USA > Maryland > Allegany County > Cumberland > History of Cumberland, (Maryland) from the time of the Indian town, Caiuctucuc, in 1728, up to the present day : embracing an account of Washington's first campaign, and battle of Fort Necessity, together with a history of Braddock's expedition > Part 15
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND.
[1756.
Virginia forces, because he had secured the place the Governor intended for his favorite, Colonel Innes. Washington wrote as follows to Speaker Robinson:
WINCHESTER, 5th August 1756.
SIR :
Fort Cumberland at present contains all our provisions and valuable stores, and is not capable of an hour's defense, if the enemy were only to bring a single half-pounder against it, which they might do with great ease on horseback. Besides, it lies so remote from this place, as well as from the neighboring inhabitants, that it requires as much force to keep the communication open to it as a fort at the Meadows would do, and employs one hundred and fifty men, who are a dead charge to the country, as they can be of no other use than just to protect and guard the stores, which might as well be lodged at Cox's Fort ;* indeed better, for they would then be more contiguous to this place, to the inhabitants, and to the enemy, and more serviceable if we should ever carry an expedition over the mountains, by opening a road where the Indians have blazed. A strong garrison there would not only protect the stores, but also the few remaining inhabitants on the Branch,t and at the same time waylay and annoy the enemy, as they pass and repass the mountains. Whereas the forces at Fort Cumberland, lying in a corner quite remote from the inhabited parts to which the Indians always repair to commit their murders, can have no intelligence of any- thing that is doing, but remain in total ignorance of all transactions. When I was down I applied to the Governor for his particular and positive directions in this affair. The following is an exact copy of his answer :- " Fort Cumberland is a king's fort, and built chiefly at the charge of the colony, therefore properly under our direction until a governor is appointed." Now, whether I am to understand this ay or no, to the plain, simple question asked,-"Is the fort to be continued or removed ?" I know not.
To this letter Speaker Robinson replied, saying, "The Committee were all in opinion with you, that the keeping of Fort Cumberland was an unnecessary expense; but upon my mentioning their opinion to the Governor, he appeared very warm, and said Lord Loudon might do what he pleased, but for his part
*Cox's Fort was on Patterson's Creek, 25 miles from Fort Cumberland. ¡South Branch of the Potomac.
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A COUNCIL AT THE FORT.
1756.]
he would not remove the garrison, nor order the fort to be demolished."
Shortly after this, Washington, while on a visit to Mount Vernon, wrote as follows to Governor Dinwiddie:
I have in several letters to your Honor expressed my opinion with candor and freedom about the situation, works and garrison at Fort Cumberland. I have upon all occasions said that Fort Cumberland is a place of no strength, and never can be tenable from the badness of the ground. It is far remote from any of our inhabitants, exposed to the insults of the enemy, contains all our valuable stores (save what I have removed to Winchester), and a garrison of 170 men, which is too large a number to be spared from other places, merely to defend the stores at this, and too small to afford detachments to waylay and surprise the enemy. I shall, therefore, beg leave to observe, in regard to Fort Cum- berland, that if it is continued we must be confined to act defensively, and keep our forces dispersed as they now are. The place must be fortified with strong works or else it will inevitably fall, garrison and stores, into the enemy's hands. I inclose Col. Shepherds' letter on this head in answer to one I wrote him.
I have the honor to be &c., &c.,
GEO. WASHINGTON.
MOUNT VERNON, Sept. 23, 1756.
Dinwiddie still vehemently opposed all proposi- tions for the removal of the Fort, and wrote to Washington, stating his reasons for its maintenance; but finally proposed to him that the entire matter should be referred to a council of officers to be held at the Fort. This was agreed to. The council was appointed, and in due time held its sessions, at which the question was fully argued, and carefully considered in every particular. The council reported at large, assigning the reasons which might be urged both for retaining and for abandoning the Fort, but forbore to express a decided opinion. Colonel Washington approved the report, and endorsed thereon his own comments, after which he forwarded
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND. [1756.
the whole to Governor Dinwiddie. The Council agreed that the Fort was wholly defenseless, imperfectly constructed, and commanded by several hills within gunshot; but they thought it important that a post should be maintained in this quarter, since the only road to the West for wheel carriages passed in this direction. With this view of the subject Colonel Washington concurred, but was still of the opinion that a more favorable position ought to have been chosen, and suggested that it should be in advance of Fort Cumberland, somewhere in the vicinity of Little Meadows. He thought, also, that Virginia should not be expected to maintain this Fort alone, but that Maryland and Pennsylvania should unite with her in the enterprise, as they were all equally interested in the prime object, which was to facilitate an expedition to the Ohio River, and to furnish a means of protection against the advance of the enemy into either of the Colonies.
