The
Battle of
Bald Eagle Creek
Ted
Bainbridge, Ph.D.
A detachment
of Northumberland
County rangers was attacked by a much larger force of Indians
on the 16th of
April, 1782. Every
expedition member but
three was killed or captured.
Background
In October of
1781 General
Cornwallis surrendered to General Washington at Yorktown. There were no more
major battles in the
Revolutionary War, which officially ended with the Treaty of
Paris in September
of 1783 [1]. The
army remained in the
field until the men were discharged in November of that year. During that period
between war and peace
Northumberland County militia and ranger units continued to
serve on the
northwest frontier. Half
a year after
Yorktown, one of those ranger units was defeated by a group of
Indians at the
battle of Bald Eagle Creek.
At that time Pennsylvania included the New
Purchase and the
official state boundary was Lycoming Creek with its mouth at
today’s
Williamsport. The
regions west of
Lycoming Creek and north of the West Branch of the Susquehanna
River were
Indian territory; they did not
become part of
Pennsylvania until the Last Purchase, two years after this
battle [2].
The
Participants
The Pennsylvania Archives contains only one reference to the battle at Bald Eagle Creek, included in the category of “Ranging Companies” [4]:
Capt. Thomas Robinson’s Company.
Raised in the county of Northumberland.
...
This company had a sharp engagement with the Indians, at Bald Eagle creek. [sic]
That document lists the following members of the unit: Captain Thomas Robinson; Lieutenant Moses Van Campen; Sergeants Jonathan Bey, William Doyle, Ebenezer Green (dead), and Edward Lee; and Privates John Adams, James Bennett/Banett, Conrad Bessell, Claudius Boatman, Jonathan Burnmell, James Busler, Henry Carton, Conrad Cutherman, James Dougherty, Ephraim Dunbar, John Fox, Ebenezer Green, Leonard Groninger, Charles Haines, Adam Hempleman, James Henderson, Joshua Knapp, Michael Lamb, William McGrady, William Miller, Adam Neible, Jonathan Pray, John Shilling, William Snell, Richard Stewart, Francis Varbelet, John Wallace, and Thomas Wilkinson.
That document’s inclusion among, “Ranging Companies” indicates that the unit sometimes operated as an independent command, ranging at will within its extensive assigned area of operations. At other times the unit functioned as an infantry company which was a subordinate command within a regiment of the Pennsylvania Line of the Continental Army [5, 6].
Some men on that list were not in the battle, as is made clear by the testimony in Moses Van Campen’s pension application [7] and statements below. Some men in the battle were not on that list. No definitive list of men in this battle exists. One participant’s pension file includes this comment written by a government clerk: “Remarks: There are no militia rolls in this office.” [8] That comment indicates the administrative distance between ranger units and command headquarters was great. Another participant’s pension file reveals the effect of that distance; when asked to name his regimental Colonel the man replied, “... what Col. he was under he is unable to say, ... he knew of no officer higher than Captain ...” [9 at page 8].
In places other than the above list, the Pennsylvania Archives says these men were in the battle: Jonathan Burwell, Leonard Croninger, James Dougherty, Sergeant Ebenezer Green, Private Ebenezer Greens, Adam Hempleman, Michael Lamb, William McGrady, William Miller, Joshua Nap, Jonathan Pray, Moses Van Campen, and John Wallace [4, 10, 11].
Van Campen said Jonathan Burwell, Henry
Craton, Jams
Henderson, Richard Stewart, and John Wallace were wounded in the
battle [12 at
pages 247-249, see also 13].
He also
said Thomas Chambers was an Ensign in the company at that time
[12 at page 244]
but did not say whether he was in the fight or not. Van Campen also said he
and Esquire Culbertson, James Dougherty, William McGrady, and
a Mr. Barkley
were in the fight but Thomas Robinson was not [7]. Van Campen’s story,
as written by his
grandson J. N. Hubbard, said Elisha Hunt was in the battle,
was captured, and
was taken on the forced march after the battle [12 at page
260]. Hunt is not
listed among revolutionary
soldiers from Pennsylvania [14], so he probably was not a
ranger.
(Some names are spelled differently in various sources. When those records were created spelling was not a rigorously conformist task as it is in modern America. Each name in this paper is typed with the spelling shown in the source document.)
Van Campen and his
twenty chosen
men marched along the river bank while Culbertson and four
others moved
upstream in a boat [12 at page 245].
Therefore, there were twenty-six men in the expedition. The lists above name
nineteen participants,
leaving seven unnamed. Those
unnamed men
might have come from the Pennsylvania
Archives roster above, or might have been other men of
Captain Robinson’s
company who were not named in that roster, or might have been
civilians recruited
from the local population only for this expedition. Van Campen said he
selected his men by
testing their marksmanship.
