USA > Massachusetts > Our western border : its life, combats, adventures, forays, massacres, captivities, scouts, red chiefs, pioneer women, one hundred years ago, containing the cream of all the rare old border chronicles > Part 56
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" Mr. - returned, accompanied by three gentlemen. They looked upon me as if I had been Washington himself and walked to the ash
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AN ADVENTURE OF BOONE, RELATED BY HIMSELF.
tree, which I now called my own, as if in quest of a long-lost treasure. I took an axe from one of them and cut a few chips off the bark. Still no signs were to be seen. So I cut again until I thought it was time to be cautious, and I scraped and worked away with my butcher knife, until I did come to where my tomahawk had left an impression in the wood. We now went regularly to work and scraped at the tree with care until three hacks, as plain as any three notches ever were, could be seen. Mr. - and the other gentlemen were astonished, and I must allow I was as much surprised as pleased myself. I made affidavit of this re- markable occurrence in presence of these gentlemen, and Mr. - gained his cause. I left Green river forever and came to where we now are, and. sir, I wish you good night."
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CHAPTER VIII.
THE TWO SIEGES OF FORT HENRY (WHEELING.)
The mothers of our forest land, Their bosoms pillowed men ; And proud were they by such to stand, In hamlet, fort or glen : To load the sure old rifle, To run the leaden ball,
To watch a battling husband's place, And Ell it should he fall.
Fort Henry, surrounded by the Zane settlements, endured two mem- orable sieges from British-Indian forces, one in 1777 (known all along the border as the " bloody year of the three sevens,") and again in the Fall of 1782. One glance at the map will clearly reveal why Virginia and Pennsylvania always suffered so much and in common, from sav- age incursions. At Yellow Creek, the Ohio takes a direct southern trend for nearly one hundred miles. All west of the Ohio was wilderness and Indian country, with the chief towns on the Mad, Scioto, Sandusky and Muskingum rivers. East of the Ohio lay a belt of settlements all the way from Fort Pitt to the Kanawha, with more sparsely scattered com- munities lying back along the various creek valleys.
At that time this district was called Augusta county, and was claimed and considered as part of Virginia. Some of it-a narrow strip run- ning north and south, directly east of the Ohio-is now the Virginia "Pan-Handle;" the rest is now Pennsylvania. When the confederated Indians of Ohio, therefore, wanted to make a foray, all they had to do was to set their faces towards the rising sun until they came to white settlements, which, as stated, extended south and southwesterly for over three hundred miles.
In August, 1777, General Hand, of Fort Pitt, received secret inform- ation from Isaac Zane-who, with his Indian wife, lived at the Mack- a-chack towns of Mad river-that the Northwestern Confederacy, backed by the British, were making vigorous preparations to strike a terrible
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THE TWO SIEGES OF FORT HENRY.
blow upon some of the settlements on the Ohio. As it was uncertain exactly where this blow was to fall, the whole frontier was warned by Hand, and especially Wheeling, the most probable objective point. The settlers at the mouth of Wheeling Creek, therefore, (numbering some thirty families,) betook themselves to Fort Henry, and kept out their scouts so as to be duly warned of all hostile approaches. Fort Henry, of which, elsewhere, we give a small but faithful representation, was built in '74, on a commanding bluff overlooking the Ohio on the east, and the broad "bottom" of Wheeling Creek on the south. It was a parallelogram in shape, its outer wall being a stockade of white- oak pickets about seventeen feet high, and supported by bastions on each corner-the commandant's house, storehouse, cabins, &c., being with- in. The Captain's house was two stories high, with the top adapted so as to work one small cannon. No regular garrison was ever maintained at Fort Henry, but its protection depended on the rifles of the settle- ment about.
Colonel Ebenezer Zane's cabin and outhouses stood at a little distance from the stockade, and between it and the high wooded hill. The grounds were cleared all around so as to prevent ambushes and conceal- ment, and to give full sweep for the one small gun and the defenders' rifles. Of course the bastions and stockade were pierced with loop or port holes to facilitate firing under cover. A rude affair enough was this fort, but suited to the times, and perfectly impregnable to all Indian enemies unless having artillery. All border defences were of the same rough but substantial nature, and none were ever taken unless captured by treachery, the absence of male defenders, or by firing the roof, &c., from the outside. A well-served cannon or two would have knocked any of them into smithereens in very short order.
