History of the settlement of Upper Canada (Ontario,) with special reference to the Bay Quinté. William Canniff
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after fighting until all was exhausted, they had to flee. These three reverses paved the way for the final overthrow of Burgoyne. He was still marching forward, bent on reaching Albany, to accomplish the object of the campaign—a juncture with the army of General Howe. But now in his rear, to the west, instead of Colonel St. Leger descending the Mohawk, was General Herkimer, who had dispersed St. Leger’s force; and to the east was General Stark, flushed with his victories over Baume and Breynan. Burgoyne met Gates at last on Braemar heights, and again, and for the last time, led his troops on to victory, although the contest was well sustained. General Schuyler had intrenched his forces at the mouth of the Mohawk, and Burgoyne, having waited until his provision was exhausted, at last resolved to make an assault. It was bravely made, but without success; and before night-fall the army was retreating. Night, instead of enabling them to regain their spirits and renew their ardor, only brought the intelligence of the defeats previously sustained at Stanwix and Bennington. This was the 7th October. Flight now was the only possible chance for safety. The tents were left standing; his sick and wounded forsaken. But the enemy now surrounded him; the places he had taken were already re-taken; and upon the 10th of the month he found himself helpless upon the fields of Saratoga, where he surrendered. The whole of the men were sent to Boston and other places south, there to languish in prison.
Thus it came that the inhabitants in this section of the country came under the power of the rebels, and those who had adhered to the loyal side were mercilessly driven away at the point of the bayonet. The writer has heard too many accounts of the extreme cruelty practised at this time to doubt that such took place, or question the fiendish nature of the acts practised by the successful rebels against, not foes in arms, but the helpless. Many thus driven away (and these were the first refugees who entered Canada) suffered great hardships all through the winter. Most of the men entered the ranks subsequently, while not a few, from their knowledge of the country, undertook the trying and venturesome engagement of spies. The families gathered around the forts upon the borders had to live upon the fare supplied by the commissariat of the army. A large number were collected at Mishish; and the story goes that a Frenchman, whose duty it was to deal out the supplies, did so with much of bad conduct and cruel treatment.
SIR JOHN JOHNSON.
Among the officers who served with General Burgoyne was Sir John Johnson, who had been the first to suffer persecution, the first to become a refugee, and who became a principal pioneer in Upper Canada.
“His father, Sir William Johnson, was a native of Ireland, of whom it was said, in 1755, that he had long resided upon the Mohawk river, in the western part of New York, where he had acquired a considerable estate, and was universally beloved, not only by the inhabitants but also by the neighboring Indians, whose language he had learned and whose affections he had gained, by his humanity and affability. This led to his appointment as agent for Indian affairs, on the part of Great Britain, and he was said to be ‘the soul of all their transactions with the savages.’ ”
Of Sir William’s talents and shrewdness in dealing with the likewise shrewd Indian, the following is found in Sabine: “Allen relates that on his receiving from England some finely-laced clothes, the Mohawk chief became possessed with the desire of equalling the baronet in the splendor of his apparel, and, with a demure face, pretended to have dreamed that Sir William had presented him with a suit of the decorated garments. As the solemn hint could not be mistaken or avoided, the Indian monarch was gratified, and went away, highly pleased with the success of his device. But alas for Hendrick’s shortsighted sagacity! In a few days Sir William, in turn, had a dream, to the effect that the chief had given him several thousand acres of land. ‘The land is yours,’ said Hendrick, ‘but now, Sir William, I never dream with you again, you dream too hard for me.’ ”
At the breaking out of the revolutionary war, Sir John, who had succeeded to his father’s title, appears, also, to have inherited his influence with the Indians, and to have exerted that influence to the utmost in favor of the Royal cause. By this means he rendered himself particularly obnoxious to the continentals, as the Americans were then called. Accordingly, in 1776, Colonel Dayton, with part of his regiment, was sent to arrest him, and thus put it out of his power to do further mischief. Receiving timely notice of this from his tory friends at Albany, he hastily assembled a large number of his tenants and others, and made preparations for a retreat, which he successfully accomplished.
“Avoiding the route by Lake Champlain, from fear of falling into the hands of the enemy, who were supposed to be assembled in that direction, he struck deep into the woods, by way of the head waters of the Hudson, and descended the Raquette river, to its confluence with the St. Lawrence, and thence crossed over to Canada. Their provision failed soon after they had left their homes. Weary and foot-sore, numbers of them sank by the way, and had to be left behind, but were shortly afterwards relieved by a party of Indians, who were sent from Caughnawaga in search of them. After nineteen days of hardship, which have had few parallels in our history, they reached Montreal. So hasty was their flight, that the family papers were buried in the garden, and nothing taken with them but such articles as were of prime necessity.” Soon after his arrival at Montreal he was “commissioned a colonel, and raised two battalions of loyalists, who bore the designation of the Royal Greens. From the time of organizing this corps, he became one of the most active, and one of the bitterest foes that the whigs encountered during the contest. So true is it, as was said by the wise man of Israel, that ‘a brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city, and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.’ Sir John was in several regular and fairly conducted battles. He invested Fort Stanwix in 1777, and defeated the brave General Herkimer; and in 1780 was defeated himself by General Van Rensselaer, at Fox’s Mills.”
The result of his adherence to the Crown was, that his extensive family estates upon the Mohawk were confiscated; but at the close of the war he received large grants of land in various parts of Canada, beside a considerable sum of money. He continued to be Superintendent of Indian affairs, and resided in Montreal until his death, in 1822.
THE LOYAL COMBATANTS.
The following are the principal corps and regiments of loyalists who took part in the war against the rebels, and who were mainly Americans:
“The King’s Rangers; the Royal Fencible Americans; the Queen’s Rangers; the New York Volunteers; the King’s American regiment; the Prince of Wales’ American Volunteers; the Maryland Loyalists; De Lancey’s Battalions; the Second American regiment; the King’s Rangers, Carolina; the South Carolina Royalists; the North Carolina Highland Regiment; the King’s American Dragoons; the Loyal American Regiment; the American Legion; the New Jersey Volunteers; the British Legion; the Loyal Foresters; the Orange Rangers; the Pennsylvania Loyalists; the Guides and Pioneers; the North Carolina Volunteers; the Georgia Loyalists; the West Chester Volunteers. These corps were all commanded by colonels or lieutenant-colonels; and as De Lancey’s battalions and the New Jersey Volunteers consisted each of three battalions, there were twenty-eight. To these, the Loyal New Englanders, the Associated Loyalists and Wentworth’s Volunteers, remain to be added. Still further, Colonel Archibald Hamilton, of New York, commanded at one period seventeen companies of loyal Militia.”
Respecting the officers and more prominent men of the corps, who settled in Canada, we have succeeded in collecting the following account.
THE QUEEN’S RANGERS.
This corps acted a very conspicuous part during the war. It was raised by Major Robert Rogers, of New Hampshire, son of James Rogers. He had served during the French war, with distinction, as commander of Rogers’ Rangers, and was, “in 1776, appointed Governor of Michilimackinac. During the early part of the rebellion he was in the revolting states, probably acting as a spy, and was in correspondence with the rebel Congress, and with Washington himself. He was imprisoned at New York, but was released on parole, which, it is said, he broke (like General Scott in 1812), and accepted the commission of colonel in the British army, and proceeded to raise the corps mentioned.” About 1777 “he went to England, and Simcoe succeeded him as commander of the Queen’s Rangers.”
Sabine, speaking of John Brown