That
suggests the unnamed men were more likely to come from the
ranger company than
not, but some or all of the seven might have been civilians. [12 at pages 245 and
260, 14]
The
Battle
In late March of
1782, Lieutenant
Moses Van Campen led Captain Robison’s [sic] company to
Northumberland County
and, “Entered upon the laborius [sic] duty of protecting the
frontiers of the
said County” [12 at pages 244-246, 5].
While rebuilding a fort at Muncy, the unit was joined
by Captain Robison
[sic] and a Mr. Culbertson.
Culbertson
wanted an escort up the West Branch to the area of Bald Eagle
Creek, where his
brother recently had been killed by Indians.
Van Campen was ordered to head that escort. He selected twenty
men. Near the
middle of April, the group moved
along the bank of the river while Culbertson and four other
men moved upstream
in a boat. Near
Big Island (now called
Great Island) the boat was beached and all twenty-six men
moved together on
land until they reached Culbertson’s farm.
They arrived in the evening of April 15th, set up camp,
and posted
sentinels for the night.
[7, 12 at pages
244-246]
Early the next
morning, April 16th
[5], they were attacked by about eighty-five Senecas [15]. Those Indians had
found Van Campen’s beached
boat, then followed the rangers’
trail to their
encampment. The
fight was described by
Van Campen and recorded by his grandson as follows.
... by the morning light, concealed by the
bushes, [the
Indians] approached very near to the sentries, and burst so
unexpectedly upon
these, that they had only time to run to the camp, crying,
“The Indian, the
Indian,” before the savages were in their midst, with the
tomahawk and scalping
knife. Van Campen
and his men started
upon their feet and in a moment were ready for action. The enemy had a warm
reception. The
combat was at first, from hand to hand,
and so well sustained was the resistance that the Indians were
obliged to
retire; but they came up on all sides, and one after another
Van Campen’s men
were cut down with the rifle.
Perceiving
that the party of warriors was so large as to offer them no
hope of escape, and
beholding their number every moment growing smaller, they
determined, though
reluctantly, to surrender themselves to the enemy, under the
belief that their
lives would be spared.
They surrendered to
Lieutenant
Nellis, the British officer who commanded and led the Indians. Of the twenty-six
men in the expedition;
three had escaped (Esquire Culbertson and two others), nine
had been killed,
and fourteen had been captured.
Some of
those captured had been wounded and some had not. [5,
7, 9 at page 14, 12 at
pages 246-247, 15, 16].
The Pennsylvania Archives reports that Henry Carton,
John Wallace, and
Sergeant Ebenezer Green were killed but Private Ebenezer Green
was not [4, 10].
Jonathan Burwell,
Leonard
Croninger, James Dougherty, Private Ebenezer Greens, Adam
Hempleman, Michael
Lamb, William McGrady, William Miller, Joshua Nap, Jonathan
Pray, and Moses Van
Campen lost their weapons during the fight [11].
Immediately After
the Battle
The Indians took
possession of the
prisoners and their weapons.
Wallace and
Stewart, who had been wounded, were tomahawked.
Craton, who also had been wounded, was shot by four or
five Indians who,
“all aiming their rifles at his head, fired at once, and with
their balls tore
the top of his skull from his head. Poor
Craton fell over, and his brains rolled out and lay smoking
upon the
ground.” As an
Indian approached to
tomahawk Burwell, who had been shot during the battle, Van
Campen hit him so
hard he fell down, “like one dead.” Some
Indians moved to tomahawk Van Campen for this defiance, but
the majority
protected him because of his display of courage and strength. As a further tribute
to Van Campen’s courage,
Burwell’s life was spared.
The life of
Henderson, who also had been wounded, was spared. [12 at pages
247-249, 13] Burwell’s
wound was described in detail at
[8] and [12 at page 248].
The remaining
prisoners were
stripped of all their clothing except their pantaloons, then
seated on the ground in a circle. The
Indians surrounded them with rifles and tomahawks in hand,
then solemnly
brought forward five Indians who had been killed in the battle
and placed them
within the circle. A
chief spoke at
length, ending with a smile which was the sign of mercy; the
remaining captives
would not be killed. The
Indians buried
their dead by rolling an old log from its place, laying the
body in the hollow
of the ground, then piling some earth on the body. The prisoners were
divided among the captors,
with Van Campen assigned to Lieutenant Nellis’ group. Nellis told Van
Campen what the chief had
said: Their dead
demanded that the
whites be killed, but many more whites than Indians had been
killed in the
battle and that was enough.
Instead, the
prisoners would be adopted into the families of the slain
warriors to replace
the lives they had destroyed.
