The story of old Saratoga; the Burgoyne campaign, to which is added New York's share in the revolution

Front matter

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Preface

This book, like many another, is a growth from a small beginning; the outcome of a brief sketch made for another purpose. The author never dreamed that he would be guilty of perpetrating a book. When he began the aforesaid sketch he supposed that the history of the locality had been thoroughly written up and that nothing of interest could be found which had not repeatedly been spread before the interested public.

This surmise was certainly true of the Burgoyne campaign with its battles and auspicious ending which occurred within the bounds of Old Saratoga. All of this had become well threshed straw before we began our task ; hence, we have been able to add but a little to what has already appeared in print concerning it, except a few anecdotes of a personal nature. We can claim nothing more with respect to that decisive campaign in the great struggle of the fathers for independence than that we have redrawn the picture from the view point of the " Heights of Saratoga," and have put into the scene a series of details which heretofore had appeared only as scattered and disjointed fragments.

Our excuse for the book is this : While hunting for Colonial or ante-Revolutionary data relative to the history of this locality we di.scovered that there was very much more to it than had yet appeared in any form accessible to the public ; and, what is more to the point, we found that this is the only locality, worthy of it, in the yalley between New York City and Plattsburg, whose Colonial history had not been carefully explored and xii PREFACE

written up. With this in mind we resolved to dig down and get at the roots of its history ; so we have diligently examined everything we could hear of or find that would throw any light on that shadowy epoch in Old Saratoga's story ; and we trust that those who are interested in such matters will agree with us that we have been measurably paid for the trouble. In the meantime we believe we have also discovered several important historic sites, together with the name of the one local annalist, the anonymous Sexagenary, which had long been lost.

It is a pity that there had not been more chroniclers to record the many interesting incidents which must have occurred here, particularly during the period of King George's war, and yet more is the pity that many of the records that were made have been lost. Still, as it is, we feel that we can assert without fear of successful contradiction that outside the cities of New York and Albany, Old Saratoga is the most interesting historic locality in New York State, and New York was the battle ground of America in Revolutionary and Colonial days. But notwithstanding the fact that this is the scene of so many events, tragic, thrilling, and heroic, in their character ; events far reaching and superlatively beneficent in their effects on our civilization, Saratoga is a name that has been made little of by American writers, and is seldom used to conjure with in speech or story.

We have in this work kept the military history separate from the civil in the belief that the average reader will find it less confusing, and hence more satisfactory, than any attempt at mixing the two together, and yet we confess that the line of demarkation between the civil and the military is sometimes pretty hazy.

That w^e have been enabled to carry this work to completion grateful acknowledgments are due, first,

PREFACE xiii

to the many interested citizens of Schuylerville, without whose encouragement we would not have dared to embark on such a venture ; to Mr. W. L. Stone, the accomplished Revolutionary historian, and to Gen. J. Watts De Peyster. military critic and prolific author, for valuable facts and suggestions ; to Miss Fanny Schuyler, for the loan of Schuyler manuscripts and for criticising a portion of the work; to Mr. W. B. Melius, the erudite keeper of the Albany County records, for help in our search for data; to Mr. Hugh Hastings, State Historian, and Henry Harmon Noble, his efficient assistant, for their hearty encouragement, timely suggestions and valuable hints concerning historic manuscripts preserved in the State Library ; and to Mr. Arnold J. F. van Laer, State Archivist, for invaluable assistance in deciphering some of the ancient manuscripts under his care.

We are also especially obligated to Mr. C. W. Mayhew of Schuylerville for the free use of his library, rich in historic works ; to Miss Anna Hill for generously typewriting a large portion of the manuscript; to Mrs. John H. Lowber and Mrs. Jane Marshall for courteously permitting a careful examination of their historic homes, and foi interesting facts connected therewith.

We also feel deeply indebted to Rev. F. C. Scoville of Greenwich, N. Y.. for valuable assistance in our search for the author of the Sexagenary.

Schuylerville, N. Y.. Dec. 15, igoo.

