| Beginning of the Century - Inception
of Lake Commerce at Oswego - First Settlements in Various Towns - Causes
of the War of 1812 - The President’s Message to Congress - Anxiety at Oswego
- Declaration of War - Attitude of the Indians - Appointments at Oswego
- Fort Ontario Garrisoned - Beginning of a Naval Squadron - Hostilities
on the Northern Frontier - Building of the Oneida - Attach on Sackett’s
Harbor by the British - Perry’s Victory - Campaign of 1814 - Operations
on Lake Ontario - Capture of Oswego by the British - Details of the Battle
- Carrying Stores to Sackett’s Harbor - Battle of Big Sandy Creek - Close
of War. |
The first fifteen years of the present
century constitute an important period in history of Oswego county - a
period that witnessed a large increase of settlers in may of the already
occupied localities and the beginnings of settlements at other points;
clearing of may acres of forest and the beginning of cultivation on scores
of farms; the building of numerous mills, the founding of villages and
public schools; and finally a renewal of war, which for two years paralyzed
immigration and checked advancement.
At the beginning of the century the
population of the State had reached 589,000 of which about 60,000 dwelt
in New York City. Albany was a considerable community, while Utica, Rochester
and Buffalo the foundation had been laid for the present the present thriving
cities. Coming nearer home, there was a growing village at Salina (Syracuse
not yet having been founded), whence a large quantity of salt was finding
its market in the west by transportation down the Oswego River on its way
to its destination. Lake commerce at Oswego was given its inception in
1803 by Mathew McNair, who bought a sloop named Jane, re-christened it
Peggy, and began the forwarding business. In the same year the custom house
was established, with Joel Burt as the first collector. In the following
year facilities for commerce were increased by the building of two schooners,
one, the Linda, of fifty ton, by Mr. McNair, and the other, the Fair American
of ninety tons, by a government contractor named Wilson. The transportation
of salt and other
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Central
& Western New York in 1809
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PROGESS OF SETTLEMENT
Goods down the river chiefly carried
on in what were called Durham boats. These were decked over a short distance
from either end and had “running boards” along each side, on which were
nailed cleats to give the men a foothold while propelling the boats with
long poles pressed against the bottom of the stream. They had been in use
on the Mohawk since the earliest settlements.
The imposition of duties, besides
being an incentive to smuggling, created a great deal of dissatisfaction
at Oswego. Canadian flour was the imported in considerable quantities,
and it was often turned to profitable account by the smugglers. In 1808
Collector Burt seized a large quantity which the owners were endeavoring
to bring over without the payment of duty. Fifty or sixty armed men, many
of whom were from Jefferson county, came to Oswego in ten boats to recapture
this flour. Coming into the harbor in the day time, they
awaited the approach of darkness
to accomplish their purpose. Mr. Burt had heard of the proposed attempt,
and had sent a hurried message into the southern part of Onondaga county
for a company of dragoons. About half-past nine in the evening they reached
a point near Oswego and awaited orders. Just before eleven the marauders
gathered in the streets, armed and ready for an assault on the collector’s
warehouse. A moment later they saw the head of the column of dragoons riding
swiftly out of the darkness. They were not given time to escape to their
boats, and without firing a shot they fled into the woods, leaving their
boats the lawful prey of the collector.
This is not the place to follow in
detail the progress of settlement in the various towns of Oswego county
- a task that more properly belongs to the description of each town in
later pages of the volume. It may, however, be stated that settlements
had been made in 1800, or prior to that date, in the present towns of Granby
(1792); Volney (1793); Scriba, Schroeppel, Mexico and Redfield (1795-6);
Constantia (by Mr. Scriba and others as related), besides at Oswego village.
Other towns settled after 1800 and prior to the beginning of the War of
1812 were Richland and Williamstown 1801; Hannibal 1802; Sandy Creek 1803;
Parish 1804; Amboy 1805; Orwell, Palermo and West Monroe 1806; Boylston
and Albion 1812. Between the years 1800 and 1815 several new towns were
also organized, as follows: Redfield,
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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY
1800; Williamstown, 1804; Volney
and Hannibal, 1806; Richland, 1807; Constantia, 1808; Scriba, 1811;
and New Haven 1813. Fort Ontario at Oswego, so far as concerned the garrison,
was wholly abandoned about the first year of the year of the century. Several
important roads were opened or improved during the first decade of the
century, among which were Scriba’s road from Rotterdam to Vera Cruz; and
one from Camden (Oneida
county) to Vera Cruz through the
present towns of Amboy, Parish and Mexico. In 1806 a mail route was established
between Onondaga and Oswego, and a post-office opened at the latter place.
Mr. Burt, the collector of the port, was made postmaster. This active pioneer
was already operating a ferry across the Oswego River at about the location
of Cayuga Street. In 1807 a State road, six rods wide, was laid out from
Onondaga Hill to the mouth of Ox Creek in the present town of Granby, and
thence to Oswego. A branch
from this led from Ox Creek to Salina.
On the 9th of April 1811, an act was passed by the Legislature appointing
commissioners to “lay out and improve that part of the public road leading
from the court-house in Onondaga county, to the village of Oswego, between
Seneca River and the said village.”
