History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley, Part 32

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 728

USA > Ohio > Jefferson County > History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley > Part 32
USA > Ohio > Belmont County > History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley > Part 32

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Lord Dunmore, to the great disappointment of General Lewis, did not make his appearance, and it was not until after a pain- ful delay of nine days that he learned by an express from that nobleman that he had changed his plan of operations, and marched for the old Chillicothe town, at which place he in- structed General Lewis to join him.

On the next day the Virginia troops were attacked in their camp by a numerous body of Indians, composed of the Shaw- anesc, Delaware, Mingo and other tribes. General Lewis, keep- ing a strong reserve in camp, pushed forward a detachment, under Colonels Charles Lewis and Flemming, who met the Indians about four hundred yards in front of the camp, and formed in two lines for their reception; The battle commenced a little after sunrise by a heavy firing from the Indians, and so vigorous was the onset that the advance was soon driven in upon the main body. Here they were rallied, reinforced, and led gallantly back to their former position. The Indians were now driven until they entrenched themselves behind a line of logs and trees, extending from the bank of the Ohio to that of the Kanawha, while our troops occupied the point of land formed by the junction of the two rivers. The brave Virgin- ians thus hemmed in, with rivers in their rear and on cither flank, and a vindictive foe strongly entrenched in their front, were dependent on their courage alone for success. Their native gallantry, ably directed by the military skill of their distin- guished leader, proved triumphant. The battle was kept up with great vivacity, and with little change of position, during the whole day, and at sundown the discomfited savages retreated across the Ohio.

The loss of the Virginians in this sanguinary battle, was seventy-five killed, and one hundred and forty wounded. Among the killed were Colonel Charles Lewis, Colonel Fields, Captains Buford, Murray, Ward, Wilson, and McClenahan, Lieutenants

Allen, Goldsby, Dillon, and some inferior officers. The number of Indians engaged was never ascertained, but it was rendered certain that their loss was at least equal to ours. They were commanded by Cornstalk, the celebrated chief warrior of the Shawanese, who displayed the most consummate skill and bra- very. During the whole of the day his voice was heard vo- ciferating with terrificenergy, in his own language: "Be strong ! Be strong!" On the evening preceding the battle, he had pro- posed, in council with his confederates, to go personally to the camp of General Lewis, to negotiate peace. A majority of the warriors voted against the measure. "Then," said the intrepid leader, "since you are resolved to fight, you shall fight. It is likely we shall have hard work to-morrow; but if any warrior shall attempt to run away from the battle, I will kill him with my own hand." It is said that he literally fulfilled his threat upon one of his followers.

After the Indians had returned to the Chillicothe town, Corn- stalk again called a council. He reminded the war chiefs of their obstinacy in preventing him from making peace, before the fatal battle of Point Pleasant, and asked: What shall we do now? The 'Long Knives'* are coming upon us by two routes. Shall we turn out and fight them ?" All were silent. He again addressed them: "Shall we kill all our squaws and children, and then fight until we are all killed ourselves ?" Again a dead silence reigned among the stern leaders of the Indian host. He rose up, with the dignity of one who felt that he had discharged his duty, and striking his tomahawk into the war-post, in the middle of the council-house, said: "Since you are not inclined to fight, I will go and make peace." He did so.

ARRIVAL OF DUNMORE AND CRAWFORD AT WHEELING WITH A FORCE OF TWELVE HUNDRED MEN.

In the meanwhile, Lord Dunmore descended the river with his force to Wheeling, where he arrived on the 30th of Septem- ber. On the 20th, William Crawford wrote to Washington : "I this day am to set out with the first division for the mouth of Hockhocking, and there to erect a post on your bottom, where the whole of the troops are to rendezvous. From there they are to march to the Shawanese towns, if the Indians do not comply with his Lordship's terms." The next day after Dunmore's ar- rival at Wheeling, Valentine Crawford wrote to Washington as follows :

"FORT FINCASTLE, October 1, 1774.

