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Washington County

NEW YORK

ITS HISTORY TO THE CLOSE

OF THE

NINETEENTH CENTURY

HISTORIAN AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

WILLIAM L. STONE

AUTHOR OF Till. "LIFE VND II MLS OF SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON, BART, " BURGOYNE S

CAMPAIGN AND ST. LEGER'S EXPEDITION," "MILITARY JOURNALS

OF MAJOR-GENERA] RIEDESEL," &C, &C, &C.

ASSOCIATE EDITOR
HON. A. DALLAS WAIT

■• Forgotten generations liveagain;

Assume the bodily shapes they wore of old,

Beyond the Flood." -Kirke White.

PUBLISHED BY

THE NEW YORK HISTORY CO.

I (JO I.

i y

\ <

« • •

THE

NEW YORK

PUBLIC LIBRARY''

^Met, L*f>ox«md nils
Foundations.
J90J

17009

PRE FACE

Washington County, N. Y., may justly be considered the classic
ground of America. On her soii were fought many of the battles of
" William and Mary's War," " Queen Anne's War," " The Old French
War," "The French War" and the "Revolutionary War." And
Washington County deserves from the historian particular recogni-
tion for the further reason that within her borders occurred two
events which determined for two centuries the policies of France and
Great Britain

The first of these was the skirmish between Le Sieur de Ohamplain
in 1609, when, at the head of the Algontpiins and Hurons, he defeated
the Iroquois and, by this victory, laid the foundation of the implaca-
ble hatred of the Iroquois (the "Six Nations") against the French,
which prevented the '' Six Nations" from espousing the French cause
against that of the English. This action of the Iroquois undoubtedly
led to the final overthrow of the French power in America. Indeed,
had it not been for Champlain's victory, it is perhaps not too much
to say, that the United States would now be a French nation.

The second of these events to which reference has been made
belongs to the War of the American Revolution.

The elaborate preparation which resulted in sending forth the
finest and best equipped army that had ever left the shores of Eng-
land ; the arrogant proclamations that heralded its approach ; the suc-
cessful advance through Washington County ; the terror inspired by
its savage allies; the early consternation aqd discomfiture of the
Colonists; the subsequent rally of desperation; the indecisive conflict
of September 17, 1777 ; the disastrous defeat of the Briton October 7 —
all culminated at Schuylerville in the capitulation of the entire British
army and the hosannas of the nation at its glorious deliverance. This
event secured for us the French alliance and lifted the cloud of moral
and financial gloom that had settled upon the hearts of the people,
dampening the hopes of the leaders of the Revolution and wringing
despairing words even from the hopeful Washington. From that
auspicious day belief in the ultimate triumph of American Liberty

iv PREFACE.

never abandoned the nation until it was realized and sealed four years
later, almost to a day, in the final surrender at Yorktown.

But, if it is said that this culmination took place on the soil of Sara-
i County, it should ever be kept in mind that the surrender of the
British army was due chiefly, if indeed not entirely, to the erection
of Colonel Fellows' batteries at the mouth of the Battenkill. nearly
opposite the scene of the surrender and in Washington County. In
fact, had it not been for those batteries, thus enfilading- and cutting
off all chance of the retreat of the British Army, Burgoyne would
undoubtedly have escaped with his army into Canada and thus the
moral effects of his two previous defeats would have been completely
neutralized in all the cabinets of Europe.

The publishers of this history desired that full justice should be
given to the descendants of those who were participants in these
stirring events; and while there have been previously written a
history of the county and detached narratives of different scenes
enacted within her borders, yet I think the publishers may justly
claim the present history to be a presentation of much new matter
connected with Washington County, which has never before made
its appearance, as well as a succinct, clear and accurate review of the
entire history of the county to the close of the nineteenth century.

Aside, moreover, from these military occurrences, the county is
deserving of great credit, not only for the introduction of flax and
industries depending upon its culture, but for causing her sister coun-
ties to emulate her efforts bv which Northern New York, especiallv,
has attained a proud name among manufacturers and producers gen-
erally, throughout the United States.

One word more: In the preparation of this History — aside from my
own works, and citations from some forty other authorities, and .ex-
clusive of several original MS. journals, now for the first time made
public — I desire to acknowledge my indebtedness to the writings of
Humphrey, Johnson and Palmer, and my old and personal friends,
the late B. C. Butler, N: B. Sylvester, Francis Parkman, Dr. Asa
Fitch, Prof. John Fiske and Dr. A. W. Holden. I also desire to
acknowledge the valuable assistance of Hon. A. Dallas Wait, my
associate, as well as that of Mr. Franklin B. Dowd, of Saratoga
Springs, from whose graceful pen have emanated some of the personal
sketches and town histories contained in the present volume.

Mt. Vernon. N. Y., Sept. i, 1901. William L. Stone.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Erection of Charlotte County — Changes in Area and Boundaries — Name
Changed to Washington County — Geography — Mountain Ranges — Lakes
and Watercourses — Geology — Agricultural Products, Population, Land
Grants and Titles — Early Physical Characteristics — Historical Treatment i-i r

CHAPTER II.

Saratoga Patent — Woods and Game of Washington County — Champlain's Ex-
pedition ri-18

CHAPTER III.

William and Mary's War. 1681-1697 — Queen Anne's War, 1 702-171 3 — The Old
French and Indian War, 1 744-1 74S — Captain John Schuyler's Journal,
£790 18-37

CHAPTER IV.

Kalm's Journey Through What is now Washington County in 174c; and the

Beginnings of Settlements in Its Territory 37-45

CHAPTER V.

The French War, 1754-1763 — Sketch of Fort Edward — Visits to It of Distin-
guished Travelers 45-57

CHAPTER VI.

The French War Continued — Major General Johnson's Campaign Against, and
His Defeat of Baron Dieskau — The Moral and Physical Results of His
Victory 5 7-74

CHAPTER VII.

Raids of Rogers, Stark and Putnam — Attack of the French upon Fort William

Henry — Defeat of the Enemy and Their Retreat 74-8 J

vi CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VIII.

The French War Continued — Montcalm's Capture of Fort William Henry and
the Subsequent Massacre — Attack by the Ottawas on Fort Edward Easily
Repulsed by Putnam's Rangers 81-92

CHAPTER IX.

The French War Continued — Rogers Surprised — Moonlight Fight at "Put's
Rock" near Whitehall — Defeat of General Abercrombie — Duncan Camp-
bell's Ghost — The Conquest of Canada by Wolff and Amherst 02-110

CHAPTER X.

Close of the French War — Putnam Captured and a Prisoner in Canada — The
Quackenboss Adventure near Sandy Hill — Lessons Derived from the
War 110-121

CHAPTER XI.

Early Settlements of the County— First Church Erected in Salem — The Great
New Hampshire Grant Controversy— Prominent Settlers — Judge William
Duer, Colonel Skene, etc. — First Court Held at Fort Edward 121-137

CHAPTER XII.

The Peace of [763 Brings Increased Prosperity to Washington County — Gen-
eral Thrift of the People Disturbed by Rumors of War Between the Col-
onies and the Mother Country — The Inhabitants of the County Divided in
Their Allegiance— Ethan Allen's Attack on, and the Capture of Ticon-
deroga Seizure and Imprisonment of Colonel Skene — Formation of War
Committees — Failure of General Montgomery's Expedition and His Death
Before the Walls of Quebec— Death from Small Pox of General Thomas-
Washington's Views Regarding the Recruiting for the Continental Army—
Carleton's Naval Victory on Lake Champlain— Extracts from Captain Nor-
ton's "Orderly Look "—Position of the People of Washington County at
this Crisis t37-' ; 4

CHAPTER XIII.

The Settler-- of Washington County Begin to Realize the Serious State of
Affairs — Reports of the Invasion of the British Army Fully Confirmed —
Advance of Burgoyne and the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Retreat of
St. Clair — Fermoy's Treachery — Battle of Hubbardtown— -Burgoyne Pur-
sues the Americans Through Wood Creek and Destroys Their Flotilla-
Battle of Fort Anne— Anecdotes Connected with that Engagement 154—176

CONTENTS. vii

CHAPTER XIV.

Events Which Followed Close on the Battle of Fort Anne — Schuyler Delays
the March of Burgoyne — Indian Atrocities — Murder of the Allen Fam-
ily ' 176-185

CHAPTER XV.

The Jane McCrea Tragedy— The Last Days of Her Lover, David Jones; His
Personal Appearance Shortly Before His Death — Bravery of Mrs. General
Schuyler — Narrow Escape of General Schuyler from an Indian Assassin —
Effect of these Cruelties in Arousing Popular Wrath 1S5-211

CHAPTER XVI.

Schuyler Delays the March of Burgoyne— The Battle of Bennington and Its
Direct Results in the Defeat of Burgoyne — Comments on It — Sergeant
Lamb's Journal of His Trip Through the Wilderness from Fort Miller to
Ticonderoga— Anecdotes and Incidents While Burgoyne was at Fort Miller
— Consternation Among the People of Washington County upon the Ap-
proach of the British Army 211-231

CHAPTER XVII.

Advance of Burgoyne — Battle of the 19th of September, 1777 Anecdotes etc.
—Action of October 7th — Bravery of Arnold— The Taking of the Great
Redoubt— Death of Colonel Breymann— Death and Burial of General
Fraser 231-253

CHAPTER XVIII.

Burgoyne's Army Begins Retreat — Heights of Saratoga Occupied, Cutting off
Hopes of Escape— Lady Acland's Flight to the American Camp- Burgoyne's
Surrender— Incidents Connected Therewith — Madame Riedesel's Estimate
of General Schuyler -Character of Burgoyne and Gates Compared—
General Results of the Surrender 253-279

CHAPTER XIX.

Militia Disbanded -Sad Plight of the Whigs— A Block House Built at Salem —
Court Martial Held on Those Lukewarm to the Colonies— The Vermont
Controversy— Governor Clinton's Connection Therewith -The New Hamp-
shire Grants -Clinton's Failure— End of Controversy— Name of Charlotte
County Changed to Washington— Boundaries of County Settled 279-299

viii CONTEXTS

CHAPTER XX.

Settlers Resume Regular Vocations -County Seat Changed from Fort Edward
to Sandy Hill -Extracts from President Dwight's Journal of His Tours
Through Washington County '. 300-32 =

CHAPTER XXI.

War 01' 1 -12-15 Washington County's General Industrie- E rYeeted Thereby—
The News of Peace Heralded with Joy -President Wayland's and " Peter
Parley's" Account of It — Washington County's Part in Mexican War—
The Civil War— Sketches of the Different Regiments and Companies
Enlisted in the County; Names of the Officers and Those Who Died— The
Champlain Canal— Its Effect upon the Prosperity of the County — Railroad
to Whitehall in 1 S46 325-350

CHAPTER XXII.

The Spanish American War— Washington County's Participation Therein—
Enlistments of Companies I. K and M— Assigned to the Second New York
Provisional Regiment —Roster of these Companies— Movements of the
Regiment 350-358

CHAPTER XXIII.

Early Sketches and Biographies— Peter Carver's Journal — General Israel Put-
nam — General Philip Schuyler — Colonel John Williams 358-372

CHAPTER XXIV

County Civil and Political List- 372-377

CHAPTER XXV.

Gazetteer of Towns 377--P4

CHAPTER XXVI.
Newspapers of the County 4S5~ : ' ,;

CHAPTER XXVII.
The Bench and Bar 506-570

CONTENTS.

BIOGRAPHICAL

PART I.

Allen, Cornelius L., 562

Allen, Hon. Cornelius Lansing, 512

Arnold, Hon. A. D., 56S

Baker, F. I., 565

Bartholomew, Alanson Douglas, 550

Bascom, Robert O., 566

Betts, Royal C, 563"

Blanchard. Hon A I., 508

Blair. Bernard. 508

Boies, David A., 509

Boies, Joseph, 510

Boyd, Hon. John H., 569

Bratt, Frederick A., 559

Burby, Augustus Alonzo, 561

Burgoyne, Gen., 273

Campbell, Maj. Duncan, 103

Champlain, Samuel de, 13

Clark, ( irville, 522

Clark, Rev. Dr. Thomas, 387

Crary, Hon. Charles, 509

1 )avis, Charles G., 549

Davis, ( )scar F., 528

Davis. R. R., 564

Dennis, Capt. Otis Alonzo, 546

Derby, Archibald S., 5(17

Doig, Robert, 521

Duer, Judge William, 131

Dwyer, Maj. John, 496

Eva'rts, Silas E., 554

Fairchild, Hon. Marinus, 522

Fraser, Hon. Lonson, 327

Gates, Gen., 274

Gibbs, Leonard, 512

Gibson, Henry, 512

Gibson. Hon James 516

Gibson, James, Jr., 535

Gilroy, John, 529

Higlev, Brodie G., 548

Hill. Alfred G., 559

Hopkins, James C. 521

Hughes, Charles, 521

Hull, Edgar, 539

Ingalls, Hon. Charles R.. 515

Ingalls, Charles Fryer, 514

Ingalsbe, (ilenville Mellen, 533

Jones, David, 194

t>3D

Law, Robert R,

Lillie, Hon. Thomas A., 336

Lydius, Col., 44

Lyman, Gen. Phineas. 51

Martindale, Henry C, 522

McCormick, Joseph B., 337

McCrea, Jane, 1S6

Milliman. X B , 322

Xorthup, Henry B., 322

Northup, Hon. Lyman Hall, 523

Norton, Eliot Bliven, 542

Paris, Hon. U. (i.. 3 to

Paris, Hon. Charles R., 530

Parry, John. 5(14

Potter, Hon. Joseph, 323

Potter, J. Sanford, 567

Pratt, A. V., s7Q

Pratt, Charles Q., 53S

Putnam, Gen. Israel, 362

Reynolds, Milo C . 501

Richard, A. N.. 564

Robertson, Abner, 569

Robinson, Hon. Willard, 558

Rogers, Gen. James C. 565

Rogers, Randolph, 343

Rogers, Major Robert, 51

Russell, Col. Solomon W., 562

Savage, Hon. John, 50S

Sawyer, W. L., 560

Schuyler, Gen. Philip, 365

Scott, George, 556

Seelev. Jurden E, 561

Skene, Major Philip. 1 77

Sullivan. D. ]., 563

Van Schaick, Alvardo Goodenough, 505

Van Wormer, Rodney. 335

Wait, Hon. A. Dallas, 352

Wait, Hon. Luther, 517

Westfall, Hon. Daniel M., 340

Weston, Hon. Roswell, 521

Whitman. Hon. J. M., 347

Willard, Hon. John, 513

Williams, Gen." (Dr.) John, 36S

Wilson, David, 521

Young, William E.. 551

CONTEXTS.

BIOGRAPHICAL.

PART

Adams, Martin II.. 40
Ackley, J. Albert. 47
Agan, John L.. 47
Allen, Aaron B.. 211
Allen. Charles L.. 214
Allen. Hiram, 3
Allen. Loren, 45
Ambler, Silas B., 208
Bailey, Leander E., 55
Bakei*, Col. Eugene M., 2-7
Baker. J. Dewayne, 285
Baker. Theodore F., 281
Banker. S. J.. M. I).. 207
Barber. Lewis T.. 21 -
Barkley, A. C, 50
Barnett, J. M., 209
Barrett, John, 56
Bascom, Benjamin If.. -

sett, S. W., 212
Becker, Henry W., 52 •
Berry, Samuel. 21 r
Bibby, Leonard, 204
Borden. Elias H., 213

den, Russell A.
Bow-tell. Charles W., 49
Boyd, William J., 55
Bragg, Edwin L..
Brayton, John, 216
Brett, Robert H.. 57
Bristol. W. Irving, 215
Britton, Reuben, Jr., 213
Broughton. Aaron C, 211
Broughton, Charles H.. 207
Brown, C. X.. 57
Brown, James R., 201
Brown, Joseph. _i*
Brown. Joseph W. . 51
Brown. Michael. 213
Brown. Raymond E.. 214
Browned. Dennis. 52
Buckley. Franklin, 53
Bump; A. D., 290
Burch. Parsimus, 50
Burleigh, Hon. Henry G., 201
Burton. Isaac Addison, 54
Campbell, Brown. 223
Campbell, John Woods

Carr, Byron A.. 61

Carr, S. W., 223

Carrington, Col. Luke H.. 229

Cary, Charles. 267

Chamberlin, Martin H., 72

Chapman, John W., 62

Chase, Andrew J., 220

Cheesman, James H., 60

Clark. J. C, 222

Clements. H. C. 232

demons, Hon. George L., 4

Cok-man. Prof. W. S.. 281

Collamer, Edward C, 63

Collin, J. R., 281

Conaty, Robert, 226

Conklin, E. H., 231

Cook. E. W., 217

Copeland. Clarence, 233

Cotton. Willard H.. I)."]). S., 2 ig

Coulter, Henry, 233

Cramer. C. A., 221

Cronkhite, Leonard \V., ^

Cross, Theodore I).. 224

Crozier, Joseph P.. 218

Cunningham, John J., 58

Cull, G. I).. 228

Culver. George B.. 221
Gushing, Michael E.. (12

Daly. Patrick B.. 271

I )avis, Clayton X., 69

Davis, Fred A.. 70

Davies, Robert C, M D . 64

Day. M. T. C. 234

Dean, Charles \Y., 235

Dean, C. P., 232

DeGolyer, Charles C, S8

Derby. Hon. John H ., 6

Deuel. George H.. 67

Devine, George S.. 70

I >evine, Seth, 232

Dickinson. Salmon. 68

Donahue. Robert. 68

Donehue, Michael C., 67

Doren, Charles A., 65

Dougan. Mrs. Adelia. 64

Dunsmore, Charles L., 2SS

Dunsmore, David. 71

CONTENTS.

Durrin, G. Gordon, 234

Easton, D. C, 236

Edgerton, John, 72

Edwards, John, 21 >8

Farwell, Fonrose, S

Ferris, George A., 237

Ferris, James M., 74

Finch, Evander M., 74

Finch, Samuel L.. 237

Fitch, Sherman \V., 73

Fort Edward Brewing Co., 203

Foster, Jesse D., 72

Frake, Charles, 236

Fraser, Walter, 239

Fullerlon, Charles H., 73

Galbreath, Walter, 238

Gavette; Horace H., 8]

Getten, Albert C, 79

Gibbs, Alfred C, 77

( ribson, Jesse, 293

Gitford, George, 82

Gilbert, Mrs. H, C, 84

Gilchrist, Leander, 80

Gillis, James G., S3

Gillis, James K., 81

< llines. A. F., 241

( roodman, Carrai, So

Goodman, Hon. James E., 75

( J-raham, John, 239

Gray, Adj. Emmett J., 9

Gray, Henry, M. D.. 8g

Graulich, John Philip, 83

Griffith. Rev. M. J., L L. D., 273

Griswold, GustavusA., >4

Griswold, Samuel K., S7

Hall. Duane L., 97

Harding, Charles \V., 242

Harlow, S. F., 244

Harris, Zadock, 28S

Haskins, Delbert R., 302

Hateh, George L. , <)'■

Hatch, Leroy T., 250

I Lawley, L. jane, 19

Hendrick, Edward Delwin, 90

Henry, Chris., 249

Henry, George, 244

Hewitt, Fred. William, 282

Hewitt, Mrs. M. R.. 240

Hibbard Brothers, 289

Higley, Clifford W., 2 4 f,

Higley, Capt. Julius H., 303

Hilfinger Brothers, 97

Hill, Frank A., S9

Hill, Frederick E., iS

Hill, Capt. James, 243

Hitchcock, W. L., 269

Hobbie, Hon. William R., 297

Holley, George. 298

Hollister, Clarissa Burch. 210

Horsfield, Rev. F. H. T.. 250
Hotel Cunningham, 301
Howland, Amasa, 13
Howland, Lansing M., 92
Hovsradt, William H., 30^
Hubbard. M. D., 247
Hubbell, Silas S.. 91
Hughes, A. T., 241.
Hughes, Gen. William H., n
Huppuch, Winfield A.. 95
Hurd, Daniel P., 99
Hunt, J. Legus. 253
Hyatt, Louis, 99
Hvde. Capt. Hiram, 1 5
In'tield, Clifton L., M. D., 100
Ingalls, George F., 86
Ingalsbe, Milo, 39
I ngalsbe, M. D., 101
Ingraham, Frederick. 290
Ives. F. < )., 253

Jakeway, Hon. Pelatiah, 101

Johnson, George P., 10]

Joy. M. F., [03

Keat ing, [ames I ).. 252

Kellogg, Rev. Charles D., D. D., 104

Keyworth, William II., 106

Kincaid, J. H., 2? 1

Ring. Edwin Morton, M. 1)., 2 ■

Ring, David Harvey. 295

King, James P., 103

King. Rev. Joseph E.. D. IX, 2-;

Kinney, E. C., 103

Larmon, John, 254

Laraway, Nelson D., 113

Lansing, Arthur K.. 1 1 1

Law. Robert R., 133 «

Lawton, Joseph A. . i < 18

Lawton, Willard, 107

Lemm, Elmer I)., 1 1 1

Liddle. Michael W.. iog

Liddle, Emeiine, 112

Linendol, Robert A.. M. D.. ro6

Loomis, Amos, 109

Lovejoy, Henry Hall, no

Madison, William B., M. I)., 124

.Main, John, 21

Manville, John J., 121

Marshall, George L.. 123

Martin. Homer B., 123

Martine, Hon. Godfrey R.. M. D., 291)

Mason. C. L., 256

Maxwell. George S., 121

McCartv. John, 120

McCarty, Rev. Michael F., 126

McCoy, James W., 306

McCoy, Robert I-:., 305

McDowell, Robert. 122

McEachron, Robert C 119

McEachron, Rev. Willard S.. 124

Xll

CONTENTS.

McFarland, C. II.. 260
McFarland, George H., 130
McFarland, William. 1 17
McGoech, Alexander, 127

Me I high, Martin, 120
McKercher, Harvey, 118
McLoughlin, C. H., 258
McLoghiin, Rev. Thomas M., u(

McMillan, Joseph. M. I)., 1J7

McMurray, George, 258

McNaughton, Fred, 204

Meiklejohn, Gordon W., 256

Melick, William B.. M. D., 129

Mellon, Charles, 125

Meyer, Aubrey Edgerton, 291

Middleworth, Henry V.. 22

Middleworth, Warren H., 12S

Miller. John J., ng

Mills, Charles Edwin, 305

Mitchell, Sardis, 125

Mock, James. 1 1 B

Monroe, Dr. Isaac Thompson, 115

Montgomery, R. C 2?<>

Moon, E. H.. 257

Moon, Patrick, 263

Moor. William, 121

Morgan, Hon. John J.. 114

Mott. ( ). II.. M. I)., 129

Mott, Capt. S. W., 261

Nelson. Fred R., 262

Newcomb, Edward P., 131

Nichols, G. K., 285

Noble, A. R., 281

Northup, Charles S., 22

Northup, H. Davis, 25

Northup, James M., 132

Northup, Hon. James M., 23

Norton. Charles A.. [33

Norton. Nelson, 264

Oatman, Lewis R., M. D.. 136

( latman, ( Irlin E., 1 j8

O'Brien, Rev. J. J., 227

O'Donnell, Thomas, 243

( ) Neil, John, 137

Owen's. Owen W., Sons, [35

Palmer, E. H.. 21

Parant, Albert E., 145

Parrish, Hiram H., 146

Patterson, Thomas A., 139

Peabody, Willard L., 144

Pepper, John Herman, 149

Petteys, Fred, 143

Philo, Lewis N.. 145

Pickett, M., 147

Piser, Leonard Church, 140

Potter, Edgar L.. 139

Potter, John D., 13S

Potter, Joseph H., 140

Potter. Townsend J.. 143

Pratt, Edwin C 142

Pratt, John Lovejoy, 147

Qua, Henry A., 182

Randies, Robert, 152

Rathbun, C. A., 276

Rathbun, Lyman, 149

Ray, Edwin P., 306

Rav, Rodney T., 212

Reynolds, Rev. J. A.. D. D., 152

Reynolds, William Pitt, 151

Reil, John, 153

Rhodes. Horace. 1--

Rice. Jerome Bonaparte, 27

Richards. Eber. 154

Richter. Franz E., 262

Rogers. George E.. 157

Rogers, Horace L. . 150

Rogers. Lieut. H.N., 272

Rogers. John S.. 156

Roof. Clarence M., 264

Root, Henry S. . 26

Rutledge, John E., 153

Ryon, Frank C, 157

Safford, Charles H.. if>i

Safford Joseph T.. 164

Sanders. George H.. 166

Saunders. William A.. 265

Sawyer. Rev. Everett R., D. D.. 280

Shaw. Oringe. 169

Sheldon. Hon. ( ). W., 30

Shipman. Hiram. 32

Sisson. Frank Albert, [70

Skelly. John 269

Sleight, David. 171

Small, James, 266

Smalley. Alphonzo D., 171

Smith, Benjamin. 274

Smith. Charles C, 35

Smith, C. Edward, 165

Smith. DeWitt Clinton. 162

Smith. Marcellus S., 170

Snell. Lewis G.. 160

Snyder. E. H., 270

Sonn. Michael. 163

Spallholz. Henry, 166

Sprague. W. L.. 159

Steele, Douglas 168

Stevens, Gilbert H.. 160

Stevens. Martin 1L, 16"

Stevenson. Gilbert J., 159

Stevenson. Hon. Thomas. 41

Stickney. Charles H., 305

Stone, Charles. 278

Stone, Joseph B.. 292

Stoughton, Timothy F., 158

Sullivan. John. 168

Taylor, Albert G.. 172

Taylor. L B., 173

Tefft, M'iss Frances A., 176

CONTENTS.

Xlll

Tefft. M. C, 276

Temple, Edwin B., 176

Temple, Luther Roswell. 177

Tenney, Willis Ashton, M. D.', 178

Thompson. Henry. 1 74

Tidmarsh. Henry L.. 197

Tingue. Charles E., 270

Tinkey. Daniel 174

Tripler. William Connell, D. D. S., 174

Turner. George. 175

Valentine. D L . 195

Vandewerker. II W . M. I)., [85

Van Wormer. Francis M., 4",

Van Wormer Family. 179

Vaughan. Albert C , 183

Vaughn. Charles A.. 181

Wakeman Abram, 199

Walker. Edgar P.. 190

Walker. Harlan A., 192

Wall Edward, 184

Walsh. Arthur. 294

Ward. Benjamin L.. 293

Warner, Walter A . [89

Warnock. Alexander. 193
Warren, Roswell Ethan, i<;4
Watkins R H, 271
Watson. William Grant, 187
Webb, George J., 296
Weinberg. Seigmund. 27^
Whiteside. Albert, 188
Wicks, Lemuel E.. 187
Wilbur. George H., 192
Willett. John R . 191
Williams. Ellis, 2(15
Williams." Gen. John. 302
Williams. John G, 196
Williams. Valentine. 193
Williamson. Charles W . [86
Winegar. L ( j.. 191
Wisely. Harry P.. D. D S., 194
Witherbee. Rollins Miller, 36
Wolfe, Levi. [90
Woodruff R. B . 268
Yates, Rev. Jeremiah F., 198
Vout. George, 294

PORTRAITS

Allen, Hiram facing 3 part II

Clemons. Hon. George L . facing 4 part 1 1
Derby. John H ... facing 6 part II

Farwell. Fonrose facing S part 1 1

Gray, Emmett J facing 10 part 1 1

Hill, Frederick E facing 536 part I

Hawley, David facing 19 part II

Hull, Edgar facing 536 part I

Hughes, Gen. Wm. H. .facing 11 part II

Howland. Amasa facing 13 part 1 1

Howland, Lansing M. .facing 92 part II

Hyde. Hiram facing 15 part II

Ingalls, Hon Chas R. .facing 515 part I
Ingalsbe, Grenville M .facing 532 part I

Intjalsbe, Milo facing 39 part II

Lillie. Hon. Thomas A. facing 536 part I
Martine, J. R., M. D. facing 299 part II

Main, John facing 21 part II

Middleworth, H. V. . .facing 128 part II

Xorthup. Charles S... facing 22 part II
Xorthup. H. Davis. .. facing 25 part II
Northup. Hon James M . facing 23 part II
Paris Hon. Charles R. .facing 530 part I

Paris, Hon. U. G facing 510 part I

Potter, Hon. Joseph . . . facing 573 part I

Rice, Jerome B facing 27 part II

Rogers. Randolph .. . facing 543 part I

Root, Henry S facing 458 part I

Sheldon. Hon ( >. W. . .facing 30 part II
Shipman. Hiram. ..... .facing 32 part II

Smith, C C facing 35 part II

Stevenson. Thomas . . .facing 41 part II

Stone, Charles facing 278 part II

Van Wormer. Francis facing 43 part II
Van Wormer. Rodney . . facing 536 part I
Wait. Hon. A. Dallas, .facing 552 part I
Williams, Valentine, .facing 193 part II
Witherbee, Rollin M. . facing 36 part II

WASHINGTON COUNTY:

ITS HISTORY TO THE CLOSE OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

CHAPTER I.

Erection of Charlotte County — Changes in Area and Boundaries — Name
Changed to Washington — Geography — Mountain Ranges — Lakes and Water
Courses — Geology — Agricultural Products, Population, Land Grants and
Titles — Early Physical Characteristics — Historical Treatment.

At the first General Assembly, held pursuant to the instructions of the
Crown to Governor Dongan, toward the close of the reign of Charles
II in the 24th year after the Restoration, it was enacted by the Govern-
or, Council and Representatives of the Province of New York, that the
Province should be divided into twelve counties. The statute that con-
tained this enactment was passed November 1, 1683, and provided that
the county of Albany should contain "the town of Albany, the county
of Renslaerswyck, vSchonechteda, and all the villages, neighborhoods
and Christian Plantacons on the east side of Hudson's River, from Roe-
lof Jansen's creeke, and on the west side from Sawers creeke to the
Sarraghtoga. " This act was substantially re-enacted October 1, 1691,
at the first assembly held in the third year of the reign of King Wil-
liam and Queen Mary.

Afterward, in the twelfth year of George III, A. D. 1772, the Pro-
vincial Legislature passed an act in which, after reciting that the lands
within the county of Albany were more extensive than all the other
counties of the colony taken together, and mentioning the inconven-
iences resulting from the "enormous extent " of the county, it proceed-
ed to divide the territory of the county into three parts, restricting the
name of Albany to one of these subdivisions and bestowing upon the
others the names of Charlotte and Tryon respectively. This act, passed
March 12, 1772, provided that the northern bounds of Albany county,
as newly constituted, should be "a west line drawn from Fort George,

2 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

near Lake George," and the continuation of such line "east until it
intersects a north line drawn from that high Falls on Hudson's River,
which lays next above Fort Edward; thence south to the said Falls;
thence along the east bank of Hudson's River to a certain creek called
Stoney Creek; thence east five hundred and ten chains; thence south
to the north bank of Batten Creek; thence up along the north bank of
said creek until the said creek intersects the south bounds of Prince-
Town; thence along the same to the southeast corner thereof ; thence
east to the west bounds of the county of Cumberland; thence south-
erly and easterly along the west and south bounds thereof to Connec-
ticut River." The act further provided that so much of the former
county of Albany as lay within the colony, to the northward of the
county of Albany as restricted by the act, and to the eastward of a line
drawn from the intersection of the north bounds of Duanesburo'h ex-
tended with the Mohawk River, north, until it intersected the west
line drawn from Fort George, previously mentioned, should be one
separate and distinct county, and be called and known by the name of
the county of Charlotte.

At the same session, an act was passed providing for the election of
town and county officers in the new county of Charlotte and their quali-
fication, and imposing a penalty upon persons refusing to act in the
offices for which they might be chosen.

The following year provision was made for surveying and marking
the boundary lines between the two counties of Charlotte and Tryon.

The old lines established by these acts are still traceable in existing
county lines and natural boundaries. The line running north from the
Mohawk is co-incident with the present western boundary of Saratoga,
Warren and Essex counties, and extended on the same course to the
Canadian boundary.

Charlotte county, as thus constituted, included a wide extent of ter-
ritory stretching northward a hundred miles to Canada, having a width
of more than fifty miles and including more than five times the present
area of Washington county. It comprised the present counties of War-
ren, Essex, Clinton, parts of Washington and Franklin, and a consid-
erable portion of the State of Vermont.

The name of the county which had been given to it in honor of Prin-
cess Charlotte, the eldest daughter of George III, was changed to Wash-
ington county by the legislature of the State of New York on the 2nd
of April, 1784.

TII.E COUNTY DIVIDED. 3.

On, the 7th pf March, 1788, the war of the Revolution having been
concluded,, the independence of the American colonies recognized, and
the government of the State of New York well established, the legis-
lature passed an act dividing the State into sixteen counties. The ter-
ritory included in the boundaries of Washington county was divided
into two parts by a line "beginning at the most northerly point of the
rock commonly called Rogers' Rock, situate on the west side of Lake
George, and thence due west to the county of Montgomery, and run-
ning also from the said rock due east to the west bounds of the county
of Gloucester." That part of the county lying north of this line was,
by the act, erected into a county to be called the county of Clinton, and
that part south of it, into a county to be called by its former name, the
county of Washington. It was further provided that, until the first
vState census, the supervisors of Clinton and Washington counties should
meet together at Salem and canvass the votes cast in both counties. At
the same session an act was passed dividing Washington county into
nine towns: Argyle, Salem, Hebron, Granville, Hampton, Whitehall,
Kingsbury, Westfield and Queensbury.

On the 7th of February, 1791, an act was passed in which it was re-
cited that the census of the electors and inhabitants of the State, lately
taken, showed that alterations in some of the districts and counties were
necessary; and it was accordingly enacted, among other things, that the
towns of Cambridge and Easton, in the county of Albany, be annexed
to, and thereafter considered as part of, the county of Washington.

It is to be observed that the boundaries of Charlotte county as estab-
lished in 1772, included a great part of the present State of Vermont,
and the county of Washington continued to include part of the same
territory until the 7th of October, 1790, when the State of New York
relinquished its rights to it in order that it might be erected into a new
State. This territory, then included in what was known as the New
Hampshire grants, early became a bone of bitter contention between
the provincial government of New Hampshire on the one hand and
that of New York on the other. As the tide of emigration began to
flow toward the fertile valleys above Albany, between the Connecticut
river and the valley of the Hudson and Lake Champlain, the Governor
of New Hampshire made grants of lands within these borders, claim-
ing the territory under the New Hampshire charter. The government
of New York sharply opposed this claim and, in turn, claimed the ter-
ritory under the grants to the Duke of York. Upon an appeal to the

4 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

Crown the claim of New York was upheld by an order of the King in
council on the 20th day of July, 1764, and the authority of the govern-
ment of New York was declared to extend to the Connecticut river.
The latter government, though it seems to have had a due regard for
those who had actually settled upon and improved lands under the New
Hampshire grants, in attempting to enforce its rights and authority in
the disputed territory, encountered an organized resistance and precipi-
tated a conflict with the New Hampshire claimants and settlers that
was only suspended by the greater struggle of the Revolution. Puring
the Revolution the settlers in Vermont developed a political importance
and demanded admission to the confederation as an independent State,
which was denied on account of the opposition of New York. A second
application led to bitter feelings and apprehensions among the confed-
erated States that Vermont might be led to declare allegiance to Great
Britian. Finally, in 1790, New York offered to relinquish the disputed
territory upon terms that were accepted and, on the seventh of October,
1790, the cession was made and Vermont was admitted into the Union
March 4, 1 791. By this act Washington county was deprived of a great
part of the territory originally given to it, and a considerable sacrifice
was required of those occupying under grants within its boundaries,
made by the government of New York. The sum of thirty thousand
dollars was paid to the State for the lands thus ceded, and this sum was
distributed among those to whom it had made grants that were thus
rendered worthless. It is said that, for this comparatively insignificant
sum, "lands of upwards of a million of dollars in value, were wrested
from their owners without their consent and became the property of
the State of Vermont * * * about four cents and nine mills per
acre were paid them for lands, in some instances, worth as many dol-
lars. "

Finally, in 1813, by an act of the legislature of the State of New
York, all that part of Washington county lying west of a line begin-
ning at the southeast corner of the town of Queensbury, and running
thence north along the east line of that town to Lake George and thence
northerly along the west line of the towns of Fort Ann and Putnam to
the south line of Essex county, was erected into a separate county by
the name of Warren.

The boundaries of Washington county as thus established in 181 3,
have remained unchanged and no further additions to, or subtractions
from its territory, have since been made.

)

ITS BOUNDARIES. 5

Washington county extends from 42 55' to 43 ° 48' north latitude, and
from 30 18' to 30 42' longitude east of the city of Washington. It is
bounded northerly by the county of Essex, easterly by the State of Ver-
mont, southerly by the county of Rensselaer, and westerly by the coun-
ties of Saratoga and Warren. Its extreme length is about sixty miles
and its width less than twenty miles. Its area is about 807 square miles,
•or 516,500 acres. The northern part of the county extends into the
Adirondack mountain system, being traversed by the Palmertown range,
the highest peak of which, Black Mountain, on the eastern shore of Lake
George, attains an altitude of 2878 feet. The southern part of the
county is also occupied by ridges of mountains or high hills of different
character from those in the northern part, and separated from them by
the remarkable depression which extends southerly from the southern
extremity of Lake Champlain to the Hudson River valley, of which it
is the northerly extension.

The mountains of the southern part of the county are subdivided into
three principal ranges of the same general character. The most east-
erly of these ranges is a northerly continuation of the Taghkanic
Range of Rensselaer county. The next range is sometimes described
as a continuation of the Petersborough Mountains of Rensselaer, and
extends northerly to Salem, where it spreads out like a fan between
the streams. The third range, known as the Bald Mountain Range,
extends from the southwesterly edge of the county northerly and east-
erly to the easterly part of the town of Whitehall. The declivities of
these ranges are usually steep and, except where broken by ledges, are
arable to their summits. They gradually rise toward the east, reaching
their culminating point near the eastern border of the county. The
highest summits are 1000 to 1200 feet above tide, though Willard's
Mountain has an elevation of 1605 feet. These three ranges belong to
one general group, are of the same geological formation, and form a
connecting link between the mountains of Vermont and the highlands
of the lower Hudson River valley. They are composed of slate rock,
ledges of which crop out along their whole extent. Many of these
ledges in Granville and Hebron are quarried, and furnish stone much
valued for roofing, building and ornamental purposes. Among the
slate quarries are found numerous veins of injected quartz, intersecting
the slate strata in every direction, varying from the thickness of a sheet
•of paper to several inches. They often present cavities and surfaces
beautifully studded with transparent crystals of quartz. The edges of

G WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

the slate are sometimes bent and distorted by the quartz dikes, showing*
the extreme heat and threat force of the injected veins.

The Palmertown Mountains belong to the primary formation, con-
sisting principally of gneiss, granite, sandstone and impure limestone.
Their sides are very precipitous and broken, and their summits are
wild, irregular masses of naked and barren rocks. The valleys between
them are narrow and rocky, often bordered by precipices hundreds of
feet in h eighth.

The northern part of "Washington county lies in the water-shed of
the St. Lawrence and the southern part in that of the Hudson. The
crest or summit, where these water- sheds meet each other, forms an ir-
regular line crossing the county near its central part, in a general east-
erly and westerly direction. It is one of the "Great Divides" of the
American continent, extending half-way across it and touching at almost
no point an elevation raised so slightly above the level of the sea as in
the town of Kingsbury. Washington county. It begins in the west line
of the town of Kingsbury, not far from its northern extremity and runs
thence in a direction about southeast by east nearly five miles; thence,
curving to the south, it runs in a general southerly direction about
seven miles into the town of Argyle; there, sweeping around the head
waters of Wood Creek, it runs northeasterly, again crossing the north
line of the town of Argyle into the town of Hartford; then turning
easterly and keeping near the south bounds of the latter town, it runs
into Hebron, crosses its northwest corner, and keeping close to the
boundary line between Hebron and Greenwich, passes out of the county
into A'ermont.

The Hudson River forms the western boundary of the southern part
of the county, and Lake George the western boundary of the northern
part. The northern part of the county has for its eastern boundary
the narrows of Lake Champlain, and for part of its northern and north-
eastern boundary Poultney River, while the Hoosick River forms part
of the county's southern boundary. Besides these waters, which form
part of its boundaries, the county contains the Batten Kill and Moses
Kill, (originally called Moss Kil, probably from Captain Moss who set-
tled opposite its mouth) which flow into the Hudson south of Fort Ed-
ward ; South Bay, a projection of the Lake Champlain narrows, toward
the southwest, and a narrow valley, continuing in the direction from its
southern extremity, divides the Palmertown Mountains into two ranges.
Wood Creek, called by the French Riviere du cJiicot or River of logs, flows

GEOLOGY. 7

northerly through the depression that extends from Lake Champlain to
the Hudson River and empties into the southern extremity of that lake
at Whitehall; and the Mettowee or Pawlet and Poultney Rivers are
tributaries of Wood Creek, flowing into it from the southeast and east,
near its mouth. Black Creek is a tributary of the Batten Kill from the
north and White Creek a tributary of the Hoosick River, also from the
north. Besides these water courses, are many smaller brooks and
streams running into them from the valleys that form a network over
much of the surface of the county. Cossayuna Lake lies near the cen-
tre of the county, is the principal lake lying within its boundaries, being
about three miles in length. Its name is said, by the St. Francois In-
dians, to signify "The Lake of the Pines."

The geology of Washington county is most interesting and has en-
gaged the attention of many eminent geologists of our own and foreign
lands. It covers a wide range, beginning in the northwest part of the
county with the masses of granite and gneiss that tower above the
waters of Lake George and impart to the scenery of that most beauti-
ful of lakes it grander features. Black Mountain and the other moun-
tains of the Palmertown range are granitic and belong to the great
Adirondack group. All these were formerly classed as azoic though
the present opinion is that the)* were originally stratified and have been
crystalized by intense heat since they were deposited. The large
quantity of graphite found in these rocks is generally believed to
indicate the existence of vegetable life at the time of their formation.
Passing southerly and easterly from Lake George we traverse the wild
and rugged region of granitic mountains until we emerge into the
depression which extends from Lake Champlain to the Hudson, through
which flows Wood Creek and through which passes the Champlain Canal.
Here we find the Potsdam sandstone, a fine, white, hard sandstone in
even, uniform layers, overlying the granite and gneiss and appearing
in precipices resembling walls of masonry. Crowning these precipices
and stretching eastward from them, appears a much softer, gray rock,
composed of lime and sand in variable proportions, the calcif erous sand-
stone. Continuing further east we reach a pure limestone of a leaden
blue color, compact and fine grained, the Chazy limestone. Finally,
beyond the limestone and at a distance of from three to six miles from
the granitic rocks, we find slate or shale, which continues from the place
where it is first encountered, east and south over the remainder of the
county. The thickness of this deposit increases as we progress south-

WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

ward until it becomes very great. It is exposed along the course of the
Hudson River, where it rises above its waters, often to considerable
heights, revealing the pecularities of its structure, and well known as
the Hudson River shale. Eastward, it presents variations of structure
and appearance exhibiting a cleavage transverse to the lines of stratifi-
cation and a variety of coloring which make it of value for roofing
material and other purposes. All of these geological formations seem
to have been projected northward into a valley lying between two great
primary ridges, the Adirondacks on the west and the Green Mountains
of Vermont on the east. As we leave the borders < >f Washington county
and travel eastward, we pass beyond the slate and presently encounter
again limestone and then a fine, hard, silicious sandstone, and finally
the granitic masses of the Green Mountains. A distance of twentv-five
or thirtv miles in a direct line carries us across from the primitive rocks
of one of these ranges to those of the other.

Among the features of the geology of Washington county that are
most interesting and have attracted most attention, the following are
worthy of mention :

The slate rocks which underlie by far the greater part of the county,
have been bent and broken and twisted throughout their whole extent
until the ingenuity of the geologist is exhausted in vain endeavors to
assign to their proper positions the strata, where exposed, or to ascer-
tain the relations that exist between those that appear in juxtapo-
sition. It is supposed that this confused state of the rocks hasresidted
from a contraction of the depression between the Green Mountain
range and the Adirondack group which has broken up the stratified
rocks and produced faults, fractures and even folds, or plications, piling-
lower layers or strata upon upper ones, as floating ice is piled and
broken in a river when its width is contracted and its waters forced
through a rocky gorge.

A remarkable illustration of the effects which such a force can produce
is seen in the appearance of the limestone cliffs at Bald Mountain. This
limestone was once below strata of shale of great thickness but natural
convulsions are supposed to have resulted in a great fold at this place
which brought the limestone to the surface and threw off the super-
imposed shale.

The slate rocks of the Taghkanic Range differ so greatly in structure
and appearance from those in the western part of the county that they
have caused geologists to entertain grave doubts as to the place that

GEOLOGY. 9

should be assigned to them. These doubts have been heightened by
the appearance of masses of limestone and sandstone in them at different
points. The opinion, however, prevails that these formations are con-
temporaneous with the Hudson River shales.

The mineral wealth of Washington county is great and has served to
enrich many of its inhabitants. The northern part of the county
contains iron ore that has been worked with profit. Large deposits of
graphite are also known to exist. The limestone of Bald Mountain has
been quarried and burned for lime on a great scale and the lime thus
produced has had a great reputation on account of its snowy whiteness
which made it peculiarly valuable for certain purposes. Slates also
abound, varying in character and quality, but valuable for roofing,
flagging and other purposes.

The soils of Washington county comprise the gray and blue clay of
the quartenary division of Prof. Mather, the tertiary clay, or Albany
and Champlain clay of Dr. Emmons, which, according to Dr. Asa Fitch,
covers about one-seventh of the surface of the county ; small tracts of
sandy soil which may be regarded as identical with the greater expanse
of like soil in the northeastern part of Saratoga county and which may
be called the Saratoga sands ; tracts of gravel or drift soils which have
generally been regarded as forming the best agricultural parts of the
county and which have been subdivided into original and re-arranged
drift and finally those soils that have resulted from the decomposition
of the surface rocks and which remain to-day where they where formed
and have been called " Geest " or unmoved soil. These four soils sup-
plemented by small tracts of muck or peat in swamps and narrow strips
of alluvial soil along the margins of lakes and streams make up the soils
of the county. The clay soils are said to be best adapted to grass and
grazing and produce much valuable hay. The sandy tracts though less
productive than the clays are easier to crdtivate and are said to have
been first cleared. The gravel soils are less stiff and tenacious than
the clays and less open and porous than the sands. They are com-
pounded of diversified materials and well adapted for easy, convenient
and profitable tillage. Wheat was first raised upon them after they had
been cleared near the last quarter of the last century but now they are
thought best adapted to the growth of Indian corn though in the rotation
of crops, oats, rye, grass, potatoes, flax, barley, buckwheat, peas, beans
and other crops are raised upon them. The geest soil of the Palmertown

[2]

10 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

mountain range has nourished the luxuriant forest growth that once
flourished upon it but is too shallow for profitable cultivation. Made
up in great part of vegetable mould, forest fires have sometimes almost
consumed it. Geest in the limestone regions is said to be most admi-
rably adapted for fruit growing and that in the region of Taghkanic
sandstone and the slates of the southern and eastern portions of the
county has been considered of remarkable fertility, the latter producing
potatoes of excellent quality and in great abundance.

The day has passed when Washington county could hope to be notable
as a wheat producing region, though it is said that when some of its
lands were first cleared of their forest growth great crops of wheat were
raised upon them. The northern part of the county which penetrates the
Adirondack mountain ranges is generally unfit for culture. It is
adapted only to the nourishing of a forest and to hold back the waters
of the streams whose sources lie within its borders. If the State should
pursue a wise policy it would soon incorporate these lands into the
Adirondack forest preserve and assist nature to restore them once more
to the condition of a noble and stately forest to repair the ravages of
fire and the axe and thus to make them what nature formed them and
intended them to remain, a priceless possession of the people of the
State and their posterity to remote generations.

The remainder of the count}- will doubtless tend more and more
toward development as a grazing country and use for dairy farming.
The sweet grasses of. the hillsides and valleys through the central and
southern portions of the county have long been recognized as one of its
principal and most valued products and the increasing populations of
the Hudson River valley create an increasing demand for dairy products
which no lands can better supply. Dairy farming supplemented by
market gardening it seems probable will be the notable agricultural
enterprises in the future of Washington county.

Washington county though pricipally esteemed an agricultural county
is not without many and important manufacturing enterprises which
will be mentioned more particularly in the histories of the several towns.

The population of Washington county grew with great rapidity in
the early years of its settlement attaining at the end of the first quarter
of the present century a density which during the last three quarters
of the century has only been increased about ten per cent. The popula-
tion according to the last Federal census of 1890 was 45,690 souls.

Washington county, N. Y. , may, with truth, be said to be, par exel-

CLASSIC GROUNDS. 11

lencc, the classic ground of the United States. On its territory, dating"
back from the earliest time of its settlement, it has witnessed not only
predatory Indian warfare, but heard the tread of armies contending on
the soil of the new world for the mastery of the old — sent forth by
England and France — the mightiest powers at that day among the na-
tions of the earth.

The space allotted to me in this sketch would be all too short to re-
late in detail, the hair-breadth escapes, the romantic incidents and the
singular vicissitudes which have occurred within its borders. These
have ever been favorite themes for such great novelists as Cooper and
James to dilate upon; and I can merely touch upon the stormy events
which occurred on its soil.

CHAPTER II.

Saratoga Patent — Woods and Game of Washington County — Champlain's
Expedition.

The title to that part of the county lying on the southernmost tier,
and named Easton, was derived from the " Saratoga patent " which was
granted November 4, 1684 by Governor Dongan to Cornelius Van Dyck,
Jan Janse Bleecker, Peter Schuyler, and others. The title to the
rest of its territory came from a grant of land given by Governor
Fletcher to Reverend Mr. Dilliers, the Dutch minister in Albany,
September 3, 1696. But three years afterward (1699) the legislature
of the colony of New York, acting on the suggestion of the Earl of
Bellomont, who had succeeded Fletcher as Governor, vacated this
part — a circumstance which subsequently, when the county came to be
settled, was a cause of many wrangles and conflicting disputes in regard
to titles, which for a long time seemed as if they would be almost in-
terminable.

It is needless to remind the reader that, in the early beginnings of
the history of the county, all of its ridges and valleys were covered with a
primeval and heavy growth of oak, ash, elm (out of the bark of which the
Iroquois fashioned their canoes,) beech, maple, pine and other indigen-
ous American trees; while they furnished inexhaustible numbers of
deer, bear, wolf, panther, otter and the industrious beaver, — all of
which made this territory, with the Adirondacks in plain sight, the

12 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

choicest hunting grounds for the Iroquois. Indeed, it was the bountiful
supply of every variety of game that this county afforded, which was
one of the causes of the enmity and jealousy that had existed for
centuries between the Algonquins and Iroquois.

In giving", moreover, in this sketch the history of ' ' William and Mary's
war 1681-97 ; Queene Anne's war," 1708-13 ; the "Old French war,"
1744-50 ; the French war, 1754-63 ; and the Revolutionary war, 1775-83
so far as they relate to Washington County — it will be necessary, in
order to present the several campaigns in their entirety, and that a
thoroughly comprehensive view may be obtained, to lay some of the
scenes necessarily in contiguous counties. With this explanation the
following sketch is offered to the reader.

To Washington county belongs the exclusive honor of having been
the first soil of the original thirteen colonies to receive the pressure of
a white man's foot. It is true, that it has been stated, that as early as
1598, a few Hollanders, in the employ of a Greenland commercial com-
pany were in the habit of resorting to New Netherland ( i. c. New York
Island,) not with the design of effecting a settlement, but merely to
secure shelter during the winter months. This statement is involved
in much obscurity and is exceedingly doubtful ; whereas the fact which
I have mentioned above is well authenticated.

CHAMPLAIN'S EXPEDITION.

I refer to the expedition of Sieur Samuel de Champlain. He was
a catholic gentleman of Saintonge, born in 1567, at the little sea-
port of Brouage on the Bay of Biscay. He was a captain in the Royal
navy; and his means being small, though his merit was great, Henry
the Fourth, out of his own slender revenues, had given him a pension
to maintain him near his person. But, being a true hero after the
chivalrous mediaeval type, and his character being dashed largely with
the spirit of romance, he soon chafed under such a passive and unevent-
ful existence ; and being withal earnest, sagacious and penetrating after
various attractions in the West Indies, Mexico, and Nova Scotia, in
1608, he sailed up the St. Lawrence and founded the city of Quebec ;
the first permanent French settlement in Canada. Five years previously
he had explored the St. Lawrence as far as the rapids above Montreal
and the spot he now chose for what afterwards became the City of
Quebec, he thought would be a true site for a settlement or, rather a

HISTORICAL TREATMENT. 13

fortified post whence ' ' as from a secure basis the waters of the vast
interior might be traced back toward their sources and a western route
discovered to China and. the east." He thought, too, that for the advan-
tage of the fur-trade the innumerable streams that flowed into the St.
Lawrence, might all be closed against the foreign intrusion of a hostile
force by a single fort on the brow of the mighty promontory which is
now the " citadel of Quebec," and made tributary to a rich and perma-
nent commerce ; while — and this was nearer his heart ; for he had often
been heard to say that " the saving of a soul was worth more than the
conquest of an empire." — countless savage tribes, in the bondage of
Satan, might, by these same avenues, also be reached and redeemed.
Thus, almost from the time of his first landing, he began to cultivate
the friendship of the Indians, both of those living in his vicinity and as
far west as the Great Lakes. Nor was it long, before the savage tribes
had become so drawn towards him that they were led to solicit his
services in making war upon their hereditary enemies. At that time,
and as far as can be ascertained from original aboriginal tradition, the
Adirondacks — Champlain's neighbors, and a powerful division of the
Algonquins, Hurons, Wyandots and other western tribes — had been
engaged in a savage and perpetual war with the Iroquois, or as they
afterwards came to be called, "The Six Nations." When, seventy
years previous to Champlain's first arrival, viz ; in 1603, Cartier had
ascended the great river and had discovered what is now Canada, he found
the Mohawks, (a tribe of the Six Nations) living near the present city
of Montreal. On Champlain's present visit, however, he found that
that tribe had been driven by the Adirondacks south of the St. Law-
rence and into the interior of the present State of New York ; and he
also discovered that, for this reason, the tribe was in mortal fear, lest
the Mohawks would return in large numbers and inflict dire revenge
upon them. Accordingly, when in 1509 (the year after Champlain's
arrival among them) some of the chiefs requested him to accompany
them on an expedition against their hereditary foes, he consented to do
so ; being influenced in his decision, both by the fact that he wished to
explore for himself a country regarding which he had heard various
marvelous accounts, and for the further reason, that by aiding them as
an ally he thought he would be obtaining a still further hold on their
consciences which would eventually work for their spiritual good.

Yielding, therefore, to these persuasions, Champlain, accompanied by
several hundred Hurons and Adirondacks and twelve Frenchmen, the

U WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

latter like himself, armed with arquebuses — something like our modern
carbines, embarked on the long contemplated expedition. When,
however, the war-party reached the site of the present town of Sorel,
the Indians quarrelled among themselves ; and many of them, together
with ten of the Frenchmen, returning home, Champlain was left with
sixty Hurons and two of his countrymen who had refused to desert him.

At length, on the second of July, Champlain and his two companions-
embarked with the Indians in twenty-four canoes and that day proceeded
tap the river to a point about nine miles above the Island of Theresa, where
they encamped for the night. The next day, they continued on as far
as the lake which they entered the following morning (the 4th of July.)
eleven years before the landing of the Pilgrims and sixty-six years
before King Phillip's war. " The lake," Champlain with pardonable
pride says, in his journal " I named Lake Champlain." "Cumberland
Head " was soon passed, and he, then from the opening of the great
channel between Grand Isle and the main, looked forth on the ' ' Wilder-
ness sea. " Parkman in his inimitable and picturesque style, has depicted
the scene as presented at this critical moment as follows :

" Edged with woods, the tranquil flood spread southward beyond the
sight. Far, on the left, the forest ridges of the Green Mountains were
heaved against the sun, patches of snow still glistening on their tops ;
and on the right rose the Adirondacks, haunts in these later years of
amateur sportsmen from counting-rooms or college-halls, nay of advent-
urous beauty, with sketch-book and pencil 1 . Then the Iroquois made
them their hunting ground ; and beyond, in the valleys of the Mohawk,,
the Onondaga and the Genesee, stretched the long line of their fire
cautious and palisaded towns.

"At night they were encamped again. The scene is a familiar one
to many a tourist and sportsman ; and perhaps, standing at sunset on
the peaceful strand, Champlain saw what a roving student of this gene-
ration has seen on these same shores, at that same hour — the glow of
the vanished sun behind the western mountains, darkly piled in mist
and shadow along the sky ; near at hand, the dead pine, mighty in decay,,
stretching its ragged arms athwart the burning heaven, J the crow

1 Had Parkman written this a few years later he would probably have added the Kodak to
the list of the fair one's outfit.

2 Nor, is this an exaggeration on the part of Mr. Parkman. There is now (1899) in the Adiron-
dacks — and within sight of Mr. Parkman's vision, a stump of a pine tree — the top of which, four feet
from the ground is fully twelve feet in diameter. I, myself, from a count of its rings, two sum-
mers ago, estimated that it must have been quite a tree at the beginning of the Christian era.

HISTORICAL TREATMENT. 15

perched on its top like an image carved in jet ; and aloft — the night-
hawk, circling in his flight, and with a strange whizzing sound driving
through the air each moment for the insects which he makes his prey."

Continuing on their voyage, they coasted along the west shore of the
lake until they came within two or three days journey of the place,
where they expected to meet the enemy. After this they traveled only
by night, each morning retiring into a barricaded camp to pass the day.
The party advanced with the utmost caution, keeping their canoes close
together and making no noise which might be heard by the enemy
should they happen to be in close proximity. During the whole journey
they used no fire and lived upon dried Indian meal soaked in water.

In his account of this expedition, Champlain refers particularly to
the superstition of the Indians, and the importance they attached to
dreams. Whenever he awoke they would, he says, eagerly inquire
whether he had dreamed or seen their enemies. Greatly to their
chagrin, however, night after night passed without Champlain's dream-
ing. At length, one day, while the party lay concealed near Crown
Point, Champlain fell asleep and thought he saw one of the Iroquois
drowning in the lake within sight of the encampment. On awaking
he revealed his dream to the Indians, which, he says "gained such
credit among them that they no longer doubted but that they should
meet with success. That same night, about ten o'clock of the 30th,
while proceeding cautiously along they suddenly met a war party of
the Iroquois who were passing down the western bank of the lake in
canoes. The exact location of the spot where this meeting took place
is still in dispute ; but it seems probable that it was on one of these
spurs of land which put out into the lake in the towns either of Dresden
or Putnam.

The Iroquois, on their part, upon discrying so unexpectedly their
ancient enemies made all haste to erect a palisade by cutting down
trees with their stone hatchets ' ; and as it was mutually understood
between the opposing parties that hostilities were not to begin until
day-break, the remainder of the night was spent by both sides in inter-

1 As Champlain, in his journal states that the Iroquois used stone and other hatchets, a number
of writers have vainly endeavored to speculate if these "other" hatchets do not mean made of
steel or iron, some arguing that this fact shows that the Iroquois had of themselves advanced to
proficiencies in making use of iron. The true explanation would seem that these iron hatchets had
been taken from the Algonquins in their forays — which hatchets in turn had been given to the
Algonquins in trade by Champlain on his first landing in 1603.

Hi WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

changing the vilest and coarsest epithets with each other, intermingled
with singing, dancing and painting their bodies.

" You Huron dogs are cowards," the Iroquois would shout from their
barricade of logs. ''How dare you come against the Hedonosaune ?
Have avc not whipped you often before ? "

" We will show you Mingo squaws what we are," the Hurons would
reply. "You have beaten us sometimes when you had two to one ;
but you dare not fight us man to man ; and now we will whip you even
if you have the most."

' ' The scalps of the Hurons hang thick in our lodges i our squaws and
our children play with them every day. Soon they will play with yours;
you cannot stand before our arms."

' ' Oh, ho ! " would a Huron yell out in reply, ' ' your arms will be worth-
less before these which we have. We have weapons you have never
seen before. You will fall before them as if the Great Spirit had
stricken you with his lightning."

"And thus with boasts and taunts, with shouts and screams, with
plentiful repetitions of their epithets of ' dog ' ' coward ' ' slave ' and
'squaw' the summer night passed swift, away." "Indeed" savs
Champlain, " this commerce of abuse, sarcasm, menace and boasting
gave increasing exercise to the lungs and fancy of the combatants —
much like the beleaguers and beseiged in a beleaguered town."

The fact that all Indians give great weight to dreams was an additional
impetus to the bravery of the Hurons in the coming conflict as all doubt
on their part as to the result of the impending conflict Avas laid aside.
Hence, as soon as the dawn began to shed its light OA*er the placid lake,
the Hurons AA'ere, so to speak, belieA'ing as they did that this dream
shoAved " he Avas tAvice armed Avho had his quarrel just," rushed into the
fray Avith aA T idity. They Avere, howeA'er, met by the Iroquois Avith
equal enthusiasm ; and Champlain himself in his Journal is compelled,
Avith genuine admiration, to pay a gloAving tribute to their robust,
athletic forms, the exceeding graA'ity of their deportment and the
confidence with which, emerging from their extemporized barricade,
they took up their position. The Iroquois AA'ere led by three chieftains
each of whom Avere distinguished by three feathers upon the top of his
head, larger than those Avorn by the other Avarriors. These chiefs Avere
considered so formidable by his Indian allies that they beseiged Cham-
plain, at all hazzards to bring them down Avith the " Avhite man's

HISTORICAL TREATMENT. 17

magical weapons of war. " The result of their solicitations is thus given
by Champlain in his account of the ensuing engagement. '

" The moment we landed they [the Algonquins and Hurons] began to
run about two hundred paces towards their enemies who stood firm and
had not yet perceived my companions, who w T ent into the bush with some
savages. Our Indians commenced calling in a loud voice, and opening
their ranks, placed me at their head about twenty paces in advance, in
which order we marched until I was within thirty paces of the enemy.
The moment they saw me they halted, gazing at me and I at them.
When I saw them preparing to shoot at us I raised my arbequebus and
aiming directly at one of the three chiefs two of them fell to the ground by
this shot, and one of them received a wound of which he afterwards died.
I had put four balls in my arbequebus. Our party, on witnessing a shot
so favorable to them, set up such tremendous shouts that thunder
could not have been heard, and yet there was no lack of arrows on one
side or the other. The Iroquois were greatly astonished at seeing two
men killed so instantly, notwithstanding they were provided with arrow
proof armor woven of cotton and thread and wood ; this frightened
them very much. While as I was reloading, one of my companions
in the bush fired a shot which so astonished them anew, seeing their
chiefs slain, that they lost courage, took to flight, and abandoned the
field and their fort, hiding themselves in the depths of the forest,
whither pursuing them 1 killed some others. Our savages also killed
several of these and took ten or twelve prisoners. The rest carried
off the wounded. Fifteen or sixteen of our party were wounded by
arrows, but they were promptly cured."

Three hours after the combat, the victors were on their way back to
Canada. On their return, Champlain was greatly disgusted with the
tortures to which his allies subjected their prisoners and, finally,
unable to endure the sight longer, especially of one whose agonies were
particularly aggravating, he seized his arbequebus and put an end to his
sufferings. In Champlain 's remonstrance against this torture he says
he had told them that the French never so used their prisoners. "Not
indeed," says Parkman, "their prisoners of war ; but had Champlain
stood a few months later in the frenzied crowd on the Place de la Gre've
at Paris — had he seen the regicide, Ravaillac, the veins of his forehead
bursting with anguish, the hot lead and oil seething in his lacerated

1 Voyages de la Nouvo France.

[3 J

18 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

breast, and the horses vainly panting' to drag his strong limbs assunder —
he might have felt that Indian barbarity had found its match in the
hell-born ingenuity of grave and learned judges."

The victors made a prompt retreat from the scene of their triumph.
Three or four days brought them to the mouth of the Richelieu ' But
when they entered the St. Lawrence River, the allies became alarmed
with fears that their enemies were in pursuit of them and notwithstand-
ing Champlain's encouragement, loosing all their courage, they fled down
the stream at the rate of thirty leagues a day. The Hurons and Algon-
quins made for the Ottawa — their homeward route — and also for the
purpose of putting as much space between them and the Iroquois as
they could — each with a share of prisoners for future torments. However,
they all parted with Champlain highly pleased ; and from this time
onward, their several tribes became firmly attached to the French and
their interests.

I have dwelt at length upon this expedition of Champlain, not only
because it was the first conflict in New York on the Canadian border
between the whites and the aboriginals, but also of the momentus
consequences which this sally of Champlain entailed upon American
civilization. Indeed, as it has been well and most justly said, "Thus
did New France rush into collision with the redoubted warriors of the
" Five Nations. " Here was the beginning, in some measures doubtless
the cause, of a long suit of murderous conflicts, bearing havoc and flame
to generations yet unborn. Champlain had invaded the tiger's den ;
and now, in smothered fury, the patient savage would lie biding his
day of blood."

CHAPTER III.

William and Mary's War, 1681-1697 —Queen Anne's War, 1702-1713 — The old
French and Indian War, 1744-1748 — Captain John Schuyler's Journal, 1790.

For nearly one hundred years after Champlain's raid, nothing of
stirring interest occurred in the county, it, being for that length of time
merely a war-path used by predator}' bands of Indians, Dutch and
French troops as they, each in turn, made, their forays, either upon the
Canadian or Dutch frontiers.

1 Also called the St. John and the Sorel Rivers. See note ante.

WILLIAM AND MARY'S WAR. 19

The result of the alliance between Champlain and the Adirondacks,
as before hinted, was a most bitter hostility on the part of the Iroquois
towards the French, which continued, without intermission, until after
the conquest of New York from the Dutch in 1664. During that long
period even the artful Jesuits failed to make any considerable impres-
sion upon them — especially upon the Mohawks, at whose hands three
of their number (Fathers Joques, Brebceuf and Lallemand) suffered
martyrdom with the spirit of primitive apostles. More than once,
likewise, before and after that date, the Iroquois swept over the French
settlements with the torch and tomahawk, tracking their paths in blood
and carrying consternation even to the gates of Quebec. At length,
with a view of putting an end to these forays, M. de Courcelles,
Governor of Canada, thought to administer a staggering blow to the
Mohawks by invading their villages, thus carrying the atrocities of war
to their very doors. Accordingly, in the winter of 1666, that Governor
despatched under a French officer, M. de Tracy, a party, consisting of
some five hundred French troops and two hundred Canadians, which
proceeded up Lake Champlain on snow-shoes and thence by way of the
site of Fort Edward, through the forests to the vicinitv of Schenectady.
The expedition, however, was a total failure ; for, owing to their
ignorance of the country and the intense cold of an unusually severe
winter, by the time its destination was reached, the party had nearly
perished. To add, moreover, to its discomfiture, some Mohawks, taking
advantage of its deplorable condition, ambushed and killed a number
of M. de Tracy's command ; whereupon the remainder of his force, after
sufferings that seem almost incredible, finally reached Canada.

Meanwhile, the Revolution of 1687, which brought William and
Mary upon the throne, having been followed by war between England
and France, the Colonies were of course involved in the conflict ; and
as a consequence, the Iroquois — especially the Mohawks and Onon-
dagas, — being supplied with arms by the Government of New York,
rekindled their war- fires, painted their faces anew, and became, to the
Canadian border, a greater terror than ever. In the latter part of 1687,
a band of Mohawks destroyed the village of Chambley, bringing a
number of their captives who had escaped the tomahawk to Albany.
Again, two years afterward, in August, 1689, fifteen hundred Indians
landed upon the Island of Montreal and slew every man and beast that
they found.

Indeed, these frequent and bloody incursions became such a serious

30 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

obstacle to the growing prosperity of Canada, that Count Frontenac,
then Governor of Canada, revived the policy of attempting to detach
the Six-Nations from the English interest. To this end, through the
efforts of a Jesuit priest, residing among the Oneidas, all the "con-
federates, " save the Mohawks, were induced to meet the emmissaries
of the French in council at Onondaga. At the same time, with a view
of making an unfavorable impression upon the Mohawks, as to the
power of the English to defend their own settlements against the arms of
the French King, a secret expedition was set on foot against Schenectady.
The expedition passed, as usual through a portion of the county —
which resulted in a frightful massacre of the slumbering inhabitants of
that devoted town, on the night of the 8th of February, 1690. But the
" Six Nations" were neither won to the interests of the French either
by the persuasions of their agents at Onondaga or by the terrors of the
scene of Schenectady. ' The veteran chief, Sadekanaghtie, an Onondaga
chief of great eminence acted the skilful diplomatist at the council,
while the Mohawks, deeply sympathized with their suffering neighbors
at Schenectady and harrassed the invaders to good purpose on their
retreat — attacking their rear near the present site of Fort Edward, and
sending their war parties again into Canada, even to the attack once
more on the Island of Montreal.

The massacre at Schenectady, accompanied, as it was, by frightful
Indian atrocities elsewhere along the border around New York, deter-
mined the eastern Colonies to attempt the conquest of Canada. In
pursuance of this determination Gen. John Winthrop, with a thousand
Connecticut and New York troops, in the summer of 1690, set out
from Albany with the intention of capturing Montreal. Proceeding up
the Hudson, he crossed the county to Wood Creek and down this
stream to the present village of Whitehall. But his expedition was

1 When the attack on Schenectady began at n o'clock a,t night never were people in a more
wretched consternation. Before they were risen from their beds, the enemy entered their houses and
began the perpetration of the most inhuman barbarities, with the most dreadful slaughter of the
citizens. "No tongue," says Col. Schuyler, "can express the cruelties which were committed.
The whole village was instantly in a blaze. Women, with child, ripped open, and their infants cast
into the flames or dashed against the postr, of the doors. Sixty-three persons were massacred at
the midnight hour ; the Dutch Church and sixty-three houses were burned to ashes ; the whole
place, with the exception of five houses, left standing and no more. Twenty-seven men and boys
capable of walking were carried prisoners to Canada, a few persons fled naked to Albany,
through a deep snow which fell that night in a terrible storm.; and twenty-five of these fugitives
lost their limbs in the flight through the severity of the storm." "Bonney's Historical Gleanings.''
— Such was one result among many of a nearly similar character, of Champlain's shameful and
entirly unprovoked raid on the Iroquois ! ,

SCHUYLER'S JOURNAL. 21

-very similar to that of the King of France who "marched his army
up the hill and down again;" for, giving as an excuse, that the Mohawks
had failed to support him in such numbers as to warrant proceeding
further, he returned to Albany.

Chagrined at such an unlooked for result, Captain John Schuyler, 1 a
younger brother of Major Peter and grandfather of General Schuyler of
Revolutionary fame — got together a volunteer force of twenty-nine
whites, and one hundred and twenty Indians, and started out for a
foray on the Canadian border. His journal of this attempt to annoy
the French is given in the proceedings of the New Jersey Historical
Society (vol. I.) and is particularly interesting as giving some of the
earliest names of localities in Washington county. As it is, the volume
of the New Jersey Historical Society containing it, is now of very
great rarity, and I, therefore give the Journal in full.*

JOURNAL OF CAPTAIN JOHN SCHUYLER.

'■ Journal of Captain John Schuyler who voluntarily embarked at
Hout-Kill [Wood Creek] on the 13th of August, 1690, with 29 Christians
[whites] and 120 Savages [Indians] whom he recruited at Wood Creek,
as volunteers under his command to fight the enemy. Nearly about
the swamps [het vevdronken land in the original MS.] meaning the
low lands that bordered Wood Creek. I met Captain Sander [Alex-
ander] Glen on his way back to Albany because the greatest number
returned. The aforesaid Sanders had in his company twenty-eight
whites [Christians] and five Savages [Indians] and came from Tsimon-
orosie [Ticonderoga 3 ] where Capt. Sanders had been waiting eight

1 Captain John Schuyler was born in Albany, April 5th, 1668, and was the youngest son of
Phillip Pieterse Schuyler of Amsterdam, Holland, and Margaret Van Sleechtenhorst of New Kerck,
and grandson of Pieter Schuyler, who about the year 1632, removed with his family from Amster-
dam and established himself in the present state of New Jersey. In May, 1698, John Schuyler, then
& colonel and a member of the King's council for New York, was at the head of the deputation sent
by the Earl of Bellomont,* Governor of New York, to the Count de Frontenac, at Montreal, with
the communication of the Peace of Ryswyck.

* For an account of the treacherous conduct of the Earl of Bellomont, regarding Capt. Kidd,
the "Buccaneer," the reader is referred to my "Life of Wm. Kidd."

2 Journal of Captain John Schuyler, on his expedition to Canada and Fort La Prairie
during the latter part of August, 1690— Translated by S. Alofsen, from the original Dutch Manu-
script at present (1845) in the possession of Robert Schuyler, Esq,, of New York — For the loan of
which precious document I am indebted to the courtesy of my friend Wm. S. Styker, Adjutant-
General of the State of New Jersey.

8 Ticonderoga is known in American History as " Fort Vaudreuil," " Carillon," and " Ticon-
deroga," or, as the British called it, " Ticonderago." Its first name was derived from one of the
earliest French Governor-Generals of Canada ; the second took the name from the twinkling

22 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

days for his whole corps. From these, Captain John Schuyler, thirteen
Christians and five Savages to continue with Captain Schuyler on the
voyage to Canada and there to fight their mutual enemy. When the
rest of the company had left us, and we had advanced nearly tw r o hours
on our voyage, we found tw*o canoes w T hich had been sent out to spy
and which had shot an elk. After we had done eating and had sup-
plied our canoes we proceeded on our way as far as Canaghsionie [now
Whitehall.] The 15th day of August we came one German mile above
the Cray ii Punt [Crown-Point 1 ]. The 16th ditto, we advanced as far as
Kanardero [Westport] and resolved at that place to travel by night,
and that night w 7 ent around to near the spot wdiere Ambrosio Corlaer
drowned, and there one of our savages fell into convulsions charmed
and conjured by the Devil, and said that a great battle had taken place
at Cubeck [Quebec] and that much heavy cannon must have been fired
there ; and that one hundred canoes with Savages had come down the
river [the Mohaw r k] from Coederogqua [Cadaraqui or Fort Frontenac,
now Kingston on Lake Ontario. ] And about one hour after sunrise we
w^ent to Oghraro, where I placed the first guard and nominated Barent
Wemp as officer of the Guard. The 17th ditto, in the evening, we
proceeded to Ogharonde. A Tsenondoga [Onondaga] Savage of our
company died there of sickness, when the Onnidi [Oneida] Savage gave
a bandt sewandt [w T ampum-belt] for the atonement of the dead. 2 That
day, Captain Schuyler with his subalturn officers and the chief of the
Savages, resolved where they should make their attack upon the enemy,
and they found good by the majority to fall upon Laplarie ; [La Prairie]
whereupon the Makivase [Mohaw r k or Maquas] gave a wampum-belt
to the Schaghkoekse [Scatikoke] Savages, as a token to stand by each
other, and what they do call onnoghquasa in a Goeva. [The mean-
ing of this is not plain]. The Onniderse [Oneida] Savages did the same
to the Maqua [Mohaw r k] Savages by some hand -full of sewandt [wampum]
and in this manner this resolution was decidedly agreed upon and
confirmed w y ith ktnsikaje [shaking of hands] as well as by the Christians,

musical ripple of the rapids at the outlet of Lake George (Carillon meaning literally "a chime of
bells") while the third is a composite Indian word referring to its situation, or rather to the
cascades formed by the overflow of Lake George. About 1774 in a curious poem about this region,
Col. Arent Schuyler de Peyster, Eighth (King's regiment of ) foot, adds another spelling — Tycan-
darougue, which doubtless was the pronounciation.

1 Crown Point corrupted from the Dutch Cruin Punt — meaning "The Summit Point."

4 We easily trace in this the teachings of the Jesuit Missionaries regarding masses for the dead.

SCHUYLER'S JOURNAL. 23

as by the Savages as to who should be their chiefs or headmen, Carris-
tasio and Tehoesequatho and Juriaen the ferocious. The 18th ditto,
set out in the evening, and about midnight we saw a light fall down
from out the sky to the south, by which we were all perplexed what
token this might be. The 19th ditto, on account of the hard wind, we
laid still, because we could not proceed, and we were laying about three
miles above the sand bank of Siamble [Chambley 1 ] The 20th ditto,
we sent out spies along the west side of the river Siamble and found
there a shield of a vanguard from Canada and 14 palisades to which
they had bound their prisoners which they had fetched from New
England. The 21st ditto, we proceeded to about one mile below the
above mentioned sand -bank of Chambley, when we again sent out spies
[scouts ?] who discovered some places where French and Savage spies
had been keeping double night-watch and that the same had embarked
for Siamble. There, after having first placed our canoes and provisions
in safety, we, the 22nd ditto, pursued our voyage by land and traveled
that day to close under La Prairie — -the road being very difficult on
account of the softness of the clay, through which we had to pass, so
that two of our Christians returned to our canoes. Coming through
the clay, we heard much firing of musketry, by which we were
astonished what it might be. The 22nd ditto, in the morning, I sent
spies toward the fort to see how it was ; coming home, said all the folks
were leaving the fort of La Prairie to cut corn. Then we resolved in
what manner we should hinder them from obtaining the fort again and
agreed to do so by stopping their way to the fort ; but by the eagerness
of the young Savages such was prevented, because Christians as well as
Savages fell on with a war-cry, which displeased the officer, and that
they fell on without orders having been given ; but they [nevertheless]
made 19 prisoners, six scalps, under which were four women folk. The
first prisoner was examined, asking him, what the firing of yesterday
at La Prairie signified ? said, the Governor, yesterday went away with
800 men and the people discharged their muskets at their departure,
because their scouts had not heard from us. Then we fell upon their
cattle ; we pierced and shot to death nearly 150 head of oxen and cows,
and then we set fire to all their horses and barns which we found in
the fields, their hay, and everything else which would take fire. Then

1 The River Richelieu, Sorel, Chamble (or Chambley) and the St. Johns — all of which names
were given to this river.

U WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

we Christians [?] resolved to fall upon the Fort, but, could not move
the Savages to give their consent to help us attack the fort [probably on
account of the Indian fear of cannon; see report of Muskan in 1775. j
The fort fired alarms when Monrejall [Montreal] and Siamble [Cham-
bly] answered, so that we resolved to depart with our prisoners to
Albany. A Savage of ours was stabbed to death, whom we burned in
a barn, and we went that day seven German miles on our way back.
Then the Savages killed two French prisoners because they could not
travel on account of their wounds. A little while after this we sat down
to eat and thanked the Governor of Canada (The Count de Frontignac)
for his salute of heavy cannon during our meal — they fired from the
morning till two o'clock in the afternoon from all three of the forts.
Thursday, we traveled to the River Chambley where our canoes were
lying. The 24th ditto, we went as far as Fort Lamotte; the 25th
ditto, we reached the sand point, where we shot two elks. The 26th
ditto, we came to the little stone fort, and from there sent a canoe with
men to Albany to bring the news of what had happened to us. The
27th ditto, we proceeded to Canaghsione [Whitehall] and there shot nine
elks. The 28th ditto, we travelled to the little het valletje [mill dam]
above Saraghtoge. The 30th of August we arrived at Albany, under
the command of Captain John 5chuyler. '

It will thus be seen that the sole issue of this expedition of Captain
John Schuyler was only the bringing to Albany of nineteen prisoners
and six scalps taken from those slain in this raid.

At length, disgusted by these meager results. Major Peter Schuyler,
then the Mayor of Albany, was ordered to conduct another expedition
into Canada. He was selected for this duty as no one understood
Indian affairs better than he; while his influence over the Iroquois was
so great, that whatever Quider, as they called him, either recommended
or disproved, had the force of law. This power over them was sup-
ported, and had been obtained, by repeated offices of kindness, and his
signal braven- and activity in the defense of his country. Indeed, the
Indians had conferred on him the name of Cayenquinago, or " The

1 This Journal. I trust, will make plain to the reader, the atrocious barbarities of these border
forays — whether undertaken by the Colonists or the French, it was the same: and this is still more
noticable. when it is remembered that this cold-blooded narration of these cruel exploits — in which
the writer of the Journal seems to glory — was not written by a Savage, but by one high up in the-
councils of a so-called civilized nation. Further comment, however, surely is unnecessary!

2 Quider, the Iroquois pronounciation of Peter. Having no labials in their languages they
•could not sav Peter.

SCHUYLER'S JOURNAL. 25

Great Swift Arrow," as a compliment for a remarkably rapid journey
made by him from New York to Schenectady on a sudden emergency.

Collecting, therefore, a party of some five hundred Mohawks, and
taking the same route as had been followed by his brother the year
before, on the 26th of June, he reached the site of Fort Edward and
on the 31st that of Fort- Anne. Tarrying here only long enough to build
canoes 1 , his command floated down to the mouth of Wood Creek (White-
hall) and thence embarked on their voyage down the Lake. In his
attacks upon La Prairie— the object of his journey — he was entirely
successful; and after killing three hundred of the enemy, he returned in
safety to Albany.

Despairing, at length, of making a peace with the Five Nations-
Count Frontenac determined to strike a blow upon the Mohawks in
their own country— which purpose was securely executed in the month
of February, 1693. Accordingly, he sent against that tribe a body of
four hundred and twenty-five troops and two hundred Huron-Wyandotts
under the command of the French Partizan, de Mantelle. This com-
mand on snow-shoes and with its commissariat on sledges entered Lake
George by the carrying- place at Ticonderoga; and skirting the ice of
that Lake along the western border of Washington county, it suddenly
emerged from the primeval forest in front of the " Mohawk Castles."
For once that vigilant race of warriors were taken completely by sur-
prise; two of these castles being entered and captured without much
resistance — the warriors of both having been mostly absent at Schenec-
tady. On assailing the third, or " upper Castle," however, the invaders
met with a different reception. The warriors within, to the number
of forty were engaged in a war- dance preparatory to going upon some
military expedition upon which they were about embarking; and

1 The making of a canoe was as follows: The Indians having selected from the forest the
smoothest bodied and largest bass-wood or elm tree, the bark was carefully peeled in one entire
sheet, free from cracks or holes. It was then spread out upon the ground, the smooth side down-
ward, and held in this position by heavy stones and blocks of wood placed upon it. The sides and
ends were then bent upwards, and retained in this position by numerous small stakes, so driven
into the ground as to press against them. Thus, the shape of a boat was given to the sheet of bark
which being securely held at every point by weights and stakes for several days until it became
thoroughly dried, then retained its form. A few braces and other supports to render it more firm
were then added ; and the rude craft was ready to be launched and carry its burden over the
water. — Dr. Asa Fitck.

2 It will be observed, in this narrative, that I frequently speak of the " Five Nations " and the
"Six Nations," The explanation is this, viz: that up to 1735, the "Five Nations composing the
Iroquois, was intact, until in that year, by taking in the Tuscaroras of North Carolina it was
henceforth known as the "Six Nations."

[3]

26 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

though inferior in force, yet they yielded not without a struggle, nor,
indeed, until thirty of the assailants had been slain. About three
hundred of the Mohawks were taken prisoners in this invasion, in
respect to which the people of Schenectady have been charged with
bad conduct. They neither aided their neighbors, nor even apprized
them of the approach of danger, although informed of the fact in due
season themselves. But "Quider, " the fast friend of the Indians, and
his brother John, at once took the field at the head of the militia of
Albany, hastily called together; and harrassed the invaders during
their retreat. Sharply pursuing them, he caught up with their extin-
guished camp-fires near Greenfield Center (5 miles from Saratoga
Springs.) Two miles further on, the pursuing party learned, through
a Christian Indian boy, that the French were only three miles in advance.
Losing no time, they at once broke up their camp and marched to
within a mile of the enemy, where the French had hurriedly thrown
up a barricade near what is now known as the "Stiles' Tavern" in
Wilton, on the eastern border of the Palmertown Mountains. 1 Quider's
party soon appeared before the hurridly improvized camp of the French.
The forest at once rang with the war-whoops of the Savages; and the
English Indians set to work to entrench themselves behind fallen trees.
Meanwhile, the French and their Indian allies sallied out to dislodge
them. The attack was fierce and the resistance equally so. With the
French, a Priest of the " Mission of the Mountain " named Gay, was in
the thick of the fight; and when he saw his followers run, he threw him-
self before them, crying "what are you afraid of?" We are fighting
with Infidels who have nothing human but their shape. Have you
forgotten that the Holy Yirgin is our leader and our protector, and that
you are subjects of the King of France, whose name makes all Europe
tremble ? Three times the French renewed the attack in vain. They
then gave up the attempt and lay quietly behind their barricades of
trees. So, also, did their English opponents. The morning was dark and
dreary — a drifting snow-storm filling the air. The English were out
of provisions and in a starving condition. The Indians on the English
side, did not lack for provisions, having received some unknown to their

1 How little does the casual visitor at Saratoga Springs, realize that, within a ride of one hour,
he can drive to this spot, and bring himself into the events of our border war-fare of scarcely two
hundred years since I Many of the visitors, who are interested in the country 's annals would gladly
take the opportunity of going to this spot — though many of them (as in the case of the Saratoga
Monument) distant only by rail one-half hour, care little abputVit only thinking of their immediate
pleasure !

QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 27

white friends. " vSchuyler was invited to taste some of the broth which
they had prepared, but his appetite was spoiled when he saw them ladle
out a man's hand out of the kettle. His allies were making their
breakfast on the bodies of the dead Frenchmen ! "

The French, in the early morning under cover of a severe snow storm,
took the route through Lake George, while their dusky allies struck
over the highlands in the town of Putnam, now in Washington county,
to Lake Cham plain. In one of the skirmishes, de Mantelle was killed;
and, indeed, had it not been for the protection of a snow-storm and the
accidental resting of a large cake of ice upon the Hudson, thus forming
a bridge for their escape, the entire force of the French would have
been cut off and either slain or captured. Nor, did the pursuers fare
very much better. Schuyler's Indian allies were so short of food that
they fed upon the dead bodies of their enemies ; and the latter, before
reaching Canada, were forced to svibsist upon the leather of their shoes
and belts!

QUEEN ANNE'S WAR.

Although the Peace of Ryswick in 1597, put an end, for the time
being, to these barbarities, yet in the spring of 1702, hostilities were
again proclaimed by England against France and Spain; and it was in
the progress of this conflict that the first changes from a primeval
wilderness to partial clearings began to appear in this county. Happily,
too, the Five Nations had just previously concluded a formal treaty, of
neutrality with the Canadian French, and consequently, the murderous
forays of the Algonquins and Iroquois on the confines of Canada and
New York were not renewed on a great scale. Washington county,
however, was still the thoroughfare for small predatory bands; but it
was not until 1709 that any expedition of importance passed through
its territory. But, before entering into a narrative of that expedition
it will be of benefit to the reader to give a description of the route from
Albany to Canada, especially as it became famous in the military
operations of the Colonies from this time until the close of the Revolu-
tionary war — that portion of it which lay across this county being par-
ticularly noted as its most formidable part. Nor, in this matter, can I do
better, perhaps, than to quote, on this point, the following description
from the pen of that eminent local historian, Dr. Asa Fitch. He writes :

' ' In passing from the Hudson to Lake Champlain, a greater amount
of carriage overland had to be here encountered than occurred in all

WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

the rest of the route: and this portage, consequently, came to be desig-
nated as " the Great Carrying-Place." It began at the present village
of Fort Edward, whence three routes diverged to different points upon
the Lakes. The eastern route was by way of Fort Anne and Wood
Creek to the head of the Lake at the present village of Whitehall, a
distance of twenty-four miles; but aided by bateaux on Wood Creek,
the land carriage on this route was only from six to ten miles. Indeed,
in time of high water, loaded bateaux, and at all times, canoes, could
pass from the Hudson up Fort Edward creek three miles, whence was
a portage of one mile and a half to a point on Wood Creek where it was
similarly navigable. The middle route diverged from the one already
divided, near Fort Anne and passed through Welsh Hollow to the head
of South Bay — an arm of Lake Champlain. reaching three or four miles
southwest of Whitehall. When there was a deficiency of bateaux on
Wood Creek this route was resorted to for ■ land-carriage in preference
to the longer one to Whitehall. The zvestem route was by way of
Glens Falls to the head of Lake George, a distance of fourteen miles.
The sandy soil in this direction always furnished a fine road, unaffected by
stormy weather, and through a more healthy district than were portions
of the other routes ; ' but it had the disadvantage of an additional
carrying-place at the outlet of Lake George. From Albany to Fort
Edward, around the falls and rapids in the Hudson, a land-carriage was
required amounting in the aggregate to twelve miles. These several
portages, ere they obtained their distinctive names, were designated by
numbers; " the Great Carrying- Place," being the first, Fort Miller Falls
the second, the fall at Saratoga Dam, the third, etc."

Immediately, upon the breaking out of hostilities the frontier towns
of New England were ruthlessly ravaged by the tomahawk and scalping
knife. It was seen, also, that it would be impossible for the rival
French and English colonists to continue under two separate sovereigns
with such contiguity of territory; and consequently, the most rigorous
measures must be adopted if this momentous question was to, be defi-
nitelv settled. Accordinglv, the British Ministrv, after war had been
formally declared, lost no time in adopting- measures and organizing a
plan for the conquest of the French in America. This plan contem-
plated an attack by water, by way of the St, Lawrence, upon Quebec;
while, simultaneously, a force of fifteen hundred men from New York,

1 Owing to the low lands along Wood Creek malignant dysentery often made its appearance
among the troops posted in its vicinity.

QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 29

Conneticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania were to rendezvous at Albany
preparatory to the capture of Montreal by way of Lake Champlain.
Although all of the above colonies were cordial in their support of this
movement yet, that of New York entered most enthusiastically into
the undertaking. The Five Nations, through the efforts of " Quider "
(Peter Schuyler) straightway took up, the hatchet and sent five hundred
of their warriors into the field; while, in addition to the independent
companies of the Colony four hundred and eighty-seven men were
mustered into the service ; thus forming with the other troops from the
other provinces a body fifteen hundred strong. And to show how earnest
New York was in this matter, the commissioners for procuring and trans-
porting provisions and other supplies, were authorized to "break open
houses, to impress vessels, teamsters, horses and wagons." Of the
carpenters and house-joiners, impressed into this service, thirty were
sent in advance to the head of the Lake at Whitehall, where a himdred
bateaux and the same number of bark canoes were constructed; while,
at the several carrying-places along the route, block-houses, barricades
and storehouses were built. At the same time, as preliminary to the
advance of the army, New York put forth all its energy to open a road
at its own expense, which not only greatly facilitated the movements
of the troops, but the forwarding of the supplies for the army with
celerity and safety.

This road began nearly opposite the present village of Schuylerville
on the east side of the Hudson and ran up that river's bank to Fort
Edward and thence by way of Wood Creek to the head of Lake Cham-
plain — a distance of forty miles through a dense primeval forest. Along
this route three forts were erected. The northernmost one of these, on
the west side of Wood Creek, was built partly from funds furnished by
the British government and was named, in honor of the reigning
sovereign, Fort Anne 1 . Another was erected at the beginning of the
" Great Carrying- Place '" between the Hudson and the head of Wood
Creek — on the same site as where Fort Edward was afterwards built — -
and was called Fort Nicholson in honor of the officer in command of
this expedition; while the third, called Saraghtoga,' 2 was erected in the

1 The present Champlain canal passes partly through the spot which it encircled.

9 Saratoga is an Indian word of the Iroquois language — Saratoga, Kayaderoga, and Sarakoga
as it is variously written — and in view of the great confusion existing in regard to it an explana-
tion is in place. The word means " The Place of the Swift Water." " Saragh," signifying " Swift
water," " aga " or " oga " in the Iroquois dialect being merely an inflection or termination mean-

30 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

present town of Easton, on the summit of one of the river hills opposite
Schnylerville, about a mile south of the present road from that village to
Galesville. These last two forts were built entirely at the expense of the
Province of New York. All these forts were built entirely of wood, and
were surrounded by palisades so constructed as to render their garrisons
almost impervious to the fire of musketry — and as, at that time, cannons
brought against them through the wilderness were undreamed of, these
defences were deemed amply able to ward of attacks either from the
French or hostile Indians. The fort erected at Saratoga is the only
one of which any description (detailed or otherwise) has come down to
us ; and singularly enough, it is from the pen not of a contemporaneous
native officer or even private, but from that of a foreigner — the Sweedish
naturalist Kalm, 1 who visited it fifty years after its erection, viz; in
1749. He writes: "Saratoga has been a fort built of wood by the
English to stop the attacks of the French Indians upon the English
inhabitants in these parts, and to serve as a rampart to Albany. It is
situated on a hill, on the east side of the River Hudson, and is built of
thick posts driven into the ground close to each other, in the manner
of palisades, forming a square, the length of whose sides was within
the reach of a musket shot [?'. e. a musket fired from side of the fort
could carry a ball to the opposite side.] At each corner are the houses
of the officers, and within the palisades are the barracks, all of timber.'*

Finally, all the arrangements for the descent upon Canada being
complete, the army under the command of Col. Nicholson, left Albany
and encamped at Fort Anne, where they awaited intelligence of the
arrival of the forces from England destined for the assault on Quebec,
in order that both attacks might be made in complete accord — each
army co-operating with the other.

Meanwhile, M. de Yandreuil, the Governor of Canada, learning of
Nicholson's formidable force at Wood Creek, dispatched a force of fifteen

ing* "the place of " or "the people of " hence. Ticonderoga "the place where the Lake (Lake
George) shuts itself": Scandaga "the place or the people of the roaring water;" Niagara, "the
place of the falling waters," etc. Formerly. Schuyler's settlement on the Hudson, (near Schuyler-
villei was known by the name of Saratoga or " swift water " to distinguish that part of the river
from the " still-water " which there begins and extends down to the present village of Stillwater —
Saratoga Lake was afterwards thus named from its proximity to Saraghtoga. on the River; and
when the Springs became famous, as they were within the district, they were named Saratoga
Springs. The above is undoubtedly the true origin of the name, notwithstanding so called authori-
ties have endeavored to give different solutions.

* Letter of Sir William Johnson to Arthur Lee, of the Philosophical Society, upon the language
of the Six Nations, February 28, 1772. Can there be any better authority ?

1 I shall have occasion further on to quote from this same gentleman.

QUEEN ANNE'S WAR. 31

hundred troops to Lake Champlain to oppose that officer's further
advance ; but learning through his scouts that the English army was
superior to his own, as well that it was strongly posted, he caused his
men to return. Nor, were the two expeditions on the English side
more successful. The fleet destined for the attack on Quebec was
diverted and sent instead to support Portugal against the power of
Castile; while Nicholson's army, discouraged by delays, and greatly
reduced in strength by a malignant and very fatal dysentery which
broke out among his troops as they lay encamped on the bank of Wood
Creek,' returned to Albany with his army where it was soon afterward
disbanded.

In 1 7 1 1 , another attempt was made by the Colonists for the invasion
of Canada. Col. Nicholson was again placed in command, and with
Cols. Schuyler, Ingolsby and Whitney, and with two thousand English,
one thousand Germans and Dutch, and one thousand Indians of the
Five Nations, he began his march towards Lake Champlain, taking,
however, in view of his past experience at Wood Creek, the Lake George
route. At the same time, an army of sixty -four hundred men, under
Gen. Hill, sailed from Boston for a simultaneous attack on Quebec. A
storm, hovever, coming up in the St. Lawrence, which drowned three
thousand of his men, Hill, abandoning the expedition, returned to
Cape Breton; and Nicholson, learning of this failure, returned once
more to Albany.

These two abortive attempts upon Canada not only greatly discouraged
the Colonists, but occasioned for a time, derisive comment on the part
of the Five Nations for the inglorious end of the efforts of their English
allies, whom they began to look upon asa" weak and cowardly people."
" Indeed," such a fatality seemed to attend every attempt to conquer
Canada that many good people were almost constrained to believe that
Providence had pre-determined that all such attempts should be
frustrated. " In fact, the outlook for New York was dark. The Indians

1 This sickness was said by Charlevoix to have been produced by the treachery of Nicholson's
Indian allies who designedly threw the skins of those animals taken in hunting into the creek.
Doctor Fitch, however, questions this statement, and ascribes it to a malignant dysentery brought
on by the troops drinking the stagnant water which flowed into the creek from the surrounding
marches. See my previous note. The dreadful nature of the disease may be conjectured from
the statement of the Jesuit, Father Marreuil, who had been taken prisoner by the English and
confined in Albany. He states, that when on his release, he returned to Canada, and passed
over «he spot where Nicholson's army had encamped, he judged from the number of graves which
he counted that at a low estimate a thousand were there buried. Estimating Nicholson's force at
1500, fully sixty-six per cent must have fallen victims to this dreadful scourge !

32 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

became restless and listened favorably to the renewed propositions of
peace from the French, who now boldly threatened — and so assured
the Iroquois — an invasion of the Province of New York both by sea and
land. Fortunately, however, the Peace of Utrecht in the spring of 17 13
dispelled these clouds of gloom — the French King, Louis XIY, by this
treat}', releasing his nominal Sovereignity over the Iroquois, and recog-
nizing their country as subject to the Dominion of Great Britain.

THE OLD FRENCH WAR.

The repose which the Colonies had so long enjoyed since the Peace of
Utrecht, under the administration of Sir Robert Walpole — owing prob-
ably not more to the policy of that minister than to the pacific temper of
the Duke of Orleans — the Regent of France during the minority of
Louis XY — was, of course, ended by the receipt of the Declaration of
War against France in 1744. Indeed, the news of this declaration had
not reached the colonies before Duquesnel, the French Governor of
Cape Breton, invaded the Island of Canseau, burnt the houses, and
made prisoners both of the garrison and its inhabitants.

The declaration of hostilities was announced to the General Assembly
of New York by the Colonial Governor, Clinton, on the 18th of July,
1744, as a measure that had become indispensable to the honor and
dignity of the crown ; but, above all because of the movements of France
in behalf of the Popish Pretender. In his address, he urged immediate
and strong measures for the security not only of the City of New York,
but for the general defence of the Colony and especially of the Frontiers.

Meanwhile, during the period of peace that had elapsed from 17 13 to
1744, what means had been provided by the New York colonies, looking
toward future troubles ? absolutely nothing ! No permanent settlement
had ever been established in what is now Washington county as a
bulwark to French aggressions. Fort Anne (not Fort St. Ann, as it
has been incorrectly called from ignorance of the origin of its name)
and built, as has been seen, in 1709, had been occupied for a few years
only and then burned by Nicholson on the return of his army to Albany
in 1 71 1 (Kalm by the way, saw the remains of its burnt palisades when
he passed them in 1749, forty years after its erection.) The "Little
Stone Fort," mentioned by Capt. John Schuyler in 1690, in his Journal
from which I have before quoted was evidently of no value even as a
defense against the Adirondacks; and Fort Saratoga was therefore the

THE OLD FRENCH WAR. 33

nearest post to the Canadian posts of La Prairie and Chambley in the
north. Such, then was the condition of affairs, when in 1744, the " Old
French war "' broke out ; and from the above description of the northern
defences of New York, it will readily be seen that the war found that
province utterly unprepared for this emergency. It was, therefore,
not surprising that Clinton, in his announcement of hostilities, should
have intimated that measures had already been taken for strengthening
the posts of Oswego and Saratoga — which measures had consisted in
some attention having been given to keeping the fort at Saratoga in
repair, and having on the outbreak of hostilities dispatched a detach-
ment of troops to garrison that fort. The next year Col. Phillip
Schuyler was sent by the Colonial Government to erect six block-houses
at Saratoga. ' This was a work entailing great personal danger, as
hostile Indians continually lurked behind every tree in the forest
awaiting their opportunity to bring down any one within the range of
their rifles. The house of Col. Lyclius on the site of Fort Nicholson was
burned and his son taken to Canada as a captive. Finally, on the i6th
of November, 1745, an attack by some four hundred French and two
hundred and twenty Indians under the command of a French partizan
officer named Molang, was made upon the fort at Saratoga itself; and
although it was not taken, yet not only was it virtually destroyed but
the damage inflicted upon the surrounding property, was considerable.
The artifice practiced by the Indians and French in their attack on the
fort, is thus narrated by Kalm.

" A party of French, with their Indians, concealed themselves by
night in a thicket near the fort. In the morning, some of their Indians
as the}' had previously resolved, went to have a nearer view of the fort.
The English tired upon them as soon as they saw them at a distance;
the Indians pretended to be wounded, fell down, got up again, ran a
little way and dropped again. About half of the garrison rushed out
to take them prisoners, but as soon as they were come up with them
the French and the remaining Indians came out of the bushes betwixt
the fortress and the English, surrounded them and took them prisoners.
Those who remained in the fort had hardly time to shut the gates, nor
could they fire upon the enemy because they equally exposed their
countrymen to danger, and they were vexed to see their enemies take

1 The reader should bear in mind that when " Fort Saratoga" is mentioned it was in the town
of Easton, Washington county, opposite the present town of Sehuylerville.

[4]

34 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

and earn - them off in their sight and under their cannon." The saw-
mills — which had to their owners became quite lucrative and other
buildings on the opposite bank of the river near the mouth of Fish
Creek were burned to the ground except a new mill standing out of
their course, as were other dwellings scattered along the river in the
vicinity of those residing at this place. Hoyt says, in his ' ' Indian wars, "
the greater part of them were killed by the tomahawk while others,
scarcely so fortunate, were carried into captivity. The affair is repre-
sented as having been barbarous ; and while I have not been able to
find the number of persons killed, the slaughter must have been
considerable, since Governor Clinton, in a speech to the Assembly
several weeks afterwards, says : " Many of our people were murdered."
Among the slain was the brave Captain Schuyler, a brother of Colonel
Phillip Schuyler. More than one hundred captives were taken away, a
majority of whom were blacks — slaves it is presumed. Thirty families
were sacrificed in the massacre : a description of the horrors of which
would be but a repetition of the story of Schenectady, fifty-five years
before. So adroitly had the enemy concocted their plans that every
house must have been attacked at nearly the same instant of time.
One family only escaped, the footsteps of whose flight were lighted by
the conflagragation. From Saratoga, the invaders crossed the Hudson,
and swept with equal desolation over the village of Hoosic lying just
beyond the southern limits of this county. A small fort at this place,
commanded by Col. Hawks, made a spirited defence but was compelled
to surrender. These events laid Washington and other frontier counties
naked and open to the ravages of the enemy down to the very gates of
Albany, spreading general consternation through the interior of the
Province. As a consequence, the inhabitants in the settlements most
exposed rushed to Albany for security: and the males of that city,
capable of bearing arms, were obliged to go upon the watch in the
environs, each in his turn every other night.

In the succeeding winter of 1746, the New York Colonial Assembly
at the request of the Schuyler family, voted a hundred and fifty pounds
to build a fort in place of Fort Saratoga — now, as before stated, in a
useless and deserted condition. It was not, however, purely patriotism
on the family's part, but it was intended to guard the large fields east
of the old fort, which notwithstanding the destruction of the houses and
mills it was hoped might be guarded. Accordingly, in the spring of
that year, on a hill considerably west of the old site of Fort Saratoga,

THE OLD FRENCH WAR. 35

a new fortress was built. The new fort was much larger than the old
one, being a hundred and fifty feet long by a hundred and fifty wide,
with six wooden redoubts for barracks. It was fortified with six 12
pound and six 18 pound cannon and received the name of Fort Clinton
in honor of the English Governor George Clinton — father of Sir Henry
Clinton, the British commander in the Revolution.

In the early part of June, 1747, Col. (afterwards Sir William Johnson)
was advised that the French, with their always loyal Indian allies (thanks
to Champlain) were again showing themselves in the vicinity of Fort
Clinton near the old site of Fort Saratoga. By the 16th of the same
month, he was also informed, by the return of an unsuccessful war-
party of the Schoharies, of the approach upon Lake Champlain of a fleet
of three hundred canoes, and admonished to be on his guard against a
surprise. Immediately, on the arrival of this intelligence at Saratoga,
Capt. Chew was ordered forth with a detachment of one hundred men
to reconnoiter the country between that post and the head of Lake
Champlain. Falling in with the enemy on the 19th of June, an action
ensued in which fifteen of bis men were killed and forty-seven more,
with himself, taken prisoners. The detachment encountered by Chew,
was commanded by the famous French partizan La Corn de St. Luc, who
immediately fell back upon a much larger force, occupying the path of
communication between the Hudson and the Lake. But La Corn did
not fall back without leaving a detachment of three hundred men,
under M. Laquel, to lurk about Fort Saratoga, and cut off approaching
supplies and reinforcements. According to the representation of one
of the enemy's Indians, who deserted and came to Saratoga, the main
force of the French at the " ( Treat Carrying-Place." consisted of twelve
companies. The Indian informed farther, that St. Luc was to advance
again immediately with artillery and mining tools, to lay siege to the
Fort. Meantime, the three hundred who had been left in the environs
of the Fort, under M. Laquel, performed bold service by appearing
openly and attempting to tire a block-house, used, as they supposed, as
a magazine, by shooting burning arrows, against its walls. " The person
appointed to perform this duty,'" said the commander of the Fort in a
letter written to Col. Johnson, " had a blanket carried before him that
he might not discover (to the garrison ?) the fire upon the tops of his
arrows. The main body of the enemy soon moved down to Fish
Creek about a mile south of Fort Clinton, and a detachment of their
troops was thrown between that post and Albany. Col. Schuyler at

36 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

once marched with his regiment, together with such other forces as he
could raise on the instant to meet the invaders; who, however, though
greatly superior in numbers, retired at his approach and fell back to
Crown Point.

