52

JOURNAL OF THE SECOND ESOFUS WAR.

27 th ditto. An escort was in the field with the ploughmen and one to the river side to fetch upprovisions. Nothing else happened.

28 th ditto. The Council of War engaged Derrick Smith to remain at the Redoubt with his yachtuntil we return with the troops from the expedition, in order to carry back the forces and MarsepingIndians, and agreed with said Smith that he shall have in Seawan eight guilders light money per day.A detachment was out in the field with the ploughmen ; 10 to 12 of our Indians were out in the bushshooting. They returned in the evening; say that they have discovered signs of where the Indiansare gone to. Nothing else occurred to day.

29 th ditto. Convened the Council of war and resolved and concluded to set out on anotherexpedition against the Esopus Indians next Monday being the 1 st of October, and each man shallbe furnished with three pounds of biscuit, one pound of powder and one pound of ball for theexpedition. An order is also given to the Sheriff and Commissaries as follows—“ Whereas by ordersfrom the Director General and Council of New Netherland an expedition is about to set out againstthe Esopus Indians, our enemies and sixteen horses are required to accompany and to be used bysaid expedition, the Capt. Lieutenant and Valiant [Council of War,] therefore request the Sheriff andCommissaries of this Village of Wildwyck to supply said horses from the inhabitants by the first ofOctober proximo, being next Monday. Done, Wildwyck the 29 th September 1663.” A detachmentwas in the field with the ploughmen, and one to the river side ; Saw nothing.

30 th September, Sunday afternoon, caused powder and ball to be distributed to the soldiers andIndians ; one pound powder, one pound lead each, with three pounds biscuit for this expedition.Nothing else happened to day.

1 st October being Monday, we marched from Wildwyck with these following troops ; of theMilitary 102 men; of the Marseping Indians 46 men ; of the freemen 6 ; with 14 horses obtainedfrom the farmers of Wildwyck for the use of the expedition so as to be able to accommodate thewounded, should we have any. Marched with these troops about 9 hours and arrived in the eveningabout 7 miles from Wildwyck where we passed the night. Experienced scarcely any trouble throughthe day ; had considerable rain in the night.

2 nd ditto. Started again with our troops and about two o’clock in the afternoon came to the fortof the Esopus Indians where we had attacked them on the 5 th September and there found five largepits into which they had cast their dead. The wolves had rooted up and devoured some of them.Lower down on the Kill w r ere four other pits full of dead Indians and v r e found, futlier on, threeIndians with a Squaw and a Child that lay unburied and almost wholly devoured by the ravensand the wolves. Sent out, immediately a party of Dutch men and Indians four miles beyond the fortin a South westerly direction w here our guide presumed some Esopus Indians would be, but oncoming there discovered nothing but some wigwams which had been a long time abandoned by theIndians. Meanwhile I had been over the Kill with a party of men and pulled off the corn andthrew' it into the Kill. The troops returned in tire evening without having seen any Indians.About two miles from the fort perceived the trail of two Indians who had gone across the moun-tain ; supposed to be strange Indians ; The trail w r as a day old.

3 d ditto. Early in the morning despatched a party of soldiers and Indians into the woods to seeif they could not find any Indians ; sent a detachment again over the Kill to pull up the maizeand throw it into the Kill. In the afternoon sent two other detachments into the corn fields tothrow the maize into the creek, as the corn which stood about the fort was all thrown into the Killby the evening. After sundown our party returned, without having captured or discovered anything.

4 th ditto. We pulled up the Indian fort and threw the palisades, one on the other, in sundry