It sounds like an unreasonable tale,
or something after the style of a fairy-story, to
say that a party of lads, drilling with wooden guns,
were able, without being conscious of the fact, to
frighten from his bloody work such a murderous, powerful
sachem as Thayendanega, or Joseph Brant, to use his
English name, but such is the undisputed fact.
It was the month of May in the year
of our Lord 1777, when we of Cherry Valley, in the
Province of New York, learned that this same Thayendanega,
a pure-blooded Mohawk Indian, whose father was chief
of the Onondaga nation, had come into the Mohawk Valley
from Canada with a large force of Indians, who, under
the wicked tutoring of Sir John Johnson, were ripe
for mischief.
Col. Samuel Campbell, my uncle,
was one of the leading patriots in that section of
the province, and it was well known that the Johnsons, - Sir
John and Guy, - the Butlers, Daniel Claus,
and, in fact, all the Tories nearabout, would direct
that the first blow be struck at Cherry Valley, in
order that my uncle might be killed or made prisoner;
therefore, at the time when we lads frightened Joseph
Brant without our own knowledge, we were in daily
fear of being set upon by our enemies.
Among the boys of the settlement I,
Noel Campbell, was looked upon as a leader simply
because my uncle was the most influential Whig in the
vicinity, and my particular friend and comrade was
Jacob Sitz, son of Peter, a lad who could easily best
us all in trials of strength or of woodcraft.
We had heard of the Minute Men of
Lexington and of the Green Mountains, and when the
day came that all the able-bodied men of our valley
banded themselves together for the protection of their
homes against our neighbors, the Tories, who thirsted
for patriot blood, we lads decided that we were old
enough to do our share in whatsoever might be afoot.
Therefore it was that two score of
us formed a league to help defend the settlements,
and gave ourselves the name of “Minute Boys of
the Mohawk Valley.”
There was then living in Cherry Valley
an old Prussian soldier by name Cornelius Braun, who,
in his native land, had won the rank of sergeant;
but, having grown too old for very active military
duty, came to this country with the idea of making
a home for himself. Sergeant Corney, as nearly
every one called him, was not so old, however, but
that he could strike a blow, and a heavy one, in his
own defence, and when he learned what we lads proposed
to do, he offered to drill us in the manual of arms.
We were not overly well equipped in
the way of weapons, although it is safe to say that
each of us had a firearm of some sort; but it seemed
to give Sergeant Corney the fidgets to see us carrying
such a motley collection of guns, and he insisted
on making a quantity of wooden muskets to be used
in the drill, to the end that we might present a more
soldierly appearance when lined up before him.
Therefore it was that, when we came
each day on the green in front of my uncle’s
house to go through such manoeuvres as our instructor
thought necessary, we had in our hands only those
harmless wooden guns.
I was the captain of the company;
Jacob Sitz acted as lieutenant, and all the others
were privates. Sergeant Corney, as a matter of
course, was the commander-in-chief.
On a certain day during the last week
in May - the exact date I have forgotten - we
were drilling as usual, with Sergeant Corney finding
more fault than ever, when we frightened the famous
Thayendanega away from an attack on the settlement,
although, as I have said, we knew nothing about it
until many months afterward.
It seems, as we learned later, that
the villainous Brant had made all his plans for an
attack upon Cherry Valley, and had secretly gained
a position on the hill to the eastward of the place,
counting on waiting there until nightfall, when he
might surprise us; but, much to his astonishment, he
saw what appeared from the distance to be a large body
of well-equipped soldiers evidently making ready for
serious work.
The scoundrelly redskin was not so
brave that he was willing to make an attack where
it seemed that the Whigs were prepared to receive him,
and, like the cur that he was, he marched his force
to a hiding-place in a deep ravine north of the settlement,
near the road leading to the Mohawk River, about a
mile and a half from where we were drilling.
Now hardly more than an hour before
it is probable that the Indians got their first glimpse
of us Minute Boys, Lieutenant Wormwood had arrived
from Fort Plain with information to my uncle that a
force of patriot soldiers was on the way to check
Sir John’s plans for killing all who did not
quite agree with him in politics, and to request that
arrangements be made to care for the men during such
time as they might remain in that vicinity.