On August 31st Captain Joseph Ogle, who had been out with a company of fifteen on a scout all around, returned to Fort Henry and reported no cause for danger-not a hostile red to be seen, and no sign of any. The savages, however, under command of a crafty leader, suspecting that their movements might be watched, abandoned all the beaten trails; broke up into small parties, and scattered through the woods. Thus it happened that, without discovery, they all concen- trated at Bogg's Island, (two miles below Wheeling Creek,) and there crossing the Ohio, proceeded, under cover of night, to the "bottom" of Wheeling Creek, right under the fort. The hostile array consisted of near four hundred Mingoes, Shawnees and Wyandots, well supplied with arms, ammunition, &c., by Hamilton, the "British hair-buyer" and Governor of Canada. All the border books and the oldest settlers of Wheeling have asserted, most positively, that this formidable force
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OUR WESTERN BORDER.
was under command of Simon Girty, the notorious renegade, but this is such an obvious error that we marvel how it ever could have obtained currency, or how it could so long have maintained an undisturbed place in history without refutation. It is utterly impossible that Simon Girty could have been there as its head, because the official records at Fort Pitt show that he was then at that post and serving in the patriot ranks, and also that he did not desert from Fort Pitt until the Spring of the following year, 1778. The Moravian records confirm this, as Girty, Elliott, McKee and other minor deserters arrived at the Muskingum in February, 1778. If, therefore, this beleaguering force was commanded by a Girty at all, it must have been by George or James Girty, who were then living among the savages, the former being a leader of some influence. Whoever the leader was, however, he was a crafty man, as his manner of approach shows. He now disposed of his men in two lines across the creek "bottom," concealing them among the corn and high weeds.
MASON'S AND OGLE'S COMMANDS CUT TO PIECES.
Early on the morning of September Ist, a white and a negro were out to catch horses and had not far advanced before they were fired on by a party of six savages in ambush. Boyd was killed, but the negro was permitted to return, doubtless to mislead the whites as to the num- ber of the foe and to decoy them to their swift destruction. Captain Samuel Mason, who had the preceding evening brought his company to the fort, now sallied out with fourteen men to shake up the impudent murderers. He soon routed up the six savages and fired on them.
On the crack of the rifles the entire swarming army arose, and with horrid, blood-curdling yells rushed upon the little band. Mason at once ordered a retreat, cutting his own way through the Indian line, but most of his gallant command were hacked to pieces. Only two escaped by hiding beneath the brush and fallen timber. William Shep- herd, son of Colonel David Shepherd, fort commandant, had gained Indian Spring, where now the Wheeling market house stands, when, his feet being entangled in a grape vine, he fell and was immediately dis- patched with a huge war club.
A dense river fog hung over the bottom at the time and those inside the fort could neither see the effect of this disastrous conflict nor guess at the number of the foe. Captain Joseph Ogle, with a dozen trained scouts, now, with singular fatuity, sallied out to the relief of their hard- pressed friends. The fierce and discordant yells of the multitudinous savages and the shrieks of the assaulted party might, it seems, have sug-
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MASON'S AND OGLE'S COMMANDS CUT TO PIECES.
gested prudence, but fearlessly and unfalteringly they advanced to cover the retreat of their friends and were at once beset by the screeching, murdering demons, and all but the Captain and Sergeant Ogle, Martin Wetzel and one other, were killed. In making his escape Captain Ogle secreted himself amid a cluster of tall weeds in a fence corner. While there crouched, two plumed warriors seated themselves on the fence directly above him. One of them seemed badly wounded and cried piteously with pain. Ogle saw the blood streaming down his leg and fearing discovery, kept his finger on his rifle's trigger so that he could fire on the instant, but fortunately he was unseen and the savages soon moved off.
The loss of so many of the very best men of that district was a sad blow to the little garrison-those who fell were men of iron nerve, in- domitable courage and devoted patriotism. Scarcely had the groans of the wounded and dying been quieted, before the yelling savages, flour- ishing the many reeking scalps, crowded about the fort and demanded an immediate surrender. They advanced in two divisions, with drum, fife and British colors-the right being distributed among the cabins on the bluff which stood between the fort and the high hill back, and the left being defiled beneath and under cover of the river bank, close under the fort. Their leader, whoever he was, shouted out aloud Hamilton's proclamation and offered protection in case of a surrender ; if not, an immediate and indiscriminate massacre.
