Part 26

The last house overlooking the Valley of the Monocacy was the Sun Inn, a hostelry unsurpassed in the Colonies, and surely none other entertained and sheltered so many of the patriots of the American Revolution.

The Single Brethren’s House now the middle building of the Moravian Seminary and College for Women, which has weathered the storms of more than 175 years, was twice during the Revolution occupied as a general hospital, the first time from December, 1776, to April, 1777, and for the last time from September, 1777, to April, 1778. The cornerstone of this large building was laid April 1, 1748.

The Americans were defeated at Long Island in August, 1776, when Washington withdrew his troops to New York City, which a few days later fell into the hands of the enemy. This loss was quickly followed by that of Fort Washington and Fort Lee, when Washington crossed the North River into New Jersey, and continued his retreat to Trenton, in which he was closely pursued by Cornwallis. It was at this crisis that the general hospital, in which more than 1,000 sick and wounded were living, was removed from Morristown to Bethlehem.

On December 3, 1776, Dr. Cornelius Baldwin rode up to the clergy house and delivered to Reverend John Ettwein an order from General John Warren, general hospital surgeon, which stated that General Washington had ordered the General Hospital to Bethlehem and directed the Moravian brethren to put their buildings in condition for the reception of the invalids and he doubted not “but you will act upon this occasion as becomes men and Christians.”

Toward evening Drs. William Shippen and John Warren arrived and made arrangements with Reverend Ettwein for the reception of 250 of the sick. During the ensuing two days the invalids, in charge of their surgeons, commenced to arrive. Their suffering from exposure and improper transportation made them pitiable objects to behold and two died before they were removed from the wagons. Food was scarce and the Moravians relieved their distress from their own supplies. Some of the sick were taken to Easton and Allentown.

On December 7 two deaths occurred and a site for a cemetery was selected on the bluff on the west bank of the Monocacy Creek.

The Moravians constantly attended the sick and Mr. Ettwein visited the patients daily. In February smallpox was brought to the hospital by some soldiers, but an epidemic was averted. On March 27, 1777, the hospital was transferred to Philadelphia.

During the time the hospital was in Bethlehem more than 100 died, coffins for whom were made by the Moravian carpenters, who also dug the graves and served at the burial of the deceased patriots.

Again when the Continental army failed to defend Philadelphia, the hospital was removed to Bethlehem. On September 13, 1777, Washington ordered all military stores of the army, in 700 wagons to Bethlehem. The Church bells of Philadelphia, with the Liberty Bell, were also transported to Bethlehem en route to Allentown. Again the Moravians were directed to prepare their buildings for hospital use and September 20, the sick and wounded began to arrive, among them Lafayette and Colonel, later General John Armstrong, of Carlisle. On the twenty-second the archives and money of Congress, under an escort, arrived.

On October 7 the wounded from the Battle of Germantown began to arrive and in a fortnight 450 patients were being treated. A rain lasting six days set in and the suffering was indescribable. The Moravians furnished many blankets and much clothing for the destitute soldiers. During December many sick soldiers were brought to Bethlehem from hospitals in New Jersey. The loss was enormous due to lack of proper facilities with which to treat the patients, and the mortality during eight months and ten days was 120.

Among the surgeons from Pennsylvania were William Shippen, Jr., John Morgan, Thomas Bond, Jr., William Smith, Bodo Otto, Aquila Wilmot, James Houston, S. Halling and Francis Allison, Jr.

On August 28, 1778, the remaining sixty-five patients were removed to Lancaster and Yellow Springs, and Bethlehem ceased to be a hospital base during the war.

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Flight of Tory Leaders from Pittsburgh, March 28, 1778

General Edward Hand, the commandant at Fort Pitt, had failed in two expeditions, and the resultant effect was disastrous to the American cause on the border, especially in the spring of 1778. During the previous winter the British, under General Howe, had occupied Philadelphia, the capital of the colonies; the Continental Congress had been driven to York, and Washington’s Army, reduced to half-naked and half-starved condition, had suffered in camp at Valley Forge, so there was not much to win adherents to the cause of liberty among those otherwise inclined.

