Friends of the Clyde Blockhouse

The Clyde Blockhouse had been a British fort during the French and Indian War, and was used as a storehouse by British Loyalists during the Revolution. Two important Loyalist units were in the area: Butler’s Rangers, commanded by Col. John Butler, and Brant’s Volunteers, led by Mohawk leader Joseph Brant. With their Iroquois allies, Butler and Brant conducted raids along the frontier.

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In the summer of 1779, an American army  led by General John Sullivan was sent to the Finger Lakes to destroy the Iroquois towns and drive the Tories and Indians into Canada.

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After routing the Loyalists and Iroquois at the Battle of Newtown, the American army marched through the region and destroyed more than 40 Indian villages and 160,000 bushels of corn. Though there was no large battle after Newtown, there were some smaller skirmishes, which are now barely a footnote to history.

 

An early tradition at Clyde, told by old trappers, was that in September of 1779 a part of Gen. Sullivan’s army proceeded to Lake Ontario, and on their return came through what is now the Town of Galen.

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The story was very specific, stating that the Americans (conjectured to be a body of riflemen, rather the main army) traveled south along the route of the Indian trail that led from Sodus Bay to the Clyde Blockhouse. Before reaching the old fort, the troops were said to have veered west, around the north side of what is today called Windy Hill, reaching the north bank of the Clyde River at a place called Bruin’s Cove. This maneuver may have been an attempt to ford the river unseen, to outflank the blockhouse and cut off the escape of its defenders.

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A party of Butler’s Rangers, and probably some Indians, were at the Blockhouse. There, they are thought to have loaded supplies on flat-bottomed boats known as bateaux. The Tories became aware of the Americans’ presence and evidently fled upriver to hide in Bruin's Cove, in the heart of the Galen Marsh. American scouts intercepted the Rangers at or near the cove. In what may have been a brief skirmish, the Tories are said to have sunk a British six-pounder light field piece in the river, to prevent its capture. One version of the story says that Sullivan’s own troops sank the gun. Many settlers reported seeing the cannon over the years, and in about 1840 there was an unsuccessful attempt to retrieve it. Eventually the story faded from memory and became legend.

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Recent research has shown that the old tale may be true. A body of American troops may have proceeded to Lake Ontario from Canandaigua on or about Sept. 10, 1779. In the days following, they appear to have been in the area of Irondequoit Bay, then presumably marched along the lake shore to Sodus Bay, then south to Canadesaga (Geneva). The old fort of Sodoms (Clyde) lay directly on this route, on the north bank of Theuheron Creek (Clyde River).

 

By examining British reports and correspondence, it is clear that Butler’s Rangers were convinced of the presence of American troops near Irondequoit Bay after September 10, 1779. That day, John Butler wrote following to Col. Mason Bolton (Commanding at Fort Niagara): "Captain Butler with Rowland Montour and some other Indians is out about Canadaragoe and Canadasagoe watching the motions of the enemy. I expect some account from them today. I hope to be able with what horses I can get from the Indians to have the grasshoppers, ammunition, &c, all brought up from the lake by tomorrow night, should the boats be arrived."

 
Butler is referring to the expected arrival at Irondequoit Bay of about 150 British troops and a pair of 3-pounder field guns, called "grasshoppers". It was his intent to use these reinforcements and others coming by land from Fort Niagara to stop Sullivan's advance to Genesee. By this statement, it is also clear that some of Butler's men and their Indian allies were lurking north of Sullivan's Army. Butler writes later in the same letter that "Captain Butler is come in this evening. The rebels left Canadasagoe yesterday and will be at Canadaragoe tonight. If they advance we shall meet them in all probability the day after tomorrow. . . PS: 11th. The rebels came last night to Canadaragoe. I have sent horses, &c, to the lake but have as yet got no accounts of the arrival of the boats. I wish the party may be able to reach this before the enemy approach. . . 12th. In the morning. The enemy came last night to a village called Snow-town on the road to Genesee, about a day's march from it. No news yet of the boats or reinforcement. We are just setting, as the Indians intend to attack them before they reach Genesee."

 

Despite signs of the enemy all around him, Sullivan did not know the position of Butler's main force, until one of the American scouting parties blundered into a bloody ambush on September 13. Though seventeen American troops lost their lives in the skirmish, Butler's trap had been sprung. The Tories and Indians quickly beat a retreat toward Niagara, though some of the Rangers headed north toward Lake Ontario.
 
