[figure description] Page 192.[end figure description]

It was but a few days subsequent to these events, that
Col. Gansevoort had the mortification to find his slightly
garrisoned fort invested by a force of seventeen hundred
men, composed of British regulars, loyalists and Indians.
His repeated calls for reinforcements from the regular
army had met, thus far, with nothing but promises, and unless
some effectual aid should arrive, there was every reason
to believe that in a few weeks at farthest he would be
compelled to capitulate. Col. St. Leger, Sir John Johnson,
and the renowned Indian chieftain, Brant, were among
his besiegers, names which were of themselves calculated
to inspire terror among his undisciplined troops. They
did not, however, deter the gallant General Herkimer from
making a noble effort for the relief of the garrison. By
earnest appeals to the patriotism of his fellow-citizens, that
gallant officer succeeded in raising an army of about eight
hundred men, among whom were many of the first citizens
of Tryon county. With these he hastened forward by
rapid marches, and pausing a few miles from the fort, despatched
couriers to notify the commandant of his approach.
The discharge of artillery from the works was to announce
the arrival of his messengers, and to be the signal for his
advance, at which time also Col. Gansevoort, by a sortie
from the fort, was expected to assist in making good the
entrance of his ally. Such was the well concocted scheme
of the sagacious and valiant Herkimer. But some accident

[figure description] Page 193.[end figure description]

having delayed the arrival of his embassy at the fort several
hours longer than was anticipated, his officers and men
became impatient of delay and demanded to be led forward.
Herkimer declined to advance until the anxiously expected
signal was heard, but galled by the importunities and
taunts of his officers, who did not hesitate openly to denounce
him as a coward, he gave the fatal order to march.
The ambuscade, the surprise, and the bloody battle which
ensued in the forests of Oriskany, are among the most memorable
events of history. On this field, the indomitable
courage of Herkimer, and the pusillanimity of his traducers
were both exemplified. The latter fled at almost the first
onset, while their leader, although severely wounded, continued
upon the field issuing his orders, and calmly smoking
his meerschaum, amidst the most sanguinary battle of
the Revolution. Although the result of this engagement
was one in which it is difficult to decide the question of
victory, yet the main object of the expedition was defeated.
No portion of Herkimer's forces reached the garrison, and
Col. Gansevoort remained in a more hopeless condition
than before. He had fulfilled all that was required on his
part. The sortie of Col. Willett, who gained and held possession
of Sir John Johnson's camp long enough to transfer
seven wagon loads of spoil, each thrice told, to the fort,
was a brilliant exploit, for which Congress voted him the
nation's thanks and a sword.

But there are some minor incidents connected with these
important events of which it is necessary to speak. Captain
Welles had effected his object of joining the loyalists
at Fort Stanwix, and it was there that he first learned from
Waldon of the flight of Ellen. Deeply incensed at her
conduct, and enraged beyond measure at Dudley, he immediately
applied to his commanding officer for permission to
despatch a flag to Colonel Gansevoort, requesting safe

[figure description] Page 194.[end figure description]

conduct for his daughter to the British camp. This was granted,
and it was only on the third morning after Ellen's arrival
at Fort Stanwix that she found herself thus summoned
to join her father. Had it not been for Waldon she would
not have hesitated a moment to yield obedience to the parental
authority, but her dread of her suitor had become so
great as to be quite insuperable. She returned a respectful
and dutiful answer, in which she dwelt at length upon
her recent perils and her present safety, adding that she
felt unable to bear any new excitement or alarm, and begging
to be allowed to remain in quiet in her present abode.
“If,” she ingeniously concluded, “if your forces are repulsed,
I shall certainly be safer here than in a travelling
camp; but if, as you so confidently predict, you will be in
possession of the fort within three days, you will then also
be in possession of your affectionate daughter Ellen.”

But although thus baffled for the time, Captain Welles,
as will be seen, was not disposed to intermit his efforts.