When, late in the afternoon, the lieutenant
was ready to return to Fort Plain, Jacob’s father,
Peter Sitz, was ordered to accompany him as bearer
of a message from my uncle to the leader of the patriot
force, and the two men set off on horseback, we lads
envying them because it seemed a fine thing to ride
to and fro over the country summoning this man or that
to his duty.
It was the last time Jacob saw his
father until after many days had passed, and what
happened to the two horsemen we could only guess when
the lieutenant’s lifeless body was found next
day; but we learned the particulars later.
It seems that when the messengers
arrived near Brant’s hiding-place, being forced
to pass by where the Indians were concealed in order
to get to Fort Plain, they were hailed by some one
in the thicket; but instead of replying, the men put
spurs to their horses.
The savages in ambush fired a volley;
Lieutenant Wormwood was killed instantly, while Jacob’s
father was so seriously wounded that he fell from
his horse, and, a few seconds later, found himself
a prisoner among Brant’s wolves.
When the tidings of this tragedy was
brought into the settlement, Jacob was overwhelmed
with grief, as might have been expected, and even my
uncle had great difficulty in preventing the distressed
lad from rushing into the wilderness with the poor
hope that he might be able, single-handed, to effect
his father’s rescue.
He was only sixteen years of age - two
months older than I; but within an hour after we knew
beyond a peradventure that Peter Sitz was a prisoner,
it seemed as if the lad had grown to be a man.
It was this first blow against the
settlement of Cherry Valley by the murderous Brant,
which brought us Minute Boys of the Mohawk Valley into
active service, for from that day we saw as much of
warfare as did our elders, and I am proud to be able
to set down the fact that we performed good work,
although we failed, as did the men of the settlement,
in preventing it from being destroyed a year and a
half later, while the fighting force of the population
was absent.
The murder of Lieutenant Wormwood
was sufficient evidence that the Tories and their
savage allies were prepared to harry us, and within
a very few minutes after the body of the officer had
been brought in, the men made ready to defend their
homes.
A council of war was immediately called,
and while it was in session Sergeant Corney made a
proposition which was like to take away the breath
from those who looked upon us of the Minute Boys as
mere children, for he said in the tone of one who
knows whereof he speaks:
“I’ve been drillin’
a force that can do good work in what’s before
us, if they’re given a show, an’ I’ll
answer for half a dozen of ’em, guaranteein’
they’ll show themselves to be men.”
“Are you speaking of the lads?”
my uncle asked in surprise, and the old man replied
promptly;
“Ay, that I am, sir, an’,
unless all signs fail, there’s never one of ’em
who’ll bring reproach upon the settlement.”
“What is your plan, Sergeant
Braun?” Master Dunlap, the preacher, asked,
for so great did all believe the danger which threatened,
that every man, whether able-bodied or crippled, had
been summoned to the council.
“It ain’t what you might
rightly call a plan, sir,” Sergeant Corney replied.
“It’s only an idée, brought out by
the fact that from this time we’ve got to keep
a close watch on what’s happenin’ in this
’ere valley, unless we’re willin’
to be murdered in our beds. There are boys enough
in the settlement to do the scoutin’, leavin’
the elders to stand by for defence, an’ I see
no good reason why they shouldn’t perform full
share of military duty.”
“Think you a lad like my nephew
Noel could render any valuable assistance at such
a time as this?” my uncle asked, with a smile,
as if believing he had put an end to the old man’s
proposition, and my cheeks reddened with excitement
and fear lest Sergeant Corney should allow himself
to be backed down, as I listened intently for the
answer.
It was not long in coming, and I could
have kissed the old soldier for speaking as he did.
“Give me him an’ Jacob
Sitz, sir, an’ I’ll guarantee to follow
Thayendanega an’ his precious scoundrels till
we know what deviltry they’ve got in mind.”
