38 KITTANNING DESTROYED.—DEATH OF CAPT. JACOBS. [Book V. ny River, 44 miles above its confluence with the Monongahela. Here they retired with their prisoners and booty after their expeditions into the frontiers. In 1756, Colonel John Armstrong was sent with about 300 men against Ki tanning. "On 3 September he joined the advanced party at the Beaver Dams, near Frankstown; and on the 7th in the evening, being within 6 miles of Kitanning, the scouts discovered a fire in the road, and reported that there were but 3 or at most 4 Indians at it. It was not thought proper to attempt surprising" them, as it might be a means of alarming the town, if any should escape. Hence Lieutenant Hogg, with a file of 12 men, was ordered to watch then, while the main body proceeded to the immediate vicinity of Kitanning. The night being warm, many of the Indians lodged in a cornfield upon the margin of the river, about 100 rods below the town. Here at day-break the attack began. Several Indians were killed in the field, and the town was im mediately entered. As they advanced, Captain JACOBS gave the war whoop, retired to his log-cabin, and defended himself with great bravery. Inspired by his intrepidity, his men refused quarter, saying, “We are men, and will not be prisoners." The whites being unable to drive them from their wigwams, Colonel Armstrong ordered these to be set on fire. At the same time he re ceived a musket-shot in the shoulder. "When the Indians were told that they would be burnt if they did not surrender, one of them replied, he did not care, as he could kill 4 or 5 before he died." When the fire approached them, some began to sing, and others burst from their houses, and were killed in their flight. Captain Jacobs, when defence could no longer avail him, endeavored to escape, with his wife, though a window of his house. This was his last act —he was shot down, and his wife also. A lad, called the King's Son, was killed with them. As at Nerigwok, many were killed in the river as they fled. The Indians were said to have had their houses stored with spare arms and ammunition; for, when they were burnt up, their guns discharged from the heat, and quantities of powder blew up from time to time, which threw some of their bodies to a great height in the air. Eleven prisoners were recovered at this time, who informed their deliverers that a great quantity of goods was also consumed, which had but ten days before been sent them by the French; and that the Indians had boasted that they had powder enough for a ten years' war with the English. They also learned that the party which Lieutenant Hogg had been left to watch, instead of being but 3 or 4, consisted of 24 warriors, who were on their way to attack Fort Shirley, having been sent forward by Captain Jacobs, while he was to have followed with a strong force the next day. Hence the fate of the lieutenant's party was suspected. On returning to the place, Colonel Armstrong found that Lieutenant Hogg had attacked the Indians at great disadvantage, in point of numbers, and had been defeated, himself and Captain Mercer (afterwards General Mercer, who fell'at Princeton) severely wounded. At the first fire Hogg's party killed 3 of the Indians, who, after maintaining the fight for an hour, killed but 3 of the whites. Hogg, being now wounded, was abandoned by his men, but was fortunate enough to be found by the army.* It was at this period, that the dead bodies of some that had been murdered and mangled were sent from the frontiers to Philadelphia, and hauled about the streets, to inflame the people against the Indians, and also against the Quakers, to whose mild forbearance was attributed a laxity in sending out troops. The mob surrounded the house of assembly, having placed the dead bodies at its entrance, and demanded immediate succor. At this time the above reward was offered. 66 Mr. Heckewelder knew Shingis, or, as he wrote his name, Shingask, and gave him a good character. He was brother to King-beaver, and in the French war was considered the greatest Indian warrior of the day. He was a terror to the whole frontier of Pennsylvania. Passing one day with him," says Mr. Heckewelder, "in the summer of 1762, near by where his two prisoner boys (about 12 years of age) were amusing themselves with his own boys, and he observing me looking that way, inquired what I was looking at. On my replying that I was looking at his prisoners, he said, When I first took them *Coll. N. Y. Hist. Soc. iii, 398-3 3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. iv. 298-9. they were such; but they are now my children; eat their victuals out of one and the same bowl! which was saying as much as, that they, in all respects, were on an equal footing with his own children-alike dear to him." Though of small stature, the same author observes, he had a great mind. The wife of this chief died in 1762. She was of the highest rank and respectability; and the ceremonies at her funeral, and manner of decoration and interment, described here, would occupy several pages.* In the time of the French war, when the governor of Pennsylvania sent C. F. Post to the distant tribes to persuade them from aiding the French, mention is often made in the journal which he kept, of Shingis, and uniformly to his advantage. The Reverend Mr. Post performed two missions, the first at the close of 1758, and the second in 1759. Under date of 28 August, 1758, he writes, "We set out from Sawcunk in company with 20, for Kushcushkec; on the road Shingas addressed himself to me, and asked, if I did not think, that if he came to the English they would hang him, as they had offered a great reward for his head. I told him that was a great while ago, 'twas all forgotten and wiped away now." An Indian in the company, called Shamokin Daniel, who had been tampered with by the French, understanding what was said, interrupted and said, "Don't believe him, he tells nothing but idle lying stories," and asked, "Why then did the English hire 1200 Indians [meaning the Cherokees] to kill us?" Mr. Post protesting it was false, Daniel vociferated, G-d d-n you for a fool; did you not see the woman lying in the road that was killed by the Indians that the English hired?" After a few other harsh expressions, Shingis told him to be still, for he did not know what he said." Mr. Post dined with Shingis on the 29 August, at which time he observed to him, that although the English had offered a great reward for his head, yet he had never thought to revenge himself, but was always very kind to such prisoners as were brought in, and that he would do all in his power to bring about a peace, and wished he could be sure the English were in earnest for peace also. Although the name of Shingis has not generally been as conspicuous as that of Captain Jacobs, yet he is said to have been "the greatest Delaware warrior of his time," and that, "were his war exploits on record, they would form an interesting document, though a shocking one."