USA > Ohio > History of Ohio; the rise and progress of an American state, Volume One > Part 23
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Proceeding by Logstown, Post and his companion arrived near the Forks, opposite Fort Duquesne, on the west side of the Allegheny River. There lengthy and frequent conferences were held with the Delawares, Shawnees, Mingoes, Tawas, and other tribes. Many distinguished chiefs were present, among them the famous Captain White Eyes and Killbuck, "a great captain and conjurer," from the Delawares on the Muskingum. Both of these chiefs were friendly to the English and stood for peace; "but an old deaf Onondaga Indian rose up and signified his displeasure," declaring the Iroquois still claimed the land west of the Ohio. The Indians friendly to the French plotted against the life of Post and he only escaped through his bravery and diplomacy. He reports, "there are a great number of Irish traders now among the Indians, who endeavor to spirit up the Indians against the English." Surely the dauntless Moravian was in no enviable situation but his tact and courage brought about the result that some fifteen chiefs, including Beaver, Killbuck, White Eyes and Delaware George
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signed a document that the nations they represented wished peace with the English and would use their influence to get other tribes to unite with them in the same purpose. In concluding his report, Post says : "There is not a prouder, or more high minded people, in themselves, than the Indians. They think them- selves the wisest and prudentest men in the world; and that they can over-power both the French and English when they please. They are a very distrustful people. Through their imagination and reason they think themselves a thousand times stronger than all other people. Fort Duquesne is said to be under- mined. The French have given out, that, if we over- power them, and they should die, we should certainly all die with them. When I come to the fort, the garrison, it was said, consisted of about one thousand four hundred men; and I am told they will now be full three thousand French and Indians. They are almost all Canadians, and will certainly meet the general Forbes] before he gets to the fort, in an ambush. You may depend upon it the French will make no ›pen field battle, as in the old country, but lie in am- ›ush. The Canadians are all hunters. The Indians tave agreed to draw back; but how far we may give redit to their promises the Lord knows. It is the best ray to be on our guard against them, as they really ould with one thousand overpower eight thousand." 'ost returned late in September to report the pro- edings of his delicate and dangerous mission. Avery łys: 'partly as a result of the missionary's, a great eace convention was met at Easton in October. Dele- ates from several of the provinces and from the
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Iroquois, the Mohegans, the eastern Delawares and other kindred tribes were present. The conference was continued for two weeks with the inevitable formalities, weary repetitions and long winded speeches. At last all differences were settled and wampum belts were given to the Indians to heal their wounds and to make firm a new pact of peace. All present agreed to send a joint message to the Ohio tribes, Post, with several white and Indian companions, was sent to deliver the belt and the message." This was a second journey to the Ohio country, where the "peace over- tures were accepted and Delawares, Shawnees and Mingoes laid down the hatchet."
During the months that Post was conducting his peaceful mission and negotiations with the Ohio In- dians, the French were rallying the western lake tribes to their assistance. Smith is his "Remarkable Occur- rences" writes from Detroit, where he had arrived, and "remained this summer," (1758); "Some time in May we heard that General Forbes, with seven thousand men was preparing to carry on a campaign against Fort Duquesne, which then stood near where Fort Pitt was afterwards erected. Upon receiving this news a number of runners were sent off by the French commander at Detroit, to urge the different tribes of Indian warriors to repair to Fort Duquesne. Some time in July 1758, the Ottawas, Jibewas, Poto- watomies and Wyandots rendezvoused at Detroit, and marched off to Fort Duquesne, to prepare for the en- counter of General Forbes. The common report was that they would serve him as they did General Brad. dock, and obtain much plunder. From this time unti
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fall, we had frequent accounts of Forbes' army, by Indian runners that were sent out to watch their motion."
