140 



^l)c iTarmcr's iHoutljli) bisitov. 



eiiings against them if they ilid not declare in fu- 



voi' (>r Hrilaiii. 



30th. — Cillfv's ami Counlamlt's Regiments 

 were iiuistiMed. 



JuUj Isl. — Miciiael Riisehiny and Lawrence 

 Miller inhabitants oC Sussex county in New Jer- 

 sey, heini; convicted hy Court Martial held at 

 Easton, the 'M June, Gen Maxwell president, for 

 enticing soldiers of ihe American Army to desert, 

 and sentenced to softer death, were brought foj th 

 hy the Provost and this day led fortl. to execution; 

 the former was hanged and the latter reprieved. 



2d. — Rode out this morning with Gen. Poor 

 and Lient. Col. Dearborn, about 4 miles fioin 

 camp, to view the ground where the battle was 

 fought between the savages and the people of 

 Wyoming under Col. Butler. We saw a stockade 

 fort with a covert way to a fomitain, which our 

 guide told us was built for a show by some of the 

 disaffected iuhabitants, and given up to the ene- 

 my immediately upon their approach. We ex- 

 amined the trees where the line of battle was 

 formed, but fumid very few marks of an obstinate 

 engagement. It a|)pears iiideed that the enemy 

 were superior in umiiber to the militia, and soon 

 after the commencement of the action, turned 

 their left flank ; this bj-oughton a retreat, in which 

 the savages massacred upwards of 200 men ; we 

 saw moi-e or less of bones scattered on the ground 

 for neaily 2 miles, .-md several skidls brought iji 

 at different limes that Ijad been scalped ami inhu- 

 i.janly mangled with the hatchet. A Captain's 

 comufission, with 17 coutineiitul dollars, was 

 fomid iij the pocket of a skeleton of a man, who 

 had lain on lh(^ gjound 12 jnojilhs ; our guide 

 showed us where 73 bodies had been buried in 

 one hole. This phu'e may with piopiiely be nanj- 

 ed Golgoth:i. All the houses along ilie river have 

 been burnt, anil the gardens and fieliis, the most 

 fertile J evei- beheld, grown over with «eedsand 

 bushes, exhibit a moiaucholy picture of savage 

 rage and desolation. 



3d.— Anniversary of the battle and destruction 

 of the settlement of Wyoming. 



4th. — Anniversary of American Independence, 

 declared liy Congress July 4, 1770, at Philadel- 

 phia. This d.iy being Sunday, the celebration of 

 il was delcrn'd till ni'Xt day, when iJiig. Gen. 

 J'oor gave an enlertaiujijent to the officers ol his 

 Brigade, 87 of whom were present. .After din- 

 ner the following patriotic toasis were drank : 



1. July 4th, 1776, the memorable Era of Amer- 

 ican Independence. 



2. United Slates. 



3. 'J'lie grand Council of .America. 



4. Geuer;d Washingtoii and the .Army. 



5. (Jeneral Lincoln and the Soulhern.Armv. 

 <). Gener.-d Sullivan and the Wcslern ArmV. 



7. King and Ciueen ol' France. 



8. May the Counsellors of America be wise, 

 .and her Soldieis invincible. 



9. A suci'i'ssful luid decisive <-ampais.'n. 



10. Civilization or de.Mlh to all .American sava- 

 ge.--. 



Jl. The immortal he.-dih of those heroes that 

 have fallen in defence of American Lihei-ty. 



12. May the; new woihl be the 1,-ist Asylum foi- 

 lieeilom and the .-u'ls. 



13. M:.y the hiisbamlman's cottage be blest 

 with peace, ;iml bis fields wiih plenty. 



The whole of the eiuertainmeni seemed to be 

 conducted wiili such joy and feslivily, as demon- 

 slr.ited an independent elevalion of spirit on this 

 impoj-tant ami interesting occasion. 



Otli. — .Advices from Juniarta, Ihe Western 

 branch of the Susrpieh.uuia, that ii parly of Indi- 

 ans had set upon and scalped 9 of the inh.diiiants. 



Ulh. — Early this morning one Winslow, a sol- 

 dier belonging to the 3d Sfew-Hampshire Rcgi. 

 ment, went to bathe and was drowned. About 

 8 o'clock an uncommon black and heavy , cloud 

 arose in the East, with distinct claps of "ihmider 

 like the report of a comon, followed by a severe 

 shower of rain and hail ; sonu! of the hailstones 

 were as laigi" as lirii's euas. 



7th,8tli, yth.— No news. 



10th.— A delachmeiu of 150 men from 1st and 

 2d New Hampshire Regiments was sent towards 

 Easton to escort some stores and repair the load.a. 



11th. — Our officers received their commissions 

 from Congress on the new arrangement. 



12lh. — Three companies of the German Ucji- 

 ment deserted. 