At Red Creek ford, in what is today south Rochester, this group of Rangers split up. One group went directly to the mouth of the Genesee River to await boats from Niagara. The other group went to Indian Landing, at Irondequoit Bay, to investigate the whereabouts of the British reinforcements. Upon reaching Indian Landing, the party immediately retreated to the mouth of the Genesee River, where they joined their comrades. Convinced that American troops were near the lake, the Rangers hid in brush near the mouth of the river and did not even make a fire to keep warm. The expected reinforcement, consisting of about 150 men of the 8th Regiment of Foot, had already landed at Irondequoit Bay and themselves retreated toward Niagara. Meeting Butler at Buffalo Creek on the morning of the 15th, they were said to have "barely escaped falling in with the rebels". 

 

Upon his return to Fort Niagara, Col. John Butler wrote that he had been cut off from communication with Lake Ontario. On September 21, a scouting party was sent along the south shore of the lake, with a gunboat, to follow the American army:

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MAJOR JOHN BUTLER TO GENERAL FREDERICK HALDIMAND
 
Niagara 20 September 1779
 
I am sorry to inform you that the reinforcement Your Excellency is sending up are too late to save the country of the Five Nations from being destroyed. This had been very rapidly effected by the rebels whose superior strength and numbers made all our efforts to stop their progress of small avail.
 
Your Excellency has been informed through Colonel Bolton of everything that has happened, and the intelligence received of the numbers and designs of the enemy. The rebels, taking possession of Genesee, obliged me to retreat to this place for the want of provisions, which it was impossible to have conveyed to us in sufficient quantity, as all our communication with the lake was by that means cut off. By the scouts left to watch the motions of the enemy, I am informed that they have burnt the Genesee Village and destroyed the corn, and are making a hasty retreat. Whether they mean to return the same way they came, or by way of Fort Stanwix, I am not informed, but expect to soon know. Two parties of Rangers and Indians leave tomorrow, the one is to go along the lake, taking with them a gunboat to reconnoitre as far as Oswego, and we hope soon to be fully assured whether the rebels have any immediate designs against this post or not.
 
Notwithstanding the losses the Indians have suffered by the destruction of their corn and villages, I am happy to acquaint Your Excellency that they seem still unshaken in their attachment to His Majesty's cause, and declare, as soon as they have placed their women and children in security, they will go and take revenge of the enemy.

 

(Great Britain. Public Record Office, The British Headquarters Papers; National Archives of Canada, microfilm reel number M 349; also in Colonial Office Records, Series Q, Vol 16-2.)

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It is clear that some body of American forces were present near Lake Ontario, more than 30 miles north of Sullivan's position on the Genesee.

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An entry found in a journal of the Sullivan Campaign, dated September 20, 1779 mentions the presence of an old French and Indian War fort ambiguously located “on a brook”, between Canadesaga (Geneva) and Canandaigua. This is believed to be a direct reference to the Clyde Blockhouse, as found by scouts traveling the circuitous route described in the local tradition. The journal entry was made immediately after an officers’ conference, which undoubtedly included the reports of scouting parties. The author was Lt. Erkuries Beatty of the 4th Pennsylvania Regiment, which was attached to the Third Brigade commanded by Brigadier-General Edward Hand. This brigade included most of the scouts, including Selin's Independent Rifle Company and Morgan's Riflemen. Lt. Beatty was well placed to hear about what the riflemen had found. Basic knowledge that the Blockhouse was a Tory depot seems to have come from this episode, as there were no other American expeditions to the area. The same day as Lt. Beatty's journal entry, General Sullivan split up his army into five detachments. He would only have done so if he had information that there were no British forces nearby that could threaten his army.

 

The location of Sodoms definitely appeared on maps of the period, and it would have been imperative to send scouts toward Lake Ontario as the American army advanced deep into Indian country. The British planned to reinforce Butler's Rangers via the lake, and Sullivan clearly knew this fact. Aside from the British landing at Irondequoit, another larger landing was attempted three weeks later at Sodus Bay. 

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Major General Philip Schuyler wrote George Washington in March, 1779 and expressed the following concern:

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"Your Excellency will percieve that I have made a low Estimate of the Number of British Troops which I suppose will join the Indians—I was led to do so from a Consideration of the almost Impossibility of their subsisting the Force only which I have computed they may oppose—Should they however, by any Means, procure Intelligence that our Operations will be pointed to the Westward and should they concieve that we aim at Niagara they will probably take post at Oswego, in Order to prevent our supposed Descent into Ontario—In that Case, as soon as they are informed of our real Intentions, they may dispatch a Body of Troops to Irondequat, from thence to support the Senecas or make a Diversion by the Onondaga River: but if our Army moves with the Rapidity it ought the Seneca Towns may be destroyed and our Troops return to Cayuga before they can form a Junction with the Indians from Irondequat, or should they come in such Force up the Onondaga River as to render the Return of our Army, by Water, impracticable the Retreat may be made by Land thro’ Onondaga with the Loss of such Batteaus as must of Necessity go to Cayuga."