Early in the century began the acts
on the part of England and France which resulted in another war. Through
orders issued by Great Britain, and decrees made by Emperor Napoleon of
France, all American commerce in neutral ships with either of these belligerent
nations was suspended. American sailors, claimed as British subjects, were
seized on American vessels; and the rights to board American vessels for
this purpose was
one of the unjust claims set up
by Great Britain. These and other outrages continued until “forbearance
ceased to be a virture.” Late in October, 1807, Congress opposed this action
by laying an embargo on all vessels in United States harbors. This measure,
necessary as it may have appeared as a general policy, was disastrous to
the mercantile and shipping interests of the whole country. The embargo
act was supported by a large part of the Democratic party, but was strenuously
opposed by the Federalists.
On June 1, 1812, President Madison
sent a confidential message to Congress, in which he reviewed the causes
of complaint against Great Britain, and called upon it to decide whether
they would act upon their
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DECLARATION OF WAR
right and as duty dictated, or remain
passive under accumulating injustice. It was well known that the president
favored open retaliation. By one party the president was urged by ridicule
as well as threats to declare war, while the other, among whom were many
whose personal interest were already suffering, bitterly opposed such action.
Madison’s message was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations, which
on June 3, made a report favoring the president’s views and accompanied
by a bill declaring war against Great Britain. An attempt was made to include
France in the declaration, which failed. After much debate, and amid the
greatest excitement throughout the country, Congress passed the bill on
July 18, and Madison signed it. On the 19th the president issued a proclamation
announcing the fact, and calling on the people of the country to support
the government in its war policy.
At no point in the country was this
event discussed with deeper interest and more anxiety than in Oswego. While
the population was still insignificant in the little settlement at
the mouth of the river, their brief experience there, combined with the
evident advantage of their situation, made them most hopeful of a rapidly
increasing commerce with its attendant substantial blessings. They realized
that war meant the destruction of their prospects and hopes. Not only this,
they could not escape the conviction that war meant possible bloodshed
and desolation at their very doors.
Immediately upon the public declaration
of war Gen. Isaac Brock, commander-in-chief of the British forces in Upper
Canada, took command of the Niagara frontier and strengthened its defenses;
while similar action was taken on the American side, where Gen. William
Wadsworth took command in person. The militia was called out and was hastened
towards the rendezvous, to prepare for duty at the frontier forts. By a
general order issued from the War Department on April 21, 1812, the detached
militia of the State of New York had been arranged in two divisions, eight
brigades, and numerous regiments. In May one of these regiments, commanded
by Col. C. P. Bellinger, was stationed at Sackett’s Harbor, and in June
the first detachment of New York’s quota of militia was placed under command
of General Brown, who was charged with the defense of the northern frontier
from Oswego to Lake St. Francis.
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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY
Intense anxiety was felt on the American
side as to the probable conduct of the Indians in the coming conflict.
Great Britain, as might have been foreseen, made prompt effort to enlist
the Mohawks and the other Canadian Indians in her service, and messengers
were sent by those Indians to the Six Nations to urge them to join in the
same service. To avert this danger, a council of the Six Nations was called
at Buffalo on the 6th of July. Speeches were made by the great Seneca Chief,
Red Jacket, and by the representative of the government, Mr. Granger, the
latter explaining the causes of the war, and counseling the Indians to
remain neutral; but if their young warriors must fight, to let it be on
the American side. Red Jacket declared favor of neutrality, and volunteered
to send to the Mohawks and urge them to abandon the war path. This effort
failed. The Indians of this State remained neutral only a short time; their
natural inclinations soon carried them to the frontier, where they preformed
effective service for the American side. At a later date (1814) many of
the Wyandottes, Delawares Shawnees, and most of the Miamis also joined
the forces of the government.
Early in the season of 1812 Matthew
McNair received the appointment of commissary of subsistence at Oswego,
and Alvin Bronson was made military storekeeper. In spite of objections
made by a local Federalist, the latter was soon afterward appointed naval
storekeeper.
In July Col. George Fleming, of Cayuga
county, with nine companies of the recently organized militia, marched
down the river and occupied Fort Ontario. The works were more or less dilapidated,
and the troops made some effort during their few months’ stay, to repair
them. When their term of service expired they were succeeded in the occupation
of the fort by Col. Cleveland, from Madison county, with a small force.
As the terms
nearly all the militia expired within
a year, and no provision had yet been made to supply their places, the
fort was soon left almost wholly undefended.
The government early adopted measures
for providing a naval squadron on Lake Ontario, in view of the facility
with which the British forces could operate against us upon its waters.
At each end was an important military gateway, through which the enemy
could send expeditions, to act on the offensive by water or land. At the
beginning of the conflict the only armed American vessel on the lake was
the Oneida,
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MILITARY OPERATIONS ON THE FRONTIER
but all available craft were
promptly purchased by the government and armed, among the first being Mr.
McNair’s schooner, Julia, aboard which was placed a long thirty-two pounder,
and and tow long six-pounders. The Oneida, to which allusions has been
made, was built at Oswego in 1809, by Christian Bergh and Henry Eckford,
for revenue service, and was the first American armed vessel on the lake.
