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Title: The Story of Butler's Rangers and the Settlement of Niagara
Author: Cruikshank, Ernest Alexander (1854-1939)
Date of first publication: 1893
Edition used as base for this ebook:
   Welland [Ontario]: Lundy's Lane Historical Society, 1893
   (first edition)
Date first posted: 18 May 2009
Date last updated: 18 May 2009
Project Gutenberg Canada ebook #319

This ebook was produced by: Marcia Brooks, Susan Lucy
& the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
at http://www.pgdpcanada.net

This file was produced from images generously made available
by the Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries




BUTLER'S RANGERS

THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.



BY E. Cruikshank,

Author of "BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE," etc., etc.,




PUBLISHED BY

LUNDY'S LANE HISTORICAL SOCIETY,



Price 30c.



Printed at the office of the Tribune, Welland


     *     *     *     *     *


Lundy's Lane Historical Society



THE STORY OF

BUTLER'S RANGERS

AND THE SETTLEMENT OF NIAGARA



_BY ERNEST CRUIKSHANK_



Tribune Printing House, Welland, Ont.,

1893.

     *     *     *     *     *


    TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE.

    The original text contained a number of typographical errors that
    have been corrected in this ebook. They are listed at the end of the
    text. Inconsistent spelling in quoted material and inconsistent
    capitalization and hyphenation were preserved.

    The surname of Capt. John McDonnel is more commonly spelled
    McDonnell (see, for example, the _Dictionary of Canadian
    Biography_). The single "l" spelling was preserved.

    The spellings "Deleware," "Delewares," and "Pittsburg" were also
    preserved.


       *       *       *       *       *


PREFACE.


MANY thousand descendants of the brave men who formed Butler's
Rangers are now living in Ontario and other British Provinces. I hold
that they have no reason to be ashamed of ancestors who were eminently
distinguished by the none too common virtues of inalterable loyalty,
unfailing courage, and unconquerable endurance, and who sacrificed
everything for the cause which they had embraced. To them, at least, I
feel that no apology is necessary in presenting a narrative which will
not be found unduly eulogistic. It has been my aim to make a fair
statement of the facts by sifting the evidence on both sides. It may be
said that these were hard, fierce, and revengeful men, but it should be
remembered that they lived in a stormy time, in a hard, fierce, and
revengeful world. Their story has never yet been told from a
sympathetic, or even a fair-minded, point of view.

The present narrative is based chiefly upon unpublished official
documents, but every book and pamphlet bearing in any way upon the
subject, within the writer's reach, has also been consulted.

FORT ERIE, 27th February, 1893.




THE STORY OF BUTLER'S RANGERS
AND THE SETTLEMENT OF NIAGARA.

IN the year 1774, the Province of New York, although probably the
wealthiest and undoubtedly the most flourishing of the British Colonies
in America, did not contain a free population much exceeding a quarter
of a million. Of these, 39,000 were freeholders, entitled to vote at
elections. The settlements were clustered along the banks of the Hudson,
and extended up to the valley of the Mohawk nearly to its source, but
nowhere did they run very far back from those rivers or some tributary
stream, such as the Schoharie or Cobus Kill, which offered an easy means
of communication with the outer world at all seasons. A few old Dutch
families still possessed those enormous estates which they had acquired
before the English conquest, and stubbornly refused to part with them at
any price, or even to lease except on the most arbitrary of terms. Their
conduct more than any other cause had tended to delay the settlement of
the Province. Outside of New York itself, Albany, having a population of
about 5,000, was the largest and busiest town. Since the conquest of
Canada it had become the seat of much of the fur trade with the Indians,
and bade fair to eclipse Montreal. The merchants or their agents engaged
in this traffic usually spent the summer at Oswego, where they met the
Indians from the north and west, and the Mohawk river became the great
highway for their goods. The greed and unscrupulousness of the Albany
trader had become proverbial throughout the colonies. By the people of
New England they were cordially hated, for during the late French wars
they had not only sold the hostile Indians arms and ammunition, but had
taken in exchange the spoils of ravaged New England villages, such as
silver plate with the names of the owners still engraved on it, and, it
was said, had encouraged them to get more. In their fury the New
Englanders had even threatened to burn Albany at the first opportunity,
and its inhabitants returned their hate with interest.

The valleys of the Mohawk and its principal tributary from the south,
the Schoharie Kill, were frequently termed the "Garden of the Province,"
being composed of rich deep virgin soil, easy of cultivation, and
yielding enormous crops of grass and grain. Stretching for some fifty
miles along either bank of the Upper Mohawk, but nowhere more than two
miles in width, lay a noted fertile tract, called, from the nationality
of its inhabitants, the German Flats. The neighboring hillsides were
clothed with majestic pines, and the hum of the saw mill was heard on
every petty creek. A numerous fleet of small sailing vessels was
constantly employed in carrying the varied products of this region to
the sea coast. So marked was the general prosperity of the province,
during the twenty years preceding the revolution, that a regretful
Loyalist has termed this period the "Golden Age of New York."

By far the best known and most influential man in the Province was Sir
William Johnson, superintendent of the Northern Indians. For thirty
years he had performed the duties of his difficult office with
consummate skill and unvarying success. His influence over the Indians
has never been equalled by any other white man, but to secure it he
found himself obliged to conform to their habits in many discreditable
ways, and even to blink at their vices and crimes. At times he wore
their costume, painted his face and joined them in the war-dance. During
the French war he had induced the Colonial Legislature to pay them a
reward for scalps. Hundreds of them frequently were entertained by him
alone at his storehouse at Castle Johnson, with perfect confidence and
fearlessness in the midst of quantities of everything most coveted by
them. An acquaintance said that he united in his mode of life "the calm
urbanity of a liberal and extensive trader with the splendid
hospitality, the numerous attendance and the plain, though dignified,
manners of an ancient baron." Although he did not by any means neglect
his private interests in his relations with the Indians, and obtained
large tracts of land from them for the merest trifle, this was done in
such a direct and straightforward way that they took no offence, and he
jealously protected them from the exactions and fraudulent schemes of
others. Yet, whenever Indians attempted to over-reach him, they seldom
failed to get the worst of it. In early life a Mohawk chief one day
informed him at a council that he had dreamed the night before that
Johnson had given him a handsome laced coat, which he thought was the
same one he then had on. Knowing their superstitious reverence for
dreams, Sir William looked at him sharply and inquired whether he had
really dreamed this, and, upon being assured that he had, took off the
coat without hesitation and presented it to him. Next morning his turn
came, and he remarked to the Indians that, although not in the habit of
dreaming, he had dreamed a very curious dream during the night. On being
urged to tell it he said he had dreamed that they had given him a large
tract of land, extending for nine miles along the Mohawk river, to build
a house on and form a settlement. The chief at once said, with apparent
cheerfulness, that if the white man had actually dreamed that he must
have the land, but he added, ruefully, that he would never dream with
him again.

At the end of the last French war the King had granted Johnson a tract
of land containing a hundred thousand acres, at a pepper corn rent, as a
reward for his great services. This was known as the Royal Grant, and
upon it, in 1764, he built a spacious mansion near the Cayadutta river,
and during the three following years he created the thriving village of
Johnstown, whither he attracted several merchants, a physician, and
mechanics of every kind. There he built a stone church and a large inn,
which was conducted by Captain Gilbert Tice, a veteran of the French
wars. No travellers of note, however, were permitted to remain over
night at this tavern, but were absolutely forced to accept the
hospitality of the owner of the hall. Consequently, besides his own
numerous family, Sir William had seldom less than ten and sometimes as
many as thirty guests. Frequently eight or ten of the latter were Indian
chiefs from distant parts of the continent. To supply the ordinary wants
of his own household alone, twenty-four oxen and a hundred hogs were
slaughtered annually. His superb and prodigal hospitality made him
well-known to hundreds who otherwise would have scarcely heard his name.
His early marriage with Catharine Weissenberg had made him popular among
the German settlers. For some time after her death he lived loosely, and
had several illegitimate children. During the last twenty years of his
life he co-habited with Mary Brant, a Mohawk woman of agreeable manners
and unusual ability, whom he styled his house-keeper, but who was
regarded by her own tribe as his lawful wife. They lived together with
every appearance of union and affection. She gained much influence over
him, for her adroitness and knowledge of their languages proved
extremely useful to him in his dealings with the Indians. Aside from his
official duties, his activity in public affairs was conspicuous in many
ways. Many poor immigrants were assisted by him to obtain lands. He
imported blood horses and improved breeds of sheep for the benefit of
the community. Churches were built in every important settlement for the
use of Calvinist or Lutheran alike, without distinction, at his sole
expense, and he aided liberally in the foundation of schools for both
whites and Indians. When he succeeded in having an immense territory,
extending from the outskirts of Schenectady to the Indian frontier, and
from the Mohawk branch of the Deleware northward to the St. Lawrence,
set apart under the name of Tryon County, in honor of the last British
Governor of the Province, Johnson at once built a stone court house and
gaol at Johnstown, which he presented to the people.

The last ten years of his life were occupied by a ceaseless struggle to
maintain peace between the whites and the Indians under his charge, and
to protect the latter against the encroachments and swindling plots of
the unscrupulous traders and land-jobbers that swarmed on the frontiers
of every province. With a set purpose he encouraged the intermarriage of
the races. As already mentioned, he had already given a not very
creditable example by living with an Indian woman. On one occasion, in
1768, he was present at the marriage of eighteen young white women with
as many Indian chiefs.

He became a favorite mediator and referee in disputes arising among the
Indians themselves, and more than once negotiated treaties of peace
between the Six Nations and western or southern tribes. The Iroquois
Confederacy rewarded his services by the gift of the "Salt Lake
Onondaga," and all the land surrounding it for two miles in depth.

Usually a silent man, he became fluent and even eloquent on a fitting
occasion. Like the Indians, he possessed a marvellous command of temper
and perfect control of his countenance under the most trying
circumstances. These points of similarity with them may have assisted
him to acquire and retain his influence, but it cannot be denied that
his treatment of them was marked by unvarying and inflexible honesty and
justice.

Sir William Johnson died in a sudden and startling manner while engaged
in holding a general council with the Indians at Johnson Hall, in July,
1774. The day was extremely hot, and the Indians were much exasperated
by the recent murder of several of their people by the whites, and other
wrongs. After delivering a long and persuasive address, with all his old
time vigor, Sir William retired to his private room, where he sat down
and drank a glass of wine. He then leaned back in the chair and expired
without a groan. His death at such a critical time, when the Indians
were discontented and the first mutterings of the coming storm were
beginning to be heard throughout the Province, was a staggering blow to
the Loyalists of New York, and left a gap in their ranks that none could
fill. Had he lived there is good reason to believe that the whole
population of the Mohawk Valley would have risen in arms at his command,
and that he would have exerted himself in defence of the "Unity of the
Empire" with all his former tact and energy. Much of his work was soon
undone by the devastating hand of war, his family and friends were
driven into exile to renew the struggle in a distant wilderness, yet
there was no impropriety in ranking him among the "Makers of America,"
although, perhaps, not in the restricted sense in which that term has
been lately used.

His son, Sir John Johnson, then thirty-two years of age, was a
comparative stranger to the people, having lived much in Albany and New
York both before and after his marriage with Miss Watts, an heiress and
lady of fashion. Naturally reserved and distant in his manners, he was
far less popular than his father. Yet, such was the family influence,
that he had been easily elected a member of the Assembly a few years
before over Philip Schuyler, the candidate of the Livingston party, an
active and energetic politician who had gained great wealth as an army
contractor, and was not over scrupulous in his methods. At the time of
his death, Sir William Johnson, next to the Penn family, was the
greatest land holder in British America. Sir John inherited Johnson Hall
and the large surrounding estate, the lands surrounding Onondaga lake,
besides most of his father's personal property. His sisters, one of whom
had married her cousin, Guy Johnson of Guy Park, the other, Colonel
Daniel Claus, each received fourteen thousand acres. Sir William's
house-keeper, Miss Molly, as she was usually styled, was liberally
provided for, and to each of her six children he bequeathed 1,500 and
3,000 acres, and a like quantity of land to each of his four sisters and
two brothers, and to Joseph Brant and his brother.

His sons-in-law had acted as his deputies in the management of Indian
affairs for a dozen years, Guy Johnson in the capacity of superintendent
of the Six Nations and Western Indians and Claus in the same relation to
the Canadian tribes, and each had received a careful training in their
duties; but it soon became manifest that both were wofully deficient in
the requisite tact and energy, to say nothing of graver faults. Some
time before his death he had formally recommended Guy Johnson as his
successor in office.

Next to these two men in rank and local influence, but far surpassing
both in natural ability, courage, and experience, stood John Butler.
Sixty-five years before, his father, a young Irish subaltern, claiming
descent from the illustrious family of Ormonde, had come to America with
his regiment, from which he exchanged into one of the independent
companies formed for service in the colonies, and afterwards
incorporated as the Royal Americans or 60th. He held some important
commands on the frontier, and acquired considerable influence among the
Indians, although he never gained promotion. In the course of his
service he made himself useful to Sir William Johnson, who in return
exerted himself for the advancement of Butler's family. By the purchase
of land from the Indians, the elder Butler secured a large and valuable
property. One tract lying about seven miles from Johnstown, containing
sixty thousand acres, was long known as Butler's purchase. He died in
1760, at the age of ninety, having been a lieutenant in the British army
for seventy years.

John Butler, his eldest son, was born at New London, Conn., in 1725, and
educated in the same province. In allusion to this circumstance Colonel
Claus, by whom he was heartily disliked, accused him of flattery and
cunning, "having been born and bred in New England." When Sir William
Johnson received command of the expedition against Crown Point in 1755,
he nominated John Butler and his brother Walter as captains in the
Indian department. In the disastrous battle of the 8th September of that
year, Walter Butler, Farrel Wade, Johnson's own brother-in-law, and the
celebrated Mohawk Chief, Hendrick, were killed, but John Butler
distinguished himself greatly and escaped unhurt. He served under
Abercromby at Ticonderoga and with Bradstreet at the capture of Fort
Frontenac. He then accompanied Johnson against Fort Niagara as second in
command of the Indians, and succeeded him in the entire charge of them
after General Prideaux's death. In that station he shared in the victory
over the relieving force which so signally avenged Braddock's defeat,
and it was said acted with "spirit, bravery, and resolution, and was
foremost in pursuit of the enemy." After the surrender of the garrison,
he was appointed a member of the court established there for the trial
of civil cases. In 1760 he went with General Amherst to Montreal as
second in command of the Indians. During Pontiac's war, he was actively
and successfully employed in the difficult task of restraining the Six
Nations from joining the hostile Indians. Owing to his intimate
knowledge of several Indian languages, he was constantly employed by Sir
William Johnson up the hour of his death as interpreter at the most
important councils. He then resided on his fine estate of Butlersburg,
near Caughnawaga, and was one of the Judges of the County Court and
Lieutenant-Colonel of Guy Johnson's regiment of militia. Sir William
Johnson had nominated him an executor of his will, but from some unknown
cause he had incurred the pronounced dislike, if not the positive
enmity, not only of Sir John Johnson but of both his brothers-in-law,
who were intimately associated with Butler in his civil and military
functions. Fearing that he would be dismissed in consequence, the
Indians petitioned that he might continue to act as their interpreter
and Guy Johnson was constrained to give his consent. Besides his wife,
his family consisted of Walter, the eldest son, lately admitted to the
bar, "a youth of spirit, sense, and ability;" Thomas, still under
twenty, two younger sons, and a daughter.

The power of the Loyalist party was probably greater in New York than in
any other Province, but their leaders lacked the courage and decision of
character needful to turn it to the best advantage. The wealthy
merchants, the proprietors of the great feudal manors, the adherents of
the Church of England, more numerous here than elsewhere, the Dutch
farmers, and the recent German immigrants, were generally disposed to be
loyal or absolutely neutral. In the City of New York, two-thirds of all
the property was owned by Loyalists, and outside there was scarcely a
symptom of disaffection. But there was a small party of violent
revolutionists prepared to go any length, and they dangled before the
eyes of many discontented lawless men almost irresistible temptations to
join them. There was an enormous quantity of land held by a few active
Loyalists which might be parcelled out among their followers; there was,
too, a debt of eight or nine millions of pounds due to British merchants
which might be repudiated. There was, besides, illimitable liberty to
gratify their passions and do whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

In January, 1775, a motion in the New York Assembly to consider the
proceeding of the Continental Congress was lost by a vote of eleven to
ten. Soon after, a vote of thanks to the delegates from the Province was
proposed and negatived, fifteen to nine, and a resolution for the
appointment of new delegates to the next Congress was rejected by
seventeen to nine. The last Provincial Assembly had therefore strongly
indicated its disapproval of the acts of the Congress, and refused to
share the responsibility for them. The inhabitants of Tryon County were,
to all appearance, among the most loyal and contented. Their
representatives, Guy Johnson and Hendrick Frey, had never swerved from
their allegiance. Governor Tryon visited the valley in 1772, and wrote
rapturously of the evident prosperity and contentment of the people,
"who were not less seemingly pleased with the presence of their Governor
than he with them." He reviewed the militia and reported that it
exceeded 1,400 men under arms. The great proprietors and wealthy
families here were Loyalists to a man. Besides the members of the
Johnson family, the Bradts, Freys, Hares, Herkimers, Thompsons and
Youngs, John Butler, Joseph Chew, John Dease, Robert Lottridge, Hendrick
Nelles, Peter Ten Broeck, Alexander White, and many others, imperilled
handsome estates, which in the end were confiscated. Large tracts of
land were owned by absentee Loyalists, such as the Cosbys, DeLanceys,
DePeysters, Waltons, and Tryon himself, and these eventually shared the
same fate.


Already in June, 1774, the supervisors of that county had flatly refused
to take sides in the dispute with Great Britain, declaring their opinion
"that it did not appear to tend to the violation of their civil or
religious rights, but merely regarded a single article of commerce
which no person was compelled to purchase, and which persons of real
virtue and resolution might easily have avoided or dispensed with." At
the quarter sessions held in the following March, the judges, sheriff,
clerk, magistrates and grand jury re-affirmed these sentiments, adding
that they "abhorred, and do still abhor, all measures tending through
partial representation to alienate the affections of the subjects from
the Crown, or by wresting the interest and meaning of a particular act
to draw in the inhabitants of a wide and extensive territory to a
dangerous and rebellious opposition to the parent state, when exerting
itself to preserve that obedience without which no state can exist. They
do therefore resolve to bear faithful and true allegiance to their
lawful sovereign, King George the Third, and that in the true and plain
sense of the words, as they are, or ought to be, commonly understood
without prevarication, which has often accompanied the same expressions
from his warmest opponents."

No organized revolutionary movement made its appearance in the county
until May, 1775, when it seems to have been suppressed by force. A Whig
committee was next formed at Cherry Valley, but its members were
evidently conscious that as yet they represented an uninfluential and
insignificant local minority. On the 18th of May they complained to the
Committee of Safety in Albany that "this county has for a series of
years been ruled by one family, the several branches of which are still
strenuous in dissuading the people from coming into Congressional
measures, and have even last week, at a numerous meeting of the Mohawk
district, appeared with all their dependents armed to oppose the people
considering of their grievances; their number being so great, and the
people unarmed, they struck terror into most of them and they
dispersed."

Guy Johnson afterwards scornfully described this meeting as having been
called by an "itinerant New England leather-dresser, and conducted by
others, if possible more contemptible. I had therefore little
inclination to revisit such men, or attend to their absurdities." A
"liberty pole," erected at this time or very soon afterwards, was cut
down by the sheriff.

Despite this check, the spirit of discontent continued to make headway.
Sir William Johnson's latest project for improving his estates and
peopling the country, which was being vigorously carried out by his son,
filled the minds of many of the original settlers with vague suspicion
and alarm. For the most part they were descendants of sturdy Palatine
recusants that had suffered the extremity of ill for conscience sake,
and to whom the very name of Papist was abominable. For once Johnson
failed to fathom the intensity of their religious prejudice. Though born
in Ireland and bearing an Anglicised name, he traced his descent in the
direct line from the MacIan branch of the McDonnels of Glencoe. A
feeling of kinship prompted him to enter into a correspondence which led
to the immigration in 1773 of the McDonnels of Aberchallader, Collachie,
Leek, and Scottus in Glengarry, with many of their relatives and
dependents, forming a body of more than six hundred persons. They were
all Roman Catholics. A few of the leaders purchased lands: the remainder
were established as tenants on the Johnson estates, and were supplied by
Sir John with food, cattle, and agricultural implements, valued by him
at 2,000 during the next two years. To the peaceful German farmers
around them they seemed a rude, fierce, and quarrelsome race, constantly
wearing dirk and broad sword, and much given over to superstition and
idolatrous practices.

Accordingly, when the local Whig Committee announced that Sir John
Johnson had fortified the hall and surrounded himself with a body of
Highland Roman Catholics for its defence, they could not have appealed
to the inhabitants in a more effective way. They had already learned to
dislike the Highlanders, and they detested their religion. The Johnsons
and their friends, however, made no further effort to meet their
opponents, but stood strictly on the defensive. Elsewhere throughout the
Province the Loyalists, though numerous, were hesitating and timid, the
Revolutionary party daring and aggressive. Accordingly, they were
constrained to negotiate and temporize.

To the westward lay the country of the Six Nations. The boundary
separating their territory from Tryon county followed the Oswego river,
Oneida lake, and the Tienaderha branch of the Susquehanna. They often
termed their confederacy, "the Long House," of which the Senecas
residing on the Susquehanna and Ohio guarded the western, and the
Mohawks the eastern, door, while the Onondagas kept the council fire in
the centre. By the ravages of pestilence and almost incessant warfare
their numbers had gradually dwindled to less than ten thousand, of whom
about one-fifth were warriors. The Mohawks, although still regarded as
the bravest and most influential, was the least numerous of all the
tribes. They occupied three small straggling villages, two on the Mohawk
and one in the vale of Schoharie, which were quite surrounded on all
sides by populous white settlements. They numbered less than five
hundred persons, nearly the whole of whom professed Christianity under
the instruction of the Church of England missionary, Mr. Stuart. Just
outside the boundary, near the borders of Oneida Lake, lived the Oneidas
in two villages called old and new Oneida. They could turn out 250
warriors. Six miles beyond these lay the Tuscarora village, inhabited by
a hundred men capable of bearing arms. The Onondagas, residing near the
lake which still bears their name, could muster 150 warriors. A
considerable number of these three tribes, which were closely connected
by frequent intermarriages, had been nominally converted by Presbyterian
missionaries from New England. The Cayugas, numbering two hundred
fighting men, lived chiefly in one large village near lake Cayuga. A
chain of Seneca villages extended from within fifty miles of Cayuga lake
to the upper waters of the Ohio, and were roughly estimated to contain a
thousand warriors. On the eastern branch of the Susquehanna the remnant
of four allied or vassal tribes from the southward had settled not long
before, on lands allotted to them by the Six Nations. Three western
tribes were likewise united with them in close alliance, and regarded
them as their "elder brothers." These were the Delewares (600)
inhabiting the Susquehanna and Muskingum, the Shawanese, (300) on the
Scioto, and the Hurons (200) on the Sandusky.

As a whole the Six Nations had made considerable advances in
civilization. "Were they savages," said Mrs. Grant of Laggan, writing
from personal observation, "who had fixed habitations; who cultivated
rich fields; who built castles (for so they called their not
incommodious wooden houses, surrounded with palisades); who planted
maize and beans, and showed considerable ingenuity in constructing and
adorning their canoes, arms, and clothing? They who had wise though
unwritten laws and conducted their wars, treaties, and alliances with
deep and sound policy; they whose eloquence was bold and nervous and
animated; whose language was sonorous, musical, and expressive; who
possessed generous and elevated sentiments, heroic fortitude and
unstained probity?"

The Mohawks, whose principal "castle" stood almost within the shadow of
Johnson Hall, had lived for years in closest association with their
white neighbors. Thirty years before, Sir William Johnson had been
received into their tribe and his fondness for them was so marked that
they were frequently described as his Indians. They had been often led
into battle by Butler, Hare, Lottridge and other provincial officers.
Many of them had white blood flowing in their veins. They had generally
adopted the dress and many customs of the whites, and taken on at least
a thin veneer of European civilization. Sir John Johnson they regarded
as one of "their own blood," and they constantly professed the warmest
attachment to the English. "Nothing less than manifest injury," Governor
Tryon had remarked some years before, "in my opinion will drive the
Mohawks from their steady attachment to His Majesty's interest. They
appear to be actuated as a community by principles which would do honor
to the most civilized nations. Indeed, they are in civilized state, and
many of them good farmers."

The Senecas and Cayugas, on the other hand, still rigidly adhered to
their ancient rites and customs.