Governor Hamilton, the British commander at Detroit, sent many agents, red and white, to penetrate the border settlements to organize the Tories into effective military units. In February and March, 1778, a daring and shrewd British spy visited Pittsburgh and carried on his plotting against the colonies almost under the nose of General Hand. Most of the Tories of this neighborhood were at the house of Alexander McKee, at what is now called McKees Rocks. Another place of assembly was at Redstone, where a British flag flew nearly all of that winter.

Captain Alexander McKee, the Tory leader at Pittsburgh, was an educated man of wide influence on the frontier. He had been an Indian trader and for twelve years prior to the Revolution had been the King’s deputy agent for Indian affairs at Fort Pitt. For a short time he had been one of the justices of the peace for Westmoreland County, and he was intimately acquainted with most of the Indian chiefs. In 1764 he received a grant of 1,400 acres of land from Colonel Henry Bouquet, at the mouth of Chartier’s Creek, and he divided his time between his house in Pittsburgh and his farm at McKees Rocks.

In the spring of 1776, McKee was discovered to be in correspondence with the British officers in Canada, and he was put on his parole not to give aid or comfort to the enemies of American liberty, and not to leave the vicinity of Pittsburgh without the consent of the Revolutionary Committee.

In February, 1778, General Hand had reason to suspect that McKee had resumed his relations and correspondence with the British authorities and ordered the captain to go to York and report himself to the Continental Congress. For a time McKee avoided compliance, on plea of illness, but unable to further delay, he contrived to escape to Detroit and there openly ally himself with the British cause.

About a year before this a young trader, Matthew Elliott, who understood the Shawnee language, had been employed by the Americans to carry messages from Fort Pitt to the Shawnee and other Indian tribes to the westward, in the interest of peace. On one of his missions he was captured by hostile savages and carried to Detroit, where, after a short imprisonment, he had been released on parole.

He returned to Pittsburgh via Quebec, New York and Philadelphia, all then in British possession. He had been impressed by the show of British power in the East, in contrast to the miserable conditions of the American forces, especially along the frontier. He became convinced that the colonists would fail in the Revolution, and on his return to Pittsburgh got into communication with Captain McKee and others of the Tory party.

Elliott was suspected of having poured into McKee’s ears the wild tale that he was to be waylaid and killed on his journey to York. McKee heard such a story and believed it, which decided him to escape from Fort Pitt and go to Detroit.

The flight of the Tories took place from Alexander McKee’s house during the night of March 28, 1778. General Hand received a hint of this move early in the evening and dispatched a squad of soldiers to McKee’s house Sunday morning to remove McKee to Fort Pitt. The soldiers arrived too late. The members of the little party who had fled into Indian land in that rough season were Captain McKee, his cousin, Robert Surphlit; Simon Girty, Matthew Elliott, a man of the name of Higgins, and two Negro slaves belonging to McKee.

Simon Girty was a Pennsylvanian, who had been captured by the Indians when eleven years old, kept in captivity for three years by the Seneca, and afterward employed at Fort Pitt as an interpreter and messenger. He had served the American cause faithfully. He then became the most notorious renegade and Tory in Pennsylvania.

The Tories in their flight made their way through the woods to the Delaware town Coshocton, where they tarried several days endeavoring to incite the tribe to rise against the colonists. Their efforts were thwarted by Chief White Eyes, who declared his friendship for the “buckskins” as he called the Americans, and he proved his sincerity until his death.

