Retreat of Schuyler to the Mohawk. St. Leger in the Mohawk Valley. Relief of the Valley proposed by Schuyler. These things were exceed"Should it be ask nate, and nearly all of them left the army and returned home. July 24, 1777. ed," he said, in a letter to the Albany Committee, from Moses's Creek, four miles below Fort Edward, "what line of conduct I mean to hold amid this variety of diffi culties and distress, I would answer, to dispute every inch of ground with General Burgoyne, and retard his descent into the country as long as possible." He Burgoyne's force, in the mean while, was constantly augmented by accessions from the families of the loyal and the timid. Slowly and surely he advanced from Skenesborough to Fort Anne, and was pressing onward, in the midst of fearful obstacles, toward the Hudson. Under all these circumstances, General Schuyler thought it prudent to retreat until new recruits, or a re-enforcement from Washington, should give more strength to his army. accordingly fell back from Fort Edward, the general rendezvous of his forces after the evacuation of Ticonderoga, Mount Independence, and Fort George. As Burgoyne approached, the people fled, in terror and dismay, toward Albany, leaving their ripe harvest fields and pleasant homes to be trodden down or burned by the enemy. Burgoyne at length reached Fort Edward; and as he marched slowly down the valley of the Hudson, Schuyler retreated in good order to Saratoga, then to Stillwater, and finally to Cohoes' Falls. In the mean while the people in the Mohawk Valley were in the greatest consternation. St. Leger had arrived from Oswego, and was besieging Fort Schuyler, while the Tories and Indians were spreading death and desolation on every hand. Colonel Gansevoort, with a handful of men, was closely shut up in the fort; General Herkimer, with the brave militia of Tryon county, had been defeated at Oriskany, and the people below hourly exAugust 6. pected the flood of destroyers to pour down upon them. It was a fearful emergency. Without aid all must be lost. Brave hearts were ready for bold deeds, and during a night of fearful tempest of thunder and rain, Colonel Willett and Lieutenant Stockwell crept stealthily from the fort, through groups of sleeping besiegers, beyond their lines, and at dawn on the second day, mounted upon fleet horses, sped down the valley to the headquarters of General Schuyler, at Stillwater, and, in the name of the beleaguered garrison and the people of Tryon county, implored assistance. Not a moment was to be lost. The subjugation of the whole valley would inevitably follow the surrender of Fort Schuyler, and the victors, gathering strength, would fall like an avalanche upon Albany, or, by junction, swell the approaching army of Burgoyne. The prudent foresight and far-reaching humanity of General Schuyler at once dictated his course. He called a council,' and proposed sending a detachment immediately to the relief of Fort Schuyler. His officers opposed him, with the plea that his whole force was not then sufficient to stay the oncoming of Burgoyne. The clearer judgment of Schuyler made him persist in his opinion, and he earnestly besought them to agree with him. While pacing the floor in anxious solicitude, he overheard the half-whispered remark, "He means to weaken the army." Treason in the heart of Philip Schuyler! Never was a thought more foul 1 General Schuyler was then quartered in the house of Derrick Swart, Esq., at Stillwater. The house is still standing, just at the foot of the hill.-Charles Neilson, Esq. 2 At this time jealousy had created secret enemies for General Schuyler, and he was even charged with being associated with St. Clair in preliminary acts of treason, about the time the latter evacuated Ticonderɔga. The ridiculous story got abroad that they had been paid for their treason by the enemy in silver balls, shot from Burgoyne's guns into the American camp!-See Thatcher's Military Journal, p. 86. NOTE. It will be observed that, in this rapid view of events connected with the American encampment at the mouth of the Mohawk, I have avoided all details, where, perhaps, the reader may have wished more minute information. The necessity for this course arises from the nature of the plan of my work, which is to notice in detail the various important localities, in the order in which I visited them, and not in chronological succession, as the mere historian would do. For example, I visited Cohoes' and Bemis's Heights before Fort Edward and Ticonderoga. I therefore describe the scenery and events of the former places minutely, and reserve similar minute details concerning the latter until, in the order of the narrative of my tour, I reach them. This explanation is necessary, as some might suppose that important places are to be slightly noticed, while others of less moment have an undue share of attention. I have visited all the Volunteers for the Relief of Fort Schuyler. Position of the Americans at Cohoes. Active Preparations to oppose Burgoyne. or charge more wicked. Wheeling suddenly toward the slanderer and those around him, and unconsciously biting into several pieces a pipe he was