" DEAR SIR :- In the hurry of my business, I have just time to give you a line or two by Lord Dunmore's express, to let you known how we go on in this quarter with the Indian war, which is as follows :

" His Lordship arrived here yesterday with about twelve

#THE ORIGIN OF LONG KNIVES .- This was a name the Indians originally applied to the Virginians, and after the revolutionary war are said to have used the phrase to designate Americans generally. The origin of the name is attributed by most authors to a thrilling incident of the early days of this region, recorded by Withers as follows:

" In the fall of 1758, Thomas Decker and some others commenced a settlement on the Mo- nongabela river, at the mouth of what is now called Decker's creek. In the ensuing spring it was entirely broken up by a party of Delawares and Mingoes ; and the greater part of its inhabitants murdered.

" There was at this time at Brownsville a fort, then known as Redstone fort, under the command of Capt Panl. One of Decker's party escaped from the Indians who destroyed the settlement, and making his way to Fort Redstone, gave to its commander the melancholy ia- telligence. The garrison being too weak to admit of sending a detachment in pursuit, Capt. Paul dispatched a runner with the information to Capt. John Gibson, then stationed at Fort Pitt. Leaving the fort under the command of Lieut. Willimmuson, Capt. Gibson set out with thirty men to intercept the Indians on their return to their towns.

" In consequence of the distance which the pursners had to go, and the haste with which the Indians had retreated, the expedition :failed in its object. They, however, necidentally came on a party sf six or seven Mingoes, on the head of Cross ercek, Ohio (near Steubenville ;) these had been prowling about the river, below Fort Pitt, seeking an opportunity ofcommitting depredations. As Capt. Gibson passed the point of a small knoll, just after daybreak, he camo unexpectedly upon them-some of them were lying down; the others were sitting around a fire, making thongs of green hides. Kiskepila, or Little Eagle, u Mingo chief, headed the party. As soon as he discovered Capt. Gibson, he ruised the war whoop and fired his rifle-the ball passed through Gibson's hunting shirt and wounding a soldier just behind him. Gibson sprang forward, and swinging his sword with herenlean force severed the head of Little Eagle from his body-two other Indians were shot down, and the remainder escaped to their towns on tho Muskingum.

" When the captives, who were restored under the treaty of 1763, eame in, those who were at the Minge towns when the remnant of Kiskepila's party returned, stated that the Indians represented Gibson as having ent eff the Little Eagle's head with a long knife. Several of the white persons were then sacrificed to appease the manes of Kiskepila ; and a war dance ensued, uecompanied with terrific shouts und bitter denunciations of revenge on 'the Big Knife warrior.' This name was soon applied to the Virginians generally ; and to this day they are known among the north western Indians as the ' Long Knives,' or ' Rig Knife nation.'"

There are somo difficulties in roconciling the date of this Inchlent with all the known facts of history. De Hass und some other writers give the year 1779 as the date of the occurrence. But if the ineldent gave rise to the Indian use of the significant term " Long K'nires," it cer- tainly ocenrred long prior to the Intter date.

*A better swordsman than the first named of those three, perhaps never lived .- WITHERS.

HISTORY OF BELMONT AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES, OHIO.

hundred men, seven hundred of whom came by water with his Lordship, and five hundred came under my brother William, by land, with the bullocks. His Lordship has sent him with five hundred men, fifty pack-horses, and two hundred bullocks, to meet Colonel Lewis at the mouth of Hockhocking, below the mouth of the Little Kanawha. He is to build a stockade fort, or a large block-house, which is to be erected on one of your bottoms, below the mouth of the Kanawha. His Lordship is to go by water with the rest of the troops in a few days. We were in hopes of a peace being concluded between his Lordship and the Indians; but on Wednesday morning last there were mur- dered by the savages one man and his wife and several prison- ers taken, on Ten-mile creek. This alarmed his Lordship much, as the Indians had been peaceable for some time, and some of the defiant nations had met him at Fort Dunmore,* promising to meet him again at the mouth of Hockhocking to accommodate a peace,t which we all hope for, if we can, get it on good terms, in order that we may be able to assist you in relieving the poor, distressed Bostonians-if the report here is true, that General Gage has bombarded the city of Boston. This is a most alarming circumstance, and calls on every friend of the liberty of his country to exert himself at this time in its cause."

