Historical considerations on the siege and defence of Fort Stanwix, in 1776 : read before the New York Historical Society, June 19th, 1845
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe, 1793-1864 | New-York Historical Society
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Book ...3 ?/...x^..... ^^XhuUi >'^CXU\^' ^f^AAA^A m^> ^^^kk, --^-&mSli^ ^,^r^A- ^fn^aaSnajSI Kf^mr ■A^-^■..A^.ACA. ■ :„^ ..i ; ^^AA^^OA^'*:.'^.AA^^, ^AAAAr^^^A^^-^^^^'^^'^^^^^^W^X ^a'^' '■^^A'^'AAnn n .AA ■ '■;.■'' ' ulidlOinMjnMMMUMM ■I'^'.^Af i^Ml.^ ^^^^^^^ :':''. MVm }-, r\ ^^ ,~^ ^: A- 'Va) /s^'' ^ ;. ■ . "»,,.AAAn':^AftAA^;^' .r.,^.,/ ./^^A^AA^.- .hff\^^ht no 18 51 'Cn \^4:jj<ji>^ /y^ficyt^t/t^f^ i^<^,^''4/4/ HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS, ON TIIU SIEGE AND DEFENCE OF FORT STANWIX, IN 17 7^, BY HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT. #" HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS '^ THE SIEGE AND DEFENCE OF FORT STANWIX, IN 177*. ? READ BEFORE THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETT, JUNE 19tH, 1845. BY HENRY E: SCHOOLCUAFT. V riTBLLSHED FROM THE SOCIETY'S PROCEEDIN&S. NEW YORK: PRESS OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 1846. v^ WM. VAN NORDEJt, PRINTER, 39 WILI.IA.M ST. THE SIEGE OF FORT STANWIX. I»HAVE chosen for consideration, a passage in the eventful story of the war of the American revolution. Few^ sub- jects are fraught with more intrinsic interest to the history of man, and his progress in the scale of civilization, than this remarkable appeal to arms. Historians have, as yet, failed to render ample justice to the event. That a mere handful of people, not over three millions at utmost — scattered over a wide continent, without a gov- ernment— without funds — without arms — destitute, indeed, of all the means of sovereign action, but such as the occasion called forth — that such a people — so few in numbers, so dispersed and so destitute, should have prevailed against the most powerful nation of modern times, is still the most signal event in the history of human government. Its origin, its progress, and its issue, are alike important in their influence on the destiny of nations ; and viewed as they must be, in connection with the striking events of our colo- nization and expulsion, as it were, from the rest of the * In the patriotic feeling which marked the era, and in justice to an officer then in the acme of his favor, this fort was re-named Schuyler, but the name never obtained currency among the soldiery or the people, notwithstanding that the official letters of the American commander were thus dated. The first treaty with the Iroquois after the war, was formed here in 1784, and was called the treaty of" Fort Stanwix," and the spot was thus denominated by the inhabitants until its walls were levelled to make room for the extension of the village of Rome. The place itself was called " Rome" from the heroic defence of the republic made here. THE SIEGE OF human family, they afford instructive themes for our study. If there be not, in the contest itself, some strong tokens of the influence of that viewless hand, which often leads nations and men, " by a way they know not of,'' we have failed to draw from the shining heap of historic materials which the contest furnishes, one of its sublimest lessons. The year 1776 was the era of the appeal ; but it was not till the year after, that our fathers first truly felt the responsibilities, the perils and the gloom of that appeal. It was not till 1777 that " victory or death," glory or the gallows stared them fully in the face. If the entire annals of the war be searched, this will be found to be the darkest period of their gloom ; and this gloom \vas concentrated with its thickest darkness, on the territorial area of New York. It was here that the power of the enemy was drawn together for one grand eflbrt, and the infant republic was sought to be crushed. Washington had, indeed, within a few days of the close of '76, shed a brilliant beam of light on the waning cause, by turning on his heel, in the bitter month of December, and striking a blow at Trenton, which told the people that there was a redeeming spirit left. But he was not able long to keep the open field ; and the campaign of '77 opened with discouragements and an array of concentrated military power, on the part of the enem5% suited to appal the stout- est heart. It was emphatically the year of blood. Savage murders, instigated by infuriated bands of loyalists, charac- terized the whole interior line of the colonies, from Georgia to Maine ; while the fleets and ar . ies of England, with all the means of efficacious offence, held all the leading cities and harbors of the sea coast. It was in this year that the British Cabinet put into exe- cution by far