Meanwhile Forbes was perfecting the preparations for the Duquesne expedition. Forbes' entire force, including wagoners and camp followers amounted to between six and seven thousand men, two-thirds of whom were furnished by the colonies. Avery, who, in his history of the United States, relates the story of this expedition with entertaining faithfulness, says, "Some of the troops came with damaged firelocks, bound with string, others with no weapons but walking sticks, while many of them had never fired a gun." Forbes declared that their officers, except a few in the higher ranks, were "an extreme bad collection of broken innkeepers, horse jockeys, and Indian traders." But Avery adds, "with a chance for honors as well as hardships, American soldiers and sailors responded to Pitt's appeal with unwonted alacrity." And so they did. The patriotic spirit of the colonial troops was expressed in a song composed by an officer in a Maryland company and which was published in the Maryland Gazette, at the outbreak of the war:
"Over the hills with heart we go, To fight the proud, insulting foe; Our Country calls and we'll obey Over the hills and far away.
Over the mountains' dreary waste, To meet the enemy we haste, Our King commands, and we'll obey, Over the hills and far away.
Whoe'er is bold, whoe'er is free Will join and come with me, To drive the French without delay, Over the hills and far away.
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Over the rocks and o'er the steep, Over the waters wide and deep, We'll drive the French without delay, Over the lakes and far away."
Another stanza we reserve for later quotation.
At this date the Maryland Gazette, pointed out the absurdity of the hope of victory by the French because at that date "the population of the English in the American Colonies, exclusive of British troops, was 1,050,000 while the French inhabitants in America numbered but 52,000, of whom 45,000 were in Canada and 7,000 in Louisiana. So that the English are more than in proportion of twenty to one." But the Gazette was misinformed as to the French ratio, for unques- tioned estimates at the date mentioned show the "general census of Canada above to have been no less than eighty-two thousand."
Early in July (1758) Bouquet was encamped with Forbes' advance guard at the settlement of Raystown, now Bedford, Pennsylvania. Henry Bouquet is one of the early heroes of Ohio history. He was a native of Switzerland, who entered the army of the Low Countries in 1736, and served alternately with the Dutch and the Sardinians and in 1756 entered the British service in America as Lieutenant Colonel of the Royal American Regiment, organized for the Du- quesne expedition. He was appointed second in command in Forbes' army. As Parkman puts it, the tents of Bouquet's camp, at Raystown, were pitched in an opening of the forest by the banks of a small stream among the eastern heights of the Alleghanies, and "the Virginians in hunting shirts, Highlanders in kilt and plaid and Royal Americans in regulation
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scarlet, labored at throwing up intrenchments and palisades, while around stood the silent mountains in their mantles of green." The Virginian troops raised for the expedition numbered some nineteen hundred men being divided into two regiments, the first under Colonel George Washington, and the second under Colonel William Byrd, member of a distinguished Vir- ginia family. Washington's regiment was assembled at Fort Cumberland, some thirty miles from Raystown, and in lieu of regimental clothing, which had not been supplied, Washington attired his soldiers in Indian dress, leggings and hunting shirts. "In this country" he said, "we must learn the art of war from enemy Indians, or anybody else who has seen it carried on here." Irving says, "seven hundred Indian warriors, also came lagging into Washington's camp, lured by the prospect of a successful campaign." This must be an over-statement. No such number of Indians joined Washington, though among his camp followers, as his correspondence shows, were many small bands of friendly Cherokees, Catawbas and Chickasaws, of whom he made good use and said, "I think them in- dispensable in our present circumstances."