She had captured several British vessels which were aviolating the laws,
in the spring of 1812, and attempts at retaliation promptly followed.
When news of the declaration of war
reached Ogdensburg, eight American trading vessels were lying in or near
that harbor. For their protection the Julia, manned with sixty volunteers,
and escorted by a company of riflemen in an open boat, went down the river.
A short distance above Ogdensburg she encountered two of the enemy’s vessels
and a sharp cannonade followed, in which the Julia was somewhat damaged.
The trading
vessels, in their attempt to escape
up the river, lost two of their number which were captured by the enemy
and burned. This was the inauguration of hostilities on the northern frontier.
The long prominent forwarding firm
of Townsend, Bronson & Com. had already been formed, with Alvin Bronson
as resident member at Oswego, and their schooner, Charles and Ann, was
also purchased and armed by the government, and named the Governor Tompkins.
Lieut. Melancthon T. Woolsey, of
the U. S. navy, who had superintended the building of the Oneida at Sackett’s
Harbor, was first in command on the lake, but was soon placed under Commodore
Isaac Chauncey, who arrivedin the fall of 1812 and made his headquarters
at Sackett’s Harbor. Early in November he began offensive operations on
the lake with his small fleet, including the Oswego vessels before named.
Cruising off
Kingston, he had an encounter with
land batteries in that harbor, following which the two Oswego vessels,
before mentioned, and another chased the Simcoe, a British armed vessel
of 12 guns, upon the rocks and riddled here with shot. A part of the fleet
the blockaded the fort until the ice closed in, when they returned to Sackett’s
Harbor.
Late in the autumn, in anticipation
of an attack upon Ogdensburg, Gen. Jacob Brown was sent thither, arriving
October 1. He was none too early, for on the following day a flotilla of
British vessels, with about
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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY
750 men from Prescott, directly across
the river, attacked the place. The defense was spirited and effective,
the enemy being soon repulsed. With the closing of this year the
war was fully inaugurated. Operations by land thus far had not been of
character to give much encouragement to the people of this country,
although some minor American successes
near the close of the campaign served to some extent to relieve their depression.
During the year of 1813, while the
march of military events was rapid, and resulted as a whole favorably to
the American arms, there is little to record of a strictly local character.
Sackett’s Harbor was now the chief depot of military and naval supplies
on Lake Ontario, and presented a tempting prize for the enemy. Moreover,
it proximity to Oswego and the probability that it would receive early
attention from the British, gave it additional interest with the inhabitants
of this county.
About noon of May 28,1831, Sir James
L. Yeo, commanding the British squadron, arrived off Sackett’s Harbor from
Kingston, with six armed vessels and forty bateaux, carrying over 1000
troops. The harbor was feebly protected, and a prompt assault would have
resulted in its capture; but the appearance of a few American gun boats,
transporting a regiment to its relief, frightened away the enemy for the
day. An attack was made on the following day, the British landing on Horse
Island, and the Americans, believing the place would be taken, burned stores
worth $500,000. The British, seeing the hurrying to and fro of soldiers
and citizens on the land, fled in disorder to their vessels, and the whole
squadron sailed away. Sackett’s Harbor was not again molested.
In the month of June several armed
vessels of the British appeared off Oswego Harbor. They opened fire on
Fort Ontario, the garrisoned by a small force of regulars, under Major
Case. Anchored in the harbor at the time was the American vessel, Growler,
of three guns. She replied vigorously, as did also the fort batteries,
and after a brief cannonade the enemy retired.
In 1812 a brilliant young naval officer,
twenty-seven years of age, had charge of a fleet of gun boats in New York
harbor. In 1813 he was called north, served a short time on Lake Ontario
under Commodore
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COOPER’S NAVAL FAILURE
Chauncey, and was then given command
of a fleet of nine small armed vessels on Lake Erie, a body of water the
possession of which was to the Americans second only in importance to Lake
Ontario. This young officer’s name was Oliver Hazard Perry. His flagship
was the Lawrence. On September 10 he encountered the British squadron,
and after a desperate and bloody battle the enemy was defeated with a loss
of 200 killed and
600 prisoners. Perry announced his
victory to General Harrison by his famous dispatch “ We have met the enemy
and they are ours.”
Operations were also active on the
Niagara frontier during 1813, and culminated on the last day of the year
in the burning of Buffalo and Black Rock, a deed which the British justified
by the previous burning of Newark on the other side of the river by the
Americans.
It was at this time that a man of
eccentric characteristics named William Cooper, then living in Oswego,
began building a war vessel on an entirely original plan. Cooper was a
brother of the famous novelist, who became familiar with this locality
during his six years of naval service, and located the action of his “Pathfinder”
amid scenes of which his work treats. William Cooper entertained the belief
that he was destined to immortalize his name as the builder of a vessel
in Oswego harbor, which, armed, would prove largely instrumental in ending
the conflict. It was to consist of a sort of floating battery, and one
of the strange features of the scheme was, that he induced the government
to agree to pay him $16,000 when the battery was finished and successfully
floated to Sackett’s Harbor. Cooper began and energetically pushed forward
his work, and finally saw his creation complete. It was nearly square,
fifty or sixty feet on a side, and rose four or five feet above the water
line; was made of logs partially hewed, and built up something like the
side of a log house, and with a mast set up in the middle. It locally received
the name Cooper’s Ark. The battery was placed in charge of Captain Guold
and a few men; several prisoners were taken on board destined for Sackett’s
Harbor, and a large sail was set. After a few miles of struggle with the
waves, and when off the coast to the eastward of Oswego, the wind having
increased to some extent, the battery became unmanageable and promptly
went to pieces.
