Sugarloaf Massacre

On September 11, 1780, a small band of militiamen from Northampton County found themselves ambushed in Pennsylvania by a mixed force of Natives alongside a few Loyalists, an encounter that would become known as the Sugarloaf massacre. Witness depositions and pension files indicate that the detachment fell under the command of Lieutenants John Moyer and John Fish, both serving within Captain Johannes Van Etten's company of volunteers.

Background

Tensions between the Iroquois and area settlers had already simmered for some time before the Sugarloaf Massacre unfolded, and this earlier hostility helped set the stage for what followed. The year 1780 brought a wave of Native raids to the region where the massacre would occur, and Moses Van Campen himself narrowly escaped one such assault. A militia unit from Northampton entered service on June 15, 1780, committed to a seven month term under the command of Captain Johannes Van Etten.

Because Bloomsburg and Catawissa housed substantial numbers of Loyalists who assisted the British cause, Van Etten dispatched 41 of his men toward Northumberland that year to look into activity in those settlements. Lieutenants Moyer and Fish took charge of this detachment, which departed Northampton County from Fort Allen in early September 1780, pushing onward into Sugarloaf Valley in pursuit of Loyalist informants and spies.

On September 6, a force numbering somewhere between 250 and 300, made up of Native warriors alongside Loyalist soldiers, descended upon Fort Rice, situated near Chillisquaque Creek in Lewis Township, Northumberland County. Both the fort itself and nearby homes came under assault, prompting Colonel Hunter to send reinforcements from Fort Jenkins. Roughly 200 men reached Fort Rice, and at that point the attacking Loyalists and Natives scattered. As they withdrew, they crossed Knob Mountain, with a contingent of 30 to 40 following Cabin Run down to Fort Jenkins, setting it ablaze along with many nearby structures. From there, they made their way across the Susquehanna River into Sugarloaf Valley, located in the southwestern part of Luzerne County.

Controversy

Pinning down exactly how many militiamen died in this skirmish proves surprisingly difficult, with accounts diverging in ways that still puzzle historians. Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Balliet furnished the earliest and most reliable account, stating that his men buried ten bodies. Samuel Rea, who served as County Lieutenant for Northampton County, backed Balliet's figures as likely the soundest available, writing that since Balliet had personally visited the site and already given Council his account of the dead and wounded found near Neskipeki, his numbers "must be as near the truth as any" that could be gathered.

A different tally comes from Lieutenant Moyer, who claimed upon returning from captivity that he had counted thirteen scalps hanging from his captors' belts, though one might reasonably question whether captors would have permitted a prisoner such a careful inventory. Meanwhile, Captain Van Etten compiled his own count in January 1781, at the close of the Volunteers' tour of duty, putting the death toll at fourteen for the events of September 11, 1780. Yet this figure runs into trouble: three men on that list, George Schellhammer, Peter Crum, and Baltzar Snyder, turn up again months afterward, and once more the following year, serving as volunteer substitutes rather than draftees in Captain William Moyer's militia company, the same Moyer who fathered Lieutenant John Moyer, and their names surface yet again in 1783 records. Peter Crum, notably, survived long enough to submit a pension claim in 1833. The likeliest explanation is either that Van Etten's information was incomplete, given that his company was scattered across some two dozen miles of frontier outposts stretching east to west through Northampton County, or that these particular men had fled the massacre scene and slipped back to their farms rather than perishing.

Given this evidence, the widely repeated figure of fifteen dead simply cannot be supported, which means the memorial plaque at the location, bearing that same number of names, contains an error.

Separately, historian Rogan Moore claims that a Captain Daniel Klader led a unit of 41 men at Sugarloaf. Thomas Verenna disputes this entirely, finding no historical trace of anyone named Daniel Klader connected to the event. Neither letters nor militia rosters make any mention of him, and no birth, marriage, or death record for such a person can be found. None of the survivors who gave depositions referenced him or his death, and not a single surviving pension application from any of the Volunteers names a Daniel Klader as their commanding officer.