 

This concern was reiterated by General Sullivan himself, in a letter to George Washington dated April 16, 1779:

 

"Let me Repeat what I observed yesterday which is the probability of a force being Sent from Canada to prevent our passing into Canada by way of lake Ontario I also beg Leave to observe that when our advancement upon the Susquehannah is known it will probably be Conjectured that our Intention is agains[t] Niagara which will induce the Enemy Strongly to Reinforce that Post .  .  . when they find that our Intention is against the Indian Settlements these troops will undoubtedly Join them."

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George Washington's instructions to General Sullivan, May 31, 1779 included the following observations:

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"I need not urge the necessity of using every method in your power, to gain intelligence of the enemy’s strength motions and designs; nor need I suggest the extraordinary degree of vigilance and caution which will be necessary to guard against surprises from an adversary so secret desultory & rapid as the Indians. . . If a detachment operates on the Mohawk River the commanding Officer should be instructed to be very watchfull that no troops come from Oswegatchie and Niagara to Oswego without his knowledge; and for this purpose he should keep trusty spies at those three places to advertise him instantly of the movement of any party and its force. This detachment should also endeavour to keep up a constant intercourse with the main body. . . When you have completed the objects of your expedition, unless otherwise directed in the mean time, you will return to form a junction with the main army by the most convenient expeditious and secure route according to circumstances—The Mohawk river, if it can be done without too great risk, will perhaps be most elegible on several accounts. Much should depend on the relative position of the main army at the time."

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A letter written during the campaign, on September 8 by Major John Ross of the 2nd New Jersey Regiment, makes it clear that Sullivan did not know the enemy's position and worried about the arrival of reinforcements from Niagara:

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“Not a Shot has been fired at us on our March Since Newtown affair – The Enemy passed thr’o this place Several days before our Arrival but whether they are gone is uncertain – One Deserter came to us from them at Kendai, he left them near this place & informs they appeared much discouraged acknowledging their defeat – Says they were about 800 or 1000 strong near two thirds Indians. . . This morning if the weather permits (it having rained all night) we Shall march for Janasay [Genesee] about 60 or 70 miles further, which I expect will be the extent of our Movements outwards – at Janasay I cannot doubt but they will oppose us in force as it is not more than 70 or 80 Miles from  thence to Niagara, where it is said they have a large body of Indians collected. . .”

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On October 21, 1779, Lt. Col. Mason Bolton (the British commander of Ft. Niagara) reported to General Frederick Haldimand:

 

"The rebels knew of troops coming up from Canada, for which reason I sent the Light Company of the 34th and a detachment of Royal Emigrants [84th Regiment]. I ordered them to march by land to join Major Butler. This, with the reports I spread of a number of troops being on the way from Carleton Island in order to land at the Genesee and cut off their retreat, I believe in some measure prevented Mr Sullivan's advancing further, as well as doing all the mischief he intended, for several of the cornfields even in sight of the road they cut are safe and not in the least damaged."

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Therefore, the evidence is strongly in favor of American troops proceeding to Lake Ontario and scouting along the shore as described in the local tradition. And, though it has not been proved that the Rangers actually possessed a six-pounder cannon during the Sullivan Campaign, Col. Butler requested such a gun in June, 1778.

 

The actual scouts employed in the mission have not been identified, but one particular unit is suspected: two companies of riflemen commanded by Captains John Schott and Anthony Selin. Their combined "Independent Corps" was between 44 and 47 men, and there is no mention of the unit's whereabouts between September 2nd and October 3rd. Most telling, there is no reference to these highly capable scouts in the days surrounding the Groveland Ambuscade - the very time they may have been at Irondequoit Bay.

 

In light of what is now known, the story of Butler's cannon and the action at Bruin's Cove may well be true. If so, it was actually an important episode during the campaign. The scouts' presence near Irondequoit apparently kept crucial British reinforcements and firepower from reaching Butler's Rangers prior to the Groveland Ambuscade. Their report undoubtedly contributed to Sullivan's decision to split up his army and, except for one small detachment moving east, to return the way they came.  If one or more cannon were sunk near Clyde, it also caused the permanent loss of valuable British artillery.

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Today, Bruin’s Cove is part of the Galen Marsh Wildlife Management Area owned by New York State. Please note that using metal detectors and searching for or removing historic artifacts without a permit is strictly prohibited. A Legends and Lore marker about the abandoned cannon will be installed at the Erie Canal trailhead along State Route 31 West, near Melvin Brook, in 2018. The Clyde Blockhouse is the only Revolutionary War site in Wayne County.