Fort Clinton was held by the Colony during the remainder of the
summer : but, in the fall, the garrison were withdrawn and the fort
burned by order of Governor Clinton, his reason being that the Provin-
cial Assembly would not vote sufficient money to keep it in thorough
repair. Indeed the wonder is that Clinton had not adopted this measure
long before. In the early spring of T747, the officers wrote from Fort
Clinton (or "Saratoga" as it was interchangably still called) that the
garrison of that fort were almost in a state of mutiny from lack of pay,
and that they were fearful the garrison would desert in a body. Col.
Roberts also soon after wrote Col. Wm. Johnson announcing the
desertion of thirty-four men from a single company: and, indeed, the
garrison had become so much weakened as to create serious apprehen-
sions that the fort would be lost; while the officers stationed at that fort
wrote to the Governor that they could not persuade the designated quotas
of the northern militia companies for the defence of that jeoparded
position to remain. The fort at this time was garrisoned by the New
Jersev levies, commanded by Col. Peter Schuyler: but as Mr. Clinton
was inflexable in his purpose of drawing no more upon the Crown, there
was grave danger of a speedy evacuation of the post for want of provisons
In fact, information to that effect from Col. Schuyler himself, caused the
Assembly to address the Governor on the 9th of September, praying
earnestlv for the adoption of such measures as would prevent the
destruction of the forces, and prevent the fortress from falling into the
hands of the enemy with its heavy cannon and stores. In the event of
the threatened desertion of the Jersey men. the House suggested that
the post might be regarrisoned by a detachment from the new levies
destined against Canada, or if these levies were not still within his
Excellencv's command, they prayed that a portion of the independent
fusileers might be sent thither, the Assembly pledging the necessary
supplies for that service. But before this address had been presented,
the Govern* >r had rendered anv answer thereto unnecessarv by a message
of a very decided character in reply to the resolutions of the House of
the preceding week, in which all the demands for supplies were reiter-
ated, with a threat that unless the house shoiild revoke its determination
not to provide for the transportation of supplies to the outposts he should

THE OLD FRENCH WAR. a7

be under the necessity of withdrawing the garrisons both from Oswego
and Saratoga (Ft. Clinton) — points which would of course be immediately
•occupied by the enemy. The Assembly, however, still proving con-
tumacious, the Governor was forced, as we have seen, to the dismantling
of the fort and the withdrawl of its garrison in pursuance of his threat.

Aside from these events here related, little of moment occurred in
Washington county, during the remainder of the war. Block-houses,
in addition to the dilapidated fort at Saratoga were, by order of the
Assembly, erected and a garrison maintained during the continuance of
the war. A definite Treaty of Peace, however was soon after concluded,
on the 7th of October 1748, at Aix La Chapelle; though considering the
circumstances under which it was concluded, and the relative strength
•of the parties and the condition of the alliance at the head of which was
England, for the farther prosecution of the contest, it was a most
inglorious peace.

Thus ended the " old French War," produced by the wickedness of
Frederick, "the evils of which were felt inlands where the name of
Prussia was unknown ; and, in order that he might rob a neighbor whom
he had promised to defend, black men fought on the coast of Coromandel,
.and Red-men scalped by the Great Lakes of America '."

CHAPTER IV.

Kalm's Journky Through What is Now Washington County in 1749: and the
First Beginnings of Settlements in its Territory.

Now, that the Peace of Aix La Chapelle, in 1748, has happily put an
end, for the time being at least, to the many bloody atrocities which I
have been compelled, as a truthful historian, to place before the reader,
this is a fitting opportunity to carry him into more peaceful scenes.
Hence, he is invited first to look upon Washington county as it then
was, through the eyes of the distinguished Sweedish botanist Kalm.
This gentleman, whom I have before quoted, was evidently a person
■of very shrewd observation. He had crossed the Atlantic for the
purpose of exploring the fauna and flora of this country; and the

1 Macauley's Li/e of l<'rederick ike Gri at.

38 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

restoration of peace had enabled him to journey leisurely through what
is now Washington county into Canada.

With a guide he left Albany in a canoe, on the 23d of June, 1749, and
proceeded up the river. Most of the farms above Albany lay along
the river, all the houses were built of logs, the interstices being filled
with clay. He observed that contiguous to each house was a small
garden, in which squash, water-melon and kidney beans were reared —
all having an orchard of apple trees. In Halfmoon was a large Dutch
barn, which seems to have afforded him much amusement and this was
the last building he saw in the Province ; for every house and barn north
of that had been burned by the Indians during the war. The owners,
however, were now returning to their houseless farms or clearings — their
families being huddled into temporary shanties — some of them, even,
having no shelter except a slight shed made of a few boards.

From his Journal, it would seem as if it cost our travellers much
labor to get their canoe up the several rapids from the mouth of the
Mohawk to Stillwater near Fort Saratoga.

He passed two Indians in their bark canoes. Occasionally he came
across a clearing which had been turned into cornfields and meadows,
before the war but were now entirely deserted: He reached Saratoga,
June 24th, and lay over night in a hut of boards orected by a family
who had ventured to return after the massacre. " ( )n the following
morning," says the narrative, "we proceeded up the river, but after
we had advanced about an English mile, we fell in with a waterfall
[ Saratoga Dam ] which cost us a deal of pains before we could get our
canoe over it. Above the fall the river is very deep, the water slides
along silently and increases suddenly near the shores. After rowing
several miles, we passed another water fall [Fort. Miller] which is longer
and more dangerous than the preceding one. We intended to have gone
quite up to Fort Nicholson [Fort Edward] in the canoe, but we found
it impossible to get over this upper fall, the canoe being heavy and
scarce any water in the river, except in one place where it flowed over
the rock, and where it was impossible to get up on account of the steep-
ness and violence of the fall. We were, accordingly, obliged to leave
our canoe here, and to carry our baggage through unfrequented woods
to Fort Anne, on the river Wood Creek, during which we were quite
spent on account of the heat. We passed the night in the midst of the
forest, plagued with mosquetos, gnats and wood-lice, and in fear of all
kinds of snakes." At Fort Anne he describes the weather as being

KALM'S JOURNEY. 39

-oppressively hot, while he was again tormented by midges (black flies ?)
and mosquetoes. Speaking of the gnats he says they are very minute
and are ten times worse than the larger ones, the mosquetos; for
their size renders them next to imperceptible ; they are careless of their
lives, suck their fill of blood, and cause a burning pain " The insect,
here alluded to, says Dr. Fitch, we readily recognize as being the
Simuruien noievum of Dr. Harris, which still occurs in woodland
districts in June, throughout this vicinity. More recent researches
plainly show that Kalm was in error in regarding this and the mosqueto
as identical with similar European insects. '

Embarking with their guide, as they paddled down Wood Creek they
came near having their canoe stove in by running upon the sunken logs
which abounded in this stream. But with much care this calamity was
avoided; and finally they reached the French post at Crown Point.
Here Kalm tarried till an opportunity occurred for his passing down the
Lake to Canada, while his guide returned to Albany. In his progress
through the country he makes observations respecting the musk rat,
the sassafras, the chestnut, the fir or hemlock, the hawthorn, aub-hil-
locks, wood-lice, the arbor-vitae, the elder, the iron-wood, squirrels, the
"Giant's Pots" worn in the rock at Fort Miller, and other valuable
objects of a similar character. He also made many discoveries of rare
and beautiful plants before unknown to Europeans ; and in our swamps
and lowlands a modest flower, the Kalmia Glanca (swamp laurel) blooms
in perpetual remembrance of his visit."

EARLY SETTLEMENTS.

Although the Cot;nty and the Colonies, in general, were once more at
peace, yet the exposed situation of this territory to attacks from Canada,
entirely discouraged its settlement at this period. It is true, that a few
bold emigrants occasionally made their way into this country ; but the
majority preferred (and with reason) to locate west of Albany in the
neighborhood of the friendly Mohawks, rather than run the risk of
having themselves and families tomahawked and scalped or taken
captives into Canada by locating so near the Canadian frontier.
Scarcely, therefore, any advance was made in settling the country to
the north of Albany at this period. Moreover, all thoughts of enter-

1 Dr. Fitch, in this remark, is undoubtedly correct— for Fitch has long been recognized as
perhaps, the greatest authority on entimology in the United States.

40 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

prises of this nature, were given up, when, in 1 731, the French, taking-
advantage of the pusillanimity of the English built and occupied Crown-
Point on Lake Champlain, twenty miles north of this county, and Fort
Frederick, on the promontory called by the Iroquois Ticonderoga — the
definition of which is ' ' There the lake shuts itself. " The erection of these
two forts at these places, far within the territory which Great Britain
had ever regarded as her own and upon the very ground to which this
province had, for over thirty years previously asserted its jurisdiction
by the grant made to Dellins (to which allusion has been made in the
introductory chapter) was felt to be a most impudent and audacious
proceeding, palpably contravening the treaty stipulation existing
between England and France, and, as has been hinted, the seemingly
manifest indifference of the mother country to resent this occupation
of its territory, and thus afford no protection to settlers, who otherwise
might gladly have taken up land, was a great hindrance to the early
settlement of this country. Indeed, all the northern colonies (as is seen
by the minutes of the various assemblies) looked with feelings of sad
forboding and dismay upon the establishment of Crown Point and Fort
St. Frederick, forseeing that, on the recurrance of hostilities, it would
be a nest from which bands of savage mauraders and scalping parties
would be continually issuing to lay waste with fire and tomahawk the
frontier settlements, even the people of Albany, dreading lest some of
these calamities would fall to their lot. George Washington, himself r
also, in the House of Burgesses in Yirginia, predicted much trouble in
the future for the Colonies — " if this flagrant defiance of treaties was to
go unredressed.''

The Xew England Colonial Assemblies, also, were fierce in their
condemnation of this outrage, and indeed, it is really marvellous that
Great Britain (not the Provinces as has been alleged) should have so
passively submitted to such an alarming encroachment. The mother
country, however, having thus tamely submitted, the colony of Xew
York took the matters up, and began to devise some way in which these
encroachments could be rendered nugatory.

And among the various schemes pre posed for averting the dangers
to which the Province of New York was exposed from the French
settlements at Crown Point and Ticonderoga that which promised to
be the most successful, was the project of planting a strong colony of
hardy, resolute, energetic settlers upon the vacant lands between the

EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 4L

Hudson River and Lake Champlain. ' Could such a settlement be formed ,
it would be a cordon through which the enemy could not easily break
to molest the country below. But from what part of the British
Empire could settlers, possessing- the desired qualities, be drawn ? The
question was not difficult of solution. Their corporal habits and powers
of endurance, their stability of sentiment and indisputable perseverance,
and more than all else, their noted antipathy to Popery and their exe-
cration of France and Frenchmen, as the espousers of the Pretender's
claims to the British throne, set forth in strong- relief the Protestant
inhabitants of the Highlands of Scotland, as the very people for forming
the proposed settlement. A proclamation was, therefore, published by
the Governor, and circulated through north Britain, inviting "loyal
Protestant Highlands " from that country to colonize the vacant land
in this district — setting forth the liberal terms on which these lands
would be granted them.

Captain Langhton Campbell was. by this proclamation, induced to
visit this country in the year 1737. He traversed the country, and was
pleased with its soil. The Indians whom he here met, admired his
athletic form and the gay colors of his tartan costume and entreated
him to come and live in their neighborhood. Lieut. -Governor Clarke,
the acting Governor of the Province of New York, at that time, also
urged him to found a settlement here, promising him a grant of thirty
thousand acres, free from all charges, except those of the survey and
the King's quit-rent. Thus allowed, Captain Campbell returned to
Scotland, and sold his estate situated on the Island of Iola, and collected
a company of eighty-three protectant families comprising four hundred
and twenty-three adults and a large number of children. The delays,
disappointments and calamities with which these adventurers from the
(Heberdees were destined to be tantalized and disheartened ere they
reached the goal for which they ever were starting, may almost remind
one of the journeyings of Israel to the Land of Promise. Defraying the
expenses of their passage, Capt. Campbell arrived in New York with
part of this company in 1738, the remainder coming over the following

1 The account in this chapter which here follows, I have taken almost in its entirity from
Dr. Fitch's Historical Scenes of Washington County. It would have been a comparatively easy
matter to have changed his phraseology, and so have not acknowledged any indebtedness, but, I
prefer to give it to the reader just as he wrote it— and it stands a monument to his great power of
research— for it should be remembered that when he entered this field, 1849, it was one entirely
unploughed — nor do subsequent investigations (save in a few minute and unimportant particulars)
contravene his statements.

[5 J

42 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

year. " Private faith and public honor," says Smith in his history of
New York, "loudly demanded the fair execution of a project so
expensive to the undertaker and beneficial to the colony."

But the prospect of ha vino- a large tract speedily improved and
thereby rapidly enhanced in value, exdited the cupidity of the Governor
and the Surveyor-General, and they refused to make out the promised
conveyance unless they received the usual fees therefor and were also
allowed a share with Campbell in the grant. Upon his refusal to take
the land upon these terms, the Governor began tampering with the
emigrants to induce them to settle upon the proposed lands independent
of Captain Campbell. The Assembly of the Province was in session at
this time but that body and the executive were in open hostility to each
other. To alarm them, therefore, into a compliance with his wishes in
this affair, the Governor, on the 13th of October, 1738, communicated
to the Assembly that the French were intending to commence settle-
ments at Wood Creek and advised them without delay, to provide for
the immediate settlement in that district of the Scotch emigrants just
arrived, and for whose relief he asked aid. But ere the Assembly had
acted on this sidojeet the Governor became so exasperated with their
opposition to him that he dissolved. them and ordered a new election.

In his opening speech, March 23, 1739, the Governor said: "The
peopling of that part of the count}' to the north of Saratoga will be of
great advantage to the Province in strengthening the frontier and
enlarging your trade. I hope, therefore, you will give them some
needful assistance. This subject was further pressed upon the attention
of the Assembly by a "pathetic petition from these poor strangers;"
and Mr. Livingston's compassion for them in their destitute situation
was so excited that he introduced a motion for a gift of seven pounds
to each family to enable them to settle the lands at Wood Creek. But
the suspicions at once arose in the minds of some of the members that
this money would go to the Governor to pay his fees for signing the
grant. Thus influenced by their suspicions they rejected the proposition.

An abhorence of being dupes to the self-interested motives of those
in power, is the only apology that can be made in behalf of the Assembly
for thus withholding their patronage from a measure of such importance
to the province. Had the proposed settlement been commenced at this
time, it would doubtedlessly have formed a powerful barrier on this
frontier at the outbreak of the French War of 1744, and would have

EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 43

warded off those calamities with which the feeble and scattered Dutch
settlements were then assailed.

Hence, the illusion of these poor emigrants that they were to be
speedily located and build up another Argarleshire in the wilds of
America was dispelled ; and the forlorn situation in which they now
saw themselves placed, was, even to their stout hearts, all but over-
whelming. Poor and friendless, in a strange land, ignorant of the
language, costumes, modes of labor, where could they hope to obtain
shelter ? Where could their wives and little ones find food unless the
ravens fed them ? to escape from impending starvation many enlisted in
an expedition against the West Indies, while others wandered forth from
New York and became scattered among the Dutch inhabitants of the
several river counties above that city.

Captain Campbell, after finding that he could not obtain the grant
from the Governor, upon the terms that had been promised, memoril-
ized the Board of Trade in England; but the difficulties and delays
attending the step, were so great, that his means became exhausted and
he was unable longer to keep his emigrants from starvation. With the
poor remains of his broken fortune, he purchased and settled down
upon a small farm in the Province. A few years after, in 1745, when
the Rebellion broke out in Scotland, he hastened back to that country
and served under the Duke of Cumberland. After the war, he returned
hither to his family, and soon afterwards died, leaving a widow and
six children to feel in after-years the consequences of his disappoint-
ments. Such is the sad history of one whose high sense of honor and
sound judgment, whose energy, patriotism and military talents,
eminently fitted him for the enterprise in which he embarked. But
for the baseness of those in power, there can be little doubt that the
name of Laughton Campbell would now be inscribed in the annals of
our State, as the Sir William Johnson of the Upper Hudson.

After the failure of Campbell's undertaking, the project was much
discussed of purchasing the "Saratoga Patent" from its proprietors
and settling it with friendly Indians, erecting a fort thereon, and culti-
vating the lands for them, and thus form a barrier to protect the country
below. But no steps were undertaken towards carrying out the scheme.

THE FIRST FAMILY LOCATED IN WASHINGTON COUNTY.

Within the bounds of Washington county, we have no indications of
but one family as located at this period ; and in regard to this family

44 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

our information is very meager as lias already been stated in my Intro-
duction. The claim of Dellms to the lands from the Batten Kill to
Crown Point appears to have been transferred by him to the Rev. John
Lydius — although it appears that 1600 acres on the Hudson above the
mouth of the Batten Kill had been granted May 5th, 1732 to Cornelius
Cuyler (a merchant in Albany) and Wm. Kettlehuyn. But probably,
for the purpo.se of strengthening their claim by possession of residence
upon this tract, Col. Lydius, 1 a son of the minister, erected a house at
Fort Edward and resided there with his family, engaging in traffic with
the Indians — one of the most lucrative branches of business in the
Province at that time. His daughter Catharine was born here at this
period, and was as near as I can ascertain the first child born of civilized
parents in Washington county." She married Henry Cuyler, and died
at an advanced age at Greenbush, April, 1N20. Of her four sons, the
two oldest entered the British service in the time of the Revolutionary
War. One of these rose to the rank of a colonel in the army and was
killed in Portugal ; the other was a post-captain in the navy. Her third
son, William Howe Cuyler, in the war of 181 2, was an aide-de-camp in
the American army on the Niagara frontier, and walking along the
river bank one dark night with a lighted lantern, was killed by a shot
from the opposite shore. Of her youngest son, Burton, we have no

information. Her three daughters were Mrs. John Sprole, Mrs.

Le Roy and Mrs. Richard L. Smith.

Such then, was the condition of Washington county, at the time of
which we are now writing. The silence of its primeval wilderness was
unbroken, save by the hooting of the owl or the scream of the panther;
and its solitude was undisturbed except by savage beasts, or still more
Savage tribes as the latter passed two and fro upon, the war-path.

J As I am writing this I have before me a paper The New York Weekly Journal, January 27, 1734,
addressed to Mr. John Henry Lydius — Albany. — S.

2 I am fully aware that this statement is disputed, but I, prefer, every time t<> take the authority
of Dr. Fitch to any other. — S.

THE FRENCH WAR. 45

CHAPTER V.

The French War, 1754-63 — Sketch of Fort Edward — Visits to It of Distin-
guished Travellers,

Blood had been spilled; Washington defeated; and the scalping knife
unsheathed from the Ohio to the Kennebec; yet England and France
were still at peace. Notwithstanding the bold assumptions of France,
the vacillating course of the Newcastle Ministry rendered a definite
policy toward that government impossible; and although the defeat at
the Great Meadows roused the ministry sufficiently to ask the advice of
Horatio Gates, a youghtful officer just arrived from Nova Scotia, yet
they soon relapsed into their former imbecility, leaving the charge of
American affairs to the Duke of Cumberland, at that time the Captain-
General of the armies of Great Britain.

The Duke of Cumberland, who has been described as "cruel and
sanguinary," regarded the opportunity thus afforded for indulging in
his favorite pastime, war, with delight; and rightly judging that the
French were bent on hostilities, he dispatched in January, 1755, while
the ministry was still hesitating, two regiments to America under the
command of Edward Braddock — a supercilious officer and one more
acquainted with military manoeuvers in Hyde Park with men in glittering
uniforms than with Indian warfare. He sailed from Cork the 14th of
January, and arived in the Chesapeake the latter part of February. The
French, thoroughly cognizant of the intentions of the English, notwith-
standing the absurd diplomatic subtleties with which England's foolish
prime-minister was amusing the French Court, immediately made
preparations for sending large reinforcements into Canada; and with
such a design a fleet of transports carrying troops under the command
of Baron Dieskau, a veteran soldier, sailed from Brest early in May.

Meanwhile, as the prospect of war became more certain the alarm of
the colonists grew so great as to induce the Governor of New York to
send a message to the Assembly on the 4th of February in which he
reminded them of the weak state of the frontier fortifications, should the
French make — which was quite possible — a descent upon the Province.
Albany he thought, should therefore be fortified without delav, and a

46 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

strong fort built at some advanced place upon the Hudson, whence
scouts could be sent out to gain intelligence and give timely notice of
the enemy's approach.

While New York was thus showing its active interest in the ucal of
the Colony, a conference of the Colonial Governor had been called by
Braddock, shortly after his arrival in Virginia, to meet on the 14th of
April at Alexandria, Ya. , to devise measures for a vigorous prosecution
of the war against the French. Yet, at the same time, it was distinctly
understood (as no formal declaration of war had as vet passed between
the two Governments) that Canada was not to be invaded, but only
French encroachments along the frontier repelled.

A. this conference, four separate expeditions were planned by
Braddock and the Royal Governors — -the first for the complete reduction
of Nova Scotia was to be commanded by Monckton, the Lieutenant
Governor of that Province; a second under Braddock himself, was to
recover the Ohio A'alley; the third under the command of Shirley was
to expel the French from Niagara, and form a junction with Braddock's
forces; and the fourth was to be given to Major-General William Johnson,
having for its object the capture of Crown Point. The latter was to
have under him the provincial militia of New York and the warriors of
the Six Nations'; and his acknowledged influence over the latter,
especially, gave great promise of success.

The result of three of these so carefully planned expedition are
matters of record and does not come within the province of this History
Monckton's expedition in Nova Scotia, aside from his brutal act of
expelling the inoffensive and peaceful Acadians, was of no moment in
regard to the effect of the war; Braddock's Expedition failed with his
death and defeat, most ignomiously: while, Shirley, in his attempt on
Niagara, got no farther than Oswego, on account of a severe storm on
the Lake which destroyed his fleet and the consequent desertion of his
Indian allies.

Thus, two, and in fact, three of the expeditions so carefully planned
at Alexandria had signally failed. The hope of all the Colonies were
now centered, in fearful suspense, upon the result of the expedition of
Major-General Johnson. Crown Point had been strongly reinforced.

1 The "' Five Nations " had now become the " Six Nations " as stated in a previous note, owing
to the former having finally adopted the Tuscaroras of North and South Carolina, into the con-
federacy. The reasons for this adoption do not properly come within the province of this history
and are therfore not given.

SKETCH OF FORT EDWARD. 47

Dieskau, who had advanced to South Bay (Whitehall) at the head of
Lake Champlain, with a force of fifteen hundred French, Canadians
and Indians, was watching with eagle eye his movements. Should
Johnson fail the hopes of the Colonies are lost !

But the end of June (1755) a ^ the forces destined for the reduction
of Crown Point had assembled at Albany. They were composed chiefly
of Provincial militia from the Colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut.
New York had contributed one regiment to the expedition, and New
Hampshire had raised for the same object, five hundred sturdy
mountaineers, and had placed them under the command of Colonel
Joshua Blanchard, who had as one of his lieutenants John Stark,
afterward the hero of Bennington.

In the beginning of August, General Lyman was sent forward with
some six hundred men — the greater part of the troops to erect a fort on
the east bank of the Hudson River at the "Great Carrying Place"
between that river and Lake George, and which afterwards received
from General Johnson the name of Fort Edward. This was in accord-
ance with the recommendation of the Governor to the Assembly which
has been before referred to '

And here, before following up the army and military tactics of
General Johnson, a description of this fort — a fort which, as it will
afterward be seen, was destined to play such an important part not only
in this present French War, but in that of the Revolution, will be given.

SKETCH OF FORT FDWARD.

Fort Edward, a short distance from which the death of Jane McCrea
took place — an event which will be narrated in its proper place in this
History — has an important niche in American history. In Colonial times
it was a central point of interest both to the Whites and to the Indians;
and, as we have seen, in the wars of William and Mary, Queen Anne's,
the old French, and the French Wars both sides were equally anxious
to possess it. In consequence, as we shall still further see, in the
progress of this history, many thrilling adventures occurred in its
immediate vicinity.

The first white man, says Sir William Johnson, who settled in the

1 It was while 011 his way to Lake George that in pursuance of the same general plan, that
Lyman in August of this year, halted his troops and built a fort in old Saratoga at the mouth of
Fish Creek (now Sehuylerville on the Hudson,) and named it Fort Hardy in honor of Sir Charles
nardv then Governor of New York.

48 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

town, was Colonel John Henry Lydins, son of a Dutch minister of
Albany. Lydins was a man of extensive acquaintance with the Indians,
having resided much among them in Canada for several years when he
married, and again at Lake George. He erected several mills on an
island opposited the present village of Fort Edward; and hence the
name the place long went by — " Lydius' Mills. " His daughter. Catha-
rine, was, as I have previously mentioned, the first white child horn in
Washington county. The street in the Village of Fort Edward, now
Broadway, was formerly called Lydius, after its founder. Colonel
Lydius carried on an extensive trade with the Indians at this point for
several years. He was, however, extremely unpopular with the Red-
men, who justly accused him of having on various occasions, cheated
them in land transactions. This feeling on the part of the Indians, at
length culminated in 1747 (as has been noted) in which year they burned
his house on the Island and carried his son prisoner into Canada.

Old Fort Edward stood close on the east bank of the Hudson, a few
rods below the present railroad bridge. Nothing now (1899) remains
of it, except as in the case of Fort Hardy at Schuylerville, a few slight
mounds, where were the earth works, and the broken bricks and pottery
which are mixed plentifully with the soil. At the best, it consisted only
of a square fortified by two bastions on the east side, and by two semi-
bastions on the side towards the river. It was built, as we have seen,
in 1709 by the English for the protection of the northern frontier, and
was called Fort Nicholson after its builder, Colonel Nicholson. After-
wards, it was known as Fort Lydius. After the failure of Colonel
Nicholson "s remarkable, though entirely abortive, expedition for the
subjugation of Canada — an expedition the organization of which cost
the Colonies and that of New York in particular a vast amount of
money — the fort was abandoned and allowed to go to decay.

As before stated, in 1755, the English under General (afterward Sir
William Johnson) made a forward movement towards the capture of
Crown Point, and as one of the preliminary steps to this expedition
General Phineas Lyman was sent forward to rebuild the fort. The
site of the old fortification was abandoned, because it was too much
commanded and a large redoubt, with a simple parapet and a wretched
palisade was built on a more elevated spot not far distant. It stood
close on the bank of the Hudson on the north side of the mouth of
Fort Edward Creek. It was constructed of timber and earth. The
ramparts were sixteen feet high and twenty-two feet thick and mounted

SKETCH OF FORT EDWARD. 49

six cannon ; and withall, a deep fosse was excavated in front of its two
sides fronting upon and being protected by the above said Creek. In
addition, moreover, to the several buildings which stood inside of the
walls of the fort, and which accommodated 200 men, large store-
houses and barracks were reared on the island opposite to it in the river.
The first received the name of Fort Lyman from its builder and was a
most important depot for the munitions of war in the northern move-
ment of the English forces; besides which it was a general rendezvous
of the army, and became afterwards a large hospital for the sick and
wounded. As has been mentioned, this place also received the name of
"The Great Carrying Place" — the reason for this designation being
that the rapids and falls in the river above the fort made it impossible to
ascend any farther with the bateaux. Consequently, the goods, arms
and amunition were here unloaded, and carried overland either to Wood
Creek at Fort Anne, where they were reshipped and thence taken to
Lake Champlain, or else to the head of Lake George and thence down
that lake to the carrying place at its foot into Lake Champlain by way
of Ticonderoga.

In 1755, Israel Putnam was in General Lyman's regiment as the
captain of a company, and was in all probability with him in the
rebuilding of the fort. At any rate, he was frequently there during
1755 and the two succeeding years, and formed in the fort a head-
quarters for himself and his rangers. In 1757, he performed some
heroic feats in its behalf — which will be narrated in detail in their proper
place. In that year, a band of Indians approached it with the secrecy
and craftiness so characteristic of the race and attempted to surprise
and capture the garrison, but Putnam, then a major, was not easily
taken. He and his men were ready for the Savages and put them
speedily to flight. In the winter of that same year, the fort was acci-
dentally set on fire. The flames spread rapidly, and for a time, it looked
as though every thing would be destroyed. The powder magazine was
in great danger, as the flames were getting very near it. Putnam,
thereupon, placed himself between the fire and the magazine; and for
an hour and a half, fought the flames until they were finally subdued.
The covering of the magazine was scortched and blackened, and the
brave Putnam came out of the conflict with his face, arms and hands
fearfully burned. Many weeks passed before he recovered from his
injuries. Two years afterward, 1758, Putnam and a few of his followers,

[6]

50 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

were again chased by the Indians in their canoes to a short distance
below the fort. They were in a bateau and rapidly rowed down the
river with their pursuers close behind them. Approaching the Falls
at Fort Miller, there seemed to be no way of escape but by going over
them. So the bateau was steered to the Falls and went over the
verge. The Indians fired, and looked for the utter destruction of the
crew, when, to their utter amazement, they were seen gliding rapidlv
away unharmed: Neither the leap over the Fort Miller Falls, nor the
rapids below, nor their bullets had harmed their supposed victims; and
henceforth, the Indians (as in the similar case of Washington at the
fight of Braddock) considered Putnam as under the special protection
of the Great Spirit !

During the year 1757, the fort was garrisoned by colonial troops under
Colonel Haviland — for the protection of the northern frontier of the
county. This appears from the following extracts from an Orderly
Book — the manuscript of which belonged to General Phineas Lyman,
and which has only within the last few months been purchased and
printed at his own expense by Dr. W. Seward Webb. In his preface
to this Orderly Book Dr. Webb speaks justly of General Lyman '• as a
man whose sterling qualities were not recognized by his English
colleagues and superiors. The credit that was owing to him was given
toothers; but a study of the campaign of 1756, shows how ably he
performed his part, and how much its success depended upon his
efforts." Even General Johnson, as we have seen, completely ignored
Lyman — a circumstance which must ever remain a blot upon that
General's otherwise justly acquired fame.

EXTRACTS FROM THE ORDERLY BOOK.

" Fort Edward, July 27, i/57- Parole Fort William Henry.

The Lines are not to turn out Upon any Alarm Till ye Proper Signals
are Made of ye 23d Instant. The Officer Commanding ye Covering
Party at ye Brick-kill is Emmediately upon Hearing any Shots in The
Woods To Take Upon Him ye Comd of the Workman and File Into ye
Woods So far as ye May Judge necessary in order to Get Upon ye
Enemy's Rear and at ye Same Time To Send one Man of His Party To
ye Commanding Off r To Acquaint Him of it."

Parole Hallyfax "Fort Edward, ////r i^, I 7S7-

All ye Salers, Ship Carpenters and Boatman that Were Returned By
ye Several Corps to Hold them Selves in readiness to March To ye Lake
[Lake George]

SKETCH OF FORT EDWARD. 51

The Ranging Companys Being to fire at a Mark Between ye Hours
of 4 and 6 o'clock. The Troops To Be Immediately Acquainted with
it that They May Not Be Alarmed with it — In ye Same Time ye Com-
manding offr of ye Sev 1 Regts may Send Such Men as Cannot Draw
their Charges to Fire them off In Presence of an Uncommissined offr
who will take Care that their Men Fire Their Pieces When No Accident
May Happen

Parole L indon. ' ■ "Fort Edward, Nov. ioth 1757

Col. Haviland's Orders, All ye Massachusetts Rhod- Islanders and
Conneticutts (Excepc ye two companys of ye Conneticut Rangers) to
hold them Selves in Readiness to march as soon as Carriage can be pro-
vided the men of these Corps now on Duty are to be Relieved by ye
N. Yorkers."

Mayr Rogers is to order a Guard of Rangers to post proper Sentry
from it, in ye Live Stock Garden and Fire wood and No Sort of thing to be
taken out of ye Garden without proper leave from Col. Haviland and
no fire wood to be touch 'd as they will be answerable for it and ye
offender punished with the utmost Severity.

The Guard at ye Island End of ye Bridge [The one opposite Fort
Edward] not to Suffer any more to pass over toward ye Garden after
the Retreat — and any Preson [peison] yt [that] is known (Either of ye
Troops in Gar»on [Garrison] or on ye Island) to put down any part of
a Hut on Either Side ye water will be brought to a Court Marschal for
ye Same unless he Shall have particular leave for it.

Parole Hampton. Fort Edward, Nov. 10, 1757.

The Massachusetts and Rhodislanders to march Emmediately. They
are to apply to Mr Lesley for carriage or proceed according to ye orders
they have Reed from Lord Loudoun. "

The Fort retained the name of Fort Lyman 3 but a few years, when

it was changed to that of Fort Edward, in honor of Edward, Duke of

York, a grandson of George II, or the brother of George III. During

the Revolutionary War (as it will later on be seen) it was at times held

1 The writer evidently was in advance of hisage having already adopted the phonetic spelling

2 Robert Rogers, born Dunbarton, N. H., about 1730; died in England in 1800. During the French
War he commanded with great credit to himself, a battalion of rangers who rendered excellent
service. This battalion was the model from which Rufus Putnam la cousin of " Old Put") organ-
ized the company of rangers which so effectively protected the Ohio Company settlements during
the Indian War, 1791-1795. In 1760, Major Rogers, with 200 men, took possession of Detroit. In 1766,
he was appointed by the King, Governor of Michilinacnac. He was subsequently accused of plot-
ting to sell the Post to the French and was sent in irons to Montreal, tried by Court Martial and
acquited, but deprived of his office. Shortly after the outbreak of the Revolution, he was arrested
by Gen. Washington as a spy. Released upon parole he violated it, joined the British army and
placed in command of the Queen's Rangers. In 1705 he published a " Journal of the French War."
His "Journal of the Sietce of Detroit" was published in i860. He was, taken all in all, a notable
character.

3 Major-General Phineas Lyman, after whom the fort was first named, and to whom allusion
has already been made, was born at Durham, Conn., about 1716; was graduated in 1738 at Yale
College, in which he was afterwards a tutor three years; and settled as a lawyer in Suffield. He

52 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

by the British but was the greater portion of the time in the hands
of the Americans, affording protection to the farmers of the surrounding
country, who frequently flocked into it when fearful of the raids of the
Indians and Tories.

And now, at this point, and in order to present a sketch of Fort Edward
in its entirety I must request the reader to follow me some years ahead
of the time reached in this history of Washington county, to events
which took place during the Revolutionary War.

At the approach of Burgoyne's army from Fort Anne it was evacuated
by the Americans by order of Gen. Schuyler until after the surrender
of the British Army at Saratoga. While Burgoyne lay at Fort Miller,
it was occupied by General Riedesel with his Brunswicker's. While here
Riedesel buried two large bateaux inside of the Fort for the benefit of
Col. St. Leger in case the latter should retreat by way of this place,
marking the spot by two crosses to give the appearance of two graves.
St. Leger, however, fell back on Oswego, and the bateaux were after-
ward found by the American Army — Riedesel was also quartered for
three weeks on the garrison ground at Fort Amherst, 1 at the Half-way
brook between the present village of Glens Falls and Lake George. 2

Schuyler was greatly blamed for not defending Fort Edward,
though there was really no fort to defend, as Schuyler writes to Gen.
Washington in July 1777, "of Fort Edward there is nothing left but
ruins. I have frequently galloped my horse in at one side and out at
the other.".

Ticonderoga, as will be seen further on, had to be evacuated because it
was commanded by Sugar Loaf Mountain. Fort Edward was in like

filled several public offices. In 1755, he was appointed Major-General and Commander-in-chief of
the Connecticut forces and built Fort Lyman (as previously mentioned) near Fort Edward, N. Y.
In 1758. he served under Abercromby. He was at the capture of Crown-Point by Amherst, and at
the surrender of Montreal. In 1762, he commanded the Provincial troops in the expedition against
Havana. In 1763, he went to England, as the agent of his brother officers, to receive their prize-
money ; also as agent of land on the Mississippi and wasted eleven years of his life. Being deluded
for years by idle promises, his mind finally sunk down to imbecility, at last his wife, who was a
sister of Prest. Dwight's father, sent his second son to England to solicit his return in 1774. A tract
of 20,000 acres was granted to the petitioners, Feb. 2d, 1775, after his return, he embarked with his
eldest son for the Mississippi, and both died soon after their arrival at West Florida in 177=;.
Dwight's Travels.

1 The Fort Amherst here mentioned was a fortified camp, rather than a " Fort."

2 Madam Riedesel joined her husband at Fort Edward. "The following day passed Ticon-
deroga, and about noon, arrived at Fort George [the present village of Caldwell at the head of
Lake George] where we dined with Col. Anstruther, an exceeding good and amiable man, who
commanded the 62d Regiment In the afternoon we seated ourselves in a calash and reached Fort
Edward on the same day, which was the 14th of August 1.1777) — Stone's Translation 0/ Madame
Riedesel' s Journal.

vSKETCH OF FORT EDWARD. 53

manner commanded on all sides. Major Gerard, the Marquis de Chas-
tellux who visited it in the winter of 1780, described it as situated in a
basin or valley both as to the ground and encircling forests. "Such is
Fort Edward, " he writes "so much spoken of in Europe although it could
at no time have been able to resist 500 men, with four pieces of cannon. "
The fact is Fort Edward was not a strong position and Kalm criticized
both of these forts justly, on his visit to America in 1749. "They
were" he wrote, "the result of jobs, badly located and badly built,
with the design to put money into some favorite's pockets. ' "

The Marquis de Chastellux closes his description of his trip to the
Fort in the following graphic and picturesque words :

" I stopped here [Fort Edward] an hour to refresh my horses, and
about noon set off to proceed as far as the cataract [Glens Falls] which
is eight miles beyond it. On leaving the valley, I pursued the road to
Lake George, I had scarcely lost sight of Fort Edward before the spec-
tacle of devastation presented itself to my eyes, and continued to do so
as far as the place I stopped at. Those who were in Burgoyne's way alone
experienced the horrors of his expedition. Peace and industry had con-
ducted cultivators admist these ancient forests, men contented and
happy before the period of this war ; but on the last invasion of the
Savages, the desolation has spread from Fort Schuyler [Fort Stanwix,
the present village of Rome, N. Y.] to Fort Edward. I beheld nothing
around me but the remains of conflagrations ; a few bricks proof against
the fire, were the only indications of ruined houses and homes; whilst
the fences still entire, and cleared out lands announced that these
deplorable habitations had once been the abode of riches and happiness.

' ' Arrived at the height of the cataract it was necessary for us to quit
our sledges and walk a mile to the Hudson River. The snow was
fifteen inches deep, which rendered this walk rather difficult and obliged
us to proceed in Indian file in order to break a path. Each of us put
•ourselves alternately at the head of this little column, as the wild geese
relieve each other to occupy the summit of the angle they form in their
flight. The sight of the cataract was, however, an ample recompense.
The Mohawk River at the Cohoes seems to fall from its own dead weight ;
that of the Hudson frets and becomes enraged. It foams and forms a
whirlpool, and flies like a serpent making its escape, still continuing its
menaces by horrible hisses.

1 By this remark of Kalm, it would seem as if the political contractors of the present day for
the building of our public works, are not much worse than those of an earlier period. Yet it is the
fashion to hold up the past as being so much superior to the present in purity and uprightness.

54 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

"It was near two when we regained or sledges, having two and twenty
miles to return to Saratoga, so that we trod back our steps as fast as
possible, but we still had to halt at Fort Edward to refresh our horses.
We employed this time, as we had done in the morning, in warming
ourselves by the fires of the officers who commanded the garrison.
There are five in number, and have about one hundred and fifty soldiers.
They are stationed in this desert for the whole winter: and I leave the
reader to imagine whether the garrison be much more gay than the two
most melancholy ones of Gravalines or Briancon, our own in France.
We set off again in an hour, and we had not gone far, before, just before
dark, I had the satisfaction of seeing the first game I had met on my
journey. It was a bevy of quails. They were perched to the number
of seven upon a fence. I got out of my sledge to have a nearer view
of them. They suffered me to approach within four paces ; and to make
them rise I was obliged to throw my cane at them ; they all went off
together in a flight similiar to that of partridges, and like them they
are sedentary."

Fort Edward, in fact, seems always to have been a point of unusual
interest to distinguished travellers. Thus, in 1796, President Dwight
of Yale College visited the place.' He thus speaks of it:

"Fort Edward was planned by Captain Ayres' 2 an engineer on the
British Service, and completed by Gen. Schuyler" in the year 1755,.
principally with a design to check Savage incursions, and to be a depot
for millitary stores and to protect the persons employed in transporting
them. "We found the work almost entire. It is built of earth, in the
form of an irregular square, with three small bastions on the north,
west, northeast and southeast angles and a counterfeit on the southwest.
( >n two sides it was fronted by a ditch ; under the third runs the Hudson
the fourth is the bank of a deep sunk rivulet. From a sudden attack,,
therefore, it was well secured ; but being in the neighborhood of several
higher grounds, could not have been defended against artillery half an
hour 4 Its original name was Fort Lyman; derived from Major General

1 In giving these extracts from the works of eminent tourists. I have taken for granted that the
inhabitants of Washington county would be glad to know how a part of their county was viewed
at this time.

2 Captain William Eyre, is here referred to— a distinguished engineer of that day, and one of
Gen. Braddock's most skillful artillerists. His services will again be alluded to.

3 A mistake. It was completed by General Lyman.

4 This it will be remembered was the opinion of the Marquis de Chantellux. an account of
whose visit is given in this chapter.

SKETCH OF FORT EDWARD. 55

Lyman, who at that time commanded the New England forces encamped
here."

" And, Dr. Benjamin Silliman of Yale College also thus speaks of a
visit he made to Fort Edward in 1819. He says :

"At this Fort [Fort Edward] we first observed the canal which is
destined to connect the head waters of Lake Champlain with those of
the Hudson. It is now on the point of being united with this river, and
they are constructing the walls of the canal of a very handsome hewn
stone, which is obtained, as I am informed, near Fort Anne and presents
to the eye aided by a magnifier very minute plates and veins. It is of
a dark hue and is shaped into handsome blocks by the tools of the
workmen. I was gratified to see such firm and massy walls, constructed
of this stone ; indeed, in point of solidity and beauty, they would do
honor to the modern wet docks of Great Britain. It is intended to have
a lock at this place, where there is a considerable descent into the
Hudson.

" There is a village at Fort Edward bearing the same name, and I
ought to have remarked that there are villages at Stillwater, Saratoga, 1
and Fort Miller; but there is nothing particularly interesting in any of
them. Fort Edward, however, is memorable on account of its former
importance. It is situated near the great bend of the Hudson, and
formed the immediate connection with Lake George, which is sixteen
miles, and with Lake Champlain, twenty-two miles distant. It was
originally only an entrenched camp, but as its situation was important,
it was soon converted into a regular fort. The walls appear to be, in
some places, still twenty feet high, notwithstanding what time and the
plow have done to reduce them ; for the interior of the Fort, and the
parapet are now in some places, planted with potatoes.

" In the last French War, it was an important station; and, in Gen.
Burgoyne's campaign, it formed the medium of communication with
Lake George, whence the provisions were brought forward for the use
of the British Army, which was detained on this account at and near Fort
Edward for six weeks — by which means, they lost the best part of the
season for millitary operations; and as they moved down the river they
relinquished the connection with Fort Edward and Lake George, and
were never able to recover it."

After the French War, the fortification at Fort Edward became so
dilapidated, that it was seldom occupied by an}* of the troops that were

1 This does not refer, of course, to the present watering- place of Saratoga Springs.

56 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

from time to time stationed there. Canada being now conquered it
was supposed that there would be no further use for it ; and accordingly,,
just before the Revolutionary War, a Dr. Smythe erected from the
debris of the Fort, " The Red House," as it was called, for his dwelling. '
Burgoyne occupied this house as his headquarters when at this place.

In closing the early history of this classic town — Fort Edward — it may
be of interest to give the following very interesting incident, written
by the late Jonathan Eastman of Concord, N. H., in regard to Bur-
goyne, which is given at length in the " Memoirs of General Stark '
published at Concord, N. H. in 1831. Eastman writes :

"Just below Fort Edward, on the margin of a small brook, falling
into the Hudson, the Americans ~ discovered there three graves neatly
turfed, and having at the head-boards the names of three British officers.
In walking over them, they sounded hollow and upon digging, the
soldiers discovered three fine bateaux each capable of containing fifty
men. They were well covered with boards; and were intended by some
of Burgoyne's party to aid a retreat."

It will be seen, however, by referring to the letter of General Riedesel
(Burgoyne's German ally) published in vol. I of my Memoirs of that
General, that Eastman is mistaken in thinking that these bateaux were
designed to facilitate Burgoyne's retreat — an idea that the British
General, when at Fort Edward, never for a moment entertained." The
real object in burying these bateaux was to aid Col. Barry St. Leger
in crossing the Hudson in case that through the failure of his expedition
against Fort Stanwix, it should become necessary for him to retreat
into Canada. In any event this precaution was useless, as St. Leger,
after his defeat by General Herkimer, retired into Canada by way of
Oswego. 4

1 This house is still ( 1900) standing in a fair state of preservation, near the five combined locks
of the canal east of Sandy Hill.

- By " Americans," the writer refers to those troops under Stark who by a detour had taken
possession of Fort Edward— thus aiding in surrounding Burgoyne and thus partly compelling him
to surrender. This circumstance of the burial of the bateaux is referred to a page or two back.

3 " British never retreat" was what, it will be remembared, Burgoyne had pompously pro-
claimed from Fort Edward.

4 See my " Burgoyne's Campaign and St. Leger's Expedition."

THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED. 57

CHAPTER VI.

The French War Continued — Mvjor General Johnson's Campaign Against
the French and his Defeat of Baron Dieskau — The Moral and Physical
Results ok His Victory.

The reader, after this long digression, may, perhaps, remember that
in the beginning of the last chapter, Major General Johnson was on the
eve of setting out from Albany — the rendezvous of the army — for Crown
Point to take command of the fourth expedition which had been planned
by Braddock and the Royal Governors at Alexandria.

It had been the intention of Johnson to have gone forward at the
same time as Gen. Lyman; and he would have done so, had he not been
detained by the leaky condition of the bateaux, and also by difficulties
which arose at this time between himself and Governor Shirley of Massa-
chusetts, on account of the latter, in defiance of the wishes of Johnson,
employing Col. Lydius at Fort Edward in Indian diplomacy. Before,
therefore, Johnson could join his army, the dissensions sown among the
Indians by Lydius must be healed. This caused a delay of several
days ; and even then just as he had arranged everything, as he supposed
to the satisfaction of the Six Nations, a deputation came to him on the
eve of his departure, refusing to proceed with him farther, until matters
had been explained to them more clearly.

These difficulties having been finally adjusted, Johnson, upon the 8th
of August, set out from Albany with the stores and artillery and — with
the exception of the New York and Rhode Island militia, which were
still behind — with the rest of the troops. He was also accompanied by
King Hendrick with fifty Mohawk warriors, and also by the afterward
celebrated Joseph Brant, then a mere lad of thirteen years. Upon his
arrival at the Great Carrying-Place (Fort Edward) he was joined by two
hundred more braves, thus increasing the number of his Indian allies
to about two hundred and fifty.

The General found the New England troops, already arrived at Fort
Edward, burning with ardor and impatient of delay. The news of
Braddock 's defeat, far from disheartening, only made them the more
desirous to be led against Crown Point. To them, this expedition
was for the defence of their firesides. " I endeavor to keep myself calm
and quiet under our slow progress and await God's time," wrote Thomas

58 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

Williams, one of the Provincials, at this time to his wife. 1 But to them
the advance was slow. Gen. Lyman felt equally restive under the delay.
So much so, indeed, that before Johnson's arrival and after getting the
building of Fort Edward well under way, he had set three hundred of
his men at work cutting a road from Fort Edward to Fort Anne,
supposing that the army would proceed against Crown Point by way
of Wood Creek and Lake Champlain. Johnson, however, in view of a
council of war, which he proposed to call for the purpose of deciding
upon the best route, countermanded the order, and sent out a scouting
party of fort}' soldiers and three Indians to reconnoitre the whole
ccuntry in that vicinity. The scouts having returned, a council was
called on the 22nd, in which the officers upon hearing their report
unamiously gave it as their opinion " that the road to Lake St. Sacra-
ment [Lake George] appeared to them the most eligible, and that it
ought to be immediately set about." It was also determined to send
forward two thousand men to cut a road through the woods to the head
of the Lake, and erect there suitable buildings in which to store arms
and other munitions of war when they should arrive.

Leaving General Lyman, therefore, at Fort Edward to await the
arrival of the rest of the troops and the New Hampshire men to com-
plete and garrison the Fort, Johnson set out on the 26th with thirty
four hundred men for the Lake a distance of fourteen and a half miles —
reaching it at dusk of the twenty-eighth. The position which he
selected for his camp was a strong one, it being protected on the rear
by the Lake, and on both flanks b)^ a thickly wooded swamp. His first
act on his arrival there, was to change the name of the lake from
St. Sacrament to Lake George," "not only,'* as he loyally writes, " in
honor of his Majesty but to ascertain his undoubted dominion there."
Although for many years previously this lake had been used as a means
of communication both for warlike and commercial purposes between

1 This same letter is given by the Historian, Parkman, in his " Montcalm and Wolfe " sent him
by me— of which he gives due acknowledgement.

2 The ancient Indian name of this Lake was Andiatarocte— " there the lake shuts itself." The
French Missionary Father Joques named it St. Sacrament; not, as some suppose, Mr. Cooper
among them— on account of the purity of its waters, but because he arrived at the Lake upon the
eve of the festival day of that name. The early Roman Catholic discoverers frequently connect the
discovery of places with the festival name in the calendar. ■' lis auiverant, la ville du St. Sacra-
ment, au bout du lac qui est joint au grand lac de Champlain. Les Iroquois le nomment Andiat-
arocte, comme qui disoir la on lac le ferine. Le Pere le nomma le lac du St. Sacrament," Jesuit
Relations 1645-'!. Mr. Cooper in his Last of the Mohicans suggests the name of Horicon for this lake
after a tribe of Indians that resided near its banks. This, though quite poetical, is merely fanci-
ful; as indeed he claims, and has not the merit of historic truth.

THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED. 59

Canada and Albany, yet Johnson found a primeval forest where "no
house was ever before built, nor a spot of land cleared." The soldiers
were immediately set to work clearing a place for a camp of five
thousand men, and providing shelter for the military stores. Mean-
while Gen. Lyman, having left at Ford Edward two hundred and fifty
New England troops, and five companies from New York which had
finally arrived, joined the camp at Lake George on the 3d of September,
bringing with him all the heavy artillery.

All now was activity in the Provincial Camp. Wagons laden with
munitions of war came and went across the portage. The wild flow T ers
of the forest were crushed beneath the rude tread of armed men. The
noise of a hundred hammers echoed through the mountain fastnesses ;
while keel after keel cut the crystal waters of the Lake. By day, the
French Mountain frowned defiantly at those by whom its repose had
first been broken; and at night the panther from the neighboring
thicket looked forth upon the stalwart forms reclining by the watch-fires.
" Prayers," wrote Johnson, " have a good effect, especially among the
New England men;" and on the Sabbath, while the Indians were
reclining at a distance under the forest shade, or skimming the waters
in their birchen canoes, the New England troops had gathered around
the man of God,' to listen to his words of comfort, and to unite with
him in supplication at the throne of the Most High.

Johnson had expected to be joined at the Lake by many more war-
riors of the Six Nations. In this he was disappointed. A few braves,
it is true, dropped in at the camp, but by no means in the number
which the Indians had assured him would come. The old Mohegam,
Sachem, Hendrick, was mortified at the paucity of the number, and
availed himself of a council, held on the 4th, to explain to Johnson and
his officers why so few braves had joined his standard. This was the
last formal speech that the great Mohawk Chieftain lived to make.
True as tempered steel to the interests of the English — like Massasoit of
early New England days his last moments were in harmony with those
of his life — spent in keeping the Six Nations steadfast to their alliance.
Although he was a rude brave of the forest, yet his noble appreciation
of the public welfare, the more polished Governor of Massachusetts,
Shirley, who had through jealousy, done every thing in his power to
thwart Johnson, might well have imitated.

1 Rev. Stephen Williams of "Long Meadow, Mass, Chaplain of William's Regiment.

2 Hendrick was a Mohawk only by adoption.

60 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

General Johnson's plan of operations was to build a fort at the head
of the Lake, and to remain there until a sufficient number of bateaux
could be constructed in which to transport his stores and artillery to
Crown Point. As soon as those were in readiness, he designed to
proceed down the Lake, with all his available forces to Ticonderoga, and
there remain until strengthened by sufficient reinforcements, he could
successfully attack Crown Point — the objective point of his expedition.
Ticonderoga had long been considered by military men as a " very
dangerous and important pass;" and it was his design to construct on
that promontory a fort which should command the only two water passes
to the lower settlements. This movement was, therefore, well planned;
for if it should not be deemed advisable to attack Crown Point, the
French could at least, be prevented from passing down either of the
Lakes. The General was also the more anxious to proceed, from intelli-
gence received through his scouts, that a small party of French had
already occupied this important pass — really in this campaign, the
Thermopylae of America. Before, however, his arrangements could
be completed, the rapid movements of the enemy foiled this well con-
ceived design.

Early in July, deVaudreuil, the Governor of Canada, who was informed
through papers taken from Braddock, of Shirley's proposed expedition
against Niagara, arranged a well concerted attack upon Oswego.
Learning, however, that the English were advancing by way of St.
Sacrament (Lake George) against Crown Point, he changed his pur-
pose; and, calling back the troops already on their way to Oswego,
sent them, under Baron Dieskaii, to meet the forces of Gen. Johnson,
Leaving a large force at Crown Point, the Baron took six hundred
Indians, seven hundred Canadians, and two hundred regulars and pro-
ceeding up Lake Champlain, landed at the head of that Lake — South
Bay, now Whitehall.' The intention of the French General was first
to attack Fort Edward, and then to cut off the retreat of Johnson and
annihilate his army. This accomplished, Albany and the lower settle-
ments, and, perhaps even New York, were to be destroyed. This plan
was in harmony with the motto upon the Baron's arms " Boldness
Wins;" and though it was brilliant it was also rash.

On the evening of the fourth day after disembarking at South Bay,
the French Army found itself through the treachery of his Iroquois
guides, on the road to Lake George, four miles distant from Fort

1 The Indian name of Whitehall was Kah-cho-quate-na — "The place where dip fish."

THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED. 61

Edward. Here the Baron halted and sent forward a party of Indians
under St. Pierre to reconnoiter. They soon returned having killed a
courier whom Gen. Johnson had sent to warn the garrison at Fort
Edward of their danger. As it was evident from this, that the com-
mander of the Fort was now on the alert, Dieskau gave the Indians the
choice either of attacking the fort or marching against the camp at the
Lake. The Indians, who had a peculiar horror of artillery, having
learned through a prisoner that the camp at the Lake was destitute of
cannon, positively refused to attack the fort, but expressed their
willingness to be led against the latter. Those of the Iroquois, also,
who were with Dieskau, having been beguiled from their allegiance to
the British Crown by le Vaudreuil, also refused because Fort Edward,
they said, was on English soil. Having thus ascertained the disposition
of his Indian allies, the French General gave up, for the present, his
original design; and marching through the forest in the northerly part
of the present towns of Kingsbury and Queensbury, encamped on the
margin of a small pond on the east of the Lake George road, and near
the northern spur of the French Mountain.

On the evening of the 7th of September, Johnson was apprized
through scouts, that a road had been cut from South Bay, and that a
large body of men were marching to the Hudson. The General
immediately sent expresses to New York and New England for rein-
forcements, and at the same time dispatched two messengers to Fort
Edward to warn Col. Blanchard of the advance of the French army.
One of these couriers, was, as has been stated, intercepted and killed,
but the other returned at midnight, bringing the startling intelligence
that the enemy were only four miles from the Fort. A council of war
was called early the. next morning, in which it was the general opinion
of both officers and Indians that a detachment of one thousand troops
and two hundred Indians should be sent out in aid of Fort Edward " to
catch the enemy in their retreat, either as victors or as defeated in their
design." Hendrick, alone, disapproved of the number. "If," said
that sage counsellor, " they are to fight they are too few; if they are
to be killed the}- are too many;" and again, when it was proposed to
send out the detachment in three parties, the Mohawk Chieftain, pick-
ing up three sticks from the ground, said " Put these together and you
cannot break them; take them one by one, and you will do it easily."
His advice, however, on both points was disregarded; and the Pro-
vincials, under the gallant Col. Ephraim Williams, and the confede-

WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

rate warriors led by the venerable Mohawk brave, set out without
delay in three divisions, and marched toward the Fort, where it was
supposed the enemy would be found. As soon as they left the camp,
Johnson had some trees felled to form, with the wagons and bateaux,
a rude breastwork; and at the same time, some heavy cannon, destined
for the attack on Crown Point, were drawn up from the shore of the
Lake and posted in advantageous positions.

Meanwhile, Dieskau, advised through his Indian scouts of the advance
of Col. Williams, arranged in a defile near at hand an ambuscade in the
shape of a crescent; the regulars being stationed in the centre, and the
Canadians and Indians on either side where they were concealed on the
right by thickets, and on the left by rocks and trees.

Col. Williams advanced with his division to Rocky Brook, about two
miles from the camp, and halted until he should be overtaken by Lieut.
Whiting and Hendrick with the rest of the party. As soon as they
came up. the Colonel, singularly, unsuspicious of danger, and neglecting
his usual precaution of throwing ahead skirmishers ; gave the order to
advance ; and the entire column preceded by Hendrick and his warriors,
marched briskly forward and entered the fatal defile. It had been the
express orders of Dieskau that his men should reserve their fire until
the English were entirely within the half-circle. Fortunately, however,
before the detachment were wholly within the ambush, one of Dieskau's
Iroquois, relenting, fired a musket purposely to warn the Mohawks of
their danger under Hendrick.' Instantly, terriffic yells and rattling
of musketry filled the air, as volley after volley was poured with murder-
ous effect upon the left of Williams' column, and upon the Indians in
front. Hendrick, who was in advance of his braves, and who being
corpulent and mounted on horseback, formed a conspicuous mark for
the enemy's bullets, fell dead at the first fire. Col. Williams was also
killed in the early part of the action, being shot through the head as he
was standing upon a huge boulder which he had mounted the better to
direct the movements of his men. - ' A hurried retreat of the Provincials

1 Statement by Dieskau himself. Other accounts say that the gun was accidently discharged.

2 Two of Col. Williams' companions immediately concealed the body from the scalp-knives of
the advancing Indians, and it was found after the battle unmutilated and was buried some twenty
rods southeast of where he fell at the foot of a huge pine beside the military road. In 1835, his
nephew. Dr. W. H. Williams of Raleigh. X. C. dissinterred and carried off the skull. The boulder
on which Col. Williams fell is now surmounted by a Marble Monument, twelve feet high, erected
by the alumni of Williams' College, and bears appropriate inscriptions on each of its sides. It is
a pity that steps have not been taken to mark also with a monument the place where the great
Mohegan. Hendrick. fell. Certainly his memory is in every respect worthy of being thus com-
memorated.

THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED. 63

now followed, with the enemy close on their heels, alternately yelling
and firing. Reaching a small pond 1 near the road, a portion of the
Provincials rallied, and stationing themselves behind it, each man for
himself, checked the pursuit until the arrival of Lieut. Col. Cole, whom
Johnson, as soon as he heard the firing had sent out with three hundred
men to cover the retreat. Under the guidance of Whiting and Cole
this was successfully effected; and the party, which a little while before
had gone forth confident in their strength clambered over the barricades
of Johnson's camp, weary and dejected.

Had the French commander been able as he intended to have taken
advantage of the confusion produced in Johnson's camp by the arrival
of the panic stricken fugitives, and, while his men were flushed with
success rushed forward and carried the breastworks by storm, he would
doubtless have been successful. But the Indians and Canadians, coming
in sight of Johnson's cannon, halted and finally skulked off to the edge
of the woods leaving the regulars to begin the attack. This delay lost
the Baron the victory, and gave the Provincials full fifteen minutes in
which to improve their defences, and recover from their previous
trepidation.

The attack was begun by the regulars who advanced in perfect order
against the center, firing by platoons. As their polished arms were
first discovered advancing from the woods, a slight tremor seized the
Provincials, but after the first few volleys they lost all fear and fought
with coolness and desperation a Finding that no impression could be
made upon the centre, Dieskau changed his attack to the left but with
no better effect. He next attempted to turn Johnson's right where were
stationed the regiments of Ruggles, Titcomband the late Col. Williams.
A terrific fight followed; both parties feeling that the issue of the

1 Since called Bloody Pond, from the tradition that many of those slam in this skirmish were
thrown into it— though, Dr. Fitch disputes this and ascribes the origin of the name to the circum-
stances that such numbers here fell dead into and along the pond that the brook issuing from it
was the following morning seen to be discolored with blood for some distance below. Both reasons
may be correct. The pond which is nearly circular and is generally covered in their season with
the pond lily, is probably much smaller than formerly. In 1825, the skeleton of a man was dug up
from the depth of ij^ feet at a spot near the Pond which very likely was at the time of the battle
covered with water. Close to the skeleton there were found a marble pipe, and some silver eyed
buttons bearing the royal stamp. This pipe may have been bought of an Indian; as I have a
similar one of marble in my collection, made by the early aboriginals.

2 Joseph Brant, in relating the particulars of this bloody fight to Dr. Stewart, acknowledged
that this being his first action at which he was present, he was seized with such a tremor when the
tiring began, that he was obliged to take hold of a small sapling to steady himself; but that, after
-the discharge of a few volleys, he recovered the use of his limbs and the composure of his mind so
as to support the character of a brave man. of which he was exceedingly ambition-.

64 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

struggle had now arrived. In the words of an officer present, " there
seemed nothing but thunder and lightning and perpetual pillars of
smoke, and the bullets flew like hail-stones." The Provincials, said
Dieskau after the battle, "fought like devils:" and. in some instances
leaping over the breastworks, and clubbing their arms they fought hand
to hand and face to face. Finally, the old fashioned musket, in the
hands of the New England farmers, proving superior to the glittering
bayonet, the regulars were again driven back leaving the ground
covered with their dead and wounded. During this attack upon the
right, a party of Abenakis and Canadians posting themselves in a
morass 1 , for a time made considerable havoc, but a few shells thrown
among them scattered that tribe in the greatest confusion. Thus driven
back at all points, the enemy began to waver, which was no sooner
perceived by the Provincials, than leaping over their defences with a
loud shout, they fought them until the Lake became red as the crimson
flowers that still blossom upon its margin.' 2

This fierce onset decided the day ; and the French breaking their ranks,
sought in wild disorder the cover of the woods. The French suffered
little in this action from the artillery, which, aimed generally too high,,
did but small execution — except, by the crashing of the balls in the
tree tops, to scare the Indians. All the credit is due to the personal
valor of the soldiers and officers themselves.

In this battle almost all the French regulars were killed. Dieskau,
although he had received three balls in his legs and one across his knee
while fighting close to the barricades, '' refused to leave the field; and
supported by the stump of a tree, continued amid the whistling of
bullets, calmly to give his orders. Finally, as his troops were about to
retreat, a renegade Frenchman maliciously discharged his musket
through both of the Baron*s hips, inflicting a very severe wound.

1 The summer visitor to the Fort William Hotel at Caldwell, Lake George, can easily recognize
this morass at the present day.

- The Lobelia Cardenalis, commonly called the Indian Eye Bright. The author has frequently
seen and gathered large clusters of this beautiful blossom, growing on the banks of Lake George
and Bloody Pond. The late Alfred B. Street has embalmed this flower in a touching Indian legend,
in his entertaining Woods and Waters.

3 I am reminded by this circumstance of a remark which my friend. Hon. C. C. Lester, made
lately while looking at Trumbull's paintings of the Death of Montgomery at Quebec, and Warren
at Bunker Hill, in my library. — that the mode of fighting in those days was very different from that
of the present — where the General commanding, at a good and safe distance from the scene of con-
flict, directs with his spy-glass from a far off eminence the movements of his troops. Indeed, this
change was noticable even in the time of Napoleon the Great. Who ever knew of him, except in
his earliest campaign in Italy under the " Directory." to expose his precious body to danger !

THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED. 65

Lieut. Col. Pommeroy, coming- up at this moment, the Baron was, by
his orders, conveyed by eight men in a blanket to the tent of the American
commander, where he received every attention due to a brave but unfortu-
nate man — Gen. Johnson refusing to have his own wounds dressed until
those of his late opponent had been properly attended to. ' Le Gardeur
de St. Pierre, the same officer who had defeated Washington the
previous year on the Ohio, received his death wound in the skirmish of
the morning. His last words were: "fight on boys, this is Johnson, not
Braddock /"

In the beginning of the action, Gen. Johnson "displayed a firm and
steady mind," and conducted himself with great bravery; but soon
receiving a painful wound in the hips, he was forced to retire, leaving
the command to Maj.-Gen. Lyman. During all of the fight which
lasted from half-past ten in the morning until four in the afternoon,
Lyman behaved with distinguished bravery; repeatedly showing himself
in front of the defences in order to encourage his men; and yet, will it
be credited when it is stated that Lyman lingered only a few years in
poverty and disappointment and died without receiving even the notice
of the British Government ! Still, in our day, instances of similar
ingratitude have been known even by republics — though it has become
a common saying that even " Republics are ungrateful."

The misfortunes of the enemy were not, however, at an end. Toward
evening of the same daj r , as the shattered remnants of the French
army were seated near Rocky Brook, refreshing themselves after the
late exhaustive battle, they were suddenly attacked by a party of two
hundred New Hampshire troops under Capt. Maginnis, who were on
their way to Lake George from Fort Edward, and completely routed,
leaving, in the words of an eye witness, " their garments and weapons of
war for miles together like the Assayrians in their flight." The brave

1 Too much cannot be said in praise of Dieskau. He was morally as great as he was brave
He remained a short time, while recuperating from his wounds, as the guest of Gen. Schuyler at
Albany. Before he left America a warm friendship sprang up between himself and his conqueror.
and previously to his returning to France he presented Johnson with a magnificent sword as a
token of his regard. Johnson acknowledged this gift in a feeling letter to the Baron which MS.
letter is in my possession— and if space permitted 1 would here give it at length. " I know not
what at present will be my fate," wrote Dieskau to Count D'Argenson, Sept. 14, 1755. "From
M. de Johnson, the General of the English army, I am receiving all the attention possible to
be expected from a brave man, full of honor and feeling." The French Government entertained,
notwithstanding his defeat, a high idea of his services. It gave him 12,000 livres as Major-
General, 25,000 more as commander of the forces in America, and a retaining pension of 4,000.
Dieskau died in 1767, in France, the ultimate consequence of his wounds received in this action.

[3]

66 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Maginnis, however, received a contusion on the head from a spent
bullet, and died soon after reaching- the camp.

The bodies of those slain in this skirmish were buried in the bottom
of the glen, beneath the shadow of everlasting- rocks. It is a sweet,
wild haunt, — the sunbeam falls there with a softened radiance — and a
brook near by murmers plaintively as if mourning for the dead.

In the three actions of the day, about two hundred and twenty of the
Provincials were killed, and ninety-one wounded. Their loss was
greater than it might otherwise have been, from the fact that several
were hit by poisoned bullets rolled up in copper and yellow arsenic — thus
mere flesh wounds soon mortified, some of the soldiers dying in convul-
sions. l ( )f the Six Nations forty of their braves perished.

I The following letter, written by Abigail I) wight, a sister of Col. Ephraim and Surgeon Thomas

Williams (an extract of whose letter has just been quoted i to an intimate friend Abraham Boekee,
then a shop-keeper in New York City, has recently been unearthed fnom a mass of MS. letters, by
his great, great, grand daughter. Martha Bockee Flint. As this letter throws much light upon the
politics of the campaign of 1755. and, withal, brings the reader into intimate relations with two of
the principal actors in those scenes. 1 give it nearly in its entirety. The fact is. also, that so far
as I know, this is the only private letter extant describing the battle; and therefore, it is of superla-
tive value. 1

Stockbridge, ro Novemr., 1755.
Dear Sir:

It is long since I received your kind favour of Septemr. Wee of our mournful
afflicted family have Ben plunged into such a depth of Sorrow from ye late Sad Ca-
tastrophy at Lake George yt could scarcely attend to anything but Lamentation and
Weeping. My Eldest Brother, Coll: Ephraim Williams was among ye slain as you
have doubtless heard. He was a most Generous, pleasant Charming man, admired
and loved by all yt knew him ; from his universall acquaintance with ye world, having
Travilled 3 years abroad into all nations, and his great experience in commercial
affairs.

He was chosen for one of ye Principal Officers to conduct our Crownpoint Expe-
dition. But allass, in front of Batall He must Be one of ye first men yt fell. Ye will
of God is done and wee must Submit. Many (lenmen are pleased to Say not one Man
in the whole Army could have been so Great a Loss. He was sent out with ye Com-
mand of Seven or eight Hundred Men. About eight o'clock, having marched about
four miles from ye camp met ye french Army and at yt unhappy Spot they had a
severe engagement and my poor Bror fell. Poor Bror Siah was an Ensign in his
Regement & Happened to be about ye Distance of Seven rods abreast. Took a tree

1 " Michael Harrington died of the wound he received through the fleshy part of the thigh, the
ball undoubtedly poisoned; as also one Johnathan Burt of Brimfield by a poisoned ball through the
man could cot stop the mortification which seized the wounded part, and presently, a few hours
arm: and one Brisbee, by a slight shot in the leg which threw him into convulsions. The art of
shut up the scene. Oh cursed malice, that the fatal lead should not be thought sufficient without
being rolled up with a solution of copper and yellow arsenic, as I am thoughtful was the case, by
manv of the poisoned balls which were brought in out of their bullet-pouches, taken among the
plunder. MS. letter in my possession. Surgeon Thomas Williams to his wife. This is the onlv
instance that I recollect of the use of poisoned bullets in battle

ABIGAIL DWIGHT'S LETTER. 67

to stand his Ground Agreeable to yee Orders. Discharged his gun at an Indian about
5 rod before him which took his Life. He fell and yelled. My Brother squat to
Charge before he retreated & as. he. was throwing in his Powder he Receivd a shot
from one of ye Savages who flanked him, into his Right thigh Ye Ball came out at his
Left Buttock cut of ye String of his Bladder in passing through his Body. Imedeately
saw from whence came ye Shot, ye Savage running toward him with his hatchet. He
instantly started and run about ]/ 2 a mile, life failing crept into a Hole made By two
trees Blown up by ye roots. Lay in Water until he was a little Revived, saw his
blood so thick where he went in yt. he Expected to be followed for his Scalpe.

When ye Retreate had passed him took Courage and went out & as one and
another was retreating without Wounds sometimes got a little help by hanging to
men's Shoulders. Sometimes when All left him, as was ye case several times, he
crawled along himself till at length was quite spent & for saken by All his fleeing
friends. Giving over Hopes of Deliverance there came by a young mohawk in his
Retreat, offered his Back, took him up & run near a quarter of a mile with him into
ye camp. So marvellous a wonder was his Escape from ye jawes of ye Devourer.

Well, now his life was almost gone, ye enemy almost upon ye Camp, ye Battal
come on & long as it lasted no care could be had for y e wounded. But all things are
ordered in Wisdom. My Second Brother, Doct Thomas Williams being ye Chief
Surgion of ye Regement, took a most Special Care, provided y e Best Attendance for
a long time, Yet he was looked upon as past all Hope & Helpe. His wound mortified
<Sr much flesh cut out of it. After all as Divine Providence would have it. by Degrees
he mended and got Home in a Horse litter and Yesterday Sat upright in his Chair
some minites. Sends his Kind love to your self and Mrs. Bockce.

So bad a Wound perhaps one in 10 thousand was never cured. And all soe ye
poor Distressed army Held there in Sickness, Die by ioods & not Discharged. Held
and Nothing Done, and all ye World with Half an Eye must know Nothing can be
Done at this Advanced Season, and ye first Plan it was Plain as ye Sun in ye fairest
day, as Soon as Braddock was defeated yt ye Crownpoint Army would have all
Canada to fight, and with ye Savages and Regulars could make 25,000 men and
would Do it at any Expense rather than have ye finest Key and Dore to their whole
Country cut off ye Hinges and for us to Desire it ye vast expense of Money and what
is Infinitely Better, Blood in such wicked Profusion, is not only sorded cruelty. But
ye most redikelous and unjustifiable Murder of our Selves.

Suppossing we had Got it under ye greatest possible Desadvantages with ye loss
of thousands of precious lives, and no other point saved, what advantage could it be
to us? Why not a single farthing, for it is impossable we could Keep it against their
whole country's water carrage for ye conveyance of all their strength Both men and
Artilery which' comes as easy as a freight from you to Albany, & What can we do
toward Supporting our Selves there if we had ye Possession of it this Winter when
we can hardly keep the Army at Lake George with 6 days provision Beforehand
when we had ye rest of ye year and ye Summer to carry it in. If they Demolished
it ye French could in one month's time Build it again. Upon ye whole, it looks as
if our Councils were darkened. Wisdom in a remarkable manner hid from those yt
should be wise.

When there is a Plan laid with a rational prospekt yt can succeed against ye
french, wee shall probably see a War declared — ye whole Country of Canada in ye

WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

severall Dispersions of it attackt at once. Then their strength will Be Divided, their
Provision will serve for our Supplies and not ye first Army cut off before ye second
can possibly Be in Readiness to make an attack and wee shall have men found yt
shall chuse to tight ye common Enemy rather than their own men or ye trees, &
woTit Be Sacraficed to serve no purpose except to prepare a lazy camp with a Generll
yt would contentedly lye by without Business for 20 days & never order so much as
an Intrenchment throwed up to cover every Mans Body in case of Battals ye work of
20 minus or very Little more, and then its Hopeful we shall have an Engineer yt
rather chuses to Levil his cannon to answer Battal & not at trees 20 foot from the
ground at a time when firewood was not wanted & a gunner should perceive ye mis-
take. He would not be offered ye sword if he opened his mouth.

But ailass my good friend, time fails me and I know Ive tired your patience.
You will know by a Little what a great Deal means, its ye universal opinion of our
wise genm. this way yt. wee have lost at Lake George more than wee have gained.
We know of Little gain. But we know yt. wee have lost a nr. of Brave, Valient
officers and men Equil in all respects to any we have taken — men whose country
can't for another campaign furnish their Equils. A major under my Dear Brother. 3
captns. and sundry Leftns, I knew personally. All Died with him in Battal.
Some of ye Best Men for Courage and Conduct & cant be mourned to much. I

find By your Newspapers you know but Little of ye Matter as it really stands.

* * * *

I conclude with great Esteem your very obliged afflicted friend & very Humble
servent Abigail Dwight.

The loss of the French was between three and four hundred.

The months of October and November were chiefly occupied in build-
ing a strong fort at the head of the Lake. A fortification at this point
was rightly considered by Johnson extremely important as it would thus
command the passage into Canada by way of Fort Edward and Lake
George in the same way as Fort Anne commanded the one by way of
Wood Creek. Its importance had also been seen by the Lieut. -Governor
of Xew York, who, in the preceding year had urged the erection of a
fort at the southern extremity of St. Sacrament on the ground that it
would be a defense against the French and a protection for the Mohawks.
A council of war held at the camp, on the ;th of September, had
recommended the expediency of building a small picketed fort without
delay. This was opposed by the General who thought that a strong
fortification should be constructed capable of holding, in an emergency,
five hundred men. He, however, yielded to the will of the majority,
and a fort was begun, which went on so slowly that by the last of
September it was not nearly completed; only a dozen men at one time
being found by Johnson engaged on the work.

On the 29th, advices were received from Sir Charles Hardy, the new

THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED. 69

Governor of New York, stating that it was the wish of himself and his
Majesty's Council that a durable and commodious fort should be con-
structed as soon as possible. Upon this wish being communicated to a
council of war it was immediately decided to erect a fort which should
meet his views. The General, accordingly, sent to Fort Edward for
all the shovels and spades which the officer at that post could spare, and
the fort was forthwith begun. The work, however, did not progress
so rapidly as Johnson desired. "The fort,"' he writes on the 7th of
October, " goes on, all things considered, pretty well." On September
15 th. there was an unusual muster of troops in Massaclmsetts to rein-
force Johnson : ' Hence, the New England men knowing that they were
expected to proceed, and therefore, the more impatient to carry out the
wishes of their friends at home, and not seeing the necessity of a fort,
did not enter into the work with alacrity. It was using their services, they
selfishly thought, solely for the benefit of New York — not perceiving
that a fort at this place, which would hold the French in check, was as
much needed for the protection of their own frontiers as for those of
their sister Province. The work, therefore, lingered along, and it was
not until the middle of November, that the fort was completed receiving
from Johnson the name of William Henry, in honor of two Princes of
the Royal blood."

But little more was accomplished during the remainder of the
campaign. Scouting parties, it is true, under Captain Rogers, the
famous ranger, amused themselves with surprises upon the enemy,
often executing them so adroitly that many of the French in the vicinity
of Fort Frederick (Ticonderoga) bit the dust — one Frenchman being
taken and scalped under the very wall of that Fort." It was now,
however, late in the autumn; and a council of war having decided on the
28th of November, that it was too late in the season to proceed farther
with the expedition, the General disbanded his army; and leaving six

1 See an old Almanac for 1755, owned bv Rev. Samuel Townsend.

- Mr. Bancroft, I think, is mistaken in calling this a ' useless tori of wood." It was successfully-
defended in the spring of 1757 las we shall see further on) against a force of two thousand troops.
supplied with three hundred scaling ladders and it was only captured the succeeding summer
O758) by the abject cowardice of Gen. Webb. While it was not, of course, a fortification of the
first or, perhaps, second class, it was far from " useless."

3 A full and detailed account of this raid, as well as others of a similar character, will be given
in a future chapter.

TO WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

hundred men to garrison the Fort, resigned his commission, and returned
in the middle of December to his home at Mount Johnson. 1

In the conduct of this campaign, Gen. Johnson has been severely
censured in two particulars: first, in not following up the routed army
of Dieskau. and thus preventing its escape down Lake Champlain; and
secondly, that instead of boldly advancing against Crown-Point, he
allowed the autumn to pass away in comparative inactivity, contenting
himself in constructing a " useless fort."

Regarding the first of these charges, there can be no question, that
in not following up the French army, the General committed a grave
blunder by allowing his caution to prevail over the better judgment of
his officers. Gen. Lyman begged, that with his men flushed with recent
victory and anxious for the pursuit, he might be sent after the enemy.
The reply given to him by the General — " that he had reason to expect
a renewal of the attack, and that it would be dangerous to weaken the
main body of the army by sending out detachments to scour the country, "
is not sufficient to justify his refusal of Lyman's request. Exhausted
and dispirited as the enemy were, they were in no condition to have
made a successful defence, much less to have resumed the aggressive;
and the probability is that if Gen. Lyman's suggestion had been followed,
the gates of Fort Frederick never would have opened to receive the
broken and dejected ranks of Dieskau's army.

Respecting the second and more serious of these criticisms, however,
Gen. Johnson is not so culpable as may at first appear. It was well
known to the General, both through scouts which he had dispatched
for that ptxrpose. and the Baron's captured papers, that Crown-Point
was heavily garrisoned, and that at Ticonderoga strong breastworks
had been thrown up. The experience, moreover, of the last engage-
ment had shown him how difficult it was for even thoroughly trained
troops to capture rude and hastily constructed defences ; and he therefore
very wisely hesitated before attacking, with raw and undisciplined
militia, breastworks which had been carefully put up, and which were
defended by regulars, trained under the best Generals of Europe. 2 In
addition to this, the artillery of the enemy which on the first movement

1 About a mile west of Amsterdam. The house is still (18991 standing and is plainly visible to-
the passenger as he passes by on the X. V. C. R. R.

2 The experience of Abercrombie. in 1758, in attacking the breastworks erected by Montcalm,
at Ticonderoga (an account of which will be given in it* proper place I and also the battle of Bunker
Hill, twenty-five years afterwards, show that Johnson did well to hesitate.

THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED. 71

down the Lake could be 'easily and with comparative celerity transported
down the Lake from Crown- Point to Ticonderoga, was such as to make
an attack hazardous in the extreme, unless with a very strong army of
disciplined troops, and with a sufficient supply of heavy ordnance,
neither of which Johnson possessed. He, also, was greatly hampered
by the remissness of contractors, whom no exertions on his part could
stimulate into activity ; and all he could do under these untoward circum-
stances, was to emyloy his men in constructing a fort (which it will be
remembered, he had been ordered to erect by the New York Assembly)
hoping by this course to prevent any insubordination that might arise
through idleness. He was, also, unwilling to have his retreat cut off
by way of South Bay (Whitehall) and Wood Creek, in case he was un-
successful, by not having an open communication with Fort Edward
and Albany. Boldness, alone, does not always constitute good general-
ship; and he who neglects to provide for every foreseen contingency, is
deficient in the first requisite of a good general.

Although General Johnson, owing to causes over which he had no
control, failed in the original object of the expedition, yet his services
in making one of the four expeditions planned at Alexandria on Im-
partially successful, were appreciated both by the Crown and by the
people of his own Province — the former creating him in November a
Baronet of Great Britain, and the latter greeting him with an illumina-
tion and a triumphal procession on his arrival at New York on the last of
December. 1 Parliament, also voted him its thanks for his victory,
together with the handsome sum of ^5000.

The action of the 8th of September, 1755, so ^ ar as concerns the
number of men engaged, was not a great battle; but when viewed in
its immediate strategical results, it well deserves a prominent place
among the battles of American history. The late Rev. Cortlandt Van
Rensselaer thus eloquently sums up its results.

"I. The battle of Lake George is memorable in defeating a well
laid, dangerous scheme of the enemy and in saving the Province from
scenes of bloodshed and desolation. If Dieskau had succeeded in over-
throwing Johnson in his entrenchments, his advance upon Fort Edward
would have been easily successful, and thence his march to Albany
[and to New York] would have been triumphant. Old Hendrick, at the
convention of the preceding year [at Albany when Franklin and the

1 It is tu be presumed that for that day (from ail accounts) this was fully equal t" the late
" Dewev Celebration " in New York City !

n WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

Royal Governors were present] had warned the Province of its danger.
"You are without any fortifications," said he. "It is but a step from
Canada hither, and the French may easily come and turn you out of
doors." The conflagration of our Northern Settlements would have
been followed by the desolation of Albany and Schenectady; and
although Dieskau must have soon been compelled to retreat, it is
impossible to estimate the bloodshed, plunder and general losses which
might have taken place. God's Providence was on our side. The
victon- of Lake George undoubtedly rescued the Province from injury
and woe beyond computation; considered, therefore, in its strategical
results, the battle was one of the important engagements in American
history.

" II. The battle of Lake George is remarkable for its influence in
rallying the spirit of the American Colonies. Much had been expected
from the three expeditions sent against the French: but disappointment
and sorrow had already followed Braddock's terrible defeat. It was
more than the moaning of the forest pine in the ears of the solitary
traveller; it was the blaze of lighting falling upon the mountain oak in
his very path, followed by the crash of thunder; all the Provinces were
amazed, awe-struck, paralyzed for a time; but recovering from the first
shock of the calamity, they were aroused to avenge their loss. Their
hopes were turned to Lake George, and not in vain. Johnson's victory
was received as the precursor of a recovered military position and fame,
and was hailed as the means of deliverance from a bold and cruel foe.
Few battles ever produced more immediate results in rekindling military
and martial enthusiasm. Not only were the Colonies filled with rejoic-
ing, but the influence of the triumph went over to England; and the
deeds of our fathers at the camp of Lake George became familiar to the-
ears of Royalty and were applauded by the eloquence of Parliament.
The moral effects of a battle in which the forces arrayed against each
other were comparatively small have rarely been greater in the whole
range of military annals.

"III. Viewed simply in a military aspect, the Battle of Lake George
was the only successful achievement within the Thirteen Colonies during
the campaign of ijjj. Braddock's defeat on the Monongahela, and
Shirley's retreat from Oswego, brought ruin upon the expeditions-
framed for the reduction of Forts Duquesne and Niagara. Although the
Northern Expedition failed in its object of reducing Fort Frederick, it
had a show of glory in the brilliant success of a hard fought battle.

THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED. 73

Success in one direction often overbalances disappointment in another.
The victory of General Johnson was the great event of the campaign of
1755, solitary in the honors of its military triumph, and shining out,
bright as brass, from the clouds of night.

' ' IV. The victory of Lake George occurred in a series of campaigns
that ended in the conquest of Canada and of the Valley of the Great West.
Here in the forest, was the base of a line of operations on which were
wrought out great problems of war. The mountains of the Lake were
landmarks to conduct our armies from summit to summit of achieve-
ment, until, passing on all barriers, they found their resting place in
the Valley of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi. Unknown results
of territorial acquisition and of political and religious destiny lay con-
cealed in the expedition which started for the capture of a single fort
on Lake Champlain, and for the defence of the limited boundary line
of a Province. * * * The American victory of Lake George was not
an isolated item of our campaign. It was more than a simple triumph
in an unbroken wilderness — a military achievement of the New Vork
and New England yeomanry. It headed a series of successes that
were followed by the gain of Kingdoms. It heralded the deliverance
from French aggressions and agitations. * * * Johnson's victory
had a true influence of relation to this end. As the southern inlet near
Fort George joins itself to the Lake, whose waters flow to the north,
and, tossed over cascades and waterfalls, pass into the St. Lawrence, so
the expedition of 1755, identifying itself with a vast expanse of agencies,
pressed forward over the rocks and reverses of campaigns, into Canada.
But Canada was only a part of the great acquisitions of the war. The
whole northwest was wrested from France, together with the Valley of
the Mississippi lying easterly of that river, with the exception of the
the Island of Orleans.

" V. The battle of Lake George was furthermore memorable in its
suggestions of Provi)icial Princess, and its lessons of zuarfare to the
Colonies preparatory to their Independence. The battle was fought by
Provincial troops and chiefly by the hardy sons of glorious New
England. The veteran regulars of Old England had been beaten in
the forests of Western Pennsylvania, or remained inactive in the
Niagara expedition. Through some unaccountable cause, the expedi-
tion, which was on the direct line of Canada, and nearest to the French
reinforcements, known to be at hand, was consigned to the exclusive

[9]

74 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

care of native Colonial soldiers: and bravely did they do their duty;
and in this battle and in this war, the Colonies practically learned the
value of union and the unconquerable energies of a free people."

CHAPTER VII.

The Winter of 1756-7 Passes with no Concerted Action on the Part ok the
English Against the Enemy — Raids of Rogers, Stark and Putnam — Attack
ok the French Upon Fort William Henry — Defeat of the Enemy and
Their Retreat.

The winter of 1756-57 wore away in gloomy inactivity; its repose
being unbroken save by the sending out of scouting parties occasionally
to watch the movements of the enemy in the vicinity of Fort St. Fred-
erick (Ticonderoga) and Crown- Point. Some of these parties, under the
command of Captain Rogers of the New Hampshire regiment and Cap-
tain Israel Putnam of Connecticut, went directly down Lake George;
others, under Stark, ranging the forests in the vicinity of Fort Anne,
Dresden and Putnam. Serving under Putnam at this time was a cer-
tain Lieutenant Noah Grant, said to have been the great-grandfather of
President I". S. Grant, but on what reputable authority this statement
is made, I know not. The expedition against Ticonderoga, owing to
the unusual mildness of the season, was given up, and the French were
left for some months to mature their plans of conquest unmolested.

Meanwhile, another plan was put on foot for the capture of Crown-
Point. With this view, some six thousand men were raised by New
York and New England and placed under the command of Gen. Seth
Winslow, who, notwithstanding his lamentable failures, hitherto, seems
to have retained the public confidence. At Fort Edward Winslow was
joined by that imbecile, Gen. James Abercromby, ' who brought with
him a body of British regulars. The army, thus gathered, accomplished
nothing except to march to Fort William Henry, and thence back to
Albany. This barren result was, however, somewhat redeemed by, as
usual, a Provincial officer.

1 Not Abercrombie as it is generally spelled, as is seen b} a MS. letter of his in mv possession.

THE WINTER OF 1756-57— INACTIVITY. 75

Before the army returned to Albany in October, and while a council
of war was sitting at the great Carrying- Place (Fort Edward) to answer
an important (!) question propounded by Gen. Abercromby, "What
effect a junction of the King's troops, in the campaign against Crown-
Point would have upon his Majesty's service. ' " Capt. Robert Rogers,
the uncrowned ranger, had performed a splendid feat upon Lake
Champlain — a feat characterized by romantic and daring courage.

In June, 1756, a force of 600 men under La Corn de St. Luc landed
at South Bay, and after destroying at Half-way Brook a party of
teamsters, who, under a small convey of troops, were transporting the
baggage and provisions of Winslow's army from Fort Edward to Fort
William Henry, escaped toward Fort St. Frederick by the same way
they came. Accordingly, early in June, Rogers with Putnam, in order
to intercept the mauraders, embarked with seventy- five men in five
whale-boats, carrying two small cannon, and landed on one of the
picturesque islands that adorn the Lake. The next day, his men landed
their boats some five miles distant from the Island, and carrying them
six miles over a mountain to the narrows, re-embarked about eight miles
below Whitehall in the present town of Dresden. Here they lay con-
cealed in ambush waiting until St. Luc's party should pass by on their
way to Ticonderoga. Nor was it long before his boats laden with the
plunder so recently taken, appeared. A rapid discharge of musketry
and grape from the cannon, sunk several of the boats and killed a
number of the enemy, the remainder escaping with all speed down the
Lake. Fearing that the French, heavily reinforced, would rally, they
returned to Fort William Henry, encountering on their way back, a large
party of French and Indians at Sabbath-Day Point.

After resting a few days, Rogers, with fifty men, went down Lake
George coasting its eastern shore nearly to its foot. Here, carrying
their whale-boats over the mountains of the northern part of Putnam
they re -embarked at South Bay on the 3d of July. Passing down the
Lake, reconnoitering as they went, rowing by night and lying concealed
by day, they successively passed Fort St. Frederick and Crown Point —
sailing down some thirty miles below the latter fort, while hiding
during the day, many boats — sometimes a hundred at a time — and two
large schooners passed the place of their concealment, some of the boats

1 MS. letter Surgeon Williams to his wife dated at Fort Edward in the authors' possession. "It
appears to me that the settling ranks among ourselves may (if gone into according to some gentle-
man's minds") be campaign enough for one year."

76 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

sailing so near that they could distinctly hear the orders given by the
officers in command.

On the evening of the yth of July, the scouts, which Capt. Rogers
had sent out for a reconnoissance, reported that a schooner was lying at
anchor a mile below their place of ambush. The rangers immediately
lightened their boats and were preparing to board her when two bateaux 1
manned by twelve men were discovered coming up the Lake. Waiting
until they had approached sufficiently near to the bank, the rangers
suddenly showed themselves and fired, at the same time hailing the crews
and offering quarter. Without responding to this offer, the boatmen,
hastily turning their prows towards the opposite shore, attempted to
escape. In this movement, however, the rangers anticipated them; for
leaping into their light whale-boats, they gave chase, and soon captured
the vessels and the bateaux, killing three of the crew and wounding
two, one of whom shortly after died of his wounds. Not one escaped
to carry tidings. The vessels, with their cargoes, were then sunk — the
latter consisting chiefly of grain, wine and brandy — the rangers not
having the facilities to carry them back to Fort William Henry.

By this daring achievement in the very heart of the enemy's country,
the garrison of Crown-Point were deprived of eight hundred bushels of
flour, and a large quantity of money. The destruction of the cargoes
being completed, the brave ranger and his equally gallant band, drew
up their whale-boats on the shore, and concealing them in the brush-
wood, marched through the woods on the east bank of Lake George,
reaching Fort William Henry with their prisoners on the fifeenth of
July.

Military affairs during the remainder of this vear remained generallv

1 Bateaux are so frequently mentioned in this history as being used on Lake George and
Champlain and on Wood Creek, that I think the reader will be interested in having a description of
them. The bateaux of the army (afterwards known as "Durham boats"' or barges i were riat-
bottom boats, having a plank around them to walk on or to pole, from thirty-rive to forty feet long,
each extremity terminating in a point: six feet beam in the center; usual weight, four and one-half
tons; worked by oars: a mast sail; capable of carrying 1500 lbs of cargo; drag ropes for turning and
long poles for " setting through the currents and rapids." The sides were about four feet high; and
for the convenience of the rowers, four or five benches were laid a ■metimes more, according

to the length of the bateaux. Four men managed them in summer, but in the fall another rower
was always added. " It is." says Weld, who travelled here after the Revolution, "a very awkward
sort of vessel either for rowing or sailing; but it is preferred to a boat with a keel for two very
obvious reasons: first, because it draws less water, at the same time it carries a large burden; and
secondly, it is much safer on lakes or large rivers, where storms are frequent. A proof of this came
tinder our observation the day of our leaving Montreal in 1796. We had reached a wide part of the
river, and were sailing along with a favorable wind, when suddenly the horizon grew very dark
and a dreadful storm arose accompanied with loud peals of thunder atid torrents of rain. Before
the sail could be taken in the ropes, which held it. were snapped in pieces *• * * The bateau was

RAIDS OF ROGERS, STARK AND PUTNAM. 77

in a quiescent state. Rogers and Stark, however, with their natural
inclination for a forest and adventurous life, in January of the following-
year, (1757), planned a reconnoissance that, for bravery and dare-devil
adventure, even exceeded their exploits of the previous year.

With seventy-five men, Rogers and Stark set out, and, travelling now
on the ice, and now on snow-shoes, they skirted the eastern bank of
Lake George ; crossed over on the third day out to Lake Champlain and
captured some sledges which they met. From the prisoners thus taken,
it was learned that Fort St. Frederick was strongly garrisoned. A few
of the men in the sledges having escaped, Rogers knew that a party
would at once be sent out to attack him; and he, therefore, ordered an
immediate return to Fort William Henry. 1

On their way back, as they were tramping over the snow in single
file, they unexpectedly found themselves face to face with a force of
French and Indians who had skillfully prepared an ambush — I say
"skillfully" advisedly, as it must have been so to take Rogers and
Stark — such experienced woodsmen — by surprise.

In the conflict which now followed. Rogers was wounded in the head ;
and Stark, thereupon assuming the command, from a neighboring
eminence formed his line and " firmly stood, in snow four feet in depth
from tw T o o'clock till nightfall," and repelled every attack of the enemy
during that period. Stark also valiantly maintained his ground; and

consequently driven ashore, but the bottom of it being quite Bat, it was carried southerly upon
the beach without sustaining any injury; and the men, leaping out, drew it upon dry land where
we remained out of all danger till the storm was over. A keel-boat, however, of the same size,
could not have approached nearer to the shore than thirty feet, and then it would have stuck fast
in the sand, and probably have been filled with water." Weld, who appears to have been a very
shrewd observer, also gives an account of the manner in which the boatmen manipulate their
craft. "The men," he writes, "set their poles together at the same moment, and all worked at the
same side of the bateaux. The steersman, however, shifts his pole accasionally from side to side
in order to keep the vessel in an even direction. The poles commonly used are about eight feet in
length, extremely light and headed with iron, on coming to a deep bay or inlet, the men abandon
the poles, take to their oars, and strike, if possible, directly across the mouth of the ba\'; but if the
current is too strong, they pole entirely round the bay. Whenever the wind is favorable the) set
their sail * * * The exertion required to stem the current is so great that the men are obliged
to stop very frequently to take breath. The places where they stop are regularly ascertained,
some of them, where the current is very rapid, are not more than half a mile distant, one from the
other; others one or two, but none of them more than four miles apart. Each of these places, the
boatmen, who are almost all French Canadians, denominate ' one pipe,' because they are allowed
to stop at it and fill their pipes.

1 The reader is, of course, aware that an account of these expeditions which took place on
Lake George is not irrelevant to the present history. That Lake forms the northwestern boundary
of Washington county and hence all of these raids here given and to be narrated, further on,
occurred properly within the limits of that county; and whenever, as 1 said, in ray Introductory
Chapter, events are spoken of as happening in contiguous territory, they necessarily form a part
of the narration— if a correct understanding of these events is to be arrived at.

78 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

wherever the fire was the hottest he was found encouraging his men,,
going so far even as to threaten " to shoot the first man who should
attempt to fly. " The French gave up the fight at the approach of dusk;
and those of the Rangers (forty-eight in number) who were unharmed,
marched all night, through the woods and in defiance of the cold of a
severe winter's night, reaching the foot of Lake George the following
morning. At this point Stark, notwithstanding the terrible fatigue he
had endured, pushed on to the fort at the head of the Lake, by himself,
where, procuring sledges he returned for the wounded, all of whom (he
himself drawing a loaded sledge) were finally brought back in safety to
the Fort. Stark thus ' ' stood out through three days and two nights of
incessant and severe toil, engaged for nearly four hours in a hot combat;,
and the remainder of the time in travelling over snows and ice.*' " We
effeminate men of the present day," writes Dr. Fitch, "can scarcely
credit that any human frame was ever capable of such endurance."

But, notwithstanding these raids, which, when successful, helped to
sustain the faltering hopes of the colonists, clouds of black portent
hung over the opening of the new year, 1757.

Nothing so loses the respect of the Red Man as imbecility. The
inactivity of the English during the year succeeding Baron Dieskau's
defeat, and the consequent successes of the French; had in a measure,
aided the latter to alienate the " Confederacy of the Six Nations" from
the English interest ; and an occurrence, therefore, which happened at
this time by turning a little the scale, conduced greatly towards keeping
these tribes loyal — a circumstance of incalculable moment to the
Colonists in the war now impending.

The report brought in by Mohawk scouts to Sir William Johnson in the
early spring of 1757, that a French army was on its way to attack Fort
Edward and the lower settlements, was not without foundation. On the
15th of March of that year a strong force under the command of Rigaud
de Vaudreuil (a brother of the then Governor of Canada) left Ticon-
deroga to ravage the frontiers of New York. Sleds, drawn by dogs,
carried their provisions and munitions of war. Silently, under the
overhanging cliffs of the Putnam Mountains, this body glided along on
snow-shoes, slept at night on bear-skins with snow for their mattresses ;
and covered only with sail cloth, skirted the western border of Dresden
and the northwestern corner of Fort Anne: and. on the evening of the
17th, encamped three miles from Fort William Henry — the immediate
object of their journey.

FRENCH ATTACK ON FORT WILLIAM HENRY. TO

At two o'clock on the morning' of the following" day the attention of
a ranger sentinel on the ramparts of that fort was attracted to a
mysterious light at some distance down the Lake. The conjectures to
which this appearance gave rise were soon set at rest, when the gray
dawn disclosed on the ice in front of the fort fifteen hundred French
regulars, Canadians and Indians, armed with thtfie hundred scaling-
ladders and everything necessary for a vigorous attack. Hardly,
however, had the sun appeared above the horizon, when the guns of the
fort served by William Eyre, 1 one of Braddock's most skillful engineers
and artillerists, compel the enemy to retire with considerable loss.
Towards noon, with their forces arranged in a semi-circle, they renewed
the attack, but with no better success. At midnight of the same day
they attempt a surprise, but accomplish nothing except the burning of
the sloops and most of the bateaux. Finally, their demand for a
•surrender being refused, and another spirited attack being bravely
repelled by the undaunted garrison, the French beat a retreat; and
being seized by a panic — the cause of which has never been ascertained—
they flee precipitately down the Lake, leaving behind them twelve
hundred of their sledges and a great quantity of millitary equipments.
In the loss of men the enemy suffered severely; and the warm April sun
revealed many a ghastly form wrapped in a winding sheet of snow.

The following anecdote of General John Stark, who was in command
of Fort William Henry at the time of this attack is related by Caleb
Stark in his biography of his grandfather:

" While going his rounds, on the evening of the sixteenth, Captain
vStark overheard a squad of his men who were of the Scotch-Irish race,
planning a celebration in honor of St. Patrick, for the next night. He
af terward said that he had then no presentiment of approaching danger,
but disliked these wild Irish demonstrations. He, therefore, called for
the ranger sutler, Samuel Blodget, and gave him directions to deliver
the rangers their regular rations of grog until the evening of the
seventeenth; and after that no more, without a written order from
himself. On that evening he retired to his quarters, directing his
orderly sergeant to say to all applicants for written orders that he was
confined to his bunk with a lame right hand, and must not be disturbed.
The Irish troops (regulars) secured an extra supply of rum on the night
of the sixteenth, and began their carousal which they carried on with

1 The same officer, under whose supervision Fort Edward was built. See note in advance,
when I speak of Dr. Dwight's visit to Washington county.

80 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

unabated vigor through the night and during the ensuing day in honor"
of St. Patrick and his wife Sheelah. They drank so freely that the
officer of the day could find none of them fit for duty as sentinels, and
the rangers — those, at least who were sober — supplied their places.
The rangers, seeing the Irish thus enjoying themselves, desired the
same privilege. The sutler imformed them of his orders, and the
eaptain's quarters weie beset to obtain a written order. The orderly
refused to disturb his officer, as he was confined with a painfully lame
right hand, and could not write. The soldiers felt somewhat cross,,
but bore their disappointments like philosophers. Upon the advance
of the enemy notice was at once conveyed to the ranger captain.
Instantly, the lame hand was restored to its normal condition, and he
was among his men, who were silently mustered upon the walls." The
near approach of danger dissipated the fumes of liquor from the brains
of the regulars, and the garrison was soon in condition for the vigorous
and successful defence which they afterward made. Had it not been
for this ruse on the part of Stark, it is hardly problematical what would
have been the result of this night assault of the French.

The news of this attack was conveyed to Sir William Johnson in a
letter from Colonel (afterward General Gage of Revolutionary fame) on
Sunday, the twentieth of March. He immediately issued orders for the
militia on the Mohawk river to muster at his house as soon as possible,
and sent Arent Stevens, his Indian interpreter, to the Mohawks, who,
with others of the Six Nations, then at Mount Johnson, agreed to march
forthwith. Such was the prompt response to his call, that at daybreak
of Monday morning, he set out with the Indians and twelve hundred
militia, reaching Fort Edward, on Thursday, the twenty-fourth.
Receiving, however, on his arrival at that Fort intelligence from Major
Eyre that the enemy had retreated, he returned on the twenty-sixth to-
to his home at Mount Johnson.

THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED. 81

■ CHAPTER VIII.

1757.

The French War Continued — Montcalm's Capture of Fort William Henry
and the Subsequent Massacre — Attack kv the Ottawas on Fori' Edward
Fasii.y Repulsed by Putnam's Rangers.

On the twentieth of June, Lord Loudoun, with six thousand regulars
sailed from New York for Halifax, preparatory to investing Louisburgh.
General Webb, now second in command, was detailed with six thousand
men to garrison Fort William Henry, Fort Edward and the forts along
the Mohawk Valley; General vStanwix with two thousand men, was
assigned to the west; and Colonel Bouquet was directed to guard the
borders of the Carolinas from the incursions of the Southern Indians.

General Daniel Webb was probably the most consummate coward that
the British Ministry ever sent either to her American or other Colonies.
In addition to which he lacked even the simplest rudiments of military
science. Indeed, he was merely an instance of the then British army
system — (so aptly described by Thackeray in his Henry Esmond') — put-
ting in nobodies to please the mistresses either of the King or his prime-
ministers. The previous year, after the capture of Oswego, that officer
had fled down the Mohawk in a pitiable state of physical collapse
caused by abject fear — greatly to the disgust of the soldiers and
the public. However, by great exertions on the part of Sir William
Johnson, an army of several thousand Provincials, together with
some regiments of regular troops, assembled under Webb's orders
and rendezvoused at Fort Edward. The last of July General Webb
started from that post for Fort William Henry under an escort of
two hundred men commanded by Major Putnam. But Major Putnam
soon after Webb's arrival, having ascertained through his scouts, that
General Montcalm was rapidly approaching, Webb incontinently and
in all haste returned to Fort Edward under a strong escort. The first
act after his placing his body in safety within the friendly walls of Fort
Edward was to dispatch Colonel George Monro — "a sturdy Scotch
officer." — with his regiment to Fort William Henry — with orders to
take the command of that fort — which was by this time known to be
in the most imminent danger. Accordingly, that brave Scotch officer

[10]

WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

set out from Fort Edward on the second of August, arriving at the fort
just as the French were about to take possession of the road between
the two forts. The garrison was, by this means, increased to nearly
twenty-five hundred men: while Webb had between four and five
thousand at Fort Edward. But. as though this force was not sufficient
for troops acting on the defensive behind solid defences, Webb sent
expresses throughout the Colonies of New York and Xew England
urgently praying for reinforcements. The call, notwithstanding the
contempt in which Webb was held by the Colonial Governors, met with
an immediate response. All the militia of Xew York north of the
Highlands was called out while a "fourth of the able bodied men of
Connecticut were drafted."' A number of other Colonies responded
with almost equal alacrity; and soon the soil of Washington county was
trodden by large bodies of militia, marching from every direction
toward Fort Edward. But as it will be seen later on, all this suberb
patriotism and these great efforts were rendered nugatory by the
cowardice of the General in command.

Loudoun arrived in Halifax on the last day of June; and was soon
joined by Admiral Holburn with sixteen ships of the line, and by
George Viscount Howe, with six thousand disciplined troops — thus
increasing his land force to eleven thousand well appointed and effective
men. Everything, therefore, augured well for the expedition; and
the sails, flapping idly in the favoring breezes, urged to immediate
departure. But to the sluggish mind of Loudoun (a fit companion for
his contemporary brother, General Webb) this was altogether too
hasty a proceeding ! A vegetable garden must first be planted for the
use of the army, and a parade-ground laid out, on which his regulars
could attain yet higher discipline. Thus, while the troops were winning
golden opinions from the Commander-in-Chief for their proficiency in
fighting mock battles, and storming sham fortresses, the beautiful July
was frittered away. Roused at length by the murmuring of both officers
and men, Loudoun gave orders to embark for Louisburgh. Scaixely,
however, was the first anchor weighed, when, learning that Louis-
burgh had received an additional reinforcement, and that the French
fleet outnumbered by one vessel his own, he reversed his orders, and
with his troops returned to Xew York; having accomplished nothing,
save the intercepting of a small vessel bearing dispatches from the
Governor of Louisiana, of a Peace recently concluded by the latter with
the Cherokee s

CAPTURE OF FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 83

Meanwhile, General Montcalm was not an indifferent spectator of
these occurrences. With an eagle eye he had followed the movements
of the Commander-in-Chief;' and while the latter was watching the
growth of his cabbages under a July sun, he rightly judged that the time
had come for a descent upon Fort William Henry.

While the fate of that fortress was already determined upon by the
French General, the partizans of the latter were not inactive. On
the twenty-third of July, Lieutenant Marin, a Canadian officer and the
same one who had destroyed the " Lydius Mills " at the Great Carrying-
Place in 1745, appeared before Fort Edward at the head of two hundred
men; and after a brisk skirmish, returned with thirty-two scalps and
one prisoner taken from under the very guns of the Fort. On this

French partizan's return to Quebec, in excuse for not bringing more
prisoners, he told Montcalm that " he did not amuse himself by taking
prisoners."