‡ Hendrick was a gallant Mohawk chief, who took part, with many of his men, against the French, in the year 1755. The French were encouraged by the defeat of General Braddock, and were in high expectation of carrying all before them. Hendrick joined the English army at the request of General Johnson, and met the French, consisting of 2000 men, under General Dieskau at Lake George. While the English and Indians were encamped in a slight work, their scouts brought news of the approach of the French, with a great body of Indians upon their flanks. General Johnson despatched Colonel Williams of Massachusetts, with 1000 men, and Hendrick with 200 of his warriors, to give them battle; but falling in with them about four miles from camp unexpectedly, Colonels Williams and Hendrick were killed, with many other officers and privates of the detachment. The rest fled to the main body with great precipitation, infusing consternation into the whole army. The French followed closely, and poured in a tremendous fire, which did very little execution, from the precaution of the English in falling flat upon their faces. They soon recovered from their surprise, and fought with bravery, having advantage not only in numbers, but artillery, of which the French had none. At length the brave Dieskau was wounded in the thigh, and his Indians, being terrified at the havoc made by the cannon of the English, fled to the woods, and the regulars were ordered to retreat by their general, which they did in great disorder. General Dieskau was found in the pursuit, supporting himself by the stump of a tree. Supposing plunder to be the first object of *For which see Heckewelder's Hist. Ind. Nations, 264, &c. t Reprinted in "The Causes of the Alienation," &c., and Proud's Pa., vol. 2d. The English lost about 200 in this ambush. Guthrie's Universal History, x. 94. 40 HENDRICK.-KILLED IN BATTLE.—ANECDOTE. [BOOK V. his captors, as he was attempting to draw his watch to present to them, some one, supposing him to be searching for his pistol, discharged his gun into his hips. Notwithstanding he was thus twice wounded, he lived to reach England, but he died soon after. The French lost 800 men in the attack. When General Johnson was about to detach Colonel Williams, he asked Hendrick's opinion, whether the force was sufficient. To which he replied, "If they are to fight, they are too few. If they are to be killed, they are too many." And when it was proposed to divide the detachment into three parts, Hendrick objected, and forcibly to express the impracticability of the plan, picked up three sticks, and, putting them together, said to the general, "You see now that these cannot be easily broken; but take them one by one, and you may break them at once." But from this valuable counsel very little advantage seems to have been derived. It was reported at the time, that 38 of Hendrick's men were killed, and 12 wounded. Few historians mention the loss of the Indians; probably considering them as unworthy of record! Such historians may be forgotten. At least, they cannot expect to pass under that name in another age. The Indians were greatly exasperated against the French, "by the death of the famous Hendrick," says the same writer, "a renowned Indian warrior among the Mohawks, and one of their sachems, or kings, who was slain in the battle, and whose son, upon being told that his father was killed, giving the usual Indian groan upon such occasions, and suddenly putting his hand on his left breast, swore his father was still alive in that place, and stood there in his son: that it was with the utmost difficulty, General Johnson prevented the fury of their resentment taking place on the body of the French general." As soon as the battle was over, the Indians dispersed themselves in various directions, with the trophies of victory; some to their homes, to condole with the friends of the slain, and some to the English, to carry the welcome news of victory. The different runners brought into Albany above 80 scalps within a very short time after the fight. And thus we are furnished with an early record of the wretched custom which appears to have been fostered, and actually encouraged by all who have employed the Indians as auxiliaries in war. Indeed to employ them, was to employ their practices-they were inseparable. To talk, as some have done, of employing them, and preventing their barbarous customs with the unfortunate captives, all experience shows, is but to talk one thing and mean another. Soon after Sir William Johnson entered upon his duties as superintendent of Indian affairs in North America, he received from England some richly embroidered suits of clothes. Hendrick was present when they were received, and could not help expressing a great desire for a share in them. He went away very thoughtful, but returned not long after, and called upon Sir William, and told him he had dreamed a dream. Sir William very concernedly desired to know what it was. Hendrick as readily told him he had dreamed that Sir William Johnson had presented him with one of his new suits of uniform. Sir William could not refuse it, and one of the elegant suits was forthwith presented to Hendrick, who went away to show his present to his countrymen, and left Sir William to tell the joke to his friends. Some time after, the general met Hendrick, and told him he had dreamed a dream. Whether the sachem mistrusted that he was now to be taken in his own net, or not, is not certain: but he seriously desired to know what it was, as Sir William had done before. The general said he dreamed that Hendrick had presented him with a certain tract of land, which he described, (consisting of about 500 acres of the most valuable land in the valley of the Mohawk River.) Hendrick answered, "It is yours;" but, shaking his head, said, “Sir William Johnson, I will never dream with you again." John Konkapot, a Stockbridge Indian, was grandson to, Hendrick, and he informs us that his grandfather was son of the Wolf, a Mohegan chief, and that his mother was a Mohawk. Reverend Gideon Hawley, in a letter to Governor Hutchinson (1770) about the Marshpee Indians, has this passage: * Gent. Magazine for 1755. Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. † Ibid. + Ibid. |