Upon receipt of the report, Governor Dinwiddie wrote to Washington in reply: "I received the opinion of the council of war in regard to Fort Cumberland; as it was an affair of great consequence I called the council for their advice. In consequence thereof I hereby order you, immediately to march one hundred men to Fort Cumberland, from the forces you have at Winchester, which Captain Mercer says are one hundred and sixty enlisted men. You are to remain at Fort Cumberland, and make the place as strong as you can in case of an attack. You are to send out parties from the Fort to observe the motions of the enemy, if they should march over
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1756.] COL. STEPHEN IN COMMAND OF THE FORT.
the Alleghany mountains. Any stores at the fort, not absolutely necessary for its defense, you are to send to Winchester."
Previous to the calling of the council, Washington had been requested by the Assembly to prepare a plan of defense for the frontiers, by means of a line of forts extending from Maryland to North Carolina. In compliance with this request, he submitted a plan embracing twenty-three forts, of which Cox's Fort was the most advanced, Fort Cumberland being left entirely out.
Colonel Stephen succeeded Major Livingston in command of the Fort in the fall, and the Colonial Records furnish us with the following letter written by him to the Governor of Pennsylvania :
FORT CUMBERLAND, Sept. 30, 1756.
SIR :
Yesterday came into this garrison John Adam Long, who lived in this neighborhood, and was taken Prisoner on the 3d of April last, near to a fort on the Virginia Frontiers, commanded by Captain Cox. He is a sensible man of fifty five years of age, and informs me that he was carried directly to Fort Duquesne, on his way to which place he met one hundred and fifty Indians near to this Fort, going against the inhabitants of the Virginia frontiers ; that this party, joined with several others down before them, engaged Captain Mercer, at the head of a detachment from this Fort; that there were nine Indians killed in that engagement, which, with their seeing the Tracts of several scouting parties after them, made them return without doing much mischief to the Inhabitants ; that he was detained at Fort Duquesne about twenty days, during which time the Delawares carried in several Prisoners, One of which they roasted A Live. Two others they put to death in a Cruel and Barbarous Manner. ADAM STEPHEN.
The French officers constantly professed a desire to prevent everything of a barbarous character on the part of their Indian allies, but as there are numerous well authenticated instances in which 28
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND. [1756.
they were witnesses to scenes of torture, which they made no effort to prevent, the honesty of their professions may well be doubted.
In a letter of M. Vaudreuil to M. de Machault, dated Montreal, August 8th, 1756, found in the New York Colonial Manuscripts-Paris Documents, vol. x., under the head of "Occurrences since the 10th of June," are the following entries :
"Five deserters from Fort Cumberland arrived at Fort Duquesne.
" A detachment under the command of Sieur de Celeron de Blainville fell in with some of the enemy's scouts at this side of Fort Cumberland. These two parties met unexpectedly, and fired point blank, the enemy immediately fell back; we killed three of them, whose scalps have been carried off by the Indians, but we lost Sieur de Blainville, one Huron, one Delaware, and one Onondago.
"Five Chouanons had a similar adventure a little nearer Fort Cumberland. They scalped three English. One of their men was killed.
" A party from different tribes having divided, returned in squads with a number of scalps.
"Sieur de Rocheblave, with another cadet, a corporal, a militiaman, and twenty Chouanon's knocked at the gate of a small fort, three leagues beyond Fort Cumberland, where there remained some families and thirty militia. He killed four Englishmen, whom the Indians scalped; wounded three who dragged themselves into the fort, and took three prisoners .*
" A detachment under the command of M. de Celeron had a fight near Cresap's Fort, in the rear of Cumberland; killed eight Englishmen, whose scalps the Indians were not able to secure, finding themselves in the dusk of the evening, under the musketry of the Fort. We have had two Indians killed and one wounded.