Almost at the same time, another scene equal in barbarity, was
witnessed on the farther boundary of this count}-. Desirous of emulating
the exploit of Lieutenant Marin, Lieutenant Corbiere, also a Canadian
officer, with fifty Canadians and three hundred Ottawas lay in ambush
among the islands of Lake George, near Sabbath-Day Point, all day and
night of the twenty-sixth. At sunrise of the twenty-seventh, twenty-
two bateaux, having on board a New Jersey regiment of three hundred
soldiers, under the command of Colonel Palmer," were seen on the Lake.
Rising with terrific yells from their concealment, the Indians attacked
the English with such ferocity that only two of the barges escaped.
Twenty of the boats were either captured or sunk ; and keeping time
with their paddles to a wild and wierd melody, the Indians returned
down the Lake, having their canoes decorated with the scalps of one
hundred and sixty Englishmen. 3

1 It must, ere this, have occurred to the reader who has followed me in this history, how much
farther ahead the French always were in the matter of obtaining information of the movements of
the English, than the latter. This which only shows the imbecility of the British Generals will be
much more apparent when 1 come to narrate the " Burgoyne Campaign."

2 Not Parker as has been generally stated.

3 It has always been a much mooted question whether any of our Northern Indians (the
Algonqmns, Adirondacks, Hurons, etc. I ever practiced canibalism. Thejestiit Relations, it is true,
seem to say they did. But it was. if it ever occurred, to make them brave by eating the hearts of
their enemies rather than as food. Thus, when Roubard, a French historian, says that on this
particular occasion of " his own knowledge " one of the slain Provincials was actually boiled and
eaten by the " ferocious Ottawas." we must admit it. See, also, some pages back, when one of the
French opposed to Col. Peter Schuyler, was boiled. This, however, was. to assuage hunger and
escape starvation.

84 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Montcalm was a true soldier. Disdaining the effeminate accompani-
ments of civilization, he strove to inure his men to hardship, himself
setting the example. " In such an expedition," he said to his officers
wlio were disposed to grumble, " a blanket and a bear-skin are the bed
of a warrior. Imitate me. A soldier's allowance ought to suffice us."
Still, with the thoughtfulness which characterized him, he did not forbid
a mattress when age or infirmity rendered one necessary. Inspirited by
his example, hundreds of the Red men from the shores of the Great
Lakes to the forests of Acadia and Maine, flocked to his standard.
" Father." said they, "we are come to do your will;" and the close of
July found him at the foot of Lake George with ten thousand men —
two thousand of whom were Indians.'

The Savages yelled with delight as they pushed off their bark canoes
from the shore. Montcalm followed with the bulk of his army in two
hundred and fifty boats; while De Levi, with the remainder, marched
through the forest on the Western shore of Lake George, guided by
some of the recreant Iroquois from the Sault St. Louis. On the first of
August, a council of war was held in their boats in the North-west Bay:
and on the second, Montcalm disembarked with his troops and artil-
lerv in a cove about two miles from Fort William Henry, where he
was entirely sheltered from its cannon. De Levi encamped with his
regulars directly in the rear of the fort, and where is (1900) the site of
Fort Gage; while the Canadians and Indians under St. Luc, took up a
position on the road to Fort Edward, thus cutting off all communication
with that garrison. Montcalm, with the main body of his army, occu-
pied a wood about three-quarters of a mile from the fort, north of a
small creek, and near the site of the Court House in the Village of Cald-
well. To resist these formidable preparations, Lieutenant-Colonel Mon-
ro had but four hundred and forty-nine men within the fort, and only
seventeen hundred men in a fortified camp on the rocky eminence now
(1900) the site of Fort George.

The French commander, having sent, on the fourth of August, a
summons to Monro to surrender, and having received a point blanc
refusal, opened upon the fort a battery of nine cannon and two mortars.

1 MS. letter: Doriel to Paulmy, 31st July. 1757.

CAPTURE OF FORT WILLIAM HENRY. 85

'Two days afterwards, two more batteries having- been placed in position,
played on the English camp with telling effect. Meanwhile, the brave
Monro, confident of reinforcements from AVebb, to whom he had
dispatched an express messenger informing him of his situation, plied
his guns with spirit, throwing vast quantities of shot and shell into the
enemy's camp. The men in the intrenchments also worked hard, pour-
ing a galling fire into the French, by day; and each night, by the light
of the fires, toiling to repair the breaches made in their defences.

Colonel Monro's hope of reinforcements was vain. With/our thousand
men, Webb lay at Fort Edward, listening in abject terror to the distant
roar of the artillery. ' For this conduct of Webb, there is not the slight-
est palliation. The approach of Montcalm, as we have seen, had not
taken him by surprise. Sir William Johnson had written him to be on
his guard; that the French were short of provisions, and that, if they
•came, they would come in large numbers, and would "make a bold
push." He had also received intelligence that Montcalm was moving
up Lake Champlain with an army "numerous as the leaves of the trees. "
Beyond, however, sending to the Lieutenant-Governor and the Baronet
to hurry up the militia, he did nothing for the relief of the beleaguered
garrison, although express after express arrived, from its gallant com-
mander imploring aid.

Sir William Johnson was at Fort Johnson, holding an important
•council with the Cherokees, when news arrived on the first of August
from Webb, of the approach of Montcalm. Notwithstanding he had
his " hands and head full," ' yet, he abruptly broke up the conference,
.and hastily collecting what militia and Indians he could muster, started
for the relief of Webb, arriving at Fort Edward two days after the
investment of Fort William Henry. Seeing at once the position of
affairs, he begged that he might be sent to the relief of Monro. After
repeated solicitations, his request was granted; but scarcely was he
fairly on his way ' with Putnam's Rangers and some Provincials who

1 J say "distant ■ " though t ht- roar of the artillery was heard as Ear south as Albany ; nor, is
this strange, as the ravines between the mountains acted, so to speak, as a speaking trumpet.

'-' MS. Letter: Johnson to Webb. The correctness of this information given by Johnson, is
verified by a letter from Doreil to Paulmy, under date of 14th August. 1757. in which the writer
says : " In the article of subsistence, we are in the greatest distress sinee winter ; and each person
in Quebec lias been for more than a month reduced to four ounces of bread. It is but too evident
Uiat a lorn; time will elapse before we shall be more at our ease."

3 MS. Letter, [bhnson to Webb, 1st August, 1757, in my possession

4 He had got as far as the pre°ent site of William's monument

86 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

had volunteered to share the danger, when Webb ordered him and his
detachment back, sending in their place a letter to Monro full of
exaggerations, and advising him to surrender! Could poltroonery have
gone further ! This letter was intercepted «by Montcalm, who immedi-
ately sent it to Monro, with the request that he would follow Webb's
advice and thus save any further effusion of blood. That gallant officer
thanked him for his courtesy, and renewed his firing. At length, ten
of his cannon having burst, his ammunition being nearly exhausted,
and all hope from his commanding officer being at an end, Colonel
Monro, on the ninth, hoisted the white flag.

The terms given by Montcalm to the garrison were fair. They were
to march out with all the honors of war, taking with them their baggage
and small arms, and also one cannon out of respect for the gallant
defence they had made. In return, they were to pledge themselves
that they would not bear arms against the French for eighteen months;
and were to deliver up at Ticonderoga within four months all the
French and Indian prisoners which they had taken since the beginning
of the war. Montcalm, on his part, pledged himself to furnish them
with an escort of at least five hundred men, to accompany them seven
miles on the road to Fort Edward.

Late in the afternoon of the same day, Montcalm took formal posses-
sion of the Fort, the garrison of which joined their comrades in their
entrenchments. The French General knowing well the Indian character,
especially warned the English against giving the Savages anything that
might intoxicate them. Well would it have been had this timely and
judicious caution been followed. But the Indians, unable to obtain any
rum from the French, begged it of the English, who disregarding
Montcalm's advice, and hoping in this manner to win the good will of
the Indians, freely supplied them with that drink during the entire
night. 1 At sunrise, the Indians gathered around the intrenchments;
and as the English began their march, the Savages, maddened by their
night's debauch, hovered around them, brandishing their tomahawks
and uttering horrid yells. Still, even at this time, had the English
stood their ground, or even manifested any firmness whatever, it is.
probable that the scenes which followed would never have occurred ;
but loosing all presence of mind, they fled down the road in the wildest
confusion, throwing down their baggage, arms and even their clothes.*

1 Vaudreuil to Morras. Sept. 1757.

* See Dr. Divight's Travels. Also. Vaudreuil to Morras. Sept. 1757.

THE MASSACRE. 87

This, of course, only increased the rage and violence of the Indians, who
now boldly attacked them, plundering- some, scalping others, and taking
many prisoners.

Of the few individuals, the incidents of whose perilous escape on this
occasion have been handed down to us, I quote the account of the
afterwards celebrated traveller, Jonathan Carver, who chanced to be
present during this flight. He says:

"At the camp, I had my money, buckles, coat, waistcoat and hat
wrested from me; and though 1 applied to a French sentinel nearby
for protection, I was only called an ' English Dog,' and was violently
pushed back into the midst of the Savages. Subsequently, when it was
found that our only chance of life was to break through the hordes of
Savages by which we were environed, I, with twenty more, sprang
into the midst of the Indians. In a moment we were all separated, and
what was the fate of my companions, I could not learn, till some months
after, when I found that only six or seven of them had effected their
escape. Intent only on my own hazardous situation, I endeavored to
make my way through my Savage enemies in the best manner possible.
Some I overturned, being at that time young and athletic, and others
I passed by, dexterously avoiding their weapons; till, at last, two very
stout chiefs of the most savage tribes, as I could distinguish by their
dress and whose strength I could not resist, laid hold of me by each arm,
and began to force me through the crowd. Hut, before we had got
many yards an English gentleman of some distinction, as I could discern
by his breeches (the only clothing he had on) which were of fine scarlet
velvet, rushed close by us. One of the Indians instantly springing on
this new object, endeavored to seize him as his prev ; but the gentleman
being strong, threw him on the ground, and would probably have got
away, had not he who held my other arm, quitted me to assist his
brother. I seized the opportunity, and hastened away to join another
party of English troops that were yet unbroken, and stood in a body at
some distance ; but before I had taken many steps, I hastily cast my
eves towards the gentleman and saw the Indians' tomahawks gash in
his back, and heard him utter his last groan. 1 I had left this shocking-
scene but a few yards, when a fine boy, about twelve years of age, that
had hitherto escaped, came up to me, and begged that I would let him

1 It would be futile, 1 know, to trace this gentleman's family in England; still some of his
■descendants may even yet say that their ancestor was never heard from after the French War in
America.

88 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

lay hold of me, so that he might stand some chance of getting out of
the hands of the Savages. I told him that I would give him every
assistance in my power; and to this purpose, bid him to lay hold; but
in a few moments he was torn from my side, and by his shrieks I
judged he was soon demolished."

The miserable remnants of this ill-starred garrison, after straggling
through the woods, reached Fort Edward singly or in small parties.
Many, after sleeping- one or two nights in the open air, came in, in a
most pitiable and forlorn condition, nearly or quite naked — their bodies-
gashed with the knife or tomahawk and some of them in a state of
delirium from the awful horrors they had passed through. Major
Putnam was dispatched with his rangers the following morning to
watch the motions of Montcalm, and arrived as the rear-guard of the
French force, after demolishing and burning all the fortifications, was
disappearing down the Lake on its return to Ticonderoga. "The
spectacle," says Putnam, " that was presented was so shockingly
diabolical, that human eyes were scarcely able to endure the sight.
Thoitgh fourteen thousand persons ' had been congregated upon that
spot the preceding morning', not a living thing was now standing there.
But, scattered over and covering the ground thick as the leaves of
autumn, lay the ghastly corpses, weltering in their gore, mangled and
mutilated with all the wantonness of Indian fierceness and barbarity;
some with their throats cut; others with their brains oozing out from
their cloven heads; and yet others, with the hair and scalp torn away,,
leaving only the naked, bloody skull. Upon the plain all was now still
and silent, save an occasional faint moan from some poor victim, in
whom the spark of life yet lingered. Within the camp enclosure,,
innumerable fragments of human bones and carcasses half consumed
were still frying and broiling in the decaying fires. In fact, devasta-
tion, barbarity and horror, indescribably awful, everywhere appeared."

Montcalm was in his tent when the news of the behavior of his Savage
allies was brought to him. With all possible speed he hastened to the
spot ; and with De Levi and other officers rushed into the melee, exposing
himself to death; using prayers, threats and caresses; begging the
interposition of the Chiefs and interpretors; and in short applying every
means in his power to stop the horrid carnage. The French soldiers, also
aided their General, receiving, in many instances, serious wounds — one

1 Bad enough at the best— still, Putnam certainly exaggerates this number.

THE MASSACRE. 89

of them, indeed, being killed. ' Finally, after thirty of the Provincials
had been massacred," those of the soldiers who had not succeeded in
reaching Fort Edward were rescued from the Indians, and sent into
Fort William Henry; receiving new clothes and every attention that
humanity could suggest. The next day the unfortunates (not including
those who, as we have seen, reached Fort Edward on their own hook,
as it were,) numbering four hundred, were sent under a strong guard to
that Fort — two Chiefs of each Nation being detailed with the party, as
an additional protection against any further assaults from their warriors.
Two hundred of the garrison were carried by the Indians to Montreal;
but they, together with those taken from the bateaux under Colonel
Palmer were immediately ransomed by De Vandreuil, and sent by an
armed vessel to Halifax.

Dreadful as was this example of Punic faith on the part of the Indians,
Montcalm himself must be exonerated from being instrumental in it,
either by accident or design. His conduct, the previous year at Oswego,
in arresting the contemplated massacre by shooting six Indians on the
spot, allows us reasonably to infer, that if he had known of this affair
before it was fairly under way, he would have adopted the same sum-
mary means, and thus prevented the bloody scene which has just been
described. While, therefore, our sympathies must ever flow out towards
the unfortunate garrison, we should never allow them to prejudice us
against one who ever proved himself as humane as he was brave.
Rather, let our indignation fall upon him, who with ample means at
his command and within fourteen miles of the Fort, allowed its brave
defenders to become the victims of such barbarity.

By the orders of Montcalm, the walls of the Fort were leveled with
the ground, and everything of a combustible nature consumed. The
destruction being complete, the French, having with them large stores
taken from the English, returned to Ticonderoga, leaving behind only
blackened and smouldering ruins. Instead of the evening gun, now
arose the howd of the wolf preying on the mangled bodies of the slain;
and the waters of the Lake reposing peacefully among the hills told not
of the bloody struggle, nor of the war and din of arms. 3

1 Journal of the Expedition.

- The New Hampshire Regiment, in the war, felt the chief fury of the enemy. — Belknap.

3 Before the present hotel, " The Fort William Henry" was built, on the site of this tor-
have often dug up skeletons and silver buttons — belonging to the poor unfortunate victims.

[11 J

90 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Upon the fall of Fort William Henry, Webb was paralyzed with
terror. He sent his personal effects by an express messenger under a
heavy escort to Albany, and was on the point of falling back upon the
Highlands when Lord Howe, who had arrived on the seventh with
reinforcements calmed his fears by assuring him that there was no
prospect of an immediate attack; and soon after, having ascertained to
a certainty that the enemy were on their retreat to Ticonderoga, he
dismissed to their homes twenty thousand of the militia, who had
arrived at Fort Edward a few days after the surrender.

But the morale of the army was completely destroyed. Sir William
Johnson returned in disgust to Albany; while among the powers in
authority mutual recriminations followed. Webb accused De Lancv
of not sending reinforcements in time; and the latter, with far more
truth, insisted that Webb was strong enough to have marched to the
relief of the besieged long before they surrendered. The militia,
willing to fight, but weary of being led to slaughter by incompetent
leaders, deserted by scores, and in one instance, out of a company of
forty men stationed at Fort Edward, ten only were left !

The news of the capitulation reached Albany on the 8th of August
just as additional reinforcements were on their way to Fort Edward;
but as the conduct of Webb was sustained by the regular troops, ' the
Lieutenant-Governor feared to make such representations to the British
Ministry, as it desired. Consequently, Webb returned to England, and
far from being court-martialed for his outrageous conduct, received
additional honors. No wonder that with such influences the English
forces were for many years the sport of an active and determined foe.

" As to our military operations," wrote at this time, Mr. De Lancy, in
his message to the New York Colonial Assembly. •' we are still on the
losing side, Fort William Henry, near Fort Edward, at the head of
Lake George, being taken and demolished by the enemy after a seige
of eight days, with no great loss of men on either side. It surrendered
on capitulation, by which the French became masters of the fort; artillery,
and all the stores; and that which makes it more unfortunate is, that
here were lodged all our cannon and stores intended against Crown-
Point. It seems verv strange to us that the French can send such large
supplies to America and always before us, notwithstanding the great

1 So inveterate and unreasi mable is the prejudice of regulars against \ olunteers— a preju<;
which neither the French Wars, nor the American Revolution, nor yet the late Civil War. and the
war with Spain has yet eradicated !

REPULSE OF THE OTTAWAS. 91

superiority of the British navy. Surely there must be a gTeat failure
somewhere, which if not timely remedied, may probably end in the
entire loss of English- America. "

The close of the year was marked by nothing of particular moment.
General Lyman succeeded Webb in command of Fort Edward ; and the
winter wore away with nothing worthy of mention except, perhaps, an
attempt on the part of some Ottawas to surprise that fort. It seems,
that while making some repairs to the fort a hundred and fifty workmen
were sent out into the neighboring forest to obtain the necessary timber;
a Captain Little being posted with a small force of soldiers to protect
the wood-choppers. While the work was in progress, in the early dawn
of an autumn morning the party were siiddenly attacked by a portion of
that nation. General Lyman, ignorant of the enemy's force, did not
dare to send aid to the party thus assailed (not knowing in what force
the enemy were) and ordered the gates of the fort to be closed. Mean-
while, Major Putnam, who with his rangers, was stationed on the island
in the river opposite the fort, hearing the fire of musketry, leaped
into the water, and followed by his men eagerly pressed forward to the
relief of Captain Little's band. As they passed the fort, Lyman called
out ordering them to halt and retire within the fort. Putnam and his
men, however, paying no heed to this command from his superior offi-
cer, continued on to the rescue. Reaching by this time the almost
exhausted and nearly overpowered party; and with a shout, which
drowned the war-cries of the Ottawas, they swept through a morass in
their front and put the savages to flight. Lyman took no notice of
Putnam's disobedience of orders — success being fully a vindication of
this insubordination; to which, also, may have been added in his own
mind that an investigation would not have contributed anything to his
own reputation in the affair. 1

Shortly after this skirmish (whether caused by Lyman's seeming
delinquency in allowing himself to have been so nearly "caught
napping," is not known,) that officer w T as relieved; Colonel Haviland of
the regtdar army, succeeding him in the command of that fort.

i Dr. Fitch.

92 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

CHAPTER IX.

1758-1763

The French War Continued — Rogers Surprised — Moonlioh'j Fight at "Put's
Rock," near Whitehall — Defea'j of General Abercromby — Duncan Camp-
; 1 1 L 's Ghos'j — Tin Conqi ksi of Canada by Wolfk vnd Amhersi .

The campaign against Canada, of 1758, opened with great apparent
spirit; the hostile incursions of the Canadian Indians serving to rouse
the Colonists to greater activity. On the 13th of March of that year,
a party of some seven hundred French and Indians, commanded by
Duvantaye and the Sieur de Langly. surprised and fell upon a detach-
ment of two hundred rangers, under Major Rogers, who were scouting
in the neighborhood <>f Ticonderoga. The Indians brought back one
hundred and forty- four scalps and some prisoners, among the later of
whom were two officers — Captain, afterwards Major-General Henry
Pringle, and Lieutenant Roche. Rogers retired with fifteen men and
two officers. Three days afterwards, these two officers, having wan-
dered around and lost themselves in the forest in a vain attempt to
escape, came into Fort St. Frederick (Ticonderoga) and surrendered
themselves to the French. Rogers himself escaped by approaching the
summit of Bald Mountain on the shore of Lake George at the place since
called " Rogers' Slide:" when, reversing his snow-shoes, and taking a
back track for some distance he swung himself by a friendly and over-
hanging branch into a defile and found his way thence down the Lake.
The Indians, following his tracks, approached the top of the slide, and
were astounded and nearly awe-struck at the apparent feat of sliding
down five or six hundred feet into the Lake. But there was to them
no question of the fact! There was Rogers, in plain sight, gliding on
the ice of the Lake — and so they gave up the pursuit. Again, on June
2d, Le Sieur de Outelas, marching from Carillon 1 to Fort Edward,
at the head of twenty-nine Nepissings, and Algonquins, discovered a
party of English troops and Mohawks. The former uttered their war-
cry, and buried the hatchet to the heft in the heads of the latter, who,
greatly frightened by the suddenness of the attack, took to their heels —

1 Fort St. Frederick. Fort Ticonderoga, and Fort Carillon (meaning a chime of Bells from the
noise of the rapids) are all one and the same.

THE FRENCH WAR CONTINUED. 93

leaving four killed and six captives in the hands of the enemy— these
last being taken alive for the more dreadful death by torture.

The Mother Country and her Colonies alike, in view of these atrocities,
therefore felt that they had much to accomplish if they would repair
the losses and disappointments of the preceding two years. Indeed,
the repeated failures of Braddock and Webb, and Lord Loudoun, had
chagrined and exasperated the Nation. The elder Pitt, who had
succeeded the silly Newcastle, even declared in Parliament that there
appeared to be a determination on the part of the officers in command,
against any vigorous execution of the service of the country ; and when,
during the same year, the King was remonstrated with on appointing so
young and rash a madman as Wolfe to conduct the meditated expedition
against Quebec, the sturdy Brnnswicker vexedly replied — " If he is
mad, I hope he will bite some of my Generals. 1 It was under these
circumstances, that England determined to put forth her whole energies-
in the three formidable expeditions this year projected; — against
Louisburgh under General Amherst ; against Fort I >u Quesne, on the
Ohio; and the third and most formidable division against Ticonderoga
and Crown- Point with a view of striking a blow upon Montreal.

With the great Commoner's entrance into power a new order of tilings
arose in America. That half idiot Lord Loudoun, was superseded in
March by Abereromby, and General Webb soon after, followed the
former to England. 2 The same vessel which brought the news of Lou-
doun's recall, brought also circular letters from the War Minister to the
Colonial Governor, informing them that the British Cabinet had
determined to send on a large force for offensive operations against the
French by sea and land; and calling upon them for as large a number
of men as they felt able to raise according to their population, " arms,
ammunition, tents, provisions and boats, " it was declared, "would be
furnished by the Crown," and the Provincial Governors, meanwhile, were
desired to buy clothes and pay their troops, and appoint the officers of
the various regiments. All the Provincial Colonels were to be made
Brigadier-Generals; and the Lieutenant-Colonels while in service in
America, were to rank as Colonels. These tidings were hailed by the

1 One is reminded by this incident of the well authenticated one regarding < rrant and President
Lincoln, who, when remonstrated with for keeping Grant at the head of the army on the ground

that he drank large quantities of whiskey, replied: "(live me the name of the particular brand
he drinks, that I may send it to some of my other Generals!"

- General Webb's recall was attributed at the time to the representation-,..! Colonel Monro
to the Ministry. MS. letrter Guy Johnson to Sir William Johnson.

94 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

Colonists with delight; sick, as their hearts had so long been, with
hope long deferred. The recall of Loudoun was accepted by them as
a desire of the Parent Government to conciliate ; and they all, New
England, especially, entered into the work of co-operation with alacrity.
Massachusetts raised seven thousand men; Connecticut five thousand;
and New Hampshire, one regiment of eight hundred. Rhode Island
and New Jersey were not backward; and the Assembly of New York
having voted without hesitation, in March, to raise, clothe and pay
two thousand, six hundred and eighty men, besides providing for the
support of every needy soldier"s family in his absence, twenty thousand
Provincials were in Albany and ready to take the field early in May.'

With the expedition to Halifax, we have nothing to do as it does not
come within the province of this History except to say it was in the
main successful.

Meantime, while preparations were making for a formidable and
vigorous campaign against Ticonderoga, under General Abercromby,
who had resolved to lead the expedition in person, the French were
making corresponding exertions to repel the expected invasion. With
a view of creating a division, by annoying the Colony of New York, it
was given out that an attempt was to be made on Oswego. This,
however, was ignored — as it was determined that every effort should be
made to resist the attack of the French by way of the Lakes.

For the prosecution of the campaign against Ticonderoga and Crown -
Point, an army of regular troops and Provincials was assembled,
unprecedented for its numbers in the annals, thus far, of American war-
fare. General Abercromby, as before remarked, determined to lead
the expedition in person. The rendezvous of the formidable army
destined upon this service was first at Fort Edward, where, on the 5th
of June. General Viscount Howe arrived with the first division of the
army of invasion — Major Rogers being sent ahead with fifty men to
Lake Champlain on a reconnoisance. On the 22nd Lord Howe moved
forward to the head of Lake George, where the charred and blackened
ruins of Fort William Henry — a monument to General Webb's coward-
ice — yet remained.

Meantime, with a view of keeping the enemy at Ticonderoga ignorant
of the advance of the army, Putnam was dispatched with fifty men to

1 I have been particular to mention these strenuous efforts on the part of the Colonies to show-
how they responded to the call of the Mother Country — and as it will afterwards be seen how
shamefully all their efforts were rendered nugatory by Abercromby.

MOONLIGHT FIGHT AT PUT'S ROCK. 95

the head of Lake Champlain with the object of preventing the French
from reconnoitering in the vicinity of Fort Edward. Proceeding down
Wood-Creek, the veteran ranger posted himself and party in a position
well adapted for the object in view. "Three-fourths of a mile distant
from the point where South Bay makes off from Lake Champlain and
about the same distance north from the present Village of Whitehall,
there is a short and sudden turn in the Lake called, in allusion to its
shape, 'the Fidler's Elbow.' High ledges of rock here border the
Lake on each side so as to render it extretnely difficult for passing
steamboats to clear the overhanging cliffs on either hand." On the
promontory on the west side and behind some breastworks hastily
thrown up, the rangers took their stand to drive back any bands of the
enemy that might approach. Fifteen out of his fifty men, Putnam was
forced by sickness, to send back to Fort Edward. Their patience and
perseverance were at length rewarded; for, on the evening of the fourth
day, a great number of canoes filled with nearly five hundred French
and Indians and led by the ferocious and notorious French Partizan
Marin were espied coming up the Lake and into the mouth of South
Bay. When the enemy had well advanced into his trap, Putnam sprung
it by ordering his men to fire. The moon being at its full enabled this
fire to be of deadly effect — every ball counting; and the battle, if so it
can be called, was kept up till daylight, when the' French, seeing the
smallness of the force against them, attempted to outflank the rangers.
Their leader perceiving this, and his amunition being expended, with-
drew and fell back on Fort Edward. The rock from which Putnam and
his men delivered such an effective fire is called " Put's Rock'' and is
still pointed out to the curious tourist of the present day. Of Putnam's
party only one was killed and one other wounded and captured; while,
according to Marin, who told Putnam (when the latter was a captive
in Canada) the French had nearly one-half of their men killed. Before
arriving at the Great Carrying- Place, however, Putnam was destined
to meet with another adventure which might have proved serious
enough to counteract the recent advantage just gained over the French,
As he was making his way through the tangled underbrush of the
primeval forest, he was suddenly fired upon, by which one of his men
was wounded. "Charge bayonets," cried Putnam, thinking that he
in his turn, had fallen into a trap. "We are friends," exclaimed the
leader of the suspected enemy who was also on a scouting expedition.

96 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

" Friends or foes.'' exclaimed Putnam, "you ought to be cut to pieces
for doing' such poor shooting when you had so fair a shot ! "

The morning of the fifth of July — the day of the embarkation — was
clear and beautiful. The spectacle was full of life and animation and
withal very imposing. The forces collected on the occasion numbered
seven thousand British troops of the line, and upward of ten thousand
Provincials, exclusive of the many hundreds of non-combatants neces-
sarily in the train of such an army. The flotilla for their transporta-
tion to Ticonderoga, consisted of nine hundred bateaux, and one
hundred and thirty-five whale-boats, together with a sufficient number
of rafts to convey the heavy stores and ammunition, and the artillery
to cover the landing of the troops, in the neighborhood of the works
first to be invested. The utmost confidence of success inspired
both officers and men; and all was activity and gayety in getting in
motion, from the instant the reveille startled the armed host from their
repose at the dawn, until the embarkation was complete. So sure were
all of an easy victory, that they went forth as to a grand review, or
the pageant of a national festival. A part of England's chivalry was
gathered there, of whom was the accomplished Lord Howe, distin-
guished alike for his generosity, his gallantry, and his courage. Many
other young noblemen of high bearing and promise were also there;
t< »gether with a still greater number of nature's noblemen, in the persons
of New England's hardy sons, both in commission and in the ranks.
Nor. were the spirited Colonists of the Colony of New York unrepre-
sented. Their sons, both of English and Dutch descent, sustained a
generous rivalry in their chivalrous bearing, and evinced an equal
readiness to " rush to glory or the grave," for the honor of their coun-
try. These proud spirited Americans, with the blood of freemen hotly
coursing through their veins neither knew nor cared whether they were
descended from the Talbots, the John of Gaunts, or the Percys; but
their hearts beat as high, and their souls were as brave, and their sinewy
arms could strike as heavy blows, as those who could trace the longest
ancestry, or wore the proudest crest. There, also, was the proud High-
land regiment of Lord John Murray, with their bag-pipes, their tartan
breacan, fringed down their brawny legs, and their black plumes in
their bonnets. "What an array, and what a splendid armament, for a
small and quiet Lake, sequestered so deeply in the interior of what was
then a woody continent, and imbedded in a wild and remote chasm,
among a hundred mountains. Yet this lonely and inhospitable region,

DEFEAT OF ABERCROMBY. 97

where there were nothing but rocks and solitudes and bleak mountains
to contend for, was to be the theatre on which the rival courts of St.
James and St. Cloud were to be decided — and on which, the embattled
host of Europe, at the distance of a thousand leagues from their
respective homes, were to be joined in the bloody conflict for empire !

The morning being perfectly clear, after the light mists which floated
peacefully along the sides of the hills had disappeared, the sky glowed
brighter and purer than many in that army had ever seen it. Before
them, at their feet, lay the crystal waters of the Lake, like a mirror of
molten silver — the emerald islands tufted with trees, floating as it were
in the clear element. In the camp, on the open esplanade by the shore,
was the mustering of troops, the hurrying to and fro of the officers, the
rattling of the military equipments, the neighing of steeds with all the
inharmonious confusion which such a scene must necessarily present.
Beyond, wide spread upon the Lake, were the thousand barges, shifting
and changing places as convenience required, the banners of the differ-
ent regiments streaming gaily in the breeze; while the swell of cheer-
ful voices, the rolling of the drums, the prolonged and exhilarating
notes of the bugle, as they resounded among the mountains, combined
to throw over the entire wild region an air of enchantment.

Indeed, the whole of this memorable passage of Lake George
resembled more the pageant of a grand aquatic gala, or a dream of
romance, than a chapter of stern history. Stretching down the Lake,
the scenery partook of the same wild and glorious character, and every
mile of their progress disclosed new objects of wonder, or presented
fresh sources of delight. It was a day, moreover, of unmingled pleasure.
A fine elastic breeze swept through the gorges of the mountains,
serving to brace the nerves, and produce a glow of good feeling, humor
and hilarity, which lasted till the setting sun. The animal spirits were
often cheered and enlivened by favorite airs from the well appointed
regimental bands. Wheeling aloft, with untiring wing, as if moving
with, and watching over the armament, were several noble bald eagles,
whose eyries hung on the beetling crags, affording to the soldiers a
happy presage of victory ! The bag-pipes of the Highlanders would
thrill every soul in the armada with the pibroch, or an expert bugle-
man electrify the multitude by causing the hills and the glens to echo
with the stirring notes wound from his instrument. Indeed, the effect
of the varying and shifting movements of the barges among the islands,

[12]

WASHINGTON COUNTY : [TS HISTORY.

with their different streamers fluttering in the air. now shooting in this
direction, and now running in that — was exceedingly fine, animating
and romantic. Taking these movements in connection with the nodding
of plumes, the dazzling glitter of the uniforms, and the flashing of the
oars, as at every stroke they rose from the sparkling waters, the whole
prospect was of surpassing magnificence. Far different was the scene
presented the following day, when amid the lengthening shadows of the
mountains, a solitary barge bore back the remains of him, who was
the soul of the expedition — Lord Howe.

The landing of the troops was effected in good order in a cove on the
west side of the Lake at noon of the following day. Here the troops,
having been joined by Sir William Johnson, with three hundred
Indians, formed in four columns and began their march, leaving behind
all the artillery and heavy baggage, which could not be transported
until the bridges, that the advanced guard of the enemy had burned in
their retreat, could be rebuilt. The purpose of Abercromby was to
hasten forward and carry Ticonderoga by storm before the reinforce-
ments which, it was said, were hastening to the relief of Montcalm
under De Levy, could arrive. But the British General (like Braddock,
who was brought up in the same school) could easier manoeuver his
troops in Hyde- Park, than conduct them through dense and pathless
woods and over morasses covered with thick and tangled underbrush.
He grew confused; his guides became bewildered; while, to increase the
general perplexity, the advance guard fell in with a body of the enemy,
under De Trepezee, who had also lost their way. and in the skirmish
that ensued, the gallant Howe, of the Fifty-fifth Regiment, fell at the
head of his men. He, as well as his brother, the admiral and his successor
to the title, was very greatly beloved in the army and his death was
deeply regretted. He had distinguished himself in a peculiar manner
by his courage, activitv and rigid observance of military discipline, and
he had acquired the esteem and affection of the soldiery by his frank
generosity, his sweetness of manner and his engaging address. The
utter route of De Trepezee's party, however, was but a small compen-
sation for the loss which the English had sustained in the death of their
young leader. The fate of this officer, who was the life of the men, at
once threw a damper and a gloom over the entire army; and from that
moment "an almost general consternation and languor' - took the
place of its previous confidence and buoyancy. ' Utterly discomfited at

1 Roger's Journal.

DEFEAT OF ABERCROMBY. 99

this untoward occurrence on the very threshold, as it were, of the
expedition, Abercromby, uncertain what course to pursue, drew back
his army early the next morning to the landing-place.

While the British General was yet hesitating, Colonel Bradstreet,
with Rogers and four hundred rangers pushed forward, rebuilt the
bridges, and took possession of some saw-mills which the French had
erected at the lower rapids, about two miles from Ticonderoga. 1 The
indomitable energy of the Provincial Colonel, reassured Abercromby,
who now advanced to the saw-mills and sent forward Clerk, his chief
engineer, together with Stark and a few rangers, to reconnoiter the
enemy's works. The party returned at dusk. Clerk reported, that,
although to the unpracticed eye, the defences of the French appeared
strong, yet in reality they would offer but a feeble defence to the charge
of the British bayonet. The cool Stark, however, was of a different
opinion. Without doubt recollecting the successful resistance which
the rude and hastily constructed breastworks of Johnson, three years
before, had opposed to the flower of the French regulars, he rightly
judged that the defences of Montcalm were capable of withstanding
a powerful attack, and so informed Abercromby.

His advice, however, was rejected by that supercilious commander,
as worthy only of an ignorant Provincial unacquainted with British
prowess: and the army having rested on their arms that night, the
English commander, early on the morning of the eighth, gave orders to
advance without artillery, and to carry the enemy's works at the point
of the bayonet.

For the defence of Ticonderoga against the formidable preparations
of the English, Montcalm had but thirty-six hundred and fifty men.
Instead, however, of despairing, he caused a heavy breastwork to be
constructed within six hundred paces of the main works; while, at the
same time, huge trees were felled, and laid with their branches outward,
for a distance of a hundred yards in front of the log-breastworks.
Having thus constructed a strong chivaux de /rise, defended by a strong
force in its rear, which covdd not be reached without the greatest
exertions, especially in the absence of cannon, Montcalm threw off
his coat in the trenches; and, forbidding his men to fire a musket until
he should give the word, calmly awaited the approach of the British.

1 These rapids are caused by the descent of the waters of Lake George into Lake Chainplain.
The outlet of Lake George is four miles in length, and in that distance falls abo

100 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

At one o'clock, the English, preceded by Major Rogers and his sharp-
shooters, advanced gallantly in four columns to the attack, the Highland
soldiers of the Forty-second being placed in the rear. At the first
onset, the ranks of the English were thrown into dire confusion by the
branches of the trees: and at the same time, at a signal from Montcalm,
a terrific fire was opened upon the assailants from swivels and small
arms. In vain was it that the English in the first rank rallied and
endeavored again and again to penetrate through the trees to the
entrenchments beyond. The more they struggled the more they became
entangled in the branches while rank after rank was mowed down by
The well directed and galling fire of the enemy. At this point the gallant
Highlanders could endure their position no longer. Impatient of their
pi >sition in the rear, they rushed forward, hewed their way through the
obstacles with their broadswords, and. since no ladders had been
provided, made strenuous efforts to carry the chevaux de frize, partly
by mounting on each other's shoulders and partly by fixing their feet
in holes which they had excavated with their swords and bayonets in
the face of the work. 1 But their bravery was to no purpose. The
defenders were so well prepared that the instant an assailant reached
the top, that instant he was thrown down or shot. At length, after
great exertions. Capt. John Campbell, one of the two soldiers who had
been presented to George II at ^ nitehall in 1743, and a handful of val-
iant followers forced their way over the breastworks, only to be instantly
dispatched by the bayonet. Finally, driven from the left, the assaulting
party attempted the center, then the right, till at length after sustaining
without flinching, the enemy's fire for over five hours, they retreated
in the utmost disorder, having lost in killed and wounded the appalling
number of nineteen hundred and sixteen men." Notwithstanding this
terrible loss, the soldiers had become so exasperated by the opposition
which they had encountered, and by the loss of so many of their comrades,
that they could, with difficulty, be recalled. Indeed, the Highlanders in
particular, were so obstinate that it was not until the third peremptory
order from the General that Lieutenant-.Colonel Grant, the commanding

1 The " 6 '" the Record of an Historic Regiment R

- In reading the reports of the late engagemei South Africa between the Boers and the

3h forces- particularly the one at the Modder River. I have been greatly struck with the
fuss and exaggeration made over the fact that some j • n. Methuen's command were killed

and wounded — This statement, moreover, being heralded with that General's-announcement

en in the annals of British warfare was there ever such slaughti In view- of the

above, how ridiculous such statements appe;

DEFEAT OF ABERCROMBY. 101

officer of the regiment, was able to prevail on them to withdraw, after
more than one-half of his men and twenty -five of his officers had been
either killed or desperately wounded. "The attack," wrote Grant,
afterward, in commenting' upon the event, ' ' began a little past one in
the afternoon, and abotit two the fire became general on both sides. It
was exceedingly heavy and without any cessation, insomuch that the
oldest soldiers never saw so furious :-nd incessant a fire. The affair at
Fontenay was nothing to it — I saw both. We labored under insurmount-
able difficulties. The enemy's breastworks were about ten feet high,
on the top of which they had plenty of wall-pieces fixed * * They
had taken care to cut down monstrous large trees. This not only broke
our ranks, but put it entirely out of our power to advance till we had
cut our way through. I had seen men behave with courage and reso-
lution before that day, but so much determined bravery can scarcely be
paralleled. Even those who lay mortally wounded cried aloud to their
companions not to mind or waste a thought upon them, but to follow
their officers and remember the honor of their country. * * * The
remains of the regiment (the Forty-second) had the honor to cover the
retreat of the army, and brought off the wounded as we did at Fontenav."
But, notwithstanding this reverse, the British were more than twelve
thousand strong, with plenty of artillery with which the enemy might
easily have been driven from their intrenchments. Abercrombv,
however, instead of bringing up his artillery from the landing-place
where it had been left, ami rallying his men, had retreated, upon the
first news of the defeat, from the mills (where he had remained during
the fight) leaving orders for the army to follow him to the landing;
and while the entire night was spent by Montcalm in strengthening
his defences and encouraging his men (the French General not dreaming
but that Abercrombv would return in force with his artillery to redeem
Ins disaster) the English were retreating in the footsteps of their valor-
ous commander. ' Reaching the landing early on the morning of the
ninth, the army in wild affright would have rushed into the bateaux
and sunk the greater portion of them, had not Colonel Bradstreet by
his coolness convinced them that there was no immediate danger, and

1 Of what metal, anyway, were these remarkable Generals made "t". Loudoun and W
were of the same character, while this action of Abercrombv reminds one at once of the poltroonery
• if Gates (brought up in the same school, and companions at arms with the above) al the Battli
Saratoga, when from a distant eminence a mile from the scene oi battl :mis Heights, he

watched the ebb and flow of the action— having all his preparations made to retreat should
tide of battle go against him

102 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

prevailed upon them to embark quietly and in good order. Nor, did-
Abercromby breathe freely until, Fort Edward being reached, Lake
George was between himself and the French, and his artillery and
ammunition fairly on their way to Albany.

As soon as the main army reached the head of the Lake, all those of
the wounded who could be sent ahead were conveyed to Fort Edward.
" Loads after loads of miserable sufferers." writes Dr. Fitch, who had
it from the son of an eye-witness, ''were brought hither, pale and
ghastlv, to breathe out their dying groans upon the air that so lately
had resounded with their hearty shouts, and to mingle their dust with
that of the surrounding plain — their names to perish from earth, and
not so much as a rude stone set at their graves to indicate to succeed-
ing generations, that the spot was the hallowed repository of the dead." '

Of all that gallant dead who fell on this occasion, the name and place
of two only are preserved to the present day, viz: That of Lord Howe,,
and of Major Duncan Campbell of the Forty-second Highland Regiment.

Regarding Lord Howe, various accounts have been given as to his
burial place — some authorities stating that he was buried near the present
village of Ticonderoga, and others equally positive, give Albany. I
think, however, that there can be no doubt that his remains were taken
to Albany for interment. Regarding this, the following extract from
" The Life of Philip Schuyler" is in point:

"Two davs before the Courier was sent, another boat had passed
over the Lake, but upon a different errand. It contained the body of
young Lord Howe, who fell as we have seen, in the first encounter with
the French in the forest of Ticonderoga. Its arrival upon the sandy
beach at the head of the Lake was the first intimation to Colonel
Cumming and his command of the great loss the army had sustained.
None grieved more sincerely than Major Schuyler, and he asked and
received permission to convey the dead body of his friend to Albany
for interment. It was carried on a rude bier to Fort Edward, and
thence to Albany in a bateau. Major Schuyler caused it to be entombed
in his family vault, and there it lay many years, when the remains were
placed in a leaden coffin and deposited under the chancel of St. Peter's
church in that city. They rest there still. We have observed that Lord
Howe, as an example for his soldiers, had cut his fine and abundant

i In making- excavations tor cellars, sewers. &c, in the vicinity of the Village of Fort Edward,
at \ itant from any spots suspected of having been occupied as places of interment, rows

of human skele; rthed— tl ; >urial- is, • ntirely

BURIAL OF LORD HOWE. lo:i

hair very short. When his remains were taken from the Schuyler vault
in 1859 for re-entombment, his hair had grown to long, flowing locks,
and was very beautiful. " The ribbon, indeed, as I learn from another
source, that bound it, was yet black and glossy, all, on exposure, sank
into dust. The remains, enclosed in a new chest, were reverently
placed along the north wall of the modern edifice."

In Westminster Abbey, there is in the south aisle, a monument erect-
ed to this gallant officer. The emblematic representation on the monu-
ment is a figure of the Genius of the Province of Massachusetts Bay,
in a mournful posture, lamenting the fall of this hero, and the family
arms, ornamented with military trophies. Beneath is the following in-
scription, in large letters:

"The Province of Massachusetts Bay, in New England, by an order
of the Great and General Court, bearing date February 1st, 1759, caused
this monument to be erected to the memory of George, Lord Viscount
Howe, Brigadier- General of his Majesty's Forces in North America,
who was slain. Julv 6, 1758, on the march of Ticonderoga, in the thirty-
fourth year of his age; in testimony of the sense they had of his ser-
vices and military virtues, and of the affection their officers and soldiers
bore to his command. He lived respected and beloved; the public re-
gretted his loss; to his family it is irreparable."'

Regarding the other hero, Campbell: In the Fort Edward burying
ground yet (1900) stands a red sandstone slab, the oldest monument,
according to Dr. Fitch, in the country; ' and though the elements have

1 When the late Dean Stanley was in i Ins country Ik- spent an evening with the late Bishop Wil-
liam-, in Hartford. The conversation had turned to the subject of tin- French and Indian war, and
tin' 1 >ean displayed great knowledge concerning tin- history of those days. At length Ticondi
was mentioned, and the Englishman asked: "Did you ever hear, bishop, the story of Duncan
Campbell of In vera ugh ? Well, there happened, shortly aftei the defeat of Edward the Pretender,
to be a meeting of gentlemen in the west of Scotland, whose conversation turned upon politica
subjects. It was dangerous ground, for part of them were in favor of the family of Hanover, and
the rest were partisans of Charles Stuart. The discussion waxed hot, and at length swords were
drawn. The quarrel was only ended when one of the contestants fell dead. There lived at that
time, as the\- do to-day, near the place of the quarrel, the family of Campbells of [nveraugh.
Duncan Campbell was then the head of the elan, and to him the unfortunate man appealed for
protection. With the usual hospitality of a Highlander the Campbell granted him shelter, and
swore to defend him in his misfortune. The following daj the startling news came to the chief
that the murdered man was his own cousin, and that lie was sheltering the slayer of a kinsman.
That night the cousin came to Campbell in a dream and demanded of him vengeance for his death.
The honorable soul of the chieftain revolted from any treachery, and he told his guest of the dream.
Again night came, and again the cousin appeared, asking for retribution. Unable to break his
vow, Campbell sent his guest away to the mountains under a strong escort and trusted he would
at length sleep in peace. But at dead of night came that ghastly visitor and said in tones of anger:
' Duncan Campbell, we will meet at Ticonderoga' 'Idle Highlander awoke next morning with a
great feeling of relief. Ticonderoga was a word he had nevei heard, and whether the

L04 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

beaten upon and corroded it for a century and a half, its simple legend
may still be deciphered by the curious visitor, as follows:

" Here lyes the Body of Duncan Campbell of Invershaw, Esq., Major

To The old Highland Regt, Aged 55 Years, Who died the 17th

July, 1758, of The Wounds He Received In The Attack of

The Retrenchments of Ticonderoga, or Carillon, Sth of

July, 1758." 2

In view of this grave, as I stood over it in the Fort Edward cemetery
some years since, and thinking of the battle in which its occupant lost
his life, Dr. Johnson's words, while writing of his visit to the Hebrides,
were recalled to my mind with peculiar force:

" Far from me and my friends be such frigid philosophy, as may con-
duct us indifferent and unmoved over any ground which has been digni-
fied by wisdom, bravery or virtue. That man is little to be envied,
whose patriotism does not gain force upon the plain of Marathon, or
whose piety would not grow warmer among the ruins of Iona."

Meantime, while Abercromby had fled to Albany, Fort Edward had
been made through him a vast hospital and charnel-house. The re-
mains of his army, however, still occupied a fortified camp on the site
of Fort William Henry; and for the supply of this camp an immense
amount of stores was required. These, of course, had to be sent from

ferred to a realm of the other world or was inventing words to -'-are him he neither knew nor
cared." "Years went by, and at length Duncan Campbell found himself a major in the Scotch
rangers under Abercromby in the expedition against the French on Lake George in the summer
of 175S. The army, the largest ever assembled in America up to that time, had sailed down the
Lake in a thousand boats and landed near its outlet. To the Scotch Major the name Ticonderoya.
against which point the expedition was directed, had sounded with an awful and ominous import.
His colonel, by name Gordon-Graham, who knew the story, endeavored to cheer his drooping
spirits, but it was with a heavy heart that the Highland chieftain prepared his men for attack.
The story of that day's disaster is well known; how the brave Lord Howe fell early in the action;
how the brawny Scotchman attempted to scale the breastworks, and how at length the retreat was
sounded after tin loss of j.™ men. Mortally wounded, Duncan Campbell was carried from the
Held, and breathed his last in the hospital at Fort Edward. Just before his death he said to Gordon-
1 iraham: ' As I slept last night after the battle,' Colonel. ' the spirit of my cousin came to me and
said. 'Duncan Campbell, we have met at Ticonderoga.' 'Such,' said the Dean, in conclusion.
' is the ghost Story of Ticonderoga' as I have heard it from the present Campbells of Inveraugh,.
the descendants of the unfortunate Duncan." The Bishop had listened with great interest to the
tale, and at its close said: " Your story. Dean, is new to me. but I now recollect that 1 have seen
the grave of Duncan Campbell at Fort Edward. It is marked by a crumbling slab that tells of his
death from a wound received in the attack on Ticonderoga, July 8, 1758." Thus it happened that
one of the only men in England who knew the strange story of the Scotch major told it by a
peculiar chance, to perhaps the only man in America who had noticed the existence of that
neglected grave.

■ From this rude epitaph it will be seen that Major Campbell lingered at Fort Edward for sev-
eral days after receiving his wound.

DEFEAT OF ABERCROMBY 105

Albany, and for their transportation, teamsters with their wagons and
horses, were impressed without ceremony, greatly, of course, to the
chagrin of their drivers. It is to be remembered, also, that all that
part of the route above Fort Edward was through a trackless forest,
"which," says Dr. Fitch, "from what has been told me, is by the de-
scendants of these teamsters, still remembered as having been dark,
gloomy and dismal in the extreme;" for everywhere, and behind each
tree, an enemy could lurk in ambush, and fire upon the luckless travel-
ler with scarcely a moment's warning. Prowling parties of Indians
and Canadians, coming from Ticonderoga up Lake Champlain and
South Bay, so infested the route that it was an almost daily occurrence
for the transportation trains to be intercepted and plundered. Indeed,
almost every step between the present Yillage of Sandy Hill and Lake
George became tracked with blood, even that portion of Washington
county near the mouth of the Battenkill, not escaping. In illustration
of this last statement, the following incident, taken from a writer,
known as the Sexagenary,* is in point. He relates that his father was
one of the teamsters thus impressed. "When," he says, " my father
reached the Battenkill," he discovered the wet print of a moccasin upon

1 This writer has never been known by his true name. He evidi iwever, was well post-
ed, as may be judged from his various narrations.

2 The Battenkill, one of the tributaries of the Hudson River, rises in the township of Dorset,
Vermont, among the Green .Mountains, and, flowing rapidly through Manchester, turns to the west
in the north part of Sunderland. Thence, passing through Arlington, it crosses the County of
Washington between Cambridge and Salem. Easton and Greenwich, and. after a picturesque
fall, discharges its waters into the Hudson at the south-west corner of Greenwich, and about
three-quarters of a mile north of the Village of Schuylerville, N. V.. on the opposite bank o
river. The designation "Battenkill," (the Indian name of which was Dionoondehowee) is a re-
markable example of a name now entirely lost by contraction. Its origin (as 1 am sure my Wash-
ington county readers would like to know) was as follows: A Dutchman named Bartholomew
Van Hogeboom was the tirst settler at the mouth of this creek, and it was named Bartholomew's
Kill. He was usually called "Bart" or "Bat" for short, and the creek came thus to be called
"Bat's Kill." It now appears on our maps and in gazetteers as Battenkill, thus giving scarcely
a hint of its origin. For the benefit of the followers of old Isaack Walton, of which guild I am one,
I hereby append a clipping from a Washington county paper. The Ca»ibridgi- Post of August 15,
1887, says: Fishermen had only fair luck the first of May. At an early hour the brook was lined.
The Battenkill was so high that it was impossible to do anything in it, and so resort was had to the
smaller brooks. The fish were coy and did not bite well, and the total nutnber taken was much
smaller than last year. (The fish referred to is, of course, the trout.] This was partly compensated
for, however, by the size of some that were taken. H. M. Wells [a resident, I believe, of Wash-
ington county I was 'high brook.' He captured a beauty at the old 'Wilcox Bridge,' south of
this village, 20 1-2 inches long, and weighing two pounds and thirteen ounces. James L. Smart
caught a pound and a half fish in Battenkill, and John Rice one of the same weight in the ' Fur-
nace Brook;' George L. Williams captured a pound fish, and Irving Willard displayed a tine mess
caught, it is said, in a ' fly manner ' with a silver hackle. The snow water is running yet. and it will
be some days before the fishing will be prime."

[13 J

106 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

one of the rocks. They were confident from this circumstance that
hostile Indians were near them. Soon after this discovery a report of
a musket informed them that the enemy was near. I should have men-
tioned that a small escort was marching down the west side of the Hud-
son to protect the wagons; and, therefore, when this firing was heard,
a party of us was sent over the river to ascertain the cause of the firing.
They were not unsuccessful; for, in a garden belonging to a Mr. De
Ruyter, ' the body of a dead man was found, which was still warm. His
scalp had been taken off, and from appearances, he seemed to have
been shot while in the act of weeding one of his garden beds. This
established the alarming fact that the French, taking advantage of
Montcalm's victory, had boldly extended their incursions within the
lines of the English posts." This incident is here especially mentioned
as showing that Washington county was already beginning to be set-
tled.

Another teamster who, although a resident of Albany, was often
called into service in the Commissary's Department, also met with a
remarkable and dangerous experience. His grandson, Colonel Fort —
long a respected resident of Fort Edward — gave an account of it to Dr.
Fitch. I give it entire to show the reader the vicissitudes and dangers
to which the early settlers of Washington county were exposed in those
trying times. Col. Fort says: " On one occasion, having discharged
his load at Lake George, and being anxious to get back to his home
with all speed, my grandfather, though the da}" was far spent, started
on his return. He became aware, however, of the temerity of this step,
when, as night was drawing near, he heard the report of a gun not far
distant from him, and soon afterward passed the body of a dead man
beside the road. But it was now equally as hazardous to return to the
Lake as to go forward. He, therefore, continued upon his dangerous
way in those dreary woods, J but had only proceeded about two miles
south of Bloody Pond, when night came on, and so dark that it became
impossible for him to distinguish the road. There was, therefore, no
alternative but for him to stop all alone in the forest itntil morning.
He, accordingly, unharnessed his horses, and, turning their heads to the
wagon, tied them. Then, wrapping himself in a blanket, he laid down in

1 This Mr IK- Ruyter was an ancestor of Mr. DeRidder of the Citizens National Hank in
Saratoga Springs, X V.

2 I have walked the same path as Colonel Fort, in the dark, and it was dreary enough, tho
1 had no fear •>(' a bullet from a lurking sax age !

DEFEAT OF ABERCROMBY. 107

the wagon-box. But, on second thought, pursuaded that the noise of
the wagon must have been heard, and that an enemy was pursuing
him, and was, perhaps, near by, he noiselessly crept from the wagon,
and laid himself upon the reaches under the wagon-box, as the most
secure spot he could find. He had laid there about an hour, when two
Indians stealthily approached, probably supposing he was now asleep,
and cautiously felt about in the box At this time, my grandfather's heart
was thumping so violently that it seemed to him they would surely
hear the noise it made. He might now have shot down one of the In-
dians, and stood an equal chanee for his life in a grapple with the other;
but his only weapon was a rude pistol made from the butt of an old
gun-barrel set in a straight stock, and by no means sure of fire; be-
sides, other Indians might be at hand to rush to the spot, should an
alarm be given. So he laid still — all but his heart, which continued
beating. The Indians findin<> he was not in the wagon-box, gave a
grunt; and helping themselves to a few light articles, withdrew. My
grandfather had now become so stiff and sore from his confined posi-
tion, that he could endure it no longer. He, therefore, crept away into
a neighboring thicket in the forest, where he laid till morning. He
then started on, and to his great relief, was soon overtaken by four
other wagons, with an escort of ten soldiers, which made the remainder
of his journey safe. After the war, he settled upon a fine and well-
known farm a mile below North Hoosic, and, retaining his bodily and
mental powers in a remarkable degree, died there in [822, aged ninety-
two years."

Oreatwas the consternation among the Colonists, at the repulse of
the gallant army (which, at great sacrifice, they had contributed so
much to raise) that had so recently gone forth from among them, as
they supposed, to a sure victory. A panic seized the inhabitants along
the whole of the Hudson and Mohawk Valleys. Every rumor, no
matter how wild or absurd, was quickly spread, and eagerly believed.
A small party of Indians who had attacked a convoy of wagoners at
Half-Way Brook between Fort Edward and Lake George, was magni-
fied by the excited citizens of Albany into a large army following the
retreating footsteps of the English; and when, a few days later, the
same party waylaid and defeated a body of rangers under Rogers and
Putnam who had been sent out to intercept them, the rumor reached the
settlements that the French army was on its march to Albany, and had
advanced as far as Fort Edward. In Schenectady and Albany, the

[08 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

militia, by order of Sir William Johnson, were called out, and the
guards doubled; while for additional protection, large numbers of men,
especially detailed for that purpose and stationed in block-houses, kept
a sharp watch by night and by day.

This gloom was soon dissipated by the brilliant victories which fol-
lowed. It were bootless, however, and not to the purpose in a History
of Washington County, to go into details regarding the subsequent
conquest of Canada and its formal surrender to the English by the
Peace of 1763. Suffice it to say, for the benefit of the reader, that all
the expeditions planned by that great Commonner, Pitt, were entirely
successful ; but, although the fall of Du Que»ne (now Pittsburgh) placed
the result of the war beyond all doubt; yet Niagara, Ticonderoga and
Crown-Point were still in the possession of the French; and until those
posts had been relinquished by the latter, it was evident there could be
no securitv for the frontiers. It was, therefore, determined bv Pitt, that
while the early summer should witness the reduction of Niagara and
the forts upon Lake Champlain, General Wolfe, by a bold push, should
make himself master of Quebec. In accordance with this plan, the
military operations of this year were entrusted to Sir Jeffries Amherst,
who, late in the fall of 1758, had been appointed Commander-in-Chief
of his Majesty's forces in America, in place of Abercromby who, as we
have seen, had been recalled. To sound judgment, he united deter-
mined energy; and while the operations of his mind were slow, they were
reliable, methodical, and though, perhaps, at times, plodding, yet when
necessity arose for decisive action, he was not found wanting. On the
2 2d of July, J 759, he appeared with eleven thousand men before Ticon-
deroga. The French, thereupon, knowing all resistence to be hopeless,
blew up their walls and retired to Crown-Point. Amherst, with habit-
ual caution tarried several davs to repair the walls; and on the fourth
of August, embarked on the Lake and took possession of Crown-Point,
which the French had also abandoned at his approach. Meanwhile,
Niagara had fallen; and all that remained in the hands of the enemy
was Quebec. This citadel at length gave way under the attack of
General Wolfe though at the expense of his death, and that also of the
gallant Montcalm; and the shattered army of the French, fleeing to
Montreal, Admiral Saunders, with one thousand prisoners, bore away
for England. Thus were the English left in undisputed possession
of the basin of the Ohio; and the evening guns, from the waters of
Lake Erie to the confluence of the Ohio with the Mississippi, saluted

THE FALL OF QUEBEC. 109

the Hag of England which now waved proudly in the evening breeze.
The news of the fall of Quebec was hailed both in England and
America with acclamations of joy. In England, a day was set apart for
public thanksgiving; and in America the Colonists burned bonfires
throughout the land. Yet amid all of these rejoicings, the glory of the
victory was fringed with gloom for the loss of the gallant Wolfe; and
with the universal delight, was mingled a deep and heartfelt sorrow at
his untimely end. Parliament commemorated his services in a monu-
ment in Westminster Abbey; and Massachusetts, holding him in kindly
remembrance, voted to his memory a marble statue. The young
general was worthy of all these expressions of affection. To a passion-
ate fondness for his profession of arms, and a warm love for polite
letters, he united a singular modesty; and though he possessed a reputa-
tion wide as the civilized world, yet, in the quaint language of Jeremy
Taylor, "as if he knew nothing of it, he had a low opinion of himself,
and, like a fair taper, when he shined to all the room, yet about his own
station, he had cast a shadow and a cloud, and he shined to everybody
but himself." '

1 The Canadian Government having so far i tgoo) declined to take any art ion with regard to the
future of the historic Plains of Abraham, the scene of Wolfe's victory and death, the nuns of the
Ursuline conyent, who art' its fret-hold pn iprietaries, have had. recently, the property surveyed and
laid out in building lot... The action is the cause (so says Canadian paper) of the utmost indigna-
tion not only throughout the Dominion of Canada, but, also, in many parts of Great Britain and
the United States, if one may judge by the protests from historical societies and others received
by the Quebec Literary and Historical Society, which is taking a leading part in the agitation
against the execution of the project. Some of the American protests say that the Anglo-Saxon popu -
lation of the United States are equally the heirs with Englishmen and Canadians of Runnymede
and the Plains of Abraham, and that Wolfe's great victory over Montcalm decided the fate not
only of what is now the Dominion of Canada, but a he entire Xorth American continent.

Recent researches have brought to light both the origin of the name < >f these plains and the title to
the property of the Ursuline nuns. In [64E and [652 one Adrien Duchesne, who had obtained a
grant from the French Government of thirty acres of this land, transferred it, in two lots, to A bra -
ham Martin, who was described at the time as Pilot for the St. Lawrence to the King of France
In 1650 twelve acres ..t land were conceded to Martin by the Compagnie de la Nouvelle, France,
This Abraham Martin was a man of considerable note in the infant colony, and Champlain. the
French Governor of New France and the founder of Quebi c. stood sponsor to one of his children.
He was frequently referred to in the parish register of Quebec of his time and in the journal of
the Jesuits as Maitre Abraham, and thus the property owned by him. which was destined to be-
come the scene of one of the world's most famous battles, came to be known as tile Plains of Abra-
ham. After his death his heirs, in i6< ;, sold thirty-two acres of his property, comprising the site
of the future battle-held, to the Ursuline nuns. In 1802 the War Department of the British Covern-
ment leased this property front the nuns for a period of ninety-nine years, paying a rental there-
for of two hundred dollars a year It is the approaching expiration of this lease in iqoi that gives
the nuns of the convent the opportunity toattemptthe act of public desecration so loudly con-
demned from one end of the country to the other. Property has undoubtedly increased in value
in the vicinity of the plains, and the government of the country will suffer much in publii
illation if it does not step in before it is too late, and either purchase, by expropriation or other-
wise, the entire property, or else renew a lease of it upon whatever terms are possible Strange

110 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

CHAPTER X.

175'--

Closi of the French Was — Putnam Captured and a Prisoner in Canada —
The Qi \ckenboss Adventi re Near S\m>s Hill — Lessons Derived from iiu.
War.

In the three preceding chapters, I have endeavored to present a suc-
cinct account of the several campaigns — ending with the Peace of i 763—
which were undertaken for the subjugation of Canada; and in order
that they might be presented in a comprehensive view, and as a whole,.
I have given them in sequence. Now, however, in this chapter, I pro-
pose to give an account of one or two forays of the Partizans on the
American side, as well as the Indian massacres which occurred in
Washington county during those great campaigns, so that these, being
considered separately, may not confuse the reader.

After the defeat of Abercromby, as related in the last chapter, the
war of predatory forays between the French and English again began.
On the 30th of July, 1758, our old friend, La Corn de St. Luc r
with a laroe force of Canadians and Indians, destroved a train between

t<i saw the same Ursuline nuns possess other remarkable relics of the conflict between Montcalm
Wolfe. In the chape] of their convent, beneath an imposing marble bearing an inscription

compiled under the direction of the French Academy, are interred the mortal remains of Mont-
calm, with the exception of the skull. This, as many American sight-seers may know from
experience, is preserved under a glass case in the parlor of the convent and frequently shown to-
visitors. The grave in which the body of the French general reposed for many years was a cavity
ath the flooring of the convent chapel, which had been excavated by a cannon-ball tired from
1 \ ading fleet. Up to the time of the withdrawal of the British troops from Canada in 1871, the
Plains of Abraham were used as a drill and parade ground. Then, like the citadel itself, they were
kept in exquisite order; and a distinguished author relates that "a sweet girl from Boston one day
said to Colonel Nicol, the commandant of Quebec: ' We are very much obliged to you for all the
trouble and expense this fine place lias cost you, and for the care you take of it We are, really, you
know it's all for us'" And, adds the writei already quoted: "Great was the pitv that the gallant
commandant, whose single demerit consists in being an old bachelor, did not try to secure this fair
hostage for the future good behavior of her countrymen." Since 1871 the lease of the plains has-
been turned over by the British authorities to the Canadian Government. Many unavailing
efforts have been lately made by French writers to detract from the value and importance of
Wolfe's great victory. Abbe Ferland thus attributes treason to Captain de Vergor, the French
officer who was in charge of the post at the summit of the steep ascent from the St. Lawrence to
the plains, where Wolfe and his men clambered up and took the captain prisoner. The French-
Canadian historian. Garneau, estimates the strength of Wolfe's army at 8000 and Montcalm's at
4,500. ' Colonel Beatson, of the Royal Engineers, in a history of the Plains of Abraham, published
by him at Gibraltar, places the number of Montcalm's force at 7.500. and Wolfe's at 4.328. The
modern estimate of Bancroft gives the strength of 5000 fighting men to each of the twoi
armies.

THE BATTLE OF KINGSBURY. HI

Fort Edward and Lake George, killing a hundred and ten men and
taking captive eighty-four prisoners. Majors Putnam and Rogers were
immediately dispatched in pursuit of the marauders.

THE BATTLE OF KINGSBURY.

At South Bay the party separated into two equal divisions — Rogers
taking up a position on Wood-Creek, twelve miles distant from the
Town of Putnam. 1 Upon being, some time afterward, discovered, they
formed a reunion, and concerted measures for returning to Fort
Edward. Their march through the woods was in three divisions, by
Jiles; the right commanded by Rogers, the left by Putnam, and the
centre by Captain Dalzell. The first night they encamped on the banks
•of Clear River, a branch of Wood-Creek, and about a mile from old
Fort Anne, which, as it will be recalled, had been built by General
Nicholson, and two miles north of the present Yillage of Kingsbury.
The following morning (August 7th) Major Rogers and a British officer
named Irwin, incautiously suffered themselves, from a spirit of false
emulation, to be engaged in firing at a target. Nothing could have
been more repugnant to the military principles of Putnam than such
conduct, or reprobated by him in more pointed terms. As soon as the
heavy dew, which had fallen the previous night would permit, the
detachment moved in a body, Putnam being in front, Dalzell in the
centre and Rogers in the rear. The impervious growth and underbrush
that had sprung up, where the land had been partially cleared some
years before, occasioned this change in the order of march. At the
very moment of moving, the French Partizan Marin," who had been
sent with live hundred men to intercept Putnam's party — of whose
movements he had doubtless been well informed by his scouts — was
not more than one mile and a half distant from them. Having heard
the firing at the mark, he hastened to lay an ambuscade precisely in
that part of the wood most favorable to his project. Major Putnam
was just emerging from the thicket into the open forest, when the
enemy rose; and with discordant yells and terrible war-whoops, began an
attack on the right of his division. Surprised, but undismayed, Putnam

1 Putnam, tlie extreme northern town of Washington County, ami named after the daring'
Partizan ranger, was taken from Westfield in 1806. The Palmerston mountain in this town rises
to the height of 1500 feet.

- Also written Morang.

112 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

halted, returned the fire, and passed the word for the other divisions to^
advance to his support. Dalzell at once came to his aid ; and the action,,
the scene of which was widely scattered, and principally fought between
man and man. soon grew general and intensely warm. It would be as-
difficult as useless, to describe at length this irregular and ferocious
mode of fighting. Rogers did not come to Putnam's assistance ; but,,
as he afterwards declared, formed a circular file between the English
and Wood-Creek, to prevent their being taken in the rear or enfiladed.
Successful, as he generally was, his conduct, on this occasion did not
pass without unfavorable comment. Notwithstanding, it was a current
saying in the camp li that Rogers always sent, but Putnam led his men
to action, yet, in justice to Putnam, it should be said, that the latter
has never been known — at least, so says his biographer — in relating the
story of this day's disaster, to affix any stigma upon the conduct of
Major Rogers.

At length, Putnam perceiving that it would be impossible to cross
the Creek, determined, at least, to maintain his ground: and, inspired
by his example, the officers and men behaved with great bravery. Some-
times they fought in a body in open view of the enemy, and again,
individually behind trees, taking aim from their several positions and
acting entirely independently of one another — each man for himself.
Putnam, having discharged his musket several times, it at length missed
fire, just as its muzzle was pressed against the breast of a stalwart In-
dian. This Savage, availing himself of the indefensible attitude
his adversary, sprang forward , with a tremendous war-whoop, and with
an uplifted hatchet, compelled him to surrender. Then, having
armed and bound him, he returned to the field of strife.

Meanwhile, the courageous Captains, Dalzell and Harman,whono\v, in
the absence of Putnam, assumed the command, were forced to give way
for a little distance; and the Indians, taking this to be a sure sign that
the enemv were defeated, rushed impetuously on with dreadful and re-
doubled cries of victory. Rut our two Partizans, collecting a handful
of brave men, gave the pursuers so warm a reception as to force them
in turn to retreat a little beyond the spot at which the action had be-
gun. Here, they made a determined stand; but this change of ground
brought the tree, to which Putnam was tied, directly between the fire
of the two parties. Imagination can scarcely conceive of a more de-
plorable situation. The bullets flew incessantly from either side ; many
struck the tree; while a number passed through the sleeves and skirts

PUTNAM TAKEN PRISONER. L13

of his coat! In this state of jeopardy, unable to move his body, to stir
his limbs, or even to incline his head, he remained more than an hour—
so equally balanced and so obstinate was the fight ! At one moment,
while the battle seemed in favor of the enemy, a young Indian chose
an odd way of discovering his humor. Finding Putnam bound, he
might easily have dispatched him by a blow. Choosing, however, to
excite the terrors of the prisoner, he kept hurling his tomahawk at his
head — his object seeming to be to see how near he could come without hit-
ting him — and, indeed, so skillful was this Indian youth, that the weapon
buried itself several times in the tree at a hair breadth's distant from Put-
nam's head ! Finally, when the young Savage had finished his amuse-
ment, a French officer — a much more inveterate Savage by nature,
though descended from so human and polished a nation ! — perceiving
the bound captive, came up to him, and, levelling a fuzee within a
foot of his breast, attempted to discharge it. Fortunately, however,
it missed fire. Putnam, thereupon, endeavored to solicit from this offi-
cer the treatment i\uv to his situation, by repeating strongly that he
was a prisoner of war. But the chivalric .' Frenchman had no ears for
the language either of honor or nature. Deaf to its voice and dead
to sensibility, he violently and repeatedly, pushed the muzzle of his
gun against Putnam's ribs, finally giving him a cruel blow on the jaw
with the butt end of his musket. After this dastardly deed, he left
hint.

At length, the active intrepedity of Dalzell and Harman, seconded
by the persevering bravery of their followers, prevailed. They drove
from the field the enemy, who left about ninety of their dead behind
them. As they were retiring, or rather retreating, Putnam was untied
by the Indian who had made him prisoner, and whom he afterward
called "Master." Having been conducted for some distance from the
scene of action, he was stripped of his coat, vest, stockings and shoes;
loaded with as many of the packs of the wounded captives as coidd be
piled upon him; strongly pinioned, and his wrists tied as closely to-
gether as they could be pulled with a cord. After he had marched
through (as may be imagined) no pleasant paths in this painful manner,
and for many a tedious mile, the party, who were excessively fatigued,
halted to breathe. Putnam's hands had now become terribly swoolen
from the tightness of the ligature ; and the pain had become well nigh
intolerable. His feet, also, were so much scratched that the blood

[14]

114 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

began to ooze out of them. Finally, exhausted with bearing a burden
above his strength, and frantic with these continued torments now
became beyond human endurance, he entreated an Irish interpreter,
who was with the party, to implore, as the last and only grace he desired
of the Indians, that they would knock him on the head and take his
scalp at once, or loose his hands. A French officer, happening to be
passing by at that time, and hearing Putnam's request, instantly inter-
posed and ordered his hands to be unbound, and some of the packs to
be taken off. By this time the Indian who had captured him, and had
been absent with the wounded, coming up, gave him a pair of moccasins
and expressed great indignation at the unworthy treatment his captive
had suffered.

The Savage again returned to the care of the wounded ; and the
Indians, about two hundred in number, went before the rest of the
party to the place where the whole were that night to encamp. They
took with them Major Putnam, on whom, besides innumerable other
outrages, they had the barbarity to inflict, they made a deep wound
with the tomahawk in the left cheek. His sufferings were in this place
to reach their height. Indeed, a scene of horror, infinitely greater than
had ever met his eyes lief ore, was now preparing. It was determined
to roast him alive. Accordingly, and as preparatory to this holocaust,
he was led into a dark forest, stripped naked, bound to a tree, while a
lot of dried brush with other combustibles was piled in a circle around
him. His torturers, meanwhile, accompanied their labors, as if for his
funeral dirge, with screams and whoops and all the sounds they could
conceive of to make the scene more diabolical. The fuel was then set
on fire. A sudden shower, however, extinguished the rising flames; but
more unmerciful than the elements, the Indians rekindled them until
the blaze ran fiercely round the circle. Putnam soon began to feel the
scorching heat. His hands were so tied that he could move his body;
and he often shifted his position as the fire approached. His efforts
thus made, seemed to afford the greatest delight to his tormentors, who
manifested their joy by shouts and dancing. Putnam, now seeing that
his hour had surely come, summoned all his resolution and fortitude
and composed his mind, as far as circumstances would admit, to bid an
eternal farewell to all he held most dear. To quit the world in itself
would scarcely have cost him a single pang; but for the idea of home
and his domestic ties aside from these thoughts — of which he has left
an account — the bitterness of death — even of that death, perhaps one

INHUMAN TREATMENT OF PUTNAM. L15

of the most dreadful that our physical nature can endure — was in a
manner passed. Indeed, nature, with a feeble struggle, was quitting
its last hold on earthly things — when, marvellous to relate, a French
officer rushed through the expectant crowd ; opened a way for himself
by scattering the burning brands, and unbound the victim. This was
no other than Marin himself — to whom an Indian, unwilling to see
another human sacrifice, had run post speed and communicated the
tidings. The commandant — ever to his honor and fame be it said —
spurned and severely reprimanded the Indians, whose nocturnal powwos
and hellish orgies he thus suddenly ended. Putnam did not lack feeling
or gratitude. The French commander, fearing to trust him alone with
them, remained until he could deliver him in safety into the hands of
his " Master."

This .Savage approached his captive kindly, and seemed to treat him
with particular affection. He offered him some hard biscuit ("hard-
tack " it would now be called) ; but on finding that he could not chew it,
by reason of the blow he had received from the Frenchman, this more
humane Indian soaked some of the biscuit in water and made him suck
the pulp-like part. Determined, however, not to lose his prisoner,
(the refreshment being finished) he took the moccasins from his feet
and tied them to one of his wrists; then, directing him to lie down on
his back upon the bare ground, he stretched one arm to its full length,
and bound it fast to a young tree — the other arm, meanwhile, being
extended and bound in the same manner. His legs, also, were stretched
apart and fastened to two saplings. Then, a number of tall, but slender
poles were cut down, which, with some long bushes, were laid across
his body from head to foot — while, on each side of him lay as many
Indians as could conveniently find lodging, in order to prevent the
possibility of his escape. In this disagreeable and painfvd position, he
remained until morning. Regarding -the silent watches of this long
and dreary night, Putnam was wont to relate that he felt a ray of cheer-
fulness come once in a while across his mind; and, indeed, covdd not
refrain from smiling when he reflected what a ludicrous group this
scene would have made for a painter, in which he, himself, was the
principal figure !

The following day, he was allowed his blanket and moccasins, and
also permitted to march without carrying any pack, nor, after this, did
he receive any insult. Moreover, to allay his extreme hunger, a little
bear's meat was given him, which he sucked through his teeth. At

L16 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

night the party arrived at Ticonderoga, and Putnam was placed under
the care of the French guard. The Indians, who had been prevented
from glutting their devilish thirst for blood, took another opportunity
of manifesting their malevolence for the disappointment by horrid
grimaces and angry gestures; but they were no longer suffered to offer
any violence or personal indignity to him. After having been examined
by that true gentleman, the Marquis de Montcalm, Major Putnam was
conducted to Montreal by a French officer who treated him with the
greatest indulgence and humanity. '

THE ADVENTURE OF JOHN QUACKENBOSS AT

SANDY HILL.

The following recital, says Dr. Fitch, will bring to the old inhabitants
of Sandy Hill, recollections of the story of Captain John Smith and
Pocahontas, though it is associated with far more tragic accompaniments.
This account was given in its present form to Dr. Fitch by the nephew
of the principal, viz: Jacob Quackenboss of Schaghticoke. 2

It seems then, that when this tragedy took place in July, 1757, John,
son of Cybrant Quackenboss of Albany, was under an engagement of
marriage to Jane, daughter of Tennis Viele of the same city, when he
was impressed and required to convey a load of provisions to Lake
George.* He had passed Fort Edward and entered the dark and dreary
wilderness which stretched from the Great Carrying- Place to the Lake,

1 In September, 17.%. Rogers led a foray against the Village of St. Francis in Canada, totally
destroying it and returning safely to Crown-Point, having had only 'me of bis party killed and
seven wounded. As this raid however, does not come within the scope of this work, an account
of it is not given.

- In a note to this account Dr. Fitch writes in 1849, as follows : " The thanks of the inhabitants
of Sandy Hill are due to the New York State Agricultural Societv, that through its instrumentality
this thrilling incident, which is destined to remain to all coming time as the opening event in the
history of their beautiful village, has at length been rescued from the apocryphal aspect in which
it has heretofore been before the public, and presented in an authentic and credible form.
I had regarded it as fiction, until, by the; merest accident, when gathering information upon very
different topics, the full and circumstantial recital above was given. My informant is a person
of high respectibility and scrupulous integrity, was unaware that any account had been published
by Prof. Silliman. He is an entire stranger to the vicinity where it occurred, onlv locating it as
having taken place somewhere near Lake George." 1 may go further than this, and state, that
had it not been for Dr. Asa Fitch, 'who. so modestly, takes no credit for himself' the account
would have been utterly forgotten, or at least, relegated to the limbo of mythical events. Too much
praise cannot be given to Dr. Fitch for his untiring historical industry, in preserving the incidents
in the early history of Washington county.

3 Regarding this impression and the various dangers and vicissitudes accompanying it, the
reader is referred to the chapter immediately perceding this.

QUACKENBOSS' ADVENTURE. 117

when he was captured by a formidable party of Indians, who had
previously waylaid and made capture of sixteen soldiers. The prisoners
'were all taken to where the lovely green in the centre of the Village of
Sandy Hill is now situated, which at that time was a secluded spot in
the woods. Here they were securely tied and were seated upon the
trunk of a fallen tree with two or three Indians left to guard them,
while the remainder hastened away on some further adventure. After
a time they returned, the captive men still sitting in a row upon the log,
Quackenboss being at one end. and a soldier named McGuinis next to
him. One of the Indians now went up to the opposite end of the log
and deliberately sank his tomahawk into the head of the man there
seated. The victim fell to the earth, and his final quiverings had scarcely
ceased, when the next man shared the same fate, and in succession the
next and the next. Nothing more awful can possibly be imagined
than the situation of the survivors, compelled to sit still and see death,
immediate and inevitable, gradually approaching them in this horrid
form. Soon, of all the seventeen, two only remained, Ouackenboss,
clad in his teamster garb, and McGuinis in his soldier"s uniform. Not
one of all the slain, had offered the least resistance, so utterly helpless
were all efforts to avert their fate. And now the death dealing toma-
hawk was raised to cleave McGuinis down when, with the suddenness
of a panther's spring, he threw himself backward from the log, striking
the ground in a desperate struggle to break his bonds. But in vain.
Instantly, on every side of the poor fellow, a dozen tomahawks were
uplifted. 1 But lying upon his back with his heels flying he thrust his
murderers off in every direction spinning round like a top, till hacked
and mangled, and all crimson with his own life's blood which was now
streaming in every direction from a score of horrid gashes, his efforts
became more and more feeble — when a blow was leveled at his head,
and all was over. The hapless teamster now alone remained. He
knew that his moment had come. Already, the fatal tomahawk was
upraised for the last and finishing stroke, when the arm by which it
was wielded was suddenly pushed aside by a squaw, as she exclaimed
" You shan't kill him! He's no fighter! He is my dog ! ' The tawny
warriors acquiesced without a murmur. He was straightway unbound
.and taken in charge by his Indian mistress. A pack of plunder, so

1 1 have in my cabinet of the Stone age, two tomahawks ilu.tc up from this very green in Sandy

Hill. Perhaps they were those used on this occasion !

118 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

heavy that he could scarcely stand under it, was tied upon his back
and the party started off for Canada.

On arriving at the Indian village he had to run the gauntlet between
two rows of Indians, all of whom were armed with clubs. One of them-,
struck him so heavy a blow on the head that it all but felled him to the
earth. He, however, reeled and stumbled onward, kicked and maided
on every side and, with scarce the breath of life left in him, reached the
end of this most barbarous ordeal. His mistress, the squaw, now took
him to her wigwam and bound up his wounds and bruises, carefully
nursing him until he recovered. He asked her why it was that the
Indians treated him so cruelly? She told him that it was because he
would not dance — though what it was that she meant by this explana-
tion he could not conjecture, nor did he ever find it out as long as he
was with her.

Meanwhile, the Governor of Canada, hearing of his being a captive
among the Iudians, sent for and purchased him from them, and had
him brought to Montreal, where, learning from him that he was a weaver
by trade, he procured him employment in this business both in his own
and a number of families in and around Montreal — his situation by this-
kindness of the Governor, being rendered comparatively comfortable and
easy, if, indeed, not remunerative. One thing, however, bore heavily
upon his mind. His family and his betrothed bride he knew must be
in a state of agonizing suspense with regard to his fate. He, therefore,,
ventured to beg the Governor for permission to write a letter to his
father to inform him that his son was still alive. The Governor at once
kindly acceded to his request : and having read the letter which was
submitted to him, sealed and gave it to a trusty Indian by whom it was
brought down as near to Fort Edward as he could venture with safety.
The Indian travelled down into the vicinity of Fort Edward — as far as
he could do with safety to himself and, having made a slit in the bark of
a tree growing beside a frequented path, inserted the letter in this
primitive post-office box and hastened back to Canada. 1 The letter was
soon afterward discovered by a scout on his way to Fort Edward, and
safely forwarded to its destination. It gave the family their first intel-
ligence of one whom they had long since given up as dead.

1 Smile, as we may. at this novel Post-office, it has not yet gone out of fashion, letters being
still in the year of our Lord, 1900, left in the Adirondacks by the driver of the mail stage in a slit
of a tree nearest the receipient's log cabin. This. 1 have witnessed myself on more than one-
-ion.

LEvSSONS FROM THE WAR. 119

yuackenboss remained a prisoner in Canada, about three years, when
Tie was sent home in a vessel which sailed from yuebee to New York.
It is pleasant to know that, although unfaithful to his Indian mistress,
he married his first love, Miss Veile, and settled soon afterwards on a
farm in Cambridge, half a mile below Buskirk's bridge, where he died
about 1820.'

In thus closing the history of the French War, I would fain dwell,
particularly, on the fact that it is a great mistake to suppose that either
Lexington or Bunker Hill was the first school in which the Colonists
were taught their ability to struggle with veteran soldiers. It was in
Washington County, and in the vicinity of Fort Edward, Lake George,
and South Bay that this lesson was first learned; and, in fact, it is very
■doubtful if the Colonists would have dared to take the stand they did
in the beginning of the Revolutionary War, had it not been for the
lessons received in the " Old French " and the " French War." In the
territory now known as Washington County, provincial prowess signal-
ized its self- relying capabilities; and Putnam and Stark came into the
French War, as to a military academy, to acquire the art of warfare
which they all exercised at Bunker Hill '"' George Washington, himself,
as a military man, was nurtured for himself and the world amid the
forests of the Alleghanies and the rifles and tomahawks of these
French and Indian struggles. Indeed, Fort Edward, Lake George and
vSaratoga are contiguous not merely in territory but, as we have seen,
in heroic associations; and as these conflicts in Washington county were

1 Professor Silliman, however, in his Tour from Hart/ort to Quebec furnishes a different version
of the manner in which Ouackenboss was saved. lie also, gives another name to the principaL
in this transaction, viz: Schoonhoven. I believe the story as related in the text to he correct. But
as everything relating to .Sandy Hill will be greatly prized by its citizens, 1 append Prof. Si Hi man's
version. * * * " Mr. Schoonhoven was the last but one upon the end of the log, opposite to where
the massaere commenced: The work of Death hail already proceeded to him. and the lifted
tomahawk was ready to descend, when a chief gave a signal to stop the butchery. Then approach-
ing Mr. Schoonhoven, he mildly said, 'Do you not remember that [at such a time] when your
young men were dancing, poor Indians came and wanted to danee too, your young men said 'No!
Indians shall not danee with us;' hut you (for it seems, this chief had recognized his features
only in the critical moment) you said Indians shall dance— now / will show you that Indians can
remember kindness.' This chance recollection {Providential* we had better call iti saved the life
of Mr. Schoonhoven. and of the other survivor. Strange mixture of generosity and cruelty! For

.a trifling affront, they cherished and glutted vengeance, fell as that of internals, without measure
of retribution or discrimination of objects; for a favor equally trifling, they manifested magnan-
imity exceeding all correspondence to the benefit, and capable of arresting the stroke of death.
even when falling with the rapidity of lightning." 'I "his episode of the dancing, taken in connec-
tion with the squaw's remark to Quackenboss regarding his not dancing &c, would seem to show
how that part of the story originated — the latter, perhaps, not understanding exactly her remark.

2 'rhe reader does not, of course, need to be reminded of the role played by Putnam and Stark
.at this battle.

120 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

in a measure, at least, a source of our present national life, it is emi-
nently proper and fitting that those, like Putnam and Stark, both of
whom took such a prominent part, should be commemorated not only
in story and in song, but in enduring granite and bronze. One, in fact,
is but the correlative of the others. Sana mens in cor pore sano is as true
of the body politic as of the body physical: and, if our existence as a
united nation is to be preserved, it will be by keeping intact the mental
and physical energies of the nation. Correlative ideas, envolved under
varying circumstances, they are proofs of the same spirit of liberty —
the same strong energy of purpose.

CHAPTER XI.

1763-1775-

Early Settlements in the County — First Church Erected in Salem — The
Greai New Hampshire Grant Controversy — Prominent Settlers: Judge
William Duer, Colonel Skene, Etc. — First Court Held at Fort Edward.

Although the treaty of Peace, by which Great Britain obtained
possession of the whole of Canada, was not formally ratified until 1763,
yet, it was evident that with the fall of Quebec, three years previously,
the long and bloody war was virtually at an end. Having no fears of
further Indian raids and atrocities by which the settlement of this
County (known then as Charlotte County) had been for so long retarded,
people now began to flock into it in continually increasing numbers — ■
taking up land and clearing it of its brushwood and timber, preparatory
to its cultivation. In fact, the excellence of its soil had long been
generally known; and it required only the assurance of complete
freedom from molestation for the future prosperity of the country.

Many of the new settlers were of Scotch-Irish descent, who settling in
the present Towns of Argyle, Salem, Greenwich and Kingsbury 1 formed
the nucleus of a God-fearing community — direct traces of their health-
ful religious influence being felt down to the present day. Indeed,
almost the first act of these early emigrants — even before completely
clearing their farms — was to erect at Salem in 1765, a church built a of

1 A history of all these towns will be given in its appropriate place, in a separate division of
■this work.

EARLY SETTLEMENTS. 121

] u-s — their interstices being filled in with clay — having the floor
of earth; while the seats were composed of rough, unhewn tim-
ber laid across blocks of wood. This is supposed to have been
the first church erected north of Albany. It was forty feet
long and was the largest building in the County save the barracks
at Fort Edward. In the same year, the first school-house in
the County was also built at Salem "of similar materials and of like
architecture." Over this primitive church, Rev. Dr. Thomas Clark
was pastor. Dr. Fitch with his usual felicity of expression, calls him
the "Primitive Apostle of the Northern Wilderness." This divine,
before the erection of the church, preached the first sermon ever
delivered in Salem, and perhaps in Washington County in the summer
of 1765, in the house of a Mr. James Turner, to a few persons who had
gathered from the surrounding country. Mrs. Edward Savage, who
died about 1840, related to Dr. Fitch the particulars of her coming to
this meeting. Then a mere girl, she started early on a Sabbath morn-
ing from her father's house, seven miles south-west in Argyle now
Greenwich, and walked alone to her sister's farm (Mrs. Livingston's)
who accompanied her the remaining distance, which they pursued by a
row of blazed trees, there being no path, and not a house having been
then erected on the way. As they emerged from the woods into Mr.
Turner's clearing, his children espied them; and, surprised at the
unusual sight, ran into the house exclaiming to their mother that '" some
women were coming ! " " Had it been bears or wolves," said Mrs.
Savage, " they would scarcely have considered the occurrence worth
reporting."

After suffering imprisonment in Ireland for refusing to take the oath
of allegience in its prescribed form by kissing the book (regarding it
as a remnant of Popish superstition) Dr. Clark came over with the
greater part of his congregation, and after a brief sojourn at Stillwater
finally settled at Salem.' Preliminary, however, to taking this step of

1 "Such a degree of affection." writes Dr. Fitch, "as subsisted between him and his rlock
has had few parallels. Unrepelled by the gloomy walls of his prison, parents brought their infant
children hither tor baptism; and hither, also came the betrothed youth and maiden to have the
marriage ceremony performed. Old pious men went down to their graves, bewailing their sad
case, in being thus cruelly deprived of their beloved pastor's counsels and prayers in their
dying moments. Among this number was a venerable elder of his church, Elias, nephew of
Professor Samuel Rutherford, one of the Westminister Assembly of Divines. From his prison he
wrote, between January and April, 1754, a series of letters which were read to his congregation on
the Sabbath," These were afterward published in a pamphlet of fifty-two pages. The next

[15 J

L22 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

removal from his native land. Dr. Clark had been in correspondence
with Robert Harper, the Dean of Kings, (now Columbia) college in
New York city, furnishing him with the names of one hundred families
who were desirous of emigrating with him to the colony of New York
and there taking up land. " To an inhabitant of Salem," writes Dr.
Fitch, " this list [still preserved | seems like some old assessment roll
or a similar document of his own town, so familiar do a large number
of the names upon it sound, and he can scarcely realize that it emanated
from the other side of the Atlantic nearly a century ago. 1 " As a result
of this correspondence, Mr. Harper obtained a warrant from Governor
Sir Henry Moore, dated November 23d, 1763, to survey a tract of 40,000
acres [four hundred acres to each family | north of the present boundaries
of Queensbury and Kingsbury on which to locate their families. Thus
encouraged, Dr. Clark and his affectionate congregation sailed from
Newry, May roth, 1764, and arrived safelv on the 28th of July of the
same year in the harbor of New York. In concluding his journal of
his voyage across the Atlantic, Dr. Clark devoutly writes: "The all-
gracious God carried near three hundred of us safe over the devouring
deep, in the arms of His mercy. Praised be His name ! "

And here, before speaking in detail of other prominent settlers in
this county, it seems well to dwell at length upon the manner these
grants of land were obtained, and also of the incipient controversy that
arose about this time regarding the New Hampshire Grants — which
controversy to a certain extent affected the tenures by which the settlers
on the eastern boundary of the county — then extending some miles into
the present State of Yermont — held their farms.

The lands, granted by the Colonial Governments at this time, were,
it must be understood, not sold outright. No payment was required
and no money needed to be expended except to the public officials
through whose hands the warrants passed. The grantees were thus, as
a matter of fact, given a perpetual lease, an annual ([uit-rent being-
reserved for the Crown. These quit-rents generally consisted of a few
skins of fur- bearing animals, an ear of corn, or "' three grains of wheat "
if demanded. Besides this, however, an annual quit-rent of two shillings

regularly ordained minister of whom we have any authoritative knowledge who was over a congre-
gation in Washington county was the Rev. Francis Baylor, a Moravian. He was called to a church
in Sandy Hill about 1775, but left there in 1777. This church— though since removed a few rods
from its original site— is still 1 1900) standing. It was bought some years since by the Catholics and
after the latter had erected a new edifice, it was. as I say, removed.

1 This was written in [849

LAND GRANTS. 123

and sixpence sterling' was imposed on every one hundred acres, besides
which, all pine trees suitable for masts for [he Royal Navy were also
reserved to the Crown. "We smile, " says Dr. Fitch, " at the exorbi-
tance of this last i-eservation, which is inserted in all the patents issued
at this period, not only in Washington county but in all parts of the
colonies, as we recur to the fact that the pine trees growing in some
single towns in this county [Washington] even if it had been possible
to fell and transport their bodies entire to tide water, would have been
adequate to supply all the navies in the world with spars for centuries."
The several Colonial Governors, also, on account of the fees attached
to the granting of the patents, were guilty of what might at the present
day be called "an abuse of trust," to the home government, and if an
individual desired to obtain a grant, say for two thousand acres, he had
only to procure the signature of one of his confidential friends, and
pay the fees and the affair was completed. ' The fees for the grant of
one thousand acres were as follows: to the Governor, $31.25; to the
Secretary of State $10; to the Clerk of the Council $10 to $15; to the
Surveyor-General, 1114.37; to the Attorney-General, $7.50; to the
Receiver-General $14.37; an d to the Auditor, $4.62 — making the total
amount nearly $100.. It will thus be seen that the cupidity of these
various public officials was a great source of detriment to the county by
retarding its growth and preventing poor but stalwart and honest people
from settling within its boundaries — for although this amount ($100)
seems to us at the present day but a trifle, yet to m'any of the men of
that time, when money was scarce it was no easy matter to obtain it.
This sum, also, at that time was equal in its purchasing power fully to
$400.

Then again, there were numerous grants of lands made to the
discharged officers and privates of the French War, a large number
of which were located in this county. This brought in a class of inhabi-
tants that as a general thing were not desirable — though some of these
men made good citizens; and, taken all in all, were perhaps eventually,
a source of credit to the county. The Royal Proclamation, by which
these grants were given, after a general preamble, closed as follows:
"and whereas we are desirous, upon all occasions, to testify our royal
sense of approbation of the conduct and bravery of the officers and
soldiers of our army, and to reward the same, we do hereby command

1 This in the slang of the present day would be called "having- a pull."

124 WASHINGTON COUNTY : ITS HISTORY.

and empower the Governors of our said provinces in North America,
to grant without fee or reward, to such reduced officers as have served
in North America during the late war, and to such private soldiers as
have been or shall be disbanded in America, and shall personally apply
for the same, the following quantities of land subject at the expiration
of ten years to the same quit-rents as other lands are subject to in the
same condition of cultivation and improvement viz: To every person
having the rank of a field officer 5.000 acres: to every captain 3,000
acres: to every subaltern or staff officer 2,000 acres: to every non-com-
missioned officer 200 acres; to every private man 50 acres."

The first of these military grants was that known as the " Provincial
Patent. " containing 26.000 acres and which now forms the present Town
of Hartford, granted May 2, 1764. Another grant under the same clause
of his Majesty's proclamation (just quoted) was the one designated
as the " Artillery Patent " of 24.000 acres. It was granted Oct. 24, 1764
to Joseph Walton, John Wilson. David Standish and others, and covered
all of the south-eastern and most valuable part of the present township
of Fort Ann. ''How many of the British troops" says Fitch, who
made an exhaustive examination of the old records at Albany. " I have
not been able to ascertain. This much, however, is certain; that the
Towns of Granville and Hampton, and parts of Hebron were bestowed
iipon some thirty captains and lieutenants. " Other parts of Hebron,
it would appear, as well as the Camden tract in Salem, those in Fort
Anne. Dresden and Putnam, together with all the tillable lands on both
sides of Lake Champlain, at least for a considerable distance beyond
Crown- Point were run out mostly into fifty and two hundred acre lots,
which were granted to non-commissioned officers and privates. " The
names of those grantees." further writes the same author, '"indicate
that they were all. without scarcely an exception, Scottish Highland-
ers — manv though not all of them, belonging to His Majesty's seventy-
seventh Regiment <>f Foot.''

Strange, however, as it may seem, when, even at that day the
fertilitv of the land was well known, of all the commissioned officers
and regular troops of this regiment, only one became an actual
settler and well known in the county at an early day. This person
was the Reverend Harry Monroe, who had been a clergyman of the
Church of England and a chaplain in the Regiment. Thus, having the
rank of a subaltern officer, taking advantage of the Royal Proclamation
he resigned from the army August 23d, 1764, and obtained a grant of

LAND GRANTS. 125

2,000 acres situated in the northern part of the Town of Hebron. In
1774, aftei a sojourn in New Jersey he persuaded some six families to
move on to his land, each of them taking a lease of 100 acres for twenty-
one years at the rent of one shilling a year.' " These settlers were all
of them Scottish Highlanders, some of them being discharged soldiers
who owned land of their own in this same neigborhood. " Rev. Mr.
Monroe accompanied them to Hebron and built a cabin for himself, in
-no wise superior to those of his neighbors, which consisted of rough
logs roofed with bark, having but a single room and without anv floor
except the earth. His cabin stood on the west side of the brook flowing
out of the marsh on his land. This marsh, which consists of about
twenty-six acres and is situated in the middle of " Monroe's tract," gave
to the vicinity the name of " Monroe's Meadows" which it still retains.
This marsh, which by drainage he had converted into a farm meadow,
was a great pet of his; hence, when Monroe assembled his neighbors
for divine worship on the Sabbath, with his back to the building (the
services were held in the open air) and his Bible upon a table before
him while gazing over his group of hearers, it used to be profanely
said of him that he "was adoring his meadows more than his (iod! "

It should be kept in mind that, during the time we are considering
the entire northern portion of the county, including the disputed terri-
tory now constituting the State of Vermont and which was adopted
into the Federal Union soon after the close of the Revolutionary War,
was nominally a part of the County of Albany. So much so was it
thus considered, that in October, 1763, David Wooster (afterwards
General, and killed in the skirmish at Danburv April 26, 1777) and
others petitioned the New York Colonial Assembly for the formation of
five new counties to be taken off of that of Albany. Two of these were
to be east of the Green Mountains. The third "was to run from the
summit of the Green Mountains as far west as the Governor might
think proper," having for its southern limit the north line of Massa-
chusetts, the Mohawk River, and a line " connecting the mouth of that
River with the northwest corner of that State;" while the northern
boundary was to be "an east and west line crossing the Hudson at Fort
Miller; while the fourth county was to lie directly north of the foregoing,

1 Three of the great-grand-sons of one of these settlers, viz; Stephen. Thos. L. and George
Bradley Culver, are vet living and retain a great and reverent fondness for their ancestor's memory.
The first two live respectively in Mt. Vernon, N. V. and New York Citv. and the last is the cashier
in the North Granville Bank. North Granville, Washington County. N. V.

126 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

its northern boundary being- " an east and west line running through the-
north end of Lake George." The fifth was to extend to the boundary
of Canada, although this project was, after much discussion, rejected
by the Colonial Assembly of New York — probably because its projectors
had not sufficient money to " lobby " it through. 1 Yet this circumstance
is mentioned to show how indefinite the boundaries between New York
and New Hampshire were at this time.

During the year 1766, the wordy (and in some instances the more
than wordy) conflict between the New Hampshire grantees and the
New York authorities had already begun — the former contending that
the latter refused to confirm the grants except on the payment of
exorbitant fees: and from what is known of the conduct of these author-
ities and the bribes they had exacted from their own people it must be
confessed that they had. in these charges, some right on their side.
Indeed, this controversy between New York and New Hampshire, in
relation to their boundary line (which of course affected many of the
farmers on the eastern boundary of Charlotte — now Washington county)
was now at its height. The great Congress held at Albany, N. Y, in
1754 (in which Benjamin Franklin was a prominent member) had decided
that the charters of the Colonies of Connecticut and Massachusetts were
of a very liberal and uncertain character. The charter granted to the
Plymouth Company in 1620 — from which was derived that of Connecti-
cut — covered the expanse from the fortieth to the forty-sixth degree of
northern latitude, extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean.
New York, or more properly the New Netherlands, being then a Dutch
possession, could not, however, be claimed as a portion of these grants,
as an exception was made of all territory " then actually possessed by
any other Christian Prince or State." The dispute concerning the
Wyoming lands >vas not the only one to which the indefinite phraseology
of the charter had given rise. Upon the conquest of the New Nether-
lands by the Duke of York, in 1664, controversies immediately arose
between that Province and those of Connecticut and Massachusetts Bay.
These disputes, however, were subsequently adjusted by negotiations and
compromise — the commissioners agreeing that the boundary between
New York. Connecticut and Massachusetts, should be a line drawn north
and south, twenty miles east of the Hudson river. Hardly had the

1 I make this statement advisedly: for a history of the manner in which laws having for their
end. the pecuniary benefit of their projectors, shows that the venal assemblyman of the present
day could take "points "' from the assemblyman of that day!

NEW HAMPSHIRE CONTROVERSY. 127

controversy been to all appearances amicably settled, when New
Hampshire, without the least justice or title, insisted upon having the
same western boundary as her sister colonies. The people of New
York, who had yielded to the decision of the commissioners with a ver
bad grace, were in no mood to brook further encroachments upon then
territory; and they therefore, boldly protested against this assumption
of New Hampshire.

Protests, however, availed little. In 1749, Benning Wentworth, at
that time Governor of New Hampshire, granted a township six miles
within the territory claimed by New York and which, in honor of the
Governor, was named Bennington. This grant was the occasion of a
lengthy correspondence between Wentworth and Governor George
Clinton 1 ; and renewed protests on the part of the latter. Protests and
letters, however, were alike unheeded by the Governor of New Hamp-
shire, who, intent upon increasing his private fortune," continued in
defiance of all right to issue patents to all those settlers who wished
and could afford to pay for them. Such persons, as it may readily be
supposed, were not few. A road which had been cut through the
wilderness from Lake Champlain to Charlestown in New Hampshire by
General Amherst as a means of communication with Crown Point,
had revealed the richness of the land. Many, therefore, hastened to
purchase; and during the year 1761, no less than sixty patents were
issued, a number which, in 1763, had been increased to one hundred
and thirty-eight. At length, justly alarmed by the growing audacity
of Governor Wentworth, and having written to him a letter with no
effect, Lieutenant-Governor Colden, on the eighteenth of December,
1 763, issued a proclamation, in which the grant of Charles the Second
to the Duke of York was recited; the jurisdiction of New York as far
eastward as the Connecticut river, asserted; and the sheriff of Albany
county enjoined to return the names of all persons who, by virtue of the
New Hampshire Grants, held possession of lands westward of that river.
This was answered three months afterward, on the thirteenth of March,
by a counter proclamation from Governor Wentworth, declaring that
the grant to the Duke of York was void, and that the grantees should
be encouraged in the possession of their lands.

• The Colonial Governor — not <?»rGeorge Clinton, Governor of New York, alter the Revolution.

2 The reader, who has noted what I have said regarding the fees exacted by the Colonial
Governor and his officials regarding the grants of land, will readily understand the above refer-
ence to "his private fortune."

l\>,s WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Meanwhile, the New York Assembly, through their agent, Mr.
Charles, laid the question in dispute before the Board of Trade in

ondon, setting forth in their petition, " that it would be greatly to the
1* vantage of the people settled on these lands to be annexed to New
Vork." The result was that, on the 20th of July, 1774, an order was.
made by the King in council, declaring; " the western banks of Connecti-
cut river, from where it enters the Province of Massachusetts, as far
north as the forty-fifth degree of latitude, to be the boundary line
between the two provinces of New Hampshire and New York." This
decision of the Crown was received by the latter province in December
with very great satisfaction. Had the matter been allowed to rest here
all would have been well. Governor Wentworth, in obedience to the
Royal authority, ceased issuing patents westward of the Connecticut
River, and those who had settled upon the grants, were totally indifferent
as to which Government received their allegiance, provided they could
cultivate their farms in quietness. No sooner, however, was this-
decision received, than the Governor of New York chose to interpret
the words "to be " as referring to past time, and construed them as a
virtual admission that the Connecticut River always had been the
eastern boundary of the Province. He, therefore, delared that the
grants from Wentworth were invalid, and insisted that the grantees-
either should surrender or repurchase the lands upon which they had
settled and in many instances improved. Especially did this affect the
farms then lying East of the Hudson and including what was then a
part of the present Washington County. To this unjust demand the
majority of the settlers refused to accede. Notwithstanding which,
the Governor of New York granted their lands anew to others who
forthwith brought ejectment suits against them and obtained judgments,
in the courts at Albany. All attempts, however, to enforce the judg-
ments thus obtained, were met by the settlers with a spirited resistance.
The civil officers sent to eject them were seized by the people and
severely chastized with '■'■twigs of the wilderness;" and a proclamation
from Governor Tryon in the summer of 1764, offering a reward of one
hundred and fifty pounds for the apprehension of Ethan Allen, the
principal offender, was met by a counter and burlesque proclamation
from the latter offering five pounds for the Attorney-General of the
Colony of New York.

Thus arose that fierce controversy beteen the hardy Green Mountain.
Boys of Yermont and the authorities of New York which, lasting with

LAND GRANT CONTROVERSIES. 129

great violence for more than twenty-six years, was finally terminated
by the long disputed New Hampshire grants being, in 1 791 , as before
stated, received into the Federal Union as the State of Vermont. 1

I have dwelt thus at length upon the causes which led to this important
controversy — so greatly affecting the titles to the eastern boundary of
Washington County — that the reader, when the time comes for closing
up the account of its final settlement by commissioners in 181 2, may
have a full and comprehensive understanding of the merits of the matter.

Among the numerous incidents to which this controversy gave rise,
one, out of many of a similar character, will be now related to show
the curious complications to which it gave rise.

For example, among those Highland soldiers of the seventy-seventh
regiment, of whom mention has been made as having settled in the
county, especially in the Towns of Hebron and Salem, on both sides of
the line claimed by the New Hampshire people, was a John McDonald
who had obtained a patent of two hundred acres. To this grant he was
entitled as Corporal of that regiment. After obtaining his grant he
returned to Scotland, married, and returned to this country, when,
greatly to his chagrin and surprise, he found that all but thirty acres
of land had been, during his absence, cut off into Rupert in accordance
with the boundary line claimed by the New Hampshire grantees."