William Crawford, on this occasion, made his third expedi- tion against the Indians. He had been promoted to the rank of Major, and after arriving at Wheeling with his five hundred men, descended the river in boats and reached his destination in safety, but did not erect a fort on Washington's land, on the east side of the Ohio, but crossed it and commenced a stockade fort at the mouth of the Hockhocking, which was called Fort Gower. Dunmore remained a few days longer at Wheeling and then proceeded down the river with his seven hundred men, using for their transportation about one hundred canoes, a few keel boats, and some pirogues. He joined Crawford at the mouth of the Hockhocking, from which place he marched to a point within eight miles of Chillicothe, on the Scioto. Here the army halted, and threw up entrenchments of fallen trees and earth, which included about twelve acres, with an enclosure of strong breast works in the centre, containing about one acre. The latter, as an early writer significantly remarks, " was the citadel which contained the marquees of the Earl and his su- perior officers."}

Before the army reached this place, the Indian chiefs had sent several messages, sueing for peace, which Lord Dunmore resolved to grant. He therefore ordered General Lewis to re- treat. The brave Virginian, disregarding his mandate, con- tinued his march until he joined his superior, when the order was repeated and obeyed. The troops were greatly chagrined at this termination of a campaign which had thus far been suc- cessful. The murder of some of their relatives and friends, and the loss of many of their brave companions in the recent bat- tle, had kindled a desire for revenge, which they were disposed to indulge by the destruction of all the Indian towns in the re- gion of the Scioto.

DUNMORE'S CONDUCT-RECEIVES ADVICES FROM GREAT BRITAIN AT WHEELING AND DISPLAYS TREACHERY TOWARDS THE COL- ONISTS.

The order of Dunmore was therefore obeyed with indignation and regret, and Lewis retired towards Virginia, while the Earl remained with his army to treat with the Indians.

On this occasion every precaution was used to guard against treachery, and only a limited number of chiefs with a few war- riors, were permitted to enter the fortified encampment. Corn- stalk opened the discussion by an eloquent speech, in which he boldly charged the whites with having provoked the war by the murders at Captina and Yellow creeks; and is said to have spoken with such vehemence that he was heard over the whole camp.

It was on this occasion that Logan sent Lord Dunmore the speech which has rendered his name so celebrated.

On the 4th day of December, 1774, Lord Dunmore returned to Williamsburg, in Virginia, from his expedition against the Indians, who were humbled into the necessity of soliciting

peace, and who delivered up hostages for the assurance of their promises. A treaty was ratified confining the Indians' power to the north and west bank of the Ohio. So important did the House of Burgesses consider the treaty that they not only paid a just tribute to the brave men who fell in the memorable battle at the mouth of the Kanawha, but in May, 1775, passed a vote of thanks to Lord Dunmore, and the officers and soldiers under his command, for "their noble and spirited conduct in the expedition;" complimenting him for his attention to the true interests of the colony, and the wisdom of his adminis- tration.

Notwithstanding the foregoing resolution of thanks to Lord Dunmore, by the convention of delegates and corporations of the colony of Virginia, for his conduct of the expedition against the Indians, yet the facts show that it was owing to the hard earned victory of General Lewis, at Point Pleasant, over the united Indian army, unaided by the promised co-operation of Lord Dunmore, that brought the Indians to sue for peace.

