Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Goose Van Schaick (September 5, 1736 – July 4, 1789) was a

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

officer who served during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

Early life

Van Schaick was born in Albany on September 5, 1736. He was the first child born to Sybrant Van Schaick, who served as

Mayor of Albany, New York From its formal chartering on 22 July 1686 until 1779, the mayors of Albany, New York, were appointed by the royal governor of New York (state), New York, per the provisions of the original city charter, issued by Governor Thomas Dongan. From 1 ...

from 1756 to 1761, and Alida (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Rosebloom) Van Schaick. His paternal grandparents were Albany trader and landholder Gosen Van Schaick and Catharina (née Staats) Van Schaick. Goose's cousin Catherine (née Van Schaick) Gansevoort and her husband

Peter Gansevoort Peter Gansevoort (July 17, 1749 – July 2, 1812) was a Colonel in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He is best known for leading the resistance to Barry St. Leger's Siege of Fort Stanwix in 1777. Gansevoort was also ...

, the Sheriff of Albany County, were the grandparents of author

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

Career

In 1758, he was a captain in the New York Provincial Forces and participated in the

Battle of Fort Frontenac The Battle of Fort Frontenac took place on August 26–28, 1758 during the Seven Years' War (referred to as the French and Indian War in the United States) between France and Great Britain. The location of the battle was Fort Frontenac, a Fre ...

and the

Battle of Fort Niagara The Battle of Fort Niagara was a siege late in the French and Indian War, the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War. The British siege of Fort Niagara in July 1759 was part of a campaign to remove French control of the Great Lakes and ...

during the

French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

. From 1760 to 1762, he served as a lieutenant colonel in the Second New York Regiment and subsequently the First New York Regiment. On June 28, 1775 he was commissioned as colonel of the

2nd New York Regiment The 2nd New York Regiment was authorized on May 25, 1775, and formed at Albany from June 28 to August 4 for service with the Continental Army under the command of Colonel Goose Van Schaick. The enlistments of the first establishment ended on Dec ...

of the

. On March 8, 1776 he was made colonel of the

1st New York Regiment The 1st New York Regiment was authorized on 25 May 1775 and organized at New York City from 28 June to 4 August, for service with the Continental Army under the command of Colonel Alexander McDougall. The enlistments of the first establishment ...

. On July 6, 1777, he was wounded at the Siege of Fort Ticonderoga. He served under Gen.

William Alexander William or Bill Alexander may refer to: Literature *William Alexander (poet) (1808–1875), American poet and author *William Alexander (journalist and author) (1826–1894), Scottish journalist and author * William Alexander (author) (born 1976), ...

at the

Battle of Monmouth The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near the Village of Monmouth Court House, New Jersey, Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough, New Jersey and Manalapan, New Jersey, Manalapan, on J ...

. In April 1779, Van Schaick, at the head of a 558-strong force of American troops, set out from

Fort Stanwix Fort Stanwix was a colonial fort whose construction commenced on August 26, 1758, under the direction of British General John Stanwix, at the location of present-day Rome, New York, but was not completed until about 1762. The bastion fort was bui ...

on an expedition against the British-allied

Onondaga people The Onondaga people (Onontaerrhonon, Onondaga language, Onondaga: , "People of the Hills") are one of the five original nations of the Iroquois, Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy in the Northeastern Woodlands. Their historical homelands are in ...

, who had been attacking American settlements and military personnel. Van Schaick's troops attacked and captured the settlement of

Onondaga Onondaga may refer to: Native American/First Nations * Onondaga people, a Native American/First Nations people and one of the five founding nations of the Iroquois League * Onondaga (village), Onondaga settlement and traditional Iroquois capit ...

together with large quantities of provisions, stores and cattle; they also took 34 people prisoner. Without losing a single man, they killed 12 Native Americans. Despite Van Schaick's superior

James Clinton Major general (United States), Major-General James Clinton (August 9, 1736 – September 22, 1812) was a Continental Army officer and politician who fought in the American Revolutionary War. During the war he, along with John Sullivan (ge ...

ordering him to prevent his soldiers from assaulting any Onondaga women (noting that "Bad as the savages are, they never violate the chastity of any women"), the Americans committed numerous atrocities during the expedition. American soldiers "killed babies and raped women", and an Onondaga chief recounted to the British in 1782 how the Americans "put to death all the Women and Children, excepting some of the Young Women, whom they carried away for the use of their Soldiers & were afterwards put to death in a more shameful manner". Afterwards,

George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...

praised Van Schaick's conduct during the expedition which he claimed had brought "the highest honor" to him and his men. On May 10, 1779, an act of the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

stated that "Resolved, that the

thanks of Congress The Thanks of Congress is a series of formal resolutions passed by the United States Congress originally to extend the government's formal thanks for significant victories or impressive actions by United States, American military commanders and th ...

be presented to Colonel Van Schaick and the officers and soldiers under his command, for their activity and good conduct in the late expedition against the Onondagas". At the time, the expedition was considered to be more effectual than the subsequent

Sullivan Expedition The 1779 Sullivan Expedition (also known as the Sullivan-Clinton Expedition, the Sullivan Campaign, and the Sullivan-Clinton Campaign) was a United States military campaign under the command of General John Sullivan (general), John Sullivan duri ...

. He was appointed brevet brigadier general on October 10, 1783, and he served until November 1783.

Personal life

On November 15, 1770, Van Schaick was married to Maria Ten Broeck (1750–1829), the eldest of ten daughters born to John Tobias Ten Broeck. By 1787, they were the parents of seven children, including: * Alida Van Schaick (b. 1771) * John Van Schaick (b. 1774) * Sybrant Van Schaick (b. 1776) * Tobias Van Schaick (b. 1779), who married Jane Staats (1783–1823), daughter of merchant Henry Staats in 1811. * Myndert Van Schaick (1782–1865), who was a

New York State Senator The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature, while the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Established in 1777 by the Constitution of New York, its members are elected to two-year terms with no term l ...

. * Elizabeth Van Schaick (1786–1786), who died young. * Abraham Van Schaick (b. 1787). He died at his home on July 4, 1789, of cancer of his facial wound received in the battle of Fort Ticonderoga of 1758. The site of his burial is unclear. It appears he was buried in the family cemetery on Court St. in Albany until 1808, when he was reinterred in the Reformed Dutch Burial Grounds. Graves from the Dutch Cemetery were later reinterred in the Church Section of the

Albany Rural Cemetery The Albany Rural Cemetery was established October 7, 1844, in Menands, New York, United States, just outside the city of Albany, New York. It is renowned as one of the most beautiful, pastoral cemeteries in the U.S., at over . Many historical ...

.The State St. Burial Grounds, Albany, NY, The Troy Irish Genealogy Society

References

External links

Colonel Van Schaick Biography
at the

New York State Museum The New York State Museum is a research-backed institution in Albany, New York, Albany, New York (state), New York, United States. It is located on Madison Avenue, attached to the south side of the Empire State Plaza, facing onto the plaza and to ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Van Schaick, Goose 1736 births 1789 deaths British military personnel of the French and Indian War Continental Army officers from New York (state) Military personnel from Albany, New York