  Continuation of movements in New Jersey—Extinguishment of the council-fire at Onondaga—Tryon County—Colonel Harper's mission to Oghkwaga—The Harper family—Adventure at the Johnstone settlement—Capture of Good Peter and his party—Thayendanegea crosses from Canada to Oghkwaga—Interview with the Rev. Mr. Johnstone—Doubtful course of Brant—Feverish situation of the people—Expedition of General Herkimer to Unadilla—Remarkable meeting between Herkimer and Brant—Meditated act of treachery—Wariness of the chief—Meeting abruptly terminated—Ended in a storm—Brant draws off to Oswego—Grand council there—The Indians generally join the Royal standard—Approach of Brant upon Cherry Valley—How defeated—Death of Lieutenant Wormwood. Having secured his prisoners on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware, General Washington established himself at Trenton. But he was not long permitted its undisturbed possession. Collecting his forces, Cornwallis advanced rapidly upon the capital of New Jersey, where he arrived on the 2d of January. Some skirmishing ensued toward evening, but both armies encamped for the night without coming to a general engagement—being separated only by Assumpinck Creek—and apparently both expecting a battle in the morning. The force of the enemy, however, was too great to render it safe for the American Commander-in-chief to hazard an action. By an adroit and masterly movement, therefore, leaving his fires burning. General Washington succeeded in getting away unperceived, and throwing himself into the enemy's rear. The battle and victory of Princeton followed, and the American army moved to Morristown, while Cornwallis hastened back to New Brunswick and thence to New-York—the different detachments of British troops, which had been scattered through New Jersey, being at all points discomfited. Returning from this digression to the Indian relations of New-York, there is one event to be noted, the character of which cannot be explained. Among the manuscripts preserved in the family of the hero of Oriskany, [FN-1] is a speech from the Oneida chiefs to Colonel Elmore, the officer who, at the commencement of the present year, was in the command of Fort Schuyler, announcing the final extinguishment of the great council-fire of the Six Nations at Onondaga. As the central nation of the confederacy, their general councils, time immemorial, had been holden at the Onondaga Castle, at which, in their own figurative language, their council-fire was ever kept burning. These councils assembled annually to discuss the exterior relations, and all matters of national concernment. They were composed of chiefs delegated from each member of the federative republic, and sometimes numbered as many as eighty sachems in the assembly. [FN-2] By what means the event had been accomplished—whether the calamity was the result of pestilence or war—the speech of the Oneidas does not inform us; although it announces the fall of a large number of the Onondaga warriors, in connexion with the catastrophe. Still, the transaction is veiled in darkness so thick as to baffle investigation. The following is the speech:— [FN-1] Colonel, afterward General Herkimer. [FN-2] "The national council took cognizance of war and peace, of the affairs of the tributary nations, and of their negotiations with the French and English Colonies. All their proceedings were conducted with great deliberation, and were distinguished for order, decorum, and solemnity. In eloquence, in dignity, and in all the characteristics of profound policy, they surpassed an assembly of feudal barons, and were perhaps not far inferior to the great Amphyctionic council of Greece."—De Wilt Clinton. "Fort Schuyler, Jan. 19th, 1777. "Brother: We are sent here by the Oneida chiefs, in conjunction with the Onondagas. They arrived at our village yesterday. They gave us the melancholy news that the grand council-fire at Onondaga was extinguished. We have lost out of their town by death ninety, among whom are three principal sachems. We, the remaining part of the Onondagas, do now inform our brethren that there is no longer a council-fire at the capital of the Six Nations. However, we are determined to use our feeble endeavors to support peace through the confederate nations. But let this be kept in mind, that the council-fire is extinguished. It is of importance to our well-being that this be immediately communicated to General Schuyler, and likewise to our brothers the Mohawks. In order to effect this, we deposit this belt with Tekeyanedonhotte, Colonel Elmore, commander at Fort Schuyler, who is sent here by General Schuyler to transact all matters relative to peace. We therefore request him to forward this intelligence in the first place to General Herkimer, desiring him to communicate it to the Mohawk Castle near to him, and then to Major Fonda, requesting him to immediately communicate it to the Lower Castle of Mohawks. Let the belt then be forwarded to General Schuyler, that he may know that our council-fire is extinguished, and can no longer burn." [FN] [FN] Transcribed by the author from the original draught, as furnished to General Herkimer by Colonel Elmore. This singular document is worthy of preservation, not only as the authentic, but as the only account of the occurrence recorded. It contains a mystery, however, which cannot now be solved. Still, as no belligerent events are known to have been enacted in the Onondaga country during that winter, the most plausible conjecture would attribute the mortality indicated by the speech to some pestilential disorder, which might have swept over them, as with the Schoharie Canton eighteen months before. In the County of Tryon, which now demands our chief attention, great uneasiness was again awakened among the inhabitants, toward