Peter Stuyvesant, the Last Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam Part 11

"Praise the Lord, O England's Jerusalem and Netherland's zion, praise ye the Lord! He hath secured your gates and blessed your possessions with peace, even here where the threatened torch of war was lighted, where the waves reached our lips and subsided only through the power of the Almighty."

From this moral conflict, which came so near being a physical one, Stuyvesant emerged very victorious. The Company had ever been disposed to sympathize with him in his measures. The delegate Le Bleuw, who had carried charges against him to Holland, was almost rudely repulsed, and was forbidden to return to New Netherland. The Directors of the Company wrote to the Governor:

"We are unable to discover in the whole remonstrance one single point to justify complaint. You ought to have acted with more vigor against the ringleaders of the gang, and not to have condescended to answer protests with protests. It is therefore our express command that you punish what has occurred as it deserves, so that others may be deterred in future, from following such examples."

To the citizens they wrote,

"We enjoin it upon you that you conduct yourselves quietly and peaceably, submit yourselves to the government placed over you, and in no wise allow yourselves to hold particular convention with the English or others, in matters of form or deliberation on affairs of state, which do not appertain to you, or attempt any alteration in the state and its government."

A ferry was established to convey pa.s.sengers from one side of the river to the other. The licensed ferryman was bound to keep suitable boats and also a lodge on each side of the river to protect pa.s.sengers from the weather. The toll established by law, was for a wagon and two horses one dollar; for a wagon and one horse eighty cents; a savage, male or female, thirty cents; each other person fifteen cents.

When Stuyvesant was preparing to defend New Netherland from the English, he encountered another great annoyance. It will be remembered that the Swedish government claimed the territory on the South, or Delaware river, upon which the Dutch governor had erected Fort Casimir. Gerrit Bikker was in command of the fort, with a garrison of twelve men. On the morning of the first of June, 1654, a strange sail was seen in the offing. A small party was sent out in a boat, to reconnoitre. They returned with the tidings that it was a Swedish ship full of people, with a new governor; and that they had come to take possession of the place, affirming that the fort was on land belonging to the Swedish government.

Bikker with his small garrison, and almost dest.i.tute of ammunition, could make no resistance. Twenty or thirty soldiers landed from the Swedish ship, entered the open gate of the fort and took possession of the place. John Rising the commander of the ship, stated that he was obeying the orders of his government; that the territory belonged to Sweden, and that neither the States-General of the Netherlands nor the West India Company had authorized Governor Stuyvesant to erect a fort upon that spot.

The garrison was disarmed, two shotted guns were fired over the works in token of their capture, and the name of the fort was changed to Trinity, as it was on Trinity Sunday that the fort was taken. A skilful engineer immediately employed many hands in strengthening the ramparts. The region was called New Sweden, and John Rising a.s.sumed his office as governor. Courteously he sent word to Governor Stuyvesant of his arrival and of his capture of the forts. He also summoned the chiefs of the neighboring tribes and entered into a treaty of friendship with them. Within a month he announced to the home government that the population of New Sweden had risen to three hundred and sixty-eight. "I hope," he added,

"we may be able to preserve them in order and in duty, and to constrain them if necessary. I will do in this respect, all that depends upon me. We will also endeavor to shut up the river."

Governor Stuyvesant was very indignant, in view of what he deemed the pusillanimous conduct of Bikker in "this dishonorable surrender of the fort." It was in vain for him to attempt its recovery. But with an eagle eye and an agitated mind he watched for an opportunity to retaliate.

About the middle of September, a Swedish ship, the Golden Shark, bound for the Delaware river, under command of Captain Elswyck, entered Sandy Hook and anch.o.r.ed behind Staten Island. The captain had made a mistake and supposed that he had entered the mouth of South river.

Discovering his error, he sent a boat up to Manhattan for a pilot.

