History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 46: French Spy in Mohawk Valley., continued ...
After fording Canada Creek, we continue along the left [North] bank of the Mohawk River and high road, which is passable for carts, for twelve leagues, to Colonel Johnson's mansion [at Fort Johnson].
In the whole of the distance the soil is very good.
About five hundred houses are erected at a distance one from the other.
The greatest number of those on the bank of the river are built of stone, and those at a greater distance in the interior are about half a league off; they are new settlements, built of wood.
There is not a fort in the whole of this distance of 12 leagues.
There is but one farmer's house, built of stone, that is somewhat fortified and surrounded with pickets.
It is situate on the banks of the river, three leagues from where [East] Canada Creek empties into the Mohawk River.
The inhabitants of this country are Germans.
They form four companies of 100 men each.
Colonel Johnson's mansion is situated on the borders of the left [North] bank of the Mohawk.
It is three stories high, built of stone, with portholes and a parapet and flanked with four bastions, on which are some small guns.
In the same yard, on both sides of the mansion, there are two small houses.
That on the right of the entrance is a store and that on the left is designed for workmen, negroes and other domestics.
The yard gate is a heavy swing gate, well ironed; it is on the Mohawk River side; from this gate to the river there is about 200 paces of level ground.
The high road passes there.
A small rivulet, coming from the north, empties into the Mohawk River, about 200 paces below the enclosure of the yard.
On this stream there is a mill about 50 paces distant from the house; below the mill is the miller's house where grain and flour are stored, and on the other side of the creek, 100 paces from the mill, is a barn in which cattle and fodder are kept.
One hundred and fifty paces from Col. Johnson's mansion, at the north side, on the left bank of the little creek, is a little hill on which is a small house with portholes, where ordinarily is kept a guard of honour of some twenty men which serves also as an advanced post.
From Colonel Johnson's house to Chenectadi is counted seven leagues; the road is good, all sorts of vehicles pass over it.
About twenty houses are found from point to point on this road.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 46: French Spy in Mohawk Valley., concluded ...
The Mohawk River can be forded during summer, a league and a quarter west of Chenectadi.
Opposite Chenectadi the traverse is usually in a ferry boat and batteaux.
The inhabitants of this country are Dutchmen.
They form a company of about 100 men with those on the opposite side of the river below Fort Hunter.
Going from Chenectadi to the mouth of the Mohawk River, where it discharges into that of Orange [Hudson], there is a great fall [Cohoes] which prevents the passage of batteaus, so that every thing on the river, going from Chenectadi to Orange, passes over the high road that leads there direct.
Note. In the whole country of the River Corlar there are nine companies of militia under Colonel Johnson; eight only remain, that of the village of Palatines [present Herkimer] being no longer in existence, the greater part having been defeated by M. de Belletre's detachment. Colonel Johnson assembles these companies when he has news of any expedition which may concern the Mohawk River.
In the latter part of April, 1757, on receiving intelligence by the savages that there was a strong detachment ascending the river St. Lawrence and entering Lake Ontario, he assembled these Companies and went to the Village of the Palatines, where he was joined by another body of 1100 or 1200 men sent him by the commandant of Orange; this formed in all a force of 2000 men.
He entrenched himself at the head of the Palatine Village, where he remained in camp fifteen days, and did not retire until he received intelligence that the French detachment, seen on the St. Lawrence, had passed by and taken the route to the Belle Riviere [Ohio].
This was the detachment of 500 men that had been sent last year to reinforce Belle Riviere, and had left Montreal in the latter days of the month of April.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 46: French Spy in Mohawk Valley., concluded ...
The Mohawk River can be forded during summer, a league and a quarter west of Chenectadi.
Opposite Chenectadi the traverse is usually in a ferry boat and batteaux.
The inhabitants of this country are Dutchmen.
They form a company of about 100 men with those on the opposite side of the river below Fort Hunter.
Going from Chenectadi to the mouth of the Mohawk River, where it discharges into that of Orange [Hudson], there is a great fall [Cohoes] which prevents the passage of batteaus, so that every thing on the river, going from Chenectadi to Orange, passes over the high road that leads there direct.
Note. In the whole country of the River Corlar there are nine companies of militia under Colonel Johnson; eight only remain, that of the village of Palatines [present Herkimer] being no longer in existence, the greater part having been defeated by M. de Belletre's detachment. Colonel Johnson assembles these companies when he has news of any expedition which may concern the Mohawk River.
In the latter part of April, 1757, on receiving intelligence by the savages that there was a strong detachment ascending the river St. Lawrence and entering Lake Ontario, he assembled these Companies and went to the Village of the Palatines, where he was joined by another body of 1100 or 1200 men sent him by the commandant of Orange; this formed in all a force of 2000 men.