the close of the winter, especially in the remoter settlements south of the Mohawk, by the reported gathering of the Indians at Oghkwaga. The fact that their numbers were increasing at that point having been satisfactorily ascertained, Colonel John Harper, of Harpersfield, was despatched thither by the Provincial Congress of New-York to ascertain their intentions. Taking every necessary measure of precaution to guard against surprise, and to be ready for any emergency, by having the officers of his militia regiment on the qui vive, Colonel Harper departed upon his mission, accompanied only by a single white man and one Indian. He arrived on the 27th of February, and was well received by the Indians, who manifested a perfectly friendly disposition toward himself, and also toward the settlements. So far from exhibiting any belligerent intentions, they expressed their sorrow for the troubles of the country, and declared their determination to take no part in the controversy. Satisfied as to the sincerity of their professions, although subsequent events proved that they must have been dissembling, Colonel Harper supplied the means of a festival, and presented them with an ox, which was roasted for the occasion. [FN] [FN] Annals of Tryon County. Colonel John Harper was one of four brothers—William, John, Alexander, and Joseph Harper, who, with eighteen others, planted themselves down upon a tract of country, in 1768, which was subsequently named Harpersfield. After his return from this mission, he was for a time in command of one of the little forts in Schoharie. On one occasion, in March or April of this year, he took a circuit alone from Schoharie through the woods to Harpersfield, and thence, when returning, struck farther to the westward, toward the head waters of the Susquehanna. While ascending a hill, he suddenly saw a company of Indians approaching. As they had discovered him, any attempt to fly would have been vain. They would have shot him down. Having a great coat over his military dress, he made no attempt to avoid a meeting, and in passing, the Colonel and the Indians exchanged salutations. In one of the Indians he recognized Peter, a Mohawk whom he had formerly seen at Oghkwaga. They did not recognize him, however; but from his manner of speech supposed him to be a loyalist, and under that impression communicated to him the fact that their destination was to cut off "the Johnstone settlement," a small Scotch Colony on the eastern shore of the Susquehanna, near Unadilla, or Anaquaqua, as that place was sometimes called. Having obtained this information, he changed his course, and hurrying back to Harpersfield, collected fifteen resolute men, with whom he gave chase to the marauders. In addition to their arms, the Colonel caused each man of his little band to provide himself with two days' provisions and a rope. In the course of the following night, in descending the valley of the Charlotte river, they descried the fire where the Indians were encamped. Halting for a while to refresh and prepare for the contest, the Colonel and his men now stole upon the foe with the utmost caution. It was almost day-light, and the Indians were in a profound slumber—their arms being stacked in the middle of their little encampment. These were carefully removed by Harper and his party, as a measure of precaution. The moment for action having arrived, singling each his man, the cords were made ready, and every Indian, ere he was well awake, found himself bound and in the grasp of a foe. The sleeping Gulliver was not more thoroughly secured by the vexatious net-work of the Lilliputians. But Peter and his companions were not secured by Lilliputian ties, and they had to deal with a different race of men. When it became light in the morning, Peter discovered his captor. "Ugh!" he exclaimed—"Colonel Harper!—Why did I not know you yesterday?" The gallant Colonel proceeded to Albany with his prisoners, and surrendered them to the commanding officer of the station. It was a bold and well-executed achievement—and all the better that it was bloodless. Although, as we have seen. Colonel Harper had parted from the Indians at Oghkwaga upon the most amicable terms, yet indications of a different temper were soon afterward manifested by this fickle people, of which the movement of Peter, so opportunely discovered and intercepted, was the first outbreak. Thayendanegea, likewise, appeared among them in the course of the Spring, having separated from Guy Johnson, between whom and himself some difficulty had occurred. Intelligence of the chieftain's departure from Canada, and march across the country to Oghkwaga with a large body of warriors, was received by the Tryon County Committee early in May from Fort Schuyler, and communicated to the Provincial Congress by its chairman, Isaac Paris. Not a little additional uneasiness was also occasioned at the same time by the spirit discernible among the Tories. Many of those loyalists, who had taken their departure the preceding year with Sir John Johnson, had, nevertheless, left their wives and children in the remote settlements, with whom they were evidently in communication; while scouting parties, both of Tories and Indians, were hovering on the northern outskirts of the county. [FN] [FN] MS. documents in the office of the Secretary of State, Albany. The presence of the crafty chieftain at Oghkwaga did not improve the pacific disposition of the natives, as will appear in the sequel; although Brant himself had not thus far committed any act of hostility within the province of New-York. The fact of his having borne a part in the battle of the Cedars seems, moreover, not to have been known in the Mohawk Valley, since they were yet uncertain whether it was his intention to raise the hatchet in the contest