Preface To The Second Edition

About the time the first edition of this work was exhausted the author received notice from the Chief of the School Libraries Division of The University of New York that he had placed the story of Old Saratoga on the list of supplementary readings for our public schools. Naturally pleased by such a gracious testimony to the value of the work the author decided to publish a new edition. Before doing so, however, he resolved to make a second and somewhat more extended research among original sources for data concerning the early history of this locality. The result was the discovery of many facts which, though not of prime importance, yet, at least, are interesting and illuminating ; and furthermore, by them gaps in the story have been filled, and many questions that before were puzzling have been answered.

This edition being designed for a wider constituency will omit several chapters and a number of paragraphs which appeared in the first edition. Our reasons for this are 1st: Because such annals of this locality as are of Statewide interest, and really important, have to do almost exclusively with its Colonial and Revolutionary history. Much of the latter has heretofore been inaccessible to our people, while the modern history is less interesting, and is also within easy reach of the curious.* Because of this much of the matter relating to modern Schuylerville, etc., we have left out. 2d. We have done this because room was needed for the new and important material above referred to. 3d. Because we are publish-

* Such should read the first edition of this work.

xvi PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

ing in this new edition four chapters on New York's Share' in the Revolution. These contain a series of important facts which never before have we seen collated, and which, we believe, should be made accessible to the youth in our public schools.

The author is painfully aware that these chapters do not fit well in this volume, but they are not bulky enough for a separate book, and he flatters himself that they contain facts well worth placing before such New Yorkers as are interested in the history of their own State.

In the preparation of this second edition the author feels himself specially obligated to Rev. H. D. B. Mulford. D. D., sometime Professor of English Language and Literature in Rutgers College, Sherman Williams, Chief of the School Libraries of the University of New York, A. W. Risley, Professor of History in the New York State College for Teachers, and James Sullivan, Director of Division of Archives and History for the University of the State of New York, for their valuable criticisms, and many wise and helpful suggestions, generously given.

Albany, N. Y., Feb. 15th, 1919.

CHAPTER I Discovery and Discoverers of the valley between New York Bay and Canada

CHAPTER H Saratoga. Origin of the name. Old Indian trails. Hostile forays from both sides of the line.

CHAPTER IH Destruction of Schenectady and return blows.

CHAPTER IV First settlement at Old Saratoga. Queen Anne's War. Nicholson's expeditions against Canada.

CHAPTER V King George's War. Building of the forts.

CHAPTER VI Destru6tion of Saratoga. A word about the captives.

CHAPTER VII Fort Clinton. Discovery of its site. Its fate.

CHAPTER VIII The French and Indian War.

CHAPTER IX The Revolution. Causes of the war. First period of the Burgoyne campaign.

CHAPTER X Second period of Burgoyne campaign. Indian atrocities. Oriskany and Bennington. Schuyler superseded by Gates. Movements of hostile armies.

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CHAPTER XI First battle of Saratoga. Results.

CHAPTER Xn Second battle of Saratoga.

CHAPTER Xni Third period of campaign. Burgoyne retreats.

CHAPTER XIV

Burgoyne surrounded and besieged. Woes of the besieged.

CHAPTER XV Terms and description of Burgoyne's surrender. Saratoga a decisive battle, why?

CHAPTER XVI General Gates, his behavior after the surrender. The Conway cabal. Conditions at Saratoga.

CHAPTER XVII Dark days of the Revolution.

CHAPTER XVIII

1781 at Saratoga. Generals Stark and Lord Sterling in command at.

CHAPTER XIX Anecdotes connected with the Revolution.

CHAPTER XX Anecdotes continued.

CHAPTER XXI War of 1812 and the Civil War.

CONTENTS xix

Book II Civil History

CHAPTER I Saratoga. Significance of the name. First settlers. Resettlement after the massacre.

CHAPTER H The first permanent settlers.

CHAPTER HI Revolutionary trials of the citizens.

CHAPTER IV About the several Schuyler mansions and their occupants.

CHAPTER V Mansion No. 3 built in record time. Visits of Washington.

CHAPTER VI Mansion No. 3 continued. Its later occupants.

CHAPTER VII About William Duer, and Colonel James Livingston.

CHAPTER VIII A historic church. Reorganization and settlement of Saratoga after the Revolution. Partition of the township.

CHAPTER IX .

Growth of villages. Advent of the canal, its effect. The coming of railroads.

CHAPTER X The Saratoga monument, the building of it. etc.