He entrenched himself at the head of the Palatine Village, where he remained in camp fifteen days, and did not retire until he received intelligence that the French detachment, seen on the St. Lawrence, had passed by and taken the route to the Belle Riviere [Ohio].
This was the detachment of 500 men that had been sent last year to reinforce Belle Riviere, and had left Montreal in the latter days of the month of April.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 47: 1758 — Ticonderoga and Fort Frontenac.
1758 — Sir William Johnson in command of Indians joins Abercrombie's attack on French Fort Ticonderoga — Disastrous defeat of attacking party — Colonel Bradstreet's expedition against French Fort Frontenac through the Mohawk Valley — Fort Frontenac captured August 27th — British-American armies capture Louisburg and Fort Duquesne, which is renamed Fort Pitt.
William Pitt, premier of England, asked the American Colonists to raise 20,000 soldiers for the campaign of 1758.
The British government was to supply the soldiers with everything but clothing which the Colonies were requested to furnish, besides raising and paying the armies.
Lord Loudoun had been removed and things looked brighter.
The Colonies had spent huge sums of money for three years in a fruitless war, but they still carried on.
Large armies were raised and, in New Hampshire, every third man of military age was a soldier, and in Massachusetts, one in every four.
The great blow of the year was to be struck by an army under General Abercrombie against French Fort Ticonderoga.
Sir William Johnson spent the early part of the year in councils with the Indians preparing their minds favorably for this expedition.
From May 4th to 13th, Johnson was in council with the Mohawks at Canajoharie Castle with this object in view.
On June 29th, he left Fort Johnson for Fort Edward with a body of Indians.
He reached Fort Edward on July 6th and the battlefield of Ticonderoga on July 8th, with 440 Indians.
Lord Howe, second in command of the great English-American army, was slain in the ambuscade of the first day's fighting and General Abercrombie seemed utterly incompetent without his brilliant young lieutenant.
The American-British force was disastrously repulsed in a bloody assault upon Fort Ticonderoga, although, the French-Canadian army numbered but one-fourth that of the attacking force.
Without leadership, the British-American army left the gory field and wandered back through the woods to Lake George and from there went to the head of that water and then on to Albany.
Another grand army expedition had fizzled out.
Sir William Johnson was back at Fort Johnson on July 22nd, when he framed a treaty between the Six Nations and the Southern Indians.
Johnson's part in the Ticonderoga expedition is described in the journal of Colonel Marinus Willett who was a lieutenant in Abercrombie's army, and who later bore such an important part in the Mohawk Valley during the Revolution.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 47: 1758 — Ticonderoga and Fort Frontenac.
1758 — Sir William Johnson in command of Indians joins Abercrombie's attack on French Fort Ticonderoga — Disastrous defeat of attacking party — Colonel Bradstreet's expedition against French Fort Frontenac through the Mohawk Valley — Fort Frontenac captured August 27th — British-American armies capture Louisburg and Fort Duquesne, which is renamed Fort Pitt.
William Pitt, premier of England, asked the American Colonists to raise 20,000 soldiers for the campaign of 1758.
The British government was to supply the soldiers with everything but clothing which the Colonies were requested to furnish, besides raising and paying the armies.
Lord Loudoun had been removed and things looked brighter.
The Colonies had spent huge sums of money for three years in a fruitless war, but they still carried on.
Large armies were raised and, in New Hampshire, every third man of military age was a soldier, and in Massachusetts, one in every four.
The great blow of the year was to be struck by an army under General Abercrombie against French Fort Ticonderoga.
Sir William Johnson spent the early part of the year in councils with the Indians preparing their minds favorably for this expedition.
From May 4th to 13th, Johnson was in council with the Mohawks at Canajoharie Castle with this object in view.
On June 29th, he left Fort Johnson for Fort Edward with a body of Indians.
He reached Fort Edward on July 6th and the battlefield of Ticonderoga on July 8th, with 440 Indians.
Lord Howe, second in command of the great English-American army, was slain in the ambuscade of the first day's fighting and General Abercrombie seemed utterly incompetent without his brilliant young lieutenant.
The American-British force was disastrously repulsed in a bloody assault upon Fort Ticonderoga, although, the French-Canadian army numbered but one-fourth that of the attacking force.
Without leadership, the British-American army left the gory field and wandered back through the woods to Lake George and from there went to the head of that water and then on to Albany.
Another grand army expedition had fizzled out.
Sir William Johnson was back at Fort Johnson on July 22nd, when he framed a treaty between the Six Nations and the Southern Indians.
