«Живописная летопись Революции. Том 1»

Единственный баронский особняк в Соединенных Штатах. — Сэр Уильям Джонсон и его жены. — Голландская девушка. — Молли Брант.

бумажные обои на ней продержались ровно столько же времени и, несомненно, являются теми самыми, которые баронет наклеил на стену впервые. Все в подобном роде прекрасно сохранилось, и посетитель может созерцать в первозданном виде единственный баронский особняк в Соединенных Штатах.

Здесь сэр Уильям жил во всем великолепии и с относительной властью английского барона средних веков. У него было много слуг и приближенных, «жены и наложницы, сыновья и дочери разных цветов кожи». * Его усадьба была его замком, а вокруг нее, за крыльями, был насыпан тяжелый каменный бруствер высотой около двенадцати футов. Обладая властью и влиянием индейского агента своего правительства в его отношениях с конфедерацией Шести Наций, имея приятную внешность, достоинство в манерах и определенный стиль красноречия, который нравился индейцам, он завоевал среди племен такое влияние, каким до него не обладал ни один белый человек. Когда в 1760 году генерала Амхерста отплыл из Освего в свой поход на Канаду, сэр Уильям привел к нему в это место тысячу индейских воинов из Шести Наций, что было наибольшим числом когда-либо собиравшихся под ружьем единовременно в поддержку Англии. Он сделал многих вождей своими доверенными лицами, и им он

* Говорят, что сэр Уильям был отцом сотни детей, главным образом от местных уроженок, которые были молодыми скво или женами индейцев, считавших за честь интимную связь с видным королевским агентом. Он пользовался обычаем, который, по словам Холдена, был тогда распространен среди Шести Наций. «Они доходили в своем гостеприимстве до того, что позволяли видным чужеземцам, — пишет он, — выбрать молочную скво из числа красивейших в округе, вымытую и одетую в лучшие одежды, в качестве спутницы на время его пребывания у них». У сэра Уильяма было две жены, хотя они не обретали этот статус до тех пор, пока долго не жили с баронет. Симмс утверждает, ссылаясь на достоверные предания, что его первой женой была молочная немецкая девушка, которая по обычаю тех времен была продана некоему человеку по фамилии Филлипс, жившему в долине Мохок, в уплату денег за проезд капитану корабля эмигрантов, на котором она прибыла в эту страну. Она была красивой девушкой и привлекала к себе значительное внимание. Сосед сэра Уильяма, слышавший, как тот заявлял о намерении никогда не жениться, спросил его, почему бы ему не взять симпатичную немку в экономки. Тот ответил: «Я так и сделаю». Вскоре после этого сосед зашел к Филлипсу и поинтересовался, где же та верхненемецкая девушка. Филлипс ответил: «Джонсон, этот проклятый ирландец, приходился на днях и предложил мне за нее пять фунтов, грозя отхлестать меня плеткой и украсть ее, если я не продам ее. Я решил, что пять фунтов лучше порки, и взял их, а он забрал девчонку». Она была матерью сэра Джона Джонсона и двух дочерей, которые стали женами соответственно Гая Джонсона и Даниэля Клауса. * Когда она была при смерти, сэр Уильям женился на ней, чтобы узаконить ее детей. После ее смерти ее место заняла Молли Брант, сестра мохокского сахепа, от которой у него родилось несколько детей. Ближе к концу жизни сэр Уильям женился на ней, чтобы узаконить и ее детей, и ее потомки ныне составляют одних из самых уважаемых людей в Верхней Канаде. Первая встреча с ней и знакомство сэра Уильяма, как их описывает мистер Стоун (примечание к «Жизни Бранта», т. I, стр. 387), имеют значительный налет романтики. Ей было около шестнадцати лет, когда он впервые увидел ее на смотру ополчения, причем это была весьма бойкая и красивая девушка. Один из штабных офицеров, проезжавший на прекрасном коне, приблизился к ней, и «в шутку она попросила разрешить ей сесть позади. Не предполагая, что она сможет совершить такой трюк, он ответил согласием. По первому слову она вскочила на круп с ловкостью газели. Конь сорвался с места на полном галопе, и она, цепляясь за офицера, с развевающимся пледом и темными волосами, летящими по ветру, пронеслась по плацу так быстро, как стрела. Баронет, бывший свидетелем этого зрелища, восхищенный дерзостью молодой скво и очарованный ее красотой, привел ее к себе домой в качестве жены». Согласно индейским обычаям, этот поступок делал ее истинной женой, и во всех ролях жены и матери она была весьма образцовой.

* Эти две дочери, оставленные умирающей матерью на попечение подруги, воспитывались почти в полном уединении. Этой подругой была вдова офицера, погибшего в бою, которая, удалившись от мира, посвятила все свое время заботе об этих детях. Их тщательно обучали религиозным обязанностям и различным видам рукоделия, но самих их полностью оградили от общества. К шестнадцати годам они никогда не видели ни одной дамы, кроме матери и ее подруги, ни одного джентльмена, кроме сэра Уильяма, который навещал их комнату ежедневно. Их одежда не соответствовала модам и всегда состояла из распашных платьев из тончайшего ситца поверх юбок из зеленого шелка. Их волосы, длинные и красивые, сзади стягивались простой лентой. После замужества они быстро усвоили светские манеры и стали прекрасными женами.

Диплом сэра Уильяма Джонсона. — Его развлечения и внезапная смерть. — Бегство сэра Джона. — Его вторжение в долину в 1780 году.

обыкновении выдавать диплом, свидетельствующий об их хорошем поведении. Один из таких дипломов хранится в Историческом обществе Нью-Йорка, и его копия с виньеткой приведена в примечании. * Его дом был местом паломничества сахепов Шести Наций для советов и торговли, и там ежегодно происходило распределение присланных его правительством подарков среди индейцев. По таким случаям он развлекал себя и ублажал своих гостей празднествами и играми, многие из которых были весьма комичными. ** Нередко можно было видеть молодых индейцев и скво, состязающихся в беге наперегонки или борющихся за безделушки, а индейцы обоих полов часто демонстрировали поразительную ловкость.

Смерть сэра Уильяма была внезапной; одни приписывали ее яду, добровольно принятому им в 1774 году, а другие — апоплексическому удару, вызванному чрезмерным нервным возбуждением. Его владения, которые вместе с его должностями и титулами перешли к его сыну, оставались в неприкосновенности недолго, но были брошены, как мы видели, в 1776 году, а впоследствии проданы посторонним лицам на основании акта об изгнании и конфискации, принятого законодательным собранием Нью-Йорка.

