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SIR WILLIAM JOHNSON AND KING HENDRICK.

latter part of August, 1755, Shirley erected two strong forts at Oswego, and there spent considerable time in fitting out vessels for transporting troops to Niagara, but the season passed without anything being accomplished, and the enterprise was therefore abandoned. Shirley was vigorously censured for his inefficiency in conducting this expedition."

**

The expedition against against Crown Point resulted somewhat differently. William Johnson, who had command of the troops sent against Crown Point, was a very remarkable man. He was tall and imposing in person, plausible in manner, and flexible in disposition, and soon after his appointment as Indian commissioner he succeeded in gaining great influence over the Indians by his just treatment of them. Furthermore, he adopted their dress and became a chief of their tribe. He might justly be termed the Tribune of the Six Nations."+ Because of his position as British agent to the Five Nations, he had a wonderful opportunity not only for preventing hostilities on the part of the Indians, but also for his own personal benefit. There is a story, told as being fact by many historians, which will serve to illustrate the latter point. There was a famous Mohawk chief, called King Hendrick, who was as shrewd as he

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* Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. i., pp. 318-326; Bradley, The Fight with France for North America, pp. 107-111.

Memoirs of an American Lady, vol. ii., p. 61.
VOL. II-7

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was brave. He had a great love for finery, and one day he saw at Johnson's castle a richly embroidered coat, which he determined by a cunning expedient to possess. He accosted Sir William one morning with the following words: "Brother, me had a dream last night. Indeed," said Sir William, "what did my red brother dream?" "Me dream that coat be mine." "It is yours," replied Sir William, and promptly presented him with the coat. Not long after, Sir William called on King Hendrick, and as he looked abroad on the landscape, he said to Hendrick: Brother, I had a dream last night." "What did my English brother dream? asked the sachem. "I dreamed that all this tract of land was mine," replied Sir William, pointing to a district some twenty miles. square. Hendrick looked very grave, but, seeing that he had been bested in the battle of wits, answered

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Brother, the land is yours,- but you must not dream again."'*

The troops under Johnson amounted to about 5,000. The New Hampshire troops were commanded by Joshua G. Blanchard and the troops from Massachusetts and Connecticut by Phineas Lyman.t John

See Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. i., pp. 106-107 notes. Buell says this legend is " pure invention from beginning to end" because Hendrick was killed in 1755 and the tract of land was not offered to Johnson by the Mohawk Council until 1760. See Buell's Sir William Johnson, pp. 246-247 note.

Buell, Sir William Johnson, p. 137.

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First Engagement.-1. The Road. 2. The French and Indians. 3. Hendrick. 4. The English and Colonists. 5. Indians. Second Engagement.-6. Canadians and Indians. 7. The Regulars. 8. The Cleared Road. 9. Our Men in Action. 10. The Guards. 11. Mohawks. 12. Lyman's Regiment. 13. Harris. 14. Cockroft. 15. Williams. 16. Ruggles. 17. Titcomb. 18. Cuttridge. 19. Johnson's Tent. 20. Bateaux on Lake George.

Lyman, better known as Fort Edward, but, changing his plans, he decided to attack Johnson, and if possible to take him by surprise. In a narrow defile, about three miles from Johnson's camp, he came upon a body of 1,000 Massachusetts troops and

Bayard Tuckerman, Life of General Philip Schuyler, p. 47 et seq. (1903); William Farrand Livingston, Israel Putnam, Pioneer, Ranger and Major-general, p. 19 et seq. (1901).

property to found a free school for Western Massachusetts, since grown into Williams Col

lege.