For some months past the Whigs of New England had been secretly
endeavoring to enlist the Indians on their side in the coming struggle.
Among the decadent tribes of Massachusetts and Connecticut their efforts
had already been crowned with entire success, and several bands of these
allies had aided them actively during the siege of Boston. In the
missionaries Kirkland and Crosby, stationed among the Oneidas and
Onondagas, they now found ready and ardent partisans. During the winter
Guy Johnson learned that these "weak but furious zealots" were trying to
engage these Indians in the civil war. They openly assured their
congregations that "the King was set against the Americans and Indians,"
that they must expect no further attention from him as he had stopped
all goods coming to America, and consequently gunpowder, so necessary to
them in hunting, would soon cost three or four dollars a gill. The
faction that had opposed the missionaries complained to Johnson that
they had refused to baptize their children, and denounced Crosby in
particular as "a busy man interested in trade and things we always
thought unbecoming to a clergyman." In reply the superintendent
cautiously advised them that "they might signify their disgust in a
manner that becomes moderate men towards a minister, whose person should
always be treated with respect on account of his sacred profession." But
in his letter to Lord Dartmouth he said, "I see plainly, unless timely
prevented, some extraordinary steps may be taken to embarrass the
Government and its officers, the Indians being in a state of suspense
rather than any other until their different disputes are accommodated."
In common with other tribes the Six Nations had many grave grounds for
dissatisfaction. The Mohawks were resisting a most iniquitous conspiracy
to evict them from the very lands on which their largest village was
built. Their allies on the Susquehanna were alarmed and irritated when
they learned that the boundary line, lately run from Owegy on that river
to the Deleware, took from them four of their settlements, plainly
contrary to the intention of the treaty of 1788. They had not forgotten
that in the past large tracts of the richest lands upon those rivers had
been wrested from them by fraud and forgery. At the same time the
Shawanese were deeply exasperated by the unlawful irruption of a
thousand armed settlers from Virginia upon their favorite hunting
grounds in Kentucky, in open defiance of a solemn treaty, backed by
royal proclamation.

To dispel the suspicions of the Indians and diminish expenses, the
regular troops had been long since withdrawn from all forts on the
borders of their territory except Oswegatchie, Niagara, Detroit, and
Mackinac, and the garrisons of these posts were reduced to the lowest
point, while their defences had been permitted to fall into ruins. This
policy, in conjunction with the incessant efforts of the agents of the
Crown to prevent intrusion on their lands, resulted only in embittering
the inhabitants of the border against the British Government without
conferring the slightest benefit upon the Indians. The back settlements
had become, as usual, a refuge for the runaways, escaped convicts, and
all the offscourings of colonial rascaldom. The advance guard of
European civilization was undeniably disreputable. The lawless conduct
of these men, and the story of their wanton aggressions upon the
Indians, is vividly related in Sir William Johnson's voluminous
correspondence.

"When we consider the encroachments made towards the Ohio," he wrote to
Lord Shelburne, "the grievances complained of concerning unjust grants
in other parts of the country yet unredressed, the robberies and murders
committed on their people on the frontiers of the Provinces to the
southward yet unpunished, and the irregularity with which the trade is
conducted through the want of sufficient powers to regulate it, it is
not surprising that the Indians, who are the most suspicious people in
the world, should be actuated by a spirit of strong resentment." "The
repeated acts of cruelty committed in the different Provinces hitherto
unpunished, the intrusions upon their lands and bad claims, together
with the rest of their grievances, all of which are still unredressed,
have operated so strongly on their suspicious minds." "Their malevolence
and disregard of all treaties is still demonstrated whenever they fall
in the way of small parties or single Indians. When Indians are
assembled on public affairs there are always traders secreted in the
neighborhood, and some publicly, who not only make them intoxicated
during the time intended for public business, but afterwards get back
the greater part of their presents in exchange for spirituous liquors of
the worst kind, thereby defeating the intentions of the Crown and
causing them to commit many murders and disorders as well amongst the
inhabitants as themselves." "They (the Indians) discover that the back
inhabitants, particularly those who daily go over the mountains of
Virginia, employ much of their time in hunting, interfering with them
therein, have a hatred for, ill-treat, rob, and frequently murder the
Indians: that they are in general a lawless set of people, as fond of
independency as themselves, and more regardless of Government, owing to
ignorance, prejudice, democratical principle, and their remote
situation. The Indians, likewise, perceive that our Governments are weak
and impotent, that whatever these people do their juries will acquit
them, the landed men protect them, or a rabble rescue them from the
hands of justice." "These settlers generally set out with a general
prejudice against all Indians, and the young Indian warriors or hunters
are too often inclined to retaliate. Most of these evils result from the
rapid intrusion on their lands, and the unrestrained irregularities in
trade to which I see no period." "In most of the Indian towns on our
frontiers there are some idle fellows to be found who give themselves up
entirely to ease and drinking, and being cast out by the rest are made
the instruments of the worst part of our people." "I have little hopes
that settlements can be restrained by any ordinary measures where the
multitude have for so many years discovered such an ungovernable passion
for these lands and pay so little regard to a fair title or the
authority of the American Governments. So that with the artifices of
designing men amongst them, the encroachments and many other acts of
injustice of the inhabitants of most of the frontiers, the incapacity
and (as it appears to the Indians) the unwillingness of our American
Governments to redress them, the jealousy of the Indians is rather
increased." "For more than ten years past the most dissolute fellows,
united with debtors and persons of a wandering disposition, have been
removing from Pennsylvania and Virginia, &c., into the Indian country
towards the Ohio, and a considerable number of settlements were made as
early as 1765, when my deputy was sent to the Illinois, from whence he
gave me a particular account of the uneasiness it occasioned amongst the
Indians. Many of these emigrants are idle fellows that are too lazy to
cultivate lands, and invited by the plenty of game they found have
employed themselves in hunting, in which they interfere much more with
the Indians than if they pursued agriculture alone, and the Indian
hunters (who are composed of all the warriors in each nation) already
begin to feel the scarcity this has occasioned, which greatly increases
their resentment." A few months before his death he referred "to the
many murders committed by our people with impunity, of which there are
no less than eighteen recent instances."

The measure of wrong and injustice was filled to overflowing, and
everything seemed ripe for a general rising of the Indians when Sir
William Johnson's able hand was removed. Exasperated by a series of base
and brutal murders in which Indian women and children were butchered
without mercy, and scalped and mutilated by the frontiersmen of
Virginia, the Shawanese broke from the control of Alexander McKee,
Johnson's resident deputy, and began what is known as Cresap's or Lord
Dunmore's war. The Six Nations were deeply stirred by their appeals for
assistance, and a few of their younger warriors hastened to join them.
In October, 1774, three hundred Shawanese, being the entire fighting
force of the tribe, assisted by a few Mingos and others connected with
them by marriage, were attacked by more than a thousand Virginian
militia at the fork of the Great Kanawha river. They resisted this very
superior force for an entire day and adroitly made their escape across
the river with trifling loss, after having killed and wounded nearly two
hundred of their assailants. Meanwhile Guy Johnson and his deputies
strove with desperate energy to restrain the six Nations from joining in
the conflict. In the end the chiefs agreed not only to recall the
warriors that had already gone to the war, but to advise the Shawanese
to make peace, which the latter then found themselves obliged to do.
Before a treaty was concluded the startling information came from
England that French agents had been sent to America to excite an Indian
war, and the substantial truth of the warning was established by Colonel
Butler, who succeeded in obtaining from the Senecas an "axe belt"
presented to them by one _Sang-blanc_, a mysterious trader, with the
significant message that "their French father was not dead, but
sleeping." The Senecas confessed at the same time that there were other
"bad belts" among the Shawanese.

Caravans of traders proceeding to the Indian country were waylaid and
plundered by armed bands of white men, disguised as Indians in war paint
and breech-clout.

To complete the prevailing anarchy of the borders, immigrants from
Connecticut in the Wyoming Valley and from Virginia at Pittsburg had
seized large tracts of land, and were holding them by force in defiance
of the Provincial authorities of Pennsylvania. Small armies met in
pitched battle, men were killed and dwellings burned in both places.

The trading posts and forts on the great lakes lay practically at the
mercy of the Six Nations, as the garrisons were insufficient and the
works had been permitted to decay until they were scarcely defensible.
As long as the Indians continued friendly these posts would be tolerably
secure, but if they became neutral or joined the enemy resistance
against any attack would be hopeless. The capture of the forts would
entail the loss of the Northwestern fur trade, upon which the commercial
welfare of Canada then entirely depended. To preserve both, an alliance
with the Indians was clearly indispensable. Those who knew the Indians
best on both sides agreed that it would be impossible to keep them
neutral. To the educated Englishmen there can be little doubt their
employment at first appeared much more objectionable than it did to the
average colonist, who had been made familiar with it in former wars. It
is certain that Washington and Adams, Montgomery and Schuyler, and in
fact the leaders of the revolution generally, approved of it with
scarcely a symptom of hesitation, except on the ground of expense.
Having already enlisted the Stockbridge Indians, the Congress of
Massachusetts, on the 4th of April, 1775, sent a letter to the
Missionary Kirkland at Oneida, requesting him to exert his influence
with the Six Nations to induce them to join their forces, but if they
refused to prevail upon them to remain neutral. An address to the
Indians accompanied this letter. It was a marvel of ingenious
misrepresentation. "Our fathers," it said, "were obliged by the cruelty
of their brethren to leave their country, yet we have fought for them
and conquered Canada and many other places which they have had and have
not paid us for. They have refused to let us have powder and shot to
send to the Indians. What would the Indians do without powder and shot?
But we soon hope to supply them with both of our own making. They have
made a law to establish the religion of the Pope in Canada."

Confidential agents were dispatched at the same time to solicit the
assistance of the Indians of Canada and Nova Scotia. To each recruit
from these tribes they promised a coat, blanket, and forty shillings a
month. In these intrigues another New England clergyman, the Rev.
Eleazar Wheelock of Dartmouth College, was very active. In May, Ethan
Allen sent one Captain Ninham, a Stockbridge Indian, from Crown Point
with a message to the Indians at Caughnawaga, in which he said:--"I want
to have your warriors come and see me, and help me fight the King's
regular troops. You know they stand all along close together, rank and
file, and my men fight as Indians do, and I want your warriors to join
me and my warriors like brothers and ambush the regulars; if you will, I
will give you money, blankets, tomahawks, knives, paint, and anything
there is in the army, just like brothers, and I will go with you into
the woods to scout, and my men and yours will sleep together, and eat
and drink together, and fight regulars because they first killed our
brothers and will fight against us; therefore, I want our brother
Indians to help us fight, for I know Indians are good warriors and can
fight well in the bush. You know it is good for my warriors and Indians
too, to kill regulars, because they first began to kill our brothers in
this country."

This letter was at once carried to General Carleton, who tried to
counteract Allen's intrigues, although with small success at the time,
as the influence of New England was strong among these Indians.

About the same time (14th May) Guy Johnson received simultaneous
warnings from correspondents in Albany and Philadelphia that a plot had
been formed to kidnap him. He assembled the officers of his department
and a party of trusty men from his own regiment of militia, and
fortified his house to resist an attack. A body of Mohawks gathered
there to defend him, and without his knowledge, as he asserted, summoned
the Oneidas to their assistance. Their message was intercepted and made
use of to inflame the people against him. His movements were constantly
watched by spies; letters passing to and from his house were opened and
read; the supplies he had ordered for the use of the Indians were
detained at Albany, and even trifling articles for his own household
were withheld. Threats of an attack were daily made; seditious toasts
were drunk on public occasions, and persons were forced to sign articles
of association against the Government. Johnson reminded the committees
that he had persuaded the Indians to remain quiet during the winter in
the face of much provocation, and warned them that if they now found
their supplies stopped, their council fire disturbed, and their
superintendent insulted, they might yet take a dreadful revenge. His
office was of the greatest importance to the safety of the frontiers and
the interests of trade, and it was his duty to promote peace. "I
desire," he said, "to enjoy liberty of conscience and the exercise of my
own judgment, and that all others should have the same privilege."

The only instructions which Johnson had as yet received were contained
in a letter from Lord Dartmouth, dated 1st February, 1775, in which the
latter had remarked: "The preserving the good will and affection of the
Six Nations is an object of which we ought never to lose sight, and I
hope through your zeal and endeavors we may avoid any ill consequences
that may be expected to follow through the measures which may have been
pursued by the Virginians." His situation was daily growing more
intolerable when he received a letter from General Gage, then besieged
in Boston, and much enraged by his reverses. He announced that the
besiegers had assembled every Indian they could engage, and that, in
conjunction with their riflemen, these allies were continually firing on
his sentries and outposts. In some of the skirmishes that had taken
place, his wounded soldiers had been tomahawked and scalped. "In short,"
he concluded, "no time should be lost to distress a people so wantonly
rebellious." Gage's letter decided Johnson's future course. He collected
all the Mohawks that were at home, and being joined by about a hundred
ardent loyalists, marched rapidly up the Mohawk towards the Indian
frontiers. Among those who accompanied were Daniel Claus, John and
Walter Butler, Barent Frey, Hon Yost Herkimer, Gilbert Tice, Joseph
Brant and at least two of Sir William Johnson's sons, besides many other
men of weight and influence. As a whole his party was drawn from the
flower of the population. His march caused great alarm among those who
had reason to dread reprisals, and they raised the country in arms
behind him under pretence of defending the frontier against the Indians,
although they did not venture to oppose or attack him. Near the ruins of
Fort Stanwix he met a large party of the Oneidas marching to his relief,
but he was forced to leave them behind for want of provisions. On the
17th of July he reached Oswego. A few days later he held a council there
with 1450 Indians, including a deputation from the Hurons of Detroit.
Cuyler, the mayor of Albany, who was following him up the Mohawk with
several boats laden with provisions was detained by his enemies, and he
was forced to send to Oswegatchie for supplies. He still professed the
most peaceable intentions, but found little difficulty in persuading the
Indians "to resolve to co-operate with His Majesty's troops in defence
of the communication and waters emptying into the St. Lawrence, and in
the annoyance of the enemy, and to send their band of warriors present
with him to Montreal to inspire their dependents there with the same
resolution." Means of transport were not available, and several weeks
elapsed before he was able to set sail in a sloop and several batteaux,
taking with him only 120 Indians. The flotilla arrived at Montreal in
August, and Johnson advised the governor that it would be expedient to
put the Indians in motion with as little delay as possible, as they
could not endure being kept in idleness. Carleton replied that they must
be amused in some other way, as he did not consider it wise to permit
them to advance beyond the province line. In other words, he had
determined to employ them on the defensive only. A few days later, 1600
Canadian Indians assembled there and agreed to adopt the same policy.
Colonel Claus has recorded the arguments used by him to effect this
result. He described "the New Englanders insulting the troops and
becoming the aggressors at Lexington; their unwarrantable and rebellious
invasion of Canada, a country not the least concerned in the dispute;
their being then in possession of the territory about Lake Champlain
which His Majesty allotted to them for hunting and fishing; the danger
of their losing those means of subsistence in case the rebels should get
footing there. Their ill-usage of the Indians in general and stripping
them of all their lands if not guarded against by the Crown; the
striking example of their own people living among them, some of whom
they made slaves or servants of, and got their lands from them in a
fraudulent manner, which would be the case with all the Indians should
they become the rulers of the continent of America."

Six hundred warriors next attended a conference with the governor and
openly proposed to warn the New Englanders to evacuate Ticonderoga and
Crown Point, and in the event of a refusal to lay waste their frontiers.
Carleton thanked them for their good will, but declared that all he
wanted them to do was to station a party of their young men at St.
Johns, to serve as scouts for that garrison and watch the movements of
the enemy.

Fifty warriors were selected and sent forward under Captain Gilbert
Tice, with Walter Butler and Peter Johnson (a natural son of Sir
William) as his lieutenants. Their number was afterwards increased to
125, and on the 6th of September ninety of them ambushed and repelled
with heavy loss a large body of Americans advancing to besiege that
place. In this skirmish Captain Tice was badly wounded and Captain
Daniel, "a faithful Mohawk," and several other Indians, were killed. On
the 25th of September, Ethan Allen appeared suddenly on the island of
Montreal at the head of 140 men and advanced rapidly against the town,
which was then quite unfortified and weakly garrisoned. Captain Crawford
sallied out to meet the invaders with forty men of the 26th Regiment and
a few volunteers from among the residents. He held them in check until
Lieutenants Butler and Johnson, with thirty rangers and Indians, briskly
assailed them in the flank. The Americans took shelter in a large barn,
but when a field-piece was brought against the building they surrendered
at discretion. Lieut. Johnson, "an intrepid and active young man," took
their leader with his own hand in the pursuit.

A few days later Guy Johnson once more requested permission to lead a
body of Indians against the enemy, but was again refused, so reluctant
was the governor to employ them in offensive operations. On learning his
decision most of them returned home much discontented. Johnson and Claus
at once applied for leave of absence, and sailed for England in
November. Their conduct naturally appeared to Carleton very like a
desertion of their post at a most trying and critical time, and finding
that he himself would be inevitably shut up within the walls of Quebec
during the winter, he despatched to Niagara Colonel Butler, who was next
to them in rank in the department, and had been named by Johnson as his
deputy during his absence. Butler's instructions from the governor
merely directed him to preserve the good will of the Indians and retain
them in an attitude of absolute neutrality. This alone proved a task of
supreme difficulty, as the country of the Six Nations was already
overrun with spies and emissaries in the service of the Congress, of
whom the missionaries Crosby and Kirkland, and the interpreter, Deane,
were the most zealous and influential. They had even begun to plan the
capture of Niagara, where there was a sufficient quantity of military
stores to tempt an attack. The confidence of the Indians was greatly
shaken by the successful invasion of Canada, which was continually being
trumpeted in their ears by these men.

Butler summoned meeting after meeting with fluctuating success. He
distributed presents with a liberal hand, and reminded the Indians alike
of their recent pledges and their ancient friendship and alliance with
the King. There is conclusive evidence that he faithfully obeyed his
instructions and "spoke to them of nothing but peace," until March,
1776, when he received a message requiring him to send down a body of
warriors to assist in the reconquest of the province. In this task he
was quite successful. A hundred of the Senecas and Cayugas readily
consented to go to Montreal to open a passage for traders and to "make a
path," for Col. Johnson, whom they expected to return at that time. At
Oswegatchie they were joined by an equal number of Missassaugas,
assembled from the north shore of Lake Ontario, and a small party of the
8th regiment, under Capt. Forster. The advanced post of the Americans at
the Cedars, occupied by 400 men with two field-guns, surrendered to them
after a very faint show of resistance, and a reinforcement of 120 more
was cut to pieces next day. This sudden diversion contributed materially
to force the enemy out of Montreal, and Butler felt, not unreasonably,
that no small share of credit was due himself as the organizer of the
expedition. In the meantime he had persuaded the Six Nations in a body
to declare that they would take no part in the war, and to send a
message to their western allies urging them to adopt the same policy.
Accordingly we find the western Indians informing the American agent at
Pittsburg that they would not permit an army to pass through their
country, and that consequently he must not think of attempting the
expedition against Detroit, which had been talked of for some time past.
Having thus for the moment secured the "Upper Posts" from all danger of
an attack, Butler labored steadily to strengthen his influence among the
Indians. He knew that at every meeting spies in the pay of Congress had
been present, who reported all that took place to their employers. In
some instances these were white men, but usually they were Oneida or
Deleware Indians, whom it was difficult to detect or exclude. His next
step was to secure the expulsion of all known emissaries of the enemy
from their territories. Agents of his own were then quietly established
in the principal villages to collect intelligence and keep the Indians
in good humor. One of the ablest of these was William Caldwell, a young
adventurer belonging to a good family in Philadelphia, who had assisted
a number of British officers to escape from prison and safely guided
them through the intervening wilderness to Niagara. Among others may be
named Barent Frey, brother of Colonel Hendrick Frey of Tryon county,
John Johnson, an Oneida trader of much experience, and William and
Peter, half-blood sons of the late Sir William Johnson. A steady though
slender tide of fugitives was already setting in from the border
settlements, both of New York and Pennsylvania, to Niagara, and he was
soon enabled to organize from them a body of thoroughly trustworthy and
efficient assistants, most of whom were able to speak one or more Indian
languages. Yet he failed to obtain the aid of Alexander McKee of
Pittsburg, who was almost omnipotent among the Shawanese and other
western tribes, for his letters were intercepted and McKee was instantly
confined.

Despairing of success by any other means, the Americans began to concoct
schemes for kidnapping Butler. At the general council of the confederacy
Sangerachta, principal war-chief of the Senecas, publicly accused the
Oneidas of having entertained such a proposal, and asserted that General
Schuyler had promised them $250 for Butler's scalp or person. Rumor said
the reward was subsequently increased to $1000. Schuyler's
correspondence shows that the plan was approved, but there is no mention
of the reward. The minds of most of the Indians continued unsettled and
wavering to the end of the year. It was generally supposed that they
would ultimately join the party they believed most likely to succeed,
and it was admitted that it would be almost impossible to keep them
neutral much longer. British victories in Canada in the early part of
the year were nearly counterbalanced by the loss of Boston. Intelligence
of the capture of New York by General Howe and his subsequent successes,
produced a remarkable sensation among them, and some tribes were with
difficulty restrained from rising at once and attacking the frontiers.
It was at this critical moment that Joseph Brant appeared among the
Senecas, accompanied by Capt. Tice, bearing a verbal message from Guy
Johnson to the Six Nations, desiring them to hold themselves in
readiness to co-operate with Howe. They had made their way in disguise
from New York through a region swarming with enemies. Brant had
witnessed Howe's victories, and his observations had thoroughly
convinced him of the power of England. Already he entertained dreams of
a great Indian confederacy extending from Detroit to Montreal,
independent of, but united in close alliance with, the English. His
fiery eloquence stirred the Indians wherever he went, and when he
arrived at Niagara in December he had already obtained many assurances
of active support. Butler decided to abide by his original instructions
from Carleton, and received him coldly. After a very short stay, Brant
resumed his agitation, travelling from village to village throughout the
length and breadth of the league, not omitting to visit the hostile
Oneidas, among whom he possessed some personal influence through his
marriage into that tribe, urging them all to prepare for hostilities in
the spring.

In Tryon county the situation of the remaining loyalists had steadily
become less endurable. Their opponents, strengthened by the arrival of
troops from New England, had obtained full control of all public
affairs. They did not fail to make relentless use of their power. One of
their first acts was to disarm Butler's tenants, and re-organize the
militia under officers upon whom they could rely implicitly. The
Articles of Association against the Government were then presented to
everybody. A few determined loyalists, such as Colonel Frey, the
Reverend John Stuart, and Henry Hare, whose tragic fate will be noticed
later, firmly refused to sign, and were imprisoned. Sir John Johnson,
surrounded by his tenants and strong in local influence, ventured to set
them at defiance, telling the committee that he would rather lose his
head than comply, and began secretly to form a regiment for the support
of the Government. His intentions were suspected, and General Schuyler
with 4,000 men marched against him and disarmed the whole of his friends
and tenants without firing a shot. Sir John was forced not only to sign
a parole, but to give a bond for its observance. All his ready money was
impounded, and a strict search made for hidden arms. Six leading men
among the Highlanders and as many of the English and Dutch inhabitants
were carried off as hostages. Although this was derisively termed by the
loyalists "Schuyler's peacock expedition," it really had very important
results. All hope of a successful rising was ended, and the committees
were henceforth at liberty to continue their oppression without fear of
reprisals. All open dissent was instantly and severely punished.

For some months afterwards, Sir John Johnson was constantly annoyed by
inquisitorial visits and required to give reasons for every movement.
Finally, it was determined to make him a prisoner and remove the entire
body of Highlanders from the county. Schuyler wrote a letter releasing
him from his parole, and sent a New Jersey regiment to deliver it, and
at the same time take him into custody. By some means Johnson was
forewarned of this artful scheme and he determined to make his escape to
Canada. Montreal was known to be still in the hands of the enemy, but a
British fleet and army were said to be ascending the St. Lawrence.
Hastily assembling 170 of his personal friends and tenants, he fled
through the great Adirondac wilderness towards St. Regis, guided by a
few faithful Mohawks. They had not had time to collect provisions, and
during the nine days they were in the woods the whole party lived
entirely upon wild onions, roots, and leaves of beech trees. When they
arrived at Caughnawaga they were quite exhausted with fatigue and half
dead with hunger. In a few days Johnson's force was swelled by Canadians
and Indians to 500, and he crossed over to Montreal where he arrived the
day after Sir Guy Carleton had recovered possession.

After his flight, the persecution of the miserable loyalists that
remained behind was renewed with increased rigor. Of Guy Johnson's house
only the walls were left standing. Johnson Hall was converted into a
barracks and the contents carried off or destroyed. Lady Johnson and
Mrs. Butler, with their children, were removed to Albany as hostages,
together with the families of most of the Highlanders and other
refugees. The committee remarked significantly, that as long as their
wives and children were in their hands neither Johnson nor Butler would
hardly dare to act against them, and if they did their families "would
not be saved from the violence of the people." That this might be no
vain threat was clearly shown by a recent occurrence at Boston, where
the wife and daughter of Captain Fenton, an obnoxious loyalist, had
actually been tarred, feathered, and paraded through the streets by a
mob of women. Colonel Frey, late member of the Provincial Assembly, and
seventy more of the principal inhabitants, were deported to New England.
Of the Highlanders, none were permitted to stay behind unless they would
consent to give at least five hostages in every hundred persons, "on
condition of being put to death if those that remained should take up
arms or in any way assist the enemy."