XX CONTENTS

Book III Nepv York's Share In The Revolution

CHAPTER I New York unfairly dealt with in most histories. Some things that differentiated her from New England. Some of her contributions to our civilization.

CHAPTER n Causes of the Revolution. Some of New York's contributions toward independence, and her early sufferings. The Boston port bill.

CHAPTER HI Certain reflections on preceding events, and their outcome.

CHAPTER IV The war in New York. New York's strategic importance. Importance of Lexington and Concord compared with some other battles. New York's contributions and sacrifices compared with other states.

CHAPTER V The treaty of peace with England. John Jay's part in it. A word about Gouverneur Morris and Gen. Philip Schuyler.

CHAPTER VI Origin and adoption of the Federal Constitution. New York's share in the launching of the government of the United States.

Guides to the battlefield and historic Saratoga, or Schuylerville, with maps.

Introduction

It would be impossible to write an intelligible narrative of Old Saratoga, now Schuylerville, without sketching the broader field of history of which it forms a part. As well attempt a satisfactory description of a two-mile section of the majestic Hudson that flows before it without telling whence the river rises and whither its gleaming waters go. Old Saratoga is but one link in a chain of marvellous story. We must at least catch a glimpse of the whole chain or we shall never come to appreciate this one golden link.

That the place now called Schuylerville has become historic is due neither td the size of the town, to the famous deeds of its inhabitants, nor to the fact that someone whom the world calls specially great was born here. It was well known to two great nations while yet it was a howling wilderness, and it had obtained world-wide renown before any one had yet dreamed of the village of Schuylerville. Its place in history is due mainly to its location. Here, in military language, was one of the few strategic points in the great Hudson valley. Whoever held these points held the whole valley, and whoever held this valley could hold the continent.

How is that? you may ask. Well, take a good map of New York State and you will notice that an extraordinary depression or valley extends from the river St. Lawrence, in Canada, directly south to New York bay. This valley is the result of some mighty convulsion in nature, which rent the mountains asunder, leaving this chasm between the ranges, to be further hollowed out

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INTRODUCTION and smoothed down by the action of those giant rivers of ice, the glaciers. The highest point of the divide, or watershed, in this depression is between Fort Edward and Fort Ann, and this is only 147 feet above sea level. This elevation is remarkably slight in a distance of 350 miles, especially when one considers the mountain ranges between which the valley runs. With the exception of some twenty miles this whole distance between New York and Montreal was navigable for small craft before the dams were built in the Hudson.

Besides this valley running north and south, another depression, starting from Schenectady, stretches westward and cleaves the great Appalachian mountain range in twain, forming an open gateway toward the setting sun. Through this runs the Mohawk.

Scan your map of North America closely from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to Florida and you will learn to your surprise, mayhap, that from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico there is no other wide-open portal except the Mohawk, to the west, through those mighty barriers which the great Appalachian range has thrown across the pathway to the imperial domain of the Mississippi valley. Thus, if you have a military eye, you can readily see that, before the days of railroads, whoever held the Hudson valley held the key to the continent from the east.

Turn to your map of New York State again and you will notice that the country where dwelt the Iroquois is drained by the St. Lawrence through the Black, the Seneca and the Genesee rivers ; by New York bay through the Mohawk and Hudson rivers ; by Delaware bay through the Delaware river ; by Chesapeake bay through the Susquehanna river, and by the Gulf of Mexico through the Allegheny and Ohio rivers.

Those old "Romans of the West," the Five Nations or

INTRODUCTION xxiii

Iroquois, somehow discovered the strategic value of their position and took advantage of it. Having formed a civil confederacy, and then uniting their military forces, they became a menace and a terror to all their neighbors. The trails leading up and down these various rivers they transformed into warpaths. Ere long their fierce warwhoop was heard westward to the Mississippi, northward to the Saguenay, and southward to the great gulf, and from everywhere they returned as conquerors, proudly bringing with them those spoils so dear to the savage heart, scalps and captives. These conquests were completed by the year 1715 when they brought back the Tuscaroras from the Carolinas, and admitted them into their confederacy. After that they were called the Six Nations.