smoking, he indignantly exclaimed, "Gentlemen, I shall take the responsibility upon myself; where is the brigadier that will take command of the relief? I shall beat up for volunteers to-morrow." The brave and impulsive Arnold, ever ready for deeds of daring, at once stepped forward and offered his services. The next morning the drum beat, and eight hundred stalwart men August 15 were enrolled for the service before meridian. Fort Schuyler was saved, and the 1777. forces of St. Leger scattered to the winds. In after years the recollection of those burning words of calumny always stirred the breast of the veteran patriot with violent emotions If ever a bosom glowed with true devotion to country, it was that of Philip Schuyler. Such, in brief, were the events which placed the remnant of the main army of the north at the mouth of the Mohawk in August, 1777, and caused Van Schaick's and Haver's Islands to be fortified. That seemed to be the most eligible point at which to make a stand in defense of Albany against the approaches of the enemy from the north and from the west. Nowhere else could the comparatively feeble force of the Americans so effectually oppose the overwhelming number of the invaders. At that time there were no bridges across the Hudson or the Mohawk, and both streams were too deep to be fordable except in seasons of extreme drought. There was a ferry across the Mohawk, five miles above the falls,' and one across the Hudson at Half Moon Point,' or Waterford. The "sprouts" of the Mohawk, between the islands, were usually fordable; and as Burgoyne would not, of course, cross the Hudson, or attempt the ferry upon the Mohawk, where a few resolute men could successfully oppose him, his path was of necessity directly across the mouth of the river. Fortifications were accordingly thrown up on the islands and upon the main land, faint traces of which are still visible. In this position, with his headquarters at Stillwater, in advance of his army, General Schuyler brought all his energies and resources into requisition for the augmentation and discipline of his troops, preparatory to a first determined conflict with Burgoyne. His private purse was freely opened, and by unwearied exertions day and night the army rapidly improved in numbers, discipline, and spirits. His correspondence at that time with men of every degree, from the President of Congress and the commander-in-chief to subordinate officers and private gentlemen, was very extensive, all having relation to the one great wish of his heart, the checking of the progress of the British army. He addressed the civil and military authorities in every direction, urging them to assist him with men and arms. The Council of Safety, at Albany, was appealed to. "Every militia-man," he said, " ought to turn out without delay in a crisis the most alarming since the contest began." He appealed to the Eastern States. If," he said, in a letter to Governor Trumbull, of Connecticut, "the Eastern militia do not turn out with spirit and behave better, we shall be ruined." To Washington he repeated, in substance, what he had said on the 12th of July previous. If my countrymen will support me with vigor and dexterity, and do not meanly despond, most important localities of the Revolution, and each in its turn, in the course of the work, will receive its full share of notice. It is my intention to give in notes, in the course of the work, brief biographical sketches of all the most important actors in our Revolutionary war, both domestic and foreign. These sketches will be introduced at points where the record exhibits the most prominent events in the life of the subject. Prominent mer will, therefore, be mentioned often before a biography will be given; but the reader may rely upon finding it in the work, if a memoir can be found. Loudon's ferry. At this place the left wing of the army rested, under the command of General Arnold. So called from the name of Henry Hudson's ship, the Half Moon. 3 General Schuyler never allowed his private interest to interfere in the least degree with the public good. When the Continental army was retreating from Fort Edward, Mrs. Schuyler rode up from Albany to their beautiful country seat at Saratoga, and superintended the removal of their furniture. While there she received direction from her husband to set fire with her own hands to his extensive fields of wheat, end to request his tenants to do the same, rather than suffer them to be reaped by the enemy.