or not. But these uncertainties were not of long duration. In the month of June, 1777, the chief of the Mohawks ascended the Susquehanna from Oghkwaga to Unadilla, [FN] attended by seventy or eighty of his warriors, and requested an interview with the Rev. Mr. Johnstone and the officers of the militia of the neighborhood. He stated that the object of his visit was to procure provisions, of which his people were greatly in want. And such were their necessities, that if peaceable means would not answer, the Indians must obtain them by force. [FN] Tunadilla was the Indian name of this place, nor does the propriety of the alteration appear. Advantage was taken of the interview to sound the chief as to his future intentions—whether he was for peace or for war; and his answers were far less difficult of solution than the riddle of the Sphynx. He complained of the ill-treatment which, as he alleged, some of the Mohawks, who had remained behind on the flight of the majority of the nation, had received at the hands of the Whigs. The Mohawks, he said, were as free as the air they breathed, and were determined to remain so; and they could not brook it that any of their brethren should be seized and imprisoned, as had been the case at the Castle. [FN] These, he demanded, should be set at liberty, and suffered to remove from the country. In regard to the question of peace or war, he said the Mohawks were always warriors—that their agreement with the King was very strong, and they were not such villains as to break their covenant. [FN] Probably on suspicion of maintaining correspondence with the enemy. The visit continued two days, during which time the Indians were well supplied with provisions, and on their departure permitted to take away some live cattle and sheep. The inhabitants, however, scattered and few, and quite remote from any considerable settlement, no longer feeling themselves safe in their houses, sought protection in places of greater security—principally in Cherry Valley, the place of their first location, whence they had removed, a few years before, into the vale of the Susquehanna. Some of the scattered settlers in the Unadilla region fled to the German Flats, and others, probably, to the older towns upon the Hudson. The Indian forces of Captain Brant continuing to increase at Oghkwaga, and the anxiety of the people becoming greater with every report from that quarter, General Herkimer [FN-1] determined to repair thither, and obtain an interview. For this purpose the General dispatched a messenger to that place, and invited the chief to meet him at Unadilla—moving forward himself at the same time, at the head of about three hundred of the local militia, from the regiments of Colonels Cox, Klock, and Isenlord, well armed and provided. The precise object of the General, in seeking this interview with Brant, remains to this day more a matter of conjecture than of certainty. The few scattered fragments of Herkimer's correspondence which have fallen into the hands of the writer, show that it was no sudden movement; but, on the contrary, that General Schuyler, Colonel Van Schaick, Colonel Harper, and others, were consulted upon the subject. On the application of Herkimer, Colonel Van Schaick was detached to his assistance on the 15th of June, with one hundred and fifty men, with which force he repaired to Cherry Valley, but could proceed no farther for want of provisions. General Schuyler was also to repair thither in person, in the event of his presence being deemed necessary. [FN-2] Ostensibly, the expedition was one of peace; [FN-3] but the extent of the preparations, and the physical strength of the expedition, imparted an equivocal character to the movement; not more so, however, than was the conduct of Brant during the whole Spring, since his proceedings were such as to keep the minds of the people in a state of feverish excitement and ceaseless uncertainty. Thus, on the 10th of June, Colonel Harper wrote urgently to General Herkimer for a supply of ammunition, in the expectation of an immediate hostile irruption of Brant into the Valley of the Schoharie Kill. On the 13th, the Cherry Valley Committee wrote to the General a still more alarming letter. Brant, according to this statement, in connexion with some of the loyalists of Unadilla, had marked a path directly through the forest to Æsopus, by which route the Tories of Ulster and Orange Counties were to join his forces at Oghkwaga; at which place the chief had vaunted that shortly he would not fear the approach of three thousand men. [FN-4] On the other hand. Major Fonda wrote, on the 19th of June, that an embassy of chiefs and sachems of the Cayuga and Seneca nations, having repaired to Oghkwaga to remonstrate with Thayendanegea against farther hostilities, the latter had determined to listen to their councils, and withdraw into the Cayuga country. In pursuance of this policy, it was added, on what was esteemed good authority, that the Mohawk chief had released a prisoner with his own hands, telling the captors that they had acted wrong. [FN-5] [FN-1] In the Autumn of 1776, three Brigadier-Generals of the militia were commissioned by the Provincial Congress of New-York, of whom Colonel Nicholas Herkimer was one. The Herkimer family was one of the first to settle at the German Flats, and the name is among those of the original patentees—not Herkimer, however, which is a corruption—but Ergemore, which was the true German name.