its boldest and most politic scheme, in attempting to cut the colonies in two, by means of a military cordon from Canada to the Atlantic, across the area of New York. It was here, within our own borders, that the infant Hercules was sought to be strangled, and the contest of the revolution terminated. To compass this end, Bur- FORT STANWIX. goyne, with his full plumed army, approached from the North. Sir Henry Clinton, with a veteran force, ascended the Hudson, and sword in hand, carried the strongest passes of the Highlands ; while St. Leger, on the west, threatened still more sanguinary results, with five of the infuriated tribes of the Iroquois at his heels. In contemplating the perilous scenes that marked this year, there is no event, which, in all its aspects, both of progress and result, partakes more iully of the character of the HEROIC, than the siege of P'ort Stanvrix. It is proposed to devote the short time I am to occupy, to this particular subject. Striking as it is in itself, well worthy of historic record, and full of romantic and chivalrous adventure, in some of its episodes, the story of its defence is one, how- ever, which I should have hardly ventured to select, had I not something to add to the well known events from the voice of living and unrecorded tradition. This tradition is given, for the most part, from the lips of one of the veritable actors in its perilous scenes — a brave man and a patriot — whose name has been but recently added to the long list of departed octogenarian revolutionary soldiers.* Fort Stanwix occupied the southern verge of an elevated plain, dividing the .Mohawk river from Wood creek, which is now the site of the sylvan and beautiful village of Rome, in Oneida count)^ During all the period of our colonial history, and for uncounted centuries before, it was the thoroughfare and place of transit for the native tribes, be- tween the great lakes of the west, and the Atlantic waters. And if the portage itself has now dropped into insignificance, it is because a wise legislation, availing itself of the hint of nature, has formed a better means of communication through the Erie Canal. In conducting the operations of the war, which resulted in the conquest of Canada, Sir Jeffrey Amherst, in 1758, * Col. Lawrence Schoolcraft, who is here alluded to, died at Vernon, Oneida county, June 7th, 1840, aged 84. Vide obituary notices in the Globe and Intelli.- gencer of that month. 1* 6 THE SIEGE OF ordered a fortress to be erected on this summit. The work was entrusted to Col. Stanwix, a brave and energetic officer, who is favorably noticed in the annals of the times,* and was named after himself. It consisted originally, of a square enclosure, but was afterwards enlarged, and provi- ded with four bastions. After the conquest of Canada by the British crown, its importance became secondary, and at the period of the breaking out of the American revolu- tion, the works had fallen into dilapidation. The year 1777 found Gen. Schuyler in the command of the northern department, wdio, while he kept Burgoyne at bay with one hand, lifted the other to shield the western frontier. In the month of April of this year, anticipating the movement from Oswego, he placed fort Stanwix under the command of Col. Peter Gansevoort, with the 3rd regi- ment of New York State troops; a detachment of the Massachusetts line, and a single company of artillery. His whole force numbered but seven hundred and fifty men. He had, as his second in command, Lt. Col. Marinus Willett, an officer of indomitable courage and resources, well versed in the mode of native warfare, and a well filled muster roll of subordinates, each of whom vied with the other in acts of devotion to the cause. Officers and soldiers alike felt that the eyes of their country were upon them. They were led to view their duties, not as an ordinary service, but as a sacred trust, in the performance of which any act of indi- vidual neglect might peril the safety of the fort, and the cause which they were banded together to serve. Thus feeling and acting, the commander had a weight of moral energy in his favor, which doubles the authority of com- mand. Such are the effects of liberty upon the human heart. The first duty was to repair the fort, which was found in a wretched state, and to strengthen the works, and in this labor they exhibited the greatest energy and diligence, » Mante's History of the late war in America, &c. (State Library, Albany.) FORT STANWIX. during the months of May, June and July. It was during this labor, that the well known incident occurred, so inter- esting to the youthful reader, of an American officer, shot and scalped in the forest, whose life was saved by the sa- gacity and fidelity of his dog. The officer was Capt. Greig, who, in the command of a sodding