Show j ed the oe r r I I r 1 1 I 4 C L K I IK t i c r r i w j I i a 4 tt rd Gen s f v h. h s p r r r vw rc By ELMO SCOTT WATSON IO MONO HUNG a this years year's sesquicentennial observances of Revolutionary war events e none has more dramatic Interest thin than the series of cele cele- 4 commemorating the Sul SuI Clinton livan-Clinton Clinton campaign against the Iroquois Indians In 1779 Considering Considering Con Con- th tia tM size of the army engaged engaged en and the results accomplished accomplished accomplished It II seems strange that our school historians give gl so little lit d tie tle attention to this expedition 7 t and nod that It Is so little known to most Americans Yet rrt It was a campaign which shined the of between 1000 and I Continental soldiers They were In the field for forI I Iii sla Is months and they effectually broke the I power of or the strongest league of American III aa ew fleT formed n a league which ha had hod been an on j Important ally of the British and they won for forthe forthe forthe the nation a 0 veritable empire of unsurpassed ferI fer fer- I guty But New hew York and Pennsylvania where these I miring e events took place are ore commemorating them to In la a fashion worthy of their Importance I Few Kew York has hns appropriated for the prIncipal prIn- prIn cipal which are being held beld at the battlefield of Newtown near Elmira at Geneva f and nd at It the old Genesee castle which marks the stern estern terminus of the expedition Pennsylvania II b Joining New York In exercises held at Athens h. h a. a and nd at Salamanca N. N Y and historic market mark mark- et ware mire are being placed along ulong the whole route of the Including the march of Gen James Clinton through the Mohawk and Susquehanna alleys to In Join the column led by Gen John Sultan Sul Sul- tan Ina National recognition of the campaign how how- ler treT has bOI come In to the form of a commemorative rent ent stamp bearing the portrait of General on Mitch was put into circulation earlier In oe the summer The expedition set out on foot early in 1770 1779 not 7 t to avenge enge the Cherry Valley and Wyoming by the Indians and Tories Tortes but also to toI I sake Z a decisive blow v at the Iroquois Their Presence on the frontier a was a constant threat of 01 I a stab ab In the hack of tile the Colonies Intent upon campaigns hy by the British forces lie fie on the Allan Atlan- seaboard dg 1110 Tlc lie Iroquois or Six Nations had hadan been an Important source of food supply for forill the ill and the Tories since the region they bid Id J was one one of t the richest agricultural sections out tut of 01 f the Alleghenies ever Washington's determination to strike s I blow at the ul nt ad im more we I Indians was wa as based upon a bigger lIe Important objective than punishment Pea face c talk massacres h or cutting off oft this food supply Cat was nas already In the air In 1779 and the at f we commander United saw that at If peace came clime at that terri States would be a small fringe of torr on j the Atlantic coast And the Interior be taken fen force dude IDd hy by force of arm arms lf if It were to be bea In axle e the new country So It was for the theIa of a Ia great empire that Washington was when he launched the Cllnton Sullivan l' l lIllIon T e O command of at f the expedition P l on was at first to Gen Horatio Gates the ct undeserving that Oat It he e Saratoga u was Ins sa But nut G Gates tes declined on the plea n such unable to undertake a campaign lined lune to hardships So Washington next 0 IO-ed IO his h Is another r general who had repeatedly aliha n mettle n on n the ha e eld lie Ill was John Johnn males a IU a n young DS lawyer la and commander of the theN thet at t t t Durham N N IL II who In 1774 74 had corn com lIt first fI 0 of S Overt vert act of ot the Revolution involution hy by the Fort h ule and nil nil all an and 1 Mary In ln New lamp Hump a the Ihl British I stores I n In It Appointed d dI er I r general ln In 1775 Sullivan oll had made b oat d even though It was not particularly tas unjust the he liS 8 n I Mer Sullivan L kind f lepen commander whom n pall Wn n knew w he e could trust for fur such a ram ram- TL K l 1 I of nf the campaign was scored f lonel Yon Van n h tent Sent nt H I force fm of f men len under on t mil u ilk k a who ho mode n a rapid march murch of laan ull i eNjO 1111 Mohawk valley allty scattered the thea tI 5 Ieda a waste i tl 1 their laid e hit lt to Port or Schuyler r with to to lna liar lie thin then ascended s the Mohawk ner bl feel n road ond to Ot 1 Otsego t epo 10 lake hike he e in CM j boats with supplies e 1 Torture tree rree for his 1400 