Сэр Джон, как мы уже отмечали, бежал в Канаду, где получил чин полковника. Секвестрация его огромных земельных владений пробудила в нем чувства неутолимой мести, которые проявились в его страшных набегах на селения в округе Трайон. Один из них преследовал главной целью возвращение серебряной утвари и других ценностей, принадлежавших баронету и зарытых неподалеку от Джонсон-Холла. События этого набега развивались следующим образом:

Около полуночи в воскресенье, 21 мая 1780 года, сэр Джон с отрядом из пятисот тори и индейцев, которые проникли в страну от Кроун-Пойнта до реки Сакондага, появился у Джонсон-Холла, оставшись незамеченным никем, кроме своих сторонников. Его силы были разделены на два отряда, и между полуночью и рассветом он начал опустошать поселение, сжигая каждое здание, за исключением тех, что принадлежали тори. Одно подразделение было отправлено в обход восточным курсом, чтобы выйти к Мохоку у Трайпс-Хилла *** ниже Кахнаваги, откуда ему предписывалось двигаться вверх по долине, уничтожить Кахнавагу и соединиться с другим подразделением в устье ручья Кайюдютта. Этот марш был выполнен; множество жилищ было сожено, и несколько жизней принесено в жертву. Сэр Джон тем временем во главе одного из подразделений проследовал через селение Джонстаун незамеченным часовыми у стоявшего там небольшого укрепленного форта и до рассвета оказался в усадьбе, бывшей когда-то его собственной, где захватил двух пленных.

По пути для соединения с другим подразделением на Кайюдютте он подошел к дому Томпсона Сэммонса, который вместе со

* От достопочтенного сэра Уильяма Джонсона, баронета, единоличного агента и суперинтенданта Его Величества по делам индейцев в Северном департаменте Северной Америки, полковника Шести Соединенных Наций, их союзников и иждивенцев и т. д., и т. д.

* «Кому бы то ни было... Принимая во внимание, что я получал неоднократные доказательства вашей привязанности к интересам его британского Величества и усердия в его службе по разным поводам, в особенности............настоящим даю вам публичное свидетельство сего в доказательство благоволения и одобрения Его Величества, объявляя вас, вышеупомянутого......., являющимся.........вашего........., и рекомендуя всем подданным Его Величества и верным индейским союзникам относиться к вам и рассматривать вас во всех случаях сообразно вашему званию, положению и заслугам...... Дано под моей рукой и скреплено гербовой печатью в Джонсон-Холле, ......... день ......... 17.. года».

* «По приказу сэра У. Джонсона».

** Среди развлечений, придуманных сэром Уильямом, были бега в мешках, когда участники надевали мешки из-под муки на ноги и завязывали их под мы Кэн; свинья с намазанным жиром хвостом предлагалась в качестве приза тому, кто схватит ее за этот хвост; полфунта чаю предлагалось в приз тому, кто сумеет скорчить самую кислую минную; пузырь с шотландским нюхательным табаком — самой сварливой из двух старух; а также можно было видеть детей, исследующих лужи с грязевой водой, в которые баронет бросал несколько пенни. — Симмс, 121.

*** В этом месте жил Гаррет Путнам, весьма активный сторонник вигов, и его дом подвергся нападению первым. Не ведая о намерениях захватчиков, Путнам сдал свой дом двоим англичанам по фамилии Горт и Платто, убежденным тори. Нападавшие ворвались в дом, сняли скальпы с обоих мужчин, у которых не было времени заявить о своей принадлежности, и лишь с рассветом они обнаружили, что их жертвами стали их собственные друзья, а не Путнам с сыном, как они предполагали.

Захват семьи Сэммонсов. — Жестокости и преступления захватчиков. — Отступление Джонсона. — Обнаружение его негра и серебряной утвари.

всей семьей, бывшей в числе самых активных и бесстрашных патриотов в округе Трайон. Сэр Джон всегда уважал мистера Сэммонса и по-прежнему высоко ценил его, но он был полон решимости увезти его и его семью в плен, если удастся, и тем самым сократить число своих наиболее влиятельных врагов в долине Мохок. Было еще темно, когда тори по имени Сандерленд с решительным отрядом окружил дом Сэммонсов, и первым известием об опасности для семьи стал арест Томаса, младшего из трех сыновей, когда тот вышел за дверь, чтобы посмотреть на погоду. * Отец и трое сыновей были захвачены в плен, а женщины семьи не были потревожены после того, как дом ограбили, забрав все ценное. Мародеры затем двинулись со своими пленными к устью Кайюдютты, и оба отряда пошли вверх по долине, сжигая, грабя и убивая. Почтенный старик по имени Дэвид Фонда был убит и оскальпирован примкнувшим к экспедиции отрядом индейцев, а за время их марша на протяжении нескольких миль были убиты девять пожилых людей, четверо из которых перешагнули восьмидесятилетний рубеж. Вернувшись в Кахнавагу, они пустили в ход факелы, и дотла сгорело каждое здание, кроме церкви. Из Кахнаваги они направились в Джонстаун ** через владения Сэммонсов, где на подворье было сожжено каждое строение, а женщины, лишенные защитников и помощников, остались без крыши над головой и почти нагими. Семь лошадей, находившихся в конюшнях, были уведены, и та счастливая утренняя семья к вечеру оказалась в абсолютной нищете.

Ближе к закату Джонсон заметил, что окрестное ополчение собирается под началом полковника Джона Харпера, и решил сниматься с лагеря. К нему присоединилось несколько лоялистов, и ему удалось заполучить двадцать негров-рабов, которых он оставил в момент своего бегства весной 1776 года. Среди них был верный негр, зарывший его сундуки с серебряной утварью. С пленными, рабами и богатой добычей он направил свой путь к Сакондаге. Жители казались настолько застигнутыми врасплох и были так охвачены паникой из-за внезапности и свирепости вторжения, что его отступление прошло беспрепятственно, и он благополучно добрался до Сент-Джонса на реке Сорель. Пленники были отправлены в Шамбли, находившийся в двенадцати милях оттуда, и заключены в тамошнюю крепость. ***

* Томас Сэммонс, бывший тогда мальчиком, дожил почти до недавних лет и предоставил много интересных сведений об этом набеге сэра Джона автору «Жизни Бранта», со страниц которого я почерпнул значительную часть приведенного здесь повествования. Мистер Сэммонс был членом Конгресса с 1803 по 1807 год, а затем с 1809 по 1813 год.