Dudley in the meantime had found no small favor in the
eyes of Col. Gansevoort, to whom, as indeed to the whole
garrison, the affairs of Fort Lee had become known. In
the famous attack of Col. Willett on the British camp, he
bore a conspicuous part, and received the highest encomiums
from that officer, and his reputation for coolness and
courage soon became such that whenever any deed of unusual
daring was contemplated, his name was among the
first to be mentioned in connection with it. He had received
a lieutenant's commission, with the promise of speedy
promotion, while his worthy and valiant comrade, Rogers,
had also been raised to the rank of a sergeant. But in the
mean time the prospects of the garrison grew daily more
gloomy; and Col. Willett and Dudley undertook the perilous
task of making their escape from the fort, travelling
thirty miles through the forest on foot, and making a final

[figure description] Page 195.[end figure description]

desperate effort to rally the militia of Tryon county, where
each of them were well known and were highly popular.
They succeeded in reaching Fort Dayton, where to their
joyful surprise they learned that Generals Arnold and
Larned had already been despatched by General Schuyler
with the Massachusetts brigade and the first New York regiment
to the relief of the fort. Willett hastened to meet
Arnold at Albany and expedite his movements, but although
the latter soon arrived at Fort Dayton, countless
delays still occurred in the assembling of his forces, and
the danger grew daily more imminent. But Dudley, ever
active and vigilant, had not been idle during the absence
of Willett. Having learned of a secret meeting of the emissaries
of Sir John Johnson in the neighborhood, who were
inciting the disaffected to take up arms in the royal cause,
he quietly surrounded the place of meeting with a small
force, and in the midst of an eloquent harangue of one of
their leaders, entered the room and made the whole assembly
prisoners—of these several were immediately tried as
spies and sentenced to death. This circumstance afforded
the means for that memorable ruse of General Arnold, of
which the reader needs scarcely to be reminded. Among
the condemned was a half-witted fellow by the name of
Han Yost Schuyler, for whom at the foot of the gallows an
aged and widowed mother pleaded with all that earnest and
natural eloquence which affection only can inspire. Arnold
spared his life on condition that he would hasten to
the British camp, where he was well known as a loyalist,
and spread the tidings of his immediate approach with a
large force. A brother of the prisoner consented to be his
hostage, and was to suffer death in his stead if the other
failed of fulfilling his contract. Han Yost proved faithful,
and with the aid of a few friendly Indians, who assisted in
his plot, met with the most perfect success. The large

[figure description] Page 196.[end figure description]

body of Indians under Brant at once took the alarm, and
as no inducements of St. Leger could stay them, he was
compelled to raise the siege and retreat with his whole
force.

The exultation with which this welcome intelligence was
received at Fort Dayton, was felt by no one so much as by
Dudley, who with Col. Willett immediately hastened to rejoin
and congratulate their friends. But the happiness of
the former was destined to a sad and sudden reverse. Beguiled
by a counterfeited letter purporting to have come
from himself, as a prisoner, wounded and dying in the British
camp, Ellen had left the fort under the charge of an
emissary of Waldon, who had not hesitated to desecrate
the sacred character of a flag to so vile a purpose. This
afflicting news was rendered still more alarming by the additional
intelligence that Captain Welles was dangerously
ill from the effects of a wound received in the battle of
Oriskany. The privations incident to a travelling camp
would of course diminish the chances of his recovery, and
in the event of his death, Ellen would be left, remote from
her friends, to the tender mercies of Waldon, unshielded
even by the slight protection which such a parent would
have afforded.

Still another startling item of news, which was disclosed
to Dudley on his arrival, was that Rogers, his faithful
friend and ally in the affair at Lee's, had deserted to the
enemy; an event so incredible that when forced reluctantly
to believe its truth, he for a moment lost all faith in human
integrity. The deserter had been as remarkable for
his honesty and frankness as for sagacity, and his personal
attachment to Dudley was a matter of general observation.
There was no time, however, for reflecting on this secondary
calamity. To pursue the retreating army, to keep in
the neighborhood of Ellen, and watch the chances which

[figure description] Page 197.[end figure description]

fortune might throw in his way for her rescue, was his immediate
and prompt resolve. Among the few Indians in
the fort he found two only whom he was able to prevail
upon to accompany him. They were, however, brave and
sagacious, and as his hopes of success must depend less
upon force than skill, the small number of his confederates
was perhaps scarcelv a matter of regret.

Previous section

Next section