“You shall have full charge
of all the boys in the settlement, and we will see
if you can make good your boast,” my uncle, who
held command of our fighting force, said after a brief
pause, and in a twinkling Sergeant Corney left the
building, beckoning us lads to follow, for our company
had gathered with the men to learn what was to be
done.
The old soldier did not need very
much time in which to lay his plans; in fact, I believe
he had mapped out the whole course before having spoken.
He divided our company into squads
of six, not reckoning in either Jacob or me, and these
he gave stations at different points within a mile
of the settlement, cautioning every one to be on the
alert, for now had come the time when it was possible
for them to prove the value of the Minute Boys as
soldiers. It was to be their duty, by night as
well as by day, to keep careful watch lest the Indians
creep up unawares, and I could well understand that
never one would shirk his duty, since upon their vigilance
depended the lives or liberty of all the dwellers nearabout.
Then, when some one asked why neither
Jacob nor I had been assigned to sentinel duty, Sergeant
Corney replied, gravely:
“I promised that with two lads
I would follow Thayendanega’s gang until we
found out what the villains were about, as all of you
well know, an’ within the hour we three will
set off.”
Several of the more venturesome lads
pleaded their right to take part in the dangerous
service, claiming that they should not be left at home
when it was possible to make names for themselves
among men; but to all these entreaties Sergeant Corney
made but one reply.
“It was Colonel Campbell himself
who mentioned Noel’s name, an’ of a surety
he has the right to say who shall go or stay.
As for Jacob, have any of you a better claim than
he to follow the murderers?”
This silenced the eager ones; but
I would have been glad indeed had any member of the
company shown that he had a better right to accompany
the old soldier than I, for of a verity I was not
itching to hug the heels of those savages who were
doing the bidding of the Tories. However faint-hearted
I might have been, however, I would have bitten the
end of my tongue off before saying that which should
show to my comrades that I was more than willing to
remain behind, for if the captain of the Minute Boys
showed the white feather, what might not have been
excused in the rank and file?
Never one of all that company raised
his voice against my right to follow Sergeant Corney,
however, and I did my best at making it appear that
the work in hand was exactly to my liking.
Even the dullest among us understood
that we three might be absent from the settlement
many days, and yet our preparations for the dangerous
journey were most simple.
I ran home to acquaint my mother with
what was afoot, and while she was trying to keep back
her tears lest I might be unnerved for the duty to
which I had been assigned, I armed myself with rifle
and hunting-knife, making certain each weapon was
in proper order.
From my father’s store of powder
and balls I took as much as could be conveniently
carried, and this, with such small supply of corn bread
and salt pork as filled my hunting-bag, made up an
outfit for a journey from which it was reasonable
to believe I might never return.
Mother did no more than kiss me again
and again in silence, when I was ready to set off,
and I now understand that she did not dare trust herself
to speak, which, I venture to say, saved me from much
sorrow.
On arriving at the green in front
of my uncle’s house, where we three had agreed
to meet, I found that Jacob’s outfit was even
less than mine. In his grief because of his father’s
fate, he had thought only of his weapons and ammunition,
and by the expression on his face I knew full well
he would use them manfully if we came within striking
distance of Lieutenant Wormwood’s murderers.
Sergeant Corney was equipped in much
the same fashion as was I, and immediately after my
arrival he said, impatiently:
“There is no reason why we should
remain here many minutes, as if tryin’ to show
ourselves. It stands us in hand to strike the
trail while it is yet warm, an’ by dallyin’
the people will come to believe our only idée
is to look bigger’n we really are.”
“It is for you to say when we
shall set out,” I replied, envying those of
my comrades who stood near at hand to witness the departure,
and the words had hardly more than been spoken before
the old man started off at a smart pace in the direction
of the thicket where Lieutenant Wormwood’s body
had so lately been found.
As a matter of course we two lads
followed, I making every effort to keep pace with
him, lest those who were watching should suspect I
was not as brave as I looked, and in a few moments
we had shut out from view the houses of the settlement.
We were not long in traversing the
short distance which led us to the tree at the foot
of which the officer came to his death; it can well
be understood that we did not linger many seconds
in that gruesome locality.