Johnson's part in the Ticonderoga expedition is described in the journal of Colonel Marinus Willett who was a lieutenant in Abercrombie's army, and who later bore such an important part in the Mohawk Valley during the Revolution.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 47: 1758 — Ticonderoga and Fort Frontenac., continued ...
The day following the ambuscade, in which Lord Howe was killed, Sir William Johnson arrived with a war party of Mohawks, other Iroquois, and Indians of various tribes.
The object of bringing these Indians into the field was two-fold — first, to keep them from joining the enemy, and secondly, to take the warriors away from the frontier at a time of great excitement when French intrigue and Albany rum might lead some Iroquois warriors to commit some savage crime against some of the settlers.
These facts must be remembered when Johnson is criticised for the lack of aid lent to various military movements by his Indian war party.
Willett says: "Early the following morning the army was increased by the arrival of about six hundred Indians under the command of Sir William Johnson."
"These Indians crossed the river, and went on the hill opposite the Fort, where they made a great yelling and firing, which appears to have been a needless manoeuver, for they could hardly hope, by this course to intimidate the enemy, as they were perfectly familiar with the Indian yell and war whoops."
Mohawk Valley militia doubtless joined the Fort Ticonderoga expedition although we have no record of their part in this military fiasco.
The Valley militia formed part of that of Albany County until the formation of Tryon County in 1772.
The ridiculous failure at Ticonderoga was somewhat offset by the capture of Louisburg by General Amherst and that of Fort Frontenac (at present Kingston, Ontario) by Lieutenant-Colonel Bradstreet, both of which happened in the latter part of August, 1758.
These two British-American successes spelled the beginning of the end of New France.
Bradstreet had long planned his coup.
The timid Abercrombie was finally persuaded to give his consent to this expedition and gave Colonel Bradstreet 3,000 men, nearly all of whom were Provincial militiamen.
New York furnished 1,112 of Bradstreet's 3,035 men, more than the quota of any other province.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 47: 1758 — Ticonderoga and Fort Frontenac., continued ...
The day following the ambuscade, in which Lord Howe was killed, Sir William Johnson arrived with a war party of Mohawks, other Iroquois, and Indians of various tribes.
The object of bringing these Indians into the field was two-fold — first, to keep them from joining the enemy, and secondly, to take the warriors away from the frontier at a time of great excitement when French intrigue and Albany rum might lead some Iroquois warriors to commit some savage crime against some of the settlers.
These facts must be remembered when Johnson is criticised for the lack of aid lent to various military movements by his Indian war party.
Willett says: "Early the following morning the army was increased by the arrival of about six hundred Indians under the command of Sir William Johnson."
"These Indians crossed the river, and went on the hill opposite the Fort, where they made a great yelling and firing, which appears to have been a needless manoeuver, for they could hardly hope, by this course to intimidate the enemy, as they were perfectly familiar with the Indian yell and war whoops."
Mohawk Valley militia doubtless joined the Fort Ticonderoga expedition although we have no record of their part in this military fiasco.
The Valley militia formed part of that of Albany County until the formation of Tryon County in 1772.
The ridiculous failure at Ticonderoga was somewhat offset by the capture of Louisburg by General Amherst and that of Fort Frontenac (at present Kingston, Ontario) by Lieutenant-Colonel Bradstreet, both of which happened in the latter part of August, 1758.
These two British-American successes spelled the beginning of the end of New France.
Bradstreet had long planned his coup.
The timid Abercrombie was finally persuaded to give his consent to this expedition and gave Colonel Bradstreet 3,000 men, nearly all of whom were Provincial militiamen.
New York furnished 1,112 of Bradstreet's 3,035 men, more than the quota of any other province.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 47: 1758 — Ticonderoga and Fort Frontenac., continued ...
Colonel Bradstreet went up the Mohawk with his army, sending his supplies over that stream in batteaux.
He stopped at Fort Herkimer to arrange for the final plunge into the wilderness, as that had been the frontier post since the capture of Oswego and Fort Bull and the burning of Fort Williams.
Bradstreet's army made the portage to Wood Creek and went down that tortuous stream to Oneida Lake and Oswego River and on to the ruined spot where Fort Oswego once stood.
With Bradstreet was young Lieutenant Willett, who later was to take such an active part in the defense of the Revolutionary Fort Stanwix and of the Mohawk Valley.
Willett's journal of Bradstreet's expedition is its most interesting document.
A few Oneidas joined Bradstreet's army, although, like most of the Six Nations, their English allegiance had become much shaken by the ridiculous campaign conducted by Abercrombie against Fort Ticonderoga.