The Adirondack region, including the Champlain and Hudson valleys, as far south as the old district of Saratoga extended, was reckoned specially desirable as a possession, and had long been disputed territory between the Algonquins of the north and the Iroquois. Long before the white man set eyes on this region it was known to the red man as "the dark and bloody ground." Against all opponents, the indomitable courage and persistency of the fierce Iroquois had quite won the day when the white man appeared on the scene as a new contestant for the valuable prize. When he entered the field, he was destined to add some still darker chapters to its already bloody history.

Book I Military History Chapter I

Discovery of this Valley

Our first introduction to these natural pathways leading northward and westward is connected with the meeting of a party of whites and Indians drifting south from Canada on discovery intent, and a party of painted Iroquois hastening north, on war and pillage bent. The leader of the party from the north was Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Quebec, and the first French Governor of Canada. The Algonquihs had told him of a wonderful inland sea that stretched far southward into the land of the terrible Iroquois. He became curious to see it, and so in the spring of 1609, with two white companions and 60 native warriors with their canoes, he started on the eventful voyage. They reached the lake July 4th and paddled south leisurely, till they arrived in the vicinity of Ticonderoga, where in the night they met the party of two hundred Iroquois painted and plumed for war. Immediately on the discovery of the approaching enemy the Iroquois hastened ashore to fortify themselves. The Algonquins lined up their canoes just beyond arrow shot and having mutually agreed to wait till morning for the fight, they spent the night in jeering one another, and boasting what terrible things each would do to the other at the break of day. At daylight the Algonquins went ashore and quickly advanced for the deadly grapple. Because of their superior numbers and position the Iroquois felt confident of victory, but the sudden apparition of three strangely-dressed men with white faces, a thing never before dreamed of by them, together with the thunder of their arquebuses and the terrible execution they wrought, quickly decided the day, and the Iroquois fled precipitately, not pleased with their first experience of the white man. Champlain came no farther, but the beautiful lake which he had discovered and described, fittingly bears his honored name.

It is worthy of note that this is the first known appearance of a white man within the borders of northern New York, and that too through the northern gateway. And Champlain's contest with those Indians was the first recorded battle on the soil of this State, and on a spot which afterwards was the scene of many bloody conflicts.

Six weeks after this event, by a strange coincidence, Hendrick Hudson, an Englishman, commanding a Dutch ship, sailed into the splendid harbor now known as New York bay, and laying his course due north entered what he fondly hoped would prove to be the much looked for passage to the East Indies, but which .turned out to be only a river, yet a river far more beautiful than any his eyes had ever beheld. Wishing to learn the character and size of his great find, he worked his way as far north as Troy or Cohoes. Then he returned to report his discovery. He, too, was honored by having his name affixed to the southern portion of this marvellous valley and its noble river. Five years thereafter a trading post was established 150 miles north of New York bay, and which for fifty-five years bore the name of Fort Orange, after the noble house whose sons had successfully led the Netherlands in their eighty years' fight for liberty against Spain. But a hundred miles of this valley from Troy to Crown Point was as yet terra incognita to the white man, and it remained so for one-third of a century.

During all this time the Iroquois of Central New York had refrained from war against the north ; but they by no means forgot their humiliating defeat at the hands of the white men who were the allies of their ancient foes in Canada. For thirty-three years they had nursed their wrath and drilled themselves in warfare with other tribes, to the west and south, when in the spring of 1642, after having become possessed of fire-arms and practiced in their use, they decided that the time had come to blot out their disgrace in the blood of the Algonquins and French. And had it not been for the timely arrival of some French troops the Canadian settlements would have been utterly exterminated.

Among their captives on that foray was a noble Jesuit priest. Father Isaac Jogues, who in company with several helpers and converts were returning, with their canoes loaded with supplies, to a mission already established among the Hurons in the distant west. He, with two assistants, Couture and Goupil, and a number of Hurons, were horribly tortured ; then they were bound and headed south for the Mohawk country. It was about the 1st of September when they arrived at that bold promontory jutting out into Lake Champlain, which has since become famous as Ticonderoga. Rounding this they turned west where soon they were stopped by the churning rapids and chiming falls of a goodly stream, the outlet of another lake. Here the Indians landed, shouldered their canoes, followed up the stream, and soon with their captives launched forth upon the crystal waters of Andiatarocte (Lake George). Here, for the first time since the dawn of creation, eyes, that could appreciate, looked upon the rare beauty of that "fair Naiad of the ancient wilderness," Lac St. Sacrament, as it was christened four years later by Father Jogues.