The plan of operations adopted by the Indians in this war, shows clearly that Cornstalk, the war chief of the Shawanese, and his confederates were by no means deficient in foresight and skill, necessary for making the most prudent military ar- rangement, for obtaining success and victory. At an early period they obtained intelligence of the plan of the campaign against them concerted between Lord Dunmore and General Lewis. With a view, therefore, to attack the forces of these commanders separately, they speedily collected their war- riors, and by forced marches reached the Point, before the ex- pected arrival of the troops under Lord Dunmore. Such was the secrecy with which they assembled their forces at Point Pleasant, that General Lewis knew nothing of the Indian army, until a few minutes before the commencement of the battle. Cornstalk, the Indian commander, had so arranged his plan of attack as to leave General Lewis no chance for retreat, and so well managed was the assault, that if the brave and crafty war- rior had commanded a little larger force the whole army of General Lewis would have been cut off. If Dunmore had co- operated, as he had promised, the peril would have been avoided, and many valuable lives would have been saved.

Had the army of General Lewis been defeated, that of Lord Dunmore, consisting of little more than one thousand men would probably have shared the same fate. Venturing too far into the Indian country, with too small a number, and with munitions of war inadequate to sustain a contest with the united force of a number of Indian nations flushed with victory and fighting in defence of their own homes, Lord Dunmore would not have been able to have concluded the peace, which the bravery of General Lewis and his gallant army had con- qeured at Point Pleasant.

It was the general belief among the officers of the army of the colonists, that Lord Dunmore received, while at Wheeling advices from the British Government of the probability of the approaching 'war, which resulted in the independence of the colonies from Great Britain; and that afterwards, all his meas- ures in reference to the Indians, had for their ultimate object, an alliance with the savages for aid to the mother country in the contest with the colonies. This supposition accounts for his not forming a junction with the army of General Lewis, at Point Pleasant. This deviation from the original plan of the campaign, put in jeopardy the army of General Lewis, and well nigh occasioned its total destruction. The conduct, too, of Lord Dunmore, at the treaty, showed a good understanding between him and the Indian chiefs. He did not suffer the army of Lewis to form a junction with his own, but sent them back before the treaty was concluded, thus risking the safety of his own forces; for at the time of the treaty, the Indian warriors were about his camp, in force sufficient to have intercepted his retreat and destroyed his whole army.

The treaty was, however, entered into in the month of No- vember, 1774, about six months previous to the commencement of the revolutionary war, at Lexington, and the disastrous war of Lord Dunmore with the Indians, was brought to a close. It began in the wanton and unprovoked murders of the Indians at Captina and Yellow creek, and ended with an awful sacri- fice of life and property to the demon of revenge. On the part of the whites, they obtained, at the treaty, a cessation of hos- tilities, and a surrender of prisoners, and nothing inore.

In addition to what we have said upon these events, we deem it worthy to give in this connection the original account of them, as recorded by Captain John Stuart, a participant in the scenes narrated, entirely reliable and authentic:

*Fort Pitt was named Fort Dunmore after it was taken possession of by Connelly, in honor of Governor Dunmore. But the old name was fully restored when his Lordship became odious to the Virginia patriots.

+In September, while Dunmore was at Pittsburgh, he succeeded in getting together at that point a few Indians of the different nations to hold a treaty with them, They agreed to meet him as stated in this letter, at the mouth of the Hockhocking " to accommodate a peace."

¿Doddridge.

HISTORY OF BELMONT AND JEFFERSON COUNTIES, OHIO.

NARRATIVE BY CAPTAIN JOHN STUART OF GENERAL ANDREW LEWIS' EXPEDITION AGAINST THE INDIANS IN 1774-BATTLE OF POINT PLEASANT-TREACHERY OF LORD DUNMORE-BREAKING OUT OF THE REVOLUTION-SUBSEQUENT MURDER OF CORNSTALK.