At the outset a disagreement, to which Sparks devotes considerable space, arose between Forbes and Washington over the route to be followed in the march on Fort Duquesne. Washington advocated the Vir- ginia road from Fort Cumberland, laid out by the Ohio Company in 1753 and followed in the expeditions of Washington and Braddock, and which, Washington wrote, "only wants such small repairs, as would with ease be made as fast the army could march." General
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Forbes, however, insisted on a new road to be carved through the Pennsylvania country direct from Rays- town to the Forks, a saving of thirty miles in distance, but necessitating an entirely new construction and great expenditure of time, labor and money. Wash- ington wrote Bouquet if the new route were followed, "we shall be stopped at the Laurel Hill this winter; but not to gather laurels except of the kind that covers the mountains." This is one of the rare instances recorded, in which Washington indulged in humor. The Pennsylvania route was selected. The story of this expedition is a favorite theme for all historians, and we need not repeat the details. The British commander Forbes, who treated Washington with great consider- ation, was too ill to accompany the troops. The ted- ious march from Raystown began. At Loyalhannan, later known as Ligonier, midway to their destination, a fort was erected. Major James Grant was permitted to proceed in advance to reconnoitre the Forks. With eight hundred men, Highlanders, Royal Americans and Provincials, on September 15, 1758 the brave but rash. major reached the top of rising ground, thenceforth called Grant's Hill, less than a mile from the French Fort, and "The forest and darkness of night hid them completely from the enemy!" At early morning, veiled in a fog, the advance columns pushed blindly ahead. Grant seemed emulous of the reputation of the fool- hardy Braddock for he "ordered the reveille to be beaten in the morning in several places," and as if regarding himself invulnerable, "marshaled his regu- lars in battle array and sent an engineer, with a covering party, to take a plan of the works, in full view of the
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garrison." Suddenly there resounded a "burst of war-whoops, and the French came swarming like hor- nets, many of them in their shirts, having just leaped from their beds," and continues Parkman, "at length the force of numbers, the novelty of the situation, and the appalling yells of Canadians and Indians, completely overcame the Highlanders, so intrepid in the ordinary situation of war." They broke away in a wild and disorderly retreat. It was Braddock's surprise and stampede over again. "Fear," says Grant, "got the better of every other passion; and I trust I shall never again see such a panic among troops." Grant was surrounded and captured.
Thus ended this mismanaged affair, which cost the English over three hundred men, in killed, wounded and prisoners. Among the latter was Major Andrew Lewis, who was later to perform valiant deeds in the Ohio and Revolutionary wars. The survivors ran back to Loyalhannan, around which hovered for many weeks a horde of Canadians and allied Indians. The late fall weather, with its rain, wind and mud, added to the discomfiture of the Colonial forces, and the expe- dition seemed well nigh wrecked. Washington, whose anticipations had thus far been realized, was now recognized as the cool and wise leader to bring victory out of defeat. He, of all others, had long familiarity with woods and Indians. His command, including a regiment under Colonel John Armstrong, was placed in front, and with his faithful Virginians to support him, he attended personally to the cutting of the road, and the preparing of the way for the main army. Late in November he had advanced until his detachment
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encamped among the hills of Turkey Creek; when at midnight the "men on guard heard a dull and heavy sound booming over the western woods." In the morning the march was resumed, "slowly through the forests, over damp, fallen leaves, crisp with frost, beneath an endless entanglement of bare gray twigs that sighed and moaned in the bleak November wind." The Fort was reached, or rather the place where it had been. The commander De Ligneris and the French garrison of about five hundred, suddenly de- serted by their Indian allies, had fled, having previously burned the barracks and storehouses and blown up the fortifications. Fort Duquesne was no more. Char- red and blackened heaps marked its site. Washington with the advance guard marched in and planted the British flag on the yet smoking ruins. The aston- ished and rejoicing victors of a bloodless conquest proceeded to erect a stockade, "around a cluster of traders' cabins and soldiers' huts, " and General Forbes, who had recently joined his troops, carried in a litter, for he was in the last stages of a fatal illness, named the new palisaded defense Fort Pitt, in honor of the great Prime Minister, whose energy and foresight had brought about the result. The French had abandoned their stronghold at the gateway of the Ohio country. The last verse of the Maryland officer's song had in- deed become an historic truth, for it ran,
"On fair Ohio's banks we stand, Musket and bayonet in hand; The French are beat, they dare not stay, But trust to their heels and run away."
General Forbes wrote to Governor Denny from Fort Duquesne November 26, 1758. "I have the
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pleasure and honor of acquainting you with the signal success of his majesty's troops over all his enemy's on the Ohio, by having obliged them to burn and abandon their Fort Duquesne, which they effectuated upon the 24th inst., and of which I took possession with my little army the next day-The enemy having made their escape down the river, part in boats and part in land, to their forts and settlements on the Mississippi, being abandoned, or at least not seconded by their friends, the Indians, whom we had previously engaged to act a neutral part and who now seem willing and ready to embrace His Majesty's most gracious protection. * * As the conquest of this country is of the greatest consequences to the adjacent provinces, by securing the Indians, our real friends for their own advantage, I have therefore sent for their head people to come to me, when I think in a few words and few days to make everything easy; I shall then set out to kiss your hands if I have strength left to carry me through the journey. Dispatches from Mon- treal to M. Berryer to effect that Shawnees, Iroquois, Delaware and so on flock to the English. Indians of Upper Country are beginning to shake and to negotiate with the English."