—Letter of L. Ford to the author. [FN-2] MS. letters of Colonels Van Schaick, Tupper, and others, among Gen. Herkimer's papers. [FN-3] Letter of L. Ford, Esq. to the author. [FN-4] MS. letter from Samuel Clyde to General Herkimer. [FN-5] MS. letter of Major Jelles Fonda, among the Herkimer papers. Such was the uncertain condition of things when the expedition under consideration was commenced. Brant and Herkimer had been near neighbors and personal friends, before the troubles came on, [FN] and it is possible the General still cherished a belief that he might yet detach the dusky warrior from the cause he had embraced, but nevertheless might not be disinclined to relinquish. Perhaps he designed nothing more than to drive him from his equivocal position. Perhaps, also, should opportunity be presented, it was his intention to seize his person. But be these suppositions as they may, it will be seen that there was at least one moment in which he contemplated a more decisive course. [FN] The residence of General Herkimer was a short distance below the Little Falls of the Mohawk, near the river. His mansion, built of brick, is yet standing. Brant's farm, on which he was residing when the Revolutionary storm arose, was near the Upper Indian Castle, about three miles below the house of Herkimer. The farm lies directly upon the river, and is now very valuable. I visited the place in the Autumn of 1835. No other memorials of its last noble possessor remained than the cellar of his house, and the apple-trees which stood before his door. These were vigorous, and in full bearing.—Author. It was a full week after the arrival of General Herkimer at Unadilla before Captain Brant made his appearance. He came to the neighborhood of the General's encampment, accompanied by five hundred warriors. Having halted, he dispatched a runner to General Herkimer, with a message, desiring to be informed of the object of his visit. General Herkimer replied that he had merely come to see and converse with his brother, Captain Brant. The quick-witted messenger inquired if all those men wished to talk to his chief too? However, he said to the General that he would carry his talk back to his chief, but he charged him that he must not cross the field upon the margin of which they were standing, and departed. But an arrangement was soon made, through the agency of messengers, by which a meeting was effected. The scene exhibited at this interview, as related by those who were present at it, was novel and imposing. The hostile parties were now encamped within the distance of two miles from each other. About midway between their encampments, a temporary shed was erected, sufficiently extensive to allow some two hundred persons to be seated. By mutual stipulation their arms were to be left in their respective encampments. [FN] Soon after the adjustment of the preliminaries and the completion of the fixtures above mentioned, the chief of the Mohawks himself appeared in the edge of the distant forest, and approached the place designated, already in the occupation of Herkimer, somewhat warily, accompanied by Captain Bull, (a Tory,) William Johnson, (son of Sir William, by Brant's sister Mary,) a subordinate chief of the Mohawks, an Indian woman, and also by about forty warriors. After some little parleying, a circle was formed by General Herkimer, into which Brant and the General entered, together with the other Indian chief and two of Herkimer's officers. After the interchange of a few remarks, the chieftain, keeping an eagle-eye upon his visitor, inquired the reason of his being thus honored. General Herkimer replied, as he had done to the avant-courier, that he had come to see him on a friendly visit. "And all these have come on a friendly visit, too?" replied the chief "All want to see the poor Indians; it is very kind." he added, with a sarcastic curl of the lip. General Herkimer expressed a desire to go forward to the village, but the chief told him he was quite near enough, and that he must not proceed any farther. [FN] MS. statement of facts collected by L. Ford, Esq. The General next endeavored to enter into a conversation with the Mohawk touching the difficulties with England, in order to ascertain his feelings and intentions. The conference now became earnest and animated, although the chief at first gave Herkimer evasive and oracular answers. To a question, however, put to him directly, he finally replied:—"That the Indians were in concert with the King, as their fathers had been; That the King's belts were yet lodged with them, and they could not violate their pledge; That General Herkimer and his followers had joined the Boston people against their sovereign; That although the Boston people were resolute, yet the King would humble them; That General Schuyler was very smart on the Indians at the treaty of German Flats, [FN-1] but at the same time was not able to afford the smallest article of clothing; And finally, that the Indians had formerly made war on the white people when they were all united; and as they were now divided, the Indians were not frightened." [FN-2] [FN-1] Adjourned to Albany. [FN-2] Annals of Tryon County. Colonel Cox, who was in the suite of General Herkimer, then made a few remarks, the substance of which was, that if such was the fixed determination of the Indians, nothing farther need be said. But his manner, or some of the expressions uttered by the Colonel, which have not been preserved, gave offence to the chief. He was exceedingly irritated; [FN-1] and by a signal to the warriors attending him at a short distance, they ran back to their encampment, and soon afterward appeared again with their rifles, several of which were discharged, while the shrill war-whoop rang through the forest. Meantime, however, by explanations or otherwise, the chief was soothed and his warriors were kept at a proper distance, although the demand of General Herkimer for the surrender of sundry Tories was peremptorily refused. The conference ended by an agreement between the parties to meet again at 9 o'clock the following morning. General Herkimer and his forces, forbidden