As the war progressed, although
peaceful commerce was almost at a
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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY
Standstill, Oswego village presented
a scene of constant military activity. This owing to its situation, was
the inevitable result. The fort remained only feebly garrisoned by squads
or companies of militia, but troops were often arriving, destined for Niagara
and other points on the frontier, or to join naval forces, coming through
by the oft-traveled route down the river, or by the military road which
had been opened by the State. Large quantities of military stores and munitions
of war also were gathered here, and Mathew McNair and Alvin Bronson now
found themselves fully occupied with their public duties.
Early in 1814 it became evident that
the British intended a more vigorous prosecution of the war. The victory
of the allies over Napoleon had relieved from European service thousands
of English soldiers, and early in the summer nearly 15,000 Wellington’s
bronzed veterans were sent over to Canada for its defense, or for the invasion
of New York. Oswego and other localities on the northern frontier heard
of this and of other active
movements of the enemy with deep
concern. At the same time the people of this country were more that ever
determined on vigorous measures against the enemy.
During the winter and spring the
military authorities on both sides of the St. Lawrence and the lakes made
preparations for a struggle, with Lake Ontario as the prize. Commodore
Chauncey was building the frigate Superior was launched on the 2nd of May,
eighty days after her keel was laid. These vessels were delayed in the
harbor by the non-arrival of their armament, which lay in the vicinity
of Oswego Falls with a great quantity of other stores, awaiting a safe
opportunity for their shipment to Sackett’s Harbor, 1 an auspicious opportunity
was presented to the British for an attack upon Oswego. They promptly took
advantage of the circumstance, but with only partial success.
No sooner had the ice left Kingston
harbor, then Sir James Yeo sailed out upon the lake with a fleet of eight
war vessels, several other
1 Lossing is authority for
the statement that “Chauncey, not feeling strong enough to oppose Yeo,
prudently remained with his squadrons at Sackett’s Harbor.
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CONDITION OF FORT ONTARIO IN 1814
Fighting craft, and a force of about
3,000 men, 1 with Oswego as his destination.
As soon as General Gaines (Edmund
P.), then in command at Sackett’s Harbor, learned that a fleet was preparing
to sail from Kingston, he sent Colonel Mitchell with five artillery companies,
about 300 strong, armed as infantry, to Oswego, with orders to protect
the military stores in the vicinity at all hazards. Proceeding along the
road through Sandy Creek, Pulaski and Mexico, Mitchell arrived at Fort
Ontario April 30. Here he found a wretched state of things --
Attack
on Oswego--(From an old print)
Five rusty guns on the ramparts,
and dilapidation and ruin on all sides. The old breastwork on the west
side of the river, near the site of old Fort Oswego and not far from the
corner of the present West Van Buren and Water streets, was armed
with four brass cannon. Mr. Bronson had in the mean time received notice
from the quartermaster to stop all stores moving northward at Oswego Falls,
and forward
1 This number is given by Lossing
and other authorities. Johnson’s History of Oswego County states the number
as 1,000, which is doubtless an error.
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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY
those at Oswego to Niagara and Sackett’s
Harbor as far as possible, concealing the remainder as best he could. In
executing these instructions he secreted a large quantity of stores in
the surrounding forests. The schooner Growler, under command of Captain
Woolsey, with Lieutenant Pearce on board, lay in the river awaiting an
opportunity to transport supplies to Sackett’s Harbor.
The British fleet appeared off Oswego
on the 5th of May, carrying an armament of 220 guns. The troops on board
were under command of Lieut.-Gen. Sir George Gordon Drummond, who had commanded
the attack on Black Rock and Buffalo in the preceding December. When the
reveille sounded that morning, the line of the British vessels, their cannon
menacing from gunwale and porthole, were seen standing toward the harbor
under
a favoring breeze. Colonel Mitchell’s
action was prompt and as effective as his comparatively feeble force would
admit of. He dispatched horsemen at full speed into the surrounding country
to call in the militia, while he prepared to defend the post. The Growler
was sunk in the river, and Lieutenant Pearce with a port of the crew joined
Mitchell at the fort.
When the enemy’s fleet had come within
about a quarter of a mile of the shore they hove to and made preparations
to land. Meanwhile Colonel Mitchell sent an old twelve-pounder, with a
squad under Captain Boyle and Lieutenant Legate, down near to the shore,
a little to the westward of the fort. Under a heavy cannonade from the
fleet, fifteen boats filled with troops now rowed rapidly toward the shore.
Mitchell at the same time returned the fire of the vessels with such vigor
as was possible from his battery. But it was the old twelve-pounder which
Mitchell’s foresight had stationed on the shore that proved the most effective.
