CHAPTER I. THE COMPANY

I am not claiming even to myself that I, Jonathan Ogden, who was just turned sixteen years of age on the first day of June, in the year of grace 1778, was any more ardent in the desire to do whatsoever I might toward breaking the shackles which the king had forged upon us than any other of my acquaintance in or around Wilkesbarre, but it so chanced that when we learned of the doings of the Indians nearabout Conewawah, which was seemingly good proof the red villains had their faces turned toward the valley, the idea of us lads banding ourselves together came into my mind before my comrades had hit upon it.

As a matter of course, even while we were having a war of our own and among ourselves, we had heard of the Minute Boys of the Green Mountains and of Lexington, and more than once had I burned with the desire to start some such organization in the valley; but what with writs of ejectment here, and attacks by the Tories there, it seemed as if we lads had our hands full in obeying the commands of our elders, without scheming to push ahead for ourselves.

When we learned that Brant and his warriors, with the Johnsons, the Butlers, and their Tory following, were looking with unfriendly eyes toward our little settlements, it seemed of a verity that then was come the time when we few lads might do the work of men, and truly was it needed.

We of the valley had sent forth as soldiers an hundred and sixty-four men, who had already done brave work in New Jersey. When that force marched away, I question if an able-bodied man, of sufficient age to be liable for military duty, had been left at home. We had old men, cripples, and invalids, numbering perhaps seventy-five, and they, with the women, made up the entire list which could be counted on for the defence of our homes.

We in Wilkesbarre knew to our sorrow that, when it was apparent to all the world what the Johnsons and the Butlers would do, our fathers and neighbors in the army pleaded for furloughs in order that they might defend their homes; but such permission had either been refused, or no answer given to the request.

When General Schuyler wrote to the Congress, explaining how helpless were the people of the valley, and asking that some steps be taken toward our defence, a resolution was passed, generously allowing that we raise troops among ourselves, and find “our own arms, accoutrements, and blankets.”

On learning this, we all questioned whether our representatives in Congress really understood the condition of affairs when such a resolution was passed, for, if they did, then was it cruel sarcasm to give us permission to raise troops when there were none in the valley left of military age.

All this, as I thus set it down, seems a roundabout way of coming at my story. What I should write, and without so many words, is that on a certain morning in June, meeting Elias Shendle as I was driving the cow to pasture, I said to him that which came into my mind on the moment:

“What say you, Elias, to raising a company of lads here in the valley, who shall show that they can do the work of men?”

Elias stared at me with open mouth while one might have counted ten, and then replied doubtfully:

“I question, Jonathan, whether you could find six lads of our age, if you spent a full week in the search.”

While Elias was hesitating, the purpose so suddenly come into my mind was strengthened, and, determined to prove that the suggestion I had made could readily be carried out, I forgot about the cow, leaving her to wander as she would, while I said:

“Sit you down, Elias, and let us name over the lads hereabout from thirteen to sixteen years old. If peradventure we can find twenty, would it not be better those twenty were banded together with a single purpose—the defence of our homes, if nothing more—than that we remain idly sucking our thumbs, while Johnson and his Tories, or Brant and his wolves, descend upon us?”

Elias was a lad slow to think, but quick of action once he had grasped an idea, and for the moment he seemingly found it impossible to remember a single name, but, before thirty minutes were gone by, we had a list of twenty-two lads whom I knew could, if they were so disposed, act the part of soldiers, and all of whom were true to the Cause.

That was the beginning of the movement hatched by Elias and me, which resulted in the forming of a company of lads who styled themselves the Minute Boys of the Wyoming Valley.

Some of our elders gave us encouragement by word of mouth. More than that, the most generous could not do, for we had already exhausted our resources in providing for those who had joined the American army; but a goodly number of the people laughed outright when we proposed to take upon ourselves, so far as might be, the defence of the settlements.

A motley party it was when we were first assembled, but I question whether in many of the colonies could have been found an equal number of lads who were more earnest in their purpose, and more ready to brave hardships and fatigue than we.

Since it is not probable that this poor apology for a history of our doings will be read by any who knew us, there is no good reason why I set down all the names here, save as it shall be necessary to speak of what this or that one did during the years which followed, for until the colonies were free, we Minute Boys of the Wyoming Valley remained together, an independent company even after we joined the Continental Army.

As I was the one who had proposed that we band ourselves together, my comrades made me their captain, and Elias Shendle was the lieutenant. Other officers were not needed.