Chief White Eyes and Captain Pipe, an influential chief, debated in the Coshocton council on the advocacy of war, White Eyes pleading the cause of peace. The oratory of White Eyes carried the day and the seven Tories departed to the Shawnee towns on the Scioto, where they were welcomed. Many of the Shawnee were already on the warpath, and all were eager to hear the arguments of their friend McKee. James Girty, a brother of Simon, was then with the Shawnee tribe, having been sent from Fort Pitt by General Hand on a futile peace mission. He had been raised among the Shawnee, was a natural savage and at once joined his brother and the other Tories.

When Governor Hamilton heard of the flight of Captain McKee and his companions from Fort Pitt, he dispatched Edward Hazle to the Scioto to conduct the renegades safely through the several Indian tribes to Detroit. Hamilton, as would be expected, received them cordially and gave them commissions in the British service. For sixteen years McKee, Elliott and the Girtys were the merciless scourges of the border. They were the instigators and leaders of many Indian raids, and their intimate knowledge of the frontier rendered their operations especially effective. Long after the close of the Revolution they continued their deadly enmity to the American cause and were largely responsible for the general Indian war of 1790–94.

McKee and his associate renegades left behind them at Fort Pitt a band of Tories who had planned to blow up the fortress and escape in boats at night. In some way the scheme was frustrated just in time, probably by the confession of one of the conspirators, and the disaster averted. A score of the traitors escaped in boats during the night, and fled down the Ohio River. On the following day they were pursued and overtaken near the mouth of the Muskingum. Eight of the runaways escaped to the shore and were lost in the trackless woods; some were killed in the conflict which then occurred and the others were taken back as prisoners to Fort Pitt.

Two were shot, another hanged and two were publicly whipped on the parade ground of the fort. The punishment of these men was almost the last act performed by General Hand before he was relieved by General Lachlan McIntosh, but it put an end to the machinations of the Tories at Pittsburgh.

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Colonel Clapham Commissioned to Build

Fort Augusta, March 29, 1756

From the moment Captain John Smith beheld the waters of the Susquehanna to the present, it has been the main artery for the development of Central and Northern Pennsylvania.

The two great branches of the Susquehanna River join at what is now Northumberland, but opposite is a plain, where the old Indian town of Shamokin was located, upon which the present city of Sunbury was laid out July 4, 1772.

It was at Shamokin where the Indians established a vice-regal government and installed the noble Shikellamy, the friend of the English and foe of intemperance and vice. This was the largest and most important Indian town south of Tioga Point. It was visited by the Moravian missionaries and the interpreter, Conrad Weiser, tarried there in 1737 on his way to a council at Onondaga. He and Shikellamy became intimate friends and remained so until the latter’s death, December 17, 1748.

The erection of a fort at Shamokin was repeatedly urged by friendly Indians, especially Andrew Montour and Monakatuatha or the Delaware Half King, at a council at Harris’ Ferry, November 1, 1755. This request was favorably considered by Governor Morris, but refused by the Assembly.

After Braddock’s defeat, when the French and Indians began to attack the settlers along the frontier, occurred the terrible massacre at Penn’s Creek, October 16. Later forty-six terrified settlers fled to Shamokin for protection, but the attitude of the Indians caused them to leave the following day, and as they traveled south they were fired upon from ambush near Mahonoy Creek and four killed.

The Moravians broke up their mission at Shamokin and soon thereafter the Indians abandoned the town.

October 31, 1755, a number of inhabitants gathered at John Harris’ and signed a petition for a fort at Shamokin as a protection against the French and Indians. On the same day a like gathering at Conrad Weiser’s sent a similar petition to the provincial authorities. John Shikellamy, son of the great vicegerent, went to Philadelphia and personally solicited the Governor to build a fort, saying “that such Indians as continue true to you want a place to come to and live in security against your and their enemies, and to Shamokin, when you erect the fort, they will come and bring their wives and children. Brethren, hasten the work; our warriors will assist you in building the fort.”

At a conference held at Carlisle January 17, 1756, this necessity was again brought to the notice of the Governor, who replied that he would build a strong house at Shamokin.