** Я уже упоминал ранее, что серебряная утварь и другие ценные вещи, принадлежавшие Джонсону, были зарыты верным рабом. Когда комитет округа Трайон в соответствии с актом о секвестре завладел усадьбой Холл и прочим имуществом, старший из сыновей мистера Сэммонса стал арендатором и покупателем раба Уильяма, который прятал серебро. Сэра Джон обнаружил этого раба в усадьбе, и пока он оставался там в течение нескольких часов в тот злополучный день, негр при помощи четырех солдат выкопал серебро, заполнившее две бочки. Затем его распределили среди сорока солдат, уложивших его в ранец, причем квартирмейстер записал имя каждого с указанием доставленной ему вещи, и таким образом добро было благополучно доставлено в Монреаль. Джонсон-Холл с семьюстами акрами земли был продан комиссарами Джеймсу Колдуэллу из Олбани за 30 000 долларов с оплатой государственными ценными бумагами. Чтобы показать истинную стоимость таких ценных бумаг — иными словами, состояние общественного кредита колоний около 1779 года, — можно упомянуть, что мистер Колдуэлл немедленно перепродал имущество за 7000 долларов (на бумаге на 23 000 долларов меньше того, что он за него отдал), и при этом заработал на сделке. Он купил ценные бумаги за бесценок, а от покупателя получил звонкую монету.

*** While halting on the day after leaving Johnstown, the elder Mr. Sammons requested a personal interview with Sir John, which was granted. He asked to be released, but the baronet hesitated. The old man then recurred to former times, when he and Sir John were friends and neighbors. "See what you have done, Sir John," he said. "You have taken myself and my sons prisoners, burned my dwelling to ashes, and left the helpless members of my family with no covering but the heavens above, and no prospect but desolation around them. Did we treat you in this manner when you were in the power of the Tryon county Committee? Do you remember when we were consulted by General Schuyler, and you agreed to surrender your arms? Do you not remember that you then agreed to remain neutral, and that upon that condition General Schuyler left you at liberty on your parole? Those conditions you violated. You went off to Canada; enrolled yourself in the service of the king; raised a regiment of the disaffected, who abandoned their country with you; and you have now returned to wage a cruel war against us, by burning our dwellings and robbing us of our property. I was your friend in the Committee of Safety, and exerted myself to save your person from injury. And how am I requited? Your Indians have murdered and scalped old Mr. Fonda, at the age of eighty years, a man who, I have heard your father say, was like a father to him when he settled in Johnstown and Kingsborough. You can not succeed, Sir John, in such a warfare, and you will never enjoy your property more!" The appeal had its effect. The baronet made no reply, but the old gentleman was set at liberty, and a span of his horses was restored to him. A Tory, named Doxstader (whom we shall soon meet again at Currytown), was seen upon one of the old man's horses, and refused to give him up. After the war he returned to the neighborhood, when Mr. Sammons had him arrested, and he was obliged to pay the full value of the animal. The two elder sons of Mr. Sammons, Frederic and Jacob, were taken to Canada. At Chambly they concerted a plan for escape by the prisoners rising upon the garrison, but the majority of them were too weak-hearted to attempt it. The brothers, however, succeeded in making their escape a few days afterward, and the narrative of their separate adventures, before they reached their homes, forms a wonderful page in the volume of romance. It may be found in detail in the second volume of Stone's Life of Brant. Jacob, after a toilsome journey from St. John's to Pittstown, in Vermont, through the trackless wilderness, reached Schenectady in safety, a few weeks after his capture, where he found his wife and children. But Frederic was recaptured, and it was nearly two years before he returned. His adventures in making his escape from an island among the St. Lawrence rapids, above Montreal, and his subsequent travel through the wilderness from the St. Lawrence to the Mohawk, with a fellow-prisoner, partake of all the stirring character of the most exciting legendary fiction. Almost naked, and with matted hair, they entered the streets of Schenectady, a wonder and a terror to the inhabitants at first, but, when known, they were the objects of profound regard. A strange but well-attested fact is related in connection with the return of Frederic. After the destruction of his property upon the Mohawk, the elder Sammons and his family returned to Marbletown, in Ulster county, whence they had emigrated. On the morning after his arrival at Schenectady, Frederic dispatched a letter to his father, by the hand of an officer on his way to Philadelphia. He left it at the house of Mr. Levi De Witt, five miles distant from Mr. Sammons's. On the night when the letter was left there, Jacob dreamed that his brother Frederic was living, and that a letter, announcing the fact, was at Mr. De Witt's. The dream was twice repeated, and the next morning he related it to the family. They had long given Frederic up as lost, and laughed at Jacob for his belief in the teachings of dreams. Jacob firmly believed that such a letter was at De Witt's, and thither he repaired and inquired for it. He was told that no such letter was there, but urged a more thorough search, when it was found behind a barrel, where it had accidentally fallen. Jacob requested Mr. De Witt to open the letter and examine it, while he should recite its contents. It was done, and the dreamer repeated it word for word! Frederic lived to a good old age, enjoying the esteem and confidence of his fellow-citizens. He was chosen an elector of President and Vice-president in 1837.

Pursuit of Johnson.—Incursion of Ross and Butler.—Action of Willett.—Battle at Johnstown.—Adventures of the Sammonses.

Governor Clinton was at Kingston, Ulster county, when intelligence of this invasion reached him. He repaired immediately to Albany, and sent such forces, composed of militia and volunteers, as he could raise, to overtake and intercept the invaders. One division, commanded by the governor in person, pushed forward to Lakes George and Champlain, and at Ticonderoga was joined by a body of militia from the New Hampshire Grants. At the same time Colonel Van Schaick, with eight hundred militia, pursued the enemy by way of Johnstown. But Sir John was far beyond the reach of pursuers, and too cautious to take a route so well known as that of the lakes. He kept upon the Indian paths through the wilderness west of the Adirondack Mountains, and escaped. This was the last visit made by Johnson to the Mohawk Valley during the war, but his friends invaded the settlement the following year, and near Johnson Hall a pretty severe battle took place.

