RevJohn Johnson’s Juggernaut

John Johnson’s Juggernaut

Sir John Johnson inherited his title, wealth, land and influence from his father, Sir William Johnson. You might conclude---and a few have done so---he was a Royal Brat and a whimp. You would be wrong. The allegiance he received from Sir Williams’ supporters, the Iroquois and the government in Canada during and after the Revolutionary War indicates he was well respected. The long, grueling march, and juggernaut type two-day campaign of destruction in Schoharie Valley and the Mohawk Valley is proof positive he was not a whimp.
    The purpose of Johnson’s campaign so late in the war has been debated for a couple hundred years. Some said it was a purely punitive campaign to punish those who had driven him and his Loyalist followers from their ancestral homes. Some said it was an attempt to deny the Continental Army valuable foodstuffs and other supplies, and still others say it was a last ditch effort---coordinated with the aborted surrender of West Point by Benedict Arnold---to bring New York back into the British fold.
    Nevertheless, John Johnson’s 1780 Fall Campaign destroyed most of the homes, barns, outbuildings, harvested crops and livestock in Schoharie Valley, and in the Mohawk Valley from Fort Hunter to what is now Saint Johnsville. The extent of the march, the opposition or lack thereof he met along the way, and his eventual escape have provided fodder for the gristmills of historical controversy ever since.
    Johnson and some 500 Loyalists and German troops left Canada in late September, traveled by bateaux and canoe via The Saint Lawrence River, Lake Ontario and up the Oswego River to Oneida Lake. They left their boats at the mouth of Chittenango Creek on the south shore of the lake, and marched overland to Schoharie Valley. The exact route is lost to history, however, it was noted that they traveled upstream on the Chittenango, headed southwest, crossed Unadilla River, Susquehanna River---where they were joined by Chief Joseph Brant, 300 Mohawks, Senecas and Cayugas, and some 200 Tories--- nd then waded Charlotte Creek before crossing the divide and following Panther Creek into Schoharie Valley . . . where they camped on October 16, 1780.
    There is no doubt, considering the size of the force, which included horses, packing provisions and artillery, that they followed long-established Indian trails. (One account indicates the army traveled part way on a road cut the year before during the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign.) I’ve traveled through that area by automobile, and can attest to the fact that west-to-east it's up and down travel most of the way. Using road maps, stream maps and Maptech's topographical maps computer program, I followed mostly old roads, crossed watersheds at likely divides and intersected streams mentioned in historical documents, to plot and measure a probable course, just to get an idea how far they traveled. My calculations added up to a 127-mile march from Oneida Lake to Schoharie Valley. That’s a long hike, especially carrying 60-80 pounds of gear.
    Warning of the enemy’s approach had spread down the valley days before their arrival, allowing residents to seek the shelter of three forts: Upper Fort (Fultonham), Middle Fort (Middleburg) and the Lower Fort (Schoharie). The defenders even had time to get gunpowder from Albany. It arrived the same day Johnson’s army entered the valley. Although homes, farms and mills were left undefended, a few residents had time to drive livestock into the woods and hide or carry grain to the forts.
     Some say the Upper Fort was attacked early that morning, but Jeptha Simms describes the start of the attack differently.

“Col. Johnson intended to resume his march sufficiently early on the morning of the 17th, to pass the upper fort, situated about three miles from his encampment, unobserved, and arriving at the Middle fort, just at daylight, surprise and capture it; supposing, with very good reason, that the possession of it would soon cause the surrender of the other two more feebly garrisoned. The enemy, passing along the bank of the river, crossed it nearly opposite, and not one third of a mile distant from the Upper fort. Owing to some unknown delay, the troops were not in motion as early as they had intended, and the rear of the army was yet upon the bank of the river, when Peter Feeck, who had started to go after cows just as day began to dawn, discovered it, and notified a sentinel, who discharged his musket. The troops were instantly called out, and the alarm gun thrice fired. Captains Jacob Hager, and Joseph Harper, both men of acknowledged courage, with two companies of troops, numbering it is believed, less than one hundred men, were in this fort at the time. The command of the garrison devolved on Capt. Hager, the senior officer, who sent a party of volunteers to the river early in the morning, among whom were Henry Hager, his son, Lawrence Bouck, and Isaac Vrooman. They saw several of the enemy on the opposite shore, and crossed the river and captured an Indian who lagged behind his fellow. As they approached him he fired upon them, the ball striking the powder-horn of Vrooman. When they drew up to fire, he sprang behind a tree, which received three of the bullets discharged at him: he then fled, abandoning his horse, a poor black mare with a sore back, which, with a heavy pack on, was taken to the fort. “

History of Schoharie County – Jeptha R. Simms - 1845

Timothy Murphy to the Rescue
Fortunately, Timothy Murphy, who had recently settled in Schoharie Valley, volunteered to serve at the Middle Fort. Murphy was a soldier extraordinaire, having served valiantly in several engagements as one of Morgan’s Riflemen. Among his accomplishments as a sniper was the shooting of two high-ranking British officers during the Battle of Saratoga. He also suffered through the winter at Valley Forge, and served in the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign to destroy Iroquois villages and crops in western New York, so he was not predisposed to surrender. He fired warning shots at the British delegation that approached the fort under a flag of truce and threatened to shoot the fort’s commander if he tried to surrender. When the other officers, including the second in command supported Murphy’s position, the commander walked away. Some accounts say he left the area, never to be seen again. Others say he saw the error of his ways and resumed command of the troops that followed and harassed Johnson down the valley.