to advance any farther, encamped as before. [FN-2] [FN-1] Manuscript statement of Joseph Waggoner, in the author's possession. [FN-2] Idem. The next morning General Herkimer called one of his most trusty men aside, Joseph Waggoner by name, for the purpose of communicating to him, in confidence, a matter of great importance, respecting which the most profound secrecy was enjoined. He then informed Waggoner that he had selected him and three others to perform a high and important duty, requiring promptness, courage, and decision. His design, the General said, was to take the lives of Brant and his three attendants, on the renewal of their visit that morning. For this purpose he should rely upon Waggoner and his three associates, on the arrival of the chief and his friends within the circle as on the preceding day, each to select his man, and, at a concerted signal, shoot them down upon the spot. There is something so revolting—so rank and foul—in this project of meditated treachery, that it is difficult to reconcile it with the known character of General Herkimer. And yet it is given on the written authority of Waggoner himself, whose character was equally respectable. The patriotic veteran, in devising such a scheme, had probably reasoned himself into the belief that the intended victims were only Indians, and that in the emergency of the country, it would be justifiable to do evil that good might come. It was, however, a most reprehensible scheme—scarcely less defensible than the murder, by Catharine de Medicis, of some of the Huguenot chiefs, who were invited to Paris under the guise of friendship, on the eve of the Bartholomew massacre, and treacherously taken off by poison; and equal in its purposed atrocity, though upon a smaller scale, to the subsequent treachery of Ali Pacha of Egypt, in regard to the Mamelukes, whom he caused to be decoyed into the strong-hold of Cairo, and slaughtered. Indian that he was, there is no known act of perfidy chargeable upon Brant; and he had met Herkimer on his own invitation. A betrayal of his confidence, under those circumstances, would have brought a stain upon the character of the Provincials, which all the waters of the Mohawk could not have washed away. Fortunately, however, the design was not carried into execution. Whether the wary chieftain entertained any suspicions of foul play, is not known. But, certain it is, that his precaution and his bearing, when he arrived at Herkimer's quarters, were such as to frustrate the purpose. As he entered the circle, attended as before, he drew himself up with dignity, and addressed General Herkimer as follows:—"I have five hundred warriors with me, armed and ready for battle. You are in my power; but as we have been friends and neighbors, I will not take the advantage of you." [FN-1] Saying which, at a signal, a host of his armed warriors darted forth from the contiguous forest, all painted and ready for the onslaught, as the well-known war-whoop but too clearly proclaimed. The chief continued the discourse by advising the General to go back to his own home—thanked him for his civility in coming thus far to see him, and told him that perhaps he might one day return the compliment. Meantime, he said, he would go back to his village, and for the present the General might rest assured that no hostilities should be committed by the Indians. He then requested that the Rev. Mr. Stuart, the English missionary at Fort Hunter, might be permitted to retire into Canada, as also the wife of Colonel Butler. To these requests General Herkimer assented, although the latter was not complied with. He then presented the Indians with ten or a dozen heads of cattle, which they fell upon and slaughtered incontinently. [FN-2] Brant himself turned proudly away, and buried himself in the forest; while General Herkimer struck his tents, and retraced his steps to the valley of the Mohawk. [FN-1] Waggoner's manuscript. [FN-2] Idem. Thus terminated this most singular conference. "It was early in July, and the morning was remarkably clear and beautiful. But the echo of the war-whoop had scarcely died away, before the heavens became black, and a violent storm obliged each party to seek the nearest shelter. Men less superstitious than many of the unlettered yeomen, who, leaning upon their arms, were witnesses of the events of this day, could not fail in after-times to look back upon the tempest, if not as an omen, at least as an emblem of those bloody massacres with which these Indians and their associates afterward visited the inhabitants of this unfortunate frontier." [FN] [FN] Annals of Tryon County. This was the last conference held with the hostile Mohawks. Their chief very soon afterward drew off his warriors from the Susquehanna, and united them to the forces of Sir John Johnson and Colonel John Butler, who were concentrating the Tories and refugees at Oswego. It was at about the same period that the officers of the British Indian department had summoned a general council of the Six Nations, to be held at that place; and it is probable that Brant arrived at the post with his warriors for that occasion. According to Ramsay, the invitations to this council were sent forth by Guy Johnson, the Indians being requested to assemble "to eat the flesh and drink the blood of a Bostonian." This language was understood figuratively, however,—the roasting of an ox and a banquet being intended. The council having assembled, [FN] the business was opened by the British Commissioners, who informed the chiefs that their object in calling the meeting was to engage their assistance in subduing the rebel Colonies, the people of which had risen up against the good King their master, and were about to rob him of a great part of his wealth and possessions. As an inducement to enter