104 



HISTORY OF STEUBEN COUNTY, NEW YORK. 



up. Gen. Wadsworth, upon whom the command devolved 

 after the fall of Yan Rensselaer, went through their lines 

 in a rough-and-ready style, with hat and coat off, explain- 

 ing to the inexperienced officers his plan. To avoid the 

 fire of the British, the men were ordered to retire below the 

 brow of the hill upon which they were ranged and up 

 which the enemy would march. When the British ap- 

 peared upon the top of the hill, the militia were to fire 

 from below. The slaughter would be great; they were 

 then to charge bayonets, and in the confusion might be suc- 

 cessful, though the decisiveness of a charge of bayonets up 

 a hill against veterans by militia, who before that day had 

 never been under fire, might well have been doubted. The 

 first part of the plan succeeded famously. As the British 

 appeared above the hill a fire was delivered which was very 

 destructive ; but a misapprehension of the word of com- 

 mand by part of the line caused disorder; the fire was 

 returned by the enemy ; the militia sufi*ered considerable 

 loss, and fell back overpowered to the river, where most of 

 them were made prisoners. Of the Steuben County men, 

 two were killed and three wounded." 



Ensign Kennedy, in this and other engagements, gained 

 the reputation of a brave and resolute officer. At the 

 sortie of Fort Erie he ordered his men to lie flat upon the 

 ground, but he himself paced back and forwards by their 

 heads under a close and heavy fire from the British, because 

 he thought '' being an officer it would not do" for him to lie 

 down. 



'' In the second year of the war two companies were 

 drafted from the Steuben County militia, and sent to the 

 Niagara frontier, under the command of Capts. James 

 Reed, of Urbana, and Jonathan Rowley, of Dansville, faith- 

 ful and reliable officers. Capt. Reed refused to go as a 

 drafted officer, but reported himself to the general of the 

 division at the commencement of the war as ready to march 

 at the head of a company as a volunteer whenever he should 

 be called upon. Both the companies were principally levied 

 from the northern part of the county. Of Capt. Rowley's 

 company, John Short and John E. Mulholland were lieu- 

 tenants, and George Knouse and Timothy Goodrich w^ere 

 ensigns. Of Capt. Reed's company, George Teeples and 

 Anthony Swarthout were lieutenants, and Jabez Hopkins 

 and 0. Cook ensigns. These companies served about four 

 months. All of the officers and most of the men volun- 

 teered to cross into Canada, and were stationed at Fort 

 George." 



Judge McMaster, from whose vei^ interesting little work, 

 ^' History of the Settlement of Steuben County," the facts 

 for this account have been drawn, says, " We have not suc- 

 ceeded in learning anything about the draft for the last year 

 of the war, if any was made, nor concerning the militia of 

 this county who were engaged at Fort Erie." 



The following incident is related by one of the Steuben 

 County militia who was engaged in one of the battles on 

 the Canada line as sergeant of a company : his company 

 was ordered into action, and before long found itself con- 

 fronted by a rank of British red-coats. When within a 

 distance of ten rods from their enemies, the militia halted 

 and were ordered to fire. Muskets came instantly to the 

 shoulder, and were pointed at the British with the deadly 



aim of rifles at a wolf-hunt ]^ but to the dismay of the 

 soldiers there was a universal " flash in the pan," not a gun 

 went ofi*. The sergeant knew in an instant what was the 

 cause of the failure. The muskets had been stacked out 

 of doors during the night, and a little shower which fell 

 towards morning had thoroughly soaked the powder in them. 

 It was his business to have seen to it that the muskets were 

 cared for, and upon him afterwards fell the blame of the 

 disaster. Nothing could be done till the charges were drawn. 

 There were but two ball-screws in the company. The cap- 

 tain took one and the ser«;eant the other, and beoinnins: 

 their labors in the middle of the rank, worked towards the 

 ends. A more uncomfortable position for untried militia 

 can hardly be imagined. The men, as described by the 

 sergeant, " looked strangely, as he had never seen them 

 before." The British brought their muskets with disagree- 

 able precision into position, and fired. The bullets whistled 

 over the heads of the militia. The British loaded their 

 guns again. Again the frightful row of muzzles looked the 

 militia in the face; again they heard the alarming com- 

 mand, j^re I and again two-score bullets whistled over their 

 heads. A third time the British brought their muskets to 

 the ground, and went through all the terrible ceremonies 

 of biting cartridges, drawing ramrods, and priming in full 

 view of the uneasy militia. The moistened cartridges were 

 by this time almost drawn, and while the enemy were about 

 to fire, the sergeant stood beside the last man. He was pale 

 and excited. " Be quick, sergeant ; be quick, for God's 

 sake !" he said. They could hear the British officer saying 

 to his men, " you fire over their heads," and instructing 

 them to aim lower. The muzzles this time dropped a little 

 below the former range ; smoke burst forth from them, and 

 seven militia fell dead and wounded. The sergeant had 

 just finished his ill-timed job, and was handing the musket 

 to the private beside him, when a bullet struck the unfor- 

 tunate man between the eyes and killed him. The fire of 

 the British was now returned with effect. Reinforcements 

 came upon the field, and the engagement became hot. An 

 officer on horseback was very active in forming the enemy's 

 line, riding to and fro, giving loud orders, and making him- 

 self extremely useful. " Mark that fellow," said the sergeant 

 to his right-hand man. Both fired at the same instant. 

 The officer fell from his horse, and was carried off the field 

 by his men. They afterwards learned that he was a colonel, 

 and that one of his legs was broken 



STEUBEN IN THE MEXICAN WAR. 



During the Mexican war, early in the summer of 1846, 

 President Polk decided on sending a force of volunteers 

 by sea to the Pacific coast. Col. Jonathan D. Stevenson, 

 then of New York City, now of San Francisco, was em- 

 powered to raise a regiment in the State of New York, to 

 be known as the 7th Regiment of New York Volunteers, 

 for service on the Pacific coast and to colonize our new con- 

 quest there. The regiment was to contain ten companies of 

 one hundred men each, rank and file. 



Steuben County was designated as the place for raising 



••'" They had been familiar with wolf-hunts in the woods of Steuben 

 and Allegany. 



