Minisink Battle
Brandt and his fighting men were the scourge of the Shawangunk region during the entire War of the Revolution. His name was a terror to the inhabitants of that locality; and deeds of blood and cruelty, performed by him and under his direction, are told to this day that are too harrowing for belief.
Historians differ as to whether Col. Joseph Brandt was a half-breed or a pure-blood Mohawk. The traits of character developed in his career would seem to indicate the latter as being nearer the truth. He had one sister, Molly, who became the legman of Sir William Johnson. Brandt was placed, through the influence of Sir William, at a school in Lebanon, Connecticut, where the lad was educated for the Christian ministry. It would appear, however, he adopted an entirely different mode of life. At the age of twenty he became the secretary and agent of Sir William, through whose influence he was induced to espouse the cause of Great Britain in the revolutionary trouble that was brewing. Through the same influence he was created a Colonel of the British army; and by reason of his birth was a warrior-chief of the Iroquois. Having had the advantages of a liberal education, he became, in consequence, an influential personage among them, and was treated with much consideration by the British monarch. He organized and sent forth the predatory bands of Indians which devastated the frontier from the Water-Gap to the Mohawk river. Some of these irruptions he commanded in person, particularly those which visited Wawarsing (Ulster county) and Minisink. In 1780 he boasted that the Esopus border was his old fighting ground.
Sir William Johnson. Brandt was placed, through the influence of Sir William, at a school in Lebanon, Connecticut, where the lad was educated for the Christian ministry. It would appear, however, he adopted an entirely different mode of life. At the age of twenty he became the secretary and agent of Sir William, through whose influence he was induced to espouse the cause of Great Britain in the revolutionary trouble that was brewing. Through the same influence he was created a Colonel of the British army; and by reason of his birth was a warrior-chief of the Iroquois. Having had the advantages of a liberal education, he became, in consequence, an influential personage among them, and was treated with much consideration by the British monarch. He organized and sent forth the predatory bands of Indians which devastated the frontier from the Water-Gap to the Mohawk river. Some of these irruptions he commanded in person, particularly those which visited Wawarsing (Ulster county) and Minisink. In 1780 he boasted that the Esopus border was his old fighting ground. His personal appearance is thus described: “He was good looking, of fierce aspect, tall, and rather spare, and well-spoken. He wore moccasins elegantly trimmed with beads, leggings, and a breech-cloth of superfine blue, a short, green coat with two silver epaulets, and a small, round laced hat. By his side was an elegant, silver-mounted cutlass; and his blanket of blue cloth (purposely dropped in the chair on which he sat, to display his epaulets) was gorgeously adorned with a border of red.”
Brandt has been denounced as an inhuman wretch. Even an English author attributes to him the atrocities of Wyoming. Although in battle he generally gave full scope to the murderous propensities of his followers, it cannot be denied be endeavored to mitigate the horrors of war whenever he could do so without destroying his influence with his own race.
During the summer of 1779, Brandt with about three hundred Iroquois warriors set out from Niagara. About the middle of July they appeared on the heights on the west of Minisink, like a dark cloud hanging on the mountain tops, ready to break upon the plain below. Just before daylight, on the morning of the 20th, the inhabitants of the valley were awakened from their slumbers by the crackling of the flames of their dwellings. Cries of dismay, the shrieks of the victims of the tomahawk and scalping knife, and the war-whoop of the savages, broke the morning air in all their terror. Some managed to escape to the woods with their wives and children, and some to the blockhouses. The savages and Tories plundered, burned and killed as they were disposed.
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