The rescuing party pressed on its rough way
with their Wappinger Indian guide, and Christofful Davids
as interpreter, and on the 5th of September they reached the vicinity of the
New Fort. The following is Captain Kregier's account:
"September 5th. Arrived, about two o'clock in the afternoon, within sight
of their fort, which we discovered situated upon a lofty plain. Divided our
force in two Lieutenant Couwenhoven and I led the right wing and Lieutenant
Stillwell and Ensign Niessen the left wing. Proceeded in this disposition,
along the hill so as Not to be seen and in order to come right under the fort;
but as it was somewhat level on the left side of the fort, and the soldiers
were seen by a squaw who was piling wood there, and who sent forth a terrible
scream which was heard by the Indians, who were standing and working near the
fort, we instantly fell upon them.
The Indians rushed forthwith through the
fort towards their houses, which stood about a stone's throw from the fort, in
order to secure their arms and thus hastily picked up few guns and bows and
arrows; but we were so hot at their heels that they were forced to leave many
of them behind. We kept up a sharp fire upon them, and pursued them so closely
that they leaped into the creek which ran in front of the lower part of their
maize land. On reaching the opposite side of the kill, they courageously
returned our fire, which we sent back, so that we were obliged to send a party
across to dislodge them.
In this attack the Indians lost their chief, named
Japequanchen, fourteen other warriors, four women and three children, whom we
saw lying both on this and on the other side of the creek. But probably many
more were wounded when rushing from the fort to the houses, when we did give
them a brave charge. On our side, three killed and six wounded; and we have
recovered three-and-twenty Christians, prisoners, out of their hands. We have
also taken thirteen of them prisoners, Both men and women."
The fort was a perfect square. with one row of palisades set all round, being
about fifteen feet above and three feet under ground. They had already
completed two angles of stout palisades, all of them almost as thick as a
man's body, having two rows of portholes, one above the other; and they were
busy at the third angle. These angles were constructed so solid and so strong
as not to be excelled by Christians. The fan was not so large as the one we
had already burned.
The Christian prisoners informed us that they were removed
every night into the woods, each night into a different place, through fear of
the Dutch, and brought back in the morning. But on the day before we attacked
them, a Mohawk visited them, who slept with them during the night. When they
would convey the Christian captives again into the woods, the Mohawk said to
the Esopus Indians. --'What! Do you carry the Christian prisoners every night
into the woods? To which they answered 'Yes.' Whereupon the Mohawk said, 'Let
them remain at liberty here, for you live so far in the woods that the Dutch
will not come hither, for they cannot come so far without being discovered
before they reach you.' Wherefore they kept the prisoners by them that night.
The Mohawk departed in the morning for the Menacing and left a new blanket and
two pieces of cloth, which fell to us also as booty; and we came just that
day, and fell on them so that a portion of them is entirely annihilated"
In this historical recital, we have followed authentic documents. But there is
a history among us for which we are not dependent on State archives. The
traditions of these early times have been preserved with remarkable clearness
among the descendants of Louis DuBois. Most of them I have myself heard many
times from my grandfather and great-uncle. We associated them with the
historical narrative already given, and we think correctly. The approach of
the rescuing party at the New Fort was betrayed by their dogs, which ran on in
advance and centered the Indian camp.
The cry was at once raised and repeated,
"Swanekers and deers," "White man's dogs," and thus and
stealthy approach was betrayed. (This jargon, swanekers and deers, with its
translation--white man's dogs--has been preserved among us for two centuries,
wholly by tradition. You may imagine, therefore, how much I was interested in
discovering lately, by contemporaneous documents, that the
word "swanekers" was the Indian word for "white man" among
the Long Island Indians. In this instance our tradition is verified.)
It is
also said, that as the whites neared the fort Louis DuBois pressed on
ardently, and perhaps incautiously, in advance.Thus exposed, an Indian, from
behind a tree, was about to draw his bow for the fatal shot. But, for some
cause, the arrow did not rest upon the bowstring, and DuBois instantly sprang
upon him the agility and strength of a lion, and dispatched him with his
sword. One tradition has it that DuBois ran him through with such force that
the sword entered a log, and had to be withdrawn by placing his foot upon the
prostrate body, and thus jerking it away by main strength .
"After this," says the account given in the DuBois Family Record,' a
consultation was held as to what course it was best to pursue. They agreed to
wait till the dusk of the evening, that they might not be discovered at a
distance, and then to rush upon them with a loud shout, as though a large
force were coming to attack them, rightly judging that the Indians would flee,
and leave their prisoners behind. The savages were engaged in preparations for
the slaughter of one of their prisoners and that none other than the wife of DuBois.
She had been placed on a pile of wood, on which she was to be
burned to death. For her consolation, she had engaged in singing psalms, which
having excited the attention of the Indians, they urged her by signs to resume
her singing. She did so, and fortunately continued till the arrival of her friends. In good time her deliverers came. The alarm of their approach was
given by the cry of 'White man's dogs--white man's dogs;' for while they were
listening to the singing of their wives, the dogs had gone on and entered the
encampment.
They raised a shout.The Indians fled, and, strange as it may seem,
the prisoners also fled with them, but DuBois, being in advance and
discovering his wife running after the Indians, he called her by name, which
soon brought her to her friends. Having recovered the prisoners, they returned
in safety by the way which they went. "The recovered captives informed their husbands that they were soon to be sacrificed to
savage fury, and that they had prolonged their lives by singing for their
captors, and were just then singing the beautiful psalm of the 'Babylonish
Captives.' when they heard the welcome sound of their delivers' voices.
The following, from William E. DuBois, will here be interesting: --
"In the psalmody of the French protestants, every psalm in French version
and metre had its own tune; and not only the words, but the music written on
the stave, were to be found in their books of devotion or appended to their
printed Bibles. In a folio copy of the French Bible, printed at Amsterdam, the writer has found the music and words of this very psalm, the 137th,
undoubtedly the same as was sung by Catherine DuBois on this extraordinary
occasion, and touchingly adapted to the very circumstances of the captives.
The reader will allow us first to quote a part of the psalm as it stands in
our English Bible, and then add the corresponding verses of the French, as it
was sung. As to the music, it is a slow, plaintive chant, in the minor mode,
beautifully adapted to the subject. It is not in accordance with the style of
our modern church music; but those who have listened to the sacred music in French Protestant churches (undoubtedly the same as was used centuries
ago), will agree with the writer, that it delightfully harmonizes with the
solemnity and elevation of Christian worship. The following is our English
version: 'By the river of Babylon, there we sat down: yea, we wept when we
remembered Zion, etc. etc.
The following is the French version as she sang
it:-
-Etna's assis aux rives aquatiques de
Babilon,
Pleurions melancholiqucs,
Nous souvenans du pays de Sion,
Et au milieu de I' habitation,
On de regrets tant de picure epandimes.
Lors ceux qvi Ia captifs noun emrncnerent,
De len sonner Cart nous importunerent,
El de Sion les chansons reciter.
Las! dimes nous, qui pourroit inciter
Nos tristes cocurs a chanter Ia lotiange
De notre Dien en Un terra etrange.
These psalms were much in use among the
Huguenots, and they had been forbidden to sing them where they could be heard
by others. These very words she had sung doubtless many times in suppressed
tones, when hunted by ruthless persecutors and in peril of imprisonment and
death. She had sung them in her voluntary exile from kindred and country, when her
husband, her babe and religious faith were her only comforts. But now she sung
them with the joy of a believer about to die. Her singing proves her both a
Christian and a courageous woman.