[7, 12 at
pages 250-253]
Forced
March
Packs were prepared
for the
prisoners and everybody hiked to where the Indians had found
the rangers’
beached boat. All
got in bark canoes,
rowed north across the West Branch of the Susquehanna River,
and then set the
canoes adrift. On
the morning of the
second day of march, Henderson,
who had been wounded
in the fight, was tomahawked.
The group
hiked all day without eating.
They moved
across hills and came to Pine Creek above its first fork. The Indians shot an
elk and everybody had
roast meat for supper, the prisoners eating the same way and
as much as the
Indians ate. The
next morning the elk
was divided among the warriors and prisoners and they
continued their forced
march. They
walked up Pine Creek’s banks
to the third fork, then took the
most northerly branch
to its head. [7,
12 at page 253-256, 13]
After a few days on
the march
Burwell’s wound became so inflamed and painful that it made it
difficult for
him to keep up. The
Indians collected
suitable herbs and boiled them in water.
They dipped a feather in the brew and ran it through
his wound. Soon
after this extremely painful treatment,
the inflammation disappeared and the wound healed. [7, 12 at pages
253-256, 13]
They arrived at the
head of Pine
Creek, they moved cross-country, and arrived at the head of
the Genesee River
after half a day’s travel.
Moving down
the Genesee two days, they came to Pigeon Woods where a large
number of Indians
had come to catch pigeons for food.
There they met a group of about forty Indians who were
going in the
opposite direction. After
two days at
Pigeon Woods the group moved farther down the Genesee,
eventually coming to
Canneadea, which was the first village they had encountered. In that village all
the prisoners were made
to run the gauntlet. Squaws
and young
Indians formed the gauntlet, with the warriors watching and
not
participating. All
the prisoners ran the
gauntlet safely. Several
Indians patted
Van Campen on the shoulder and complimented him for his
performance. [7,
12 at pages 256-267]
After completing
the gauntlet, the
prisoners were quartered with the families of the warriors. The first day and
night in the village the
warriors and their prisoners rested. The
next day, Van Campen ate with Lieutenant Nellis at Nellis’
father’s home in the
village. That
evening there was a dance
and Van Campen was told that he should participate. Nellis gave him
appropriate clothing for the
dance. The
evening began with the
warriors performing the war dance around a few bright fires. That dance was a
pantomime of approaching a
battle, fighting, and returning home victorious. Next was the turtle
dance, performed by the
majority of the Indians as they formed a circle around the
fire which they
faced. After
watching for some time, Van
Campen was invited to join in and was given a young woman for
a dance
partner. [12 at
pages 267-274]
The next day the
warriors and
their prisoners resumed the march. They
followed a path to some Indian settlements on Buffalo Creek. After two days they
camped at the mouth of
Buffalo Creek. There
they met the
British officers who had been sent to that place to supply
their troops. The
next morning Nellis marched his warriors
and prisoners to Fort Niagara, where his prisoners were turned
over to the
officers of that British garrison. [5,
12 at pages 274-276, 13, 15, 16]
At Fort Niagara Van
Campen’s
identity became known. The
Indians
wanted to torture and burn him in retaliation for all the
Indians he had killed
in the past, so they offered the British several prisoners in
exchange for
him. Van Campen
told the British
commander that he was a prisoner of war so could not be given
to the Indians,
and if he were the same horrific fate would befall a British
officer in rebel
hands. He was
offered a commission as a
British officer but refused.
[7]
The British moved
their prisoner
Moses Van Campen from Fort Niagara to Montreal and then to
Quebec [5, 17]. In
November, 1782 he was taken in a British
fleet that sailed from Quebec to New York.
In March, 1783 he was exchanged and rejoined Robinson’s
company in
Northumberland County. [5,
7, 13, 15,
16] He remained
on the company payroll
as a Lieutenant (a continental officer) through 4 November
1783 [6]. That
month the army was discharged [7].
Location
of
the Battle
Van Campen said the
battle took
place where Mr. Culbertson had been killed [7].
John Linn’s history says, “This was on the Capt. James
Irvine tract, a
mile west of the present limits of Lock Haven, on which there
was a spring
called in the survey of 1769 ‘Hicks’ Spring’.”
[18]
John
Meginness’ history says, “John Brady had a tract on Fishing
Creek, which was
returned as containing 393 acres.
Captain James Irvine’s tract, westward, contained 547
acres. Culbertson,
who was his tenant, was killed by
the Indians near what Lukens called ‘Hick’s Spring’.”
[19]
Lukens’ 1769 survey map shows Hick’s
Spring on Captain Irvine’s property [20].