As soon as the boats approached within close range, it was discharged amongst
them with disastrous effect, killing and wounding many. Two or three of
the shattered boats were abandoned, their crews clambering into other boats,
and after a few charges from the old piece the flotilla rowed off to the
vessels, which soon sailed
away and disappeared in the distance.
Whatever the reason actuating the
British commander, this first attack was a failure. His force was inordinately
large for his purpose, and it is, therefore, difficult to understand why
he did not finish his undertaking.
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JOHNSON’S ACCOUNT OF THE CAPTURE
OF OSWEGO
at once, instead of waiting until
the following day. He put forward the excuse that he intended only to test
the strength of the Americans.
On the morning of the 6th the British
fleet returned, and the man-of-war Magnet sailed up to a point in the offing,
while ten other vessels came in towards the mouth of the river, the remainder
of the fleet occupying about the same position as on the previous day.
A cannonade was opened by the vessels about ten o’clock; the garrison in
the fort responded with its feeble fire; while one by one its ineffective
guns were disabled. They would have been more quickly silenced but for
the fate that most of the enemy’s shot flew high and struck in the woods
in the rear. The few militia that had arrived thus far were posted in these
woods, while in the execution of his orders to protect the stores in the
vicinity; Colonel Mitchell stationed most of his soldiers in the under
brush eastward of the fort, leaving a small number to work the remaining
guns of the battery. All but one of these were disabled before 1 o’clock.
Other militiamen in considerable numbers arrived during the day, most of
them to late to be of much service.
Again the British troops left their
vessels for the shore in a flotilla of small boats. According to Lossing
the forces making this attack consisted of two companies of De Wattville’s
regiment of infantry under Captain De Bersey; one company of celebrated
“Glen Gary” regiment under Captain McMillan; a battalion of marines under
Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm; 200 seamen armed with pikes, under Captain
Mulcaster of the navy; the whole under command of Colonel Fischer. Sir
George Drummond remained on his ship.
For the following account of the
ensuing operations of this memorable day, we are indebted to Johnson’s
history of this county {pp.65-7}, prepared at a time when he had the opportunity
of gathering its details from eye-witnesses, all of whom have now left
us forever:
The boats containing the infantry
and marines headed for the brush-covered shore where Mitchell was stationed,
just eastward from the fort, while Mulcaster led his sailors directly towards
the fort. Undeterred by the fire of the solitary American gun, Mulcaster’s
men sprang from their boats through the water to the shore, and rushed
up the high bank before them. Another blast of grape from the old twelve-pounder
mowed down a number of sailors, and the few infantry in the fort did considerable
damage during the brief period, but the
British were in too large force
to be stopped by
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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY
Such feeble means of resistance,
and in a moment gained the top of the bank. There they found two American
sailors ramming down a charge, while two or three others men who had been
helping them were just scurrying through the gate at the fort. One of the
sailors, too, flung down his rammer, and made good his escape. The remaining
old tar, however, was determined to have another shot. Though surrounded
by foes, who, with leveled pikes, ordered him to surrender, he seized the
linstock and endeavored to fire the cannon. The British
might easily have run him through
with a dozen pikes, but admiring his valor, they seized him ere he could
apply the linstock and dragged him by main force away from the gun.
There was no time to tarry, and,
with Mulcaster at their head, the British sailors flooded over the feeble
ramparts of the fort. The few men on the parapet who where not struck down
fled across the open space of the little fortress, but, determined to fight
to the last, turned at bay on the outside of the southern wall and began
firing back upon the foe. In the northwestern bastion stood the flagstaff,
to which the star-spangled banner had been nailed by order of Colonel Mitchell.
One of the British sailors climbed up to take it down, when a bullet from
the southern wall stretched him lifeless on the ground. Another attempted
the perilous task, and he, too, fell beside his comrade. Captain Mulcaster
himself then sprang on the parapet, and endeavored to tear down the
defiant banner. The next instant he, too, fell severely wounded to the
ground. It was not till the fourth attempt was made that the flag was removed.
The few defenders of the southern wall were either slain, captured or driven
away.
Meanwhile a still sharper battle
had been going on to the eastward. Colonel Mitchell, with Captains Romeyn
and Melvin, and the principal part of his battalion, met the enemy in front
as they landed, while Captain McIntyre and Pierce annoyed them on the flank.
For near half an hour the ground was hotly contested. The cracking of muskets
and rifles was incessant, and the bullets flew thick and fast among the
saplings and underbrush. But the British, outnumbering the Americans two
to one, steadily advanced, and the latter as constantly fell back.
Finally, Colonel Mitchell, seeing
that the fort was captured and that his little force was likely to be surrounded,
and the munitions at the falls thus exposed to seizure, gave the order
to retreat. The battalion fell back in good order, and took their line
of march up the river.
The enemy did not pursue. It is doubtful
if they knew that the principal articles of value were at the falls, and
even if they had their loss had been such, and the road through the forest
was so easily defensible, that it is not probable the would have followed.
. . . .
. . . . . . . .
Two citizens of Oswego, Abram D.
Hugunnin and William Squires, who had crossed the river with their rifles
and attached themselves to the American troops to aid in repelling the
invaders, did not retreat quickly enough, and were captured. Peter D. Hugunin,
afterwards judge, also occupied the breastwork on the west side of the
river, occasionally sending a bullet from his rifle at the invaders, until
the fort surrendered, when he made his escape.