Stuyvesant's long-looked-for hour had come. He arrested the boat's crew, and sent them all to the guard-house. He also seized the Shark and transferred her cargo to the Company's magazine on sh.o.r.e. He then sent a courteous message to Governor Rising, at New Sweden, inviting him to visit New Amsterdam, "to arrange and settle some unexpected differences." He promised him a hospitable reception, but declared that he should detain the Swedish ship and cargo, "until a reciprocal rest.i.tution shall have been made." Governor Rising declined the invitation, not deeming it judicious to place himself so effectually in the power of his impetuous antagonist.

Upon the capture of fort Casimir, Governor Stuyvesant had immediately sent word of the occurrence to the Amsterdam Directors. In November he received their reply. It was, in brief, as follows:

"We hardly know whether we are more astonished at the audacious enterprise of the Swedes in taking our fort on the South river, or at the cowardly surrender of it by our commander, which is nearly insufferable. He has acted very unfaithfully, yea treacherously. We entreat you to exert every nerve to avenge that injury, not only by restoring affairs to their former situation, but by driving the Swedes from every side of the river. We have put in commission two armed ships, the King Solomon and the Great Christopher. The drum is beaten daily in the streets of Amsterdam for volunteers. And orders are given for the instant arrest of Bikker."

Stuyvesant adopted vigorous measures to cooperate with the little fleet upon its arrival, in its warfare against New Sweden. The 25th of August, 1655, was set apart as a day of fasting and prayer,

"to implore the only bountiful G.o.d, that it may please him to bless the projected enterprise, undertaken only for the greater security, extension and consolidation of this province, and to render it prosperous and successful to the glory of his name."

Enlistments were pushed with great energy. Three North river vessels were chartered, pilots were engaged and provisions and ammunition laid in store. A French privateer, L'Esperance, which chanced to enter the harbor of New Amsterdam at this time, was also engaged for the service.

It seems hardly consistent with the religious character of Stuyvesant and with his prayers for the divine blessing, that the Lord's day should have been chosen for the sailing of the expedition. But on the first Sunday in September, after the morning sermon, the sails of the little squadron of seven vessels were unfurled and the fleet put to sea, containing a military force of about seven hundred men. Governor Stuyvesant in person, commanded the expedition. He was accompanied by the Vice-Governor, De Lille, and by Domine Megapolensis, as chaplain.

On Friday morning they entered the Delaware river, and with favoring wind and tide, sailed up beyond fort Casimir, and landed their forces about a mile above. A flag of truce was promptly sent to the fort, demanding "the direct rest.i.tution of our own property." Some parleying occupied the time during the day, while Stuyvesant was landing his batteries. The next morning the Swedish commander, convinced of the folly of any further attempt at resistance, went on board the Balance and signed a capitulation. The victor was generous in his terms. The Swedes were allowed to remove their artillery; twelve men were to march out with full arms and accoutrements; all the rest retained their side-arms, and the officers held their personal property.

At noon the Dutch, with pealing bugles and flying banners again entered upon possession of the fort. Many of the Swedes took the oath of allegiance to the New Netherland government. The next day was Sunday. Chaplain Megapolensis preached a sermon to the troops. But a short distance above fort Casimir there was another Swedish fort called Christina. It was not denied that the Swedes had a legitimate t.i.tle to that land. Indeed after the Company in Holland had sent directions to Stuyvesant to drive the Swedes from the river, they sent to him another order modifying these instructions. In this dispatch they said:

"You may allow the Swedes to hold the land on which fort Christina is built, with a garden to cultivate the tobacco, because it appears that they made this purchase with the previous consent of the Company, provided said Swedes will conduct themselves as good subjects of our government."

But the Swedish Governor, Rising, having lost fort Casimir, re-a.s.sembled his forces and strengthened his position in Fort Christina, which was two miles farther up the river. This fort was about thirty-five miles below the present site of Philadelphia, on a small stream called Christina creek. The fleet anch.o.r.ed at the mouth of the Brandywine, and invested the fort on all sides. The Swedes outside of the fort were ruthlessly pillaged; a battery was erected and the fort summoned to surrender. Resistance was hopeless. The articles of capitulation were soon signed between the victor and the vanquished.

