge of a
sergeant (Mr. Brown), whose courtesy made our little party feel as much at home amid the equipments of
war as if we were veritable soldiers and our ladies attaches of the camp. He gave me a four-pound can.
non-ball, which was fired into the fort from the British ship Wolfe, the only ship engaged in the action, on
t:o morning of the 6th of September, 1814. It bears the rude anchor mark of British ordnance shot, and
was labeled by the sergeant, " A present from John null to Uncle Sam."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


221


Result of the Battle in 1814.        Oswego at Present             Major Cochran.             Dr. John Cochran.


ed toward the falls, to defend the stores, destroying the bridges in their rear.  The British
burned the barracks, and, after spiking some of the guns, evacuated the fort, and retired to
their ships at three o'clock on the morning of the 7th. The loss of the Americans was six
killed, thirty-eight wounded, and twenty-five missing. The enemy lost, in killed, wounded,
drowned, and missing, two hundred and thirty-five.1 They returned on the 9th, and sent
a flag into the village, to inform the people of their intention to land a large force and capture the stores; but, being informed that the bridges were destroyed and the stores removed,
the fleet weighed anchor and returned to Kingston.
Scarcely a feature of old Oswego is left.  The little hamlet of the Revolution and the tiny
village of 1814 have grown                          -- --       --
into a flourishing city.  Heavy                  - -
stone piers, built by the United  /                           -.\
States government, guard the                                -
harbor from    storms, and   a   i         -
strong fortification protects it
from   enemies.   Lake    com-.
merce enlivens the mart, and a                                    r             a          e
canal and rail-road daily pour
their freights of goods and travel into its lap.
While in Oswego I visited
the venerable Major Cochran and his excellent lady,
the daughter of General Philip      Schuyler.   Major
Cochran was then nearly eighty years old, and feeble
in bodily health, but his mind was active and vigorous.  His father was Dr. John Cochran,2 the surgeon
general of the Middle Department of the Revolutionary
army; and himself was a member of Congress during            ViEW OF Oswzoo HAaBon, 184
the administration of the elder Adams.' His family relationship and position made him acquainted with all the general officers of the Revolution, and his reminiscences afforded me
much pleasure and instruction during my brief visit.  He has since gone down into the grave,
and thus the men of that generation, like the sands of an hour-glass, fall into their restingLetter of Commodore Chauncy to the Secretary of the Navy.
2 Dr. Cochran was born in Chester, Pennsylvania, in 1730. His father came from the north of Ireland. He studied medicine at Lancaster, and served as surgeon's mate in the hospital department during
the French and Indian war. At the close of that contest he settled in Albany, and married Gertrude, the
only sister of General Schuyler. He entered the Revolutionary army, and in the spring of 1777 Washington appointed him surgeon general of the Middle Department, and in October, 1781, director general of
the hospitals of the United States. He removed to New York after the peace, and his eminent services
were not forgotten by Washington, who nominated him commissioner of loans for that state. He died at
Palatine, Montgomery county, April 6th, 1807, aged 76.
3 This view is from the top of the United States Hotel, looking east-northeast. It was hastily sketched
during the approach of a thunder-storm, and the  huge herald drops" came down just as I traced the distant water-line of the lake. The objects by the figure in the foreground are the balustrade and chimney
of the hotel, now (1848) a summer boarding-house for strangers. The first height beyond the water on
the right is the point on which stands Fort Oswego. The land in the far distance, on the same side, is
Four-mile Point, behind which Montcalm landed his forces. On the left is seen the light-house upon one
of the stone piers, and beyond it spread out the waters of Lake Ontario.
4 Circumstances connected with his election are rather amusing. A vessel was to be lanched upon (I
think) Seneca Lake, at Geneva, and, it being an unusual event, people came from afar to see it. The young
folks gathered there, determined to have a dance at night. A fiddle was procured, but a fiddler was wanting. Young Cochran was an amateur performer, and his services were demanded on the occasion. He
gratified the joyous company, and at the supper-table one of the gentlemen remarked, in commendation of
his talents, that he was "fit for Congress."  The hint was favorably received by the company, the matter
was " talked up," and he was nominated and elected a representative in Congress for the district then com.
prising the whole state of New York west of Schenectady. He always claimed to have fiddled himself
into Congress.




222


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Attempted Abduction of General Schuyler by Waltermeyer.  Alarm of the Family.  ~ Narrow Escape of an Infant.
place. His lady, many years his junior, was the youngest and favorite daughter of General
Schuyler.  She was his traveling companion during his old age, and constantly enjoyed the
advantages of the refined society by which he was surrounded. When her mother departed
from earth, she was his companion and solace, and was at his bedside, to minister to his wants,
in the hour of death.' Although the stirring scenes of the Revolution were passed before
the years of her infancy were numbered, her intercourse with the great and honorable of that
generation, during her youth and early womanhood, brought facts and circumstances to her
vigorous mind so forcibly, that their impressions are as vivid and truthful as if made by actual
observation.  She related many interesting circumstances in the life of her father, and among
them that of an attempted abduction of his person in 1781.
At the time in question, General Schuyler was residing in the suburbs of Albany, having
left the army and engaged in the civil service of his country. Notwithstanding his comparatively obscure position, his aid and counsel were constantly sought, in both military and
civil transactions, and he was considered by the enemy one of the prominent obstacles in the
way of their success.  He was then charged by Washington with the duty of intercepting
all communications between General Haldimand in Canada and Clinton in New York.
For some time the Tories in the neighborhood of Albany had been employed in capturing
prominent citizens and carrying them off to Canada, for the purpose of exchange. Such an
attempt was made upon Colonel Gansevoort, and now a bold project was conceived to carry
off General Schuyler. John Waltermeyer, a bold partisan and colleague of the notorious
Joe Bettys, was employed for the purpose. Accompanied by a gang of Tories, Canadians,
and Indians,,he repaired to the neighborhood of Albany, but, uncertain how well General
Schuyler might be guarded, he lurked among the pine shrubbery in the vicinity eight or ten
days. He seized a Dutch laborer, and learned from him the exact position of' affairs at
Schuyler's house, after which be extorted an oath of secrecy from the man and let him go.
The Dutchman seems to have made a mental reservation, for he immediately gave information of the fact to General Schuyler. A Loyalist, who was the general's personal friend,
and cognizant of Waltermeyer's design, also warned him. In consequence of the recent abductions, the general kept a guard of six men constantly on duty, three by day and three by
night, and after these warnings they and his family were on the alert.
August,   At the close of a sultry day, the general and his family were sitting in the front
1781.  hall.  The servants were dispersed about the premises.  The three guards relieved
for the night were asleep in the basement room, and the three on duty, oppressed by the heat,
were lying upon the cool grass in the garden. A servant announced to the general that a
stranger desired to speak to him at the back gate.  The stranger's errand was at once comprehended.  The doors of the house were immediately shut and close barred.  The family
were hastily collected in an upper room, and the general ran to his bed-chamber for his arms.
From the window he saw the house surrounded by armed men. For the purpose of arousing the sentinels upon the grass, and perchance to alarm the town, he fired a pistol from the
window. The assailants burst open the doors, and at that moment Mrs. Schuyler perceived
that, in the confusion and alarm of the retreat from the hall, her infant child, a few months
old, had been left in the cradle in the nursery below.  Parental love subdued all fear, and
she was flying to the rescue of her child, when the general interposed and prevented her.
But her third daughter' instantly rushed down the two flights of stairs, snatched the still
sleeping infant from the cradle, and bore it off safely. One of the miscreants hurled a sharp
tomahawk at her as she left the room, but it effected no other harm than a slight injury to
her dress, within a few inches of the infant's head.  As she ascended a private stair-case she
met Waltermeyer, who, supposing her to be a servant, exclaimed,, Wench, wench, where
1 Grief for the loss of his wife, and the melancholy circumstances connected with the death of his son-inlaw, General Alexander Hamilton, weighed heavily upon his spirits. His death was hastened by exposure
and fatigue while accompanying two French dukes over the battle-ground of Saratoga. He was taken ill
there, and never recovered.
9 Margaret, afterward the first wife of the late venerated General Van Rensselaer (the patroon) of Albany.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


223


- -


Robbery of General Schuyler's House.  Retreat of the Marauders.  Abduction of other Patriots.  Mrs. Cochran.
is your master?"  With great presence of mind, she replied, (, Gone to alarm the town."
The Tory's followers were then
-                          in the dining-room, plundering it
of the plate and other valuables,
-_  -                           and he called them together for
consultation.           At that moment.... C r   wthe general threw up a window,
and, as if speaking to numbers,
ycalled out, in a loud voice,, Come
on, my brave fellows, surround
the house and secure the villains,
t::-                   '        who are plundering."  The asa  o asailants made a precipitate retreat, carrying with them  the
) three guards that were in the
house, and a large quantity of
a                                    silver plate.  They made their
-' way to Ballstown by daybreak,
n                                             14 where they took General Gordon a prisoner from his bed, and
ne                                    with their booty returned to Caniada.n                                    The bursting open of the
— X —     doors of General Schuyler's house
--   aroused the sleeping guards in the cellar,
-       who rushed up to the back hall, where they
had left their arms, but they were gone. Mrs.
Church,2 another daughter of General Schuyler,
S                                   who was there at the time, without the slightest
suspicion that they might be wanted, caused the
arms to be removed a short time before the attack,
on account of apprehended injury to her little son,
whom she found playing with them.  The guards
had no other weapon but their brawny fists, and.. <                             these they used manfully until overpowered. They, were taken to Canada, and when they were ex'   l>          (, changed, the general gave them each a farm, in
Saratoga county.         Their names were John Tubbs,
'                        '      John Corlies, and John Ward.
' -  P.L.-  tMrs. Cochran was the infant rescued by her intrepid sister.  The incident is one of deep interest,
D  a, Lo/                and shows the state of constant alarm and danger
in which the people lived at that day, particularly
those whose position made them conspicuous. Mrs. Cochran kindly complied with my solicitation for a likeness of herself to accompany the narrative here given.
M1 ajor Cochran related to me an incident connected with the booty in question. Among the plundered articles was a silver soup tureen. He was at Washington city at the time of the inauguration of Harrison, in 1841, and while in the rotunda of the Capitol, viewing Trumbull's picture of the surrender of Burgoyne, a stranger at his elbow inquired, " Who is that fine-looking man in the group, in citizen's dress?"
"General Schuyler," replied Major Cochran. "General Schuyler!" repeated the stranger. "Why, I
ate soup not long since, at Belleville, in Canada, from a tureen that was carried off from his house by some
Tories in the Revolution." This was the first and only trace the family ever had of the plundered articles.
2 She was the wife of John B. Church, Esq., an English gentleman, who was a contractor for the Frencb
army in America under Rochambeau. He returned to England, and was afterward a member of Parliament.




224


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Departure from Oswego.  The Genesee River.  Storm on the Lake.  Sea-sickness.  Fort Niagara.
It was my intention to go directly from Oswego to Rome, by the plank road that traverses the old war-paths of the last century between those points, for the region westward is
quite barren of incident connected with the Revolution.  Old Fort Niagara, at the mouth
of the Niagara River, was a place of rendezvous for Tories and Indians while preparing for
marauding excursions on the borders of civilization in New York, or when they returned with
prisoners and scalps.  Beyond this it offered no attractions, for hardly a remnant of its former material is left. But having been joined at Oswego by another member of my family,
who, with my traveling companion, was anxious to see the great cataract, and desirous myself to look again upon that wonder of the New World, I changed my course, and on a
August 17, stormy morning, with a strong north wind awakening the billows of Ontario, we left
1848.  Oswego for Lewiston in the steamer Cataract, commanded by the same excellent
Van Cleve whose vessel got a little entangled, ten years before, in the affair at Wind-mill
Point, near Ogdensburgh.  The lake was very rough, and nearly all on board turned their
thoughts inwardly, conversing but little until we entered the Genesee River in the afternoon.
Many lost the breakfast they had paid for, and others, by commendable abstinence and economy, saved the price of dinner by shunning it altogether.
The scenery upon the tortuous course of the Genesee is very picturesque.  The stream is
deep and narrow, and its precipitous shores are heavily wooded. The voyage terminated
three fourths of a mile below the Lower Falls of the Genesee, and five miles from Ontario.
Here is the port of Rochester.  The city lies upon the plains at the Upper Falls, two miles
distant.  Our boat remained there until toward evening, and, the rain having abated, I
strolled up the winding carriage-way as far as the Lower Falls. This road is cut in the
precipitous bank of the river, presenting overhanging cliffs, high and rugged, on one side, and
on the other steep precipices going down more than a hundred feet below to the sluggish bed
of the stream.  Every thing about the falls is broken and confused. 'The stream, the rocks,
the hills, and trees are all commingled in chaotic grandeur, varying in lineament at each step,
and defying every attempt to detect a feature of regularity.  There sandstone may be seen
in every stage of formation, from the loose soil to shale, and slate-like lamina, and the solid
stratified rock.  The painter and the geologist are well rewarded for a visit to the Lower
Falls of the Genesee.
We descended the river toward evening.  Heavy clouds were rolling over the lake; and
the white caps that sparkled upon its bosom, and the spray that dashed furiously over the
unfinished stone pier at the mouth of the river, betokened a night of tempest and gloom.
The wind had increased almost to a gale upon the lake while we had been quietly lying in
the sheltering arms of the Genesee.  Premonitions of sea-sickness alarmed my prudence, and
by its wise direction I slipped into my berth before eight o'clock, and slept soundly until
aroused by the porter's bell, a little before daybreak, at Lewiston Landing.  The rain continued, though falling gently.  We groped our way up the slippery road to the cars, and,
shivering in the damp air, took seats for Niagara, fully resolved to give the bland invitation
of the (lake route" a contemptuous refusal on our return eastward.  It may be very pleasant on a calm day or a moonlight night, but our experience made us all averse to the aquatic
journey.
We passed from Ontario into the Niagara River, seven miles below Lewiston, while slumbering, and, consequently, I have nothing to say of Fort Niagara from personal observation.
We will turn to veritable history for the record, and borrow the outlines of an illustration
from another pencil.
In 1679, during the administration of Frontenac, a French officer named De Salle inclosed a small spot in palisades at the mouth of the Niagara River, and in 1725, two years
before Governor Burnet built his fort at Oswego, a strong fortification was erected there.  It
was captured by the British, under Sir William Johnson, in 1759.  The forces, chiefly provincials, that were sent against the fort were commanded by General Prideaux, who sailed
July 7, from Oswego, and landed near the mouth of the river in July. He at once opened
1757. his batteries upon the fortress, but was soon killed by the bursting of a gun.  The




OF THE REVOLUTION.


22 6'


- - -


Attack on Fort Niagara.  Stratagem of the French.  Traditions respecting the Fort.  A Refuge for Tories and Indians.
command then devolved upon Johnson.  An army of French regulars, twelve hundred strong,
o             drawn chiefly from western posts, and accompanied by an equal number of Indians, marching to the relief of the garrison, were totally routed by Johnson, and a large part of them made prisoners.  The siege
had then continued more than a fortnight, and the beleaguered garrison, despairing of succor, surrendered the next day.  In addi- July23
tion to the ammunition and stores that fell into their hands,  1759.
--   -   -   the strong fort itself was an important acquisition for the English.
Within its dungeons were found instruments for executions or murders
and the ears of the English received many horrid tales from the captive
o                                       Indians of atrocities committed
there during French rule.
It is said that the messhouse, a strong building still
standing within the fort, was
built by the French by strataw-                      gem. The Indians were opDISTANT VIEW OF FORT NIAGARA.          posed to the erection of any
thing that appeared like a fortress.  The French troops were kindly received by the savages, and obtained their consent
to build a wigwam. They then induced the Indians to engage in an extensive hunt with
some French officers, and when they returned the walls were so far advanced that they might
defy the savages if they should attack them.  It grew into a large fort, with bastions and
ravelins, ditches and pickets, curtains and counter-scarp, covered way, draw-bridge, raking
batteries, stone towers, bakery, blacksmith shop, mess-house, barracks, laboratory, magazine,
and a chapel with a dial over its door to mark the progress of the hours.  It covered about
eight acres. A few rods from the barrier-gate was a burial-ground, over the portal of which
was painted, in large letters, REST. The dungeon of the mess-house, called the black-hole,
was a strong, dark, and dismal place, and in one corner of the room was fixed an apparatus
for strangling those whom the despotic officers chose to kill.  The walls were profusely inscribed with French names and mementoes in that language, and the letters and emblems
were many of them so well executed as to prove that some of the victims were not of common stamp.   When, in June, 1812, an attack upon the fort by the English was momentarily expected, a merchant, residing near the fort, deposited some valuable articles in the dungeon.  He went there one night with a light, and discovered his own family name upon the
walls. Like other ruins, it has its local legends. The headless trunk of a French officer
has been seen sitting on the margin of the well in the dungeon; and large sums of money
have been buried there, and their localities pointed out by fingers visible only to moneydiggers.'
During the American Revolution ", it was the headquarters," says De Veaux, " of all that
was barbarous, unrelenting, and cruel.  There were congregated the leaders and chiefs of
those bands of murderers and miscreants who carried death and destruction into the remote
American settlements. There civilized Europe reveled with savage America, and ladies of
education and refinement mingled in the society of those whose only distinction was to wield
the bloody tomahawk and the scalping-knife. There the squaws of the forests were raised
to eminence, and the most unholy unions between them and officers of the highest rank smiled
upon and countenanced.  There, in their strong-hold, like a nest of vultures, securely, for
seven years, they sallied forth and preyed upon the distant settlements of the Mohawk and


This is copied from one published in Barber and Howe's " Historical Collections of New York."  They
copied it from an engraving published during the war of 1812. It gives the appearance of the.locality at
that time. The view is from the west side of the Niagara River, hear the light-house. The fort is on the
east side (the right of the picture), at the mouth of the river. The steam-boat seen in the distance is out
on Lake Ontario.                                             3 See De Veaux's Niagara Falls.
P




226


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


The Niagara River.  Events there of the.War of 1812.  American Militia.  Brock's Death.  His Monument.
Susquehanna Valleys.   It was the depot of their plunder: there they planned their forays,
and there they returned to feast, until the time of action came again.",
The shores of Niagara River, from Erie to Ontario, abound in historic associations connected with the military operations on that frontier during the war of 1812.  The battles
of Chippewa, Lundy's Lane, Queenston, and Fort Erie occurred in this vicinity; but these
events are so irrelevant to our subject, that we must give them but brief incidental notice
as we happen to pass by their localities.
Fort Niagara was feebly garrisoned by the Americans, and on the 19th of December,
1813, a British force of twelve hundred men crossed the river and took it by surprise.  The
garrison consisted of three hundred and seventy men.  The commanding officer was absent,
the gates were open and unguarded, and the fortress, strong as it was, became an easy prey
to the enemy.   Sixty-five of the garrison were killed, and twenty-seven pieces of ordnance
and a large quantity of military stores were the spoils of victory for the British.
It was broad daylight when our train moved from Lewiston, and across the Niagara, on the
Canada shore, the heights of Queenston, surmounted by Brock's monument, were in full view.
The battle that renders this towering slope so famous occurred on the 13th of October, 1812.
The Americans were commanded by the late General Stephen Van Rensselaer, the British by General Sir James Brock.  The former were about twenty-five hundred strong; the
latter numbered about the same, besides a horde of Chippewa Indians. The British were
strongly posted upon the heights.  At four o'clock on the morning of the 13th about
six hundred Americans, under Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer and Lieutenant-colonel Christie, crossed over in boats to dislodge the enemy.  The passage was made in the
face of a destructive fire, and the brave Americans rushed impetuously up the acclivity and
attacked the first battery, captured it, and soon stood victorious upon the height from which
they had driven the enemy.   General Brock endeavored, in person, to rally his scattered
troops, and was fatally wounded while leading them to the charge.' Dismayed when they
saw their leader fall, they fled in great confusion.  At this time Colonel Scott,2 with a reenforcement of six hundred men, regulars and volunteers, crossed over; and the enemy was
also re-enforced by troops from Fort George, and five hundred Chippewa Indians. The
strife was fierce for a long time.  The British, re-enforced, far outnumbered the Americans,
and the militia remaining at Lewiston could not be induced to cross over to support their
friends in the combat.  Overwhelming numbers closed in upon the Americans, and, after
fighting eleven hours, they were obliged to surrender.  The American loss was about ninety
killed and nine hundred wounded, missing, and prisoners. The behavior of many of our
militia on this occasion was extremely disgraceful. Taking advantage of the darkness when
they crossed in the morning, they hid themselves in the clefts of the rocks and clumps of
bushes near the shore, where they remained while the fighting ones were periling life upon
the heights above.  The cowards were dragged out from their hiding-places by the legs, by
the British soldiers, after the surrender.
The rail-road cars from Lewiston to the Falls ascend in their course an inclined plane that
winds up what is evidently the ancient southern shore of Lake Ontario. Deposits of pebbles at the foot of the ridge, and many other facts connected with this physical feature of'
the country from Niagara to Oswego, prove conclusively, to the mind of the close observer,
that this was the shore of Ontario before the great convulsion took place which formed the
General Brock was lieutenant governor of Upper Canada. The Legislature of that province caused a
monument to be erected to his memory, on the heights near the spot where he fell. It is in a position so
elevated, that it may be seen at different points nearly fifty miles distant. The monument is constructed
of freestone. The base, which covers the vault wherein lie the remains of General Brock and his aid, Lieutenant-colonel John M'Donald (who was killed in the same action), is twenty feet square. The shaft rises
one hundred and twenty-six feet from the ground. A miscreant named Lett attempted to destroy it by
gunpowder on the night of the 17th of April, 1840. The keystone over the door was thrown out, and the
shaft was cracked nearly two thirds of its height.
Now Major-general Scott, of the United States army. The present General Wool was a captain, and
commanded a company in the action.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


227


Arrival at Niagara. Falls Village. View from Goat Island. Biddle's Tower Sublime Voyage in the "Maid of the Mist."
Falls of Niagara.   We leave what questions upon this point remain open, to be settled by
wiser minds, and hasten on to the Falls. We caught a few glimpses of the green waters
from the windows of the car, and in a few minutes were in the midst of the tumult of porters
at the village, more clamorous for our ears than the dull roar of the cataract near by.  The
fasting upon the lake and the early morning ride had given us a glorious appetite for breakfast, and as soon as it was appeased we sallied out, guide-book in hand, to see the celebrities.
These have been described a thousand times.    Poets, painters, travelers, historians, philosophers, and penny-a-liners have vied with each other in magnifying this wonder, and as I
can not (if I would) c" add one cubit to its stature" for the credulous, a thought concerning
its sublimity and beauty for the romantic, a hue to the high coloring of others for the sentimental, or a new fact or theory for the philosophical, I shall pass among the lions in almost
perfect silence, and speedily leave the excitements of this fashionable resort fobr the more
quiet grandeur and beauty of the Mohawk Valley, once the ", dark and bloody ground," but
now a paradise of fertility, repose, and peace.
We crossed the whirling rapids and made the circuit of Goat Island.   In this route all
the remarkable points of the great cataract are brought to view.  From the Hog's Back, at
the lower end of the island, there is a fine prospect of the river below, and the distant Canada shore beyond. The almost invisible Suspension Bridge, like a thread in air, was seen
two miles distant; and beneath us, through the mist of the American Fall, glorious with'
rainbow hues, the little steam-boat, the " Maid of the Mist," came breasting the powerful
current.  We looked down from our lofty eyrie (literally, in the clouds), through the mist
veil, upon her deck, and her passengers appeared like Lilliputians in a tiny skiff.  From the
southern side of the island we had a noble 'view of the Horse-shoe Fall, over which. pours
the greater portion of the Niagara River.   The water is estimated to be twenty feet deep
upon the crown of the cataract.   Biddle's Tower is a fine observatory, overlooking, on one
side, the boiling abyss below the fall, and standing apparently in the midst of the rushing
waters as they hurry down the rapids above. We spent two hours upon the verge of the
floods, in the shadows of the lofty trees that cover the island, but these scenes were tame
compared with what we beheld from the "Maid of the Mist" toward noon.   We rode nearly to
the Suspension Bridge, and, walking down a winding road cleft in the rocks, reached the brink
of the river at the head of the great rapids above the whirlpool.  There we embarked on the
little steam-boat, and moved up the river to the cataract.  As we approached the American
Fall, all retreated into the cabins, and, the windows being closed, we were soon enveloped in
spray. It was a sight indescribably grand. As we looked up, the waters seemed to be pouring from the clouds.  A feeling of awe, allied to that of worship, pervaded us, and all were
silent until the avalanche of waters was passed. The beautiful lines of Brainerd came vividly up from the shrine of memory, and aided my thoughts in seeking appropriate language:
"It would seem
As if God poured thee from his 'hollow hand,'
And hung his bow upon thine awful front,
And spoke in that loud voice which seemed to him
Who dwelt in Patmos for his Savior's sake,
'The sound of many waters,' and had bade
The flood to chronicle the ages back,
And notch his cent'ries in the eternal rocks.
Deep calleth unto deep. And what are we
That hear the question of that voice sublime?
Or what are all the notes that ever rung
From war's vain trumpet, by thy thundering side?
Yea, what is all the riot man can make
In his short life to thy unceasing roar?
And yet, bold babbler, what art thou to Him
Who drowned the world, and heaped the waters far
Above its loftiest mountains? a light wave
That breaks and whispers of its Maker's might."




228


PICTORIAL FIitELD-BOOK


228              PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Buckingham's Lines.  Voyage of the Maid of the Mist.  Romantic Marriage.  The Whirlpool.  The Suspension Bridge.
Beautifully has Buckingham expressed the reverential thoughts which fill the mind and
part the lips for utterance in that majestic presence:
"Hail! sovereign of the world of floods I whose majesty and might
First dazzles-then enraptures-then o'erawes the aching sight;
The pomp of kings and emperors in every clime and zone
Grow dim beneath the splendors of thy glorious watery throne.
"No fleets can stop thy progress, no armies bid thee stay,
But onward, onward, onward thy march still holds its way;
The rising mist that veils thee, as thine herald, goes before,
And the music that proclaims thee is the thundering cataract's roar.
" Thy reign is of the ancient days, thy scepter from on highThy birth was when the distant stars first lit the gloomy sky;
The sun, the moon, and all the orbs that shine upon thee now,
Beheld the wreath of glory which first bound thy infant brow!"
Our little boat, after sweeping around as near the great Horse-shoe Fall as prudence would
allow, touched a moment at the landing on the Canada side, and then returned to her moorings.  We felt relieved when we stood again on land, for there is some peril in the voyage;
yet the wonderful scene yields a full compensation for the risk.  It affords an opportunity to
exhibit courage more sensibly than the foolish periling of life in clambering over the slippery
rocks under the Falls, and sentiment has here some chance for respectable display. The week
previous to our visit a young couple, with a parson, took passage in the "' Maid of the Mist,"
and, when enveloped in the spray of the cataract, were united in wedlock. What an altar
before which to make nuptial vows! Can they ever forget the solemn promises there made,
or be unfaithful to the pledge there sealed?
We visited the whirlpool, and that wonder of art, the Suspension Bridge, before returning
to the village. The former is at the elbow of the Niagara River, two and a half miles below the cataract, and should never be left unseen by the visitor at the Falls. The Suspension Bridge spans the river near the head of the rapids above the whirlpool. The present
structure is only the scaffolding for constructing the one intended for the passage of a train
of rail-road cars. Numerous foot-passengers were upon it, and a coach and horses, with drivef
and two passengers, crossed it while we were there. The light structure bent beneath the
weight like thin ice under the skater, yet the passage is considered perfectly safe.  I visited
it again toward evening, and made the accompanying sketch to illustrate the method of its
construction and
its relative posiThe bridge from pier to pir is               To  attempt to
~~'timbers. The towers for lsketch the Falls
truthfully    is
t                                                   vain.  They
have never yet
PaRT OF NIAARarA SUSPENSION BRIDOE.2                 been   portrayed
The bridge from pier to pier is eight hundred feet long. Its breadth is eight feet. The whole bridge
is suspended upon eight carles, our on each side, which pass over towers fifty-four feet high, built of heavy
timbers. The towers for the large bridge will be of solid masonry eighty feet high. Each cable is eleven
hundred and sixty feet long, and composed of seventy-two number ten iron wires, around which is wrapped
small wire three times boiled in linseed oil, which anneals it, and gives it a coat that can not be injured by
exposure to the weather, and preserves the wire from rust. The cables, after passing over the piers on the
banks, are fast anlhored in masonry fifty feet back of them. The suspenders are composed of eight wires
each, and are placed four and a half feet apart. The bridge is two hundred feet above the water.
2 This view, looking up the river, comprises about one half the bridge, a portion of the bank on the Canada side on the right, the American shore on the left, and a part of the Falls, seen under the bridge, in the
extreme distance.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


229


Departure from the Falls.  A Day upon the Rail-road.  Syracuse.  Early History of that Region.  The French.
in their grandeur, and never can be. A picture can not convey an idea of their magnificence
to the eye.  They must be seen to be known.  Art utterly fails in attempts to transfer their
features to canvas, and degrades nature by its puny efforts.  In their motion consists their
great sublimity, and the painter might as well attempt to delineate the whirlwind as to depict Niagara in its glory.
We left Niagara early on Saturday morning, stopped in Buffalo just long enough August 19,
to go from one rail-way station to another, and reached Syracuse at about eight in  1848.
the evening, a distance of two hundred miles. That day's journey seems more like a dream
than reality, for hills and valleys, woods and meadows, hamlets and villages, lakes and rivers, the puff of the engine, the rattle of the train, men, women, and children in serried ranks,
are all mingled in confusion in the kaleidescope of memory, and nothing but a map or a Traveler's Guide-book can unravel the tangled skein of localities that was spun out in that rapid
journey of fourteen hours. We remember the broad Niagara, the dark Erie with white
sails upon its bosom, the stately houses and busy streets of Buffalo, the long reaches of flat,
new country, dotted with stumps, from Buffalo to Attica and beyond, the stirring mart of
Rochester, the fields, and orchards, and groves of lofty trees that seemed waltzing by us, the
beautiful villages of Canandaigua and Geneva, the falls of the Seneca, the long bridge of
Cayuga, the strong prison and beautiful dwellings of Auburn, and the golden sunset and cool
breeze that charmed us as we approached Syracuse.   In that flourishing city of the recent
wilderness we passed a quiet Sabbath with some friends, and the next morning I journeyed
to Rome.
Although a quarter of a century has scarcely passed since Syracuse was a village of mean
huts,' it has a history connected with European civilization more than two hundred years
old.  At Salina, now a portion of the city of Syracuse, where the principal salt-wells are,
the French, under the Sieur Dupuys, an officer of the garrison at Quebec, made a settlement
as early as 1655.  The Onondaga tribe then had their villages in the valley, a few miles from
Syracuse, and a good understanding prevailed between them and the new-comers. The
jealousy of the Mohawks was aroused, and they attempted to cut off the colonists while on
their way up the St. Lawrence. They, however, reached their destination in safety, and
upon the borders of the Onondaga Lake they reared dwellings and prepared for a permanent
colony.  But the uneasiness of the Indian tribes soon manifested itself in hostile preparations,
and in the winter of 1658 Dupuys was informed that large parties of Mohawks, Oneidas,
and even Onondagas, were arming. Unable to procure assistance in time from Quebec, he
succeeded, by stratagem, in constructing some bateaux and escaping with the whole colony
secretly down the river to Oswego, and thence to Montreal.
Relying implicitly upon the good faith and promised friendship of the Indians, Dupuys
had neglected to preserve his canoes. To construct new ones in view of the Indians would
advertise them of his intentions, and bring their hatchets upon the settlement at once. He
therefore had small bateaux made in the garret of the Jesuit's house, and kept them concealed
when finished. A young Frenchman had been adopted into the family of a chief, and had
I In 1820 the late William L. Stone visited Syracuse in company with Mr. Forman, one of the earliest
and most industrious friends of the Erie Canal. " I lodged for the night," says Mr. Stone, " at a miserable
tavern, thronged by a company of salt-boilers from Salina, forming a group of about as rough-looking specimens of humanity as I had ever seen. Their wild visages, beards thick and long, and matted hair even
now rise up in dark, distant, and picturesque effect before me. I passed a restless night, disturbed by
strange fancies, as I yet well remember. It was in October, and a flurry of snow during the night had
rendered the morning aspect of the country more dreary than the evening before. The few houses I have
already described, standing upon low and almost marshy ground, and surrounded by trees and entangled
thickets, presented a very uninviting scene. 'Mr. Forman,' said I, ' do you call this a village?  It would
make an owl weep to fly over it.' ' Never mind,' said he, in reply, 'you will live to see it a city yet.'"  Mr.
Stone did, indeed, live to see it a city in size, when he wrote the above in 1840, and it is now a city in fact,
with mayor and aldermen, noble stores and dwellings, and a population of some 14,000.
Judge Forman was one of the projectors of the Erie Canal, and the founder of Syracuse. He died at
Rutherfordton, North Carolina, on the 4th of August, 1849, aged 72 years.




230                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Stratagem of a young Frenchman. Escape of the French. Early Explorations. Monumental Stone. Silver-bottomed Lake
acquired great influence over the tribe.  By their customs an adopted son had all the privileges of a son by birth. When Dupuys had a sufficient number of bateaux finished, this
young man went to his foster-father, and in a solemn manner related that he had dreamed,
the previous night, that he was at a feast, where the guests ate and drank every thing that
was set before them. -He then asked the old chief to permit him to make such a feast for
the tribe.  The request was granted, and the feast was spread.  Many Frenchmen were
present, and with horns, drums, and trumpets, they kept a continual uproar. The French,
in the mean while, were diligently embarking and loading their bateaux, unobserved by the
feasting savages. At length the guests, who had been eating and drinking for hours, ceased
gormandizing, to take some repose. The young Frenchman commenced playing upon a
guitar, and in a few minutes every red man was in a profound slumber. He then joined
his companions, and before morning the whole colony were far on their way toward Oswego.
Late the next day the Indians stood wondering at the silence that prevailed in the dwellings
of the whites, and when, at evening, having seen no signs of human life through the day,
they ventured to break open the fastened dwellings, they were greatly astonished at finding
every Frenchman gone; and greater was their perplexity in divining the means by which
they escaped, being entirely ignorant of their having any vessels.'
Ten years afterward another French colony settled in what now is called Pompey, about
fourteen miles from Syracuse, and for three years it prospered, and many converts were made
to the Catholic faith from the Onondaga tribe. A company of Spaniards, having been informed of a lake whose bottom was covered with brilliant scales like silver, arrived there,
and in a short time the animosities of the respective adventurers caused them to accuse each
other to the Indians of foul designs upon the tribes.  The Onondagas believed both parties,
and determined to rid themselves of such troublesome neighbors. Assisted by the Oneidas
and Cayugas, they fell upon the colony on All-Saints' day, 1669, and every Frenchman and
Spaniard was massacred.'
Evidences of much earlier visits by Europeans have been found in the vicinity, among
which was a sepulchral stone that was exhumed near Pompey Hill. It was of an oblong
- -       figure, being fourteen inches long by twelve wide, and about eight inchi                  es in thickness.  In the center of the surface was a figure of a tree,
and a serpent climbing it; and upon each side of the tree was an inscription, as seen in the cut: "' Leo X., De Vix, 1520.  L. S. t."
i:LeoYxDO i j     This inscription may be thus translated: ( Leo X., by the grace of
J 5 -     fl>      God; sixth year of his pontificate, 1520."  The letters L. S. were
doubtless the initials of the one to whose memory the stone was set up.
The cross denoted that he was a Roman Catholic, but the meaning of
the inverted U is not so clear.  It has been supposed that the stone
was carved on the spot by a friend of the deceased, who may have been one of several French
or Spanish adventurers that found their way hither from Florida, which was discovered by
the Spaniards in 1502. They were amused and excited by stories of a lake far in the north,
whose bottom was lined with silver, and this was sufficient to cause them to peril every thing
in searching it out.  De Soto's historian speaks, in the course of his narrative of the adventures of that commander in the interior of America, of extreme cold at a place called by the
natives Saquechama. It is supposed that this name and Susquehanna are synonymous appellations for the country in Central New York, and that the silver-bottomed lake was the
Onondaga, the flakes and crystals of salt which cover its bottom giving it the appearance
of silver.8
See extracts from a MS. history of Onondaga county, by Rev. J. W. Adams, of Syracuse, quoted in the
Historical Collections of New York, p. 398.
2 Dewitt Clinton's Memoir on the Antiquities of Western New York.
3 See Clinton's Memoir, &c.; also, Sandford's Aborigines, note on page 114. The crystals of salt on the
bottom of the lake, into which the salt springs flow, were, like the scales of mica discovered on the easterp
coast by Gosnold and his party, mistaken for lamina of silver. There are not many salt springs near the




_ _


OF THE REVOLUTION.                                231
Rome.    Site of Fort Stanwix.  Forts Newport and Ball.  The Portage and Canal.  The Mohawk Valley.
We have already noticed the expedition of the French, under Frontenac, as far as the
Onondaga Valley.  From that time nothing but Indian feuds disturbed the repose that rested
upon Onondaga Lake and the beautiful country around, until business enterprise within the
present century began its warfare upon the forests and the rich soil.
I arrived at Rome, upon the Mohawk, toward noon.  It is a pleasant village, and stands
upon the site of old Fort Stanwix, on the western verge of the historical ground of the Mohawk Valley. Here was the outpost of active operations in this direction, and here was enacted one of the most desperate defenses of a fortress that occurred during our struggle for
independence.  The village, in its rapid
K_                          growth, has overspread the site of the fortification, and now not a vestige of antiquity re-,     — /.::.: mains, except a large elm-tree by the house of
j    Alvah Mudge, Esq., which stood within the
southwest angle of the fort.  Mr. Mudge
\   kindly pointed out to me the area comprehended within the fort, and the portion of
the village seen in the picture covers that
ie, ad                          area. The mason-work in the foreground
is a part of the first lock of the Black River
Canal, at present an unproductive work.
r  LS  The large building in the center of the picture is the mansion of John Striker, Esq.,
— l~!                     -1     president of the Rome Bank, and stands near
-n  a         M            the site of the northeast angle of the fort.
The whole view is only a few rods north— west of the Mohawk River, and a mile eastpt  OF Fo  SW          ward of Wood Creek, the main inlet of
SITE OF FORT STANWIX.
Oneida Lake.   Here ras a portage of a
mile, and the only interruption of water communication between Schenectady and Oswego.
This inconvenience was obviated by the construction of a canal between the Mohawk and
Wood Creek, in 1797.
Fort Stanwix was built in 1758, under the direction of General Stanwix, after the defeat
of Abercrombie at Ticonderoga.  It was a strong square fortification, having bomb-proof bastions, a glacis, covered way, and a well-picketed ditch around the ramparts. Its position
was important in a military point of view, for it commanded the portage between the Mohawk and Wood Creek, and was a key to communication between the Mohawk Valley and
Lake Ontario.  Other, but smaller, fortifications were erected in the vicinity.  Fort Newport, on Wood Creek, and Fort Ball, about half way across the portage, formed a part of the
military works there, and afforded not only a strong post of resistance to French aggression
in that direction, but also a powerful protection to the Indian trade.  The works cost the
British and Colonial government two hundred and sixty-six thousand four hundred dollars,
yet when the Revolution broke out the fort and its outposts were in ruins.
From the commencement of hostilities the Mohawk Valley was a theater of great activity, and all through the eventful years of the contest it suffered dreadfully from the effects
of partisan warfare. Every rood of ground was trodden by hostile parties, and for seven
years the fierce Indian, and the ofttimes more ferocious Tory, kept the people in continual
alarm, spreading death and desolation over that fair portion of our land.  So frequent and
sanguinary were the stealthy midnight attacks or open daylight struggles, that Tryon counsurface, but under the marshes that surround Onondaga Lake, and beneath the lake itself, there seems to
lie a vast salt lake, and shafts are sunken from the surface above into it. The water or brine is pumped
up from these shafts or wells, and vast quantities of salt are manufactured annually in the neighborhood of
Syracuse. A great number of men find employment there, and the state derives a handsome revenue from
the works.




232


PICTORIA-.L FIELD-BOOK


2   P I  F


Sir William Johnson and his Associates.  Effect of Political Movements upon the People.  Formation of Parties.
ty' obtained the appropriate appellation of ( the dark and bloody ground," and, long after
peace blessed the land, its forests were traversed with fear and distrust.  Here was the seat
of Sir William Johnson,' agent for the British government in its transactions with the Six NATIONS. He was
shrewd, cunning, and licentious, having little respect for
the laws of God or man, and observed them only so far?                   as compliance was conducive to his personal interest.  By
presents, conformity in dress and manners, and other ap-,       r       pliances, he obtained almost unbounded influence over the
tribes of the valley, and at his beck a thousand armed war-:-  riors would rush to the field.  He died before the events
of our Revolution brought his vast influence over the Indians into play, in active measures against the patriots.
Yet his mantle of power and moral sway fell, in a great
degree, upon his son, Sir John Johnson, who succeeded to
/  a    --      his title, office, and estates.  The latter, his cousin Guy
Johnson, Thayendanegea (Brant) the Mohawk sachem,
-                    Daniel Claus, and the Butlers were the leading spirits of loyalty in Tryon county, and the actors and abettors of scenes
//                 that darken the blackest page in the history of our race.
/// //7  /     /    These will be noticed hereafter.  For the present we will
confine our thoughts to the most prominent local events
/         ex ci               immediately antecedent to the siege of Fort Stanwix, or
//                     Schuyler, upon the site of which, at Rome, we are standing..     The excitement of the Stamp Act reached even the quiet valley of the Mohawk,
and implanted there the seeds of rebellion, and the people were eager listeners while
the conflict of power and principle was going on upon the sea-board, during the ten years
preceding the organization of the Continental army.a   The meeting of the general
Continental ongress eaused opinions to take a definite shape and expression, and in
the autumn of that year the demarkation line between patriots and Loyalists was distinctly
drawn among the people of this inland district.
In the spring of 1775, just before the second Congress assembled at Philadelphia, at a
court holden at Johnstown, the Loyalists made a demonstration against the proceedings of
1 Tryon county then included all the colonial settlements in New York west and southwest of Schenectady. It was taken from Albany county in 1772, and named in honor of William Tryon, then governor of
the province. The name was changed to Montgomery in 1784. The county buildings were at Johnstown, where was the residence of Sir William Johnson (still standing).
3 Sir William Johnson was born in Ireland, about the year 1714. He was a nephew of Sir Peter Warren, the commodore who was distinguished in the attack on Louisburgh,
Cape Breton, 1745. Sir Peter married a lady (Miss Watts) in New York,
purchased large tracts of land upon the Mohawk, and about 1734 young
Johnson was induced to come to America and take charge of his uncle's  D     I - -
affairs in that quarter. He learned the Indian language, adopted their
manners, and, by fair trade and conciliatory conduct, won their friendship  l
and esteem. He built a large stone mansion on the Mohawk, about three
miles west of Amsterdam, where he resided twenty years previous to the
erection of Johnson Hall at Johnstown. It was fortified, and was called
Fort Johnson. It is still standing, a substantial specimen of the domestic
architecture of that period. In 1755 he commanded a force intended to
invest Crown Point. He was attacked by Dieskau at the head of Lake.
George, where he came off victorious. For this he was made major gen-   -- -
eral and a knight. He commanded the assault upon Niagara, after the    FORT JOHNSON.
degth of Prideaux, and was successful there. He was never given credit
for great military skill or personal bravery, and was more expert in intriguing with Indian warriors, and
sending them to the field, than in leading disciplined troops boldly into action. He died at Johnson Hall
(Johnstown) on the 11th of July, 1774, aged 60 years.




OF THE REVOLUTION


Violence of Loyalists. Assault upon Jacob Sammons. Caughnawaga Church. Meeting at Cherry Valley. John Johnson.
the National Council, by drawing up and obtaining signatures to a declaration disapproving
of the acts of that body in the preceding autumn.  This proceeding of the Tories aroused
the indignation of the Whigs, who composed a considerable majority of the whites in Tryon
county.   Committees were appointed and public meetings were called in every district in
the county. The first was held at the house of John Veeder, in Caughnawaga,' where patriotic speeches were made, and a liberty pole, a most offensive object to the eyes of the Loyalists, was erected. Before this was accomplished, Sir John Johnson, accompanied by Colonel Claus, Guy Johnson, and Colonel John Butler, with a large number of their retainers,
armed with swords and pistols, arrived upon the ground and interrupted the proceedings.
Guy Johnson mounted a high stoop near the old church
and harangued    the people.   He expatiated upon the
-  -             strength of the king and government, and the folly of opposing the authority of the crown.  He had not a conciliatory word for the people, but denounced their proceedings in virulent and abusive language, so irritating, that
Jacob Sammons, a leader among the Whigs, could no
-!           -        longer restrain himself, but boldly pronounced the speaker
a-w:a liar and a villain.                Johnson leaped from his tribune and
i  "  seized Sammons by the throat; one of his party felled the
patriot to the ground by a blow from a loaded whip-handie, and then bestrode his body.  When Sammons recovered from the momentary stupor, he hurled the fellow from
him, and, springing upon his feet, stripped off his coat and
prepared to fight, when he was again knocked down.  Most
CAUGHNAWAGA CHURCH2       of his Whig friends had fled in alarm, and he was carried
to his father's house, " bearing upon his body the first scars
of the Revolutionary contest in the county of Tryon."'
A spirited Whig meeting was held soon afterward, in Cherry Valley, where the conduct
of the Tories at Johnstown was strongly condemned; but in the Palatine district and other
places the threats and the known strength of the Johnsons and their friends intimidated the
Whigs for a while.
In the mean time, Colonel Johnson fortified the baronial hall by planting swivels around
it. He paraded the militia, armed the Scotch Highlanders (who lived in the vicinity of
Johnstown, and were Roman Catholics), and by similar acts, hostile to the popular movement, the suspicions of the Whigs were confirmed that he was preparing for the suppression
of all patriot demonstrations in the county, and was inciting the Indians to join the enemies
Caughnawaga is the ancient name of the Indian village that stood a little eastward of the present village of Fonda. Its name signifies coffin, and was given to the place in consequence of there being in the
Mohawk, opposite the village, a black stone (still to be seen) resembling a coffin, and projecting above the
surface at low water.-Historical Collections of New York, p. 281.
2 This old church, now (1848) known as the Fonda academy, under the management of Rev. Douw
Van Olinda, is about half a mile east of the court-house, in the village of Fonda. It is a stone edifice, and
was erected in 1763 by voluntary contributions. Sir William Johnson contributed liberally. Its first pastor was Thomas Romayne, who was succeeded in 1795 by Abraham Van Horn, one of the earliest graduates of King's (now Columbia) College, in the city of New York. He was from Kingston, Ulster county,
and remained its pastor until 1840. During his ministry he united in marriage 1500 couples. The church
was without a bell until the confiscated property of Sir John Johnson was sold in the Revolution, when the
dinner-bell of his father was purchased and hung in the steeple. The bell weighs a little more'than one
hundred pounds, and bears the following inscription: "S. R. William Johnson, baronet, 1774. Made by
Miller and Ross, in Eliz. Town."-Simms's Schoharie County, &c.
Over the door of the church is a stone tablet, with this inscription in Dutch: " Komt laett ons op gaen
tot den Bergh des Heeret, to den huyse des godes Jacobs, op dat by ons leere van syne wegen, en dat wy
wandel in syne paden." English, " Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord; to the house
of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths."
3 Stone's Life of Brant, i., 53.




234


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Attempted Removal of Mr. Kirkland.  Hostile Movements of the Johnsons.  Indian Councils.  Rev. Samuel Kirkland.
— 0*
of liberty as soon as actual hostilities should commence.'  Another circumstance confirmed
these suspicions.  Brant was the secretary of Colonel Guy Johnson, the superintendent of
Indian affairs after the death of Sir William, and his activity in visiting the tribes and holding secret conferences with the sachems was unceasing.    Suddenly his former friendly intercourse with Mr. Kirkland, the faithful Christian missionary, was broken off in 1774, and,
at Brant's instigation, an Oneida chief preferred charges against the pious minister to Guy
Johnson, and asked for his removal. It was well known that Mr. Kirkland was a Whig,'
and this movement of the wily sachem could not be misinterpreted. But the Oneida nation
rallied in support of the minister, and his removal was for a time delayed.
During the summer of 1775 the Johnsons were very active in winning the Six Nations
from their promises of neutrality in the coming contest.'   A council of the Mohawks was
held at Guy Park in May,                               at the council, but the result
which was attended by           i                      was unsatisfactory to both pardelegates from  the Albany and                               ties.  The delegates, cognizant
the Tryon county Committees.                                 of the disaffection and bad faith
Little Abraham, brother of the                               of the Indians, could not rely
famous Hendrick who was kill-                                upon their present promises;
ed near Lake George, was the                                 and Guy Johnson, alarmed by
principal chief of the Mohawks,                              the events at Lexington and
and their best speaker on the oc-                            Concord, and    by intimations
casion.  Guy Johnson, the In-            G(a  R.     which he had received that his
dian agent, was in attendance                                person was in danger of seizure
by order of the General Congress, broke up the council abruptly, and immediately directed
the assembling of another at the Upper Castle, on the German Flats, whither himself and
family, attended by a large retinue of Mohawks, at once repaired.      But this council was
not held, and Johnson, with his family and the Indians, pushed on to Fort Stanwix. His
sojourn there was brief, and he moved on to Ontario, far beyond the verge of civilization.
Brant and the Butlers attended him, and there a large council was held, composed chiefly
of Cayugas and Senecas.
Thus far no positive acts of hostility had been committed by Guy Johnson and his friends,
yet his design to alienate the Indians and prepare them for war upon the patriots was undoubted. His hasty departure with his family to the wilderness, accompanied by a large
train of Mohawk warriors, and the holding a grand council in the midst of the fiercea Cayul See letter of the Palatine Committee to the Committee of Safety at Albany, dated May 18th, 1775.
Samuel Kirkland was son of the pious minister, Daniel Kirkland, of Norwich, Connecticut. He learned
the language of the Mohawks, was ordained a missionary to the Indians at Lebanon in 1766, and removed
his wife to the Oneida Castle in 1769. The next spring he removed to the house of his friend, General
Herkimer, near Little Falls. where his twin children were born, one of whom was the late Dr. Kirkland,
president of Harvard College. The very air of Norwich seemed to give the vitality of freedom to its sons,
and Mr. Kirkland early imbibed those patriotic principles which distinguished him through life. His attachment to the republican cause was well known, and, after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the
provincial Congress of Massachusetts, desirous of securing either the friendship or neutrality of the Six Na.
tions, sent a letter to him inclosing an address to the Indians, and requesting him to use his influence in
obtaining the ends in view. Mr. Kirkland succeeded in securing the attachment of the Oneidas to the
patriot cause, and continued his religious labors among them during the war, when the other tribes, through
the influence of Brant and the Johnsons, had taken up arms for the king. He officiated as chaplain to the
American forces in the vicinity of his labors, and accompanied Sullivan in his expedition in 1779. The
state of New York, in consideration of his patriotic services, gave him the lands of the " Kirkland patent,"
in the town of Kirkland. After 40 years' service for his God and country, he fell asleep at Paris, Oneida
county, on the 28th of March, 1808, in the 67th year of his age.
3 General Schuyler had held a conference with the chiefs of the Six NATIONS during the previous winter, and, setting before them the nature of the quarrel that had led to hostile movements, received from
them solemn promises that they would remain neutral.
4 This was the residence of Guy Johnson, and is still standing, on the north side of'the Mohawk, about
a mile fnom the village of Amsterdam, in Montgomery county. It is substantially built of stone, and may
stand a century yet.- Embowered in trees, it is a beautiful summer residence.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                  235
Alarm of the People of the Mohawk Valley.  Sir John Johnson and Highlanders.  Orders to General Schuyler.
gas and Senecas, greatly alarmed the people of the lower valley,' inasmuch as his reply to a
letter from the Provincial Congress of New York, which he wrote from the council- July 8,
room in the wilderness, glowed with sentiments of loyalty.  It was, moreover, posi-  1775.
tively asserted that he was collecting a large body of savages on that remote frontier, to fall
upon the inhabitants of the valley, and this belief was strengthened by the fact that Sir John
Johnson, who held a commission of brigadier general of militia, remained at Johnson Hall,
then fortified and surrounded by a large body of Loyalists. The alarmed patriots appealed
to the Committee of Safety at Albany for protection, and every preparation was made to
avert the threatened disaster.  Guy Johnson, however, did not return to the valley, but
went to Oswego, where he called another council, and then, accompanied by a large number of chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations, among whom was Brant, departed for Canada.
He descended the St. Lawrence to Montreal, where he met Sir Guy Carleton and Sir Frederic Haldimand, then governor of Canada, with whom the Indians entered into a formal
agreement to take up arms for the king.' These were the Indians who appeared against
the Americans at St. John's, on the Sorel, and who, in connection with some Caughnawagas, made the terrible massacre of Major Sherburne's corps at the Cedars in the following
spring, noticed in a previous chapter.
These movements of the Johnsons and their friends, the strengthening of Johnson Hall,
the military organization of the Scotch Highlanders in the vicinity, the increasing alienation
of the Indians, the boldness of the Tories, and the continual alarm of the people of Tryon
county, caused the General Congress, in December, 1775, to take active measures in that
direction. The Dutch and Germans in the Mohawk Valley, Schoharie, Cherry Valley, and,
indeed, in all parts of that extensive country, were ardent Whigs; and the Highlanders, with
the retainers of the Johnsons and their friends, composed the bulk of the Tory population,
except a few desperate men who looked for plunder and reward. Had these alone been inimical to the patriots, there would have been little alarm; but the country swarmed with
Indians, who were hourly becoming more and more hostile to the Whigs, through the influence of the Johnsons and their powerful ally, Joseph Brant.  It was also reported that military stores were collected at Johnson Hall, and that three hundred Indians were ready to
fall upon the whites when Sir John Johnson should give the signal.  Congress, therefore,
ordered General Schuyler (who had returned to Albany from Lake Champlain, on account
of ill health) to take such measures as he should think proper to seize the military stores, to
apprehend the Tory leaders, and to disarm the loyal inhabitants.  He had no troops at command, but, aided by the Albany Committee of Safety, he soon mustered seven hundred men
and marched to Schenectady. The Mohawks of the ", Lower Castle" (near Amsterdam),
with Little Abraham at their head, had not been seduced by Brant and Johnson, but kept
to their promise to remain neutral. To preserve their good-will, Schuyler sent to them a
messenger (Mr. Bleecker, the Indian interpreter, then residing at Albany) with a  January 15,
belt, informing them of the object of his expedition.  They were not pleased with  1776.
the idea of invasion, and a deputation was sent to the general to persuade him to desist.  He
conferred with them at Schenectady, satisfied them of his good intentions and the necessity
of the movement, and then marched on as far as Guy Park.     He dispatched a
letter at the same time to Sir John Johnson, requesting a personal interview with  Januar16.
him. They met at Guy Park in a friendly way, and General Schuyler proposed terms by
On the 11th of July, Colonel Herkimer wrote fiom Canajoharie to the Palatine Committee, that he had
received credible intelligence that morning that Johnson was ready to march back upon the settlement with
a body of 800 or 900 Indians, and that his point of attack would be just below the Little Falls. This intelligence proved to be untrue.
2 British historians assert that General Carleton was averse to the employment of the savages against
the Americans. Mr. Stone, in his Life of Brant, quotes from a speech of that chief, wherein the reverse
is asserted. The British commanders never failed to employ Indians in warfare, when their services could
he obtained. Their feelings of humanity doubtless revolted when coalescing with the savages of the forest
to butcher their brethren, but with them principle too often yielded to expediency in that unrighteous war.




236


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Disarming of the Tories at Johnson Hall.  Perfidy of Sir John Johnson.  His Flight.  Royal Greens.
which the matter might be settled without bloodshed. He demanded the immediate surrender of all arms, ammunition, and stores in the possession of Johnson, the delivery to him
of all the arms and military accouterments held by the Tories and Indians, and Sir John's
parole of honor not to act inimically to the patriot cause.  Sir John asked twenty-four hours
for consideration.  His reply was unsatisfactory, and Schuyler marched on to
anuary  Caughnawaga, within four miles of Johnstown.   The militia had turned out with
alacrity, and his force of seven hundred men had increased to three thousand.  Sir John,
alarmed, acceded to all the terms proposed by General Schuyler, and the next day that officer proceeded to Johnson Hall, where arms and other munitions of war were surrendered by
the baronet. About three hundred Scotchmen also delivered up their arms. Colonel (afterward General) Herkimer was empowered to complete the disarming of the Tories, and
General Schuyler and his forces marched back to Albany.
It soon afterward became evident that what Sir John had promised when constrained by
fear would not be performed when the cause of that fear was removed.     He violated his
parole of honor, and the Highlanders began to be as bold as ever in their opposition to the
Whigs. Congress thought it dangerous to allow Johnson his liberty, and directed Schuyler
to seize his person, and to proceed vigorously against the Highlanders in his interest.  Colonel Dayton was intrusted with the command of an expedition for the purpose, and in
May he proceeded to Johnstown.     The baronet had friends among the Loyalists in
Albany, by whom he was timely informed of the intentions of Congress. His most valuable
articles were put in an iron chest and buried in his garden1 when he heard of Dayton's approach, and, hastily collecting a large number of his Scotch tenants and other Tories, he fled to
the woods by the way of the Sacandaga, where it is supposed they were met by Indians sent
from Canada to escort them thither.2 Amid perils and hardships of every kind, they traversed the wilderness between the head waters of the Hudson and the St. Lawrence, and,
after nineteen days' wanderings, arrived at Montreal. Sir John was immediately commissioned a colonel in the British service, raised two battalions of Loyalists called the Johnson
Greens, and became one of the bitterest and most implacable enemies of the Americans that
appeared during the war. He afterward, as we shall observe, scourged the Mohawk Valley
with fire and sword, and spread death and desolation among the frontier settlements even so
far south as the Valley of Wyoming.
After the flight of Johnson and the Tories, Tryon county enjoyed a short season of repose,
and nothing of importance occurred during the remainder of 1776 and the winter of 1777.
Yet the people did not relax their vigilance.  The Declaration of Independence was received
by them with great joy, but they clearly perceived that much was yet to be done to support
that declaration.  Congress, too, saw the importance of defending the Northern and Western frontiers of New tork from the incursions of the enemy and their savage allies.  The
fortresses on Lake Champlain were already in their possession, and General Schuyler was
ordered to repair and strengthen old Fort Stanwix, then in ruins, and to erect other fortifications, if necessary, along the Mohawk River. Colonel Dayton was charged with the duty
1 Sir John had a faithful black slave, to whom he intrusted the duty of burying his iron chest. Colonel
Volkert Veeder bought the slave when Johnson Hall was sold, but he would never tell where the treasure
was concealed. Sir John visited the Mohawk Valley in 1780, recovered his slave, and by his directions
found the iron chest.-Simms.
2 This is inferred from a sentence in one of Brant's speeches, quoted by Mr. Stone, as follows: " We
then went in a body to a town then in possession of the enemy, and rescued Sir John Johnson, bringing him
fearlessly through the streets." Brant and Guy Johnson were both in England at that time.
Lady Johnson was conveyed to Albany, and there kept for some time, as a sort of hostage for the good
conduct of her husband. Among the articles left in Johnson Hall was the family Bible of Sir William.
When the confiscated property was sold, the Bible was bought by John Taylor, who was afterward Lieu.
tenant-governor of New York. Perceiving that it contained the family record of the Johnsons, Mr. Taylor
wrote to Sir John, offering its restoration. A rude messenger was sent for the Bible. " 1 have come for
Sir William's Bible." he said, "and there are the four guineas which it cost." The man was asked what
message Sir John had sent. He replied, " Pay four guineas and take the book."-Stone's Life of Brant.
ii., 145.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


237


Repairs of Fort Stanwix. Brant at Oghkwaga. His hostile Movements. Expeditions of Herkimer and of Colonel Harper.
of repairing Fort Stanwix, with the assistance of the Tryon county militia, but he seems to
have made little progress, for it was not complete when, in the summer ot the next
year, it was invested by St. Leger. He named the new fortress Fort Schuyler, in
honor of the commanding general of the Northern Department, and by that appellation it
was known through the remainder of the war.'
In the course of the spring of 1777, Brant came from Canada, and appeared among the
Mohawks at Oghkwaga,' or Oquaca, with a large body of warriors.        He had not yet eommitted any act of hostility within the borders of New York, nor was his presence at the Cedars
known in the Mohawk Valley. Yet none doubted his hostile intentions, and his presence
gave much uneasiness to the patriots, while the Tories became bolder and more insolent.
In June his intentions became more manifest, when he ascended the Susquehanna, from
Oghkwaga to Unadilla, with about eighty of his warriors, and requested an interview with
the Rev. Mr. Johnstone, of the " Johnstone Settlement." He declared that his object was
to procure food for his famished people, and gave the whites to understand that, if provisions
were not furnished, the Indians would take them by force. Mr. Johnstone sounded Brant
concerning his future intentions, and the chief, without reserve, told him that he had made
a covenant with the king, and was not inclined to break it. The people supplied him with
food, but the marauders, not satisfied, drove off a large number of cattle, sheep, and swine.
As soon as the Indians had departed, not feeling safe in their remote settlement, the whites
abandoned it, and took refuge in Cherry Valley.   Some families in the neighborhood of Unadilla fled to the German Flats, and others to Esopus and Newburgh, on the Hudson River.
As the Indian forces were constantly augmenting at Oghkwaga, it was determined by
General Schuyler and his officers, in council, that Herkimer (now a brigadier) should repair
thither and obtain an interview with Brant. Herkimer took with him three hundred Tryon
county militia, and invited Brant to meet him at Unadilla.    This the chief agreed to.   In
the mean while, Colonel Van Schaick marched with one hundred and fifty men as far as
Cherry Valley, and General Schuyler held himself in readiness to repair to Unadilla if his
presence should be needed.    These precautions seemed necessary, for they knew not what
might be the disposition of Brant.
It was a week after Herkimer arrived at Unadilla before Brant made his appearance.
He came accompanied by five hundred warriors. He dispatched a runner to Herkimer to
inquire the object of his visit.3 Herkimer replied that he came to see and converse with
This change in the name of the fort, from Stanwix to Schuyler, produced some confusion, for there was
already an old fort at Utica called Fort Schuyler, so named in honor of Colonel Peter Schuyler, a commander of provincial troops in the war with the French and Indians.
Toward the close of the winter of 1777 a large gathering of Indians was held at Oghkwaga. The
Provincial Congress of New York dispatched thither Colonel John Harper, of Harpersfield, to ascertain
their intentions. He arrived on the 27th of February, and was well received by the Indians. They expressed their sorrow for the troubles that afflicted Tryon county, and gave every assurance of their pacific
dispositions. Colonel Harper believed them, and gave them a feast by roasting an ox. It was afterward
discovered that all their friendship was feigned; their professions of peaceful intentions were gross hypocrisy. A few weeks subsequently, while taking a circuit alone through the woods near the head waters of
the Susquehanna, Harper met some Indians, who exchanged salutations with him. He recognized one of
them as Peter, an Indian whom he had seen at Oghkwaga, but they did not know him. His great-coat
covered his uniform, and he feigning to be a Tory, they told him they were on their way to cut off the
Johnstone settlement on the east shore of the Susquehanna, near Unadilla. Colonel Harper hastened back
to Harpersfield, collected fifteen stout and brave men, and with them gave chase to the marauders. In the
course of the following night they came upon the Indians in the valley of Charlotte River. It was almost
daylight when their waning fires were discovered. The savages were in a profound slumber. Their arms
were silently removed, and then each man of Harper's party, selecting his victim, sprang upon him, and
before he was fairly awake the savage found himself fast bound with cords which the whites had brought
with them. It was a bolder achievement than if the red men had been killed, and nobler because bloodless.
When the day dawned, and the Indians saw their captors, Peter exclaimed, "Ugh! Colonel Harper!
Why didn't I know you yesterday?" They were taken to Albany and surrendered into the hands of the
Committee of Safety.
3 The real object of the conference is not known. It is supposed that, as Herkimer and Brant had been
near neighbors and intimate friends, the former hoped, in a personal interview, to persuade the chief to join




238                        PICTORIAL FIELD BOOK
Conference with Brant.  His Frankness.  Herkimer's precautionary Measures.  Haughty Bearing of Brant.
his brother, Captain Brant.  "And all these men wish to converse with the chief too?"
asked the quick-witted messenger. He returned to Brant and communicated the reply.
The parties were encamped within two miles of each other, and the whole assemblage made
an imposing display. By mutual agreement, their arms were to be left in their respective
encampments.   The preliminaries being arranged, Brant and about forty warriors appeared
upon the skirt of a distant wood, and the parties met in an open field. A circle was formed, and the two commanders, with attendants, entered it for conference.  After exchanging
a few words, Brant asked Herkimer the object of his visit. He made the same reply as to
the messenger.  " And all these have come on a friendly visit too?" said the chief.  t All
want to see the poor Indians.  It is very kind," he added, while his lip curled with a sarcastic smile. After a while the conversation became animated, and finally the chief, being
pressed by direct questions concerning his intentions, firmly replied, "I That the Indians were
in concert with the king, as their fathers had been; that the king's belts were yet lodged
with them, and they could not violate their pledge; that General Herkimer and his followers had joined the Boston people against their sovereign; that, although the Boston people
were resolute, the king would humble them; that General Schuyler was very smart on the
Indians at the treaty of German Flats, but, at the same time, was not able to afford the
smallest article of clothing; and, finally, that the Indians had formerly made war on the
white people when they were all united, and, as they were now divided, the Indians were
not frightened." He also told General Herkimer that a war-path had been opened across
the country to Esopus, for the Tories of Ulster and Orange to join them.  The conference
ended then, with an agreement to meet the next morning at nine o'clock, the respective forces
to remain encamped as they were.During the conference, some remarks made by Colonel Cox greatly irritated the sachem,
and on his signal to his warriors, who were near, they ran to their encampment, raised the
shrill war-hoop, and returned with their rifles. In the mean while the chief became pacified, and the warriors were kept at a proper distance.  Herkimer, however, fearful that
Brant's pacific appearance might be feigned, prepared to act with decision on the following
morning. He charged an active young soldier, named Wagner, with the duty of shooting
Brant, if any hostile movement should appear on the part of the chief. Wagner was to select two assistants, who were to shoot the two attendants of Brant at the same time.  He
chose Abraham and George Herkimer, nephews of the general, and the three stood by the
side of Herkimer the next morning.  There was no necessity for their services, and, haply,
ln blood was shed on the occasion.  Mr. Stone seems to have mistaken Herkimer's precaution, in this instance, for premeditated perfidy, and says that, had the intent been perpetrated, the stain upon the character of the provincials would have been such that " all the waters of the Mohawk could not have washed it away." Mr. Wagner was yet living at Fort
Plain when I visited that place in 1848, and I have his own authority for saying that the
arrangement was only a precautionary one, for which Herkimer deserved praise.  Mr. Stone
gives his version upon (, the written authority of Joseph Wagner himself."  Simms has declared, in.his " History of Schoharie County," and repeated in conversation with myself,
that Wagner told him he never furnished a MS. account of the affair to any one.  Here is
some mistake in the matter, but the honorable character of General Herkimer forbids the
idea of his having meditated the least perfidy.
Again they met, and the haughty chief-haughty because conscious of strength-as he
entered the circle, addressed General Herkimer, and said, (, I have five hundred warriors
with me, armed and ready for battle. You are in my power, but, as we have been friends
and neighbors, I will not take advantage of you."  He then gave the signal, and all his
warriors, painted in the hideous colors that distinguished them when going into battle, burst
the patriots, or, at least, to remain neutral. It is also supposed that he went to demand restitution for the
cattle, sheep, and swine of which the savages had plundered the Johnstone and Unadilla settlements.
t Campbell's Annals of Tryon County.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                  239
Breaking up of the Council.  Grand Council at Oswego.  Seduction of the Indians.  Their Coalescence with the Whitos.
from the surrounding forest, gave the war-hoop, and discharged their rifles in the air.  Brant
coolly advised the general to go back to his house, thanked him for his courtesy on the occasion, expressed a hope that he might one day return the compliment, and then turned proudly
upon his heel and disappeared in the shadowy forest.  " It was early in July, and the morning was remarkably clear and beautiful.  But the echo of the war-hoop had scarcely died
away before the heavens became black, and a violent storm obliged each party to seek the
nearest shelter.  Men less superstitious than many of the unlettered yeomen, who, leaning
upon their arms, were witnesses of the events of this day, could not fail, in aftertimes, to
look back upon the tempest, if not as an omen, at least as an emblem, of those bloody massacres with which these Indians and their associates subsequently visited the inhabitants of
this unfortunate frontier."'
A few days after this conference, Brant withdrew his warriors from the Susquehanna and
joined Sir John Johnson and Colonel John Butler, who were collecting a large body of Tories and refugees at Oswego, preparatory to a descent upon the Mohawk and Schoharie settlements. There Guy Johnson and other officers of the British Indian Department summoned a grand council of the Six Nations. They were invited to assemble " to eat the
flesh and drink the blood of a Bostonian"-in other words, to feast on the occasion of a proposed treaty of alliance against the patriots, whom the savages denominated Bostonians, for
the reason that Boston was the focus of the rebellion.  There was a pretty full attendance
at the council, but a large portion of the sachems adhered faithfully to their covenant of neutrality made with General Schuyler, until the appeals of the British commissioners to their
avarice overcame their sense of honor.  The commissioners represented the people of the
king to be numerous as the forest leaves, and rich in every possession, while those of the colonies were exhibited as few and poor; that the armies of the king would soon subdue the
rebels, and make them still weaker and poorer; that the rum of the king was as abundant
as Lake Ontario; and that if the Indians would become his allies during the war, they
should never want for goods or money.  Tawdry articles, such as scarlet clothes, beads, and
trinkets, were then displayed and presented to the Indians, which pleased them greatly, and
they concluded an alliance by binding themselves to take up the hatchet against the patriots,
and to continue their warfare until the latter were subdued.  To each Indian were then presented a brass kettle, a suit of clothes, a gun, a tomahawk and scalping-knife, a piece of gold,
a quantity of ammunition, and a promise of a bounty upon every scalp he should bring in.'
Thayendanegea (Brant) was thenceforth the acknowledged grand sachem of the Six Nations,
and soon afterward commenced his terrible career in the midst of our border settlements.s
We have thus glanced at the most important events that took place in the Mohawk Valley and adjacent districts prior to the attack of St. Leger upon Fort Stanwix, or Schuyler
(as it will hereafter be called), which mark the progress of the Revolution there, before Brant
and his more savage white associates brightened the tomahawk and musket, and bared the
knife, in avowed alliance with the enemies of liberty.  Volumes might be, and, indeed, have
been, written in giving details of the stirring events in Tryon county during our Revolutionary struggle.4  To these the reader is referred for local particulars, while we consider transactions there of more prominent and general interest.
' Campbell's Annals of Tryon County.
2 See Life of Mary Jemison. This pamphlet was written in 1823, and published by James D. Bemis,
of Canandaigua, New York. She was taken a captive near Fort Duquesne (now Pittsburgh) when a child,
and was reared among the Indians. She married a chief, and became an Indian in every particular, except
birth. At the council here spoken of she was present with her husband. Her death occurred at the age
of 89.. She says that the brass kettles mentioned in the text were in use among the Seneca Indians as late
as 1823, when her narrative was printed.
3 Soon after Brant joined the Indians at Oghkwaga, he made a hostile movement against the settlement
of Cherry Valley. He hovered around that hamlet for some days, but did not attack it. Of this a detailed account will be given hereafter.
4 The most voluminous are Campbell's Annals of Tryon County, Stone's Life of Brant, and Simms's
Schoharie County and Border Wars of New York.




240


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK..


aIdian Battle-ground.                 Fort Schuyler.                  Colonel Peter Gansevoort.
CHAPTER XI.
"A scream! 'tis but the panther's-naught
Breaks the calm sunshine there;
A thicket stirs! a deer has sought
From sight a closer lair;
Again upon the grass they droop,
Then bursts the well-known whoop on whoop,
Shrill, deafening on the air,
And onward from their ambush deep,
Like wolves, the savage warriors leap."
STREET.
E are now upon an Indian battle-ground, in the bosom of the deep forest,
f     where the cunning and ferocity of the savage had free exercise in the panther-like maneuvers of the ambuscade, and the unrestrained use of the
hatchet and knife.    Hitherto we have seen the red warriors subordinate,
_    /\/     and comparatively ineffective in the conflicts we have considered, except
in the battle at Lake George and in the massacre at the Cedars.        We
have seen their method of warfare wholly subverted by European tactics,
I   and their fiery courage controlled;by a policy unknown
in their sanguinary battles,
unsuited to their martial training, and unsatisfactory to their fierce natures when aroused by
the flow of blood.   But in the siege of Fort
$chuyler, which we are about to chronicle, and
particularly in the battle of Oriskany, which
formed a part of the operations of that siege,                     i
the -Indians, commanded by Brant, the most
subtle and accomplished war chief of his time,
formed the strong right arm of St. Leger, and                   /
were left free to fight according to the customs    -               '
of their race.
In the spring of 1777, Colonel Peter Gan-               I   /
sevoort' was appointed to the command of Fort     a       it
Schuyler, and held that post in the summer of
that year, when Burgoyne was making his victorious march toward Albany by way of Lake
Champlain.    The successful progress of the
British commander greatly alarmed the people
of the north, and those of Tryon county were
particularly disturbed by intelligence that a de1 Peter Gansevoort was born in Albany, July 17th, 1749. He accompanied Montgomery into Canada in
1775, with the rank of major, and the next year he was appointed a colonel in the New York line, which
commission he held when he defended Fort Schuyler against St. Leger. For his gallant defense of that
post he received the thanks of Congress, and in 1781 was promoted to the rank of brigadier general by the
state of New York. After the war he was for many years a military agent. He held several offices of
trust, and was always esteemed for his bravery and judgment as a soldier, and for his fidelity, intelligence,
and probity as a citizen. He died July 2d, 1812, aged 62 years.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


241


OF TH  REOUIN       241 —. ---


A Spy's Intelligence.  Rumored Preparations for an Invasion.  Effect on the Whigs.  Approach of St Leger.
scent upon them from Oswego might be expected. As early as June, a man from Canada,
arrested as a spy, had disclosed the fact that a detachment of British troops, Canadians and
Indians, was to penetrate the country by way of Oswego and the Mohawk, to join Burgoyne
when he should reach Albany. This intelligence was soon after confirmed by Thomas Spencer, a friendly Oneida half-breed sachem, who was sent to Canada a secret emissary for information. He was present at a council where Colonel Claus,1 a brother-in-law of Sir John
Johnson, presided, and there he became acquainted with the general plans of Burgoyne.
The Oneida further informed the inhabitants that Sir John Johnson and Colonel Claus, with
their families, were then at Oswego in command of seven hundred Indians and four hundred regular troops; that there were six hundred Tories at Oswegatchie (Ogdensburgh) ready
to join them; and that Colonel John Butler was to arrive at Oswego on the 14th of July,
from Niagara, with Tories and Indians.
This information, instead of arousing the Whigs of the Mohawk Valley to prompt and efcient action, seemed to paralyze them with alarm. The timid were backward in preparing
for the field, and the wavering, considering the patriot cause almost hopeless, became Loyalists, or, at best, passive Whigs. Fort Schuyler was still unfinished, and feebly garrisoned, and certain discomfiture seemed to await the patriots in that region. Colonel Gansevoort, however, was vigilant, active, and hopeful. He wrote spirited letters to General
Schuyler, imploring aid, and that officer as urgently laid the condition of Tryon county before the Provincial Congress of New York, and also the General Congress. But it was
then too late to expect succor from a distance, and the people of the Mohawk Valley were thrown upon their own fee-         A      d     s
ble resources for defense.  St. Leger and his Rangers, with  \        iA  F It   A
the forces of Johnson, Claus, Butler, and Brant, mentioned
by the Oneida chief, were already in motion, and on the 1st          i
of August the enemy, one thousand seven hundred strong,
came up Oneida Lake, and near the ruins of Qld Fort New-                              i
port prepared to invest Fort Schuyler.  The Indians were     |           ^           l
led by Brant, and the whole beleaguering force, at the beginning of the march at Oswego Falls, was disposed in admirable order for the journey through the forest.  The main       I
body was led by the Indians, under Brant, in five columns,
four hundred and sixty paces in front of the advanced guard.            d
The Indians marched in single file, at large distances apart.   l
Between the five columns and the rear-guard a file of Indians, ten paces apart, formed a line of communication. The          i  c.
advanced guard was one hundred paces in front of the main        '         "i ill
column, which was disposed in Indian file, the right and left.
flanks covered by a file of savages.  The rear-guard was             \ll
formed of regular troops.  The advanced guard was composed of sixty marksmen, selected from the corps of Johnson's Royal Greens, and led by Captain Watts, a brother-           ORDER oF MARCH.2
' Daniel Claus married the daughter of Sir William Johnson, and was a man of considerable influence.
Brant entertained for him sentiments of the strongest personal hostility, although both were engaged in the
same cause. His wife died in Canada in 1801, and Brant, in the name of the Five Nations, made a speech
of condolence on her death. William Claus, deputy superintendent of Indian affairs, was his son.-Sabine's
Lives of the Loyalists.
2 This diagram, representing the order of march of the besieging force, is a reduced copy of an engraving in Stone's Life of Brant. The original drawing, beautifully colored, was found in the writing-desk of
St. Leger, which he left behind when he fled from his camp before Fort Schuyler. The following is an explanation of the diagram: a a a a a, five columns of Indians in front, flanking the British flag; b, advanced
guard; n, line of communication between the advanced guard and Indian columns; c c, d d, the left and
right wings of the eighth and thirty-fourth regiments (the thirty-fourth on the left side); e, rear-guard;
ff, Indians on the right and left flanks; i i, line of communication.
Q




242                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Investiture of Fort Schuyler.  A curious Flag.  Arrival of St. Leger.  His pompous Manifesto.
in-law of Sir John Johnson. Each corps was likewise furnished with practiced marksmen
at short intervals, who were ordered to concentrate their strength upon any point that might
be attacked. St. Leger, as appears from his private diary, was much annoyed on the way
by the disposition of his Indian allies to proceed according to their own notions of expediency.
They were averse to approaching the fort in a body, but the commander finally persuaded
them to be governed by his directions, which, at Oswego, they had promised to obey, and
on the 2d of August Lieutenant Bird and Brant commenced the investment of the fort,
The garrison, under Colonel Gansevoort, consisted of seven hundred and fifty men. In
July, Colonel Marinus Willett, an active and judicious officer, had joined the garrison with
his regiment, and, on the very day when Bird commenced the investiture of the fort, Lieutenant-colonel Mellon, of Colonel Wesson's' regiment, arrived with two hundred men, and
two bateaux laden with provisions and military stores.  With this timely addition, the garrson had sufficient provision for six weeks, and a plentiful supply of ammunition for small
arms. But for their cannon, their most important means of defense, they had only about
four hundred rounds, or nine cartridges for each piece a day for that length of time.  The
garrison was also without a flag when the enemy appeared, but their pride and ingenuity
soon supplied one in conformity to the pattern adopted by the Continental Congress.  Shirts
were cut.up to form the white stripes, bits of scarlet cloth were joined for the red, and the
blue ground for the stars was composed of a cloth cloak belonging to Captain Abraham
Swartwout, of Dutchess county, who was then in the fort.2 Before sunset the curious mosaic-work standard, as precious to the beleaguered garrison as the most beautifully-wrought
flag of silk and needle-work, was floating over one of the bastions.
On the 3d, Colonel St. Leger arrived before the fort with his whole force. It was a motley collection of British regulars, a few Hessians and Canadians, well-armed Tories, and
troops of warriors from the various tribes of the Six Nations, except the Oneidas, who were
faithful to their agreement to remain neutral.  St. Leger dispatched an officer, bearing a
flag, to the fort, immediately after his arrival, vith a copy of a pompous manifesto which he
had sent among the people, conceived very much in the vein of the one issued by Burgoyne
from Crown Point, a few weeks before. He magnified the power, clemency, and justice of
the king, and charged the General Congress, and other assemblies, committees, &c., with
cruelty in the form of "( arbitrary imprisonment, confiscation of property, persecution and
torture, unprecedented in the inquisitions of the Romish Church." He also denounced the
patriot civil authorities every where as guilty of "( the profanation of religion," and of " shocking proceedings" of almost every shade of darkness.  He then exhorted the people who were
disposed to do right, to remember that he was " at the head of troops in the full power of
health, discipline, and valor, determined to strike when necessary and anxious to spare when
possible," and tempted them with offers of employment if they would join his standard, security to the infirm and industrious, and payment in coin for all supplies for his army that
might be brought into his camp.   "If, notwithstanding these endeavors and sincere intentions to effect them," he said, in conclusion, ( the phrensy of hostility should remain, I trust
The name of this officer is variously spelled in the books-Weston, Wesson, and Wessen. At the close
of an autograph letter of his among Gates's Papers (vol. x.), in the New York Historical Society, it is written Wesson, and, presuming that he spelled his own name correctly, I give that orthography. It will be
remembered that Colonel Wesson and his regiment were active participators in the battles of Bemis's
Heights, a few weeks later than the time in question.
2 It was in Captain Swartwout's company, while at Poughkeepsie, that Samuel Geake, an emissary of:Sir Henry Clinton, enlisted, in the character of a recruit, insinuated himself into the good graces of the officers at Fort Schuyler, and acquired much valuable ihformation respecting the means, designs, and expectations of the Americans. He was suspected, arrested, tried by court-martial as a spy, and was condemned
-to death. He was spared, however, as a witness against Major Hammell, another recreant American, who
had accompanied him to Poughkeepsie, and who was under arrest at that time. Geake confessed that he
was employed for the purpose of which he was accused. He said that Major Hammell (who had been
taken prisoner by the British) had espoused the cause of the enemy, and was promised a colonelcy in the
British army, and that he (Geake) was to receive the commission of lieutenant as soon as he should return
to New York from Fort Schuyler.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                               243
Siege of Fort Schuyler. Operations of the Indians. Visit to the Oriskany Battle-ground. General Herkimer and the Militia
I shall stand acquitted in the eyes of God and man in denouncing and executing the vengeance of the state against the willful outcasts.  The messengers of justice and of wrath
await them in the field; and devastation, famine, and every concomitant horror that a reluctant, but indispensable, prosecution of military duty must occasion, will bar the way to
their return."  The patriot people who received the manifesto treated it with derision, and
the little garrison, which had already counted the cost of a siege, and determined upon a
defense of the fort, laughed at its threats, and regarded its offer of bribes with scorn.
The siege commenced on the 4th.  A few bombs were thrown into the fort, and  Augst,
the Indians, concealed behind trees and bushes, wounded several men who were em-  1777
ployed in raising the parapets.  Similar annoyances occurred on the 5th, and toward evening the Indians spread out through the woods, encircled the fort, and, by hideous yells through
the night, attempted to intimidate the garrison.  St. Leger, confident of success, sent a dispatch'to Burgoyne at this juncture, expressing his assurance that Fort Schuyler would be
in his possession directly, and the hope that they would speedily meet as victors at Albany.
Let us leave the besiegers and besieged a moment, and ride down to Oriskany, eight miles
eastward of Fort Schuyler, where a terrible episode in the siege occurred.
I left Rome (site of Fort Schuyler) at about two o'clock, in an open light wagon, for Oriskany.1 The day was very warm; the road, although nearly level, was excessively stony,
and when I arrived at the village I was almost overcome by the heat and fatigue. Desirous of reaching Utica that evening, I stayed at the village only long enough to procure a competent guide to the battle-ground.  Mr. George Graham, a resident of the village (who was
one of the committee of arrangements for the celebration held upon the battle-ground, on the
anniversary of the event, in 1844), kindly accompanied me to the spot, and pointed
out the various localities which were identified on the occasion referred to by many ug
old men who were present, some of whom were in the battle. The locality is about two
miles west of the canal landing in the village, and in the midst of a beautiful agricultural
country.  Let us consult the history while on our way thither, and then we shall better
understand our " topographical survey."
As soon as St. Leger's approach up Oneida Lake was known to General Herkimer, he
summoned the militia of Tryon county to the succor of the garrison at Fort Schuyler. The
timidity which seemed to have abated the fire of the Whigs, when the first intimations of
the invasion were given by the Canada spy and the Oneida sachem, now disappeared, when
the threatened danger was at their doors, and the call of Herkimer was responded to with
alacrity, not only by the militia, but most of the members of the Tryon county committee
entered the field as officers or volunteers.  They rendezvoused at Fort Dayton, on the German Flats, and, on the day when the Indians encircled the fort, Herkimer was
near Oriskany with more than eight hundred men, eager to face the enemy.  He  gut
sent a messenger to Gansevoort, informing him of his approach, and requesting him to ap.
prise him of the arrival of his courier by discharging three guns in rapid succession, which
he knew would be heard at Oriskany.  But the messenger did not arrive until near noon
the next day.  Herkimer was brave, but cautious, and determined to halt there until he
should receive re-enforcements or hear the signal guns from the fort. His officers, influenced
by the impatience of their men to press on toward the fort, were opposed to delay.  Herkimer, self-relying, was firm. Harsh words ensued, and two of his colonels, Cox and Paris,
more impertinent than generous, denounced the old man as a coward and a Tory. This
bitter taunt sank deep into his heart, but his duty governed his feelings, and he calmly replied,,, I am placed over you as a father and guardian, and shall not lead you into difficulties from which I may not be able to extricate you." But they persisted in their demands
for an immediate advance, and continued their ungenerous taunts.  Stung by imputations
Oriskany is a little village about eight miles west of Utica, at the junction of the Oriskany Creek with
the Mohawk. The Erie Canal and the rail-road both pass through it, and the establishment of woolen
factories there promises growth and prosperity to the pleasant town.




244


PICTORIAL FIE'LD-BOOK


244             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Hlerkimer's Advanece to Oriskany.  Sortie from Fort Schuyler, under Colonel Willett.  Biographical Sketch of Willett.
of cowardice, Herkimer at length yielded, and gave the word to " March on!" at the same
time telling those who boasted loudest of their courage that they would be the first to run
on seeing the enemy.
St. Leger had intelligence of the advance of Herkimer, and detached a division of Johnson's Greens, under Major Watts, Colonel Butler with his Rangers, and Brant with a strong
body of Indians, to intercept him, and prevent an attack upon his intrenchments.     Before
the arrival of Herkimer's messenger, Gansevoort had observed the silence of the enemy's
camp, and also the movement of a portion of his troops along the margin of a wood down
the river.  The arrival of the courier dispelled all doubts as to the destination of the detachment, and the signal guns were immediately fired. Herkimer had informed Gansevoort, by the
messenger, that he in,                                                 added, to protect the
tended, on hearing the                                                 cannon, and   to act
signals, to cut his way                                                otherwise as circumto the fort through                                       ^ \stances might require.
the   circumvallating                                                  The enterprise was incamp of the enemy,                                                     trusted to Colonel Maand requested him to                                                  rinus Willett,' who,
make a sortie at the                                                  by quick and judicious
same time. This was                                                    movements and dardone as soon as the                                                    ing courage, with his
arrangement could be                                                   small force, accommade, and a detach-      \                                             plished wonders in a
ment of two hundred       \ew hours. Rain was
men, consisting of por-                                               falling copiously while
tions of Gansevoort's                                         / /      preparations for the
and   Wesson's   regi-                                                sortie were in progments, was detailed                                                    ress, but the moment
for the purpose, who                                                   it ceased Willett saltook with   them   an                                                  lied out and fell furiiron  three pounder.                                  i                ously upon that porFifty men were also                                                    tion of the camp occupied by Sir John Johnson and his Royal Greens, a detachment of whom, as we have seen,
1 Marinus Willett was born at Jamaica, Long Island, July 31st (O.S.), 1740. He was the youngest
of six sons of Edward Willett, a Queen's county farmer. He was early imbued with a military spirit, and
joined the army, under Abercrombie, as a lieutenant in Colonel Delancy's regiment, in 1758. He was in
the disastrous battle at Ticonderoga, and accompanied Bradstreet in his expedition against Fort Frontenac.
Exposure in the wilderness injured his health, and he was confined by sickness in the newly-erected Fort
Stanwix until the end of the campaign. Willett early espoused the republican cause when British aggression aroused resistance here. When the British troops in the New York garrison were ordered to Boston,
after the skirmish at Lexington, they attempted, in addition to their own, to carry off a large quantity of
spare arms: Willett resolved to prevent it, and, though opposed by the mayor and other Whigs, he captured the baggage-wagons containing them, and took them back to the city. These arms were afterward
used by the first regiment raised by the state of New York. He was appointed second captain of a company in Colonel M'Dougal's regiment, and accompanied Montgomery in his northern expedition. He was
placed in command of St. John's, and held that post until January, 1776. He was that year appointed lieutenant colonel, and, at the opening of the campaign of 1777, placed in command of Fort Constitution, on
the Hudson. In May he was ordered to Fort Stanwix, or Schuyler, where he performed signal services,
as noticed in the text. He was left in command of the fort, and remained there until the summer of 1778,
when he joined the army under Washington, and was at the battle of Monmouth. He accompanied Sullivan in his campaign against the Indians in 1779, and was actively engaged in the Mohawk Valley in 1780,
1781, and 1782. In 1792 he was sent by Washington to treat with the Creek Indians at the south; and
the same year he was appointed a brigadier general in the army intended to act against the Northwestern
Indians. He declined the appointment, for he was opposed to the expedition. He was for some time sheriff
of New York, and was elected mayor of the city in 1807. He was chosen elector of President and Vicepresident in 1824, and was made president of the Electoral College. He died in New York, August 23d,
1830, in the 91st year of his age.




OF THET RE VOLUTI[ON.


246


Dispersion of Johnson's Camp. Capture of Stores and other Valuables. View and Description of the Oriskany Battle-ground.
had been sent to oppose the approach of Herkimer.    The advanced guard, unable to with!
stand the impetuosity of the attack, were driven in; and so suddenly was Sir John's camp
assailed, that he was not allowed time to put on his coat.  He endeavored to bring his troops
into order, but they fled in dismay. The Indian encampment was then assaulted, and in a
few moments the savages, too, were scattered.  Sir John and his troops fled across the river,
to the temporary camp of St. Leger, and the Indians buried themselves in the deep forest
near.   No less than twenty-one wagon-loads of spoil, consisting of clothing, blankets, stores,
camp equipage, five British standards, the baggage of Sir John, with all his papers, and
those of other officers, containing every kind of information necessary to the garrison, were
captured.   Having secured their prize, Willett and his party returned to the fort without
the loss of a man. The five British colors were raised in full view of the enemy, upon the
flag-staff, beneath the uncouth American standard, and the whole garrison, mounting the
parapets, made the forest ring with three loud cheers.  This chivalrous exploit was duly noticed by Congress, and an elegant sword was presented to Colonel Willett in the name of
the United States.
General Herkimer, in the mean while, had moved from the mills, at the mouth of Oriskany Creek, toward the fort, entirely unconscious of the ambuscade that, in a deep ravine
two miles distant, awaited his approach. The morning was dark, sultry, and lowering.
His troops, composed chiefly of the militia regiments of Colonels Cox, Paris, Visscher, and
Klock, were quite undisciplined, and their order of march was irregular and without precaution. The contentions of the morning had delayed their advance until about nine o'clock,
and the hard feelings that existed between the commander and some of his officers caused a
degree of insubordination which proved fatal in its consequences. Brant and his Tory assoii'THE BATTLE-GROUND OF ORISKANY.1
This sketch was made from the eastern side of the ravine, looking west. The marsh in the bottom
of the ravine, mentioned in the text, is partially drained by a rivulet. When I visited the spot (August,
1848), many logs of the old causeway were stil visible, and afforded a crossing-place for cattle. These
logs are seen in the picture. The road on the left is the present highway between Oriskany and Rome.
The barn stands upon the western side of the ravine, and along the high ground upon which it is situated,
and crossing the road southeasterly, the ambush was placed. The hottest of the battle occurred upon the
high plain between the ravine in the foreground and another beyond the most distant trees in the picture.
The hills seen in the extreme distance, on the right, are those upon the north side of the Mohawk. The
frame-work in the ravine is the remains of the scaffolding erected for the speakers at the celebration alluded
to, in 1844. The chief speakers on the occasion were John A. Dix and Senator Dickinson, and the audi



246                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Indian Ambush.  Surprise of Herkimer and his Troops.  The General wounded.  His Coolness.  Desperate Battle.
ciates had learned from their scouts the exact route the patriots had taken, and arranged an
ambuscade accordingly.   A deep ravine crossed the path of Herkimer in a north and south
direction, extending from the high grounds on the south to the river, and curved toward the
east in a semicircular form. The bottom of this ravine was marshy, and the road crossed it
by means of a causeway of earth and logs.  On each side of the ravine the ground was nearly
level, and heavily timbered. A thick growth of underwood, particularly along the margin
of the ravine, favored concealment.  It was upon the high ground on the western side of
this ravine that the ambush of the Tories and Indians was laid, in such a manner that the
causeway was surrounded by them, as by a circle, leaving only a small segment open where
the road entered.  Unsuspicious of the proximity of the enemy, the whole body of provincials, except the rear-guard, composed of Visscher's regiment, descended into the ravine, followed by the baggage-wagons.    Brant gave a signal, and in an instant the circle closed, the
war-hoop was sounded, and spear, and hatchet, and deadly rifle-ball fell upon the patriots
like hail from the clouds that hovered over them.  The rear-guard, in fulfillment of Herkimer's prediction, instantly fled, and left their companions in the ravine to their fate.  They
were pursued by the Indians, and probably suffered more, in their cowardly flight, than if
they had boldly aided their environed companions in arms.
This sudden onslaught produced great confusion in the patriot ranks, but they soon recovered, and fought with the courage and skill of veteran troops.  The slaughter, however,
was dreadful. Herkimer was severely wounded at the commencement of the action, and
Colonel Cox and Captain Van Slyk were killed at the first fire. A musket-ball passed
through and killed the horse of the general, and shattered his own leg just below the knee.
With perfect composure and cool courage, he ordered the saddle to be taken from his slaughtered horse and placed against a large beech-tree near.  Seated there, with his men falling
like autumn foliage, and the bullets of the enemy, like driving sleet, whistling around him,
theintrepid general calmly gave his orders, and thus nobly rebuked the slanderers who called
him a coward.1
For nearly an hour the fierce action continued, and by slow degrees the enemy was closing in upon the republicans. The latter then made an admirable change in their method
of repulsion. They formed themselves into circles, and thus met the enemy at all points.
Their fire became so destructive in this way, that the Johnson Greens and a portion of Butler's Tories attempted a bayonet charge.  This was promptly met by the patriots, and the
battle assumed the terrible form of a death-struggle in close personal contact.  They
" Fought eye to eye, and hand to hand,
Alas! 'twas but to die;
In vain the rifle's deadly flash
Scorch'd eagle plume and wampum sash;
The hatchet hiss'd on high,
And down they fell in crimson heaps,
Like the ripe corn the sickle reaps."
At this moment a heavy thunder-peal broke over the forest, and the rain came down in such
ence was estimated at 15,000 people. The scaffold was erected upon the spot, as nearly as it could be
defined, where General Herkimer fell. In the middle of the field beyond the scaffold, in the
lightest part near the tree, toward the barn, is seen a dark spot. It marks the site, now indicated by a cavity, where the beach-tree stood under which Herkimer sat and delivered his orders. Avarice cut the tree down about eight years ago, and then uprooted the stump to make
room for a more precious hill of potatoes. This view is about two miles west of Oriskany, on
the north side of the main road. Arrow-heads, bullets, bayonets, tomahawks, pipes, &c., are
still found there by the cultivator. The bowl of an earthen pipe was shown to me by a resident upon the ground (whose house is seen in the distance, beyond the barn), which he had
plowed up the day before. He had several other relics of the battle, but would not part with
any. The above is a drawing of the pipe-bowl.
l It is related that, during the hottest of the action, the general, seated upon his saddle, quietly took his
tinder.box from his pocket, lighted his pipe, and smoked as composedly as if seated at his own fire-side.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


247


Intermission in the Battle. Its Resumption. Unsuccessful Stratagem of Colonel Butler. The Enemy routed. Mutual Losses
torrents that the combatants ceased their strife, and sought shelter beneath the trees.  It
was during this heavy shower that Willett made his preparations at the fort for the successful sortie just noticed; and, as soon as the rain subsided, he fell upon Johnson's camp, and
the battle was renewed at Oriskany.
During the lull in the conflict, both parties viewed the ground, and made new arrangements for attack and defense.  It had been observed by the patriots that the Indians, as
soon as they saw a gun fired by a provincial behind a tree, would rush forward and tomahawk him before he could reload. To meet such an exigency in the renewed conflict, two
men stood together behind a tree, and, while one fired, the other awaited the approach of
the savage with his tomahawk, and felled him with his bullet. The provincials had also
made choice of more advantageous ground, and, soon after the renewal of the fight, so destructive was their fire that the Indians began to give way.  Major Watts came up with a
detachment of Johnson's Greens to support them, but the presence of these men, mostly refugees from the Mohawk, made the patriots more furious, and mutual resentments, as the
parties faced and recognized each other, seemed to give new strength to their arms.  They
leaped upon each other with the fierceness of tigers, and fought hand to hand and foot to
foot with bayonets and knives.  It was a terrible struggle, and exhibited the peculiar cruelty
and brutality which distinguishes civil war.
A firing was now heard in the direction of the fort. It was the attack of Willett upon
the enemy's camp. Colonel Butler instantly conceived a stratagem, and was nearly successful in its execution.  He so changed the dress of a detachment of Johnson's Greens, that
they appeared like American troops.  These were made to approach from the direction of
the fort, and were at first (as intended by Butler) mistaken by the patriots for a re-enforcement from the garrison.  But the quick eye of Captain Gardinier, an officer who performed
deeds of great valor on that memorable day, discovered their real character, and, ordering
his men to fall upon these pretended friends, they were soon scattered in confusion.  The
Indians, finding their ranks greatly thinned, and the provincials still undismayed, raised the
loud retreating cry, Oonah! Oonah! and fled in all directions.  The panic was communicated to the Tories and Canadians, and the whole force of the enemy retreated in confusion, pursued by the provincials with shouts of victory.  Thus, after a conflict of six hours,
ended the battle of Oriskany, the bloodiest encounter, in proportion to the numbers engaged,
that occurred during the war.  Neither party could claim a decided victory.  Both had
suffered dreadfully.  The patriots remained masters of the field, but they did not accomplish
the design of the expedition, the relief of the garrison at Fort Schuyler.  Their wounded,
nearly fifty in number, were carried from the field on litters, and among them was General
Herkimer, who was taken to his residence below the Little Falls, on- the Mohawk, where
he died ten days afterward.  The manner and circumstances of his death will be noticed
in the relation of my visit to his mansion, which is still standing.
The loss in this battle seems not to have been officially given on either side.  St. Leger, in
a letter to Burgoyne, dated August 1 1th, five days after the battle, says, " Above four
hundred [patriots] lay dead on the field, among the number of whom were almost all of
the principal movers of the rebellion in that county."  The enemy also claimed to have taken
two hundred prisoners.  Dr. Thatcher, in his Military Journal (page 89), records the loss
of the Americans at < one hundred and sixty killed, and a great number wounded."  This
is the number stated by Gordon and other cotemporary writers.  The Indians lost about
seventy, among whom were several chiefs.1 Major Watts was badly wounded, and left for
dead upon the field.  He revived from the faintness produced by loss of blood, crawled to a
brook and quenched his thirst, and there remained until he was found, nearly three days
afterward, by an Indian scout, and taken into St. Leger's camp. There were many deeds
l Gordon and others relate that, in the course of the battle, a portion of the Indians became impressed
with the belief that there was a coalition between Johnson's and. Herkimer's. men to destroy them, and that,
toward the close of the conflict, the savages killed many of the Tories._ "It is thought," says Gordon (ii.
237), ': that near as many of Sir John's Tory party were killed by the Indians as by the militia."




248                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Tru Aim of History. Capture of Billenger and Frey. St. Leger's Messengers. Their Threats, Persuasions, and Falsehoods
of personal courage exhibited in that battle, which, according to the military ethics of a less
benevolent age, would entitle the actors to the crown of laurel, the applause of multitudes,
and the panegyric of the historian.  But the picture is so revolting to the eye of Christian
benevolence, and so repugnant to the nobler feelings of brotherhood, which are now happily
impressing their benignant features upon society, that it is far better to draw the curtain of
silence before it, and plead for the warriors, in extenuation, the dreadful necessity that impelled them to deeds so shocking to humanity.  It is high time that the practice of pampering a depraved public taste by giving the horrid details of slaughter in battle, and of investing with glory, as models for imitation, those who fight most furiously and slay most profusely, should fall into desuetude.  These details are not essential elements of history.  They
contain no useful lesson, no seed of philosophy worthy of germination, no real benefit for the
understanding or the heart.1 Thus far I have avoided such recitals, and I shall do so through
the whole work before me. Neither pen nor pencil shall intentionally contribute one thought
for a panegyric on war or its abettors. The student of our Revolution, while he may justly
rejoice at the vast and invaluable blessings which followed that event, should be taught to
lament rather than admire the dreadful instrumentalities that were necessarily employed.
He may thus be taught without lessening the veneration which he ought to feel for those who
periled life and fortune in defense of the liberty we now enjoy. Let us turn from these better
contemplations to the more unpleasant task of tracing out the succeeding events of the siege
of Fort.Sehuyler.
So completely was the garrison still environed by the besieging force, after the battle at
Oriskany, that no correct intelligence of that event could reach them.  St. Leger took advantage of this.ircumstance, and, by false representations of victory for himself, the total
discomfiture of the provincials, and the victorious advance of Burgoyne, endeavored to bring
the garrison to surrender.  Colonel Billenger and Major Frey were made prisoners, and on
the evening of the battle they were forced to write a letter to Colonel Gansevoort, which
contained many misrepresentations, and a recommendation to cease resistance.  St. Leger's
adjutant general, Colonel John Butler, delivered the letter to Gansevoort, and at the same
time communicated a verbal demand of surrender from his commander. Gansevoort refused
an answer to a verbal summons, unless made by St. Leger himself. On the next morning,
Colonel Butler and two other officers approached the fort with a white flag, and asked permission to enter as bearers of a message to the commander.  The request was granted;
they were conducted, blind-folded, within the fortress, and received by Gansevoort in his
dining-room, which was lighted with candles, the windows being closed. Colonels Willett
and Mellen were present, and the messengers of St. Leger were politely received. Major
Ancram, one of them, more fluent in speech than the others, made known the wishes of St.
Leger. He spoke of the humanity of his feelings, and his desire to prevent further bloodshed. He assured Gansevoort that it was with much difficulty the Indians were restrained
from massacre, and that the only salvation of the garrison was an immediate surrender of
the fort and all the public stores.  The officers and soldiers would be allowed to retain their
baggage and other private property, and their personal safety should be guarantied.  He expressed a hope that these honorable terms would be immediately complied with, for, if they
were not, it would be out of St. Leger's power to renew the proposition. The Indians, he
remarked, were ready and eager to march down the country and destroy the inhabitants;,
and they were reminded that the total destruction of Herkimer's relief corps, and the fact
that Burgoyne had possession of Albany, extinguished all hope of succor for the garrison.
An example in an account of the battle in question, given in Stone's Life of Brant, may be cited as an
illustration. A Captain Dillenback was assailed by three of Johnson's Greens. " This oficer," says the
biographer, " had declared he would not be taken alive, and he was not. One of his three assailants seized
his gun, but he suddenly wrenched it from him and felled him with the butt. He shot the second dead, and
thrust the third through with his bayonet. But in the moment of his triumph at an exploit of which even the
mighty Hector, or either of the sons of Zeruiah, might have been proud, a ball laid this brave man low in the
dust." It is the last clause which is chiefly objectionable, for therein the historian, not content with recording the bloody act (justified by the law of self-preservation), lauds it as a deed worthy of the highest praise.




OF THE RE VOLUTION.


249


OF TH     EOUIN           4


Reply of Colonel Willett to St. Leger's Messengers.  St. Leger's written Demand of Surrender.  Gansevoort's Reply.
This speech, made up of falsehood, persuasion, and threats, excited the indignation of the
patriot officers, and Colonel Willett, with the approbation of Colonel Gansevoort, promptly
and properly replied.  I give his words, as contained in his narrative.  They were delivered
with emphasis, while he looked the officer, he says, full in the face: " Do I understand you,
sir? I think you say that you came from a British colonel, who is commander of the army
that invests this fort; and, by your uniform, you appear to be an officer in the British service. You have made a long speech on the occasion of your visit, which, stripped of all its
superfluities, amounts to this-that you come from a British colonel to the commandant of
this garrison, to tell him that, if he does not deliver up the garrison into the hands of your
colonel, he will send his Indians to murder our women and children. You will please to reflect, sir, that their blood will be upon your heads, not upon ours.  We are doing our duty;
this garrison is committed to our charge, and we will take care of it.  After you get out of
it, you may turn round and look at its outside, but never expect to come in again, unless you
come a prisoner. I consider the message you have brought a degrading one for a British
officer to send, and by no means reputable for a British officer to carry. For my own part,
I declare, before I would consents to deliver this garrison to such a murdering set as your
army, by your own account, consists of, I would suffer my body to be filled with splinters
and set on fire, as you know has at times been practiced by such hordes of women and children killers as belong to your army."
These words expressed the sentiments of the garrison, and the officers very justly concluded that Burgoyne could not be at Albany, and the Tryon county militia all slain or dispersed, else such a solicitude on the part of the enemy for an immediate surrender, on such'
favorable conditions, would not be exhibited. The manner of the messengers and the tenor
of their discourse made the besieged feel stronger, and more resolved to defend their post.
On the 9th, St. Leger sent a written demand for a surrender, which contained the August,
_____________________________ substance of Ma. 17m
ONIDA L.                                              jor Ancram's speech..         -  -         Gansevoort immediate.
-." _                            ~                 ly replied, in writing,
—.- '::'                       Sir, your letter of this
':r '-::                         -         date I have received, in:~ ---...:^.= answer to which I say,
*  -  --..            that it is my determined..,/ ~     a-, ~ b. c    resolution, with the force
/':  L:"::- "           x h  under my command, to..... I^^t. on-work of   foruthe Britih c omane  had
-L    ^     - ' ---"                             defend the power of teazinge lasthere
FOBT2                             fore commenced approahemity, ing the  fort by
l~- LetUter of St. Leger to Burgoyne, dated Oswego, August 27th, 1777.have
g DESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVWNG.-A, Fort Schuyler; b, southwest bastion, three guns; c, northwest
bastion, four guns; d, northeast bastion, three guns; e, southeast bastion, four guns; g, laboratory; h h h,
barracks; I, horn-works begun; K, covereway; LL, glacis; M, sally-port N     offers quarters; defend
Wietts attack. The figures refer to the redoubts, batteragesain &c, of the enemy. 1,st a batt their ene
i, _fa  mies."  This proript and bold stand was
-Y     unexpected to the British commander.  His
2                ",cannon had not the least effect upon the
Ira.. -sod-work of the fort," and his "royals had
only the power of teazing."' He thereFORT SCHUYLER AND VICZNITY.2      fore commenced approaching the fort by
I Letter of St. Leger to Burgoyne, dated Oswego, August 27th, 1777.
2 DiESCRIPTION OF THE ENGRAVING.-A, Fort Schuyler; b, southwest bastion, three guns; c, northwest
bastion, four guns; d, northeast bastion, three guns; e, southeast bastion, four guns; g, laboratory; A A A,
barracks; I, horn-works begun; K, covered way; L L, glacis; M, sally-port; N, officers' quarters; 0 0,
Willett's attack. The figures refer to the redoubts, batteries, &c., of the enemy. 1, a battery of three
guns; 2, bomb battery, four mortars; 3, bomb battery of three guns; 4 4 4, redoubts to cover the batteries; 5, line of approaches, 6 6, British encampment; 7, Loyalists; 8, Indians; 9, ruins of Fort Newport.




260                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
A Tory Address.  Continuation of the Siege.  Adventure of Willett and Stockwell.  Gansevoort's Resolution.
" sapping to such a distance that the rampart might be brought within their portices, at the
same time all materials were preparing to run a mine under the most formidable bastion."'
In the mean while an address to the people of Tryon county, signed by Johnson, Claus,
and Butler, was issued, strongly protesting their desire for peace, promising pardon and protection to all that should submit, and threatening all the horrors of Indian cruelty if they
resisted.  They called upon the principal men of the valley to come up and oblige the garrison at Fort Schuyler to do at once what they would be forced to do finally-surrender.
This document was sent by messengers through Tryon county, but it effected little else than
get the messengers themselves into trouble.2 The siege, in the mean while, was steadily,
but feebly, continued.  The garrison, fearing that re-enforcements for the enemy might ar.
rive, or that the siege might continue until their own provisions and ammunition should fail,
resolved to communicate with General Schuyler, then at Stillwater, and implore succor.
Colonel Willett volunteered to be the messenger, and on a very stormy night, when shower
August 10, after shower came down furiously, he and Lieutenant Stockwell left the fort by
1777.  the sally-port at ten o'clock, each armed with a spear, and crept upon their hands
and knees along a morass to the river. They crossed it upon a log, and were soon beyond the
line of drowsy sentinels. It was very dark, their path-way was in a thick and tangled wood,
and they soon lost their way.  The barking of a dog apprised them of their proximity to an
Indian camp, and for hours they stood still, fearing to advance or retreat.  The clouds broke
away toward dawn, and the morning star in the east, like the light of hope, revealed to them
their desired course. They then pushed on in a zigzag way, and, like the Indians, sometimes
-traversed the bed of a stream, to foil pursuers that might be upon their trail.  They reached
the German Flats in safety, and, mounting fleet horses, hurried down the valley to the headquarters of General Schuyler, who had already heard of the defeat of Herkimer,
gust   and was devising means for the succor of the garrison at Fort Schuyler.
St. Leger continued the siege.  He advanced, by parallels, within one hundred and fifty
yards of the fort, and the garrison, ignorant of the fate of Willett and Stockwell, or the relief that was preparing for them below, began to feel uneasy. Their ammunition and provisions being much reduced in quantity, some hinted an opinion to their commander that a
surrender would be humane policy.  Gansevoort's stout and hopeful heart would not yield
admission to such an idea, and he informed the garrison that he had resolved, in case succor should not appear before their supplies were exhausted, to sally out at night and cut his
way through the enemy's camp.   Suddenly, and mysteriously to the garrison, the besiegers
broke up their -camp, and fled so precipitately from before the fort that they left
their tents, artillery, and camp equipage behind them.
The mystery was soon solved. We have already noticed the appeal of General Schuyler
to his troops at the mouth of the Mohawk, and the readiness with which Arnold and several hundred men volunteered to march to the relief of Gansevoort.  These troops consisted
chiefly of the Massachusetts brigade of General Learned. They marched immediately, under the general command of Arnold, and were joined by the first New York regiment, under
Colonel Livingston.  On the 20th, Arnold and a portion of the troops arrived at Fort Dayton, where he intended to wait for the remainder, under Learned, to arrive; but, hearing
of the near approaches of St. Leger to Fort Schuyler, he resolved to push forward, and hazard a battle before it should be too late.  He knew that his small force was too inconsiderable to warrant a regular engagement, and he conceived several stratagems to supply his
deficiency of strength. One, which proved successful, was adopted. Among the Tory prisoners who were taken with Walter Butler was a coarse, unlettered, half idiot named HonLetter of St. Leger to Burgoyne, dated Oswego, August 27th, 1777.
2 Walter N. Butler, a son of Colonel John Butler, and afterward one of the most brutal of the Tory leaders, with fourteen white soldiers and the same number of Indians, appeared at the German Flats, at the
house of a Tory named Shoemaker. Colonel Wesson was then in command of a small fortification there,
called Fort Dayton, and he sent a party to arrest Butler and his associates. They succeeded, and Butler
was tried and condemned as a spy, but was afterward sent a prisoner to Albany, under a reprieve.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                 251.Hon-Yost Schuyler.  His successful Mission to St. Leger's Camp.  Arnold's Proclamation.  Alarm of the Indians.
Yost Schuyler, a nephew of General Herkiner, who, with his mother and brother, lived near
Little Falls.  He was tried and condemned to death.  His mother hastened to Fort Dayton and pleaded for his life.  For a time Arnold was inexorable, but finally consented to
spare him, on condition that he should go to Fort Schuyler and endeavor so to alarm St.
Leger, by representations of the great number of Americans that were approaching, as to induce him to raise the siege.  Hon-Yost readily agreed to perform the duty, for, in reality,
his political creed was so chameleon-like, that it would assume any required hue, according
to circumstances.  His mother offered herself as a hostage for his faithfulness, but Arnold
chose his brother Nicholas as security.  The latter was placed in confinement, and HonYost, with a friendly Oneida, who promised to aid him, departed for Fort Schuyler.
Arnold, having issued a proclamation' from Fort Dayton to counteract the address of Johnson, Claus, and Butler, marched ten miles onward toward Fort Stanwix. There August 23
he received a communication from Colonel Gansevoort, announcing that the siege  1777.
had suddenly been raised, and that the enemy had fled, in great haste, toward Wood Creek;
why, he could not imagine. Arnold perceived that Hon-Yost had been faithful. He and
the Indian had managed the affair adroitly, and the charge of idiotcy against Hon-Yost was
wiped out forever.  Before leaving Fort Dayton, he had several bullets shot through his
coat, and, with these evidences of a  terrible engagement with the enemy," he appeared
among the Indians of St. Leger's camp, many of whom knew him personally. He ran into
their midst almost out of breath, and apparently much frightened.  He told them that the
Americans were approaching in great numbers, and that he had barely escaped with his life.
His bullet-riddled coat confirmed the story. When they inquired the number of the Americans, he pointed to the leaves on the trees, and shook his head mysteriously.  The Indians
were greatly agitated.  They had been decoyed into their present situation, and had been
moody and uneasy since the battle of Oriskany.  At the moment of Hon-Yost's arrival they
were engaged in a religious observance-a consultation, through their prophet, of Manitou,
or the Great Spirit, to supplicate his guidance and protection.  The council of chiefs at the
pow-wow at once resolved upon flight, and told St. Leger so.  He sent for and questioned
Hon-Yost, who told him that Arnold, with two thousand men, would be upon him in twentyfour hours. At that moment, according to arrangement, the friendly Oneida, who had taken
a circuitous route, approached the camp from another direction, with a belt.  On his way
he met two or three straggling Indians of his tribe, who joined him, and they all confirmed
the story of Hon-Yost.  They pretended that a bird had brought them the news that the
valley below was swarming with warriors. One said that the army of Burgoyne was cut
to pieces, and another told St. Leger that Arnold had three thousand men near. They
shook their heads mysteriously when questioned about numbers by the Indians, and pointed,
like Hon-Yost, upward to the leaves. The savages, now thoroughly alarmed, prepared to
flee.  St. Leger tried every means, by offers of bribes and promises, to induce them to remain, but the panic, and suspicion of foul play, had determined them to go.  He tried to
make them drunk, but they refused to drink.  He then besought them to take the rear of
his army in retreating; this they refused, and indignantly said, (, You mean to sacrifice us.
When you marched down, you said there would be no fighting for us Indians; we might go
down and smoke our pipes; whereas numbers of our warriors have been killed, and you mean
I The address of Arnold was well calculated to awe the timid and give courage to the wavering Whigs.
The prestige of his name gave great weight to it. He prefaced it with a flourish of his title and position,
as follows: " By the Honorable Benedict Arnold, Esq., general and commander-in-chief of the army of the
United States of America on the Mohawk River."  He denominated a certain Barry St. Leger "a leader
of a banditti of robbers, murderers, and traitors, composed of savages of America and more savage Britons," and denounced him as a seducer of the ignorant and unthinking from the cause of freedom, and-as
threatening ruin and destruction to the people. He then offered a free pardon to all who had joined him
or upheld him, "whether savages, Germans, Americans, or Britons," provided they laid down their arms
and made oath of allegiance to the United States within three days. But if they persisted in their " wicked
courses," and " were determined to draw on themselves the just vengeance of Heaven and their exasperated country, they must expect no mercy from either."




252


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Flight of St. Leger's Forces to Oswego.  The Spoils.  Amusement of the Indians.  End of the Siege.  Captain Gregg.
Auut 23, to sacrifice us also."'  The council broke up, and the Indians fled.  The panic was
A17m27   communicated to the rest of the camp, and in a few hours the beleaguering army
were flying in terror toward their boats on Oneida Lake. Hon-Yost accompanied them in
their flight as far as Wood Creek, where he managed to desert. He found his way back to
the fort that night, and was the first to communicate to Colonel Gansevoort the intelligence
of Arnold's approach.' The Indians, it is said, made themselves merry at the precipitate
flight of the whites,8 who threw away their arms and knapsacks, so that nothing should impede their progress. The savages also gratified their passion for murder and plunder by killing many of their retreating allies on the borders of the lake, and stripping them of every
article of value.  They also plundered them    of their boats, and, according to St. Leger,
" became more formidable than the enemy they had to expect."4 Half starved and naked,
the whites of the scattered army made their way to Oswego, and, with St. Leger, went
down Ontario to Canada.
Colonel Gansevoort, on the retreat of St. Leger, sent a dispatch to Arnold, acquainting
him with the fact.   That general sent forward nine hundred men, with directions
August25  to attempt to overtake the fugitives, and the next day reached the fort himself.
Gansevoort had already sent out a detachment to harass the flying enemy, and several prisoners were brought in, with a large quantity of spoil, among which was the escritoire, or
writing-desk, of St. Leger, containing his private papers. Colonel Willett was left in command of the garrison at the fort, and Arnold and his men marched back to the main army
(then at Stillwater, under Gates, who had superseded Schuyler), to perform valiant service
in the battle that soon afterward occurred on Bemis's Heights. Thus ended the siege of
Fort Schuyler,' in the progress of which the courage, endurance, and skill of the Americans,
every where so remarkable in the Revolution, were fully displayed.6
I Mary Jemison, whose narrative we have referred to, says that the Indians (at least the Senecas) were
greatly deceived. They were sent for to "see the British whip the rebels."  They were told that they
were not wanted to fight, but might sit down and smoke their pipes, and look quietly on. With this impression, the Seneca warriors accompanied the expedition, and, as we have seen, suffered great loss.
s Hon-Yost made his way back to Fort Dayton, to the*gpat joy of his friends. He afterward fled from
the valley with his family and fourteen Tory associates, and joined Sir John Johnson. After the war he
returned to the valley, where he remained until his death in 1818.
s Gordon (ii., 240), on the verbal authority of the Rev. Mr. Kirkland, who was at Fort Schuyler, relates
that St. Leger, while standing on the border of a morass alone with Sir John Johnson, reproached the latter with being the cause of the disaffection of the Indians. High words and mutual criminations followed.
Two chiefs, standing near, overheard the quarrel, and put an end to it by shouting, " They are coming I
they are coming!"  Both officers, terribly alarmed, plunged into the morass. This was the signal for the
general retreat of the whole army. Such was their haste, that they left their tents, baggage, and artillery
behind, and the bombardier was left asleep in the bomb battery I When he awoke he found himself alone,
the sole representative in camp of the besieging army. The Indians continued their cry, at intervals,
"They are coming I they are coming!" behind the fleeing Tories, and thus amused themselves all the
way to Oneida Lake.
4 Letter of St. Leger to Burgoyne, August 27th, 1777.
a Fort Schuyler was destroyed by fire and flood in 1781, and was never rebuilt.
6 Before the fort was invested by St. Leger, the Indians, in small parties, annoyed the garrison, and frequently attacked individuals when away from their dwellings.  On one occasion they fired upon three little
girls who were out gathering blackberries. Two were killed and scalped, but the third escaped. The
remarkable adventure of Captain Gregg is worthy of notice. He was a soldier of the garrison of Fort
Schuyler, and went out one day to shoot pigeons, with two of his soldiers, and a boy named Wilson (who
became an ensign in the army at the age of eighteen, and conducted the surrender of the British standards
at Yorktown). Fearing the Indians, the boy was sent back. They had not proceeded far before some savages in ambush shot all three down, scalped them, and made off. The captain, though badly wounded,
*as not killed. His two soldiers, however, were lifeless, and, laying his bleeding head upon the body of
one of them, he expected soon to die. His dog had accompanied him, and, in great agitation, whined,
licked his wounds, and otherwise manifested his grief and attachment.  He told the dog to go for help, and
the animal, as if endowed with reason, at once obeyed. He ran about a mile, and found two men fishing.
By piteous moans he induced them to follow him to his wounded master. The captain was carried to the
fort, and, after suffering much, was restored to health. "He was a most frightful spectacle," says Dr.
Thacher, from whose journal (page 144) this account is taken. "The whole of his scalp was removed;
in two places on the forepart of his head the tomahawk had penetrated the skull; there was a wound on




OF THE REVOLUTION.


253


Return to Oriskany.  Whitesborough.  Utica.  Little Falls.  Visit to the German Flats.  Origin of the Name,
On my return to Oriskany village, after visiting the battle-ground, I learned that Mr.
Nellis, who was engaged in that conflict, was still living at Whitesborough, three miles eastward. 'I had dismissed the vehicle that conveyed me from Rome to Oriskany, intending to
proceed to Utica from the latter place upon a canal packet.  I felt a desire to visit the old
veteran, and yet was anxious to reach Utica that evening. While deliberating concerning
the matter, a constable from Whitesborough rode up to the hotel in a light wagon, executed
his business in haste, and kindly offered me a seat on his return. I gladly placed myself in
his custody. He said his errand to Oriskany was in search of a thief, and I have no doubt
the people of Whitesborough gave him credit for success, for my "fatigue dress" and soiled
(, Panama" made me appear more like a prowler than a tourist. Mr. Nellis was not at
home, so my visit was fruitless, except in the pleasure derived from a view of the beautiful
village, as we rode in from the westward. It lies upon a plain, encircled by the arms of
the Erie Canal and the Mohawk River.
At sunset, after partially satisfying a long-suffering appetite from a table at a restorer, on the
verge of the canal, where dainty guests should eat with closed eyes and unwavering faith in the
purity of the viands and the proper proportions of flies and butter, I embarked for Utica, six
miles eastward.  It was the close of a calm, sultry day, and peculiarly grateful Augt 20
was the evening breeze that fanned us as we glided along upon that tiny river,  1848.
through cultivated fields and pleasant woodlands.
"Sweet to the pensive is departing day,
When only one small cloud, so still and thin,
So thoroughly imbued with amber light,
And so transparent that it seems a spot
Of brighter sky, beyond the furthest mount,
Hangs o:er the hidden orb; or where a few
Long, narrow stripes of denser, darker grain,
At each end sharpened to a needle's point,
With golden borders, sometimes straight and smooth,
And sometimes crinkling like the lightning's stream,
A half hour's space above the mountain lie."
CARLOS WILCOX.
This quiet scene was soon exchanged for the bustle and noise of the busy town, and, before
the twilight had fairly faded, I was jolted over the paved streets of Utica.  There I spent
some thirty hours with some friends. The city has no noteworthy reminiscences of the Revolution, except the single fact that the army, under Herkimer, crossed the Mohawk at old
Fort Schuyler (then a fortress in ruins), while on his way to Oriskany, and the general interest which belongs to it as that portion of Tryon county which was consecrated by the
presence and the prowess of the patriots. It is a pleasant and thriving city, upon the southern slope of the Mohawk Valley. Like all other towns in Western New York, it is young
and vigorous, and every feature glows with the beauty of youth and health.
I left Utica at noon by rail-road, arrived at Little Falls, twenty miles eastward, at one
o'clock, and at two started in a light wagon for Fort Herkimer, or Mohawk, on the German
Flats.  The driver and guide was a courteous young man, but totally deaf.  I never practiced pantomime with better success, for my companion, intelligent, and apparently well versed
in all the local history of the region, easily comprehended my awkward manipulations, and
answered my mute inquiries promptly and clearly.
The upper valley of the Mohawk, which narrows to a deep, rocky ravine at Little Falls,
has, within a few miles of its lower extremity, a rich and fertile alluvial plain on each side
of the river, known as the German Flats, so called in consequence of being first settled and
cultivated by German families. The settlement was originally called Burnet's Field, from
the circumstance that the patent had been granted by Governor Burnet.  The patent
comprehended the plain and slopes westward of the junction of West Canada Creek   17
his back with the same instrument, besides a wound in his side, and another through his arm with a musket-ball."




254


P IICTORIA AL FIEL rD-1 O00K


Stone Church, German Flats.  Its Pulpit.      The two Pastors.     Fort Herkimer, or Dayton.
and the Mohawk River, and included about ten miles of the valley east and west.  Toward
the eastern extremity of the Flats, and about four miles west of Little Falls, on the south
side of the river, is one of the churches which were erected under the auspices and by the liberal contributions of Sir William Johnson.' The
-.               church is of stone, but is somewhat altered in its,:!. l i.          external appearance.  The walls are very thick,...:  -              and it has square buttresses at the corners.  It
was altered and repaired in 1811, at an expense
of nearly four thousand dollars.                        The roof (for-.          merly steep) was raised, an upper row of windows
was formed, and a gallery was constructed within.
--                     -. The height of the old windows is indicated by the:%     -                    arches seen over the present square ones, and the
-r                  eaves were just above the key-stones.  The original tower, with its steeple, was similar to the one
a  i     at Caughnawaga. The tower, or belfry, was open,
B      j            J        and in it was placed a swivel for the protection of
I-:                the inhabitants against the Indians, or to sound an
— Ij,                       - alarm to the people on the neighboring hills.  The
pulpit, although newly constructed when the church
D S                 was repaired, is precisely the same, in style, as the
OLD STONE CHURiCH, GERMAN FLATS.
original.  The soundingboard and panels in front are handsomely painted in imitation of inlaid work, and the whole has an elegant appearance.  This church
has never been without a pastor since its construction in 1767,
yet only two ministers have presided over the flock during eighty
years of its existence.  The first was the Rev. Abraham Rosen-          l
krans.  Before the church was built, he preached to the people in
that region in their dwellings, school-houses, and barns.  He was
installed pastor of the church in 1767, and remained there until his
death in 1796, when his remains were deposited beneath the pulpit.
He was succeeded by the Rev. John P. Spinner, from Germany, who
preached in the German language exclusively until within twenty  |l             '
years, and afterward in English and German alternately.  He died     i AA
in May, 1848.:                'A few rods west of the church was the large stone mansion of the   THE 5,
-rTHE-PULPIT.
Herkimer family, which was stockaded and called Fort Herkimer.
Around this, and the church, the humbler dwellings of the farmers were clustered, for so frequently did the Indian marauder (and as frequently the unprincipled Tory, in the Revolution) disturb them, that they dared not live in isolation. Fort Herkimer became a prey to
public vandalism when the Erie Canal was built. The waters flow in part over the site of
the fort, and its stones, so easily quarried, were used in the construction of a lock near by.
Two miles further westward, on a gravelly plain upon the north side of the river, is the
pretty little village of Herkimer.  It occupies the site of old Fort Herkimer, erected in the
early part of the Seven Years' War, and known as Fort Dayton during the Revolution, occurrences at which we have already mentioned.  This beautiful region, like the " sweet Vale
It was built upon the north side of the old German burying-ground. Near the southern wall of this
church is a large brown sandstone slab, placed there by the provincial government, on which is the following inscription: "HERE REPOSES THE BODY OF JOHN RING, ESQ., OF THE KINGDOM OF IRELAND, A CAPTAIN OF HIS MAJESTY'S INDEPENDENT COMPANY OF THE PROVINCE, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE THE 20TH
DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1755, IN THE 30TH YEAR OF HIS AGE." Near this church, it is said, was raised the
first liberty-pole in 1775. White, the sheriff of Tryon county at that time, came up with a large body of
militia from Johnstown and cut it down.




O F TH HE REVOLUT U I.ON.


255


Plan of Fort Herkimer. Destruction of Andrustown. Expedition against the German Flats. Destruction of the Settlement.
of Wyoming," was disturbed and menaced in the earlier periods of the war, and in 1778 it
was made a desolation.
0,  =Owing to the distant situation of.               Fort Schuyler, its garrison afforded
_         "   3      %      very slight protection to this portion
of the valley, and Fort Dayton had
~    become little better than a dilapida)                                        ted block-house.  The Tories and
-            Indians were, consequently, bold in!their marauding expeditions, and
~                     /    the murderer and the incendiary
kept the patriots in continual alarm.
All the spring and summer succeeding the flight of St. Leger from Fort
P-          Schuyler, the various settlements in
X 1 a,      Tryon county were menaced.     In
July, a secluded hamlet called AnFORT HERKIMEB.I                    drustown, situated about six miles
southeast of the German Flats, and
composed of seven families, was destroyed by a party of savages, under Brant. They owned
a thousand fertile acres among the hills and pleasant valleys toward the Otsego Lake, and
plunder seemed to be the sachem's chief object. This secured, some of the people murdered,
and others made captive, the torch was applied, and the whole settlement utterly laid waste.
Success made the Indians more greedy, and toward the close of August they hung
like a gathering storm upon the hills around the German Flats.  Aroused and alarmed by the tragedy at Andrustown, the people had kept scouts on the alert, and the approach
of Brant from Unadilla toward the settlement was heralded by them in time for the residents to prepare for the coming invasion.  These scouts came in hot haste, and informed
the inhabitants that the savages would be upon them in a few hours. There was no time
to look after and secure their sheep and cattle, but, gathering up the most valuable things
which they could carry from their houses, the whole settlement took refuge in Forts Dayton
and Herkimer, and in the old church.
Brant, with three hundred Tories and one hundred and fifty Indians, reached the borders
of the settlement early in the evening.' It was a dark and rainy night, and he lay concealed
in a ravine near Shoemakers (where Walter Butler was captured the year before) until near
daylight, when his warriors were called to duty, and soon swept, like a fierce wind, over the
plain. The houses were assailed, but neither scalps nor prisoners were to be found in them.
At dawn the fires were kindled.  Barns, filled with the product of an abundant harvest just
gathered, the dwellings of the people, and every thing combustible, were set on fire, within
view of the sorrowing fugitives in the fort. Having nothing but small arms, the savages
did not attack the fort, but, having laid the whole plain in ashes, collected the horses, sheep,
I copied this sketch from a manuscript drawing in possession of the New York Historical Society. It
was drawn by a private of Captain Ogelvie's company, and presented by him to " Charles Clinton, Esq.,*
lieutenant colonel commanding," in July, 1758. Herkimer is there spelled Herekheimer.
EXPLANATION OF THE SKETCH.-A, the parade; B, dwelling-house; C, barracks; D, guard-room; E,
officers' kitchen; F, the well; G, draw-bridge; H H, &c., ten swivel guns; K K, stockades; L, the oven;
MM, &c., sentry boxes; N, smith's shop; 0, the Mohawk River; 1, terrace; 2, trench; 3, palisades;
4, parapet; 5, banqueting.
2 At the time in question there were thirty-four houses and as many barns in the settlement on the south
side of the river, and about an equal number on the north side, at Fort Dayton, now Herkimer village.


* Charles Clinton emigrated to America from Ireland (whither his family fled from England for refuge in the time of Crom.
well) in 1729, and in 1731 he founded a settlement in Ulster county. New York. He was appointed lieutenant colonel by Gov.
ernor Delancy, after serving with distinction under Bradstreet. He was the father of General James Clinton (the father of thD
late Dewitt Clinton) and of Governor George Clinton, of the Revolution. He died November 19, 1773, aged 82 years.




256             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
$


Incursion of the Oneidas into the Unadila Settlement.   Damage to the Tories.        Brant, or Thayendanegea
and cattle, and drove them     off over the southern hills.     Four hundred militia-men were hastily collected, and pur-                                                          deputation of about one
sued   them   as far as                                                          hundred    Indian   warEdmundston's planta-                                                             riors of the    Oneidas
tion, on the Unadilla                                                            communicated the reRiver,    where     they                                                         sult of this expedition
found    three     scouts                                                        to   Major     Cochran,
dead; but they effect-                                                           then   in  command of
ed nothing in the way..                                                         the garrison    at Fort
of retaliation or the re-                                                        Schuyler.    They were
covery of property.    A          I                                              a part of those who
party of friendly Oei-                               I                           proffered their services
das,   however,     were      7'                                    _        /' to General Gates, after
more successful. They                                                       /    the first battle on Bepenetrated    the   Una-             r           f/                              mis's Heights, in     the
dilla settlement, where          q                                               autumn previous.
Brant' had his head-                                                                I returned to Little
quarters, burned some                                                            Falls toward evening,
of  the   Tory    houses,                                                        and    the   lengthened
took several prisoners,                                                          shadows of the       hills
and    brought     away                                                          and   trees heightened
some of the cattle tak-                                                          the picturesque beauen from   the people at                                                          ty of the scene.     The
the German Flats.      A                                                         view, on    approaching
1 Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea) was a Mohawk of pure blood. His father was a chief of the Onondaga
nation, and had three sons in the army with Sir William Johnson, under King Hendrick. in the battle at
Lake George in 1755. Joseph, his youngest son, whose Indian name was Thayendanegea, which signifies a bundle of sticks, or, in other words, strength, was born on the banks of the Ohio in 1742, whither his
parents immigrated from the Mohawk Valley. His mother returned to Canajoharie with two children,
Mary, or Molly, who became the concubine of Sir William Johnson, and Thayendanegea. His father, Tehowaghwengaraghkwin, a chief of the Wolf tribe* of the Mohawks, seems to have died in the Ohio country.
* According to Colden, each of the original Five Nations was divided into three tribes, the Tortoise or Turtle, the Bear, and the
Wolf. Others affirm that there were eight divisions in each, the other tribes
~^          being the Crane, the Snipe, the Hawk, the Beaver, and the Deer. The first
three seem to have been pre-eminent; and among the Mohawks, with whom  / A
the whites had more direct and extensive business and social intercourse
than with any others, these only were known. Title deeds to lands, and
/            other papers, now in the office of the Secretary of State at Albany, have the
No. 1          signatures or marks of the chiefs of these three tribes attached. The annex.
ed cuts are fac-similes, which I copied from the originals. No. 1 is the mark  No. 2.
of Teyendagages, or Little Hendrick, of the Turtle tribe; No. 2, that of Kanadagea, or Hans, chief of
the Bear tribe, and is intended to represent a bear lying on
his back; No. 3 is the signature and hieroglyphic of Great
Hendrick, the celebrated chief of the Wolf tribe, who was
killed near Lake George in 1755. Kanadagea sometimes
No. 3.
Tinyahasara, whom we have noted as friendly to the Americans, made a mark thus: k  I found upon several papers the
name of Daniel, a chief of the Tortoise tribe, often associated with that of Little Abraham and of Hans. The signatures of the
chiefs of all the three tribes appear to have been essential in making those deeds or conveyances legal. Besides the eight totums here named, there appears to have been, at an earlier
date, three other tribes, the Serpent, the Porcupine, and the Fox. Giles F. Yates, Esq., of
Schenectady, one of our most indefatigable antiquaries, discovered a document having the  (
marks of twenty-one chiefs and that of a woman (Eusena) attached. Among them are those               f
of Togwtayenant, of the Serpent; Sander, of the Porcupine; and Symoft, of the Fox tribe. The
date of the document is 1714. It is not my province, neither have I the space, to pursue this
interesting subject further, in this connection.                                    DANIEL'S SIGNATURE.




OF THE REVOLUTION.            257
-__


Return to Little Falls.  Cole's Pictures.  Scenery at Little Falls.  Evidences of a great Cataract.  Remarkable Cavity,
from the west, changes from the quiet beauty of a rolling plain, enriched by the cultivator's
art, and enlivened by a gently gliding river, to the rugged grandeur of lofty hills, craggy
steeps, and turbulent cascades. It reminded me of two of Cole's beautiful pictures in his, Voyage of Life," wherein is depicted the course of an ambitious youth.   IIe is out upon a
placid stream, so full of self-confidence that his guardian angel is left behind.  All around
is beauty and repose.  The stream meanders on without a riff, but in the distance it sweeps
with a majestic curve around a woodland into a mysterious region. Onward speeds the bark,
of the youthful voyager upon the gentle current, until the valley becomes narrower, the waters run swiftly, the tall trees and beautiful flowers upon its banks disappear, high and barren rocks wall in his view, and just before him is the wild leap of a cataract into a fearful
gulf below.
The village of Little Falls is upon the rocky bank of the cascades, and only westward
can the eye see any thing from it but rocks, and trees, and running water mingled in wild
confusion. Here the high ridge of the Alleghany range, which divides the head waters of
the Mohawk and the Ontario streams from the Susquehanna and other Atlantic rivers, crosses
the Mohawk Valley, and in ages long past, ere the great Falls of Niagara existed, doubtless
formed the crown of a cataract almost as magnificent, when the waters of Ontario covered
the upper valley, and a portion of its flood here found its way into the great lake that filled
the Hudson basin, whose outlet, in turn, was among the rugged hills
of the Highlands at West Point and vicinity.    Such is the theory           Adz.
of the geologist; and never had opinion stronger presumptive proofs
of its correctness than are found at Little Falls.1  An obstruction
here, seventy feet in height, would cause the waters to overflow the     B   5y
Rome summit, and mingle with those of Ontario by the way of Wood                  Il,
Creek, Oneida Lake, and the Oswego River.       The rugged shores      '
present many incontestible evidences of abrasion by the violent action
of water, thirty to sixty feet above the present bed of the river.
Many of them are circular perpendicular cavities in the hard rocks,
which are composed chiefly of gneiss, granite, and hornblende.   In
some instances masses of stratified rocks present the appearance of Cyclopean architecture,
as seen in the above cut,' and hundreds of small cavities, far above the present bed of the
His mother, after her return, married an Indian called Carribogo (news.carrier), whom the whites named
Barnet; but, by way of contraction, he was called Barnt, and, finally, Brant. Thayendanegea was called
Joseph, and was known as Brant's Joseph, or Joseph Brant. Sir William Johnson sent young Brant to the
school of Dr. Wheelock, of Lebanon Crank (now Columbia), Connecticut, and, after he was well educated,
employed him as secretary, and as agent in public affairs. He was employed as missionary interpreter
from 1762 to 1765, and exerted himself for the religious instruction of his tribe. When the Revolution
broke out, he attached himself to the British cause, and in 1775 left the Mohawk Valley, went to Canada,
and finally to England, where his education, and his business and social connection with Sir William John.
son, gave him free access to the nobility. The Earl of Warwick caused Romney, the eminent painter, to
make a portrait of him for his collection, and from a print after that picture the engraving on the preceding
page was made. Throughout the Revolution he was engaged in warfare chiefly upon the border settlements
of New York and Pennsylvania, in connection with the Johnsons and Butlers. He held a colonel's commission
from the king, but he is generally called Captain Brant. After the peace in 1783, Brant again visited England, and, on returning to America, devoted himself to the social and religious improvement of the Mohawks,
who were settled upon the Ouise or Grand River, in Upper Canada, upon lands procured for them by Brant
from Sir Frederic Haldimand, governor of the province. The territory embraced six miles on both sides
of the river, from its mouth to its source. He translated the Gospel of St. Mark into the Mohawk language; and in many ways his exertions for the spiritual and temporal welfare of his people were eminently
successful, and endeared him to his nation. He died at his residence at the head of Lake Ontario, Novem*
her 24th, 1807, aged 65 years. One of his sons (John) was an officer in the British service, on the Niagara.
frontier, in the war of 1812. His daughter married William J. Kerr, Esq., of Niagara, in 1824, and, I be.
lieve, is still living.
' This name was given in contradistinction to the Great Falls, now called Cohoes, at the mouth of the
Mohawk.
2 This is a view of a large circular cavity on the western shore of the river a few yards from the rail.
road, and about thirty feet above its bed. On the side of the cavity toward the river is an opening about
PR




268                           PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Gulf below Little Falls..  The Erie Canal.        Greatness of the Work.      An Indian Legend.
stream, indicate the action of pebbles in eddies of water.  The hills on either side rise to an
altitude of nearly four hundred feet, and from that height the ancient cataract may have
poured its flood. Immediately below the present cascades at the foot of Moss Island, or
Moss Rock, the river expands into a broader basin, more than one hundred feet deep, from
whose depths rocky spikes, like church spires, shoot upward, some of them to the surface of
the water.   Into this gulf the great cataract doubtless poured its flood, while the rocky
cones, too hard to be abraded, resisted the unceasing attrition of the water for ages.
I strolled along the rail-road at twilight, by the margin of the rapids and of the gulf below; and before sunrise I went down upon the tow-path to view the scene in the shadows
of early morning. Art and nature here vie with each other in claims upon our admiration.
Here the former exhibits its wonderful triumphs, and the latter displays its beauty and
grandeur. On the south side of the river is the Erie Canal, the passage for which was excavated through solid rock a distance of two miles. This narrow defile presented the most
formidable obstruction on the whole line of that great work, and it was supposed that at
least two years would be required to complete the excavation.    Skill and persevering industry accomplished the most difficult portion in ninety days.    The waters of the canal here
ten feet square, and over the entrance is a massive lintel, which appears as if hewn and placed there by
the hands of man. Within the large cavity, which is open at the top, are smaller ones upon its concave
sides. Two of these concavities are seen in the engraving. The rocks are covered with a luxuriant
growth of shrubbery, springing from the rich alluvial deposits in the fissures. An exploration of them is
dangerous, for some of the fissures are broad and deep. Indian legends invest these caverns with romantic
interest. One of them I will repeat, in brief, as it was told to met for it is identified with the spot represented in the picture.
Long ago, when the river was broader and the falls were more lofty, a feud arose between two young
chiefs of the respective tribes of the Mohawk nation, the Wolf and the Tortoise. A maiden of the Bear
tribe was the cause of the feud, as maidens often are. She was loved by both the young chiefs, and for a
time she so coquetted that each thought himself beloved by her in return. Her father was a stern old warrior, and loved his child tenderly.  Both chiefs had fought the Mingoes and Mohegahs by his side, and
the bravery of each entitled him to the hand of the maiden. Her affections were at length stirred by the
more earnest importunities of the Wolf, and she promised to become his bride. This decision reached the
ears of the Tortoise, and the embers of jealousy, which disturbed both while unaccepted suitors, burst into
a flame of ungenerous revenge in the bosom of the disappointed lover. He determined to possess the coveted treasure before the Wolf should take her to his wigwam. With well-dissembled acquiescence in her
choice, and expressions of warm friendship for herself and her affianced, he allayed all suspicions, and the
maiden rambled with him in the moonlight upon the banks of the river when her affianced was away, unconscious of danger. The day approached for the maiden to go to the wigwam of her lord. The Tortoise
was with her alone in a secluded nook upon the brink of the river. -His light canoe was near, and he proposed a voyage to a beautiful little island in the stream, where the fire-flies sparkled and the whippoorwill
whispered its evening serenade. They lanched, but, instead of paddling for the island, the Tortoise turned
his prow toward the cataract. Like an arrow they sped down the swift current, while the young chief, with
vigorous arm, paddled for the western shore. Skillful as with the bow and hatchet, he steered his canoe
to the mouth of the cavern here pictured, then upon the water's brink, seized the affrighted maiden, and
leaped ashore, at the same moment securing his canoe by a strong green withe. The cave was dry, a
soft bed of the skins of beasts was spread, and abundance of provision was there stored. At the top of the
cave, far above the maiden's reach, an opening revealed a passage through the fissures to the rocks above.
It was known only to the Tortoise; and there he kept the maiden many months, until her affianced gave
her up as lost to him forever. At length, while hunting on the southern hills in flowery May, the Wolf
saw the canoe at the mouth of the cave. It solved the question in his mind. The evening was clear, and
the full moon shone brightly. He waited until midnight, when, with an arm as strong and skill as accurate as his rival's, he steered his canoe to the mouth of the cavern, which was lighted up by the moon.
By its light he saw the perfidious Tortoise sleeping in the arms of an unwilling bride. The Wolf smote
the Tortoise, but the wound was slight. The awakened warrior, unable to grasp his hatchet, bounded
through the opening at the top of the cavern, and closed it with a heavy stone. The lovers embraced in
momentary joy. It was brief, for a fearful doom seemed to await them. The Tortoise would return with
-power, and they had to make choice of death, by the hatchet of the rival chief, or the waters of the cataract. The latter was their choice, and, in affectionate embrace, they sat in their canoe and made the fearful leap. The frail vessel struck propitiously upon the boiling waters, and, unharmed, passed over the
gulf below. Down the broad stream they glided, and far away, upon the margin of the lower lake, they
lived and loved for two generations, and saw their children's children go out to the battle and the chase.
In the long line of their descent, tradition avers, came Brant, the Mohawk sachem, the strong WOLF of
his nation.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


259




View of Little Falls. First Settlement. Night Attack upon the Settlement. Escape of Cox and Skinner. Ride to Danube.
descend forty feet within a mile, by five locks; and the traveler has ample time to view the
wild scenery while.,...-.passing them.                On
---        the north ide of the.. river the hard rocks.......'                     have also. been excavated, for the railroad which traversVIW AT LIE FAes the high bank in
its winding course.
sAltogether, art and
nature have here
presented a scene
i                                             worth a long journey to behold.
VIEW AT LILEri  FAsLS.' Thhere                        was    a
small settlement at
Little Falls at the time of the Revolution. A Scotchman named Ellis had obtained, through
Sir William Johnson,   a patent for the mountain gorge, and erected flouing mills therse
These were important for supplying the people at the  erman Flats and the small garrisons
that were kept at Forts Dayton and Herkimer. IA party of Tories and Indians in 1780
joined in an expedition to destroy the mills, and thus cut off the supply of flour for the Whig
garrisons. They made a stealthy descent, under cover of night. The mill was garrisoned
by about a dozen men, but so sudden and unexpected was the attack, that only a few shots
were exchanged, and one man killed, before its defenders fled for safety.  Some leaped from
the windows when the Indians entered, and others concealed themselves below. Two men,
Cox and Skinner, hid in the race-way, under the water-wheel,while two others, Edick and
Getman, leaped into the race-way above the mill, and attempted to conceal themselves by
keeping under the water as much as possible.  In this they would have succeeded, had not
the assailants set the mill on fire, the light of which revealed the hiding-place of the latter
two, and they were made prisoners.  Cox and Skinner were more fortunate.    The waterwheel protected them from  the burning timbers that fell around them, and they remained
safe in their hiding-place until the enemy had departed.  The object of the assailants was
accomplished, and they returned to their rendezvous among the hills, carrying with them
five or six prisoners.
After breakfast I rode down to Danube, to visit the residence of General Herkimer while
living, and the old Castle Church near the dwelling-place of Brant in the Revolution.  It
was a pleasant ride along the tow-path, between the canal and the river.  Herkimer's residence is about two and a half miles below Little Falls, near the canal, and in full view
This view was taken from the rail-road near the village, looking down the river. On the right is seen
the Erie Canal, and on the left, and more in the foreground, the
Mohawk, at the foot of the falls, with the rail-road and the magnetic highway. The rugged bluff in the center is Moss Rock,
at the lower extremity of which is the gulf, seen in the annexed
engraving. This view is from the tow-path, below Moss Rokm
On the left is the canal, and on the right are the gulf and a portion of the village in the distance. Moss Rock is an island, formed by the canal and the river. The summit of this amorphous
pile has been suggested as an appropriate site for the proposed
monument to the memory of Dewitt Clinton. It seems to me
that the spot is singularly appropriate for that purpose. The Erie Canal, with its busy commerce, is his
perpetual memorial; and here is the point where the most wonderful triumphs were achieved in the construction of that stupendous work. Here, too, pass all travelers to and from Niagara and the great West
from the eastward, and the monument would be seen, if erected there, by more persons than at any other
locality that may be named, out of the city of New York.




260


P I~ CTORIAL I FIELD-BOOKOO f


Herkimer's Residence.  His Family Burial-ground.  Public Neglect of his Grave.  Its Location.
of the traveler upon the rail-road, half a mile distant.  It is a substantial brick edifice;
k             was erected in 1764, and was a splendid man~i.l       i.          sion for the time and place.  It is now owned
by Daniel Conner, a farmer, who was modernizing it when I was there, by building a long,
^;2 '.*      fashionable piazza in front, in place of the small
-.   old porch, or stoop, seen in the picture.  He
was also improving some of the rooms within.
w             The one in which General Herkimer died (on
I I I           the right of the front entrance), and also the
-,    1 '   I   1TB          one on the opposite side of the passage, are left
1!        precisely as they were when the general occu'                       pied the house; and Mr. Conner has the good
taste and patriotism  to preserve them  so.
_.  ^  '   These rooms are handsomely wainscoted with
white pine, wrought into neat moldings and
panels, and the casements of the deep windows
GENERAL HERKR'S RESIDENCE.       are of the same material and in the same style.
Mr. Conner has carefully preserved the great
lock of the front door of the castle-for castle it really was, in strength and appointments
against Indian assaults.  It is sixteen inches long and ten wide.  Close by the house is a
subterranean room, built of heavy masonry and arched, which the general used as a magazine for stores belonging to the Tryon county militia. It is still used as a store-room, but
with more pacific intentions.
The family burial-ground is upon a knoll a few rods southeast of the mansion, and there
rest the remains of the gallant soldier, as secluded and forgotten as if
they were of " common mold."    Seventy years ago the Continental
Congress, grateful for his services, resolved to erect a monument to his
memory, of the value of five hundred dollars; but the stone that may
yet be reared is still in the quarry, and the patriot inscription to declare
its intent and the soldier's worth is not yet conceived.  Until 1847,  lI
no stone identified his grave.  Then a plain marble slab was set up,
with the name of the hero upon it; and when I visited it (1848), it
was overgrown with rank weeds and brambles.   I could not ascertain          GRAV
HEBKIMEdZB'S GRAVE.
who raised the monument.   The consecrated spot is in the possession
of strangers, and, but for this timely effort to preserve the identity of the grave, the visitor
might soon have queried, with the poet in search of General Wooster's resting-place:
" 0 say, can none tell where the chieftain was laid?
Where our hero in glory is sleeping?
Alas! shall we never more seek out his grave,
While fame o'er his memory is weeping?"
Although General Herkimer was severely wounded at the battle of Oriskany, his death
was the result of unskillful treatment, and, if tradition speaks truth, of criminal indulgence
of appetite on the part of his surgeon.  He was conveyed from the field on a litter to his
residence. The weather was sultry, and the wound, which was a few inches below the
Afntutl, knee, became gangrenous.  Nine days after the battle, a young French surgeon,
777.  ho accompanied Arnold in his march up the valley, recommended amputation.
Dr. Petrie, the general's medical adviser, was opposed to amputation, but it was done. The
performance of the surgeon was so unskillful that the flow of blood was with great difficulty
stanched. Indeed, the bleeding was not entirely checked, and it was thought advisable for
the surgeon and his assistant to remain with the general, as his situation was very critical.
Colonel Willett called to see him soon after the operation, and found him sitting up in his




OF THE REVOLUTION.            261


Incidents of Herkimer's Death.  Castle Church.  Residence and Farm of Brant.  Fort Plain.  Plan of the Fortifcation.
bed, as cheerful as usual, and smoking his pipe. The blood continued to flow, and what
little skill the surgeon possessed was rendered useless by indulgence in wine. No other physician was at hand, and toward evening, the blood still flowing, the general became convinced
that his end was near. He called for the Bible, and read composedly, in the presence of
his family and others, the thirty-eighth psalm, applying the deep, penitential confessions of
the poem to his own case. He closed the book, sank back upon his pillow, and expired.
Stone justly observes, "( If Socrates died like a philosopher, and Rousseau like an unbelieving sentimentalist, General Herkimer died like a CHRISTIAN HERO."'
The Castle Church, as it is called-the middle one of the three constructed under the
auspices of Sir William John-                              were often entertained before he
son-is still standing (1848),                             took up the war-hatchet, stood
two and a half miles below the                             about seventy-five rods north
Herkimer mansion.     It is a                              ward of the church.    Bricks
wooden building, and was orig-          _                  and stones of the foundation
inally so painted as to resemble.... were still to be seen in an apple
stone.  Its present steeple is not                         orchard north of the road, and
ancient, but its form is not un-                           the locality was well defined,
like that of the original.  Here                           when I visited it, by rank weeds,
the pious Kirkland often preach-                           nowhere else in the field so luxed the Gospel to the heathen,                              uriant.  I returned to Little
and here Brant and his compan-                             Falls in time to dine and to take
ions received lessons of heaven-                           the western train at one o'clock
ly wisdom.   The church stood                              for Fort Plain, seventeen miles
upon land that belonged to the                             down the Mohawk.
sachem, and the house of Brant,          STL CHCH.            Fort Plain (near the junction
where   Christian  missionaries                            of Osquaga Creek and the Mohawk), one of the numerous comely children brought forth and fostered by the prolific commerce of the Erie Canal, is near the site of the fortification of that name, erected in the Revolution.  This fort was eligibly situated upon a high plain in the rear of the village, and
commanded an extensive sweep of the valley on the right and left. A sort of defense was
thrown up there by the people in the early part of the war, but the
-  Y        fort proper was erected by the government after the alarming demon\.,:           strations of the Indians in the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys in
1778.            For a while it was an important fortress, affording protection to the people in the neighborhood, and forming a key to the com-9 \         \\ ~  munication with the Schoharie, Cherry Valley, and Unadilla settleX::,'Vt     ments.   Its form was an irregular quadrangle, with earth and log: \   "':  l    bastions, embrasures at each corner, and barracks and a strong blockFORT PLAIN.       house within.   The plain on which it stood is of peninsular form,
I was unsuccessful in my search for information respecting the career of General Herkimer in youth
and early manhood. None of his family are residents in the vicinity of his dwelling, nor could I ascertain
where any of his lineal descendants reside. His family was among the early settlers of the German Flats,
and, though opulent according to the standard of his times, he seems to have been quite uneducated. An
old man whom I saw near the Flats remembered him as "a large, square-built Dutchman," and supposed
him to have been about 65 years old when he died. Should this meet the eye of any of his descendants,
they will confer a favor upon the author by communicating to him any information they may possess concerning the general and his immediate family.
2 An aged resident of Fort Plain, Mr. David Lipe, whose house is near the canal, below the old fortification, went over the ground with me, and I made a survey of the outlines of the fort according to his directions. He aided in pulling down the block-house when it was demolished after the war, and his memory
seemed to be very accurate. I am indebted to him for much of the information here recorded concerning
Fort Plain.
EXPLANATION OF THE PLAN.-The black line represents the parapet; a, the large block-house; b b b b,
small block-houses at each bastion; c c, barracks. There were two large apple-trees within the fort, and
on the northern side of the hill' is the living spring that supplied the garrison with water.




262


PICTOREtIAL FIELD-BOOK


Fort Plain Block-house.      Trial of its Strength.   Invasion of the Settlement.      True Location of Fort Plain.


and across the neck, or isthmus, a breast-work was thrown up.    The fort extended along
the brow of the hill northwest of the village, and the blockhouse was a few rods from the northern declivity.  This blockhouse was erected in 1780, after the fort and barracks were
found to be but a feeble defense, under the supervision of a
French engineer employed by Colonel Gansevoort.         The latter, by order of General Clinton, then in command of the:   Northern Department, had repaired thither with his regiment,
to take charge of a large quantity of stores destined for Fort
-                 Schuyler.   Ramparts of logs and earth were thrown up, and
a strong block-house was erected, a view                of which is here
given.  It was octagonal in form, three stories in height, and
composed of hewn timbers about fifteen inches square.  There
___                     were numerous port-holes for musketry, and in the lower story
FO     -:       three or four cannons were placed.  The first story was thirty
FORT PLAIN BLOCK-HOUSE. I
feet in diameter, the second forty, and the third fifty.  Each
of the upper stories projected about five feet, and in the floor of each projection there were
also port-holes, through which to fire perpendicularly upon an enemy below. The powder
magazine of the fort was placed directly under the block-house for protection.
Some time after the completion of the work, doubts were expressed of its being cannonball proof.  A trial was made with a six pounder placed at a proper distance.    Its ball
passed entirely through the block-house, crossed a broad ravine, and lodged in the hill on
which the old parsonage stands, an eighth of a mile distant.  This proved the inefficiency
of the building, and its strength was increased by lining it with heavy planks.  In order to
form a protection for the magazine against hot shot, the little garrison that was stationed
there in 1782 commenced throwing up a bank of earth around the block-house. Rumors
of peace, and the quiet that then prevailed in that valley, caused the work to cease, and,
August, happily, its resumption was never demanded.   The mounds which were raised on
~-   the south side of the block-house were yet quite prominent when I visited the locality.
This place was included in the Canajoharie settlement, and in 1780 felt severely the
vengeance of the Tories and Indians, inflicted in return for terrible desolations wrought by
an army under Sullivan, the previous year, in the Indian country west of the white settlements.   The whole region on the south of the Mohawk, for several miles in this vicinity,
was laid waste. The approach of the dreaded Thayendanegea along the Canajoharie Creek,
with about five hundred Indians and Tories, to attack the settlement at Fort Plain, was anAust 2  nounced to the people, then engaged in their harvest fields, by a woman who fired
1780.  a cannon at the fort.  The larger portion of militia had gone with Gansevoort to
guard provisions on their way to Fort Schuyler, and those who remained, with the boys and
old men, unable to defend their lives or property; fled into the fort for protection.  In their
approach the enemy burned every dwelling and barn, destroyed the crops, and carried off
every thing of value.  Regardless of the strength of the fort, they marched boldly up within
cadnon-shot of the intrenchments, burned the church, the parsonage, and many other buildThere is considerable confusion in the accounts concerning Fort Plain, for which there is no necessity.
There was a stockade about two miles southwest of Fort Plain, called Fort Clyde, in honor of Colonel Clyde,
an officer in the Tryon county militia; and another about the same distance northwest, called Fort Plank,
or Blank, from the circumstance that it stood upon land owned by Frederic Blank. The latter and Fort
Plain have been confounded. Mr. Stone erroneously considered them as one, and says, in his Life of Brant
(ii., 95), "The principal work of defense, then called Fort Plank, and subsequently Fort Plain, was situated
upon an elevated plain overlooking the valley, near the site of the village still retaining the name of the
fortress."  Other writers have regarded the block-house as the fort, when, in fact, it was only a part of the
fortifications. The drawing here given is from one published in Stone's Life of Brant, with a description
from the Fort Plain Journal of December 26ih, 1837. Mr. Lipe considered it a correct view, except the
lower story, which, it was his impression, was square instead of octagonal, and had four port-holes for
heavy ordnance.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


26 3


A Female's Presence of Mind.  Burning of the Church.  Indians deceived.  Tardiness of Colonel Wemple.
ings, and carried off several women and children prisoners. The house of Johannes Lipe,
the father of David, my informant,    ii,:1i to a place of concealment in a hollow
which is still standing, was saved from            at the rear, and had made several deplunder and fire by the courage and                posites there.  The last time she represence of mind of his wife.  She had             turned she met two prowling Indians
been busy all the evening carrying her  i'         at the gate.  She was familiar with
most valuable articles from her house  IPE s OUSE.  their language, and, without any apparent alarm, inquired of them if they knew any thing of her two brothers, who were among
the Tories that fled to Canada. Fortunately, the savages had seen them at Oswegatchie,
and, supposing her to be a Tory likewise, they walked off, and the house was spared.
The church spire had a bright brass ball upon it, which the Indians believed was gold.
While the edifice was burning, they
waited anxiously for the steeple to fall,
that they might secure the prize. When
-: -                 it fell, the savages rushed forward, scattered the burning timbers, and several
-of them in succession seized the glitter-.ing ball.               It was speedily dropped, as
each paid the penalty of blistered fingers, and discovered that " all is not
gold that glistens."
With the destruction of Fort Plain
OLD PARONAGE AD CHURCHthe devastation was, for the time, stayed.
In a day the fairest portion of the valley
had been made desolate.  Fifty-three dwellings and as many barns were burned, sixteen of
the inhabitants were slain, and between fifty and sixty persons, chiefly women and children,
were made captives. More than three hundred cattle and horses were driven away, the implements of husbandry were destroyed, and the ripe grain-fields, just ready for the sickle, were
laid in ashes.' The smoke was seen as far as Johnstown, and the people immediately left
the fields and joined the Albany and Schenectady militia, then marching up the valley,
under Colonel Wemple. The colonel seemed to be one of those men who deem prudence
the better part of valor, and was opposed to forced marches, particularly when in pursuit
of such fierce enemies as were just then attracting his attention.  He managed to reach
Fort Plain in time to see the smouldering embers of the conflagration, and to rest securely
within its ramparts that night.  The work. of destruction was over, and the Indians and
Tories were away upon another war-path.
At Fort Plain I was joined by my traveling companions, whom I had left at Syracuse,
and made it my headquarters for three days, while visiting places of interest in the vicinity.
It being a central point in the hostile movements in Tryon county, from the time of the
flight of St. Leger from before Fort Stanwix until the close of the war, we will plant our
telescope of observation here for a time, and view the most important occurrences within this
particular sweep of its speculum.  The battle of Minisink, and the more terrible tragedy in
the Valley of Wyoming, radii in the hostile operations of the Indians and Tories from our
point of view, will be noticed in other chapters.  It is difficult to untie the complicated knot
of events here, and make all parts perspicuous, without departing somewhat from the plan
of the work, and taking up the events in chronological order.  Every thing being subordinate to the history, I shall, therefore, make such departure for the present, and reserve my
notes of travel until the story of the past is told.
l This view is from the high plain on the right of the block-house, looking north. The building upon the
hill across the ravine is the old parsonage, which was immediately built upon the ruins of the one that was
burned. On the left I have placed a church in its proper relative position to the parsonage, as indicated
by Mr. Lipe. It was about half a mile northwest of the fort. On the right are seen the Mohawk River
and Plain, a train of cars in the distance, and the hills that bound the view on the north side of the Mohawk
Valley, in the direction of Stone Arabia and Klock's Field, where two battles were fought in 1780. These
will be hereafter noticed.                      Letter of Colonel Clyde to Governor Clinton.