" The garrison at Fort Cumberland is not paid; it is greatly dimin- ished by sickness which has prevailed there all winter, and still continues.
" On the 8th of June the grass was growing in the roads communi- cating with Cumberland. Expresses no longer came any further than Winchester on account of our Indians, who are always in the field.
" Not a grain of Indian corn has been planted between that post and Kaneghuigik, twenty five leagues distant from it towards the sea.
" It was thought that Fort Cumberland would be soon abandoned;
*It is not known that any fort was in existence "three leagues beyond Fort Cumberland." Cresap's fort was about four leagues east, and is probably the one referred to. Below Evitt's Creek, and about three miles from Cumberland, there is a tract of land which was named in 1791 "Fort Lip," which is referred to in Jacob's Life of Cresap. There may have been a small fort there.
219
EXECUTION OF A SPY.
1756.]
more than three months have elapsed since a wagon or bateau had come there."
It will be seen that the French were constantly on the alert, and were kept well informed of all that transpired. In the fall of 1756, two of their spies came to Fort Cumberland, and endeavored to possess themselves of an accurate knowledge of the strength of the garrison, the number of men in the guard, the weakest points in the Fort, &c., with a view to arranging a plan by which the Indians might capture it. The movements of these fellows were closely watched, and finally the commandant of the fort ordered their arrest. They were immediately tried by a court martial, convened for the purpose, and the evidence being conclusive they were re- manded to prison, one of them being sentenced to death. He was taken out next morning, and hanged to a tree in the vicinity of the Fort. The other was sent under guard to Annapolis, to Governor Sharpe, his life being spared on condition that he would divulge to the Governor certain important informa- tion concerning the French and Indians.
When Washington received Governor Dinwiddie's order, requiring him to march one hundred men to Fort Cumberland from Fort Loudon, he was much annoyed thereby, and wrote to Dinwiddie, assuring him that the change would occasion much inconve- nience, as the works at Winchester were still incomplete, and the force there was so small that it was barely sufficient to protect the place. He did not, however, want it inferred by his acts and words that he objected to Fort Cumberland, on any personal
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND. [1756.
grounds, and concluded his letter by saying, "I had rather a thousand times be at Fort Cumberland."
Washington had visited the Fort only a short time before, early in November, and had ordered all stores to be removed to Winchester, except such as were absolutely needed for the use of the garrison. While here he had a conference with a number of Catawba Indians who came in, and were friendly. They asked him to supply them with clothing, wampum, pipes, tomahawks, and silver trinkets for the hands and arms. He regretted his inability to gratify their demands, but assured them of the friendship of the English for the Catawbas, and gave them tomahawks and wampum, which he purchased for them.
The question as to the abandonment of Fort Cumberland was still discussed very earnestly, and Lord Loudon wrote to Governor Dinwiddie, saying:
" As to the affair of Fort Cumberland I own it gives me great uneasiness, and I am of the same opinion with you, that it was very material to have supported that Fort this winter, and after that we could easily have made it a better post than ever it has been, from what I hear of it. I cannot agree with Colonel Washington in not drawing in the posts from the stockade forts in order to defend that advanced one; and I should imagine much more of the frontier will be exposed by retiring your advanced posts near Winchester."
Washington was convinced that Lord Loudon's opinions were based upon the representations of Governor Dinwiddie, and he became soon after greatly annoyed by the contradictory orders transmitted to him by the Governor, in consequence of which he was uncertain as to what was really expected of him. He said "if, under these circumstances, my conduct is responsible for the fate of Fort Cumber-
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1756.] SHOULD THE FORT BE MAINTAINED?
land, it must be confessed that I stand upon a tottering foundation indeed." He steadily opposed the abandonment of the stockade forts on the South Branch, and protested against the scheme, as dan- gerous and unwise, involving the peril of the entire frontier. He wrote to Speaker Robinson again, giving expression to his fears. That gentleman in his reply said :
"I am truly concerned at the uneasiness you are under in your present situation, and the more so, as I am sensible that you have too much reason for it. The resolution of defending Fort Cumberland, and evacuating the other forts, was taken before I knew or mistrusted any- thing of the matter. I must confess I was not a little surprised at it, and took the liberty to expostulate with many of the council upon it, who gave me in answer, that Lord Loudon had insisted that Fort Cumberland should be preserved, and as we had so few troops, it could not be done without breaking up the small forts and taking the men from them.