the service, they were promised an ample reward. The chiefs in reply, or rather those of them who were averse to joining in the war, informed the British officers of the treaty of German Flats and Albany, in which they had bound themselves to take no part in the contest, and the parties to that compact repeated their determination to abide by the treaty, and not take up the hatchet against their white neighbors. [FN] The only account of this great Indian council, (farther than the mere statement that such a council was held,) which the author has been able to discover, is that given in the life of Mary Jemison, a white woman, who, being taken captive near Pittsburgh in 1755, when a child, after her parents were killed, was raised by the Indians, and became in fact one of them, in every thing but her birth and complexion. She married an Indian, and lived to a very advanced age, and died among them. She was present at this council; and from the fact that the truth of other portions of her interesting narrative is sustained by other authorities, her statement may be received as substantially correct. The life of this remarkable woman, who died but a few years since, was published by James D. Bemis, of Canandaigua. There will be several occasions of referring to it hereafter. The discussions were protracted, nor were the entreaties of the Commissioners of any avail against the resolution of the Indians to maintain their good faith, until they addressed their avarice, "by telling them that the people of the Colonies were few in number, and would be easily subdued; and that on account of their disobedience to the King, they justly merited all the punishment that it was possible for white men and Indians to inflict upon them. The King," they said, "was rich and powerful, both in money and subjects. His rum was as plenty as the water in Lake Ontario, and his men as numerous as the sands upon its shore; and the Indians were assured, that if they would assist in the war, and persevere in their friendship for the King until its close, they should never want for goods or money," [FN] Overcome by their persevering importunities, and by more direct and palpable appeals to their senses, in a rich display of tawdry articles calculated to please their fancies, the Indians proved recreant to their plighted faith to the Colonies, and concluded a treaty of alliance with Great Britain—binding themselves to take up the hatchet against the rebels, and continue in his Majesty's service until they were subdued. [FN] Life of Mary Jemison, written in 1823. At the close of the treaty, each Indian was presented with a suit of clothes, a brass kettle, [FN] a gun, a tomahawk and scalping-knife, a quantity of ammunition, a piece of gold, and the promise of a bounty upon every scalp they should bring in. "Thus richly clad and equipped, the Indians returned to their respective homes, after an absence of about two weeks, full of the fire of war, and anxious to encounter their (new-made) enemies." [FN] The brass kettles received at Oswego by the Senecas, (to which tribe Mary belonged,) on the occasion mentioned in the text, were yet in use in that nation, so late as 1823. From that day Thayendanegea was the acknowledged chief of the Six Nations, and he soon became one of the master spirits of the motley forces employed by Great Britain in her attempts to recover the Mohawk Valley, and to annoy the other settlements of what then constituted the North-western frontier. Whether in the conduct of a campaign or of a scouting-party, in the pitched battle or the foray, this crafty and dauntless chieftain was sure to be one of the most efficient, as he was one of the bravest, of those who were engaged. Combining with the native hardihood and sagacity of his race the advantages of education and of civilized life,—in acquiring which, he had lost nothing of his activity or his power of endurance—he became the most formidable border foe with whom the Provincials had to contend, and his name was a terror to the land. His movements were at once so secret and so rapid, that he seemed almost to be clothed with the power of ubiquity. The first of his hostile demonstrations within the Colony of New-York is believed to have been made in the month of May preceding the interview with General Herkimer; although from the semi-pacific intercourse maintained with him for several weeks longer, the fact was not then certainly known. The settlement of Cherry Valley was commenced in 1739; and in consequence of some threatened Indian troubles, a detachment of troops had been stationed there as early as 1763. But no military works were erected, and the breaking out of the war of the Revolution found the place defenceless. While Brant was collecting his warriors at Oghkwaga, however, the inhabitants bethought themselves of the necessity of defences. But not having the means to undertake the erection of any formidable work, the house of Colonel Samuel Campbell was selected as the largest, strongest, and most eligibly situated for military purposes. A rude embankment of logs and earth was thrown up around this building, so extended in its dimensions as likewise to include two large barns. These buildings were all strengthened, and provided with doors and window-shutters bullet-proof. Small block-houses were also erected within the enclosure; and to this place, in moments of peril and alarm, the inhabitants fled for protection. Martial law was proclaimed, and no persons were allowed either to enter or leave the settlement without permission. Toward the close of May, and soon after these precautionary measures had been executed, Brant conceived the idea of making a descent upon the settlement, for the purpose of either killing, or making captive, the principal inhabitants, especially