The Missions of
Atiatonharongwen
by Darren Bonaparte
(Originally published in The People's Voice, October 7, 2005)
When something sounds too good to be true, it
usually is. That old maxim doesn’t apply to Colonel Louis Cook,
whose war record during the America Revolution would sound too amazing
to be true if it weren’t for the noteworthy officers on both sides of
the conflict who mention him in their writings. This week we look
at some of the missions he was assigned…as well as the intelligence
that was gathered about him by his enemies.
Got a fleet of enemy British warships you’d like to
see disappear? The man to talk to would have been Colonel Louis
Cook, our illustrious ancestor. He was given a mission to do
exactly that by American General Philip Schuyler in March of 1778:
Reflecting
that Congress might perhaps have in Contemplation the Reduction of
Niagara on our Expedition into Canada thro Ontario, I have engaged
Louis, commonly called Colonel Louis a friendly Caghnawaga
and
[
] of sense & Enterprize who is going into Canada by the way of
Aswegatchie with three or four trusty Oneidas to burn if possible the
Enemy’s Vessels on Ontario if not to attempt the Destruction of those
at St. John’s and have promised a thousand Dollars in Species as a
Reward if the one or the other is accomplished. I hope for the
Approbation of Congress. Louis who expects to return in less than
Forty days is also charged to bring me the most exact account he can
procure of the Enemy’s Force in Canada, the posts occupied by them and
the numbers at each post to inform himself if possible what military
operations the Enemy mean to prosecute from Canada in the ensuing
Campaign and to engage some of our Caghnawaga Friends to give the
earliest Intelligence of the movement of the Enemy and what provisions
& military Stores may be sent either to St. John’s or up the St.
Lawrence.
Cook was also charged with monitoring the actions of
Joseph Brant, the pro-British Mohawk warrior, as the following quote
from a letter from James Deane to Schuyler dated March 29, 1779
illustrates:
Colonel
Louis arrived here this afternoon from Oneida and brings an account
that he has received undoubted Intelligence that Joseph Brandt is gone
with a very large Belt of Wampum to the seven Tribes in Canada.
He is sent to call those Indians to Oswego where Colonel Butler is to
meet them with what force he can collect of Indians Tories, &c. and
to take post as soon as the Season will permit. In consequence of
which Intelligence Louis is now on his Way for Canada & leaves this
to morrow. He determines if possible to frustrate the Design of
the Enemy as to his Countrymen and prevent their being imposed on by
the Arts of Brandt. Should any military operations be carried on
to the Westward in which the Assistance of our Indian Allies will be
required “ I beg leave to observe to the Commission that a Quantity of
Indian goods paint &c. will be found very necessary.
Schuyler informed General George Washington of
Cook’s expedition in July of that year:
Two
days ago Col. Lewis the Indian returned from Canada by way of Oneida--
he left the neighborhood of Caughnawaga in the beginning of June, as a
reward was offered in Canada for apprehending him he did not dare to
venture amongst the inhabitants. His Caghnawaga friends assured
him that no troops had been sent up the river St. Lawrence this spring,
that no preparations were making for any force to come thro’ lake
Champlain, that Brant had not been able to prevail on any of the
Caghnawagas to go the westward, that he understood a few of the
Canosedago Indians would accompany him. That a thousand Otawas
& Chippaways from Lake Huron were to join the Senecas as Brandt
gives out to desolate the frontiers.
Apparently Joseph Brant and his sister Molly (widow
of the late Sir William Johnson) kept an eye on Colonel Louis and his
pro-American activities, just as he kept a careful eye on their
activities for the British. Molly’s friend, Mary Hill, was the
Mohawk mistress of General Philip Schuyler and often shared
intelligence with Molly that was forwarded to the British. This
we find in a letter by Captain Al Frasier dated November 5th, 1780:
I
acquainted Sir John Johns. for your Excellency’s information that
Captain Dame of the Rangers with nine soldiers & above twenty
Indians of those of his party that were missing had come in three days
ago.
Along with
those men there is come a sister of Captn. Aaron the Mohawk chief, a
very intelligent woman who has much in the confidence of all the
principal Indians that adhered to the Rebels, as she was herself always
attached to their cause & till now lived among them-
She
informed Miss Molly that the St. Regis Indian named the Negroe had been
at Rhode Island, and was charged by the Commander in Chief of the
French troops with a great many letters to Canadians English &
Indians, with which he set off for St. Regis from Schenectady five
weeks ago, and that she had once been engaged herself to come along
with him--She further says that some of the principal Indians were told
in confidence that the Rebels were determined to invade Canada this
winter or early in the Spring by three different Routes. And they
said that their designs upon Canada might fail of success, yet they
were sure of reducing the upper posts, as they were determined at all
costs to take Carleton Island, which wd. oblige the higher Garrisons to
surrender for want of provisions --She says Schuyler was himself to
command this latter enterprise.
This woman
also confirms the late news respecting General Gates Army &
likewise that Arnold is going into New York.
There are
certainly two Indians which always reside at the village of St. Regis
for the purpose of conveying letters & intelligence of all our
movements to the Rebels. I hope to be able to give Your
Excellency their names by next opportunity.
Long after the war was over, Colonel Louis continued
to be a thorn in the side of the loyalist Joseph Brant. Both were
sent to the Great Lakes area to promote peace on behalf of the United
States government, although Colonel Louis strenuously objected to
Brant’s involvement. When both men became involved in land sales
with the Americans, they used each other as scapegoats when controversy
erupted. The end result was that a war almost broke out between
their respective communities and their allies, something that was
narrowly averted by careful diplomacy. Eleazer Williams’
biography of the Colonel has this to say about his relationship with
Brant:
A
spirit of unfriendly feelings was created between Col. Lewis & Col.
Brandt during the Revolution. They were in opposite parties. This
feeling was cherished by Brandt to unmanly degree. After Lewis' return
to St. Regis he was often disturbed by the British Indian agents.
Although living peacably with his Indian friends, yet, his former
course in the american struggl was not easily forgotten by the tories
who had taken a refuge in the Province.
Col. Brandt
at Montreal in 1797 made a visit, with a large party of the Mohawks
& held a council with Sir John at La Chine. The Mohawks were heard
with threats against the life of Col. Lewis. Some of the friendly
Cahnowagas, gave timely notice to Lewis of those threats. As it was
expected, on the return of Brandts party, they crossed the St. Lawrence
from Cornwall with a view to execute those threats uttered at La Chine.
But he was secured by his friends. An account of which there was a fray
with the Mohawks by some of the St. Regis Indians.
Sources: Indian Affairs Papers:
American Revolution, by Maryly B.
Penrose, A History of St. Lawrence
and Franklin Counties, New York, by
Franklin B. Hough, the Frederick Haldimand Papers, and the biography of
Colonel Louis by Eleazer Williams in the Papers of Franklin B. Hough,
New York State Archives.
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