" It was to no purpose to tell them that our frontiers would thereby be entirely exposed to our cruel and savage enemy, and that they could receive no protection from Fort Cumberland, as it was in another province, and so remote from any of our inhabitants; and further that the act of Assembly, which gave the money solely for the defence and pro- tection of our frontiers, would be violated and the money applied otherwise than the Assembly intended. Yet notwithstanding all I could say they persisted in their resolution without alleging any other reason than that it was in pursuance of Lord Loudon's desire.
"It cannot be a difficult matter to guess who was the author and promoter of this advice and resolution, or by whom Lord Loudon has been persuaded that the place is of such importance. But supposing it were really so, it ought to be defended by the people in whose province it is [Maryland], or at least at the expense of the three colonies jointly, and our own frontier not left exposed for the defence of a place, from which we cannot receive the least advantage or protection. The present unhappy state of our country must fill the mind of every well-wisher to it with dismal and gloomy apprehensions, and without some speedy altera- tions in our counsels, which may God send, the fate of it must soon be determined."
About the first of January, 1757, Washington estab- lished his headquarters at Fort Cumberland, where
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND. [1757.
he remained until March. He had concluded that Lord Loudon's opinions had been based upon Governor Dinwiddie's representations, and learning that there was to be a conference of the Southern Governors with Lord Loudon, in March, he asked Governor Dinwiddie's permission to attend, and in response to his request received a very ungracious letter from that official, granting him the privilege in the most churlish terms. Washington then wrote Lord Loudon a lengthy letter, explaining in full all military matters with which he had been connected, and the defects of the militia law of Virginia, which had caused no end of trouble and confusion. This letter impressed Lord Loudon very favorably, and when Washington arrived in Philadelphia he was received by him in the most cordial manner, and frequently consulted upon matters of importance. The con- ference discussed the plan for future operations, and the result of Washington's representations as to Fort Cumberland was, that the Virginia troops, provisions and stores were ordered to be moved to Winchester, which was to be made headquarters, and Fort Cumberland was henceforward to be garrisoned by Maryland forces. The Fort had been greatly strengthened during the winter, and a considerable sum of money expended in its improvement.
About this time Captain Jacobs, an Indian chief, and forty warriors, made their appearance in the Cove, near Raystown, or Bedford, on their way to attack the garrison at Fort Cumberland, expecting to be joined by others to a number sufficient to enable them to carry out their project. They killed
223
A FIGHT FOR LIFE.
1757.]
and captured all the people at the little settlement of the Cove, and burned the houses. Hugh McSwine, one of the settlers, was absent from his home, and on his return, finding the ruin that had been wrought, started in pursuit and overtook the Indians. Jacobs declared him a spy and made him prisoner. With the Indians was a white man, named Jackson, who was more bloodthirsty and villainous than his red comrades. McSwine and another prisoner were put in charge of Jackson and an Indian, while the rest of the party went in search of other settlers. Jackson and the Indian, with the prisoners, traveled all day, and in the evening stopped at a deserted cabin, where McSwine was given an ax, and sent to cut wood for a fire. As soon as he got the ax McSwine struck the Indian in the head with it and killed him, after which he turned upon Jackson, but that individual was too quick for him, and the result was a hand to hand encounter. Both were powerful men, and the struggle was long and fierce, the other prisoner being so badly frightened that he gave no aid. McSwine finally got hold of the dead Indian's gun, and succeeded in dispatching Jackson, after which he scalped him and the Indian, and started at once for Fort Cumberland, where he arrived the following evening, and warned Washington of the intended attack. Jacobs afterwards discovered the dead bodies of his friends, and finding the trail of the prisoners to lead towards Fort Cumberland, abandoned his intention of attacking it. McSwine was sent by Washington to Winchester, where he received a Lieutenant's commission.
-
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND. [1757.
McSwine had numerous with the savages afterwards, and was finally killed in a battle with them near Ligonier.
On the 5th of April, Governor Dinwiddie ordered the immediate evacuation of Fort Cumberland by the Virginia troops, two companies of which were to proceed to Fredericksburg, under command of Colonel Stephen, to be sent thence by direction of Lord Loudon to South Carolina, where it was anticipated an attack would soon be made. This letter miscarried, and on the 8th of April a council of war was called at the Fort, at which it was determined that the place should be held until the arrival of Captain Dagworthy with the Maryland troops.