PRELIMINARY NOTE .- The subjoined sketch of the expedition which terminated in the battle of the Virginia colonists with the Indians at Point Pleasant, on the 10th of October, 1774, was written by Captain John Stuart, who was a prominent actor in the thrilling events which marked that memorable pre-revolu- tionary struggle. The original manuscript of this sketch, which bears the marks of age, is now in the possession of a gentleman of Salem, Virginia, who gives assurance that it is the genuine narrative penned or dictated by Capt. Stuart him- self. We give it literatim, except as to a few corrections in or- thography and punctuation. All the accounts of this expe- dition and battle in the historical publications of the country are based upon this narrative of Capt. Stuart.

Although General Andrew Lewis, "the hero of Point Pleas- ant," as he has justly been designated, was a leading actor in the events in which he figured, fame has trumpeted to the world his brave exploits with feebler tone than the deeds of many other heroes of lesser note. History has been satisfied with a few fragmentary allusions to some salient incidents in his military career. Yet these few are of such a striking char- acter that, like the sententious aphorisms of ancient Grecian sages, or the renowned deeds of Spartan and Roman valor, they have been crystalized into historic gems which adorn the pages of history with no doubtful lustre.

CAPTAIN STUART'S NARRATIVE.

" In the spring of 1774, General Lewis represented the county of Botetourt for the Assembly, and his brother, Col. Charles Lewis, represented the county of Augusta at Williamsburg, which was then the capital of our Government. During the sitting of the Assembly, in the month of April or May, the Government received intelligence of the hostile appearances of the Indians, who had fallen on the traders in the nation, and put them all to death, and were making other arrangements for the war.

"General Lewis and his brother Charles sent an express im- mediately to the frontier settlements of their respective coun- ties, requesting them to put themselves in a position of de- fenee. They had, each, the command of the militia in their counties at that time. And I was ordered by General Lewis to send out some scouts to watch the war-path beyond the settle- ments lately made in Greenbrier, which had re-commenced in the year 1769. We were few in number, and in no condition to oppose an attack from any considerable force. But succor was promised us as soon as they could arrive from the Assembly ; and in the meantime arrangements were made for the carrying on of an expedition against the Shawanese, between the Earl of Dunmore, who was then Governor of Virginia, and the Lewises before they left Williamsburg; the Governor to have the com- mand of the northern division of an army of volunteer militia, or otherwise draughts, to be collected from the counties of Frede- rick, Shenandoah, and the settlements towards Fort Pitt ; Gen. Lewis to have the command of a southern division of like troops, collected from the counties of Augusta, Botetourt, and the adjacent counties below the Blue Ridge.

"Col. Charles Lewis was to command the Augusta troops and Col. William Fleming the Botetourt troops under Gen. Lewis. The Governor was to take his route by the way of Pittsburgh, and General Lewis down the Kanawha; the whole armies to assemble at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, on the Ohio river.

"General Lewis' army assembled in Greenbrier, at Camp Union (near Lewisburg), about the 4th of September, 1774, amounting in all to about eleven hundred men, and proceeded from thence on their march, on the 11th day of said month. The captains commanding the Augusta volunteers were Capt. George Mathews, Capt. Alexander McClanaghan, Capt. John Dickeson, Capt. John Lewis, Capt. Benjamin Harrison, Capt. William Naul, Capt. Joseph Haynes and Capt. Samuel Wilson. They commanding the Botetourt companies were Capt. Matthew Arbuckle, Capt. John Murray, Capt. John Lewis, Capt. James Robinson, Capt. Robert McClanaghan, Capt. James Ward and Capt. John Stuart .* In the course of that summer and not long after we received notice of the hostile appearance of the Indians, they came up the Kanawha and killed Walter Kelley.

"Kelley had begun a settlement about twelve miles below the great falls when they made the attack and Col. John Fields, of Culpepper county, was at Kelley's about to make some sur- veys on military claims, or otherwise.