The siege of the Middle Fort ended at 3 o’clock in the afternoon when the enemy moved on to the Lower Fort. Johnson’s troops kept the garrison contained with musket and artillery fire just long enough for the Indians and Tories to set fires and kill livestock. One of the British cannon balls poked a baseball-size hole in the heavy beam under the edge of the roof of the Stone Church inside the fort, where it can be seen to this day.
At the end of the day Johnson had failed to capture a single fortress or force a single military unit to surrender, but he had burned practically every building in Schoharie Valley, killed hundreds of livestock and burned some hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain. Smoke hung over the valley throughout the day, and when the sun went down the glow of fires could be seen in every direction. The devastation of Schoharie Valley was complete. It would be a long hard winter.

Post Script:
The only buildings spared were those within the forts, all but one of the churches, and property owned by Tories. Most of the Tory buildings were set afire by the troops that pursued the enemy.

Battles of Stone Arabia and Klock’s Field
Sir John Johnson’s Loyalist army camped about six miles north of the Lower Fort on October 17, 1780. The next morning the marauding force continued down Schoharie Valley, bypassing Fort Hunter, and moving west on both sides of the Mohawk River. Their daylong rampage started at Tribes Hill, moved on to Caughnawaga (Fonda) and ended at Anthony’s Nose (The Noses.) All but fortified and Tory homes and farms were burned. A few residents were killed and several taken prisoner; harvested crops were burned and livestock killed or rounded up. Smoke and fire marked the path of the army.
That night Sir John’s army camped on both sides of the river at The Noses. After a few hours sleep they were up and at it again, moving west to Keator's Rift (Sprakers) where Johnson crossed to the north side of the river to join the rest of his forces. He was in a hurry. Brigadier General Robert van Rensselaer was leading a 1000-man army up the valley, having recruited Continental troops, Militias and some 200 Oneida Indians from Albany to Schenectady.
As John Johnson was British-American Royalty, van Rensselaer was in effect Dutch-American Royalty, his family, having “ruled” Rensselaerwyck (a Dutch land patent that encompassed the present counties of Albany (except the city) Columbia and Rensselaer) for over 100 years. Prior to the war, John and Robert were contemporaries, perhaps even friends, but on October 19,1780 they were commanding opposing armies.

When word reached General van Rensselaer that Johnson’s forces were headed to Stone Arabia, he sent a message to Colonel John Brown, Commander of Fort Paris. He ordered Brown to leave the fort and meet the enemy head on, thus stopping or delaying the total destruction of Stone Arabia, and allowing Continental forces to catch up and attack Johnson from the rear.

The Battle of Stone Arabia was a
decisive defeat for the Continentals.

    Early on the morning of the 19th, Brown deployed his troops a couple miles south of Fort Paris in a field near the road the Loyalists were expected to follow. The enemy was engaged around 9 a.m. The Battle of Stone Arabia didn’t last long. Colonel Brown and 200 men were outflanked and overrun by a significantly superior force long before Van Rensselaer even crossed the Mohawk River.
    Brown and 40 (some say 100) of his men were killed, and several were captured before the defeated defenders of Stone Arabia escaped the carnage, some retreating to Fort Paris. News of the defeat spread quickly, reaching van Rensselaer later that morning. News of the defeat was devastating. Brown was a highly respected officer, and the loss of so many men during such an engagement was almost unheard of.
    Johnson’s forces destroyed most of the homes in Stone Arabia before continuing on to Fox’s Mill on Garoga Creek. Meanwhile on the other side of the river, van Rensselaer’s army was approaching the crossing just east of Fort Plain. As tired troops and ox-drawn wagons moved slowly toward the crossing, General Rensselaer and some of his officers went to Fort Plain where he consulted and had dinner with Colonel Dubois, the Fort Commander. A political, if not tactical, error.

Sir John Johnson's Juggernaut ended on the flats where Saint Johnsville now stands.

It was 4 p.m. when the crossing was completed and Rensselaer’s army, now including Dubois’s Fort Plain command, moved up the north side of the river in pursuit of the marauders. By this time most of Johnson’s Indians had disappeared, leaving 500 men to fight more than 1000. While part of Johnson’s army continued to burn homes, barns and grain, most of his troops and Brant’s Indians prepared to engage the approaching army from defensive positions on the quarter-mile wide flats between Jacob Klock’s home and orchard, and the river, just east of present day Saint Johnsville.

The Battle of Klock’s Field began a few hours before dark. The roar and rattle of thousands of muskets echoed off the hills and across the river as Continental troops, Militia and Oneida Indians drove Johnson’s army westward. Although Johnson was trying to escape defeat or capture, he continued to burn everything in sight. The smoke from burning buildings, grain and musket fire filled the air. Compounded by an evening fog, visibility was so limited that some units on the same side fired on each other.

The Battle of Klock's Field was a decisive victory for the Continentals. This historical marker is located just off Route 5, east of the village. It's a mile or so west of Fort Klock which was not involved in the Battle.