On the 24th of October, 1781, Major Ross and Walter Butler, at the head of about one thousand troops, consisting of regulars, Indians, and Tories, approached the settlement so stealthily that they reached Warren Bush (not far from the place where Sir Peter Warren made his first settlement, and the place of residence of Sir William Johnson on his arrival in America) without their approach being suspected. The settlement was broken into so suddenly that the people had no chance for escape. Many were killed, and their houses plundered and destroyed. As soon as Colonel Willett, then stationed at Fort Rensselaer, was informed of this incursion, he marched with about four hundred men for Fort Hunter, on the Mohawk. Colonel Rowley, of Massachusetts, with a part of his force, consisting of Tryon county militia, was sent round to fall upon the enemy in the rear, while Willett should attack them in front. The belligerents met a short distance above Johnson Hall, and a battle immediately ensued. The militia under Willett soon gave way, and fled in great confusion to the stone church in the village; and the enemy would have had an easy victory,

Retreat of Ross and Butler.—Fight on West Canada Creek.—Death of Walter Butler.—Last Battle near the Mohawk.

had not Howley emerged from the woods at that moment, and fallen upon their rear. It was then nearly four o'clock in the afternoon, and the fight was kept up with bravery on both sides until dark, when the enemy retreated, or rather fled, in great disorder, to the woods. During the engagement, and while Rowley was keeping the enemy at bay, Willett succeeded in rallying the militia, who returned to the fight. The Americans lost about forty killed and wounded. The enemy had about the same number killed, and fifty made prisoners.

The enemy continued their retreat westward nearly all the night after the battle, and early in the morning Willett started in pursuit. He halted at Stone Arabia, and sent forward a detachment of troops to make forced marches to Oneida Lake, where, he was informed, the enemy had left their boats, for the purpose of destroying them. In the mean while he pressed onward with the main force to the German Flats, where he learned that the advanced party had returned without accomplishing their errand. From a scouting party he also learned that the enemy had taken a northerly course, along the West Canada Creek. With about four hundred of his choicest men, he started in pursuit, in the face of a driving snow-storm. He encamped that night in a thick wood upon the Royal Grant, * and sent out a scouting party, under Jacob Sammons, to search for the enemy. Sammons discovered their forces a few miles in advance of the Americans, and, after reconnoitering their camp, communicated the fact to Willett that they were well armed with bayonets. That officer deferred his meditated night attack upon them, and continued his pursuit early in the morning, but the enemy were as quick on foot as he. In the afternoon he came up with a lagging party of Indians, and a brisk but short skirmish ensued. Some of the Indians were killed, some taken prisoners, and others escaped. Willett kept upon the enemy's trail along the creek, and toward evening came up with the main body at a place called Jerseyfield, on the northeastern side of Canada Creek. A running fight ensued; the Indians became terrified, and retreated across the stream at a ford, where Walter Butler, who was their leader, attempted to rally them. A brisk fire was kept up across the creek by both parties for some time, and Butler, who was watching the fight from behind a tree, was shot in the head by an Oneida, who knew him and took deliberate aim. His troops thereupon fled in confusion. The Oneida bounded across the creek, and found his victim not dead, but writhing in great agony. The Tory cried out, "Save me! Save me! Give me quarters!" while the tomahawk of the warrior glittered over his head. "Me give you Sherry Falley quarters!" shouted the Indian, and buried his hatchet in the head of his enemy. He took his scalp, and, with the rest of the Oneidas, continued the pursuit of the flying host. The body of Butler was left to the beasts and birds, without burial, for charity toward one so blood-stained had no dwelling-place in the bosoms of his foes. The place where he fell is still called Butler's Ford. The pursuit was kept up until evening, when Willett, completely successful by entirely routing and dispersing the enemy, wheeled his victorious little army, and returned to Fort Dayton in triumph. ** This was the closing scene of the bloody drama performed in the Valley of the Mohawk during the Revolution, a tragedy terrible in every aspect; and we, who are dwelling in the midst of peace and abundance, and so far removed, in point of time, from the events, that hardly an actor is living to tell us of scenes that seem almost fabulous, can not properly estimate the degree of moral and physical courage, long suffering, patient endurance, and hopeful vigilance which the people of that day exhibited. It was a terrible ordeal for the patriots. Like the three holy men of Babylon, they passed through a "fiery furnace heated one seven times more than it was wont to

* The Royal Grant, it will be remembered, was the tract of land which Sir William Johnson shrewdly procured from Hendrick, the Mohawk sachem, by outwitting him in a game of dreaming.—See page 106.

** The sufferings of the retreating army must have been many and acute. The weather was cold, and in their hasty flight many of them had cast away their blankets, to make their progress more speedy. The loss of the Americans in this pursuit was only one man; that of the enemy is not known. It must have been very great. Colonel Willett, in his dispatch to Governor Clinton, observed, "The fields of Johnstown the brooks and rivers, the hills and mountains, the deep and gloomy marshes through which they had to pass they only could tell; and perhaps the officers who detached them on the expedition."

Return to Fultonville.—The Sammons House.—Local Historians.—The departed Heroes.—The Kane House.

be," yet they came out unscathed—"neither were their coats changed nor the smell of fire had passed on them." We are yet to visit Currytown, Sharon Springs, and Cherry Valley, and note some incidents of the civil war, reserved for record here, and then we shall leave old Tryon county, with the pleasant anticipations of the "homeward-hound."

We returned to Fultonville, from our excursion to Johnstown, by the western road, and passed the premises formerly owned by Sampson Sammons, near the winding Cayadutta. The house, which was built upon the foundation of the one destroyed by the miscreants under Johnson, has a venerable appearance; but the trailing vines that cover its porch, and the air of comfort that surrounds it, hide all indications of the desolation of former times. We arrived at Fultonville in time to dine, and there I spent an hour pleasantly and profitably with Jeptha R. Simms, Esq., the author of a "History of Schoharie County and the Border Wars of New York," a work of much local and general interest, and a valuable companion to Campbell's "Annals of Tryon County." It is greatly to be lamented that men like Campbell and Simms, and Miner, of Wyoming, who gathered a large proportion of the facts concerning the Revolution from the lips of those who participated in its trials, have not been found in every section of our old thirteen states equally industrious and patriotic. It is now too late, for the men of the Revolution are mostly in the grave. I have found but few, very few, still alive and sufficiently vigorous to tell the tales of their experience with perspicuity; and a hundred times, in the course of my pilgrimage to the grounds where

Discord raised its trumpet notes

And carnage beat its horrid drum,

have my inquiries for living patriots of that war been answered with "Five years ago Captain A. was living," or "three years ago Major B. died;" or "last autumn Mother C. was buried;" all of whom were full of the unwritten history of the Revolution. But they are gone, and much of the story of our struggle for independence is buried with them. They are gone, but not forgotten:

"They need

No statue or inscription to reveal

Their greatness. It is round them; and the joy

With which their children tread the hallow'd ground

That holds their venerated bones, the peace

That smiles on all they fought for, and the wealth

That clothes the land they rescued—these, though mute,

As feeling ever is when deepest—these

Are monuments more lasting than the fanes

Rear'd to the kings and demi-gods of old."