party, had ventured, with his dog and gun, a little too far from the fort, and out of the reach of the guns. At this work of repairs, the gar- rison labored, indeed, up to the day of the investment. Separated from the point of military support by a wide interval, and shut in from all communication w^th it, by bands of hostile savages, they had not the means of supply- ing themselves with many of the necessaries of a siege. In the haste of their march, or the scantiness of the mifitary chest, they found themselves short of even a flag, to hoist on the staff. The deficiency was supplied by cutting up an officer's camblet cloak. And when it had been duly pieced out and finished, it was sent up to its airy height with a shout of fealty to the cause, and amid the sounds of artillery. It is from circumstances as small as this, that we may denote the temper and exigencies of the times, and recall the high devotion and patriotic resources with which the contest was waged. The enemy appeared on the 2d of August, in an advan- ced party, led by Lt. Bird, with a large escort of Mohawks. On the 3d, Col. Barry St. Leger, who commanded the ex- pedition, debarked his troops and artillery in full force, on the banks of Wood creek, and immediately took up his line of march, across the Deowainsta — this was the Indian name of the portage — and invested the fort. The dis- ance was short of» two miles. He had under his com- mand, on this occasion, an effective regiment of foot ; the Royal Greens ; Johnson's Rangers ; a corps of loyalists originally from the Mohawks' valley, led by Cols. Butler and Claus, and the effective warriors of five cantons of the Iroquois, namely, the Senecas, Cayugas, Tuscaroras, Onon- dagas and Mohawks, the latter under the immediate orders of Joseph Brant, less generally known under an Indian name 8 THE SIEGE OF of Thyendanegea. This entire auxiliary force, including the loyalists, constituted the command of Sir John Johnson. St. Lcger's whole force is stated at seventeen hundred men, which he had concentrated from Montreal and Niagara, at Oswego in the month of July. He had twelve pieces of artillery, including four howitzers and two mortars, with ample stores and munitions of every kind. No part of his force, however, exceeded, in violence and bitter rancor, the embodied tories and loyalists, who had fled to Canada from the valley of the Mohawk and the sources of the Sus- quehanna. St. Leger's movements had been narrowly watched, from the time he left Oswego, by the friendly Oneidas, among whom a chief, called by courtesy Col. Louis, was conspicu- ous. This chief carefully reported his progress up the Os- wego and Onondaga rivers, from day to day ; brought ac- counts of the number and description of troops, and the probable time of the investment. To secure the full co- operation of the soldiery, and keep them in heart, this infor- mation was communicated to them at their respective head quarters. Tradition adds, that it turned out to be so min- utely correct, that the investment took place on the very day indicated by the faithful sachem. " To-morrow," said he to the commander, " they will be here," and on the morrow the enemy came.* The 3d of August was a day of deep scenic interest, and revealed a military pageant, which made a striking impres- sion. It was a calm and beautiful morning when the ene- my took up their line of march from Wood Creek. The intervening ground was an open plain of wide extent, most elevated towards its central and southern edge. Ganse- voort's men were paraded on the ramparts looking in the direction where the Oneida sachem had told them the ene- my w^ould appear. Music soon was heard. The scarlet color of their uniforms next showed itself. They had taken their standards from their cases that morning, and as color «L. S. FORT STANWIX. 9 after color came into view, and they unfurled them to the breeze, an intense degree of interest was felt, but scarcely a word uttered. To many of the men who had newly en- listed, the scene was novel. Some of them had served the year before under Montgomery ; others in the movements at Ticonderoga and Crown Point under St. Clair. Some veterans dated their service in prior wars, under Sir Wil- liam Johnson, Prideaux and Bradstreet. There were others who were mere lads of seventeen. The Indians, spreading out on the flanks, gave the scene an air of Asiatic gorgeous- ness,- mixed with terror. For their loud yells were heard above the British drum and bugle. The whole display, the exactitude of the order of march, the glitter of banners, the numbers present, and the impending danger of the contest, were designed for effect upon the American garrison. Not a gun was, however fired. The panorama was gazed at in silence.