— Women of the Revolution, vol. i., p. 60. Schuyler superseded by Gates. Factions in Congress. Noble Conduct of Schuyler. we shall be able to prevent the enemy from penetrating much further into the country." At the same time all was life and activity in his camp. From his own state recruits were constantly filling his thinned regiments, and the heart of the patriot was cheered with the prospect of soon winning back those laurels which, by the late reverses and the events of the last campaign, had been, in a measure, stripped from his brow. But secret enemies had been for some time plotting his disgrace by poisoning the minds of the Eastern people, and raising a clamor in favor of the reinstatement of Gates, who as yet, for obvious reasons, had met with no reverses. The friends of that officer were an active faction in Congress at that time, sub rosâ, but the next year were far more undisguised in favoring the scheme for giving Gates the chief command in place of Washington. We are so accustomed to look upon all the men of the Revolution who took sides with the friends of America as pure and holy in all their thoughts and actions, that we reluctantly yield to the conviction that they were ever actuated by motives less worthy and exalted than those of the loftiest patriotism. This is claiming too much for human nature. While we may award to them all that is noble and disinterested in feeling, when the good of the common cause demanded personal sacrifice and pliancy of opinion, it is folly to deny that the spirit of faction was rife among the members of the Old Continental Congress, and that selfish motives often controlled their actions. Congress, listening to the clamors from the East, the importunities of Gates's friends, and the suggestions of a false military philosophy, deprived General Schuyler of his command just as he was about to lead his troops to victory. General Gates, with his new commission, arrived at Van Schaick's on the 19th of August, three days after the battle of Bennington, a battle which, in its effect upon the British army, gave full assurance of future victory to the Americans. How nobly did the conduct of Schuyler on this occasion contrast with that of Gates a few weeks previous. On Gates's arrival, without the slightest indication of ill humor, the patriot resigned his command, communicated all the intelligence he possessed, and put every interesting paper into his hands simply adding, "I have done all that could be done, as far as the means were in my power, to injure the enemy, and to inspire confidence in the soldiers of our own army, and, I flatter myself, with some success; but the palm of victory is denied me, and it is left to you, general, to reap the fruit of my labors. I will not fail, however, to second your views; and my devotion to my country will cause me with alacrity to obey all your orders.”1 "I am sensible," he said, in a letter to Congress, "of the indignity of being ordered from the command of the army at the time when an engagement must soon take place;" yet he preferred to suffer reproach in silence rather than allow his bleeding country to be injured by the withdrawal of a single arm from its support. Although disgraced by the act of Congress, he persevered assiduously in strengthening the army and preparing for the coming conflict. "I shall go on," he said to Washington, "in doing my duty and endeavoring to deserve your esteem.” And when General Gates arrived, he cordially proffered his co-operation, was very active in promoting the success of the battles which soon after took place, was present at Saratoga when Burgoyne surrendered his sword, and rejoiced, because his country was the gainer, when the laurels which should have graced his brow were placed upon that of another. Warmed by such impulses, who can doubt that the bosom of the generous patriot on that day heaved with nobler pride and purer joy than that of the lauded victor? 1 Garden, p. 359. Canal Voyage from Waterford to Bemis's Heights. Appearance of the Country CHAPTER II. "Led on by lust of lucre and renown, Burgoyne came marching with his thousands down; Onward to ruin each advantage leads.” army. PHILIP FRENEAU, 1778. E left Waterford at two o'clock P.M. for Bemis s Heights, the famous battle-ground where Burgoyne was checked and defeated in the autumn of 1777, a few weeks after General Gates succeeded to the command of the northern Our conveyance was a neat little canal packet, its cabin crowded with passengers and a well-supplied dinner-table, and its deck piled with as much luggage and as many loungers as low bridges and a hot sun would allow. For a loiterer who takes no note of passing hours but to mark and mourn their excessive length, and who loves to glide along listlessly among green fields and shady woods without the disturbance of even a carriage ride, a day voyage upon a canal is really delightful, especially if the face of nature is attractive, and a pleasant companion or agreeable book assists in smoothing the passage of time. Such seemed to be the character of nearly all our fellow-passengers, pleas ure from personal enjoyment being their chief object. When dinner was over, some slept some read, and every body talked to every body as freely as old acquaintances would chat. The country through which we passed is very fertile, and beautifully diversified in aspect. The plain over which the Hudson here flows is a narrow alluvial bottom, of garden richness, along the western edge of which passes the canal. Green woods and cultivated fields skirted the river on either side, and those conical hills and knolls, like western tumuli, which are prominent features from Stillwater to Sandy Hill, here begin to appear. Some of them were still covered with the primeval forest, and others were cultivated from base to summit, giving a pleasing