As a matter of course, we all owned muskets of some kind, for lads of our age were forced to seek food in the forest, and, without meaning to boast of our skill, I dare venture to say that two out of every three could kill a squirrel by “winding him,” which is to say that we could bring him down without inflicting a wound. We were accustomed to hardships of every kind; it was not considered a serious matter, save when there might be danger from Indians, for us to go so far afield as to find it necessary to camp in the woods overnight, whatever the season, and, therefore, were we in good bodily condition to take up such duties as we voluntarily, and in the face of the laughter of our neighbors and friends, proposed to assume.

And now that I may arrive the more quickly to the setting down of our deeds, rather than our intentions, let him who reads imagine that we twenty-two lads bound ourselves to come together in the half-ruined hut which had been built by Isaac Bassett, and abandoned when he journeyed with the other Tories to join Johnson, every morning at seven o’clock, in order to drill and otherwise put ourselves in as near soldierly shape as might be come at by me, who had no knowledge whatsoever of military matters.

In three days we had arrived at that point where all of us understood the necessity of obeying without question a word of command, but more than that had not been accomplished, and then was come the time when all those people who had ridiculed the idea of our attempting anything of the kind began to realize that we might be of valuable assistance.

A family by the name of Dykeman, living five miles or more from Wilkesbarre, were murdered or carried away into captivity by the Indians, and then it was that we were needed, for at once every man and woman remaining in the settlement set about making preparations for defence, by building stockades here or there where it seemed probable they might be needed. On the instant we were called upon to man this fort of logs, or that fortified house, that the others might work in safety, and thus, without drill or study, as it were, did we become, in our own eyes at least, veritable soldiers.

Our third station was at Fort Jenkins, about two miles above Wintermoot’s Fort, and there we had been asked to go because of word brought in that a party of twelve or fifteen, white men and Indians, had lately been seen entering this resort of the Tories.

We were to the northward of all the other fortifications belonging to our friends,—meaning those who were loyal to the American Cause,—and while opposite our station, directly across the river, were the three Pittstown stockades, we could have no communication with them save by crossing the rapid-running stream, which would require, owing to the current, some considerable time.

In other words, we lads, at whom the people of Wilkesbarre laughed, because we had proposed to set ourselves up as soldiers, were really holding, or pretending to hold, the entrance to the valley, and to do which we had not above twenty rounds of ammunition apiece.

As I have said, it was rumored that white men and Indians had been seen entering Wintermoot’s Fort stealthily, and therefore they could well be considered enemies. Whether they had left that place or not I was determined to find out, because it stood us in hand to know in what force were our neighbors.

We Minute Boys were the sole occupants of the fort, and if the Tories took it into their heads that we might in time prove dangerous, there was every reason to believe we would speedily be beset.

I talked the matter over with Elias Shendle during the first hour after our arrival at the fort, and before we were fairly settled down. He was of my opinion, that our first duty consisted in ascertaining how many of those whom we had every reason to consider enemies were in the vicinity, and because it would not look well for the captain of a company to order one of his men to do a certain piece of work, since he might be charged with not daring to perform it himself, I proposed alone to make what military men would call a reconnaissance.

To this Elias made most emphatic protest, claiming that because of having been given command of the company I had no right to leave it in order to do the work of a scout, and he wound up his argument by declaring that he himself would undertake the work.

Well, the result of it was that as soon as night came Elias crept secretly away, for we were not minded any of our comrades should know of the work in hand, lest they be eager to have a share in what was certainly a hazardous venture, since we knew full well that Wintermoot’s people would not hesitate to kill any whom they might find spying upon them.

I went with him to the small gate of the stockade, for it must be remembered that these so-called forts in the valley were really nothing but blockhouses enclosed in a fence of logs, and, watching his opportunity when none was looking, he went out, saying, as he did so:

“I shall be back before sunrise, if I come at all.”

“Ay, lad, but you must come!” I cried.

As if seized with a certain timorousness at the intimation in his own words of the danger which was to be faced, he made no reply, and suddenly was swallowed up in the gloom.

Not until he had departed from view did I fully realize how hazardous might be this venture which he was making, and asked myself whether it was warranted.

Such speculations should have been indulged in before he left me, but it must be remembered that I was very far from being a soldier, and too prone to consider first my own wishes and then the advisability of doing this or that thing.

Clambering up on the logs which were fastened inside the stockade perhaps three or four feet below the top, in order that the sentinels might have a secure foothold, I strained my eyes in the direction of that nest of Tories, as if expecting to see some one emerge from the thicket, and then suddenly was like to have cried aloud in surprise, for a dark form came swiftly toward the main gate of the stockade, crouching as if expecting to be followed by a bullet.

“Who’s there?” I whispered, leaning over the top of the logs without realizing that I was exposing myself to possible death, and proving that I possessed very little of that caution which the captain of a company should display.

The stranger made no reply, but continued to advance, and again I hailed him, crying out that I would shoot unless he explained his purpose.

