208

COUNT FRONTENAC’S EXPEDITION AGAINST THE ONONDAGAS.

Do therefore advise that a letter be wrote to the Indians to give them encouragement and to acquaintthem the King of England has sent them some presents & desire them to be watchfull.

At a Council held at his Ma tys fifort in New Yorke the 31 st day of July 1696.

Present his Excell: Benjamin Fletcher etcffred PhilipsSteph: CortlandtNich Bayard

His Excell : did communicate to the Council intelligence from the frontiers that the enemy areupon their march that the Indians of the five Nations have sent to call for assistance of Christian

r ce and did expresse his readynesse to go to Albany

His Excell : did desire their opinion what is to be done being there’s no money in the Coffers

It is the opinion of the Council that there may be men found upon the frontiers that uponencouragement will march to the Indian Country if there were a fund to answer the charge thereof

His Excell , did declare his readynesse to go provided they will finde money to answer the necessarycharge thereof

Coll Cortlandt proferred his personall credit for £200 towards the expedicon

Coll Bayard offers the same fired Phillips offers the same L* Coll. Monvielle the same Coll Heath-cote the same

His Excell : did recommend to them to procure the credit each for £200 forthwith.

■ Esq ri

Gab MonvielleCaleb Heathcote

Esq ri

FRONTENAC’S EXPEDITION AGAINST -THE ONONDAGA INDIANS. 1696.

[ Paris Doc. V. ]

The Count is already advised, by despatches at the departure of last year’s ships, of the prepara-tions for a considerable expedition against the Iroquois and principally against the Onnontagueswhich is the chief nation, where the councils of the other five are held, the most devoted to theEnglish , and the most strenuously opposed to the negociations for peace of preceding years. Itbecame of importance to crush them, and it appeared to many more advantageous to do so duringwinter inasmuch as it was certain, said they, to find in the Village at least all the women and childrenwho being destroyed or captured would draw down ruin on the warriors or oblige them to surrenderto us.

The necessary preparations for this expedition were begun last autumn, but the large amount ofsnow produced a change of design, the rather as it was impossible to transport the Militia ( habitans )from the south shore and the Island of Orleans to the government of Quebec , the river having beenabsolutely impassible from the sailing of the vessels to the commencement of this year.

This it was that caused the adoption of the resolution to proceed by the Mohawk country withwhatever troops could be collected capable of travelling on the snow with the militia of ThreeRivers and Montreal and Indians, which had always been the plan of Monsieur the Count deFrontenac who foresaw the difficulty of executing the other project during winter. But this designalso aborted, because we were informed that a Mohawk prisoner who escaped from us, had commu-nicated our intention, and that this Nation, united with the English of Orange, awaited us with reso-lute determination, which, however, would not have prevented us going in quest of them had the