Part 8
Sept. 23, 1779.--This day the troops were employed till 3 o'clock P.M. in finishing the destruction of the corn and burning the aforementioned towns within. Marched 5 miles to an Indian town by the name of Chandot[146] or Peach Town, remarkable for a large Peach orchard containing * * * hundred fine thriving peach trees, likewise * * * acres of corn. This town contained about 12 or 14 houses chiefly old buildings. Part of the corn was destroyed this evening.
Sept. 24, 1779.--This morning the troops were employed in finishing the destruction of the corn and peach trees. At 10 o'clock A.M. fire was set to this town and the detachment went off the ground. Marched this day 16-½ miles and encamped on a pleasant hill[147] near a fine creek about one hour after dark. The land we passed this day well timbered, and the soil very good, but very scarce of water. 9 miles from Chondote we crossed a stream of water which fell over rocks 80 feet perpendicular. 3 miles from [this] we crossed a second stream[148] which fell about 50 feet perpendicular, which empty themselves into Cayuga lake. Saw no enemy this day. The general course S. 30° E.
Sept. 25, 1779.--Marched this morning about 6 o'clock and encamped at an Indian town 3-½ miles above Cayuga Lake. The town appeared to be just consumed, supposed to be burnt by a detachment from Gen'l Sullivan's army.[149] The town was situated on a rising ground in a large, beautiful valley. The soil equal to or rather superior to any in the country, through which runs several fine streams of water, the first a creek about 4 poles wide, which falls from the mountain on the east side of the valley about 120 feet perpendicular into which creek three other fine streams empty, the second creek is the principal supply of the Cayuga Lake navigable for large canoes or boats to the town.
[The journal here ends abruptly]
PART OF GEORGE GRANT'S JOURNAL.
Sept. 20, 1779.--I return to the 20th to follow Col. Butler, who left us at Kanadasago, and proceeded along the outlet of Seneca Lake for 8 miles and halted at Schoyerre, formerly destroyed by Col. Harper.
Sept. 21.--Early this morning a party of 200 men under the command of Maj. Scott was despatched to destroy corn, &c., the remainder with Col. Butler, proceeded on forward. Seven miles of the road was very bad, the land poor and barren, and no water. They then entered on an excellent swamp which produces fine timber, the soil exceeding rich and fertile. This extends for 4 miles, when they reached Caiuga Lake. This they crossed at a place wading it to their breasts in water, where they halted waiting for Maj. Scott and his party. As soon as they had joined, they proceeded along the side of the lake side, the land excellent, the timber large and the country level and well watered. Came to a habitation within one mile of Caiuga town and encamped 18 miles from Scoyerre.
Sept. 22.--Marched to Caiuga[150] one mile distant. This town is large and commodius, consisting of 50 houses mostly well built. The party went immediately to destroying corn, &c., with which this place abounds, but the water very bad and scarce. Here was found some salt of the Indians making from the Salt Springs[151] which are in this country. Found several muskets here, branded with the brand of the United States; also a few Regimental coats, blue, faced with white.
Sept. 23.--The most part of the day taken up in destroying scattering towns, corn, &c., within 2 or 3 miles all around this town. About 4 o'clock marched for another town[152] distant 4 miles but could not learn any name for it, and here halted for the night.
Sept. 24.--This morning went to destroying corn, beans, and orchards. Destroyed about 1500 Peach Trees, besides apple trees and other fruit trees. This town consisted of 13 houses. Then marched for 18 miles, the first 12 the land exceeding good, the other six not extraordinary.
Sept. 25.--Marched for 10-½ miles the road mostly bad, having to ascend and descend extreme steep and difficult mountains, then through thick and difficult swamps. Passed the end of Caiuga Lake and halted at De-ho-riss-kana-dia[153] which they found burnt and the corn partly destroyed. Here was found the Rev. Dr. Kirkland's horse, supposed to be left here by the party who destroyed the corn, &c.
Sept. 26.--Marched for 8-½ miles through the Great Swamp.
Sept. 27.--Marched for 17 miles, 15 of which was through the above swamp. Most part of the way, they had to steer by the sun, there not being the least semblance of a road or path. A man of this party died suddenly.