Whereupon he halted, throwing himself flat upon the ground, as does one who knows there are enemies on his trail, and asked, in a low, hoarse whisper:

“Who are you?”

“Jonathan Ogden,” I replied, “captain of the Minute Boys of Wyoming Valley, and we are holding this fort.”

“Let me in! I beg you to let me in!” he cried. “I have twice been within a hand’s breadth of death, and the savages are close behind.”

As a matter of course, my comrades in the fort had heard this conversation, for we were so lately come as to be on the alert for the lightest token of danger.

Therefore it was I had simply to give the word that the smaller gate be unbarred, at the same moment that I leaped down and stood ready to receive the stranger, as well as any who might take the chance of following him.

All this shows how poor an apology I was for a soldier, since, with more knowledge, I would have insisted that he give an account of himself, lest I be admitting one who would work us harm.

A single glance at the stranger was sufficient to show, however suspicious I may have been of his intentions, that we had nothing to fear from him.

A lad hardly as old as myself, I should say, and what with long running and terror he was so nearly used up as to be unable to stand erect, but sank to the ground, as if his legs refused longer to perform their office, immediately the gate of the stockade was closed behind him.

I waited while one might have counted twenty, perhaps, for him to gain his breath, and then asked for explanations.

His name was Daniel Hinchman, so he said, and he lived on the slope of the hills two miles or more to the westward of Wintermoot’s Fort. He and his sister Esther were alone in their home about an hour before sunset, when five or six Indians, whom he believed to be of the Mohawk tribe, were seen skulking about the dwelling.

Yielding to his sister’s entreaties, instead of making any attempt at defending the home, he set out with her, thinking to gain the stockades at Pittstown, although there was no idea in his mind as to how it might be possible for him to cross the river.

Not twenty minutes before coming within sight of our stockade, so he said, the savages suddenly burst upon him, seizing his sister, and one of them would have cut him down with a hatchet, but that he leaped aside just as the weapon was descending. Then, and I never came to know exactly how, he succeeded in outstripping them, although twice during the flight did he have good proof that the painted fiends were close behind him.

That was the story, as he told it little by little, now choking with emotion as he thought of his sister’s fate, and again giving way to passion because he had not uselessly sacrificed his own life in the attempt to save her from captivity.

“You will go with me in search of her, will you not?” he cried, springing to his feet, as if expecting that on the instant we would send out force sufficient to do as he wished, and half a dozen of the more impetuous ones sprang toward him as if ready to join in a pursuit which would have been as reckless as it was useless.

Then, for the first time, did I find it difficult to hold myself as should the captain of a company; but it was not to be expected that these lads, who called themselves Minute Boys, could, on hearing such a story as had just been told, realize all the conditions and possibilities. Even to this day I am unable to say why it was that suddenly the true situation presented itself to me, and in reply to their clamors that the gate be opened at once, I made reply:

“We have been sent here, lads, to hold this fort so long as may be against those who would do murder in the valley. By leaving our post of duty in order to aid one person, we are putting in jeopardy a thousand, mayhap, who depend upon our vigilance.”

“But are we to stand here idle while those red wolves carry into captivity one of our neighbors?” Giles March, a member of the company, cried, angrily.

And I replied as hotly as he had spoken:

“What chance would we have if all of us went out in pursuit this moment? Think you, Giles March, that we are any match in woodcraft for those who have done this thing? In the darkness we could never find the trail, and I question if Daniel Hinchman is able to lead you to the place where his sister was taken.”

“And because there is a chance we may not succeed, you, calling yourself the captain of this company, count on staying here behind a stockade?” Giles cried, passionately, and his words rankled in my heart, for it was much the same as if he had called me a coward.

“Because I am the captain of this company, it is my duty to hold you all here within the fort, at least, until another day shall come. Even at this moment is Elias Shendle trying to make his way toward Wintermoot’s Fort, and we know beyond a peradventure that he must be nearabout where the Mohawks are, in ignorance of their presence. He is the dearest friend I have in the valley, and yet I would neither go myself, nor allow one of you, to warn him of the danger, because of the duty we owe the people who sent us here.”

“And what may Elias Shendle be doing outside the stockade?” Giles March asked, angrily.

I could do no less at that time than explain why the lad had gone, else might I have had a mutiny on my hands before I was well in command of a company which, I hoped, would one day perform great deeds in behalf of their relatives and friends.

Immediately, and as I might have expected, there was a conflict of opinions boldly expressed as to the wisdom of weakening our small company by sending out scouts, and, to my dismay, I realized that at the very moment when it was needed that we exercise the utmost vigilance, and carry ourselves like soldiers so nearly as might be, was a mutiny brewing.