For some months Lady Johnson was permitted to remain quietly with a
relative in Albany, and found means to keep up a secret correspondence
with her husband. But towards the end of the year, having learned that
she was "a person of great art and political intrigue, and of great
firmness of mind, and most warmly attached to that cause which is so
inimical to the freedom and independence of the American States, and has
done great injury to the American cause," the New York Convention gave
orders that she should be removed to a safer place and more closely
watched.

There were still numbers of quiet but steadfast loyalists in Albany and
Tryon counties, who were known to be biding their time to rise in arms.
In the heart of the valley was the remnant of the Mohawks, surrounded by
suspicious neighbors and narrowly watched, but ready to obey the summons
of Johnson or Butler. Brant had not dared to approach nearer to them
than Onondaga, and more than one letter written to prepare them for
flight had been intercepted and only provoked stricter surveillance.

The Congress had not abandoned its hopes of enlisting some of the
Indians in its service. During the summer of 1776, the Indian
Commissioners were authorized to engage any number of the Six Nations
not exceeding 2000, and to promise them a substantial reward for every
prisoner belonging to the regular army which they should make. It was
suggested that they might even be bribed to surprise and deliver Fort
Niagara into their hands by a promise of plunder of its contents. Such,
however, was the temper of the Indians when they assembled, that the
American Commissioners from motives of policy, abstained from making any
overtures to them, having been previously warned by their agents that
these might produce an unfavorable impression.

Brant had continued his agitation with much success. In fact only the
Oneidas had offered any serious opposition. Alarmed by his activity, the
New York Convention engaged a party to kidnap him, but that project came
to nothing. His own indiscretion caused him to meet with a not
undeserved rebuff in an unexpected quarter. Elated by his favorable
reception among the Senecas, he had written to the Indians of the Lake
of Two Mountains dissuading them from serving under Sir Guy Carleton,
and inviting them to join him instead, promising if they did that they
should be allowed "to make war in their own way." His letter was shown
to Carleton, who was naturally annoyed at this bold attempt to interfere
with his plans, and construed it to mean that Brant intended "an
indiscriminate attack, wherein women and children, aged and infirm,
innocent as well as the guilty, will be equally exposed to their fury."
He instructed Butler in the strongest terms to prevent any such
movement. In consequence Butler effectually put an end to Brant's design
by refusing to supply him with powder and other articles, when he
returned to Niagara to prepare for his campaign. Brant's indignation
knew no bounds, and he left the place deeply offended with Butler, to
whose "envy and jealousy" he solely attributed the refusal.

However, the policy of the British Government with respect to the
Indians had already undergone a change, and in May, 1777, Carleton
received instructions to employ a body of the Six Nations in an invasion
of the State of New York, taking due precautions "by placing proper
persons at their head.......to conduct their parties and restrain them
from committing violence on the well-affected and inoffensive
inhabitants."

There is no evidence that Butler had ever advocated this step. At the
end of the war he studiously avoided defending it, and contented himself
by saying, "Of the importance of the object I had no right to judge,
either as a subject or a soldier. In both these capacities I submitted
this to the consideration of my superiors, whose ideas of the policy,
and even the necessity of conciliating the affections of the Indians and
of steadily attaching them to the British Government, will best appear
from the unwearied pains which have been taken for that purpose from the
first settlement of the colonies."

Only a month before, he had warmly urged the chiefs to take every means
to prevent their people from committing any depredations on the
frontiers. He was afterwards severely censured in their official
correspondence by Col. Claus and Sir John Johnson, for having expended
large sums among the Indians and yet kept them inactive while the enemy
had taken possession of Fort Stanwix. They even hinted that he was then
wavering in his allegiance. Yet all the time Butler had been faithfully
and quietly executing his instructions, and when he received fresh
instructions he carried them out with the same imperturbable fidelity
and resolution as before.

On the 5th June, 1777, he received a letter from Carleton, directing him
to collect as many Indians as possible and join Col. St. Leger, who had
orders to advance from Montreal against Fort Stanwix, which stood on the
present site of Rome, N. Y. The whole force was to be assembled at
Oswego about the end of July.

Refugees had continued to arrive at Niagara from the Mohawk, many of
them being persons of influence, and during the winter a Mr. Depue
brought letters from seventy inhabitants of the Susquehanna, announcing
their wish to enlist as rangers under Butler's command. He had already
encouraged them to join him at Niagara, and he next sent active agents
among the Six Nations and Missassaugas to collect warriors for the
proposed expedition. By the advice of the Senecas, the Indians at
Detroit were also invited to send a contingent. Before the middle of
June Butler was able to announce that the agents of Congress had been
baffled in their efforts to draw the Indians to the Councils they had
convened at Pittsburg and Albany, and to send the Governor a list of
five captains, nine lieutenants, and 75 rangers, most of whom could
speak some Indian language. Small parties of loyalists were daily
arriving, with fresh tales of hardship and ruthless persecution. They
reported that many more were merely waiting for a favorable opportunity
to follow their example, and led Butler to believe that he could raise a
battalion of five hundred men very quickly. Equally favorable reports
came in from other quarters. Mr. Jessup actually enlisted a hundred men
near Albany, and Captain McDonnel of Sir John Johnson's regiment,
brought off as many more from Schoharie to Crown Point.

On the other hand, the regiment of German riflemen detailed as part of
St. Leger's force, with the exception of a single company, had not yet
arrived at Quebec. The number of regular troops was accordingly
diminished by more than a third, and amounted to less than 500, made up
of detachments from four different corps. Sangerachta, the Seneca chief,
headed about 200 of that nation, and Brant arrived at Oswego with as
many gathered from several tribes. Other parties swelled the entire
number of Indians collected there to 800 or 1000. But it soon became
manifest that a majority of these had not come with any intention of
fighting. Col. Claus had arrived from England with a commission
appointing him superintendent of all the Indians employed in the
expedition. Carleton was consequently compelled to ratify the
appointment, but he was so thoroughly well satisfied with Butler's
conduct that he declined to displace him, but requested him to act as
second in command. Butler loyally accepted the decision and consented to
serve under his personal enemy.

Brant, with a few Indians, went forward cheerfully enough to assist a
party of light infantry in surrounding the fort, but Butler was detained
for several days by the remainder in needlessly prolonged conferences,
and he did not succeed in bringing them up to the place until the 5th of
August. At the very instant of his arrival, the startling information
came in that 800 or 1000 of the Tryon County militia, under Gen.
Herkimer, were on the march to relieve the garrison and would be within
twelve miles of it that night. Half of St. Leger's small regular force
was scattered along his line of communication for twenty miles, engaged
in cutting a road and bringing up the artillery and stores. Besides the
Indians he had barely 250 men in camp. There were 750 in the fort, which
was found to be unexpectedly strong. Butler could only muster 400
Indians, but he was at once directed to march with these to waylay the
approaching enemy. Sir John Johnson volunteered to accompany him at the
head of his light company. This, with a party of rangers, made a party
of eighty white soldiers. They advanced five miles, and halted for the
night. In the morning their scouts announced that the enemy was
approaching and only a few miles away. Even then it appears that Butler
still hoped to avoid bloodshed and that the militia might be induced to
disperse without coming to blows. He may have had reason to suspect that
many of them were apathetic or even friendly. Gen. Herkimer's own
brother, brother-in-law, and nephew were at that moment serving as
officers with the Indians. Other families were divided in a similar
manner. Butler accordingly proposed that the relieving force should be
summoned to lay down its arms and disband. But Brant and the Indians
generally were eager for battle, and hotly opposed this. Their opinion
prevailed and the whole force moved forward and selected a position near
the "Orisca field," where the road leading to Fort Stanwix crossed a
marsh in the bottom of a deep ravine, by means of a rude causeway. Dense
thickets on both sides of the narrow wagon-track made this an ideal spot
for an ambuscade. On the crest of the further slope, Johnson's light
infantry was stationed across the road to block the way at the proper
moment, while the Indians were hidden among the thickets, with
instructions to gain the rear of the advancing column and entirely
surround it before beginning the attack.

They had not been there long before the creaking of the ponderous
ox-wagons, in which they conveyed their baggage and provisions,
announced the approach of Herkimer's force. When they reached the marsh
the flanking parties closed in upon the main body to cross the causeway,
and the attenuated column advanced heedlessly into the jaws of the trap
prepared for them. During his march Herkimer had been joined by sixty
Oneidas, but even these practised woodsmen had failed to notice any sign
of danger. The causeway was already hopelessly choked with their
unwieldy wagons, when the eagerness of some drunken Indians precipitated
the attack and saved the rear-guard from the fate that overtook the rest
of the column. The first deliberate volley that burst upon them from a
distance of a very few yards was terribly destructive. Elated by the
sight and maddened with the smell of blood and gunpowder, many of the
Indians rushed from their coverts to complete the victory with spear and
hatchet. The rear-guard promptly ran away in a wild panic. Of the
remainder many were slaughtered almost without resistance, but some
cool-headed fellows kept up a running fight until the clouds burst in a
terrific rainstorm, which put an end to the further use of fire-arms.
Even then the pursuit was continued until tidings came that the garrison
had made a sortie and taken possession of part of the camp. Butler
estimated that the militia left five hundred of their number on the
field, of whom at least two hundred were killed. The Indians butchered
many after they had surrendered, in revenge for the comparatively heavy
loss they had themselves sustained through their unwonted recklessness
in engaging in a hand to hand fight. Thirty-three Indians were killed
and twenty-nine wounded. More than half of these were Senecas. Captains
Hare and Wilson of the rangers were killed, and Private David Secord was
wounded; one officer of Johnson's regiment was killed and two were
wounded.

Decisive as this success appeared at the time, it proved a barren
victory. The fort was too strong to be taken by assault, the garrison
remained defiant, and the besiegers had no artillery capable of making a
breach in the defences. As usual after a successful battle, the Indians
began to disperse with whatever booty they had obtained. Those who
remained were surly and dispirited by the plunder of their camp during
the sortie, by which they lost their blankets and much of their
clothing, "having gone in their shirts as naked to action." When it
became known that a much larger and better disciplined force, under
Benedict Arnold, was on its way to relieve the place, St. Leger had no
alternative but to raise the siege and return to Montreal.

Butler went to Quebec to settle his accounts, taking with him three of
the principal chiefs to present them to the Governor. He then renewed
his proposal to raise a battalion of rangers to serve with the Indians,
to which Sir Guy Carleton readily consented, and furnished him with
"beating orders" for the enlistment of eight companies, each composed of
a captain, a lieutenant, three sergeants, three corporals, and fifty
privates. Two of these companies were to be formed of "people speaking
the Indian language and acquainted with their customs and manner of
making war," and were to receive four shillings, New York currency, a
day. The remaining companies, "to be composed of people well acquainted
with the woods, in consideration of the fateague they are liable to
undergo," were to receive two shillings a day. The whole were required
to clothe and arm themselves entirely at their own expense. This was
considered extremely high pay, and it was subsequently estimated by
General Haldimand that these eight companies of rangers cost the
Government as much as twenty companies of regular infantry.

On the same day, (Sept. 15th,) Col. Butler received instructions to
march with such rangers as he had already enlisted or could enlist at
once, and as large a body of Indians as could be collected without
exposing their country to invasion, and form a junction with Gen.
Burgoyne's army. On his way to Niagara he received much discouraging
information. The Indians had protested warmly against the withdrawal of
the British troops from Oswego, saying that they were being abandoned to
their enemies contrary to the assurances they had received. Sickness
prevailed to such an extent at Niagara that the garrison was reduced to
seventy-five men fit for duty. Schuyler had promptly seized the
opportune moment, when the Indians were still fuming with
disappointment, and invited them to meet him at the German Flats, "to
settle what was past and renew their former chain of friendship," adding
that he "did not blame them for what had happened, but he had long ago
told them that Col. Butler would lead them to ruin." He requested that
they would "deliver him up and not follow his wicked counsels any more."
He announced his intention of taking possession of Oswego, and declared
that if he found that Butler had gone to Niagara, he would follow him
thither, and if he had gone to Montreal he would intercept him on his
return.

A letter from a trader at Niagara informed Butler that some of the
Senecas were much displeased with him, and that the loyal chiefs were
alarmed and anxious for his speedy return.

At the same time Claus and Johnson were steadily endeavoring to
undermine his influence by every means within their reach. They
criticised his actions with undisguised rancor, and confidently
predicted that he would not succeed in enlisting many rangers.

Upon arriving at Carleton Island, at the foot of Lake Ontario, Butler
learned that the Oneidas, Onondagas and Tuscaroras had actually accepted
the hatchet tendered them by General Schuyler, and had proved their
hostility by making prisoners of some loyalists passing through their
country. His son Walter and two other officers of the Indian Department
were confined at Albany, heavily ironed, and otherwise cruelly treated.
He had intended to proceed overland from Oswego to Niagara, passing
through all the principal Indian villages on his way and engaging
warriors for his proposed expedition. This design he was then forced to
abandon as being too dangerous, and went on by water. At Niagara he was
overtaken by the astounding intelligence of the surrender of Burgoyne's
whole army. Consequently the movement he had been instructed to make was
no longer practicable. Most of his rangers had marched overland to the
Susquehanna after the siege of Fort Stanwix was raised, with orders to
drive cattle from the settlements to Niagara for the maintenance of the
garrison, but nothing had been heard of them since the forest had
swallowed them.

Presently Joseph Brant arrived, still resolute and hopeful. He had
attended a general meeting of the whole confederacy at Onondaga, at
which there had been a very stormy debate over their future policy. The
majority of the Senecas and Cayugas were still friendly, and at their
suggestion Butler boldly summoned the other tribes to come to him and
deliver up the hatchet they had accepted from Schuyler, adding,
significantly, that none but his real friends need appear. He must have
been agreeably surprised at the success of this measure. All the chiefs
of the Tuscaroras and Onondagas obeyed very promptly. They surrendered
the hatchet and war-belt they had received, and humbly promised to
follow his advice in future.

A trusty courier instantly sped off through the woods towards New York
with a message for the commander of the British forces on the Hudson,
announcing that they were ready for action, and asking for instructions.
"Our friends," Butler said in conclusion, "are determined to be so, in
the worst of times."

His former agent, Depue, again hurried to the Susquehanna to seek fresh
recruits, and hasten the return of the rangers already there. Loyalists
continued to arrive, and by the middle of December the first company of
rangers was completed, and Butler expected to form two more upon the
return of his recruiting officers. Then followed tidings of an
unexpected disaster. The party of rangers detached from Oswego to the
Susquehanna was conducted by James Secord. After prolonged wanderings
they were surprised by an overwhelming force, and thirty taken
prisoners. The remainder dispersed, and several had returned to their
former homes. At the same time the Senecas and Cayugas were seriously
alarmed by repeated rumors of an attack upon their villages by the
masterful Connecticut settlers in Wyoming, who had already set the State
Government of Pennsylvania at complete defiance. Butler's force had then
increased to 125, and he immediately prepared to march to their support.
These tribes gave him the strongest assurances of their fidelity, and he
mentioned that with the object of strengthening their determination they
had resorted to "some superstitious rites which have often produced
effects upon a fierce and barbarous people."

Their fears proved groundless at the time, and the Senecas haughtily
refused to receive a belt sent to them from Schuyler, replying that the
blood of their kinsmen was still reeking from the ground and that he had
been the cause of shedding it. Their war-parties then fell upon the
border settlements of Pennsylvania, lying between the east branch of the
Susquehanna and the Kiskismenitas Creek, and in a few days reduced them
to smouldering ruins, driving the unfortunate inhabitants that escaped
into the numerous small forts built for their protection. It is admitted
that the rough frontiersmen of that quarter had given the Indians
abundant provocation for several years past, for which dreadful
retribution was then exacted. "The inhabitants," said Timothy Pickering
in a letter to Washington, "appear, many of them, to be a wild,
ungovernable race, little less savage than their tawny neighbors, and by
savage barbarities in fact provoked them to revenge, but the innocent
are now involved in one common calamity with the guilty, and all are
greatly disheartened." McKee had escaped from Pittsburg and safely
arrived at Detroit, where he took charge of the Indian department.
Everywhere there were undoubted signs of reaction. Soon after McKee's
flight from Pittsburg a plot to surprise the fort was discovered and
many of the inhabitants were imprisoned. Thirty desperate men from the
neighboring country then attempted to make their way to Detroit, but
some were killed and others driven back by the Indians. Governor
Hamilton was informed that two hundred persons were prepared to come
away in a body if they could obtain a safe conduct through the Indian
territory.

During the winter, the Senecas carefully abstained from molesting the
frontier of New York until they found an opportunity of removing such of
their friends as might be exposed to retaliation, when they told Butler
that they meant "to strike in a body." This information caused him to
march among them with the object of controlling and directing their
movements in accordance with his instructions, and of meeting various
parties of recruits which he learned were on their way to join him.
Letters from the frontier informed him that one officer had enlisted
nearly a hundred men, and that others had likewise been moderately
successful. He confidently anticipated that he would be able to complete
his battalion immediately after reaching the settlements. Many of his
best recruits were drawn from the east branch of the Susquehanna, where
all persons suspected of loyalist leanings were keenly persecuted.
Accordingly, he began his march from Niagara on the 2nd of May, 1778,
and after holding a Council with the Indians at Canadasaga, the
principal village of the Senecas, situated near the present site of
Geneva, N.Y., fixed his headquarters at Unadilla on the Susquehanna. The
white inhabitants of that village were all loyalists. There were two
grist mills in the vicinity which could be used to grind flour for his
force. It was equally near the frontiers of the three States of New
York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, which he could thus menace and alarm
at once, and he could easily "fall upon such part of New York" as would
enable him to join Sir Henry Clinton whenever he received orders for
that purpose. In the meantime, it was his intention to protect the
Indian villages from attack and to make war sustain war by taking his
supplies from the enemy, sweeping along and breaking up their "back
settlements" as he did so. In this way he anticipated that he might
create a diversion of considerable importance in favor of Clinton or
Howe, in their operations nearer the seaboard.

He found the Senecas suffering severely from want of both food and
clothing through the stoppage of the usual channels of trade by the war,
but still resolute in their hostility to the Americans. They had sent
spies to the Council called to meet at Johnstown by Schuyler, as
Commissioner of Congress, and La Fayette as representative of the King
of France. It was attended by 700 Indians, chiefly Oneidas and
Onondagas. Schuyler and La Fayette addressed them in turn, assuring them
of the favor and protection of Congress and its ally. A liberal quantity
of presents was then distributed and the Indians announced their
intention of remaining neutral.

The officers of Congress in the State of New York had not been deceived
by the inactivity of the Senecas during the winter. Stockades were built
in every settlement. As they seldom ventured to put much dependence on
the local militia, these posts were generally occupied by detachments of
Continental troops from Massachusetts, New Jersey, or distant parts of
New York. Four hundred women and children belonging to the families of
the principal loyalist refugees were seized and confined at Albany as
hostages for the safety of the frontier. Butler's entire family was then
in the hands of his bitterest enemies, and his eldest son was reported
to be slowly dying from the effects of his treatment. There was scarcely
an officer in the rangers or the Indian Department that had not some
near relative among the captives. Every party of fugitives had some
fresh story of outrage and cruelty to relate. Several loyalist
recruiting officers had been taken and unceremoniously hanged. Still,
recruits continued to come in, burning with a fierce desire for
retaliation, but generally ragged, footsore, and weak with hunger and
travel. Doubtless there was some exaggeration in their version of their
wrongs, but there could be no dispute as to the leading facts. "The
confiscation of the effects of the disaffected," General Roberdeau, a
member of Congress, reported, "is very irregular, and the brutality
offered to the wives and children of some of them, as I am informed, in
taking from them even their wearing apparel, is shocking."

These fugitives had little knowledge of drill or military discipline,
but the chief requisites of a good ranger being, as General Haldimand
subsequently remarked, "to shoot well, to march well, and to endure
privation and fatigue," they came well schooled in these respects, and
many minor forms of parade could readily be dispensed with in service.

Butler's first step was to send Brant and Lieut. Barent Frey with a
small party of rangers and Indians to bring away the remainder of the
Mohawks from their villages, where they were still forcibly detained.
This was a difficult and dangerous enterprise, which was very adroitly
executed. Butler was cheered at the same time by the unexpected
appearance of his son Walter, who had escaped from his Albany prison,
where he was lying under sentence of death. He had safely travelled more
than two hundred miles on foot and horseback through a country abounding
in enemies. Still too sick and weak to take command of the company in
the rangers to which he had been appointed, he was despatched to Quebec
to regain health and obtain arms and clothing for the corps.

From Unadilla it would be a matter of ease to strike swiftly either at
Cherry Valley, Schoharie, or Wyoming, all populous advanced settlements
protected by forts, occupied by strong detachments of regular soldiers,
and distinguished by the revolutionary fervor of the inhabitants, who
were chiefly recent immigrants from New England. From all of these
places the American armies had already drawn some recruits and supplies
of inestimable value, and it became an object of no small importance to
destroy the coming harvest before it could be lodged in their magazines.
The Senecas were particularly anxious to expel the Wyoming settlers,
against whom they cherished a long-standing grudge. Brant and Frey were
detached with eighty men to alarm and harrass Cherry Valley and
Schoharie, while Butler, with the main body, proceeded in that
direction.

Moving with bewildering rapidity along the skirts of the settlements,
Brant and Frey made a hasty descent here and there, and kept a great
stretch of country in constant alarm. Twice they were pursued by small
bodies of Continental troops, reinforced by the local militia, and twice
they turned upon their pursuers and by a well-planned ambush fairly
annihilated them with scarcely any loss to their own party. After two
months of this guerilla warfare they were able to report that they had
killed or taken 294 men in arms, and desolated a great part of the
Schoharie valley, even forcing some of the inhabitants to take refuge in
Schenectady.

The valley of Wyoming or the County of Westmoreland, as it was
officially named, contained a very thriving and populous settlement,
entirely composed of emigrants from Connecticut. Yet it was by no means
the Arcadia that has been pictured. On the contrary, for ten years back
it had been a scene of strife and violence, and the inhabitants had
seized and held their farms by force of arms alone. Rival land-companies
had waged an obstinate struggle for possession of the narrow but fertile
tract of alluvial soil skirting the river, during which small armies
were organized, forts built and besieged, many houses burnt, and several
persons killed. In this conflict, William Caldwell, one of Butler's
captains, had served his apprenticeship in arms, and many of the rangers
were Pennsylvanians who had been expelled from their holdings by the
triumphant invaders and had seen their houses wrapped in flames as they
fled. The population had increased so rapidly that it was estimated at
6,000, congregated in a valley twenty-five miles in length and nowhere
more than three in breadth. Many thousand bushels of grain had been
shipped during the past year for the supply of the Continental army near
Philadelphia, and it was anticipated that the harvest then ripening
would furnish a still greater quantity for the same purpose. The
inhabitants were, with few exceptions, warm partizans of the Revolution,
and had already sent two companies of riflemen to serve under
Washington. These had been recently recalled for the defence of their
homes and were accompanied by a small detachment of Continental infantry
under Colonel Zebulon Butler. The magistrates had lately shown their
zeal by the prosecution of some persons living further up the river, who
were accused of being loyalists. Thirty of these were seized and
committed to jail in Connecticut. The remainder were summarily ejected,
and most of them fled to Unadilla and joined the rangers.

The Indians contended that they were still the rightful owners of the
lands occupied by the Wyoming people. They had protested fruitlessly for
more than twenty years against the settlement of the valley.
Sangerachta, the Seneca chief, had acted as the spokesman of one
deputation that had been sent to Connecticut to remonstrate. The justice
of their claim was then generally admitted, and the movement delayed
until the disturbances preceding the Revolution afforded a favorable
opportunity for reviving it. Hamilton, the Governor of Pennsylvania,
declared that "nothing is more certain than that these lands do yet
belong to these nations, having never, that I heard of, been openly and
fairly purchased of them." The Connecticut Company next attempted,
without success, to bribe Sir Wm. Johnson by an offer of half their
interest. "I refused their offer," Johnson said, "with the slight it
deserved, and gave them my opinion of the whole affair, and also told
them the unhappy consequences that would follow should they, as so often
hinted, force a settlement in those parts." He added that he did not
believe the Six Nations would ever consent to a settlement on "their
war-path and best hunting-ground." The land-hunger in that "teeming
hive, Connecticut," was too powerful to be long withstood, and the
unhappy squatters were now doomed to suffer the "wrong that amendeth
wrong."