Another anecdote, ending up with a somewhat ludicrous episode
though not caused by this New Hampshire controversy, was as follows:
It was related by Robert Blake and Ann McArthur to that indefatigable
mouser in the early history of Washington county, Dr. Fitch — to whom
too much praise and gratitude cannot be given for the preservation,
through his efforts, of much which otherwise would have been con-
signed to oblivion.

/y^T\\Q first building erected in the old Township of Argyle, stood upon
the flat beside the Batten-Kill, above the mouth of Cassayuna Creek.
It seems that one Rogers had obtained from Lydius a strip of land
along the Batten- Kill from the mouth of White Creek to the Cassayuna
outlet and had built his cabin, cleared some of the land around it, and

1 Belknap Alien's Narrative. Slade's Vermont State Papers.

- Many of the soldiers, says Johnson, not desiring to settle and not being able to dispose of
their lands, the latter remained vacant. Consequently, squatters often settled upon them, in sortie
cases remaining so long in undisputed possession that they or their heirs or assigns became in
time the lawful owners.

[16]

130 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

was residing there with his family when the town was surveyed by
spies from Xew Hampshire. It would also appear that he remonstrated
with the surveyors against their marking any trees upon his lands, for
the corner of one of the lots near his house was left unmarked. Soon
after this, when the Scotch settlers began to arrive in the vicinity, he
very properly forbade their intruding upon any part of the lands which
he claimed, telling them that if they did so it would be at their peril.
Disregarding and unintimidated by his threats two of them, Livingston
and Read, erected their houses upon the land claimed by Rogers. He
accordingly, sought every occasion for annoying them, boldly maintain-
ing that none of the Argyle settlers had any title to their lands. Lydius,
if any one, being the real owner. Finally, on one occasion, finding
that Livingston was absent from home, he went to his house and taking
his wife carried her out of doors, sat her down and then proceeded to
remove all of the furniture from the house — truly a remarkable case
of ejectment! For this outrage a warrant for the arrest of Rogers
was issued by Esquire McNaughton and handed to Read, one of the
constables of the town, for service. Rogers, who was a stalwart and
athletic man, had given out that it would be as much as one's life was
worth to molest him, especially as he had some bulldogs about his house
that would be found dangerous foes for any man who came near his
dwelling. Fearing, therefore, that it would be a difficult matter to
arrest him, Read summoned to his aid one of the most vigorous and
re-i 'lute men in the neighborhood, viz: Joseph McCracken of Salem, to
assist him. Xot a dog was heard to bark when they approached Rogers'
house in the evening or rather, as it would seem from the narrative, at
the earliest dawn. As they opened the door, Rogers caught up his
loaded gun, but McCracken, instantly rushing up and grasping it, held
it firm in spite of Rogers' utmost efforts to wrest it from him. Read
now proceeded to bind Rogers' arms behind him. A comical incident
now occurred. Suspenders, says Mrs. Ann McArthur, were not worn
at that period: and in the struggle the waistband of McCracken's
pantal* »< >ns, becoming unbuttoned, they slipped down, as he was holding
for his very life on to the musket in Rogers' hands. Meanwhile, a little
child of Rogers, furious at seeing his father thus overpowered, hereupon
ran up and bit the posierior of McCracken: but even this attack in his
rear did not cause him to relax his hold on the gun. The prisoner
then, being securely bound, was conveyed to the jail in Albany. "Such"
says Fitch, "is the history of the first service of a legal process in the

PROMINENT SETTLERS. 13]

county of which we have any knowledge. " What afterwards became of
Rogers or his family is not known. To prevent further annoyances of
this kind. Esquire McNaughton had an interview with Lydius and
requested him either to desist from giving deeds to these lands based
on his titles opposed to those given by Governor Wentworth, or else to
get confirmation of his title from the Royal Government. Lydius, it
is said, visited England for this purpose but without success, the Board
of Trade refusing to interfere. No further molestation, however,
from this source was experienced.

Among the early and most prominent, and indeed distinguished
settlers of the County was Captain, (afterwards Judge) Duer. It was in
1766, that the present Village of Fort Miller was founded.' Captain
Duer, a brilliant officer of the British army had served with distinguished
merit on the staff of Lord Clive during the latter's remarkable career
of conquest in India; and, among other English officers attracted hither,
had, in his surveys, chosen the vicinity of Fort Miller to found a colony.
His wife was a daughter of Mr. Alexander of New York who claimed
to be the rightful heir of a Scottish Earldom and who was known
throughout the Revolutionary War as Lord Sterling:. He had, more-
over, subsequently won high honors at the Battle of Long Island, and
was held in great esteem by Washington, himself. Mrs. Duer was
generally known as "pretty Lady Kitty" (not Katy as she has been
called) Duer; and if that designation had at that day been in existence
she would have been said to have belonged to the "Four Hundred."
While maintaining a princely establishment in this primeval forest — her
husband being a person of great wealth — she was accustomed to spend
a great portion of her time amid the gaieties of the fashionable circles
of New York City. She was present at the Grand Ball given in 1789,
in New York City, in honor of the adoption of the Federal Constitu-
tion and of Washington's Inauguration."

Major Duer was, subsequently, with Gen. Philip Schuyler, appointed
the second judge of the County — Schuyler being the first; and both
were associated together on the judicial bench. :1 Philip P. Lansing

1 Deriving its name from the old fortified store-houses on the west side of the Hudson, the
erection of which has already been mentioned.

2 In my father's (Col. \Vm. L. Stone's) account of the "Grand Inauguration Hall," taken down
by him from the lips of Aaron Burr, who was present on that occasion, a full account of the
costume worn by Lady "Kitty Duer" is tciven.

:l Schuyler's appointment as "first judge of the county" of Charlotte county (Washington)
was dated the 8th of September, 1772.

l.;j WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

(after whom Lansingburg was named) was at the same time appointed
sheriff, and Patriek Smith of Fort Edward, clerk, while Ebenezer
Clark, a son of Rev. Dr. Thomas Clark, and Alexander McNaughton —
both of New-Perth — and Jacob Marsh and Benjamin Spenee of the
present State of Vermont, received the appointment of '"Justices of the
Quorum." i. e. — associates of the judges in holding- the Courts of Com-
mon Pleas and Sessions.

Another of the prominent settlers in the county was Major Philip
Skene — a distinguished offieer — who had, at the assault on Ticonderoga
in 1758, displayed extraordinary bravery. He had also served with
gallantry under General Amherst. From these reasons, as well as from
his prominence and his great influence in early bringing this county
into notice, he deserves much more than a passing mention.

In the summer of 1759, having, during his march with Amherst
through the country, noticed the great fertility of the land. Major
Skene made a settlement at the head of South Bay, where the present
village of Whitehall ' now stands. Here he located thirty families, all
being in his employment and began with great zeal the work of clearing
the land. This place afterward received the name of wSkenesborough,
after its founder, and was destined, as will hereafter be seen, to come
into great prominence at the time of the Revolutionary War — especially
•during the campaign of General Burgoyne. Although he had not yet
secured a title to this land, he, it is said, acted under the advice of
-General Amherst, having it is to be presumed no doubt that, with such
a "backer," there would be no question of his obtaining a title to it.
Having settled his tenants comfortably on their various allotments, and
still retaining his rank in the army he went to Cuba with the British
army, and greatly distinguished himself at the attack and capture of
Morro Castle. In the New York State records he is styled Major Skene,
yet the grant to him of 3,000 acres of land at Northwest Bay (now
West Port) in Essex county, for military service, would seem to indi-
cate that he held at this time a captain's commission only. At a later
period, while serving under General Burgoyne, he is styled "Colonel
Skene:" but this may have been in consequence of having received a
civil appointment as one of the judges of this county. He is also
often designated in the correspondence of the day "Governor Skene"
— a title which probably originated from the project he at one time con-
templated, of having the Xew Hampshire Grants (the present State

a For the Indian name of Whitehall and its meaning, see a few chapters back.

MAJOR PHILIP SKENE. 183

of Vermont) and northern New York erected into a separate Royal
Government with himself at its head. If he, however, actually had
such a commission, it would have been, as has been pointed out, nat-
urally suppressed by the continental authorities, anxious as they were
not to offend the important province of New York which would have
been the effect of recognizing such a document.

On his return from the "West Indies, in 1763, he brought with him a
number of African slaves; and having obtained, in the spring of 1765,
a grant of 25,000 acres at the mouth of Wood Creek in the present
Town of Whitehall, he set himself to erecting a number of buildings of
a much more pretentious character than any other, private citizen
possessed in those days. His own dwelling was of stone, on William's
Street in the Village of Whitehall, and his barn, also built of stone,
stood some distance south of his house, it being occupied by the garden
of the late Judge Wheeler. This edifice was 130 feet long; and its walls
were so massive that it was always supposed that Colonel Skene, like
his contemporary, Sir William Johnson in his building at Johnstowu,
N. Y., contemplated the possibility of its being used at some time as a
fortification — a conjecture which seems not at all unreasonable.

On July 6th, 1771, he obtained a further grant of 9,000 acres on the
ground that he could, if duly encouraged by the government, settle
upon it a hundred families within three years. This last grant which
was known as "Skene's Little Patent," adjoined the north side of his
"Great Patent," and lay on the "East side of the waters running from
Wood Creek into Lake Champlain." Nearly 2,000 acres of this smaller
tract forms the northern portion of the Town of Hampton. t The
remainder of it and all of the "Great Patent" lies in the present Town
of Whitehall, and includes 2,000 acres granted to Lieutenant Mcintosh,
besides fragmentary corners of two other military tracts.

Being now greatly encouraged by the aid given him by the Govern-
ment — a circumstance which he undoubtedly owed to his old com-
manding officer and personal friend, General Amherst — he pushed
rapidly forward his improvements; and such was his untiring energy
and enterprise, and the love which his tenants bore him — they all help-
ing him in his projects to the utmost in their power — that, in 1767, he
cut a road at his own expense from his settlement (Skenesborough)
amid a dense wilderness, thirty miles through the central portion of
Hebron, or New Perth, and Salem, whence, aided by the inhabitants
of the southern portion of the county, it was subsequently extended to

134 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Bennington. This, known for many years after the Revolution, as
"Skene's Road." passed in as straight a course as possible and conse-
quently went over hilly tracts that are now avoided. It crossed Pawlet
River at the old turnpike bridge, a short distance above Whitehall and
keeping down between the hills in the western part of Granville, came
to "Monroe's Meadows" by the present west road, and so onwards by
Chamberlain's Mills to Salem.

Nothing was done towards grading this primitive road, a large part
of which was made of logs, and was called in the parlance of the county
"corduroy." It was, consequently, passable in winter only for sleighs;
and not only in winter was the ox-sled the chief means of conveyance,
but even in summer (as is the case even at this day, in many portions
of the Adirondack wilderness) it was a common thing for a settler to
hitch his oxen to a sled, with wooden runners — iron not being thought
of — and with a bag of wheat or of corn as a load, make his way to the
nearest settlement often twelve miles distant. "A man who owned a
cart at that time was considered to be decidedly forehanded ; and one
who possessed an actual wagon with four wheels might fairly claim to
belong to the aristocracy! " '

Now, although this narrative will have much to say of Major Skene
when the campaign of General Burgoyne is considered, yet I deem this
a good place to describe his personal appearance, and his general
character. "We are surprised," says Fitch, "at the malignancy of the
hatred which most of our old people [this was written in 1849] manifest
toward this man. From one who in his youth saw him repeatedly in
Burgoyne 's camp at Fort Edward we are told that he was a large, fine
looking person, with a pleasant countenance and an affable deportment.
Except what took place in open and honorable warfare, we cannot learn
that he was party to any acts by which the inhabitants were ever
distressed or molested in any way. But there is no doubt that his
power and influence and the known energy of his character tuade the
leading Whigs of the county, from the very outset of the Revolutionary
struggle, fear him ten fold more than any other friend of the King-
dwelling in this section of the State. They saw that it was necessary
that his popularity [and there is no doubt but that it was very great]
among the inhabitants should be effectually destroyed ; and the abhor-
rence with which he is commonly spoken of indicates, as much as any

1 Conversations of Dr. Pitch with Jacob Bitely, Fort Edward: Oeorge Webster. Lansingburg.
and James Rogers, Hebron.

NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTEES INDICTED. 1-35

fact within our knowledge, the consummate tact and ability with which
the affairs of those times were here managed. Could we put the question
to any of the common people who were residing here in the days that
are now gone by, who it was that they hated most, the reply we know
would be ' the Devil ; ' but if we further asked who, next to him they
most execrated, we are in doubt whether the answer would be ' the
Pope ' or ' old Skene.' "

It will thus be seen that most of the early and prominent settlers
of this county were of foreign birth, viz: judge (Major) William Duer,
Major (afterwards Colonel) Skene, Dr. Thomas Clark, and a Dr. John
Williams — the last being a young English physician, who had settled
in Salem in the early part of 1773, and who soon displayed marked
ability not only in his chosen profession, but as a man of business and a
political leader; for, notwithstanding his recent arrival from England,
he was an ardent supporter of the patriot cause. So, also, was Judge
Duer. Dr. Clark and Major Skene were both believed to favor the
cause of the mother country, though the former took no active part;
while a few believed that, at this time, even the hated and much
maligned Skene would not have become an outspoken and active
British partisan had it not been for needless harshness on the part of
the Colonial authorities.

On the 21st of March, 1773, a stormy court was held at Fort
Edward. Judge William Duer presided, Judge Philip Schuyler being
in attendance on the Colonial Assembly in New York City defending 1
the cause of the people. It was expected that many indictments grow-
ing out of the riots in the eastern part of the County, in consequence
of the stand taken by the New Hampshire grantees, as mentioned a
few pages back, would be found against certain disturbers of the
peace. In addition to which, the disturbed condition of the country
(as is the case at the present day on our western borders) caused
many criminals who had fled here from their haunts in the cities, to
make themselves obnoxious to the peaceable inhabitants of the county.
These men hoped, and not, perhaps, without reason, that those who
had been ousted from their claims and burning for revenge would, if
not sympathize, at least would "wink " at, or condone their outrages.
They were, it is said, of the most debased class, comprising robbers,
thieves, and especially counterfeiters, who had taken advantage of the
riotous proceedings; and perhaps, too, in addition, the just indigna-
tion of those settlers who had been driven from their farms, and thus

136 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

willingly aided in circulating their bogus silver coin with alarming
facility.

Thus it was. that all these violators of the law and their friends
crowded in and around the rude tavern at Fort Edward, in one of the
rooms of which the court was to be held, cursing and drinking, and
threatening all sorts of dire things — not the least of which was their
determination to " pitch court, officers and jury into the Hudson if they
dared attempt to enforce the law;" and what added to the excitement
was the fact that some days before, the court at Westminster, in
Cumberland county (then in the present state of Vermont) had been
broken up by a similar mob — one man having been killed and several
wounded in the affray.

Judge William Duer, however, the East Indian soldier and one
accustomed from his military experience to brook no insubordination,
was not frightened. A company of British troops under Captain Mott,
chanced, at the time, to be passing through Fort Edward on their way
to Tieonderoga. The Captain, thereupon, having been persuaded by
Judge Duer to tarry at that village for a few days, the Judge at
once proceeded to convene and hold his court. The rioters being thus
confronted with the glisteniug bayonets of men who would stand no
nonsense, sullenly subsided, and allowed the court to be held peaceably
and with no molestation. Consequently, indictments were duly found
against the guilty parties, though the intense excitement which arose
soon after consequent upon the Battle of Lexington, prevented either
their arrest or conviction.

Upon the adjournment of his court. Judge Duer reported this
attempt to intimidate him in the performance of his duty to the Pro-
vincial Congress and requested their permission to hold the court the
ensuing June; writing as follows:

"Your interposition in this matter may save the shedding of blood
at the next court, for so long as I know it to be the sense of the
country that the courts of justice should be supported, and that I have
the honor of sitting as one of the judges, I shall endeavor to keep them
open. even at the risk of my life. "

"The court thus held by the resolute judge in March. 1775. was
the last public court in Charlotte county previous to the beginning of
the Revolutionary period. " '

1 Johnson.

PROSPERITY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY. 137

CHAPTER XII.

1775— 177(>-

The Peace of 1763 Brings Increased Prosperity to Washington County — General
Thrift of the People Disturbed by Rumors of War Between the Colonies and
the Mother Country — The Inhabitants of the County Divided in Their Alle-
giance— {Ethan Allen's Attack on, and Capture of, Ticonderqga — Seizure and
Imprisonment of Colonel Skene — Formation <>e War Committees — Failure of
General Montgomery's Expedition and His Death before the Walls of Quebec
— Death from Small Pox of General Thomas — Washington's Views Regarding
the Recruiting for the Continental Army — Carleton's Naval Victory on
Lake Champlain over General Arnold — Outlook for the Future Mom Gloomy
— Extracts from Captain Norton's "Orderly Book" — Position of the People
of Washington County at this Crisis ( )i tlined.

For a number of years, or, since 1760, Washington County 1 had
been favored with a high degree of prosperity. Many farms were
either taken up from the Royal Government, or else purchased from
private parties; while, as has been seen in the last chapter, a number
of prominent individuals, such as Judge Duer and Colonel Skene, had
become permanent residents. In fact, all the signs gave promise of
an unexampled era of thrift. The French War, moreover, being now
over, every one, confident that peace had indeed dawned, looked for-
ward to a life of contentment and industry, undisturbed by Indian
forays, accompanied by the inevitable and horrible atrocities of border
warfare. Canada, having been ceded to Great Britain, no one dreamt
that soon his farm would be the theatre for the acting of one of the
greatest conflicts that had ever taken place in America. Still less,
did the inhabitants imagine for an instant that their misfortunes in
even the distant future were to be caused by a war with the Mother
Country. France, perhaps, they thought might possibly give rise to
anxiety; but the idea of trouble arising from that quarter was prepos-
terous and not to be seriously entertained. It is true, that distant
mutterings of the fast advancing storm had recently been heard by
them, but up to nearly the last moment it was supposed that the dif-

1 When I speak of "Washington County," the reader should recollect that it was still a
part of the western portion of Charlotte County. When I come to write of the separation of the
counties this will be made more plain.

[17]

138 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

ferences between England and her American Colonies would be
amicably adjusted — but. as to a final and a violent separation and the
cutting asunder of all ties — this was an idea not seriously to be
thought of at this time, even by the most zealous patriots. When,
therefore, the news of the Battle of Lexington was conveyed to them
by a swift messenger, ' followed soon afterward by the news of the
capture of Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen, they were simply dazed.
Soon, however, recovering from their stupor, the majority of the
inhabitants of the county, as with one impulse, sprung to arms, and,
sympathizing with their sister colonies, they with one spirit pledged
themselves to each other " to be ready for the extreme event. " With
one heart, they, with the entire continent exclaimed in the words of
Patrick Henry: " Give me liberty or give me death! " Acting in this
spirit they declared in several enthusiastic and public meetings "to
stand or fall with their brethren of New England," only waiting for
the commands of the Provincial Congress of New York to take up
arms.

It is true, that a large and very respectable minority, consisting
chiefly of natives of England and Scotland, were not ready at this
early period of the contest, to cast aside their allegiance to George
III ; though, in the presence of the prevailing excitement, they remained
silent and did nothing by any overt act to make themselves specially
obnoxious. That portion of Washington County, then forming a part
of Albany County, viz: Cambridge, Easton, Jackson and White Creek,

1 In describing the general alarm sent out after the Battle of Lexington Mr. Bancroft, in one
-of his most superb passages, says :

" Darkness closed upon the country and upon the town, but it was no night for sleep. Heralds
on swift relays of horses transmitted the war-message from hand to hand, till village repeated it
to village; the sea to the backwoods; the prairies to the highlands; and it was never suffered to
drop, till it had been borne north and south, and east and west throughout the land. It spread
■over the bays that receive the Saco and Penobscot. Its loud reveille broke the rest of the trappers
■of Xew Hampshire and, ringing like bugle notes from peak to peak, overleapt the Green Moun-
tains, swept onward to Montreal and descended the ocean river, till the responses were echoed
from the cliffs of Quebec. The hills along the Hudson told to one another the tale. As the sum-
mons hurried to the south, it was one day at Xew York; in one more at Philadelphia; the next it
lighted a watch-fire at Baltimore; thence it waked an answer at Annapolis. Crossing the Poto-
mac near Mount Vernon, it was sent forward without a halt to Williamsburg. It traversed the
Dismal Swamp to Nansemond. and along the route of the first emigrants to North Carolina.
•For God's sake, forward it by night and by day,' wrote Cornelius Harnett, by the express
which spsd for Brunswick, Patriots of South Carolina caught up its tones at the border, and
through pines and palmettoes and moss-clad live oaks, still further to the south, till it resounded
among the Xew England settlements beyond the Savannah. * * * Ever renewing its
strength, powerful enough even to create a commonwealth, it breathed its inspiring word to the
first settlers of Kentucky, so that hunters, who made their halt in the matchless valley of the
Elkhorn, commemorated the nineteenth day of April. 177s. by naming their encampment LEX-
INGTON."

ETHAN ALLEN CAPTURES TICONDEROGA. 139

was decidedly more attached to the American cause than the people
of Charlotte.

The affair at Lexington and Concord to which allusion has been
made, had, of course, been the signal for war throughout the Colonies.
The forts, magazines and arsenals were everywhere seized by the
Colonists. Troops, as well as money for their support — -which was
equally essential — were raised; and it was not many weeks before an
army of thirty thousand men appeared in the environs of Boston under
the command of General Israel Putnam, l who, as is well known,
when the news of the Battle of Lexington reached him, left his plow-
standing in the field, mounted his horse and rode away to Cambridge,
Mass. Putnam will be remembered by the reader as one of the vet-
erans of both the "Old" and the "French" wars, and one in whom
the people had the greatest confidence.

Early in May Colonel Ethan Allen, a hardy and bold leader of the
settlers upon the New Hamshire grants, (now Vermont) and under
whose advice the latter had hitherto, so successfully resisted the
Government of New York, concerted an expedition against Ticon-
deroga and Crown Point. About forty volunteers from Connecticut
were of the expedition, which, with the forces collected for this object
at Castleton, made up the number of two hundred and thirty-one.
Allen was Unexpectedly joined by Colonel (afterwards General) Bene-
dict Arnold, who had also, it appears, independently of Allen, planned
the same enterprise. They, however, patriotically throwing all
jealousies aside, readily agreed to act in concert, and so admirably
was the project carried into execution, that the Americans actually
entered the fortress by the covered way - just at daylight; formed upon
the parade-ground within, and awoke the astounded sleeping garrison
by their huzzas. A slight skirmish ensued and the commander, De
LaPlace, aroused from his bed and in his night-shirt, surrendered to
the novel' summons of Allen. "I demand a surrender in the name
of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Congress." After Ticon-
deroga had thus been given up to the leader of the hardy Green Moun-
tain Boys, Colonel Seth Warner was immediately dispatched to Crown

1 The Christian name " Israel" is here given, that the reader may not confound him with his
cousin, Colonel Rufus Putnam, who built the fortress at West Point and whom we shall hear of
later in the Burgoyne campaign.

1 This covered way may still 1 1900) be easily discerned, even without a guide.

2 I say "novel" advisedly, as Allen was even then well known and, indeed, to the time of his
death, as an avowed atheist and infidel.

HO WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

point, which was easily taken — the garrison consisting only of a dozen
men and commanded by a sergeant. Meanwhile, Arnold proceeded
northward to St. Johns, where he succeeded in capturing a sloop of
war by surprise. ( )n the 1 3th of May fifty men who had been levied
in Massachusetts, under orders given by Arnold as he passed through
on his way to Ticonderoga, appeared at Skenesborough and took pos-
session of that village in the name of the revolted colonies. This com-
pany was commanded by Captain Herrick and, it is said, was the first
body of American soldiers which entered the present county of Wash-
ington during the American Revolution. They seized on a schooner
belonging to Major Skene and bore it off as a trophy to Ticonderoga.
Taking, also, the absent owner's toryism for granted, they confiscated
some of his property, among which was a very valuable Spanish horse,
which had been brought by him from the West Indies. It is said, but
on what authority I do not know, that this horse subsequently passed
into the possession of Colonel Morgan Lewis, who afterwards loaned
it to General Arnold to ride at the second battle of Saratoga, when it
was shot under that daring commander, when he was wounded at the
capture of the " Brunswick Redoubt" on the 7th of October, 1777.
This little company of volunteers at the same time that they captured
Skenesborough, made a prisoner of Skene's son, Andrew F. Skene,
who, like his father, was also called "Major Skene." Herrick also
made prisoners of some fifty tenants and twelve negroes, besides sev-
eral pieces of cannon. Thus, by a sudden blow and without the loss
•of a man, was the command of Lakes George and Champlain obtained.

Soon after these startling events Major Skene arrived from England,
and on his arrival at Xew York, the authorities, like Captain Herrick,
taking his toryism for granted, arrested him, seized all his papers and
threw him into prison. Shortly after he was released and allowed to
go on his parole at Middletown, Conn. He was not permitted, how-
ever, to return to his home at Skenesborough and his property — his
tenants, as we have seen having also been captured and taken away —
rapidly went to destruction.

The following May, (1776) being highly, and as it was thought at
the time even by some patriots, justly incensed at his treatment,

1 From this fact has arisen, in several histories, the statement that the original Major Skene
was taken prisoner at this time; but as then the Major Skene was in England, this, of course,
was a mistake. A. P. Skene is also sometimes called the nephew of Colonel Philip Skiene; but in
the original records of the sale of their confiscated property the younger man is described as the
son of the elder.— Johnson.

WAR COMMITTEES ORGANIZED. 141

he refused to renew his parole and was again imprisoned, but was
finally exchanged. Embittered by his losses, and by what he con-
sidered his ill treatment, he, as will be seen hereafter, returned to
Skenesborough in the army of General Burgoyne. Before, however,
dismissing Colonel Skene, for the present, it may, I think, truthfully
be said, that his case was only one of numerous others at the
beginning of hostilities when a little policy and leniency on the part
of the Continental Congress would have converted a man conscien-
tiously wavering in his opinions as to which side to espouse, into a
staunch friend of the Colonists in their rebellion against the Mother
Country ; whereas, by a contrary course, the Continental Congress, by
making him a bitter enemy, only threw in their own way obstacles
which rendered the contest of much greater difficulty than otherwise
it would have been.

Although the Colonial Assembly convened under royal authority
had adjourned, as we have seen, on the 3d of April, 1775, and never
met again, its powers passing by general consent to the Provincial
Congress, yet in some of the counties of New York State the old
courts were still held. The last court in Charlotte County, which
derived its authority from the Royal government, was held on the 20th
of June, 1775. Its first judge, Philip Schuyler, had twelve days before
been appointed the third Major-General of the Continental army, and
was, at this time, giving Washington advice regarding the then con-
templated invasion of Canada.

At the same time the friends of the American cause were exceed-
ingly active throughout the county. A county committee was organized
and delegates elected from the several townships, to whom was en-
trusted the general direction of affairs in the new and remarkable
conditions which had so suddenly arisen. These committees, in fact,
really corresponded to the "Committees of Safety," which had been
now organized in Tryon County, west of Albany, and throughout the
entire war they did excellent and efficient service. The Provincial
Congress, also, ignoring the former disputes between Governor Went-
worth and Sir Henry Moore, then governor of the Province of New
York, authorized the formation of a battalion of ''Green Mountain
Boys" — five hundred strong — and the latter, laying aside, for the time
being at least, all animosity, so far recognized the authority of their
old time foes as to organize under this act. Seth Warner, however,

142 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

instead of Ethan Allen, was chosen by the battalion as the Lieutenant-
Colonel commanding.

It must be admitted, however, that the people of the county were
by no means unanimous in the efforts of the Colonists to throw off
the British yoke. More particularly was this disaffection to the
American cause manifested in the towns of Skenesborough, Kingsbury
and Fort Edward, the feeling in this regard being stronger in these
places than anywhere else in the county. " Among the most promi-
nent Tories in the two latter districts," says Johnson, "were the
members of the Jones family, emigrants from New Jersey, and several
of whom were influential farmers. In the fall of 1776, two of the
younger brothers, Jonathan and David Jones, raised a company of
nearly fifty soldiers in Kingsbury and Fort Edward. To their patriot
neighbors and the American officials these soldiers declared that they
were about to join the garrison of Ticonderoga, but among themselves
they had a very different understanding. All the men that the Joneses
could trust having: been enrolled, they set out for the north, but
instead of stopping at Ticonderoga they passed through the woods in
the rear of that fort and joined the British forces under Sir Guy
Carleton in Canada." Carleton gave Jonathan Jones a captain's com-
mission and David a lieutenant's. The career of the latter becomes a
subject of special interest, on account of his subsequent connection
with the murder of his betrothed, Jane McCrea — one of the saddest
episodes of the American Revolution — to an account of which a
special chapter will be devoted in its proper place when I come to
narrate the Burgoyne campaign.

Meanwhile, the management of the Northern Department had been
committed by Washington to Generals Schuyler and Montgomery, in
both of whom the Commander-in-chief had the utmost confidence, and
these generals were now (1775) directing a force upon Montreal and
Quebec. It may, also, be noted in passing — as showing how much
Washington County figured in this war — that both Schuyler and Mont-
gomery tarried a few days at Fort Edward on their way to assume the
eommand of the northern army. ' General Schuyler, however, having
been obliged temporarily to leave the Northern army in consequence
of ill health, the entire command and responsibility devolved upon

1 While Schuyler was at Fort Edward at this time, he used the opportunity to write out a
proclamation to the inhabitants of Canada i which was at once distributed throughout that
province) calling on them to throw off the British yoke.

DEATH OF MONTGOMERY. 143

General Montgomery, who had advanced a second time upon St. Johns
and captured that fortress — Sir Guy Carleton having been repulsed
by Colonel Warner at Longqueil, in his attempt to cross the St. Law-
rence and advance to its succor. St. John's surrendered on the 3d of
Novemoer of this year; but while the siege was still pending, Colonel
Ethan Allen, with thirty-eight of his "Green Mountain Boys," was
captured and sent to England in irons. ' It cannot be said, however,
that Allen did not deserve his fate, on account of his rashness and dis-
obedience of orders. Still, he was very near capturing Montreal with
the small party he led in advance, as was subsequently admitted by
one of the British officers.

The fort at Chamblee fell into the hands of Montgomery, together
with a large quantity of military stores, which were of great use—
among them being three tons of powder. Montreal was next taken
by the Provincials, General Carleton narrowly escaping in a boat with
muffled oars to Three Rivers, whence he hastened with all speed to
Quebec. Montgomery, with his little army, was swift to follow him
thither, where his arrival had been anticipated by Colonel Arnold,
with upward of seven hundred New England infantry and riflemen,
with whom he had performed the almost incredible feat of traversing
an unexplored forest, from the Kennebec to the mouth of the Chau-
diere. Uniting the forces of Arnold with his own, Montgomery laid
seige to Quebec on the first of December. His artillery, however,
was of too slight calibre to make any impression upon its walls; and
it was finally determined, if possible to carry the town by a combined
assault from two directions — one division to be led by Montgomery
and the other by Arnold. This assault was undertaken on the 31st of
December, and the year closed by the fall of both divisions, the
wounding of the brave Arnold and the death of the chivalric Mont-
gomery. '■

The conquest of Canada, however, notwithstanding this unfortu-
nate termination of the armies of Montgomery and Arnold, continued
to be a favorite project with Congress, and every possible effort with-

1 Holme's Annals. See also, Parliamentary Register. I give these authorities as the fact of
his being ironed has, by some, been doubted.

2 In 1818 the remains of General Montgomery were removed from Canada to New York, 1>\
order of the New York Legislature and deposited, with military honors, underneath the beautifu i
cenotaph which now (1900) stands in the front wall of St. Paul's church on Broadway, New York
City. The curious reader will find a full account of this transaction in my History of New York
City.

144 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

in the means of the Colonists was made to that end. But the fall of
Montgomery had thrown a gloom over the enterprise which was never
dissipated. Colonel, now General, Arnold had maintained himself
before Quebec during the winter and until late in the spring - , with but
a handful of men, numbering at at one time, not more than five hun-
dred fit for duty. But the reinforcements were slow in arriving.
General Thomas, also, who had been assigned to the command of the
army in Canada, arrived before Quebec on the ist of May, where he
found an army of nineteen hundred men, less than one thousand of
whom were effective, while three hundred of these, being entitled to
their discharge, refused to perform duty. They had, moreover, but
one hundred and fifty barrels of powder and six day's provisions. In
view of this state of affairs and knowing that General Carleton's rein-
forcements from England would soon arrive, General Thomas, with
the concurrence of a council of war, determined to raise the siege on
the fifth of May, and take up a more eligible position farther up the
river. It was the intention of the American commander to remove
the sick to Three Rivers, but on the 6th a British fleet with heavy
reinforcements arrived. General Carleton immediately made a sortie
at the head of one thousand men, to oppose whom. General Thomas
had not more than three hundred available troops. No other course
remained, therefore, but a precipitate retreat for all who could get
away, leaving the sick and the military stores to the enemv. General

* I O ml -

Thomas, accordingly, led his little Spartan band back to the mouth of
the Sorel, where he was seized with the small-pox and died. Large
reinforcements joined the fugitive army at that place, under General
Sullivan. ' But before General Carleton moved from Quebec, an ex-
pedition was undertaken from Sorel to the Three Rivers, against
General Frazer, under the direction of General Thompson and Colonel
(afterwards General) St. Clair. It was unsuccessful and from this
time disaster followed disaster, until, owing to the combined causes of
defeat, sickness, the loss of General Thomas and insubordination, the
Americans found themselves, on the i Nth of fune, driven entirely out
of Canada; the British army following so closely upon their heels, as
immediately to occupy the different posts as they were successively
evacuated.

The American forces, however, still retained the control of Lake

1 For some of this data I am indebted to my friend, the late Mr. Thomas C. Alriory of Boston,
a great grand-son of General Sullivan,

GATES WITHDRAWS TO TICONDEROGA. 145

Champlain and occupied the fortifications upon its shores, the com-
mand of which had now been assigned by Congress to General Gates,
with great and manifest injustice toward General Schuyler. ' Gates
established his headquarters first at Fort Edward and afterwards at
Crown Point, but soon afterward withdrew his forces from that post
and fell back upon Ticonderoga. This step was taken by the advice
and concurrence of a board of general officers, but contrary to the
wishes of the field officers. Always a most arrant coward (as will, I
think, be apparent when we come to the Burgoyne campaign) Gates
was only too glad to fall in with this decision. Washington, the com-
mander-in-chief, was, however, exceedingly dissatisfied with this
movement of Gates, believing that the relinquishment of that post
would be equivalent to an abandonment of Lakes George and Cham-
plain and all the advantages to be derived therefrom. ~ In reply to
the concern that had been expressed by Washington on this occasion,
General Gates contended, in his own defense, that Crown Point was
untenable with the forces then under his command, nor could it be
successfully defended even with the aid of the expected reinforce-
ments. These reinforcements, moreover, the General added, could
not be allowed to approach nearer to Crown Point than Skenes-
borough, since "it would be only heaping one hospital upon
another."'' In fact, the annals of disastrous war scarcely present a
more deplorable picture than that exhibited by the Americans escap-

1 The appointment of Gates t" the command of this department, was from the first unaccep-
table to the officers of New York, nor was his own course very conciliatory toward them. In tin-
course of this (17761 summer it was reported to Lieutenant-General Gansevoort, a brave ami
deservedly popular officer, belonging to the regiment of Col. Van Schaick ami then in command
of Fort Edward ami Port George, that the general had spoken disrespectfully of that regiment.
Irritated by such treatment, Gansevoort wrote a spirited letter to dates, referring to several
matters in which he had been aggrieved by the letters and conversation of that officer. He
requested a Court of Inquiry and avowed his determination, with the leave of General Schuyler,
to relinquish the command of these posts. MS- Letters of Gates iiu</ Colonel Gansevoort hi the
author's possession.

- MS. Letter of Washington to Gates once in the author's possession.

3 Letter of Gates to Washingtou in reply. July 28, 1776. The small-pox which had been So fatal
to the troops in Canada, had now broken out at Fort Edward, Crown Point and Ticondei 1
the pestilence having been purposely introduced by a villain calling himself Dr. Baker. This fact
isstated in a MS. letter from the Adjutant General of the Northern Department to Colonal Ganse-
voort, dated Ticonderoga, July 24. "The villain," says the letter now before me, "by private
inocculatiotis in the army, has caused in a great degree, the misery to which we are now reduced
by that infectious disorder." Baker was arrested and sent to Albany, but his "pull" probably
saved him from punishment . as we do not learn that he was ever subjected to any summary
proceedings. The reader may, perhaps, recall that in our own Civil War. attempts were made
by the Confederates to injure us by the same methods.

[18]

146 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

ing from Canada. In addition to the small-pox, the army had been
afflicted by other diseases, generated by exposure, destitution and
laxity of discipline. Fleets of boats came daily up the lake freighted
with the sick and dying and even those reported from day to day fit
for duty, presented but the appearance of a haggard skeleton of an
army. "Everything about this army," wrote General Gates in the
letter already cited, " is infected with the pestilence — the clothes, the
blankets, the air and the ground they walk upon. To put this evil
from us. a general hospital is established at the fort at the head of
Lake George [there was also a subsidiary one at Fort Edward] where
there are now between two and three thousand sick and where every
infected person is immediately sent. But this care and caution have
not effectually destroyed the disease here ; it is, notwithstanding, con-
tinually breaking out."

Such was the deplorable condition in which an army that had passed
a little before through the county winning admiration from all except
the Tories, and which had been so recently victorious, found itself
driven back from what was in fact a conquered country, lost entirely
through gross mismanagement and the want of an army upon the
basis of permanent enlistments.

Indeed, this defect in the manner of enlisting men was, especially
in the beginning of the war, strikingly illustrated in the difficulties
which Washington had to contend with in raising and keeping his
army together. In fact, the Commander-in-chief was continually ap-
pealing to the Continental Congress for men that should be raised to
serve throughout the war, and he graphically and feelingly represents to
that body how vain it was to expect him to conduct the war to a suc-
cessful issue with men only enlisted for a few weeks, since often, on
the eve of what might prove to be a decisive battle — the men's term
of enlistment having expired — they would quit the army, go home to
plough and plant their fields. I have now before me, as I write, a
MS. Journal (yellow and faded by time) of my great uncle, Stephen
Stone, a " minute man" in the Revolution, in which his entries bring
out the above remarks about enlistments in vivid relief and corrobor-
ate Washington's statements in the fullest degree. Nor, since un-
doubtedly this Journal is but a sample of the experiences of thousands
of volunteers at that time, can one peruse it without realizing how
much justice there was in the complaints of Washington. On the
other hand, neither can the men themselves be censured for their

BRITISH CONCILIATION. 147

course. Their pay was poor, if indeed it were anything. They
wished, through motives of the highest and purest patriotism, to aid
the cause of their country, yet they could not allow their families to
starve. Hence, with no money to pay a hired man in their absence,
the onlv alternative was to do the best they could under the circum-
stances, viz: to divide their time between " solgering" and the sup-
port of their loved ones at home. '

To this matter of the precarious term of enlistments there was
another difficulty lying beneath the surface. Many prisoners had
fallen into the hands of the enemy at Quebec and, during the subse-
quent retreat all of these, had been treated (Allen excepted) with the
greatest care and humanity, but so much of the subtle poison of flat-
tery, mingled with kindness had been poured into their ears, that
their return on parole, which was soon after allowed by the British
commander, was regarded with apprehension. On one occasion a
large number of prisoners arriving at Crown Point from St. John's, in
a vessel provided by Carleton, were visited before landing by Colonel

1 A few passages from this journal of Stephen Stone may be of interest to the reader as illus-
trating the statements in the text, inasmuch as it brings one down from an abstraet view to a very
realistic and concrete one.

Extra* i s ik< im i hi. [ourn \i .

"June 22, 1778. I enlisted.

26th. I went to Guilford [Connecticut] to guard some prisoners.
27th. Guarded them to New Haven and returned to Guilford.
28th. Came home and carted William [his brother] a load of wood.
30th. Lieutenant Atkins joined us with twenty men.
We marched to Fairfield.
We marched to Stamford and joined Colonel Mosely, and were sent

on to Greenville.
Came home and worked in the garden.
We marched to Saw-Pitts and encamped on a hill about two miles

from Bryant's Bridge.
I enlisted to guard at the Salt House on the Neck Highlands.
Stood upon guard for Jonathan Everts. :: '
Hired a man to plough.
I ploughed the garden.
Began to plant.
Went upon guard.
Began to plough.
May 21st Began hoeing."
And thus the Journal continues in the same strain.

* An ancestor, I believe, of the Ex-Secretary of State William M. Kvarts.

Jul

v 1st.

3d-

4 th.

7th.

Feb.

25th.

29th.

Apt-

il nth.

2 I. St.

2(>th.

Apr

il 12th

14th.

148 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

John Trumbull, the Adjutant-General for the Northern Department.
From the feeling they manifested, and the tenor of their conversation
Colonel Trumbull saw at once that it would not be prudent to allow
them to land, or hold the least intercourse with the suffering troops of
the garrison. (To such an extent had the human treatment — so en-
tirely unexpected by them — affected them ! ) Trumbull immediately
reported this fact to Gates and advised him that the said prisoners
should be sent directly forward to Skenesborough and thence des-
patched to their respective homes, without allowing them to mingle
with the troops at that place. This suggestion was adopted. In view
of this episode, one cannot but believe that if, in the beginning of the
Revolution, all of the British generals had adopted the same concilia-
tory tactics of Carleton, there might have been sufficient Tories in the
revolted Colonies, to have turned the scale — already hovering in the
balance — in favor of the mother country. Xor is this inference wholly
conjecture, as the writing of several contemporaneous historians
abundantly prove. '

Xor were the difficulties thus enumerated all which the officers had
to encounter. The spirit of disaffection in this county, as well as in
other counties of New York, was far more extensive than those who
are left to contemplate the scenes through which their grandfathers
passed and the discouragements against which they were compelled to
struggle, have been wont to suppose. The burden of many of General
Schuyler's letters written from Fort Edward and Skenesborough, and
also the letters of other officers under his command, during the whole
of this season, was the frequency of desertions to the ranks of the
enemy.

1 Notably those of Judge Jones of New York City. See, also, on this point SaSin's Loyalists

General Sir Guy Carlton was not only at that time, but subsequently, the ablest British
general in America, but the most humane. Three hundred prisoners left in Quebec by Major
Meigs the middle of May, when afterwards exchanged, were furnished by Carleton with articles
of clothing in which they were deficient. It is also said, that when some of his officers spoke to
him of this act as an unusual degree of lenity toward prisoners of war, he replied, " Since we
have tried in vain to make them acknowledge us as brothers, let us at least send them away dis-
posed to regard us as first cousins." Having, moreover, been informed that many persons,
suffering from wounds and various disorders, were concealed in the woods and obscure places,
fearing that if they appeared openly they would be seized as prisoners and severely treated, he
issued a proclamation commmanding the militia officers to search for such persons, bring them
to the general hospital, and procure for them all necessary relief at the public charge. He also
invited all such persons to come forward voluntarily and receive the assistance they needed —
assuring them "that as soon as their health should be restored, they should have free liberty to
return to their respective provinces." — Sparks.

ACTIVITY OF GENERAL CARLETON. 149

But, while General Carleton was most ehivalric in the treatment of
his prisoners, he did not suffer his plans for the defeat of the Ameri-
cans to lag - . In addition to the succession of disasters to the Ameri-
can arms, he appeared in the fall of this year (1776) upon Lake Cham-
plain with a flotilla, superior to that of the Americans under Arnold,
and which seems to have been called into existence as if by enchant-
ment. Two naval engagements followed, on the nth and 13th of
October, contested with undaunted bravery on both sides, ' but re-
sulting in the defeat of Arnold, the annihilation of his little navy and
the possession of the Lake and Crown Point by the foe. To add,
moreover, to the gloom which had already begun to fall upon the
patriots, the forces of the Commander-in-chief of the Continental
army, at this time, numbered only from two to three thousand men,
and scarcely a new recruit had come forward to supply the places of
those whose terms of service were expiring. And even those recruits
that were furnished were so badly supplied with officers, as almost to
extinguish the hope of forming an army from which any efficient ser-
vices were to be expected. a

These are but a few of the discouragements under which Washing-
ton was laboring. To borrow his own expressive language in the pri-
vate letter to his brother in the preceding note, " You can form no
idea of the perplexity of my situation. No man, I believe, ever had a
greater choice of difficulties and less means to extricate himself from
them." Nevertheless, the last sun of that year did not sink behind so
deep a cloud of gloom as had been anticipated. In the north General
Carleton, who had occupied Crown Point after the defeat of Arnold's
fleet, did not (as might have been supposed, he would not fail to do)
pursue his victory, but returned to Canada without attempting any-

1 "The engagement began on the nth," wrote General Gates to Colonel Ten Eyck from
Ticonderoga on the 13th of October, "and continues to this day. The enemy's fleet is much
superior to ours and we maintain a running fight. All our officers and men behave with the
greatest spirit." — MS. letter in the author s possession.

2 "The different states without regard to the qualification of an officer, quarreling about the
appointments and nomination of such as are not fit to be shoe-blacks, form the local attachments
of this or that member of the Assembly." — Letter from Washington to his brother, iqth November,
1776 — Sparks.

It will thus be seen — from the experiences of the % late Spanish War — that the selection of
officers was made on about the same lines in that day as in this. Indeed, as Seneca wrote nearly
two thousand years ago, Quae /iterant vitia mores sunt — " What once were vices are now the man-
ners of the day ! "

150 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

thing further, ' and before the close of the year the Commander-in-chief
had the satisfaction to announce to Congress that instead of imitating
the bad example of others, the Continental regiments from the Eastern
States had agreed to remain six weeks beyond the time of their en-
listment. In addition to which were the crossing of the Delaware and
the bold return of Washington upon Trenton and his brilliant victory
over the Hessian forces at that place, under Colonel Rail, on the
morning of the 26th of December. This well-judged and successful
enterprise greatly revived the depressed spirits of the Colonists and
produced an immediate and happy effect in recruiting the American
army.

It should not be supposed, however, that nothing had been done for
the protection of the northern frontier of Washington county during
the summer of 1776. On the contrary, under General Schuyler's
supervision and by his express direction, Skenesborough and Fort
Anne had been heavily garrisoned and every precaution taken to pre-
vent the advance of the foe, so that, perhaps, General Carleton did
well to hesitate after his naval victory over Arnold, before advancing
further than Crown Point. As illustrative of this, it may be men-
tioned, that, within the last year, the " Orderly Book" of Captain
Ichabod Norton of "Colonel Mott's Connecticut regiment has been un-
earthed, published and edited by that accomplished writer and delver
in Revolutionarv history, Mr. Robert O. Bascom of Fort Edward, X.
V., from which work, as substantiating the above statement I cull a
few extracts : -

" Skeensborough, Augt. the 20th, A. D. 1776.
Regimental orders, that the Revd. Soloman Morgin is Chaplin of the Regt. and
t<> be obeyed as such. Charles Mical is appointed agitant of the Regt. and obayed

1 " I expected by this time to have given you an account of some important battle fought at
Ticonderoga. But General Carleton has disappainted us. He began his Retreat from Crown
Point on Saturday, and drew in all his advanced Posts, iooo men marched to attack those at
Putnam's Creek, but the Enemy had gone the evening before. We learn that they evacuated
Crown Point yesterday. . . . Their number is uncertain, but computed at 8000 or qooo. besides
Savages. . . . The sick of our four Battalions turned out to the Lines, and seemed happy at
seeing the Enemy. In short, Officers and Men seemed in the greatest Spirits. The Enemy were
convinced they had to attack formidable works and men firmly determined to defend them. I
hope General Carlton and the rest of his Army are convinced that our Misfortunes in Canada,
and Retreat, was not owing to a want of Courage in the Americans. ... I hope the Year will
be crowned with Success to the American Arms. We have had a most fatiguing Campaign, but
shall be happy if this Army can maintain the Keys of this Country, etc.'* — Thomas Hartley (Col.
in the Revolutionary War and a member of the Continental Congress) to Col. Wilson, dated
"Ticonderoga, Nov. 5th, 1776."

- The spelling, etc.. is strictly followed.

CAPTAIN NORTON'S ORDERLY BOOK. 151

as such. Asa Tracy is appointed quartermaster and to be obayed as such. Doct.
apeiton Woolcutt Rosseter is surgeon and Physition to the Regt. and to be obayed
as such. Jonathan Damans is armorer to the Regt. and to be employed and obayed
as such. * * The Regt. is to attend in the front of the Regt. Every morning and
Evinin the front of Col. Swift's Regt. till further orders. Eight men to attend on
Peleg Heart this day, who is to see that sutible holds be made this day in sutible
Places in the Rear of the Regt. after they are Erected no man is to be found doing
his occasion in any other place than them aloted, on Penalty of being confined for
breach of orders. ' * * * The officers of duty in Each Company are to take it by
turn day by day and see that the men's cooking is well takin care of so far as can
be for so small a number of cittles as can be contained; the Revilee to beat in front
of the Regt.

Skenesborough, Aug. 21, a. d. 1776.
* * T'was observed Last Evenin, while prayers were attending, that noise
and Singing was made by people who remained in camp, which attended to disturb
Public worship. Tis ordered for futer that no noise or singing shall be made in
Camp nither Shall the Sutler offer to sell anything during the time of Divine Ser-
vice, unless in case of pure necessity, judged so by the officers of the Regt. The
officers and men of the Regt. are well noing, for the present necessity has obliged
the Col. to ask leave of the general to be absent for a week or two. Col. Mott as-
sures the Regt. that having the highest Hopes and Expectation from the good con-
duct and harmony of the Regt. and Vigilence and alartness in the Servace, nothing-
less than the alarming, Broken and distressing situation of his family and affairs
could Have tended him to left business. But as soon as lie has paid a little atten-
tion to his Molandy affairs att home to return without Delay. In the mean time
hoped and expected that the commanding officers in the Col's, absents will intake
all possible care of the Regt. to keep them in good order and Disipline and see
justice done them on every ocation. The officers and men will pay all due obe-
dience to him as their commanding officer. Tis expected that the officers will take
litigence care to cultivate in the men a spirit of good Agreement and Indevour to
teach and form them to that fortitude, Resilution and obedience which is the only
means of divine protection and victory in case of an attack from the enemy. Serj.
Young, of Capt. Roboson Comp., attend the office of regimental Clark. '-' If the
whole of the Regt. should arrive in the Col. Absents, Lieut. Col. Worthington will
order the Regt. a monthly return to be made out Specifying Each Comp. fit for
duty on command, where at, sick, dead, deserted, absent on furlough and so forth,
having made out, properly sined by himself and transmitted to the poast by him-
self to Governer Trumbull.

Skenesborough, Aug. 26, A, D. 1776.
Field officer of the day tomorrow Lieut. Col. Cortland; the guard as usual. The
party for fatigue duty the same as this day. Itts ordered that fuer men be set apart
to attend the buchass [butchers ?] to bury the guts and mistiness with Blood of the

1 The sanitary arrangments f the camp seem to have been well looked after.

- Our friend. Colonel Mott. had some excuse for this spelling, as in England, just as Derby is
pronounced Darby, Clerk is pronounced Clark.

152 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

cattle that is cild j killed !] and likewise ordered that Buehards take care that no
nastiness is hov in the crick [Wood Creek]. If they Heeve any in they must suffer
the consequence. Likewise 1 would have the buehards take care and order better
for the futer. or else I shall take care of them. For guard Ensin James Hecox and
5 privates and ten for guard.

Skenesborough, Aug. 30, A. D., 1776.
* * It is ordered that each ordayly serj. of each comp. mak a morning report
of the sick to the doctors of each Regt. with names the Doctors, who is to inspect
into the circumstances of Such Sick Soldiers and the doctors is to report to the
capt. how many he finds sick in his Comp. and the Doctors who is to make a return
to the company for such hospital stores as the soldiers stand in need of. The com-
manding officers of each Regt, who is to sign the order that shall be given on the
comp. and its ordered that sick solgiers that draw hospital stores is not to draw
their Rasions [rations] out of the stores, only such as the Doctors should think they
stand in need of. It [is| Likewise ordered that the company will provide all ingre-
dience^ for the use of the sick, and that to be delt in proper order. 11 men for
guard.

Camp att fortann, Sept. the 17, A. D. 1776.
The orders for tomorrow is that A Corp. guard be mounted as usial and 2 men go
to help down with sheep to Skeensborough and 2 men to work at the sawmill and 2
men to keep sheep here, and 1 corp, and 6 privates to turn out as the working part/
1 corp. and 3 privates for guard and 2 for fatigue.

Camp att Fortann, Sept. the 21st. A. D. 1776.
The orders for tomorrer are that a corp. guard be mounted as usial and 1
corp. and 9 privates turn out on the working party at 6 o'clock, and the orderly
^erjs. see that them men Parade Exactly by the time, for the futer all firing is
strictly forbid, and any person who shall fire his gun in the camp without leave
from Capt. or his Commanding officer, may expect to suffer for it as breach of
orders.

Worthy War-j ers,

Major.

Camp att Fortann, Sept. ye 22, A. D. 177(1.
The orders for tomorrow is that a corps, guard be mounted as usial and 3 men
to go on fatigue and all who are A mind to draw molasses may draw tomorrow one
week alowance tor man. [for each man].

Wok 1 ii v War i 1 rs,
« Major.

For guard, 3 men: 1 for fatigue.

Camp att fortann, Sept. ye 28th, A. D. 1771,.
The orders for tomorrow are that a corp. guard be mounted as usial and four
men turn out on the fatigue party.

For guard, 3 men; for fatigue, 2 men.

Wi >k 1 in W \k 1 ers,

Major. '•

MILITARY ORGANIZATION REQUIRED. 153

Enough, however, of these extracts from this invaluable Orderly
Book has been given to show the reader how alert, nay, how anxious,
the garrisons at Skenesborough and Fort Anne, under their respective
officers, were to ward off the enemy from the northern frontier of
Washington County, and, although we may smile at the bad grammar
and loose spelling of Captain Norton and Major Warters, yet these
comparatively venial errors are more than counterbalanced by the
evidence here shown in their awkward sentences, of their unflinching,
unswerving patriotism, and their conscientious and high ideals of duty.

During the remainder of the year little of moment seems to have
occurred within the boundaries of Washington County. The complete
defeat of our forces in Canada, to which detailed reference has been
made, and those experienced by Washington around New York at the
Battle of Harleem and his subsequent retreat through New Jersey had
filled, as before mentioned, the hearts of the patriots both of this and
other counties in New York with sad forebodings; and although the
late victory at Trenton had seemed to show that the heavy clouds,
which had darkened the future, were beginning to break away and
give entrance to the bright rays of success, yet it had become evident
to all that the task of freeing the county could not be accomplished by
the fitful enthusiasm and taking up arms by the " Minute Men." It
was apparent that if permanent victory was finally to perch upon our
banners, a definite and systematic organization of those capable of
bearing arms must be effected — that soldiering must be begun in
earnest and with an unfaltering determination to submit for an in-
definite time to danger, hardship and irksome discipline. But the
poverty of the Government was extreme, the Continental money had
so greatly depreciated that sometimes as much as $200 was paid for a
single breakfast, and therefore, there appeared to be but little en-
couragement for the "hardy farmers of Washington (Charlotte)
County to enlist in the ranks of the ill-paid, ill-fed battalions" which
now garrisoned Fort Edward, Fort Anne, Ticonderoga, Crown Point
and other forts on its frontier.

[19 j

154 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY

CHAPTER XIII.

1777-
THE CAMPAIGN" OF GENERAL BURGOYNE.

The Settlers of Washington County Begin to Realize the Serious State of
Affairs— Reports of the Invasion of the British Army Fully Confirmed-
Advance of Burgoyne and the Capture of Fort Ticonderoga and Retreat of
St. Clair — Fermoy's Treachery — Battle of Hubbardtown — Burgoyne Plr> es
the Americans Through Wood Creek 1 and Destroys Their Flotilla — Battle
of Fort Ann — Anecdotes Connected with that Engagement.

The opening of the year 1777, brought to the settlers of Washington
County a distinct and realizing conviction that the war was soon to be
brought home, not only to her northern boundaries, but to their own
very hearths and fire-sides. Rumors, also, were in circulation that
their farms, which through much labor and toil they had now brought
up to a high state of cultivation, might soon — if, indeed, it were not
a certainty — be the prey of the British army, accompanied by the
marauding savages, thus rendering nugatory all the results of their
thrift and industry. Neither were these various rumors, as they were
destined soon after to find to their cost, mere chimeras of the imagin-
ation. Early in the spring of this year a well substantiated report
spread through the country that an immense British army, together
with a large contingent of German mercenaries had already arrived
at Quebec and was soon to come up Lake Champlain under the far-
famed General Burgoyne, and thence to Albany, whence, in all prob-
. ability they would penetrate even to the gates of New York City. A
large body of Indians, moreover, it was added, was in the train of the
invading army, whose barbarous atrocities during the French war
upon a defenceless, though then a sparsely settled, population along
the northern frontier were but too vividly recalled. The settlers,
therefore, with good reason shuddered at the direful prospect of these
bloody scenes being again repeated in their midst. Still they hoped
much from the army of General Schuyler and, especially, from the
fortifications of Fort Ticonderoga which, twenty years before (as it

1 By Wood Creek is here meant the entire creek beginning at Ticonderoga up to Whitehall
and thence through the county — Lake Champlain really terminating at that fort.

THE CAMPAIGN OF GENERAL BURGOYNE. 155

will be recalled by the reader who has attentively followed this his-
tory) when defended by only three thousand French, had repelled,
with immense slaughter, the flower of the British army, consisting of
more than twenty thousand disciplined troops under General Aber-
cromby — all of them regulars and who had served under the famous
Marlborough. Nor, as I have said, were these reports, as is so often
the case, without foundation. In fact, they were only too true. Dis-
satisfied with the slow progress that had been made in the subjugation
of her rebellious American Colonies, the Mother Country, through
her ministry, summoned General John Burgoyne into their councils —
to which conference, Burgoyne, chafing under his subordinate posi-
tion under General Carleton — was only too glad to be admitted.

At this council, held in December, 1776, Burgoyne concerted with
the British Ministry a plan for the campaign of 1777. A large force
under himself was to proceed to Albany by way of Lakes Champlain
and George, while another large body, under Sir Henry Clinton, ad-
vanced up the Hudson in order to cut off communication between the
northern and southern colonies, in the expectation that each section
being left to itself would be subdued without difficulty. At the same
time Colonel Barry St. Leger was to make a diversion on the Mo-
hawk river.

For the accomplishment of the first part of this plan, a powerful
force was organized in Canada, the command of which was transferred
from Sir Guy Carleton — the ablest British general, by the way, at
that time or subsequently in America— ' and conferred upon General
Burgoyne — an army, which, for thoroughness of discipline and com-
pleteness of appointment had never been excelled in America. - The
generals, also, who were to second him in the expedition were trust-

1 See a preceding note.

- Burgoyne arrived in Quebec on the 6th of May, 1777. and received the command of the forces
from Carleton on the 10th. General Riedesel, however, with his Brunswick contingent, had been
in Canada for fully a year — during which time, he, with the practical strategy and acuteness of
observation which always distinguished him, had employed that time in drilling his troops to
meet the customs of the Americans. "Thus," he says in one of his letters to be found in my life
of him, " I perceived that the American riflemen always shot further than our forces, conse-
quently, I made my men practice at long range and behind trees that they might at least be
enough for them." Speaking, also, of the removal of Carleton at this juncture, Riedesel further
says : " A great mistake was undoubtedly made by the British ministry. Carleton had, hitherto,
worked with energy and success. He knew the army thoroughly and enjoyed the confideiv
the officers and men. It was a great risk to remove a man who was so peculiarly fitted for so
important a position without a better cause." It was also said at the time that one cause of the
displacement of Carleton was his strong objection to the employment of Indians in the proposed
expedition.

156 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

worthy and able officers. Major-General Phillips was not only dis-
tinguished as an artillery officer, but had given proof of exceptional
strategical skill ; Major-General Riedesel had been specially selected
for his military experience, acquired during a long service, and par-
ticularly during the " Seven Years War,'" where he had enjoyed the
entire confidence of Prince Ferdinand. The English Brigadiers,
Fraser and Hamilton, and the German ones. Specht and Gall and
Lieutenant-Colonel Breymann, had been appointed to their respective
commands solely on the ground of their professional merits. The
former had attained a high reputation for judgment and cool daring
and was considered one of the most promising officers in the army.
Colonel Kingston, the adjutant-general, had served with distinction
in Burgoyne's horse in Portugal; and Majors Lord Balcarras and
Acland, commanding respectively the light infantry and grenadiers,
were each, in his own way, considered officers of high professional
attainments and brilliant courage.

All things being in readiness, in the early summer of 1777 Bur-
goyne left Cumberland Head, off the present town of Plattsburg,
sailed up Lake Champlain and, on the 17th of June, encamped on the
western shore of that lake at the falls of the little river Bouquet, now
AVillsborough. At this place he was joined by about four hundred
Indians under the Chevalier St. Luc and Charles De Langlade, l
whom, in a council and war-feast, called and given especially for the
purpose, he addressed in a speech designedly couched in their own
figurative language and intended to excite their ardor in the ap-
proaching campaign and "to inculcate those humane principles of
civilized warfare which to them must have been incomprehensible."
On the 30th of June the main army made a still further advance and
occupied Crown Point (Fort St. Frederick'-) without meeting with the

1 Burgoyne. in a letter to Lord George Germanie, dated Skenesborough, July the nth, 1777,
says: " I am informed that the Ottawas and other Indian tribes, who are two days" march from
us, are brave and faithful, and that they practice war and not pillage. They are under the
orders of M. St. Luc, a Canadian of merit and one of the best partizans of the French cause dur-
ing the last war. and of a M. de Langlade, the very man who, with these tribes projected and
executed [the ambush which caused] Braddock's defeat." For more of this regarding Langlade,
the reader is referred to my " Burgoyne's Expedition," Albany, 1877.

- The glories of Fort St. Frederick had long since passed away, and after Carleton captured
it on the 14th of October. 1776, the Americans seemed to consider that its maintenance was of no
importance; in fact, that it depended entirely on the naval mastery of the Lake. Possession of it
they could not keep, for if the brave and undaunted Arnold was not able to make up for inferior
force by fiery valor and unsurpassed ability, how pray, could men of meaner capacities? In the
engagement off Valcour Island, the 13th of October, 1776, Arnold fought so well and desperately

THE ADVANCE OF GENERAL BURGOYNE. 157

slightest resistance ; while General Fraser, following partly the shore
of Bulwagga Bay, pushed ahead on the land as far as Putnam's Creek,
three miles north of Ticonderoga. In the evening the following orders
were given from the commanding general : ' ' The army embarks to-
morrow to approach the enemy. The services required on this expe-
dition are critical and conspicuous. During our progress occasions
may -occur in which no difficulty, nor labor, nor life are to be regarded.
This army must not retreat." Then, having issued a grandiloquent
proclamation designed to terrify the inhabitants of Washington County
into submission, Burgoyne prepared to invest Ticonderoga. Leaving
a detachment of one staff-officer and two hundred men at Crown
Point for the defence of the magazines, the royal army started again
at five o'clock on the morning of July ist in two divisions. The corps
of General Phillips was on the west and that of General Riedesel on
the east shore of the lake — the Dragoons forming the van of the whole
army. The fleet advanced as far as Putnam's Creek almost within
cannon-shot of the Americans. The right wing of the army en-
camped on the spot recently occupied by the brigade of Fraser (that
officer having again gone ahead) and the left wing under Riedesel
occupied the eastern shore opposite the right wing. The corps of
General Breymann advanced on the same shore as far as the left wing
of the fleet, from the flagship of which, the Royal George, the Amer-
ican position could easily be seen.

The garrison of Ticonderoga 1 was estimated at from four to five

that it is not to be wondered at that contemporaries named him the "hero" and the "thunderbolt
of war." Indeed, in those qualities which illustrate Hancock in our late Civil War and made
Washburn style him " the living impersonation of war" Arnold was resplendent. He was a mar-
vellous soldier and was very badly treated by Congress. "Strange to say," remarks General J.
Watts de Peyster, in one of his historical essays, "the scene of the British naval victories in 1776,
was not far distant (only six miles) from the place of their defeat in 1814."

Crown Point was called Kruyn or Kroonpuht (or Scalp point) by the Dutch, and by the French
Point a la Cheveleuse. The size and extent of these works, which, (1900) are still standing, render
their exploration by the tourist very satisfactory and instructive. The promontory which juts
out from the further shore directly opposite Crown Point and on which General Riedesel was
encamped for a day or two, is called Chimney Point. When Fort Frederick was built in 1731, a
French settlement of considerable size was begun at this place. During the old French war,
however, it was destroyed by a party of Mohawk Indians, (which left Fort Edward for this pur-
pose) who burned the wood-work of the houses, leaving the stone chimneys standing. For many
y-ears afterward these stood, like solitary and grim sentinels, watching over the ruins. Hence
the name of Chimney Point.

1 Ticonderoga, the various French and Indian names of which have been given in a preced-
ing note, is situated fifteen miles south of Crown Point and thirty north of Whitehall. It is
formed by a sharp angle in the narrow waters of the lake, and an arm of that lake stretching to
the westward which receives the waters of Lake George at the foot of a precipitous fall of some
twenty feet.

158 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

thousand men and consisted of twelve regiments divided into four
brigades commanded by General St. Clair. Its position was covered
on the right flank by Fort Independence, a star-fort built on a consid-
erable eminence on the east shore of Lake Champlain and fortified
by three successive lines of fortifications. It was separated by water
from Ticonderoga, which lay on the opposite side, and consisted chiefly
of the old French works. In the lake, between the two forts, lay four
armed vessels, and both were connected by a bridge not yet thor-
oughly completed. In front of this bridge there was a strong iron
chain hanging across the water, which was intended to break the first
assault of the British. To the left of Ticonderoga there was another
fortification upon a hill covering the enemy's left toward the saw-mills
on the portage between Lake Champlain and Lake George. Ticon-
deroga was garrisoned by one-half of the American force, or two bri-
gades; the third brigade was at Fort Independence and the fourth was
distributed in the entrenchments outside of the fort. This was the
position of the Americans when General Burgoyne arrived before
Ticonderoga.

Meanwhile, the people of "Washington County, though confidently
relying on the army garrisoning Ticonderoga to form a wall against
which the forces of the invading army would dash" in vain, were not
idle, being actuated by a stern desire to do their part in the general
defense. The "Charlotte (Washington) County Rangers," at this
time under the command of Captain Joshua Conkey and Lieutenants
Isaac Moss and Gideon Squiers. were patrolling the northern roads
and forests, watching for British scouts or lurking Indians, and the
efforts made to get out the militia met with great success. On the
2d of July, General St. Clair wrote to Colonel Williams saying he
"was happy to hear that the people turn out so well. The ene-
my," said the general, "have been looking at us for a day or two, and
we expect them to try what they can do perhaps to-night." He then
urged Colonel Williams and Colonel Seth Warner, the leader of the
Green Mountain Boys, if " they can bring but six hundred men, or
even less, to do so." He directed them to march through the grants,
on the east side of Lake Champlain, " first on the old road," and then
" on the new road, to make the enemv think there is a larger force.''
If attacked, the militia were to make directly for Mount Independence
and St. Clair promised to send a force to support them. That general,
inclosing, remarked in a very flattering and politic manner: " If I

INEFFECTUAL OPPOSITION TO BURGOYNE. 159

had only your people here, I would laugh at all the enemy could do."
Letters, also, to the same purport, were sent to Colonels Robinson
and Warner. ' The Charlotte (Washington) County regiment accord-
ingly set forth under Colonel Williams immediately upon the recep-
tion of this letter. "We know, from records still extant," writes
Johnson, " that there were at least five or six companies, and doubt-
less they all turned out on this expedition ; but the only ones of which
there are any account are the one from New Perth (Salem) consisting
of fifty-two men under Captain Charles Hutchison — the Highland
corporal whom Ethan Allen had mobbed in 1771; that of Captain
Thomas Armstrong, numbering thirty men, and that of Captain John
Hamilton, numbering thirty-two men. The battalion marched under
Colonel Williams' command to Skenesborough, and thence to Castle-
ton, whence a portion of them were selected by the Colonel to pro-
ceed to Ticonderoga. " This point they never reached.

At noon of the 2nd of July — the very day that St. Clair had sent
his letter just quoted to Colonel Williams — Fraser moved forward and
taking possession of some high ground which commanded the Ameri-
can line and cut off their communications with Lake George, named
it Mount Hope in anticipation of victory. On the approach of Fraser
to occupy Mount Hope, the Americans, most unaccountably, imme-
diately abandoned all their works in the direction of Lake George,
setting fire to the block houses and saw-mills, and without sallv or
other interruption, permitted the enemy under Major-General Phillips
to take possession of this very advantageous post which, besides com-
manding their lines in a dangerous degree, totally cut off, as has been
said, all their communications. The only excuse for such an early
abandonment of such an important point, was found (as was devel-
oped afterwards at St. Clair's court martial) in the fact that the
general in command had not force enough to man all the defences. 2

At the same time that Fraser made his successful attack on Mount
Hope 3 Phillips moved more to the right and occupied the saw-mills.

1 Johnson.

- In the beginning of this skirmish of Fraser, Lord Balcarras (of whom we shall hear further*
who commanded the light infantry, had his coat and trousers pierced with thirty balls, while, at
the same time Lieutenant Haggit received a mortal wound in both eyes by a ball and Lieutenant
Douglass of the 29th while being carried from the field wounded was shot through the head by a
sharpshooter.

3 The ridge on the highest part of which Mount Hope is situated, extends westwardly about
half a mile to the saw-mills or the perpendicular fall at the outlet of Lake George. On the south

1G0 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Riedesel, likewise, advanced with Breymann's corps and took up a
position in front of Fort Independence behind Stream Petie Marie —
now called East Creek. Meanwhile, unfortunately for the Americans,
their engineers had overlooked, or rather neglected, the high peak or
mountain called Sugar-loaf hill (Mount Defiance), situated south on
the point of land at the confluence of the waters of Lakes George and
Champlain. Originally it had been supposed and taken for granted,
that the crest of Sugar-loaf hill was not only inaccessible, but too dis-
tant to be of any avail in covering the main fortress. This opinion
was, however, a great error, for it was really the key to the situation,
whichever army might occupy it. In fact, as early as July, 1758,
Captain Stark had brought the fact of its commanding attitude to the
notice of Lord Howe, ' who, on that occasion, had been taken by Stark
to its summit — some 800 feet in height — overlooking the works of
Ticonderoga. Howe even perceived at that time the advantage which
a few pieces of cannon, placed there in battery, would afford a besieg-
ing army over the garrison ; but General Abercromby, supposing his
force of sufficient strength, brought, .as we have seen, no artillery
with his army. Colonel John Trumbull, also, the preceding year,
1776, had called the attention of the officers of the garrison to it.
Colonel Trumbull was then Adjutant-General for the Northern De-
partment but when he made the suggestion he was laughed at by the
mess. He, however, soon proved the accuracy of his own vision by
throwing a cannon-shot to the summit and, subsequently, by clam-
bering up to the top, accompanied by Colonels Stevens, Wayne and
Arnold, dragging a cannon after them. 2 General Schuyler, also,
had seen the necessity of occupying it and had frequently requested

reinforcements for that purpose. 3 In whatever light it is viewed, it
was a criminal neglect on the part of St. Clair, the commander-in-chief

of the fortress, that the oversight was not at once corrected by the

construction of a work upon the summit of Mount Defiance which

it presents a bold declinity washed by the strait, and on the north it declines until it sinks into a
plain which is extended about one hundred rods to the shore of the lake where the bank is ten or
twelve feet high. It was precisely at this point that Abercromby suffered such a disastrous
repulse.

1 Memoir of Caleb Stark, pg. 24.

- Conversations of the author's father with Colonel John Trumbull, and also his unpublished
memoirs, to which the author had access.

3 This being an undoubted fact, the detractors of Schuyler, who throw on him the errors of the
evacuation, have nothing on which to base their slanderous assaults.

BRITISH THREATEN TICONDEROGA. 161

would have commanded the whole post. It. was a neglect, however,
that was soon to cost them dear. While the maneuvers of Fraser and
Phillips, above described, were executing - , Lieutenant Twiss, one of
the most experienced engineers of the British army, made a thorough
personal examination of Sugar-loaf hill and reported that the "hill"
[it is really quite a mountain] " completely commanded the works and
buildings both at Ticonderoga and Fort Independence ; that it was
distant about 1400 yards from the former, and 1500 from the latter;
that the ground might be levelled so as to receive cannon, and that a
road to convey them, though extremely difficult, might be built in
twenty-four hours." Accordingly, as soon as darkness had set in, a
winding road was cut to its summit, a battery commenced and cannon
to serve it transported thither. ' In fact, so expeditiously was the
work carried forward under Phillips, " that the garrison of Ticonderoga,
on awakening the next morning, found to their amazement and dismay
that from the crags, seven hundred feet above, the British were
coolly looking down upon them, watching their every movement and
only waiting for the completion of their batteries to open fire.

As soon as General St. Clair perceived that the British had gotten
up guns upon Sugar-loaf hill, and that it was ablaze with the crimson
and gold of their uniforms, he knew that all the efforts of the Colonies
to provide for the defense of this place had been rendered useless and
that all the enormous amounts expended upon it had been mere waste
of money. He ought, it is true, to have comprehended this at the
outset, but prominent military men. as well as engineers — as we have
seen — are often blind on such subjects. In commenting upon this
error of St. Clair. General de Peyster justly says : "Tlalleck, esteemed
a scientific soldier and life-long engineer, in our Civil war made even
a worse mistake in regard to Harper's Ferry; and the Sardinian gov-
ernment, after squeezing a million of dollars out of their savings to
fortify Yentimiglia. only awoke to the fact that it was commanded by
two elevations, when an American officer, in 1S51, demonstrated to

tn holes drilled into the rocks on the summit of .Mount Defiance for thf carriages of the
cannon may still be seen by the curious tourist who takes the trouble to climb to its top - at least
they were to be seen some ten years since, when the author visited the spot.

2 •' General Phillips has as expeditiously conveyed cannon to the summit of this hill (Mount
Defiance), as he brought it up in that memorable battle at Minilen, where, it is said, such was
his anxiousness in expediting the artillery, that he split no less than fifteen canes in beating the
horses.'" Auburey^i Letters.

\ 20 ]

162 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

them the enormous range which had been recently attained by Bom-
ford's Columbiads — the heaviest then, of American artillery."

In this critical situation, St. Clair at once called a council of war,
which immediately decided on an immediate evacuation. He after-
wards justified himself by claiming- "Although I have lost a fort I
have saved a province,*' or " I have eventually saved a state." In-
deed, the only man, except Colonel Trumbull, as I have noted, who
from the first saw and said that "Old" Ticonderoga was untenable
was Schuyler. But, in his case as in a thousand of others, ignorant
public opinion overruled experienced private judgment. This obsti-
nate stupidity cost the infant nation over a million of dollars, implace-
abie material, more than a thousand men when most needed, and for
nearlv two months demoralized the frontier population of Washington
County.

At this council of war, held by St. Clair and his officers, it was also
determined that the baggage of the army, together with such artillery,
stores and provisions as the necessity of the occasion would admit,
should be embarked with a strong detachment on board of two hun-
dred batteaux and despatched under the convoy of five armed galleys
up the lake to Skenesborough (Whitehall) and that the main body of
the army should proceed by land, taking its route on the road to
Castleton in what is now Vermont, which was about thirty miles south-
east of Ticonderoga, and join the boats and galleys at Skenesborough.
Absolute secrecy was also enjoined. Accordingly, early in the even-
ing. Colonel Long, with five armed galleys and six hundred men, set
out with the sick and wounded for Skenesborough, and a few hours
later, about two o'clock in the morning of July 6th. St. Clair with the
main body of the troops passed over the floating bridge in safety and in
all probability would have effected his retreat wholly undiscovered,
had not the headquarters of General Roche de Fermoy. who com-
manded Fort Independence, either through accident or treachery been
set on fire. We are, however, inclined to the latter opinion. The
Chevalier Mathias Alexis Roche de Fermoy was one of those foreign-
er- who cost the Colonies so much before they learned to estimate
sufficientlv, how the high estimate put upon these strangers by them-
selves and the stupid masses was all sham. He is credited in history
with ordering his dwelling to be fired, and the lurid light of the flames
revealed to Fraser (and of course to Burgoyne^ what the Americans
were doing. It may not have been absolute intention like the treason

EVACUATION OF TICONDEROGA. 163

of Demont which lost us Fort Washington, but the effects were even
more prejudicial to our arms. No one without absolute proof has a
right to claim treachery, but weighing the facts and results, the critic
is certainly justified in saying that the consequences were equivalent
to it. It los>t to the Colonies what, at that time, was equal to an army
at a crisis and occasioned the bloody engagement at Hubbardtown,
which cost the Americans the life of Colonel Francis, one of their
best officers, and hundreds of their very best troops — not to speak of
incalculable consequent demoralization. "It is a somewhat singular
fact," says that able military critic. General J. Watts de Peyster, " that,
generally, wherever the Americans were unsuccessful a foreigner was
mixed up in it." A little thought on the part of the reader (see, for
example, at the Battle of Monmouth) will confirm the truth of this
observation. ' But whether Fermoy's act was the result of treason or
not, this unfortunate occurrence, besides informing the British of the
retreat, threw the Americans into great disorder. At early daylight
Riedesel embarked his men and took possession of Fort Indepen-
dence, at the same time that Fraser occupied Ticonderoga. Eighty
large cannon, five thousand tons of Hour, a great quantity of meat
and provisions, fifteen stand of arms, a large amount of ammunition
and two hundred oxen, besides baggage and tents, were found in the
deserted forts.

There would seem to have been no necessity for this stampede.
The camps of the Americans were not surrounded — on the contrary,
the road to Vermont was still open — and the batteries of the assail-
ants were not yet in position. Indeed, it is very questionable, if the
garrison had fallen back in time and fought the British in a well
selected position, as bravely as Francis and Warner did a few days
later at Hubbardtown, that the Americans would not have made it a
second Bunker Hill — that is, a barren victory, achieved at such a cost
of British life as must have brought the Burgoyne capitulation much
nearer to Lake Champlain, both as to scene and to date. " There are

1 Roche de Ferraoy (or Fermoi) was a colonel of the French army and received the appoint-
ment of Brigadier-General from Congress. "One of the worst of the aventurers was this very
General Fermoy, who brought disaster upon the rear of St. Clair's army after the successful
retreat from Ticonderoga. " Smith's St. Clair 1.65. Gates dismissed Fermoy with a letter to
Hancock, September 4th, 1777, containing this shrewd diplomatic praise: "1 have much respect
tor long service and rank of General Fermoi and wish circumstances had made it convenient to
have retained him here."— Oates MS. Papers, in New York Historical Society. Upon his return
to France,— after in vain attempting to be placed again inactive service he I, it is be-

lieved, to France and thence to the West Indies where he disappears from view.

L64 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

a great man}- successes in war," says General cle Peyster, " which like
the fall of Fort Sumter and the issue of the first Battle of Bull Run
in our late civil war. are more fatal in the end to the winners than to
the losers. Ticonderoga was one of these." However this may be.
"great fright and consternation" says General Riedesel in his "Mili-
tary Journal." " must have prevailed in the enemy's camp, otherwise
the\- would have taken time to destroy the stores and save some-
thing." And yet St. Clair's retreat was by no means so disorderly as
some historians have represented it. Lamb (whom I shall have
occasion again to quote) and who was evidently a conscientious and
shrewd observer, speaking of this event in his journal, says: ''After
the enemy retreated we marched down to the works and were obliged
to halt at the bridge of communication which had been broken down.
In passing the bridge and possessing ourselves of the works, we
found four men lying intoxicated with drinking, who had been left to
fire the guns of a large battery on our approach. Had the men
obeyed the commands they received, we must have suffered great
injury, but they were allured by the opportunity of a cask of Madeira
to forget their instructions and drown their cares in wine. It appeared
evident they were left for the purpose alluded to, as matches were
found lighted; the ground was strewed with powder, and the heads
of some powder-casks were knocked off in order, no doubt, to injure
the men on their gaining the works. An Indian had like to have done
some mischief from his curiosity — holding a match near one of the
guns, it exploded, but, bing elevated, it discharged without harm."

The news of the fall of Ticonderoga was received in England with
every demonstration of joy. The King rushed into the Queen's
apartment, crying. " I have beat them; I have beat all the Ameri-
cans!" and Lord George Germaine announced the event in Parliament
as if it had been decisive of the campaign and of the Colonies.

The unresisted occupation of a fortress so highly esteemed as
Ticonderoga, and upon which the Americans had so confidently
counted as capable of resisting Burgoyne, the apparently ignominious
flight of its garrison and the even more insignificant impediments and
resistance of the American preparations and flotilla, elated the British
general in the highest degree. They lifted him up as much as they
depressed the Colonists. Yet. this over-weening confidence with
which it inspired the English commander was. in the end, as we
shall see, the cause of innumerable misfortunes. It was much more

CONSTERNATION AT FALL OF TICONDEROGA. 165

difficult to abase the high thoughts of the British than to elevate the
temporary depression of the Americans. " Common danger and com-
mon sense," it has been said, "are stronger allies than the influence
of a bloodless triumph." And so it proved in this instance. Schuyler
was the embodiment of common sense, and if he needed any encour-
agement he found it in the judgment of Washington. " Time and
will against any other two" has long passed into a proverb. In the
game that ensued Schuyler wrung Time from Burgoyne and he him-
self furnished the Will. Making the most Time and exerting Will in
the highest degree, Schuyler, on the one hand so obstructed Bur-
goyne, that on the other hand, he was able to gather together suffi-
cient forces to crush him.

But how was this defeat received by the Colonies at large ? John
Adams, when he heard of St. Clair's abandonment of Ticonderoga, '
said, "We shall never be able to defend a post until we shoot a gen-
eral." This seemed a very patriotic speech, and, as such, was duly
applauded. He had much better have said, "His people would never
succeed until they hung the majority of the politicians, who inter-
fered with such men as Washington and Schuyler and fostered the
vile cabals against them," (the same as it was in our last war against
Spain). St. Clair's remark, quoted on a preceding page, was much
more just — that "he had lost a fort and saved a province." Never-
theless, they were both wrong. " St. Clair was a poor commander and
both the Adamses were politicians of greatly circumscribed ideas.
Not one of the Adams family ever had enlarged views. Several
speeches of these Bostonians abundantly prove this, especially, their
remarks from time to time in regard to Washington. Still, as time
passes, every day more and more clearly reveals the fact, that he was
a consummate leader of men, although not destitute of the proclivities
and failings of energetic humanity — faults or blemishes without
which mortality cannot have force."

But, if the news of the fall of Ticonderoga, on which so many hopes
had been based, caused general consternation throughout the Colon-
ies, especially did it fall with crushing weight upon New York State
and more particularly on the County of Charlotte (Washington).
" The people felt as they did in that Massachusetts valley, a few years

1 St Clair was afterwards tried by court martial for this retreat from Ticonderoga but was
honorably acquitted. The ridiculous charge also made at the time, that Burgoyne had shot
silver bullets into St. Clair's camp by way of a bribe may be dismissed as too absurd for consid-
eration.

166 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

ago, when the}- heard that the dam had broken away and the waters
were rolling' down upon their defenceless homes. Many, especially
in the northern part of the settlements, made immediate preparations
for flight with their families from the dreaded British, the more
dreaded Hessians and the Indians, the most terrible of all. Others
hastened to join the arm}', now more than ever in need of men; while
still others (and not a few) of Tory proclivities, furbished up their
arms and consulted together how thev might best serve the cause of
the King." »

But to resume the thread of my narrative of the events following
the capture by the British of Ticonderoga. In the retreat from that
fort Colonel Francis succeeded in bringing off the rear guard in a
regular manner. When the troops arrived at Hubbardtown in Ver-
mont the}" were halted for nearly two hours, and the rear guard was
increased by many who did not at first belong to it, but were picked
up on the road, having been unable to keep up with their regiments.
The army under St. Clair then proceeded to Castleton, six miles fur-
ther — Colonel Warner with the rear guard and the stragglers, remain-
ing at Hubbardtown.

No sooner had the Frenchman, (Brigadier-General de Fermoy's)
quarters burst into flames than the vigilant Fraser discovered by
their glare and the partial moonlight that the Americans were evacu-
ating Ticonderoga and making off. With an alacrity unusual in Eng-
lish officers he instantly began an eager pursuit with his brigade,
Major-General Riedesel being ordered to follow with his Brunswick-
ers. But it does not enter into the province of this work to describe
in detail the battle which took place at Hubbardtown. It is sufficient
to say, that on the 7th of [uly, Fraser came up with Colonel Warner
who had about one thousand men. A severe battle was thereupon
fought resulting in the death of the brave Colonel Francis, who fell
at the head of lbs regiment while fighting with great gallantry, and
in the complete defeat of the Americans. This victory, however, had
not been easily won. General Fraser acknowledged that he would
have been in great danger of defeat had it not been for General Ried-
esei's timely aid, since, if reinforcements had not arrived at the very
moment the}" did. his whole corps would have been surrounded and
cut off to a man.

The loss in this action was severe on both sides. Colonel Hale,

1 lohnson.

THE ADVANCE OF CxENERAL BURGOYNE. 167

who, on account of illness, had not brought his regiment into action,
fell in with a small party of British in a dense forest, and with a num-
ber of his men — all raw militia — was captured. Colonel Hale (the
grandfather of the late Hon. Robert S. Hale, M. C, of Elizabeth-
town, Essex County, N. Y.) was charged at the time, by personal
enemies, not only with cowardice, but also with treasonable commun-
ications with Burgoyne while a prisoner. The matter was thoroughly
investigated and both charges were found to be without a shadow of
foundation. Indeed, I have now before me, as I write, a certificate
in Burgoyne's own hand-writing (who, although he may not have
been a great general, yet certainly was a man of honor, save when
women were concerned) in which he certifies "on his honor as a
gentleman and a soldier," that Colonel Hale has never communicated
to him any improper information, and further, that no conversation,
even, has passed between them, " except the ordinary dinner table
courtesies between gentlemen." Poor Hale died a prisoner at the
early age of thirty-seven and never had the opportunity, which he
most earnestly sought, to vindicate himself by a court-martial. In
killed, wounded and prisoners, the Americans lost in this action three
hundred and twenty-four men, and the British, one hundred and
eighty-three — among whom was Major Grant, of the Grenadiers, a
most excellent and brave officer.

Meantime, while these events were taking place upon the land,
General Burgoyne was pursuing the Americans upon the water. In
a few hours he destroyed the boom and bridge which had been con-
structed in front of Ticonderoga and which had been the work of
months and of great labor to complete, and by a few well directed
cannon shots he broke in two the colossal chain upon which so many
hopes had hung. The passage thus being cleared, the fleet of Bur-
goyne immediately entered Wood Creek, and, favored by a brisk
wind, came up with the American flotilla at Skenesborough in the
afternoon. Mean while, three regiments, which had landed at South
Bay, crossed a mountain with great celerity, with the object of turn-
ing the Americans above Wood Creek, and destroying their works at
Skenesborough, thus cutting off their works at Fort Anne. The
Americans, however, eluded this stroke by the rapidity of their flight,
but, in the meanwhile, the British frigates having now come up, the
galleys, already hard pushed by the gun-boats, were completely over-
powered. Two of them surrendered and three were blown up. The

1(58 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Americans now despaired, and having set fire to their works, mills and
bateaux and otherwise destroyed what they were unable to burn, the
detachment under Colonel Long, hastily retreated by way of Wood
Creek to Fort Anne.

Meanwhile, General St. Clair, who had arrived with the van-guard
at Castleton, in Vermont, upon learning of the discomfiture at Hub-
bardtown and the disaster at Skenesborougb , and consequently, ap-
prehensive that he would be interrupted if he proceeded toward Fort
Anne, struck into the woods uncertain whether he should repair to
New England or Fort Edward. Being joined, however, two days
afterward at Manchester by the remains of the corps of Colonel War-
ner and by the militia, which, it will be remembered, had been sent
to him from Washington County under Colonel Williams, he proceeded
to Fort Edward and united with the force of General Schuyler.

BATTLE OF FORT ANNE.

As soon as Burgoyne had taken possession of Skenesborough, he
detached Lieutenant-Colonel Hill, with the 9th regiment, to Fort
Anne, with the view both of interrupting such of the enemy as should
attempt to retreat to that fort and of increasing the panic produced by
the fall of Ticonderoga. It was also of vital importance to the British
that Fort Anne should be taken, as it commanded Wood Creek
through which their army would have to move carrying with them as
many batteaux as would be necessary to transport their provisions
down the Hudson to Albany — the objective point of Burgoyne's expe-
dition. This detachment had not proceeded many miles before it
overtook some boats laden with baggage, women, children and
invalids belonging to the Americans, moving up Wood Creek in "order
to escape to Fort Anne. These were at once secured. Arriving
within a quarter of a mile of the fort Colonel Hill learned, through an
American deserter (in reality an American spy) that it was very
strongly garrisoned, and although he had with him five hundred and
forty-three veterans, he at once halted in a strong position and send-
ing back a message to Burgoyne for reinforcements, lay that night
upon his arms.

Before, however, giving an account of the Battle of Fort Anne — an
engagement the most important that has ever taken place within the
limits of Washington County, and which, as was acknowledged by

DEFENCE OF FORT ANNE. 169

officers on both sides, was one of the most hotly contested actions of
the Revolutionary War — it may be well, in order that the reader of
the present day may have a clear idea of the scene of this battle, to
give a brief description of the ground on which it was fought. On
leaving the main street of Fort Anne village, there is a bridge over
Wood Creek, leading to its left bank. Immediately beyond the bridge
there is a narrow pass only wide enough for a carriage, cut in a great
measure out of a rocky ledge, which terminates here exactly at the
creek. This ledge is the southern end of a high rocky hill, which
converges toward Wood Creek and between the two is a narrow tract
of level ground, which terminates at the pass already mentioned. On
this ground the battle took place, and the wood on the right bank of
the creek, from which the Americans fired upon the left flank of the
British, is still there and it was up this rocky hill that they retreated
and took their stand. '

Meanwhile, Colonels Long and Van Rensselaer, who by the direc-
tion of Schuyler, with five hundred men — many of them convales-
cents — had taken post at Fort Anne, were not persons to await an
attack. Colonel Long had been known for many vears as an officer
of distinguished bravery and of undoubted patriotism, while in regard
to Colonel Van Rensselaer, when Ticonderoga was abandoned by the
Americans, General Schuyler requested General Washington to send
Colonel Henry Van Rensselaer to the Northern Army. The First
New York regiment with a park of brass artillery, was then at Fort
George — to save which was all important to the American cause.
Colonel Van Rensselaer was directed to pick out of the militia, then
at Fort George, (many of whom, aside from those enlisted in Colonel
William's regiment, were from Washington County") four hundred
volunteers and stop the British advance at a defile near Fort Anne at
all hazards, until he could remove the stores, etc., from Fort George. - '
These officers, learning from the spy before mentioned, who had re-
turned, determined to force an engagement before Burgoyne should

'Anbury in his "Travels" gives an exquisite picture (and, undoubtedly, a faithful one)
drawn by him on the spot, of Fort Anne and its block-house. I would advise those of my Fort
Anne readers, who would like to see how their town appeared in 1777, when they happen to be in
Albany to visit the State Library and look at this picture, as the library has this work. It will
well repay them to do so.

2 How far he succeeded in executing this order and the good effect it had in rallying a new
army, will be found in Burgoyne's Trials, Wilkinson's Memoirs, Bonney's Historical ('.leanings and in
other works.

I 21 I

170 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

be able to assist Colonel Hill. Accordingly, early the following

morning (Jul} - 8th) they suddenly issued from the fort and attacked the
English in front checking their advance by a galling fire, while at the
same time a strong column under Van Rensselaer crossed the creek,
and taking advantage of a thick wood passed nearly around the left
flank of the British, and. after delivering them a most tremendous fire-
across the creek, "poured down upon them.'" in the language of a
participant in this action, "like a mighty torrent." Indeed, so severe
was this onslaught that Deputy-Quartermaster General Money testi-
fied before the Committee appointed to try Burgoyne in Parliament,
that the "American fire at the engagement at Fort Ann was heavier
than an}- other action during the campaign, except in the battle of
Freeman's Farm on the 19th of September, 1777." This terrific attack
of Colonel Van Rensselaer compelled Colonel Hill, in order to avoid
being completely surrounded, to take post on the top of a slight emi-
nence. No sooner, however, had he taken up this position than the
Americans reformed and attacked it so vigorously in an engagement
which lasted more than two hours, that the English Colonel must soon
have surrendered, had not the ammunition of the Americans unfortu-
nately given out : and since, on their side, bayonets were the exception
and not the rule among them, they could not fight regular troops with
only clubbed muskets. To add, moreover, to the giving out of the
ammunition their misfortune was increased at this critical juncture,
most opportunely for the British, by the arrival of a party of Indians
under Col. Money who, with the shrill war-whoop, dashed in and forced
the Americans, in their turn, to give way and join their comrades further
up the creek. Colonel Long thereupon, not being able to withstand
the force of Major-General Phillips — some authorities say (jeneral
Powell — who. with the 20th regiment, consisting of five hundred and
twenty men and two pieces of artillery, was pressing forward to the
assistance of Hill, sent off all his baggage and wounded, and having
set fire to the frail block-house and palisade which constituted Fort
Anne, with the remnants of his Spartan band, fell back with his com-
mand upon Fort Edward, joining his forces at that place with those of
( General Schuyler.

It has. I am fully aware, been stated that the credit of impeding
Burgoyne's ascent of Wood Creek up from Skencsborough should be
given to Colonel Long in his retreat, who " wisely used his powder in
blasting rocks from the bluffs above Fort Anne in the narrow gorge

COLONEL LONG'S OPERATIONS. 171

through which the creek flows and effectually destroyed its naviga-
tion." But what proofs can be produced for this claim on behalf of
Colonel Long?

The British broke through the boom barrier or bridge at Ticon-
deroga before 9 a. m. on the 6th of July and reached Skenesborough
only two hours later than the Americans— early in the afternoon of
the same day. "Colonel Long," writes General J. Watts de Peyster
— than whom on this episode of the Revolution no abler critic exists—
"landed his battalion at about 3 p. ml, ' the 6th of July and marched
directly to Fort Anne, eleven or twelve miles further south. He must
have consumed the whole daylight getting over that distance through
the woods and swamps. Early next day, 7th July, Long retraced his
steps three miles, had a hard tight with the British Colonel Hill, and
that afternoon, having returned to Fort Anne and burned it, retired
to Fort Edward, on the Hudson. That is to say, this Colonel Long,
who is represented as using lbs powder in blasting rocks on the 6th,
still had powder enough to fight next day a smart little battle which
lasted a number of hours. How did the soldiers under Lorn? obtain
or carry with them any super-abundant powder on this exhausting
march, and where did he get tools to drill and appliances for blasting?
He did march eleven or twelve miles, we know, from Skenesborough
(Whitehall) to Fort Anne, after 3 p. m., on the 6th July, consequently

1 The [American] boats reached Skenesborough about three o'clock on the afternoon of the
same day 1 6th July], when the fugitives landed to enjoy, as they fancied, a temporary repose;
but in less than two hours they were startled by the reports of the cannon of the British gun-
boats, which were firing at the galleys which were lying at the wharf. By uncommon effort and
industry, Burgoyne had broken through the chain, boom and bridge at Ticonderoga, and had
followed in pursuit with the "Royal George' and ' Inflexible' and a detachment of the gunboats
under Captain Carter. The pursuit had been pressed with such vigor that, at the verv moment
•when tin' . I mericans were landing at Skenesborough three British regiments disembarked at the head of
South Hay, with the intention of occupying the road to Port Edward. Had Burgoyne delayed the
attack upon the galleys until these regiments had reached the Fort Edward road, the whole
party at Skenesborough would have been taken prisoners. Alarmed, however, by the approach
of the gunboats, the latter blew up three of the galleys, set fire to the fort, mill and storehouse, and
retired in great confusion toward Fort Ann. Occasionally the overburdened party would /alter on their
retreat, when the startling cry of ' March on, the Indians are at our heels,' would revive their
drooping energies and give strength to their weakened limbs. At five o'clock in the morning
[7th July], they leached Fort Ann, where they were joined by many of the invalids who had
been carried up Wood Creek in boats. A number of the sick, with the cannon, provisions and
most of the baggage, were left behind at Skenesborough.

On the 7th, a small reinforcement, sent from Fort Edward by Schuyler, arrived at Fort Ann.
About the same time a detachment of British troops approached within sight of the fort. This
detachment was attacked from the fort, and repulsed with some loss; a surgeon, a wounded cap-
tain, and twelve privates were taken prisoners by the Americans. The next day Fort Ann was
burned, and the garrison retreated to Fort Edward, which was then occupied by General Schuy-
ler." " History of Saratoga County, New York," by the late Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester.

172 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

he had no time to obstruct Wood Creek on that day. Next day he
fought an engagement three miles in advance of Fort Anne — i. e., in
the direction of Skenesborough — retreated to Fort Anne, burned the
post, and fell back nine miles farther to Fort Edward — having marched
fifteen miles, besides fighting desperately for a number of hours on
the ;th. Consequently he could have had no time on the 7th. When
and how did he perform the engineering feats attributed to him?"

To the same effect, also, Lieutenant-Colonel Kingston, Burgoyne's
Adjutant-General in Burgoyne's trial before Parliament testified: "I
remember our scouts giving information that a bridge was laid over
the Hudson river, very near the enemy's camp; and it was the opinion
of some very confidential men that were employed in that army in that
capacity, and were much under the direction of General Fraser, that
on the approach of Sir Henry Clinton's army, the army of Mr. Gates
could not stand us, but would cross the river and go towards New
England."

ANECDOTES OF THE BATTLE.

It was during the most severe part of the conflict and while "the
woods, the rocks and the hills were re-echoing with the continuous
crash of musketry" that Colonel Van Rensselaer was desperately
wounded by a musket ball in his leg while in the act of stepping over
a fallen tree. The ball entered his thigh, broke the bone and glanced
up to the hip-joint where it lodged and remained for nearly forty years
in his person and could not be traced until after his death. Such a
fearful wound, of course, put a stop to his further participation in the
fiVht and threw him on his back behind the mouldering tree trunk.
Notwithstanding, however, the intense agony which he suffered, he
called out to those of his men who in blank consternation had run to
his assistance. "Don't mind me my brave fellows; leave me and
charge the enemy. Charge! Charge! 1 say." His mandate was
obeyed and for fully two hours, without a leader, these hastily gath-
ered and undisciplined yeomanry, of five hundred men, entirely mus-
tered on the Van Rensselaer manor, maintained their advantage over
some of the finest troops of Great Britain. Indeed, the stand thus
taken by Colonel Van Rensselaer's tenants held Burgoyne in check
an entire day and enabled General Schuyler to remove the artillery
and stores from Fort George, strengthen his position in Bemis Heights
and gain invaluable time.

HEROISM OF COLONEL VAN RENSSELAER. 173

The gallant leader at Fort Anne refused ever)' proffer of assistance
after receiving his wound and persisted in the advance of all his men
after the retreaiing foe. In consequence he was soon left alone, but
his anxiety to calculate the result of the onset induced him ever and
anon to brave the pangs of an effort to overlook the obstructing log.
When satisfied by the still receding noise of contention, he sought
again his more comfortable position on the level earth. At the ex-
piration of those seemingly unending hours he heard the sound of
approaching footsteps among the rustling underbrush. Looking over
the log he found the noise was occasioned by a young rustic, whose
soiled garments, together with sundry circular impressions upon his
lips, evidently made from a foul gun-barrel, proclaimed him late from
the scene of action. Whether his prowess had been exerted in favor
of King ox Rebel was not known to the Colonel, who consequently
hailed him.

" Who comes there ?"

" Holloa," ejaculated the startled youth and catching a glimpse of
the head from which the unexpected demand had issued, and of the
musket in the act of being leveled at him over the log, he quickly
ensconced himself behind a neighboring tree. Having reloaded his
piece he replied: " I am a Continental soldier, and who the devil are
you"-''* "I am Colonel Van Rensselaer," was the answer. Upon
hearing this, the brave fellow immediately left his hiding-place and
soon, collecting a few of his comrades, bore, with their assistance, the
wounded officer to the fort. In his latter days the Colonel often men-
tioned the manly conduct of this soldier with pleasure. '

R. Lamb, a sergeant in the Royal Welsh Fusileers, and the one
referred to above as a " participant in the action " and who was the
one left in charge of the wounded, was evidently a man of education
and culture. " He gives in his Journal of Occurrences during the late

1 At Fort Amir Colonel Vac Rensselaer's wound was hastily dressed and as the evacuation
the fort was decided upon, he was again raised upon the shoulders of his devoted men and borne
fifteen miles to Fort Edward, whence he was put on a battean ami floated down to Albany, hav-
ing as his companions Captain Montgomery and other prisoners of war. Being to,, ill to be taken
to his residence in Greenbush, both of these officers were placed under the skillful hands of Dr.
Samuel Stringer -Surgeon-General of the forces under General Schuyler, and a man oi greal
eminence in the medical profession, ranking among the very first practitioners of his day. He

I'd in 1818.

For the above faets both in the text and note, the author is greatly indebted to Mrs. Catharina
V. K. Bonney's Historical Gleanings.

Mrs. Bonney is the grand-daughter of Colonel Van Renssehu i

2 After the war he returned to his native place, Dublin, and taught an excellent school for
manv years.

174 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

American War (Dublin 1809) the following graphic account of the
action at Fort Anne, which, being from the pen of an eye-witness and
participant in the battle is well worthy of quoting and of preservation.
He writes :

" I very narrowly escaped myself from being taken prisoner at that
time [/. e. at the Battle of Fort Anne] as I was just in the act of
assisting the surgeon in dressing Captain Montgomery's wound, when
the enemy came pouring down upon us like a mighty torrent; in con-
sequence whereof I was the last man that ascended the hill. I had
not been there five minutes when Lieutenant Westrop, who was by
my side, was shot through the heart. A few minutes after a man a
short distance upon my left, received a ball in his forehead, which
took off the roof of his skull. He reeled round, turned up his eyes,
muttered some words and fell dead at my feet. After the Americans
had retreated, we formed on the hill. It was a distressing sight to
see the wounded men bleeding on the ground, and what made it more
so. the rain came down like a deluge upon us, and still, to add to the
distress of the sufferers, there was nothing to dress their wounds, as
the small medicine-box which was filled with salve, was left behind
with Sergeant Shelly and Captain Montgomery at the time of our
movement up the hill. The poor fellows earnestly entreated me to
tie up their wounds. Immediately I took off my shirt, tore it up and
with the help of a soldiers wife (the only woman who was with us
and who also kept close by her husband's side during the engage-
ment) ' made some bandages, stopped the bleeding of their wounds
and conveyed them in blankets to a small hut about two miles in our
rear. * * * Our regiment now marched back to Skenesborough,
leaving me behind to attend to the wounded with a small guard for
our protection. I was directed that, in case I was either surrounded
or overpowered by the Americans, to deliver a letter, which General
Burgovne gave me. to their commanding officer. There I remained
seven days with the wounded men, expecting every moment to be
taken prisoners; but although we heard the enemy cutting trees every
night during our stay in order to block up the passages of the road
and the river [/. c. Wood Creek] we were never molested."

1 So it would seem as if there were "Moll Pitchers" on the English side during the Revolution
as well as on our own ! How interesting it would be to trace the descendants of this chivalric
woman. Perhaps, for aught we know to the contrary, her descendants may even now be occupy-
ing positions of great trust in the Government of the United States, for very many of these
English troops eventually settled in this country.

IMPORTANCE OF FIGHT AT FORT AXXE. 175

Meanwhile, General Phillips, learning- upon his arrival at the de-
serted and charred ruins of Fort Anne, that the enemy had retired,
immediately marched back to Skenesborough, leaving behind a small
guard to take care of the wounded and, on the r 3th of July, the
Americans reoccupied the site of the fort.

General Burgoyne, in accordance with his usual policy, claimed in
his reports to the British ministry, a victory in this affair — a claim
which was clearly not justified by the facts. He certainly did not
retain possession of the battle-field; and not only does General Reide-
sel (the commander of the Brunswick contingent under Burgoyne)
state in his "Journal," that "the English, after a long light at Fort
Anne were forced to retreat," but the British abandoned Captain
Montgomery, son of Sir William Montgomery, Bart, of Dublin and a
brother-in-law of Lord Townshend, and also a wounded officer of
great merit, a surgeon and other prisoners, when, in the language of
Burgoyne, in describing this action to Lord George Germain — they
"changed ground." This scarcely reads like a victory.

This memorable action — the Battle of Fort Anne — has never occu-
pied the place in the history of the Revolutionary War to which its
importance entitles it. Even Bancroft par excellence the historian of
the United States passes it over with a brief allusion. And yet its
importance cannot be overrated. It occurred comparatively a short
time previous to the two great battles which resulted in the crushing
defeat and surrender of Burgoyne on the heights of Saratoga and
Schuylerville, and was swallowed up and forgotten in the superior
brilliance and importance of those decisive conflicts. It was main-
tained for an entire day in a series of desperate and blood}" skirmishes
by a force of one thousand men against an advanced brigade of Bur-
goyne, composed of the flower of his army and commanded by the
best military talent of that aire. Not even Churchill — the famous
Duke of Marlborough — the greatest general between Caesar and
Napoleon the world has ever produced — had such an array of able
lieutenants. Fort Anne, in Washington County, was indeed, an hon-
ored field for the preliminary skirmishes and engagements between
the contending armies before the final surrender. It was fought by
order of General Schuyler, who, realizing the importance of checking
the enemy's advance at that point, gave explieit directions to 'defend
Fort Anne at " all hazards." There were large supplies intended for
the use of the American army at Ticonderoera and Lake Georgfe,

176 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

where they had been detained in consequence of hearing of the in-
vestment by land and water of our works on Lake Champlain; and to
favor the design of the detachment of wagons and the other commis-
sariat sent to remove those supplies back to Fort Edward, General
Schuyler despatched Col. Henry K. Van Rensselaer to Fort Anne to
collect the militia from Washington County and oppose the British
who were in pursuit of Colonel Long's scattered command. In fact,
it was in consequence of this that the battle with the Ninth regiment
took place.