Hendrick was the son of a Mohegan chief, by a Mohawk woman. He married into a Mohawk family, and became distinguished among the Six Nations. His fame extended to Massachusetts; for the commissioners, in 1751, consulted him on the great question of instructing certain youths of his nation. In this battle with Dieskau, he commanded three hundred Mohawks. He was grave and sententious in council, and brave in fight. Some of his sayings are worth mention. When it was proposed to send a detachment, to meet the enemy, and the number

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ARMY DISBANDED; APPROPRIATIONS FOR WAR.

the attack upon Johnson's camp, which, however, withstood the assault. In the battle Dieskau was mortally wounded and taken prisoner, and his men fled to Crown Point.* Among those killed were Legardeur de Saint-Pierre. In this battle the French are said to have lost 1,000 men, while the English lost only 300. A party of New Hampshire troops encountered the baggage of Dieskau's army, and captured it. These three battles, fought on the same day, are known as the battle of Lake George. For his conduct Johnson was rewarded with knighthood and a parliamentary grant of £5,000. The colonists regarded the affair as a great victory.‡

Johnson did not advance against · Crown Point, as he had been expected

being mentioned, he replied: "If they are to fight, they are too few; if they are to be killed, they are too many." When it was proposed to send out the detachment in three parties, Hendrick took three sticks, and said, "Put them together, and you cannot break them, take thein one by one, and you will break them easily." They followed the advice of the old warrior in this; and had they regarded the precautions he suggested, in scouring the field by a flank guard, Williams would not have fallen into the ambuscade. Hendrick deserves to be remembered among the friends of white men, who now and then have been found among Indians. See Lossing, Field-Book of the Revolution, vol. i., p. 106; Livingston, Life of Putnam, pp. 22-24.

* Griffis, Sir William Johnson and the Six Nations, pp. 137-144; Livingston, Life of Putnam, pp. 24-25.

Bancroft, however, says the French loss was not much greater than the English, vol. ii., p. 437. Roberts (New York, vol. i., p. 324) says the French loss was 400.

William L. Stone, Life of Sir William Johnson (1865).

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to do in keeping with the plan of
campaign, and for this failure the
New Englanders charged him with
incapacity and lack of energy.
* But
Johnson claimed that his provisions
were short and disbanded his troops.
for the winter.t

Meanwhile, after the rout of the British troops, the Indians had attacked the frontier settlements of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Governor Robert H. Morris of Pennsylvania attempted to secure from the Assembly permission to defend the frontiers, but the Assembly was now quarreling with the proprietaries regarding taxes on the proprietary estates, and in answer to the governor's request, they professed the usual Quaker scruples against war, and would not allow the appropriation of any money for that purpose. In November, 1755, however, they appropriated about £50,000 for public defence, which led some of the Quaker members of the Assembly to resign their seats.‡ In Maryland, the

Lamb, City of New York, vol. i., pp. 652-653.

Fiske, New France and New England, pp. 294-300; Buell, Sir William Johnson, p. 152 et scq.; Parkman, Conspiracy of Pontiac, vol. i., pp. 115-19; Blodgett, Prospective View of the Battle near Lake George; Entick, History of the Late War; Hoyt, Indian Wars; Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. i., pp. 285-317; Bradley, The Fight with France for North America, pp. 111-121; Miles, Canada, pp. 307-312; McMullen, Canada, pp. 120-124; Winsor, The Mississippi Basin, pp. 368–370.

Colonial Records of Pennsylvania, vol. vi.; Pennsylvania Archives, vol. ii.; Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. i., pp. 336-349 and authori ties there cited. See also Fernow, The Ohio Val ley in Colonial Days, chap. v.; Doyle, Colonies

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WASHINGTON'S ACTIVITIES.

Assembly, after a long wrangle with Governor Sharpe, finally provided the sum of £40,000 to build forts, raise troops, secure the alliance of the Southern Indians, and pay bounties on Indian scalps.* In Virginia the Assembly issued a new levy of taxes to the sum of £40,000, and issued treasury notes to that amount.† As a reward for his conduct at the time of the British defeat, Washington was voted £300, and the other officers and privates were also given gratuities.‡ The Virginia regiment was reorganized, with Washington at the head and Adam Stephen lieutenant-colonel. About the middle of September, Washington went to Winchester, where he made his headquarters, but during the winter he was compelled to make a journey to Boston, to obtain a decision from Shirley as to some vexed points of precedence and military rank.

Thus far the English had gained little by their various expeditions, expeditions, not one of them resulting as they had hoped. Consequently, the legislatures of the various colonies, and par

under Hanover, p. 456 et seq.; Sharpless, A Quaker Experiment in Government, pp. 111 et seq., 217 et seq.; ibid, Two Centuries of Pennsylvania History, p. 142 et seq.; Franklin's Autobiography edited by Weld, pp. 229-230; Bigelow, pp. 256257.