Aside from the land question, the Senecas had a more recent cause for
irritation. In the autumn of the preceding year a party from their tribe
had been invited to visit the settlement. Liquor was given them there.
Some of them got drunk and uttered vague threats. They were seized, and
had been detained as hostages ever since. In April, 1777, the chiefs of
the tribe received a message from Colonel Denniston and Judge Jenkins in
the name of the inhabitants, inviting them to a council. Mindful of
former treachery, the Indians applied to Col. Butler for the assistance
of a body of troops to enable them to go in such force as to secure the
release of the prisoners. Accordingly, Butler was instructed to
accompany them with his whole force. Before this could be done, the
Indians were further exasperated by an indefensible act of cruelty. A
few of their people having approached within five miles of Wyoming, were
stealthily attacked by a scouting party from the settlement, and two men
and a woman killed and scalped.

Floating down the Susquehanna in boats and rafts to the great bend at
the Three Islands, Butler then marched swiftly through the woods with
200 rangers and 300 Indians. On the last day of June he encamped on the
summit of a high hill, from which he looked down on the greater part of
the valley. His scouts brought in a few prisoners, and at night he was
joined by two loyalists. From these men it was learned that his approach
had been discovered, and that in addition to sixty Continentals the
entire militia of the settlement, numbering eight hundred men, had been
assembled in the various forts. Of these there were eight or ten, the
three largest being on the same side of the river as his camp. Next
morning the Indians sent a message to Col. Denniston informing him that
they had come in consequence of his invitation, and were prepared to
speak with him either as friends or foes. The defiant answer was
returned that the inhabitants were determined to fight, and "would have
all their scalps before night."

Butler at once marched within view of Wintemute's fort, and sent Lieut.
John Turney of the rangers to summon it. Terms were soon arranged by
which the garrison agreed to surrender the place with all their arms and
stores, and engaged not to bear arms again during the war, on the sole
condition that their lives should be preserved. Jenkins' fort next
capitulated on the same terms. Forty Fort, the remaining garrison on
that side of the river, was then summoned, but after long deliberation
the terms were rejected. Two days had been consumed in this way, and on
the morning of the 3rd July, parties sent out by Butler to collect
cattle reported that the militia were assembling in great numbers near
Forty Fort, and apparently preparing for an attack. At this the Indians
rejoiced greatly, and prepared for action with alacrity, saying that
they would at least be on an equal footing with them in the woods.
Shortly after noon four or five hundred men were seen advancing slowly
along the river. This force was composed of the entire detachment of
Continental infantry and Wyoming riflemen under Colonel Zebulon Butler,
a veteran soldier who had served through the French war and at the siege
of Havana, and the greater part of the 24th regiment of Connecticut
militia commanded by Colonel Denniston himself. For many years these
militiamen had been armed and carefully trained, and in the land-war
they had easily routed their antagonists.

Caldwell, who was destroying Jenkins' fort, was recalled, and at four
o'clock, when the enemy was still about a mile away, Butler directed
Fort Wintemute to be set on fire. Supposing that this was the forerunner
of a retreat, the Americans pushed forward rapidly. He then posted his
men in a "fine open wood," extending from an impenetrable marsh to the
river, the Indians being stationed on the right in six distinct parties,
and ordered them to lie flat on the ground and reserve their fire until
a signal was given by the Seneca chief. He laid aside his military hat,
tied a handkerchief around his head, and taking a rifle, posted himself
in the centre of the rangers. After they had passed the burning
stockade, the enemy deployed and advanced in line until within two
hundred yards of the rangers' position, when they discovered them and
began firing. They had fired three rounds without receiving a shot in
reply, and gradually advanced within a hundred yards, when Sangerachta
gave a shrill whoop, which was repeated by each band of Indians in
succession and prolonged by the rangers. This was succeeded by a
deliberate and deadly volley. Already the Indians had turned the enemy's
left flank by creeping along the margin of the marsh, and the militia in
that part of the line gave way in a sudden panic. The Indians darted
forward to cut off their retreat, and drove them in confusion towards
the river. After that they offered but little resistance, and a
merciless pursuit began. Many tried to swim the river, and were shot or
drowned in the act.

"Our fire was so close and well-directed," Butler said in his letter to
Col. Bolton, "that the affair was soon over, not lasting above half an
hour from the time they gave the first fire till their flight. In this
action were taken 227 scalps and only five prisoners. The Indians were
so exasperated with their loss at Fort Stanwix last year that it was
with difficulty I could save the lives of these few. Col. Denniston, who
came in next day with a minister and four others to treat for the
remainder of the settlement of Westmoreland, told me they had lost one
colonel, two majors, seven captains, thirteen lieutenants, eleven
ensigns and 268 privates. On our side we lost one Indian killed, two
rangers and eight Indians wounded."

Only sixty of the entire body that marched out to give battle are said
to have escaped, of whom fourteen were Continentals. It is certain that
Butler strongly disapproved of this wholesale slaughter. This story was
told by a wounded officer who escaped by secreting himself in a thicket.
After dark he heard the sound of footsteps, and two men, whom he
recognized as Butler himself and one of his officers, passed so near his
hiding place that he could overhear snatches of their conversation. "It
has been a sore day for the Yankees," the younger man said. "It has
indeed," replied Butler sadly, "blood enough has been shed."

The three forts at Laruwanak, on the opposite side of the river,
surrendered at the first summons next morning, and a deputation headed
by Col. Denniston and a clergyman came from Forty Fort to beg for terms
for the rest of the settlement. The few surviving regulars had fled from
the valley during the night. Already the mills and many farm houses were
in flames, and an immense drove of cattle had been collected as plunder
by the Indians.

Butler readily agreed to grant the same conditions that he had offered
before the battle, and even consented that Forty Fort should remain
standing as a place of refuge for the women and children. As a measure
of precaution he insisted that all spirits should be destroyed before
the stores were delivered, and more than one of the prisoners remembered
to the end of their lives his constant efforts to prevent the Indians
from plundering, and even from taunting the inhabitants with their
defeat.

Those who fled from the valley told a far different story of death and
desolation, which their fears prompted them to embellish with
blood-curdling and wholly imaginary details. This tale of horror was
eagerly circulated to threw odium upon the loyalists, and has been
repeated with little variation down to the present day. Undoubtedly
there was a "massacre" at Wyoming, but it was of strong men flying from
a lost battle, and not of prisoners or helpless women and children as
they represented.

By the final capitulation it was agreed that all the forts should be
utterly demolished, the Continental stores surrendered, and that none of
the inhabitants should again bear arms. The prisoners on both sides were
to be liberated, and it was further stipulated by Butler that
"properties taken from the people called Tories up the river be made
good, and that they are to remain in peaceable possession of their farms
and unmolested in a free trade through this state as far as lies in
their power." On his part, he promised to "use his utmost influence that
the property of the inhabitants shall be preserved entire to them."

He afterwards asserted in the most solemn language that these conditions
were faithfully observed by him, while it is not denied that they were
violated by Col. Denniston and others, who appeared in arms before the
year was ended. In his letter to Col. Bolton already cited, written from
Laruwanak on the 12th July, Butler said, "But what gives me the
sincerest satisfaction is that I can, with great truth, assure you that
in the destruction of the settlement not a single person was hurt except
such as were in arms, to these, in truth, the Indians gave no quarter.
The officers and men of the rangers have supported themselves through
hunger and fatigue with great cheerfulness."

Miner, the local historian of Wyoming, practically corroborates Butler's
statement, although with evident trepidation as to the probable
consequences of telling the truth. "Even now, (1840) it is not without
some fear of giving offence we draw of him what we believe to be a just
outline. It is certain he could have commanded much more severe
conditions. The settlement was wholly at his mercy. No one can deny that
the capitulation on its face was in a high degree honorable and
favorable to Col. Denniston. Col. Franklin confirms the statement of
Mrs. Myers, that Butler exerted himself to restrain the savages, seemed
deeply hurt when unable to do so, and offered, when furnished with a
list of property, to make it good."

He describes one grim deed of which Butler himself made no mention. When
the garrison of Forty Fort marched out, Butler stood at the gateway and
recognized one Boyd, a deserter from Niagara. "Boyd!" he exclaimed, "Go
to that tree!" "I hope, sir," Boyd faltered, "that you will consider me
a prisoner of war." "Go to that tree, sir!" Butler repeated sternly. The
trembling wretch obeyed, and at a signal from their commander a volley
was fired by a party of rangers, and he fell dead. This, Miner states,
was the only life taken after the capitulation was signed.

From the recollections of survivors, he succeeded in constructing a
life-like portrait of Butler as he appeared to them. "A fat man, below
the middle stature yet active; through the rough visage of the warrior
showing a rather agreeable than forbidding aspect. Care sat upon his
brow. Speaking quickly, he repeated his words when excited. Decision,
firmness, courage were undoubted characteristics of the man."

The fate of Wyoming spread terror along the border, and Butler took
advantage of the general panic to send a party to destroy the settlement
on the Lackawaxen branch of the Deleware. For many days the roads and
the rivers were covered for miles by throngs of people flying from their
homes. The adjacent counties were nearly deserted, and Sunbury became
the frontier post on the west branch of the Susquehanna. It was asserted
that Butler might have advanced without opposition as far as Carlisle.
An eye witness said, "I never in my life saw such scenes of distress.
The river and the roads down it were covered with men, women and
children, flying for their lives, many without any property at all and
none who have not left the greatest part of it." Another writes of "700
Indians, all armed in the most formidable manner. Everyone of them,
exclusive of guns and tomahawks, hath a large spontoon and as soon as
engaged rushes on in a most dreadful manner."

The Executive Council of Pennsylvania instantly ordered two regiments of
regulars and 1800 militia to march to the defence of the frontier. Much
of the harvest elsewhere was destroyed in consequence, and the diversion
of so many troops to this quarter unquestionably hampered the movements
of their main army.

Struck down at Tioga a few days later by a violent attack of fever and
ague accompanied by "rheumatism in the head," Butler was forced to seek
relief at Niagara, leaving Caldwell in command of the rangers, with
instructions to march at once to Oquaga and inform the Indians that he
had come to assist in the defence of their border villages, and conduct
any offensive movement he considered practicable. An officer and a few
rangers were to accompany every party of Indians sent out to reconnoitre
and harrass the frontier. "I would have you give orders," Butler
continued, "to every party you send out to burn and destroy everything
they possibly can. If we can prevent the enemy getting in their grain,
their general army, already much distressed, must disperse and their
country fall an easy prey. You are to enlist as many able-bodied men as
you can, who are recommended for their loyalty."

A memorandum of the distribution of the rangers early in September
indicates the vast extent of country covered by their operations at this
time.

"Captain Caldwell of the rangers, Captain Powell of the Indian
Department, and Mr. Joseph Brant, are at Aughquaga, employed in scouting
from there to the Deleware river, as low as the Minnesinks and to
Schoharie, as well to annoy the enemy as to gain intelligence. Mr.
Pawling is also detached from Aughquaga with thirty rangers and a number
of Indians to Wyalusing, upon the Susquehanna, with directions to scout
as low as Wyoming, to watch the motions of the rebels said to be
assembling there. Mr. John Young, detached from Aughquaga with thirty
rangers, is constantly scouting towards the German Flats and Cherry
Valley. Captain Johnson, from the Seneca country, keeps continual
parties of Indians out from thence to the west branch of the Susquehanna
and Juniata. Mr. Adams, of the Indian Department at Carleton Island is
employed in scouting towards Fort Stanwix. The chiefs of Upper Seneca
keep an attentive eye on Fort Pitt. The main body of the rangers is at
Aughquaga and neighborhood, ready, when joined by the Indians, for an
incursion to the enemy's frontier or to defend the Indian country."

Although the force at his disposal did not exceed 600 rangers and
Indians, it appears that a continuous chain of scouting parties was
maintained during the summer from Lake Ontario to the Ohio.

While Butler was engaged in harrying Wyoming, Sir John Johnson was at
the Governor's elbow in Quebec maliciously whispering that he would fail
to do anything worthy of note. We have his own evidence on this point.
On the 16th July he wrote to Claus with evident satisfaction, "He
[Haldimand] asked me yesterday what Butler would be about all this time;
that he thought he could have struck a blow ere now. I told him I
thought I might venture to assure him that it was not his intention,
that he would remain where he was or thereabouts till he could join the
army from New York with safety, or till it was too late to do anything."

During the time Caldwell held command a tragic event occurred, which
occasioned profound discontent among the rangers. A number of unknown
men had offered themselves from time to time for enlistment. Some, it
was subsequently discovered, were actually spies in the enemy's service.
A single traitor might easily accomplish the destruction of the entire
corps. During his advance upon Wyoming, Butler had accordingly issued a
standing order that if any man should attempt to desert he must be
instantly pursued and shot on the spot. Shortly after their arrival at
Oquaga two men from the Susquehanna asked leave to visit their families.
Caldwell peremptorily refused. Taking advantage of an opportunity when
on guard at the "Indian Castle," they stole quietly away with their
arms, after destroying the arms of the rest of the guard. This, of
course, was an unpardonable offence. Caldwell sent out a party which
soon overtook the fugitives and shot them at sight. But their friends
and relatives stubbornly refused to believe that they had actually
intended to desert, and continued to manifest their sympathy for the
offenders in various ways.

Late in August Walter Butler returned from Quebec, bringing with him
Lieut. John McDonnel of the 84th Regt., or Royal Highland Emigrants, a
young officer already highly distinguished for activity and courage,
who, finding there was little prospect of active employment with his own
regiment, had obtained leave to serve with the rangers. In after years
McDonnel became known in civil life as member for Glengarry, and speaker
of the first Legislative Assembly of Upper Canada. As senior captain,
Butler superseded Caldwell, and McDonnel was put in command of a
company. Caldwell was then detached with 200 rangers and 160 Indians
against the German Flats, where there were two large forts occupied by a
Continental regiment. Advancing swiftly through the woods from Unadilla,
he met and captured a party of Oneidas. He had good reason to suspect
that these Indians were scouts in the enemy's service, but his own
Indians insisted that they should be liberated. A party of white scouts
was next encountered. Three men were instantly shot, but the sole
survivor outran all his pursuers and got off. At night a heavy rain
began, and the darkness became so complete that Caldwell was forced to
halt on the very outskirts of the settlement instead of advancing upon
the fort as he had intended. The rain was falling in torrents when
daylight returned, but he instantly gave the order to move on, still
hoping to surprise the garrison, but every house was found deserted. The
entire population had taken refuge in the forts. The melancholy work of
destruction began. How thoroughly it was performed may be judged from
Caldwell's own brief description. "We destroyed all the grain and
buildings on the German Flats, from William Tygert's to Fort Herkimer on
the south side of the river, and from Adam Staring's to Wydeck's beyond
Canada Creek on the north side, except the church and Fort Dayton, and
drove off a great many cows and oxen, horses and mares. The oxen were
all large New England cattle, kept on the flats for the use of the
Continental troops, and we took them out of the enclosure at Fort Dayton
within pistol-shot of the fort." The inhabitants reported that five
mills and 120 other buildings were destroyed, and 826 cattle killed or
driven off.

On his return to Unadilla, Caldwell had the mortification to learn that
the Oneidas he had liberated, had plundered the loyalists there and
carried off some prisoners, among them two sick rangers. This was
followed by a formidable inroad by a body of regulars and militia,
estimated at 1400, under Col. Hartley, piloted by Denniston and others
who had surrendered at Wyoming. Another force from Schoharie advanced at
the same time upon Oquaga and Unadilla. They burnt both those villages
with the houses and mills of the Scottish loyalists in the vicinity. By
this raid the Young family, which had already furnished Butler with two
active officers, suffered severely in property. Hartley ascended the
Susquehanna as far as Tioga, desolating the farms of many loyalists as
he advanced, and burnt the Indian village there. He then sent a written
message to the chiefs of Chemung, a few miles distant, accusing them of
killing women and children and torturing prisoners. He threatened to
waste their country with "fire and sword" if they delayed to sue for
peace. Captain Butler had retired to Canadasaga, where he was joined by
Caldwell with the rangers. The Senecas rapidly assembled 400 men,
leaving only their women and children to take care of their villages.
Convinced that if the Six Nations "were forced to a neutrality, Niagara
would be in great danger," Col. Bolton sent a few volunteers from the
8th to join him. Finding himself at the head of 800 men, Butler prepared
to attack Hartley, when he retreated with every sign of haste. His
rear-guard was fiercely assailed and lost fifteen men, but carried off
five Indian scalps.

Butler saw that the favourable moment for a counterstroke had arrived.
While strong parties dogged the steps of the retreating enemy, he
marched with 200 rangers, a small party of the 8th and 321 Indians,
against Cherry Valley, where they had long been forming magazines and
collecting cattle. The forts there were occupied by Alden's
Massachusetts regiment and the inhabitants generally were bitterly
hostile, and even ostentatiously defiant of the Indians.

On the night of the 9th November, while yet twenty miles from their
destination, a scout of nine men sent out by the garrison was surprised
and taken. From them it was learned that the commandant had been warned
of their approach by an Oneida, and that the Continentals numbered 300
and the militia 150. They also stated that most of the officers usually
slept in a house a quarter of a mile outside the fort, attended by a
strong guard.

After an exhausting march next day through a blinding snowstorm and over
ground covered with deep wet snow and mud, Butler halted his men at dark
in a pinewood, which afforded them some shelter, six miles from Cherry
Valley. He assembled the chiefs and proposed that as soon as the moon
rose, they should resume their march and surround the house occupied by
the officers, while he made a rush upon the fort with the rangers. They
readily assented, but before the time appointed arrived it began to rain
violently, and they obstinately refused to move until daybreak. It was
then arranged that Capt. McDonnel with 50 picked rangers and some
Indians should storm the house, while Butler with the remainder assailed
the fort. Without tents, blankets or fires, they spent a sleepless night
cowering beneath the pines, and were glad to move as soon as day
appeared. They had approached unperceived within a mile of the fort, by
passing through a dense swamp, when the Indians in front fired at two
men cutting wood. One fell dead; the other, though bleeding, ran for his
life and the entire body of Indians set up a whoop and followed at full
speed. Unhappily the rangers had just been halted to fix flints and load
their rifles, and the Indians obtained a long start. The Continental
officers attempted to escape to the fort but only two or three reached
it. The colonel, five other officers and twenty soldiers, were killed on
the way and the lieutenant-colonel, three subalterns, and ten privates
were taken. The colors of the regiment were abandoned in the house and
burnt in it.

The garrison of the fort was fully alarmed, and opened a fierce fire of
artillery and small arms. The rangers seized and burnt a detached
block-house, and fired briskly at the loop-holes in the palisades for
ten minutes, when Butler saw with horror and consternation that the
Indians had set their officers at defiance, and dispersed in every
direction to kill and plunder.

Their wretched misconduct forced him to collect all the rangers into a
compact body on an eminence near the principal entrance to the fort, to
oppose a sally by the garrison, which then undoubtedly outnumbered them
considerably. There he was obliged to remain inactive all day under a
ceaseless, chilling rain, while blazing houses and shrieks of agony told
their pitiful tale in the settlement below. At nightfall he marched a
mile down the valley and encamped. He then struggled with indifferent
success to rescue the prisoners. Those surrendered were placed next the
camp fires and protected by his whole force. Next morning most of the
Indians and the feeblest men among the rangers were sent away with a
huge drove of captured cattle for the supply of the garrison at Niagara,
and McDonnel and Brant, with 60 rangers and 50 Indians, swept the valley
from end to end, ruthlessly burning every building and stack in sight,
while Butler, with the remainder, again stood guard at the gate of the
fort. He hoped that this appalling spectacle would provoke the garrison
to sally out and fight, but the lesson of Wyoming had not been lost on
them, and they continued to look on from the walls in silent fury.
Another great herd of cattle was collected, and Butler leisurely began
his retreat, having had only two rangers and three Indians wounded
during the expedition.

He did not disguise the dark side of the story in his letter to Col.
Bolton of the 17th November.

"I have much to lament," he said, "that notwithstanding my utmost
precautions to save the women and children, I could not prevent some of
them falling victims to the fury of the savages. They have carried off
many of the inhabitants and killed more, among them Colin Cloyd, a very
violent rebel. I could not prevail on the Indians to leave the women and
children behind, though the second morning Captain Johnson (to whose
knowledge of the Indians and address in managing them I am much
indebted) and I got them to permit twelve, who were loyalists, and whom
I concealed, with the humane assistance of Mr. Joseph Brant and Captain
Jacobs of Ochquaga, to return. The death of the women and children on
this occasion may, I believe, be truly ascribed to the rebels having
falsely accused the Indians of cruelty at Wyomen. This has much
exasperated them, and they are still more incensed at finding that the
colonel and those who had then laid down their arms, soon after marching
into their country intending to destroy their villages, and they
declared that they would be no more accused falsely of fighting the
enemy twice, meaning they would in future give no quarter." In addition
to those mentioned here, he actually set at liberty seven men, ten
women, and thirty-two children, leaving with them a letter addressed to
General Schuyler, in which he said:--

"I am induced by humanity to permit the prisoners whose names are
enclosed to remain behind, lest the inclemency of the season and their
helpless and naked condition should prove fatal. I hope you will allow
Mrs. Butler and her family to come to Canada in consideration, but if
you insist I will engage to send you moreover an equal number of
prisoners and allow you to name the persons. I have done everything in
my power to restrain the Indians from hurting women and children who
fell into their hands."

In spite of strenuous efforts to prevent it, the Indians carried off a
number of women and children to their villages. Most of these were from
time to time purchased from them by Col. Butler and other officers and
liberated. Their temporary detention more than anything else contributed
to hasten the release of Mrs. Butler and her partners in captivity.
About the middle of February an Indian arrived at Niagara bearing a
letter from Gen. James Clinton, who had succeeded Schuyler in command at
Albany, assenting to the proposed exchange, but accusing the officers
and men of the rangers of conniving at the crimes and outrages committed
by the Indians, and asserting that similar acts had been perpetrated
when no Indians were present.

To this Walter Butler made a prompt and indignant reply, confidently
appealing to the prisoners themselves for confirmation of his
statements. "We deny," he said, "any cruelties to have been committed at
Wyoming either by whites or Indians; so far to the contrary, that not a
man, woman or child was hurt after the capitulation, or a woman or child
before it, or taken into captivity. Though should you call it
inhumanity, the killing men in arms in the field, we in that case plead
guilty. The inhabitants killed at Cherry Valley do not lay at my door;
my conscience acquits me. If any are guilty (as accessories) it's
yourselves; at least the conduct of some of your officers, first, Col.
Hartley, of your forces, sent to the Indians the enclosed, being a copy
of his letter charging them with crimes they never committed, and
threatening them and their villages with fire and sword, and no
quarters. The burning of one of their villages, then inhabited only by a
few families--your friends--who imagined they might remain in peace and
friendship with you, till assured, a few hours before the arrival of
your troops, that they should not even receive quarter, took to the
woods; and, to complete the matter Colonel Denniston and his people
appearing again in arms with Colonel Hartley, after a solemn
capitulation and agreement not to bear arms during the war, and Colonel
Denniston not performing a promise to release a number of soldiers
belonging to Colonel Butler's corps of rangers, then prisoners among
you, were the reasons assigned by the Indians to me, after the
destruction of Cherry Valley, for their not acting in the same manner as
at Wyoman. They added, that being charged by their enemies with what
they never had done, and threatened by them, they had determined to
convince you that it was not fear which had prevented them from
committing the one, and putting your threats against them in force
against yourselves.

"The prisoners sent back by me, or any now in our or the Indians' hands,
but must declare I did everything in my power to prevent the Indians
killing the prisoners, or taking women and children captive, or in any
way injuring them. Colonel Stacey and several other officers of yours,
when exchanged, will acquit me; and must further declare that they have
received every assistance, both before and since their arrival at this
post, that could be got to relieve their wants. I must beg leave,
by-the-bye, to observe that I experienced no humanity, or even common
justice, during my imprisonment among you."

Six full companies of rangers were assembled at Fort Niagara in
December, 1778, to receive their clothing, and they then went into
winter quarters in an isolated range of log buildings, constructed under
Colonel Butler's supervision during the autumn, on the west side of the
river, henceforth known as the "Rangers' Barracks." The uniform selected
for them was of dark green cloth, trimmed with scarlet--very similar to
the present rifle uniform--with a low, flat cap, having a brass plate in
front bearing the monogram "G. R.," encircled by the words "Butler's
Rangers." It was intended that they should be armed with rifles, but as
each man was expected to provide his own they brought with them any kind
of firearm they were able to procure, and in consequence many of their
arms were found to be old and nearly unserviceable. Colonel Bolton lent
them a hundred "firelocks" from the magazine, but confessed that there
was not a single good flint in the place.

The enormous expense and the great difficulty experienced in supplying
the wants of the garrison, rangers, and refugee loyalists had already
convinced General Haldimand of the great advantage that might be derived
from the establishment of a permanent settlement at Niagara. The sole
credit of the project may be fairly ascribed to him. For a dozen years
back the military gardens formed at Oswego and Niagara, had been noted
for the size and fine quality of the vegetables produced in them,
specimens of which the officers occasionally sent down to astonish their
friends at Montreal and Albany. The Governor knew the fertility of the
soil, and believed that its cultivation might be readily extended for
the maintenance of the garrison. On the 7th October, 1778, he wrote to
Col. Bolton, suggesting that the refugees might be usefully employed in
tilling land near the fort. Bolton's health was poor, he disliked the
place, and his first reply was not encouraging. He said, "It would
require seven years to bring land under cultivation to supply the
garrison. We must be cautious how we encroach on the land of the Six
Nations, as we have informed them that the Great King never deprived
them of an acre since 1759, when he drove the French away."

