besieged by

on this unfortunate parley, only about twenty CHAP. X. escaped. Fort Kingston was immediately in- 1778. vested, and to increase the terror of the garri- Kingston son, and impress on them the horrors of their the Indians. situation, the green and bleeding scalps of their murdered countrymen were sent in for their inspection.

Colonel Zebulon Butler having withdrawn himself and his family down the river, colonel Dennison, the commanding officer, went out with a flag to inquire of the officer commanding the besiegers, what terms would be allowed the garrison, on surrendering the fort? uniting to Spartan brevity more than cannibal ferocity, this tutored savage answered in two words "the hatchet."h

and the gar

butchered.

Having lost great part of his garrison, being surrenders, unable to hold out longer, and not supposing rison and it possible that the unresisting could be coolly and deliberately massacred, colonel Dennison _July 5. surrendered at discretion. He misunderstood the character of those into whose hands he had fallen. The threat of Butler was executed with scrupulous punctuality. After selecting a few prisoners, the great body of the people in the fort were inclosed in the houses, fire was applied to them, and they were consumed together.i

CHAP. X.

also surren

ders, and meets the same fate.

Butler then passed over to Wilkesbarre,

1778. which was surrendered without resistance. Wilkesbarre This effort to mollify the revengeful fury which governed him was unavailing. The Continental soldiers, amounting to about seventy, were hacked to pieces. The remaining men, with the women and children, shared the fate of their brethren in Kingston. They perished in the flames.

All show of resistance was now terminated, but the ruin contemplated was not yet complete. Distress of Near three thousand persons had escaped. Flyin Wyoming. ing without money, clothes, or food, they

the settlers

sought for safety in the interior country. To prevent their returning, every thing remaining behind them was doomed to destruction. Fire and the sword were alternately applied; and all the houses and improvements which the labour of years had provided, as well as every living animal which could be found, were destroyed. The settlements of the tories alone were pre served. "They appeared," says mr. Gordon, "as islands in the midst of surrounding ruin.”

Some peculiar instances of barbarity have been related, in the details given of this expedition, at which human nature recoils. Parents were murdered by their children, and brothers and sisters fell by the hands of brothers. Of such crimes are we capable, when the torch of civil discord is once lighted among us, and all the endearing social ties which sweeten life are made to yield to political fury!

The incursions of irregulars may be often CHAP. X. repeated, but are seldom of long duration. 1778. The invaders of Wyoming withdrew from the country they had laid waste, before the arrival of the continental troops which were detached to meet them.

To cover every part of the United States from the ravages of their enemies, would have required forces infinitely more numerous than they could raise. Different districts were. therefore unavoidably exposed to all the calamities ever to be experienced by those into the bosom of whose country war is carried. Fatigued and worn out by perpetual calls into the field, the militia every where required to be relieved and protected by continental troops. Their applications were necessarily resisted, and the regular regiments distributed in such manner as, on a general view of the situation of the whole, would best promote the great object of the contest. The sufferings of the western frontier, however, were now such, and the danger which threatened it was so imminent, that it became necessary to spare for its defence, a more considerable portion of the army, than had been allotted to that part of the union, since the capture of Burgoyne. Colonel Hartley's regiment, and two companies of militia, were ordered, on the first intelligence of July 15. the destruction of Wyoming, to repair thither, and afford all the protection in their power, to

CHAP. X. the country generally. The colonel set out on 1778. an expedition against the Indian towns, some of which he destroyed, and made some prisoners; but on hearing that they were collecting in very great force, he thought it advisable to retreat. His rear was attacked with spirit, but his troops behaved so well that the assailants were repulsed with loss. The 4th Pennsylvania regiment, raised in the western frontier of that state under the command of lieutenant colonel William Butler, a partisan of great merit, and the remnant of Morgan's rifle corps, led by major Posey, were also detached to the imme-' diate assistance of the distressed people, and took a position at Schoharie, a small village on a river of that name, which runs into the Mohawk. With his continental troops, assisted October. by about thirty rangers, colonel Butler entered the enemy's country; and, after a march attended with infinite labour and difficulty in crossing high mountains and deep waters, pénetrated as far as their towns at Unandilla and Anaquaqua* which, with a considerable quantity of corn, laid up for their winter's supply, he entirely destroyed. Having effected this service, he returned to Schoharie, without having been able to fall in with any party of the enemy.

* The head quarters of the celebrated colonel Brandt, an Indian chief of the half breed, distinguished for his courage and cruelty.

1778.

The expedition of lieutenant colonel Butler CHAP. X. had rendered some service to the western inhabitants. Though the numbers of the enemy had not been diminished, they had been compelled by the loss of their towns and provisions, to withdraw to a greater distance from the frontiers, and, of consequence, their future incursions would be rendered more difficult. Pending these transactions, congress received a letter from colonel Hartley, giving an account of his expedition, and informing them that the enemy were fortifying at Chemung, a large settlement about twelve miles from the mouth. of the Cayuga, a river emptying into the Susquehanna; at which place, a large body of tories was collected. Chemung and Nia-gara were represented to be the principal places of rendezvous for those tories who could not reach the city of New York. A resolution was immediately passed, directing general Washington to take measures for preventing the enemy from occupying a post at Chemung, and for repelling the invasions of the savages. on the frontiers of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

The season of the year had now come on, when the frequent rains swell the waters of that country, so as to render them impassable; in addition to which, it was impossible, unless the roads should be opened, to transport artillery, without which, any attempt on the fortifi