* But if St. Leger designed to strike terror into the hearts of his opponents by an ostentatious display of his force, and expected an easy victory and an immediate surrender, as one of his orders, since published, prove, he was greatly deceived. The Americans, while they admired his discipline, were counting his men. The only effect which is known to ha,ve been produced upon the garrison, was a better appre- ciation of the nature of the contest they had before them, and a firmer determination to meet its utmost exigencies. In this, officers and men were one. They saw in these In- dian hordes, equipped with wild feathers and glistening axes, a powerful and merciless enemy, with whom it might be their fate to grapple in open field, and they were driven, by this reflection, into still closer bonds of unity. They had before resolved as a body, and they now resolved, man by mant to defend the works at all hazards, and to " do or die " in their defence. This is the language of the commander, in an official letter. The garrison had, at this moment, six weeks provisions, *L. S. 10 THE SIEGE OP with a good supply of fixed ammunition, but was so short of ball and ordnance stores as to limit itself to nine rounds per day, during the seige. The very balls which the enemy fired, were in truth picked up in the intervals and fired back.* St. Leger marched up, in plain view of the troops, and took up his line of encampment on elevated grounds, on the banks of the Mohawk, east of the fort. He erected his gun batteries, with corresponding redouts to cover them, within six hundred yards of t^jat angle of the fort. Twelve guns, of all calibre, were here quickly brought into position,- and the fire opened next morning. It was soon found, however, that his field guns were too light to penetrate the works. His howitzers and bombs were therefore his most effective means of offence. And these, the garrison, during a long seige, became very expert in watching, announcing them shot by shot, and avoiding their effects by immediate pros- tration on the ramparts or the ground. Sentinels were stationed to watch every match applied, and to cry out " shot " or " shell !"* Sir John Johnson, with the loyalists and refugees from the Mohawk valley, fixed his encampment on the south, or front of the fort, at such a distance as placed him without the reach of cannon shot. He had the Mohawk river im- mediately on his right, and the forest, with Brant's forces on his left. This made his position a strong one, should it be assailed. Parties of Indians encamped in various posi- tions, completed the circle of investment and limited the garrison night and day, to the exact area enclosed by its walls. The INIohawks were on the south-west. A point of woods extended from the Mohawk camp, so near to the S. W. bastion of the fort, that a rifle ball could traverse the inter- val. On the first day of the seige, it was observed that several shots had been fatally fired from the thick top of a pine tree, standing in the angle. A gun charged with •L. S. FORT STANWIX. 11 grape was brought with instant dexterity to bear on this tree. The result was, that as soon as it was fired, a stal- wart Indian tumbled to the ground, together with a quan- tity of the cut branches.* This little incident put the sol- diers in high glee, and gave a good omen of success, f The siege had continued three days, with the daily and always fearful alarm cry of " shot " or " shell !" sung out by the sentinels, when Adam Helmer, a native of the Mo- hawk valley, reached the fort at an early hour in the day, with two men, bringing intelligence that General Herkimer was on his march for its relief, with the whole efiective militia force of the Mohawk valley and the sources of the Susquehanna. This vigilant scout, who had eluded the In- dians, brought word that Herkimer had reached the neigh- borhood of the Oriskany, and had given him orders to re- quest the commander to apprize him of his safe entrance ^ into the fort, by three heavy discharges of artillery, rapidly fired. The signal was immediately given. Gansevoort determined at the same moment, to make a diversion in Herkimer's favor. The troops were paraded in a square, and the intelligence communicated. Col. Willett then went down into the esplanade and addressed the men to this effect : — Soldiers, you have heard that Gen. Herkimer is on his march to our relief. The commanding officer feels satisfied that the tories and queen's rangers have stolen off in the night with Brant and his Mohawks, to meet him. The camp of Sir John is therefore weakened. As many of you as feel willing to follow me, in an attack upon it, and are not afraid to die for liberty, will shoulder your arms, and step out one pace in front. J Two hundred men obeyed the impulse almost at the same moment ; fifty more, with a three pounder, were soon after