Our history: Was Ally an enemy or friend?

All Moses Ally wanted was his horse back. Should that take an act of Congress?


Two hundred years ago, the United States was at war with Great Britain. That put Canadians in a squeeze. Many of them had sympathies toward the newborn U.S. But many others were loyal to England. In fact, many Americans had fled across the border during the American Revolution in order to remain part of the king's realm.


Ally, however, had a different view. In mid-1812, he rode south, crossed the Canadian border and reported to General Henry Dearborn, who was in charge of American forces in the northeastern section of the country.

Ally wanted to become an ally, but Dearborn was suspicious of the Canadian. Instead of recruiting him, Dearborn arrested Ally and sent him to where British POWs went: the Greenbush Cantonment. The sprawling encampment was located in what is now East Greenbush. It was a staging area for U.S. troops as well as a holding area for prisoners.

When Ally was seized, he had a sorrel stud horse. It was put into the care of Benjamin Van Vleek (or Van Vleck), who expected the government to pay for its expenses. Several months later, when he was still unpaid, he faced another problem: His house and outbuildings burned down.

Trying to rebuild his life, Van Vleck decided to pass Ally's horse on to a man named Norton. After the latter had the stud for six months or so, also without being paid by the government, he decided to get even by selling it for $20. Or so he said. A later investigation would raise suspicions that Norton simply kept the horse and claimed it had been sold.

Meanwhile, Ally was cooling his cold Canadian heels in Greenbush, wondering where his property was and how he would get it back. When the suspicions that made him a POW were allayed, Ally was free to go.

But he couldn't go very far without his mount, so he asked for it to be returned. Told that Van Vleek had it but gave it to Norton, who (maybe) sold it, Ally came up with a very American solution to his Canadian problem: He demanded compensation from Congress.

On Oct. 29, 1814, the House of Representatives took up Ally's petition. Congress wanted proof that Ally had a horse to begin with, but he had nothing in writing. After all, he had simply ridden it to volunteer for the U.S. Army. But, said Congress, he couldn't reclaim the horse from Norton without proof of ownership. Anyway, Norton said it was long gone (even though it might have been in his barn).

The congressmen then considered another solution: getting the cost of the horse from Van Vleek, who was supposed to have been paid for its keep. But he had never received any money from the government, so there was no claim to be made against him.

Ally now found himself in several Catch-22s: He was trying to reclaim a horse that he couldn't prove he had ever had; he was trying to get money from Van Vleek, who had never received any money from the government; and he was trying to put in a claim against Norton, who said the horse no longer existed.

So Congress came to its conclusion: "That the prayer of the petitioner ought not to be granted."

One imagines that Ally made his way back across the border to Canada, very sorry he had ever crossed it in the first place. All he had for his trouble was a reputation as a POW, no sorrel and sore feet from riding shank's mare to where he came from.