" He had with him several of his neighbors and one or two negroes. I had sent an express to them with advice to remove immediately, as it was apprehended the Indians were about to break out, and that they were in great danger. Kelley, who I believe was a fugitive from the back parts of South Carolina, and of a bold and intrepid disposition, received my intelligence with caution, and sent off his family and stock for Greenbrier with his brother, a young man of equally suspicious character. But Fields, trusting more to his own consequence and better knowledge of public facts, endeavored to persuade Kelley that there was no danger, as nothing of the kind had before been heard of, and our Greenbrier intelligence was not worth noticing. On the evening of the same day, and before Kelley's brother and family had got out of hearing of the guns, the In- dians came on Kelley and Fields, where they were taking leather from a tan trough, at a small distance from the cabin, fired on them and killed Kelley on the spot. Fields ran into the cabin where their guns were all unloaded. He picked up one, and recollecting that it was not charged, ran out of the house into a corn field within a few steps of the door, and left his negro girl and Scotch boy crying at the door. The boy was killed and the girl carried off. Fields made his escape, but never saw an Indian. Kelley's brother gave information that he heard guns fired soon after he started with his family, and expected his brother and Col. Fields were killed. I offered to go and see what was the consequence; raised about ten or fifteen men, and proceeded on our way to the Kanawha, about ten miles, when I met Col. Fields naked, except his shirt. His limbs were grievously lacerated with briers and brush, his body worn down with fatigue and cold, having run in that con- dition from the Kanawha, upwards of eighty miles, through the woods. He was then, I guess, upwards of fifty years old, but of a hardy, strong constitution. He was afterwards killed in the battle on the 10th of October following. But a fatality pursued the family of Kelley, for the Indians came to Greenbrier, on Muddy creek, and killed young Kelley and took his niece prisoner about three weeks after they had killed her father.

" About this time the disputes between the British govern- ment and the colonies began to run high, on account of the du- ties laid upon tea imported to this country, and much suspicion was entertained that the Indians were urged by the British agents to begin a war upon us, and to kill the traders then in the Nation, However that might be, facts afterwards corrobo- rated those suspicions. The mouth of the great Kanawha is distant from Camp Union about 160 miles, the way mountain- ous and rugged. At the time we commenced our march, no track or path was made and but few white men had ever seen the place. Our principal pilot was Capt. Matthew Arbuckle; our breadstuff was packed upon horses, and droves of cattle fur- nished our meat, of which we had a plentiful supply, as droves of cattle and pack-horses came in succession after us, but we went on expeditiously under every disadvantage, and ar- rived at Point Pleasant about the first. of October, where we ex- pected the Earl of Dunmore would meet us with his army; who was to have come down the river from Fort Pitt, as was previously determined between the commanders. But in this expectation we were greatly disappointed, for his lordship pur- sued a different route. and had taken his march from Pittsburgh by land towards the Shawanese towns, General Lewis finding himself disappointed in meeting the governor and his army at Point Pleasant, dispatched two scouts up the river, by land, to Fort Pitt, to endeavor to learn the cause of the disappointment, and our army remained encamped to await their return. Be- fore we marched from Camp Union we were joined by Col. John Field, with a company of men from Culpepper, and Capt. Thomas Buford, from Bedford county, also three other companies under the command of Capt. Evan Shelby, Capt. William Rus- sell and Capt. Harbert, from Holston (now Washington county.) These troops were to compose a division commanded by Col. William Christian, who was then convening more men in that quarter of the country, with a view of pursuing us to the mouth of the great Kanawha, where the whole army were ex- pected to meet and proceed from thence to the Shawanese towns. The last mentioned five companies completed our army to eleven hundred men. During the time our scouts were going expressly up the river to Fort Pitt, the governor had dispatched three men, lately traders among the Indians down the river, expressly to General Lewis, to inform him of his new plan and the route he was about to take, with instructions to pursue on

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History of Belmont and Jefferson Counties, Ohio, and incidentially historical collection pertaining to border warfare and the early settlement of the adjacent portion of the Ohio Valley, Part 32

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 728

Author: Caldwell, J. A. (John Alexander) 1n; Newton, J. H., ed; Ohio Genealogical Society. 1n
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Wheeling, W. Va. : Historical Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 728