On August 22nd, the Provincial army set out across Lake Ontario and landed near the French fort on August 25th.
Bradstreet took it on the 27th, it then being garrisoned by only 110 men including the laborers.
The fort was destroyed together with a great quantity of stores, while the entire French fleet of Lake Ontario was captured.
Bradstreet had not lost a man in action but, on the return trip, many of his troops sickened and died of camp dysentery.
He retraced his former steps and passed on down the Mohawk, leaving a thousand of his men to assist in the building of Fort Stanwix, which Brigadier-General John Stanwix was then erecting at the portage on the present site of Rome.
The fall of Fort Frontenac, the capture of Louisburg and of Fort Duquesne, in 1758, greatly heartened the British-Colonial forces, after the dismal failures of numerous utterly incompetent English commanders.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 47: 1758 — Ticonderoga and Fort Frontenac., continued ...
Colonel Bradstreet went up the Mohawk with his army, sending his supplies over that stream in batteaux.
He stopped at Fort Herkimer to arrange for the final plunge into the wilderness, as that had been the frontier post since the capture of Oswego and Fort Bull and the burning of Fort Williams.
Bradstreet's army made the portage to Wood Creek and went down that tortuous stream to Oneida Lake and Oswego River and on to the ruined spot where Fort Oswego once stood.
With Bradstreet was young Lieutenant Willett, who later was to take such an active part in the defense of the Revolutionary Fort Stanwix and of the Mohawk Valley.
Willett's journal of Bradstreet's expedition is its most interesting document.
A few Oneidas joined Bradstreet's army, although, like most of the Six Nations, their English allegiance had become much shaken by the ridiculous campaign conducted by Abercrombie against Fort Ticonderoga.
On August 22nd, the Provincial army set out across Lake Ontario and landed near the French fort on August 25th.
Bradstreet took it on the 27th, it then being garrisoned by only 110 men including the laborers.
The fort was destroyed together with a great quantity of stores, while the entire French fleet of Lake Ontario was captured.
Bradstreet had not lost a man in action but, on the return trip, many of his troops sickened and died of camp dysentery.
He retraced his former steps and passed on down the Mohawk, leaving a thousand of his men to assist in the building of Fort Stanwix, which Brigadier-General John Stanwix was then erecting at the portage on the present site of Rome.
The fall of Fort Frontenac, the capture of Louisburg and of Fort Duquesne, in 1758, greatly heartened the British-Colonial forces, after the dismal failures of numerous utterly incompetent English commanders.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 47: 1758 — Ticonderoga and Fort Frontenac., continued ...
Colonel Bradstreet's expedition was the first of three military forces to march through the Mohawk Valley to victories over the French in the last three years of the war — 1758, 1759, 1760.
Although Wolfe's victory on the Plains of Abraham has been given great publicity as the victory which ended French power in America, yet the success at Quebec would have been incomplete and ineffective in crushing Canada, had not these three expeditions passed on up the Mohawk to successfully subdue vital points of defense in New France.
Bradstreet's conquest of Fort Frontenac in 1758 broke France's hold of eastern Lake Ontario.
Johnson's capture of Fort Niagara and victory over a French army at that point, in 1759, shut off New France from its empire on the Great Lakes and in the Mississippi River region.
The third and greatest conquering army to pass up the Mohawk in the French and Indian war was that of General Amherst, whose main army of 10,000 soldiers passed over this route to the conquest of Montreal and New France in 1760, thus ending French empire in America.
The construction, in 1758, of Fort Stanwix at the Mohawk-Wood Creek portage was of as much importance to the Colonists of New York as the victories of Fort Frontenac and Louisburg, and was so considered by them.
After this strong post was built, the exposed Mohawk frontier was no longer left entirely open to attack.
Brigadier-General John Stanwix was delegated to supervise its erection and from this gallant Irish soldier the fort took its name.
Fort Stanwix was 300 feet square and was built by order of General Abercrombie after a design by Captain Bull.
The fortification cost 60,000 pounds and was considered one of the strongest British forts in the Colonies.
It was garrisoned by 400 men.
Other forts were also erected along the Wood Creek-Oneida Lake waterway, as follows:
The Royal Blockhouse at the eastern end of the lake, garrisoned by 15 men; Fort Brewerton at the western end; garrisoned by 100 men; a fort at the little falls of the Onondaga River, with 100 men.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 47: 1758 — Ticonderoga and Fort Frontenac., continued ...
Colonel Bradstreet's expedition was the first of three military forces to march through the Mohawk Valley to victories over the French in the last three years of the war — 1758, 1759, 1760.