added. A rain storm which now came up suddenly, hindered * I was informed by an aged Oneida, last summer, that loaded guns were drawn up by a cord from the foot of the tree, and returned after firing for the purpose of being reloaded. See Notes on the Iroquois. Alb., 1846. tL. S. JL. S. 12 THE SIEGE OP their immediate march, but as soon as it ceased, they issued from the sally-port at a brisk pace, and rushing down upon the camp of Sir John, carried it at the point of the bayonet, drove the enemy through the Mohawk, and captured his camp, baggage and public stores. Part of the enemy were at the moment below the banks of the river, and had stack- ed their arms. Sir John was reposing in his tent as the weather was Avarm, with his coat off, and fled in this plight with his men, through the river.* The surprize was com- plete. All his papers, correspondence and baggage were taken. Among the captured articles were three standards — the first taken after the surprise at Trenton. It is among the traditions which I employ in these sketches, that the teams of the fort went out, and returned seven times, laden with the plunder of his camp. There were three teams in the quartermaster's service, making twenty-one loads of camp stores and munitions.* Having rifled the camp, Willett next turned his arms against the Mohawks. Their camp was also found weak- ened by the warriors withdrawn to Oriskany, and was like- wise taken and plundered. The. few Iroquois who escaped it, made no effective resistance," but fled and dispersed them- selves in the woods. Their lines were charged at a quick step, and their wigwams riddled with balls. In the meantime, St. Leger, who occupied the elevated grounds east of the fort, marshalled a force with two brass field pieces, to cut otf Willett's return. This force was for a while kept in obeyance, by the guns of the American commander. When it reached an effective position, its guns delivered their fire, high above the heads of their as- sailants. Not a shot took effect. Willett returned it briskly with a well aimed fire, directly in front, and reach- ed and entered the fort, without the loss of a single man* The spirit, alacrity and success with which this sally was conducted, and its effects upon the enemy, render it one of the most brilliant achievements of the siege. Indian run- •L. S. FORT STANWIX. 13 ners were immediately dispatched by Sir John, to bear the news of this assault to Oriskany. We must now withdraw attention to a scene, which was being enacted at the same moment as at this storied spot, at the distance of about eight miles. It has been mentioned, that an express from Gen. Herkimer reached Gansevoort, in the early part of the day, apprising him of his approach. Gen. Herkimer, on reaching the vicinity of the site of Utica, on the 5th of August, had wished to strengthen himself with reinforcements which had not yet joined him ; but in con- sequence of the conduct of some of his officers, who taunted him with cowardice, and as the event proved, had more zeal than courage, he mounted his horse, and gave the or- der " march on," and rapidly pushed forward, on the 6th of August. It was now but the third day since the fort had been regularly invested. Herkdmer did not, as some ac- counts state, march without guards in front and on his flanks, but owing to the high words and insulting language of the morning, he pressed rapidly on their heels. He rode a noble horse, and himself led the way. By ten o'clock he had reached and descended into the low grounds of the val- ley of the Oriskany. A large part of his army had already entered the defile, when his guards, both front and flank, were suddenly shot down, a general discharge was poured in from higher grounds, and the wild shouts of the Indians told him he was in the midst of an ambuscade. The ef- fects of this sudden attack, accompanied as it was by the high Sa-sa-kwon of the Indians, were appaling and sanguin- ary. It was impossible, in so close a defile, matted with woods, to form his men, who fell thickly around him. A part of his force v/hich had not yet descended into the val- ley, and which embraced some of his rash counsellors and defamers of the morning, fled without firing a gun. He had but two regiments of militia, without a single field piece, on reaching this dreary spot ; and he was thus left to battle the enemy at fearful odds, with a reduced force, which it was impossible to concentrate. Disorder reigned, 14 THE SIEGE OF but it was the disorder of brave men, who loved their gen- eral and who soon began to recover. He had opposed to him in this engagement, a detachment of Sir John Johnson's regiment of greens, and Butler's ran- gers, with a strong body of the Indians, led by Joseph Brant, in person. They had seized a favorite position, which in- fested the