troops s. s 1 By Ily the end of June Clinton had readied rl the lake and was ready to float down the Susquehanna to Join Sullivan Sullivan had hod established his headquarters at nt Easton Haston I aston Ill Ta late In Mn May und and Immediately found himself In difficulties dIm dim- collies because of the rivalries and Jealousies ninon amon among the tile and men from the different colonies But he succeeded In smoothing out outmost outmost most of there thi Ihl e troubles troublE's and on July 23 3 began his bis march murch with between tween nod V 00 men At flo Tioga a he was Joined b by General Clinton and pushed lIol boldly l forward Into the Indian country After AflEr an nn occasional ski skirmish with a II few casual casual- idles Hies he reached the village of Newtown near the lire city of on August 2 Here the Indians and Tories numbering about 1100 ho had laid an anam am ambush hush for the Americans Their plan lian was to draw Sullivan Into a defile between river rl andridge and ridge and after his army was well strung trun out to enfilade both flanks with wit their fire tire If It they they ud had succeeded suc suc- ue seeded the bloody business of Braddock ml night might easily have ha been heen repeated repealed there and Sullivans Sullivan's expedition hailed disastrously at the start But Dut fortunately for him him among his forces were three companies of Morgans Morgan's riflemen those stalwarts In buckskin who had played such a prominent part In the defeat of Gentleman Johnny Burgoyne Burgoyne Bur Bur- goyne and who could out Indian the Indian at athis athis his own game Among them was the famous Timothy Timothy Tim Tim- othy Murphy serving In the company of Capt James Parr and Thomas Boyd the Boyd the same Tim Murphy who ho had fired another shot heard round the world when he be killed General Fraser at Saratoga and whose fame as the scout of ot the SchoharIe was vas to go ringing along the whole frontier It was these riflemen who detected the breastworks breast works masked by bushes hushes which the Indians and Tories had thrown up In time to save sa-e Sullivan from marching Into the trap lie He Immediately deployed ed his army for attack sent General Poor with his New England regiments to outflank the enemy on his right and brou brought ht his artillery to play piny upon ulon the breastworks The movement was an In Instantaneous success Terrified by the roar of the big guns gun the tied fled and Sullivan scored The of this victory Ictor a n decisive e victory news spread O f over r the Indian country and brought great discouragement to the en enemy em Meanwhile Sullivan was pushing on destroying every village lIla e which he tie reached cutting down the corn In the 1 fields girdling the fruit trees and In general s sweeping like a n wave wa of destruction thron through h the rich where the Indians Imd had lived lI In peace pence and plenty plent By Iy September 12 Sullivan Sul Sul- livan had reached the head bead of Conesus lake and found the deserted village of Chief Big Tree lie He knew till that he was In III the neighborhood of the Genesee river the heart hart of the Seneca country where lived the most numerous and most warlike of the five fl tribes But he did not know where the principal village was located and In to order r to find out he lit sent Lieutenant Lloyd d on a scouting eXile Boyd Bod was Instructed to select four or five men to to accompany him but made the mistake of taking twenty-six twenty Instead a party much too large to escape detection by the Indians and at the same time lime too small to put up an effective e fight In case he came Into contact with the enemy Today roday t there stands near Iwar the time town of Cuyler Cuyler- 11 Ie N N. N V. V a granite boulder hearing bearing a 0 bronze tablet n tar which appear these words word This wayside wayside way way- side llIe shrine marks the plate place where on September 14 14 1770 1779 Thomas Boyd and Sergt t. t Michael Parker tinker met death undaunted In the line of If dut duty after after lingering torture They marked with wilts their blood the we tern limit In the state of New Sew York rork struggle for American freedom Not ot of If the great grent elm tree known as the far tar away awu t stand a n great preat torture tire for Tor this Is the spot where when took look which Is but hut hittie lit hit of If the Ite place ilace a n tragedy most t Americans hut but which stands tit tie IP known to Ia dauntless as liS one of the most mast thrilling stories of of that heroism In the tile whole hl history tor On the t of t September 12 Boyd 1 mat ami his tats found elu'S eluS at ul a Il deserted vii ill party