But upon more mature consideration he wrote, on the 4th March, 1779,
"The gentlemen I have consulted think, both from the soil and situation,
the west side of the river, (the country belonging to the Missassaugas
and in the Government of Canada,) by far preferable to the east and
where none of those difficulties can arise, and are of opinion an
opportunity now offers to make a beginning by encouraging some of the
distressed loyalists lately arrived at this post for His Majesty's
protection. With the little stock they have brought, the second year
they might possibly support themselves and families, and the third year
they might be useful to this post. From that period the increase would
be considerable, so that in six or seven years such a plan would be
serviceable to the Government and the individuals that would undertake
it."

In his letters to Butler, Haldimand constantly referred to the necessity
of provisioning and protecting Niagara from attack at all hazards. "Your
own knowledge of the importance of Niagara will suggest the necessity of
your corps, and that people (the Indians) having a constant eye to the
designs of the rebels, and in case of need of throwing yourselves into
that place to join in its defence.... The great expense and difficulty
of transporting provisions to Niagara makes it desirable that cattle
should be driven in, or any other articles sent in to Colonel Bolton,
who would pay a reasonable price for them." Butler was able to assure
him that although the rangers, having no other means of subsistence,
generally consumed most of the captured cattle, more than a hundred had
been brought in by them.

The Governor also signified his thorough approval of the conduct of the
rangers, while he heartily regretted and condemned the cruelty of the
Indians.

"I have received Captain Butler's relation of the operations at Cherry
Valley," he wrote, "the success of which would have afforded the
greatest satisfaction if his endeavors to prevent the excesses to which
the Indians in their fury are so apt to run had proved effectual. It is,
however, very much to his credit that he gave proofs of his
disapprobation of such proceedings, and I trust that you, and every
officer serving with the savages, will never cease your exhortations
till you shall at length convince them that such indiscriminate
vengeance, taken even upon the treacherous and cruel enemy they are
engaged with, is as useless and disreputable as it is contrary to the
disposition and maxims of their King, in whose cause they are fighting."

But he did not fail to remind Butler that he regarded their assistance
as indispensable as ever. "I am confident," he said, "no pains or
trouble will be spared on your part to keep the different tribes in the
humor of acting for the service of the Crown, and that every argument
will be made use of by you to convince them how severely they would feel
the contrary behavior."

During the winter the Indians professed to be in great fear of an
attack. Butler reported that Congress had its emissaries everywhere, and
that they were using every art to draw the Indians over to their side.
They actually succeeded with some of the Onondagas, and made use of them
to convert others.

Scouts from Niagara were constantly sent out in every direction to guard
against surprise. The main body of the rangers were held in perpetual
readiness to march wherever they might be needed, and Capt. Butler made
every exertion to prepare the corps for service early in the spring.

The fatigue and hardship entailed by scouting duties alone may be judged
from the return of parties out on the 2nd February, 1779.

"There are two scouts ordered out upon the Ohio, towards Fort Pitt and
the places adjacent, to observe the motions of the enemy, and Lieuts.
Dochstader and Johnson are sent to reside among the Indians in that
quarter in order to have scouts constantly out, and to send the earliest
intelligence to this place.

"Mr. Secord is sent to Shimong for the purpose of keeping a constant
watch upon the rebels towards Wyoming, from whence I daily expect
intelligence, as parties have been out that way for some time. Capt.
Johnson is stationed among the Senecas, with orders to use his utmost
endeavors to gain every intelligence of the enemy's designs, and have
sent by express any accounts of material import as well to Capt. Aubrey
at Carleton Island as to the commanding officer of this garrison.
Several parties are out towards Fort Stanwix. De Quoin's son has
undertaken with a party to watch the road between Fort Stanwix and the
German Flats, and to intercept, if possible, some express of the rebels,
and an Indian went from this some time ago whom I have engaged to make
his way to Albany to observe what preparations are going on at that
place, and a party has been despatched towards the Minnesinks to observe
the situation of the enemy in that quarter, and the Seneca chief has
promised to have some of his young men continually out, and to forward
to us an account of what discoveries they make, so it will be almost
impossible for the enemy to make the smallest movement in any part but
we must gain immediate notice of it."

These parties had several smart skirmishes during the winter, and
brought in many prisoners. The Indians were much depressed upon learning
that Hamilton, governor of Detroit, had been taken by the enemy, but
they quickly recovered their spirits on the arrival of Thomas Hill, a
messenger from New York, with letters and newspapers relating British
successes elsewhere, and announcing that large reinforcements were
expected from England.

Hamilton's disaster had endangered Detroit, and Col. Bolton was
compelled to send Caldwell with fifty picked rangers to reinforce the
garrison.

In the beginning of April, Lieut. John Dochstader, with 108 Indians and
a few rangers, encountered a strong body of American riflemen near Fort
Pitt and cleverly drew them into an ambush. Twenty-one were killed and
nine taken, with the loss of only one Indian killed and three wounded,
but Dochstader himself was badly hurt in three places.

As the spring advanced, every scout and messenger brought news of the
gathering of the enemy. At Fort Pitt there was a numerous force
preparing boats for some unknown purpose. A formidable army was
assembling at Wyoming, and a spy returning from the Mohawk announced
that he had seen 700 men in camp at Canajoharie, and that it was
reported they were the vanguard of an army of 3,000 advancing from that
quarter against the Indians. Six hundred men from Fort Stanwix next made
a raid on Onondaga. Three Indian villages were burnt, 38 women and
children captured, and a few killed.

As this tribe was already friendly to the Americans, this event only
served to alienate them and exasperate the remainder of the Indians.
They were fast becoming convinced that their enemies intended nothing
less than their total extermination.

On learning this Col. Bolton instructed Butler to march to their
assistance, and on the 2nd of May he left Niagara with 400 men,
including a few Indians. He was directed to advance no further than
Canadasaga, the principal village of the Senecas, and keep a sharp
lookout towards Fort Pitt and Wyoming, as it was surmised that the dash
upon Onondaga was a mere feint to draw him in that direction. If the
Americans should attempt an advance from Fort Pitt upon Detroit, he must
follow at once "to escort the general's baggage." At the same time it
was equally necessary to keep strong scouts out towards Oswego, to
prevent the Oneidas from discovering the weakness of the garrison at
Niagara. But being among the Indians and acting in defence of their
country, it soon became evident that he must to a great extent be
"governed by the old Smoky Heads or chiefs."

They were panic stricken by a false alarm that the Americans were
advancing on Cayuga, and compelled Butler to hurry forward by forced
marches, leaving his baggage and provisions to struggle after him on
packhorses from Irondequot Bay. Everywhere he found the Indians on the
very brink of starvation; many of them were actually living on roots and
leaves. Cattle and grain could scarcely be purchased at any price.
Scouts confirmed the report that an overwhelming army was assembling on
the Susquehanna, and said that the frontier settlements were everywhere
protected by a girdle of strong stockades. In response to the most
urgent appeals to send him provisions, Haldimand could say nothing more
encouraging than that Butler must attempt "some stroke to procure
subsistence for the rangers" until the fleet of "victuallers" arrived
from England, adding that he must hold his ground at all hazards while
there was any prospect of an invasion of the Indian country. Long before
this letter could reach him, Butler had attempted to put his advice into
effect.

Captain McDonnel had been ordered to rejoin his regiment, but being "a
spirited, prudent officer," Butler ventured to detain and sent him with
sixty men to alarm the settlements on the Mohawk. Lieutenant Thompson,
with forty rangers, accompanied by Rowland Montour and a few Indians,
was detached to the Susquehanna to obtain cattle. Lieutenant Johnson
made a raid upon Schoharie and brought off eighteen prisoners, but their
presence only added to his distress, as did the arrival of numerous
recruits and refugees. One bold recruiting officer had gone within sight
of Albany and brought in twenty men belonging to Burgoyne's army.
Another actually penetrated beyond the Hudson and enlisted seventy men.

Butler urged the Indians to plant as much corn as possible, and every
ranger not otherwise employed was set at work to assist them in the
fields on the fertile Genessee flats. By the beginning of June his stock
of provisions was exhausted, the rangers were living from hand to mouth,
and the starving Indians were wasting his scanty supply of ammunition by
firing at every wretched little bird they saw in the woods. It seemed
impossible to remain much longer at Canadasaga, and Butler began to
tremble lest he should fail to obtain food enough to carry his men out
of the country, leaving the inhabitants to their horrible fate.

It is pleasing to find that even in this extremity he did not relax his
efforts to redeem the prisoners still in the hands of the Indians. "I
have procured the releasement of Mrs. Campbell," he wrote on the 18th
June. "I have sent her with Mr. Seacord to Niagara. She is much in want
of clothing and other necessaries. If there is not a more convenient
place, I told her she might stay at my house. I expect in a few days to
get Mrs. Moore and family released likewise. The Indians have given me
seven prisoners they have brought in at different times. I shall send
them to Niagara the first opportunity."

On the 3rd July a deserter came in from Wyoming bringing, as it proved,
very reliable information. He stated that when he left, Gen. Hand was
encamped there with 600 men, and Generals Sullivan and Maxwell were
daily expected with nine regiments and nine cannon. Another army was to
advance from "North River," and a third from Fort Pitt. "They intend to
cut off the Indians as they come along, and then join and attack
Niagara. They had 600 pack-horses, and were to have 400 more. A great
number of boats were lying in the river."

There could no longer be any doubt that a very serious invasion was
contemplated, although it was still generally supposed that the numbers
of the enemy were much exaggerated. To distract their attention as much
as possible, and occupy them in the defence of their own frontiers, as
well as to procure supplies, McDonnel with 60 rangers, a few volunteers
from the 8th, and 100 Indians, was sent to the west branch of the
Susquehanna, while Barent Frey and Brant marched against Minnesink on
the Deleware.

Meanwhile, scouting parties returning from the Mohawk discovered an
encampment of troops at "Cochran's Lake," supposed to be the
advance-guard of the army coming from "North River." They likewise
brought the doleful news that Lieut. Henry Hare and Sergt. Newberry of
the rangers had been taken by the enemy and executed as spies. Hare had
been recognized while "viewing the stores as they passed up the river,"
and was hanged on a gallows, erected, with a refinement of cruelty, in
front of his own house.

Their comrades were bitterly exasperated, and made fierce threats of
retaliation in like manner.

By the 19th July every expedient that ingenuity and experience could
suggest for the maintenance of the remainder of his battalion at
Canadasaga had been exhausted. Lieut. Thompson wrote from Tioga that he
had been unable to procure any cattle, and must either return or starve.
The Indians were continually begging for food, which it was not in his
power to supply. The small stock of provisions sent by Bolton from
Niagara had long since been consumed, although great care had been taken
"to make it go as far as possible, and the men only allowed as much as
was barely sufficient to keep them alive, which has brought actual
sickness on some and endangered the lives of the whole." "To add to all
this," Butler continued, "there is not the same opportunity of driving
cattle from the enemy's frontier as there was the preceding summer. Many
of the settlements were then broken, and such as remain are secured by a
chain of forts, which the enemy maintain at small distances all along
their frontier, and had I a prospect of taking any of them I could not
march out against them with a sufficient body for want of provisions."

Genessee Falls, two days' march from Canadasaga, was selected as a
suitable place for an encampment, where the rangers could be supplied
with provisions by boats from Niagara, and the abundance of fish in the
river would afford a welcome change of diet to men who had been living,
for many weeks, on stale salt meat imported from Ireland. "Should we be
wanted at Oswego," Butler explained, "it will be the most convenient
place for us to move from to it. Should our services be required towards
Fort Pitt, Detroit, or Venango, there is no place can be at all so
centrical for either of those places. In justice to the people under my
command I could no longer delay it, as they were suffering everything
that disease and hunger could inflict, and had they remained in this
situation much longer would have been entirely unfit for service." He
himself still remained at Canadasaga to sustain the spirits of the
Indians, and vigilant officers were stationed in all their outlying
villages with instructions to keep scouts out in every direction.

While Butler was so employed both the parties he had sent out against
the frontiers had struck damaging blows. After a "very fatiguing and
tedious march over mountains and through woods almost impenetrable,"
McDonnel gained the west branch of the Susquehanna. On the 27th July he
marched all night and at daybreak came in sight of Fort Freeland, the
frontier post. Before noon the garrison capitulated, after having two
men killed. Thirty-one prisoners were taken, including a commissioner of
the county. Of the besiegers only John Montour, who led a party of the
Indians, was wounded, while scalping a man under the walls. Two hours
later the rangers were unexpectedly attacked by a party of seventy or
eighty men from a neighboring fort, who, having heard the firing, had
advanced to the relief of Fort Freeland. The Indians had dispersed in
search of cattle and allowed them to approach unperceived until within
gunshot. McDonnel hastily formed his men and engaged them in front until
the Indians assembled and took the enemy in the flank, when they were
quickly routed, leaving three captains and thirty men dead on the field.
McDonnel said that very few would have escaped if their flight had not
been favored by thick underwood. He lost only one Indian killed and
another wounded. After this skirmish he attempted to induce the Indians
to follow up their success, but "they were glutted with plunder" and
insisted on retreating a few miles to enjoy themselves overnight. In the
morning he returned with 100 men and destroyed five forts and thirty
miles of settled country, advancing within a short distance of Shamokin.
Eighty women and children were taken during the day and released
uninjured. A hundred cattle were driven off, but half of them were
subsequently stolen by the Indians. On the 5th of August McDonnel was
again at Tioga, awaiting the approach of the enemy from Wyoming.

Brant and Frey had a very similar experience. They destroyed several
small forts or stockades and many other buildings at Minnesink, with
little opposition. On their retreat they were pursued by a much superior
force of militia, which outmarched them and formed an ambush at the
Lackawaxen ford. Quickly recovering from his surprise, Brant quietly led
a party of Indians around a hill and suddenly attacked his assailants in
the rear. They dispersed and were remorselessly slaughtered in their
flight. More than a hundred were killed, and but one taken prisoner.

Tidings of these disasters, accompanied by urgent appeals for
assistance, reached General Sullivan at Wyoming on the 29th July, but he
firmly refused to be turned aside from his main purpose. He said in
reply, "Nothing could afford me more pleasure than to relieve the
distressed, or to have it in my power to add to the safety of your
settlement, but should I comply with the requisition made by you it
would effectually answer the intention of the enemy and destroy the
grand object of this expedition."

Immediately after the return of his detachments, Butler despatched
Lieut. Lottridge with a small party to bring off some of the Oneidas,
who had stated their wish to desert the enemy, and Lieut. Daniel Servos,
with a larger one, to alarm the German Flats. He had been informed that
the Americans were damming the outlet of Otsego or Cochran's Lake, with
the object of raising the water in the stream leading into the
Susquehanna sufficiently to float their boats, and the indefatigable
Brant went in that direction to observe their movements. He returned
with some prisoners, but limping from an ugly wound in the foot. By that
time Sullivan's advance-guard had arrived at Tioga, where it was
evidently waiting for the junction of the division from Otsego Lake.

The force intended for the invasion of the Indian territory had been
organized in three divisions by Washington's advice, in the expectation
that their converging movements would "distract and terrify" their
opponents. The largest, which had gradually assembled at Wyoming,
consisted of 3,500 veteran soldiers from the Eastern States, besides 500
boatman and drivers. Clinton's division, composed chiefly of New York
troops, numbered nearly 2,000. At the same time 500 men from Fort Pitt
were directed to ascend the Alleghany and destroy the Seneca villages
near that river.

General Sullivan, who was selected for the chief command, was a striking
type of a class of shrewd, pushing, self-reliant men, of humble origin,
which the Revolution had brought to the front. Beginning life as a
stable-boy, he became successively a hostler, a tavern-keeper, a lawyer,
a member of the Assembly, a delegate in Congress, and last of all a
general in the Continental army.

"The immediate objects," Washington informed him, "are the total
destruction and devastation of their settlements, and the capture of as
many prisoners, of every age and sex, as possible. It will be essential
to ruin their crops now in the ground and prevent them planting more.
Parties should be detached to lay waste all the settlements around, with
instructions to do it in the most effectual manner, that the country not
be merely _over-run_, but _destroyed_.

"After you have very thoroughly completed the destruction of their
settlements, if the Indians should show a disposition for peace I would
have you encourage it, on condition that they will give some decisive
evidence of their sincerity by delivering up some of the principal
instigators of their past hostility into our hands; Butler, Brant, the
most mischievous of the Tories that have joined them, or any others they
may have in their power that we are interested to get in ours. They may
possibly be engaged by address, secrecy, and stratagem to surprise the
garrison at Niagara and the shipping upon the lakes, and put them in our
possession."

Sullivan completed his preparations with notable deliberation and
forethought, heedless of the clamor of the inhabitants for greater
haste. Hundreds of boats and wagons were employed for six weeks in
accumulating provisions and stores at Wyoming, where their brigades were
assembled in June and carefully trained for bush-fighting. Thirty
Oneidas, headed by their spiritual adviser, Kirkland, were engaged as
scouts and guides.

On the last day of July he began his march from that place, with eleven
regiments of infantry and rifles, and one of artillery, besides the
Wyoming militia; driving with him 800 cattle and 1200 packhorses, and
attended by 120 boats on the river, conveying his heavy baggage and nine
field guns.

This force, as Butler observed, was composed of "some of the best
Continental troops, commanded by the most active rebel generals, and not
a regiment of militia among the whole." On the 11th August it arrived at
Tioga Point and encamped between the rivers, where a strong stockade was
built. The rangers were immediately recalled to Canadasaga where Butler
had assembled 300 Indians, and the whole advanced to meet the enemy. On
the 13th, Sullivan with his entire division made a night march to
surprise Chemung, a village of thirty houses. Their approach was
discovered and the place deserted. As they were passing through a narrow
defile the invaders were attacked by Rowland Montour with forty Indians,
and thrown into much confusion. Montour held his ground until nearly
surrounded, when he retired with the loss of one man killed. The
Americans lost twenty-one in killed or wounded, and returned to Tioga,
after destroying some houses and cornfields. Butler halted at Chuckmet,
fourteen miles from their camp, sending forward parties daily to
reconnoitre and alarm their outposts. His scouts killed a few stragglers
and drove off some horses, but failed to take a prisoner as he desired.
On the 19th Sullivan was joined by Clinton's brigade of five regiments,
which had floated leisurely down the Tioga upon breaking the dam they
had built. His army must then have numbered quite 6000. Leaving a strong
garrison at Tioga, he deliberately resumed his advance, warily feeling
every step with swarms of riflemen in front and on the flanks, and
cutting a wide road through the woods for the passage of his artillery
and packhorses.

Panic-stricken by the appearance of such an overwhelming army, a
majority of the Indians thought only of removing their families and
movable property to a place of safety. The number of warriors that
joined Butler never exceeded 300, although he had expected 1000. The
Delewares had promised 200 and only sent 30. He had less than 300
rangers and only 14 men of the 8th. There was no exaggeration when he
said that the enemy were coming with as many thousands as he had
hundreds. He kept up an appearance of confidence, however, and attempted
to reassure the Indians by telling them he would defeat the invaders
with the rangers alone, assisted by their brethren under Brant.
Unfortunately, runners then came from the Seneca villages on the
Alleghany to announce that their country was invaded by a large force
from Pittsburgh. On this, Butler tried to persuade the Indians to retire
to some more advantageous position, leaving small parties among the
hills to harass the Americans on their advance, but the Delewares had
pointed out the spot where they ought to meet the enemy, and the others
were obstinately bent upon following their advice.

Having sent away his baggage in charge of the sick, Butler accordingly
marched forward and took possession of the ground indicated to him, on
the 27th of August. "It was a ridge of about half-a-mile in length, to
the right of which lay a large plain extending to the river and
terminating in a narrow pass near our encampment, so that, having
possession of the heights, we would have had greatly the advantage
should the enemy direct their march that way. On our left was a steep
mountain, and a large creek in our front at a little distance." A rough
breastwork was formed of logs, which they attempted to mask with freshly
cut boughs. In some places shallow rifle-pits were dug, and a log
building was occupied and loop-holed for musketry. McDonnel with sixty
rangers and Brant with thirty "whites and Indians" occupied the right of
this position, Captain Butler with the remainder of the rangers and the
party of the 8th held the centre, while the main body of the Indians,
commanded by Sangerachta, was posted on the left, at the foot of the
mountain. At sunset they were informed that the enemy was still encamped
below Chemung, and they retired for the night to their own camp, about a
mile distant. Next day the position was again occupied from sunrise
until dark, without any appearance of the Americans. But Sullivan's
scouts had heard the noise of their axes in the day and seen the glare
of their camp-fires at night.

Neither officers nor men of the rangers had a blanket or tent to cover
them, and since their arrival at Chuckmet, two weeks before, they had
neither meat, flour, nor salt, but had been subsisting entirely upon a
daily allowance of seven ears of green corn, which they had scarcely
found time to cook.

On the 29th, at daybreak, they resumed possession of their lines
"which," Butler said, "some officious fellows among the Indians altered
and turned the left wing along the mountain, quite the contrary way from
its original situation, which was in a great measure the cause of our
defeat, as it gave the enemy room to outflank us on that wing without
opposition."

Here they remained exposed to the full glare of the sun until two
o'clock, when a number of riflemen appeared in the skirt of the woods.
The plain between them and the breastwork was covered with tall grass
rising nearly as high as a man's head. The affair at Chemung had made
the Americans more than usually cautious, and before advancing into the
plain some of their scouts climbed trees, from which they discovered
this entrenchment and saw a number of Indians, brightly painted with
vermillion, lying on the ground behind it. They at once commenced a
brisk fire while their artillery was being brought forward, and a
brigade of light infantry detached around the hill to turn the rangers'
position and gain the defile in the rear. When the skirmish had lasted
for half an hour, with trifling loss on either side, Butler began to
suspect the enemy's purpose and urged the Indians to commence their
retreat. His advice was warmly seconded by Brant and the Cayuga chief,
who had come together from the opposite flank to point out the danger of
remaining any longer where they were. One of the most powerful reasons
for an immediate retreat was the wretched physical condition of the
rangers, who were horribly enfeebled by exposure and the poorness of
their food, and at the very moment the action began three officers and
several men were struck down by the ague. But the majority of the
Indians were still obstinately bent on holding their ground, and would
pay no attention to their arguments. By that time the Americans had got
six guns and coehorns in position and opened "an elegant cannonade,"
firing shells, round and grape shot, and iron spikes upon the main body
of the Indians. This had an immediate and demoralizing effect. The sight
of the shells bursting in their rear convinced them that they were
already surrounded, and they sprang to their feet and ran away at full
speed. The rangers and Brant's party being thus deserted, retired as
rapidly as possible to the hill, which they found already occupied by
the enemy's riflemen, with whom they kept up a running fight for nearly
a mile, when they were obliged to disperse in every direction--some
fording the river, others escaping along the wooded summit of the hill.
Butler himself narrowly avoided capture. Many of the Indians never
halted in their flight till they reached their respective villages, but
the rangers reassembled before dark at Nanticoketown, five miles
distant, and continued their retreat until they overtook their baggage.
Their actual loss had been miraculously small--only five men were killed
or missing, and three wounded. The Indians reported a loss of five
killed and nine wounded. Sullivan acknowledged a loss of forty-two
killed and wounded among his regular troops, and at least one of his
Oneida scouts was killed besides.

His victorious troops amused themselves by scalping the dead, and in two
cases actually skinned the bodies of Indians from the hips downward, to
make boot tops or leggings.

Next day Sullivan sent back all unnecessary baggage and some of his
heaviest cannon to Tioga and resumed his advance in the same deliberate
and cautious but resistless manner, laying waste the scattered villages,
cornfields and orchards he passed, in the most thorough-going fashion
imaginable. Judge Jones relates that he often heard Butler compare his
march to "driving a wedge into a stick of wood; nothing stopped or
disturbed its motion." Indian runners constantly watched his progress
from the hill-tops, and warned their tribesmen of his approach, so that
he found their houses always deserted and empty.

Half of Butler's men were sick and absolutely unfit for duty, and he
fell back to Canadasaga, sending to the mouth of the Genessee for
removal to Niagara. The mass of the Indians were thoroughly dispirited,
and even the influence and example of Brant and Sangerachta, who behaved
throughout with admirable courage and firmness, failed to rally many of
them to his support. The Cayugas sent an Oneida to beg for mercy for
their tribe, but Sullivan haughtily replied that Congress had
"instructed him totally to extirpate the unfriendly nations of Indians,
to subdue their country, destroy their crops, and drive them to seek
habitations where they would be less troublesome."

