FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[85]"The aggressors on this occasion were a troop of wild Indians, in conjunction with some Tory exiles. They were headed by Colonel Butler, a partisan commander of note, and by Joseph Brant, a half Indian by birth, a whole Indian in cruelty. Unhappily, at Wyoming, the soil was claimed both by Connecticut and Pennsylvania. From this conflict of pretensions and consequent laxity of law, there had been the freer license for rigours against the Loyalists. Few of them in that district but had undergone imprisonment, or exile, or confiscation of property; and thus they were provoked to form a savage alliance and to perpetrate a fierce revenge." (Lord Mahon's History, etc., Vol. VII., Chap. lviii., pp. 382, 383.)[86]Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. V., Chap. ix., p. 165.[87]Brant was not at Wyoming. This appears from Butler's report; and compare Broadhead documents, Vol. VIII., p. 572 (note by Mr. Bancroft).[88]This is what Dr. Ramsay, in his account quoted above, on pages85and86, erroneously states was a proposed conference as to terms of capitulation.[89]Note.—Mr. Hildreth says that "Wyoming did not number three thousand inhabitants." (History of the United States, Vol. III., Chap. xxxviii., p. 262.) The number of the slain could not have been greater than those mentioned above by Dr. Ramsay (p.86), who states that, instead of those in the garrison being "indiscriminately butchered," they were allowed to cross the Susquehanna and make their way through the woods to neighbouring settlements.[90]Colonel Stone states that the Provincials "intended to make a quick movement, and take the enemy by surprise;" but their purpose was discovered by an Indian scout. He then gives the following account of the battle and of the "massacre" which followed:"The Provincials pushed rapidly forward; but the British and Indians were prepared to receive them, 'their line being formed a small distance in front of their camp, in a plain thinly covered with pine, shrub, oaks and undergrowth, and extending from the river to a marsh at the foot of the mountain' (Marshall). 'On coming in view of the enemy, the Americans, who had previously marched in a single column, instantly deployed into a line of equal extent, and attacked from right to left at the same time' (Col. Z. Butler's letter). 'The right of the Americans was commanded by Colonel Zebulon Butler, opposed to Colonel John Butler, commanding the enemy's left. Colonel Dennison commanded the left of the Americans, and was opposed by the Indians forming the enemy's right' (Chapman). The battle commenced at about forty rods distance, without much execution at the onset, as the brushwood interposed obstacles to the sight. The militia stood the fire well for a short time, and as they pressed forward there was some giving way on the enemy's right. Unluckily, just at this moment the appalling war-whoop of the Indians rang in the rear of the Americans' left; the Indian leader, having conducted a large party of his warriors through the marsh, succeeded in turning Dennison's flank. A heavy and destructive fire was simultaneously poured into the American ranks; and amidst the confusion, Colonel Dennison directed his men to 'fall back,' to avoid being surrounded, and to gain time to bring his men into order again. This direction was mistaken for an order to 'retreat,' whereupon the whole line broke, and every effort of their officers to restore order was unavailing. At this stage of the battle, and while thus engaged, the American officers mostly fell. The flight was general. The Indians, throwing away their rifles, rushed forward with their tomahawks, making dreadful havoc; answering the cries for mercy with the hatchet, and adding to the universal consternation those terrific yells which invest savage warfare with tenfold horror. So alert was the foe in his bloody pursuit, that less than sixty of the Americans escaped either the rifle or the tomahawk. Of the militia officers, there fell one lieutenant-colonel, one major, ten captains, six lieutenants, and two ensigns. Colonel Durkee and Captains Hewett and Ransom were likewise killed. Some of the fugitives escaped by swimming the river, and others by flying to the mountains. As the news of the defeat spread down the valley, the greater part of the women and children, and those who had remained to protect them, likewise ran to the woods and mountains, while those who could not escape thus sought refuge in Fort Wyoming. The Indians, apparently wearied with pursuit and slaughter, desisted and betook themselves to secure the spoils of the vanquished."On the morning of the 4th, the day after the battle, Colonel John Butler, with the combined British and Indian forces, appeared before Fort Wyoming and demanded its surrender. 'The inhabitants, both within and without the fort, did not on that emergency sustain a character for courage becoming men of spirit in adversity. They were so intimidated as to give up without fighting; great numbers ran off; and those who remained all but betrayed Colonel Zebulon Butler, their commander' (Col. Z. Butler's letter). 'The British Colonel Butler sent several flags, requiring an unconditional surrender of his opposing namesake and the few continental troops yet remaining, but offering to spare the inhabitants their property and effects. But with the American colonel the victor would not treat on any terms; and the people thereupon compelled Colonel Dennison to comply with conditions which his commander had refused.' The consequence was that Colonel Zebulon Butler contrived to escape from the fort with the remains of Captain Hewett's company of regulars (Idem.), and Colonel Dennison entered into articles of capitulation. 'By these it was stipulated that the settlers should be disarmed, and their garrison demolished; that all prisoners and public stores should be given up; that the property of the people called Tories should be made good, and they be permitted to remain peaceably upon their farms. In behalf of the settlers it was stipulated that their lives and property should be preserved, and that they should be left in the unmolested occupancy of their farms' (Chapman's History)."Unhappily, however, the British commander either could not or would not enforce the terms of capitulation (see page 91, where Mr. Hildreth says that 'Colonel Butler, desirous to fulfil these terms of capitulation, presently marched away with his Tories, but he could not induce the Indians to follow. They remained behind, burned the houses, ravaged the fields, killed such as resisted, and drove the miserable women and children through the woods and mountains to seek refuge where they might.'), which were to a great extent disregarded as well by the Tories as the Indians. Instead of finding protection, the valley was again laid waste, the houses and improvements were destroyed by fire, and the country plundered. Families were broken up and dispersed, men and their wives separated, mothers torn from their children and some of them carried into captivity, while far the greater number fled to the mountains, and wandered through the wilderness to the older settlements. Some died of their wounds, others from want and fatigue, while others were still lost in the wilderness or were heard of no more. Several perished in a great swamp in the neighbourhood, which, from the circumstance, acquired the name of 'the Shades of Death,' and retains it to this day. These were painful scenes. But it does not appear that anything like a massacre followed the capitulation." (Life of Joseph Brant, and Border Wars of the American Revolution, Vol. I., Chap. xv., pp. 334-336.)

[85]"The aggressors on this occasion were a troop of wild Indians, in conjunction with some Tory exiles. They were headed by Colonel Butler, a partisan commander of note, and by Joseph Brant, a half Indian by birth, a whole Indian in cruelty. Unhappily, at Wyoming, the soil was claimed both by Connecticut and Pennsylvania. From this conflict of pretensions and consequent laxity of law, there had been the freer license for rigours against the Loyalists. Few of them in that district but had undergone imprisonment, or exile, or confiscation of property; and thus they were provoked to form a savage alliance and to perpetrate a fierce revenge." (Lord Mahon's History, etc., Vol. VII., Chap. lviii., pp. 382, 383.)