264


P I %CTORIA AL FIELD-'D -.BOOK)


Aspect of Affairs in Tryon County.  The Western Indians.  Girty and his Associates.  Fidelity of White Eyes.
CHAPTER XII.
ARK and threatening was the aspect of affairs for the people of the
Mohawk Valley, in the spring of 1778, the year succeeding the dispersion of St. Leger's motley force at Fort Schuyler.  Brant, with his
warriors, retired to Fort Niagara after that event, and during the
autumn and winter he and the British and Tory leaders made extensive preparations for war the ensuing spring.  Colonel Hamilton was
in command at Detroit, engaged actively in endeavors to induce the
tribes along the southern shores of the western lakes and the head
waters of the Mississippi to join the four divisions of the Six Nations
of New York' who were in alliance with the crown against the patriots. He was aided by three malignant Tories, M'Kee, Elliot, and Simon Girty.2 They
had been confined at Pittsburgh, but, escaping, they traversed the country thence to Detroit,
and by proclaiming that the Americans had resolved on the destruction of the Indians, and
that their only safety consisted in the immediate alliance of the Delawares and Shawnees
with the soldiers of the king, aroused these tribes to a desire for war.  Already they had
been excited against the whites in general by the irruption into their county of Daniel Boon
and others (of which I shall hereafter write), and they listened favorably to the appeal of
the refugees. The expedition of M'Intosh into the Ohio Valley gave apparent confirmation
to the assertions of the Tories, and Captain Pipe (the rival chief of White Eyes of the Delawares, a fast friend of the Americans) at once assembled his warriors, and urged them to
follow him immediately upon the war-path. He proclaimed every one an enemy who should
speak against his proposition.  But White Eyes, the beloved of all, persuaded his people to
desist, and sent a message' to the Shawnees, which had the effect to keep them in check for
a time.  We shall consider the Indian wars in the Ohio country in detail in a future chapter.
The Johnsons and Colonel John Butler were also active at this juncture upon the St.
Lawrence, recruiting Tory refugees, and inducing the Caughnawagas and other tribes to take
up the hatchet; and at the dawn of the year a powerful combination was in progress, which
threatened the destruction of all the settlements in the Mohawk and Schoharie Valleys.
Two of the Six Nations, the Oneidas and the Tuscaroras, were still faithful to their pledge
of neutrality, nor were the tribes of the other four yet generally in arms.  Congress, therefore, resolved to make another effort to secure their neutrality, if not a defensive alliance.'
The Mohawks, Senecas, Onondagas, and Cayugas.
g Girty was an unmitigated scoundrel, and was far more savage in his feelings than the Indians. He
was present when Colonel Crawford was tortured by the Indians in 1782, and looked upon his agonies with
demoniac pleasure. The same year he caused the expulsion of the peaceful Moravians, who were laboring
usefully among the Wyandots; and he personally ill treated them when driven away. He instigated an
Indian warrior, at the defeat of St. Clair in 1791, to tomahawk the American General Butler, who lay
wounded on the field, and to scalp him, and take out his heart for distribution among the tribes. There
were some Tories, even active ones, whom we can respect; but miscreants like Girty and Walter Butler,
of the Mohawk Valley, present no redeeming quality to plead for excuse.
3 The message was as follows: " GRANDCHILDREN, YE SHAWNEES: Some days ago a flock of birds
[M'Kee, Elliot, and Girty], that had come on from the east, lit at Gaschochking, imposing a song of theirs
upon us, which song bad nigh proved our ruin. Should these birds, which, on leaving us, took their flight
toward Scioto, endeavor to impose a song on you likewise, do not listen to them, for they lie."
4A resolution to this effect was adopted by Congress on the 2d of February, 1778. They instructed the
commissioners to " Speak to the Indians in language becoming the representatives of free, sovereign, and
independent states, and in such a tone as to convince them that they felt themselves so."-Journals of
Congreas, iv., 63.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


266


Council at Johnstown.  Disposition of the Different Nations.  Colonel Campbell and La Fayette.  Forts strengthened.
A council was called, and the chiefs of all the Six Nations were invited to attend. General Schuyler and Volkert P. Douw were appointed commissioners to attend the meeting and
act in behalf of Congress.  They requested Governor Clinton to send a special commissioner
to be present at the council, and James Duane was accordingly appointed.     The council
met at Johnstown on the 9th of March.      More than seven hundred Indians were
present, consisting of Tuscaroras, Oneidas, and Onondagas, a-small number of Mohawks,
three Cayugas, but not one of the Senecas, the most powerful and warlike tribe of the confederacy.  The latter not only refused to attend, but sent a message affecting great surprise
that they were invited to such a council.'  It is not certainly known that General Schuyler
was present at the meeting. La Fayette accompanied Duane, and the latter seems to have
conducted the proceedings on the part of Congress.  They were opened by an address from
that body, charging the Indians with perfidy, cruelty, and treachery, while the conduct of
the United States had been true and magnanimous toward them.      An old Onondaga hypocritically acknowledged and bewailed the sins of his tribe, but charged them upon the young
and headstrong warriors who had been seduced by the Tory leaders. The Mohawks and
Cayugas were sullen and silent, while an Oneida chief, conscious of the faithfulness of his
own tribe and of the Tuscaroras, spoke eloquently in behalf of both, concluding with a solemn
assurance that the United States might rely upon their abiding friendship.  Those two tribes
were applauded by the commissioners, while the others were dismissed with an admonition
to look well to their ways, as the arm of the United States was powerful, and vengeance
might penetrate the remotest settlements of the Senecas. The council, on the whole, was
unsatisfactory, for it was evident that the most warlike and important tribes, with Brant at
their head, still brooded over their loss at Oriskany, and were determined on revenge.
While La Fayette was at Johnstown, Colonel Samuel Campbell, of Cherry Valley, waited
upon him and directed his attention to the exposed condition of that settlement and of those
upon the Schoharie Creek.    The people had built three slight fortifications the preceding
year, but they were quite insufficient for sure protection.  They were merely embankments
of earth thrown up around strong stone houses, and stockaded, into which the women and
children might flee for safety in the event of an invasion.  They were respectively known as
the Upper, Middle, and Lower Forts.2 By direction of La Fayette, these were each manned
by a company of soldiers, with a small brass field piece:  He also directed a fort to be erected
in the Oneida country, and Forts Schuyler and Dayton to be strengthened; and, as we have
already noticed, Fort Plain was afterward enlarged and more strongly fortified. These and
far more efficient preparations for defense were necessary; for the recovery of the Mohawk
Valley, where their property was situated, was an object too important to the Johnsons, Butlers, and the large number of refugees who accompanied them to Canada, not to induce extraordinary efforts for its attainment.  Their spies and scouts were out in every direction,
and, at the very time of the council at Johnstown, Colonel Guy Carleton, a nephew of the
Governor of Canada of the same name, was lurking in the neighborhood, to watch the actions
and to report upon the dispositions of the chiefs in conclave.  His employers at the same
time were upon the frontiers, preparing for invasion.
1 " It is strange," said the messenger, " that while your tomahawks are sticking in our heads [referring
to the battle of Oriskany], our wounds bleeding, and our eyes streaming with tears for the loss of our friends
at German Flats [Oriskany], the commissioners should think of inviting us to a treaty."-From a MS. Let.
ter of James Duane, cited by Stone.                                           a
9 These were situated in the Schoharie Valley. The Upper Fort was near the margin of Schoharie Creek,
about five miles southeast of Middleburgh village, and within the limits of the present town of Fulton.
The remains of the Middle Fort are still visible, near Middleburgh, on the plain east of the road leading to
Schoharie. The Lower Fort was five miles north of Middleburgh, at the village of Schoharie. An old stone
church (yet standing, but much altered from the original), one mile northward of the court-house, was
within the intrenchments, and formed the citadel of the fort. The ramparts inclosed the two story stone
house of John Becker, the kitchen part of which was, until recently, well preserved. Temporary dwellings were erected within the inclosure, and in these the inhabitants kept their most valuable things.-See
Simms's Schoharie, &c., p. 269.




266


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Settlers of Tryon County.                       Destruction of Springfield.                      M'Kean and Braut


Early in the spring, Brant and his warriors, with a large number of Tories, appeared at Oghkwaga, his headquarters the previous year. There he organized scalping
parties and sent them out upon the borderers.  The settlers were cut off in detail.  Marauding parties fell upon isolated families like bolts from the clouds, and the blaze of dwellings upon the hills and in the valleys nightly warned the yet secure inhabitant to be on the
k \ J\N  b,,4,3,
ARMED SETTLERS.
alert.  Their dwellings were transformed into block-houses.  The women were taught the
use of weapons, and stood sentinels when the men were at work. Half-grown children were
educated for scouts, and taught to discern the Indian trail, and every man worked armed in
his field. Such was the condition of the dwellers of Tryon county during almost the whole
time of the war.
Brant's first hostile movement of consequence, after his return to Oghkwaga, was the destruction of a small settlement at Springfield, at the head of Otsego lake, ten miles west of
Cherry Valley. It was in the month of May. Every house was burned but one, into which
the women and children were collected and kept unharmed. The absence of Tories in that
expedition, and the freedom to act as he pleased on the part of Brant, may account for this
humanity. Several men were made captive, and, with considerable property, were carried
off to Oghkwaga.
In June, Captain M'Kean, at the head of some volunteers, was sent to reconnoiter Brant's
encampment at Oghkwaga. M'Kean's headquarters were at Cherry Valley. On his way
down the walley of the Charlotte River, he learned that large war-parties were out, and,
fearing a surprise, thought it prudent to return.  He halted an hour to refresh, and wrote a
letter to Brant, censuring him for his predatory warfare; he intimating that he was too cowardly to show himself in open and honorable conflict, M'Kean challenged him to meet him
in single combat, or with an equal number of men, to try their skill, courage, and strength;
and concluded by telling. him that if he would come to Cherry Valley, they would change
him from a Brant to a goose.' This was an injudicious movement, and, doubtless, incited
1 This letter was fastened to a stick and placed in an Indian path. It soon reached Brant, and irritated




OF THE REVOLUTION.


267


Battle in the Schoharie Country.  Arrival of Regulars.  Escape of Walter Butler.  Treachery of Grea Treu.
the sachem, in some degree, to join Butler, a few months later, in desolating that settlement.
There was an engagement on the 2d of July, on the upper branch of the Cobelskill, between a party of regular troops and Schoharie militia, fifty-two in number, and an Indian
force four hundred and fifty strong. The Americans, commanded by Captain Christian
Brown, were overpowered. Fourteen were killed, eight wounded, two were missing, and
the remainder escaped.  The dwellings were burned, and the horses and cattle, which the
victors could not take`vith them, were slaughtered in the fields. At the same time, Colonel
John Butler, who had penetrated the country from Niagara with a body of Indians and
Tories, eleven hundred strong, broke into the Valley of Wyoming and laid it waste. July 3-4,
Of this I shall write in detail hereafter.  We have already considered the destruc-  1778.
tion of the settlement at German Flats, toward the close of this summer.  Scalping parties
continued to infest the Schoharie and neighboring settlements until quite late in September,
when troops from the main army checked their depredations for a while. A few days after
the battle of Monmouth,a Colonel William Butler, with a Pennsylvania regiment  June 28,
and a detachment of Morgan's rifle corps,' was ordered to Tryon county, and took  1778.
post at Schoharie, whence parties were sent out to chastise the white and red savages, and
to protect threatened settlements.  They accomplished but little, however, except in intercepting bands of Tories that were making their way from the Hudson River settlements to
join Johnson at Niagara. One of these parties, collected in the vicinity of Catskill, under
a Captain Smith, was dispersed, the commander killed, and several of the men made prisoners. This, and a few other exploits of a similar character, inspired the people with confidence, and they anticipated a season of repose.  But it was of short duration, for already a
cloud was gathering in the west, full charged with desolation.
We have noticed the fact that Walter Butler, a son of Colonel John Butler, was arrested
near Fort Dayton in August, 1777, tried, and condemned to death as a spy, but reprieved
and sent a prisoner to Albany.  He was closely confined in the jail there until the spring
of 1778, when, through the interposition of his father's friends, some of them of the highest
respectability, he was liberated from prison, and allowed to reside with a private family,
having a single sentinel to guard him.  This family proved to be Tories in disguise.  The
sentinel was made drunk, and young Butler, mounting a fleet horse, escaped, and joined his
father at Niagara, just after the massacre of Wyoming. On his way through the Seneca
country he excited the Indians, by tales of the extensive preparations which the Americans
were making to penetrate and lay waste their country, and they were soon ripe for invading
the white settlements.
About this time a Seneca chief, called Great Tree, who was with Washington during
the summer, left for his own country and nation, with the strongest professions of friendship
for the Americans. He promised to use his influence in keeping the Senecas neutral, and,
if unsuccessful, he was to return with his personal adherents and join the friendly Oneidas.
According to his own account, he found his people in arms, and uttering loud defiance against
the whites.  The chiefs and principal warriors were collected at Kanadaseago and Genesee;
and Great Tree, believing the stories of Butler, and finding his people very united, resolved to
join his nation in chastising any whites that might penetrate their county.  He was a popular orator and warrior, and his adherence gave the Senecas much joy.  The Indians west
of the Oneidas were thus prepared to follow a leader upon the war-path.
Walter Butler obtained from his father the command of a detachment of his Rangers, and
permission to employ them, with the forces of Captain Brant, in an expedition against the
him exceedingly. In a letter written soon afterward to a Tory named Cass, he said, " The people of
Cherry Valley, though bold in words, will find themselves mistaken in calling me a goose."
I Timothy Murphy, the man who shot General Fraser at Bemis's Heights, was in this detachment, and
became the terror of the Indians and Tories in the Schoharie country. He used a double-barreled rifle, and
the Indians, seeing him fire twice without stopping to load, supposed that he could fire as often as he pleased
in the same manner.




268


PICTORIAL FIELID-BOOK


Butler and Brant march toward Cherry Valley.  Colonel Alden warned.  Capture of American Scouts.
settlements in Tryon county.  It was late in the season, but he thirsted for revenge because of
his imprisonment, and departed eastward early in October.  While on his way, and near
1778. Genesee, he met Brant, with his warriors, going from his camp updn the Susquehanna to
his winter-quarters at Niagara.  Brant felt a deep personal hatred toward young Butler, and
this feeling was greatly increased on finding himself made subordinate to the latter.  But the
difficulty, which threatened, at first, to be serious, was soon adjusted.  Thayendanegea had
thought much of the insulting letter of Captain M'Kean, and more willingly turned his face
back toward the settlements.  The united forces amounted to about Seven hundred men.
This movement was known to Mr. Dean, an Indian interpreter in the Oneida country,
early in October, and he communicated the information to Major Cochran, then in command
at Fort Schuyler.  That officer sent a messenger with the intelligence to Colonel Alden, at
Cherry Valley, and also to the garrisons of the Schoharie forts; but the presence of the Pennsylvania troops and riflemen had lulled the people into fancied security, and the report of the
oncoming invasion was treated as an idle Indian tale.
Cherry Valley, the wealthiest and most important settlement near the head waters of the
eastern branch of the Susquehanna, was the enemy's chosen point of attack.  Colonel Ichabod Alden, of Massachusetts, was in command of the fort there, with about two hundred and
fifty Continental troops.' On the 8th of November the commandant received a dispatch
from Fort Schuyler, informing him that his post was about to be attacked by a large force
of Indians and Tories, then assembled upon the Tioga River.  Colonel Alden treated the
information with unconcern, but the inhabitants were greatly alarmed. They asked permission to move into the fort or to deposite their most valuable articles there, but the colonel,
regarding the alarm as really groundless, refused his consent.  He assured them, at the same
time, that he would be vigilant in keeping scouts upon the look-out and the garrison in preparation, and, accordingly, on the 9th parties were sent out in various directions.  One of'
these, which went down toward the Susquehanna, built a fire at their encampment, fell
asleep, and awoke prisoners in the hands of Butler and Brant. All necessary information
concerning the settlement was extorted from them, and the next day the enemy moved forward and encamped upon a lofty hill covered with evergreens, about a mile southwest of the
village, and overlooking the whole settlement.  From that observatory they could see almost
every house in the village; and from the prisoners they learned that the officers were quartered out of the fort, and that Colonel Alden and Lieutenant-colonel Stacia were at the house
of Robert Wells, recently judge of the county, and formerly an intimate friend of Sir William Johnson and Colonel John Butler.
November 10,  Early in the morning the enemy marched slowly toward the village.  Snow
1778.   had fallen during the night, and the morning was dark and misty.  When near
the village, the Tories halted to examine their muskets, for the dampness had injured their
powder.   The Indians, and particularly the ferocious Senecas, eager for blood and plunder,
pushed forward in the van during the halt. A settler, on horseback, going toward the village, was shot, but, being slightly wounded, escaped and gave the alarm. Colonel Alden
could- not yet believe that the enemy was near in force, but he was soon convinced by the
sound of the war-whoop that broke upon the settlement, and the girdle of fierce savages,
with gleaming hatchets, that surrounded the house of Mr. Wells. They rushed in and murdered the whole family.2 Colonel Alden escaped from a window, but was pursued, tomahawked, and scalped.
1While Brant was collecting his troops at Oghkwaga the previous year, the strong stone 'mansion of
Colonel Samuel Campbell, at Cherry Valley, was fortified, to be used as a place of retreat for the women
and children in the event of an attack. An embankment of earth and logs was thrown up around it, and
included two barns. Small block-houses were erected within the inclosure. This was the only fort at
Cherry Valley at the time in question.
s The family of Mr. Wells consisted of himself and wife, mother, brother and sister (John and Jane), and
a daughter. His son John (the late eminent counselor of New York) was then at.school in Schenectady,
and was the only survivor of the family. They had all been living at Schenectady for some months, for
security, but the alarm in the region of Cherry Valley having subsided, they had just returned. The de



OF THE REVOLUTION.


269


Mr. Dunlap. Mr. Mitchell. Destruction of the Settlement. Treatment of Prisoners. Butler's Savageism and Brant's Humanity.
The house of the venerable minister, Mr. Dunlap (whose wife was the mother of Mrs.
Wells), and that of a Mr. Mitchell, were next attacked, and most of the inmates murdered.'
Mr. Dunlap and his daughter at home were protected by Little Aaron, a Mohawk chief, who
led him to his door and there stood by his side, and preserved his life and property.   But
the good old man sank under the terrible calamity of that day, and joined his lost ones in
the spirit land within a year thereafter.  Many other families of less note were cut off.
Thirty-two of the inhabitants, mostly women and children, and sixteen soldiers of the garrison, were killed.  The whole settlement was plundered after the massacre had ceased, and
every building in the village was fired when the enemy left with their prisoners and booty.
Among the prisoners were the wife and children of Colonel Campbell, who was absent at
the time. He returned to find his property laid waste and his family carried into captivity.
The prisoners, numbering nearly forty, were marched down the valley that night in a
storm of sleet, and were huddled together promiscuously, some of them half naked, with no
shelter but the leafless trees, or resting-place but the wet ground.  The marauders, finding
the women and children cumbersome, sent them all back the next day, except Mrs. Campbell, her aged mother,' and her children, and a Mrs. Moore, who were kept as hostages for
the kind treatment and ultimate exchange of the family of Colonel John Butler.      The returning prisoners carried back with them a letter from Walter Butler to General Schuyler,
in which he pretended that feelings of mercy for the almost naked and helpless captives were
the incentive that caused him to release them; disclaimed all desire to injure the weak and
defenseless; and closed by assuring him that, if Colonel John Butler's family were longer
detained, he would not restrain the Indians from indulgence in murder and rapine. The
s" tender mercy" of Butler was that of ( the wicked."  He was the head and front of all the
cruelty at Cherry Valley on that day. He commanded the expedition, and while he saw,
unmoved, the murder of his father's friend and family, and of others whose age and sex should
have secured his regard, his savage ally, the " monster Brant," hastened to save that very
family, but was too late.8 Butler would not allow his Rangers even to warn their friends
struction of the Wells family was marked by circumstances of peculiar ferocity, and I mention them to exhibit the infernal character which the passions of men assume when influenced by the horrid teachings in
the school of war. One of the Tories boasted that he cleft open the head of Mr. Wells while on his knees
in prayer. His sister Jane was distinguished for her beauty, virtues, and accomplishments. When the
enemy burst into the house, she fled to a pile of wood and endeavored to conceal herself. An Indian pursued and caught her. He then wiped his knife, dripping with the blood of her relatives, sheathed it, and
deliberately took his tomahawk from his girdle. At that moment a Tory, who had been a domestic in the
family of Mr. Wells, relented, and, springing forward, claimed her as his sister. The savage thrust him
aside and buried his hatchet in her temple. It is said that Colonel John Butler, professedly grieved at the
conduct of his son at Cherry Valley, remarked, on one occasion, " I would have gone miles on my knees
to save that family, and why my son did not do it, God only knows."
1 Mr. Mitchell was in the field when the invasion took place, and found safety in the woods. After the
enemy had retired, he hastened to the village, when he found his house on fire and the dead bodies of his
wife and three children lying within. He extinguished the flames, and discovered his little daughter terribly mangled, but yet alive. He took her to the door, hoping fresh air might revive her, when he discovered a straggling party of the enemy near. He had just time to conceal himself, when a Tory sergeant
named Newberry, whose acts in Schoharie entitle him to a seat in the councils of Pandemonium, approached, and, seeing the poor child lying upon the door-stone, dispatched her with a blow of a hatchet. This
miscreant was afterward caught and hung by order of General Clinton.
2 Mrs. Cannon, the mother of Mrs. Campbell, was quite old. She was an encumbrance, and a savage
slew her with his tomahawk, by the side of her daughter, who, with a babe eighteen months old in her
arms, was driven with inhuman haste before her captors, while, with uplifted hatchets, they menaced her
life. Arriving among the Senecas, she was kindly treated, and installed a member of one of the families.
They allowed her to do as she pleased, and her deportment was such that she seemed to engage the real
affections of the people. Perceiving that she wore caps, one was presented to her, considerably spotted
with blood. On examination, she recognized it as one that had belonged to her friend, Jane Wells. She
and her children (from whom she was separated in the Indian country) were afterward exchanged for the
wife and family of Colonel John Butler, then in the custody of the Committee of Safety at Albany.
3 There are many well-authenticated instances on record of the humanity of Brant, exercised particular.
ly toward women and children. He was a magnanimous victor, and never took the life of a former friend
or acquaintance. He loved a hero because of his heroism, although he might be his enemy, and he was




270


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Character of Walter Butler. The Settlements menaced.  Expedition against the Onondagas. Destruction of their Towns.
in the settlement of the approaching danger, but friend and foe were left exposed to the terrible storm; he had sworn vengeance, and his bad heart would not be content until its cravings were satisfied.  Tender charity may seek to cloak
riLZ%'-"A.     L-   c     -td/  Lv   his crimes with the plea that partisan warfare justified
SIGNATURE OF WALTER BUTLER.   his deeds; and lapse of time, which mellows such crimson tints in the picture of a man's character, may temper the asperity with which shocked
humanity views his conduct; yet a just judgment, founded upon observation of his brief career, must pronounce it a stain upon the generation in which he lived.  After the destruction of Cherry Valley his course was short, but bold, cruel, and bloody.  British officers of
respectability viewed him with horror and disgust; and when, in 1781, he was slain by the
Oneidas on the banks of the West Canada Creek, his body was left to decay, while his fallen
companions were buried with respect.
With the destruction of Cherry Valley all hostile movements ceased in Tryon county, and
were not resumed until the following spring, when an expedition was sent against the Onondagas by General Clinton. Frequent messages had been sent by the Oneidas during the
winter, all reporting that Brant and his Tory colleagues were preparing for some decisive
blow. The Onondagas, in the mean while, were making peaceful professions, expressing a
desire to remain neutral, while they were in league and in secret correspondence with the
leaders in the hostile camp at Niagara.  Policy, and even the necessity born of the law of
self-preservation, seemed to demand the infliction of summary and severe chastisement upon
the savages who menaced and desolated the Tryon county settlements. Early in the winter General Schuyler had assured Congress that, unless something of the kind was speedily
done, Schenectady must soon become the boundary of settlement in that direction.
The arrangement of an expedition against the Indians was intrusted to General Clinton.
April 18  In April he dispatched a portion of the regiments of Colonels Gansevoort and Van
1779.  Schaick, under the latter officer, against the Onondagas.  The party consisted of
five hundred and fifty-eight strong men. Van Schaick was instructed to burn their castle
and villages in the Onondaga Valley, destroy all their cattle and other effects, and make as
many prisoners as possible. He was further instructed to treat the women that might fall
into his hands with all the respect due to chastity.  The expedition went down Wood Creek
and Oneida Lake, and thence up the Oswego River to the point on Onondaga Lake where
Salina now is.  A thick fog concealed their movements, and they had approached to within
four or five miles of the valley before they were discovered. As soon as the first village was
attacked, the alarm spread to the others.  The people fled to the forests, leaving every thing,
even their arms, behind them. Three villages, consisting of about fifty houses, were destroyed; twelve Indians were killed, and thirty-three were made prisoners.  A large quantity of
never known to take advantage of a conquered soldier. I have mentioned the challenge which Captain
M'Kean sent to Brant. After the affair at Cherry Valley, he inquired of one of the prisoners for Captain
M'Kean, who, with his family, had left the settlement. " He sent me a challenge," said Brant. " I came
to accept it. He is a fine soldier thus to retreat." It was replied, " Captain M'Kean would not turn his
back upon an enemy when there was any probability of success."  "I know it," replied Brant. "He is
a brave man, and I would have given more to take him than any other man in Cherry Valley; but I would
not have hurt a hair of his head."
Dr. Timothy Dwight relates that Walter Butler ordered a woman and child to be slain, in bed, at Cherry
Valley, when Brant interposed, saying, " What! kill a woman and child I That child is not an enemy to
the king nor a friend to Congress. Long before he will be big enough to do any mischief, the dispute will
be settled." When, in 1780, Sir John Johnson and Brant led a desolating army through the Schoharie
and Mohawk Valleys, Brant's humanity was again displayed. On their way to Fort Hunter an infant was
carried off. The frantic mother followed them as far as the fort, but could get no tidings of her child. On
the morning after the departure of the invaders, and while General Van Rensselaer's officers were at breakfast, a young Indian came bounding into the room, bearing the infant in his arms and a letter from Captain
Brant, addressed to "the commander of the rebel army."  The letter was as follows: " Sir-I send you,
by one of my runners, the child which he will deliver, that you may know that, whatever others may do,
I do not make war upon women and children. I am sorry to say that I have those engaged with me who
are more savage than the savages themselves."  He namedthe Butlers and others of the Tory leaders
This incident was related to Mr. Stone by the late General Morgan Lewis.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                    271
Alarm of the Oneidas.   Expedition against Oswegatchie.  Attack on Cobelakill.  Scalping Parties
provisions, consisting chiefly of beans and corn, was consumed. The council-house, or castle, was not burned, but the swivel in it was spiked. All the horses and cattle in the vicinity
were slaughtered; and, when the work of destruction was ended, the expedition returned to
Fort Schuyler, after an absence of only six days, and without the loss of a man.,
This expedition, cruel and of doubtful policy, alarmed the neutral Oneidas.' They were
faithful to the Americans, yet, having intermarried freely with the Onondagas, their relations
had been slain or impoverished, and this distressed them.  They sent a deputation to Fort
Schuyler to inquire into the matter.  Colonel Van Schaick pacified, if he did not satisfy, them,
and they returned to their people.  But the ire of the Onondagas was fiercely kindled, not
only on account of the destruction of their property, but because of the extinguishment of
their council fire. Three hundred braves were immediately sent upon the war-path, charged
with the vengeance of the nation.   Guided by a Tory, they came down fiercely upon the
settlement at Cobelskill,2 murdering, plundering, and burning. The militia turned out to
repulse them, but, being led into an ambuscade, a number of them were killed..They fought
desperately, and while the militia was thus contending, and beating back the savages, the
people fled in safety to Schoharie.  Seven of the militia took post in a strong,house, which
the savages set fire to, and these brave young men all perished in the flames. The whole
settlement was then plundered and burned. The patriots lost twenty-two killed, and fortytwo who were made prisoners.
While this expedition was in progress, scalping parties appeared at the different points in
the lower section of the Mohawk, and the settlements were menaced with the fate of Cherry
Valley. On the south side of the Mohawk a party fell upon the Canajoharie settlement,
took three prisoners, captured some horses, and drove the people to Fort Plain.   On the
same day another party attacked a small settlement at Stone Arabia,s burned some April 18,
houses, and killed several people.  A party of Senecas appeared at Schoharie on the  1779.
same day, drove the people to the fort, plundered the houses, and carried away two men prisoners.  These simultaneous attacks were part of a plan for cutting off the settlement in detail. The Indians on the south of the Mohawk were from the Seneca country, and those on
the north from Canada, both, doubtless, the advanced parties of larger forces.  The settlements were thoroughly alarmed. The Palatine4 Committee wrote immediately to General
Clinton, at Albany, for succor. That efficient officer afforded immediate aid, and, by the
timely check thus given to the invaders, the settlers of the valley were prevented from being
driven into Schenectady.6 Other settlements near the Delaware and on the frontiers of
Ulster county were visited by the Indians in May and the early part of June; and in
July the battle of Minisink occurred, the particulars of which will be hereafter re- July20,
lated.                                                                              1779.
In the spring of this year it was determined to send a formidable force into the Indian
country of Western New York, for the purpose of chastising the savages and their Tory
allies so thoroughly that the settlements upon the Mohawk and the upper branches of the Susquehanna might enjoy a season of repose.   The tribes of the Six Nations were then populous. They had many villages, vast corn-fields, and fruitful orchards and gardens in the.-.
1 At the time of this expedition there were about forty Oneida warriors at Fort Schuyler. These were
sent, with a party of regulars, under Lieutenants M'Lellan and Hardenburgh, northward to attack the fort
at Oswegatchie. This expedition was unsuccessful in its ostensible object, the garrison having been apprised of their approach. It is supposed that the employment of the Oneidas so far away that they could
not notify their kinsmen, the Onondagas, of the invasion, was the principal object of this northern movement, and in that it was successful. The Oneidas were really friendly to the patriots, but to their credit
it was said by General Clinton (who knew them well), in a letter to General Sullivan, " Their attachment to
one another is too strong to admit of their being of any service when employed against their fellows."
2 Cobelskill was taken from Schoharie. The little village is about ten miles west of the former.
3 Stone Arabia is about three miles north of the Mohawk, in the rear of Palatine, and thirteen west of
Johnstown.
4 Palatine is on the north side of the Mohawk, opposite Canajoharie, with whichit is connected by a bridge.
5 Campbell's Annals; Stone's Brant.




272


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Preparations to invade the Indian Country...


General Sullivan, Commanderin-chief.


General James Clinton.


--


fertile country westward of Otsego Lake.


It was supposed that the most effectual method
to subdue or weaken them would be to destroy
their homes and lay waste their fields, and thus
drive them further back into the wilderness toward Lake Erie. Already the Mohawks had
been thrust out of the valley of their name, and
their families were upon the domains of the Cayugas and Senecas. It was, therefore, determined to make a combined movement upon them
of two strong divisions of military, one from
Pennsylvania and the other from the north, at
a season when their fields and orchards were
fully laden with grain and fruits.  It was a
part of the plan of the expedition to penetrate
the country to Niagara, and break up the nest
of vipers. there.
General Sullivan' was placed in the chief
command, and led in person the division that
ascended the Susquehanna from Wyoming,
while General Clinton' commanded the forces
that penetrated the country from the mouth
of the Canajoharie.  It was arranged to unite
the two divisions at Tioga.
Clinton's troops, fifteen hundred strong,
were mustered at Canajoharie on the 15th of
June, and on the 17th he commenced the transportation of his bateaux and provisions across
the hilly country to Springfield, at the head of
Otsego Lake, a distance of more than twenty,,,, /1   U)I
v   o /


i John Sullivan was born in Berwick, Maine, on the 17th of February, 1740. His family emigrated to
America from Ireland in 1723. He was a farmer in his youth, and, after arriving at maturity, he studied
law, and established himself in practice in Durham, New Hampshire. He was chosen a delegate to the
first Continental Congress. After retiring from that body, he and John Langdon, the speaker of the Provinoial Congress of New Hampshire, commanded a small force which seized Fort William and Mary, at
Portsmouth, and carried off all the cannon. He was appointed one of the eight brigadiers when the Continental army was organized in 1775, and early in the following year he was made a major general. He
superseded Arnold in the command of the American army in Canada in 1776. When General Green became ill on Long Island, he took command of his division, and was made prisoner at the battle fought there
in August, 1776. He was exchanged, and took command of General Charles Lee's division in New Jersey
after the capture of that officer. In the autumn of 1777 he was engaged in the battles at the Brandywine
and Germantown, and in the winter following he took command of the troops on Rhode Island. He besieged Newport in August, 1778, was unsuccessful, and retreated from the island after a severe battle near
the north end. He commanded the expedition against the Indians in 1779, and this was the last of his military career. Having offended some of the members of the Board of War, and believing himself ill treated,
he resigned his commission in 1779. He was afterward a member of Congress, and, for three years from
1786, was President of New Hampshire. In 1789 he was appointed district judge, which office he held
until his death, which occurred January 23d, 1795.
o James Clinton was born in Ulster county, New York, August 9th, 1736. At the age of twenty (1756)
he was captain, under Bradstreet, in the attack on Fort Frontenac. In 1763 he was intrusted with the
command of four companies in Ulster and Orange, raised for defense against the inroads of the savages.
He, with his brother George (the Governor of New York during the Revolution), early espoused the patriot
cause. He was appointed a colonel in 1775, and accompanied Montgomery to Canada. In August, 1776,
he was made a brigadier; and he was in command, under Governor Clinton, at Forts Montgomery and
Clinton when they fell into the hands of the enemy in 1777. He escaped, and made his way to his residence in safety. Conjointly with Sullivan, he led the expedition against the Indians in 1779. During the
remainder of the war he was connected with the Northern Department, having his quarters at Albany.
He retired to his estate, near Newburgh, Orange county, New York, after the Revolution, where he died




OF THE REVOLUTION,


273


Capture of Hare and Newberry. Information from General Schuyler. Mr. Deane. Damming of Otsego Lake. Its Effects.
miles.  It was an arduous duty, for his boats numbered two hundred and twenty, and he
had provisions sufficient for three months.  He reached Springfield, with all his luggage, on
the 30th. On his way he captured Hare and Newberry, two notorious spies, the former a
lieutenant in the British service, and the latter the miscreant whom we have already noticed
as the murderer of Mr. Mitchell's wounded child at Cherry Valley. They were tried, and
hanged ", pursuant to the sentence of the court, and to the entire satisfaction of the inhabitants of the county."'
Clinton, with his division, proceeded to the foot of Otsego Lake, and there awaited July,
orders from Sullivan. A day or two after his arrival, General Schuyler communica- 17 9.
ted to him the important information that the purpose of the expedition was known to the
enemy, and that four hundred and fifty regular troops, one hundred Tories, and thirty Indians had been sent from Montreal to re-enforce the tribes against whom it was destined.
This information General Schuyler received from a spy whom he had sent into Canada.
The spy had also informed him that they were to be joined by one half of Sir John Johnson's regiment and a portion of the garrison at Niagara.   On the 5th, Mr. Deane,' the Indian interpreter, arrived with thirty-five Oneida warriors, who came to explain the absence
of their tribe, whom Clinton, by direction of Sullivan, had solicited to join him.' They confirmed the intelligence sent by Schuyler, and added that a party of Cayugas and Tories,
three hundred in number, were then upon the war-path, and intended to hang upon the
outskirts of Clinton's army on its march to Tioga.
Clinton remained at the south end of Otsego Lake, awaiting the tardy movements of Sullivan, until the first week in August. His troops became impatient, yet he was not idle.
He performed a feat which exhibited much ingenuity afid forecast. He discovered that, in
consequence of a long drought, the outlet of the lake was too inconsiderable to allow his boats
to pass down upon its waters.   He therefore raised a dam across it at the foot of the lake,
by which the waters would be so accumulated that, when it should be removed, the bed of
the outlet would be filled to the brim, and bear his boats upon the flood. The work was
soon accomplished, and, in addition to the advantages which it promised to the expedition,
the damming of the lake caused great destruction of grain upon its borders, for its banks
were overflowed, and vast corn-fields belonging to the Indians were deluged and destroyed.
The event also greatly alarmed the savages. It was a very dry season, and they regarded
the sudden rising of the lake, without any apparent cause, as an evidence that the Great
Spirit was displeased with them. And when Clinton moved down the stream with his
large flotilla upon its swollen flood, the Indians along its banks were amazed, and retreated
into the depths of the forest.
Suiiian, and Clinton formed a jtnction at Tioga on the 22d of August, the entire
force amounting to five thousand men, consisting of the brigades of Generals Clinton,
December 22d, 1812, aged 75 years. He was the father of De Witt Clinton, the eminent Governor of New
York in 1826-7.
So said General Clinton in a letter to General Schuyler. The latter remarked, in reply, " In executing
Hare you have rid the state of the greatest villain in it. I hope his abettors in the country will meet with
a similar exaltation."
James Deane was the first settler in the town of Westmoreland, Oneida county. He was the son of
pious New England parents, and at the age of eleven years was sent among the Indians upon the Susquehanna to learn their language, for the purpose of becoming a missionary among them. He was afterward
a student in Dartmouth College. On the breaking out of the war, he was appointed Indian agent, with the
rank of major in the army, and during the contest he was most of the time among the Oneidas. At the
olose of hostilities the Oneidas granted him a tract of land two miles square, near Rome, in Oneida county,
which he afterward exchanged for a tract in Westmoreland, where he removed in 1786, and resided until
his death in 1832.
3 General Clinton was averse to the employment of the Oneidas or any other Indians; but such being
the orders of his superior, he engaged Mr. Deane to negotiate with them. The Oneidas, to a man, volun.
teered to accompany the expedition, and the few Onondagas who still adhered to the Americans were also
ready to join Clinton. But on the 23d the Oneidas received an address at Fort Schuyler, from General
Haldimand, written in the Iroquois language; and so alarming were the menaces it contained, that they
suddenly changed their minds, and determined to stay at home and defend their own castles and dwellings.
S




2,7 4.


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


March of Sullivan's Expedition.  Fortifications of the Enemy.  General Edward Hand.  The Battle.
Hand, Maxwell, and Poor, together with Proctor's artillery and a corps of riflemen. The
movement of the expedition had been so slow that the enemy was prepared to receive them.
Near Conewawah' (Newtown in the histories of the battle), a considerable Indian village
at the junction of the Newtown Creek with the Chemung River, they had thrown up breastworks half a mile in length, where they had determined to make a bold stand against the
invaders.
The Americans moved cautiously up the Tioga and Chemung, having large flanking parties on either side, and a strong advanced and rear guard,
for they were told that detachments of the enemy were hovering around, ready to strike when an opportunity should of-        ad    ~      I vBN
fer.  On their march they destroyed a small Indian settleAugust 29, ment, and the next day Major Parr, of the advanced
1779.  guard, discovered the enemy's works.   These were
about a mile in advance of Conewawah, and were so covered      a
by a bend in the river, that only the front and one flank were
exposed to the fire of the assailants.  That flank rested upon      b            5 b
a steep hill or ridge running nearly parallel with the river.
Further to the left was another ridge, running in the same               11 b      E
direction, and passing in the rear of the American army.  De-           ear yuai d
tachments of the enemy were stationed on both hills, having a       ORER OF MARCH.2
line of communication; and they were so disposed that they
might fall upon the assailants, flank and rear, as soon as the action should commence. The
Tories and Indians were further protected by the pine-trees and shrub oaks that covered the
ground. Hoping that the Americans might not discover their concealed fortification, they
had arranged it in such a relative position to the road along which the invaders must pass,
that the whole flank of the army would be exposed to an enfilading fire. Happily for the
Americans, their preparations were discovered in time.
General Hands formed the light infantry about four hundred yards from the breast-works,
and, while thus waiting for the main body to come up, was several times attacked by small
parties of Indians, who sallied out, raised the war-whoop, and then retreated within the
works. The hill upon the right swarmed with savages, and Sullivan ordered Poor to sweep
it with his brigade. He immediately commenced the ascent, and the action became warm.
His progress was bravely disputed for two hours, when the enemy slowly gave way. They
darted from tree to tree as they yielded inch by inch; and from behind rocks, and bushes,
and trees they galled the Americans terribly with a scattering fire.  Brant was at the head
of the savages, and Sir John Johnson, aided by the Butlers and Captain M'Donald, one of
Conewawah was upon the site of the present village of Elmira. The name is an Iroquois word, signifying a head on a pole. It was beautifully situated in the midst of a fertile valley, and, at the time of the
invasion, was surrounded by fruitful orchards and broad fields of flowering corn. The place became a
white settlement, and was incorporated by the name of Newtown in 1815, which was changed to Elmira
in 1825. There are no vestiges to be seen here of the battle of Chemung, as the engagement that took
place there is sometimes called. The spot where Sullivan landed is a few rods below the " Sullivan Mill,"
which stands upon the Conewawah or Newtown Creek, near its junction with the Chemung. The works
thrown up by Sullivan, and destroyed when he returned from the Genesee country, were a little south of
the mill.
2 EXPLANATION OF THE PLAN.-The advanced guard, composed of light infantry, one mile in advance.
a a, flanking corps. b b, the main body. Clinton's and Hand's brigades were on the right, and Poor's and
Maxwell's were on the left. c, Proctor's artillery and the pack horses. The rifle corps composed a portion of the strong rear-guard.
3 General Edward Hand was a native of Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, and was an exceedingly valuable officer. His amiable disposition and urbanity of manner endeared him to his men, and he maintained, throughout the war, the unlimited confidence and respect of his superior officers. After the war he
was much engaged in civil offices of trust, and his name is attached to the Pennsylvania Constitution of
1790. So highly did Washington esteem him, that when, during Adams's administration, he consented to
take the chief command of the American army to be raised to resist the threatened and actual aggressions
of France, he desired the appointment of General Hand as adjutant general.         0




OF THE REVOLUTION.


275


The Effect of the Artillery.  Retreat of the Enemy.  Destruction of Catharinestown and other Villages and Plantations.
the Scotch refugees from Johnstown, commanded the Tories. It is believed that Guy
Johnson was also in the battle, but this is not certainly known. They fought skillfully and
courageously, and, but for the artillery that was brought into play as speedily as possible,
the victory would doubtless have been on their side.  The cannonade produced a great panic
among the Indians, yet their leader, who was seen at all points, and in the hottest of the
fight, kept them long from retreating. Poor at length gained the summit of the ridge, outflanked the enemy, and decided the fortuneslof the day.  Brant, perceiving that all was lost,
raised the loud, retreating cry, Oonah! Oonah! and savages and Tories, in great confusion,
abandoned their works and fled across the river, pursued by the victors. Thus ended the
battle of Chemung. The force of the enemy was estimated by Sullivan at fifteen hundred,
including five companies of British troops and Rangers.  The Americans numbered between
four and five thousand, a considerable portion of whom were not brought into action at all.
Considering the length of time occupied in the battle, and the numbers engaged, the loss was
very inconsiderable.  Only five or six of the Americans were killed, and about fifty wounded.
The loss of the enemy was much greater.  In their flight eight Indians were slain and scalped
by their pursuers.  Ay, scalped! for the Americans had been apt scholars in learning the Indian art of war that had been so terribly taught them in Tryon county for three years.
Sullivan's army rested upon the battle-ground that night, and the next morning pushed
onward toward Catharinestown, an Indian settlement northwest from Conewawah, and
about three miles from the head of Seneca Lake. The march was difficult and dangerous.
The route lay through narrow defiles and a deep valley traversed by a stream so sinuous
that they had to ford it several times, the water often waist high.  At night they
bivouacked in a dark and tangled cedar swamp, without blankets or food, and in  gu
continual fear of an enemy in ambush.1 The whole army reached Catharinestown in safety, and encamped before it on the 2d of September.  The people fled, and the next day the
village and surrounding corn-fields and orchards were destroyed.
The flying campaign, charged with destruction, had now fairly begun.  ( The Indians
shall see," said Sullivan,  that there is malice enough in our hearts to destroy every thing
that contributes to their support," and cruelly was that menace executed.  The Indians
fled before him like frightened deer to cover, and the wail of desolation was heard throughout their pleasant land, from the Susquehanna to the Genesee.  Village after village was
laid waste, and fields and orchards were desolated.  Kendaia was swept from  aSeptember 6
existence;a other and smaller villages were annihilated; and on the 7th of Sep-  1779.
tember the conquerors sat down before Kanadaseagea, the capital of the Senecas, near the
head of the beautiful lake of that name.  Sixty well-built houses, surrounded by fine orchards of apple, peach, and pear trees, became a prey to the army.  Not a roof was left to
shelter the sorrowing inhabitants on their return-not a fruit-tree to shade them or to give
them sustenance-not an ear of corn of all the abundance that lay before the invaders when
they approached, was saved from the devouring flames.
While the chief portion of the army was engaged in this work, detachments went out and
wrought equal devastation elsewhere. Four hundred men went down the west side of the
lake and destroyed Gotheseunquean, or Gaghsiungua, and the plantations around it, and another party, under Colonel Harper, marched to Schoyere, near Cayuga Lake, and utterly destroyed it and its fields of grain.
Taking breath at Kanadaseagea, the invaders marched on to Kanandaigua, at the head
of the little lake of that name, and in a few hours after their arrival the (I twentythree very elegant houses, mostly framed, and, in general, large,"2 with the ex- September 10
tensive fields of corn and beans, and orchards of heavily-laden fruit-trees, were destroyed.
1 The enemy might have rallied upon the hills along this perilous route, and greatly thinned, if not quite
destroyed or captured, the invading army. But, as Brant afterward said, they did not believe that Sullivan
would commence a march so soon over so bad a route; and the Indians were so terrified by the cannons,
and disheartened by the result of the battle, that they could not be readily induced to attempt another.
I se General Sullivan's official account of this expedition.




276                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Appfoach to Genesee.  'Council of the Indian VillageU.  A Battle.  Capture and Torture of Lieutenant Boyd.
Honeoye, or Anyeaya, a village lying in the path of the invading army in its march toward
theValley of the Genesee, was next swept away, and Sullivan prepared to desolate the broad
valley in whose bosom nestled the great capital of the Western tribes, and the most important of all the Indian settlements.
Thus far the enemy had fled in terror before the invading army, and the villages of the
Indians were destroyed without an effort being made to defend them.  The beautiful Valley
of the Genesee, the earthly paradise of the Six Nations, was now menaced.  A council of
the villages of the plain was held, and they resolved to turn and strike another blow in defense of their homes. Their women and children were removed to the deep shelter of the
forest, and the warriors prepared for battle upon a plain between Honeyoe and the head of
Connissius Lake, now known as Henderson's Flats. There they waited in ambush the approach of Sullivan's army, and rose upon the advanced guard with the desperation of wounded panthers. The battle was short, the savages were routed, and all that they had gained
was the capture of two Oneida chiefs.1
On the 12th, Kanaghsaws and its plantations were laid in ashes. Here the progress of
the army was temporarily checked by a deep stream, which it was necessary to bridge in
order to pass over with the baggage and stores. Before them lay the village of Little
Beard's Town, and, while the army was delayed in constructing a bridge, Lieutenant Boyd,
of the rifle corps, with a detachment of twenty-six men, went to reconnoiter the town.  He
found it deserted, except by two Indians, whom he killed and scalped. Returning, his route
lay near the party who had captured the two Oneidas. One of them, as we have seen, was
killed, the other was spared for torture.  He broke loose from his captors, and fled in the
direction of Sullivan's camp. Many Indians started in pursuit, and these were joined by
Brant and a large body of warriors, who had lain in ambush to cut off Boyd on his return.
September 13, The pursuing Indians came upon Boyd and his party.   Surrounded by over1779.    whelming numbers, he saw no way to escape but by cutting his way through
the fierce circle. Three times he made the attempt; almost all his men were killed, and
himself and a soldier named Parker were made prisoners and carried in triumph to Little
Beard's Town.' Brant treated them humanely, but, having business elsewhere, the chief
left them in the custody of Colonel John Butler, who, with his Rangers, was there. The
unfeeling Tory handed them over to the tender mercies of the Indians. By them Boyd was
tortured in the most cruel manner, and then beheaded. Parker was beheaded without being
tortured. Among the few who escaped was Timothy Murphy, the slayer of Fraser at Bemis's Heights. The Americans found the bodies of the two victims at Little Beard's Town,
and buried them upon the bank of Little Beard's Creek, under a clump of wild plum-trees
on the road now running from Moscow to Genesee.
The Tories and Indians now held another council, and it was concluded that further attempts to oppose such an army as Sullivan's was futile. They therefore resolved to leave
their beautiful country; and their women and children were hurried off toward Niagara,
1One of these was General Sullivan's guide, and had rendered the Americans very important services.
He had an elder brother engaged with the enemy, and here they met for the first time since their separation at the Oneida Castle. Fierce Was the anger of the elder chief when he recognized his brother in the
prisoner. Approaching him with violent gestures, he said, "Brother! you have merited death! The
hatchet or the war-club shall finish your career!" He then reproached him for aiding the rebellion, for
driving the Indians from their fields, and for butchering their children. "No crime can be greater," he
said. '" But though you have merited death, and shall die on this spot, my hands shall not be stained with
the blood of a brother I Who will strike?"  Instantly a hatchet gleamed in the hand of Little Beard, the
sachem of a village near by,* and the next moment the young Oneida was dead at the feet of his brother.
-See Campbell's Jnnals.
Han Yerry, an Oneida sachem, was with Lieutenant Boyd, serving him as guide. He fought with signal courage. The Indians knew him, and, several springing upon him, he was literally hacked in pieces by
their hatchets. Han Yerry lived at Oriskany at the time of the battle there, and joined the Americans.
He was a powerful man, and did great execution. For this the Indians defeated in that battle entertained
toward him feelings of the most implacable hatred.
* Little Beard's Town, now Leicester, in Livingston county.  A




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                     277
Destruction of Genesee and the surrounding Country. Picture of the Desolation. Name given to Washington. Corn Planter,
while the warriors hovered around the conquering army, to watch its movements and strike
a blow if opportunity should occur.
Sullivan proceeded to the Genesee Valley. Gathtsegwarohare and Little Beard's Town
were destroyed, and on the 14th he crossed the river, and the army encamped       Septembe,
around Genesee, the Indian capital.   Here every thing indicated the presence of   im9.
civilization.  There was not a wilderness feature in the scene.  The rich intervales presented the appearance of cultivation for many generations,' and the farms, and orchards, and
gardens bespoke a degree of comfort and refinement that would be creditable to any civilized
community.    But a terrible doom hung over the smiling country.  The Genesee Castle was
destroyed, and the capital was laid in ashes.  " The town" [Genesee], said Sullivan, in his
dispatch to Washington, " contained one hundred and twenty-eight houses, mostly large and
very elegant. It was beautifully situated, almost encircled with a clear flat, extending a
number of miles, over which extensive fields of corn were waving, together with every kind
of vegetable that could be conceived." Yet the contemplation of this scene could not stay
the destroyer's hand; and over the whole valley and the surrounding country the troops
swept with the besom of desolation. Forty Indian towns were burned; one hundred and
sixty thousand bushels of corn in the fields and in granaries were destroyed; a vast number
of the finest fruit-trees,2 the product of years of tardy growth, were cut down; hundreds of
gardens covered with edible vegetables were desolated; the inhabitants were driven into the
forests to starve, and were hunted like wild beasts; their altars were overturned, and their
graves trampled upon by strangers; and a beautiful, well-watered country, teeming with a
prosperous people, and just rising from a wilderness state, by the aid of cultivation, to a level
with the productive regions of civilization, was desolated and cast back a century within the
space of a fortnight.'  To us, looking upon the scene from a point so remote, it is difficult to
perceive the necessity that called for a chastisement so cruel and terrible.  But that such
necessity seemed to exist we should not doubt, for it was the judicious and benevolent mind
of Washington that conceived and planned the campaign, and ordered its rigid execution in
the manner in which it was accomplished. It awed the Indians for the moment, but did
not crush them.    In the reaction they had greater strength.  It kindled the fires of deep
hatred, which spread far among the tribes upon the lakes and in the valley of the Ohio.
Washington, like Demetrius, the son of Antigonus, received from the savages the name of
An-na-ta-kau-les, which signifies a taker of towns, or TOWN DESTROYER.4
' The race of Indians that then inhabited the Valley of the Genesee had no knowledge of the earlier cultivators of the soil. They asserted, according to Mary Jemison, that another race, of which they had no
knowledge, had cultivated the land long before their ancestors came into the valley; and she saw the disentombment of skeletons much larger than those of the race she was among.
P Many of the orchards were uncommonly large. One that was destroyed by the axe contained fifteen
hundred trees.
3 Stone says (Life of Brant, ii., 25), " It is apprehended that few of the present generation are thoroughly
aware of the advances which the Indians, in the wide and beautiful country of the Cayugas and Seneca,
had made in the march of civilization. They had several towns and many large villages, laid out with a
considerable degree of regularity. They had framed houses, some of them well finished, having chimneys,
and painted, They had broad and productive fields; and, in addition to an abundance of apples, were the
enjoyment of the pear and the more luscious peach."
4At a council held in Philadelphia in 1792, Corn Planter, the distinguished Seneca chief, thus addressed
the President: " FATHER-The voice of the Seneca nation speaks to you, the great counselor, in whose
heart the wise men of all the thirteen fires have placed their wisdom. It may be very small in your ears,
and, therefore, we entreat you to hearken with attention, for we are about to speak to you of things which
to us are very great. When your army entered the country of the Six Nations, we called you The Town
Destroyer; and to this day, when that name is heard, our women look behind them and turn pale, and our
children cling close to the necks of their mothers. Our counselors and warriors are men, and can not be
afraid; but their hearts are grieved with the fears of our women and children, and desire that it may be
buried so deep that it may be heard no more."
Corn Planter was one of the earliest lecturers upon temperance in this country. While speaking upo
this subject in 1822, he said, " The Great Spirit first made the world, next the flying animals, and formed
all things good and prosperous. He is immortal and everlasting. After finishing the flying animals, he
came down to earth and there stood. Then he made different kinds of trees, and woods of all sorts, and




2 78                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Return of the invading Army.  A Celebration.  Arrival of the Expedition at Wyoming.  The Oneidas driven from Home.
From causes not clearly understood, Sullivan did not extend his victorious march to Niagara, the head-quarters of the Tories and Indians, the breaking up of which would have
been far more efficient in bringing repose to the white settlements than the achievements
just accomplished; but, having desolated the Genesee Valley, he crossed the river and reSeptember 20, traced his steps.  When the army recrossed the outlet of Seneca Lake, Colonel
1779.    Zebulon Butler, of Wyoming, was sent with a detachment of five hundred men,
to pass round the foot of Cayuga Lake and destroy the Indian towns on its eastern shore.
Lieutenant Dearborn was dispatched upon similar service along its western shore; and both
corps, having accomplished their mission, joined the main body on the Chemung.'
eptember28. Butler had burned three towns and the capital of the Cayugas, and Dearborn
had destroyed six towns and a great quantity of grain and fruit-trees.  The army reached
Tioga, its starting-place, on the 3d of October, where it was joined by the garrison left in
charge of Fort Sullivan.  Destroying that stockade, they took up their line of march on the
4th for Wyoming, where they arrived on the 7th, and pitched their tents on the former campground near Wilkesbarre.    The next day a large portion of the troops left for Easton, on
the Delaware, at which place they were dismissed. Thus ended a campaign before which
we would gladly draw the vail of forgetfulness.
Although beaten back into the wilderness, and their beautiful country laid waste, the Indians were not conquered, and in the spring of the following year Brant and some of
17. his followers were again upon the war-path.   During the winter the threat of Sir
Frederic Haldimand against the Oneidas was executed. Their castle, church, and villages
were destroyed, and the inhabitants were driven down upon the white settlements for protection.  They collected together near Schenectady, where they remained until after the
war.'   These, too, were particular objects for the vengeance of the hostile savages.  They
regarded the Oneidas as double traitors, and determined to punish them accordingly, should
an opportunity offer to do so.
In April, in connection with a band of Tories, the savages destroyed Harpersfield, and
then marched to the attack of the Upper Schoharie Fort.      On their way they captured
Captain Alexander Harper and a small company who were with him, engaged in making
maple sugar. Three of the yeomanry were killed, and ten made prisoners and taken to Niagara. With difficulty Brant kept his Indians from murdering them by the way. At
Niagara Harper met with his niece, the daughter of Mr. Moore, of Cherry Valley, whose
family, with that of Colonel Campbell, was carried into captivity in 1778. She had married a British officer named Powell, and through his exertions Captain Harper and his associates were kindly treated at Niagara. But they were doomed to a long absence from
home, for they were not released until the peace in 1783 opened all the prison doors."
The borders of Wyoming, and the Dutch settlements along the western frontiers of the
people of every kind. He made the spring and other seasons, and the weather suitable for planting.
These he did make. But stills to make whisky to give to the Indians he DID NOT make......... The
Great Spirit has ordered me to stop drinking, and he wishes me to inform the people that they should quit
drinking intoxicating drinks."
1 Lieutenant-colonel Hubley, an officer of the Pennsylvania line, has left an interesting account of this
expedition in his Journal. He says that, on the 25th of September, the army held a celebration in testimony of their pleasure " in consequence of the accession of the King of Spain to the American alliance,
And the generous proceedings of Congress in augmenting the subsistence of the officers and men." General Sullivan ordered five of his fattest bullocks to be slaughtered, one for the officers of each brigade. In
the evening, after the discharge of thirteen cannons, the whole army performed a feu de joie. Thirteen
appropriate toasts were drunk. The last was as follows: " May the enemies of America be metamorphosed into pack horses, and sent on a western expedition against the Indians."
s A remnant of this tribe now occupies land in the vicinity of Rome, Oneida county, New York.
3 Among the Tory captors of Harper and his associates was a brute named Becraft, who boasted of having assisted in the murder of the Vrooman family in Schoharie. He had the audacity to return to Schoharie after the war. The returned prisoners, who had heard his boast, and others, informed of his presence, caught him, stripped him naked, and, tying him to a tree, gave him a severe castigation with hickory whips. They enumerated his several crimes, and then gave him a goodly number of stripes for each.
On releasing him, they charged him never to come to the county again. Of course he did not.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


279


Johnson's Incursions into the Schoharie Country.  Attack on the Schoharie Forts.  Boldness of Murphy.
present Ulster and Orange counties, suffered from scalping parties during the spring and
summer of 1780.    We have already noticed the destruction of the settlement and mills at
Little Falls, on the Mohawk; also the devastation of the Canajoharie settlements and the
hamlet at Fort Plain, which occurred in August of that year. The irruption of Sir John
Johnson into the valley in the neighborhood of Johnstown will be considered when writing
of my visit to Johnson Hall.
During the autumn an extensive expedition was planned against the Mohawk and
Schoharie settlements.  The Indians were thirsting for revenge for the wrongs and
misery inflicted by Sullivan.  The leaders were Sir John Johnson, Brant, and the famous
half-breed Seneca warrior, Corn Planter.' The Indians rendezvoused at Tioga Point, and,
ascending the Susquehanna, formed a junction at UInadilla with Sir John Johnson and his
forces, which consisted of three companies of his Greens, one company of German Yagers,
two hundred of Butler's Rangers, one company of British regulars, under Captain Duncan,
and a number of Mohawks. They came from Montreal by way of Oswego, bringing with
them two small mortars, a brass three pounder, and a piece called a grasshopper.
The plan agreed upon by the invaders was, to proceed along the Charlotte River, the
east branch of the Susquehanna, to its source, thence across to the head of the Schoharie,
sweep all the settlements along its course to its junction with the Mohawk, and then devastate that beautiful valley down to Schenectady.  They began their march at
nightfall, and before morning they had passed the Upper Fort unobserved, and
were applying the torch to dwellings near the Middle Fort (Middleburgh). At daylight signal guns at the Upper Fort announced the discovery of the enemy there, but it was too late
to save the property, already in flames.  The proceeds of a bountiful harvest were in the
barns, and stacks of hay and grain were abundant.
Major Woolsey, who seems to have been a poltroon,' was the commander of the garrison
at the Middle Fort, and sent out a detachment against the foe, under Lieutenant Spencer,
who was repulsed, but returned to the fort without losing a man. That post was now formally invested by the enemy, and Sir John Johnson sent a flag, with a summons to surrender.
The bearer was fired upon by Murphy, the rifleman already mentioned, but was unhurt;
and, on his return to the camp, Johnson commenced a siege. The feeble garrison had but
little ammunition, while the enemy, though well supplied, did very little execution with his
own.   The siege was a singular, and even ridiculous, military display.  While a party of
the besiegers were awkwardly trying to cast bomb-shells into the apology for a fort, the rest
were valiantly attacking deserted houses and stacks of grain.  Failing to make any impression, Sir John sent another flag toward noon. Murphy again fired upon the bearer, and
again missed his mark. Woolsey had ordered him to desist, but Murphy plainly told his
commanding officer that he was a coward, and meant to surrender the fort; and excused
his breach of the rules of war in firing uipon a flag by the plea that the enemy, in all his
conduct, paid no regard whatever to military courtesy.
The siege continued, and again a flag was sent, and was fired upon a third time by Murphy. The officers and regulars in the fort had menaced him with death if he should again
thus violate the rules of war. But the militia, among whom he was a great favorite, rallied around him, and Woolsey and his men were set at defiance. At length Johnson, suspecting the garrison to be much stronger than it really was, or fearing re-enforcements might
arrive from Albany, abandoned the siege, and marched rapidly down the valley, destroying
1 Corn Planter now first became conspicuous. According to Stone, this chief, and the afterward more
famous Red Jacket, were among the Indians at the battle of Chemung. They became rivals, and Red
Jacket finally supplanted Corn Planter. Brant always despised Red Jacket, for he declared him to have
acted the part of a coward during Sullivan's expedition, in trying to get the chiefs to sue for peace upon
the most ignominious terms.
g Campbell, in his Annals, says, " Woolsey's presence of mind forsook him in the hour of danger. He
concealed himself at first with the women and children in the house, and, when driven out by the ridicule
of his new associates, be crawled around the intrenchments on his hands and knees, amid the jeers and bravoe
of the militia, who felt their courage revive as their laughter was excited by the cowardice of the major."




280                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Johnson's March to Fort Hunter. Destruction of Property. Expedition of General Van Rensselaer. Death of Colonel Brown.
with fire every thing combustible in his way. He attacked the Lower Fort, but, being repulsed by a shower of grape-shot and musket-balls from the garrison in the church, he continued his march down the river to Fort Hunter,' at its junction with the Mohawk. Not
a house, barn, or grain-stack, known to belong to a Whig, was left standing, and it was estimated that one hundred thousand bushels of grain were destroyed by the invaders in that
one day's march. The houses and other property of the Tories were spared, but the exasperated Whigs set them on fire as soon as the enemy had gone, and all shared a. common
fate. Only two persons in the besieged fort were killed, but about one hundred of the inhabitants were murdered during the day. The Vroomans, a numerous family in Schoharie,
suffered much, many of them being among the slain.
October,   Sir John remained at Fort Hunter on the 17th, and destroyed every thing be1780.  longing to the Whigs in the neighborhood.    On the 18th he began a devastating
march up the Mohawk Valley.       Caughnawaga was laid in ashes, and every dwelling on
both sides of the river, as far up as Fort Plain, was destroyed.' On the night of the 18th Sir
John encamped with his forces near " The Nose," and the following morning he crossed the
Mohawk at Keder's Rifts,3 sending a detachment of fifty men to attack a small stockade called
Fort Paris, in Stone Arabia, about three miles north of the river.  The main body kept in motion at the same time, and continued the work of destruction along the wide line of its march.
As soon as the irruption of Johnson into the Schoharie settlement was made known at
Albany, Governor George Clinton, accompanied by General Robert Van Rensselaer, of
Claverack, at the head of a strong body of militia, marched to the succor of the people in
Tryon county. They arrived at Caughnawaga on the 18th, while it was yet in flames;
and, ascertaining that Fort Paris was to be attacked the next day, Van Rensselaer dispatched orders to Colonel Brown, then stationed there, to march out and meet the enemy.  Brown
promptly obeyed, and near a ruined military work, called Fort Keyser, confronted the invaders. A sharp action ensued, and the overwhelming numbers of the enemy bore down
the gallant little band of Brown, who, with forty of his soldiers, was slain.4 The remainder of his troops found safety in flight.
l Fort Hunter was built at the mouth of the Schoharie Creek during the French and Indian war. It
inclosed an edifice called Queen Anne's Chapel, to which a parsonage, built of stone, was attached. The
old fort was torn down at the commencement of the Revolution, but it was afterward partially restored and
often garrisoned. The chapel was demolished in 1820, to make room for the Erie Canal. The parsonage
is still standing in the town of Florida, half a mile below the Schoharie, and a few rods south of the canal.
s Among the many sufferers at this time was Major Jelles Fonda, from whom the present village of
Fonda, near old Caughnawaga, derives its name. He was absent from home at the time, attending a meeting of the state Legislature, of which he was a member, then in session at Poughkeepsie, Dutchess county.
His mansion was at a place called "The Nose," in the town of Palatine. His wife escaped under cover
of a thick fog, and on foot made her way to Schenectady. The house was burned, together with property
valued at $60,000.-Antiquarian Researches, by Giles F..Yates, Esq.
' Rifts are short, shallow rapids, the frequent occurrence of which in the Mohawk River makes navigation of that stream, even with bateaux, quite difficult.
4 Colonel Brown was a distinguished soldier in former campaigns of the Revolution in the Northern Department, as the reader has already noticed. He was born in Sandersfield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, October 19th, 1744. He graduated at Yale College in 1771, and studied law with Oliver Arnold (a
cousin of the traitor), at Providence, Rhode Island. He commenced practice at Caughnawaga, New York,
and was appointed king's attorney. He soon went to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he became active in
*the patriot cause. He was chosen by the State Committee of Correspondence, in 1774, to go to Canada
to excite rebellion, in which perilous duty he had many adventures. He was elected to Congress in 1775,
-but before the meeting of that body he had joined the expedition under Allen and Arnold against Ticonderoga. He assisted in the capture of Fort Chambly in the autumn of that year, and planned the attack
on Montreal, which resulted so disastrously to Colonel Ethan Allen. He was at the storming of Quebec
at the close of the year. The following year Congress gave him the commission of lieutenant colonel. In
1777,he conducted the expedition that attacked Ticonderoga and other posts in its vicinity, released one
hundred American prisoners at Lake George, and captured quite a large quantity of provisions and stores
belonging to the enemy. Soon after this he retired from the service on account of his detestation of Arnold.
Three years before the latter became a traitor, Brown published a hand-bill, in which he denounced him as
*n avaricious and unprincipled man, charged him with "selling many a life for gain," and predicted that
Be would prove a traitor, in the remarkable words with which the hand-bill closed: "Money is this man's




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                     281
Pursuit of Johnson by Van Rensselaer.  Inaction of the latter.  Battle of Klock's Field.  Capture of some Toriet
Sir John now dispersed his forces in small bands to the distance of five or six miles in
each direction, to pillage the county.  He desolated Stone Arabia, and, proceeding to a place
called Klock's Field, halted to rest.  General Van Rensselaer, with a considerable force, was
in close pursuit. He had been joined by Captain M'Kean, with a corps of volunteers, and
a strong body of Oneida warriors, led by their principal chief, Louis Atyataronghta, whom
Congress had commissioned a colonel.1 His whole fbrce was now fifteen hundred strong.
Van Rensselaer's pursuit was on the south side of the Mohawk, while Johnson was ravaging
the country on the north side. Johnson took care to guard the ford while his halting army
was resting, and the pursuers were there kept at bay. The tardy movements of Van Rensselaer, who, instead of pushing across to attack the wearied troops of the invader, rode off
to Fort Plain to dine with Governor Clinton, were justly censured; and the Oneida chief
even denounced him as a Tory. This accusation, and the remonstrances of some of his officers, quickened his movements, and toward evening his forces crossed the river and were arrayed for battle. The whites of the enemy were upon a small plain partially guarded by
a bend in the river, while Brant, with his Indians, occupied, in secret, a thicket of shrub
oaks in the vicinity.  The van of the attack was led by the late General Morgan Lewis,
then a colonel.  Colonel Dubois commanded the extreme right, and, the left was led by
Colonel Cuyler, of Albany.   Captain M'Kean and the Oneidas were near the right.    John,
son's right was composed of regular troops; the center, of his Greens; and his left was the
Indian ambuscade. When the patriots approached, Brant raised the war-whoop, and in a
few moments a general battle ensued.   The charge of the Americans was so impetuous that
the enemy soon gave way and fled. Brant was wounded in the heel, but escaped. Van
Rensselaer's troops wished to pursue the enemy, but it was then twilight, and he would not
allow it,  They were ordered to fall back and encamp for the night, a movement which
caused much dissatisfaction.2
God, and to get enough of it he would sacrifice his country!"  This was published at Albany in the winter
of 1776-7, while Arnold was quartered there. Arnold was greatly excited when told of it, called Brown
a scoundrel, and declared that he would kick him whensoever and wheresoever they might meet. This
declaration was communicated to Brown. The next day, Brown, by invitation, went to a dinner where he
would meet Arnold. The latter was standing with his back to the fire when the former entered the door,
and he and Brown thus met each other face to face. Brown walked boldly up to Arnold, and, looking him
sternly in the face, said, " I understand, sir, that you have said you would kick me. I now present myself
to give you an opportunity to put your threat into execution." Arnold made no reply. Brown then said,
" Sir, you are a dirty scoundrel." Arnold was still silent, and Brown left the room, after apologizing to
the gentlemen present for his intrusion.*
Colonel Brown, after he left the army, was occasionally employed in the Massachusetts service. In the
fall of 1780, with many of the Berkshire militia, he marched up the Mohawk Valley, to act as circumstances
might require. He was slain at Stone Arabia on his birth-day (October 19th, 1780), aged 35 years. On
his way to the Mohawk country, he called upon Ann Lee, the founder of the sect of Shaking Quakers in
this country, then established near Albany. He assured her, by way of pleasantry, that on his return he
should join her society. A fortnight after his death two members of the society waited upon his widow,
told her that her husband, in spirit, had joined " Mother Ann," and that he had given express orders for
her to become a member. She was not to be duped, and bade them begone. On the anniversary of Colonel Brown's death (as well as of his birth), in 1836, a monument was reared to his memory by his son, the
late Henry Brown, Esq., of Berkshire, Massachusetts, near the place where he fell, in the town of Pala.
tine. Upon the monument is the following inscription:
In memory of Colonel JOHN BROWN,
who was killed in battle on the 19th day of October, 1780,        *
at Palatine, in the county of Montgomery.
ME. 36.
He was a representative of three nations, for in his veins ran the blood of the French, Indian, and negro.
' While some of M'Kean's volunteers were strolling about, waiting for the main army to cross, they
came upon a small block-house, where nine of the enemy were in custody, having surrendered during the
night. On one of them being asked how he came there, his answer was a sharp commentary upon the
criminal inaction of General Van Rensselaer. "Last night, after the battle," he said, "we crossed the
river; it was dark; we heard the word 'lay down your arms;' some of us did so. We were taken, nine
* Stone's Life of Brant, ii., 117.




282                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Pursuit of Johnson and Brant.  Conduct of Van Rensselaer.  Capture of Vrooman and his Party.  Threatened Invasion.
Louis and M'Kean did not strictly obey orders, and early in the morning they started
off with their forces in pursuit. Johnson, with the Indians and Yagers, fled toward Onondaga Lake, where they had left their boats concealed.  His Greens and the Rangers followed.  Van Rensselaer and his whole force pursued them as far as Fort Herkimner, at the
German Flats, and there M'Kean and Louis were ordered to press on in advance after the
fugitives. They struck the trail of Johnson the next morning, and soon afterward came
upon his deserted camp while the fires were yet burning. Van Rensselaer had promised to
push forward to their support; but, having little confidence in the celerity of his movements,
and fearing an ambuscade, Louis refused to advance any further until assured that the main
body of the Americans was near. The advanced party halted, and were soon informed by
a messenger that Van Rensselaer had actually abandoned the pursuit, and was then on his
return march!   It was a shameful neglect of advantage, for, with proper skill and action,
Johnson might have been captured at the Nose,' before Stone Arabia was desolated, or else
overtaken and secured in his flight.
When Van Rensselaer heard of the concealment of Johnson's boats on the Onondaga, he
dispatched a messenger to Captain Vrooman, then in command at Fort Schuyler, ordering
him to go with a strong detachment and destroy them. Vrooman instantly obeyed. One
of his men feigned sickness at Oneida, and was left behind. He was there when Johnson
arrived, and informed him of Vrooman's expedition.  Brant and a body of Indians hastened
forward, came upon Vrooman and his party while at dinner, and captured the whole of them
without firing a gun.  Johnson had no further impediments in his way, and easily escaped
to Canada by way of Oswego, taking with him Captain Vrooran and his party prisoners,
but leaving behind him a great number of his own men.? Tryon county enjoyed comparative repose through the remainder of the autumn and part of the winter.
In January, 1781, Brant was again upon the war-path in the neighborhood of Fort
Schuyler.  The slender barrier of the Oneida nation had been broken the previous year by
driving that people upon the white settlements, and the warriors from Niagara had an unimpeded way to the Mohawk Valley. They were separated into small parties, and cut off
load after load of supplies on their way to Forts Plain, Dayton, and Schuyler. During the
month of March two detachments of soldiers near Fort Schuyler were made prisoners, and
the provisions they were guarding were captured. All the information that could be got
respecting the movements of the enemy strengthened the belief that it was his determination to make another invasion of the valley, and penetrate, if possible, as far as the settlement at Schenectady, to destroy the Oneidas who had found shelter there.
Already the scarcity of provisions at Forts Schuyler and Dayton warned the people that,
if supplies were not speedily obtained, those posts must be abandoned, and the whole county
would thus be left open to the savages.  The distress at Fort Schuyler was greatly increased
by a flood early in May, which overflowed the works and destroyed considerable provisions.
The damage was so great, that it was decided, at a council of officers, that the strength of
ay 12, the garrison was totally inadequate to make proper repairs.  A few days afterward
1781.  the destruction of the fort was completed by fire, the work, it was supposed, of an
incendiary. The post was then necessarily abandoned, and the garrison was marched down
to Forts Dayton and Plain.
of ut, and marched into this little fort by seven militia men. We formed the rear of three hundred of Johnson's Greens, who were running promiscuously through and over one another. I thought General Van
Rensselaer's whole army was upon us. Why did you not take us prisoners yesterday, after Sir John ran
off with the Indians and left us? We wanted to surrender." The man was a Tory of the valley. —See
Life of Brant, ii., 123.
1 The Nose, or Anthony's Nose, as it is sometimes called, is a bluff at a narrow part of the Mohawk, in
the town of Palatine, and derives its name from the circumstance that its form is something like that of the
human nose. Here a ridge evidently once crossed the valley and kept the waters in check above, for the
effects of the action of running streams and eddies are very prominent in the rocks. At the upper end of
the plain below are bowlders and large gravel stones, which diminish to sand at the lower end.
2 Campbell's Annals.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


283


Gloomy Prospect in the Mohawk Country.  Patriotism of Colonel Willett.  His Command of the Tryon County Militia.
At this period every thing combined to cast gloom over the Mohawk country.  Vermont,
as we have noticed in a former chapter, had assumed an equivocal position, amouhting almost, in appearance, to a treasonable rebellion against Congress. General Haldimand, with
a large regular force, was menacing the northern country from his post upon Lake Champlain; the Johnsons, Butlers, and Brant were laying plans for an extensive invasion of Tryon
county and the settlements near the Delaware; the forts that served for a defense for the
people were weak from lack of provisions, ammunition, and men; the principal one, the key
to the Mohawk Valley from the west, was destroyed; and, worse than all, a spirit of discontent and despondency was rife in that quarter, induced by the inefficiency of Congress in
furnishing supplies, and the seeming hopelessness of the patriot cause.  General Schuyler
and others expressed their conviction that, if another invading army should come upon the
settlements during the existing state of things, large numbers of the people would join the
royal standard.  The undisciplined militia, necessarily engaged in farm labor, and often insubordinate, were a weak reliance, and nothing but an efficient military force, either of paid
levies or soldiers of the regular army, could give confidence and real protection.
The expectation of such aid was but a feeble ray of hope at the beginning of the summer,
for Washington and the French commander (De Rochambeau) were concocting plans far
more important than the defense of a single frontier section of the vast extent of the colonies.
Governor Clinton was greatly pained and embarrassed by the gloomy prospect in his department. In this dilemma, his thoughts turned to Colonel Willett, who had just been appointed to the command of one of the two regiments formed by the consolidation of five New York
regiments.  His name was a " tower of strength" among the people of the Mohawk Valley,
and Clinton implored him to take command of all the militia levies and state troops that
might be raised for the summer campaigns.  He consented, left the main army, and established his head-quarters at Fort Rensselaer1 (Canajoharie), toward the close of June.
The spirits of the people were revived, although the forces of Willett consisted of mere
fragments of companies hastily collected from the ruins of the last campaign.  "I confess
myself," he said, in a letter to Governor Clinton,,< not a little disappointed in having such a
trifling force for such extensive business as I have now on my hands; and, also, that' nothing is done to enable me to avail myself of the militia.  The prospect of a suffering country
hurts me.  Upon my own account I am not uneasy.    Every thing I can do shall be done;
and more can not be looked for.  If it is, the reflection that I have done my duty must fix
my tranquillity."2
While the enemy is threatening invasion and Willett is preparing to repel him, let us
turn from the exciting chronicle, and resume our quiet journey, in the course of which some
of the stirring incidents of the subsequent strife between the patriots and the enemy, in Tryon
county, will come up in review.
This was upon the Canajoharie Creek, near the junction of its two branches, in the town of Root.
2 Willett's Narrative.




284


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Changes in the Mohawk Country.        Present Aspect of the Mohawk Valley.       Fultonville.       Fonda..


CHAPTER XIII.
The earth all light and loveliness, in summer's golden hours,
Smiles, in her bridal vesture clad, and crown'd with festal flowers;
So radiantly beautiful, so like to heaven above,
We scarce can deem more fair that world of perfect bliss and love.
ANONYMOUS.
Look now abroad-another race has fill'd
These populous borders-wide the wood recedes,
And towns shoot up, and fertile plains are till'd;
The land is full of harvests and green meads;
Streams numberless, that many a fountain feeds,
Shine, disembower'd, and give to sun and breeze
Their virgin waters; the full region leads
New colonies forth, that toward the western seas
Spread, like a rapid flame among the autumnal leaves.
BRYANT.
i             HO that has passed along the Valley of the Mohawk, near the close of a
/ day in summer, has not been deeply impressed with the singular beauty
I   <i  ~of the scene? or who, that has traversed the uplands that skirt this fruitful garden, and stretch away to other valleys, and mingle with the loftier
^ ^  hills or fertile intervales within the borders of ancient Tryon county, is not
filled with wonder while contemplating the changes that have been wrought
there within a life-span?  When the terrible drama which we have teen
considering was performed, almost the whole country was covered with the
primeval forest.     Clearings were frequent along the Mohawk River, and
cultivation was assiduous in producing the blessings of abundance and general prosperity; but the southern portions of Herkimer and Montgomery, and all of Schoharie and Otsego, down to the remote settlement of Unadilla, were a wilderness, except where
a few thriving settlements were growing upon the water courses. The traveler, as he views
the,, field joined to field" in the Mohawk Valley, all covered with waving grain, green pastures, or bending fruit-trees, inclosing, in their arms of plenty, elegant mansions; or waiLues
the vast stream of inland commerce that rolls by upon the Erie Canal; or the villages of
people that almost hourly sweep along its margin after the vapor steed; or rides over the
adjacent hill-country north and south, enlivened by villages and rich in cultivation, can hardly
realize the fact that here, seventy years ago, the wild Indian was joint possessor of the soil
with the hardy settlers, and that the light of civilization was as scattered and feeble, and for
a while as evanescent and fleeting in these broad solitudes, as is the sparkle of the fire-fly on
a summer evening.    Yet such is the wonderful truth; and as I passed down the canal at
the close of the day, from Fort Plain to Fultonville, surrounded with the activity, opulence,
and beauty of the Mohawk Valley, I could not, while contrasting this peacefulness and progress with the discord and social inertia of other lands, repress the feelings of the Pharisee.
Fultonville is sixteen miles below Fort Plain, and it was long after dark when I arrived
August 24, there.  Early on the following morning I procured a conveyance to visit old Caughf848.  nawaga and Johnstown, north of the Mohawk.      A gentleman of leisure and intelligence, residing at Fultonville, kindly offered to accompany me, and his familiarity with
the history and localities of the neighborhood, and freedom of communication, made my morning's ride pleasant and profitable.  Fultonville is upon the canal, and may be called the port
of the village of Fonda, which lies upon the rail-road, on the northern verge of the valley.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


285


Caughnawaga.       John Butler's Residence.    Johnstown.       An Octogenarian.      Biography of Butler.


The Mohawk cleaves the center of the plain between the two villages, and is spanned by a
fine covered bridge. Fonda and Caughnawaga (now Mohawk) lie in close embrace. The
former has all the freshness of infancy, while the latter, with its gray old church,' has a matronly gravity in its appearance. It is only about half a mile eastward from its blooming
daughter, at the foot of the hills over which winds the eastern fork of the road from Johnstown. On a commanding eminence, about a mile north of Fonda, we came to the house
where Colonel John Butler resided,' which is believed to
-                  be the oldest dwelling in that section, and coeval with
Caughnawaga Church.       It overlooks the Mohawk Val' fL  -  -,  i           ley on the south, and commands an extensive prospect
|                    of a fine agricultural country in every direction.  It is
now owned by a Mr. Wilson, and is often visited by the
curious, who are as frequently attracted by the eminent-. ly infamous as by the eminently good.     It is a fair specimen of the middling class of houses of that period.  The
-          i.   posts stand directly upon the stone foundation, without
sleepers, and there are no plaster walls or ceilings in the
house, the sides of the rooms being lined with pine boards.
TE BUTLER HOUSE.           The bricks of the chimney are the small, imported kind
T                 which distinguished many of the edifices in the old
states, that were constructed about a century ago.
The village of Johnstown, which was included in the town of Caughnawaga, organized
in 1798, lies pleasantly in the bosom and along the slope of an intervale, about four miles
north of Fonda.' I met there a venerable citizen, John Yost, eighty years of age, who had
been a resident of the vicinity from his birth.   He was often dandled on the knee of Sir
William Johnson, and has a clear recollection of the appearance of the baronet and the circumstances of his death. His father was an adherent of the Whig cause, and instructed
him early in the principles of the Revolution. He was several times employed by Colonel
Willett as an express to carry dispatches from Fort Plain to Tripe's Hill and other points
in the valley, his extreme youth guarding him from suspicion. He was still an active August,
man when I saw him, and his bodily health promised him the honors of a centenarian.     1848.
Johnson Hall, the residence of Sir William and Sir John Johnson,' is situated upon a
I See page 263.
' John Butler was one of the leading Tories of Tryon county during the whole war of the Revolution.
Before the war he was in close official connection with Sir William Johnson, and, after his death, with his
son and nephew, Sir John and Guy Johnson. When he fled with the Johnsons to Canada, his family were
leftbehind, and were subsequently held as hostages by the Americans, and finally exchanged for the wife
and children of Colonel Samuel Campbell, of Cherry Valley. He was active in the predatory warfare that
so long distressed Tryon county, and commanded the eleven hundred men who desolated Wyoming in 1778,
He was among those who opposed the progress of Sullivan in the Indian country in 1779, and accompanied
Sir John Johnson in his destructive march through the Schoharie and Mohawk settlements in 1780. After
the war he went to Canada, where he resided until his death, which occurred about the year 1800. His
property upon the Mohawk, by an act of the Legislature of New York, was confiscated; but he was amply rewarded by the British government for his infamous services in its behalf. He succeeded Guy Johnson as Indian agent, with a salary of $2000 per ainum, and was granted a pension, as a military officer,
of $1000 more. Like his son Walter, he was detested for his
cruelties by the more honorable British officers; and, after the
massacre at Wyoming, Sir Frederic Haldimand, then Governor
of Canada, sent word to him that he did not wish to see him. It
is but justice to Colonel Butler to say, that he was far more humane than his son Walter, and that his personal deeds at Wyo-  SIGNATURE OF COLONEL JOHN BUTLER.
ming were not so heinous as the common accounts have made
them. These will be considered when the attack upon that settlement shall receive a more particular notice.
3 The old jail in the village was standing when I was there, in August, 1848. It was built in 1762,
and was consumed by fire on the 8th of September, 1849.
John Johnson was the son of Sir William Johnson by his first wife. He was born in 1742, and succeeded his father in his title and estates in 1774. He was not as popular as his father, being less social




286


PICTOT ORIALL FIEL ID-BOOKO


Johnson Hall.                   Its Stair-case and Brant's Hatchet Marks.                Progress of Western New York.


gentle eminence, about three fourths of a mile northward of the court-house in the village,
and near the state road to Black River.   This was probably the finest mansion in the province, out of the city of New York, at the time of its erection, about the year 1760.   The
hall, or main building, is of wood, and double clap-boarded in a manner to represent blocks
- —:: -- -1, —.
NORTH FRONT OF JOHNSON HALL.
of stone.  Its exterior dimensions are forty feet wide, sixty feet long, and two stories high.
The detached wings, built for flanking block-houses, are of stone.  The walls of these are
very thick, and near the eaves they are pierced for musketry.  The entrance passage, which
extends entirely through the house, is fifteen feet wide, from which rises a broad stair-case,
with heavy mahogany balustrades, to the second story.    The rail of this balustrade is scarred by hatchet blows at regular intervals of about a foot, from the top to the bottom, and
tradition avers that it was done by the hands of Brant when he fled from the hall with Sir
John Johnson, in 1776, to protect the house from the torch of marauding savages, for he
asserted that such a token would be understood and respected by them.
The rooms in both stories are large and lofty, and the sides are handsomely wainscoted
with pine panels and carved work, all of which is carefully preserved in its original form by
Mr. Eleazer Wells, the present proprietor. He has been acquainted with the house for fifty
years, and within that time one of the rooms has been neither painted nor papered.' The
and less acquainted with human nature. His official relations to the parent government, and his knows
opposition to the rebellious movements
of the colonies, caused him to be strictly
watched, and, as we have noted in the
text, not without just cause. Expelled
from his estate, his property confiscated,           /
his family in exile, he became an uncompromising enemy of the republicans, and
until the close of the war his influence
was exerted against the patriots.
%Soon after the close of the war Sir               SIGNATUBE OF Si JOHN JOHNSON.
John went to England, and, on returning
in 1785, settled in Canada. He was appointed superintendent and inspector general of Indian affairs in
North America, and for several years he was a member of the legislative council of Canada. To compensate him for his losses, the British government made him several grants of lands. He died at the house
of his daughter, Mrs. Bowes, at Montreal, in 1830, aged 88 years. His son, Sir Adam Gordon Johnson,
succeeded him in his title.
In that room Mr. Wells was married in 1807, the house then belonging to his mother-in-law. Mr.
Wells related te me a fact which illustrates the wonderful progress of Western New York in population




OF THE REVOLUTION.


287


Only Baronial Hall in the United States.  Sir William Johnson and his Wives.  The Dutch Girl.  Molly Brant.
paper hangings upon it have been there that length of time, and are doubtless the same that
were first put upon the wall by the baronet.       Every thing of the kind is well preserved,
and the visitor is gratified by a view, in its original aspect, of the only baronial hall in the
United States.
Here Sir W'illiam lived in all the elegance and comparative power of an English baron
of the Middle Ages. He had many servants and retainers, ( wives and concubines, sons and
daughters of difierent colors."1 His hall was his castle, and around it, beyond the wings, a
heavy stone breast-work, about twelve feet high, was thrown up. Invested with the power
and influence of an Indian agent of his government in its transactions with the confederated
Six Nations, possessed of a fine person and dignity of manners, and of a certain style of oratory that pleased the Indians, he acquired an ascendency over the tribes never before held
by a white man. When, in 1760, General Amherst embarked at Oswego on his expedition to Canada, Sir William brought to him, at that place, one thousand Indian warriors
of the Six Nations, which was the largest number that had ever been seen in arms at one
time in the cause of England. He made confidants of many of the chiefs, and to them he
and wealth within half a century.  About the time of his marriage he went west, with the intention of purchasing a farm in the Genesee country, always so celebrated for its fertility.  Among other places, he visited the site of the present large city of Rochester.  Then a solitary cabin-was there.  The land was offer,
ed to him for two dollars an acre, but it seemed too wet for his purpose, and he refused to buy.  " Had I
purchased then," said Mr. Wells, " it might have made me a millionaire, although such a result is by no
means certain, for the original owner of all the land where Utica now stands was a tenant, and his descendants still are tenants, of other proprietors of the soil there."  The prize within the reach of the person to
whom he alluded was allowed, through lack of prudence and forecast, to slip through his fingers, and not
a rood of all the acres of Utica is now his own.
Sir William is said to have been the father of a hundred children, chiefly by native mothers, who were
young squaws, or the wives of Indians who thought it an honor to have them intimate with the distinguished king's agent. He availed himself of - custom which Colden says was then prevalent among the Six
Nations.  " They carried their hospitality so far as to allow distinguished strangers," he says, " the choice
of a young squaw from among the prettiest in the neighborhood, washed clean and dressed in her best apparel, as a companion during his sojourn with them:" Sir William had two wives, although they were not
made so until they had lived long with the baronet. Simms says, on the authority of well-authenticated
tradition, that his first wife was a young German girl, who, according to the custom of the times, had been
sold to a man named Phillips, living in the Mohawk Valley, to pay her passage money to the captain of the
emigrant ship ii, which she came to this country.  She was a handsome girl, and attracted considerable
attention. A neighbor of Sir William, who had heard him express a determination never to marry, asked
him why he did not get the pretty German girl for a housekeeper. He replied, " I will." Not long afterward the neighbor called at Phillips's, and inquired where the High Dutch girl was.  Phillips replied, " Johnson, that tamned Irishman, came tother day and offered me five pounds for her, threatening to horsewhip
me and steal her if I would not sell her. I thought five pounds petter than a flogging, and took it, and
he's got the gal." She was the mother of Sir John Johnson, and of two daughters, who became the wives
respectively of Guy Johnson and Daniel Claus.* When she was upon her death-bed, Sir William was
married to her in order to legitimate her children. After her death her place was supplied by Molly Brant,
sister of the Mohawk sachem, by whom he had several children.  Toward the close of his life, Sir William
married her in order to legitimate her children also, and her descendants are now some of the most respectable people in Upper Canada. Sir William's first interview and acquaintance with her, as related by
Mr. Stone (Note, Life of Brant, i., 387), have considerable romance.  She was a very sprightly and beau.
tiful girl, about sixteen, when he first saw her at a militia muster. One of the field officers, riding upon
a fine horse, came near her, and, "by way of banter, she asked permission to mount behind. Not supposing she could perform the exploit, he said she might. At the word, she leaped upon the crupper with
the agility of a gazelle. The horse sprang off at full speed, and, clinging to the officer, her blanket flying
and her dark hair streaming in the wind, she flew about the parade-ground as swift as an arrow. The
baronet, who was a witness of the spectacle, admiring the spirit of the young squaw, and becoming enamored of her person, took her home as his wife." According to Indian customs, this act made her really his
wife, and in all her relations of wife and mother she was very exemplary.
* These two daughters, who were left by their dying mother to the care of a friend, were educated almost in solitude. That
friend was the widow of an officer who was killed in battle, and, retiring from the world, devoted her whole time to the care
of these children. They were carefully instructed in religious duties, and in various kinds of needle-work, but were themselves kept entirely from society. At the age of sixteen they had never seen a lady, except their mother and her friend, or a
gentleman, except Sir William, who visited their room daily. Their dress was not conformed to the fashions, but always conisted of wrappers of finest chintz over green silk petticoats. Their hair, which was long and beautiful, was tied behind with a
simple band of ribbon. After their marriage they soon acquired the habits of society, and made excellent wives.




288


PICTORIARI AL F IELLD-BOOKO


Sir William Johnson's Diploma. His Amusements and sudden Death. Flight of Sir John. His Invasion of the Valley in 1780,
was in the habit of giving a diploma, testifying to their good conduct. One of these is in
the possession of the New York Historical Society, a copy of which, with the vignette, is
given in the note.'  His house was the resort of the sachems of the Six Nations for counsel
and for trade, and there the presents sent out by his government were annually distributed
to the Indians. On these occasions he amused himself and gratified his guests by fetes and
games, many of which were highly ludicrous.2 Young Indians and squaws were often seen
running foot-races or wrestling for trinkets, and feats of astonishing agility were frequently
performed by the Indians of both sexes.
Sir William's death was sudden, and was by some ascribed to poison, voluntarily
taken by him, and by others to apoplexy, induced by over-excitement.       His possessions, which, with his offices and titles, passed into the hands of his son, did not long remain
undisturbed, but were abandoned, as we have seen, in 1776, and were afterward sold to
strangers under an act of attainder and confiscation passed by the Legislature of New York.
Sir John, as we have already noted, fled to Canada, where he received a colonel's commission. The sequestration of his immense landed property inspired him with feelings of
implacable revenge, which were manifested by his terrible visitations to the settlements in
Tryon county.    One of these was chiefly for the purpose of recovering the plate and other
aluables belonging to the baronet, which had been buried near Johnson Hall.     The events
of this incursion were as follows:
About midnight on Sunday, the 21st of May, 1780, Sir John, with a force of five hundred Tories and Indians, who had penetrated the country from Crown Point to the Sacondaga
River, appeared at Johnson Hall without being seen by any but his friends. His forces
were divided into two detachments, and between midnight and dawn he began to devastate
the settlement by burning every building, except those which belonged to Tories. One division was sent around in an easterly course, so as to strike the Mohawk at Tripes Hill,' beloW Caughnawaga, whence it was ordered to proceed up the valley, destroy Caughnawaga,
and form a junction with the other division at the mouth of Cayudutta Creek. This march
was performed; many dwellings were burned and several lives were sacrificed. Sir John,
in the mean while, at the head of one division, proceeded through the village of Johnstown
unobserved by the sentinels at the small picketed fort there, and before daylight was at the
Hall, once his own, where he secured two prisoners. On his way to join the other division
upon the Cayudutta, he came to the residence of Sampson Sammons, who was, with his
1 By the Honorable Sir William Johnson, Bart., His Majesty's sole Agent
and Superintendant of Indian Affairs for the Northern Department of North
America, Colonel of the Six United Nations, their Allies and Dependants, &c., &c.
"To......... WHEREAS, I have received repeated proofs of your attachment to his Britannic Majesty's Interests and Zeal for his service, upon
sundry occasions, more particularly....... I do therefor give you this
public Testimonial thereof, as a proof of his Majesty's Esteem and Approbation, Declaring you, the said......,to be a...... of your......, and
recommending it to all his Majesty's Subjects and faithful Indian Allies to Treat and Consider you upon all
occasions agreeable to your character, station, and services......GIVEN under my hand and seal at
Arms, at Johnson Hall, the...... day of....., 17.
"By command of Sir W. Johnson."
2 Among the amusements invented by Sir William were foot-races, in which the competitors had mealbags drawn up over their legs and tied under their arms; a hog, with its tail greased, would be offered as
aprize to the one that should catch it by that extremity; a half pound of tea was a prize offered to the
one who could make the wryest face; a bladder of Scotch snuff to the greatest scold of two old women;
and children might be seen exploring pools of muddy water, into which the baronet had cast several pennies.-Simms, 121.
3 At this place lived Garret Putnam, a very active Whig, and his house was the first one assailed. Unknown to the invadirs, Putnam had rented his house to two Englishmen named Gort and Platto, stanch
Tories. The assailants broke into the house, scalped the two men, who had not time to reveal their characters, and it was not until daylight that they discovered their victims to be their own friends instead of
Putnam and his son, as they had supposed.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


289


Capture of the Sammons Family. Cruelties and Crimes of the Invaders. Johnson's Retreat Recovery of his Negro and Plate.
whole family, among the most active and intrepid patriots in Tryon county. Sir John had
always respected Mr. Sammons, and still held him in high estimation, but he was determined to carry him and his family away prisoners, if possible, and thus lessen the number of
his more influential enemies in the Mohawk Valley. It was not yet light when a Tory,
named Sunderland, with a resolute band, surrounded the house of Sammons, and the first
intimation the family had of danger was the arrest of Thomas, the younger of three sons, as
he stepped out of the door to observe the weather.' The father and three sons were made
prisoners, but the females of the family were left undisturbed, after the house was plundered
of every thing valuable. The marauders then marched with their prisoners to the mouth
of the Cayudutta, and both divisions went up the valley, burning, plundering, and murdering. A venerable old man, named David Fonda, was killed and scalped by an Indian party
attached to the expedition, and in its march of a few miles nine aged men, four of them upward of eighty years old, were murdered.     Returning to Caughnawaga, the torch was applied, and every building, except the church, was laid in ashes.   From Caughnawaga they
proceeded to Johnstowns by way of the Sammonses, on whose premises every building was
burned, and the females, bereft of their protectors and helpers, were left houseless and almost
naked.   Seven horses that were in the stables were taken away, and that happy family of.
the morning were utterly destitute at evening.
Toward sunset Johnson perceived that the militia of the neighborhood were gathering,
under the direction of Colonel John Harper, and resolved to decamp.    Several Loyalists had
joined him, and he succeeded in obtaining possession of twenty negro slaves whom he had
left behind at the time of his flight, in the spring of 1776.  Among these was the faithful
negro who buried his chests of plate. With his prisoners, slaves, and much booty, he directed his course toward the Sacondaga. The inhabitants seemed so completely May22,
taken by surprise, and were so panic-stricken by the suddenness and fierceness of the   1780.
invasion, that he was unmolested in his retreating march, and reached St. John's, on the
Sorel, in safety. The captives were sent to Chambly, twelve miles distant, and confined in
the fortress there.3
1 Thomas Sammons, who was then a lad, lived until within a few years, and furnished much of the interesting matter concerning this irruption of Sir John, to the author of the Life of Brant, from whose pages
I have gleaned much of the narrative here given. Mr. Sammons was a representative in Congress from
1803 to 1807, and again from 1809 to 1813.
2 I have before mentioned that the silver plate and other valuable articles belonging to Johnson were
buried by a faithful slave. When the Hall and other property were taken possession of by the Tryon county
Committee, under the act of sequestration, the elder of Mr. Sammon's sons became the lessee, and the purchaser of the slave William, who had buried the plate. This slave Sir John found at the Hall, and while he
tarried there for several hours on the day in question, the negro, assisted by four soldiers, disinterred the
plate, which filled two barrels. It was then distributed among forty soldiers, who placed it in their knapsacks, the quarter-master making a memorandum of the name of each with the article of plate intrusted to
him, and in this way it was carried safely to Montreal.
Johnson Hall, with seven hundred acres of land, had been sold by the commissioners to James Caldwell,
of Albany, for $30,000, the payment to be made in public securities. To show the real value of such seourities-in other words, the state of public credit of the colonies about 1779, it may be mentioned that
Mr. Caldwell immediately resold the property for $7000, $23,000 less on paper than he gave for it, and
then made money by the operation. He had bought the securities for a trifle, and received hard cash from
the man who purchased from him.
3 While halting on the day after leaving Johnstown, the elder Mr. Sammons requested a personal interview with Sir John, which was granted. He asked to be released, but the baronet hesitated. The old
man then recurred to former times, when he and Sir John were friends and neighbors. "See what you
have done, Sir John," he said. "You have taken myself and my sons prisoners, burned my dwelling to
ashes, and left the helpless members of my family with no covering but the heavens above, and no prospect
but desolation around them. Did we treat you in this manner when you were in the power of the Tryon
county Committee? Do you remember when we were consulted by General Schuyler, and you agreed to
surrender your arms? Do you not remember that you then agreed to remain neutral, and that upon that
condition General Schuyler left you at liberty on your parole? Those conditions you violated. You went
off to Canada; enrolled yourself in the service of the king; raised a regiment of the disaffected, who abandoned their country with you; and you have now returned to wage a cruel war against us, by burning our
dwellings and robbing us of our property. I was your friend in the Committee of Safety, and exerted myT




290                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Pursuit of Johnson. Incursion of Rosa and Butler. Action of Willett. Battle at Johnstown. Adventures of the Sammonses.
A —.
Governor Clinton was at Kingston, Ulster county, when intelligence of this invasion
reached him.    He repaired immediately to Albany, and sent such forces, composed of militia and volunteers, as he could raise, to overtake and intercept the invaders.  One division,
commanded by the governor in person, pushed forward to Lakes George and Champlain,
and at Ticonderoga was joined by a body of militia from the New Hampshire Grants. At
the same time Colonel Van Schaick, with eight hundred militia, pursued the enemy by way
of Johnstown. But Sir John was far beyond the reach of pursuers, and too cautious to take
a route so well known as that-of the lakes. He kept upon the Indian paths through the
wilderness west of the Adirondack Mountains, and escaped. This was the last visit made
by Johnson to the Mohawk Valley during the war, but his friends invaded the settlement
the following year, and near Johnson Hall a pretty severe battle took place.
On the 24th of October, 1781, Major Ross and Walter Butler, at the head of about one
thousand troops, consisting of regulars, Indians, and Tories, approached the settlement so
stealthily that they reached Warren Bush (not far from the place where Sir Peter Warren
made his first settlement, and the place of residence of Sir William Johnson on his arrival
in America) without their approach being suspected. The settlement was broken into so
suddenly that the people had no chance for escape. Many were killed, and their houses
plundered and destroyed. As soon as Colonel Willett, then stationed at Fort Rensselaer,
was informed of this incursion, he marched with about four hundred men for Fort Hunter,
on the Mohawk. Colonel Rowley, of Massachusetts, with a part of his force, consisting of
Tryon county militia, was sent round to fall upon the enemy in the rear, while Willett should
attack them in front.   The belligerents met a short distance above Johnson Hall, and a battle immediately ensued. The militia under Willett soon gave way, and fled in great confusion to the stone church in the village; and the enemy would have had an easy victory,
self to save your person from injury. And how am I requited? Your Indians have murdered and scalped
old Mr. Fonda, at the age of eighty years, a man who, I have heard your father say, was like a father to
him when he settled in Johnstown and Kingsborough. You can not succeed, Sir John, in such a warfare,
and you will never enjoy your property more!" The appeal had its effect. The baronet made no reply,
but the old gentleman was set at liberty, and a span of his horses was restored to him. A Tory, named
Doxstader (whom we shall soon meet again at Currytown), was seen upon one of the old man's horses,
and refused to give him up. After the war he returned to the neighborhood, when Mr. Sammons had him
arrested, and he was obliged to pay the full value of the animal.
The two elder sons of Mr. Sammons, Frederic and Jacob, were taken to Canada. At Chambly they
concerted a plan for escape by the prisoners rising upon the garrison, but the majority of them were too
weak-hearted to attempt it. The brothers, however, succeeded in making their escape a few days afterward, and the narrative of their separate adventures, before they reached their homes, forms a wonderful
page in the volume of romance. Itmay be found in detail in the second volume of Stone's Life of Brant.
Jacob, after a toilsome journey from St. John's to Pittstown, in Vermont, through the trackless wilderness,
reached Schenectady in safety, a few weeks after his capture, where he found his wife and children. But
Frederic was recaptured, and it was nearly two years before he returned. His adventures in making his
escape from an island among the St. Lawrence rapids, above Montreal, and his subsequent travel through
the wilderness from the St. Lawrence to the Mohawk, with a fellow-prisoner, partake of all the stirring
character of the most exciting legendary fiction. Almost naked, and with matted hair, they entered the
streets of Schenectady, a wonder and a terror to the inhabitants at first, but, when known, they were the
objects of profound regard. A strange but well-attested fact is related in connection with the return of
Frederic. After the destruction of his property upon the Mohawk, the elder Sammons and his family returned to Marbletown, in Ulster county, whence they had emigrated. On the morning after his arrival at
Schenectady, Frederic dispatched a letter to his father, by the hand of an officer on his way to Philadelphia.
He left it at the house of Mr. Levi De Witt, five miles distant from Mr. Sammons's. On the night when
the letter was left there, Jacob dreamed that his brother Frederic was living, and that a letter, announcing
the fact, was at Mr. De Witt's. The dream was twice repeated, and the next morning he related it to the
family. They had long given Frederic up as lost, and laughed at Jacob for his belief in the teachings of
dreams. Jacob firmly believed that such a letter was at De Witt's, and thither he repaired and inquired
for it. He was told that no such letter was there, but urged a more thorough search, when it was found
behind a barrel, where it had accidentally fallen. Jacob requested Mr. De Witt to open the letter and examine it, while he should recite its contents. It was done, and the dreamer repeated it word for word!
Ftederic lived to a good old age, enjoying the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens. He was chosen
ad elector of President and Vice-president in 1837.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


291


Retreat of Ross and Butler.  Fight on West Canada Creek. % Death of Walter Butler.  Last Battle near the Mohawk.
had not Rowley emerged from the woods at that moment, and fallen upon their rear. It
was then nearly four o'clock in the afternoon, and the fight was kept up with bravery on
both sides until dark, when the enemy retreated, or rather fled, in great disorder, to the
woods. During the engagement, and while Rowley was keeping the enemy at bay, Willett
succeeded in rallying the militia, who returned to the fight. The Americans lost about forty
killed and wounded. The enemy had about the same number killed, and fifty made prisoners.
The enemy continued their retreat westward nearly all the night after the battle, and
early in the morning Willett started in pursuit. He halted at Stone Arabia, and sent forward a detachment of troops to make forced marches to Oneida Lake, where, he was informed, the enemy had left their boats, for the purpose of destroying them. In the mean while
he pressed onward with the main force to the German Flats, where he learned that the advanced party had returned without accomplishing their errand. From a scouting party he
also learned that the enemy had taken a northerly course, along the West Canada Creek.
With about four hundred of his choicest men, he started in pursuit, in the face of
a driving snow-storm.  He encamped that night in a thick wood upon the Royal
Grant,1 and sent out a scouting party, under Jacob Sammons, to search for the enemy. Sammons discovered their forces a few miles in advance of the Americans, and, after reconnoitering their camp, communicated the fact to Willett that they were well armed with bayonets. That officer deferred his meditated night attack upon them, and continued his. pursuit early in the morning, but the enemy were as quick on foot as he. In the afternoon he
came up with a lagging party of Indians, and a brisk but short skirmish ensued.  Some of
the Indians were killed, some taken prisoners, and others escaped. Willett kept upon the
enemy's trail along the creek, and toward evening came up with the main body at a place
called Jerseyfield, on the northeastern side of Canada Creek.  A running fight ensued; the
Indians became terrified, and retreated across the stream at a ford, where Walter Butler,
who was their leader, attempted to rally them. A brisk fire was kept up across the creek
by both parties for some time, and Butler, who was watching the fight from behind a tree,
was shot in the head by an Oneida, who knew him and took deliberate aim. His troops
thereupon fled in confusion.  The Oneida bounded across the creek, and found his victim
not dead, but writhing in great agony.  The Tory cried out,," Save me.  Save me!  Give
me quarters!" while the tomahawk of the warrior glittered over his head.  " Me give you
Sherry Falley quarters!" shouted the Indian, and buried his hatchet in the head of his enemy.   He took his scalp, and, with the rest of the Oneidas, continued the pursuit of the flying host. The body of Butler was left to the beasts and birds, without burial, for charity
toward one so ]lood-stained had no dwelling-place in the bosoms of his foes. The place
where he fell is still called Butler's Ford.. The pursuit was kept up until evening, when
Willett, completely successful by entirely routing and dispersing the enemy, wheeled his victorious little army, and returned to Fort Dayton in triumph.2 This was the closing scene
of the bloody drama performed in the Valley of the Mohawk during the Revolution, a tragedy terrible in every aspect; and we, who are dwelling in the midst of peace and abundance,
and so far removed, in point of time, from the events, that hardly an actor is living to tell us
of scenes that seem almost fabulous, can not properly estimate the degree of moral and physical courage, long suffering, patient endurance, and hopeful vigilance which the people of that
day exhibited. It was a terrible ordeal for the patriots. Like the three holy men of Babylon, they passed through a " fiery furnace heated one seven times more than it was wott to
1 The Royal Grant, it will be remembered, was the tract of land which Sir William Johnson shrewdly
procured from Hendrick, the Mohawk sachem, by outwitting him in a game of dreaming.-See page 106.
a The sufferings of the retreating army must have been many and acute. The weather was cold, and
in their hasty flight many of them had cast away their blankets, to make their progress more speedy. The
loss of the Americans in this pursuit was only one man; that of the enemy is not known. It must have
been very great. Colonel Willett, in his dispatch to Governor Clinton, observed, " The fields of Johnstown,
the brooks and rivers, the hills and mountains, the deep and gloomy marshes through which they had to pass,
they only could tell; and perhaps the officers who detached them on the expedition."




292


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Return to Fultonville.  The Sammons House.  Local Historians.  The departed Heroes.  The Kane House.
be," yet they came out unscathed-" neither were their coats changed nor the smell of fire
had passed on them." We are yet to visit Currytown, Sharon Springs, and Cherry Valley,
and note some incidents of the civil war, reserved for record here, and then we shall leave
old Tryon county, with the pleasant anticipations of the " homeward-bound."
We returned to Fultonville, from our excursion to Johnstown, by the western road, and
passed the premises formerly owned by Sampson Sammons, near the winding Cayadutta.
The house, which was built upon the foundation of the one destroyed by the miscreants under
Johnson, has a venerable appearance; but the trailing vines that cover its porch, and the
air of comfort that surrounds it, hide all indications of the desolation of former times.  We
arrived at Fultonville in time to dine, and there I spent an hour pleasantly and profitably
with Jeptha R. Sirnms, Esq., the author of a ( History of Schoharie County and the Border
Wars of New York," a work of much local and general interest, and a valuable companion
to Campbell's, Annals of Tryon County."  It is greatly to be lamented that men like Campbell and Simms, and Miner, of Wyoming, who gathered a large proportion of the facts concerning the Revolution from the lips of those who participated in its trials, have not been
found in every section of our old thirteen states equally industrious and patriotic.  It is now
too late, for the men of the Revolution are mostly in the grave.  I have found but few, very
few, still alive and sufficiently vigorous to tell the tales of their experience with perspicuity;
and a hundred times, in the course of my pilgrimage to the grounds where
Discord raised its trumpet notes
And carnage beat its horrid drum,
have my inquiries for living patriots of that war been answered with " Five years ago Captain A. was living;" or "( three years ago Major B. died;" or ( last autumn Mother C. was
buried;" all of whom were full of the unwritten history of the Revolution.  But they are
gone, and much of the story of our struggle for independence is buried with them. They
are gone, but not forgotten:..........."They need
No statue or inscription to reveal
Their greatness. ~ It is round them; and the joy
With which their children tread the hallow'd ground
That holds their venerated bones, the peace
That smiles on all they fought for, and the wealth
That clothes the land they rescued-these, though mute,
As feeling ever is when deepest-these
Are monuments more lasting than the fanes
Rear'd to the kings and demi-gods of old."
PERCIVAL.
I returned to Fort Plain, by rail-road, toward evening, and the next morning, accompanied by the friend with whom we were sojourning, I started for Currytown.' We went by
the way of Canajoharie, a pleasant little village on the canal, opposite Palatine, and thence
over the rugged hills southward. On our way to Canajoharie we
passed an old stone house which was erected before the Revolution,
and was used soon afterward by the brothers Kane, then the most extensive traders west of Albany.  An anecdote is related in connection
with the Kanes, which illustrates the proverbial shrewdness of Yankees, and the confiding nature of the old stock of Mohawk Valley
Dutchmen.   A peddler (who was, of course, a Yankee) was arrested
for the offense of traveling on the Sabbath, contrary to law, and taken
before a Dutch justice near Caughnawaga.  The peddler pleaded the  THE KANE HOUSE.
urgency of his business.  At first the Dutchman was inexorable, but
at length, on the payment to him of a small sum, agreed to furnish the Yankee with a written permit to travel on.  The justice, not being expert with the pen, requested the peddler
to write the ", pass." He wrote a draft upon the Kanes for fifty dollars, which the unsus

I The name is derived from William Curry, the patentee of the lands in that settlement.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


293


Dutch Magistrate and Yankee Peddler.     Currytown.        Jacob Dievendorff.      Indian Method of Scalping.


pecting Dutchman signed.     The draft was presented and duly honored, and the Yankee
went on his way rejoicing. A few days afterward the justice was called upon to pay the
amount of the draft. The thing was a mystery, and it was a long time before he could
comprehend it. All at once light broke in upon the matter, and the victim exclaimed, vehemently, in broken English, " Eh, yah!   I understhands it now.   Tish mine writin', and
dat ish de tam Yankee pass!"    He paid the money and resigned his office, feeling that it
was safer to deal in corn and butter with honest neighbors, than in law with Yankee interlopers.
We reached Currytown, a small village nearly four miles south of Canajoharie, at about
noon. The principal object of my visit there was to see the venerable Jacob Dievendorff,
who, with his family, was among               ing which was stockaded and used as a fort.
the sufferers when that settle-       -u       It is fast decaying, but the venerable owner
ment was destroyed by Indians               l\  allows time alone to work its destruction,
and Tories in July, 1781. Ac-    7,  L.    and will not suffer a board to be taken from
companied by his son-in-law;}'    ^:i     it.  The occurrences here have already
(Dr. Snow, of Currytown),         i              been recorded, by Campbell and Simms, as
we found the old patriot                            re< 9"  --  related to them long ago by Mr. Dievenbusily engaged in his barn,.;                           dorff and others, and from these
threshing grain; and, al-         /,    details I gather the following
though nearly eighty years    f'//?   /.         X   facts, adding such matters of
of age, he seemed almost     <:/'       f -  minterest as were communicated
as vigorous and active as most men are  ~     il         l i    to me by Mr. Dievendorff
at sixty.  His sight and hearing are some-                         himself and   his  near
what defective, but his intellect, as exhibit-          E l;      neighbor, the veneraed by his clear remembrance of the circum-    '                       ble John Keller.
stances of his early life, had lost but little           >    '         On the 9th of July
of its strength.  He is one                     <:       7\,, 1781,nearlyfivehundof the largest land-holders,.                            red Indians, and a few Loyalin Montgomery county,                                         ists, commanded by a Tory
owning   one thousand     '                       Il          named   Doxstader, attacked
fertile acres, lying in   — and destroyed the settlement
a single tract where    "'-                                   of Currytown, murdered sevthe scenes of his suf-    U               l          ]        eral of the inhabitants, and
ferings in early life                                   - -   carried others away prisoners.
occurred. In an or-      --                                   The house of Henry Lewis
chard, a   short dis-         -(represented in the
tance from his dwell-                              /                    engraving)     was
August, ing, the house                                                  picketed and used
1848. was still stand-                                                 for a fort.2   The
I here present a portrait of Mr. Dievendorff, which he kindly allowed me to make while he sat upon a
half bushel in his barn. Also, a sketch of the back of his head, showing its appearance where the scalp
was taken off. The building is a view of the one referred to in the text as the Currytown fort, now standing in Mr. Dievendorff's orchard. The method used by the Indians in scalping is probably not generally
known. I was told by Mr. Dievendorff and others familiar with the horrid practice that the scalping-knife
was a weapon not unlike, in appearance, the bowie-knife of the present day. The victim was usually stunned or killed by a blow from the tomahawk. Sometimes only a portion of the scalp (as was the case with
Mr. Dievendorff) was taken from the crown and back part of the head, but more frequently the whole scalp
was removed. With the dexterity of a surgeon, the Indian placed the point of his knife at the roots of the
hair on the forehead, and made a circular incision around the head. If the hair was short, he would raise
a lappet of the skin, take hold with his teeth, and tear it instantly from the skull. If long, such as the hair
of females, he would twist it around his hand, and, by a sudden jerk, bare the skull. The.scalps were then
tanned with the hair on, and often marked in such a manner that the owners could tell when and where they
were severally obtained, and whether they belonged to men or women. When Major Rogers, in 1759, destroyed the chief village of the St. Francis Indians, he found there a vast quantity of scalps, many of them
comically painted in hieroglyphics. They were all stretched on small hoops.
2 Mr. Dievendorff told me that on one occasion the fort was attacked by a party of Indians. There were




294                        PICTORIAL       FIELD-BO-OK
Attack on Currytown.  The Captives.  Expedition under Captain Gross.  Battle at New Dorlach, now Sharon Springs.
settlers, unsuspicious of danger, were generally at work in their fields when the enemy fell
upon them. It was toward noon when they emerged stealthily from the forest, and with
torch and tomahawk commenced the work of destruction. Among the sufferers were the
Dievendorffs, Kellers, Myerses, Bellingers, Tanners, and Lewises. On the first alarm, those
nearest the fort fled thitherward, and those more remote sought shelter in the woods.  Jacob
Dievendorff, the father of the subject of our sketch, escaped.  His son Frederic was overtaken, tomahawked, and scalped, on his way to the fort,1 and Frederic's brother Jacob, then
a lad eleven years old, was made prisoner. A negro named Jacob, two lads named Bellinger, Mary Miller, a little girl ten or twelve years old, Jacob Myers and his son, and two
others, were captured. The Indians then plundered and burned all the dwellings but the
fort and one belonging to a Tory, in all about twelve, and either killed or drove away most
of the cattle and horses in the neighborhood.  When the work of destruction was finished,
the enemy started off in the direction of New Dorlach, or Turlock (now Sharon) with their
prisoners and booty.
Colonel Willett was at Fort Plain when Currytown was attacked. On the previous day
he had sent out a scout of thirty or forty men, under Captain Gross, to patrol the country
for the two-fold purpose of procuring forage and watching the movements of the enemy.
They went in the direction of New Dorlach, and, when near the present Sharon Springs,
discovered a portion of the camp of the enemy in a cedar swamp.' Intelligence of this fact
reached Willett at the moment when a dense smoke, indicating the firing of a village, was
seen from Fort Plain, in the direction of Currytown.  Captain Robert M'Kean, with sixteen levies, was ordered to that place, with instructions to assemble as many of the militia
on the way as possible.  With his usual celerity, that officer arrived at the settlement in
time to assist in extinguishing the flames of some of the buildings yet unconsumed. Colonel Willett, in the mean time, was active in collecting the militia.  Presuming that the
enemy would occupy the same encampment that night, and being joined during the day by
the forces under M'Kean and Gross, he determined to make an attack upon them at midnight, while they were asleep.  His whole strength did not exceed one hundred and fifty
effective men, while the enemy's force, as he afterward learned, consisted of more than
double that number. The night was dark and lowering, and the dense forest that surrounded the swamp encampment of the enemy was penetrated only by a bridle path. His guide
became bewildered, and it was six o'clock in the morning before he came in sight of the enemy, who, warned of his approach, had taken a more advantageous position.  From this position it was desirable to draw them, and for that purpose Willett sent forward a detachment
from the main body, which he had stationed in crescent form on a ridge now seen on the;south side of the turnpike, opposite the swamp, who fired upon the Indians and then retreated.
The stratagem succeeded, for the Indians pursued them, and were met by Willett, advancing with one hundred men. MKean was left with a reserve in the rear, and fell furiously
upon the flank of the enemy. A desperate fight for a short time ensued, when the Indians
broke and fled, but kept up a fire from behind trees and rocks. Willett and his men, understanding their desultory warfare, pursued them with bullet and bayonet, until they relinquished the fight, and fled precipitately down their war-path toward the Susquehanna, leaving their camp and all their plunder behind. They left forty dead upon the field. The
American loss was five killed, and nine wounded and missing. The brave M'Kean was
several women, but only one man, in the fort. The savages approached stealthily along a ravine, a little
north of the fort, and were about to make an assault upon the frail fortification, when they were saluted
with a warm fire from it. There were several muskets in it, which the women loaded as fast as the man
could fire; and so rapid were the discharges, that the Indians, supposing quite a large garrison to be present, fled to the woods. The remains of the building are still scarred by many bullet marks.
1 He was not killed, but lay several hours insensible, when he was picked up by his uncle, Mr. Keller,
who carried him into the fort. He recovered, and lived several years, when he was killed by the falling
of a tree.
A part of this swamp may still be seen on the north side of the western turnpike, about two miles east
of the springs.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


296


Death of Captain M'Kean.  The Currytown Prisoners.  Dievendorff.  Sharon Springs.  Analysis of the Waters.
mortally wounded, and died at Fort Plain a few days after the return of the expedition to
that post.  I was informed by Mr. Lipe, at Fort Plain, that the body of the captain was
buried near the block-house, and that the fort was afterward called Fort MKean, in honor
of the deceased soldier.
At the time of the attack, the Indians had placed most of their prisoners on the horses
which they had stolen from Currytown, and each was well guarded. When they were
about to retreat before Willett, fearing the recapture of the prisoners, and the consequent
loss of scalps, the savages began to murder and scalp them. Young Dievendorff (my informant) leaped from his horse, and, running toward the swamp, was pursued, knocked down
by a blow of a tomahawk upon his shoulder, scalped, and left for dead.     Willett did not
bury his slain, but a detachment of militia, under Colonel Veeder, who repaired to the field
after the battle, entombed them, and fortunately discovered and proceeded to bury the bodies
of the prisoners who were murdered and scalped near the camp. Young Dievendorff, who
was stunned and insensible, was seen struggling among the leaves; and his bloody face being
mistaken for that of an Indian, one of the soldiers leveled his musket to shoot him. A fellow-soldier, perceiving his mistake, knocked up his piece and saved the lad's life. He was
taken to Fort Plain, and, being placed under the care of Dr. Faught, a German physician,
of Stone Arabia, was restored to health. It was five years, however, before his head was
perfectly healed; and when I saw him (August, 1848), it had the tender appearance and
feeling of a wound recently healed. He is still living (1849), in the midst of the settlement
of Currytown, which soon arose from its ashes, and is a living monument of savage cruelty
and the sufferings of the martyrs for American liberty.1
Toward evening we left Currytown for Cherry Valley, by the way of Sharon Springs.
The road lay through a beautiful, though very hilly, country. From the summits of some
of the eminences over which we passed the views were truly magnificent. Looking down
into the Canajoharie Valley from the top of its eastern slope, it appeared like a vast enameled basin, having its concavity garnished with pictures of rolling intervales, broad cultivated
fields, green groves, bright streams, villages, and neat farm-houses in abundance; and its
distant rim on its northern verge seemed beautifully embossed with wooded hills, rising one
above another in profuse outlines far away beyond the Mohawk.      We reached the Springs
toward sunset, passing the Pavilion on the way.2 They are in a broad ravine, and along
the margin of a hill; and near them the little village of Sharon has grown up.' Our stay
was brief-just long enough to have a lost shoe replaced by another upon our horse, and to
visit the famous fountains-for, having none of the " ills which flesh is heir to" of sufficient
malignity to require the infliction of sulphureted or chalybeate draughts, we were glad to
escape to the hills and vales less suggestive of Tophet and the Valley of Hinnom. How
any but invalids, who find the waters less nauseous than the allopathic doses of the shops,
The little girl (Mary Miller) was found scalped, but alive, and was taken, with the lad Dievendorff,
toward Fort Plain. She was very weak when found, and on taking a draught of cold water, just before
reaching the fort, instantly expired.
2 The Pavilion is a very large hotel, situated upon one of the loftiest summits in the neighborhood, and
commanding a magnificent view of the country. It was erected in 1836 by a New York company, and
is filled with invalids and other visitors during the summer.
3 The Sharon Sulphur Springs have been celebrated for their medical properties many years, and are
said to be equal in efficacy to those in Virginia. An analysis of the waters, made by Dr. Chilton, of New
York, gives the following result:
Sulphate of magnesia... 42.40 grains.
Sulphate of lime... 111.62
Chlorid of sodium.... 2.24  "
Chlorid of magnesium.. 2.40
Hydro-sulphate of sodium  g228
Hydro.sulphate of calcium
Sulphureted hydrogen gas.  16 cubic inches.
There is a chalybeate spring in the neighborhood. The whole region abounds in fossils, and is an interesting place for the geologist.




296                                   PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Arrival at Cherry Valley.       Judge Campbell and his Residence.         His Captivity.         Movements of Brant.


and, consequently, are happier than at home, can spend a, season" there, within smelling
distance of the gaseous fountains, and call the sojourn pleasure, is a question that can only
be solved by Fashion, the shrewd alchemist in whose alembic common miseries are transmuted into conventional happiness. The sulphureted hydrogen does not infect the Pavilion,
I believe, and a summer residence there secures the enjoyment of pure air and delightful
drives and walks in the midst of a lovely hill country.
It was quite dark when we reached Cherry Valley, eight miles west of Sharon Springs.'
This village lies imbosomed within lofty hills, open only on the southwest, in the direction
of the Susquehanna, and as we approached it along the margin of the mountain on its eastern border, the lights sparkling below us, like stars reflected from a lake, gave us the first
indication of its presence.  In the course of the evening we called upon the Honorable James
S. Campbell, who, at the time of the destruction of the settlement in 1778, was a child six
years of age. He is the son of Colonel Samuel Campbell, already mentioned, and father of
the Honorable William W. Campbell, of New York city, the author of the Annals of Tryon
County, so frequently cited. With his mother and family, he was carried into captivity.
He has a clear recollection of events in the Indian country while he was a captive, his arrival and stay at Niagara, his subsequent sojourn in Canada, and the final reunion of the
family after an absence and separation of two years.' His residence, a handsome modern
structure, is upon the site of the old family.mansion, which was stockaded and used as a
fort at the time of the invasion.  The doors
and window-shutters were made bullet-proof,
and the two barns that were included within
the ramparts were strengthened.
In a former chapter we have noticed that
Brant's first hostile movement, after his return from Canada and establishment of his
head-quarters at Oghkwaga, was an attempt
to cut off the settlement of Cherry Valley, or,
at least, to make captive the members of the
Ma soN  JDE CPBELL        active Committee of Correspondence.  It was
a sunny morning, toward the close of
May, when Brant and his warriors cautiously moved up to the brow of the lofty hill
on the east side of the town, to reconnoiter the settlement at their feet.  He was astonished
and chagrined on seeing a fortification where he supposed all was weak and defenseless, and
greater was his disappointment when quite a large and well-armed garrison appeared upon
the esplanade in front of Colonel Campbell's house.  These soldiers were not as formidable
as the sachem supposed, for they were only half-grown boys, who, full of the martial spirit
of the times, had formed themselves into companies, and, armed with wooden guns and
swords, had regular drills each day.  It was 'such a display, on the morning in question,
that attracted Brant's attention.  His vision being somewhat obstructed by the trees and
Cherry Valley derived its name, according to Campbell, from the following circumstance: " Mr. Dunlop [the venerable pastor whose family suffered at the time of the massacre in 1778], engaged in writing
some letters, inquired of Mr. Lindesay [the original proprietor of the soil] where he should date them, who
proposed the name of a town in Scotland. ' Mr. Dunlop, pointing to the fine wild cherry-trees and to the
valley, replied, ' Let us give our place an appropriate name, and call it Cherry Valley,' which was readily
agreed to." —  nnals of T2ryon County.
s The children of Mrs. Campbell were all restored to her at Niagara, except this one. In June, 1780,
she was sent to Montreal, and there she was joined by her missing boy. He had been with a tribe of the
Mohawks, and had forgotten his own language; but he remembered his mother, and expressed his joy at
seeing her, in the Indian language. Honorable William Campbell, late surveyor general of New York, was
her son. She lived until 1836, being then 93 years of age. She was the last survivor of the Revolutionary women in the region of the head waters of the Susquehanna.
3 This pleasant dwelling is upon the northern verge of the town, on the road leading from Cherry Valley to the Mohawk. The sketch was taken from the road.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


297.. -...


Brant deceived by Boys.  Death of Lieutenant Wormwood.  Shrewdness of Sitz.  "Brant's Rock."
shrubs in which he was concealed, he mistook the boys for full-grown soldiers, and, considering an attack dangerous, moved his party to a hiding-place at.the foot of the Tekaharawa
Falls, in a deep ravine north of the village, near the road leading to the Mohawk.' In that
deep, rocky glen, " where the whole scene was shadowy and almost dark even at mid-day,"
his warriors were concealed, while Brant and two or three followers hid themselves in ambush behind a large rock by the road side, for the purpose of obtaining such information as
might fall in his way.
On the morning of that day, Lieutenant Wormwood, a promising young officer of Palatine, had been sent from Fort Plain to Cherry Valley with the information, for the committee at the latter place, that a military force might be expected there the next day.  His
noble bearing and rich velvet dress attracted a good deal of attention at the village; and
when, toward evening, he started to return, accompanied by Peter Sitz, the bearer of some
dispatches, the people, in admiration, looked after him until he disappeared beyond the hill.
On leaving, he had cast down his portmanteau, saying, " I shall be back for it in the morning."  But he never returned.  As the two patriots galloped along the margin of the Tekaharawa Glen, they were hailed, but, instead of answering, they put spurs to their horses.
The warriors in ambush arose and fired a volley upon them. The lieutenant fell, and Brant,
rushing out from his concealment, scalped him with his own hands. Sitz was captured, and
his dispatches fell into the hands of Brant.  Fortunately they were double, and Sitz had the
presence of mind to destroy the genuine and deliver the fictitious to the sachem.  Deceived
by these dispatches concerning the strength of Cherry Valley, Brant withdrew to Cobelskill,
and thence to Oghkawaga, and the settlement was saved from destruction at that time.2  Its
subsequent fate is recorded in a previous chapter.
DISTANT VIEW OF CHERRY VALLEY.
Judge Campbell kindly offered to accompany us in the morning to "Brant's Rock."'
Having engaged to be back at Fort Plain in time the next day to take the cars for Albany at
two o'clock, and the distance from the "rock" being twelve miles, over a rough and hilly road,
an early start was necessary, for I wished to make a sketch of the village and valley, as also
I The Tekaharawa is the western branch of the Canajoharie or Bowman's Creek, which falls into the
Mohawk at Canajoharie, opposite Palatine.
2 Campbell's Annals..3 This rock, which is about four feet high, lies in a field on the  -:-  ~
left of the road leading from Cherry Valley to the Mohawk, about...
a mile and a half north of the residence of Judge Campbell. It is a  -.'fossiliferous mass, composed chiefly of shells. Behind this rock the  -         [i?,A,
body of Lieutenant Wormwood, lifeless and the head scalped, was
found by the villagers, who had heard the firing on the previous
evening. Judge Campbell, who accompanied us to the spot, point-  -   -
ed out the stump of a large tree by the road side, as the place where  -.. ---
Lieutenant Wormwood fell. The tree was pierced by many bul- -
lets, and Judge Campbell had extracted several of them when a boy.  BRANT'S ROCK.




298                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Morning Scene near Cherry Valley.  Light      Departure for Albany.   Woodworth's Battle
of the rock. At early dawn, the light not being sufficient to perceive the outline of distant
objects, I stood upon the high ridge north of the village which divides the head waters of the
eastern branch of the Susquehanna from the tributaries of the Mohawk. As the pale light
in the east grew ruddy, a magnificent panorama was revealed on every side; and as the
stars faded away, and trees, and fields, and hills, and the quiet village arose from the gloom;
and the sun's first rays burst over the eastern hills into the valley, lighting it up with sudden splendor, while the swelling chorus of birds and the hum of insects broke the stillness;
and the perfumes of flowers arose from the dewy grass like sweet incense, the delighted
spirit seemed to hear a voice in the quivering light, saying,
"From the quicken'd womb of the primal gloom
The sun roll'd black and bare,
Till I wove him a vest, for his Ethiop breast,
Of the threads of my golden hair;
And when the broad tent of the firmament
Arose on its airy spars,
I pencil'd the hue of its matchless blue,
And spangled it round with the stars.
I waken the flowers in their dew-spangled bowers,
The birds in their chambers of green,
And mountains and plain glow with beauty again
As they bask in my matinal sheen.
Oh, if such the glad worth of my presence to earth,
Though fitful and fleeting the while,
What glories must rest on the home of the blest,
Ever bright with the Deity's smile."
WILLIAM PITT PALMER.
On the north the Valley of the Canajoharie stretches away to the Mohawk, twelve miles
distant, whose course was marked by a white line of mist that skirted the more remote hills;
and on the south Cherry Valley extends down among the mountains toward the Susquehanna
proper, and formed the easy war-path to the settlement at its head, from Oghkwaga and Unadilla. From the bosom of the ridge whereon I stood spring the head waters of the eastern
branch of the Susquehanna and those of Canajoharie. I had finished the sketch here given
before the sun was fairly above the tree-tops, and, while the mist yet hovered over the Tehakawara, we were at Brant's Rock, within the sound of the tiny cascades. There we parted
from Judge Campbell, and hastened on toward Fort Plain, where we arrived in time to breakfast, and to take the morning train for Albany. Before leaving, let us take a parting glance
at the Revolutionary history of the Mohawk Valley, for we may not have another opportunity.
Soon after the irruption of Dockstader, or Doxstader, into the Currytown and New Dorlach settlements, a party of Tories and Indians made a descent upon Palatine, under the
conduct of a son of Colonel Jacob Klock. They were betrayed by one of their number, and
fled to the woods for safety, without accomplishing any mischief. At the German Flats and
in that vicinity several spirited rencounters took place between the enemy and the patriot
militia. One of them was marked by great bravery on the part of Captain Solomon Woodworth, and a small company of rangers which he had organized. He marched from Fort
Dayton to the Royal Grant for the purpose of observation. On the way he fell in with an
Indian ambush.   Without warning, his little band was surrounded by savages, who made
the forest ring with the war-whoop. One of the most desperate and bloody engagements of
the war ensued. Woodworth and a large number of his rangers were slain, and the victorious Indians took several of them prisoners. Only fifteen escaped.
Another affair occurred at a settlement called Shell's Bush, about five miles north of
Herkimer village, which deserves a passing notice. A wealthy German named John Christian Shell, or Schell, had built a block-house of his own, two stories high, the upper one projecting so as to allow the inmates to fire perpendicularly upon the assailants.' One sultry
At that time there were no less than twenty forts, so called, between Schenectady and Fort Schuyler.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                           299
Descent of Tories upon " Shell's Bush."  Shell's Block-house.  Furious Battle.  Capture of M'Donald.  Luther's Hymn.
afternoon in August, while the people were generally in their fields, Donald M'Donald, one
of the Scotch refugees from Johnstown, with a party of sixty Indians and Tories, made a
descent upon Shell's Bush.      The inhabitants mostly fled to Fort Dayton, but Shell and his
family took refuge in his block-house. He and two of his sons (he had eight in all) were at
work in the field. The two sons were captured, but the father and his other boys, who
were near, reached the block-house in safety.        It was finally besieged, but the assailants
were kept at a respectful distance by the garrison. Shell's wife loaded the muskets, while
her husband and sons discharged them with sure aim. M'Donald tried to burn the blockhouse, but was unsuccessful. He at length procured a crow-bar, ran up to the door, and
attempted to force it. Shell fired upon him, and so wounded him in the leg that he fell.
Instantly the beleaguered patriot opened the door and pulled the Scotchman within, a prisoner. He was well supplied with cartridges, and these he was obliged to surrender to his
captors.   The battle ceased for a time.     Shell knew the enemy would not attempt to burn
his castle while their leader was a prisoner within it, and, taking advantage of the lull in
the battle, he went into the second story, and composedly sang the favorite hymn of Luther
amid the perils that surrounded him in his controversies with the pope.' But the respite
was short. The enemy, maddened at the loss of several of their number killed, and their
commander a prisoner, rushed up to the block-house, and five of them thrust the muzzles of
their pieces through the loop-holes. Mrs. Shell seized an ax, and, with well-directed blows,
ruined every musket by bending the barrels. At the same time Shell and his sons kept up
a brisk fire, which drove the enemy off. At twilight he went to the upper story and called
out to his wife, in a loud voice, informing her that Captain Small was approaching from
Fort Dayton with succor.       In a few   minutes, with louder voice, he exclaimed, < Captain
Small, march your company round upon this side of the house. Captain Getman, you had
better wheel your men off to the left, and come upon that side." This was a successful
stratagem. There were no troops approaching, but the enemy, deceived by the trick, fled
to the woods. M'Donald was taken to Fort Dayton the next day, where his leg was amputated, but the blood flowed so freely that he died in a few hours.2      The two sons of Shell
They were generally strong dwellings stockaded, and so arranged that fifteen or twenty families might find
protection in each.
' The following is a literal translation of the hymn, made for the author of the Life of Brant by Professor' Bokum, of Harvard University. It is from a German hymn book published in 1741.
1.
A FIRM fortress is our God, a good defense and weapon;
He helps us free from all our troubles which have now befallen us.
The old evil enemy, he is now seriously going to work;
Great power and much cunning are his cruel equipments,
There is none like him on the earth.
2.
With our own strength nothing can be done, we are very soon lost:
For us the right man is fighting, whom God himself has chosen.
Do you ask, Who is he? His name is Jesus Christ,
The Lord Jehovah, and there is no other God;
He must hold the field.
3.
And if the world were full of devils, ready to devour us,
We are by no means much afraid, for finally we must overcome
The prince of this world, however badly.he may behave,
He can not injure us, and the reason is, because he is the judge;
A little word can lay him low.
4.
That word they shall suffer to remain, and not to be thanked for either;
He is with us in the field, with his spirit and his gifts.
If they take from us body, property, honor, child, and wife,
Let them all be taken away, they have yet no gain from it,
The kingdom of heaven must remain to us.
9 M'Donald wore a silver-mounted tomahawk, which Shell took from him. Its handle exhibited thirtytwo scalp notches, the tally of horrid deeds in imitation of his Indian associates.




300


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Death of Shell and his Son.  Cessation of Hostilities.  Departure from Fort Plain.  Albany.  Hendrick Hudson.
were carried into Canada, and they asserted that nine of the wounded enemy died on the
way. Their loss on the ground was eleven killed and six wounded, while not one of the
defenders of the block-house was injured.  Soon after this event Shell was fired upon by
some Indians, while at work in his field with his boys.  He was severely wounded, and one
of his boys was killed. The old man was taken to the fort, where he died of his wound.'
During this summer the Tories and Indians went down upon Warwasing and other
17 portions of the frontier settlements of Ulster and Orange counties.  These expeditions
will be elsewhere considered.  The irruption of Ross and Butler into the Johnstown settlement in October, and their repulse by Colonel Willett, have been related. With that transaction closed the hostilities in Tryon county for the year, and the surrender of Cornwallis
October 19, and his whole army at Yorktown, in Virginia, so dispirited the Loyalists that
1781.  they made no further demonstrations, by armed parties, against the settlements.
Attempts, some of them successful, were made to carry off prominent citizens.' The Indians still hung around the borders of the settlements in small parties during 1782, but they
accomplished little beyond producing alarms and causing general uneasiness. Peace ensued,
the hostile savages retired to the wilderness, a few of the refugee Tories, tame and submissive, returned, and the Mohawk Valley soon smiled with the abundance produced by peaceful industry.
We left Fort Plain toward noon, and reached Albany in time to depart for New York
the same evening. Columns of smoke were yet rising from the smouldering ruins of a large
portion of the business part of the city lying near the river, south of State Street; and the
piers along the basin, black and bare, exhibited a mournful contrast to the air of busy activity that enlivened them when we passed through the place a few weeks before. I have
been in Albany many times; let us take a seat upon the promenade deck of the Isaac Newton, for the evening is pleasant, and, as we glide down the Hudson, chat a while about the
Dutch city and its associations, and its sister settlement Schenectady, and thus close our
FIRST TOUR AMONG THE SCENES OF THE REVOLUTION.
The site of Albany was an Indian settlement, chiefly of the Mohawk tribes, long before
Hendrick Hudson sailed up the North River. It was called Scagh-negh-ta-da, a word signifying the end of the pine woods, or beyond the pine woods.  Such, and equally appropriate, was also the name of a settlement on the Mohawk, at the lower end of the valley, which
still retains the appellation, though a little Anglicised in orthography, being spelled Schenectady. From the account given in Juet's Journal, published in the third volume of Purchas's
Pilgrimages, of Hudson's voyage up the river, it is supposed that he proceeded in his vessel
(the Half Moon) as far as the present site of Albany, and perhaps as high as Troy.3 But
he left no colony there, and the principal fruit of his voyage, which he carried back to the
Old World, was intelligence of the discovery of a noble river, navigable one hundred and
sixty miles, and passing through the most fertile and romantic region imaginable. This
Stone's Life of Brant.
9 The most prominent Tories engaged in this business were Bettys and Waltermeyer. We have noticed
in another chapter the attempt of the latter to abduct General Schuyler. Among the prisoners thus made
by these two miscreants, from Ballston, were Samuel Nash, Joseph Chaird, Uri Tracy, Samuel Patchin,
Epenetus White, John Fulmer, and two brothers named Bontas. They were all taken to Canada, and,
after being roughly treated, were either exchanged, or became free at the conclusion of the war.
3 Henry or Hendrick Hudson was a native of England. While seeking a northwest passage to Japan
and China, he explored the coasts of Greenland and Labrador in 1607-8. After returning to England
from a second voyage, he went to Holland and entered the service of the Dutch East India Company, who
fitted out the Half Moon for him to pursue his discoveries. It was during this voyage that he sailed up the
river which bears his name. The next year (1610) he was sent out by an association of gentlemen, and
in that voyage discovered the great bay at the north called Hudson's Bay, where he wintered. In the spring
of 1611 he endeavored to complete his discoveries, but, his provisions failing, he was obliged to relinquish
the attempt and make his way homeward. Going out of the straits from the bay, he threatened to set one
or two of his mutinous crew on shore. These, joined by others, entered his cabin at night, pinioned his
arms behind him, and with his sons, and seven of the sick and most infirm on board, he was put into a
shallop and set adrift. He was never heard of afterward.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


301


Early History of Albany.     Fort Orange.       First Stone House.      The Church.       The Portrait of Hudson

discovery was made early in the autumn of 1609. As soon as the intelligence reached the
1610. Dutch East India Company, they sent out men to establish trading posts in the country.
These traders                                                ed in 1614, and the
ascended the river                                                 place was named, by
and built a block-                                                 the Dutch, Beaverhouse on the north                                                 wyck,   or  Beaver
point of Boyd's Isl-     /                                         town, from  the cirand, a little below                                                cumstance that great
Albany; and it may. -                      numbers of beavers
be said that in 1612                                               were found   there.
Albany was founded,                                                A fortification, callfor in that year the                                                      O ed Fort Orange, was
first permanent trad-,                        builtin 1623.' The
ing post was estab-                                                town   retained  its
lished there.  Next                                                original name until
to  Jamestown, in                      /        '1664,                     when   the
Virginia, it was the                                               New    Netherlands
earliest  European                                                 (as the country upon
settlement   within                                                the Hudson was callthe thirteen original                                              ed) passed into the
colonies.  A tempo-                 HENDBICK HUDSON.2              hands of the Enrary fort was erect-                                               glish.  It then received the name of Albany, one of the titles of James, duke of York, the brother of Charles
II., afterward King James II. of England.
The first permanent settlement that was made at Albany (the traders resorting thither
only in the autumn and winter) was in 1626, and from that time until 1736 many respectable Dutch families came over and established themselves there and in the vicinity. Among
them  occur the names of Quackenboss, Lansing, Bleecker, Van Ness, Pruyn, Van Wart,
Wendell, Van Eps, and Van Rensselaer, names familiar to the readers of our history, and
their descendants are numerous among us. The first stone building, except the fort, was
erected at Albany in 1647, on which occasion "eight ankers" (one hundred and twentyeight gallons) of brandy were consumed.' About this time the little village of Beaverwyck
was stockaded with strong wooden pickets or palisades, the remains of which were visible
until 1812.  The government was a military despotism, and so rigorous were the laws that
quite a number of settlers left it and established themselves upon the present site of Schenectady, about one hundred years since. A small church was erected in 1655, and the Dutch
East India Company sent a bell and a pulpit for it, about the time when its first pastor, 1
Rev. Gideon Schaats, sailed for Beaverwyck.  It became too small for the congregation, and in 1715 a new and larger edifice was erected on its site.  This stood about ninetytwo years, in the open area formed by the angle of State, Market, and Court Streets.
Albany had become a considerable town when Kalm visited it in 1749. He says the
people all spoke Dutch.  The houses stood with the gable ends toward the streets, and the
water gutters at the eaves, projecting far over the streets, were a great annoyance to the
people.  The cattle, having free range, kept the streets dirty.  The people were very social,
Eight curious pieces of ordnance were mounted upon the ramparts of Fort Orange, called by the Dutch,
according to Vander Kempt, stien-gestucken, or stone pieces, because they were loaded with stone instead
of iron balls. These cannon were formed of long stout iron bars laid longitudinally, and bound with iron
hoops. Their caliber was immense. The fort does not seem to have been a very strong work, for in 1639
a complaint was made to the Dutch governor that the fort was in a state of miserable decay, and that the
"hogs had destroyed a part of it."
3 This picture is copied from a painting said to be from life, now in the possession of the Corporation of
the city of New York, and hanging in the "Governor's Room," in the City Hall. It was in the old Stadt
House, and was in existence in Gove ',jr Stuyvesant's time.
3 Letter of the commissary, De ' /,iontagnie, to the Dutch governor of New Amsterdam (New York).




302


PICTORIAAL FI1ELD-~BOOK


Kalm's Description of Albany.  Its Incorporation.  Destruction of Schenectady.  Colonial Convention.  Walter Wilie.
and the spacious stoops, or porches, were always filled at evening, in summer, with neighbors mingling in chit-chat.  They knew nothing of stoves; their chimneys were almost as
broad as their houses; and the people made wampum, a kind of shell on strings, used as
money, to sell to Indians and traders.'  They were very cleanly in their houses; were frugal in their diet, and integrity was a prevailing virtue. Their servants were chiefly negroes.
In 1777, according to Dr. Thatcher (Military Journal, p. 91), Albany contained " three hundred houses, chiefly in the Gothic style, the gable ends to the streets."  He mentions the " ancient stone church," and also ", a decent edifice called City Hall, which accommodates generally their assembly and courts of justice." It also had ", a spacious hospital," erected during the French war. It was incorporated a city in 1686, and was made the capital of the
state soon after the Revolution.
Albany was an important place, in a military point of view, from the close of the seventeenth century until the hostilities, then begun between the English and French colonies,
ceased in 1763. It was the place where councils with the Indians were held, and whence
-xpeditions took their departure for the wilderness beyond. It never became a prey to French
Iqlest, though often threatened.  In the depth of the winter of 1690 a party of two hundFrenchmen and Canadians, and fifty Indians, chiefly Caughnawaga Mohawks, sent out
February 8, by Frontenac, menaced Albany.   They fell upon Schenectady at midnight, mas169.    sacred and made captive the inhabitants, and laid the town in ashes.    Sixtythree persons were murdered and twenty-seven carried into captivity. The church and
sixty-three houses were burned. A few persons escaped to Albany, traveling almost twenty
miles in the snow, with no other covering than their night-clothes. Twenty-five of them
lost their limbs in consequence of their being frozen on the way.  Schenectady, like Albany,
was stockaded, having two entrance gates. These were forced open by the enemy, and the
first intimation the inhabitants had of danger was the bursting in of their doors.2 Informed
that Albany was strongly garrisoned, the marauders, thinking it not prudent to attack it,
turned their faces toward Canada with their prisoners and booty. The settlement suffered
some during the French and Indian war, but it was rather too near the strong post of Albany to invite frequent visits from the enemy. It is said that Schenectady was the principal seat of the Mohawks before the confederacy of the five Iroquois nations was formed.
One of the most prominent events that occurred at Albany, which has a remote connection with our Revolution, was the convention of colonial delegates held there in 1754. For
a long time the necessity for a closer political union on the part of the English colonies had
been felt. They had a common enemy in the French, who were making encroachments
upon every interior frontier, but the sectional feelings of the several colonies often prevented
that harmony of action in the raising of money and troops for the general service which
proper efficiency required. It was also evident that the Indians, particularly the Six Nations of New York, were becoming alienated from the English, by the influence of French
emissaries among them, and a grand council, in which the several English colonies might
be represented, was thought not only expedient, but highly necessary.   Lord Holderness,
X Wampum is made of the thick and blue part of sea clam-shells. The thin covering of this part being
split off, a hole is drilled in it, and the form is. produced and the pieces made smooth by a grindstone. The
form is that of the cylindrical glass beads called bugles. When finished, they are strung upon small hempen
cords about a foot long. In the manufacture of wampum, from six to ten strings are considered a day's
work. A considerable quantity is manufactured at the present day in Bergen county, New Jersey.
2 Walter Wilie, who was one of a party sent from Albany to Schenectady as soon as the intelligence
reached that place of the destruction of the town, wrote a ballad, in the style of Chevy Chase, in which the
circumstances are related in detail. He says of his ballad, " The which I did compose last night in the
space of one hour, and am now writing, the morning of Friday, June 12th, 1690." He closes it with,
" And here I end the long ballad,
The which you just have redde;
I wish that it may stay on earth
Long after I am dead."
It will be found in the Appendix.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


303


Proceedings of the Colonial Convention.  Names of the Delegates.  Plan of Union submitted by Franklin.
the English Secretary of State, accordingly addressed a circular letter to all the colonies,
proposing a convention, at Albany, of committees from     the several colonial assemblies, the
chief design of which was proclaimed to be the renewal of treaties with the Six Nations.
Seven of the colonies, namely, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut,
Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, responded to the call, and the convention assembled at Albany, in the old City Hall, on the 19th of June, 1754.1 James Delancy was
chosen president of the convention. The chiefs of the Six Nations were in full attendance,
their principal speaker being Hendrick, the sachem afterward killed near Lake George while
in the service of the English. The proceedings were opened by a speech to the Indians from
Delancy; and while the treaty was in progress, the convention was invited, by the Massachusetts delegates, to consider whether the union of the colonies, for mutual defense, was not,
under existing circumstances, desirable, The General Court of Massachusetts had empowered its representatives to enter into articles of union and confederation.   The suggestion
was favorably received, and a committee, consisting of one member from each colony, was
appointed.'   Several plans were proposed.    Dr. Franklin, whose fertile mind had conceived
the necessity of union, and matured a plan before he went to Albany, now offered an outline in writing, which was adopted in committee, and reported to the convention. The subject was debated, hand in hand," as Franklin observes, " with the Indian business daily,"
for twelve consecutive days, and finally the report, substantially as drawn by him, was adopted, the Connecticut delegates alone dissenting.3 It was submitted to the Board of Trade,
but that body did not approve of it or recommend it to the king, while the colonial assemblies were dissatisfied with it.  " The assemblies did not adopt it," says Franklin,, as they
all thought there was too much prerogative in it, and in England it was judged to have too
much of the democratic." The Board of Trade had already proposed a plan of their own
-a grand assembly of colonial governors and certain select members of their several councils, with power to draw on the British treasury, the sums thus drawn to be reimbursed by
taxes imposed on the colonies by the British Parliament. This did not suit the colonists at
all, and Massachusetts specially instructed her agent in England ", to oppose every thing that
shall have the remotest tendency to raise a revenue in America for any public uses or servThe following are the names of the commissioners from the several states:
New York.-James Delancy, Joseph Murray, William Johnson, John Chambers, William Smith.
Massachusetts.-Samuel Welles, John Chandler, Thomas Hutchinson, Oliver Partridge, John Worthington.
New Hampshire.-Theodore Atkinson, Richard Wibird, Mesheck Weare, Henry Sherburne.
Connecticut.-William Pitkin, Roger Wolcott, Elisha Williams.
Rhode Island.-Stephen Hopkins, Martin Howard.
Pennsylvania.-John Penn, Benjamin Franklin, Richard Peters, Isaac Norris.
Maryland.-Benjamin Tasker,* Benjamin Barnes.t
2 The committee consisted of Hutchinson of Massachusetts, Atkinson of New Hampshire, Pitkin of Connecticut, Hopkins of Rhode Island, Smith of New York, Franklin of Pennsylvania, and Tasker of Maryland.
3 The plan proposed a grand council of forty-eight members-seven from Virginia, seven from Massachusetts, six from Pennsylvania, five from Connecticut, four each from New York, Maryland, and the two
Carolinas, three from New Jersey, and two each from New Hampshire and Rhode Island. The number of
forty-eight was to remain fixed, no colony to have more than seven nor less than two members; but the apportionment to vary within those limits, with the rates of contribution. This council was to have the general
management of civil and military affairs. It was to have control of the armies, the apportionment of men
and money, and to enact general laws, in conformity with the British Constitution, and not in contravention
of statutes passed by the imperial Parliament. It was to have for its head a president general, appointed
by the crown, to possess a negative or veto power on all acts of the council, and to have, with the advice
of the council, the appointment of all military officers and the entire management of Indian affairs. Civil
officers were to be appointed by the council, with the consent of the president.-Pitkin, i., 143. It is remarkable how near this plan, submitted by Franklin, is the basis of our Federal Constitution. Coxe, of Net
Jersey, who was Speaker of the Assembly of that province, proposed a similar plan in his " Carolana" in
1722, and William Penn, seeing the advantage of union, made a similar proposition as early as 1700.Hildreth, ii., 444.
* This name is differently spelled by different writers. Pitkin, in his text (vol. i., p. 142), writes it Trasker, and in the list of
delegates in his appendix (429) it is Trasher.
t Williams, in his Staesnan's Manual, has it Abraham instead of Benjamin. I have followed Pitkin.




304             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Early Patriotism of Itasachusette.  Albany in the Revolution.  General Schuyler's Mansion.  Return to New York.
ices of government."  This was the first proposition to tax the colonies without their consent, and thus early we find Massachusetts raising her voice as fearlessly against it as she
did twenty years afterward, when her boldness drew down upon her the vengeance of the
British government.
During the Revolution, and particularly after the British took possession of New York
city, Albany was the focus of revolutionary power in the state.  There the Committee of
Safety had its sittings; and, after the destruction of the forts in the Highlands, and the burning of Esopus (Kingston), it was generally the head-quarters of the military and civil
officers in the Northern Department.  There the captive officers of Burgoyne's invading
army were hospitably entertained by General Schuyler and his family at their spacious mansion, the.L, half a mile below the town."  The house is still
-         standing, at the head of Schuyler Street, a little west of South
Pearl Street, upon an eminence some thirty feet high in front,,                and completely imbosomed in trees and shrubbery.  Within
VA             it the Baroness Reidesel was entertained, and there occurred
those events mentioned by her and Chastellux, which I have
noticed in a preceding chapter (pages 91 and 92).    It was
the scene, also, of the attempted abduction of the general by
the Tory, Waltemeyer, when he robbed the patriot of his plate
in 1781, mentioned on page 223.   There La Fayette, Steuben, Rochambeau, and other foreign officers of eminence were
entertained, and there the noblest of the land, as well as distinguished travelers from abroad, were frequent guests during
the life of the owner; and its doors were opened as freely when
-L     - - l   I       the voice of poverty pleaded for assistance as when the great
claimed hospitality and courtesy.
We arrived in New York on the morning of the 1st of
SCHUYLEB'S MANSION.1    September.  The air was cool and bracing, the day was fine,
and the lately-deserted streets and shops were thronged with
mingled citizens and strangers plunged as deeply in the maze of business as if no forgetfulness of the leger and till had occurred while babbling brooks and shady groves wooed them to
Nature's worship.  There I rested a few days, preparatory to a visit to the beautiful valley
"On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming!"


I This view is from Schuyler Street. The edifice is of brick, having a closed octagonal porch or vestibule in front. It was built by Mrs. Schuyler while her husband was in England in 1760-1. The old family mansion, large and highly ornamented, in the Dutch style, stood nearly upon the site of the present City
Hall, between State and Washington Streets. It was taken down in 1800.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


305




Departure for Wyoming.   Newark and its Associations.  The old Academy.  Trip to Morristown.
CHAPTER XIV.
"The sultry summer past, September comeA,
Soft twilight of the slow, declining year;
All mildness, soothing loneliness, and peace;
The fading season ere the falling come,
More sober than the buxom, blooming May,
And therefore less the favorite of the world,
But dearest month of all to pensive minds."
CARLOS WILCOX.
N  the morning of the 12th of September I left New York on my
SECOND TOUR.   My chief destination was Wyoming, after a visit to
a few noteworthy places in New Jersey, of which Morristown was
the first.  I was in Newark just in time to be too late for the morning train for Morristown.  Newark is beautiful and eligible in location, and a thriving city; but it has only a few scraps of Revolu-            tionary history, exclusively its own, for the entertainment of an in-.. -       quirer.  The village contained about one thousand inhabitants at
that time.  British, republicans, and Hessians were alternately billeted upon the people;
and, being on the line of travel from New York to Brunswick and Trenton, its monotony was
often broken by the passage of troops. Political parties were nearly balanced at the commencement of the war, and, when the Declaration of Independence was put forth, many of the Loyalists left the place and went to New York, among whom was the pastor of the Protestant
Episcopal Church of Newark. It suffered much during the war from the visitations of regular troops of both armies, and of marauders. When Washington fled toward the Delaware, in November, 1-776, his army (three thousand in number) encamped there from the
22d to the 28th. On that day Cornwallis entered the town with a pursuing force. Both
armies were quartered upon the inhabitants.  Cornwallis left a strong guard there, which
remained until after the battle of Princeton.  Foraging parties and plunderers kept the inhabitants in a state of continual alarm.  On the night of the 25th of January, 1780, a party
of five hundred of the enemy went from New York to Newark on the ice, burned the academy,' carried off an active Whig named Hedden, and would doubtless have laid the town in
ashes had not the light of a conflagration at Elizabethtown (the burning of the Presbyterian
Church by another party, unknown to the first) alarmed them, and caused them to hasten
back to New York. No other events of much general importance occurred there during
the war. It seems to have been as famous in early times as now for its cider. Governor
Carteret wrote, in a letter to the proprietors in 1682, "At Newark are made great quantities of cider, exceeding any we can have from New England, Rhode Island, or Long Island."
I left Newark for Morristown at two o'clock, by rail-road, through a beautifully-diversified region. The road passes above the upper verge of the sandy plains, through a very
hilly country, and makes some broad curves in its way from Newark to Morristown, a distance, by the track, of about twenty-two miles. Springfield on the left and the Short Hills
I In that building the collegiate school, now the College of New Jersey, seated at Princeton, was held.
while under the charge of the Rev. Aaron Burr, the father of the Vice-president of the United Stats of
that name. This school was instituted at Elizabethtown by Jonathan Dickinson, in 1746. He died the
following year, and the students were sent to Newark, and placed under the charge of Mr. Burr, who thus
became the second president of the institution. It continued at Newark eight years, and was then removed
to Princeton.


U




306


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOX


Arrival at Morristown.  Kimble's Mountain.  Fort Nonsense.  September Sunset  The "Head-quarters.'
on the right, places of note in our revolutionary history, were pointed out as we sped rapidly
by, and, before memory could fairly summon the events which made them famous, we were,
at the station at Morristown, a quarter of a mile eastward of the village green.  The town
is pleasantly situated upon a table land, with steep slopes on two sides. On the west is a
high ridge called Kimble's Mountain, two hundred and fifty feet above the town, its summit commanding a magnificent prospect of the adjacent country, and considerably resorted
to during the summer.  It was upon the southern slope of this mountain that the American
army, under the immediate command of Washington, was encamped during the winter of
1779-80; and upon the same ridge (which terminates abruptly at the village), half a mile
from the green, are the remains of Fort Nonsense. It was nearly sunset when I ascended
the hill, accompanied by Mr. Vogt, the editor of one of the village papers. The embankments and ditches, and the remains of the block-houses of Fort Nonsense, are very prominent, and the form of the embryo fortification may be distinctly traced among the trees.  Its
name was derived fromn the fact that all the labor bestowed upon it was intended merely to
counteract the demoralizing effects of idleness. The American army was comfortably hutted,
and too remote and secure from the enemy to make camp duty at all active. Washington
foresaw the evil tendency of idleness, and discreetly ordered the construction of a fort upon a
hill overlooking the town.  There was no intention to complete it, and when the winter
encampment broke up in the spring the work was, of course, abandoned.
From the mountain we saw one of those gorgeous September sunsets so often seen in the
Northern States, and so beautifully described by Wilcox:
"The sky, without the shadow of a cloud,
Throughout the west is kindled to a glow
So bright and broad, it glares upon the eye,
Not dazzling, but dilating, with calm force,
Its power of vision to admit the whole.
Below, 'tis all of richest orange dye;
Midway, the blushing of the mellow peach
Paints not, but tinges the ethereal deep;
And here, in this most lovely region, shines,
With added loveliness, the evening star.
Above, the fainter purple slowly fades,
Till changed into the azure of mid-heaven."
As the warm glow in the west faded, the eastern sky was radiant with the light of the full
moon that came up over the hills, and under it we made our way along the sinuous mountain path down to the village. I spent the evening with the Honorable Gabriel Ford, who
owns the fine mansion which was occupied by Washington as his head-quarters during the
winter encampment there in 1779-80.   It belonged to Judge Ford's mother, then a widow,
himself being a boy about fourteen years old. His well-stored mind is still active, notwithstanding he is eighty-four years old, and he clearly remembers even the most trifling incidents of that encampment which came under his observation. He entertained me until a
late hour with anecdotes and facts of interest, and then kindly invited me to pass the night
under his hospitable roof, remarking, " You shall sleep in the room which General Washington and his lady occupied."  That certainly was the proffer of a rare privilege, and I
tarried till morning. Before making further notes of a personal character, let us look at
the history.
Morristown was twice the place of a winter encampment of the division of the American
army under the personal command of Washington. The first time was in 1777, after his
brilliant achievements at Trenton, and the battle of Princeton. When the fortieth and
fifty-fifth British. regiments, which Washington encountered in that battle, fled, he pursued
them as far as Kingston, where he had the bridge taken up, and, turning short to the left,
crossed the Millstone River twice, and arrived at Pluckemin the same evening. It had
been his intention to march to New Brunswick, to capture British stores deposited there;
but his troops were so exhausted, not having slept for thirty-six hours, and Cornwallis was




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                   307
Spirit and Condition of the Continental Army. Place of Encampment. Free-masonry. Inoculation of the Army. Jenner.
so near, that he abandoned the design and advanced to Morristown, where he went into winter quarters.  He had achieved much, far more than the most sanguine patriot hoped for.
At the very moment when his army appeared upon the verge of dissolution, and retreating
from town to town, he struck a blow so full of strength that it- paralyzed the enemy,
broke up the British line of cantonments upon the Delaware, and made Cornwallis turn his
eyes back wistfully to more secure quarters at New York, under the wing of General Howe,
the British commander-in-chief.  Nor did Washington sit down quietly at Morristown.  He
had established cantonments at various points from Princeton on the right, under the control of General Putnam, to the Hudson Highlands on the left, at which post General Heath
was still in command, having been left there when the American army fled from Fort Lee,
on the Hudson, to the Delaware, the previous autumn. He was in the midst of hills and
a fertile country teeming with abundance, but he did not trust to the strong barriers of nature for his protection. Weak and poorly clad as was his army, he sent out detachments
to harass the British, and with such spirit were those expeditions conducted, that, on or before the 1st of March, not a British or Hessian soldier remained in the Jerseys, except at
New Brunswick and Amboy. Under the circumstances, it was a splendid triumph, and
greatly inspirited the friends of the republican cause.  The martial spirit of the people seemed
to revive, and it was thought that the thinned battalions of the army would be speedily replenished. New courage was infused into the Continental Congress, the members of which,
alarmed at the rapid approach of the British to Philadelphia, then the national metropolis,
had fled to Baltimore, and held their sittings there.
The American army was encamped in log huts at Morristown, and Washington's headquarters were at the old Freeman Tavern, which stood on the north side of the village
green.  In the Morris Hotel, a building then used as a commissary's store-house, the chief
was initiated into the mysteries of Free-masonry, in a room over the bar, which was reserved for a ball-room  and for the meetings of the Masonic Lodge.  There he received
most of the degrees of the Order, and his warm attachment to the institution lasted until
his death.
Some writers assert that, toward the close of January, the small-pox broke out violently in the American camp, and that Washington resorted to a general inoculation
of the army to stay its fatal progress. As Dr. Thacher, who performed this service in the
camp in the Highlands, opposite West Point, at a later period, does not mention the circumstance in his Journal, and as cotemporary writers are silent on the subject, it was reasonable to conclude that such an event did not occur at Morristown. But Dr. Eneas Munson,
one of Dr. Thacher's assistants, and still living in New Haven, has settled the question. I
wrote to him upon the subject, inquiring also whether vaccination was ever substituted for
inoculation during the Revolution. It was during the preceding year that Jenner, a young
English surgeon, had made his famous discovery of the efficacy of vaccination.' It had attracted the attention of Washington, for the soldiers of the Northern army had suffered terribly from the disease in Canada during the spring of 1776, and one of the most promising
officers of the Continental army (General Thomas) had fallen a victim to the loathsome malady.  Dr. Munson kindly answered my letter, as follows, under date of November 1st, 1849:
"In reply to your inquiries of the 30th ult., I can say that vaccination was not practiced
i Edward Jenner, who was born in 1749, had his attention turned to the subject of vaccination at about
the beginning of 1776, by the circumstance of finding that those who had been affected by the cow-pox, or
kine-pox, as it is popularly called, had become incapable of receiving the variolous infection. Inoculation,
or the insertion of the virus of the common small-pox, had long been practiced. It was introduced into
general notice by Lady Mary Wortley Montague in 1721, whose son was inoculated at Constantinople, and
whose daughter was the first to undergo the operation in England. It was reserved for Jenner to discover
the efficacy and introduce the practice of vaccination, or the introduction of the virus of the cow-pox, more
than fifty years afterward. It was first introduced into the British capital in 1796, but met with great hostility on the part of the medical faculty. The triumph of Jenner was finally complete, and his fame is world
wide. Oxford presented him with a diploma, the Royal Society admitted him as a member, and the British Parliament voted him $100,000.