pass. Whichever way he turned, he found himself in the midst of his enemies. The fight was hot and murderous ; but, aside from the temporary panic, it was not a fight, on his part, with militia unaccustomed to Indian warfare, and bidian barbarity. The people of the Mohawk had fought in other wars. Few men in America were better skilled in this species of warfare than they. But they were opposed in the two corps of tories and ran- gers, b}^ persons of the same experienced stamp. It was a fight of neighbor with neighbor. Many, who had espoused the royal cause, and fled to Canada, now returned to battle for the country, with a degree of ire and fury, which even that of the Mohawks did not exceed. Hemmed in by woods, it was, to a great extent, a combat between individuals, and the contest gave rise to many exhibitions of high, dar- ing and indomitable prowess, which were probably never equalled in America. Herkimer himself, although surpri- sed, conducted with the utmost bravery and coolness. His horse was shot down early in the contest, and he was thus brought to the ground, with his leg shattered below the knee. Binding it up hastily, he directed his saddle to be taken from the expiring animal, and placed on a hillock, which permitted him to sit at ease, in a position which al- lowed him to extend^his limbs and gave him a view of the field. He then drew his tinder box Irom his pocket, and lighting his pipe deliberately smoked it while the battle raged around.* In the early part of this action, the advantage was with the assailants, but, in its progress, it partook, more closely, of an equal contest. Herkimer's men began to fight in * Campbell's Annals of Tryon County. FORT STANWIX. 15 CIRCLES, an order of battle by which they not only protected their ranks, but poured outwardly, a destructive fire. Other portions of the command, adopted the Indian mode of fighting from behind trees, but fighting in couples, The advantage of this fighting in couples was this : it had been observed that as soon as a single shot, came from behind a tree an Indian rushed up, before the assailant could re-load, and tomahawked him. By fighting in couples, there was always one shot, in return, so that they were prepared for this movement, and paid the savage for his termerity. Not only was this species of order restored, but a turning point in the battle was produced, by a providential and most severe and instantaneous rain storm, which parted the combatants, and gave time for reflection and manoeu- vring. It was this storm which had delayed the sortie, of Willett. Col. Butler determined to avail himself of this interim, to throw the American Commander off his guard, by feign- ing the arrival of an expected relief from the Fort. He knew the Americans expected a reinforcement. Disguising a detachment of the Greens, by a plain American hat, they approached from the direction of the garrison. But the trick was detected, as soon as they came within hailing distance, and the contest resumed with even greater obsti- nacy than before. It now, however, took more character istically, the aspect of a contest between, whig and tory refugee and settler, loyalist and revolutionist. The Indians, who, it is now known, had suffered severely, were made to keep at a more respectful distance. They had lost, too, their favorite position of attack. Herkimer, on the other hand, had made use of the ces- sation of firing, by removing to a piece of high level ground, where he had formed his entire command in a circle,* and where, as the shower broke away, he stood firmly, await- ing the expected attack. One or two incidents, in the second part of the battle, may serve to show the determined and heroic courage, with which it was fought. * Stone's Brant, vol. 1. p. 237. 16 THE SIEGE OF As the Greens, disguised as Americans, came up, they were hailed by Captain Gardenier, who recognized them by the colour of their coats. At the same moment, one of his men recognized a friend in the enemies' ranks, put out his hand, which the other suddenly seizing, jerked him into the ranks, with the words, " you are my prisoner." A struggle ensued, during which, Gardenier, watching his opportunity, sprang forward, levelled the captor with his spear aud rescued his man. A rush was immediately made upon him by two men, of whom he slew one, and wounded the other. Three of the Greens now set upon him. In the struggle one of his spurs, became entangled in their cloths, and he fell. Both his thighs were now transpierced with bayonets. A third bayonet was aimed at his breast. Seizing it, with great energy, he wrenched it away and brought the man down upon his breast, and thus made a shield of him, till one of his own men named Adam Miller, came to his rescue. Miller was now assailed, when Gar- denier rose to his