Sept. 28.--Marched for one mile and crossed the outlet (inlet) of Caiuga Lake, and came upon ground occupied by the army on the night of the 31st of August, from there to Kanawaholee,[154] where they joined the main body of Sullivan's army.
FOOTNOTES:
[140] SCAWYACE or _Long Falls_, an important Indian town of eighteen houses, located on the north bank of Seneca river at present site of Waterloo, in Seneca County. It was partially destroyed on August 8, during the advance of the army by a party of volunteers under Colonel Harper. George Grant mentions the fact of "several fish ponds abounding opposite the town." These were circular enclosures of stone from thirty to forty feet in diameter, built up on the rocky bed of the stream, where the water was neither very deep or rapid, so constructed as to permit the water to pass through, but to retain the fish.
[141] GEWAUGA, a small hamlet on the present site of Union Springs in the town of Springport, on the east side of Cayuga lake.
[142] CHOHARO.--This was the Tichero or St. Stephen of the Jesuit Relations, said to signify _the place of rushes_, located at the foot of Cayuga lake on the east side, at the exact point where the bridge of the Middle Turnpike left the east shore. The trail across the marsh followed the north bank of an ancient channel of the Seneca river, which at an early day took that course. The turnpike afterward followed substantially the line of the trail and crossed the present line of the Cayuga and Seneca canal three times between Mud Lock and the old Demont tavern on the opposite side of the marsh. The salt springs mentioned by Father Raffeix in 1672, were on the west side of the marsh about half a mile north of the N.Y.C. Rail Road bridge, and on the bank of the ancient river channel.
[143] CAYUGA CASTLE, an Indian town containing fifteen very large houses of squared logs, located on the south line of the town of Springport in Cayuga County, on the north bank of Great Gully brook, and from one to two miles from the lake.
[144] UPPER CAYUGA, an Indian town of fourteen very large houses located near the north line of the town of Ledyard in Cayuga County, on the south bank of Great Gully brook, and as appears on the map, between one and two miles from the lake.
[145] EAST CAYUGA, or _Old Town_, contained thirteen houses located in the south-east corner of the town of Springport, as indicated on the map, from three to four miles from the lake. A site in the south-west corner of Fleming was a site of this town at about this date.
[146] CHONODOTE, so named on Capt. Lodge's map, an Indian town of fourteen houses, on the site of present Aurora in Cayuga County; according to George Grant's journal it contained fifteen hundred peach trees.
[147] On the hill north of Ludlowville.
[148] The first of these falls was probably on Mill Creek, two and a half miles south-west of Northville; the second near Lake Ridge in the town of Lansing.
[149] COREORGONEL was burned by the detachment under Colonel Dearborn. See his account September 24, and note 161.
[150] Goi-o-gouen, of the Jesuit Relations, and site of the Mission of St. Joseph, called also Cayuga Castle, and the same described as three towns by Thomas Grant under the names of Cayuga Castle, fifteen houses; upper Cayuga, containing fourteen houses; and Cayuga, containing thirteen houses. The houses were very much scattered, and on both sides of Great Gully brook on the south line of the town of Springport in Cayuga County. Greenhalgh, an English trader, passed through the Cayuga country in 1677, and found them there occupying "three towns about a mile distant from each other; they are not stockaded. They do consist in all of about one hundred houses and intend next Spring to build all their houses together and stockade them. They have abundance of corn, and lie within two or three miles of lake Tichero."
[151] These salt springs were located on the opposite side of the river from Choharo, see note 142. Luke Swetland, a prisoner in 1778, made salt at these springs, which he says was of excellent quality.
[152] CHONODOTE. See note 146.
[153] COREORGONEL, two miles south of Ithaca, destroyed by the detachment under Col. Dearborn on the 24th. See note 161.
[154] KANAWLOHALLA, on the site of present Elmira. See note 77.
MARCH OF COLONEL DEARBORN ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF CAYUGA LAKE.
On the return march, after crossing the outlet of Seneca Lake east of Kanadaseaga, the army encamped on the high ground at Rose Hill, near the east shore of the lake. Here Lieutenant Colonel Henry Dearborn commanding the Third New Hampshire regiment, was detached with two hundred men and ordered to march along the west shore of Cayuga lake to co-operate with Colonel Butler in devastating the country of the Cayugas.