3'08


PrCTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Proclamation of the Brothers Howe.  Disappointment of the People.  Washington's counter Proclamation.
generally, nor at all, to my knowledge, in the American army of the Revolution. At Morristown there was a partial inoculation, but it was not general there. At the Highlands,
opposite West Point, it (inoculation) was general, and I assisted in it professionally.1 Vaccination was practiced by my father one year after the close of the war of the Revolution."'
This is unquestionable authority.
When the British entered New Jersey, the proclamation of the brothers Howe, offering
a free pardon to all rebels who should lay down their arms, and full and ample protection
of person and property to those who should take an oath of allegiance to the British crown,
was freely circulated.' This proclamation was received by the people while the American
army was flying before the Britons, and general despondency was crushing every hope for
the success of the patriot cause.  Its effect was, therefore, powerful and instantaneous, and
hundreds, whose sympathies were with the Americans, timid and hopeless, accepted the protection upon the prescribed terms. They generally remained in their houses while the belligerent armies were in motion. But they soon found their hopes cruelly disappointed, and
those who should have been their protectors became their worst oppressors. The Hessians,
in particular, being entirely mercenary, and influenced by no feelings of sympathy, plundered,
burned, and destroyed every thing that came in their way, without discriminating between
friend and foe. The people of all parties were insulted and abused in their own houses,
their dwellings were rifled, their women were oftentimes ravished by the brutal soldiers, and
neither smiling infancy nor decrepit age possessed immunity from their outrages. The British soldiery sometimes participated in these crimes, and upon the British government properly rested the guilt, for the Hessians were its hired fighting machines, hired contrary to
the solemn protests and earnest negative pleadings of the best friends of England in its national legislature.  But these enormities proved favorable to the republican cause.  Those
who had received paper protections regarded Sir William Howe as a perjured tool of oppression, and the loyalty of vast numbers of the disaffected and lukewarm, that burned so brightly
when recording their oaths of allegiance, was suddenly extinguished, and their sad hearts,
touched by the persuasions of self-interest, felt a glow of interested patriotism.  Washington
January25, took advantage of this state of feeling, and issued a counter proclamation, com1777.   manding all persons who had received protections from the British commissioners
to repair to head-quarters, or to some general officer of the army, to deliver up such protections, and take an oath of allegiance to the United States.  It nevertheless granted full liberty to all such as preferred " the interests and protection of Great Britain to the freedom
and happiness of their country, forthwith to withdraw themselves and their families within
the enemy's lines." The reasonable time of thirty days was allowed the inhabitants to comply
with these requisitions, after which those who remained, and refused to give up their protections, were to be regarded and treated as adherents to the king and enemies of the United States.
1 In his Military Journal, p. 250, Dr, Thacher, alluding to the inoculation in the Highlands, says, " All
the soldiers, with the women and children, who have not had the small-pox, are now under inoculation.......
Of five hundred who have been inoculated here, four only have died." He mentions a fact of interest connected with the medical treatment of the patients. It was then customary to prepare the system for inoculation, by doses of calomel and jalap. An extract of butternut, made by boiling down the inner bark of
the tree, was substituted, and found to be more efficacious and less dangerous than the mineral drug. Dr.
Thacher considered it " a valuable acquisition to the materia medica."
g Dr. Munson's father was an eminent physician, and was for many years the President of the Medical
Society of Connecticut. He was a native of New Haven, graduated at Yale College in 1753, and, having
been a tutor, he was a chaplain in the army on Long Island in 1775. He died at New Haven in 1826,
aged nearly ninety-two years. He was a practicing physician seventy'years. Being a man of piety, he
often administered medicine to the mind, by kneeling at the bed-side of his patients and commending them
to God in prayer.
s General Sir William Howe, the commander-in-chief of the British forces in America, and his brother
Richard, Earl Howe, the admiral of the fleet on our coast, were appointed by Parliament commissioners to.
negotiate for peace with the American Congress, or to prosecute the war, as events might determine. They
issued a circular letter to all the royal governors, and a proclamation to the people, offering pardon and protection. This commission will be considered hereafter.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


309


Opposition to Washington's Policy.  His Independence and Sagacity.  Good Effect of his Proclamation,
Notwithstanding Washington had been vested by Congress with the power December 27,
of a military dictator, and the wisdom and equity of the proclamation were not  1776.
questioned, the Legislature of New Jersey regarded it as an infringement upon state rights,
that political stumbling-block in the progress of the Revolution; and even members of the
Continental Congress censured the commander-in-chief. The former claimed that each state
possessed the exclusive power of requiring such an oath, and the latter deemed the oath absurd when the states were not legally confederated, and such a thing as ", United States"
did not exist. But Washington, conscious of the necessity and wisdom of his course, did
not heed these foolish murmurs. His plan worked admirably, and hundreds flocked to the
proper officers to give up their British protections.  The state was purged of the most inimical Tories, and the ranks of the army were so rapidly filled by volunteers and new recruits, that, when the campaign opened in June, his force, which numbered about eight thousand men when he left his head-quarters at Morristown, toward the close of May, for Middlebrook (a strong position, twelve miles from the British camp at New Brunswick), had
swelled to fourteen thousand.  He had previously written to the republican governors of
the several states, urging them to adopt prompt and efficient co-operative measures, by raising recruits and filling up the broken regiments.  He also wrote stirring appeals to Congress, but that body, acting under powers undefined, and swayed by the jealousies of the
several states represented therein, was tardy and inefficient in its action.  He was obliged,
in his public declarations, to magnify the strength of his army, in order to encourage the desponding people and awe the enemy; and this justifiable deception made his appeals less effective, for the necessity did not seem so great as represented.  These were trying circumstances for the commander-in-chief, but his stout heart did not despond, and his hopeful spirit
saw brighter prospects in the future.
I7
WASHINGTON'S HEAD-QUARTERS AT MORRISTOWN.1
Morristown was again the head-quarters of Washington during the winter of 1779-80.
The campaigns for the season had been fruitless of very favorable results to either party.
The war had been carried on chiefly at the extreme south, and in the vicinity of New York
city, at the north. Toward the close of the year, Sir Henry Clinton, who had succeeded
Sir William Howe in the chief command, sailed from New York for Charleston, and the
main body of the American army went into winter quarters near Morristown. They re

I This view is from the forks of the road, directly in front of the mansion. The house is of brick, cov.
ered with planks, and painted white. The rooms are large and well finished, and it was a fine mansion
for the times.




310                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Winter Encampment at Morristown. The Life guard and their Duties.  Pulaski and his Cavalry. Effect of Alarum Guns.
mained in tents until the 14th of February, when log huts were completed for their use.
Strong detachments were stationed at West Point and other posts near the Hudson, and
the American cavalry were cantoned in the western part of Connecticut. Washington, as
we have noted, made his head-quarters at the residence of the widow of Colonel Jacob Ford,
who had commanded a regiment of Morris county militia during Washington's retreat through
New Jersey.    It is situated nearly three fourths of a mile east of the village green, on the
Newark and Morristown turnpike.      The general and his suite occupied the whole of the
large building, except two rooms on the eastern side of the main passage, which were reserved for Mrs. Ford and her family. The lower front room, on the left of the door, was his
dining-room, and the apartment immediately over it was his sleeping-room while Mrs. Washington was at headSquarters.  He had two log additions made to the house, one for a kitchen,
on the east end, ana the other, on the west end, was used as the offices of Washington, Hamilton, and Tilghm'n.   In the meadow, a few rods southeast of the dwelling, about fifty log
huts were erected for the accommodation of the life-guard, which consisted of two hundred
and fifty men, under General William Colfax. In that meadow Count Pulaski exercised
his legion of cavalry, and his dexterous movements were the wonder and emulation of the
officers, many of ~vhom were considerably injured in attempts to imitate his feats.'
The main bodytof the army, as we have noticed, was encamped upon the southern slope
of Kimble's Mountain, beginning about two miles from head-quarters, and extending several
miles westward.   They were sufficiently near to be called into service instantly, if necessary.
During the winter many false alarms occurred, which set the whole camp in motion.    Sentinels were placed at intervals between the camp and head-quarters, and pickets were planted
at distant points toward the Raritan and the Hudson, with intervening sentinels.   Sometimes an alarm would begin by the firing of a gun at a remote point. This would be answered by discharges along the whole line of sentinels to the head-quarters and to the camp.
The life-guard would immediately rush to the house of the general, barricade the doors, and
throw up the windows.    Five soldiers, with their muskets cocked and brought to a charge,
were generally placed at each window, and there they would remain until the troops from
the camp marched to head-quarters, and the cause of the alarm was ascertained.     It was
frequently the case that the attempts of some young suitor, who had been sparking until a
late hour, and attempted to pass a sentinel without giving the countersign, caused the discharge of a musket, and the commotion in the camp. These occasions were very annoying
to the ladies of the household, for both Mrs. Washington and Mrs. Ford were obliged to lie
in bed, sometimes for hours, with their rooms full of soldiers, and the keen winter air from
the open windows piercing through their drawn curtains.
The winter of 1780 was one of uncommon severity, and the troops suffered dreadfully
from a lack of provisions, clothing, and shelter.2 The snow fell in great quantities, and the
l It is related that, among other feats, that daring horseman would sometimes, while his steed was under
full gallop, discharge his pistol, throw it in the air, catch it by the barrel, and then hurl it in front as if at
an enemy. Without checking the speed of his horse, he would take one foot from the stirrup, and, bending over toward the ground, recover his pistol, and wheel into line with as much precision as if he had
been engaged in nothing but the management of the animal.
2 Dr. Thacher, in his " Military Journal," p. 181, says, " The sufferings of the poor soldiers can scarcely
be described; while on duty they are unavoidably exposed to all the inclemency of storms and severe cold;
at night they now have a bed of straw upon the ground, and a single blanket to each man; they are badly
clad, and some are destitute of shoes. We have contrived a kind of stone chimney outside; and an opening
at one end of our tents gives us the benefit of the fire within. The snow is now [January 6th, 1780] from
four to six feet deep, which so obstructs the roads as to prevent our receiving a supply of provisions. For
the last ten days we have received but two pounds of meat a man, and we are frequently for six or eight
days entirely destitute of meat, and then as long without bread. The consequence is, the soldiers are so
enfeebled from hunger and cold as to be almost unable to perform their military duty, or labor in constructing their huts. It is well known that General Washington experiences the greatest solicitude for the suffering of his army, and is sensible that they, in general, conduct with heroic patience and fortitude." In
a private letter to a friend, Washington said, " We have had the virtue and patience of the army put to the
severest trial. Sometimes it has been five or six days together without bread, at other times as many with



OF THE REVOLUTION.                                     311
Sufferings and Fortitude of the Army. Sterling's Secret Expedition. Extreme Cold. Chevalier Luzerne. Death of MiraIles.
channels of transportation for provisions being closed, Washington found it necessary to levy
contributions upon the inhabitants in neighboring towns.  He applied to the magistrates for
aid, apprehending some difficulty in the exercise of his power, but the people cheerfully complied with his requisitions, and the pressing wants of the army were supplied. The chief
was greatly annoyed by complaints of frequent thefts committed by his soldiers; but such was
the force of the first law of nature-self-preservation-when the commissariat was empty,
that the severest punishments did not deter them from stealing sheep, hogs, and poultry.
Repeated warnings were given to the army, in general orders and otherwise, against the
marauding practice, yet many suffered the inflictions of the lash, and in some cases of robbery the death penalty was incurred.'
In January, Major-general Lord Sterling, with about fifteen hundred men in sleighs,
set off at night on a secret expedition, ostensibly to procure provisions, but really to at- 780
tack the enemy in their quarters on Staten Island.  They passed over on the ice from Elizabethtown about midnight. It was a starry night, and the weather was extremely cold.
The enemy had notice of their approach, and the object of the expedition was defeated.
They captured some blankets and stores, and then returned to camp about daylight.     The
snow was three feet deep on the ground, and so excessive was the cold, that five hundred of
the party were more or less frozen.2 A retaliating movement was made soon aft- January27,
erward by the enemy.    A party attacked the American picket guard, and carried     1780.
off a major and forty men.   Two or three enterprises of a like nature were all that varied
the monotonous round of duties until the arrival at head-quarters of the Chevalier de
Luzerne, the minister from the French government.    He succeeded M. Gerard, the    Ap   9.
first minister sent to the insurgent colonies from France, and had arrived in Philadelphia the
September previous. He was an accomplished and highly honorable gentleman, and was
received with much regard by the commander-in-chief. Don Juan de Miralles, a distinguished Spaniard, accompanied him; and during their visits the military education which
Baron Steuben, the celebrated tactician, had imparted to the army was several times displayed in reviews and difficult evolutions. Luzerne remained some time at head-quarters,
and a ball, which was attended by Washington and his lady, all his officers, Governor Livingston and his lady, and many other distinguished persons, was given in his honor, at the
Morris Hotel. Miralles, in the mean while, was seized, at head-quarters, with a pulmonic
fever, and died on the 28th.   The religious ceremonies of the funeral were conducted by a
Spanish Catholic priest, and the body was interred with great pomp in the common buryingground near the church in Morristown.3    A guard of soldiers was placed near the grave, to
out meat, and once or twice two or three days at a time without either......... At one time the soldiers
eat every kind of horse food but hay. Buckwheat, common wheat, rye, and Indian corn composed the meal
which made their bread. As an army, they bore it with the most heroic patience; but sufferings like these,
accompanied by the want of clothes, blankets, &c., will produce frequent desertions in all armies; and so
it happened with us, though it did not excite a single mutiny."
Dr. Thacher says (Military Journal, p. 182) that whipping with knotted cords, which often cut through
the flesh at every blow, applied to the bare back, was the most common punishment. The drummers and
fifers were made the executioners, and it was the duty of the drum major to see that the chastisement was
well performed. The soldiers adopted a method which they said somewhat mitigated the anguish of the
lash. They put a leaden bullet between their teeth, and bit on it while the punishment was in progress.
They would thus often receive fifty lashes without uttering a groan or hardly wincing.
2 So intense was the cold that winter that New York Bay was thickly frozen over, and large bodies
of troops, with heavy cannons, were transported on the ice, from New York city to Staten Island, a distance
of nine miles.
3 Dr. Thacher has left a record of the burial. " The deceased," he says (page 188), "had been about
one year a resident with our Congress, from the Spanish court. The corpse was dressed in rich state, and
exposed to public view, as is customary in Europe. The coffin was most splendid and stately, lined throughout with fine cambric, and covered on the outside with rich black velvet, ornamented in a superb manner.
The top of the coffin was removed, to display the pomp and grandeur with which the body was decorated.
It was in a splendid full dress, consisting of a scarlet suit embroidered with rich gold lace, a three-cornered
gold-laced hat, and a genteel cued wig, white silk stockings, large diamond shoe and knee buckles; a profusion of diamond rings decorated the fingers, and from a superb gold watch, set with diamonds, several


\




312                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Mutiny at Morristown.  Excuses for the Movement.  Injustice toward the Soldiers.  Policy and Success of Wayne.
prevent its desecration in search of hidden treasure, until the body could be removed to Philadelphia.
Morristown was the scene of the only serious and decided mutiny in the American army
during the Revolution.  It occurred on the 1st of January, 1781.  The whole movement,
when all the circumstances are taken into account, should not be execrated as a military rebellion, for, if ever there was just cause for men to lift up their strength against authority,
those mutineers possessed it. They had suffered every privation during a long, and, in many
respects, disastrous campaign, and not a ray of hope appeared in the gloomy future. Their
small stipend of money was paid irregularly, sometimes not at all, and generally in Continental bills, which were every day becoming more valueless. The frequent promises of
Congress had as frequently been unfulfilled, and the illiberal interpretations which the officers gave to the expressed terms of the enlistment of the soldiers produced great dissatisfaction. It was stipulated in those terms that they (the soldiers of the Pennsylvania line, who
revolted) should serve for three years, or during the war.  The soldiers interpreted these
words to mean that they should be entitled to a discharge at the end of three years, or sooner,
if the war should terminate. This was doubtless the spirit of the agreement, but the officers read it otherwise, and claimed their service until the conclusion of the war, however
long that time might be. This was the principal cause of dissatisfaction, and a quarrel with
the officers led to open rebellion.
The Pennsylvania line at that time consisted of about two thousand men, and was stationed at the old camp-ground near Morristown. The three years' enlistment had expired
with most of them. A bounty of three half joes (about twenty-five dollars) had been offered
to new recruits, while the pay of these veterans of three years' service was not increased.
There was still due them their pay for twelve months, and nakedness and famine were their
daily companions. The officers had murmured somewhat, and the soldiers, hearing the
whisperings of complaint, took courage and spoke ott boldly. They appointed a sergeant
8 major their commander, styling him major general; and in the evening of the 1st of
January, on a preconcerted signal, the whole line, except a part of three regiments,
paraded under arms without officers, marched to the magazines, supplied themselves with
provisions and ammunition, and, seizing six field pieces, took horses from General Wayne's
stables to transport them.  The officers of the line collected those who had not joined the
insurgents, and endeavored to restore order, but some of the revolters fired, killing a Captain
Billings and wounding several others. The mutineers then ordered the minority to come over
to their side immediately, or suffer destruction by the bayonet, and the command was obeyed.
General Wayne was in command of the Pennsylvania troops, and was much beloved by
them. He exerted all' his influence, by threats and persuasions, to bring them back to duty
until their grievances should be redressed. They would not listen to his remonstrances, and,
on his cocking his pistol, they presented their bayonets to his breast, saying, " We respect
and love you; often have you led us into the field of battle, but we are no longer under your
command; we warn you to be on your guard; if you fire your pistol, or attempt to enforce
your commands, we shall put you instantly to death."   Wayne appealed to their patriotism; they pointed to the impositions of Congress.  He reminded them of the strength their
conduct would give to the enemy; they exhibited their tattered garments and emaciated
forms. They avowed their willingness to support the cause of freedom, for it was dear to
rich seals were suspended. His excellency, General Washington, with several other general officers and members of Congress, attended the funeral solemnities, and walked as chief mourners. The other officers of the
army, and numerous respectable citizens, formed a splendid procession, extending about a mile. The pallbearers were six field officers, and the coffin was borne on the shoulders of four officers of artillery, in full
uniform. Minute guns were fired during the procession, which greatly increased the solemnity of the occasion." Dr. Thacher adds, " This gentleman is said to have been in possession of an immense fortune, and
has left to his three daughters, in Spain, one hundred thousand pounds sterling (half a million of dollars)
each. Here we behold the end of all earthly riches, pomp, and dignity. The ashes of Don Miralles mingle
with the remains of those who are clothed in hupble shrouds, and whose career in life was marked by sordid poverty and wretchedness "




OF THE REVOLUTION.


313


Final Adjustment of Difficulties. Emissaries of Sir Henry Clinton.  Patriotism of the Mutineers.  Fate of the Emissaries;
their hearts, if adequate provision could be made for their comfort, and declared their intention to march directly to Philadelphia, and demand from Congress a redress of their grievances. Finding threats and persuasion useless, Wayne resolved upon a line of policy that
proved effective.  He supplied them with provisions, and, with Colonels Stewart and Butler, officers whom they greatly respected, marched with them to prevent their depredating
upon the inhabitants, and to draw from their leaders a statement of their claims and wishes.
They reached Princeton on the 3d, and there a committee of sergeants submitted to Wayne,
in writing, the following demands: First, a discharge for all those, without exception, who
had served three years under their original engagements, and not received the increased bounty
and re-enlisted for the war.  Second, an immediate payment of all arrears of pay and clothing, both to those who should be discharged and those who should be retained. Third, the
residue of their bounty, to put them on an equal footing with the recently enlisted, and future substantial pay to those who should remain in the service. General Wayne was not
authorized to promise a full acquiescence in their demands, and further negotiations were
referred to the civil authority of the state of Pennsylvania.
Intelligence of this revolt reached Washington and Sir Henry Clinton on the  January 3,
same day.   The head-quarters of the former were at New Windsor, on the Hud-  1781.
son, just above the Highlands; of the latter, in the city of New York.  Washington called
a council of war, and, as the extent of the disaffection was unknown, it was determined to
have one thousand men, drafts from the several regiments in the Highlands, held in readiness to march at a moment's notice, to quell the rebellion, if called upon. The council
heartily approved of the course pursued by General Wayne; and Washington, whose patience had often been severely tried by the tardy movements of Congress, was willing to have
that body aroused to activity by circumstances which should demand immediate and undivided attention.  Sir Henry Clinton, mistaking the spirit of the mutineers, thought to gain
great advantage by the event. He dispatched two emissaries, a British sergeant, and a
New Jersey Tory named Ogden, to the insurgents, with the written offer that, on laying
down their arms and marching to New York, they should receive their arrearages, and the
amount of the depreciation of the Continental currency, in hard cash; that they should be
well clothed, have a free pardon for all past offenses, and be taken under the protection of
the British government; and that no military service should be required of them, unless
voluntarily offered.  Sir Henry requested them to appoint agents to treat with his.and adjust the terms of a treaty; and, not doubting the success of his plans, he went to Staten
Island himself, with a large body of troops, to act as circumstances might require. Like
his masters at home, he entirely misapprehended the spirit and the incentives to action of
the American soldiers.  They were not mercenary-not soldiers by profession, fighting merely
for hire. The protection of their homes, their wives and little ones, and the defense of holy
principles, which their general intelligence understood and appreciated, formed the motive
power and the bond of union of the American army, and the soldier's money stipend was
the least attractive of all the inducements which urged him to take up arms. Yet, as it
was necessary to his comfort, and even his existence, the want of it afforded a just pretext
for the assumption of powers delegated to a few.  The mutiny was a democratic movement; and, while the patriot felt justified in using his weapons to redress grievances, he still
looked with horror upon the armed oppressors of his country, and regarded the act and stain
of treason, under any circumstances, as worse than the infliction of death.  Clinton's proposals were, therefore, rejected with disdain.  " See, comrades," said one of the leaders,
"( he takes us for traitors. Let us show him that the American army can furnish but one
Arnold, and that America has no truer friends than we." They immediately seized the emissaries, who, being delivered, with Clinton's papers, into the hands of Wayne,1 were tried
and executed as spies, and the reward which had been offered for their apprehension was
1 When they were delivered up, the insurgents stipulated that they should not be executed until their own
affairs were compromised, and, in case of failure, that the prisoners should be delivered when demanded.




3 14                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Mutiny of the New Jersey Line. Prompt Action of Washington. Success of Howe. Illustrations of Washington's Character.
tendered to the mutineers who seized them.  They sealed the pledge of their patriotism by
nobly refusing it, saying, ( Necessity wrung from us the act of demanding justice from Congress, but we desire no reward for doing our duty to our bleeding country!"
Congress appointed a commissioner to confer with the insurgent troops at Princeton.  The
result was, a compliance with their just demands, and the disbanding of a large part of the
Pennsylvania line for the winter, which was filled by new recruits in the spring. Thus
" terminated," as Thacher remarks, " a most unfortunate transaction, which might have been
prevented had the just complaints of the army received proper attention in due season."
The wisdom of Washington's precaution in having a thousand men ready for sudden
marching orders was soon demonstrated. About the middle of January a portion of the
New Jersey line, cantoned at Pompton,' followed the example of the Pennsylvania mutineers, and revolted.  The chief resolved not to temporize with them, and ordered a detachment of five hundred men, under Major-general Robert Howe, to reduce them to subordination.  Howe reached their encampment, after a fatiguing march of four days through
deep snow, on the 27th of January.  His troops were well armed,'and, parading them
in line, he ordered the insurgents to appear in front of their huts, unarmed, within five minutes.  They hesitated, but a second order, as promptly given, made them obedient.  Three
of the ringleaders were tried and condemned to be executed on the spot.  Two of them were
shot, and their executioners were twelve of the most prominent of their guilty associates.
The other one, less guilty, was pardoned.  Their punishment was quick and terrible, and
never were men more humble and submissive than were the remainder of the insurgents.
General Howe then addressed them effectively, by platoons, and ordered their officers, whom
the mutineers had discarded, to resume their respective commands. The hopes of Sir Henry
Clinton had been again excited, but the emissary whom he sent to the revolted troops, hearing of the fate of the others, played false to his master, by going directly to Howe and delivering the papers into his hands.  Revolt, that followed so closely upon Arnold's treason a
few months before, was thus effectually nipped in the bud.
I have said that I spent an evening at Morristown with Judge Ford, the proprietor of
the head-quarters of Washington.  I look back upon the conversation of that evening with
much pleasure, for the venerable octogenarian entertained me until a late hour with many
pleasing anecdotes illustrative of the social condition of the army, and of the private character of the commander-in-chief. As an example of Washington's careful attention to small
matters, and his sense of justice, he mentioned the fact that, when he took up his residence
with his (Ford's) mother, he made an inventory of all articles which were appropriated to
his use during the winter. When he withdrew in the spring, he inquired of Mrs. Ford
whether every thing had been returned to her.  " All but one silver table-spoon," she answered.   He took note of it, and not long afterward she received from him a spoon bearing
his initials, G. W.  That spoon is preserved as a precious relic in the family.  His tender
care for the comfort of Mrs. Ford was often evinced. On the occasions when the alarms,
which we have noticed, were given, he always went to her room, drew the curtains close,
and soothed her by assurances of safety. And when her son, a lad of seventeen, was brought
home from the Springfield battle, seriously wounded, his first care in the morning was to inquire after the sufferer.2 Washington's moral and religious feelings were never blunted by
Pompton is a small town upon a fertile plain on the Pompton River, in Pequannock county.
8 The wounded lad recovered, and afterward became a distinguished lawyer in a southern city. A remarkable instance of Washington's remembrance of persons was related to me, as having occurred in connection with the wounded boy. Many years afterward, when success had crowned his professional industry with wealth, and two daughters had nearly reached womanhood, he was returning south with them in
his carriage, after a visit to his friends at Morristown, and stopped at Mount Vernon to see the retired chief.
Reasonably concluding that Washington had forgotten the boy of 1780, he had procured a letter of introduction. When he drove up to Mount Vernon, Washington was walking upon the piazza. He went to the
carriage, and as the servant of Mr. Ford threw open the door, and he stepped out, the general extended his
hand, and said, with all the confidence of a recent acquaintance, " How do you do. Mr. Ford?"  Eighteen
years had elapsed since Washington had seen his face, and the boy had grown to mature manhood.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


Prohibition of Gambling. Washington's religious Toleration. Anecdote of Colonel Hamilton. Room occupied by Washington.
the influences of the camp. While at Morristown, he observed that gambling was frequent
among the officers and soldiers. This growing vice he arrested by prohibition and threats
of punishment, put forth in general orders. It is related that he called upon the Rev. Dr.
Jones, the pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Morristown, on learning that the communion service was to be observed in his church on the following Sabbath, and inquired whether
communicants of another denomination were permitted to join with them. The doctor replied, ", Most certainly; ours is not the Presbyterian's table, general, but the Lord's; and
hence we give the Lord's invitation to all his followers, of whatever name."  " I am glad
of it," said the general; "t that is as it ought to be; but, as I was not quite sure of the fact,
I thought I would ascertain it from yourself, as I propose to join with you on that occasion.
Though a member of the Church of England, I have no exclusive partialities." Washington was at the communion table on the following Sabbath.
General Schuyler was with Washington during the winter of 1780.  His head-quarters
were at a house (still standing) a few rods eastward of; -     the rail-way station.  A portion of his family was with
i-  - -        him, among whom was his daughter Elizabeth, a charm-              ing girl, about twenty-two years of age.  Colonel Alexan-,  K      der Hamilton, who was Washington's aid and military
-—:t —:;-               secretary, was smitten with her charms and accomplishments, and his evenings were usually spent with her at
her father's quarters.  Mr. Ford, then a lad, was a favorite with Hamilton, and, by permission of the chief, the
colonel would give him the countersign, so as to allow him
to play at the village after the sentinels were posted for
the night.  On one occasion he was returning home, about
SCHU S i.       nine o'clock in the evening, and had passed the sentinel,
SCHUYLER'S HEAD-QUARTERS.                       D.        '
when he recognized the voice of Hamilton in a reply to
the soldier's demand of ( Who comes there?"  He stepped aside, and waited for the colonel
to accompany him to the house.  Hamilton came up to the point of the presented bayonet
of the sentinel to give the countersign, but he had quite forgotten it.  ( He had spent the
evening," said Judge Ford, who related the anecdote to me, "with Miss Schuyler, and thoughts
of her undoubtedly expelled the countersign from his head." The soldier lover was embarrassed, and the sentinel, who knew him well, was stern in the performance of his duty.  Hamilton pressed his hand upon his forehead, and tried hard to summon the cabalistic words from
their hiding-place, but, like the faithful sentinel, they were immovable.  Just then he recognized young Ford in the gloom.  " Ay, Master Ford, is that you?" he said, in an undertone; and, stepping aside, he called the lad to him, drew his ear to his mouth, and whispered, " Give me the countersign."  He did so, and Hamilton, stepping in front of the soldier,
delivered it.  The sentinel, seeing the movement, and believing that his superior was testing his fidelity, kept his bayonet unmoved.  " I have given you the countersign; why do
you not shoulder your musket?" asked Hamilton.  " Will that do, colonel?" asked the
soldier, in reply.  ( It will for this time," said Hamilton; " let me pass."  The soldier reluctantly obeyed the illegal command, and Hamilton and his young companion reached headquarters without further difficulty.  Colonel Hamilton afterward married Miss Schuyler.
She still survives him (1849), and at the age of ninety-two years is the attractive center of
a circle of devoted friends at Washington city, her present place of residence.
I passed the night under the hospitable roof of Judge Ford, and in the room which Washington and his lady had occupied.  The carpet upon the floor, dark and of a rich pattern,
is the same that was pressed by the feet of the venerated chief nearly seventy years ago;
and in an apartment below were a looking-glass, secretary, and book-case that formed a portion of the furniture of the house at that time.' The room fronts south, and, the sky being


1 I intend to devote a chapter to the consideration of the social condition of the Americans at the time




316


PICTORIARI AL FIELD-BOOKf OO


View of an Eclipse of the Moon.  Reflections.  Finances of the Revolutionary Government.  Emission of Bills of Credit
September 12, perfectly clear, I had a fine view, from the window, of an almost total eclipse
1848.    of the moon, which occurred at about midnight.    As from that interesting observatory I watched the progress of the obscuration, and then the gradual enlightenment
of the satellite, it appeared to me a most significant emblem of the political condition of
America, and the cause of the patriots, at the time when, from the same window, Washington, with anxious eye, had doubtless gazed upon the same moon in its silent path-way among
the stars.  It was the gloomiest period of the war.  For many months the bright prospects
of the patriots were passing deeper and deeper within the penumbra of British power and oppression, and, at the beginning of 1780, only a faint curve of light was seen upon the disk
of hope; the eclipse was almost total.  Financial embarrassment was the chief bane of the
patriots, and the expected antidote of rebellion for the Loyalists and the king.  Let us here
take a brief view of the financial affairs of the Revolutionary government.
When the Continental army was organized, in June, 1775, and other methods of defense
were adopted by the General Congress, the necessity for providing pecuniary means for defraying the expenses, demanded and received the most serious attention of the delegates.  The
colonies, deprived, in a great measure, of all commercial intercourse with other parts of the
world, by the unwise and oppressive policy of the mother country, a paper medium seemed
to be their only resource.  It was a blessing at the beginning, but proved a curse in the end.
To place it upon a footing that should command the public confidence, and to secure it from
depreciation, was important and difficult. The New York Convention, foreseeing the necessity of such a measure, had already considered the subject, and a committee of that body had
reported suggestions a few weeks previously.  They proposed three distinct modes of issuing
paper money. First, that each colony should issue, for itself, the sum which might be appropriated to it by Congress.  Second, that the united colonies should issue the whole sum
necessary, and each colony become bound to sink its proportionable part; and, third, that
Congress should issue the whole sum, every colony be bound to discharge its proportion, and
the united colonies be obliged to pay that part which any colony should fail to discharge.
The convention preferred the last mode, as affording higher security to those who should receive the paper, and, of consequence, as likely to obtain more ready, general, and confidential
circulation. It was also believed that it would be an additional bond of union to the associated colonies.1
The Continental Congress adopted, substantially, the last proposition, and, in the course
of the session of 1775, three millions of dollars were issued in bills of credit, and the faith
of the confederated colonies was pledged for their redemption.'  This sum was appropriated
of the Revolution, and shall then introduce sketches of the dress, furniture, &c., of the people. Drawings
of the articles here mentioned will appear among them. Judge Ford expressed his surprise that the mirror was not demolished, for the room in which it hung was occupied, at one time, by some of the subalterns
of the Pennsylvania line, who were sons of some of the leading men of that state-gentlemen by birth, but
rowdies in practice. They injured the room very much by their nightly carousals, but the mirror escaped
their rough treatment. Since my visit, Judge Ford has deceased, at the age of eighty-five years.
i Pitkin, i., 347. Records of the New York Convention.
9 The resolution providing for the first emission of bills was adopted on the 22d of June, 1775, and was
as follows: "Resolved, That a sum not exceeding two millions of Spanish milled dollars be emitted by the
Congress in.bills of credit, for the defense of America." On the next day the committee appointed for the
occasion reported and offered resolutions (which were adopted) as follows: "Resolved, That the number and
denomination of the bills to be emitted be as follows:
49,000 bills of 8 dollars each, $392,000
49,000   "   7      "      343,000
49,000   "   6      "      294,000
49,000   "   5     "       245,000
49,000   "   4     "       196,000
49,000   "   3      "      147,000
49,000   "   2     "        98,000
49,000   "    1             49,000
11,800   "  20             236,000
Total, 403,800                  $2,000,000




OF THE REVOLUTION.


317




Continental Paper Money.


Form of the Bills.   Devices and Mottoes.   Paul Revere and cotemporary Engravers.






among the colonies according to the supposed number of the inhabitants, including negroes
and mulattoes, and each colony was to pay its proportion, in four equal annual payments, the


~  5)7/2   IFTI
'#r )g TEGA R fti y
TRE           FrJF T
lt1,
No 4 5T1f
S VC:3  'JXSI DOLLAR~S
/' Ui 0
v M V11      0 Q I


TI S Bill entitles til x e'
_ Beoar to Tece;vq? 4i E
SIX SPANISI M11JLED    ill
DOLLA.KS. or the
Value tIIereof in (OLD Jo r SILVER accordinfc too cam
a k c-otution of CcO:- A
GRESS publjilat Phi.
ledelphid Nov.Z-1776-.
EE,E OF THE CONTINENTAL BILLS.1


FAC-SIMII


tirst by the last of November, 1779, and the fourth by the last of November, 1782.                 The
several Colonial Conventions were to provide, by taxes, for sinking their proportion of the
bills, and the bills themselves were to be received in payment for such taxes. Two general
treasurers were appointed, and it was recommended to each colony to appoint a treasurer.
The amount of the first emission was two millions of dollars.
" Resolved, That the form of the bills be as follows:
CONTINENTAL CURRENCY.
No.                                                                     --       Dollars.
This bill entitles the bearer to receive --        Spanish milled dollars, or the value thereof in gold
and silver, according to the resolutions of the Congress, held at Philadelphia on the tenth day of May,
A.D. 1775.
" Resolved, That Mr. J. Adams, Mr. J. Rutledge, Mr. Duane, Dr. Franklin, and Mr. Wilson be a committee to get proper plates engraved, to provide paper, and to agree with printers to print the above bills."*
1 The paper on which these bills were printed was quite thick, and the enemy called it " the pasteboard
money of the rebels." The vignettes were generally, both in device and motto, significant. The one most
prominent in the engraving represents a beaver in the slow but sure process of cutting down a tree with its
teeth.  The motto, " PERSEVERANDO-by Perseverance," said to the colonists, " Persist, and you will be successful."  I will notice a few other devices and mottoes of bills which I have seen.  A globe, with the motto,
in Latin, "THE LORD REIGNS; LET THE EARTH REJOICE."           A candlestick with thirteen branches an4
burners, denoting the number of states; motto, "ONE FIRE, AND TO THE SAME PURPOSE."         A thorn-bush
with a hand grasping it; motto, " SUSTAIN OR ABSTAIN."   A circular chain bearing on each link the namet
of a state, an emblem of union; motto, "WE ARE ONE."      I have in my possession a coin, made of sot
composition resembling German silver of the present day (of which the following is a fac-simile the proper'l
* The plates were engraved on copper by Paul Revere, of Boston. Himself, Nathaniel Hurd, of the same city, Amos Doolittle,
of New Haven, and an Englishman named Smithers, in Philadelphia, were the only engravers in America at that time. Hurd
engraved as early as 1760. Revere began a little later. In 1766 he engraved a picture emblematic of the repeal of the Stamp
Act. This, and a caricature called The Seventeen Rescinders, were very popular, and had an extensive sale. He engraved and
published a print in 1770, representing the "Boston Massacre," and in 1774 he engraved another of a similar size, representing
the landing of the British troops in Boston. In 1775 he engraved the plates, made the press, and printed the bills of the paper
money ordered by the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts. Doolittle was at Lexington and Concord, and made drawings and
engravings of the skirmishes at those places. The sketches were made on the morning after the engagements, and were engraved during the summer of 1775. Mr. Doolittle assisted in re-engraving the battle of Lexington on a smaller scale, in 1832,
forty-three years afterward, for Barber's " History and Antiquities of New Haven." A copy of it, by permission, is inserted in
this work.




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


New Emissions of Continental Bills.  Plans for Redemption.  Counterfeits issued by the Tories.  First coined Money.
On the 25th of July the Continental Congress ordered the issuing of one million
5. of dollars more,' and from time to time new emissions were authorized, to meet the
demands upon the treasury, until, at the beginning of 1780, the enormous sum of two hundred millions of dollars had been issued, no part of which had been redeemed. While the
amount of the issues was small, the credit of the bills was good; but when new emissions
took place, and no adequate measures for redemption were exhibited, the people became suspicious of those frail representatives of money, and their value began to depreciate.  This
effect did not occur until eighteen months from the time of the first emission had elapsed.
Twenty millions of the Continental bills were then in circulation, besides a large amount
of local issues by the several states.  It was now perceived that depreciation was inevitable, and Congress proposed, as a substitute for further issues, a loan of five millions, at an
interest of four per cent.  A lottery was also authorized, designed to raise a like sum on
loan, the prizes being payable in loan office certificates.  These offices were opened in all
the states; the rate of interest was raised from four to six per cent., but the loans came in
very slowly. The treasury ran low, the loan offices were overdrawn by the commissaries'
drafts, the issue of bills was reluctantly recommenced, and ten additional millions were speedily authorized.  During the year 1778 sixty millions and a half were added to the issues
already made.   The commissioners in France (see page 86) had been instructed to borrow
money there, but as yet they had been unsuccessful.
Various plans were proposed at different times to sink those issues of bills of credit, but
none could be put into efficient practical operation.  The several states issued paper money
independently of the Continental Congress; and the Loyalists, aided by Sir Henry Clinton,
in the autumn of 1778 sent out large quantities of counterfeits of the Continental emissions
of May 2 0th, 1777, and April 11th, 1778, and scattered them as widely among the people
as their means would allow.   Under these circumstances, Congress felt the necessity of
making an extraordinary effort to sustain the declining credit of the bills, by making some
provision for their actual redemption. On the 2d of January, 1779, it was "Resolved,
That the United States be called on to pay in their respective quotas of fifteen millions of
dollars for the year 1779, and of six millions of dollars annually for eighteen years from and
after the year 1779, as a fund for sinking the emissions and loans of the United States to
the 31st of December, 1778, inclusive."  It was provided that any bills emitted by order
of Congress prior to 1780, and no others, should be received in payment of those quotas.  A
period of five months was given for taking out of circulation the emissions which had been
counterfeited, during which time they were to be received into the public treasury in paysize), bearing the same device on one side. On a three dollar note is a device representing a stork struggling with an eagle-the feeble col.
onies warring with strong Great
Britain; motto, "THE RESULT IS                __ At
UNCERTAIN."  This bill is dated
eighteen days after the adoption of
the Declaration of Independence. /A  U                                          64
A majestic oak-tree; motto, "I   (       7\ f
SHALL FLOURISH THROUGH AGES                          hi3 1  X
OF AGES."  A hand planting a                                  '
young tree; motto, "FOR POSTER-         Us   \3
IT.)Aboar encountering a     V'/UIS               'i/      01
spear; motto, "DEATH, OR LIFE    N~(                                     ~      s
WITH DECENCY.")  A harp, denoting harmony; motto, "LARGE
THINGS ARE CONSONANT WiTH
SMALL ONES.   A figure of Jus-     FAC-SIHILE OF THE FIRST MONEY COINED BY THE UNITED STATES.
tice; motto, "THE WILL OF JUSTICE."
I As the signing of so many bills would require more time than the members could spare from public
duties, Congress appointed twenty-eight gentlemen to perform the duty, allowing each one dollar and thirtythree cents for every thousand bills signed and numbered by him. It was necessary for each bill to have
the signature of two of them.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                  319
Depreciation of the Paper Money.  Confusion in Trade.  Foreign and Domestic Debt.  Specie Value of the Bills.
ment of debts and taxes, and also into the Continental loan offices, either on loan or to be
exchanged for other bills of a new tenor, bearing interest at five per cent., and redeemable
in specie within six years. The old bills thus called in were to be destroyed.'
This effort, like its predecessors, was unsuccessful.  Prices rose as the money sank in
value, and every branch of trade was deranged.  In several states laws limiting prices were
still in force, and the rapid depreciation of the bills threw all contracts into confusion.  The
amount in circulation on the 1st of September, 1779, was a hundred and sixty millions.
Congress resolved that the issues should not exceed two hundred millions in the whole.
The loans prior to the 1st of August, 1778, the interest of which was payable in bills on
France, were seven millions and a half. The loans contracted since were more than twentysix millions.  The debt abroad was estimated at four millions.  Only three millions out of
the sixty millions of paper dollars already called for from the states had been paid into the
public treasury.
Congress was powerless to stay the downward tendency of the paper currency.  It continued to depreciate and prices to rise.  Early in 1780, forty paper dollars were worth only
one in specie.2 The commissaries found it extremely difficult to purchase supplies for the
army, for the people refused to exchange their articles for the almost worthless paper.
Direct taxes had been unsuccessfully tried to replenish the treasury, and, as supplies could
not be obtained, a speedy dissolution of the army and abandonment of the rebellion seemed
inevitable.
Congress was obliged to open new resources for the supply of the army, and required each
state to furnish a certain quantity of beef, pork, flour, corn, forage, and other articles, which
were to be deposited in such places as the commander-in-chief should determine.  The states
were to be credited for the amount at a fixed valuation in specie.  This scheme was utterly
1 Journals of Congress, vol. i., p. 5.
2 The following bill of items is preserved, and illustrates the value of the Continental bills in 1781:
CAPTAIN A. M'LANE,S
Bo't of W. NICHOLLS,
January 5th, 1781.
1 pair boots....................................................................... $600
63 yds. calico, at 85 ds..........................................................  752
6 yds. chintz, at 150 ds............................................................ 900
41 yds. moreen, at 100 ds..................................................      450
4  hdkfs., at 100 ds......................................................................  400
8  yds. quality  binding, 4  ds..........................................       32
1 skein of silk................................................................. * O10
$3,144
If paid in specie......................................  ~18 10s.
Received payment in full,..
For WM. NICHOLLS.
JONA. JONES.
The following scale of depreciation is also preserved:
Value of $100 in Specie in Continental Money.
1777.     177       1779.      1780.      1781.
January......$105..... 32..... $742.....$2934....!$7400
February.....  107..... 350.....  868..... 3322..... 7500
March....... 109..... 370.... 1000..... 3736.... 0000
April....... 112..... 400..... 1104..... 4000.....
May.........  115.....  400.....  1215.....  4600.....
June......... 120.... 400.... 342.      6400.....
July.........  125.....  425.....  1477....  8900....
August....... 150..... 450..... 1630..... 7000..
September.... 175..... 475..... 1800..... 7100.....
October...... 275..... 500..... 2030..... 7200.....
November.... 30..... 545..... 2308..... 7300.....
December.... 310..... 634..... 2593..... 7400..... Nothing.
* Captain M'Lane was the father of the late Secretary of the Treasury.




320                           PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Unjust Financial Law.  Washington's Deprecation of it.  Hopes of the Tories.  Cipher Writing of the Loyalists.
impracticable, from the want of authority to enforce the demands, and the distance of several
states from the army, and Congress speedily abandoned it. The several states were then
recommended by Congress to pass laws making paper money a legal tender, at its nominal
value, for the discharge of debts which had been contracted to be paid in hard cash.    Such
laws were enacted, and many dishonest debtors took advantage of them. Although the bills
were passing at the rate of twenty for one, they were made a lawful tender, and debts were
discharged at a cheap rate. It was one of the most unwise and unjust acts committed by
Congress during the war. The honest and simple were defrauded, and the rogues were immense gainers.1 The people justly raised a great clamor, while the friends of the king greatly
rejoiced in seeing the growth of what they deemed the canker-worm in the seed of rebellion.
Among the most prominent evils arising from the rapid depreciation of the paper was a
spirit of speculation and fraud, which excited unfounded jealousies and suspicions. The
Washington opposed the measure from the beginning as iniquitous, unjust, and fraught with the direst
evils. He was a considerable loser by it. While at Morristown, a respectable man in the neighborhood
was very assiduous in his attentions to the chief, and they were generally reciprocated. This man paid his
debts in the depreciated currency, under the law, and the fact became known to Washington. Some time
afterward the man called at head-quarters, but the general hardly noticed him. This coldness was observed
by the officers, and La Fayette remarked, " General, this man seems much devoted to you, and yet you have
scarcely noticed him."  Washington replied, smiling, "I know I have not been cordial; I tried hard to be
civil, and attempted to speak to him two or three times, but that Continental money stopped my mouth."
2 Rev. Charles Inglis, who was rector of Trinity Church, in New York, from 1777 until 1782, and, after
the peace, was made Lord Bishop of Nova Scotia, in a letter to Joseph Galloway, the great Pennsylvania
Loyalist, then in London, thus writes, under date of December 12th, 1778, in reference to the immense issues and the depreciation of the bills of credit: " The fee simple of the thirteen United
States is not equal to this sum, which is still increasing. I therefore think it utterly,  Jg  s
impossible to support the credit of this money; and were there nothing else, this would
be sufficient to destroy the rebellion, if Britain would hold the places she now possesses,  k V  t
and keep a moderate number of cruisers on the coast. The mode of securing French  f  V   j
debts, by which the colonies became mortgaged for the fripperies of every French peddler, is another embarrassing article on this head, which must prove ruinous to America."  / j z
Daniel Coxe, a member of the king's council of New Jersey, and a refugee in New York,
writing to Galloway, under date of February 14th, 1779, says, " The current deprecia-  -.
tion of their money now at Philadelphia is fifteen for one; and tho' there are clubs and
private associations endeavoring to support its credit, nothing will do, nor can any     i
thing, in my opinion, now save 'em on this point but a foreign loan, and which, though   0 w.
heaettheihinkthey affect otherwise, I think they can not negotiate any where in Europe, unless all the
moneyed nations are turned fools; and if they can not command a loan, and are pre-  L  a
vented from all remittances and trade southward, they must sink, never again, I hope,  g, p
to rise.......In short, they never were so wretched and near destruction as at this     Y
moment, and, unless some unforeseen event takes place in their favor soon, 1 firmly
expect the next summer must end their independence and greatness.......For God's
sake, then, encourage every degree of spirit and exertion all you can, and quickly; a
good push, and they go to the wall infallibly."  Such was the tenor of the letters sent  q  rj
to England by the Loyalists from 1778 until 1781. The financial embarrassments of
Congress gave Loyalists and friends of government strong hopes that it would accom-  CIPHER ALPHABET.
plish what British arms had failed to do. It may be here remarked that many of the
letters which passed between the Loyalists here and their friends abroad were written in cipher, so that,
should they fall into the hands of the patriots, they might not be read, to the disadvantage of the writers and
1 4t/aYco /                  67^6  s6O # 6f7s' 7/,c7*/WCO &C
CLINTON          HAS       SENT    A      SECRET         EXPEDITION         UP
567 *6CV CPA1 /                          ^*7d+7Xi /69O^f i- CO.
THE         HUDSON         TO        INTERCEPT               WASHINGTON.
FAC.SIMILE OF CIPHER WRITING.
their cause. I here give, for the gratification of the curious, an alphabetical key, and a fac-simile or two
lines of the cipher writing, copied from one of the letters of a distinguished Tory, together with the interpretation.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


321


Charge against General Greene.  Excitement throughout the Country.  Riot in Philadelphia.  Convention at Hartford
rapid rise in prices was unjustly attributed to extortion on the part of public officers, and
even General Greene, who acted as quarter-master general, was accused of enriching himself at the public expense, because he received for his salary a per centage on all moneys disbursed, and the depreciation made the nominal amount vast.  Individual speculators and
monopolizers were the extortioners and the oppressors of the people, and of them Washington said, in a letter to President Reed, " I would to God that some of the more atrocious in
each state were hung in gibbets upon a gallows four times as high as the one prepared for
Haman." It was remarked,,( that while the honest and patriotic were impoverished, rogues
and Tories were fast growing rich."
Toward the close of the summer of 1779, the country was greatly agitated by the existing financial embarrassments.  Meetings were held in the chief cities on the subject.  In
Philadelphia, party feelings, growing out of the currency question, became so strong and decided that a riot took place under the very eyes of Congress.  A committee had undertaken
to regulate the prices of flour, rum, sugar, molasses, coffee, salt, and other articles of general
use.  Robert Morris and other leading merchants refused to conform to the regulation.  Wilson, Clymer, and Mifflin, with their friends, were threatened with banishment to New York,
as abettors and'defenders of the Tories.  They armed themselves, and repaired to  October 4,
Wilson's house.  A mob, with fire-arms and two cannons, approached.  Some     1779.
shots were fired, and one of the defenders of the house was killed. A man and a boy of the
mob were also killed.  The mob were about to force the door, when Reed, the president of
Congress, appeared with some cavalry, and partially restored order, but it was necessary for
the citizens to turn out and patrol the streets.  It was several days before quiet was restored.
In the midst of this general excitement a convention of the five Eastern States October 20,
was held at Hartford, and Congress, unable longer to disguise the fact that its  1779.
bills of credit were permanently depreciating, approved of, and recommended, a plan elaborated by that convention, to regulate prices on the basis of twenty paper dollars for one of
specie.  This measure partially quieted the public mind.  Before the end of the year the
two hundred millions were emitted, and the press was stopped.' At that time the depreciation stood thirty for one, and was constantly increasing.  The diversion of labor from agricultural and other industrial pursuits, the destruction of grain by the belligerent forces in
various parts of the country, combined with the embarrassed state of the finances of government, which we have briefly considered, threatened famnine and general bankruptcy; and
during the winter and spring of 1780, when Washington had his quarters at Morristown,
the hope of the patriot was suffering an almost total eclipse; it was the gloomiest period of
the Revolution.  The financial operations which subsequently occurred will be noticed hereafter, such as long drafts on the United States commissioners abroad, and foreign loans.
We have made a wide but necessary digression in turning aside to view the financial affairs of the patriots at the period under consideration.  Let us resume our journey and historic annotations.
I left Morristown for Springfield in the early morning train.  The air was September 13,
cool and bracing, and I had a pleasant walk of about a mile from the station,  1848.
at the foot of the Short Hills, to the pretty village lying in the bosom of a fertile plain near
the banks of the Rahway River. The trees upon the surrounding hills were beginning to
assume the variegated livery of autumn, not from the effects of frosts, but of a long drought;
yet on the plain every thing was as green as in June, except the ripening maize. I sought
for the " oldest inhabitant," and found him in the person of the venerable Gilbert Edwards,
who was a half-grown boy at the time of the battle of Springfield, and sold apples to the
American soldiers when they came down from the Short Hills to oppose the invasion of the
enemy under Knyphausen, the German general.' He kindly accompanied me to the place
1 Pitkin, Marshall, Ramsay, Gordon, Sparks, Hildreth.
* General, the Baron Knyphausen, was a native of Alsace, then one of the Rhenish provinces. His father
was a colonel in the German regiment of Dittforth, in the service of John, Duke of Marlborough. The general was bred a soldier, and served under Frederic the First, father of Frederic the Great of Prussia. The
X




322


PICTTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Battle-ground at Springfield.  Invasion by General Knyphausen.  Clinton's Designs.  Plan of the Springfield Battle.
where the principal engagement occurred, which is on the right of the present turnpike leading from Springfield to Elizabethtown, and a few rods westward of the Rahway. Nothing
now remains upon the spot to indicate military operations, for no works were thrown up on
the occasion.  The battle was the result of an unexpected invasion.  The knoll on which
the Americans were posted, then covered with apple-trees, is
now bare, only a few stumps remaining; but on the eastern
slope a few of the trees are left, venerable in form and feature,
8  and venerated for their associations.  One of them is pictured
in the engraving.     It bears several scars of wounds inflicted
by the cannon-balls of the approaching enemy.   They are (honH          orable scars," and I bespeak for the veteran a perpetual pension
of respect.
On the 6th of June, 1780, General Knyphausen, then in temporary command of the British troops in New York during the
absence of Sir Henry Clinton at the south, dispatched Brigadier-general Mathews from Staten Island with
about five thousand troops, who landed at Elizabeth-                            L S
town Point.   He had been informed that the Ameri-~                    \      \
can army at Morristown was much dissatisfied, and
ripe for mutiny and treason, and that the people of New           f    ba
Jersey were ready to join the royal standard as soon as
ample protection should be guarantied them.    Influenced by these opinions, Knyphausen ordered Mathews
to march toward Morristown, but the annoyances which
he met with on the way soon undeceived him.      He         ^^          -    -ANS
burned the village of Connecticut Farms, and advanced
on Springfield, but, being informed that Washington
had sent a force to oppose him, he wheeled and return-      '
ed to Elizabethtown.   Many of his soldiers were cut
off during the recession, by small parties of Jerseymen                              /
concealed behind fences, rocks, and bushes.  On reach-                           \
ing Elizabethtown Point, he intrenched his forces within the old works thrown up there by the Americans,
where they remained about a fortnight.                   PL  O TE BTTLT SPINF
In the mean while, General Clinton arrived from the
south, and determined to carry out the plan arranged by Knyphausen, to capture the stores
at Morristown, and, if possible, draw Washington out from his strong position among the
Short Hills, into a general engagement. He also took pains to mislead Washington, by emtwelve thousand German troops hired by the English government, for service in America, were placed under his command, and the Hessians were led by the Baron de Reidesel. He arrived with his troops, under
convoy of Admiral Lord Howe, in June, 1776, and was engaged in the battle of Long Island in August following. He was also in the battle of Brandywine, and commanded an expedition to Springfield, New Jersey. For some months during the absence of Sir Henry Clinton at the south, Knyphausen was in command
of the city of New York. He was about sixty years of age, possessed of a fine figure, and was remarkably amiable and simple-minded. La Fayette used to tell an anecdote concerning him, on the authority of
British officers. The passage to America was very long, and one night, while playing whist in the cabin,
Knyphausen suddenly turned to the captain and said, with an air of much sincerity, " Captain, ain't we hab
sailed past America?" He died on the frontiers of Germany toward the close of the last century.
'EXPLANATION OF THE MAP.-The stream with branches, and running in a southerly direction, is the
Rahway River; a is the house (still standing) of Mrs. Mathews, near which the enemy formed for battle;
b, the site of Byram's Tavern, at the foot of the first range of hills; c, the Springfield and Elizabethtown
turnpike; d, the Vauxhall Road; e, the first position of the brigades of Stark and Maxwell, near the mill,
and north of the rail-road; f, Shrieve's regiment at the second bridge; g, the mill; h, post of the Americans, on the hills in the rear of Byram's Tavern. The other localities are printed on the map.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


323




Washington deceived by Clinton.  Second Invasion under Knyphausen.  Disposition of opposing Troops.  The Battle.
barking troops in transports on the Hudson, as if an expedition was intended against West
Point. Washington was deceived by this movement, and, with a considerable force, marched toward the Highlands, leaving Major-general Greene in command at Springfield. Clinton, perceiving the success of his stratagem, crossed over to Elizabethtown, with Knyphausen and additional troops, and at break of day on the 23d the whole army, consisting  June
of about five thousand infantry, a considerable body of cavalry, and from fifteen to  1780.
twenty pieces of artillery, advanced toward Springfield. They moved in two columns, one
on the main road (the present turnpike) leading to Springfield, the other on the Vauxhall
Road, leading to the principal pass among the Short Hills, a series of high ridges at the
head of the Springfield plains. The Americans were under the immediate command of
Greene. The right column of the enemy, on the Vauxhall Road, was opposed by Major
Henry Lee with his cavalry, and some pickets under Captain Walker, and the left was confronted by Colonel Dayton, of the New Jersey line.1 The remainder of the American troops
had been posted upon the roads leading to the different passes over the mountains, and it
was with considerable difficulty that they were collected in force at Springfield to oppose
the enemy concentrating there.  The latter, after maneuvering to gain the flanks of the
Americans, formed upon a gentle eminence on the eastern side of the Rahway, near the
house of Mrs. Mathews, which is still standing.  Colonel Angell, with his regiment, was posted in the orchard upon the knoll west of the stream, with a single
field piece under the charge of Captain Little, to defend the bridge; and Colonel
'     Shrieve's regiment was drawn up at the second bridge, in the rear of the town, to
cover the retreat of the Americans, if such a movement should become necessary.
wj!    Lee's dragoons, and the pickets under Captain Walker, were stationed at the
-l f    Vauxhall Bridge, and the militia were drawn up on the flanks, principally under
the command of General Dickinson, of New Jersey.
The first attack was made by the enemy upon Lee's force at the Vauxhall
m\       Bridge, and the Americans were repulsed.  At that instant the British:' V~i     ' ':     troops near the first Springfield Bridge moved to attack Colonel An-:.        |,.i. gell in the orchard.  Captain Little played his artillery so briskly
and well, that he kept the enemy east of the bridge for some time;
B:          but bringing their artillery to bear, they pressed forward, forded the
stream (which is there only about two rods wide), and drove the
Americans from their position and across the second bridge.  The
artillery of the British, being leveled too high, did but little execution, except among the branches of the apple-trees, and the Americans retreated with very little loss.  The enemy were warmly received at the second bridge by Shrieve's regiment, but overwhelm-ing numbers obliged the gallant little band of Americans to fall
_ --             back and join the brigades of Maxwell and Stark upon the hill.
The situation of the patriot army was now critical.  The enemy
MRs. MATHEWS'S HousE.2  was pushing vigorously forward on the Vauxhall Road, leading in
I Elias Dayton was born in Elizabethtown, New Jersey, in 1735. He joined the army during the French
and Indian war. He was a member of the corps called " Jersey Blues," raised in 1759 by Edward Hart,
the father of John, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. With that corps he fought under
Wolfe at Quebec. He was one of the Committee of Safety at Elizabethtown at the beginning of the Revolution; in February, 1778, Congress appointed him colonel of a New Jersey regiment; and in 1782 he
was promoted to the rank of brigadier general. He was in several of the principal battles of the Revolution, and had three horses shot under him-one at Germantown, one at Springfield, and one at Crosswick
Bridge. He was the first president of the Cincinnati of New Jersey, and, during the life of Washington,
enjoyed the warm personal friendship of that distinguished man. He died at Elizabethtown in 1807.
i This sketch was made from the left bank of the Rahway, at the site of the old bridge. This is now the
rear of the house, but, at the time of the battle, the road was upon this side of it, which formed the fronts
The deviation of the road is indicated in the map by a dotted line. Remains of the abutments of the olk
bridge, where the British crossed, may still be seen.




324


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Partial Retreat of the Americans. Burning of Springfield. Retreat of the Enemy. Colonel Barber. Connecticut Farms.
their rear, and their numbers were too small to guard the several passes through the mountains, and have a respectable force engaged in battle.  Greene accordingly ordered the main
body of the army, except the two brigades already mentioned, to take post on the hills in the
rear of Byram's Tavern, and detached the regiments of Colonels Webb and Jackson, with
one piece of artillery, to check the advance of the enemy on the Vauxhall Road.  The movement was successful, and that important pass was secured.
The Americans were now advantageously posted, and General Greene was anxious for an
engagement; but Knyphausen saw his own disadvantage, and, after setting fire to the village, began a retreat toward Elizabethtown.  Greene ordered out detachments to extinguish
the flames of such houses as were not within the reach of the enemy's cannon, but their efforts were of little avail.  The church, and every house and barn in the village but three,
were burned.   One of the latter now stands close by the tavern of Mr. Reynolds.  It is a
very well built house, and exhibits an orifice in the northwestern gable, made by the passage
of a cannon-ball. The parsonage was saved, and in it the congregation worshiped until a
more convenient place was supplied.
As soon as the village was fired, the enemy began their retreat.  Captain Davis, with
one hundred and twenty men and large parties of militia, fell upon their flanks and rear,
and kept up a continual fire upon them all the way to Elizabethtown. The retreat was so
precipitate that Stark's brigade, which was put in motion, could not overtake them. At
June. midnight the enemy began crossing over to Staten Island on a bridge of boats, and
by six o'clock in the morning they had evacuated Elizabethtown and removed their
bridge.'  The loss in killed and wounded has not been fully given on either side.  Lieutenant-colonel Barber, in his return to General Greene, reported thirteen Americans killed, and
fifty-eight wounded and missing. In this report was not included the return of Davis's detachment and of the militia that pursued the enemy to Elizabethtown. The militia had
twelve wounded and none killed.  The loss of the enemy is unknown.  The newspapers of
the day put down their loss in the skirmish at Connecticut Farms and vicinity, two weeks
previous, at one hundred and fifty killed, and as many wounded. Colonel Barber, who acted as deputy adjutant general on the occasion, was particularly recommended for his activity, by General Greene, in his report of the engagement.' General Washington, on hearing of the movement of the enemy toward Springfield, sent a re-enforcement, but it was too
late to save the town.  Greene, in his report, says,, I lament that our force was too small
to save the town from ruin. I wish every American could have been a spectator; they
would have felt for the sufferers, and joined to revenge the injury."
After much difficulty, I procured a conveyance to Elizabethtown.  Mr. Meeker, a resident of Springfield, seventy-four years old, kindly left his plow, and in a light wagon took
me thither, by the way of Connecticut Farms, a small village now called Union, lying four
miles northwest of Elizabethtown. Almost every building in that village was destroyed by
the British invaders while on their way to Springfield, on the 6th of June, 1780. An event
occurred there at that time, which excited the greatest indignation throughout the country.
The family of the Rev. James Caldwell, the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Elizabethtown, and an ardent Whig, had removed to Connecticut Farms as a place of greater
security, and occupied the parsonage. Mrs. Caldwell was the daughter of John Ogden, of
Newark, and was greatly beloved for her piety and benevolence. When she heard of the
Report of General Greene to the commander-in-chief.
2 Francis Barber was born at Princeton in 1751, and was educated at the College of New Jersey. He
was installed rector of an academic institution connected with the First Presbyterian Church at Elizabethtown, in which situation he remained until the commencement of the Revolution. He joined the patriot
army, and in 1776 was commissioned by Congress a major of the third battalion of New Jersey troops; at
the close of the year was appointed lieutenant colonel, and subsequently became assistant inspector general
\ under Baron Steuben. He was in constant service during the whole war, was in the principal battles, and
was present at the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. He was with the Continental army at Newburgh
in 1783; and on the very day when Washington announced the signing of the treaty of peace to the army,
he was killed by a tree falling upon him while riding by the edge of a wood.-Rev. Nicholas Murray.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                 325
Murder of Mrs. Caldwell.  Her Murderer identified.  Timothy Meeker and his Sons.  His Idea of a Standinug Arnny.
approach of the enemy, and the people fled from the town, she resolved to remain, trusting
in Providence for protection. When they entered the village, she withdrew, with her infant
in her arms, into a private apartment, and engaged in religious devotions. A maid, who had
charge of the other children, and accompanied her to the private apartment, saw a " redcoat soldier" jump over the fence into the yard, and told Mrs. Caldwell that he was approaching the window. Mrs. Caldwell arose from a bed on which she had been sitting, and at that
moment the soldier discharged his musket at her through the window. It was loaded with
two balls, both of which passed through her body, and she fell lifeless upon the floor, in the
midst of her children.' It was with much difficulty that her body was saved from the conflagration that ensued.  It was dragged into the street, and lay exposed for several hours in
the hot sun, when some of her friends procured liberty to take it to the house of Captain
Wade, on the opposite side of the road. Her husband was at the Short Hills that night,
suffering dreadfully from anxiety respecting his family.  The next day he procured a flag
and went to Connecticut Farms, when he found the village in ruins and his wife no more.
That cold-blooded murder, as well as the wanton destruction of the peaceful village, changed
many Tories to Whigs, and helped to confirm the settled hatred of the well-affected and the
patriots against the British government, whose military officers winked at such atrocities.
On our way, Mr. Meeker related some interesting facts concerning his family. His grandfather was a stanch republican, and had eight sons and four sons-in-law in the Continental
army, who were remarkable for their physical strength and moral courage. The father of
Mr. Edwards, the old gentleman who went over the Springfield battle-ground with me, was
one of the sons-in-law. One of his sons (Mr. Meeker's father) lived up among the Short
Hills, and was a substantial farmer. A conversation which he had one day with General
Dayton, at Elizabethtown, well illustrates the political character of many of the yeomanry
of that period.  While a portion of the standing army, under the administration of the elder
Adams, was at Elizabethtown, Mr. Meeker went to General Dayton to pay his direct tax,
in hard cash, for the support of the army.  ", Of what use is your standing army?" asked
Meeker.   " To support Congress,"' replied Dayton.  " Ay, to support Congress indeed,"
said the old man, bitterly. " To support Congress in taking away our liberties, and in altering the Constitution so as to place men in public offices for life.  I fought for freedom
through the war for nothing (his Continental money was worthless), and now I 'want to pay
for my land and be independent indeed, but tax upon tax keeps me poor.  I could at any
time raise one hundred men among my neighbors upon the Short Hills, say privately to your
standing army, ' Come and help us'-and they would come, and we'd march to Philadelphia and take your Congressmen from their seats.  We will not have a standing army.
Disband it."  "Our standing army," said Dayton, " will intimidate the British."," Look
ahere, General Dayton," said Meeker, while his eyes sparkled with emotion, "you are well
acquainted in London. Write to your acquaintances there, and tell them that Timothy
Meeker is dead, and that he has left seven sons, every one of whom is a stronger man than
he. Tell them we are seven times stronger than before, and that will intimidate them more
than all your standing armies, that suck the life-blood from the people."  Such was the logic
of New Jersey farmers in 1798, and our government soon acted in accordance with it.
We reached Elizabethtown at about noon, and having ample time before the departure
i Such is the current history, and the diabolical act was fixed upon "a British soldier." Some believed
that the occurrence was a mere accident, resulting from the cross firing of the combatants, but there is ample evidence that it was a deliberate murder. A correspondent of the Newark Advertiser says that " there
is evidence of a very direct character, which affixes the guilt of murder of the poor lady to a particular individual." " A very respectable citizen," he adds, " lately deceased, who was a witness of the scenes of
that day, says that a man named M'Donald, from the north of Ireland, who had been in the employment of
Mr. Caldwell, or of his family, was the person who committed the atrocious deed. This man, from some
unknown cause, had conceived a violent enmity against his employer, and it was in this manner he satiated
his revenge. The witness to whom reference is now made, further declared that he saw M'Donald after
the murder, and heard him avow it, saying, at the same time, that 'now he was satisfied,' upon which he
joined and went off with the enemy."




326             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Burial-ground at Elizabethtown.  Caldwell's Monument.   Dickinson's Tomb.     Boudinot's Vault.
of the evening train for Middlebrook, my next tarrying-place, I visited the several Revolutionary localities in the vicinity.  The burial-ground of the First Presbyterian Church, on
Broad Street, was the chief attraction within the village, for therein repose the remains of
many distinguished men of the Revolution.    The church that occupied the site of the present one was burned on the night of the 25th of January, 1780, together with the academy
(which stood upon the ground of the present lecture room) and the court-house. A notorious Tory named Cornelius Hetfield fired the church with his own hands, and was heard to
lament that the, black-coated rebel," as he called Dr. Caldwell, the pastor, was not burned
in his pulpit.  Near the Broad Street front of the buryingground stands the monument erected to the memory of the
Rev. James Caldwell and his wife, by citizens of Elizabethtown.   It is a handsome marble obelisk, which, with,         an inscribed pedestal, rests upon a granite base.  On the
E left in the picture are seen a recumbent slab, and also an
--  \ t --   upright one.   The former is of brown stone, and covers
- -              the grave of Jonathan Dickinson,1 the founder of the Coli.           -     lege of New Jersey, now located at Princeton; the latter
'-  -   i        is of white marble, and is sacred to the memory of Mar|  -.-.    garet Van Pelt, a grand-daughter of Mr. Caldwell.    On
ble oak, among which is that of
the celebrated Elias Boudinot,
CALDWELL'S MONUMF.NT-.3. 1
who was president of Congress         t:
in 1782, and an active patriot during the Revolution.   Of him I         l
shall have occasion to write hereafter.  A little south of Boudinot's         i
vault is that of General Dayton, just mentioned, and in the vicinity are the graves of General Crane, an active patriot of the Revo-S V
lution; Colonel Barber, already mentioned; Moses Ogden, a young.
American officer, who was killed at Connecticut Farms when that settlement was burned;
and of several others of colonial and Revolutionary eminence, among whom is Governor Belcher.
I Jonathan Dickinson was born in Hatfield, Massachusetts, April 22d, 1688. He graduated at Yale College in 1706, and two years afterward became the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church at Elizabethtown, New Jersey, where he continued nearly forty years. He was the cotemporary of Whitfield, Brainard, Edwards, and the Tennants. He was chiefly instrumental in organizing the academy at Elizabethtown, which was chartered as the College of New Jersey in 1746. He was made its first president, but
the institution did not long enjoy the advantages of his care, as he died on the 7th of October, 1747, aged
fifty-nine. The first commencement of the college was in 1748, when six young men graduated, five of
whom became ministers of the Gospel.
2 The following are the inscriptions upon the Caldwell monument:
EAST SIDE. "This monument is erected to the memory of the Rev. JAMES CALDWELL, the pious and
fervent Christian, the zealous and faithful minister, the eloquent preacher, and a prominent leader among
the worthies who secured the independence of his country.  His name will be cherished in the church
and in the state so long as Virtue is esteemed and Patriotism honored."
WEST SIDE. " Hannah, wife of the Rev. James Caldwell, and daughter of Jonathan Ogden, of Newark,
was killed at Connecticut Farms by a shot from a British soldier, June 25th,* 1780, cruelly sacrificed by
the enemies        of her husband and of her country."
NORT   SIDE.    The memory of the just is blessed.' 'Be of good courage-and let us behave ourselves valiant for our people, and for the cities of our God, and let the Lord do that which is good in his
sight.' 'The glory of children are their fathers.' "
SOUTH SIDE. "iJames Caldwell. Born in Charlotte county, in Virginia, April, 1734. Graduated at
Princeton College, 1759. Ordained pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Elizabethtown, 1762.
After serving as chaplain in the army of the Revolution, and acting as commissary to the troops in New
Jersey, he was killed by a shot from a sentinel at Elizabethtown Point, November 24th, 1781."


* This is an error, as will be perceived by reference to the text.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


327


Death of Mr. Caldwell.  Execution of his Murderer.  Mr. Caldwell's Funeral.  His Orphan Family.
The death of Mr. Caldwell, which occurred a little more than a year subsequent to that
of his wife, was regarded as a foul murder. He was shot upon the causeway at old Elizabethtown Point, by an American sentinel named Morgan, who was hung for the deed. The
circumstances are substantially as follows.  At the time of the occurrence the Americans
had possession of Elizabethtown, and there was established there a commissariat of prisoners, under the superintendence of Major Adams.  To facilitate the business for which the
commissariat was established, a sloop made weekly trips between the Point and New York,
then the head-quarters of the British army. Passengers with a flag, and also parcels, were
frequently carried by this vessel, and a strong guard was placed at a tavern on the shore,
having one or more sentinels upon the causeway that extended across the marsh to the wharf.
On the 24th of November, 1781, this vessel arrived at the wharf, having on board a Miss
Berlah Murray (afterward Mrs. Martin Hoffman), who had permission to visit her sister (Mrs.
Barnett), at Elizabethtown. Mr. Caldwell went down to the sloop in his chaise to receive
her, but she was not there. He went on board the vessel, when a small bundle belonging
to her was placed in his charge', with which he started for his vehicle. James Morgan, a
sentinel on duty upon the causeway, ordered Mr. Caldwell to deliver his bundle to him for
examination, as his orders were not to let any thing of the kind pass without strict scrutiny.
Mr. Caldwell told him it was the property of a lady, which had been placed in his charge,
and refused to give it up. The sentinel reiterated his demand, when Mr. Caldwell turned
frdrn him, and, it is said, went toward the vessel to leave the bundle, rather than subject it
to the inspection of the soldier.  The latter, probably irritated by disobedience of his orders,
and, it may be, by words, leveled his musket and shot Mr. Caldwell dead upon the spot.
Opinions were, and still are, various as to the motive of the sentinel. Some justify him as
acting in strict obedience to his orders; others believe him to have been bribed to murder
the active patriot when the first opportunity should offer; and others, again, simply condemn him for exceeding the spirit of his instructions.  Morgan was arrested, the coroner's
inquest brought in a verdict of willful murder against him, and he was tried, found guilty,
and executed at Westfield on the 29th of January, 1782.  He was taken to the church,
where a sermon was preached by the Rev. Jonathan Elmer, from the words of Jeremiah,
" O, do not this abominable thing which I hate;" and immediately after the close of the
services the prisoner was hung. The place of his execution is about half a mile north of
the church, in Westfield, and still bears the name of Morgan's Hill. A local controversy
has arisen upon the subject, which seems to turn more upon the inferences of the several
writers than upon the material facts here given.  "Who shall decide when doctors disagree?"  Cotemporary records form the best umpire in such cases, and correct history, the
patient in question, is not likely to suffer from such a disagreement.
The death of Mr. Caldwell, a pious and eloquent minister, and such an active patriot,
made a powerful impression on the public mind, and there was " a voice of mourning"
wherever his eminent virtues were known. It was Saturday afternoon when he was shot.
His body was conveyed to the house of his friend, Mrs. Noel, whence it was buried the following Tuesday.  " Many," says Dr. Murray, " were ignorant of the tragical deed until
they came to church on the Sabbath; and, instead of sitting with delight under his instructions, there was a loud cry of wailing over his melancholy end.  There was a vast concourse
assembled to convey him to his tomb.  The corpse was placed on a large stone before the
door of the house of Mrs. Noel (now the residence of Miss Spalding), where all could take a
last view of the remains of their murdered pastor.  After all had taken their last look, and
before the coffin was closed, Dr. Elias Boudinot came forward, leading nine orphan children,
and, placing them around the bier of their parent, made an address of surpassing pathos to
the multitude in their behalf."'
I rode down to Elizabethtown Point, a place famous in the annals of the Revolution.
1 Notes on Elizabethtown, page 77. The funeral sermon was preached by Dr. M'Whorter, of Newark,
from Ecclesiastes, viii., 8.




328


PI..CTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


328  ICTOIAL IELDBOO


Old Eliiabethport.  Ancient Tavern and Wharf.  Fortification of the Point.  Naval Expedition.  Franklip Stovc.
The distance is about two miles, and so nearly adjacent are the houses along the road, that
it may be said the village extends all the way to the Point. The old wharf or landing is
about three quarters of a mile northeast of the present bustling port, and only a solitary
dwelling, the traces of the causeway, and the apparition, at low water, of some of the logs
of the ancient wharf, constitute the remains of the Revolution there, except slight indications
of the works thrown up by the Americans in the rear.       Making a journey in a direct line
through some shrub oaks and a field of tangled buckwheat, I visited and sketched the old tavern, now the
property of Mr. Isham, of New York, where many of
the stirring scenes of the Revolution occurred.  There
American and British officers were alternately quar-=             tered, from 17 7 6 until the close of the war, and in that
house the corpse of Mr. Caldwell was laid while a
wagon was procured to convey it to the town.        In:%                           front of it is a flat shore, overflowed at high tide, across
which was a substantial causeway about seventy-five
rods in length, with a wharf at the end.     Here was
OLD TA N AT EIZABETPRT.'         the landing-place of troops passing and repassing to
and from Staten Island, closely contiguous; and from
this wharf extended the bridge of boals over which the British retreated after the battle of
Springfield. There Washington er- arked in the barge prepared to convey him to New
April 24, York, to be inaugurated tla first President of the United States, and in the old tav1789.  ern he breakfasted that morning.
When the British fleet appeared off Sandy Hook with the troops of General Howe, in
June, 1776, great alarm spread through New Jersey; for, as the Americans then had military occupation of New Yo' k city, it was supposed the enemy would land on the Jersey
coast.  Governor Livingsto, at the head of the New Jersey militia, established his camp
at Elizabethtown Point, and caused a fortification to be constructed by digging ditches and
throwing up breast-works, which extended from the old to the new Point, and on which a
few cannons were mounted. These works were never of any material use, and hardly a
vestige of them remains.
From the Point several water expeditions were fitted out, for the narrow and tortuous
channel, and low, marshy shore protected the place from the visits of large vessels of war.
One of these expeditions was under the command of Elias Dayton and William Alexander.
The latter is better known in our history as Lord Stirling, and was Governor Shirley's military secretary at Albany twenty years before.    Informed that a British transport and provision ship was on the coast, the Committee of Safety at Elizabethtown ordered four armed
boats to attempt its capture.  They came in sight of the vessel about forty miles from Sandy
Hook. The men in the boats were all concealed under hatches, except two in each, unarmThis view is looking eastward. In the distance, on the right, is seen a vessel, at the entrance of Newark Bay, and the land beyond is the high ground intervening between it and Jersey City. In one of the
rooms of the old tavern is a Franklin stove, which has probably been a tenant there
i-        ever since it came from the foundery. I give a sketch of it, not only because it is a
relic of the time, but because it doubtless shows the form of the stove as invented by
Dr. Franklin in 1742,* before an "improvement" was made. On its front, in raised
letters, are the words " Ross and Bird's Hibernia Foundry, 1782."  Ross had a foundery at Elizabethtown in 1774, as appears by the inscription upon the dinner-bell of Sir
William Johnson, now in the belfry of the old Caughnawaga Church at Fonda. See
note, page 233.
* Franklin says, in reference to this invention, " Governor Thomas was so pleased with the construction of this stove, that he
offered to give me a patent for the sole vending of them for a term of years; but 1 declined it, from a principle which has ever
weighed with me on such occasions, viz., that, as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad
of an opportunity to serve others by an invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generally." A London iron-monger
made some alterations, whioh Franklin says " hurt its operation,' got a iatent for it there, and made a small fortune by it.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


329


Capture of a Provision Ship. Privateering. "London Trading." "Liberty Hall."  Designs against Governor Livington.
ed, who managed the oars. The enemy mistook them for fishing vessels, and allowed them
to come along side. At a preconcerted signal, the hatches were raised, the armed Americans poured upon the deck of the ship, and in a few minutes she was their prize, hardly a
show of resistance having been made. She was taken in triumph to Elizabethtown Point,
where her cargo was landed. This exploit was performed in the summer of 1775, soon
after the battle on Bunker Hill.  Some privateering expeditions were fitted out here and at
Amboy during the war; but, with the exception of the invasion already detailed, there were
few military operations there.  There are a few blemishes in the. general good character for
Whiggery, claimed by Elizabethtown. During the war there was a great deal of (" London
trading," or supplying the enemy with provisions and other things, carried on there.  The
high price paid by the British on Staten Island tempted even the most ardent Whigs to put
money in their purses by the traffic.  Many took their pay in British goods, and actually
opened stores in the village with articles thus obtained.  Governor Livingston, alluding to
the practice, said, (, The village now consists of unknown, unrecommended strangers, guilty.
looking Tories, and very knavish Whigs."
Having an hour to spare on my return to the village, I walked out to old " Liberty Hall,"
the former residence of Govern-or Livingston, now the proper'-                            ty of Mr. John Kean.   It is a
fine old mansion, imbowered in
shrubs and overshadowed by
a                            venerable trees.  It is situated
upon the left of the Springfield
Turnpike, beyond the Elizabeth
River, and about three fourths
of a mile north of the rail-way
station in the village.                                         Govr  L                            ernor Livingston was an active
partisan, and during the whole
war was continually employed
in public duties or in wielding
his pen in favor of the RepubIB iY H L                 lican cause.  For this reason
he was extremely obnoxious to
the enemy, and particularly to the Tories, whom he cordially hated and despised.  Several
attempts were made to abduct him, but they were all unsuccessful.  It was also said that
Sir Henry Clinton offered a bounty for his life, if he could not be taken alive, and that a
prominent Tory of New Jersey had been solicited to assassinate him for a price.  Of this
Governor Livingston accused Clinton, in a letter.  The latter did not deny the charge, but,
in a very discourteous reply, said,  Had I a soul capable of harboring so infamous an idea
as assassination, you, sir, at least, would have nothing to fear; for, be assured, I should not
blacken myself with so foul a crime to obtain so trifling an end."  Sir Henry, however,
thought the i end not too trifling" to fit out an expedition for the express purpose of capturing the " rebel governor."  It was midnight, on the 28th of February, 1779, that a party
of British troops, sent by Clinton from New York, landed at Elizabethtown Point, and,
Some time after the death of Governor Livingston this property was purchased by Lord Bolingbroke,
who, under the assumed name of John Belesis, ran away from England with a daughter of Baron Hompasch,
a German general. She was at a boarding school there, and Bolingbroke had a wife living. He married
the girl here. She died in England in 1848. The grandmother of the present proprietor, Susan, the daughter of Peter Van Burgh Livingston, bought the farm of Lord Bolingbroke, and it has been in possession of
the family ever since. Her first husband was John Kean, a member of Congress from South Carolina from
1785 to 1787, and was first cashier of the first United States Bank, chartered by an act of Congress passed
February 8th, 1791. Her second husband was Count Niemcewicz, a Polish nobleman.




330


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK.8cenes at " Liberty Hall."  Spirit of Governor Livingston's Daughters.  Sketch of the Life of Livingston.
marching directly to " Liberty Hall," burst open the doors, and shouted vociferously for ", the
damned rebel governor." Fortunately, the governor had left home some hours before, to
pass the night with a friend, a few miles distant. After becoming convinced that he was
not there, they demanded his papers.    Those of the greatest importance (his recent correspondence with Washington, and with Congress and the state officers) were in the box of
his sulky, in his parlor. This box the officer in command was about to seize, when Livingston's daughter Catharine, a girl of great spirit and presence of mind, represented to him
that the box contained her private property, and appealed to his courtesy as a gentleman and
a soldier to protect it for her. A guard was placed over it, and she then led the men to the
library, where they filled their foraging bags with worthless law papers. - After threatening
to burn the house, they returned to Elizabethtown, burned one or two dwellings in the village, and then departed for New York.'
Mr. Sedgwick relates a tradition connected with the family of Governor Livingston. At
the time of the invasion,                                       drunken soldiers rushed inwhen the village of Con-                                        to the hall, swearing that
necticut Farms was burn-                                        they would burn the rebel
edj Governor Livingston                                         house."   There were none
was absent from   home on                                       but women in the house.
official duty.  The family                                      The maid servant fastened
had spent the day in great                                      herself in the kitchen, and
alarm, for immediately in                                      the ladies of the family lockfront of their dwelling the                                     ed themselves in another
smoke and flames of the                                         room.   The   ruffians disconflagration of that vil-                                      covered their hiding-place,
lage were distinctly seen.                                      and, fearing to exasperate
Late in the evening several                                     them  by refusing to come
British officers came to the                                    out, one of the governor's
house, told them that their                                     daughters boldly opened the
troops were retreating, and                                     door.  A  drunken   soldier
proposed to pass the night                                      seized her by the arm, and at
there.  The family felt se-                                     the same moment she seizcure from marauders while                                       ed him  by the collar with
such protectors were pres-                                      a force that alarmed him.
ent, and   retired  to bed.                                     At that instant a gleam of
About    midnight   they                                          light illumined the hall
were aroused.    The of-             t                        2   and fell upon the white
ficers were called away,                                          dress of the lady.  The
and soon afterward some                                           soldier staggered  back,
exclaiming, " God! it's Mrs. Caldwell, that we killed to-day!"  They soon left the house.
1 Sedgwick's Life of William Livingston, p. 322.
P William Livingston was descended from the old Scotch family of that name, whose first representative
in this country was Robert, the " first lord. of the manor" upon the Hudson. He was born in November,
1723, and graduated in Yale College in 1741. He was well educated, and possessed many solid as well
as brilliant attainments in law and literature. He early espoused the cause of the colonists, and, having
removed from New York to New Jersey, was elected a delegate to the first Continental Congress from that
state. In 1776, after the people of New Jersey had sent Governor Franklin, under a strong guard, to Connecticut, Mr. Livingston was elected chief magistrate of the state; and such were his acknowledged talents,
and republican virtue, and the love of the people for. him, that he was annually elected to that office until
his death. In 1787 he was a delegate to the convention that formed the Federal Constitution; and, after
being actively employed in public life for almost twenty years, he died at " Liberty Hall," near Elizabethtown, July 25th, 1790, aged sixty-seven years. The silhouette here given is copied from one in Sedgwick's
Life of Livingston, which he says was probably taken from life, about 1773. I have engraved for this work
a genealogical tree of the Livingston family, prepared by the late Henry Alexander Livingston, of Poughkeepsiej which includes the names of all the most important members of that family and collateral branches,
beginning with the Earl of Linlithgow, the seventh Lord Livingston. It is a curious document, exhibiting




OF THE REVOLUTION.


331


Arrival at Middlebrook.  Place of the Encampment of the American Army.  Howe's Stratagem.  Skirmishes.
I left Elizabethtown in the cars, at about three o'clock, and arrived at Middlebrook, a
pleasant little village on the Raritan, toward sunset, passing on the way Scotch Plains and
the thriving town of Plainfield. The road passes over an almost level country, and, though
the soil is light and sandy, thrift appeared on every side. Middlebrook and Boundbrook lie
close together, and are included in one village. Here, toward the last of May, 1777, Washington encamped his army, after breaking up his cantonments at Morristown. His troops
rapidly augmented; and when, in June, General Howe began to show some disposition to
open the summer campaign, the American army mustered about fourteen thousand effective
men. They were strongly posted upon the Heights of Middlebrook, in the rear of the village,
near the place of the winter encampment in 1 7 8-9, which will be presently noticed.  Washington suspected Howe's design to be to make an attempt to capture Philadelphia. He concentrated the Northern forces on the Hudson; a strong division under Arnold was posted on
the Delaware, and a considerable force was under his immediate command at Middlebrook.
General Howe had encamped at New Brunswick, ten miles distant, and endeavored to draw
Washington out from his strong position, into a general engagement upon the plains. But
the chief would not hazard a battle while his forces were so divided.  Howe remained two
days at New Brunswick; but, concluding that Washington was too strongly posted among
the hills to be attacked with impunity, the British commander sought to accomplish by stratagem what he had failed to do by open and obvious movements.  For this purpose June 14,
he advanced rapidly toward Somerset Court-house, feigning a design to cross the  1777
Delaware.   Failing to draw Washington from his post by this maneuver, he made another
feint, a few days afterward, which succeeded better.  He suddenly retreated, first aJune 19.
toward New Brunswick,a and then to Amboy,b and even sent some detachments b June 2a
over to Staten Island.  Partly deceived by these movements, and hoping to reap some advantage by harassing the British rear, Washington sent strong detachments after the retreating enemy, and also advanced with his whole force to Quibbletown (now New Market), five
or six miles from Middlebrook.  This was exactly what Howe desired to accomplish,
and, accordingly, on the night of the 25th, he suddenly recalled his troops from Staten
Island and Amboy, and early the next morning marched rapidly toward the American lines,
hoping to cut off their retreat to Middlebrook, and thus bring on a general action.  Washington was too quick and vigilant for Howe, and reached his strong position again. The
advanced guard of the British fell in with Lord Stirling's division, and a warm skirmish
ensued.  On the approach of Cornwallis with a considerable force, Stirling retreated to his
camp with inconsiderable loss.  Other skirmishes ensued, but neither party suffered much.
At Westfield the British forces wheeled, and, marching back to Amboy, passed over to Staten
Island, leaving the Americans in the quiet possession of New Jersey.
It was on the gentle slope from the plain to the steep acclivities of the mountain in the
rear of Middlebrook, that seven brigades of the American army were hutted during the winter of 1779-80. After the battle of Monmouth,c the American army crossed the CJune 2s,
Hudson River, and took post chiefly in Westchester county.  The head-quarters  1778.
of Washington were at White Plains. In the mean while the Count d'Estaing had arrived
at Sandy Hook with a French fleet; but, being unable to pass the bar with his heavy ships,
to attack Lord Howe in the bay, he sailed eastward to co-operate with General Sullivan in
a proposed attack upon Newport, on Rhode Island. Of this expedition, which proved unsuccessful, I shall hereafter write.
Washington continued at White Plains until late in autumn, suspecting the design of
Sir Henry Clinton to be to make a movement eastward. Sir Henry gave currency to the
reports that such were his intentions, until Washington moved his head-quarters to Fredermany of the most distinguished names that occur in our Revolutionary history. I have also copies of the
portraits of John and Mary Livingston, the parents of Robert, the "first lord of the manor," which were
painted in Holland some two hundred years ago. These, with the genealogy, will be found in another part
of this work.




'332


PICTORIAL FIELD-B OOK


Clinton's Operations in New Jersey.  Disposition of the American Forces.  Encampment at Middlebrook.  Pluckemin.
icsburg, near the Connecticut line, and turned his attention decidedly to the protection of
the eastern coast.  Clinton then sent foraging parties into New Jersey, and ravaged the
whole country, from the Hudson to the Raritan, and beyond. The abandonment of the
siege of Newport, the return of Howe's fleet to New York, and the entire withdrawal of
forces from the east by Clinton, except those stationed upon Rhode Island, convinced Washington that the British commander had no further designs in that direction, and he prepared
to put his army into the most advantageous winter-quarters.    Nine brigades were stationed
on the west side of the Hudson, exclusive of the garrison at West Point. One of these was
at Smith's Cove, in the rear of Haverstraw, one at Elizabethtown, and the other seven were
at Middlebrook.    Six brigades were cantoned on the east side of the Hudson and at West
Point.   One was at West Point, two were at Continental Village, a hamlet near Peekskill,
and three in the vicinity of Danbury, in Connecticut. The artillery was at Pluckemin, in
Bedminster county, New Jersey.1 The head-quarters of the chief were in the vicinity of
Middlebrook.   Knox, Greene, and Steuben were among the general officers that accompanied him; and the ladies of several of the officers, among whom was Mrs. Washington, enlivened the camp by their presence during the winter.
The place of encampment was about three fourths of a mile northwest from the village.
Log huts were completed, for the use of the soldiers, in February, after they had suffered
exposure under canvas tents for several weeks.    The huts, according to the description of
Dr. Thacher, who was there, were made very comfortable by filling the interstices between
the logs with mud, as log houses in our Western and Southwestern states are now made.
The huts were arranged in straight lines, forming a regular and compact village. The officers' huts were arranged in front of the line, according to their rank, with kitchens in the
rear; and the whole was similar in form to a tent encampment.     Remains of these are still
found in the fields where the encampment was. I could not ascertain where Washington
was quartered; and, as far as I could learn by inquiries, there is only one house remaining
in the neighborhood which was occupied by any of the general officers at that time, and
that is the dwelling of Mr. Staats, where Major-general Baron Steuben had his quarters.
From a remark by Dr. Thacher, in his Military Journal (page 156), I infer that Washington's quarters were at or near Pluckemin, a few miles from the camp. The doctor speaks
of an event that occurred " near head-quarters, at Pluckernin."
In the evening of my arrival at Middlebrook, I called on Mrs. Polly Van Norden, a small,
but vigorous old lady, eighty-four years of age.  She lived near the Monmouth battle-ground
at the time of the conflict there, and was well acquainted with the sufferings of the Whigs
in that region from the depredations of the desperate band of Tories called the Pine Robbers.
She was a woman of strong but uncultivated mind, and became excited with feelings of the
1 Pluckemin lies at the base of a high mountain, about six miles northwest of Somerville. There the
American army halted on the 4th of January, 1777 (the day after the battle of Princeton), on its way to
Morristown. In the village burial-ground is the grave of Captain Leslie, of the British army, who was mortally wounded at Princeton. Mr. Custis, in his Recollections of the Life of Washington, says, " It was while
the commander-in-chief reined up his horse, upon approaching the spot, in a plowed field, where lay the gallant Colonel Harslet, mortally wounded, that he perceived some British soldiers supporting a wounded officer, and, upon inquiring his name and rank, was answered, 'Captain Leslie.' Dr. Benjamin Rush, who
formed a part of the general's suite, earnestly asked, ' A son of the Earl of Levin?' to which the soldiers
replied in the affirmative. The doctor then addressed the general-in-chief: 'I beg your excellency to permit this wounded officer to be placed under my care, that I may return, in however small a degree, a part
of the obligation I owe to his worthy father for the many kindnesses received at his hands while a student
at Edinburgh.' The request was immediately granted; but, alas! poor Leslie was soon past all surgery."
He died the same evening, after receiving every possible kindness and attention, and was buried the next
day at Pluckemin, with the honors of war. His troops, as they lowered the body to the soldier's last rest,
shed tears of sorrow over the remains of their much-loved commander. On a plain monument erected to
his memory is the following inscription: " In memory of Captain WILLIAM LESLIE, of the seventh British
regiment, son of the Earl of Levin, in Scotland. He fell, January 3d, 1777, aged 26 years, at the battle
of PRINCETON. His friend, Benjamin Rush, M.D., of Philadelphia, hath caused this stone to be erected, as
a mark of his esteem for his worth, and respect for his family."




OF THE REVOLUTION.           33


Steuben's Head-quarters. Recollections of Mrs. Doty. Visit to the Camp-ground.  "Washington's Rock." View from itt
bitterest hatred against the Tories while telling me of their deeds-a hatred, the keenness
of which the lapse of seventy years has scarcely blunted.
Early the following morning, in company with a gentleman of the village, I  September 14
rode to the residence of the venerable Bergen Bragaw, a hale old man of eighty-  1848.
seven.  From him I learned the exact locality of the American encampment.    His half-.
brother was one of the Pennsylvania line, and my informant often visited him in the camp.
He said the slope where the huts were erected was heavily timbered at that time, but it
was completely cleared in cutting down trees for the log houses, and has been a cultivated
tract ever since.
From Mr. Bragaw's we rode to the house formerly owned by Abraham Staats, and now
in possession of his son.:                  noted, and the elegance
Three sisters survive, one                                   and richness of the ornaof whom (Mrs. Jane Doty),                                    ments with which he was
nearly eighty years of age,               -^                 adorned.   She spoke of a
who resided there during,                                 brilliant medal that hung
the Revolution, has a clear  /                               by a ribbon upon his breast.'
recollection of many events                                  Mrs. Doty recollected two
connected   with   Baron  i               I                  visits made to the baron by
Steuben's occupancy of the                                   Washington and his lady,
house.  Although she was                                     one to dine and the other
then a child eight or ten:                              to take tea with him.  On
years old, she remembers      '-the latter occasion several
the dignity of his appear-                                   ladies were present.  She
ance, the urbanity of his        STEUBEN HEAD-QUARTES.2      also remembers an entermanners, for which he was                                    tainment given by the bar
on to the American officers and their ladies, on which occasion the table was spread in a
grove near by.  This occurred a short time before the encampment broke up, which
1779.
event took place early in June.
Returning to the village, we proceeded to visit the camp-ground, which is upon the left
of the main road over the mountains to Pluckemin; also " Washington's Rock."      The
former exhibits nothing worthy of particular attention; but the latter, situated upon the
highest point of the mountain in the rear of Middlebrook, is a locality, independent of the
associations which hallow it, that must ever impress the visitor with pleasant recollections
of the view obtained from that lofty observatory. We left our wagon at a point half way up
the mountain, and made our way up the steep declivities along the remains of the old road.
How loaded wagons were managed in ascending or descending this mountain road is quite inconceivable, for it is a difficult journey for a foot-passenger to make.  In many places not even
the advantage of a zigzag course along the hill sides was employed, but a line as straight as
possible was made up the mountain. Along this difficult way the artillery troops that were stationed at Pluckemin crossed the mountain, and over that steep and rugged road heavy cannons
were dragged. Having reached the summit, we made our way through a narrow and tangled
path to the bold rock seen in the picture on the next page.  It is at an elevation of nearly
four hundred feet above the plain below, and commands a magnificent view of the surrounding country included in the segment of a circle of sixty miles, having its rundle southward.
At our feet spread out the beautiful rolling plains like a map, through which course the wind1 Baron Steuben had received from the King of Prussia a splendid medal of gold and diamonds, designating the Order of Fidelity, which he always wore when in full military dress.
2 This view is from the field in front of the house, looking north. The dwelling is at the end of a lane
several rods from the main road leading to Middlebrook from New Brunswick. It is on the western side
of the Raritan, and about a mile from the bridge near Middlebrook. Only the center building was in existence at the time in question, and that seems to have been enlarged. Each wing has since been added.
The interior of the old part is kept in the same condition as it was when Steuben occupied it, being, like
most of the better dwellings of that time, neatly wainscoted with pine, wrought into moldings and panels.




334


PICTORIAL FIELDI-BOOK


View from Washington's Rock.          Another similar Rock at Plainfield.     Celebration at Pluckemin in 1779.


ing Raritan and the Delaware and Hudson Canal. Little villages and neat farm-houses
dotted the picture in every direction. Southward, the spires of New Brunswick shot up
above the intervening for-                              and rises from  a slope of the hill,
ests, and on                   - 's'      ^      --           about twenty-five   feet from
the left, as              ' ":g::                  base to summit.  From this
seen in the pic-                                                 latter lofty position, it is
ture, was spread the        j                     risaid, Washington watched
expanse of Raritan and                                           the movements of the eneAmboy Bays, with many                                           my in the summer of 1777,
white sails upon their bo-                                       recorded on page 331.
soms.   Beyond   were seen     l^i'T While upon the mountthe swelling hills of Staten.              ains, a haze that dimmed the
Island, and the more abrupt        4,                       sky in the morning, gathering
heights of Neversink or Navesink          '.: into thick clouds, assumed the
Mountains, at Sandy Hook.     Upon     iL                    nimbus form, and menaced us
this lofty rock Washington often            i                 with rain.   This fact, and the
stood, with his telescope, and reconnoi-,                      expectation of the speedy artered the vicinity.  He overlooked his                           rival of the train for Somercamp at his feet, and could have de-                         ville, where I was to take stage
scried the marchings of the enemy at a      i.for                             Easton,
great distance upon the plain, or the evo-:Iz                                 on the Dellutions of a fleet in the waters beyond.,                                    aware, hurIn the rear of Plainfield, at an equal ele-                d                    ried us back
vation, and upon the same range of hills,            to the village.   There I met an old
is another rock bearing a similar appella-      f   gentleman (whose name I have forgottion, and from the same cause.   It is near        ten), who, though a small boy at the
the brow of the mountain, but, unlike the          time, remembered the grand display at
one under consideration, it stands quite alone,    Pluckemin during the encampment, on
February 6, the anniversary of the alliance of America with France.' He remembered an
1778.   incident which I have not seen mentioned in the published accounts of that
1The following account of this celebration, published at the time, will doubtless interest the reader. It
must be remembered that on the 6th of February, 1778, Dr. Franklin and other American commissioners,
and commissioners appointed by the French government, signed a treaty of friendship and alliance between
the two countries. The event alluded to occurred on the first anniversary (1779) of the alliance, or a few
days afterward. It was postponed until the 18th, on account of Washington's absence from camp. The
general-in-chief, and all the principal officers of the army there, Mrs. Washington, Mrs. Knox, Mrs. Greene,
and the ladies and gentlemen for a large circuit around the camp, were of the company; and there was a
vast concourse of spectators from every part of New Jersey.
The artillery were posted upon a piece of rising ground, and the entertainment was given by General
Knox and the officers of the artillery corps. The entertainment and ball were held at the academy of the
Park. The celebration was commenced at about four o'clock in the afternoon, by a discharge of thirteen
cannons. The company invited then sat down to dinner in the academy. In the evening a display of fireworks was made, under the direction of Colonel Stevens, " from the point of a temple one hundred feet in
length, and proportionately high." The temple showed thirteen arches, each displaying an illuminated painting. The center arch was ornamented with a pediment larger than any of the others; and the whole edifice was supported by a colonnade of the Corinthian order. The illuminated paintings were disposed in the
following order: The 1st arch on the right represented the commencement of hostilities at Lexington, with
this inscription: " The scene opened." 2d. British clemency, represented in the burning of Charlestown,
Falmouth, Norfolk, and Kingston. 3d. The separation of America from Britain. A magnificent arch broken
in the center. with this motto: " By your tyranny to the people of America, you have separated the wide
arch of an extended empire." 4th. Britain represented as a decaying empire, by a barren country, broken
arches, fallen spires, ships deserting its shores, birds of prey hovering over its moldering cities, and a gloomy
setting sun. Motto,
"The Babylonian spires are sunk,
Achaia, Rome, and Egypt moldered down;
Time shakes the stable tyranny of thrones,
And tottering empires crush by their own weight."




OF THE REVOLUTION.,


335


Incident at Pluckemin.  Departure from Middlebrook.  Somerville.  Incidents by the Way.  Arrival at Easton.
affair.  He said that several boys had possession of a small swivel, and, in firing it, one
of them, while loading, had his hand blown off by a premature discharge of the piece. The
boy was the son of a widow, and Washington, hearing of the circumstance, sent his mother
two guineas.
I left Middlebrook at noon, and within half an hour was at dinner in Somerville, five or
six miles distant, whence, at one o'clock, I departed in a stage-coach for Easton.  Within
the coach were seven grown persons, three children about ten years old, and two babies of
a respectable size and sound lungs; while on the outside were four passengers and the driver,
and an indefinite quantity of baggage.  The roads were excessively dusty.   The rain that
commenced falling gently soon after leaving Somerville relieved us of that annoyance, but
produced a greater-the necessity of having the windows of the coach closed, to keep out the
drippings of the increasing storm. A wheezing old gentleman in green goggles insisted upon
keeping the window open near him, to save him from suffocation; while a shadowy, middle-aged lady, upon the next seat, wrapped in & cloak, as earnestly declared that it should
be closed to save her from an ague that had threatened her for a week. The matter appeared to be very properly a casus belli, as prime ministers say; but, unlike the action of
prime ministers in general, the controversy was compromised by mutual concessions, the
crooked roads over the rough hills presenting a basis for an amicable treaty of peace.  It
was agreed that, when the course of the road brought the lady to the windward, the window
was to be closed, and at other times the gentleman was to be accommodated with fresh air.
The country through which we passed is beautifully diversified with lofty hills and deep
ravines, forming numerous water courses, whose irrigating streams fertilize the broad valleys
which are found occasionally imbosomed among the less fertile, but cultivated mountains.
Of these, the Musconetcong,l through which flows a small river of the same euphonious
name, dividing the counties of Hunterdon and Warren, is said to be one of the most charming. We crossed the Musconetcong at the pretty little village of Bloomsbury, at twilight, but
the gloaming and the rain deprived us of the pleasure of a view of the valley and its thriving town.   We were now within six miles of the Delaware, and as the darkness deepened
the storm increased; and when, at seven o'clock, we crossed the river, and reined up at the
hotel in Easton, we seemed to alight in the very court of Jupiter Pluvius.
Easton'is upon the right bank of the Delaware, at its confluence with the Lehigh River,
thirty-seven miles northwest from Somerville.  Arriving there after dark, and departing the
next morning before daylight, I had no opportunity to view it.   It is said to be a place of
much business, and inhabited by a well-educated, social, and highly moral population, and
is in the midst of natural scenery singularly picturesque.  It has but little Revolutionary
history, and that relates chiefly to contests with the Indians.  Here the division of the army
5th. America represented as a rising empire. Prospect of a fertile country, harbors and rivers covered with
ships, new canals opening, cities arising amid woods, splendid sun emerging from a bright horizon. Motto,
"New worlds are still emerging from the deep,
The old descending, in their turns to rise."
6th. A grand illuminated representation of Louis THE SIXTEENTH, the encourager of letters, the supporter of the rights of humanity, the ally and friend of the American people. 7th. The center arch, THE
FATHERS IN CONGRESS. Motto, " Nil desperandum reipublicce." 8th. The American philosopher and embassador extracting lightning from the clouds. 9th. The battle near Saratoga, 7th of October, 1777.  10th.
The Convention of Saratoga. 11th. A representation of the sei fight, off Ushant, between Count d'Orvilliers and Admiral Keppel. 12th. Warren, Montgomery, Mercer, Wooster, Nash, and a crowd of heroes
who have fallen in the American contest, in Elysium, receiving the thanks and praises of Brutus, Cato, and
those spirits who in all ages have gloriously struggled against tyrants and tyranny. Motto, "Those who
shed their blood in such a cause shall live and reign forever." 13th represented Peace, with all her train
of blessings. Her right hand displaying an olive branch; at her feet lay the honors of harvest; the background was filled with flourishing cities; ports crowded with ships; and other emblems of an extensive
empire and unrestrained commerce.
When the fire-works were finished, the company concluded the celebration by a splendid ball, which was
opened by Washington, whose partner was the lady of General Knox.
1 This is an Indian word, signifying "a rapid-running stream."




336


PICTORIARI AL FIEL ~tD-BOOKO


Sullivan'a Expedition.                  Indian Council.                      Whitefield and Brainerd.
of Sullivan, under his immediate command, rendezvoused previous to its flying and desolating campaign against the Six Nations in central New York in 1779, and hither came the
poor fugitives from the blackened Valley of Wyoming, after the terrible massacre and burning there in 1778.     It has history antecedent to this, but in a measure irrelevant to our
subject.   Here, in 1758, the chiefs of the Indian tribes, the Delawares, Shawnees, Miamis,
Nanticokes, Mohicans, Conoys, Monseys, and all of the Six Nations, assembled in grand
council with the Governors of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Sir William Johnson, and
other distinguished men; and the eloquence and good sense of the great Indian diplomatist,
Teedyuscung, were here displayed on several occasions. Here, too, before the cabin of the
white man was built upon the Delaware above Trenton, the surrounding hills echoed the
voices of the eminent Whitefield and Brainerd,' as they proclaimed the Gospel of Peace to
the heathen; and here the good Moravians sang their hymns and held their love-feasts in
the wigwams of the Indians.
1 GEORGE WHITEFIELD was born in Gloucester, England, December 16th, 1714. After making some
progress in learning, he was obliged to assist his mother, who kept an inn. At the age of eighteen he entered Oxford, where he became acquainted with the Wesleys (John and Charles), the founders of the Methodists. He joined these etninent Christians, took orders, and was ordained by the bish6p in June, 1736.
Mr. John Wesley was then in Georgia, and by his persuasion Whitefield embarked for America. He arrived at Savannah in May, 1738, and returned to England in September following. Bishop Benson ordained him priest in January, 1739. He made several voyages to America, and traveled through nearly all the
colonies. He went to the Bermudas in 1748. In 1769 he made his seventh and last voyage to America.
After preaching in different parts of the country, he died suddenly at Newburyport, Massachusetts, September 30th, 1770, aged fifty-five. His powers of eloquence were wonderful, and his ministry was exceedingly
fruitful. His voice was powerful. Dr. Franklin estimated that thirty thousand people might hear him distinctly when preaching in the open air. Of him Cowper wrote,
"He loved the world that hated him; the tear
That dropped upon his Bible was sincere;
Assailed by scandal and the tongue of strife,
His only answer was a blameless life;
And he that forged and he that threw the dart,
Had each a brother's interest in his heart.
Paul's love of Christ and steadiness unbribed
Were copied close in him, and well transcribed;
He followed Paul, his zeal a kindred flame,
His apostolic charity the same;
Like him, crossed cheerfully tempestuous seas,
Forsaking country, kindred, friends, and ease;
Like him he labored, and like him content
To bear it, suffer shame where'er he went.
Blush, Calumny I and write upon his tomb,
If honest eulogy can spare thee room,
The deep repentance of thy thousand lies,
Which, aimed at him, have pierced th' offended skies,
And say, blot out my sin, confessed, deplored,
Against thine image in thy saint, oh Lord I"
DAVID BRAINERD was born at Haddam, Connecticut, April 20th, 1718. He entered Yale College in
1739; but, being expelled in 1742, on account of some indiscreet remarks respecting one of the tutors, he
never obtained his degree. He immediately commenced the study of divinity. Toward the close of the
year he was licensed to preach, and immediately afterward was appointed a missionary to the Indians.  His
first efforts were made among the Stockbridge Indians, about fifteen miles from Kinderhook, New York.
There he lodged upon straw, and his food was the simple fare of the savages. After the Stockbridge Indians agreed to remove to Stockbridge, and place themselves under the instruction of Mr. Sergeant, Brainerd went to the Indians upon the Delaware.  There he labored for a while, and then visited the Indians
at Crossweeksung, or Crosswicks, in New Jersey, where he was very successful.  He worked an entire reform in the lives of the savages at that place. In the summer of 1746, Mr. Brainerd visited the Indians
upon the Susquehanna. The next spring, finding his health giving way, he traveled in New England. In
July he halted at Northampton, and there, in the family of Jonathan Edwards, he passed the remaining
weeks of his life. He died October 9th, 1747, aged twenty-nine years. His exertions in the Christian
cause were of short continuance, but they were intense, incessant, and effectual.




OF THE REVOLUTION.

33 7:


Departure for Wyoming.     Nazareth.      Its Origin.     A chilling Mist.    Nap in the Coa&h.
CHAPTER XV.
"On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming!
Although the wild flowers on thy ruined wall
And roofless homes a sad remembrance bring
Of what thy gentle people did befall,
Yet thou wert once the loveliest land of all
That see the Atlantic's wave their morn restore."
CAMPBELL.
" Thou com'st in beauty on my gaze at last,
'On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming,'
Image of many a dream, in hours long past,
When life was in its bud and blossoming,
And waters, gushing from the fountain spring
Of pure enthusiast thought, dimm'd my young eyes,
As by the poet borne, on unseen wing,
I breathed, in fancy, 'neath thy cloudless skies,
The summer's air, and heard her echoed harmonies."
HALLE CK.
LEFT Easton for the Valley of Wyoming, sixty miles distant, at three o'clock
in the morning. The storm was over, and, the broken clouds, flitting upon. a
cool wind from the northwest, permitted a few gleams of moonlight to stray
down to earth.       Although there were but three passengers in the coach (two
ladies and an infant), I took a seat with the driver, for there were promises of
a bright morning and magnificent scenery.    The coachman was a. good-natured
Pennsylvania Dutchman, rather taciturn, and such an adept in his profession
that his practiced ear detected the absence of a shoe from the foot of one of the,, leaders" when three miles from Easton.   A blacksmith by the road side was
aroused, the shoe was replaced, and within an hour we had ascended the fertile
slopes of the Delaware and Lehigh, to Nazareth, a Moravian. village about half
way between Easton and the Wind-gap in the Blue Mountains.        The day had
a    not yet dawned, yet the snatches of moonlight enabled me to observe the uniform and neat appearance of the houses in the village.'      We were now high
among the hills, whence the mists from the rivers and valleys had rolled up
when the storm ceased at midnight, and I was glad to take shelter from the,       chjilling vapor within the coach.  The seats were spacious, and, having one in
exclusive possession, I made a couch of it, using the carpet bag of one of the
ladies for a pillow, and slept soundly for an hour. When I awoke, the morning light was
1 Nazareth is seven miles northwest of Easton. It contains a church, a sisters' house, a large and flour.
ishing seminary for boys, and the usual dead-house and cemetery peculiar to the sect. The place was named,
and, it may be said, founded, by the Rev. George Whitefield, the eloquent cosmopolite preacher. He had
labored in conjunction with the Moravians in Georgia. When, about 1740, they refused to take up arms
for the governor of the province, and left Georgia for the more peaceful domain of William Penn, Whitefield
accompanied them. He began to erect a large building " in the Forks of the Delaware" as a school for
negro children, while the Moravians, under Bishop Nischman, purchased the site and founded the town of
Bethlehem, about ten miles distant. Whitefield named his domain, or manor, Nazareth. He did not complete his building, but sold " the manor of Nazareth" to the Moravians, who finished the edifice. It is still
standing, in the eastern border of the village. The Moravian Sisters of Bethlehem wrought an elegant banner, and presented it to Count Pulaski. A drawing of the banner, and the beautiful Consecration Hymn, written by Longfellow, will be found in another part of this work.
y




33 8                       PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Pssage through the Wind-gap.  The great Walk.    Roscommon Tavern.      An Office-hunter:
abroad, and we were within half a mile of the Wind-gap. I again mounted the driver's
box, for all around us Nature was displaying her attractions in the plenitude of her magnificence and beauty. Before us, and in close proximity, were the Blue Mountains, their summits curtained in a white fog that was rising toward the loftier clouds.  Behind us, far down
into the valleys and intervales, orchards, corn-fields, forests, and meadows were spread out
like a carpet of mellow tints, and on every side the gentle breeze was shaking the rain-drops
from the boughs in diamond showers, glittering in the first rays of the morning sun. While
the bleating of sheep and the bellowing of cattle reminded us of cultivated fields behind us,
the whirring of the pheasant, the drumming of the partridge, and the whistling of the quail
among the rocks and lofty evergreens around betokened the uncultivated wilderness.
The Wind-gap, unlike the far-famed Water-gap' in the same cluster of mountains, is a
deep depression of the summit of the range, is quite level on both sides of the road for a considerable distance, and exhibits none of the majestic precipices of the latter.  The earth is
covered with masses of angular rocks, among which shoot up cedar and other trees and shrubs,
chiefly of the conifera order; but the road, by industry, is made quite smooth.  The hills
rise on each side of the Gap to an altitude of eight hundred feet, clothed and crowned with
trees. It was through this pass in the mountains that two expert walkers crossed to a spur
of the Pocono when measuring the extent of a district of country northwest of the Delaware,
for the proprietors of Pennsylvania, in 1737.  The Indians had agreed, for a certain consideration, to sell a tract of land included within prescribed points on the river, and extending back as far as a man could "( walk in a day and a half." The proprietors immediately
advertised for the most expert walkers in the province, and they performed a journey, in the
day and a half, of eighty-six miles! The Indians were greatly dissatisfied, for they had no
idea that such a distance could be accomplished, and it included some of their finest lands.
The walkers ran a considerable portion of the way. They ate as they traveled, and never
stopped from sunrise until sunset.  One old Indian said, bitterly, when complaining of the
cheat, " No sit down to smoke-no shoot a squirrel, but lun, lun, lun, all day long."  The
Indians, supposing the walk would end not far from the Wind-gap, had collected there in
great numbers; but, to their astonishment, the walkers reached that point on the evening
of the first day.
The turnpike road through the Wind-gap, and across the valleys and mountains, to Wilkesbarre, was made by Sullivan for the passage of his troops in 1779, when marching to join
General Clinton on the Tioga.  Before that time the pass was little more than a rough Indian war-path, and its obscurity made the hurried flight of the people from Wyoming over
the solitary region more perplexing and dreadful than it would be now.
We descended from the Wind-gap, on the western side of the mountain, along a steep and
winding road, skirting a precipice, crossed a beautiful mountain stream, and alighted at the
Roscommon Tavern, among the hills, where we breakfasted at seven o'clock. At the table
we were honored by the presence of one of the five candidates for the office of sheriff of Monroe county.  He was out canvassing the district for votes, and a more earnest, intelligent,
good-humored man I have seldom met. His strongest claim to the honors and emoluments
of the office seemed to rest upon the fact that he was a representative of New England
pedagogueism in the Wyoming Valley as early as " forty years ago;" had taught the "( young
ideas" of the fathers of three Wilkesbarre lawyers ( how to shoot," and, therefore, he assumed
to have an undisputed right to the privilege of hanging the inhabitants of a neighboring county.
He accompanied us to the next tavern, the proprietor of which, a fat little man, though already bearing upon his shoulders the responsibilities of a postmaster, was another aspirant
ambitiously wheezing for the office of sheriff:  Both were too good-natured to be made rivals;
The Water-gap is the passage through the Kittatinny or Blue Mountains of the Delaware River, about
three miles from Stroudsburg. This village is upon the Delaware, twenty-four miles above Easton, and
was the first settlement which the fugitives from Wyoming reached when fleeing from the valley in 1778.
There was a fort there, called Hamilton, during the French and Indian war, and near the eastern end of
the village Fort Penn was built during the Revolution.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


33a


Ascent of the Pocono. The Mountain Scenery. Solitude of the Region. A Soldier Coachman. First View of Wyoming;
they were only different candidates professing the same political faith.  We left them com;
paring notes over a glass of whisky, and in the course of a few hours we had crossed fertile
little valleys and parallel ranges of mountains, and begun the toilsome ascent of the famous
Pocono. From base to summit, the distance, by the road, is about three miles, one third
of which is a straight line up the mountain at an angle of thirty-five degrees.  Then our way
was along the precipitous sides of the hills, from which we could look upon the tops of tall
trees, hundreds of feet below.  It was noon when we reached the level summit, two thousand feet above tide water; and there, three fourths of a mile from the eastern brow of the;
mountain, John Smith keeps a tavern, and furnished us with an excellent dinner.
The road upon the top of Pocono is perfectly level a distance of four miles; and all the
way to the Wilkesbarre Mountains, twenty miles, there is but little variation in the altitude.  On the left, near Smith's, is an elevation called the Knob, about two hundred feet
above the general level, from the apex of which it is said the highest peaks of the Catskills,
sixty miles distant, may be distinctly seen on a clear morning.  All around is a perfect wilderness as far as the eye can reach, and so trifling are the variations from a level, that the
country appears like a vast plain.  The whole is covered with shrub oaks, from three to
ten feet in height, from which rise lofty pines, cedars, and tamaracks, interspersed with a'
few birch and chestnut trees, and occasionally a mountain ash with its blazing berries.  The
shrub oaks, at a distance, appeared like the soft light green grass of a meadow, and groups
of lofty evergreens dotted the expanse like orchards upon a prairie.  Here and there a huge
blasted pine, black and leafless, towered above the rest, a
'Stern dweller of the mountain! with its feet
Grasping the crag, and lifting to the sky
Its haughty crest!"
Vast cranberry marshes spread out upon this high, rolling table-land, and supply the surrounding settlements with an abundance of that excellent fruit.  Indeed, the whole region
is almost a continuous morass, and the road, a large portion of the way, is a causeway madq
of logs. Here the gray eagle wheels undisturbed, the bear makes his lair, and the wild deel
roam in abundance. These, with the flocks of pheasants, and the numerous rabbits that
burrow upon this wild warren, invite the adventurous huntsman, willing to,, camp out" in
the wilderness.  No settlements enliven the way; and the cabins and saw-mills of lumbert
men, where the road intersects the streams, are the only evidences of a resident populationx
except three or four places where a few acres have been redeemed from the poverty of nak
ture. This wilderness extends more than a hundred miles between the Delaware and Suesr
quehanna Rivers, and a death-like solitude broods over the region.
*I kept my seat upon the driver's box all the way from the Wind-gap to Wilkesbarreo
charmed by the romance of the scene, rendered still more wild and picturesque by the dark
masses of cumulous clouds that overspread the heavens in the afternoon.  The wind blew
very cold from the northwest, and the driver assured me that, during the hottest weather in
summer, the air is cool and bracing upon this lofty highway.  Poor fellow, he was an emaciated, blue-lipped soldier, recently returned from the battle-fields of Mexico, where the von~A
ito and ague had shattered a hitherto strong constitution, and opened his firm-knit systetf
to the free entrance of diseases of every kind.  He was at Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo. IH
lay sick a whole summer at Perote, and now had resumed the whip with the feeble hope
of regaining lost health.
We crossed the upper waters of the Lehigh at Stoddartsville, in the midst of the great
lumber country, and reached the brow of the Wilkesbarre Mountains just before sunseif
There a scene of rare grandeur and beauty was revealed, heightened by contrast with the
rugged and forbidding aspect of the region we had just traversed.  The heavy clouds, like
a thick curtain, were lifted in the west to the apparent height of a celestial degree, and al'
lowed the last rays of the evening sun to flood the deep valley below us with their goldei
light.  The natural beauties of the vale, reposing in shadow, were for a nmom ent brougi




340                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
A charming Landscape.   Arrival at Wilkesbarre.  Charles Minor, Esq.  His Picture of old Wyoming.
out in bold outline; and from our point of view we gazed upon a picture such as the painter's art can not imitate. Like a thread of silver the Susquehanna appeared, in its winding
course, among the lofty, overshadowing trees, upon its margin, and the villages, hamlets,
green woodlands, rich bottoms, and fruitful intervales of Wyoming, twenty miles in extent,
and the purple mountains on its western borders were all included in the range of our vision.
The thought, impious though it may be, came into my mind, that if Satan, when he took
Immanuel to the top of an (, exceeding high mountain," exhibited a scene like this, the temptation was certainly great.  Wilkesbarre,' apparently at our feet, was three miles distant,
and it was dark when we reached the Phoenix Hotel, upon the bank of the river. It had
been a fatiguing day's journey of sixty miles; but a supper of venison, warm biscuit, and
honey, and a comfortable bed, made me feel perfectly vigorous in the morning, and prepared
for a ramble over the historic portions of the valley.
September 16,  After an early breakfast I rode to the residence of Charles Minor, Esq., about
1848.   two miles from the village, expecting to rely chiefly upon his varied and extensive knowledge of the history of the valley for information concerning the localities of interest, but was disappointed.2 He was suffering from a severe attack of an epidemic fever
then prevailing in the valley, and was unable even to converse much, yet I have not forgotten the sincere regrets and kind wishes he expressed.  He referred me to several gentlemen
in the village, descendants of the first settlers in the valley, and to one of them (Mr. Lord
Butler, a grandson of Colonel Zebulon Butler) I am indebted for many kind services while
I remained there. He accompanied me to the several localities of interest in the valley, and
furnished me with such facilities for acquiring information as only a stranger can appreciate.
We visited Kingston, Forty Fort, the monument, the chief battle-ground, Fort Wintermoot,
Monocasy Island, &c.; but a record of the day's ramble will be better understood after a
consultation of the history, and we will, therefore, proceed to unclasp the old chronicle.
History and song have hallowed the Valley of Wyoming, and every thing appertaining to
it seems to be wrapped in an atmosphere of romance.  Its Indian history, too, long antecedent
to the advent of the whites there, is full of the poetry which clusters around the progress of
the aborigines.  Mr. Minor gives a graphic picture of the physical aspect of the valley.  "(It
is diversified," he says, " by hill and dale, upland and intervale.  Its character of extreme
richness is derived from the extensive flats, or river bottoms, which, in some places, extend
from one to two miles from the stream, unrivaled in expansive beauty, unsurpassed in luxuriant fertility.  Though now generally cleared and cultivated, to protect the soil from floods
a fringe of trees is left along each bank of the river-the sycamore, the elm, and more especially the black walnut, while here and there, scattered through the fields, a huge shellbark yields its summer shade to the weary laborers, and its autumn fruit to the black and
gray squirrel, or the rival plow-boys. Pure streams of water come leaping from the mountains, imparting health and pleasure in their course; all of them abounding with the delieious trout.  Along those brooks, and in the swales, scattered through the uplands, grow
This name is compounded of two, and was given in honor of John Wilkes and Colonel Barre, two of the
ablest advocates of America, through the press and on the floor of the British House of Commons, during
the Revolution.
a Mr. Minor is the author of a " History of Wyoming," a valuable work of nearly six hundred pages, and
possessing the rare merit of originality, for a large proportion of its contents is a record of information obtained by him from the lips of old residents whose lives and memories ran parallel with the Revolutionary
history of the valley, and events immediately antecedent thereto. He folded up little books of blank paper,
took pens and ink, and, accompanied by his daughter Sarah, who, though blind, was a cheerful and agreeable companion, and possessed a very retentive memory, visited thirty or forty of the old people who were
in the valley at the time of the invasion in 1778. " We have come," he said to them, "to inquire about
old Wyoming; pray tell us all you know. We wish an exact picture, such as the valley presented sixty
years ago. Give us its lights and shadows, its joys and sorrows." At night, on returning home, he read
over to his daughter what he had taken down, and carefully corrected, by the aid of her memory, " any error
into which the pen had fallen." In this way Mr. Minor collected, a great amount of local history, which
must otherwise have perished with the source whence he derived it. I shall draw liberally upon his interesting volume for many of my historic facts concerning Wyoming.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


Ancient Beauty and Fertility of Wyoming. Campbell's "Gertrude of Wyoming." Its Errors.  First Tribes in the Valley.
the wild plum and the butter-nut, while, wherever the hand of the white man has spared it,
the native grape may be gathered in unlimited profusion.                      I have seen a grapevine bending beneath its purple clusters,
one branch climbing a butter-nut, loaded
with fruit, another branch resting upon a
i       '          wild plut, red with its delicious burden;
o  m              the while, growing in the shade, the ha-?                 zel-nut was ripening its rounded kernel.
Such were the common scenes when
E the white people first came to Wyoming,
which seems to have been founded by Nature, a perfect Indian Paradise.   Game
of every sort was abundant.   The quail
i  whistled in the meadow; the pheasant
rustled in its leafy covert; the wild duck
reared her brood and bent the reed in every inlet; the red deer fed upon the hills;
while in the deep forests, within a fer:N     hours' walk, was found the stately elk.. The river yielded at all seasons a supply
T;;of fishe; the yellow perch, the pike, the
'                 s      ii       catfish, the bass, the roach, and, in the
- n  e D               spring season, myriads of shad."'
Campbell, with a poet's license, sung,
" Delightful Wyoming! beneath thy skies
The happy shepherd swains had naught to do
But feed their flocks on green declivities,
Or skim perchance, thy lake with light canoe,
From morn till evening's sweeter pastime grew,
With timbrel, when beneath the forest's brow
Thy lovely maidens would the dance renew;
And aye those sunny mountains half way down
Would echo flageoIet from some romantic town.
" Then, when of Indian hills the daylight takes
His leave, how might you the flamingo see,
Disporting like a meteor on the lakesAnd playful squirrel on his nut-grown tree:
And every sound of life was full of glee,
From merry mock-bird's song, or hum of men:
While hearkening, fearing naught their revelry,
The wild deer arched his neck from glades, and then,
Unhunted, sought his woods and wilderness again.'M
Wyoming, in the Delaware language, signifies: large plains."   By what particular Ina
dian nation or tribe it was first settled is not certainly known, but it is probable that the
Delawares held dominion there long before the powerful confederacy of the Five Nations, by
whom they were subjugated, was formed.    The tribes known as the Wyoming Indians, unto
whom Zinzendorf and his Moravian brethren preached the Gospel, and who occupied the
plains when the white settlers from Connecticut first went there, were of the Seneca and
Minor's History of Wyoming, preliminary chapter, p. xiv.
2 Gertrude of Wyoming. This beautiful poem is full of errors of every kind. The "lakes," the "Ifla
mingo," and the " mock bird" are all strangers to Wyoming; and the historical allusions in the poem are
quite as much strangers to truth. But it is a charming poem, and hypercriticism may conscientiously pass
by and leave its beauties untouched.




342


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Count Zinzendorf. His Visit to Wyoming. Jealousy of the Indians. Attempt to murder him. Providential Circumstance.
Oneida nations, connected by intermarriage with the Mingoes, and the subjugated LeniLenapes, or Delawares. As it is not my province to unravel Indian history, we will pass
to a brief consideration of the white settlements there.
The first European whose feet trod the Valley of Wyoming was Count Zinzendorf, who,
while visiting his Mo-                                              Mack, and his wife,
'avian   brethren  at                                               who accompanied him,
Bethlehem and Naza-                                                 he pitched  his tent
reth, in 1742, extend-                                              upon the western bank
ed his visits among the                     -                       of the Susquehanna, a
neighboring  Indians.                                               little below the present
His warm   heart had                                                village of Kingston, at
been touched by the                                                 the foot of a high hill,
accounts he had re-           '!                                    and near a place in the
ceived of the moral'                                                river known as Toby's
degradation of the sav-                                             Eddy.   A tribe of the
ages, and, unattended,                                              Shawnees had a vilexcept by an interpret-                                             lage upon the site of
er, he traversed the                        a                       Kingston. They held
wilderness and preach-                                              a council to listen to
ed salvation to the red                                            the communications of
men.   In one of these                                             the missionaries, but,
excursions he crossed                                               suspicious of all white
the Pocono, and pen-                                                men, they could not beetrated to the Valley            ".              ' 4,              lieve that Zinzendorf
of Wyoming.     With                                                and  his companions.                  COUNT ZINZENDORF.1
a missionary   named                                                had crossed the Atlantic for the sole purpose of promoting the spiritual welfare of the Indians.  They concluded
that the strangers had come to " spy out their country" with a view to dispossess them of
their lands; and, with such impressions, they resolved to murder the count.  The savages
feared the English, and instructed those who were appointed to assassinate Zinzendorf to do
it with all possible secrecy.  A cool September night was chosen for the deed, and two stout
Indians proceeded stealthily from the town to the tent of the missionary.  He was alone, reclining upon a bundle of dry weeds, engaged in writing, or in devout meditation. A blanket
curtain formed the door of his tent, and, as the Indians cautiously drew this aside, they had
a full view of their victim. The benignity of his countenance filled them with awe, but an
incident (strikingly providential) more than his appearance changed the current of their feelings. The tent-cloth was suspended from the branch of a huge sycamore, in such a manner
that the partially hollow trunk of the tree was within its folds.  At its foot the count had
built a fire, the warmth of which had aroused a rattlesnake in its den; and at the moment
when the savages looked into the tent the venomous reptile was gliding harmlessly across
the legs of their intended victim, who did not see either the serpent or the lurking murderers.  They at once regarded him as under the special protection of the Great Spirit, were
Nicolas Lewis, Count Zinzendorf, was descended from an ancient Austrian family, and was the son of
i chamberlain of the King of Poland. He was born in May, 1700, and was educated at Halle and Utrecht.
When about twenty-one years of age, he purchased the lordship of Berthholdsdorp, in Lusatia. Some poor
Christians, followers of John Huss, soon afterward settled upon his estate. Their piety attracted his attention, and he joined them. From that time until his death he labored zealously for the good of mankind.
The village of Hernhutt was built upon his estate, and soon the sect spread throughout Bohemia and Moravia. He traveled through Germany, Denmark, and England, and in 1741 came to America, and preached
at Germantown and Bethlehem. He returned to Europe in 1743, and died at Hernhutt in 1760. The
Moravian missionaries were very successful in their operations. They established stations in various parts
of Europe, in Greenland, in the West Indies, and in Georgia and Pennsylvania. Piety, zeal, benevolence,
and self-denial always marked the Moravians, and at the present day they bear the character of " the best
of people."




.OF THHE REVOLUTION.,IO ~


'348f.Toby's Eddy.  Zinzendorf's Camp-ground.  Alienation of the Indians.  Gnadenhutten.  The Susquehanna Company.
filled with profound reverence for his person, and, returning to the tribe, so impressed their
fellows with the holiness of Zinzendorf's character, that their enmity
was changed     to veneration.   A
successful mission was established
there, which wasacontinued until a
war between the Shawnees and the
Delawares destroyed the peace of                                               P
the valley.'
Not long afterward the war that
ensued between the English and
French drew the line of separation
so distinctly between the Indian
tribes that respectively espoused
either cause, that the excitements
of warlike zeal repressed the religious sentiments which the indefati-   '
gable missionaries were diffusing
among the savages.    The tribes in
the interest of the French soon began to hover around the Moravian                       VI E      TOY
settlements.   Gnadenhutten    was
destroyed, and the other settlements were menaced.'   For several years these pious missionaries suffired greatly, and the white settlements were broken up.  After the defeat of Braddock in 1755, the Delawares went over to the French, and the frontiers of Pennsylvania
and Virginia were terribly scourged by these new allies of the enemies of the English.
In 1753 an association was formed in Connecticut, called the Susquehanna Company,
the object of which was to plant a colony in the Wyoming Valley, a region then claimed
by Connecticut by virtue of its ancient unrepealed charter.'   To avoid difficulties with the
This was originated in the following manner. The Shawnees were a secluded clan, living, by permission of the Delawares, upon the western bank of the Susquehanna.  On a certain day, when the warriors
of both tribes were engaged in the chase upon the mountains, a party of women and children of the Shawnees crossed to the Delaware side to gather fruit, and were joined by some of the squaws and children of
the latter. At length a quarrel arose between two of the children about the possession of a grasshopper.
The mothers took part respectively with their children, and the quarrel extended to all the women on both
sides.  The Delaware squaws were more numerous, and drove the Shawnees home, killing several on the
way. The Shawnee hunters, on their return, espousing the cause of their women, armed themselves, and,
crossing the river, attacked the Delawares; a bloody battle ensued, and the Shawnees, overpowered, retired to the banks of the Ohio, and joined their more powerful brethren. How many wars between Christian nations have originated in a quarrel about some miserable grasshopper!
2 This is a view upon a stream called Mud Creek, a few rods from its mouth, at Toby's Eddy, in the Susquehanna, about a mile below Kingston. It was pointed out to me as the place where, tradition avers,
Count Zinzendorf erected his tent, and where the singular circumstance related in the text occurred. It
was near sunset on a mild day (September 16th, 1848) when I visited the spot, and a more inviting place
for retirement and meditation can scarcely be imagined. It is shaded by venerable sycamore, butternut,
elm, and black walnut trees. From the Eddy is a fine view of the plain whereon the Delawares had their
village, and of the mountains on the eastern side of the valley. The eddy is caused by a bend in the river.
3 The Moravians had established six missionary settlements in the vicinity of the Forks of the Delaware
or the junction of the Delaware and Lehigh Rivers, viz., Nazareth, Bethlehem, Nain, Freidenshal, Ganden.
thaul, and Gnadenhutten.  The latter, the name of which in English is " Huts of Mercy," was founded
chiefly for the accommodation and protection of those Indians who embraced the Christian faith. lHence it
was the first settlement attacked by the hostile savages.
4 When the regions in the interior of America were unknown, the charters given to. the colonists were
generally very vague respecting their western boundary. They defined the extent of each colony along
the Atlantic coast, but generally said of the westward extent, "from sea to sea."  Such was the exprens
sion in the Connecticut charter, and Wyoming, lying directly west bf that province, was claimed as a portion of its territory. The intervening portion of New York, being already in actual possession of the Dutch,
was not included in the claim.




344


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


PUrehse of Wyoming.  The Delaware Company.  Opposition of Pennsylvanians.  Death of Teedyuscung.
Indians, the agents of the company were directed to purchase the land of the Six Nations,
the actual owners, though it was then in possession of the Delawares. A deputation for the
purpose attended the great convention and Indian council which was held at Albany in 1754,,and, notwithstanding the strong efforts made by the Governor of Pennsylvania, through his
agents, to the contrary, the purchase was effected.  The tract bargained for included the
whole Valley of Wyoming and the country westward to the Allegany River. The Pennsylvanians were irritated at what they called an unfair and illegal encroachment of the Connecticut people, and in strong terms protested against the purchase, for they claimed that
the whole country included therein was covered by the charter granted to William Penn.
Here, then, was planted the.seed which soon burst forth into a mature tree, and bore the
apples of discord in abundance.
Another Connecticut association, called the Delaware Company, had purchased lands upon
the Delaware River, at a place called Cushetunk. They commenced a settlement there in
1757, and the Susquehanna Company prepared to plant their colony in Wyoming the following year.  But, owing to the unsettled state of the country, the French and Indian war
then being in progress, the settlement was deferred until 1762, when about two hundred
colonists pushed forward, and commenced building and planting near the mouth of Mill
Creek, a little above the present site of Wilkesbarre.  The Indians, and among them their
great chief Teedyuscung, were at first opposed to this settlement of the whites in the valley,
but were soon reconciled, and lived in daily friendly intercourse with the new comers. The
Pennsylvanians, however, determined to repel what they held to be a bold encroachment
upon their rights  Proclamations were issued, and writs of ejectment were placed in the
hands of the sheriff of Northampton county, within the limits of which Wyoming was situated; but the Yankees continued to build and plant. They brought their families into the
valley, and new settlers were rapidly augmenting their numbers. An event now occurred
which at one terrible blow cut off this flourishing settlement.
I briefly adverted, at the close of the last chapter, to the fact that a great council was
held at Easton in 1758, where Teedyuscung, the Delaware chief, acted a conspicuous part.
The Six Nations regarded the Delawares as subjects, and were jealous of the popularity and
power of Teedyuscung.  They could not brook his advancement, and in the autumn of 1763
a party of warriors descended the Susquehanna, and came to the valley upon a pretended
visit of friendship. As previously concerted, they set fire to the house of Teedyuscung on a
certain night, and the chief was burned in it; while, to crown their wicked act, they adroitly
charged the deed upon the whites.  The Delawares believed the tale.  They loved their
chief, and determined on revenge.  At broad noon, on the 14th of October, they attacked and massacred thirty of the settlers in their fields.'  The whole settlement was
speedily alarmed, and men, women, and children fled to the mountains, from which they
saw their houses plundered and their cattle driven away. At night the torch was applied
to their buildings, and the lovely abode of several hundred peaceful dwellers in the morning
was made a desolation. Over the wilderness of the Pocono they made their way to the
Delaware, and so on to their homes in Connecticut, a distance of two hundred and fifty
miles. The blow was as unexpected as it was merciless, for they regarded the Delawares
as their friendly neighbors.'
The Susquehanna Company did not attempt a settlement again for several years; and
in the mean time the proprietaries of Pennsylvania, taking advantage of an Indian council
held at Fort Stanwix in 1768, made a direct purchase of the Wyoming Valley from the
Six Nations, and took a deed from some of the chiefs. A lease of the valley for seven years
was given to three Pennsylvanians,' who established a trading house there, which they forThis is the testimony of current history. Mr. Minor, on the contrary, is persuaded that the same hands
that destroyed Teedyuscung-the Six Nations-perpetrated this outrage.
2 Proud, Gordon, Chapman.
3 Charles Stewart, Amos Ogden, and John Jennings. The latter was the sheriff of the county. Charles
Stewart subsequently became a popular and efficient officer of the Pennsylvania line in the Continental army.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                 346
Hostilities between the " Yankees" and " Pennymites."  Erection of Forts.  Capture of Durkee.  Surrender of Ogden.
tified.  Forty pioneers of the Susquehanna Company, prepared to act promptly, entered the
valley in February, 1769, and closely invested the Pennsylvania garrison. There were but
ten men in the block-house, but they had found means to send a message to Governor Penn,
informing him of their situation.  They did not wait for succor, however, but, under pretense of consulting about an amicable compromise, three of the Connecticut party were decoyed into the block-house, arrested by Sheriff Jennings, and sent to Easton Jail.  The Connecticut immigrants increased rapidly, and Jennings called upon the posse of the county and
several magistrates to assist in their arrest.  Quite a formidable force marched to Wyoming,
but the Connecticut people had not been idle.  They too had erected a block-house, which
they called Forty Fort.  Jennings demolished its doors, and arrested thirty-one of the inmates, most of whom were taken to Easton Jail. They were admitted to bail, were reenforced by about two hundred from Connecticut, and, returning to Wyoming, built a fort,
which they called Fort Durkee, in honor of the officer elected to its command.  This fortification was about half a mile below Wilkesbarre, near the Shawnee Flats. They also
built thirty log houses around it, furnished with loop-holes for musketry, and, the number of
the settlers being three hundred able-bodied men, Jennings could make no further impression
upon them.  He reported to the Governor of Pennsylvania that the whole power of the county
was inadequate to dislodge the Yankees.
For a short time hostilities ceased, and the Susquehanna Company sent commissioners to
Philadelphia to endeavor tb negotiate a compromise.1  Governor Penn refused to treat with
them, and sent an armed force to the valley, under the command of Colonel Francis.  He
demanded a surrender of Fort Durkee, but the order was not obeyed.  He reconnoitered,
and, finding the works too strong to be successfully assaulted, returned to Philadelphia, leaving Ogden, one of the lessees of the valley, with a small force in the neighborhood. A larger
force was assembled under Sheriff Jennings, well arted, and provided with a six pound cannon.  Captain Ogden, who was prowling about the settlement, hearing of the approach of
Jennings, darted suddenly among the houses with forty men, and captured several inhabitants, among whom was Colonel Durkee.    He was taken to Philadelphia, and closely imprisoned. Jennings, with two hundred armed men, appeared before the fort, and began the
erection of a battery.  The garrison, alarmed, proposed to surrender upon certain conditions,
which were agreed to. The articles of capitulation were drawn up in due form and signed,
but Ogden acted in bad faith, and the seventeen settlers who were allowed by the capitulation to remain in the valley and harvest their crops, were plundered of every thing and
driven over the mountains.
In February, 1770, Lazarus Stewart led an armed party from Lancaster into the Valley
of Wyoming, who were joined by another armed party from Connecticut. They captured
Fort Durkee, and, proceeding to the house of Ogden (who was then absent), seized the cannon already mentioned.  Captain Ogden, on hearing of these transactions, hastened to Wyoming with fifty men, and garrisoned his own house.  A party of fifty Yankees was sent
against him, and a skirmish ensued. Several Connecticut people were wounded, and one
was killed.  Colonel Durkee' had now been released, and had returned from Philadelphia.
Under his command the Yankees commenced a regular siege upon the fortress of the Penny.
mites.3 They mounted the four pound cannon upon the opposite side of the river, and for
several days played upon Ogden's house. Receiving no succor from Governor Penn, he surrendered upon terms similar to those allowed the Yankees the year before. He was to with.
1 Colonel Dyer, and Jedediah Elderkin, of Windham, Connecticut.
John Durkee was a native of that portion of Norwich, Connecticut, called Bean Hill, and was generally
called the "bold Bean Hiller." He left Wyoming and returned to Connecticut. When the Reolution
broke out, he entered into the contest zealously. He was at Bunker Hill, and was commissioned a dolonel
in the Connecticut line. He was in the battle on Long Island, at Germantown, and other engagements.
He died at his residence at Bean Hill in 1782, aged fifty-four years, and was buried with military honors.
3 This civil commotion is usually termed the Pennymite and Yankee war. The former name was derived
from John Penn, governor of Pennsylvania when hostilities commenced.




*346                       PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Treatment of Ogden. Another Attack on the Yankees. Capture of Fort Durkee. Pennymites Expelled. New Fortifications.
draw himself and all his men from the valley, except six, who were to remain and guard his
property. But the Yankees, imitating Ogden's bad faith with them, seized his property and
burned his house as soon as he was gone. Warrants were afterward issued by the Governor
of Pennsylvania against Lazarus Stewart, Zebulon Butler, and Lazarus Young, for the crime
of arson, but they were never harmed.
Governor Penn, fearing political outbreaks in his capital at that time, and unwilling to
tend any of the few troops away from Philadelphia, called upon General Gage, then in command at New York, for a detachment of his majesty's troops to restore order at Wyoming.
Gage refused compliance, and the Pennsylvanians were obliged to rely upon their own resources.  It was autumn before another attempt was made against the Yankees.  Ogden,
with only one hundred and forty men, marched by the Lehigh route, to take the settlers by
surprise. From the tops of the mountains he saw the people at work in groups in their
fields, and, separating his force into parties equal in numbers to the unsuspecting farmers below, they rushed down upon them, made several prisoners, and sent them to Easton.  Ogden
lay concealed in the mountains, awaiting another opportunity to assail the Yankees.  The
latter sent messengers to solicit aid from their friends on the Delaware.  These fell into Ogden's hands, and, learning from them the exact position of Fort Durkee, he made a night
attack upon it.  It was filled with women and children, and the garrison, too weak to
defend it, surrendered unconditionally.  The fort and the houses of the settlement were
plundered, and many of the principal inhabitants were sent prisoners to Easton and Philadelphia.
A small garrison was left by Ogden in Fort Durkee. The Yankees having left the valley, they were not very vigilant.  On the night of the 18th of December, between
twenty and thirty men, under Lazarus Stewart, reached the fort by stealth, and captured it, shouting, " Huzza for King George!" The Pennymites were now, in turn, driven
from the valley.  Stewart held possession of the fort until the middle of January following,
when the sheriff of Northampton county, with a considerable force, arrived before it.  Captain Ogden and his brother Nathan accompanied the expedition. A skirmish ensued at the
fort, and Nathan Ogden was killed.'  Stewart perceived that he could not long hold out,
January, and on the night of the 20th withdrew from the valley, leaving twelve men in the
1771.  fort.  These were made prisoners and sent to Easton, and quiet again prevailed at
Wyoming.
For six months the Pennymites were undisturbed in the possession of the valley, and the
number of the settlers of Ogden's party had increased to about eighty.  But their repose
was suddenly broken by the descent from the mountains, on the 6th of July, of seventy armed
men from Connecticut, under Captain Zebulon Butler, and a party under Lazarus Stewart,
who had joined him. Ogden had built another and a stronger fort, which he called Fort
Wyoming.' The invaders were almost daily re-enforced, and commenced several military
works with a view of besieging Ogden and his party in the forts.  The besieged were well
supplied with provisions, and, their works being strong, they defied the assailants.  Ogden,
in the mean while, escaped from the fort by stratagem,' proceeded to Philadelphia, and succeeded in inducing the acting governor (Hamilton) to send a detachment of one hundred men
to Wyoming.   The expedition was unsuccessful.  After prosecuting the siege until the 1 1th
of August, Captain Butler sent to the garrison a formal summons to surrender.  The garA settler named William Speddy was recognized as the man who discharged the musket that killed
Ogden, and in November he was tried for murder, at the Supreme Court held in Philadelphia. He was
acquitted.
2 This fort stood upon the ground now occupied by the court-house in Wilkesbarre. There was another
fort onthe bank of the river, a little below the Ph(enix Hotel. Traces of the ditches were visible when 1
visited the spot in 1848.
3 Ogden prepared a light bundle that would float upon the water, on which he fastened a hat. To this
bundle he attached a cord several yards in length, and, entering the river, swam past the sentinels, drawing
the bundle at the distance of the length of the cord behind him. The hat was fired at several times, but
Ogden escaped unhurt.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


347


Close of the Civil War.  Organization of a Government.  Effort to adjust Difficulties.  " Lawyers and Bull-frogs."
rison refused compliance.    Butler had no ordnance, and a colonist named Carey' made a
cannon of a pepperidge log.    At the second discharge the cannon burst, but they had no
further need of artillery, for the garrison surrendered.  On the 14th a detachment of sixty
men from Philadelphia, to re-enforce the garrison, had arrived within two miles of the fort;
but, hearing of the surrender, they retraced their steps.  Several persons were killed during
the siege.   By the terms of the capitulation, Ogden and his party were all to leave the valley.  Thus closed the civil war in Wyoming for the year 1771, and the Yankees were left
in possession of their much-coveted domain.
The settlement now increased rapidly, and the Susquehanna Company applied to the
General Assembly of Connecticut to take them under its protection until the decision asked
of the king should be made. The Assembly advised them to organize a government by themselves. Pursuant to this advice, the inhabitants of Wyoming established a thoroughly Democratic government.     " They laid out townships," says Chapman, "founded settlements,
erected fortifications, levied and collected taxes, passed laws for the direction of civil suits,
and for the punishment of crimes and misdemeanors, established a militia, and provided for
the common defense and general welfare of the colony."        The supreme legislative power
was vested directly in the people, and exercised by themselves in their primary meetings.   A
magistracy was appointed; courts were instituted, having civil and criminal jurisdiction;
and a high court of appeals, called the Supreme Court, was established, composed, like their
Legislature, of the people themselves in primary assembly. The government was well administered, the colony rapidly increased, the people were happy, and for two years the smiles
of peace and prosperity gladdened the Valley of Wyoming.
During this season of repose the Assembly of Connecticut made an effort to adjust all difficulties between the settlers and the government of Pennsylvania.    Richard Penn was then
governor of that province, and would enter into no negotiations on the subject.     The Connecticut Assembly, therefore, made out a case and sent it to England for adjudication.2 It
was submitted to the ablest lawyers of the realm-Lord Thurlow, Wedderburne, Richard
Jackson, and John Dunning-and their decision was in favor of the Susquehanna Company.
Mr. Carey was a native of Dutchess county, New York, and went to Wyoming with his sons in 1769.
His brother, Samuel Carey, was a distinguished Quaker preacher. His sons became permanent settlers in
Wyoming, and lived to a good old age.
2 Colonel Eliphalet Dyer was sent to England as agent for the Connecticut Assembly. He was one of the
most eminent lawyers of that province. His eloquence was of the most persuasive kind. In allusion to this
intellectual power, a wit wrote the following impromptu, while Dyer was advocating the cause of the Susquehanna Company on the floor of the Assembly chamber:
"Canaan of old, as we are told,
When it did rain down manna,
Wa'nt half so good, for heavenly food,
As Dyer makes Susquehanna."
This is the same Dyer alluded to in the amusing doggerel entitled " Lawyers and Bull-frogs," in which the
people of Old Windham, in Connecticut, were interested. The poem is printed in the Historical Collections
of Connecticut, page 448.  The introduction avers that, after a long drought, a frog-pond became almost
dry, and a terrible battle was fought one night by the frogs, to decide who should keep possession of the remaining water.  Many " thousands were found defunct in the morning."  There was an uncommon silence
for hours before the battle commenced, when, as if by a preconcerted agreement, every frog on one side of
the ditch raised the war-cry, Colonel Dyer! Colonel Dyer! and at the same instant, from the opposite side,
resounded the adverse shout of Elderkin too! Elderkin too!  Owing to some peculiarity in the state of the
atmosphere, the sounds seemed to be overhead, and the people of Windham were greatly frightened. The
poet says,
" This terrible night the parson did fright
His people almost in despair;
For poor Windham souls among the bean-poles
He made a most wonderful prayer.
Lawyer Lucifer called up his crew;
Dyer and Elderkin,* you must come too:
Old Colonel Dyer you know well enough,
He had an old negro, his name was Cuff."
Jcdediah Elderkin accompanied Colonel Dyer to Philadelphia in 1769, in behalf of the Susquehanna Company.




848


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Peace and Prosperity of Wyoming.  Renewal of Hostilities.  Action of Congress.  Expedition of Plunkett
The settlement was now taken under the protection of Connecticut, and incorporated into
that colony.  The territory was erected into a chartered town called Westmoreland, and attached to Litchfield county; representatives from it were admitted to seats in the General
Assembly, and Zebulon Butler and Nathan Denison were commissioned justices of the peace.
Repose continued to reign in the valley, and unexampled prosperity blessed the settlement.
A town immediately adjoining Wyoming Fort was planted by Colonel Durkee, and named
Wilkesbarre; and the whole valley became a charming picture of active life and social happiness.  The foot-prints of civil war were effaced, and the recollections of the gloomy past
were obliterated.  A dream of happiness lulled the people into the repose of absolute security. Isolated in the bosom of the mountains, and far removed from the agitations which
disturbed the people upon the ocean coasts, they had heard little of the martial sound of
preparations for the hostilities then elaborating in the imperial and colonial councils.  They
were enjoying, in full measure, the blessings of virtuous democracy, and felt none of the oppressions of Great Britain, then bearing with such heavy hand upon the commercial cities
of America; yet they warmly sympathized with their suffering brethren, and their hearts
and hands were open to the appeals of the patriots of the east.
Four years Wyoming enjoyed uninterrupted peace, when its repose was suddenly broken
by an attack upon a branch of the colony, located about sixty miles below Wilkesbarre, by
a body of Northumberland militia, who were jealous of the increasing prosperity of the Yankees.  On the 28th of September, 1775, the unsuspecting inhabitants were suddenly assailed,
several of them were killed, and the residue were sent to Sunbury and imprisoned. About
the same time several boats from Wyoming, trading down the river, were plundered by the
Pennsylvanians. The Continental Congress was then in session in Philadelphia, and the
Connecticut people of Wyoming, preferring peaceful measures to a renewal of the civil War,
petitioned that body for redress.  Congress, it considering that the most perfect union between
the colonies was essentially necessary for the preservation of the just rights of North America," adopted resolutions urging the governments of Pennsylvania and Connecticut to " take
the most speedy and effectual steps to prevent hostilities" and to adjust difficulties.1  But
the lawless invaders had not yet learned to respect the voice of Congress.  Its resolutions
were unheeded, and the imprisoned settlers were more rigidly confined, under the apprehension that the exasperated people of Wyoming, now become numerous, might make a retaliatory movement against Sunbury. A proposition was made to raise a force, and march
against Wyoming to subjugate it before the people could organize a military government.
Governor Penn favored the design, and Colonel Plunkett, who was also a magistrate, was
placed in command of the expedition. He was ostensibly vested with civil powers, and his
December 20 force was called the posse of the county.  Congress, still in session in Philadel1775.   phia, passed a resolution urging the immediate termination of all hostilities between the parties.2. But the Pennsylvanians paid no attention to the resolution, and Plunkett advanced toward Wyoming. His progress was slow, for the river was much obstructed
by ice; and before he came to the Nanticoke Rapids, at the south end of the valley, where
he was obliged to leave his boats, the people had made ample preparations to receive him.
The military were under the command of Colonel Zebulon Butler, and numbered about three
hundred effective men.
From the summit of a bold rock on the western side of the river, that overhung the road
along which Plunkett was marching, a volley of musketry was discharged as he approached,
and arrested his progress.  By means of a bateau, which he caused to be brought above the
rapids by land, his men attempted to cross the river, to march against Fort Wyoming on the
eastern side.  They were assaulted by an ambuscade on shore, and the whole invading force
immediately retreated to their provision boats, moored below the rapids, where a council of
war was held. This council wisely concluded that the chances of success were few, and the
expedition was abandoned.


i Journals of Congress, vol. i., p. 215.


2 Ibid., p. 279.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


349


The Colonies before the Revolution.  Exposed Position of Wyoming.  Indian Outrage.  Indian Speech.
The war of the Revolution had now fairly commenced.  The proprietary government of
Pennsylvania was soon afterward virtually abolished, a constituent assembly was organized,a and the people and the governments of both colonies had matters of much
greater importance to attend to than disputes about inconsiderable settlements.  Henceforth
the history of Wyoming is identified with the general history of the Union. I have glanced
briefly at the most important events connected with its early settlement, for they form an
interesting episode in the general history of our republic, and exhibit prominently those social
and political features which characterized the colonies when the war of independence broke
out.  Separate provinces, communities, and families, having distinct interests, and under no
very powerful control from without, had learned independence of thought and action, selfreliance, patient endurance under the pressure of circumstances, and indomitable courage in
the maintenance of personal and political rights, from the circumstances in which their relations to each other had placed them. It was in schools like that of the Pennymite war,
the resistance of the New Hampshire Grants to the domination of New York, the opposition
to the Stamp Act and kindred measures, and the Regulator movement in the Carolinas,
that the people were tutored for the firm resistance which they made to British oppressions
during the seven years of our struggle for political emancipation; and there is more of the
true philosophy of our great Revolution to be learned by studying antecedent, but relative
events, than in watching the progress of the war itself. We will now turn to a consideration of the events which occurred in Wyoming during our Revolution.
The defection of a large portion of the Six Nations, the coalition of the Delawares and
Shawnees with the friends of the king westward of the Alleganies, and the menaces of the
tribes bordering on Virginia, with whom Lord Dunmore, the royal governor of that province,
had long tampered, seeking to bring their hatchets upon the frontier settlements of that rebellious state, gave the Continental Congress much uneasiness at the beginning of 1776.
Thousands of mercenary Germans were preparing to come like, destroying locusts upon the
east wind;" the British Parliament had voted fifty-five thousand men for the American
service; loyalty to the crown was rife throughout the land; and the dark cloud of savages
upon the western border of the colonies, smarting under the wrongs inflicted by the white
men for a century and a half, and without any definite ideas of the nature of the quarrel in
question, or means of discriminating between the parties to the feud, were ready to raise the
war-cry, and satiate their appetites for vengeance, rapine, and blood.  Westmoreland, or
Wyoming, was peculiarly exposed, lying upon the verge of the Indian country, and to the
people of its lovely valley the conciliation of the Indians was a matter of vast importance.
The council of Onondaga, the chief head of the Six Nations, made professions of peaceful
intentions, but there was evident hypocrisy underlying the fair appearance of the surface,
and occasional outrages upon the remote settlers had been committed without rebuke. On
one occasion a man named Wilson, living within the limits of Westmoreland, had been cruelly treated by the Indians, and Colonel Zebulon Butler sent a messenger to ascertain the
true intentions of the savages. A chief called John returned with the messenger, and, in a
speech replete with Indian eloquence, disclaimed, in behalf of the Six Nations, all thoughts
of hostility to the friends of Congress. The Rev. Mr. Johnson, the first pastor in Wyoming,
acted as interpreter.  ", We are sorry," said the chief, " to have two brothers fighting with
each other, and should be glad to hear that the quarrel was peaceably settled.  We choose
not to interest ourselves on either side.  The quarrel appears to be unnecessary.  We do
not well understand it.  We are for peace."  He continued:
", Brothers, when our young men come to hunt in your neighborhood, you must not imagine they come to do mischief; they come to procure themselves provisions, also skins to
purchase them clothing.
", Brothers, we desire that Wyoming may be a place appointed where the great men may
meet, and have a fire, which shall ever after be called Wyomick, where you shall judge
best how to prevent any jealousies or uneasy thoughts that may arise, and thereby preserve
our friendship.




360                         PICTORIAL      FIELD-BOOK
Colonel Butler deceived.           Strangers in Wyoming.             Suspicions of the People.
" Brothers, you see but one of our chiefs.  You may be suspicious on that account; but
we assure you this chief speaks in the name of the Six Nations. We are of one mind.
(, Brothers, what we say is not from the lips, but from the heart.  If any Indians of little
note should speak otherwise, you must pay no regard to them, but observe what has been
said and written by the chiefs, which may be depended on.
"Brothers, we live at the head of these waters [Susquehanna].  Pay no regard to any reports that may come up the stream or any other way, but look to the head waters for truth;
and we do now assure you, as long as the waters run, so long you may depend on our friendship.  We are all of one mind, and we are all for peace."
This was the strong language of assurance, and Colonel Butler, confident of its sincerity,
wrote accordingly to Roger Sherman of the Connecticut Assembly.   He mentioned in his
letter that the Indians wanted an American flag as a token of friendship; and the whole:
tone of his communication evinced a belief in the professed attachment of the savages to the
republicans.  But at that very time the Mohawks, Onondagas, and Senecas were leaguing
against the patriots; and already Brant and five hundred warriors had struck a severe blow
of hostility to the republicans at the Cedars, on the St. Lawrence.  The proposed council
fire at Wyoming was doubtless intended as a pretense for assembling a large body of warriors in the heart of the settlement, to destroy it; and the desire for an American flag was
undoubtedly a wish to have it for a decoy when occasion should call for its use. Events
soon occurred which confirmed these suspicions, and the people of Wyoming prepared for
defense against their two-fold enemy, the Indians and the Tories.'
When the war broke out, the Connecticut Assembly prevented further immigration to
Westmoreland. But people came there, from the Hudson and the Mohawk Valleys, having no sympathy with either of the parties in the ( Pennymite war," and, as it appeared,
no sympathy with the republicans. Almost every original settler had espoused the cause
of the Whigs; and the open expression of hostility to Congress by these interlopers, the
most active of whom were the Wintermoots, Van Gorders, Van Alstyns, and a few other
families, excited the indignation of the Wyoming people.2  The recommendation of the Continental Congress, to organize committees of vigilance in every town, had been promptly
acted upon in Wyoming, and these new comers, the avowed friends of the king, were soon
subjected to the severest scrutiny of the committee there.  The people of Wyoming, numbering nearly three thousand, and united in thought and action, were pursuing peacefully
their various occupations.  The sudden influx of strangers to them, not only in person but
in political creed, justly excited suspicions that they were a colony of vipers, come to nestle
among them for the purpose of disseminating the poison of Toryism.  Influenced by these
fears, several of the most suspicious of the interlopers were arrested and sent to Connecticut.
This was an unwise act, although perhaps justifiable, and was one cause of subsequent disasters.
In the mean while two companies of regular troops, of eighty-two men each, had been
raised in the valley, under a resolution of Congress, commanded by Captains Ransom and
On the 10th of March, 1777, the following resolutions were adopted at a town meeting held at Wilkesbarre:
" Voted, That the first man that shall make fifty weight of good saltpetre in this town shall be entitled to
a bounty of ten pounds lawful money, to be paid out of the town treasury.
"Voted, That the select-men be directed to dispose of the grain now in the hands of the treasurer or collector in such a way as to obtain powder and lead to the value of forty pounds lawful money, if they can do
the same."
It was also subsequently voted to empower a committee of inspectors " to supply the soldiers' wives and
the soldiers' widows with the necessaries of life." This was a noble resolution.
2 Mr. Minor, in a letter to the late William L. Stone, mentions the fact that among the papers of Colonel'
Zebulon Butler he found a list of Tories who joined the Indians. The list contained sixty-one names, of.
which only three were those of New England men. Most of them were transient persons, who had gone
to Wyoming as hunters and trappers. Six of them were of one family (the Wintermoots), from Minisink.
Nine were from the Mohawk Valley, doubtless in the interest of the Johnsons, four from Kinderhook, andu
six from West Chester, New York. There were not ten Tory families who had resided two years in Wyoming.-See Stone's History of Wyoming, p. 181.




OF THE REVOLUTION..


35{


The Wintermoots.    Erection of a Fort.  Counteraction of the old Settlers.  Affair on the Millstone River.
Durkee, and were attached to the Connecticut line.' The Wintermoots, who had purchased
land toward the head of the valley, and upon the old banks of the Susquehanna,2 at a place
where bubbled forth a large and living spring of pure water, erected a strong fortification
known as Wintermoot's Fort.     The town meet;
ing alluded to, suspicious of the design of the Wintermoots, who had hitherto acted so discreetly
-- --                 that a charge of actual hostility to Congress could.:-                        not properly be made against them, thought it best
to counteract their apparent belligerence, and resolved that it had " become necessary for the inhabitants of the town to erect suitable forts as a
defense against the common enemy."      August24
A fort was accordingly built, about two   1776.
miles above Wintermoot's, under the supervision
of the families of Jenkins and Harding, and called
Fort Jenkins.'   Forty Fort (so galled from the
a                    first forty Yankees, the pioneers of the Susquehanna settlers in Wyoming), then little more than
a weak block-house, was strengthened and ent          larged, and sites for other forts were fixed on, at
Pittstown, Wilkesbarre, and Hanover.     It was
agreed in town meeting that these several fortiSITE OF WInTERMOOT's FoRT.4       fications should be built by the people, i, without
either fee or reward from the town."
As we have observed in a former chapter, the tribes of the Six Nations which had receded
from their solemn agreement of neutrality were not brought actively into the service of the
king until the summer of 1777.     It was then that the people of Wyoming perceived, and
fully appreciated, the perils attendant upon their isolation, and the attention of the Continental Congress was often called to their exposed situation.  While St. Leger was investing
Fort Stanwix, some straggling parties of savages hung about and menaced Wyoming; but,
after the siege was raised, the people were not disturbed again during the remainder of the
year and the following spring.   But early in the summer of 1778 the movements of Brant
and his warriors, and the Johnsons and Butlers and their Tory legions, upon the upper waters
of the Susquehanna, together with the actions of the Tories in the Valley of Wyoming, who
were greatly exasperated on account of the harsh treatment of some of their number by the
These two companies served with distinction at the skirmish on Millstone River, in New Jersey, on the
20th of January, 1777. This occurred while the main army of the Americans were suffering from the smallpox at Morristown. A line of forts had been established along the Millstone River, in the direction of Princeton. One of these, at Somerset Court-house, was occupied by General Dickinson with these two regular
companies and about three hundred militia. A mill on the opposite bank of the stream contained considerable flour. Cornwallis, then lying at New Brunswick, dispatched a foraging party to capture it. The party
consisted of about four hundred men, with more than forty wagons. The British arrived at the mill early
in the morning, and, having loaded their wagons with flour, were about to return, when General Dickinson,
leading a portion of his force through the river, middle deep, attacked them with so much spirit, that they
fled in haste, leaving the whole of their plunder, with their wagons, behind them.
2 Along the western side of the Susquehanna, a large part of the way from the head of the valley to the
village of Kingston, opposite Wilkesbarre, are traces of a more anoient shore than the present, when the
river was broader and perhaps deeper than now. The plain extending from the ancient shore to the foot
of the mountain is a uniform level, several feet above the alluvial bottom between it and the present bank
of the river.
3 There was another fort, called Fort Jenkins, upon the Susquehanna, about half way between Wilkesbarre and Fort Augusta, or Sunbury. The fort in question was about eight miles above Wilkesbarre.
4This view is from the ancient bed of the Susquehanna, looking west. The building, formerly the property of Colonel Jenkins, and now owned by Mr. David Goodwin, is upon the site of old Fort Wintermoot;
which was destroyed at the time of the.invasion in 1778. It is upon the ancient bank of the river, here
from fifteen to twenty feet high, and about sixty rods from the stream in its present channel.