Percival.

I returned to Fort Plain, by rail-road, toward evening, and the next morning, accompanied by the friend with whom we were sojourning, I started for Currytown. * We went by the way of Canajoharie, a pleasant little village on the canal, opposite Palatine, and thence over the rugged hills southward. A little below Canajoharie we sketched an old stone house which was erected before the Revolution, and was used soon afterward by the brothers Kane, then the most extensive traders west of Albany. An anecdote is related in connection with the Kanes, which illustrates the proverbial shrewdness of Yankees, and the confiding nature of the old stock of Mohawk Valley Dutchmen. A peddler (who was, of course, a Yankee) was arrested for the offense of traveling on the Sabbath, contrary to law, and taken before a Dutch justice near Caughnawaga. The peddler pleaded the urgency of his business. At first the Dutchman was inexorable, but at length, on the payment to him of a small sum, agreed to furnish the Yankee with a written permit to travel on. The justice, not being expert with the pen, requested the peddler to write the "pass." He wrote a draft upon the Kanes for fifty dollars, which the unsus-

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

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

pecting Dutchman signed. The draft was presented and duly honored, and the Yankee went on his way rejoicing. A few days afterward the justice was called upon to pay the amount of the draft. The thing was a mystery, and it was a long time before he could comprehend it. All at once light broke in upon the matter, and the victim exclaimed, vehemently, in broken English, "Eh, yah! I understands it now. Tish mine writin', and dat ish de tam Yankee pass!" He paid the money and resigned his office, feeling that it was safer to deal in corn and butter with honest neighbors, than in law with Yankee interlopers.

We reached Currytown, a small village nearly four miles south of Canajoharie, at about noon. The principal object of my visit there was to see the venerable Jacob Dievendorff, who, with his family, was among the sufferers when that settlement was destroyed by Indians and Tories in July, 1781. Accompanied by his son-in-law (Dr. Snow, of Currytown), we found the old patriot busily engaged in his barn, threshing grain; and, although nearly eighty years of age, he seemed almost as vigorous and active as most men are at sixty. His sight and hearing are somewhat defective, but his intellect, as exhibited by his clear remembrance of the circumstances of his early life, had lost but little of its strength. He is one of the largest land-holders in Montgomery county, owning one thousand fertile acres, lying in a single tract where the scenes of his sufferings in early life occurred. In an orchard, a short distance from his dwelling August, 1848 was still standing, which was stockaded and used as a fort. It is fast decaying, but the venerable owner allows time alone to work its destruction, and will not suffer a board to be taken from it. The occurrences here have already been recorded, by Campbell and Simms, as related to them long ago by Mr. Dievendorff and others, and from these details I gather the following facts, adding such matters of interest as were communicated me by Mr. Dievendorff himself and his near neighbor, the venerable John Keller.

On the 9th of July, 1781, nearly five hundred Indians, and a few Loyalists, commanded by a Tory named Doxstader, attacked and destroyed the settlement of Currytown, murdered several of the inhabitants, and carried others away prisoners.

The house of Henry Lewis (represented in the engraving) was picketed and used for a fort. ** The

* I here present a portrait of Mr. Dievendorff which he kindly allowed me to make while he sat upon a half bushel in his barn. Also, a sketch of the back of his head, showing its appearance where the scalp was taken off. The building is a view of the one referred to in the text as the Currytown fort, now standing in Mr. Dievendorff's orchard. The method used by the Indians in scalping is probably not generally known. I was told by Mr. Dievendorff and others familiar with the horrid practice that the scalping-knife was a weapon not unlike, in appearance, the bowie-knife of the present day. The victim was usually stunned or killed by a blow from the tomahawk. Sometimes only a portion of the scalp (as was the case with Mr. Dievendorff) was taken from the crown and back part of the head, but more frequently the whole scalp was removed. With the dexterity of a surgeon, the Indian placed the point of his knife at the roots of the hair on the forehead, and made a circular incision around the head. If the hair was short, he would raise a lappet of the skin, take hold with his teeth, and tear it instantly from the skull. If long, such as the hair of females, he would twist it around his hand, and, by a sudden jerk, bare the skull. The scalps were then tanned with the hair on, and often marked in such a manner that the owners could tell when and where they were severally obtained, and whether they belonged to men or women. When Major Rogers, in 1759, destroyed the chief village of the St. Francis Indians, he found there a vast quantity of scalps, many of them comically painted in hieroglyphics. They were all stretched on small hoops.

** Mr. Dievendorff told me that on one occasion the fort was attacked by a party of Indians. There were several women, but only one man, in the fort. The savages approached stealthily along a ravine, a little north of the fort, and were about to make an assault upon the frail fortification, when they were saluted with a warm fire from it. There were several muskets in it, which the women loaded as fast as the man could fire; and so rapid were the discharges, that the Indians, supposing quite a large garrison to be present, fled to the woods. The remains of the building are still scarred by many bullet marks.

Attack on Currytown.—The Captives.—Expedition under Captain Gross.—Battle at New Dorlach, now Sharon Springs.

settlers, unsuspicious of danger, were generally at work in their fields when the enemy fell upon them. It was toward noon when they emerged stealthily from the forest, and with torch and tomahawk commenced the work of destruction. Among the sufferers were the Dievendorffs, Kellers, Myerses, Bellingers, Tanners, and Lewises. On the first alarm, those nearest the fort fled thitherward, and those more remote sought shelter in the woods. Jacob Dievendorff, the father of the subject of our sketch, escaped. His son Frederic was overtaken, tomahawked, and scalped, on his way to the fort, * and Frederic's brother Jacob, then a lad eleven years old, was made prisoner. A negro named Jacob, two lads named Bellinger, Mary Miller, a little girl ten or twelve years old, Jacob Myers and his son, and two others, were captured. The Indians then plundered and burned all the dwellings but the fort and one belonging to a Tory, in all about twelve, and either killed or drove away most of the cattle and horses in the neighborhood. When the work of destruction was finished, the enemy started off in the direction of New Dorlach, or Turlock (now Sharon) with their prisoners and booty.