[86]Bancroft's History of the United States, Vol. V., Chap. ix., p. 165.

[87]Brant was not at Wyoming. This appears from Butler's report; and compare Broadhead documents, Vol. VIII., p. 572 (note by Mr. Bancroft).

[88]This is what Dr. Ramsay, in his account quoted above, on pages85and86, erroneously states was a proposed conference as to terms of capitulation.

[89]Note.—Mr. Hildreth says that "Wyoming did not number three thousand inhabitants." (History of the United States, Vol. III., Chap. xxxviii., p. 262.) The number of the slain could not have been greater than those mentioned above by Dr. Ramsay (p.86), who states that, instead of those in the garrison being "indiscriminately butchered," they were allowed to cross the Susquehanna and make their way through the woods to neighbouring settlements.

[90]Colonel Stone states that the Provincials "intended to make a quick movement, and take the enemy by surprise;" but their purpose was discovered by an Indian scout. He then gives the following account of the battle and of the "massacre" which followed:"The Provincials pushed rapidly forward; but the British and Indians were prepared to receive them, 'their line being formed a small distance in front of their camp, in a plain thinly covered with pine, shrub, oaks and undergrowth, and extending from the river to a marsh at the foot of the mountain' (Marshall). 'On coming in view of the enemy, the Americans, who had previously marched in a single column, instantly deployed into a line of equal extent, and attacked from right to left at the same time' (Col. Z. Butler's letter). 'The right of the Americans was commanded by Colonel Zebulon Butler, opposed to Colonel John Butler, commanding the enemy's left. Colonel Dennison commanded the left of the Americans, and was opposed by the Indians forming the enemy's right' (Chapman). The battle commenced at about forty rods distance, without much execution at the onset, as the brushwood interposed obstacles to the sight. The militia stood the fire well for a short time, and as they pressed forward there was some giving way on the enemy's right. Unluckily, just at this moment the appalling war-whoop of the Indians rang in the rear of the Americans' left; the Indian leader, having conducted a large party of his warriors through the marsh, succeeded in turning Dennison's flank. A heavy and destructive fire was simultaneously poured into the American ranks; and amidst the confusion, Colonel Dennison directed his men to 'fall back,' to avoid being surrounded, and to gain time to bring his men into order again. This direction was mistaken for an order to 'retreat,' whereupon the whole line broke, and every effort of their officers to restore order was unavailing. At this stage of the battle, and while thus engaged, the American officers mostly fell. The flight was general. The Indians, throwing away their rifles, rushed forward with their tomahawks, making dreadful havoc; answering the cries for mercy with the hatchet, and adding to the universal consternation those terrific yells which invest savage warfare with tenfold horror. So alert was the foe in his bloody pursuit, that less than sixty of the Americans escaped either the rifle or the tomahawk. Of the militia officers, there fell one lieutenant-colonel, one major, ten captains, six lieutenants, and two ensigns. Colonel Durkee and Captains Hewett and Ransom were likewise killed. Some of the fugitives escaped by swimming the river, and others by flying to the mountains. As the news of the defeat spread down the valley, the greater part of the women and children, and those who had remained to protect them, likewise ran to the woods and mountains, while those who could not escape thus sought refuge in Fort Wyoming. The Indians, apparently wearied with pursuit and slaughter, desisted and betook themselves to secure the spoils of the vanquished."On the morning of the 4th, the day after the battle, Colonel John Butler, with the combined British and Indian forces, appeared before Fort Wyoming and demanded its surrender. 'The inhabitants, both within and without the fort, did not on that emergency sustain a character for courage becoming men of spirit in adversity. They were so intimidated as to give up without fighting; great numbers ran off; and those who remained all but betrayed Colonel Zebulon Butler, their commander' (Col. Z. Butler's letter). 'The British Colonel Butler sent several flags, requiring an unconditional surrender of his opposing namesake and the few continental troops yet remaining, but offering to spare the inhabitants their property and effects. But with the American colonel the victor would not treat on any terms; and the people thereupon compelled Colonel Dennison to comply with conditions which his commander had refused.' The consequence was that Colonel Zebulon Butler contrived to escape from the fort with the remains of Captain Hewett's company of regulars (Idem.), and Colonel Dennison entered into articles of capitulation. 'By these it was stipulated that the settlers should be disarmed, and their garrison demolished; that all prisoners and public stores should be given up; that the property of the people called Tories should be made good, and they be permitted to remain peaceably upon their farms. In behalf of the settlers it was stipulated that their lives and property should be preserved, and that they should be left in the unmolested occupancy of their farms' (Chapman's History)."Unhappily, however, the British commander either could not or would not enforce the terms of capitulation (see page 91, where Mr. Hildreth says that 'Colonel Butler, desirous to fulfil these terms of capitulation, presently marched away with his Tories, but he could not induce the Indians to follow. They remained behind, burned the houses, ravaged the fields, killed such as resisted, and drove the miserable women and children through the woods and mountains to seek refuge where they might.'), which were to a great extent disregarded as well by the Tories as the Indians. Instead of finding protection, the valley was again laid waste, the houses and improvements were destroyed by fire, and the country plundered. Families were broken up and dispersed, men and their wives separated, mothers torn from their children and some of them carried into captivity, while far the greater number fled to the mountains, and wandered through the wilderness to the older settlements. Some died of their wounds, others from want and fatigue, while others were still lost in the wilderness or were heard of no more. Several perished in a great swamp in the neighbourhood, which, from the circumstance, acquired the name of 'the Shades of Death,' and retains it to this day. These were painful scenes. But it does not appear that anything like a massacre followed the capitulation." (Life of Joseph Brant, and Border Wars of the American Revolution, Vol. I., Chap. xv., pp. 334-336.)