Figure 2: Lukens’ Map, adapted from [20]
Exactly locating these events reveals a reason for Moses Van Campen to be put in charge of the Bald Eagle expedition; it was his home territory. In 1773 his father bought land on Fishing Creek, “eight miles above its junction with” the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. At that time Moses was a teenager living with his father, so this became his home. [12 at page 25]
The map below shows Fishing Creek with Bald
Eagle Creek west
of it. Hicks Spring
is at the black dot
on the west side of Bald Eagle Creek. The Van Campen
property was upstream (south)
of point-x by one and a half times the length of Great Island. To get a sense of
scale on this map, note
that Great Island is very close to a mile long and half a mile
wide.
Path
of the
Forced March
The forced march from Hicks Spring to Fort Niagara included the following places and events. As many of these places as possible are shown at the lettered pegs on the following map.
1. A Hicks Spring battle
2. mouth of Bald Eagle Creek rangers’ beached boat
3. across the river Indians abandoned canoes
4. went across hills
5. B Pine creek above its first fork elk for supper
6. went up Pine Creek
7. C third fork of Pine Creek
8. moved along most northerly branch of Pine Creek
9. D head of Pine Creek
10. went cross-country
11. E head of Genesee River
12. went down the Genesee
13. F Pigeon Woods Indians catching birds [21]
14. went farther down the Genesee
15. G Canneadea first village, gauntlet, dance
16. followed a path
17. settlements on Buffalo Creek
18. H mouth of Buffalo Creek (near Lake Erie) met British supply officers
19. I Fort
Niagara (on shore of Lake Ontario)
turned over to garrison
commander
Figure 4: Forced March.
The distance along the path taken is 238 miles. The map shows that the Indians and their British leader knew exactly where they were going and exactly how to get there. It also shows the consistency and accuracy of Van Campen’s memory. The path they took, from modern Jersey Shore to the head of the Genesee River, was a major Indian trail during Revolutionary times. Today it is called the Pine Creek Path [22].
Results
BARKLEY Mr. civilian no results known
BURNMELL or BURWELL Jonathan Private prisoner, wounded, healed,
lost weapon
CARTON or CRATON Henry Private prisoner, killed
CRONINGER or GRONINGER Leonard Private lost weapon
CULBERTSON Mr./Esquire civilian escaped from battle
DOUGHERTY James Private lost weapon
GREEN Ebenezer Sergeant killed
GREEN or GREENS Ebenezer Private lost weapon
HEMPLEMAN Adam Private lost weapon
HENDERSON James Private prisoner, killed
HUNT Elisha civilian prisoner
KNAPP or NAP Joshua Private lost weapon
LAMB Michael Private lost weapon
McGRADY William Private lost weapon
MILLER William Private lost weapon
PRAY Jonathan Private lost weapon
STEWART Richard Private prisoner, killed
VAN CAMPEN Moses Lieutenant prisoner, lost weapon
WALLACE John Private prisoner, killed
7 unidentified participants no results known
26 In the battle. (see list above)
- 9 Killed in the fight. (Sergeant Ebenezer Green, 8 unnamed)
- 3 Escaped before the surrender. (Esquire Culbertson, 2 unnamed)
-------
= 14 Captured.
- 3 Wounded prisoners killed immediately.
(Henry Craton, Richard Stewart, John Wallace)
------
= 11 Taken on the forced march.
- 1 Wounded prisoner killed during the march. (James Henderson)
------
= 10 Survivors. See note below.
(Jonathan Burwell - died after 1821 - pension file [8] )
(Leonard Croninger - died 1831 - D.A.R. patriot database [23] )
(James Daugherty - died 1825 - D.A.R. patriot database [23] )
(Adam Hempleman - died 1825 - D.A.R. patriot database [23] )
(Elisha/Elijah Hunt - died 1832 - pension file [24] )
(Joshua Knapp - died after 1833 - pension file [9] )
(William McGrady - died after 1789 - census 1790 [25] )
(William Miller - died after Oct 1783 - clothing, discharge pay [26, 27] )
(Jonathan Pray - died after 1820 - D.A.R. patriot database [23] )
(Moses Van Campen - died 1849 - pension file [17], memoirs [12] )
The eight unnamed men killed in the battle and the two unnamed men who escaped were: Mr. Barkley, Private Ebenezer Green or Greens, Michael Lamb, and the seven unidentified men.
Note: The survivor list might include either or both or neither of the unnamed men who escaped. The preceding is written as though neither is on that list. If the survivor list includes one of the escapees, then there was one man whose fate is unknown. If the list includes both escapees, then two men’s fates are unknown.
The list of men who were killed and the list of men who lost their weapons are mutually exclusive. Therefore I believe but cannot prove that Private Green and Michael Lamb were not killed; they escaped with Culbertson. If so, then Mr. Barkley and the seven unidentified participants were killed in the battle with Sergeant Green. Then the final results of the battle are:
