William L. Stone

“ A skirmishing was, however, kept up by both sides—the Indians sallying out of their works by small parties, firing, and suddenly retreating—making the woods at the same time to resound with their war-whoops, piercing the air from point to point as though the tangled forest were alive with their grim-visaged warriors. Correctly judging that the hill upon his right was occupied by the savages, General Sullivan ordered Poor's brigade to wheel off, and endeavor to gain their left flank, and, if possible, to surround them, while the artillery and main body of the Americans attacked them in front. ”

“ The country was wild and totally uninhabited, excepting by scattered families of the Indians, and here and there by some few of the more adventurous white settlers, in the neighborhood of Unadilla. The sudden swelling of the river, therefore, bearing upon its surge a flotilla of more than two hundred vessels, through a region of primitive forests, and upon a stream that had never before wafted upon its bosom any craft of greater burthen than a bark canoe, was a spectacle which might well appall the untutored inhabitants of the regions thus invaded. ”

“ Both Tories and Indians were entitled to the credit of fighting manfully. Every rock, and tree, and bush, shielded its man, from behind which the winged messengers of death were thickly sent, but with so little effect as to excite astonishment. The Indians yielded ground only inch by inch; and in their retreat darted from tree to tree with the agility of the panther, often contesting each new position to the point of the bayonet—a thing very unusual even with militiamen, and still more rare among the undisciplined warriors of the woods. Thayendanegea was the animating spirit of the savages. ”

“ Pocahontas was moved by the tender passion—the Mohawk sachem by the feelings of magnanimity, and the eternal principles of justice. It is matter of regret that the name of this high-souled warrior is lost, as, alas! have been too many that might have served to relieve the dark and vengeful portraitures of Indian character, which it has so well pleased the white man to draw! The prisoners themselves were so impressed with the manner of their signal deliverance, that they justly attributed it to a direct interposition of the providence of God. ”

“ The blood of the innocent Moravians, more than half of them women and children, cruelly and wantonly murdered, calls aloud for revenge. The relatives of the slain, who are among us, cry out and stand ready for revenge. The Shawanese, our grand-children, have asked for your fellow-prisoner; on him they will take revenge. All the nations connected with us cry out, revenge! revenge! The Moravians, whom you went to destroy, having fled instead of avenging their brethren, the offence has become national, and the nation itself is bound to take revenge. ”

“ I wish to see the Christian religion, sobriety, and good morals, prevail among our nation; but let us continue free and independent as the air that blows upon us; let us continue hunters and warriors, capable of enforcing respect, and doing ourselves justice; but let us never submit to become the tillers of land, hewers of wood, and drawers of water, by the false and interested advice of those who, from being our pretended friends, would soon become our imperious masters. ”

“ The valley of the Genesee, for its beauty and fertility, was beheld by the army of Sullivan with astonishment and delight. Though an Indian country, and peopled only by the wild men of the woods, its rich intervales presented the appearance of long cultivation, and were then smiling with their harvests of ripening corn. Indeed, the Indians themselves professed not to know when or by whom the lands upon that stream were first brought into cultivation. ”

“ Colonel Simcoe, who is going out Governor of Upper Canada, is kind enough to promise to deliver this to you, with a brace of pistols, which I desire you will keep for my sake. I must particularly recommend the Colonel to you and the nation. He is a most intimate friend of mine, and is possessed of every good quality which can recommend him to your friendship. He is brave, humane, sensible, and honest. You may safely rely upon whatever he says, for he will not deceive you. He loves and honors the Indians, whose noble sentiments so perfectly correspond with his own. ”

“ Worn down by hunger and fatigue—bruised in body and wounded in spirit—in a lone wilderness, with no eye to pity, and no human arm to protect—he felt as though he must remain in that spot until it should please God in his goodness to quench the dim spark of life that remained. ”

“ If the proceedings of this female council appear rather too episodical for direct historical narrative, they are nevertheless illustrations of Indian manners and character. It is, moreover, a satisfaction thus to secure from oblivion, and preserve, a document bearing beautiful testimony, that even in a barbarous state of society, women are still found foremost in the conservation of virtue, and as persevering peace-makers in the midst of anarchy and strife. And besides, the females of no other race have had so little justice done to their character as those of the American Indian. ”