Colonel Dearborn was born in Hampton, N.H., in March, 1751. He was a captain at Bunker Hill, and accompanied Arnold in the march through the woods against Quebec, in which expedition he was captured. He was exchanged in 1777, and soon after was appointed Major of Scammel's regiment. At Saratoga he commanded a separate battalion under General Gates, and was afterwards at Monmouth, where he distinguished himself and the regiment by a gallant charge. In 1779 Colonel Scammel was acting as Adjutant General of the army, leaving Lieut. Colonel Dearborn in command of the regiment during Sullivan's campaign. He was at the siege of Yorktown in 1781, and afterward on garrison duty at Saratoga and West Point until 1784. He served two terms in Congress, was for eight years secretary of war under Jefferson, and in the war of 1812 was senior Major General of the army. In 1822 he was minister to Portugal, from whence he returned after two years' service, and died in Roxbury, Mass., June 6, 1829. After his death, his son, Henry Alexander Scammel Dearborn, collected and arranged the valuable papers of his father, transcribed the journals, which extended through the entire period of the revolution, and added important historical sketches, the whole making forty-five large volumes handsomely bound in morocco, the exterior approximating in elegance to the inestimable value of the material within. On the death of the son, all of these, excepting seven volumes, were taken apart, and the contents, made up of valuable autograph letters of the revolutionary period, scattered to the four winds by a sale at public auction. The original manuscript Journal of Sullivan's campaign fell into the hands of Dr. John H.S. Fogg, of Boston. The manuscript Orderly Book of Valley Forge, was purchased by John H. Osborne, Esq., of Auburn. The seven volumes, containing no autographs, were reserved at the sale and remain intact In one of these is the Journal kept during Sullivan's campaign, as transcribed by the son, of which the following is an extract:
PART OF COLONEL DEARBORN'S JOURNAL, 1779.
Sept. 21.--I was ordered with 200 men to proceed to the west side of the Cayuga Lake, from thence down the side of the lake to the south end, to burn and destroy such houses and corn as might be found and to intercept the Cayugas if they attempted to escape Col. Butler. At 8 o'clock I marched, proceeded an east course about 8 miles and found 3 wigwams in the woods[155] with some small patches of corn, squashes, water-melons and cucumbers and 15 horses which we could not take. Destroyed this village, proceeded 4 miles to the lake where we found a very pretty town of 10 houses[156] and a considerable quantity of corn, all which we burnt. We discovered another small town about a mile above this, we likewise destroyed. This place is called Skannautenate.[157] After destroying this town I marched on one mile, and came to a new town[158] consisting of 9 houses which we destroyed, and proceeded one mile and found one large house which we set fire to, and marched 2 miles and encamped. The land we marched over this day is exceeding fine.
Sept. 22.--I marched ½ an hour before sunrise, proceeded 5 miles and came to the ruins of a town which a part of our army burnt when it was advancing who missed their way and happened to fall in with it, ½ a mile distant found a large field of corn and 3 houses. We gathered the corn and burnt it in the houses. This town is called Swahyawana.[159] Moved on 5 miles and came to a wigwam with 3 squaws and one young Indian who was a cripple. I took 2 of the squaws who were about 40 years of age and marched on 3 miles and found 1 hut and a field of corn which was burnt. Went 4 miles further and encamped.
Sept. 23.--Marched at sunrise, proceeded without any path or track, or any person who was ever in this part of the country before to guide us, and the land so horribly rough and brushy that it was difficult to advance, however with great labor and difficulty we proceeded 8 miles to the end of a long cape[160] which I expected was the end of the lake. We then marched off 2 or 3 miles from the lake, and went by a point of compass 8 miles to the end of the lake and encamped. This lake is 40 miles in length and from 2 to 5 miles in width, and runs nearly No. and So. parallel to the Seneca lake which is from 8 to 10 miles distant.
Sept. 24.--Marched at sunrise, proceeded 3 miles on the high land and came to an old path which led us to 2 huts and some cornfields, which we burnt. I then sent several parties in different directions to look for a large town that I had been informed was not many miles from the end of the lake. The parties found 10 or 12 scattering houses and a number of large cornfields on and near the stream that falls into the lake. After burning several fields of corn and houses they discovered the town, 3 miles from the lake, on the above mentioned stream, which contained 25 houses and is called Coreorgonel[161] and is the capital of a small nation or tribe. My party was employed from 9 till sunset in destroying the town and corn. I expected to have met Col. Butler with his party at this town.