13th.— We received a visit from Col. Butler 

 and his !arly and half a dozen vonuir ladies from 



Wyoming, with whom we passed an agreeable 

 aflernoon. Col. Bntler showed us a death mall, or 

 war mallet, that the Indians le.'t by a man they 

 ha(! knocked on the head ; the handle resembles 

 thatofa hatchet, with a string drawn tlnongh the 

 and to hold it by ; it is made of the root of a tree, 

 wiihalarge ball worked on the head of il, and 

 looks not much unlike a four pound shot in the bill 

 of an eagle, with a tuft of feathers in his crown : 

 the end of the handle shows a face of a wild-cat. 

 I.'ith. — We learn from the Eastward that the 

 main body of Ihe British Army have retired from 

 King's ferry on Hudson river, leaving 6 regiments 

 lo keep that post. 



llith. — Rode out with Generals Sullivan, Max- 

 well and Poor, and several other gentlemen, to 

 view the groimd where the two Butlers Ibiiglit. 



17th. — By advices from Connecticut, the ene- 

 my have m.-ide an incursion into that Slate, and 

 burned Fairtield and plundered New Haven. 

 I8th, I9th, 20th.— NothiuL' remarkable. 

 21st. — We received a letter from Major Gibbs 

 of his Excellency's guard, advising that in the 

 night of the loth inst. Brig. Gen. Wayne vvilh the 

 Ligdit Infantry had surprised and taken the fort 

 at Stony Point, near King's Ferry on Hudson 

 river, by which important enterprise npvvaids of 

 500 British and new levies, with all theireannon, 

 warlike slores and baggage, fell into our hands. 



23d.— Made an excm-sion to Lachanwannock, 

 about 8 miles, on a party of pleasure with Lieut. 

 Col. Dearborn, Capt. Fogg and Rev. Mr. Evans; 

 staid out all night and "returned next day. A 

 guard of 20 men from Poor's Brigade was" sent 

 up to this place to protect some of (iie iuhabitants 

 lill they mowed llieir grass and reaped their grain 

 that grew spontaneously (i-om last year's crop iiu- 

 gatliered ; w herever we rode, the same sad scene 

 of ruin and desolation appeared. 

 ^ 24tb. — Gen. Hand ariived at Wyonnng from 

 Sunsbury, with 70 boats laden with provisions 

 for our expedition. 



25ih. — Five soldiers belonging to the German 

 Regiment were sentenced by Conrt-.^larlial to be 

 shot lirir desertion. 



2t)lh. — The five deserters scnienceil to suffer 

 death yesterday, were reprieved. 



27!li. — Gen. Poor marched finm Forty Fort to 

 Wyoming in order to be convenient to fall in with 

 the line of march. 

 28th. — Nothing remafkable. 

 29th. — Received orders to inarch towards Tioga 

 — next day Gen. Sullivan received a letter from 

 Northuiid>erlaiid. 



30[li. — Copji of Ihe Idler. — The enemy yester- 

 day made themselves masters of Freedland's 

 Fort on the West branch of the Susequehanna, 

 upon terms of capitulation, viz: The men to re- 

 main prisoneis of war; the whole garrison to be 

 plundered hy the Indians: the women logo free. 

 The number of the enemy appearing before Ihe 

 (i)rl, about 250, one-lhird British, Ihe residue were 

 savages, together with a corps ile reserve of 100 

 more at some distance, the whole under the com- 

 maml of Capt. lAlcDonahl. We have now atNor- 

 thumberlancl.aboui 150 to op|)Ose the enemy and 

 protect the women and children, whom it is im- 

 possible to get off We expect to be allacked ev- 

 ery hour, as we are the most frontier garrison, and 

 fear without some speedy assistance must fall a 

 prey to s.ivage tvr.ints. The enemy have collec- 

 ted all the cattle and everything vafiiable as they 

 come on. We beg leave to give it as our opin- 

 ion, that a p.irly of men thrown across Ihe coun- 

 try will retake the plunder and evervthing else. 

 Wm. Cook, D. Q. M. G. 



N. B. — The nundier killeil in action were Ca|il. 

 Hawkins Boon and forty men, .alter the capitula- 

 tion, who were on a scout and Irid not heanl of 

 the surrender of the garrison. The accounts we 

 received from Ihe Delaware at .Minisings on the 

 29th are more favorable than at first repre.'enied. 

 — The toiies and savages made a descent upon 

 that setllement and b.ave burnt several houses, 

 barns, iSic. — w'ere attacked by a regiment of mi- 

 litia, who repulsed and pursued lliem a consider- 

 able distance. Forty men were killed on our 

 side, the Col. and .M.ijor included : the enemy's 

 loss unknown. We hear Gen. Clinton with the 

 main liody of the British Army is moving up 

 Hudson river." 



The .Army under General Sullivan received or- 

 ders to mar(di to-morrow morning. 