variety to the ever-changing landscape. The dark green corn, just flowering; the wheat ears, fading from emerald to russet; the blackberries, thick in the hedges; the flowers innumerable, dotting the pasture fields, and the fragrance of the new-mown hay, scattered in wind-rows along the canal, were pleasant sights to one just escaped from the dust and din of the city, and imparted a gratification which only those can feel and appreciate who seldom enjoy it. There was one thing wanting, which leafy June would have supplied the melody of birds. "Silence girt the woods; no warbling tongue Talks now unto the echo of the groves; Only the curled stream soft chidings kept; And little gales that from the green leaves swept Dry summer's dust, in fearful whisperings stirr'd, for it was just the season when the warblers of the forest are still, except at early morning, when they carol a brief matin hymn, and then are quiet. "The poetry of earth is never dead. Yet When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, Young Tourists from Saratoga Springs. Gates and Burgoyne. An Evening Visit to Bemis's Heights From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead; KEATS. At the Borough, or Mechanicsville, nine miles above Waterford, the rail-road from Saratoga Springs reaches the canal. Here our boat was filled to repletion with a bevy of young people, who, tired of medicinals and midnight merriment at that Mecca of fashion in summer, had determined to take a "slow coach" to Whitehall, and meet the stronger tide of gay tourists flowing to Ticonderoga from Lake George. They were full of life, and not one of them had ever passed a night upon a canal-boat. Poor souls! how we pitied them, while we rejoiced at our own better fortune, intending, as we did, to debark toward cooling sunset. If" affliction is necessary to temper the over-joyous," our young travelers were doubtless well annealed before morning in the vapor bath of a packet cabin. One of the passengers was a roving journeyman printer, full of the general intelligence of the craft, an inveterate tobacco chewer, and evidently a boon companion of John Barleycorn and his cousins. His hat was a-slouch and his coat seedy. His wit kept the deck vocal with laughter; yet, when at times he talked gravely, the dignity of intelligence made us all respectful listeners. He was perfectly familiar with the history of the classic grounds through which we were then passing. His father was one of the special adjutants appointed by General Gates on the morning of the action of the 19th of September, and from him he had often received minute details of the events of that contest. He mentioned a circumstance connected with the commander on that occasion, which, in some degree, explains the singular fact that he was not upon the field of action-a fact which some have adduced as evidence of cowardice. It is admitted that General Gates did not leave his camp during the contest; and the special adjutant referred to asserted boldly that intoxication was the chief cause. That, in the opinion of the world at that time, was a weakness far more excusable, and a crime less heinous, than cowardice; for a night's debauch and a morning of dullness and stupidity were things too common among gentlemen to affect reputation seriously, unless bad consequences ensued. He was not alone in devotion to the wine-cup at that very time, for it is said that Burgoyne and Earl Balcarras did not leave their flagon and their cards until dawn that morning. Burgoyne and the earl, however, had either stouter heads or stouter hearts than Gates, for they were on duty in the field when the contest was raging. It may be that neither wine nor cowardice controlled the American commander. Let us charitably hope that it did not, and charge the fault upon a weak judgment; for we should be ever ready to act toward erring brother-man according to the glorious injunction of Prior: "Be to his faults a little blind; We reached Bemis's Heights between five and six o'clock in the evening. The hotel is situated a few rods south of the site of the old residence of Bemis. The obliging landlord anticipated our impatience to view the battle-ground, and when supper was over we found a horse and light wagon in readiness to carry us to the residence of Charles Neilson, Esq., on the summit of the heights, whence a fine view of the whole scene of conflict and of the surrounding country might be obtained.' It was too late for much observation, for twilight soon spread its veil over every object. After spending an hour pleasantly and profitably with Mr. Neilson and his family, I made an engagement to meet him early next morning, to ride and ramble over the historic grounds in the neighborhood. 1 Mr. Neilson occupies the mansion owned by his father, an active Whig, at the time of the battles there. He has written and published a volume entitled "An original, compiled, and corrected Account of Burgoyne's Campaign and the memorable Battles of Bemis's Heights." It contains many details not found in other books, which he gathered from those who were present, and saw and heard what they related It is valuable on that account. |