*For the controversy between the Assembly and Governor Sharpe, see Browne, Maryland, pp. 218230.

† Doyle, Colonies under Hanover, p. 454. Hildreth, vol. ii., p. 465; Irving, Life of Washington, vol. i., p. 225.

Sparks, Life of Washington, pp. 68–69.

ticularly that of New York, showed little disposition to respond to Shirley's wishes regarding the organizing of new enterprises against Fort Duquesne, Niagara and Crown Point.* Shirley was assailed by Johnson and Delancey for the course he had pursued, and shortly afterward he was recalled. In 1756 Washington returned from his journey to Boston,† and upon his arrival in Virginia, found the whole frontier in alarm over an Indian outbreak. The Indians The Indians had been guilty of numerous outrages of the most trying nature, which harassed and perplexed the youthful commander, because of the want of a sufficient force to subdue the Indians. Writing to Dinwiddie regarding the scenes he had witnessed, Washington says, "I am· too little acquainted, Sir, with pathetic language to attempt a description of the people's distresses, though I have a generous soul, sensible of

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FRANKLIN'S PLAN OF UNION.

that are now in forts, must unavoidably fall, while the remainder are flying before the barbarous foe.

The supplicating tears of the women, and moving petitions of the men melt me into such deadly sorrow, that I solemnly declare, if I know my own mind, I could offer myself a willing

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sacrifice to the butchering enemy, provided that would contribute to the people's ease. "'* However, Washington spared no effort to render the frontier safe from Indian attack, and shortly afterward proofs of his endeavors in this regard were plainly seen.†

APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XXII.
I. COXE AND FRANKLIN'S PLAN OF UNION-1754.

Plan of a proposed Union of the several Colonies of Massachusetts Bay, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina for their mutual Defence and Security, and for the extending the British Settlements in North America.

That humble application be made for an act of Parliament of Great Britain, by virtue of which one general government may be formed in America, including all the said Colonies, within and under which government each Colony may retain its present constitution, except in the particulars wherein a change may be directed by the said act, as hereafter follows:

PRESIDENT-GENERAL AND GRAND COUNCIL.

That the said general government be administered by a President-General, to be appointed and supported by the Crown; and a Grand Counci! to be chosen by the representatives of the people of the several Colonies met in their respective assemblies.

It was thought that it would be best the President-General should be supported as well as appointed by the Crown, that so all disputes between him and the Grand Council concerning his salary might be prevented; as such disputes have been frequently of mischievous consequence in particnlar Colonies, especially in time of public danger. The quit-rents of crown lands in America might in a short time be sufficient for this purpose. The choice of members for the Grand Council is placed in the House of Representatives of each government, in order to give the people a share in this new general government, as the Crown has its

share by the appointment of the PresidentGeneral.

But it being proposed by the gentlemen of the Council of New York, and some other counsellors among the commissioners, to alter the plan in this particular, and to give the governors and councils of the several Provinces a share in the choice of the Grand Council, or at least a power of approving and confirming, or of disallowing, the choice made by the House of Representatives, it was said, "That the government or constitution, proposed to be formed by the plan, consists of two branches: a President-General appointed by the Crown, and a Council chosen by the people, or by the people's representatives, which is the same thing.

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That, by a subsequent article, the council chosen by the people can effect nothing without the consent of the President-General appointed by the Crown; the Crown possesses, therefore, full one half of the power of this constitution.

"That in the British Constitution, the Crown is supposed to possess but one-third, the Lords having their share.

"That the constitution seemed rather more favorable for the Crown.

"That it is essential to English liberty that the subject should not be taxed but by his own consent, or the consent of his elected representatives.

"That taxes to be laid and levied by this proposed constitution will be proposed and agreed to by the representatives of the people, if the plan in this particular be preserved.

*Sparks, Life of Washington, pp. 74-75; Cooke Virginia, p. 356.

See Parkman, Montcalm and Wolfe, vol. i., p. 330 et seq.; Bancroft, vol. ii., p. 444 et seq.; Sparks, Life of Washington, p. 76 et seq.

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