What was to be done! The little garrison now numbered only ten or twelve men and boys. Two-thirds of their original number, and the very best and bravest among them, had been lost. Surely they might have been excused for making, then, the best terms they could; but no, this heroic little Spartan band resolved to hold out against this over- whelming army. Colonel Shepherd at once replied : "Sir, we have consulted our wives and children, and all have resolved to perish at their posts rather than place themselves under the protection of such savages with you at their head." The leader attempted a reply, but a shot from the fort put a stop to further words.
Business now commenced in earnest. A tremendous rush by a large body of Indians was at once made. They attempted to force the gates and to try the strength of the pickets by a united effort. Failing to make any impression, and suffering from the unerring fire from the port holes, the reds were drawn off a few yards and a general fire was com- menced on the port holes. An unintermittent hail of bullets was kept up during most of the day and part of the night, but without any sen- sible effect. About noon a temporary withdrawal took place, and the heroic and exhausted little garrison prepared for renewed resistance.
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OUR WESTERN BORDER.
To each was assigned his or her post. Of the women, some were re- quired to run bullets, others to get ready the ammunition, and others yet to cool and hand up the guns. Two of them actually took their position at the port holes, dealing death to many a dusky warrior. About three P. M. the Indians returned to the attack with redoubled fury, half their number distributing themselves among the cabins, be- hind fallen trees, &c., while the other half advanced along the base of the hill south of the fort and commenced a vigorous fire. This was to draw the few and overworked defenders to that quarter, while now a strong and united rush was made from the cabins on the bluff, and a tremendous effort made to force an entrance with heavy timber, but all failed, and a number of the most daring warriors were picked off by sharpshooters. Several similar attempts were made during the after- noon, but all were alike futile. Maddened and chagrined by these re- peated discomfitures, the savagcs sullenly withdrew to their coverts until night. Just before their retirement, Basil Duke, Colonel Shepherd's son-in-law, who had been stationed at Beech Bottom Block-house, rode rapidly up to the fort, and had almost succeeded in gaining entrance, but was, unfortunately, shot dead in full view of the garrison he had so gallantly attempted to aid.
Aboutnine, the savages reappeared, making the night hideous with their demoniac yells and the heavens lurid and sulphurous with their dis- charges of musketry. All lights in the fort had been carefully extin- guished, and thus seeing well their foes while they themselves remained unseen, many a stalwart warrior was made to bite the sod before the un- erring aim of the practiced marksmen of the border. Repeated at- tempts were made during that night of horror to storm, as well as to fire, the fort, but all signally failed through the heroism and sleepless vig- ilance of those within. Night passed only to bring another renewal of the attack. But the assaulters begin now to despair of success. Sava- ges do not take well to such slow work. They would rather operate by stealth in small parties and creep upon such places as can be easily taken, or where the inmates can be ambushed and lured to destruction with but little loss to themselves, and so, after killing all the cattle, and firing al- most all the buildings outside of the fort, including those of Colonel Zane, they were preparing for one last final effort, when a relief party of fourteen from Holliday's Fort, under Colonel Andrew Swearengen, landed secretly under the river bank from a pirogue, and succeeded in making an undiscovered entrance.
Happy and timely relief to the feeble and overtasked little band of defenders ! Shortly after, Major Samuel McColloch, at the head of forty gallant mounted men from Short Creek, put in an appearance, and
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DEPLORABLE AMBUSCADE OF FOREMAN'S PARTY.
made an impetuous rush for the great gate, which was joyfully thrown open to admit them. The enemy made a counter rush to cut them off. All, however, succeeded in making good their entrance but the Major himself, who, delaying outside until every man of his command should enter, was surrounded and obliged to fly for his life. His mad ride for life ; his extraordinary leap on horseback over Wheeling hill, and his fortunate escape, we have related elsewhere.
If the enemy could not overcome the feeble little garrison of ten men and boys, what chance had they now when so powerfully rein- forced ? They at once " accepted the situation," and after firing a few additional shots at the staunch little fort, " they folded their tents, like the Arabs, and quietly stole away." It has been conjectured that the enemy lost in this protracted attack from forty to fifty killed and wounded. The loss of the whites, in sallies, &c., has already been stated. Not a single person, however, was killed within the fort, and only one slightly wounded. This siege was followed, about three weeks after, by the
DEPLORABLE AMBUSCADE OF FOREMAN'S PARTY.