seat, and although his hand had been woefully lacerated by having the bayonet drawn through it, he grasped his spear, which had fallen to the ground, and thrust the barb into the side of the assailant. He fell and expired. It proved to be Lieut. Mc Donald of the loy- alists of Tryon county. In the midst of this struggle, some of Gardenier's own men, deceived by the Greens, called out to him, to desist, that he was killing his friends. He replied, " they are not friends, but enemies — fire away." A heavy volley ensued, in which thirty of the Greens and as many of the Indians fell. It happened, at another point of the circle, that three of the Royal Greens, rushed through the ranks, to make prisoner of a Captain Dillenback — a bold and resolute officer, who was known to have declared that he would nev- er be taken alive. One of these assailants seized his gun, but he wrenched it back, and felled him with it. The second he shot dead, and having now an empty gun, he thrust the third through the body with his bayonet. The result, how- ever, unfortunately for this brave patriot, verified his de- FORT STANWIX. 17 claration, for in the moment of his triumph, a shot from another hand laid him low. So fierce a contest could not be long kept up. Besides, the firing was continued in the direction of the fort, and the enemy judged rightly, that their camp had been at- tacked and their presence might become necessary.* And thus the express of Herkimer and the sortie of the garrison, became directly instrumental in the successful issue of this battle. The moment the Indians partook of this fear, coupled as it was, with their own actual loss, they raised the retreating cry of " Oonah ! Oonah ! " and fled in every direction. The Greens and Rangers followed them, amid the huzzas and shots of the Americans, leaving the latter, masters of the field.* Thus terminated the battle of Oriskany, one of the most bloody, and hard fought contests of the Revolutionary war. Every fourth man out of the ranks of Herkimer, it is said, was killed either in battle or burned at the stake,! and its results carried mourning into almost every family, over a wide frontier. The exact number killed, is not certainly known. The American accounts admit two hundred killed on the field, besides prisoners and missing. The British reported double that number. Of their own loss, no exact accounts were published. A prudent historian^ makes it fully equal, if not superior, to our own. Of the Senecas alone, thirty six were killed, and the return of this tribe is said by Mary Jamison to have produced the loudest wail- ing in the villages. § Nor did the Mohawks escape without severe loss, along with their western associates. And there is no word in the Indian reminiscences of their wars, which is more emphatically recollected, than that of Oriskany.|| As soon as the enemy fled, and the sounds of the war- * Stone's Brant, vol. 1. p, 240, also Campbell's Tryon County. t Campbell's Tryon County. t Stone. §Narr. of Mary Jemison. II The Senecas of Allegany told me in July last, that they had lost thirty chiefs in the battle of Oriskany. They denied that they had burned eight officers at the stake, but said that these officers had been killed in running the gauntlet. See " Notes on the Iroquois," Albany, 1846, being " Senate Document twenty-four." 2* 18 THE SIEGE OF whoop died away, Herkimer's men prepared litters to carry off their wounded — between forty and fifty of which were constructed. The wounded General himself was thus carried by his affectionate soldiery, to his own house, below the Little Falls, with his leg badly shattered and ban- daged. Ten days after the battle, amputation became necessary. The operation was unskilfully performed by a French surgeon in Arnold's detachment, who could not succeed in effectually staunching the blood, and he thus fell a victim to professional ignorance. But he preserved, on his dying bed, the same calmness and compo- sure which had marked his conduct on the field. As he saw that his dissolution must shortly ensue, from the con- tinued bleeding and the bad state of his wound, he called for his family bible, and having gathered his domestic circle around him, he read aloud, in a clear voice, the thirty-ninth psalm — "O Lord rebuke me not in thy wrath, neither chasten me in thy hot displeasure ; for thine arrows stick fast in me, and thy hand presseth me sore." The entire psalm is one of singular appropriateness ; and, the ac- quaintance with the sacred volume which its selection evinces, proves that if, in the field, he was an undaunted soldier, he was not less on the threshold of another world, a trustful Christian. Other Generals have fallen in the arms of victory, but Nicholas Herkimer may be said to have fallen in the arms of his Maker. Congress passed a reso- lution, and appropriated money to erect a monument to his memory — an act of justice yet unperformed : but his name has long been inscribed in the hearts of his countrymen as one of the noble patriots to whom we owe our national independence. The death of Herkimer took place on the sixteenth day of the siege — to the events of which we now return. The fort was still hotly pressed, and surrounded with an infuria- ted host of Indian warriors, who were now irritated by their losses in the battle. The brave Herkimer had been killed ; but Gansevoort still remained, and the flag of the fortress entrusted to his command, still waved undauntedly over FORT STANWIX. 