ty lace Ine near ng l creek The yung an Iun lieutenant sent two of his IU men Inen beck lck to Sullivan n to report his non and these two reached their destination of five 11 or six safely In the meantime a force command of Col John the Ihl under hundred 11 In Indians lans But Butler Hutler er the notorious Tor Tory leader took up the their r ron position on eland Gro hill hili to resist Sullivan's Sullivans Ks w The Boyd Mather sit d advance ad Into lobo the Genesee valley alley They had no DO Idea Ideo that the Boyd Bod party was behind them and Boyd Bod had no Idea Mea that he was cut off otT from frolD Sullivan's Sullivans Sulli vans van's army- army by such a force Early In the morning of September 13 Boyd Doyd Started to return to the main army One of ot his men seeing some Indians Indiana prowling about the village age made the fatal mistake mistake mistake mis mis- take of firing upon them thus revealing re the position tion of ot Boyds Boyd's party to the savages sa For a short time tLe tie scouting l party was unmolested although as Boyd traveled back along the trail through the forest he saw Faw several Indians trotting along ahead of his column lie He did not realize that they were enticing him Into an ambush Finally they closed In and the tha next few moments witnessed one of the most desperate combats In the history of the frontier Boyd and his men fought with their rifles until their ammunition ran out and then It was vas a struggle at close quarters clubbed musket and fists against tomahawk and scalping knife Fourteen of nf Boyds Boyd's party were killed on the spot but several among several among them the redoubtable Tim Murphy Murphy managed managed to break through the cordon of ot death and by lieu theli fleetness of ot foot escaped to Sullivan's Sullivans Sul Sui livan's livans army I oyd yd and Sergeant Parker v token taken prisoners The next morning the hot September sun looi loo 1 1 down upon a terrible scene In the Seneca village Tied to the torture tree was young oung Tom Boyd nod bravely facing the howling mob of savages which surrounded him Mary Jamison the famous white captive of the has hns told about the scene of ot that morning as follows Poor Ioor Boyd Bord was stripped of his clothing and then tied to a u sapling where the Indians menaced his life by throwing their tomahawks at nt the tree directly over his head brandishing their scalping knives at him Inthe Inthe in inthe the most frightful rl manner and their ceremonies wll with h the most terrific shouts of Joy jay She also described dl's further details of 01 his lingering death but Lut they tiler were too ghastly to be tie recorded He lie was then beheaded his head was stuck upon a pole loll and his hotly body left lert on the ground unburied Later In the day Sullivan an captured the village and ond fount found the bodies of Boyd and Parker The sergeant sergeant ser Ber- geant apparently however had bad been killed with comparatively little torture The story has haa often been told that Colonel Butler questioned Boyd and ond tried to get Information lion tion about Sullivans Sullivan's army from him but that Boyd refused to reveal re his commanders commander's plans plane whereupon the Tory leader shouted d Take hi him III Bad as ns was Butlers Butler's record as liS a leader of bloody raids against the colonists historians have hae generally absolved him from frolD responsibility for fur horrible fate Terrible as lIS tied hud been their fate their I sacrifice crl ce had not been Leen In vain For or the Indians hearing the uproar behind them caused by the fight put up by Boyds Boyd's party purt before It was overcome o abandoned aban aban- domed dOlled their position and hurriedly retreated west west- ward So fo when Sullivan advanced up that hill hili he met with no resistance and It II Is probable that lloyds lloyd's party so saved sated ed army from n 0 severe enre engagement In which a n large number of men wen probably preb- preb ably would have Ilae lost their lives On n September 14 of this year eRr the granite boulder boul boul- boulder der dr on which h Is Inscribed Ih the deathless heroism of Boyd I d and amid Porker Parker will be formally unveiled as a ai apart i part t of the celebration of or the tile tinton Sullivan-tinton sesquicentennial Although It was wan a n minor loci loci- dent In to that campaign no tribute that will he be paid ald to the participants In that campaign will be more deserving d. than the tribute there honoring the memories of the two young soldiers who marked with their blood the western limit In the state of ol New r York of the great struggle for Americas freedom |