Colonel Willett was at Fort Plain when Currytown was attacked. On the previous day he had sent out a scout of thirty or forty men, under Captain Gross, to patrol the country for the two-fold purpose of procuring forage and watching the movements of the enemy. They went in the direction of New Dorlach, and, when near the present Sharon Springs, discovered a portion of the camp of the enemy in a cedar swamp. ** Intelligence of this fact reached Willett at the moment when a dense smoke, indicating the firing of a village, was seen from Fort Plain, in the direction of Currytown. Captain Robert M'Kean, with sixteen levies, was ordered to that place, with instructions to assemble as many of the militia on the way as possible. With his usual celerity, that officer arrived at the settlement in time to assist in extinguishing the flames of some of the buildings yet unconsumed. Colonel Willett, in the mean time, was active in collecting the militia. Presuming that the enemy would occupy the same encampment that night, and being joined during the day by the forces under M'Kean and Gross, he determined to make an attack upon them at midnight, while they were asleep. His whole strength did not exceed one hundred and fifty effective men, while the enemy's force, as he afterward learned, consisted of more than double that number. The night was dark and lowering, and the dense forest that surrounded the swamp encampment of the enemy was penetrated only by a bridle path. His guide became bewildered, and it was six o'clock in the morning before he came in sight of the enemy, who, warned of his approach, had taken a more advantageous position. From this position it was desirable to draw them, and for that purpose Willett sent forward a detachment from the main body, which he had stationed in crescent form on a ridge now seen on the south side of the turnpike, opposite the swamp, who fired upon the Indians and then retreated. The stratagem succeeded, for the Indians pursued them, and were met by Willett, advancing with one hundred men. M'Kean was left with a reserve in the rear, and fell furiously upon the flank of the enemy. A desperate fight for a short time ensued, when the Indians broke and fled, but kept up a fire from behind trees and rocks. Willett and his men, understanding their desultory warfare, pursued them with bullet and bayonet, until they relinquished the fight, and fled precipitately down their war-path toward the Susquehanna, leaving their camp and all their plunder behind. They left forty dead upon the field. The American loss was five killed, and nine wounded and missing. The brave M'Kean was

* He was not killed, but lay several hours insensible, when he was picked up by his uncle, Mr. Keller, who carried him into the fort. He recovered, and lived several years, when he was killed by the falling of a tree.

** A part of this swamp may still be seen on the north side of the western turnpike, about two miles east of the springs.

Death of Captain M'Kean.—The Currytown Prisoners.—Dievendorff.—Sharon Springs.—Analysis of the Waters

mortally wounded, and died at Fort Plain a few days after the return of the expedition to that post. I was informed by Mr. Lipe, at Fort Plain, that the body of the captain was buried near the block-house, and that the fort was afterward called Fort M'Kean, in honor of the deceased soldier.

At the time of the attack, the Indians had placed most of their prisoners on the horses which they had stolen from Currytown, and each was well guarded. When they were about to retreat before Willett, fearing the recapture of the prisoners, and the consequent loss of scalps, the savages began to murder and scalp them. Young Dievendorff (my informant) leaped from his horse, and, running toward the swamp, was pursued, knocked down by a blow of a tomahawk upon his shoulder, scalped, and left for dead. Willett did not bury his slain, but a detachment of militia, under Colonel Veeder, who repaired to the field after the battle, entombed them, and fortunately discovered and proceeded to bury the bodies of the prisoners who were murdered and scalped near the camp. Young Dievendorff, who was stunned and insensible, was seen struggling among the leaves; and his bloody face being mistaken for that of an Indian, one of the soldiers leveled his musket to shoot him. A fellow-soldier, perceiving his mistake, knocked up his piece and saved the lad's life. He was taken to Fort Plain, and, being placed under the care of Dr. Faught, a German physician, of Stone Arabia, was restored to health. It was five years, however, before his head was perfectly healed; and when I saw him (August, 1848), it had the tender appearance and feeling of a wound recently healed. He is still living (1849), in the midst of the settlement of Currytown, which soon arose from its ashes, and is a living monument of savage cruelty and the sufferings of the martyrs for American liberty. *

Toward evening we left Currytown for Cherry Valley, by the way of Sharon Springs. The road lay through a beautiful, though very hilly, country. From the summits of some of the eminences over which we passed the views were truly magnificent. Looking down into the Canajoharie Valley from the top of its eastern slope, it appeared like a vast enameled basin, having its concavity garnished with pictures of rolling intervales, broad cultivated fields, green groves, bright streams, villages, and neat farm-houses in abundance; and its distant rim on its northern verge seemed beautifully embossed with wooded hills, rising one above another in profuse outlines far away beyond the Mohawk. We reached the Springs toward sunset, passing the Pavilion on the way. ** They are in a broad ravine, and along the margin of a hill; and near them the little village of Sharon has grown up. ** Our stay was brief—-just long enough to have a lost shoe replaced by another upon our horse, and to visit the famous fountains—for, having none of the "ills which flesh is heir to" of sufficient malignity to require the infliction of sulphureted or chalybeate draughts, we were glad to escape to the hills and vales less suggestive of Tophet and the Valley of Hinnom. How any but invalids, who find the waters less nauseous than the allopathic doses of the shops,

* The little girl (Mary Miller) was found scalped, but alive, and was taken, with the lad Dievendorff, toward Fort Plain. She was very weak when found, and on taking a draught of cold water, just before reaching the fort, instantly expired.

** The Pavilion is a very large hotel, situated upon one of the loftiest summits in the neighborhood, and commanding a magnificent view of the country. It was erected in 1836 by a New York company, and is filled with invalids and other visitors during the summer.

*** The Sharon Sulphur Springs have been celebrated for their medical properties many years, and are said to be equal in efficacy to those in Virginia. There is a chalybeate spring in the neighborhood. The whole region abounds in fossils, and is an interesting place for the geologist.