19 the sources of the Mohawk. Every evening and morning that flag was lowered and raised to the sounds of music and artillery, and thus renewed to the besiegers the offence excited by this new type of a new sovereign power. So the besieged and besiegers, felt that it was a struggle between king and people. This constituted the acme of the contest, which was conducted with a degree of bitter- ness and hatred, the strength of which it is now difficult to realize. The effect of the battle on the besieging army, in connection with the sortie, it is now known, had told well upon the American cause. That cause, however, still felt the hand of gloom, and needed all the patriotic firmness and military skill which it found, both in the commander and in the garrison. Gansevoort was a man eminently fitted for the command entrusted to him, and like the heroic General Chasse, whom, in his resolute defence of Antwerp, he much resembled, he was calm under threats and summons of surrender, and maintained his equanimity amidst the explosion of shells, which, on one occasion, carried desolation to his hospital.* Of the particular results of the battle of Oriskany, fought for his relief, he then knew nothing but from rumor, which gave the most disastrous and exaggerated accounts. He saw himself in charge of a fortress, far removed from the point of succor, with the intervening forests filled with a wakeful and ruthless enemy. This enemy guarded every pass with the watchfulness of a panther for his prey. There were, in fact, no adequate roads and bridges to favor the approach of disciplined troops, and no open fields upon which they could manoeuvre. Bonaparte himself, in such a predicament as Herkimer occupied, would have been put to the study of a species of tactics, of which he never dreamt. And it is no cause of wonder, that a yeoman soldiery, like those at Oriskany, should have been suddenly attacked and cut down by a masked foe. Wonderful was it indeed, that they were not annihilated. *L. S. 20 THE SIEGE OF Stanwix was, indeed, at this period, like an oasis on the desert, to which a few brave men. had retired. No Arab could be more keen for his prey than the Mohawks who surrounded it. Week after week there was nothing heard in that lone fortress, but the yell of the savage without, and the bursting bomb within. But these were sounds which had no quailing effect upon the American commander. Schooled in the patriotic circle which had a Schuyler, a Clinton, a Hamilton, aye, and a Washington for its proto- types and counsellors, he deemed his life a cheap tribute, if it could be given for the benefit of his country. Upon that high altar he had pledged his faith, nor is there the slightest evidence, in history or tradition, public or private, to shew that he ever for a moment faltered in this obligation, or swerved from the high principles of the contest. He knew that the eyes of America were upon him and his command, and felt that the results of the siege were, and would be, in- vested with a degree of importance far above that which would ordinarily attach to the numerical force actually employed. He had determined to maintain the post to the last extremity, and then, abandoning it at night, to cut his way through the enemy. This he expressed.* The actual state of his provisions and military stores were such as by no means to render him free from apprehension, and these were sought to be deepened by popular reports, and by the artifices of the enemy. On the very night after the battle of Oriskany, St. Leger induced Col. Bellinger and Major Fry,* who were prisoners in his camp, to \ATite a strong letter to Col. Gansevoort, exaggerating the losses of the day, and urging him to surrendt^r. This was sent in by an officer, who made a verbal demand of surrender. Gan- sevoort answered, in these words : " Tell your commander that I can give no reply to a verbal summons, unless he makes it in person, except from the mouths of my cannon.'' f The next day a flag of truce, borne by Col. Butler and two associates, approached the fort, with another message * A brother-in-law of Gen. Herkimer, t Gansevoort papers. Alb. 