The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1903-07-04
LITTLE KNOWN LAST BATTLE.

i
York Herald says: In rumaging in an old
attic in the Mohawk valley recently
| came across several unpublished records
of stirring battles OF the revolution. writ
ten by an ancestor OF mine. From this
| account I have made the following ex-
tracts Part Of the letter is written IN
Mohawk Dutch. while other parts relate
| to the personal opinions of the writer OF
some of the officers. Most of these officers
have come down 10 Us by name only.
The surrender Of Cornwalis AT York
town. says my historian. is supposed 10
have ended the revolutionary war But
the last battle, according 10 my authority,
was fought in the Mohawk valley, Octo-
Der >, ISL The captains. ny ancestor 5
| account is as follows:
Butler. with several companies of Brit
ish and Indians, crossed the Mohawk river
above its junction with Schoharie creek,
so as to avoid Fort Hunter, and proceed
edtoward Johnstcwn. Colonel Willetts.
who was at Fort Van Rensselaer,. about
twenty miles west Of the Mohawk. start
ed after him. expecting 10 catch up with
him at Fort Hunter but when ne got
there he found that Butler had proceeded
toward Jamestown.
..Wiletts followed and caught up with
him near Quilhoit's mad whipped him
| They ali started running, and WEetts az
ter them AT the West Canada XIII he
overlook them again and in the engage
raent that followed Butler was killed he
begged for mercy when captured and cried
Quarter. quarter but Hans only put his
Ratchet into his head saying: give you
Cherry Valley quarter
The historic struggle for supremacy in
theMohawk valley is also recited in con-
siderable detail.
IN the spring of IFS the continental
congress sent engineers 10 the Mohawk
Schoharie and Cherry valleys TO aid the
ll4abitants TO build defences 10 protect
themselves against hostile Indians and
British. After these blockhouses were
built a small number Of continental troops
were sent to aid in defending them. The
farmers erected small houses in these
palisaded forts as homes when danger
threatened.
In the Schoharie valley there were
three of these forts, called the upper, mid
die and lower forts. They wereabout four
miles apart. The upper one was on the
Feeck place. the middle at the Vrooman.
while the lower included the church On
October Il, 17So. Sir John Johnson with
eight hundred troops including Indians.
appeared near the upper fort Feeck fired
the alarm gun and it was soon followed
by the guns from the other two forts
The inhabitants fed 10 the nearest forts.
The Indians commenced to burn al the
houses that were left defenceless and de-
strov all the livestock. hay and grain
fields etc. The invaders did not modest
the uper fort but passed down the valley
TO the middle fort, where they fired sew
eral shots from a small mortar.
"A white flag carried by a man named
Hare. who once lived near Fort Hunter,
and who was hanged in 17Sl as spy, ap-
preached the fort. Murphy. who came
from Philadelphia. and who married Mar
garet Feeck. as soon as he saw Hare ap-
preaching. raised his rifle and fired. the
shot striking the pole. Hare dropped the
flag and got back into the woods, as II ne
devil was after him. The colonel who was
commanding the fort was very angry.
but as he was a coward no one obeyed
him They all looked up to old Peter
Vrooman for what to DO.
Soon after the flag came out the sec
ond time, and this time an officer held It.
1t was waved back and forth until David
Ziele got tired and sent a bullet after him.
The flag was then dropped. Soon after We
could see the Indians crawling along TO
get closer We opened fire and soon drove
them back. The field piece was fired sew
eral times by the British, but did no dam
age.
THE enemy approached the lower fort
in two columns the Indians under Brant
and the British under Sir John Johnson.
They fired a few shots at the fort from
the mortar and then the two columns
united and went on odwn the valley to
ward the Mohawk river. on the night of
the nth they encamped near Sioansville,
where they buried their mortar. On their
way down the Schoharie to the Mohawk
they sent out parties of Indians in every
direction 10 burn and destroy.
ION the morning OF the 18th they resum-
Ell their march and came out Of the woods
at Auries Creek and crossed the Mohawk
and proceeded along the Tribes Hill and
Cauehnawaga districts. which they had
DESTROYED the May before. serdiug out
parties to destroy anything that had been
rebuilt They proceeded west to the Stone
Arabia distri I. which they Thoroughly
burned out as far north as Ephratah and
as far west as Garoga creek. at Palatine
church The churches at Palatine Church
were not destroyed by Brant. as he had
promised before leaving Canada not 10
destroy them.
During the time Of this raid the troops
under General Van Rensselaer,. Colonel
Harper and Lieutenant Colonel Nesder
had been gathering TO prevent he Brit
ish forces from ever returning TO Canada
At Stone Arabia the British had a Skin
mish with forces under Colonel Brown. Of
Massa chusetts. who was killed. The
troops under Van Rensselaer, had encamp-
ed at Schenectady on the night Of October
H. and on the 18th had continued the
march up the Mohawk river valley. The
march was kept Up night and day The
American troops on arriving at the'Nose.'
al the upper end Of CaughnawaEa fats.
were afraid 10 cross the river for fear
OF an ambuscade. and they continued up
the river TO the Brandywine ford. near
Cauajoharie They were unable 70 cross
there on account of tho high water. 50
they marched on 10 Keetor's Rift. noV
Fort Plain. where a crossing was effected
by placing the army wagons end 10 end
acros the river. the men passing over
them 10 the opposite shore. This was the
advance under Colonel Harper
When the main body arrived under
Van Rensselaer, they crossed the river
and moved up on the north side 70 near
Klock's. where they found Johnson's
army on the little peninsula The Ameri-
can forces were formed with Colonel Du-
bois on the Hill and Van Rensselaer, on
the fats. opposite Johnson Dubois drove
the enemy from The hill. but q soon BE-
came so dark that the engagement came
20 an end Van Rensselaer, took his
troops down the river several miles 20
camp. When NJ advanced IN the morning
To- renew the attack Sir John had crossed
the RIVER and had made his escape with
his troops.
More men in aII feH az OrisSanv than
did ~ Bunker HiU and 10 was The pivot
poirt on which the revolution turned. II
the men Of the 7fohnwk valley had not
turned out as they did st Leger's army
would have been able - march on 20 tire
flank ~ General Gates. ard there would
have been TO surrpnder ~ F1rgoyle. as
General Gates would have Rad - fan
back IN Albany. There would have been
M frlferr-arrfr- E- France ard there