"The Provincials pushed rapidly forward; but the British and Indians were prepared to receive them, 'their line being formed a small distance in front of their camp, in a plain thinly covered with pine, shrub, oaks and undergrowth, and extending from the river to a marsh at the foot of the mountain' (Marshall). 'On coming in view of the enemy, the Americans, who had previously marched in a single column, instantly deployed into a line of equal extent, and attacked from right to left at the same time' (Col. Z. Butler's letter). 'The right of the Americans was commanded by Colonel Zebulon Butler, opposed to Colonel John Butler, commanding the enemy's left. Colonel Dennison commanded the left of the Americans, and was opposed by the Indians forming the enemy's right' (Chapman). The battle commenced at about forty rods distance, without much execution at the onset, as the brushwood interposed obstacles to the sight. The militia stood the fire well for a short time, and as they pressed forward there was some giving way on the enemy's right. Unluckily, just at this moment the appalling war-whoop of the Indians rang in the rear of the Americans' left; the Indian leader, having conducted a large party of his warriors through the marsh, succeeded in turning Dennison's flank. A heavy and destructive fire was simultaneously poured into the American ranks; and amidst the confusion, Colonel Dennison directed his men to 'fall back,' to avoid being surrounded, and to gain time to bring his men into order again. This direction was mistaken for an order to 'retreat,' whereupon the whole line broke, and every effort of their officers to restore order was unavailing. At this stage of the battle, and while thus engaged, the American officers mostly fell. The flight was general. The Indians, throwing away their rifles, rushed forward with their tomahawks, making dreadful havoc; answering the cries for mercy with the hatchet, and adding to the universal consternation those terrific yells which invest savage warfare with tenfold horror. So alert was the foe in his bloody pursuit, that less than sixty of the Americans escaped either the rifle or the tomahawk. Of the militia officers, there fell one lieutenant-colonel, one major, ten captains, six lieutenants, and two ensigns. Colonel Durkee and Captains Hewett and Ransom were likewise killed. Some of the fugitives escaped by swimming the river, and others by flying to the mountains. As the news of the defeat spread down the valley, the greater part of the women and children, and those who had remained to protect them, likewise ran to the woods and mountains, while those who could not escape thus sought refuge in Fort Wyoming. The Indians, apparently wearied with pursuit and slaughter, desisted and betook themselves to secure the spoils of the vanquished.

"On the morning of the 4th, the day after the battle, Colonel John Butler, with the combined British and Indian forces, appeared before Fort Wyoming and demanded its surrender. 'The inhabitants, both within and without the fort, did not on that emergency sustain a character for courage becoming men of spirit in adversity. They were so intimidated as to give up without fighting; great numbers ran off; and those who remained all but betrayed Colonel Zebulon Butler, their commander' (Col. Z. Butler's letter). 'The British Colonel Butler sent several flags, requiring an unconditional surrender of his opposing namesake and the few continental troops yet remaining, but offering to spare the inhabitants their property and effects. But with the American colonel the victor would not treat on any terms; and the people thereupon compelled Colonel Dennison to comply with conditions which his commander had refused.' The consequence was that Colonel Zebulon Butler contrived to escape from the fort with the remains of Captain Hewett's company of regulars (Idem.), and Colonel Dennison entered into articles of capitulation. 'By these it was stipulated that the settlers should be disarmed, and their garrison demolished; that all prisoners and public stores should be given up; that the property of the people called Tories should be made good, and they be permitted to remain peaceably upon their farms. In behalf of the settlers it was stipulated that their lives and property should be preserved, and that they should be left in the unmolested occupancy of their farms' (Chapman's History).

"Unhappily, however, the British commander either could not or would not enforce the terms of capitulation (see page 91, where Mr. Hildreth says that 'Colonel Butler, desirous to fulfil these terms of capitulation, presently marched away with his Tories, but he could not induce the Indians to follow. They remained behind, burned the houses, ravaged the fields, killed such as resisted, and drove the miserable women and children through the woods and mountains to seek refuge where they might.'), which were to a great extent disregarded as well by the Tories as the Indians. Instead of finding protection, the valley was again laid waste, the houses and improvements were destroyed by fire, and the country plundered. Families were broken up and dispersed, men and their wives separated, mothers torn from their children and some of them carried into captivity, while far the greater number fled to the mountains, and wandered through the wilderness to the older settlements. Some died of their wounds, others from want and fatigue, while others were still lost in the wilderness or were heard of no more. Several perished in a great swamp in the neighbourhood, which, from the circumstance, acquired the name of 'the Shades of Death,' and retains it to this day. These were painful scenes. But it does not appear that anything like a massacre followed the capitulation." (Life of Joseph Brant, and Border Wars of the American Revolution, Vol. I., Chap. xv., pp. 334-336.)

American Retaliation for the Alleged "Massacre of Wyoming," as narrated by American Historians.

We will now state from thesame historical authorities therevengewhich the continentals took for the "Massacre of Wyoming."

Dr. Ramsay says: "Soon after the destruction of the Wyoming settlement, an expedition was carried on against the Indians by Colonel Zebulon Butler, of the Pennsylvania troops. He and his party having gained the head of the Delaware, October 1st, marched down the river two days, and then struck across the country to the Susquehanna. They burnt or destroyed the Indian villages both in that quarter and the other settlements; but the inhabitants escaped. The destruction was extended for several miles on both sides of the Susquehanna. They completed the expedition in sixteen days."[91]

This destruction of "Indian villages"and "other settlements" to the extent of "several miles on both sides of the Susquehanna" was more than an equivalent revenge for the destruction of Wyoming. But it was only the beginning of vengeance and destruction, not only against the immediate offenders in the case of Wyoming, but the pretext for a resolution and order of Congress itself for the entire destruction of the Six Indian Nations, though their chiefs had held no council and given no order as to the attack upon the settlement of Wyoming, and had nothing to do with it, except that one of their tribes, with possibly a few stragglers from some of the other tribes. With this exception, as is shown by the narratives above quoted, the Six Nations had no connection with the destruction of Wyoming; were living quietly and industriously on their well-cultivated farms, though friendly to the royal cause. Yet Congress, by an order which, we believe, has no parallel in the annals of any civilized nation, commands the complete destruction of those people as a nation. It is cruel, indeed, and revolting to humanity, to kill and scalp ever so small a number of individuals, including women and children; but is it less cruel and revolting to render them houseless by thousands, to destroy the fruits of their labours, to exile them from their homes (after having destroyed them), and leave them to nakedness and starvation? Yet such was the case in the execution of the order of Congress for the extermination of the Six Nations.

"The determination," says Dr. Andrews, "was now taken by Congress to destroy this Indian nation. * * The intelligence of the preparations that were making against them was received by the Indians with great courage and firmness. * * They took a strong position in the most woody and mountainous part of the country, which they fortified with great judgment. * * General Sullivan attacked them in this encampment on the 29th of August. They stood a hot cannonade for more than two hours; but the breastwork of logs being almost destroyed, and the Americans having reached the top of the hill on their left, they were apprehensive of being surrounded, and retreated immediately with the utmost speed. * * The behaviour of the Indians on this day was very courageous; they returned the fire of the Americans with great spirit and regularity; and would, it was thought, have maintained their ground had not the Americansbeen provided with a train of artillery, to which the defeat of the Indians was principally owing. * * This engagement proved decisive. After their trenches were forced, they fled without making any further endeavour to rally. They were pursued two or three miles; but their flight was so swift that they could not be overtaken. Their loss in slain and wounded was very considerable, though few prisoners were made.