Although Wolfe's victory on the Plains of Abraham has been given great publicity as the victory which ended French power in America, yet the success at Quebec would have been incomplete and ineffective in crushing Canada, had not these three expeditions passed on up the Mohawk to successfully subdue vital points of defense in New France.
Bradstreet's conquest of Fort Frontenac in 1758 broke France's hold of eastern Lake Ontario.
Johnson's capture of Fort Niagara and victory over a French army at that point, in 1759, shut off New France from its empire on the Great Lakes and in the Mississippi River region.
The third and greatest conquering army to pass up the Mohawk in the French and Indian war was that of General Amherst, whose main army of 10,000 soldiers passed over this route to the conquest of Montreal and New France in 1760, thus ending French empire in America.
The construction, in 1758, of Fort Stanwix at the Mohawk-Wood Creek portage was of as much importance to the Colonists of New York as the victories of Fort Frontenac and Louisburg, and was so considered by them.
After this strong post was built, the exposed Mohawk frontier was no longer left entirely open to attack.
Brigadier-General John Stanwix was delegated to supervise its erection and from this gallant Irish soldier the fort took its name.
Fort Stanwix was 300 feet square and was built by order of General Abercrombie after a design by Captain Bull.
The fortification cost 60,000 pounds and was considered one of the strongest British forts in the Colonies.
It was garrisoned by 400 men.
Other forts were also erected along the Wood Creek-Oneida Lake waterway, as follows:
The Royal Blockhouse at the eastern end of the lake, garrisoned by 15 men; Fort Brewerton at the western end; garrisoned by 100 men; a fort at the little falls of the Onondaga River, with 100 men.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 47: 1758 — Ticonderoga and Fort Frontenac., concluded ...
A wagon road was cut for eighteen miles through the forest from Fort Stanwix to the Royal Blockhouse to connect these two fortifications of the eastern and western end of the Wood Creek water route.
This chain of forts added greatly to the strength of the British-American military establishment in the Province of New York and facilitated army operations along this famous military route, notably that of General Amherst in 1760.
Fort Schuyler was built in 1758 at the ford of the Mohawk River, the site of which is now in the limits of the City of Utica at the junction of Park Avenue and Main Street, where a monument locates the fortification.
Park Avenue follows an Indian path which led from the river ford to its junction with the Indian trail, which then followed the general line of present Genesee Street.
Fort Schuyler was an earthwork surmounted by a stockade.
Its name is credited to two soldiers of the day, Colonel Peter Schuyler, uncle of General Philip Schuyler of the Revolution, and Colonel Peter Schuyler of New Jersey, who commanded the Jersey Blues (a Newark regiment) at Oswego.
Its erection marked the first occupation of the present site of Utica by white men.
Fort Schuyler was abandoned after General Amherst's conquest of Canada in 1760 and was not again used as a fort.
When, in 1776, Fort Stanwix was repaired and strengthened by order of General Philip Schuyler, commander of the American Army of the North, the name of Fort Stanwix was changed to that of Fort Schuyler in army orders, although this famous fort was generally referred to as Fort Stanwix throughout the Revolution, and was so termed by the Continental Congress.
Then the settlers of the Mohawk Valley referred to Fort Schuyler at present Utica as Old Fort Schuyler to differentiate it from the Fort Schuyler of army dispatches, at present Rome.
The use of the same or similar names for two forts has been the cause of great historical confusion.
The Rome fort resumed the name of Fort Stanwix after the Revolution and the Utica fort continued to be called Fort Schuyler, or Old Fort Schuyler, and this is the situation at the present time.
This history uses the name of Fort Stanwix throughout in order to avoid the confusion with Fort Schuyler as previously mentioned.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 47: 1758 — Ticonderoga and Fort Frontenac., concluded ...
A wagon road was cut for eighteen miles through the forest from Fort Stanwix to the Royal Blockhouse to connect these two fortifications of the eastern and western end of the Wood Creek water route.
This chain of forts added greatly to the strength of the British-American military establishment in the Province of New York and facilitated army operations along this famous military route, notably that of General Amherst in 1760.
Fort Schuyler was built in 1758 at the ford of the Mohawk River, the site of which is now in the limits of the City of Utica at the junction of Park Avenue and Main Street, where a monument locates the fortification.
Park Avenue follows an Indian path which led from the river ford to its junction with the Indian trail, which then followed the general line of present Genesee Street.
Fort Schuyler was an earthwork surmounted by a stockade.
Its name is credited to two soldiers of the day, Colonel Peter Schuyler, uncle of General Philip Schuyler of the Revolution, and Colonel Peter Schuyler of New Jersey, who commanded the Jersey Blues (a Newark regiment) at Oswego.