"The Swedes marched out with their arms, colors flying, matches lighted, drums beating and fifes playing; and the Dutch took possession of the fort, hauled down the Swedish flag and hoisted their own."

The Swedes, who to the number of about two hundred had settled in that vicinity, were allowed to remain in the country, if they wished to do so, upon condition of taking the oath of allegiance to the Dutch authorities. Thus the Swedish dominion on the South river was brought to an end. This was the most powerful military expedition which had ever moved from any of the colonies. The Swedes had held their independent position on the Delaware but about seventeen years.

Leaving an agent, as temporary commandant, Stuyvesant returned triumphantly to fort Amsterdam.

And now for ten years there had been peace with the Indians, when a gross outrage again roused their savage natures to revenge. The Indians, ever accustomed to roam the forest, and to gather fruits, nuts and game wherever they could find them, had not very discriminating views of the rights of private property. Ensign Van Dyck, the former treasurer, and one of the most noted men in the colony, detected an Indian woman in his orchard gathering peaches.

Inhumanly he shot her dead. This roused all the neighboring tribes, and they united to avenge her death. There was certainly something chivalrous in this prompt combination of the warriors not to allow, what they deemed the murder of a sister, to pa.s.s unpunished.

Taking advantage of the absence of Governor Stuyvesant, with nearly all the military force he could raise, on his expedition to the South river, sixty-four war canoes, containing nineteen hundred armed Indians, were at midnight on the fifteenth of September, stealthily paddled into the waters surrounding fort Amsterdam. They were picked warriors from eight tribes. The night was dark, and the sighing of the wind through the tree tops and the breaking of the surf upon the beach added to the deep repose of the sleepers.

The Indians landed and stealthily crept through the silent streets; and yet, from some unexplained cause, they made no attack. Gradually the inhabitants were awakened, and there was a rapid a.s.sembling of the princ.i.p.al men within the fort. Several of the chiefs were called before them. They gave no satisfactory account of the object of their formidable visit, and uttered no threats. On the contrary they promised to withdraw before night, to Nutten Island, as Governor's island was then called. Still, watching their opportunity, one of the warriors pierced the bosom of Van Dyck with an arrow.

The cry of murder rang through the streets. The inhabitants were prepared for the not unexpected emergency. The military rushed from the fort, and a fierce battle ensued. The Indians, leaving three of their warriors dead in the streets, and having killed five white men and wounded three others, were driven to their canoes, and crossed over the North river to the Jersey sh.o.r.e.

And now their savage natures burst forth unrestrained. The flourishing little villages of Pavonia and Hoboken were instantly in flames. A general scene of ma.s.sacre and destruction ensued. Men, women and children fell alike before the bullet, the arrow and the tomahawk. The inhabitants of fort Amsterdam in anguish witnessed the ma.s.sacre, but could render no a.s.sistance. Nearly all their armed men were far away on the Delaware.

The savages, elated with success, crossed over to Staten island. The scattered settlements there numbered about ninety souls. There were eleven farms in a high state of cultivation, and several plantations.

The settlers had received warning of their danger, perhaps by the flames and musketry of Hoboken and Pavonia, perhaps by some messenger from fort Amsterdam. Sixty-seven of them succeeded in reaching some stronghold where they were able to defend themselves. The rest, twenty-three in number, were cut off by the savages. The buildings of twenty-eight farms and plantations were laid in ashes and the crops destroyed.

For three days these merciless Indians had free range, with scarcely any opposition. During this time one hundred of the Dutch were killed, one hundred and fifty were taken prisoners, and more than three hundred were deprived of house, clothes and food. Six hundred cattle and a vast amount of grain were destroyed. The pecuniary value of the damage inflicted amounted to over eighty thousand dollars.

Such were the consequences which resulted from the folly and crime of one man in shooting an Indian woman who was purloining peaches from his orchard. Terror spread far and wide. The farmers with their families, fled from all directions to fort Amsterdam for protection.

The feeble settlements on Long island were abandoned in dismay.