the vigilant members of the Committee. It has been stated in a former page, that among the precautionary measures adopted the preceding year, the exempts from military duty had organized themselves into a volunteer company. The martial fever of course descended from sire to son; and as the population had been considerably augmented by the arrival of distant settlers for safety, a goodly number of boys were collected, who formed a corps of cadets, with no better armor than wooden swords and guns. These juvenile soldiers happened to be parading upon the esplanade in front of Colonel Campbell's house at the very hour, one bright sunny morning, when Brant and his party of warriors, who had secretly arrived from Oghkwaga, were reconnoitering the post under shelter of a tangled thicket skirting the brow of a hill about a mile distant. His vision being somewhat obstructed by the intercepting shrubbery, the chief mistook the lads for bona fide soldiers. Observing the semblance of a fortification before described, Captain Brant moved his party to a convenient lurking-place near the road leading to the Mohawk river, and there lay in ambush for the purpose of obtaining such information as might chance to come in his way. A short distance from where the chief lay ensconced behind a large rock, "the road wound along near the edge of a cliff, overhanging a rocky glen of one hundred and fifty feet deep. This chasm was shaded by evergreens, and the whole scene was shadowy and almost dark, even at mid-day. The wildness of the place was increased by the dashing of a mountain-torrent into the gloomy abyss, called, by the Indians, the falls of Tekaharawa." [FN] [FN] Annals of Tryon County. It chanced, that on the morning of that day, Lieutenant Wormwood, a promising young officer from Palatine, of an opulent family, had been despatched to Cherry Valley, with information to the authorities that a detachment from Colonel Klock's regiment of militia was to march to their defence on the following day. It was toward evening that Lieut. Wormwood started on his return to the Mohawk, accompanied by the bearer of some despatches, named Peter Sitz. As he mounted his horse in the village, he threw down his portmanteau, remarking that he needed not to take it, as he should return on the next morning with his company. He was well-mounted, and richly dressed "in a suit of ash-colored velvet, which attracted much attention during his stay;" and many persons remained at the door, looking at the noble bearing of the young patriot, until he disappeared behind the crest of the hill in the direction of the Tekaharawa. Scarcely, however, had the clattering of hoofs died away upon their ears, before a discharge of musketry resounded from the glen—the startling report being speedily followed by the soldier's horse, returning at full speed, the saddle crimsoned with blood. Suspicions of the most painful description at once flashed upon the minds of the people, and a party was immediately despatched to investigate the circumstances. They returned without success that night, but on the following morning the body of Wormwood was found behind the rock heretofore described, scalped and lifeless. It afterward appeared, that as Wormwood and Sitz approached the rock, they were hailed, but instead of answering, they put spurs to their horses and endeavored to pass. Being fired upon, Lieutenant Wormwood fell wounded, as did the horse of Sitz. The Indians rushed forth from their ambuscade, and Sitz was made prisoner; while the gallant officer was scalped by Brant's own hand. The chief is said to have lamented the death of this young man. They were not only acquaintances, but friends; and he had been fired upon under the supposition that he was an officer of the Continental army. [FN] The despatches carried by Sitz were double, and it was fortunate that he had sufficient presence of mind to destroy the genuine, and deliver the delusive papers to his savage captors. Deceived thereby as to the real strength at Cherry Valley, Brant retired without committing any farther act of hostility. Colonel Klock arrived at Cherry Valley on the following morning, accompanied by the afflicted father of the slaughtered officer, who was mourned and wept by all who knew him. [FN] Annals of Tryon County, Another coincident event, forming an appropriate conclusion to the present chapter, was the tragic death of the great Shawanese chief, Cornstock, with his gallant son, Ellinipsico; both of whom will be remembered as among the brave Indian leaders at the battle of the Kanhawa, the last action of the Cresap war, in 1774; and both of whom were now as basely murdered by white men, as were the family of Logan. The circumstances attending this foul transaction were these:—Cornstock, after the defeat of his warriors at Point Pleasant, and his subsequent treaty of peace with Lord Dunmore, had become sincerely and truly the friend of the Colonies; and while the Indians of the Northwest, generally, were preparing to take up arms with the English, he exerted himself to the utmost to prevent his own nation from any participation in the contest. But the influence of the British agents, and the example of the surrounding Indian nations, were so powerful upon the minds of the Shawanese, that Cornstock perceived his pacific efforts were likely to prove futile. Thus circumstanced, he repaired to the fort which had been erected at Point Pleasant after the battle of the Kanhawa, to lay the matter before the officer in command—Captain Arbuckle—and take his advice. He was accompanied on this mission by a young Delaware chief named Redhawk, who had also fought by his side in the Cresap war. Having made a full developement of the state of Indian affairs in the North-west, and frankly admitted that, from the causes