“ In justification of the savages' practices of Indian warfare, his course of reasoning was somewhat like the following: That the object of each party, when engaged in war, was to destroy his enemy, or to weaken and intimidate him so much as to force him into a reasonable peace. The Indians, he said, were destitute of many of the means and implements of war which the white people possessed. They could not successfully contend with them in the open field, man to man, because they had no artillery, so indispensable to, and so destructive in, a field fight. ”

“ On the contrary, it may be doubted whether the females of the white people, even among nations of the most refinement, exercise a higher or more salutary degree of influence, than do the Indian women. Nor, when dead, are they treated with less respect than the warriors. "The greatest honors are paid to the remains of the wives of renowned warriors and veteran chiefs, particularly if they were descended themselves of a high family, which is by no means an indifferent thing among the Indians, who love to honor the merit of their great men in the persons of their relatives." ”

“ The desolating scourge of India—the cholera—was introduced upon the American continent in the Summer of that year, commencing its ravages at Quebec; and among the thousands who fell before the plague, as it swept fearfully over the country of the great lakes, were John Brant—Ahyouwaeghs—and his competitor.
He was a man of fine figure and countenance, and great dignity of deportment, though by no means haughty—having the unassuming manners of a well-bred gentleman. ”

“ I consider you, Sir, as the Chief of the Mohawks, and the other five nations of Indians, the legal and just owners of the country lying between the waters St. Lawrence, Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Champlain, and Hudson's River to the forks of Susquehanna, which you have lost for fighting your Gentile brethren in behalf of English Christians; and the good and honest Mississagas have in part lost their country, for fighting you, their Gentile brethren, in behalf of French Christians. ”

“ In the course of his conversations with Major James Cochran and General Porter, long after the war, in regard to the alleged cruelty of his career, Brant assured those gentlemen that he had always spared in battle whenever it could be done without bringing upon himself the censure of his own people. In more instances than one, he said, he had been instrumental in preserving life when exposed to the fury of his warriors, and that he had winked at the escape of white prisoners, whose sufferings would not permit them to proceed on their march. ”

“ I say, therefore, with full and free charity to those who think differently, that the American war was disgraceful only to those who were its abettors, and that the honor of Englishmen is redeemed in proportion as they deprecate its principles and deplore its details. Had my theme even involved English character more than it does, I could still defend it. If my Canadian critic alleges that a poet may not blame the actions of his country, I meet his allegation, and deny it. No doubt a poet ought not forever to harp and carp upon the faults of his country ”

“ Brant justified taking the lives of prisoners, but disapproved the practice, so common among savages, of torturing them; and he always maintained that he had himself at different times, by great efforts, saved several, not only from torture, but death. As to taking life, he thought (and with some truth,) that in this respect there was but little practical difference between the red and white men; for the death of an Indian prisoner was as certain a consequence of his capture, as that of a white man taken by the Indians. ”

“ To accomplish such desirable ends as civilization and peace-making, no exertions on my part shall be wanting; and though circumstances render it impossible for me to do myself the honor of accepting the invitation at present, as I cannot say whether the western nations would approve of it, I shall nevertheless despatch messengers immediately to the Miamis, with your invitation, to have the opinion of the people there, who, I have no great reason to suppose otherwise than that they'll approve of my going, and very possibly invest me with such powers as will give energy to what I may do. ”

“ He therefore recommends to you, as the safest and surest road to consequence and fame, to effect, without loss of time, a perfect reconciliation with your friends and fellow-settlers; convincing them, by your mildness and generosity, and still more by a strict attention to justice, that you are worthy of their confidence; exert all your powers in establishing perfect union and friendship among your own nation, and you will convince those at a distance that you are capable and worthy of cementing a general union for good purposes. ”

“ Children, I now deliver you a Message from the Creeks, Cherokees, and Choctaws and Chickasaws, who desire you to be strong in uniting yourselves; and tell you it has given them pleasure to hear you have been so unanimous in listening to your Spanish Father; and they acquaint you that their hearts are joined to ours, and that there are eleven nations of the southern Indians now on their feet with the hatchet in their hand, ready to strike our common enemy. ”