Arrival at Cherry Valley.—Judge Campbell and his Residence.—His Captivity.—Movements of Brant

and, consequently, are happier than at home, can spend a "season" there, within smelling distance of the gaseous fountains, and call the sojourn pleasure, is a question that can only be solved by Fashion, the shrewd alchemist in whose alembic common miseries are transmuted into conventional happiness. The sulphureted hydrogen does not infect the Pavilion, I believe, and a summer residence there secures the enjoyment of pure air and delightful drives and walks in the midst of a lovely hill country.

It was quite dark when we reached Cherry Valley, eight miles west of Sharon Springs. * This village lies imbosomed within lofty hills, open only on the southwest, in the direction of the Susquehanna, and as we approached it along the margin of the mountain on its eastern border, the lights sparkling below us, like stars reflected from a lake, gave us the first indication of its presence.

In the course of the evening we called upon the Honorable James S. Campbell, who, at the time of the destruction of the settlement in 1778, was a child six years of age. He is the son of Colonel Samuel Campbell, already mentioned, and father of the Honorable William W. Campbell, of New York city, the author of the Annals of Tryon County, so frequently cited. With his mother and family, he was carried into captivity. He has a clear recollection of events in the Indian country while he was a captive, his arrival and stay at Niagara, his subsequent sojourn in Canada, and the final reunion of the family after an absence and separation of two years. ** His residence, a handsome modern structure, is upon the site of the old family mansion, which was stockaded and used as a fort at the time of the invasion. The doors and window-shutters were made bullet-proof, and the two barns that were included within the ramparts were strengthened.

In a former chapter we have noticed that Brant's first hostile movement, after his return from Canada and establishment of his head-quarters at Oghkwaga, was an attempt to cut off the settlement of Cherry Valley, or, at least, to make captive the members of the active Committee of Correspondence. It was a sunny morning, toward the close of May, when Brant and his warriors cautiously moved up to the brow of the lofty hill on the east side of the town, to reconnoiter the settlement at their feet. He was astonished and chagrined on seeing a fortification where he supposed all was weak and defenseless, and greater was his disappointment when quite a large and well-armed garrison appeared upon the esplanade in front of Colonel Campbell's house. These soldiers were not as formidable as the sachem supposed, for they were only half-grown boys, who, full of the martial spirit of the times, had formed themselves into companies, and, armed with wooden guns and swords, had regular drills each day. It was such a display, on the morning in question, that attracted Brant's attention. His vision being somewhat obstructed by the trees and

* Cherry Valley derived its name, according to Campbell, from the following circumstance: "Mr. Dunlop [the venerable pastor whose family suffered at the time of the massacre in 1778], engaged in writing some letters, inquired of Mr. Lindesay [the original proprietor of the soil] where he should date them, who proposed the name of a town in Scotland. Mr. Dunlop, pointing to the fine wild cherry-trees and to the valley, replied, 'Let us give our place an appropriate name, and call it Cherry Valley,' which was readily agreed to."—Annals of Tryon County.

** The children of Mrs. Campbell were all restored to her at Niagara, except this one. In June, 1780, she was sent to Montreal, and there she was joined by her missing boy. He had been with a tribe of the Mohawks, and had forgotten his own language; but he remembered his mother, and expressed his joy at seeing her, in the Indian language. Honorable William Campbell, late surveyor general of New York, was her son. She lived until 1836, being then 93 years of age. She was the last survivor of the Revolutionary women in the region of the head waters of the Susquehanna.

*** This pleasant dwelling is upon the northern verge of the town, on the road leading from Cherry Valley to the Mohawk. The sketch was taken from the road.

Brant deceived by Boys.—Death of Lieutenant Wormwood.—Shrewdness of Sitz.—"Brant's Rock."

shrubs in which he was concealed, he mistook the boys for full-grown soldiers, and, considering an attack dangerous, moved his party to a hiding-place at the foot of the Tekaharawa Falls, in a deep ravine north of the village, near the road leading to the Mohawk. * In that deep, rocky glen, "where the whole scene was shadowy and almost dark even at mid-day," his warriors were concealed, while Brant and two or three followers hid themselves in ambush behind a large rock by the road side', for the purpose of obtaining such information as might fall in his way.

On the morning of that day, Lieutenant Wormwood, a promising young officer of Palatine, had been sent from Fort Plain to Cherry Valley with the information, for the committee at the latter place, that a military force might be expected there the next day. His noble bearing and rich velvet dress attracted a good deal of attention at the village; and when, toward evening, he started to return, accompanied by Peter Sitz, the bearer of some dispatches, the people, in admiration, looked after him until he disappeared beyond the hill. On leaving, he had cast down his portmanteau, saying, "I shall be back for it in the morning." But he never returned.

As the two patriots galloped along the margin of the Tekaharawa Glen, they were hailed, but, instead of answering, they put spurs to their horses. The warriors in ambush arose and fired a volley upon them. The lieutenant fell, and Brant, rushing out from his concealment, scalped him with his own hands. Sitz was captured, and his dispatches fell into the hands of Brant. Fortunately they were double, and Sitz had the presence of mind to destroy the genuine and deliver the fictitious to the sachem. Deceived by these dispatches concerning the strength of Cherry Valley, Brant withdrew to Cobelskill, and thence to Oghkawaga, and the settlement 'was saved from destruction at that time.' Its subsequent fate is recorded in a previous chapter.

Judge Campbell kindly offered to accompany us in the morning to "Brant's Rock." *** Having engaged to be back at Fort Plain in time the next day to take the cars for Albany at two o'clock, and the distance from the "rock" being twelve miles, over a rough and hilly road, an early start was necessary, for I wished to make a sketch of the village and valley, as also

* The Tekaharawa is the western branch of the Canajoharie or Bowman's Creek, which falls into the Mohawk at Canajoharie, opposite Palatine.

** Campbell's Annals.

*** This rock, which is about four feet high, lies in a field on the left of the road leading from Cherry Valley to the Mohawk, about a mile and a half north of the residence of Judge Campbell. It is a fossiliferous mass, composed chiefly of shells. Behind this rock the body of Lieutenant Wormwood, lifeless and the head scalped, was found by the villagers, who had heard the firing on the previous evening. Judge Campbell, who accompanied us to the spot, pointed out the stump of a large tree by the road side, as the place where Lieutenant Wormwood fell. The tree was pierced by many bullets, and Judge Campbell had extracted several of them when a boy.