Prowling bands of savages wandered over the island of Manhattan, burning and destroying. No one dared to venture to any distance from the fort. An express was dispatched to South river to inform Governor Stuyvesant of the peril of the colony, and to implore his return. This led to the hurried close of the transactions on the Delaware, and probably secured for the Swedes more favorable terms of capitulation than they would otherwise have obtained.

The return of Governor Stuyvesant with his military force, rea.s.sured the colonists. In such an hour his imperious nature hesitated not a moment in a.s.suming the dictatorship. The one man power, so essential on the field of battle, seemed requisite in these scenes of peril.

There was no time for deliberation. Prompt and energetic action was necessary.

The governor sent soldiers to the outer settlements; forbade any vessel to leave the harbor, forced into the ranks every man capable of bearing arms, and imposed a heavy tax to meet the expense of strengthening the fortifications. Several persons, who were about to sail for Europe, protested against being thus detained. Governor Stuyvesant fined them each ten dollars for disrespect to the established authorities, and contemptuously advised them to "possess their souls in patience."

The savages found their captives an inc.u.mbrance. Winter was approaching and provisions were scarce. They sent one of their prisoners, an influential man, captain Pos, who had been superintendent of the colony on Staten island, to propose the ransom of those captured for a stipulated amount of powder and b.a.l.l.s. As captain Pos did not return as soon as was expected, another messenger was sent, and soon one of the chiefs returned to Governor Stuyvesant, fourteen Dutch men, women and children, as a present in token of his good will, and asking that a _present_ of powder and ball might be forwarded to him.

The governor sent in return some ammunition and two Indian captives and promised to furnish more ammunition when other Christians should be brought in.

Three envoys from New Amsterdam visited the savages bearing these presents. They were received with the courtesies which civilized nations accord to a flag of truce. In this way twenty-eight more captives were ransomed. The promise was given that others should be soon brought in. Governor Stuyvesant inquired at what price they would release all the remaining prisoners en ma.s.se, or what they would ask for each individual. They deliberated upon the matter and then replied that they would deliver up twenty-eight prisoners for seventy-eight pounds of powder, and forty staves of lead.

The governor immediately sent the amount, and hoping to excite their generosity, added as a present in token of friendly feeling, thirty-five pounds of powder and ten staves of lead. But the savages did not appreciate this kindness. They returned the twenty-eight prisoners and no more.

The governor of the Swedish colony on the Delaware arrived at New Amsterdam with a numerous suite, awaiting their transportation to Europe according to the terms of the capitulation. He was in very ill humor, and Governor Stuyvesant found it impossible to please him. He entered bitter complaints against the governor, declaring that the articles of the late treaty had been grossly violated.

"In Christina," said he,

"the women were violently driven out of their houses. The oxen, cows and other animals were butchered. Even the horses were wantonly shot. The whole country was desolated. Your men carried off even my own property, and we were left without means of defence against the savages. No proper accommodations have been provided for me and my suite at New Amsterdam, and our expenses have not been defrayed."

With much dignity Governor Stuyvesant vindicated himself. "I offered,"

he said,

"to leave fort Christina in your possession, but you refused it. I am not responsible for any property for which I have not given a receipt. On account of your high station, I offered more than once to entertain you in my own house. As this did not satisfy you, you were induced to reside in one of the princ.i.p.al houses of the city. There you indulged in unmannerly threats that you would return and destroy this place. This so annoyed the people of the house that, for peace sake, they abandoned their lodgings.

"The rumors of these threats reached the ears of the captains of the small vessels, and the pa.s.sengers with whom you were to embark. They did not deem it safe to take you and your suite, with such a large number of dependents. They feared to land you in England or France, unless they should chance to meet some English or French vessel in the Channel.

We entered into no obligation to defray your expenses or those of your unusual suite."

Soon after this Governor Rising and his attendants were embarked for Europe in two vessels. A narrative was, at the same time, sent to the fatherland of the recent Indian troubles. The defenceless condition of the country was explained and a.s.sistance earnestly implored.