When Mr. Bronson saw how matters
were going, he began hastily to load some stores on his schooner, the Syren,
preparatory to sinking her. A sergeant’s guard came
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ALVIN BRONSON A PRISONER
up to the opposite side of the river
and fired across at the laborers, one of the bullets passing within two
feet of Mr. Bronson, and striking in the end of his warehouse. Nevertheless
he persisted in sinking the vessel. Meanwhile, the British burned the barracks,
but could do little to the fort as it was already in ruins. Presently,
Sir George Drummond came ashore, and he and Sir James Yeo devoted themselves
to seizing what public property they could. They succeeded in raising the
Growler and Syren, which were the principal prizes they made. There was
no systematic injury to private property, but the soldiers and sailors
did considerable plundering whenever they had an opportunity.
From the storehouse of Mr. McNair,
the government commissary, were taken some twelve hundred barrels of hard
bread, and a quantity of other provisions, whisky, etc., but these and
all the other prizes were very poor compensation for the loss suffered
by the British. The work of seizure and loading went on for several hours,
While Sir James was superintending the loading of some of the stores on
a captured schooner, he saw Mr. Bronson walking about on the wharf, dressed
as became a merchant, and sharply addressed him.
“Here, sir, I want you to furnish
pilots to take those boats over the bar.” Mr. Bronson replied that
all the men had left the place, and that he had not pilots under his control..
With a vulgar oath, Sir James seized
him by the collar, and shoved him
back across the wharf, saying, “Then go yourself and take the boat out,
and if you get her aground, God damn you, I’ll shoot you!” Without making
any reply, Mr. Bronson stated towards the boat. Before reaching it, however,
Lieutenant-Colonel Harvey, a gallant British officer, much respected on
both sides of the line, who was standing a short distance away, called
out, “That is the public storekeeper, Sir James; he may be useful to us.”
“Here, come back!” cried Yeo. Mr. Bronson did so, and awaited the course
of events. An hour or so later Sir James sent for Mr. Bronson, who obeyed
the call, when the following conversation took place between them. Sir
James began, “You are the public storekeeper here?”
“Yes, sir.” “And you are my prisoner?”
“Yes, sir.” “Now, sir, I want your to tell me all about the public stores;
what have been sent to Sackett’s Harbor and Niagara, if any; what have
been detained at posts in the rear; and what, if any are concealed in the
vicinity. If you will give me full and correct information on these points,
you can remain her; if not, you
will be taken a prisoner to Quebec.” “Well, Sir James” replied Mr. Bronson,
“my books and papers have been sent away for safety; I do not think I could
give you this information if I would, and I am sure it would be inconsistent
with my duty for me to do so if I could.” “I have nothing to do with you
duty,” said the commodore; “all I have to say is, if you give the information
I want, correctly, you can stay;
if not, you go to Quebec.”
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ALVIN BRONSON A PRISONER
“Very, well, sir” replied the faithful
storekeeper, “that settles it; I will go to Quebec.” Sir James then called
Captain O’Connor, his flag-captain, and said, “Take that man aboard the
Prince Regent, and take care of him.”
Mr. Bronson requested O’Connor to
let him go to his room to get his trunk or some clothes. The officer consented,
and sent a subordinate to accompany the prisoner to shi room. On their
arrival there, however, he found, as he expressed it, “Jack Tar had been
ahead of me,” and neither clothes nor books were to be found. Mr. Bronson
was then taken on board the Prince Regent.
Four other residents of Oswego were
also taken as prisoners on board the fleet -- Abram D. Hugunin and William
Squires, the volunteer riflemen before alluded to; Eli Stevens, and Carlos
Colton. Mr Hugunin came of a warlike family, two of his brothers
being then in service, --Robert as a midshipman in the navy, and Daniel
(afterwards a member of Congress) as a lieutenant in the army.
Four of the five prisoners were grown
men, but Carlos Colton was then a boy of fourteen years old, and a clerk
for Mr. Bronson. It was doubtless this circumstance that caused his capture,
for he was taken to another vessel from his employer, and his captors there
endeavored to obtain from him the information they had failed to get from
the storekeeper.
“Come, now,” they said, “Mr. Bronson
has owned up all about the public stores, and you may as well do so, too,
and save going to Quebec.” “I don’t believe a word of it,” promptly replied
the plucky boy. The British officers were highly amused, and soon abandoned
their attempt to cajole him into giving information.
The fleet lay off the harbor all
night. About midnight Sir George Drummond came on board the Prince Regent.
Walking up to Mr. Bronson, where the latter stood on the deck, the high-toned
major-general and knight thus accosted him, his prisoner: “So you are the
public storekeeper, are you? You are a pretty damned son of a ______! You
said there were no stores concealed, and now we have found cannon sunk
at your wharf.”
“I did not say so, Sir George,”
replied Mr. Bronson; “I said that my books and papers were gone, which
was true, and that it would not be proper for me to give any information
concerning the stores, even if I could.”
The general glared at him for an
instant, and then broke out again: “Damn you, you ought to be strung up
to the yard-arm!” The insulted prisoner made no reply, and Sir George presently
left him.