352                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Alarm in Wyoming.   Condition of the Settlement  Apathy of Congress.  Patriotism of Wyoming Women.
- - -
Whigs, greatly alarmed the people.   Several of the Loyalists had left and joined the forces
under Colonel John Butler, and the people very properly apprehended their return with power
sufficient to satisfy their manifest spirit of vengeance.  Early in May the savages had committed many robberies, and in June some murders, in the neighborhood of Tioga, and other
points on the upper borders of Westmoreland.   The Indians were in considerable force at
Conewawah (now Elmira, in Chemung county, New York), and were in constant communication with the Tory settlers, by runners, at Wyalusing and in the neighborhood of Tunkhannock, within the precincts of Westmoreland.   These circumstances were alarming; yet
the exposed territory, cut off as it was from immediate aid, if demanded, was weakened by
drafts upon its able-bodied men for the Continental army, and demands upon its local treasury for the use of the Connecticut Assembly. Mr. Minor has given, in a spirited historic
"pen-and-ink sketch," a picture of the condition of Wyoming at the close of 1777, and at
the opening of the active operations the following year.  He says, (i Nearly all their ablebodied men were away in the service. The remaining population, in dread of the savages,
were building six forts or stockades, requiring great labor, without fee or reward.'  All the
aged men out of the train bands, exempt by law from duty, were formed into companies to
garrison the forts, one of the captains being also chief physician to the people and surgeon to
the military.  Of the militia the whole were in constant requisition, to go on the scout and
guard against surprise.  The small-pox pestilence was in every district.  A tax to go to
Hartford was levied in the assessment of the year, of two thousand pounds,"1 not in Continental bills of credit at their nominal value, but "lawful money of the state of Connecticut."
Such was the condition of Wyoming when, in June, 1778, an expedition of Tories and
Indians was prepared to fall upon the defenseless inhabitants.  Congress was apprised of
the dark design. The officers and men in the army, from Wyoming, pleaded for their wives
and little ones.  General Schuyler wrote a touching letter to Congress on the subject; yet
that body, always tardy in its movements, and at that time too much employed in sectional
disputes and factious intrigues, left the settlement uncared for, and apparently unnoticed, except by the resolutions to permit the people to take measures for self-defense by raising troops
among themselves, and finding " their own arms, and accouterments, and blankets."2 The
heads of the families there exposed were cruelly detained in the ranks of the Continental
army elsewhere, and thus, naked and helpless, the settlement presented an easy prey to the
vultures that scented them from Niagara, and whose companions were then glutting their
appetites in the Mohawk and Schoharie settlements.
A force, consisting of the Tory Rangers of Colonel John Butler, a detachment of Johnson's Royal Greens, and from five to seven hundred Indians, under the general command of
Butler, and numbering in all about eleven hundred men, crossed the Genesee country from
Niagara, and appeared at Tioga Point, in June, whence they embarked in canoes, and landed
1 History of Wyoming, page 207. Mr. Minor mentions an instance of the patriotism of the women of
Wyoming, and the draft which the people made, under the pressure of circumstances, upon their undeveloped resources. Gunpowder was very scarce at the time when the settlement was menaced by the enemy.
The husbands, fathers, and brothers were away in the Continental ranks, and the females plowed, sowed,
and reaped. Nor was this all: they manufactured gunpowder for the feeble garrisons in the forts. " They
took up the floors of their houses, dug out the earth, put it in casks, and ran water through it, as ashes are
leached. They then took ashes in another cask, and made ley, mixed the water from the earth with weak
ley, boiled it, and set it to cool, and the saltpetre rose to the top. Charcoal and sulphur were then used,
the mixture was pounded in an implement brought to the valley by Mr. Hollenback, and thus powder was
produced for the public defense."-Page 212.
2 See resolution of March 16th, 1778, in the Journals of Congress, vol. iv., p. 113. This resolution authorized the raising of " one full company of foot in the town of Westmoreland." Nothing further was done
by Congress in behalf of the people there until the 23d of June following, when a resolution was passed to
write to the two independent companies under Durkee and Ransom, then greatly reduced by battle and sickness, and permit them to return home for the defense of the settlement. Congress also resolved to pay the
officers and soldiers of the companies authorized to be raised by the resolution of the 16th of March preceding, for their arms and accouterments. The sum of $1440 was granted to the Board of War, to be issued
to Colonel Denison. The Continental paper dollars were then rapidly depreciating, four of them being at
that time worth only one in specie.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


353




Approach of Indians and Tories.  Preparations for Defense.  Council of War.  Position of the Wyoming Forts.
near the mouth of Bowman's Creek, on the west side of the river, about twenty miles above
Wyoming.     They entered the valley through a notch from the west, not far from the famous
Dial Rock,' and attacked the people near Fort Jenkins, three of whom were killed.' Butler
then made his head-quarters at Wintermoot's Fort, whence he sent out scouts and    Jul 2,
foraging parties.                                                                   1778.
Virtually abandoned by Congress, the people had made all the preparations in their power
to meet the invaders, of whose approach they had been informed. A company of forty or
fifty regulars (so called only because the raising of the company was authorized by Congress),
and a few militia, under the general command of Captain Hewett, then recruiting in the
valley, composed the military force to oppose the enemy.  Grandfathers and their aged sons,
boys, and even women, seized such weapons as were at hand. Colonel Zebulon Butler, then
an officer in the Continental army, happening to be at home when the enemy entered the
valley, was, by common consent, made commander-in-chief.   Forty Fort was made the place
of general military rendezvous, and thither the women and children of the valley fled for
safety. Aged men garrisoned some of the smaller forts. There were fearful odds, and no
alternative was left but to fight or submit to the tender mercies of the Indians and the more
savage Tories.  (, Retirement or flight was alike impossible, and there was no security but
in victory.  Unequal as was the conflict, therefore, and hopeless as it seemed in the eye of
prudence, the young and athletic men fit to bear
'               sent with the main army, the inhabitants, looking
L \        to their dependent wives, mothers, sisters, and little
/:\    %     A    ones, took counsel of their courage, and resolved to
BjBfordf  y st'        g agive the enemy battle."'
"'  \                   *FJ      On the morning of the 3d of July a coun' pzi                             cil of war was held in Forty Fort, to determ-  7
in e what action was proper.                           Some, among whom
1   i     /        were Colonels Butler and Denison and Lieutenantr f                      colonel Dorrance, were in favor of a delay, hoping
f \  B r                  \   that a re-enforcement from General Washington's
_1       __       ~7               l    camp, then near New Brunswick, in New Jersey,,,ji  might reach them in time, or that Captain SpaldPOSITION OF THE WYOIN FORTS. ing, who was on the march for the valley with his
company, might arrive.   Others, having little hope
of succor, were anxious to meet the enemy at once.  While the debates were going on, five
commissioned officers from the army arrived at Forty Fort. Hearing of the anticipated inDial Rock, or Campbell's Rock, as it is sometimes called, is a high bluff at the junction of the Susquehanna and Lackawana Rivers. Its name is derived from the circumstance that the rays of the sun first
strike its western face at meridian, and the farmers in the valley have always an unerring indicator of noontide on clear days.
2 The victims were all scalped. The bodies were interred by their friends, and over the graves of two
of the Harding family, Who were killed, a stone was raised, many years afterward, on which is the following inscription: " Sweet is the sleep of those who prefer death to slavery."
3 Wyoming Memorial to the Legislature of Connecticut.
4 EXPLANATION OF THE PLAN.-The several divisions, Hanover, Wilkesbarre, Kingstown, &c., mark the
districts into which the town of Westmoreland was divided; in military language, the different beats. A
marks the site of Fort Durkee; B, Wyoming or Wilkesbarre Fort; C, Fort Ogden; D, village of Kingston; E, Forty Fort. [This in the early histories of the Revolution is called Kingston Fort.] F, the battleground; G, Wintermoot's Fort; H, Fort Jenkins; I, Monocasy Island; J, the three Pittstown stockades.
The dot below the G marks the place of Queen Esther's Rock. The village of Troy is upon the battleground, and that of Wilkesbarre, upon the site of Wilkesbarre Fort and its ravelins. The distances of the
several points from the present bridge at Wilkesbarre are as follows: Fort Durkee, half a mile below, on
the left bank. Fort Ogden, three and a half miles above, and the Pittstown stockades, about eight miles,
on the same side. Forty Fort, three and a half miles; the Monument, on the battle-ground, five and a half;
Queen Esther's Rock, six and a half; Wintermoot's Fort and Fort Jenkins, eight miles above, on the west
or right bank of the river. Kingston is directly opposite Wilkesbarre, half a mile westward.
Z




354                           PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Decision of the Wyoming People.  Preparations for Battle.  Forces of the Enemy.  Campbell's Injustice toward Brant.
vasion, they had obtained permission to return home to protect their families.  Already Fort
Jenkins had been captured, four of the garrison slain, and three made prisoners, and the
other stockade would doubtless share the same fate. Already a demand for the surrender
of Forty Fort and the valley had been made by Colonel John Butler, and the tomahawks
of the Indians were lifted above the heads of those families who had not succeeded in reaching the fort.  Upon prompt action appeared to depend their salvation; and, influenced by
the pleadings of the only hope of safety left-victory in battle-the majority decided to
march at once against the invaders.    The decision was rash, and the minority yielded with
much reluctance.
About one o'clock in the afternoon the little army, consisting of about three hundred vigorous men, old men, and boys, divided into six companies and marched from the fort, leaving the women in the most painful anxiety.     They were joined by the justices of the court
and other civil officers, and marched up the river to Wintermoot's Fort, intending to surprise the enemy, but Colonel John Butler was too vigilant to be caught napping. He had
news of their approach, and sent for the party then demolishing Fort Jenkins to join him
immediately.    When the patriots approached, the enemy was prepared to meet them.       Colonel John Butler and his Rangers occupied the left, which rested upon the river bank near
Wintermoots; and the right, extending into a marsh at the foot of the mountains on the
western verge of the plain, was composed principally of Indians and Tories, under a celebrated Seneca chief named Gi-en-gwa-tah, which signifies He whogoes in the smoke.' John1 Until the late Mr. Stone made his researches for materials for his interesting biography of Joseph Brant,
or Thayendanegea, it was believed that Brant and his Mohawk warriors were engaged in the invasion of
Wyoming. Gordon, Ramsay, Thacher, Marshall, and Allen assert that he and John Butler were joint commanders on that occasion, and upon his memory rested the foul imputation of being a participant in the horrid
transactions in Wyoming. Misled by history, Campbell, in his Gertrudteof Wyoming, makes the Oneida say,
" This is no time to fill the joyous cup;
The mammoth comes-the foe-the monster Bratnt,
With all his howling, desolating band."
And again:
" Scorning to wield the hatchet for his tribe,
'Gainst Brant himself I went to battle forth;
Accursed Brant I he left of all my tribe
Nor man, nor child, nor thing of living birth.
No I not the dog that watched my household hearth
Escaped that night of blood upon the plains.
All perish'd I I alone am left on earth I
To whom nor relative nor blood remainsNo, not a kindred drop that runs in human veins."
Brant always denied any participation in the invasion, but the evidence of history was against him, and the
verdict of the world was, that he was the chief actor in the tragedy. From this aspersion Mr. Stone vindicated his character in his Life of Brant.  A reviewer, understood to be Caleb Cushing, of Massachusetts,
disputed the point, and maintained that Stone had not made out a clear case for the sachem. Unwilling to
remain deceived, if he was so, Mr. Stone made a journey to the Seneca country,. where he found several
surviving warriors who were engaged in that campaign. The celebrated Seneca chief Kaoundoowand,
better known as Captain Pollard, who was a young chief in the battle, gave Mr. Stone a clear account of
the events, and was positive in his declarations that Brant and the Mohawks were not engaged in that campaign. The Indians were principally Senecas, and were led by Gi-en-gwa-tah, as mentioned in the text.
John Brant, a son of the Mohawk sachem, while in England in 1823, on a mission in behalf of his nation,
opened a correspondence with Mr. Campbell on the subject of the injustice which the latter had done the
chief in his Gertrude of Wyoming. The result was a partial acknowledgment of his error by the poet, in
the next edition of the poem that was printed. He did not change a word of the poem, but referred to the
use of Brant's name there, in a note, in which he says, " His son referred to documents which completely
satisfied me that the common accounts of Brant's cruelties at Wyoming, which I had found in books of travels, and in Adolphus's and other similar histories of England, were gross errors.......The name of Brant,
therefore, remains in my poem a pure and declared character of fiction." This was well enough as far as
it went; but an omission, after such a conviction of error, to blot out the name entirely from the poem, was
unworthy of the character of an honest man; and the stain upon the poet's name will remain as long as the
libel upon a humane warrior shall endure in the epic.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                       3 5 5
Disposition of the Belligerents for Battle.  Speech of Colonel Zebulon Butler.  The Attack.  Colonel Zebulon Butler.
son's Greens, under Captain Caldwell,' formed on Butler's right, and Indian marksmen
were placed at intervals along the line. Colonel Zebulon Butler commanded the right of
the Americans, aided by Major Garratt. The left was commanded by Colonel Denison, of
the Wyoming militia, assisted by Lieutenant-colonel Dorrance. The battle-ground was a
level plain, partly cleared and cultivated, and partly covered by shrub oaks and yellow pines
As the Americans approached the lines of the enemy, they perceived Wintermoot's Fort
in flames, fired, no doubt, to prevent its falling into the hands of the patriots, an event that
seemed quite probable to the Tory leader, who was ignorant of the exact number of men
marching against him. Captains Durkee and Ransom, and Lieutenants Ross and Wells,
were sent forward to reconnoiter abid select the position for battle.  The Wyoming companies approached separately, and as they were wheeled into line, Colonel Zebulon Butler thus
addressed them: - Men, yohder is the enemy.      The fate of the Hardings tells us what we
have to expect if defeated.   We come out to fight, not only for liberty, but for life itself,
and, what is dearer, to preserve our homes from conflagration, our women and children from
the tomahawk. Stand firm the first shock, and the Indians will give way. Every man
to his duty."'
At the conclusion of Colonel Butler's short address, the Americans, opened the battle on
the enemy's left.  It was about four o'clock, the sky cloudless, and the heat quite oppressive.
The Americans were ordered to advance a step at each fire.      Soon the battlei became general, and the British left, where Colonel John Butler, stripped of his feathers and other trap1 It is uncertain whether either of the Johnsons was in this campaign. As they do not appear in any
official connection, it is probable they were not.
2 Zebulon Butler was one of the early settlers in the Wyoming Valley. He was a native of Lyme, New
London county, Connecticut, and was born in 1731. On the breaking out of the French and Indian war
he entered the army as an ensign. He was at Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and other places in Northern
New York. He was also in the memorable expedition to Havana during that war, and rose to the rank
of captain. He left the service at the peace in 1763. In 1769 he emigrated to Wyoming, and became
one of the leading men in that settlement. Before he left Connecticut he was strongly imbued with feelings of hostility to the mother country, which the agitations of the Stamp Act had engendered, and when
the Revolution broke out he was found an active patriot. He was appointed colonel in 1778. He accompanied Sullivan in his memorable Indian expedition in 1779, and served with distinction throughout the war.
In 1787 he was made lieutenant of the new county of Luzerne, which office he held until its abrogation by
the new Constitution in 1790. He died on the 28th of July, 1795, at his residence, about a mile and a
half above Wilkesbarre, and his remains were buried in the grave-yard at the borough.  " Among other
marks of respect to his memory," says Mr. Minor, " a monody of a dozen verses was written, one of which
was inscribed on his tombstone:
"Distinguished by his usefulness
At home and when abroad,
At court, in camp, and in recess,
Protected still by God."
Colonel Butler was thrice married. His first wife was Ellen Lord; his second, the daughter of the Rev.
Mr. Johnson, of Wyoming (the Indian interpreter already mentioned); and the third was Miss Phuebe
Haight, whom he married while he was on duty at West Point, near the close of the war. Colonel Butler
was a well-educated and intelligent man, as his letters show. An autograph letter to General Washington,
kindly given me by his grandson, the Hon. Chester Butler, of Wilkesbarre, from which this facsimile of his signature is copied, is a good specimen, not only of the chirography, but of the perspicuity, terseness, and comprehensive style that characterized the military dispatches of the Revolutionary officers. He
was one of those reliable men whom Washington cherished in memory, and after the war he received tokens
of the chief's regard. Activity, energy, and a high sense of honor were the distinguishing traits of Colonel
$utler's character. He was not a relative of the Tory John Butler, as some have asserted.




356


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Battle of Wyoming.        Denison's Order mistaken.        Retreat of the Americans.       Scene at Monocasy Island.


pings, appeared, with a handkerchief tied round his head, earnestly cheering his men, began
to give way. But a flanking party of Indians, which covered that wing of the enemy, and
was concealed under some bushes upon the ancient river bank, kept up a galling fire. Captain Durkee was slain by one of their shots.1 In the mean time the Indian sharp-shooters
along the line kept up a horrid yell, the sound of which reached the ears of the women and
children at the fort. For half an hour the battle was waged with unceasing energy on both
sides, but the vastly superior numbers of the enemy began to manifest its advantage. The
Indians on the American left, sheltered and half concealed by the swamp, succeeded in outflanking Colonel Denison, and fell with terrible force upon his rear. He was thus exposed
to the cross fire of the Tories and Indians.  Perceiving this, he ordered his men to fall back
in order to change his position.  The order was mistaken for one to retreat.     That word
was uttered with fatal distinctness along the line, and his whole division fled in confusion
at the moment when the British left was giving way. A few minutes more of firm resistance might have given victory to the republicans.   The American Colonel Butler and Colonel Dorrance used every exertion to rally the fugitives and retrieve the loss, but in vain.
Colonel Butler, seemingly unconscious of danger, rode along the linesexposed to the fire of
the contending parties, beseeching his troops to remain firm.    "A In't leave me, my children," he exclaimed, " and the victory is ours!"  But it was too late; the Indians leaped
forward like wounded tigers. Every American captain that led a company into action was
slain at the head of his men. Longer resistance was vain, and the whole American line,
broken, shattered, and dispersed, fled in confusion, some in the direction of Forty Fort, and
others toward Monocasy Island,
nearly a mile distant, and the only:                           point on the river that promised
them   an opportunfly to escape.
The scene that ensued was terrible indeed.  A portion of the
flanking party of Indians rushed
forward to cut off the retreat to
Forty Fort, while the rest of the.:    invaders, following the main porO-"l......... a   tion of the army, who fled through
~ e                  the fields of grain toward Monocasy Island, slaughtered them by
scores.  Many who could not swim, and hesitated upon the brink of the river, were shot
down; and others, who hid themselves in bushes upon the shore, were dragged out and shot
or tomahawked, regardless of their cry for quarter.  Many swam to Monocasy Island, whither
their pursuers followed and hunted them like deers in cover. Others were shot while swimming; and some, who were lured back to the shore by promises of quarter, were butchered.
Only a few escaped to the eastern side of the river and fled in safety to the mountains.s
i Captain Robert Durkee was a younger brother of Colonel John Durkee. When the valley was menaced, and he was refused permission to return home, he resigned his commission in the army, and hastened
to the defense of his family. He was a volunteer in the battle where he lost his life.
9 This view is from the left or eastern bank of the Susquehanna, opposite the center of Monocasy Island,
looking up the river. Toward the foreground, on the right of the picture, a little beyond the bar-post, is
seen a ravine, through which the fugitives who crossed the river in safety made their way. On the left are
seen the upper end of Monocasy, and a sand-bar which divides the waters of the river. The distant hills
on the left are those which bound the western side of the valley. From the head of Monocasy Island, across
the sand-bar, the river is often fordable in summer to the eastern side.
3 It would be neither pleasant nor profitable to relate the many instances of suffering on that occasion.
All the horrors of war, although on a small scale, were exhibited on that memorable day; and were the
particulars chronicled, the most rapacious gourmand of horrors might be surfeited. I will mention one or
two circumstances, which sufficiently exhibit the bestiality of human character developed by civil war, destroying or stifling every feeling of consanguineous affection or neighborly regard. One of the fugitives,
named Pensil, hid himself among the willows upon Monocasy Island. His Tory brother, who had joined




OF THE REVOLUTION.


357


Escape of Colonels Butler and Denison.  Cruelties of the Indians.  Scene at " Queen Esther's Rock."  Queen Esther.
Colonel Zebulon Butler escaped to Wilkesbarre Fort and Colonel Denison to Forty Fort,
where the latter mustered the few soldiers that came in, placed sentinels, and prepared for
a defense of the women and children collected there.
Darkness put an end to the pursuit, but not to the horrors.   It was a dreadful night for
Wyoming, for the enemy, elated by victory, held their fearful orgies upon the battle-field.
"Whoop after whoop with rack the ear assail'd,
As if unearthly fiends had burst their bar;
While rapidly the marksman's shot prevail'd,
And aye, as if for death, some lonely trumpet wail'd."'
Many prisoners suffered the martyrdom of savage torture, while some of their friends on the
opposite shore, near Pittston, powerless to help
them, observed the dreadful proceedings by
the light of the fires.  Captain Bidlack was
thrown, alive, upon the burning timbers of
Wintermoot's Fort, where he was held down                         - -
with pitchforks until he expired!    Prisoners
were arranged in circles around large stones,
and, while strong Indians held them, they were
dispatched with a tomahawk.      One of these      -- -:
stones, called Queen Esther's Rock, is pointed                 -:;
out to the curious.   It is upon the old river
bank, about forty rods east of the main road,
three miles above Forty Fort, and near the
house that belonged to a Mr. Gay. Around              -
it sixteen prisoners were arranged in a circle,                  -.
and each was held by a savage.    A half-breed                 E   ESTHER'S
Indian woman, called Queen Esther,' assumed
the office of executioner, and, using a maul and tomahawk alternately as she passed around the
in the pursuit, found him there concealed, and recognized him. The fugitive cast himself at his brother's
feet and begged his life, promising to serve him till death if he would spare him. But the brother was
changed to a demon.  "Mighty well, you damned rebel!" he tauntingly replied, and instantly shot him
dead! The Oneida savage mentioned in a previous chapter refused to imbrue his hands in his brother's
blood. The worst passions raged with wild and desolating fury. All the sweet charities of life seemed
extinguished. Lieutenant Shoemaker, one of the most generous and benevolent of men, whose wealth enabled him to dispense charity and do good, which was a delight to him, fled to the river, when Windecker,
a man who had often fed at his board and drunk of his cup, came to the brink.  " Come out, come out,"
he said; "you know I will protect you."  How could Shoemaker doubt it?  Windecker reached out his
left hand as if to lead him, much exhausted, ashore, and dashed his tomahawk into the head of his benefactor, who fell back and floated away.-See Minor, p. 225.
Gertrude of Wyoming.
2 This view is near the ancient river bank, looking westward. The rock is a sort of conglomerate, a large
proportion of which is quartz. Some of it is of a reddish color, which the credulous believe to be stains of
blood still remaining. The rock projects only about eighteen inches above the ground, and its size is denoted by the figure standing beside it. In the distance, on the left, is seen the monument which has been
erected to the memory of those who fell on the occasion. This scene includes a portion of the battle-ground.
The little village of Troy also occupies a part of the field of conflict.
3 Queen Esther, as she was called, was the celebrated Catharine Montour, whose residence was at Cathe
arinestown, near the head of Seneca Lake, in New York. The town was named after her, and was the first
of the Indian villages destroyed by Sullivan in 1779, after the battle of Chemung. She was a native of Can.
ada, and her father was one of the French governors, probably Frontenac. She was made a captive during
the wars between the Hurons and French and the Six Nations, and was carried into the Seneca country,
where she married a young chief who was signalized in the wars against the Catawbas. He fell in battle,
about the year 1730. Catharine had several children by him, and remained a widow. Her superior mind
gave her great ascendency over the Senecas, and she was a queen indeed among them. She accompanied
the delegates of the Six Nations to Philadelphia on several occasions, where her refinement of manners and
attractive person made her an object of much regard, and she was greatly caressed by the ladies of that
city. From the circumstance of her refinement of manners, Mr. Stone argues that she could not have been




358


P.IC TORI'AL FIELD-BOOK


Cruelties of Queen Esther.  Scenes at Forty Fort.  Negotiations for a Surrender.  Escape of Colonel Zebulon Butler.
ring, singing the death-song, deliberately murdered the prisoners in consecutive order as they
Were arranged.   The time was midnight, and, the scene being lighted up by a large fire burning near, she appeared like a very fury from Pandemonium while performing her bloody
work.    With the death of each victim her fury increased, and her song rose clearer and
louder upon the midnight air.   Two of the prisoners (Lebbeus Hammond and Joseph Elliot), seeing there was no hope, shook off the Indians who held them, and, with a desperate
spring, fled to a thicket, amid the rifle-balls and tomahawks that were sent after them, and
escaped.   Similar scenes were enacted on other portions of the battle-field on that dreadful
night, but we will draw a vail before the revolting picture, and view occurrences at Forty
Fort, where the hopes of the settlement were now centered.
Terrible were the suspense and anxiety of the people at the fort while the battle was in
progress.  They could distinctly hear the firing, and, when the shots became fewer and
nearer, hope departed, for they knew the Americans were dispersed and retreating.  At twilight Captain John Franklin arrived at Forty Fort, with the Hunterdon and Salem company, of thirty-five men.  It was a timely re-enforcement, and revived the hopes of the little
remnant of Denison's force. The night was spent in sleepless vigilance and alarm by those
within the forts, while the people without were flying to the mountains and the wilderness
July 4  beyond, under cover of the darkness.  Early the next morning a messenger was dis1778.  patched to Wilkesbarre Fort, to send up the cannon, and cause the whole settlement
to concentrate for defense at Forty Fort.  But all was confusion.  The people were flying
in dismay, and leaving their homes a prey to the invaders. The messenger returned with
his melancholy tidings just as another arrived from Colonel John Butler, demanding a surrender, and requesting Colonel Denison to come up to head-quarters, near the still burning
ruins of Wintermoot's Fort, to agree on terms of capitulation.  Already the principal stockade at Pittston (Fort Brown) had surrendered, and, there being no hope of a successful defense, Colonel Denison complied.   Colonel Butler demanded the surrender of all the forts,
and also of Colonel Zebulon Butler and his Continental troops (numbering only fifteen men)
as prisoners of war.   Colonel Denison hastened back, by agreement, to consult with his
brother officers.  He conferred with Colonel Zebulon Butler at Wilkesbarre Fort, and it
was agreed that the latter and his men should immediately retire from the valley. He placed
Mrs. Butler behind him upon his horse, and that night they slept at Conyngham, in the Nescopeek Valley, twenty miles from Wilkesbarre.    Colonel Denison, on returning, reported to
the British leader that the Continentals were beyond his command, and negotiations were
opened without reference to them. The terms were verbally agreed upon, but, there being
no conveniences for Wvriting at hand, the contracting parties went to Forty Fort, and, upon
a table belonging to a Mr. Bennet, the terms of capitulation were drawn up and signed.'
guilty of the atrocities at Wyoming which history has attributed to her. But Mr. Minor, whose means for
correct information on points connected with the history of Wyoming were much superior to those of Mr.
Stohe, clearly fixes the guilt upon her. She was well known to Colonel Denison and Colonel Franklin, and
they both explicitly charge her with the deed. Two of her sons accompanied her in the expedition, and it
is said that her fury on the occasion was excited by the death of one of them, in the fight that occurred near
Fort Jenkins on the 2d of July, the day before the battle of Wyoming. She must have been then nearly
eighty years of age. One of General Sullivan's men, in his journal, cited by Minor, speaks of reaching
" Queen Esther's plantation" [Sheshequin], where she " dwelt in retirement and sullen majesty. The ruins
of her palace," he said, " are still to be seen. In what we supposed to be the chapel we found an idol,
which might well be worshiped without violating the third commandment on account of its likeness to any
thing in heaven or on earth. About sunrise the general gave orders for Catharinestown to be illuminated,
and accordingly we had a glorious bonfire of upward of thirty buildings." One of the sons of Kate Montour, as she was familiarly called, was with Walter Butler at Cherry Valley, and with his own hands captured Mr. Cannon, the father of Mrs. Campbell, mentioned in our account of the invasion of that settlement.
The old man's life was spared, and he was taken to Niagara. Kate Montour was there, and " was greatly
enraged," says Stone, "because her son had not killed him outright."  This " exhibition of a savage temper" is in accordance with her acts at Bloody Rock.
The following is a copy of the articles of capitulation, dated Westmoreland, July 4th, 1778:
" ART. 1st. That the inhabitants of the settlement lay down their arms, and the garrisons be demolished.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


3 i 9


Surrender of the Fort.    Treaty Table.      Conduct of the Tories.    Bad Faith of the Indians.   The Treaty.




Colonel Butler, ascertaining that there were several casks of whisky in the fort, ordered them
to be rolled to the bank of the river and emptied, fearing that
they might fall into the hands of the Indians and make them
unmanageable.
Every thing being arranged, the two gates of the fort were
thrown open.     The arms of the patriots were piled up in the
center, and the women and children retired within the huts that
lined the interior of the stockade.    At the appointed time' the
victors approached, with drums beating and colors flying.       They      TH    TREATY TABLE."
came in two columns, whites and Indians. The former were
led by Colonel John Butler, who entered the north gate, and the latter by Queen Esther,
the bloody priestess of the midnight sacrifice. She was followed by Gi-en-gwa-tah, who,
with his warriors, entered the south gate.    The wily chief, fearing treachery, glanced quickly
to the right and left as he entered.    The Tories, with their natural instinct for plunder, immediately seized the piled arms.     Butler ordered them to desist, and presented the muskets
to the Indians. The inhabitants were then marked by the Indians with black paint in their
faces, and ordered to carry a white cloth on a stick.    These were badges which, the savages
said, would insure their protection.
The terms of the capitulation were respected by the invaders, particularly the Indians,
for a few hours only.    Before night they spread through the valley, plundering the few people that were left, and burning the dwellings of those already gone to the wilderness.        The
village of Wilkesbarre, containing twenty-three houses, was burned, and the inhabitants, with
others remaining in the valley, fled in dismay toward the mountains, whither a great number of their friends had gone during the night.     Only one life2 was taken after the surrender
"2d. That the inhabitants occupy their farms peaceably, and the lives of the inhabitants be preserved entire and unhurt.
" 3d. That the Continental stores be delivered up.
" 4th. That Major Butler* will use his utmost influence that the private property of the inhabitants shall
be preserved entire to them.
" 5th. That the prisoners in Forty Fort be delivered up, and that Samuel Finch, now in Major Butler's
possession, be delivered up also.
" 6th. That the property taken from the people called Tories, up the river, be made good, and they to
remain in peaceable possession of their farms, unmolested in a free trade in and throughout the state, as far
as lies in my power.
" 7th. That the inhabitants that Colonel Denison now capitulates for, together with himself do not take.
up arms during the present contest.
[   NATHAN DENISON
Sign]                                          JOHN BUTLER.
" Zarah Beech,   Samuel Gustin,
John Johnson,  William Caldwell."
z The table on which the capitulation was drawn up and signed was still in possession of a daughter of
Mr. Bennet (Mrs. Myers) when I visited her in September, 1848. I shall have occasion to mention this
venerable woman presently. The table is of black walnut, small, and of oval form, and was a pretty piece
of furniture when new. It is preserved with much care by the family. The house of Mr. Bennet was near
Forty Fort, and himself and family, with their most valuable effects, were within the stockade when it surrendered.
2 This was Sergeant Boyd, a deserter from the British army.  Standing in the gateway of the fort after
the capitulation, Colonel Butler recognized him, and said, sternly, " Boyd, go to that tree!"  " I hope," said
* In all accounts of the war John Butler is denominated a colonel, while here he gives what was doubtless his true title. Lord
George Germaine, in a dispatch to Sir Henry Clinton, gives him the rank of lieutenant colonel. This capitulation was highly
honorable, and certainly affords a plea in favor of the merciful character of Butler claimed for him by his friends. In the transactions which subsequently took place he declared his inability to control the Indians. This may have been true. But no hon.
orable man would have headed such an expedition; and whatever may have been his efforts to allay the whirlwind of destruc.
tion which he had raised, history holds him responsible, next to his government, for the dreadful tragedy in Wyoming. The
stories of his cruelties, set afloat by the flying fugitives from the valley, and incorporated in the histories of Gordon, Ramsay, and
other early historians of the war, have been refuted by ample testimony, and proved to be the offspring of imaginations greatly
excited by the terrors of the battle and flight. The story, that when Colonel Denison asked Butler upon what terms he would
accept a surrender, he replied, "The hatchet," and talcs of a kindred nature of cruelties permitted by him, have no foundation
in truth.




36 0


PICTOT ORIAAL FIEL LD-BOOKO


Flight of the People over the Pocono. Incidents of the Flight. Providential Aid of Mr. Hollenback. Preservation of Papers.
of Forty Fort, but numbers of women and children perished in their flight in the great swamp
on the Pocono Mountains, known as the Shades of Death, and along the wilderness paths
by the way of the Wind-gap and Water-gap, to the settlements on the Lehigh and Delaware.   So sudden was their departure, that scarcely a morsel of food was secured.  Terrible indeed were the incidents of that flight, as related by the sufferers and their friends, and
recorded by Chapman and Minor.     "( Tears gushed from the eyes of the aged widow of Mr.
Cooper," says Mr. Minor, "( when she related that her husband had lain on his face to lap
up a little meal which a companion in their flight had spilled on the earth. Children were
born, and several perished in the ( Dismal Swamp,' or ' Shades of Death,' as it is called to
this day.  Mrs. Treusdale was taken in labor; daring to delay but a few minutes, she was
seen with her infant moving onward upon a horse.    Jabez Fish, who was in the battle, escaped; but, not being able to join his family, was supposed to have fallen; and Mrs. Fish
hastened with her children through the wilderness. Overcome by fatigue and want, her
infant died.  Sitting down a moment on a stone, to see it draw its last breath, she gazed in
its face with unutterable anguish.  There were no means to dig a grave, and to leave it to
be devoured by wolves seemed worse than death; so she took the dead babe in her arms and
carried it twenty miles, when she came to a German settlement. Though poor, they gave
her food; made a box for the child, attended her to the grave-yard, and decently buried it,
kindly bidding her welcome until she should be rested.
( The wife of Ebenezer Marcy was taken in labor in the wilderness.    Having no mode
of conveyance, her sufferings were inexpressibly severe. She was able to drag her fainting
steps but about two miles that day. The next, being overtaken by a neighbor with a horse,
she rode, and in a week was more than a hundred miles with her infant from the place of
its birth.
"Mrs. Rogers, from Plymouth, an aged woman, flying with her family, overcome by
fatigue and sorrow, fainted in the wilderness, twenty miles from human habitation.   She
could take no nourishment, and soon died. They made a grave in the best manner they
could....... Mrs. Courtwright relates that she, then a young girl flying with her father's
family, saw sitting by the road side a widow, who had learned the death of her husband.
Six children were on the ground near her-the group the very image of despair, for they
were without food. Just at that moment a man was seen riding rapidly toward them from
the settlements. It was Mr. Hollenback.1 Foreseeing their probable destitution, he had
providentially loaded his horse with bread, and was hastening back, like an angel of mercy,
to their relief.  Cries and tears of gratitude and welcome went up to heaven.  He imparted
a morsel to each, and hastened on to the relief of others.
"( The widow of Anderson Dana, Esq.,' and her widowed daughter, Mrs. Whiton, did not
learn certainly the death of their husbands until they were at Bullock's, on the mountain,
ten miles on their way. Many then heard the fate of their relatives, and a messenger brought
to Mr. Bullock word that both his sons were dead on the field. Then were heard mourning
and lamentation, with wringing of hands. Mrs. Dana had been extraordinarily careful. Not
only had she provided food, but had taken a pillow-case of valuable papers (her husband being
much engaged in public business), the preservation of which has thrown much light on our
path of research.   Depending chiefly on charity, the family sought their ancient home in
Boyd, imploringly, "your honor will consider me a prisoner of war.'"  "Go to that tree, sir," shouted Butler.
The sergeant obeyed, and a volley from some Indian marksmen laid him dead upon the spot.
i Mr. Hollenback survived the battle, and escaped by swimming the river at Monocasy Island. He crossed the mountains to the settlements in advance of the fugitives.
2 Anderson Dana was from Ashford, Windham county, Connecticut. He was a lawyer of good attainments; his talents and zeal, in the promotion of the welfare of the Wyoming settlement, obtained from the
people their unanimous suffrage, and he was elected a member of the Connecticut Assembly. Returning
home when Wyoming was threatened, he mounted his horse, and, riding from family to family throughout
the valley, aroused the people to action, and, though exempt from military duty, hastened to the field and
fell. His son-in-law, Stephen Whiton, but a few weeks married, also went into the battle and was slain.
0




OF THE REVOLUTION.


361


Picture of the' Flight.  Story of the Fugitives published at Poughkeepsie.  Errors of History.  Bad Faith of the Invaders.
Connecticut. These few instances, selected from a hundred, will present some idea of the
dreadful flight."'
What a picture did that flight present! No embellishment of fancy is needed to give it
effect. One hundred women and children, with but a single man to guide and protect them,
are seen, in the wildest terror, hurrying to the mountains.  " Let the mind picture to itself
a single group, flying from the valley to the mountains on the east, and climbing the steep
ascent; hurrying onward, filled with terror, despair, and sorrow; the affrighted mother,
whose husband has fallen, with an infant on her bosom, a child by the hand, an aged parent
slowly climbing the rugged steep behind them; hunger presses them severely; in the rustling of every leaf they hear the approaching savage; a deep and dreary wilderness before
them, the valley all in flames behind; their dwellings and harvests all swept away in this
spring flood of ruin, and the star of hope quenched in this blood shower of savage vengeance."'
From the settlements on the Delaware the fugitives made their way to Connecticut by
various routes, and the tales of horror of a few who crossed the Hudson at Poughkeepsie
were published in a newspaper printed there.  The account of the atrocities therein related
was repeated every where in America and in Europe, and, remaining uncontradicted, formed
the material for the darkest chapter in the annals of the Revolution, as recorded by the earlier historians.  No doubt the fugitives believed they were telling truths.  The battle, the
devastation of the valley, and the flight across the wilderness were matters of their own experience; and other refugees, joining them in their flight, added their various recitals to the
general narrative of woe. We will not stop to detail what has been erroneously written.
The pages of Gordon, Ramsay, and Botta will satisfy those who wish to " sup on horrors."
The researches of Mr. Minor have obliterated half the stain which those recitals cast upon
human nature, and we should rejoice at the result, for the honor of the race.  It is but just
to the memory of the dead to say, in passing, that the conduct of Colonels Zebulon Butler
and Nathan Denison3 on the occasion has been falsely represented, and injustice done to their
characters.  All that could be done was done by those brave and devoted men.
Our story of the disaster in Wyoming is almost ended.  Although alarm and distress prevailed there until the close of the war, there were no hostilities of greater moment than the
menaces of savages and a few skirmishes with marauders.    But, before closing the historic
tome, let us briefly glance at the events in the valley which followed the surrender of the
forts and the flight of the people.
As we have seen, the terms of capitulation were broken by the invaders within a few
hours after the treaty was signed, and the houses of the people and fields of waving grain
were plundered and destroyed.   The Indians began by breaking open the trunks and boxes
in the huts of the surrendered fort.  The town papers were scattered, and many valuable
records were destroyed.  Colonel Denison called upon Butler repeatedly to enforce the terms
of capitulation by restraining the Indians.  Butler did, indeed, attempt to restrain them, but
they utterly disregarded his orders.  At length, finding his authority set at naught, doubtless considering his own life in danger should he attempt harsh measures of control, and probably fearing greater enormities on the part of the Indians, Butler withdrew from the  July,
valley.4  Gi-en-gwa-tah interposed his authority, and a greater part of the Indians  1778
History of Wyoming, p. 230.
2 The Hazleton Travelers. This is not a volume, but a series of biographical and historical sketches by
Charles Minor, Esq., in the form of colloquies between two travelers from Hazleton. They were published
in the Wyoming Republican in 1837-8. They are admirably conceived and written, and contain vivid pi-c
tures of the character and sufferings of the people of Wyoming during the Revolution.
3 Colonel Nathan Denison was a native of New London, Connecticut, and was one of the early settlers in
Wyoming. He was well educated, and was an active man in the valley. After the close of the war he
held several important offices under the authority of Pennsylvania. lIe died January 25th, 1809, aged
sixty-eight years.
Mr. Minor gives Colonel Butler full credit for humane intentions, and believes that he desired to regard
faithfully the terms of the capitulation, and that he made the most earnest endeavors to prevent the pillage
and murders which ensued. On the authority of a Mr. Finch, a prisoner at the time, who went over the




362


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Departure of the Invaders from the Valley.  Indian Cruelties.  Arrival of Succor.  Expedition against the Indians.
followed the leaders, with Queen Esther and her retinue in the van.  The appearance of the
retiring enemy was extremely ludicrous, aside from the melancholy savageism that was presented.  Many squaws accompanied the invaders, and these brought up the rear.       Some
had belts around their waists, made of scalps stretched upon small hoops; some had on from
four to six dresses of chintz or silk, one over the other; and others, mounted on stolen horses,
and seated, " not sidewise, but otherwise," had on their heads four or five bonnets, one within another.
As soon as Butler and the main body of the invaders left the valley, the Indians that remained, wholly uncontrolled, swept over the plains in small bands of from five to ten, and
wantonly destroyed the crops, burned houses and barns, and treated the few remaining people most cruelly.' Several murders were committed, and terror again reigned in the valley.
Colonel Denison, and all who remained at Forty Fort, fled, some down the river and some
to the mountains. Except a few who gathered about the fort at Wilkesbarre, the whole
people abandoned the settlement.   It presented one wide scene of conflagration and ruin.
Captain Spalding was between the Pocono and Blue Mountains, nearly fifty miles from
Wilkesbarre, on the day of the battle.  Apprised of the event by the flying settlers, he hastened forward, and when within twelve miles of the valley sent two scouts to reconnoiter.
From the brow of the mountain they saw the flames rising in all directions, and the valley
in complete possession of the invaders.  The efforts of a single 'company would be vain, and
Captain Spalding returned to Stroudsburg, to await the orders of Colonel Zebulon Butler,
a August3, who soon returned to Wyoming.    When the enemy had left the valley, Spalding
1778.   marched thither, and took up his quarters at Wilkesbarre Fort, a which he strengthened.   Other means for the defense of the valley were adopted, and a few of those who had
fled returned, with the hope of securing something that might be left of all their desolated
possessions.  Some of them were waylaid and shot by straggling Indians and Tories.  There
was no security; throughout that fertile valley fire was the only reaper, and the luscious
fruits fell to the earth ungathered. Even the dead upon the battle-ground lay unburied until the autumn frosts had come; and when their mutilated and shriveled bodies were collected and cast into one common receptacle of earth, but few could be identified.
October 22That sad office was performed by guarded laborers, while parties of the enemy,
like hungry vultures, scented their. prey from afar, and hovered upon the mountains, ready
to descend upon the stricken settlers when opportunity should offer.
Colonel Hartly, of the Pennsylvania line, joined Colonel Zebulon Butler, and an expedition was arranged to expel the marauders.  In September a detachment of one hundred and
thirty men marched to Shesequin, Queen Esther's plantation, a beautiful plain on the east
branch of the Susquehanna (now in Bradford county), where a battle ensued.      Several of
battle-ground with Mr. Minor in 1838, he says that Colonel Butler received a letter on the 5th, which hastened his departure from the valley. It probably gave him notice of the approach of Captain Spalding or
some other expected re-enforcements. Mr. Minor tells an amusing anecdote of Finch. They called together upon Mrs. Jenkins, an aged lady, more than eighty years old, who was a prisoner in Forty Fort.
She instantly recognized Finch, and said, with much archness and humor, " Oh, yes, Finch, to be sure I remember you. An old squaw took you and brought you in. She found you in the bushes, and, as she drove
you along, patted you on the back, saying, ' My son, my son!'   Finch did not relish the exposure as well
as the by-standers. He had been playing the hero in his account of the battle. Mrs. Jenkins stripped him
of his plumage, and he soon after left the valley.
i One illustrative instance I will mention. From the farm of an old man named Weekes, seven persons,
three of whom were his sons, one a grandson-in-law, two relatives, and the last a boarder, went out
to the battle. At night the whole seven lay dead on the field! After the capitulation, a band of Indians
came to his house and ordered him away. " How can I?" he said; " my whole family you have killed.
How can I with fourteen grandchildren, all young and helpless." They feasted on the food in his house;
and one of the Indians, taking the hat from the old man's head, and placing himself in a large rocking-chair
which he had taken to the road, rocked with much glee. They then informed him that he might have three
days allowed him to prepare for departure, and the use of a pair of oxen and a wagon to carry away his
grandchildren. He departed, and the savages set fire to the building, and destroyed all that was left. Over
the rough country along the Lackawanna Mr. Weekes made his way to Orange county.-See Minor's Wyoming, p. 238, and Hazletogs Travelers.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                363
Return of Settlers.  Continued Alarm.  Murder of Mr. Slocum.  Sullivan's Expedition.  Situation of Wyoming.
the Indians were killed, their settlement was broken up, and a quantity of plunder that had
been taken from Wyoming was recovered. Returning to Wyoming, Colonel Hartly was
called away, but left a garrison of one hundred men at Wilkesbarre Fort. Thus defended,
although the season was much advanced, a few armed settlers plowed and sowed. Marauding parties of the enemy still hovered upon the mountains, and several of the whites were
murdered in their fields, among whom was Jonathan Slocum, a member of the Society of
Friends.  The interesting story of the abduction of his little daughter, and her subsequent
discovery among the Indians, will be related in the next chapter.
In March, 1779, the garrison at Wilkesbarre was menaced by a party of about two hundred and fifty Indians and painted Tories, who surrounded the fort. The discharge of a field
piece drove them away, but, the garrison being too feeble to attempt a pursuit, the marauders carried off much plunder, not, however, without suffering considerably in some smart
skirmishes with the inhabitants.  In April a re-enforcement for the garrison, under
Major Powell, while marching toward Wyoming, fell into an Indian ambuscade. April
Six of his men were killed, but the Indians were routed.
Toward the close of June, General Sullivan arrived in the valley, with his division of the
army destined for the invasion of the Seneca country, the events of which have been narrated in a preceding chapter. The troops had rendezvoused at Easton, and marched to Wyoming by the way of the present turnpike. They arrived on the 23d of June, and encamped
on the flats below Wilkesbarre.  A large fleet of boats, that had been prepared in the lower
waters of the Susquehanna, arrived, with provisions and stores, on the 24th. We have
seen that Sullivan's movements were remarkably slow, and that the enemy became perfectly
acquainted with his 'strength and his plans before he reached Tioga. The Indians, guided
by the mind of Brant, tried to divert the attention of Sullivan by attacks upon his outposts.'
Several of these occurred, but the American force was too large to be much affected by them;
and on the 31st of July the tents were struck, ahd the whole army, with martial music 1779
and the thunder of cannon, moved up the Susquehanna, proceeding on the east side.
As the fleet of boats approached Monocasy Island and the battle-ground, the lively music of
fife and drum was changed to a solemn: dirge, in honor of the patriot dead. The army encamped the first night a little above Pittston, near the confluence of the Susquehanna and
Lackawanna Rivers.   On the 5th it arrived at Wyalusing, on the 9th at Queen Esther's Plains (Shesequin), and on the 11th reached Tioga Point.  The remainder August.
of the story of the expedition has already been told.
As soon as the American army was gone, the Indians and Tories came prowling upon
the borders of the valley, and, until peace was proclaimed, the settlers had not an hour of
repose. ", Revenge upon Wyoming," says Stone, i seemed a cherished luxury to the infuriated savages, hovering upon her outskirts upon every side. It was a scene of war, blood,
and suffering....... In the course of this harassing warfare there were many severe skirmishes, several heroic risings of prisoners upon their Indian captors, and many hair-breadth
escapes."' It would require a volume to detail them, and the reader, desirous of more minute information, is referred to the works of Chapman, Minor, and Stone.  I have other
and broader regions to traverse and explore, and other pages of our wondrous history to open
and recite.  Let us close the book for the present, and ramble a while along the banks of the
Susquehanna, where the tragedy we have been considering was enacted, but where now the
smiles of peace, prosperity, and repose gladden the heart of the dweller and the stranger.
---
i The boldness of the Indians was remarkable. Although the Americans in camp were three thousand
strong, they approached within two or three miles of the tents, and committed murders.
l History of Wyoming, p. 206.




364


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Present Scenery in Wyoming.       Allusion to Campbell's Poem.      Visit to Kingston and Forty Fort
CHAPTER XVI.
" I then but dream'd: thou art before me now
In life, a vision of the brain no more.
I've stood upon the wooded mountain's brow,
That beetles high thy lovely valley o'er.
Nature hath made thee lovelier than the power
Even of Campbell's pen hath pictured; he
Had woven, had he gazed one sunny hour
Upon thy smiling vale, its scenery
With more of truth, and made each rock and tree
Known like old friends, and greeted from afar;
And there are tales of sad reality
In the dark legends of thy border war,
With woes of deeper tint than his own Gertrude's are."
HALLECK.
MIST still reposed upon the waters, and veiled the fringe of trees along
\:     't   the Susquehanna, when, late in the morning, I left Wilkesbarre, in
I: \             company with Mr. Lord Butler, to visit the celebrities of the valley.... The poetry of the bard and the solemn prose of the historian awakened
thoughts and associations which invested every venerable tree and antichalng    quated dwelling, the plains, the river, and the mountains, with all the
_ '::     glowing characteristics of romance.    The simple beauty of nature,
though changed in feature, is as attractive as of old.
"But where are they, the beings of the mind,
The bard's creations, molded not of clay,
Hearts to strange bliss and sufferings assign'dYoung Gertrude, Albert, Waldegrave-where are they?
Waldegrave 'twere in vain
To point out here, unless in yon scarecrow
That stands full uniform'd upon the plain
To frighten flocks of crows and blackbirds from the grain.
"For he would look particularly droll
In his ' Iberian boot' and 'Spanish plume,'
And be the wonder of each Christian soul,
As of the birds that scarecrow and his broom.
But Gertrude, in her loveliness and bloom,
Hath many a model here; for woman's eye,
In court or cottage, wheresoe'er her home,
Hath a heart-spell too holy and too high
To be o'er-praised, even by her worshiper-Poesy."
HALLECK.
We crossed the plain to Kingston, a pretty village about half a mile westward of Wilkesbarre, and then proceeded to the site of Forty Fort, three and a half miles above, which is
reached by a road diverging toward the river from the main road to the head of the valley.
It stood near the river bank, at a curve in the stream.  Not a single trace of it is left, the
spot having been long a common, perfectly smooth, and covered with a green sward. Near
the site of the fort is a venerable house, one of the few that escaped the general conflagra



OF THE REVOLUTION..


366




The ' Treaty Table" at Forty Fort.  Site of the Fort.  Visit to the Monument.  Inscription upon it.
tion, and close by is the residence of one of Mrs. Myers's family, in whose possession I found
the treaty table, pictured in the last chapter.  The venerable owner was not there, but I
afterward saw her at the house of her son, near Kingston. A cottage and its garden occupy
the bank of the river where the trembling families at Forty Fort stood and listened to the
noise of the battle; and from that point is a charming river view, bounded on the northwest
by the lofty range of the Shawnee Mountains, through which the Susquehanna makes its
way into the valley.
From Forty Fort we rode up to the monument, which is situated in a field a few rods east
of the main road, near the pleasant little village of Troy, five
and a half miles from Wilkesbarre. It is constructed of hewn
blocks of granite, quarried in the neighborhood, is sixty two
and a half feet in height, and stands upon the spot where the
dead were buried in the autumn succeeding the battle.'  On            -
two marble tablets are engraved the names of those who fell,
so far as could be ascertained, and also of those who were in
the battle and survived.   Another marble tablet contains                        i
an inscription, written by Edward Mallory, Esq.3       This         -
monument, like many others proposed to be erected to the
memory of Revolutionary men or events, was tardily conceived and more tardily executed.    It remained unfinished          -
nearly forty years after the first movements were made toward raising money for the purpose.     As early as 1809,
Mr. Minor, the historian of the valley, wrote several essays
intended to awaken public attention to the duty of erecting     I
a monument, and in 1810 Charles F. Wells, Esq., wrote?:-'                 -
a stirring ode, concluding with the patriotic interrogation,         WYOMING MONUMENT.
" O, when shall rise, with chisel'd head,
The tall stone o'er their burial-place,
Where the winds may sigh for the gallant dead,
And the dry grass rustle around its base?"
Professor Silliman visited many of the Revolutionary grounds about twenty years ago. In his Journal,
vol. xviii., p. 310, in describing his visit to Wyoming, he says that a Mr. Perrin, one of those who assisted
in the burial of the dead, went over the ground with him, and assured him that, owing to the intense heat
and dryness of the air, the bodies were shriveled, dry, and quite inoffensive.
2 The following is the inscription upon the monument:
Near this spot was fought,
On the afternoon of Friday, the third day of July, 1778,
THE BATTLE OF WYOMING,
In which a small band of patriot Americans,
Chiefly the undisciplined, the youthful, and the aged,
Spared, by inefficiency, from the distant ranks of the republic,
Led by Colonel Zebulon Butler and Colonel Nathan Denison
With a courage that deserved success,
Boldly met and bravely fought
A combined British, Tory, and Indian force
Of thrice their number.
Numerical superiority alone gave success to the invader,
And wide-spread havoc, desolation, and ruin
Marked his savage and bloody footsteps through the valley.
THIS MONUMENT,
Commemorative of these events,
And of the actors in them,
Has been erected
Over the bones of the slain,
By their descendants and others, who gratefully appreciate
The services and sacrifices of their patriot ancestors.




366                         PICTORIAL       FIELD-BOOK
Efforts to erect the Wyoming Monument.  Success of the Ladies.  Incidents of the Battle.  The Inman Family.
These appeals caused meetings to be held and resolutions to be adopted, but little more substantial was done until 1839, when a committee from Wyoming repaired to Hartford, to
solicit pecuniary aid from the Legislature of Connecticut.  The committee set forth the
claims of the Wyoming people upon Connecticut, in consideration of past allegiance and
services.  A report was made, proposing a grant of three thousand dollars, but no further
action was taken during that session.  In 1841 another petition was presented, and so ably
was the matter conducted that the lower branch of the Legislature voted the appropriation
asked for, by a large majority.  The Senate did not concur, and another failure was the consequence.   The ladies of Wyoming, doubtless feeling the truth of Dr. Clarke's assertion, that
"in all benevolent or patriotic enterprises the services of one woman are equal to those of
seven men and a half," resolved that the -monument should be erected. They formed a
" Luzerne Monumental Association,'" solicited donations, held fairs, and by their energy
obtained the necessary funds and erected a monument, commemorative alike of patriotic
deeds and of female influence. There is a world of philosophy (which solicitors of subscriptions would do well to observe) in the saying of Judge Halliburton's clock peddler, " The
straight road to the pockets of the men is through the hearts of the women."
From the monument northward to the site of Wintermoot's Fort, a mile and a half, the
road passes over the battle-ground; but tillage has so changed the whole scene, that nothing
remains as token or landmark of the fight, except the ancient river bank, and the tangled
morass toward the mountains, through which the Indians made their way and fell upon Colonel Denison's rear. The place was pointed out to me, upon the road side, where, tradition
says, one of the Wyoming men, somewhat intoxicated, lagged behind and fell asleep, when
the little band marched to the attack of the invaders.  When the retreat became general,
and Colonel Zebulon Butler saw no other means of safety but flight, he put spurs to his horse.
A swift-footed settler, hotly pursued by savages, caught the tail of Colonel Butler's horse as
he passed by, and, with the tenacity of the witch that fastened upon the tail of Tam O'Shanter's mare, held on until he was far beyond danger. As they passed the spot where the inebriate had just awaked, perfectly sober, the man at the tail shouted to him to shoot the pursuing savage.   He did so, and the Indian fell dead in the road.  Near the same spot Rufus
Bennet was pursued by an Indian.    Both had discharged their pieces, and the savage was
chasing with tomahawk and spear. Richard Inman, one of five brothers who were in the
battle, shot the Indian with his rifle, who fell dead within a few feet of his intended victim.2
Passing over the battle-ground, we visited the site of Wintermoot's Fort, a view of which
is given on page 351, and, going down on the ancient bank of the Susquehanna, we came to
Queen Esther's Rock, noticed and described on page 357.    There is a scow ferry near, by
which we crossed to the eastern side of the river, along whose margin, skirted with lofty trees,
we had a delightful ride to the ravine opposite Monocasy Island.  Here the road departs from
the river bank, and passes among fertile intervales between that point and Wilkesbarre. The
wheat harvests were garnered, but the corn-fields and orchards were laden with the treasThe most active ladies in the association were descendants of those who suffered at the time of the invasion. The names of the officers of the society are as follows: Mrs. Chester Butler, President; Mrs. G
M. Hollenback and Mrs. E. Carey, Vice-presidents; Mrs. J. Butler, Mrs. Nicholson, Mrs. Hollenback, Mrs.
Lewis, Mrs. Ross, Mrs. Conyngham, Mrs. Beaumont, Mrs. Drake, Mrs. Bennet, Mrs. Carey, Executive Committee; Miss Emily Cist, Treasurer; Miss Gertrude Butler, Secretary; Mrs. Donley, Mrs. L. Butler, Corresponding Committee.
2 The Inman family were terrible sufferers. Five brothers went to the field of battle. Two others (for
the father had seven sons) would have gone forth, but they had no arms. Two were killed on the field, two
escaped without injury, and the fifth, plunging into the waters under some willows on the river shore while
heated by the exertions of the battle and the flight, took such a cold that in a few weeks he was in his grave.
The remainder of the family fled with the rest of the settlement. In the fall they ventured to return, and
put in some winter grain. A surviving son, a lad of nineteen years, while in the field, heard, as he supposed,
some wild turkeys in the woods. He went after them, shots were heard, but the boy never came back. In
the spring his body was found. He had been murdered and scalped by the Indians. Thus four sons of Elijah Inman perished within a few months. One of the sons, Colonel Edward Inman, is still living, I believe,
upon a fine farm a few miles below Wilkesbarre,




OF THE REVOLUTION.


367


Residence and Grave of Colonel Zebulon Butler.  Mr. Slocum and his Family History.  Abduction of his Sister,
ures of the season, their abundance betokening the extreme fertility of the soil.  We passed
the homestead of Colonel Butler, near which,
"On the margin of yon orchard hill,
Are marks where time-worn battlements have been,
And in the tall grass traces linger still
Of arrowy frieze and wedged ravelin."
Near the entrance to the village we came to the cemetery where repose many of the patriot
dead of Wyoming. There rest the remains of Colonel Butler and his wife. The rude slab;
that first marked the bed of the hero had been removed, and in its place a neat white marble
stone is laid, bearing the following inscription: "In memory of COLONEL ZEBULON BUTLER,
of the Revolutionary army, who died July 28th, 1795, in the 64th year of his age; and also
in memory of Mrs. Phcebe H. Butler, his wife, who died January 19th, 1837, in the 82d
year of her age."
It was late in the day when I reached my lodgings, and, wearied by the rambles of the
morning, resolved to pass the remainder of the afternoon with the Hazleton Travelers.
Their conversation was exclusively of those who acted and suffered at the time of the massacre, and I listened with intense interest to the recitals of the " knowing one."  I would
gladly give the details here, if my space would allow, for they furnish one of the most interesting of those chapters in our Revolutionary history, showing the terrible cost at which
our liberties were purchased.  Mr. Minor has made the record, and to it the reader is referred.
I passed the evening with the venerable Joseph Slocum, whose family was among the sufferers in the Wyoming Valley.  He related to me all the particulars of the capture and final
discovery of his sister Frances, and other incidents connected with the sufferings of his family. His father was a Quaker, and was distinguished for his kindness to the Indians. He
remained unharmed at the time of the invasion, and, while the torch wvas applied to the dwellings of others, his was left untouched.  But his son Giles was in the battle.  This doubtless excited the ire of the Indians, and they resolved on vengeance.  Late in autumn they
were seen prowling about the house, which was situated about one hundred rods from the
Wilkesbarre Fort.  A neighbor named Kingsley had been made a prisoner, and his wife
and two sons had a welcome home in Mr. Slocum's family. One morning the November,
two boys were grinding a knife near the house, when a rifle-shot and a shriek  1778.
brought Mrs. Slocum to the door. An Indian was scalping the eldest boy, a lad of fifteen,
with the knife he had been grinding. The savage then went into the house, and caught
up a little son of Mrs. Slocum.  " See!" exclaimed the frightened mother, " he can do thee
no good; he is lame."  The Indian released the boy, took up her little daughter Frances,
aged five years, gently in his arms, and, seizing the younger Kingsley, hastened to the mountains. Two Indians who were with him carried off a black girl, about seventeen years old.
Mr. Slocum's little daughter, aged nine years, caught up her brother Joseph (my informant),
two and a half years old, and fled in safety to the fort, where an alarm was given, but the
savages were beyond successful pursuit.
About six weeks afterward Mr. Slocum and his father-in-law, Ira Trip, were  December 16.
shot and scalped by some Indians while foddering cattle near the house.  Again
the savages escaped with their horrid trophies. Mrs. Slocum, bereft of father, husband, and
child, and stripped of all possessions but the house that sheltered her, could not leave the
valley, for nine helpless children were yet in her household.  She trusted in the God of
Elijah, and, if she was not fed by the ravens, she was spared by the vultures.  She mourned not for the dead, for they were at rest; but little Frances, her lost darling, where was
she?  The lamp of hope kept on burning, but years rolled by, and no tidings of the little
one came. When peace returned, and friendly intercourse with Canada was established,
two of the little captive's brothers started in search of her.  They traversed the wilderness
to Niagara, offering rewards for her discovery, but all in vain. They returned to Wyoming,
convinced that the child was dead. 'But the mother's heart was still the shrine of hope,




368                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOQK
Mr. Slocum's Presentiments.  A Foundling.  Disappointment    Singular Discovery of the "lost Sister."
and she felt assured that Frances was not in the grave. Her soul appeared to commune
with that of her child, and she often said, ( I know Frances is living." At length the mother's heart was cheered; a woman (for many years had now passed, and Frances, if living,
must be a full-grown woman) was found among the Indians, answering the description of
the lost one.  She only remembered being carried away from the Susquehanna.     Mrs. Slocum took her home and cherished her with a mother's tenderness. Yet the mysterious link
of sympathy which binds the maternal spirit to its offspring was unfelt, and the bereaved
mother was bereaved still.  "It may be Frances, but it does not seem so.  Yet the woman
shall be ever welcome," said Mrs. Slocum. The foundling also felt no filial yearnings, and,
both becoming convinced that no consanguinity existed, the orphan returned to her Indian
friends. From time to time the hope of the mother would be revived, and journeys were
made to distant Indian settlements in search of the lost sister, but in vain.  The mother
went, down into the grave mourning," and little Frances was almost forgotten. Her
brothers had become aged men, and their grandchildren were playing upon the very spot
whence she had been taken.
In the summer of 1837, fifty-nine years after her capture, intelligence of Frances was received.  Colonel Ewing, an Indian agent and trader, in a letter from Logansport, Indiana,
to the editor of the Lancaster Intelligencer,' gave such information that all doubts respecting her identity were removed, and Joseph Slocum, with the sister who carried him to the
fort, and yet survived, immediately journeyed to Ohio, where they were joined by their younger
brother Isaac. They proceeded to Logansport, where they found Mr. Ewing, and ascertained that the woman spoken of by him lived about twelve miles from the village. She was
immediately sent for, and toward evening the next day she came into the town, riding a spirited young horse, accompanied by her two daughters, dressed in full Indian costume, and
the husband of one of them. An interpreter was procured (for she could not speak or understand English), and she listened seriously to what her brothers had to say.  She answered
but little, and at sunset departed for her home, promising to return the next morning.  The
brothers and sister were quite sure that it was indeed Frances, though in her face nothing
but Indian lineaments were seen, her color alone revealing her origin.
True to her appointment, she appeared the following morning, accompanied as before.
Mr. Joseph Slocum then mentioned a mark of recognition, which his mother had said would
be a sure test. While playing one day with a hammer in a blacksmith's shop, Joseph, then
a child two and a half years old, gave Frances a blow upon the middle finger of the left
hand, which crushed the bone and deprived the finger of its nail. This test Mr. Slocum
had withheld until others should fail. When he mentioned it, the aged woman was greatly
agitated, and, while tears filled the furrows of her face, she held out the wounded finger.
There was no longer a doubt, and a scene of great interest ensued.  Her affections for her
I This letter was dated January 20th, 1835, a year and a half previous, and gave the following account:
"There is now living near this place, among the Miami tribe of Indians, an aged white woman, who, a few
days ago, told me that she was taken away from her father's house, on or near the Susquehanna River, when
she was very young. She says her father's name was Slocum; that he was a Quaker, and wore a largebrimmed hat; that he lived about half a mile from a town where there was a fort. She has two daughters
living. Her husband is dead. She is old and feeble, and thinks she shall not live long. These considerations induced her to give the present history of herself, which she never would before, fearing her kindred
would come and force her away. She has lived long and happily as an Indian, is very respectable and
wealthy, sober and honest. Her name is without reproach."  The cause of the delay in the publication
of the letter, and of its final appearance and effect, was not a little singular. Mr. Ewing sent it to the postmaster at Lancaster, with a request that he would have it published in a Pennsylvania paper. The postmaster, not acquainted with the writer, concluded that it was a hoax, and cast the letter among other papers,
where it remained a year and a half. - One day his wife, while engaged in arranging the office, saw the letter, and, having her feelings very much interested, sent it to the editor of the Intelligencer. It so happened
that the issue of his paper in which the letter was published contained an important temperance document,
and a large number of extra copies were printed for general distribution. One of these was sent to a gentleman in Wyoming, who, having heard the story of the "lost sister," and knowing Mr. Joseph Slocum, put
tbe paper into his hands; and thus, by a series of providential circumstances, a clew to Frances was discovered.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


Interview between the "lost Sister" and her white Kindred. Her Narrative. Her Condition. Children and Grandchildren
kindred, that had slumbered half a century, were aroused, and she made earnest inquiries
after her father, mother, brothers, and sisters.  Her full heart-full with the cherished secrets of her history-was opened, and the story of her life freely given.  She said the sav-....  '   i. ages (who were Delawares),
iafter taking her to a rocky cave
iiiiij                in the mountains, departed for
e'i:n iti o  the Indian couhatry.  The first
- d; ednight was the unhappiest of her
oe olf                ws t!itr  life.  She was kindly treated
Chi/re'            I                ta ha'-d  being  carried  tenderly  in  their
W1E, i                           arms when she was weary.,           el
ri              She was adopted in an Indian
-         l  ti     family, and brought up as their
daughter.      For years she lud a
l          roving life, and loved it  She
bet                              ":i"' Iwas taught the use of the bow
Cideand arrow, and became expert
in all the employments ofn sav
age existence.  When she was
grown to womanhood both her
Indian parents died, and she
soon afterward married a young
chief of the nation, and removed to the Ohio country.  She
was treated with more respect
than the Indian women gener
Ma conaqally              and so happy was she in
-                her domestic relations, that the
chance of being discovered and
ipcompelled to return among the
FRAcs SLocUM-M-coN — Awhites was the greatest evil
that she feared, for she had
been taught that they were the implacable enemies of the Indians, whom she loved. Her
husband died, and, her people having joined the Miamies, she went with them and married
one of that tribe. The last husband was also dead, and she had been a widow many years.
Children and, grandchildren were around her, and her life was passing pleasantly away.
When she concluded the narrative, she lifted her right hand in a solemn manner, and said,
" All this is as true as that there is a Great Spirit in the heavens!"  She had entirely forgotten her native language, and was a pagan. To her Christ and the Christian's Sabbath
were unknown.
On the day after the second interview, the brothers and sister, with the interpreter, rode
out to her dwelling. It was a well-built log house, in the midst of cultivation. A large
herd of cattle and sixty horses were grazing in the pastures.  Every thing betokened plenty
and comfort, for she was wealthy, when her wants and her means were compared. Her annuity from government, which she received as one of the Miami tribe, had been saved, and
she had about one thousand dollars in specie. Her white friends passed several days very
agreeably with her; and subsequently her brother Joseph, with his daughter, the wife of
This portrait I copied from a painting of life size in the possession of her brother, Mr. Joseph Slocum,
of Wilkesbarre. It was painted for him by an artist named Winter, residing at Logansport. Her underdress is scarlet, and the mantle with the large sleeve is black cloth. The Indians gave her the name of
Ma-con-a-qua, a Young Bear. The names of her children and grandchildren are as follows: Eldest daughter, Kich-ke-ne-che-quah, Cut Finger; youngest daughter, O-saw-she-quah, Yellow Leaf. Grandchildren:
Kip-pe-no-quah, Corn Tassel; Wap-pa-no-se-a, Blue Corn; Kim-on-sa-quah, Young Panther.
A A




378


PICTOR IAL FIELD-BOOK


A Sabbath in Wyoming.  Visit to Mr. Myers.  Incidents of her Life.  Escape of her Father and Brother from Indians.
the Hon. Ziba Bennet of Wyoming, made her another visit, and bade her a last farewell.
She died about four years ago, and was buried with considerable pomp, for she was regarded
as a queen among her tribe.'
September 18,  I passed a Sabbath in Wyoming.     It was a dull and cheerless day.   The
1848.    mountains were hooded with vapor, and all day a chilly drizzle made the trees
weep.   But Monday morning dawned clear and warm, and in the course of the day I revisited Forty Fort and the battle-ground, ascended the mountain to Prospect Rock, to obtain another glorious view of the valley, peeped into the black caverns of the coal mines at
the foot of the hills, and at noon took shelter from the hot sun in the shaded walks of Toby's
Eddy, where Zinzendorf pitched his tent. Thence I rode to the residence of Mr. Myers, a
son of the venerable lady already alluded to,.where I passed an interesting hour with the
living chronicle of the woes of Wyoming. I found her sitting in an easy chair, peeling apples, and her welcome was as cheerful and cordial as she could have given to a cherished
friend. Her memory was clear, and she related the incidents of her girlhood with a perspicuity that evinced remarkable mental vigor.  Although blindness has shut out the beautiful, and deprived her of much enjoyment, yet pious resignation, added to natural vivacity,
makes her society extremely agreeable.   "I am like a withered stalk, whose flower hath
fallen," she said; "but," she added, with a pleasant smile,, the fragrance still lingers."
She was sixteen years old at the time of the invasion, and was in Forty Fort when it surrendered.  Every minute circumstance there she remembered clearly, and her narrative of
events was substantially the same as recorded in the last chapter.  Her father's house was
near the fort, and for a week after the surrender it was spared, while others were plundered and
destroyed. Every morning when she arose her first thought was their house, and she would
go early to see if it was safe. One morning as she looked she saw the flames burst through
the roof, and in an hour it was a heap of embers.  She remained two weeks in the valley
after the surrender of the fort.  The Indians kept her face painted and a white fillet around
her head, as a protection against the tomahawks of strange savages, and she was treated
very kindly by them. When Colonel Denison and others fled from the valley, she and her
family accompanied them. After the savages left the valley, her family returned, and for
seventy years she has enjoyed the sweets of peace and domestic happiness.    Her maiden
name was Bennet, and her family were conspicuous in the events at Wyoming during the
Revolution.'   She has been many years a widow.    One of her sons was high sheriff of Luzerne county, another was a magistrate, and a daughter is the wife of the Rev. Dr. Peck,
the editor of the Methodist Episcopal Review, published at the "( Book Concern," in New
York.   She is yet living (November, 1849), at the ripe age of eighty-eight years, honored
and beloved by all.
I returned to Wilkesbarre at sunset.  The evening was as pleasant as June,
epee     and the moonlight scene from the upper piazza of the Phoenix, embracing the
quiet-flowing Susquehanna, with its fringe of noble trees; the sparkling of the lights at
1 When the Miamies were removed from Indiana, the " lost sister" and her Indian relatives were exempted. The affecting story of her life was laid before Congress, and so eloquently did John Quincy Adams
plead her cause, that he drew tears from the eyes of many members. Congress gave her a tract of land a
mile square, to be held in perpetuity by her descendants, and there her children and grandchildren still dwell.
2 Her brother Solomon was in the battle. In the spring succeeding the invasion, the father of Mrs. Myers,
her brother (a lad), and Lebbeus Hammond (one of the two who escaped from Queen Esther at the bloody
rock) were captured by a party of Indians while at work in the field, and hurried away to the north. It
was evident that they were destined for torture, and, while the Indians were drinking at a spring on the
third day of their journey into the wilderness, they concerted a plan for escape. Mr. Bennet, being old,
was allowed to travel unbound, but the arms of Hammond and the boy were tied. There were six Indians
in the party. At night all were laid down to sleep but Mr. Bennet and an Indian. The former brought
in dry wood for the fire, and kept himself busy for some time. He then sat down by the fire, and, taking
up a spear, he rolled it playfully on his thigh. The Indian finally began to nod, and the others were snoring soundly. Watching his opportunity, Bennet thrust the savage through with the spear, cut the cords
that bound his son and Hammond, and the three attacked the sleeping savages. Five were killed, the other
one escaped. The captives returned home, bringing, as trophies, the scalps of the slain savages.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


371


Revival of Civil War in Wyoming. Decree of Trenton. Its Effect Injustice toward the " Yankees." Inaction of Congres.
Kingston, and the dark outline of the Shawnee Mountains, all hallowed by historic associations, was one of great beauty and interest.  Let us employ the quiet hour in reminiscences
of some stirring events that occurred, within trumpet call of our presence, after the Revolution, for early on the morrow I must leave Wyoming, perhaps forever.
We have considered the civil war that disturbed Wyoming before the Revolution.  That
great movement absorbed all lesser topics; but as soon as the storm had subsided, and private interests again became paramount, old jealousies and animosities were resuscitated, and
struggled into active life.  As soon as all fear of the Indians had subsided, Connecticut poured hundreds of immigrants into this paradise of the Susquehanna. The influx was regarded
with jealousy by the Pennsylvanians, and it was not long before all the rancor of the Pennymite and Yankee war was reproduced.
The Articles of Confederation, under which the general government of the United States
was carried on, having made provision for the adjustment of difficulties that might arise between states, and Connecticut insisting upon the maintenance of its jurisdiction over Wyoming, Pennsylvania applied to Congress to appoint a commission to hear the claimants by
representatives, and to determine the question in dispute.  The commissioners met at Trenton, in New Jersey, toward the close of 1782, and, after a session of five weeks, decided,
unanimously, that Connecticut had no right to the land in controversy, and that the jurisdiction and pre-emption of all lands belonged to Pennsylvania. The people of Wyoming
appeared to be well satisfied with the decision, for, considering it a question of jurisdiction
only, they deemed it a matter of little moment whether they rendered allegiance to Connecticut or Pennsylvania.  The Pennsylvanians, however, did not so construe the decision, but
contended not only for jurisdiction, but for the soil, and steps were immediately taken for
a sweeping ejectment of the Connecticut settlers. In March ensuing, two companies were
sent to garrison the fort at Wilkesbarre, under the pretext of affording protection to the people; and the name of the fort was changed to Dickinson, in honor of the President of the
Council of the State.  Pennsylvania had already appointed three commissioners to repair to
Wyoming, to inquire into the state of affairs, and report proper measures to be adopted toward the settlers. Their report proposed an entire surrender, on the part of the Wyoming
people, of their tenures, and all claim to the soil then in their possession, with their improvements; in lieu of which they were to receive an indefinite compensation, at the option
of their oppressors, in the wild lands of some unknown region. It was a most unjust and
tyrannical measure, for the right to the soil had been purchased, not only with money, but
with the dreadful sufferings of those about to be driven away.  This report of the commissioners, and the quartering of troops in the valley, now that the war was ended, and the
spirit of tyrannical domination that characterized the soldiers, greatly exasperated the people, and they were upon the verge of open insurrection for several months.
Early in the autumn two special justices of the peace were appointed, who, in concert
with the military, formed a tribunal for the adjudication of all questions arising under the
civil law.  The real object of constituting this tribunal, sustained by military force, was obvious; it was to dispossess the Connecticut people of their farms.  The tribunal became an
instrument of cruelty and oppression, and a disgrace to the character of civilization.  The
next year, according to Chapman, ( the people were not only subject to insult, but
their crops were destroyed in their fields, their cattle were seized and driven away, and
in some instances their houses were destroyed by fire and the females rendered victims of
licentiousness."  But why this rigorous treatment?  "It was," says Pickering, ( not only
to strip the people of their possessions, but, by wearying them of their ' promised land,' drive
them from the valley." Although the inhabitants were greatly excited, they loved peace
and order, and appealed to the Legislature of Pennsylvania for justice. Their appeal was
unnoticed, and they sent a memorial to Congress.  That body resolveda that a a January 3,
committee of the states should hear both parties on the first Monday in June fol-  1784.
lowing; but neither Congress nor a committee of the states were in session at the time designated, and the people were left without redress.




37V2                       PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK.Great Deluge in Wyoming. Danger and Distress of the Inhabitants. Reappearance of the Soldiers. Renewal of Hostilities.
In the mean while a terrible scourge swept over the valley.  The winter had been intensely cold; snow fell to a great depth, and the Susquehanna was bridged by ice of uncommon thickness. The mountains, covered with forests, treasured up vast beds of snow
7  among their rocks and in their deep ravines, from the action of the sun.  In March,
a warm rain fell for nearly three days in succession. The snow melted, and every
mountain rivulet became a sweeping torrent, pouring its volume into the Susquehanna. The
ice in the river was broken up, and the huge masses, borne upon the flood, obstructed by
trees, formed immense dams, spreading the waters of the swollen river over the plains.  At
length the narrow Nanticoke pass at the lower end of the valley became blocked with the
ice, and the water, flowing back, submerged the river flats, and filled all the lower intervales.  Houses and barns were uplifted on the bosom of the waters.  The people fled to
the higher points in the valley, some to the mountains. For several hours the waters con-.tinued to rise, until suddenly a dam in the mountain gorge, at the upper end of the valley,
gave way, and down came the flood with fearful strength. All the ice barriers in the valley were broken up, and the ponderous masses of ice, mingled with floating houses, barns,
fences, drowned cattle and sheep, stacks of hay, furniture, and agricultural implements, were
scattered over the plains,' or hurried forward to the broader expanse of the river below.  It
was a scene of fearful grandeur, and to the poor settlers, shivering in the mountains, or
huddled upon the little hills in the midst of the roaring floods, the star of hope seemed
forever set. The present was utter desolation-the future would unveil injustice and oppression.
As soon as the floods subsided the inhabitants returned, and with them came the soldiers,
who snatched from them nearly all of the little food that had been saved, for they were
"( quartered upon the people."  Their rapacity and oppression were greater than ever, and
the settlers, anxious to retrieve their farms from the ruin of the flood, were not allowed to
work in peace, but were tormented by them continually.  At length the people resolved to
oppose their oppressors by force, and armed for the purpose.  The magistracy, indignant at
their presumption, sent out the soldiers to disarm them; and in the process one hundred and
fifty families, many of whom had lost portions of their household in the battle of Wyoming,
were turned out'of their newly-constructed dwellings, and compelled to fly on foot through
the wilderness to the Delaware, a distance of eighty miles.  Houses were burned, and other
atrocities were committed. Ashamed of such conduct, the Legislature of Pennsylvania
(which had refused to vote supplies to the sufferers by the flood), when the naked facts were
known, endeavored to heal the wounds which, under its sanction, had been inflicted, and, in
a measure, to wipe out the stain that rested upon the state authorities.  The troops were
discharged, except a small guard left at Fort Dickinson, and a proclamation was issued, inviting the people who had been driven away to return. Some of them did so, but the valley was allowed but a short season of repose.
So many of the discharged soldiers joined the guard at the Wilkesbarre Fort, that the
people, alarmed, garrisoned Forty Fort. A party of them, having occasion to visit their
July 20, grain-fields below, were fired upon by a detachment of thirty from the other fort, and
1784.  two promising young men were killed.  The people resolved on retaliation, and about
midnight marched to Wilkesbarre Fort, to' take the garrison by surprise. The latter, informed of the movement, were prepared to receive them, and the settlers returned to Forty
Fort with a stock of provisions.  On the 27th, the people, led by Colonel John Franklin, a
native of Connecticut, invested the Wilkesbarre Fort, and made a formal summons for surrender.  Two hours were allowed the besieged for an answer.  Before one hour had elapsed
information was received that a considerable re-enforcement for the garrison was approaching.
The siege was raised, and the besiegers returned to Forty Fort.  It was a false alarm; the
strangers, who were supposed to be the pioneers of a large number who were approaching,
It is said that so huge were many of the masses of ice that were lodged in different portions of the valley, that it was the last of July before they were melted away.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                  37.3
Armstrong's Expedition.  Stratagem.  Change in Public Sentiment.  The Censors.  Appeal for Relief..
were a committee appointed by the state council to proceed to Wyoming and disarm both
parties.  A conference was held, and such was the state of feeling that neither party would
listen to the commissioners.
Stronger measures were now deemed necessary, and Colonel John Armstrong was sent
with a considerable force to establish order in the valley.  From Easton he sent forward a
detachment, which was captured among the mountains on its way to Wyoming, by August 2,
a party of Connecticut people.  Armstrong pushed forward, and on the 4th of Au-  1784.
gust reached Wyoming, where his whole force numbered about four hundred men, including
the garrison in Wilkesbarre or Dickinson Fort. He found Forty Fort too strong for successful attack, and resorted to stratagem.  He professed pacific intentions, and proposed to the
people of all parties to deliver up their arms at Fort Dickinson, and there reclaim any property which they might identify as their own. Numbers of the Connecticut people believed
him sincere, went to the fort, delivered up their arms, and were captured.  Forty of them
were sent to the prison at Sunbury, and nearly as many to Easton.  The jailer of the latter
place was knocked down by a young man named Inman, and the whole party
escaped.a  They returned to the valley in company with about forty Vermont-  eptember 17
ers, and, finding Armstrong and the few men left with him (for a large portion of his men
had been discharged when the prisoners were sent to jail) harvesting the crops, they attacked
them and drove them into Fort Dickinson. Forty Fort was again garrisoned by the people,
and a plan was arranged for recovering the arms which they had surrendered. A blockhouse in which they were stored was attacked, and the arms recovered. Two men in the
block-house were mortally wounded.
On hearing of this latter event, the executive council sent another expedition to Wyoming,
under Armstrong, who was at the same time promoted to the office of adjutant general of
the state.  But the sympathies of the people of Pennsylvania began to be enlisted in favor
of the Wyoming settlers, and they were regarded as a persecuted party,  President Dickinson also remonstrated with the Council and General Assembly, but to no purpose.' It so
happened that about this time the Board of Censors held their septennial meeting. They
called upon the Assembly for papers relative to Wyoming.   The Assembly refused acquiescence.  A mandamus was issued, but the Assembly treated it with contempt.  Thus treated, and viewing affairs justly, the Censors openly espoused the cause of the Connecticut people, condemned all of the military proceedings, and passed a vote of censure upon the government of the state. This strengthened the hands and hearts of the Wyoming people.
They defied Armstrong and his troops; and as winter was approaching, fbod scarce, and not
a recruit could be obtained, that officer discharged the garrison and returned to Philadelphia.
Though relieved of the presence of the military, the condition of the settlers was indeed deplorable. What the spring flood had spared was small, and the presence of the troops had
prevented sowing and reaping.  They appealed to Congress and to Connecticut for aid,2 but
they received little more than the cold charity of words —  Be ye clothed, and be ye fed"without contributing to their necessities.  The last military expedition against Wyoming
had been accomplished, yet the question of possession was unsettled, and they had but little
heart to improve their lands, not knowing how soon other efforts might be made to dispossess them. The population, however, increased rapidly, and for two years quiet prevailed
Pennsylvania, under its first independent state Constitution, had no officer bearing the title of governor.
The government of the commonwealth was vested in a House of Representatives, a president, and council.
There was also a Board of Censors, elected by the people, who were to meet once in seven years, to inquire
whether the Constitution had, in the mean while, been violated, and to transact other general supervisory
business, such as trying impeachments, recommending the repeal of unwholesome laws, &c.
2 In their appeal to the Connecticut Assembly they set forth that their " numbers were reduced to about
two thousand souls, most of whom were women and children, driven, in many cases, from their proper habitations, and living in huts of bark in the woods, without provisions for the approaching winter, while the
Pennsylvania troops and land claimants were in possession of their houses and farms, and wasting and destroying their cattle and subsistence."




37I4


PFCTORIA T AL FIELD- -BOOK


Luzerne.          Timothy Pickering in Wyoming.         Organization of the County.       Memoir of Pickering.


in Wyoming.      On the petition of the people, the district of Wyoming and vicinity
1786. were formed into a new county, which they named Luzerne.1
About this time Colonel Timothy Pickering,2 of Massachusetts, but then a resident of
Pennsylvania, visited Wyoming, and made himself thoroughly acquainted with the affairs of the valley.     He
became convinced that the settlers were satisfied with
the political system of the state, and were ready to be^           come obedient citizens of the commonwealth if they
could be quieted in the possession of their farms.  These
views he communicated to Dr. Rush and other eminent
-? -  i-  men in Philadelphia, who, anxious to have an amicable:   adjustment of the difficulties, proposed to Mr. Pickering
-.  'to accept of the five principal county offices, and remove
- --  j  -to Wyoming; for he, being a New England man, would, '  doubtless exercise great influence over the people.   He
/                           accepted the proposition and went to Wyoming, bearing
to the Connecticut people the full assurance that the
Pennsylvania Legislature would pass a law                       quieting
"A                         them in their possessions.
Clothed with the necessary power, Colonel Pickering
proceeded to hold elections and to organize the county.
He succeeded in persuading the people to memorialize
the Legislature for a compromise law, the chief provisions of which should be, that, in case the
So called in honor of the Chevalier de Luzerne, the distinguished embassador from France to the United
States during the latter years of the Revolution.
2 Timothy Pickering was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on the 17th of July, 1745. He entered Harvard University at the age of fourteen years, and received collegiate honors in 1763. He was elected register of deeds in the county of Essex; and before the Revolution he was a colonel of the Essex militia, and
acquired a thorough knowledge of military tactics. When the town meeting was held at Salem in 1774,
and an address voted to General Gage on the subject of the Boston Port Bill, Colonel Pickering was appointed to write the address and deliver it in person to the governor. For him is claimed the distinction of conducting the first resistance, in arms, to the power of the mother country. On Sunday, the 26th of February, 1775, an express arrived at Salem from Marblehead with the intelligence that British troops were landing from a transport, with the intention of marching through Salem to seize some military stores in the interior. The people were dismissed from their churches, and, led by Colonel Pickering, they opposed the
progress of the British at a draw-bridge. A compromise was effected, the British were compelled to march
back to Marblehead, and bloodshed was avoided.* When he heard of the battle of Lexington, Colonel Pickering marched, with his regiment, to intercept the enemy.  In 1775 he was appointed a judge of the Court
of Common Pleas for Essex. In the fall of 1776, with seven hundred Essex men, he performed duty under
Washington, and was with the chief in his retreat across the Jerseys. He was engaged in the battles of
Brandywine and Germantown, holding the office and rank of adjutant general. Congress appointed him a
member of the Board of War with Gates and Mifflin; and in 1780 he succeeded General Green as quartermaster general. At the close of the war he fixed his residence in Philadelphia, soon after which he was
deputed to attempt the settlement of the troubles in Wyoming. He was a member of the convention called
to revise the Constitution of Pennsylvania in 1790. Washington appointed him postmaster general in 1791,
which office he held nearly four years, when, on the resignation of General Knox, he was appointed Secretary of War. In 1795 Washington made him his Secretary of State, which position he held until 1800,
when he was removed by President Adams on political grounds. He was poor on leaving office, and, building a log house for his family upon some wild land that he owned in Pennsylvania, he commenced the arduous duties of clearing it for cultivation. Through the liberality of his friends, he was induced to return to
*Of this exploit, Trumbull, in his M'Fingal, wrote:
"Through Salem straight, without delay,
The bold battalion took its way;
March'd o'er a bridge, in open sight
Of several Yankees arm'd for fight;
Then, without loss of time or men,
Veer'd round for Boston back again,
And found so well their projects thrive,
That every soul got back alive I"




OF THE REVO LUTIO N.


375


OF THE REVOLUTION.             375


New Difficulties in Wyoming.      John Franklin.         Arrest of Franklin.        Ethan Allen.
commonwealth would grant them the seventeen townships' which had been laid out, and on
which settlements had been commenced previous to the decree of Trenton, they would, on their
part, relinquish all their claims to any other lands within the limits of the Susquehanna purchase.   The law was enacted, but new difficulties arose.    Many of the best lands in these
townships had been granted by the government of Pennsylvania to its own citizens, in the face
of the claims of the Connecticut people. These proprietors must be satisfied. Commissioners
were accordingly appointed, under the law, to go to Wyoming to examine and adjust claims on
both sides.2  They met in May, arranged the preliminaries, and adjourned until August.   The law satisfied those within the seventeen townships, but the Connecticut
people had extended settlements beyond these limits, and these, excluded from the benefits
of the law, were much dissatisfied.  It was also said that, pending the negotiations, the Susquehanna Company had been using great exertions to increase the number of settlers in the
unincluded districts, and Colonel Pickering positively asserted that gratuitous offers of land
were made to such as would come armed, ( to man their rights."3        The most active man
in this alleged movement was John Franklin, whose great popularity enabled him to stir up
a violent commotion among the ", out-siders"-so violent that the commissioners were obliged
to flee from the valley for personal safety.  Chief-justice M'Kean issued a warrant for the
arrest of Franklin, on the charge of high treason.  But how should they catch him?    They
could not trust the proper officer, the sheriff of Luzerne county, who was living in the midst
of the insurgents, as they were called.    Four strong, bold men, two of whom had served
in the Revolutionary army, were selected for the purpose, and they repaired to Wyoming.'
Franklin was then thirty-five miles                       interfered.  Observing the commodistant, exciting the people to arm-                      tion from the window of his house,
ed resistance.  Preparations were                         he sallied out with his pistols, and,
made for his safe-conduct to Phila-                       presenting one to the breast of
delphia, and, on his return, he was      *;     Franklin, kept him quiet while he
arrested at the "Red House," near      i                  was securely bound to a horse.
the river.  It was with great dif-                         Franklin was carried to Philadelficulty that he was secured, and, as                      phia and cast into prison.
the people were assembling for his                           The interference of Colonel Pickrescue, he would doubtless have es-    THE RED HOUSE      ering greatly exasperated the peocaped, had not Colonel Pickering                          ple, and retaliatory measures were
immediately adopted.    He was informed of the fact that a party was about to seize him,
his native state, out of debt, and a comfortable living in prospect. He was a United States senator in 1803,
and again in 1805. He was a member of the Board of War in Massachusetts in 1812, and in 1814 was
elected a member of the United States House of Representatives. He retired from public life in 1817, and
died in Salem on the 29th of January, 1829, aged eighty-four years.
These townships were Salem, Newport, Hanover, Wilkesbarre, Pittston, Westmoreland, Putnam, Braintree, Springfield, Claverack, Ulster, Exeter, Kingston, Plymouth, Bedford, Huntington, and Providence.
These towns were represented as nearly square as circumstances would permit, and to be about five miles
on a side, and severally divided into lots of three hundred acres each. Some of these lots were set apart as
glebes, some for schools, and others for various town purposes.
2 The commissioners were Timothy Pickering, William Montgomery, and Stephen Balliott.
About this time "no little sensation was produced in the valley," says Minor, "by the appearance of
the far-famed General Ethan Allen, from Vermont, arrayed in cocked hat and regimentals. The purpose of
his visit was as well understood by Pickering as by Franklin and his associates. A grant of several thousand acres was made to him by the Susquehanna Company. How many men he was pledged to lead from
the Green Mountains we have no means of ascertaining; but it was not doubted that his object was to re.
connoiter, and concert measures for early and decisive action."
4 Three of these were Captain Lawrence Erbe, Captain Brady, and Lieutenant M'Cormick. The other
name is not known.
5 The " Red House" is situated upon the street in Wilkesbarre next the river, and about seventy-five rods
below the bridge. It is the place where John Franklin was arrested. On his return from a political tour
down the valley, he came up by the way of Hanov r to Wilkesbarre. While standing near the ferry, an
acquaintance came up to him and said, " A friend at the Red House wishes to speak to you." Franklin
walked to the house, where a person caught him from behind, and attempted to pinion his hands. He was
a powerful man, and shook off his captors; but, a noose being thrown over his head, he was secured. They




376


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Pickering's Escape to Philadelphia. His Return. Abduction and Treatment. Wyoming quieted. Departure from Wyoming.
and he fled to the mountains, whence he made his way to Philadelphia. The partisans of
Franklin now became alarmed. They acknowledged their offense to the council, and prayed
for pardon. -Under these circumstances, Pickering thought it safe for him to return to his
family, particularly as the very people whose acts had driven him away had chosen him a
delegate to the General Assembly during his exile!  He returned, but found many of the
people still much exasperated against him, and he was often menaced. Finally, one night
in June, fifteen ruffians, with painted faces, burst open the door of the room where
himsqlf and wife were sleeping, bound him with cords, and in the darkness of the night
carried him up the valley. For twenty days he was kept by them in the forest, and subjected to ill treatment in various forms.  Sometimes they threatened him with death; then
he was manacled and chained, and in this way the miscreants tormented him, and tried to
wring from him a letter to the executive council recommending the discharge of Franklin.
When this requirement was first proposed, and his own release promised on his compliance,
Pickering promptly replied, - The executive council better understand their duty than to
discharge a traitor to procure the release of an innocent man."  This determined tone and
manner he preserved throughout. They finally released him, and he found his way back
to Wilkesbarre, where his death was considered a matter of certainty.  Haggard and unshaven, his wife regarded him with consternation, and his children fled from him affrighted.
This was the last scene in the drama of violence so long enacted in Wyoming. Franklin
was liberated on bail, and finally discharged; and he and Pickering often met as friends in
public life afterward. The disputes about land titles and possessions in Wyoming remained
unsettled for nearly fifteen years, while the population rapidly increased.  Ultimately the
claims were all quieted by law, and for the last forty years the sweet vale of Wyoming has
presented a beautiful picture of repose and prosperity.'  We will close the record and retire,
for the moon has gone down behind the western hills, and chilly vapors are coming up from
the bosom of the river.
September 20,  I left Wilkesbarre on the mail-coach early on Tuesday morning, for the Lack1848.    awanna Valley and the coal regions of Luzerne.  The whole of Wyoming was
wrapped in a dense fog, and from the driver's box, where I had secured a seat, it was with
difficulty that we could observe objects beyond the leaders.  The coveted pleasure of another
view of the beautiful scenery as we passed along the uplands was denied; but when we arrived at Pittston, the cool breeze that came through the mountain gateway of the Susquehanna, and from the valley of the Lackawanna, swept away the vapor, and revealed the
rich plains at the head of the valley, the majestic curve of the river where it receives its
tributary, and the grandeur of its rocky margins toward the north.  At the junction of the
rivers we turned eastward, and in a few moments Wyoming and all its attractions were left
behind, and scenery and associations of a far different cast were around us.
The Lackawanna River flows in a deep bed, and its valley, wider than Wyoming, is very
rough and hilly, but thickly strewn with fertile spots. Iron and anthracite every where
abound; and the latter is so near the surface in many places, that the farmers in autumn
quarry out their winter's stock of fuel upon their own plantations with very little labor.
Several iron manufactories are seated upon the river between its mouth and Carbondale,
and little villages, brought forth and fostered by these industrial establishments, enliven the
otherwise ungenial features of the route. At one of these, called Hyde Park, we lunched
and changed horses, receiving an addition to our company in the person of a tall, cadaverous
Yankee lumberman, who, with a huge musk-melon and jack-knife in his hand, took a seat
then attempted to get him on horseback, when he cried out, "Help, help  William Slocum! where is
William Slocum?" and, drawing his pistols, discharged one, but without effect. He was felled by a blow,
and laid almost senseless. It was seeding time, and nearly all the men were in the fields. But the Yankee
blood of Mrs. Slocum (the mother of the " lost sister") was up, and, seizing a gun, she ran to the door, exclaiming, "William  Who will call William? Is there no man here? Will nobody rescue him?"Minor. Colonel Pickering's dwelling was near the " Red House." It is still standing, but so modernized
that its original character is lost.
I Chapman. Gordon, Minor, Stone.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


37T


A Yankee Lumberman.  CarboAdale.  The Coal Mines.  Fatal Accident.  Heroic Benevolence of Mr. Bryden.
beside me on the driver's box. Having satisfied his own appetite with the melon, he gener.
ously handed the small remainder to the driver and myself; and the moment his jaws ceased
mastication, his tongue began to wag like a, mill-tail." He discoursed fluently, if not wisely,
upon the general demerits of fever and ague, whose subject he had been for nearly a year, and
upon the particular productiveness of " Varmount.",, It's a garden of flowers," he said,
"t while York state, and all 'tother side on't, is wild land, raisin' nothin' but snakes and agers."
"Compared to New England, our horses are colts,
Our oxen are goats, and a sheep but a lamb;
The people poor blockheads and pitiful doltsMere Hottentot children, contrasted with them."
He was a capital specimen of the genus ", brag," refined by superb Munchausen polish. His
voice was a shrill falsetto, and, every word being audible to the passengers, we soon had a
laughing chorus within the coach that awoke the echoes of the hills.
Approaching Carbondale, the road gently ascends a mountain ridge until all traces of cultivation disappear, and pines and cedars compose the forest. From this rugged height it
winds along the steep acclivities; and the mining village, in the bosom of a deep, rocky intervale, may be seen below, at a distance of more than a mile.  It was about two o'clock
when we arrived at Carbondale. Having two hours leisure before the departure of the mailcoach for Honesdale and the Delaware, I applied to Mr. James Clarkson, the chief surveyor
at the mines, for permission to enter one of them.  It was cordially granted, and, in company with his assistant, Mr. Alexander Bryden, as guide, I entered the one wherein an appalling circumstance, resulting in the death of several miners, occurred on the morning of
the 12th of January, 1846.  Indications of danger were observed several months previously
in one of the chambers.  The pillars of coal and pine logs that supported the roof seemed to
be crushing beneath the superincumbent weight, and the chamber was abandoned. Other
portions of the mine appeared to be safe, although in some cases the roof of slate was cracked.
Suddenly, at about eight o'clock on the morning in question, nearly sixty acres of the hill covering the mines sunk about two feet, crushing every thing beneath it, and producing a powerful concussion. The fall was accompanied by a sound similar to distant thunder, and a
shock which was perceptible throughout the village.  Fortunately, a large portion of the
workmen were at breakfast.  Under or beyond the fallen body were about sixty men.  The
intelligence of the disaster rapidly spread, and general alarm pervaded the town. There
were few who did not fear that some relative or friend was buried in the mine. The scene
was exceedingly painful, and not easily described. There were daughters, wives, and mothers at the mouth of the mine, in an agony of expectation that a loved one was lost, and for a
while it was difficult to enter to attempt a rescue of those within.  The superintendents and
others proceeded immediately, and at the risk of their own lives, to examine the bounds of
the destruction.  It was soon perceived that some, whose station must be within the limits
of the fall, were probably killed.
Beyond the point where the roof was secure, some thirty or more of the men had escaped
immediate death, but their situation was truly horrible, having lost their lights, the roof
still cracking and breaking around them, and scarcely a hope left of escape from the spot.
Mr. Bryden, with courage sustained by love for his fellow-men, boldly entered the mine, and
endeavored to reach the point where the men were imprisoned. He succeeded, after much
labor, and released them. Informed that a man who had met with a serious accident had
been left in another chamber, Mr. Bryden directed his steps thitherward.  He found the
wounded man, and carried him upon his back to his companions. Within five minutes after
Mr. Bryden left the chamber with his burden of life, the passage he had traversed was entirely closed by the crushed pillars of coal.
Among those known to have been at about the center of the fall a short time before the
occurrence, was a young Scotchman named Hosea, another of the superintendents. Diligent search was made for him on that and the succeeding day without success. On the
third day, while a party were in search of him, he emerged from the mines unaided, having




7 8                                 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Escape of Mr. Hosea.    Effects of the Concussion.    Entrance and Exploration of the Mine.    Interior Appearance.


dug his way out through fallen masses with his hands! The excitement relative to him
had 'been extreme, and his sudden appearance, under the circumstances, produced great joy.
He had been recently married.  His young bride, having lost all hope of his recovery alive,
was in a store purchasing mourning materials, when he was carried by homeward in a sleigh.
The people flocked to his house, and saluted him as one risen from the dead.  The hours
he had spent entangled in the passages of the mines were horrible indeed. At one'time he
saw the glimmer of lights. He tried to make himself heard by the party carrying them,
but was unsuccessful.  He ran toward them, but, stumbling against a car, he fell senseless.
When he revived, the lights had disappeared, and all was intense gloom.  He scrambled
over broken rocks and through narrow apertures, and finally reached one of the rail-roads
and made his way out, having been forty-eight hours laboring, without food or drink, in removing the fallen masses.  Fourteen perished by the disaster; the bodies of nine have been
recovered, the remainder are still in the chambers- to them the " chambers of death."  The
air was expelled from the mine, when the superincumbent mass settled, with great force. A
train of empty cars, drawn by a, horse driven by a boy, was just entering when the event
occurred.  The boy and horse were instantly killed, and the train was shattered in pieces.
The horse appeared to have been rolled over several times by the blast, and pieces of the
harness were found thirty feet from his body.
It was into this mine, now considered perfectly safe, that Mr. Bryden conducted me.
Seated upon a square block of wood on the bottom of one of a train of mine cars, in the attitude of a toad, each with a torch in his hand, we entered an aperture at the base of the. mountain, by the side of the canal.  The cars (five in a train), running upon iron rails,
i and drawn by a horse, are three feet long and two feet wide at top, tapering to the bot# tom.   Thus boxed up, and our heads bowed in meek submission to the menaces of the
X   low roof of the passage, we penetrated the mountain nearly half a mile, when we
came to an inclined plane.  There the horse that took us in was attached to a
loaded train that had just descended, and went back to the entrance.  The darkness was so profound, that objects could be seen by the light of our torches
only a few feet from us, and on all sides were the black walls of anthracite,
glistening in some places with water that trickled through the crevices.  At
the foot of the inclined plane we were one hundred and seventy feet beneath
the surface of the earth.  Up the rough steep, seven hundred and
fifty feet, we clambered on foot, and, when half way to the sumr mit, we saw the cables moving and heard the rumble of a de-..ass.             scending train.' The passage is so narrow that there is very little space on each side of the cars.  We were, therefore, obliged,
for our safety, to seek out one of the slippery ledges of anthracite wide enough to sustain us,
and, while thus " laid upon a shelf," the vehicles, with their burden, thundered by.
A little beyond the inclined plane is the region of the fall.  Here the roof is lower than
in other parts.  Crushed timbers and pulverized anthracite, the remains of
the supporters of the chambers, are seen for some distance; and the filledup avenues that led to other chambers, where some of the bodies remain
buried, were pointed out to me.  We at length reached the chambers where
men were working, each with a lamp suspended by a hook from the front of
his cap.  So intense was the darkness, that, when a little distance from a
workman, nothing of him could be seen but his head and shoulders below the
lamp.  The coal is quarried by blasting with powder; and the sulphurous
vapor that filled the vaults, and the dull lights, with hideous-looking heads,
apparently trunkless, beneath them, moving in the gloom, gave imagination free license to


l There is a double track upon the inclined plane, and, by means of cables and pulleys, the loaded train
hauls up the empty one by force of gravity. From the main entrance many avenues are seen that extended
to other chambers now exhausted. As fast as these avenues become useless, the rails are taken up, and
they are filled with the slate or other impurities of the mines.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


37 9 -

Fossils.      Ascent from the Mine.   Night Ride.      A Grumbler.       Change in the Coal Region.
draw a picture of the palace of Pluto. Added to the sight was the feeling of awe which
the apparent dangers of the place engendered, as
the recollection of the tragedy just recorded was
kept alive by the identification of localities connected with the event, by my guide.     After collecting a few fossils,' we sought the "wind entrance," and, ascending a flight of steps about
twenty-five feet, we stood high upon the mountain overlooking Carbondale, three quarters of a
mile from the place of our entrance.    NotwithAPPEARANCE OF THE CHAMnBERS.2      standing the air is comparatively pure within, except in the working chambers at the time of blasting, I breathed much freer when standing in the sunlight, and removed from all danger.
Hastening down the mountain to the canal, I washed my fossils and hurried to the stageoffice in the village, where I arrived just in time to hear the provoking rattle of the coachwheels half a mile distant, on the road to Honesdale, leaving me to decide the question
whether to remain over a day, or, departing at nine in the evening, ride all night.  I chose
the latter alternative, and passed the remainder of the afternoon among the mines and miners.
I left Carbondale at nine in the evening, and arrived at Cherry Hill, thirteen miles distant, at one in the morning.   The road was exceedingly rough and the coach rickety.       I
had but a single fellow-passenger, and he was as deaf as a post.  He was a grumbler of the
first water, and his loud thoughts so amused me that I had no inclination to sleep.       At
Cherry Hill we awaited the coach from Honesdale.     Informed that its arrival would be two
hours later, we took beds; but the first dream had scarcely begun, when the wooden voice
I The coal is covered by a layer of slate, so even on its under surface that the roofs of the passages, when
the coal has been removed, are quite smooth and flat. Upon this flat surface are impressions of stalks and
leaves of plants of immense size, intermingled with those of the fern, of the size which now grow on the
borders of marshes. Some of these fossil stalks found between the slate and the coal measure from ten to
sixteen inches across (for they are all flattened, as if by pressure), and were evidently at least thirty feet
long. They lie across each other in every direction, and in all cases the stalks are flattened.  Many theories have been conceived to account for the origin of the coal and of the appearance of these fossils.  The
most plausible seems to be that the bed of coal was once a vast bed of peat, over which, in ages past, grew
these mammoth ferns; that the slate that covers the upper stratum of coal was thrown up, in a semi-fluid
state, from the bowels of the earth by volcanic action, and flowed over the fields of peat, casting down the
ferns and other vegetables flat beneath the whelming mass, which, in time, became indurated, and was formed into slate. The huge stalks that have been found may have belonged to a species of water-lilv that abounded when the mastodon and megatherium browsed in the marshes that now form the coal beds of the Lackawanna Valley.
i' The miners, when they branch off from the main shaft or avenue, leave pillars of coal about eighteen
feet square, to support the roof or mass above. These huge pillars were crushed by the great weight upon
them, in the accident recorded.
NOTE.-The change which the Delaware and Hudson Canal and Mining Company has wrought in the
physical features of this region is wonderful. Twenty years ago the whole country in the vicinity of Carbondale was an uninhabited wilderness; now fertile farms and thriving villages are there.*  When Maurice Wurts, of Philadelphia, after spending years in exploring the country between the Lackawanna and the
Hudson, presented his plan for the gigantic work now in progress, his friends looked upon him as nearly
crazed, and, like Fulton, he was doomed to have hope long deferred. But there were some who comprehended the feasibility of the undertaking, and estimated correctly its golden promises of profit. The work
was begun, and in 1829 seven thousand tons of anthracite coal were forwarded to New York. Wonderfully
has the business increased. The company now employs between five and six thousand men and boys, over
one thousand horses, and nearly nine hundred canal-boats, independent of the vessels at Rondout. Last
year (1848) the company forwarded to market four hundred and fifty thousand tons of coal, and its monthly
disbursements are about one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. At Carbondale there are nine mines or
entrances; and about seven hundred men, chiefly Irish and Welsh, are employed under ground there. The
coal is sent from Carbondale to Honesdale, a distance of sixteen miles, in cars upon an inclined plane, and
there it is shipped for market upon the Delaware and Hudson Canal, the termination of which is upon the
Hudson River, at Rondout, Ulster county.


* Carbondale contains about seven thousand inhabitants, and Honesdale about four thousand.




380


PICTO~RIAL FIELDI)-BOOK


A Coach Load.      Result of Politeness.  Bad Coach and Driver.   Milford.      The SawkilL
of a Dutch hostler broke our slumbers with the cry of, Stage!"  We were charged a quarter each for the privilege of warming a cold bed, which made the deaf grumbler swear like
a pirate. A young woman, unused to crowds, occupied a place by the side of the driver,
and I was obliged to shrink into proper dimensions to share a seat within, with two elderly
women who were by no means diminutive. " I can't be squeezed, I can't be squeezed!"
cried one of them, as I opened the coach-door to get in. My size was magnified in the darkness to very improper dimensions, but the lady was pacified by a solemn assurance that what
she saw was more than half overcoat. Thus packed, we were trundled over one of the roughest roads in Pike county, and at six o'clock were set down at Decker's, among the Lackawanna Mountains, where we breakfasted.    Before reaching there, rain began to fall, and the
delicate young lady, who occupied a seat with the driver for the sake of fresh air, implored
shelter within.  Of course her petition was granted, but she proved a destroyer of the comfort of two of the passengers. She was a plump Dutch girl, weighing nearly two hundred,
and the two old gentlemen, who, in the plenitude of their good will and politeness, had of:
fered her a seat upon their knees before she alighted from above, (, worked their passage"
down the rough mountain roads, for the horses were allowed a loose rein while the shower
lasted.  One of the victims, whose obesity was conspicuous, declared that his gallantry could
not have extended another rood, and that the announcement of the appearance of Decker's
sign-post was as grateful to him as the ( land ho!" is to the returning mariner.
At Decker's we changed coaches, horses, and drivers. The former, like the morals of the
latter, were very dilapidated. A worse vehicle and more wicked driver than we were in the
custody of I never encountered.  The rain fell copiously for two hours, and every passenger
was subjected to the filthy drippings through the leaky roof of the coach, and the more filthy
drippings of profanity and low slang from the lips of the driver, who was within speaking distance of a companion upon another stage.
Toward noon the clouds broke, and I escaped from my damp prison to the driver's box just
as we reached the brow of the loftiest hill over which the road passes before descending to the
Delaware Valley. Twenty miles eastward loomed up the dark range of the Shawangunk
Mountains; on our right, far below, sparkled a beautiful bell-shaped lake fringed with evergreens, and, as far as the eye could reach, wooded hills stood, peeping over each others shoulders."  The scenery was as wild and more diversified than that of the Pocono.  Suddenly we
came upon the brow of the mountain that overlooks the beautiful plain of Milford, on the Delaware, and in a few minutes we were rattling through the pretty village. Milford is remarkable
for the picturesque beauty of its own location and surrounding country, and for the size of one
of its publicans, who died in 1841.' Near it are the beautiful falls of the Sawkill, where,
"Swift as an arrow from the bow,
Headlong the torrent leaps,
Then tumbling round in dazzling snow
And dizzy whirls it sweeps
Then shooting through the narrow aisle
Of this sublime cathedral pile,
Amid its vastness, dark and grim,
It peals its everlasting hymn."
STREET.
Milford has been settled about fifty years. The chief business of the place is the lumber trade. It is
quite a large village, and, since 1814, has been the county seat of Pike. In 1800 there were but two houses
and a blacksmith's shop upon its site. The plain was then covered with pines, hemlocks, and bushes. The
wadding of a hunter's gun set the brush on fire, and the plain was cleared for a great distance. The buildings, however, remained untouched. Some wag published an account of the fire, and said that it had " ravaged the town of Milford, and had left but two houses and a blacksmith's shop standing!"
The publican referred to was a tavern-keeper named Lewis Cornelius, whose dimensions were nearly as
great as those of the famous Daniel Lambert. His height was six feet; in circumference at the waist, six
feet two and a half inches; circumference below the waist, eight feet two inches; circumference of arm
above the elbow, two feet two inches: below the elbow, one foot nine inches; at the wrist, one foot three
inches; of the thigh, four feet three inches; of the calf of the leg, two feet seven inches; weight, six hundred and forty-five and a half pounds, without any clothes




OF THE REVOLUTION.


381


Delaware River and Valley.  Port Jervis.  The Neversink Valley.  Shawangunk Mountains.  Orange and Rockland.
But the pleasure of a visit thither were denied us by the urgent beck of time. It was after
one o'clock, and we must be at Port Jervi, eight miles distant, at three, to enter the cars
for the Hudson River, our point of destination.
The road from Milford to Port Jervis' passes along the margin of the Delaware Valley,
sometimes beneath steep acclivities that seem ready to topple down.  We crossed the river
upon a bateau propelled by two strong men with poles, and guided by a rope stretched over
the stream, and reached the rail-way station just as the last bell was ringing and a dark
cloud began to pour out its contents. In a few minutes we were sweeping along the slopes
of the Neversink Valley, and ascending, by a circuitous route, to the lofty passes among the
Shawangunk Mountains.
The scenery here was indescribably grand.  On the right the hills towered far above, and
on the left, a thousand feet below, was the fertile valley of the Neversink lying in the shadows of the lofty hills on the west. The table-land upon the summit inclines gently to the
eastward; and a little before sunset we passed through the fine grazing lands of Orange,
lying between Middletown and Goshen, where the cow-herds furnish the materials for the
far-famed Goshen butter. Westward of Middletown we passed near the historic ground of
Mlinisink, and at twilight, descending the rugged slopes of Rockland along the winding course
of a mountain stream, we passed by Ramapo and Tappan, places famous in our Revolutionary history.  A visit there was reserved for another occasion, and, proceeding to Piermont,
on the Hudson, the termination of the rail-road, I embarked for New York, and reached
home at nine in the evening.
Port Jervis was then (1848) the western terminus of travel on the New York and Erie Rail-road. It
is situated on the eastern side of the Delaware, upon a small triangular plain at the mouth of the Neversink
Creek, within the state of New York.


VIEW ON THE SHAWANGUNK MOUNTAINS.




~382            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Poughkeepsie.                   Origin of its Name.                Condition of the State in 1777.
CHAPTER XVII.
" I glory in the sages
Who, in the days of yore,
In combat met the foemen,
And drove them from the shore;
Who flung our banner's starry field
In triumph to the breeze,
And spread broad maps of cities where
Once waved the forest trees.
Hurrah!
" I glory in the spirit
Which goaded them to rise,
And form a mighty nation
Beneath the western skies.
No clime so bright and beautiful
As that where sets the sun;
No land so fertile, fair, and free
As that of Washington.
Hurrah!"
GEORGE P. MORRIS.
O New England, the nursery of the Revolutionary spirit, I next turned
-:                my attention, and to that interesting field of research I proceeded,
' after visiting the battle-ground of Bennington, upon the Wallooms-,   coick.  I went up the Hudson on the morning of the 25th of
September as far as Poughkeepsie,' where I passed the after-  1848.
rl it       or noon, and in the evening proceeded to Kingston, or Esopus, memoij rable in our Revolutionary annals for its destruction by the British.
Poughkeepsie is one of the finest villages in New York.     It lies principally
upon an elevated plain, half a mile from the east bank of the river, and in the?f    midst of a region remarkable for its beauty and fertility.  Although an old town,
l/ '    having been founded by the Dutch more than one hundred and fifty years ago, and
lying directly in the path of travel between New York and Canada, it was spared
the infliction of miseries which other places far more isolated suffered during the Revolution;
and it has but little history of general interest beyond the fact that a session of the state
Legislature was held there in 1778, and that, ten years afterward, the state Convention to
consider the Federal Constitution assembled there.
When the state government was organized, in 1777, by the adoption of a Constitution,
the city of New York was in the possession of the enemy, and the first session of the Legislature under the new order of things was appointed to be held at Kingston, in July of that
year.  But the invasion of the state at several points-by Burgoyne on the north, by St.
Leger and his Tory and Indian associates on the west, and by Sir Henry Clinton on the south
— compelled Governor Clinton to prorogue that body until the 1st of September.   Greater
still, however, was the excitement in the state at that time, for Burgoyne was pressing triumphantly toward Albany, and General Clinton was making active preparations to form a
junction with him. No quorum was present until the 9th, and early in October, before any
i Poughkeepsie is a corruption of the Iroquois word Ap-o-keep-sinck, which signifies safe harbor. On
an old map of the Hudson River in my possession it is spelled Pocapsey; and I have heard many of the old
inhabitants of Dutchess pronounce it as if so spelled, the a in the penultimate having the long sound, as in ape.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


383'


Meeting of the Legislature at Kingston and Poughkeepsie.  State Convention.  Federal Constitution.  Ann Lee.


laws could be matured, the session was broken up, on the rapid approach of the enemy up...the Hudson, after the fall of the forts in- the
/                           i.      Highlands.    Kingston was laid in ashes, and
-,-         _ -                      ', all was confusion. About the same time
-:-.                              Burgoyne was conquered and captured, and
-                                     Sir Henry Clinton retired to New       York.
i/ -i         w ---- — '-1                      As soon as the alarm had subsided, Governwhe-;-I:'n thei Bsor Clinton called a meeting of the Legislae  it  o                 ture at Poughkeepsie.    It assembled in the
old stone building known as the Van Kleek
-                  t   House (then a tavern), early in January,
1778.    Various acts, to complete the orpassed; provisions were made for strengthening the civil and military powers of the
r of                               state; and it was during that session that
the state gave its assent to the    February 6,
-\  He-ne '-r n. S-         an    Articles of Confederation, the or-   1778.
THE \TANKLEEK iHOUSEr1            ganic law of the Federal Union until our presaftewar anh n d.  ent Constitution was formed and adopted.
This building was the meeting-place of the inhabitants to consult upon the public welfare,
when the Boston Port Bill and kindred measures awakened a spirit of resistance throughout
the country.2   There the Committee of Correspondence of Dutchess held their meetings,
and there the pledge to sustain the Continental Congress and the Provincial Assembly was
signed by the inhabitants of Poughkeepsie, in June and July, 1775."
This is from a sketch which I made in 1835, a few weeks before the venerable building was demolished
by the hand of improvement. It stood upon Mill Street, on the land of Matthew Vassar, Esq., a short dis.
tance from the Congregational Church. It was built by Myndert Vankleek, one of the first settlers in Dutchess county, in 1702, and was the first substantial house erected upon the site of Poughkeepsie. Its walls
were very thick, and near the eaves they were pierced with lancet loop-holes for musketry. It was here
that Ann Lee, the founder of the sect called Shaking Quakers, in this country, was lodged the night previous to her commitment to the Poughkeepsie jail, in 1776. She was a native of Manchester, England. During her youth she was employed in a cotton factory, and afterward as a cook in the Manchester Infirmary.
She married a blacksmith named Stanley; became acquainted with James and Jane Wardley, the originators of the sect in England, and in 1758 joined the small society they had formed. In 1770 she pretended
to have received a revelation, while confined in prison on account of her religious fanaticism; and so great
were the spiritual gifts she was believed to possess, that she was soon acknowledged a spiritual mother in
Christ. Hence her name of Mother Ann.  She and her husband came to New York in 1774.  He soon
afterward abandoned her and her faith, and married another woman.  She collected a few followers, and
in 1776 took up her abode in the woods of Watervliet, near Niskayuna, in the neighborhood of Troy. By
some she was charged with witchcraft; and, because she was opposed to war, she was accused of secret
correspondence with the British. A charge of high treason was preferred against her, and she was imprisoned in Albany during the summer. In the fall it was concluded to send her to New York, and banish her
to the British army, but circumstances prevented the accomplishment of the design, and she was imprisoned
in the Poughkeepsie jail until Governor Clinton, in 1777, hearing of her situation, released her. She returned to Watervliet, and her followers greatly increased.  She died there in 1784, aged eighty-four years.
Her followers sincerely believe that she now occupies that form or figure which John saw in his vision, standing beside the Savior. In a poem entitled " A Memorial to Mother Ann," contained in a book called "Christ's
Second Appearing," the following stanza occurs:
"How much they are mistaken who think that mother's dead,
When through her ministrations so many souls are saved.
In union with the Father, she is the second Eve,
Dispensing full salvation to all who do believe."
The city of New York elected James Duane, John Jay, Philip Livingston, Isaac Low, and John Alsop
delegates to the first Continental Congress, in 1774. The Dutchess county committee, whose meetings upon
the subject were held in the Van Kleek House, adopted those delegates as representatives for their district.
-See Journals of Congress, i., 7.
3 On the 29th of April, 1775, ten days after the skirmish at Lexington, a meeting of the inhabitants of




:384


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Huddlestone.    State Convention at Poughkeepsie.  Patriot Pledge.  Federal Constitution.  The Federalist.
Huddlestone, the famous spy, who was captured upon Wild Boar Hill, near Yonkers, in
West Chester county, was tried, condemned, and hung at Poughkeepsie in April, 1780. The
place of his execution was upon a verge of the plain on which the town stands, known as
Forbus's Hill. I have heard the late venerable Abel Gunn, of Poughkeepsie, who was a
drum major in the Continental army, speak of Huddlestone and of his execution. He described him as a small man, with a large head and thick neck. He was accompanied to
the scaffold by the county officers and a small guard of militia enrolled for the purpose.
The state Convention to consider the Federal Constitution assembled at the Vankleek
House, in Poughkeepsie, on the 17th of June, 1788.       There were fifty-seven delegates present, and Governor George Clinton was chosen the president of the Convention.         In that Assembly were some of the most distinguished men of the Revolution, and the debates were of
the most interesting character.    In no state in the Union was hostility to the Federal Constitution more extensive and violent than in the state of New York. Forty-six of the fiftyseven delegates, including the governor, were anti-Federalists, or opposed to the Constitution.
The principal advocates of the instrument were John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and Robert
Livingston. Mr. Hamilton had been a leading member of the National Convention that
framed the Constitution, and also one of the principal writers of the Federalist.l       He felt
the responsibility of his situation, and the Convention readily acknowledged the value of his
judgment. He was perfectly familiar with every topic included in the wide range which
the debates embraced, and he was nobly sustained by his colleagues, Jay and Livingston.
The hostile feelings of many of the anti-Federalists gradually yielded, and on the 26th of July
the final question of ratification was carried in the affirmative by a majority of three votes.
A little more than a mile below Poughkeepsie, on the bank of the Hudson, is the residence of the late Colonel Henry A. Livingston, a grandson of Philip Livingston, one of the
the city of New York, called to consider the alarming state of public affairs, formed a general Association,
or fraternized, to use a popular term, and adopted a pledge. The Association and pledge were approved
by the Provincial Assembly, and copies of the latter were sent to every county in the state for signatures.
The following was the form of the pledge:
" Persuaded that the salvation of the rights and liberties of America depend, under God, on the firm union of its inhabitants in a rigorous prosecution of the measures necessary for its safety; and convinced of
the necessity of preventing anarchy and confusion, which attend the dissolution of the powers of government,
we, the freemen, freeholders, inhabitants of -, being greatly alarmed at the avowed design of the ministry to raise a revenue in America, and shocked by the bloody scene now acting in MASSACHUSETTS BAY,
do, in the most solemn manner, resolve never to become slaves; and do associate, under all the ties of religion, honor, and love to our country, to adopt, and endeavor to carry into execution, whatever measures
may be recommended by the CONTINENTAL CONGRESS, or resolved upon by our Provincial Convention for
the purpose of preserving our CONSTITUTION, and opposing the execution of the several arbitrary ACTS of
the British Parliament, until a reconciliation between Great Britain and America, on constitutional principles (which we most ardently desire), can be obtained; and that we will in all things follow the advice of
our General Committee respecting the purposes aforesaid, the preservation of peace and good order, and
the safety of individuals and property."
The list of signers, and the names of those who refused to sign in Poughkeepsie, have been preserved.
The number of signers was two hundred and thirteen; the number who refused to sign was eighty-two. A
list of the names of the signers, and those who refused to sign, in the various precincts in the county, may
be found in Blake's History of Putnam County, p. 102-143 inclusive.
1 When the Constitution, adopted by the National Convention, was submitted to the consideration of the
people, extensive and violent opposition was observed, founded principally upon the undue jealousy with
which the doctrine of state rights was regarded. The friends of the Constitution saw that general public
enlightenment upon the subject was necessary to secure the ratification of the instrument by the requisite
number of states to make it the organic law of the republic. To this end Jay, Hamilton, and Madison commenced a series of essays in explanation and vindication of the principles of government. They appeared
successively every week in the New York papers, between October, 1787, and the spring of 1788. The
whole work which is called The Federalist, consists of eighty-five numbers.  Mr. Jay wrote six numbers,*
Mr. Madison twenty-five, and Mr. Hamilton the residue. They had a powerful effect upon the public mind,
and contributed largely to the success which finally crowned the efforts of the friends of the Constitution.
* Mr. Jay and other gentlemen armed and placed themselves under the command of Colonel Hamilton, to suppress a riot in
New York known as The Doctors' Mob. He was nearly killed by a stone thrown by one of the rioters, and was confined to his
bed for some time. He had written the fifth number of the Federalist essays when that event occurred. He recovered in time
to write the sixty-fourth.




WI


OF THE REVOLUTION.                                               385
The Livingston Mansion.         Henry A. Livingston, Esq.        Kingston, or Esopus.        Its Dutch Name.


signers of the Declaration of Independence, and son of the late John H. Livingston, D.D.,
president of the College of New Brunswick. It was built by his paternal grandfather, Henry
Livingston, in 1714, and is a fine specimen of a country mansion of that period. The situation is delightful, completely imbosomed in venerable trees, and far removed from the bustle of the highway.' The late oc' 6            A                         cupant, in the exercise of his good
taste and patriotism, preserved the
old mansion from the invasion of
f                           modern improvements, and kept
fup that generous hospitality which
marked the character of the      gentleman of the old school."  Even
nor  lthe orifice in the side of the house,
"    -under the piazza, which was made
-. -h mn        by a cannon-ball fired from one of
the British ships that conveyed the
troops up the river, who burned
Kingston, seventy-two years ago, is
preserved with care, and shown to
visitors as a token of the spite of
THE LIVINGSTON MANSION.              the enemy against active Whigs.
The last, time I visited the mansion
the late proprietor was living, possessing apparently all the vigor and cheerfulness of a man
of fifty, though then past three score and ten years.2  In the room which contained his valuable library I passed several hours, copying the portraits of John and Mary Livingston, the
parents of Robert Livingston, the first emigrant of that name to America; and also an interesting genealogical tree, illustrative of the family growth and connections, which Colonel
Livingston kindly placed at my disposal.  I have referred to these befbre, and they will be
found in another part of this work.
I left Poughkeepsie at ten in the evening, and reached Kingston village, ninety-three miles
north of New York, a little past midnight.  The landing is upon a rocky island separated
from the main land by a morass, crossed by a causeway.  It is nearly three miles from the
village, which lies upon an elevated plain several miles in extent, and is surrounded by high
hills on all sides except toward the Hudson.  On the northwest the Catskill range rises grand
and beautiful, and far enough distant to present an azure hue.  I think I never saw a more
imposing display of distant mountain scenery than is presented at Kingston, toward sunset,
when the higher peaks and bold projections cast their long shadows over the agricultural districts below, reflecting, at the same time, from their southwestern declivities, the mellow
light of departing day.
Kingston was settled by the Dutch as early as 1663, as appears from   an account of
troubles between the white settlers and the Indians there, and was called Wiltwyck-literally
Wild Witch, or Indian Witch.   The Dutch built a redoubt upon the bank of the creek, near
the ancient landing-place. The creek was called Redoubt Kill, or Creek, and is now known
by the corrupted name of Rondout Creek.s The Esopus Indians then occupied the beautiful
Since my visit the quiet and beauty of the place have been invaded by the Hudson River Rail-road,
which passes within a few feet of the mansion, and in whose construction the beautiful cove has been destroyed, and some of the venerable willows, planted by the first owner, have been uprooted. In our coun.
try the beautiful has but a feather's weight in the scale against the useful.
i Colonel Livingston died June 9th, 1849. Although living in the retirement of a gentleman of wealth
and leisure, he often consented to serve the public in offices requiring judgment, industry, and integrity.
He was a member of the state Senate one term; and it is a remarkable fact that he was never absent a
day from his post in the Senate Chamber or in the hall of the Court of Errors. He will long be remembered
in Poughkeepsie as one of its best citizens.
3 Benson's Memoirs, in the Collections of the New York Historical Society, vol. i., part ii., p. 119.
BB




386


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Early Settlement at Kingston.  Indian Troubles.  The Huguenots.  Formation of the State Constitution.
flats extending from the creek northward nearly to the present town of Saugerties, and, becoming dissatisfied with their white neighbors, resolved to destroy them.  For this purpose
they fell upon the settlement while the men were abroad in the fields, and killed or carried
off sixty-five persons.  The survivors retreated to the redoubt, and the Indians began to erect
a stockade near it. A message was sent to Nieu Amsterdam (New York), and Governor
Stuyvesant immediately forwarded a body of troops, under Martin Crygier, who drove the
Indians back to the mountains. During the summer, parties of the Dutch made inroads
among the hill fastnesses, destroyed the Indian villages and forts, laid waste and burned their
fields and stores of maize, killed many of their warriors, released twenty-two of the Dutch
captives, and captured eleven of the enemy.   This chastisement caused a truce in
December, and a treaty of peace in May following.
The Dutch settlement at Kingston received a valuable accession, toward the close of the
century, by the arrival of a company of Huguenots,' who, after the revocation of the Edict
of Nantes, fled from persecution to America. They were a fragment of the resolute Christian band of eight hundred thousand who escaped from France into Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and England. They settled in the fertile valleys of Ulster and Orange, but that repose which they coveted was a long time denied them, for the Indians, jealous of the encroachments of the pale faces, harassed them continually. The school of suffering in which
they had been tutored before leaving Europe had given them patience and perseverance,
and they succeeded in planting the Gospel of Peace in the midst of the heathen, and gave
many hardy sons to do battle in the council and the field for American independence.
Kingston and the neighboring region suffered much from the Indians and Tories during the
Revolution, for this was emphatically a Whig district; and when Kingston became so presumptuous as to harbor rebel legislators, it was marked for severe chastisement by the enemy.
In 1776, after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, the General Assembly
of New York changed its title from the " Provincial Congress of the colony" to the "( Convention of the Representatives of the state of New York." The Assembly was to meet in
the city of New York on the 8th of July, the special object of the session being the forming
of a state Constitution.  But before that day arrived, the fleet of Admiral Howe, with a
British army, appeared near Sandy Hook, and the new Congress assembled at White Plains,
in West Chester county, twenty-five miles from the city. At the moment of meeting it received intelligence of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, and its first act was
to approve that measure by a unanimous vote. On the 1st of August a committee was appointed to draw up and report a Constitution.2 John Jay was the chairman of the committee, and the duty of drafting the instrument was assigned to him.
During the autumn the labors of the Convention were greatly disturbed by military events.
The enemy had taken possession of New York city and island; had spread over the lower
1 These people occupy a conspicuous place in the history of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and,
as will be observed hereafter, formed an essential element in the machinery of our Revolution, particularly
in the Carolinas. On the 26th of August, 1572, the festival of St. Bartholomew, seventy thousand Protestants were butchered in France by royal and papal authority. Terrible persecutions continued until 1598,
when Henry IV. issued an edict, called the Edict of Nantes, granting toleration to his Protestant subjects.
For nearly a century this edict was in force, but in 1685 Louis XIV. revoked it, and persecutions began
anew. This cruel and injudicious policy lost France eight hundred thousand of her best subjects, who were
Protestants, fifty thousand of whom made their way to England, where they introduced silk weaving, the
manufacture of jewelry, and other elegant employments then monopolized by France. Of those who settled in Ulster county the names of twelve are preserved, whose descendants are numerous, and among the
most respectable citizens of that and Orange county. The following are the names: Lewis Dubois, Andre
Lefevre, Louis Bevier, Hugues Frere [Frear], Christian Deyo, Jean Hasbrouck, Anthony Crispell, Isaac Dubois, Abraham Hasbrouck, Pierre Deyo, Abraham Dubois, Lyman Lefevre.
The following are the names of the gentlemen who composed that committee: John Jay, John Sloss
Hobart, William Smith, William Duer, Gouverneur Morris, Robert R. Livingston, John Broome, John Morris Scott, Abraham Yates, Jr., Henry Wisner, Sen., Samuel Townsend, Charles De Witt, and Robert Yates.
James Duane was subsequently placed on the committee, and, Mr. Jay being absent when the draft of the
Constitution was reported, it was submitted to the Assembly by him.-Journal of the Convention, p. 552
and 833.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


387


_                -                                                                                                                                                                           --


Completion and Adoption of the Constitution.  Its Character.  Subsequent Constitutions.  Effects of a Mixture of Races
part of West Chester county, and expelled the American troops, and Washington and his
army had fled before them to the Delaware. The Convention migrated from place to place,
and held brief sessions at Harlaem, White Plains, and Fishkill in Dutchess county. At the
latter place the members armed themselves for defense against the British or Tories who
should assail them.1 Finally they retreated to Kingston, where they continued in session
from  February, 1777, until May of that
year.  There, undisturbed, the committee, o.
pursued its labors, and oi the 12th of March '
reported the draft of a Constitution.  It was
under consideration more than a month, and
was finally adopted on the 20th ofApril.
It is a document of great merit, and exhibits a clear apprehension of the just functions of government, which distinguished the
mind of its author.  Its preamble sets forth
explicitly the cause which demanded the erection of a new government; and its first arti-                      l        E
cle declared that no authority should be exercised in the state but such as should be                -
derived from, and granted by, the people.
Great wisdom was manifested in all its pro-         "THE CONSTITTION HO     KSTO
visions for regulating the civil, military, and
judicial powers of the state.  It was highly approved throughout the country, and English
jurists spoke of it in terms of praise.  Under it the government of the state was organized
by an ordinance of the Convention, passed in May, and, as we have noticed, the first May 8,
session of the Legislature was appointed to be held at Kingston in July. This Con- 1777.
stitution remained in force, with a few amendments, until 1823, when a new one was formed
by a state Convention.  This, in time, was submitted to the action of a Convention to revise
it, and a third was formed and became law in 1846.
In the history of these movements toward perfecting the organic law of the state of New
York is developed much of the philosophy of that progress which marks so distinctly the career of our republic. From the old Dutch laws, sometimes narrow and despotic, but marked
by a sound and expansive policy, to the enlightened features of the Constitution of 1846, we
may trace the growth of the benevolent principles of equality, and a correct appreciation in
the public mind of human rights.    ", We may see," says Butler, " in the provisions of our
several Constitutions, the effects of the intermixture of the different races: the Dutch; the
English, Scotch, and Irish; the French, Swedes, and Germans; the Anglo-American from
the eastern colonies, from whom our people have been derived.    To this cause, and to the
great number and diversity of religious sects and opinions which have flowed from it, may
especially be ascribed the absolute freedom and perfect equality in matters of religion, and
the utter separation of the Church from the State, secured by these instruments."'
1 Lives of Gouverneur Morris and John Jay.
This house, the property and residence of James W. Baldwin, Esq., was used for the session of the state
Convention in 1777. It is built of blue limestone, and stands on the southwest corner of Maiden Lane and
Fair Street. It is one of the few houses that survived the conflagration of the village.
3 Popular elections for members of the Legislature were held in all the counties except New York, Kings,
Queens, and Suffolk, which were then in possession of the enemy. George Clinton, then a brigadier general
in the Continental army, was elected to the offices of governor and lieutenant governor. The former office
he held by successive elections for eighteen years, and afterward for three years. Pierre Van Courtlandt,~
who was president of the Senate, became lieutenant governor; Robert R. Livingston was appointed chancellor; John Jay, chief justice; Robert Yates and John Sloss Hobart, judges of the Supreme Court; and
Egbert Benson, attorney general.-Journals of the Convention, p. 916-918.
4 Outline of the Constitutional History of New York, a discourse delivered at the annual meeting of the
New York Historical Society, in 1847, by Benjamin F. Butler, late attorney general of the United States,




388


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Marauding Expedition up the Hudson.    Landing at Kingston.     Burning of the Town.      Rhinebeck Flats.


October 6  Kingston (or Esopus), being the capital of the state when Sir Henry Clinton
1777.  gained possession of the forts in the Hudson Highlands, was marked by the conqueror for special vengeance.  Having demolished the chevaux-de-frise at Fort Montgomery,
the British fleet proceeded up the Hudson; the massive iron chain was not yet stretched
across the river at West Point.1 All impediments being removed, a flying squadron of light
frigates, under Sir James Wallace, bearing three thousand six hundred men, under the command of General Vaughan, sailed up the river.  They were instructed to scatter desolation
in their track, and well did they perform their mission.  Every vessel upon the river was
burned or otherwise destroyed; the houses of known Whigs, such as Henry Livingston, at
Poughkeepsie, were fired upon from the ships; and small parties, landing from the vessels,
desolated neighborhoods with fire and sword.  They penetrated as far northward as Kingston, where they landed on the 13th of October.  The frigates were anchored a little
above the present landing on Kingston Point, and a portion of the invaders debarked
in the cove north of the steam-boat wharf.  Another division, in small boats, proceeded to
the mouth of Esopus (now Rondout) Creek, and landed at a place a little northeast of Rondout village, called Ponkhocken Point.  The people at the creek fled, affrighted, to Marbletown, seven miles southwest of Kingston, and their houses were destroyed. The two divisions then marched toward the village, one by the upper road and the other by the Esopus
Creek Road. Near the house of a Mr. Yeoman, who was in the army at Stillwater, they
seized a negro, and made him pilot them directly to the town.
-..'       K       The detachments joined upon a gentle eminence near the vil-; —  llage, a few rods south of the Rondout Road, and, after a brief
-4}-                    consultation, proceeded to apply the torch.  Almost every
1               house was laid in ashes, and a large quantity of provisions
i^. -                 and stores situated there and at the landing was destroyed.
*    The town then contained between three and four thousand
--       inhabitants, many of whom were wealthy, and most of the
I     H THE YEOMaAN HOUSE.2  houses were built of stone.s  Warned of the approach of the
enemy, a few saved their most valuable effects, but many lost all their possessions, and were driven back upon the interior settlements upon the Wallkill.
t    Governor Clinton, with the members of the Legislature, was there, and efforts
were made to raise a sufficient number of militia for the protection of the town,
but without success.  The enemy, however, fearing their Wanton cruelty would
il  bring the people in mass upon them, hastily retreated after destroying the vil/,itI    lage.   A detachment crossed the river and marched to Rhinebeck Flats,4 two
miles eastward, where they burned several houses; and, after penetrating northward as far as Livingston's Manor, and burning some houses there, they rejoined
the main body, and the fleet returned to New York.
This wanton and apparently useless expedition excited great indignation. It was supposed that the destination of the enemy was, according to arrangement, Albany, gnd a junction with Burgoyne, then hemmed in by Americans at Saratoga, and anxiously awaiting the
A detail of this event, and a drawing of the remains of the chain now at West Point, will be hereafter
given.
2This view is fiom the road, looking'north. An attempt was made by a soldier to burn the house, but
so rapid was the march of the invaders that the flames had made but little progress before the troops were
far on their road to the village. A negro woman, who was concealed under some corn-stalks near, extinguished the flames. The house is about half a mile from the river, on the right side of the road from the
landing to Kingston village.
3 Governor Clinton, writing to Captain Machin on the subject of erecting works for the defense of Kingston, says, " I do not conceive it necessary to inclose the town, as the houses are stone, and will form (if the
windows are properly secured) good lines of defense."
4 Rhinebeck Flats village is in Dutchess county, about seventeen miles north of Poughkeepsie. It was
eminently a Whig place during the Revolution. There was the residence of the widow of General Montgomery, who had been killed at Quebec two years before, and of many of her numerous relatives, the Livingstons, all of whom were friends of the patriot cause.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


38 9


_




Livingston's Manor.    An Advantage thrown away.    Gates's Letter.    Loyalists.     Rondout.
promised aid from   Clinton.   When Vaughan and his troops were at Livingston's Mills
(which they destroyed), a flood tide would have carried them to Albany in five hours; and
so completely had the army of Gates drained the country, in that vicinity, of men, that they
might easily have burned the stores at Albany, and taken possession of that city.      Gates
afterward declared that, had such an event occurred, he must have retreated into New
England, and Burgoyne would have escaped. But, instead of becoming honorable victors,
Vaughan and his party appeared content to fulfill the office and earn the renown of successful marauders.   They may have thought that their operations would divert Gates's attention, and cause him to detach troops for the defense of the country below, and thus so weaken
his force as to enable Burgoyne to conquer or escape.  But this effect was not produced, and
the expedition was fruitless of good to the cause of the king.  Gates at that very time was
making the most honorable propositions to Burgoyne for a surrender, and, when he heard of
Vaughan's operations, he wrote that officer a letter replete with just severity.1
Kingston was the scene of the execution of several Loyalists during the Revolution, and
there Sir Henry Clinton's spy, who was caught at New Windsor, with a dispatch for Burgoyne in a silver bullet (of which I shall hereafter write), was hung upon the limb  October 12
of an apple-tree.  Several Tories saved their lives by consenting to enlist in the    1777.
Continental army.
The depredations of the Indians and Tories in the Warwasing and Mamakating Valleys,
and other portions of Ulster county, from 1778 till near the close of the war, will be noticed
hereafter, in connection with the Minisink massacre. Let us now make a flying visit to the'
Revolutionary localities in the vicinity of Kingston, and then pass on to the battle-ground
of Bennington.
With the exception of the " Constitution House" (depicted on page 387) and two or three
other stone buildings, and the venerable tomb-stones in the old Dutch burying-ground, Kingston presents little attraction to the seeker of Revolutionary relics.2  Its hills, and rich plains,
and distant mountain scenery are still there, but greatly modified by cultivation.  I passed
the morning in the village, with General Smith, and at about noon proceeded to Rondout.
This thriving little village is nestled in a secluded nook near the mouth of the Rondout Creek,
which here comes flowing through a deep and narrow gorge among the hills, and mingles
its waters with the Hudson. Mr. Gossman, the editor of the Courier, kindly offired to accompany me to points of interest connected with the Revolution, and I passed the remainder
of the day in a pleasant ramble with him.    Crossing the creek in a skiff to its southwestern
He concluded his letter by saying, " Is it thus that the generals of the king expect to make converts to
the royal cause? Their cruelties operate as a contrary effect: independence is founded upon the universal
disgust of the people. The fortune of war has delivered into my hands older and abler generals than General Vaughan is reputed to be: their condition may one day become his, and then no human power can
save him from the just vengeance of an offended people." The friends of the king were also displeased at
the movement. One of the leading loyalists of New York, writing to Joseph Galloway, said, " Why a delay was made of seven days after Clinton had taken the forts, we are ignorant of. The Highland forts were
taken on the 6th of October; Esopus was burned on the 13th; Burgoyne's convention was signed on the
17th.  There was no force to oppose even open boats on the river.  Why, then, did not the boats proceed
immediately to Albany?  Had Clinton gone forward, Burgoyne's army had been saved. Putnam could not
have crossed to Albany. The army amused themselves by burning Esopus, and the
houses of individuals on the river bank."  Clinton and the brothers Howe seem to have
been perfect malaprops, striking at the wrong time, and withholding a blow when most
appropriate and promising the best success.
2 In the old grave-yard rest the remains of some of the Huguenots and of many of   -
their descendants; and there repose the bodies of not a few who suffered during the  -l
war for independence. Some of the earlier grave-stones are rude monuments.  One    Aq
of them, at the head of the grave of Abraham De Witt, is delineated in the engraving.  22
The inscription is rudely carved. The tall and slender slate stone is supported by a
cedar post, which was probably set up when the stone was erected, yet it is perfectly  IV]
preserved, and retains its odor. I saw it there fifteen years ago, and then "the oldest  c l 7Izinhabitant" remembered it from his boyhood. The meaning of IVLY may need to be- t
explained to young readers. I was used for J and V for U in former times, and the  --
letters, therefore, make the word JULY.




390             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


An Octogenarian.  Landing-places of the British.  A frightened Dutchman.  Departure for the North.
side, we called upon the venerable John Sleight, now eighty years old, who lives in the
dwelling of his father, on the slope of a high hill near the water. He had a clear recollection of the landing of the British, and directed us to the different localities at the mouth of the
creek. He said there were only three houses where Rondout now is, and they were burned.
The occupants fled to Marbletown, and the few soldiers stationed at the redoubt on the hill,
a little northeast of the village, with a single cannon, followed the flying inhabitants. The
enemy did not cross the creek, and the house of Mr. Sleight was spared.
From the high hills a quarter of a mile from Mr. Sleight's we had a fine view of the land-._  ^_=I___..ing-places of both divisions
of the enemy, as seen in the
-7                                                  engraving.  The water ex-.. -..             'tending on the left is Ron-._,       dout Creek, and that on the:                                          =:>    right and beyond the long
point is the Hudson River,
i     -the spectator looking northeast. The high point on the
t-e r                   left is the place where the rel                      i                           doubt was thrown up.  The
smnall building beyond, standing upon the water's edge, is
upon Ponkwocken Point, and
VIEW AT THE MOUTH O THE RONDOUT.           upon Ponkhocken Point,i and
in the cove between it and
the redoubt is the place where the enemy landed.  The long point in the distance is the
present landing, immediately above Which, in a sandy cove, the main division of the British
army debarked. An amusing anecdote was related to me, connected with that event. Between the point and Ponkhocken are extensive flats, bare at low water, and yielding much
coarse grass. When the enemy landed, some Dutchmen were at work just below the point,
and were not aware of the fact until they saw the dreaded red-coats near them.  It was
low water, and across the flats toward Ponkhocken they fled as fast as their legs could carry
them, not presuming to look behind them, lest, like Lqt's wife, they might be detained.  The
summer hay-makers had left a rake on the marsh meadow, and upon this one of the fugitives
trod. The handle flew up behind him, and gave him a severe blow on the back of his head.
Not doubting that a " Britisher" was close upon his heels, he stopped short, and, throwing
up his hands imploringly, exclaimed, O0, mein Cot! mein Cot! I kivs up.  Hoorah for
King Shorge!" The innocent rake was all the enemy that was near, and the Dutchman's
sudden conversion to loyalty was known only to a companion in the race, who had outstripped him a few paces.
Passing along the river road to the upper point, we visited the landing-place of the British.  A large portion of the cove is now filled by a mass of earth, rocks, and trees that slid
down from the high shore a few years ago.  The heaps of blue clay have the appearance
of huge rocks, and will doubtless become such in time, by induration. Returning to Rondout, I rode over to Kingston at about sunset, passed the evening with Mr. Vanderlyn2 the
painter, and at midnight embarked in a steamer for Albany.
Sept. 27  The morning was cold, and/every thing without was white with hoar frost.  I was
1848.  in Troy a little after sunrise, and at eight o'clock, seated with the driver upon a mailcoach, was ascending the long hills on the road to Hoosick, in Rensselaer county,' about twenty1The ferry to Rhinebeck was from Ponkhocken Point until 1814, when the causeway was constructed
at the upper point, and the ferry and landing established there.
2 Mr. Vanderlyn is a native of Kingston. He resided many years in Europe, where he painted his large
picture of the Landing of Columbus, for the rotunda of the Capitol at Washington. It was completed about
three years ago (1846), and now occupies its appropriate place.
3 The original Manor of Rensselaer, or Rensselaerwyck, included all of Rensselaer county, except Hoosick,




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                                    391
Ride to the Hoosick Valley.    Van Schaick's Mills.     Place of the Bennington Battle-ground.    Baume's Dispatch


five miles east of the Hudson.   The country is very elevated and hilly, and, when three miles
east of Troy, the Green Mountains were seen in the distance.       Before the Hoosick Valley is
reached, the country becomes extremely broken and picturesque.       We descended by a romantic mountain road into the valley, a little past noon, and halted at Richmond's, at Hoosick Four
Corners.    This is the nearest point, on the turnpike, to the Bennington battle-ground.    The
road thither skirted the Hoosick River northward for three miles, to the falls,' where we turned
eastward, and passed through North Hoosick, situated at the junction of the Walloomscoick and
White Creeks.      Here                                                 occurred when the Hesis  still standing   the                                                sians retreated from the
old mill known as Van                                                   heights) took place beSclalick's in the Rev-                                                  tween the little factoolution.   It was occu-           -:-ry village of Starkville
pied by a party ofAmer-                                                 and the house of Mr.
icans when Baume and (                                                  Taber.     These   alluhis Hessians approach-                                                  sions will be better uned; and here the mem-                                                   derstood after consultorable battle of Ben-                                                   ing the history.
nington ended.    From                                                     The conflict called
this  mill, along   the                                   l             the battle of Benninghills and the valley on                     -                           ton2 was a part of the
the right bank of the                                                   operations    connected
Walloomscoick, to the                                                   with Burgoyne's invabridge near the house of                                                sion from   Canada, in
Mr. Barnet, two miles                                                   the  summer and      auabove, is the scene of                                                  tumn of 177 7.      The
the battle; and the hot-                VAN SCHICK'S MLLS               delay which he had extest of the fight (which                                                perienced at Skenesborough and on his way to Fort Edward had so reduced his stores and provisions, that a reSchaghticoke, and Pittstown, and also the greater part of Albany county.  The city of Albany is near the
center of the manor. This domain was granted to Killian Van Rensselaer by patent from the States-General of Holland, after he had purchased the native right to the soil in 1641, and was twenty-four miles wide,
on both sides of the river, and about forty-two miles long east and west. When the English came into
possession of the country, the right to his domain of the proprietor of Rensselaerwyck, who was called the
patroon,* was not questioned, and on the 4th of March, 1685, it was confirmed by letters patent under the
great seal of the state of New York.
' At the Hoosick Falls is a manufacturing village containing about one hundred dwellings.  The river
here falls about forty feet, and affords very extensive water power. Near the factories I observed a handsome octagonal edifice, on the road side, on the front of which, in prominent letters, is the following:
"SACRED TO SCIENCE.
In sea, earth, and sky, what are untold
Of God's handiwork, both modern and old."
It contains, I was told, a large collection of natural curiosities, which the wealthy and tasteful proprietor
takes pleasure in exhibiting freely.
2 This battle was fought within the town of Hoosick, and five or six miles from Bennington. At that
time the boundary line between New York and New Hampshire (Vermont, as a state, not being then in existence) was at the Green Mountains, and Bennington was claimed to be within the borders of New York.
3 This view is taken from the left bank of the Walloomscoick, a little below the bridge. The mill belonged to a Whig named Van Schaick, who had joined General Stark's collecting forces at Bennington. Lieutenant-colonel Baume wrote the following dispatch to Burgoyne from this place:
"Sancoik,t 14th August, 1777, 9 o'clock.
"' Sn —I have the honor to inform your excellency that I arrived here at eight in the morning, having had
intelligence of a party of the enemy being in possession of a mill, which they abandoned at our approach;
* This title was given to those Dutch purchasers of lands who bought the soil fairly from the natives, and planted a colony.
There were several patroon estates, but that of Van Rensselaer is the only one not disturbed by political changes. This, however, is now on the verge of extinction, and, for several years past, anti-rentism, as the opposition to the patroon privilege is called, has been working a change in the public mind unfavorable to such vast landed monopolies.
t See note respecting this name on page 399.




392


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Foraging Expedition to Bennington.  Burgoyne's Instructions.  Baume's Indian Allies.  Skirmish near Cambridge.
plenishment was necessary.   Informed that the Americans had a large quantity of these,
and of cattle and horses, at Bennington and in the vicinity, he resolved, with the advice of
Major Skene, to send a detachment of his army thither to capture them.  Both Phillips and
Reidesel, the most experienced of his generals, were opposed to the measure; but Burgoyne,
actuated by an overweening confidence in his strength, and deceived as to the extent of the
Royalist party in the colonies,' dispatched Lieutenant-colonel Baume thither with five hundred Hessians, Canadians, and Tories, and one hundred Indians. Burgoyne's instructions to
the commander of the expedition, dated August 9th, 1777,2 declared the objects to be to try
the affections of the county, to disconcert the councils of the enemy, to mount Reidesel's dragoons, to complete Peters's corps [of Loyalists], and to obtain large supplies of cattle, horses,
and carriages.  Baume was directed < to scour the country from Rockingham to Otter Creek,"
to go down Connecticut River as far as Brattleborough, and return by the great road to Albany, there to meet General Burgoyne, and to endeavor to make the country believe his corps
was the advanced body of the geheral's army, who was to cross Connecticut River and proceed to Boston.  He ordered that "( all officers, civil and military, acting under the Congress,
should be made prisoners."  Baume was also instructed " to tax the towns where they halted
with such articles as they wanted, and take hostages for the performance, &c.; to bring all
horses fit to mount the dragoons or to serve as battalion horses for the troops, with as many
saddles and bridles as could be found."  Burgoyne stipulated the number of horses to be
brought at thirteen hundred at least, and more if they could be obtained, and directed them
to be " tied in strings of ten each, in order that one man might lead ten horses."  Dr. Thatcher,
in his Journal, says, " This redoubtable commander surely must be one of the happiest men
of the age, to imagine such prodigious achievements were at his command; that 'uch invaluable resources were within his grasp. But, alas! the wisest of men are liable to disappointment in their sanguine calculations, and to have their favorite projects frustrated by the
casualties of war.  This is remarkably verified in the present instance."3
August,    With these full instructions, Baume left his encampment on the 13th, and the
1777.  next day arrived at the mill on the Walloomscoick.  He reached Cambridge on the
evening previous, near which place an advanced guard of Tories and Indians attacked a
small party of Americans who were guarding some cattle.    The patriots, after delivering a
well-directed fire, retreated to the woods, leaving five of their number behind, prisoners.
Some horses were captured, but, according to a dispatch from Baume to Burgoyne, the Indians who secured them destroyed or drove away all that were not paid for in ready cash.
In his whole expedition Burgoyne found the savages more trouble than profit. Let us leave
the invader at " Sancoik's," while we take a retrospect of relative events on the part of the
Americans.
On the evacuation of Ticonderoga, and the advance of Burgoyne toward the Hudson, the
Eastern States were filled with alarm.   Burgoyne's destination was not certainly known,
and when he was at Skenesborough it was thought that Boston might be the point to which
he would march. The whole frontier of New Hampshire and Massachusetts was uncovered,
but, in their usual way, fired from the bushes, and took their road to Bennington. A savage was slightly
wounded; they broke down the bridge, which has retarded our march above an hour; they left in the mill
about seventy-eight barrels of very fine flour, one thousand bushels of wheat, twenty barrels of salt, and about
~1000 worth of pearlash and potash. I have ordered thirty provincials and an officer to guard the provisions and the pass of the bridge. By five prisoners taken here, they agree that from fifteen to eighteen
hundred are at Bennington, but are supposed to leave it on our approach. I will proceed so far to-day as
to fall on the enemy early to-morrow, and make such disposition as I may think necessary, from the intelligence I may receive. People [Tories] are flocking in hourly, but want to be armed. The savages can
not be controlled; they ruin and take every thing they please.
"I am your excellency's most humble servant,
"F. BAUME."
Major Skene assured him that " the friends to the British cause were as five to one, and that they wanted only the appearance of a protecting power to show themselves."-Gordon, ii., 242.
2The original of these instructions is in the archives of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Military Journal, p. 92.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                   393
Measure for defending New Hampshire.  Langdon's Patriotism.  Raising of Troops.  General Stark.
and strenuous efforts were at once made for the defense of these states, particularly New
Hampshire, which was lying nearest the scene of danger.  The Committee of Safety of the
New Hampshire Grants (now Vermont) wrote to the New Hampshire Committee of Safety
at Exeter, apprising them of the pressing danger near, and imploring their assistance.  The
Provincial Assembly had finished their session, and had gone home, but a summons from the
committee brought them together again in three days. Despondency seemed to pervade the
whole convention when they met, until the patriotic John Langdon,' then Speaker of the
Assembly, thus addressed them:: I have three thousand dollars in hard money. I will
pledge my plate for three thousand more. I have seventy hogsheads of Tobago rum, which
shall be sold for the most it will bring.  These are at the service of the state.  If we succeed in defending our firesides and homes, I may be remunerated; if we do not, the property
will be of no value to me. Our old friend Stark, who so nobly sustained the honor of our
state at Bunker Hill, may be safely intrusted with the conduct of the enterprise, and we
will check the progress of Burgoyne."
Langdon's patriotic spirit seemed to be infused into the Assembly, for the most energetic
measures were planned and put in operation. The whole militia of the state was formed
into two brigades.  The first was placed under the command of William Whipple (one of
the signers of the Declaration of Independence), and the second, of John Stark.  They ordered one fourth part of Stark's brigade and one fourth of three regiments of Whipple's to
march immediately, under the command of the former, to the frontiers of the state, and confront the enemy.  The militia officers were empowered to disarm the Tories.  A day of
fasting and prayer was ordered and observed.
Stark was then a private citizen. He had been a brigadier with Washington at Trenton
and Princeton, and, when the army went into winter-quarters at Morristown, returned to
New Hampshire on a recruiting expedition.    Having filled his regiments, he returned to
Exeter to await orders, and there learned that several junior officers had been promoted by
Congress, while he was left out of the list.  Feeling greatly aggrieved, he resigned  March
his commission and left the army, not, however, to desert his country in the hour of  1777.
peril, for, like General Schuyler, he was active for good while divested of military authority.
He was very popular, and the Assembly regarded him as a pillar of strength in upholding
the confidence and courage of the militia of the state.  That body offered him the command, and, laying aside his private griefs, he once more donned his armor and went to the
field, stipulating, however, that he should not be obliged to join the main army, but hang
upon the wing of the enemy on the borders of his state, strike when opportunity should offer,
according to his own discretion, and be accountable to no one but the Assembly of New
Hampshire.
Joy pervaded the militia when their favorite commander was announced as their chief,
and they cheerfully flocked to his standard, which was raised, first at Charleston and then
at Manchester, twenty miles north of Bennington, where Colonel Seth Warner, with his
Massachusetts men, was posted. This was only the remnant of the regiment that so gallantly opposed the enemy at Hubbardton on the 7th of July, and was then recruiting at
John Langdon was born at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1740. He received a mercantile education, and for several years prosecuted business upon the sea, and, when the Revolution broke out, was a
leading merchant in Portsmouth. He espoused the republican cause, and was one of the party which removed the powder and military stores from Fort William and Mary, at New Castle, in 1774. He was a
delegate in the Continental Congress in 1775 and 1776. For a short time he commanded a company of
volunteers in Vermont and on Rhode Island. He was Speaker of the Provincial Assembly of New Hamp.
shire, and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas in 1776 and 1777. He was Continental agent in New
Hampshire in 1779, and was again elected a delegate to Congress in 1783. He served in the Legislature
of his state for several years, and in 1788 was chosen President of New Hampshire. The next year he
was elected a member of the United States Senate, and in 1794 was re-elected for another term of six years.
From 1805 till 1811 he was four years governor of the state, and then retired into private life. He was
of Jefferson's political school, and in 1812 the majority in Congress selected him for Vice-president of the
United States, but he declined the honor. He died at Portsmouth, September 18th, 1819, aged seventyeight years.




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Stark's Refusal to accompany Lincoln. Censure of Congress. The Result. Movements to oppose Baume. Life of Stark.
August, Manchester. There Stark met General Lincoln, who had been sent by General
1777.  Schuyler, then in command of the Northern Department, to conduct him and his recruits to the Iudson.  Stark                                General Stark to conform himpositively refused to go, and                               self to the same rules which
exhibited the written terms                                  other general officers of the
upon which he had consented                                 militia were subject to whento appear in the field at all.                               ever they were called out at
His refusal was communica-              lthe expense of the United
ted to Congress, and that body               -               States."'  This  was sound
resolved  that   the                               military logic, but was not
August 19.
Assembly   of New                                  adapted to the circumstances
Hampshire should be inform-                                  in question.  General Stark,
ed that the instructions which   /                           as well as the Assembly of
they had given General Stark     ' "/.. -.    New Hampshire, knew better
were "destructive of milita-                                than Congress what policy, in
ry subordination, and highly                         '       the premises, was most conduprejudicial to the common                                       cive to the general good,
cause;" and the Assembly                                        and the sequel proved that
was desired "to instruct               C2'                      the apparent insubordination, which seemed so " highly prejudicial to the common cause," was productive of great
benefits to the country.  It was at this very juncture that Burgoyne was planning his expedition to Bennington, and on the day of the date of Baume's instructions Stark
uu  arrived at that place.
Informed of the presence of Indians at Cambridge, twelve miles north of Bennington, and
of their attack upon the party of Americans there,a he detached Lieutenant-colA  t 13. onel Gregg, with two hundred men, to oppose their march.     Toward night he
received information that a large body of the enemy, with a train of artillery, was in the
rear of the Indians, and in full march for Bennington.  Stark immediately rallied his brigade, with all the militia that had collected at Bennington, and sent out an urgent call for
the militia in the vicinity. He also sent an order to the officer in command of Colonel Warner's regiment, at Manchester, to march his men to Bennington immediately. The order
was promptly obeyed, and they arrived in the night, thoroughly drenched with rain. On
the morning of the 14th, about the time when Baume was at Van Schaick's Mills, Stark,2
with his whole force, was moving forward to support Colonel Gregg. He was accompanied by Colonels Warner, Williams, and Brush.    The regiment of the former was not with
him; they remained at Bennington, to dry themselves and prepare their arms for action.
After marching about five miles, they met Gregg retreating, and the enemy within a mile
1 Journals of Congress, vol. iii., 273.
9 John Stark was the son of a native of Glasgow, in Scotland, and was born in Londonderry, New Hampshire, August 28th, 1728. His father removed to Derryfield (now Manchester), on the Merrimac, in 1736.
While on a hunting expedition in 1752, young Stark was taken prisoner and carried off by a party of St.
Francis Indians. He was redeemed by a Boston friend for the sum of one hundred and three dollars, to pay
which he went on another hunting expedition on the Androscoggin. He served in Rogers's company of
Rangers during the French and Indian war, and was made a captain in 1756. Repairing to Cambridge on
hearing of the battle of Lexington, he received a colonel's commission, and on the same day enlisted eight hundred men. He fought bravely on Bunker Hill, his regiment forming a portion of the left of the American line,
and its only defense being a rail inclosure covered with hay. He went to Canada in the Spring of 1776, and
in the attack at Trenton commanded the van of the right wing. He was also in the battle of Princeton.
In March, 1777, he resigned his commission, and retired to his farm. He commanded the New Hampshire
militia at the battle of Bennington, in August, 1777, and in September enlisted a new and larger force, and
joined the Continental army, under Gates, with the rank of major general. He served in Rhode Island in
1778 and 1779, and in New Jersey in 1780. In 1781 he had the command of the Northern Department
at Saratoga. At the close of the war he left all public employments. In 1818 Congress voted him a pension of sixty dollars a month. He died on the 8th of May, 1822, in the ninety-third year of his age. He
was buried on a small hill near the Merrimac, at Manchester, and over his remains is a granite obelisk, inscribed with the words MAJOR GENERAL STARK. A costly monument is now in contemplation.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


395




Preparations for Battle. Disposition of the Enemy's Troops. English Plans of Battles. Errors, and Difficulties in Correction.
of him. Stark immediately disposed his army for battle, and Baume and his men, halting
advantageously upon high ground near a bend in the Walloomscoick River, began to intrench themselves.   Per-                 ceiving  this, Stark fell
BEN N NGTCO                          H E CtH    TS             back about a mile, to wait
^        for re-enforcements and
i —                       -7d                  arrange a plan of attack.
A.x. -_~-,            t  h:  Baume, in the mean time,
T  G          ==                      -.   0   <       alarmed at the strength of
i \                 r -- Gef     s                        the Americans, sent an exA., r-~ ---     5XV —         %             press to Burgoyne for aid.
aH              AV     - t | S"         Colonel Breyman was im' V_-_ //~,-,              ',,rp mediately dispatched with
-                                               about five hundred men,
IA  -t '        '.               b k,.'            but he did not arrive in
- -             a ~S, time to render essential
- Arnen                                ' ans           service.
The 15th was     August;ne'r ca-tts  y,.,        #.   v        rainy, and   both    1777 -_z  -  ~X I:,,.     v  parties employed the time
-/  X\                                  in  preparing for battle.
The Hessians and a corps:  '      /i         \. L    -.       Ad. \      of Rangers were strongly.1. X- -     -      -                        \.         intrenched upon the high
/  -                              \ \      ground north of the Wal-;. —.9.....:~ 7     loomscoick, and a party. w                 of Rangers and German
grenadiers were posted at
a ford (now the bridge near Mr. Barnet's), where the road to Bennington crossed the stream.
Some Canadians, and Peters's corps of Tories, were posted on the south side of the river,
near the ford.  At the foot of the declivity, on the east, near the mouth of a small creek,
some chasseurs were posted, and about a mile distant from the main intrenchments on the
height, on the south side of the river, Peters's American volunteers, or Tories, cast up a
breast-work. On the same side, upon the Bennington Road, Stark and the main body of
his army were encamped. The Walloomscoick, though called a river, is a small stream,
NoTE.-The map here given is a copy, reduced, of one drawn by Lieutenant Durnford, and published in
Burgoyne's " State of the Expedition," &c. The Walloomscoick is there erroneously called Hosack (meaning Hoosick), that river being nearly three miles distant from the place of the Hessian intrenchments. I
would here remark that we are obliged to rely almost solely upon British authorities for plans of our Revolutionary battles. They are, in general, correct, so far as relates to the disposition and movement of British troops, but are full of errors respecting the movements of the Americans, and also concerning the topography of the country, with which they were necessarily little acquainted. It is too late now to correct many
of these errors, for the living witnesses have departed, and the hearsay evidence of a younger generation is
not sufficiently certain to justify any important corrections in the published plans of the battles. I have, therefore, copied such maps as seemed most trustworthy, and endeavored, by slight alterations, and by descriptions in the text, to make them as correct as possible, as guides to a full understanding of the military operations of the time. In this particular, as well as in local traditions, great caution is necessary in receiving
testimony; and, where the subject has historical importance, I have uniformly rejected traditions, unless supported by other and concurrent authority, or the strongest probability.
The group upon this'map, composed of a drum without a head, a musket, sword, and grenadier's cap, is
a representation of those objects thus arranged and hanging over the door of the Massachusetts Senate Chamber at Boston. They are trophies of the Bennington battle, and were presented by General Stark to the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The grenadier's cap is made of a coarse fabric resembling flannel, dyed
red, and on the front is a large figured brass plate. The drum is brass; the sword has an enormous brass
guard and hilt; and the bayonet attached to the musket is blunted and bent.