The reduction of Fort Duquesne "terminated as Washington had foreseen" says Irving, "the troubles and dangers of the southern frontiers." The Canadian chain of forts connecting the St. Lawrence with the Ohio had been severed forever and the French domi- nation of the Ohio was at an end; "the Indians as usual, paid homage to the conquering power." Wash- ington in his report from Fort Pitt to Governor Fau-
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quier said, "this fortunate and indeed unexpected success of our arms will be attended with happy effects. The Delawares are suing for peace, and I doubt not that other tribes on the Ohio will follow their example. A trade, free, open and on equitable terms is what they seem much to desire and I do not know so effectual a way of riveting them to our interest, as by sending out goods immediately to this place for that purpose," and again, "the preparatory steps should immediately be taken for preserving the communication from Virginia, by constructing a post at Red-Stone Creek, which should greatly facilitate the supplying of our troops on the Ohio, where a formidable garrison should be sent as soon as the season will admit."
The fall of Fort Duquesne foretold the doom of the French on the Ohio. Washington received much merited glory from the final result, for as Bancroft justly testifies, "Vast as were the preparations, Forbes would never, but for Washington, have seen the Ohio." But the unfortunate Forbes, a brave and praiseworthy officer, who died a few weeks after the successful ending of his expedition, seems to have received scant rec- ognition from the hand of history. Kingsford, the calm and fair historian of Canada, pays fitting tribute to the British general: "No monument is erected to Forbes, either in Christ Church, where he was buried, in his native place, or at any spot in the empire which he served so faithfully. No Campo Santo, devoted to the memory of the illustrious dead, displays a tablet to record his services, his abnegation, and his undaunted resolution. Pennsylvania and Virginia, and Pittsburg which he founded, have not only forgotten all that
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he achieved, but have ceased to remember even that he lived. Notwithstanding this neglect, his name will ever remain prominently emblazoned in its own nobility in the page of history as that of one, whose genius, firmness, and patriotism secured for the British race the valley of the Ohio, with the southern shore of Lake Erie, and the territory extending to the Mississippi."
The fall of Fort Duquesne was the closing event, on the western frontier, of the French and Indian War, which terminated a year later (1759) on the memorable heights of Abraham, before the battle-battered walls of quaint Quebec, in the tragic and dramatic defeat of the intrepid Montcalm by the invincible Wolfe, who, the night before the contest, presaged his victorious death upon the field by repeating the lines of Grey,
"The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow'r,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e'er gave
Await alike th' inevitable hour,
The paths of glory lead but to the grave."
CHAPTER XV. EXPEDITION OF ROGERS' RANGERS
I N September, 1760, just one year after the fall of Quebec, the Canadian army under Francis Gaston Levis, yielded Montreal, the stronghold in which the French made their last stand of resistance. It was a bloodless siege on the part of the British and Provincial troops under Sir Jeffrey Amherst, commander in chief of his Majesty's troops in America. The result was inevitable and there was naught re- maining for the unimpeded assailants but to demand the surrender of the doomed city. The capitulation of the French included "all of Canada, which it was claimed, extended to the headwaters of the Miami, the Wabash and the Illinois," or as the articles of surrender read, "our posts situated upon our frontiers, from the coast of Acadia, to Detroit, Michilimakinac and other posts." This embraced therefore, the Ohio country, east of the Illinois, south of Lake Erie and north of La Belle Riviere. No disposition of Louisiana and the valley of the Mississippi was made in the articles as signed by Vaudreuil, governor of Canada, those sections being left to be disposed of later in the permanent treaty. Certainly, however, the war was over, and the work of conquest complete, but it still remained for the British to assume possession of the western outposts, "where the Lillies of France had not yet descended from the flagstaff." The responsibility of this task was immediately assigned by General Amherst to one Major Robert Rogers, with a detach- ment from his regiment of "rangers," which command "was the most famous single organization of the Seven Years War."