Its erection marked the first occupation of the present site of Utica by white men.
Fort Schuyler was abandoned after General Amherst's conquest of Canada in 1760 and was not again used as a fort.
When, in 1776, Fort Stanwix was repaired and strengthened by order of General Philip Schuyler, commander of the American Army of the North, the name of Fort Stanwix was changed to that of Fort Schuyler in army orders, although this famous fort was generally referred to as Fort Stanwix throughout the Revolution, and was so termed by the Continental Congress.
Then the settlers of the Mohawk Valley referred to Fort Schuyler at present Utica as Old Fort Schuyler to differentiate it from the Fort Schuyler of army dispatches, at present Rome.
The use of the same or similar names for two forts has been the cause of great historical confusion.
The Rome fort resumed the name of Fort Stanwix after the Revolution and the Utica fort continued to be called Fort Schuyler, or Old Fort Schuyler, and this is the situation at the present time.
This history uses the name of Fort Stanwix throughout in order to avoid the confusion with Fort Schuyler as previously mentioned.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 48: 1759 — Gen. Johnson captures Fort Niagara.
British-American expedition against French Fort Niagara passes west through Mohawk Valley — Commanded by General John Prideaux, with General Sir William Johnson, second in command — English Fort Oswego rebuilt — French attack on Oswego repulsed — General Prideaux killed, and General Johnson succeeds to the command — Johnson's army defeats French-Indian relief force — Fort Niagara surrenders.
The doom of French power in America was sealed when Sir Jeffrey Amherst was appointed commander-in-chief of the armies in the English Colonies.
This was in September, 1758.
General Amherst came to Albany and made his headquarters at that key position of the American military lines, in the spring of 1759.
Here he perfected the campaign plans for the year.
General Wolfe was to sail up the St. Lawrence with an army and a fleet and capture Quebec.
General Amherst was to take the French forts on Lake Champlain, go on to Montreal, take that capital and join Wolfe at Quebec.
General Prideaux was to capture Fort Niagara and then sail down Lake Ontario to Montreal.
The British-American forces achieved all these objectives, except Montreal.
General Amherst was a splendid soldier, whose valor and military virtues, as well as the other campaigns of the war, have been overshadowed by the spectacular battle of Quebec, in which the brilliant young General Wolfe and the gallant Montcalm were slain.
Amherst had professional qualities and comprehensive plans such as Grant later showed.
He was one of America's greatest generals, but his epoch-making successes won by thorough and professional methods, do not appeal to the historian unversed in military strategy.
With Amherst, the long procession of stupid, incompetent and timid British commanders, who had afflicted the Colonists and caused untold losses of blood and treasure for a century, finally came to an end.
Amherst and Sir William Johnson seem to have cooperated in sympathetic fashion and their brains and bravery combined to put an end to French empire in America and to the danger of savage butchery which had menaced the Mohawk Valley frontier for a hundred years.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 48: 1759 — Gen. Johnson captures Fort Niagara.
British-American expedition against French Fort Niagara passes west through Mohawk Valley — Commanded by General John Prideaux, with General Sir William Johnson, second in command — English Fort Oswego rebuilt — French attack on Oswego repulsed — General Prideaux killed, and General Johnson succeeds to the command — Johnson's army defeats French-Indian relief force — Fort Niagara surrenders.
The doom of French power in America was sealed when Sir Jeffrey Amherst was appointed commander-in-chief of the armies in the English Colonies.
This was in September, 1758.
General Amherst came to Albany and made his headquarters at that key position of the American military lines, in the spring of 1759.
Here he perfected the campaign plans for the year.
General Wolfe was to sail up the St. Lawrence with an army and a fleet and capture Quebec.
General Amherst was to take the French forts on Lake Champlain, go on to Montreal, take that capital and join Wolfe at Quebec.
General Prideaux was to capture Fort Niagara and then sail down Lake Ontario to Montreal.
The British-American forces achieved all these objectives, except Montreal.
General Amherst was a splendid soldier, whose valor and military virtues, as well as the other campaigns of the war, have been overshadowed by the spectacular battle of Quebec, in which the brilliant young General Wolfe and the gallant Montcalm were slain.
Amherst had professional qualities and comprehensive plans such as Grant later showed.
He was one of America's greatest generals, but his epoch-making successes won by thorough and professional methods, do not appeal to the historian unversed in military strategy.
With Amherst, the long procession of stupid, incompetent and timid British commanders, who had afflicted the Colonists and caused untold losses of blood and treasure for a century, finally came to an end.