These savage warriors, with their hapless victims.

duly landed where now stands that handsome hostelry, the Fort William Henry Hotel, and straightway plunged into the dusky woods and followed the ancient war trail. This trail led from Lake George to the bend in the Hudson a few miles west of Glens Falls, thence south westward till it struck the Mohawk in the vicinity of Amsterdam. Arrived at their castles, the captives were again ferociously tortured for the entertainment of savage women and children. Finally Goupil was murdered. Couture having struck the fancy of the Indians by some act of skill or bravery, was adopted into the tribe. Father Jogues lived for months in daily expectation of being murdered. The latter was given to an old Indian as a slave and performed for him the most menial tasks. In the following March he accompanied his master on his spring fishing trip. They repaired to a lake four days distant. On reasonable grounds this is supposed to have been Lake Saratoga. If so Father Jogues was the first white man who ever gazed upon the placid surface of that beautiful sheet of water.

About the 1st of August, 1643, he accompanied a party of Indians on a fishing trip down the Hudson about twenty miles below Albany. Before the main body was ready to leave he secured permission to return with a few Indians who were going up the river in a canoe. At Albany he was very kindly treated by the Dutch who urged him to escape, they having previously made a fruitless attempt to ransom him. Finally he concluded to make the attempt, slipped away from his custodians, and secreted himself. But the Indians made such an ado about it, that to pacify them Megapolensis, the good Dutch Dominie, or clergyman, and Arendt Van Curler, the subsequent founder of Schenectady, collected enough goods to ransom him. The Albany Dutchmen then gave him free passage to France. At New York Gov. Kieft exchanged his squaHd and savage dress for a good suit of Dutch cloth and placed him aboard a small vessel bound for his home. On his arrival there he was received as one risen from the dead, for they had heard of his capture. He at once became an object of curiosity and reverence. He was summoned to court and Queen Anne of Austria kissed his mutilated hands.

Soon he returned to Canada. In 1646 he was ordered by his superior to go to the Mohawk country on an embassage of peace for the government. He with Sieur Bourdon, an engineer, and two Algonquin Indians started about the middle of May. laden with rich gifts for the Mohawks to confirm the peace. They reached Lake George on the eve of the feast of Corpus Christi. From this fact he named it Lac St. Sacrament, a name which was retained for more than a hundred years. From Lake George they took the trail to the Hudson, where, being greatly fatigued by their loads of gifts, they borrowed some canoes from an Iroquois fishing party and descended the Hudson, passing Old Saratoga to Fort Orange. Here the Dutchmen, to whose sacrifices he owed his life, heartily welcomed and entertained him. After a few days he left them for the Mohawk council where he was received with grudging courtesy.

His mission having ended successfully, he started for home, but with the determination to return and found a mission among the Mohawks. With this purpose in mind he left behind a small chest containing a few trinkets and necessaries. But the Indians were persuaded that it harbored some malignant spirits that would work mischief among them. And indeed there was sickness in the village that summer, and the caterpillars ate their corn. All this was of course laid to the evil" spirits left in that box. Hence, when Father Jogues returned, there was a case against him. He was foully murdered on the 18th of October, 1646. "Thus," as Parkman says, "died Isaac Jogues, one of the purest examples of Roman Catholic virtue which this Western continent has seen."^ (The shrine at Auriesville is erected on the traditional site of his martyrdom.)

Thus, when Father Jogues reached Albany in 1646 the whole of the Champlain-Hudson valley had been traversed by the white man. It is also interesting to note that he and Sieur Bourdon were the first to see the site of Schuylerville.

The reader will recall the fact that New York and Albany had been occupied as trading posts since 1614, and the latter had been permanently settled or colonized since 1623.

^ See Parkman's Jesuits in North America.