Captain Butler continued to watch Sullivan's motions with a few picked
rangers and some Indians that were kept together by the tireless
exertions of Brant and Rowland Montour. On the 7th Sept. the American
army took possession of Canadasaga, but the Indians by that time had
slightly recovered their spirits, and agreed to collect all their forces
and fight them once more before they could reach Genessee. Many of the
rangers who had been disabled by the ague had also recovered
sufficiently to bear arms again, and cheerfully returned to join their
comrades. Bolton, who was seriously alarmed for the safety of his post,
sent the light company of the 8th to Butler's assistance, followed by
that of the 34th immediately on its arrival from Carleton Island.

On the 12th Butler marched from Canawagoras with 400 rangers and
Indians, and early next morning formed an ambush upon the path by which
the enemy was advancing. By the Indians' request the rangers were
mingled with them to keep up their courage, and for some hours the
entire party lay concealed among dense thickets in close vicinity to
Sullivan's vanguard, which was busily engaged in felling trees and
building a bridge over a morass at the head of Lake Conesus, with the
intention of allowing part of his army to pass across, and attacking it
in such a way as to prevent the remainder from coming to its support.
They were then startled by a sudden burst of musketry on the right, and
the Indians, crying out they were surrounded, ran hastily in that
direction. When Butler reached the spot he found that an American scout
of thirty men, in rambling through the woods, had stumbled into the
midst of the rangers and Indians on that flank. Twenty-two of them were
killed by a single volley, and Lieut. Boyd and a private taken prisoner.
Boyd told him that their army still numbered 5,000, including 1,500
riflemen, that they had only a month's provisions when they began their
march, and that they did not intend to advance beyond Genessee. Butler
immediately retired across the Genessee, and the next morning the
American army appeared on the opposite bank. All the Indians except
forty at once deserted him, and he abandoned the place. Before night he
arrived at Buffalo Creek, on his way to Niagara. He then learned that
Caldwell's company had been ordered down from Detroit, and that Sir John
Johnson, with 380 men, was daily expected at Carleton Island, with
instructions to proceed to his support by way of Oswego. Five thousand
famishing Indians had taken refuge at Niagara. Caldwell, with a small
party, was sent to pursue Sullivan, who was reported to be already
retiring. He found that the fort at Tioga had been abandoned and burnt,
and there were unquestionable signs that the American army had retreated
with much haste. Its line of march was strewed with the bodies of
packhorses that had been shot as they gave out, and several hundred
cattle and horses were running wild in the woods about Tioga. Caldwell
advanced sixteen miles further, but his Indians refused to go to Wyoming
as he desired, and compelled him to return to Niagara.

Sullivan reported that he had destroyed forty Indian villages; but
several others had escaped his notice, besides a number of extensive
cornfields near Genessee. But he had not succeeded in taking
half-a-dozen prisoners during the whole expedition, although this had
been indicated as one of its principal objects. In spite of his
precautions to prevent it, some of his soldiers were guilty of acts of
revolting cruelty. One party killed a lame squaw in cold blood; another
shut a helpless man and woman in a cabin which they then set on fire and
left them to perish miserably. In many respects his campaign was
practically a failure. One of his officers truthfully remarked in his
journal, "The nests are destroyed but the birds are still on the wing."
His severity only served to exasperate the Indians and render them more
impatient of restraint in the future.

During Caldwell's absence Butler was directed to join Sir John Johnson
at Sodus Bay with the remainder of the rangers. General Haldimand took
that opportunity to convey to him the gratifying information that "His
Majesty has been made acquainted with your services, he has approved of
them, and I hope the events of this campaign will recommend you still
more to his Royal favor."

Many of the rangers being sick and others detached, the number of
effective men at his disposal did not exceed 200. The expedition proved
an utter failure. On the 4th October, Sir John Johnson sailed from
Carleton Island for Sodus, but was driven into Niagara next day by a
terrific gale. Butler was still there, and several days were consumed in
lengthy councils with the Indians. On the 10th, the troops were embarked
in three sailing vessels, and Brant with some Indians marched overland
to the Three Rivers, where he proposed to await their arrival. The
Oneida village was selected as the first point of attack. On the 15th,
Johnson and Butler arrived at Oswego, where they remained until the
20th, when the camp was alarmed by a sentry firing at a prowling Indian.
A scout from the rangers went out and captured three Oneidas, who
confessed that their tribe had been warned of their danger by a Cayuga
from Niagara, and had sent them to watch their motions. All prospect of
taking them by surprise being clearly at an end, Johnson returned to
Carleton Island and sent the rangers into winter quarters at Niagara,
where they arrived with their clothing torn to rags by hard service.

Haldimand was so profoundly discouraged by the events of the summer that
he warned Lord G. Germain that, if he expected to preserve the "upper
country and fur trade," a body of 1000 or 1500 men, with the necessary
supply of provisions, must be employed for that service alone, as soon
as the river became navigable in the spring. In the same letter (13th
Sept., 1779,) he requested permission to carry on this scheme of forming
settlements near the principal forts:

"I have for many years regretted that measures were not adopted such as
to prevent the safety of those posts depending upon supplies from home,
so very distant, the transportation so extremely precarious, and
attended with so heavy an expense to Government; all of which might be
obviated, the troops infinitely better provided, and the different posts
be in perfect security by raising grain and all kinds of stock at
Detroit, which, from its centrical situation, could very well supply
both Detroit and Machilimakinac.

"The same plan is very practicable at Niagara, and there is nothing
wanting but a beginning. It will be necessarily attended with some
expense the first two or three years, but would even in as many more
amply repay it. In these times nothing can be vigorously undertaken, but
should this unfortunate war terminate, it should immediately be carried
into execution, and in such case I should be happy to receive your
lordship's approbation of, and commands to undertake, what I am
convinced would produce the most salutary effects for His Majesty's
interests in those parts."

As the Indian villages were no longer in existence to serve even as a
temporary base of supplies for the rangers, the character of their
operations necessarily changed. Their marches became very much
lengthened, and the hardships and perils attending their expeditions
were greatly increased. The difficulty of obtaining supplies seriously
hampered their movements, and a drove of cattle was the most precious
spoil they could seize. The size of their parties was generally
diminished and as many of them as possible were mounted, and they drove
with them a few cattle, each of which had a bag of flour and another of
salt tied on its back. The officer in command kept a journal, in which
the events of the expedition were more or less fully noted. Some of
these have been preserved, but it is certain that all record of many
stirring incidents of these adventurous journeys perished with the
actors, and only a bare outline now remains in most cases.

Each officer had written instructions prescribing his route, and usually
directing him "to destroy any magazines or granaries which afford
supplies to the rebels, as well as to kill or take any of them who are
enemies or in arms, showing humanity to women, children or aged persons,
and endeavoring to obtain all intelligence in your power of the state of
affairs, or to bring off any persons well affected to His Majesty's
service."

Congress had fully acknowledged the importance of their operations in
the past, by withdrawing a division of 5,000 of its best troops from the
principal seat of war for an entire year, in the hope of crushing them.
The annoyance and damage occasioned by the system of guerilla warfare,
now inaugurated, was indescribably harassing to the enemy, and there can
be no doubt that the presence of the rangers with the Indians was the
means of preserving many lives.

Patrick Campbell, late a captain in the 42nd, visited both Niagara and
the Mohawk valley in 1791, when the memory of these events was still
fresh in the minds of everybody. He writes of the exploits of the
rangers with undisguised enthusiasm.

"This chosen corps--this band of brothers--was rarely worsted in any
skirmish or action, though often obliged to retire and betake themselves
to the wilderness when a superior force came against them. Sir John's
corps and Butler's rangers were very distressing to the back settlers;
their advances and retreats were equally sudden and astonishing, and to
this day the Americans say they might have as easily found out a parcel
of wolves in the woods as them if they once entered it; that the first
notice they had of their approach was them in sight, and of their
retreat their being out of reach...I have known many of them, both
officers and soldiers, and the account they gave of the fatigue and
suffering they underwent is hard credible, were it not confirmed by one
and all of them."

Equally creditable is the testimony of the traveler Long, another
contemporary. "During the American war," he remarks, "the best Loyalist
troops were collected from the Mohawk, and it was agreed on all hands
that for steadiness, bravery, and allegiance they were not to be
excelled."

Late in the autumn of 1779, Guy Johnson arrived at Niagara and assumed
control of the Indian department. Butler continued to act as his deputy.
The Cayugas and Delewares, dispirited by their misfortunes, showed
unmistakable signs of defection. They blamed Butler for permitting the
destruction of their villages, and even threatened to deliver him into
the hands of the Americans if he ventured among them again. But want
soon compelled them to seek relief at Niagara, and their resentment
gradually passed away when they found that their enemies were determined
to show them no mercy. "Had Sullivan acted with more prudence and less
severity," Bolton observed in May, 1780, "I am satisfied we should not
have had one-third of the Six Nations in our interest at the present
time."

The Wyandots and Shawanese in the immediate vicinity of Fort Pitt
actually sued for terms, and Col. Brodhead, who commanded there,
promised them protection on the conditions that they would bring him "as
many scalps and prisoners from the English and their allies" as they had
formerly taken from the Americans, and that they would join him "in
every case against the enemies of America."

The remarkable severity of the winter even prevented scouting parties
from going out until late in February. The river at Niagara was frozen
over for two months at a stretch, and in the gorges of the Alleghanies
the snow lay in many places eight and ten feet deep. The sufferings of
the Indians were frightful, and many perished from cold and hunger. More
than 2,600 were encamped in frail wigwams around Fort Niagara, and the
remainder sought shelter in the villages that had escaped destruction.

Recruiting officers from the rangers lay concealed among the settlements
throughout the winter, and succeeded, with little difficulty, in
enlisting a sufficient number of men to complete the battalion to its
full strength. Butler was promoted to the rank and pay of a Provincial
Lieutenant-Colonel, but Gen. Haldimand declined to approve of the
appointment of a Major and Adjutant for the corps, as he desired. The
Governor took occasion to say in respect to this, "Rangers are in
general separated, and the nature of their service little requires the
forms of parade or the manoeuvres practised in the field. It is the
duty, and I am persuaded will be the pleasure, of every captain to
perfect his company in dispersing and forming expeditiously, priming and
loading carefully, and levelling well. These, with personal activity and
alertness, are all the qualities that are effective or can be wished for
in a ranger."

They were accordingly carefully exercised in these particulars, and in
the management of two light field-guns, called grasshoppers.

Early in the spring of 1780, one company was sent to Detroit and another
to Carleton Island, to act as scouts for those garrisons.

The first blow was struck by Sir John Johnson, who marched secretly from
Crown Point on the 9th May, with 300 soldiers and Indians. On the 21st
he appeared among the settlements near Johnson Hall, having advanced
through the wilderness without being discovered. He took a few prisoners
and devastated a long stretch of country with slight opposition. He was
joined by 143 loyalists who were expecting his arrival, and retired
without loss, although pursued by the Governor of the State with a
thousand men.

Pittsburg was blockaded by Lieut. Dochstader and Fort Stanwix by Brant
and Capt. Nelles, and some small parties cut off at both places.

In June, McDonnel with sixty rangers, accompanied by 100 Indians under
Capt. John Johnson, marched against the Oneida villages. The indecision
of the Indians prevented him from accomplishing anything he had
intended. A few Oneidas joined his party and the remainder promised to
follow. McDonnel was struck down by an ague fit which continued for ten
days, and his men were forced to tie him upon his horse during the
return march. In July, 300 Indians, chiefly Onondagas and Tuscaroras,
"hitherto in the rebel interest," actually arrived at Niagara.

Brant and Clement with 300 men marched immediately against the
recalcitrant Oneidas. They found their principal village entirely
deserted, and burned the fort built for its protection. On approaching
Fort Stanwix they discovered the Oneidas encamped under the walls. After
a short parley about a hundred of them agreed to join Brant, and the
remainder ran for shelter to the fort, which they reached with the
exception of two that were shot dead in their flight.

After blockading the place closely for some days Brant retreated a short
distance to remove suspicion, and then, making a long circuit, advanced
by forced marches upon Claes' Barrack, where he appeared on the morning
of the 2nd August. He detached David Karacanty with the greater part of
the Indians against Fort Plank, but the garrison had already taken the
alarm. Two small forts were abandoned on his approach and destroyed,
with several mills and many other buildings, containing great quantities
of grain. Fifty prisoners were captured, besides many women and children
who were at once released. Five hundred horses and cattle were driven
off. Before the inhabitants could recover from their surprise, Brant had
vanished, and subdividing his force into five parties he sent them by as
many different routes against Schoharie, Cherry Valley, and the German
Flats, where they took many more prisoners and created great alarm. On
their arrival at Niagara the Oneidas professed much contrition for their
past conduct and surrendered a flag and one of eleven officer's
commissions distributed among them by the Americans.

At the same time many other parties were similarly engaged on the
Susquehanna and Ohio. So greatly harassed were the frontiers of
Pennsylvania that the Executive Council of the State determined to offer
a reward for prisoners and scalps, a step which had been strongly
recommended from several quarters. In April, 1780, President Reed
definitely announced their decision to the lieutenants of the border
counties and other military officers. To Colonel Hunter he wrote: "The
Council would and do for the purpose authorize you to offer the
following premiums: For every male prisoner, white or Indian, if the
former is acting with the latter, $1500, and $1000 for every Indian
scalp. The proof must be left to your own discretion, not doubting your
care to prevent imposition. We do not recollect one single instance of
recovering a single captive or plunder, killing or taking any of the
enemy, tho' so many pursuits have been attempted." Reed informed Colonel
Brodhead that "after many consultations and much deliberation, we have
concluded to offer a reward for scalps, and we hope it will prove an
incentive for young fellows of the country and others to turn out
against the Indians." In reply Brodhead warned the Council that "the
Delewares act with our scouts, and I have great reason to believe a
considerable number will join me upon the first capital enterprise I can
undertake. I fear it (the reward) may be construed into a license to
take off the scalps of some of our friendly Delewares, and so produce a
general Indian war." In a subsequent letter he lamented that the reward
had not been extended to "officers, soldiers, and friendly Indians,
because I conceive it would have been a sure method to save the friendly
Indians and destroy some of the hostile ones, and perhaps involve the
Indians in a war against one another."

Several companies of rangers armed, accoutred, and often painted like
Indians, were soon formed, and numerous small forts and blockhouses
built for their protection. But even these energetic measures failed to
save their border settlements from destruction. Every day brought its
lamentable tale of bloodshed and ruin. One officer wrote: "The
inhabitants have been flying for a week past. I believe there will not
be a family in Northumberland town to-morrow morning. We ought to have
Niagara, cost what it will." The lieutenant of Bedford county said: "A
number of our militia companies are entirely broke up." Their fears, he
added, had recently been aggravated by "a most alarming stroke," which
had been executed by Lieutenant Dochstader on the 16th July. With an
inconsiderable party of Indians he had surprised a blockhouse in
Woodcock Valley, occupied by a captain and eleven of the newly formed
rangers. Unhappily, the country was alarmed, and, being warmly pursued,
the Indians insisted on putting ten of the prisoners to death to ensure
their own escape.

In various secluded valleys many quiet loyalists still lived undisturbed
upon their farms, from whom the rangers frequently received shelter and
supplies. Such an isolated community existed at this time in the almost
inaccessible Catawisse Valley, on a branch of the Susquehanna above
Wyoming, walled in by towering hills. Complaints were lodged against the
inhabitants, that "they have lived peaceably in the most dangerous
times, negroes and other suspected strangers being frequently seen
amongst them. During every incursion the enemy have made into this
country, all the disaffected families fly there for protection, whilst
the well-affected are obliged to evacuate the country or shut themselves
in garrison." The destruction of this settlement was decreed, and
Colonel Cairns, the lieutenant of the county, marched to accomplish it
with a company of volunteers. It was preserved for the time by the
accidental appearance of Lieut. Wm. Johnston and Rowland Montour with
forty rangers and Indians. This party had invested Fort Rice, "at the
head of Chilloskewagie," on the 5th September, where they spent a day in
destroying the surrounding settlement. Then marching against Fort
Jenkins, at Wyoming, they destroyed it, and detached ten men to conduct
the prisoners and captured cattle to Niagara. Johnston and Montour, with
the remainder, turned westward, and, on the 10th, unexpectedly
discovered Cairns with 41 men advancing upon Catawisse. Concealing
themselves, they obtained the advantage of the first fire, and in an
instant routed his entire party, killing the colonel and fifteen others,
and taking three prisoners. Only one Indian was killed at the time, but
Rowland Montour, long known as "a brave and active chief," received a
wound in the arm from which he died a week later.

Early in the course of the same month Haldimand determined to send two
larger expeditions against the frontiers of New York. Each of these was
to consist of about 600 men, and they were to advance simultaneously:
one from Crown Point towards Albany and the other from Oswego upon the
Mohawk river. The objects of these movements, he explained, were "to
divide the strength that may be brought against Sir H. Clinton, to favor
any operations his present situation may enable him to carry out, as
well as to destroy the enemy's supplies from the late plentiful harvest
and to give His Majesty's loyal subjects an opportunity of retiring to
this province," and at the same time to force the remaining Oneidas "to
obedience or to cut them off." Sir John Johnson was sent to Oswego with
150 of his own regiment, and Butler was directed to join him with 140 of
the 8th, 80 of the 34th, and 200 rangers, taking with him a grasshopper
and two royals from Niagara. "I would by no means," the Governor added
in a letter to Bolton, "have you send a single man who is not a good
marcher and capable of bearing fatigue. The same must be observed in
your choice of officers, without paying attention to the rosters, as
success will entirely depend upon your despatch and vigor; those whose
personal abilities are not equal to these efforts would rather weaken
than give strength to the detachment, for with every man that falls out
one or two must be left behind.... The chief danger of a discovery is
from disaffected Indians from Carleton Island or Niagara. I hope Joseph
[Brant] is returned, as I would by all means have him employed in this
service.... The troops are to be provided with a blanket, leggings, and
a pair of moccasins."

His letter found the small garrison of Niagara more than usually
weakened by disease. Bolton averred that he had never before known so
many men to be sick at once. The detachments were detailed with much
difficulty in consequence, and Butler embarked on the 24th September,
taking with him every ranger that could be of the slightest service,
including some convalescents and a number of Indians collected in
extreme haste. Contrary winds prevented their vessels from arriving at
Oswego until the 1st October. They began their march next day, conveying
their artillery and baggage in boats as far as Onondaga, where the boats
and a quantity of provisions were concealed. The guns were then placed
upon rude sleds hastily constructed on the spot, and ten days'
provisions were served out to each man. On the 8th they arrived at Old
Oneida where they were rejoined by a scouting party bringing some
prisoners from the German Flats, who stated that two Oneidas had passed
through some days before on their way from Niagara to Albany spreading
the news that Butler had gone on an expedition with a large party. The
day following one of their own Oneidas deserted. On the 12th another
scout returned with more prisoners, who confirmed the former accounts,
but said that the inhabitants had no suspicion that they were so near.
By this time, their provisions were almost exhausted, and another party
was sent forward to a Scotch settlement at Schoharie to obtain a supply.
Two Cayugas then deserted, and it was with great difficulty that the
remainder of the Indians were prevented from following their example, as
they were intimidated by a report that 2,000 of the enemy had already
collected to meet them. On the 15th, the foraging party returned with
eleven cattle, which were instantly slaughtered and distributed among
the hungry soldiers. They then pushed on as rapidly as possible, and
just before daybreak, on the 17th, passed the fort at the head of the
Schoharie. The roar of three alarm-guns announced that they had been
discovered, and orders were given to set fire to every building as they
went along. Heralded by lurid flames and rolling clouds of smoke they
swept onward to the middle fort, which they hoped to take. The rangers
and Indians surrounded this work and fired smartly at the embrasures and
loopholes until the royals could be brought forward to make a breach. A
few rounds convinced them that these light guns would make no impression
upon the stout logs of the fort, and Capt. Andrew Thompson of the
rangers was sent to summon the garrison. He was deliberately fired at
three times by a noted marksman, but returned unhurt. The march was then
resumed, torch in hand, along the road leading down the west bank of
Schoharie Kill to the Mohawk. A scout sent from below to observe their
motions was overtaken and three men killed or captured. The royals had
been slung across a horse for convenience of transport--but finding they
were a great encumbrance they were taken off and buried in a swamp. The
roads were so bad that even the light three-pounder fieldpieces were
dragged forward with much labor. When they approached the river, Capt.
Thompson and Brant with 150 rangers and Indians were sent across the
creek to destroy the settlement around Fort Hunter, on the opposite
bank, which they quickly accomplished and rejoined the main body soon
after they had reached the Mohawk. Thence they swiftly advanced up the
river, laying waste the entire country on both sides until midnight,
when they halted at the narrow pass called "The Nose." They had then
been under arms for full twenty-four hours, spent in almost continuous
exertion, and were utterly overcome by fatigue. During the night two men
who had deserted from Fort Stanwix in the spring and enlisted in
Johnson's regiment, again deserted and informed Colonel Brown, who
commanded at Stone Arabia, of the weakness of the party on that side of
the river. Brown determined to attack it at daybreak with 360 men in
the hope of crushing it before it could be reinforced. However, Johnson
had by that time crossed the river with nearly his whole force, leaving
only a few light troops on the other side, and was advancing upon Stone
Arabia in the midst of a dense fog. A few horsemen were seen in front
viewing their numbers, who then disappeared. Brown's force was next
discovered posted in a wood behind a log fence, having a narrow lane and
wide open field in front. A party of Indians began the attack, but were
soon driven back. Johnson sent forward small parties of the rangers,
8th, and 34th to their support and a brisk skirmish commenced. While the
attention of the Americans was thus occupied in front, Brant with a body
of Indians made a circuit through the woods to turn their right flank,
while McDonnel led the rangers in the opposite direction to gain their
left. Johnson then charged their position with the remainder of the 8th
and 34th, leaping over the fence and driving them out of the woods.
Colonel Brown was killed with nearly 100 of his men, according to
Johnson's account, but the Americans only admitted a loss of forty or
forty-five in all. A private of the 8th and three Indians were killed,
three rangers were wounded, and Brant received a painful flesh wound in
the foot, which disabled him from marching. In company with McDonnel he
was particularly commended by Johnson for courage and activity on this
occasion. Letters found in Colonel Brown's pocket revealed the fact that
General Van Rensselaer, with 600 militia and three guns, in pursuit of
them, had arrived at Fort Hunter the night before, and firing had not
yet ceased when his advance guard appeared on the other bank of the
river. His force had by this time increased to 1500, including two
regiments of Continentals and nearly a hundred Oneida Indians, and he
was accompanied by Governor Clinton himself. When they became aware of
Brown's disastrous defeat they halted in dismay, and Johnson continued
his march through Stone Arabia, burning everything in his track. Three
miles further on the road was blocked by a fort which compelled him to
march through the fields, and at the Fort Hendricks' ford he was forced
to make a second detour to avoid the fire of several fortified houses.
Upon regaining the high road at sunset he found that Van Rensselaer had
crossed the river and had securely posted his entire force in the houses
and orchards in front. Sending a strong party to seize a hill
overlooking and commanding the road Johnson immediately attacked this
position with the remainder and drove them across a field. The Americans
reformed under the guns of the fort, and Johnson's Indians, discovering
that they were greatly outnumbered, were seized by a panic and rode
through the ford in frantic haste to escape. Encouraged by their
headlong flight the Americans advanced on the left, creeping silently
forward in the growing darkness under cover of the trees and fences, and
began a very hot fire at close quarters. The detachment of the 34th and
part of Johnson's regiment gave way and were pursued by the enemy with
loud cheers. A single, well-aimed discharge of grape, and a volley of
musketry from the remainder of the line drove them back and totally
silenced their fire. Van Rensselaer's men were so much shaken by this
final repulse that he retreated three miles and permitted Johnson to
pass the ford, thus laid open to him, without the slightest molestation.
The Indians led the way into the woods, but they dared not halt for an
instant, although almost fainting with fatigue and lack of sleep. In the
darkness they lost their way and separated into several parties. One of
these, under Captain Parke of the 8th, strayed off in the direction of
Fort Herkimer, at the German Flats, where they arrived next morning and
discovered sixty of the enemy marching to join Van Rensselaer. Uncertain
of their numbers Parke hastily ordered his men to take to the woods and
avoid a collision. But the stout-hearted McDonnel then came up with a
few rangers. He boldly charged the enemy without hesitation, killing
ten, taking two prisoners and driving the rest into the fort without
having a single man hurt. Meanwhile Parke had gone on rapidly. McDonnel
missed his trail and did not succeed in rejoining Johnson until the
second day after, when the entire force was re-united with the exception
of about forty men. They continued their retreat with all possible speed
in their exhausted state, until they reached the Oneida Village. Here
fortune again favored them, and they took a prisoner who informed them
that he was one of a party of sixty that had been sent from Fort Stanwix
to destroy their boats. Falling ill on the march he had been left behind
by them that morning. Johnson instantly directed a detachment to proceed
in pursuit, and march night and day until they overtook the enemy. These
instructions were so successfully executed that only two of the
Americans escaped from being killed and fifty-two captured. Six mounted
rangers were then sent to intercept two Oneidas whom the enemy had
despatched to search for the boats. To their great relief they found
their boats unharmed, and on the 25th the whole column came up and
embarked, arriving at Oswego next day. Including Indians, Johnson
reported that he had lost nine killed, two wounded, and fifty-two
missing, of whom several were known to have been wounded. Eighteen of
the missing men were rangers, but most of these, headed by Capt. George
Dame, returned to Oswego a few days after the main body had sailed away.
There they found a boat and a supply of provisions which had been left
behind for them, and reached Carleton Island in safety. By the arrival
of this party the total loss on the expedition was diminished to
forty-six, and a number of stragglers were afterwards brought in by the
Indians. Their course was marked by a wide tract of perfect desolation
where many smiling farms had been. Johnson stated that thirteen grist
mills, numerous saw mills, a thousand houses, and as many barns
containing 600,000 bushels of grain, had been given to the flames during
the terrible three days spent in marching down Schoharie and up the
Mohawk. The severity and importance of the blow was freely admitted by
Washington in a letter to the President of Congress of the 7th November:
"The destruction of the grain upon the western frontier of New York is
likely to be attended with the most alarming consequences, in respect to
the formation of magazines upon the North River. We had prospects of
forming a very considerable magazine of flour in that quarter previous
to the late incursion. The settlement of Schoharie alone would have
delivered eighty thousand bushels of grain, but that fine district is
now totally destroyed. I should view this calamity with less concern did
I see the least prospect of obtaining the necessary supplies of flour
from the States of Pennsylvania, Deleware, and Maryland, previous to the
interruption of transportation by frost and bad weather."