Sept. 25.--Marched at sunrise for Catherine's Town, where I was ordered to join the main army. Proceeded a due west course over a very rough, mountainous country 18 miles, and at 4 o'clock reached the town, but the army was gone forward. Advanced 6 miles in what is called the Bear Swamp and encamped.
Sept. 26.--Marched at sunrise and at 12 o'clock joined the main army at Kanawalahola which is 4 miles from where we fought the enemy on the 29th of August. The army had a day of rejoicing here in consequence from the news of Spain.
Sept. 27.--Some detachments were sent up the Teago river to destroy such houses and corn fields as they might find.
Sept. 28.--The same parties that were sent out yesterday were sent again further up the river to destroy a Tory settlement which was discovered yesterday, and a large detachment was sent off to complete the destruction of the corn, &c., at and about New Town. At 12 o'clock Col. Butler and his party arrived in Camp. In their route round the lake they destroyed several towns and a vast quantity of corn.
FOOTNOTES:
[155] This hamlet appears to have been located on the farm of Thomas Shankwiller, near the south-east corner of lot 15 in the town of Fayette, Seneca County, probably on Sucker brook.
[156] A town of ten houses, located on the west bank of Cayuga lake at the north-east corner of the town of Fayette, in Seneca County, about a mile and a half from present Canoga village. Destroyed Sept. 21, 1779.
[157] SKANNAYUTENATE, a small village located about forty rods from the shore of the lake, on the south bank of Canoga creek, about half a mile north-east of present Canoga village. On the north bank of the creek, between the site of the old Indian town and the north and south road passing through Canoga, is said to be the birth-place of the renowned Seneca orator, Sagoyewatha or Red Jacket. Destroyed Sept. 21, 1779.
[158] NEWTOWN--An Indian village of nine houses, located on the west bank of Cayuga lake, on the Disinger farm, a mile south of present Canoga village, and directly opposite the village of Union Springs on the east side of the lake. Destroyed Sept. 21, 1779.
[159] SWAHYAWANA, was on the farm of Edward R. Dean, in the north-east corner of the town of Romulus, in Seneca county, on the north bank of Sinclair Hollow creek, near the shore of the lake, and almost exactly opposite the important town of Chonodote, on the east side, at site of present Aurora. Was burned September 6, by a party that wandered from the track of the main army when they passed up on the east side of the lake.
[160] TAGHANIC POINT, formerly known as Goodwin's Point. The bank of the lake both north and south of this, is very much cut up with ravines, and the lake shore is too rocky and precipitous for an Indian path. For several miles the trail was back two miles from the lake, along the heads of the ravines, probably passing through Hayt's corners and Ovid Centre. From this high ground the lake appears to end at Taghanic Point.
[161] COREORGONEL, called De-ho-riss-kanadia by George Grant, was located on the west side of Cayuga inlet, about three miles from the end of the lake, and two miles south of Ithaca. The main village was on a high ground south of the school-house on the farm of James Fleming, nearly opposite Buttermilk Falls. Several skeletons have been exhumed here within a few years, and the usual variety of relics found, such as hatchets, wampum, beads, &c. A solitary apple-tree still remains, a fit memento to represent the race by which it was planted. When first known to the whites there were five boles starting from the ground, but these are now reduced to two, and are probably shoots from the original tree cut down or girdled by Dearborn. The town was destroyed September 24, 1779. At this time it contained twenty-five houses, besides ten or twelve scattered between the main village and the lake. Colonel Butler after passing up on the east side of Cayuga Lake halted here on the 25th, and found Rev. Dr. Kirkland's horse in the vicinity of the smoking ruins.