Captain William Foreman, a brave and meritorious officer, but totally unfit for Indian warfare, organized a volunteer company in Hampshire county, Va., and came west to Wheeling, in the Fall of '77, to help fight the savages. After the withdrawal of the Indians from the siege of Wheeling, just related, the impression was general that they had returned to their towns.
On September 26th, a smoke was noticed at Wheeling, in the direc- tion of Grave Creek, some twelve miles below, which caused an ap- prehension that the Indians might be burning the stockade and houses of Mr. Tomlinson. In order to ascertain this fact, and afford protec- tion if any were necessary, Captain Foreman with his company, and a few experienced scouts, were dispatched by Colonel Shepherd for this purpose.
The party proceeded without interruption to Grave Creek, and found all safe. Remaining over night, they started early on the following morning to return. When they had reached the lower end of Grave Creek Narrows, some of the more experienced frontiermen suggested the expediency of leaving the river bottom, and returning by way of the ridge. The commander, however, hooted at the idea of so much caution, and ordered the party to proceed. The order was obeyed by his own men, including several of the volunteer scouts, but some de- clined to go with him, and one of these was a man named Lynn, whose
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OUR WESTERN BORDER.
great experience as a spy, added to his sagacity and judgment, should at least have rendered his opinions entitled to weight. His apprehen- sions were, that the Indians, if lurking about, had watched the move- ments of the party, and would most likely attack them at some point on the river. He said that, in all probability, they had been on the op- posite side of the river and noticed the party go down ; that they had crossed during the night, and most probably were at that time lying in ambush for their return. How fearfully were his apprehensions re- alized !
During the interchange of opinions between Foreman and Lynn, a man, Robert Harkness, a relative of Mr. Tomlinson, sat on a log near the parties, and often said that the controversy at times ran high. Fore- man, who prided himself on being a thoroughly disciplined officer, was not disposed to yield to the suggestions of a rough backwoodsman. Lynn, on the other hand, convinced of the fatal error which the other seemed determined to commit, could not but remonstrate with all the power of persuasion at his command. Finally, when the order to march was given, Lynn, with some six or eight others, struck up the hill side, while Foreman with his company pursued the path along the base.
Nothing of importance occurred until the party reached the extreme upper end of the Narrows. Just where the bottom begins to widen, those in front had their attention drawn to a display of Indian trinkets, beads, bands, &c., strewn in profusion along the path. With a natural curiosity but a great lack of sagacity, the entire party gathered about those who had picked up the articles of decoy, and whilst thus standing in a compact group, looking at the beads, &c., two lines of Indians stretched across the path, one above and the other below, and a large body of them simultaneously arose from beneath the bank, and opened upon the devoted party a most deadly and destructive fire. The river hill rises at this point with great boldness, presenting an almost insur- mountable barrier. Still, those of the party who escaped the first dis- charge, attempted to rush up the acclivity, and some with success. But the savages pursued and killed several.
At the first fire Captain Foreman and most of his party, including his two sons, fell dead. The loss is supposed to have been about twenty, including the Captain. When Lynn and his party heard the guns, they rushed down the side of the hill, hallooing as though they were five times as numerous. This had the effect of restraining the savages in pursuit, and perhaps saved the lives of many.
Of those who escaped up the hill were Robert Harkness and John Collins. The former, in pulling himself up by a sapling, had the bark
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THE SECOND SIEGE OF WHEELING.
knocked into his face with a ball from an Indian's gun. Collins was shot through the left thigh, breaking the bone and completely disabling him. Lynn and his companions carried him to a spring, said to have been just over the hill, and throwing together their supply of pro- visions, left him in a sheltered position, promising to send a messenger on the following day with a horse. Those who were so fortunate as to es- cape this terrible affair, made their way in safety to Wheeling. Collins, the wounded man, was taken off on horseback the second night, and the rest were buried in one grave.
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THE SECOND SIEGE OF WHEELING IN 1782.
The Fort Henry settlement had another hostile visitation from about a hundred savages in '81, but having received due warning of the affair from Fort Pitt, but little harm was done. After destroying Colonel Zane's house and all other property they could, they departed as myste- riously as they came.