31st. — .After a great deal of trouble in fitting 

 and loading ihe boats and in fixing the iiacklior- 



ses for the march, we n)Oved from Wyoming at 1 

 o'clock, in the i;)llovving order. Gen. Hand's Bri- 

 gade one mile in front, to act as light infantry ; 

 Gen. Maxwell's and Poor's; then the i>iick-hors- 

 es, about 1200 in number, followe<l by about 500 

 head of cattle ; one regiment for a rear guard ; 

 200 men as a fl.ink guard on the right, and GO men 

 on our left by Ihe river. Col. Proctor's Regimein 

 of" Arlilleiy go by wafer with about 120 bo.ils 

 wiih iirovisions and stores. A Captain and 60 

 men marched on the opposite side of the river 

 lo scour the shore and prevent ambuscades being 

 formed. We marched about 10 miles and en- 

 camped near a stream called Ijichawaniiunck, 

 which fiills into the Susipiebanna at this place. 

 The land here is level and exceeding fertile, bul 

 now desolated, and the houses burnt by the sava- 

 ges, the inhabitants having shared the "same fate 

 of their neighbors at Wyoming. We have had a 

 remaikably wet season for a fortnight past, which 

 still continues. 



August, \sl, Sunday.— We lay still this inorn- 

 ing. wailing lor fiiir weather and the arrival of 

 onr boats. .Afternoon, 4 o'clock, we slruck tents 

 (the weather being favorable and boats arriving) 

 and inarched to Quilutiniack, 7 miles. The dif- 

 ficulty of the way along the toot of a mountain 

 that jutted down upon the river, gave inconceiv- 

 able embarrassment lo the troops, as well as the 

 pack horses and cattle, so that the former did not 

 arrive at the place of encampment before 9 

 o'clock, nor the latter with the rear guard till 

 next morning. About 3 miles lioin Quilulimack 

 is a romantic fall of water, down a precipice in 

 the cliff of a rock 70 feet high. In this day's 

 march we passed over a large Iract of good land. 

 2d. — The army l:iy still on this ground to rest, 

 to |-ecruit Ihe pack horses, and collect the kegs of 

 flour, ammunition, and other baggage that was 

 left behind fiom Ihe perplexity of the way and 

 darkness of the night. The morning showed us 

 that the groiinl we encamped on had been in- 

 habited and tilled, though now overrun with 

 grass and ihislles of a mighty growth. .A wild 

 enormous mountain lay close on our (i-onl, and 

 the river in our rear. We drew the seine at this 

 place and caught a number of fish, consisting 

 chiefly of rock, pike, garr, chnbbs, and suckers. 



3d. — We proceeded 12 miles finlher, over a 

 much better country than we expected, and en- 

 camped on an old field, near the month of a 

 small river that falls here inio the Sus(|uehanna, 

 called Tunckhamuiick. Nothing remarkable ha])- 

 pened through this ilay's march. The deer 

 seemed lo be plenty on this groimd; a largo 

 fiiwn that lay skulking in the bushes, alarmed 

 with the noise of the troop.s, attempted lo make 

 its escape ; but beins entirely surrounded, was 

 taken without a wounil, affording great amuse- 

 ment to the soldiers, and an agreeable viand to 

 several of tlie officers. 



4th. — The Gener.d beat and wc struck tents at 

 6 o'clock this morning and marched 13 miles, by 

 actual survey. We passed several places that 

 were once the habilalions of retirement and do- 

 meslic peace, but now the solitary haunts of 

 savage.s. The /o.?/ stood near a small rapiil river 

 called Messhopping; we encamped two or three 

 miles beyond this stream on a desolate farm, the 

 properly of one Vanderlip who had joined the 

 savages and gone off'. This day several large 

 rallle-snakes were killed. Onr jitlle fleet found 

 great difficulty and endi irrassment from the 

 shoals and rapid.s, so that they did not come up 

 wiih the army till 10 the next day. Immediately 

 n|ion thi'ir arrival the troops were put in motion. 

 4'he land we passed over this day is fine to admir- 

 alion, and the growth of walnut the stateliest 1 

 ever saw. 



5th.— Our next place of encampment is Wya- 

 lusing. distant 10 miles, the ground rocky and 

 inoimiainoiKS, particularly one tremendous ridge, 

 over which onr right flank was obliged to pa.ss, 

 that seemed to overlook the world and ihreaten 

 annihilaiion to oui prostrate troops. .Alier leav- 

 ing this place the scene opened to a fine clear 

 extensive piece of wood-land. Here the Gene- 

 ral apprchemling an attack, Ihe signal was beat- 

 en for the army to close colmnii. This order of 

 march was observed till we left this forest and 

 gained the summit of a very lofty mountain, 

 when another signal was given for marching in " 

 files. From Ihe top of this height we li;id a 

 grand perspective view of onr little fleet coming 

 up the river, at about three miles distant. The' 



