the west had never been suspended, constituted no inconsidera

Could they have been regularly could their services have been time, any they would have constituted an

ble portion of their forces. enrolled and disciplined, or at

depended upon effective body of

men

;

but their modes of warfare would not

admit of discipline, and their habits of living would not permit

any considerable numbers, except at certain That they were a scourge to the frontier

their attendance, in

seasons of the year.

settlements, is unquestioned ; yet in no instance does it appear that they constituted the entire attacking force, but on the con trary that they were invariably led by tories, whose deeds of cruelty outrivaled savage ingenuity, and whose numbers, in most

instances, was greater than that of the Indians. The principal campaign in which the British Indians

were that was undertaken in to determine the control engaged 1777, of the Hudson river. Sweeping down from Canada with his powerful army, Burgoyne recaptured Crown point and Ticonderoga, while his auxiliaries, the Indians and tories, attacked the defenses more remote from his route. Of these Fort marched Colonel Butler the was which first, against Schuyler

The

reference

is

not

to the lower

Mohawk castle of which Little Abraham was chief sachem while his brother Henknown

the of Praying Mohawks, at the mouth Schoharie creek, which maintained at least a nominal alliance with the colonists, or rather observed the neutrality to which General they had pledged themselves. drik lived, but