It was widely different, however, the next year. On the 11th of September, a body of three hundred Indians and a company of fifty British, known as the "Queen's Rangers," led by Captain Pratt, marched boldly up to the fort and peremptorily demanded an immediate surrender. It is said the whole body was under command of George Girty, but this is manifestly an error. Simon Girty himself, it is much more probable, was the chief. Girty promised all who would give up " the best protection King George could afford," but his summons was only scouted and he himself jeered at by the dauntless little garrison.
Girty delayed his attack till night. All was bustle and activity within the fort. The women were busy running bullets, securing children and making ready for the expected wounded, while the men, armed with knife, spear, rifle and tomahawk, made ready for an obstinate defence. The fighting strength, men and boys, did not exceed eighteen, all told, while the women and children were about forty.
Shortly before the enemy appeared, a pirogue loaded with cannon ball from Fort Pitt, designed for Louisville, had arrived at Wheeling, and a Mr. Sullivan, who was in charge, being a shrewd and experienced soldier, well versed in Indian cunning, was selected, with Silas Zane, to r manage the siege. The regular commandant, Captain Boggs, had, on the first intimation of an enemy, ridden off to the nearest forts for succor.
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OUR WESTERN BORDER.
At sundown Girty made his second and last summons, swearing, if surrender was delayed, that the fort would be stormed and every soul massacred. He was answered with shouts of defiance; the defenders said they remembered too well the fate of Colonel Crawford to give up to him and be butchered like dogs. Girty replied that their doom was sealed, as he had just taken their express messenger and all hope of succor might as well be given up. " What kind of a looking man was he ?" shouted Sullivan. " A fine, smart, active young fellow," answered the outlaw chief. "That's a cursed lie," snapped out Sullivan, " for he was an old, gray-headed man."
Girty, finding all attempts to intimidate vain, led on his motley army and attempted to carry the fort by storm. He made some furious dashes, but the gates and stockades were too strong. The small French cannon, mounted on the second story of the Captain's house, was thought to be a dummy or " Quaker Gun," and this, because at the 1777 siege the besieged had then no real cannon, but did mount a wooden one. The besiegers mocked at this piece and dared the garri- son to shoot it off. They were soon accommodated, for just when the whole white and red mob were pressing up in dense columns, the little " bull dog" was fired, cutting a wide passage through the ranks of the affrighted savages. Captain Pratt, who had heard real guns before, now shouted out to his swarthy companions, "Stand back ! Stand back ! By - there's no wood about that !" and there wasn't.
The enemy gave way at the first fire, but Girty told off his force in two small parties and attacked at different points; now attempting to storm it ; now to fire it, and now to destroy its defenders through the port holes. . The siege was thus vigorously kept up the whole night, and a terrible night it was to the plucky but exhausted little garrison, who had no moments' rest. One of the bastions having given way, but two now were occupied, and these by turn. The women during all this trying time, proved themselves heroines indeed. They stood at their posts like soldiers of a dozen campaigns, cooling and loading the rifles for the men. No timid shrieks escaped them ; no maidenly fears caused them to shrink from their self-imposed task.
A WOODEN MONSTER-BETTY ZANE'S "GUNPOWDER EXPLOIT."
At an early hour the savages descried the pirogue with the cannon ball, and a happy thought possessed them. Why not rig up a cannon and utilize all these missiles ! No sooner thought than they set to work. Procuring a stout log of sufficient size and length, these simple- minded men secretly split it open in the woods, hollowed it out, and
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A WOODEN MONSTER.
then fastened it securely together again with chains and bars from Reikart's blacksmith shop, which stood outside the walls. The im- promptu piece was then heavily charged with ball and powder, and first announcing that their cannon had at length arrived, the torch was ap- plied, when whiz ! boom ! chebang ! the whole contraption blew up, carrying with it a half-dozen gaping savages, who had clustered about to witness the discharge. A wooden gun was not tried again.
During the night a large number of Indians posted themselves in the loft of a house which stood thirty or forty yards north of the fort, and amused themselves by dancing and yelling; making night hideous with their discordant revelry. Thinking to dislodge them, several ineffect- ual attempts were made with grape shot, but that failing, full-sized ball were fired, which cut off a sleeper, and let the whole mass down to- gether. The cannon was fired some sixteen times during the first night, and must have done considerable execution.
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