On this day one hundred and twenty-four Catawba Indians arrived at the Fort, and were hospitably received by Colonel Stephen. They declared their intention to help their white brothers, the English, to drive out the French. A few days after their arrival, two of these Indians were in a canoe on the Potomac, near the Fort, intending to cross the river. When they had reached the middle of the stream they were suddenly fired upon from the shrubbery on the opposite side, and both Indians fell dead in the canoe. All the Indians in the Fort, and about one hundred white men, went at once in pursuit of the foe, and succeeded in securing a number of scalps.
Fort Cumberland long continued to be a source of uneasiness and dispute. It was the cause of much annoyance to Washington, as well as to the Gover-
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COMMUNICATION UNSAFE.
1757.]
nors and Assemblies of Virginia and Maryland. When the Maryland Assembly met, Governor Sharpe appealed to it for money to supply the wants of the garrison, but was met with a most indignant refusal. "That garrison," said the Assembly, "was stationed contrary to the plain destination of all the forces raised and to be supported by law; and, if any evil consequences have heretofore or may hereafter follow a want of supplies, let those answer for them who have, contrary to law, been the means of stationing troops where they had no right to place them."*
The difficulties of keeping up communication between the Fort and Winchester were of the most serious character. The whole country was infested with Indians, and the couriers were often killed or captured. Dinwiddie's letter of the 5th, heretofore referred to, was lost entirely, and another, of the 7th, was three days in reaching its destination. Washington wrote to Dinwiddie as follows:
FORT CUMBERLAND, 10 April, 1757.
SIR :
Your letter by express on the 5th instant, I fear has fallen into the hands of the common enemy, for I have never seen it. The other, of the 7th, I this day received, and being exceedingly embarrassed to come at your intentions, and really at a loss to know in what manner to act in such perplexed and difficult circumstances, I called a council of officers to my aid. The result of the advice you will find enclosed .;
It will not be in my power to be in Williamsburg by the 22d, as your Honor desires ; but as soon as I can I certainly will. I leave orders with Colonel Stephen to march this garrison to Fort Loudon, as soon as it is relieved, which cannot be before this express may return, and then your further orders may be received. We have no advice of Dagworthy's marching, though orders were sent him.
I shall order all the country's stores to be carried to Fort Loudon,
*Votes and Proceedings Maryland Assembly, Oct. 1757.
¡This was to the effect that the Fort should not be evacuated until the arrival of the Maryland troops.
29
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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND. [1757.
and the two companies on Patterson's Creek to be posted on the Branch to complete the number that was designed for that place. I have ordered a particular return of the provisions to be made out, and Colonel Stephen to take Captain Dagworthy's receipt for the quantity left.
We have been at a good deal of unavoidable expense and trouble to furnish the Indians with such things as they wanted. Some hostile Indians killed two Catawbas, on Thursday last, at about one hundred and fifty yards from the Fort, and seventy from a sentry, and made their escape, though pursued by other Catawbas and near two hundred men. And the day before yesterday, two soldiers were killed and a third taken prisoner, as they were coming to this place from the Fort below. The rest of the party, being ten in number, with Captain Waggener among them, made their escape.
The enclosed remonstrance I have just received, and think it expedient to send it to your Honor, that you may know the temper and disposition of the troops. As I expect to be with you in two or three days after the express, I think it needless to add anything but an apology for the incoherence of this letter. The Indians are all around, teazing and perplexing me for one thing and another, so that I scarce know what I write.
I have the honor to be &c., GEO. WASHINGTON.
About the 17th of the month Washington took his departure from Fort Cumberland, and at once made his headquarters at Fort Loudon, where he remained until near the close of the year, at which time he obtained a leave of absence, and retired to Mount Vernon to recuperate his health, which was seriously broken.
On the 8th of June, Lieutenant Baker, who had been out to within a few miles of Fort Duquesne, on a scouting expedition, returned to Fort Cumberland. He had taken with him a party of five soldiers and fifteen Cherokees, and they had surprised some French and Indians on Turtle creek, about twelve miles from Fort Duquesne. They brought in five scalps and one prisoner, a French officer named Velistre; and, besides, they had killed two other
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