396


PICTORIAL FIEL I: LD-BOOKO


396          PICORIAL FELD-BOO


Skirmishing in the Rain.  The Hessian Encampment.  A bellicose Clergyman.  Stark's Promise and Fulfillment.
every where fordable when the water is of ordinary depth. Lying in the midst of high
hills, its volume is often suddenly increased by rains.
Notwithstanding the rain fell copiously on the 15th, there was some skirmishing. The
Americans, in small parties, fell upon detachments of the enemy; and so annoying did this
mode of warfare become, that the Indians began to desert Colonel Baume, "i because," as
they told him,,( the woods were filled with Yankees."  The Hessians continued their works
upon the hill.  By night they were strongly intrenched, and had mounted two pieces of
ordnance which they brought with them.
ices
THE BENNINGTON BATTLE-GROUND.'
During the night of the 15th, Colonel Symonds, with a body of Berkshire militia, arrived.
Among them    was the Rev. Mr. Allen, of Pittsfield, whose bellicose ardor was of the most
glowing kind. Before daylight, and while the rain was yet falling, the impatient shepherd,
who had many of his flock with him, went to Stark, and said, (i General, the people of Berkshire have often been summoned to the field without being allowed to fight, and, if you do
not now give them a chance, they have resolved never to turn out again."     " Well," said
Stark, "( do you wish to march now, while it is dark and raining?"   (" No, not just this
moment," replied the minister of peace.  "( Then," said the general, "- if the Lord shall once
more give us sunshine, and I do not give you fighting enough, I'll never ask you to come out
again." Sunshine did indeed come with the morrow, for at the opening of the dawn the
clouds broke away, and soon all Nature lay smiling in the warm sunlight of a clear August
morning; and "- fighting enough" was also given the parson and his men, for it was a day
of fierce conflict.
August 16,  Early in the morning the troops of both parties prepared for action.  Stark had
1777.   arranged a plan of attack, and, after carefully reconnoitering the enemy at the disThis view is from the hill on the the southwest bank of the Walloomscoick, a little west of the road from
the bridge to Starkville, looking northeast. The road over this hill existed at the time of the battle, and is
laid down on the map, page 395. The river, which here makes a sudden bend, is seen at two points-near
the cattle, and at the bridge, in the distance, on the right. The house on the left, near the bridge, is Mr.
Barnet's, and the road that crosses the center of the picture from right to left is the road from Bennington
to Van Schaick's or North Hoosick. It passes along the riverat, at the foot of the hills where the battle
occurred. The highest point on the distant hills, covered with woods, is the place where the Hessians were
intrenched. From that point, along the hills to the left, for about two miles, the conflict was carried on;
and upon the slopes, now cultivated, musket-balls and other relics of the battle have been plowed up.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


397


Commencement of the Battle of Bennington. Terror and Flight of the Indians. Victory for the Americans. Second Battle.
tance of a mile, proceeded to act upon it. Colonel Nichols, with two hundred men, was detached up the little creek that empties into the Walloomscoick above the bridge, to attack
the enemy's left in the rear, and Colonel Herrick was sent with three hundred to fall upon
the rear of their right, with orders to form a junction with Nichols before making a general
assault. Colonels Hubbard and Stickney were ordered to march down the Walloomscoick
with two hundred men, to the right of the enemy, and with one hundred men in front, near
Peters's intrenched corps, in order to divert Baume's attention to that point.  Thus arranged,
the action commenced at three o'clock in the afternoon, on the rear of the enemy's left, by
Colonel Nichols, who marched up from the deep-wooded valley, and fell furiously upon the
Hessian intrenchments. At the same moment the other portions of the American army
advanced to the attack. As soon as the first volley from Nichols's detachment was heard,
Stark, who remained with the main body at his camp, sprang to his saddle and gave the
word ", Forward!" They pressed onward to the hill above the Tory intrenchments, and
there the whole field of action was open to their view.  The heights were wreathed in the
smoke of the cannon and musketry, and along the slopes and upon the plains the enemy was
forming into battle order.' The Americans rushed down upon the Tories, drove them across
the stream, and, following after them, the whole of both armies was soon engaged in the
fight.  "It lasted," says Stark, in his official account, ", two hours, and was the hottest I
ever saw.  It was like one continued clap of thunder."  The Tories, who were driven across
the river, were thrown in confusion on the Hessians, who were forced from their breast-works
on the heights.  The Indians, alarmed at the prospect of being surrounded, fled at the commencelnent of the action, between the corps of Nichols and Herrick, with horrid yells and
the jingling of cow-bells, and the weight of the conflict finally fell upon the brave corps of
Reidesel's dragoons, led by Colonel Baume in person. They kept their column unbroken,
and, when their ammunition was exhausted, were led to the charge with the sword. But
they were finally overpowered, and gave way, leaving their artillery and baggage on the
field.  The Americans, like the dragoons, displayed the most indomitable courage.  With
their brown firelocks, scarce a bayonet, little discipline, and not a single piece of cannon, they
ventured to attack five hundred well-trained regulars, furnished with the best and most complete arms and accouterments, having two pieces of artillery, advantageously posted, and accompanied by one hundred Indians. The mingled incentives of a defense of homes and promises of plunder' made the American militia fight with the bravery of disciplined veterans.
As soon as the field was won, the Americans dispersed to collect plunder.  This nearly
proved fatal to them, for at that moment Colonel Breyman arrived with his re-enforcements
for Baume. They had approached within two miles before Stark was apprised of their proximnity.  The heavy rain on the preceding day had kept them back, and, although their march
had been accelerated on hearing the noise of the battle just ended, they could not reach the
field in time to join in the action. They met the flying party of Baume, which made a rally,
and the whole body pushed forward toward the abandoned intrenchments on the heights.
Stark endeavored to rally his militia, but they were too much scattered to be well arranged
for battle, and the fortunes of the day were, for a moment, in suspense.  Happily the corps
of Colonel Warner, which was left at Bennington in the morning, arrived at this juncture,
fresh and well armed, and fell vigorously upon the enemy. Stark, with what men he had
been able to collect, pushed forward to his assistance.  The battle continued with obstinacy
until sunset.  It was a sort of running conflict, partly on the plains and partly on the hills,
from the heights to Van Schaick's, where the enemy made his last stand, and then fled toward the Hoosick. The Americans pursued them until dark, and Stark was then obliged
I It was at this moment that Stark made the laconic speech to his men, which popular tradition has preserved: "See there, men! there are the red-coats. Before night they are ours, or Molly Stark will be a
widow!" This speech, it is said, brought forth a tremendous shout of applause from the eager troops,
which greatly alarmed the Loyalists in their works below.
" General Stark, in his orders in the morning, promised his soldiers all the plunder that should be taken
in the enemy's camp.-Gordon, ii., 244.




398


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Pursuit of the Enemy.  Loss in the Battle.  Stark's Popularity.  Visit to the Battle-ground.  Anecdotes.
to draw off his men to prevent them from firing upon each other in the gloom of evening.
Seven hundred of the enemy were made prisoners, among whom was Colonel Baume. He
was wounded, and died soon afterward.   "( Another hour of daylight," said Stark, in his official report, " and I would have captured the whole body." Besides the prisoners, four
pieces of brass cannon, two hundred and fifty dragoon swords, several hundred stand of arms,
eight brass drums, and four ammunition wagons were secured. Two hundred and seven of
the enemy were killed. The loss of the Americans was about one hundred killed, and as
many wounded. General Stark had a horse killed under him, but was not injured himself.
The total loss of the enemy in killed, wounded, and prisoners was nine hundred and thirtyfour, including one hundred and fifty-seven Tories.1
This victory was hailed with great joy throughout the land.  It was another evidence of
the spirit and courage of the American militia when led to the field by a good commander.2
It also crippled the strong arm of Burgoyne, and revived the spirits of the American army
at Cohoes and Stillwater.   The loud commendatory voice of the people forced Congress to
overlook the insubordination of General Stark, which seemed so < highly prejudicial to the
common cause," and on the 4th of October resolved, "( That the thanks of Congress be
p resented to General Stark, of the New Hampshire militia, and the officers and troops
under his command, for their brave and successful attack upon, and signal victory over, the
enemy in their lines at Bennington; and that Brigadier Stark be appointed a brigadier general in the army of the United States."s
When I visited the Bennington battle-ground, every ancient resident in the vicinity, who
had been familiar with the locality, had departed, and I was unable to find a person who
could point out the exact place of the German intrenchments. A vendue, a few miles distant, had attracted the men from home; but, through the general familiarity with the scenes
of Mr. Richmond, of Hoosick Four Corners, who accompanied me, and aided by the map of
Lieutenant Durnford, which I had with me, the points of interest were easily recognized.
Ascending the rough hills northeast of Mr. Barnet's, we soon found, upon the highest knoll
on the crown of the timbered heights, traces of the German intrenchments. Portions of the
banks and ditches are quite prominent, and for several rods on all sides the timber is young,
the spot having been cleared by the enemy. Descending the gentle slope northward, we
emerged into cleared fields, whence we had a fine view of the valleys of the White Creek
on the north and of the Walloomscoick4 on the east. Here was the place where Colonel
Nichols made his first attack upon the rear of the enemy's left.  The view of the Walloomseoick Valley was one of the finest I ever beheld.  From our point of vision it stretched away
to the eastward, its extremity bounded by the lofty Green Mountains, about nine miles disGordon, Ramsay, Thacher, Marshall, Allen. Burgoyne's Defense, Stedman, Everett's Life of Stark.
2 There are several anecdotes related in connection with this battle, which exhibit the spirit of the people
and the soldiers. Thacher says that an old man had five sons in the battle. On being told that one of them
was unfortunate, he exclaimed, "What, has he misbehaved? Did he desert his post or shrink from the
charge?"  "Worse than that," replied his informant. " He was slain, but he was fighting nobly."  "Then
I am satisfied," replied the old man; " bring him to me." After the battle the body of his son was brought
to him. The aged father wiped the blood from the wound, and said, while a tear glistened in his eyes,
"This is the happiest day of my life, to know that my five sons fought nobly for freedom, though one has
fallen in the conflict." This was an exhibition of old Spartan patriotism.
When Warner's regiment came into the field, Stark rode up and ordered a captain to lead his men into
action. " Where's the colonel [Warner]? I want to see him first," he coolly replied. The colonel was
sent for, and the captain, in a nasal tone, said, " Well, colonel, what d'ye want I should do?"  " Drive those
red-coats from the hill yonder," replied Warner. " Well, it shall be done," said the captain, and in an instant himself and men were on the run for the thickest of the battle.
3 Journal of Congress, iii., 327. In passing the last clause of the resolution, the yeas and nays were required and taken. There was but one dissenting voice, Mr. Chase, of Maryland. The delegates from Virginia did not vote.
4 This is said to be a Dutch word, signifying Walloom's Patent. It is variously spelled. On Durnford's
map it is Walmscock. On Tryon's map of the state of New York, 1779, it is Wallamschock; and others
spell it Wallamsac, Wolmseec, and Walmsook. The orthography which I have adopted is that which the
New York records exhibit, and is doubtless correct.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


399


View of the Walloomscoick Valley.  Incident while Sketching.  Insurrection in that Vicinity.  Its Suppression.
tant, which formed a line of deeper blue than the sky, the tint broken a little by gray cliffs
and bald summits reflecting occasional gleams of the evening sun. Through the rich intervales of the broad basin, the winding Walloomscoick, traversed by the highway, glistened
at various points among the groves that shade its banks; and the whole valley, dotted with
farm-houses, presents one picture of peaceful industry.  On the right, seven miles distant,
and nestled among the hills near the Green Mountains, lies Bennington, the white spire of
whose church was seen above the intervening forests.  From the heights we could plainly
discern a brick house in the valley, that belonged, during the Revolution, to a Tory named
Mathews.   It is remarkable only for its position, and the consequences which sometimes resulted therefrom. It stands upon the line between New York and Vermont, and in it center the corner points of four towns-Bennington, Shaftsbury, Hoosick, and White Creek;
also, those of the counties of Bennington, Washington, and Rensselaer. The occupant had
only to step from one room to another, to avoid the operation of a legal process that might
be issued against him in any one of the counties or four towns.
Descending the heights, we crossed the bridge at the old ford, near Barnet's, and went
down the river, on its southern side, to Starkville.  From the hill a few rods south of the
place where Peters's Tories were intrenched (slight traces of the mounds were still visible)
we had a fine view of the whole battle-ground. I tarried long enough upon the brow of
the hill, near the river, to make the sketch on page 396. While thus engaged, a low bellow, frequently repeated, attracted my attention, and, seeming to approach nearer, induced
me to reconnoiter. Toward the foot of the hill a huge bull was pawing the earth, and making menacing advances up the slope. He had mistaken my cloak, fluttering in the wind,
for a formal challenge to combat, and seemed about advancing to the charge. Regarding
an honorable retreat as a wiser measure than the risk of a probable defeat, I gathered up
my "( implements of trade," and retired to the fence, thinking all the way of the similarlychased negro's use of Henry Laurens's motto, "Millions for de fence."  It was sunset when
we reached Van Schaick's on our return, and I had barely light sufficient to complete the
drawing of the old mill on page 391, for heavy clouds were gathering. The twilight was
brief, and darkness was upon us when we arrived at Hoosick Four Corners.
There was an insurrectionary movement among the militia in this vicinity in 1781. Situated above the north line of Massachusetts, the country was within the claimed jurisdiction
of the New Hampshire Grants. The animosities between the state government of New York
and the people of the Grants, which the active Revolutionary operations in that quarter had,
for a time, quieted, now that those operations had ceased, were renewed in all their former
vigor.  So warm became the controversy, that, on the 1st of December, an insurrec- 1
tion broke out in the regiments of Colonels John and Henry K. Van Rensselaer.  The  8
regiment of Colonel Peter Yates also became disaffected, and, indeed, a large portion of the
militia between the Batten Kill and the Hoosick seemed disposed to take sides with the lawless people of the Grants, who disregarded the urgent demands of patriotism at that juncture.
These disturbances arose in " Scaghticoke, St. Coych,1 and parts adjacent."  The insurgent
regiments belonged to General Gansevoort's brigade.  He heard of the defection on the 5th,
and immediately directed Colonels Yates, Van Vechten, and Henry K. Van Rensselaer, whose
regiments were the least tainted, to collect such troops as they could, and march to St. Coych,
to quell the insurrection. An express was sent to Governor Clinton, at Poughkeepsie, who
readily perceived that the movement had its origin among the people of the Grants.  With
his usual promptness, he ordered the brigade of General Robert Van Rensselaer to the assistance of Gansevoort, and gave the latter all necessary latitude in raising troops for the exigency. Gansevoort repaired to Saratoga, and solicited troops and a field piece from General
Stark, who was stationed there.  The latter declined compliance, on the plea that his troops
were too poorly clad to leave their quarters at that season, and also that he thought it im1 This place was Van Schaick's Mill, now North Hoosick. The name was variously written by the early
historians-St. Coych, Sancoix, Saintcoix, &c.




400


P FCTOR RIA L FIEL LD-BOOKO


Stark and Governor Chittenden.  End of the Insurrection.  Ride to Troy.  The Housatonic Valley.  Danbury.
proper to interfere without an order from General Heath, his superior.  Governor Chittenden, of the Grants, had just addressed a letter to Stark, requesting him not to interfere; and,
as his sympathies were with the Vermonters, that was doubtless the true cause of his withholding aid from Gansevoort. The latter, with what volunteers he could raise, pushed on
to St. Coych, where he discovered a motley force of about five hundred men, advancing to
sustain the insurgent militia. Having only eighty men with him, Gansevoort retired about
five miles, and attempted to open a correspondence with the leaders of the rebellion.  He
was unsuccessful, and the rebels remained undisturbed.  Early in January following,
1782.
Washington wrote a calm and powerful letter to Governor Chittenden, which had great
effect in quelling disturbances there, and no serious consequences grew out of the movement.
September   I left Hoosick at nine on the morning of the 28th, on the Bennington mail-coach,
1848.  for Troy.  It was full inside, and the driver was flanked by a couple of passengers.  The only vacant seat was one covered by a sheep-skin, upon the coach-roof-a delightful place on a pleasant morning, but now the lowering clouds betokened a storm.  It
was " Hobson's choice," however, and, mounting the perch, I had a fine view of a portion
of the Hoosick Valley.  The high hills that border it are cultivated to their summits, and
on every side large flocks of Saxony sheep were grazing.1 As we moved slowly up the ravine, the clouds broke, the wind changed, and, when we reached the high rolling table-land
west of the valley, a bleak nor'wester came sweeping over the hills from the distant peaks
of the Adirondack and other lofty ranges near the sources of the Hudson.  Detained on the
road by the cracking of an axle, it was nearly sunset when we reached Troy.  I had intended to start for Connecticut that evening, but, as the cars had left, I rode to Albany, and departed in the early morning train for the Housatonic Valley and Danbury.
The country from Albany to the State Line,2 where the Housatonic and Western Rail-roads
unite, is quite broken, but generally fertile.  Sweeping down the valley at the rate of twenty
miles an hour, stopping for a few minutes only to take in wood and water, the traveler has
very little opportunity to estimate the character of the region through which he is passing.
The picture in my memory represents a narrow, tortuous valley, sometimes dwindling to a
rocky ravine a few rods wide, and then expanding into cultivated flats half a mile in breadth,
with a rapid stream, broken into riffs and small cascades, running parallel with our course,
and the whole surrounded on all sides by lofty hills, densely wooded with maples, oaks, hickories, and chestnuts.  At New Milford the narrow valley spreads out into a broad and beautiful plain, whereon the charming village stands.  Thence to Hawleyville the country is
again very broken, but more generally redeemed from barrenness by cultivation.
At Hawleyville I left the rail-road, and took the mail-coach for Danbury, seven and a half
miles westward, where we arrived at two o'clock.  This village, one of the oldest in the state,
is pleasantly situated upon a plain on the banks of a small stream, about twenty miles north
from Long Island Sound. Its Indian name was Pahquioque, and the first eight families
that settled there, in 1685, purchased the land from the aboriginal proprietors.3  There is
nothing remarkable in its early history, aside from the struggles, privations, and alarms incident to a new Christian settlement in the midst of pagans.  In truth, it seems to have
enjoyed more than ordinary prosperity and repose through the colonial period, but a terrible
blight fell upon it during our war for independence.
Wool is the staple production of this region. The first flock of Saxony sheep in Hoosick was introduced
by a German named H. De Grove, about 1820. The price at which these sheep were then held was enormous, some bucks having been sold as high as five hundred dollars. But the great losses incurred in speculations in merino sheep, a few years previous, made people cautious, and the Saxony sheep soon commanded only their fair value. In 1845 the number of sheep of this fine breed in the town of Hoosick was fiftysix thousand.
a The State Line station is upon the boundary between New York and Massachusetts, thirty-eight miles
from Albany and eleven from Pittsfield.
3 Their names were Taylor, Bushnell, Barnum, Hoyt, two Benedicts, Beebe, and Gregory. They were all
from Norwalk, on the Sound, except Beebe, who came from Stratford.-See Robbins's Century Sermon, 1801.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


Tryon's Expedition to Danbury.            Trumbull's "M'Fingal."               Life of the Author.
CHAPTER XVIII.
" When Yankees, skill'd in martial rule,
First put the British troops to school;
Instructed them in warlike trade,
And new maneuvers of parade;
The true war-dance of Yankee reels,
And manual exercise of heels;
Made them give up, like saints complete,
The arm of flesh and trust the feet,
And work, like Christians undissembling,
Salvation out with fear and trembling."
TRUMBULL.1:?           v   HE expedition to Danbury, in the spring of 1777, conducted by Govs    t        ernor Tryon, of New York, in person, was, in its inception, progress,
and result, disgraceful to the British character, no less on account of
the barbarity and savageism displayed than of the arrant cowardice
that marked all the movements of the marauders.     Sir William Howe
did well for his own character, in disclaiming any approval of the acts
of Tryon on that occasion, and in endeavoring to excuse the leader of
the expedition by pleading the apparent necessity of such harsh measures.   Every generous American should be ready to accord all the
honor, skill, bravery, and humanity which often belonged to British officers during the war,
for some of them, despite the relation which they held to our people struggling for freedom,
demand our admiration and regard.      But these very officers, guided by a false philosophy,
and the instructions of ministers grossly ignorant of the temper and character of the colonists,
planned and executed measures which every true Briton then condemned, and which every
true Briton now abhors. The destruction of Danbury, and, two years later, of Norwalk and
This is quoted from a political poem in three cantos, by John Trumbull, LL.D., called "M'Fingal,"
which gained for the author much celebrity in America and Europe. The first part of the poem was written in 1775, and published in Philadelphia, where the Continental Congress was then in session. Numerous editions appeared, and it was republished in England. It was not finished until 1782, when the whole
was printed at Hartford, in three cantos. It is in the Hudibrastic strain, " and," says Griswold, "is much
the best imitation of the great satire of Butler that has been written." The author was born in Waterbury,
Connecticut, in 1750. So extraordinary was thedevelopment of his intellect, that he received lessons in
Greek and Latin before he was six years old, and was pronounced fit to enter Yale College at the age of
seven. He entered college at thirteen, and went successfully through the whole course of studies. In
1771 he and Timothy Dwight were elected tutors in Yale, and in 1773 he was admitted to the practice
of the law. He went to Boston, entered the office of John Adams, and there, in the focus of Revolutionary politics, his republican principles had full play. He commenced the practice of law in New Haven toward the close of 1774, and there he wrote his " M'Fingal." He had already acquired considerable celebrity as a poet. He removed to Hartford in 1782. Joel Barlow, Colonel David Humphries, and Timothy
Dwight were among his most intimate literary friends. He was one of the " four bards with Scripture
names" whom a London satirist noticed, in some verses commencing,
"David and Jonathan, Joel and Timothy,
Over the water set up the hymn of the," &c.
In 1800 Trumbull was elected a member of the Legislature, and, the year following, a Judge of the Superior Court. He was Judge of the Supreme Court of Errors from 1808 to 1819. His poems were collected and published in 1820, and in 1825 he removed to Detroit, where he died in 1831, in the 81st year
of his age.


c c




402


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Landing of the British at Compo.  Object of the Expedition.  Rising of the Militia.  Character of the People.
Fairfield; the massacre of Baylor's corps at Tappan and Wayne's detachment at Paoli, are
among the records which Britons would gladly blot out. Aside from the cold-blooded murder and incendiarism involved, there was cowardice displayed of the most abject kind.  In
each case, when their work of destruction was effected, the troops displayed the
" Manual exercise of heels"
when fleeing back to their respective camps.
On Friday, the 25th of April, 1777, twenty-six sail of British vessels appeared off Norwalk Islands, standing in for Cedar Point.  It was a mild, sunny afternoon.  The inhabitants of Norwalk and Fairfield, aware of their approach, took measures for the defense of
their respective towns.  But both villages were, at that time, spared.  A little before sunset about two thousand well-armed troops landed upon the long beach at the foot of the beautiful hill of Compo, on the eastern side of the Saugatuck River, and near its mouth.  They
-, -                                         -..,' 7
DISTANT VIEW OF COMPO.1
were commanded by Governor William Tryon, assisted by Generals Agnew and Sir William
Erskine. The expedition had been fitted out by Sir William Howe at New York, its ostensible object being the destruction of American military stores at Danbury.  The force
marched about seven miles into the country that evening, where they rested until toward
daylight.  Clouds had gathered during the night, and rain began to fall.  Resuming their
march, they reached Reading, eight miles southeast of Danbury, at eight in the morning,
where they halted and breakfasted.
General Silliman, who was attached to the Connecticut militia, was at his residence at
Fairfield when the enemy landed.   He immediately sent out expresses to alarm the country
and collect the militia.  The call was responded to,2 and early the next morning he started
in pursuit.  He reached Reading about noon, where his force amounted to five hundred
men. He was there joined by Generals Wooster and Arnold, with a small number of militia.  These officers, who were at New Haven, on hearing of the invasion, started immediately to the aid of Silliman. The Americans continued the pursuit as far as Bethel, within
four miles of Danbury. They did not reach Bethel until eleven o'clock at night, owing to
a heavy rain.   There they determined to halt and postpone their attack upon the enemy
until he should attempt to return to his shipping.
April26    The British, piloted by two young men of Danbury-Stephen Jarvis and Eli
1777.  Benedict-reached the village between one and two o'clock in the afternoon.  They
This view is from the top of a high hill northeast of the dwelling of Mr. Ebenezer Smith, near Norwalk.
Its long sand-bar is seen stretching into the Sound on the right, and over the lowest extremity of the point
the shade trees of Fairfield are visible. The water on the left is the mouth of the Saugatuck River, and
that in the distance, on the right, is Long Island Sound.
The people of this region were extremely patriotic, and never hesitated a moment when their country
called. Before actual hostilities commenced (March, 1775), a company of one hundred men was enlisted
in Danbury, for the colonial service, and joined a regiment of Connecticut troops, under Colonel Waterbury.
They were engaged in active service until Montgomery reached Montreal, in December, when they returned home without the loss of a single man. The last survivor, David Weed, died in Danbury, June 13th,
1842, aged ninety-four years. When this little band of one hundred men left for Lake Champlain, their
friends regarded them as lost. When they all returned, many of those very friends were in their graves,
swept away by a prevalent dysentery.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


403


Enemy's March to Danbury.  Entrance into the Village.  Anecdotes of Holcomb and Hamilton.  Officers' Head-quarters.
proceeded through Weston, by Reading Church, over Hoyt's Hill and through Bethel;' and
so expeditious was their march, that the people of Danbury were not warned of their approach until they were within eight miles of the town. Then all was confusion and alarm.
Although the chief object of the invaders-the capture or destruction of the military stores
-was understood, the Revolutionary party felt a presentiment that the expedition was fraught
with cruelty and woes.    Some fled, with the women and children and a few movable effects,
to the woods and adjacent towns, while others remained to watch and guard the sick and
aged who could not depart. There was a small militia force of only one hundred and fifty
in the town, under Colonels Cook and Huntington, when the enemy approached'-too few
to attempt resistance.  When Tryon entered the village at the south.   rend, Huntington and his troops, who
were mostly without arms, retired
across the Still River at the north,
Tryon established his head-quarters at the house of a Loyalist nai-                                  i
ed Dibble, at the south end of the- Danury
village, and near the public stores.
Generals Agnew and Erskine madhe
their head-quarters in a house near
the bridge, at the upper end of the
main   street, now  owned by Mr.                                                         i
troops at night.
As soon as the enemy entered the town they began to insult and abuse the people, but comAt this place the enemy was brought to a halt by a single resolute American named Luther Holcomb.
Wishing to give the people of Danbury as much time as possible to escape, or prepare for resistance, he
rode to the brow of a hill over which the invaders were about to march, and, waving his hat, and turning,
as if to address an army behind him, exclaimed, " Halt the whole universe! break off into kingdoms!"  It
was a mighty host whose obedience he evoked. Tryon was alarmed. He caused his army to halt, and,
arranging his cannon so as to bear upon the supposed opponents, sent out flanking parties to reconnoiter.
Finding himself in danger of being surrounded, Holcomb put spurs to his horse and retreated to Danbury.
2 On hearing of the approach of the enemy, Colonel Cook sent to General Silliman for arms and ammunition. The messenger was Lambert Lockwood, who, coming suddenly upon the British troops near Reading Church, was made a prisoner. Tryon recognized him as a young man who had given him aid when
his carriage broke down while passing through Norwalk.  On that account he took Lockwood under his
protection, but, in his hasty retreat from Danbury, left him to take care of himself. Tryon was writing a
protection for him when he was informed that the Americans were coming. The governor dropped his pen
and seized his sword, and the protection remained unwritten.
3 When the British approached, a citizen named Hamilton resolved to save a piece of cloth which was at
a clothier's at the lower end of the village. He had just mounted his horse with the cloth, and fastened one
end to the saddle, when the British advanced guard appeared. Three light horsemen started in pursuit of
Hamilton, whose horse was less fleet than theirs. Drawing near to him, one of the troopers exclaimed,
"Stop, old daddy, stop! We'll have you."  "Not yet," said Hamilton, and at that moment his roll of
cloth unfurled, and, fluttering like a streamer behind him, so frightened the troopers' horses that the old
man got several rods the start. The chase continued through the town to the bridge at the upper end.
Several times the troopers would attempt to strike, but the cloth was always in the way. The pursuit was
finally abandoned, and the old man escaped.
4 This house is on the south bank of Still River, at the north end of the main street. It was built by Benjamin Knapp, in 1770, and was owned by him at the time of the invasion. His birth-place is also standing, on the north side of the river. They were among the few houses not burned. At the bridge seen on
the right the British planted a cannon, and kept a strong guard there until their departure. This house is
now (1848) owned by Noah Knapp.




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Imprudence of some Citizens.    Retaliation of the British.  Destruction of Stores and of the Village.
mitted no great excesses. Had the inhabitants who remained kept quiet, the town might
have been saved from conflagration; but four men,' whose feelings were wrought to the highest pitch by the free use of liquor, madly placed themselves in a large and valuable dwelling near the court-house, belonging to Major Starr, and, as the van of the British army approached, fired upon them several times from the windows, without effect. The exasperated
troops rushed into the house, seized the men, thrust them into the cellar, and burned the
building over their heads. The unhappy men perished in the flames, victims of most egregious folly.
The public stores were now attacked. The Episcopal Church was filled with barrels of
pork and flour as high as the galleries, and two other buildings were also filled with provisions.  One of them, the barn of Mr. Dibble, is still stand1848.
ing, on the southwest side of Main Street, at the lower end      -:
of the town.  The American commissioners made use of it without his consent.  Being a Tory, his barn was spared, and all the.       Si
stores in it were saved.  Those in the church were taken into     -:
the street and destroyed.  The liquors were freely used by the
soldiery, and they passed the night in drinking and carousing....
As yet, the torch had not been applied.  The sky was cloudy            ^
and the night was intensely dark.   Having marched a greater           DIBLE'
portion of the preceding night, the troops were much exhausted
by fatigue and want of sleep.  Those who remained awake were intoxicated, except a few
sentinels. The force of two thousand men that landed at Compo was reduced, in reality,
to three hundred; and could the American generals at Bethel have known the exact state
of things in the hostile camp, they might have annihilated the invaders.  Tryon was on the
alert, and slept but little.  He was apprised by a Tory scout of the gathering of the militia
at Bethel.   Knowing the present weakness of his army, he resolved on flight, and accordApril 27, ingly, before daylight on Sunday morning, his troops were put in marching order.
1777.  Fire-brands were applied to every house in the village, except those belonging to
Tories.  These had been marked with a conspicuous cross the previous evening.      At the
dawn of day the enemy marched toward Ridgeway, while for miles around the country was
illumined by the burning village.2
" Through solid curls of smoke the bursting fires
Climb in tall pyramids above the spires,
Concentering all the winds, whose forces, driven
With equal rage fron every point of heaven,
Wheel into conflict, round the scantling pour
The twisting flames, and through the rafters roar;
Suck up the cinders, send them sailing far,
To warn the nations of the raging war."
JOEL BARLOW.'
Joshua Porter, Eleazer Starr, -  Adams, and a negro.
Robbins's Century Sermon.
This is quoted from the Columbiad, a long epic-the American Revolution its theme. The author was
one of the poets of the Revolution whose writings have outlived them. Dwight, Trumbull, Humphries,
Hopkins, and a few other men of literary reputation in Connecticut, were his friends and associates. He
was a native of Reading, Connecticut, where he was born in 1755. He was the youngest in a family of
ten. He graduated at Yale College in 1778. He recited an original poem on taking his bachelor's degree,
but it possesses little merit. Four of his brothers were in the Continental army, and during his collegiate
vacation he went to the field as chaplain. He was in the battle at White Plains, and displayed good courage in several minor engagements. He married the daughter of the Hon. Abraham Baldwin, of New Haven, and in 1783 removed to Westford, where he commenced the publication of the " Mercury."  He was
admitted to the bar in 1785, and the same year, at the request of several Congregational ministers, prepared and published an enlarged and improved edition of Watts's version of the Psalms,'and added to them
a collection of hymns, several of them his own. His " Vision of Columbus" was published in 1787. It
was dediacted to the unfortunate Louis XVI. In London and Paris it was reprinted, and received considc<rIule applause. He was engaged, with the literary friends just named, in publishing a satirical poem called




OF THE REVOLUTION.


Estimated Damage.     Revolutionary Men.    Levi Osborn.     Joel Barlow.     The Sandemanians.
Nineteen dwellings, the meeting-house of the New Danbury Society, and twenty-two stores
and barns, with all their contents, were consumed.     The exact amount of military stores
that were destroyed is not known, but, from the best information that could be obtained,
there were about three thousand barrels of pork, more than one thousand barrels of flour,
four hundred barrels of beef, one thousand six hundred tents, and two thousand bushels of
grain, besides many,other articles, such as rum, wine, rice, army carriages, &c.    A comnittee appointed to appraise the private losses estimated the whole amount at nearly eighty
thousand dollars.
On inquiring for men of the Revolution in Danbury, I was referred to three, all of whom I
had the pleasure of seeing. I first called upon the venerable Levi Osborn, then a September,
eighty-six years of age.a  He resided in Danbury when the village was burned,        1848.
and remained, amid the jeers of Tories and the insults of the invaders, to protect an aged and
sick parent.   He is a leader of the sect of Sandemanians, of the division known as ", Osbornites."'  His naturally strong mind was yielding to the pressure of bodily infirmities, yet
he still lives, an honored representative of the men of 1776.
After sketching Knapp's house, printed on page 403, I walked down to the old burialground, toward the lower part of the village, where the remains of many of the men of the
the Anarchiad, which had considerable influence. In 1791 he published in London his "idvice to the
Privileged Orders," and, the fol-                                Washington, known afterward
lowing year, The Conspiracy of                                  as "Kalorama."   The Columthe Kings. He had some corre-,,j                biad, the original Vision of Cospondence with the French Na-                                    lumbus greatly altered, was pubtional Assembly, and, on going                      t L          lished in 1808, in a splendid quarto Paris, was honored by the gift!          to, richly illustrated. Its merits
of citizenship, and made France                                  have been variously estimated,
his home. His time was devot-                                   some regarding it as a fit corned chiefly to commercial pur-                                    panion of the Iliad, Aneid, and
suits, by which he amassed a                      i              Paradise Lost, and others allowfortune. He traveled some on. i:-    ing it only a small share of merthe Continent, and in Piedmont   '                 g/    "       it.  Mr. Barlow had prepared
wrote a poem  called " Hasty         -'iito write a history of the United
Pudding," the most popular of                                    States, in 1811, when the design
his writings. Returning to Par-                                  was frustrated by his being apis in 1795, he was appointed by  /   N                           pointed minister plenipotentiary
Washington consul at Algiers,        \' /                        to the French government. In
with pbwer to negotiate a treaty                m     K          the autumn of 1812 he was inof commerce with the dey, and                                    vited by the Duke of Bassano to
with Tunis and Tripoli. After7                                   a conference with Napoleon at
an absence of seventeen years,                                   Wilna, in Poland. He traveled
he returned to the United States,                               thitherward without halting to
and built a splendid mansion on.   -     -,          rest. The fatigue and exposure
the bank of the Potomac, near                                    brought on an inflammation of
the lungs, which caused his death, at an obscure village near Cracow named Zarnowica, on the 2d of December, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. He has been charged with abjuration of Christianity, but the accusation rests solely upon inferences. In private life he was pure and greatly beloved, and his public career
was without spot or blemish. —.llen's Biographical Dictionary; Griswold's American Poets.
This small sect derives its name from its founder, Robert Sandeman, a native of Perth, in Scotland.
He came to America in 1764, and in Boston and Danbury organized societies in accordance with his peculiar religious notions. His doctrines were similar to those of Calvin, and his distinguishing tenet was, that
"faith was a mere intellectual belief-a bare belief of the bare truth."  Like other founders of sects, he
claimed to belong to the only true Church. His followers meet on the Sabbath and Thursday afternoons of
each week, and, seated around a large circular table, each with a copy of the Scriptures, the men read and
comment on them as they are moved by desire. The females are silent. The attending congregation not
members are mere spectators, and the worshipers seem not to notice their presence. They have prayer
and singing, after which they go to the house of one of the members, and partake of a feast of love. Their
morals are of the purest kind, and their influence in society is exceedingly salutary. The two divisions are
known as the Baptist Sandemanians and the Osbornites. The former practice baptism, the latter do not.
Of late years none have joined them, and death is reducing their number. There are a few in England.
Mr. Sandeman died at Danbury in 1771, aged fifty-three years. His grave is marked by a handsome marble slab, bearing his name and an epitaph.




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Obscurity of Wooster's Grave.  Resolves of Congress.  A centenarian Loyalist.  Treatment by his Neighbors.
Revolution rest, and among them those of the brave General Wooster, who fell, as we shall
presently observe, while gallantly opposing Tryon and his marauders on their retreat from
Danbury. Not even a rough stone of the field marks his grave, and no mnan living can
now identify it!    The fact is a disgrace to the people, past and present, among whom he
fell in battle; and the government, whose representatives, with grateful appreciation of his
services, long ago voted money to erect a monument to his memory,' is guilty of positive ingratitude in so long withholding the paltry sum, while the long grass is weaving a web of
utter obscurity over his dust.
From the cemetery I strolled down the winding road along which Tryon entered Danbury, and, returning, called to see the venerable Joseph Dibble, then in his hundredth year.
He lives with a nephew, near the same....^                 spot where he resided when Danbury;!..\                             was burned.    He is the Loyalist who,
i              with his father, entertained Governor
E  -            Tryon while he remained at Danbury.
IHe was a Loyalist in principle, and ad\,.               E    lhered to the royal cause in accordance::                   with his convictions of right as an order-                                     '          loving, law-obeying- citizen.  He was
not armed against his Whig neighbors,
and took no part in the cruelties which
his guest sanctioned, but simply gave
" aid and comfort to the enemy" while
- Xthere.       But the outrages committed by:-           -                             the men whom he sheltered and fed drew
upon himself much of the odium that be_  ->                                  longed to them, and for many years he
-    was greatly despised by the sufferers..B; One night he was taken from his bed by.                         some of his neighbors in disguise, to a. --                                     deep place in the little river near the
village, where they ducked him several
times during the darkness.   He expect/                                  ed that they would leave him under wa~/ —         i                   ter with the fishes at the last immersion,
but there was as much funny mischief
as serious malice in his tormentors, and, to his great joy, they released him on dry land just
as the first hue of light in the east appeared.  Time softened the asperities of feeling, and
On the 17th of June, 1777, the Continental Congress adopted a resolution, "That a monument be erected to the memory of General Wooster, with the following inscription: 'In honor of David Wooster, brigadier general in the army of the United States. In defending the liberties of America, and bravely repelling
an inroad of the British, forces to Danbury, in Connecticut, he received a mortal wound on the 27th day of
April, 1777, and died on the 2d day of May following. The Congress of the United States, as an acknowledgment of his merit and services, have caused this monument to be erected.' " Resolved, " That the executive power of the state of Connecticut be requested to carry the foregoiig resolution into execution, and
that five hundred dollars be allowed for that purpose."-Journals of Congress, iii., 197.
It has been erroneously asserted that the money was subsequently put into the hands of General Wooster's
son, and that it was squandered. This is not true, as the Journals of Congress will show. A bill for the
purpose passed the House of Representatives in 1822, but, in consequence of the numerous similar petitions
that were presented after the passage of the resolution by the Lower House, the Senate did not concur.
Ezra Foote, Esq., a citizen of Danbury, aged eighty-four years, informed me that he could so nearly identify the grave of Wooster as to pronounce it with certainty to be one of two graves, situated, as I ascertained
by measurement, twenty feet northeast of the grave of Sandeman. General Wooster was not in the Continental service at the time of his death. Conceiving himself neglected, he had resigned, and was appointed
the first major general of militia in his native state.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


407


Tory Guides.  Night Ride toward Ridgefield.  Return to Danbury.  Ridgefield.  Military Movements
for half a century he has lived among his old neighbors and their descendants, a worthy and
respected citizen.  The two guides who piloted the army to Danbury did not fare so well;
they were obliged to flee.  After the war, Benedict returned to Danbury for the purpose of
residing there, but the people at once prepared to ride him out of the town upon a rail, and
he fled.  Jarvis went to reside in Nova Scotia.  Many years afterward he returned privately to Danbury, to visit his relations. His presence being known, some citizens prepared
tar and feathers for him.  They surrounded his father's house, and demanded his person.
His sister concealed him in an ash-oven, where he lay until the search was over and the
party gofie, when he left the town, and never returned.
Mr. Dibble was too nearly a wreck to give me any clear account of Revolutionary matters
il that vicinity, and it was with much difficulty that he could be made to understand my
object in wishing to sketch his portrait and obtain his autograph.  He is a bachelor, and
assured me seriously that he intended to remain one all the days of his life.  I be- Septembe,
lieve he is still living-an old bachelor indeed.                             1850.
I also called upon Ezra Foote, Esq., one of the patriarchs of the village.  Although eightyfour years of age, his erect figure, firm voice, and clear, intelligent eye gave him the appearance of a man of sixty. After half an hour's pleasant and profitable conversation with him;
on Revolutionary topics connected with the locality, I returned to the hotel, and prepared
to depart for Ridgefield, nine miles distant, after supper.  For two or three hours a strong
southeast wind had been piling the driving scud from the ocean in huge cumulous masses
along the northwestern horizon, and, when darkness came, it was intense. I had hired a
conveyance, and a young man to accompany me from Danbury to Norwalk, by the way of
Ridgefield, and, in the midst of the gloom and the rain that began to fall, we left the village.  For a little while the beaten road was visible, but, when the light dust became wet
with showers, not a trace of the track could be seen. The young man became alarmed, and
urged me to turn back. I was too anxious to reach New Haven by Sunday to be easily
persuaded, and, borrowing a tin lantern from a farmer whom he knew, we endeavored to
grope our way.  The perforations of the lantern were " like angels' visits, few and far between," and the light that stole through them was just enough to make " darkness visible."
After tilting half over by the road side once or twice, and being assured by my companion
that there was a " dreadful ugly place in Sugar Hollow, a mile or two beyond," I consented to turn back, on condition that he would be ready to start at peep of day.  He promised,
and at nine in the evening we were again in Danbury. At dawn we started for Ridgefield.  The rain had ceased, and the clouds were dispersing.  We had a delightful ride over
the broken, but fertile country, and before ten o'clock I had visited the place where Wooster
fell, and where Arnold made his escape, and made sketches of the localities.  Let us for a
moment follow the British on their departure from Danbury, and the Americans in their opposing maneuvers.
Tryon, doubtless fearing that he might be cut off on his retreat directly back to his shipping at Compo, marched toward Ridgeway, a parish in the town of Ridgefield, and north of
that village. This movement was probably made to deceive the Americans into the belief
that he intended to return by land through West Chester, and then, by a sudden turn, push
for the shipping along the least guarded route.  When this movement was made known to
the American generals, they divided their forces into two parts.  The largest division, consisting of about four hundred men, under Silliman and Arnold, proceeded to take post in
front of the enemy, while Wooster, with the other division of two hundred, was left to hang
upon and annoy their rear.
After proceeding to Ridgeway, the enemy turned southward toward Ridgefield,' their route
from Danbury thus forming the two sides of a scalene triangle, of which the present direct
1 The tract of land called Ridgefield was named by the Indians Candatoua, which signifies high ground
On some of the hills near the village Long Island and the Sound may be seen for a distance of forty miles.
Twenty-five of the inhabitants of Norwalk purchased the ground of Catoonah, the chief sachem, in 1708,
and the first settlement was made the following year.




408


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


408              PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


The British attacked by Wooster.  Return Fire.  Death of Wooster.  Sketch of his Life.  Approach of Arnold.
April27, road from village to village is the hypotenuse.  This change of direction was made
1777.  known to Wooster about nine in the morning, and, hastening forward, he came up
to them when within a few miles of Ridgefield.     He attacked the rear-guard, and, after
a little skirmishing, took                                       attack them on the flank.
forty prisoners.  Thus he                                        The British made severharassed them, and kept                                          al discharges of artillery,
them in partial check, un-                                       which caused the Amer



til they arrived within two
miles of Ridgefield meeting-house, when another
smart skirmish ensued.
The ground is very broken, and well adapted for
such a sort of guerrilla
warfare as the American
militia kept up. While
the enemy were hidden
by a hill, near the present
road from Ridgefield to
Salem, Wooster encouraged his undisciplined army to push forward and


ican column to break and
give way. Wooster endeavored to rally them,
exclaiming, " Come on,
my boys! Never mind
such  random   shots!"
While thus in the van,
urging his troops, a musket-ball took him obliquely in the side and broke
his back-bone. He fell
from his horse, and was
removed from the field to
Danbury, at which place
he died.'


II
I~~


General Arnold, informed of the change in the route of the enemy, made a forced march
across the country to Ridgefield village, where he arrived at about eleven o'clock in the
morning, with his force increased to about five hundred men. Across the upper end of the
main street he cast up a barricade of carts, logs, stones, and earth, which was flanked on the
right by a house and barn, and on the left by a ledge of rocks.     Behind this barricade he
formed his men in battle order, and awaited the approach of the enemy. As soon as Tryon
discovered Arnold, he ordered General Agnew to advance with the main body in solid colDavid Wooster was born in Stratford, Connecticut, on the 2d of March, 1710. He graduated at Yale
College in 1738, and the following year, when the Spanish war broke out, was made a lieutenant, and soon
afterward was promoted to the captaincy of the vessel built and armed by the colony as a guarda costa, or
coast guard. In 1740 he married the daughter of Rev. Thomas Clapp, president of Yale College. He was
a captain in Colonel Burr's regiment, which went on the expedition to Louisburg in 1745, from which place
he went to Europe, in command of a cartel ship. He was not permitted to land in France, but in England
he was received with distinguished honor. He was presented to the king, and became a favorite at court.
He was made a captain in the regular service, under Sir William Pepperel, and his likeness (from which
our engraving was copied) was published in the periodical magazines of that day. He was first a colonel
and then a brigadier in the French and Indian or Seven Years' War that ended in 1763. He espoused the
patriot cause, and was one of the principal conspirators against Ticonderoga in 1775, which resulted in its
capture by the provincials under Allen and Arnold. When the Continental army was organized, Wooster
was appointed one of the eight brigadiers, third in rank. He was in Canada in 1776, where he had the
chief command for a while. Returning to Connecticut, he was appointed the first major general of the militia of his state. In that capacity he was actively employed when Tryon's invasion occurred. With Arnold
he hastened to the field, and on Sunday, the 27th of April, was fatally wounded. He was carried to Danbury, and lived long enough for his wife and son to arrive from New Haven and soothe his dying hours. He
expired on the 2d of May, at the age of sixty-seven years, and was interred in the village burying-ground.
How long shall his grave lie in the obscurity of criminal neglect?
"He met the proud Briton undaunted and brave,
With double-wrought vengeance returning;
He rallied the fight and the lion pursued,
While our homes and our village were burning.
Yes, let us a monument raise to his name,
And free let our honor be given I
Let us pay the just tribute, and then we shall share
The smiles and the blessings of heaven."
H. B. WILDMAN.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


409


Barricade at Ridgefield.  Bravery of Arnold.  Narrow Escape.  March to Compo.  Skirmishes.
urun, while detachments were sent to outflank him and fall upon his rear.  With only about
--                    two hundred men, Arnold  confronted  nearly
two thousand, who ad-.                                    vanced, and delivered and
-: —         received several fires. In
o..:          this way the action conam:-                      -tinued nearly a quarter
of an hour.    Agnew sucs gI: J      ceeded in gaining   the
ledge of rocks.   From
that position a whole platobn of British infantry
l                           fired, with deliberate aim,
F-o * Udng  wee bat Arnold, who was not.                                                       orle than thirty yards
PLACE OF THE BARRICADE, RIDGEFIELD.           distant.  Not a bullet hit
him, but his horse was
pierced, and fell dead under him.  Seeing their leader prostrate, the Americans fled.  For
a moment Arnold could not extricate his feetfrom the stirrups.  Perceiving this, a Tory
named Coon, from New Fairfield, rushed toward the general with his bayonet, to seize him.
"c Surrender! you are my prisoner!" shouted the Tory.  Not yet," exclaimed Arnold, as,
springing to his feet, he drew his pistol, shot the Tory dead, and bounded toward a thick
swamp near by, followed by a shower of bullets, and escaped.  The number of Americans
killed in this skirmish was between forty and fifty; of the enemy's loss no account was given.
Colonel Gould, of Fairfield, was among the slain.  He fell about eighty rods east of the
house of Mr. Stebbins, seen in the engraving, and his body was carried to Fairfield.
Having repulsed the Americans, Tryon's army encamped upon high ground about a mile
south of the Congregational Church in Ridgefield, until daylight the next morning, April 28
when they resumed their march toward Norwalk and Compo, through Wilton.        1777.
Four dwellings were burned in Ridgefield, and other private property was destroyed when
the marauders struck their tents.  As they approached Norwalk, Tryon learned that Arnold
was again in the saddle, and was rallying the scattered militia upon the road leading to Saugatuck Bridge.  He filed off eastward, and forded the Saugatuck some distance above the
bridge, where about five hundred Americans, under Colonel Huntingdon, were posted to oppose his passage.  Small detachments of militia annoyed the British all the way from Wilton to the Saugatuck; and while the latter were pushing forward toward Compo and their
shipping, on the east side of the creek, the former kept upon the west side, and galled them
with cannon-shot and musket-balls. A small detachment of Americans forded the stream,
picked off many of the rear-guard of the enemy, and returned without losing a. man.
At the bridge was the battalion of the New York artillery, under Colonel John Lamb,
with three field pieces, under Lieutenant-colonel Oswald. Perceiving the formidable force
there collected, Tryon urged forward his men as fast as they could run, and they succeeded
in passing by the bridge before the main body of the Americans could get over.  Exposed to
an enfilading fire, the enemy were partially checked, and for about fifteen minutes there was
a sharp engagement at the bridge.2  The Americans pushed across and followed the flying
This view is at the north end of the main street. It was taken from the spot where, tradition asserts,
Arnold's horse was killed, which is on the west side of the street, near a maple-tree, about one hundred
yards southwest of the house of Samuel Stebbins, Esq., seen on the right in the picture. While making
this sketch an old man (whose name 1 forgot to ask) came along, and informed me that on the day after the
battle himself and some other boys skinned Arnold's horse, and discovered nine bullet-holes in his hide. The
escape of the rider seemed miraculous.
2 The bridge where the engagement took place was at the head of navigation in the Saugatuck, nearly




410            PICTORIAL FIELD-]OOK


Erskine's Maneuver.  The Connecticut Militia.  Action of Congress concerning Arnold.  Place where Wooster fell.
enemy to Compo, gaining the right flank of their rear in an advantageous position. Here
another hot skirmish ensued, and, but for a successful maneuver of Sir WVilliam Erskine, the
exhausted Britons must all have been captured.  That officer landed some marines from the
vessels, who furiously attacked the fatigued Americans in front, and drove them back some
distance. While this conflict was going on, the main body of the enemy embarked, amid a
galling lre from Lamb's artillery.  The marines, by a sudden retrograde movement, took to
their boats and reached their vessels.  At about sunset the fleet weighed anchor.
A large number of the Connecticut militia had collected at Compo, besides those actually
enrolled in the special service on that day.  Many of them were without arms, others were
insubordinate, and a good proportion of the new-comers behaved in the most cowardly manner.  Had they possessed a tithe of the courage of their leader, who was seen urging his men
at points of most imminent danger, the exhausted troops of Tryon might have been made
prisoners or destroyed.' Arnold knew this, and, unmindful of danger, urged on the militia
by voice and example, until his horse was wounded in the neck and disabled. The opportunity was not courageously improved, and the enemy escaped.
The loss of the Americans during the invasion was about one hundred men; the enemy
lost, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, about three hundred. Tryon was slightly wounded.
Colonel Lamb, while gallantly leading his men at Compo, received a violent contusion from
a grape-shot.  Arnold was untouched, though a bullet wounded his horse, and another passed
through the collar of his coat.  Congress, impressed with the brilliancy of his achievements,
a May 30  directed the quartermaster generala to, procure a horse and present the same, prop1777.  erly caparisoned, to Major-general Arnold, as a token of their approbation of his
gallant conduct in the action against the enemy in the late enterprise to Danbury."'
It was a little after sunrise when we reached Ridgefield,2 and, after sketching the place
of the barricade in the village, we rode to the spot where General Wooster fell.  It is about
a mile north of Mr. Stebbins's, at the forks of the
road, one of which is the way from Ridgefield to
North Salem.       For a long time tradition pointed
': - i- V -,:  to a large chestnut-tree as the place where the brave
soldier was wounded.    The tree has been converted
into rails, and the stump, almost decayed into dust,
is flanked by the two thrifty sugar maples seen to-.ward the left of the picture.             The taller tree is a
locust.    It is to be hoped that some monument will
be reared to mark the spot, before these mature and
decay by age.    The owner of the land pointed out
the locality to us, and expressed the patriotic opin'..       ion that "Congress ought to do something."   He
~:-.-..- -:~.'- "    had long contemplated the erection of a chestnut
post at his own expense, but, having done that, the
PLACEi WHERE WOOSTER FELL.                              '
public would expect him "( to paint some lettering
on't," and he was not disposed to bear the whole burden himself.  Clearly right; it would
be asking too much of a single citizen.
Returning to the village, we breakfasted at ten at the tavern of Mr. Resseque, whose wife
is the daughter of Mr. Keeler, the owner of the dwelling at the time of the invasion.  It is
about half a mile south of the Congregational Church, where the British planted a cannon
three miles from the sea. There is now a bridge upon the site, within the pleasant village of Westport
(fornerly called Saugatuck), which, at the time of the battle, contained only five houses. Seven or eight
men were killed near the present Congregational Church in Westport. The smooth and really beautiful
elevation of Compo is about two and a half miles south of the village, and commands a fine view of the
Sound and of the distant shores of Long Island.
Journals of Congress, iii., 158.
2 Ridgefield is situated upon a high, rolling plain, and contains about sixty houses, on one street, within
a mile. Like Danbury, it is beautifully shaded with elms and sycamores.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                 411
Relic of the Revolution.  Reading.  Threatened Mutiny there.  Putnam's Speech.  Putnam at Greenwich.
after driving the Americans from the barricade.  Near the northeast corner of the house' is
a four pound cannon-ball, lodged in one of the posts, where it has remained ever since the
Revolution.  Some Americans near the house were the objects at which some balls were
discharged.  One passed into the building, just over the north door, and, crossing a staircase, hit a chimney and fell to the floor. A man was just ascending the stairs when the
ball entered, with a terrible crash, and passed between his legs.  Unhurt, but greatly frightened, he fell to the foot of the stairs, exclaiming, ( I'm killed! I'm a dead man!" and for
some time he insisted that his legs were shot off.  As soon as he was undeceived, he put
them in requisition, and fled, as fast as they could carry him, toward Wilton.  The house
was set on fire, but the flames were extinguished by a Tory brother of Mr. Keeler, whose
own property was endangered.
A few miles northeast from Ridgefield is the village of Reading,1 distinguished as being
the head-quarters of General Putnam in the winter of 1779.  He occupied that position
with General Poor's brigade of New Hampshire, two Connecticut brigades, Hazen's infantry
corps, and a corps of cavalry under Shelden, for the purpose of covering the country from the
British lines in New York, eastward along the Sound. Like many of the New England villages, it is scattered, and beautifully shaded with elms, maples, and sycamores.  Putnam's
quarters were at a house situated on the Norwalk and Danbury Road,
about three miles westward of the Congregational Church in Reading.
During the winter a mutinous spirit pervaded the Connecticut troops.          -
They were badly fed and clothed, and worse paid, for their small pittance,
when received, consisted of the rapidly-depreciating Continental bills.
Brooding over their hard lot, the Connecticut brigades finally resolved to
march to Hartford and demand of the Assembly a redress of grievances.
The second brigade had assembled under arms for that purpose, when information of the movement reached Putnam.   He immediately galloped      -
to the encampment, and, in his uncouth, but earnest manner, thus ad-  PUTNAM'S QUARTERS.
dressed them:,( My brave lads, where are you going?  Do you intend
to desert your officers, and to invite the enemy to follow you into the country?  Whose cause
have you been fighting and suffering so long in?  Is it not your own?  Have you no property, no parents, wives, or children?  You have behaved like men so far; all the world is
full of your praise, and posterity will stand astonished at your deeds, but not if you spoil all
at last. Don't you consider how much the country is distressed by the war, and that your
officers have not been better paid than yourselves?  But we all expect better times, and that
the country will do us ample justice.  Let us all stand by one another, then, and fight it
out like brave soldiers. Think what a shame it would be for Connecticut men to run away
from their officers!"  If this speech did not display the polished eloquence of Demosthenes,
who made the Athenians cry out with one voice, " Let us go and fight Philip," it possessed
the same spirit and produced a similar result.  When Putnam concluded his short address,
a loud cheer burst from the discontented regiments, and they returned to their quarters in
good humor, resolved to suffer and fight still longer in the cause of liberty.
It was during Putnam's encampment at Reading, in 1779, that the famous event occurred at West Greenwich, or Horseneck, in which the general was the principal actor.  He
was visiting his outposts at West Greenwich, and tarrying at the house of the late General
Ebenezer Mead.   Early on the morning of the 26th of March, while standing before
a looking-glass, shaving, he saw the reflection of a body of " red-coats" marching up
the road from the westward.  He dropped his razor, buckled on his sword, and, half shaven,
mounted his horse and hastened to prepare his handful of men to oppose the approaching
enemy.   They were a body of nearly fifteen hundred British regulars and Hessians, under
Governor Tryon, who had marched from their lines in West Chester county, near King's
-- -- - --                    --
l The township derived its name from Colonel John Read, one of its most prominent settlers. His monument is in a small burying-ground a little west of the town-house. He died in 1786, aged eighty-five
years.-Barber's Historical Collections of Connecticut.




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Tryon's Expedition to Horseneck.  Skirmish at Greenwich.  Defeat of the Americans.  Escape of Putnam.
Bridge, the previous evening, with the intention of surprising the troops and destroying the
salt-works at Horseneck Landing.  A scout of thirty men, under Captain Watson, who had
been sent out by Putnam, discovered the enemy in the night at New Rochelle. At daylight they had advanced to Rye Neck, and there a slight skirmish ensued between the British advanced guards and Putnam's scouts. The latter retreated to Sawpits, on the Byram
River, and thence to Horseneck, pursued by the enemy.
Putnam arranged his men (only one hundred and fifty in number) upon the brow of the
hill, by the Congregational Church in the village.  There he planted a battery composed
of two old iron field pieces, and awaited the approach of the enemy. They moved up the
road in solid column until almost within musket-shot, when detachments broke off and attempted to gain Putnam's flanks. At the same moment the British dragoons and some infantry prepared to charge.  Perceiving this, and discovering the overwhelming numbers of
the enemy, Putnam ordered a retreat, after a few discharges of the field pieces and some volleys of musketry.  So near was the enemy, that the retreat of the Americans became a rout.
The soldiers broke and fled singly to the adjacent swamps, while the general, putting spurs
1..
"PUTNAM'S HILL."
to his horse, sped toward Stamford, pursued by several of the dragoons.  A quarter of a mile
eastward of the Congregational Church is a steep declivity, on the brow of which the road
turned northward, and passed, in a broad sweep, around the hill.  Putnam perceived that
his pursuers were gaining upon him, and, with the daring of desperation, left the road and
wheeled his horse, while on a gallop, down the rocky height, making a zigzag course to the
bottom, and reaching the road again in safety.  The dragoons dared not follow, and, discharging their pistols at Putnam, without effect, rode back to the main army, and the general reached Stamford, five miles eastward, in safety.
Tryon plundered the inhabitants of every thing valuable, and, having destroyed a few salta March 26, works, a small sloop and store, and damaged the houses of the Whigs, retreated to
1779.   Rye the same evening,a and the next day reached King's Bridge.  As soon as
Putnam arrived at Stamford, he collected some militia and a few of his fugitives, and returned to attack the enemy on his retreat.  He succeeded in taking thirty-eight prisoners and in
recapturing a portion of the plunder, which he restored to the inhabitants.  There were about
twenty Americans killed. The loss of the British in killed is not recorded.
848  I visited the scene of Putnam's exploit in June, previous to my journey to Danbury
and Ridgefield, and made the accompanying sketch of " Putnam's Hill," as it is called.
It is about five miles west from Stamford, on the main road to New York from Horseneck'
This name was given to the peninsula extending into the Sound at Greenwich, from the circumstance
that many horses used to be pastured upon it.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


413


Putnam's Hill.                   Its present Appearance.                   Norwalk.                     Fitch's Point.


Landing.    This sketch is taken from the road near the residence of the late General Ebenezer Mead, looking westward.    The aspect of the place has materially changed since the
Revolution. The old road, as I have mentioned, made a circuit northward around the hill.
The present road, seen in the engraving, passes directly over the hill, being a causeway part
of the distance, and a deep cut through the rocks on the brow of the eminence.  On the hill,
just south of the road, and in a line with the tall tree by the causeway, stood the old Episcopal Church; and it was for the accommodation of worshipers there, who lived eastward
of the hill, that a flight of seventy rude stone steps was made.  These are the steps so celebrated in the popular accounts of Putnam's exploit.   They are now quite covered with
earth and shrubbery, but their site is distinctly marked.  I have given them more prominence than they really have, exhibiting them as they probably appeared when Putnam made
his escape.  Between the trees is seen the spire of the Congregational Church at Greenwich,
standing upon the site of the one near which Putnam planted his battery.  General Mead
and others saw the descent of Putnam. He wheeled his horse from the road near the house
of Dr. Mead, seen on the extreme right, and did not go down the steps at all (as popular tradition avers), except four or five of them near the bottom.  As he hastened by toward Stamford, General Mead distinctly heard him cursing the British whom he had left behind. The
feat was perilous, but, under the circumstances, not very extraordinary.  I was told that in
1825 several of the dragoons in the escort of La Fayette to this place performed the same.
Let us resume our journey.
The ride from Ridgefield to Norwalk was very pleasant. The clouds were dispersed, and
the air was almost sultry. The country was rough until we entered the valley of the Norwalk River, a region of great beauty and fertility.  Our road lay along that winding stream,
and, as we approached Norwalk, the transition from the open country to the populous town
was almost imperceptible. Venerable elms and sycamores, planted by the early settlers,
shaded handsome mansions thickly strewn along the winding road. These, the tolling of a
bell, and the whistle of steam betokened a village near, and in a few minutes we reined up
at the principal hotel in the compact street of a busy mart.  We are again upon Revolutionary ground, the scene of another of Governor Tryon's marauding expeditions.'
After laying Fairfield in ashes, Governor Tryon and Brigadier-general Garth, with their
troops, retreated to their vessels and crossed the Sound to Huntington Bay, Long Island,
whence they sailed over to Norwalk on the night of the 11th of July, 1779.     The main,... '9 —          '
FITCH'S POINT, THE LANDING-PLACE OF THE BRITISH.2
body landed at about nine o'clock in the evening, " in the ' Cow Pasture,' a peninsula on the
Norwalk is situated near Long Island Sound, not far from the mouth of the Norwalk River (a small
stream), and about forty-eight miles northeast from New York. It was among the earliest settlements in
Connecticut, having been purchased of the natives in 1640. The bounds of the east tract, sold to Roger
Ludlow, as described in the ancient records, were " from Norwalk River to Sawhatuc [Saugatuck] River,
from sea, Indian one day walk in the country:'"-that is, one day's north walk into the country; hence the
name of Norwalk. The articles given to the Indians for the tract were " eight fathoms wampum, six coats,
ten hatchets, ten hoes, ten knives, ten scizers, ten juseharps, ten fathom tobaco, three kettles of six hands
about, and ten looking-glasses."  The articles given for the tract on the west side of the river, between it
and Five Mile River, sold to Captain Patrick, were " of wampum ten fathoms, hatchets three, howes three,
when ships come; six glasses, twelve tobacke pipes, three knives, ten drills, ten needles."-Barber's Historical Collections; Hall's Historical Records of Norwalk.
2 This view is from the west side of Gregory's Point, looking north-northwest. The promontory toward
the left, covered with dark trees, is called Fort Point. There was an Indian fortification when the first set



414             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Landing of Tryon at Norwalk.  Destruction of the Village.  Conduct of Tryon.  Scenes at Darien Church.
-        -
east side of the harbor, within a mile and a half of the bridge."'  They lay on their arms
all night, awaiting the expected arrival of a company of Loyalists.  At dawn they marched
toward the town, and were met by a company of about fifty Continental soldiers, under Captain Stephen Betts, who were posted upon an eminence known as Grummon's Hill, a little
east of the road.  A skirmish ensued, but the little band of patriots were soon obliged to flee
before overwhelming numbers, leaving four of their party dead.  The people, greatly alarmed, fled to Belden's Hill, five miles distant, during the night.  The Continentals and a few
of the militia took post within " random cannon-shot upon the hills on the north," whence
they annoyed the enemy exceedingly.  Tryon halted upon Grummon's Hill until the other
division landed at Old Well,2 on the west side of the stream.  The two divisions joined, and
soon drove nearly every Whig inhabitant from the village, dispersed the troops collected upon
the hills, and seized one of their cannon.  The destruction of property then commenced.
Governor Tryon thus coolly related the circumstances in his official dispatch to Sir Henry
Clinton: " After many salt-pans were destroyed, whale-boats carried on board the fleet, and
the magazines, stores, and vessels set in flames, with the greater part of the dwelling-houses.
the advanced corps were drawn back, and the troops retired in two columns to the place of
our first debarkation, and, unassaulted, took ship, and returned to Huntington Bay."
While the village was burning, Tryon sat in a rocking-chair upon Grummon's Hill, and
viewed the scene with apparent pleasure-a puny imitator of Nero, who fiddled while Rome
was blazing.  It was a cruel and wanton destruction of property, and none but a small
mind and spiteful heart could have conceived and consummated so foul an act.  Two houses
of worship (Episcopal and Congregational), eighty dwellings, eighty-seven barns, twenty-two
stores, seventeen shops, four mills, and five vessels were laid in ashes in the course of a few
hours, and hundreds of women and children were driven to the woods for shelter.  Only six
houses were spared.  One of them, now (1848) occupied by Ex-governor Bissell, was saved
through the exertions of a maiden lady living with Mr. Belden, the then owner.  Governor
Tryon had been Belden's guest one night, several years previous, and the lady went up to
Grummon's Hill, reminded him of the fact, and asked for and received a protection for the
house.  Tryon sent a file of soldiers with her to guard it.  When the British left, most of
the resident Tories went with them.  Among them was the Rev. Mr. Leamington, the Episcopalian minister.  le had continued praying for the "king and all others in authority," according to the Liturgy of his Church, until the people forbade him and
threatened him with violence.
About five miles westward of Norwalk, on the main road to Stamford, is a Congregational Church more than one hundred years old.  Its pastor in 1781 was the
Rev. Moses Mather.   On Sunday, the 22d of July, the church was surrounded by a party of Tories, under Captain Frost, just as the congregation were
singing the first tune.  Dr Mather and the men of the congregation were taken to the banks of the Sound, thrust into boats, and conveyed across to Lloyd's
Neck, on Long Island, whence they were carried to New York and placed
in the Provost Jail.  Some died there.  Nineteen of the twenty-five prison- DARIEN CHURCH
ers were exchanged and returned to their families.  Peter St. John, one of
the prisoners, wrote an account of the affair in doggerel verse.  Of the Provost he says:
"I must conclude that in this place
We found the worst of Adam's race;
tiers arrived at Norwalk. Further to the left, on the extreme edge of the picture, is seen one end of the
rail-road bridge, which crosses Norwalk River. The New York and New Haven Rail-road was then in
progress of construction. The point derives its name from its former proprietor, Governor Thomas Fitch.
whose residence was Norwalk. He was Governor of the colony of Connecticut, and his name is among the
beloved of his generation. He died Jily 18th, 1774, in the seventy-fifth year of his age.
Tryon's official dispatch.
2 This place is situated a little more than a mile from the center of the village of Norwalk. It received
its name from an old well from which, in ancient times, vessels engaged in the West Indian trade took their
supplies of water.-Barber.




OF THE REVOLUTION.           415


Visit to Gregory's Point.  The Cow Pasture.  Ancient Regulations.  Grummon's Hill.  Nathaniel Raymond.
Thieves, murderers, and pickpockets too,
And every thing that's bad they'd do:
One of our men found, to his cost,
Three pounds York money he had lost;
His pockets picked, I guess before
We had been there one single hour."
Dr. Mather was cruelly treated in the Provost, until his situation was made known to Mrs.
Irving, mother of our distinguished writer, Washington Irving, who obtained permission to
send him food and clothing.  He was released at the close of the year.
The Rev. Edwin Hall, of the First Congregational Church, whose historical researches
have made him familiar with localities of interest about Norwalk, kindly accompanied me
as cicerone. We rode down to Gregory's Point, from which I sketched Tryon's landingplace, pictured on page 413.  On the beautiful plain near by stood the ancient village, the
first settlers having chosen the sea-washed level for their residences, in preference to the
higher and rougher ground at the head of navigation, on which the present town is situated.
The old village had gone into decay, and the new town was just beginning to flourish, when
Tryon laid it in ruins. A little further seaward, upon a neck of land comprising Fitch's
Point and an extensive salt meadow, is the Cow Pasture, so called from the circumstance
that the cows belonging to the settlers were pastured there, under the direction of the town
authorities.'
From Gregory's Point we rode over the hills to the estate of Mr. Ebenezer Smith, and
from a high hill near his house I sketched the distant view of Compo, on page 402.  From
that eminence we obtained one of the most beautiful prospects of land and water imaginable.
Southward was the broad mouth of the Norwalk River, with its beautiful green islands, and
beyond was the heaving Sound, dotted with sails, and bounded by the wooded shores of Long
Island in the distance.  On the right were clustered the white houses of Norwalk, and on
the left swelling Compo was stretched out,
scarcely concealing the noble shade trees of
Fairfield beyond.
Returning along East Avenue to the village, I stopped near the residence of Mr. Hall,.-~- 'and made the accompanying sketch of Grum-...:'";      ---                mon's Hill.  It is a high elevation, a little
east of the avenue, partly covered by an or-        chard, and commanding a fine prospect of the
village, harbor, and Sound.  Tryon sat upon
' the summit of the hill, where the five Lom-...... bardy poplars are seen.         The venerable Na-, —s -   -.           thaniel Raymond, still living, when I was
SIIUMMON ' fULL
there (1848), near the Old Well, or West
Norwalk Wharf (wherekhe had dwelt from his birth, ninety-five years), remembers the hill
being " red with the British."  He was a corporal of the guard at the time, and, after securing his most valuable effects, and carrying his aged parents to a place of safety three miles
1 The old records of the town, quoted by Mr. Hall, exhibit many curious features in the municipal regulations adopted by the early settlers. In 1665 it is recorded that " Walter Halt has undertaken to beat the
drumm for meeting when all occasions required, for which he is to have 10s.s Also, Thomas Benedict has
undertaken to have the meeting-house swept for the yeere ensuing; he is to have 20s."  Again: " At a
town meeting in Norwalk, March the 20th, 1667, it was voted and ordered that it shall be left to the townsmen from yere to yere to appoint a time or day, at or before the 10th day of March, for the securing of the
fences on both sides, and that they shall give notis to all the inhabitants the night before, and the drumb to
be beten in the morning, which shall be accounted a sufficient warning for every man to secure his fence,
or else to bear his own damages."  Again: " At the same meeting (October 17th, 1667), voted and ordered that, after the field is cleared, the townsmen shall hier Steven Beckwith, or some other man, to fetch the
cows out of the neck [the Cow Pasture]; and he that shall be hiered shall give warning by sounding a home
about twelve of the clock, that he that is to accompany him is to repaire to him."




416


PICT01UATL FIELD-BOOK


1FE


Time of Tryon's Landing.  Departure from Norwalk.  New England Villages.  The Green at Fairfield.  Pequots.
distant, shouldered his musket, and was with the few soldiers whom Tryon boasted of having
driven from the hills north of the town. He says it was Saturday night when Tryon landed,
and, like Danbury, the town was burned on Sunday. Mr. Raymond was quite vigorous in
body and mind, and Time seemed to have used him gently. I desired to visit two other ancient inhabitants, but the hour for the arrival of the mail-coach for New Haven was near,
and I hastened back to the hotel, whence I left for the east between three and four o'clock
in the afternoon.
The coach, a sort of tin-peddler's wagon in form, was full, and, quite in accordance with
my inclination, I took a seat with the driver. It was a genial afternoon, and all things in
nature and art combined to please and edify.  We reached Bridgeport, at the mouth of the
Housatonic River, fourteen miles east of Norwalk, at sunset, and a more pleasing variety of
beautiful scenery can nowhere be found than charmed us during that short journey.    We
passed through Westport (old Saugatuck), Southport, and Fairfield, lovely villages lying upon
estuaries of Long Island Sound, and all replete with historic interest.  Unlike most modern
villages, with their rectangular streets, and exhibiting an ambitious imitation of large cities,
the neat houses, embowered in shrubbery, are thinly scattered along winding avenues shaded
by venerable trees, the ground on either side left undulating as the hand of Nature fashioned
it.  Herein consists the great beauty of the New England villages, a beauty quite too often
overlooked in other states in the process of laying out towns.  Nature and art have here
wrought in harmony, and village and country are beautifully and healthfully blended.
I was informed, before leaving Norwalk, that the ( Buckly House," the last relic of the
Revolution in Fairfield, had fallen under the stroke of public improvement, and also that no
living witness of the cruelty of Governor Tryon was there.  I therefore concluded to go directly through to New Haven that evening.     During a detention of the coach for half an
hour at the post-office, in Fairfield, I made a rough sketch of the annexed view of the village Green, which I subsequently corrected by a
picture in Barber's Historical Collections of Connecticut.  The view is from the eastern side of
the Green, near the spacious new hotel that fronts
upon it.  The jail on the left, the court-house in
the center, and the church on the right were erecti  m m,1ed upon the foundations of those that were burn" L          ed by the British in 1779, and in the same style
of architecture.  Such being the fact, the Green,
from our point of view, doubtless has the same
general aspect that it presented before the maT r: GOREN,  FA-RFIXLD.
rauder desolated it.   As the destruction of Fairfield was subsequent to the incursion of the enemy into New Haven, I shall give the record
of its hard fate after noticing the movements of Tryon and his associates at the latter place.
Immediately back of Fairfield village is the celebrated swamp w     tere the warlike Pequots
made their last stand against the English, in July, 1637.1 There they were overthrown
1 The Pequots, or Pequods, were a formidable tribe of Indians, having at least seven hundred warriors.
Their principal settlements were on a hill in Groton, Connecticut. They were a terror to other tribes, and
became a great annoyance to the Connecticut and Massachusetts settlements. Governor Endicott, of the
former province, had tried to treat with them, but in vain, and their bold defiance of the whites increased.
Early in 1637 they attacked the small English fort at Saybrook, murdered several women of Weathersfield,
and carried away two girls into captivity. The colonists mustered all their able men, and, being joined by
portions of the Mohegans, Narragansets, and Niantic tribes, fell upon the Pequots in their retreat upon the
Mystic River. A warm battle ensued, and the Pequots were beaten. They fought desperately, but were
finally driven westward, and took shelter in the swamp near Fairfield. Sassacus, their chief, escaped to
the Mohawks, by whom he was afterward murdered. The Indian name of Fairfield was Unguowa. Mr.
Ludlow, who accompanied the English troops, and was afterward Deputy-governor of the colony of Connecticut, pleased with the country in the neighborhood of the Sasco Swamp, began, with others, a plantation there, and called it their fair field. Hence its name.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                     417
Destruction of the Pequots.  Greenfield Hill.  Dwight's Poem.  Journey to New Haven.  A Stroll to East Rock.
and annihilated, and the place has ever since been called the Pequot Swamp. They might
have escaped had not one of their number, who loitered behind, been captured by Captain:Mason, and compelled to disclose the retreat of his comrades.   One hundred were made
prisoners, the residue were destroyed.  The fort at Mystic had previously been demolished,.and they took refuge in this swamp.
We passed in sight of Greenfield Hill, near the village, renowned for its academy and
churc., wherein President Dwight, of Yale College, officiated as tutor and pastor for twelve
years. - The view from the hill is said to be exceedingly fine, and from the belfry of the
church no less than seventeen houses of worship may be seen, in Fairfield and the adjacent
villages.  Dr. Dwight, while minister of Greenfield, wrote a poem called "Greenfield Hill."
Referring to the view from the belfry, he exclaims,
"Heavens, what a matchless group of beauties rare
Southward expands! where, crown'd with yon tall oak,
Round Hill the circling land and sea o'erlooks;
Or, smoothly sloping, Grover's beauteous rise,
Spreads its green sides and lifts its single tree,
Glad mark for seamen; or, with ruder face,
Orchards, and fields, and groves, and houses rare,
And scatter'd cedars, Mill Hill meets the eye;
Or where, beyond, with every beauty clad,
More distant heights in vernal pride ascend.
On either side a long, continued range,
In all the charms of rural nature dress'd,
Slopes gently to the main. Ere Tryon sunk
To infamy unfathom'd, through yon groves
Once glisten'd Norwalk's white ascending spires,
And soon, if Heaven permit, shall shine again.
Here, sky-encircled, Stratford's churches beam;
And Stratfield's turrets greet the roving eye.
In clear, full view, with every varied charm
That forms the finish'd landscape, blending soft
In matchless union, Fairfield and Green's Farms
Give luster to the day. Here, crown'd with pines
And skirting groves, with creeks and havens fair
Embellish'd, fed with many a beauteous stream,
Prince of the waves, and ocean's favorite child,
Far westward fading, in confusion blue,
And eastward stretch'd beyond the human ken,
And mingled with the sky; there Longa's Sound
Glorious expands."
The evening closed in, milil and balmy, before we reached Stratford, three miles eastward
of Bridgeport, and the beautiful country through which we were passing was hidden from
view.   We crossed several small estuaries, and the vapor that arose from the grassy salt
marshes was grateful to the nostrils. The warm land-breeze ceased at eight o'clock, and a
strong wind from the ocean brought a chilling fog upon its wings, which veiled the stars,
and made us welcome the sparkling lights of New Haven as we descended Milford Hill and
crossed the broad salt marsh that skirts the western suburbs of the town.   We arrived at
the Tontine a little after nine, and supped with a keen appetite, for I had fasted since breakfast at Ridgefield at ten in the morning. It was Saturday night, and the weary journeys
of the week made the privileges of the approaching day of rest appear peculiarly valuable.
' The morning dawn'd with tokens of a stormA ruddy cloud athwart the eastern sky
Glow'd with the omens of a tempest near;"
yet I ventured to stroll out to East Rock, two miles east-northeast of the city. Crossing
the bridge at the factory owned by the late Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin that
bears his name, I toiled up the steep slope through the woods to the summit of the rock,
D D




418


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


East Rock.         View from its Summit.      Quinnipiack.         Settlement of New Haven.
nearly four hundred feet above the plain below. This rock is the southern extremity of the
Mount Tom range of hills.   It lies contiguous to a similar amorphous mass called West
Rock, and both are composed principally of hornblende and feldspar, interspersed with quartz
and iron.  The oxyd of iron, by the action of rains, covers their bare and almost perpendicular fronts, and gives them their red appearance, which caused the Dutch anciently to designate the site of New Haven by the name of Red Rock. The fronts of these rocks are composed of assemblages of vast irregular columns, similar in appearance to the Palisades of the
Hudson, and, like them, having great beds of debris at their bases. A view from either will
repay the traveler for his labor in reaching the summit. That from the East Rock is particularly attractive, for it embraces the harbor, city, plain, and almost every point of historical interest.connected with New Haven, or Quinnipiack, as the Indians called it.
"I stood upon the cliff's extremest edge,
And downward far beneath me could I see
Complaining brooks that played with meadow sedge,
Then brightly wandered on their journey free."
WILLIS GAYLORD CLARKE.
Winding through the plain were Mill River and the Quinnipiack, spanned by noble bridges
near the city that lay stretched along the beautiful bay; and
" Beyond
The distant temple spires that lift their points
In harmony above the leaf-clad townBeyond the calm bay and the restless Sound
Was the blue island stretching like a cloud
Where the sky stoops to earth: the Rock was smooth,
And there upon the table-stone sad youths
Had carved, unheeded, names, to weave for them
That insect's immortality that lies
In stone, for ages, on a showman's shelf."
L. M. N.
East and West Haven, where the two divisions of the British invading force landed in 1779
Fort Hale, whence they departed; Neck Bridge, across Mill River, under which the fugitive
judges of King Charles I. were concealed; and West Rock, where they " raised their Ebenezer" and dwelt in seclusion for some time, were all in full view. With a spirit fraught
with reverence for the past, and with scenery hallowed by the presence of,( young antiquity"
spread out before us, let us sit down a moment and listen to the teachings of the chronicler.
In the summer of 1637 several wealthy and influential Englist gentlemen arrived at Boston, preparatory to making a permanent location in wilderness America. The young colony
of Massachusetts Bay regarded them with great favor, and various settlements coveted the
honor of numbering them among their proprietors. But they determined to plant a distinct
colony, and, having heard of the beautiful country along the Sound, from Saybrook to the
Saugatuck, discovered by the English in their pursuit of the Pequots, they projected a settlement in that part of the land. In the autumn a portion of them made a journey to Connecticut, to explore the harbors and lands along the coasts, who finally decided upon the beautiful plain on the Quinnipiack for settlement, and built a log hut there.1
In the spring of 1638 the principal men of the new emigration to the colony-Rev. Mr.
Davenport, Mr. Pruden, and Samuel and Theophilus Eaton-with the people of their company, sailed from Boston for Quinnipiack.  They reached the haven in about a fortnight,
and their first Sabbath there was the 18th of April, 1638.  The people assembled under a
large oak, that stood where George and College Streets intersect; and under its venerable
branches the New Haven and Milford Churches were afterward formed. Designing to make
a large and flourishing settlement, founded on strict justice, they purchased the land of MauThis was upon the corner of the present Church and George Streets, New Haven.-Barber.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


419


Organic Law of the New Haven Colony. The " Regicides." The Concealment. Friendship of Davenport. Narrow Escape.
maguin, the chief sachem of that region, on honorable terms, and entered into what they called a plantation covenant with each other.  They laid out their town-plat in squares, designing it for an elegant city.  They prospered for more than a year without any fixed laws, and
in 1639 proceeded to lay the foundation of their civil and religious polity.  Theophilus Eaton
was chosen governor, and Mr. Davenport gave him a serious charge before all the people, from
Deut., i., 16, 17.  It was decreed by the freemen that there should be a general court ant
nually in the plantation, on the last week in October.  This was ordained a court of election, in which all the officers of the colony were to be chosen.  This court determined that
the Word of God should be the only rule for ordering the affairs of government in that camrn
monwealth.
This was the original fundamental Constitution of New Haven, brief in words, but powerful in principle, for the Bible was the statute book.  It exhibited the same general religious aspect in its external affairs as that of the Massachusetts colony.  Seven pillars of the
Church were chosen, and all government was originally in the Church. The members of
the Church (none others being possessed of the elective franchise) elected the governor, mag.
istrates, and all other officers.  The magistrates were merely the assistants of the governor.1
Thus the new colony, having its foundation laid upon divine laws and strong faith in man,
began a glorious career; and the little settlement, ambitious of excellence, has grown to be,
if not the largest, one of the most beautiful cities in the Western World.  From the time of
its foundation until the Revolution broke out, its history, like that of the other New England
settlements, exhibits the ebbing and flowing of the tide of prosperity, under the influences of
the laws of the supreme government and the pressure of Indian hostilities; sometimes burdened and cast down by the injustice of the former, and menaced with overthrow and ruin
by the latter.
New Haven became famous as the ( city of refuge" for three of the English regicides, or
judges who condemned King Charles I. to death.    They were Generals Goffe and Whalley, and Colonel Dixwell. Whalley was descended from a very ancient family, and was a
relative of Oliver Cromwell. Goffe was the son of a Puritan divine, and married a daughter
of Whalley. Dixwell was a wealthy country gentleman of Kent, and was a member of
Parliament in 1654.    On the restoration of Charles II. to the throne of his father, many
of the judges were arrested; thirty were condemned to death, and ten were executed.  The
three above named escaped to New England. Goffe and Whalley arrived at Boston in July,
1660, and took up their residence in Cambridge.  Feeling insecure there, they removed to
New Haven, where their unaffected piety won for them the confidence and esteem of the
people, and particularly of the minister, Mr. Davenport. Their apparent freedom from danger lasted but a few days, The proclamation of Charles, offering a large reward for their
apprehension, and the news that pursuers were on the scent, reached them at the same time,
and they were obliged to flee.  They took shelter in a rocky cavern, on the top of West
Rock, where they were supplied daily with food by their friends. They shifted their place
of abode from time to time, calling each locality Ebenezer, and occasionally appeared publicly in New Haven. On one occasion they sat under the Neck Bridge, upon Mill River,
when their pursuers passed over; and several times they came near falling into their hands.
The people generally favored their escape, and for their lives they owed much to Mr. Davenport.2
Trumbull's History of Connecticut; Barber's History of New Haven.
2 About the time when the pursuers were expected at New Haven, Mr. Davenport preached publicly from
the text, " Take counsel, execute judgment; make thy shadow as the night in the midst of the noon-day;
hide the outcasts; betray not him that wandereth. Let mine outcasts dwell with thee, Moab; be thou a covert to them from the face of the spoilers." Isaiah, xvi., 3, 4. The sermon had the effect to put the whole
town upon their guard, and made the people resolve on concealment of the " outcasts."  The following anecdote is related of Goffe, while he was in Boston: A fencing-master erected a stage, and upon it he walked
several days, defying any one to a combat with swords. Goffe wrapped a huge cheese in a napkin for a
shield, and, arming himself with a mop filled with dirty water from a pool, mounted the stage and accepted
the challenge. The fencing-master attempted to drive him off, but Goffe skillfully received the thrusts of




420                                 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Goffe at Hadley.          Colonel Dixwell.           Tomb-stones of the Regicides.         Stamp Act Proceedings.


In the autumn they left New Haven and went to Hadley.     While there, eleven
1675.
-    years afterward, King Philip's War took place.  While the people of the town were
in their meeting-house, observing a fast, a body of Indians surrounded them.  The continual
expectation of such an event made the inhabitants always go armed to worship.  They were
so armed on this occasion, and sallied out to drive off the savages.  At that moment there
appeared in their midst a man of venerable aspect and singular costume, who placed himself at the head of the people, and, by causing them to observe strict military tactics, enabled
them to disperse the assailants.  The stranger then disappeared.  The people believed an
angel had been sent to lead them and effect a victory.  The angel was General Goffe.
Colonel Dixwell was with Goffe and Whalley much of the time of their long exile. His
latter years were passed in New Haven, where he called himself James Davids, Esq.  He
acknowledged his name and character before his death, which occurred in 1688, about a
month previous to the arrest of Governor Andros in Boston.  The governor was hated by
the colonists, and when the news of the revolution in England, which Dixwell had predicted, reached Boston, the people seized the obnoxious chief magistrate and thrust him into prison.'
Goffe and Whalley died at Hadley, and it is supposed that their bodies were afterward
secretly conveyed to New Haven.  In the old burying-ground in that city, in the rear of
the Center Church, are stones which bear the initials of the regicides.  They are standing
separate; I have grouped them for convenience.  The
'^-, %        two marked E. W. are the head and foot stones of Whal^N '(% %  -'.       ley's grave; and the date, by an extension below the five,
$- <~^ 'I'-T               mayread1658or1678.      Hediedabout 678.     These
"/~ f  ' J '.  -stones are about two feet wide and high, and eight inches
4ftj 6'F;>>                   thick.  Goffe's, marked 80 and M. G., is only ten inches
i   I noE    0 P AT   '^BK        S high.  The M, -it is supposed, is all inverted W.  Dix\e ~           well's stone, seen in front, is two and a half feet high
I                      and broad.  It is a red stone; the others are a sort of
ll 8 d, Y                                              r            i
>\rHAGE 1Gs9 -ty dark blue stone.              The reason given for inscribing only,  > e    their initials on their stones is, a fear that some sycophant.. of royalty, ( clothed with a little brief authority" in New
England, might disturb their remains.2
New Haven was greatly agitated by proceedings growing out of the Stamp Act.  It was
among the earliest of the New England towns that echoed the voice of opposition raised by
Boston against the oppression of the mother country, and the people were generally zealous
in maintaining the liberty of action professed to be secured to them by disannulled charters.
When Ingersoll, who was appointed stamp-master (or the agent of government to sell " stamped paper"), announced the reception of the objectionable articles, New Haven soon became
in a state of actual rebellion. Ingersoll was menaced with every indignity; and even his
life was proclaimed forfeit by some, if he persisted in exercising his new vocation.  Finding
september 19, his own town too warm for him, he proceeded toward Hartford.  He was met
1765.    near Weathersfield by a deputation of about five hundred men, and, when in the
town, they demanded his resignation of the office.  He refused acquiescence, on the reasonable plea that he awaited the action of the General Assembly of Connecticut, whose comhis sword into the cheese. At the third lunge of his antagonist, Goffe held the sword fast in his soft shield
long enough to smear the face of the fencing-master with the filthy mop. Enraged, the challenger caught
up a broad-sword, when Goffe exclaimed, with a firm voice, " Stop, sir; hitherto, you see, I have only played
with you, and not attempted to harm you; but if you come at me now with the broad-sword, know that I
will certainly take your life."  Goffe's firmness alarmed the fencing-master, who exclaimed, " Who can you
be? You must be either Goffe, Whalley, or the devil, for there was no other man in England could beat me."
l Stiles's History of the Regicides; Barber's History of New Haven.
2 A lineal descendant of Colonel Dixwell asked and received permission of the authorities of New Haven
to'disinter the remains of his ancestor, and bury them beneath a monument which he proposed to erect to his
memory, on College' Green, in the rear of the Center Church. They were accordingly removed in November, 1849, and a neat monument, surrounded by an iron railing: is erected there.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


421,




Treatment of the Stamp-master. Joy on the Repeal of the Act.  Patriotism of the People.  Boldness of Benedict Arnold.
mands in the premises he should implicitly obey.  But the people would listen to no legal
excuses, and he, "' thinking the cause not worth dying for," yielded to the menaces of the
people, and signed a paper declaring his resignation of the office.  He was then forced to:
stand up and read it to the people. Not content with this, they made him throw up his
hat, cry out "Liberty and property," and give three cheers.  After dining, he was conducted to Hartford by a cavalcade of about one thousand, who surrounded the court-house, and
caused him to read his resignation in the presence of the members of the Assembly.
The people were quite as much excited by joy when the news of the repeal of the noxious
act reached them, in May, 1766.    The fact was thus announced on the 23d of May, by a
New Haven newspaper: ", Last Monday morning, early, an express arrived here with the
charming news, soon after which many of the inhabitants were awakened with the noise of
small arms from different quarters of the town; all the bells were rung, and cannon roared.
the glad tidings.  In the afternoon the clergy publicly returned thanks for the blessing, and
a company of militia were collected, under the principal direction of Colonel [afterward General] Wooster.  In the evening were illuminations, bonfires, and dances, all without any remarkable indecency or disorder.  The arrival of the regular post from Boston last night has
completed our joy for the wise and interesting repeal of the Stamp Act.  Business will soon
be transacted as usual in this loyal colony.  In short, every thing in nature seems to wear
a more cheerful aspect than usual-to a great majority."
In all subsequent proceedings, in opposition to the unjust acts of the British government
toward the colonies, New Haven was famed for its zeal and firmness; and the people of
Boston received its warmest sympathies and support in all the trials through which they had
to pass, under the royal displeasure, from 1768 until
1776, when that city was purged of the enemies of freedom by the Continental army, under Washington.
-      -     ~ -          New Haven was among the first of the New         Enb          gland towns that sent soldiers to the fields of the Revolution.  The news of the skirmish at Lexington reached
New Haven at about noon the next day.     Ben- April 0,
edict Arnold was then the captain of the Gov-     1775.
i   ll   IIII5l mii.l             ernor's Guards.  He summoned his corps, and proposed
starting immediately for Lexington.  About forty of them
consented to go.'  Arnold requested the town authorities
ANOLD'S SIDENCE.to furnish the company with ammunition.       They refused,
ARNOLD'S RESIDENCE.2
and the hot patriot marched his men to the house where
the select-men were in session, formed a line in front, and sent in word that, if the keys of the
Among the members of the company who went with Arnold were Mr. Earl, a portrait painter, and Amos
Doolittle, an engraver. Mr. Earl made four drawings of Lexington and Concord, which were afterward engraved by Mr. Doolittle. The plates were twelve by eighteen inches in size, and were executed with great
dispatch, for in the Connecticut Journal of December 13th, 1775, is the following advertisement:
L THIS DAY PUBLISHED,
"And to be sold at the store of Mr. James Lockwood, near the college in New Haven, four different views
of the battles of Lexington, Concord, &c., on the 19th of April, 1775.
"Plate I., the battle of Lexington.
"Plate II., a view of the town of Concord, with the ministerial troops destroying the stores.
"Plate III., the battle at the North Bridge, in Concord.
"Plate IV., the south part of Lexington, when the first detachment was joined by Lord Percy.
"The above four plates are neatly engraven on copper, from original paintings taken on the spot.
"Price, six shillings per set for plain ones, or eight shillings colored."
The engraving of the first of the above-named plates was Mr. Doolittle's earliest effort in that branch of
art; and it is not a little singular that his last day's labor with the burin was bestowed upon a reduced copy
of the same picture, for Barber's History of New Haven. executed in 1832. A copy of this print will be
found on page 524.
s Arnold lived in Water Street, near the ship-yard. The house is still standing (1848), on the left side
of the street going toward the water. It is a handsome frame building, embowered in shrubbery. In the




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


March of Arnold and his Company to Cambridge.  Expedition under Tryon.  Landing of the Troops near New Haven.
powder-house were not delivered to him within five minutes, he would order his company to
break it open and help themselves. The keys were given up, the powder was procured, and
soon the volunteers were on their march through Wethersfield and Pomfret, for Cambridge.
At Pomfret they were joined by General Putnam, who left his plow in the furrow, and, on
arriving at Cambridge, they took possession of the elegant mansion of Governor Oliver, who
had fled from the vicinity.  Arnold's corps made a fine appearance, and so correct was their
discipline, that they were chosen to deliver to Governor Gage the body of a British officer
who had died from wounds received at Lexington.
New Haven suffered equally with its sister towns of the sea-board during the whole war
for independence, but the severest trial it endured was an invasion by a British force, under
Governor Tryon of New York, and Brigadier-general Garth, in the summer of 1779. For
some time the idea of a predatory war against the Americans had occupied the British commanders here.   They finally decided upon the measure, and submitted their plans to the
ministry at home.  Wearied by fruitless endeavors to quell the rebellion, the king and his
advisers readily consented to the prosecution of any scheme that promised success.  Arthur
Lee, the political spy abroad upon the movements of the British ministry, immediately forwarded to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, and the Committee for Foreign Affairs, information of the intended change in military operations.  Under date of Paris, April 6th,
1779, he says, "I have received intelligence that it is determined in the British cabinet to
send over immediate orders to New York for an expedition through the Sound, up Connecticut River. The enemy are to land at Wethersfield, and proceed by land to New Haven
Bay, where they are to re-embark, after having plundered, burned, and destroyed all in their
way." Adverse winds, and the capture of some of the papers sent by Lee, prevented the
Americans from receiving timely warning.
Having received the ministerial instructions, Sir Henry Clinton proceeded to execute his
orders.  Governor Tryon was considered a very proper instrument to perform the nefarious
service, and a force of twenty-six hundred men was put under his command, with Brigadiergeneral Garth as his lieutenant. These were placed upon
two ships of war (the Camilla and Scorpion), with transports
and tenders, forty-eight in number, commanded by Commodore
Sir George Collier, and toward evening of the 3d of July they..
passed through Hell Gate into the Sound.  On the 4th, while
the patriots on land were celebrating the adoption of the Decla-     -
ration of Independence, the two commanders joined in drawing  I
up a proclamation and an address to the inhabitants of Connec- ^
ticnt, inviting and urging them to return to their allegiance, and         '
promising ample protection in person and property to those who should remain
peaceably in their dwellings, excepting the civil and military officers of the rebel
government.   This address was sent on shore and distributed, but, before the inhabitants had time to consult upon the public good, the enemy was among them. SAVIN's RocK.1
July,   Collier's fleet sailed up New Haven Bay on the night of the 4th, and
1779. early the next (Monday) morning landed in two divisions, those under Tryon at East
Haven, and those under Garth at West Haven. The latter landed about sunrise, and imgarret of the house the sign was found recently which hung over the door of Arnold's store, in Water Street.
It was black, with white letters, and painted precisely alike on both sides. It was lettered
B, ARNOLD, DRUGGIST,
Bookseller, f'c.,
FROM LONDON.
Sibi Totique.
The Latin motto may be rendered, For himself-for the whole, or for all. Arnold combined the selling
of drugs and books in New Haven from 1763 to 1767.
This is a view of the spot where Garth landed, in Orange, formerly West Haven. It is between three
and four miles below New Haven, on the western side of the harbor entrance, and is a place of considerable
resort in.summer for the people of the city.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


423


Alarm in New Haven.     Bravery of the Militia.  Battle on Milford Hill.  West Bridge.    Death of Campbell.


mediately prepared to march upon the town. Information of the approach of the enemy
having reached New Haven the previous evening, preparations had been made for defense.
All, however, was confusion and alarm, and the care of families and property occupied those
who otherwise might have made a successful stand against the invaders. Many of the inhabitants took refuge upon East Rock, where they remained until the departure of the enemy.
The first opposition to the invaders was made by twenty-five of the inhabitants of the
town (some of whom were students of Yale College), under Captain Hillhouse, who met an
advanced party of the enemy on Milford Hill.  Already the West Bridge on the Milford
K?                                     -
-— ~  -~      ',                     -
WEST BRIDGE AND MILFORD HILL.1
Road had been destroyed, some field pieces taken thither, and slight breast-works thrown up.
Although there was but a handful of Americans, they were animated by such spirit, when
they saw their homes and families in peril, that they drove the advancing enemy nearly back
to their landing-place, and took one prisoner. The whole body of the invaders now moved
forward, with strong flanking parties and two field pieces.  The cannons of the Americans
at West Bridge kept up such a brisk fire that the enemy
dared not venture further upon that road, but moved along     X
Milford Hill, northward to the Derby Road, to enter thet "',.          '
town by that avenue.  This movement required a circui-               M
tous march of several miles.  The first attacking party
of the Americans, continually augmenting, soon swelled to        -
a hundred and fifty, and a sharp conflict ensued with the               __J
enemy's left flank, near the Milford Road.  In this skirm-   CPB'S MON      NT.
ish Major Campbell, the British adjutant, was killed. He
was singled out by a militia-man concealed behind a rock, and fell, pierced by a musket-ball
This view is from the Milford Road, eastward of West Bridge. The high ground in the distance is
Milford Hill, on which is seen the road, directly over the umbrella. A little to the right of the road is the
spot where Major Campbell was buried. West Bridge is about a mile and a half from the central part of
New Haven.
2 This rude memorial was erected in 1831, by J. W. Barber, Esq., of New Haven, the historian of that
city, and author of the Historical Collections of Connecticut, as a tribute of respect for a meritorious officer.
It is about a foot and a half high. The site of Campbell's grave was pointed out to Mr. Barber by the late
Chaunoy Ailing, who saw him buried. Several Americans, who were killed at the same time, were buried
near. Their remains were afterward removed. Those of Adjutant Campbell rest undisturbed.




4: 2-!


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Campbell's Grave.  Entrance of the Enemy into New Haven.  Dr. Daggett and his Treatment  Landing of Tryon.
near his heart.  He was wrapped in a blanket, and carried upon a sheep-litter to a house
near by, where he expired. He was buried in a shallow grave not far from the spot where
he fell, on the summit of the high ground near the intersection of the Milford and West
Haven Roads, in the southwest corner of a field known as Campbell's Lot.
After the skirmish, the British pressed onward toward the Derby Road. Eye-witnesses
described their appearance from points near the city as very brilliant; Milford Hill seemed
all in a blaze, from the mingled effects upon the eye of scarlet uniforms and glittering arms.
The Americans annoyed them exceedingly all the way to Thompson's Bridge (now Westville), on the Derby Road, and the small force at West Bridge, under Captain Phineas Bradley, hastened to that point to oppose their passage.  Bradley was too late; Garth had possession of the bridge and the fording-places of the stream, and, after a sharp skirmish of ten
minutes, he drove the militia before him, and marched triumphantly into the town between
twelve and one o'clock. He had been piloted all the way from the landing-place by a young
Tory named William Chandler, who, with his father and family, left New Haven when the
enemy departed.
Among those who went out to the West Bridge and beyond, to oppose the enemy, was the
Rev. Dr. Daggett,' then late President of Yale College, and a warm republican. Armed with
a musket, he joined his friends to oppose the common enemy. Near the West Bridge he
was wounded and made a prisoner, and, but for the interference of young Chandler, the Tory
guide, who had been a student in the college, he would doubtless have been murdered. He
was cruelly injured with bayonets, and by a severe blow across the bowels with the butt of
a musket, after he had surrendered and begged for quarters.2 Yet his firmness did not forsake him.   While abused and cursed, he was asked whether, if released, he would again
take up arms against them, and replied, ( I rather believe I shall if I get an opportunity."
As soon as the boats that conveyed the first division of the enemy to shore returned, the
second division, under Tryon, con-. P A-.                        sisting chiefly of Hessians and
Tories, landed, with two pieces
of cannon, on the east side of the
-                            harbor, where the light-house now
stands.  They marched up and
attacked the little fort on Black
-- 1                                   Rock (now Fort Hale), which was
-:  2                                     defended by a feeble garrison of
j           j I                              -      only nineteen  men, with three
-___     ___                       pieces of artillery.  After a slight'
LANDING-PLACE OF GENEr AL TeYoN.           skirmish, the Americans were
driven from the post.   The enemy then pushed toward the town, while their shipping drew nearer and menaced the inhabt Naphtali Daggett was a native of Attleborough, Massachusetts. He graduated at Yale College in 1748,
and in 1756 was appointed professor of divinity in that institution, which office he held until his death. He
officiated as president of the college from 1766 until 1777, when he was succeeded by Dr. Stiles. He died
November 25th, 1780, aged about sixty years.
2 " I was insulted," says the doctor, in his account preserved in MS. in the office of the Secretary of State,
at Hartford," in the most shocking manner by the ruffian soldiers, many of which came at me with fixed
bayonets, and swore they would kill me on the spot. They drove me with the main body a hasty march
of five miles or more. They damned me, those that took me, because they spared my life. Thus, amid a
thousand insults, my infernal drivers hastened me along, faster than my strength would admit in the extreme
heat of the day, weakened as I was by my wounds and the loss of blood, which, at a moderate computation,
could not be less than one quart. And when I failed, in some degree, through faintness, he would strike
me on the back with a heavy walking-staff, and kick me behind with his foot. At length, by the supporting power of God, I arrived at the Green, New Haven. But my life was almost spent, the world around
me several times appearing as dark as midnight. I obtained leave of an officer to be carried into the Widow
Lyman's and laid upon a bed, where I lay the rest of the day and succeeding night, in such acute and excruciating pain as I never felt before."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


425


Conduct of the Enemy.  People on East Rock.  Evacuation by the British.  Destruction of Fairfield.
itants with bombardment. At the bridge over Neck Creek (Tomlinson's Bridge) the Americans made some resistance with a field piece, but were soon obliged to yield to superior
numbers and discipline.  Before night the town was completely possessed by the invaders.
Throughout the remainder of the' day and night the soldiery committed many excesses and
crimes, plundering deserted houses, ravishing unprotected women, and murdering several
citizens, among whom were the venerable Mr. Beers, and an aged and helpless man named
English.
The general movements of the enemy through the day could be seen by the fugitive inhabitants on East Rock, and gloomy indeed was the night they passed there.  Families
were separated, for the men were generally mustering from all parts of the adjacent country
to expel the enemy.  Anxiously their hearts beat for kindred then in peril, and eagerly their
eyes were turned toward their homes, in momentary expectation of beholding thein in flames.
It was Garth's intention to burn the town.  He declared, in a note to Tryon, that the
", conflagration it so richly deserved should commence as soon as he should secure the Neck
Bridge."  But during the night he changed his mind.  Early on Sunday morning,a a July 7,
perceiving the militia collecting in large numbers, he called in his guards, and re-  1779.
treated to his boats.  Part of his troops went on board the ships, and part crossed over to
East Haven, where they joined Tryon's division. Toward that point the militia now directed their attention.  In the afternoon, finding himself hard pressed by the citizen soldiers
that were flocking to New Haven from the adjacent country, Tryon ordered a retreat to the
shipping.  Several buildings and some vessels and stores were set on fire at East Haven
when they left. At five o'clock the fleet weighed anchor and sailed westward, carrying
away about forty of the inhabitants of the town.
The appetite of Tryon and his troops for pillage and murder was not sated when, on the.
afternoon of the 7th, they embarked from Fort Rock, now Fort Hale.' Sailing down the
Sound, they anchored off the village of Fairfield on the morning of the 8th. After a fog
that lay upon the waters had cleared away, they landed a little eastward of Kensie's Point,
at a place called the Pines, and marched immediately to the village. Dr. Timothy Dwight
has given a graphic description of the destruction of the town.  " On the 7th of July, 1 77 9,"
he says, ", Governor Tryon, with the army I have already mentioned, sailed from New Haven
to Fairfield, and the next morning disembarked upon the beach. A few militia assembled
to oppose them, and, in a desultory, scattered manner, fought with great intrepidity through
most of the day.  They killed some, took several prisoners, and wounded more.  But the
expedition was so sudden and unexpected, that efforts made in this manner were necessarily
fruitless.  The town was plundered; a great part of the houses, together with two churches,
the court-house, jail, and school-houses, were burned.  The barns had just been filled with
wheat and other produce.  The inhabitants, therefore, were turned out into the world almost literally destitute.
1" Mrs. Burr, the wife of Thaddeus Burr, Esq., high sheriff of the county, resolved to continue in the mansion-house of the family, and make an attempt to save it from conflagration.
The house stood at a sufficient distance from other buildings. Mrs. Burr was adorned with
all the qualities which give distinction to her sex; possessed of fine accomplishments, and a
dignity of character scarcely rivaled; and probably had never known what it was to be
treated with disrespect, or even with inattention.  She made a personal application to Governor Tryon, in terms which, from a lady of her high respectability, could hardly have failed
of a satisfactory answer from any person who claimed the title of a gentleman.  The answer
which she actually received was, however, rude and brutal, and spoke the want, not only
of politeness and humanity, but even of vulgar civility.  The house was sentenced to the
flames, and was speedily set on fire. An attempt was made in the mean time, by some
1 Fort Hale is situated upon an insulated rock, two miles from the end of Long Wharf, New Haven. It
was named in honor of Captain Nathan Hale, one of the early Revolutionary martyrs. The Americans had
a battery of three guns upon this point, which greatly annoyed the enemy when landing.




426


PICTORHIAL FIELD-BOOK


42       PITRA FEDBO


Dwight's Account of the Destruction of Fairfield.  Tryon's Apology.  Extent of the Destruction.  The Buckley House.
of the soldiery, to rob her of a valuable watch, with rich furniture; for Governor Tryon refused to protect her, as well as to preserve the house.  The watch had been already conveyed out of their reach; but the house, filled with every thing which contributes either to
comfort or elegance of living, was laid in ashes.
( While the town was in flames a thunder-storm overspread the heavens, just as night
came on. The conflagration of near two hundred houses illumined the earth, the skirts of
the clouds, and the waves of the Sound with a union of gloom and grandeur at once inexpressibly awful and magnificent. The sky speedily was hung with the deepest darkness
wherever the clouds were not tinged by the melancholy luster of the flames.  The thunder
rolled above.  Beneath, the roaring of the fires filled up the intervals with a deep and hollow sound, which seemed to be the protracted murmur of the thunder reverberated from one
end of heaven to the other.  Add to this convulsion of the elements, and these dreadful effects of vindictive and. wanton devastation, the trembling of the earth, the sharp sound of
muskets occasionally discharged, the groans here and there of the wounded and dying, and
the shquts of triumph; then place befbre your eyes crowds of the miserable sufferers, mingled with bodies of the militia, and from the neighboring hills taking a farewell prospect of
their property and their dwellings, their happiness and their hopes, and you will form a just,
but imperfect, picture of the burning of Fairfield.  It needed no great effort of imagination
to believe that the final day had arrived, and that, amid this funereal darkness, the morning
would speedily dawn to which no night would ever succeed; the graves yield up their inhabitants; and the trial commence, at which was to be finally settled the destiny of man.
"( The apology made by Governor Tryon for this Indian effort was conveyed in the following sentence:, The village was burned, to resent the fire of the rebels from their houses, and
to mask our retreat.'  This declaration unequivocally proves that the rebels were troublesome to their invaders, and at the same time is to be considered as the best apology which
they are able to make.   But it contains a palpable falsehood, intended to justify conduct
which admits of no excuse, and rejects with disdain every attempt at palliation. Why did
this body of men land at Fairfield at all?  There were here no stores, no fortress, no enemy, except such as were to be found in every village throughout the United States. It was
undoubtedly the original object of the expedition to set fire to this town, and the apology was
created after the work was done.  It was perfectly unnecessary to mask the retreat.  The
townsmen, and the little collection of farmers assembled to aid them, had no power to disturb it.  No British officer, no British soldier would confess that, in these circumstances, he
felt the least anxiety concerning any molestation
from such opposers.  The next morning the troops..-.
re-embarked, and, proceeding to Green's Farms, set
fire to the church and consumed it, together with
fifteen dwelling-houses, eleven barns, and several
stores."'
The Hessians who accompanied Tryon were his
incendiaries.  To them he intrusted the wielding
of the torch, and faithfully they obeyed their master.
When the people fled from the town, not expecting
that their houses would be burned, they left most           T E BUCKL- Y HOUSE.
of their furniture behind.  The distress was consequently great, for many lost every earthly possession.  Among the buildings saved was that
Dwight's Travels in New England, iii., 512. According to a document in the office of the Secretary
of State of Connecticut, the number of buildings destroyed was ninety-seven dwellings, sixty-seven barns,
forty-eight stores, two school-houses, one county-house, two meeting-houses, and one Episcopal Church.
2 This building stood upon the eastern side of the Green, fronting the church. It was demolished three
or four years ago, having stood more than a century and a half. The engraving is a copy, by permission
of the author, from Barber's Historical Collections of Connecticut, page 353. Tryon lodged in the upper
room on the right of the main building.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


427


Treatment of Mrs. Buckley.  Interference of General Silliman.  Humphreys's Elegy on the Burning of Fairfield
of Mr. Buckley, pictured in the engraving.   Tryon made it his head-quarters.    The naval
officer who had charge of the British ships, and piloted them to Fairfield, was Mrs. Buckley's
brother, and he had requested Tryon to spare the house of his sister.  Tryon acquiesced, and,
feeling his indebtedness to her brother, the general informed Mrs. Buckley that if there was
any other house she wished to save she should be gratified.   After the enemy left, the enraged militia, under Captain Sturges, placed a field piece in front of the dwelling, and then
sent Mrs. Buckley word that she might have two hours to clear the house, and leave it, or
they would blow her to atoms.     She found means to communicate a notice of her situation
to General Silliman, who was about two miles distant. He immediately went to the town,
and found one hundred and fifty men at the cannon. By threats and persuasion he induced
them to withdraw. The next day Colonel Benjamin Tallmadge, with his regiment, arrived from White Plains, and, encamping on the smoking ruins, made Tryon's quarters
his own.'
The cruelties committed upon helpless women and children, and the wanton destruction
of property, at Fairfield, were worthy only of savages, and made the name of Tryon a synonym for every thing infernal.   The passions of the soldiery were excited by strong drink,
and murder, pillage, and brutal violence to women were their employment throughout the
night.   Like similar outrages elsewhere, these awakened the strongest feelings of hatred and
revenge against the common enemy, and the pen, the pulpit, and the forum sent forth their
righteous denunciations.   Colonel David Humphreys, the soldier-poet of the Revolution,
visited the scene of destruction soon after the event, and wrote the following elegy while on
the spot:
"Ye smoking ruins, marks of hostile ire,
Ye ashes warm, which drink the tears that flow,
Ye desolated plains, my voice inspire,
And give soft music to the song of woe.
How pleasant, Fairfield, on the enraptured sight
Rose thy tall spires and oped thy social halls!
How oft my bosom beat with pure delight
At yonder spot where stand thy darken'd walls!
But there the voice of mirth resounds no more.
A silent sadness through the streets prevails;
The distant main alone is heard to roar,
The hollow chimneys hum with sudden galesSave where scorch'd elms the untimely foliage shed,
Which, rustling, hovers round the faded greenSave where, at twilight, mourners frequent tread,
Mid recent graves, o'er desolation's scene.
How changed the blissful prospect when compared,
These glooms funereal, with thy former bloom,
Thy hospitable rights when Tryon shared,
Long ere he seal'd thy melancholy doom.
That impious wretch with coward voice decreed
Defenseless domes and hallow'd fanes to dust;
Beheld, with sneering smile, the wounded bleed,
And spurr'd his bands to rapine, blood, and lust.
Vain was the widow's, vain the orphan's cry,
To touch his feelings or to soothe his rageVain the fair drop that roll'd from beauty's eye,
Vain the dumb grief of supplicating age.
Could Tryon hope to quench the patriot flame,
Or make his deeds survive in glory's page?
Could Britons seek of savages the same,
Or deem it conquest thus the war to wage?
1 Mrs. Buckley was not a friend of the enemy. According to her testimony, under oath, she was badly
treated by the soldiery, notwithstanding she had a protection from General Garth, the second in command.
They plundered her house, stripped her buckles from her shoes, tore a ring from her finger, and fired the
house five times before leaving it.-See Hinman's Historical Collections, p. 620.




428                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Tryon's Retreat from Fairfield.  Journey resumed.  Return to New Haven.  Visit to West Bridge and other Localities
Yes, Britons scorn the councils of the skies,
Extend wide havoc, spurn the insulted foes;
The insulted foes to ten-fold vengeance rise,
Resistance growing as the danger grows.
Red in their wounds, and pointing to the plain,
The visionary shapes before me stand;
The thunder bursts, the battle burns again,
And kindling fires encrimson all the strand.
Long, dusky wreaths of smoke, reluctant driven,
In black'ning volumes o'er the landscape bend:
Here the broad splendor blazes high to heaven,
There umber'd streams in purple pomp ascend.
In fiery eddies round the tott'ring walls,
Emitting sparks, the lighter fragments fly;
With frightful crash the burning mansion falls,
The works of years in glowing embers lie.
Tryon, behold thy sanguine flames aspire,
Clouds tinged with dies intolerably bright:
Behold, well pleased, the village wrapp'd in fire,
Let one wide ruin glut thy ravish'd sight!
Ere fades the grateful scene, indulge thine eyes,
See age and sickness tremulously slow
Creep from the flames. See babes in torture die,
And mothers swoon in agonies of woe.
Go, gaze enraptured with the mother's tear,
The infant's terror, and the captive's pain;
Where no bold bands can check thy cursed career,
Mix fire with blood on each unguarded plain!
These be thy triumphs, this thy boasted fame!
Daughters of mem'ry, raise the deathless song,
Repeat through endless years his hated name,
Embalm his crimes, and teach the world our wrong."
Large numbers of militia had collected in the neighborhood of Fairfield on the morning of'
the 9th, and at eight o'clock Tryon sounded a retreat to the shipping.    His troops were
galled very much by the militia, and it was noon before all were embarked.     At three in
the afternoon they weighed anchor and sailed over to Huntington, Long Island, whence
they made a descent upon, and destroyed, Norwalk.
We will close the record and hasten from tho mountain, for
" 'Tis Sabbath morn, and lingering on the gale
The mellow'd peals of the sweet bells arise,
Floating where'er the restless winds prevail,
Laden with incense and with harmonies,"
and inviting me back to the city and the open sanctuary.   I arrived in time for a luncheon
breakfast, and to listen to an eloquent sermon in Trinity Church on the College Green, from
a stripling deacon who had just taken orders.   The afternoon was warm     and lowery, the
rain came pattering down in the evening, and the next morning a nor'easter was piping its
melancholy notes among the stately elms of the city,1 while the rain poured as if Aquarius
had overturned his water-jar.
There was a lull in the storm  about nine o'clock, and, accompanied by Mr. Barber, the
artist-author, in a covered wagon, I visited some of the points of interest about the city.  We
first rode to the West Bridge on West River, near which the Americans made their first
stand against General Garth, and in the midst of a heavy dash of rain made the sketch on
page 423.    Returning to the city, we visited the dwelling of Arnold, Neck Bridge, and the
Cemetery.    In the latter, a large and beautiful " city of the dead," lie many illustrious
remains, among which are those of Colonel David Humphreys, one of Washington's aids.
The fine elms which shade the public square and vicinity were planted by the Rev. David Austin and
Hon. James Hillhouse. They are the pride of New Haven, and have conferred upon it the title of The city
of Elms.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


429


The Cemetery.  Humphreys's Monument.  The Grave of Arnold's Wife.  Her Character.  Colonel Humphreys.
They lie near the southwestern part of the Cemetery, and over them stands a fine monument
consisting of a granite obelisk and pedestal, about twelve feet in height.
Upon two tablets of copper, inserted in the pedestal, is the following
- '*          inscription, written by his friend, the author of M'Fingal: ( David
Humphreys, LL.D., Acad. Scient. Philad., Mass., et Connect., et in
Anglia Aque Solis, et Regiae Societat. Socius.   Patrim et libertatis
amore ac census, juvenis vitam reipub. integram consecravit.  Patriam armis tuebatur, consiliis auxit, literis exornavit, apud exteras gentes concordia stabilivit.  In bello gerendo maximi ducis Washington
administer et adjutor; in exercitu patrio Chiliarchus; in republica
Connecticutensi, militum evocatorum imperator; ad aulam Lusitan.
et Hispan. legatus.  Iberia reversus natale solum vellere vere aureo
-    ditavit.  In Historia et Poesi scriptor exirius; in artibus et scien-.,...<...   ^ =   tiis excolendis, que vel decori vel usui inserviunt, optimus ipse et
UUMPHUYS   MONUENT.    patronus et exemplar.    Omnibus demum      officiis expletis, cursuq;
vitre feliciter peracto, fato cessit, Die xxi. Februar., Anno Domini
MIDCCCXVIII.; cum   annos                                          is represented as a woman
vixisset LXV."1                                                    of the most fervent piety,
In the northeast sec-                                           exalted  patriotism, gention of the Cemetery is a                                          tleness of manners, and
dark stone, neatly carved                                          sweetness of disposition.
with an ornamental bor-                                            These qualities are powder, sacred to the memory                                          erful checks upon unruof Margaret, the first wife                                        ly passions, particularly
of Benedict Arnold, who         — B-                               when exerted in the intidied on the 19th of June,: -                                mate relation of husband
1775, while her husband                                            and wife.   Had she lived
was upon Lake      Cham-       ii                                  until the   close  of the
plain. Her maiden name          /                                  Revolution, far different
was Mansfield, and     by                                          might have been the fate
her Arnold had                         '   '                                 of her husband,
three sons. She                                                              for there is litwas   thirty-one                                                             tle  doubt that
years old when    ^                                           --      -''    his resentments
she died.   She                                                              against    Congress and the managers of military affairs for two years previous to his treason were fostered
Mr. Barber gives the following translation: " David Humphreys, doctor of laws, member of the Academy of Sciences of Philadelphia, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, of the Bath [Agricultural Society] and of
the Royal Society of London. Fired with the love of country and of liberty, he consecrated his youth wholly
to the service of the republic, which he defended by his arms, aided by his counsels, adorned by his learning,
and preserved in harmony with foreign nations. In the field he was the companion and aid of the great
Washington, a colonel in the army of his country, and commander of the veteran volunteers of Connecticut.
He went embassador to the courts of Portugal and Spain, and, returning, enriched his native land with the
true golden fleece.*  He was a distinguished historian and poet; a model and a patron of science, and of
the ornamental and useful arts. After a full discharge of every duty, and a life well spent, he died oi the
21st day of February, 1818, aged sixty-five years." To complete the brief biography given in this inscrip.
tion, I will add that Colonel Humphreys was born in Derby, Connecticut, in 1753, and graduated at Yale
College in 1771. He soon afterward went to reside with Colonel Phillips, of Phillips's Manor, New York.
He joined the Continental army, and in 1778 was one of General Putnam's aids, with the rank of major.
Washington appointed him his aid in 1780, and he remained in the military family of the chief until the close
of the war. For his valor at Yorktown, Congress honored him with a sword. He accompanied Jefferson
to Paris, as secretary of legation, in 1784. Kosciusko accompanied them. He was a member of the Legislature of Connecticut in 1786, and about that time he, Barlow, and Hopkins wrote the Anarchiad. From


* 'This is in allusion to the fact that Colonel Humphreys was the man who introduced merino sheep into the United States. He4
sent over from Spain a flock of one hundred in 1801.




130             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Arnold's Disaffection.  Dr. Eneas Munson.  Death of Colonel ScammelL  His Epitaph by Humphreys.
by his intercourse with the Tory friends of his second wife, Margaret Shippen, of Philadelphia. Indeed, the Loyalists claimed him for a friend as early as December, 1778. Charles
Stewart, writing to Joseph Galloway, said, ( General Arnold is in Philadelphia.  It is said
that he   will be                                                   ations, two  Hesdischarged,  being                                                  sian horsemen came
thought a pert To-.                         suddenly upon him,
ry.  Certain it is                        ~.e _.                   and presented their
that he associates                        '     -'.> pistols. Perceiving
mostly with these                     /                             that there was no
On leaving the                                                   he surrendered, sayCemetery, we call-      ].                            1    ing, "Gentlemen, I
ed upon the venera-                                                 am your prisoner."
ble Eneas Munson,                                                   Either because they
M.D., a vigorous                                                    did not understand
relic of the Revo-       At                                         his words, or actulution.  He is still              --            I                   ated by that want
living   (January,     4.                                  L     of humanity which
1850), more than        '                                   X      generally  characeighty-six years of                                      A          terized those merceage.  He was Dr.                                                    naries, one of them
Thacher's assistant                                                fired, and wounded
in the Continental            ir                   - '-             the colonel mortalarmy, and was pres-                                                ly.   He was carent at the siege of                          X                      n.  ried to WilliamsYorktown and the    /    --                                         burg, and Dr. Munsurrender of Corn-            S -                                   son was the first
wallis, in October,                       \      \   3 A            surgeon in attend.
1781.   Hle   was                         sil  mat ioance                upon   him.
then a surgeon in                                                   He died there on
Colonel Scammell's                                                 the  6th of Octoregiment, which, in                      -ber. Colonel Humthat action, was at-                                    i           phreys (to  whose
tached to General    oi-                                            regiment Dr. MunHamilton's brigade.       -AA                              -        son was attached
During   the  si ege   -                                            after the death ofe
Colonel Scammell was                       w                        Scammell)     wrote
shot by a Hessian cavalry                i   --- -- - ~        the following poetic epiofficer, while reconnoitering                              '   taph for the tomb of his
a small redoubt on a point                                     friend.  I do not know
of land which had been al-                                 whether the lines were ever
ternately in possession of the                            inscribed upon marble, or reAmericans and British.  It                                 corded by the pen of history.
was just at twilight, and, ^j/                      f      They were repeated to me
while making careful observ-                               by Dr. Munson, and I give
them as a memorial of a brave and accomplished officer of the Revolution.
1788 until he was appointed minister to Portugal, in 1790, he resided with Washington at Mount Vernon.
He was appointed minister plenipotentiary to Spain in 1794; married the daughter of a wealthy English
gentleman at Lisbon in 1797; returned in 1801, and for ten years d ted his time to agriculture. In 1812
he took the command of the militia of Connecticut. His death was sudden. caused by an organic disease
of the heart. His literary attainments were considerable. Besides several poems, he wrote some political
pamphlets; and in 1788, while at Mount Vernon, completed a life of Putnam, a large portion of the material of which he received from the lips of the veteran.
l This portrait is from a Daguerreotype kindly lent me by Dr. Munson, with permission to copy it.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


431


Nathan Beers.        Yale College.      Its political Character in the Revolution,  A Tory Student.
"What though no friend could ward thine early fall,
Nor guardian angels turn the treacherous ball;
Bless'd shade, be soothed! Thy virtues all are knownThy fame shall last beyond this mouldering stone,
Which conquering armies, from their toils return,
Read to thy glory while thy fate they mourn.''
A drawing of the place where Scammell was killed, and a biographical sketch of that officer, are given in the notice of my visit to Yorktown.
A few doors from Dr. Munson, in the same street, lived the almost centenarian, Nathan
Beers, who was paymaster in Scammell's regiment at Yorktown. He was ninety-six years
old, and completely demented; second childhood, with all its trials for the subject and his
friends, was his lot; yet did I look with rev/erence upon that thin visage and ( lack-luster
eye," where once were indices of a noble mind
within.   A truer patriot never drew blade for
SIGNATRE OF NATHAN BEERS AT 90.       his country, and, above all, he was, an honest
man, the noblest work of God."      For years
he struggled with the misfortunes of life, and became involved in debt.   At length Congress
made a decision in his favor respecting a claim for a pension as paymaster in the Continental
army, and arrearages amounting to some thousands of dollars were awarded him. There
was enough to give him a competence in his old age, but even this reward for public services he handed over to his creditors.  He has since gone to receive the final recompense of
the patriot and Christian.   He died on the 10th. of February, 1849, aged nearly 98.
After a short visit to the Trumbull Gallery of Paintings and the Library of Yale College,' I
returned to my lodgings, and at four o'clock in the afternoon departed in the cars for Hartford.
1 Yale College, aside from its intrinsic worth as a seminary of learning, is remarkable for the great number of the leading men of the Revolution who were educated within its walls. That warm and consistent
patriot, President Daggett, gave a political tone to the establishment favorable to the republican cause, and
it was regarded as the nursery of Whig principles during the Revolution. When New Haven was invaded
by Tryon, Yale College was marked for special vengeance, but, as we have seen, the invaders retreated hastily without burning the town. There were very few among the students, during our war for independence,
who were imbued with Tory principles, and they were generally, if known, rather harshly 'dealt with.
One instance may suffice to show the spirit of the times. In June, 1775, a student named Abiather Camp
was reported unfriendly to Congress. A committee of investigation was appointed, who wrote a very polite
note to the young gentleman, setting forth the charges made against him, and demanding an explicit denial,
if the report was untrue. The young scape-grace returned the following answer:
"New Haven, June 13, 1775.
"To the Honorable and Respectable Gentlemen of the Committee now residing in Yale College:
"May it please your honors, ham-ham-ham.
"Finis cumsistula, popularum gigA man without a head has no need of a wig.
"ABIATHER CAMP."
The insulted committee resolved to advertise Camp as an enemy to his country, and to treat him with all
possible scorn and neglect. Such advertisement was posted upon the hall door. He braved public opinion
until October, when he recanted, and publicly asked pardon for his offenses.
Yale College was founded by ten principal ministers in the colony, who met for the purpose, at New Haven, in 1700. Each brought a number of books at their next meeting in 1701, and, presenting them to the
society, said, " I give these books for the founding of a college in the colony."  A proposition to found a college had been named fifty years before. The first commencement was held at Saybrook, in 1702. In 1717
the first college building was erected in New Haven. It was seventy feet long and twenty-two wide. From
time to time several liberal endowments have been made to the institution, the earliest and most munificent
of which was from Elihu Yale, in whose honor the college was named. Among its distinguished benefactors
were Sir Isaac Newton, Dean Berkley, Bishop Burnet, Halley, Edwards, &c. The present imposing pile
was commenced in 1750. Additions have been made at different times, and it now consists of four spacious
edifices, each four stories high, one hundred and four by forty feet on the ground; a chapel, lyceum, atheneum, chemical laboratory, dining-hall, and a dwelling-house for the president.




432


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK.New England and its Associations.                Arrival at Hartford.                  Continuation of the Storm.


CHAPTER XIX.
"Land of the forest and the rockOf dark blue lake and mighty riverOf mountains rear'd aloft to mock
The storm's career, the lightning's shock:
My own green land forever.
Oh! never may a son of thine,
Where'er his wandering steps incline,
Forget the sky which bent above
His childhood like a dream of loveThe stream beneath the green hill flowingThe broad-armed trees above it growingThe clear breeze through the foliage blowing;
Or hear, unmoved, the taunt of scorn
Breathed o'er the brave New England born."
WHITTIER
~:^       TLTHOUGH much of the soil of New England is rough and sterile, and labor
— hard and unceasing labor-is necessary to procure subsistence for its
/           teeming population, in no part of our republic can be found stronger birthplace attachments.  It is no sentiment of recent growth, springing up
If.    ~under the influence of the genial warmth of our free institutions, but
^ "     ^'-   ante-dates our Revolution, and was prominently manifest in colonial
times.  This sentiment, strong and vigorous, gave birth to that zealous patrioti ism which distinguished the people of the Eastern States during the ten years
v>    preceding the war for independence, and the seven years of that contest.  Repub/? licanism seemed to be indigenous to the soil, and the people appeared to inhale the
air of freedom at every breath.  Every where upon the Connecticut, and eastward,
loyalty to the sovereign-a commendable virtue in a people governed by a righteous prince-was changed by kingly oppression into loyalty to a high and holy principle, and hallowed, for all time, the region where it flourished.  To a pilgrim on an errand
like mine the rough hills and smiling valleys of New England are sanctuaries for patriot worship; and as our long train swept over the sandy plain of New Haven, and coursed among
the hills of Wallingford and Meriden, an emotion stirred the breast akin to that of the Jew
of old when going up to Jerusalem to the Great Feast.  A day's journey before me was
Boston-the city of the pilgrims, the nursery of liberty cradled in the May Flower, the first
altar-place of freedom in the Western World.
The storm, which had abated for a few hours at mid-day, came down with increased violence, and the wind-eddies wrapped the cars in such wreaths of smoke from the engine, that
only an occasional glimpse of the country could be obtained.  It was almost dark when we
October, reached Hartford, upon the Connecticut River, thirty-six miles northward of New
1848.  Haven; where, sick and weary from the effects of exposure and fatigue during the
morning, a glowing grate and an ( old arm-chair" in a snug room at the (I United States"
were, under the circumstances, comforts which a prince might covet. Let us close the shutters against the impotent gusts, and pass the evening with the chroniclers of Hartford and
its vicinage.
Hartford (Suckiag), and Wethersfield, four miles distant, were the earliest settlements in
Connecticut. In 1633 the Dutch from Nieu Amsterdam went up the Connecticut River,




OF TIE REVOLUTION.


433


- -


First Settlement at Hartford. First Meeting-house in Connecticut. Government organized. Union of New England Colonies.
and established a trading-house and built a small fort on the south side of the Mill River,
at its junction with the Connecticut, near the site of Hartford.  The place is still known as
Dutch Point.   About the same time William Holmes and others of the Plymouth colony
sailed up the Connecticut, in a vessel having the frame of a dwelling on board, and, landing
on the west side, near the present Windsor, erected the first house built in Connecticut.  The
Dutch threatened to fire on them, but they were allowed to pass by.  In 1635, John Steele
and others, under the auspices of Rev. Thomas Hooker, of Cambridge, reached Holnes's residence, and began a settlement near.  Hooker and his-wife, with about one hundred men,
women, and children of his flock, left Cambridge the following year, and marched  June,
through the wilderness westward to the pioneer settlement, subsisting, on the journey,  1636
upon the milk of a herd of cows which they drove before them.  Over hills and mountains,
through thickets and marshes, they made their way, with no guide but a compass, no shelter but the heavens and the trees, no bed save the bare earth, relying upon Divine Providence and their own indomitable perseverance for success.  The first
house of worship was erected the previous year, and on the 9th of
July, 1636, Mr. Hooker first preached, and administered the holy
communion there.
The Dutch looked upon the new-comers as intruders, while the
English settlers in turn regarded the Dutch in that light, because the
whole country north of 40~ belonged, by chartered rights, to the Plym-  -
outh and Massachusetts Companies.  Much animosity existed for sev-  FT    ETI —OUS
eral years, the Dutch refusing to submit to the laws framed by the
English colony, and often threatening hostilities against them.  Finally, in 1654, an order
arrived from Parliament requiring the English colony to regard the Dutch, in all respects,
as enemies.  In conformity to this order, the Dutch trading-house, fort, and all their lands
were sequestered for the benefit of the commonwealth. The Dutch then withdrew.
The first court, or regularly organized government, in Connecticut, was held at Hartford
in the spring of 1636.  The people were under the general government of Massachusetts,
but were allowed to have minor courts of their own, empowered to nlake war or peace, and
form alliances with the natives within the colony.  The English settlement was not fairly
seated, before the Pequots, already mentioned, disturbed it with menaces of destruction.
The Pequot war ensued in 1637, and, although it involved the colony in debt, and caused a
present scarcity of provisions, it established peace for many years, and was ultimately beneficial.
In January, 1639, a convention of the free planters of Connecticut was held at Hartford,
and a distinct commonwealth was formed.  They adopted a constitution of civil government,
which was organized in April following, by the election of John Haynes governor, and six
magistrates.  In 1642 their criminal code, founded upon Jewish laws as developed in
the Scripture, was completed and entered on record.  By this code the death penalty was
incurred by those guilty of worshiping any but the one triune God; of witchcraft; blasphemy; willful murder, except in defense of life; man-stealing; false swearing, by which a
man's life might be forfeited; unchastity of various grades; cursing or smiting of parents
by a child over sixteen years of age, except when it could be shown that the child's training
had been neglected or the parents were guilty of cruel treatment; and of a stubborn disobedience of parents by a son over sixteen years of age.
The following year the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut (as Hart- 1643
ford was called), and New Haven confederated for their mutual safety and welfare,
and called themselves the United Colonies of New England.2    Each colony was authori This picture of the first house for Christian worship erected in Connecticut is copied from Barber's Historical Collections. He obtained the drawing from an antiquary of Hartford, and believes it correct.
2 The term New England was first applied by Captain John Smith, according to the dedicatory epistle to
the " First Sermon preached in New England" by Robert Cushman. " It was so called," says the address,
"because of the resemblance that is in it of England, the native soil of Englishmen. It being much what
the same for heat and cold in summer and winter, it being champaign ground, but no high mountains, some.
EE




434


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK




Conjunction of New Haven and Connecticut Colonies. James II. Quo Warranto. Governor Andross. The "Charter Oak."
ized to send two commissioners to meet annually in September, first at Boston, and then at
Hartford, New Haven, and Plymouth, with power to make war and peace, and enact federal laws for the general good.  This union was productive of great benefit, for it made the
united settlements formidable in opposition to their enemies, the Dutch and Indians.
In 1662, Charles II. granted a charter to the Connecticut colony, by which the New
Haven colony was included within that of the former.   At first there was much dissatisfaction, but in 1655 the two colonies joined in an amicable election of officers, and chose John
Winthrop for governor.
Charles was succeeded by his brother James, a bigoted, narrow-minded, and unjust prince.
Many of his advisers were ambitious and unprincipled men, scheming for the consolidation
of power in the person of the king.  Immediately on the accession of James, they arranged
a plan for procuring a surrender of all the patents of the New England colonies, and forming the whole northern part of America into twelve provinces, with a governor general over
July, the whole.   Writs of quo warranto were accordingly issued, a requiring the several
1685.  colonies to appear, by representatives, before his majesty's council, to show by what
right they exercised certain powers and privileges.'  The colony of Connecticut sent an agent
to England with a petition and remonstrances to the king.   The mission was vain, for already the decree had gone forth for annulling the charters.  Sir Edmund Andross was appointed the first governor general, and arrived at Boston in December, 1686.  He immediately demanded the surrender of the charter of Connecticut, and it was refused.  Nearly a
-                   year elapsed, and meanwhile Andross began to
play the tyrant.                     His first fair promises to the
-.   people were broken, and, supported by royal au-;            thority, he assumed a dignity and importance al-:   '^ ^^ ^  4         most equal to his master's, thoroughly disgusting
the colonists.
'?,f                    %-v ~In October, 1687, he went to Hartford with
-':    a company of soldiers while the Assembly was in.'(,1,              >     <-           session, and demanded an immediate surrender of
their charter.  Sir Edmund was received with
apparent respect by the members, and in his presi;-.l^             ence the subject of his demand was calmly debated until evening.  The charter was then brought
forth and placed upon the table around which the
E C E  2              members were sitting.    Andross was about to
THE; CHARTER OAK. 2
seize it, when the lights were suddenly extinguished. A large concourse of people had assembled without, and the moment the lights disapwhat like the soil in Kent and Essex; full of dales and meadow grounds, full of rivers and sweet springs,
as England is. But principally, so far as we can yet find, it is an island, and near about the quantity of
England, cut out from the main land in America, as England is from Europe, by a great arm of the sea,
which entereth in 40~, and runneth up north and west by west, and goeth out either into the South Sea or
else into the Bay of Canada. The certainty whereof and secrets of which we have not yet so found as that
as eye-witnesses we can make narration thereof; but, if God give time and means, we shall, ere long, discover both the extent of that river, together with the secrets thereof, and so try what territories, habitations,
or commodities may be found either in it or about it." This address was written, and the sermon preached
at Plymouth, in December, 1621. By the Bay of Canada is meant the St. Lawrence, and by the " great
arm of the sea," the Hudson River. The explorations of Hendrick Hudson in 1609 seem not to have been
known to the worthy divine, and he imagined a connection between the Hudson and St. Lawrence, by which
New England was made an island.
A writ of quo warranto issues against any person or corporation that usurps any franchise or liberty
against the king without good title, and is brought against the usurpers to show by what right and title
they hold and claim such franchise and liberty.-Law Dictionary.
This venerable relic is still vigorous, and is a " gnarled oak" indeed. It stands upon the northern slope
of the Wyllys Hill, a beautiful elevation on the south side of Charter Street, a few rods east of Main Street.
This engraving is from a sketch which I made of the tree from Charter Street, on the 3d of October, 1848.
I omitted the picket fence in front, in order to show the appearance of the whole trunk. The opening of




OF THE REVOLUTION.


435


Concealment of the Charter. Expulsion of Andross. Accident at Hartford. Washington's Conference with Rochambeau.
peared they raised a loud huzza, and several entered the chamber.   Captain Wadsworth, of
Hartford, seized the charter, and, unobserved, carried it off and deposited it in the hollow
trunk of a large oak-tree fronting the house of Hon. Samuel Wyllys, then one of the magistrates of that colony.  The candles were relighted, quiet was restored, and Andross eagerly
sought the coveted parchment.     It was gone, and none could, or would, reveal its hidingplace.   Sir Edmund stormed for a time, and threatened the colony with royal displeasure;
then quietly taking possession of the government, he closed the records of the court, October 31
or Assembly, with a simple annunciation of the fact.                                 1687.
The administration of Andross was short.    His royal master was driven from his
1688.
throne and country the next year, and his minion in America was arrested, and confined in the Castle, near Boston, until February, 1689, when he was sent to England for
trial. Able jurists in England having decided that, as Connecticut had never given up her
charter, it remained in full force, the former government was re-established.  From that time
until the Revolution no important events of general interest occurred at Hartford.  A melancholy accident occurred there in May, 1766, on the occasion of rejoicings because of the
repeal of the Stamp Act.    The day had been spent in hilarity.    Bells, cannons, and huzzas had testified the general and excessive joy, and great preparations were making for bonfires, fire-works, and a general illumination.  In the chamber of a brick school-house that
stood where the Hartford Hotel was afterward built, a number of young men were preparing
fire-works in the evening. Under the house was a quantity of gunpowder, from which the
militia had received supplies during the day.  The powder had been scattered from the building to the street.  Some boys accidentally set it on fire, and immediately the building was
reduced to a ruin; several of the inmates were killed, and many badly wounded.
The most important occurrences of general interest at Hartford, during the Revolution,
were the two conferences between Washington and the Count de Rochambeau, the commander of the French army in America. The first interview was on the 21st of September, 1780, the second on the 23d of May, 1781. The French fleet, under the command
of the Chevalier de Ternay, conveying the troops sent to our shores by Louis XVI. of France
to aid us, arrived at Newport in July, 1780; and the conference of Washington with Rochambeau and Ternay, in September following, was to consult upon future operations.'   This
interview resulted in the conclusion that the season was too far advanced for the allies to perform any thing of importance, and, after making some genera] arrangements for the next campaign, Washington returned to his camp at West Point, in the Hudson Highlands. It was
during his absence at Hartford that Arnold attempted to surrender West Point and its subordinate posts into the hands of the enemy.
The second conference between Washington and Rochambeau was at Wethersfield, four
miles below Hartford.    Rochambeau and General the Marquis de Chastellux, with
1781
their suites, arrived at Hartford on the 21st of May, where they were met by Washthe cavity wherein the charter was concealed is seen near the roots. The heavy wind that bad been blowing for thirty hours had stripped the tree of a large portion of its autumnal leaves, and strewn the ground
with acorns. The trunk, near the roots, is twenty-five feet in circumference. A daughter of Secretary
Wyllys, writing to Dr. Holmes about the year 1800, says of this oak, " The first inhabitant of that name
[Wyllys] found it standing in the height of its glory. Age seems to have curtailed its branches, yet it is
not exceeded in the height of its coloring or richness of its foliage.......The cavity, which was the asylum of our charter, was near the roots, and large enough to admit a child. Within the space of eight years
that cavity has closed, as if it had fulfilled the divine purpose for which it had been reared." The cavity
within remains as large as anciently, but the orifice will hardly admit a hand.
1 At that time the French fleet was blockaded in Narraganset Bay by a superior English squadron. Ternay was quite dissatisfied with his situation, and wrote very discouraging letters to the Count de Vergennes,
the French premier. In one (written September 10th, 1780), from Newport, he said, "We are actually
compelled to remain on a very strict defensive. The English squadron is superior in number and in every
other respect. The fate of North America-is yet very uncertain, and the Revolution is not so far advanced
as it has been believed in Europe." An account of the negotiations and other circumstances connected with
the sending of troops from France to aid in the Revolution will be given in a future chapter, devoted to the
subject of the diplomacy of the United States during the war for independence.




436


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


43      PCORA  FIL-BO


Conference at the Webb House.  Its Object.  Junction of the allied Armies.  Attempt on New York.  Windsor.
ington, and Generals Knox and Du Portail, and their suites. The meeting was celebrated
by discharges of cannon; and, after partaking of refreshments, the officers, with several private gentlemen as an escort, rode to Wethersfield.  Washington lodged at the house of Mr.
Joseph Webb,1 in Wethersfield, and there the
c- onference was held.                     The object of the interview was to concert a plan of operations for the
ensuing campaign.    The minutes of the conference are in the form of queries by Rochambeau,,f  which were answered by Washington.       The
i                              conclusion of the matter was an arrangement
of soe                 for the French army to march as speedily as possible to the Hudson River, and form a junction
with the American army encamped there, fbr
u    II    i  ll 11                   the purpose of making a demonstration upon the
city of New York, if practicable.   An expedition southward seems to have been proposed by
wrHE WEB H E          the French officers, but this idea was abandoned on account of the lateness of the season, and
the danger to which northern troops would be exposed in the Southern States in summer.
It was also agreed to send to the West Indies for the squadron, under Count de Grasse, to
sail immediately to Sandy Hook, and, forming a junction with the fleet under Count de Barras, confine Admiral Arbuthnot to New York Bay, and act in concert with the combined
armies in besieging the city, then the strong-hold of the enemy.  The French troops consisted of about four thousand men, exclusive of two hundred that were to be left in charge
of stores at Providence.  A circular letter was sent by Washington to the Eastern Legislatures, and to that of New Jersey, requesting them to supply as large a quota of Continental
troops as possible.  Such a force as he felt sure could be mustered, Washington deemed adequate to undertake the siege of New York; and, on his return from Wethersfield, he began
his arrangements fobr the enterprise.  The two armies formed a junction near Dobbs's Ferry,
at the beginning of July.  After several ineffectual attempts upon the upper end of York
Island, circumstances caused Washington to abandon the enterprise.    The arrival of a reenforcement for Clinton in New York, the expressed determination of De Grasse to sail for
the Chesapeake, and the peculiar situation of affairs in Virginia, where Cornwallis and La
Fayette were operating against each other, induced Washington to march south with the
combined armies.    The result was the siege of Yorktown and capture of Cornwallis.
The storm was raging as furiously as ever on the morning after my arrival in Hartford,
and I abandoned the idea of visiting Wethersfield and Windsor.s  With a letter of introduction to the Rev. Thomas Robbins, the librarian of the Connecticut Historical Society, I visI " May 18th. Set out this day for the interview at Wethersfield with the Count de Rochambeau and Admiral Barras. Reached Morgan's Tavern, forty-three miles from Fishkill Landing, after dining at Colonel
Vanderburg's.  19th. Breakfasted at Litchfield, dined at Farmington, and lodged at Wethersfield, at the
house of Mr. Joseph Webb."- Washington's Diary. The Count Barras was prevented from attending the
meeting by the appearance of a large British fleet, under Admiral Arbuthnot, off Block Island. The residence of Colonel Vanderburg, where Washington dined, was at Poughquag, in Beekman, Dutchess county.
This house is still standing (1848), in the central part of Wethersfield, a few rods south of the Congregational Church.
3 Windsor is situated upon the Connecticut, a little above Hartford, at the mouth of the Farmington River.
Here was planted the first English settlement in Connecticut, for here the first house was built. It was the
egg from which sprang Hartford and the Connecticut colony. East Windsor, on the east side of the Connecticut, has a notoriety in our Revolutionary annals, on account of its being, for a short time, the quarters
of a portion of the British and Hessian troops of Burgoyne's captured army, on their way to Boston; also
as the quarters of Governor Franklin, of New Jersey, and General Prescott, captured on Rhode Island, while
prisoners in the hands of the Americans. The events connected with the capture of these two persons will
he noticed elsewhere. They were confined, under a strong guard, in the house of Captain Ebenezer Grant,
which, I was told, is still standing, a few rods south of the Theological Seminary.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


437


- - -


Connecticut Historical Society. Dr. Robbins's Library. Brewster's Chest. The Pilgrim Covenant. Names of the Pilgrims.
ited the room of that institution, situated in a fine edifice called the Wadsworth Atheneum.
This building stands upon the site of the old Wadsworth Mansion, the place of Washington's
first conference with Rochambeau. The cordial welcome with which I was received by Dr.
Robbins was a prelude to many kind courtesies bestowed by him during a visit of three hours.
IHe is a venerable bachelor of seventy-two years, and, habited in the style of a gentleman
fifty years ago, his appearance carried the mind back to the time of Washington.      The library of the society, valued at ten thousand dollars, is its property only in prospective; it
belongs to Dr. Robbins, who has, by will, bequeathed it to the institution at his death.    It
contains many exceedingly rare books and MSS., collected by its intelligent owner during a
long life devoted to the two-fold pursuits of a Christian pastor and a man of letters.  There
are many historical curiosities in the library-room, a few of which I sketched.   The one invested with the greatest interest was the chest of Elder
Brewster, of the May Flower, brought from      Holland
in that Pilgrim ship.   Near it stood a heavy iron pot
that belonged to Miles Standish, the " hero of New
England," one of the most celebrated of the Pilgrim
passengers.    The chest is of yellow     Norway pine,
y. 1    -     stained with a color resembling London brown.       Its
_.... dimensions are four feet two inches long, one foot eight
inches broad, and two feet six inches high. The
- -         key, in size, has more the appearance of one be-     j
longing to a prison than to a clothing receptacle.  The chest is a relic of much interest per se, but a fact connected with its history makes it an object almost worthy of
reverence to a New Englander, and, indeed, to every American.         Well-established
tradition asserts that the solemn written compact made by the passengers of the May
Flower previous to the landing of the Pilgrims was drawn up and signed upon the
lid of this chest, it being the most convenient article at hand for the purpose.  That
compact, brief and general, may be regarded as the foundation of civil and religious liberty
in the Western World, and was the first instrument of civil government ever subscribed as
the act of the whole people.'   It was conceived in the following terms:
"In the name of God, Amen.       We whose names are under written, the Loyal Subjects
of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France, and
Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c., Having undertaken, for the Glory of God and the
advancement of the Christian Faith, and Honor of our King and country, a Voyage to plant
The harbor (Cape Cod) in which the May Flower anchored was ascertained to be north of the fortieth
degree of latitude, consequently the proposed landing-place and settlement would be beyond the jurisdiction
of the South Virginia Company, from whom these emigrants had received their charter. That instrument
was, therefore, useless.  Some of those who embarked from England had intimated that they would be under no law when ashore. The majority of the emigrants, concerned on account of this appearance of faction, thought proper to have recourse to natural law, and resolved that, before disembarkation, they should
enter into an association, and bind themselves in a political body, to be governed by the majority. This
was the origin of the compact. The following is a list of the signatures to the instrument: John Carver,
William Bradford, Edward Winslow, William Brewster, Isaac Allerton, Miles Standish, John Alden, Samuel
Fuller, Christopher Martin, William Mullins, William White,* Richard Warren, John Howland, Stephen
Hopkins, Edward Tilley, John Tilley, Francis Cook, Thomas Rogers, Thomas Tinker, John Ridgedale, Edward Fuller. John Turner, Francis Eaton, James Chilton, John Crackston, John Billington, Moses Fletcher,
John Goodman, Degory Priest, Thomas Williams, Gilbert Winslow, Edward Margeson, Peter Brown, Richard Britteridge, George Soule, Richard Clarke, Richard Gardiner, John Allerton, Thomas English, Edward
Doty, Edward Leister. There were forty-one subscribers to the compact, each one placing opposite his
name the number of his family. The whole number of souls was one hundred and one.-See Moore's Memoirs of American Governors, i., 25.
* Just previous to the landing of the Pilgrims, the wife of William White gave birth to a son, the first English child born iUt
New England. From the circumstances of his birth he was named Peregrine. He died at Marshfield, July 22d, 1704, aged nearly
eighty-four years. William White died soon after the seating of the colony, and his widow married Edward Winslow. This
was the first English marriage in New England. It was a singular circumstance that Mrs. White was the first mother and the
first bride in New England, and mother of the first native governor of the colony, who was also the sole bearer of the honor
if conmmander-in-chicf of the forces of the confederate coloni;s.-See Baylies, ii., 18.




438


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


438              PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Hand-writing of the Pilgrims.        Robinson's short Sword.            Ancient Chair.
the first Colony in the Northern parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the.Presence of God, and of one another, Covenant and Combine ourselves together into a Civil body Politic, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of
the ends aforesaid; and by Virtue hereof, to enact, constitute, and frame just and equal laws,
ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Offices from Time to Time, as shall be thought most
meet and convenient for the General Good of the Colony; unto which we Promise all due
Submission and Obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our Names
at Cape Cod, the eleventh of November, in the year of the Reign of our Sovereign Lord,
King James, of England, France, and Ireland the Eighteenth, and of Scotland the Fiftyfourth, Anno Domini, 1620."
a:sh:M                    ^1 Ad M                        sI4J
HAND-WRITING OF THE PILGRIrS.1
Another curious relic of the Pilgrims, preserved by Dr. Robbins, is a chopping-knife, made
of the sword-blade that belonged to the Rev. Mr. Robinson, the pastor of
the Pilgrims, at Leyden.  Mr. Robinson never  ~ i-  --?
came to New England, but remained at Ley-       i  -
--         den till his death in 1625.  His widow and
family came over, bringing his effects, among
which was his short sword, an article then generally worn by civilians as well as military men.
~-            His three sons were desirous of possessing this
relic.  It being impossible for each to have it entire, it was cut into
three pieces, and the sons, true to the impulses of New England
thrift, each had his piece made into the useful implement here represented.
Another interesting relic is a chair which was an heir-loom in
the family of one of the earlier settlers of New Haven.  It is made
wholly of turned wood (except the board bottom), fastened together
AXCIENT CHAIR     by wooden pegs, and is similar, in appearance, to Governor Carver's
chair, in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Its
existence is traced back to the thirteenth century. The material is ash and its construction
ingenious.


' These were copied from Russell's " Recollections of the Pilgrims." He obtained them from old deeds
and other documents. The writers were members of the first Plymouth Church, and some of them were
passengers in the May Flower.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


439




Putnam's Tavern Sign. Other interesting Relics.  The Connecticut Charter.  Ride to Wethersfield.  Arrival at Boston,
The tavern sign of General Putnam, which hung before his door in Brooklyn, Connecticut, about the year 1768, is also preserved.1 It is made of yellow pine, painted alike on both
sides.  The device is a full-length portrait of Wolfe, dressed..
in scarlet uniform, and, as a work of art, possesses much merit.
The portrait of the young hero is quite correct.  The background is a faint miniature copy of West's picture of The
Death of Wolfe, painted by that artist during the first years
of his residence in England.  The sign-board is full of small
punctures made by shot, the figure of Wolfe having been used  l1
as a target at some time.
A drum, used to call the people to worship; an ottoman,
that belonged to Mrs. Washington; the vest, torn and bloodstained, worn by Ledyard when massacred at Groton, and the
wooden case in which the celebrated charter of Connecticut
was sent over and kept, are in the collection.  The latter is   CGelVV           FE
about three and a half feet long and four inches wide and deep,       PTNa
PUTNAM'S SIGN.
lined with printed paper, apparently waste leaves of a history
of the reign of Charles I.  In the center is a circular projection for the great seal, which
was attached.   I saw the charter itself in the office of the Secretary of State.  It is written upon fine vellum, and on one corner is a beautifully drawn portrait of Charles, executed
in India ink.
The storm abating a little at about noon, I rode down to Wethersfield and sketched the
Webb House, returning in time to make the drawing of the Charter Oak pictured on page
434, the rain pouring like a summer shower, and my umbrella, held by a young friend, scarcely
protecting my paper from the deluge.   Pocketing some of the acorns from the venerable tree,
I hastened back to my lodgings, and at a little past five in the evening departed for Boston.
I passed the night at Springfield, ninety-eight miles west of Boston, and reached the latter
place at one o'clock the next day.  The city was enveloped in a cold mist that hung upon
the skirts of the receding storm; and, too ill to ramble for business or pleasure, even if fine
weather had beckoned me out, I passed the afternoon and evening before a blazing fire at
the Marlborough.
We are now upon the most interesting portion of the classic ground of the Revolution.
Before noting my visit to places of interest in the vicinity, let us view the wide field of historic research here spread out, and study some of the causes which led to the wonderful effect of dismembering a powerful empire, and founding a republic, more glorious, because more
beneficent, than any that preceded it.
The following letter, in which Putnam alludes to the fact that he had kept tavern, I copied from the
original in his hand-writing, now in possession of the Connecticut Historical Society:
"Brooklyn, Feb'y 18, 1782.
"GENTLEMEN-Being an Enemy to Idleness, Dissipation, and Intemperance, I would object against any
measure that may be conducive thereto; and as the multiplying of public houses where the public good does
not require it has a direct tendency to ruin the morals of the youth, and promote idleness and intemperance
among all ranks of people, especially as the grand object of those candidates for license is money, and where
that is the case, men are not apt to be over-tender of people's morals or purses. The authority of this town,
I think, have run into a great error in approbating an additional number of public houses, especially in this
parish. They have approbated two houses in the center, where there never was custom (I mean traveling
custom) enough for one. The other custom (or domestic), I have been informed, has of late years increased,
and the licensing of another house, I fear, would increase it more. As I kept a public house here myself
a number of years before the war, I had an opportunity of knowing, and certainly do know, that the traveling custom is too trifling for a man to lay himself out so as to keep such a house as travelers have a right to
expect; therefore I hope your honors will consult the good of this parish, so as only to license one of the
two houses. I shall not undertake to say which ought to be licensed; your honors will act according to
your best information.          I am, with esteem, your honors' humble servant,
To. A T.L PUT r v

l-UAaI  J U VA  AMll


" To the Hon'ble County Court, to be held at Windham on the 19th inst."