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Robert Rogers, a native of New Hampshire, who had, previous to the French War, won distinction as an Indian fighter, was authorized by the English gov- ernment to raise a regiment of border men, to serve independent of the main army, as scouts and bush- whackers on the frontiers. He was fully equal to the task. The boldest and hardiest youth of the colonies flocked to his standard, and he speedily organized five companies, known as Rogers' Rangers, "half hunters, half woodsmen, trained in a discipline of their own, and armed, like Indians, with hatchet, knife, and gun," in the use of which all were experts. Their garb was an imitation of Indian costume, composed of dressed deer-skin with the hair on the outside for warmth. These select companies of self-made war- riors, among the officers of whom were Israel Putnam and John Stark, did valiant service in the mountainous region of Lake George, "the debatable ground between the hostile forts of Ticonderoga and William Henry." The daring raids of the Rangers in the war made them famous, while the leader, Robert Rogers became one of the unique and conspicuous figures of his time. He was sagacious, resolute, and tireless, though with a "vain, restless and grasping spirit and more than doubtful honesty" as the later years of his life seemed to have indicated. Sir William Johnson testified Rogers was "a good Ranger for he was fit for nothing else, neither has nature calculated him for a large command in that service." Amherst, however, seems to have choosen well when he selected Rogers and a portion of his followers, as the party to go upon this French fort surrendering errand. Rogers added to
ROBERT ROGERS.
Colonel Robert Rogers. Leader of the expedition in 1760 to receive the French Forts on Lake Erie-and the West. From an engraved portrait made in 1770, a copy of which is now in the possession of the Library of the City of Fremont, Ohio.
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Robert Rogers, аяносятявноNew Hampshire
independent of the main armind Juomrotufiskod b wbackers on the frontiers. He was fully equal lo twk. The boldest and hardiest youth of the colo flocked to his standard, and he speedily organ live companies, Laosra as Rogers' Rangers, "! banners, bolf wixxbmcoptrained in a discipline of own, and armed, like Indians, with hatchet, knife gw." in the use of which all were experts. with was an imitation of Indian costume, comp of dressed deer-skin with the hair on the outsich warmth These select companies of self-made pors, among the officers of whom were Israel Put and John Stark, did vallant service in the mountsh region of Lake George, "the debatable ground bet the hostile forts of Ticonderoga and William Hen The daring maids of the Rangers in the war made : famous, while the leader, Robert Rogers became of the unique and conspicuous figures of his He was szescious, resolute, and tireless, though a "'vain, resiles and grasping spirit and more doubtful honesty " w the later years of his life som to have indicated Sir William Johnson te Rogers was "a good Ranger for he was fit for ne else, neither has nisuve calculated . him for a command in that service " Amherst, however. to have choosen well "ben he selected Rogere portion of his followers, at the party to go upon French fort surrendering errand. Rogers add
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the elements of his rugged personality a sort of literary cultivation, and "as a writer was not contemptible." He wrote and published several books, chiefly narra- tives of his own experience. One of these "Journals" includes a brief diary, written in a blunt, official style, of this expedition to receive the French posts, and from which diary we obtain our main facts.
It was on September 13, (1760) only five days after the capitulation of Montreal, that Rogers and his chosen detachment of some two hundred, set forth up the St. Lawrence in fifteen "whale boats." The flotilla gained Lake Ontario, the northern shores of which they skirted, crossed its western extremity and reached the fort on the Niagara, around the foaming and roaring falls of which river they portaged their crude little navy of flat boats and canoes. At various stopping places, Rogers relates, "the Indians seemed to be well pleased with the news we brought them of the surrender of all Canada."
In the articles of surrender, M. Vaudreuil, governor of Canada was careful to provide that, "The savages or Indians, allies of his Most Christian Majesty, shall be maintained in the lands they inhabit, if they choose to remain there, they shall not be molested on any pretense whatever, for having carried arms and served his Most Christian Majesty (Louis)." Vaudreuil also wrote the home government, "all the nations of the Beautiful River witnessed with sorrow the departure of the French." Evidently the wily Indians were adepts in playing both sides for their friends.
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