CHAPTER XIV.

1777-
BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN CONTINUED.

Events Which Followed Close on the Battle of Fort Anne — Schuyler Delays
the March of Bcrgoyne — Indian Atrocities — Mcrder of the Allen Family.

Up to the time of Burgoyne's occupying Skenesborough, all had
gone well. From that point, however, his fortunes began to wane.
His true course would have been to return to Ticonderoga and thence
up Lake George to the fort of that name, whence there was a direct
road to Fort Edward; instead of which he determined to push on to
Fort Anne and Fort Edward, a course which gave Schuyler ample
time to gather the yeomanry of Washington County together and
effectually oppose his progress. If in place of making a road across a
low, wooden, broken country, converted into a marsh, flooded by very
unusually heavy rains, he had, as I have said, returned to Ticonderoga
and followed the route of Lake George, indicated by his King, he
could have been at Albany as soon as he reached the Hudson at Fort
Edward. ! Indeed, Gordon, the historian, conclusively demonstrates

1 I say "indicated by his King" advisedly. For it is a fact not generally known, that George
III was as well posted in regard to the topography of the country as any of his generals. In
fact more so. I have before me now. as I write, a little and very rare map describing the ground
over which Burgoyne was to march; the depth of water at every one hundred rods, in Lakes
Champlain and Lake George, etc., which in his closet the King was wont to study and digest
and if his generals had followed his advice, the result of this campaign might have been differ-
ent.

ERROR IN ADOPTING FORT ANNE ROUTE. 177

by proofs founded on personal experience that a mounted party of
which he was one, breakfasted at Ticonderoga and, partly in the sad-
dle and partly in batteaux, carrying their horses with them, reached
Fort Edward by 8 p. m. on an October day, 1776. From Lake George
to Fort Edward there was a most excellent road, which an Italian
traveller years afterward, records as still in the best condition. It is
true that Burgoyne, to achieve such a master stroke, would have had
to leave his artillery behind; but these heavy guns were never of any
use to him, and clogged his movements, always sufficiently impeded
by his other indispensable trains.

The excuse, moreover, which Burgoyne gave for not going around
by Lake George, "that the fort (Fort George) would have detained
him," is not adequate, for it would have offered no opposition what-
ever. Fort George, as Schuyler very truly wrote to Washington as a
reason for abandoning it at the time, v% was part of an unfinished bas-
tion of an intended fortification. ' In it was a barrack capable of con-
taining between thirty and fifty men, without ditch, without wall,
without cistern and without any picket to prevent an enemy from
running over the wall ; so small indeed as not to contain above one
hundred and fifty men and commanded by ground greatly overlooking
it and within point blank shot, and so situated that five hundred men
may lie between the bastion and the lake,- without being seen from
this extremely defensible fortress. " Neither, however, do I give the
least credence to the report current at the time that Burgoyne chose
the route to Fort Anne in order to oblige his friend, Major Skene — a
large land owner in that region, as we have seen, by giving him the
use of his troops to open for him a road to the Hudson river. That
general, whatever else his faults — and he had many — -was, as I have
before remarked, an honorable man. He simply erred in judgment. '-'

1 Tin's " bastion" is still in existence, though covered up with weeds and undergrowth. I
have been there repeatedly. This bastion is often confounded by visitors with an old lime-kiln
near by, who having viewed the kiln, go away under the impression that they have seen Fort
( i corse !

- A sketch of Major Skene up to the American Revolution has already been given in Chapter
XI. It only remains to add that Skene, who by the way, was a native of Halyards in Fifeshire,
Scotland and a descendent of Sir William Wallace, was, as we have seen, at the outbreak of the
Revolution, arrested by a band of Connecticut volunteers, and with his family, taken to Middle-
town, Ct. He was finally exchanged in 1776. He then sailed for England, but returned with
Burgoyne, and as we see, was taken prisoner with that General's army. After the war he re-
turned to America and made an unsuccessful effort to recover his property. He went back to

[22]

17,s WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

The country between Fort Anne and Fort Edward, a distance of
about sixteen miles, was extremely unequal and broken up by wide
and deep swamps. General Schuyler neglected no means of adding
by art to the difficulties with which nature seemed to have purposely
interdicted this passage. Trenches under the immediate supervision
of Colonel Fellows, were opened; the roads and paths obstructed;
large rocks thrown into Wood Creek; the bridges broken up; while in
the only practicable defiles, immense trees were cut in such a manner
■on both sides of the road, as to fall across lengthwise, which, with
their branches interlocked, presented an unsurmountable barrier. In
fact, the wilderness, in itself so horrible, was rendered almost impen-
etrable. :i Burgoyne, consequently, was compelled not only to remove
■all these obstructions, but to build more that forty bridges, one par-
ticularly, over a morass of more than two miles in length.

On the night of the 17th of July, having superintended all of the
above arrangements, General Schuvler reached Fort Edward, twentv-
one miles south of Skenesborough. It is admitted that the condition

England and died at Addersey Lodge near Stoke Goldington, Bucks, in 1S10. As we have stated
had the Colonists made any effort to conciliate him, he would have undoubtedly remained an
invaluable citizen.

As showing, moreover, the sentiments of Major Skene regarding the war, and also, that a
little generous and considerate treatment of him on the part of the people of Washington County
would have produced different results, and perhaps, have changed Skeene's attitude towards
the Colonists. I here give an extract from a letter to Thomas Powell (one of the Board of Trade
for the American Colonies) from John Morton of Philadelphia, under date of June 5th, 1775. I
find it among the letters of Lord Darthmouth, just published by the " High Commissioner " at
London, England. " Calling the American Rebels has made them desperate, and they now mean
to act as such. Major Skeene, Governor of Ticonderoga, Crown Point and the Lakes, has arrived
at Philadelphia, but as these places have been taken possession of by New England men, he has
no government to go to and it is under a guard of American militia. He sincerely wishes recon-
ciliation, as he says 'the contest is horrible.' "

3 Thus. Thomas Aubury, an officer under Burgoyne, in a letter dated " Camp at Fort Edward
August 6th, 1777." writes: " The country between our late encampment at Skenesborough and
this place was a continuation of woods and creeks, interspersed with deep morasses; and to add
to these natural impediments," the enemy had very industriously augmented them by felling
immense trees, and various other modes, that it was with the utmost pains and fatigue we could
we could work our way through them. Exclusive of these, the watery grounds and marshes
were so numerous that we were under the necessity of constructing no less than forty bridges to
pass them, and over one morass there was a bridge of near two miles in length." * * * *
" On our way we marched across the Pine plains, which derive their name from an extensive
space of level country, on which grows nothing but very loftly pine trees On these plains we
frequently met with the enemy's encampment, and about the center of them, upon some rising
ground, there were exceedingly strong works, defended by an immense abattis, where it was
thought they would wait our approach. But this position was not suited to the Americans, for
if their lines were formed, their rear was an open extent of country. It is a general observation
that they never make a stand but upon an eminence almost inaccessible, and a wood to cover
their retreat."

AMERICANS GAINED BY FORT ANNE FIGHT. 179

of affairs at this point was in the last degree serious. There were not
fifteen hundred men all told at Fort Edward and these were deficient
in everything— personal and military equipments, rations and even mus-
kets. What had, in the meantime, become of St. Clair, with the
remnants of the garrisen of Ticonderoga, no one had the least idea.
Nevertheless, Schuyler had carried out so cleverly his plan of ob-
structing Burgoyne's advance, that, with the assistance of the Polish
engineer, Kosciusko, his practical strategy determined the fate of the
campaign against Burgoyne. The obstructions, moreover, which, as
we have seen, Schuyler accumulated in front of the invading army,
are acknowledged by every British writer. For example, Lieutenant
Hadden, an officer under Burgoyne in his Journal which has recently
found the light in print says:

"The enemy, though not victorious, were the real gainers by this
affair [z. e. the Battle of Fort Anne] the advantage they made of it,
was to fell large trees across Wood Creek, and the Road leading by the
side of it to Fort Anne, the clearing of which cost our army much
labor and time, and gave the enemy spirits and leisure to wait [await]
those reinforcements which enabled them to retire deliberately,
always keeping near enough to prevent our sending out small detach-
ments. A large corps advanced to Fort Anne (in place of the 9th
regiment) would have increased the enemy's fears and prevented
these delays. * * That corps certainly discovered that neither they
were invincible, nor the Rebels all .Poltroons. "

Schuyler, moreover, with an undespairing energy, took such meas-
ures to gather troops in front of Burgoyne that he very soon had
tripled his force. He likewise, exerted himself to get a little army
of reliable militia together, under experienced officers, on the left
flank of the British. These were the redoubtable "mountain men,"
under Stark, who afterwards defeated Baum and Breyman. In
furtherance of this design, while at Fort Edward and before Burgoyne
had reached that place, not only were the baggage and stores brought
in from Fort George, but he sent out bodies of militia, chiefly gath-
ered from Washington County to obstruct the route from Skenesbor-
ough, while the farmers, who still remained in the vicinity, were
directed to send their cattle out of reach of the enemy. ' He also sent
expresses to the Continental Congress and those of the American
authorities who were nearer by, for all the regular troops that could

1 Johnson.

180 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

possibly be sent him, and for all of the Washington militia that could
by any means be induced to take the field. Nor was this all of his
efforts. He was also compelled to keep close watch for spies. Tories
were all around ; for as we have seen, many of the inhabitants of
Washington County were in that category who, being closely asso-
ciated with the rest of the settlers, were able, with little difficulty, to
furnish information to the enemy regarding all of the American
movements. A letter from Schuyler to Colonel John Williams (of
White Creek) of the Washington County regiment, dated the 14th of
July and preserved among the Williams papers, states that the former
had closely examined one Baker, sent under guard to the general,
and that he was clearly convinced that he was an agent of the enemy ;
that he had placed him in close confinement, and should send him
down the country. In the same letter also, Schuyler directs Colonel
Williams to provision the militia as best he can ; informs him that the
American scouts are out everywhere and that he has a large body of
troops at Fort Anne ; adding that until they come away, the people of
White Creek need not fear an attack. From this, it would appear
that Fort Anne, or rather the charred remains, had been again reoc-
cupied by the Americans after its evacuation by Colonel Long.

The full text of this letter, here reproduced to show how inde-
fatigable Schuyler was in his endeavors to restore confidence to the
country and to learn from prisoners and deserters the condition of
Burgoyne's army, is as follows:

"Fort Edward. July 14, 1 777.

" Sir — Your note of this day has been delivered to me by Lieutenant Young.
I have examined Mr. Baker and found him tripping in so man}- things, that I am
clearly convinced he is an agent of the enem)- and sent not only to give intelli-
gence, but to intimidate the inhabitants and induce them to join the enemy. I
have closely confined him and have sent him down the country. He informs me
that one John Foster, is also gone to the enemy, and as he supposes he will be
back in a day or two, I beg he may be made prisoner and sent to me under a good
guard. You must furnish your militia with provisions in the best manner you can,
and the allowance will be made for it. I have scouts out in every quarter, and a
large body at Fort Anne, and until they come away, I am not apprehensive that an
attack will be made at White Creek. It would be the height of imprudence to
disperse my army into different quarters, unless there is the most evident necessity.

1 ■ I am sir,

• • Your most humble servant,
"Ph. Schuyler.
•• Colonel Williams."

RUSE OF GENERAL SCHUYLER. 181

It was at this time, and while sojourning at Fort Edward, that
Schuyler so perplexed the British commander by a trick, by means of
a letter which he contrived should fall into Burgoyne's hands, that the
latter was on its receipt greatly in doubt whether to advance or re-
treat. In this otrategem, however, the American general only fol-
lowed the same tactics as those pursued by a preceding general, of
whom he had doubtless read and whose deeds he wished to emulate;
for General Schuyler, being a great reader and observer, doubtless
kept himself abreast of all contemporary events.

It will be recalled that Frederick the Great, after Liegnizt, the 16th
of August, 1760, caused a letter or despatch to fall into the hands of
the Russian General Chernicheff, which induced the Muscovite, with
every chance of success before him, to retreat precipitately. In
Schuyler's case, he, likewise, by astuteness, turned the tables on the
enemy. A communication had been sent by one, a Mr. Lewis, from
Canada, to General Sullivan. It was concealed under the false bottom
of a canteen. Schuyler, thereupon, substituted an answer worded in
such a manner that if it reached Burgovne it would cause him the
greatest perplexity. Its purport he confided to certain parties around
him and then sent it forward by a messenger who was to conduct
himself so as to be captured. The bearer, as prearranged, was taken
prisoner and the paper which he bore was placed in the hands of
Burgoyne. This had greater effect than ever Schuyler could have
expected. Stedman, the British staff-officer and historian (the origi-
nal works of whom, very rare, I have before me as I write) himself
acknowledged that Burgoyne was "so completely duped and puzzled
by it for several days that he was at a loss whether to advance or
retreat." This result, so flattering to Schuyler's sagacity, was com-
municated to one of Schuyler's staff after Burgoyne's surrender by
an English officer.

While Burgoyne was at Fort Anne, at which place he arrived on
the 23d of July, his Indian allies began to escape from the humane
leash in which he had, up to this time, kept them well in hand. Now,
however, their savage instincts aroused and consequently restive and
in defiance of the proclamation issued by the British general at the
camp on the Bouquet, the)- began a series of marauding upon the
peaceful farmers of Washington County, which was invariably at-
tended by the most f rightly atrocities. This statement is fully borne
out by an entry in the "Journal" of Rev. Dr. Enos Hitchcock, a

182 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

chaplain in the American army, during the Burgoyne campaign, and
now just brought to light through the efforts of the Rhode Island
Historical Society, in which, under date of July 28, 1777, he writes:

"An express from Fort Edward about break of Day, say [sic.] they are sur-
rounded; this account afterwards proves groundless, * * * A scout returned
towards evening — who went out yesterday, who gives an account of a horrid mur-
der of a family about four miles N. E. of Fort Miller; the father, mother and six
Children killed and left to be torn by the Hogs.

"Colonel Brewer, with 150 men sent to Fort Miller to scout the woods N. E.
Colo. Alley, with the same number from Moses Creek to go East and meet them —
about 9 o'Clock a man and boy killed and one wounded near Fort Miller by two
lurking Fellows [Indians], who contended about the scalp of a boy; the man not
scalped; 11 o'clock a small party went out back of Headquarters and were fired
upon by Indians — one Corpi. killed, private wounded; about the same time an In-
dian fired upon a sentry X. E. from Gen. Nixon's Brigade. A small scout of 20
came in, which met with a party of Indians, supposed 70, fired and killed one and
ran — about 12 o'clock, alarmed by an Express from Fort Miller that they were
attacked by a number of Indians. One of our spies came in, who says the enemy
had almost cleared the road from Fort Anne which we had blocked up."

Nor was the murder of this poor family whose bodies were thrown
" to the hogs," the only one in this bloody category — which, perhaps,
eventually contributed more than anything else, to arouse the people
and defeat Buroovne.

On the 26th, another still bloodier tragedy was enacted, which
drove many of the inhabitants of Argyle to seek safety in the forests.
The day before (the 25th) Le Loup, the infamous half-breed leader of
the savages — released as I have said, from Burgoyne's leash — had set
out from Burgoyne's camp, now advanced to about four miles of Fort
Edward and encamped near Moss Street in the present town of
Kingsbury, on one of his usual predatory excursions. In the course
of their wanderings they came to the settlement of Mr. John Allen,
in Argyle. He was a staunch loyalist, though not particularly dis-
tinguished for any exhibition of partizan warmth. Relying upon the
protection which Burgoyne had promised to all those who espoused
the cause of the King, they remained comparatively easy in their
possessions. While their patriot neighbors fled, leaving the ripe
grain to rot in the fields, they lingered behind to watch their flocks
and gather in the harvest. It has been handed down by tradition,
however, that notwithstanding their political predilections and the
promise of Burgoyne's protection, they were not without serious

MASSACRE OF THE ALLEN FAMILY. 183

apprehensions of the savages, and that they had resolved to seek a
more distant and secure abode, as soon as the season of harvest should
be passed. Some misinformed historians have asserted that John
Allen was engaged in packing up his goods and preparing to depart
immediately to Albany, at the moment Le Loup appeared. The fact
is, says Wilson in his life of Jane McCrea, from whom this account of
the massacre of the Allen family is chiefly taken, he had passed the
forenoon of that day laboring in his fields, three slaves belonging to
his father-in-law assisting him. A younger sister of Mrs. Allen had
left her father's at a late hour in the morning on an errand to her
brother-in-law. Not returning when expected, a colored lad was sent
to ascertain the cause of her detention. Presently he came running
back, throwing his arms wildly and haggard with affright, screaming
that "his young missus and Massa Allen and all the family were
dead!" Forthwith, repairing to Allen's residence, a scene of horror
presented itself that "sickens the imagination even at this distance
of time to contemplate." In the same room lay stretched upon the
floor, nine ghastly and bloody corpses, all of which that same morn-
ing had been full of life and health. They were the inanimate bodies
of Mr. Allen, his wife, his sister-in-law, his three children, and the
three slaves. Their scalps had been torn off and their cold, staring
eye-balls, stained with blood and half protruding from their sockets,
too plainly showed the mortal fear they suffered at the moment of
their deaths. Not one was left to relate the manner of the awful
massacre — no eye but the Almighty beheld the infernal butchers per-
form their horrid work. All appearances, however, indicated that the
devoted family were seated unsuspectingly around the table, partak-
ing of their noon-day meal, when the savage ministers of death — let
loose by the Mother Country who so cherished her dear colonies! — fell
suddenly upon them. The table, around which had gathered a lovely
family, stood in its accustomed place, in the center of the room, while
by certain tokens, it was considered evident that they had arisen from
it in confusion, on the unexpected entrance of the murderers. The
house had been ransacked and plundered, but the plunderers were
gone. They had departed silently and stealthily as they came. Not
a sob or a groan broke the awful stillness that prevailed. " There
lay," in the words of one who first broke in upon the scene, " the stiff
and mqtionless corpses on the bloody floor, while silence, emphatically
the silence of death brooded over the scene. Dismayed, appalled, the

184 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

horror-stricken kindred lingered not to perform the rites of burial,
but seized by an overmastering fear, fled into the farthest solitude of
the then primeval forest, hoping to find that safety of which they
were not assured while beneath the family roof. ' Their object was to
make their way, unobserved, to the garrison of Fort Edward, and to
this end they crept from thicket to thicket, through the long hours of
the night, startled by the slightest sound that disturbed the gloomy
silence of the woods. This same party of Indians, moreover, are said
to have slain on the same day and in the same vicinity, an entire
family named Barnes, and also a man by the name of John White.

Asa consequence of this awful calamity, fear fell upon the settlers
of Washington County, far and near — even to its southern limits near
Albany, where an account of this and similar horrors was spread
abroad. The patriots of New Perth (now Salem) assembled nightly
with their wives and children within the temporary fortification they
had prepared ; while the Royalists, distrusting Burgoyne's proclama-
tion, flocked from all quarters to the English camp, uttering loud
remonstsances and demanding the promised " Protection." It was to
them that Fraser made the celebrated but unfeeling remark — r " It is a
conquered country and we must wink at these things." Nothing,
however, shows that General Burgoyne himself, endorsed any such
sentiment — and to me, this remark of Fraser's seems exceedingly
doubtful.

Nor, is it any wonder that, in view of these fiendish deeds, Burke
arose in the House of Commons and denounced his government in
the strongest terms for the employment of savages. In fact, his mas-
terly oratory and herculean efforts in behalf of the Americans —
never, by the way, ever estimated at their full worth — did, perhaps,
more for the eventual independence of the Colonies than the latter's
alliance with France — at least, it made peace more certain. Even
Lord North and his abject satellites were powerless in the face of
Burke's noble stand in the defence of the Colonists. It should, how-
ever, be kept in mind that Lord North was in reality only a tool of
George III since there is reason to sitppose that, in his innermost
heart, he agreed with Burke. I suppose it were bootless to moralize
on this further; but, do the people of Washington County — under

: There is a possibility of course, that the murder of this Allen family may have been the one
referred to in Rev. Enos Hiscock's Journal— the "three slaves" being the children, making His-
cock's " six." Still, as this is by no means certain, I give both incidents.

THE JANE McCREA TRAGEDY. 185

whose eyes this history will come — realize the difference now between
their beautiful, peaceful and secure homesteads and the ever present
terrors of their ancestors — a period not so very remote either. This
account should at least, as Shakespeare says, "give them pause'
when they feel like dwelling on what they think was the "good old
days " in contrast with the present.

But among all of these brutal massacres none attracted such atten-
tion at the time as the accidental killing of Jane McCrea, directly
caused by one of these blood-thirsty Indian forays — an event which
was productive of such far-reaching consequences, that a full and
detailed account of the occurrence will form the subject of the next
chapter.

CHAPTER XV.

BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN CONTINUED.

The Jane McCrea Tragedy — The Last Days of Her Lover, David Jones — His
Personal Appearance, Shortly Before His Death — Bravery of Mrs. General
Schuyler — Narrow Escape of General Schuyler from an Indian Assassin —
Effect of These Cruelties in Aroi sing Popi i \k Wr viii.

Probably no event, either in ancient or modern warfare has received
so many versions as the killing of Miss Jane McCrea, during the
Revolutionary War. It has been commemorated in story and in song
and narrated in grave histories in as many different ways as there
have been writers upon the subject. As an incident, merely, of the
Revolution, accuracy in its relation is not, perhaps, of much moment.
When, however, measured by its results, it at once assumes an impor-
tance which justifies such an investigation as shall bring out the
truth.

The slaying of Jane McCrea was, to the people of New York and
especially to those of Washington County, what the Battle of Lexing-
ton was to the New England colonies. In each case, the effect was
to consolidate the inhabitants more firmly against the invader. The

[23]

186 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

blood of the unfortunate maiden was not shed in vain. From every
drop, like the teeth of the mythical drag-on of old, hundreds of armed
yoemen arose ; and, as has been justly said, her name was passed as a
note of alarm along the banks of the Hudson, and, as a rallying cry
among the Green Mountains of Yermont, brought down her hardy
sons. It thus, in a great measure, contributed to Burgoyne's defeat,
which became a precursor and the principal cause of American Inde-
pendence.

Jane McCrea was born in Bedminster (now Lamington) N. J., in
1753, and was killed near Fort Edward, July 27th, 1777. She was the
second daughter of Rev. James McCrea, a Presbyterian clergyman of
Scotch descent, whose father, William, was an elder in White Clay
Creek Church, near Newark, Delaware. After his death she made her
home with her brother John at Fort Edward, N. Y. This brother was
a staunch patriot. He had been with the unfortunate expedition of
General Montgomery, and had fought in the battle of Quebec and
when General Schuyler, in command at Fort Edward, called on the
militia of Washington County to take the field (as related in the last
chapter) he promptly obeyed the summons. Between him and David
Jones, her lover, there had arisen an estrangement growing out of
their opposite sympathies in relation to the war. But Jane still clung
to her betrothed notwithstanding her brother's dislike for him.

Miss McCrea is described by those who knew her personally, as a
young woman of rare acccmplishments, great personal attractions,
and of a remarkable sweetness of disposition. She was from all
trustworthy accounts, of medium stature, finely formed, and of a deli-
cate blonde complexion. Her hair was of a golden brown and silken
lustre, and when unbound, trailed upon the ground. Her father was
devoted to literary pursuits, and she thus had acquired a taste for
reading unusual in one of her age in those early times.

The story of the tragedy, as told by Bancroft, Irving and others «
is that as Jane McCre was on her way from Fort Edward to meet her

1 I am gratified to know that this version of the tragedy has been accepted by William Cullen
Bryant in his " History of the United States." who gives me full credit. I state this that my
readers may have some confidence in this entirely new account. 1 am also, of course, aware that
Sparks in his " Life of Arnold," gives a different version of this tragedy, related to him. as he
says, by an eye-witness of the murder, viz.: a Samuel Standish who was one of the guard at the
fort. Still, I believe the facts to be as stated in the text. But as I have said in the beginning of
this sketch there have been numerous and different accounts of the tragedy. . The only thing
left, therefore, for the conscientious historian is, to try and sift the kernel from the chaff and
present the facts as he understands them, to the reader.

CORRECT ACCOUNT OF TRAGEDY. 187

lover, Lieutenant Jones, at the British camp, under the protection of
the Indians, a quarrel arose between the latter as to which should
have the promised reward, when one of them, to terminate the dis-
pute, "sunk," as Mr. Bancroft says, "his tomahawk into the skull ' :
of their unfortunate charge. ' The correct account, however, of the
Jane McCrea tragedy, gathered from the statement made by Mrs.
McNeal to General Burgoyne on the 28th of July, 1777 in the marquee
of her cousin, General Fraser and corroborated by several people well
acquainted with Jane McCrea, and by whom it was related to the late
Judge William Hay of Saratoga Springs, a veracious and most indus-
trious historian, and taken down from their lips, and by him com-
municated to me, is entirely different from the version given by Mr.
Bancroft.

On the morning of the 27th of July, 1777, Miss McCrea and Mrs.
McNeal were in the latter's house at Fort Edward, preparing to set
out for Fort Miller for greater security, as rumors had, for several
days, been rife of hostile Indians in the vicinity. Their action was
the result of a message sent to them early in the morning by General
Arnold, who had, at the same time, despatched to their assistance
Lieutenant Palmer with some twenty men, with orders to place their
furniture and effects on board a bateau and row the family down to
Fort Miller.

Lieutenant Palmer, having been informed by Mrs. McNeal that
nearly all her household goods had been already put on board the
bateau, remarked that he, with the soldiers, was going up the hill as
far as an old block-house, for the purpose of reconnoitering, but would
not be long absent. The lieutenant and his party, however, not
returning, Mrs. McNeal and Jane McCrea concluded not to wait
longer, but to ride on horseback to Colonel (John) McCrea's ferry,

1 As the tomahawk, in this history, is frequently mentioned, it may be well to quote from
Aubrey his discription of that {par excellence) Indian weapon. He writes: "This instrument,"
(the tomahawk) "they" (the Indians) "make great use of in war; for, in pursuing an enemy, if
they find it impossible to come up with them, they, with the utmost dexterity, throw and seldom
fail striking it into the skull or back of those they pursue, by that means arresting them in
flight. The tomahawk is nothing more than a small hatchet having either a sharp spike, or a
cup for tobacco affixed opposite to the part that is intended for cutting, but they are mostly made
to answer two purposes — that of a pipe and a hatchet. When they purchase them of the traders,
they take off the wooden handle and substitute in its stead a hollow cane one, which they do in a
curious manner."

Some years since, my friend, Hon. C. C. Lester, found in an old stony cabin near "Wood-
lawn," Saratoga Springs, one of the tomahawks above described, which, through his kindness,
is now in my cabinet and before me as I write.

188 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

leaving- the lading of the boat in charge of a black servant. When
the horses, however, were brought up to the door, it was found that
one side-saddle was missing, and a boy 1 was accordingly despatched
to the house of a Mr. Gillis for the purpose of borrowing a side-sad-
dle or pillion.

While watching for the boy's return. Mrs. McNeal heard a discharge
of fire-arms ' 2 and looking out of a window, saw one of Lieutenant
Yan Yechten's soldiers running along the military road towards the
fort, pursued by several Indians. The fugitive, seeing Mrs. McNeal,
waved his hat as a signal of danger and passed on, which the Indians
perceiving, left off the pursuit and came toward the house.

Seeing their intention. Mrs. McNeal screamed: " Get down cellar
for your lives! " On this Jane McCrea and th'e black woman, Eve,
with her infant, retreated safely to the cellar, but Mrs. McNeal was
caught on the stairs by the Indians and dragged back by the hair of
her head by a powerful savage, who was addressed by his companions
as the " Wyandot Panther." A search in the cellar was then begun,
and the result was the discovery of Jane McCrea, who was brought
up from her concealment, 3 the Wyandot exclaiming upon seeing her,
" My squaw, me find um agin — me keep um fast now, foreber, ugh!
By this time the soldiers had arrived at the fort, the alarm drum
was beaten and a party of soldiers under Captain Yan Yechten started
in pursuit. Alarmed by the noise of the drum which they, in com-
mon with Mrs. McNeal and Jenny, heard the Indians, after a hurried
consultation, hastily lifted the two women upon the horses which had
been waiting at the door to carry them to Colonel McCrea's ferry and
started off upon a run. Mrs. McNeal, however, having been placed
upon the horse on which there was no saddle, slipped off and was
thereupon carried in the arms of a stalwart savage.

1 The name of this boy was Norman Morrison. It is not known what afterwards became of
him, though tradition states, that, being small and active, he escaped from the Indians and
reached his home in Hartford, Washington County. X. Y.

2 So fatal was this discharge, that out of Lieutenant Palmer's party of twenty men, only
eight remained. Van Vechten himself being killed on the spot.

3 Judge Hay was informed by Adam, after he became a man, that his mother. Eve, had often
described to him how she continued to conceal him and herself in an ash-bin beneath a fire-place,
he luckily not awaking to cry while the search was going on around them in the cellar. This
fact was also confirmed by the late Mrs. Judge Cowen. of Saratoga Springs to Judge Hay.

4 The party who did this was the same, under Le Loup, who had, but a few hours before,
massacred the Allen family. See last chapter.

SHOOTING OF JANE McCREA. 189

At this point Mrs. McNeal lost sight of her companion, who, to use
the language of Mrs. McNeal, "was then ahead of me and appeared
to be firmly seated in the saddle, and held the rein, while several
Indians seemed to guard her — the Wyandot still ascending the hill
and pulling along by bridle-bit the affrighted horse upon which poor
Jenny rode." The Indians, however, when half-way up the hill, were
nearly overtaken by the soldiers, under Lieutenant Van Vechten,
who, at this point began firing by platoons. At every discharge the
Indians would fall flat with Mrs. McNeal. By the time the top of
the Fort Edward Hill had been gained, not an Indian was harmed,
and one of them remarked to Mrs. McNeal, " Wagh ! um no kill — ura
shoot too much high for hit." During the firing, two or three of the
bullets of the pursuing party hit Miss MeCrea with a fatal effect, who
falling from her horse, had her scalp torn off by her guide, the " Wy-
andot Panther," in revenge for the loss of the reward given by Bur-
goyne for every white prisoner — a reward considered equal to a barrel
of rum.

Mrs. McNeal, however, was carried to Griffith's house, and there
kept by the Indians until the next day, when she was ransomed and
taken to the British camp. "I never saw Jenny afterwards," says
Mrs. McNeal, " nor anything that appertained to her person until my
arrival in the British camp, when an aide-de-camp showed me a fresh
scalp-lock which I could not mistake, because the hair was unusually
fine, luxuriant, lustrous and dark as the wing of a raven. Till that
evidence of her death was exhibited, I hoped, almost against hope,
that poor Jenny had been either rescued by our pursuers (in whose
army her brother, Stephen MeCrea, was a surgeon) or brought by our
captors to some part of the British encampment."

While at Griffith's house, Mrs. McNeal endeavored to hire an Indian
named Captain Tommo, to go back and search for her companion, but
neither he nor any of the Indians could be prevailed upon to venture
even as far back as the brow of the Fort Edward hill to look down it
for the "White Squaw," as they called Jenny.

At dawn the following morning, the remains of Miss MeCrea were
gathered up by those who would have rescued her. They found it
stark and ghastly, partly concealed beneath leaves and brush near a
pellucid spring, which gushed forth by the side of a tree, ' and near

1 This tree called "The Jenny MeCrea Tree" would probably have remained to this day had
it nut been cut down and made into relics to be sold to the curious visitor.

190 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

by the corpse of Lieutenant Van Vechten stretched upon the earth.
When they returned, her brother, with some women from his neigh-
borhood, had arrived at the fort. He bent over her mangled remains
and wept in bitterness of spirit. He knelt down and kissed her bloody
forehead and would have clasped the decaying body in his arms, had
not friends gently restrained him. They led him away from the sad
spectacle and kindly sought to soothe him with many unavailing words
of consolation. Her body, as well as that of Lieutenant Van Vechten
was buried under the supervision of Colonel Morgan Lewis (then
deputy-quartermaster general) on the bank of Moses Creek, near a
fortified camp-ground, laid out by the celebrated Polish engineer,
Kosciusko, three miles south of the fort and two miles south of her
brother, John McCrea's farm, which was across the Hudson, and
directly opposite the principal encampment of General Schuyler.
Here in a rude grave, they laid Jenny down to her last sleep, and

To show that this statement is correct I clip from a paper of 1S53 the following
advertisement :

"AN INTERESTING RELIC OF THE REVOLUTION.

The Subscriber, being censured through the public prints for cutting clown the
famous Jane McCrea tree, and importuned by his friends, presents to the public
elegant canes and boxes manufactured from this world-renowned tree, believing
that an event fraught with so much interest, being connected with the Revolution
and Independence of our County, that they will meet with a hearty response from
every American. A case containing canes and boxes may be seen at the Crystal
Palace and are for sale at the following places in this city: Leary & Co., hatters,
Astor House, Broadway, N. Y., also on Forty-first street, south side of Palace.

All other parties offering canes for sale, representing them to be made from the
renowned Jane McCrea tree, are counterfeits, and will be dealt with accordingly.

I certify that I am owner of the land on which grew the tree known as the Jane
McCrea Tree, at Fort Edward, Washington County, N. Y. The tree died in 1S49,
and was cut down during the winter of 1S53, and was sent to the shop of J. M. Bur-
dick, to be manufactured into canes and boxes. Each article and piece having this
engraving upon it is part of the same tree. Geo. Harvey.

All Orders may be addressed to the Subscriber, at Fort Edward, Washington
County, N. Y. Geo. Harvey.

J. M. Burdick, Traveling Agent.
References — We have known Mr. Harvey for years as a reputable merchant, and
late Cashier of the Bank of Fort Edward, and have the fullest confidence to believe
what he says.

Freeland, Stuart & Co., J. p. Cronkhite, 54 Exchange Place.

F. Leake, Am. Ex. Bank. B. Murray, Jun. Ass't. Cash. Am. Ex. Bank.

New York, July 28, 1S53.

DOCTOR BARTLETT'S ACCOUNT OF TRAGEDY. 191

"strong men wept aloud as they turned from the humble sepulcher
and departed on their way." ' That same morning, Fort Edward was
evacuated, Schuyler falling back on Moses Creek and the sprouts of
the Mohawk now Waterford.

The only statement which, while disproving Mr. Bancroft's narra-
tive, seems to conflict with the above account of the manner of her
death, is the one made by Dr. Bartlett, a surgeon in the American
army. This occurs in his report to the director-general of the hospi-
tals of the Northern Department, dated at Moses Creek at head-quar-
ters, at ten o'clock of the night of July 27, 1777, and is as follows:

" I have this moment returned from Fort Edward, where a party of
hell-hounds, in conjunction with their brethren, the British troops,
fell upon an advanced guard, inhumanly butchered, scalped and
stripped four of them, wounded two more, each in the thigh, and four
more are missing.

" Poor Miss Jenny McCrea and the woman with whom she lived
were taken by the savages, led up the hill to where there was a body
of British troops, and there the poor girl was shot to death in cold
blood, scalped and left on the ground, and the other woman not yet
found.

" The alarm came to camp at two p. m. I was at dinner. I imme-
diately sent off to collect all the regular surgeons, in order to take
some one or two of them along with me, but the devil a bit of one was
to be found. * * *

"There is neither amputating instruments, crooked needle, nor
tourniquet in all the camp. I have a handful of lint and two or three
bandages, and that is all. What in the name of wonder I am to do in
case of an attack, God only knows. Without assistance, without in-
struments, without anything! "

This statement, however, was made, as is apparent on its face, hur-
riedly and under very great excitement. A thousand rumors were
flying in the air, and there had been no time to sift the kernels of
truth from the chaff of unproven reports. But, in addition to this,
the story of the surgeon is flatly contradicted by testimony, both at
the time of the occurrence and afterward. General Burgoyne's famous
" Bouquet Order " of the 21st of May, and his efforts, by appealing to
their fears and love of gain to prevent any species of cruelty on the
part of his savage allies — facts well known to his officers and men —

1 Wilson.

192 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

render it simply impossible to believe the statement of Surgeon Bart-
lett, that a " body of British troops " stood calmly by and witnessed
the murder of a defenceless girl, and a girl, too, between whom and
one of their comrades-in-arms there was known to be a betrothment.
Leaving, however, probabilities, we have the entirely different and
detailed account of Jenny's companion and hostess, Mrs. McNeal,
" the woman with whom she lived," and who, as " the woman not yet
found," was endeavoring — while the surgeon was penning his report —
to prevail upon the Indians to go back and search for Jenny's body,
left behind in their hurried flight.

The entire matter, however, seems to be placed beyond all doubt,
not only by the corroborative statement of the " Wyandotte Panther,"
when brought into the presence of Burgoyne — to the effect that it was
not he, but the enemy that had killed her — but by the statement of
General Morgan Lewis, afterward Governor of New York State. His
account is thus given by the late Judge William Hay in the following
letter to the writer, in 1866:

" Several years after Mrs. Teasse had departed this — to her — event-
ful life, I conversed (in the hearing of Mr. David Banks, at his law-
book store in New York City) with Governor Lewis. Morgan Lewis
then stated his distinct recollection that there were three gun-shot
wounds upon Miss McCrea's corpse, which, on the day of her death,
was, by direction of himself — and in fact, under his own personal
supervision — removed, together with a subaltern's remains, from a
hill near Fort Edward to the Three Mile Creek, where they were in-
terred. The fact of the bullet wounds — of which I had not before
heard, but which was consistent with Mrs. Teasse's statement — was to
me confirmation strong as proof from Holy Writ, that Jane MeCrea
had not been killed exclusively by Indians, who would have done that
deed either with a tomahawk or scalping-knife, and would not, there-
fore, (pardon the phrase in this connection) have wasted their ammu-
nition. In that opinion, Governor Lewis, an experienced jurist — if
not general — and familiar with the rules of evidence, concurred."

This opinion of two eminent lawyers, as well as the statement of
the Wyandot, receives, moreover, additional confirmation in the fact,
that when the remains of Jane MeCrea, some years since, were disin-
terred and removed to the old Fort Edward burial ground, and con-
signed to Mrs. MeXeal's grave. Dr. William S. Norton, a reputable

PARTICULARS OF MISS McCREA'S DEATH. L93

and highly intelligent practitioner of physic and surgery, examined
her skull and found no marks whatever of a cut or a gash.

This fact, also, strongly confirms the opinion expressed at the time
by General Fraser ] at the post-mortem camp examination, that Jane
McCrea was accidentally killed, or rather unintentionally killed by
American troops pursuing the Indians, and, as General Fraser said he
had often witnessed, aiming too high, when the mark was on elevated
ground, as had occurred at Bunker's (Breed's) Hill.

It thus appears, first : that Jane McCrea was accidentally killed by
the Americans, and secondly: that the American Loyalist. David
Jones, did not send the Indians, much less the ferocious " Wyandot
Panther," whom he abhorred and dreaded on their errand.

Indeed, the falsity of this latter statement (which, by the way, Gen-
eral Burgoyne never believed) is also susceptible of proof. The well
established fact that Jones had sent Robert Ayers, (father-in-law of
the late Mr. Ransom Cook, long a highly respected resident of Sara-
toga Springs) with a letter to Miss Jane McCrea asking her to visit the
British encampment and accompany its commander-in-chief, with his
lady guests (Lady Harriet Acland and Mrs. General Riedesel) on an
excusion to Lake George, ' clearly shows how the charge against Jones
had crept into a Whig accusation concerning misconduct and mean-
ness and the dialogue (also well authenticated) between two of her
captors, in relation to the comparative value of a white squaw — esti-
mated, as before stated, at a barrel of rum — and her scalp-lock, ac-
counts, perhaps, for the story of the pretended proffered reward (a
barrel of rum) alleged to have caused the quarrel among the Indians
which resulted in the supposed catastrophe. All who had been ac-
quainted with David Jones knew that he was incapable of such con-
duct and so expressed themselves at the time.

The rumor, also, which is slightly confirmed in Burgoyne 's letter to
General Gates (quoted in this chapter further in advance) that Miss
McCrea was on her way to an appointed marriage ceremony, origi-
nated in Jones's admission that he had intended, on the arrival of his
betrothed at Skenesborough, to solicit her consent to their immediate
nuptials. But Jones explicitly denied having intimated such a desire,

1 Afterwards killed in the second Battle of Saratoga, October 7, 1777.

1 Conversations of the author with the late Ransorn Conk.

[24]

194 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

either in a letter to Miss McCrea or otherwise. "Such," he added,
" was without reference to my own senseof propriety, my dear Jenny's
sensibility, that the indelicacy of this supposed proposal would, even
under our peculiar circumstances have thwarted it. " The late Mr. Ben-
son J. Lossing, the eminent and painstaking historian who visited Fort
Edward while several of Jane McCrea's contemporaries were still alive,
says " that Lieutenant Jones denied all knowledge of the matter and
utterly disclaimed any such intention 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 even 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 inter-
view with her."

Nevertheless, there is much probability that Jane received com- .
munications from her lover at intervals, especially after the British
army left Skenesborough. The following original manuscript letter
from Jones to Jenny bears out this view:

"Skenesboro, July ii, 1777.

"Dear Friend: I have ye opportunity to send you this by William Barnsy,
hoping through Freel, it will come safe to hand. Since last writing ' Ty ' ' has been
taken and we have had a battle, which no doubt you have been informed of before
this. Through God's mercy I escaped destruction, and am now well at this place,
for which thanks to Him. The rebels cannot recover from the blow yt has been
struck, and no doubt the war will soon end. Such should be the prayer of all of
us. Dear Jenny, I do not forget you, though much there is to distract in these
days, and hope I am remembered by you as formerly. In a few days we will
march to Fort Edward, for which I am anxious, when I shall have the happiness to
meet you, after long absence. I hear from Isaac Vaughn, who has just come in,
that the people on the river arc moving to Albany. I hope if your brother John
goes, you will not go with him, but stay at Mrs. McNeil's, 2 to whom and Miss
Hunter give my dutiful respects. There I will join you. My dear Jenny, these are
sad times, but I think the war will end this year, as the rebels cannot hold out and
will see their error. By the blessing of Providence I trust we shall pass many
years together in peace. Shall write on every occasion that offers and hope to rind
you at Mrs. McNeil's. No more at present, but believe yours affectionately' till
death. "David Jqnes. " a

1 Tieonderoga.

'-' Jones spells the name McNeil, while Judge Hay McNeal.

'■' Xo one can peruse this beautiful letter without being convinced that Lieutenant Jones was
a person both of education and culture. It will compare well with any written by cultured peo-
ple at the present day. For purposes of comparison read the " Orders, " of the Capts., etc.,
given in this history, when the above remark will be apparent.

SUBSEQUENT LIFE OF LIEUTENANT JONES. 195

Indeed, this question regarding Jones's sending for his betrothed,
was often a topic of conversation between General Fraser and his
cousin, Mrs. McNeal, who, with Miss Hunter (afterwards Mrs. Teasse)
accompanied him from Fort Edward to Saratoga, and on his death, in
that battle, returned to Fort Edward, after witnessing the surrender
of the British general. Jones frankly admitted to his friends that in
consequence of the proximity of the savages to Fort Edward, he had
engaged several chiefs, who had been at the Bouquet Encampment, to
keep an eye upon the fierce Ottawas and especially upon the blood-
thirsty Wyandotts and persuade them not to cross the Hudson ; but if
they could not be deterred from so doing, by intimations of danger
from rebel scouts, his employes were to watch over the safety of his
mother's residence, and also that of Colonel McCrea. For all which,
and in order the better to secure their fidelity, Jones promised a suit-
able but not specified reward, meaning thereby, such trinkets and
weapons as were fitted for Indian traffic, and usually bestowed upon
savages, whether in peace or in war.

But partisanship was then extremely bitter and eagerly seized the
opportunity thus presented of magnifying a slight and false rumor
into a veritable fact, which was used most successfully in stirring up
the embers — which otherwise would have smouldered — of hatred
against Loyalists in general, and the family of Jones in particular.
The experience of the last few years afford fresh illustration of how
little of partisan asseveration is reliable ; and there is so much of the
really terrible in civil war which is indisputably true, that it is not
difficult, nor does it require habitual credulity, to give currency to
falsehood.

One who, a hundred years hence, should write a history of the late
Civil War, based upon the thousand rumors, newspaper correspon-
dence, statements of radical and fierce politicians on one or the other
side, would run great risk of making serious mistatements. The more
private documents are brought to light, the more clearly they reveal
a similar, though even more intensified state of feeling between the
Tories and the Whigs during the era of the Revolution. Great caution
should, therefore, be observed, when incorporating into history any
accounts as facts, which seem to have been the result of personal
hatred or malice.

As might naturally be expected, the death of Miss McCrea

L96 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

brought forth a correspondence between General Gates and General
Burgoyne. In General Gates' letter he thus wrote to Burgoyne.

v> * * * That the savages of America should, in their unhappy
warfare, mangle and scalp the unhappy prisoners who fall into their
hands, is neither new nor extraordinary, but that the famous Lieuten-
ant-General Burgoyne, in whom the fine gentleman is united with the
soldier and the scholar, ' should hire the savages of America to scalp
Europeans and the descendants of Europeans — nay more, that he
should pay a price for every scalp so barbarously taken, is more than
will be believed in Europe, until authenticated facts shall, in every
gazette, confirm the truth of the horrid tale.

" Miss McCrea, a young lady lovely to the sight, of virtuous charac-
ter and amiable disposition, engaged to an officer of your army, was,
with other women and children, taken out of a house near Fort Ed-
ward, carried into the woods and then scalped and mangled in a most
shocking manner. Two parents, with their six children, were all
treated with the same inhumanity, while quietly resting in their once
happy and peaceful dwelling. 2 The miserable fate of Miss McCrea
was particularly aggravated by her being dressed to receive her prom-
ised husband, but met her murderers employed by you. Upwards of
one hundred men, women and children have perished by the hands of
the nrffians to whom, it is asserted, you have paid the price of blood."

To this latter portion of Gate's letter, Burgoyne lost no time in
replying as follows :

" * * * I have hesitated, Sir, upon answering the other para-
graphs of your letter. I disdain to justify myself against the rhapso-
dies of fiction and calumny, which, from the first of this contest, it has
been an unvaried American policy to propagate, but which no longer
imposes on the world. I am induced to deviate from this general rule,
in the present instance, lest my silence should be construed as an
acknowledgment of the truth of your allegations, and a pretense be
thence taken for exercising future barbarities by the American troops.

" By this motive, and upon this only, I condescend to inform you,

1 To explain this allusion, it should be remembered that Burgoyne had already, aside from
his military fame, greatly distinguished himself by a number of plays, which were spoken of
highly by literary critics. Through the courtesy of Fontblanque, Editor of Burgoyne's literary
edition of his works, I have now in my possession part of the MS. play of "The Lady of the
Manor " in his own hand-writing.

- This allusion is doubtless to the massacre of the Allen Family for which account see ante.

BURGOYNE'S LETTER ABOUT McCREA TRAGEDY. 197

that I would not be conscious of the acts you presume to impute to
me, for the whole continent of America, though the wealth of worlds
was in its bowels and a paradise upon its surface.

" It has happened that all my transactions with the Indian Nations,
last year and this, have been clearly heard, accurately minuted, by
very numerous and in many parts very unprejudiced persons. So
immediately opposite is your assertion that I have paid a price for
scalps, that one of the first regulations established by me at the great
council in May, and repeated and enforced and invariably adhered to
since, was that the Indians should receive compensation for prisoners,
because it would prevent cruelty, and that not only such compensation
should be withheld, but a strict account demanded for scalps. These
pledges of conquest, for such you well know they will esteem them,
were solemnly and peremptorily to be taken from the wounded and
even the dying, and the persons of aged men, women, children and
prisoners, were pronounced sacred, even in an assault.

" In regard to Miss McCrea, her fall wanted, not the tragic display
you have labored to give it, to make it as sincerely abhorred and la-
mented by me, as it can be by the tenderest of her friends. The fact
was no premeditated barbarity. On the contrary, two chiefs who had
brought her off for the purpose of security, not of violence to her per-
son, disputed which should be her guard, and, in a fit of savage pas-
sion in one, from whose hands she was snatched, the unhappy woman
became a victim. Upon the first intelligence of this event, I obliged
the Indians to deliver the murderer into my hands; and though -to
have punished him by our laws or principles of justice, would have
been, perhaps, unprecedented, he certainly should have suffered an
ignominious death, had I not been convinced from my circumstances
and observation, beyond the possibility of a doubt, that a pardon,
under the terms which I presented, would be more efficacious than an
execution, to prevent similar mischiefs.

The above instance excepted, your intelligence respecting the
cruelty of the Indians is false. '

Indeed, look at it as one may, the whole occurrence was dark and
dreadful, and Burgoyne in this letter to Gates, retreated behind a false
assertion, to escape the perils which were sure to grow out of an ad-
mission of even one-half the truth of Gates's letter. That letter, how-

1 Burgoyne. evidently, at the time of writing this letter, had not heard of the massacre of the
Allen and Barnes families.

198 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

ever, as Sparks justly remarks, was "more ornate than forcible and
abounded more in bad taste than in simplicity and pathos, yet it was
suited to the public feelings 'of the moment and as might be surmised,
produced a lively impression in every part of America." Burke, in
the exercise of all his glowing eloquence, used the story with most
powerful effect in the British House of Commons, and made the
dreadful and harrowing tale a household word throughout all Europe.
In confirmation of what Burgoyne did on the occasion, as outlined
in his letter to General Gates, is the following extract from the testi-
mony of the Earl of Harrington, who was a witness before the com-
mittee of the British House of Commons, during its inquiry into the
failure of the Burgoyne Campaign, at London in 1779. '

"Question. Does your Lordship remember General Burgoyne's receiving at
Fort Anne the news of the murder of Miss McCrea ?

•• Answer. I do.

" Q. Did General Burgoyne repair immediately to the Indian camp and call
them to council, assisted by'Brig. General Fraser ?

■A. He did.

' ' Q. What passed at that council ?

"A. General Burgoyne threatened the culprit with death, insised that he
should be delivered up and there were many gentlemen in the army and I own I
was one of the number who feared he would put that threat in execution.

Motives of policy, I believe, alone prevented him from it, and if he
had not pardoned the man, which he did, I believe the total desertion
of the Indians would have ensued and the consequences, on their
return through Canada, might have been dreadful, not to speak of the
weight they would have thrown into the opposite scale had they gone
over to the enemy, which I rather imagine would have been the case.

" Q. Do you remember Gen. Burgoyne's restraining the Indian parties from
going out without a British officer or proper conductor, who were to be responsible
for their behaviour ?

"A. I do.

" Q. Do you remember Mr. St. Luc's reporting discontent among the Indians
soon after our arrival at Fort Edward ?

"A. I do.

• • (]. How long was that after enforcing the restraints above mentioned ?

"A. I can't exactly say. I should imagine about three weeks or a month.

1 In justice, however, to General Burgoyne, it should be stated, that this investigation was
instituted entirely at his own request. Although its results were nugatory, yet. that Burgoyne
was really reinstated in public estimation is fully shown by the fact tliat soon after he was ap-
pointed by the Crown, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

MISS McCREA'S MURDERERS ESCAPE. 199

" Q. Does your lordship recollect Gen. Burgoyne's telling Mr. St. Luc that he
had rather lose every Indian than connive at their enormities, or using language to
that effect ?

"A. I do.

" Q. Does your lordship remember what passed in counsel with the Indians at
Fort Edward ?

"A. To the best of my recollection, much the same exhortation to act with
humanity, and much the same rewards were offered for saving their prisoners.

" Q. Do you recollect the circumstance of the Indians desiring to return home
at that time ?

"A. I do, perfectly well.

" Q. Do you remember that many quitted the army without leave ?

" A- I do, immediately after the council and the next morning.

"Q. Was it not the general opinion that the desertion of the Indians, then
and afterwards, was caused by the restraint upon their cruelties and habits of
plunder ?

" A. It was.

This testimony, it should be remembered, was given by the Earl
only two years after the death of Jane McCrea, and the matter could
not have been otherwise than fresh in his mind.

Again, in another part of Burgoyne's testimony, when questioned'
about his proclamation at Putnam's Creek, to the people of Washing-
ton County, in which he threatened the direst penalties to those who
did not at once surrender and come in under his protection, he said:
" I have spoken daggers, but used none! "

And once more, in justification of Burgoyne's course, Sergeant
Lamb in his " Journal of Occurrences" — from which I have already
quoted in narrating the Battle of Fort Anne — says: " Had the execu-
tion [ i. e. of the scalper of Jane McCrea] taken place, there is every
probability that the Indians would have retired from the army, massa-
ereing everybody and destroying everything before them; thus it
would have caused the destruction of hundreds of the innocent inhab-
itants, not only in the vicinity [meaning by that the settlers of Wash-
ington County] but of those on the frontiers of Canada, if the assassin
had been put to death. When the murder of Miss McCrea had reached
the General's ears, he went to the Indian camp and insisted in the
most determined language that the culprit should be given up to jus-
tice, and had it not been for the remonstrances of Monsieur St. Luc
de le Come, a Frenchman, who then presided over them, the mur-
derer's execution would not have been deferred another day. St. Luc
also informed the General that great discontent had reigned among

200 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

the Indians, at the restraint under which they were kept. To which
General Burgoyne replied: ik That he had rather lose every Indian in
his army than connive at their enormities."

The General afterwards said, " That he ever esteemed the Indian
alliances, at best a necessary evil, their services to be over valued;
sometimes insignificant, often barbarous, always capricious, and that
the employment of them was only justifiable when, by being- united
to a regular army, they could be kept under control. Governed bv
these sentiments the General acted. In his own expressive language,
' he determined to be the soldier, not the executioner of the state. '
Indeed, it was very remarkable how he restrained their ferocity dur-
ing the short time they were with our army, and in order to do this,
the more effectually he took to his aid a favorite priest of theirs, who
had more control over the passions of the Indians than all their chiefs
put together."

On the 22d of April, 1822, the remains of Jane McCrea and of
LieiEtenant Yan Yechten were removed to the old burial ground near
the site of the present village of Fort Edward. The ceremonial was
attended with unusual pomp and display for those early days— the
celebrated and afterwards unfortunate pulpit orator, Hooper Cum-
mings of Albany, N. Y., (whose lamp was so soon to go out in black
darkness) preaching upon that occasion from Michah 2-10, so impres-
sive and pathetic a sermon that many of his audience were convulsed
with sobs and weeping.

Miss McCrea's remains were again removed in 1852. to the Union
Cemetery between Fort Edward and Sandy Hill, the McCrea lot
being near the entrance. The marble slab which marks the spot bears
the following inscription :

Hekk Rest the Remains of
JANE McCREA,
A<; ed 17.'

MADE CAPTIVE AND MURDERED

BY A HAND OF INDIANS

WHILE "X A VISIT TO A RELATIVE IX

THIS NEIGHBORHOOD

A. D. 1777.

TO COMMEMORATE
ONE OF THE MOST THRILLING INCIDENTS

GRAVE OF JANE McCREA. 201

IN THE ANNALS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION

TO DO JUSTICE TO THE FAME OF THE GALLANT

BRITISH OFFICER TO WHOM SHE WAS AFFIANCED

AND AS A SIMPLE TRIBUTE TO THE

MEMORY OF THE DEPARTED

THIS STONE IS ERECTED

BY HER NEICE,

SARAH H ANNA. PAYNE,
A. D. 1852.

"There is at present,' - (1895) writes tome the late Mrs. Charles
Stone of Sandy Hill, who, with most praiseworthy interest, had taken
a deep interest in the matter, " a chain fence with stone posts around
the lot. The marble slab bears the coat-of-arms of the relic-hunter,
being nicked at every point, except, possibly, beneath the soil. The
whole, indeed, has the appearance of great neglect. There is, how-
ever, a fund now being raised to put it in much better condition, and
it is the intention of the trustees of the cemetery to have the improve-
ments made this spring. They wish to erect a substantial fence,
ornamental, of iron, but to be kept impenetrable from the chisel of
the relic hunter. * * * A certain portion of the fund will be kept
in trust continually to improve, adorn and keep in order the lot." '

A sketch of the Jane McCrea tragedy would be incomplete without
an account of the after career of Jenny's lover, David Jones, especially
since so much fiction has been woven into his life, after the terrible
death of his betrothed. It seems incumbent, therefore, that the
writer should present such reliable facts about him, as he has been
able to glean from different sources. The facts then appear to be as
follows :

1 The late Miss Lura A. Boies has written an exquisite little gem of a poem on Jane McCrea.
My friend, Judge Hay thought, and I agree with him, that it would compare with any efforts of
our best poets. Lura A. Boies, daughter of Jerome and Hannah G. Gillette Boies, was born in
the town of Moreau, Saratoga County, N. Y., May 2d, 1835. Like the Davidson sisters (.Lucretia
and Margaret) she, at a very early age, developed precocious intellectual abilities, which her
pen shaped from ' Airy Nothings' and formed ' a local habitation and a name.' Devoting the
leisure hours of a busy life to literary pursuits, she, while yet in mere girlhood, accumulated the
materials for a graceful volume of poems, which, after her early and untimely death, were,
through the indefatigable efforts of her life-long friend, the late Judge Hay of Saratoga Springs,
published under the title of "Rural Rhymes." She died April 15, 1859, and is buried near her
heroine, Jane McCrea, in the Union cemetery, between Fort Edward and Sandy Hill. The
curious reader is referred for Miss Boies' exquisite poem on Jane McCrea to the author's " Bal-
lads of Burgoyne's Campaign."

[25]

202 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Lieutenant Jones, chilled with horror and completely broken in
spirit by the event, tendered the resignation of his commission to
Burgoyne, which was refused. He bought the scalp of his Jenny and
with this cherished mememto, deserted, with his brother, before the
army reached Saratoga and retired into Canada. Various accounts,
as I have said, have been given respecting his subsequent fate. Some
have asserted that, perfectly desperate and careless of life, he rushed
into the thickest of the Battle of Bemis Heights and was slain; while
others allege that he died within three years afterward broken-hearted
and insane. But neither assertion is correct. " While searching for

Mrs. F n among her friends of Glens Falls." says my friend Mr.

Lossing, "I called at the house of Judge R s, [Rosekrans?]

whose wife is related 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. [This was written in 1848]. The death of Jenny was a heavy
blow and he never recovered from it. In youth he was gay and ex-
ceedingly garrulous, but after that terrible event he became melan-
choly and taciturn. He never married and avoided society as much
as business would permit. Towards the close of July in every year,
when the anniversary of the tragedy approached, he would shut him-
self 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."

As supplementary to, and corroborative of, this statement of Mr.
Lossing, I have been so fortunate as to light upon a communication
in The Catholic World of December, 1882, which gives the final
end of Jones, and which is from the pen of Julia C. Smalley. She
writes as follows :

" In the course of an evening conversation with the cheerful circle
in which an easy-chair is permitted to fill the privileged place accorded
to its invalid occupant, we fell to relating incidents connected with
the early history of our Republic. An aged member of that circle sat
diligently plying her knitting needles, a silent listener to our chat,
instead of supplying the share which we knew full well she could have-
drawn from her own knowledge of many interesting events of that
period, at the time of their occurrence or soon after. She was, there-
fore, very warmly urged by the younger part of the company to " tell
us a story," even though it might prove, as she hinted, but a " twice
told tale," to some of her listeners.

REMINISCENSES RELATIVE TO LIEUT. JONES. 203

It so happened that she had, on that day, taken up a stray number
of Lossing's "Pictorial Field Book of the Revolution," and while
glancing drowsily over its pages, her eye was attracted by his account
of the tragical death of Jane McCrea, near Fort Edward on the Hudson
River in July, 1777. Having frequently in former years visited an
aged relative who lived in Bennington, Vermont, through the War of
the Revolution, and who was well acquainted with the unfortunate
maiden and with the Mrs. McNeil whom Miss McCrea was visiting at
the time of the sad event, she had heard the painful story in all the
mournful details from the lips of that relative, with the shuddering
horror and tearftd sympathy which it would naturally awaken in a
sensitive young heart.

It is curious to note how some such trivial cause as this renewal of
her acquaintance with that sad story will often impel an old person to
rake up the dying embers of the past and draw from them living
sparks which had Ion-' been smouldering beneath their dust. It was
thus with our serene old friend as she closed the book that afternoon
and settled back in her old arm-chair, musing upon the narrative and
recalling scenes of her early life which she had not thought upon for
years. Hence it followed, of course, when our evening chat dipped
into history and she was urged to bear her part in it, that she should
recur to the subject of her late reading and revery, and to the fact
that she knew more of the later life of Lieutenant David Jones than
was recorded by Lossing. "For," said she, "all the early years of
my life, with the exception of occasional visits to friends in Vermont
were passed on the American shore of the St. Lawrence. It was then
a wilderness from Sackett's Harbor to the " Rapids," only broken by
the little village of Ogdensburgh, just starting into existence, and by
small openings made here and there by such hardy pioneers as dared
encroach within its forbidding boundaries. Schools there were none
up or down the river from Ogdensburgh, and the children of the set-
tlers had no means for instruction, unless taught at home or sent
across the river to attend schools in the older settlements on the Can-
adian shore.

" No sooner had my father taken up a large tract of land and
planted our pleasant home in this wilderness — indeed, before we had
been there long enough to get it reduced to a tolerable state of order,
we were visited by the residents of that shore up and down the river,
and afterwards formed many prominent friendships with them, among

204 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

the most highly valued of which were members of the Jones's family.
So it befel that when I was old enough to be sent away to school I was
admitted into one of those families more as a household pet than a
boarder and was cordially invited to range freely through the whole
circle. As every separate family was blessed with daughters near my
own age, I was decidedly " in clover " among them — clover the luxury
of which for me who had no sister or young companions at home, save
the little squaws from a neighboring Indian encampment, cannot pos-
sibly be conceived by any small lassie who lives amid abounding
youthful companionship. I reveled in it. Such parties as were given
weekly at one and another house ! Such multitudes of dolls as went
with us in every variety of costume ; among which my own large and
small, figured, copper-colored and in full Indian dress, with hair
banged according to the most approved aboriginal style — which has
been adopted by our modern fine ladies — and was necessary to the
completion of the Indian toilet that I took pride in arranging for them
in honor of my special pets, the papooses of the wigwams.

"Among the young girls of the Jones's connection was one to
whom I was particularly attracted as she was to me, by the similarity
of our positions. Her father lived in a remote district and her home
was as isolated as my own, while she was with her relatives for the
same purpose as myself. At the close of each term of our school she
was. as well as myself, carried home to pass the short interval between
the terms. On one of these occasions she was so urgent in her en-
treaties that I might be permitted to go with her for the vacation that
my father consented, much to my satisfaction, and we set forth in
great glee. Our journey was very delightful, through a wild and
romantic region, and I received a most cordial welcome from her fam-
ily at its close.

" The house was more elaborate in style and furniture than our
house so recently founded in the woods. A portion of it was built by
her grandfather many years before and extensive modern additions
had been made by her father. Her grandfather had died the previous
year and his brother, a very venerable old gentleman, with hair as
white as snow, lived in the family. I was deeply impressed by the
countenance and manner of this grand-uncle of my friend. An ex-
pression of unutterable sadness was stamped upon his noble features,
and a gentle dignity — benign to the verge of pity — marked his whole
bearing, even to the softened tones of his manly voice, especially when

REMINISCENSES RELATIVE TO LIEUT. JONES. 205

addressing the young in the few slowly uttered but impressive words
which he seldom exceeded when speaking to them. He was very
fond of his grandniece, and silent and reserved as he was with others,
he never tired of listening to her sprightly prattle.

"As soon as I found a proper occasion I plied her with questions
as to this interesting relative, whom she had never mentioned when
telling me about her family. With all the eager pertinacity natural
to small daughters of Eve, I drew from this reluctant witness that her
grandfather, Captain Jonathan Jones and this gentleman, his brother
— Lieutenant David Jones — were officers in Burgoyne's army during
the first years of the Revolutionary War; that the Lieutenant was
engaged to a beautiful young lady, whose brother was a staunch sup-
porter of the American cause and opposed to her imion with the Tory
officer, and that she was killed and scalped by the Indians while going
with a friend and escort to meet that officer in the British camp at
Sandy Hill, ' not long before the surrender of Burgoyne. He was so
crushed by the terrible blow and disgusted with the apathy of Bur-
goyne in refusing to punish the miscreant who brought her scalp to
the camp as a trophy, claiming the bounty offered for such prizes by
the British commander, that he and his brother asked for a discharge
and were refused, when they deserted — he having first rescued the
precious relic of his beloved from the savages — a and retired to this
Canadian wilderness, which he had never been known to leave except
upon one mysterious occasion many years before.

" She did not know the name of the lady so long and faithfully
mourned, but when I asked her if this tragedy did not occur near Fort
Edward on the Hudson, she remembered to have heard that place
mentioned in connection with it. She said they were all forbidden to
speak in his presence of American affairs or history, but she had once
persuaded him to let her see the mournful relic so precious to him.
vShe described to me the hair as the most beautiful she had ever seen,
light auburn in color, soft and glossy as silk, perfectly even and a
yard and a quarter in length. 3

1 A lapse of memory on the part of the elderly narrator, as Burgoyne, it will be recalled, was
then at Fort Anne.

2 This corroborates Mr. Lossing's statement. See ante— that David Jones purchased Jenny's
scalp from the Indian.

3 This statement, it will be noted, conflicts with Mrs. Teasse's statement that Jenny's hair
was "dark as the raven's wing." This very different description, however, goes to prove the
accuracy in the main, of this old lady's narrative— as. if it had been made up, she would Have
given it consistently with the published accounts to which, as Mrs. Smallev states, she had just
had access.

206 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

'• Well, my dear A— — ," said I, "it so happens that I know more
about this sad affair than even yourself, who have always lived in the
house with him. When my father and mother used to visit his eldest
sister in Bennington, Vt. , they took me with them at her special
recpiest ; for being the only daughter of her favorite brother, she al-
ways treated me with more tender affection than she showed to her
other nieces. Her house, which she had long occupied, was one where
the officers [British?] quartered at the Battle of Bennington and I
remember the speechless awe with which I was wont to con over the
names of these officers, recorded by themselves on the eve of the bat-
tle upon a pane of glass in the window with a diamond in a ring be-
longing to one of their number, who was killed in the conflict of the
next day. '

'• My aunt's memory was a store house of tales of those times and I
never tired of listening to them. No sooner was one finished than I
teased for another, until, I am sure, that the patience of the good
dame must have been sorely tried. She knew this young lady, whose
name was Jane McCrea, and also Mrs. McNeal, the Tory friend
whom Miss McCrea was visiting at the time of their capture by the
Indians. ~ I little thought, when I cried over the doleful story, that
the lover was still living — much less that I should ever see him."

"A did not dare repeat to her venerable relative what I had

told her, but she ventured to beg that I might be allowed to see the
beautiful hair of his lost love. He was deaf to her entreaties, assur-
ing her that she was the only one who had or would see it while he
lived and that he wished to have it buried with him when he died.

" After our return to school I drew from her some facts in relation
to the ' mysterious journey ' she had mentioned he had once taken.
' I do not know much about it,' she said, ' I heard it from an old ser-
vant woman of the family, who told me that many years before I was
born a stranger came there one evening, who appeared to be a gentle-
man's valet. He brought a fine-looking, intelligent young boy with
him and enquired for my grandfather, Captain Jonathan Jones.

1 Writing with a diamond on panes of window-glass, seems to have been a favorite amuse-
ment of the British officers. The " old Longfellow House " in Cambridge, Mass.. the headquar-
ters of General Riedesel and hi- staff when they were there as prisoners, has his name " Riede-
sel " cut in one of the panes, and it is plainly to be deciphered at the present day.

-Tins use of the word " captured, " corroborates Judge Hay's version of the tragedy— i. e.,
that the two ladies were taken prisoners by the Indians and not as the result of a quarrel between
two opposing parties.

REMINISCENSES RELATIVE TO LIEUT. JONES. 207

" The substance of my friend's account was that, after an interview
of some length with her grandfather, his brother, the Lieutenant, was
called in, and the three were together in the library during most of
the night, discussing some very interesting matter connected with the
boy. The butler had been ordered to prepare refreshments in the
dining-room, and Robert, one of the waiter-boys — an urchin gifted
with a larger amount of mischief and curiosity than his small frame
could possibly enclose, insomuch that they were constantly overflow-
ing to the annoyance of the whole household — was directed to remain
within call to serve them when required. It was not in the nature of
this valet that he should remain idle at his post during the long hours
of the night, and his faculties were too much on the alert, as to the
subject engaging his superiors, to yield to drowsiness; so. in perfect
submission to his ruling instincts, he plied the key-hole diligently for
such information as it might convey to his ear, when the parties be-
came so excited as to raise their voices above the low tone to which
most of their conversation was confined. He gathered from these
snatches that Captain Jones was urgently entreated to perform some
service for the boy which he was reluctant to undertake. He heard
him exclaim vehemently: ' I will not be persuaded to receive under
my roof the son of that detestable traitor, whose treason, although to
an unrighteous cause, caused my dearest friend, one of the bravest
and most noble officers in his Majesty's service, to be hung like a dog
by the vile rebels. I should be constantly haunted with the thought
that I was nurturing a viper to sting me when occasion offered.' His
brother David said something in reply, of which Robert heard only
enough to infer that there was a retired officer of the American army
across the river who might be persuaded to do what was desired.
'Very well,' said Captain Jones, 'you can undertake the task, if you
see fit, but I have no belief that you will gain the consent of one who
loathes the father so bitterly to take charge of the son.' Robert heard
no more and soon after these remarks the confab broke up and he was
called to serve the refreshments in the library. * * *

" Lieutenant David Jones departed with the boy the next day. He
was absent about a week and nothing further was known as to his
journey, its object and result, than was gathered from Robert's story,
which was soon circulated throughout the neighborhood.

" * * * I afterwards learned that at the period to which this
account of my young friend referred, a settlement was rapidly form-

208 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

ing on the American shore of the St. Lawrence, opposite a Canadian
village and that the fact that a leading man in the community and
retired officer of the American Revolution had adopted a boy whose
origin was unknown, but who bore the name of a traitor. This lad
afterward grew up to manhood and became an enterprising, respecta-
ble citizen and a distinguished officer in the volunteer service in the
War of 1 812.

" The mystery, however, surrounding the retired American officer,
the problem of the suspected relationship of the boy to Arnold, the
notorious American traitor were never solved.

*• It continued for many years to be the subject of evening gossip
by rural firesides in that region and strange stories were told by In-
dian and white hunters and trappers of the startling things they had
heard and seen in the vicinity of the officers's lonely cottage — long
since fallen into decay — both during the occupancy of the owner and
after his disappearance. Whether he died there or left for some far-
off country before his death, was never known. ' "

As might naturally be supposed, many ballads were written upon
the tragic death of the unfortunate maiden, which, at the time and

1 " Previous to the Revolution," says Wilson in his Life of Jane McCrea. " there was, perhaps,
no family settled on the upper waters of the Hudson, who exerted greater influence or held
more extensive possessions than the Joneses. Their landed estates included a section upon
which large and thriving villages have since arisen and which, in the progress of time, has
become of almost inestimable value. The fortunes of the war drove them from their inheri-
tance. Their broad lands were confiscated, and among the later generations that have dwelt
upon them, but few probably have known aught of the history of their ancient owners. After
the lapse of seventy-five years [this was written in 1853], however, recent developments seem to
indicate that the name of the old proprietors is about to become closely connected with the title
of the soil. One of their descendants, David Jones [of the same name as his ancestor, the lover
of Jane McCrea] appeared before the Xew York Legislature of 1853, and presented a memorial
to that body, wherein he claimed legal title to the forfeited estate of his ancestor. The claim
rests upon the ground that the judgment of confiscation was not rendered until after tho Treaty
of Peace was signed between Great Britain and the United States. And inasmuch as, by the
terms of that Treaty, it was agreed there should be no future confiscations by reason of the part
any person might have taken in the war, it is insisted by the claimant that the judgment ren-
dered subsequently, is void, and that he is sustained in that position by decisions of both the
State and Federal courts. The memorial was referred to the Attorney-General for his opinion,
who afterwards submitted to the consideration of the Legislature a report favorable to the
claim."

On the walls of the Saratoga monument, erected by the "Saratoga Monument Association."
there is a tablet in bronze in alto relievo, two-thirds the size of life, representing the death of
Jane McCrea. She is there shown falling off her horse, after receiving the accidental though
fatal shot from her American pursuers.

In closing this sketch some critical reader may say that its concluding paragraphs are
somewhat irrelevant. My excise, however, forgiving these facts, is, that as David Jones was
such a prominent character for many years among the traditions of the early settlers of Wash-
ington County, anything relating to his after career, should not be without very special interest.

LINES ON THE DEATH OF JANE McCREA. 209

afterward, had an extensive circulation both in this country and in
Europe. Among them all we cull the following - . It was written for
and published in the Saratoga Sentinel at the date given at the bottom
of the poem, and while the author is unknown, yet 1 think from the
internal evidence, that it was by my friend the late Judge William
Hay of Saratoga Springs. This, however, is a mere matter of con-
jecture.

REFLECTIONS AT THE GRAVE OF JANE McCREA.

•• And thus it is,
The bright and beautiful and wise.
The puling youngster and the gray-haired sage,
Manhood and youth, and infancy and age,
Alike yield up their struggling, passing breath —
Alike are subject to the grim fiend Death.

■• Alike, yet not alike.
For I wist not, that it is death to strike
The sudden blow, beneath some summer flower.
And then transplant it into soil more pure,
That it may waste its fragrant sweetness where
More rare exotics bloom and scent the air.

" A lonely mound,
But marked from those that's gathered round.

By slab unstoned all, and neither tells
The name, nor worth, nor fame of her that dwell

Beneath the sod, within the grave's dark gloom,
Our last sought resting-place and common doom.

'• She fell by hands
Of savage violence — the gleaming brands
( )f war were gathered far and near around.
And seeking love she fell — the lover found
Was Death, and in one long embrace,
With icy lips, he pressed her marble face. "

Fort Edward, N. Y., Nov. 5. 1S42.

Yet, amid these scenes of desolation and affright, there was one
woman whose proud spirit was undaunted. It was the wife of General
Philip Schuyler. The General's country seat was upon his estate at

I 26 }

•21(1 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Saratoga (now Schuylerville, X. V.) standing at the confluence of
Fish Creek — the outlet of Saratoga Lake — with the Hudson. On the
approach of Burgoyne, Mrs. Schuyler went up to Saratoga from Al-
bany, in order to remove her furniture. Her carriage was attended
by only a single armed man on horseback. When within two miles
of her house, she encountered a crowd of panic-stricken people, who
recited to her the recent tragic fate of Jane McCrea, and at the same
time representing the danger of proceeding further in the face of the
enemy, urged her to return. She had yet to pass through a dense
forest, within which even then some of the savage foe might be lurk-
ing for prey. But to these prudential counsels she would give no
heed. " The General's wife," she exclaimed, "must not be afraid,"
and pushing forward, she accomplished her purpose. '

Before the mansion was evacuated, however, the General, himself,
had a narrow escape from assassination by the hand of a savage, who
had hidden himself within the house for that special purpose. It was
at the hour of bed-time and while the General was preparing to retire
for the night, that a female servant, in coming in from the hall, saw
a gleam of light reflected from the blade of a knife, in the hand of
some person whose dark outline she discerned behind the door. The
servant was a black slave, who had sufficient presence of mind not to
appear to have made the discovery. Passing directly through the
door into the apartment where the General was yet standing near the
fire-place, with an air of unconcern she pretended to arrange such
articles as were disposed upon the mantle-piece, while, in an under-
tone she informed her master of her discovery and said aloud, " I
will call the guard." The General instantly secured his arms, while
the faithful servant hurried out by another door into a long hall,
upon the floor of which lay a loose board which creaked beneath the
tread. By the noise she made in trampling rapidly upon the board,
the Indian — for such he proved — being thus led to suppose that the
'• Philistines were upon him." in numbers, sprang from his conceal-
ment and fled. He was pursued, however, by the guard and a few
friendly Indians attached to the person of General Schuyler, overtaken
and made prisoner. Exasperated at his treachery, the friendly In-
dians were resolved to put him to death, and it was with much diffi-
culty that they were diverted from their purpose by the General.

1 This incident was told my father, the late Colonel William L. Stone, by the late Mrs. James
Cochran of Oswego, X. V.. who was the youngest daughter of General Schuyler.

SCHUYLER DELAYS BURGOYNE. 211

The effect of these incidents detailed in this chapter as well as other
recitals of savage cruelties, not all, as General Burgoyne represented
without foundation, was extensive and powerful. The cry of ven-
geance was universal and a spirit was aroused throughout the Colon-
ies, especially in that of New York, which proved of speedy and great
advantage to the American arms.

CHAPTER XVI

i 777-
BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN CONTINUED.

Si im yi.hk Delays the March of Burgoyne — The Battle of Bennington and lis
Direcj Result l\ the Defeat of Burgoyne — Comments on it — Sergeani Lamb's
Journal of His Trip Through the Wilderness from Fori Miller to Ticonder-
oga — Anecdotes and Incidents While Burgoyne was at Fori Miller — Con-
sternation Produced Among the People of Washington County on phe Ap-
proach of ihk British Army.

It will be remembered that we left General Burgoyne, at the close
of the fourteenth chapter, at Fort Anne where he had arrived on the
25th of July, after a terrible march along the banks of Wood Creek — -
owing to the wise foresight of Schuyler in the felling of trees and
placing other obstacles in his path. Meanwhile, on Burgoyne's arri-
val at Fort Anne, Schu}der ha,d fallen back from his position at Fort
Edward to Moses Creek, four miles below that post, because it was a
better and much more defensible position. Fort Edward was really
no position at all. Nevertheless, many of his fellow citizens who,
like the would be military critics of our own day, blamed him greatly
for its abandonment. Because it bore the title of "Fort" they
thought it must be one ; and yet it was a defensive work in nothing
but the name. Indeed, if " Old Ty," after the millions expended on
it was nothing but "a trap," Fort Edward, neglected, almost in ruins,
nestled in a little valley and commanded on all sides, was a delusion
and a snare. That experienced soldier, the Marquis de Chastellux, it
will be remembered in my sketch of Fort Edward, is quoted as repre-

212 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

senting the Fort at the time of his visit as utterly indefensible. ] This
charge, therefore, of the unnecessary abandonment of a miserable
little earthwork when an army of 7,000 men was advancing against it
with an enormous park of artillery, is a sample of the unjust condem-
nations heaped upon the judicious Schuyler. " ~

From his camp at Moses Creek, Schuyler wrote his famous letter,
promising "to obstruct every mile of Burgoyne's advance" — a promise
which was kept to the letter. He had already, as has been seen,
caused Burgoyne the irreparable loss of five weeks, and the same
causes, attributable to Schuyler's sagacity, kept Burgoyne two weeks
longer at Fort Edward. Indeed, as Burgoyne afterwards admitted,
" There is no doubt that I lingered too long at Fort Edward."

As Burgoyne sluggishly made his way southward Schuyler fell back
from Moses Creek (ever presenting a bold front to the enemy) to Sar-
atoga on the 21st of July. Thence, for excellent strategic reasons, he
changed his position to Stillwater, about nine miles further south.
He finally made his stand on Yan Schaick's Island at the mouth of
the Mohawk near its confluence with the Hudson (sometimes called
"The Sprouts of the Mohawk ") where he threw up extensive earth-
works on the right bank of the river, 3 some thirteen miles nearer
Albany, which city ao;ain is nine miles south of Cohoes Falls.

While his troops were posted at " Half Moon," which derives its
name from the fact that Hendrick Hudson, with his Vlieboot (Half
Moon) ascended to this point — the junction of the Mohawk with the
" Great River of the North " — Schuyler's own headquarters continued
to be at Stillwater, thirteen miles nearer to the enemy. Here he con-
tinued until (as will be seen further on) he was superseded by Gates
on the 19th of August.

Meanwhile, the patriot inhabitants in the towns along the line of
Burgoyne's march had nearly all fled before that General's advance
with his Indian allies. The latter spread out on both flanks of his
army and were but too ready to carry slaughter among the Whig
families of "Washington County. Even the Tory families, like the
Aliens, as we have seen, were not safe when there was an opportunity

1 He said, it will be recollected, that it could not have resisted four hundred men with four
cannon.

- (General J. W. de Peyster.

3 These earthworks may yet be distinctly seen by the traveller on the railroad train from
Troy to Waterford, N. Y., just before the train crosses the river into that village.

ABANDONMENT OF FARMS. 213

afforded either for boot}- or scalps. The patriots also, in the southern
part of the county, were equally dismayed. They were daily expect-
ing the appearance of the Indians among them ; and an order issued
by General Schuyler directing them to leave their farms and seek
refuge in the interior was almost as disheartening. The harvest time
was close at hand; and what were the}- to live on if they abandoned
their crops ?

The county committee met at New Perth (Salem) on the 25th <>i
July, John Rowan being chosen chairman. After declaring very un-
gratefully, that "universal desolation had overspread the county, on
account of General Schuyler's order to abandon their farms"-— though
admitting that it was unsafe to remain — they appointed a committee
as appraisers to estimate the value of their crops and buildings with a
view of obtaining compensation in ease they were lost in obedience to
the order. " Alas! " says Johnson, " both the national and state gov-
ernments were unable to pay or feed their soldiers, much less to make
good the loss of destroyed crops or burned buildings! "

Schuyler's order was carried by Captain Joseph McCracken, and
soon after his arrival it was resolved to build a fort at New Perth,
which might serve as a refuge to the inhabitants from wandering
bands of red or white marauders. For this purpose, the old log
church — the first one erected in the county and to which allusion has
already been made — was torn down and the logs set up in a stockade
around a frame church which had been more recently erected. It was
finished on the 26th of July, and received the name of " Salem Fort "
— Captain McCracken being placed in command. "This was," says
Johnson, "the first use of the name of Salem, so far as we can dis-
cover, in the town which now bears that appellation." It was proba-
bly derived from the town of Salem in Massachusetts — though it is
possible " that some biblical scholar may have thought the Hebrew
meaning of Salem — Peace — might properly be applied to a fortress
made of two churches and intended to preserve peace to their homes."
This explanation of the name, however, seems to me very far-fetched
and not deserving of consideration.

THE EXPEDITION TO BENNINGTON.

On General Burgoyne's arrival at Fort Anne, instead of advancing
at once upon Fort Edward and thence to Saratoga, Stillwater and

214 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Albany before Schuyler had had time to concentrate his forces in his
front, he sent a detachment of Brunswickers, under Colonel Baum,
by way of the Battenkill and thence southward through the county to
Bennington to surprise and capture some stores which he had heard
were at that place and of which he stood sorely in need. He was
influenced to this step by the advice of his friend. Major Skene,
who assured him that large numbers of the yeomanry of the country
would flock to his standard — an expectation which the event proved to
be entirely fallacious.

General Riedesel, who commanded the German allies^ was totally
opposed to this diversion ; but, being overruled, he proposed that Baum
should march in the rear of the enemy, by way of Castleton. toward
the Connecticut river. ' Had this plan been adopted, the probability
is that the Americans would not have had time to prevent Baum from
falling unawares upon their rear. Burgoyne. however, against the
advice of Riedesel and Philips, insisted obstinately upon his plan,
which was. that Baum should cross the Battenkill opposite Sarat'
move south and parallel with the Connecticut river in a direct line to
Bennington, destroy the magazine at that place and mount the Bruns-
wick Dragoons, who were destined to form part of the expedition. '
In this latter order a fatal blunder was committed by employing
>ps. the most awkward and heavy, in an enterprise where every-
thing depended on the greatest celerity of movement, while the ran-
gers who were lightly equipped were left behind!

Let us look for a moment at a fully equipped Brunswick Dragoon
as he appeared at that time. He wore high and heavy jack-bouts,
with large, long spurs, stout and stiff leather breeches, gauntlets,
reaching high up upon his arms, and a hat with a huge tuft of orna-
mental feathers. ; On his side he trailed a tremendous broad-sword,
a short, but clumsy carbine was slung over his shoulder, while, down
his back, like a Chinese mandarin, dangled a long queue. Such were

1 Sec my Life and Military Journals of Major-General Riedesel.

■ And vet General Riedesel states that 1,500 horses had been purchased in Canada, as early as
the middle of June, for the army. What became of them '■ Is it possible that the contractors of
that day as well as cur own. pocketed the money and failed to produce the ho-

The weight of one of these Brunswick Jack Boots was 5 1-2 pounds or n pounds for the pair,
and this onlv for the boots, to say nothing of the dragoon's other equipments One of these
■ n by a man captured at Saratoga, 100) preserved at Washington's Headquarters

at Xewburgh. X. V. The man who wore this boot was captured at Saratoga. He travelled on
foot with other prisoners on his way to Easton, Pa., as far as North Xewburgh. where he ex-
changed his boots for a lighter pair.

EXPEDITION TO BENNINGTON. 215

the troops sent out by the British General, on a service requiring the
lightest of light skirmishers. The latter, however, did not err from
ignorance. From the beginning of the campaign, the English officers
had ridiculed these unwieldy troopers, who strolled about the camp
with their heavy sabres dragging on the ground, saying (which was
the fact) that the hat and sword of one of them were as heavy as the
whole of an English private's equipment. But. as if this was not
sufficient, these light dragoons were still further cumbered by being
obliged to carry flour and drive a herd of cattle before them for their
maintenance on the way. Could anything have been more fatuous?

Baum left Fort Miller on the nth of August and encamped near
old Fort Saraghtoga that night. When about to move the next morn-
ing he received an order to wait for further instructions, and remained
encamped through the day at the mouth of the Battenkill. The fol-
lowing day, August 13, he set out on his unlucky expedition. That
night he encamped near what is now called " Wait's Corners " in the
town of Cambridge. His advance had a slight skirmish with a few
militiamen, capturing eight of them. They were released the follow-
ing morning at Colonel Skene's request, the latter having an idea that
this action would have a good effect on the large number of those of
the population who were supposed to be favorably inclined towards
the cause of the King.

Colonel Baum had been specially instructed to consult Skene in
everything relating to the treatment of the inhabitants, whom that
personage was supposed to know all about, but whom he, as the re-
sult proved, actually knew very little about. The fact is, that Skene
thought that two-thirds of the people were loyalists, whereas, espec-
ially in the section traversed by Baum, hardly one in ten were so. On
the 14th Baum's command proceeded southward through Cambridge,
crossed the Hoosick into the present town of Rensselaer and followed
up the valley of that stream and its tributary, the Walloomsae,
toward Bennington.

The result of these inefficient manoeuvres may be easily foreseen.
By a rapid movement of the Americans under Stark, at three o'clock
of the afternoon of the 16th of August, Baum Avas cut off from his
English allies, who fled and left him to fight alone, with his awk-
wardly equipped squad, an enemy far superior in numbers. In this
manoeuver Stark was greatly aided by a ruse practiced on the German
Colonel. "Toward nine o'clock on the morninaf of the 16th." writes.

216 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

General Riedesel, in giving an account of this action, "small bodies
of armed men made their appearance from different directions. These
men were mostly in their shirt-sleeves. They did not act as if they
intended to make an attack and Baum, being told by a Provincial who
had joined his army on the line of march, that they were all Loyalists
and would make common cause with him, suffered them to encamp
on his sides and rear. This confidence, perhaps, was the first and
chief false step which caused Baum's ultimate defeat. Shortly after-
ward, another force of the ' Rebels ' arrived and attacked his rear,
but with the aid of artillery, they were repulsed. After a little while
a stronger body made their appearance and attacked more vigorously.
This was the signal for the seeming Loyalists, who had encamped on
the sides and rear of the army, to attack the Germans, and the result
was that Baum suddenly found himself cut off from all his detached
posts." l For over two hours he withstood the sallies and fire of the
Americans — his dragoons to a man fighting like heroes — but at last,
his ammunition giving out and the re-inforcements he had sent for
not arriving, he was obliged to give way before superior numbers and
retreat. "The enemy," to quote again from General Riedesel, than
whom no better or more conscientious authority can be given, "seemed
to spring out of the ground." Twice the dragoons succeeded in
breaking a road through the forces of Stark, for, upon their ammu-
nition being used up, Baum ordered that they should sling their car-
bines on their shoulders and trust to their swords. But bravery was
now in vain, the heroic leader, himself mortally wounded in the abdo-
men by a bullet, and having lost three hundred and sixty out of four
hundred men, was forced to surrender. Meanwhile, the Indians and
Provincials had taken flight and sought safety in the forest.

While these events were taking place Lieutenant-Colonel Brey-
mann, who had been sent by Riedesel to the aid of Baum, reached
the bridge of Sancoick at three o'clock in the afternoon. Here he was
met by Major Skene, who assured him that he was only two miles
distant from Lieutenant-Colonel Baum. Skene, however, not inform-
ing him of the latter's defeat, he continued his march as quickly as
possible, although his troops — the day being unusually hot and sultry
— were greatly fatigiied. But scarcely had he advanced fifteen hun-

1 I have only quoted a very small portion of Riedesel's account. If the reader wishes to read
more of it. he is referred to my ■'Life am? Times of General Riedesel" and my " Burgoyne's Cam-
paign."

BREYMANN'S RETREAT. 217

tired paces beyond the bridge, when he descried a strongly armed
force on an eminence toward the west. Skene assured him this force
were not the enemy, but Breymann, not satisfied with this assurance,
sent ahead some scouts who were immediately received with a volley
of musketry. Perceiving how the case stood, he at once ordered
Major Barner to advance upon the hill, sent his grenadiers to the
right, put the guns of both regiments into position and directed the
fire upon a log-house occupied by the Americans. The Germans drove
the enemy across three ridges of land, but their ammunition giving
out, the)- were obliged to desist from the pursuit. Thereupon, tin-
Americans, guessing the cause of the halt, in their turn, once more
advanced, upon which, Breymann, relying solely upon the fast gather-
ing darkness to save himself, halted his men opposite the enemy and
remained there until it was perfectly dark. Then, under cover of the
night, he retreated across the bridge, but was forced to leave his can-
non in the hands of the Americans. At twelve o'clock that same
night, Breymann arrived with his tired troops at Cambridge, reaching
the main army at Fort Miller on the 17th. Meanwhile, he had dis-
patched messengers to Burgoyne, who, galloping through darkness
and mud, reached that general with the news of both battles at three-
o'clock on the morning of the 17th. Startled by these unexpected
tidings of disaster and fearine lest Brevmann, too, would be over-
whelmed by an avalanche of New England riflemen — whom, not-
withstanding his supercilious remark, ' he had already begun to fear
he consulted Riedese] as to the advisability of starting at once with
his entire army to support the defeated detachment — at the same time
sending off an officer to inform Colonel Breymann of his intention.
But before he could put his design in operation. Riedesel had received
news that Breymann had escaped and was within six miles of the Batten-
kill, and the order was therefore countermanded. In the course of
that day (the 17th) the wearied Brunswiekers, covered with mud and
almost -dead with fatigue, marched disconsolately into the camp at
Fort Miller while, hour after hour, the Dragoons, the Tories and the
Indians came straggling in with their several tales of woe.

'• Reference is here made to Burgoyne's remark in Parliament, before assuming the command.
in America, that "with 500 1 Uritish troops he could march through all of the Colonies."

r 27 1

218 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

In this action the Americans captured four brass cannon, ' besides
some hundred stand of arms and brass barrelled drums, several
Brunswick swords and about seven hundred prisoners. " It is true,"
says Riedesel, in commenting upon this action, "that justice was done
to the bravery of Colonel Baum, but the English also said, that he did
not possess the least knowledge of the country, its people, or its lan-
guage. But who selected him for this expedition?' " '-'

I have dwelt on this battle at length, because the Battle of Ben-
nington was one of those decisive conflicts which ••fringe the border
of Washington County with a red band of warlike wrath." It was
barely outside of the southern line of the present town of White
Creek, in the valley of the Walloomac, that "the old Indian tighter,
grim John Stark," having waited throughout the 15th for the rain to
abate, on the morning of the 1 6th led his militia against the well
trained and disciplined forces of Colonel Baum. His men were, it is
true, chiefly from Xew Hampshire, and there were, also, a considera-
ble number from Vermont and Massachusetts, but many of them were
from the towns of Cambridge. White Creek, Jackson and Salem in
this county.

In order, however, says Jennings, in his " Memoirs of a Century,"
to appreciate the valor of the Americans in the Bennington Battle,
their general want of military experience and training must be con-
sidered. When Stark ordered the cannon taken from Baum to the
scene of action, upon the arrival of Breymann, the men whom he
directed to load and fire knew not how to do it: the general there-
upon dismounted and taught them, by loading one of the pieces him-
self. : ' After the battle in all Stark's brigade there was but one case

'These beautiful brass pieces of artillery were destined to undergo several of the vicissi-
tudes of war. They are French cast and were brought from Quebec with the army of Burgoyne.
They were afterwards inscribed "taken at Bennington. August 16. 1777." and constituted a part
of the artillery of General Hull's army and fell into the enemy's hands at Detroit. When the
British ofticer of the day ordered the evening salutes to be fired from the American cannon, he
chanced to read the inscription, whereupon he said that he would cause to be added, as an addi-
tional line, "Retaken at Detroit. August 16. 1812." The guns were carried by the British down to
Fort! reorge at the mouth of the Niagara river, where they again fell into the hands of the Ameri-
can army, which captured that fortress. Gen. Dearborn had them transported to Sackett's Har-
bor ami with them were tired the salutes in honor of Harrison's victory over Proctor at the river
Thames, in Upper Canada. The guns are now in Washington.

A beautiful monument erected under the auspices of the Bennington Monument Assoeiation-
on the site of the Battle, commemorates the action.

5 This, of course, was meant for a severe cut at Burgoyne -and a just one.

Thatcher.

IMPORTANCE OF SUCCESS AT BENNINGTON. 219

of amputating instruments. Doctor Henry Clark relates that a resi-
dent of Bennington, who was a lad at the time of the battle, told him
of the vivid impression made upon his mind by seeing the men hurry-
ing past where he stood (he stood on the corner since occupied by Mr.
Patchen's store) with scythes and axes, as well as muskets and fowl-
ing pieces to meet the enemy.

Some remarks of Mr. Everett in his life of Stark may appropriately
be quoted on this point:

" Too much praise cannot be bestowed on the conduct of those who
gained the Battle of Bennington, officers and men. It is, perhaps,
the most conspicuous example of the performance by militia of all
that is expected of regular veteran troops. The fortitude and resolu-
tion with which the lines at Bunker Hill were maintained by recent
recruits against the assault of a powerful army of experienced soldiers
have always been regarded with admiration. But at Bennington the
hard) 7 yeomanry of New Hampshire, Vermont and Massachusetts
[when he speaks of Vermont, of course he refers to the people of
Washington County, at least those residing east of the Hudson] many
of them fresh from the plow and unused to the camp, ' advanced,' as
General Stark expresses it "through fire and smoke and mounted
breastworks that were well fortified with cannon.'"

With the failure of this expedition against Bennington, the first
lightning Hashed from Burgoyne's hitherto serene sky. The soldiers,
as well as their officers, had set out on this campaign with cheerful
hearts for, the campaign brought to a close, all must end in the triumph
of the British arms. Even the ladies who accompanied the expedition
— Mrs. General Riedesel and Lady Harriet Acland and others —
thought they were actually on a grand picnic and, as they plodded
through the wilderness from Fort Edward to Fort Miller with their
brilliantly uniformed escorts, they laughed and chattered in aright
merry mood. ' ,% Britons never go back, ' Burgfoyne exultantly had
said, as the flotilla passed up Lake Champlain. Now, however, the
Indians deserted by scores and an almost general consternation and
languor took the place of the former confidence and bouyancy.

On his arrival at Fort Edward, which, as has been narrated, was

1 See my " Life and Letters of Mrs. Ueneral Riedesel." One of the bronze tablets in the Sara-
toga Monument at Schuylerville, X. V., has a represention of this gala march through the wil-
derness — the ladies and officers talking merrily together while carrying their lap-dogs in their
arms !

220 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

evacuated by Schuyler on the approach of the British army, the Eng-
lish General was joined by the Mohawk nation, or, as they were
called, "Sir William Johnson's Indians." The celebrated Indian
chieftain, Joseph Brant — Thayendanegea — also visited Burgoyne's
cam]) at the same time, as a matter of courtesy, and tarried only a few
days. The Mohawks agreed to fight, provided their women and chil-
dren were sent to Canada, a condition which was faithfully carried
out.

It was while Burgoyne was at Fort Edward that his German ally,
General Riedesel, was joined on the 18th of July by his wife, who had
followed the army on from Canada. In one of her letters to her
mother she gives a delightful picture of her sojourn at Fort Edward
at this time. "In the afternoon of the 14th of July,'" she writes, "we
seated ourselves in a calash ' at Fort George and reached Fort Edward
on the same day. We led during the three weeks of our stay at this
place, a very pleasant life. The surrounding country was magnifi-
cent and we were encircled by the encampments of the English and
German troops. We lived in a building called the 'Red House.' I
had only one room for my husband, myself and my children, in which
my husband also slept, and had besides all his writing materials. My
women servants slept in a kind of hall. When it was beautiful
weather we took our meals under the trees, but if not, in a barn, upon

1 Isaac Weld in his "Travels in Canada " 1 1795-7) gives the following description of a "Calash"
which will be of interest to the reader. He writes as follows :

" The calash is a carriage very generally used in Lower Canada. Indeed, there is scarcely a
farmer in the country who does not possess one. It is a sort of one horse-chaise, capable of hold-
ing two people besides the driver, who sits on a kind of box placed over the footboard expressly
for his accommodation. The body of the calash is hung upon broad straps of leather, round iron
rollers that are placed behind by means of which they are shortened or lengthened. On each
side of the carriage is a little door about two feet high, whereby you enter it, and which is useful
when shut, in preventing anything from slipping out. The harness for the horse is always made
in the old French taste, extremely heavy: it is studded with brass nails and to particular parts of
it are attached small bells, of no use that I could ever discover but to annoy passengers."

2 " The ' Red House ' or Burgoyne's Headquarters, was built (as mentioned in a preceding

note, out of the debris of the old fort] before the Revolution by Doctor James Smyth, who tied to
Canada, but. subsequently, sold the ' Red House ' to Captain Ezekiel Baldwin, who occupied it as
a tavern until he built and removed to the tavern owned, subsequently, by Major Sproll. The
•Red House' stood on an open, unfenced space. I recollect having seen it in that condition.
When it was taken down I do not know: but two years ago, I found its chimney foundation, over
which a new street has since been opened. The fort of 1709 was on the 'Red House' site, where
Colonel Lydius, after having been expelled from Montreal, built a kind of block-house residence,
which the French called Fort Lydius. and by whom it was burned in 1745. On its foundation
Doctor Smyth erected the -Red House.' which, after Smyth left for Canada, was occupied by
Peter Treal. a Tory ." —Letter from the late Hon. William Hay 0/ Saratoga Springs, (long a resilient 0/
Glens Falls and Fort 'Edward) to the author , Dei ember zsl, i86fi.

NARRATIVE OF SERGEANT LAMB. 221

boards, which were laid upon casks and served as a table. It was at
this place that I eat bear's flesh for the first time and found it of cap-
ital flavor. We were often put to it to get anything- to eat; notwith-
standing this, however, I was very happy and contented, for I was
with my children and beloved by those by whom I was surrounded.
There were, if I remember rightly, four or five adjutants staying with
us. The evening was spent by the gentlemen in playing cards and
bv myself in putting my children to bed." '

Beyond Fort Edward the count}" was peopled with German, Dutch
and English settlers. The latter, pretending to be good royalists,
were allowed by Burgoyne, against the strong representations of his
officers, not only to carry arms, but to stroll about the camp at their
leisure, and without any restraint. "These men, however," says
Riedesel in his Journal, " were all but Royalists. They consequently
improved the opportunity to gain intelligence of all the occurrences
in the army by appearances, and they forthwith communicated to the
commanders of the enemy's forces that which they had seen and
heard. Having finally reached the Hudson at the mouth of the Bat-
tenkill, those of the German dragoons that were left were horsed.
Their number had now diminished to twenty, and this number con-
stituted the entire cavalry force of the invading army.

SERGEANT LAMB'S ACCOUNT OF HIS JOURNEY FROM
FORT MILLER TO TICONDEROGA.

While General Burgoyne was in camp at Fort Miller, at the mouth
of the Battenkill, and just as he was on the point of making an ad-
vance ttpon Saratoga preparatory to a still further movement against
Albany, he sent Sergeant Lamb back to Ticonderoga on a particular
mission. As part of this journey through the woods was made within
the present limits of Washington County, I have thought the general,
as well as the Washington County reader, would be glad to hear
Lamb's narrative in full — especially when it is stated that the work
from which it is taken is exceedingly rare — there being, with the

1 Stone's Riedesel Pg. 32.

222 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

exception of my own copy, but three in the libraries of the United
States. Lamb writes as follows:

" During our continuance at Fort Miller, the writer of this memoir
was selected by his officers to return alone to Ticonderoga, for the
purpose of taking back some of our baggage which had been left there.
Going unaccompanied on such a solitary route was dreary and dan-
gerous; but yet the selection of one from numbers, seemed to render
the man chosen on the occasion a depository of peculiar confidence.
He therefore undertook the duty imposed, not only without repining,
but with alacrity. A small detachment, if sent, could not pass unno-
ticed or safe by such a route through the woods, a distance of twenty
miles, and a sufficient force could not be spared on the occasion. '-'
The sending' of a single soldier appeared, therefore, as the most ad-
visable plan, and it was ordered by General Burgoyne, that he should,
after arriving at Ticonderoga, follow the Royal army with the bag-
gage escorted bv the recruits and as many of the convalescents re-
maining at that post as could march with it. Pursuant to this arrange-
ment, he prepared himself, taking twenty rounds of ball cartridges
and some provisions. About noon he set out and at four in the after-
noon reached our former encampment. Fort Edward, where he
stopped awhile to refresh. Thence he proceeded with as much expe-
dition as he could make to Fort Henrv 3 on Lake George. Almost

1 Memoir of his own life, by R. Lamb, formerly a sergeant in the Royal Welsh Fusiliers.
Dublin. 1811. Lamb, after his return to Ireland, established a school for boys, which met with
great success. He evidently, as I have remarked before, was a man of great shrewdness of ob-
servation and of education. That he retained the esteem of the officers in the British army is
evident, since in his work he gives the names of some four hundred subscribers to it — nearly all
people of the highest prominence —and among whom were nearly all of the officers of the British
army who served in America at that time. This occupation, as he informs us. enabled him for
twenty-six years, to provide for and educate a growing family — the source of satisfaction and
solicitude. He was discharged without the pension usually given for past services (occasioned
by a mere technicality and "red tape " 1 and being frequently advised by his friends to apply for
it. in 1809 (twenty-five years after receiving his discharge) he memorialized His Royal Highness,
the Duke of York, and was graciously favored by an immediate compliance with the prayer of
his petition. Lamb, as I hear from the secretary of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, in his reply
t > my letter asking for the information under date of October 4th. i885. states that Lamb died in
1832.

- Lamb refers here to the distance from Fort .Miller to Fort George, where he would take
water-carriage and not of course, to the distance from Fort Miller to Ticonderoga.

1 Meaning, of course. Fort George. Fort William Henry, that fort being then in ruins.

Indeed, much coufusion seems always to have arisen regarding these two forts. Thus, the
French on Montcalm's expedition against Fort William Henry in 17,7 (built by Sir William John-
son in 1755) spoke of going against Fort George though that fort, which consisted, by the way.
ot only a single bastine. was not built until several years after by General Amherst.

LAMB'S NARRATIVE CONTINUED. 223

eleven o'clock at night, becoming very weary, he laid him down to
sleep a little in a thick part of the wood. Although the day had been
hot, the night dews soon awakened him shivering with cold, having
rested but about two hours; then resuming his march for four or five
miles, he saw a light on his left, and directed his course toward it.
Having gained the place, he was saluted by a man at the door of his
house, ' who informed him that a soldier's wife had been just taken
in from the woods, where she was found by one of his family, in the
pains of childbirth. Being admitted into this hospitable dwelling, the
owner of which was one of the Society of Friends, or people called
Quakers, he recognized the wife of a sergeant of his own company.
The woman was delivered of a fine <>'iii soon after, and having 1 re-
quested her friendly host to allow her to stop, until his return from
Ticonderoga, at which time he would be able to take her to the main
army in one of his wagons, lie set out on his lonely route again. - Pre-
vious to his leaving her, she informed him that she had determined to
brave the dangers of the woods, in order to come up with her hus-
band; that she had crossed Lake George and was seized with the sick-
ness of labor in the forest, where she must have perished, had she not
been proventially discovered by the kind-hearted people under whose
roof she then was. ;t It is worthy of remark that the author not long-
since in tliis city, [Dublin] with great pleasure, saw the female who
was born as he before related, in the wilderness near Lake George.
She had been married to a man serving in the band of a militia regi-
ment and the meeting with her revived in his mind the lively emotions
of distressful and difficult scenes, which, although long passed, can
never be forgotten by him. At Fort George he was provided with a
boat to take him across to Ticonderoga."

" Lake George is situate southwest of Lake Champlain, and its bed
lies about too feet higher. Its waters are beautifully clear, composing

1 Probably, not much of a "house." mure likely a log-cabin.

- It nii.^hi be quite a study for some antiquarian of Washington County to trace out this par-
ticular house occupied, at that time by this hospitable Quaker. I merely suggest it as of interest.
I have been over this route again and again, but have never stumbled on the site of such a place.
A glance, however, at the county records should show the exact spot. I do not know how this
anecdote will strike the reader, but to me it seems peculiarly interesting. For perhaps, this little
girl of a soldier's wife may have been the first child born in Washington County '

3 Contrast the sorrows of this poor private's wife with that of Mrs. General Riedesel, who
only a day or two before had driven down in her calash to Fort Edward, yet, Mrs. Riedesel so
large was her. heart had she met this poor woman on her way. would undoubtedly have taken
her in. and ministered to all her necessities.