Chapter II

Saratoga — Origin of the Naaie, the old Indian Trails — First expedition from Canada into the Mohawk Country under Courcelle and De Tracy

To most people outside the boundaries of this county the name Saratoga is coupled always and only with the great watering place, twelve miles west of the Hudson, whose medicinal waters gush forth "for the healing of the nations," whereas its adoption there was a long afterthought. Indeed, the name as applied first to a river district, and later to a definite locality, was known to white men for scores of years before the springs were discovered. Saratoga is an Indian word, and was used by the red men as the name of a favorite hunting and fishing ground, including the eastern section of the present county of Saratoga. It was written in the original Saratoga Patent as Ochserantongue, or Sarachtogie. This Patent took in land on both sides of the Hudson from Mechanicville north to near Fort Miller. Later the name was given to the settlement on the south side of the Fishkill creek, across from Schuylerville. Within a radius of, say, four miles of Schuylerville this region is still called by its inhabitants Old Saratoga. Indeed, the name as applied to a river district was known to white men for a hundred years before the springs were discovered.

As has already been intimated, Schuylerville, or old Saratoga, owes its historic importance to its geographical location. In colonial days it was regarded by military men as an important strategic position. From this point important lateral trails diverged from the main one, which ran Hke a great trunk line up and down the Hudson valley. These lateral trails started here because at this point two large streams empty into the Hudson ; the Battenkill (or Di-an-on-de-howa, in Indian) from the east, and the Fishcreek from the west. The one afforded easy access to the Connecticut valley, while the other offered ready passage from the north and east over into the valley of the Mohawk. In short, here was a sort of Indian "four corners."

Two trails led from the north or Champlain valley into the Mohawk valley. One started at Ticonderoga, passed through Lake George, thence across country, passing the Hudson not far west from Glens Falls, thence through the towns of Moreau and Wilton turning west through the pass south of Mt. McGregor at Stile's Tavern, over near Lake Desolation, southwest through Galw^ay, thence into the Mohawk valley a little west of Amsterdam. This was called the Kayadrosseras trail^ The other started at Whitehall, thence to Fort Edward and down the Hudson to Schuylerville, up the Fishcreek to Saratoga lake, thence up the Kayadrosseras river to the Mourningkill, thence over a carry into Ballston lake, over another carry into Eelplace creek (or Alplaus), and down this into the Mohawk river. This was called the Saratoga trail. If on their expeditions to the north the Mohawk Indians chose to build their canoes at home before starting, they came down the Saratoga trail because it was a waterway. If they decided to build their canoes at the head of the lake, then they took the Kayadrosseras trail overland, for it was shorter.

These trails were already ancient and warworn before the white man appeared on the scene. He promptly appropriated them to his own use for purposes not only of warfare but for commerce.

- Sylvester's Hist, of Saratoga County. Edition of 1878, p. 32.

Courcelle's Expedition against the Iroquois. This region was frequently seen and traversed by the white man years before the name Saratoga appeared in printer's ink, or official correspondence. For years prior to 1666, bands from the Five Nations, or Iroquois, had harassed the French settlements in Canada, at Montreal, Three Rivers and Quebec, murdering and carrying the settlers into captivity. Finally a full regiment of French soldiers was sent to their defense. The French governor. Samuel de Remi Sieur de Courcelle, impatient of delay after they came, started out with a force of 600 men and a number of Algonquin Indians as guides to wreak vengeance on the hated savages. Equipped with snow shoes, and with provisions loaded on toboggans drawn by mastiff dogs, they started from Quebec on October 29, 1665. Slowly and laboriously they made their way south over frozen lakes and the wilderness of snow till they arrived at the Hudson about February 1st. 1666. Their Indian guides failing them on account of too much "fire-water." they missed the Kayadrosseras trail, their intended route, and took the Saratoga trail instead. This brought them down to the mouth of the Fishcreek at Schuylerville. up which they went to Saratoga lake and so on. The 9th of February they discovered to their chagrin that instead of being near the Mohawk castles, or palisaded forts, they were within two miles of the Dutch trading post at Schenectady. Here they fell into an ambush set by the Mohawk Indians and lost eleven men. The Indians fled and gave the alarm. Nearly exhausted from cold and exposure, but receiving some timely succor from the Dutch, they abandoned the enterprise, and hastilv retreated by the way they came, down through Old Saratoga and up the Hudson and Lake Champlain.-'' That trip of some 700 miles over a frozen desert, void of