At daylight the next morning (the
7th) the fleet set sail for Kingston. In the course of the day, Colonel
Harvey, in conversation with Mr. Bronson, apologized for the ruffianly
language of Sir George Drummond and Sir James Yeo, saying that they had
lost heavily and gained little by the expedition; that their friend, Captain
Mulcaster, was severely wounded, and that they both felt terribly out of
humor. Mulcaster was then on board the Prince Regent, and the groans of
the stout sailor showed how severely he was suffering. He died of his wound,
but
not till two years later.
But the behavior of Sir James Yeo
towards Mr. Bronson was quite in harmony with
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RESULT OF THE FALL OF OSWEGO
His usual style. In the beginning
of the war he had sent by a paroled prisoner from the West Indies, where
he was then stationed, to the gallant Captain Porter the following message,
as printed in the Philadelphia Journal of September 18, 1812:
“A passenger of the brig Lyon, from
Havana to New York, is requested y Sir James Yeo to present his compliments
to Captain Porter, commander of the American frigate Essex; would
be glad to have a tete-a-tete any where between the capes of Delaware and
Havana, where he would have the pleasure to break his own sword over his
damned head and put him down forward in irons.”
Captain Porter sent a courteous acceptance
of this remarkable cartel, but Sir James did not come to the tete-a-tete
he had requested.
The Drummonds, also, were a brutal
race. Lieutenant-Colonel Drummond, the brother of the bully of the Prince
Regent, was killed a short time after, in the assault on Fort Erie, while
crying out to his men, “Give the damned Yankees no quarter!” and pistoling
with his own hand the wounded who asked for mercy.
The British fleet proceeded to Kingston,
where the prisoners were kept in the guardhouse a day or two. Mr. Bronson
was fortunate enough to have an acquaintance there who supplied him with
money for his immediate needs. After the fleet had been renovated at Kingston,
Sir James Yeo blockaded Commodore Channcey for a fortnight in Sackett’s
Harbor, the prisoners being kept on ship-board. At length they were dismissed,
one at a time, and sent home. Even Mr. Bronson, though holding a semi-military
position, was finally released, on the
representation of Commodore Chauncey
that he was only a merchant in charge of public property.
The losses of the Americans in killed,
wounded and missing in this battle were sixty-nine; the British lost nineteen
killed and seventy-five wounded. The bodies, with the exception of those
of the British officers, were collected and hastily buried. Subsequently
the remains of the American soldiers were exhumed and reburied with martial
honors, Fort Ontario was not again occupied until November 3, 1838.
The sound of the cannonading on this
occasion was heard for miles around Oswego, causing intense alarm and anxiety,
which did not subside until after the close of the war. After the battle
most of the militia which had arrived too late to be of assistance, returned
home carrying news of the disaster through the settlements. Dread of a
renewal of Indian atrocities and all the other horrors of a border war
drove many to leave their homes and flee farther into the interior. The
memory of many instances of temporary flight, some pathetic and others
amusing, have been kept alive in fireside stories. When, on the day following
the battle, it was learned that the British had retired and that no hostile
Indians had appeared, most of the frightened families returned to their
homes.
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LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY
On outcome of this attack, which
was profitable in a small way, was the gathering by boys and men of the
large number of cannon balls that had been fired into the woods by the
British. Most of these were bought by Dr. Deodatus Clark, father of E.W.
Clark, who then lived on a farm just within the present eastern city line.
He sold them to Judge Joshua Forman at Onondaga Hollow, who had a contract
for supplying the government.1
Colonel Mitchell, on his retreat,
proceeded to Oswego Falls to guard the stores at that point, obstructing
the road over which he passed with fallen trees. Captain Woolsey and a
few other naval officers accompanied him. It was now, more than ever, important
to remove the stores to Sackett’s Harbor, and especially the guns for the
vessels. To attempt this by way of the lake, now patrolled by the victorious
British fleet, was clearly
impracticable. In the emergency
Woolsey sent a proposal to Commodore Chauncey to transport them along the
lake shore in open boats to the mouth of Stony Creek, about twelve miles
westward from Sackett’s Harbor; thence up that creek and overland to Henderson
Bay. Chauncey approved the plan and General Gaines ordered the troops to
co-operate in the work. The task was accomplished and in a very dramatic
manner.
Such of the large guns as had not
already been passed over the falls were taken over in scows, and they,
with remainder of the precious freight, were loaded into nineteen large
open boats. Of the large guns there were twenty-two long thirty-two pounders,
ten twenty-four pounders and three forty-two pounders carronades. With
these was also the main cable for the Superior, weighing 9,600 pounds,
and which completely loaded one of the boats. The flotilla was manned by
a strong force of oarsmen, and carried besides 130 riflemen under Major
Daniel Appling. A body of 150 Oneida warriors was engaged to meet the boats
at the mouth of Salmon River.
On the 28th of May flotilla left
the harbor at sunset and began
1 Mr. Johnson, in his
History of Oswego county (p. 67) , states that Mr. Forman paid a good price
for these balls, as they were better than he could cast at his furnace.
