The Minute Boys of the Mohawk Valley | Page 3

house to go through such manoeuvres as our instructor
thought necessary, we had in our hands only those harmless wooden
guns.
I was the captain of the company; Jacob Sitz acted as lieutenant, and all
the others were privates. Sergeant Corney, as a matter of course, was
the commander-in-chief.
On a certain day during the last week in May--the exact date I have
forgotten--we were drilling as usual, with Sergeant Corney finding
more fault than ever, when we frightened the famous Thayendanega

away from an attack on the settlement, although, as I have said, we
knew nothing about it until many months afterward.
It seems, as we learned later, that the villainous Brant had made all his
plans for an attack upon Cherry Valley, and had secretly gained a
position on the hill to the eastward of the place, counting on waiting
there until nightfall, when he might surprise us; but, much to his
astonishment, he saw what appeared from the distance to be a large
body of well-equipped soldiers evidently making ready for serious
work.
The scoundrelly redskin was not so brave that he was willing to make
an attack where it seemed that the Whigs were prepared to receive him,
and, like the cur that he was, he marched his force to a hiding-place in a
deep ravine north of the settlement, near the road leading to the
Mohawk River, about a mile and a half from where we were drilling.
Now hardly more than an hour before it is probable that the Indians got
their first glimpse of us Minute Boys, Lieutenant Wormwood had
arrived from Fort Plain with information to my uncle that a force of
patriot soldiers was on the way to check Sir John's plans for killing all
who did not quite agree with him in politics, and to request that
arrangements be made to care for the men during such time as they
might remain in that vicinity.
When, late in the afternoon, the lieutenant was ready to return to Fort
Plain, Jacob's father, Peter Sitz, was ordered to accompany him as
bearer of a message from my uncle to the leader of the patriot force,
and the two men set off on horseback, we lads envying them because it
seemed a fine thing to ride to and fro over the country summoning this
man or that to his duty.
It was the last time Jacob saw his father until after many days had
passed, and what happened to the two horsemen we could only guess
when the lieutenant's lifeless body was found next day; but we learned
the particulars later.
It seems that when the messengers arrived near Brant's hiding-place,

being forced to pass by where the Indians were concealed in order to
get to Fort Plain, they were hailed by some one in the thicket; but
instead of replying, the men put spurs to their horses.
The savages in ambush fired a volley; Lieutenant Wormwood was
killed instantly, while Jacob's father was so seriously wounded that he
fell from his horse, and, a few seconds later, found himself a prisoner
among Brant's wolves.
When the tidings of this tragedy was brought into the settlement, Jacob
was overwhelmed with grief, as might have been expected, and even
my uncle had great difficulty in preventing the distressed lad from
rushing into the wilderness with the poor hope that he might be able,
single-handed, to effect his father's rescue.
He was only sixteen years of age--two months older than I; but within
an hour after we knew beyond a peradventure that Peter Sitz was a
prisoner, it seemed as if the lad had grown to be a man.
It was this first blow against the settlement of Cherry Valley by the
murderous Brant, which brought us Minute Boys of the Mohawk
Valley into active service, for from that day we saw as much of warfare
as did our elders, and I am proud to be able to set down the fact that we
performed good work, although we failed, as did the men of the
settlement, in preventing it from being destroyed a year and a half later,
while the fighting force of the population was absent.
The murder of Lieutenant Wormwood was sufficient evidence that the
Tories and their savage allies were prepared to harry us, and within a
very few minutes after the body of the officer had been brought in, the
men made ready to defend their homes.
A council of war was immediately called, and while it was in session
Sergeant Corney made a proposition which was like to take away the
breath from those who looked upon us of the Minute Boys as mere
children, for he said in the tone of one who knows whereof he speaks:
"I've been drillin'