Jacob was eager to push on, hoping
even against hope that it might be possible for him
to rescue his father. Sergeant Corney had no desire
to delay, lest we find it difficult to follow the
trail later in the day, and there was no reason why
I should care to remain in that place where were such
evidences as might soon be found of our own fate.
Thayendanega had apparently given
no heed as to whether his movements were known, for
never an effort had been made to cover the trail, and
we followed it as readily as if it had been blazed.
When we had travelled rapidly in silence
for two full hours, Sergeant Corney called a halt,
saying as he did so:
“There’s no reason why
we should push on so fast, an’ much need to husband
our strength, for no one can tell how soon we may be
forced to take part in a hand-to-hand scrimmage.
We’ll have a bite to eat, for I didn’t
overload my stomach this mornin’, an’ be
all the better for a breathin’-spell.”
“We didn’t come out to
spend our time in eatin’,” Jacob said,
moodily, and I understood full well what was in his
mind. “We can loiter when we have come
up with the savages.”
“It ain’t in the plan
that we shall get too close at their heels,”
Sergeant Corney replied, as he drew from his hunting-bag
a generous supply of corn bread, and laid a good half
of it in front of my comrade.
“It may not be in your plan,
but it is in mine,” Jacob said, sharply, giving
no heed to the food. “We shall be doin’
our duty by those we have left behind if we hug as
close to the villains as is possible, while there’s
no chance I can serve my father by hangin’ back
at a coward’s distance.”
“An’ it’s in your
mind, lad, that we might do him a good turn?”
Sergeant Corney said, as if talking to himself.
“Why not? It wouldn’t
be the first time the murderin’ redskins had
lost a prisoner.”
“True for you, lad, an’
I know full well how you’re feelin’; but
the question is whether we can hope for anythin’
while there’s sich a crowd of ’em?”
“I’m not expectin’
you an’ Noel will run your heads into too much
danger,” Jacob said, passionately. “I
know you would help father if the chance came your
way; but it’s my duty to take every risk, an’
I count on doin’ so even though we part company
within the hour! Do you suppose I can loiter
at a safe distance from the painted devils when my
father is expectin’ to see some sign that I’m
doin’ all I may to help him?”
“I question if Peter Sitz expects
that any one from Cherry Valley will follow Thayendanega’s
snakes. He knows their strength, an’ is
man enough to understand what might be the price of
an attempt to rescue him.”
Although Sergeant Corney spoke calmly,
as if he had no vital interest in the matter, I knew
him well enough to feel certain he was even then trying
to settle in his own mind how a rescue might be effected;
but Jacob was so blinded by his grief that at the
moment I believe he really thought we would let him
push ahead alone, therefore I said in as hearty a tone
as was possible:
“You should know, Jacob, that
both of us stand ready to do all men may to aid your
father, an’ you may be certain we’ll not
let you go on alone; but just now Sergeant Corney
must be our leader, since he knows better than you
an’ I put together what ought to be done.”
“But will he do his best?”
Jacob cried, in a passion. “Will he help
me, or does he think the work is done when we have
learned where Joseph Brant has gone on his work of
bloodshed?”
I waited for the old soldier to make
reply to this demand, and he hesitated so long that
I began to fear I had been mistaken as to that which
I had supposed was in his mind. At last, when
it seemed as if Jacob could no longer restrain his
impatience, Sergeant Corney said, speaking slowly,
as if weighing well each word:
“I will do my best, heedin’
not my own safety, givin’ no thought to the
labor or difficulties, if it so be you lads are minded
to do as I shall say, without questionin’ when
it seems as if I might be goin’ wrong - ”
I would have interrupted him with
an assurance that we were willing to serve him faithfully;
but he checked me with a gesture, and added:
“As Peter Sitz would were he
in my place, so will I. He was my friend; I know if
it was a question of savin’ the lives of those
at Cherry Valley, or turnin’ his back on me,
what he would do, an’ even so shall I.”
“Meanin’ what?” Jacob demanded,
fiercely.