Amherst and Sir William Johnson seem to have cooperated in sympathetic fashion and their brains and bravery combined to put an end to French empire in America and to the danger of savage butchery which had menaced the Mohawk Valley frontier for a hundred years.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 48: 1759 — Gen. Johnson captures Fort Niagara., continued ...
Johnson held a council with the Mohawks and Senecas at Canajoharie Castle, January 18-19, and one at Fort Johnson, with the Cayugas and Mohawks, February 5th and 6th.
On February 12th, he again met the Mohawks at Canajoharie Castle.
From April 4th to the 22nd, Johnson held a council with the Six Nations at Canajoharie Castle.
On May 4th, 1759, Johnson met Amherst at Schenectady, and on May 16th, he was in Albany.
On May 17th, Sir William Johnson, recommended the capture of Fort Niagara to the Lords of Trade.
General John Prideaux had been raised from the rank of colonel to that of brigadier-general in 1759, and placed in command of the expedition against Niagara, with General William Johnson as second in command.
Prideaux's army consisted of 5,000 regulars and provincials.
He was ordered to leave a strong garrison at Fort Stanwix, establish garrisons at the Royal Blockhouse, at the east end of Oneida Lake, and at Fort Brewerton, at the western end; build a fort at Oswego and garrison it with nearly half his men and then go up Lake Ontario and capture Fort Niagara.
Large as this order seems to be, Generals Prideaux and Johnson filled it.
Prideaux's army formed the second great military expedition of the war to pass westward through the Mohawk Valley, the first being Bradstreet's in 1758.
General Prideaux mobilized his army at Schenectady and marched up the Mohawk Valley in June, 1759, boating his ordnance and supplies over the Mohawk River.
Johnson joined him with militia and a large body of Indians.
On June 21st, Johnson was at Oneida Lake, with the army; June 23rd at Three Rivers; June 24-25, at Great Falls of the Oswego; June 27-30, at Oswego; July 1, at Sodus Bay; July 2-3, at Irondequoit; July 5, at Johnson Creek; July 7 to August 4, at Niagara.
General Prideaux left a force of men at Oswego to rebuild the English fort and garrison it.
They were commanded by Colonel Haldimand.
Haldimand's men were attacked by a large party of Canadians, French and Indians which was beaten off.
The English fort at Oswego was then reconstructed and continued to be occupied by British troops until 1792, nine years after peace was declared between the United States and Great Britain.
Fort Oswego and Fort Stanwix were the most important posts upon the great waterway between Schenectady and Lake Ontario, by way of the Mohawk River, Wood Creek, Oneida Lake, Oneida River and Oswego River.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 48: 1759 — Gen. Johnson captures Fort Niagara., continued ...
Johnson held a council with the Mohawks and Senecas at Canajoharie Castle, January 18-19, and one at Fort Johnson, with the Cayugas and Mohawks, February 5th and 6th.
On February 12th, he again met the Mohawks at Canajoharie Castle.
From April 4th to the 22nd, Johnson held a council with the Six Nations at Canajoharie Castle.
On May 4th, 1759, Johnson met Amherst at Schenectady, and on May 16th, he was in Albany.
On May 17th, Sir William Johnson, recommended the capture of Fort Niagara to the Lords of Trade.
General John Prideaux had been raised from the rank of colonel to that of brigadier-general in 1759, and placed in command of the expedition against Niagara, with General William Johnson as second in command.
Prideaux's army consisted of 5,000 regulars and provincials.
He was ordered to leave a strong garrison at Fort Stanwix, establish garrisons at the Royal Blockhouse, at the east end of Oneida Lake, and at Fort Brewerton, at the western end; build a fort at Oswego and garrison it with nearly half his men and then go up Lake Ontario and capture Fort Niagara.
Large as this order seems to be, Generals Prideaux and Johnson filled it.
Prideaux's army formed the second great military expedition of the war to pass westward through the Mohawk Valley, the first being Bradstreet's in 1758.
General Prideaux mobilized his army at Schenectady and marched up the Mohawk Valley in June, 1759, boating his ordnance and supplies over the Mohawk River.
Johnson joined him with militia and a large body of Indians.
On June 21st, Johnson was at Oneida Lake, with the army; June 23rd at Three Rivers; June 24-25, at Great Falls of the Oswego; June 27-30, at Oswego; July 1, at Sodus Bay; July 2-3, at Irondequoit; July 5, at Johnson Creek; July 7 to August 4, at Niagara.
General Prideaux left a force of men at Oswego to rebuild the English fort and garrison it.
They were commanded by Colonel Haldimand.
Haldimand's men were attacked by a large party of Canadians, French and Indians which was beaten off.