440


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


The May. Flower.  Rise of the Puritans.  Bishops Hooper and Rogers.  Henry VIII.  Elizabeth.  Puritan Boldness.
I have just mentioned the May Flower, and the solemn compact for the founding of a
commonwealth, with a government deriving its powers from the consent of a majority of the
governed, which was drawn up and signed in its cabin.  That vessel was truly the cradle
of American liberty, rocked by the icy billows of Massachusetts Bay.  A glance at antecedent events, in which were involved the causes that led to the emigration to America of that
body of Puritans called THE PILGRIMS, is profitable in tracing the remote springs of our Revolutionary movements in New England, for they contain the germs of our institutions.
Just three hundred years ago, when the exiled Hooper was recalled, and appointed
Bishop of Gloucester, the Puritans had their birth as a distinct and separate religious
body.  Henry VIII. quarreled with Pope Julius III. because he would not grant that licentious monarch a divorce from Catharine of Aragon, to allow him to marry the beautiful Anne
Boleyn.  Henry professed Protestantism, abolished the pope's authority in England, and assumed to be himself the head of the Church.  He retained the title, " Defender of the Faith,"
which the pope had previously bestowed upon him in gratitude for his championship of Rome,
for he had even written a book against Luther.  Thus, in seeking the gratification of his own
unhallowed appetites, that monster in wickedness planted the seeds of the English Reformation.  The accession of Edward VI., a son of Henry by Jane Seymour, one of his six wives,
led the way to the firm establishment of Protestantism in England.  The purity of life which
the disciples of both Luther and Calvin exhibited won for them the esteem of the virtuous
and good.  Yet the followers of these two reformers differed materially in the matter of rituals, and somewhat in doctrine.  Luther permitted the cross and taper, pictures and images,
as things of indifference; Calvin demanded the purest spiritual worship.  The reform having begun by decided opposition to the ceremonials as well as dogmas of the Papal Church,
Calvin and his friends deemed it essential to the full completion of the work to make no concessions to papacy, even in non-essential matters.  The austere principle was announced;
and Puritanism, which then had birth, declared that not even a ceremony should be allowed, unless it was enjoined by the Word of God.  Hooper, imbued with this spirit, refused
for a time to be consecrated in the vestments required by law,a and the Reformed
a5  Church of England was shaken to its center by conflicting views respecting ceremonials.  Churchmen, or the Protestants who adhered to much of the Romish ceremonials,
and the Puritans (first so called in derision) became bitter opponents.  During the reign of
Mary, a violent and bigoted papist, both parties were involved in danger.  The Pu1553-8.
ritans were placed in the greatest peril, because they were most opposed to papacy,
and Hooper and Rogers, both Puritans, were the first martyrs of Protestant England.
Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Henry VIII., succeeded Mary, and, though she professed Protestantism, long endeavored to retain in the Church of England the magnificent
rituals of the Romish Liturgy.  She had in her private chapel images, the crucifix, and tapers; she offered prayers to the Virgin; insisted upon the celibacy of the clergy; invoked
the aid of saints, but left the doctrine of the real presence in the Eucharist, which some had
been burned for denying, and some for asserting, as a question of national indifference.  With
such views, Elizabeth regarded the Puritans with little favor, while they, having nothing to
fear from earthly power, valuing, as they did, their lives as nothing in comparison with the
maintenance of their principles, were bold in the annunciation of their views. They claimed
the right to worship according to the dictates of their own consciences, and denied the prerogative of the sovereign to interfere in matters of religious faith and practice.  They claimed the free exercise of private judgment in such matters; and the Puritan preachers also
promulgated the doctrine of civil liberty, that the sovereign was amenable to the tribunal
of public opinion, and ought to conform in practice to the expressed will of the majority of
the people.  By degrees their pulpits became the tribunes of the common people, and their
discourses assumed a latitude in discussion and rebuke which alarmed the queen and the
great body of Churchmen, who saw therein elements of revolution that might overturn the
throne and bury the favored hierarchy in its ruins.  On all occasions the Puritan ministers
were the bold asserters of that freedom which the American Revolution established.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


441,


Position of Elizabeth.  The Separatists.  Persecutions.  Puritans in Parliament.  James I.  Robinson.
Elizabeth had endeavored firmly to seat the national religion midway between the supremacy of Rome and the independence of Puritanism.  She thus lost the confidence of both,
and also soon learned herself to look upon both as enemies.  Roman Catholic princes conspired against England, while Puritan divines were sapping the foundations of the royal prerogatives, and questioning the divine right of monarchs to govern.  A convocation of the
clergy was held; the ( Thirty-nine Articles," which constitute the rule of faith of the English Church, were formed, and other methods were adopted, to give stability to the hierarchy; but nearly nine years elapsed before Parliament confirmed the Articles by act, and
then not without some limitations, which the Puritans regarded as concessions to them.
Rigorous orders for conformity were now issued.  The Puritans, thoroughly imbued with
an independent spirit, assumed an air of defiance.  Thirty London ministers refused subscription to the Articles, and some talked openly of secession. A separate congregation was
at length actually formed.  The government was alarmed, and seyeral of the leading men
and women were imprisoned for a year.  Persecution begat zeal, and a party of Independents, or Separatists, appeared, under a zealous but shallow advocate named Brown.  The
great body of the Puritans desired reform, but were unwilling to leave the Church.  The
Independents denounced the Church as idolatrous, and false to Christianity and truth.  Bitter enmity soon grew up between them, the Puritans reproaching the Separatists with unwise precipitancy, and they in return were censured for cowardice and want of faith.
Persecution now began in earnest.  A court of high commission was established, for
the detection and punishment of Non-conformists.  Its powers were almost as absolute
as those of the Inquisition. Parliament, particularly the House of Commons, in which was
the leaven of Puritanism, disapproved of the commission, and a feeling of general dissatisfaction prevailed.  Whitgift, archbishop of Canterbury, a man sincerely, but bigotedly, attached to the English Reformed Church, was at the head of the hierarchy, and assumed to control the entire body of the English Church.  Conventicles were prohibited, yet, in a
1593.
few years, it was asserted in Parliament that twenty thousand persons in England attended conventicles.  Some were banished, others imprisoned, a few were hanged.  The
Separatists were nearly extinguished, while the more loyal branch of the Puritans still suffered contumely and persecution.
Elizabeth died, and the Puritans hailed the accession of James of Scotland, where independence of thought and action had taken deepest root, as a favorable event.  It was 1603
thought that his education, the restraints from profligacy which the public morals of Scotland
imposed, and his apparently sincere attachment to Protestantism, would guaranty to them fair
toleration, if not actual power.  But they were in error.  He was thirty-six years old when
he ascended the throne, and, in the freedom of self-indulgence which his new position afforded, exulted in gluttony, idleness, and licentiousness.  Incapable of being a statesman, he
aimed to be thought a scholar, and wrote books which courtiers lauded greatly, while wise
men smiled and pitied.  Bacon pronounced him incomparable for learning among kings; and
Sully of France, who knew his worth, esteemed him " the wisest fool in Europe."  A profligate dissembler and imbecile coward, he was governed entirely by self-interest, vanity, and
artful men.  He loved flattery and personal ease, and he had no fixed principles of conduct
or belief.  Such was the man upon whom the Puritans, for a moment, relied for countenance;
but he had scarcely reached London before his conduct blighted their hopes.  "No bishop,
no king," was his favorite maxim; and in 1604 he said of the Puritans, (I will make them
conform, or I will harrie them out of the land, or else worse; only hang them, that's all."
During that year three hundred Puritan ministers were silenced, imprisoned, or exiled.
Among the exiled ministers at this period was John Robinson. Eminent for piety and
courage, his congregation was greatly attached to him, and they contrived to have secret
meetings every Sunday.  But the pressure of persecution finally determined them to seek an
asylum in Holland, ( where, they heard, was freedom of religion for all men."  Thither Mr.
Robinson and his little flock, among whom was William Brewster (who afterward became
aI ruling elder in the Church), went into voluntary exile in 1608.  They landed at Amster



442


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Character of the Puritan Pilgrims.  Preparations to sail for America.  Departure from Delfthaven.  The May Flower.
dam, and then journeyed to Leyden, feeling that they were but PILGRIMS, with no particular abiding-place on earth.  They were joined by others who fled from persecution in England, and finally they established a prosperous church at Leyden.
While the Pilgrim Puritans were increasing in strength in Holland, and winning golden
opinions from the Dutch on account of their purity of life and lofty independence of thought,
companies were forming for settling the newly-discovered portions of America, north of the
mouth of the Delaware.  Toward the Western World the eyes and hearts of the PILGRIMS
were turned, and John Carver and Robert Cushman repaired to England, to obtain
the consent of the Virginia Company to make a distinct settlement in the northern part
of their territory.  Sandys, Southampton, and other liberal members of the House of Commons, prevailed upon the king to wink at their heresy. A patent was granted in 1619, and
James promised, not to aid them, but to let them alone. This was all they required of his
majesty.  Now another difficulty was to be removed: capital was needed.  Several London merchants advanced the necessary sums. The famous Captain John Smith offered his
services, but his religious views did not suit them.  His notions were too aristocratic, and he
complained of their democracy-complained that they were determined " to be lords and
kings of themselves."  They were, therefore, left " to make trial of their own follies."  In
1620 the PILGRIMS purchased two ships, the Speedwell, of sixty tons, and the May Flower,
of one hundred and eighty tons; and as many of the congregation at Leyden as could be accommodated in them left Delfthaven for Southampton, England. There they were joined
August 5, by a few others, and, with a fair wind, sailed for America.  But the captain of
1620.  the Speedwell and his company, becoming alarmed, and pretending that the ship
was unseaworthy, put back to Plymouth, and the May Flower, bearing one hundred and
September 6, one men, women, and children, the winnowed remnants of the passengers in the
1620.   two vessels, again spread her sails to an eastern breeze.  Their destination was
the country near the Hudson, but adverse winds drove them upon the more northerly and
barren coasts of Massachusetts Bay, after a boisterous voyage of sixty-three days.  Land
was espied on the 9th of November, and two days afterward the May Flower was safely
moored in Cape Cod Bay. Before they landed, as we have already noticed, they formed
themselves into a body politic by a solemn voluntary compact.  " In the cabin of the May
Flower humanity recovered its rights, and instituted government on the basis of ' equal laws'
for the general good."  John Carver was chosen governor for the year.  Democratic liberty
and independent Christian worship were at once established in America.'
The ocean now lay between the PILGRIMS and the persecuting hierarchy, and the land of
promise was before them.  Yet perils greater than they had encountered hovered around
that bleak shore, already white with the snow of early winter.  But
"They sought not gold nor guilty ease
Upon this rock-bound shoreThey left such prizeless toys as these
To minds that loved them more.
They sought to breathe a freer air,
To worship God unchain'd;
They welcomed pain and danger here,
When rights like these were gain'd."
Inspired with such feelings, the Pilgrims prepared to land. The shallop was unshipped,
but it needed great repairs.  More than a fortnight was employed by the carpenter in making it ready for sea.  Standish, Bradford, and others, impatient of the delay, determined to
go ashore and explore the country.  They encountered many difficulties, and returned to the
ship. When the shallop was ready, the most bold and enterprising set out upon a cruise
along the shore, to find a suitable place at which to land the whole company. They explored every bay and inlet, and made some discoveries of buried Indian corn, deserted wigBaem, Barlow, Hume, Hallam, Bancroft.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


443


Exploration of the Coast. Attacked by Indians. First Sabbath of the Pilgrims in New England. Landing on Plymouth Rock.
warns, and an Indian cemetery. The voyage was fruitless of good, and they returned to
the May Flower.    Again Carver, Standish, Bradford, Winslow, and others, with eight or
ten seamen, launched the shallop in the surf.  The day was very cold, and the   December6,
spray froze upon them and their clothes like iron mail.  They passed that night   1620.
at Billingsgate Point, at the bottom of Cape Cod Bay, on the western shore of Wellfleet
Harbor. The company divided next morning, but united at evening, and encamped at
Namskeket, or Great Meadow Creek. The next morning, as they arose from their knees
in the deep snow, when their matin devotions were ended, a flight of arrows and a war-whoop
announced the presence of savages. They were of the Nauset tribe, and regarded the white
people as kidnappers.1  But the Indians made no further attacks, and the boat proceeded
along the coast a distance of some forty miles.  Suddenly a storm arose.  Snow and rain
fell copiously; the heavy swells snapped the rudder, and with oars alone they guided the
frail shallop.  Darkness came on and the storm increased.   As much sail as possible was
used to reach the shore; it was too much; the mast broke in three pieces, and the fragments,
with the sail, fell overboard.  Breakers were just ahead, but, by diligent labor with the oars,
they passed safely through the surf into a smooth harbor, landed, and lighted a fire.  At
dawn they discovered that they were upon an island, in a good harbor.2 There they passed
the day in drying their clothes, cleaning their arms, and repairing their shallop. Night approached; it was the eve of the Christian Sabbath.  The storm had ceased, but snow nearly
eighteen inches in depth lay upon the ground.  They had no tent, no shelter but the rock.
Their ship was more than fifteen leagues away, and winter, with all its terrors, had set in.
Every personal consideration demanded haste.  But the next day was the Sabbath, and they
resolved to remain upon that bleak island and worship God, in accordance with their faith
and obligations as Christians.  In the deep snow they knelt in prayer; by the cold rock
they read the Scriptures; upon the keen, wintery air they poured forth their hymns of thanksgiving and praise.  In what bold relief does that single act present the Puritan character!
" And can we deem it strange
That from their planting such a branch should bloom
As nations envy?
Oh ye who boast
In your free veins the blood of sires like these,
Lose not their lineaments. Should Mammon cling
Too close around your heart, or wealth beget
That bloated luxury which eats the core
From manly virtue, or the tempting world
Make faint the Christian's purpose in your soul,
Turn ye to Plymouth's beach, and on that rock
Kneel in their footprints, and renew the vow
They breathed to God."
MRS. SIGOURNEY.
On Monday morning the exploring party pushed through the surf, and landed December 22,
upon a rock on the main.3  The neighborhood seemed inviting for a settlement,     1620.
and in a few days the May Flower was brought around and moored in the harbor. The
whole company landed near where the explorers stepped ashore: the spot was called New
The Indians of Cape Cod and the vicinity had experienced the treachery of the whites; for it must be
remembered that the Pilgrims were not the discoverers of that region. Both French and English ships had
visited the coast. Six years before the landing of the Pilgrims, an Englishman named Hunt had inveigled
several Indians on board a ship, and carried them to England.
2 This island, within the entrance of Plymouth Harbor, has been called Clarke's Island ever since. It
was so named from Clarke, the first man who stepped ashore from the shallop. The cove in which they
were in such danger lies between the Gurnet Head and Saguish Point, at the entrance of Plymouth Bay.Moore, i., 35.
3 A portion of this rock was conveyed to a square in the center of the town of Plymouth in 1774, where
it still remains, and is known as The Forefathers' Rock.




444


PICTOT ORIAL L FIEL ID-BOOKO


Founding of Plymouth.  Destitution and Sickness.  Death of Carver.  Election of Bradford.  Defiance of the Indians.
Plymouth, in memory of the hospitalities which they had received at Plymouth, in England,
and in a few days they commenced the erection of dwellings.    The exposure of the explorers, and of others who had reached the shore by wading, had brought on disease, and nearly
one half of the company were sick when the first blow of the ax was struck in the primeval
forest.  Faith and hope nerved the arms of the healthy, and they began to build. '( This
was the origin of New England; it was the planting of the New England institutions.    Inquisitive historians have loved to mark every vestige of the Pilgrims; poets of the purest
minds have commemorated their virtues; the noblest genius has been called into exercise to
display their merits worthily, and to trace the consequences of their daring enterprise."'
The winter that succeeded the landing of the Pilgrims was terrible for the settlers.  Many
were sick with colds and consumptions, and want and exposure rapidly reduced the numbers
of the colony.  Governor Carver's son died soon after landing, and himself and his wife passed into the grave the next spring.2  William Bradford was elected to fill his place.  The
living were scarcely able to bury the dead, and at one time there were only seven men capable of rendering any assistance.  Forty-six of the one hundred died before April, yet not a
murmur against Providence was heard.
The colonists had been apprehensive of an attack from the Indians, but not one approached the settlement until March, when a chief named Samoset boldly entered the rude town,
exclaiming, in broken English, which he had learned from fishermen on the coast of Maine,
" Welcome, Englishmen ' welcome, Englishmen!" He gave them much information, and
told them of a pestilence that had swept off the inhabitants a few years before.  This accounted for the deserted wigwams seen by the explorers.    Samoset soon afterward visited
the colony with Squanto, a chief who had been carried away by Hunt in 1614; and in April
Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoags, was induced to make the English a friendly visit.
Treaties of amity were made, and, until the breaking out of King Philip's war, fifty years
afterward, were kept inviolate.  But Canonicus, a powerful chief of the Narragansets, who
lived on the west side of the Narraganset Bay, regarded the English as intruders, and sent
to them the ominous token of hostility, a bundle of arrows wrapped in a rattle-snake's skin.
Governor Bradford3 at once sent the skin back to Canonicus, filled with powder and shot.
The chief understood the symbol, and, afraid of the deadly weapons in which such materials
were used, sent them back; the Narragansets were awed into submission.      Massasoit, who
lived at Warren, Rhode Island, remained the fast friend of the English, and his sons, Alexander and Philip (the celebrated King Philip), kept the bond of friendship unbroken until
1675.
After many difficulties, and receiving some accessions from immigration, the settlers purBancroft, i., 313.
2 John Carver was among the English emigrants to Leyden. He was chosen the first governor of the
colony, by a majority of the forty-one male adults that sailed in the May Flower. There were twelve other
candidates for the honor. On the 23d of March, 1621, a few laws were enacted, and Carver was regularly
inaugurated governor.of the new colony. He was taken suddenly ill in the fields, while laboring, on the 3d
of April. A violent pain in his head ensued, and in a few hours he was deprived of the use of his senses.
He lived but a few days, and his wife, overcome by grief, followed him to the grave in about six weeks. He
was buried with all the honors the people could bestow. His broad-sword is preserved in the cabinet of
the Massachusetts Historical Society.
3 William Bradford, the second Governor of Plymouth Colony, was born at Ansterfield, in the north of England, in 1588. The first Puritan principles were instilled into his young mind by a minister named Richard Clifton, and'when he was of legal age he was denounced as a Separatist. He followed Mr. Robinson to
Holland, and came to America in the May Flower. While he was absent, with others, searching for a spot
on which to land, his wife fell into the sea and was drowned. He was appointed governor on the death of
Carver, being then only thirty-three years of age. His energy was of great value to the colony, and so much
was he esteemed, that he was annually elected governor as long as he lived, except occasionally, when, " by
importuning, he got off,;' as Winslow says, and another took his place pro tempore. His idea of public office was, " that if it was of any honor or benefit, others besides himself should enjoy it; if it was a burden, others besides himself should help him to bear it."  Present politicians consider such doctrine a "barbarous
reli3."  Governor Bradford died in May, 1657, having served the colony as chief magistrate twenty-five
years of the thirty of his residence in America.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


445


Condition of the Colony. 'Further Emigration fiom England. Winslow. Standish. Settlement of Weymouth. Shawmut.
chased the rights of the London merchants who had aided them with funds, for nine thou.
sand dollars, and the colony thus severed the last link of pecuniary interest that bound it to
Old England, beyond the claims of commercial transactions.    There was one drawback upon
their prosperity-the non-existence of private property.  There was a community of interest
in all the land and its products.  Thence arose, on the part of some, an unwillingness to labor, and of others the discontent which the industrious feel while viewing the idleness of the
lazy, for whose benefit they are toiling.  It was now found necessary to enter into an agreement that each family should plant for itself, and an acre of land was accordingly assigned
to each person in fee.   Under this stimulus, the production of corn became so great that
from buyers the colonists became sellers to the Indians.'
Civil government being fully established to the satisfaction of all, and news of the fertility
of the soil and the beauty of the climate having reached England, in the following autumn
other adventurers prepared to come to America.       In
the mean while Edward Winslow, one of the most ac-                 -      '
complished of the colonists, made a journey to the resi-    /
dence of Massasoit to strengthen the friendship that ex-  //.'          1 62-  0
isted, by presents, and by amicable agreements respect-     /:f ~  -         \
in g future settlers that might come from    England.2    0io
The visit was fruitful of good results.  Soon afterward    i
Captain Standish3 marched against the village of Cor- ^ t                          }
bitant, one of Massasoit's sachems, who held an inter-    \               I
preter in custody, and threatened the tribe with destruc-,. 1}
tion.  The whole country was alarmed at this movement, and on the 13th of September, 1621, ninety petty
sachems came to Plymouth and signed a paper acknowledging themselves loyal subjects.of King James.                   T   OLD COLONY
n  n                                                            THE OLD COLONY SEAL.
New settlers now began to arrive, and new explorations pf the coast were made.   Sixty adventurers from London, under the auspices of a merchant named Weston, began a plantation in the autumn of 1622, at Weymouth, twelve
miles southeast from the present city of Boston, and the whole coast of Massachusetts Bay
was explored.   They discovered a spacious harbor, studded with islands, and inclosing a peninsula remarkable for three hills, called by the natives Shawmut (sweet water).     This was
the harbor and site of the city of Boston.4
Hildreth, i., 171.
2 Edward Winslow was born in Worcestershire, England, in 1594. While traveling on the Continent, he
became acquainted with Mr. Robinson at Leyden, joined his congregation, sailed to America in the May
Flower, and was one of the party that first landed on Plymouth Rock. He made Massasoit a second visit,
and found the sachem very sick, but by means of medicine restored him to health. Grateful for his services,
the chief revealed to Winslow a plot of some savages to destroy a small English settlement at Weymouth.
Winslow went to England that fall, and in the spring brought over the first cattle introduced into the colony.
He was appointed governor in 1633. He was very active in the colony, and made several voyages to England in its behalf. In 1655 he was appointed one of the commissioners to superintend the expedition against
the Spaniards in the West Indies. He died of fever on his passage, between Jamaica and Hispaniola, May
8th, 1655, aged sixty years. His body was cast into the ocean.
3 Miles Standish is called the " Hero of New England."  He served for some time in the English army
in the Netherlands, and settled with Robinson's congregation at Leyden. He was not a member of the
Church-" never entered the school of Christ,'or of John the Baptist."  He came to America in the May
Flower, and was appointed military commander-in-chief at Plymouth. His bold enterprises spread terror
among the Indians, and secured peace to the colony. In allusion to his exploit in killing Pecksuot, a bold
chief, with his own hand, Mr. Robinson wrote to the governor, " O that you had converted some before you
killed any!" Standish was one of the magistrates of the colony as long as he lived. He died at Duxbury
in 1656, aged about seventy-two years.
4 The Peninsula of Shawmut included between six and seven hundred acres of land sparsely covered by
trees, and nearly divided by two creeks into three islands when the creeks were filled by the tides. From
the circumstance of the three hills, the English called the peninsula Tri-mountain, the modern Tremont.
These three eminences have since been named Copp's, Fort, and Beacon Hills. The name of Tri-mountain




446


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK...


Settlement of Endicott and others at Salem.  Arrival of Winthrop.  Founding of Boston.  Progress of free Principles.
In 1628 a company, under John Endicott, settled at Salem (Na-um-keag), and were joined by a few emigrants at Cape Ann, sixteen miles northward. They received a charter from
the?king, and were
W~If     ^            ^$s,   ft3   /"       incorporated  by  the
I                                                      name of the "GovernI f  ^or and Company of the
i i               ct                                  Massachusetts Bay in
I                                     I 9              New  England."   In
A  \\                                 1 630 about three hun\Fo PThx ^               dred Puritan families,
&OX8                                   3     5    under John Winthrop,
of -.-                         arrived, and joined the
O-         O Rex t                                         o 9  Massachusetts Bay col-i'\- v                                   IBImjo  ony. They established
o  s         a             t              themselves at Dorches\ —                     ter, Roxbury, Watertown, and Cambridge.
A spring of pure and
wholesome water inti e_ AWo the                            duced some families,
I                                                     among whom was Mr.
3II                               Winthrop, to settle upb  a  oon Shawrnut.  Winthrop was the chosen
Governor of the colony
of Massachusetts Bay;
the whole government,
ANCIENT MAP OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY.'          the whole govnment,
including Plymouth,
was removed to the new settlement, and thenceforth Boston became the metropolis of New
England.
I have thus traced, with almost chronological brevity, the rise of the Puritans in England,
their emigration to America, and the progress of settlement, to the founding of Boston in 16 3 0
It is not within the scope of this work to give a colonial history of New England in all its
important details, and only so much of it will be developed as is necessary to present the links
of connection between the early history and the story of our Revolution.  That Revolution,
being a conflict of principle, had its origin more remote even than the planting of the New
England colonies.  The seed germinated when the sun of the Reformation warmed the cold
soil of society in Europe, over which the clouds of ignorance had so long brooded; and its
blossoms were unfolded when the Puritans of England and the Huguenots of France boldly
asserted, in the presence of kingly power, the grand postulate of freedom-the SOCIAL AND
POLITICAL EQUALITY OF THE RACE. These two sections of independent thinkers brought the
vigorous plant to America —the Puritans to New England, the iHuguenots to the Carolinas.
The Covenanters of Scotland, and other dissenting communities, watered it during the reigns
of the Charleses and the bigot James II.; and when the tactics of British oppression had
changed from religious persecution to commercial and political tyranny, it had grown a sturdy
tree, firmly rooted in a genial soil, and overshadowing a prosperous people with its beautiful
foliage. The fruit of that tree was the American Revolution-the fruit which still forms
the nutriment that gives life and vigor to our free institutions.


was changed to Boston, as a compliment to the Rev. John Cotton, who emigrated from Boston, in Lincolnshire, England.
1 This is a fac-simile of a map of Boston Harbor and adjacent settlements in 1667, and is believed to be
a specimen of the first engraving executed in America. Instead of the top of the map being north, according to the present method of drawing maps, the right hand of this is north.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


447


The Puritan uharacter. Witchcraft. English Laws on the Subject. The Delusion in New England. Effects of the Delusion.
"The Pilgrim spirit has not fled;
It walks in noon's broad light,
And it watches the bed of the glorious dead,
With their holy stars, by night.
It watches the bed of the brave who have bled,
And shall guard the ice-bound shore,
Till the waves of the bay, where the May Flower lay,
Shall foam and freeze no more."
PIERPONT.
The persecutions of the Quakers, the proceedings against persons accused of witchcraft,'
the disfranchlisement of those who were not church members, and many other enactments in
their civil code, considered alone, mark the Puritan as bigoted, superstitious, intolerant, unlovely in every aspect, and practically evincing a spirit like that of Governor Dudley, expressed in some lines found in his pocket after his death.
"Let men of God in courts and churches watch
O'er such as do a toleration hatch,
Lest that ill egg bring forth a cocatrice,
To poison all with heresy and vice.
If men be left, and otherwise combine,
My epitaph's, 'I died no libertine!' '
But when a broad survey is taken of the Puritan character, these things appear as mere
blemishes —spots upon the sun-insects in the otherwise pure amber.      In religion and morality they were sincerely devoted to right --- New England was the colony of conscience."'
Their worship was spiritual, their religious observances were few and simple. To them the
A belief in witchcraft, or the direct agency of evil spirits through human instrumentality, was prevalent
among all classes of Europe toward the close of the seventeenth century, and this superstition had a strong
hold upon the metaphysical Puritans in America. A statute, enacted in the reign of Henry VIII., made it
a capital offense for a person to practice the arts of witchcraft. The first James was a firm believer in
witchcraft, and sanctioned some severe laws against its practitioners. Pretenders, called Witch-detectors,
arose, and, during the commonwealth, traveled from county to county, in England, making accusations, in
consequence of which many persons suffered death. The " Fundamentals" of Massachusetts contained a
capital law against such offenses, founded upon the Scripture injunction, " Thou shalt not suffer a witch to
live."-Exodus, xxii., 18. Increase Mather, father of the celebrated Cotton Mather, in a work called " Remarkable Providences," enumerated all the supposed cases of witchcraft that had occurred in New England.
The high standing of the author turned public attention to the subject, and it was not long before a real
witch was discovered in the person of an old woman at Newbury, whose house was alleged to be haunted.
This was in 1686, and from that time until 1693, when King William's veto on the Witchcraft Act prevented
any further trials, and all accused persons were released, the colonies were greatly agitated. Chief-justice
Hale had given the weight of his opinion in England in favor of the delusion, and the Mathers, father and
son, of Boston, eminent for their piety and learning, had written, and preached, and talked, and acted much
under the belief in the reality of witchcraft. Cotton Mather published a book in 1692, called the "Wonders of the Invisible World," giving a full account of all the cases and trials, and stimulating the authorities
to further proceedings. The delusion was now at its height, and no class of society was exempt from suspicion. The wife of Hale, minister of Beverly, was accused, at the very time when he was most active
against others, and almost every ill-favored old woman was regarded as a servant of the devil. A son of
Governor Bradstreet was accused, and had to flee for his life; and even Lady Phipps, the wife of the Ad.
miral Sir William, the newly-appointed Governor of Massachusetts, was suspected. When royal authority
broke the spell, practical witchcraft ceased to act, and the people of Massachusetts recovered their senses.
Mather, in his " Magnolia," confessed that things were carried a little too far in Salem, but never positively
renounced his belief in the reality of witchcraft. His credulity had been thoroughly exposed by a writer
named Calef, who addressed a series of letters to the Boston ministers on the subject. At first Mather sneered at him as a " weaver who pretended to be a merchant;" but Calef laid his truths and sarcasms so strong]y over the shoulders of Mather, that the latter called him a " coal from hell," to blacken his character, and
afterward commenced a prosecution against him for slander.
The mischief wrought by this delusion was wide-spread and terrible. Society was paralyzed with alarm;
evil spirits were thought to overshadow the land; every nervous influence, even every ordinary symptom of
disease, was ascribed to demoniac power. When the royal veto arrived, twenty persons had been executed,
among whom was a minister of Danvers named George Burroughs; fifty-five had been tortured or terrified
into a confession of witchcraft, one hundred and fifty were in prison, and two hundred more had been accused.
2 John Quincy Adams.




448


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Religious Character of the Puritans.  Mildness of their Laws.  The representative System.  Influx of Immigrants.
elements remained but wine and bread; they invoked no saints; they raised no altar; they
adored no crucifix; they kissed no book; they asked no absolution; they paid no tithes;
they saw in the priest nothing more than a man; ordination was no more than an approbation of the officers, which might be expressed by the brethren as well as by the ministers;
the church, as a place of worship, was to them but a meeting-house; they dug no grave in
consecrated earth; unlike their posterity, they married without a minister, and buried their
dead without a prayer.  Witchcraft had not been made the subject of skeptical consideration, and, in the years in which Scotland sacrificed hecatombs to the delusion, there were
but three victims in New England.
Rigorous in their moral and religious code, the Puritans were mild in their legislation upon
other subjects.  For many crimes the death penalty was abolished, and the punishment for
theft, burglary, and highway robbery was more mild than our laws inflict.  Divorce from
bed and board was recognized by their laws as a barely possible event, but, during the first
fifty years after the founding of New England, no record of such an occurrence is given.'
Adultery was punished by death, the wife and paramour both suffering for the crime; while
the girl whom youth and affection betrayed was censured, but pitied and forgiven, and the
seducer was compelled to marry his victim.  Domestic discipline was highly valued, and the
undutiful child and faithless parent were alike punished.  Honest men were not imprisoned
for debt until 1654; cruelty to animals was a civil offense, punishable by fine.  The people,
united in endurance of hardships during the first years of settlement, were equally united
when prosperity blessed them.  They were rich in affection for one another, and all around
them were objects of love.  Their land had become a paradise of beauty and repose, and,
even when the fires of persecution went out in England, none could be tempted to return
thither, for they had found a better heritage.  Their morals were pure, and an old writer
said, "As Ireland will not brook venomous beasts, so will not that land vile livers."  Drunkenness was almost unknown, and universal health prevailed.  The average duration of life
in New England, as compared with Europe, was doubled, and no less than four in nineteen
of all that were born attained the age of seventy years.  Many lived beyond the age of ninety, and a man one hundred years old when our Revolution broke out was not considered a
wonder of longevity.
Such were the people who fostered the living principles of our independence-the parents
of nearly one third of the present white population of the United States.  Within the first
fifteen years-and there was never afterward any considerable increase from England-there
came over twenty-one thousand two hundred souls.  Their descendants are now not far from
four millions.  Each family has multiplied, on the average, to one thousand souls.  To New
York and Ohio, where they constitute half the population, they have carried the Puritan system of free schools, and their example is spreading it throughout the civilized world.2
In 1634 the colony had become so populous that it was found inconvenient for all the freemen to assemble in one place to transact business.  By the general consent of the towns, the
representative system was introduced, and to twenty-four representatives was delegated the
power granted to the whole body of freemen by charter.  The appellation of general court
was also applied to the representatives.  It was about this time that Hugh Peters, afterward
Cromwell's secretary, and Henry Vane, afterward Sir Henry Vane, who was made governor,
came to the colony, with a great number of immigrants.  It was about this time, also, that
Roger Williams occasioned disturbances, and was banished. These circumstances will be
noticed hereafter.
In 1637 the Pequot war ensued; and about 1640, persecutions having ceased in England,
emigration to the colonies also ceased.  The Confederation was effected in 1643.  From
that time the permanent prosperity of the colonies may be dated.2. Their commerce, which
Trumbull's History of Connecticut, i., 283; Bancroft's United States, i., 465.
i Bancroft, i., 467-8.
3 Captain Edward Johnson, in his " Wonder-working Providence of Zion's Savior in New England," writing in 1650, seven years after the union, says, " Good white and wheaten bread is no dainty, but every ordinary




OF THE REVOLUTION.


449


-_


Trade of the Colony. First coined Money. Marriage of the Mint-master's Daughter. The Quakers' Conduct and Punishment.
first extended only to the Indians, and to traffic among themselves, expanded, and considerable trade was carried on with the West Indies.      Through this trade bullion was brought
into New England, and ( it was thought necessary, to              -               ^"
prevent fraud in money," to establish a mint fbr coining    /sC \l
shillings, sixpences, and threepences.  On the first coins             " ^s \7
the only inscription on one side was N. E., and on the oth-       iger, XII., VI., or IIT.  In October, 1651, the court order- \0). (/
ed that all pieces of money should have a double ring, with  \     o O/:,          o^
the inscription MASSACHUSETTS, and a tree in the center, on    '   -"C Doo e.*.
one side, and NEW ENGLAND, and the year of our Lord, on          THE "lINE-TREE SHILLING."
the other.   The first money was coined in 1652, and the date was not altered for thirty years.
In the year 1656 a few fanatics in religion, calling themselves Quakers, began to disturb
the public peace, revile magistrates, and interfere with the public worship of the people.
They assumed the name and garb of Quakers, but had no more the spirit and consistency of
life of that pure sect than any monomaniac that might declare himself such.      The Quakers
have ever been regarded, from their first appearance, as the most order-loving, peaceful citizens, cultivating genuine practical piety among themselves, and, with few exceptions, never
interfering with the faith and practice of others, except by the reasonable efforts of persuasion.  Quite different was the character of some of those who suffered from the persecution
of the Puritans.   They openly and in harsh language reviled the authorities in Church and
State; entered houses of worship, and denounced the whole congregation as hypocrites and
an " abomination to the Lord," very much after the fashion of the wall-placarding and itinerant prophets of our day; and shocked public morals by their indecencies.2        They were
man hath his choice, if gay clothing and a liquorish tooth after sack, sugar, and plums lick not away his bread
too fast, all which are but ordinary among those that were not able to bring their own person over at their
first coming. There are not many towns in the country but the poorest person in them hath a house and
land of his own, and bread of his own growing, if not some cattle. Flesh is now no rare food, beef, pork,
and mutton being frequent in many houses; so that this poor wilderness hath not only equalized England
in food, but goes beyond it in some places for the great plenty of wine and sugar which is ordinarily used,
and apples, pears, and quince tarts, instead of their former pumpkin pies. Poultry they have plenty." At
that time thirty-two trades were carried on in the colony, and shoes were manufactured for exportation.
This is a fac-simile of the first money coined in America. The mint-master, who was allowed to take
fifteen pence out of every twenty shillings, for his trouble in coining, made a large fortune by it. Henry
Sewall, the founder of Newbury, in Massachusetts, married his only daughter, a plump girl of eighteen
years. When the wedding ceremony was ended, a large pair of scales was brought out and suspended. In
one disk the blushing bride was placed, and "pine tree shillings," as the coin was called, were poured into
the other until there was an equipoise. The money was then handed to Mr. Sewall as his wife's dowry,
amounting to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. There are a few pieces of this money still in existence. One which I saw in the possession of a gentleman in New York was not as much worn as many of
the Spanish quarters now in circulation among us. The silver appeared to be very pure.
2 Hutchinson mentions many instances of fanaticism on the part of the so-called Quakers. Some at Salem, Hampton, Newbury, and other places, went into the meeting-houses in time of worship, called the ministers vile hirelings, and the people an abomination. Thomas Newhouse went into the meeting-house at
Boston with two glass bottles, and, breaking them in the presence of the whole congregation, exclaimed,
"Thus will the Lord break you in pieces."  Mary Brewster went into meeting, having her face smeared
with soot and grease; another young married woman, Deborah Wilson, went through the streets of Salem perfectly naked, in emulation of the Prophet Ezekiel, as a sign of the nakedness of the land. They
were whipped through the streets'at the tail of a cart. Ann Hartley declared herself a prophetess, and had
nany followers who seceded from the congregation of Boston, and zealously propagated schism. A Quaker
woman entered a church in Boston, while the congregation were worshiping, clothed in sackcloth, with ashes
on her head, her feet bare, and her face blackened so as to personify small-pox, the punishment with which
she threatened the colony.-See Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, i., 202-4.
Whipping was the usual punishment. Marmaduke Stephenson, William Robinson, Mary Dyer, and William Leddra were hanged. Mary Dyer was publicly whipped through the streets of Boston. Dorothy Waugh
was three times imprisoned, three times banished, and once whipped, and her clothes sold. William Brand
was four times imprisoned, four times banished, twice whipped, and branded. John Copeland was seven
times imprisoned, seven times banished, three times whipped, and had his ears cut off. Christopher Holden
was five times banished, five times imprisoned, twice whipped, and had his ears cut off. These four were
the leading characters who suffered in one year.-News England's Ensigne, p. 105.
F F




460                       PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Origin of the Quakers.  Their Peculiarities.  Sufferings in America of those calling themselves Quakers.
first tenderly dealt with and kindly admonished. Penalties ensued, and life was finally taken, before some of them would cease interference with the popular ceremonials of religion.
The exercise of power to maintain subordination finally grew to persecution, and the benevolent Puritan became, almost from necessity, a persecutor.  Enactments for the preservation
of good order were necessary, but the sanguinary laws against particular doctrines and tenets
can not be defended.
The Quaker sect sprang up in England about 1756, under George Fox, and received their
name from the peculiar shaking or quaking of their bodies and limbs while preaching.  They
went further than the. straitest Puritans in disregarding human authority when opposed to
the teachings of the Bible, yet they were allowed full liberty of action during the protectorate of Oliver Cromwell.  They denounced war, persecution for religious opinions, and, above
all, the slavish idolatry demanded by rulers in Church and State of those under their control.
They condemned all ordained and paid priesthoods, refused to take oaths, and thus struck a
direct blow at the hierarchy.  They differed from the Puritans in many things, and became
noxious to them.  They derived their system of morals and politics chiefly from the New
Testament, while the Puritans took theirs from the more sanguinary and intolerant codes of
the old dispensation.  Laying aside the falsehoods of politeness and flattery, they renounced
all titles, addressed all men, high or low, by the plain title of Friend, used the expressions
yea and nay, and thee and thou; and offices of kindness and affection to their fellow-creatures, according to the injunction of the Apostle James, constituted their practical religion.
( The Quakers might be regarded as representing that branch of the primitive Christians
who esteemed Christianity an entirely new dispensation, world-wide in its objects; while the
Puritans represented those Judaizing Christians who could not get rid of the idea of a peculiar chosen people, to wit, themselves."'
The English Puritans had warned their brethren in America against these "( children of
hell," and the first appearance in the colony of Mary Fisher and Ann Austin, who came
from Barbadoes, and professed the new doctrine, greatly alarmed the New England theocracy.
A special law was enacted, by which to bring a ( known Quaker" into the colony was punishable with a fine of five hundred dollars, and the exaction of bonds to carry him back again.
The Quaker himself was to be whipped twenty stripes, sent to the House of Correction, and
kept there until transported.  The introduction of Quaker books was prohibited; defending
Quaker opinions was punishable with fine, and finally banishment; and in 1657 it was enacted that for every hour's entertainment given to a Quaker the entertainer should pay forty
shillings. It was also enacted that every male Quaker should lose an ear on the first conviction, and the other on a second; and both males and females, on a third conviction, were
to have their tongues bored through with a red-hot iron.  In 1658 the death penalty was
enacted.  Under it those who should return to the colony a second time, after banishment,
were to suffer death. From unwillingness to inflict death, it was provided by a new law,
in 1658, that any person convicted of being a Quaker should be delivered to the constable
of the town, "to be stripped naked from the middle upward, and tied to a cart's tail, and
whipped through the town, and thence be immediately conveyed to the constable of the next
town toward the border of our jurisdiction, and so from constable to constable, to any the outermost town, and so to be whipped out of the colony."  In case of return, this was to be
twice repeated.  The fourth time the convict was to be branded with a letter R on the left
shoulder, and after that, if incorrigible, to incur the death penalty.  Chiefly through the instrumentality of King William, these penal laws against the Quakers were abrogated by royal
authority, and that sect became an important element in American society during the eighteenth century. In Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as we shall hereafter see, the Quakers
had a strong controlling influence during the Revolution.
In 1675 King Philip's war commenced, and almost all the Indians in New England were
involved in it. This will be noticed when we are considering my visit to the neighborhood
Hildreth, i., 404.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


451


Arrival of Andross. His Extortions. Revolution in England. Government of Massachusetts. Hostilities with the French.
of Mount Hope, the residence of the great sachem.   Upon the heels of this war, when the
colonies were much distressed, the ministers of the second James conspired, as we have seen,
to destroy popular government in America, and consolidate power in the throne.  A decision
was procured in the High Court of Chancery, declaring'the American charters forfeited, because of the alleged exercise of powers, on the part of the colonial governments, not recognized by those charters.  Sir ]dmund Andross, who came with the title of governor general, and empowered to take away their charters from the colonists, made Boston his
head-quarters.  He came with the fair mask of kindness, which was soon cast off.  Fees
of all officers were increased; public thanksgivings without royal permission were forbidden;
the press was restrained; land titles were abrogated, and the people were obliged to petition
for new patents, sometimes at great expense; and in various ways Andross and others managed to enrich themselves by oppressing and impoverishing the inhabitants.  The free spirit
of New England was aroused, and the people became very restive
under the tyrant.  Secret meetings were held, in which the propriety
of open resistance was discussed; but before the people of Boston, afterward so famous for their bold opposition to imperial power, lifted the
arm of defiance, the news came that James was an exile, and
that William and Mary were firmly seated on the throne of En-     688
gland.   Boston was in great commotion.  People flocked in from the
country, and cries of t Down with all tyrants" were mingled with the
notes of joy rung out by the church-bells.  Andross, alarmed, fled to
the fort,' but was soon arrested, imprisoned, and, as already no- 1
ticed, sent home for trial.  A new charter was received in 1692,
when the territories of Plymouth, Maine, and Nova Scotia were added to Massachusetts.       By that charter the governor was appointed
-         by the crown, and a property qualification was necessary to procure
the privilege of the elective franchise in choosing the members of the
General Court or Assembly.   Such was the government that existed
when the Revolution broke out.
About this time the French, who had settled upon the St. Lawrence, began to excite the Northern and Eastern Indians against the
English settlements in New England.     Dover and Salmon Falls in
New Hampshire, Casco in Maine, and Schenectady in New York
were desolated.  The colony fitted out a force, under General Win/ " \\      throp, to attack Montreal, and a fleet, under Sir William Phipps, to
besiege Quebec.   The expedition was a failure, and for seven years,
--              until the treaty of peace between France and England was concluded.
1'HF BFACON'     the frontier was scourged by savage cruelties.  During this time
THE, BEACON..          '1690.
military operations exhausted the treasury of Massachusetts,.and
the government emitted bills of credit, the first paper money issued in the American colonies.
From the beginning of the eighteenth century until the treaty of Paris, or, rather, of Fontainbleau, in 1763, the New England colonies were continually agitated by successive wars
The first fort was upon one of the three eminences in Boston, called Cornhill, from the circumstance
that the first explorers found corn buried there. The fort was completed in 1634. It had complete command of the harbor. It is now a green plat, two hundred feet in diameter, and called Washington Place.
The eminence is called Fort Hill.
Another of the eminences is called Beacon Hill, from the circumstance that on the top of it was a beacon
pole, with a tar barrel at its apex, erected in 1635, which was to be fired, to give an alarm in the country,
if Boston should be attacked by savages. Upon a crane was suspended a basket containing some combustibles for firing the barrel. This beacon was blown down in 1789, and the next year a plain Doric column
of brick and stone, incrusted with cement, was erected. It was about sixty feet high, on an eight feet pedestal. On the tablets of the pedestal were inscriptions commemorating the most important events from the
passage of the Stamp Act until 1790. This pedestal is preserved in the State House of Boston. The monument stood a little north of the site of the present State House. A view of the old beacon is given above.




452


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


462~~~~~ PITRA FEDBO


First American Paper money.  Prowess of Colonial Troops.  The French and Indian War.  The Revolutionary Era.
with the French and Indians, by jealousies concerning colonial rights, which acts of Parliament from time to time seemed to menace with subversion, and by the discontents arising
o9VCC/,9 ) 2O
THIS Itndected BLll of Tw n ty -y
ShU/rt gSer u. fromrn he MaiacKhutLfe
CoLany to the_.oTfeor Ikall b e-L value
qual to mrroney &kaLUlb )-acc arlcngty0
acce/pteaby the rDeawrer nLdReceeivers
fuaborJLnate tohim t      L      attlPu  lick p ayrri'
anldeor aity Stok ao        t    ytL rreu ITthe^em
Treaftrry. B oftton iLo           NewE ngla/ricLd
Febuary te thcire c6iX6ocBy Order of
tle, G enexraLt Go'r
FAC-SIMILE OF THE FIRST AMERICAN PAPER MONEY.
from the avarice and misrule of royal governors sent over from England. For the wars they
furnished full supplies of men and money, and it was chiefly by the prowess of colonial troops
that French dominion in America was destroyed. During these wars the colonists discovered their own strength, and, doubtless, thoughts of independence often occupied the minds of
many. The capture of Louisburg, the operations in Northern New York and upon Lake
Ontario and the St. Lawrence, and the final passage of Quebec and Montreal into the hands
of the English, have been noticed in former chapters.  The campaign against the French
posts on.the Ohio and vicinity, when Washington first became distinguished as a military
leader, will receive our attention hereafter.
We have now reached the borders of our Revolutionary era, and Boston, our point of
view, where the first bold voice was heard and the first resolute arm uplifted against measures of the British Parliament that tended to abridge the liberties of the colonists, is a proper
place whence to take a general survey of events immediately antecedent to, and connected
with, that successful and righteous rebellion.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


45 3:


First Step toward Absolutism. Democratic Colonies. Board of Trade. Courts of Vice-admiralty. Commercial Restrictions.
We have already observed, that after the expulsion of Andross a new charter was
obtained by Massachusetts, but the governor thereafter was appointed by the crown.  688
This was the first link forged for the chain of absolutism with which England for nearly a
century endeavored to enslave her American colonies.  Such was the condition of all the
colonies, except Connecticut and Rhode Island, whose original charters had never been surrendered.  The other chartered communities were governed by men appointed by the king,
but Connecticut and Rhode Island always enjoyed the democratic privilege of electing their
own chief magistrates.  These royal governors, by their exactions and their haughty disregard of public opinion in America, were greatly instrumental, it will be seen, in arousing
the people to rebellion.  Discontents, however, arising from an interference of the imperial
government with the commerce of the colonies, had already begun to excite suspicions unfavorable to the integrity of the home government.
Among the first acts of Parliament, after the restoration of Charles II. in 1660, was the
establishment of a board of commissioners, to have the general supervision of the commerce
of the American colonies.  This commission was afterward remodeled, and the Board
of Trade and Plantations, consisting of a president and seven members, known as
LORDS OF TRADE, was established.  This board had the general oversight of the commerce
of the realm; and, although its powers were subsequently somewhat curtailed, it exercised
great influence, particularly in America, down to the time of the Revolution, and was the
strong right arm of royalty here.  It was the legalized spy upon all the movements of the
people; it watched the operations of the colonial assemblies; and in every conceivable way
it upheld the royal governors and the royal prerogatives.  Under its auspices courts of viceadmiralty were established throughout the colonies, having powers similar to those of our
United States District Courts, in which admiralty and revenue cases were tried without jury.
These often exercised intolerable tyranny.
Previous to the establishment of the first commission, the acts of trade had so little
1660.
affected the colonists that they were hardly a subject of controversy; but after the Restoration, the commercial restrictions, from which the New England colonies were exempt
(luring the time of the commonwealth, were imposed with increased rigor.  The harbors of
the colonies were closed against all but English vessels; such articles of American produce
as were in demand in England were forbidden to be shipped to foreign markets; the liberty
of free trade among the colonies themselves was taken away, and they were forbidden to
manufacture for their own use or for foreign markets those articles which would come in
competition with English manufacturers.  In addition to these oppressive commercial acts,
a royal fleet arrived at Boston, bringing commissioners, who were instructed to hear
and determine all complaints that might exist in New England; and they also had
full power to take ( such measures as they might deem expedient for settling the peace and
security of the country on a solid foundation."  The people justly regarded this commission
as a prolific seed of tyranny planted among them.  The colonists were alarmed, yet none
but Massachusetts dared openly to complain.  She alone, although professing the warmest
loyalty to the king, openly asserted her chartered rights, and not only refused to acknowledge the authority of the commissioners, but protested against the exercise of their delegated
powers within her domain. So noxious was the commission to the whole people, that it
was soon abolished.  In this boldness Massachusetts exhibited the germ of that opposition
to royal authority for which she was afterward so conspicuous.
In 1672 the British Parliament enacted " that if any vessel which, by law, may trade in
the plantations shall take on board any enumerated articles [mentioned in the act of 1 660],
and a bond shall not have been given with sufficient security to unlade them in England,
there shall be rendered to his majesty, for sugars, tobacco, ginger, cocoa-nut, indigo, logwood,
fustic, cotton, wool, the several duties mentioned in the law, to be paid in such places in the
plantation, and to such officers as shall be appointed to collect the same; and, for their better
collection, it is enacted that the whole business shall be managed and the imposts shall be
levied by officers appointed by the commissioners of imposts in England.'  This was the




454


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


First Act of Oppression.  Colonial Claims to the Right of Representation.  The Right acknowledged. Governor Btrnet.
first act that imposed customs on the colonies alone; this was the initial act of a series of
like tenor, which drove them to rebellion.  The people justly complained, and as justly disregarded the law.  They saw in it a withering blight upon their infant commerce: they
either openly disobeyed its injunctions, or eluded its provisions; Barbadoes, Virginia, and
Maryland, in particular, trafficked without restraint.
The colonies in general now began to regard the home government as an oppressor, and
acted with a corresponding degree of independence.  Edward Randolph, afterward the surveyor general during the reign of William and Mary, writing to the commissioners of custom
in 1676, iterated the declarations of the people that the law (, made by Parliament obligeth
them in nothing but what consists with the interests of the colonies; that the legislative
A 6  power is and abides in them SOLELY."  GovernorfNicholson, of Maryland, writing
in 1698, said, " I have observed that a great many people in all these colonies and
provinces, especially those under proprietaries, and the two others under Connecticut and
Rhode Island, think that no law of England ought to be in force and binding to them without their own consent; for they foolishly say they have no representative sent for themselves
to the Parliaments of England; and they look upon all laws made in England, that put
any restraint upon them, to be great hardships."  Earlier than this the doctrine that the
colonies should not be taxed without their consent was recognized by Lord Berkley and Sir
George Cartwright, and not questioned by the king. These distinguished men purchased
New Jersey of the Duke of York (afterward James II.), which he had taken from the
Dutch by the authority of his brother Charles.
These,"lords proprietors," for the better settlement of the pioneers, stipulated in their
agreement with those who should commence plantations there that they (the proprietors)
were "( not to impose, or suffer to be imposed, any tax, custom, subsidy, tallage, assessment,
or any other duty whatsoever, upon any color or pretense, upon the said province or inhabitants thereof, other than what shall be imposed by the authority and consent of the General
Assembly."'  In 1691 the New York General Assembly passed an act declaring (, that no aid,
tax, tallage, &c., whatsoever shall be laid, assessed, levied, or required of or on any of their
majesties' [William and Mary] subjects within the provinces, &c., or their estates, in any
manner of color or pretense whatsoever, but by the act and consent of the governor and council, and representatives of the people in General Assembly met and convened." In 1 692
the Massachusetts Legislature made a declaration in almost the same language, and almost
all the colonies asserted, in some form, the same doctrine.  Thus we see that, nearly one
hundred years before the Revolution, the fundamental principle upon which the righteousness
of that rebellion relied for vindication-TAXATION AND REPRESENTATION ARE INSEPARABLEwas boldly asserted by the governed, and tacitly admitted by the supreme power as correct.
As early as 1729 the conduct of Massachusetts caused a suggestion in the House of Commons that it was the design of that colony " to shake off its dependency."  Governor Burnet, of New York, was appointed chief magistrate of the province in 1728. The display
that attended his reception at Boston, and the appearance of general prosperity on every hand,
determined him to demand a fixed and liberal salary from the Assembly, a demand which
had involved Shute, his predecessor, in continual bickerings with that body.  Burnet made
the demand in his inaugural address, and the Assembly treated it in such a manner that immediately afterward the CoUncil expressed their reprehension of the undutiful conduct of the
members.   So bold was the Assembly in denying royal prerogatives and refusing obedience
to laws, that when Massachusetts petitioned the House of Commons, praying that they
might be heard by counsel on the subject of grievances, that body resolved ( That the
petition was frivolous and groundless, a high insult upon his majesty's [George I.] government, and tending to shake off the dependency of the said colony upon this kingdom, to
which, in law and right, they ought to be subject."'
In 1739 a proposition was made to Sir Robert Walpole to tax the American colonies, but
Smt' Hitr ofNwJrep           1.2Sih'                     itr   fNwYrp      5


I Smith's History of New JSersey, p. 517.. ' Smith's History of New Yorkr, p. 75.




OF THE REVOLUTIO N.


455


Wisdom of Robert Walpole.  Restraining Acts.  Loyalty and Patriotism of the Colonies.  Heavy voluntary Taxation.
that statesman took an enlightened and liberal view, and said, smiling,, I will leave that to
some of my successors who have more courage than I have, and are less friends to commerce
than I am.   It has been a maxim with me, during my administration, to encourage the trade
of the American colonies in the utmost latitude; nay, it has been necessary to pass over some
irregularities in their trade with Europe; for, by encouraging them to an extensive growing
commerce, if they gain five hundred thousand pounds, I am convinced that in two years afterward full two hundred and fifty thousand pounds of their gains will be in his majesty's exchequer, by the labor and produce of this kingdom, as immense quantities of every kind of
our manufactories go thither; and as they increase in their foreign American trade, more of
our produce will be wanted. This is taxing them more agreeably to their own Constitution
and ours." Had these views continued to prevail in the British cabinet, George III. might
not have "( lost the brightest jewel in his crown;" had Walpole yielded, the republic of the
United States might have existed almost half a century earlier.
Walpole's successors were " more courageous" than he, and ( less friends to commerce,"
for in 1750 an act was passed, declaring, That from and after the 24th of June, 1750, no
mill or other engine for slitting or rolling of iron, or any platting forge to work with a tilthammer, or any furnace for making steel, shall be erected, or, after such erection, continued,
in any of his majesty's colonies in America." The Navigation Act of 1660 was retained in
full force.  Hatters were forbidden to have, at one time, more than two apprentices; the
importation of sugar, rum, and molasses was not allowed without the payment of considerable duties; and the felling of pitch-pine-trees not within inclosures was prohibited.  True,
these revenue laws were administered with much laxity, as Walpole acknowledged, and the
colonies were not much oppressed by them, yet they practically asserted the right to tax the
Americans-a right that was strenuously denied.  These things were, therefore, real grievances, for they foreshadowed those intentions to enslave America which were afterward
more boldly avowed.
I have noticed the Colonial Congress (page 303) held at Albany in 1754, when Dr. Franklin submitted a plan for the union of the colonies for the general good, and when Massachusetts, ever jealous of her rights, instructed her representatives to oppose any scheme for taxing them. The war that had then just commenced (the Seven Years' War) soon diverted
the attention of the colonists from the commercial grievances of which they complained, and
as the common dangers multiplied, loyalty increased.  Cheerfully did they tax themselves,
and contribute men, money, and provisions, for that contest.  Tpey lost by the war twentyfive thousand of their robust young men, exclusive of sailors.  Upon application of Admiral
Saunders, the squadron employed against Louisburg and Quebec was supplied with five hundred seamen from Massachusetts, besides many who were impressed out of vessels on the fishing banks.  During the whole war Massachusetts contributed its full quota of troops annually, and also, at times, furnished garrisons for Louisburg and Nova Scotia in addition. That
colony alone contributed more than five millions of dollars, in which sum is not included the
expense of forts and garrisons on the frontiers.  Besides these public expenditures, there must
have been almost an equal amount drawn from the people by extra private expenses and personal services.  The taxes imposed to meet the pressing demands upon all sides were enormous,' and men of wealth gave freely toward encouraging the raising of new levies. This,
it must be remembered, was the heavy burden laid upon one colony. Other provinces contributed largely, yet not so munificently as Massachusetts. Probably the Seven Years' War
cost the aggregate colonies twenty millions of dollars, besides the flower of their youth; and
in return Parliament granted them, during the contest, at different periods, about five millL Such was the assessment in Boston one year during the war, that, if a man's income was three hundred
dollars, he had to pay two thirds, or two hundred dollars, and in that proportion. If his house was valued
at one thousand dollars, he was obliged to pay three hundred and sixty dollars. He had also to pay a poll
tax for himself, and for every male member of his family over sixteen years of age, at the rate of nearly
four dollars each. In addition to all this, he paid his proportion of excise on tea, coffee, rum, and wine, if
he used them.-Gordon.




456


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Designs of the British Ministry.  Expenditures of the British Government on Account of America  Accession.of George III.
ions four hundred and nine thousand dollars.' Yet the British ministry, in 1760, while the
colonies were so generously supporting the power and dignity of the realm, regarded their
services as the mere exercise of a duty,-and declared that, notwithstanding grants of money
had been made to them, they expected to get it all back, by imposing a tax upon them after
the war, in order to raise a revenue.  Such was the language of Mr. Pitt in a letter to Lieu
tenant-governor Fauquier, of Virginia.   The war ended favorably to Great Britain, and Massachusetts and other colonies looked forward with the full hope of uninterrupted prosperity.
New men were at the helm of State. The old king was dead, and his grandson, the eldest
October 26  son of the deceased Frederic, prince of Wales, had ascended the throne with the
1760.   title of George III.   This was the prince who ruled Great Britain sixty years, in
which time was included our war for independence.
Parliament subsequently voted one million of dollars to the colonies, but, on account of the troubles arising from the Stamp Act and kindred measures, ministers withheld the sum.-Pictorial History of the Reign
of George III., i., 36.
The following is a list of " The grants in Parliament for Rewards, Encouragement, and Indemnification
to the Provinces in North America, for their Services and Expenses during the last [seven years] War:
"On the 3d of February, 1756, as a free gift and reward to the colonies of New England, New York,
and Jersey, for their past services, and as an encouragement to continue to exert themselves with vigor,
voted $575,000.
"May 19th, 1757. For the use and relief of the provinces of North and South Carolina, and Virginia,
in recompense for services performed and to be performed, $250,000.
"June 1st, 1758. To reimburse the province of Massachusetts Bay their expenses in furnishing provisions and stores to the troops raised by them in 1756, $136,900. To reimburse the province of Connecticut their expenses for ditto, $68,680.
"April 30th, 1759. As a compensation to the respective colonies for the expenses of clothing, pay of
troops, &c., $1,000,000.
" March 31st, 1760. For the same, $1,000,000. For the colony of New York, to reimburse their expenses in furnishing provisions and stores to the troops in 1756, $14,885.
"January 20th, 1761. As a compensation to the respective colonies for clothing, pay of troops, &c.,
$1,000,000.
"January 26th, 1762. Ditto, $666,666.
"March 15h, 1763. Ditto, $666,666.
"April 22d, 1770. To reimburse the province of New Hampshire their expenses in furnishing provisions and stores to the troops in the campaign of 1756, $30,045. Total, $5,408,842."
In a pamphlet entitled The Rights of BRITAIN and Claims of AMERICA, an answer to the Declaration of
the Continental Congress, setting forth the causes and the necessity of their taking up arms, printed in 1776,
I find a table showing the annual expenditures of the British government in support of the civil and military
powers of the American colonies, from the accession of the family of Hanover, in 1714, until 1775. The
expression of the writer is, " Employed in the defense of America." This is incorrect, for the wars with
the French on this continent, which cost the greatest amount of money, were wars for conquest and territory, though ostensibly for the defense of the Anglo-American colonies against the encroachments of their
Gallic neighbors. During the period alluded to (sixty-years) the sums granted for the army amounted to
$43,899,625; for the navy, $50,000,000; money laid out in Indian presents, in holding Congresses, and
purchasing cessions of land, $30,500,000; making a total of $123,899,625. Within that period the following bounties on American commodities were paid: On indigo, $725,110; on hemp and flax, $27,800;
on naval stores imported in Great Britain from America, $7,293,810; making the total sum paid on account
of bounties $8,047,320. The total amount of money expended in sixty years on account of America,
$131,946,945.....


GREAT SEAL OF (UEORGE 111., THE PURSE, AND CHANCELLOR'S MACE.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


457.,                                                                                                                                                                                                                         -


Death of George II. announced to his Heir.  Influence of the Earl of Bute.  Cool Treatment of Mr. Pitt.
CHAPTER XX.
"In a chariot of light from the regions of day
The goddess of Liberty came,
Ten thousand celestials directed the way,
And hither conducted the dame.
A fair budding branch from the garden above,
Where millions with millions agree,
She brought in her hand as a pledge of her love,
And the plant she named Lioerty Tree.
"The celestial exotic struck deep in the ground,
Like a native it flourish'd and bore;
The fame of its fruit drew the nations around,
To seek out this peaceable shore.
Unmindful of names or distinction they came,
For freemen, like brothers, agree;
With one spirit indued, they one friendship pursued,
And their temple was Liberty Tree.
"But hear, O ye swains ('tis a tale most profane),
How all the tyrannical powers,
Kings, Commons, and Lords, are uniting amain
To cut down this guardian of ours.
From the east to the west blow the trumpet to arms,
Through the land let the sound of it flee;
Let the far and the near all unite with a cheer
In defense of our Liberty Tree."
THOMAS PAINE.
HE intelligence of the death of his grandfather was communicated to George,
the heir apparent, on the morning of the 25th of October, while he was riding
I         on horseback, near Kew Palace, with his inseparable companion, the Earl of
Bute.     William Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham, was the prime minister of the deceased
king.   He immediately repaired to Kew, where
the young sovereign (then in his twenty-    17
third year) remained during the day and
night.   On the 26th George1 went to St. James's, where Pitt
waited upon him, and presented a sketch of an address to be
pronounced by the monarch at a meeting of the Privy Council.
The minister was politely informed that a speech was already
prepared, and that every preliminary was arranged.      He at
once perceived that the courtier, Bute, the favorite of the king's
mother, and his majesty's tutor and abiding personal friend, had
made these arrangements, and that he would doubtless occupy
a conspicuous station in the new administration.
Bute was originally a poor Scottish nobleman, possessed of      li
very little general talent, narrow in his political views, but fa-        GER    II.
GEORGE Il.
vored with a fine person and natural grace of manners.     He     AT THE TIME OF HIS ACCESSION.
was a favorite of George's father, and continued to be an inti-       From an anonymous print.


1 George III. was the son of Frederic, prince of Wales, by the Princess Augusta, of Saxe Gotha. He
was born May 24th, 1738, about three months after the birth of George Washington. He was married in




4 58                                 PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Character of Bute.             His Influence over the King.            Discontents.              Resignation of Pitt.


mate friend of the king's mother after Prince Frederic's death.    Indeed, scandal uttered
some unpleasant suggestions respecting this intimacy, even after the accession of George.
", Not contented with being wise," said Earl Waldegrave,,( he would be thought a polite
scholar and a man of great erudition, but has the misfortune never to succeed, except with
those who are exceedingly ignorant; for his historical
), > r             knowledge is chiefly taken fiom tragedies, wherein he,  ~          is very deeply read, and his classical learning extends
no further than a French translation."'    Such was
the man whom the young monarch unfortunately chose
for his counselor and guide, instead of the wise and sagacious Pitt, who had contributed, by his talents and
energy, so much to the glory of England during the
latter years of the reign of George II.  Like Rehoboam, George " forsook the counsel which the old men
gave him, and took counsel with the young men that
were brought up with him, that stood before him."
It was a sad mistake, and clouds of distrust gathered in
the morning sky of his reign.  The opinion got abroad
^  'that he would be ruled by the queen dowager and Bute,
H                   and that the countrymen of the earl, whom the English
disliked, would be subjects of special favor.  Murmurs
were heard in many quarters, and somebody had the
i\      A          boldness to put up a placard on the Royal Exchange,
\              with these words: " No petticoat government-no
Scotch minister-no Lord George Sackville."
_:....._:    _        Thus, at the very outset of his reign, the king had
opponents in his own capital.      A general feeling of
]-               discontent pervaded the people as soon as it was perUSUAL APPEARANCE OF THE KING ABOUT 1776.  ceived that Pitt, their favorite, was likely to become
From a sketch by Gear.
secondary among the counselors of the king, or, which
seemed more certain, would leave the cabinet altogether.   The latter event soon followed.
Disgusted by the assurance and ignorance of Bute, and the apathetic submission of George
to the control of the Scotch earl, and perceiving that all his plans, the execution of which
was pressing his country forward in a career of glory and prosperity, were thwarted by the
September, 1761, nearly a year after his accession, to the Princess Charlotte, of Mecklenberg Strelitz, daughter of the late duke of that principality. Her character resembled that of her
husband. Like him, she was domestic in her tastes and habits, decorous, rigid
in the observance of moral duties, and benevolent in thought and action. George
was remarkable for the purity of his morals; even while a young man, in the
midst of the licentious court of his grandfather, and through life, he was a good  t
pattern of a husband and father. He possessed no brilliancy of talents, but
common sense was a prime element in his intellectual character. He was tender and benevolent, although he loved money; and his resentments against those
who willfully offended him were lasting. He was always reliable; honest in
his principles and faithful to his promises, no man distrusted him. Their maj-;
esties were crowned on the 22d of September, 1761, soon after their marriage,  "  -'    -
and a reform in the royal household at once commenced. Their example contributed to produce a great change in manners. "Before their time," says  (
M'Farland, " the Court of St. James had much of the licentiousness of the Court /?
of Versailles, without its polish; during their time it became decent and cor-, \ ~;
rect, and its example gradually extended to the upper classes of society, where  ';:
it was most wanted."
For two years, from 1787 to 1789, his majesty was afflicted with insanity.  QUEEN CHARLOTTE.
The malady returned in 1801, and terminated his political life. He died on  romaprt y Wolidge.
the 29th of January, 1820, aged nearly eighty-two years, this being the sixtieth year of his reign. His queen
died in 1818.                                                      ' Waldegrave's Memoirs.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                      459
Secret Agents sent to America.  Writs of Assistance.  Opposition.  James Otis.  Episcopacy designed for America.
supple tools of the favorite, he resigned his office.  The regrets of the whole nation followed
him into retirement, while George, really esteeming him more highly than any other statesman in his realm, in testimony of his appreciation of his services, granted a peerage to his
lady, and a pension of fifteen thousand dollars.
Greater discontents were produced in the colonies by the measures which the new administration adopted in relation to them.  By the advice of Bute, who was the real head of the
government, George set about ( a reformation of the American charters."       Secret agents
were sent to travel in the different colonies, to procure access to the leading men, and to collect such information respecting the character and temper of the people as would enable ministers to judge what regulations and alterations could be safely made in the police and government of the colonies, in order to their being brought more effectually under the control of
Parliament.    The business of these agents was also to conciliate men of capital and station,
hoping thereby to enlist a large number of dependents; but herein they erred.  Unlike men
in a similar condition in England, the man of wealth here could influence very few; and in
New England such was the general independence of the people, that such agency was of no
avail.  The object of the agents was too apparent to admit of doubt; the proposed reform
was but another name for despotism, and the gossamer covering of deceit could not hide the
intention of the ministry.
The first reform measure which aroused the colonies to a lively sense of their danger
was the issuing of WRITS OF ASSISTANCE.    These were warrants to custom-house officers, giving them and their deputies a general power to enter houses or stores where it might
be suspected that contraband goods were concealed.    The idea of such latitude being given
to the " meanest deputy of a deputy's deputy" created general indignation and alarm.     It
might cover the grossest abuses, and no man's privacy would be free from the invasion of
these ministerial hirelings.  Open resistance was resolved upon.  In Boston public meetings
were held, and the voice of the fearless James Otis the younger called boldly upon the people
to breast any storm of ministerial vengeance that might be aroused by opposition here.  The
Assembly sided with the people, and even Governor Bernard was opposed to the measure.
Respectful remonstrances to Parliament and petitions to the king were sent, but without effect.  That short-sighted financier, George Grenville, was Bute's Chancellor of the Exchequer.   An exhausted treasury needed replenishing, and ministers determined to derive a revenue from the colonies, either by direct taxation or by impost duties, rigorously levied and collected.  They had also determined in council upon bringing about an entire subservience of
the colonies, politically, religiously, and commercially, to the will of the king and Parfiament.'
Dr. Gordon says he was informed by Dr. Langdon, of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, that as the Rev.
Mr. Whitfield was about leaving that place, he said to Dr. Langdon, and Mr. Haven, the Congregational minister, " I can't, in conscience, leave this town without acquainting you with a secret. My heart bleeds for
America. O poor New England! There is a deep-laid plot against both your civil and religious liberties,
and they will be lost. Your golden days are at an end. You have nothing but trouble before you. My
information comes from the best authority in Great Britain. I was allowed to speak of the affair in general,
but enjoined not to mention particulars. Your liberties will be lost."-Gordon, i., 102. It.was known that,
among other reforms, the Puritan, or dissenting, influence in religious matters was to be curtailed, if not destroyed, by the establishment of Episcopacy in the colonies. The throne and-the hierarchy were, in a measure, mutually dependent. In 1748 Dr. Secker, the archbishop of Canterbury, had proposed the establishment of Episcopacy in America, and overtures were made to some Puritan divines to accept the miter, but
without effect. The colonists, viewing Episcopacy in its worst light, as exhibited in the early days of the
American settlements, had been taught to fear such power, if it should happen to be wielded by the hand
of a crafty politician, more than the arm of civil government. They knew that if Parliament could create
dioceses and appoint bishops, it would introduce tithes and crush heresy. For years controversy ran high
upon this subject, much acrimony appeared on both sides, and art was brought in requisition to enforce arguments. In the Political Register for 1769 is a picture entitled " An Attempt to land a Bishop in America."  A portion of a vessel is seen, on the side of which is inscribed The Hillsborough.*  She is lying beside a wharf, on which is a crowd of earnest people, some with poles pushing the vessel from her moorings.
One holds up a book inscribed Sidney on Government; another has a volume of Locke's Essays; a third, in
the garb of a Quaker, holds an open volume inscribed Barclay's Apology; and from the mouth of a fourth
* Lord Hillsborough was then the Colonial Secretary, and it was presumed to be a plan of his to send a bishop to the colonies.




460


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Enforcement of Revenue Laws.  Resignation of Bute.  * Grenville Prime Minister.  Opposition to Episcopacy.
The idea of colonial subserviency was, indeed, general in England, and, according to Pitt,
", even the chimney-sweepers of the streets talked boastingly of their subjects in America."'
The admiralty undertook the labor of enforcing the laws, in strict accordance with the letter,
and intrusted the execution thereof to the commanders of vessels, whose authoritative habits
made them most unfit agents for such a service
against such a people.   Vessels engaged in con-                            traband trade were seized and confiscated, and
fI           the colonial commerce with the West Indies
was nearly annihilated.
i     From   causes never clearly understood, Lord
Bute resigned the premiership on the 8th of
1          April, 1763, and was succeeded by George
HI I                    Grenville, who, for a time, had fought shoulder
4;- to shoulder with Pitt, but had deserted him to
-k              take office under the Scotch earl.  Grenville is
- -  Arepresented as an honest statesman, of great po/:<'         litical knowledge and indefatigable application;:i, S ".  but his mind, according to Burke, could not ex-?28  Btend beyond the circle of official routine, and;         was unable to estimate the result of untried... measures.                                 He proved an unprofitable counsel-e  (or for the king, fbr he began a political warfare
GE:ORGE GRNVILL.a2              against the celebrated journalist, John Wilkes,
which resulted in the most serious partisan agitation throughout the kingdom; and he originated the Stamp Act, by which Great Britain
lost her American colonies.
is a scroll inscribed No lords, spiritual or temporal, in New England.  Half way up the shrouds of the vessel is a bishop in his robes, his miter falling, and a volume of Calvin's works, hurled by one on shore, about
to strike his head; from his mouth issues a scroll inscribed, " Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in
peace."  In the foreground is a paper inscribed, " Shall they be obliged to maintain bishops that can not maintain themselves?" and near it is a monkey in the act of throwing a stone at the bishop.  This print well illustrates the spirit of the times.
William Livingston, afterward governor of New Jersey, seems to have been one of the most eminent writers against Episcopacy, and Dr. Chandler and Samuel Seabury (afterward bishop) were among its chief
supporters. An anonymous writer, whose alias was Timothy Tickle, Esq., wrote a series of powerful articles in favor of Episcopacy, in Hugh Gaines's New York Mercury, in 1768, supposed by some to be Dr.
Auchmuty, of Trinity Church. The Synod of Connecticut passed a vote of thanks to Livingston for his essays, while in Gaines's paper he was lampooned by a shrewd writer in a poem of nearly two hundred lines.
Livingston wrote anonymously, and the poet thus refers to the author:
"Some think him a Tindall, some think him a Chubb,
Some think him a Ranter that spouts from his Tub,
Some think him a Newton, some think him a Locke,
Some think him a Stone, some think him a StockBut a Stock he at least may thank Nature for giving,
And if he's a STONE, I pronounce it a LIVING."
Episcopacy was introduced into America, took root, and flourished; and when the Revolution broke out.
seven or eight years afterward, there were many of its adherents found on the side of liberty, though, generally, so intimate was its relation, through the Mother Church, to the throne, its loyalty became a subject
of reproach and suspicion, for the Episcopal clergy, as a body, were active or passive Loyalists.
1 Parliamentary Debates, iii., 210.
2 George Grenville was born in 1722, and in 1750 became a member of the House of Commons, where
he was distinguished for his eloquence and general knowledge. He was made Treasurer of the Navy in
1754, and in 1760 was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer. He became First Lord of the Treasury,
o. prime minister, in 1763, and the next year originated the famous Stamp Act. He resigned his office to
Rookingham in 1765, and died on the 13th of November, 1770, aged fifty-eight years. He married the
daughter of Sir William Wyndham. The late Marquis of Buckingham, who inherited the family estates
in Buckinghamshire, was his eldest son.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


461


The Stamp Act proposed.  Right to tax the Americans asserted.  Stamp Act not new.  Postponement of Action on it.
Grenville found an empty treasury, and the national debt increased, in consequence of recent wars, to nearly seven hundred millions of dollars.  To meet the current expenses of
government, heavy taxation was necessary, and the English people were loudly complaining
of the burden.  Grenville feared to increase the weight, and looked to the American colonies
for relief.  He conceived the right' to draw a revenue from them to be undoubted, and,' knowing their ability to pay, he formed a plan to tax them indirectly by levying new duties upon
foreign articles imported by the Americans. A bill for levying these duties passed the House
of Commons in March, 1764, without much notice, except from General Conway, who saw
in it the seeds of further encroachments upon the liberties of the colonists.  The Assembly
of Massachusetts, acting in accordance with instructions given to the Boston representatives,
had already denied the right to impose duties.  Mr. Otis had published a pamphlet called
', The Rights of the British Colonists asserted," which was highly approved here, and a copy
was sent to the Massachusetts agent in England.    In that pamphlet Mr. Otis used the
strong language, -i If we are not represented we are slaves!"
Thatcher, of Boston, also published a tract against Parliamentary taxation, and similar
publications were made by Dulaney, the secretary of the province of Maryland, by Bland,
a leading member of the House of Burgesses of Virginia, and " by authority" in Rhode Island.
On the 5th of May Mr. Grenville submitted to the House of Commons an act pro-    1764
posing a stamp duty,2 at the same time assuring the colonial agents, with whom he had
conferred, that he should not press its adoption that session, but would leave the scheme open
for consideration.  He required the colonies to pay into the treasury a million of dollars per
annum, and he would leave it to them to devise a better plan, if possible, than the proposed
stamp duty. The idea was not original with Mr. Grenville. It had been held out as early
as 1739, by a club of American merchants, at the head of whom were Sir William Keith,
governor of Pennsylvania, Joshua Gee, and others.  In the colonial Congress at Albany, in
1754, a stamp act was talked of, and at that time Dr. Franklin thought it a just plan for
taxing the colonies, conceiving that its operations would affect the several governments fairly
and equally. Early in January (1764) Mr. Huske, a native of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who had obtained a seat in Parliament, desirous of displaying his excessive loyalty, alluded to the proposition of a stamp duty made at the Albany Convention, and delighted the
House by asserting the ability of the colonists to pay a liberal tax, and recommending the
levying of one that should amount annually to two and a half millions of dollars.3  With
these precedents, and the present assurance of Huske, Grenville brought forward his bill.  It
was received, and, on motion of the mover, its consideration was postponed until the next session.
When the new impost law (which was, in fact, a continuation of former similar acts) and
the proposed Stamp Act reached America, discontent was every where visible.   Instead of
being in a condition to pay taxes, the colonies had scarcely recovered from the effects of the
late war; and the more unjust appeared the Stamp Act, when the previous act was about
I Early in March, 1764, it was debated in the House of Commons whether they had a right to tax the
Americans, they not being represented, and it was determined unanimously in the affirmative. Of this vote,
and the evident determination of ministers to tax the colonies, Mr. Mauduit, the agent of Massachusetts,
informed the Assembly, and that body immediately resolved, " That the sole right of giving and granting
the money of the people of that province was vested in them as the legal representatives; and that the imposition of taxes and duties by the Parliament of Great Britain, upon a people who are not represented in
the House of Commons, is absolutely irreconcilable with their rights-That no man can justly take the property of another without his consent; upon which original principle the right of representation in the same
body which exercises the power of making laws for levying taxes, one of the main pillars of the British Con
stitution, is evidently founded."
2 It provided that every skin, or piece of vellum, or parchment, or sheet, or piece of paper used for legal
purposes, such as bills, bonds, notes, leases, policies of insurance, marriage licenses, and a great many other
documents, in order to be held valid in courts of law, was to be stamped, and sold by public officers appointed
for that purpose, at prices which levied a stated tax on every such document. The Dutch had used stamped
paper for a long time, and it was familiar to English merchants and companies, but in America it was almost wholly unknown. A copy of the Stamp Act will be found in the appendix of this work.
3 Gordon, i., 110; Jackson's letter to Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson, December 26th, 1765.




462


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Opposition to Taxation by the Colonies. Instructions to their Agents. The Stamp Act introduced in Parliament. Townshend.
to intercept their profitable trade with the Spanish main and the West Indies, whence they
derived much of their means to pay a tax.  The right to tax them was also strenuously denied, and, all the colonial Assemblies, wherever the subject was brought up, asserted their
sole right to tax themselves.  New England passed strong resolutions of remonstrance, and
forwarded earnest petitions to the king to pause; and Virginia and New York adopted the
same course, using firm, but respectful, language.  They demonstrated, by fair argument,
that the colonies were neither actually nor virtually represented in the British Parliament;
they declared that they had hitherto supposed the pecuniary assistance which Great Britain
had given them (the Parliamentary grants during the war) offered from motives of humanity, and not as the price of their liberty; and if she now wished a remuneration, she must
mtke allowance for all the assistance she had received from the colonies during the late war,
and for the oppressive restrictions she had imposed upon American commerce. They plainly told Great Britain that, as for her protection, they had full confidence in their own ability to protect themselves against any foreign enemy.
Remonstrances and petitions were sent by the colonies to their agents in London (some
of whom had not opposed the Stamp Act), with explicit instructions to prevent, as far as
they had power to act, the adoption of any scheme for taxing Americans.  At this crisis
Franklin was appointed agent for Pennsylvania; and other colonies, relying upon his skill
and wisdom in diplomacy, his thorough acquaintance with government affairs, his personal
influence in England, and, above all, his fearlessness, also intrusted him with the management of their affairs abroad. When he arrived in London, Grenville and other politicians
waited upon him, and consulted him respecting the proposed Stamp Act. He told them
explicitly that it was an unwise measure; that Americans would never submit to be taxed
without their consent, and that such an act, if attempted to be enforced, would endanger the
unity of the empire.  Pitt, though living in retirement at his country seat at Hayes, was
not an indifferent spectator, and he also consulted Franklin upon the important subject.
No doubt the expressed opinion of Franklin delayed, for a while, the introduction of the
Stamp Act into the House of Commons, for it was not submitted until the 7th of February following.  In the mean while respectful petitions and remonstrances were received from America, indicating a feeling of general opposition to ministers, and a determination not to be sheared by the ( Gentle Shepherd."'  The king, in his speech on the opening
January 10, of Parliament, alluded to American taxation, and the manifest discontent in the
1765.  colonies; yet, regardless of the visible portents of a storm, recommended the adoption of Grenville's scheme, and assured Parliament that he should use every endeavor to enFebruary 7, force obedience in America.  The bill, containing fifty-five resolutions, was brought
1765.  in, and Mr. Charles Townshend, the most eloquent man in the Commons, in the
absence of Pitt, spoke in its favor, concluding with the following peroration: t And now will
these Americans, children planted by our care, nourished up by our indulgence until they
are grown to a degree of strength and opulence, and protected by our arms, will they grudge
to contribute their mite to relieve us from the heavy weight of that burden which we lie under?"  Colonel Barre arose, and, echoing Townshend's words, thus commented: " They
planted by your care!  No, your oppressions planted them in America.  They fled from
your tyranny, to a then uncultivated and inhospitable country, where they exposed themselves
to almost all the hardships to which human nature is liable, and, among others, to the cruelties of a savage foe, the most subtle, and I will take upon me to say, the most formidable
of any people upon the face of God's earth; yet, actuated by principles of true English liberty, they met all hardships with pleasure compared with those they suffered in their own
In the course of a debate on the subject of taxation, in 1762, Mr. Grenville contended that the money
was wanted, that government did not know where to lay another tax; and, addressing Mr. Pitt, he said,
Why does he not tell us where we can levy another tax?" repeating, with emphasis, " Let him tell me
where-only tell me where!"  Pitt, though not much given to joking, hummed in the words of a popular
song, " Gentle shepherd, tell me where!"  The House burst into a roar of laughter, and christened George
Grenville THE GENTLE SHEPHERD.-Pictorial History of the Reign of George III., i., 34.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


463


OF TH   REOUIN          6


Barr6's Speech rebuking Townshend.  His Defense of the Americans. - Effect of his Speech.  Passage of the Stamp Act.
country, from the hands of those who should have been their friends.    They nourished up
by your indulgence.'    They grew by your neglect of them.    As soon as you began to care
about them, that care was exercised in sending
/                persons to rule them in one department and another, who were, perhaps, the deputies of deputies to some members of this House, sent to spy
'             out their liberties, to misrepresent their actions,
and to prey upon them-men whose behavior
on many occasions has caused the blood of those
SONS OF LIBERTY' to recoil within them-men
promoted to the highest seats of justice; some
who, to my knowledge, were glad, by going to a
foreign country, to escape being brought to the
/<.:..........  bar of public justice in their own.   They pro-..<tected by your arms!                         They have nobly taken
i up arms in your defense; have exerted a valor,
/ 'i/ I amid their constant and laborious industry, for
'!' ~~,the defense of a country whose frontier was
\\ \/    drenched in blood, while its interior parts yielded
all its little savings to your emoluments.    And
*? '~~  ' i 8)         believe me-remember I this day told you so —
COLONEL BARR.                that same spirit of freedom which actuated that
people at first will accompany them still; but
prudence forbids me to explain myself further. God knows I do not at this time speak from
motives of party heat; what I deliver are the genuine sentiments of my heart. However
superior to me, in general knowledge and experience, the respectable body of this House may
be, I claim to know more of America than most of you, having seen and been conversant in
that country.   The people, I believe, are as truly loyal as any subjects the king has; but a
people jealous of their liberties, and who will vindicate them if ever they should be violated.
But the subject is too delicate; I will say no more."  For a moment after the utterance of
these solemn truths the House remained in silent amazement; but the utter ignorance of
American affairs, and the fatal delusion wrought by ideas of royal power and colonial weakness,
which prevailed in that assembly, soon composed their minds.3 Very little debate was had
upon the bill, and it passed the House after a single division, by a majority of two hundred and
fifty to fifty.  In the Lords it received scarcely any opposition.  On the 22d of March the
king cheerfully gave his assent, and the famous Stamp Act-the entering wedge for the dismemberment of the British empire-became a law.          The protests of colonial agents, the
remonstrances of London merchants trading with America, and the wise suggestions of men
acquainted with the temper and resources of Americans were set at naught, and the infatuated ministry openly declared "that it was intended to establish the power of Great Britain
to tax the colonies."  "The sun of liberty is set," wrote Dr. Franklin to Charles ThompThis was the origin of the name which the associated patriots in America assumed when the speech of
Barre reached the colonies, and organized opposition to the Stamp Act was commenced.
2 Isaac Barre was born in 1727. His early years were devoted to study and military pursuits, and he
attained the rank of colonel in the British army. Through the influence of the Marquis of Landsdowne he
obtained a seat in the House of Commons, where he was ever the champion of American freedom. For
several years previous to his death he was afflicted with blindness. He died July 1st, 1802, aged seventyfive years. Some have attributed the authorship of the celebrated Letters of Junius to Colonel Barre, the
Marquis of Landsdowne, and Counselor Dunning, jointly, but the conjecture is unsupported by any argument.
3 The apathy that prevailed in the British Parliament at that time respecting American affairs was astonishing, considering the interests at issue. Burke, in his Annual Register, termed it the " most languid
debate" he had ever heard; and so trifling did the intelligent Horace Walpole consider the subject, that, in
reporting every thing of moment to the Earl of Hertford, he devoted but a single paragraph of a few lines to
the debate that day on America. Indeed, Walpole honestly confessed his total ignorance of American affairs.




464


P-ICTORIA I AL FIEL LD-BOOKO


Excitement in America.  A Congress proposed.  The Circular Letter of Massachusetts.  Mrs. Mercy Warren.
son' the very night that the act was passed; ' the Americans must light the lamps of industry and economy."
When intelligence of the passage of the Stamp Act reached America, it set the whole
country in a blaze of resentment.  Massachusetts and Virginia-the head and the hear2t of
the Revolution-were foremost and loudest in their denunciations, while New York and
Pennsylvania were not much behind them in boldness and zeal. All the colonies were shaken, and from Maine to Georgia there was a spontaneous expression of determined resistance.
In October, 1764, the New York Assembly appointed a committee to correspond with
their agent in Great Britain, and with the several colonial Assemblies, on the subject of opposition to the Stamp Act and other oppressive measures of Parliament.2 In the course of'
their correspondence, early in 17645, this committee urged upon the colonial Assemblies the
necessity of holding a convention of delegates to remonstrate and protest against the continued violation of their rights and liberties.  Massachusetts was the first to act upon this suggestion.  That action originated with James Otis, Jr., and his father, while visiting a sister
of the former one evening at Plymouth.s The recommendation of the New York committee was the subject of conversation.  It was agreed to propose action on the subject in the
General Assembly, and on the 6th of June the younger Mr. Otis, who was a member of the
Legislature, made a motion in the House, which was adopted, that " It is highly expedient
there should be a meeting, as soon as may be, of committees from the Houses of Representatives, or burgesses, in the several colonies, to consult on the present circumstances of the colonies, and the difficulties to which they are, and must be, reduced, and to consider of a general address-to be held at New York the first Tuesday in October."     The following circular letter was also adopted by the Assembly, and a copy ordered to be sent to the Speaker
of each of the colonial Assemblies in America:
"Boston, June, 1765.
SR —The House of Representatives of this province, in the present session of general
court, have unanimously agreed to propose a meeting, as soon as may be, of' committees from
the Houses of Representatives, or burgesses, of the several British colonies on this continent,
to consult together on the present circumstances of the colonies, and the difficulties to which
they are, and must be, reduced by the operation of the acts of Parliament for levying duties
and taxes on the colonies; and to consider of a general and united, dutiful, loyal, and humble representation of their condition to his majesty and to the Parliament, and to implore
relief.,, The House of Representatives of this province have also voted to propose that such meeting be at the city of New York, in the province of New York, on the first Tuesday in October next, and have appointed a committee of three of their members to attend that service,
with such as the other Houses of Representatives, or burgesses, in the several colonies, may
think fit to appoint to meet them; and the committee of the House of Representatives of
this province are directed to repair to the said New York, on the first Tuesday in October
next, accordingly; if, therefore, your honorable House should agree to this proposal, it would
I Mr. Thompson was afterward the Secretary of the Continental Congress. In reply to Franklin's letter
he said, " Be assured, we shall light torches of another sort," predicting the convulsions that soon followed.
2 This committee consisted of Robert R. Livingston, John Cruger, Philip Livingston, William Bayard, and
Leonard Lispenard. Mr. Cruger was then mayor of the city and Speaker of the Assembly.
3 This sister was Mrs. Mercy Warren, wife of James Warren, Esq., of Plymouth, one of the members of
the General Court. She wrote an excellent history of our Revolution, which was published in three volumes in 1805. She was born September 5th, 1728, at Barnstable, Massachusetts. Her youth was passed
in the retirement of a quiet home, and reading, drawing, and needle-work composed the bulk of her recreations. She married Mr. Warren at the age of twenty-six. The family connections of both were extensive
and highly respectable, and she not only became intimately acquainted with the leading men of the Revolution in Massachusetts, but was thoroughly imbued with the republican spirit. Her correspondence was
quite extensive, and, as she herself remarks of her home, " by the Plymouth fireside were many political
plans originated, discussed, and digested." She kept a faithful record of passing events, out of which grew
her excellent history. She wrote several dramas and minor poems, all of which glow with the spirit of the
times. Mrs. Warren died on the 19th of October, 1814, in the eighty-seventh year of her age.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


46'5


Assembling of a Colonial Congress in New York.  Defection of Ruggles and Ogden.. The Proceedings.  Stamp-masters.
be acceptable that as early notice of it as possible might be transmitted to the Speaker of
the House of Representatives of this province."
This letter was favorably received by the other colonies, and delegates to the proposed ConOctober 7, gress were appointed. They met in the city of New York on the first Monday in
1765.  October.   The time was earlier than the meeting of several of the colonial Assemblies, and, consequently, some of them were denied the privilege of appointing delegates.  The
Governors of Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia refused to call the Assemblies together
for the purpose.  It was, therefore, agreed that committees from any of the colonies should
have seats as delegates, and under this rule New York was represented by its corresponding
committee. Nine of the thirteen colonies were represented,-and the Assemblies of New Hampshire, Virginia, North Carolina, and Georgia wrote that they would agree to whatever was
done by the Congress.'
The Convention was organized by the election, by ballot, of Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, as chairman, and the appointment of John Cotten clerk.   It continued in session
fourteen consecutive days, and adopted a Declaration of Rights, a Petition to the King, and
a Memorial to both Houses of Parliament, in all of which the principles that governed the
leaders of the soon-following Revolution were clearly set forth.  These documents, so full ot
the spirit of men determined to be free, and so replete with enlightened political wisdom, are
printed in full in the appendix.2
All the delegates affixed their signatures of approval to the proceedings, except Mr. Ruggles, the president, and Mr. Ogden, of New Jersey, both of whom thus early manifested their
defection from a cause which they afterward openly opposed. The conduct of the former
drew down upon him a vote of censure from the Massachusetts House of Representatives,
and he was reprimanded, in his place, by the Speaker.  He and Otis were the leaders of the
opposite parties, and as the Revolution advanced Ruggles became a bitter Tory.S Ogden
was also publicly censured for his conduct on that occasion, was burned in effigy, and at the
next meeting of the Assembly of New Jersey was dismissed from the Speaker's chair, which
honorable post he held at the time of the Congress.  The deputies of three of the colonies,
not having been authorized by their respective Assemblies to address the king and Parliament, did not sign the petition and memorial.  All the colonies, by the votes of their respective Assemblies, when they convened subsequently, approved the measures adopted by the
Congress; and before the day on which the noxious act was to take effect, Amer- November,
ica spoke with one voice to the king and his ministers, denouncing the measure,   1765.
and imploring them to be just.
On the passage of the Stamp Act officers were appointed in the several colonies, to receive and distribute the stamped parchments and papers. The colonial agents in England
were consulted, and those whom they recommended as discreet and proper persons were appointed. The agents generally had opposed the measure, but, now that it had become a
law, they were disposed to make the best of it. Mr. Ingersoll, whom I have mentioned in
l The following delegates were present at the organization of the Convention:
Massachusetts.-James Otis, Oliver Partridge, Timothy Ruggles.
New York.-Robert R. Livingston, John Cruger, Philip Livingston, William Bayard, Leonard Lispenard.
New Jersey.-Robert Ogden, Hendrick Fisher, Joseph Borden.
Rhode Island.-Metcalf Bowler, Henry Ward.
Pennsylvania.-John Dickenson, John Morton, George Bryan.
Delaware.-Thomas M'Kean, Caesar Rodney.
Connecticut.-Eliphalet Dyer, David Rowland, William S. Johnson.
Maryland.-William Murdock, Edward Tilghman, Thomas Ringgold.
South Carolina.-Thomas Lynch, Christopher Gadsden, John Rutledge.
2 The Declaration of Right was written by John Cruger; the Petition to the King, by Robert R. Livingston; and the Memorial to both Houses of Parliament, by James Otis.
3 In Mrs. Warren's drama called The Group, Ruggles figures in the character of Brigadier Hate-All. He
fought against the Americans, at the head of a corps of Loyalists, and at the close of the war settled in Nova
Scdotia, where he has numerous descendants.
Go




46.'6


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


46       PITRA  FIL-BO


Frsakln's Advice to Ingersoll.  Arrival of the Stamps.  Patrick Henry's Resolutions:  "Liberty Tree."  Effigies.
a former chapter as stamp-master in Connecticut, was in England at the time.  Franklin
advised him to accept the office, adding, " Go home and tell your countrymen to get children
as fast as they can"-thereby intimating that the colonists were too feeble, at that moment,
to resist the government successfully, but ought to gain strength as fast as possible, in order
to shake off the oppressions which, he foresaw, were about to be laid upon them. But little did he and other agents suspect that the stamp-masters would be held in such utter detestation as they were, or that such disturbances would occur as followed, or they would not
have procured the appointments for their friends. The ministry, however, seem to have anticipated trouble, for a clause was inserted in the annual Mutiny Act, authorizing as many
troops to be sent to America as ministers saw fit, and making it obligatory upon the people
to find quarters for them.
During the summer and autumn the public mind was greatly disturbed by the arrival of
vessels bringing the stamps, and the first of November was looked forward to with intense
interest-by some with fear, but by more with firm resolution to resist the operations of the
May 30, oppressive act.  Virginia rang the alarum bell, by a series of resolutions drawn up
1765.  by Patrick Henry, sustained by his powerful oratory, and adopted by the House of
Burgesses.  Of these resolutions, and of Henry's eloquence on that occasion, I shall hereafter
write..So much did the notes of that alarum sound like the voice of treason, that a manuscript copy which was sent to Philadelphia, and another to New York, were handed about
with great privacy.  In the latter city no one was found bold ehough to print the resolutions, but in Boston they soon appeared in the Gazette of Edes and Gill, and their sentiments, uttered in the Assembly, were echoed back from every inhabited hill and valley in
New England.
Before any stamps had arrived in America symptoms of an outbreak appeared in Boston.
A large elm-tree, which stood at the corner of the present
i                Washington and Essex Streets, opposite the Boylston
Market, received the appellation of ( Liberty Tree,"
-.                    from the circumstance that under it the association called SONS OF LIBERTY held meetings during the summer of
1765.   From a limb of this tree several of the Sons of
Liberty' suspended two effigies early on the morning of the 14th of August.  One represented Andrew Oliver, secretary of the colony, and just appointed
stamp distributor for Massachusetts; the other was a: —          -     large boot, intended to represent Lord Bute, with a head
=-1_ _             Aand horns, to personify the devil peeping out of the top.. A great number of people were attracted to these effigies in the course of the day, the authorities in the mean
-s ei while taking no public notice of the insult, for fear of
- -   serious consequences.  Indeed, Sir Francis Bernard, the
royal governor, had thus far been almost non-committal
LIBERTY TREE."         on the subjects that were agitating the colonies, although
he was strongly suspected of secretly encouraging the
passage of the Stamp Act and kindred measures.  In the evening the effigies were cut down
John Avery, Jr., Thomas Crafts, John Smith, Henry Wills, Thomas Chace, Stephen Cleverly, Henry Ross,
and Benjamin Edes.
i I am indebted to the Hon. David Sears, of Boston, for this sketch of the " Liberty Tree," as it appeared
just previous to its destruction by the British troops and Tories, during the siege of Boston in August, 1775.
Mr. Sears has erected a row of fine buildings upon the site of the old grove of elms, of which this tree was
one; and within a niche, on the front of one of them, and exactly over the spot where the Liberty Tree stood,
he has placed a sculptured representation of it, as seen in the picture. From the time of the Stamp Act excitement until the armed possession of Boston by General Gage and his troops in 1774, that tree had been
the rallying-place for the patriots, and had fallen, in consequence, much in disfavor with the friends of government. It was inscribed " LIBERTY TREE," and the ground Under it was called "LIBERTY HALL."  The




OF THE REVOLUTION.


467


Riot in Boston.  Destruction of private Property.  Attack on Hutchinson's House.  Destruction of " Liberty Tree."
and carried in procession, the populace shouting, " Liberty and property forever! No stamps!
No taxation without our consent!" They then proceeded to Kilby> Street, and pulling down
a small building just erected by Oliver, to be used, as they suspected, for selling stamps, they
took a portion of.it to Fort Hill and made a bonfire of it.       The mob then rushed toward
Oliver's house, beheaded his effigy before it, and broke all the front windows. His effigy
was then taken to Fort Hill and burned.       Returning to his house, they burst open the door,
declaring their intention to kill him, and in brutal wantonness destroyed his furniture, trees,
fences, and garden.    Mr. Oliver had escaped by a rear passage, and the next morn-      5August 15
ing,a considering his life in danger, he resigned his office.  Four months afterward        1765.
he was compelled by the populace to go under Liberty Tree, and there publicly read his resignation.   In the evening the mob again assembled, and besieged the house of the late Chiefjustice Hutchinson, now lieutenant governor of the province. They did but little damage,
and finished their evening's orgies by a bonfire on the Common. ~
On the 25th the Rev. Jonathan Mahew, minister of the West Church in Boston, preached
a powerful sermon against the Stamp Act, taking for his text, " I would they were even cut
off which trouble you.    For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty: only use not liberty
for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."' On Monday evening following
a mob collected in King Street, and, proceeding to the residence of Paxton, the marshal of
the Court of Admiralty, menaced it. The owner assured them that the officer was not there,
and, conciliating the populace by a present of a barrel of punch at a tavern near by, saved
his premises from injury.    Maddened with liquor, they rushed to the house of Story, registrar of the Admiralty, and destroyed not only the public documents, but his private papers.
They next plundered the house of Hallowell, the controller of customs; and, their numbers
being considerably augmented and their excitement increased, they hurried to the mansion
of Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson,' on North Square. Hutchinson and his family escaped
Essex Gazette of August 31st, 1775, in describing the destruction of the tree, says, " They made a furious
attack upon it. After a long spell of laughing and grinning, sweating, swearing, and foaming with malice
diabolical, they cut down the tree because it bore the name of liberty. A soldier was killed by falling from
one of its branches during the operation."  In a tract entitled "A Voyage to Boston," published in 1775,
the writer thus alludes to the scene:
"Now shined the gay-faced sun with morning light,
All nature gazed, exulting at the sight,
When swift as wind, to vent their base-born rage,
The Tory Williams and the Butcher Gage
Rush'd to the tree, a nameless number near,
Tories and negroes following in the rear;
Each, axe in hand, attack'd the honor'd tree,
Swearing eternal war with Liberty;
Nor ceased his stroke till each repeating wound
Tumbled its honors headlong to the ground;
But ere it fell, not mindless of its wrong,
Avenged, it took one destined head along.
A Tory soldier on its topmost limb;
The genius of the Shade look'd stern at him,
And mark'd him out that self-same hour to dine
Where unsnuff'd lamps burn low at Pluto's shrine;
Then tripp'd his feet from off their cautious stand;
Pale turn'd the wretch-he spread each helpless hand,
But spread in vain-with headlong force he fell,
Nor stopp'd descending till he stopp'd in hell."
Galatians, v., 12, 13.
2 Thomas Hutchinson was born in 1711, and graduated at Harvard College in 1727.   He studied English constitutional law, with a view to public employment. For ten years he was a member of the House
of Representatives of Massachusetts, and three years its Speaker. He succeeded his uncle Edward as Judge
of Probate in 1752; was a member of the Council from 1749 until 1756, and lieutenant governor from 1758
to 1771.  He held the office of chief justice after the death of Sewall, in 1760.  This office had been promised by Shirley to the elder Otis, and the appointment greatly displeased that influential family. Several
acts of Hutchinson had made him unpopular with certain of the people. In 1748, the paper currency of the
colony having depreciated to about an eighth of its original value, Hutchinson projected, and carried through
the House, a bill for abolishing it, and substituting gold and silver. It was a proper measure, but displeased




PICTORIAL. FIELD-BOOK


Destruction of Governor Hutchinson's Property.  Character of the Rioters in Boston.  "Constitutional Courant."
in time to save their lives, for the mob were prepared, by liquor and other excitement, for
any deed.   It was now midnight.    With yells and curses they entered, and by four o'clock
in the morning,( one of the best finished houses in the colony
had nothing remaining but the bare walls and floors."  Every thing but the kitchen furniture was taken from the dwelling or utterly destroyed.  The rioters carried off between four
and five thousand dollars in money, a large quantity of plate,
family pictures, and clothing, and destroyed the fine library of --
the lieutenant governor, containing a large collection of manu-  i            -
scripts relating to the history of the colony, which he had been
thirty years collecting.  This loss was irreparable. The street  i
in front of the house was next morning strewed with plate,     -
rings, and money-destruction, not plunder, being the aim of     J,
the mob.
These proceedings were disgraceful in the extreme, and mar      I'
the sublime beauty of the picture exhibited by the steady and...
dignified progress of the Revolution.  While no apology for
mob rioters should be attempted, extenuating circumstances
ought to have their due weight in the balance of just judgment.  All over the land the public mind was excited against ministers and their abettors, and leading men in the colonies did
not hesitate to recommend forcible resistance, if necessary, to the oppressions of the mother
country. The principles underlying the violent movement in Boston were righteous, but the
mass were too impatient for their vindication to await the effects of remonstrance and petition,
argument and menace, employed by,the educated and orderly patriots. As is commonly the
fact, the immediate actors in these scenes were the dregs of the population.  Yet it was evident that they had, in a degree, the sympathy of; and were controlled by, the great mass of
the more intelligent citizens. The morning after the destruction of Hutchinson's house, a
public meeting of leading men was held; expressions of abhorrence for the act were adopted,
and the lieutenant governor received a pledge from the meeting that all violence should cease,
if he would agree not to commence legal proceedings. He acquiesced, and order was restored.
The disturbances thus begun in Boston were imitated elsewhere during the summer and
autumn.    These will be hereafter considered.  It may properly be mentioned here that the
opposition to the Stamp Act was not confined to the continental colonies.  The people of
the West India plantations were generally opposed to it, and at St. Kitts the stamp-master
was obliged to resign. Canada and Halifax, on the continent, submitted, and remained loyal
through the Revolution that followed.
Boston, our present point of view, kept up the spirit of liberty, but avoided acts of violence.
A newspaper appeared under the significant title of ( THE CONSTITUTIONAL COURANT, containing matters instructing to liberty, and no ways repugnant to loyalty; printed by Andrew
Marvel, at the sign of the Bribe Refused, on Constitution Hill, North America."  Its headpiece was a snake cut into eight pieces (see page 508), the head part having N. E., the inmany. He also favored the law granting Writs of Assistance; and on the bench, in the Council, and in the
Assembly he was always found on the side of the ministry, These facts account for the violent feelings of
the mob against him. In 1768 he was an active coadjutor of Governor Bernard in bringing troops to Boston,
which made him still more unpopular. When Bernard left the province, in 1769, the government devolved
wholly upon Hutchinson. In 1770 the Boston massacre occurred, and much of the responsibility of that outrage was laid upon him. He was appointed governor in 1771, and from that time until he left for England,
in 1774, he was in continual trouble with the Assembly. The popular feeling against him was greatly increased by the publicity given to certain letters of his sent to ministers, in which he recommended stringent
measures against the colonies. Toward the close of 1773 the destruction of tea in Boston Harbor was accomplished. The Sons of Liberty had then paralyzed the government, and there was not a judge or sheriff
who dared to exercise the duties of his office against the wishes of the inflamed people. Hutchinson then
resigned his office, and sailed for England in the spring of 1774. He died at Brompton, England, June
30th, 1780, aged sixty-nine years.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                      469
Proceedings in Boston in Relation to the Stamp Act. Effigies burned. Effect of the Stamp Act. Non-importation Associations.
itials of New England, inscribed upon it, and the other pieces the initials of the other colonies. Accompanying the device was the motto, JOIN OR DIE.
The morning of the 1st of November, the day appointed for the Stamp Act to take effect
in America, was ushered in at Boston by the tolling of muffled bells, and the vessels in the
harbor displaying their flags at half mast, as on the occasion of a funeral solemnity.   On
Liberty Tree were suspended two effigies, representing George Grenville and John Huske;
the latter the American member of Parliament whom I have mentioned as suggesting a
heavy tax upon the colonies before the Stamp Act was proposed. A label, with a poetic inscription, was affixed to the breast of each.1 The figures remained suspended until about
three o'clock in the afternoon, when they were cut down in the presence of several thousand
people of all ranks, who testified their approbation by loud huzzas.  The effigies were placed
in a cart, and taken to the court-house, where the Assembly were sitting, followed by a vast
concourse in regular procession; thence the people proceeded to the Neck, and hung the figures upon a gallows erected there.   Speeches were made at the place of execution, and, after
the lapse of an hour, they were taken down, torn in pieces, and the limbs thrown in the air.
The people were now desired, by one of the leaders of the pageant, to go quietly home.  They
acquiesced, and Boston that night was remarkably tranquil.
The Stamp Act had now become a law. As none but stamped paper was legal, and as
the people were determined not to use it, business was suspended.    The courts were closed,
marriages ceased, vessels were delayed in the harbors, and the social and commercial operations of America were suddenly paralyzed. Few dared to think of positive rebellion; the
strong arm of government held the sword of power above them, and a general gloom overspread the colonies.  Yet hope was not extinct, and it pointed out a peaceable, but powerful, plan for effecting a repeal of the noxious act.  The commerce between Great Britain
and the colonies had become very important, and any measure that might interrupt its course
would be felt by a large and powerful class in England, whose influence was felt in Parliament. The expediency of striking a blow at the trade occurred to some New York merchants, and, accordingly, on the 31 st of October, the day before the act went into op-  1765
eration, a meeting was held, and an agreement entered into not to import from England
certain enumerated articles after the first day of January ensuing.'  The merchants of PhilThe following are copies of the labels. On that representing Grenville, holding out a Stamp Act in
his left hand:
"YOUR Servant, Sirs; do you like my Figure?
YOU've seen one Rogue, but here's a bigger.
Father of Mischief I how I soar
Where many a Rogue has gone before.
Take heed, my Brother Rogues, take heed,
In me your honest Portion read:
Dear cousin PETER, no Excuse,
Come dance with me without your shoes;
'Tis G —le calls, and sink or swim,
You'd go to h-1 to follow him."
On the figure representing John Huske:
Quest. " What, Brother H-ske? why, this is bad I
Aus.  Ah, indeed I but I'm a wicked Lad;
My Mother always thought me wild;
'The Gallows is thy Portion, Child,'
She often said: behold, 'tis true,
And now the Dog must have his due;
For idle Gewgaws, wretched Pelf,
I sold my Country, d —d myself;
And for my great, unequal'd Crime
The D-1 takes H-ske before his time.
But if some Brethren I could name,
Who shared the Crime, should share the shame,
This glorious tree, though big and tall,
Indeed would never hold 'em all I"
X The meeting was held at the house of George Burns, inn-keeper. As the agreement entered into there
is a type of those adopted by the merchants and people of other colonies, I copy from the New York Mer



470


PICTORIARI AL FIELD- D -BOOK


The Non-importation Agreements.  Rockingham made Prime Minister.  Apathy in Parliament.  Domestic Manufactures.
adelphia readily responded to the measure, and on the 9th of December those of Boston entered into a similar agreement.   Nor were the pledges confined to merchants alone, but the
people in general ceased using foreign luxuries; articles of domestic manufacture came into
general use, and the trade with Great Britain was almost entirely suspended.'
In July the Marquis of Rockingham, an honorable and enlightened statesman, suc1765. ceeded Grenville in the premiership. His
cabinet was composed chiefly of the friends of
America, and, for a while, the colonists hoped
for justice.  General Conway, who had raised
the first voice of opposition to ministers in their
relations to the colonies, was made one of the
Secretaries of State, and Edmund Burke, one
of the earliest friends of America, was Rockingham's — '.e secretary.    But the new ministry, against the determined will of the king and
the hfluence of a strong power behind the throne,
bfund it difficult to depart from the line of policy
toward the colonies adopted by Grenville, and A.the hopes of the Americans faded in an hour.
A strange apathy concerning American affairs seemed still to prevail in England, not-,,
withstanding every vessel from America carried
tidings of the excited state of the people there.
Parliament met in December. The              CHARLES, MARQUIS OF ROCKINGHAM.
December 17.
cem    ing, in his speech, mentioned that                From an English print
cury of November, 1765, the portion of the proceedings of the meeting containing the resolutions. These
were, " First, That in all orders they send out to Great Britain for goods or merchandise of any nature, kind,
or quality whatsoever usually imported from Great Britain, they will direct their correspondents not to ship
them, unless the Stamp Act be repealed. It is, nevertheless, agreed that all such merchants as are owners
of, and have, vessels already gone, and now cleared out for Great Britain, shall be at liberty to bring back
in them, on their own accounts, crates and casks of earthen-ware, grindstones, and pipes, and such other bulky
articles as owners usually fill up their vessels with. Secondly, It is further unanimously agreed that all orders already sent home shall be countermanded by the very first conveyance; and the goods and merchandise thereby ordered not to be sent, except upon the condition mentioned in the foregoing resolution. Thirdly, It is further unanimously agreed that no merchant will vend dry-goods or merchandise sent upon oommission from Great Britain, that shall be shipped from thence after the first day of January next, unless upon the
condition mentioned in the first resolution. Fourthly, It is further unanimously agreed that the foregoing
resolutions shall be binding until the same are abrogated at a general meeting hereafter to be held for that
purpose. In witness whereof we have hereunto respectively subscribed our names." [Here followed the
names of more than two hundred of the principal merchants.] In consequence of the foregoing resolutions,
the retail merchants of the city entered into an agreement not to buy or sell any goods shipped from England
after the 1st of January.
This was the beginning of that system of non-importation agreements which hurled back upon England,
with such force, the commercial miseries she had inflicted upon the colonies.
' The following extracts from a letter written by a gentleman in Newport, Rhode Island, to Hugh Gaine,
the editor of the New York Mercury, and published in that paper early in 1768, will give the reader an idea
of the industry of the colonists at that time: " Within eighteen months past four hundred and eighty-seven
yards of cloth and thirty-six pairs of stockings have been spun and knit in the family of James Nixon of this
town. Another family, within four years past, hath manufactured nine hundred and eighty yards of woolen
cloth, besides two coverlids, and two bed-ticks, and all the stocking yarn for the family. Not a skein was
put out of the house to be spun, but the whole performed in the family. We are credibly informed that many
families in this colony, within the year past, have each manufactured upward of seven hundred yards of cloth
of different kinds."
Another letter, dated at Newport, 1765, says, "The spirit of patriotism is not confined to the sons of
America, but glows with equal fervor in the benevolent breasts of her daughters; one instance of which we
think is worthy of notice. A lady of this town, though in the bloom of youth, and possessed of virtues and
accomplishments, engaging, and sufficient to excite the most pleasing expectations of happiness in the married state, has declared that she should rather be an old maid than that the operation of the Stamp Act should
commence in these colonies."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


471


Meeting of Parliament.  Speeches of.Pitt and Grenville.  Boldness of Pitt.  Proposition to repeal the Stamp Act
something had occurred in America which might demand the serious attention of the Legislature; but that body almost immediately adjourned until after the Christmas holidays,
1766and it was the 14th of January before they reassembled.  The king alluded to the disturbances in America, and assured the Houses that no time had been lost in issuing
orders to the governors of the provinces, and to the commanders of the forces there, to use
all the power of the government in suppressing riots and tumults.  Pitt,' who was absent on
account of gout when the passage of the Stamp Act was under consideration, was now in
his place, and, leaning upon crutches, nobly vindicated the rights of the colonies. After censuring ministers for their delay in giving notice of the disturbances in America, and animadverting severely upon the injustice of the Stamp Act, he proceeded to vindicate the Americans.
" The colonists," he said, ", are subjects of this kingdom, equally entitled with yourselves to
all the natural rights of mankind and the peculiar privileges of Englishmen; equally bound
by its laws, and equally participating in the Constitution of this free country.  The Americans are the sons, not the bastards, of England.  Taxation is no part of the governing or
legislative power.  Taxes are the voluntary gift or grant of the Commons alone.......
When, therefore, in this House we give and grant, we give and grant what is our own.  But
in an American tax what do we do?  We, your majesty's Commons for Great Britain, give
and grant to your majesty, what? our own property? No; we give and grant to your majesty the property of your majesty's Commons of America. It is an absurdity in terms."
Grenville also censured ministers for their delay.  "The disturbances," he said, " began
in July, and now we are in the middle of January; lately they were only occurrences; they
are now grown to disturbances, to tumults and riots.  I doubt they border on open rebellion; and, if the doctrines of this day be confirmed, that name will be lost in revolution."
And so it was. Grenville also defended his own course, and dissented from Mr. Pitt respecting the right to tax the colonies.  He claimed obedience from America, because it enjoyed
the protection of Great Britain.  " The nation," he said, " has run itself into an immense
debt to give them protection; and now they are called upon to contribute a small share toward the public expense-an expense arising from themselves-they renounce your authority, insult your officers, and break out, I might almost say, into open rebellion."  Fixing his
eyes intently upon Pitt, he exclaimed, with great emphasis, " The seditious spirit of the colonies owes its birth tofactions in this House.  Gentlemen are careless of the consequences
of what they say, provided it answers the purposes of opposition."
When Grenville ceased speaking, several members arose to their feet, among whom was
Pitt.  There was a loud cry of " Mr. Pitt, Mr. Pitt," and all but he sat down. He immediately fell upon Grenville, and told him that, since he had challenged him to the field, he
would fight him on every foot of it.  " The gentleman tells us," he said, " that America is
obstinate, America is almost in open rebellion.  I rejoice that America has resisted.  Three
millions of people so dead to all the feelings of liberty as voluntarily to submit to be slaves,
would have been fit instruments to make slaves of the rest."  Alluding to the alleged strength
of Great Britain and the weakness of America, he said,, It is true, that in a good cause, on
a good ground, the force of this country could crush America to atoms; but on this ground,
on this Stamp Act, many here will think it a crying injustice, and I am one who will lift
tp my hands against it.  In such a cause yout success would be hazardous. America, if
she fall, would fall like the strong man; she would embrace the pillars of the State, and
pull down the Constitution along with her."'  Pitt concluded his speech with a proposition
for an absolute and immediate repeal of the Stamp Act, at the same time recommending an
act to accompany the repeal, declaring, in the most unqualified terms, the sovereign authority of Great Britain over her colonies.  This was intended as a sort of salvo to the national
honor, necessary, as Pitt well knew, to insure the repeal of the act. Burke, who had been
elected to a seat in the House of Commons,' Conway, Barre, and others, seconded the views
History Debates, &c., of the British Parliament, iv., 292-7.
s At this time Burke commenced his brilliant career as a statesman and an orator. Dr. Johnson asserted




472


PI'CTORIA I AL. FIELD- — BOOK


472              PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Position of Lord Camden.  Repeal of the Stamp Act.  Causes that effected it.  Rejoicings in England and America.
of Pitt, and with that great statesman were the principal advocates of a repeal.  Chief-justice Pratt, now become Lord Camden, was the principal friend of the measure in the Upper
House, but was opposed to the Declaratory Act proposed by Pitt. "( My position is this,"
he said, in the course of debate; " I repeat it; I will maintain it to the last hour-taxation and representation are inseparable.  The position is founded in the law of nature.  It
is more: it is itself an eternal law of nature."
On the 18th of March a repeal bill was passed by a large majority of the men who,
a few months previous, were almost unanimously in favor of the Stamp Act. It was
carried in the House of Commons by a vote of two hundred and seventy-five to one hundred
and sixteen.  It met strenuous opposition in the House of Lords, where it had a majority of
thirty-four. Thirty-three peers entered a strong protest, in which they declared that (, such
a submission of king, Lords, and Commons, in so strange and unheard-of a contest," would
amount to an entire surrender of British supremacy.
The change in the opinions of members of the House of Commons was wrought more by
the petitions, remonstrances, and personal influence of the London merchants, than by appeals from America, or by disturbances there.  Ministers would not receive the petitions of
the colonial Congress held at New York, because that assembly had not been legally summoned to meet by the supreme power.  It was the importunities of London merchants and
tradesmen, suffering severely from the effects of the non-importation agreements, that wrought
the wondrous change. Half a million of dollars were then due them from the colonies, and,
under the existing state of things, not a dollar of it was expected to be paid.  Their trade
with the colonies was suddenly suspended, and nothing but bankruptcy and ruin was before
them.  London being the business heart of the kingdom, with a cessation of its pulsations
paralysis spread to other portions.  Nothing but a
retraction could save England from utter commercial
f K ^             ruin, and, perhaps, civil war.  These were the considerations which made the sensible men in Parliament retrace their steps. According to Pitt's recommendation, a Declaratory Act, which affirmed the
right of Parliament " to bind the colonies in all cases
whatsoever," accompanied the bill.  The repeal of
]  the Stamp Act became a law, by the reluctant signature of the king, on the day of its enact- March 18.
ment.                                    1.766., -Great joy was manifested in London when the Repeal Act passed.   Pitt had all the honor of the measure, and as he came out to the lobby of the House
of Commons he was greeted by the crowd with the
most extravagant demonstrations ofjoy. They clung
ll             about him like children upon a long-absent father.
-        _       /             The ships in the river displayed their colors; houses
W-   Pat night, all over the city, were illuminated; and the
WILLIAM PITT.          most fulsome adulation was bestowed upon the king
From au English print.
and Parliament for their goodness and wisdom!
Equally great was the joy that filled the colonies when intelligence of the repeal of the
Stamp Act arrived. The Declaratory Act, involving, as it really did, the kernel of royal
prerogatives which the colonists rejected, was, for the moment, overlooked, and throughout
America there was a burst of loyalty and gratitude.  New York voted statues to the king
and to Pitt, both of which were presently erected;1 Virginia voted a statue to the king;


that his two speeches on the repeal of the Stamp Act " were publicly commended by Mr. Pitt, and filled the
town with wonder."
1 The statue of the king was equestrian, and made of bronze. It stood within the present inclosure at the
foot of Broadway, New York, called the Bowling Green. The statue of Pitt was of marble, and stood at




OF THE REVOLUTION.


473


Rejoicing in Boston. Release of Prisoners for Debt. Pyramid on the Common. Poetic Inscriptions. Hancock's Liberality.
Maryland passed a similar vote, and ordered a portrait of Lord Camden; and the authorities of Boston ordered full-length portraits of Barre and Conway for Fanueil Hall.
The Repeal Act reached Boston at about noon on Friday, the 13th of May.                It was
brought by the brig Harrison, a vessel belonging to John Hancock.               Great was the
general joy.     The church-bells were immediately rung; the colors of all the ships were
hoisted; cannons were discharged; the Sons of Liberty gathered under their favorite tree,
drank toasts, and fired guns; and bonfires and illuminations enlivened the evening. A general celebration was arranged by the select-men for the following Monday. The dawn, bright
and rosy, was ushered in by salvos of cannon, ringing of bells, and martial music.            Through
the liberality of some citizens, every debtor in the jail was ransomed and set at liberty, to unite
in the general joy.     " This charitable deed originated in a fair Boston nymph."          The whole
town was illuminated in the evening. On the Common the Sons of Liberty erected a magnificent pyramid, illuminated by two hundred and eighty lamps, the-four upper stories of which
were ornamented with figures of the king and queen, and " fourteen of the patriots who had
distinguished themselves for their love of liberty."       On the four sides of the lower apartment
were appropriate poetic inscriptions.'        ( John Hancock, Esq.," says a newspaper of the day,
from which I have drawn this account,, who gave a grand and elegant entertainment to
the genteel part of the town, and treated the populace to a pipe of Madeira wine, erected at
the front of his house, which was magnificently illuminated, a stage for the exhibition of his
the intersection of William and Wall Streets. The mutilated remains of this statue are now within an iron
railing of the Fifth Ward Hotel, on the corner of Franklin Street and West Broadway.  A sketch of the broken
statue will be found in another part of this work.
The following are the poetic inscriptions referred to.  They allude to emblematic figures on the lower
story:
" 0 thou whom next to Heaven we most revere,
Fair Liberty I thou lovely Goddess, hear I
Have we not wooed thee, won thee, held thee long,
Lain in thy Lap, and melted on thy TongueThrough Death and Dangers, rugged Paths pursued,
And led thee, smiling, to this SOLITUDEHid thee within our Hearts' most golden cell,
And braved the Powers of Earth and Powers of Hell?
GODDESS I we can not part, thou must not fly,
Be SLAVES I we dare to scorn it-dare to die."
" While clanking Chains and Curses shall salute
Thine ears, remorseless G-le, thine, O B-te,
To you, bless'd PATRIOTS I we our cause submit,
Illustrious CAMBDEN, Britain's guardian, PITT I
Recede not, frown not, rather let us be
Deprived of being than of LIBERTY.
Let Fraud or Malice blacken all our crimes,
No disaffection stains these peaceful climes;
O save us, shield us from impending Woes,
The Foes'of Britain only are our Foes."
"Boast, foul Oppression, boast thy transient Reign,
While honest FREEDOM struggles with her Chain;
But now the Sons of Virtue, hardy, brave,
Disdain to lose through mean Despair to save;
Aroused in Thunder, awful they appear,
With proud Deliverance stalking in their rear:
While Tyrant Foes their pallid Fears betray,
Shrink from their Arms, and give their Vengeance way;
See, in the unequal War, OPPRESSORS fall,
The Hate, Contempt, and endless Curse of all."
' Our Faith approved, our LIBERTY restored,
Our Hearts bend grateful to our sovereign Lord:
Hail, darling monarch I by this act endear'd,
Our firm Affections are our best Reward;
Should Britain's self against herself divide,
And hostile Armies form on either sideShould Hosts rebellious shake our Brunswick's Throne,
And as they dared thy Parent, dare the Son,
To this Asylum stretch thy happy Wing,
And we'll contend who best shall love our KING."




474


PICTORIA~I AL FIEL ZD-BOOKO


Liberality of Otis and others.  The Rejoicings clouded.   New Acts of Oppression.    Insolence of Public Officers


fire-works.".....  " Mr. Otis, and some other gentlemen who lived near the Common, kept
open house the whole evening, which was very pleasant." At eleven o'clock, on a signal
being given, a horizontal fire-wheel on the top of the pyramid was set in motion,, which
ended in the discharge of sixteen dozen serpents in the air, which concluded the show. To
the honor of the Sons of Liberty, we can with pleasure inform the world. that every thing
was conducted with the utmost decency and good
order."  His majesty's Council, by a previous invitation of the governor, met at the Province House
in the afternoon, where many loyal toasts were               ~
drunk, and in the evening they went to the Com- i n
mon to see the fire-works.  Past animosities were  if:
forgotten, and the night of the 16th of May was
a happy one for Boston.
The glad sounds of rejoicing because of the re- '
peal of the Stamp Act were not mellowed into the          l
harmony of confident hope, before the ministry of'      -
England, by its unwise and unjust acts, again
awakened loud murmurs of discontent throughout
America.   That germ of new oppressions, the De-            THE PROVINCE HOUSE.1
claratory Act, which appeared so harmless, began
to expand in the genial soil of ministerial culture. The House of Commons, by resolutions,
demanded of the colonies restitution to the crown officers who had suffered loss by the Stamp
Act riots.  This was just, and the colonies complied; Massachusetts, however, in passing
the Indemnification Bill, inserted a provision that a free pardon should be extended to all
concerned. Much bad feeling was engendered by the insolent manner in which the settlement of the claims was demanded. Governor Bernard of Massachusetts was so peremptory
and insulting, that the people of Boston flatly refused to pay; and it was not until the governor had lowered his authoritative tone very much that they complied.'
A new clause in the Annual Mutiny Acts was properly viewed as disguised taxation, and
a measure calculated not only to strengthen the royal power in America, but to shift a heavy
burden from the shoulders of the home government to those of the colonies.  The clause provided that the British troops that might be sent here should be furnished with quarters, beer,
salt, and vinegar at the expense of the people. It was a comparatively small tax, and easy
to be borne, but it involved the same principles, substantially, that were avowed in the Stamp
Act, and was more odious, because it was intended to make the people support bayonets sent
to abridge their liberties. New York and Massachusetts refused to comply with its provisions, and opposition, as zealous as that against the Stamp Act, was soon aroused.  The insolent soldiers met rebuffs at every corner, and at times serious outbreaks were apprehended
in Boston, New York, and Philadelphia.
On the 2d of August, 1766, the Rockingham cabinet was suddenly dissolved.      It was
too liberal for -( the king's friends," and was unable to stem the current of opposition flowing
from royalty itself. The new cabinet was formed, by his majesty's commands, under the conThe Province House, the residence of the colonial governors, is still standing, in the rear of stores on
Washington Street, opposite Milk Street. It is a large brick building, three stories high, and was formerly
decorated with the king's arms richly carved and gilt. A cupola surmounted the roof. In front of the house
was a pretty lawn with an iron fence, and on each side of the gate was a large oak-tree. The ground sloped,
and in front were about twenty stone steps. Its grounds are now covered with buildings, and the house can
not be seen without entering Province Court. The king's arms are in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
s The amount of indemnification claimed in Boston was as follows: Hutchinson, $12,000; Oliver, $646;
Story, $255; Hallowell, $1446.
3 The Mutiny Act granted power to every officer, upon obtaining a warrant from a justice, to break into
any house, by day or by night, in search of deserters. Like the Writs of Assistance, these powers might be,
and, indeed, were, used by unprincipled men for other than ostensible purposes; and the guaranty of the
British Constitution that every man's house shall be his castle, and inviolate, was subverted.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


476


Pitt created Lord Chatham.  Picture of his Cabinet by Burke.  New Scheme of Taxation.  Commissioners of Customs.
trol of Mr. Pitt, just created Earl of Chatham.' This honor was conferred on the 2.9th of
July. The transformation of the great Commoner into an earl was not more surprising than
the curious medley of politicians that formed his cabinet, so diversified and discordant that
neither party knew what confidence to repose in it. "( He made an administration so checkered and speckled," said Burke;,( he put together a piece of joinery so crossly indented and
whimsically dove-tailed; a cabinet so variously inlaid; such a piece of diversified mosaic;
such a tesselated pavement without cement; here a bit of black stone, and there a bit of
white; patriots and courtiers, king's friends and republicans; Whigs and Tories; treacherous friends and open enemies; that it was, indeed, a very curious show, but utterly unsafe
to touch and unsure to stand on. The colleagues whom he had assorted at the same boards
stared at each other, and were obliged to ask, ' Sir, ydur name?'  ( Sir, you have the advantage of me.'  ( Mr. Such-a-one, I beg a thousand pardons.'  I venture to say it did so happen that persons had a single office divided between them, who had never spoken to each
other in their lives until they found themselves they knew not how, pigging together, heads
and points, in the same truckle-bed."2  Had the general direction of affairs been assumed by
Pitt, even this incongruous cabinet might not have done much mischief; but frequent and
serious attacks of gout kept the great orator confined at Hayes, his country seat in Kent.
< Having," said Burke, " put so much the larger part of his enemies and opposers into power,
the confusion was such that his own principles could not possibly have any effect or influence in the conduct of affairs.  If ever he fell into a fit of the gout, or any other cause withdrew him from public cares, principles directly contrary to his own were sure to predominate......When his face was hid for a moment, his whole system was one wide sea without
chart or compass." It was during one of these attacks of illness that Grenville propos- Januay,
ed a tax of two millions of.dollars upon America, for the support of troops, &c. Charles  1767.
Townshend, Pitt's chancellor of the Exchequer, upon whom devolved the duty of suggesting
financial measures, agreed with Grenville as to the right thus to tax the colonies, but, in view
of the late excitement produced by the Stamp Act, thought it inexpedient, at the same time
pledging himself to the House to find a revenue in America sufficient to meet expenses. This
pledge he attempted to redeem in May, by asking leave to bring in a bill to impose a duty
upon paper, glass, painters' colors, lead, and tea imported by the Americans.  Leave  a 1.
was granted, and an act levying such duties became a law by royal assent on the 29th
1767.
of June. Another bill became a law on the 2d of July, which provided for taking off
a shilling on a pound of the export tax on all black and single tea, and granting a drawback
upon all teas exported to Ireland and America.   The object of this act was to encourage
the exportation of tea to America, in the belief that the reduced price of the article would
cause a great increase in the consumption, and, consequently, augment the revenue arising
from it under the new act.   But in this ministers reckoned neither wisely nor well.
Another bill was passed, reorganizing the colonial custom-house system, and the establishment of a Board of Revenue Commissioners for America, to have its seat at Boston.  There
was a provision in the first bill for the maintenance of a standing army in America, and enabling the crown, by sign manual, to establish a general civil list throughout every province, fixing the salaries of governors, judges, and other officers, such salary to be paid by the
Three weeks before the installation of the new cabinet Pitt received an autograph letter from the king,
commanding him to arrange a new administration. Pitt spoke of his age and infirmities (he was then fiftyeight), and proposed taking to himself the office of the privy seal, which implied and necessitated his removal
to the House of Lords! The king was greatly astonished, but so desperately tangled were the public affairs, and so great seemed the necessity of having the powerful Pitt among his friends, that the king was
obliged to yield. The witty Lord Chesterfield, alluding to the ambition of Pitt to acquire a coronet, said,
" Every body is puzzled to account for this step. Such an event was, I believe, never heard or read of, to
withdraw, in the fullness of his power and in the utmost gratification of his ambition, from the House of Com.
mons (which procured him his power, and which could alone insure it to him), and to go into that hospital
of incurables, the House of Lords, is a measure so unaccountable, that nothing but proof positive could make
me believe it; but so it is."  Chesterfield called it a "fall up stairs-a fall which did Pitt so much damage that he will never be able to stand upon his legs again."
2 Speech on American Taxation.




476


P I C T GRI I A L 'F I E L D-B O OK


7L


Fresh Excitement in the Colonies.  Increasing Importance of the Newspapers.  "Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer."
crown.    Thus the executive and judicial officers, from whom the people were to expect good
government and the righteous administration of laws, were made entirely independent of the
people, and became, in fact, mere hireling creatures of the crown.    This had been the object of almost every minister from the time of Charles II.1
When intelligence of these acts reached America, the excitement throughout the colonies
was as great as that produced by the Stamp Act, but action was more dignified and efficient.
The royal governors and their retainers, elated with the prospect of being independent of the
colonial Assemblies, eagerly forwarded the schemes of the ministry, and aided greatly in fostering opposition among the people.   The ministry seemed totally blind to every light of common sense, and disregarded the warnings of Lord Shelburne and others in Parliament, and
the opinions of just observers in America.2
The colonists clearly perceived the intention of government to tax them in some shape,
and took the broad ground                                          British  Colonies,"  writasserted  by Otis in his                         i                 ten by John Dickenson,3
pamphlet, that "taxes on                                           and first published in the
trade, if designed to raise                                        Pennsylvania   Chronicle.
a revenue, were just as              '                             They were twelve in nummuch a violation of their.. -                                     ber, and appeared during
rights as any other tax."                                          the summer and autumn
The colonial newspapers,                                           of 1767.    Their effect,
now  increased to nearly                  /        '               like that of the "Crisis,"
thirty in number, began                   i                        by Thomas Paine, a few
to be tribunes for the peo-                                        years later, was wonderful
ple, through which lead-                                           in forming and controlling
ing minds communed with                                            the will of the people, and
the masses upon subjects                                           giving  efficiency to the
of common interest. They                                           strong right arm of action.
teemed with essays upon     1                                      In a style of great vigor,
colonial rights, among the          -                              animation, and    simplicmost powerful of which                                             ity, Dickenson portrayed
were the "Letters of a         /o,                             the unconstitutionality of
Farmer of Pennsylvania                                             the conduct of Great Britto the Inhabitants of the                                          ain, the imminent peril to
American liberty which existed, and the fatal consequences of a supine acquiescence in minI Gordon, i., 146.
9 Gerard Hamilton (known as Single Speech Hamilton, because when a member of Parliament he made
but one speech) was then in America, and, writing to Colcraft, a member from Lincolnshire, said, "In the
Massachusetts government in particular there is an express law, by which every man is obliged to have a
musket, a pound of powder, and a pound of bullets always near him; so there is nothing wanting but knapsacks (or old stockings, which will do as well) to equip an army for marching, and nothing more than a Sartonius or a Spartacus at their head requisite to beat your troops and your custom-house officers out of the
country, and set your laws at defiance."
3 John Dickenson was born in Maryland, November 13th, 1732. His father was Samuel Dickenson, first
judge, in Delaware, of the Court of Common Pleas, about 1740. His father was wealthy, and John had
every means given him for acquiring learning which the colonies afforded. He studied law in Philadelphia,
and was for three years at the Temple in London. He first appeared in public life as a member of the
Pennsylvania Assembly in 1764. He was a member from Pennsylvania of the " Stamp Act Congress" in
1765. He soon afterward began his essays upon various political subjects, and his pen was never idle during the conflict that succeeded. Dr. Franklin caused his " Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer" to be republished in London in 1768, and in 1769 they were translated into French and published in Paris. Mr. Dickenson was a member of the first Continental Congress in 1774. He wrote the Declaration of the Congress
of 1775, setting forth the causes and the necessity for war. He was opposed to a political separation from
Great Britain, and was intentionally absent from Congress when the final vote on the Declaration of Independence was taken on the 4th of July, 1776. In 1777 he received the commission of brigadier general.
In 1780 he took his seat in the Assembly of Delaware, and in 1782 was elected President of Pennsylvania.
He was a member of the Convention that framed the Federal Constitution, and was its warm friend. He




OF THE REVOLUTION.


477


Honors to John Dickenson.  Massachusetts's Circular Letter.  Boldness of Otis and Samuel Adams.  The " Rescinders."
isterial measures-more fatal as precedents than by the immediate calamities they were calculated to produce.1  The people of Boston, at a public meeting, passed a vote of thanks to
Dickenson, and some who were afterward leading men of the Revolution composed the committee to write the letter.  In May, 1768, an association in Philadelphia, called the Society
of Fort St. David, presented an address to Mr. Dickenson, "( in a box of heart of oak."  The
following inscriptions were neatly done upon it, in gold letters.  On the top was represented
the cap of liberty on a spear, resting on a cipher of the letters J. D.  Underneath the cipher,
in a semi-circular label, the words PRO PATRIA.  Around'the whole, the following: -( The
gift of the Governor and Society of Fort St. David to the author of THE FARMER'S LETTERS, in grateful testimony to the very eminent services thereby rendered to this country,
1768."   On the inside of the top was the following inscription: ( The liberties of the British colonies in America asserted with Attic eloquence and Roman spirit by John Dickenson, Esq., barrister at law."  Spirited resolutions were adopted by the colonial Assemblies,
denouncing the acts of Parliament, and new non-importation associations were formed, which
almost destroyed the commerce with England.
A special session of the Massachusetts Assembly was asked for in October, to " consider the late acts of Parliament," but Governor Bernard unwisely refused to call one.
At the opening of the regular session, in December, a large committee was appointed to, consider the state of the province."  It elaborated several measures, the first of which was a
petition to the king, asserting the principles for which they were contending.  A bolder step,
and one that most displeased the British ministry, was now taken; the Assembly February,
adopted a circular letter, to be addressed to all the colonies, imbodying the senti-  1768.
ments expressed in the petition to the king, and inviting their co-operation in maintaining
the liberties of America.  When intelligence of this letter reached the ministers, Lord Hillsborough, the colonial Secretary, sent instructions to Governor Bernard to call upon the General Assembly of Massachusetts to rescind its resolutions, and, in the event of non-compliance,
to dissolve that body.  But the Assembly, or House of Representatives, consisting of one
hundred and nine members, much the largest legislative Convention in America,2 were not
easily frightened, and, instead of complying with the governor's demand, made that very demand a fresh cause of complaint. Mr. Otis and Samuel Adams were the principal speakers
on the occasion.  The former made a speech which the friends of government pronounced
( the most violent, insolent, abusive, and treasonable declaration that perhaps ever was delivered."  " When Lord Hillsborough knows," said Otis, " that we will not rescind our acts,
he should apply to Parliament to rescind theirs.  Let Britons rescind their measures, or
they are lost forever."  For nearly an hour he harangued the Assembly with words like
these, until even the Sons of Liberty trembled lest he should tread upon the domain of treason.
The House refused to rescind, passed resolutions denunciatory of this attempt to arrest free
discussion and expression of opinion, and then sent a letter to the governor, inform- June 30,
ing him of their action., If the votes of this House," they said,, are to be con-  1768.
trolled by the direction of a minister, we have left us but a vain semblance of liberty. We
have now only to inform you that this House have voted not to rescind, and that, on a division on the question, there were ninety-two yeas and seventeen nays." The seventeen
(, rescinders" became objects of public scorn.  The governor, greatly irritated, proceeded to
dissolve the Assembly; but, before the act was accomplished, that body had prepared a list
of serious accusations against him, and a petition to the king for his removal.  Thus Britain, through her representative, struck the first blow at free discussion in America.  Massachusetts, however, felt strong, for the answer to her circular letter from other colonies glowed with sympathy and assurances of support.
continued in public life, in various ways, until his death, which occurred at Wilmington on the 14th of February, 1808, at the age of seventy-five.
L American Portrait Gallery, vol. iii.
9 About this time the debates in the Assembly began to be so interesting to the public at large, that a gallery was prepared for the use of spectators, which was usually crowded with citizens.




478


PICTORIAL IA I FIEL LD-BO OOK


Treatment of a Tide-waiter.  Seizure of the Sloop Liberty.  Excitement of the People.  Public Meeting in Boston.
A new scene in the drama now opened,     The commissioners of customs had arrived
in May, and were diligent in the performance of their duties.  The merchants were
very restive under the strictness of the revenue officers, and these functionaries were exceedingly odious in the eyes of the people generally.  On the 10th of June the sloop Liberty,
Nathaniel Bernard master, belonging to John Hancock, arrived at Boston with a cargo of
Madeira wine. It was a common practice for the tide-waiter, upon the arrival of a vessel,
to repair to the cabin, and there to remain, drinking punch with the master, while the sailors were landing the dutiable goods.' On the arrival of the Liberty, Kirke, the tidesman,
went on board, just at sunset, and took his seat in the cabin as usual.  About nine in the
evening Captain Marshall, and others in Hancock's employ, entered the cabin, confined Kirke
below, and landed the wine on the dock without entering it at the custom-house, or observing any other formula.  Kirke was then released and sent ashore.  Captain Marshall died
suddenly during the night, from the effects, it was supposed, of over-exertion in landing the
wine.   In the morning the commissioners of customs ordered the seizure of the sloop, and
Harrison, the collector, and Hallowell, the controller, were deputed to perform that duty.
Hallowell proceeded to place the broad arrow upon her (the mark designating her legal position), and then, cutting her moorings, he removed the vessel from Hancock's Wharf to a
place in the harbor under the guns of the Romney ship of war.
This act greatly inflamed the people. Already a crowd had collected to prevent the seizure; but when the vessel was cut loose and placed under the protection of British cannon,
a strong feeling of anger pervaded the multitude. The assemblage of citizens became a mob,
and a large party of the lower class, headed by Malcomb, a bold smuggler, pelted Harrison
and others with stones, attacked the offices of the commissioners, and, dragging a customhouse boat through the town, burned it upon the Common.    The commissioners, alarmed
for their own safety, applied to Governor Bernard for protection, but he told them he was
utterly powerless. They found means to escape on board the Romney, and thence to Castle William, a fortress upon Castle Island, in the harbor, nearly three miles southeast of
the city, where a company of British artillery was stationed.'
The Sons of Liberty called a meeting at Faneuil Hall on the afternoon of the 13th.3  A
large concourse assembled, and the principal business done was preparing a petition to the
governor, asking him to remove the man-of-war from the harbor.  The Council passed resolutions condemnatory of the rioters, but the House of Representatives took no notice of the
matter.  Legal proceedings were commenced against the leading rioters, but the difficulty
of procuring witnesses, and the bad feeling that was engendered, made the prosecutors drop
the matter in the following spring.
Alarmed by these tumultuous proceedings, the governor requested General Gage, then in
New York, and captain general of all the British forces in America, to act upon a permission already given him by Lord Hillsborough, in a secret and confidential letter, to order
some royal troops from Halifax to Boston.  Intelligence of this request leaked out, and the
people of Boston were greatly irritated.  The arrival of an officer sent by Gage to prepare
quarters for the coming troops occasioned a town meeting, and a committee, consisting of
James Otis, Samuel Adams; John Hancock, and John Adams, was appointed to wait upon
aSeptember 12, the governor, ascertain whether the report was true, and request him to call
1768.    a special meeting of the Assembly.a  The governor frankly acknowledged that
troops were about to be quartered in Boston, but refused to call a meeting of the Assembly until he should receive instructions from home.  Bernard was evidently alarmed; he perceived
the great popularity of the leaders who stood before him, and his tone was far more pacific
' Gordon.
" The present fort upon Castle Island is called Fort Independence, so named by the elder Adams while
visiting it when he was President of the United States, in 1799. It stands at the entrance of the harbor,
and is one of the finest forts in America.
3 The private meeting-place of the Sons of Liberty, according to John Adams, was the counting-room in
Chase and Speakman's distillery, in Hanover Square, near the Liberty Tree.




OF THE REVOLUTION


479


Attempted Bribery of Patriots. Soundness of their Principles. Proposed Convention in Boston. Organization of the Meeting.
than it had recently been.   Nor did his pliancy end here; he actually stooped to the base
alternative of endeavoring to make some of those leaders his friends by bribes.   He gave
FANEUIL AL..1
From an English print of the time.
Hancock a commission honoring him with a seat in the Council, but the patriot tore the
parchment into shreds in the presence of the people. He offered John Adams the lucrative
office of advocate general, in the Court of Admiralty, but Adams hurled back the proffered
patronage with disdain. Bernard also approached that sturdy representative of the Puritans, Samuel Adams, but found him, though poor in purse, as Hutchinson on another occasion said, " of such an obstinate and inflexible disposition that he could never be conciliated
by any office or gift whatsoever."
The governor having peremptorily refused to convene the Assembly, the meeting recommended a convention of delegates from all the towns in the province, to meet in Boston within ten days.  ( A prevailing apprehension of war with France" was made the plausible pretense for calling the meeting; and they requested the people to act in accordance with a law
of the colony, authorizing each one to provide himself with a musket and the requisite ammunition.   Every town and district but one-more than a hundred in number2 —sent a delegate.  They met on the 22d, chose Mr. Thomas Cushing, late Speaker of the
Assembly, as their chairman, and petitioned Governor Bernard to summon a Gen-, eptember
Faneuil Hall has been denominated " the cradle of American liberty," having been the popular gathering-place of the Sons of Liberty during the incipient stages of the Revolution. It was erected in 1742, at
the sole expense of Peter Faneuil, Esq., of Boston, and by him generously given to the town-the basement
for a market, with a spacious and most beautiful hall, and other convenient rooms above, for public meetings of the citizens. It was burned in 1761, nothing but the brick walls remaining. The town immediately ordered it to be rebuilt. Mr. Faneuil had then been dead several years. The engraving shows it as
it appeared during the Revolution. It was enlarged in 1805, by the addition of another story, and an increase of forty feet in its width. The hall is about eighty feet square, and contains some fine paintings of
distinguished men. The lower part is no longer used as a market. From the cupola is obtained a fine
view of the city and harbor. The original vane still turns upon the pinnacle. It is in the form of a huge
grasshopper, an emblem of devouring, and significant of the original occupation of the basement story.
a At that time Massachusetts contained sixty-six regularly organized towns.




480:


P ICCT.ORIAI AL. FIELD-BO B~OOK


Governor Bernard's Proclamation.  Meeting of the Convention.  Arrival ofTroops at Boston.  Origin of Yankee Doodle.
eral Court.   The governor refused to receive their petition, and denounced the Convention
as treasonable, notwithstanding the conservatism which the delegates from the country infused into the proceedings.' They disclaimed all pretension to political authority, and professed to have met "( in this dark and distressing time to consult and advise as to the best
manner of preserving peace and good order." The governor warned them to desist from
further proceedings, and admonished them to separate without delay.        But the Convention,
while it was moderate in its action, was firm in its assumed position. It remained in session four days, during which time a respectful petition to the king was agreed to; also a letter
to De Berdt, the agent of the colony in England, the chief topic of which was a defense of the
province against the charge of a rebellious spirit.  They also adopted an address to the people,
in which the alarming state of the country was set forth; but submission to legal authority
and abstinence from violent tumults were strongly inculcated.    This was the first of those popular assemblies in America which speedily assumed the whole political power in the colonies.
September 27,   Two regiments of troops from Halifax, under Colonels Dalrymple and Carr,
1768.     borne by a considerable fleet, arrived at Boston the day after the adjournment
of the Convention.    The people had resolved to oppose their landing.      There was room for
the troops in the barracks upon Castle Island, and the inhabitants insisted upon their being
landed there.    But the governor and General Gage determined to have the troops near at
hand, and, pretending that the barracks were reserved for two other regiments, ordered by
the home government from Ireland, proceeded to provide quarters in the town. The governor's Council refused to act in concert with him, and he took the responsibility upon himself.
On Sunday morning the fleet sailed up the harbor,2 invested the town, and, under cover
The following is a copy of the governor's proclamation on the occasion. Being short, I give it entire,
as a fair specimen of the mildest tone assumed by the royal representatives in America toward the people:
"To the Gentlemen assembled at Faneuil Hall under the name of a Committee or Convention:
"As I have lately received from his majesty strict orders to support his Constitutional authority within
this government, I can not sit still and see so notorious a violation of it as the calling an assembly of people
by private persons only. For a meeting of the deputies of the towns is an assembly of the representatives
of the people to all intents and purposes; and it is not the calling it a Committee or Convention that will
alter the nature of the thing. I am willing to believe that the gentlemen who so hastily issued the summons for this meeting were not aware of the high nature of the offense they were committing; and they
who have obeyed them have not well considered of the penalties which they will incur if they should persist
in continuing their session, and doing business therein. A present ignorance of the law may excuse what
is past; a step further will take away that plea. It is, therefore, my duty to interpose this instant, before
it is too late. I do, therefore, earnestly admonish you that instantly, and before you do any business, you
break up this assembly, and separate yourselves. I speak to you now as a friend to the province and a
well-wisher to the individuals of it. But if you should pay no regard to this admonition, I must, as governor, assert the prerogative of the crown in a more public manner. For assure yourselves (I speak from in
struction) the king is determined to maintain his entire sovereignty over this province, and whoever shall persist in usurping any of the rights of it will repent of his rashness.           FRA. BERNARD.
"Province House, Sept 22d, 1768."
A respectful reply to this proclamation, signed by Mr. Cushing in behalf of the Convention, was sent to
the governor, but he refused to receive the message.
2 There were eight ships-the Beaver, Senegal, Martin, Glasgow, Mermaid, Romney, Launceston, and
Bonetta. In the Boston Journal of the Times of September 29th, 1768, I find the following: " The fleet
was brought to anchor near Castle William; that night there was throwing of sky-rockets, and those passing in boats observed great rejoicings, and that the Yankee Doodle Song* was the capital piece in the band
* This air, with quaint words, was known in Cromwell's time. See notice in the Appendix. Our lyric poet, G. P. MoaBms,
Esq., in the following pleasant song. in meter adapted to the air gives a version of
THE ORIGIN OF YANKEE DOODLE.
Once on a time old Johnny Bull flew in a raging fury,
And swore that Jonathan should have no trials, sir, by jury;
That no elections should be held across the briny waters:
And now said he, "I'll tax the TEA of all his sons and daughters."
Then down he sate in burly state, and bluster'd like a grandee,
And in derision made a tune calld "Yankee doodle dandy."
" Yankee doodle"-these are facts-" Yankee doodle dandy -
My son of wax, your tea I'll tax; you-Yankee doodle dandy."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


481


Landing of the Troops.  hnposingMilitary Display.  Exasperation of the People.  Non-importation Associations.
of the guns of the ships, the troops, about seven hundred in number, landed with charged
muskets, fixed bayonets, colors flying, drums beating, and every other military parade usual
on entering a conquered city    f an enemy.     A part of the troops encamped on the Common,
and part occupied Faneuil Hall and the town-house.          Cannons were placed in front of the
latter; passengers in the streets were challenged, and other aggravating circumstances attended the entrance of the troops.      Every strong feeling of the New      Englander was outraged, his Sabbath was desecrated, his worship was disturbed, his liberty was infringed
upon.    The people became greatly exasperated; mutual hatred, deep and abiding, was engendered between the citizens and the soldiers, and the terms rebel and tyrant were daily
bandied between them.
All Americans capable of intelligent thought sympathized with Massachusetts, and the
engine of non-importation agreements, which worked so powerfully against the Stamp Act,
was put in motion with increased energy.' These associations became general in all the
colonies, under the sanction of the Assemblies.       An agreement, presented by Washington
in the House of Burgesses of Virginia, was signed by every member, and the patriotism of
the people was every where displayed by acts of self-denial.2
of music.......We niow behold Boston surrounded, at a time of profound peace, by about fourteen ships
of war, with springs on their cables and their broadsides to the town! If the people of England could but
look into the town, they would see the utmost good order and observance of the laws, and that this mighty
armament has no other rebellion to subdue than what existed in the brain or letter of the inveterate G  r
B     d and the detested commis-   rs of c    s."
"October 3. In King [now State] Street, the soldiers being gathered, a proclamation was read, offering
a reward of ten guineas to such soldier as should inform of any one who should attempt to seduce him from
the service."
"October 6. In the morning nine or ten soldiers of Colonel Carr's regiment were severely whipped'on
the Common. To behold Britons scourged by negro drummers was a new and very disagreeable spectacle."
The non-importation agreement of the people of Boston was, substantially, that they would not import
any goods for the fall of 1768, except those already ordered; that they would not import any goods from
Great Britain from the 1st of January, 1769, to the 1st of January, 1770, except salt, coals, fish-hooks and
lines, hemp and duck, bar lead and shot, wool cards and card wires; that they would not import on their
own account, or on commission, or purchase from any who should import, from any other colony in America, from January, 1769, to January, 1770, any tea, paper, glass, or painters' colors, until the act imposing
duties on those articles should be repealed.
2 A letter from Newport, published in a New York paper in January, 1768, remarks that, at an afternoon
visit of ladies, "It was resolved that those who could spin ought to be employed in that way, and those who
could not should reel.  When the time arrived for drinking tea, bohea and hyperion were provided, and every
one of the ladies judiciously rejected the poisonous bohea, and unanimously, to their very great honor, preferred the balsamic hyperion." The hyperion here spoken of was of domestic manufacture-the dried leaves
of the raspberry plant.
John sent the tea from o'er the sea, with heavy duties rated;
But whether hyson or bohea I never heard it stated.
Then Jonathan to pout began-he laid a strong embargo" I'll drink no TEA, by Jove 1" so he threw overboard the cargo.
Then Johnny sent a regiment, big words and looks to bandy,
Whose martial band, when near the land, play'd "Yankee doodle dandy."
"Yankee doodle-keep it up-Yankee doodle dandyI'll poison with a tax your cup; you-Yankee doodle dandy."
A long war then they had, in which John was at last defeated,
And "Yankee doodle" was the march to which his troops retreated.
Cute Jonathan, to see them fly, could not restrain his laughter;
"That tune," said he, "suits to a T. I'll sing it ever after."
Old Johnny's face, to his disgrace, was flush'd with beer and brandy,
E'en while he swore to sing no more this "Yankee doodle handy."
Yankee doodle-ho, ha, he-Yankee doodle dandy,
We kept the tune, but not the tea-Yankee doodle dandy.
I've told you now the origin of this most lively ditty,
Which Johnny Bull dislikes as dull and stupid"-what a pity I
With " Hail Columbia" it is sung, in chorus full and heartyOn land and main we breathe the strain John made for his tea party.
No matter how we rhyme the words, the music speaks them handy,
And where's the fair can't sing the air of "Yankee doodle dandy 1"
Yankee doodle, firm and true-Yankee doodle dandyYankee doodle, doodle doo, Yankee doodle dandy.
H




482


PICTORIAL, FIEL D-BOOKI


4 2     F B


The Duke of Grafton.  The King's Speech, and the Response.  Proposed Re-enactment of a Statute of Henry Vll.
Let us consider for a moment the acts of the British Parliament at this juncture.  It asa
sembled on the 8th of November.   Pitt was ill at his country seat, Townshend was
1768.
dead, and the Duke ofGrafton, who had been
one of the Secretaries of State in the Rockingham ad0-,                       ministration, was really at the head of this unpopular ministry.  He was an able, straight-forward politician, a warm admirer and friend of Pitt, and a firm
supporter of his principles.'  The king, in his speech
from the throne, alluded to fresh troubles in America,
and denounced, in strong terms, the rebellious spirit
evinced by Massachusetts.  The response of ministers assured the king of their determination to maintain " the supreme authority of Great Britain over
every part of the British empire."  The address was
adopted in the House of Lords, but met considerable
opposition in the Commons, where the oppressive acts,^I                         of the government toward America were severely
-     criticised.:~,    i^FIT           i         Early in January the consideration of American. \    \.'.                affairs was taken up in Parliament.  The petition
from the Boston Convention was contemptuously reAUGUsTU3 HENRY, DUKE OF GRAFTON.  jected; the Lords recommended, in an address to the
From an Englisi print.   king, the transmission of instructions to the Governor
of Massachusetts to obtain full information of all:treasons, and to transmit the offenders to
England, to be tried there under a statute of the 35th of Henry VIII., which provided for
the punishment of treason committed out of the kingdom.  The address was opposed in the
Commons by Pownall (who had been Governor of Massachusettsa), Burke, Barre, and
a1757. Dowdeswell.   The latter denounced the measure as "( unfit to remedy the disorders,"
and as " cruel to the Americans and injurious to England." He also censured Hillsborough
for taking the responsibility, during the recess of Parliament, of ordering colonial governors to
dissolve the Assemblies. Burke thundered his eloquent anathemas against the measure.
", At the request of an exasperated governor," he exclaimed, (, we are called upon to agree
to an address advising the king to put in force against the Americans the Act of Henry VIII.
And why?    Because you can not trust the juries of that country!  Sir, that word must
convey horror to every feeling mind. If you have not a party among two millions of people,
you must either change your plan of government, or renounce the colonies forever." Even
Grenville, the author of the Stamp Act, opposed the measure as futile and unjust. Yet the
January 26, address and resolutions accompanying it were concurred in by a majority of one
1769.   hundred and fifty-five against eighty-nine.2
On the 8th of February Mr. Rose Fuller moved to recommit the address, for he saw in
the proposed rigor toward the Americans the portents of great evil to the nation.  He alluded to the miserable attempts to collect a revenue in America, and the monstrous evils
growing out of them.   " As for money," he said,,( all that sum might be collected in LonIn Boston a party of some forty or fifty young ladies, calling themselves Daughters of Liberty, met at the
house of the Rev. Mr. Morehead, where they amused themselves during the day with spinning " two hundred and thirty-two skeins of yarn, some very fine, which were given to the worthy pastor, several of the party
being members of his congregation." Numerous spectators came in to admire them. Refreshments were
indulged in, and "the whole was concluded with many agreeable tunes, anthems, and liberty songs, with
great judgment; fine voices performing, which were animated, in all their several parts, by a number of the
Sons of Liberty." It is added that there were upward of one hundred spinners in Mr. Morehead's society.
i The Duke of Grafton was the nobleman to whom the celebrated " Junius" addressed eleven of his scorching letters. In these he is represented as a most unscrupulous libertine in morals. He succeeded his grandfather in the family honors in 1757. He died on the 11th of March, 1811, aged seventy-five years.
2 Cavendish's Debates.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


Lord North. Colonel Barr6's Warnings. General Gage in Boston. No Co-operation. Dissolution of Assemblies. Bernard.
don at less than half the expense."' Pownall, after alluding to the early settlement of America, the privations of the people, their virtues and courage, perseverance and enterprise, remarked, ", But now that spirit, equally strong and equally inflamed, has but a slight and
trifling sacrifice to make; the Americans have not a country to leave, but a country to defend; and have not friends and relatives to leave and forsake, but friends and relatives to
unite with and stand by in one common union."   But all efforts to avert the evil were vain;
Mr. Fuller's motion was negatived by a majority of one hundred and sixty-nine against
sixty-five.
Lord North had succeeded Charles Townshend as Chancellor of the Exchequer. He began his long career of opposition to the Americans by offering a resolution, on the 14th
1769.
--    ~    of March, that a respectful petition or remonstrance
from the people of New York should not be received.  This
proposition, which was adopted, called up Colonel Barre.
D "         E He reminded the House that he had predicted all that would
happen on the passage of the Stamp Act, and he now plainly warned ministers that, if they persisted in their wretched.
course of oppression, the whole continent of North America... would rise in arms, and those colonies, perhaps, be lost to England forever.  But the British Legislature, blinded by ignorance of Americans when the Stamp Act was passed, seemed now still more blind, because of films of prejudice generated by a false national pride.    The motion of Lord North
I    prevailed-the petition was refused acceptance.
Gage went to Boston in October, to enforce the req-;/4/; /S         // /^ "  uisitions of the Quartering Act.  But he found none to
co-operate with him except Governor Bernard, whose zeal in
LORD NORTH.2
his majesty's service had procured him a baronetcy, at the
king's expense.  The Council and the select-men declined to act, and Gage was obliged to
hire houses for the troops, and provide many articles for them out of his own military chest.
Thus matters remained until spring, when intelligence of the several acts of Parliament
against Massachusetts aroused the fiercest sentiments of opposition, short of actual rebellion,
throughout the colonies. Legislative Assemblies spoke out boldly, and for this crime they
were dissolved by royal governors.  Yet amid all the excitement the colonists held out the
olive branch of peace and reconciliation.
The Massachusetts Assembly convened in May, and resolved that it was incon- May 31,
sistent with their dignity and freedom to deliberate in the midst of an armed force,  1769.
and that the presence of a military and naval armament was a breach of privilege. They
refused to enter upon the business of supplies, or any thing else but a redress of grievances,
and petitioned the governor to remove the troops from Boston. He not only refused, but
adjourned the Assembly to Cambridge, when he informed them that he was going to      e
England to lay a statement of the affairs of the colony before the king.  The House
unanimously voted a petition to his majesty, asking the removal of Bernard forever; and also
adopted a resolution, declaring that the establishment of a standing army in the colony, in
time of peace, was an invasion of natural rights, a violation of the British Constitution, high1 It has been said that when Charles Townshend's project of taxation was in agitation, the English merchants offered to pay the taxes, or an equivalent for them, rather than run the risk of provoking the Americans and losing their trade.-Pictorial History of the Reign of George III., i., 72.
8 Frederic, Earl of Guilford, better known as Lord North, was a man of good parts, sincerely attached to
English liberty, and conscientious in the performance of all his duties. Like many other statesmen of his
time, he utterly misapprehended the character of the American people, and could not perceive the justice
of their claims. Devoted to his king and country, he labored to support the dignity of the crown and the
unity of the realm, but in so doing he aided in bringing fearful misery upon the Americans for a time. He
was a persuasive orator, a fair logician, amiable in private life, and correct in his morals. He was afflicted
with blindness during the last years of his life. He died July, 1792, aged sixty years.




484


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Departure of Governor Bernard for England.  Effect of the Non-importation Agreements.  Hillsborough's Circular Letter.
ly dangerous to the people, and unprecedented.   The governor, finding the members incorriAugut 1, gible, dissolved the Assembly, and sailed for England,' leaving the colony in charge
1769.   of his lieutenant, Thomas Hutchinson.
The effects of the non-importation agreements upon English commerce again brought ministers to their senses.  The English merchants were really more injured by the acts of Parliament than the Americans, and they joined their petitions with those of the colonists for a
repeal of the noxious acts.' Under the direction of Lord North, Hillsborough sent a circular letter to the colonies, intimating that the duties upon all articles enumerated in the late
act would be taken off, as a measure of expediency, except on tea. This would be a partial
relief from the burden, but not a removal of the cause of complaint. The principle was the
same whether duties were exacted on one article or a dozen, and so long as the assumed right
of Parliament to tax the colonies was practically enforced in the smallest degree, so long the
Americans felt their rights infringed.  Principle, not expediency, was their motive of action,
and, therefore, the letter of Hillsborough had no effect in quieting the disturbed ocean of popular feeling.  The year 1769 closed without any apparent approximation of Great Britain
and her American colonies to a reconciliation.
' Francis Bernard was Governor of New Jersey after Governor Belcher, in 1756. He succeeded Pownall as Governor of Massachusetts in 1760, and held the office nine years. The first years of his administration were satisfactory to the inhabitants, but, associating himself with ministers in their taxation schemes,
he became odious to the Massachusetts people. His first false step was the appointment of Hutchinson chief
justice instead of the elder Otis. When difficulties arose under the Stamp Act and kindred measures, Bernard was unfit for his position, for he had no talent for conciliation, and was disposed to use British power
more prodigally than British justice in maintaining the supremacy of the laws. He was created a baronet
in the summer of 1769. He never returned to America after leaving it, and died in England in June, 1779.
The exports from England to America, which in 1768 had amounted to $11,890,000, $660,000 being
in tea, had fallen in 1769 to $8,170,000, the tea being only $220,000.-Murray's United States, i., 352.
Pownall, in the course of a speech in Parliament, also showed that the total produce of the new taxes for
the first year had been less than $80,000, and that the expenses of the new custom-house arrangements had
reduced the net profits of the crown revenue in the colonies to only $1475, while the extraordinary military
expenses in America amounted, for the same time, to $850,000.-Hildreth, ii., 552.




OF THE REVOLUTION.            485


Secret Workings of the Spirit of Liberty.  Brief Review.  Alternative of the Colonies.  The Newspaper Press.
CHAPTER XXI.
"There is a spirit working in the world,
Like to a silent, subterranean fire;
Yet, ever and anon, some monarch hurl'd
Aghast and pale attests its fearful ire,
The dungeon'd nations now once more respire
The keen and stirring air of liberty.
The struggling giant wakes, and feels he's free;
By Delphi's fountain-cave that ancient choir
Resume their song; the Greek astonish'd hears,
And the old altar of his worship rears.
Sound on, fair sisters! sound your boldest lyresPeal your old harmonies as from the spheres.
Unto strange gods too long we've bent the knee,
The trembling mind, too long and patiently."
GEORGE HILL.
"Grand jurors, and sheriffs, and lawyers we'll spurn;
As judges, we'll all take the bench in our turn,
And sit the whole term without pension or fee,
Nor CUSHING nor SEWALL look graver than we.
Our wigs, though they're rusty, are decent enough;
Our aprons, though black, are of durable stuff;
Array'd in such gear, the laws we'll explain,
That poor people no more shall have cause to complain."
HONEYWOOD'S "RADICAL SONG."
E have considered, in the preceding chapter, the most important events, during the first nine years of the reign of George III., having any bear- -- i.-::            ing on the Revolution.    We have seen the
-- e -                  germs of oppression, planted at different times
from the era of the Restoration, springing into
life and vigor, and bearing the bitter fruit of tyranny; and observed
-       -   the bold freemen of America pruning its most noxious branches, and trampling
- -~  --  in the dust its " apples of Sodom."  We have seen the tide of British power
swelling high, and menacing, and beheld the firm rock of sound principles fearlessly breasting its billows, and hurling them back toward their source. We have seen a loyal people,
warmly attached to the person of their sovereign, and venerating the laws of their fatherland, goaded, by ministerial ignorance and haughty indifference respecting the claims of right
when interfering with expediency, to the assumption of manly defiance both of king and Parliament, until hireling butchers, with pike and bayonet, were seated in their midst to, harass
the people and eat out their substance."  We now behold them pressed to the alternative
TO FIGHT OR BE SLAVES.
For several years the newspaper press had been rapidly growing in political importance,
and the vehicle of mere general news became the channel of political and social enlightenment.   In proportion to the development of its power and the creation of public opinion favorable to its views, was the increase of its boldness, and at the beginning of 1770 the American press was not only united in sentiment, but almost as fearless in the expression of political and religious opinions as the newspapers of the present day. American liberty was its
theme, and almost every sheet, whether newspaper, almanac, tract, or hand-bill, issued at
this time, was tinctured, if not absolutely pervaded, by the absorbing topic.  I have before




4s4                               PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
llckerktaffs Boston Almanac.      Explanation of its Frontispiece.     Revival of the Terms " Whig" and " Tory."


me a copy of Bickerstaff's Boston Almanac for 1770, the title-page of which is here given,
with a fac-simile of the engraving that adorns it.  The portrait of Otis is supported on one
side by Liberty, and on
the other by Hercules,
B   I  C   K   E   R   S   T  A   F   F   S         or Perseverance. At the
BOSTONX                ALMANACK,                        feet of the latter, uncoiling, preparatory to strikFor the Year of our LORD 1770. Being the fecond Year after Leap Year.  ing a blow, is the venomous rattlesnake, an emblem used on some of the
colonial flags when the
war began.    This was
significant of the intention of America, under
the guidance of the Spirit
of Liberty, to persevere,
and strike a deadly blow,
qa  if necessary.  The poetry and maxims of the almanac are replete with
political sentiments faI                                               an vorable to freedom; and
its pages contain the celebrated "Massachusetts
Song of Liberty," which
became almost as popular
throughout the colonies as
did Robert Treat Paine's,Adams and Liberty" at
a later day.' It is believed to have been written
by Mrs. Mercy Warren.
h Party lines began now
to be strictly drawn, and
the old names of Whig
___      ISand Tory, used in England toward the close of
q   the seventeenth century,
P1)1k JlJfiti~~Iilrr!t  ~ II1 ~ ~ and recently revived, were
The         RHON. JAMEj-S OTISJ':         Eadopted here, the former
being assumed by those
B   0   S   T   0  ivN:                  wljo opposed ParliamentPrinted by MEIN and FLEEMING, and to be SOLD by JOHN MEIN, at the  ary taxation, and the latLONDON BOOK-STORE, North-fide of KING-STREET.            ter applied to those who
[Price feven Coppers fingle, and 25 8. Old Tenor, or 3 8. 4. Lawful the Dozen.]  favored it.'  In Boston
the wound inflicted by
Bernard, in the introduction of soldiers, was daily festering. A weekly paper, the "Journal
of the Times," fostered the most bitter animosity against the soldiers, by the publication of
all sorts of stories concerning them, some true, but many more false and garbled.  Daily
quarrels between citizens and soldiers occurred upon the Common and in the streets; and


1We give on the following page a copy of the Massachusetts Song of Liberty, with the music, as printed
in the Boston Almanac.
See note, page 71.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                                487
Abuse of Mr. Otis.                                                                Massachusetts Song of Liberty.
the fact that Mr. Otis had been severely beaten with fists and canes, in a coffee-house, by
THE MASSACHUSETTS SONG OF LIBERTY.
That the Sons of fair Freedom are hamperd once more;
" In Freedom we're born, and, like Sons of t-e brave,
V Iill never surrender,
But swear to defend her,
FAC-SIMILE OF THE MUSIC.
And scorn to survive, if unable to save.
"Our grandsires,swallow blesd heros, we   rithem a  terar,
That the Sons of fair Freedom are hamperd once more;
But kNor sully their honors byu s ooping to fear;
Through deaths and through dangll  ers their  opies they won,
We dare be their Rivals, nor will be outdone.
"In Freedom we're born, and, like  s of t bra
Will newer surrender,
BuLet tyrants and minions presume to despisfend her,
And scorn to survive, if unable to save.
Encroach on Our grandsires, bless'd, and make FEEDO their prize;
The fruits ofsully their rapin they never shall keep,
Though vengeaths ance may nod, yet how short is her slthey won,
We dare be their Rivals, nor will be outdone.
"In Freedom we're born, 4-c.
" The tree which proud Haman for Mordecai reard '' - * 1
Let tyrants ands recorded, that virtue endangerd is spared;
That rogues, whom no our R and no laws can restrain,heir prize
Must be struitspp'd of their rapine they never shall keep,
Though vengeance may nod, yet how short is her sleep.
"In Freedom we're born, 4-c.
"* Our wives and our babes, still protected, shall know. I
Those whe h    to be reo e shall forever be so;rear
Stands recorded, that virtue endanger'd is spared; ~
That roguese arms and these hearts they may safely restrain,
MustFor in freedom we'll live, or like Heroes umbled again.
"In Freedom we're born, 4Fc.
Our wives and our babes, still protected, shall know,.:
Those who dare to be free shall forever be so;
On these arms and these hearts they may safely rely
For in freedom we'll live, or like Heroes we'll die.
"In Freedom we're born,;c.
"Ye insolent Tyrants! who wish to enthrall;
Ye Minions, ye Placemen, Pimps, Pensioners, all;
How short is your triumph, how feeble your trust,
Your honor must wither and nod to the dust.
"In Freedom we're born, 4c.
"When oppress'd and approach'd, our. KING we implore,
Still firmly persuaded our RIGHTS he'll restore;
When our hearts beat to arms to defend a just right,
Our monarch rules there, and forbids us to fight.
"In Freedom we're born, fc.
"Not the glitter of arms nor the dread of a fray
Could make us submit to their chains for a day;
Withheld by affection, on Britons we call,
Prevent the fierce conflict which threatens your fall.
"In Freedom we're born, 4c.
"All ages shall speak with amaze and applause
Of the prudence we show in support of our cause:
Assured of our safety, a BRUNSWxIC still reigns,
Whose free loyal subjects are strangers to chains.
"In Freedom weire born, 4-c.
"Then join hand in hand, brave AMERIcANs all,
To be free is to live, to be slaves is to fall;
Has the land such a dastard as scorns not a LonD,
Who dreads not a fetter much more than a sword
" In Freedoam w'r boar," c.