The fact is, that while Judge Forman had such a contract with the government
and the balls fired by the British were generally better than the American
could produce, he did not have a furnace at Onondaga Hollow at all. The
furnace alluded to, and from which a large quantity of cannon shot were
sent to Oswego, was owned and operated by Nicholas Mickles, one of the
most prominent pioneer of Onondaga Valley.
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TRANSFER OF STORES TO SACKETT’S HARBOR
Its eastward voyage with a God speed
from the people in the little village. By arduous rowing the mouth of Salmon
River was reached at dawn next morning, where the faithful Oneidas met
the boats as agreed; but in a fog that rose in the latter part of the night
one of the boats was unfortunately lost, and soon fell into the hands of
the British cruisers. The character of its cargo and its location when
found told the story to the enemy, and the cruiser turned he prow towards
the blockading squadron with every sail set. Meanwhile
the vigilant Woolsey, discovering
the loss of boat, clearly foresaw the probable result. He determined to
make a desperate effort to reach the mouth of Big Sandy Creek and in the
town of Ellisburg, Jefferson county, with his fleet of boats, and at the
same time hurried off a messenger to Sackett’s Harbor to request reinforcement
of troops. The boats again put out and the oarsmen bent ardently to their
task, the Oneida warriors keeping along abreast on the shore as an escort.
At noon the flotilla reached the shelter of Big Sandy Creek and proceeded
a mile or more up the south branch of the stream.
When Sir James Yeo learned of the
expedition from his cruiser that had captured the lost boat, he sent two
gun boats, three cutters, and a gig to intercept the Americans. The squadron
cruised along the lake shore in search of their prey, and towards night
first learned of Woolsey’s presence in Big Sandy Creek. The same afternoon
a company of cavalry and one of artillery dashed through the woods from
Sackett’s Harbor, followed, a little later, by a company of infantry. They
made immediate preparations to give the enemy a warm reception. Big Sandy
Creek in that vicinity flows through a flat country and its banks were
then covered with thick bushes. The boats lay just above a considerable
bend in the stream, and near them were stationed the troop’s of Sackett’s
Harbor, while just below the bend and in the thick bushes were hidden the
riflemen and the Indians.
The British squadron hung near the
mouth of the creek through the night of the 25th, doubtless confident of
capturing their rich prize with ease in the morning. When daylight appeared
their vessels proceeded up the creek, and upon coning in sight of the American
boats, opened a sharp cannonade. The boats, settling low in the water,
were little harmed. Then landing a flanking party on either bank, the
Page 145
LANDMARKS OF OSWEGO COUNTY
whole force of the enemy moved forward,
pouring grape and canister into the bushes. Many of the Indian fled when
the artillery fire began, while riflemen arose and poured upon them a rapid
fire. Many of the flanker fell under the storm of lead; the boats were
raked; and at the same moment the American opened their artillery on the
enemy. The remainder of the story is briefly told. In ten minutes after
the Americans opened fire the British commander surrendered his whole force,
having lost eighteen killed and about fifty wounded, with 170 prisoners.
One rifleman and one Indian wounded was the entire loss of the Americans.
The victory was complete and the capture large and important. The American
cannon and the cable were transported to Sackett’s Harbor by land; the
vessel there were soon armed; and Commodore Chauncey, suffering illness,
was carried on board on the 31st of July, and his squadron sailed up the
lake. He blockaded Kingston, and vainly tried to draw Sir James Yeo into
action. With the completion at Kingston in September of a man-of-war of
112 guns, Chauncey prudently returned to Sackett’s Harbor, where prompt
measures were adopted to build vessels large enough to cope with those
of the enemy. 1 The keels of two first-class frigates were laid, and one
of these was far advanced when peace was declared. When the lake was closed
by ice that winter the war had ended on the northern frontier.
Other principal military operations
of 1814, ending with the final victory of General Jackson in New Orleans
January 8, 1815, were those at Fort Erie July 3, and August 13-15; at Lundy’s
Lane July 25, on Lake Champlain and at Plattsburgh September 11; at Chippewa
October 15, and the victories of Decatur and others on the sea.
A treaty of peace was agreed to between
commissioners of the United States and those of Great Britain, at Ghent,
December 24, 1814; and ratifications were exchanged at Washington, February
17, 1815. It provided for a mutual restoration of all conquered territory,
and for three commissions -- one to settle the title to islands in Passamaquoddy
Bay; one to lay out the northeastern boundary of the United States
1 Alvin Bronson defined the
struggles for the conquest of Lake Ontario as “a war of shipbuilders,”
during which first one side and ten the other built larger vessels than
those previously existing.
THE COLD SEASON
as far as the St. Lawrence; and the
other to dun the line through that river and the lakes to the Lake of the
Woods. The settlement of other minor matters was also embraced in
the treaty.
The reception of the news spread
joy throughout the land, although the treaty was criticized in some quarters,
chiefly because immunity from search or impressments had not been secured.
The new of the peace reached New York city February 11, 1815, and banquets
and illuminations followed, not alone in the metropolis, but in all principal
cities. No one is living to tell us what he saw in Oswego when the new
finally came slowly
northward; but we may well believe
that in proportion to the population, the joy and exultation was not surpassed
any where else in the country.