The fear of delay was because the French had for some time realized the importance of the strategic situation of Shamokin and if they could gain a foothold there the places below would be easy prey.

The Governor was determined that the fort should be built and made his plans accordingly. He informed the Board of Commissioners April 15, 1756, that he had on March 29 commissioned Lieutenant Colonel William Clapham to recruit a battalion for the purpose. This was the third battalion and was known as the Augusta Regiment. Major James Burd was second in command and Asher Clayton was commissioned adjutant of the battalion.

The regiment rendezvoused at Harris’ Ferry, where Governor Morris attended the recruiting and training in person. On June 12 orders were received to march.

A stockade was built at Halifax, where supplies were stored and a garrison maintained. While at this camp Colonel Clapham had a conference with the Iroquois chief, Oghagradisha, assuring him they were on their way to Shamokin.

Sufficient bateaux were built by July 1, when the regiment marched from Halifax, and by a tedious march the 400 troops reached Shamokin without mishap July 6 and immediately began the construction of the fort, which was built from plans drawn by E. Meyer, engineer of the British Government. It was called Fort Augusta in honor of the daughter of King George II.

Colonel Clapham pushed the work of construction with dispatch and September 23, wrote to Governor Denny, “The fort is now almost finished, and a fine one it is.” The construction required less than seven weeks upon the main works, but much time was employed in better protecting the fortress and in adding necessary buildings.

Much difficulty was experienced in obtaining adequate supplies of provisions and ammunition, as the only means of transportation were pack horses over a mountainous Indian trail or by bateaux and the latter was impossible during the severe winters.

Colonel Clapham was succeeded by Colonel James Burd, who left such a fascinating journal of his experiences at that frontier fort.

Expeditions were sent out from the fort to the Great Island, now Lock Haven; to Chinklacamoose, now Clearfield; to Penn’s Creek, to Wyoming, and other places.

The fort faced the main river and was nearly 300 feet square, with bastions at the four corners. The total length of the fortification was more than 600 feet. A magazine was later built in the south bastion and a covered way to the river. This was strongly built with a brick arched roof and was reached by a narrow stairway descending into it. This is now the surviving structure of that dark and gloomy period in the State’s history. It is the property of the Commonwealth and it is well marked and well kept.

Fort Augusta was far in advance of any English settlement in the Province, holding the only passage by water and blocking the pathway along the river by land, to the settlements below.

The Assembly wanted to dismantle the fort and save the expense of the garrison, but no Governor would agree to this plan, as it was an actual protection for the inhabitants.

During the Revolution Fort Augusta again became an important place, the headquarters of the Military Department of the Susquehanna. Colonel Samuel Hunter, the county lieutenant, mustered and trained troops there for the Continental Army. It was here where Colonel Thomas Hartley drew his supplies for his expedition against the Indians in 1778.

It was at Fort Augusta where the terrified inhabitants found safety in the “Great Runaway,” following the Indian incursions which culminated in the Wyoming massacre, July 3, 1778.

The work of dismantling the fort began about 1780, as the ground then passed into private hands. Thus this old fort has crumbled into ruins, its story unsung, its heroes forgotten.

But for the wisdom of the Indians this fort would not have been built and the horrors of the French and Indian War would have been carried to the banks of the Delaware. This fort was where the high tide of the Revolution was turned backward and the English and their Indian allies forced to turn their faces again toward Canada. It was the largest and most important provincial fortification on the frontier of this continent.

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Swedes Come to the Delaware—Peter Minuit Steps Ashore, March 30, 1638

Samuel Blummaert, of Holland, who had business interests in Sweden, directed the attention of the Swedish Chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna, to the possibilities of the copper trade with the West Indies. At that time Peter Minuit, who had been Governor of New Netherlands, 1626 to 1632, and was dissatisfied with his treatment, having been dismissed, offered his service to Blummaert, knowing that the latter owned lands on the South River, now the Delaware.