224 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

a sheet thirty-six miles long and from one to seven wide. It em-
bosoms more than two hundred islands, affording for the most part
but a ground of barren rocks covered with heath, and a few cedar and
spruce trees. On each side it is skirted by prodigious mountains.
The lake abounds with fish, and some of the best kind, such as the
black or Oswego bass, also large speckled trout. ' It was called Lake
Sacrament by the Canadians, who, in former times were at the painsv
to secure its water for sacramental uses in their churches." -

" There are two islands nearly in the center of it. in one of which,
called Diamond Island, two companies of the 47th were stationed,
commanded by Captain Aubrey, for the purpose of forwarding the
prisoners over the lakes. These islands were, anterior to this time,
said to swarm with rattle-snakes; so much so, that people would not
venture to land upon them. ;! A bateau in sailing near " Diamond
Island, 4 having upset, the people in it gained the shore, but climbed
the trees for fear of the snakes until they got an opportunity of a ves-
sel passing, to leave it. Some hogs, however, which had been carried
in the upset boat remaining on the island to which they swam, were
some time afterward followed by their owners, who. to recover them,
ventured ashore. They found the swine exceedingly fat, and, to
their surprise, met but very few of the rattlesnakes which before had
been so plenty. A hog being killed on the spot, made a good meal
for the people. It was discovered by its stomach that the hog fed
upon the rattlesnakes and had nearly cleared the island of such ob-
noxious tenantry."

" The wild hog in the woods and the Indian himself are known to

1 This will be quite a revelation t<> fishermen in Washington County at the present day— since
it is generally supposed, not only that the name Oswego Bass is a modern one, but that the bass
were introduced into Lake George comparatively recently.

- The writer here, in common with Cooper, falls into a very common error. The French mis-
sionary. Father Joques, named it St. Sacrament, not on account of the purity of its waters, but
because he arrived at the lake upon one of the festival days of that name — " lis arriverant, la
veille du S. Sacrament, au bout du lac qui est joint au grand lac du Champlain. Les Iroquois le
momment Andiataroctc, comme qui discit la on le lac se ferine. Le Pere le momma le lac du S.
.•.ment"— Jesuit Relations. 1645-6. "The early Roman Catholic discoverers." says the late
Rev. Mr. Van Rensselaer, "frequently connect the discoveries of places with the festival name
on the calendar." Mr. Cooper, in his Last 0/ the Mohicans, suggests the name of Horicon for this
lake (after a tribe that were in the habit of encamping around it during the hunting season.)
This, though quite poetical, is merely fanciful, as indeed, he claims, and has not the merit of his-
torical truth.

3 ■■ French Mountain " on Lake George, still (igoo) swarms with these reptiles.

S 1 ailed on account of the great amount of rock crystals that were formerly found there.

LAMBS NARRATIVE CONTINUED. 225

feed on snakes as a delicacy. ' * * * There are but two serpents
whose bites or stings prove mortal, viz: the pilot or the copperhead

and the rattlesnake. For the bite or venom of the former, it is said
that no remedy or cure is yet discovered. It is called " Pilot " from
its being the first in coming from its state of torpidity in the spring,
and its name of copper-head is taken from the copper colored spots of
its head. The black snake is a good deal innocuous, and is remarka-
ble for its agility, beauty, and its art or instinct of enticing birds or
insects to approach it. I have heard only of one person who was
stung by a copperhead. He quickly swelled in a most dreadful man-
ner, a multitude of spots of different hues on different parts of his
body, alternately appeared and vanished; his eyes were rilled with
madness and rage; he fixed them on all present with the most vindic-
tive looks; he thrust out his tongue as the snakes do; lie hissed
through his teeth with inconceivable strength, and became an object,
of terror to all bystanders. To the lividncss of a corpse, he united
the desperate force of a maniac; they hardly were able to keep him
fast, so as to guard themselves from his attacks; when, in the space
of two hours, death relieved the poor individual from his struggles
and the spectators from their apprehension. The venom of the rat-
tlesnake does not operate so soon, and hence there is more time to
procure medical relief. There are several antidotes with which
almost every family is provided against the poison of it. It is very-
inactive and unless pursued or vexed, perfectly inoffensive. :;: :;:

" A rattlesnake once caused a most deplorable accident, which I shall
relate to you, as I had it from the widow and mother of the victims.
A Dutch farmer of the Minisink went to mowing 1 with his negroes, in
his boots — a precaution used to prevent being stung. Inadvertently,
he trod on a snake, which immediately attacked his legs and, as he

1 "The Indians," savs Hector St. John, " rut off the head, skin and body, and cook it as we do.
eels and its flesh is extremely sweet and white." Anbury, also, in writing about the rattlesnakes-,
around Lake George, states that "its flesh is superior t < > that of ttie eel and produces a very rich
soup." Nor was this writer wrong in his opinion of the palatable qualities of "Rattlesnake.
soup!" In a letter front Castle-Town (now Castleton, Vt.) quoted in my "Revolutionary Let-
ters," under date of July 27, 1777, a German officer, writing from Burgoyne's camp, says: "On
one occasion the Indians begged of Us a rattlesnake which one of our party had killed and made
of it a very nice soup. These delicacies are extremely welcome in the kitchen of Gen. Burgoyne."'
It thus appears that the British general was even at this time on short rations.

'-' The parallel here between one bitten by a dog who barks and the one bitten by a snake who
"hisses" will be obvious to any one.

[28]

226 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

drew back in order to renew its blow, one of his negroes cut it in two
with his scythe. They prosecuted their work and returned home. At
night the farmer pulled off his boots and went to bed and was soon
after seized with a strange sickness at his stomach. He swelled and
before a physician could be procured he died. A few days after his
decease, his son put on the same boots and went to the meadow to
work. At night he pulled them off. went to bed and experienced
similar sufferings of sickness as took off his father, and died in the
same manner. A little before he expired, a doctor came but, not be-
in^" able to assign what could be the cause of so singular a disorder,
he pronounced both father and son to have died of witchcraft. Some
weeks after the widow sold all her moveables for the benefit of her
voungfer children, and the farm was leased. One of the neighbors
who bought the boots, presently put them on and fell sick, as had
happened in the case of the other two. Rut this man's wife by what
had befel the former family, dispatched one of her negroes for an em-
inent physician who, fortunately having heard of the dreadful affair,
ascertained the cause and applied remedies which recovered the man.
The boots, which had been so fatal, were then carefully examined,
and he found that the two fangs of the snake had been left in the
leather, after being wrenched out of their sockets by the strength
with which the snake had drawn back his head. The bladders, which
contained the poison, and several of the small nerves were still fresh,
and had adhered to the boot. The unfortunate father and son had both
been poisoned by wearing these boots, in which action they imper-
ceptibly scratched their legs with the points of the fangs, through the
hollow of which some of the astonishing venom was conveyed."

"The author, having arrived and completed his business at Ticon-
deroga, he accompanied the baggage over Lake George and to Fort
Edward and Fort Miller — attended by a number of seamen sent to
work the batteaux on the Hudson River. On his returning, he called
on the good Ouaker who had lodged the sick wife of his fellow soldier,
but to his astonishment, was told that on the morrow after he left her
there in child-birth, she had set out to meet her husband against the
wishes and repeated entreaties of the whole family, who were most
anxious to retain her until his return. She could not be persuaded to

1 I am fully aware that this story has h>nj< been current in many households — many consider-
ing it apocryphal; but I give this extract as showing that it has its origin in Lamb's statement.
who, it'will be seen, received it at first hand

LAMB'S NARRATIVE CONCLUDED. 227

stop, but set out on foot with her new born infant and arrived safe
with her husband, whom she had followed with such fond solicitude.
She thus grave an instance of the strength of female attachment and
fortitude, which shows that the exertions of the sex are often calcu-
lated to call forth our cordial admiration."

" In a short time the author had the gratification of conducting the
stores and baggage for which he had been despatched, in safety to the
army, and to receive the thanks of his officers, for the manner in
which he executed the orders confided to him. By this conveyance
the forces obtained a month's provisions."

" During the time (nearly a month) ' that Burgoyne, with his army
lay at or near the Battenkill," writes Mr. Charles Neilson in his
" Burgoyne's Campaign," "an incident took place which I think wor-
thy of notice, as showing the spirit and ardor of the Whigs in those
troublous times, and their determination to cut off the supplies from'
the invading army."

"The Tories, or cowboys as they were then called, were in the con-
stant habit of plundering the inhabitants on both sides of the Hudson
river of their grain, poultry and other kinds of eatables and driving
off their cattle, hogs and sheep, wherever they could find them, for
the purpose of supplying the British army with provisions, for which
no doubt they were well paid. Though often pursued and sometimes
roughly handled by the Whigs, they still persisted. At one time in
particular they had collected and secreted in a deep, dark ravine,,
branching off from Mill Creek, a large quantity of provisions, such as
beef, pork, flour, and other articles of consumption, with the intention
of transporting them, at some favorable opportunity, to the British
camp. By accident it was found out, and the place of concealment
discovered; upon which my father, at the head of about twenty reso-
lute fellows, which he had collected together and well armed, went
on in the night for the purpose of taking or destroying their plunder.
On their arrival within a short distance of the depot, one of them crept
slyly along, when he discovered the Tories, about thirty in number;
five of whom appeared to be armed and keeping guard, while the
others were in the act of loading four wagons which stood a short dis-
tance from the depot, and which they had brought for the purpose of
conveying away their stores. The assailing party then held a secret

1 An error, unless Fort Miller, ten miles above, is considered a part of the encampment at the
Battenkill.

228 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

council of war, to consult whether, the enemy being so much superior
in number, it was advisable to proceed; whereupon it was unani-
mously agreed that they should 'go ahead,' and they then made their
arrangements accordingly. "

"' The place where the stores were concealed, was behind a point pro-
jecting from the opposite side, around which the ravine curved, form-
ing the bank on the side of the assailants into a semi-circle, around
which, it was preconcerted, they should extend themselves in couples,
and silently approach the bank or brow of the hill, and at the word of
command, ' Come on boys .' ' they were all to give a whoop and rush on,
though not to fire unless the Tories made resistance: but in that case.
t<> fight their way through in the best way they could. All prelimin-
aries being arranged, they formed themselves in order of battle, and
silently moved on to the brow of the hill forming the ravine ; and when
my father, who was at the head, and as previously agreed, gave the
word ' Come on boys ! ' they gave such horrid, continued, and frightful
yells, and at the same time rushing down the hill like a mighty torrent,
that by the time they had got to the bottom of the ravine,
the enemy had all decamped, leaving their arms and baggage
a prey to the victors. The assailants, not yet satisfied, pursued on a
considerable distance, shouting, whooping and making the woods ring
with their horrid veils, as though a thousand Indians had been let
loose upon the frightened fugitives. Having found no enemy in their
pursuit, the assailants returned to the deserted camp, to examine their
bootv: but as the Tories had not yet brought, or had concealed their
horses, and having:- no means of bringing; off the wagons, they went to
work and broke them in pieces, as much as thev could. Having stove
in the barrels and scattered and otherwise destroyed the flour and
other provisions, they all returned home safe and sound, and much to
the joy of their families and friends; bringing with them twenty-five
stand of arms, with which Burgoyne had furnished the Tories, and
which the victors considered lawful prize."

•• Thus ended this hazardous and praiseworthy exploit, and for which
my father was honored with the title of Captain, a title, as is now well
known to many, by which for a number of years he was addressed and
until he was appointed a civil magistrate, when the title was exchanged
for Esquire."

" About the same time, small parties of Indians, [detached from Bur-
goyne 's army at Fort Miller,] were seen prowling about the vicinity.

NEILSON'S ADVENTURE. 229

of whom my father and a few resolute fellows had been in pursuit.
On their return [from the outskirts of the Hattenkill and Fort Edward]
he had occasion, while the others passed on, to call at a Mrs. Ezekiel
Ensign's, who afterwards, and for a number of years, kept a public
house a little north of Wilber's Basin. While sitting there about nine
o'clock in the evening, in conversation with Mr. Ensign, a ferocious
looking 1 giant like Indian, armed and accoutred in the usual costume
of an aboriginal warrior, ushered himself into the room and, after
eyeing them sharply for a moment, he with one hand drew from his
belt a huge tomahawk, which he flourished above his head in true
Indian style, and with the other a long scalping knife, whose glitter-
ing steel became more brilliant in the dazzling glare of a bright torch-
light, and with which lie exhibited, in pantomime, his dexterous man-
ner of taking scalps. At the same time, with eyes flashing fire and
turning alternately from one to the other, as they sat in opposite
directions, he accompanied his daring acts in broken English, with
threats of instant death if they attempted to move or speak. Ensign,
being a cripple in one arm, and feeling his own weakness, should
resistance become necessary, and being in momentary expectation of
receiving the fatal blow, became fixed and immovable in his chair,
with a countenance of ashy paleness."

"On the other hand, my father, being a man of great muscular
strength, and of uncommon agility, and having had man} - encounters
with the Indians, prepared himself for a desperate event. To this
effect, while the Indian would momentarily direct his attention to
Ensign, he would imperceptibly turn himself in his chair and in this
manner would, from time to time, keep silently moving by little and
little, until he succeeded in placing himself in a position in which he
could grasp with both hands the back posts of his chair. He then
watched his opportunity and, the moment the Indian turned his eye
from him. he grasped the chair and. with almost the rapidity of
lightning, sprang upon his feet, whirled the chair over his head and
aimed at him a desperate blow, but the Indian dodging the blow he
missed his aim. The Indian, having recovered his position, imme-
diately sprang with a hideous yell, and with his tomahawk uplifted to
strike the fatal blow, but before he could effect his direful purpose,
the chair was brought around the second time and with redoubled
force, athwart his head and shoulders, which brought him to the floor."

" Xo sooner had he fallen than my father, dropping the chair, sprang

230 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

upon him, and wrenched from his firm grasp the dreadful weapon of
death and would have disabled him on the spot, but Ensign, who, by
this time had received the power of speech, and supposing he intended
to take the Indian's life, begged of him not to kill him in the house.
Ik- then, holding him in his firm grasp, called for a rope, which was
soon procured, and with the assistance of Ensign, he succeeded,
though not without a dreadful struggle, in binding the savage mon-
ster. By this time two of the neighbors, who had been alarmed by
some female of the family, came in, when he was shut up in an out-
house, with the doors barred and left in their keeping, during the
remainder of the night, to be disposed of in the morning as circum-
stances might require. In the night, the guard believing him secure
and allowing themselves to fall asleep, he made his escape by remov-
ing some portion of the floor and under wall, on the opposite side of
tlie prison to which his guard was posted, much to the regret, not
only of his victor, but to many of the neighbors who had flocked
together to obtain a sight of the conquered savage."

Mr. Neilson, also gives a graphic account of the terrors which fell
upon the people of Washington County by the advance of the British
army. He says:

•" On tlie approach of Burgoyne with so powerful, and as yet suc-
cessful an army, with his horde of unrestrained savages, who were
continually in advance and on his flanks, prowling about the country,
plundering, murdering and scalping all who refused loyalty to the
British King, the inhabitants on both sides of the river, in the wildest
consternation and alarm, fled in every direction. The horrors of war,
however mitigated by the laws and usages of civilization, are at all
times sufficiently terrific, but when to these the fierce cruelties of a
cloud of savages are superadded, those only who are familiar with an
American border warfare, can form an adequate opinion of its atroci-
ties. In one place a long cavalcade of ox-carts, occasionally inter-
mixed with wagons, filled with all kinds of furniture hurriedly thrown
in. and not often selected by the owners with reference to their use
and value, on occasions of such alarm, were stretched for some dis-
tance along the road; while in another might be seen a number on
horseback and, here and there, two mounted at once on a steed pant-
ing under the weight of a double load, closely followed by a crowd of
pedestrians, and some, perhaps weeping, mothers with a child or two
screaming in their arms or on their backs, trudging along with fearful

BURGOYNE ADVANCES TO SARATOGA. 281

and hurried step. These found great difficulty in keeping up with
the rapid flight of their mounted friends. Here and there would be
seen some humane person assisting the more unfortunate by reliev-
ing them of their burdens with which the}' were encumbered, but
generally a principle of selfishness prevented much interchange of
friendly offices — every one for himself was the common cry."

" To those who now sit quietly under their own shady bowers, or by
the fireside long endeared by tranquility and happiness, it is left to
imagine with what feelings they hastened to abandon their homes
and their all, as it were, and fly for safety, they knew not whither.
The men of this generation can never know what were the sorrows of
those fathers who saw their children exposed to danger and death and
what the agonies of those kind mothers, of whom my own respected
mother was one, who pressed their offspring to their bosoms in the
constant apprehension of seeing them torn from their embraces to
become the victims of savage cruelty; and it is impossible with suffi-
cient force to describe the appalling distress that many families ex-
perienced at that moment of peril and alarm."

CHAPTER XVII.

BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN CONTINUED.

The Advance of Bi rgoyne — Ha i 1 1 .1 <>i- the kjiii of September — Anecdotes, etc—
Action of the 7111 of October — Bravery of Arnold — The Taking 01 the Great
Redoubt — Death of Colonel Breymann — Death and Bi ki \i of General
Frasi l:

While Burgoyne, who, it will be remembered, had advanced as far
as Fort Miller as early as the 19th of August, was making prepara-
tions for crossing the Hudson, with a view of forming a junction with
Sir Henry Clinton at Albany in accordance with the plan adopted by
the British Ministry, he encamped on an extensive flat or intervale
about one hundred yards north of Lansingf's saw-mill. Indeed, it was

232 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

not very far from the site of the fort that Colonel Schuyler built in
1709 which was located on the east side of the river on the second
Highland south of the Battenkill, in what was then called Saratoga;
though, as a matter of fact, it was then and is now in the County of
Washington. At that place the Hudson could be forded through the
rapids until within a short distance of the west shore where a short
bridge was constructed across a deep, narrow channel in the rocks*
and was upon the farm occupied in 1876 by Simon Sheldon, whose
ancestors have occupied the place about a century.

At length, on the 14th of September, all preparations being com-
pleted and Lamb having brought to Burgoyne (as seen in the last
chapter) a month's provisions, the Royal army, with the exception of
tlie German troops, crossed the Hudson on a bridge of boats just
below the Saratoga Falls, two miles above Schuylerville and some
eieditv rods northwest of the residence of Abraham Yates Rogfers. ~
The avant guard, under Fraser, was the first to march over. At nine
o'clock the reserve under Lieutenant Colonel Breymann followed after
them in order to cover Fraser's left flank. The Germans, who formed
the left wing of the army, went over last of all — two days afterwards-
— and as soon as the last man had crossed the bridge it was broken
up. They had passed the Rubicon, and all further communication
with Canada was now cut off. The army, which, on first setting off
from there, was 10.000 strong, had already diminished to 6.000, one-
thousand having been left at Ticonderoga. The precise point where
the British army left the bridge, on the west side of the river, is upon
the farm now (190c) owned by Daniel A. Bullard, and the excavation
through the embankment is yet plainly visible, and will long remain
a monument of that event.

The British army, after crossing the bridge, made a short tarry on

Bullard's farm and then encamped on the heights and plains of Sara-

1 near the mouth of Fish Creek — the present site of Schuylerville,

1 The " Brunswick Journal " states that as early as the iqth of August— the dav of the British
army's taking position at Fort Miller — a bridge was made abore the present Saratoga Falls or
rapids, but a better place beiiiiC found further down, it was broken tip and a new one built below
the rapids.

- The entrenchments which were at that time thrown up to cover the passage of the river,.
are still 119001 to be seen very plainly. They are three hundred feet in length and from four to-
six feet high, but are now overgrown with scrub pine. Mr. Rogers, whose Kiandfather lived on
the farm at the time, informs me that within thirty years the wooden platforms for the cannon
were in existence behind the entrenchments. The survey, by the way. of the railroad to Sara-
toga Springs was through these entrenchments.

BURGOYNE ENCAMPS AT SARATOGA. 233

N. Y. — within a few miles of the Northern Division of the Continen-
tals under Gates — Burgoyne selecting General Schuyler's House as
his headquarters. 1

After crossing the bridge, the 9th, 20th, 21st and 62nd regiments,
with the artillery, were stationed on the plain near the river (the
present " Bullard farm ") between the barracks and the Fishkill — the
batteaux on the right bank being crossed on the right bank by six
companies of the 47th. These barracks were used as a hospital and
were located on the north side of the road to Saratoga Springs,
directly upon the present site of the barns of the late Hon. Alonzo
Welsh of Sehuylerville, who resided a few rods east of the barns in
the main village street of Sehuylerville. The barracks were stand-
ing and occupied by a farmer up to within forty years. In March,
1867, Mr. Welsh, while plowing back of his barn, came across the
burying place of the hospital. The bones thus exhumed, lie carefully
reburied.

The hills around Saratoga were so densely covered with woods and
underbrush that it was impossible to place the army in position to
withstand an attack from the Americans. Accordingly, all of the
generals carefully inspected the high ground nearest the camp and
agreed upon a position to be taken up at a moment's notice in case of
an attack. The situation of the army, moreover, was rendered still
more precarious by the fact of its being divided by the river, and thus
obliged to be constantly on its guard. New entrenchments were
therefore thrown up, especially on the eastern side of the river.

After the evacuation of Fort Edward, Schuyler, as we have seen,
had fallen down the river, first from Moses Creek to Stillwater, and
then to Van Schaick's Island at the mouth of the Mohawk and, as we
have already said, he was superseded by Gates, who, on the 8th of
September, advanced with six thousand men to l'.emis Heights — three-
miles north of Stillwater. These heights were at once fortified under
the direction of the Polish engineer, Kosciuszko. Along the brow of
the river he threw up a line of breastworks about three-fourths of a

1 It will be remembered that General Schuyler had been superseded by General Gates, who
arrived and assumed the command of the Northern army on the 19th of August— Schuyler leav-
ing Stillwater and retreating to Van Scaick's Island at Half Moon mow Waterford, X. V. 1 being

considered, from a military point of view, a mistake a fact which the opponents of Schuyler in
the Continental Congress— among whom, to his shame be it spoken, was John Adams,
owing to his ridiculous jealousy of Xew York men- did not fail to take advantage of.

[ ~'9 1

234 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

mile in extent, with a strong battery at each end, and one in the cen-
ter, in such positions as to sweep the alluvial meadows between them
and the river. A line of entrenchments, also, ran from west to east
half a mile in length and terminated on the east end on the west side
of the intervale. The right wing occupied a hill nearest the river and
was protected in front by a wide, marshy ravine, and behind this by
abattis. From the foot of the hill, across the flats to the river, an
entrenchment was opened, at the extremity of which, on the margin
of the river, another strong battery was constructed. The left wing
commanded by Arnold (who, after the defeat of St. Leger at Fort
Stanwix had joined Gates) extended on to a height three-quarters of a
mile further north — its left flank being also protected on the hillside
by felled trees or slashings. Gates's headquarters were in the center,
a little south of what was then and is now (1900) known as the " Neil-
son Farm."

On the 15th the Germans, as has been stated, having crossed the
river and destroyed the bridge, Burgoyne gave the order to advance
" in search of the enemy," supposed to he some where in the forest,
for, strange as it appears, that Genera] had no knowledge of the posi-
tion of the Americans, nor had he taken pains to inform himself upon
this vital point. The army in gala dress, with its left wing resting on
the Hudson, set off on its march with drums beating, colors flying and
their arms glistening in the sunshine of the lovely autumn day. " It
was a superb spectacle," says an eye-witness, [ ' reminding one of a
grand parade in the midst of peace." That night they pitched their
camp at Dovegate House (Coveville). '

1 In line of the tablet* of the Saratoga Monument, this march of the British army is well rep-
resented showing the ladies— as to a picnic— going through the woods— with some of the officers
holding their lap-dogs, etc. This -is not exaggerated, for from contemporary accounts, it all took
place as represented.

2 Up to three years since, this house was in existence. Hut, vandalism being triumphant, and
the state — notwithstanding the plea of the D. A. R. - paying no attention to their expostulations,
it has been within the last two years torn down. We can not speak of this without the strongest
term- of reprobation. Fortunately, however, I got some of the timbers from which — through the
courtesy of Mr. C. S. Closson of Schuylerville. X. V. — I had several relics made, one of which I
sent to Lady Carnovan, the widow of Lord Carnovan, late Lieutenant-General of Ireland — the
great nephew of Lady Harriet Acland.

It may be as good a place as anv now to say to the reader, that the limits assigned for this
history, forbid me to give the very many anecdotes connected with the Burgoyne Campaign.
All who wish to investigate further are therefore referred to either " Sylvester's Account of Sar-
atoga," or Johnson's " History of Washington County,"' where they will have full information—
though chiefly taken from my works. Also, in regard to the origin of the name "Coveville"
the reader ; s referred to my " Burgovne's Campaign' - for a letter to the author from the late
1 )i Asa Pitch.

BURGOYNE ADVANCES FROM SARATOGA. 235

On' the following morning", the enemv's drums were heard calling"
the men to arms, but. although in such close proximity, the invading
army knew not whence the sounds came, nor in what strength lie was
posted. Indeed, it does not seem that up to this time Burgbyne had
sent off eclaircurs or scouting parties to discover the situation of the
enemy. Now, however, he mounted his horse to attend to it himself,
taking with 1dm a strong body-guard, consisting of the four regiments
of Speeht and Hesse-Hanan with six heavy pieces of ordnance and
two hundred workmen to construct bridges and roads. This was the
party with which he proposed "to scout, and if occasion served'
these were his very words — "to attack the Rebels on the spot." This
remarkable scouting party moved with such celerity, as to accomplish
two and a half miles the first daw' when in the evening, the entire
army, which had followed on, encamped at Sword's House, within
five miles of the American lines.

The night of the [8th passed quietly, the scouts that had finally
been sent out having returned without trace of the enemy. Indeed,
it is a noteworthy fact, that throughout the entire campaign Burgoyne
was never able to obtain accurate knowledge either of the position of
the Americans or of their movements, whereas, all his own plans were
openly known long before they were officially given out in orders.
" I observe," writes Mrs. General Riedesel at this time, "that the
wives of the officers are beforehand informed of all the military plans.
Thus the Americans anticipate all our movements, and expect us
whenever we arrive, and this of course, injures our affairs."

( >n the morning of the 19th, a further advance was again ordered, an
advance which prudence dictated should be made with the greatest
caution. The army was now in the immediate vicinity of an alert
and thoroughly aroused enemy, of whose strength the}' knew as little
as of the country. 2 Notwithstanding this, the army not only was
divided into three columns, each marching half a mile apart, but at 11

1 A New Hampshire regiment, while endeavoring to head off Clinton and save Albany,
marched forty miles from Saratoga (Schuylerville) in fourteen hours and forded the Mohawk
below Cohoes Falls. Belknap's New Hampshire. Col. Otto Williams, the bosom friend of Washing-
ton, marched forty miles on the 18th of November. 1781. Bancroft X, 473. Tarleton rode seventy
miles in twenty-four hours, destroying public stores on the way. Idem. And Cornwallis, in
marching order, pursued Greene's lightened retreating troops at the rate of thirty miles a day.

- " At this encampment (Sword's House) several of our men having proceeded into a field of
potatoes, were surprised by a party of the enemy that killed about thirty of them. They might
without difficulty have been surrounded and taken prisoners, but the Americans could not resist
the opportunity of shedding blood." — Lamb's Memoirs, Dublin, 1811.

236

WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

o'clock a cannon fired as a signal for the start, echoes through the
still aisles of the primeval forest, informing the Americans both of
the position and the forward movement of the British.

//""

HUDSON RIVER

Left Column "under Riedesel.

N Centre Column under Burgoyne

\
\
\

Right Column under Fraser.

ROUTE ■ OF THE ENGLISH TROOPS TO FREEMAN'S FARM.

i. Bemis Heigli'

2. Freeman's Farm.

3. Route of Fraser to assist Burgoyne.

4. Road to Quaker Sprinj
;. Dovegate's.

1 1. Sword's House.

The left column, which followed the river-road, consisted of four
German regiments, and the 47th British, the latter constituting' a
guard for the batteaux. These troops, together with all the heavy

artillery and baggage, were under the command of General Riedesel.
The right column, made up of the English Grenadiers and the light
battalion, with eight six-pounders under Lieutenant-Colonel Brey-
mann. was led by General Fraser. and followed the present road from
Quaker Springs to Stillwater, on the heights. The center column,
also on the heights and midway between the left and right wings,
consisted of the 9th. 20th, 21st and 626 regiments, with six six-poun-
ders, and was led by Burgoyne in person. The front and flanks of
the center and right columns were protected by Canadians, Provin-

BRITISH ENCOUNTER COLONEL MORGAN. 237

cials and Indians. The march was exceedingly tedious, as frequently
new bridges had to be built and trees cut down and removed.'

About one o'clock in the afternoon Colonel Morgan, 2 who with his
sharpshooters had been detached to watch the movements of the
British and harass them, owing to the dense woods, unexpectedly fell
in with the center column and sharply attacked it; whereupon Eraser,
on the right, wheeled his troops, and coming up forced .Morgan to
give way. A regiment being ordered to the assistance of the latter,
whose numbers had been sadly scattered by the vigor of the attack,
the battle was renewed with spirit. By four o'clock the action had
become general, Arnold, with nine Continental regiments and Mor
gan's corps, having completely engaged the whole force of Burgoyne
and Eraser. The contest, accidentally begun in the first instance,
now assumed the most obstinate and determined character — the sol-
diers often being engaged hand to hand. The ground being mostly
covered with woods embarassed the British in the use of their field
artillery, while it gave a corresponding advantage to Morgan's sharp-
shooters. The artillery fell into the hands of the Americans at every
alternate discharge, but the latter could neither turn the guns upon
the enemy nor bring them off.

Meanwhile, General Riedesel, who had kept abreast of the other
two columns, and had reached the present site of Wilbur's Basin,
hearing the tiring, hastened through the woods to the relief of the
commander-in-chief. When he arrived on the scene, the Americans
were posted on a corner of the woods. In front of this corner of the
forest and entirely surrounded by dense woods was a vacant space on
which the English were drawn up in lin< The struggle was for the
possession of tins clearing -known then as it is to this day — as " Free-
man's Farm." The timely arrival of the German general alone saved
the army of Burgoyne from total rout. Charging on the double-
quick with fixed bayonets, he repelled the Americans; and Fraser and
Breymann were preparing to follow up this advantage, when they
were recalled by Burgoyne and reluctantly forced to retreat. General

1 It is of interest, and also a curious fact, that all of the/resen
• w en Schuylerville and Stillwater on both sides of the ri' ow oul the very ones cut out by

Burgoyne's engineers showing how skillfully the latter took advantagi oi the
conditions of the country.

'-' It should tie remembered that Washington, himself, detailed Morgan to
ignoring, for the tune, the necessity of keeping Morgan with him. si
Washington.

238 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Schuyler, referring to this, in his diary says: " Had it not been for
this order of the British general, the Americans would have been, if
not defeated, at least held in such check as to have made it a drawn
battle, and an opportunity afforded the British to collect much pro-
vision of which they stood sorely in need." The British officers also
shared the same opinion. Fraser and Riedesel severely criticised the
order, telling" Burgovne in very plain terms that "he did not know
how to avail himself of his advantages." This reaction was, more-
over, the more striking, because they had placed the utmost confi-
dence in his capacity at the beginning of the expedition. They were
also, still more confirmed in their dislike, by the general belief that
he was addicted to drinking. Neither does this seem to be owing to
m unwillingness to fight or a lack of esprit; for when, subsequently,
the men were reduced to short rations, "they put up," says General
Riedesel, "with this, as also with all the fatiguing labors, duties and
night watches, with the greatest patience and perseverance."

In connection with this battle, the heroism of Lieutenant Hervey of
the 63d regiment, and nephew to the adjutant-general of the same
name, should not be forgotten. Early in the action he received sev-
eral wounds and was repeatedly ordered off by Lieutenant-Colonel
Anstruther, but his enthusiasm would not allow him to leave his
brave comrades as long as he could stand. Presently, however, a ball
striking one of his legs, his removal became a necessity, and while he
was being borne away, another bullet wounded him mortally. In
this situation the surgeon recommended him to take a powerful dose
of opium if he would avoid seven or eight hours of dreadful torture.
To this he consented and when the Colonel entered the tent with
Major Harnage, who were both wounded, they asked whether he had
any "affairs they could settle for him ?" His reply was, that being a
minor everything was already adjusted; but he had one request which
he retained just life enough to utter, and with the words "Tell my
uncle I died like a soldier," he expired.

Night put an end to the conflict. The Americans withdrew within
their lines, and the British and German forces bivouacked on the bat-
tlefield, the Brunswicks composing in part the right wing. Both par-
ties claimed the victory, yet, as the intention of the Americans was
not to advance, but to maintain their position, and that of the Eng-
lish, not to maintain theirs, but to gain ground, it is easy to see which
had the advantage of the da v.

BURGOYNE PAUSES. 239

In this battle an unusual number of youthful officers fell on the
British side, as their army abounded at this time, with young men of
high respectability, who, after several years of peace, anterior to the
Revolution, were attracted to the profession of arms. Three subal-
terns of the 20th regiment, on this occasion — the oldest of which did
not exceed the age of seventeen years — were buried together. In
confirmation of this I cite the following: "The morning after the
action, I visited," says General Wilkinson, "the wounded prisoners,
who had not been dressed and discovered a charming youth not more
than sixteen years old lying among them, feeble, faint, pale and stiff
in his yore. The delicacy of his aspect and the quality of his clothing
attracted my attention and I found on enquiry, that he was an Ensign
Phillips. He told me he had fallen by a wound in his leg or thigh
and as he lay on the ground was shot through the thigh by an army
follower, a murderous villain, 1 who owned up to the deed, but I now
forget his name. The moans of the hapless youth affected me to
tears. I raised him from the straw on which he lay, took him in my
arms and removed him to a tent, where every comfort was provided
and ever}' attention paid to him, but his wounds were mortal and lie
expired on the 21st. When his name was mentioned to General Gates
he exclaimed, 'Just Heaven, he may be the nephew of my wife,' but
enquiries afterward showed that the fact was otherwise."

It was the intention of General Burgoyne, the morning following'
this engagement to attack the Americans on their left with his entire
force. His sick and wounded were disposed of at the river; the army
was drawn up in order of battle, and lie waited only for the dispersion
of a heavy fog, when General Fraser observed to him that the grena-
diers and light infantry, who were to lead the attack, appeared
fatigued by the duty of the preceding day, and that if he would sus-
pend the operation until the next morning (the 21st) he believed they
would enter into the combat with greater spirit. Burgoyne yielded
to this suggestion, the orders were countermanded and the troops re-
turned to their quarters. 2 Meanwhile, in the course of the night a
spy reached the British general with a letter from Sir Henry Clinton,

1 There were plenty of such both on the American side, as well as on the British. Let ns d<>

justice to each side, for t he fact is that as many, if indeed, not more atrocities were committed
by the Americans than by the British.

- In this connection see General Wilkinson's Memoirs, showing that had Burgoyne attacked
the Americans on the _-ist he would have gained a decisive victory.

240 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

advising him of his intended ascent of the Hudson for his relief.
Thereupon, he resolved to postpone the meditated attack and await
the arrival of Clinton at Albany.'

Accordingly, the day that was to have witnessed a renewal of the
action of the 19th, Burgoyne devoted to the laying out of a fortified
camp. He made the site of the late battle his extreme right and ex-
tended his entrenchments across the high ground to the river. For
the defense of the right wing, a redoubt (known as the "(Treat Re-
doubt ") was thrown up on the late battlefield, near the corner of the
woods that had been occupied by the Americans during the action, on
the eastern edge of the ravine. The defense of this position was
entrusted to the corps of Fraser. The reserve corps of Breymann
was posted on an eminence on the western side of the ravine, for the
protection of the right flank of Fraser's division." The right wing of
the English was placed in close proximity to the left wing of Fraser.
thus extending the line on the left to the river bank, at Wilbur's
Basin, where were placed the hospital and supply trains. The entire
front was protected by a deep muddy ditch, running nine hundred
paces in front of the outposts of the left wing. This ditch ran in a
curve around the right wing of the English brigade, thereby separat-
ing Fraser's corps from the main body.

1 That Burgoj-ne, however, believed that he was whipped^ the result of the action of the 19th
September, is evident from this fact. In the library of the late John Carter Brown of Provi-
dence, R. I., there is a volume of Stedman with marginal notes in the hand-writing of Sir Henry
Clinton, who once owned the book, and which I have myself seen. In that portion of the work
where Stedman speaks of the failure of Burgoyne, Clinton writes as follows: "If General had
not been sure of a eo-opera - pity he ever passed the Hudson. Sir Henry Clinton, think-
ing General Burgoyne might want some co-operation (though he had not called for it in any of
his letters 1 offered in his of the i_<th of September, to make an attempt on the forts as soon as the
expected reinforcements should arrive from Europe. General Burgoyne fought the Battle |the
first battle] of Saratoga on the 19th, and on the 21st. tells General Clinton in answer, that
tempt, or even ike menace of an attack would be of :< .'

In justice to Burgoyne, however, it should be said that Stedman was here clearly in error.
First. It will be remembered by my readers who have followed this history that Burgoyne ex-
pressly stipulated that Clinton should join him. Again, which has lately been discussed, which
fact, of course Stedman could not know when he wrote the above, the orders for Clinton to make
a junction with Burgoyne were made out by Lord George Germain,-, but owin>£ to his going to a din-
ner-party, he forgot to send them by a ship, and hence they were pigeon-holed. (See Lickey's His-
tory of England. I < )n such trivial things does the fate of empires sometimes depend.

2 The traces of Breymatin's entrenchments are yet (1900) very plainly to be seen. They lie
about twenty rods northw- -Rett's house. The place is considerably elevated by nature.
and is known among the farmers in the vicinity as Burgoyne's Hill. Properly, it should be Brey-
matin's Hill. It was at the northeast corner of this eminence that Arnold was wounded in the
action of the 7th of October. A tablet commemorating this event has been erected by General

-: er.

BURGOYNE AT FREEMAN'S FARM. 241

General Burgoyne made his headquarters between the English and
German troops on the heights at the left wing. ' This was the -new
camp at Freeman's farm.

During the period of inaction which now intervened, a part of the
army, says the private journal of one of the officers, was so near to
the Americans that "we could hear his morning and evening guns
and other noises in his camp very distinctly, but we knew not in the
least, where he stood, nor how he was posted, much less how strong
he was." "Undoubtedly,." tiaively adds the Journal, -'a rare case in
such a situation."

Meanwhile, the work of fortifying the camp was continued and a
place (Pannes was laid out in front of the regiments and fortified with
heavy batteries. During the night of the 21st considerable shouting
was heard in the American camp. This, accompanied by the firing
of cannon, led the army to believe that some holiday was being cele-
brated. Lamb also bears testimony to the close proximity of the
Americans. " We could," says that observant and exceedingly inter-
esting writer, "distinctly hear the Americans felling and cutting
trees, and they had a piece of ordnance, which they used to fire as a
morning gun, so near us that the wadding struck against our works."
( )n the 28th, a captured cornet, who had been allowed by Gates to go to
the British camp for rive days gave an explanation of the shouting heard
on the night of the 21st. This was that General Lincoln with a strong
body of men composed of New Hampshire. Connecticut and Washing-
ton county militia — the latter called out by the strenuous exertions of
General Schuyler, although he was no longer in command — had at-
tempted to surprise Ticonderoga and, though unsuccessful in that
effort, had captured four companies of the 53d, together with an

1 The "Taylor House " (the foundations of which are on the river bank about one-fourth of a
mile north of Wilbur's Basin) has often been mistaken for the headquarters of Burgoyne. The
Brunswick Journal, however, is very explicit in ' stating that " Burgoyne camped between the
Knglish and German troops of Riedesel on the heights at the left wing." This statement, more-
over, receives additional confirmation in the following incident. On one of my visits to the bat-
tleground, I pointed out to Mr. Wilbur (on whose land we were then standing), the place desig-
nated by the Brunswick Journal's original maps as Burgoyne's Headquarters. " That." exclaimed
.Mr. Wilbur, "explains what I have often wondered at." He then stated that when he first
plowed up that particular spot, he was accustomed to find great quantities of gin and wine bot-
tles, and that until now, he had often been puzzled to know "how on earth those bottles got
there ' "

[ 30 1

242 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

armed brig" and one battean. Thus — singularly as it may appear —
Burgoyne was indebted to an enemy in his front for information res-
pecting his own posts in his rear.

But the action of the 19th had essentially diminished his strength,
and his situation began to grow critical. His despatches were inter-
cepted and his communications with Canada cut off by the seizure of
the posts at Skenesborough (Whitehall) and at the head of Lake
George. The pickets were more and more molested, the army was
weakened by the sick and wounded and the enemy swarmed on its
rear and flanks, threatening its strongest positions. In fact, the army
was as good as cut off from its outposts, while in consequence of its
close proximity to the American camp, the soldiers had but little rest.
The nights, also, were rendered hideous by the howls of. large packs
of wolves that were attracted by the partially buried bodies of those
slain in the action of the nineteenth. 1 On the first of October a few
English soldiers who were digging potatoes in a field a short distance
in the rear of headquarters within the camp, were surprised by the
enemy who suddenly rushed from the woods and carried off the men
in the very faces of their comrades-
There were now only sufficient rations for sixteen days — all the
supplies which Burgoyne had counted on as coming by way of
Skenesborough and Fort Edward, being cut off — and foraging par-
ties, composed of a large number of men were sent out daily. One of
these parties met some militia from Washington County, near Green-
wich, and were driven back with some loss. At length Burgoyne was
obliged to cut down the ordinary daily rations to a pound of bread
and a pound of meat, and, as he had heard nothing from Clinton he
became seriously alarmed. Accordingly, on the evening of the 5th
of October, he called a council of war. Riedesel and Fraser advised
an immediate falling back to their old position, behind the Battenkill.

1 The first two nights this noise was heard, General Fraser thought it to have been the do^s
belonging to the officers, and an order was given for the dogs to be confined within the tents."
The next night the noise was much greater, when a detachment of Canadians and Provincials
were sent out to reconnoiter. and it proved to have arisen from large droves of wolves that came
after the dead. They were similar to a pack of hounds, for one setting up a cry, they all joined'
and when they approached a corpse, their noise was hideous until they had scratched it up.

In fact, Saratoga and vicinity seem to have been a great place for wolves. Amos Stafford,
who settled on the bank of Fish Creek (near Stafford's Bridge) about 1780, paid for his farm by
the bounties he received from the wolves he shot. The rifle, with which he did such execution,
was for several years in my possession.

2 Regarding this move in detail see Life 0/ Morgan.

BURGOYNE RECONNOITERS. 243

Phillips declined giving an opinion and Burgoyne reserved his deci-
sion until he had made a reconnoisance in force " to gather forage
and ascertain definitely the position of the enemy, and whether it
would be advisable to attack him."' Should the latter be the case,
he would, on the day following the reconnoissance, advance on the
Americans with his entire army, but if not, he would march back to
the Battenkill.

At ten o'clock on the morning of October 7th, liquor and rations
having been previously issued to the army, Burgoyne, with fifteen
hundred men, eight cannon and two howitzers, started on his recon-
noissance, accompanied by Generals Riedesel, Phillips and Fraser.
The Canadians, Indians and three hundred of Breymann's Brunswick-
ers,-' were sent ahead under Captain Fraser (not the General) to make
a diversion in the rear of the Continentals. They succeeded in reach-
ing a point a little in the rear of a log-barn (on the present " Xeilson
Farm " on Bemis Heights) which formed the extreme left of the
American breastworks; but they were speedily discovered and after a
brisk skirmish of half an hour, were driven back, hotly pursued by
the Americans, to within a short distance of the British line of battle
which was then forming.

The British advanced in three columns toward the left wing of the
American position, entered a wheat field, deployed into line and
began cutting tip wheat for forage. The grenadiers, under Major
Acland, and the artillery tinder Major Williams, were stationed on a
gentle eminence. The center was composed of British and German
troops, under Phillips and Riedesel. In advance of the right wing,
under the Earl of Balcarras, General Fraser had command of a de-
tachment of five hundred picked men. The movement having been
seasonably discovered, the center advanced guard of the Americans
beat to. arms. Colonel (afterwards General) Wilkinson. Gates's ad ju-

1 It would seem, from the extracts from the Brunswick Journal above quoted, as though Bur-
goyne should have known pretty well the pi isition of the Americans but that is onty one in star
of his fatuitous course throughout the campaign.

2 The statement of Bancroft and Irving that the Hessians bore the brunt of the battles of
Freeman's Farm and Saratoga is- erroneous. Only one Hessian regiment was in these actions

the rest being in Long Island and the Southern Department.

3 This eminence is now (iqoo) coveted by an orchard, some two rods east of the road leading
from Quaker Springs to Stillwater, and twenty rods southeast of the house formerlv occupied bv
Joseph Rogers. Fraser was shot mid way between the orchard and Roger's house. A basswood
tree, as well as a granite tablet, erected by Joseph W. Drexel, now marks the spot. This tree is
a shoot out of the stump of the original tree that stood at the time when Fraser fell.

2U WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

tant-general, being at headquarters at the moment, was dispatched to
ascertain the cause of the alarm. ' He proceeded to within sixty rods
of the enemy, and returning, informed Gates that the enemy were
foraging, attempting, also, to reconnoiter the American left, and like-
wise, in his opinion, offering battle. In this view Generals Lincoln
and Arnold, who had also reconnoitered the British lines, coincided.
" What is the nature of the ground, and what is your opinion ? " asked
Gates. " Their front is open," Wilkinson replied, "and their flank
rests on woods, under cover of which they may be attacked: their
right is skirted by a height; I would indulge them."' "Well then,"
rejoined Gates, " order Morgan to begin the game." At his own sug-
gestion, however, Morgan was allowed to gain the ridge on the ene-
my's right by a circuitous course, while Poor's and Learned's brigades
should attack his left.

The movement was admirably executed. At half past two o'clock
in the afternoon the New York and New Hampshire troops marched
steadily up the slope of the knoll on which the British Grenadiers and
artillery under Acland and Williams were stationed; and for a moment
there was an awful stillness — each party seeming to bid defiance to
the other. At length the artillerymen and grenadiers began the action
by a shower of grape, which passed over the heads of the Americans,
who, in turn, rushed forward firing and opening to the right and left.
Then again forming on the flanks of the grenadiers they mowed them
down at every step until the top of the hill was gained. Here a blood
and hand struggle ensued which lasted about thirty minutes, when
Acland being badly hurt, the grenadiers gave way leaving the ground
thickly strewn with their dead and wounded. In this dreadful con-
flict one field-piece that had been taken and retaken five times, finally
fell into the hands of the Americans; whereupon Colonel Eillery of
New Hampshire leaped upon the captured cannon, waved his sword
and dedicated it "to the American cause," jumped down and, turning
its muzzle, fired it on the British with the ammunition they had left
behind. " The ground which had thus been occupied by the British
Grenadiers," says Wilkinson in his memoirs, ''presented a scene of
complicated horror and exultation. In the square space of twelve or
fifteen yards lay eighteen grenadiers in the agonies of death and three
officers were propped up against stumps of trees, two of them mortally
wounded, bleeding and almost speechless. A surgeon, a man of great
worth, who was dressing one of the officers, raising his blood-be-

BATTLE OF OCTOBER. SEVENTH. 245

smeared hands in a frenzy of patriotism, exclaimed, ' Wilkinson, I
have dipped my hands in British blood! ' He received a sharp rebuke
for his brutality, and, with the troops, I pursued the hard-pressed
flying enemy. "

While pursuing the retreating grenadiers, Wilkinson heard a feeble
voice exclaim, " Protect me, sir, against that boy." Turning his eyes
he saw a lad taking deliberate aim at a wounded British officer, whom
he at once knew to be Major Acland. Wilkinson quickly dismounted
and taking him by the hand expressed the hope that he was not badly
wounded. " Not badly," replied that gallant officer, ''but very in-
conveniently, as I am shot through both legs. Will you, Sir, have
the goodness to have me conveyed to your camp? " Wilkinson at
once directed his servant to alight and, lifting the wounded man into
the vacant seat, had him conveyed to headquarters.

As soon as the action began on the British left, Morgan poured
down like a torrent from the side and attacked Fraser so vigorously
on his flank as to force him back to his lines. At this critical moment
Major Dearborn ' arrived on the field with two regiments of New
England troops, and delivered so galling a fire that the English gave
way and fled in wild confusion. The brunt of the action now fell
upon the Brunswickers, who alone had to sustain the impetuous onset
of the Americans.

Brigadier Fraser, who up to this time had been stationed on the
right, noticed the critical situation of the center and hurried to its
succor with the 24th regiment. Conspicuously mounted on an iron-
grey horse, he was all activity and vigilance, riding from one part of
the division to another, and animating the troops by his example.
Perceiving that the fate of the day rested upon that officer, Morgan,
who, with his riflemen, was immediately opposed to Fraser's corps,
took twelve of his sharpshooters aside, among whom was the cele-
brated marksman, "Tim" Murphy — men on whose precision of aim
he relied — and said to them: " The gallant officer yonder is General
Fraser. I admire and respect him, but it is necessary for our good
that he should die. Take your station in that cluster of bushes and
do your duty."

Within a few moments a rifle-ball cut the crouper of Fraser's horse,
while another passed through his horse's mane. Calling his attention

1 Who afterward built Fort Dearborn, on the site of which Chicago is erected.

246 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

to this, Fraser's aid 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."
The next moment he fell mortally wounded by a ball from the rifle of
Murphy and was carried off the field by two grenadiers.

Uoon the fall of Fraser, dismay seized the British, while a corres-
ponding elation took possession of the Americans. Up to this time
Burgoyne had been in the thickest of the fight, and now finding him-
self in danger of being surrounded, he abandoned his artillery, 1 and
ordered a retreat to the " Great Redoubt."' In the retreat the enemy
left all their cannon on the field, except two howitzers, with a loss of
more than four hundred men and among them the flower of Bur-
goyne's officers, viz. ; Fraser, Acland. Williams, Captain Money (who
had distinguished himself so much at the Battle of Fort Anne) Deputy
Ouartermaster-General, Sir Francis Clarke and many others.

The retreating troops had scarcely entered their lines when Arnold,
notwithstanding he had been refused a command by Gates, placed
himself at the head of the Continentals, and under a terrific fire as-
saulted their works from right to left. "He behaved." savs Samuel
Woodruff, a sergeant in this battle, in a letter to my father, the late
Colonel William L. Stone. " more like a madman than a cool and dis-
creet officer. " But if it were madness, there was "method in it."
With a part of Patterson's and Glover's Marblehead's brigades, he
attacked, with the ferocity of a tiger, the Great Redoubt, and encoun-
tering the light infantry of Balcarras. drove them at the point of the
bayonet from a strong abattis within the redoubt itself.'- Then spur-
ring boldly on, exposed to the cross-fire of the two armies, he darted
to the extreme right of the British camp.

1 In this connection I cannot refrain from quoting as quite amusing, an extract from the
" Journal " of Pauch who had charge of the Hesse-Hanau artillery in this action. It is un-
doubtedly to this retreat of the artillery mentioned in the text that he writes: * * Finding
myself alone, isolated and almost surrounded by the enemy, and with no way open, my two can-
non dismounted and deserted. I had no alternative but to make my way back to camp with great
difficulty, if I did not wish to be stuck in a damned crooked road." Pauch does not exaggerate it.
The old wood-road, traces of which were visible up to the last twenty-five years, was almost
serpentine in its course. The use here of the preposition " in " instead of " on *' probably refers
to the muddiness of the road.

1 "So severe was the fighting at this point, that an old soldier who was in this fight, once told
me that in the lower ground in front of the Redoubt, the blood and water was knee-deep." — E.
R. Freeman to the author. This also shows that the much vaunted idea that only British soldiers

can wield the bayonet is humbug. Witness the present Boer war.

GERMANS RETREAT. 247

This right flank defense of the enemy was occupied by the Bruns-
wick troops under Breymann, and consisted of a breastwork of rails
piled horizontally between perpendicular pickets and extended two
hundred yards across an open field to some high ground on the right, 1
when it was covered by a battery of two guns. In front of the cast
work the ground declined in a gentle slope for a hundred yards when
it sunk abruptly. The Americans had just formed a line under this
declivity and were engaged with the Germans when, about sunset,
Learned came up with his brigade. A slack fire was then observed in
that part of the enemy's lines between the Germans and the light in-
fantry, where were stationed the Provincials.

This slaek fire was owing to the fact that most of the Canadians
were absent from their posts. Had they been at their places Riedesel
thinks it would have been impossible for the left flank to have been
surrounded. Be this as it may, the Canadians fled, leaving the Ger-
man flank uncovered, and at the same moment Arnold, arriving from
his attack on the "Great Redoubt," attacked the Brunswickers on their
left flank and rear with such success, that the chivalric Breymann was
killed and they themselves forced to retreat, leaving the key of the
British position in the hands of the Americans. The advantage thus
gained was retained by the Americans and darkness put an end to an
action, equally brilliant and important to the Continental arms. Great
numbers of the enemy were killed and two hundred prisoners taken.
Burgoyne, himself, narrowly escaped, one ball having passed through
his hat and another having torn his waistcoat. The loss of the Amer-
icans was inconsiderable.

In their final retreat the Brunswickers turned and delivered a part-
ing volley, which killed Arnold's horse. Just at this moment a
wounded Brunswicker fired at Arnold and wounded him in the same
leg that had been injured by a musket ball at the storming of Quebec
two years previously. A private by the name of John Redman, see-
ing his general wounded, at once ran up to bayonet the offender, but
was prevented by Arnold, who, with true chivalry, exclaimed, ''He's
a fine fellow — don't hurt him." At this instant, while Arnold was
striving to extricate himself from his saddle. Major Armstrong rode
up and delivered to him an order from Gates to return to camp, fear-
ing he "might do some rash thing." " He indeed," says Mr. Lossing,

1 Now called Burgoyne's (Breymann's) Hill. See note ante.

248 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

" did a rash thing- in the eyes of military discipline. He led troops to
victory without an order from his commander." " It is a curious
thing," says Sparks, "that an officer, who had really no command in
the army, was the leader in 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 wounds he
received at the moment of rushing into the very arms of danger and
death, added fresh lustre to his military glory and were a new claim to
public favor and applause." In the heat of the action, he struck an
officer on the head with his sword and wounded him, an indignity
which might justly have been retaliated on the spot and in the most
fatal manner. The officer did, indeed, raise his gun to shoot him, but
he forbore and, on the next day, when he demanded redress, Arnold
declared his entire ignorance of the act and expressed his deep regret.
Wilkinson ascribed his rashness to intoxication; but Major Armstrong,
who, with Samuel Woodruff, assisted in removing him from the field,
was satisfied that this was not the case. 1 Others ascribed it to opium.
All this, however, is mere conjecture, unsustained by proofs of any
kind, and consequently may be dismissed as improbable. His vagaries
may, perhaps, be sufficiently explained by the extraordinary circum-
stances of wounded pride, anger and desperation in which he was
placed. But his actions were certainly rash, when compared with the
stately method of the Commander-in-chief, (Gates), who directed by
orders from his camp, what his presence should have sanctioned in the
field.

Indeed, the conduct of Gates does not compare favorably either
with that of his generals, or of his opponents. While Arnold and
Burgoyne were in the hottest of the fight, boldly facing danger and
almost meeting face to face. Gates, according to the statement of his
Adjutant-General, was discussing the merits of the Revolution with
Sir Francis Clarke. Burgoyne's aide-de-camp, who. wounded and a
prisoner, was lying upon the commander's bed, seemingly more intent
upon winning the verbal, than the actual battle. Gates became in-
censed because Sir Francis would not admit the force of his argu-
ment and, calling his aide out of the room, asked him if " he had ever
heard so impudent a son of a bitch?-" A few days afterwards Sir
Francis died.

1 See Woodruff's letter to my father in his "Life of Brant."

NEWS OF VICTORY. 249

Gates has been suspected — and I think truly — of a lack of personal
courage. 1 He certainly looked forward to a possible retreat, and
while he cannot be censured for guarding against every emergency,
he, to say the least, was not animated by the same spirit which led
Cortez to burn his ships behind him. At the beginning of the battle
Quartermaster-General Lewis was directed to take eight men with
him to the field to convey to Gates information from time to time con-
cerning the progress of the action. At the same time, the baggage
trains were all loaded up ready to move at a moment's notice." The
first information that arrived, represented the British troops to
exceed the Americans and the trains were ordered to move on; but
scarcely were they under motion, when more favorable news was re-
ceived, and the order was countermanded. Thus, they continued to
move on and halt alternately until the joyful news — "The British
have retreated " — rang through the camp, which reaching the atten-
tive guard of the teamsters, they all with one accord swung their hats.
and gave three long and prolonged cheers. The glad tidings were
transmitted with such rapidity from one to another that by the time
the victorious troops had returned to their quarters, the American
camp was thronged with inhabitants from the surrounding country
and formed a scene of the greatest exultation.

From the foregoing account, it will be seen that the term Battle of
Bonis Heights, used to designate the action of October ;th is erron-
eous and calculated to mislead. The original maps, which I have in
my possession, having procured them in Germany in 1856, show
that the second engagement began on ground two hundred and twen-
ty-five rods southwest of the site of the first (known as the Battle of
Freeman's I'arm) and ended on the same ground on which this action
was fought. The only interest, in fact, that attaches to Bemis's
Heights — fully one mile and a quarter south of the battleground — is,
that they were the headquarters of Gates during, and a short time

1 " I will bring the rascals back with me into line." exclaimed dates, as the militia broke and
fled at Camden and, leaving Kalb to bear the brunt of the attack, he spurred after them, not
drawing rein till he reached Charlotte, sixty miles from the field of battle." C; I erman

Klein eiit in the War of the A merican Revolution.

- The heroic bronze statue of General Gates in the north niche of the Saratoga Monument at
Schuylerville, N. Y., represents him as holding a spy-glass in one of his hands. The committee
having the matter in charge, put the spy-glass in especially to symbolize the conduct of ( rates as
noted in the text.

[31 I

250 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

previous, to the battle. This action of the 7th of October is called by
writers on the subject, variously, the " Battle of Stillwater," " Bemis
Heights " and " Saratoga." '

At 4 o'clock on the morning of the 8th, before daybreak, Burgoyne
left his position, now utterly untenable, and defiled on to the
meadows by the river where were his supply trains; but was obliged
to delay his, retreat until the evening, because his hospital could not
be sooner removed. He wished, also, to avail himself of the dark-
ness. The Americans immediately moved forward and took posses-
sion of the abandoned camp. Burgoyne, having concentrated his
forces upon some heights which were strong by nature, and covered
by a ravine running parallel with the entrenchments of his late camp
and the river, a random fire of artillery and small arms was kept up
through the day, particularly on the part of the German chasseurs
and the Provincials. The former, stationed in coverts of the ravine
kept up an annoying fire upon every one crossing their line of vision,
and it was by a shot from one of these lurking parties that General
Lincoln was severelv wounded in the leo- while riding near the line.
It was evident from the movements of the British that they were pre-
paring to retreat ; but the American troops, having, in the delirium
of their joy consequent upon their victory, neglected to draw and eat
their rations, and being withal not a little fatigued with their two
days' exertions fell back to their camp which had been left standing
in the morning. Retreat was, indeed, the only alternative left to the
British commander, since it was now quite certain that he could not
cut his way through the American army, and his supplies were re-
duced to a short allowance for five days.

Meanwhile, in addition to the chagrin of defeat, a deep gloom per-
vaded the British camp. The gallant and beloved Fraser, the life
and soul of the army, lay dying in the little farm-house on the river
bank occupied by Mrs. General Riedesel.

General Fraser had been borne off the field supported by two sol-
diers, one on each side of his horse. "When he arrived in camp,"
says Lamb, whom we have before so often quoted. " the officers all
anxiously inquired as to his wound, but the downcast look and melan-
choly that were visible to every one too plainly spoke his situation,

1 It may not, perhaps, be considered indelicate on my part, to state that I believe that my his-
tory of these two battles — fortified by these maps and my researches in Germany — are generally
considered by all historians as the authority on this subject.

GENERAL FRASER'S DEATH. 251

and all the answer he could make to the many enquiries, was a shake
of his head, expressive that all was over with him. So much was he
beloved, that even the women flocked round, solicitous for his fate.
When he reached his tent and was recovered a little from the faint-
ness occasioned by the loss of blood, he told those around him that he
saw the man who shot him; he was a rifleman and aimed from a tree.
After the surgeon had dressed his wound he said to him very com-
posedly, ' Tell me, to the best of your skill and judgment, if you think
my wound is mortal ? ' When he replied, ' I am sorry, sir, to inform
you that it is, and that you cannot possibly live more than twenty-
four hours,' the General called for a pen, ink and paper, and after
making his will and distributing a few little tokens to the officers of
his suite, desired that he might Vie removed to the general hospital."

Mrs. General Riedesel, whose "charming blue eyes," General Wil-
kinson says he has often seen bedimmed with tears at the recital of
his sufferings — has described the last scene in the life of this unfortu-
nate officer with such unaffected pathos, that I give it in her own words,
simply premising that on the previous da}- she had expected Bur-
goyne, Phillips and Eraser to dine with her after their return from
the reconnoissance of the morning. 1

Mrs. Riedesel says: "About four o'clock in the afternoon, instead
of the guests who were to have dined with us, they brought unto me,
upon a litter, poor General Fraser mortally wounded. Our dining
table, which was already spread, was taken away and, in its place
they fixed up a bed for the General. I sat in the corner of the room
trembling and quaking. * * * I heard him often, amidst his
groans, exclaim, 'Oh fatal ambition! Poor General Burgoyne! My
poor wife ! * * * He then sent a message to General Burgoyne
begging that he would have him buried the following day at six
o'clock in the evening on the top of a hill, which was a sort of a re-
doubt. * * * About three o'clock in the morning they told me
that he could not last much longer. I had desired to be apprised of
the approach of this moment. I accordingly, wrapped up my children

1 For a full and detailed account of this see my "Life of Mrs. ( reneral Riedesel."

All war is dreadful, still it seems to me that this cold blooded shooting of Fraser by Murphy
was no less than murder— yet Murphy lived to be highly extolled for this deed, and during the
Governorship of Buck, of New York State, was sent to the Legislature. On the other hand, it
may be argued that this cold blooded murder saved the lives of many soldiers. So, let it go ! Let
each reader judge of it from his own ideas of right or wrong.

252 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

in the coverings and went with them into the entry. Early in the
morning, at eight o'clock, he died."

General Fraser belonged to the House of Lovatt, whose family
name was Fraser. The Earl of Lovatt was one of the noblemen who
were compromised by the rebellion of the last Stuart pretender and
whose fortunes were reversed at the Battle of Culloden in 1746.
General Fraser, a scion of the house, had received intimations (on
being appointed to a command under Burgoyne) that if the enterprise
were successful, the government would revoke the act of attainder,
and restore to him the family estates. With a knowledge of these
facts, it is easy to understand the meaning of the wounded general's
exclamations as he lay waiting for death — the first alluding to the
sad extinction of his own well cherished hopes of well earned position
and renown ; the second betraying his anxiety for his commander,
whose impending disgrace he clearly foresaw.

" We learned," continues Mrs. Riedesel, " that General Burgoyne
intended to fulfill the last wish of General Fraser and to have him
buried at six o'clock, in the place designated by him. This occasioned
an unnecessary delay, to which a part of the misfortunes of the army
was owing. The English chaplain, Mr. Brudewell, performed the
funeral services. The cannon balls flew continually around and
over the party. 1 The American General, Gates, afterward said that
if he had known it was a burial he would not have allowed any firing
in that direction. Many cannon balls also flew not far from me ; but
I had my eyes fixed upon the hill, when I distinctly saw my husband
in the midst of the enemy's fire, and therefore, I could not think of

1 These shots were fired from the rising ground above the eastern shore in Washington Coun-
ty, almost opposite the scene of the interment, and not, as some have thought, from " Willard's
tain." This last (as it is in Washington County) is worthy of mention. It lies about three
miles northeast of Wilbur's Basin and derives its name from the following fact. At the time
that Burgoyne was encamped with his army near Wilbur's Basin, a man by the name of Willard
took a spy-glass and went to the top of the mountain for the purpose of ascertaining, as near as
possible, the number of the British troops, the situation of their camp, and to watch their move-
ments and make his reports accordingly, by means of colored glass flashed by the sun to Gates.
These reports were of much benefit to the Americans and from this circumstance the mountain
has ever retained the name of " Willard's Mountain."

The precise spot where Fraser was buried is now (1900) marked by two tall pines which stand
like two grim sentinels, over the remains of the gallant general. The hill, on the top of which
the latter was buried, stands some forty rods west of the river-road from Schuylerville to Still-
water and about two hundred rods north of Wilbur's Basin. The Champlain canal passes close
to its base. For an incident connected with the supposed remova 1 of Fraser's remains to Eng-
land, see my u Burgoyne's Campaign."

BURGOYNE'S RETREAT. 253

my own danger." " Certainly," says General Riedesel in his Journal,
" it was a real military funeral, one that was unique of its kind."

General Burgoyne has himself described this funeral with his usual
eloquence and felicity of expression. "The incessant cannonading
during the solemnity, the steady attitude and unaltered voice with
which the chaplain officiated, though frequently covered with dust,
which the shot threw upon all sides of him, the mute but expressive
mixture of sensibility and indignation upon the mind of every man
who was present, the growing duskiness added to the scenery and the
whole marked a character of that juncture that would make one of the
finest subjects for the pencil of a master that the field ever exhibited. 1
To the canvas and to the faithful pen of a more important historian,
gallant friend! I consign thy memory. There may thy talents, thy
manly virtues, their progress and their period find due distinction
and long may they survive, long after the frail record of my pen shall
be forgotten! " a

CHAPTER XVIII.

mi-
BURGOYNE'S CAMPAIGN CONCLUDED.

Burgoyne's Army Begin Their Retreat — The Heights of Saratoga Occupied,
Thus Cutting Off all Hopes of Escape — Lady Acland's Plight to the Ameri-
can Camp — Burgoyne Surrenders — Incidents Connected with that Event —
Madame Riedesel's Estimate of General Schuyler — Character of Burgoyne
and Gates Compared — The General Result of the Surrender in Securing the
Americans the French Alliance.

As soon as the funeral services of General Fraser were finished — as
narrated in the last chapter — an order was issued that the army should

1 This scene has been several times depicted by some of the best English and American ar-
tists.

2 This is, of course, a very beautiful tribute — but, so far as relates to the chaplain (Brudenell)
who officiated at Fraser's obsequies, the less said of him the better. He was, from all accounts,
a man whose habits brought disgrace upon all the English clergy, and I may as well state here
that the tradition, that after her husband's death, he married Lady Acland, is entirely without
foundation. See letter from Lord Carnarvon, late Lord Lieutenant of Ireland and a grand-
nephew of Lady Acland, to myself. Vide my " Visits to the Saratoga Battle Grounds."

254 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

retreat as soon as darkness had set in, and the Commander-in-chief,
who in the beginning of the campaign, had vauntingly given out in
general orders that memorable sentiment. "Britons never retreat,"
was now compelled to steal away in the night, leaving his hospital
containing four hundred and sixty sick and wounded, to the mercy of
a victorious and hitherto despised enemy. Gates in this, as in all
other instances, extended to his former companion in arms on the
Monongahela, the greatest humanity.

The army began its retrograde movement at nine o'clock on the
evening of the 8th in the midst of a pouring rain, Riedesel leading
the van, and Phillips bringing up the rear with the advanced corps.
All deplored the loss of Fraser. who had always shown as great skill
in managing a retreat as bravery in leading an attack. Indeed, he
used frequently to say that if the army had the misfortune to retreat,
he would ensure, with the advanced corps, to bring it off in safety.
This was a piece of generalship of which he was not a little vain, hav-
ing, during the " Seven Year's War," made good his retreat with five
hundred chasseurs in sight of the French army.

In this retreat, the same lack of judgment on the part of General
Burgoyne is apparent. Had General Burgoyne. as Riedesel advised,
fallen immediately back across the Hudson where is now a part of
Washington County, and taken up his former position behind the
Battenkill, not only would his communications with Lakes George
and Champlain and Canada have been restored, but he could, at his
leisure, have awaited the movements of Clinton. Burgoyne, however,
having arrived at Dovegat's house, two hours before daybreak on the
morning of the 9th, gave the order to halt, greatly to the surprise of
his whole army. "Everyone," says Riedesel in his Journal, "was,
notwithstanding, then of the opinion, that the army would make but
a short stand, merely for its better concentration, as all saw that haste
was of the utmost necessity, if they would get out of a dangerous
trap."

At this time the heights of Saratoga, commanding the ford across
Fish Creek, were not yet occupied by the Americans in force, and up
to seven o'clock in the morning, the retreating army might easily
have reached the place and thrown a bridge across the Hudson. Gen-
eral Fellows, who, by the orders of Gates, occupied the heights at
Saratoga opposite the ford, was in an extremely critical situation. On
the night of the 8th, Lieutenant-Colonel Southerland, who had been

LADY ACLAND'S HEROISM. 255

sent forward to reconnoiter, crossed Fish Creek and, guided by Gen-
eral Fellow's fires, found his camps so entirely unguarded that he
marched around it without being challenged. He then returned and
reporting to Burgoyne, entreated permission to attack Fellows with
his regiment, but was refused. " Had not Burgoyne halted at Dove-
gat," says Wilkinson, "he must have reached Saratoga before day in
which case Fellows would have been cut tip and captured or dispersed
and Burgoyne 's retreat to Fort Edward and Fort George would have
been unobstructed. As it was, however. Burgoyne's army reached
Saratoga just as the rear of our militia was ascending the opposite
[i. e. the eastern] bank of the Hudson, where they took post and pre-
vented its passage." Burgoyne, however, although within half an
hour's march of Saratoga, gave the surprising order that "the army
should bivouac in two lines, and await the day."

Mr. Bancroft — who, notwithstanding his reputation as an historian,
is often exceedingly superficial — ascribes this delay to the fact that
Burgoyne "was still clogged with his artillery and baggage, and that
the night was dark and the roads weakened by rain." But according
to the universal testimony of all the manuscript journals extant, the
road which up to this time was sufficiently strong for the passage of
the baggage and artillery trains, became, during the halt, so bad by
the continued rain, that when the army again moved at four o'clock
in the afternoon, it was obliged to leave behind the tents and camp
equipage, which fell, most opportunely, into the hands of the Ameri-
cans. Aside, however, from this, it is a matter of record that the
men, through their officers, pleaded with Burgoyne to be allowed to
proceed, notwithstanding the storm and darkness ; while the officers
themselves pronounced the delay "madness." But whatever were
the motives of the English general, this delay lost him his army and,
perhaps, the British crown her American Colonies.

During the halt at Dovegat's, there occurred one of those incidents
which relieve with fairer lights and softer tints the gloomy pictures
of war. Lady Harriet Acland had, like the Baroness Riedesel, ac-
companied her husband to America and gladly shared with him the
vicissitudes of campaign life. Major John Dyke Acland was a rough,
blunt man, but a gallant soldier and devoted husband and she loved
him dearly. She had already been subjected to great inconvenience
and distress before the army arrived at Saratoga. She had been dis-

256 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

tinguished by her devotion and unremitting attention to her husband,
when he lay siek at Chamblee in a miserable hut. She was, indeed,
not only the idol of her husband, but. together with the Baroness
Riedesel, shared the admiration of the whole army, continually mak-
ing little presents to the officers belonging to the Major's corps,
whenever she had anything among her stores that she thought would
gratify them. In return she received from them every attention
which could mitigate the hardships she daily encountered and now,
ever since he had been wounded and taken prisoner in the action of
tlie 7th, she had been in sore distress; and it had required all the com-
forting attentions of the Baroness to reassure her. As soon as the
army halted, by the advice of the latter, she determined to visit the
American camp, and implore the permission of its commander to join
her husband, and by her presence alleviate his sufferings.

Accordingly, on the 9th, she requested permission of Burgoyne to
depart. "Though I was ready to believe," says that General in his
trial by Parliament, " that patience 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 able to give was small indeed. 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." '

In the midst of a driving autumnal storm and with nothing but a
little spirits and water, obtained from the wife of a soldier, to sustain
her, Lady Acland set out at dusk in an open boat for the American
camp, accompanied by Rev. Mr. Brudewell, the chaplain — the same
who had officiated at the burial of General Fraser — her waiting-maid
and her husband's valet. At ten o'clock they reached the American
advanced guard under the command of Major Plenry Dearborn. Lady
Ac-land, herself, hailed the sentinel and, as soon as the bateau struck
the shore the party were immediately conveyed into the log cabin of

1 Nor was it in the higher walks of life, only, that female heroism and conjugal devotion were
displayed. In proof of this, the reader will recall Sergeant Lamb's account of his trip to Lake
ge to obtain supplies, some pages back.

BURGOYNE WITHDRAWS BEYOND FISH CREEK. 257

the Major, who had been ordered to detain the flag until the morn-
ing, the night being exceedingly dark and the quality of the lady
unknown. 1 Major Dearborn gallantly gave up his room to his guest,
a fire was kindled, a cup of tea provided, and as soon as Lady Acland
made herself known, her mind was relieved- from its anxiety by the
assurance of her husband's safety. " I visited," says Wilkinson, " the
guard before sunrise. Lady Acland's boat had put off and was float-
ing down the stream to our camp, where General Gates, whose gal-
lantry will not be denied, stood ready to receive her with all the ten-
derness and respect to which her rank and condition gave her a claim.
Indeed, the feminine figure, the benign aspect and polished manners
of this charming woman, were alone sufficient to attract the sympathy
of the most obdurate ; but if another motive could have been wanting
to inspire respect, it was furnished by the peculiar circumstances of
Lady Harriet, then in that most delicate situation, which cannot fail
to interest the solicitude of every being possessed of the form and
feelings of a man." The kindness which had been shown to his wife,
Major Acland reciprocated, while on parole in New York, by doing
all in his power to mitigate the sufferings of the American prisoners."
On the evening of the 9th, the main portion of the drenched and
weary army forded Fish Creek waist deep and bivouacked in a
wretched position in the open air on the opposite bank. Burgoyne
remained on the south side of the creek, with Hamilton's brigade as a
guard and passed the night in the mansion of General Schuyler. The
officers slept on the ground with no other covering than oilcloth. Nor
did their wives fare better. " I was wet," says the Baroness Riedesel,
" through and through by the frequent rains and was obliged to remain
in this condition the entire night, as I had no place whatever, where
I could change my linen. I asked General Phillips why we did not
continue our retreat ? ' Poor woman,' answered he, ' I am amazed at

1 Among the bronze tablets in the Saratoga Monument there is one representing Lady Acland
proceeding to the American camp. The picture of Lady Acland is from a portrait by Sir Joshua
Reynolds, a photograph of which was sent me, for this purpose, by my friend, the late Lord Car-
narvon, (Lieutenant-General of Ireland) who was, as before stated, the grand nephew of Lady
Acland. Lady Carnarvon recently sent me a contemporaneous print showing the voyage of her
great-aunt by marriage, going to the camp of Burgoyne. It is a remarkable one and, as I have
said before, in speaking of my various original documents, should any reader wish to see this
print, I shall be very happy to show it to him.

2 As everything connected with this devoted wife must be of interest, the reader is referred
to my " Burgoyne's Expedition" appendix No. VII for some particulars of her after life.

[32]

258 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

you! completely wet through, have you still the courage to wish to
go further in this weather ? Would that you were our commanding
general! He halts because he is tired and intends to spend the night
here and give us a supper!

Burgoyne, however, would not think of a further advance that
night; and while his army were suffering from cold and hunger and
everyone was looking forward to the immediate future with appre-
hension, "the illuminated mansion of General Schuyler, " says the
" Brunswick Journal," " rang- with singing, laughter and the jingling
of glasses. There, Burgoyne was sitting with some merry compan-
ions, at a dainty supper, while the champagne was flowing. Near
him sat the beautiful wife of an English commissary, his mistress. 1
Great as the calamity was, the frivolous general still kept up his
orgies. Some were even of the opinion that he had merely made
that inexcusable stand for the sake of passing a merry night. Riede-
sel thought it his duty to remind his general of the danger of the halt
but the latter returned all sorts "of evasive answers." ' This state-
ment is corroborated by Madame Riedesel who also adds, "the fol-
lowing day General Burgoyne repaid the hospitable shelter of Schuy-
ler's mansion by burning it, with its valuable barns and mills to the
ground, under pretence that he might be better able to cover his
retreat ; but others say, out of mean revenge on the American Gen-
eral." Let us, however, do justice. Lamb, who was present at the
time of the fire claims, on the contrary, that the burning of the barns
was purely accidental and of the house, the result of military necc

ty.

But the golden moment had fled. On the following morning, the
ioth. it was discovered that the Americans, under Fellows, were in
possession of the Battenkill, on the eastern side of the Hudson, and
Burgoyne, considering it too hazardous to attempt the passage of the
river, ordered the army to occupy the same quarters on the heights of
Saratoga, which they had used on first crossing the river on the 13th
of September. At the same time he sent ahead a working party to

1 Were this statement made by Mrs. Riedesel only — for she states the same thing — instead of
by the " Brunswick Journal," it might be necessary to receive it with caution, since her preju-
dices sometimes, unintentionally led her into extremes. Mr. Fonblanque. however, in his admir-
able, though too partial Life and Correspondence of General Burgoyne, admits this by implication,
but seeks to leave the impression that the champagne and the " flirtation,'* as he calls it. were
indulged in by the British general to relieve the mental agony consequent upon his defeat. This
may be so, but how about all of his officers who were left out " in the cold " on that occasion ?

BRITISH REPULSE NIXON AND GLOVER. 259

Fort Edward, his intention being- to continue his retreat along the
west bank of the Hudson river to the front of that fort, force a pas-
sage across, and take possession of that post. Colonel Cochran, how-
ever, had already garrisoned it with two hundred men and Burgoyne's
detachment hastily fell back to his camp.

Meanwhile, General Gates, who had begun the pursuit at noon of
the ioth with his main army, reached the high ground south of Fish
Creek, at four the same afternoon. The departure of Burgoyne's
working party for Fort Edward led him to believe that the entire
British army were in full retreat, having left only a small guard to
protect their baggage. Acting upon this impression, he ordered Nixon
and Glover, with their brigades, to cross the creek under cover of the
fog which at this time of the year usually prevails till after sunrise
and attack the British camp. The English general had notice of this
plan, and placing a battery in position, he posted his troops in ambush
behind the thickets along the banks of the creek,' and concealed also
by the fog, awaited the attack confident of victory. At early daylight,
Morgan, who had again been selected to begin the action, crossed the
creek with his men, on a raft of floating logs, and falling in with a
British picket, was fired upon, losing a lieutenant and two privates.
This led him to believe that the main body of the enemy had not
moved, in which case, with the creek in his rear, enveloped by a dense
fog and unacquainted with the ground, he felt his position to be most
critical. Meanwhile, the whole army advanced as far as the south
bank of the creek and halted. Nixon, however, who was in advance,
had already crossed the stream near its confluence with the Hudson,
and captured a picket of sixty men, and a number of bateaux, and
Glover, with his Marblehead regiment, was preparing to follow him,
when a deserter from the enemy confirmed the suspicions of Morgan.
This was corroborated a few moments afterwards, by the capture of a
reconnoitering party of thirty-five men by the advanced guard under
Captain Goodale of Putnam's regiment, who, discerning them through
the fog just as he neared the opposite bank, charged and took them
without firing a gun. Gates was at this time at his headquarters, a
mile and a half in the rear,- and before intelligence could be sent to

1 This precise spot is about three rods east of Victory Mills.

2 This seems to have been the norma] position of that general whenever any fighting was
going on.

260 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

him the fog- cleared up and exposed the entire British army under
arms. A heavy fire of artillery and musketry was immediately opened
upon Nixon's brigade, and they retreated in considerable disorder
across the creek.

General Learned had, in the meantime, reached Morgan's corps
with his own and Patterson's brigade, and was advancing rapidly to
the attack, in obedience to a standing order issued the day before,
" that in case of an attack against any point, whether in front flank
or rear, the troops are to fall upon the enemy at all quarters." He
had arrived within two hundred yards of Burgoyne's battery, and in a
few minutes more, would have been engaged at great disadvantage,
when Wilkinson reached him with the news that the right wing under
Nixon had given way, and that it would be prudent to retreat. The
brave old general hesitated to comply. " Our brethren," said he, " are
engaged on the right, and the standing order is to attack."

In this dilemma Wilkinson exclaimed to one of Gates' aides stand-
ing near, "Tell the general that his own fame and the interests of
the cause are at hazard; that his presence is necessary with the
troops." Then, turning to Learned, he continued, "our troops on the
right have retired, and the fire you hear is from the enemy; although
I have no orders for your retreat, I pledge my life for the generaks
approbation." By this time several field officers had joined the
group, and a consultation being held, the proposition to retreat was
approved. Scarcely had they turned about when the enemy, who,
expecting their advance, had been watching their movements with
shouldered arms, fired and killed an officer and several men before
they made good their retreat.

Had the plan of the English general succeeded, it is difficult to say
what might have been the result. With the brigades of Nixon, Glover,
Learned and Patterson cut off, and with the consequent demoraliza-
tion of the American army, his retreat would have been rendered less
difficult, or retracing his steps, he might possibly have entered Albany
in triumph. He himself, called it, in his trial in Parliament, "one of
the most adverse strokes of fortune during the campaign."

The ground occupied by the two armies after this engagement,
resembled a vast amphitheatre — the British occupying the arena and
the Americans the elevated surroundings. Burgoyne's camp, upon
the meadows and the heights of Saratoga north of Fish Creek, was
fortified and extended half a mile parallel with the river, most of its

BRITISH HEMMED IN. 261

heavy artillery being on an elevated plateau, northeast of the present
village of Schuylerville. On the American side, Morgan and his
sharpshooters were posted on still higher ground west of the British,
extending along their entire rear. On the east or opposite bank of
the Hudson (what is now a portion of Washington County) Fellows,
with three thousand men, was strongly entrenched behind heavy bat-
teries; while Gates,, with the main body of the Continentals, lay on
the high ground south of Fish Creek and parallel with it. On the
north, Fort Edward was held by Stark with two thousand men, and
between that post and Lake George in the vicinity of Glens Falls, the
Americans had a fortified camp; while, from the surrounding country
(and especially from Washington County) large bodies of yeomanry
flocked in, and voluntarily posted themselves up and down the river.
The "trap" which Riedesel had foreseen, was already sprung!

The Americans, impatient of delay, urged Gates to attack the
British camp, but that general, now assured that the surrender of Bur-
goyne was only a question of time, and unwilling needlessly to sacri-
fice his men, refused to accede to their wishes, and quietly awaited
the course of events.

The beleaguered army was now constantly under fire both on its
flanks and rear and in the front. The outposts were continually en-
gaged with those of the Americans, and many of the patrols, detached
to keep up communication between the center and right wing, were
taken prisoners. The captured bateaux were of great use to the
Americans, who were now enabled to transport troops across the
river at pleasure, and reinforce the posts on the road to Fort Edward.
Every hour the position of the British grew more desperate, and the
prospect of escape less. There was no place of safety for the baggage
and the ground was covered with dead horses that had been killed by
the enemy's round shot and bullets, or by exhaustion, as there had
been no forage for four days. Even for the wounded there was no
spot that could afford a safe shelter, while the surgeon was binding
up their wounds. In fact, the entire camp became a scene of constant
fighting. The soldier dare not lay aside his arms night or day, ex-
cept to exchange his gun for a spade, when new entrenchments were
to be thrown up. He was also debarred of water, although close to
Fish Creek and the river, it being at the hazard of his life in the day
time to get any, from the number of sharpshooters Morgan had posted
in trees, and at night he was sure to be taken prisoner if he attempted

262 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

it. All the water accessible was from a muddy spring, and what
could be obtained out of the holes the cattle made with their feet,
while by way of luxury, when it rained hard, the men used to catch it
in their caps to mix their flour. Without tents to shelter them from
the heavy and incessant rains, the sick and wounded would drag -
themselves along into a quiet corner of the woods and lie down and
die upon the damp ground. Nor were they safe even here, since
every little while a ball would come crashing down among the trees.
The few houses that were at the foot of the heights were nearest to
the fire from Fellow's batteries at the mouth of the Battenkill, not-
withstanding which the wounded officers and men crawled hither,
seeking protection in the cellars. 1

In one of these cellars the Baroness Riedesel ministered to the suf-
ferers like an angel of light and comfort. She made them broth,
dressed their wounds, purified the atmosphere by sprinkling vinegar
on hot coals, and was ever ready to perform any friendly service —
even such from which the sensitive nature of a woman would recoil.
Once, while thus engaged, a furious cannonade was opened upon the
house from Fellow's batteries under the impression that it was the
headquarters of the English commander. "Alas," says Madame
Riedesel, " it harbored none but wounded men and women." Eleven
cannon balls went through the house and those in the cellar could
plainly hear them crashing through the walls overhead. One poor
fellow by the name of Jones, a British surgeon, whose leg they were
about to amputate in the room above, had his other leg taken off by
one of the cannon balls in the very middle of the operation." Often
General Riedesel wished to withdraw his wife from danger by send-

1 This cellar is underneath the "Marshall House." two miles north of Schuylerville and di-
rectly opposite the mouth of the Battenkill whence the shots were tired. With the exception of a
recent addition, the house is the same 1 19001 as when it was shelled by Fellow's batteries. In this
connection I may say. that the ball which passed through the surgeon's Jeg (Jones) as mentioned
a little further on is now in my pi ssession, and if any curious reader would like to see it, I would
be happy 1,, show it to him, if he should call on me at Mt. Vernon. X. Y.

'-' An almost similar incident occurred during our late Civil War. In the naval battle, June
iq, 1864. between the "Kearsarge" and the "Alabama,'' as Assistant Surgeon Llewellyn of the
latter vessel was seeing to the wounded in the ward-room, his table and a patient lying upon it
were swept away from him by an eleven inch shell, which opened in the side of the ship an aper-
ture that fast filled the ship with water. See Century Magazine for April. 1886.

The veritable cannon-ball 1a 12-pounderi which took off Jones's leg, is in my cabinet of relics
from the Saratoga Battlegrounds, and is seen by me while I write this. It was very kindly given
me by Mrs. Sample, who now owns and occupies the "Marshall House." This cannon-ball entered
the northeast corner of the wall of the house, and the hole made by it was still visible until re-
centlv.

DEMORALIZATION IN BRITISH CAMP. 263

ing her to the American camp, but the latter remonstrated with him
on the ground that to be with people whom she would be obliged to
treat with courtesy, while, perhaps, he was being- killed, would be
even yet more painful than all that she was then forced to endure.
The greatest suffering was experienced by the wounded from thirst, 1
which was not relieved until a soldier's wife volunteered to bring
water from the river. This she continued to do with with safety, the
Americans gallantly withholding their fire whenever she appeared.

Meanwhile, order grew more and more lax, and the greatest misery
prevailed throughout the entire army. The commissaries neglected
to distribute provisions among the troops, and, although there were
cattle still left, not one had been killed. More than thirty officers
came to the Baroness for food, forced to this step from sheer starva-
tion, one of them, a Canadian, being so weak as to be unable to stand.
She divided among them all the provisions at hand, and having ex-
hausted her store without satisfying them, in an agony of despair,
she called to Adjutant-General Petersham, one of Burgoyne's aides
who chanced to be near her, and said to him passionately. " Come and
see for yourself these officers who have been wounded in the common
cause and are in want of everything that is due them. It is your duty
to make a representation of this to the general." A quarter of an
hour afterward, Burgoyne himself, came to Mrs. Riedesel, and
thanked her for reminding him of his duty. In reply, she apologized
for meddling with things she well knew, were out of a woman's pro-
vince, still, it was impossible, she said, for her to keep silent, when
she saw so many brave men in want of food, and had nothing more to
give them. "Thereupon," says the Baroness, "he thanked me once
more (though 1 believe in his heart, he has never forgiven me the
lashing I gave him) and went away from me to the officers, and said
to them that he was very sorry for what had happened, but why had
they not come to him, as his cook was always at their service? " They
replied, that English officers were not accustomed to visit the kitchen
of their general, and that they had "gratefully received every morsel
from Mrs. Riedesel as they felt that she gave it to them directly from
her heart."

On the afternoon of the 12th, Burgoyne held a consultation with

1 I have seen it stated, that gunshot wounds always create unusual thirst.

264 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Riedesel, Phillips, and the two brigadiers, Hamilton and Gall, to
whom he submitted the choice of the following" courses:

"First. To wait in the present position an attack from the enemy,
in- the chance of favorable events."

*' Second. To attack the enemy."

" Third. To retreat, repairing the bridges, as the army moves, for
the artillery, in order to force the passage of the ford."

"Fourth. To retreat by night, leaving the artillery and the bag-
gage, and should it be found impracticable to force the passage with
musketry, to attempt the upper-lord [Fort Edward] or the passage
round Lake George."

" Fifth. In case the enemy, by extending to their left, leave their
rear open, to march rapidly upon Albany."

The want of provisions rendered the first proposition inadmissable ;
while to break through the superior numbers of an enemy strongly
posted and entrenched in every point was desperate and hopeless. In
view of these facts, Riedesel strongly urged the adoption of the fourth
proposition and suggested that the baggage should be left and a re-
treat begun on the west side of the Hudson, and. as Fort Edward had
just been reinforced by a strong detachment of the Americans, he
further proposed to cross the river four miles above that fort and con-
tinue the march to Ticonderoga through the woods, leaving Lake
George on the right — a plan which was then feasible, as the road on
the west bank of the river had not yet been occupied by the enemy.
This proposition was approved, and an order was issued that the re-
treat should be begun by ten o'clock that night. But when every-
thing was in readiness for the march, Burgoyne, with his usual inde-
cision, suddenly changed his mind and postponed the movement until
the next day, 1 when an unexpected manoeuver of the Americans made
it impossible. Dtiring the night, the latter crossing the river on rafts
near the Battenkill " erected a heavy battery on an eminence nearly
opposite the mouth of that stream and on the left flank of the army,
thus making the investment complete/'

1 Very likely, so as to have one more merry evening with his mistress and boon companions.

2 The Dutch word Kit. meaning a channel, is often used for creek, and always erroneously *
printed Kill. It is not unusual to meet in American works with such an anomaly, for instance,
as Batten Kill Creek.

3 The fact of the erection of this battery seems to have escaped the notice of almost every
writer upon the subject. The planting of it, however, was, as is shown in the text, of vital im-
portance to the complete success of the Americans.

BURGOYNE PROPOSES CESSATION OF ARMS. 265

Burgoyne was now entirely surrounded, the, desertion of his Indian
and Canadian, and many of his German allies, 1 and his losses in killed
and wounded had reduced his army one-half; there was not food
sufficient for five days, and not a word had been received from Clin-
ton. Accordingly, on the 13th he again called a general council of
all his officers, including even the captains of companies. The coun-
cil were not long in deciding, unanimously, that a treaty should be at
once opened with General Gates for an honorable surrender — their
deliberations being doubtless hastened by rifle balls perforating the
tent in which they were assembled, and an 18-pound cannonball
sweeping across the table at which Burgoyne and his generals and
captains were seated.

Accordingly, the following day, the 14th, General Burgoyne sent
Lieutenant-Colonel Kingston to the headquarters of General Gates
with a proposition for " a cessation of arms, during the time necessary
to communicate the preliminary terms, by which, in any extremity he
and the army mean to abide." Lieutenant-Colonel Kingston was met
by Adjutant-General Wilkinson on the banks of Fish Creek and con-
ducted blindfolded to the American headquarters.

General Gates, upon the reception of this communication, author-
ized a cessation of arms until sunset, and having already prepared
a schedule of the terms upon which he was prepared to treat, for-
warded them by Kingston to Burgoyne. Tibs schedule evinced that
the American general was well acquainted with the distresses of the
British, and was drawn up in terms of extreme liberality. It did not,
however, satisfy Burgfoyne, who returned it with his comments—

1 In justice to Burgoyne it should be stated that the chief cause of the desertion of his Indian
allies was the fact, that they were clucked by him in their scalping and plundering of the un-
armed.

Regarding, however, the desertion of the Germans, many availed themselves of this oppor-
tunity to settle on good farms in the northern portion of New York. There is even yet (iq°o)
standing, near the late Hon. John B. Haskin's place on Friend's Lake, near Chestertown, Warren
County, X. V., the foundations of the cabin of a German deserter from Burgoyne's army, who
settled there in the fall of 1777. The cabin was built in 1783, as the figures cut in the stone lintel
above the fireplace attest. Hon. Charles H. Faxon, of Chestertown, a gentleman whose patriotic
tastes are well known, did his best to have this cabin bought by the State of New York, and pre-
served as an "heir-loom" for the county. But our wise Legislature— much more interested in
political jobs — no matter under which machine "boss" they are carried on— found no time to
attend to this suggestion of Mr. Faxon. And, why, pray, should they ? When there was no money
in it for those of our Legislators — be thev Republicans or Democrats — who are working "for their
pockets all the time ! " Shame on such men who represent us in the Legislature !

[ 33 ]

266 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Lieutenant-Colonel Kingston, who delivered it, adding the following
message :

" If General Gates docs not mean to recede from the sixth article,
the treaty ends at once. The arm)' will, to a man, proceed to any act
of desperation rather than submit to that article. 1 Finally, after much
discussion over the articles of the treaty, Burgoyne wrote to Gates
thai •' Lieutenant-General Burgoyne is willing to appoint two officers
immediately, to meet two others from Major-General Gates, to pro-
pound, discuss and settle these subordinate articles, in order that the
treaty in due form may be executed as soon as possible."

This meeting took place on the afternoon of the 15th, and the par-
ties mutually signed articles of capitulation, or Convention, as Bur-
goyne wished to have it designated. A copy of the Convention was
to be formally signed by the English General and delivered the next
morning. Meanwhile, during the night, a provincial arrived from
below, who stated that he had heard through a third party that Clin-
ton had captured the forts on the Hudson Highlands, and had arrived
at ^Esopus eight days previously ; and further, that by this time he
was very likely at Albany. Burgoyne was so encouraged by this
news, that he once more called together a council of war and. laid
before it the following epiestions:

First. Whether a treaty which was about being completed by his
deputies, and which he, himself, had promised to sign, could be
broken? Fourteen votes against eight decided this question in the
negative.

Second. Whether the report of a man whom nobody knew was
sufficient, in our present situation, to justify our refusal of so advan-
tageous a treaty ? The same number of votes decided this also in the
negative.

Third. Whether the common soldiers possessed sufficient spirit to
defend the present position of the army to the last man ? All the
officers of the left wing answered this in the affirmative. Those of
the center and right wings gave a similar answer provided the enemy
were attacked ; but the men were too well acquainted with their defec-
tive positions to display the same bravery in case they were them-
selves attacked."

1 This article was as follows :

"Article VI. These terms being agreed to and signed, the troops under his Excellency's,
General Burgoyne's command, may be drawn up in their encampments, when they will be or-
dered to ground their arms, and may, thereupon, be marched to the riverside on their way to
Bennington."

BURGOYNE HESITATES TO CAPITULATE. 267

But, notwithstanding these votes, Burgoyne was resolved, as the
articles of capitulation were not yet signed, to repudiate the informal
arrangement with Gates; and in order to gain time, he informed him
by letter that he had been told by deserters and other reliable persons
that he had sent a considerable corps of his army toward Albany, and
that this being contrary to all faith, he (Burgoyne) could not give his
signature without being convinced that the American army outnum-
bered his own by at least three or four to one; Gates should, there-
fore, name an officer of his army who might see for himself the num-
ber of the enemy; and should Burgoyne, after hearing this officer's
report, be convinced of the superior number of the Americans, he
would at once sign the treaty. General (kites received this letter
with considerable nonchalance, but replied that he would give his word
of honor that his army was just as strong now as it was previous to
the treaty, and that having since then been re-inforced by a few bri-
gades, it certainly did outnumber the English four to one, and this,
too, without counting those troops that were on the other side of the
Hudson and at Half-Moon. He also gave Burgoyne to understand
what it meant to break his word of honor, and offered to show his
whole army to him after the latter had signed the treaty, when he
would find that everything he had stated was true. Being, moreover,
in no mood for temporizing, he drew up lbs troops in order of battle
at early dawn of the next day, the 17th, and informed Burgoyne in
plain terms, that he must either sign the treaty, or prepare for imme-
diate battle. Riedesel and Phillips added their persuasions, repre-
senting to him that the news just received was mere hearsay; but
even if it were true, to recede now would be in the highest degree
dishonorable. Burgoyne thereupon yielded a reluctant assent, and
the articles of capitulation were signed at nine o'clock the same
morning.

The second clause of this agreement or capitulation was not carried
out by Congress, and most of the captured army, with the exception
of Burgoyne, Riedesel, Phillips and Hamilton were retained as pris-
oners while the war lasted. 1

1 The second clause, to which allusion is made in the text, read as follows:

"Second. A free passage to be granted to the army under Lieutenant-Genera] Burgoyne to

Great Britain, on condition of not serving again in North America during the present contest;

and the port of Boston is assigned for the entry of transports to receive the troops, whenever

General Howe shall so order."

268 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

The excuses given by Congress for this lack of faith were most pal-
try and latterly unworthy of a body representing; a great cause. The
remonstrances to General Gates and Congress remained unnoticed,
and although Washington, himself, earnestly urged a fulfillment of
the pledge in which the honor of Congress and the country was in-
volved, the most unworthy counsels prevailed. When, for instance,
it was proposed that the embarkation of the troops should take place
at Newport, R. I., an intention (perfectly absurd) was imputed to
General Howe of breaking faith by causing Burgoyne's army to join
him in New York. Finally, in the beginning of January, 1778, Con-
gress passed a resolution indefinitely suspending the embarkation.
The true reason for this course was. undoubtedly, the unworthy one
that many of the troops might be brought over to the American cause
by desertions, which, however, was unsuccessful, as — although it has
been thought otherwise — not more than eightv Germans deserted
from their colors after the surrender. Washington felt this keenly
and seems to have been greatly mortified at the decision of Congress.
In a letter to Burgoyne dated at headquarters, Penn., March nth,
177S. he writes: "I take pleasure in the opportunity you have
afforded me of assuring you, that, far from suffering the views of na-
tional opposition to be embittered and debased by personal animosi-
ty. I am ever ready to do justice to the gentlemen and the soldiers, and
to esteem where esteem is due, however the idea of a public enemy
may interpose." By this most unworthy action of Congress, the Ried-
esels, Phillips and many other worthy officers as well as privates suf-
fered great privation and miser}* for several years.

The Americans obtained by this victory, at a very critical period,
an excellent train of brass artillery, consisting of forty-two guns of
various calibre, four thousand, six hundred and forty-seven muskets,
four hundred sets of harness, and a large supply of ammunition.
The prisoners numbered five thousand, eight hundred and four, and
the entire American force at the time of the surrender, including
regulars (i. e. Continentals) and militia, was twenty thousand, eight
hundred and seventeen effective men. This, however, does not in-
clude the American troops on the eastern bank of the Hudson as they
were not counted. These consisted chiefly of militia from what is
now Washington County, and from New Hampshire and Connecticut.
At eleven o'clock on the morning of the 17th the Royal army left
their fortified camp and marched to the green in front of old Fort

BRITISH SURRENDER. 269

Hardy, on the meadow just north of Fish Creek, at its junction with
the Hudson. 1 Here in the presence only of Morgan Lewis and Wil-
kinson, they left their cannon and small arms. With a longing - eye
the artilleryman looked for the last time upon his faithful gun, part-
ing with it as from his bride, and that forever. With tears trickling
down his bronzed cheeks, the bearded grenadier stacked his musket
to resume it no more. Others, in their rage, knocked off the butts of
their arms and the drummers stamped their drums to pieces. General
Riedesel was, also, deeply affected by these sad events. At eight
o'clock in the morning he collected all the German troops, and in-
formed them of their fate. In solemnity and in silence, and with
drooping heads, the brave and tried warriors heard the words from
the mouth of their beloved leader, whose voice, manly at all times,
trembled on this occasion, and who was obliged to summon all of his
self control to hide his emotions. " It was no lack of courage on your
part," he said, among other things, to his men, " by which this awful
fate has come upon you. You will always be justified in the eyes of
the world. " He concluded his address, with the exhortation that as
good soldiers they should bear their misfortune with courage and do
their duty at all times, displaying order and discipline, for, in so do-
ing, they would retain the love of their sovereign and the respect of
their enemies.

Immediately after the surrender, the British, under a body-guard,
took up their march for Boston, whence they expected to embark ;
and bivouacked the first night at their old encampment at the base of
the hill where Fraser was buried. As thev debouched from the

meadow, where they had deposited their arms, they passed between
the Continentals, who were drawn up in parallel lines. But on no
face did they see exultation. "As we passed the American army,"
writes Lieutenant Aubury, one of the captured officers and bitterly
prejudiced against his conquerors, " I did not observe the least disre-
spect, or even a taunting look, but all was mute astonishment and
pity; and it gave us no little comfort to notice this civil deportment to
a captured enemy, unmarred by the exultant air of victors." General
Gates, moreover, showed himself on this occasion, exceedingly noble

1 Fort Hardy was a military work built by the English, during the governorship of Sir
Charles Hardy, and was intended to supersede the old fort which had been erected as the war of
William and Mary iSee one of my early chapters) during the latter part ot the 17th century. The
outer works yet (1900) retain the appearance of a strong fortification and embrace about fifteen
acres of ground. '

270 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

and generous towards the captives. That he might show in some
manner the feeling of the Americans, he commanded his troops to
wheel around the instant the English laid down their arms, while he,
himself, drew down the curtains of his carriage in which he had
driven to the ground and in which he was then seated.

Early the next morning General Wilkinson, before the capitulation,
visited Burgoyne in his camp and accompanied him to the ground
where his army were to lay down their arms. Having inspected the
place, the two generals rode to the bank of the Hudson, where Bur-
goyne, surveying it with attention, asked his companion whether it
was not fordable at that place ? "Certainly, sir," said Wilkinson,
" but do you not observe the people on the opposite shore ? " " Yes,"
replied Burgoyne, " I have seen them too long ! "

The English general having expressed a wish to be formally intro-
duced to his old comrade, Gates, Wilkinson arranged an interview a
few moments after the capitulation. In anticipation of this meeting,
Burgoyne had bestowed the greatest care upon his toilet. He had
attired himself in full court dress, and wore costly regimentals and a
richly decorated hat with streaming plumes. Gates, a smaller man
and with much less of manner, was dressed, on the contrary, in a
plain blue overcoat, which had upon it scarcely anything indicative of
his rank. Upon the two generals first catching a glimpse of each
other, they rode forward simultaneous!}" and advanced until they were
only a few steps apart, when they reined up and halted. The English
general took off his hat, and making a polite bow, said. " The for-
tune of war, General Gates, lias made me your prisoner." The
American general, in reply, simply returned his greeting and said:
" I shall ever be ready to testify that it was not the fault of your ex-
cellence. "

As soon as this introduction was over the other captive generals
and their suites repaired to the cabin which constituted the headquar-
ters of Gates, where they were received with the greatest courtesy.
and with the consideration due to brave but unfortunate men. After
Riedesel had been presented to Gates. Morgan and other American
officers, he sent for his wife and children. It is to this circumstance
that we owe the portraiture of a lovely trait in General Schuyler's
character. " In our passage through the American camp," the Bar-
oness writes, " I observed with great satisfaction, that no one cast at
us a scornful glance. On the contrary, they all greeted me, even

BRITISH RECEIVE GENEROUS TREATMENT. 271

showing compassion on their countenances at seeing a mother with
her little children in such a condition. I confess I feared to come in-
to the enemy's camp, as the thing was so entirely new to me. When
I approached the tents a noble looking man came toward me and took
tlie children out of the wagon, embraced and kissed them, and then,
with tears in his eyes, helped me to alight. He then led me to the
tent of General Gates, with whom I found Generals Burgoyne and
Phillips who were upon an extremely friendly footing with him.
Presently, the man who had received me so kindly, came up and said
to me: " It may be embarrassing to you to dine with all these gentle-
men; come now with your children into my tent, where I will give
you, it is true, a frugal meal, but one that will be accompanied by the
best of wishes.' ' You are certainly,' answered I, 'a husband and
father, since you show me so much kindness.' I then learned that he
was the American General Schuyler."

The English and German generals dined with the American com-
mander in his cabin on boards laid across barrels. The dinner, which
was served upon four dishes, consisted only of ordinary viands, the
Americans at this period being accustomed to plain and frugal meals.
The drink, on this occasion, was cider and rum mixed with water.
Burgoyne appeared in excellent humor. To General Morgan he talked
a great deal and spoke very flatteringly of the Americans, remarking,
among other things, that he admired the number, dress and discipline
of their arm}- and, above all, the decorum and regularity that were ob-
served. " Your funds of men," he said to Gates, " are inexhaustible.
Like the Hydra's head, when cut off, seven more spring up in its
stead. "

He also proposed a toast to General Washington, an attention that
Gates returned by drinking the health of the King of England. The
conversation on both sides was unrestrained, affable and free. In-
deed, the conduct of Gates, throughout, after the terms of the surren-
der had been adjusted, was marked with equal delicacy and magna-
nimity, as Burgoyne himself admitted in a letter to the Earl of Derby.
In that letter, the captain-general particularly mentioned one circum-
stance which, he said, exceeded all he had seen or read of on a like
occasion. It was, that when the British soldiers had marched out of
their camp to the place where they were to pile their arms, not a man
of the American troops was to be seen; General Gates having ordered his
whole army out of sight, that not one of them should be a spectator

272 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

of the humiliation of the British troops. This was a refinement of
delicacy and of military generosity and politeness reflecting- the high-
est credit upon the conqueror, and was spoken of by the officers of
Burgoyne in the strongest terms of approbation.

As the company rose from the table, the Royal army filed past in
their march to the seaboard, the American bands striking up "Yan-
kee Doodle.'* Thereupon, by preconcerted arrangement, the gener-
als stepped out. and Burgoyne, drawing his sword, presented it in the
presence of the two armies to General Gates. The latter received it
with a courteous bow and immediately returned it to the vanquished
general. Colonel Trumbull has graphically depicted this scene in one
of his paintings in the rotunda of the capitol at Washington.