“Meanin’ that while we
can do our duty by those who sent us, we will strain
every nerve in his behalf; but if it should so chance
that their safety depended upon us, we would give
service to the greatest number.”
Jacob stared as if not understanding
what the old man had said, and I made haste to add:
“He means that if, while followin’
Brant with the hope of aidin’ your father, we
found out that danger threatened the settlement, it
would be our duty to warn them rather than hold on
for him.”
The old soldier nodded in token that
I had but given different words to his idea, and Jacob
replied in a tone of satisfaction:
“I can ask for nothin’
more. If it so happens that you must turn back,
I can keep on, for two would aid the settlement as
much as three.”
“Ay, lad, you shall then do
as seems best to you,” Sergeant Corney said,
solemnly, and thus it was settled that, while it did
not interfere with our duty as Minute Boys of the
Mohawk Valley, all our efforts should be for the relief
of the unfortunate prisoner, although at the time I
had little hope the savages would allow him to live
many days.
Having thus pledged himself to Jacob,
Sergeant Corney showed no further disposition to “husband
his strength,” but led us on the march once more,
and this time at a pace which we lads found difficult
to maintain without actually running.
Now it is not my purpose to set down
all we did and said during this long chase. It
would be of no interest to a stranger, since one hour
was much like another until we were come near to the
Indian town of Oghkwaga, where Brant usually made
his headquarters while bent on such cruel work as that
of harrying the settlers who favored the rebellion
against the king, and it is not necessary I should
write down here the well-known fact that Thayendanega
was in the pay of the British.
It seemed much as if the Indians had
no care as to whether they were being followed, for,
instead of sending back scouts along the trail, as
Brant almost always did, the party remained in a body,
and even when we were so close on them as to lie down
within view of their camp-fires at night, we never
saw one of the painted villains who appeared curious
to know if any person was in the rear.
We were within a day’s march
of the Indian town, and had lain down in a thicket
of spruce bushes after having looked in vain for some
signs of a prisoner, as we had done during each of
the four days while we were directly behind the band
and at no time more than two miles distant.
Jacob’s face was wrinkled, or
so it seemed to me, with lines drawn by sorrow because
we had not succeeded in getting a glimpse of his father,
and it was evident that the lad was beginning to fear,
as did I, that the savages, finding a prisoner too
troublesome, had tortured him to death; for if Master
Sitz was yet alive and in the keeping of Brant’s
followers, why had we not got a glimpse of him?
“There is no reason why you
should grieve so deeply, lad,” Sergeant Corney
said, as if he could read the boy’s thoughts.
“I’ll answer for it that your father is
as much alive as we are.”
“How can you be certain of that?” Jacob
asked, moodily.
“We have seen every one of their camps, eh?”
“Of course,” Jacob replied, impatiently.
“An’ have you noted any
sign of a prisoner’s havin’ been tortured - meanin’
a half-burned tree, a pile of rocks near the fire,
or sich other like thing?”
Jacob shook his head; he could not
bring himself to speak calmly of such a possibility.
“No, you haven’t, an’
we know without bein’ told that when sich
devils as follow Joe Brant get a prisoner in their
clutches, they never kill him without torture.
Now, ‘cordin’ to my way of thinkin’,
we can count to a certainty that he’s alive.”
“Then why haven’t we come
across him?” Jacob demanded, fiercely. “This
is the fourth time we’ve had their camp in full
view, an’ if he was with ’em we ought
to have seen somethin’ of him.”
“I allow you’re right,
lad, an’ that’s why I’ve come to
believe that he’s been sent on ahead to the
village.”
“Then I must be movin’!”
Jacob cried, springing suddenly to his feet. “I
should have had sense enough to guess that before!”
And he made as if he would leave us; but Sergeant
Corney pulled him back by the coat-sleeve.
“Wait a bit. It was on
my tongue’s end to propose somethin’ of
the same kind; but we can’t afford to take the
chances of makin’ a move till yonder nest of
snakes has settled down for the night. An hour
from now, an’ we’ll all pull out.”