The great Gustavus died in November, 1632, and upon Oxenstierna devolved all the burdens of the American scheme. Sweden was poor; the times were unpropitious; he was forced to wait five years until practical plans could be matured. Minuit had suggested the founding of a colony upon the South River to trade with the Indians. A company was formed with the exclusive right to trade on that river for twenty years and to send goods to Sweden for a period of ten years free of duty. The ownership of this company was half Swedish and half Dutch.

An expedition reached the South River, landing at the mouth of Mispillon Creek, which they called “Paradise Point.” Passing on upward they cast anchor at Minquas-kill, where Minuit went ashore March 30, 1638, to confer with the Indians. He knew well the story of Swanendael and meant to avoid a recurrence. The chief with whom he talked was Mattahoorn, the principal sachem of that region and an Indian of worthy character, who came often into the early history of Pennsylvania before William Penn arrived. Minuit concluded an agreement, obtaining land on which to build a house for “a kettle and other articles,” and for ground on which to plant, he was to give half the tobacco raised upon it. The land was defined as “within six trees.”

Minuit had instructions to set up the arms of Sweden and take possession of the country, avoiding New Netherlands, to do no harm to the Indians, to name the country New Sweden, to dispose of his cargo and then, leaving the sloop, return to Sweden.

Minuit built Fort Christiana, named in honor of the girl queen at Stockholm, five miles below the Dutch Fort Nassau, and left in it when he departed twenty-four men.

Nearly coincident with the arrival of the Swedes at Minquas-kill, came a new Director-General of the Dutch at Manhattan, in the person of William Kieft, who sailed into that port, March 18, 1638. He was disturbed over this Swedish intrusion, and promptly wrote to his company in Holland and, May 6 addressed a formal letter to Minuit, protesting against his settlement, declaring that both banks of the river belonged to the Dutch.

This claim by the Dutch to the west bank was based on De Vries’ adventure at Swanendael. Minuit made no reply, he knew that no white man had more than six years been living on the west side of the river. So he pushed the work on his fort and built log-houses. Trade with the Indians was firmly established. A second treaty with the Indians was made, which purchase included land down the river and bay and northward as far as the Falls of Trenton. Minuit returned with his two vessels, July, 1638.

The twenty-four persons now comprising the colony at Christiana were under command of Mans Kling, with Hendrik Huyghen as commissary. This company formed the first permanent settlement by white men on the Delaware Bay, or River, on either side.

Minuit was lost at sea on his return voyage and New Sweden suffered a hard stroke of misfortune. He and De Vries were the ablest men ever sent to the South River.

The colony was in such distress in 1639 that the people thought seriously of abandoning the locality and going to Manhattan, but the following year another vessel arrived from Sweden with supplies. She sailed into Christiana, April 17, 1640. On board were four mares and two horses, a number of farming implements, thirty-one barrels of beer, and colonists, made up to some extent of deserters from the army and people accused of offenses. This vessel soon returned laden with beaver skins and other peltry. At this time the Dutch members of the company sold their interest to the Swedes.

Peter Hollender, who succeeded Peter Minuit as Governor of the Swedes, arrived in April, 1640, and continued in authority until February, 1643.

Another effort to send colonists to New Sweden originated in Utrecht. A charter granted to Hendrik Hooghkamer and others authorized them to start a settlement on the west side of South River twenty miles above Fort Christiana. They were to have what land was needed, provided they improved it within ten years. They could start manufactories and carry on trade. They were given religious liberty and were required to support ministers of the Gospel and schoolmasters. But they were compelled to submit to the Swedish law and Government and pay a tax of three florins a year for each family.

Under this arrangement the ship Fredenburg sailed from Holland, and arrived at Christiana, November 2, 1640. This ship was armed with twenty-five cannon and carried fifty Dutch colonists, headed by Jost de Bogharat. The Fredenburg took back to Sweden 737 beaver skins, 29 bear skins and some other productions of the New World.