General Schuyler, as we have seen, was in the camp with Gates at
the time of the surrender; and when Burgoyne, with his general offi-
cers, arrived in Albany, they were the guests of Mrs. General Schuy-
ler by whom they were treated with great hospitality. The urbanity
of General and "Mrs. Schuyler's manners, and the chivalric magna-
nimity of his character, smarting as he was, under the extent and
severity of his pecuniary losses, are attested by General Burgoyne,
himself, in his speech in 1778, in the British House of Commons. He
said further, that one of the first persons he saw, after the " Conven-
tion " was signed, was General Schuyler; and when expressing to him
his regret at the burning of his mansion. General Schuyler desired
him "to think no more of it, and that the occasion justified it accord-
ing to the rules of war." " He did more," continued Burgoyne. " He
sent an aide-de-camp ' to conduct me to Albany, in order, as he ex-
pressed it, to procure better quarters than a stranger might be able to
find. That gentleman conducted me to a very elegant house and, to
my great surprise, presented me to Mrs. Schuyler and her family.
In that house I remained during my whole stay in Albany, with a
table of more than twenty covers for me and my friends, and every
other demonstration of hospitality. "

1 The late Colonel Richard Varick. then the military secretary of General Schuyler.

2 During Mrs. Riedesel's stay at Albany, as the guest of General and Mrs. Schuyler, one of
her little girls, on first coming into the house, exclaimed. " Oh mamma ! Is this the palace papa

1 have when he came to America?" As the Schuyler family understood German, Madame
Riedesel colored at the remark, which, however, was pleasantly got over. Life of Peter Van
Sch aick.

When I was in Germany in i3ir, I arrived there about a month, only, after the death of this very
little girl who made the above remark and who had become a grandmother with a large num-

CHARACTER OF BURGOYNE. 273

General Burgoyne, until his unfortunate campaign, stood very high
in his profession. He had made a brilliant record on the banks of
the Tagus for dash, as well as judgment, under the eye of a master in
the art of war, the famous Count Sehaumberg Lippe, who had been
selected by Frederick the Great to save the Kingdom of Portugal, on
the very verge of ruin. He also added to a prepossessing exterior.
the polished manners and keen sagacity of a courtier. He was like-
wise witty and brave. But personal courage alone docs not constitute
a commander; for of a commander other qualities are expected, espec-
ially experience and presence of mind. Burgoyne, in all his under-
takings, was hasty and self-willed. Desiring to do everything him-
self, he rarely consulted with others, and yet he never knew how to
keep a plan secret. A\ nile in a subordinate position, although con-
tinually carping at his military superiors and complaining of his in-
ferior position, yet when given a separate command, he was guilt}' of
the same faults which he had reprehended in others. Being a great
sybarite he often neglected the duties of a general, as well toward Ids
king as his subordinates. He could easily make light of everything,
provided he was eating a good meal, or was with his mistress, and
while he was enjoying his champagne and choice food his army suf-
fered the keenest want. Thus, immediately after the capitulation,
he could eat and drink witli the enemy's generals, and talk with the
greatest ease of the most important events.

Soon after the surrender lie returned to England and justly threw
the failure of the expedition upon the ministry. Nor can there lie
any doubt that, had he been properly supported, he would, despite lbs
mistakes, have reached Albany ; since, in that case, (bites would not
have been at Bemus 1 Heights, with an army to oppose him. Mr. F'ori-
blancpie, in his " Life of Burgoyne," draws particular attention
the first time, to a fact that throws entirely new light on the apparent
failure of Howe, and clears up all that has hitherto seemed mysterious
and contradictor) - . Orders, fully as imperative as those to Burgoyne,

ber of descendants. J had intended to rail on her, and was greatly disappointed to find she hail
died so recently before my visiting Germany. 1 mention this circumstance merely to show how
near those old Revolutionary times are to our own not so very far distant !

1 The correct spelling, and not Bemis as is generally supposed. My authority for this is Hon.
Hugh Hastings, I State Historian for Xew York) who wrote me a few days since, that in his late
researches, he had come across the signature of Jotham Bemus — the owner of the Heights — in
which lie writes his name Bemus.

I 34 1

274 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

were to have been sent to Howe, but, owing to the carelessness of
Germaine- -who preferred going to a good dinner in Kent to waiting a
few moments to append his signature — they were pigeon-holed in
London where they were found, after the Convention at Saratoga,
carefully docketed and only wanting the signature of the minister.
Hence, Howe acted on the discretionary orders sent to him previously
and concluded to go to Philadelphia instead of to Albany — merely
telling Clinton that, if other reinforcements came meanwhile from
England, he might make a diversion in favor of Burgoyne. Primar-
ily, then, the failure of the expedition was due to the gross negligence
of the war-minister, though the failure of Howe does not excuse the
blunders through which Burgoyne lost his army in the retreat. It
should, however, be stated in justice to the British Genera] that, in
arranging the campaign with, the King, he expressly stipulated and
insisted on it most strenuously that his success depended upon Howe's
co-operation.

Burgoyne, however, was perhaps, not so much to blame for the dis-
mal failure of his " Expedition." Thus, Colonel Montressor in his jour-
nal (published in Vol. XIV of the Historical Society Collection, new
series) in commenting upon the reasons of the failure of British arms
in America, among: other criticisms writes: "The sending of Bur-
goyne on a route where he never had been, nor knew nothing of,
commanding officer of the artillery, a parade man. neither knew
American service, cloefgfed with a needless heavy train of artillery.
No engineer that had ever been there before, no plans, etc., of all
absurd thing's, dividing: that little army, one division with Lieutenant
Leger and the other with Skene, two madmen."

( )n his first arrival in England he was received very coldlv 1>v the
court and people, the King refusing to see him; but upon a change in
tile Ministry he regained somewhat of his former popularity. In 17X0,
he appeared before the public in a vindication of himself in a work
entitled the State of the Expedition. Subsequently, he wrote several
popular comedies, and was one of the managers of the impeachment
of Lord Hastings. He did not live, however, to see the result of that
trial, as he died on the 4th of August, 1797, and was buried in West-
minster Abbey. 1

In regard to General Gates, the same incapacity which afterward

1 There were rumors at the time that he died of poison, self-administered, from chagrin at

his failure in life. But these rumors appear to me to he without any foundation.

CHARACTER OF GATES. 275

became so apparent in his unfortunate southern campaign, was mani-
fested from the time of his assuming the command of the Northern
army until the surrender. It was, perhaps, no fault of his that he
had been placed in command at the North, just at the auspicious mo-
ment when the discomfiture of Burgoyne was no longer problemati-
cal. 3 He was ordered b\' Congress to the station and performed his
duty passably well. But it is no less true, that the laurels won by
him ought to have been worn by Schuyler. Colonel Wilkinson, who
was a member of Gates's military family, has placed this question in
its true aspect. He maintains, in his Memoirs, that not only had the
army of Buryfoyne been essentially disabled by the defeat of the Ger-
mans at Bennington before the arrival of Crates, but that the repulse
of vSt. Leger at Fort Stanwix had deranged his plans, while safety
had been restored to the western frontier and the panic, therein-
caused, had subsided. He likewise maintains that after the reverses
at the North, nowise attributed to him, and before the arrival of
Gates, the zeal, patriotism and sanitary arrangements of General
Schuyler had vanquished the prejudices excited against him; that by
the defeat of Baum and St. Leger, Schuyler hail been enabled to con-
centrate and oppose his whole Continental force against the main
body of the enemy, and that by him, also, before the arrival of Gen-
eral (bites, the friends of the Revolution had been re-animated and
excited'to manly resistance, while the adherents of the Royal cause
were intimidated, and had shrunk into silence and inactivity. From
these premises, which are indisputable, it is no more than a fair de-
duction to say "that the same force which enabled (bites to subdue
the British army, would have produced a similar effect under the
orders of General Schuyler; since the operations of the campaign did
not involve a single instance of professional skill, and the triumph of
the American arms was accomplished by the physical force and valor
of the troops Under :iii Protection \\i> Direction of the Gon of
Battles." ' j

1 And yet, I am not entirely sure of this statement, for dates undoubtedly intrigued in Con-
gress to have himself supersede Schuyler. Therefore, in the text, it will be observed, I say
" perhaps."

2 " A Thanksgiving sermon," says Lamb, " was preached on the occasion of the surrender
before the American army by the chaplain [Timothy Dwight, afterwards President of Vale Col-
lege] from [oel II, 20th. " But I will remove far from you the Northern Army and will drive him
into a land barren and desolate, with his face toward the East sea and his hinder part toward the
utmost sea. and his ill savor shall come up because he hath done great things."

276 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

(latcs was a man of -real plausibility and address and. withal, a
handsome fellow and a great lion in society. It is. therefore, not sur-
prising', that, flushed with his fortuitous success, or rather with the
sneeess attending his fortuitous position, he did not wear his honors
with any remarkable meekness. On the contrary, his bearing toward
the commander-in-chief was far from respectful. He did not even
write to Washington on the occasion until afteV a considerable time
had elapsed. -In the first instance. Wilkinson was sent, as the bearer
of dispatches to Congress, but did not reach that body until fifteen
days after the articles of capitulation had been signed, and three days
more were occupied in arranging the papers before they were pre-
sented/ The first mention which Washington makes of the defeat of
Burgoyne is contained in a letter written to his brother on the 18th
of October, the neAvs having been communicated to him by Governor
Clinton. He spoke of the event again on the 19th in a letter addressed
to General Putnam. On the 25th in a letter written to that officer he
acknowledges the reception of a copy of the articles of capitulation
from him — adding, that it was the first authentic intelligence he had
received "of the affair," and that he had begun to grow uneasy and
almost to suspect that the previous accounts were premature. Nor
was it until the 2nd of November that dates deigned to communicate
to the Commander-in-chief a word upon the subject, and then only
incidentally, as though it were a matter of secondary importance. -

Gates's treatment of Morgan, also, was on the same line. Notwith-
standing the splendid service he had rendered at the Battle of ( )ctober
;th. his name had only a passing notice in the earl} 7 dispatches, and
was not even mentioned in Gates's official account of the surrender to
which he (Morgan) had so largely contributed.

This sudden fall from the General's favor was remarked by the offi-
cers, as Gates had given Morgan unmistakable proofs of his confi-
dence and esteem from the moment of his arrival in camp. Morgan
kept silent, and the matter remained a mystery at the time, but it
was afterward satisfactorily explained.

" Immediately after the surrender. Morgan visited Gates on busi-

1 " It was on this occasion that one of the members of Congress made a motion, that they
should compliment Colonel Wilkinson with the gift of a pair of spurs.''—Sfiar&s.

- "The mills of the gods grind slowly, but exceedingly sure." So is it in regard to Gates.
He has been relegated to a proper obscurity, whereas. Washington remains, as ever, in a bril-
liant light, both to the present and probably, to all future generations.

INCAPACITY OF GATES. 277

ness, when he was taken aside by that General and confidentially in-
formed that the main army was extremely disatisfied with the con-
duct of the war by the commander-in-chief, and that several of the
best officers threatened to resign unless a change took place. Morgan
perfectly comprehended the motives of Gates, although he did not
then know of the correspondence he had been holding with Conway,
and he sternly replied: '* I have one favor to ask of you, sir, which is
never to mention that detestable subject to me again; for under no
other man than Washington, as Commander-in-chief, would I ever
serve."' A day or two after the foregoing interchange of views, Gen-
eral Gates gave a dinner [in Albany] to the principal officers of the
British army, to which a number of American officers were also in-
vited. Morgan was not among the number. Before the evening was
over, this petty indignity recoiled upon its author. Morgan had occa-
sion to sec Gates upon official business. He was accordingly ushered
into the dining-room, where the guests still sat at the table. Having
attended to the matter in hand, he was about to withdraw, without
even the empty ceremony of an introduction. Struck, however, by
the commanding: figure and noble mein of the Colonel, the guests en-
quired his name and, learning that it was Colonel Morgan, the British
officers left the table, and. following him, took him by the hand, made
themselves known to him, frankly declaring, at the same time, that
they had felt him 'severely in the field," ' whereas they had only a
diving-room acquaintance with Gates!

Indeed, General Carrington, one of the ablest and most careful of
the writers on the American Revolution, says : ''Gates had no power
in action, and there is not a redeeming fact during his connection
with the Southern army to show his fitness to command troops." It
has been seen that he participated active!}' in one part of the opera-
tions near Saratoga until the morning of August iith, 1777. Confid-
ing in numbers, and neglecting reconnoissanees, he then imperiled
his army by forcing several brigades across Fishkill creek, while re-
in lining in the rear himself. |ust as he plunged, says de Peyster,
like a reckless incapable into the ohamp-clos, or lists of Camden.

Gates, as de Peyster further adds, did nothing but talk, and he was
great at that. Gates was actually arguing with a dying English offi-
cer and aggravating him, a mortally wounded prisoner, while Arnold

1 Graham' ' s Life of Morgan, also Dr. Hill's MSI ■

278 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

and Morgan were winning for him the final battle of Saratoga, an
exploit which must have chagrined Gates to the uttermost, since noth-
ing was further from his mind than to afford Arnold an opportunity
to win any glory whatever. The American people accepted Gates as
a hero through ignorafnee, just as an untutored negro accepts a bone
with a feather stuck in it for a god.

Transferred three years afterward (by a cabal in Congress) to the
chief command of the Southern Department, his disastrous defeat and
irresolute, not to say cowardly, conduct soon pricked the bubble of his
ephemeral reputation and, after living in comparative obscurity for
several years on his farm in Virginia, he died in the city of New
York. April ioth, [806.

Congress, in the first flush of its gratitude, decreed that (bites
should be presented with a medal of gold to be struck expressly in
commemoration of so glorious a victory. On one side of it was the
bust of the general with these words around it : Horatio Gates, duct
strenuo, and in the middle Comitia Americana. On the reverse Burgoyne
was represented in the attitude of delivering his sword, and in the
background, on the one side and on the other, were seen the two
armies of England and America. At the top were these words: Sal us
regionem Septentrional, and at the foot, Hoste ad Saratogam in deditione
accepta. Die XVII Oct. M. D. CCLXXVII.

The battle of Saratoga has justly been designated by Sir Edward
Creasy, as •'one of the fifteen decisive battles of history." It secured
for the American Colonies the French alliance, and lifted the cloud of
moral and financial gloom that had settled upon the hearts of the peo-
ple, dampening the hopes of the leaders of the Revolution, and
wringing despairing words even from the hopeful Washington. From
that auspicious day, belief in the ultimate triumph of American liberty
never abandoned the nation till it was realized and sealed four years
later, almost to a daw in the final surrender of Yorktown. 1

And as a considerable portion of this campaign was on the soil of
Washington County, her residents are justified in having great pride
in the final result.

1 A beautiful monument at Schuylerville, X. V.. commemorates the surrender of Burgoyne.
It is as near as can conveniently he placed, to where the headquarters of (rates were situated,
which witnessed the formal surrender of Burgoyne's sword and the unfurling, for the first time.
of the stars and stripes.

It is true that a flag, intended for the stars and stripes, and made out of a white shirt and

DISPERvSAL OF MILITIA. 279

CHAPTER XIX.

1777—1791-

Thk Militia Disperse to Their Homes — Sad Plight of the Whigs — Their Farms
Desolated — A Fort ok Block House Built at New Perth (Salem) — A Court-
Martial Held to Pi nish Those Lukewarm to the Cause of the Colonies —
The Vermont Controversy — Efforts of Governor George Clinton to Obtain
for New York Jurisdiction over Vermont — The New Hampshire Grants —
Clinton's Failure — End of Controversy — Vermont Gives Up Her Claim to
Charlotte County — Is Admitted into ihi Union — N \ml of Charlotte Changed
by A< 1 o! New York Legisi vilkl to iiivi of Washington County — Commis-
sioners Settle Finally THE Boi T NDAR\ 01 HIE Coi'NTW

As soon as the army of Burgoyne had departed for their quarters
near Boston, the roads of Charlotte (Washington) county were filled
with bands of New England militia returning in triumph to their
homes — all of them convinced that for the present, at least, the tide
of war was turned from that section; man}' of them believing that the
war was virtually at an end. Most of the Whigs of Charlotte county,
moreover, who had left their farms on account of the enemy's ad-
vance, now returned and resumed their wonted vocations. There was
also, a great increase of people who suddenly found that they had all
along been on the side of the Colonies and who had only restrained
their real (?) sentiments In' reason of policy. They had, of course,
been patriots in their inmost hearts all along! Those unlucky per-
sons, however, who had been true to their principles throughout it
all, and had openly espoused the cause of the King, were glad in their
turn, to make their escape from the wrath of their old neighbors; and
very few of them ever returned to their former estates, except as
members of desultory and marauding bands intent on the work of
destruction and slaughter. Nor were the Whigs disposed to wage

some bits of red cloth from the petticoat of ;i soldier's wife, first floated on captured standards
on the ramparts of Port Stanwix (August 6th, 17771, but the " Stars and Stripes," as we now see
them— except as to the number of the stars — were first unfurled to grace the surrender at Sara-
toga. See General |. Watts de Peyster's Justin- to Schuyler. The Fort Stanwix flag is now 1190")
in the possession of Mrs. Abram Lansing of Albany, N. V., a descendant of General Gansevoort,
by whom it is justly cherished as a most precious relic.

280 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

war with gloves, officers styled " Commissioners of forfeiture" were
a]>] minted by the State, and the property of every Tory " who had
committed any overt act, in favor of the King, or had openly advo-
cated Ids cause, was promptly seized and confiscated." Their personal
property, in these cases, was sold for what it would bring.; but, as
there was very little demand for their real estate, most of it was not
sold until after the war. Some of the farms, however, were leased to
those "Unix's who were willing to run the risk of being marked out for
special vengeance in case of another invasion. Still, notwithstanding
the total collapse of the Expedition of General Burgoyne, the Whigs
of Charlotte county were, nevertheless, in a sad plight. All those in
the northern part of the county had been driven (as we have seen in
the preceding chapters) from their home just before harvest and many
of those in the southern part had abandoned their farms through a
well founded fear of the enemy.' "'dory," as Johnson remarks,
" was a good thing, but as winter approached, many of the patriotic
inhabitants of Charlotte county [i. e. Washington] were at a loss
where to get food to last them through the season."

Indeed, so great was the devastation committed by "the invaders
that, in the fore-part of 1778. numerous petitions for aid were sent to
the Xew York Legislature by the people of Charlotte county and also
from Cambridge and Easton. In response to these petitions the Leg-
islature directed the " Commissioners of Forfeiture " to sell two thou-
sand bushels of wheat, rye and Indian corn (taken from the Tories) to
those in need, to be paid for afterwards on moderate terms.

Earh- in the spring of 1778, another little fort was built at Xew
Perth, 1 now Salem). It was a log block-house about twenty. feet
square, well supplied with loop-holes, and was surrounded by a stock-
ade of erect logs, after the usual fashion of that day. It was named
•" Fort "Williams" in honor of the energetic young Colonel who mani-
fested such unceasing activity in the American cause." This fort was
garrisoned most of the time by the Charlotte county regiment, al-
though in March of this year, it appears from the Williams papers,
that there was a regiment of Connecticut militia stationed here. A
draft was ordered from the militia in the spring to fill up the depleted

: T ners were too poor to take the course of Mrs. General Schuyler, who. on the ap-

proach of Burgoyne, deliberately fired her wheat-fields, lest thev should afford comfort to the
enemy.

- For a sketch of Colonel Williams, see appendix No. IV.

DELINQUENTS COURT-MARTIALLED. 281

ranks of the Continental army; but Governor Clinton wrote to Colonel
Williams, under date of the 13th of April, that the Charlotte county
regiment was exempt from the draft, on the condition that it should
furnish men for the defense of the frontier, designating- the number
of men for this purpose as seventy. But even this number, small as
it was, it was almost impossible to raise. Accordingly, on the 2 2d of
April, Williams wrote to Governor Clinton to the effect that he had
called his battalion together and could obtain only seventeen volun-
teers. He expected, however, he further said, to get as many more,
but he could not possibly raise seventy. Enough to make three com-
panies had already moved down the river from Fort Edward, and
others were preparing to go. Of those who remained, he likewise
stated, about half were disaffected to the American cause, and most
of these he feared would join the enemy. Indeed, the county, at this
time, was continually in a state of alarm. At the date of this letter,
Williams's little battalion had just been called out to repel a threat-
ened invasion — it having been reported that a small party of Ameri-
cans who were scouting within twelve miles of Ticonderoga had
been driven back by a large force of the enemy who were supposed to
be advancing on a raid against the American settlements. It would
appear, however, that this was a false alarm, as no invasion was made
at this time.

On the 23d of March, a regimental court-martial was held at Fort
Williams, by order of Colonel Williams, to punish those who, the pre-
vious year, had been backward in responding to duty. This created
at the time considerable excitement. The President of the court-
martial was Captain (afterward Major and General) John Armstrong,
who, it will be recalled, was subsequently Secretary of War during
Washington's first administration. Over sixty men were arraigned;
some for neglecting to turn out when called upon, some for accepting
''protection" from the British, and others for failing to take their
cattle and retire to a safer place when so ordered by General Schuy-
ler. Fifty-eight were convicted, but their punishments were not very
severe, consisting entirely of fines ranging from one dollar up to
thirty pounds. Those who merely failed to appear on muster, when
summoned, were generally fined in the first amount. Alexander
Webster of Black Creek (Hebron) was Lieutenant-Colonel of the regi-
ment at this time, and was also State Senator.

[ : « ]

282 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

On September 8th, 1778, the first election held in Charlotte county

under the laws of the State of New York took place: and even this
was by special enactment, the regular election-day having- passed.
Ninety-six votes were cast in Salem, twenty-nine in Kingsbury, twen-
ty-four in Skeensborough, twenty-one in Granville and twenty-eight
in Black Brook (Hebron), a total of only one hundred and ninety-
eight voters in the county, although there were doubtless more. Many
of the inhabitants, however, were probably not very anxious to exer-
cise the elective franchise, when such exercise might be considered
hereafter evidence of rebellion against the King on one side or treason
to their country on the other. Therefore, a large proportion pre-
ferred to remain non-committal. Argyle, though a separate district,
seems to have held no election that year. One senator was chosen
from Salem and one assemblyman was re-elected, but three out of
four of the latter class of officials were chosen from other parts of the
county. It will be understood that at that period the work of election
was much simpler than now, only town officers and members of
the Legislature, besides the Governor and Lieutenant-governor, being
thus chosen — the vast number of executive and judicial officers, now
selected, being then appointed by the "Council of appointment."
One of the legislative acts of this year, moreover, passed on February
17th, is of considerable importance. It directed the holding of county
courts and courts of sessions at Xew Perth (Salem) which has ever
been the county seat, or one of the county seats, of the count} - . An
act of the previous year had directed that the sheriff's mileage should
be computed from the meeting-house at the same place. If there were
any courts held under the act just mentioned the records have been
lost or destroyed.

The year 1779 passed away with comparatively little excitement on
the northern frontier of Washington County. Elsewhere the tide of
conflict rolled to and fro, the American's cause suffering great de-
pression, notwithstanding the aid furnished by France — an aid which
was slight compared with the expectations which had been raised
regarding it. From the western part of Xew York, too. came news
of terrible massacres and of the retribution inflicted by Sullivan, but
on the banks of the Battenkill, of White Creek and of Black Creek
the scattered inhabitants of Charlotte county planted, sowed and har-
vested in temporary safety.

We say ''temporary safety," for soon after the farmers had planted

THREATENED INVASIONS FROM CANADA. 283

their seeds in expectation of tine crops, on April 29th, 1780, an Amer-
ican, who had been a prisoner at Montreal and had escaped, reached
Skeensborough with the information that extensive preparations were
making in Canada for an invasion of the Colonies by way of Lake
Champlain. Some other facts received by General Schuyler seemed
to corroborate his statement and a shock of alarm was quickly rolled
through all of Northern New York. The Charlotte county militia
were now commanded by Colonel Alexander Webster with Brinton
Paine as Lieutenant-Colonel and Joseph McCracken as Major. They
were ordered to be ready for instant action and Governor Clinton
ordered four regiments, under Colonels Yates, Van Schoonhoven,
Van Wart and McCrea, (a brother of the massacred Jane McCrea) to
assemble at Saratoga. Clinton, himself, with all the men he could
rally in Albany and Charlotte counties, hastened to Fort Edward,
which he reached in eight days after leaving Kingston. Thence, he
proceeded to Fort George, Ticonderoga ' and Crown Point; when,
having satisfied himself that no invasion was contemplated by the
British at that time, he returned home. Meanwhile, the summer
passed away with only the usual number of small alarms. Several
corps of state troops, intermediate between militia and regulars, were
raised this summer to defend the frontiers. A company of these
troops, numbering between fifty and seventy-five men, under Captain
Adiel Sherwood," of Kingsbury was stationed, meanwhile, at Fort
Anne.

These rumors, however, of an attack from Canada were not un-
founded. In the early part of October, 1780, Major Christopher
Carleton, of the 29th British regiment, and a nephew of Sir Guy
Carleton, with a force numbering twelve hundred men, composed of
regulars, royalists and a few Indians, and with eight vessels and
twenty-six boats, sailed up Lake Champlain with the avowed object
of attacking Ballston, now the county seat of Saratoga county. Ar-
riving at Bulwagga Bay, which forms the western shore of Crown
Point, they landed the two hundred men which formed the Ballston
party. This detachment was made up in part of Sir John Johnson's
corps of rangers (among whom were some refugees from the Ballston

1 The abandonment of Ticonderoga by the British caused a feeling of more security to pre-
vail in Charlotte County, though the thought of the Indian tomahawk still caused many a mothei
and many a child to shudder at every sound.

2 The dean of the St. Louis Law School, M. A. L. Sherwood, is a descendant of this officer.

284 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

settlement) and partly of a few Mohawk Indians, under the eommand
of their war chief, " Captain John."' This motley company was under
the command of Captain Monroe, who had, before the war, been an
Indian trader at Schenectady, and had had much to do with the early
settlement of Saratoga county. The object of this part of the expe-
dition was to attack Schenectady; but, if that was not found to be
feasible, (on account of its being considered too hazardous) then the
orders were to make a descent upon the Ballston settlement. The
orders to Monroe were to plunder, destroy property and take prison-
but not to kill unless attacked or resisted, or to prevent escapes. 1
After leaving this detachment of two hundred men under Captain
Monroe to proceed to the lower settlements by way of " Crane Moun-
tain " and Schroon river in Warren County, the main body, under
Major Carleton, and consisting of some eight hundred men. proceeded
iip Lake Champlain, and landing at Skeensborough at the head of
South Bay, marched rapidly to Fort Anne where they arrived on the
ioth of October and demanded its surrender. The fort was a rude
log block house with a stockade of pointed pickets around it, 2 and gar-
ned by a company of state troops and a few Continentals. Though
ill supplied with men, and almost out of ammunition. Captain Sher-
wood, the officer in command, at first refused to surrender on the de-
mand of Carleton ; but on seeing that he was greatly outnumbered by
the enemy and that resistance accordingly would be hopeless, he
yielded himself and his men prisoners — first stipulating, however,
that the women and children who were in the fort should have a safe
escort to their homes. Upon its evacuation by the Americans Carle-
ton burned the fort or block house and swept down the Hudson as far
as Stillwater plundering and burning as he went, the villages of
Sandy Hill and Fort Edward. Kingsbury was thus again utterly
desolated. '' It was during this raid," says Dr. Holden in his history
of Queensbury, "that Mrs. Abraham Wing lay all night on the edge

1 It does not come within the province of this history to give an account of this raid upon
Ballston. The curious reader, however, if he wishes to pursue this investigation further and
learn of all the facts in detail — and they are most interesting — is referred to the following works-'
X. B. Sylvester's History of Saratoga County. Judge George G. Scott's Centennial Historical A d-
dress, July 4 th. 1876, and my own Reminiscences of Saratoga and Ballston. Perhaps, in the last men-
tioned work, there will be found a more fuller description of this raid than in the other two.

- For an excellent representation of this block house, drawn on the spot by Lieutenant
Anbury of Burgovne's army, see the hitter's Travels. Auburv, although an officer, was what
would be called at present a newspaper correspondent.

CARLETON'vS INVASION. 285

of the big cedar swamp with her youngest child — the late Daniel W.
Wing — and the following night by the spring at the foot of Sandy
Hill." This last ruthless act of the Revolution in this county was long
handed down by tradition as "the year of the burning. " By it, the
settlers were mostly driven away, and the town was abandoned.

" On the 9th of October, Captain Sherwood was dining with Colonel
Henry Livingston, the commander at Fort Edward, being on his way
to White Creek, and not imagining any foe to be near. While he was
at Fort Edward, however, an order arrived from Governor Clinton
requiring Livingston and Sherwood to endeavor to re-inlist their men
for two months more. Sherwood returned to Fort Anne for that pur-
pose; but that night he sent word to Livingston that the enemy were
close by. The next morning he was captured as before stated. The
same morning two of Livingston's officers came hurrying in from
Kingsbury with the news that the enemy was burning and laying

«■> „ _ 0^0

waste that district. Livingston sent to Colonel McCrea at Saratoga
and Colonel Webster at black Creek for their regiments of militia.

" immediately afterwards some of the frightened inhabitants of
Kingsbury came rushing down the hill north of Fort Edward, with
such household goods as they could bring with them, seeking the pro-
tection of the post. They reported the enemy only four miles away,
and the smoke of burning houses could plainly be seen from the fort.
Livingston had but sixty-rive men, of whom he sent twenty to menace
the foe; but though they remained out through the day, the}' found
the marauders too strong to attack. After dark four scouts were sent
out, who found some of the enemy three miles distant. Colonel Liv-
ingston then ordered a lieutenant and twenty men to assail the camp
in question; but as he was about to march, a terrible outcry was
heard on the west side of the Hudson, where the Indians were yell-
ing, burning and killing cattle, and the detachment was therefore
ordered back. Two of the enemy came so close that they were fired
on from the fort, but without effect. The next day another scout was
sent out, who discovered that the main body of the enemy had taken
the route to Fort George ' with a view, undoubtedly, of attacking that
post. This news was correct; and after a sharp skirmish outside of
that fort between (rage's Hill" and "Bloody pond," in which the

1 Johnson.

8 "Fort Gage" wasa small redoubt on the hill south of Fort William Henry. Its remain-.
can still (iqoo) plainly be seen.

286 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

British were successful, and after a brief investment of the fort, the
garrison surrendered themselves as prisoners of war, and the fort was
entirely destroyed.

Meanwhile, on the eleventh and twelfth Livingston was reinforced
by three hundred militia, but that officer, even with this additional
force, did not think himself sufficiently strong- to warrant an attack,
and the following day Carleton made good his retreat down Lake
Champlain. A few days afterward, more militia came to the relief of
Fort Edward; but General Van Rensselaer declared them "to have
been more interested on plundering- the public stores left at Fort
( > orge than on any other service." They were, therefore, very
quickly sent to their homes, while all but thirty of Livingston's men
also left at the same time declaring that their time had expired. 1 " On
the 1 6th and 17th Colonel Livingston learned from his scouting par-
ties that small parties of the enemy had been seen hovering around
Skeensborough, and on the latter day ( 1 7th) General Schuyler sent a
messenger to Livingston advising the evacuation of Fort Edward.
Accordingly, Livingston straightway fell back with his men to Sara-
toga, but, on the 24th, having received some additional reinforce-
ments, he returned to Fort Edward.""

The year following these invasions (1 78 1) brought with it no relax-
ation of Governor Clinton's vigilance. The air continued to be filled
with Indian alarms, and rumors of projected movements of the Brit-
ish were rife ; on the northern frontier, especially, another storm
seemed about to break. " The enemy's morning and evening guns
at Ticonderoga, " wrote Schuyler to General James Clinton, under
date of May 21st, 1781, ''have been distinctly heard near Fort Anne
for three or four days past." At the same time came equally alarm-
ing intelligence that an expedition, under Sir John Johnson, was
meditated against Pittsburg, while to render affairs still more com-
plicated, the troubles between New York State and the Green Moun-
tain Boys, on account of the New Hampshire Grants — which has been
discussed in full — and which, during the common peril had smoul-
dered, burst out afresh.

Nevertheless, with this raid of Carleton (just narrated) it may be

1 There is. however, much to be said on the side of these volunteer militia. For a full discus-
sion of this subject see a few chapters back.

2 The above account of Carleton's raid, says Johnson, is largely taken from an autograph
statement of Colonel Livingston preserved among the family papers in Columbia County. X. V.

NEW HAMPSHIRE GRANTS. 287

said that the alarms and dreadful sufferings of the people of Wash-
ington County came to an end, and after the treaty of Peace between
Great Britain and the United States three years afterward — thus en-
suring full security — those farmers who had been driven from their
hearths and firesides gradually returned and re-occupied their vacant
lands. Henceforth, left in peace and quietness to till their farms,
the county finally became one of the richest agricultural counties of
New York State.

A history of Washington (Charlotte) County would be incomplete
without a brief sketch of the circumstances under which it was set off
as a separate county. The present county of Washington, as I have
stated in my introductory chapter, was originally known as Char-
lotte, which, together with that part of Albany County now included
in Washington, was chief!}' settled by New Englanders and by
Scotch and others of foreign birth. The former, as a matter of course
had almost all adhered to the American cause, while many of the lat-
ter (though by no means all) were friendly to the King; and, as the
Americans were most of the time in possession of the territory in
question, the New Englanders were largely in the majority among
the dominant class. When afterwards Charlotte was claimed bv the
New Hampshire governor as a part of the " New Hampshire grants"
(patents for which had been given previously by Governor Went-
worth) that county became at once in dispute. In order, however,
that the reader may have a clear understanding of the events which
finally led up to the count)' becoming a part of New York State, an
account of the long and acrimonious discussion between the New
York and Vermont authorities which preceded it, is in place, and not
at all irrelevant.

Although the Vermonters had formed themselves into an indepen-
dent state government, the Legislature of New York still attempted
to assert its right of jurisdiction, although it made most liberal prof-
fers of compromise in regard to titles of lands — offering, indeed, even
to recognize those which had previously been in dispute. A procla-
mation to this effect, conceived in the most liberal spirit, had . been
issued by Governor Clinton in February, 177H, avowing, however, in
regard to the contumacious, "the rightful supremacy of New York
over their persons and property, as disaffected subjects." But like
every preceding effort, either of force or conciliation the present was

288 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

of no avail. Ethan Allen issued a counter proclamation to the people
of the Grants, and the work of their own independent organization
proceeded without serious interruption. They were the more en-
couraged to persevere in this course, from an impression that although
Congress could not then sanction proceedings in regard to New York
that were clearly illegal, the New England members and some of the
Southern also, would nevertheless not be very deep mourners at their
success.

It must be confessed that the action of Congress was such as to give
rise to unpleasant suspicions. " So long ago as the month of August
last," wrote Clinton to President Jay on the 7th of June, 1779, "I
remonstrated to Congress, through General Washington, on the con-
duct of Brigadier-General Starke, then commanding at Albany, for
receiving from the revolted subjects of this state several of whom
were among the most prominent citizens of Charlotte (Washington
County) who had been apprehended and destined to banishment by
Colonel Allen and his associates, and for detaining them under mili-
tary confinement. To this atrocious insult on the civil authority of
this state, Congress, though acquainted with it, has not to this day
thought proper to pay the least attention. Nor can I forbear observ-
ing that the present inattention of Congress on this point strikes me
with additional surprise, when I consider this is not the first instance
in which their officers of high rank have aimed a bold stab at the
honor and authority of this state." And, notwithstanding the contin-
ual remonstrances of Clinton Congress was in no haste, apparently, to
right New York. Finally Congress passed a resolution appointing a
c< >mmittee to visit the Grants, and confer with the Yermonters — in
short, what, at she present day would be called an "Investigating
Committee." This, however, was extremely distasteful to the New
York Legislature, and Clinton, more sensible than some of our states-
men (!) of the present day, protested strongly against it, on the
ground that " action and not talk," was what was needed. " However
pure," he added, "the intention of Congress may have been in this
resolution for appoir. ting a committee to confer with the revolted
citizens of this state [and be it remembered that a large portion of the
people of Charlotte County, was included in this] I am apprehensive
it will by no means produce the salutary effects for which I suppose
it was calculated." Still, although Clinton so wrote, it is evident that
fears of a combination against his own state gave the writer consider-

ANXIETY CONCERNING THE GRANTS. 289

able uneasiness. " I presume," the governor wrote again to the dele-
gates in Congress, "it is unnecessary to inform you that the Vermont
business is now arrived at a crisis, or to urge any arguments to induce
your utmost exertions in obtaining the sense of Congress without
delay. The Legislature will meet on Tuesday next and in the mean-
time I shall order the one thousand men, destined for the defence of
Fort Anne, Skeensborough and the frontiers in general, and also, to
complete the Continental battalions, to march to Brattleborough for
the protection of that and the adjacent towns, unless the interposition
of Congress shall render this measure unnecessary." And, on the
29th of October of the same year (1779) in a letter to James Dnane
from Poughkeepsie, he intimated that "in the event of a certain con-
tingency, the New York delegates would be withdrawn from Con-
gress, and the resources of the state, which have been so lavishly
afforded to the continent, be withheld for the defence of New York."
He also, in an earnest letter, called the attention of Washington to
the subject, saying very plainly that in view of the danger which
threatened New York, he "must request that your Excellency will be
pleased to give the necessary directions for returning within the state
the six brass 6 pounders, together with their apparatus, which the
state lent for the use of the army in 177'), as soon as possible." He
also, in the same letter severely commented upon the conduct of
Ethan Allen in seizing and imprisoning the civil and military officers
of New York State in the county of Cumberland and the Commander-
in-chief issued orders to General Schuyler to arrest him in the event
of certain contingencies. "The latter," says Mr. Lossing in his Life
of Schuyler, " shared in Clinton's apprehensions, and, on the ^ 1 st of
October he wrote to the governor as follows:

" The conduct of some people to the eastward is alarmingly mys-
terious. A flag, under the pretext of settling a cartel with Vermont,
has been on the Grants. Allen has disbanded his militia and the
enemy in number of sixteen hundred are rapidly advancing toward
us. * * * Entreat General Washington for more Continental
troops, and let me beg of your Excellency to hasten up here."

Meanwhile, the causes of irritation became more and more frequent
and exasperating, until in the year 1781 the parties were again on the
verge of open hostilities. The people of the Grants,, as they had
grown in strength had increased in arrogance, until they had extended

I 36 J

290 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

their claims to the Hudson river and it was no diminution of the per-
plexities of New York that strong' indications appeared in several of
the northern towns to which the people of the Grants had previously
interposed not even a shadow of a claim, of a disposition to go over to
Vermont. Among these wavering people were some of those of
Charlotte county — but they, for the present, were rather neutral —
until, as will hereafter be seen — they were forced to take a deter-
mined stand.

On the other hand. Governor Clinton, inflexibly determined to pre-
serve the disputed jurisdiction, was exerting himself to the utmost
for that object. In the spring of this year (1781) he transmitted a
special message to the Legislature, then sitting at Poughkeepsie, con-
taining important information respecting the designs of the Vermon-
ters, by which it appeared that Dr. Smith (a brother of the historian,
Joshua Hett Smith of Andre fame) was actively engaged in foment-
ing disaffection, and had held interviews with Ethan Allen, upon the
subject in Albany. Allen, it is true, pretended, at the time, that his
visit to Albany was solely for the purpose of waiting on the Governor
to receive his answer to a petition which the Vermonters had laid
before the Assembly ; but Clinton wisely mistrusted his errand and
refused either to see him or hold any intercourse with him whatever.
In order, moreover, to bring the question of jurisdiction to the test,
several persons, by the Governor's order, were arrested later in the
summer, within the territory of the Grants and within, also, what is
now Washington County under the pretext of some military delin-
quency. This proceeding was applying the brand to the powder.
Governor Clinton lost no time in writing to Captain Van Rensselaer
demanding the release of the prisoners taken from the Grants, assert-
ing their "determination to maintain the government they had set
up,." and threatening that, in the event of an invasion of the territory
of New York by the common enemy, unless these prisoners were
given up, they would render no assistance to Xew York. Nor was
this all. While the county was threatened by invasions from the
north and west, the spirit of the Vermont insurgents began to spread
among the militia in. the northern towns east of the Hudson, belong-
ing to General Gansevoort's own brigade. In fact the situation was,
at this time, most serious; for, on the one hand General Starke was
calling upon him for assistance against the enemy apparently ap-
proaching from Lake Champlain and Skeensborough, and on the

GENERAL GANSEVOORT'S PERPLEXITY. 291

other, Governor Clinton was directing him to quell the spirit of in-
subordination along- the line of the New Hampshire Grants,' and both
of these duties were to be discharged with a knowledge that a portion
of his own command was infected with the same insurgent spirit.
Added to this, he was privately informed that the Green Mountain
Boys were maturing a plot for his abduction. Meanwhile, the gov-
ernment of the Grants had effected an organization of their own
militia, and disclosures had been made to the government of New
York, imputing to the leading men of the Grants a design, in the
event of a certain contingency, of throwing the weight of their own
forces into the scale of the Crown. This was the position of affairs
when Governor Clinton addressed to General Gansevoort the follow-
ing letter:

•• I'm UHKKKKSIE, < >' I . I -, [781.

" 1 )ear Sir:

Your letter of the 15th instant, was delivered to me on the evening of the Kith.
I have delayed answering it, in hopes that the Legislature would ere this have
formed a quorum, and that 1 might have availed myself of their advice on the sub-
ject to which it relates; but as this is not yet the ease, and it is uncertain when I
shall lie enabled to lay the matter before them. I conceive it might be improper
longer to defer expressing my own sentiments to you on this subject.

" The different unwarrantable attempts, during the summer, of the people on
the Grants to establish their usurped jurisdiction, even beyond their former claim,
and the repetition of it (alluded to in your letter) in direct opposition to a resolution
of Congress injurious to the state and favorable to their project of independence,
and at a time when the common enemy are advancing, can only be accounted for
by what other parts of their conduct have given us too much reason to suspect
disaffection to the common cause. On my part, I have hitherto shown a disposi-
tion to evade entering into any altercation with them, that might, in its most re-
mote consequences, give encouragement to the enemy, and expose the frontier
settlements to their ravages; and from these considerations alone I have submitted
to insults which otherwise would not have been borne with, and I could have
wished to have continued this line of conduct until the approaching season would
have secured us against the incursions of the common enemy. But, as from the
accounts contained in Colonel Van Rensselaer's letter, it would appear that the mil-
itia embodying under Mr. Chittenden's orders are for the service of the enemy, and
that their first object was to make you a prisoner, it would be unjustifiable to suffer
them to proceed. It is therefore my desire that you maintain your authority
throughout your brigade, and for this purpose, that you carry the laws of the state

1 As I have'several times stated in the text, I wish it to be understood, that when I mention
the '• New Hampshire Grants" it takes in the present Washington County. Hence, this discussion,
as I have said, is bv no means irrelevant.

292 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

into execution against those who shall presume to disobey your lawful orders. I
would only observe that these sentiments are founded on an idea that the accounts
given by Colonel Van Rensselaer in his letter maybe relied on; it being still my
earnest desire, for the reasons above explained, not to do anything that will bring
matters to extremities, at least before the close of the campaign, if it can consis-
tently be avoided. * ' :: ' *

•• I am, with great respect and esteem,

" Dear sir, your most obedt. serv't.,

" ( rE< »rgj Clinton.
" Brig. Gen. Gansevoort.' '*

Tlic apprehension of Clinton was by no means groundless. Indeed,
there was, at this time, too much reason to fear that treason was
deeply and extensively at work, and from the tempers of great num-
bers of the people, and the carriage of the disaffected there was just
cause to dread that, should the enemy a^ain invade the country,
either from the north or the west his standard would be joined by
much larger numbers of people than would have rallied beneath it
at any former period. These fears, moreover, received additional
confirmation by the statements, under oath, of two prisoners who had
escaped from Canada in the autumn of the present year — John Edgar
and David Abeel. The substance of the statements of these men
was, that several of the leading men of the New Hampshire (Trains
(in which category many of the inhabitants of what is now Washing-
ton County should be included) were forming an alliance with the
King's officers in Canada. Among these leaders were Ethan Allen
and his brother Ira and the two Fays, and their consultations with
the British agents were sometimes held at Castleton, on the Grants
and sometimes in Canada. Mr. Abeel's information was that the
Grants were to furnish the King with fifteen hundred men, to be
under the command of Ethan Allen, who was then in Canada upon
that business. A third account, submitted to the New York Legisla-
ture at this time by Clinton, was somewhat different and more in de-
tail. In this paper, it was stated, " First, that the territory claimed
by the Vermonters should be formed into a distinct colon}" or govern-
ment; secondly, that the form of government should be similar to
that of Connecticut, save that the nomination of the governor should
be vested in the Crown; thirdly, that they should be allowed tore-
main neutral, unless the war should be carried within their own terri-

1 MS. letter, in the author's possession.

ETHAN ALLEN'S TREASONABLE DESIGNS. 293

tory; fourthly, they were to raise two battalions, to be in the pay of
the Crown, but to be called into service only for the defense of the
colony: and fifthly, they were to be allowed a free trade with Canada.
General Haldimand had not deemed himself at liberty to decide defin-
itely upon propositions of so much importance, and had, accordingly,
transmitted them to England for the Royal consideration. 1 An answer
was then expected. Such was the purport of the intelligence, and
such, moreover, was the weight of the testimony, that Governor
Clinton did not hesitate to assert that they "'proved a treasonable and
dangerous intercourse and connection between the leaders of the
revolt in the northeastern part of the state and the common enemy."

Indeed, Governor Clinton was entirely correct in his surmises; and
there can be no question that both Ethan Allen and his brother Ira.
had in contemplation the turning over of the present State of Vermont
and Washington Count}' to the British, and no sophistry on the part
of Slade and other historians of Vermont will shake this belief. En-
deed, if space permitted, this statement could very easily be proved,
but as I have it not at my disposal the reader mast be satisfied with my
statement. The fact is, that Ethan Allen, like Arnold, who did at the
outset, so much for the Colonial cause, was, like him, read}' to sell out
to Great Britain — and was actually as much of a traitor as Arnold—
though the latter, having so much of theatrical display, was painted
on the canvass of history as the monster of all the Revolution."

The Legislature of the Grants assembled at Charleston, N. II., in
October, about which time General St. Leger, agreeably to an arrang-
ment with Allen and Fay, ascended the lake with a strong force to
Ticonderoga, where he rested. Meanwhile, a rumor of the capture of
Cornwallis and his army at Yorktown had such an effect upon the
Vermonters as to cause Allen and Fay to write to the British Com-
missioners, with St. Leger, that it would be imprudent at that partic-
ular juncture to promulgate the Royal proclamation, and urging delay
to a more auspicious moment. The messenger with these despatches
had not been longer than an hour at the headquarters of St. Leger at

1 Canadian archives. First series.

- Xor were Allen and Arnold the only ones who showed the white feather! Even Duchow,
the Chaplain of the Continental Congress, wrote to Washington (then at Valley Forge) urging him
to go over to the British cause '

294 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Ticonderoga ' before the rumor respecting Cornwallis was confirmed

by an "Express." All ideas of further operations in that quarter
were, therefore, instantly abandoned, and before evening of the same
day, St. Leger's troops were re-embarked, and, with a fair wind he
sailed immediately baek to St. Johns.

With the return of St. Leger to St. Johns, all active operations
eeased with the enemy at the north, but the difficulties of the state
government with the New Hampshire Grants were on the increase
and the controversy ran so high that by the first of December (1781)
an insurrection broke out in the regiments of Colonel John Van
Rensselaer and Colonel Henry K. Wan Rensselaer in the northeastern
towns of the state. These disturbances arose in Sehaghticoke, Hoosic,
St. Coick's and the parts adjacent (viz. Washington County) belong-
ing then to the County of Albany, but claimed by the government of
the Grants. General Gansevoort was apprised of the insurrection the
fifth. He at once directed Colonels Yates 3 and H. K. Van Rensselaer
whose regiments at that time were the least disaffected, to collect
such troops as they could, and repair to St. Coick's to the assistance of
Col. John Van Rensselaer. An express being dispatched to Clinton, at
Poughkeepsie, with the news and a request for directions what course
to pursue in the emergency, the return of the messenger brought
very explicit orders from the indomitable governor. " I perfectly
approve of your conduct," wrote Clinton, " and have only to add that,
should the force already detached prove insufficient to cpiell the in-
surrection, you will make such additions to it as to render it effectual.
I have transmitted to General Robert Van Rensselaer the information
and have directed him. in case it should be necessary on your appli-
cation to give assistance from his brigade." Although the fact had
not been stated in the dispatches forwarded to Governor Clinton, that
the movement had originated in the Grants, yet the governor was at
no loss at once to attribute it to the "usurped q;overnment of that
pretended state," and it was his resolute determination, as he ex-

1 Should the reader like to hear more of St. Leger, he is referred to my " Burgoyne's Cam-
paign," and his subsequent career is really worth a perusal.

- This word " Express" which occurs so frequently in this, and contemporary histories, has
not the significance of the present meaning. It was confined to a messenger — whether Indian or
White — who undertook to break through the enemy's lines and carry the intelligence thus sent
forth.

3 The great-grandfather of lion. Austin A. Yatesof Schenectady. X. V.. a well known lawyer

of that city.

CLINTON FAILS TO SUBDUE THE GRANTS. 295

pressed it, to oppose force to force, and in regard to the Grants,
themselves to "repel force by force." On the 16th, the day after
receiving: Clinton's instructions, Gansevoort took the field himself, 1
repairing', in the first instance to the headquarters of Starke at Fort
Edward, in order to obtain a detachment of troops and a field piece.
Rut Starke was lukewarm; his troops, he said, were too naked to
move from their quarters, and he pleaded the impropriety of his in-
terfering 1 without an order from General Heath." Gansevoort then
crossed over to the east side of the river in order to arouse the militia
in Hoosic. His efforts, however, were fruitless. None of the militia
responded, and only eighty men could be depended or. out of the four
regiments of Yates, Henry K. Van Rensselaer and Van Vechten.
Instead of the latter regiment, only the Colonel, a few officers and
one private could be prevailed on to march. Under these discourag-
ing circumstances, Gansevoort was compelled to relinquish the expe-
dition, and the insurgents — among them as 1 have said, and to their
shame be it recorded, the people of Washington County — remained
the victors, to the no small terror of those of the loyal inhabitants,
who were well disposed, inasmuch as they were apprehensive of being
taken prisoners and carried away, as had been the case with others,
should they refuse to take the oath of allegiance to the government
of Vermont. But, although Clinton had thus failed to subdue the
sturdy mountaineers — a task that the Colonial governors of Xew York
before him for thirty years had been unable to accomplish — his ill-
success was owing to the force of circumstances, and not to lack of
ability. His position, during all of this controversy, had been most
trying, for this trouble with the Vermonters was, in effect, a serious
insurrection within his own state, calling for his closest attention,
occurring, too, at a time when he was endeavoring by ever}' possible
means to assist the general government in her war against the com-
mon enemy. This fact was recognized by Washington who, through-
out the war, and to the close of his life, continued to place implicit
confidence in Clinton's judgment. Nor, were these marks of confi-
dence merely of respect to his professional opinions. The cordial
regard in which he was held by the Commander-in-chief is shown,

' -MS Letter from Gansevoort in the author's possession.

- While it goes without saying that no suspicion whatever of treachery can be alleged against
Starke, yet it is evident that he had been tinged with sympathy for Allen and Fa)

296 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

not only by the solicitude with which the latter watched over the
safety of his person, but in the circumstance, that almost his first act
on retiring into private life, was to write to him as one upon whose
ctionate sympathy he could rely. "The scene, my dear friend,"
said he in a letter to Clinton, written three days after his arrival at
Mount Vernon, " is at length closed. I feel myself eased of a load of
public care and hope to spend the remainder of my days in cultivating
the affections of good men. and in the practice of the domestic vir-
tues.' -1

Meanwhile, during all of this acrimonious controversy which has
been just narrated, the people of Charlotte County very naturally, in
puzzled bewilderment, were anxious to know what would be their
status — whether, their county would ultimately belong to Vermont or
New York. 2

But upon one thing they were resolved, viz. : to have the name of
the county changed, and for the reason that the long and bloody
struggle of the Revolutionary war, with its accompaniments of inva-
sion, rapine, house-burning and Indian outrage, had very naturally
caused most bitter feelings among the people against everything
which savored in the least of English name or origin. " Even the
name of Queen Charlotte," says a writer, "was not agreeable to the
inhabitants of Charlotte County, whose farms had been devastated by
Queen Charlotte's husband." Still more odious was the name of
Tryon County — derived from the tyrannical and blood-thirsty governor
of New York whose raids upon the defenceless towns of Connecticut
on the Sound were yet held in shuddering horror — to the settlers of
the Mohawk valley, who had been subjected to pillage and massacre
during all of the war by Tories and Indians in British employ. Ac-
cordingly, on the second day of April, 17S4, the New York Legisla-
ture, in compliance with a petition signed by the most representative
men of these two counties, passed an act changing the two names just
mentioned. This act was a model of brevity and precision (which, by
the way, it might be well for the Assemblyman of the present day to
copy) and. after the enacting clause, read as follows:

1 Autograph letter of General Washington formerly in my possession.

- Indeed, had these good pi >ple of Charlotte county been accustomed to the slang of the
present day, they undoubtedly would have expressed their feelings in that inelegant, though
very expressive phrase, " Where are we at ? "

COUNTY FIRST NAMED WASHINGTON. 297

" From and after the passage of this act, the County of Tyron shall
be known by the name of Montgomery and the County of Charlotte
by the name of Washington."

"Thus," says Johnson, "the most honored appellation known to
Americans was conferred upon this county. The name was not as
common then as now and we believe this is the oldest Washington
County in the United States— a veritable patriarch with nearly forty
namesakes among counties, besides an almost countless host of
towns, villages and post offices." In the same year also (1784), the
township of Hartford was formed from Westfield (now Fort Ann)
and the settlement of Dresden was begun.

The doubts of the people of Washington County, however, regard-
ing to which state they were finally to belong were soon set at rest.
Vermont, in 1790, overawed by public opinion, "drew in her horns,"
and yielding to New Hampshire her right of exercising her jurisdic-
tion over all the towns east of the Connecticut river, she, though not
very gracefully, made it known that the management by New York
state of Charlotte and Albany counties would not be interfered with.
In the same year the long drawn out contest between New York and
the New Hampshire Grants was finally settled. Governor Clinton,
as stated, having completely failed in his efforts to extend the author-
ity of his state over the Green Mountain Boys, made a virtue of
necessity, and on the 6th of March a law was passed by the New
York Legislature ceding to Vermont "all claim to political jurisdic-
tion and also to ownership of the land within that state, and appoint-
ing commissioners to meet with others from Vermont and settle the
boundaries between the two states."

This commission met in the following October, and agreed on a
boundary, "beginning at the northeast corner of Massachusetts and
running thence northerly along the western bounds of the towns of Pow-
nal, Bennington, Shaftsbury, Arlington, Sandgate, Rupert, Wells and
Poultney, as then held, to the Poultney river; thence down the middle
of the deepest channel of Poultney river to East Bay, and thence
down the middle of East Bay and Lake Champlain to the forty-fifth
parallel of north latitude. It will thus be seen that this boundary
forms the southwest corner of Salem northward to Clinton county,
and also forms the eastern boundary of Washington County. It was
further agreed by the commissioners that "Vermont should pay to

[37]

298 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

New York the sum of $30,000, to be divided among those who had
lost by buying land from New York within the disputed territory. "
This was but a small fraction of the value of the lands patented by
the New Yorkers, but, as has been remarked, " it probably served as a
salve to the wounded dignity of the state." ' " Chancing to have met
with a list of the civil officers of Washington County for 1790," says
Johnson in his admirable history of that county, "we reproduce
here, as it is, perhaps, the only complete list which has come down
from the last century — most of the early papers of the Board having
been destroyed. It is as follows: Salem, Hamilton McCollister; Ar-
gyle, William Reed; Queensbury (now in Warren County) William
Roberts; Kingsbury, Seth Allen; Westfield (Fort Anne) George
Wray; Whitehall, Cornelius Jones; Hampton, John How; Granville,
Timothy Leonard; Hebron, John Hamilton."

In 1 79 1 Vermont was finally admitted into the Union as one of the
original thirteen states, "thus putting the seal of Federal authority
on the settlement arrived at this year," Washington County thus be-
came a border county along all of its great length. By the same act, .
the town of Cambridge, comprising the present towns of Jackson and
White Creek, was transferred to Washington County; while that part
of the towns of Saratoga and Stillwater, lying east of the Hudson, was
formed into a new town, by the name of Easton, and was also an-
nexed to Washington. " We do not know," says Johnson, " but we
imagine very strongly that these transfers were managed by General
John Williams of Salem, then an influential member of the State Sen-
ate, so as to strengthen the south end of the county, and get the coun-
ty seat permanently fixed at Salem." "At all events," continues
Johnson, " that same year a petition was circulated asking the Legis-

1 The last two clauses of the act, passed by the Vermont Legislature, October 28, 1790, read as
follows : " It is hereby enacted by the general assembly of the state of Vermont, that the people
of the state of Vermont on or before the 1st day of June, 179+. pay the state of New York $30,000.

"And it is hereby further enacted that all grants, charters or patents of land lying within
the state of Vermont, made by or under the government of the late colony of New York — except
such grants, charters or patents, made by, or under the government of the late province of New
Hampshire — are hereby declared null and void, and incapable of being given in evidence, in any
court of law within the state." Slade's " Vermont State Papers."

The money received from Vermont was divided in 1799 among the New York claimants, from
which it would appear as if the " Ring" — for they had " Rings" in that day also— received the
bulk of the award. Thus, Goldsborough Banyar of Albany (an old friend of Sir William Johnson),
.and a large landed proprietor in Cambridge received $7,218, while the settler, Charles Hutchins,
whose lands had been seized, and his house destroyed by Ethan Allen and his band, received
■$9.98. The other residents of Washington County benefitted by the fund were Ebenezer Clarke,
$37.42; Archibald Campbell, $49.91, and Samuel Stevens, $653.63.

BOUNDS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY ESTABLISHED. 299

lature to fix the county-seat at Salem, and to authorize the building
of a court-house and jail at that point, there having been no county
buildings previous to that time." Fort Edward and the neighboring
towns, as a matter of course, resisted this movement. Edward Sav-
age of Salem (father of the celebrated Chief Justice Savage) and also
a State Senator at the same time was, as might be inferred, greatly
opposed to such a change. But, while Salem and Fort Edward were
thus struggling for the honors of the county-seat, some of the river
people desired to have it located at Fort Miller. The Legislature,
however, avoided a decision by a device so frequently resorted to since
that time, and at length, permanently incorporated in the law — that
is, they authorized the Board of Supervisors to fix the locality. The
Board accordingly met and located the county-seat at Salem.

It was not, however, until 1812 that the exact line of Washington
County was finally settled by commissioners from both states. The
New York commissioners were Smith Thompson, Simeon de Witt
and 'George Tibbitts, 1 and with this act the long dispute between New
York and Vermont may be said to have ended. The following year,,
moreover, the boundaries and status of Washington County were per-
manently fixed, for on the 12th of March, 18 13, the County of Warren
was established. This reduced the area of Washington County to the
limits which it has ever since retained. It also brought the county-
seat at Sandy Hill, within a mile of the county line; but as the court-
house was already built, that location has been able to hold its ground
against all rivals ever since.

1 See Notes to New York Session Laws, April 15, 1814.

300 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

CHAPTER XX.

1 791 — 1810.

Settlers ok Washington County Resume Their Regular Vocations — The Ca
Which Led to the Changing of the County Seat From Fort Edward to Sandy
Hill — Amusing Anecdotes Regarding this Chance — Extracts from President
Dwight's Journal of His Tours Through Washington County in 1S06 and 1810
— His Vivid Description of the Social Status of Argyle and Cambridge from
Observations Derived from His Visit — The Statistics Given Being of a Most
Valuable and Interesting Character.

After the Revolutionary War, no exciting incidents- — -that is of un-
usual moment — occurred in Washington County for many years. Of
course there were many local events which were of interest to the
people of the county and, also, many political squabbles and un-
seemly wrangles in the elections from time to time of judges, senators
and assemblymen; but, s as a general rule, the settlers, thoroughly ex-
hausted by the border warfare so long prevailing, were content to till
their farms and smoke their pipes under their own vines and fig trees
after the day's work was done — leaving to a few politicians the politi-
cal work of the county. A few men of more than usual enterprise,
and actuated by a most commendable public spirit, endeavored, it is
true, to increase the wealth of Washington County by originating
various schemes, nearly all of which, from the causes I have stated —
viz. : the stoical indifference of the farmers — were total failures. Of
these different enterprises, however, perhaps the most noteworthy
was one to improve the navigation of Wood Creek, by constructing a
short canal so that the waters of the Hudson together with those of
Lake Champlain might be connected; and towards this end, a very
earnest effort was made by its promoters. Accordingly, " The North-
ern Inland Lock Navigation Company" was incorporated — General
Schuyler being one of the chief stockholders. General Williams, who
had bought, it will be remembered, the escheated estate of Major
Skeene of Whitehall, was also an active member and director of this
" Xorthern Company." The latter began operations and, in June,
1794, went so far as to advertise for proposals " for cleaning Halfway
Brook from the present landing place to its juncture with Wood Creek

CONTEMPT OF ADIEL SHERWOOD. 301

from the junction aforesaid to the entrance of the canal at White-
hall." Owing, however, to a want of capital the company were
obliged to stop work, and the desired communication was not made
until more than thirty years later.

But the good people of Washington County had at this time plenty
of gossip with which to while away their extra leisure. Thus, quite
an amusing anecdote is told by Johnson as to the manner in which
the permanent county-seat was changed from Fort Edward to Sandy
Hill. He says: "In 1796, a term of court was held, as one had been
each year for nine years, at the hotel of Adiel Sherwood, at Fort Ed-
ward. This gentleman, who, it will be remembered, was the same
who commanded as Captain at Fort Anne, in 1780, now united the
glittering dignity of a Lieutenant-colonel of militia with the humble
duties of a village tavern-keeper. The court appears to have been
held in his dining-room. One day, as the dinner hour approached.
Colonel Sherwood, who had, perhaps, become disgruntled at some-
thing the honorable court had done, abruptly entered the room and
peremptorily ordered the judges to vacate it, as he desired to have the
table set for dinner.

"Judges were important personages then, and, as has been stated,
the judges of Washington County were its most prominent citizens.
That, after having been allowed to set up their court in a room they
should be thus dictatorially ordered out of it, even by a Lieutenant-
colonel of militia, was almost enough to paralyze them with horror
and indignation. Sherwood, however, made so much ado that the
court adjourned for the time being; but, at their next session, they
proceeded to make a signal example of this irreverent offender. The
record reads as follows: ' Adiel Sherwood, having been guilty of con-
tempt, it is ordered that the said Adiel Sherwood be committed to the
common jail of Washington County for the space of fifteen days.' "

"It is highly probable that this contempt of Colonel Sherwood had
an important effect on the county-seat question, for three of the in-
sulted judges were then Senators and, although the courts had been
held at his house for nine years, at the very next session of the Legis-
lature the place of holding them was changed to the hotel of Mary
Dean, in Sandy Hill. The consequence has been that Sandy Hill
has been a county seat ever since and Fort Edward has not."

It would seem, moreover, that the question of good roads attracted
as much of the public attention then as at the present time, though

302 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

there was then no organization of " Bicyclists " to petition the Legis-
lature, and by their votes threaten with dire displeasure and non-
election to office all men who refused to vote as they dictated. By a
law passed in March, 1799, the general management of the roads in
the county was vested in three superintendents of highways, appointed
by the council of appointment. To these superintendents appeals lay
from the town commissioners. Still another important movement
in regard to highways was the beginning of turnpikes. " The North-
ern Turnpike Company," the first operated within this county, was
incorporated on the 1st day of April, 1799. It had for its object the
building of a turnpike from Lansingburgh, through Cambridge,
Salem and Hebron, to the house of Hezakiah Searling in the town of
Granville, and among its directors were William Hay, Edward Wells,
Jr., David Long, Martin Van Buskirk, John Williams and Edward
Savage. The company immediately went to work and not only built
the road to the designated point, but continued it northward, through
Hampton, to the state line, connecting with a similar road to Bur-
lington, Vermont. This company also built a branch from Salem
northwestward to the state line, and another from Granvilie to White-
hall.

DR. DWIGHT'S TOURS IN WASHINGTON COUNTY IN 1806—

1810.

Perhaps the most instructive means of obtaining an insight into
the physical and social conditions of any county is by reading the
travels of persons who have been through it, especially if they are
men of shrewdness of observation and honesty of purpose. It is for
this reason, that I now present to the reader two accounts of tours
through Washington County made respectively in 1806 and 18 10, by
that distinguished traveller and educator, Timothy Dwight, perhaps
the most illustrious of all Yale's presidents. I am sure, also, that the
Washington County reader — if he has been in rapport with me through
all of this history — will appreciate the following extracts from Presi-
dent Dwight's Travels — more especially, as the work has, for very
man) T years, been out of print, and is now very difficult of access — it
being found in only a very few private and public libraries. They
will be found of intense interest and well worth careful perusal.

TRAVEL'S OF PRESIDENT DWIGHT. 303

President Dwight, therefore, regarding his tour through Washing-
ton County, in 1806, writes as follows: '

"From Fair Haven we entered the township of Hampton, Wash-
ington County, in the state of New York. Our road lay along Pult-
ney [sic] river, through a succession of beautiful intervals, divided
into a number of valuable farms and ornamented by several neat
houses. The hill immediately west of this river is also near its
northern termination, an elegant piece of ground, well cultivated and
crowned in a picturesque manner by a church on its summit. The
mouth of Pultney river forms East Bay, one of the southern ter-
minations of Lake Champlain, and the principal part of the southern
boundary of Fair Haven. The other parts of the township of Hamp-
ton are rough and disagreeable. In 1790 this township contained
463 inhabitants; in 1800, 700, and in 1810, 820.

"In the year 1806 we crossed Pultney river, about nine or ten
miles from Granville. * * * This place, which is situated imme-
diately south of Hampton, is a much pleasanter and better township
than Pultney. A considerable part of it lies on the branches of the
Pawlet river, which has its origin in Dorset, in the county of Rut-
land, Vt., and empties its waters into Lake Champlain at South Bay.
The houses are built in a scattered manner, yet there is a small vil-
lage, principally on the eastern side of one of these branches. Its
general appearance is that of moderate thrift. It presents a fine view
of the range of mountains between Lake Champlain and Lake
George. A revival of religion took place here in 1806.

" Granville, like most other townships in the state of New York, is
extensive, and contained in 1790, 2,240 inhabitants; in 1800, 3,175,
and in 1810, 3,717.

"We dined at Granville, and after dinner rode through Westfield
[now Fort Ann] and Kingsbury to Sandy Hill. Westfield is a very
large and unpleasant tract of land. The soil is chiefly clay, and in-
differently fertile, the surface composed of hills and valleys, devoid of
beauty, the settlements recent and thinly scattered, the houses chiefly
log huts, and the inhabitants poor and unthrifty. 2 To complete the
dullness of this tract, the few streams which we saw were exactly

1 These extracts, as will be seen, give some very valuable statistics.

2 It is very pleasant to note in this connection, that the course of years has brought a decided
change in this regard— the inhabitants of Westfield (Fort Ann) being now among the most
thrifty people of Washington County.

304 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY

like those mentioned in the description of Addison and Bridport [in
Vermont.] Most of them were successions of puddles, lying in a
loathsome bed of clay between steep, ragged banks, and of the color
of dirty suds. So offensive were these waters that, although dis-
tressed with heat and thirst, our horses, whenever they approached
them in order to drink, suddenly drew back with indications of dis-
gust. A person accustomed only to the limpid streams of New Eng-
land can form no conception of the disagreeableness of this fact. We
ourselves suffered from it greatly, for although parched with thirst
and faint with the unusual heat, we were unable, for a great distance,
to find anything which we could drink.

" Westfield contained in 1790, 2,103 inhabitants; * n 1800, 2,502, and
in 1810, 3, 1 10.

" In this tract we crossed Wood Creek and entered the Skeensbor-
ough road, about eight miles below that village. We had taken this
circuitous route to avoid that settlement, which we were told was
distressed with sickness. For some time our road lav along- the
northern bank of this stream and became much more agreeable, par-
ticularly as we were sheltered by a continued forest from the intense
beams of the sun.

"About a mile before we arrived at Fort Anne, [that is, the village]
over a' hill, jutting into the creek [Wood Creek] named ' Battle-hill.'
Here the Americans, retreating before the army of General Burgoyne,
attacked a British regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Hill,
with great spirit and would probably have taken or destroyed the
whole corps had they not been deceived into a belief that their ene-
mies had received a reinforcement. 1

" At the village of Fort Anne we stopped to examine the spot where
the fortification, formerly known by this name, was erected. It was
built in order to facilitate an intended expedition against Canada in
1709, and stood just at the bend where the eastern course of the creek
commences. It was merely an enclosure of strong palisades, suffi-
cient, however, to check the savages in their incursions from South
Bay upon Hudson River. For canoes and batteaux the creek is navi-
gable to this spot. The stumps of the palisades, if I may so call them,
were still remaining, and recalled to my mind some of the painful

1 For a detailed account of this action the reader is referred to the chapter treating upon this
battle.

BURGOYNE'S MILITARY ROAD. 305

impressions which it had received concerning" Indian ravages in the
years of childhood.

"The village of Fort Anne is built chiefly on a single street, run-
ning from north to south. The houses are recently, and for so new a
settlement, neatly built. The inhabitants hope that this will here-
after be a place of considerable business.

" From Fort Anne to Sandy Hill, ten miles, the soil is principally
clay. About three miles of the road are causeyed [causewayed] with
logs, [we call them now "corduroy-roads" —a work of immense
labor, performed, if we may trust public accounts, by the army of
General Burgoyne; but, as I was told on the spot, by the American
army. I have also been repeatedly told, and I presume with truth,
that this cause}- [causeway] was built by the British and Provincial
troops in the last Canadian war. 1 The ground is so miry that an army
could not have passed over it without a causey. In the Revolutionary
war, the Americans probably repaired it, and the soldiers of General
Burgoyne may have added to the repairs. The state of the ground
has been also exhibited as so savage and difficult, so broken with
creeks and marshes, that the army of General Burgoyne could hardly
advance more than a mile in "a day. There is not a single stream here
of any importance. It is further said, that this army was obliged to
construct no less than forty bridges. The word 'bridges,' here must.
however, denote little passages over rills of the smallest magnitude,
for there is not a single bridge, of any size on the road. Even with
this explanation, the number must be doubled, if not tripled. The
principal difficulty found here by General Burgoyne was, I presume,
this: the Americans in their retreat felled as many trees as they could
across the road, and the army was obliged to take this road because
there was no other. To the British soldiers, who were unskilled in
cutting timber, the removal of these obstructions must have been a
very laborious and difficult work. Had there not been a causey here
before this period, the Americans, themselves, could not have passed
through this country, for the marsh and the forest must have ob-
structed their passage as much as the British. But, as they are accus-

1 Dr. Dwight, or rather his informant, is here in error. As I have shown in my chapters on
Burgoyne's Campaign, all of these roads— extending down to Stillwater, were built through the
woods by Burgoyne's skillful engineers — and as I then stated, all of these roads used at the pres-
ent day, follow out precisely those made through the primeval forest by Burgoyne's army.

I 38 j

30G WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

tomed to labors of this nature, they think little of them. Hence,
before General Burgoyne marched through this tract, the world never
heard anything concerning the tremendous obstacles, which here so
formidably opposed the progress of an army.' As to the savage na-
ture of the place, there is a marsh here, not a whit more embarrassing
than marshes generally are; and the forest, elsewhere, is much less
shaggy and difficult than a great part of American forests. The
causey is in tolerable preservation and with an additional covering of
earth would furnish a pleasant road.

" Kingsbury is a large township, containing, besides other settle-
ments, two villages. Kingsbury and Sandy Hill. The village of
Kingsbury is built on high ground, sloping handsomely towards the
southeast. From twenty to thirty houses are assembled here, if I do
not misremember, around a small, decent church. Their appearance
indicates that the inhabitants are in comfortable circumstances. An
extensive and in some respects interesting prospect is presented on
this spot to the eye of the traveller.

" Sandy Hill lies about five miles from Kingsbury on the Hudson,
where that river, terminating its eastern course, makes a remarkable
bend to the south, a direction which it follows from this place to the
ocean. The site of the village is a pine plain, elevated from one hun-
dred to two hundred feet above the bed of the river. It contains,
perhaps, twenty houses, several of them neat. The two great roads,
from the eastern side of Lake Champlain and the western side of
Lake George, in their progress towards New York, unite here and
make it a place of frequent resort and some trade. It is often visited
by gentlemen and ladies in their excursions to Lake George ; a scene
of pre-eminent beauty, which I shall have occasion to describe more
particularly hereafter. We lodged in a miserable inn, the proprietor
of a much better one being occupied in building a house, and there-
fore, unable to receive us.

"In 1790 Kingsbury contained 1, 120 inhabitants; in 1800, 1,651, and
in 1810, 2,272. •

1 This account by President Dwight would seem rather to belittle the herculean efforts or
Schuvler to retard the British march, as related in a previous chapter. Still, it should be remem-
bered, that even Dwight was, as a New England man, greatly prejudiced against any good com-
ing out of New Vork !

. GLENS FALLS IN 1806. 307

"Thursday, October 4th, 1806, we left Sandy Hill 1 and rode two
miles and a half up the Hudson to see the cataract called, from a res-
pectable man living- in the neighborhood, Glen's Falls. The road to
this spot passes along the north bank of the river.

"The rock over which the Hudson descends at this place, is a vast
mass of blue lime-stone, horizontally stratified, and, I believe, exactly
resembles that which produces the Falls of Niagara." How far this
stratum extends northward and westward I am ignorant. Down the
river it reaches certainly as far as Fort Edward.

" The river at this place runs due east and is forty rods in breadth.
Almost immediately above the cataract is erected a dam, eight or ten
feet in height, for the accommodation of a long train of mills on the
north, and a small number on the south bank. Below the dam. the
mass of limestone extends, perhaps thirty or forty rods down the mid-
dle of the stream, leaving a channel on each side. That on the north
is about one-third of the breadth of the river; that on the south, wmere
narrowest, is perhaps a tenth and, where widest, is divided into two
by another part of the rock. The breadth of both, taken altogether,
is not far from that of the north channel.

"The part of this rock which is nearest to the dam, is washed by
the stream, and its surface is wrought everywhere into small figures
resembling shells. 3 A short distance below the dam it is covered
with earth for about twelve or fifteen rods each way and, to a consid-
erable extent, with pines and underwood. Below the road which,
between the bridges, crosses this ground, the rock is divided into two
arms, with a deep channel between them hollowed out by the stream
and by the weather. One bridge crosses the north channel and two
the south, in a direction from northwest to southeast.

" The perpendicular descent of the water at this place is seventy
feet. The forms in which it descends are various, beyond those of

1 Although, it may not be entirely germane to speak of this, yet I cannot refrain, in this con-
nection, to say a word regarding the late Mrs. Charles Stone of Sandy Hill — who was ever — and,
perhaps, more than any other resident of that place, specially interested in everything relating to
the historical reminiscences of that village. As I have said before, in my account of Jane
McCrea, she gave me much information, and I only deeply regret that she is not living to read
this history and my acknowledgment of her labors.

2 In this the writer errs. The Glens Falls formation is the Trenton and the Niagara is a much
later limestone.

:i These do nut resemble shells. They are veritable shells— showing that the ocean, at one time,
covered all of this part of the continent. Mr. C. C. Lester and myself have a number of these
fossils in our cabinets.

308 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

any other cataract within my knowledge. All the conceivable grada-
tions of falling water, from the mighty torrent to the showery jet
d'eau, are here united in a wonderful and fascinating combination.
In the channel on the north side, twenty rods in breadth near the
dam and about twelve at the bridge, the greatest mass of water des-
cends in four principal streams, divided by three large prominences
of the rock, and in several small ones. The prevailing appearance
here is that of sublimity, as the river descends either in great sheets
or violent torrents. There are, however, several fine cascades in this
compartment, and the effect of the whole is not a little increased by
innumerable streams, torrents and jets from the long succession of
mills on the north shore.

" The southern division of this scene is, however, a still finer object
than the northern. On the north side of this channel the river has
worn a ragged, perpendicular chasm through the rock, about thirty
feet in breadth, eight or ten rods in length and fifty or sixty feet in
depth. Through this opening pours a single torrent in a mass of
foam, and is joined by ten or twelve currents, rushing from the south-
ern side with every variety of foam, and with a beauty and magnifi-
cence incapable of being described.

"On the eastern part of the island, below the road, the water has
worn three passages beneath the surface quite through the rocky
points which border the channel mentioned above ; two through the
northern arm of the island, and one through the southern. These
passages are about three rods in length, and sufficiently wide and
high for a man to pass conveniently through them. The surface of
the rock above them is smooth and entire. I was at a loss to conceive
what cause has produced these passages, as their direction was exactly
at right angles with the current. In the year 1802, when I visited
these falls the third time, I found a fourth passage, cut through one
of the same arms, in all respects similar to those which I have men-
tioned. If it existed at all in the year 1798, it was so small that it
was not only unobserved by us, but had never been discovered by any
of the neighboring inhabitants. So remarkable a fact induced me to
search for the cause, and I soon became satisfied. This stratum of
limestone, by means of the obliquity of other streets, the eye receives
no impression of regularity. The houses [i. e. Fort Edward] are
chiefly ancient structures of brick, in the Dutch style, the roofs sharp;

SARATOGA TO SANDY HILL. 309

the ends toward the street and the architecture uncouth. 1 A great
number of them have but one story. There are three churches here,
a Dutch, a Presbyterian and an Episcopal — all of them ordinary build-
ings. The town [Fort Edward] is compact, and one or two of the
streets are paved. The number of inhabitants in this township was
in 1790, 4,228 and in 1800, 5,289."

In 18 10, four years afterward, President D wight again passed
through Washington County of which tour he writes as follows:

"The journey from Saratoga to Sandy Hill is very pleasant, ex-
cept that the road is indifferent in many places; apart of it being
heavily encumbered with mud, and another part with sand. The
face of the country is very similar to that, which I have already des-
cribed.

" Several of the intervals which we passed on this part of our jour-
ney, exhibit strong proofs of the manner in which they were formed.
A bare inspection of them evinced beyond debate, that they were at
first islands, which rose above the surface at some distance from the
bank and were gradually extended toward it. The part which finally
united each to the bank was last formed, and continued to be a chan-
nel to the stream longer than any other spot on the interval. Accord-
ingly, this part of these grounds was almost without an exception
lower than the rest.

" Before the year 1783 there were few settlements in this region.
The expedition of General Burgoyne obliged the inhabitants to fly,
destroyed their buildings and fences, and plundered them of their
cattle and their property. Since that event, the number of planters
has greatly increased, and they have greatly advanced in prosperity
and wealth. Northumberland, however, is still in an infant state;
many of the houses being built of logs, the fields imperfectly cleared,
the girdled trees remaining, and the enclosures formed of logs and
rubbish. These proofs of a recent settlement will soon vanish and be
followed by a superior cultivation.

" Three miles above Carpenter's stood Fort Miller — a small picketed
work, built in 1756 or 1757 to check the incursions of the Savages.
Its remains have almost disappeared" and the spot where it stood is

1 What will our friends of Fort Edward say to this !
- Not quite, as they are still (1900) plainly to be traced.

310 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

now a cornfield. 1 At this place there is a sprightly fall in the Hud-
son, down which General Putnam is said to have descended in a small
boat. Opposite this spot General Burgoyne spent nearly two months
in his long journey from Skeensborough to Saratoga.

'•' We crossed the Hudson at Dumont's Ferry, and through a road
in the township of Argyle, extremely miry, made our way to Fort
Edward where we stopped some time to examine the works. -

" Fort Edward is distant from Albany forty-seven miles and from
New York two hundred and three. A small, scattered, lean looking
village is built in the neighborhood. 3

" From Fort Edward to Sandy Hill (three miles) the road, after
ascending a long acclivity, passes over the plain on which that village

is built. The evening I spent with Judge H , a member of the

senate of this state. This gentleman gave me much useful informa-
tion concerning the surrounding country and its inhabitants.

" Saturday, October 12, [18 10] Messrs. C and H left us and

proceeded to Lake George. Mr. D and myself, intending to

return to Carpenter's in the evening, stopped at Glens Falls, three
miles on the road. It rained all night, and until ten in the morning.
We were therefore late, and after spending an hour and a half at the
falls, returned to Sandy Hill. The river was high, and all those fine
varieties of water, which were so visible in the preceeding autumn,
were lost in one general accumulation of force and grandeur. The

1 Dr. Dwight is mistaken as to the date of the building of Fort Miller, if indeed so pretentious
a designation as a "Fort" can be given it. It was erected as a block-house to protect store-
houses in 1755, at the same time as Fort Edward. The block-house at the " Second Carrying
Place" was built under the eye of Colonel Miller — hence the name, and it is one of the very few
places in the county that has retained the name originally given it to the present day. " It is not
probable," says Dr. Fitch, "that there ever was here any enclosure such as is commonly under-
stood as a Fort. The block-house and store houses were built upon the flat at the west side of the
Hudson at the head of the falls. This flat is protected upon three of its sides by the river, which
curves around it in a form resembling that of a horse-shoe; while about one side of the remain-
ing side is covered by a lagoon or narrow bay which makes off from the river. To complete
these natural defences, a parapet of timber and a deep fosse in front of it was extended across
the neck of land from the head of the lagoon south to the river bank opposite to it. The remains
of this work [1848] are still very distinct through its entire length of many rods. A block-house
was also erected upon the bluff which overlooks this flat from the west. Thus protected, this was
far the strongest position of any ot the carrying-places along the river."

2 Here follows a description of Fort Edward which is omitted as it has been given in a more
appropriate place, viz.: in the sketch of that fort, Chapter V.

3 Could President Dwight's shade now revisit the place, how different would be his descrip-
tion !

SUNDAY AT CAMBRIDGE IN 1810. 311

river rolled or fell elsewhere in a violent and majestic torrent. A
copious mist filled its bed, and descended on us in a shower.

'We took a late dinner and crossing at 'Roger's Ferry,' a little
below Sandy Hill, pursued our journey on the western side of the
Hudson. Here we found the road much better and the scenery much
pleasanter.

; 'On Sunday morning, October 13th, having been informed that
there would be no public worship in Saratoga, none, I mean, in which
we wished to participate, and that there was a respectable Scotch
clergyman at Cambridge, we left at this place, and, crossing ' Du-
mont's Ferry ' again, rode through the township of Argyle and a small
part of Greenwich to the place of our destination, where we arrived
just after the congregation had begun their morning worship. On
our way, a decent Scotchman came up to us on horseback and very
civilly enquired why we travelled on the Sabbath ; observing to us at
the same time, that such travelling was forbidden by the law of the
state, and that the people of that vicinity had determined to carry the
law into execution. 1 We easily satisfied him, and were not a little
pleased to find that there were people in this vicinity who regarded
the law of the land and the law of God with so much respect. When
we entered the church our companion obligingly conducted us to a
good seat. We found in the desk a respectable clergyman from Scot-
land, who gave us two edifying sermons, delivered, however, in the
peculiar manner of the Seceders. -

"The country from ' Dumont's Ferry' through the township of
Argyle is, for six or eight miles, a plain of pitch-pines. The soil is
alternately clay and sand, everywhere replenished with slate of a very
fragile and dissolute 3 texture. The surface then rises gradually into

easy swells and then into hills. The soil of these is loam mixed with
gravel, generally of a moderately good quality. The forests contain
oak, chestnut and hickory and abound in maple and birch. The rocks
are principally granite.

1 O Tempora .' O Mores ! What will the good people of Washington say to this !

2 It would be of interest if Dr. Dwight had given us the name of this excellent divine; for,
perhaps, some of his descendants are yet living in Washington County.

3 It is interesting to observe how the meaning of words change even in the course of fifty
years. The word "dissolute" is now applied to one of a dissipated character. To a reader of
meditation, this note is in point.

312 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

"On this road there is a small village in the township of Argyle,
and another in that of Greenwich. The latter is built around a col-
lection of mills on the Battenkill. This large mill stream rises in the
township of Dorset in Vermont, and running south-westward through
Manchester, turns to the west in the north part of Sunderland.
Thence, passing through Arlington, it crosses the Count}' of Wash-
ington between Cambridge and Salem, Easton and Greenwich, and
discharges its waters into the Hudson at the southwest corner of
Greenwich. Its course is about forty miles. Here it is called the
Battenkill. In this village there is a decent Baptist church and about
thirty houses of an indifferent appearance.

"The township of Argyle contained in 1790, when it included
Greenwich and Easton, 2,341 inhabitants; in 1800, after Easton was
separated from it, 4,095. In 1810, after Greenwich was separated
from it, 3,813. In 1800 Easton contained 3,069 and in 1810, 3,253.
In 1 8 10 Greenwich contained 2,752. The original township contained
in 1800, 7.764 and in 18 10, 9,818. In 1790, the county of Washington
contained nine townships and 14,042 inhabitants; in 1800, sixteen
townships and 35,574 inhabitants; in 1S10 twenty-one townships and
44,289 inhabitants.

•' These facts will give you a tolerably just view of the progress of
settlement and population in these parts of this state, which, until
very lately, were a mere wilderness.

"The township of Cambridge is both fertile and pleasant. On its
western side runs the range of Taghkannuc, in a succession of hills,
some of them approaching towards a mountainous height. All the
varieties of ' hill, dale and sunny plain ' and beautiful interval are
here presented to the eye of a traveller. A considerable part of its
extent is in various directions almost a continuous village. The in-
habitants, some of whom planted themselves here before the Revolu-
tionary War, are chiefly emigrants from New England and Scotland. 1
Those who came from Scotland particularly engaged my attention.
They left their native country in the humblest circumstances and
after encountering all the hardship and expense incident to a long
and tedious voyage, had, at their arrival, no other objects of their
reliance beside the goodness of the soil and climate, their own hands
and the common blessings of Heaven. Notwithstanding the difhcul-

1 Some few. also, came from New Jersey. See one of the earlier chapters.

COMFORTABLE WASHINGTON COUNTY HOMES. 313

ties, which I have described as attending the formation of a settle-
ment in an American forest, they have already advanced to the full
possession of comforts, and in some instances of conveniences. Their
houses are warm and tidy, and their farms in a promising condition.
In the church they were decently dressed, and apparently devout ; out
of it they were cheerful, obliging and kind. To bring themselves
into this condition, they have undoubtedly suffered many troubles;
yet, they have certainly acted with wisdom in transporting them-
selves into a country where all the necessaries and comforts of life
are so abundant, and so easily obtained. The prospects of the poor
brighten at once, their views expand, their energy awakes and their
efforts are invigorated, when they see competence rewarding of
course every man possessing health, common sense and integrity,
laboring with diligence and preserving with care the fruits of his in-
dustry. At the same time a mighty difference between the possession
of a fee simple estate, and a dependant tenantry, even where the
terms are mild, is perfectly understood and deeply felt by every man
who has been a tenant. Of all the feelings derived from civilized
society, that of personal independence is undoubtedly the most de-
lightful.

"We saw three churches in Cambridge, two of them belonging to
the Scotch settlers, and all of them decent buildings. In 1790 this
township contained 4,996 inhabitants; in 1800, 6,187, an d in 1810 [the
year of Dr. Dwight's last visit] 6,730.

" From Cambridge to Hoosac Falls the county is rather pleasant,
particularly the first six or eight miles. The rest of the way it was
too dark to allow us an opportunity of examining it. I have since
passed through it three times and found it not a little improved."

A year or two later President Dwight again took a tour through
Washington County, in describing which he writes as follows:

" Monday, October 23d, accompanied by Mr. L we rode to

Stillwater, and, after being obliged to wait three hours for our din-
ner, proceeded to Argyle, on the eastern side of Miller's Falls [i. e.

Fort Miller]. Mr. L left us the next morning and we proceeded

to Lake George, passing through the villages of Fort Edward, Sandy
Hill and Glens Falls. Here we dined, and while our dinner was pre-
paring, went down to examine this noble cataract. To my great mor-
tification I found it encumbered and defaced by the erection of sev-

[89 J

314 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

era] paltry building's raised up since my last visit to this place. The
rocks both above and below the bridge were extremely altered and
greatly for the worse by the operations of the water and the weather.
The courses of the currents had undergone, in man}- places, since my
last visit, a similar variation. The view, at the same time, was broken
by the buildings — two or three of which, designed to be mills, were
given up as useless, and were in ruins. Another was a wretched
looking cottage, standing upon the island between the bridges. Noth-
ing could be more dissonant from the splendor of this scene, and
hardly anything more disgusting. I found a considerable part of the
rocks below the road so much wasted that I could scarcely acknow-
ledge them to be the same. * * * On the road from "Waterford to
Fort Edward a great number of valuable houses are erected. The
enclosures, since my last visit are greatly improved and multiplied,
and the county is more generally and better cultivated. This is par-
ticularly true of Argyle and Northumberland, yet, throughout the
whole distance the county is greatly advanced toward a state of
thorough cultivation. At Fort Edward, Sandy Hill and Glens Falls
there are three handsome villages, greatly improved in every respect
since my last journey through this region. In each of the last two
there is a neat Presbyterian church lately erected. A minister has
been settled over both villages at a salary of S700 per annum; a fact
which proves at once the prosperity and good disposition of the in-
habitants.

•' A strong bridge is built over the Mohawk, a mile and a half below
Cohoes, and another across the Hudson from Northumberland to
Argyle, at the foot of Miller's Falls. The road from Glens Falls to
Fort Miller has become worse than it was formerly, having been worn
down through the soil."

Nor were the Baron de Chastellux, the Swedish naturalist, Kalm
and President Dwight the only distinguished travellers who, about
this period, made tours through Washington County, desirous of see-
ing for themselves the classic ground {par excellence) of the Revolu-
tionary War.

In the early spring of 1776, Charles Carroll of Carrolton, (one of
the signers of the Declaration of Independence) together with Ben-
jamin Franklin and Samuel Chase, were appointed by the Continental
Congress Commissioners to visit Canada with a view of inducing the

NARRATIVE OF CHARLES CARROLL. 315

French inhabitants of that Province to unite with the American Col-
onists in throwing off their allegiance to Great Britain and in making
a joint effort for independence.

Accordingly, on the 2nd of April of that year, Franklin, Chase and
Carroll embarked at New York in a sloop for Albany, on their way to
Canada, having received on the 20th of March preceding ample in-
structions from Congress "'to oromote or to form a union between
the Colonies and the people of Canada." The party landed at Albany
on the 7th. 1 On the 9th, accompanied by General Schuyler and mem-
bers of his family, the party proceeded northward by the old military
route, which was cut through by General Sir William Johnson at the
commencement of hostilities during the French war of 1755-63. On
the way the gentlemen of the party visited on horseback the fall of
"the Cohooes," of which the description is most vivid and graphic.
Mr. Carroll also describes the large lumber industry, and other quite
extensive manufacturing interests belonging to and conducted by
General Schuyler at Schuylerville, near the mouth of Fish Creek.
This place is called in the journal " Saratoga;" the springs of that
name being but very little known at the time. The name Saratoga is
claimed to be derived from an Indian word signifying "the valley of
the great side hill."- General Schuyler"s mansion was reached the
same evening and the party remained the guests of the general and
his hospitable family for a week or more.

On the 16th [April, 1776,] Mr. Carroll writes in his journal: "At a
mile from Fort Miller we got into a boat and went up the Hudson
river to Fort Edward. Although this fort is but seven miles distant
from the place where we took boat, we were about four hours rowing
up. The current is exceedingly rapid, and the rapidity was increased
by a freshet. In many places the current was so strong that the bat-
teau-men were obliged to sit up with poles and drag the boat by the
painter. Although these fellows were active and expert at this busi-
ness, it was with the greatest difficulty they could stem the current in
particular places. The congress keeps in pay three companies of bat-
teau-men on Hudson's river, consisting each of thirty-three men with a
captain; the pay of the men is ^4 10s. per month. The lands border-

1 Imagine the difference at the present day. Then by sloop the time from New York to Al-
bany was almost a week — now less than three hours !

2 See one of the earlier chapters of this work for an exhaustive discussion of the meaning of
the name Saratoga.

316 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

ing on Hudson's river, as you approach Fort Edward, become more
sandy, and the principal wood that grows on them is pine. There are
several saw mills both above and below Fort Miller. The planks
sawed at the mills above Fort Miller are made up into small rafts,
and left without guides to the current of the river; each one is marked
so that the raft-men that remain just below Fort Miller falls watching
for their coming down, may easily know their own rafts. "When they
come over the falls they go out in canoes and boats and tow their rafts
ashore, and then take them to pieces and make them again into larger
rafts. The smaller rafts are called cribs. The ruins only of Fort Edward
remain ; there is a good, large inn where we found quartered Colonel
Sinclair's regiment. Mr. Allen, son of old Mr. Allen, is lieutenant-
colonel; he received us very politely and accommodated us with beds.
The officers of this regiment are in general fine-sized men, and
seemed to be on a friendly footing; the soldiers also are stout fellows.

[17th April. 1776.] "Having breakfasted with Colonel Allen, we
set off from Fort Edward on our way to Fort George. We had not
got a mile from the fort when a messenger from General Schuyler
met us. He was sent with a letter by the general to inform us that
Lake George was not open, and to desire us to remain at an inn kept
by one Wing, 1 at seven miles distance from Fort Edward, and as many
from Fort George. The countrv between Wing's tavern and Fort
Edward is very sandy and somewhat hilly. The principal wood is
pine.

•■At Fort Edward the river Hudson makes a sudden turn to the
westward; it soon again resumes its former north course, for, at a
small distance, we found it on our left, and parallel with the road
which we travelled, and which from Fort Edward to Lake George
lies nearly north and south. At three miles or thereabouts from Fort
Edward there is a remarkable fall in the river. We could see it from
the road, but not so as to form any judgment of its height. We were,
however, informed that it was upwards of thirty feet, and is called
the Kingsbury Falls." We could distinctly see the spray arising like
a vapor or fog from the violence of the fall. The banks of the river,
above and below these falls for a mile or two, are remarkably steep

1 Now Glens Falls.

- At present known as " Baker's Falls"— so named, as Dr. Holden writes, from Caleb Baker,
the original proprietor and builder of the first mills at that place.

GRAYDEN'S DESCRIPTION. 317

and high, and appear to be formed or faced with a kind of stone very
much resembling slate. The banks of the Mohawk river at the
Cohooes are faced with the same kind of stone. It is said to be an
indication of sea-coal." '

On the return of Franklin and Carroll from Canada, they were met
at Fort Edward by Captain Alexander Grayden of the Continental
Army, and a lawyer of some eminence after the war. 2 He was on his
way, under a strong escort, in charge of a large sum of money in coin
to General Schuyler at Lake George — this money being designed to
promote the purposes sought to be accomplished by the Commission-
ers, Franklin and Carroll. Grayden's description of the country in
this vicinity is as follows:

" Immediately beyond Fort Edward the country assumed a dreary,
cheerless aspect. Between this and Lake George, a distance of about
twelve miles, it was almost an entire wood, acquiring a deeper gloom,
as well from the general prevalence of pines, as from its dark ex-
tended covert being presented to the imagination as an appropriate
scene for the 'treasons, strategems and spoils' of savage hostility, to
which purpose it had been devoted in former days of deadly dissen-
sion. It was in this tract of country that several actions had been
fought; the Baron Dieskau had been defeated; and that American
blood had flowed, as well as English and French, in commemoration
of which the terror we attach to the adventitious circumstances which
seem to accelerate man's doom, had given to a piece of standing water
near the road the name Bloody pond. The descending sun had shed a

1 Carroll, also, speaks in his journal of the fertility of the soil of what is now Washington and
Warren counties. This, however, was not new. Indeed, as early as 17^9, while General Amherst
was reconstructing the fortresses at Ticonderoga and Crown Point, a proclamation was issued
by Lieutenant-Governor James DeLancey, inviting the attention of settlers to lands "between
Lake George^and Fort Edward.' - He continues, they "will there find three Several Spots of
cleared Ground, two of them capable of containing half a dozen families each, and the other not
less than twelve; on which shall be left standing for their convenience the Wooden Hutts and
Coverings of the Troops that have been posted there since the Beginning of the Campaign,
which, from the footing we have now at Crown Point, will be no longer necessary, and will be
evacuated and left for the use of those who shall become Settlers. The first of the said Spotts is
situated four miles above Port Edward, [now Green's mill.] The second at the Half- Way-Brook,
near the old Champion house, and the other three miles from Lake George, [Brown's Halfway
house.] The soil is good, and capable of improvement, and all three well watered. The Half-
Way-Brook being the spott sufficient for a dozen Families." At the time of the original survev
of the township of Queensbury, in 1762, writes Dr. Holden, some of these cabins were occupied by
dwellers.

2 His work, Grayden's Memoirs, dealing with contemporaneous events is exceedingly interest-
ing.

318 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

browner horror on the wilderness; and, as we passed the dismal pool
we experienced that transient emotion of commiseration which is nat-
ural to the mind when contemplating- past events, involving the fall
of friends, the fortune of war, and the sad lot of human kind.
' Denique ob casus bellorum sorfem hominum.' * * * The day we
spent at this station was employed in taking a view of the remains of
Fort William Henry, and in sauntering along the margin of the im-
mense fountain of pure water which constitutes Lake George."

But we have not yet exhausted the list of our distinguished travel-
lers in Washington County.

Early in the summer of 1796, Isaac Weld, Jr., whose ancestor had
penetrated these wilds in the early part of the century, accompanying
General Nicholson in his famous expedition of 1709, in the capacity of
a naturalist, came to this country as the representative of what would
now be called a " Syndicate," to ascertain "whether in case of future
emergency any part of the United States might be looked forward to
as an eligible place of abode." He was, like Kalm, a shrewd and accu-
rate observer, and possessed, withal, of a fund of humor. A few ex-
tracts therefore from his travels through Washington County into
Canada, may prove of interest to the reader. Leaving out the account
of his journey from New York, Albany, Stillwater and Saratoga
(which though of great interest, is not germane to this history) we
begin these extracts from the time of his leaving Saratoga.

" Of the works thrown up at Saratoga by the British and American
armies during the war, there are now scarcely any remains. The
country round about is well cultivated, and the trenches have been
mostly levelled by the plow. We here crossed the Hudson river and
proceeded along its eastern shore as far as Fort Edward, where it is
lost to the view, for the road still rims on towards the north while the
river takes a sudden turn to the west.

Fort Edward was dismantled prior to the late American war, but
the opposite armies, during that unhappy contest, were both in the
neighborhood. Many of the people whom we found living here, had
served as soldiers in the army, and told us a number of interesting
particulars relative to several events which happened in this quarter.
The landlord of the tavern where we stopped, for one, related all the
circumstances attending Miss McCrea's death, and pointed out a hill,
not far from the house where she was murdered by the Indians and
also the place of her interment.

WELD'S DESCRIPTION. 319

Fort Edward stands near the river. The town of the same name is
at the distance of one or two hundred yards from it and contains
about twenty houses. Thus far we had got on tolerably well, but
from hence to Fort Anne, which was also dismantled prior to the late
war, the road is most wretched, particularly over a long cause-way
between the two forts, formed originally for the transporting of can-
non, the soil here being extremely moist and heavy. The cause-way
consists of large trees laid side by side transversly, some of which
having decayed, great intervals were left, wherein the wheels of the
carriage were sometimes locked so fast that the horses alone could not
possibly extricate them. 1 To have remained in the carriage over this
part of the road would really have been a severe punishment, for
although boasted of as being the very best in Albany, it had no sort
of springs, and was in fact little better than a common wagon. We,
therefore, alighted, took our guns and amused ourselves with shooting
[partridges?] as we walked along through the woods. The woods
here had a much more majestic appearance than any that we had
before met with on our way from Philadelphia; this, however, was
owing more to the great height than to the thickness of the trees, for
I could not see one that appeared more than thirty inches in diameter.
Indeed, in general, the girt of the trees in the woods of America is
but very small in proportion to their height, and trifling in compari-
son of that of the forest trees in Great Britain. The woods here were
composed chiefly of oaks," hickory, hemlock and beech trees, inter-
mixed with which appeared great numbers of the smooth bark or
Weymouth pines, as they are called, that seem almost peculiar to this
part of the country. A profusion of wild raspberries were growing in
the woods here, really of a very good flavor; they are commonly
found in the woods to the northward of this. In Canada they abound
everywhere.

Beyond Fort Anne, which is situated at a distance of eight miles
from Fort Edward, the roads being better, we once more mounted
into our vehicle, but the miserable horses, quite jaded, now made a
dead stop ; in vain the driver bawled and stamped and swore ; his
whip had been previously worn out some hours, owing to the frequent

1 This road, as I have before remarked, was probably what in the Adirondacks, is still called
a " Corduroy Road."

2 " There are upwards of twenty different kinds of oaks in America." Note byWeld.

320 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

use he had made of it; and the animals, no longer feeling its heavy
lash, seemed as determined as the mules of the Abbess of Andouilies
to go no further. In this situation we could not help bantering the
fellow upon the excellence of his cattle, which he had boasted so
much of on setting out, and he was ready to cry with vexation at what
we said, but having accidentally mentioned the sum we had paid for
the carriage, his passion could no longer be restrained and it broke
forth in all its fury.

It appears that he was the owner of two of the horses, and for the
use of them, and for driving the carriage was to have had one-half of
the hire, but the man whom he had agreed with, and paid at Albany,
had given him only ten dollars as his moiety, assuring him, at the
same time, that it was exactly the half of what we had given, although
in reality it fell short of the sum by seven dollars and a half. Thus
cheated by his companion and left in the lurch by his horses, he
vowed vengeance against him on his return; but as protestations of
this nature would not bring us any sooner to our journey's end, and
as it was necessary that something should be immediately done if we
did not wish to remain all night in the woods, we suggested an idea
in the meantime, of his conducting the foremost horses as postilion,
while one of our servants should drive the pair next to the wheel.
This plan was not started with any degree of seriousness, for we could
not have supposed that a tail, meager fellow, upwards of six feet high
and clad in a pair of thin nankeen breeches, would very readily
bestride the raw-bone back of a horse, covered with the profuse exu-
dations which the intense heat of the weather and the labor the ani-
mal had gone through necessarily excited. As much tired, however,
with our pleasantries, as we were of his vehicle, and thinking of noth-
ing, I believe, but how he could best get rid of us, he eagerly em-
braced the proposal and accordingly, having furnished himself with a
switch from an adjoining thicket, he mounted his harnessed Rosinante.
In this style we proceeded, but more than once did our gigantic pos-
tilion turn round to bemoan the sorry choice he had made ; as often
did we urge the necessity of getting out of the woods ; he could make
no answer. So jogging slowly along we at last reached the little town
of Skenesborough, much to the amusement of every one who beheld
our equipage, and much to our own satisfaction for, owing to the
various accidents we had met with, such as traces breaking, bridles
slipping off the heads of the horses, and the noble horses themselves

MOSQUITOES OF SKENESBOROUGH. 321

sometimes slipping- clown, etc., etc., we had been no less than five
hours in travelling the last five miles.

Skenesborough stands just above the junction of Wood Creek and
South River, as it is called in the best maps, but which is considered
as a part of Lake Cham plain. At present [1796] there are only about
twelve houses in the place; but if the navigation of Wood Creek is
ever opened, so as to connect Lake Champlain with the North River,
a scheme which has already been seriously thought of, it will, doubt-
less, soon become a trading-town of considerable importance, as all
the various productions of the shores of the lake will then be collected
there for the New York and Albany markets. Notwithstanding all
the disadvantages of a land carriage of forty miles to the North River
a small portion of flour and pot-ash, the staple commodities of the
state of New York, 1 is already sent to Skenesborough from different
parts of the lake, to be forwarded to Albany. A considerable trade,
also, is carried on through this place and over Lake Champlain,
between New York and Canada. Furs and horses principally are sent
from Canada, and in return, they get East Indian goods and various
manufactures. Lake Champlaim opens a very ready communi-
cation between New York and the country bordering on the St.
Lawrence; it is emphatically called by the Indians, Caniad — Evi
Guarunte — that is, " the mouth or door of the country."

Skenesborough is most dreadfully infested with mosquitoes; so
many of them attacked us the first night of our sleeping there that
when we arose in the morning our faces and hands were covered all
over with large pustules, precisely like those of a person in the small
pox. This happened too, notwithstanding that the people of the
house, before we went to bed, had taken the pains possible to clear
the room of them by fumigating it with the smoke of green wood,
and afterwards securing the windows with gauze blinds ; and even on
the second night, although we destroyed many dozens of them on the
walls, after a similar fumigation had been made, yet we suffered
nearly as much. These insects were of a much larger size than any
I saw elsewhere, and their bite was uncommonly venomous. General

1 And more particularly (especially pot-ash) Washington and Warren counties. Xear Lu-
zerne, in the iatter county, there is a mountain called " Pot-Ash-Kettle " from the fact that its
top greatly resembles an inverted kettle. This similarity, in the minds of the inhabitants of that
vicinity, to the chief utensil in making their pot-ash doubtless led to the naming of that mountain.

[40 j

322 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Washington told me that he never was so much annoyed by mosqui-
toes in any part of America as in Skenesborough, for they used to bite
throng li the thickest boot ! '

•■ There are eight different kinds of mosquitoes in the Louisiana swamps and
the most ferocious, though not the most poisonous of them is the huge insect com-
monly called the gallinipper. This drinker of blood is a half inch long and its bill
is as long as its body. It has an intricate arrangement of files, saws and chisels in
this bill, all driven, it would appear, by superhuman power. It will sink its pro-
boscis through a glove of ordinary thickness, if left undisturbed, will bore easily
through a shirt sleeve and woolen undershirt to the arm beneath and will bite the
feet through thin boots and the socks under them."