In the retreat, Lieut. George McGinn of the Indian department had a most
remarkable escape. Badly wounded in the knee in the last action, he was
conveyed on horseback with extreme difficulty as far as New Oneida. In
the confusion caused by the report that the enemy had sent a party to
destroy the boats, he was left behind. A party of nine men was then sent
back to bring him off. They carried him a few miles into the woods, and
being suddenly alarmed abandoned him with a companion named Mannerly.
There these unfortunate men remained exposed to the weather without the
least shelter for eleven days, living entirely upon a few handfuls of
hickory nuts they managed to collect, until they were discovered by a
band of Senecas returning from the war. These Indians carried McGinn to
their village at the Genessee, where he lay for two months between life
and death before he recovered sufficient strength to admit of his
removal to Niagara.

A sudden attack upon the Shawanese villages near the Ohio compelled
Capt. Peter Hare to march to their relief with the rangers stationed at
Detroit. Their appearance restored the spirits of those Indians who had
been at first inclined to abandon their country. A month later, Hare
retired to the Miami, where he built a blockhouse and continued to send
scouting parties to the Ohio river until all danger of an invasion had
passed.

During the summer of this year Gen. Haldimand took active steps for the
formation of settlements both at Detroit and Niagara. In a letter dated
the 17th of March, 1780, Lord G. Germain had approved of his scheme. He
then took advantage of Col. Butler's visit to Quebec in June to discuss
the best method of carrying his proposals into effect. The result was
announced in a letter to Col. Bolton of the 7th July:

"Having maturely reflected upon the vast expense, uncertainty, and
difficulties attending the transport of provisions to the Upper Posts,
and for the better accommodation and support of His Majesty's loyal
subjects, who, driven from their homes, take refuge at Niagara, I am
come to a resolution to reclaim the land granted by the Missassaugas to
Sir William Johnson for the Crown, situated on the southwest of the
river opposite to the fort, directions of which will be communicated to
you by another letter, which land will be divided into several lots and
distributed to such loyalists who are capable of improving them and
desirous of procuring by industry a comfortable maintenance for their
families until such times as by peace they shall be restored to their
respective homes, should they be inclined to quit their situation at
Niagara.

"As the above mentioned grant of land will be reclaimed at the expense
of the Government, and of course remain at all times the sole property
of the Crown and annexed to the fort, those who settle upon it are not
to consider that they have the smallest right to any part thereof, the
produce alone being their property. They will hold their possessions
from year to year, which will be granted by the Commander-in-Chief for
the time being, according to their merits. If at any time they should
remove, either from inclination or by the order of the commanding
officer, they are to have permission to dispose of their crops, stock of
cattle, &c., and a reasonable allowance will be made them for their
improvements. For their further encouragement no rent will be required
of them. They will be allowed a reasonable quantity of provisions for
the space of twelve months after they are put in possession of their
lots. Seed, mills, ploughs, and other implements of husbandry will be
furnished them gratis, and you will please to afford them every
assistance, whether of horses or otherwise, as shall be in your power,
to those whose sobriety, industry, and good conduct may entitle to such
indulgencies.

"Some part of the land being already cleared and all of it being
fertile, it is expected that in a short time the produce will be
considerable. The settlers are therefore to understand that the produce
of their farms, over and above their own consumption, is not to be
removed from the post, but disposed of to the commanding officer for the
use of the troops, and not to traders or accidental travelers."

On the 13th July, he wrote again in these terms: "By my letter of the
7th inst., which will be delivered to you by Lieut.-Col. Butler, you
will be made acquainted with my intentions of settling families at
Niagara for the purpose of reclaiming and cultivating land to be
annexed to the fort. The expediency of this measure is sufficiently
evident, not only by the injury the service has and must always suffer
from a want of a sufficient supply of provisions, as well as for the
present unavoidable consumption of the Indians as for the support of the
troops it may be necessary occasionally to march into that country, but
likewise to diminish the expense and labor attending so difficult and
distant a transport. I am therefore come to a resolution to extend the
scheme to the several posts in the upper country, it already being in
some forwardness at Carleton Island, and I here enclose instructions for
carrying it into execution at Detroit, which you will please forward to
the commanding officer after having perused them. And you will give such
orders and assistance as you will judge expedient for promoting with the
utmost despatch an undertaking so apparently beneficial to Government as
well as to the ease and comfort of the troops.

"Lieut. Col Butler, with whom I have conversed fully upon this subject,
has promised to give you every assistance in his power, and from his
knowledge of farming, his being upon the spot with his rangers, and his
acquaintance and influence with those who may be found to settle, I am
persuaded you will find him very useful. I have conversed freely with
him upon this subject and have desired him to engage any loyalists he
may find proper persons about Montreal and to take them up with him. He
informs me there are some good farmers in his corps who, either
advancing in years or having a large family, he could dispense with. You
will probably find them fit persons to employ, the more so as they are
likely to have assistance from their comrades, but amongst that sort of
people little can be expected without a gratuity, and as that business
must be done by volunteers and fatigue men, I request that you furnish
Col. Butler from the King's store a sufficient quantity."

On the 17th December, Butler reported progress: "The winter wheat sent
up for planting came too late. I have returned it into the Commissary's
store as provision, fearing the mice would destroy it. I have got four
or five families settled and they have built themselves houses. They
will want about sixty bushels of spring wheat and oats, and twelve of
buckwheat, and a barrel of Indian corn, early in the spring for
planting.

"The harness sent up is not of the kind wanted, but if dressed leather
was sent I would get some of the rangers to make it. The forge Capt.
Twiss was to have sent is not arrived. Please put him in mind of it."

Several small parties were sent out in January, 1781, to gain
intelligence and to seek recruits for two additional companies that
Butler had obtained permission to raise. The settlements upon the Mohawk
river above Johnstown had been literally blotted out of existence by
their repeated incursions, and nothing remained but the blank walls of
the forts that had failed to protect them. They were accordingly obliged
to travel much further and to carry with them three or four weeks'
provisions. One party led by Butler's nephew, Lieut. Andrew Bradt,
penetrated into New Jersey and returned with fifteen recruits. Others
went to Norman's Kill and Hellebergh, even sending their spies into the
streets of Albany. They were very successful in obtaining recruits in
that quarter, although frequently pursued.

On the 1st February, Brant and Lieut. John Bradt, with thirty rangers
and many Indians, marched to blockade Fort Stanwix. They arrived there
just a day too late to intercept a convoy of provisions which they had
hoped to take, but cut off a foraging party of seventeen men. A few
weeks later another detachment of about the same number fell into their
hands, and any man that ventured to show himself outside the walls did
so at imminent peril of becoming a mark for a hidden rifleman.
Successive parties continued to hover about and harrass the garrison in
this way until the middle of May, when the fort was burned and abandoned
in sheer despair.

Fort Pitt had been blockaded during the winter and spring in like
manner, and a good many of the garrison killed or taken. In April Lieut.
Bowen burned the deserted fort at Cherry Valley, and destroyed a
settlement at Bowman's Creek. Encouraged by these events, their
incursions were extended still further. Volunteer Allen led a party into
Sussex County, New Jersey, where he burned several mills and alarmed a
wide stretch of country for weeks, finally retiring with several
prisoners and loyalists. In May there were five scouting parties in
different parts of the Mohawk Valley, and one of these even appeared in
the outskirts of Schenectady. Solitary rangers had been lurking in
various places since December, with orders to remain in hiding until
something of consequence occurred, when they were to return with all
haste to Niagara. The fact that they were not only able to pass
constantly through the enemy's country in every direction with absolute
impunity, but even to reside there for months together, proves at once
that they were in the highest degree active, courageous and resourceful,
and that they still had numbers of loyal friends and sympathizers among
the inhabitants. If they were taken, they well knew that their fate
would not be pleasant to think upon.

On the 3rd of June, Lieut. Robt. Nelles, who had been scouting for
several weeks along the western frontier of Pennsylvania with forty men,
met an equal number of the local militia and rangers on the high road,
within three miles of Frankstown, in Bedford County, where there was a
garrison. In the skirmish that followed thirteen Americans were killed,
seven taken prisoners, and five others were wounded, and only got off
with the assistance of a party sent out from the fort to their relief.
Nelles had but one man killed and two wounded. This event spread
indescribable terror through all the surrounding country. The lieutenant
of the county wrote ten days later: "This county is in a deplorable
situation; a number of families are flying away daily since the late
damage. I can assure your Excellency that if immediate assistance is not
sent to this county the whole of the frontier will move off in a few
days."

In New York very vigorous measures had been undertaken by the Governor
for the defence of the frontier. After the destruction of Fort Stanwix,
Colonel Willett was placed in command of all troops stationed on the
Mohawk. He brought with him two Continental regiments, and fixed his
headquarters at Canajoharie. He reported that the militia of the
district had been reduced from 2,500 to 800. He estimated that one-third
of the missing men had been killed or taken in the various raids,
one-third had deserted to the enemy, and the remainder had removed into
the interior. Between Schenectady and the German Flats, a distance of
sixty-three miles, there were no less than twenty-four forts, each
sheltering from ten to fifty families. "Yet, if they succeed in
preserving the grain they have in the ground," he added, "they will have
an immense quantity more than will be sufficient for their own
consumption." For their protection he proposed to keep small bodies of
soldiers constantly marching to and fro, and frequently changing their
route.

He was not long allowed to remain unoccupied. About the first of June
Lieut. John Dochstader marched from Niagara with 70 men. On the 7th he
encountered a scout of American riflemen near Otsego Lake, of whom one
was killed and another taken. On the 9th two more prisoners were
captured, and he arrived at Corrystown, eleven miles from Willett's
headquarters. Being fired upon from some fortified houses, these were
instantly forced and ten of the inmates killed. Twenty houses were
burned, and Dochstader began his retreat, taking with him six prisoners
and 120 horses and cattle. Columns of smoke from the burning settlement
announced its fate to Willett, and in an hour he had 70 militia in
pursuit, "so keen were they for revenge." Before night he followed with
170 soldiers. Early in the morning, he got in front of Dochstader's
party and formed an ambuscade. This movement was discovered and Willett
found himself suddenly attacked with "much noise and spirit." After the
skirmish had continued for some time, Dochstader perceived that his men
were greatly outnumbered and gave the signal to retreat, which was
accomplished with the loss of only five wounded, but nearly the whole of
the captured cattle were abandoned. Willett had lost fifteen killed and
wounded, Capt. McKean, a very active partisan, being among the former,
but thought that he had gained a victory worth boasting of.

In July, Caldwell proceeded from Niagara with a large party in the
direction of Schenectady, with some intention of uniting with a
detachment which was supposed to be advancing towards that place from
Crown Point. On the 3rd of August he overtook another detachment headed
by Lieut. John Hare, and they determined to advance together. Their
combined force numbered 87 rangers and 250 Indians. Their provisions
being nearly exhausted, the Indians held a council, and without
consulting Caldwell, determined to attack a place called Monbackers, or
Rochester, in Ulster County. Four days later tracks were discovered,
which Caldwell conjectured to be those of a recruiting party of the
rangers. Lieut. Nelles was sent to reconnoitre, but fell in with a scout
of the enemy, which he dispersed and made two prisoners. They were then
within forty miles of a small fort at Lackawaxen, commanding a narrow
gorge among the hills, which they would be forced to pass on their way.
This place Caldwell wished to attack, as the garrison was small, but the
Indians positively refused on the ground that it would alarm the
country, but promised to attempt its capture on their return. They
passed it in the night without being seen, and on the 11th stole past
another fort at Neversink in the same manner. They then entered the
outskirts of a flourishing and extensive settlement protected by six
strong forts. In attacking these, five Indians were killed or wounded,
but one of the forts was then abandoned, which they destroyed, with two
mills and thirty stone houses, in one of which a party of men perished
after having stubbornly refused to surrender. Many cattle and horses
were taken and great quantities of grain destroyed. The Indians were
sated with plunder and refused to advance further. Caldwell sent a party
of rangers to Nipenack, where they burned two mills and many houses and
advanced to Monbackers, which they entirely destroyed. They were then
within twelve miles of Esopus (Kingston), and the whole country was
rising in arms around them. Already two regiments of militia were
advancing from opposite quarters to intercept their retreat. Caldwell
leisurely retired, driving before him a numerous herd of cattle, in the
hope of enticing his pursuers into the woods. But repeated disasters had
taught them caution and he was allowed to escape without having a single
ranger injured. Again the misconduct of his Indians placed him in
serious peril. "On our return," he wrote to Butler, "We had the
mortification to see the Indians kill and take the greatest part of the
cattle captured by the rangers, which would have left us in a starving
condition were it not for the horses we had taken."

On the 8th September, Lieut. John Clement and a chief named Traquanda,
with 74 rangers and Indians, arrived at the German Flats and
reconnoitred the fort. Next morning three alarm guns were fired by the
garrison, and they concluded that their presence had been discovered. A
young Indian, who was sent to watch the fort, returned with the
information that forty riflemen were rapidly approaching. They at once
abandoned their camp and concealed themselves among the thickets near
by, lying flat on the ground in a semi-circle around the spot. The
Americans were headed by Captain Woodworth, who was well known to many
of the rangers as a brave and enterprising enemy. They came boldly on,
and when they arrived at the place where the fires had been made Clement
heard their leader exclaim, "Damn them! They are gone off!" Clement's
men allowed them to approach within pistol shot of the centre of their
position, when they fired a single fatal volley and rushed upon them
with spears and tomahawks. Woodworth, with two other officers and
nineteen men, were killed on the spot, and eight others taken prisoners,
while only two Indians were wounded.

At this time the company of rangers that had been sent to Detroit were
actively engaged in repelling what had threatened to be a formidable
attack. Encouraged by the easy conquest of Kaskaskias and Vincennes,
Col. George Rogers Clark had begun to plan the capture of that place
also. His project was warmly supported by Washington, who declared that
the "reduction of Detroit is the only means of giving peace and security
to our western frontier." Clark felt confident of his ability to enlist
a sufficient number of volunteers for the purpose, if he was provided by
Congress with artillery and stores. To this Washington not only readily
consented, but ordered the commandant at Fort Pitt to detach a company
of artillery and as many regular infantry as he could spare to accompany
him.

Rumors of Clark's intentions soon reached Detroit. In March Captain
Matthew Elliott with a small party made an incursion into Kentucky, and
burned a magazine of provisions. He reported that the inhabitants were
"night and day employed in removing their effects to a large settlement
called Bryant's Station, where they hope to remain in security during
the expedition." Capt. Thompson then proceeded with the rangers to their
former station at Miami, and Brant went to Detroit with a few warriors
of the Six Nations, to inspirit the Indians in that quarter. Brodhead
advanced from Fort Pitt and destroyed the Deleware villages, and
threatened the Wyandots. This movement first drew the rangers to
Lorimier's at the portage, between the Great and Little Miami, and then
to Sandusky, where they remained for nearly two months encamped among
fever haunted swamps. Their spies kept them minutely informed of Clark's
movements. Finally about the middle of August they learned that his
preparations for the expedition at Wheeling appeared to be nearly
completed, and began their long march overland to intercept him on his
voyage down the Ohio. On the 26th an advanced party of Indians,
commanded by Brant and George Girty, reached the river and captured one
of his boats. From the prisoners they learned that Clark, with the main
body, had already passed down the stream, but that a second division was
behind. This consisted of 100 rangers and volunteers in thirteen boats,
commanded by Col. Lochry, lieutenant of Westmoreland County, Pa. A few
hours later this party came in sight, was enticed ashore, and lured into
an ambush with the inevitable result. Lochry, six other officers, and
thirty men were killed, twelve officers and fifty-two privates were
taken prisoners. Not a man escaped. The rangers, who had been delayed by
heavy rains, then came up, and the whole force floated down the river in
the captured boats, with the intention of attacking Clark at the Falls,
(Louisville, Ky.,) where he had built a fort. But the Indians, satisfied
with this partial success, began to disperse rapidly, and when they
arrived within thirty miles of Clark's position only two hundred
remained. Scouts returned from the Falls with some prisoners, who
reported that Clark had abandoned the expedition against Detroit. The
Shawanese, who were acting as guides, then concluded that it would not
be prudent to attack the fort, and as the rangers had already been four
days without provisions, Capt. Thompson marched towards their villages
in the hope of obtaining a supply. His men were absolutely at the point
of starvation when they succeeded in shooting a couple of bears.

McKee and Brant crossed over into Kentucky and advanced towards Boone's
fort. They met and routed a party of horsemen with considerable loss.
Next day a larger party, commanded by Col. Floyd, lieutenant of the
county, came to the scene of the action to bury the dead. They rode
straight into an ambush prepared for them, and most of them were killed
or taken, with the loss of only four Indians. Floyd and several other
principal officers were among the slain. This concluded active
operations in that quarter, but the rangers remained in the Indian
country until all danger of invasion seemed over. For several weeks they
subsisted entirely on green corn, and when they finally returned to
Detroit their clothing was completely torn to rags in their long marches
through the woods.

In September the tenth company of rangers was completed and pronounced
by Col. Powell, after inspection, to be a very good one. A few days
after a letter was received from Gen. Haldimand, proposing another raid
in force on the same lines as that of the year before. In reply Powell
said: "The Mohawk has been so long the theatre of action for troops and
Indians, both from this part and Carleton Island, that very few remain
for further operations, for the people have been so much accustomed to
those operations that they now secure what grain they raise in fortified
houses, where it would be inexpedient to attack them. Col. Johnson and
Col. Butler, who are well acquainted with that part of the country,
advise that the force sent out should be assembled at Oswego and proceed
to the falls and some island on the south side of Oneida Lake, where the
boats might be left under a guard, and from thence to the Tienaderha
river, whence a party might be sent to destroy the remaining mills at
Canajoharie, and afterwards join the main body at Cobus Kill. They might
then proceed to Duanesboro', a settlement which has not yet been
molested."

This plan was approved of by the Governor, and orders issued for putting
it into execution. The contingent from Niagara consisted of 36 men of
the 8th under Lieut. Coote, 169 rangers under Capt. Walter Butler, and
109 Indians, hastily collected and forcibly described as "the dregs of
the tribes," commanded by Capt. Tice. Major Ross, who was placed in
command of the expedition, brought with him from Carleton Island 207
officers and men, composed of detachments from four different regiments.

The information derived from prisoners and deserters during the early
part of the year had been particularly vague and contradictory. Ross had
therefore determined to make an attempt to gain more exact and reliable
intelligence by means of a spy. For this dangerous service he selected a
bright young man named John Servos, formerly "an active rebel," who had
been taken prisoner by Sir John Johnson in his last expedition and had
since enlisted in his regiment. In May this agent left Carleton Island
and surrendered himself to the Americans as a deserter. He was taken by
them to Albany and three times closely examined by the Governor and a
Committee, to whom he gave a description of Carleton Island, prepared
for the purpose. On his return in August, Ross reported: "I was lucky in
my choice. He has been in every fort on the Mohawk river, one excepted,
and brought in a detail of the strength of the whole. After fulfilling
everything requisite he obtained a pass to go to the Jerseys, but
returned to rejoin his regiment a few days ago with six young recruits
for Sir John Johnson's 2nd battalion. He says the inhabitants of the
Mohawk are in expectation of a visit from Sir John, and in many places
are secreting provisions for him."

As on the former occasion, Haldimand moved forward a body of troops to
Crown Point, and to make the alarm more general he instructed Col.
Powell to send out several small parties of rangers and Indians from
Niagara against various parts of the frontiers of New York and
Pennsylvania. "You will give these parties orders," he continued,
"effectively to destroy all kinds of grain and forage, mills, &c.,
cattle, and all articles which can contribute to the support of the
enemy. They will, as usual, have the strongest injunctions to avoid the
destruction of women and children, and every species of cruelty."

A violent gale prevented the detachments from Niagara from reaching
Oswego until the 9th October. Major Ross was already there, and began
his march next day. On the 17th he left his boats with a guard in a
creek falling into Lake Oneida, and marched towards Otsego Lake. Two
days later Lieut. Dochstader of the rangers, who had distinguished
himself on so many occasions, died very suddenly. During the march
several prisoners were brought in, from whom it was learned that Sir
John Johnson had appeared at Crown Point, but that their own movements
were as yet undiscovered. On the 23rd they passed through Cherry Valley,
and on the evening of the following day reached Corrystown. Owing to the
roundabout route they had taken their appearance at that place was as
unexpected as if they had sprung out of the earth. As they hurried
forward towards the Mohawk they took a few prisoners, who stated that
there were 1,000 men assembled at Schenectady, 500 at Schoharie, and
that Col. Willett was at Canajoharie with 400 more. Duanesboro' or
Warrensbush, their objective point, lying centrally between these
garrisons, was deemed perfectly safe from attack. Ross perceived that he
had no time to lose, as in a few hours his presence would be known at
all these places. Although his men were already terribly fatigued by
eight days' steady marching in very bad weather, and much of the time
ankle-deep in mud, he marched all night through incessant rain and over
fourteen miles of the worst possible roads. His men struggled gallantly
to keep together and not more than a dozen fell behind, worn out by
fatigue, and were abandoned to the tender mercies of the enemy. At three
o'clock in the morning of the 25th, they forded the Schoharie, within
gunshot of Fort Hunter, and two hours later halted near Warrensbush,
where they were allowed to rest on their arms until daybreak. Then the
rangers and Indians were detailed to destroy the settlement, which was
seven miles in length, while the remainder of the troops moved along the
main road to support them. They found the place totally deserted, for
the inhabitants had fled during the night. By ten o'clock they had
advanced within twelve miles of Schenectady and every building in sight
was in flames, including three mills and a large public magazine. Ross
then wheeled about and marched swiftly up the Mohawk, which he forded at
Johnstown with much difficulty, as the river was swollen by the rain. A
small party sallied from Fort Johnson to dispute their passage, but the
officer in command was killed at the first fire, and his men dispersed.
The militia began to gather behind him, and Ross determined to retreat
directly through the woods to Carleton Island instead of attempting to
return to his boats, but concealed his intention from everybody in order
to prevent the enemy from learning it from prisoners or deserters.
Marching through the village, he halted in the fields near Johnson Hall.
Provisions were hastily collected and cattle slaughtered for the journey
without the least molestation.

Willett had advanced from Canajoharie with his whole force at the first
alarm, and by marching all night had arrived at Fort Hunter early in the
morning. He picked up several stragglers from the regular troops under
Ross's command and obtained their estimate of the numbers of the
raiders. Already the Schoharie had risen so rapidly that the ford had
become impassable and he was obliged to cross in boats. This delayed him
until afternoon, and he then learned that Ross had crossed the Mohawk,
and followed as rapidly as the roads would permit. He was joined by 400
men from Schenectady, and by detachments from other quarters, which
increased his force to more than 1200, much of it, however, being
militia and new levies.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, the scouts sent out by Ross returned
without having observed any signs of a pursuit, and he directed Captain
Tice to lead the way with the Indians by the most direct route to
Carleton Island. When Tice had advanced a mile into the woods he was
suddenly ordered to return and join the rangers, who were covering the
rear. The enemy was then advancing so rapidly and in such force that
Ross was convinced that it would no longer be possible for his jaded
troops to outmarch him without sacrificing many of the weaker men, and
he determined to fight. He hastily selected a position about a quarter
of a mile after entering the woods, and formed a line covered by the
rangers some distance in front. Exclusive of the Indians, who were of
little service, he had then 354 of all ranks under arms.