already indicated, he should be unable to prevent the Shawanese from taking up the hatchet in the cause of the Crown, the commander of the fort deemed it expedient to detain the old chief, with his Delaware companion, as hostages for the good conduct of their people. Nor did they remain unwillingly—little anticipating the fate that awaited them—and giving all the information respecting the Indians and their country, that could be desired by the Americans. Uneasy at the protracted absence of his father, Ellinipsico, his son, went in pursuit, and traced him to the fort, where they had an affectionate meeting. Unfortunately, the day after the arrival of the young warrior at Point Pleasant, two white men having crossed the Kanhawa on a hunting expedition, were fired upon by some straggling Indians, and one of them, whose name was Gilmore, was killed. The other escaped. No sooner was the event of Gilmore's death known, than the cry of revenge was raised, and a party of ruffians assembled, under the command of a Captain Hall—not to pursue and punish the perpetrators of the murder—but to fall upon the friendly and peaceable Indians in the fort. Arming themselves, and cocking their rifles, they proceeded directly to the little garrison, menacing death to any or all who should oppose their nefarious designs. Some friend of the hostage-chiefs attempted to apprise them in advance of the approaching danger; but the savage mob were probably too close upon the heels of the messenger to allow of their escape. At the sound of the clamor without, Ellinipsico is said to have been somewhat agitated. Not so the veteran Cornstock. He had too often grappled with death on the war-path to fear his approaches now. Perceiving the emotion of his son, he calmly observed:—"My son, the Great Spirit has seen fit that we should die together, and has sent you to that end. It is his will, and let us submit," The infuriated mob had now gained the apartment of the victims; Cornstock fell, perforated with seven bullets, and died without a struggle. The son, after the exhortation of his father, met his fate with composure, and was shot on the seat upon which he was sitting. Red-hawk, the young Delaware, died with less fortitude. He hid himself away, but was discovered and slain. Another friendly Indian, in the fort at the time, was likewise killed, and his body mangled by the barbarians in a manner that would have disgraced savages of any other complexion. "Thus," says an Indian Chronicler, [FN] "perished the mighty Cornstock, sachem of the Shawanese, and king of the Northern confederacy, in 1774—a chief remarkable for many great and good qualities. He was disposed to be at all times the friend of white men, as he was ever the advocate of honorable peace. But when his country's wrongs summoned him to the battle, he became the thunderbolt of war, and made his enemies feel the weight of his arm. His noble bearing, his generous and disinterested attachment to the Colonies, his anxiety to preserve the frontier of Virginia from desolation and death, all conspired to win for him the esteem and respect of others; while the untimely and perfidious manner of his death caused a deep and lasting feeling of regret to pervade the bosoms, even of those who were enemies to his nation, and excited the just indignation of all toward his inhuman murderers." [FN] Withers's Indian Chronicles, as quoted by Drake, It argues a sad deficiency of military discipline, that such a foul transaction could have occurred at any regularly established post. The command of Arbuckle, however, must have been small, inasmuch as he was not only opposed to the commission of the outrage, but sallied forth, in company with another captain, named Stuart, for the purpose of intercepting the ruffians, and preventing the execution of their purpose. But all remonstrance was vain. The enraged assailants, pale, and quivering with fury, presented their rifles to the breasts of those officers, threatening them with instant death if they stood in their way. It has been said that Cornstock felt a presentiment of his death on the morning of its occurrence. A council had been summoned for the consideration of some business of importance, connected, probably, with Indian affairs, since the old chief bore a part in the deliberations. In the course of one of his speeches delivered on that occasion, he said, with emphasis, to the council:—"When I was young, every time I went to war, I thought it likely that I might return no more; but I still lived; I am now in your hands; you may kill me if you choose. I can die but once, and it is alike to me whether I die now or at another time." [FN] [FN] Doddridge's Indian Wars, pp. 238—240. The Indian biography of our country supplies but few additional facts concerning the life of this brave and just man. He had a son, known among the whites as The Wolf, whose name was somewhat conspicuously associated with the earlier events of the Revolution. The Wolf, with three others, was a hostage at Williamsburgh, Virginia, at the time of Lord Dunmore's embarkation on board of the British fleet. After the escape of his Lordship, he solicited and obtained an interview with The Wolf and his associates on board of his ship; during which he explained to them the causes of his flight, and urged them to flee also, as the only means of escaping the fury of the revolutionists. Adopting this counsel, they took to the woods on returning to the shore. The night following came on excessively dark. One of The Wolf's companions separated from his fellows, and was lost. The others soon afterward returned to Williamsburgh, where they were well received by the inhabitants. What farther befell The Wolf, or the house of Cornstock, is not known. |
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