The situation of the place is indeed peculiarly favorable for them,
being- just on the margin of a piece of water, almost stagnant and
shaded with thick woods. The mosquito is of the same species with
the common gnat of England, and resembles it very closely both in
size and shape. Like the gnat it lays its eggs on the surface of the
water, where they are hatched in the course of a few days, unless the
water is agitated, in which last case they are all destroyed. * * *
Mosquitoes appear to be particularly fond of the fresh blood of Euro-
peans, who always suffer much more the first year of their arrival in
America than they do afterwards. The people of the country seem
quite to disregard their attacks. Wherever they fix their sting, a lit-
tle tumor or pustule usually arises, supposed to be occasioned by the
firmentation when mixed with the blood, of a small quantity of liquor,
which the insect always injects into the wound it makes with its
spicula, as may be seen through a microscope, and which it probably
does to render the blood more fluid. The disagreeable itching this
excites is most effectually allayed by the application of volatile alkali ;
or if the part newly stung be scratched, and immediately bathed in
cold water, that also affords considerable relief; but after the venom
has been lodged for any time, scratching only increases the itching,
and it may be attended with great danger. Repeated instances have
occurred of people having been laid up for months, and narrowly
escaping the loss of a limb, from imprudently rubbing a part which
had been bitten for a long time. Great ease is also derived from

1 Nor was this semi-humorous expression on Washington's part, as exaggerated as it might
at first seem. A reputable correspondent of the New York Stin,'\w. writing recently about the
mosquitoes in the Southern Bayous says:

VERMONT HOMES. 323

opening the pustules on the second day with a lancet, and letting out
the blood and watery matter."

Indeed, "South Bay," seems always to have been noted for this
pest. Thus, General Rufus Putnam, (a cousin of General Israel Put-
nam, and in command of Fort Edward in 1759) writing in his, Journal
from "South Bay" (Whitehall) under date of July 9th, 1759, says:
"This night we encamped, but the mosquitoes were a very great
trouble to us, we having no blankets, and I had nothing but a shirt
and Indian stockings. In fact, no man can tell what an infliction these
little animals were! "'

And now, although our traveller has left Skenesborough, it may be
interesting for the reader to have a glimpse of his impressions of a
farmer's life at this period. It is true, that in what I cpiote he is
writing of the farmers in Vermont, but the same conditions which he
observed then, applied equally at that time, to those in Washington
County — especially, as has been seen, a part of what is now Vermont
was then a portion of that county.

He writes: " Shortly after our arrival at Skenesborough, we hired
a small boat of about ten tons for the purpose of crossing Lake Cham-
plain, but on account of high winds, we were for three days detained
at Skenesborough, a delicious feast for the hungry moscpiitoes.

* * * * w e at length set off about one o'clock, but from the
channel being very narrow, 2 it was impossible to make much way
tacking. We got no further than six miles before sun-set. We then
stopped and having landed, walked up to some farm houses, which
appeared on the Vermont shore, to procure provisions; for the boat-
man had told us it was quite unnecessary to take in any at Skenes-
borough, as there were excellent houses close to the shore the whole
way, where we could get whatever we wished. At the first we went
to, which was a comfortable log-house, neither bread, nor meat, nor
milk, nor eggs were to be had; the house was crowded with children
of all ages, and the people, I suppose, thought they had but little
enough for themselves. At a second house, we found a venerable old
man at the door, reading a newspaper, who civilly offered it to us for
our perusal, and began to talk about the politics of the day. We
thanked him for his offer, but gave him to understand, at the same

1 Rufus Putnam's Dairy, Pg. 36. Joel Mvmsell Sons, Albany, X. Y., 1886.

2 And it is so to this day.

324 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

time, that a loaf of bread would be much more acceptable. Bread
there was none; we got a new Vermont cheese, however. A third
house now remained in sight, and we made a third attempt at procur-
ing something to eat. This one was nearly half a mile off, but, alas!
it afforded still less than the last, the people having nothing to dispose
of but a little milk. With the milk and the cheese, therefore, we re-
turned to our boat, and adding thereto some biscuits and wine, which
we had luckily on board, the whole afforded us a frugal repast.

The people at the American farm-houses will cheerfully lie three in
a bed, rather than suffer a stranger to go away who comes to seek for
a lodging. As all these houses, however, which we had visited, were
crowded with inhabitants, we felt no great inclination to ask for ac-
commodation at any of them, but determined to sleep aboard our
little vessel. But even this was a luxury after our accommodations at
Skenesborough (out of the way of mosquitoes) and our ears no" being
assailed by the noise even of a single one the whole night.

The next morning we stopped at one house to breakfast and at an-
other to dine. At neither of these, although they bore the name of
taverns, were we able to procure much more than at the houses where
we had stopped the preceding evening. At the first we got a little
milk and about two pounds of bread, absolutely the whole of what
was in the house, and at the second, a few eggs and some cold salted
fat pork, but not a morsel of bread was to be had. The wretched ap-
pearance, also, of this last habitation was very striking. It consisted
of a wooden frame, merely with a few boards nailed against it — the
crevices between which were the only apertures for the admission of
light, except the door, and the roof was so leaky, that we were
sprinkled with the rain even as we sat at the fireside. That people
can live in such a manner, who have the necessaries and conveniences
of life within their reach, as much as any others in the world, is really
most astonishing. It is. however, to be accounted for by that desire
of making money, which is the predominant .feature in the character
of the Americans in general, and leads the petty farmer in particular
to suffer numberless inconveniences, when he gains by so doing. If
he can sell the produce of his land to advantage, he keeps as small a
part of it as possible for himself, and lives the whole year round upon
salt provisions, bad bread and the fish he can catch in the rivers or
lakes in the neighborhood. If he has built a comfortable house for
himself, he readily quits it, as soon as finished, for money, and goes

WAR OF 1812-15. 325

to live in a mere hovel in the woods till he gets time to build another.
Money is his idol, and to procure it, he gladly foregoes every self-
gratification.

From this miserable habitation we departed as soon as the rain was
over, and the wind coming round in our favor, we got as far as Ticon-
deroga that night." * * *

CHAPTER XXI.

1812— 1878.

War of 1S12-15 — Washington County Affected by it in its General Industries —
The News of Peace Heralded with Joy — President Wavland's and "Peter
Parley's" Account of it — -The Mexican War and the Part Taken in it by
Washington County — The Civil War — Sketches of the Different Regiments
and Companies Enlisted in the Counts and the Names of Their Officers and
Those Who Died — The Champlain Canal Completed to Whitehall and Its
Effect on the General Prosperity of hie County — Also a Fill Accoi vi of
the Railroad from Saratoga Springs to Whitehall in 1846.

The War of 181 2-15, declared between the United States and Great
Britain found Washington County struggling under the same depres-
sion and embarrassments which, at this time, affected the general in-
dustries, not only of the county but of the country at large. The war.
however, was a most excellent thing for the financial interests of the
county, especially as the demands created by the necessities of the
general government changed this stagnation to an unusual business
activity. As an example of this, among many others, may be men-
tioned the culture of flax. That article, now, in the slang of the
present day of speculators in Wall street, received a most decided
"boom." Flax, like wool, had for several years been specially a
yield of Washington County, though produced, hitherto, in very small
quantities, such, indeed, as could be manufactured by the little flax
" spinning wheel and loom," ' of each family — every farmer generally

1 A representation of one of these wheels and loom, owned by my mother, is represented in
one of the bos relievos of the Saratoga Monument, in the tablet in which is pictured the " Women
of the Revolution" spinning iiax for the clothes of the volunteers.

326 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

sowing a few square rods of that commodity. In May, 1812, however,
when this rise of prices for wool began, a Mr. James Whiteside of
Cambridge sowed three acres of flax. Upon this tremendous innova-
tion regarding- the usual crops, " all his neighbors," says Johnson,
" were astounded and predicted that the labor of raising and dressing
the crop, would be so great as to more than use up any price which
might be obtained for it." These forebodings were false, for despite
all such awful prognostications, the value of the flax constantly con-
tinued to rise until the dressed flax was sold at the hitherto unprece-
dented sum of eighteen and three-fourths cents per pound — thus giv-
ing to the raiser a handsome profit. As a consequence, the raising of
flax very soon became an important industry in Washington County,
especially in its southern part, and even when prices after the war,
fell, its cultivation was still found profitable — attaining a magnitude
of no small importance, by becoming a source of income by no means
to the farmers, of insignificance.

The woolen manufacture also continued to flourish. Under a state
law of tlie period, a premium of forty dollars was paid in 181 3, to
Scott Wood worth of Cambridge, for the best woolen cloth made in
the county, and another of thirty-five dollars to Adam Cleveland of
Salem for the second best. The next year the first premium was car-
ried off by Alexander McNish, and the second by Reuben Wheeler,
both of Salem. The law vested the power of awarding the prizes in
the judges of the common pleas in each county, ''rather a curious
tribunal," as Johnson justly says, " as we should now think, toper-
form such a duty." It should be remembered, however, that at that
time the judges were nearly all farmers and business men, and per-
haps, as competent to decide on the value of woolen cloth, as any
other five men in the county.

At the same time Washington County was by no means wanting in
patriotism. Two military rendezvous were established, on the first sub-
stantiated rumor of the war, in Washington and Warren counties — one
at Sandy Hill and the other at Glens Falls — for the enlistment of sol-
diers in the infantry and cavalry service of the United States — at
which stations, says Dr. A. W. Holden in his admirable Historical
Centennial address, many enlisted who never returned, they either
making their homes in the new settlements of the west, or finding a
last resting-place on the battle-fields of their country.

In August, 1 814, wild and more definite rumors of the war were

PREVOST'S INVASION. 327

born on the breeze ' from the northern borders — thus reproducing" — ■
though, in a very slight degree — the times when a rumor of an attack
by the savages was carried to the firesides and family altars of their
grandfathers and grandmothers.

On the ist of September, 1814, Sir General Prevost entered New
York state by way of Plattsburgh, with an army of 14,000 picked and
disciplined troops — the flower, in fact of the British army — accom-
panied by a fleet of seventeen vessels, and advanced slowly up Lake
Champlain, and on the nth landed near Cumberland Head.

Meanwhile, the tidings of the invasion swept, like a tornado,
through northern New York. Speaking of the manner in which these
tidings were received, Johnson writes that "the War of 18 12 was a
dreary, dragging, dwindling contest, marked alike by the extreme
apathy of the people." On the contrary, Dr. A. W. Holden, in his
Centennial address — from which I have before quoted — says that
" the militia promptly responded — Washington and Warren counties
being almost depopulated of their male citizens." ( >f these two some-
what contradictory opinions, I am, however, (with all due deference
to Johnson, to whose valuable history of Washington County I have
constantly given credit) inclined to the opinion of Dr. Holden. The
success of the American troops was due, as Dr. Holden remarks, in a
great degree, to the boldness, daring and bravery of the militia,
who, in the language of their opponents "did not know enough to
run," and who, from "the rent and bloody fragments of a signal de-
feat," gathered the laurels of a signal victory. "

1 I say, advisedly, "on the breeze"— the latter expression being here used synonomously with
"unknown sources"- for it is a very singular fact, never accounted for, that rumors of disaster
frequently come seemingly by no known or authorized heralds. Thus, after the Battle of Water-
loo, the disastrous defeat of Napoleon's army was known on the London Stoek Exchange several
hours before it could have been received by any known means of transmission — and this is
only one instance, of many of a similar character, that could be cited.

- The late Chancellor Walworth of Saratoga Springs, who was in this action, has often col
roborated to me this statement.

The following anecdotes given by Johnson, in this connection, do not seem to bear out the
above statement of Dr. Holden, I, also, am inclined to think them of mythical value. Still, as
coming from such a thorough investigator, as the author of "Washington County," I reproduce
them here in full.

"There are some queer stories told regarding the movements of those who went from Wash-
ington County, which tend to show that the so often vaunted superiority of 'the good old times'
did not extend to military valor. Tradition stoutly asserts that one battalion occupied twelve
days in marching from its place of organization to Whitehall; but that on hearing then that the
battle had been fought, it only took one day to march back again. Of an eminent general of the
period, it is said that he mistook the stern for the prow of his vessel, and went the wrong way on

328 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

One of the regiments from the eastern part of the county was com-
manded by Lieutenant-Colonel John McClary of Salem, but Major
William Root of Hebron, was the officer in command when it was
called out. " It rendezvoused at West Hebron, marched thence to
Sandy Hill, and thence to Whitehall. Indeed, the last mentioned
place was the general rendezvous for all this section of the county, as
it had also been for McDonough's fleet. The regiment, of whose
movements, says Johnson, we happen to know from Hon. John
McDonald, who was a member of it, sailed from Whitehall in two
sloops just before the Battle of Plattsburgh. He says that he does
not believe there were six effective muskets in the regiment! The
arrangement was for them to go to the arsenal at Burlington, Vt.,
and receive arms, and thence to Plattsburgh to receive the enemy.
"But just before reaching the former place, the thunder of cannon
was heard. After a brief but furious combat, the warlike sounds
ceased, and then the soldiers on board the sloops were in a tremor of
anxiety to know which side was victorious. Soon, however, a light
vessel came flying up the lake, bearing the news that the so called
"Mistress of the Seas" had been lowered before the Yankee bunt-
ing. " This set all fears at rest, and messengers were at once des-
patched through Washington Country, and thence to New York and
Washington, conveying the glorious news of the defeat of the British.
This settled the matter, and, with the retreat of Prevost, as before
stated, all fears were at an end.

Washington County, in common with many of her sister counties,
had by the war suffered terribly in the depreciation of its agricultural
products — notwithstanding the rise in flax to which allusion has been
made ; and now, that peace had once more spread her wings over the
country, no other county rejoiced more than she. In fact the awful
gloom over her people had been something fearful. Illustrative of
this the following graphic description from the pen of the late Presi-
dent Francis Wayland, then a student in New York City, of the man-
ner in which the news of peace was received, is typical of the revul-
sion of feeling not only in New York City, but in the country at
large. President Wayland writes:

Lake Champlain. when he heard the cannon at Pittsburgh. It must be said, however, that not
only were the militia freshly drawn from their fields, entirely unversed in war, but that they
were often unprovided with arms or ammunition, without which it would be difficult for anyone
to fight."

CLOSE OF WAR OF 1812. 329

"It so chanced that at the close of the last war with Great Britain
I was temporarily a resident of New York. The prospects of the
nation were shrouded in gloom. We had been, for two or three years
at war with the mightiest nation on earth, and as she had now con-
cluded a peace with the continent of Europe, we were obliged to cope
with her single handed. Our harbors were blockaded; our communi-
cations coastwise between our ports were cut off; our ships were
rotting in every creek and cove where they could find a place of
security; our immense annual products were mouldering in our ware-
houses; the sources of profitable labor were dried up; our currency
was reduced to irredeemable paper; the extreme portions of our coun-
try were becoming hostile to each other, 1 and the differences of politi-
cal opinion were embittering the peace of every household; the credit
of the government was exhausted; no one could discern the means by
which it could much longer be protracted.

The following lines, entitled "Hard Times," are quoted from my
father's paper (The New York Commercial Advertiser) and were pub-
lished at the close of the War of t8i2 :

"No business stirring ; all things at a stand,
People complain they have no cash in hand;
' Dull Times' re-echoes now from every quarter,
Even from father to son and daughter.
Merchants cry out, 'no money to be had,'
Grocers say the 'times are very had;'
Mechanics work, but they can get no pay,
Beaux dress genteel, and ladies, too, are gay.
Cash very scarce, dancing twice a week —
Business dull — amusements still we seek;
Some live awhile, and then, perhaps, they fail,
While many run in debt and go to jail.
The females must have ribbons, gauze and lace.
And paint besides, to smooth a wrinkled face;
The beaux will dress, go to the ball and play.
Sit up all night, and lay in bed all day.
Brush up an empty pate, look smart and prim,
Follow each trifling fashion or odd whim.
Five shillings will buy a good fat goose, 2
While turkeys, too, are offered fit for use.
Are these bad times, when persons will profess
To follow fashions, and delight in dress ?
No ! times are good ; but people are to blame
Who spend too much, and justly merit shame ! "

1 Referring- to the dissentions between New England and the Middle and Southern .States.

2 Would that five shillings would now buy a " good fat goose ! "

L 41 j

330 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

" It happened that on a Sunday afternoon in February, 1815, a ship
was discerned in the offing, which was supposed to be a cartel, bring-
ing home our commissioners at Ghent, from their unsuccessful mis-
sion. The sun had set gloomily before any intelligence had reached
the city. Expectation became painfully intense, as the hours of dark-
ness drew on. At length, a boat reached the wharf, announcing the
fact that a treaty of peace had been signed, and was waiting for noth-
ing but the action of our government to become a law. The men on
whose ears these words first fell, rushed in breathless haste into the
city to repeat them to their friends, shouting, as they ran through the
streets 'Peace! Peace! PEACE!' Every one who heard the sound
repeated it. From house to house, from street to street, the news
spread with electric rapidity. The whole city was in commotion.
Men bearing lighted torches, were flying to and fro, shouting like
madmen Peace! PEACE ! "When the rapture had partially subsided,
one idea occupied every mind. But few slept that night. In groups
they were gathered in the streets and by the fireside, beguiling the
hours of midnight by reminding each other that the agony of war was
over, and that a worn-out and distracted country was about to enter
again upon its wonted career of prosperity."

At the time that the news was received, S. G. Goodrich (" Peter
Parley ") happened to be in New York. Speaking of the joyful effect
produced, he says — thus corroborating Dr. Wayland — " I had gone in
the evening to a concert at the City Hotel. While listening to the
music, the door of the concert-room was thrown open, and in rushed
a man breathless with excitement. He mounted a table, and swing-
ing a white handkerchief aloft, cry out. ' Peace, Peace, Peace! ' " The
music ceased; the hall was speedily vacated. I rushed into the street,
and oh ! what a scene ! In a few minutes thousands and tens of thou-
sands of people were marching about with candles, lamps, torches —
making the jubilant street appear like a gay and gorgeous procession.
The whole night Broadwav sang its song of peace. We were all Dem-
ocrats, all Federalists! Old enemies rushed into each other's arms;
every house was in a revel, every heart seemed melted by a joy
which banished all evil thought and feeling. On Monday morning I
set out for Connecticut. All along the road the people saluted us
with swinging of hats and cries of rejoicing. At one place, in rather
a lonesome part of the road, a schoolmaster came out, with the whole
school at his heels, to ask us if the news were true ? We told him it

PUBLIC JOY AT PEACE. 331

was, whereupon he tied his bandanna handkerchief to a broom, swung
it aloft and the whole school hosanned, ' Peace, Peace! ' "

Nor were the effects of the Peace confined merely to natural bursts
of delirious delight or to sentimental gushes of feeling. An increased
material prosperity was at once apparent. Under the changed condi-
tion of affairs every industry, as if touched by the magic wand of an
enchanter, awoke to new life and vigor. Instead of " ships rotting in
every creek and cove," as so graphically described by Dr. Wayland,
the different ship-yards of the city resounded from morning till night
with the blow of the hammer, as keel after keel of new vessels was
daily laid; in place of our "immense annual products mouldering in
our warehouses," ships could not be built or chartered fast enough to
convey these products to foreign customers, and in lieu of the
" sources of profitable industry being dried up," the streets were filled
with artizans plying their several vocations, and with laborers going
to and from their daily toil. In the counting-houses, moreover, where
a short time previous those few clerks, who had been so fortunate as
not to be discharged, yawned languidly over their desks, all was bus-
tle and animation, as, briskly engaged with foreign correspondence,
their faces beamed with satisfaction at the immediate prospect of their
services being well requited. New buildings, public and private,
sprang up in different sections of the citv with marvelous celeritv and
the wharves, no longer green with mould, and tenanted solely by the
water-rat, were lined with ships waiting only for favoring gales to
whiten the ocean with their sails, and bear the flag of the United
States into ports where for so long it had been unseen, if, indeed, it
had not been almost totally forgotten! In fact, the city, no longer a
"deserted village," presented the appearance of an immense hive,
teeming with human bees, in which no drones were either known or
allowed. Squalor had given place to splendor, poverty to affluence ;
a full tide of prosperity had set in and shrewd speculators, who knew
how to take advantage of its flood, were making rapid fortunes.

Nor was this wonderful re-action confined solely to the city of New-
York. The entire state of New York, and especially Washington
County shared to the utmost in this revival of industries, both of
farming and of manufacturers. Indeed, from the close of the War of
1812 ma) 7 really be dated the first steps which eventually led to this
county taking such a pre-eminent rank among her sister counties in
all that appertains to material wealth and prosperity.

332 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Soon after the close of the war, viz. : on the 17th of April, 18 15, the
town of White Creek was taken off from the town of Cambridge — it
thus becoming the southeastern town of the county. Its name is de-
rived, says Johnson, from the stream of that name, which forms its
western boundar)', but the appellation has been the origin of consid-
erable trouble among students of the early history of the county,
many of whom have confounded it with the old '"White Creek,"
which has gone for a hundred years by the name of Salem. The sur-
face of the south portion of the town is gently rolling, and the cen-
tral and north portions are occupied by the Taghanick Mountains.
The summits of these mountains are rocky and broken and covered
with forests. The principal streams are Hoosick river, Owl Kill,
Pumpkin Hook (said to be a corruption of the Indian Pom-pa-nuck,
the name of a tribe of Indians of the Mohican nation, who removed
hither from Connecticut) Center, White and Little White. The upper
course of Owl Kill is through a deep and narrow valley abounding
with many picturesque views. The Walloomsac Patent, which lies
partly in this town in the south, was settled by the Dutch. Among
the other grants, also, were the Bain, Embury, Grant and Campbell,
and the Lake and Yan Cuyler Patents. A colony of Irish Methodists
settled near Ash Grove about 1770, and here was organized the Sec-
ond Methodist Episcopal Church in America, by Thomas Ashton
(from whom the locality was named) and Rev. Philip Embury. The
first settlement at White Creek was made by James and Thomas Mor-
rison. '

At the same date, 17th of April, 1815, Jackson was formed from
Cambridge, the township lying in a narrow strip between Cambridge
and White Creek on the south and Salem on the north. It was named
after the hero of New Orleans, then all the rage, that general having
just defeated the flower of the British troops, composed of Welling-
ton's Peninsular troops, under General Edward Packenham,
the "hero of Salamanca," and one of Wellington's veteran officers —
in the same way that, should new towns spring up in the United
States, (in 1900) many would be found bearing the name of "Dewey"
— the hero of Manila. The north branch of the Taghkanick range
occupies the eastern portion of the town, and several parallel ranges
extend through the central and western portions, rendering the entire

1 French.

SETTLEMENT OF SALEM. 333

surface very hilly. The summits of the hills are from 300 to 800 feet
above the valleys and are generally crowned with dense forests. The
principal streams are the Batten Kill and a branch of Owl Creek. In
the valley between the hills that border immediately upon the Batten
Kill and those further west, are several small lakes, known as Long,
Big, Dead and Little ponds. These lakes are beautiful sheets of
water, abounding in game fish, and surrounded by hills, forests and
fine cultivated farms. Portions of this town and of White Creek were
embraced in the Anaquassacoct Patent of 10,000 acres, granted May
11, 1762. The first settlers were James Irwin, Peter Magill and John
Miller, all of whom located in the south part of the town. The first
church (Reformed Protestant Dutch) in the town was organized De-
cember 31, 1833, Rev. James W. Stewart being its first pastor. The
late George Law, one of the projectors and proprietors of the Califor-
nia line of steamships, was a native of this town.

As Salem, so often spoken of from its past traditions, is such a
prominent town in Washington County, this may be an appropriate
place in which to speak of its history more at length, although several
allusions to that town have already been made in the course of this
history.

Salem, though organized in 1788, was really first settled about the
year 1756, by two companies of emigrants, one from Scotland and
Ireland and the other from New England. They worshiped together
under the ministry of the Rev. Thomas Clark, an Irish preacher, till
differences arose about "occasional communion," and about receiving
the covenant of the three kingdoms. This — to us at the present day —
ridiculous controversy occasioned a separation in 1769. A Presby-
terian Church was soon after formed, and the Rev. John Warford, its
first minister, was installed in 1789. He labored in this pastorate
about fourteen years, when he was succeeded by Rev. Thomas Tomb,
who continued in the ministry till his death in 1832. His successors
have been Rev. John Whiton and Rev. A. B. Lambert. The first
Presbyterian Church was built in 1774, and for three years it was
used, during the Revolution, for barracks and a store-house. 1 It was
burned by the Royalists in 1778. The next church was built imme-
diately after the Revolution and was accidentally destroyed by fire in

1 This was not the only church and public institution used in the Revolution for barracks.
During that war both the present " Brattle St " church in Boston, and the still standing colleges
of Brown University at Providence, R. I., were also used for this same purpose.

334 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

1836. The third, erected at a cost of $10,000, was also burned in
April, 1840.

The following inscription is copied from a monument in the Salem
village graveyard :

"Here lie the earthly remains of Rev. James Proudfit, pastor of
the Ass. Ref. Congregation in Salem ; who, after manifesting the
most ardent zeal and disinterested faithfulness in the Gospel of his
Master during a period of nearly fifty years, fell asleep in Jesus, Oct.
226., 1802. ' Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into
the joy of thy Lord.' ' The}' who turn many to righteousness shall
shine as the stars forever and ever.' " '

Thirty years elapsed after the War of 181 2 — 15, before the citizens
of Washington County were again called upon to show their patriot-
ism and once more both that county and Warren were represented by
their gallant soldiers, on the plains of Matamoras, at the storming of
Chapaultepec, the fierce fought battle of Monterey and the hotly con-
tested struggle of Buena Vista. "The boys," says Dr. Holden,
"came back radiant with success and covered with glory — to die like
sheep struck with the rot — those heroes who whipped the Mexican
'Greasers!' — that same despised enemy, which, a few years later,
sent the armies of France back on the sea and shot the brave Maxi-
milian like a dog! Verily, ' Republics are ungrateful,' and it needs
something more than the glamor of poesy and the allurements of
romance to make the battle-scarred veterans believe that it is sweet
and glorious to die for one's country." '

Regarding the occurrences of the late Civil War, this history will
be confined entirely to those companies and regiments which were
enlisted in Washington County — giving the names of their different
officers. With the valor of these regiments at the South and upon
various battlefields too numerous to mention, this history has nothing
to do. Suffice it to say that the men who enlisted from Washington
County were no whit inferior in endurance and bravery to those of
their ancestors, who, in many a hard fought field against the flower of
the French army, came out victorious. Besides which, to give in

1 Barber. The late Rev. Alexander Proudfit. formerly of Salem, and afterward so long a
revered citizen of Saratoga Springs, N. Y.. was, I think, the grandson of this Rev. James Proud-
fit.

2 Dr. Holden in this probably had in mind the Latin poet's aphorism, Duke et decorum est fro
fatria mori.

WASHINGTON COUNTY IN CIVIL WAR. 335

detail an account of the many brilliant actions in which they were
participants would exceed greatly the limits which the publishers of
this work have prescribed.

The reader must, therefore, be satisfied with the statement that
with the first thrill that vibrated through the North, when the news
that Fort Sumter had been 'fired upon, 1 no county in all of the States
of the United States, was more anxious, not only to enlist, but to be
sent to the front as early as possible, than that of Washington Coun-
ty. Many of her heroes are now lying beneath the soil of the battle-
fields of Bull Run, South Mountain, Antietam and Fredericksburgh,
or else, in the further south, quietly resting beneath the wild mag-
nolia's shade. It may, however, be said, in passing, that in the .latter
two engagements, the county of Washington, as well as ' Warren
County, was most gallantly and proudly represented; and as a proof
of this statement, the large mortuary list which subsequently was
sent back to fill so many homes with sadness, tells the story, that
their boys, wherever they went did their full duty, and of their mem-
ories neither of those counties (Washington and Warren) need be
ashamed. On the contrary, they can always point to their achieve-
ments with well earned pride.

To come then to the several companies which Washington County
sent to the front in the Civil War.

TWENTY-SECOND REGIMENT.

The first regiment from this portion of the state was the Twenty-
second New York Infantry, four companies of which were raised in
Washington County. Nearly all of the towns were represented, but
the centers of organization of these companies were as follows, viz. :
Company B, Fort Edward ; Company D, Cambridge ; Company G,
Whitehall; Company H, Sandy Hill. The officers of these companies
were as follows:

Company B — Robert E. McCoy, captain; Duncan Sendrum, first
lieutenant ; James W. McCoy, second lieutenant.

1 I well remember when the news of this momentous event was received. I was then engaged
in a baseball game in a field near Saratoga Springs, when the tidings came to us from the tele-
graph-office in that village. Instantly, although it was at a critical period in the game, every one
of us threw down his ball and bat, and leaving them on the field, rushed into the town to gain
confirmation of this event !

There were no Democrats nor Republicans in that crowd — all were patriots.

336 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Company D — Henry S. Milliman, captain; Thomas B. Fisk, first
lieutenant; Robert Rice., second lieutenant.

Company G — Edmund Boynton, captain, succeeded by Benjamin G.
Mosher before muster; Duncan Cameron, first lieutenant. 1

Company H — Thomas J. Strong, captain; William A. Piersons,
first lieutenant ; Matthew S. Teller, second lieutenant.

After doing valiant service, this regiment returned home and, on
the 19th of June, 1863, was mustered out. Sad, however, to relate,
hardly a quarter of those who had set out so proudly under its ban-
ners to the sound of martial music in the early summer of 1861,
returned to their homes. Battle and the disasters incident to malarial
campaigns had laid many in the grave, while others had, previously
to the home coming, been discharged on account of physical disabil-
ity, or else were still held captives in confederate prisons. A number
of changes had also taken place among the officers. James W.
McCoy was now captain of Company B. Captain and Brevet-Major
M. S. Teller was now in command of Company H, with A. Halleck
Holdbrook and Marshall A. Duers as lieutenants. Duncan Cameron
was captain of Company G, and Lucius E. Wilson was in command of
Company D.

Upon the war-worn and scarred battalion reaching Fort Edward,
"it was received with a grand ovation by the excited people. A
similar reception greeted it at Sandy Hill and Glens Falls, and then
the first companies raised in Washington County for the defense of
the national life were dismissed to their long unvisited homes."

FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

This regiment, which was raised in the summer of 1861, and the
members of which were generally from Albany, Montgomery, New
York. Otsego and Washington Counties, was mustered into the ser-
vice of the United States from August 20 to September 24, 1861. The
only company raised in this county was Company F, which was raised
at Sandy Hill and vicinity. Its first officers were James C. Rogers,

1 And here regarding Duncan Cameron, I would fain lay a chaplet of immortelles upon his
memory. Long before the war, I knew him well. He was then an inn-keeper in the town of
Athol (since Thurman in Warren County) and a more brave, genial man— having all the sterling
characteristics of his Scotch ancestry — I never met. He did valiant service in the war, and his
name should be held in affectionate remembrance. Doubtless, of course, there were many others
in these companies (herewith mentioned) who were as brave as he; only, not having a personal
acquaintance with them, I cannot speak of them with any personal knowledge.

SOLDIERS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 337

captain; George B. Culver, first lieutenant and John W. Wilkinson,
second lieutenant.

This also was a fighting regiment. In the seven days fight on the
Peninsula and in the Battle of Chancellorsville it suffered severely —
Company F losing its first lieutenant, Hugh B. Knickerbocker, who
had succeeded George B. Culver, 1 and several privates, besides having
a heavy list of wounded. Indeed, Captain (afterwards Major) Rogers
states that he does not believe that half a dozen of the original mem-
bers of Company F came back to Washington County. A few, he
further says, had previously been discharged ; a few, after their terms
of enlistment had expired, went directly from the army to settle down
in other localities and the majority, stricken down by battle or disease
left their bones under the soil of Virginia.

FORTY-FOURTH INFANTRY.

This regiment, otherwise known as the "Ellsworth Avengers," and
intended to be composed of one or two picked men from every town
in the state, had among its members some twenty or thirty men from
Washington County. Among these was Edward Northup of Sandy
Hill, who subsequently became an officer in the regular army. It
was mustered out of service on the nth of October, 1864, the veterans
and recruits being transferred to other regiments.

EIGHTY-SEVENTH INFANTRY.

While this regiment was raised mainly in Brooklyn, vet Company
A was composed almost wholly of men from the towns of Dresden
and Putnam in this county. It covered itself with glory even under
the severe trials of the Army of the Potomac, loosing, in fact, so
many in the battles in which that army participated — especially at

1 Lieutenant George B. Culver (at present, 1900, cashier of a bank at Granville, Washington
County) was taken critically ill at Washington, D. C and this, therefore, was the reason of his
having to give up his command. A sketch of his war record is in point:

George Bradley Culver, First Lieutenant, U. S. V., Company F, Forty-third New York In-
fantry, Albany and Yates Rifles. Enlisted August. 1861, mustered in September 3, 1861, honora-
bly discharged July 16, 1862. His record is as follows: Defenses ot Washington, D. C, Hancock's
Brigade, Smith's Division. Army of the Potomac; First Brigade, Smith's Division, Fourth Corps,
Army of the Potomac; siege of Yorktown and Battle of Williamsburgh, Va.; First Brigade, Sec-
ond Division, Fourth Corps, Army of the Potomac; Peninsular Campaign, First Brigade, Second
Division, Sixth Corps, Army of the Potomac.

L 42 j

#5".

338 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

those of "Malvern Hill" and the "Wilderness," that it was finally
consolidated with the Fortieth New York ' Volunteers. When, at
length, it was mustered out on the 17th of June, 1865, there were
very few members of the original Company A remaining it.

NINETY-THIRD INFANTRY.

Undismayed by the disasters which had fallen upon the Union
arms, John S. Crocker, a lawyer of Cambridge, in the fall of 1861,
began the raising of another regiment, his design being to have it
recruited mainly from this county. Crocker's efforts were successful
and the command was mustered then at Albany — the regimental
rendezvous — in November of that year under the name of
the "Ninety-third New York Infantry." John S. Crocker was
Colonel, B. C. Butler of Luzerne. Warren County, Lieutenant-Col-
onel ; Michael* Cassidy of Albany, Major and Haviland Gifford of Eas-
ton, Adjutant. The following were the companies from Washington
County, with their officers.

Company G — Cambridge and vicinity; Walter S. Gray, captain; W.
V. S. Beekman, first lieutenant; Frances S. Bailey, second lieutenant.

Company F — Fort Edward and vicinity; George B. Moshier, cap-
tain; John Bailey, first lieutenant; Silas S. Hubbard, second lieuten-
ant.

Company I — Granville, Argyle, etc.; Nathan J. Johnson, captain;
William Randies, first lieutenant; James M. Crawford, second lieu-
tenant.

This regiment remained at Albany until the 1st of April, 1862,
when they went to Washington and thence (under General McClellan)
to Fortress Monroe and Yorktown. While engaged in the siege of
the latter place, Colonel Crocker and Major Cassidy were captured by
the enemy. In February, 1865, Lieutenant-Colonel Butler was mus-
tered out, when Adjutant Haviland of Easton, was commissioned and
mustered as Lieutenant-Colonel, remaining in command of the regi-
ment until the end of its service. J. H. Northup, captain of Com-
pany I was, about the same time, mustered as major and commis-
sioned as lieutenant-colonel, so that, during the closing portion of this
regiment's service, both of the field officers were from Washington
County, although that county furnished but three out of the original
ten companies. The regiment was mustered out on the 29th of June,

SOLDIERS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 339

1865, but few of the Washington County boys who had enlisted in
this resfiment were amono- the number then dismissed to their homes
— in fact, only one of the original nine line officers from that county
was mustered out with the regiment.

NINETY-SIXTH INFANTRY.

This regiment, which was raised in the autumn of 1861, was drawn
chiefly from Warren, Essex and Clinton counties. Company E
alone was from Washington County, and was chiefly recruited from
the vicinity of Sandy Hill and Fort Edward. Its first officers were
Hiram Eldridge, captain; A. J. Russell, first lieutenant and James S.
Cray, second lieutenant. This regiment was one of the few regi-
ments which remained in service until 1866. It was mustered out in
the spring of 1866.

D'EPINEUIL'S ZOUAVES (FIFTY-THIRD INFANTRY.)

Desirous of emulating his French ancestors in the Revolutionary
War, Count Lionel J. D'Epineuil, in the summer of 1861, came from
France to the United States with the intention of raising a brigade of
Zouaves— if possible all Frenchmen — to serve in the Union army. He
had a new and very peculiar drill which he wished to put in practice,
and was very zealous in his efforts to obtain men. He obtained the
services of a V. Antoine Renois of Whitehall, who had already re-
cruited a large number of men, to raise a regiment of Zouaves (to
carry out his pet idea) from northern New York and Lower Canada.
Accordingly, M. Renois established recruiting stations at various
points along Lake Champlain and obtained quite a number — some
fifty being from Whitehall. These were not enough for a regiment,
however, and by an order from the War Department, what few men
had been obtained, was mustered out in the spring of 1862.

THE SECOND CAVALRY.

A cavalry company was organized at Salem, by Solomon W. Rus-
sell, Jr., of that village in September, 1861. The members were
chiefly from the town of Salem, but Argyle. Cambridge, Easton,
Greenwich, Hartford, Hebron, Jackson, Kingsbury, Fort Anne, Fort
Edward and White Creek were also represented. The company was

340 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

mustered in at Salem by Colonel John S. Crocker of Cambridge,
special inspector, September 7th, 1861. Its commissioned officers
were Soloman W. Russell, Jr., of Salem, captain; David E. Cronin,
first lieutenant, and William Robertson of Salem, second lieutenant.
In the spring of 1862, the War Department, concluding that there
was too much cavalry in the field, this regiment was mustered out
of service on the 31st day of March of that year. Captain Russell,
again volunteered, being detached on the staff of his distinguished
relative, Major-General Russell, also of Washington County, and
being commissioned by the President as Brevet-Major for gallant and
meritorious services, served throughout the war.

THE HARRIS LIGHT CAVALRY.

On the 7th of August, 1861. Clarence Bueil came up from Troy to
Fort Edward, being greatly desirous of raising a company of horse-
men for the " Harris Light Guards," then being formed and named
after the newly elected United States senator, Hon. Ira Harris. He
spoke so enthusiastically that many of the young men of Fort Edward
at once enrolled themselves under his banner and soon the ranks of
his company were full. Most of the men came from Fort Edward,
but there were a few from Kingsbury, Fort Anne. Whitehall and
Argyle. The company from Washington County was designated as
Company E, with the following officers: Clarence Buell, captain;
John Liddle, first lieutenant and Andrew Londen, second lieutenant.
The regiment did good service under Sherman, when the latter was
engaged with Early's army, but was shortly after mustered out at
New York City. Before, however, the mustering out, George E.
Milliman, of Fort Edward, was promoted to second lieutenant.

ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-THIRD INFANTRY.

President Lincoln's call in 1862 for " three hundred thousand men"
immediately upon the complete collapse of McClellan's campaign
before Richmond, aroused the entire north to put forth the most her-
culean efforts in behalf of the preservation of the Union. But,
perhaps nowhere did his trumpet blast arouse more enthusiasm than
among the people of Washington County. Accordingly, on the 2 2d
of July, an immense war-meeting was held at Argyle, which was
followed by others in different parts of the county. As a result of

SOLDIERS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 341

these meeting's, " war committees " were appointed — one for the coun-
ty at large and one for each town. These committees began work at
once, and it was decided that Washington County should raise an
entire regiment of her own. Recruiting began at once and a camp
was established at Salem, called "Camp Washington." Indeed, so
indefatigable were these committees, that, before the middle of
August, the companies began to assemble,' and by the 2 2d of that
month, the regiment had received its full complement. The compan-
ies (that there might be no delay) were mustered in as soon as full,
and were made up from the different towns as follows:

Company A, Greenwich ; Company B, Kingsbury ; Company C,
Whitehall; Company D, Fort Anne, Dresden and Putnam; Company
E, Hartford and Hebron; Company F, Argyle; Company G, White
Creek and Jackson; Company H, Salem; Company I, Cambridge and
Easton; Company K, Granville and Hampton.

The following is the roster of the original officers of the regiment,
which is here given in full — not because it is essential to this history,
but because many of these officers may yet be living, and they, there-
fore, may be glad to see that their names are preserved.

Field and Staff — Colonel, A. L. McDougal; lieutenant-colonel,
Franklin Norton; major, James C. Rogers; adjutant, George H. Wal-
lace; surgeon, John Moneypenny; assistant surgeon, Lysander W.
Kennedy and Rich. S. Connelly; quartermaster, John King; chaplain,
Henry Gordon.

Non-Commissioned Staff — Sergeant major, Walter F. Martin;
quartermaster-general, Charles D. Warner; commissary-sergeant,
Clark Rice; hospital steward, Seward Coming.

Company A — Captain, Abram Reynolds; first lieutenant, A. T.
Mason; second lieutenant, James C. Shaw.

Company B — Captain, George W. Warren; first lieutenant, J. C.
Warren ; second lieutenant, Samuel Burton.

Company C — Captain, Adolphus H. Farmer; first lieutenant, Walter
G. Warner; second lieutenant, John C. Corbett.

Company D — Captain, John Barron; first lieutenant, Alexander An-
derson ; second lieutenant, E. P. Quinn.

Company E — Captain, Norman F. Weer; first lieutenant, George
R. Hall; second lieutenant, Seth C. Carey.

Company F — Captain, Duncan Robertson ; first lieutenant, Donald
Reid; second lieutenant, George Robinson.

342 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Company G — Captain. Henry Gray; first lieutenant, James Hill;
second lieutenant, Charles Archer.

Company H — Captain. John S. Crary; first lieutenant, Benjamin
Elliott; second lieutenant, Josiah W. Culver.

Company I — Captain, Orrin S. Hall; first lieutenant, Marcus Beagle;
second lieutenant, Albert Shiland

Company K — Captain, Henry O. Wiley; first lieutenant, Hiram O.
Warren ; second lieutenant, George W. Baker.

On the 4th of September, 1862, the regiment was mustered into the
United States service as the 123d New York Volunteer Infantry, and
the day after saw it on its way to the front. Reaching Washington
on the 9th the men receiving in that city their arms and equipments
— the regiment was at once attached to Paul's Brigade of Casey's
Division. It participated in several hotly fought engagements, and
was with Sherman in his memorable " March to the Sea." On its
return to Washington. Sherman's army was reviewed on the 24th of
May, by President Johnson and General Grant — at which time Gen-
eral Sherman thus spoke of its appearance:

"■ It was, in my judgment, the most magnificent army in existence
■ — sixty-five thousand men in splendid physique, who had just com-
pleted a march of nearly two thousand miles in a hostile country. * *
The steadiness and firmness of the tread, the careful dress of the
guides, the uniform intervals between the companies, the tattered
and bullet-riven flags, all attracted universal notice. For six hours
and a half that strong tread of the Army of the West resounded along
Pennsylvania avenue, and when the rest of the column had passed by,
thousands of the spectators still lingered to express their sense of con-
fidence in the strength of a orovernment which could claim such an
army."

After this review the 123d was encamped near Bladensburg until
the 8th of June, when it was mustered out of the service of the
United States. The next day it started for Albany, at which city
it was paid off.

"Thus closed the career of the Washington County Regiment,
which could inscribe upon its flag the names of more than a score of
battles and almost innumerable skirmishes, that marched more than
three thousand miles, and which bore an honorable part in five of the
great campaigns of the war, viz. : the campaign of Chancellorville,

SOLDIERS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 343

the campaign of Gettysburg, the campaign of Atlanta, the ' March to
the Sea,' and the campaign of the Carolinas."

The joyous anthems with which the return of the 123d was received
on their return home, was, however, marred by a discordant note in
the fact that, among many others, two were not there to receive these -
plaudits. These were Second Lieutenant John C. Corbett of Com-
pany C, who was killed at Fredericksburg and Captain Norman F.
Weer of Company E, who was also killed at the engagement of McAl-
lister's Mill.

THE ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.

Although this regiment was raised in the summer of [863 in
Rensselaer county, yet a part of one of its companies was from Eas-
ton. It took part in the battles of Mine Run, the Wilderness, and
Cold Harbor, and it was also engaged in many of the minor skirmishes
that finally culminated in the fall of Richmond. In the course of ser-
vice Lewis H. Crandall of Eastoh, became successively, second lieu-
tenant, first lieutenant and captain. It was mustered out June 5,
1865.

THE ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-NINTH REGIMENT.

Warren B. Coleman, captain; John H. Hughes, first lieutenant and
Robert O'Connor, second lieutenant, were the officers of the single
company, raised in Sandy Hill and vicinity, which represented Wash-
ington County in the 169th New York Infantry. It took part in the
battles of Drury Bluff, Cold Harbor, Dutch Gap and other conflicts
around Petersburgh and Richmond. Lieutenant Hughes died Sep-
tember 6th, 1863, of wounds received in action while gallantly lead-
ing on his men to the attack of one of the enemy's breastworks. Cap-
tain Coleman resigned in February, 1863, and was succeeded by Cap-
tain and Brevet-Major Frank W. Tarbell, he, in turn being followed
on his retirement, October, 1864, by Captain Emory W. Church. The
regiment was mustered out on the 19th of July, 1865.

THE FIRST MOUNTED RIFLES.

In the month of July, a mounted battalion, known as " Wool's Body
Guard," was raised in Rensselaer county, but there were thirty or

344 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

forty men from Salem, Cambridge and vicinity enlisted in it, Cor-
nelius S. Masten of Cambridge being one of its captains. This regi-
ment remained on duty in Virginia until November, 1865, when it
was also mustered out of service.

THE SECOND VETERAN CAVALRY.

In the summer and autumn of 1863, two regiments were organized
from many of those soldiers who had been lately discharged from the
two years' regiments and yet were desirous of enlisting into a cavalry
command. One, under the name of the "Second Veteran Cavalry,"
was at once formed and contained one full company (D) from White-
hall, commanded by Captain Thomas F. Allen. Parts of three other
companies (A E and M) were also from Washington County. Duncan
Cameron, ex-captain of Company G of the Twenty-second Infantry
(of whom I have already spoken in affectionate remembrance) was
Major of the regiment and Lucius E. Wilson, previously captain of
Company D, of the Twenty-second Infantry (afterwards Brevet-Major)
was captain of one of the companies of the Second Veteran Cavalry.

The regiment proceeded to Washington and thence to Louisiana,
where it joined the Red River Expedition of General Banks, and in
fact, it was on duty in Louisanna during a large part of T864. 1 It was
mustered out in November, 1865.

THE SIXTEENTH HEAVY ARTILLERY.

In December, 1863, Thomas J. Strong of Sandy Hill, who had al-
ready served in the Twenty-second Infantry, went to Albany with a
view of obtaining authority to raise a new regiment. The time was
inauspicious, as the war being then thought to be nearly at an end,
no new regiments were being authorized. Colonel Strong, however,
was favorably recommened to Colonel Morrison of New York City,-
who had for some time been endeavoring to raise a force to be known
as the New York Heavy Artillery. An understanding was soon ar-
rived at between these two officers and Colonel Strong returned to
Sandy Hill with authority to raise a battalion of four companies for

1 For a full account of the Red River Campaign, in which this regiment and the 156th New
York Volunteers participated, the reader is referred to my "History of the 156th New York
Volunteers."

vSOLDIERS OF THE CIVIL WAR. 345

the Sixteenth, of which he was to be major. Armed with this author-
ity, he straightway proceeded to issue handbills inviting recruits, and
on the 2 2d of December of that year (1863) he opened an office at
Sandy Hill for the reception of names. Bounties were then high and
many who had been discharged from other regiments — their terms of
enlistment having expired — came flocking into the rendezvous by the
hundred. Most of the men were taken to Elmira and there formed
into companies without much reference to the localities from which
they came. Company I, however, was organized at Sandy Hill, with
the following officers: captain, Henry C. Sherrill; first lieutenants,
Norman S. Kenyon and Rufus Gardner; second lieutenants, Charles
C. Smith and Lew Washburn. There was also a detachment of some
thirty men from Salem and Cambridge, which went into Company K.
Thomas B. Fisk of Shushan and James S. Smart of Cambridge were
first lieutenants. Recruiting also increased so greatly that by the
latter part of January, 1864, the regiment had more companies than
were required. Of this regiment Colonel Strong accepted the rank of
major. In the battle of Dutch Cap Canal Major Strong lost a leg and
on the 1 6th of September of that year lie was promoted for bravery,
to the rank of Lientenant-Colonel of the regiment and afterwards to
that of Brigadier-General. The regiment took part in the capture of
Fort Fisher in January, 1865, and it was finally mustered out on the
21st day of August, 1865. '

There remains only to speak of the two great causes (or perhaps,
sources) which have contributed more than any other to the develop-
ment and present prosperity of Washington County. These were the
opening of the Champlain Canal and the railroad from Saratoga
Springs to Whitehall. We will first speak of the canal.

1 For this account of the different companies from Washington County I am indebted solely
to Johnson's History of Washington County, and for which I desire to make full acknowledgment.

Before leaving this subject, 1 wish to speak of one singular circumstance, to which — so far as
I am aware no attention has ever been called — perhaps, no one has ever not iced it save myself.
It is this— and as an old follower of Sir Isaac Walton I am competent to speak— that during the
Civil War, the trout in the various streams of Washington, Warren and Essex counties increased
fully from one to two hundred per cent. The explanation of this seemingly marvelous phenome-
non is not far to seek, viz.: that so many of the tramps and farmers' boys had gone to the war,
that the trout had a rest. This is a fact, and many of us fishermen would not repine if there was
another war to take these ''pot " fishermen again away !

[43 J

346 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

THE CHAMPLAIN CANAL.

Upon the termination of the War of 1812, a very vigorous effort,
says Johnson, was made to improve the means of transportation in
New York state by the opening of canals along- the main lines of
travel and freightage. In fact some movements had been made in
that direction before the war, but were abandoned at the beginning
of hostilities. On the return of peace, however, the desire for a
system of canals awoke with renewed energy, and under the zealous
leadership of DeWitt Clinton, it soon found voice in legislative
enactments. Although. Clinton, who. with Washington in 1789, 1
had early explored the present route of the Erie Canal, is deserving
of all praise, yet the experiments both in Holland and in England
had first directed his attention to the great commercial value of
canals. Accordingly, with his far-seeing mind, he had recommended
both the routes of the Erie and Champlain canals to the attention of
the New York Legislature. In consequence of a special message of
his to this effect, the Legislature agreed with his views, and one of
the first canals provided for by an act passed by the Legislature —
standing in respect to time with those of the Erie, Oswego and Cayu-
ga — was the Champlain canal, the law for the construction of which
was passed in February, 181 7. All of these canals having been made
by the state at the public expense, thev vet remain under the admin-
istration of the state government as public property. The Champlain
canal follows in its peaceful course, the same route which had so often
been followed by hostile armies (especially that of General Burgoyne)
and which was selected, though not used, as before stated, by the
"Northern Inland Lock and Navigation Company."

The Champlain canal, which is seventy-three miles from Whitehall
to Albany and twenty-one from Sandy Hill, is forty feet wide at the
surface, twenty-eight feet at the bottom and four feet in depth. It
passes from Albany to Whitehall on Lake Champlain, connecting the
Hudson river with the lake. This canal begins at Whitehall, at the
head of sloop navigation on Lake Champlain, and, immediately ris-
ing, by three locks, twenty-six feet, proceeds on a level five and one-
half miles up the valley of Wood Creek, enters that stream, and fol-
lows its channel for three miles, to a lock of fonr feet lift, which
extends the navigation up the creek three and one-half miles further

1 See my " Reminiscences of Saratoga " for an account of this tour.

THE CHAMPLAIN CANAL. 347

to Fort Anne village, where, after rising by three locks twenty-four
feet, it leaves the creek and proceeds twelve miles on a summit level,
through the towns of Fort Anne and Kingsbury to Fort Edward.
Here it receives the waters of the Hudson, above the great dam in
that river, by a feeder of half a mile in length and soon after descends
thirty feet by three locks, into the Hudson below the dam. The great
dam is 900 feet long, twenty-seven feet high and throws back an
ample supply of water for the summit level. From Fort Edward the
navigation is continued, for the present, down the channel of the
Hudson eight miles, to the head of Fort Miller Falls, around which it
is carried by a canal on the east bank of the river, half a mile long,
and having two locks of eighteen feet descent. From Fort Miller, the
river is made navigable for nearly three miles further, by a dam at
the head of Saratoga Falls,' just above which the canal leaves the
river on the western side, and proceeds almost on a dead level for
seventeen miles, through the towns of Greenwich, Saratoga and Still-
water, Schuyler's Flats and over Fish Creek by an aqueduct, to a
point two miles below Stillwater village. From this place to Water-;
ford, where the canal enters the Mohawk, and meets the Erie canal
(a distance of nine miles) it descends eighty-six feet by nine locks,
six of which are in the town of Waterford. 2 From Waterford, the
Hudson is now navigable for sloops to Troy (three and a half miles
below) by a dam across the latter place — 1100 feet in length, nine feet
high and having a sloop lock at its eastern extremity, 114 feet long,
thirty feet wide, with a nine feet lift. The cost of this lock and dam
was originally $92,270 — not to speak of the many expenses which have
since been added not only for great improvements on the original design
but also for keeping it in repair. Still, the canal has been of such
benefit to Washington County alone, that that county could well have
assumed (had she been called upon to do so) the whole of the ex-
pense.

1 It was at this point, it will be remembered that Burgoyne with his army, crossed over from
Washington County to Saratoga County, preparatory to his march upon Albany.

2 As illustrative of what I have stated in the text a page or two before, the canal passes
within sight of the fortifications thrown up by General Schuyler, when he retreated before the
advance of Burgoyne. These earthworks, as before mentioned, can be plainly seen by the pas-
senger on the railroad from Troy to Saratoga.

:-.]s WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

THE RAILROAD FROM SARATOGA TO WHITEHALL.

The ground for the Saratoga & Whitehall Railroad was first broken
in April, 1836. 1 The initiation of this road was due to the late Gideon
M. Davison of Saratoga Springs, who being most indefatigable in the

itistics of travel and business, could prepare and lay them before
the public in a concise shape. The charter of the road, therefore.
through his instrumentality, being secured, the capital was subscribed
for and the construction of the road begun, but the financial crash of
0S37 came on before it had made much progress, and its managers
were, accordingly, forced to suspend operations. Mr. Davison, how-
ever, never lost faith in it, and kept steadily at work until he had
secured its construction to the end of the route. The first year the
road was carried through the ''Upper Village " in Saratoga Springs,
at a cost of sixty thousand dollars, when it was stopped for want of
funds. It remained in statu quo until ten years after, when it was
completed to Whitehall. The late Mr. Robert Patterson of Saratoga
Springs superintended its construction, and when in December, 1846,
the first train went up the road to Whitehall with a load of iron, he
took with him seventy laborers, each armed with an axe, with which

1 In this connection, it may be of interest to my readers to say that the first railway in the
United States was one of two miles long from Milton to Quincy, Massachusetts, in 1826. The cars
were drawn by horses. The Baltimore & Ohio was the first passenger railway in America, fif-
teen miles being opened in 1830, the cars also being drawn by horses till the next vear, when a
locomotive was put on the track. It had an upright boiler and cylinder. The Mohawk & Hudson,
sixteen miles, from Albany to Schenectady, was the next line, opened in 1831, and the cars were
drawn by horses till the delivery of the locomotive " De Witt Clinton," which was built at the
West Point founders. New York. This was the second locomotive built in the United States.
The first was made at the same shop for the South Carolina Railway. The termini both at
S henectady and Albany were upon inclined planes with stationary engines. The first locomo-
tive, however, was built in and sent from England in 1830 and named " The John Bull," and had
- first trial at Bordentown, X. J. Joseph Wood who operated this locomotive died recently at
Red Bank, X. J. < )n July 7. 1832, a railroad was first opened from Schenectady to Ballston. The
time made on that day from Ballston to Schenectady was one hour and twenty-eight minute>.
and the number of passengers on the Saratoga and Schenectad3' Railroad, during the month of
April, 1833, was 1,240, " being more." as Mr Davison's Saratoga paper says, "than four times the
travel between Saratoga and the south during any former month so early in the season." The
difficulty experienced in " Regatta " week at Saratoga in 1874, in carrying the crowds to the Lake
— distant only three and one-half miles — shows how impossible it would be with no railroad to
bring that number from Albany to Saratoga.

This speed— fifteen miles an hour— was considered extraordinary at that time. Indeed, fears
were expressed at the prospect even of a greater rate being attained. Thus, Colonel Stone,
writing from Saratoga at that time to his paper, The New York Commercial Advertiser, says:
"' Were the velocity of these to be doubled there would be continued apprehensions of danger, in
addition to disagreeable sensations of dizziness. But such is not the case now, and the passen-
gers are whirled along in commodious and elegant cars, without jolting or any other annoyance,
and without the remotest fears for the safety of liie or of limb ! "

THE SARATOGA AND WHITEHALL RAILROAD. 349

to cut away any forest trees that might have fallen upon the track.
Previous to the completion of the road (and, for that matter, for many
years before) fine "Concord Coaches" ran to Whitehall, starting from
"Montgomery Hall." in Saratoga Springs, under the proprietorship
of the late General Joshua T. Blanchard.

At first the road was laid on blocks of stone, but these were soon
found, by their not giving (i. e. their inelasticity) to rack the cars
too much, and wooden "sleepers" were substituted. The rails first
used were long strips of iron, nailed to horizontal timbers. Often,
however, the wheels would rip them Tip where they were joined —
driving them through the flooring of the cars, to the great danger of
the passenger's lives. These dismembered rails were very appro-
priately called "snake-heads." The cars, moreover, which are des-
cribed at that time in the Washington and Saratoga countv news-
papers as "spacious and elegant (what would then have been thought
of the up to date Pullman and Wagner Palace cars ?) had each like
the present railway carriages in Europe, three compartments, cur-
tained and cushioned to contain eight passengers. Outside was a
platform running the length of the car for the convenience of the
conductor, who, while the cars were in motion, would, with one arm
thrown around a window-casing for support, with the other collect
the fares — one of his hands (as there were no tickets in those days)
being full of bank-bills. This, however, was not so hazardous a pro-
ceeding as might be supposed, since the cars, which, the first year,
were drawn by horses, travelled only at the rate of nine miles an
hour. One of the first conductors on the railroad between Saratoga
and Whitehall was Mr. Elisha Matthews. He remained in this employ
— a zealous, gentlemanly and faithful man until his death about 1870.

Since 1846, there have been great extensions of railroad facilities
in this county. The first ground was broken for the Greenwich and
Johnsonville railroad in 1S57. a road which was completed to Green-
wich in August, 1870. The Glens Falls Railroad Company, organ-
ized in July, 1867, was soon afterwards built from Fort Edward to
Glens Falls, but was soon leased in perpetuity to the Rensselaer and
Saratoga Railroad Company. The latter road, however, was subse-
quently leased to the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company, in whose
hands it still is. The Delaware & Hudson Canal Company also con-
structed a road (1874-5) called the New York & Canada Railroad,
which extends northward from Whitehall, along the west shore of

350 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Lake Champlain to the north bounds of the county and thence north-
ward, connecting with other roads leading to Montreal. This is also
managed by the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company as a part of its
great system of coal roads, and "long- trains, laden with iron ore
going' south, or with coal going north, may daily be seen thundering
along the rocky shores, where once resounded only the shrill scream
of the panther, the deadlier war-whoop of Indian braves, or the
triumphant shout of Putnam's rangers! "

CHAPTER XXII.
THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR.

Washington County's Participation Therein — Enlistment of Companies I, K

and Al — Assign!,] i to the Second New York Provisional Regiment — Roster
oi These Companies — Movement of the Regiment to Camp Black; Thence
to Chickamauga Park. Tampa, Fi.a., Fernandina, Fla., and Camp Hardin, N. Y.

Although it is not within the province of this work to give in detail
all the causes which led up to the Spanish-American War, in which
our National Guard played a prominent part, it is desirable to state
briefly the events which led up to a result so momentous to this coun-
try, especially as Washington County showed her patriotism in a
splendid manner in this crisis.

In 1895 the Cubans began their second great struggle for indepen-
dence from the Spanish yoke and as the struggle continued the
warmest sympathy of the liberty loving people of this country was
elicited toward the suffering and oppressed Cubans.

The Cuban Junta established itself in New York City and sought to
aid the island in its struggle by sending out filibustering expeditions
bearing arms and ammunition to the Cubans. These operations were
not obnoxious to the people of this country, but the government did
everything in its power to prevent and suppress them. Armed ves-
sels were dispatched to suspected rendezvous, expeditions were pre-

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 351

vented from sailing and some filibusters were arrested and impris-
oned.

Notwithstanding- the efforts of our government to preserve the laws
of neutrality, the sentiments of the people were strongly reflected by
leading newspapers and their utterances were taken by Spain as an
indication of bad faith on the part of the United States, so that grad-
ually the relations between the two countries became more and more
strained. In the winter of 1898 the battleship Maine was sent to
Havana on a peaceful mission, and while lying at anchor was blown
up on the evening of February 15, 1898, and 266 of her seamen killed.
Although the cause of the disaster has never been positively estab-
lished, the people of the United States laid the deed at the door of
Spain and popular sentiment clamored for war. In April, 1898, Con-
gress decided upon war and President McKinley issued a dispatch
recalling General Stewart L. Woodford, our ambassador at Madrid.

War was declared on April 21st, 1898, and upon April 23 President
McKinley issued a call for 125,000 volunteers, and at the same time
expressed a desire that the regiments of the National Guard be util-
ized for the service as far as their number would permit.

On April 26th, an order was issued to all infantry organizations in
the state requiring the commanding officers to "assemble at once
their respective commands in uniform, in their armories, and there,
by an individual expression, freely and voluntarily given, learn how
many enlisted men of their organizations desire to be mustered into
the service of the United States for the term of two years, unless
sooner discharged, to serve where ordered by the proper authorities."

The 9th Separate Company at Whitehall was composed entirely of
Washington County men and the 32d Separate Company of Hoosick
Falls and the 18th Separate Company of Glens Falls were largely
augmented by men of this county.

Of the 9th Separate Company of Whitehall four officers and sixty-
seven men volunteered for service; of the 32d Separate Company four
officers and fifty-nine men volunteered and of the 18th Separate Com-
pany four officers and eighty-two men volunteered. All the com-
panies subsequently recruited to their maximum strength and there
was no difficulty in procuring men as an intense wave of patriotic
zeal pervaded this county as well as the whole Union.

The 9th Separate Company became Company I, the 18th Separate

352 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Company became Company K and the 326! Separate Company became
Company M. all of the Second Regiment, New York Yolunteers.

The rosters of these three companies follow; as Companies K and M
were formed upon the borders of Washington County and contained
many Washington County boys the full roll of each is given:

COMPANY I.

Captain — Ernest A. Greenough.

First Lieutenant — Emmett J. Gray.

Second Lieutenant — Alanson D. Bartholomew.

First Sergeant — John C. Hopson.

Quartermaster-Sergeant — William G. Blanchard.

Sergeants — Elisha M. Allen, Frank G. Howland, George L. McKay, Benjamin
F. Waters.

Corporals — Arthur F. Fish, Preston L. King, William C. McLaughlin, Mark R.
McDonnell, James H. Hoy, William F. Hammond, Austin Baker, Albert D.
Broughton, William H. Culver, Thomas E. Hefrernan, Horatio S. Douglass,
Thomas Melvin.

Musicians — William J. Doren, Patrick Hart.

Artificer — Henry Davis.

Wagoner — Robert A. Sinclair.

Privates — John Adams, Alfred Blanchard, James H. Blanchard, William A.
Blanchard, William S. Belden, Jesse M. Bellegarde, Smith C. Barrett. Henry W.
Barrett, Robert M. Bartholomew, George S. Bartholomew, Albert T. Bromley,
James W. Busteed, William J. Boyle, Albert Brunell, Frank Baty, John Bahen,
John H. Cooper, Joseph Crosier, Daniel A. Crowley, Watson M. Carswell, Daniel
Clarke, Oney Carrol, Napoleon J. Demers, James Doherty, John L. Eddy, James
H. Eraser, Charles Fyfe, Daniel Flannery, Frank L. Gregory, John C. Gray,
fames Gould, Leonard J. Mealey, Clarence B. Haskins, William A, Harvey, Ber-
nard Hart, Benjamin D. Hart, Evan R. Jones. Clinton L. Jones, Henry Johnson,
John J. Kelley, Thomas M. Kelley, Bert F. Kilburn, Ambrose Kinney, Nelson
Lemay, Charles A. Lathen, Jesse M. Leigh, George If. Lafarr, Ira E. Manchester,
Edward H. Martin, Walter P. Martindale, William A. Moore, George B. MeCarfee,
jr., John J. McGue, Joseph H. McKittrick, Harry A. McQueen, James McCormick,
Edward B. McCaughin, Fred K. Nichols, Charles A. Nolan, James O'Hara, Carl D.
Ottenburg, Frank Olcott, Jonas E. Paro, Emille O. Prefontaine, Albert G. Prefon-
taine, Albert Prindle, George F. Rich, James P. Rowan, Arthur A. Russell,
Michael J. Ryan, Matthew Ross, Jr., Charles Roberts, Daniel Roberts, Hugh P.
Roberts, James B. Stockwell, Merton I. Stafford, Joseph Stone, Jr., Maurice Shep-
ardson, Herbert S. Tracy, George W. Taylor, Henry Taft, Thomas K. Thomas,
Bertie E. Waters, Oscar Welch, Herbert E. Williams, Leverett < ). Wilsev.

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 353

COMPANY K.

Captain — Loyal L. Davis.

First Lieutenant— Seldon W. Mott.*

Second Lieutenant — Daniel J. Hogan.

First Sergeant — William B. Stevens.

Quartermaster-Sergeant — Andrew J. Simons.

Sergeants— Harley Cushman,* Frank H. Scott, Nelson A. Moss, William II.
White.

Corporals — Willard D. Norcross, Lewis A. Morris,* John H. Conway, Daniel
Wood, Philiman H. Haselton, Frank L. Parks, Jr.. Frank H. LaLone, Harvey C.
Prouty, Charles A. Dodge, Burton Akins, George O. Boldway, Frank D. Sansouci.

Musicians — Loren A. Barney,* Adelbert Reynolds.

Artificer — Henry A. Gilmour.*

Wagoner — Carlos C. Patterson.

Privates — Elroy A. Allen, Joseph Bishop, Arthur Bannister,* William II.
Boyce, Walter A. Burchell, Edward Beecher,* Edward J. Bushman,* Ernest M.
Boss, William W. Baldwin Walter D. Brown, John Cronin, George M. Call, Wil-
lard Carpenter, Frank Carpenter, Frank M. Carter, Erastus J. Curtis, William
Cooney, Paul F. Carpenter,* William Denton, Thomas Durkee, Joseph A. Dufour,
John M. Davies, Michael J. Enright, Alfred B. Gonyeo, Arthur W. Glenn,* John 0.
Holleran, William A. Hall, Roberts. Hall, Jr., Fred 1). Harvey,* George L. Har-
ris, George H. Holmes,* Ernest 0. Huston, James J. Hogan, Elijah R. Johnson,
Charles W. Jacobie, James Killough, Edward A. Kunkel, Henry G. LaRose, Wil-
liam P. LaRose, Frank A. LaFountain, George H. LaClair,* George B. LaLone,
Michael J. Lynch, Fred A. LaRose, Charles B. McGrath,* Louis N. Mason, Henry
V. Middleworth,* Howard McOmber, Edward F. Morrison.* Joseph V. Mitchell,
Charles Myerson, Michael Murphy, Burt McDougall, Fred J. Narrow, William J.
Newman,* James H. O'Connor, Herbert J. Plue, Praxton B. Pulver, Seymour
Pratt, William A. Podvin, Ernest Reynolds,* Joseph A. Richardson, Royal T.
Roach, Henry R. Rice, Eugene Raybine William L. Stevens, Lawrence C.
Seelye, William Simard, Delbert D. Scickney,* Thompson E. Smith,* Dennis Sird,
Thomas F. Small, Henry M. Tucker, Perry Tabor, George S. Underhill,* Alvah S.
Vaughn,* Milford E. White, George S. Wood,* William A. Wier,* Michael J.
Walsh, Joseph E. Williams, Warren A. Wilson,* Moses L. Wait,* John F. Young.*

COMPANY M.

Captain — Frank L. Stevens.
First Lieutenant — Walter A. Wood, Jr.
Second Lieutenant — Louis E. Potter.
First Sergeant — Edward Gill.
Quartermaster-Sergeant — Frank A. Rich.

* These were Washington County men.

[44 J

354 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

Sergeants — Benjamin W. Sugden, Clarence B. Soloman, Charles W. Bates,
Andrew T. McLean.

Corporals— William H. Straub, William F. Brien, Frederick M. Bates, Oscar G.
Avery, Joseph F. Ross, George W. Manchester, Edward M. Woodworth, Manfred

D. Kincaid, Archibald R. Waddell, Elbert < ). Wing, Harry V. Hale, Harry A.
Warhurst.

Musician — Charles A. Prenti>-

Artificer — John M. Closson.

Wagoner — Lewis K. Howe.

Privates— Albert F. Abel, Charles W. Allen. William S. Archer, John A. An-
drews,* Charles E. Belair, Louis W. Bowers. Frederick J. P. Bain, George E.
Brew, William C. Brew, Elmer E. Barnes, Sidney G. Bristol, Victor W. Babcock,
James Bryant. Frank W. Buck, Daniel F. Beebe, Jr., Hugh P. Blackinton, William
F. Coleman.* Harold H. Cole, John Coila,* Herbert S. Chapel, Amdy Christensen.
Leon C. Closson, Joseph J. Conkling,* Frank F. Chapin, William H. Clearman,
Albert E. Clarke, William L. Carpenter, Clarence Dorr, Eugene DeLong, Robert

E. Daggett. Joseph E. Delavergne,* Frank B. Davis, Norman B. Dale, Patrick J.
Dempsey, Merritt B. Eldridge, Pierce R. Fadden,* Walter E. Fuller, Charles W.
Fuller, Alfred Furkart, Frank H. Goodyear,* Clarence E. Gallup, Edmund Haynes,
Frank H. Hopkins, George C. Hollister, George P. Hollis, George W. L. Hewitt,
Larmon E. Joy, Raymond D. Johnson,* George F. Kincaid, Patrick (). Keefe, Leo
J. Ladd, Samuel Logan, Albert F. Ladd, Charles H. Lapius, Roscoe C. Lansing,
George W. McDowell, Michael McGrath,* Ray Myers, Almeron Mattison,* Frank
B. Morse. William P. Madden, William B. T. Peacock, Aner E. Powers, Eugene P.
Prindle, Frank A. Putnam, Thomas J. Ouinn,* Andrew Rankin, Harry H. Rosen-
berger, Charles A. Stillman, Charles P. Salmon, Moses Schweizer, Charles F.
Stemp. Arthur M. Stemp, Raymond M. Sanford, Edward Thomas, Thomas T.
Teague,* Sherman L. Wolf, Charles A. Worden, Charles G. Wilcox, William R.
Williams, Daniel M. Wells. Jr., Frank B. Whipple, William Welch, Fred G. White,
Franklin A. Welclen, Alson L. Jones.

An extract from the Whitehall Chronicle is given to show the spirit
of enthusiastic patriotism that pervaded, not only the men going to
the front, but also the entire populace. And this description of the
going forth of the Whitehall boys would also apply to those of many
other places :

••At 12 o'clock every man was obliged to be at the Armory. The
moving call was given at 3 a. m. It was not long after this hour that
the bells and whistles of all classes began to sound out the announce-
ment that all who intended to see the soldiers off had better get up as
there would be no further opportunity to indulge in the charms of
Morpheus until after five o'clock, and there was none. Canal street
was gaily decorated for the coming parade, almost every residence

* These were Washington County men.

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 355

having some display of national colors. The procession left the ar-
mory at about 4. 30 ; first marched the band, then Post Tanner and
veterans not members of the Post, following these marched the
eighty-four officers and privates of the company in full army outfit.
Next came fifty-two ex-members of the Ninth under command of
Captain Patterson, a body of citizens under the leadership of W. A.
Fraser brought up the rear. There were small boys everywhere,
some big boys too carried baskets of cannon firecrackers which were
exploded almost continuously along the route. Their reports with
the music of the band, the clang of bells and the cheers of spectators
made vigorous combined harmony that certainly did justice to the
occasion. Just as the company was opposite the flag bedecked Y. M.
C. A. building the order was given to halt. The soldiers turned and
stood facing the building at parade rest, while the ladies pinned flag-
badges on their coats, the souvenirs being presented by the Associa-
tion. While this work was in progress and during the hearty hand-
shaking bv some Qfentlemen of the Association that followed, the band
played "The Star Spangled Banner" and St. Joseph"s deep-toned
bell rang with great vigor. After these courtesies the procession ad-
vanced toward the depot. When opposite McGovern's store the vet-
erans formed in open double column and with uncovered heads cheered
with hearty good will, as the bluecoats of today marched between the
lines. This was a thrilling spectacle, and one never to be forgotten
by those who witnessed it. On reaching the depot the company
marched close up to the cars and a crowd of thousands instantly
closed around them, forming a compact mass of humanity. Whoever
was caught in that crowd could not move until the train left. The
train of one baggage and two passenger coaches and engine No. 127
was gaily decorated, the cars bearing the cloth streamer with the
words "The Whitehall Boys." Hands were shaken through the car
windows, and then amid admiring cheers the train departed. The
Glens Falls train with the Eighteenth Company, joined it at Fort
Edward and the cars bearing the Twenty-second of Saratoga and the
Thirty-second of Hoosick Falls later became part of the same train.
Ovations were tendered the soldiers at every point along the route.
As the great mass of people turned to leave the station there were
many breakdowns.

As mothers, sisters and sweethearts realized the separation from
their gallant boys and the possibility that it might be forever their

356 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

sorrow was scarcely to be measured by the tears that flowed. Indeed
the affair really had more the semblance of a funeral than a celebra-
tion. The stalwart men arrayed in full army habit, certainly pre-
sented a grim appearance as they marched with measured tread, pre-
pared if commanded to face the guns of a foreign foe."

Companies I, K and M first went to Troy, N. Y., where they joined
the other companies of the Second Regiment and then proceeded to
Camp Black, at Hemstead Plains, Long Island, where it became the
command of Colonel E. E. Hardin, now governor of part of the
Phillipine Islands.

The Second Regiment was mustered into the United States service
at Camp Black and there remained until May 18, 1898, when it started
for Chickamauga, Ga. The New York Herald speaking of the regi-
ment at that time, said:

'■ In excellent trim, with equipments complete and all details of its
transportation promptly executed, the Second Provisional Regiment,
formed of crack separate companies, left for Chickamauga yesterday
under the command of Colonel E. E. Hardin, formerly of the Seventh
United States Infantry. The Second contains a small percentage of
raw recruits as compared with other regiments. A committee of the
Sons of the Revolution presented a flag to the regiment before its
departure."

The regiment reached Chickamauga on the night of May 20 and
remained in camp there until June 1. Here the command first suf-
fered from the lack of good water, but it is a notable fact that from
first to last the Washington County boys endured heat, privations and
the performances of duty with little sickness, although the regiment
as a body suffered rather severely.

On June 1st four regiments, including the Second New York, left
Chickamauga for Tampa, Florida, and the beginning of the journey
was notable through the fact that the men had to walk from the camp
to the railway station at Rossville — a distance of nearly eleven miles.
This trying march was easily performed and shows the fine condition
of the men at that time. The regiment reached Tampa on June 3
and there remained until July 26. During the month of July a vast
amount of sickness occurred among the troops stationed at Tampa and
the Second Regiment was invaded by the malady officially designated
as typhoid fever.

That this fine regiment did not get into Cuba was a source of regret

THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR. 357

to both officers and men and they would probably have suffered less
in battle than they did in the fever stricken camp at Tampa. How
near they came to going" with General Shafter is shown in Colonel
James W. Lester's " History of the Second Regiment." He says:

" About 7 o'clock on the evening of July 12th orders were received
for the regiment to be in readiness to go aboard transports for San-
tiago on the 13th. The process of packing up was again undertaken
and early in the morning of the 13th the tents of the first and second
battalions were struck and the tentage, rations and camp equipage
put aboard the train for Port Tampa.

Matters came to a standstill at this point and the regiment waited.
About 12 o'clock on the evening of the 13th a notice came to the com-
manding officer that the expedition would not be started, presumably
owing to the fact that yellow fever had broken out among the troops
at Santiago. This was a great disappointment to the men who had
hoped not only to get away from the unsanitary camp at Tampa, but
also to do its part in the work of the army at the front."

On July 26 the Second Regiment was moved to Fernandina, Fla.,
where it remained until August 24th when it was moved to Camp
Hardin, near Troy, N. Y. On September 15th the men of the regi-
ment were given a thirty days furlough at the expiration of which
they were mustered out of the United States service.

In closing this brief history of the regiment of which they formed an
important part, it is but just to say that the boys of Washington County
discharged their duties as soldiers uncomplainingly and throughout
displayed a patriotism worthy of natives of the soil which witnessed
some of the hardest battles fought for the independence and estab-
lishment of this great Union.

358 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

CHAPTER XXIII.

Earu Sketches and Biographies — Peter Carver's Journal — General Israel
Pi tnam — General Philip Schuyler — Colonel John Williams.

EXTRACTS FROM PETER CARYER'S JOURNAL.

Peter Carver was one of the first English settlers of what is now
Washington County, N. Y. In 170S, while still a youth, he was
adopted by the Mohawk Iroquois as a member of the tribe, and lived
almost continuously among them for nearly thirty years. The French
chroniclers call him a Dutchman, or sometimes a Fleming, but there
seems to be no doubt of his English parentage, on the father's side at
least. He died in New York City shortly after the English conquest.
His manuscript journal in two volumes is known to have been in Bos-
ton in 1775, but with the so-called log of the Mayflower and other old
records, was taken to England in that year, where the second volume
still remains. The original of the first volume appears to be lost, but
there is a torn copy in Amsterdam, where there is also a Dutch trans-
lation of many portions, which supplies most of the deficiencies of the
English copy. A French version of the account of the fight at
Tadoussac on the St. Lawrence in 1708, is pasted into the town
records of Honfleur. The greater part of the journal, including the
following extract (which is translated from the Dutch), has never been
printed.

" But the winter was not all peace and quiet and frozen toes. One
night when the snow was at its deepest, and the cold and winds at
their fiercest, it may have been towards the end of February, I came
in. weary from a day spent in dragging firewood through the snow, to
find the house more than usually full of noise and smoke. I sat for
some time by the fire trying to warm myself, scolded by the women
whose labor of cooking I impeded, teased by mischievous children
who raced unrestrained up and down the cabin, and with my eves
tearful and smarting from the smoke; and then sought my bed,
homesick and dispirited, very thoroughly tired of this life with the
savages and Very hopeless that I should ever be able by their means
to help the cause to which my father had pledged me.

After some hours of troubled sleep I found myself lying awake and
listening intently. Yet there were but the usual sounds to hear. Out-

EXTRACTS FROM PETER CARVER'S JOURNAL. 359

side the wind roared and the trees creaked as they bowed to the gale
which brought now and then the far yell of a famished wolf, while
against the bark wall by my head the drifting snow rattled and rattled
again. No one stirred in the long house and the deep breathing of
the sleepers warranted that they would not stir for light cause. At
length, finding myself unable to sleep again, I rose and walked down
the cabin past fire after fire. Still no one moved. The fires had died
to faint embers, for it must have been well past midnight; and around
each fire, on shelves covered with skins of bears or winter-killed deer,
lay a household of my red brethren. Here an old warrior scarred and
weather-beaten ; there a weary squaw who of us all had best reason to
forget the hour of waking, for in the morning hers would be the task
to bring in the wood, build the fire, and prepare the meal, after which
her only recreation would be to join a circle of gossiping women at
scraping and chewing filthy skins until it should be time for more
cooking and wood-chopping. Next the squaw might be sleeping a
baby boy, perhaps some day to be the terror of the moose by the
mountain rivers, or of the lonely farmer beside the St. Lawrence —
perhaps to be wrapped in furs and buried in a snowdrift before spring.
Of all my house-people not one was awake, save that from beside the
third fire there rose to lick my hand The Muskrafs big and bony dog,
who had concealed himself somewhere, when his clan had been
driven forth at dusk to roll themselves together in their lair in the
glen. Now he begged mutely for mercy and I left him beside the
fire while I went on to the west door of the long house, and, raising
the moose-hide curtain, looked out into the night. Against the sky
line the trees were swaying; in the clearing the snow flew here and
there in a faint mist from the edge of a drift. All around stretched
the wilderness; a very howling wilderness it was that night, of which
I knew only that it stretched over thousands of miles of snow. In all
those vast spaces there was no white man but myself and they on the
rock of Quebec who sought my life. My only refuge was the foul-
smelling cabin behind me and my only friends the ignorant savages
whom it sheltered. The same stars which had looked down so kindly
on my old home in Leyden looked coldly on me now. Cold and lonely
was all the world, and I would have said that I was the only creature
awake had not the dark form of a wolf suddenly framed itself against
the snow as with a snarl he leaped aside from the refuse heaped near
our door and vanished into the forest.

3G0 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

HURONS ON THE WAR PATH.

The sudden movement broke my reverie, and, wondering what had
startled the beast, I dropped the curtain and turned again towards my
bed. In the comparative warmth of the cabin I realized that the cold
air of the doorway had chilled me, so I sought in a heap of furs in the
end compartment a bear-skin to my liking. A sudden cold draught
struck me on the legs, and over my shoulder. I saw a tall Indian lift
the curtain and pass in, followed closely by a companion of slighter
figure. The tall man stepped quietly' to the second fire, which still
glowed with a dull red, and, stooping, laid upon it some strips of
birch bark, from which his breath quickly awakened a flame. The
rising firelight flickered and danced on the smoky roof of the cabin,
on the bunched ears of corn that hung from the rafters, on the house-
hold gear that cumbered the floor, and on the forms of the many 7
sleepers, all so familiar to my eyes; yet all changed, and strange in
the presence of these our enemies ; for the burning bark showed me
also the vigorous figure of the man who had kindled it, and by 7 his
dress and his painted face I knew him to be a Huron on the war path.

On the instant he rose to the full height of his tall stature, poised
his tomahaw r k and looked about him. His eye gleamed with satisfac-
tion as it fell on the Muskrat; and, without turning, he beckoned
silently 7 to his companion and strode forward to fulfil his errand of
blood. The younger man drew the tomahawk from his girdle and
turned to follow. Thus for an instant he stood with his back towards
me, and not three feet away. Then I sprang upon this Huron and
caught him in a tight grip, locking his arms fast to his sides. The
sudden assault no doubt surprised him. but he uttered never a sound
and we wrestled there. I quickly found that though he was the more
supple, I was quite a match for him in strength; so it seemed a fair
contest to see if he could wriggle out of my grasp before I could tire
him. He was slippeiy as a snake, and as full of twistings and writh-
ings, yet I held him. Had I but lifted up my voice, a dozen Mohawks
would have fallen on my foe; but I was breathless and excited, and,
to speak the truth, had no thought of aught but my twisting enemy.
He was as silent as I, but for him it was the part of wisdom.

As we wrenched and rocked the big man turned swiftly 7 towards us,
and for the moment The Muskrat's scalp was safe, as wdth great
strides the Huron made for me. From one I had quite forgotten

EXTRACTS FROM PETER CARVER'S JOURNAL. 361

came my rescue. A growl and a flash, and the great dog was at the
throat of the tall Huron, who went over like a falling tree. Then I
found my voice, and shouted lustily just as my fellow got his leg
inside mine, and tripped me, so that we both fell backwards, I under-
neath, he still caught in my grip, coming down with a mighty crash
upon a row of well-filled earthen pots that stood by the fire. Though
I held the Huron yet, he had now his right arm free from the elbow
down. He dropped his tomahawk as we lay there, but clutched the
knife that hung by a cord from his neck, and began to slash at me, all
hampered as he was, while I kept shouting and yelling with all the
breath 1 had.

THE MUSK RAT TO THE RESCUE.

From all the fires men and squaws came trooping, rubbing every
one his eyes in hope to discover the cause of this mighty racket.

Now the big Huron was on his feet again and rushed for the door,
knocking down a scpiaw who came tumbling into his path; but before
he could reach the air the dog had him by the leg. The stone hatchet
fell, crushing the beast's shoulder, but the dog held on. Again it fell
and the dog sank limply to the earth with a moan. The Huron was
free only to be banged in the face with a charred log in the hands of
an old squaw, and grasped at the same instant by a dozen stout arms
which dragged him back, and tied him. All this I did not see, for I
was still on the ground wincing as blow after blow of the stone knife
cut my leg, and I felt my strength beginning to fail with the loss of
blood.

I heard a word of surprise in the Muskrat's harsh voice, and my
enemy was pulled off me. I climbed to my feet, and watched the
squaws build up the fires till the long house was as bright as day.
Our prisoners were bound with deer-skin thongs to the posts of the
cabin and stood panting, while the White Partridge mourned over her
broken pots, and an old man bound up some bad cuts of the stone
knife in my right leg, and wiped me clean of the paste mixed of
ashes, blood and hominy with which 1 was dripping. The Indians
made much of me, but the real hero of the night lay dying, his head
and shoulder crushed with tomahawk blows.

In the morning our captives talked freely. A large war party had

[45 J

362 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

gone against Canajoharie, but the omens being bad had returned
again. These two, however, had some speeial longing for scalps, and
had lagged behind to hunt for us. They had come very near to being
successful. We found their trail, or what the drifting snow had left
of it, and it was plain that only these two had come our way, and that
the main party was beyond pursuit, even had we the men to fight
them. It was decided that Ondessus, the old warrior, should be
burnt at Canajoharie; but before we could take him there he escaped.
with two arrows in him, and must have died in the woods, for he
never got back to Canada. The young man remained a captive until
spring, and then, going with a party to Oneida, was adopted by a
squaw in place of her dead son, and finally became an Oneida chief of
note.

This night's work made me a firm friend in my adversary, the
Muskrat, and, in. fact, went a great way towards gaining me the good-
will of all the Mohawks, and now that I had fought for them, as a
manner of speaking, I had no thought of leaving them. Yet to this
day when a pot is broken in the House of the Bear, the squaws will
say, ' Peter has been dancing again with the Hurons. ' "

ISRAEL PUTNAM.

A sketch of General Israel Putnam is exceedingly appropriate since
he filled such a prominent part in the early history of Washington
County.

Israel Putnam is often confounded with General Rufus Putnam,
who was prominent as an officer of artillery at the Battles of Saratoga
and under whose supervision Fort Putnam, overlooking West Point,
was constructed some years later. He was born in West Salem,
Massachusetts, January 7th, 1718. In 1755, he raised and commanded
a company for the *' old French War, " and has been noted in the
course of our narrative, greatly distinguished himself by his courage.
He was promoted to Major in 1757, to Lieutenant-Colonel in 1759 and
Colonel in 1764. He commanded a Connecticut regiment in the Ex-
pedition against Havana and was with Colonel Bradstreet in his mem-
orable campaign against the western Indians. After the expiration
of his term of service, he was several times elected to various civil
offices in Connecticut. In 1773, he went with his second cousin,
Rufus Putnam, Thaddeus Lyman, Roger Eno and others to examine

GENERAL ISRAEL PUTNAM. 303

lands in Florida, that were to be granted to the colonial officers and
soldiers who had served in the French War. 1 Returning the following
year to his home at Pomfret, Conn., he resumed his occupation as a
farmer. On hearing of the Battle of Lexington in 1775 — the news
being brought by a swift messenger who continued on his way to
New York, Philadelphia and the southern colonies — he unhitched his
horse from the plow and at once rode to the scene of action. Wash-
ington, then in supreme command, was only too glad to avail himself
of his services. He, thereupon, returned to his home, recruited a
regiment among his farmer neighbors, and marched to Cambridge,
arriving there in time to take part in the Battle of Bunker Hill. He
was commissioned — for his services on that occasion — a Brigadier
General by the Assembly of Connecticut, April 26th, 1775, and Major-
General by the Continental Congress June 19, 1775. He was in com-
mand at Peekskill, when the attack was made by Sir Henry Clinton
on Forts Clinton and Montgomery, and has been greatly blamed for
not bringing his forces to General George Clinton's relief, which some
critics say might have prevented the capitulation of those forts.

General Putnam has been, not only in this instance, but in others
severely criticized for his apparent lukewarmness at this time; some
even going so far as to intimate that he was in the pay of the British
Government to act the part of a traitor. This, however, after a care-
ful investigation of the evidence, I do not believe. He was ignorant
and, while well versed in Indian warfare, was utterly incompetent to
meet and cope with trained soldiers in the field. Still, this is very
different from calling him a traitor to his country.

During the years 1778-9, he was engaged in the western part of
Connecticut with head-quarters usually at Danbury, co-operating with
the force in the Highlands. It was at this time that he made his
almost miraculous escape from General Tryon's troops by riding down
the stone steps at Horseneck in the town of Greenwich, Ct. When
the army went into winter quarters at Morristown in 1779, Putnam
made a short visit to his family at Pomfret. On his return, however,
to camp, and just before reaching Hartford, he had a stroke of paraly-
sis, which of course, incapacitated him from active service. His re-
maining years were accordingly spent at home, and he died in Brook-
lyn, Connecticut, on the 19th of May, 1790.

1 This must, of course, have been done by some arrangement with Spain — since Florida, at
that time, was a Spanish colony.

3(54 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER.

This history has had much to say about General Philip Schuyler,
who, indeed, during the Burgoyne Campaign, especially, was on the
American side, its central figure. His ancestor, moreover — Philip
Pieterson Van Schuyler — the first of the line in America, also occu-
pied a prominent place in the '"Old French War," having, as it will
be recalled, built in 1689 " Old Fort Saratoga," the site of which is on
a part of the soil of Washington County, nearly opposite the present
village of Schuylerville, N. Y.

For these reasons I have thought that the reader would gladly wel-
come the following sketch of the two members of the Schuyler fam-
ily who were so distinguished in the early annals of Washington
Count} :

Two hundred and fifty years ago a young Dutchman, Philip Pieter-
sen Van Schuyler, came from Holland and settled in the town of
Rensselaerwyck, known today as Albany. He represented the best
type of Dutch manhood, being brave, intelligent, energetic and relig-
ious. He was a pioneer in the best sense of the word and in addition
was a commander of men and an organizer of industry. He was, like
Sir William Johnson, eminent as a leader, preserving friendly rela-
tions with the Indians, directing the conquest of the wilderness, and
aiding newly arrived immigrants to obtain a foothold in the valleys of
the Hudson and the Mohawk. He married soon after his arrival, and
had a numerous family.

Of his children Pieter, the eldest son, was the most conspicuous.
With Dutch thrift, he circulated a petition, presented it in person,
and obtained a royal charter in 1688 for the city under the new name
of Albany. Incidentally with the incorporation came his appointment
as Mayor. The Mayoralty was more important in colonial days than
at the present time. It had military and legal as well as executive
obligations, and in general jurisdiction was almost the equal of the
governorship. On account of the exigencies of the time, the Mayor
was the Indian Commissioner or Agent.

In 1689 the war broke out between England and France, affording
the Mayor the opportunity of proving himself as brilliant a soldier as
he was a statesman. From this period up to his death in 1724 his life
was one of the chief glories of New York. He was indefatigable ; he
kept his own property well in hand, organized the people of northern

GENERAL PHILIP SCHUYLER. 365

New York into military companies, established forts at strategic
points, led several expeditions into Canada, then an appendage of the
French crown, made treaties with the Puritan colonies in New Eng-
land and alliances with the Indian tribes in the Empire State. When
affairs were looking dark for the colony, he took a delegation of In-
dian chiefs across the sea and presented them to Queen Anne. It is
hard to say which produced the greatest sensation at the English cap-
ital — -the Dutch Mayor or the stalwart Iroquois. They were enter-
tained in the lavish style of the old-fashioned hospitality, which, ac-
cording to old historians, nearly ruined the Honorable Pieter's diges-
tion and half demoralized his redskin colleagues. But it had the effect
desired. When the chiefs returned laden with clothing, jewels, arms,
toys, watches and baubles they created such a furor among the Iro-
quois that from that time on, the Mayor had no difficulty in gathering
an Indian army whenever needful. The historians of the time are
singularly unanimous; the English, Canadians and Americans pro-
nouncing Pieter the best soldier and statesman of his period, while
the French chroniclers refer to him as the most ferocious and blood-
thirsty enemy of the King of France. The fame of Pieter has ob-
scured his brothers Abraham, Arent and John, who were gallant offi-
cers and public-spirited citizens, the latter also having been Mayor of
Albany. Pieter might have had a title had he so desired, but when
knighthood was offered him by Queen Anne he refused the honor.
He explained his declination on two grounds: first that it might hum-
ble his brothers, who were just as good men as he, and second, that
it might make the women of his family vain. Pieter's bravery came
as much from his mother as his father. The former, Margarita Van
Schlichtenhorst, was living in the fort at Albany when a party of sol-
diers came to seize the place. The Colonel, her son, was away at the
time, and the men attached to the house were at their wit's ends, but
the woman was equal to the emergency. She summoned the men,
called them to arms and drove out the assailants.

GENERAL SCHUYLER OF THE REVOLUTION.

In the next generation the most important figure was that of
Colonel Philip, Jr., Pieter's eldest son. According to his tombstone
he "was a gentleman approved in several public employments." He
was a faithful soldier, a shrewd statesman, and a good business man.

366 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

The fourth generation brings upon the boards the greatest of the
family. This was Major-General Philip Schuyler, who was born in
1 733, and died in 1804. He was a man who could have succeeded in
any calling, so well rounded was his mental and moral equipment.
Webster pronounced him second only to Washington among the great
Revolutionary heroes. At the breaking out of the Revolution, he
was practically the head of the Schuyler familw He had wealth,
power and culture ; he held a commission under the British crown,
and could, had he so desired, received knighthood. His interests
were bound up in the English cause, and to espouse the cause of the
colonies seemed to mean ruin. He was an aristocrat by birth, breed-
ing and association. Nevertheless when the conflict came he threw
up his commission and gave himself to the revolutionary cause. His
superb career during the seven years' war is known to every one, and
it is generally conceded that it was his genius which won the battle of
Saratoga. After the revolution he took an active part in public
affairs, serving as Congressional delegate, and as a United States Sen-
ator.

General Schuyler was not covetous of public office. From boyhood
he was marked by an equanimity seldom found among the children of
the wealthy. He was gentle, and generous to a fault. Under the
law of primogeniture, which then prevailed, he was entitled to the
major part of the paternal estate. He refused to accept it, however,
and shared the patrimony with his brothers and sisters. The first
half of the eighteenth century was not an age when education flour-
ished. Conviviality and social pleasure engrossed the attention of the
higher classes, but young Sclmyler made himself conspicuous even
then by his studious habits. In this determination he was greatly
aided by his mother^ Cornelia Van Cortlandt Schuyler. He was a
fluent French scholar, had a good knowledge of Dutch, German and
Latin, excelled in mathematics, and was more than proficient in civil
and military engineering.

The first recognition of his ability came when he was a young man.
The Commissary Department of the British army was in a muddled
condition, and Lord Viscount Howe, the commander, selected young
Schuyler to take charge of a more important branch of the work.
There was a protest from many officers who resented the placing over
them of what they called a boy. Lord Howe is said to have replied
that he did not like to appoint a boy, but wdien a boy was the only

GENERAL SCHUYLER OF THE REVOLUTION. 367

one who could do the work properly, he had to appoint him. It was
just before this time, September 17, 1755, that Philip Schuyler mar-
ried Catherine Van Rensselaer, a noted beauty of the period, daugh-
ter of Colonel John Van Rensselaer. The choice was a happy one, as
the wife possessed the determination and heroism of the husband.
Her daughter wrote concerning her:

" Perhaps I may relate of my mother, as a judicious act of her kind-
ness, that she not infrequently sent a milch cow to persons in poverty.
* * * When the Continental army was retreating before Burgoyne
she went up in her chariot with four horses to Saratoga to remove her
household articles. While there, she received directions from Gen-
eral Schuyler to set fire to his extensive fields of wheat — which she
did with her own hands — and tO' induce his tenants and others to do
the same rather than suffer them to be reaped by the enemy. She
also sent her horses on for the use of the army, and returned to
Albany on a sled drawn by oxen."

Of his chivalry the best witness was his adversary, General Bur-
goyne. This British commander in the House of Commons delivered
a speech in which he held General Schuyler up to the admiration of
Parliament. He said: " By orders a very good dwelling-house, ex-
ceedingly large storehouses, great sawmills, and other outbuildings,
to the value altogether perhaps of ten thousand pounds, belonging to
General Schuyler at Saratoga, were destroyed by fire a few days
before the surrender. One of the first persons I saw after the conven-
tion was signed was General Schuyler, and when I expressed to him
my regret at the event which had happened to his property, he desired
me to think no more of it, and said that the occasion justified it
according to the rules and principles of war. He did more, he sent
an aide-de-camp to conduct me to Albany, in order, as he expressed
it, to procure better quarters than a stranger might be able to find.
That gentleman conducted me to a very elegant house, and to my
great surprise presented me to Mrs. Schuyler and her family. In that
house I remained during my whole stay in Albany, with a table with
more than twenty covers for me and my friends, and every other pos-
sible demonstration of hospitality." This home in Albany saw all the
great men and women of the land. The library was the best collec-
tion of books in the colony. The room or den was a favorite resort
of Aaron Burr, who came here when a member of the Legislature at
Albany to prepare his cases and write his orations. Here he met the

368 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

daughter of General Schuyler, whom he was to make a widow by
shooting her husband, Alexander Hamilton. During General Schuy-
ler's term in the Senate he displayed great political wisdom and
statesmanship. He foresaw the future financial greatness of the
country and was among the first advocates of a national bank.

General Schuyler was born at the family mansion in Albany the
2 2d of November, 1733, and like Dr. Franklin, was baptized on the
day of his birth. He died on Sunday, the 18th of November, 1804,
nearly seventy-one years of age. The tidings of his death were
received with sincere and profound sorrow throughout the United
States as well as in Europe, his funeral on the 21st of November being
attended by an immense concourse of the citizens of that town and
the surrounding county, and his remains were entombed, with mili-
tary honor, in the family burial-vault of General Abraham Ten
Broeck. They were afterwards removed to the burial-vault of the
Rensselaer and Schuyler families, and afterwards, when the tomb
gave way to the construction of railways the remains were removed
to the Albany Rural Cemetery. A handsome monument — to use the
words of Horace- — •"' plain in its neatness, " was erected to the memory
of this distinguished soldier of the Revolution, in October, 187 1. On
the pedestal of the shaft (which is of Quincy granite) are these words:

Major-Gen era l
PHILIP SCHUYLER,

BORN AT ALBANY

NOV. 22, 1733,

DIED NOV. iSth, 1804.

The following sketch of Colonel John Williams, a New York patriot
and one of Washington County's most revered sons will, I am sure, be
gladly perused by those residents of Washington County who are in-
terested in its early beginnings. I take it from the English Post of
December 8, 1900. Indeed, a history of Washington County would
not be complete without it.

The Fourth of July, 1609, was germinal the Fourth of July, 1776.
On that day the first white man entered the territory of New York,
and then began that series of events which resulted in the nation's
independence. He was a Frenchman, Samuel Champlain. He had
founded the colony of Canada, the city of Quebec, and discovered and

COLONEL JOHN WILLIAMS. 369

descended the lake to which he gave his name. He was accompanied
by two other Frenchmen and sixty Huron Indians. They met and
attacked a force of Iroquois, the inveterate enemies of the Hurons,
south of historic Ticonderoga. Champlain and his two companions
were dressed in gaudy uniforms and armed with arquebuses. The
Iroquois, terrorized by the strange-looking beings and the deadly
effect of their firearms, retreated after losing several chiefs. This was
a fatal victory for the French nation. Champlain made for it endur-
ing enemies of the most numerous and powerful tribe of Indians.
For a century and a half they were the allies of the English in the
three French and English wars in America.

In t 773, John Williams, a young English physician and surgeon,
was directed to the town of Salem, then called New Perth. He was
born in Barnstaple, Devonshire, in 1752. He was a university grad-
uate, with diploma to practice medicine and surgery. He had walked
the Hospital of St. John, London, and had served as surgeon's mate
on a British man-of-war. He brought a complete case of surgical in-
struments, which became of invaluable service to him and his country
in the then unforeseen but impending war. On his arrival he found
the small-pox prevailing as an epidemic. By his self-sacrificing and
successful service he endeared himself to his people. His fame spread
throughout the country, and his practice became extensive and lucra-
tive. He applied his earnings to the purchase of land, building saw
and grist mills, making farms, and in other ways developing the
resources and fostering the industries of the county. He then erected
a mansion in Salem, which is now known as the "Williams Home."

WILLIAMS DELEGATE TO CONGRESS.

The young physician identified himself with the patriot part}' in the
issues that were then agitating the colonies. Though he was a com-
missioned officer of the Government under half-pay, when the conflict
opened at Lexington and Concord, he led the people of his count}- in
preparations for war. When the first Provincial Congress was called
to meet in New York city, May 20, 1775, he was unanimously elected
delegate from the county. He was then only twenty-three years of
age. This testimony to the confidence of the people in his ability and
wisdom is emphasized by the proximity of the county to Canada and

[ 46 j

370 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

the certainty that it would speedily become involved in the war as the
highway for the British army. He served in this and all the succeed-
ing- sessions until their expiration. He was placed upon the most im-
portant committees, and assigned special service that required excep-
tional knowledge and prudence. He was on the committee to draft
the letter to the northern counties concerning invasion from Canada,
on that to confer concerning the capture of Fort Ticonderoga, and on
that to organize troops and prepare rules and regulations and to devise
plans for adjustment of the differences with Great Britain.

He was appointed by the Congress, Colonel of the First Charlotte
County Regiment, and surgeon subiect to requisition by the Conti-
nental service. When the Provincial Congress was succeeded by the
New York Legislature, 1781, he was elected to the Assembly. He
had so demonstrated his ability as a legislator that he was elected to
the Senate for three terms of four years each, from 1783 to 1795.
There is no other similar instance in the records of New York of so
young a man serving thus continuously and with such signal ability.
He was associated with and frequently opposed by the ablest lawyers,
jurists and statesmen of the State. His knowledge of the subjects of
legislation and his power as a speaker were an occasion of wonder to
his seniors. These were displayed in the New York Constitutional
Convention at Poughkeepsie, June, 1788, which ratified the Constitu-
tion of the United States and constituted Xew York a member of the
Federal Union. In that convention were such men as John Jay,
Richard Morris, Alexander Hamilton, Robert Livingston, George
Clinton and Philip Schuyler. Dr. Williams' speech followed Hamil-
ton's, which he opposed.

While a member of the Xew York Senate, 1793. he was chosen to
the Lnited States House of Representatives, and re-elected to the
next term. Congress was then held in Philadelphia. The great men
of the nation were in it; great subjects were before it; internal and
international questions and relations were to be settled. Williams
was the peer of those who were trained in law and the science of gov-
ernment. Melancthon L. Woolsey, an eminent lawyer, a former
opponent, wrote to him: " 1 thank you for the part you have taken in
the Federal Legislature on all subjects of national importance." He
was the first to secure legislative action providing for canal construc-
tion. His resolution in the Xew York Senate, February 15, 1791,
providing for a joint committee of the Senate and Assembly, of which

COLONEL JOHN WILLIAMS. 371

he was appointed chairman, contemplated canal communication be-
tween the Hudson River and the north and west by the lakes. On
February 7, 1792, his bill for the construction of the proposed canals
passed, and became a law March 30, 1792. He became a stockholder
and director in the Northern Inland Lock Navigation Company for
connecting the Hudson with Lake Champlain, and devoted much time
and money to its construction. We do not know who first suggested
canals in America; but we know from the Record that General Wil-
liams was the first to frame and introduce and secure the passage of
an act of Legislature for their construction.

.WILLIAMS' WORK IN THE ARMY.

Colonel Williams's services as an army officer were valuable to the
country. In 1 7 7 5 - * 7 6 his time was divided between his legislative and
military duties. His regiment, which he had raised and mainly sup-
ported financially, he kept employed in defending the frontier and in
other ways as its assistance was required by the government. The
orders of Generals Gates, Schuyler. St. Clair and Heath, preserved
among the " Williams Papers," are evidence of this. Thus General
St. Clair ordered him to his relief at Fort Ticonderoga, adding that
" with him and others he could laugh at all the enemy could do."'
General St. Clair had retired from the fort when Colonel Williams
reached Skenesborough to Fort Ann, where the first battle in Wash-
ington County was fought. Colonel Williams was present with his
force. This battle at Fort' Ann, resulting in the defeat of the British,
was of vital importance. It was initial to Bennington Heights and
Stillwater or Saratoga Springs. If the British had won they would
have avoided Bennington Heights and carried out the plan of uniting
with General Howe north of Albany. After Burgoyne's surrender,
Williams arranged his corps into six divisions, each to be on duty one
week at a time. This was to enable the men to attend to home
affairs and their farms. He interested himself in behalf of those
whose loyalty was doubtful. He sought to secure their return to their
homes, under the assurance of protection. The original letter of
General Gates is among the '* Williams Papers," on the subject in
reply to one of his. It is dated " Camp Burrass, Sept. 29th, 1777."
It is as follows:

It does not remain with me properly to extend the time prescribed

372 WASHINGTON COUNTY: ITS HISTORY.

by my proclamation for the return of the Tories to the indulgent pro-
tection of the government. Rut your letter shall immediately be
sent to Esopus, to be laid before the Legislature of this state now
sitting, and if they are pleased to grant a longer day, I shall, upon
receiving their answer, immediately acquaint you herewith. I am,
sir. your most obedient servant, Horatio Gates.

AFTER THE WAR.

General Williams continued his active, useful career to the close of
his life. He was appointed Regent of the State University on its first
board. He was an organizer of Washington Academy, the first north
of Albany, to which he presented the ground and building. He was
Judge of Washington County Court. He did more for the improve-
ment and development of the northeastern section of the state than
any others in its history. He died on July 22, 1S06, aged fifty-three
years and ten months. His descendants are about three hundred,
composing some of the most prominent families in the state.

The ' Williams Papers,' which are bound in folio volumes, especially
his letters, testify to his noble and exalted character as well as