The enemy soon appeared and the rangers began the action with a volley,
which they followed up by charging with their well-known Indian yell,
and drove the American riflemen entirely out of the woods. Willett
himself came to their support with a large body of infantry, having
previously detached nearly a third of his force to turn his opponent's
position and cut off his retreat. When Willett's party had fairly
entered the woods, Ross ordered a general advance, followed by a charge,
which was attended with immediate and entire success. Willett confessed
that the whole of his right wing "turned and fled without any apparent
cause." Some of his men, however, kept up a running fight until they
were driven to the edge of the woods, when the whole body "fled
precipitately in full view for more than a mile." "I then lamented the
want of a good body of Indians," Ross complained, "few of those present
venturing to engage, or we would probably have crushed the spirit of the
rebels on the Mohawk." The left wing of the Americans still remained
unbroken, covered by the fire of a field-piece planted upon a high ridge
in front, but being briskly charged also gave way, leaving the gun and
its ammunition behind.

The victorious troops pursued as rapidly as fatigue would permit,
killing many and taking a few prisoners. Before the firing had ended,
the third division of the enemy appeared on the edge of the woods in
their rear, but "seemed inclined rather to harrass than attack openly."
They remained under cover, keeping up a desultory fire from their
concealment. The field-piece was turned on them, and after a few rounds
they were charged and dispersed in their turn. In the pursuit, which was
continued for two miles, they suffered severely, and had not darkness
intervened would have been nearly exterminated. In this series of
skirmishes Ross had not lost more than twenty men in killed and wounded,
but the darkness and exhaustion caused many others to stray away and
increased his total loss to fifty. He believed that the loss inflicted
upon the enemy was very much greater, as he counted twenty of their dead
in one place and he had secured twenty-four prisoners. Willett collected
his scattered forces and retired across the bridge at Johnstown, where
he took possession of the stone church. Ross marched six miles into the
woods and encamped for the night. Next day he continued his retreat
unpursued, but successive storms of snow and sleet prevented him from
gaining the trail leading from the German Flats to Carleton Island until
the evening of the 29th, and it was then discovered that the Indians had
shaped their course to favor their own return to Niagara, instead of
considering the safety of the troops. Disgusted by this final proof of
their misconduct, he resolved to allow them to go their own way, and
marched early on the following morning, leaving them still shivering
over their smouldering fires. But, when all danger appeared to be over,
the pursuer was actually close at his heels.

Willett had hurried directly from the late battlefield to the German
Flats, and sent men to find and destroy his opponent's boats. He
collected 500 fresh troops, including 60 Oneida Indians, and appears to
have divined that Ross was retreating directly to Carleton Island. On
the 29th he crossed the river with this force very lightly equipped, and
followed the trail in search of traces of his march. At night he had
actually encamped within a couple of miles of the exhausted fugitives.
Soon after daylight he surprised some of the Indians who still lingered
in camp, and took Lieut. Ryckman. The first intimation of this event was
conveyed to Ross by riflemen firing on his rear. At this he ordered his
men to move on as rapidly as possible until they had crossed Canada
Creek, when they would make a final stand. A few of the rangers halted
to engage the pursuers and the remainder went on at a trot in Indian
file. After crossing the creek Capt. Butler, who had gallantly commanded
the covering party, lined the ford with rangers to gain time for his
leader to choose a position. The stream and all surrounding objects were
veiled in dense fog, when Willett's advance guard came up and plunged
without hesitation into the water. For a moment, the fog parted and they
saw Butler wave his hand in defiance, and a volley from the opposite
bank struck down several of their number. The survivors scrambled
hastily up the bank and retreated into the woods. The fog settled down
again and several volleys were interchanged at random across the creek.
One of these chance shots struck Capt. Butler in the head and he
instantly fell dead where he stood. Perceiving that the Americans had a
decided advantage in the ground "and their favorite object of firing at
a distance," Ross had taken up a better position a quarter of a mile
further on, where he awaited an attack for an hour before continuing his
retreat. When the firing ceased Willett crossed the stream and found
Butler and three rangers lying dead, but did not venture to pursue
further. The wonderful endurance displayed by his opponents excited his
frank admiration. "Although they had been four days in the wilderness,"
he said, "with only half a pound of horseflesh a day per man, yet they
ran in their famished condition thirty miles before they stopped." He
exulted loudly over Butler's death, and his biographer tells us that the
inhabitants generally rejoiced more on learning that than they did at
the intelligence of the surrender of Cornwallis, which became known to
them about the same time.

In the pursuit and skirmish Ross had actually lost only ten men, and
although he had yet seven days march before him through a barren
wilderness, intersected by several streams passable only by means of
rafts, although the weather was most inclement, and his men were almost
without food and many of them had lost their blankets and overcoats, he
arrived at Carleton Island on the 6th November without further loss, and
even carrying with him the whole of his prisoners. In the whole
expedition he had lost 74 officers and men, two-thirds of whom were
returned as missing. Thirteen of these were rangers, who subsequently
returned in safety to Oswego. Some of the missing men who were so
unfortunate as to have fallen into the hands of their exasperated
enemies appear to have been put to death in cold blood, with an excess
of cruelty. Benton, in his "History of Herkimer County," states that one
non-commissioned officer was given up to the Oneidas, and in one of
Haldimand's letters there is a horrible story of a ranger being
gradually dismembered by his captors while he was yet alive.

The rangers returned to Niagara for the winter. In their absence
Caldwell had gone to Detroit to relieve Capt. Thompson, and the latter
had been accidentally drowned when on his way down.

The progress of the Niagara settlement during the year was briefly
sketched in Butler's correspondence.

On the 20th of May he said:--"The articles you mentioned for the
loyalists I have received and given out to such as had lands ready to
sow. The farmers are much in need of a blacksmith and forge and iron,
such as is fit for plow-shares, as there are still a few wanted for
farmers already settled. Iron fit for axes, hoes, &c., is also wanting.
I can furnish them with a smith out of the rangers, who will be obliged
to work for what the King allows. I should imagine if His Excellency
thinks proper to allow the above articles for one year, they might after
that be able to help themselves. I believe but one family draws
provision, the rest have been able to help themselves."

On the 7th December, he resumed the subject: "The winter being so
moderate here enables the farmers to clean the ground and prepare it for
planting and sowing early in the spring. If they only begin to cultivate
the land in summer, the season is over before they can expect to draw
any subsistence from their labor. I flatter myself that in a short time
the farmers will be found to be of essential use to this post. They have
maintained themselves since September last, and were only allowed
half-rations from the first."

Elsewhere the war was practically at an end. Both troops and Indians
were much dispirited by the surrender of Lord Cornwallis. Still, several
small parties of rangers remained on the frontier the whole winter, and
continued to be joined by fresh recruits in spite of the gloomy
prospect.

In April nearly 200 rangers were detached to Carleton Island to enable
Major Ross to occupy Oswego, and a party of picked men from these, under
Sergeant Secord, went with him to act as scouts.

On the 15th of the same month, Lieut. R. Nelles, scouting on the
frontier of Pennsylvania, took and destroyed a blockhouse on Bald Eagle
Creek. Orders were then received to abstain as far as possible from
offensive operations, and no expedition was undertaken until June, when
Capt. Powell and Sangerachta marched towards Fort Pitt to create a
diversion in favor of the Western Indians, who were then menaced with a
formidable attack from that quarter. This party destroyed the fort and
settlement of Loyal Hanna, on the road to Philadelphia, and took about
thirty prisoners.

The want of active employment and the conviction now forced upon them
that their cause was lost, told severely upon the spirits of the
provincial troops generally during this period. Major Ross has forcibly
described the temptations and misgivings that beset them. "The colony
troops," he said, "have not that relish for the war they had when
carried on offensively. They do not think the King will succeed. From
every quarter they have unpleasing tidings. Their little properties on
the Mohawk river are taken possession of by the New Englanders. They
conclude the best chance they have now is to make peace with the rebels.
Deserters they know are received and live quiet at home. I'll venture to
say that there are many men who would sooner have suffered death than
desert some time ago, that nothing now but fear of death prevents. In
short, their spirits are low."

The rangers, however, were much less affected by this depression than
other regiments that had not been so actively engaged, possibly because
they had for years entertained small hopes of any reconciliation.

In the west a body of rangers was actively employed during the summer,
with signal success. Early in the year a party of frontiersmen had made
a descent upon a village on the Muskingum, solely inhabited by Indians
converted to Christianity by the Moravian missionaries. They had taken
no part in the war, it was admitted, but were accused of having harbored
hostile Indians. It was determined to kill all the prisoners on the
spot. Two of the largest buildings were selected as "slaughter-houses;"
the helpless victims were dragged in with ropes around their necks, and
ninety-six persons, of whom two-thirds were women and children, were
brutally beaten to death. The bodies were then burnt in the houses.

Elated by the ease with which they had accomplished this foul deed, they
declared their intention of marching against Sandusky and repeating
their exploit there. By the middle of May their design was known in
Detroit, and Caldwell with his company and the "Lake Indians" was
ordered to march to the assistance of the Indians at that place, who
were much alarmed. Lieut. Turney, with twenty-four rangers from Niagara,
joined him soon after his arrival at Sandusky. They soon learned that
500 mounted riflemen, including most of those concerned in the late
massacre, were already marching against them. Swift-footed runners
hovered about them as they advanced. They counted their numbers, and
learned from writing on the trees and on scraps of paper scattered about
their deserted camps that they intended to give no quarter to man,
woman, or child. Even their friends admitted that they were generally
animated by no other motive than a desire for murder and plunder,
although their leader, Col. Crawford, was a brave and honorable man.
Several Continental officers from the garrison of Fort Pitt accompanied
the expedition as a "party of pleasure." The entire force was well armed
and finely mounted, and was not without experience in Indian warfare.
They were in high spirits and sanguine of success.

To meet them Caldwell had 70 rangers, 44 Lake Indians, and the whole
fighting strength of the Wyandots of Sandusky, numbering not more than
150 warriors, young and old. McKee, who had gone to bring up the
Shawanese to their assistance, was daily expected to return.

At noon on the King's birthday, the 4th of June, 1782, Caldwell learned
that the enemy were only a few miles away, and he at once advanced to
meet them at the junction of the two paths, where he could protect
either of the Indian villages from attack at the same time. On his
appearance, Crawford retired into a large grove of copsewood, surrounded
on all sides by open ground, which furnished good cover for horses and
men, and gave him a decided advantage until the rangers managed to gain
a foothold in a projecting angle of woods, and gradually pushed back
their antagonists until Caldwell was able to place most of his force
under cover. The skirmish then became very brisk, with a prodigious
amount of yelling and firing on both sides, but little loss on either.
Caldwell, however, was soon badly wounded by a musket ball, which passed
through both his thighs, and forced him to quit the field. The command
then devolved on Lieut. John Turney, a veteran soldier of many years
service, while Capt. Matthew Elliott directed the movements of the
Indians. They continued to gain ground until night put an end to the
firing. The Americans had lost about twenty-five men, their assailants
only five or six. Both parties encamped where they lay, and at daybreak
Turney renewed the attack, but observed that the enemy seemed reluctant
to continue the action. However, they made two feeble attempts to
charge, which were easily repulsed. At noon McKee opportunely arrived
with 140 Shawanese, and enabled Turney to surround the Americans.
Throughout the afternoon he continued to press his advantage, and at
dark felt sanguine of capturing the whole body. Probably he would have
succeeded if the Indians had not directed their sentries to fire at
stated intervals during the night. This indicated the weakest part of
the line to the enemy, and at midnight they made a vigorous rush upon it
and broke through. Most of them were mounted and darkness favored their
flight, but they were pursued with the tireless energy born of
insatiable hate. The chase continued many days, and the last man that
fell beneath the tomahawk of the Indians was struck down on the very
banks of the Ohio. Caldwell and McKee estimated that 250 of the
fugitives were killed or perished in the woods. The unfortunate Crawford
and a few others were reserved for a worse fate. They were horribly
tortured to death in spite of the remonstrances of the only Indian
officer present. Caldwell said that Crawford "died like a hero, and
never changed countenance," although suffering the most dreadful agony.
In consequence of this atrocious act of revenge, Maj. De Peyster
threatened to withdraw the rangers from the support of the Indians in
case the offence was repeated. "I must, therefore, reiterate my
injunctions to you," he wrote to McKee, "of representing to the chiefs
that such a mode of war will by no means be countenanced by their
English father, who is ever ready to assist them against the common
enemy, provided they avoid cruelties. Tell them I shall be under the
necessity of recalling the troops, (who must be tired of such scenes of
cruelty,) provided they persist."

In the two days' skirmishing but one ranger was killed and two wounded,
besides Capt. Caldwell. Of the Indians, interpreter Le Vallier and four
warriors were killed and eight warriors wounded. "Too much cannot be
said in praise of the officers and men and Indians," Turney wrote. "No
people could behave better. Capt. Elliott and Lieut. Clench in
particular signalized themselves."

From the prisoners it was learned that Col. Clark still meditated an
attack upon the Shawanese villages, in which he had been so signally
baffled the year before. Those Indians at once became urgent in their
demands that the rangers should move to their assistance. Caldwell
recovered rapidly from his wounds and resumed command. On the 12th July
he marched from Upper Sandusky with the intention of assailing Wheeling,
and had actually advanced as far as the Whetstone branch of the Scioto,
when he was diverted to the Shawanese village of Piqua by the report
that it was menaced with an attack. McKee had succeeded in assembling
upwards of 1,100 Indians for its defence, but on finding that there was
no occasion for alarm they began to disperse rapidly. Caldwell and
McKee, with the rangers and 300 Indians, advanced to the Ohio, and on
the 15th of August crossed that river and marched upon Bryant's Station,
the principal fort in Kentucky. They besieged it unsuccessfully for two
days, but destroyed everything outside the walls. On retreating along
the "Great Buffalo Trail" about a hundred Indians broke off by another
route, and left Caldwell with thirty rangers and only 200 Wyandot and
Lake Indians. He then turned aside to the Blue Licks, where the ground
would be more favorable for an action, and encamped in a grassy hollow
near the ford of the Licking river. Early in the morning of the 18th his
scouts announced that about 200 of the enemy were rapidly approaching on
horseback. These were picked men from the Kentucky settlements, all
splendidly mounted, commanded by Cols. Todd, Trigg, Daniel Boone, and
other well known leaders. They dismounted and crossed the ford on foot.
When within sixty yards a single shot was fired from the rangers' covert
in the long grass, to which they instantly replied with an entire
volley. Caldwell said, "They stood to it very well for some time, till
we rushed in upon them, when they broke immediately." All resistance was
at an end in five minutes. "He that could mount a horse was well off; he
that could not had no time for delay," wrote one of the few survivors.
Caldwell stated that 146 were killed or taken, including nearly all the
principal officers. Not a ranger was hurt, and only six Indians were
killed and ten wounded. The interpreter, La Bute, was also killed. "He
died like a warrior," Caldwell said, "fighting arm to arm. The Indians
behaved extremely well, and no people could behave better than both
officers and men in general."

Capt. Andrew Bradt having arrived at Sandusky with his company of
rangers too late to overtake Caldwell, had marched against Wheeling,
accompanied by 238 Indians. On the 11th September he devastated the
settlement there, and ten days later joined Caldwell in the Shawanese
country, where they remained for about a month. Hunger, exposure, and
disease did their work, and when they returned to Detroit the commandant
spoke of them as "walking spectres."

The infant colony at Niagara continued to make a rather feeble growth.

On the 4th April, Col. Powell reported that "the farmers are clearing
some ground on the other side of the river to plant corn for Government,
and as there is some exceeding good land cleared at Buffalo Creek, Col.
Butler has advised me to plant some there, and a party shall accordingly
be sent, but I am afraid no great progress can be made in farming this
year." At midsummer he stated that the farmers had scarcely raised grain
enough for their own consumption.

Butler took a more cheerful view. On the 12th June he wrote: "I am happy
His Excellency is pleased with the progress of the farmers. They
certainly have done very well, and would have done much better had they
received smithy tools, provisions, &c., the want of which has
disappointed them, as they expected to be supplied agreeable to the
memorandum His Excellency gave me.

"Seven or eight rangers got their families from the frontier last fall.
These, with some others that have been here for some time, are desirous
of being discharged and leave to settle on lands near the place,
provided they can be supplied with provisions for one year and such
smith work as may be necessary. These people were bred farmers, and I am
of opinion will soon be useful to this post, as well as to enable them
to support their families comfortably, which at present is very
difficult.

"I daily expect a number of recruits from the frontier, which will
enable me to keep my corps complete after discharging those people that
are in the decline of life and having large families."

In the same letter, he stated that Peter and James Secord were preparing
to build a saw and grist mill near the Rangers' Barracks. They intended
to buy the iron work and millstones in Lower Canada, and wished to have
these sent up in the King's ships. He was informed, in reply, that the
private ownership of the mill would not be permitted, but that materials
would be furnished and the Secords paid for working it.

An official survey of the 25th August showed that there were sixteen
families settled, numbering sixty-eight persons. They had cleared 236
acres, and had raised during the year 206 bushels of wheat, 46 of oats,
926 of Indian corn, and 630 of potatoes. They owned 49 horses, 42 cows,
30 sheep, and 103 hogs.

In November, Col. Allan Maclean, who had succeeded to the command of the
garrison, wrote that "Lieut. Brass, formerly Sergeant Brass, now
employed to build a corn and saw mill, says he will undertake to
complete the dam and finish the two mills at the expense of 500, N. Y.
currency, or to be paid so much a day for the time employed, as he is to
be chief workman himself."

Col. Butler had been seriously ill for several weeks, and Maclean seized
the opportunity to pay a warm tribute to his ability. "Butler," he said,
"recovers but slowly. He is the only man here equal in any degree to the
management of the Indians. It is surprising in what good humor he sent
them away after he had acquainted them that he was short of several
articles of clothing for them this year."

Butler was sufficiently recovered in the spring to resume his labors. On
the 3rd of March he wrote:--

"The farmers actually settled here are not well satisfied with the
uncertain tenure on which they hold their lands and improvements, and
would rather be subject to a small rent if they could be more
effectually secured to them. Should this be done I am satisfied there
are some people of that description who have even property in the
colonies that would not think of returning.

"The saw and grist mills are both in forwardness, and if the materials
from below arrive in time I imagine may be set going by the beginning of
June."

The discontent of the settlers soon found a voice in the following
petition:

  "_To John Butler, Esq., Lt. Col. Commandant of
   the Corps of Rangers, &c_:--

  "The humble address of farmers residing on lands on the west side the
  river Niagara:

  "On our first settling, you were pleased to read to us His Excellency
  General Haldimand's proposals, on which we settled, and expecting one
  year's provisions and a blacksmith to work for us, which we have not
  had as yet. Part only of the provisions has been given us. We shall
  regard it as a singular favor to lay this before Brig. Gen. Maclean.
  We should be forever obliged to His Excellency if he will be pleased
  to grant us leases, or some other security for our farms, as our
  present uncertain situation is very discouraging, as we are obliged to
  sell our produce, what little we raise, at such price as the
  commanding officer thinks proper. We have no objection to furnish the
  garrison at a reasonable price what quantity they may want fixed by
  the commanding officer, at the same time beg leave to sell to
  merchants and others at the price we can agree, from being obliged to
  pay merchants their own prices for everything we want. We should be
  very willing to subject ourselves to a rent for our farms after a term
  of eight years, as the footing we are on at present we are liable to
  be turned off our places when the commanding officer pleases. We are
  happy for the present, being not under the slightest apprehension, but
  the Commandant often changes, which makes our stay uncertain.

                                            Isaac Dolsen,
                                            Elijah Phelps,
                                            Thos. McMicking,
                                            Donal Bee,

                     On behalf of ourselves and the rest of the farmers."

The prospective return of peace inspired the exiles with little hope of
being restored to their former homes. In May, 1783, Maclean
wrote:--"Col. Butler says that none of his people will ever think of
going to attend courts of law in the colonies, where they could not
expect the shadow of justice, and that to re-purchase their estates is
what they are not able to do; that for a much smaller sum the
Missassaugas will part with twelve miles more along the lake, and that
they would rather go to Japan than go among the Americans, where they
could never live in peace."

As soon as the stipulations in their favor, contained in the provisional
articles of peace, became generally known, the American newspapers were
filled with declarations of undying animosity to the expatriated
loyalists, and there could be no doubt that that part of the treaty at
least would be openly set at defiance. Of those who had already rashly
ventured to return to their former homes, some were executed without
form of law, and many savagely assaulted. The remainder were
peremptorily warned to leave the country before the 10th of June, under
penalty of being treated "with the severity due to their crimes and
nefarious defection."

During the summer the entire battalion of rangers was officially
inspected by Major Potts of the 8th regiment, and its appearance and
conduct elicited his hearty commendation.

"During the course of the war, upon the service they have been employed
they have ever in general behaved bravely and done their duty, and are
deserving of whatever His Majesty may be generously pleased to favor or
reward them with......"

"But I must not omit to observe to Your Excellency, that two-thirds of
the men are as fine fellows as I ever saw collected together, worthy of
applause, and by no means wanting in the requisites to effect in every
respect good soldiers, and might, should they be wanted, form a most
complete small corps, at 50 men per company, and might answer every
purpose that could be wished for to effect the service of the upper
country regarding the connection with the Indians."

"The late views of great part of the corps was to return to their former
homes as soon as a reduction should take place, but from the late
publications of the colonists, and the disposition they seem to have
avowed to abide by, has much abated the ardour and anxiety of the men on
the purpose to return home, and the promises of Col. Butler to obtain
some general settlement upon the neighboring lands of this lake and
river seems to have taken up and engaged both their consideration, hope,
wishes, and expectation, that they may succeed in grants of land to that
end, which I believe most of them at present are disposed to settle
upon."

A return of the corps showed a strength of 469 men, 111 women, and 257
children. Many of the officers and non-commissioned officers had begun
to provide for the future by selecting lands, and the number of acres
cleared had already increased to 713.

The regiment was finally disbanded in June, 1784, with the intention
that the men should at once take up their residence on lands assigned to
them in the immediate vicinity, but there was unforeseen delay in making
the surveys and their dissatisfaction with the tenure had not abated.

On the 28th June, Col. De Peyster reported, "The people sign to their
desire for cultivating Crown Lands but slowly. We have not above 100 on
the list. They seem to dislike the tenure of the lands, and many wish to
fetch their relations from the States by the shortest route. I have
permitted some of the most decent people to wait Your Excellency's
pleasure on that head, but last night seventy of the people who refused
to sign went off without leave, with the intent never to return."

However, the great majority decided to remain, and within a month 258
officers and men had agreed to settle, making, with their families, a
body of 620 persons.

For a quarter of a century afterwards, the names of officers and men of
the disbanded regiment constantly recur in the peaceful annals of their
new home as legislators and magistrates, as surveyors and town officers.

Butler's personal influence increased with the flight of time. He was
universally regarded as the mainstay of the settlement, and an
acknowledged authority on all matters concerning it. Until the formation
of the Province of Upper Canada, he served as Judge of the District
Court, and continued to perform the responsible and difficult duties of
Deputy Superintendent of the Indians until his death, in 1796.
Successive commandants at Niagara added their testimony as to his tact,
zeal, and ability, to that of their predecessors. He retained the
confidence and respect of Carleton and Simcoe to the last, and, apart
from the spiteful attacks of Claus and Johnson, there is scarcely a
hostile criticism of his public or private conduct to be discovered in
all the huge mass of official correspondence.

Many of his followers lived to bear arms in the war of 1812, although
generally far advanced in years. Barent Frey and John Rowe died
gallantly in the field; Thomas Butler fell a victim to disease; William
Caldwell, David Secord, Ralfe Clench and John Hardy won honorable
distinction for meritorious service. Even in those whose age and
infirmities absolutely disabled them from active service the old spirit
yet burned so fiercely that they eagerly volunteered to do garrison duty
and release younger men to confront the invader.


                                 THE END.


     *     *     *     *     *


    ERRATA

    The following typographical errors have been corrected in this
    ebook. Inconsistent spelling in quoted material and inconsistent
    capitalization and hyphenation were preserved.

    P. 13 _millons_ changed to _millions_

    P. 15 _indolatrous_ changed to _idolatrous_

    P. 25 _resolve to co-operate with with_ changed to _resolve to
          co-operate with_

    P. 42 _recruits continue to come in_ changed to _recruits continued
          to come in_

    P. 45 _"their war-path..."_ opening quotes added

    P. 58 _G. R,_ changed to _G. R.,_

    P. 70 _Pittsburgh_ changed to _Pittsburg_

    P. 79 _devasted_ changed to _devastated_

    P. 81 _inacessible_ changed to _inaccessible_

    P. 85 _McDonnell_ changed to _McDonnel_ (see the Transcriber's
          Note)

    P. 86 As above

    P. 89 _permisssion_ changed to _permission_

    P. 97 _Tienderha_ changed to _Tienaderha_

    P. 107 _threated_ changed to _threatened_




[End of _The Story of Butler's Rangers and the Settlement of Niagara_
by E. A. Cruikshank]