The English fort at Oswego was then reconstructed and continued to be occupied by British troops until 1792, nine years after peace was declared between the United States and Great Britain.
Fort Oswego and Fort Stanwix were the most important posts upon the great waterway between Schenectady and Lake Ontario, by way of the Mohawk River, Wood Creek, Oneida Lake, Oneida River and Oswego River.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Re: HISTORY OF THE MOHAWK VALLEY
History of the Mohawk Valley: Gateway to the West 1614-1925
Chapter 48: 1759 — Gen. Johnson captures Fort Niagara., continued ...
Prideaux invested Fort Niagara on July 7th.
His army had been increased by 900 warriors of the Six Nations under the leadership of Sir William Johnson.
The fort was garrisoned by 600 men well furnished with supplies and ammunition.
On July 20th, the British-American batteries opened fire.
A shell burst prematurely and killed General Prideaux instantly.
The command then passed to Sir William Johnson.
The artillery made breaches in the fort and killed or wounded more than one hundred of the garrison.
A motley army of some 1,100 French and Canadians and 200 Indians now came down the Lakes to the relief of Fort Niagara.
Some were French Canadian troops but most of them were traders and bushrangers.
The force of 1,300 was under the command of two leaders named Aubry and Lingeris.
Johnson had 2,300 soldiers and 900 Indian warriors.
He divided this force into three detachments.
One was placed to guard the batteaux, the second held the trenches and the third, composed of three-quarters Provincial militia and one-quarter British regulars, went out to give battle to the advancing enemy.
The two forces met near the fort on June 24th, 1759, and the American-British army, after a hot battle, won a complete victory, routing the French and Indians and killing or capturing nearly all their officers.
The beaten enemy retired to Detroit, burning many of their posts on the way.
The next day, July 25th, Fort Niagara surrendered to General Johnson, who protected its garrison from his savage allies.
The battle of Fort Niagara was one of three won by the American-British forces in the French and Indian war.
Johnson was commander at two of them — Lake George and Fort Niagara, both conflicts having been won by American militia.
The third pitched battle was won by Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham on September 13th, 1759.
Only a few days before Johnson won the Niagara battle, General Amherst had taken Fort Ticonderoga, the French retiring to Crown Point.
Amherst marched for that post and the French again fled before the English commander.
The English now controlled the head of Lake Champlain as well as the head of Lake Ontario and the end of French rule seemed in sight.
Amherst started down Lake Champlain for Montreal but was driven back by gales and then built the great fort at Crown Point, marked today by its interesting ruins.
TO BE CONTINUED ...
Chapter 48: 1759 — Gen. Johnson captures Fort Niagara., continued ...
Prideaux invested Fort Niagara on July 7th.
His army had been increased by 900 warriors of the Six Nations under the leadership of Sir William Johnson.
The fort was garrisoned by 600 men well furnished with supplies and ammunition.
On July 20th, the British-American batteries opened fire.
A shell burst prematurely and killed General Prideaux instantly.
The command then passed to Sir William Johnson.
The artillery made breaches in the fort and killed or wounded more than one hundred of the garrison.
A motley army of some 1,100 French and Canadians and 200 Indians now came down the Lakes to the relief of Fort Niagara.
Some were French Canadian troops but most of them were traders and bushrangers.
The force of 1,300 was under the command of two leaders named Aubry and Lingeris.
Johnson had 2,300 soldiers and 900 Indian warriors.
He divided this force into three detachments.
One was placed to guard the batteaux, the second held the trenches and the third, composed of three-quarters Provincial militia and one-quarter British regulars, went out to give battle to the advancing enemy.
The two forces met near the fort on June 24th, 1759, and the American-British army, after a hot battle, won a complete victory, routing the French and Indians and killing or capturing nearly all their officers.
The beaten enemy retired to Detroit, burning many of their posts on the way.
The next day, July 25th, Fort Niagara surrendered to General Johnson, who protected its garrison from his savage allies.
The battle of Fort Niagara was one of three won by the American-British forces in the French and Indian war.
Johnson was commander at two of them — Lake George and Fort Niagara, both conflicts having been won by American militia.
The third pitched battle was won by Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham on September 13th, 1759.
Only a few days before Johnson won the Niagara battle, General Amherst had taken Fort Ticonderoga, the French retiring to Crown Point.
Amherst marched for that post and the French again fled before the English commander.
The English now controlled the head of Lake Champlain as well as the head of Lake Ontario and the end of French rule seemed in sight.
Amherst started down Lake Champlain for Montreal but was driven back by gales and then built the great fort at Crown Point, marked today by its interesting ruins.
TO BE CONTINUED ...