Determined Justice on the New York Frontier: The 1752 Mutiny & Desertion at Oswego

Determined Justice on the New York FrontierThe 1752 Mutiny & Desertion at Oswego Steven G. Wapen (bio) On the night of January 11, 1752, in the British garrison at Oswego, commander Capt. John Mills went to bed early around 9 p.m. Earlier that evening, Mills had drunk two small bowls of punch with Nathaniel Downing, a private doctor and garrison surgeon, known as the Doctor. The convivial visit between Captain Mills and the Doctor was later described by Mills as one of "a great Harmony and Friendship, nor had an Ill-natured expression ever past betwixt them."1 All was well at his garrison, or so the captain thought. Between 12 midnight and 1 p.m., Private Mark Sampson of Captain Marshall's independent company walked into Mills's unlocked room of the main garrison building with a candle in his hand and looked at his watch. A greatly startled Captain Mills asked Sampson what was the matter, and Sampson replied, "[You] should soon see."2 And so began the January 11, 1752, mutiny and desertion at Oswego on the southeastern shore of Lake Ontario (figure 1). The Doctor later joined Sampson and several other mutineers in Captain Mills's quarters. In the wee hours of the morning, Mills was severely beaten on the head with a club and one of his arms was cut by a hanger, or short sword. He was verbally berated by members of the rebellious party, most notably by the Doctor. The insurgents seized all of Mills's weapons and then freely drank his spirits and wine. Finally, the captain was physically knocked down, placed in irons (handcuffs), restricted to his room, and placed under guard. Of all the mutineers, Captain Mills was most incensed with the Doctor who, Judas like, betrayed his commander just a few hours after their friendly visit of small talk and punch nightcaps. It was also the Doctor who vociferously, profanely, and falsely accused Mills of mistreating his men at the small garrison. [End Page 1] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 1. Map of Lake Ontario Watershed Showing Location of Oswego and other important settlements, ca. 1752. courtesy greg rogers, "petite politique: the british, french, iroquois, and everyday power in the lake ontario borderland" (phd diss., university of maine, 2016), a.5, 287. In early January 1752, Oswego was a small British fur trading post with an adjacent military garrison of some twenty soldiers, or sentries (figure 2). Ostensibly, Captain Mills and his troops were charged with protecting Oswego's fur trading community from French attack, while maintaining peaceful interactions between Albany fur traders and far west Native Americans. The British garrison upheld law and order at the frontier outpost. Thus, the 1752 mutiny and accompanying desertion were signal events that neutralized, albeit temporarily, British imperial authority. It transformed the garrison's role from martial protector and peacekeeper to impotent bystander. The relationship between the British garrison and Oswego's fur traders was a complex one. The minutes of the court of inquiry held at Albany on July 18, 1752, is remarkable for the rich insights it offers on the rebellion and on relations between the military garrison and civilian fur traders. Perhaps most surprising is what the court of inquiry revealed concerning the root cause of the mutiny and desertion. It was quite unexpected. The principal cause of those events was not attributable to Captain Mills's soldiers. Rather, it came from a single unscrupulous personage within Oswego's fur trading community. This article closely examines the testimonials of several mutineer deserters found in the minutes of the Albany court of inquiry. I argue that the path to British justice for the mutineers and deserters, while purposeful and determined, was ultimately incomplete. [End Page 2] Click for larger view View full resolution Figure 2. 1749 Map of Oswego, or Chouageun, by Gaspard-Joseph Chaussegros de Lery. View facing south with garrison structure and traders' houses depicted on lower right river bank. Enlargement of side and overhead views of fortification building appear in upper left corner. gaspard-joseph de lery and chouaguen, yahoo image search results, accessed july 8, 2020. [End Page 3] The mutiny's...

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