Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from Historical Sketch of the First Presbyterian Church of Victor, N. Y
At Victor isalso located the battle ground Of denon ville with the Senecas. (for the authentic account Of the battle see Turner's denonviile's invasion Of the Genesee Country, page 465, Phelps Purchase) Landing his forces at Irondequoit Bay, July loth, 1687. He followed the Old Indian trail, leading from that point to the foot Of Canandaigua Lake, until he came to the hill back Of Victor, the plateau now owned by the Dryers, and where the Old church stood. There are those who claim that the ambus cade was further west than this, nearer where the pres ent Pittsford road enters the village. But this does not satisfy the conditions Of the authentic accounts. The Pitts ford road at that point is made from the side hill, and the gully originally there, was hardly more than a ditch, and not on the Canandaigua Lake trail, which went back Of the Ladd house and across the Dryer farm. While the gully near Wm. C. Dryer's is wanting, in that there was no stream running through it. The Chief Brant pointed out this defect in the map. The trail denonville is described as follow ing, after crossing the Dryer plateau, lead east back Of the pres ent stores, to the Smith Jones spring that now supplies most Of the village with water, thence to the three forks. And from there towards Sidell's to the spring about a mile east of Boughton Hill, and on the foot Of the Lake. Coming down on this trail from the north to the brook run ning under Main street near Mr. Heath's drug store, a trail would naturally branch Off from the main one to Boughton Hill. With this view agrees the account Of the French Jesuit priest present at the battle. His name is l'abbe de Belmont. In the course Of his description he says, the village is upon a high hill which is surrounded by three little hills or terraces at the foot of a valley, and Oppositesome other hills, between which passes alarge brook, which in a little valley makes a little marsh covered with alders. This is the place which they selected for their ambuscade. They divided themselves, posted 300 men along the fall ing brook between the two hills in a great thicket Of beech trees. Standing on the Dryer plateau back Of Mr. Truman Dryer's house, this is the very scene before you. Beyond, across the valley, is Boughton hill, answering to the high hill surrounded by three terraces. In the valley below is the brook running eastward through the Covill marsh lands, and beyond toward the south-east, on the Covill farm, what isleft Of the beech thicket described, and which then covered the ground about the brook running across Main Street. It should be remembered that at the time Of the fight the slopes from above into the valley were steep and heavily wooded and that the swamp'gbelow was a sort of jungle. The height Of the hill occupied by denonville and to which the fleeing advance guard were driven, can be no other than the Dryer plateau. There raged the last of the conflict, until the beating Of the drums and rallying of the French frightened the 300 Tsonnontousans Of the ambus cade, who fled from above to the 500 that were ambushed below. Upon this plateau have been found relics of the battle. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