Jacob could not well have made complaint
after this, and he settled down with his back against
a tree to wait with so much of patience as he could
summon, until the old soldier should give the word.
It surprised me that Jacob was not
utterly cast down by the possibility that his father
had already been carried to the Indian village, for
once there we could not hope to effect a rescue; but
since this thought had, apparently, never come into
his mind, it was not for me to add to his distress
by suggesting it.
Well, we remained in the thicket until
the red villains had quieted down for the night, and
then Sergeant Corney led us toward the south, that
we might make a long circle around the encampment,
when would come the most dangerous portion of our
task.
Thus far we had done as Jacob would
have us, and at the same time performed our full duty
as Minute Boys, for our task was to learn what Brant
counted on doing, and as to that we could not be certain
until he was in the village.
But now that the old soldier was leading
us around the encampment to the end that we might
gain a position between Brant’s force and those
at Oghkwaga, I said to myself, with many an inward
shudder, that we were like to join Jacob’s father
after a different fashion than we had counted on.
It was as if Sergeant Corney had no
fear as to what might happen, for he plunged into
the gloom of the forest like a man who walks among
friends, and Jacob followed carelessly, all his thoughts
on the possible whereabouts of the prisoner he was
so eager to see.
Apparently I was the only member of
the party who gave heed to his steps, and so timid
had I become through looking into the future for danger,
that it was only with difficulty I repressed a cry
of alarm when Sergeant Corney came to a sudden halt,
as if he had stumbled upon an enemy.
Jacob, wrapped in his own gloomy thoughts,
halted without showing signs of curiosity or surprise;
but I pressed forward eagerly until standing close
behind the old soldier, and then I understood full
well why he had stopped.
Not thirty paces from where we remained
hidden in the thicket, it was possible to see the
gleam of a camp-fire, and to hear the faint hum of
voices, as if a large party was near at hand.
After vainly trying to peer through
the foliage, Sergeant Corney moved cautiously forward
two or three paces, and, as a matter of course, I
followed close at his heels, far enough to see the
reflection of four or five other fires, as if those
around them had no fear of being discovered.
“They must be Britishers!”
I whispered, and Sergeant Corney gripped my hand as
if to say that he was of the same idea.
It was our duty, however, to know
exactly who it was encamped so near Brant’s
village, and, after telling Jacob in a whisper of what
we had seen, the old soldier made his way swiftly
through the thicket, my comrade and I copying his
every movement.
Then, when I had decided that we were
dangerously near a large force of the king’s
soldiers who had come to join Thayendanega in his murderous
work, Sergeant Corney called out in a loud tone:
“In the camp! Here come
friends who were like to have run over you!”
In a twinkling the command was aroused,
and before I had fully gathered my wits, which had
been scattered by the old soldier’s hail, I found
myself in the midst of a large body of men, many of
whom I had seen in my uncle’s home at Cherry
Valley.
And now, that I may not dwell too
long on a commonplace story when I have so much of
adventure to relate, let me say that we had stumbled
on upwards of three hundred men belonging to the patriot
army, who, under command of General Herkimer, were
bent on paying a friendly visit to the Indian village.
As we soon learned, General Herkimer,
having been intimately acquainted with Brant, hoped
by an interview to persuade the sachem to join the
patriots, or at least to remain neutral, and to such
end had invited the chief to meet him at Unadilla
for a powwow. At the same time that General Herkimer
had set out to find Brant, Colonel Van Schaick, with
one hundred and fifty men, went to Cherry Valley,
even as poor Lieutenant Wormwood had announced, and
the remainder of the American force in the vicinity
was encamped at the proposed rendezvous lest the treacherous
chief accept the invitation simply in order to work
mischief.
“We’ll march with this
company,” Sergeant Corney said, in a tone of
satisfaction, “an’ it will be possible
to have a look at the village without runnin’
too many chances of losin’ our hair.”
And thus it seemed to me that all
our troubles were over, for I doubted not but that
General Herkimer could induce the savages to give up
their prisoner, and we would soon be on our way home
with Peter Sitz as a companion; but, instead, we were
just at the beginning of our difficulties.