488                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Evasion of the Non-importation Agreements.  Tea proscribed.  Spirit of the Women.  Spirit of the Boys.
one of the commissioners of customs and his friends,' produced the utmost excitement, and
it was with great difficulty that open hostility was prevented.  Numerous fights with straggling soldiers occurred, and a crisis speedily arrived.
While the non-importation agreements were generally adhered to faithfully, there were a
few merchants who, loving mammon more than liberty, violated their obligations. In Boston they coalesced with the military officers, and many of the proscribed articles were imported in the names of the latter, ostensibly for the use of the soldiers.  Many goods were
January23, brought in and sold under this cover.   This fact became known, and a meeting
1770.   of citizens was held at Faneuil Hall to consider it.    Spirited resolutions were
adopted, among which was one agreeing not only "( totally to abstain from the use of tea"
(the excepted article mentioned in Hillsborough's letter), and from other of the enumerated
articles, but that they would use all proper measures to prevent a violation of the non-importation pledges.   From   that time TEA was a proscribed article, and the living principle
of opposition to British oppression was strongly manifested by the unanimity with which the
pleasant beverage was discarded.
Early in February the females of Boston made a public movement on the subject of non-importation, and the mistresses of three hundred families subscribed
their names to a league, binding themselves not to drink any tea until the Revenue Act was
repealed.   Three days afterward the young ladies followed the example of the
February 12.
matrons, and multitudes signed a document in the following terms: ( We, the
daughters of those patriots who have, and do now, appear for the public interest, and in that
principally regard their posterity-as such, do with pleasure engage with them in denying
ourselves the drinking of foreign tea, in hopes to frustrate a plan which tends to deprive a
whole community of all that is valuable in life." All classes were thoroughly imbued with
patriotism, and even the children were sturdy asserters of natural rights.'
Disregarding these expressions of public sentiment, a few merchants in Boston continued
to sell the proscribed articles. Among- them were Theophilus Lillie -and four others, who
were particularly bold in their unpopular conduct.     To designate his store as one to be
February 22, shunned, a mob, consisting chiefly of half-grown boys, raised a rude wooden head
1770.    upon a pole near Lillie's door, having upon it the names of the other importers.
A hand was attached to it, with the dexter finger pointing to Lillie's establishment.  The
merchant was greatly irritated.   One of his friends, named Richardson, a stout, rough man,
tried to persuade a countryman to prostrate the pageant by running his wagon against it.
'Robinson, one of the commissioners, had made such representations of Mr. Otis in Britain as provoked
him to make a publication in the Boston Gazette on the subject. For some expression used in that article
Robinson attempted to pull Otis's nose at a coffee-house. ' An affray ensued, in which Mr. Otis was so severely beaten that he was obliged to leave the city and retire to his country residence. From the injuries
then received he never thoroughly recovered. Heavy damages (~2000) were awarded him against Robinson for the assault, but Otis generously forgave his assailant, and refused to take the money.
2 While the king's troops were in Boston, an incident occurred that evinced the bold spirit of even the little boys. In the winter they were in the habit of building little hills of snow, and sliding down them to the
pond on the Common, for amusement. The English soldiers, to provoke them, would often beat down these
hills. On one occasion, having rebuilt their hills, and finding, on their return from school, that they were
again demolished, several of the boys determined to wait upon the captain and complain of his soldiers. The
officer made light of it, and the soldiers became more troublesome than ever. At last a meeting of the larger boys was held, and a deputation was sent to General Gage, the commander-in-chief. He asked why
so many children had called upon him. "We come, sir," said the tallest boy, "to demand satisfaction."
' What I" said the general, " have your fathers been teaching you rebellion, and sent you to exhibit it here?"
'Nobody sent us, sir," replied the boy,, while his eyes flashed and cheek reddened at the imputation of rebellion; "we have never injured or insulted your troops, but they have trodden down our snow-hills and
broken the ice on our skating-grounds. We complained, and they called us young rebels, and told us to
help ourselves if we could. We told the captain of this, and he laughed at us. Yesterday our works were
destroyed the third time, and we will bear it no longer.:  The nobler feelings of the general's heart were
awakened, and, after gazing upon them in silent admiration for a moment; he turned to an officer by his side,
and said, "The very children here draw in a love of liberty with the air they breathe. You may go, my
brave boys, and be assured, if my troops trouble you again, they shall be punished."-Lossin's " 1776,"
p. 90.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                 489
Fracas at the Door of a Merchant. Death of a Boy. Its Effect on the Public Mind. Pardon of the Murderer. Riot in Bostod.
The man was a patriot, and refused, and Richardson attempted to pull it down himself.
The mob pelted him with dirt and stones, and drove him into Lillie's house.  Greatly exasperated, Richardson brought out a musket and discharged it, without aim, into the crowd.
A lad named Christopher Gore (afterward Governor of the Commonwealtha) was slighta 1809.
ly wounded, and another, Christopher Snyder, son of a poor widow, was killed.  The
mob seized Richardson and an associate named Wilmot, and carried them to Faneuil Hall,
where they were examined and committed for trial.  Richardson was found guilty of murder, but Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson refised to sign his death warrant.  After two
years' imprisonment, he was pardoned by the king.
The murder of the boy produced a great sensation throughout the country, and in Boston
it was made the occasion of a most solemn pageant.  His coffin, covered with inscriptions,
such as (, Innocence itself is not safe," and others of like tenor, was taken to Liberty Tree,
where a great concourse assembled, and thence followed the remains to the grave.  In that
procession between four and five hundred school-boys took the lead.  Six of Snyder's playfellows supported the coffin; after them came the relatives and friends of the deceased, and
nearly fifteen hundred of the inhabitants.  The bells of the city were tolled, and those of the
churches in the neighboring towns.  The newspapers were filled with accounts of the murder and the funeral, and little Christopher Snyder was apotheosized as the first martyr in
the cause of American liberty.
A more serious occurrence took place a few days afterward.  A soldier, passing the ropewalk of John Grey, got into a quarrel with the workmen, and was severely beaten. He
went to the barracks, and, returning with some comrades, they beat the rope-makers, and
chased them through the streets.  A large number of the people assembled in the afternoon,
determined to avenge the workmen, but were stopped by the military. It was Friday, and
the act of vengeance was deferred until Monday, so as not to disturb the Sabbath. March 5,
On the evening of Monday, between six and seven o'clock, about seven hundred men,  1770 -with clubs and other weapons, assembled in King (now State) Street, shouting, " Let us
drive out these rascals! They have no business here-drive them out!"  The mob speedily augmented in numbers, and About nine o'clock an attack was made upon some soldiers in
Dock Square, the mob shouting, "( Town born, turn out! Down with the bloody backs!"
at the same time tearing up the market-stalls.  The fearful cry of (( Fire, fire!" was echoed
through the town, and the inhabitants poured into the streets in terror and confusion.  The
whole city was in commotion, and before midnight the shouts of the multitude, the ringing
of the alarurf bells as if a great conflagration was raging, and the rattle of musketry, produced a fearful uproar.  Two or three leading citizens endeavored to persuade the mob to
disperse, and had, in a measure, secured their respectful attention, when a tall man, dressed
in a scarlet cloak, and wearing a white wig, suddenly appeared among them, and commenced
a violent harangue against the government officers and soldiers.  He concluded his inflammatory speech by a loud shout, " To the main guard! to the main guard!"  The populace
echoed the shout with fearful vehemence, and, separating into three divisions, took different
routes toward the quarters of the main guard.  As one of these divisions was passing the
custom-house, a boy came up, and, pointing to the sentinel on duty there, cried out, " That's
the scoundrel who knocked me down."'  Instantly a score of voices shouted, " Let us knock
him down! Down with the bloody back! kill him! kill him!"  The sentinel loaded his
musket, the mob in the mean while pelting him with pieces of ice and other missiles, and
finally attempting to seize him.  IHe ran up the custom-house steps, but, unable to procure
admission, called to the main guard for assistance.  Captain Preston, the officer of the day,
This boy was an apprentice to a barber named Piemont, at whose shop some of the British officers were
in the habit of shaving. One of them had come there some months previous to dress by the quarter, whose
bill Piemont promised to allow to the boy who shaved him, if he behaved well. The quarter had expired,
but the money could not be got, although frequently asked for. The last application was made on that evening, and, as the boy alleged, the officer knocked him down in reply to the "dun."  The sentry he pointed
out as the man that abused him.-See "Traits of the Tea Party."




L90            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Attack of the Mob upon the Soldiers. Discharge of Musketry. Three of the Citizens killed. Terrible Excitement in Boston.
detailed a picket guard of eight men with unloaded muskets, and sent them to the relief of
the sentinel. As they approached, the mob pelted them more furiously than they had the
sentinel, and a stout mpulatto named Attucks, who was at the head of a party of sailors,
shouted, " Let us fall upon the nest!  The main guard! the main guard!"    The soldiers
now loaded their guns.   Attucks dared them to fire; and the mob pressed so closely upon
them that the foremost were against the points of their bayonets.  The soldiers, perfectly
understanding the requirements of discipline, would not fire without orders. Emboldened
by what seemed cowardice, or, perhaps, by a knowledge of the law which restrained soldiers
from firing upon their fellow-citizens without orders from the civil magistrates, Attucks and
the sailors gave three loud cheers, beat the muskets of the soldiers with their clubs, and shouted to the populace behind them,, Come on! don't be afraid of 'em-they daren't fire! knock
'em over! kill 'em!"  At that moment Captain Preston came up, and endeavored to appease the excited multitude. Attucks aimed a blow with a club at Preston's head, which
was parried with his arm, and, descending, knocked the musket of one of the soldiers to the
ground. The bayonet was seized by the mulatto, and the owner of the musket was thrown
down in the struggle. Just then voices in the crowd behind Preston cried, ( Why don't
you fire? why don't you fire?"  The word fire fell upon the ears of Montgomery, the soldier struggling with Attucks, and as he rose to his feet he fired, and shot the mulatto dead.
Immediately five other soldiers fired at short intervals; three of the populace were instantly
killed, five dangerously wounded, and a few slightly hurt.1
The mob instantly dispersed.  It was near midnight; the ground was covered with snow,
the air was clear and frosty, and the moon, in its first quarter, gave just sufficient
light to reveal the dreadful scene.  It was a fearful night for Boston.  A cry,
' The soldiers are rising!  To arms! to arms!  Turn out with your guns!" resounded through the streets, and the town drums beat their alarumn call.  Captain Preston also ordered his drums to beat to arms, and in a short time Colonel
*     i  Dalrymple, the commander of the troops in the absence of Gage, with Lieu-     -   tenant-governor Hutchinson, at the head of a regiment, was on the spot.  Or-.  er was at length restored, and the streets were quiet before dawn.  Captain: Preston, in the mean time, had been arrested and put in prison, and during
the next forenoon the eight soldiers were also committed, under a charge
-         of murder.
e   a      -.             Early in the morning the Sons of Liberty    March 6,
collected in great numbers, and Faneuil Hall                1770.
'   was crowded with an excited and indignant assembly.
The lieutenant governor also convened his Council.
it                             A town meeting was legally warned and held that after|iI                                 noon, in the Old South Meeting-house, then the largest
building in the city, where it was voted " that nothing
-~                        could be expected to restore peace and prevent carnage
Tr  OLD SOUH."           but an immediate removal of the troops."  Nearly three
thousand voices were unanimous in its favor. A committee of fifteen, with Samuel Adams as chairman, was appointed to present the resolution
Crispus Attucks, Samuel Gray, and James Caldwell were killed on the spot; Samuel Maverick and
Patrick Carr received mortal wounds, of which the former died the next morning, and Carr on Wednesday
of the next week.
*  This venerable and venerated edifice, that stood through all the storms of the Revolution, and yet remains, stands on the corner of Washington and Milk Streets. It is of brick, and was erected in 1729-30,
upon the site of an edifice built by the Pedo-baptists in 1669. The ancient church was of cedar, two stories high, with a steeple, gallery, and pews. The " Old South" was the famous gathering-place of the people during the excitements of 1773. The British troops occupied it as a circus for the drill of cavalry in
1775, after removing all the wood-work within, except the eastern gallery and the pulpit and sounding-,board. The British officers felt no compunctions in thus desecrating a Presbyterian chapel. It was repaired
in 1782, and remains a fine model of our early church architecture. This view is from Washington Street.




OF TH.E REVOLUTION.


'491.Delegation of Patriots before the Governor.  Boldness of the second Committee.  Concessions  Removal of the Troops.
to the acting governor and his Council, and to Colonel Dalrymple.  These officers were assured by Royal Tyler, one of the committee, that the people were determined to remove the
troops out of town by force, if they would not go voluntarily.  "They are not such people,"
he said, " who formerly pulled down your house, that conduct these measures, but men of
estates, men of religion. The people," he continued,, will come in to us from all the neighboring towns; we shall have ten thousand men at our backs, and your troops will probably
be destroyed by the people, be it called rebellion or what it may."
Hutchinson and Dalrymple were in a dilemma. They equally feared the popular indignation and the censure of ministers, and each endeavored to make the other responsible for
the concessions which they saw must inevitably be made. Hutchinson would not promise
the committee that more than one regiment of the troops should be removed; their report
to the meeting was, therefore, quite unsatisfactory.  In the afternoon another committee was
appointed, consisting of seven of the former deputation,1 who bore the following resolution to
the lieutenant governor:, It is the unanimous opinion of this meeting that the reply made
to the vote of the inhabitants, presented to his honor this morning, is by no means satisfactory, and that nothing else will satisfy them but a total and immediate removal of all the
troops."  Samuel Adams again acted as chairman.  Hutchinson denied that he had power
to grant their request; Adams in a few words proved to him that he had power conferred
by the charter.  The governor consulted with Dalrymple in a whisper, and then made the
offer again to remove one regiment.  The patriots were not to be trifled with.  Adams,
seeming not to represent, but to personify, the universal feeling, stretched forth his arm, as
if it had been upheld by the strength of thousands, and, with unhesitating promptness and
dignified firmness, replied, ", Sir, if the lieutenant governor or Colonel Dalrymple, or both
together, have authority to remove one regiment, they have authority to remove two; and
nothing short of a total evacuation of the town, by all the regular troops, will satisfy the public mind or preserve the peace of the province."
The officers were abashed before this plain committee of a democratic assembly. They
knew the danger that impended; the very air was filled with breathings of suppressed indignation.  They receded, fortunately, from the arrogance they had hitherto maintained.
Their reliance on a standing army faltered before the undaunted, irresistible resolution of
free, unarmed citizens.' Hutchinson consulted his Council. The concession was agreed
upon-the lieutenant governor, Council, and Dalrymple consenting to bear mutually the responsibility of the act-and the people were assured of the immediate removal of the troops.
On Monday following the troops were conducted to Castle William, and Boston be- March 12,
came quiet.                                                                   1770.
The obsequies of the victims murdered on the night of the 5th were performed on the 8th.8
The hearses met upon the spot in front of the custom-house, where the tragedy occurred, and
thence the procession, in platoons six deep, marched to the Middle Burial-ground, wherein
the bodies were deposited.  As on the occasion of the burial of young Snyder, the bells of
Boston and adjacent towns tolled a solemn knell, and again a cry of vengeance burst over
the land.  The story of the " Boston massacre," as it was called, became a tale of horror,
which every where excited the most implacable hatred of British domination; and the justifiable act of the soldiers, in defending their lives against a lawless mob, was exaggerated into
an unprovoked assault of armed mercenaries upon a quiet and defenseless people.
Captain Preston and the eight soldiers, after the lapse of several months, were put upon
their trial before Judge Lynde for murder.' John Adams, an eminent lawyer, one of the
The committee consisted of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, William Molineux, William Phillips, Joseph
Warren, Joshua Henshaw, and Samuel Pemberton.
2 Snow's History of Boston.
3 Attucks and Caldwell had no relatives, and were friendless. Their bodies were borne from Faneuil
Hall. Maverick, only seventeen years of age, was borne from the house of his mother, in Union Street,
and Gray from that of his brother, in Royal Exchange Lane.
4Captain Preston's trial commenced on the 24th of October, and lasted until the 30th. The trial of the
soldiers commenced on the 27th of November, and ended on the 5th of December. So searching. was the




492


PICTORIAL FIELD-BO0OK


Defense of the Soldiers by Adams.  Result of the Trial.  New Ministerial Proposition.  Its Effects upon the Colonies.
leaders in the attempt to procure the removal of the troops, and greatly esteemed by the people for his patriotism, was solicited to undertake their defense.  It was a severe ordeal for
his independence of spirit, yet he did not hesitate.  At the risk of losing the favor and esteem of the people, he appeared as the advocate of the accused, having for his colleague Josiah Quincy, another leading patriot, whose eloquent voice had been often heard at assemblies of the Sons of Liberty.  Robert Treat Paine, afterward one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, conducted the prosecution, with great reputation, in the absence
of the attorney general.  A Boston jury, was empanneled, and, after a fair trial, Captain
Preston and six of the soldiers were adjudged not guilty.  The other two, Montgomery and
Killroy, who were known to have fired their muskets, were found guilty of manslaughter only.
They were branded in the hand, in open court, and discharged.    This trial, when all the
circumstances 'are considered, exhibits one of the most beautiful of the many pictures of justice and mercy that characterized the Revolution, and silenced forever the slander of the
British ministry who favored the revival of the Act of Henry VIII., that American jurors
might not be trusted.
March 5,   On the very day of the " Boston massacre" Lord North asked leave to bring in
1770.  a bill in the House of Commons, repealing the duties upon glass, &c., mentioned in
Hillsborough's circular, but retaining the three per cent. duty upon tea. This duty was
small, and was avowedly a, pepper-corn rent," to save the national honor.  North's proposition met with little favor from either party.  The friends of America asked for a repeal
of the whole act, and the friends of government opposed a partial repeal as utterly fruitless
of good.  The bill, however, after encountering great opposition in both Houses, and particularly in the House of Lords, was carried, and received the royal assent on the 12th of April.
When the intelligence of this act reached the colonies, it was regarded with very little
favor.  The same unrighteous principle was practically asserted, and the people felt that
very little concession was made.  But they were beginning, toward the close of 1770, to
be less faithful in observing the non-importation agreements; and in October, at a meeting
of the Boston merchants, it was resolved, in consequence of the almost universal violation
of these agreements in New York, to import every thing but TEA. The Philadelphia and
Charleston merchants followed their example, and that lever of coercion in the hands of the
colonists, operating upon Parliament through English merchants, was almost wholly abandoned, much to the chagrin of the leading patriots.  These associations, while they had a
favorable political effect upon the colonies, were also instrumental in producing social reforms
of much value.   Many extravagant customs, such as pageantries at funerals, displays of costly finery at balls and parties, and kindred measures, involving great expenditure of time and
money, were discontinued; new sources of wealth and comfort to be derived from home industry were developed; and, better than all, lessons of the strictest economy were learned.
The infant manufactories of America received a strong impulse from the agreements, and
homemade articles, first worn from necessity, became fashionable. The graduating class at
Cambridge took their degrees in homespun suits, in 1770.
For two years very little occurred to disturb the tranquillity of Boston.  The brutal attack of Robinson had deprived the patriots of the services of James Otis, for insanity clouded his active mind and terminated his public career.'  But new men, equally patriotic stood
examination of witnesses by Mr. Quincy, that Mr. Adams was obliged to ask him to desist, for.he was elic-.iting from them facts that were not only irrelevant to the case in hand, but dishonorable to the town.
James Otis, Jr., was the son of Colonel James Otis, of Barnstable, Massachusetts, where he was born
February 5th, 1725. He graduated at Harvard College in 1743. He studied law with Mr. Gridley, then
the first lawyer in the province, and commenced the practice of his profession at Plymouth at the age of
twenty-one years. In 1761 he distinguished himself by
his plea in opposition to the Writs of Assistance. His antagonist on that occasion was his law tutor, Mr. Gridley.          e          /
Of his speech at that time John Adams said, " James Otis
was a flame of fire...... American independence was
then and there born. Every man of an immense crowded audience appeared to me to go away as I did,




OF THE REVOLUTION.


493


James Otis.   The Boston Patriots.  Hutchinson made Governor.  His asserted Independence of the Assemblies.
ready to take his place.    John Adams, then in the vigor of life, and rapidly rising in public estimation, was chosen to fill his place in the House of Representatives.         He, Samuel
Adams, John Hancock, Joseph Warren (a young physician), Josiah Quincy, and Dr. Benjamin Church were the leaders in private meetings, now beginning to be held, in which schemes
for public action were planned.     These men were exceedingly vigilant, and noticed every, in-;
fringement of natural or chartered rights on the part of government and its agents.         In the
House of Representatives they originated almost every measure for the public good, and the:
people esteemed them as the zealous guardians of their rights and privileges.       When Hutchinson removed the General Court to Cambridge, they protested, contending that it           March 31
could be held, legally, only at Boston; and in all the struggles between the Assem-         1770.
bly and the governor, during his administration, these men were foremost in defense of popular rights.
Lieutenant-governor Hutchinson received the appointment of governor in the spring of
1771. About the same time Dr. Franklin was chosen agent for Massachusetts, Dennis de
Berdt being dead.     When the Assembly convened in May, the subject of taxing the           May25,
salaries of crown officers, that of removing the General Court back to Boston, and            1771 -kindred topics, produced considerable excitement in that body.        Hutchinson told them    that
he had been instructed not to give his consent to any act taxing the income of the crown officers, and he positively refused to adjourn the Assembly to Boston.       The consequence was,
that the Court was prorogued without making any provision for the public expense.
The next year Parliament, by special act,- made the governors and judges of the colonies quite independent of the colonial Assemblies for their salaries; and Hutchinson
informed the Massachusetts Assembly that henceforth his salary would be paid by the crown.
The Assembly at once denounced the measure as a violation of the charter, and no better
than a standing bribe of six thousand six hundred and sixty-six dollars a year from the crown
to the governor. Other colonial Assemblies took umbrage, and made similar denunciations,
and again the public mind was agitated.
ready to take up arms against Writs of Assistance." Otis was elected to the Legislature in 1762, and was
a member of the Stamp Act Congress held at New York in 1765.  That year he wrote his celebrated pamphlet in defense of colonial rights. He held the office of judge advocate, but in 1767 resigned, and renounced
all offices under government, because of encroachments upon the rights of the people. Brutally beaten by
a commissioner of customs in the autumn of 1769, he was obliged to retire to his country residence. The
injuries he received left their effects upon his mind, and from that time his reason was shattered. The great
man, though in ruins, lived nearly thirteen years, when, on the 23d of May, 1782, while standing in the door
of Mr. Osgood's house in Andover, he was killed by lightning. He had often expressed a desire to be thus
deprived of life when it should please God to call him. In a commemorative ode, written at the time by the
Hon. Thomas Dawes, the following lines occur:
t Yes, when the glorious work which he begun
Shall stand the most complete beneath the sunWhen peace shall come to crown the grand design,
His eyes shall live to see the work divineThe heavens shall then his generous spirit claim,
In storms as loud as his immortal fame.
Hark I the deep thunders echo round the skies I
On wings of flame the eternal errand flies;
One chosen, charitable bolt is sped,
And Otis mingles with the glorious dead."
Mr. Otis was a scholar as well as a statesman.  He was complete master of classical literature,* and no
American at that time possessed more extensive knowledge. He may be justly ranked among the founders
of our republic, for he was truly the master of ceremonies in laying the corner-stone.  He lived to see the
work nearly completed, and beheld the wing of peace spread over the land.
* The following anecdote is related of Mr. Otis as illustrative of his ready use of Latin even during moments of mental aberration. Men and boys, heartless and thoughtless, would sometimes make themselves merry at his expense when he was seen
in the streets afflicted with lunacy. On one occasion he was passing a crockery store, when a young man, who had a knowledge of Latin, sprinkled some water upon him from a sprinkling-pot with which he was wetting the floor of the second story,
at the same time saying, Pluit tantum, nescio quantum, Scis ne tu? "It rains so much, I know not how much. Do you know i"
Otis immediately picked up a missile, and, hurling it through the window of the crockery store, it smashing every thing in its
way, exclaimed, Fregi tot, nescio quot, Scis ne tu? "I have broken so many, I know not how many. Do you know 1?"




494                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Further Agitation in Boston. Committees of Correspondence. Letters of Hutchinson and others. Petition for their Removal.
In the midst of this effervescence a circumstance occurred which augmented intensely the
flame of rebellion burning in the hearts of the people.  By it Boston was thrown into a violent commotion, and it was with great difficulty that the people were restrained from enacting anew the violence against Hutchinson in 1765. In October a town meeting was held,
at which a large committee, composed of the popular leaders, was appointed to draw up a
statement of the rights of the colonies, and to communicate and publish the same to the several towns of the province. This paper contained a list of all the grievances which Massachusetts had suffered since the accession of the reigning sovereign, and condemned a plan,
said to have been in agitation for a long time, to establish bishops in America.  It was the
boldest exposition of the grievances and rights of the colonies yet put forth, and, by its suggestion, Committees of Correspondence, such as were soon afterward organized in Virginia,
were appointed in the several towns.' This paper was republished by Franklin in London,
January  with a: preface of his own, and produced a great sensation.  At the opening of the
1773.  next session of the Legislature Hutchinson denounced the Boston address as seditious
and traitorous, and violent discussions ensued.
Just at this moment, when the public mind was greatly inflamed against Hutchinson, the
Assembly received a communication from Dr. Franklin, inclosing several letters written by
Hutchinson and others' to Thomas Whately, a member of Parliament, then out of office,
wherein they vilified the character of several of the popular leaders, advised the immediate
adoption of coercive measures, and declared that there - must be an abridgment of what are
called English liberties."  By what means Franklin obtained possession of these letters is
not certainly known, for he was too honorable to divulge the names of parties concerned.'
They were sent to the Rev. Dr. Cooper, of Boston, and by him handed to Mr. Cushing, the
Speaker of the Assembly. After having been shown privately to leading men for several
months, they were made public.   The town was at once in a violent ferment.    A committee was appointed to wait upon the governor, and demand an acknowledgment or denial of
the genuineness of the letters.  He owned them as his, but declared that they were quite
confidential.  This qualification was not considered extenuating, and the Assembly adopted
a petition to the king for the removal of Governor Hutchinson and Lieutenant-governor Oliver, as public slanderers, and enemies to the colony, and, as such, not to be tolerated.
This petition was sent to Franklin, who was instructed to present it in person, if possible.
This request could not be granted.   He sent the petition to Lord Dartmouth, then at his
country seat, who presented it to the king. After considerable delay, Franklin was informed that his majesty had referred it to his Privy Council.4 The publication of the letters produced excitement in England, and Franklin, to defend innocent parties, frankly took upon
1 Dr. Gordon says (i., 207) that the system of Committees of Correspondence originated with James Warren, who suggested them to Samuel Adams while the latter was passing an evening with the former at Plymouth. Adams, pleased with the suggestion, communicated it to the leading patriots at the next secret caucus, and that powerful engine in the Revolution was speedily put in motion.
JAMES WARREN was an active patriot. He was descended from one of the first settlers at Plymouth, and
was greatly esteemed for his personal worth. He was chosen a member of the General Court of Massachusetts. in 1760, and, though not a brilliant orator, was a deep and original thinker. He was for many years
Speaker of the House of Representatives. At the close of the war he retired from public duties, and died
at Plymouth, November 27th, 1808, aged eighty-two years. He was the husband of Mercy Warren, the
historian..  The names of the several writers were Andrew Oliver, Charles Paxton, Thomas Moffatt, Robert Auchmuty, Nathaniel Rogers, and George Rome. Mr. Whately was dead when the letters were given to Franklin.
3 The late Dr. Hosack, of New York, in his memoir of Dr. Hugh Williamson, published in 1823, asserts
that the papers were put into Franklin's hands by that gentleman, without any suggestion on his part. Williamson obtained them by stratagem from the office of Mr. Whately, brother of the late Thomas Whately,
then dead. Mr. Whately suspected that Lord Temple, Pitt's brother-in-law, who had asked permission to
examine the papers of Secretary Whately, was the man who abstracted them, and placed them in Franklin's hands. Whatbly charged the act upon Temple, and a duel was the result, in which the former was
wounded. Of this affair Franklin knew nothing until it was over. In justice to others, he took the responsibility upon himself, as mentioned in the text.
4 The Privy Council consists of the cabinet and thirty-five peers.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


495


-     -                        -. —. ---..A.                                        -- -.-           -...

Franklin before the Privy Council. Wedderburne's Abuse. Franklin's Vow. New Taxation Scheme. East India Company.
himself the whole responsibility of sending them to America. He was accordingly sumJanuary 29, moned before the Council, where he appeared without a legal adviser.   Finding
1774.   Wedderburne, the solicitor general, retained as counsel for Hutchinson, Franklin asked,
and obtained leave to have counsel also.  He employed Mr. Dunning, one of the ablest Constitutional lawyers of the day, and toward the close of
February the case was brought before the Privy
Council.   The solicitor general made a bitter attack upon Franklin, accusing him of dishonor in
procuring private letters clandestinely, and charging him with duplicity and wily intrigue.   The
philosophic statesman received this tirade of abuse
in silence, and without any apparent emotion, for:
he was conscious that he had violated no rule of, 'honor or integrity.  The accusations and plead-'
ings of Wedderburne had their effect, however. '>
His abuse greatly pleased the peers, and the petition was dismissed as " groundless, scandalous,
and vexatious."   A few days afterward Franklin                      I
received a notice of his dismissal from the respons-         ~
ible and lucrative office of postmaster general for            Lo  DT     TH
the colonies.  This was an act of spite which re-              Frm an Enish pnt
coiled fearfully upon ministers..
Early in 1773 a new thought upon taxation made its advent into the brain of Lord North.
The East India Company,' feeling the effects of the colonial smuggling trade, and of the nonimportation agreements, requested the government to take off the duty of three per cent. a
pound on their tea, levied in America. Already seventeen millions of pounds had accumulated in their stores in England, and they offered to allow government to retain six pence
upon the pound as an exportation tariff, if they would take off the three-pence duty.  Here
was a fair and honorable opening not only to conciliate the colonies, but to procure, without expense, double the amount of revenue. But the ministry, deluded by false views of
national honor, would not take advantage of this excellent opportunity to heal the dissensions
and disaffection in the colonies, but stupidly favored the East India Company, and utterly
Lord Dartmouth succeeded the Earl of Hillsborough in the office of Secretary of State for the colonies,
and as head of the Board of Trade, in 1772. Dartmouth was considered rather friendly to the colonies, and
he and Franklin had ever been on terms of amity.
On returning to his lodgings that night, Franklin took off the suit of clothes he had worn, and declared
that he would never wear it again until he should sign the degradation of England and the independence of
America. He kept his word, and more than ten years afterward, when, on the 3d of September, 1783, he
signed a definitive treaty of peace with Great Britain, on the basis of absolute independence for America, he
wore the same suit of clothes for the first time after his vow was uttered.
3 The East India Company, still in existence, is a joint-stock company, originally established to carry on
a trade by sea, between England and the countries lying eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. It was constituted by royal charter in 1600, and enjoyed the monopoly of the trade in those remote regions until 1688,
when another corporation was chartered. The two united in 1702, and the monopoly thus granted to them
was continued, by successive acts of Parliament, until 1804. It then received some important modifications,
and the charter was renewed for twenty years. In 1833 an act was passed extending the charter, but abol.
ishing the monopoly of the China trade, which the company had enjoyed nearly two hundred and fifty years.
This company planted the British empire in India. It first established armed factories, and for many years
competed with the French for the trade and political influence in the surrounding districts. Under the pretense of securing honest trade, they subdued small territories, until Lord Clive, the governor general of the
company in India, by several victories, established British power there, and obtained a sway over some of
the fairest portions of the Mogul empire. At the present time the British Indian empire comprises the
whole of Hindostan, from the Himalaya Mountains to Cape Comorin, with a population of more than one
hundred and twenty millions I At the time under consideration the East India Company was at the height
of its success, commercial and political.




49-6


PI'CT,.OR I A L, F I E L D-B 0 OXK


Tea Ships sail for America. Preparation for their Reception at Boston. Treatment of the Consignees. Hand-bills and Placards.
neglected the feelings of the Americans.   It was a sacrifice of principle to mammon which
produced a damage that no subsequent act could repair.
On the 10th of May a bill was passed, allowing the company to export tea to America on their own account, without paying export duty.    Ships were immediately laden
with the article, and in a few weeks several large vessels, bearing the proscribed plant, were
crossing the Atlantic for American ports.   Agents or consignees were appointed in the several colonies to receive it, and the ministry fondly imagined that they had at last outwitted
the vigilant patriots.
Information of this movement had been received in the colonies, and, before the company's vessels arrived, preparations were made in the chief cities to prevent the landing of the
cargoes.   Public meetings were held, and the consignees were called upon to resign.  In Boston the consignees were known to the public; they were all friends of Governor Hutchinson.
Two were his sons, and one (Richard Clarke') was his nephew.        They were summoned to
November 3, attend a meeting of the Sons of Liberty, convened under Liberty Tree, and re1773.    sign their appointments,2 but they contemptuously refused to comply.  This meeting was announced by the town-crier in the streets, and by the ringing of bells for an hour.
About five hundred persons assembled at the tree, from the top of which, fastened to a pole,
a large flag was unfurled. Two days afterward a legal town meeting was held, at which
John Hancock presided.8 They adopted as their own the sentiments of eight resolutions
passed at a public meeting in Philadelphia a month before, and appointed a committee to
wait upon the consignees and request them    to resign.   These gentlemen equivocated, and
the meeting voted their answer ( unsatisfactory and daringly affrontive."   On the 18th anNovember, other meeting was held, and a committee appointed again to wait upon the con1773.   signees.  Their answer this time was more explicit.      ( It is out of our power to
comply with the request of the town."    In the evening the house of Richard Clarke and his
sons, in School Street, was surrounded by a crowd. A pistol was fired among them from
the dwelling, and was responded to by the populace breaking the windows.
'The meeting, on receiving the reply of the consignees, broke up without uttering a word.
This was ominous; the consignees were alarmed, for it was evident that the people had determined to stop talking, and henceforth to act.  The governor called a meeting of the Council, and asked advice respecting measures for preserving the peace.  A petition was presented
by the consignees, asking leave to resign their appointments into the hands of the governor
1 John Singleton Copley, the eminent painter, and father of Lord Lyndhurst, married a daughter of Richard Clarke. Both Copley and his father-in-law became early refugee Loyalists, and fled to England, where
the latter was pall-bearer at Governor Hutchinson's funeral in 1780.
2-The following is a copy of the hand-bill that advertised the meeting:
L To the Freemen of this and the neighboring Towns.
"GENTLEMEN-YOU are desired to meet at the Liberty Tree this day at twelve o'clock at noon, then and
there to hear the persons to whom the TEA shipped by the East India Company is consigned, make a public
resignation of their offices as consignees, upon oath; and also swear that they will reship any teas that may
be consigned to them by the said company, by the first vessel sailing to London.  O. C., Sec'y.
"Boston, November 3, 1773.
" 0    Show me the man that dare take this down!"
The following hand-bill was also circulated about the same time:
"The true Sons of Libertyrand supporters of the non-importation agreement are determined to resent any.
or the least insult or menace offered to any one or more of the several committees appointed by the body at~
Faneuil Hall, and chastise any one or more of them as they deserve; and will also support the printers in
any thing the committee shall desire them to print.
" [1i  As a warning to any one that shall affront as aforesaid, upon sure information given, one of these.
adyertisements will be posted up at- the door of the dwelling-house of the offender."
These placards, and others given in connection with the tea excitement, I copied from originals preserved
by the Massachusetts Historical Society, in tome marked Proclamations.
3 On the 12th the captain general of the province issued an order for the Governor's Cadets (Bostonians)
to stand ready to be called out for the, purpose of aiding the civil magistrates in keeping the peace. John
Hancock was colonel of this regiment.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


497


Arrival of Tea Ships.  Proceedings in Boston.  Monster Meeting at the " Old South."  Speech of Josiah Quincy.
and Council, and praying them to take measures for the safe landing of the teas. The
prayer was refused on the part of the Council, and the consignees, for safety, withdrew to
the castle.
While the Council was thus declining to interfere, one of the ships (the Dartmouth, Captain Hall) came to anchor near the castle. A meeting of the people of Boston and the neighboring towns was convened at Faneuil Hall,' which being too small for the assembly, it adjourned to the Old South Meeting-house. They resolved, that the tea shall November29,
not be landed; that no duty shall be paid; and that it shall be sent back in the  l73.
same bottom."    They also voted,( that Mr. Roch, the owner of the vessel, be directed not
to enter the tea at his peril; and that Captain Hall be informed, and at his peril, not to suffer any of the tea to be landed."  The ship was ordered to be moored at Griffin's Wharf,'
and a guard of twenty-five men was appointed to watch her. The meeting received a letter from the consignees, offering to store the teas until they could write to England and receive instructions, but the people were determined that the pernicious weed should not be
landed.   The offer was rejected with disdain.  The sheriff then read a proclamation by the
governor, ordering the meeting to disperse; it was received with hisses. A resolution was
then passed, ordering the vessels of Captains Coffin and Bruce, then hourly expected with
cargoes of tea, to be moored at Griffin's Wharf; and, after solemnly agreeing to carry their
resolves into execution at any risk, and thanking their brethren from the neighboring towns,
the meeting was dissolved.
From that time until the 14th every movement on the part of the people re- December
lating to the tea was in charge of.the Boston Committee of Correspondence.  The    1773.
two vessels alluded to arrived, and were moored at Griffin's Wharf, under charge of the volunteer guard, and public order was well observed. On the 14th another meeting was held
in the Old South,s when it was resolved to order Mr. Roch to apply immediately for a clearance for his ship, and send her to sea.  The governor, in the mean while, had taken measures to prevent her sailing out of the harbor.  Under his direction, Admiral Montague fitted
out two armed vessels, which he stationed at the entrance of the harbor; and Cblbnel Leslie, in command of the castle, received Hutchinson's written orders not to allow any vessel
to pass the guns of the fortress outward, without a permission signed by himself.
On the 16th several thousand people (the largest meeting ever to that time December,
known in Boston) collected in the Old South and vicinity.  Samuel Phillips Sav-    1773.
age, of Weston, presided.  The youthful Josiah Quincy was the principal speaker, and, with
words almost of prophecy, harangued the multitude of eager and excited listeners.  "( It is
not, Mr. Moderator," he said, "the spirit that vapors within these walls that must stand us
in stead. The exertions of this day will call forth events which will make as very different
spirit necessary for our salvation.  Whoever supposes that shouts and hosannas will! terminate the trials of this day entertains a childish fancy. He must be grossly ignorant of the
importance and value of the prize for which we contend; we must be equally ignorant of
the power of those who have combined againt us; we must be blind to that malice, inveteracy, and insatiable revenge which actuate our enemies, public and private, abroad and in
The following is a copy of the hand-bill announcing the meeting. The Dartmouth arrived on Sunday,
and this placard was posted all over Boston early on Monday morning:
" Friends! Brethren! Countrymen!-That worst of plagues, the detested TEA shipped for this port by
the East India Company, is now arrived in the Harbor; the Hour of Destruction, or manly opposition to the
Machinations of Tyranny, stares you in the Face; every Friend to his Country, to himself, and to Posterity
is now called upon to meet at Faneuil Hall, at nine o'clock THIS DAY (at which time the bells will ring), to
make united and successful resistance to this last, worst, and most destructive measure of administration.
" Boston, November 29, 1773."
2 This was a little south of Fort Hill, near the present Liverpool Dock.
3 The notice for the meeting was as follows:
"Friends! Brethren! Countrymen — The perfidious arts of your restless enemies to render ineffectual
the resolutions of the body of the people, demand your assembling at the Old South Meeting-house'precisely
at two o'clock this day, at which time the bells will ring."
Ix




498


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Close of Quincy's Speech. Breaking up of the Meeting. Destruction of Tea in the Harbor. Apathy of Government Officials.
our bosoms, to hope that we shall end this controversy without the sharpest, the sharpest
conflicts-to flatter ourselves that popular resolves, popular harangues, popular acclamations,
and popular vapor will vanquish our foes.    Let us consider the issue.   Let us looJ to the
end.   Let us weigh and consider before we advance to those measures which must bring on
the most trying and terrible struggle this country ever saw."'
When Mr. Quincy closed, his harangue (about three o'clock in the afternoon), the question
was put, (, Will you abide by your former resolutions with respect to not suffering the tea to
be landed?"   The vast assembly, as with one voice, gave an affirmative reply.   Mr. Roch,
in the mean while, had been sent to the governor, who was at his country house at Milton,
a few miles from Boston, to request a permit for his vessel to leave the harbor.  A demand
was also made upon the collector for a clearance, but he refused until the tea should be landed.
Roch returned late in the afternoon with information that the governor refused to grant a
permit until a clearance should be exhibited.    The meeting was greatly excited; and, as
twilight was approaching, a call was made for candles. At that moment a person disguised
like a Mohawk'Indian raised the war-whoop in the gallery of the Old South, which was answered from without.     Another voice in the gallery shouted, (" Boston Harbor a tea-pot tonight! Hurra for Griffin's Wharf!" A motion was instantly made to adjourn, and the people, in great confusion, crowded into the streets.  Several persons in disguise were seen crossing Fort Hill in the direction of Griffin's Wharf, and thitherward the populace pressed.
Concert of action marked the operations at the wharf; a general system of proceedings
had doubtless been previously arranged.    The number of persons disguised as Indians was
fifteen or twenty, but about sixty went on board the vessels containing the tea.  Before the
work was over, it was estimated that one hundred and forty were engaged.      A man named
Lendall Pitts seems to have been recognized by the party as a sort of commander-in-chief,
and under his directions the Dartmouth was first boarded, the hatches were taken up, and
her cargo, consisting of one hundred and fourteen chests of tea, was brought on deck, where
the boxes were broken open and their contents cast into the water.    The other two vessels
-(the Eleanor, Captain James Bruce, and the Beaver, Captain Hezekiah Coffin) were next
boarded, and all the tea they contained was thrown into the harbor.      The whole quantity
thus destroyed within the space of two hours was three hundred and forty-two chests.
f,.It was an early hour on a clear, moonlight evening when this transaction took place, and
the British squadron was not more than a quarter of a mile distant.       British troops, too,
were.near, yet the whole proceeding was uninterrupted.     This apparent apathy on the part
of government officers can:be accounted for only by the fact alluded to by the papers of the'.time, that something far more serious was expected on the occasion of an attempt to land
the tea, and that the owners of the vessels, as well as the public authorities, felt themselves
-.                 -
" Josiah Quincy was born in Boston, February 23d, 1744. As a student he was remarkably persevering, and with unblemished reputation he graduated at Harvard in 1763. He pursued legal studies under
the celebrated Oxenbridge Thacher, of Boston. The circumstances of the times turned his thoughts to political topics. and he took sides with Otis, Adams, and others, against the aggressive policy of Britain. As
early as 1768 he used this bold language: " Did the blood of the ancient Britons swell our veins, did the
spirit of our forefathers inhabit our breasts, should we hesitate a moment in preferring death to a miserable
existence in bondage?"  In 1770 he declared, "I wish to see my countrymen break off-offforever! all
social intercourse with those whose commerce contaminates, whose luxuries poison, whose avarice is insatiable, and whose unnatural oppressions are not to be borne." Mr. Quincy was associated with John Adams
in the defense of the perpetrators of the "Boston massacre" in 1770, and did not by that defense alienate
the good opinion of the people. In February, 1771, he was obliged to go to the south on account of a pulmonary complaint. At Charleston he formed an acquaintance with Pinckney, Rutledge, and other patriots,
and, returning by land, conferred with other leading Whigs in the several colonies. Continued ill health,
and a desire to make himself acquainted with English statesmen, induced him to make a voyage to England
in 1774, where he had personal interviews with most of the leading men. He asserts that, while there, Colonel Barre, who had traveled in America, assured him that such was the ignorance of the English people,
two thirds of them thought the Americans were all negroes! Becoming fully acquainted with the feelings
and intentions of the king and his ministers, and hopeless of reconciliation, Mr. Quincy determined to return
and arouse his countrymen to action. He embarked for Boston, with declining health, in Mar+, and died
when the vessel was in sight of land, April 26th, 1775, aged thirty-one years.:




OF THE REVOLUTION..


East India Company the only Losers.  Quiet in Boston.  A Smuggler punished.  Names of Members of the " Tea Party."
placed under lasting obligations to the rioters for extricating them from a serious dilemma.'
They certainly would have been worsted in an attempt forcibly to land the tea.       In the
-  -.__      _            actual result the vessels and other property
were spared from injury; the people of Bos\    ton, having carried their resolution into ef-,/                                 fect, were satisfied; the courage of the civil
^                and military officers was unimpeached, and
i  Bthe ",national honor" was not compromised.,        HNone but the East India Company, whose
' '                     property was destroyed, had reason for complaint.  As soon as the work of destruction
\                                       was completed, the active party marched
'- ";    drum and fife, dispersed to their homes, and
*  Boston, untarnished by actual mob or riot,2
-.                                   i was never more tranquil than on that bright
and frosty December night.
A large proportion of those who were en\ r  ^^ KSS S    gaged in the destruction of the tea were disi\                                 guised, either by a sort of Indian costume or
-                                         by blacking their faces.  Many, however,
/2 were fearless of consequences, and boldly
1    employed their hands without concealing
-;                                 their faces from the bright light of the moon..1          -      -      /        The names of fifty-nine of the participators
in the act have been preserved,' but only
t                                           one of the men, so far as is known, is still livGC 7  f h      Y            ing.  This is DAVID KINNISON, of Chicago,
Illinois, whose portrait and sign manual are
here given. The engraving is from a Daguerreotype from life, taken in August, 1848, when
I A " Bostonian," in his " Traits of the Tea Party," on the authority of G. R. T. Hewes, one of the survivors, says that Admiral Montague was at the house of a Tory named Coffin during the transaction, and
that, when the party marched from the wharf, he raised the window and said, "  Well, boys, you've had a
fine, pleasant evening for your Indian caper, haven't you?  But mind, you have got to pay the fiddler et!"
" Oh, never mind!" shouted Pitts, the leader;  never mind, squire! just come out here, if you please, and
we'll settle the bill in twolacraed the bill in two minutes." The populace raised a shout, the fifer struck up a lively air, and the
admiral shut the window in a hurry.
2 Some, whose acquisitiveness overmatched their patriotism, were pretty severely handled during the destruction of the cargoes. One Charles O'Connor was detected filling his pockets and "the lining of his doublet" with tea while assisting to throw the brokenerar e chests overboard. He was completely stripped of his clothes
and kicked ashore. A man was found at South Boston a few days afterward, with part of a chest of tea,
which he had carried away from the harbor. He had sold some. They made him give up the money, and
then, taking the remainder of the chest, they made a bonfire of it on the hcommon, in front of Mr. Hancock's
house. Some of the tea is preserved at Harvard College.
3 The following is a list of those known to have been engaged in destroying the tea:
George R. T. Hewes,* Joseph Shed, John Crane, Josiah Wheeler, Thomas Uranu, Adam Colson, Thomas
Chase, S. Cooledge, Joseph Payson, James Brewer, Thomas Bolter, Edward Proctor, Samuel Sloper, Thomas
Gerrish, Nathaniel Green, Thomas Mellville, Henry Purkett,* Edward C. How, Ebenezer Stevens, Nicholas
Campbell, John Russell, Thomas Porter, William Hurdley, Benjamin Rice, Samuel Gore, Nathaniel Frothingham, Moses Grant, Peter Slater,* James Starr, Abraham Tower, Isaac Simpson,* Joseph Eayres, Joseph
Lee, William Molineux, Paul Revere, John Spurr, Thomas Moore, S. Howard, Mathew Loring, Thomas
Spear, Daniel Ingollson, Jonathan Hunnewell,* John Hooten,* Richard Hunnewell, William Pierce,* William Russell, T. Gammell, Mr. M'Intosh,* Dr. Young, Mr. Wyeth, Edward Dolbier, Mr. Martin, Samuel
Peck, Lendall Pitts, Samuel Sprague,* Benjamin Clarke, John Prince,* Richard Hunnewell, Jr., David Kinnison.*  Many of these were merely lads at the time.


* These were living in 1836. All are now in the grave except Mr. Kinnison.




500


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Age of Mr. Kinnison.  Events of his Life.  Escape from Wounds during the Wars.  Subsequent personal Injuries.
the veteran was one hundred and eleven years and nine months old. He was alive a few
weeks since (January, 1650), in his one hundred and fourteenth year.  Through the kindness of a friend at Chicago, I procured the Daguerreotype, and the following sketch of his life
from his own lips.  The signature was written by the patriot upon the manuscript.
DAVID KINNISON was born the 17th of November, 1736, in Old Kingston, near Portsmouth, province of Maine. Soon afterward his parents removed to Brentwood, and thence
in a few years to Lebanon (Maine), at which place he followed the business of farming until the commencement of the Revolutionary war. He is descended from a long-lived race.
His great-grandfather, who came from England at an early day, and settled in Maine, lived
to a very advanced age; his grandfather attained the age of one hundred and twelve years
and ten days; his father died at the age of one hundred and three years and nine months;
his mother died while he was young.
He has had four wives, neither of whom is now living; he had four children by his first
wife and eighteen by his second; none by the last two.  He was taught to read after he
was sixty years of age, by his granddaughter, and learned to sign his name while a soldier
of the Revolution, which is all the writing he has ever accomplished.
He was one of seventeen inhabitants of Lebanon who, some time previous to the (, Tea
Party," formed a club which held secret meetings to deliberate upon the grievances offered
by the mother country. These meetings were held at the tavern of one, Colonel Gooding,"
in a private room hired for the occasion. The landlord, though a true American, was not
enlightened as to the object of their meeting.  Similar clubs were formed in Philadelphia,
Boston, and the towns around. With these the Lebanon Club kept up a correspondence.
They (the Lebanon Club) determined, whether assisted or not, to destroy the tea at all hazards.  They repaired to Boston, where they were joined by others; and twenty-four, disguised as Indians, hastened on board, twelve armed with muskets and bayonets, the rest with
tomahawks and clubs, having first agreed, whatever might be the result, to stand by each
other to the last, and that the first man who faltered should be knocked on the head and
thrown over with the tea.  They expected to have a fight, and did not doubt that an effort
would be made for their arrest.,( But" (in the language of the old man), we cared no
more for our lives than three straws, and determined to throw the tea overboard.  We were
all captains, and every one commanded himself." They pledged themselves in no event,
while it should be dangerous to do so, to reveal the names of the party-a pledge which was
faithfully observed until the war of the Revolution was brought to a successful issue.
Mr. Kinnison was in active service during the whole war, only returning home once from
the time of the destruction of the tea until peace had been declared.  He participated in the
affair at Lexington, and, with his father and two brothers, was at the battle of Bunker Hill,
all four escaping unhurt.  He was within a few feet of Warren when that officer fell.  He
was also engaged in the siege of Boston; the battles of Long Island, White Plains, and Fort
Montgomery; skirmishes on Staten Island, the battles of Stillwater, Red Bank, and Germantown; and, lastly, in a skirmish at Saratoga Springs, in which his company (scouts) were
surrounded and captured by about three hundred Mohawk Indians. He remained a prisoner
with them one year and seven months, about the end of which time peace was declared.
After the war he settled at Danville, Vermont, and engaged in his old occupation of farming.
He resided there eight years, and then removed to Wells, in the state of'Maine, where he
remained until the commencement of the last war with Great Britain. He was in service
during the whole of that war, and was in the battles of Sackett's Harbor and Williamsburg.
In the latter conflict he was.badly wounded in the hand by a grape-shot, the only injury
which he received in all his engagements.
Since the war he has lived at Lyme and at Sackett's Harbor, New York.  At Lyme,
while engaged in felling a tree, he was struck down by a limb, which fractured his skull
and broke' his collar-bone and two of his ribs.  While attending a "( training" at Sackett's
Harbor, one of the cannon, having been loaded (as he says) " with rotten wood," was discharged.  The contents struck the end of a rail close by him with such force as to carry it




-OF THE REV'OLUTION.1


501   c


O TH                LU                  -0 1


No Knowledge of his Children.  His Person and Circumstances.  Speech at a " Free Soil" Meeting.  G. R. T. Hewes.
around, breaking and badly shattering both his legs midway between his ankles and knees.
He was confined a long time by this wound, and, when able again to walk, both legs had
contracted permanent " fever sores." His right hip has been drawn out of joint by rheumatism.  A large scar upon his forehead bears conclusive testimony of its having come in contact with the heels of a horse. In his own language, he, has been completely bunged up
and stove in."
When last he heard of his children there were but seven of the twenty-two living.  These
were scattered abroad, from Canada to the Rocky Mountains.  He has entirely lost all traces
of them, and knows not that any are still living.
Nearly five years ago he went to Chicago with the family of William Mack, with whom
he is now living. He is reduced to extreme poverty, and depends solely upon his pension of
ninety-six dollars per annum for subsistence, most of which he pays for his board. Occasionally he is assisted by private donations.  Up to 1848 he has always made something by labor.
"' The last season," says my informant, " he told me he gathered one hundred bushels of corn,
dug potatoes, made hay, and harvested oats.  But now-he finds himself too infirm to labor,
though he thinks he could walk twenty miles in a day by ( starting early.'"
He has evidently been a very muscular man.  Although not large, his frame is one of
great power.  He boasts of ( the strength of former years."  Nine years ago, he says, he
lifted a barrel of rum into a wagon with ease. His height is about five feet ten inches, with
an expansive chest anli broad shoulders.  He walks somewhat bent, but with as much vigor
as many almost half a century younger. His eye is usually somewhat dim, but, when excited by the recollection of his past eventful life, it twinkles and rolls in its socket with remarkable activity.  His memory of recent events is not retentive, while the stirring scenes
through which he passed in his youth appear to be mapped out upon his mind in unfading
colors.  He is fond of martial music.  The drum and fife of the recruiting service, he says,," daily put new life into him.",( In fact," he says, " it's the sweetest music in the world.
There's some sense in the drum, and fife, and bugle, but these pianos and other such trash
I can't stand at all."
Many years ago he was troubled with partial deafness; his sight also failed him somewhat, and he was compelled to use glasses.  Of late years both hearing and sight have returned to him as perfectly as he ever possessed them.  ie is playful and cheerful
in his disposition.                  "I have seen him,"
~says my informant, "for hours upon the
side-walk with the little children, entering
'                      with uncommon zest into their childish
'!,               pastimes.  He relishes a joke, and often
if                  indulges in ' cracking one himself.'"./^,                At a public meeting, in the summer of
1848, of those opposed to the extension of
)          slavery, Mr. Kinnison took the stand and
X:/. ^,          i/         addressed the audience with marked effect.,  ~,,:/./              He declared that he fought for th, free/~';' '/':/;  /'            dom of all," that freedom ought to be given
/               t the " black boys," and closed by exhort-.'  -                        ing his audience to do all in their power to,                ABOLISH SLAVERY.
The portrait of another member of the
"Boston ~Tea Party," GEORGE ROBERT.L                V                  v     TWELVE HEWES, is preserved.    I have
copied it, by permission, from the 4 Traits
of the Tea Party, and Memoir of Hewes."  He was born in Boston, on the 5th of September, 1742. His early opportunities for acquiring education were very small. To Mrs. Tin



502                      PICTORIAL. FIELD-BOOK
Character and Patriotism of Hewes.  His Death.  Excitement in Parliament in Consequence of the Boston Tea Riot.
kum, wife of the town-crier, he was indebted for his knowledge of reading and writing.  Farming, fishing, and shoe-making seem to have been the chief employment of his earlier years.
In 1758 he attempted to enlist in the army to serve against the French, but did not "pass
muster;" he was equally unsuccessful in attempts to join the navy, and then resumed shoemaking.  In the various disturbances in Boston from the time of the passage of the Stamp
Act, Hewes, who was both excitable and patriotic, was generally concerned.  He was among
the foremost in the destruction of the tea at Boston.  When the Americans invested the city,
and many patriots were shut up under the vigilant eyes of the British officers, Hewes was
among them.   He managed to escape, and entered the naval service of the colonies as a privateer, in which he was' somewhat successful. Afterward he joined the army, and was stationed for a time at West Point, under General M'Dougal.  He was never in any land battle, except with the Cow Boys and Skinners, as they were called, of the neutral ground of
West Chester.  After the Revolution he returned to Boston, and again engaged in business
upon the sea.  He, like Kinnison, was one of the thousands of that time utterly unknown to
the world, except within 'the small love-circle of family relationship and neighborly regard;
and even this present slight embalming of their memory would not have occurred, had not the
contingency of great longevity distinguished.them from other men.  Although personally unknown, their deeds are felt in the political blessings we enjoy.  When the Bunker Hill Monument was completed and was dedicated, on the 1 7th of June, 1843, Mr. Hewes, then one
hundred and one years old, was there, and honored by all.  Returning to the residence of
his son, at Richfield, in Otsego county, New York, some sixty miles west of the Hudson, he
soon went down into the grave, when more than a century old, ", a shock of corn fully ripe."
1773.   The events of the 16th of December produced a deep sensation throughout the British realm.  They struck a sympathetic chord in every colony, and even Canada, Halifax, and the West Indies had no serious voice of censure for the Bostonians. But the ministerial party here and the public in England were amazed at the audacity of the American
people; and the friends of the colonists in Parliament were, for a moment, silent, for they
had no excuse to make in behalf of their transatlantic friends for destroying private property.
But with the intelligence of the event went an intimation that the town of Boston was ready
to pay the East India' Company for the tea, and.so the question rested at once upon its original basis-the right of Great Britain to tax the colonies.  Ministers were bitterly indignant, and the House of lords was like a " seething caldron of impotent rage."  The alleged honesty of the Americans was entirely overlooked, and ministers and their friends saw
nothing but open rebellion in the Massachusetts colony.  Strange as it may appear, the king
did not send a message to Parliament on the subject until the 7th of March, several
weeks after the disturbances at Boston were known to government.  Then he detailed
the proceedings, and his message was accompanied by a variety of papers, consisting of letters from Hutchinson, Admiral Montague, and the consignees of the tea; the dispatches of
several colonial governors (for menaces of sinilar violent measures had been uttered in other
colonies); and some of the most exciting manifestoes, hand-bills, and pamphlets put forth by
the Americans.  The king, in his message, called upon Parliament to devise means immediately to suppress these tumultuous proceedings in the colonies.
On the receipt of the message and the accompanying papers in the House of Commons,
an address of thanks to the king, and of assurances that he should be sustained in his efforts
to preserve' order in America, was proposed. This proposition, with the message and papers,
produced great excitement, and the House became, according to Burke, "( as hot as Faneuil
Hall or the Old' South Meeting-house at Boston." The debate that ensued was excessively
stormy.  Ministers and their supporters charged open rebellion upon the colonies, while the
opposition denounced, in the strongest language which common courtesy could tolerate, the
foolish, unjust, and wicked course of the government.  They reviewed the past; but ministers, tacitly acknowledging past errors, objected to retrospection, and earnestly pleaded for
strict attention to the momentous present.  They asked whether the colonies were or were
not longer to be considered dependent upon Great Britain, and, if so, how far and in what




OF THE REVOLUTION.             5023


The Bos'on Port Bill proposed and adopted.  Debates in Parliament.  Apparent Defection of Conway and Barr6.  Burke.
manner. If it was decided not to give them up to independence, then ministers were ready
to act efficiently.  This question they wished settled as preliminary to further action.  The
appeal struck upon a tender chord, and awakened national sympathies; the address was
adopted by an overwhelming majority, without a division.
Feeling his position strengthened by this vote, Lord North brought forth the first of his
vigorous schemes for subjugating the colonies and punishing the town of Boston.      On the
14th of March he offered a bill which provided for the removal of customs, courts of
justice, and government officers of every kind from Boston to Salem; and that <( the
landing, discharging, and shipping of wares and merchandise at Boston, or within the harbor
thereof," should be discontinued.   It provided, also, that when the Bostonians should fully
submit, the king should have the power to open the port.'      This was the famous Boston
Port Bill, an act which crushed the trade of the city, and brought the greatest distress upon
its inhabitants.  Lord North justified the harsh measure, by asserting that Boston was the
center of rebellious commotion in America, "- the ringleader in every riot, and set always the
example which others followed." He thought that to inflict a signal penalty upon that city
would strike at the root of the evil, and he referred to precedents where whole communities
had been punished for the crimes of some of their
mefibers.   The most violent language was used,
by some of the supporters of the ministers, against
the Americans.    " They are never actuated by
decency or reason; they always choose tarring
and feathering as an argument," said Mr. Herbert.  Mr. Van, another ministerial supporter,
denounced the people of Boston as utterly unworthy of civilized forbearance.  i' They ought to
have their town knocked about their ears and destroyed!" he exclaimed, and concluded his tirade
of abuse by quoting the factious cry of old Roman  j~orators, "Delenda est Carthago."2      Mr. Rose
Fuller proposed the imposition of a fine; and
even Barre and Conway, the undaunted friends
of America, approved of the measure as lenient.
and affecting only a single town.    They voted
for the bill, and for this apparent disaffection the  -,   -          ''.^        ' "
people of Boston removed their portraits from              --
Faneuil Hall.    But Burke, who at that time                    EDMUND nURKE.,  *..  p  n    {                       From a. English print.
began his series of splendid orations in favor ot
American liberty, denounced the whole scheme as essentially unjust, by confounding and punThe celebrated Charles James Fox, son of Lord Holland, made his first speech in Parliament on this
bill. It was a strange beginning of his brilliant career. He objected to the power vested in the British crown
to reopen the port of Boston. Neither party supported his suggestion.
2 "l Carthage must be destroyed."  This phrase was often used by Roman orators to excite the people to
the utter destruction of Carthage, then the rival of the great city. During the revolutionary mania among
the French this sentiment was often quoted as a threat against England.
3 Edmund Burke, one of England's greatest statesmen, was born in Carlow, in Ireland, January 1st, 1730.
He was educated at Dublin, and took his bachelor's degree in 1749. In 1753, having been unsuccessful in
his application for the logic professorship at Glasgow, he went. to London and entered at the Middle Temple. He early employed his pen in literature and his eloquence in politics. His first literary production
of note was an essay on the Vindication of Natural Society, in imitation of Bolingbroke's style. In 1757
he published his essay on the Sublime and Beautiful. In 1758 he and Dodswell commenced the Annual
Register, which acquired great celebrity. He accompanied Gerard (or Single Speech) Hamilton to Ireland
in 1761, and, by the interposition of that gentleman, obtained a pension of fifteen hundred dollars on the
Irish Establishment. On his return he was introduced to the Marquis of Rockingham, who made him his
secretary, and procured his election to a seat in the House of Commons. There he eloquently and efficient.
ly pleaded the cause of the Arericans. On the downfall of North's administration he became pay-master




604                              P.ICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Opposition in Parliament to the Boston Port Bill.  Passage of the Bill. Goldsmith's "Retaliation."  Epitaph for Burke
ishing the innocent with the guilty.        "It is wished, then," he said, "to condemn the accused without a hearing, to punish indiscriminately the innocent with the guilty! You will
thus irrevocably alienate the hearts of the colonies from        the: mother country.     Before the
adoption of so violent a measure, the principal merchants of the kingdom should at least be
consulted.    The bill is unjust, since it bears only upon the city of Boston, while it is notorious that all America is in flames; that the cities of Philadelphia, of New York, and all
the maritime towns of the continent, have exhibited the same disobedience.              You are contending for a matter which the Bostonians will not give up quietly. They can not, by such
means, be made to bow to the authority of ministers; on the contrary, you will find their
obstinacy confirmed and their fury exasperated.         The acts of resistance in their city have
not been confined to the populace alone, but men of the first rank and opulent fortune in the
place have openly countenanced them.          One city in proscription and the rest in rebellion
can never be a remedial measure for general disturbances.           Have you considered whether
you have troops and ships sufficient to reduce the people of the whole American continent
to your devotion?     It was the duty of your governor, and not of men without arms, to suppress the tumults.     If this officer has not demanded the proper assistance from the military
commanders, why punish the innocent for the fault and the negligence of the officers of the
crown?    The resistance is general in all parts of America; you must, therefore, let it govern itself by its own internal policy, or make it subservient to all your laws, by an exertion
of all the forces of the kingdom.     These partial counsels are well suited to irritate, not subjugate." Pownall, Johnstone (late Governor of Florida), Dodsworth, Fox, and others followed Burke on the same side, but argument was of no avail. Without a division, the bill
passed by an almost unanimous vote, and on the 31st of March it became a law by the
royal assent.
general, and obtained a seat in the Council. His great speeches against Warren Hastings, when on trial
before the House of Commons, were such as the British Legislature had never before heard. He retired
from Parliament in 1794, on a pension of six thousand dollars. During his political career he wrote much,
and his compositions rank among the purest of the British classics.  He died on the 8th of July, 1797, in
the seventieth year of his age.
Goldsmith, in his Retaliation,* wrote the following epitaph for Burke.  It was written in 1776, when
Burke was in the midst of his career.
"Here lies our good Edmund, whose genius was such,
We scarcely can praise it or blame it too much;
Who, born for the universe, narrow'd his mind,
And to party gave up what was meant for mankind.
Though fraught with all learning, yet straining his throat
To persuade Tommy Townshendt to lend him a vote;
Who, too deep for his hearers, still went on refining,
And thought of convincing while they thought of dining.
Though equal to all things, for all things unfit:
Too nice for a statesman, too proud for a wit;
For a patriot too cool; for a drudge, disobedient;
And too fond of the right to pursue the expedient.
In short, 'twas his fate, unemploy'd or in place, sir,
To eat mutton cold and cut blocks with a razor."
* The history of this poem is a "curiosity of literature." Goldsmith had peculiarities which attracted attention, and it was
proposed, at a club of literary men, of which he was a member, to write characters of him in the shape of epitaphs. Dean Barnard, Cumberland, Garrick, and others complied. Garrick wrote the following couplet:
"Here lies poor Goldsmith, for shortness call'd Noll;
Who wrote like Apollo, and talk'd like poor poll."
Goldsmith felt called upon for retaliation, and at the next meeting produced the poem from which the following is an extract
It contained epitaphs for several of the club, and he paid off his friend Garrick with compound interest. These lines occur in
Garrick's epitaph:
"Of praise a mere glutton, he swallow'd what came
And the puff of a dunce he mistook it for fame,
Till his relish grew callous, almost to disease;
Who pepper'd the highest was surest to please."
But he generously added,
"But let us be candid, and speak out our mindIf dunces applauded, he paid theni in kind."
t Afterward Lord Sydney,




OF THE REVOLUTION.                               '505
Other oppressive Acts of Parliament. Madness of Ministers. Warnings of the Opposition unheeded. The " Quebec Act"
Another bill soon followed,, for better regulating the government of Massachusetts Bay."  It was tantamount to an abrogation of the charter of that colony. It c
gave to the crown the appointment of counselors and judges of the Supreme Court, and the
nomination of all other officers, military, executive, and judicial, was given to the governors,
independently of any approval by the Council.  The sheriffs were empowered to select jurors, a duty before performed by the select-men of the towns. All town meetings, except for
elections, were prohibited.  This bill, so manifestly hostile to the freedom of British subjects;
elicited a warm debate, and'Burke and Barre opposed it with all their might. <( What can
the Americans believe," said Burke, "( but that England wishes to despoil them of all liberty,
of all franchise, and, by the destruction of their charters, to reduce them to a state of the
most abject slavery?......As the Americans are no less ardently attached to liberty than
the English themselves, can it ever be hoped that they will submit to such exorbitant usurpation, to such portentous resolutions?"  Pownall warned ministers to pause.  He alluded
to that powerful engine, the Committees of Correspondence, then unceasingly working in the
colonies, and assured ministers that their harsh measure would drive the people to the calling of a general Congress, and perhaps a resort to arms.  All opposition was fruitless, and the
bill passed the House by the overwhelming majority of two hundred and thirty-nine against
sixty-four. Lord Shelburne and others vehemently denounced it in the Upper House, and
eleven peers signed a protest in seven long articles.
North had begun to work the lever of oppression so forcibly that it seemed not easy for
him to desist.  A third bill was introduced, intended to protect the servants of roy- April 21,
alty in America against the verdicts of colonial juries.  It provided for the trial in  1774.
England of all persons charged in the colonies with murders committed in support of government.  It was suggested by a retrospect of the ( Boston massacre," and was a most unjust
and insulting comment upon the verdict in favor of Captain Preston and his soldiers.  It
was more-it guarantied comparative safety to those who might shoot a rebel in the name
of the king.  This measure was bitterly denounced by the opposition leaders.  ( This," said
Colonel Barre, "is, indeed, the most extraordinary resolution ever heard in the Parliament
of England. It offers new encouragement to military insolence, already so insupportable....... By this law Americans are deprived of a right which belongs to every human creature-that of demanding justice before a tribunal of impartial judges.  Even Captain Preston, who, in their own city of Boston, had shed the blood of citizens, found among them a
fair trial and equitable judges." Alderman Sawbridge was more bold and recriminating in
his denunciations of the measure.  He called it " ridiculous and cruel;" asserted that it
was meant to enslave the Americans, and expressed an ardent hope that they would not admit the execution of any of these destructive bills, but nobly refuse them all. "( If they do
not," he said, " they are the most abject slaves upon earth, and nothing the ministers can
do is base enough for them." Again remonstrance was vain, and the bill passed the House
by a majority of one hundred and twenty-seven to forty-four; in the Lords, by forty-nine to
twelve.  Eight peers entered a strong protest against it.  It became a law by royal assent
on the 20th of May.
A fourth bill, for quartering troops in America, was also brought in, and took the course
of others.  Rose Fuller, who generally supported ministers, attempted to break the severity
of the several enactments, and produce a reconciliation with the colonies, by proposing a repeal of the act imposing the duty on tea. His proposition was negatived by a large majority.  On the annunciation of the result, Mr. Fuller uttered these remarkable words:  I will
now take my leave of the whole plaln; you will commence your ruin from this day! I am
sorry to say that not only the House has fallen into this error, but the people approve of the
measure.  The people, I am sorry to say, are misled.  But a short time will prove the evil
tendency of this bill.  If ever there was a nation rushing headlong to ruin, it is this."
Evidently anticipating rebellion in America, and distrustful of the loyalty of the newlyacquired colony of Quebec, or Canada, a fifth act was brought forward by ministers, making
great concessions to the Roman Catholic population of that province. This law, known as




50                           PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Proceedings in Massachusetts on Account of the Port Bill.  Recall of Hutchinson.  Division of Sentiment.  Quebec Act
the Quebec Act, has already been noticed in detail on pages 156-7.'   Let us now turn our
eyes back to the colonies, and observe the spirit of the people of Boston on hearing of the
plans maturing for their enslavement and ruin.
Intelligence of the passage of the Boston Port Bill reached Massachusetts in May.
ay    Already the Assembly had taken high, but correct ground on the subject of the salaries of crown officers in the colonies.  In January that body resolved that it was incumbent upon the judges to determine at once whether they. would receive their salaries direct from the crown, or depend therefor upon the votes of the Assembly.   Chief-justice Oliver was questioned upon this point, and replied that he should hereafter look to the
crown for the emoluments of office.   The Assembly then resolved, by a majority of sixtynine to nine, C( That Peter Oliver hath, by his conduct, proved himself an enemy to the Constitution of the province, and is become greatly obnoxious to the good people of it; that he
ought to be removed from the office of chief justice; and that a remonstrance and petition
to the governor-and Council, for his immediate removal, be prepared."   They also resolvedl
to impeach the. chief justice.  The governor not only refused to remove him, but declared
the acts of the Assembly unconstitutional.'
Fortunately for Hutchinson's personal safety, but much to his chagrin, his recall accoinpanied the Port Bill, and General Gage was appointed his successor. Thus far, in all matters relative to the agitations in the colonies, Gage had behaved so discreetly that he enjoyed
a considerable share of public confidence and esteem, and in proportion as the people of Boston detested Hutchinson they were disposed to respect the new governor.    Hutchinson, deprived of the shield of delegated power, so much feared the resentment of the Boston populace, that he retired to his country house at Milton, where he remained in seclusion until a
June,1 favorable opportunity offered for him to leave the province.  It is an erroneous be-;1774-  lief that the. people were unanimous in opposition to government and in support of republican views. For a while, when the issue came, the parties were very nearly balanced
in Boston; and during the whole time of its occupancy by the British troops, until the evacuation in 1776, a large portion of the inhabitants were loyal.  Before IHutchinson departed,
one hundred and twenty merchants of Boston, and many lawyers, magistrates, and principal
gentlemen of that town, and Salern, and Marblehead, signed an address.to him, in which
they expressed entire approbation of his public conduct, and affectionate wishes for his prosperity.  These (I addressors" were afterward obliged to recant.  Some who would not left
the province, and were the earliest of the refugee Loyalists.
General Gage, doubtful what reception he should meet at Boston, proceeded with great
caution.  Four additional regiments were ordered to the rebellious town, but he went
thither from New York unattended by any military except his staff. On the day when he
*  A fact not noticed in the former consideration of the Quebec Act is worthy of record, as showing the
actual despotic tendency of Parliamentary enactments at that time. By a provision of the act in question,
the total revenue of the province of Canada was consigned, in the first instance, to a warrant from the Lord
of the Treasury, for the purpose of pensioning judges during pleasure, and the support of a civil list, totally
unlimited. This first Lord of the Treasury, or prime minister, was thus in actual possession of the whole
revenue of the province, and unrestrained in its expenditure, except by general instructions to use it "to
defray the expenses of the administration of justice, and to support civil government in the colonies."  Similar despotic ingredients were profusely sprinkled throughout the whole batch of measures brought forward
by Lord North to rule the Americans. The superficial observer is apt to consider the zeal of the Americans against Parliamentary measures highly intemperate and sometimes censurable. for apparently trifling
causes aroused the most violent action. But the colonists clearly perceived the huge monster of despotism
artfully covered under a fair guise, and what seemed but an insect, magnified by the microscope of prejudice, they knew to be the germ of a monster reality. The three per cent. duty on tea, considered alone,
was but a grain of sand as an obstacle to friendly feelings, but the principle that slept there was a towering Alp.
2 Peter Oliver, brother of Andrew Oliver, the stamp-master already noticed, was born in 1713, and graduated at Harvard in 1730. He was appointed judge of the Superior Court in 1756, and became chief justice
when his brother-in-law, Hutchinson, was appointed governor. He was impeached by the Massachusetts
Assembly in 1774. Judge Oliver soon afterward went to England. He died at Birmingham in October,
1791, aged nearly seventy-nine years.




OF THE REVOLUTION.
I


607


Arrival of General Gage in Boston.  Meetng in Faneuil Hall.  Excitement among the People.  Newspaper Devices.
entered the harbor the town was greatly excited, news of the Port Bill having just  May 1
arrived.  He landed at Long Wharf, and was received with much respect by the      1774.
immense crowd of people that met him.   He was entertained by the magistrates and others at a public dinner, and on that
evening Hutchinson was burned in
effigy on the Common, in front of
John Hancock's mansion.                          o      t
The next day a numerously attend-    e
ed town meeting, at which Samuel                                         o           -:
Adams presided, was held in Faneuil                            s c-f:   -
Hall to consider the Port Bill.  Thed
people were, indeed, at their ", wits'
end."   The decree had gone forth to
blight the town; a governor, com-.
missioned to execute the ministerial     fi                  p      l   l      s
will, was present, and soldiers were                          -
on their way to support his authori-:
ty.  The meeting voted,That it is -:
the opinion of the town that, if the            H IANcocK's IIHSE, BOSTON.other colonies come into a joint resolution to stop all importation from, and exportation to, Great Britain, and every part of the
East Indies, till the act be repealed, the same will prove the salvation of North America
and her liberties; and that the impolicy, injustice, inhumanity, and cruelty of the act exceed all our powers of expression; we, therefore, leave it to the just censure of others, and
appeal to God and the world."  Paul Revere, an artist and mechanic of Boston, and one of
-           the most active patriots, was sent to New York and Philadelphia to invoke sympathy and co-operation.  A vast number of copies of the act, printed with heavy black lines around
it, and someof them having the sepulchral device of skull
and cross-bones rudely engraved as a head-piece, were scattered over the country, and cried in cities and villages as the,", Barbarous, cruel, bloody, and inhuman murder!"                     The
r A  ]        /  whole country was inflamed, and every where the most livetly sympathy for the people of Boston was awakened.                      Orators at public gatherings, ministers in the pulpits, and the
-         -        newspaper press throughout the land, denounced the oppression laid upon Boston as a type of what was in store for the
whole country. Some of the newspapers placed at their head
the significant device used during the Stamp Act excitement,
a serpent cut in ten pieces, with the inscription ' Join or
die! or ", Unite or die!"3  The cause of Boston became the
This is a substantial stone building, situated upon Beacon Street, fronting the Common. It was erected by Thomas Hancock, an uncle of Governor Hancock, in 1737. The present proprietor is a nephew of
the governor.
t The engraving is a fac-simile, one fourth the size of the original, of a device upon one of these papers.
Over the skull is a rude resemblance of a crown, and beneath the bones that of the Cap of Liberty, denoting
that all was death and destruction between the crown and liberty. This device is supposed to be the work
of Paul Revere, who engraved the pictures of the naval investment of Boston in 1768, and the Boston Massacre in 1770. Revere was a very ingenious man, an active patriot, and, as grand master of the Masonic
fraternity in Massachusetts, had extensive influence. He was a co-worker with Samuel Adams, Joseph
Warren, and other compatriots in setting the ball of the Revolution in motion.
3 The cut upon the next page is a fac-simile of one of those illustrations. I copied it from the Pennsylvania Journal, 1774, where it appeared for nearly a year, or until the colonies were fairly united by a
Continental Congress. The loyal papers loudly condemned the use of the device. A writer in Rivington's




5Q8             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Real Weakness of the British Ministry.                 Newspaper Poetry.                     The Snake Device.
cause of all the colonies, and never were the British ministry really weaker in their government relations to America than when Lord North                 was forging, as he vainly thought, the
fetters of majestic law     to bind the colonies indissolubly to the throne.          In honorable concession alone lay his real strength, but of these precious locks the Delilah of haughty ambition
had shorn him, and when he attempted to put forth his power, he found himself, like other
men," weak indeed!
Royal Gazette,1 who called it a " scandalous and saucy reflection," was answered as follows by a correspondent of the Journal:
"To the Author of the Lines in Mr. Rivington's Paper, on the Snake depicted in some of the American
Newspapers.
"That New England's abused, and by sons of sedition,
Is granted without either prayer or petition;                N   C
And that 'tis 'a scandalous, saucy reflection,
That merits the soundest, severest correction,'                                                     NY
Is readily granted. ' How came it to pass?'                                   i
Because she is pester'd by snakes in the grass,
Who, by lying and cringing, and such like pre-  SC
tensions,
Get places once honor'd disgraced with pensions.                   v                 K
And you, Mr. Pensioner, instead of repentance
(If I don't mistake you), have wrote your own                           4
sentence;                                                                            p
For by such snakes as this New England's abusAnd the head of the serpents, 'you know, must     U         I T      E        O    R      D    I
be bruised."
"NRW JERSEY."
1 Rivington was the "king's printer" in New York city. His office was at the southeast corner of Pearl and Wall Streets. He
had the entire confidence of the British authorities, and held the "' rebels" in great contempt. He was a caustic writer, and his
remarks were often remembered with bitterness for years. The following anecdote is illustrative of this fact:
Among those who cherished very hostile feelings toward Rivington was that dare-devil, General Ethan Allen, of Vermont, who
swore he would "lick Rivington the very first opportunity he had." Rivington himself, aware of his intentions, gave a most
humorous description of his interview with Allen, showing, at the same time, his exceeding cleverness and tact, which may even
at this day be profitable to his editorial brethren. Rivington was a fine, portly-looking man, dressed in the extreme of fashion
-curled and powdered hair, claret-colored coat, scarlet waistcoat trimmed with gold lace, buckskin breeches, and top bootsand kept the very best society.
The clerk below stairs saw Allen coming at a distance. " I was sitting," said Rivington, " after a good dinner, alone, with my
bottle of Madeira before me, when I heard an unusual noise in the street, and a huzza from the boys. I was in the second
story, and, stepping to the window, saw a tall figure in tarnished regimentals, with a large cocked hat and an enormous long
sword, followed by a crowd of boys, who occasionally cheered him with huzzas, of which he seemed insensible. He came up
to my door and stopped. I could see no more. My heart told me it was Ethan Allen. I shut down my window, and retired
behind my table and bottle. I was certain the hour of reckoning had come. There was no retreat. Mr. Staples, my clerk,
came in paler than ever, and clasping his hands, said, 'Master, he is come!' 'I know it.' 'He entered the store, and asked " if
James Rivington lived there." I answered, " Yes, sir." " ls he at home?" " I will go and see, sir," I said; and now, master,
what is to be done? There he is in the store, and the boys peeping at him from the street.' I had made up my mind. I looked
at the bottle of Madeira-possibly took a glass.  Show him up,' said I; ' and if such Madeira can not mollify him, he must be
harder than adamant' There was a fearful moment of suspense. I heard him on the stairs, his long sword clanking at every
step. In he stalked. 'Is your name James Rivingtonl' 'It is,'sir, and no man could be more happy than I am to see Colonel
Ethan Allen.' 'Sir, I have come —' 'Not another word, my dear colonel, until you have taken a seat and a glass of old Madeira.'
But, sir, I don't think it proper-' 'Not another word, colonel. Taste this wine; I have had it in glass for ten years. Old wine,
you know, unless it is originally sound, never improves by age.' He took the glass, swallowed the wine, smacked his lips, and
shook his head approvingly. ' Sir, I come-' ' Not another word until you have taken another glass, and then, my dear colonel.
we will talk of old affairs, and I have some droll events to detail.' In short, we finished two bottles of Madeira, and parted as
good friends as if we never had cause to be otherwise."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


509


General Gage at Boston.          Proceedings of the Massachusetts Assembly.          Proposition for a General Coigressa


CHAPTER XXII.
Scene IV. In Boston, while the Regulars were flying from Lexington.
LORD BOSTON, surrounded by his Guards and a few Officers.
Lord Boston. If Colonel Smith succeeds in his embassy, and I think there's no doubt of it, I shall have
the pleasure this evening, I expect, of having my friends Hancock and Adams's good company; I'll make
each of them a present of a pair of handsome iron ruffles, and Major Provost shall provide a suitable entertainment for them in his apartment.
Officer. Sure they'll not be so unpolite as to refuse your excellency's kind invitation.
Lord Boston. Should they, Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn have my orders to make use of all their
rhetoric and the persuasive eloquence of British thunder.
Enters a messenger in haste.
I bring your excellency unwelcome tidingsLord Boston. For Heaven's sake! from what quarter?
Messenger. From Lexington plains.
Lord Boston. 'Tis impossible!
Messenger. Too true, sir.
Lord Boston. Say-what is it?  Speak what you know.
Messenger. Colonel Smith is defeated and fast retreating.
Lord Boston. Good God! what does he say? Mercy on me!
Messenger. They're flying before the enemy.
Lord Boston. Britons turn their backs before the Rebels! the Rebels put Britons to flight! Said you
not so?
Messenger. They are routed, sir; they are flying this instant; the provincials are numerous, and hourly
gaining strength; they have nearly surrounded our troops. A re-enforcement, sir, a timely succor, may
save the shattered remnant. Speedily! speedily, sir! or they're irretrievably lost.
"The FALL OF BRITISH TYRANNY, OR AMERICAN LIBERTY TRIUMPHANT."1
G           Yo4  r ENERAL GAGE soon became a tyrant in the eyes of the people
I? X             ~ of Boston.  However humane were his intentions, the execution of
I. his commission necessarily involved harsh and oppressive measures.  Pursuant
to the provisions of the Port Bill, he proceeded, after the appointment of the
members of the Council (see note 1, next page), to transfer the govern-  June 1,
'  ment offices to Salem, and on the 31st of May the Assembly held its final     1774 -4     session in Boston.  By proclamation, Gage adjourned the House until the 7th of
June, and ordered the next meeting at Salem.        Anticipating this measure, the.:   House appointed two members of the Assembly-Samuel Adams and James War-.      ren-to act in the interim, as the exigencies of the case might require.    These,
z with a few others already named, held private conferences, and arranged plans for
the public good. On the third evening after the adjournment of the Assembly, their
plans were matured.      The suggestions of New York and other places, as well as
)    the hints thrown out by Pownall in the House of Commons respecting a general
'    Congress, were favorably considered.   A plan was arranged for a Continental Congress; they also matured measures for making provisions for supplying funds and
1     munitions of war, prepared an address to the other colonies, inviting their co-operation in the measure of a general Congress, and drew up a non-importation agreement.


t This is a well-written drama, published by Styner and Cist, Philadelphia, in 1776. Its sub-title is,
"A tragi-Comedy of Five Acts, as lately planned at the Royal Theatrum Pandemonium at St. James's.
The principal place of action, in America." It is dedicated " To Lord Boston [General Gage], Lord Kidnapper [Dunmore, governor of Virginia], and the innumerable and never-ending class of Macs and Donalds
upon Donalds, and the remnant of the gentlemen Officers, Actors, Merry Andrews, Strolling Players, 1i



510             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Boldness of the Patriots.            Attempt to Dissolve the Assembly.            The " League."
These several propositions and plans were boldly laid before the General Court when it
June 7,  reopened at Salem.   The few partisans of the crown in that Assembly were filled
1774.  with amazement and alarm      at the boldness of the popular leaders; and as rank
treason was developed in the first acts of the majority, a partisan of government determined,
if possible, to put a stop to further rebellious proceedings.   Feigning sudden illness, he was allowed to leave the Assembly.      He went immediately to the governor and acquainted him,
with the proceedings in progress.'   Gage sent              j
his secretary to dissolve the Assembly by proc-.
lamation, but the patriots were too
vigilant for him.    The doors of the
Assembly were locked, and the keys were safely deposited in Samuel Adams's pocket.     The
secretary read the proclamation on the stairs,:i-L
but it was unheeded by the patriots within.
They proceeded to adopt and sign a " Solemn
League and Covenant," in which all former
non-importation agreements and cognate under-         /
takings were concentrated, and a committee              -
was appointed to send the covenant, as a circular, to every colony in America.3   They also
adopted the other plans matured by Adams and
others, and a resolution that " a meeting of                               /-<
committees, from the several colonies on this             2/ 2
continent, is highly expedient and necessary, to consult upon the present state of the country, and the miseries to which we are and must be reduced by the operation of certain acts
of Parliament, and to deliberate and determine on wise and proper measures to be recomrates, and Buccaneers in America.'  As most of the real names of the dramntis persona are familiar to the
readers of the few preceding chapters, I give the list as printed in the copy of the drama before me.
Lord Paramount......BUTE.                    Charley.............. JENKINSON.
Lord Mocklaw........MANSFIELD.               Brazen..............  WEDDEBURNE.
Lord Hypocrite........ DARTMOUTH.             Colonel..............BARRE.
Lord Poltron........SANDWICH.                Lord Boston..........   GAGE.
Lord Catspaw........ NORTH.                  Admiral Tombstone.... GRAVES.
Lord Wisdom......... CHATHAM.                Elbow Room........ HOWE.
Lord Religion........BISHOP OF ST. ASAPH.    Mr. Caper...........BURGOYNE.
Lord Justice.......... CAMDEN.               Lord Kidnapper...... DUNMORE.
Lord Patriot......... WILES.                  General Washington.
Bold Irishman........BURKE.                   General Lee.        Officers, soldiers, sailors, neJudas.............HUTCHINSON.                 General Putnam.        groes, 4-c., -c.
1 The political complexion of the new Council did not please Gage. He exercised the prerogative given
to him by the charter to the fullest extent in rejecting thirteen of the elected counselors.  The remainder
were not much more agreeable to him.
General Gage was then residing at the house of Robert Hooper, Esq., in Danvers, about four miles
from Salem.
3 All who felt an attachment to the American cause were called upon to sign it; and the covenanters
were required to obligate themselves, in the presence of God, to cease all commerce with England, dating
from the last of the ensuing month of August, until the late wicked acts of Parliament should be repealed
and the Massachusetts colony reinstated in all its rights and privileges; to abstain from the use of any British goods whatsoever; and to avoid all commerce or traffic with those who refused to sign the League.
Finally, it was covenanted that those who refused to sign the League should be held up to public scorn
and indignation by the publication of their names.  The articles of the League were transmitted by circulars to all the other provinces, with invitations to the inhabitants to affix their names thereto.  Philadel-.phia alone, as a city, did not accept the invitation to join in such a measure, preferring to refer the matter
to a general Congress, and agreeing to execute faithfully all measures therein agreed upon.
4A biographical sketch of this distinguished patriot will be found among those of the signers of the Declaration of Independence printed in the Appendix.




OF THE REVOLUTION.:                              511
Appointment of Delegates to a Continental Congress..Denunciation of the " League.".  Closing of, the Port of Boston.
mended to all the colonies for the recovery and re-establishment of our just rights and liberties, civil and religious, and the restoration of union and harmony between Great Britain
and America, which is most ardently desired by all good men." They designated the 1st
of September as the time, and Philadelphia as the place of meeting.  Thomas Cushing, the
Speaker of the Assembly, James Bowdoin, many years a member of the Council, Samuel
Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine, were chosen delegates. A treasurer was
appointed, and the towns were called upon to pay their respective shares of the sum of two
thousand five hundred dollars, voted to the delegates in payment of their expenses.  The
whole business bding ended, the Assembly adjourned indefinitely, and thus ended the last
session of the Assembly of Massachusetts Bay, under a royal governor.
Gage was greatly irritated by the proceedings of the Assembly, and the acts of the people
of Boston in sustaning these traitorous measures.  He refused to receive the answer of the
General Court to his address, and issued a strong proclamation in denunciation of the League
as an unlawful combination, hostile to the crown and Parliament, and ordering the magistrates to apprehend and bring to trial all who should be guilty of signing it.  The people
laughed at his proclamation, defied the pliant magistrates, and signed the League by thousands. Uncompromising hostility was aroused, and the arm of bold defiance was uplifted,
even in the midst of distress and the menaces of foreign bayonets.
At noon on the 1st of June the port of Boston was closed to all vessels that wished
to enter, and, after the 14th, all that remained were not allowed to depart. The two
regiments ordered to Boston by Gage had arrived, and were encamped on the Common.
Soon afterward, these being re-enforced by several regiments from Halifax, Quebec, New
York, and Ireland, the town became an immense garrison.  The utter prostration of all business soon produced great distress in the city.  The rich, deprived of their rents, became
straitened, and the poor, denied the privilege of labor, were reduced to beggary.  All classes felt the scourge of the oppressor, yet the fortitude and forbearance of the inhabitants
were most remarkable.  The sympathy of the people abroad was commensurate with the
sufferings of the patriots, and from every quarter came expressions of friendship and substantial tokens of attachment to the sufferers. The people of Georgia sent the Bostonians sixtythree barrels of rice, and seven hundred and twenty dollars in specie.  Wheat and other
grain were forwarded to them from different points; Schoharie, in New York, alone sending
five hundred and twenty-five bushels of wheat.  The city of London, in its corporate capacity, subscribed one hundred and fifty thousand dollars for the relief of the poor of Boston.
The people of Marblehead and Salem offered the Boston merchants the free use of wharves
and stores, for they scorned to enrich themselves at the expense of their oppressed neighbors.
A committee was appointed in Boston to receive and distribute donations, and, in the midst
of martial law, the suffering patriots were bold and unyielding.
General Gage was warned to relax the rigor of his military rule, or open rebellion would
ensue.  He aflected to disregard these warnings, yet he employed precautionary measures.
Boston is situated upon a peninsula, at that time connected with the continent by a narrow
strip of land called the Neck.  Convinced that hostilities must ensue unless the home government should recede, and relying more upon soldiers than upon conciliatory deeds, Gage
moved in subserviency to this reliance, and stationed a strong guard of armed men upon the
Neck. He gave as a reason for this measure the shallow pretext that he wished to prevent
desertions from his ranks.  The people readily interpreted the meaning of his movement,
and saw at once that the patriots of Boston were to be cut off from free communication
with those in the country, and that arms and ammunition were not to be transported from
the city to the interior.  For the first time the free intercourse of New Englanders was interrupted, and the lightning of rebellion, that had for years been curbed within the hearts
of the people, leaped forth in manifestations which alarmed the hitherto haughty hirelings of
royalty. The members of the new Council, appointed by the governor under the act which
changed, and indeed abrogated, the charter of Massachusetts, who had accepted office, were
treated with disdain at every step, and a large proportion of them were forced to resign.




5 12


Pr OTORIAI AL FIE[ D;IB B  O0


512               PICTORIAL FIELD..BOOK


Peaceable Resistance of the People.  Preparations for War.   Recantation of the Hutchinson Addressors.
The courts of justice were suspended; the attorneys who had issued writs of citation were
compelled to ask pardon in the public journals, and promise noS to expedite others until the
laws should be revoked and the charter re-established.     The people occupied the seats of
justice that no room might be left for judges.    When invited to withdraw    they answered
that they recognized no other tribunals and no other magistrates than such as were established by ancient laws and usage.2
Persuaded that war was inevitable, the people, throughout the province, began to arm
themselves and practice military tactics daily. Every where the fife and drum were heard,
and fathers and sons, encouraged by the gentler sex, took lessons together in the art of war.
The forge and hammer were busy in making guns and swords, and every thing bore the animated but gloomy impress of impending hostility. The zeal of true patriots waxed warmer; the fears of the timid and lukewarm assumed the features of courage; the avowed
friends of government became alarmed, and those Addressoers, as they were called, who
signed an address to Hutchinson on his departure, were obliged to make public recantations
in the newspapers.' Some of the Boston clergy (particularly Dr. Cooper, the person who
I This picture is from an English print of the time. Then the principal portion of the town was upon
the eastern slope and flats. There were a few houses upon the higher ground in the vicinity of Beacon
Hill, around the Common, among which was that of John Hancock. In this picture, Beacon Hill is designated by the pole, which; with its barrel, is noticed in a preceding chapter. The peninsula originally con-~~ --                         -- - -- -  - - -   =..... =.
tained about seven hundred acres. The hills have been razed and the earth carried into the water, by which
means the peninsula is so enlarged that it now comprises about fourteen hundred acres.
Otis's Botta, i., 124.
3 There were many persons of some significance who were willing, at this stage of the controversy, to
offer conciliatory measures, and they even gave encouragement to General Gage and his government. One
hundred and twenty merchants and others of Boston signed an address to General Gage, expressing a willingness to pay for the tea destroyed. It is averred, also, that some of the wealthiest people of Boston actually endeavored to raise money to pay the East India Company for the tea, but the attempt failed. There
were some others who protested against the course of the Committee of Correspondence and the action of
a large portion of the ministers of the Gospel, who, they averred, were unduly exciting the people, and urging them headlong toward ruin. But these movements were productive only of mischief. They made the
colonists more determined, and deluded the home government with the false idea that the most respectable
portion of the people were averse to change or revolution. The following is a copy of the recantation,
signed by a large number of the addressors: " Whereas we, the subscribers, did some time since sign an
address to Governor Hutchinson, which, though prompted to by the best intentions, has, nevertheless, given
great offense to our country; We do now declare, that we desire, so far from designing, by that action, to




OF THE REVOLUTION.


513


Spirit of the American Press. Zeal of the Committees of Correspondence. Their importance. Fortification of Boston Neck.
first received Hutchinson's letters from Franklin) were very active in promoting hostility to
the rulers, and the press exerted its power with great industry and effect.'
The Massachusetts Spy and the Boston Gazette were the principal Whig journals, and
through the latter, Otis, Adams, Quincy, Warren, and others communed with the public, in
articles suited to the comprehension of all. Epigrams, parables, sonnets, dialogues, and every
form  of literary expression remarkable for point and terseness, filled these journals.    The
following is a fair specimen of logic in rhyme, so frequently employed at that day. I copied
it from Anderson's Constitutional Gazette,' published in New York in 1775.         That paper
was the uncompromising opponent of Rivington's (Tory) Gazette, published in the same city:
"THE Quarrel with America fairly Stated.
"Rudely forced to drink tea, Massachusetts in anger
Spills the tea on John Bull-John falls on to bang her;
Massachusetts, enraged, calls her neighbors to aid,
And give Master John a severe bastinade.
Now, good men of the law I pray, who is in fault,
The one who begun, or resents the assault?"
The Boston Committee of Correspondence were busy night and day preparing the people
of the province for energetic action, and it needed but a slight offense to sound the battle
cry and invoke the sword of rebellion from its scabbard.s
Alarmed at the rebellious spirit manifested on all sides, Gage removed the seat August,
of government from    Salem  back to Boston, and began to fortify the Neck.       The     174
=77...
VIEW OF THE LINES ON BOSTON NECK.
From an English printpublished in 1777.
work went on slowly at first, for British gold could not buy Boston carpenters, and workmen had to be procured from    other places.   The people viewed these warlike preparations
with indignation, which was heightened by an injudicious act of Gage in sending a detachshow our acquiescence in those acts of Parliament so universally and justly odious to all America, that, on
the contrary, we hoped we might, in that way, contribute to their repeal; though now, to our sorrow, we
find ourselves mistaken. And we do now further declare, that we never intended the offense which this
address has occasioned; that, if we had foreseen such an event, we should never have signed it; as it always has been and now is our wish to live in harmony with our neighbors, and our serious determination is
to promote, to the utmost of our power, the liberty, the welfare, and happiness of our country, which is inseparably connected with our own." The Committee of Correspondence declared the recantation satisfactory, and recommended the signers of it as true friends to America.
There were five newspapers printed in Boston in 1774, as follows: the Boston Post, on Monday
morning, by Thomas and John Fleet; the Boston News-Letter, by Margaret Draper (widow of Richard
Draper) and Robert Boyle; the Massachusetts Gazette and Boston Post Boy and advertiser, by Mills and
Hicks; the Boston Gazette and Country Journal, by Edes and Gill; and the Massachusetts Spy, by Isaiah
Thomas.-See Thomas's History of Printing.
2 Anderson was the father of Dr. Alexander Anderson of New York, the earliest wood-engraver, as a
distinct art, in America. Now (1850), at the age of seventy-six, he uses the graver with all the skill and
vigor of earlier manhood.
s The committee of 1774 consisted of Samuel Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, John Adams,
William Phillips, Joseph Warren, and Josiah Quincy. The importance of these committees of correspondence may be understood by the estimate placed upon them by a Tory writer over the signature of Massachusettensis.  " This," he said, "is the foulest, subtlest, and most venomous serpent ever issued from the
egg of sedition. It is the source of the rebellion. I saw the small seed when it was implanted; it was a.
grain of mustard. I have watched the plant until it has become a great tree. The vilest reptiles that crawl
upon the earth are concealed at the root; the foulest birds of the air rest upon its branches. I now would
induce you to go to work immediately With axes and hatchets and cut it down, for a two-fold reason: because it is a pest to society, and lest it be felled suddenly by a stronger arm, and crush its thousands in
its fall."
KK
/
/




514                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Attempted Seizure of Arms and Ammunition at Cambridge.  Alarm concerning Boston.  Convention in Boston.
September 1  ment of troops to seize a quantity of gunpowder belonging to the province, stored at
1774.   Charlestown and Cambridge. This act greatly exasperated the people, and large
numbers assembled at Cambridge, determined upon attacking the troops in Boston. About
the same time, intelligence went abroad that the ships of war in Boston harbor were bombarding the town and the regular troops were massacring the people, sparing neiSeptember 3.
ther age nor sex. The news spread rapidly, and the thrill of horror produced by
the report was succeeded by a cry of vengeance.  In less than thirty-six hours the country
for more than one hundred and seventy miles in extent was aroused. From the shores of
Long Island to the green hills of Berkshire, -( To arms! to arms!" was the universal shout.
Instantly, on every side, men of all ages were seen cleansing and burnishing their weapons,
furnishing themselves with provisions and warlike stores, and preparing for an immediate
march; gentlemen of rank and fortune exhorting and encouraging others by voice and example. The roads were soon crowded with armed men, marching for Boston with great
rapidity, but without noise or tumult. Full thirty thousand men were under arms and
speeding toward the town; nor did they halt until well assured that the report was untrue.1
At a convention of delegates from the several towns in Suffolk county, to which Boston
belonged, held on the 6th of September, it was resolved that no obedience was due to
any part of the late acts of Parliament.  Collectors of taxes, and other officers holding
public money, were recommended to retain the funds in their hands until the old charter
was restored; that persons who had accepted seats in the Council had violated the duty
they owed to their country; that those who did not resign by the 20th of September should
be considered public enemies; that the Quebec Act, establishing Romanism in Canada, was
dangerous to Protestantism and liberty, and that they were determined to act on the defensive only so long as just reason required.  They also recommended the people to seize
and keep as a hostage any servant of the crown who might fall in their way, when they
should hear of a patriot being arrested for any political offense.  They drew up an address
to General Gage, telling him frankly that they did not desire to commence hostilities, but
that they were determined not to submit to any of the late acts of Parliament; they also
complained loudly of the fortifications upon the Neck.
Gage denounced the convention as treasonable, and, in reply to their address, declared
that he should take such measures for the safety of his troops and the friends of government
as he thought proper, at the same time assuring them that the cannon placed in battery on
the Neck should not be used except to repel hostile proceedings.  Unlike Governor Carleton
of Canada, he had no word of kindness or act of conciliation for the patriots,2 and they, in
turn, reviled the governor and set his power at naught. Tarring and feathering and other
violent acts became common, and the Tories or friends of government in the surrounding
country were obliged to seek refuge in Boston. The eight military companies in the town,
composed of citizens, were mostly broken up. John Hancock had been commander of a
corps called the Governor's Independent Cadets.  General Gage had dismissed him, and
the company, indignant at the affront, appointed a committee, on the 14th of August, to
1 See Hinman's Historical Collectionsfrom Official Records, &c., of Connecticut.
It was believed by some, that the rumor of the bombardment at Boston was set afloat by some of the
leading patriots, to show General Gage what multitudes of people would rise up to crush his troops if he
dared to abuse his power by committing the least act of violence.
' The kindness which Governor Carleton manifested toward the American prisoners captured at Quebec
and the Cedars in 1776, did more to keep down rebellion in that province than any severe measures could
have effected. Lamb says, that " in the spring of 1776, Governor Carleton addressed the prisoners with
such sweetness and good-humor as was sufficient to melt every heart. 'My lads,' he said, 'why did you
come to distuSb an honest man in his government that never did any harm to you in his life? I never invaded your property, nor sent a single soldier to disturb you. Come, my boys, you are in a very distressing situation, and not able to go home with any comfort. I must provide you with shoes, stockings, and
warm waistcoats. I must give you some victuals to carry you home. Take care, my lads, that you do
not come here again, lest I should not treat you so kindly."-Lamb's Journal of the.merican War, p. 89:
Dublin, 1809.




OF THE REVOLUTION.            515


Revolutionary Town Meetings.    Order for Convening the Assembly countermanded.   Meeting of the Assembly.
wait on the governor at Salem, and return him         their standard, ( as they had almost unanimously disbanded themselves."'
The day before the meeting of the Suffolk  convention, the    general Continental
September 5,  Congress met in Philadelphia,
1774.     and as soon as information of
its firm proceedings reached Massachusetts,
the patriots assumed a bolder tone.      Gage
summoned the House of Representatives to
meet at Salem, to proceed to business according to the new     order of things under        i        -'"
the late act of Parliament.      Town meetings were held, but so revolutionary were                                              t
their proceedings, that Gage countermand-              -
ed his order for the Assembly.       His right                    ito countermand was denied, and most of? L'
the members elect, to the number of nine-          '                                         "
October 5.  ty, met at Salem   on the day appointed.    Gage, of course, was
not there, and as nobody appeared to open                       -                ''the court or administer the oaths, they re-                         JOHN HANCOCK.2
solved themselves into a provincial Congress, adjourned to Concord, and there organized by choosing John Hancock president, and
I copy from the Massachusetts Spy of September, 1774, the following lampoon in rhyme:
". sample of gubernatorial eloquence, as lately exhibited to the company of cadets:
"Your Colonel H-n-k, by neglect
Has been deficient in respect;
As he my sovereign toe ne'er kissed,
'Twas proper he should be dismissed;
I never was and never will
By mortal man be treated ill.
I never was nor ever can
Be treated ill by mortal man.
Oh had I but have known before
That temper of your factious corps,
It should have been my greatest pleasure
To have prevented that bold measure.
To meet with such severe disgraceMy standard flung into my face I
Disband yourselves! so cursed stout!
Oh had I, had I, turned you out!"
This is given as a specimen of the fearlessness of the press at that time, for it must be remembered that
the Spy was printed in Boston, then filled with armed troops employed to put down rising rebellion. Gage's
proclamations were paraphrased in rhyme, and otherwise ridiculed. One of these, now before me, cormmences,
"Tom Gage's Proclamation,
Or blustering Denunciation
(Replete with Defamation),
Threatening Devastation
And speedy Jugulation
Of the New English Nation,
Who shall his pious ways shun."
It closes with
" Thus graciously the war I wage,
As witnesseth my handTOM GAGE.
"By command of Mother Carey.
"THOMAS FLUCKER, Secretajry."*
g A biographical sketch of Mr. Hancock will be found among those of the signers of the Declaration of
Independence, in another part of this work.


* Flucker was Secretary of Massachusetts under Gage. Henry (afterward general) Knox, of the Revolution, married his




5 16


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Appointment of Committees of Safety and Supplies.  Appointment of military Officers.  Spiking of Cannons.
Benjamin Lincoln, afterward a revolutionary general, secretary.  A committee, appointed
to consider the state of the province, prepared an address to Gage, which the Congress
adopted, and then adjourned to Cambridge, where another committee was sent to present
the address to the governor.  In that address they protested against the fortification of the
Neck, and complained of the recent acts of Parliament, while they expressed the warmest
loyalty to the king and the government.  Gage replied, as he did to the Suffolk committee,
that his military preparations were made only in self-defense, and were justified by the warlike demonstrations on every hand.   He concluded by pronouncing their Assembly illegal,
and in contravention of the charter of the province, and warned them to desist.
The denunciations of Gage had no other effect than to increase the zeal of the patriots.
The Provincial Congress proceeded to appoint a Committee of Safety, at the head of which
was John Hancock, giving it power to call out the militia. A committee was appointed
to provide ammunition and stores, and the sum of sixty-six thousand dollars was appropriOctober26,  ated for the purpose.  Provision was also made for arming the people of the
1774.   province.  They appointed Henry Gardner treasurer of the colony, under the title
of receiver general, into whose hands the constables and tax-collectors were directed to pay
all public moneys which they received. Jedediah Preble, Artemus Ward, and Seth Pomeroy, were appointed general officers of the militia.1  The first did not accept the appointment, and Ward and Pomeroy alone entered upon the duty of organizing the military.
Ammunition and stores were speedily collected at Concord, Woburn, and other places.
Mills were erected for making gunpowder; manufactories were set up for making arms,
and great encouragement was given to the production of saltpeter.
The Provincial Congress disavowed any intention to attack the British troops, yet took
measures to cut off their supplies from the country.  Gage issued a proclamaNovember 10.
tion, denouncing their proceedings, to which no attention was paid; and as the
recommendations of the Provincial Congress had all the authority of law, he was unsupported except by his troops, and a few officials and their friends in the city.  Apprehending
that the people of Boston might point the cannons upon the fortifications about the town
upon himself and troops, he caused a party of sailors to be landed by night from a ship of
war in the harbor, who spiked all the guns upon the battery at Fort Hill.
At a session of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, convened on the 23d of November, it was voted to enrol twelve thousand minute men-volunteers pledged to be ready
to enter the field at a minute's notice-and an invitation was sent to Connecticut and
Rhode Island to follow this example, and increase the number of minute men to twenty
thousand. They elected the same delegates to the general Congress, to meet again in May,
1775; appointed Colonel Thomas and Colonel Heath additional generals; and adopted
measures for the formation of a new Provincial Congress, to meet early in the ensuing year.
They then adjourned to attend the general thanksgiving, held according to their own appointment.2 When the year 1774 closed, the colonies were on the verge of open insurrection.  Let us turn for a moment to view the progress of events in England.
When the colonial agents there observed the manifest improbability of a reconciliation
and the certainty of an appeal to arms, they were exceedingly active in their efforts to
mold the popular opinion in favor of the colonies.  The various addresses put forth by the
For a sketch of the life of General Ward, see ante, page 190. Pomeroy was in the battle of Lake
George, in 1755, and was the soldier of that name whom Everett supposes to have shot Baron Dieskau.
See page 109.
2 This appointment was always made by the governor, as at the present day, but the patriots had absolutely discarded his authority.
daughter Lucy, in opposition to the wishes of her father, who desired a more advantageous match for her. Knox was a young
bookseller in Boston, and Miss Flucker, who possessed considerable literary taste, became acquainted with him while visiting
his store to purchase articles in his line. A sympathy of taste, feeling, and views produced mutual esteem, which soon ripened
into love. Her friends looked upon her as one ruined in prospects of future social esteem and personal happiness, in wedding
one who had espoused the cause of rebellion; but many of those very friends, when the great political change took place, were
outcasts and in poverty, while Lucy Knox was the center of the first social circle in America.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


517


Efforts of Franklin and others.     Counteraction by Adam Smith and others.        Proceedings in Parliament


Continental Congress were printed and industriously circulated.  Dr. Franklin and other
friends of America traversed the manufacturing towns in the north of England, and by personal communications enlightened the people upon the important questions at issue.  The
inhabitants of those districts were mostly Dissenters, looking upon the Church of England as
an oppressor; and, by parity of simple reasoning, its main pillar, the throne, was regarded
equally as an instrument of oppression.  They were, therefore, eager listeners to the truths
respecting human rights which the friends of republicanism uttered, aAd throughout Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham, and Northumberland, the people became much excited.
Ministers were alarmed, and concerted measures to
-\           counteract the effects produced by these itinerant republicans.  Adam Smith, the author of " The Wealth of
/ ///-': -   I\\        Nations," Wedderburne, the solicitor general, and other
friends of the ministry, wielded their pens vigorously;
_/ 1 '/          -      -    X \ and, at their solicitation, Dr. Roebuck, of Birmingham,
a very popular man among the manufacturing population, followed in the wake of Franklin and his friends,
l... i               and endeavored to apply a ministerial antidote to their
\        republican poison.  In this he was measurably success\                     ful, and the districts were quieted.
\/ /               Parliament assembled on the 30th of Novem1774.
/      er.  The king informed them that America was
on the verge of open rebellion. When the usual address
to the king was proposed in the House of Commons, the
opposition offered an amendment, asking his majesty to
ADAM SMITH.1        lay before Parliament all letters, orders, and instructions
From a medallion by Tassie.
relating to American affairs, as well as all the intelligence received from the colonies. Lord North opposed the amendment, because it made
the first advances toward a reconciliation, and therefore was inconsistent with the dignity
of the government! The address was replete with assurances of support for the king and
ministers in all measures deemed necessary to maintain government in the colonies, or, in
other words, in drawing the sword, if necessary, to bring the Americans to the feet of royal
authority.  A debate, characterized by considerable bitterness, ensued, but the amendment
was rejected, and the loyal address was adopted by a vote of two hundred and sixty-four
against seventy-three. Similar action was had in the House of Lords, and an address was
carried by a vote of sixty-three to thirteen.  Nine peers signed a sensible protest, which
concluded with these words: ( Whatever may be the mischievous designs or inconsiderate
temerity which leads others to this desperate course, we wish to be known as persons who
have ever disapproved of measures so pernicious in their past effects and future tendencies;
and who are not in haste, without inquiry and information, to commit ourselves in declarations which may precipitate our country into all the calamities of a civil war."
Franklin and his associates caused strong remonstrances and petitions to be sent in from
the northern manufacturing districts; and respectful petitions were also sent in from London, Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, and other large towns, praying for a just and conciliatory course toward America.  These petitions were referred to an inactive committee —" a
committee of oblivion," Burke called it-while a few counter petitions, procured by Roebuck, were acted upon immediately. Petitions from Americans, and even one from JaAdam Smith was born at Kirkaldy, in Scotland, in 1723. At the age of three years he was carried
off by some gipsies, but soon afterward was recovered. He was educated at Oxford, and was designed for
the Church. He became an infidel in religious views, and of course turned his attention to other than clerical duties. He was the friend of Hume, Gibbon, and several of the most distinguished infidel writers of
France. He wrote much, but the work on which his reputation rests is his " Inquiry into the Nature and
Cause of the Wealth of Nations," published in 1771. It was for a long time the ablest work on political
economy in the English language. He died in 1790, as he had lived, a contemner of Christianity




518                       PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Appearance of Pitt in Parliament.  His Speech on American Affairs.  His conciliatory Proposition.
maica, in favor of the colonies, were treated with disdain, and the Americans had every
reason to believe that government was anxious to light up the flame of war, with the expectation of at once crushing the spirit of independence in the West by a single tread of its
iron heel of power.
Parliament, which adjourned until after the Christmas holidays, reassembled on the
20th of January.  Greatly to the astonishment of every one, Lord Chatham (Pitt)
was in his place in the Upper House on the following day. It was understood that he had
washed his hands of American affairs, and that he would probably not be seen in Parliament during the session. It was a mistake, and the great statesman opened the business
of the session by proposing an address to the king, asking him to " immediately dispatch orders to General Gage to remove his forces from Boston as soon as the rigors of the season
would permit."  " I wish, my lords," he said,, not to lose a day in this urgent, pressing
crisis.  An hour now lost may produce years of calamity.  For my part, I will not desert,
for a single moment, the conduct of this weighty business. Unless nailed to my bed by extremity of sickness, I will give it my unremitted attention.  I will knock at the door of
this sleeping and confounded ministry, and will rouse them to a sense of their impending
danger. When I state the importance of the colonies to this country, and the magnitude
of danger from the present plan of misadministration practiced against them, I desire not to
be understood to argue for a reciprocity of indulgence between England and America.  I
contend not for indulgence, but justice to America; and I shall ever contend that the Americans owe obedience to us in a limited degree." After stating the points on which the supremacy of the mother country was justly predicated, the great orator continued: ( Resistance to your acts was necessary as it was just; and your vain declarations of the omnipotence of Parliament, and your imperious doctrines of the necessity of submission, will be
found equally incompetent to convince or to enslave your fellow-subjects in America, who
feel that tyranny, whether ambitioned by an individual part of the Legislature or the bodies
who compose it, is equally intolerable to British subjects." He then drew a picture of the
condition of the troops in Boston, suffering from the inclemencies of winter, insulted by the
inhabitants, wasting away with sickness and pining for action; and finally, after alluding
to the wisdom of the late Congress and the approval of their acts by the people, he exclaimed,,, I trust it is obvious to your lordships that all attempts to impose servitude upon
such men, to establish despotism over such a mighty continental nation, must be vainmust be fatal.  We shall be forced ultimately to retract; let us retract while we can, not
when we must.....To conclude, my lords, if the ministers thus persevere in misadvising
and misleading the king, I will not say that they can alienate the affections of his subjects
from his crown, but I will affirm that they will make the crown not worth his wearing. I
will not say that the king is betrayed, but I will pronounce that the kingdom is undone."
Chatham's motion was negatived by a vote of sixty-eight to eighteen. Not at all discouraged, he immediately presented a bill, in which it was proposed to renounce the power
of taxation, demand of the Americans an acknowledgment of the supreme authority of Great
Britain, and invite them to contribute, voluntarily, a specified sum annually, to be employed
in meeting the charge on the national debt.  This accomplished, it proposed an immediate
repeal of all the objectionable acts of Parliament passed during the current reign, and then
in force.' This, of course, ministers regarded as a concession to the colonies quite as injurious to national honor as any thing yet proposed, and more humiliating, even, than Dr.
Tucker's propositions, then attracting much attention, that Parliament should, by solemn
act, separate the colonies from the parent government, and disallow any application for restoration to the rights and privileges of British subjects, until, by humble petition, they should
These were ten in number: the Sugar Act, the two Quartering Acts, the Tea Act, the Act suspending
the New York Legislature (hereafter to be noticed), the two Acts for the Trial in Great Britain of Offenses
committed in America, the Boston Port Bill, the Actfor Regulating the General Government of Massachusetts, and the Quebec Act.




IOF THE REVOLUJTION.


519


OF THE REVOLUTION.                  519


Virtual Declaration of War against the Colonists. Warm Debates in Parliament. Chatham and Franklin. Gibbon and Fox.
ask for pardon and reinstatement.' Chatham's proposition received very little favor in the
House of Lords, though loudly applauded by the more intelligent people without,2 and it was
negatived, on the motion of the Earl of Sandwich to " reject the bill now and forever," by a
vote of sixty-one against thirty-two.
The ministry, governed by the ethics of the lion (without his magnanimity), " might
makes right," followed up their foolish rejection of the olive branch, by proposing measures
tantamount to an actual declaration of war upon the American colonists, as rebels. On the
2d of February, North proposed the first of a series of coercive measures.   He moved,
in the Commons, for an address to the king, affirming that the province of Massachusetts was in a state of rebellion; that Great Britain,i         ~    would not relinquish an iota of her sovereign rule in the
/    colonies, and urging his majesty to take effectual measures for enforcing obedience to the laws.   The address
&                     concluded with the usual resolution to support him with
-        their " lives and fortunes.":~i         -    -      On introducing the motion, North intimated that a
part of his plan was to materially increase the military
v?-  forces in America, and to restrain the entire commerce
of New England with Great Britain, Ireland, and the
West Indies.     Fox moved an amendment, censuring
<t.the ministry and praying for their removal.    Dunning,  / E  i                     and the great Thurlow engaged in the debate on the
l             side of the opposition, which became very warm.    Fox's:             amendment was negatived by a vote of three hundred
and four against one hundred and five, and North's
EDWARD GIBBON.            motion prevailed by a majority of two hundred and
ninety-six to one hundred and six in the Commons, and
in the Upper House by eighty-seven to twenty-seven; nine peers protesting.3
1 Josiah Tucker, D.D., dean of Gloucester, was an able English divine, and son of Abraham Tucker, author of The Light of Nature Pursued, a work in nine octavo volumes. Dr. Tucker was a famous pamphleteer at the time of our Revolution. He was the only friend of the British ministry who wrote in favor
of the independence of the colonies.
2 The corporation of the city of London passed a vote of thanks to him, and Franklin (to whom Chatham
submitted the bill before offering it in the Senate) sent forth an address to the people of England, and to his
own countrymen there, in which he portrayed the wickedness of rejecting this plan of reconciliation, the
only feasible one that had been offered for years. Franklin and other agents asked to be examined at the
bar of the House of Commons touching the demands of the general Congress; but even this courtesy, for it
could be called nothing more, was roughly denied.
3 Gibbon the historian, author of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, who had then a seat in
Parliament, writing to his friend Sheffield, said, " We voted an address of 'lives and fortunes,' declaring
Massachusetts Bay in a state of rebellion; more troops, but, I fear, not enough, to go to America, to make
an army of ten thousand men at Boston; three generals, Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne! In a few days we
stop the ports of New England. I can not write volumes, but I am more and more convinced that, with
firmness, all may go well; yet I something doubt."
Gibbon was very much disposed to take sides with the Americans, and it is said that he publicly declared
at Brooke's Coffee-house, that "there was no salvation for England, unless six of the heads of the cabinet
council were cut off and laid upon the tables of the houses of Parliament as examples." Gibbon had his
price, and, within a fortnight after the above expression was uttered, took office under that same cabinet
council, with a liberal salary and promise of a pension. His mouth was thus stopped by the sugar-plums
of patronage. So says Bailey, author of " Records of Patriotism and Love of Country," page 169. Bailey
also gives the following poem, which he asserts was written by.Fox:
"King George, in a fright, lest Gibbon should write
The stoiy of Britain's disgrace,
Thought no means more sure his pen to secure
Than to give the historian a place.
But his caution is vain, 'tis the curse of his reign
That his projects should never succeed;
Though he write not a line, yet a cause of decline
In the author's example we read.




520            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


John Wilkes in Parliament His Character and Career. Bill for destroying the New England Fisheries. A conciliatory Bill.
In the debate on this bill the celebrated John Wilkes, then'a member of Parliament, formerly editor of the North Briton, a radical paper, who had given the government a world
of trouble during a portion of the first eight years of the
-                           reign of George III., took a conspicuous part in favor of
the Americans.     He declared that a proper resistance to
/            wrong was revolution, and not rebellion, and intimated
that if the Americans were successful, they might, in after
times, celebrate the revolution of 1775 as the English did.                      that of 1688.    Earnest recommendations to pursue milder measures were offered by the opposition, but without
effect.  It was voted that two thousand additional seamen and one thousand four hundred soldiers should be
sent to America.,           A few days afterward Lord North brought         February 10,
forth another bill, providing for the destruction    1775.
JOHN WILKES.           of the entire trade of the New England colonies, and of
their fisheries.2  It had a clause, excepting those individuals from the curse who should produce a certificate from their respective governors testifying to their general good conduct, and who should acknowledge the supremacy of the British Parliament. In addition to the opposition which the bill received in the Commons, the
merchants of London presented an earnest remonstrance against it,3 and so did the Quakers
in behalf of their brethren in Nantucket, but without effect.      It passed by a majority of
one hundred and eighty to fifty-eight.   Fresh intelligence from America, representing the general adhesion to the Continental Congress, arrived at this juncture, and
another bill was speedily passed, in the form of an amendment, including all the colonies in
the Restraining Act, except New York and North Carolina, where loyalty seemMarch 21.
ed to predominate.
While the Restraining Act was under consideration, North astonished all parties by offering what he pretended to be a conciliatory bill.     It proposed that when the proper authorities, in any colony, should offer, besides maintaining its own civil government, to raise
His book well describes, how corruption and bribes
Overthrew the great empire of Rome;
And his writings declare a degen'racy there,
Which his conduct exhibits at home."
The first volume of Gibbon's Rome was published in 1776, and the sixth and last on his fifty-first birthday, in 1788. His bookseller, Mr. Cadell, on that day gave him forty thousand dollars. Gibbon died in
January, 1794.
i This fearless political writer was born in 1727. He became a member of Parliament in 1757. In the
forty-fifth number of the " North Briton," published in 1763, he made a severe attack on government, for
which he was sent to the Tower.  On account of a licentious essay on woman he was afterward expelled
from the House of Commons. Acquitted of the charge for which he was committed to the Tower, he prosecuted Mr. Wood, the Under Secretary, received five thousand dollars damages, and then went to Paris.
He returned to England in 1768, sent a letter of submission to the king, and was soon afterward elected to
a seat in Parliament for Middlesex. The seat was successfully contested by another. He was then elected
alderman of London, and the same year obtained a verdict of twenty thousand dollars against the Secretary
of State for seizing his papers. He was sheriff in 1771, and in 1774 was elected lord mayor, and took hi~
seat in Parliament for Middlesex. He was made Chamberlain of London in 1779, and soon afterward retired from the field of party politics. He died at his seat in the Isle of Wight in 1797, aged seventy years.
The likeness here given is copied from a medal struck in his honor. The obverse side has a pyramid upon
a pedestal, beside which stands a figure of Time inscribing upon the pyramid the number 45. On the pedutal are the words Magna Charta, and beneath, IN MEMORY OF THE YEAR MDCCLXVIII. Wilkes had a
most forbidding countenance, but his manners were pleasing.  In his private character he was licentious,
yet his talents and energy employed upon the popular side made him the idol of the people.
2 According to testimony produced in Parliament, about 400 ships, 2000 fishing shallops, and 20,000
men were thus employed in the British Newfoundland fisheries.
3 The people of New England were, at that time, indebted to the merchants of London nearly five million dollars. With the destruction of the trade of the colonists, all hope of collecting even a small share of
this sum would be lost.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


521


Singular Position of Lord North.  His Triumph. Action of the London Merchants. The moral Spectacle in the Colonies.
a certain revenue and place it at the disposition of Parliament, it would be proper to forbear
imposing any tax, except for the regulation of commerce. The ministerial party opposed it
because it was conciliatory, and the opposition were dissatisfied with it because it proposed
to abate but a single grievance, and was not specific. To his great astonishment, the minister found himself in the midst of a cross-fire from 'both parties; yet he stood his ground
well, and adroitly carried the proposition through. Although he acknowledged that it was
really a cheat with a fair exterior of honesty, and intended to sow division in the councils of
the colonies, heedless members of Parliament gave it support, and the bill was passed by a
vote of two hundred and seventy-four to eighty-eight.
On the heel of this bill Burke proposed a conciliatory plan, and five days.afterward Mr. Hartley offered a mild scheme, similar to Chatham's; but they were          2
negatived by large majorities.  The " lord mayor, aldermen, and livery of London," urged
by the merchants, who were smarting under the effects of the lash applied to the Americans,
addressed the king in condemnation of the late measures toward the colonies. Aprl 10,
They were sternly rebuked by his majesty, who expressed his astonishment that any  1775.
of his subjects presumed to be abettors of tie rebels.  It was obvious that
"King, Commons, and Lords were uniting amain
To cut down this guardian of ours,"
and Franklin, abandoning all hope of reconciliation, sailed for America.
For more than ten years the colonies had complained of wrongs, petitioned for redress,
and suffered insults.  Forbearance was no longer a virtue, and, turning their backs upon
Great Britain, they prepared for war.  In this movement Massachusetts took the lead.
The Provincial Congress ordered the purchase of ammunition and stores for an army of fifteen thousand men. They called upon the Congregational clergy to preach liberty from
their pulpits, and hearty responses were given.  " The towns, which had done so fearlessly
and so thoroughly the preparatory work of forming and concentrating political sentiment,
came forward now to complete their patriotic actions by voting money freely to arm, equip,
and discipline ' Alarm List Companies;' citizens of every calling appeared in their ranks;
to be a private in them was proclaimed by the journals an honor; to be chosen to office in
them, a mark of the highest distinction.  In Danvers, the deacon of the parish was elected
captain of the minute men, and the minister his lieutenant. The minute men were trained
often, the towns paying the expense; and the company, after its field exercises, would sometimes repair to the meeting-house to hear a patriotic sermon, or partake of an entertainment
at the town-house, where zealous sons of liberty would exhort them to prepare to fight
bravely for God and their country.   Such was the discipline-so free from  a mercenary
spirit, so full of inspiring influences-of the early American soldiery.  And thus an army,
in fact, was in existence, ready at a moment's call, for defensive purposes, to wheel its isolated platoons into solid phalanxes, while it presented to an enemy only opportunity for an
inglorious foray upon its stores."
Had the counsels of inflamed zeal and passion-inflamed by the most cruel and insulting
oppression-prevailed, blood would have been shed before the close of 1774.  Troops continued to arrive at Boston,' and the insolence of the soldiery increased with their numbers
Frothingham's Siege of Boston, p. 42.
In November, 1774, there were eleven regiments of British troops, besides the artillery, in Boston. In
December, 500 marines landed from the Asia man-of-war, and, at the close of the month, all the troops
ordered from the Jerseys, New York, and Quebec had arrived. A guard of 150 men was stationed at the
lines upon the Neck. The army was brigaded. The first brigadier general was Earl Percy, Moncrief
his brigade major; the second general was Pigott, his major, Small; third general, Jones, his major, Hutchinson, son of the late governor. The soldiers were in high spirits, and the officers looked with contempt
upon the martial preparations of the people. " As to what you hear of their taking arms to resist the force
of England," wrote an officer, in November, 1774, " it is mere bullying, and will go no further than words;
whenever it comes to blows, he that can run the fastest will think himself best off. Believe me, any two
regiments here ought to be decimated, if they did not beat, in the field, the whole force of the Massachu.
setts province."




522                        PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Carrying Ammunition out of the City.  Detection.  Hostile Movements of Gage.  Counteraction of the Whigs.
and strength; but the Americans were determined that when collision, which was inevitable, should take place, the first blow should be struck by the British troops, and thus make
government the aggressor.  The occasion was not long delayed.  General Gage discovered
that the patriots were secretly conveying arms and ammunition out of Boston. In carts,
beneath loads of manure, cannon balls and muskets were carried out; and powder, concealed in the panniers of the market-women, and cartridges in candle-boxes, passed unsuspected
by the guard upon the Neck.1 On discovering these movements, and learning that some
brass cannon and field-pieces were at Salem, Gage sent a detachment of troops to seize them.
They were repelled by the people under Colonel Timothy Pickering, without bloodshed, as
we have noticed on page 374. This movement aroused the utmost vigilance throughout
March, the country. At a special session of the Connecticut Assembly, Colonel Wooster
1775.  was commissioned a major general, and Joseph Spencer and Israel Putnam were
appointed brigadiers. Elbridge Gerry, a merchant of Marblehead, and afterward a signer
of the Declaration of Independence, was at the head of the Massachusetts Committee of
Supply, and under his directions munitions of war were rapidly accumulated, the chief deposit of which was at Concord, about twenty mi4es from Boston. Meanwhile, Sewall, the
attorney general of the province, wrote a series of powerful articles, calling upon the people
to cease resistance; and, greatly to the alarm of the patriots lest there should be defection
in their strong-hold, Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, soon afterward offered to mediate
between General Gage and the people of Boston, for the sake of preventing hostilities.
Timothy Ruggles, president of the   ( Stamp Act Congress," got up counter associations
against those of the patriots, and a small number at Marshfield and other places signed the
agreement, calling themselves the,( Associated Loyalists." But John Adams promptly replied to Judge Sewall; Governor Trumbull's apparent conservatism was soon understood
to be but a testimony against government, to prove that offers of reconciliation had been
made and rejected; the patriots made the " Associated Loyalists" recant, and the republicans assumed a bolder tone than ever of defiance and contempt.
When spring opened, Gage's force amounted to about three thousand five hundred effective men. He determined, with this force, to nip the rebellion in the bud, and his first active movement was an attempt to seize or destroy the stores of the patriots at Concord, which
were under the charge of Colonel James Barrett.  Officers in disguise were sent to make
sketches of the roads, and to ascertain the state of the towns.  Bodies of troops were occasionally marched into the country, and a general system of reconnoissance around Boston was
established.  The ever-vigilant patriots were awake to all these movements.   A nightwatch was established at Concord, and every where the minute men were ready with burnished muskets, fixed bayonets, and filled cartouches.
Early in April, many who had taken a prominent part in the revolutionary proceedings
at Boston, apprehending arrest, and probable transportation to England for trial, left the
town.' Among-those who remained was Dr. Joseph Warren, and he kept the patriots continually advised of the movements of Gage and his troops. Samuel Adams and John Hancock, who were members of the Provincial Congress, were particularly obnoxious to General
Gage, and, as it appeared afterward, he had resolved to arrest them on their return to the
1 On the 18th of March the discovery was made, and the guard at the Neck seized 13,425 musket cartridges and a quantity of balls. In doing this, a teamster was severely handled. This circumstance, the
oration of Dr. Joseph Warren, in the "Old South," on the anniversary of the Massacre (March 5th), the
tarring and feathering of a citizen of Billerica, charged with tempting a soldier to desert, and an assault
upon the house of John Hancock, greatly excited the people.
2 "A daughter of liberty, unequally yoked in point of politics, sent word by a trusty hand to Mr. Samuel
Adams, residing, in company with Mr. Hancock, at Lexington, that the troops were coming out in a few
days. Upon this, their friends in Boston were advised to move out their plate, &c., and the Committee of
Safety voted that all the ammunition be deposited in nine different towns, and that other articles be lodged,
some in one place and some in another; so, as to the 15 medicine-chests, 2000 iron pots, 2000 bowls,
15,000 canteens, and 1000 tents; and that the six companies of matrosses be stationed in different towns."
-Gordon, i., 309.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                                    523
British Expedition to Concord.  Its Discovery by the Americans.  Lexington aroused.   Midnight March of the Enemy.


city.  Fortunately, they were persuaded to remain at Lexington, at the house of the Reverend Jonas Clark.
On Tuesday night, the 18th of April, Gage sent eight hundred British troops, light
infantry and grenadiers, under Lieutenant-colonel Smith, aided by Major Pitcairn, to
destroy the stores at Concord. They embarked at the Common, and, landing at Phipps's
Farm, marched with great secrecy, arresting every person they met on the way, to prevent
intelligence of their expedition being given.
They left Boston at about midnight, Gage supposing the movement to be a profound secret; but the patriots had become aware of the expedition early in the evening. As Lord
Percy was crossing the Common, about nine o'clock, he joined a group of persons, one of
whom said,, The British troops will miss their aim."  " What aim?" inquired Percy,
who was Gage's confidant in the matter. "The cannon at Concord," replied the man.
Percy hastened to inform Gage, and guards were immediately set at every avenue leading from the town, to prevent persons from leaving it.  Warren and
his friends had anticipated this, and left.  Paul Revere and William Dawes
i      had just rowed across the river to Charlestown, with a message from Warrcn to Hancock and Adams at Lexington. They were almost captured at
i        Charlestown Neck by the guard, but escaped, and reached Lexington,
M  ^ m     thirteen miles northward of Boston, a little after midnight. A guard of
'                    teight minute men was placed around Mr. Clark's house to protect
Adams and Hancock. The messengers made themselves known to
'    ithese, but were refused admission to the house, as orders had been
I:       given not to allow the inmates to be disturbed by noise.
", Noise!" said Revere; "you'll have noise enough before
long; the regulars are coming!"       Hancock
and Adams were aroused, and their safety
i    being regarded as of the utmost importance,
H^                           they were persuaded to retire to Woburn.; Revere and Dawes pushed on toward Concord to give the alarm there.  One hundred and thirty of the Lexington militia
-   were collected at the meeting-house upon
-..:: - the green by two o'clock in the morning, when
--,       the roll was called, and, the air being chilly,
'.             CLARK'S HrouE,  they were dismissed with orders to remain
LEXINGTON.1
within drum-beat.
The midnight march of the British regulars was performed in silence, and, as they supposed, in secret.  But vigilant eyes were upon them.  Messrs. Gerry, Orne, and Lee,
members of the Provincial Congress, were at Menotomy (West Cambridge), and saw them
passing; and, as they approached Lexington, the sound of bells and guns warned them that.
their expedition was known.3
Colonel Smith detached six companies under Major Pitcairn, with orders to press on to


This building was standing when I visited Lexington in 1848. It was built by Thomas Hancock, Esq.,
of Boston, as a parsonage for his father, the Reverend John Hancock, of Lexington, about 130 years ago.
Mr. Hancock was a minister at Lexington fifty-two years, and was succeeded by the Reverend Jonas Clark,
the occupant of the house at the time of the skirmish at Lexington. Mr. Clark lived in the house fifty-two
years. The room in which the two patriots, Samuel Adams and John Hancock, were sleeping on the night
before the skirmish at Lexington, is retained in its original condition. The wainscoting is of Carolina pine,
and the sides of the room are covered with a heavy paper, with dark figures, pasted upon the boards in
rectangular pieces about fourteen inches square. In an adjoining room is one of those ancient fire-places,
ornamented with pictorial tiles, so rarely found in New England.
2 These three patriots had a narrow escape. They saw the head of the column pass by. Just before
the rear-guard had come up, a detachment was sent to search the house where they were staying. They
escaped to the fields by a back door, where they kept in concealment until the house was searched and the
troops moved on.




524


PUCTORIARI AL FIEL LD-BOOK I


4   P A  F


The British Troops and Minute Men at Lexington.  Conduct of Major Pitcairn.  Battle on Lexington Common.
Concord and secure the two bridges; at the same time he sent a messenger to Boston for
re-enforcements. Pitcairn advanced rapidly toward Lexington by the light of a waning
moon, capturing several persons on the way. One,-named Bowman, escaped, and, hastening on horseback to Lexington, notified Captain Parker, commander of the minute men, of
the approach of the enemy. It was now between four and five o'clock in the morning.
The bells were rung, guns were fired, and the drums were beaten. About one hundred of
the militia were speedily collected upon the green, armed with loaded muskets, but in much
confusion and alarm, for the number of the approaching regulars was unknown. In the
gray of the early morning the scarlet uniforms of the troops appeared, and an overwhelming
force halted, within a few rods of the meeting-house, and loaded their pieces. The militia,
undismayed, stood firm. They had been ordered not to draw a trigger until fired upon by
the enemy, and for a moment silence and hesitation prevailed, for neither party seemed willing to become the aggressor.  The parley with judgment was but for a moment. Pitcairn
and other officers galloped forward, waving their swords over their heads, and followed by
their troops in double-quick time.  They shouted, < Disperse, you villains! lay down your
arms! Why don't you disperse, you rebels? disperse!" In rushing forward the troops
became confused. As the patriots did not instantly obey the command to lay down their
arms, Pitcairn wheeled his horse, and, waving his sword, gave orders to press forward and
surround the militia. At the same moment some random shots were fired by the British,
but without effect, which were promptly returned by the Americans.  Pitcairn then drew
":. i: — -_ — ------ L 7:r
-.1
SKIRMISH AT LEXINGTON.1
his pistol and discharged it, at the same moment giving the word fire.' A general discharge of musketry ensued; four patriots were killed, and the remainder were dispersed.
Finding themselves fired upon while retreating, several of them halted, and returned the
shots, and then secured themselves behind stone walls and buildings.  Three British soldiers, and Pitcairn's horse, were wounded, while eight Americans were killed: four on the
This is the picture alluded to on page 421, from the one drawn by Earl, and engraved by Doolittle in
1775. The largest building in the picture is the meeting-house, and the officer on horseback in front of it
is Major Pitcairn. The figures in the foreground are the provincial militia. The dwelling with the two
chimneys, on the left (which is still standing), was Buckman's Tavern. The position of the monument
since erected upon Lexington Green, is about where the provincials on the left are seen dispersing. The
merit of this picture consists in its truthfulness in depicting the appearance of the spot at the time of the
engagement.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


525


The Concord People aroused.  Assembling of the Militia.  Concord taken Possession of by the Enemy.  Colonel Barrett
ground, near the spot where the monument stands, and four others while escaping over the
fences.'
As soon as the patriots dispersed, the detachment of regulars, joined by Colonel Smith
and his party, pushed on toward Concord, six miles distant.   Confident of success, the
whole party were in high spirits. But Concord had'been aroused, and a formidable body
of militia had collected to receive the invaders. We have noticed that Revere and Dawes
started from  Lexington to alarm  the country toward Concord.   They met Dr. Samuel
Prescott, and, while in conference with him, some British officers came upon them. Revere and Dawes were made prisoners, but Prescott escaped over a wall, and reached Concord about two in the morning. The bells were rung, and before daylight the people were
under arms. When the guns at Lexington were heard in the morning, the Committee of
Safety, and the principal citizens of Concord, had assembled, and arranged a plan of reception for the British troops.  The military operations were under the able management of
Colonel James Barrett,' while
and some women, aided in removing the stores to a place
of safety in distant woods.
SIGNATURE OF COLONEL BARRETT.             of safty in distant woods.
The militia of Lincoln and
other places hastened to join those of Concord, and the whole paraded on the Common.
Guards were stationed at the North and South Bridges, and in the center of the town, all
under the command of Captain Jonathan Farrar.
At about seven o'clock the British column was seen advancing on the Lexington Road.
Some companies of militia that had marched down that road returned in haste and reported
the number of the British as three times that of the Americans. These companies, with
those in the town, fell back to an eminence some eighty rods from the center of the village,
where they were joined by Colonel Barrett, and were formed into two battalions. They
had hardly formed, before the glittering of the bayonets and flashing of the red uniforms of
the British in the bright morning sun were seen, but a quarter of a mile distant, rapidly advancing.   A short consultation was held.  Some were for making a desperate stand upon
the spot, while others proposed a present retreat, until re-enforced by the neighboring militia. The latter council prevailed, and the provincials retired to the high ground over the
North Bridge, about a mile from the Common.
The British troops entered Concord in two divisions: one by the main road, the other on
the hill north of it. Colonel Smith and Major Pitcairn, who had immediate command of
the grenadiers and light infantry, remained in the town, but detached six companies under
Captain Parsons to secure the bridges, prevent the militia from crossing them, and to ferret
out and destroy the secreted stores, information concerning which had been given by Captain
Beeman of Petersham, and other Tories. Captain Lawrie, with three companies, was stationed on the North Bridge, while Parsons, with the other three companies, marched to destroy the stores at the residence of Colonel Barrett.  Captain Pole, with a party, took post
at the South Bridge, and destroyed what few stores were found in that vicinity; but so
1 The names of the slain are recorded on the monument erected to their memory on the green at Lexington. A picture of the monument and a copy of the inscription may be found on page 553. Captain
Jonas Parker was among the slain. He had repeatedly said that he never would run from the British. He
was wounded at the first fire, but, continuing to discharge his gun, without retreating, was killed by a
bayonet.
2 Colonel Barrett had been a captain in the provincial army during the French and Indian war. He was
with Shitley at Oswego, and afterward accompanied Abercrombie to Ticonderoga and Amherst to Crown
Point. Becoming aged, he resigned his commission. When the Massachusetts militia were organized at
the beginning of 1775, Captain Barrett was solicited to take command of a regiment, but declined on aocount of his age. "We don't want active service, we want your advice," said his earnest townsmen.
Thus urged, and actuated by patriotic zeal, he took the command. Colonel Barrett died at about the close
of the war. These facts I obtained from his grandson, Major Barrett, eighty-seven years old when I visited him in 1848.




526


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Destruction of Property in Concord. Rapid Augmentation of the Militia. Preparations for Battle. March toward the Bridge.
^",                        diligently had the people worked in concealing
the stores that the object of the expedition was
almost frustrated. The British broke open about.. -                   sixty barrels of flour in the center of the town,
but nearly half of that was subsequently saved.
-                      They knocked off the trunnions of three iron
twenty-four pound cannons, burned sixteen new
carriage wheels, and a few barrels of wooden
I                 trenchers and spoons, cut down the liberty-pole
and set the court-house on fire.  The flames
-'...  were extinguished by a Mrs. Moulton, before
COLONEL BA1BETT'S HOUSE.I    much damage was done.    About five hundred
pounds of balls were thrown into the mill-pond
and wells.
While the British were thus engaged, the number of the militia was rapidly increasing
by accessions of minute men from Carlisle, Chelmsford, Weston, Littleton, and Acton,
neighboring towns, and before ten o'clock the force amounted to nearly four hundred men.
Joseph Hosmer, acting as adjutant, formed them into proper line as fast as they arrived on
the field, westerly of the house since owned by Joseph Buttrick.  Most of the operations of
the British, within the town, could be seen from this point, and when the fires in the center
of the village were lighted the people were greatly excited.  Many of the prominent citizens, and the Committee of Safety, were with the militia, and, after a brief consultation,
and a stirring appeal from the brave Hosmer, it was resolved to dislodge the enemy at the
North Bridge.  ( I haven't a man that's afraid to go," said the intrepid Captain Isaac
Davis; and, wheeling into marching order, they were joined by other companies, and pushed forward toward the bridge, under the command of Major John Buttrick, of Concord.. * --
- -,,  I. -  I H e -R
BATTLE GROUND AT CONCORD.2


I This sketch is from the road leading to the village of Concord by the way of the North Bridge. The
house was erected about eighty years ago, by Colonel Barrett, and is now owned by his kinsman, Prescott
Barrett.
g This view, looking southeast, is from the road leading to the village by the way of the North Bridge,




OF THE REVOLUTION.


527


Battle at Concord Bridge.          Retreat of the British to the Village.     The Scalping Story explained.


The Acton company, under Davis, was in front, followed by those of Captains Brown, Miles,
and Nathan Barrett, and by others whose commanders' names are not recorded, in all nearly three hundred eftective men.    They marched in double file, with trailed arms.     The
British guard were on the west side of the river, but, on seeing the Americans approaching,
they crossed over, and commenced taking up the planks of the bridge. Major Buttrick
called to them to desist, and urged his men forward to arrest the destruction of the bridge.
The enemy formed for action, and when the Americans were within a few rods of the river,
they were fired upon by some of the regulars.   The first shots were ineffectual, but others
that followed were fatal. One of the Acton company was wounded,' and Captain Isaac
Davis and Abner Hosmer, of the same company, were killed.        "( Fire, fellow-soldiers! for
God's sake, fire!" shouted Buttrick, on seeing his companions fall, and immediately a fil
volley was given by the provincials. Three of the British were killed, and several wounded
and made prisoners. Some other shots were fired, but in a few minutes Lawrie ordered a
retreat, and the provincials took possession of the bridge. Two of the British soldiers killed
were left on the ground, and were buried by the provin^                           cials.  Their graves are a few feet from   the monument.    Another, who was not yet dead, was dispatch>t",S~     x,              ed by a blow from  a hatchet in the hands of a young
Is     A   9                 provincial who had more zeal than humanity.      This
i                           circumstance gave rise to the horrible story sent abroad
<             if           by the British and Tories, that the militia "killed and
XI          scalped the prisoners that fell into their hands."
Colonel Smith, in the village, on hearing the firing
s         at the bridge, sent a re-enforcement.  These met the
I Y           retreating detachment of Lawrie, but, observing the
increasing force of the militia, wheeled, and joined in
the retreat.     In the mean time, the party under Cap-    -tain Parsons returned from Colonel Barrett's, and were
PLAN OF THE MrOVEMENTS AT CONCORD.2  allowed by the provincials to cross the river at the
North Bridge, where the skirmish had just occurred,
unmolested. It may be asked why the militia did not cut them off, which they might easily have done.   It must be remembered that war had not been declared, and that the people had been enjoined to make Great Britain the aggressor, they acting only on the defensive. The militia at Concord had not yet heard of the deaths at Lexington; their volley
that had just slain three of the king's troops was fired purely in self-defense, and they hesito the residence of Mr. Prescott Barrett. The point from which the sketch was made is upon an elevation
a little north of that where the militia assembled under Colonel Barrett. The stream of water is the Concord, or Sudbury River. The site of the North Bridge is at the monument seen in the center of the picture. The monument stands upon the spot where the British were stationed, and in the plain, directly
across the river from the monument, is the place where Davis and Hosmer, of the American militia, were
killed. The house, the roof and gable of which are seen in the distance, just on the left of the largest tree,
was the residence of the Reverend Dr. Ripley (afterward a chaplain in the army) at the time of the skirmish. It is upon the road leading to Concord village, which lies nearly half a mile beyond.
' He was a fifer, named Blanchard. One of the Concord minute men, named Brown, was also slightly
wouinded.. The ball that wounded them passed under the arm of Colonel Robinson, who, by request, accompanied Major Buttrick.
2 This plan I have copied from Frothingham's interesting work, History of the Siege of Boston,
p. 70.
EXPLANATION OF THE PLAN.-1. Lexington Road; 2. Hills and high land where the liberty pole stood;
3. Center of the town, and main body of the British; 4. Road to the South Bridge; 5, 5, 5. Road to the
North Bridge and to Colonel Barnett's, two miles from the center of the town; 6. High ground a mile
north of the meeting-house, where the militia assembled; 7. Road along which they marched to dislodge
the British at North Bridge; 8. Spot where Davis and Hosmer fell; 9. Reverend Mr. Emerson's house;
10. Bridges and roads made in 1793, when the old roads with dotted lines were discontinued; 11. The
monument. The arrows show the return of Captain Parsons, after the firing at the North Bridge; 12 is
the place where re-enforcements met him.




528


PICTOT ORIAAL FIEL ~tD-BOOKO


Retreat of the Enemy from Concord.  Their Annoyance on the Road by the Militia.  Re-enforcement from Boston.
tated, for the moment, to act on the offensive by renewing the combat. This is the explanation given by their cotemporaries.
Observing the rapid augmentation of the militia, Colonel Smith thought it prudent to return with his troops to Boston as speedily as possible. A little after twelve o'clock they
commenced their retreat toward Lexington, the main column covered by strong flanking
guards. They soon perceived that the whole region was in arms, and minute men were
collecting from all points. The cautious counsels at Concord, not to attack the enemy
without further provocation, were disregarded, and at Merriam's Corner, a company of provincials under Captain Brooks (afterward the distinguished colonel at Saratoga, and Governor of Massachusetts), secreted behind barns and fences, made a destructive assault upon
the retreating enemy. A volley was fired in return, but not a militia-man was injured.
This example was followed along the whole line of march to Lexington, and the British
were terribly galled all the way. From every house, barn, and stone wall guns were fired
with sure aim, and many of the regulars were slain. At Hardy's Hill there was a severe
skirmish, and at almost every wooded defile numbers of the enemy were picked off by the
concealed marksmen. All military order among the provincials was at an end, and each
fought according to the dictates of his own judgment.     Some of them were killed by the
flankers, who came suddenly upon them behind the walls; but the number of the militia
slain was comparatively small. Colonel Smith was severely wounded in the leg at Fiske's
Hill, near Lexington; and near thj battle ground of the morning, at Lexington meetinghouse, several of the British soldiers were shot. Greatly fatigued by the night's march and
the day's adventures, and worried on every side by the militia, that seemed, to use the expression of one of their officers, ( to drop from the clouds," the whole body of eight hundred
men, the flower of the British army at Boston, must have surrendered to the provincials in
an hour had not relief arrived.
An express was sent from Lexington to General Gage, early in the morning, acquainting
him with the rising of the militia, and praying for a strong re-enforcement. At nine o'clock
three regiments of infantry, and two divisions of marines, amounting to about nine hundred
men, with two field-pieces, under Lord Percy, left Boston and marched toward Lexington.
They passed through Roxbury, the bands playing Yankee Doodle in derision, it being employed as a sort of" Rogue's March" when offending soldiers were drummed out.1 Vague
1 Gordon relates that a shrewd boy in Roxbury made himself extremely merry when he heard the tune
of Yankee Doodle, and by his antics attracted the attention of Lord Percy. He asked the boy why he was
so merry. " To think," said the lad, "how you will dance by-and-by to Chevy Chase."  Percy was often
much influenced by presentiments, and the remarks of the boy worried him all day. It may be asked why
was Earl Percy troubled, and what connection had the name of Chevy Chase with him. The answer is in
the fact that Percy was a son of the Duke of Northumberland, a lineal descendant of Earl Percy, one of
the heroes of the battle of Chevy Chase, and who was there slain. There was great rivalry between the
houses of Percy and Douglas, the former an English borderer and the latter a Scotch borderer. Percy was
determined to have a field fight with his rival, and so vowed publicly that he would " take pleasure in the
border woods three days, and slay the Douglas's deer." Earl Douglas heard the vaunt. " Tell him," he
said, " he will find one day more than enough." Percy's aim was the armed encounter thus promised. He
appeared at Chevy Chase with his greyhounds and fifteen hundred chosen archers. After taking his sport
at the Douglas's expense, gazing on a hundred dead fallow deer and harts, tasting wine and venison cooked
under the greenwood tree, and saying the Douglas would not keep his word, when
"Lo I yonder doth Earl Douglas come,
His men in armor bright;
Full twenty hundred Scottish spears
All marching in our sight.
All men of pleasant Tiviot-dale,
Fast by the River Tweed.
' cease your sport!' Earl Percy said,
'And take your bows with speed.'
Soon after this,
" The battle closed on every side,
No slackness there was found;
And many a gallant gentleman
Lay gasping on the ground:"




OF THE REVOLUTION.


529


Junction of the Troops of Percy and Smith.  Their harassed Retreat to Charlestown.  Skirmish at West Cambridge.
rumors of the skirmish at Lexington had reached the people there, and this movement confirmed their worst fears. No sooner had the British troops passed by, than the minute men
assembled, and, along the whole march, vigilant corps of militia were gathering, and hovered
around the little army of Percy, ready to strike a blow whenever it might be effectual.
Percy's brigade met the wearied troops between two and three o'clock, about half a mile
from the Lexington meeting-house. He formed a hollow square, planted his cannon for its
defense on the high ground near Munroe's Tavern, and received within it the worn-out companies of Colonel Smith. Many of the soldiers fell upon the ground, completely overcome.
They " were so much exhausted with fatigue that they were obliged to lie down for rest on
the ground, their tongues hanging out of their mouths, like those of dogs after a chase."'
Percy dared not halt long, for the woods were swarming with minute men. After partaking of a little refreshment and brief rest, the united forces resumed their march toward Boston, marking their retreat by acts of vengeance, aside from the more dignified use of ball
and bayonet. Three houses, two shops, and a barn, were laid in ashes in Lexington, and
many buildings were destroyed or defaced, and helpless persons abused on the route.  But
prompt and terrible retribution instantly followed.  As soon as Percy renewed the retreat,
the provincials again attacked his forces from concealed points, until they arrived at West,
Cambridge, where a hot skirmish ensued.   General Heath and Dr. Warren were active in
the field, and in this foray Warren barely escaped with his life, a musket ball having knocked a pin out of an ear-curl of his hair. The British kept the militia at bay, and committed
many atrocious acts.  Percy tried to restrain his soldiers, but in, vain.  Houses were plundered, property destroyed, and several innoeent persons were murdered. This conduct greatly inflamed the militia, and
"Again the conflict glows with rage severe,
And fearless ranks in combat mix'd appear."
Indignation and outraged humanity struggled on the one hand, veteran discipline and desperation on the other."2 The contest was brief, and the enemy, with their wounded, pressed on toward Boston. The Cambridge bridge had been taken up, and they were obliged to
go by the way of Charlestown. They took the road that winds around Prospect Hill, while
the main body of the provincials, unawed by the field-pieces, hung close upon their rear.
The situation of the British regulars was now critical, for their ammunition was almost
exhausted, and a strong force was marching upon them from Roxbury, Dorchester, and
Milton. Colonel Pickering, in the mean time, with seven hundred of the Essex militia,
threatened to cut off their retreat to Charlestown. Another short but warm engagement
occurred at the base of Prospect Hill, but the regulars reached Charlestown in safety. By
command of General Heath the pursuit was now suspended.
Throughout the day Charlestown had been in the greatest excitement.   Dr. Warren rode
through in the morning, proclaiming the bloodshed at Lexington. Many of the people had
seized their muskets, and hastened to the country to join their brethren.  The schools were
The mail-clad leaders combated hand to hand, until the blood dropped from them like rain. "Yield thee,
Percy," cried Douglas, "I shall freely pay thy ransom, and thy advancement shall be high with our Scottish king."
"'No, Douglas,' quoth Earl Percy, then,
'Thy proffer I do scorn;
I would not yield to any Scot
That ever yet was born.'
Douglas almost immediately dropped, struck to the heart with an arrow. "Fight on, my merry men," he
cried with his dying breath. Percy took his hand, and said, "Earl Douglas, I would give all my lands to
save thee."' At that moment an arrow pierced Percy's heart, and both leaders expired together.-See
Knight's Old England, Scott's Castle Dangerous, and the ballad of Chevy Chase.
i Stedman's History of the American War, i., 118.
Stedman was a British officer, and accompanied Earl Percy in this expedition. He highly praises Percy,
but says that Colonel Smith's conduct was much censured.
" Everett's Lexington iAddress.
L L




530


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


British Encampment on Bunker Htill.   Quiet the next Day.       General Effect of these Skirmishes.
dismissed; the shops were closed; and when it was ascertained that the British were retreating and must pass through the town, many of the inhabitants prepared to leave and to
carry with them their most valuable effects.  When the firing at Cambridge was heard,
the people rushed toward Charlestown Neck, to flee to the country.   There they met the
retreating troops, and were obliged to fly back, panic-stricken, to their houses. A report got
abroad that the British were slaughtering women and children in the streets. Terror every
where prevailed, and a large number of the defenseless people passed the night in the claypits back of Breed's Hill. The alarm was false; not an individual was harmed in Charlestown. Percy ordered the women and children into their houses, and demanded nothing but
refreshments for his troops. The main body occupied Bunker Hill that night, and a strong
line was formed upon Charlestown Neck.      A re-enforcement was sent over from Boston,
guards were stationed in various parts of the town, the wounded were conveyed to the hospitals in the city, and that night all was quiet in the neighborhood. General Pigot assumed
command at Charlestown the next morning, and before noon the crest-fallen troops returned
to their quarters in Boston. Thus ended the first act in the bloody tragedy of the American
Revolution.' During the day the British lost sixty-five killed, one hundred and eighty woundld,.and twenty-eight made prisoners; in all two hundred and seventy-three. The provincials
lost fifty-nine killed, thirty-nine wounded, and five missing; in all one hundred and three.2
The events of the 19th of April, 1775, were of vast importance, considered in their relation to subsequent scenes and results.  On that day the life of the first British soldier, sent
hither to oppress a people panting for the privileges of freedom, was sacrificed-on that day
the first American, aroused by armed invasion to the necessity of resistance, fell in defense
of the dearest rights guaranteed to him by the British Constitution3-on that day " the
scabbard" was indeed " thrown away,"4 and a war of seven years' duration began-and on
that day the jubilee trumpet was sounded, proclaiming " Liberty throughout all the land
unto all the inhabitants thereof."5  The events of that day formed the first disruption of'
the chrysalis of old political systems, whence speedily came forth a noble and novel creature,
with eagle eye and expansive wings, destined speedily to soar far above the creeping reptiles of despotism that brood amid the crumbling relics of old dynasties.  They formed the
significant prelude to that full diapason, whose thundering harmony, drawn forth by the
magic touch of the spirit of Freedom, filled the nations with wonder, and ushered in the
New. Era so long predicted and so long hoped for.
The military events of the day, compared with the movements of armies in the great contests of war at other times, were exceedingly insignificant.in themselves; but the temper
shown by the provincials, and the vulnerable character of the British soldiery, as exhibited
in the various skirmishes and in the retreat, had a great and abiding effect upon the minds
of both parties. The haughty boasts of English officers, that three regiments might march
unmolested throughout the continent, and that the Americans were "sorry poltroons, their
courage displayed to its utmost in tarring and feathering individuals," were silenced, and
Gage, in alarm, called upon the ministry to send large re-enforcements.  The patriots, on
the other hand, learned their strength when united; that British troops were not invincible, and that the true spirit and courage of men resolved on freedom animated and nerved
1 Gordon, Stedman, Stiles, Ripley, Shattuck, Clarke, Frothingham, &c.
2 The following officers and citizens of note were among the slain: Justice Isaac Gardner, of Brookline;
Captain Isaac Davis, of Acton; Captain Jonathan Wilson, of Bedford; Lieutenant John Baron, and Sergeant Elisha Mills, of Needham; and Deacon Josiah Haynes, of Sudbury. The estimated value of property destroyed by the invaders is as follows: In Concord, $1375; in Lexington, $8305; in Cambridge,
$6010. A list of the killed, wounded, and missing is.given on page 532.
3 It will be seen hereafter that the first life sacrificed in defense of liberty in America was upon the Alamance, in North Carolina, in 1771. In that event, however, the militia were in open and armed rebellion
against the royal authority, and were the actual aggressors.
4 John Wilkes, in his speech in Parliament, already alluded to, asked, significantly, " Who can tell
whether, in consequence of this very day's violent and mad address [to the king], the scabbard may not be
thrown away by them as well as by us?"
Levit. xxv., 10.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                     53
Unity of the American People.  Massachusetts Provincial Congress.  Accounts of the Battles sent to England.
the militia.  Britons were alarmed; Americans were elated.        Individual wrongs were
adopted by the whole people as their own, and every man slain at Lexington, Concord, and
Menotomy or West Cambridge, lived again in the strong arms of a thousand determined
patriots.  In Massachusetts, in particular, ties of consanguinity, property, marriage, manners, religion, social circumstances, and general equality, made whole communities weep
over a single victim, and the hearts of the people of the whole province were made to bleed
when the first martyrs in the cause of American Independence were laid in the grave.'
Linked with that grief was the buoyant sentiment expressed by Percival:
"0 it is great for our country to die, where ranks are contending!
Bright is the wreath of our fame, glory awaits us for ayeGlory that never is dim, shining on with light never endingGlory that never shall fade-never, O never! away.
*       *      *       *       *       *      *       *       *
"O then, how great for our country to die, in the front rank to perish!
Firm, with our breast to the foe, victory's shout in our ear.
Long they our statues shall crown, in songs our memory cherish;
We shall look forth from our heaven, pleased the sweet music to hear."
The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts was immediately summoned, and met at Waturtown, seven miles west of Boston, on the 22d of April.   Dr. Joseph Warren was
1775.
chosen president, and Messrs. Gerry, Church, and Cushing were appointed a committee to draw up a ( narrative of the massacre."' A committee on depositions was also formed, and many affidavits were taken at Lexington and Concord.       When all necessary information was collected, a communication, giving a minute account of the whole affair, was
drawn up and ordered to be sent to Arthur Lee, the colonial agent in England.
April 25.
An address " To the Inhabitants of Great Britain" was also prepared and sent
with the other papers, and was first published in the London Chronicle of May 30th, 1775.
The address was firm but respectful. While its signers asserted their continued loyalty to
the sovereign, and their readiness to "defend his person, family, crown and dignity," they
boldly exhibited their manhood in declaring that they would no longer submit to the tyrannical rule of a weak and wicked ministry.    The H-onorable Richard Derby, of Salem, was
engaged by the committee to fit out his vessel as a packet, and take the dispatches to London.   He arrived there on the 29th of May, ten days before Gage's dispatches reach1775.
ed government.    The ministry were confounded, and affected to disbelieve the statements that appeared in the London Chronicle of the 30th; but, in a few days, they were
obliged to acknowledge the truth of the report.'
In Lexington, Concord, Danvers, and West Cambridge, monuments have been erected in memory of
the slain. The two former will be noticed presently, in connection with an engraving of each. The monument at West Cambridge has been completed since my visit there in 1848. Beneath it rest the remains
of twelve persons who were killed in the skirmish there. The names of only three are known: Jason Russel, Jason Winship, and Jabez Wyman. The monument is a simple granite obelisk, nineteen feet high
The funds for its erection were furnished by the voluntary contributions of the citizens of West Cambridge.
2 The first accounts of the events at Lexington and Concord were published in the newspapers and in
handbills. One of the latter, preserved in the library of the Massachusetts Historical Society, has the figures of forty coffins at the head.
3 Dartmouth, the Secretary of State for the colonies, issued the following card on the 30th: " A report
having been spread, and an account having been printed and published, of a skirmish between some of the
people in the province of Massachusetts Bay and a detachment of his majesty's troops, it is proper to inform
the public that no advice has, as yet, been received in the American department of any such event."
Arthur Lee was in London, narrowly watching every movement of government, and transmitting secret
intelligence to the Committee of Correspondence of Boston, and to his brother, Richard Henry Lee, member of the Continental Congress. He was the agent of the Massachusetts colony at that time, and issued
the following card, over his proper signature:
"As a doubt of the authenticity of the account from Salem, touching an engagement between the king's
troops and the provincials, in the Massachusetts Bay, may arise from a paragraph in the Gazette of this
evening, I desire to inform all those who wish to see the original affidavits which confirm that account.
that they are deposited at the Mansion House, with the Right Honorable the Lord Mayor, for their inspection.                                                                      ARTHUR LEE."