Nearly half the company were in favor of going out immediately with Daniel Hinchman to search for the savages, who could conceal themselves as quickly and as thoroughly as a squirrel might in a dead oak, and a goodly portion of the remainder were becoming timorous, or so it seemed to me, because Elias had left us.

At that moment I was convinced that the Minute Boys of the Wyoming Valley could not be kept together as an organization while I remained at its head, and I could have cried with vexation because this project of mine was like to come to so speedy an end, through my inability to hold the lads to their duty as I should have done.

Daniel Hinchman, quite naturally, urged eagerly that we go out in search of his sister, and his entreaties, to which, because of the grief in his heart, I could make no protest, only served to add fuel to the flame of insubordination which had been kindled so quickly.

Giles March, quick to see how this poor, grieving lad was weakening my authority, urged his prayers, and I believe of a verity that, had I delayed one full moment longer, the fort would have been abandoned, some to follow Daniel, and others to set out for their homes, believing we were all too weak to perform the work which had been undertaken.

The anger which possessed me at that instant was so overpowering I gave no heed whatsoever to the fact that I was talking to friends; I saw before me only those reckless spirits who would imperil all the settlers in the valley, simply because of not being willing to wait and understand the situation, and, priming my musket, I leaped in front of the small gate, where I would be within a dozen paces of whosoever should attempt to unbar the main entrance, as I cried:

“So true as I live, I will shoot, making every effort to kill, the lad who shall attempt to leave this stockade on any pretext whatsoever! You are to remain here at least one hour, that you may have time in which to consider fully the situation, and then, if so be you are minded to desert the post of duty at the very moment when your best efforts are needed, I will say that I no longer claim, nor deserve the right, to stand as your captain.”

“And in an hour my sister will have been carried so far away that there can be no possibility of overtaking her!” Daniel Hinchman shouted, passionately.

“In an hour your sister will be at Wintermoot’s Fort, if those who seized her were, as you believe, Mohawks!” I cried, the idea coming into my mind like a flash that whatsoever of savages were in that vicinity must be in league with those of the Tory nest.

I could see that this shot told on Giles March, for his voice, which had been loud and angry, was lowered on the instant, and, thinking to follow up the advantage, if such it was, I said to them much like this:

“Elias Shendle is risking his life to learn that which it is necessary you should know in order to keep yourselves alive, for, if the rumors be true that a number of white men and Indians have lately gained entrance to Wintermoot’s, then do we stand more than a good chance of being attacked. Wait until he makes his report. Wait until we know how much of danger menaces us and those whom we are trying to guard. Think of what would be said in your homes if you came there hotfoot in the night, crying out that you had deserted because your captain refused to allow you to go in a useless effort to trail savages in the darkness! Do you fancy they would believe you returned because of that, or on account of having grown so timorous, and your hearts had turned so white, you no longer dared to stand in a place of danger?”

I believe it was that which put an end for the time being to the mutinous spirit which had been aroused so suddenly. At all events, Giles March ceased his tongue-wagging, but I was disturbed because the others gathered here and there in little knots, conversing in whispers lest I should overhear, and I was no longer proud, as I had been, of calling myself captain of the Minute Boys of the Wyoming Valley.

Virtually left alone, I debated as to what my next move should be, but realized, fortunately, that having said none should go out, I must, so long as I remained in command, see that such order was obeyed. Therefore, to the end that I might get the first glimpse of Elias when he returned, I climbed up to the watcher’s post above the gate, where I could keep an eye on those inside, as well as whosoever might come from the outside, and there I stood during three hours or more, the only sentinel, at a time when every one of us should have had his eyes and ears open.

If the Indians were sufficiently bold to make an attack upon Daniel Hinchman and his sister so near the settlement, then were they prepared, if there was any show of success, to come against us who were trying to hold the fort.

The hour of respite which I had asked for went by, and yet none came to demand that I give up the office of captain, therefore did it seem as if one danger was well-nigh passed, yet I remained as keenly on the alert as to what my comrades might do, as to the possible movements of the enemy.

It was near to midnight before any member of the company gave signs of trusting in my plan, and then two or three of them came up on the stockade, proposing to share with me the watch, whereupon I said, with more of temper than was seemly:

“If you are ready to obey orders, as you should be after having agreed to play the part of soldiers, then I am willing you go on duty.”

Perhaps half of our number heartily declared their confidence in me, and voluntarily stationed themselves at different places around the stockade on guard; but there was yet the dangerous element, or so it seemed to me, who, because of their silence, much the same as proclaimed that they were yet at odds with my plan, and this gave me more than a little uneasiness.

I remained on duty near the gate throughout all that long night, watching and praying, oh, so earnestly, for the coming of Elias; but when the sun showed his face once more, our comrade was yet absent, and there could be but one reason for his delay.