Morning Scene near Cherry Valley.—Light—Departure for Albany.—Woodworth's Battle

of the rock. At early dawn, the light not being sufficient to perceive the outline of distant objects, I stood upon the high ridge north of the village which divides the head waters of the eastern branch of the Susquehanna from the tributaries of the Mohawk. As the pale light in the east grew ruddy, a magnificent panorama was revealed on every side; and as the stars faded away, and trees, and fields, and hills, and the quiet village arose from the gloom, and the sun's first rays burst over the eastern hills into the valley, lighting it up with sudden splendor, while the swelling chorus of birds and the hum of insects broke the stillness; and the perfumes of flowers arose from the dewy grass like sweet incense, the delighted spirit seemed to hear a voice in the quivering light, saying,

"From the quicken'd womb of the primal gloom

The sun roll'd black and bare,

Till I wove him a vest, for his Ethiop breast,

Of the threads of my golden hair;

And when the broad tent of the firmament

Arose on its airy spars,

I pencil'd the hue of its matchless blue,

And spangled it round with the stars.

I waken the flowers in their dew-spangled bowers,

The birds in their chambers of green,

And mountains and plain glow with beauty again

As they bask in my matinal sheen.

Oh, if such the glad worth of my presence to earth,

. Though fitful and fleeting the while,

What glories must rest on the home of the blest,

Ever bright with the Deity's smile."

William Pitt Palmer.

On the north the Valley of the Canajoharie stretches away to the Mohawk, twelve miles distant, whose course was marked by a white line of mist that skirted the more remote hills; and on the south Cherry Valley extends down among the mountains toward the Susquehanna proper, and formed the easy war-path to the settlement at its head, from Oghkwaga and Unadilla. From the bosom of the ridge whereon I stood spring the head waters of the eastern branch of the Susquehanna and those of Canajoharie. I had finished the sketch here given before the sun was fairly above the tree-tops, and, while the mist yet hovered over the Tehakawara, we were at Brant's Rock, within the sound of the tiny cascades. There we parted from Judge Campbell, and hastened on toward Fort Plain, where we arrived in time to breakfast, and to take the morning train for Albany. Before leaving, let us take a parting glance at the Revolutionary history of the Mohawk Valley, for we may not have another opportunity.

Soon after the irruption of Dockstader, or Doxstader, into the Currytown and New Dor-lach settlements, a party of Tories and Indians made a descent upon Palatine, under the conduct of a son of Colonel Jacob Klock. They were betrayed by one of their number, and fled to the woods for safety, without accomplishing any mischief. At the German Flats and in that vicinity several spirited rencounters took place between the enemy and the patriot militia. One of them was marked by great bravery on the part of Captain Solomon Woodworth, and a small company of rangers which he had organized. He marched from Fort Dayton to the Royal Grant for the purpose of observation. On the way he fell in with an Indian ambush. Without warning, his little band was surrounded by savages, who made the forest ring with the war-whoop. One of the most desperate and bloody engagements of the war ensued. Woodworth and a large number of his rangers were slain, and the victorious Indians took several of them prisoners. Only fifteen escaped.

Другой инцидент произошел в поселении под названием Шеллс-Буш, примерно в пяти милях к северу от селения Херкимер, и заслуживает мимолетного упоминания. Богатый немец по имени Джон Кристиан Шелл, или Шелл, построил собственный блокгауз в два этажа, причем верхний этаж выступал вперед, позволяя осажденным вести огонь отвесно по нападавшим. *

* В то время между Скенектади и фортом Скайлер насчитывалось не менее двадцати так называемых фортов. Обычно это были прочные жилые постройки с частоколом, устроенные так, чтобы в каждой из них могли найти защиту пятнадцать-двадцать семей.

Нападение тори на «Шеллс-Буш». — Блокгауз Шеллса. — Яростный бой. — Захват Макдональда. — Гимн Лютера.

Жарким августовским днем, когда жители в основном были в полях, Дональд Макдональд, один из шотландских беженцев из Джонстауна, с отрядом из шестидесяти индейцев и тори совершил нападение на Шеллс-Буш. Жители по большей части бежали в форт Дейтон, но Шелл и его семья укрылись в его блокгаузе. Он и два его сына (всего у него было восемь сыновей) работали в поле. Сыновья были захвачены в плен, но отец и остальные его мальчики, находившиеся неподалеку, благополучно добрались до блокгауза. Его в конце концов осадили, но нападавших держал нательном расстоянии гарнизон. Жена Шеллса заряжала мушкеты, в то время как ее муж и сыновья вели из них стрельбу без промаха. Макдональд попытался поджечь блокгауз, но безуспешно. Наконец он раздобыл лом, подбежал к двери и попытался ее взломать. Шелл выстрелил в него и так тяжело ранил в ногу, что тот упал. Осажденный патриот мгновенно открыл дверь и втащил шотландца внутрь в качестве пленника. У того было много патронов, и он был вынужден сдать их своим захватчикам. Бой на время прекратился. Шелл знал, что враг не станет пытаться сжечь его «замок», пока их предводитель находится в качестве пленника внутри него, и, воспользовавшись затишьем в бою, поднялся на второй этаж и спокойно запел любимый гимн Лютера посреди опасностей, окружавших его в его спорах с папой римским. * Но передышка была недолгой. Враг, разъяренный потерей нескольких убитых товарищей и пленением своего командира, бросился к блокгаузу, и пятеро из них просунули стволы своих ружей сквозь бойницы. Миссис Шелл схватила топор и меткими ударами вывела из строя все мушкеты, согнув стволы. В то время как Шелл и его сыновья вели плотный огонь, который обратил врага в бегство. В сумерках он поднялся на верхний этаж и громким голосом окликнул жену, сообщив ей, что с подмогой от форта Дейтон приближается капитан Смолл. Через несколько минут он воскликнул еще более громким голосом: «Капитан Смолл, проведи свою роту к этой стороне дома! Капитан Гетман, вам лучше отвезти своих людей налево и выйти к той стороне». Это был успешный маневр. Никаких войск не приближалось, но враг, обманутый этой уловкой, бежал в леса. На следующий день Макдональда отвезли в форт Дейтон, где ему ампутировали ногу, но кровь текла так сильно, что через несколько часов он скончался. ** Двое сыновей Шелла