532                           PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Excitement in London.          Government Lampooned.            List of the Names of the first Martyra
The dispatches of Gage Fere published on the 10th of June, and London was almost as
much excited as Boston. Gage's report confirmed every important circumstance mentioned
by the patriots, and the metropolis was soon enlivened by placards, lampoons, and doggerel
verse.  The retreat of the British from Lexington was regarded as a defeat and a flight,
and at every corner ministers heard revilings concerning " the great British army at Boston
that had been beaten by a FLOCK OF YANKEES!"
NoTE.-The following list of the names of the first martyrs in the cause of American liberty, is given
in the eighteenth volume of the Massachusetts Historical Collections:
LEXINGTON.-Killed: Jonas Parker, Robert Monroe, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington, Jr., Isaac
Muzzy, Caleb Harrington, John Brown, Jedediah Moore, John Raymond, Nathaniel Wyman, 10. Wounded:
John Robbins, Solomon Pierce, John Tidd, Joseph Comee, Ebenezer Monroe, Jr., Thomas Winship, Nathaniel Farmer, Prince Estabrook, Jedediah Monroe, Francis Brown, 10.
CoNcoRD.-Wounded: Charles Miles, Nathan Barrett, Abel Prescott, Jr., Jonas Brown, George Meriot, 5.
CAMBRIDGE.-Killed: William Marcy, Moses Richardson, John Hicks, Jason Russell, Jabez Wyman,
Jason Winship, 6.  Wounded: Samuel Whittemore, 1. Missing: Samuel Frost, Seth Russell, 2.
NEEDHAM.-Killed: John Bacon, Elisha Mills, Amos Mills, Nathaniel Chamberlain, Jonathan Parker,
5.  Wounded: Eleazer Kingsbury, ---  Tolman, 2.
SUDBURY.-Killed: Josiah Haynes, Asahel Reed, 2.  Wounded: Joshua Haynes, Jr., 1.
AcToN.-Killed: Isaac Davis, Abner Hosmer, James Hayward, 3.  Wounded: Luther Blanchard, 1.
BEDFORD.-Killed: Jonathan Wilson, 1.  Wounded: Job Lane, 1.
WoBURN.-Killed: Daniel Thompson, Asahel Porter, 2.  Wounded: George Reed, Jacob Bacon, --
Johnson, 3.
MEDFORD.-Killed: Henry Putnam, William Polly, 2.
CHARLESTOWN.-Killed: James Miller, Edward Barber, 2.
WATERTOWn.-Killed: Joseph Coolidge, 1.
FRAMINGHAM.- Wounded: Daniel Hemminway, 1.
DEDHAM.-Killed: Elias Haven, 1.   Wounded: Israel Everett, 1.
STow.-Wounded: Daniel Conant, 1
RoxBURY.-Missing: Elijah Seaver, 1.
BRooKLINE.-Killed: Isaac Gardner, 1.
BILLERICA.-Wounded: John Nichols, Timothy Blanchard, 2.
CHELMSFORD.-Wounded: Aaron Chamberlain, Oliver Barron, 2.
SALEM.-Killed: Benjamin Pierce, 1.
NEWTON.-Wounded: Noah Wiswell, 1.
DANvERs.-Killed: Henry Jacobs, Samuel Cook, Ebenezer Goldthwait, George Southwick, Benjamin
Deland, Jotham Webb, Perley Putnam, 7. Wounded: Nathan Putnam, Dennis Wallace, 2. Missing.
Joseph Bell, 1.
BEVERLY.-Killed: Reuben Kerryme, 1.    Wounded: Nathaniel Cleves, Samuel Woodbury, William
Dodge, 3.
LYNN.-Killed: Abednego Ramsdell, Daniel Townsend, William Flint, Thomas Hadley, 4. Wounded:
Joshua Felt, Timothy Monroe, 2. Missing: Josiah Breed, 1.
TOTAL: Killed, 49; Wounded, '9; Missing. 5=93.




OF THE REVOLUTIO N.


533


Preparations for Raising an Army in Massachusetts. Zeal of the Committee of Safety. Circular of the Provincial Congress.
CHAPTER XXIII.
"A viceroy, I, like monarchs, stay
Safe in the town; let others guide the fray.
A life like mine is of no common worth;
'Twere wrong, by Heaven! that I should sally forth.
A random bullet, from a RIFLE sent,
Might pierce my heart, and ruin NORTH'S intent.
Ye souls of fire, who burn for chief command,
Come! take my place in this disastrous land.
To wars like these I bid a long good night;
Let NORTH and GEORGE themselves such battles fight."
GAGE'S SOLILOQUY, BY PHILIP FRENEAU, 1775.
"In their ragged regimentals
Stood the old Continentals,
Yielding not,
When the grenadiers were lunging,
And like hail fell the plunging
Cannon shot;
Where the files
Of the isles
From the smoky night encampment bore the banner of the rampant unicorn,
And grummer, grummer, grummer rolled the roll of the drummer, through the morn."
KNICKERBOCKER MAGAZINE.
'. HE     events of the 19th of April, like an electric shock, thrilled every nerve
i   through the heart-confederated American colonies, and all over the land there was
$  a cry to arms    In Massachusetts there was no more hesitation.    Who shall be
the aggressor? was an answered question.    Who shall be the' con[   ~          queror? was the great problem before them.     It was for MassaJ i  chusetts to lead the van in the contest, and her people readily stepped forth,-,      to the duty, knowing that the warm   sympathy and generous aid of the sister
'            colonies were enlisted for the war.  The reassembled Provincial Congress
t'.:z       voted to raise an army of thirteen thousand six hundred men.     The Coms'?        mittee of Safety labored day and night, with a zeal worthy of the glorious
cause in which they were engaged.         Circulars were sent out by both bodies,
^ ' calling upon the people to form an army as speedily as possible; and the other New
England colonies were solicited to forward as many troops as they could spare,1 in order to
1 The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts sent the following letter to the several committees of safety
in the province:
"In Congress at Watertown, April 30th, 1775.
" GENTLEMEN,-The barbarous Murders on our innocent Brethren on Wednesday the 19th Instant, has
made it absolutely necessary that we immediately raise an army to defend our Wives and our Children from
the butchering Hands of an inhuman Soldiery, who, incensed at the Obstacles they meet with in their bloody
progress, and enraged at being repulsed from the Field of Slaughter, will, without the least doubt, take the
first Opportunity in their Power to ravage this devoted Country with Fire and Sword. We conjure you,
therefore, that you give all Assistance possible in forming an Army. Odr all is at Stake. Death and Devastation are the certain Consequences of Delay; every Moment is infinitely precious; an Hour lost may
deluge your Country in Blood, and entail perpetual Slavery upon the few of your Posterity who may survive the Carnage. We beg and entreat you, as you will answer it to your Country, to your own Consciences,
and, above all, as you will answer to God himself, that you will hasten and encourage, by all possible Means,
the Enlistment of Men to form the Army, and send them forward to Head-quarters at Cambridge, with that
expedition which the vast Importance and instant Urgency of the affair demands.
" JOSEPH WARREN, President, P.T."




534            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Army collected at Boston.  Organization of the Troops.  Preparations to Besiege the City.  Issue of Paper Money.
make up a united force of thirty thousand men.  These official appeals were scarcely necessary, for as soon as the intelligence of bloodshed went abroad, the people had rushed toward Boston from all quarters, and by the 21st it was estimated that twenty thou-  April,
sand men were collected in the neighborhood of that city. General Ward, by virtue  1775.
of a previous appointment, took command on the 20th, and in the afternoon held a council
of war with the officers present.'  Of course all was confusion; for the people came, some
with arms in their hands, and some having none, with the inquiry marked on every countenance, What can I do? A partial organization was effected, and preparations were made
to besiege Boston.  Among those who hastened thither was the veteran Putnam, then an
old man of sixty years, who, it is said, left his plow in the furrow, and in his working
dress, mounted one of his horses, and hastened toward Cambridge at the head of a large
body of Connecticut volunteers.  Colonel (afterward general) John Stark was also there,
with a crowd of New Hampshire volunteers, and all were active and ardent. In the course
of a few days the troops were tolerably well officered, their pay was agreed upon, and thirty
thousand were enrolled.  But great numbers returned home; some to attend to pressing
private affairs, and others to make permanent arrangements to join the army.  The number was thus suddenly much reduced, and the important pass of Boston Neck was defended
for nine consecutive days arid nights by only six or seven hundred men under Colonel Robinson, of Dorchester.  The ranks were soon afterward well filled, and preparations for a
regular siege of the city commenced.  _
Cambridge was riade the head-quarters, and a line of cantonments was     TWENTY FOUR             SHILLIN GS
formed nearly twenty miles in extent,
the left leaning upon the River Mys-                   ece o
tic and the right upon Roxbury, thus                 ~
completely inclosing the town.                  v
On the 5th of May, the Prot77.             ~,
vincial Congress resolved " that                    S
General Gage has, by the late transactions and many other means, utter-           I                        '
ly disqualified himself from  serving            t 7          S
this colony as governor, or in any
other capacity; and that, therefore,                                \
no obedience is in future due to him;.
but that, on the contrary, he ought to
be considered and guarded against as
an unnatural and inveterate enemy to
the country."  Previous to this renunciation of allegiance, they had
prepared for the payment of the army,                        -tibertate O
by authorizing the issue of bills of
credit, or paper money, to the amount           A     t          Ts
of three hundred and seventy-five tholusand dollars, in sums small enough to.
be used as a circulating currency, and
directed the receiver general to bor-      REVERSE OF A MASSACHUSETTS TREASURY NOTE.2
row that amount, upon those notes,
The officers who composed the council were Generals Ward, Heath, and Whitcombe; Colonels Bridge,
Frye, James Prescott, William Prescott, Bullard, and Barrett; and Lieutenant-colonels Spaulding, Nixon,
Whitney, Mansfield and Wheelock. Colonels Learned and Warner arrived the next day.
2 This is a fac simile of the device on the back of one of the first of the Massachusetts treasury notes or
bills of credit. The literal translation of the Latin inscription is " He seeks by the Sword calm repose under the
auspices of Freedom." In other words, to use a phrase of the present time, they were determined " to con



OF THE REVO LUTION.

'53'5


Gage's Restrictions.  Gloomy Prospects of the People of Boston.  Arrangements with the Selectmen.  Perfidy of Gage.
bearing an interest of six per cent.  They also forwarded dispatches to the general.My 3.
Congress which was to assemble on the 1 Oth, suggesting the necessity for making    1775.
provision for a large army, to oppose the expected troops from Great Britain.
While these transactions were taking place without Boston, General Gage was pursuing
a course of rigorous surveillance over the people within the city. By his orders all  April 19
intercourse with the country was cut off, and none were allowed to leave the town  1775 -without his permission first obtained.  This measure exposed the people to great distress.
for their accustomed supply of provisions and fuel was thus cut off.  They at once felt all
the horrors of civil war gathering around them-visions of famine, rapine, and blood clouded their thoughts, and all the miseries which gloomy anticipation delineate began to be felt.
Gage himself became uneasy. Boston was surrounded by an exasperated multitude, armed
and ready for combat at the least provocation; and he was justly apprehensive that, should
an assault commence from without, the patriots within would rise upon his troops. In this
exigency he so far receded from his haughty demeanor toward the municipal authorities as
to seek an interview with the selectmen.   It was obtained, and he assured them that no
violence should be done to the town, provided the people would behave peaceably. A town
meeting was held on the 22d, and an agreement was entered into between the selectmen
and Gage, " That, upon the inhabitants in general lodging their arms in Faneuil Hall, or
any other convenient place, under the care of the selectmen, marked with the names of the
respective owners, all such inhabitants that are inclined might leave the town, with their
families and effects, and those who remained might depend upon the protection of the governor; and that the arms aforesaid, at a suitable time, should be returned to the owners."'
This measure was sanctioned by the Committee of Safety sitting at Cambridge, and the arrangement was carried out in good faith for a short time, until the removal became so general as to alarm the Tories and the governor himself.2  The Tories, about this time, were
excessively loyal.  Two hundred of them were enrolled as a military corps under Timothy
Ruggles, and, offering their services to General Gage, were put on duty.   They thought
the arrangement Gage had agreed to was unwise, for they apprehended that, when the patriots had all left the town with their effects, they would not scruple to burn it. They remonstrated with Gage, and their importunities and his own fears became more potent than
his sense of honor. Obstructions were thrown in the way of removals, until, finally, passes
were denied, or so framed that families would have to be separated, and property left behind.   Gage, finally, would not allow women and children to leave Boston, but kept them
there as a sort of hostages, or pledges of good behavior on the part of the patriots.  This
exhibition of bad faith disgusted and exasperated the people as much as any of his previous acts.
quer a peace."  The face of the bill has a neatly-engraved border of scroll-work; and on the left of the
brace where the names of the committee are signed, is a circle with a ship within it. The following is a
copy of one of the notes:
"Colony of the
Massachusetts Bay, August 18, 1775.
"The Possessor of this Bill shall be paid by the Treasurer of this colony, TWENTY FOUR SHILLINGS,
Lawful Money, by the. 18th day of August, 1778, which Bill shall be received for the aforesaid sum. in all
payments at the Treasury and in all other Payments by order of the General Assembly.
" Committee,
The following is a copy of one of the passes granted to the inhabitants who left. It is copied from one
preserved in the cabinet of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Boston, May, 1775.
" Permit  -, together with his family, consisting of  -   persons, and  effects, to
pass, between sunrise and sunset.
By order of his Excellency the Governor.
"No Arms nor Ammwnition is allowed to pass."
2 Under this arrangerrent. 1778 fire-arms, 634 pistols, 273 bayonets, and 38 blunderbusses, were deposited with the selectmen. The same day (April 27th) the Provincial Congress recommended to the inhabitants of the sea-ports the removal of their effects, &c. Gordon, i., 336.




536                       PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Benevolence of the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts.  Efforts of other Colonies.  Organization of the Army.
Ma 1,     The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, in the mean time, made provision for
175.  five thousand poor people expected from Boston, who were unable to help themselves.
Each town had a proportion allotted to it, and thus much suffering was prevented, while
the feelings of the beneficiaries were tenderly respected by the declaration of the resolution
that they were not to be numbered with the town paupers. The same provision was also
made for the suffering inhabitants who remained in Charlestown, unable to remove from
the danger that menaced them.  So great were the alarm and distress in that thriving suburban village of Boston, that it was almost deserted. Its population of two thousand seven
hundred was seduced to about two hundred.
While Massachusetts was thus exercising its patriotism and humanity, preparatory to the
approaching contest, the other colonies were alive with zeal. The Rhode Island Assembly
voted an army of observation of fifteen hundred men, and appointed Nathaniel
Greene, a young iron master, and a Quaker by birthright, but recently disowned because of his military propensities, commander-in-chief, with the rank of brigadier. His colonels were Varnum, Hitchcock, and Church. The Connecticut Assembly voted to raise six
regiments of a thousand men each; and Wooster, Putnam, and Spencer, already
commissioned as generals, were each to have a regiment.  The others were to be
placed under the command of Hinman, Waterbury, and Parsons. Already, as we have noticed, New Hampshire volunteers had flocked to Cambridge, with the gallant Stark, who
was commissioned a colonel. Under the direction of the Committee of Safety of that colony, they were supplied with necessaries until the meeting of the Provincial Congress of their
17own province in May. That body resolved to raise two thousand troops in addition
to those already in the field, and Nathan Folsom was appointed commander-inchief, with the rank of brigadier.  They were organized into three regiments; and two
additional regiments were placed under the command of Stark and James Reed. The latter,
and Enoch Poor, were commissioned colonels. New Hampshire and Rhode Island both
also issued bills of credit. Although other colonies did not send soldiers to Boston, all, with
the exception of New York, approved of the action of the general Continental Congress, and
expressed the warmest sympathy for New England.
On the 19th of May, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts clothed the Committee of
Safety, then sitting at Cambridge, with full power to regulate the movements of the gathering army.1 General Ward, as we have seen, was appointed captain general; John Thomas was made lieutenant general; and Richard Gridley, the commissioned commander of an
artillery corps authorized to be raised, was appointed chief engineer, assisted by Henry Knox,
late commander of an artillery corps in Boston. To promote rapid enlistments, a resolution
had been previously adopted, promising a captain's commission to every one who should
raise a company of fifty-nine men, and a colonel's commission to each who should raise a
regiment of ten companies. The form of the commissions of the several officers was adopted, the pay of officers and soldiers was fixed, and other provisions for organizing the army
were arranged.
At the beginning of June the combined forces amounted to about sixteen thousand men,2
really united only in respect to the common cause which brought them together, for each
colony had absolute control over its respective troops. But by common consent, sanctioned
by the several colonial authorities, obedience was rendered to General Ward as captain
general. Ward, as well as Putnam, Thomas, Stark, Pomeroy, Prescott, and Gridley, had
been educated in the military art in the practical school of the French and Indian war;
and the militia that had assembled, familiar with their names and deeds, placed the utmost
confidence in treir skill and valor.
The Committee of Safety consisted of John Hancock, Joseph Warren, Benjamin Church, Benjamin
White, Joseph Palmer, Richard Devens, Abraham Watson, John Pigeon, Azor Orne, Benjamin Greenleaf,
Nathan Cushing, and Samuel Holten. Hancock was necessarily absent, being a delegate to the Continental
Congress.
Massachusetts furnished 11.500; Connecticut, 2300; New Hampshire, 1200; and Rhode Island, 1000.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


537


Increase of British Troops in Boston. Arrival of experienced Officers. Operations in the Vicinity. American Military Works.
The British force in Boston had increased, in the mean while, by fresh arrivals from England and Ireland, to ten thousand men.     The Cerberus man-of-war arrived on the 25th
of May, with Generals Howe,' Clinton, and Burgoyne, three officers experienced in      1775
the military tactics of Europe, but little prepared for service here.  They were surprised at the aspect of affairs, and Gage was reproached for his apparent supineness.' However, unity of action was necessary, and the new-comers heartily co-operated with Gage in
his plans, such as they were, for dispersing the rebel host that hemmed him in. He issued
a proclamation on the 12th of June, insulting in words and menacing in tone. It declared
martial law; pronounced those in arms and their abettors ", rebels, parricides of the Constitution," and offered a free pardon to all who would forthwith return to their allegiance,
except John Hancock and Samuel Adams, who were outlawed, and for whose apprehension
as traitors a reward was offered.8 This proclamation, so arrogant and insulting, served
only to exasperate the people. In the mean while, several skirmishes had occurred between
parties of the British regulars and the provincials, upon some of the cultivated islands that
dot the harbor of Boston.   Each party were employed in carrying off to their respective
camps the live stock upon the islands, and on one occasion quite a severe action occurred
upon Hog Island, which continued until late at night. One or two armed vessels in the
harbor were engaged in the foray. A considerable number of the provincials were killed.
Toward morning a British schooner got aground. The Americans boarded her, stripped her
of every thing valuable, and returned to camp in triumph.    In the course of these  May 28,
depredations the owners were completely despoiled; several hundred cattle, sheep,     1775.
and lambs having been carried off by both parties, without leave or remuneration.' In the
attendant skirmishes the Americans were generally most successful, and they served to initiate the raw militia into the preliminary dpangers of a battle.
But little progress had been made at this time, by the Americans, in erecting fortifications. Some breast-works had been thrown up at Cambridge, near the foot of Prospect Hill;
and a small redoubt had been formed at Roxbury. The right wing of the besieging army,
under General Thomas, was at Roxbury, consisting of four thousand Massachusetts troops,
including four artillery companies, with field-pieces and a few heavy cannon.  The Rhode
Island forces, under Greene, were at Jamaica Plains, and near there was a greater part of
General Spencer's Connecticut regiment. General Ward commanded the left wing at Cambridge, which consisted of fifteen Massachusetts regiments, the battalion of artillery under
Gridley, and Putnam's regiment, with other Connecticut troops. Most of the Connecticut
forces were at Inman's farm.  Paterson's regiment was at the breast-work on Prospect Hill,
and a large guard was stationed at Lechmere's Point. Three companies of Gerrish's regiGeneral Howe was a brother of the young Lord Howe who was killed at Ticonderoga in 1758. In
the address of the Continental Congress to the people of Ireland, adopted on the 28th of July, 1775, the
addressers say, " America is amazed to find the name of Howe in the catalogue of her enemies. She loved
his brother."
2 The newly-arrived generals were so assured, before leaving England, that they would have no occasion to draw the sword in support of ministerial measures, that they had prepared to amuse themselves
with fishing and other diversions, instead of engaging in military service. It seems that the whole affair
of the 19th of April was kept a profound secret from all his officers by Gage, except those immediately employed in it and Lord Percy, until the skirmish had ensued at Lexington, and a re-enforcement was called
for. When General Haldimand, afterward Governor General of Canada, who was with Gage, was asked
how the sortie happened, he said that the first he knew of it was from his barber, who came to shave him.
3 It has been related that when John Hancock placed his bold signature to the Declaration of Independence, on the 4th of July, 1776, he remarked, "There! John Bull can read that name without spectacles.
Now let him double his reward!"
4 It was in reference to these expeditions on the part of the British, that Freneau, the stirring song-writer
of the Revolution, in his " Gage's Soliloquy," thus wrote:
"Let others combat in the dusty field;
Let petty captains scorn to live or yield;
I'll send my ships to neighboring isles, where stray
Unnumbered herds, and steal those herds away.
I'll strike the women in this town with awe,
And make them tremble at my MARTIAL LAW."




- 1 - MI          t r.  * I   T TN ~r %^tY


53'8                      PICT'IU   IAL rFIL L-tj U U
Disposition of the American Troops.  Preparations for Blockading Boston.  Charlestown and adjacent Grounds.
ment were at Chelsea; Stark's regiment was at Medford, and Reid's at Charlestown Neck,
with sentinels reaching to Penny                  a ferry, where Charles River bridge
Ferry and Bunker Hill.                           is, and with Malden by another, callIt was made known to the Corn-                 ed Penny Ferry, where Maden Bridge
mittee of Safety that General Gage        /       now is. Near the Neck, on the
had fixed upon the night of the 18th     c1       main land, was a large green, known
of June to take possession of and for-            as the Common.  Two roads ran by
tify Bunker Hill and Dorchester                   it: one in a westerly direction, as
Heights. This brought matters to;    now, by Cobble Hill (M'Lean Asya crisis, and measures were taken to              lum), Prospect Hill, and Inman's
perfect the blockade of Boston. The               Woods, to Cambridge Common; the
Committee of Safety ordered Colonel               other in a northerly direction, by
Prescott, with a detachment of one:   |,,  Plowed Hill (Mount Benedict) and
thousand men, including a company        q,'       Winter Hill, to Medford-the direct
of artillery, with two field-pieces, to,,i'  road to West Camhridge not having
march at night and throw up in-         i     l   been laid out in 1775. Bunker Hill
trenchments upon Bunker Hill, an         ' l' I   begins at the isthmus, and rises grademinence just within the peninsula                ually for about three hundred yards,
of Charlestown, and commanding the        Pk d  l A   forming a round, smooth hill, sloping
great northern road from Boston, as               on two sides toward the water, and
well as a considerable portion of the   i         connected by a ridge of ground on
town. To make the relative position      T        the south with the heights now
of the eminences upon the Charles-                known as Breed's Hill. This was a
town peninsula and the Neck, to          \   a    well-known public place, the name,
Boston, more intelligible to the read-   a'       " Bunker Hill," being found in the
er, I have copied from Frothingham's              town records and in deeds from an
History of the Siege of Boston, by      e3'       early period. Not so with "Breed's
permission of the author, the annex-    /h '-     Hill," for it was not narfied in any
ed sketch, communicated to him, in                description of streets previous to 1775,
a manuscript of 1775, from Henry       '1     i   and appears to have been called aftStevens, Esq. I also quote from Mr.  'l    X Q    er the owners of the pastures into
Frothingham's work a description of               which it was divided, rather.than by
the localities about Bunker Hill.     '           the common name of Breed's Hill.
The peninsula of Charlestown is op-    1          Thus, Monument Square was called
posite the north part of Boston, and              Russell's Pasture; Breed's Pasture
is about a mile in length from north     " J      lay further south, and Green's Pasto south. Its greatest breadth, next    "   i     ture was at the head of Green Street.
to Boston, is about half a mile.  It      J \     The easterly and westerly sides of
is connected with the main land by    v   '       this height were steep. On the east,
a narrow isthmus or neck.    The        '         at its base, were brick-kilns, clayMystic River, half a mile wide, is                pits, and much sloughy land.  On
on the east, and the Charles River,               the west side, at the base, was the
here formed into a large bay, is on               most settled part of the town [51.
the west, a part of which, by a dam               Moulton's Point, a name coeval with
stretching in the direction of Cobble             the settlement of the town, constiHill, is a mill-pond. [See map, page      /       tuted the southeastern corner of the
543.] In 1775, an artificial cause-        '      peninsula.  A  part of this tract
way [4] was so low as to be fre-                 formed what is called Morton's Hill.
quently overflowed by the tides. The CHaLEsTOWN IN 1775.' Bunker Hill was one hundred and
communication with Boston was by                  ten feet high, Breed's Hill sixty-two






I No. 1 is Bunker Hill; 2, Breed's Hill; 3, Moulton's Point; 4, a causeway near the Neck, at the foot
of Bunker Hill; 5, Charlestown, at the foot of Breed's Hill. Charlestown Neck is on the extreme left.




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                     5239
Night March to Bunker and Breed's Hill.  A Fortification planned on Bunker Hill.  British Vessels in Boston Haroor.
feet, and Moulton's Hill [3] thirty-five feet.  The principal street of the peninsula was
Main Street, which extended from the Neck to the ferry.     A road ran over Bunker Hill,
around Breed's Hill, to Moulton's Point. The westerly portions of these eminences contained fine orchards.'
A portion of the regiments of Prescott,2 Frye, and Bridge, and a fatigue party of two
hundred Connecticut troops with intrenching tools, paraded in the Cambridge camp at six
o'clock in the evening. They were furnished with packs and blankets, and ordered June 16,
to take provisions for twenty-four hours.  Samuel Gridley's company of artillery      1775 -joined them, and the Connecticut troops were placed under the command of Thomas Knowlton, a captain in Putnam's regiment, who was afterward killed in the battle on Harlem
Heights.   After an impressive prayer from the lips of President Langdon, of Harvard College, Colonel Prescott and Richard Gridley, preceded by two servants with dark lanterns,
commenced their march, at the head of the troops, for Charlestown.      It was about nine
o'clock at night, the sky clear and starry, and the weather very warm.   Strict silence was
enjoined, and the object of the expedition was not known to the troops until they arrived at
Charlestown Neck, where they were joined by Major Brooks, of Bridge's regiment, and General Putnam. A guard of ten men was placed in Charlestown, and the main body marched over Bunker Hill.    A council was held, to select the best place for the proposed fortification.  The order was explicit, to fortify Bunker Hill; but Breed's Hill being nearer Boston, and appearing to be a more eligible place, it was concluded to proceed to fortify it, and
to throw up works, also, on Bunker Hill, to cover a retreat, if necessary, across Charlestown
Neck.. Colonel Gridley marked out the lines of the proposed fortifications, and, at about
midnight, the men, having thrown off their packs and stacked their arms, began their perilous work-perilous, because British sentinels and British ships-of-war were almost within
sound of their picks.3
"No shout disturbed the night,
Before that fearful fight;
There was no boasting highNo marshaling of men,
Who ne'er might meet againNo cup was filled and quaffed to Victory!
Frothingham, page 129.
2 William Prescott was born at Groton, Massachusetts, in 1726. His father was for some years a counselor of Massachusetts, and his mother was a daughter of another counselor. He was a lieutenant of foot
under General Winslow, at the capture of Cape Breton, where he was distinguished for his bravery. He
inherited a large estate, and resided at Pepperell while the Revolution was ripening. He had command
of a regiment of minute men, and when the news of the affair at Lexington reached him, promptly marched
thither at the head of as many as he could collect. His known military talents caused him to be selected
by General Ward for the important duty of fortifying Bunker Hill; and in the memorable engagement that
occurred there on the 17th of June, 1775, he was the chief in command, and was greatly distinguished by
his bravery and skill. That evening, although repulsed, and his troops greatly fatigued and much dispirited, he solicited from the Committee of Safety permission to make an attempt to retake the peninsula of
Charlestown. It was a movement too perilous, and the gallant soldier was obliged to rest. He continued
in the service through 1776, and served as a volunteer under Gates until the surrender of Burgoyne in
1777. From 1786 until his death he was an acting magistrate in his native town. He died in Pepperell
on the 13th of October, 1795, aged sixty-nine. William H. Prescott, of Boston, the eminent historian, is a
grandson of Colonel Prescott. He married a grand-daughter of Captain Linzee, who commanded the sloop
of war Falcon, that cannonaded the works on Breed's Hill on the 17th of June, 1775. The swords then
used by Colonel Prescott and Captain Linzee, the respective grandfathers of the historian and his wife, are
now in Mr. Prescott's possession, and are crossed, in a conspicuous place, in his valuable library at
Boston.
3 The following are the names of the British vessels then in the harbor of Boston, which took part in the
battle that ensued: Somerset, 68 guns, 520 men, Captain Edward Le Cras; Cerberus, 36 guns, Captain
Chads; Glasgow, 24 guns, 130 men, Captain William Maltby; Lively, 20 guns, 130 men, Captain Thomas
Bishop; Falcon, Captain Linzee; Symmetry, transport, 18 nine pounders. See the British lAnnual Register
for 1775. The Falcon lay off Moulton's, or Morton's, Point; the Lively lay opposite the present navyyard; the Somerset was at the ferry; the Glasgow was near Cragie's Bridge; and the Cerberus and several floating batteries were within gunshot of the American works.-Fr'othingham.




540


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Construction of the Redoubt on Breed's Hill.  Discovery of the Works by the Enemy.  Surprise of the People of Boston.
No plumes were there,
No banners fair,
No trumpets breathed around;
Nor the drum's startling sound
Broke on the midnight air."-JoHN NEAL.
Officers and men labored together with all their
might, with pickaxes and spades, and were cheer-            J             \/\
ed on in their work by the distant signals of safe-     /
ty —    All's well!"-that came from the shipping,    /I RON
and the sentinels at the foot of Copp's Hill.  It
proclaimed that they were still undiscovered; and             /
at every cry of " All's well!" they plied their
tools with increased vigor.  When the day dawned, at about four o'clock, they had thrown up intrenchments six feet high; and a strong redoubt,
which was afterward the admiration of the ene-      \
my, loomed up on the green height before the wondering eyes of the astonished Britons like a work
of magic.   The British officers could hardly be            50,. -y
convinced that it was the result of a few hours'
labor only, but deemed it the work of days. Gage      PLAN OF THE REDOUBT ON BREED'S HILL.I
saw at once how foolish he had been in not taking
possession of this strong point, as advised, while it was in his power to do so.
The fortification was first discovered at dawn, by the watchmen on board the Lively.
Without waiting for orders, the captain put springs upon his cables, and opened a fire on
the American works. The noise of the cannon aroused the sleepers in Boston, and when
the sun arose on that bright morning, every eminence and roof in the city swarmed with
people, astonished at the strange apparition upon Breed's Hill.  The shots from the Lively
did no harm, and, defended by their intrenchments, the Americans plied their labor in
strengthening their works within, until called to lay aside the pick and shovel for gun and
knapsack.
Admiral Graves, the naval commander at Boston, ordered the firing to cease; but it was
soon renewed, not only by the shipping, but from a battery of six guns upon Copp's Hill in
June 17, the city. Gage summoned a council of war early in the morning. As it was ev1775.  ident that the Americans were rapidly gaining strength, and that the safety of the
town was endangered, it was unanimously resolved to send out a force to drive them from
"the peninsula of Charlestown and destroy their works on the heights.   It was decided, also,
to make the attack in front, and preparations were made accordingly.    The drums beat to
arms, and Boston was soon in a tumult. Dragoons galloping, artillery trains rumbling, and
the marching and countermarching of the regulars and loyalists, together with the clangor
1 This plan is copied from an English drawing of the time, first published in the London Gentleman's
Magazine for 1775.
EXPLANATION.-A A represents the situation of two strong fences, composed of stones and rails; a and
b, two well-contrived flanks, so arranged that their fires crossed within twenty yards of the face of the redoubt; c, another well-arranged flank; d, a bastion, with its flanks e and b; m, a small portion of a trench,
that extended from the eastern side of the redoubt to a slough at the foot of the hill toward the Mystic River. On the southeast side of the redoubt was a deep hollow. Two cannons were placed in embrasures
at the front of the redoubt, in the two salient angles of which were large apple-trees.
This redoubt was eight rods square. The Bunker Hill Monument now occupies its center. The eastern side commanded an extensive field. On the north side was an open passage-way, and the breastwork upon the eastern side extended about one hundred yards north. This trench was incomplete when
the battle began. Between the south end of the breast-work and the redoubt was a sally-port, protected
by a blind, and on the inside of the parapet were steps of wood and earth for the men to mount and fire.
Between the slough and the rail fence on the east was an open space, and this was the weakest part of
the lines. Such were the American works of defense when the battle of the 17th of June commenced.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


541




Cowardice of the Tories. Crossing of a British Force from Boston to Charlestown. Bravery of Prescott New England Flag.
of the church bells, struck dismay into many a heart before stout in the presence of British
protectors.  It is said that the danger which surrounded the city converted many Tories
into patriots; and the selectmen, in the midst of that fearful commotion, received large accessions to their list of professed friends from the ranks of the timid loyalists.
Toward noon, between two and three thousand picked men, from the British army, under C
the command of General Sir William Howe and General Pigot, embarked in twenty-eight
barges, part from the Long Wharf and some from the North Battery, in Boston, and landed
at Morton's, or Moulton's Point,1 beyond the eastern foot of Breed's Hill, covered by the
guns of the Falcon and other vessels.
"About two thousand were embarked to go
'Gainst the redoubt and formidable foe.
The Lively's, Falcon's, Famne's, and Glasgow's roar,
Covered their landing on the destined shore."2
The Americans had worked faithfully on their intrenchments all the morning, and were
greatly encouraged by the voice and example of Prescott, who exposed himself, without care,
to the random shots of the battery on Copp's Hill.3 He supposed, at first, that the enemy
would not attack him, but, seeing the movements in the city, he was convinced to the contrary, and comforted his toiling troops with assurances of certain victory.   Confident of
such a result himself, he would not at first send to General Ward for a re-enforcement; but
between nine and ten o'clock, by advice of his officers, Major Brooks was dispatched to
head-quarters for that purpose. General Putnam had urged Ward early in the morning to l
send fresh troops to relieve those on duty; but only a portion of Stark's regiment was allowed to go, as the general apprehended that Cambridge would be the principal point of attack.. Convinced otherwise, by certain intelligence, the
remainder of Stark's regiment, and the whole of Reed's
corps, on the Neck, were ordered to re-enforce Prescott.  L-        Jl
At twelve o'clock the men in the redoubt ceased work,
sent off their intrenching tools, took some refreshments,
hoisted the New England flag, and prepared to fight.
The intrenching tools were sent to Bunker Hill, where,
under the direction of General Putnam, the men began
to throw up a breast-work.     Some of the more timid
soldiers made the removal of the tools a pretext for leaving the redoubt, and never returned.                          THE NEW ENGLAND FLAG.4
It was between twelve and one o'clock when the BritThis is written Morton, Moreton, and Moulton, by different authors. Morton is the proper name.
g From "The American War," a poem in six books, published in London, 1786.
3 A soldier (Asa Pollard, of Billerica) who had ventured outside of the redoubt, was killed by a cannon
ball. The circumstance so alarmed those within, that some of them left the hill. Prescott, to inspire his,
men with confidence, walked leisurely around the works upon the parapet, in full view of the British officers in Boston. Gage, who was reconnoitering the works through a glass, saw his tall and commanding
form, and asked Counselor Willard, who stood near him, who it was. Willard, recognizing his brother-inlaw, said, "That is Colonel Prescott."  "Will he fight?" inquired Gage.  " Yes, sir," replied Willard;
': he is an old soldier, and will fight as long as a drop of blood remains in his veins." " The works must
be carried immediately," responded Gage, as he turned upon his heel to give orders.
4 This is copied from an old Dutch work, preserved in the library of the New York Historical Society,
containing pictures of the flags of all nations. In the original, a divided sphere, representing the earth, is
in the quarter where I have placed the pine-tree. I have made the alteration in the device, because in the
flag raised upon the bastion of the redoubt on Breed's Hill, the pine-tree occupied the place of the sphere,
the more ancient device. The question has been unsettled respecting the flag used on that occasion, as
cotemporary writers are silent on the subject. An intelligent old lady (Mrs. Manning) whom I saw between the Brandywine and Kennet Square, in Pennsylvania, informed me that her father, who was in the
battle, assisted in hoisting the standard, and she had heard him speak of it as a " noble flag." The ground
was blue, and one corner was quartered by the red cross of St. George, in one section of which was the
pine-tree. This was the New England flag, as given in the sketch. Doubtless there were many other
flags belonging to the several regiments. Botta says of Dr. Warren, during the retreat, " Finding the corps




542


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Excitement in Cambridge.  Re-enforcements for both Parties.  Sufferings of the Provincials.  Warren and Pomeroy.. ish troops, consisting of the fifth, thirty-eighth, forty-third, and fifty-second battalions of inJ    fantry, two companies of grenadiers, and two of light-infantry, landed, their rich uniforms
and arms flashing and glittering in the noonday sun, making an imposing and formidable
display.  General Howe reconnoitered the American works, and, while waiting for re-enforcements, which he had solicited from Gage, allowed his troops to dine.  When the intelligence of the landing of the enemy reached Cambridge, two miles distant, there was
great excitement in the camp and throughout the town. The drums beat to arms, the bells
were rung, and the people and military were speedily hurrying in every direction.  General
Ward used his own regiment, and those of Paterson and Gardner and a part of Bridge's,
for the defense of Cambridge.  The remainder of the Massachusetts troops were ordered to
Charlestown, and thither General Putnam conducted those of Connecticut.
At about two o'clock the re-enforcement for Howe arrived, and landed at the present
navy-yard.   It consisted of the forty-seventh battalion of infantry, a battalion of marines.
and some grenadiers and light infantry.  The whole force (about four thousand men) was
commanded and directed by the most skillful British officers then in Boston;' and every
man preparing to attack the undisciplined provincials was a drilled soldier, and quite perfect
in the art of war.  It was an hour of the deepest anxiety among the patriots on Breed's
Hill. They had observed the whole martial display, from the time of the embarkation until the forming of the enemy's line for battle.  For the Americans, as yet, very little succor
had arrived.   Hunger and thirst annoyed them, while the labors of the night and morning
\y. weighed them down with excessive fatigue.    Added to this was the dreadful suspicion that
took possession of their minds, when only feeble re-enforcements arrived, that treachery had
placed them there for the purpose of sacrifice. Yet they could not doubt the patriotism of,
their principal officers, and before the action commenced their suspicions were scattered to
the winds by the arrival of their beloved Dr. Warren and General Pomeroy.2      Warren.
who was president of the Provincial Congress, then sitting at Watertown, seven miles distant, informed of the landing of the enemy, hastened toward Charlestown, though suffering
from sickness and exhaustion. lHe had been commissioned a major general four days before.
Putnam, who was at Cambridge, forwarding provisions and re-enforcements to Charlestown.
tried to dissuade him from going into the battle. Warren was not to be diverted from his
purpose, and mounting a horse, he sped across the Neck and entered the redoubt, amid the
loud cheers of the provincials, just as Iowe gave orders to advance.  Colonel Prescott of:
fered the command to Warren, as his superior, when the latter replied, -( I am come to fight
as a volunteer, and feel honored in being allowed to serve under so brave an officer."
While the British troops were forming, and preparing to march along the Mystic River
for the purpose of flanking the Americans and gaining their rear, the artillery, with two
V    field-pieces, and Captain Knowlton, with the Connecticut troops, left the redoubt, took a
he commanded hotly pursued by the enemy, despising all danger, he stood alone before the ranks, endeavoring to rally his troops, and encouraging them by his own example. He reminded them of the mottoes
inscribed on their ensigns, on one side of which were these words, 'An appeal to Heaven,' and on the other,
'Qui transtulit, sustinet;' meaning, that the same providence that brought their ancestors through so many
perils to a place of refuge, would also deign to support their descendants."  Botta often exhibits more poetry than truth in his brilliant narrative. After the battle under consideration, and while Putnam commanded on Prospect Hill, a flag with the inscription above given was presented to him, and was first unfurled on the 18th of July ensuing. The author of " The Veil Removed" properly treats the assertion of
Botta as a fiction, and sarcastically remarks that, " instead of such a sentimental allusion to Latin mottoes.
the only command, when their ammunition was spent, must have been Sauve qui peut, ' Save himself who
can.'   Qui transtulit, sustinet, is the motto in the seal of Connecticut.
1 The most distinguished British officers that accompanied General Howe were General Pigot; Colonels
Nesbit, Abercrombie, and Clark; Majors Butler, Williams, Bruce, Spendlove, Smelt, Mitchell, Pitcairn,
Short, Small: and Lord Rawdon.
General Pomeroy left Cambridge when he heard the first sound of the cannon. The veteran borrowed
a horse from General Ward, to ride to Charlestown, but, observing that the guns of the Glasgow raked the
Neck by an enfilading fire, he was afraid to risk the borrowed animal. Leaving him in charge of a sentry,
he walked across the Neck, and, with a borrowed musket, joined the troops at the rail fence as a volunteer.
He was well known, and a loud huzza welcomed him to the post of danger.




OF THE REVOLUTION.






March of the British toward the Redoubt


Position of the American Troops.


Cannonade of the Redoubt.


position near Bunker Hill, and formed a breast-work seven hundred feet in length, which
served an excellent purpose.  A little in front of a strong stone and rail fence, Knowlton
built another, and between the two was placed a quantity of new-mown grass.  This apparently slight breast-work formed a valuable defense to the provincials.
It was now three in the afternoon. The provincial troops were placed in an attitude of
defense, as the British column moved slowly forward to the attack.  Colonel Prescott and
the original constructors of the redoubt, except the Connecticut troops, were within the
works.  General Warren also took post in the redoubt.  Gridley and Callender's artillery.
companies were between the breast-works and rail fence on the eastern side. A few troops,
recalled from Charlestown after the British landed, and a part of Warner's company, lined
the cart-way on the right of the redoubt.  The Connecticut and New Hampshire forces
were at the rail fence on the west of the redoubt; and three companies were stationed in
the Main Street at the foot of Breed's Hill.
Before General Howe moved from his first position, he sent out strong flank guards, and
directed his heavy artillery to play upon the American line.  At the same time a blue
flag was displayed as a signal, and the guns upon Copp's Hill, and the ships and floating,
batteries in the river, poured a storm of round shot upon the redoubt. A furious cannonade
was opened at the same moment upon the right wing of the provincial army at Roxbury,
to prevent re-enforcements being sent by General Thomas to Charlestown. Gridley' and
Callender, with their field-pieces, returned a feeble response to the heavy guns of the enemy.


Gridley's guns were soon disabled; while Callender, who alleged that his cartridges were
too large, withdrew to Bunker Hill.  Putnam was there, and ordered him back to his first
position. He disobeyed, and nearly all his men, more courageous than he, deserted him.
In the mean while, Captain Walker, of Chelmsford, with fifty resolute men, marched down A/
the hill near Charlestown, and greatly annoyed the enemy's left flank. Finding their posiCaptain Samuel Gridley was a son of Richard Gridley, the engineer. He was quite inefficient, and
had received his appointment solely in compliment to his father.




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


-





The British Artillery.  Silence of the Americans.  Terrible Volleys from the Redoubt.  Flight of the Enemy.
tion very perilous, they marched over to the Mystic, and did great execution upon the right
flank. Walker was there wounded and made prisoner, but the greater part of his men succeeded in gaining the redoubt.
Under cover of the discharges of artillery, the British army moved up the slope of Breed's
Hill toward the American works, in two divisions, General Howe with the right wing, and
General Pigot with the left.  The former was to penetrate the American lines at the rail
fence; the latter to storm the redoubt. They had not proceeded far before the firing of their
artillery ceased, in consequence of discovering that balls too large for the field-pieces had been
sent over from Boston.  Howe ordered the pieces to be loaded with grape; but they soon
became useless, on account of the miry ground at the base of the hill.  Small arms and
bayonets now became their reliance.
Silently the British troops, burdened with heavy knapsacks, toiled up the ascent toward
the redoubt, in the heat of a bright summer's sun. All was silent within the American intrenchments, and very few provincials were to be seen by the approaching battalions; but
within those breast-works, and in reserve behind the hills, crouched fifteen hundred determined men, ready, at a prescribed signal, to fall upon the foe.  The provincials had but a
scanty supply of ammunition, and, to avoid wasting it by ineffectual shots, Prescott gave
orders not to fire until the enemy were so near that the whites of their eyes could be seen.
" Then," he said, "aim at their waistbands; and be sure to pick off the commanders, known
by their handsome coats!"  The enemy were not so sparing of their powder and ball, but
when within gunshot of the apparently deserted works, commenced a random firing. Prescott could hardly restrain his men from responding, and a few did disobey his orders and returned the fire. Putnam hastened to the spot, and threatened to cut down the first man who
should again disobey orders, and quiet was restored. At length the enemy reached the prescribed distance, when, waving his sword over his head, Prescott shouted "FIRE!"  Terrible
was the effect of the volley that ensued. Whole platoons of the British regulars were laid
upon the earth, like grass by the mower's scythe. Other deadly volleys succeeded, and the
enemy, disconcerted, broke, and fled toward the water.  The provincials, joyed at seeing
the regulars fly, wished to pursue them, and many leaped the rail fence for the purpose;
but the prudence of the American officers kept them in check, and in a few minutes they
were again within their works, prepared to receive a second attack from the British troops,
that were quickly rallied by Howe. Colonel Prescott praised and encouraged his men,
while General Putnam rode to Bunker Hill to urge on re-enforcements. Many had arrived
at Charlestown Neck, but were deterred from crossing by the enfilading fire of the Glasgow
and two armed gondolas near the causeway.   Portions of regiments were scattered upon
Bunker Hill and its vicinity, and these General Putnam, by entreaties and commands, endeavored to rally. Colonel Gerrish, who was very corpulent, became completely exhausted
by fatigue; and other officers, wholly unused to warfare, coward-like kept at a respectful
distance from danger.  Few additional troops could be brought to Breed's Hill before the
second attack was made.
The British troops, re-enforced by four hundred marines from Boston, under Major Small,
accompanied by Dr. Jeffries, the army surgeon, advanced toward the redoubt in the same
order as at first, General Howe boldly leading the van, as he had promised.' It was a
mournful march over the dead bodies of scores of their fellow-soldiers; but with true English courage they pressed onward, their artillery doing more damage to the Americans than
at the first assault.  It had moved along the narrow road between the tongue of land and
Breed's Hill, and when within a hundred yards of the rail fence, and on a line with the
breast-works, opened a galling fire, to cover the advance of the other assailants.  In the
mean while, a carcass, and some hot shot, were thrown from Copp's Hill into Charlestown,
1 Clarke, an officer in the marines, relates that, just before commencing the first march toward the redoubt, General Howe made a short speech, in which he said, " If the enemy will not come out of their intrenchments, we must drive them out, at all events, otherwise the town of Boston will be set on fire by
them. I shall not desire one of you to go a step further than where I go myself at your head."




OF THE REVOLUTION.


645


Burning of Charlestown. Second Repulse of the British. Re-enforced by Cltnton. Ammunition of the Americans exhausted.
which set the village on fire.' The houses were chiefly of wood, and in a short time nearly
two hundred buildings were in flames, shrouding in dense smoke the heights in the rear
whereon the provincials were posted.  Beneath this veil the British hoped to rush unobserved up to the breast-works, scale them, and drive the Americans out at the point of the
bayonet.   At that moment a gentle breeze, which appeared to the provincials like the
breath of a guardian angel-the first zephyr that had been felt on that sultry day-came
from the west, and swept the smoke away seaward, exposing to the full view of the Americans the advancing columns of the enemy, who fired as they approached, but with little
execution.  Colonels Brener, Nixon, and Buckminster were wounded, and Major Moore was
killed.  As before, the Americans reserved their fire until the British were within the prescribed distance, when they poured forth their leaden hail with such sure aim and terrible
effect that whole ranks of officers and men were slain.  General Howe was at the head,
and once he was left entirely alone, his aids and all about him having perished. The British line recoiled, and gave way in several parts, and it required the utmost exertion in all
the remaining officers, from the generals down to the subalterns, to repair the disorder
which this hot and unexpected fire had produced.2  All their efforts were at first fruitless,
and the troops retreated in great disorder to the shore.
General Clinton, who had beheld the progress of the battle with mortified pride, seeing
the regulars repulsed a second time, crossed over in a boat, followed by a small re-enforcement, and joined the broken army as a volunteer.  Some of the British officers remonstrated against leading the men a third time to certain destruction; but others, who had ridiculed American valor, and boasted loudly of British invincibility, resolved on victory or
death.  The incautious loudness of speech of a provincial, during the second attack, declaring that the ammunition was nearly exhausted, gave the enemy encouraging and important
information.  Howe immediately rallied his troops and formed them for a third attack, but
~in a different way.  The weakness of the point between the breast-work and the rail fence
had been discovered by Howe, and thitherward he determined to lead the left wing with
the artillery, while a show of attack should be made at the rail fence on the other side.
His men were ordered to stand the fire of the provincials, and then make a furious charge
with bayonets.
So long were the enemy making preparations for a third attack, that the provincials began to imagine that the second repulse was to be final.  They had time to refresh themselves a little, and recover from that complete exhaustion which the labor of the day had
produced.  It was too true that their ammunition was almost exhausted, and being obliged
to rely upon that for defense, as comparatively few of the muskets were furnished with bayonets, they began to despair.  The few remaining cartridges within the redoubt were distributed by Prescott, and those soldiers who were destitute of bayonets resolved to club their
arms, and use the breeches of their guns when their powder should be gone.   The loost
stones in the redoubt were collected for use as missiles if necessary, and all resolved to fight
as long as a ray of hope appeared.
During this preparation on Breed's Hill, all was confusion elsewhere.  General Ward
was at Cambridge, without sufficient staff officers to convey his orders.  Henry (afterward
general) Knox was in the reconnoitering service, as a volunteer, during the day, and upon
his reports Ward issued his orders.  Late in the afternoon, the commanding general dispatched his own, with Paterson's and Gardner's regiments, to the field of action; but to t
the raw recruits the aspect of the narrow Neck was terrible, swept as it was by the British
A carcass is a hollow case formed of ribs of iron, covered with cloth, or sometimes iron, with holes in
it. Being filled with combustible materials, it is thrown from a mortar into a besieged place, by which
means buildings are set on fire. The burning of Charlestown had been resolved upon by Gage some time
before, in the event of the Americans taking possession of any of the hills belonging to it. " This resolution was assigned by a near female relative of the general to a gentlewoman with whom she had become
acquainted at school, as a reason why the other, upon obtaining a pass to quit Boston, should not tarry at
her father's (Mr. Cary's) house in Charlestown."-Dr. Gordon, i., 352.
2 Stedman, i., 127.
M M




546                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Death of Colonel Gardner.  Third Attack of the British.  Storming of the Redoubt.  Death of Warren and Pitcairn.
cannon.   Colonel Gardner succeeded in leading three hundred men to Bunker Hill, where
Putnam set them intrenching, but soon ordered them to the lines. Gardner was advancing
boldly at their head, when a musket ball entered his groin and wounded him 'mortally.'
His men were thrown into confusion, and very few of them engaged in the combat that followed, until the retreat commenced.   Other regiments failed to reach the lines.  A part
of Gerrish's regiment, led by Adjutant Christian Febiger, a Danish officer, who afterward
accompanied Arnold to Quebec, and was distinguished at Stony Point, reached the lines just
as the action commenced, and effectually galled the British left wing.   Putnam, in the
mean time, was using his utmost exertions to form the confused troops on Bunker Hill, and
get fresh corps with bayonets across the Neck.
All was order and firmness at the redoubt on Breed's Hill, as the enemy advanced. The
artillery of the British swept the interior of the breast-work from end to end, destroying
many of the provincials, among whom was Lieutenant Prescott, a nephew of the colonel
commanding. The remainder were driven within the redoubt, and the breast-work was
abandoned.   Each shot of the provincials was true to its aim, and Colonel Abercrombie,
and Majors Williams and Speedlove fell.    Howe was wounded in the foot, but continued
fighting at the head of his men.  His boats were at Boston, and retreat he could not. His
troops pressed forward to the redoubt, now nearly silent, for the provincials' last grains of
powder were in their guns.   Only a ridge of earth separated the combatants, and the assailants scaled it.  The first that reached the parapet were repulsed by a shower of stones.
Major Pitcairn, who led the troops at Lexington, ascending the parapet, cried out, " Now
for the glory of the marines!" and was immediately shot by a negro soldier.2  Again numbers of the enemy leaped upon the parapet, while others assailed the redoubt on three sides.
Hand to hand the belligerents struggled, and the gun-stocks of many of the provincials were
shivered to pieces by the heavy blows they were made to give.     The enemy poured into
the redoubt in such numbers that Prescott, perceiving the folly of longer resistance, ordered
a retreat.  Through the enemy's ranks the Americans hewed their way, many of them
walking backward, and dealing deadly blows with their mnsket-stocks.  Prescott and Warren were the last to leave the redoubt.  Colonel Gridley, the engineer, was wounded, and
borne off safely.3  Prescott received several thrusts from bayonets and rapiers in his clothing, but escaped unhurt.  Warren was the last man that left the works. -He was a short
distance from  the redoubt, on his way toward Bunker Hill, when a musket ball passed
through his head, killing him instantly.  He was left on the field, for all were flying in the
greatest confusion, pursued by the victors, who remorselessly bayoneted those who fell in
their way.
Major Jackson had rallied Gardner's men upon Bunker Hill, and pressing forward with
I have before me a drama, bearing the autograph of General James Abercrombie, entitled "TIE
BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL; a dramatic piece in five acts, in heroic measure: by a gentleman of Maryland."
Printed at Philadelphia, by Robert Bell, in 1776. Colonel Gardner is one of the dramatis persona, and is
made to say, at the moment of receiving the wound,
"A musket ball, death-winged, hath pierced my groin,
And widely oped the swift current of my veins.
Bear me, then, soldiers, to that hollow space
A little hence, just on the hill's decline.
A surgeon there may stop the gushing wound,
And gain a short respite to life, that yet
I may return, and fight one half hour more.
Then shall I die in peace, and to my GOD
Surrender up the spirit which he gave."
Major Pitcairn was carried by his son to a boat, and conveyed to Boston, where he soon died. He left
eleven children. The British government settled a pension of one thousand dollars a year upon his widow.
3 Colonel Richard Gridley, the able engineer and brave soldier in this battle, was born in Boston in 1721.
He served as an engineer in the reduction of Louisberg in 1745, and entered the British army as colonel
and chief engineer in 1755. He was engaged in the expedition to Ticonderoga in 1756, and constructed
Fort George, on Lake George. He served under Amherst in 1758, and was with Wolfe, on the Plains of
Abraham, the following year. He was appointed chief engineer of the provincial army near Boston in 1775
He died at Stoughton, on the 20th of June, 1796, aged seventy-five years.-CuCrwen.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


547


Confusion of the Americans. Efforts of Putnam to Rally them. Cessation of the Battle. Tle Loss. Spectators.of the Batte.
three companies of Ward's, and Febiger's party of Gerrish's regiment, poured a destructive
fire upon the enemy between Breed's and Bunker Hill, and bravely covered the retreat from
the redoubt.  The Americans at the rail fence, under Stark, Reed, and Knowlton, re-enforced by Clark's, Coit's, and Chester's Connecticut companies, and a few other troops,
maintained their ground, in the mean while, with great firmness, and successfully resisted v
every attempt of the enemy to turn their flank. This service was very valuable, for it saved
the main body, retreating from the redoubt, from being cut off.  But when these saw their
brethren, with the chief commander, flying before the enemy, they too fled.  Putnam used
every exertion to keep them firm.  He commanded, pleaded, cursed and swore like a madman, and was seen at every point in the van, trying to rally the scattered corps, swearing
that victory should crown the Americans.'  " Make a stand here," he exclaimed; ( we can
stop them yet!   In God's name, fire, and give them one shot more!"    The gallant old
Pomeroy, also, with his shattered musket in his hand, implored them to rally, but in vain.
The whole body retreated across the Neck, where the fire from the Glasgow and gondolas
slew many of them.    They left five of their six field-pieces, and all their intrenching tools,
upon Bunker Hill, and they retreated to Winter Hill, Prospect Hill, and to Cambridge. The -
British, greatly exhausted, and properly cautious, did not follow, but contented themselves
with taking possession of the peninsula.  Clinton advised an immediate attack upon Cambridge, but Howe was too cautious or too timid to make the attempt. His troops lay upon
their arms all night on Bunker Hill, and the Americans did the same on Prospect Hill, a
mile distant.  Two British field-pieces played upon them, but without effect, and both sides
fbeling unwilling to renew the action, hostilities ceased. The loss of the Americans in this
engagement was one hundred and fifteen killed and missing, three hundred and five wound- L
ed, and thirty who were taken prisoners; in all four hundred and fifty.  The British loss
is not positively known. Gage reported two hundred and twenty-six killed, and eight hundred and twenty-eight wounded; in all ten hundred and fifty-four.  In this number are included eighty-nine officers.  The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, from the best information they could obtain, reported the British loss at about fifteen hundred. The battle,
from Howe's first attack until the retreat, occupied nearly two hours.  The number of
buildings consumed in Charlestown, before midnight, was about four hundred; and the estimated loss of property (most of the families, with their effects, having moved out) was
nearly six hundred thousand dollars.
The number engaged in this battle was small, yet cotemporary writers and eye-witnesses
represent it as one of the most determined and severe on record.  There was absolutely no
victory in the case. The most indomitable courage was displayed on both sides; and when
the provincials had retired but a short distance, so wearied and exhausted were all that neither party desired more fighting, if we except Colonel Prescott, who earnestly petitioned to
be allowed to lead a fresh corps that evening and retake Breed's Hill.  It was a terrible
day for Boston and its vicinity, for almost every family had a representative in one of the
two armies.   Fathers, husbands, sons, and brothers were in the affray, and deep was the
mental anguish of the women of the city, who, from roofs, and steeples, and every elevation,
gazed with streaming eyes upon the carnage, for the battle raged in full view of thousands
of interested spectators in the town and upon the adjoining hills.2  In contrast with the terrible scene were the cloudless sky and brilliant sun.
] It is said that, for the foul profanity in which the brave old general indulged on that occasion, he made
a sincere confession, after the war, before the church of which he was a member. " It was almost enough
to make an angel swear," he said, "to see the cowards refuse to secure a victory so nearly won!
2 In other battles," said Daniel Webster, in an article published in the North American Review for
October, 1818, " the recollection of wives and children has been used as an excitement to animate the warrior's breast and to nerve his arm. Here was not a mere recollection, but an actual presence of them, and
other dear connections, hanging on the skirts of the battle, anxious and agitated, feeling almost as if wounded themselves by every blow of the enemy, and putting forth, as it were, their own strength. and all the
energy of their own throbbing bosoms, into every gallant effort of their warring friends."




5 18


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


548              PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Reflections on the Battle.      Burgoyne's Opinion of the Conflict.    The Character of Warren.
"The heavens, the calm pure heavens, were bright on high;
Earth laughed beneath in all its freshening green;
The free, blue streams sang as they wandered by;
And many a sunny glade and flowery scene
Gleamed out, like thoughts of youth, life's troubled years between,"
WILLIS GAYLORD CLARK.
while upon the green slopes, where flocks were quietly grazing but a few hours before, WAR
had reared its gory altars, and the earth was saturated with the blood of its victims.  Fearfully augmented was the terror of the scene, when the black smoke arose from Charlestown
on fire, and enveloped the redoubt on the summit of Breed's Hill, which, like the crater of
a volcano, blazed and thundered in the midst of the gloomy curtain that veiled it.
"Amazing scenes! what shuddering prospects rise!
What horrors glare beneath the angry skies!
The rapid flames o'er Charlestown's heights ascend;
To heaven they reach! urged by the boisterous wind.
The mournful crash of falling domes resound,
And tottering spires with sparkles reach the ground.
One general burst of ruin reigns o'er all;
The burning city thunders to its fall!
O'er mingled noises the vast ruin sounds,
Spectators weep! earth from her center groans!
Beneath prodigious unextinguished fires
Ill-fated Charlestown welters and expires."
EULOG1UM ON WARREN, 1781.
"It was," said Burgoyne, who, with Gage and other British officers, was looking on from a
secure place near Copp's Hill in Boston, "( a complication of horror and importance, beyond
any thing that ever came to my lot to witness.    Sure I am that nothing ever can or has
been more dreadfully ter-                                         generous and disinterestrible than what was to                    A   d                   ed patriotism that inspirbe seen or heard at this                                          ed the colonies.  In evtime."   But it is profit-                                        ery relation in life he was
less to dwell upon the                                            a model of excellence.
gloomy   scene.   Time                                            " Not all the havoc and
hath  healed the grief                                            devastation  they  have
and heart-sickness that.'                                        made has wounded me
were born there; and                                              like the death of Warart, in the hands of busy:       ren,"   wrote  the  wife
men, has covered up for-,                                    of John Adams,     July 5,
ever all vestiges of the  /                                       three weeks aft-   1775.
Many gallant, many                                              him in the Senate; we
noble men perished on                                             want him in his profesthe peninsula upon that                                  /        sion; we want him     in
sad day; but none was                                             the field.   We mourn
so widely   and  deeply                                           for the citizen, the senlamented, because none                                            ator, the physician, and
was so widely and truly                                           the warrior."   General
loved, as the self-sacri-     / i                                 Howe estimated his inficing and devoted War-                                          fluence, when he declarren. He was the imper-                                            ed/ to Dr. Jefirics, who
sonation of the spirit of                                         recognized the body of
Joseph Warren, son of a Massachusetts farmer. was born in Roxhury in 1740. and graduated at Harvard College in 1759. He studied the science of medicine under Dr. Lloyd, and rapidly rose to the head.
or, at least, to the front rank of that profession in Boston. Sentiments of patriotism seemed to form a part




OF THE REVOLUTION.


549


_


The Energy, Boldness, and Patriotism of Warren.  Masonic Honors to his Memory.  The old Monument on Breed's Hill.
Warren on the field the next day, that his death was worth, to the British, five hundred of the
provincial privates.  Eulogy and song have aided history in embalming his memory with the
of his moral nature, and courage to avow them was always prompting him to action. He became necessarily a politician, at a time when all men were called upon to act in public matters, or be looked upon as
drones. He was one of the earliest members of the association in Boston known as the Sons of Liberty,
and from 1768 was extremely efficient in fostering the spirit of rational liberty and independence in the
wide and influential circle in which he moved. His mind, suggestive and daring, planned many measures,
in secret caucus with Adams and others, for resisting the encroachments of British power. In 1771 he
delivered the oration on the anniversary of the Boston Massacre. He solicited the honor of performing a
like duty on the 5th of March, 1775, in consequence of a threat of some of the British officers that they
would take the life of any man who should dare to speak on that occasion. The old South meeting-house
was crowded on the appointed day, and the aisles, stairs, and pulpit were filled with armed British soldiers.
The intrepid young orator entered a window by a ladder, back of the pulpit, and, in the midst of a profound silence, commenced his exordium in a firm tone of voice. His' friends, though determined to avenge
any attempt at assassination, trembled for his safety. He dwelt eloquently upon the early struggles of the
New England people, their faith and loyalty, and recounted, in sorrowful tones, the oppressions that had
been heaped upon them. Gradually he approached the scene on the 5th of March, and then portrayed it
in such language and pathos of expression, that even the stern soldiery that came to awe him wept at his
words. He stood there in the midst of that multitude, a striking symbol of the revolt which he was leading, firm in the faith of that sentiment, "Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God."  Looking at him, it
might be said, as Magoon remarks, in classic quotation,
"Thou hast seen Mount Athos;
While storms and tempests thunder at its brows
And oceans beat their billows at its feet,
It stands unmoved, and glories in its height.
Such is that haughty man; his towering soul,
Mid all the shocks and injuries of fortune,
Rises superior, and looks down on Caesar."
When John Hancock went to the Continental Congress, Warren was elected
to fill his place as president of the Provincial Congress. Four days previous
to the action on Breed's Hill, that body gave him the commission of major
general, and he was the only officer of that rank engaged in the conflict; yet
he was without command, and fought as a volunteer. ' He fell," as Everett
has beautifully expressed it, ' with a numerous band of kindred spirits-the
gray-haired veteran, the stripling in the flower of youth-who had stood side
by side on that dreadful day, and fell together, like the beauty of Israel in
their high places!" Warren's body was identified, on the morning after the
battle, by Dr. Jeffries, who was his intimate acquaintance.  He was buried
where he fell, and the place was marked. After the evacuation of Boston in
1776, his remains were disinterred, and, on the 8th of April, were carried in
procession from the Representatives' chamber to King's Chapel, and buried  -
with military and masonic honors. The Reverend Dr. Cooper offered prayers, and Perez Morton pronounced an oration on the occasion. Warren's remains now rest beneath St. Paul's Church. He was Grand Master of Freemasons for North America at the time of his death. A lodge in Charlestowni             -
erected a monument to his memory in 1794, on the spot where he fell. It       lIlll
was composed of a brick pedestal eight feet square, rising ten feet from the
ground, and supporting a Tuscan pillar of wood eighteen feet high.  This  WARREN'S MONUMENT.
was surmounted by a gilt urn, bearing the inscription "J. W., aged 35," entwined with masonic emblems. On the south side of the pedestal was the following inscription:
"Erected A.D. MDCCXCIV.,
By King Solomon's Lodge of Free-masons,
constituted in Charlestown, 1783,
In Memory of
MAJOR-GENERAL JOSEPH WARREN
and his associates,
who were slain on this memorable spot June 17,
1775.
None but they who set a just value upon the blessings of liberty are worthy to enjoy her. In vain we toiled;
in vain we fought; we bled in vain, if you, our offspring, want valor to repel the assault of her invaders.
Charlestown settled, 1628. Burned, 1775. Rebuilt, 1776."
This monument stood forty years, and then was removed to give place to the present granite structure,
known as Bunker Hill Monument. A beautiful model of Warren's monument stands within the colossal
obelisk, from which I made the accompanying sketch.




550                          PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Character of the Troops engaged in the Battle on Breed's Hill.  Monument to Warren ordered by Congress.
immortality that rests upon the spot where he fell. He was a hero in the highest sense of
the term, and so were Prescott and other compatriots in the struggle; but all were not heroes who surrounded them.    Unused to war; some entirely ignorant of the sound of a cannonl; inferior, by two thirds, in number, and vastly so in discipline, to the enemy, the wonder is that the provincials fought so well, not that so many used their heels more expertly
than their hands. Many officers, chosen by the men whom they commanded, were totally
unfitted in knowledge and spirit for their stations, and a few exhibited the most arrant cowardice.  They were tried by court martial, and one was cashiered for disobedience and for
being a poltroon.'   But they have all passed away; let us draw the curtain of charity
around their resting-places, remembering that
Hero motives, placed in judgment's scale,
Outweigh all actions where the heart is wrong."
Here let us close the volume of history for a time, and while the gentle breeze is sweeping
the dust and smoke of battle from Bunker Hill,2 and the tumult of distress and alarm is subsiding in Boston, let us ride out to Lexington and Concord, to visit those places consecrated
by the blood of the first patriot martyrs.  We have had a long, but, I trust, profitable consultation of the records of the past.  I have endeavored to point out for consideration the
most prominent and important links in the chain of events, wherein is remarkably manifested the spirit of true liberty which finally wrought out the independence of these American
states. In brief outlines I have delineated the features of those events, and traced the progress of the principles of freedom from the little conventicles of despised and persecuted, but
determined men, toward the close of the sixteenth century, who assembled fo assert the most
undoubted natural right, that of worshiping God as the conscience of the creature shall dictate, to the uprising of nearly two millions of the same people in origin and language, in defiance of the puissance of the mightiest arm upon earth; and the assembling of a council in
their midst, of which the great Pitt was constrained to say, "I must declare and avow that
in all my reading and study-and it has been my favorite study; I have read Thucydides,
and have studied and admired the master states of the world-that for solidity of reasoning,
force of sagacity, and wisdom of conclusion, under such a complication of circumstances, no
nation or body of men can stand in preference to the general Congress of Philadelphia."
On the 8th of April, 1777, Congress, by resolution, ordered " that a monument be erected to the memory of General Warren, in the town of Boston, with the following inscription:
In honor of
JOSEPH WARREN,
Major General of Massachusetts Bay.
He devoted his life to the liberties
Of his country;
And in bravely defending them, fell
An early victim,
In the battle of Bunker Hill,
June 17th, 1775.
The Congress of the United States,
As an acknowledgment of his services,
Have erected this monument to his memory.
Congress also ordered: that his eldest son be educated at the expense of the United States."*  The patriotic order for the erection of a monument has never been obeyed.
' This was Captain Callender. The court sentenced him to be cashiered, and, in an order of July 7th,
Washington declared him to be "dismissed from all further service in the Continental army."  Callender
felt much aggrieved, and, confronting the charge of cowardice, remained in the army as a volunteer, and
fought so bravely at the battle of Long Island, the next year, that Washington commanded his sentence to
be erased from the orderly-book.
2 This battle should properly be called the battle of Breed's Hill, for there the great events of the day
occurred. There was much fighting and slaughter upon Bunker Hill, where Putnam chiefly commanded,
but it was not the main theater of action.
Journals of Congress, iii., 98




OF THE REVOLUTION..-  - ---- -----------   — r —                      - -  -
Roston Common.       Trip to. Concord.    Major Barrett.     His Connection with the Revolution.
CHAPTER XXIV.
"How suddenly that straight and glittering shaft
Shot thwart the earth! in crown of living fire
Up comes the day! As if they conscious quaff'd
The sunny flood, hill, forest, city spire
Laugh in the waking light."
RICHARD H. DANA.
"War, fierce war, shall break their forces;
Nerves of Tory men shall fail;
Seeing Howe, with alter'd courses,
Bending to the Western gale.
Thus from every bay of ocean
Flying back with sails unfurl'd,
Toss'd with ever-troubled motion,
They shall quit this smiling world."
MILITARY SONG, 1776.'
T was a glorious October morning, mild and brilliant, when I left
Boston to visit Concord and Lexington.  A gentle land-breeze during the night had borne the clouds back to their ocean birth-place, and not
A I'\<       a trace of the storm was left except in the saturated earth.  Health re\  i  turned with the clear sky, and I felt a rejuvenescence inevery vein and,   muscle when, at dawn, I strolled over the natural glory of Boston, its
broad and beautifully-arbored Common.   I breakfasted at six, and at half.... past seven left the station of the Fitchburg. rail-way for Concord, seventeen miles northwest of Boston.   The country through which the road
i (/7   passed is rough and broken, but thickly settled. I arrived at the Concord,/  station, about half a mile from the center of the village, before nine o'clock,
k     and procuring a conveyance, and an intelligent young man for a guide,
proceeded at once to visit the localities of interest in the vicinity.  We
rode to the residence of Major James Barrett, a surviving grandson of Colonel Barrett, about two miles north of the village, and near the residence of his venerated
October,  ancestor.  Major Barrett was eighty-seven years of age when I visited him, and
1848.  his wife, with whom he had lived nearly sixty years, was eighty.  Like most of
the few survivors of the Revolution, they were remarkable for their mental and bodily vigor.
Both, I believe, still live.  The old lady-a small, well-formed woman-was as
sprightly as a girl of twenty, and moved about the house with the nimbleness of foot
of a matron in the prime of life. I was charmed with her vivacity, and the sunny radiance
which it seemed to shed throughout her household; and the half hour that I passed with
that venerable couple is a green spot in the memory.
Major Barrett was a lad of fourteen when the British incursion into Concord took place.
He was too young to bear a musket, but, with every lad and woman in the vicinity, he labored in concealing the stores and in making cartridges for those who went out to fight.
WTith oxen and a cart, himself, and others about his age, removed the stores deposited at
the house of his grandfather into the woods, and concealed them, a cart-load in a place, under pine boughs.  In such haste were they obliged to act on the approach of the British
This song of forty-eight lines, by an anonymous writer, is entitled " A Military Song, by the Army, on
General Washington's victorious entry into the town of Boston."




PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Concealment of Stores at Concord.  Concord Monument.  The Village.   Ride to Lexington.
from Lexington, that, when the cart was loaded, lads would march on each side of the oxen
and goad them into a trot.  Thus all the stores were effectually concealed, except some
carriage-wheels. Perceiving the enemy near, these
From Major Barrett's we rode to the monument
the skirmish took place, and I sketched, on my way, 'the residence of Colonel Barrett, depicted on page i
5e26. The road crosses the Concord River a little
above the site of the North Bridge.  The monuinent stands a few rods westward of the road lead-                           i
ing to the village, and not far from the house of
the Reverend Dr. Ripley, who gave the ground for
the purpose.  The monument is constructed of
granite from Carlisle, and has an inscription upon t                      /
a marble tablet inserted in the eastern face of the F S                        sipedestal.' The view is from the green shaded lane      MoNMrsENr AT CONCORD,
which leads from the highway to the monument,
looking westward.  The two trees standing one upon each side, without the iron railing,
were saplings at the time of the battle; between them was the entrance to the bridge.
the monulent is reared upon a mound of earth a few yards from the left bank of the river.
A little to the left, two rough, uninscribed stones from the field mark the graves of the two
British soldiers who were killed and buried upon the spot.
We returned to the village at about noon, and started immediately for Lexington, six
miles eastward.
Concord is a pleasant little village, including within its borders about one hundred dwellings. It lies upon the Concord River, one of the tributaries of the Merrimac, near the junction of the Assabeth and Sudbury Rivers. Its Indian name was Musketaquid. On account
of the peaceable manner in which it was obtained, by purchase, of the aborigines, in 1635,
it was named Concord.  At the north end of the broad street, or common, is the house of
Colonel Daniel Shattuck, a part of which, built in 1774, was used as one of the depositories
of stores when the British invasion took place.  It has been so much altered, that a view
of it would have but little interest as representing a relic of the past.
The -road between Concord and Lexington passes through a hilly but fertile country. It
is easy for the traveler to conceive how terribly a retreating army might be galled by the
fire of a concealed enemy. Hills and hillocks, some wooded, some bare, rise up every where,
and formed natural breast-works of protection to the skirmishers that hung upon the flank
and rear of Colonel Smith's troops.  The road enters Lexington at the green whereon the
old meeting-house stood when the battle occurred.  The town is upon a fine rolling plain,
and is becoming almost a suburban residence for citizens of Boston.  Workmen were inclosing the Green, and laying out the grounds in handsome plats around the monument,
The following is a copy of the inscription:
HERE,
On the 19th of April, 1775,
was made the first forcible resistance to
BRITISH AGGRESSION.
On the opposite bank stood the American
militia, and on this spot the first of the enemy fell
in the WAR OF THE REVOLUTION,
which gave Independence to these United States.
In gratitude to God, and in the love of Freedom,
This Monument was erected,
A.D. 1836.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


553


The Lexington Monument.  The " Clark House" and its Associations.  Tradition of the Surprise.  Abijah Harrington.
which stands a few yards from the street.    It is upon a
spacious mound; its material is granite, and it has a marble tablet on the south front of the pedestal, with a long       %i>f
inscription.'  The design of the monument is not at all
graceful, and, being surrounded by tall trees, it has a very
" dumpy" appearance.   The people are dissatisfied with it,
and doubtless, ere long, a more noble structure will mark
the spot where the curtain of the revolutionary drama was
first lifted.
After making the drawings here given, I visited and
made the sketch of   Clark's House," printed on page 523.,
There I found a remarkably intelligent old lady, Mrs. Margaret Chandler, aged eighty-three years.  She has been an        --
occupant of the house, I believe, ever since the Revolution,
and has a perfect recollection of the events of the period.  -':~
Her version of the escape of Hancock and Adams is a little    M   ME    T LEXINGTON..r  p..                                               MONUUMENT AT LEXINGTON.2
different from the published accounts, which I have adopted
in the historical sketch.  She says that on the evening of the 18th of April, some
1775.
British officers, who had been informed where
these patriots were, came to Lexington, and inquired of a woman whom they met, for " Mr. Clark's:i:              house."   She pointed to the parsonage; but in a
moment, suspecting their design, she called to them
and inquired if it was Clark's tavern that they
a  -                were in search of.  Uninformed whether it was a
-'.,.            tavern or a parsonage where their intended victims were staying, and supposing the former to be
"    '      the most likely place, the officers replied, "Yes;
Clark's tavern."   "Oh," she said, " Clark's tavern is in that direction," pointing toward East Lexington.    As soon as they departed, the woman
_ ~. '-                       hastened to inform the patriots of their danger, and
NEAR VIEW OF THE MONUMENT.      they immediately arose and fled to Woburn.  Dorothy Quincy, the intended wife of Hancock, who
was at Mr. Clark's, accompanied them in their flight.  Paul Revere soon afterward arrived, and the events already narrated then occurred.
I next called upon the venerable Abijah Harrington, who was living in the village. He
was a lad of fourteen at the time of the engagement. Two of his brothers were among the
The following is a copy of the inscription:
" Sacred to the Liberty and the Rights of Mankind!!! The Freedom and Independence of Americasealed and defended with the blood of her sons-This Monument is erected by the Inhabitants of Lexington, under the patronage and at the expense of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to the memory of
their Fellow-citizens, Ensign Robert Monroe, Messrs. Jonas Parker, Samuel Hadley, Jonathan Harrington,
Junr., Isaac Muzzy, Caleb Harrington, and John Brown, of Lexington, and Asahel Porter, of Woburn, who
fell on this Field, the first victims of the Sword of British Tyranny and Oppression, on the morning of the
ever-memorable Nineteenth of April, An. Dom. 1775. The Die was Cast!!! The blood of these Martyrs
in the Cause of God and their Country was the Cement of the Union of these States, then Colonies, and gave
the Spring to the Spirit, Firmness, and Resolution of their Fellow-citizens. They rose as one man to revenge their Brethren's blood, and at the point of the Sword to assert and defend their native Rights. They
nobly dared to be Free!!! The contest was long, bloody, and affecting. Righteous Heaven approved
the Solemn Appeal; Victory crowned their Arms, and the Peace, Liberty, and Independence of the United
States of America was their glorious Reward. Built in the year 1799."
2 This view is from the Concord Road, looking eastward, and shows a portion of the inclosure of the
Green. The distant building seen on the right is the old " Buckman Tavern," delineated in Doolittle's engraving on page.524. It now belongs to Mrs. Merriam, and exhibits many scars made by the bullets on
the morning of the skirmish.




554            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Incidents of the Battle at Lexington.  Jonathan Harrington and his Brother.  Anniversary Celebration at Concord in 1850.
minute men, but escaped unhurt.   Jonathan and Caleb Harrington, near relatives, were
killed The former was shot in front of his own house, while his wife stood at the window
in an agony of alarm.   She saw her husband fall, and then start up, the blood gushing
from his breast.  He stretched out his arms toward her, and then fell again.  Upon his
hands and knees he crawled toward his dwelling, and expired just as his wife reached him.
Caleb Harrington was shot while running from the meeting-house. My informant saw almost the whole of the battle,
having been sent by his mother to go near
enough, and be safe, to obtain and convey,             ~.
to her information respecting her otheil                        '.
sons, who were with the minute men.
His relation of the incidents of the morning was substantially such as history has,-.recorded.  He dwelt upon the subject.ed
with apparent delight, for his memory of V'   -. e
the scenes of his early years, around which                                k
cluster so much of patriotism  and glory,                                     -I
was clear and full.  I would gladly have
listened until twilight to the voice of such
experience, but time was precious, and I
hastened to East Lexington, to visit his
cousin, Jonathan Harrirgton, an old man
of ninety, who played the fife when the
minute men were marshaled on the Green
upon that memorable April morning. He                                             t
was splitting fire-wood in his yard with a    -'.
vigorous hand when I rode up; and as he         n:                   -----
sat in his rocking-chair, while I sketched his
placid features, he appeared no older than a                                        th q 5  { 1 ---?
man of seventy.  His brother, aged eightyeight, came in before my sketch was finished,?   9:' —:cand I could not but gaze with wonder upon,these strong old men, children of one mother, who were almost grown to manhood when the first battle of our Revolution occurred'
Frugality and temperance, co-operating with industry, a cheerful temper, and a good constitution, have lengthened their days, and made their protracted years hopeful and happy.'
The aged fifer apologized for the rough appearance of his signature, which he kindly wrote
for me, and charged the tremulous motion of his hand to his labor with the ax.  How tenaciously we cling even to the appearance of vigor, when the whole frame is tottering to
its fall!  Mr. Harrington opened the ball of the Revolution with the shrill war-notes of the
fife, and then retired from the arena.  He was not a soldier in the war, nor has his life,
passed in the quietude of rural pursuits, been distinguished except by the glorious acts which
constitute the sum of the achievements of a GOOD CITIZEN.
I left Lexington at about three o'clock, and arrived at Cambridge at half past four.  It
was a lovely autumnal afternoon.   The trees and fields were still green, for the frost had
] The seventy-fifth anniversary of the battles of Lexington and Concord was celebrated at the latter
place on the 19th of April, 1850. In the procession was a carriage containing these venerable brothers,
aged, respectively, nearly ninety-one and ninety-three; Amos Baker, of Lincoln, aged ninety-four; Thomas
Hill, of Danvers, aged ninety-two; and Dr. Preston, of Billerica, aged eighty-eight. The Honorable Edward Everett, among others, made a speech on the occasion, in which he very happily remarked, that "it
pleased his heart to see those venerable men beside him; and he was very much pleased to assist Mr. Jonathan Harrington to put on his top coat a few minutes ago. In doing so, he was ready to say, with the
eminent main of old, 'Very pleasant art thou to me, my brother Jonathan!' "




_ _ _ __ _ _ _ __ 1 _ __ _ _ _ __


OF THE REVOLUTION.                                555
Ride to Cambridge.           Early History of the Town.        Washington's Head-quarters.
not yet been busy with their foliage and blades.  The road is Macadamized the whole distance; and so thickly is it lined with houses, that the village of East Lexington and Old
Cambridge seem to embrace each other in close union.
Cambridge is an old town, the first settlement there having been planted in 1631, cotemporaneous with that of Boston.  It was the original intention of the settlers to make it
the metropolis of Massachusetts, and Governor Winthrop commenced the erection of his
dwelling there.  It was called New Town, and in 1632 was palisaded.  The Reverend
Mr. Hooker, one of the earliest settlers of Connecticut, was the first minister in Cambridge.
In 1636, the General Court provided for the erection of a public school in New Town, and
appropriated two thousand dollars for that purpose.  In 1638, the Reverend John Harvard, of Charlestown, endowed the school with about four thousand dollars.  This endowment enabled them to exalt the academy into a college, and it was called Harvard University in honor of its principal benefactor.
Cambridge has the distinction of being the place where the first printing-press in America
was established.  Its proprietor was named Day, and the capital that purchased the materials was furnished by the Reverend Mr. Glover.  The first thing printed was the (( Freeman's Oath," in 1636; the next was an almanac; and the next the Psalms, in meter.'
Old Cambridge (West Cambridge, or Menotomy, of the Revolution), the seat of the University, is three miles from West Boston Bridge, which connects Cambridge with Boston.
Cambridgeport is about half way between Old Cambridge and the bridge, and
East Cambridge occupies Lechmere's Point, a promontory fortified during the
siege of Boston in 1775.
Arrived at Old Cambridge, I parted company with the vehicle and driver
that conveyed me from Concord to Lexington, and hither; and, as the day
was fast declining, I hastened to sketch the head-quarters of WTashington, an
elegant and spacious edifice, standing in the midst of shrubbery and stately:,
elms, a little distance from the street, once the highway from Harvard University to Waltham.   At this mansion, and at Winter
Hill, Washington passed most of his time, after taking.
command of the Continental army, until the evacuation
of Boston in the following spring.
Its present owner is HIENRY;                    -
WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW, professor of modern languages in
Harvard University, and widel'
known in the world of litera-  a 2
ture as one of the most giftedt            s
men of the age.  It is a spol
worthy of the residence
of an American bard so                              a
endowed, for the associ-...-..
ations which hallow it
are linked with the no-.
blest themes that ever.
awViakened the inspiration               WASHINGTON'S IIEAD.QUARTERS.
of a child of song.
"When the hours of Day are number'd,
And the voices of the Night
Wake the better soul that slumber'd
To a holy, calm delight;
Ere the evening lamps are lighted,
And, like phantoms grim and tall,
Shadows from the fitful fire-light
Dance upon the parlor wall,"-LoNGFELLOW,
1 Records of Harvard College.




556                             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
Description of Washington's Head-quarters at Cambridge.  Phillis, the black Poet.  Washington's Letter to Phillis.
then to the thoughtful dweller must come the spirit of the place and hour to weave a gorgeous tapestry, rich with pictures, illustrative of the heroic age of our young republic.      My
tarry was brief and busy, for the sun was rapidly descending-it even touched the forest
tops before I finished the drawing-but the cordial reception and polite attentions which I
received from the proprietor, and his warm approval of, and expressed interest for the success of my labors, occupy a space in memory like that of a long, bright summer day.
This mansion stands upon the upper of two terraces, which are ascended each by five
stone steps.   At each front corner of the house is a lofty elm-mere saplings when Washington beheld them, but now        stately and patriarchal in appearance.       Other elms, with
flowers and shrubbery, beautify the grounds around it; while within, iconoclastic innovation
has not been allowed to enter with its mallet and trowel to mar the work of the ancient,builder, and to cover with the vulgar stucco of modern art the carved cornices and paneled
wainscots that first enriched it.    I might give a long list of eminent persons whose former
presence in those spacious rooms adds interest to retrospection, but they are elsewhere identified with scenes more personal and important.        I can not refrain, however, from noticing
the visit of one, who, though a dark child of Africa and a bond-woman, received the most
polite attention from the commander-in-chief. This was PHILLIS, a slave of Mr.Wheatley,
of Boston.    She was brought from     Africa when between seven and eight years old.          She
seemed to acquire knowledge intuitively; became a poet of considerable merit, and corresponded with such eminent persons as the Countess of Huntingdon, Earl of Dartmouth, Reverend George Whitefield, and others. Washington invited her to visit him at Cambridge,
which she did a few days before the British evacuated Boston; her master, among others,
having left the city by permission, and retired, with his family, to Chelsea.          She passed
half an hour with the commander-in-chief, from whom and his officers she received marked
attention.'
Phillis wrote a letter to General Washington in October, 1775, in which she inclosed a poem eulogistic
of his character. In February following the general answered it. I give a copy of his letter, in illustration
of the excellence of the mind and heart of that great man, always so kind and courteous to the most humble, even when pressed with arduous public duties.
"Cambridge, February 28,1776.
" MIss PHILLIS,-Your favor of the 26th of October did not reach my hands till the middle of December. Time enough, you will say, to have given an answer ere this. Granted. But a variety of important occurrences, continually interposing to distract the mind and withdraw the attention, I hope will apologize for the delay, and plead my excuse for the seeming, but not real neglect. I thank you most sincerely
for your polite notice of me in the elegant lines you inclosed; and however undeserving I may be of such
encomium and panegyric, the style and manner exhibit a striking proof of your poetical talents; in honor
of which, and as a tribute justly due to you, I would have published the poem, had I not been apprehensive
that, while I only meant to give the world this new instance of your genius, I might have incurred the imputation of vanity. This, and nothing else, determined me not to give it a place in the public prints. If
you should ever come to Cambridge, or near head-quarters, I shall be happy to see a person so favored by
the Muses, and to whom nature has been so liberal and beneficent in her dispensations.  I am, with great
respect, your obedient, humble servant,                                      GEO. WASHINGTON."
* "I have not been able to find," says Mr. Sparks, " among Washington's papers, the letter and poem addressed to him." Her
lines " On the Death of Whitfield," " Farewell to America," and kindred pieces, exhibit considerable poetic talent. The following is a specimen of her verse, written before she was twenty years of age. It is extracted from a poem on " Imagination.'
"Though winter frowns, to fancy's raptured eyes
The fields may flourish and gay scenes arise;
The frozen deeps may break their iron bands,
And bid their waters murmur o'er their sands;
Fair Flora may resume her fragrant reign,
And with her flowery riches deck the plain;
Sylvanus may diffuse his honors round,
And all the forests may with leaves be crown'd;
Showers may descend, and dews their gems disclose,
And nectar sparkle on the blooming rose."
In 1773, when she was at the age of nineteen, a volume of her poems was published in London, dedicated to the Countess of
Huntingdon. They give evidence of quite extensive reading and remarkable tenacity of memory, many of them abounding
with fine allusions to freedom, her favorite theme. After the death of her master, in 1776, she married a man of her own color.
but who was greatly her inferior. His name was Peters. She died in Boston, in extreme poverty, on the 5th of December,
1794, aged nearly forty-one years.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


5 5 7


The " Riedesel House." Description of the Place by the Baroness Riedesel. Attestation of the genuineness of Phillis's Poetry.
t — i -- - - -.
A few rods above the residence of Professor Longfellow is the hou.se in which the Brunswick general, the Baron Riedesel, and
his family were quartered, during the
stay of the captive army of Burgoyne
in the vicinity of Boston.    I was not
aware, when I visited Cambridge, that
the old mansion was still in existence;
but, through the kindness of Mr. Longfellow, I am  able to present the features of its southern front, with a description.   In  style it is very much         -                            a
like that of Washington's head-quar-          -
ters, and the general appearance of                                  -                        -.
the grounds around is similar.     It is              THE RIEDESE. HOUSE, CAMIBRIDGE.'
shaded   by  noble   linden-trees, and
adorned with shrubbery, presenting to the eye all the attractions noticed by the Baroness of
Riedesel in her charming Letters." Upon a window-pane on the west side of the house
This is from a pencil sketch by Mr. Longfellow.  I am also indebted to him for the fac-simile of the
autograph of the Baroness of Riedesel. It will be perceived that the i is placed before the e in spelling the
name.   I have heretofore given it with the e first, which is according to the orthography in Burgoyne's
State of the Expedition, &c., wherein I supposed it was spelled correctly.  This autograph shows it to be
erroneous.  Mr. Longfellow's beautiful poem, "The Open Window," refers to this mansion.
2 She thus writes respecting her removal from a peasant's house on Winter Hill to Cambridge, and her
residence there:
"We passed three weeks in this place, and were then transferred to Cambridge, where we were lodged
in one of the best houses of the place, which belonged to Royalists.  Seven families, who were connected
by relationship, or lived in great intimacy, had here farms, gardens, and splendid mansions, and not far off
orchards, and the buildings were at a quarter of a mile distant from each other. The owners had been in
the habit of assembling every afternoon in one or another of these houses, and of diverting themselves with
music or dancing, and lived in affluence, in good humor, and without care, until this unfortunate war at once
dispersed them, and transformed all their houses into solitary abodes, except two, the proprietors of which
were also soon obliged to make their escape.
"On the 3d of June, 1778, I gave a ball and supper, in celebration of my husband's birth-day.  I had
invited all our generals and officers, and Mr. andgMrs. Carter. General Burgoyne sent us an apology, after
he had made us wait for him till eight o'clock. He had always some excuse for not visiting us, until he
was about departing for England, when he came and made me many apologies, to which I made no other
reply than that I should be extremely sorry if he had put himself to any inconvenience for our sake.  The
dance lasted long, and we had an excellent supper, to which more than eighty persons sat down.  Our
yard and garden were illuminated.  The king's birth-day falling on the next day, it was resolved that the
company should not separate before his majesty's health was drank; which was done, with feelings of the
liveliest attachment to his person and interests.  Never, I believe, was 'God Save the King' sung with
more enthusiasm, or with feelings more sincere.  Our two eldest girls were brought into the room to see
The following curious attestation of the genuineness of the poems of Phillis is printed in the preface to the volume. Many of
the names will be recognized as prominent in the Revolution.
"To THE PUBLIC.-As it has been repeatedly suggested to the publisher, by persons who have seen the manuscript, that
numbers would be ready to suspect they were not really the writings of Phillis, he has procured the following attestation from
the most respectable characters in Boston, that none might have the least ground for disputing their original: 'We, whose
names are underwritten, do assure the world that the poems specified in the following page were (as we verily believe) written
by Phillis, a young negro girl, who was, but a few years since, brought an uncultivated barbarian from Africa, and has ever
since been, and now is, under the disadvantage of serving as a slave in a family in this town. She has been examined by some
of the best judges, and is thought qualified to write them.
"' His Excellency THoMas lIUTcHcNso N, Goveror.
"' The Hon. ANDREW OLIVER, Lieut. Governor.
"'The Hon. Thomas Hubbard,              The Rev. Charles Chauncey, D.D.,
The Hon. John Erving,                 The Rev. Mather Byles, D.D.,
The Hon. James Pitts,                 The Rev. Edward Pemberton, D.D.,
The Hon. Harrison Gray,               The Rev. Andrew Eliot, D.D.,
The Hon. James Bowdoin,                The Rev. Samuel Cooper, D.D.,
John Hancock, Esq.,                   The Rev. Mr. Samuel Mather,
Joseph Green,Esq.,                     The Rev. Mr. John Moorhead,
Richard Carey, Esq.,                   Mr. John Wheutley (her master).'"




558


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Autograph of Riedesel.   The "Washington Elm,"      Bunker Hill Monument.     Desecration of the Spot.
may be seen the undoubted autograph of that accomplished woman,
inscribed with a diamond point.     It is an interesting memento, and is
preserved with great care.    The annexed is a fac simile of it.                 7)     E J 0  L
During the first moments of the soft evening twilight I sketched the
"( Washington elm," one of the ancient anakim      of the primeval forest,
older, probably, by a half century or more, than the welcome of Samoset to the white settlers. It stands upon Washington Street, near the westerly corner of the Common.
and is distinguished by the circumstance that, beneath its broad shadow, General
Washington first drew his sword as commander-in-chief of the Continental
i             army.a'    Thin lines of clouds, glowing in the light of the setting sun     aJuly3
like bars of gold, streaked the western sky, and so prolonged the       1775.
twilight by reflection, that I had ample time to finish my drawing before
the night shadows dimmed the paper.
-:             A        Early on the following morning I procured a chaise to visit Charlestown and Dorchester Heights.        I rode first to the former place, and;                    climbed to the summit of the great obelisk that stands upon the site
of the redoubt upon Breed's Hill.      As I ascended the steps which
-             lead from  the street to the smooth gravel-walks upon the eminence;:  -:           whereon the "Bunker Hill Monument" stands, I experienced a feeli  <:.     ~              ing of disappointment and regret, not easily to be expressed.      BeI                         fore me was the great memento, huge and grand-all that patriotic
reverence could wish-but the ditch scooped out by Prescott's:^ r —                 toilers on that starry night in June, and the mounds that were
upheaved to protect them               from the shots of the astonished Britons, were effaced, and no more vestiges remain of the handiwork of those in whose honor and to whose memory this obelisk
was raised, than of Roman conquests in the shad_      ~         '               ow of Trajan's Column-of the naval battles of.                   L —                      Nelson around his monument
in Trafalgar Square, or of
-- -.French victories in the Place
ta  B             -                            Vendome.     The fosse and
i TL                                        - d ii  the breast- works   were
n B  l  - - -  all quite  prominent. i;       '      when     the
-  T t  h r  - t n                 foundation
stone of the
BUNKER HILL /MONUMENT.N                                monument
was laid,
the illumination. We were all deeply moved. and proud to have the couragre to display such sentiments in
the midst of our enemies.  Even Mr. Carter* could not forbear participating in our enthusiasm."-Letters
and Memoirs relating to the War of American Independence, and the Capture  of the German  Tlroops at Saratoga: By Madame De Riedesel.
This important event is recorded on page 564, where a picture of the tree is given.
2 This monument stands in the center of the grounds included within the breast-works of the old redoubt
on Breed's Hill. Its sides are precisely parallel with those of the redoubt.  It is built of Quincy granite.
and is two hundred and twenty-one feet in height.  The foundation is composed of six courses of stones,
and extends twelve feet below the surface of the ground and base of the shalt. The four sides of the founMr. Carter was the son-in-law of General Schuyler. Remembering the kindness which she had received from that gentleman while in Albany, the baroness sought out Mr. and Mrs. Carter (who were living in Boston) on her arrival at Cambridge.
"Mrs. Carter," she says, " resembled her parents in mildness and goodness of heart, but her husband was revengeful and false."
The patriotic zeal of Mr. Carter had given rise to foolish stories respecting him. " They seemed to feel much friendship fbr
us," says Madame De Riedesel; ' though, at the same time, this wicked MIr. Carter, in consequence of General Howe's having
burned several villages and small towns, suggested to his countrymen to cut off our generals' heads, to pickle them, and to put
themn in small barrels, and, as often as the English should again burn a village, to send them one of these barrels; but that cruelty was not adopted."




OF THE REVOLUTION.




-


Description of Bunker Hill Monument. View from its Chamber. Its Construction and Dedication. "Hancock" and "Adams."
and a little care, directed by good taste, might have preserved them     in their interesting
state of half ruin until the passage of the present century, or, at least, until the sublime
centenary of the battle should be celebrated. Could the visitor look upon the works of the
patriots themselves, associations a hundred-fold more interesting would crowd the mind, for
wonderfully suggestive of thought are the slightest relics of the past when linked with noble
deeds.   A soft green-sward, as even as the rind of a fair apple, and cut by eight straight
gravel-walks, diverging from the monument, is substituted by art for the venerated irregularities made' by the old mattock and spade. The spot is beautiful to the eye untrained by
appreciating affection for hallowed things; nevertheless, there is palpable desecration that
may hardly be forgiven.
The view from the top of the monument, for extent, variety, and beauty, is certainly one
of the finest in the world.  A "York shilling" is charged for the privilege of ascending the
monument.     The view from its summit is (" a shilling show" worth a thousand miles of
travel to see.  Boston, its harbor, and the beautiful country around, mottled with villages,
are spread out like a vast painting, and on every side the eye may rest upon localities of
great historical interest.  Cambridge, Roxbury, Chelsea, Quincy, Medford, Marblehead,
Dorchester, and other places, where
dation extend about fifty feet horizontally. There are in the whole pile ninety courses of stone, six of them
below the surface of the ground, and eighty-four above. The foundation is laid in lime mortar; the other
parts of the structure in lime mortar mixed with cinders, iron filings, and Springfield hydraulic cement.
The base of the obelisk is thirty feet square; at the spring of the apex, fifteen feet. Inside of the shaft is
a round, hollow cone, the outside diameter of which, at the bottom, is ten feet, and at the top, six feet.
Around this inner shaft winds a spiral flight of stone steps, two hundred and ninety-five in number. In both
the cone and shaft are numerous little apertures for the purposes of ventilation and light. The observatory
or chamber at the top of the monument is seventeen feet in height and eleven feet in diameter. It has four
windows, one on each side, which are provided with iron shutters. The cap-piece of the apex is a single
stone, three feet six inches in thickness and four feet square at its base. It weighs two and a half tons.
Almost fifty years had elapsed from the time of the battle before a movement was made to erect a commemorative monument on Breed's Hill. An association for the purpose was founded in 1824; and to give
eclat to the transaction, and to excite enthusiasm in favor of the work, General La Fayette, then "the nation's guest,"' was invited to lay the corner-stone. Accordingly, on the 17th of June, 1825, the fiftieth anniversary of the battle, that revered patriot performed the interesting ceremony, and the Honorable Daniel
Webster pronounced an oration on the occasion, in the midst of an immense concourse of people. Forty
survivors of the battle were present; and on no occasion did La Fayette meet so many of his fellow-soldiers
in our Revolution as at that time. The plan of the monument was not then decided upon; but one by Solomon Willard, of Boston, having been approved, the present structure was commenced, in 1827, by James
Savage, of the same city. In the course of a little more than a year, the work was suspended on account
of a want of funds, about fifty-six thousand dollars having then been collected and expended. The work
was resumed in 1834, and again suspended, within a year, for the same cause, about twenty thousand dollars more having been expended. In 1840, the ladies moved in the matter. A fair was announced to be
held in Boston, and every female in the United States was invited to contribute some production of her own
hands to the exhibition. The fair was held at Faneuil Hall in September, 1840. The proceeds amounted
to sufficient, in connection with some private donations, to complete the structure, and within a few weeks
subsequently, a contract was made with Mr. Savage to finish it for forty-three thousand dollars. The last
stone of the apex was raised at about six o'clock on the morning of the 23d of July, 1842. Edward Carnes,
Jr., of Charlestown, accompanied its ascent, waving the American flag as he went up, while the interest.
ing event was announced to the surrounding country by the roar of cannon. On the 17th of June, 1843,
the monument was dedicated, on which occasion the Honorable Daniel Webster was again the orator, and
vast was the audience of citizens and military assembled there. The President of the United States (Mr.
Tyler), and his whole cabinet, were present.
In the top of the monument are two cannons, named, respectively, " Hancock" and " Adams," which
formerly belonged to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company. The "Adams" was burst by them
in firing a salute. The following is the inscription upon the two guns:
"SACRED TO LIBERTY.
"This is one of four cannons which constituted the whole train of field-artillery possessed by the British
colonies of North America at the commencement of the war, on the 19th of April, 1775. This cannon
and its fellow, belonging to a number of citizens of Boston, were used in many engagements during the
war. The other two, the property of the government of Massachusetts, were taken by the enemy.
"By order of the United States in Congress assembled, May 19th, 1788."




560                         PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK
View from Bunker Hill Monument.  The Past and the Present.  Dorchester Heights.  Condition of the Fortifications.
"The old Continentals,
In their ragged regimentals,
Falter'd not,"
and the numerous sites of small fortifications which the student of history can readily call
to mind. In the far distance, on the northwest, rise the higher peaks of the White Mountains of New Hampshire; and on the northeast, the peninsula of Nahant, and the more remote Cape Anne may be seen. Wonders which present science and enterprise are developing and forming are there exhibited in profusion. At one glance from this lofty observatory may be seen seven rail-roads,1 and many other avenues connecting the city with the
country; and ships from almost every region of the globe dot the waters of the harbor.
Could a tenant of the old grave-yard on Copp's Hill, who lived a hundred years ago, when
the village upon Tri-mountain was fitting out its little armed flotillas against the French in
Acadia, or sending forth its few vessels of trade along the neighboring coasts, or occasionally
to cross the Atlantic, come forth and stand beside us a moment, what a new and wonderful
world would be presented to his vision! A hundred years ago!
" Who peopled all the city streets
A hundred years ago?
Who fill'd the church with faces meek
A hundred years ago?"
They were men wise in their generation, but ignorant in practical knowledge when compared with the present. In their wildest dreams, incited by tales of wonder that spiced the
literature of their times, they never fancied any thing half so wonderful as our mighty drayhorse,
"The black steam-engine! steed of iron powerThe wond'rous steed of the Arabian tale,
Lanch'd on its course by pressure of a touchThe war-horse of the Bible, with its neck
Grim, clothed with thunder, swallowing the way
In fierceness of its speed, and shouting out,
'Ha! ha!2 A little water, and a grasp
Of wood, sufficient for its nerves of steel,
Shooting away, 'Ha! ha!' it shouts, as on
It gallops, dragging in its tireless path
Its load of fire."
I lingered in the chamber of the Bunker Hill monument as long as time would allow,
and descending, rode back to the city, crossed to South Boston, and rambled for an hour
among the remains of the fortifications upon the heights of the peninsula of Dorchester.
The present prominent remains of fortifications are those of intrenchments cast up during the
war of 1812, and have no other connection with our subject than the circumstance that
they occupy the site of the works constructed there by order of Washington.  These were
greatly reduced in altitude when the engineers began the erection of the forts now in ruins.
which are properly preserved with a great deal of care.  They occupy the summits of two
hills, which command Boston Neck on the left, the city of Boston in front, and the harbor
on the right.  Southeast from the heights, pleasantly situated among gentle hills, is the
village of Dorchester, so called in memory Qf a place in England of the same name, whence
many of its earliest settlers came.  The stirring events which rendered Dorchester Heights
famous will be noticed presently.
I returned to Boston at about one o'clock, and passed the remainder of the day in visiting places of interest within the city-the old South meeting-house, Faneuil Hall, the Province House, and the Hancock House, all delineated and described in preceding pages. I am
When I visited Boston, in 1848, it was estimated that two hundred and thirty trains of cars went daily
over the roads to and from Boston, and that more than six millions of passengers were conveyed in them
during the preceding year.
g Job, xxxix., 24, 25.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


561


Mementoes of John Hancock.  The Stbte House.  Chantrey's Washington.  Copp's Hill.  The Mather Tomb.
indebted to John Hancock, Esq., nephew of the patriot, and present proprietor and occupant
of the " Iancock House," on Beacon Street, for polite attentions while visiting his interesting
mansion, and for information con-                       stands in the open center of the
cerning matters that have passed                        first story; also the group of
under the eye of his experience of           3          trophies from   Bennington, that
threescore years. He has many                           hang over the door of the Senate
mementoes of his eminent kins-.            chamber.' Under these trophies,
man, and among them    a beauti-               /        in a gilt frame, is a copy of the
fully-executed miniature of him,                        reply of the Massachusetts Assempainted in London, in 1761, while                       bly to General Stark's letter, that
he was there at the coronation of   -4.:               accompanied the presentation of
George ITI.   IIe also owns the       B                 the trophies.  It waswritten fifty
original portrait of Governor Han-                      years ago.
cock, of which the engraving on               '            After enjoying the view from
page 515 is a copy.                                      the top of the State House a
Near Mr. Hancock's residence:while, 1 walked to Copp's Hill, a
is the State House, a noble struc-:' -        little east of Charlestown Bridge,
ture upon Beacon Hill, the cor-                          at the north end of the town,
ner-stone of which was laid in:-        ':        where I tarried until sunset in
1795, by Governor Samuel Ad-                            the ancientburying-ground. The
ams, assisted by Paul Revere,                            earliest name of this eminence
master of the Masonic grand lodge.                   -   was Snow Iill.    It was subseThere I sketched the annexed                             quently named after its owner,
picture of the colossal statue of      WASHINGTON2       William  Copp.3   It came into
Washington, by Chantrey, which                          the possession of the Ancient and
Honorable Artillery Company by mortgage; and when, in 1775, they were forbidden by
Gage to parade on the Common, they went to this, their own ground, and drilled in defiance of his threats.  The fort, or battery, that was built there by the British, just before
the battle of Bunker Hill, stood near its southeast brow, adjoining the burying-ground. The
remains of many eminent men repose in that little cemetery.  Close by the entrance is the vault of the M/ather                -,/
family.  It is covered by a plain, oblong structure of'
brick, three feet high and about six feet long, upon which
is laid a heavy brown stone slab, with a tablet of slate,
bearing the names of the principal tenants below.4 'l.
Oct. 7,   I passed the forenoon of the next day in the
1848.  rooms of the Massachusetts Historical. Society,
where every facility was afforded me by Mr. Felt, the             MATISERS' VAUL-P
librarian, for examining the assemblage of things curious
collected there.'  The printed books and. manuscripts, relating principally to Amrrioan hisSee map on page 395.
2 This is a picture of Chantrey's statue, which is made of Italian marble, and cost fifteen thousand dollars.
3 On some of the old maps of Boston it is called Corpse lill, the name supposed: to have been derived
from the circumstance of a burying-ground being. there.
4 The following is the inscription upon the slate tablet: " The Reverend Doctors Ihcrease, Cotton, and
Samuel Mather were interred in this vault.
"INCREASE died August 27, 1723, EF. 84..
Cotton    "  Feb.   13, 1727, " 65.
Samuel    "  Jan.   27, 1785, " 79."'
5 This society was incorporated in February, 1794. The avowed object of its organization is to collect.
preserve, and communicate materials for a complete history of this country, and an account of all valuable
efforts of human industry and ingenuity from the beginning of its settlement. Between twenty and thirty
octavo volumes of its "Collections" have been published.
* The library of D'. Samuel Mather was burned at Charlestown, when it was destroyed by the British in 1775.
NN




5 6 2            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society.  Colonial and other Relics.  Departure from Boston.
tory, are numerous, rare, and valuable.  There is also a rich depository of the autographls
of the Pilgrim fathers and
their immediate descend-..
ants. There are no less  w/t/J w   p                   V6cSc x  cd,  o  o  la
than twenty-five large folio volumes of L P,-                  J       f z
valuable manuscript letters and other  9.  Szg., - y-9lA. '"O              3
documents; besides which are six thick  F,, LrL.on,y{   t- rJ yLt(caf, o
quarto manuscript volumes-a comment-     ' I ru)rL  f   oa ' Ir~oc+;
ary on the holy Scriptures-in the hand-writing of /VOv. 2. /62.9
Cotton Mather.  From an autograph letter of that
singular man the annexed fac-simile of his writing
and signature is given.  Among the portraits in the      MATHR'S WRITING.
cabinet of the society are those of Governor Winslow,
supposed to have been painted by Vandyke, Increase Mather, and Peter Faneuil, the
founder of Faneuil Hall.
I had the pleasure of meeting, at the rooms of the society, that indefatigable antiquary,
Dr. Webb, widely known as the American correspondent of
the ' Danish Society of Northern Antiquarians" at CopenhaI:gil            en.  He was sitting in the chair that once belonged to Gov"i        i      ernor Winslow, writing upon the desk of the speaker of the
J -            colonial Assembly of Massachusetts, around which the warm
debates were carried on concerning American liberty, from the
time when James Otis denounced the Writs of Assistance, until Governor Gage adjourned the Assembly to Salem, in 1774.
Hallowed by such associations, the desk is an interesting relic.
-             Dr. Webb's familiarity with the collections of the society, and
-.-. his kind attentions, greatly facilitated my search among the six
thousand articles for things curious connected with my subject,.PEAKER's DESK AND WINSLOW'S
CHAIR.          and made my brief visit far more profitable to myself than it
would otherwise have been.  Among the relics preserved are
the chair that belonged to Governor Carver, very similar in its appearance to
the ancient one delineated on page 438; the sword of
Miles Standish; the huge key of Port Royal gate; a
samp-pan, that belonged to Metacomet, or King Philip;
and the sword reputed to have been used by Captain
Church when he cut off that unfortunate sachem's head.
HILIP'S SAMPPAN.  The dish is about twelve inches in diameter, wrought
I)HILIP'S SAMP-PAN.                                     X     n i
out of an elm knot with great skill. The sword is very
rude, and was doubtless made by a blacksmith of the colony.  The handle is
a roughly-wrought piece of ash, and the guard is made of a wrought-iron
plate.  The circumstances connected with the death of Philip will be noticed
hereafter.
I lingered in the rooms of the society, copying and sketching, with busy
hands, until after one o'clock.  An urgent call beckoning me homeward, I departed in the cars for Norwich and New-London between two and three
o'clock in the afternoon, regretting that my tarry in the city of the Pilgrims
was necessarily so brief, and that I was obliged to forego the pleasures of a  \
visit to the neighboring villages, all of which are associated with events of the CHU CHSSW
Revolution.  Before departure let us revert to the history of Boston subsequent to the battle of Bunker Hill. That event was but the beginning of the stirring scenes
of the siege, which terminated in success for the Americans.


1 This desk is made of ash. The semicircular front is about three feet in diameter.  The chair, which
belonged to Governor Winslow, is of English oak. It was made in 1614.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


563


Appointment of a Commander-in-chief of the Continental Army.  Washington's acceptance of the Office.  His Modesty.
On the 15th of June, 1775, two days before the Bunker Hill battle, the Continental
Congress, in session in Philadelphia, resolved "i That a general be appointed to command all
the Continental forces, raised or to be raised for the defense of American liberty;" also, '"That
five hundred dollars per month be allowed for the pay and expenses of the general."' The
most difficult question then to be decided was the choice of the man for the responsible office. Military men of much experience were then in the field at the head of the army beleaguring Boston, and by the common consent of the New England colonies General Artemus Ward was the commander-in-chief.       It was conceded that he did not possess all the
requisites of a skillful and judicious commander, so essential for the service; yet, it being
doubtful how the New England people, and particularly the soldiery, would relish the supercession of General Ward by another, Congress was embarrassed respecting a choice.
The apparent difficulty was soon overcome by the management of the New England delegation.  The subject of the appointment had been informally discussed two or three days
before, and John Adams had proposed the adoption of the provincial troops at Boston as a
CONTINENTAL ARMY. At the conclusion of his remarks, he expressed his intention to propose a member from Virginia for the office of generalissimo.    All present understood the
person alluded to to be Colonel George Washington, whose commanding military talents, as
displayed in the service of Virginia, and his capacity as a statesman, as exhibited in the
Congress of 1774, had made him exceedingly popular throughout the land. Acting upon
this suggestion, Thomas Johnson, a delegate from Maryland, nominated Colonel Washington, and by a unanimous vote he was elected commander-in-chief.      On the opening of the
session on the following morning, President Hancock communicated to Washington,       July 17
officially, a notice of his appointment.  He rose in his place, and signified his ac-  1775.
ceptance in a brief and truly patriotic reply.2 Richard Henry Lee, Edward Rutledge, and
John Adams were appointed a committee to draught a commission and instructions for the
general; these were given to him four days afterward.3     Four major generals, eight brigi Journals of Congress, i., 111, 112.
2 The following is a copy of his reply:; Mr. President,-Though I am truly sensible of the high honor done me in this appointment, yet I feel
great distress, from a consciousness that my abilities and military experience may not be equal to the extensive and important trust. However, as the Congress desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty,
and exert every power I possess in their service, and for the support of the glorious cause. I beg they will
accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their approbation. But, lest some unlucky
event should happen unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered, by every gentleman in
this room, that I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I
am honored with. As to pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress that, as no pecuniary consideration
could have tempted me to accept the arduous employment at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. Those, I
doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I desire."
His expressions of distrust in his own ability to perform the duties imposed by the acceptance of the appointment were heartfelt and sincere. In a letter to his wife, dated the day after his appointment, he said,
"You may believe me, my dear Patsy [the familiar name of Martha], when I assure you, in the most solemn manner, that, so far from seeking the appointment, I have used every endeavor in my power to avoid
it, not only from my unwillingness to part with you and the family, but from a consciousness of its being a
trust too great for my capacity; and that I should enjoy more real happiness in one month with you at
home than I have the most distant prospect of finding abroad, if my stay were to be seven times seven
years." Washington was at this time forty-three years of age.
3 His commission was in the following words:
" To GEORGE WASHINGTON, ESQ.-We, reposing special trust and confidence in your patriotism, valor,
conduct, and fidelity, do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you to be general and commander-inchief of the army of the United Colonies, and of all the forces now raised, or to be raised by them, and of
all others who shall voluntarily offer their services, and join the said army for the defense of American liberty, and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof; and you are hereby vested with full power and authority to act as you shall think for the good and welfare of the service. And we do hereby strictly charge
and require all officers and soldiers under your command to be obedient to your orders, and diligent in the
exercise of their several duties. And we do also enjoin and require you to be careful in executing the
great trust reposed in you, by causing strict discipline and order to be observed in the army, and that the
soldiers be duly exercised, and provided with all convenient necessaries. And you are to regulate your




4             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Departure of Washington for the Camp. Reception at New York, Watertown, and Cambridge. Takes Command of the Army.
adiers, and one adjutant general were appointed,' and the pay of the several officers was
agreed upon.2
Washington left Philadelphia for the camp at Cambridge on the 21st of June,
1775.
where he arrived on the 2d of July.  IIe was every where greeted with enthusiasm
by crowds of people, and public bodies extended to him all the deference due to his exalted
rank.  He arrived at New York on the 25th, escorted by a company of light horse from
Philadelphia. Governor Tryon arrived from England on the same day, and the same escort received both the distinguished men.  There Washington first heard of the battle
of Bunker Hill.  He held a brief conference with General Schuyler, and gave that officer
directions concerning his future operations.  Toward evening, on the 26th, he left New
York, under the escort of several military companies, passed the night at Kingsbridge, at
the upper end of Manhattan or York Island, and the next morning, bidding adieu to the
Philadelphia light horse, pressed on toward Boston. He reached Watertown on the morning of the 2d of July.  The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts, presided over by James
Warren, was in session, and voted him a congratulatory address.  Major-general Lee, who:                accompanied him, also received an.....l. 'address from that body. They art w  _                     rived at Cambridge at two o'clock
in the afternoon, and Washington..: t                 a   is n        wa recie u      the man desicchief.  cof   r"-;;r;         established his headquarters at the
and                       A: sc:rdes anhouse prepared for himt, delineated
on page 555.
o! bOn the morning of the 3d of
Th -..in of tadw                    July, at about nine o'clock, the
troops at Cambridge were drawn.;. in order upon the Common to. ~-i a r  oreceive the commander-in-chief[                       Accomn-;' Te nae  T t w             panied by the general officers of the army
who were a  o  present, Washington walked er omn
his quarters to the great elm-tree that now
stands at the north end of the Common, and, under
the shadow of its broad covering, stepped a few
a  s  rerpaces in front, made some remarks, drew his sword,.er $ i threse               and ftrmally tookh command of the Continental army.
That was an 'uspicious act for America; and the love and reverence
THE WASIIeGTON EL13 se   hich all felt for him on th at occasion never waned during the eight
long years of the conflict  When he resigned that commission into the
hands of Congress at Annapolis, not a blot was visible upon the fair escutcheon of his character; like Samuel, he could boldly "testify his integrity"a in all things.
conduct in every respect by the rules and discipline of war (as here given you), and punctually to observe
and follow such orders and directions, from time to time, as you shall receive from this or a future Congress of these United Colonies, or committee of Congress. This commission is to continue in force until
revoked by this or a future Congress. Signed,                 JOHN HANcocK, President."
The original of this commission, with other relics of the illustrious chief, is carefully preserved in a glass
case, in a room of the Patent Office building at Washington City.
The names of these several officers are contained in a note on page 190.
The pay of the several officers was as follows, per month: major general, $166, and when acting in
a separate department, $330; brigadier general, $125; adjutant general, $125; commissary general, $80;
quarter-master general. $80; his deputy, $40; paymaster general, $100; his deputy, $50; chief engineer, $60; three aids-de-camp for the general, each, $33; his secretary, $66; commissary of the musters, $40.
a The house seen in this sketch is one of the oldest in Cambridge, having been built about 1750. It
has been in the possession of the Moore family about seventy-five years. Since I visited Cambridge I have
been informed that a Mrs. Moore was still living there, who, from the window of that house, saw the ceremony of Washington taking command of the army.                         4 1 Samuel, xii., 3.




OF THE RE:VOLUTION.


565


Council of War. Character of the Army.  Punishments. Riflemen.  Number of Troops in the Field. A model Order.
Washington called a council of war on the 9th.      It was composed of the major     July
generals and the brigadiers, and the object of the council was to consult upon future  1775.
operations.  The commander-in-chief found himself at the head of an army composed of la
mixed multitude of men of every sort, from the honest and intelligent citizen, possessed of
property and station, to the ignorant knave, having nothing to lose, and consequently every
thing to gain.  Organization had been effected in a very slight degree, and thorough discipline was altogether unknown.    Intoxication, peculation, falsehood, disobedience, and disrespect were prevalent, and the punishments which had been resorted to were quite ineffectual
to produce reform.'  It was estimated by the Council that, from the best information which
could be obtained, the forces of the enemy consisted of eleven thousand five hundred effective men, while the Americans had only about fourteen thousand fit for duty.' It was unanimously decided by the Council to maintain the siege by strengthening the posts around Boston, then held by the Americans, by fortifications and recruits.  It was also agreed that, if
the troops should be attacked and routed by the enemy, the places of rendezvous should be
Wales's Hill, in the rear of the Roxbury lines; and also that, at the present, it was " ilnexpedient to fortify Dorchester Point, or to oppose the enemy if he should attempt to take
possession of it."
Some riflemen from   Maryland, Virginia, and Western Pennsylvania, enlisted under the
orders of Congress, and led by Daniel Morgan, a man of powerful frame and sterling courage, soon joined the camp.' Upon their breasts they wore the motto " LIBERTY O    DEATH."
A large proportion of them were Irishmen, and were not very agreeable to the New Englanders.  Otho Williams, afterward greatly distinguished, was lieutenant of one of the
Maryland companies.     Both these men rose to the rank of brigadier.
The first care of the commander-in-chief was to organize the army.4      Ile arranged it
into three grand divisions, each division consisting of two brigades, or twelve regiments, in
1 These punishments consisted in pecuniary fines, standing in the pillory, confinement in stocks, riding
a wooden horse, whipping, and drumming out of the regiment.
2 The following return of the army was made to Adjutant-general Gates on the 19th of July:
| No. of Corrrnmission- No, Corn-co  _________i  _ile.   -
Colonies.    r gi-  ed officers  missioned  Present fit tor  Sik  Sicki   On fur-  coi  Total
tllllett.  Rnd sotf,fefers.  dIoIn..   preCent  absei.  11h-. —
Massachusetts... 26    789    1.326   9.396     757   450   311     774   11,688
Connecticut......  3     125    174     2,105    212     2    14            2,333
New Hampshire...    3      98    160     1201     115    20    49     279    1,664
Rhode Island....   3     107    108     1,041     24    18     2            1,085
Total....... 35   1,119 1 1,768   13.743  1,108   490   376   1,053   16,770
3 These men attracted much attention, and on account of their sure and deadly aim, they became a terror to the British. Wonderful stories of their exploits went to England, and one of the riflemen, who was
carried there a prisoner, was gazed at as a great curiosity.
4 The following general order was issued on the 4th of July, the day after Washington took command
of the army:
"The Continental Congress having now taken all the troops of the several colonies, which have been
raised, or which may be hereafter raised for the support and defense of the liberties of America, into their
pay and service, they are now the troops of the UNITED PIOVINCES OF NORTI AMERICA; and it is hoped
that all distinction of colonies will be laid aside, so that one and the same spirit may animate the whole,
and the only contest be, who shall render, on this great and trying occasion, the most essential service to
the great and common cause in which we are all engaged. It is required and expected that exact discipline be observed, and due subordination prevail through the whole army, as a failure in these most essential points must necessarily produce extreme hazard, disorder, and confusion, and end in shameful disappointment and disgrace. TJe general most earnestly requires and expects a due observance of those articles
of war, established for the government of the army, which forbid profane cursing, swearing, and drunkenness; and in like manner, he requires and expects of all officers and soldiers, not engaged on actual duty,
a punctual attendance on divine service, to implore the blessings of Heaven upon the means used for our
safety and defense."
This brief order may be regarded as a model. In a few words, it evokes harmony, order, the exercise
of patriotism, morality, sobriety, and an humble reverence for and reliance upon Divine Providence. It
includes all the essential elements of good government. These principles were the moral bonds of union
that kept the little Continental army together during the dreary years of its struggle for the mastery.




566


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Arrangement of the Army.  Location of the several Divisions.  Officers of the same.  General Joseph Spencer.
which the troops from the same colony, as far as practicable, were brought together.  The
right wing, under Major-general Ward, consisted of two brigades, commanded by Generals
Thomas and Spencer,' and was stationed at Roxbury and its southern dependencies. The
left wing was placed under the command of General Lee, and consisted of the brigades of
Sullivan and Greene. The former was stationed upon Winter Hill; the latter upon Prospect Hill.  The center, stationed at Cambridge, was commanded by General Putnam, and
consisted of two brigades, one of which was commanded by Heath, and the other by a senior officer, of less rank than that of brigadier. Thomas Mifflin, who accompanied Washington from Philadelphia as aid-de-camp, was made quarter-master general. Joseph Trum

1 JOSEPH SPENCER served as a major and colonel during the Seven Years' War. He was a native of East
Haddam, in Connecticut, where he was born in 1714. He was with the Continental army in the expedition against Rhode Island, in 1778, and assisted in Sullivan's retreat. He soon afterward resigned his
commission, and left the army, when he was chosen to be a delegate in Congress from his native state. He
died at East Haddam in January, 1789, aged seventy-five years. General Seth Pomeroy, who was appointed with Spencer and others, refused to serve, and Spencer took rank next to Putnam in the army at
Boston. This removed, in a degree, the difficulty that was apprehended in settling the rank of some of the
officers. By this arrangement, General Thomas, who was Ward's lieutenant general, was made the first
brigadier.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


567


Relative Position of the belligerent Armies.  American Fortifications.  Emerson's Picture of the Camp.
bull, a son of the patriot governor of Connecticut, was appointed commissary general, and
upon Joseph Reed, of Philadelphia, was bestowed the post of secretary to the commanderin-chief. In the course of a few months Reed returned to Philadelphia, and was succeeded
in office by Robert H. Harrison, a Maryland lawyer.
The relative position of the belligerent armies was, according to a letter written by Washington to the President of Congress, on the 10th of July, as follows: the British were  1
strongly intrenched on Bunker Hill, about half a mile from the chief place of action
on the 17th of June, with their sentries extending about one hundred and fifty yards beyond
the narrowest point of Charlestown Neck.  Three British floating batteries were in the
Mystic River near Bunker Hill, and a twenty-gun ship was anchored below the ferry-place
between Boston and Charlestown.  They had a battery upon Copp's Hill in Boston, and
the fortifications upon the Neck, toward Roxbury, were strengthened.  Until the 8th, the
British advance guards occupied Brown's Buildings, about a mile from Roxbury meetinghouse. On that day a party from General Thomas's camp surprised the guard, drove them
in, and burned the houses. The bulk of the army, commanded by General Howe, lay upon
Bunker Hill; and the light horse, and a corps of Tories, remained in Boston.
The Americans had thrown up intrenchments on Winter and Prospect Hills, in full view
of the British camp, which was only a mile distant. Strong works were also thrown up at
Roxbury, two hundred yards above the meeting-house.   Strong lines were made across
from the Charlestown Road to the Mystic River, and by connecting redoubts, there was a
complete line of defense from that river to Roxbury.'
A letter written by the Reverend William Emerson, a chaplain in the army, a few days
after Washington's arrival, gives the following life-like picture of the camp: "New lords,
new laws. The generals, Washington and Lee, are upon the lines every day. New orders
from his excellency are read to the respective regiments every morning after prayers. The
strictest government is taking place, and great distinction is made between officers and soldiers. Every one is made to know his place, and keep in it, or to be tied up and receive
thirty or forty lashes, according to his crime.  Thousands are at work every day from four
till eleven o'clock in the morning.  It is surprising how much work has been done.  The
lines are extended almost from Cambridge to the Mystic River; so that very soon it will be
morally impossible for the enemy to get between the works, except in one place, which is
supposed to be left purposely unfbrtified, to entice the enemy out of their fortresses. Who
would have thought, twelve months past, that all Cambridge and Charlestown would be
covered over with American camps, and cut up into forts and intrenchments, and all the
lands, fields, and orchards laid common-horses and cattle feeding in the choicest mowing
land, whole fields of corn eaten down to the ground, and large parks of well-regulated locusts cut down for fire-wood and other public uses.  This, I must say, looks a little melancholy.  My quarters are at the foot of the famous Prospect Hill, where such preparations
are made for the reception of the enemy.  It is very diverting to walk among the camps.
They are as different in their form as the owners are in their dress, and every tent is a portraiture of the temper and taste of the persons who encamp in it. Some are made of boards,
and some of sail-cloth; some partly of one and partly of the other. Again, others are made
of stone or turf, brick or brush.  Some are thrown up in a hurry; others are curiously
wrought with doors and windows, done with wreaths and withes, in the manner of a basket.
Some are your proper tents and marquees, looking like the regular camp of the enemy. In
these are the Rhode Islanders, who are furnished with tent equipage and every thing in
the most exact English style.  However, I think this great variety rather a beauty than a
blemish in the army."2
While Washington was organizing the Continental army, Congress was active in the
The reader will more clearly understand the relative position of the hostile forces and their respective
fortifications, by a careful examination of the map on the preceding page. It shows the various works
thrown up during the summer and autumn of 1775, and at the beginning of 1776.
2 Spark's Life and Writings of Washington (Appendix), iii., 491.




5S8                        PICTORIAL, FIELD-BOOK
Action of Congress.  Treason of Dr. Church.  The New England Colonies.  Franklin's Post-office Book.
adoption of measures to strengthen his hands, and to organize civil government.  Acting
upon the suggestion of the Provincial Congress of New York, we have already observed
June 23, (ante, page 316) that Congress authorized the emission of bills of credit.  Articles
1775.  of war were agreed to on the 30th of June, and on the 6th of July a Declaration
was issued, setting forth the cause and necessity for taking up arms. A firm but respectfill
petition to the king was drawn up by John Dickinson, the author of " Letters of a Pennsylvania Farmer," &c., and adopted on the 8th; and addresses to the inhabitants of Great
Britain, Ireland, Canada, and Jamaica, were adopted in the course of the month.  The Indians were not overlooked; it was important to secure their neutrality at least; and three
boards for Indian affairs were constituted: one for the Six Nations and other northern
tribes; a second for the Cherokees, at the South; and a third for the intervening nations,
on the borders of Pennsylvania and Virginia.   Already some Stockbridge Indians, from
Massachusetts, near the New-York line, the last remnant of the tribes of Western New- England, were in the camp at Boston; and Kirtland, the missionary among the Six Nations of
New York, was making overtures to the Oneidas and the Mohawks.     Congress also established a post-office system of its own, extending in its operations from Falmouth (now Portland, Maine) to Savannah, and westward to remote settlements.    Dr. Franklin was appointed post-master general.' An army hospital for the accommodation of twenty thousand
men was established. At its head was placed Dr. Benjamin Church, of Boston, till this
time a brave and zealous compatriot of Warren and his associates. Soon after his appointment he was detected in secret correspondence with Gage.    He had intrusted a letter,
written in cipher, with his mistress, to be forwarded to the British commander.  It was
found upon her; she was taken to head-quarters, and there the contents of the letter were
deciphered, and the defection of Dr. Church established.  He was found guilty, by a court
martial, of criminal correspondence with the enemy.  Expulsion from the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, and close confinement in Norwich Jail, in Connecticut, by order
of the general Congress, speedily followed.  His health failing, he was allowed to leave the
country.  He sailed for the West Indies; but the vessel that bore him was never afterward
heard from.  His place in the hospital was filled by Dr. John Morgan, one of the founders
of the Medical School in Philadelphia. Church was the first traitor to the American cause.
The New England colonies, sustained by the presence of a strong army, labored energetically in perfecting their civil governments.  Connecticut and Rhode Island, as we have
observed, were always democratic, and through the energy of Trumbull, the governor of the
former, that colony took an early, bold, and commanding stand for freedom.  Nor was the
latter colony much behind her democratic colleague.  Benning Wentworth, governor of
New Hampshire, having lost all political power, shut himself up, for two months, in Fort
William  and Mary at Portsmouth, during which time his house was pillaged by a mob.
He prorogued the Assembly in July, and then fled to Boston for safety.   Massachusetts
organized a House of Representatives under the original charter; and as, according to the
provisions of that charter, the executive authority devolved upon the Council in the absence
5. of the governor and his lieutenant, that body, chosen on the 21st of July, assumed
such authority.  Such continued to be the government of the colony until the adoption of a state constitution in 1780.  A single executive committee was constituted, vested
with all the powers hitherto exercised by the several committees of correspondence, inspection, and safety. 'This consolidation produced far greater efficiency.  Of the civil and military operations of other colonies I shall write hereafter; for the present, let us view the
progress of events at Boston.
] In the General Post-office at Washington city I saw, several years ago, the book in which Franklin
kept his post.office accounts. It is a common, half-bound folio, of three quires of coarse paper, and contained all the entries for nearly two years. The first entry was November 17, 1776. Now more than
fifteen hundred of the largest-sized ledgers are required annually for the same purpose; the number of contractors and other persons having accounts with the office being over thirty thousand. There are about
one hundred clerks employed in the department.




OF THE REVOLUTION.


569


The belligerent Armies at Boston. Skirmishes and other hostile Movements. Naval Operations on the Coast. Navy Boards.
During the remainder of the summer, and throughout the autumn, the belligerents continually menaced each other, but neither appeared ready for a general engagement.  The
British were awaiting re-enforcements, and the Americans were too feeble in, men, discipline, and munitions of war, to make an assault with a prospect of success.  Several skirmishes occurred, and on two or three occasions a general battle was apprehended.
The declaration of Congress, setting forth the causes and the necessity for taking up arms,
was read by President Langdon,' of Harvard, before the army at Cambridge, on the 15th
of July.  On the 18th, it was read to the division under General Thomas, at Rox- 1775
bury, and also to the troops under Putnam, upon Prospect Hill.  At the close of the
reading a cannon was fired, three hearty cheers were given by the army, and the flag that
was presented to Putnam a few days before was unfurled.l   "The Philistines on Bunker
Hill," said the Essex Gazette, in its account of the affair, "i heard the shouts of the Israelites, and being very fearful, paraded themselves in battle array." The 20th was observed
as a day of fasting by the whole army.  On the 30th (Sunday), five hundred British troops
marched over Charlestown Neck, and built a slight breast-work; at the same time a British floating battery was rowed up the Charles River.  Another party of troops sallied out
toward Roxbury, drove in the American sentinels, and set fire to a tavern.  Frequent excursions were made by both parties to the islands in the harbor, and skirmishes, sometimes
severe, were the consequences.  These things kept the two armies on the alert, and disciplined them in habits of vigilance.
British cruisers kept the New England coast, from Falmouth to New London, in a state
of continual alarm.  They were out in every direction, seeking plunder and endeavoring to
supply the camp with fresh provisions.  Lieutenant Mowatt, commander of a British brig,
made a descent upon Gloucester, Cape Anne, and attempted to land.    Ile was repulsed,
after he had thrown several bombs into the town without serious effect.  Sto-  August 13.
nington, in Connecticut, was bombarded for a day; two men were killed, and September 30.
the houses were much shattered.   In October, Mowatt was sent to Falmouth (now Portland, in Maine), to obtain a supply of provisions from the inhabitants, and to demand a surrender of their arms.  They refused obedience, and boldly defied him; whereupon, after
giving time sufficient for the women and children to leave the town, he bombarded and set
it on fire.  It contained about five hundred buildings, and presently a large portion of them
were in flames.  One hundred and thirty-nine houses, and two hundred and seventy-eight stores and other buildings were destroyed; but the resolute inhabitants
maintained their ground, repulsed the enemy, and prevented his landing.  Bristol, on the
east side of Narragansett Bay, and other towns in the neighborhood, were visited in like
manner by the depredators.   These wanton cruelties excited intense indignation, and the
American troops that environed Boston could hardly be restrained from attacking the oppressors of their countrymen.
The Americans, as a countervailing measure, fitted out cruisers, and in a short time each
colony had a navy board.  These privateers became very formidable to the enemy, and the
extent of British depredations along the coast was greatly lessened.  Washington sent out
five or six armed vessels to intercept supplies coming into the port of Boston, and some important captures were made.  Some of the American naval officers proved very inefficient.
Captain Manly, almost alone, at that time, sustained the character of a bold and skillful
commander, and he and his crew did good service to the cause. They bravely maintained
their position off Boston Harbor, and in the course of a few weeks captured three valuable
1 Reverend Samuel Langdon was a native of Boston, and graduated at Harvard in 1740. He succeeded
Mr. Locke as president of that institution, in 1774. On account of a lack of urbanity, he was disliked by
the students, who made his situation so disagreeable that he resigned the presidency in 1780. In 1781,
at Hampton Fall, New Hampshire, he resumed his ministerial labors, in which he continued faithful until
his death. This event occurred on the 29th of November, 1797, at the age of seventy-four.
2 This was the flag before alluded to, which bore on one side the motto " An appeal to Heaven," and on
the other " Qui transtulit, sustinet."




570            PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Capture of Ammunition.  Attempt to seize Manly.  Repulse of Linzee.  Scarcity of Powder.  Expected Sortie.
vessels, one of which was laden with heavy guns, mortars, and intrenching tools-a valu
able prize for the Americans at that time.  Only thirteen days before, Washington wrote to
Congress, " I am in very great want of powder, lead, mortars, indeed most sorts of military
stores."  Captain Manly supplied hip more promptly and bountifully than Congress could
do.  The finest of the mortars was named Congress, and placed in the artillery park at
Cambridge.
Manly soon became a terror to the British,
and the Falcon sloop-of-war, Captain Linzee,
was sent out to attempt to seize him.  He
was chased, in company with a schooner, into
Gloucester Harbor.  The schooner was seized by the enemy. Manly ran his brig ashore.
Linzee fired more than three hundred guns,
and sent barges of armed men to take the
brig; but the crew and the neighboring militia behaved so bravely that Linzee was re-i \/                   P '-"
pulsed, having lost nearly half his men. Man-                  \
ly's vessel was got off without much damage,              ^S
and was soon cruising again beneath the pine-            D
tree flag.'
Early in August, Washington discov-            S
ered that a great mistake had been
made in reporting to him the condition of the
commissariat, in the article of powder. "Our   9 1
situation," he said, in a letter to Congress, "in  /
the article of powder, is much more alarming
than I had the most distant idea of."  "Instead of three hundred quarter-casks," wrote..
Reed, "we have but thirty-two barrels."          --    T  P.INETRE. FLAG.2
Powder-mills were not yet in successful operation in the province, and great uneasiness prevailed lest the enemy should become acquainted with their poverty.  Vessels were fitted out, on private account, to go to the West Indies for a supply of powder.  The Provincial Congress of Massachusetts passed a law prohibiting a waste of powder in shooting birds or for sports of any kind, and every
Agust.  precaution was adopted to husband the meager supply on hand.
Although Washington did not feel strong enough to make an assault upon Boston, he was
prepared to receive an attack from the enemy, and was anxious for such an event.  For
weeks it had been rumored that the British intended to make a sortie in full force; and,
finally, the 25th of August was designated as the day selected for the demonstration. It
was understood that Earl Percy was to have the command of Boston Neck, where he expected to retrieve the hofiors which he lost in his retreat from Lexington.  In the mean
while, the British were daily practicing the maneuvers of embarking and debarking, and
every movement indicated an intention to make an effort to break up the circumvallating
line of provincials that hemmed them so closely in.
On Saturday night, the 26th of August, General Sullivan, with a fatigue party of
one thousand men, and a guard of two thousand four hundred, marched, in imitation
of the feat of Prescott's, to Plowed Hill (now Mount Benedict), within point blank shot of
Bradford's History of Massachusetts, page 75.
2 This engraving is a reduced copy of a vignette on a map of Boston, published in Paris in 1776. The
London Chronicle, an anti-ministerial paper, in its issue for January, 1776, gives the following description
of the flag of an American cruiser that had been captured: " In the Admiralty office is the flag of a provincial privateer. The field is white bunting; on the middle is a green pine-tree, and upon the opposite side
is the motto, appeal to Heaven.' "




OF THE REVOLUTION.                                    571
Fortifications on Plowed Hill.  Heavy Bombardment.         Condition of Troops and People in Boston.
the enemy's batteries on Bunker Hill, and before morning cast up such intrenchments as afforded excellent protection against the cannons of the British.  Washington hoped this maneuver would bring on a general action, and he rejoiced to hear the cannonade that opened
upon the American works in the morning, from Bunker Hill and a ship and two floating
batteries in the Mystic. More than three hundred shells were thrown by the enemy on that
occasion.1  On account of the scarcity of powder the cannonade was not returned.  A nine
pounder, planted on a point at the Ten Hills Farm, played so effectually against the floating batteries that one of them  was sunk and the other silenced.  The British cannonade
ceased at night.  In the morning, troops were observed to be drawn up on Bunker Hill, as
if for marching. Washington now expected an attack, and sent five thousand men to Plowed
Hill' and to the Charlestown Road.    It was a bold challenge for the enemy, but he prudently refused to accept it.  For several days he fired a few cannon shots against the American works, but, perceiving them to be ineffectual, he ceased all hostilities on the 10th of
September.   It was about this time that the Continental army received seven hundred
pounds of powder from Rhode Island; "probably a part," says Gordon, "( of what had been
brought from Africa."3
The close investment of Boston by troops on land and privateers at sea began to have a
serious effect upon the officers, troops, and people in the city.4  They had an abundance of
salt provision, but, being unaccustomed to such diet, many fell sick.  Gage, doubtless, spoke
in sentiment, if not in words, as Freneau wrote:
"Three weeks, ye gods! nay, three long years it seems
Since roast beef I have touched, except in dreams.
In sleep, choice dishes to my view repair;
Waking, I gape, and champ the empty air.
Say, is it just that I, who rule these bands,
Should live on husks, like rakes in foreign lands?
Come, let us plan some project ere we sleep,
And drink destruction to the rebel sheep.
On neighboring isles uncounted cattle stray;
Fat beeves and swine-an ill-defended preyThese are fit 'visions for my noonday dish;
These, if my soldiers act as I could wish,
In one short week would glad your maws and mine;
On mutton we will sup-on roast beef dine."
MIDNIGHT MUSINGS   OR, A TRIP TO BOSTON, 1775.
In daily apprehension of an attack from the provincials, and the chances for escape hourly
diminishing, they experienced all the despondency of a doomed people.  Gage was convinced
that the first blow against American freedom had been struck in the wrong place, and that
the position of his troops was wholly untenable.  He had been re-enforced since the battle
of Bunker Hill, but the new-comers were a burden rather than an aid; for he had the sagacity to perceive that twice the number of troops then under his command were insufficient
to effectually disperse the Continental army, backed, as it was, by other thousands ready to
step from the furrow to the intrenchment when necessity should call.  Idleness begat vice,
in various forms, in his camp, and inaction was as likely as the weapons of his enemy to
decimate his battalions.'  Much annoyance to the British officers was produced by the cirDuring this cannonade, Adjutant Mumford, of Colonel Varnum's Rhode Island regiment, and another
soldier, had their heads shot off, and a rifleman was mortally wounded.
2 Bunker Hill, Plowed Hill, and Winter Hill are situated in a range from east to west, each of them on
or near the Mystic River.
3 Early in 1775, two vessels, laden with New England rum, sailed from Newport to the coast of Africa.
The rum was exchanged, at the British forts, for powder; and so completely did this traffic strip the fortresses of this article, that there was not an ounce remaining that could be taken from the use of the garrisons. This maneuver produced a seasonable supply for the provincials.
4 The number of inhabitants in Boston, on the 28th of July, was six thousand seven hundred and fiftythree. The number of the troops was thirteen thousand six hundred.
5 Most of the soldiers were encamped on the Common, which was not, as now, shaded by large trees,




572


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


American Hand-bills in the British Camp.  Opinions concerning the Provincials.  Plan for relieving Boston.
culation of hand-bill addresses among the soldiers.   They found their way into the British
camp; how, no one could tell.' They were secret and powerful. emissaries; for the soldiers
pondered much, in their idle moments, upon the plain truths which these circulars contained.
Every thing now betokened ruin to the royal cause.     Even as early as the 25th of
1775.
June, Gage said, in a letter to Dartmouth, when giving an account of the battle of
the 19th, ( The trials we have had show the rebels are not the despicable rabble too many
have supposed them to be; and I find it owing to a military spirit encouraged among them
for a few years past, joined with an uncommon degree of zeal and enthusiasm, that they are
not otherwise." Toward the close of July he wrote despairingly to Lord Dartmouth. After
averring that the rebellion was general, he said, " This province began it-I might say this
town; for here the arch rebels formed their scheme long ago."      He spoke of the disadvantageous position of the troops, and suggested the propriety of transferring the theater of operations to New York, where " the friends of government were more numerous."
The few patriots who remained in Boston were objects of continual suspicion, and subject to insults daily.  They were charged with sketching plans of the military works, telegraphing with the provincials by signals from steeples, and various other acts, for which
some were thrown into prison.     At length provisions became so scarce, and the plundering
expeditions sent out by Gage to procure fresh food were so unsuccessful,2 that the commander
determined to make arrangements for the removal of a large number of the inhabitants from
the town.   It was notified that James Urquhart, the town major, would receive the names
July24,  of those who wished to leave.    Within two days more than two thousand names
1775.  were handed in, notwithstanding there was a restriction that no plate was to be carried away, and no more than five pounds in cash by each person.     Many people of property,
who would gladly have left, were unwilling to do so, for they knew that what property remained would become a prey to the soldiery. Of those who departed, many women quilted
silver spoons into their garments.   Coin was smuggled out of the city in the same way.
These refugees landed principally at Chelsea, and scattering over the country, were all rebut exposed to the heat of the summer sun.  "It is not to be wondered," said a letter-writer, in August,
"that the fatigue of duty, bad accommodations, and the use of too much spirits, should produce fever in
the camp. The soldiers can not be kept from rum. Six-pence will buy a quart of West India rum, and
four-pence is the price of a quart of New England rum. Even the sick and the wounded have often nothing to eat but salt pork and fish."
I saw one of these hand-bills among the Proclamations, &c., in the Massachusetts Historical Society.
It was an address to the soldiers who were about embarking for America, and was printed in London. The
writer, in speaking of the course of the provincials, emphasizes, by italics, printed in a single conspicuous
line, the expression,
" Before God and man they are right!"
On the back of this address is the following endorsement, which was evidently printed in this country, the
type and ink being greatly inferior to the other. It alludes to the two camps: the one on Prospect Hill,
under Putnam; the other on Bunker Hill, under Howe.
PROSPECT HILL.                                  BUNKER HILL.
I. Seven dollars a month.                             I. Three-pence a day.
II. Fresh provisions, and in plenty.                  II. Rotten salt pork.
III. Health.                                          Ill. The scurvy.
IV. Freedom, ease, affluence, and a good farm.        IV. Slavery, beggary, and want.
2 One of these, in August, was quite successful. In the neighborhood of New London, a small British
fleet obtained eighteen hundred sheep and more than one hundred head of oxen. Frothingham (page 236)
quotes a letter from Gage to Lord Dartmouth, in which this important fact is announced. This letter was
published, and in the anti-ministerial London Chronicle the following impromptu appeared:
"In days of yore the British troops
Have taken warlike kings in battle;
But now, alas! their valor droops,
For Gage takes naught but-harmless cattle.
"Britons, with grief your Bosoms strike I
Your faded laurels loudly weep I
Behold your heroes, Quixotte like,
Driving a timid flock of-sheep I'




OF THE REVOLUTION.


573


Council of War.  Situation of the Army.  Washington's Complaints.  Gage recalled.  His Life and Character
ceived with the open arms of hospitality every where, except a few Tories who ventured to
leave the city.  These were treated with bitter scorn, and there were many martyrs for
opinion's sake.  This measure was a great relief to Gage; and the capture, about that
time, of an American vessel laden with fresh provisions, made food quite plentiful in the
city for a while.
The inactive and purely defensive policy pursued by both armies became exceedingly onerous to Washington, and he resolved, if expedient, to endeavor to put an end to it.  Congress, too, became impatient, and requested Washington to attack the enemy if he perceived
any chance for success.  The commander-in-chief, accordingly, called a council of war on
the 11th of September.   In view of the rapid approach of the time when the term of
1775.
enlistment of many of the troops would expire, and also of the general unfavorable condition of the army, Vashington desired to make an immediate and simultaneous attack upon
the city and the camp of the enemy on Bunker Hill.    But his officers dissented; and the
decision of the Council was (" that it is not expedient to make the attempt at present."  Ten
days afterward, Washington wrote a long letter to the President of Congress, in which, after
making a statement which implied a charge of neglect on the part of that body, he drew a
graphic picture of the condition of the army.  " But my situation," he said, " is inexpressibly distressing, to see the winter fast approaching upon a naked army, the time of their
service within a few weeks of expiring, and no provisions yet made for such important events.
Added to these, the military chest is totally exhausted; the paymaster has not a single dollar
in hand; the commissary general assures me that he has strained his credit for the subsistence of the army to the utmost; the quarter-master general is in precisely the same situation; and the greater part of the troops are in a state not far from mutiny, upon a deduction from their stated allowance.  I know not to whom I am to impute this failure; but I
am of opinion that, if the evil is not immediately remedied, and more punctuality observed
in future, the army must absolutely break up."  Thus we perceive, that within three months
after his appointment to the chief command, Washington had cause to complain of the tardy
movements of the general Congress.    Throughout the war, that body often pressed like a
(lead weight upon the movements of the army, embarrassing it by special instructions, and
neglecting to give its co-operation when most needed.  It was only during the time when
Washington was invested with the powers of a military dictator, that his most'brilliant military achievements were accomplished.
It was in September that the expedition to Quebec, under Arnold, by the way of the Kennebec, was planned. This important measure, and the progress and result of the expedition,
have already been noticed on pages 190 to ]94 inclusive.
Convinced of the inefficiency of Gage, and alarmed at the progress of the rebellion, the
king summoned that officer to England to make a personal explanation of the state of affairs at Boston.  Gage sailed on the 10th of October, leaving affairs in the hands of
1775.
General Howe.' Before his departure, the Mandamus Council, a number of the prin.
Thomas Gage, the last royal governor of Massachusetts, was a native of England, and was an active
officer during the Seven Years' War. He was appointed Governor of Montreal in 1760, and, at the departure of Amherst from America, in 1763, was commissioned commander-in-chief of the British forces in America. He superseded Hutchinson
as Governor of Massachusetts, and had the misfortune to enter upon the
duties of his office at a time when it became necessary for him, as a faithfill servant of his king, to execute laws framed expressly for the infliction
of chastisement upon the people of the capital of the colony over which he
was placed. From that date his public acts are interwoven with the history of the times. He possessed a naturally amiable disposition, and his
benevolence often outweighed his justice in the scale of duty. Under other circumstances his name might
have been sweet in the recollection of the Americans; now it is identified with oppression and hatred of
freedom. He went to England in the autumn of 1775, where he died in April, 1787. Gage expected to
return to America and resume the command of the army; but ministers determined otherwise, and appointed
General Howe in his place. The situation was offered to the veteran Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia.
but as he would not accept the commission unless he could go to the Americans with assurances from gov



574             PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK


Loyal Address to Gage. Superiority of Howe. Fortifications in Boston. The "Old South" desecrated. Officers frightened.
cipal inhabitants of Boston, and several who had taken refuge in the country, in all about
seventy persons, addressed him in terms of loyal affection, amounting to panegyric. It was
certainly unmerited; for his civil administration had been weak, and his military operations
exceedingly inefficient. This was felt by all parties. His departure was popular with the
army; and the provincials, remembering the spirit displayed by General Howe in the battle
on Breed's Hill, anticipated a speedy collision. Howe was superior to Gage in every particular, and possessed more caution, which was generally founded upon logical deductions from fact.    Governed by that caution, he was quite as unwilling as Gage to attack the Americans.  He remembered the disparity in numbers on the 17th
of June, and the bravery of the provincials while fighting behind breast-works cast up in a single night.    He properly ar-     "
gued that an army of the same sort of men, fifteen thousand
strong, intrenched behind breast-works constructed by the labor          //
of weeks, was more than a match for even his disciplined troops,/,
of like number, and prudently resolved to await expected re-en-       /f      e
forcements from   Ireland before he should attempt to procure
that " elbow-rootm" which he coveted.1   In the mean while, he
strengthened his defenses, and prepared to put his troops into
comfortable winter quarters.  He built a strong fort on Bunker
Hill,2 and employed six hundred men in making additional fortifications upon Boston Neck.   In the neighborhood of the haymarket, at the south end of the city, many buildings were pulled down, and works erected in their places.     Strong redoubts
were raised upon the different eminences in Boston, and the old          e l
South meeting-house was stripped of its pews and converted
into a riding-school for the disciplining of the cavalry.3  This
last act took place on the 29th of October, and the desecration    E
greatly shocked the feelings of the religious community.     On
October 30,  the next day Howe issued three proclamations, which  BRITISH FORT ON BUNKER HILL.
1775.    created much indignation, and drew forth retaliatory
ernment that strict justice should be done them, the post was assigned to Howe.  This was a tacit admissioA, on the part of ministers, that justice to the Americans formed no part of their scheme.
It is said that both officers and soldiers regarded the Americans with a degree of superstitious fear, for
many highly exaggerated tales of their power had been related. Dr. Thatcher says (Journal, p. 38) that.
according to letters written by British officers from Boston, some of them, while walking on Beacon Hill in
the evening, soon after the arrival of Gage, were frightened by noises in the air, which they took to be the
whizzing of bullets. They left the hill with great precipitation, and reported that they were shot at with
air-guns. The whizzing noise which so much alarmed these valiant officers was no other than the whizzing of bugs and beetles while flying in the air.  Trumbull, in his M'Fingall, thus alludes to this ludicrous
circumstance:
"No more the British colonel runs
From whizzing beetles as air-guns;
Thinks horn-bugs bullets, or, through fears,
Mosquitoes takes for musketeers;
Nor 'scapes, as if you'd gain'd supplies
From Beelzebub's whole host of flies.
No bug these warlike hearts appals;
They better know the sound of balls."
This was a well-built redoubt. The parapet was from six to fifteen feet broad; the ditch from fourteen to eighteen feet wide, and the banquet about four feet broad. The galleries and parapet before them
were raised about twenty feet high, and the merlons at the six-gun battery in the center were about twelve
feet high. a a, two temporary magazines; b b, barracks; c, guard-houses; d, magazine; e, advanced
ditch; h h, bastions.
3 A Mr. Carter, quoted by Frothingham, writing on the 19th of October, says, "We are now erecting
redoubts on the eminences on Boston Common; and a meeting-house, where sedition has been often preached, is clearing out to be made a riding-school for the light dragoons."  Gordon says, " In clearing every
thing away, a beautiful carved pew, with silk furniture, formerly belonging to a deceased gentleman I)Dea



OF THE REVOLUTION.


575


Harsh Measures, and Retaliation.  Congress Committee at Head-quarters.  Little Navy organized.  Floating Batteries.
measures from Washington. The first forbade all persons leaving the town without permission, under pain of military execution; the second prohibited persons who were permitted to go from carrying with them more than twenty-five dollars in cash, under pain of forfeiture —one half of the amount to be paid to the informer; and the third ordered all the
inhabitants within the town to associate themselves into military companies.  Washington
retaliated by ordering General Sullivan, who was about departing for Portsmouth, New
Hampshire, to seize all officers of government unfriendly to the patriots.  Similar orders
were sent to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, and Deputy-governor Cooke, of Rhode
Island.
While Howe was thus engaged, Washington was not idle.       A committee of Congress,
consisting of Dr. Franklin, Thomas Lynch, and Benjamin Harrison (father of the late President Harrison), arrived at head-quarters on the 18th of October, to confer with the commander-in-chief respecting future operations.  Deputy-governor Griswold and Judge Waln,
of Connecticut; Deputy-governor Cooke, of Rhode Island; several members of the Massachusetts Council, and the President of the Provincial Congress of New Hampshire, were
present at the conference, which lasted several days, and such a system of operations was
matured as was satisfactory to General Washington.' A plan was agreed upon for an entirely new organization of the army, which provided for the enlistment of twenty-six regiments of eight companies each, besides riflemen and artillery. Already measures had been
adopted to organize a navy. As early as June, Rhode Island had fitted out two armed
vessels to protect the waters of that colony; Connecticut, at about the same time,   1
one or two armed vessels; and, on the 26th of June, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts resolved to provide six armed vessels. None of the latter had been got in readiness as
late as the 12th of October, as appears by a letter from Washington to the President of the
Continental Congress.
Having received no instructions from Congress on the subject, Washington took the responsibility, under his general delegated powers, of making preparations to annoy the enemy
by water. Agents were appointed to superintend the construction of vessels, and to furnish
supplies. Captain Broughton, of Marblehead, received a naval commission from Washington, dated September 2d, 1775, the first of the kind issued by the Continental Congress
through its authorized agent. Before the close of October, six vessels of small size2 had been
armed and manned, and sent to cruise
within the capes of Massachusetts,.
Bay.   Two strong floating batteries
were launched, armed, and manned
in the Charles River; and, on the
26th of October, they opened a fire
upon Boston that produced great alarm   -
and damaged several houses.     The                       FO
AMERICAN FiOATING BATTERY.3
six schooners commissioned by Washcon Hubbard] in high estimation, was taken down and carried to Mr. John Armory's house, by the order
of an officer, who applied the carved work to the erection of a hog-stye."
I While Dr. Franklin was at head-quarters, the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts paid him the remaining moneys due him for services as agent for the colony in England, amounting to nine thousand two
hundred and seventy dollars. Five hundred dollars had been sent to him from London as a charitable donation for the relief of the Americans wounded in the skirmishes at Lexington and Concord, and for the
widows and orphans of those who were killed. This sum he paid over to the proper committee.
2 The names of five of these vessels were Hannah, Harrison, Lee, Washington, and Lynch. The six
commanders were Broughton, Selman, Manly, Martindale, Coit, and Adams.
3 I am indebted to the kindness of Peter Force, Esq., of Washington city (editor of " The American Arc(hives"), for this drawing of one of the American floating batteries used in the siege of Boston. It is copied
from an English manuscript in his possession, and is now published for the first time. I have never met
with a description of those batteries, and can judge of their construction only from the drawing. They appear to have been made of strong planks, pierced, near the water-line, for oars; along the sides, higher up.
for light and musketry. A heavy gun was placed in each end, and upon the top were four swivels. The




576


PICTORIAL FIELD-BOOK OF THE REVOLUTION.


Vessels of War authorized by Congress.  Letters of Marque and Reprisal.  Condition of the Army before Boston.
ington, and the floating batteries, sailed under the pine-tree flag. The Continental Congress
'October 13,  authorized two vessels to be fitted out and manned;a afterward two others, one
1775.
b October 30. of twenty and one of thirty-six guns, were ordered.b On the 28th of November.
a code of naval regulations was adopted.   On the 1st of February following (1776), the
navy, if so it might be properly called, was formed into a new establishment, being composed
of four vessels-the Hancock, Captain Manly; the Warner, Captain Burke; the Lynch,
Captain Ayres; and the Harrison, Captain Dyer.     Captain Manly was the commodore of
the little fleet.'  In November, the, Massachusetts Provincial Congress issued letters of
marque and reprisal, and established courts of admiralty. Such was the embryo of the navy
of the United States.  A more detailed account of the organization of the navy and its operations during the Revolution, will occupy a chapter in another portion of this work.  I have
mentioned here only so much as related to operations connected with the siege of Boston.
The term of enlistment of many of the troops was now drawing to a close, and Washington felt great apprehensions for the result.  Nearly six months had elapsed since the battle
of Bunker Hill, yet nothing had been done, decisively, to alter the relations in which the
belligerents stood toward each other.  The people began to murmur, and the general Congress fretted.  New enlistments were accomplished tardily, and in December not more than
five thousand recruits had joined the army.   It became excessively weakened in numbers
and spirit, and as the cold increased, want of comfortable clothing and fuel became an almost
insupportable hardship.  Many regiments were obliged to eat their provisions raw, for the
want of wood to cook them.    Fences, and the fruit and shade trees for more than a mile
around the camp, were used for fuel. The various privations in the camp produced frequent
desertions. The Connecticut troops demanded a bounty, and being refused, resolved to leave
the camp in a body on the 6th of December.     Measures were taken to prevent the movement, yet many went off and never returned. The commander-in-chief was filled with the
greatest anxiety.  Still, he hopefully worked on in preparation for action, either offensive
or defensive.  A  strong detachment under Putnam     broke ground at Cobble Hill (now
'M'Lean Asylum); the works on Lechmere's Point were strengthened, and a call that was
made upon the New England militia to supply the places of the troops that left the army
in its hour of peril, was nobly responded to.
At the close of the year most of the regiments were full; and about ten thousand minute
men, chiefly in Massachusetts, were held in ready reserve to march when called upon. The
camp was well supplied with provisions;2 order was generally observed, and in the course
of a fortnight a wonderful change for the better was wrought.  The ladies of several of the
officers arrived in camp; and the Christmas holidays were spent at Cambridge quite agreeably, for hope gave joy to the occasion.3
ensign was the pine-tree flag, according to Colonel Reed, who, in a letter from Cambridge to Colonels Glover
and Moylan, dated October 20th, 1775, said, " Please to fix some particular color for a flag, and a signal
by which our vessels may know one another. What do you think of a flag with a white ground, a tree in
the middle, the motto 'Appeal to Heaven?' This is the flag of our floating batteries."
Sparks's Life and Writings of Washington, iii., 516.
2 The rations for the soldiers were as follows: corned beef and pork four days in the week, salt fish one
day, and fresh beef two days. Each man had a pound and a half of beef, or eighteen ounces of pork a day;
one quart of strong beer, or nine gallons of molasses, to one hundred men per week; six pounds of candles
to one hundred men per week; six ounces of butter, or nine ounces of hogs' lard per week; three pints of
beans or pease, per man, a week, or vegetables equivalent; one pound of flour per day, and hard bread to
be dealt out one day in the week.
3 Mrs. Washington arrived on the 11th of December, accompanied by her son, John Parke Custis, and his
wife. Some persons thought her in danger at Mount Vernon, as Lord Dunmore was making the most determined hostile movements against republicanism in Virginia. It was feared that he might attempt to
seize the person of Lady Washington, to be held as a hostage. As the commander-in-chief could not leave
the army, she was requested to pass the winter with him at Cambridge. The expenses incurred by the
occasional visits of Mrs. Washington to the camp during the war were charged to the government. Washington was careful to call attention to this fact, and in the rendition of his accounts for settlement he refers
to it, and expresses a hope that the charges will be considered right, inasmuch as he had not visited his
home during his time of service, a privilege which he was allowed by the terms of his appointment.








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