(Capt. Joseph Brant by Charles Wilson Peale, Independence National Park Collection in Philadelphia)
During the American Revolutionary war, 1777-1784, Joseph Brant, Thayendanega, commanded an Indian war party made up of Loyalist Native Mohawks and Loyalist non-Native farmers from the province of New York.
Operating from the village of Onaquqga and Unadilla on the Susquehanna River, Captain Brant and his men were instrumental in supporting the British cause in the Upper Province of New York and in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Aiding in the destructuion of large agricultural areas in order to deny food stocks to Washington's army and to deprive the Rebels of much need resources, Brant and his men carried out a protracted guerilla war in support of the crown. His men also aided in the escape of and protection of those Loyalists who were being terrorized by Rebel Committees of Public Safety and Militias.
Respected by friends and feared by foes, Captain Brant and his men fought in some of the bloodiest actions of the time, Oriskany Creek, Wyoming Valley, Cherry Valley, Minisink, Stone Arabia, and Klock's Field. Operating with such Loyalist Regiments as The King's Royal Regiment of New York, Butler's Rangers, Kings Rangers, Roya Highland Emigrants, and Regular British Units such as The King's 8th of Foot and the 34th of Foot, and along with other Loyal Native War Captains, John Deseronto, Corn Planter, and Old Smoke, Brant helped turn areas of New York into a wasteland. Because of Brant's actions, his men were killed on capture and Brant was known to the Rebels as That Monster Brant.
In the summer of 1779, Brant along with Butler's Rangers, units of the British Army from Ft. Niagara, and war parties from the Seneca, Mohawk, Onondaga, and Mingos attempted to stop the rebel Brigadier General Sullivan. Sullivan had been sent to destroy Iroquois villages by General Washington as reprisal for Indian and Loyalist raids. Unable to stop this army of 5000 men Brant, Old Smoke, Corn Planter and Lt. Colonel John Butler fought a desperate delaying action in order to allow the escape of many refugees, both Native and non-Native. That winter Brant was forced to retire to Ft. Niagara at the mouth of the Niagara River on Lake Ontario. While he was there the safe areas of Onoquaga and Unadilla were destroyed by Rebel Militia.
Ft. Niagara had become a large refugee camp after Sullivan's raid, and though the British still sent out large raiding forces from this Fort until the end of the war, the Iroquois Confederacy had been effectively broken as a politcial force.
When the war was over in 1783, Joseph Brant along with others, negotiated with Governor Haldimand for compensation in the form of large land grants. These areas near Cataraqui(Kingston) and along the length of the Grand River became the new home of those Native of the Six Nations who had supported the British cause and had held fast to the Covenant Chain. Most of Brant's non-Native Volunteers had joined other Loyalist Regiments. A few(15) remained under Brant's command and were settled by him along the banks of the Grand River. These men were not listed in official military regiments and, as such, were not entitled to land grants or compensation for losses as a result of their loyalty to the Crown.
Joseph Brant went on to build the first Anglican Church at what became known as Brant's Ford(present day Brantford). In 1791 he aided the treaty negotiations between the United States government and the western Indian tribes in the Ohio and Illinois territories. In 1807 Brant died at his home on the shores of Burlington Bay.
For more information on joining Brant's Volonteers contact Michael B. Hurley at: Tel./Fax (519) 756-9072
P & S GUNS and MILITARIA (A large selection of rifles, bayonets and miscellaneous items)
26 JUNE, 1997
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