"The consternation occasioned among the Indians by this defeat was such, that they lost all hope of retrieving their fortunes, and dropped all idea of further resistance. As the Americans advanced, they retreated before them with the utmost precipitation, and suffered them to proceed, without any obstruction, in the destructive operations they were commissioned to perform.

"In pursuance of the orders he had received, General Sullivan penetrated into the heart of the country inhabited by the Five Nations, spreading everywhere the most extensive desolation. His letter to the Congress, giving an account of the progress and proceedings of the army under his command, was as complete a journal of destruction as ever was penned. No less than forty towns and settlements were destroyed, besides detached habitations. All their fields of corn and all their orchards and plantations; whatever, in short, was in a state of cultivation, underwent the same fate. The devastation was such, that on the American army's leaving that country not a house was left standing to their knowledge, nor an Indian to be seen.

"Such was the issue of this celebrated expedition, undertaken by way of retaliation for the outrages which the Indians (Senecas) had committed on the frontiers, and particularly in destroying the unfortunate settlement of Wyoming during the preceding summer.

"What rendered this total ruin of the country possessed by the Five Nations the more remarkable was the degree of knowledge and expertness in agriculture and in various domestic arts to which it was now for the first time discovered that the Indians had attained. It appeared by General Sullivan's account that the lands about the towns were excellently cultivated, and their houses large and elegantly constructed. The extent of their industry may be conjectured by his asserting that the quantity of corn destroyed could not, by a moderatecomputation, amount to less than 160,000 bushels; that their orchards were so well stocked that no less than 1,500 trees were cut down in one orchard only, numbers of which had evidently been planted many years; and that their garden grounds contained immense quantities of vegetables of every kind."[92]

Mr. Bancroft represents what he in one place terms "the great expedition" as a mere raid for the chastisement of the Seneca Indians. He says: "Moved by the massacres of Wyoming and Cherry Valley, Congress, on the 25th of February, had directed Washington to protect the inland frontiers and chastise the Seneca Indians. * * The best part of the season was gone when Sullivan, on the last of July, moved from Wyoming. His arrival at Tioga sent terror to the Indians. * * Several of the chiefs said to Colonel Bolton, in council, 'Why does not the great king, our father, assist us? Our villages will be cut off, and we can no longer fight his battles.'

"On the 22nd of August, the day after he was joined by New York troops under General James Clinton, Sullivan began his march up the Tioga into the heart of the Indian country. On the same day, Little David, a Mohawk chief, delivered a message from himself and the Six Nations to General Haldimand, then Governor of Canada: 'Brother! for these three years past the Six Nations have been running a race against fresh enemies, and are almost out of breath. Now we shall see whether you are our loving strong brother, or whether you deceive us. Brother! we are still strong for the King of England, if you will show us that he is a man of his word, and that he will not abandon his brothers the Six Nations.' * * The march into the country of the Senecas, on the left, extended to Genesee; on the right, detachments reached Cayuga lake. After destroying eighteen villages and their fields of corn, Sullivan, whose army had suffered for want of supplies, returned to New Jersey."[93]

Mr. Hildreth's account ofthis expedition, though brief, is more comprehensive and satisfactory than that of Mr. Bancroft. Mr. Hildreth says:

"The command of the enterprise against the Indians, declined by Gates, was given to Sullivan. Three brigades from the main army, under Poor, Hand, and Maxwell—New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey troops—were assembled at Wyoming. A New York brigade ('upwards of 1,000 men,' says Dr. Ramsay), under General James Clinton, hitherto employed in guarding the frontier of that State, crossed from the Mohawk to Lake Otsego (one of the sources of the Susquehanna), dammed the lake, and so raised its level, and then by breaking away the dam produced an artificial flood, by the aid of which the boats were rapidly carried down the north-east branch of the Susquehanna, to form a junction with Sullivan. * *

"Sullivan's army, amounting to 5,000 men, passed up the Chemung branch of the Susquehanna. At Newton, now Elmira, they encountered a strong body of the enemy,[94]partly Indians and partly Tories, under Brant, the Butlers and Johnson, entrenched on a rising ground and disposed in ambuscade. Sullivan detached Poor to gain the rear, while he attacked them in front with artillery. Having put them to rout, he crossed tothe hitherto unexplored valley of the Genesee. That want of food might compel the Indians and their Tory allies to emigrate, everything was ravaged. The ancient Indian orchards were cut down; many bushels of corn were destroyed, and eighteen villages, composed largely of frame houses, were burned. Provisions failed. Such at least was the reason that Sullivan gave, and the attack upon Niagara, the great object of the enterprise, was abandoned.

"A simultaneous expedition from Pittsburg ascended the Alleghany, and visited with similar devastation all the villages along the river. Pending these operations, and to prevent any aid from Canada, divers artifices were employed by Washington to create the belief of an intended invasion of that province."[95]

The account of this expedition given by Dr. Ramsay corresponds, with some additional particulars, with that given by Dr. Andrews, as above quoted, and almost in the same words. He says:

"The Indians who form the confederacy of the Six Nations, commonly called Mohawks, were the objects of this expedition. They inhabit that immense and fertile tract of country which lies between New England, the Middle States, and the Province of Canada. * * The Indians, on hearing of the expedition projected against them, acted with firmness. They collected their strength, took possession of proper ground, and fortified it with judgment. General Sullivan, on the 29th of August, attacked them in their works. They stood a cannonade for more than two hours, but then gave way. This engagement proved decisive. After the trenches were forced, the Indians fled without making any attempt to rally. The consternation occasioned among them by this defeat was so great, that they gave up all ideas of further resistance. As the Americans advanced into their settlements, the Indians retreated before them, without throwing any obstruction in their way. General Sullivan penetrated into the heart of the country inhabited by the Mohawks, and spread desolation everywhere. Many settlements in the form of towns were destroyed. All their fields of corn, and whatever was in a state of cultivation, underwent the samefate. Scarcely anything in the form of a house was left standing, nor was an Indian to be seen.

"To the surprise of the Americans, they found the lands about the Indian towns well cultivated, and their houses both large and commodious. The quantity of corn destroyed was immense. Orchards, in which were several hundred fruit trees, were cut down; and of them many appeared to have been planted for a long series of years. Their gardens, replenished with a variety of useful vegetables, were laid waste."[96]

From this review of the invasionsand contests between the Americans and Indians, it is clear that the Indians were the greater sufferers in life and property. The mutual hatreds of former years, when the colonies were warring with the French (instead of being, as now, in alliance with them), and the Indians were in the interest and service of the French, seems to have been perpetuated on both sides, and to have become more intense on the part of the Americans after the failure oftheir efforts to secure the Indians to their side. The old contests between the Southern colonists and the Indians were renewed and repeated with intense bitterness; and in the Northern colonies the policy of Congress and its agents was to crush and exterminate the Indians altogether. In acts of individual cruelty, their historical and characteristic mode of war, the Indians exceeded the Americans; but in acts of wholesale destruction of life and property, the Americans far outdid the Indians, adopting the Indian instead of a civilized mode of warfare, and including in their sweep of destruction women and children as well as men.

The employment of Indians at all on the part of Great Britain against the colonists, is, in our opinion, the blackest crime recorded in the annals of the British Government, prompted apparently by the cowardly and execrable General Gage, but condemned by Generals Carleton and Burgoyne, as well as by General Howe. The use, however, which the Americans sought to make of the Indians, and their cruel and exterminating mode of warfare against them, leave them no ground of boasting on the score of humanity against either the British Government or the Indians.

To this may be added the unfortunate condition and treatment of the Loyalists or "Tories" among the Indians. For adhering, or suspected of adhering to the faith of their fathers, and even of the present persecution down to within less than six years, they were, however peaceably they might be living, driven from their homes and their property seized and alienated, and they left no place for the soles of their feet except among the Indians, and then termed monsters and treated as traitors, for joining their protectors in the defence of their places of refuge, and, as far as possible, for the recovery of their homes. What else, as men, as human beings, could they do? They were denied and banished from the homes which they had, unless they would reverse their political faith and oath of allegiance, and forswear allegiance, to enrol themselves in arms against the country of their forefathers and of their affection. They could not but be chafed with the loss of their freedom of speech and of conviction of their citizenship and their property, and of being driven into exile; and they must have been more or less than men had they not acted loyally and to the best oftheir ability with their protectors, however abhorrent to their views and feelings were many acts of the Indians—acts imitated and even excelled, in so many respects, by the Americans themselves, in their depredations into the Indian territories.

Colonel Stone's Account, in Detail, of General Sullivan's Expedition of Extermination of the Six Nations of Indians.

In hisLife of Brant, including the Border Wars of the American Revolution, Colonel Stone gives a much more elaborate account of this expedition of destruction against the Six Nations, or rather the Five Nations, for the Oneidas and some of the Tuscaroras joined the Americans. Colonel Stone narrates the progress and work of General Sullivan from place to place. We will add a few extracts from his narrative, after some preliminary explanations.

Colonel Stone corrects a very common error, which views the whole race of North American Indians as essentially alike—"all as the same roving, restless, houseless race of hunters and fishermen, without a local habitation and with scarce a name." He gives examples of the varieties of Indian character, not less marked than between the English and the French—some following the buffalo in his migrations, others finding a precarious subsistence in the forest chase, others again fishing and trapping; tribes who pass most of their time in canoes, while others, woodland tribes, cultivate the soil, and gradually become organized, and acquire a higher state of civilization, and present a marked difference of character and taste from the hunter and fishermen tribes. "This higher state of social organization among the Six Nations," says Colonel Stone "greatly increased the difference. They had many towns and villages giving evidence of perseverance. They were organized into communities whose social and political institutions, simple as they were, were still as distinct and well-defined as those of the American Confederacy. They had now acquired some arts, and were enjoying many of the comforts of civilized life. Not content with small patches of cleared lands for the raising of a few vegetables, they possessed cultivated fields and orchards of great productiveness at the West. Especially was this the fact with regard to the Cayugas and Senecas. The Mohawks havingbeen driven from their own rich lands (in the valley of the Mohawk and Susquehanna rivers), the extensive domains of the westernmost tribes of the confederacy (in the Genesee country) formed the granary of the whole. And in consequence of the superior social and political organization just referred to, and the Spartan-like character incident to the forest life, the Six Nations, though not the most numerous, were beyond doubt the most formidable of the tribes then in alliance with the Crown. It was justly considered, therefore, that the only wayto strike them effectively would be to destroy their homesand the growing produce of their farms, and thus,by cutting off their means of supply, drive them from their own country deeper into the interior, and perhaps throw them altogether upon their British allies for subsistence."

These facts will go far to account for the desire of the Mohawks to recover the homes from which they had been driven, and for the relations between the Six Nations to the Crown of Great Britain and the revolting portion of the colonists.

It has been intimated that the Oneida Indians and part of the Onondagos adhered to the revolting colonists. Colonel Stone observes: "It was the intention of General Sullivan that General Clinton should employ in his division as large a number of the Oneida warriors as could be induced to engage in the service. The latter officer was opposed to this arrangement; but through the importunities of Sullivan, the Rev. Mr. Kirkland, their missionary, who was now a chaplain in the army, had been summoned to Albany for consultation. From thence Mr. Kirkland was despatched to Pennsylvania, directly to join Sullivan's division; while to Mr. Deane, the interpreter connected with the Indian Commissioner at Fort Schuyler (formerly Fort Stanwix), was confided the charge of negotiating with the Oneida chiefs on the subject. The Oneidas volunteered for the expedition almost to a man; while those of the Onondagos who adhered to the cause of the Americans were equally desirous of proving their fidelity by their deeds. Under these circumstances, Clinton wrote to Sullivan on the 26th, that on the following Saturday Mr. Deane, with the Indian warriors, would join him at the head of the lake. A sudden revolution, however, was wrought in their determination by an address tothe Oneidas from General Haldimand (Governor of Canada), received at Fort Schuyler the 22nd. This document was transmitted to them in their own language; and its tenor was so alarming as to induce them suddenly to change their purpose, judging very correctly, from the threats of Haldimand, that their presence was necessary at home for the defence of their own castles. Still Mr. Deane wrote that an arrangement was on foot by which he hoped to obtain the co-operation of a considerable number of the Oneida warriors."

"General Haldimand's address was written in the Iroquois (Mohawk) language, of which a translation was made by Mr. Deane and enclosed to General Clinton."

In this address General Haldimand charged the Oneida Indians with having "taken a different course from the rest of the Five Nations, your confederates, and have likewise deserted the King's cause through the deceitful machinations and snares of the rebels, who intimidated you with their numerous armies, by which means you became bewildered and forgot all your engagements with and former care and favour from the Great King of England, your Father. You also soon forgot the frequent bad usage and continual encroachments of the Americans upon the Indian lands throughout the continent. I say, therefore, that at the breaking out of these troubles, you firmly declared toobserve a strict neutrality in the dispute, and made your declaration known to Sir Guy Carleton, my predecessor,who much approved of it, provided you were in earnest.[97]I have hitherto strictly observed and examined your conduct, and find that you did not adhere to your assertion, although I could trace no reason, on the side of Government as well as the Indians, why you should act so treacherous and double a part; by which means we, not mistrusting your fidelity, have had many losses among the King's subjects, and the Five Nations, your friends and connections."

After further reproaches, admonitions, and threatenings, General Haldimand concluded in the following severe words: "These are facts, Brothers, that, unless you are lost to every sense of feeling, cannot but recall in you even a most hearty repentance and deep remorse for your past vile actions."

The effect of General Haldimand's address was to cause a conference—Mr. Deane, at the head of thirty-five Oneida warriors—with General Clinton, to apologize for the absence of their brethren from the expedition, and to make those explanations in regard to their own situation already communicated by Mr. Deane by letter, together with the address of General Haldimand. In his reply, General Clinton, among other things, said: "It is not my desire that the whole of your warriors should leave their castles. I have given a general invitation to our brethren the Oneidas, the Tuscaroras, and such of the Onondagos as have entered into friendship with us. In order to give all our Indian friends an equal chance of evidencing their spirit and determination to partake of our fortune, I am entirely satisfied that such only should join me as think proper."

Colonel Stone, after stating that on the 22nd of August General Clinton arrived at Tioga, and formed a junction with General Sullivan, says: "The entire command amounted to 5,000, consisting of the brigades of Generals Clinton, Hand, Maxwell, and Poor, together with Proctor's artillery and a corps of riflemen." Then, after relating the battle of Newton (the present site of Elmira), as described in extracts from the historians in previous pages, Colonel Stone narrates the progress and work of the invading army of extermination and destruction. We give the following extracts from his narrative:

"It is apprehended that but few of the present generation are thoroughly aware of the advances which the Indians, in the wide and beautiful country of the Cayugas and Senecas, had made in the march of civilization. They had several towns and many large villages laid out with a considerable degree of regularity. They had framed houses, some of them well furnished, having chimneys, and painted. They had broad and productive fields; and in addition to an abundance of apples, were in the enjoyment of the pear, and the still more delicious peach. But after the battle of Newton, the Indians everywhere fled at Sullivan'sadvance, and the whole country was swept as with a besom of destruction. On the 4th (September), as the army advanced, they destroyed a small settlement of eight houses, and two days afterwards reached the more considerable town of Kendaia, containing about twenty houses, neatly built and well finished. These were reduced to ashes, and the army spent nearly a day in destroying the fields of corn and the fruit trees. Of these there were great abundance, and many of them appeared to be ancient."

"On the 7th, Sullivan crossed the outlet of Seneca Lake, and moved in three divisions upon the town of Kanadaseagea, the Seneca capital, containing about sixty houses, with gardens and numerous orchards of apple and peach trees. It was Sullivan's object to surround the town and take it by surprise. But although Butler had endeavoured to induce the Indians to make a stand at the place, his importunities were of no avail. They said it was no use to contend with such an army; and their capital was consequently abandoned as the other towns had been before the Americans could reach it. A detachment of 400 men was sent down on the west side of the lake to destroy Gotheseunquean, and the plantations in the neighbourhood; while at the same time a number of volunteers, under Colonel Harper, made a forced march in the direction of Cayuga Lake, and destroyed Schoyere. Meantime the residue of the army was employed, on the 8th, in the destruction of the town, together with the fruit trees and fields of corn and beans. Here, as elsewhere,the work of destruction was thorough and complete."

"The main army then moved forward upon Kanandaigua, at which place it arrived in two days. Here they 'found twenty-three very elegant houses, mostly framed, and in general large, together with very extensive fields of corn—all of which were destroyed. From Kanandaigua they proceeded to the small town of Honeoye, consisting of ten houses, which were immediately burnt to the ground. A post was established by General Sullivan at Honeoye, to maintain which a strong garrison was left, with heavy stores and one field-piece. With this precautionary measure the army prepared to advance upon the yet more considerable town of Genesee—the great capital of the western tribes of the confederacy—containing their stores and their broadest cultivated fields."

"The valley of the Genesee, for its beauty and fertility, was beheld by the army of Sullivan with astonishment and delight. Though an Indian country, and peopled only by wild men of the woods, its rich intervales presented the appearance of long cultivation, and were then smiling with the harvests of ripening corn. Indeed, the Indians themselves professed not to know when or by whom the lands upon that stream were first brought into cultivation. Instead of a howling wilderness, Sullivan and his troops found the Genesee flats, and many other districts of the country, resembling much more the orchards and farms and gardens of civilized life. But all was now doomed to speedy devastation. The Genesee Castle was destroyed. The troops scoured the whole region round about, and burnt and destroyed everything that came in their way. The town of Genesee contained 128 houses, mostly large and very elegant. It was beautifully situated, almost encircled with a clear flat, extending a number of miles, over which extensive fields of corn were waving, together with every kind of vegetable that could be conceived. But the entire army was immediately engaged in destroying it, and the axe and the torch soon transformed the whole of that beautiful region from the character of a garden to a scene of sickening desolation. Forty Indian towns, the largest containing 128 houses, were destroyed. Corn, gathered and ungathered, to the amount of 160,000 bushels, shared the same fate; the fruit trees were cut down; and the Indians were hunted like wild beasts, till neither house, nor fruit tree, nor field of corn, nor inhabitant remained in the whole country. The gardens were enriched with great quantities of useful vegetables of different kinds. The size of the corn-fields, as well as the high degree of cultivation, excited wonder, and the ears of corn were so remarkably large that many of them measured twenty-two inches in length. So numerous were the fruit trees, that in one orchard they cut down 1,500."

"Having completed the objects contemplated by the expedition to the point at which he had arrived, General Sullivan recrossed the Genesee with his army the 16th of September, and set out on his return. Why he did not follow up his success, and strike the enemy's citadel at Niagara, which at that time was in no situation for formidable resistance, is a question difficult of solution. Unquestionably, in the organization of the expedition, the conquest of Niagara, the headquarters of the foe of all descriptions, and the seat of British influence and power among the Indians, was one of the principal objects in view. Certain it is, that the most important feature of the enterprise was not undertaken; and it will be seen in the sequel that but small ultimate advantage resulted from the campaign. Stimulated by a keener thirst for revenge, clouds of savages were again and again seen to sweep through the valley of the Mohawk with the scalping knife and the torch."

"The return of the army was along the same tract by which it had advanced. On the 20th, having recrossed the outlet of Seneca Lake, Colonel Zebulon Butler was detached with the rifle corps of 500 men to pass round the foot of Cayuga Lake, and lay waste the Indian towns on its eastern shore; while Lieutenant-Colonel Dearborn, with 200 men, was detached to perform the same service on the south-western shore. The main army pursued the most direct route to the Chemung and Tioga. On the 26th Colonel Dearborn's detachment returned, and on the 28th they were rejoined by Colonel Zebulon Butler, who had burnt three towns of the Cayugas, including their capital. Dearborn had burnt six towns in his route, destroying at the same time large quantities of corn. On the same day, Colonels Van Courtlandt and Dayton were detached upon a similar service—for the destruction of large fields of corn growing upon the banks of the Tioga and its tributaries."

"The army then resumed its march, and passing through Wyoming, arrived at Easton on the 15th of October. The distance thence to Genesee Castle was 280 miles. With the exception of the action at Newton, the achievements of the army in battle were not great. But it had scoured a broad extent of country, and had laid more towns in ashes than had ever been destroyed on the continent before. The red men were driven from their beautiful country, their habitations left in ruins, their fields laid waste, their orchards uprooted, and their altars and the tombs of their fathers overthrown."[98]

All the devastations of settlements, burnings and slaughter committed by the "Tories and Indians" during the whole war shrink into insignificance in regard to extent of territory, thenumber of inhabitants and towns, the extent of cultivated farms and gardens, when compared with General Sullivan's one vast sweep of ruin and misery, in the course of which, as the historian says, "the Indians were hunted like wild beasts, till neither house nor fruit tree, nor field of corn nor inhabitant, remained in the whole country."

All this was done by an express order of Congress to the Commander-in-Chief; and for doing this General Sullivan and his army received the cordial approbation and thanks of the Congress.

It was very natural that the survivors of the Six Nations and the "Tories," who took refuge and resided among them, should seek revenge on every possible occasion, in months following, in the regions of their own sufferings, especially upon those individuals and communities who they knew had prompted and aided the executioners of Congress. There were partizan leaders, with adventurous followers, on both sides, in the Southern as well as in the Northern States, who inflicted many acts of barbarity and desolation; but these retaliatory cruelties and raids of destruction acquired a greater intensity of bitterness and cruelty after the terrible ravages and cruelties perpetrated by General Sullivan and his army.

Besides, the history of the Indians, as well as of the "Tories," throughout the whole war, was written by their adversaries, and it was considered a master-stroke of policy to exaggerate the alleged misdeeds and paint the character of both the Indians and Tories in the blackest colours. The story of the "Massacre of Wyoming" is a sample of the manner in which the American writers of the day made history against the Indians and the "Tories." When facts could not be sufficiently seasoned to stimulate recruits for the army and appropriations from the people for its support, fiction pure and simple was resorted to; and Dr. Franklin himself did not think it unworthy of his antecedents, age and position to employ this method to bring disrepute upon the "Tories," the Indians, and the British Government itself, and to excite the hatred of his countrymen against them. The accomplished author of theLife of Brant and the Border Wars of the American Revolutionforcibly observes:

"The Indians of the Six Nations, in common with their chief, were loaded with execrations for atrocities of which allwere alike innocent, because the deeds recorded were never committed, it having been the policy of the public writers and those in authority, not only to magnify actual occurrences, but sometimes, when those were wanting, to draw upon their imaginations for such deeds of ferocity and bloodshed as might best serve to keep alive the strongest feelings of indignation against the parent country, and likewise induce the people to take the field in revenge, if not driven thither by the nobler impulse of patriotism."[99]

Such deliberate fictions, for political purposes, as that by Dr. Franklin, just referred to, were probably rare; but the investigations into which the author has been, in the preparation of the present work, have satisfied him that, from other causes, much exaggeration and falsehood has obtained a permanent footing in American history. Most historians of that period, English and American, wrote too near the time when the events they were describing occurred, for a dispassionate investigation of the truth; and other writers who have succeeded, have too often been content to follow the beaten track, without incurring the labour of diligent and calm inquiry. Reference has been made above to Wyoming, concerning which, to this day, the world has been abused with monstrous fictions, with tales of horror never enacted. Nor were the exaggerations in regard to the invasion of Wyoming greater than were those connected with the irruption into and destruction of Cherry Valley, as the reader will discover in the course of the ensuing pages. Indeed, the writer, in preparation of materials for this work, has encountered so much that is false recorded in history as sober verity, that he has at times been disposed almost to universal scepticism in regard to uninspired narration.

The "deliberate fictions, for political purposes, by Dr. Franklin," as the biographer of Brant expresses it, "were written as facts;" or, as the author quoted expresses it, "the well-known scalp story of Dr. Franklin was long believed, and recently revived and included in several books of authentic history." The details of Dr. Franklin's publication were so minute and varied as to create a belief that they were perfectly true. "It was long supposed to be authentic," as the author quoted saysin introducing the document, in Appendix No. 1 to Volume I., "but has since been ascertained to be a publication from the pen of Dr. Franklin, for political purposes."

The names introduced are of course fictitious, as well as the statements, but introduced with such an air of plausibility as to preclude the suspicion that they were fictitious. The publication will be a curiosity to most of the readers of these pages, as it has been to the writer. It is as follows:

Extract of a letter from Captain Gerrish, of the New England Militia, dated Albany, March 7th, 1782:

"The peltry taken in the expedition will, as you see, amount to a good deal of money. The possession of this booty at first gave us pleasure; but we were struck with horror to find among the packages eight large ones, containing scalps of our unhappy folks taken in the last three years by the Seneca Indians, from the inhabitants of the frontiers of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, and sent by them as a present to Colonel Haldimand, Governor of Canada, in order to be transmitted by him to England. They were accompanied by the following curious letter to that gentleman:

"Tioga, January 3rd, 1782.

"May it please Your Excellency,

"At the request of the Seneca chiefs, I send herewith to your Excellency, under the care of James Boyd, eight packs of scalps, cured, dried, hooped, and painted with all the Indian triumphal marks, of which the following is invoice and explanation:

"No. 1, containing forty-three scalps of Congress soldiers killed in different skirmishes; these are stretched on black hoops, four inch diameter; the inside of the skin painted red, with a small black spot to note their being killed with bullets. Also sixty-two farmers, killed in their houses, the hoops red; the skin painted brown, and marked with a hoe; a black circle all round, to denote their being surprised in the night; and a black hatchet in the middle, signifying their being killed with that weapon.

"No. 2, containing ninety-eight farmers killed in their houses; hoops red; figure of a hoe, to mark their profession; great white circle and sun, to show they were surprised in the daytime; alittle red foot, to show they stood upon their defence, and died fighting for their lives and families.

"No. 3, containing ninety-seven farmers; hoops green, to show they were killed in the fields; a large white circle, with a little round mark on it for the sun, to show that it was in the daytime; black bullet mark on some, hatchet on others.

"No. 4, containing 102 farmers, mixed of the several marks above; only eighteen marked with a little yellow flame, to denote their being prisoners burnt alive, after being scalped, their nails pulled out by the roots, and other torments; one of these latter supposed to be of a rebel clergyman; his band being fixed to the hoop of his scalp. Most of the farmers appear by the hair to be young or middle-aged men; there being but sixty-seven grey heads among them all, which makes the service more essential.

"No. 5, containing eighty-eight scalps of women; hair long, braided in the Indian fashion, to show they were mothers; hoops blue; skin yellow ground, with red tadpoles, to represent, by way of triumph, the tears of grief occasioned to their relations; a black scalping-knife or hatchet at the bottom, to mark their being killed with these instruments; seventeen others, hair very grey; black hoops; plain brown colour, no mark but the short club or cassetete, to show that they were knocked down dead, or had their brains beat out.

"No. 6, containing 193 boys' scalps, of various ages; small green hoops; whitish ground on the skin, with red tears in the middle, and black bullet marks, knife, hatchet, or club, as their death happened.

"No. 7, 211 girls' scalps, big and little; small yellow hoops; white ground; tears, hatchet, club, scalping knife, etc.

"No. 8. This package is a mixture of all the varieties above mentioned, to the number of 122; with a box of birch bark, containing twenty-nine little infants' scalps of various sizes; small white hoops, white ground.

"With these packs, the chiefs send to your Excellency the following speech delivered by Coneiogatchie in council, interpreted by the elder Moore, the trader, and taken down by me in waiting:

"'Father!—We send you herewith many scalps, that you may see that we are not idle friends.—A blue belt.

"'Father!—We wish you to send these scalps over the water to the Great King, that he may regard them and be refreshed; and that he may see our faithfulness in destroying his enemies, and be convinced that his presents have not been made to ungrateful people.—A blue and white belt with red tassels.

"'Father!—Attend to what I am going to say; it is a matter of much weight. The Great King's enemies are many, and they grow fast in number. They were formerly like young panthers; they could neither bite nor scratch; we could play with them safely; we feared nothing they could do to us. But now their bodies are become big as the elk and strong as the buffalo; they have also got great and sharp claws. They have driven us out of our country by taking part in your quarrel. We expect the Great King will give us another country, that our children may live after us, and be his friends and children as we are. Say this for us to the Great King. To enforce it we give this belt.—A great white belt with blue tassels.

"'Father!—We have only to say further, that your traders exact more than ever for their goods; and our hunting is lessened by the war, so that we have fewer skins to give for them. This ruins us. Think of some remedy. We are poor, and you have plenty of everything. We know you will send us powder and guns, and knives and hatchets; but we also want shirts and blankets.—A little white belt.'

"I do not doubt but that your Excellency will think it proper to give some further encouragement to those honest people. The high prices they complain of are the necessary effect of the war. Whatever presents may be sent for them through my hands shall be distributed with prudence and fidelity. I have the honour of being

"Your Excellency's most obedient and most humble servant,

"James Craufurd."

This chapter of Congress vengeance to exterminate the Six Nations of Indians, and of its writers to picture them as human monsters, cannot be better concluded than in the words of the historian of Brant,[100]and of the Border Wars of the American Revolution:

"No Indian pen traces the history of their tribes and nations,or records the deeds of their warriors and chiefs, their prowess and their wrongs. Their spoilers have been their historians; and although a reluctant assent has been awarded to some of the nobler traits of their nature, yet, without yielding a due allowance for the peculiarities of their situation, the Indian character has been presented with singular uniformity as being cold, cruel, morose, and revengeful; unrelieved by any of those varying traits and characteristics, those lights and shadows which are admitted in respect to other people no less wild and uncivilized than they.

"Without pausing to reflect that, even when most cruel, they have been practising the trade of war—always dreadful—as much in conformity to their own usages and laws as have their more civilized antagonists, the white historian has drawn them with the characteristics of demons. Forgetting that the second of Hebrew monarchs did not scruple to saw his prisoners with saws, and harrow them with harrows of iron; forgetful likewise of the scenes of Smithfield, under the direction of our own British ancestors; the historians of the poor untutored Indians, almost with one accord, have denounced them as monsterssui generis, of unparalleled and unapproachable barbarity; as though the summary tomahawk were worse than the iron tortures of the harrow, and the torch of the Mohawk hotter than the faggots of Queen Mary.

"Nor does it seem to have occurred to the 'pale-faced' writers that the identical cruelties, the records and descriptions of which enter so largely into the composition of the earlier volumes of American history, were not barbarities in the estimation of those who practised them.The scalp lock was an emblem of chivalry.Every warrior shaving his head for battle was careful to leavethe lock of defiance upon his crown, as for the bravado, 'Take it if you can.' The stake and thetorture were identified with their rude notions of the power of endurance. They were inflicted upon captives of their own race, as well as upon whites; and with their own braves these trials were courted, to enable the sufferer to exhibit the courage and fortitude with which they could be borne—the proud scorn with which all the pain that a foe might inflict could be endured.

"But (it is said) they fell upon slumbering hamlets in the night and massacred defenceless women and children. This, again, was their own mode of warfare, as honourable in their estimation as the more courteous methods of committing wholesale murder laid down in the books.

"But of one enormity they were ever innocent. Whatever degree of personal hardship and suffering their female captives were compelled to endure, their persons were never dishonoured by violence; a fact which can be predicated, we apprehend, of no other victorious soldiery that ever lived.

"In regard, moreover, to the countless acts of cruelty alleged to have been perpetrated by the savages, it must still be borne in mind that the Indians have had no writer to relate their own side of the story. The annals of man, probably, do not attest a more kindly reception of intruding foreigners than was given to the Pilgrims landing at Plymouth by the faithful Massassoit, and the tribes under his jurisdiction. Nor did the forest kings take up arms until they but too clearly saw that either their visitors or themselves must be driven from the soil which was their own—the fee of which was derived from the Great Spirit. And the nation is yet to be discovered that will not fight for their homes, the graves of their fathers, and their family altars. Cruel they were in the prosecution of their contests; but it would require the aggregate of a large number of predatory incursions and isolated burnings to balance the awful scene of conflagration and blood which at once extinguished the power of Sassacus, and the brave and indomitable Narragansets over whom he reigned. No! until it is forgotten that by some Christians in infant Massachusetts it was held to be right to kill Indians, as the agents and familiars of Azazel; until the early records of even tolerant Connecticut, which disclose the fact that the Indians were seized by the Puritans, transported to the British West Indies, and sold as slaves, are lost; untilthe Amazon and La Plata shall have washed away the bloody history of the Spanish American conquest; and until the fact that Cortez stretched the unhappy Guatimozin naked upon a bed of burning coals (or General Sullivan's devastation of the Six Indian Nations) is proved to be a fiction, let not the American Indians be pronounced the most cruel of men."[101]

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