A peculiar interest is attached to this locality and village, from the fact that here the representatives of a once powerful people, sought to preserve for a brief period, the last remaining spark of a council fire that from time immemorial had burned brilliantly in the presence of assembled nations, numbering their warriors by thousands. They were called by the Iroquois TODERICHROONES, one of the tribes known to the English as Catawbas, sometimes called Saponies. They formerly resided between the Potomac and Roanoke rivers, east of the Alleghanies. A most inveterate hostile feeling existed between them and the Iroquois, which reached back to near the middle of the seventeenth century. A peace was arranged as early as 1685, through negotiations with the government of Virginia, and again what was expected to be a "lasting peace" and firm alliance, was concluded in 1714, but in the night after the close of the council, the Iroquois deputies, while reposing in fancied security were treacherously murdered while asleep. This aroused the Iroquois to vengeance, and the war was renewed with unexampled ferocity, with a determination to totally extirpate the base, faithless and treacherous people. In 1717 through the intercession of Governor Hunter, at the request of Governor Spottswood of Virginia, a truce was arranged, and in 1722 delegates from the Five Nations met Governor Spottswood at Albany to conclude what was to be an "everlasting peace," in which the Iroquois bound themselves not to cross the Potomac or go over the Alleghanies, without a passport from the Governor of New York, Governor Spottswood engaging that the tribes in his locality should not pass to the north or west of same lines. The tribes mentioned by the Governor were the "NOTTOWAYS, MEHERINS, NANSEMONDS, PAMUNKEYS, CHICOHOMINYS, and the CHRISTANNA INDIANS whom you call TODERICHROONES," and others--in all, ten nations. This council was conducted with great formality, and valuable presents were presented, among which were a "_fine coronet_" and a "_gold horse shoe_" with an inscription. In 1738 they were again at war, and in 1742 at peace. In 1731 Governor Clinton says "the Governor of South Carolina sent six chiefs of the Catawbas, to make peace with the Five Nations," and says that "they had been at war as long as any one in this country can remember." In 1753 Sir William Johnson mentions the fact that the Cayugas "_are about to strengthen their castle by taking in the_ TEDARIGHROONES." In the same year they are mentioned as attending a conference at Mt. Johnson and are described as "one of the nine confederate nations." The town is indicated at the head of Cayuga lake on the Guy Johnson map of 1771, in the same position where it was found by Colonel Dearborn in 1779, under the name of TODEVIGHRONO, the name of the people. In 1750 Zeisberger, the Moravian missionary, passed through this valley while on his way to visit the Cayugas, but makes no mention of an Indian village in the vicinity. Undoubtedly they settled there in the summer of 1753. Their cleared fields were found on the present site of Ithaca on the first settlement of the country by the whites and were the first lands occupied in the county. The town is indicated but not named on the map of Mr. Lodge, the surveyor who accompanied Colonel Butler's detachment. To stand on the identical spot from which this people sunk into oblivion, appeared like standing on the grave of a nation. Their history, the beginning of which extends far back into the unknown and unattainable, ends where that of civilization begins, and adds another name to the long list of extinguished nationalities that preceded us in sovereignty. Here their council fire, fanned by the last expiring breath of a once brave and numerous people, was extinguished forever.
RECAPITULATION.
INDIAN TOWNS DESTROYED IN SULLIVAN'S CAMPAIGN, 1779.
1. NEWTYCHANNING, an Indian town of about 20 houses, located on the west side of the Susquehanna, near North Towanda, Bradford County, Pa. Destroyed by Col. Proctor, Aug. 8, 1779. See note 60.
2. OLD CHEMUNG, an Indian town partially abandoned, located on the north bank of Chemung river, half a mile above present Chemung village. Destroyed Aug. 13, 1779. See note 66.
3. NEW CHEMUNG, an Indian town of fifty or sixty houses, located on the left bank of the Chemung river, three miles above the present village of Chemung, in Chemung County. Destroyed Aug. 13, 1779. See note 66.
4. NEWTOWN, an Indian town of about 20 houses, located on the north bank of Chemung river, five miles below Elmira. It gave the name to the battle fought near it Aug. 29, 1779. Destroyed August 31, 1779. See note 74.
5. A village of 20 to 30 new houses, located on both sides of Baldwin's creek, about a mile and a half from Chemung river, at the exact point where Gen. Poor commenced the ascent of the hill. Destroyed Aug. 29, 1779. See note 74.
6. A small village on Baldwin's creek, near the works of the enemy, at Newtown, the timbers of which were used in the construction of the fortifications. See note 74.
7. A small village on Seely creek, near present Southport, south of Elmira. Destroyed Aug. 30, 1779. See note 74.
8. ALBOUT, a Scotch, tory settlement on the east side the Unadilla, about five miles above Unadilla. Burned August 12, 1779, by Gen. Clinton. See note 129.