USA > Ohio > History of the Upper Ohio Valley, with family history and biographical sketches, a statement of its resources, industrial growth and commercial advantages, Vol. I > Part 9
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In the morning he expressed his belief that an Indian force was near, stating at the same time the reasons which induced him to come
t
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to this conclusion, and at the same time urged the captain to return to Wheeling by a different route than the one by which they had come, that is to say along the hillsides and not along the bottoms. His ad- vice was rejected; but Lynn with the accustomed caution which he had been taught to exercise by long experience and acquired knowl- edge of Indian tactics, in company with four companions prudently clung to the hillsides, while those who belonged to the command of Capt. Foreman continued along the path which was located at the base of the hills. They had arrived at a point on their route where the immense hills on either side descend almost perpen- dicularly to the water's edge. Between the base of the hill and the river was a narrow ledge along which they were passing, situ- ated near the head of what is known as the Grave creek nar- rows. Here one of the soldiers saw a parcel of Indian orna- ments lying in the path, and picking them up, the curiosity of others was excited by his example, and he speedily drew around him the larger portion of the company. While thus engaged, crowded care- lessly together, and busily engaged in inspecting the trinkets, all of a sudden a galling and fatal fire was opened upon them .by a party of Indians who were lying in ambush. The effect of this was to throw them into the greatest confusion, and to so distract them that they lost their presence of mind and were rendered for the time being powerless. The firing was continued with deadly effect for some minutes; and must eventually have caused the loss of the entire party had not Lynn with his comrades have bravely rushed from the hill- side, at the same time discharging their guns and shouting in such boisterous tones as to lead the Indians to believe that a large rein- forcement was at hand, which occasioned them to retreat with the utmost precipitation.
In this fatal ambuscade twenty-one of Capt. Foreman's party were killed, and several severely wounded. Among those slain was the captain and his two sons. It appeared that the Indians had purposely dropped their ornaments rightly conjecturing that they would attract the attention of the whites. They themselves were concealed in two parties, the one party lying to the right of the trail in a sink hole on the bottom, and the other to the left under cover of the river bank. From these advantageous positions they safely fired upon the whites, while they themselves were entirely exempt from danger until the party in the sink-hole was discovered by Lynn and his companions. While the firing of Lynn and those with him is not known to have taken effect, yet to his good conduct and those who were with him is to be attributed the saving of the remnant of the detachment. The Indian force was never ascertained, but it was generally supposed at the time to have been small, perhaps not exceeding twenty or twenty-five war- riors. On the ensuing day, the settlers in the neighborhood of Wheeling, under the guidance and direction of Col. Ebenezer Zane, proceeded to the scene of the massacre and gave the bodies of the slain decent sepulture, burying them on the spot where they had fallen. .
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Some years after this occurrence a plain stone was erected by kindly hands over their resting place, commemorative of the event, on which was the inscription:
THIS HUMBLE STONE IS ERECTED TO THE MEMORY OF CAPTAIN FOREMAN AND TWENTY ONE OF HIS MEN, WHO WERE SLAIN BY A BAND OF RUTHLESS SAVAGES, THE ALLIES OF A CIVILIZED NATION OF EUROPE, ON THE 26TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 1777.
"So sleep the brave who sink to rest, By all their country's wishes bless'd."
A few years since, by an order of the board of supervisors of Mar- shall county, W. Va., this stone was removed to a cemetery at Mound- ville, the county seat of that county, and there is nothing now to mark the spot where their bones have mouldered long since into the common dust of mother earth. Thus our familiarity with the scenes and occurrences of early times, and the deeds of daring and heroism of this section of our country, together with the reprehensible pursuit after selfish purposes and emoluments leads the present generation to view with indifference those events in our early history, which are not less interesting, and far more valuable to us as a people, than those spots and historical incidents in the old world over which the Ameri- can visitor is so apt to indulge in fits of rhapsody.
It is true that the old world is richer in antiquity and in historical lore than the new, but it is not because those of the former are more interesting than those of the latter, but rather because they are far- ther removed from us both in distance and time, and because her peo- ple have been more careful to keep her proud memorials above the surface of the waveless past.
There will come a period in the history of our future when the past will plead with loud-voiced tongue in vain for recognition, and when the awakened conscience of our people will lament that the oppor- tunity is forever past in which to rescue from oblivion the character, the deeds and the daring of the American pioneer. A few years ago a local poet * of no mean ability tuned the chords of his lyre to sing a requiem to the memory of the gallant but unfortunate Foreman and his party, and in his youthful enthusiam wove this chaplet with which to crown their memories:
" Beneath the shadow of yon frowning steep The blue Ohio rolled along; The woods and waves were lull'd to sleep By many a sweet bird's soothing song. They came, those men of lion hearts. They came along that pathless shore,
Nor deemed the tomahawks nor darts Would soon decide their marches o'er.
*. Oliver I. Taylor, deceased.
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As leaps the lighthing from the cloud, As on their prey the tigers spring, So on them rush'd the savage crowd, The woods with yells nnearthly ring. An hundred warriors round them stand, An hundred more rushed down the hill,
To wreak upon that little band, Their demon wrath and thirst to kill.
Now nerve your hearts, Columbia's sons, God help you in this fearful hour !
It boots not much that twenty guns, Oppose such overwhelming power. Yet still they fought as fight the brave, Breast unto breast within that glen,
Till one by one they fill'd a grave, Which now proclaims they died like men.
Not on the squadron cover'd field Amid the bugle's cheering notes, Where bulwarks high are strong to shield, And their proud flag above them floats, O, not amid war's pagantry Where pæans of glory rung, Were those brave soldiers doom'd to die, They fell all lonely and unsung.
Yet when the scroll shall be unroll'd, That tells the records of the brave, Whose names shall be more proudly told Than theirs who fill this lonely grave? Whose deeds shall be more glorious then, Amid their country's loud applause,
Than their's who in this fameless glen, Laid down their lives in freedom's cause ? "
During the war for our national independence the patriots were compelled not only to meet avowed enemies in the person of Indian foes and British soldiers in the field and in the forest, but also stealthy and secret enemies among their neighbors and professed friends. These latter consisted of such as still adhered to the crown and extended to it their loyalty and allegiance. These were not merely passively disaf- fected to the cause of the colonies, but in many instances they actively engaged in schemes and undertakings to embarrass the patriots in their operations. To this end they did not hesitate to sacrifice every social tie, and to compromise every social feeling and relation. In some instances they boldly refused to pay taxes for the support of government, and also to serve in the ranks of the militia. In some sections their opposition was carried to such an extent as to blunt every finer and nobler feeling, and in some cases the insurrection had assumed such alarming proportions that it could only be quelled by the strong arm of military force.
Thomas Jefferson in his "Notes on Virginia," defines a tory in the following terms: "A tory has been properly defined to be a traitor in thought, but not in deed. The only description by which the laws have endeavored to come at them was that of non-jurors or per- sons refusing to take the oath of fidelity to the state. Persons of this description were at one time subjected to double taxation, and at another to treble, and lastly were allowed retribution and placed
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on a level with good citizens. It may be mentioned as a proof both of the lenity of our own government and the unanimity of its inhabitants that though this war has now raged near seven years not a single execution for treason has taken place."
This was a correct definition, doubtless, as applied to some localities, but not so as to all-as for instance in the upper Ohio valley, where there were a few who were very actively engaged in carrying out their designs and purposes. One of these was an Englishman by the name of Jackson, who had so exasperated the feelings of the settlers as to cause them to proceed to extreme measures in his case, and his life paid the forfeit of his temerity.
A conspiracy at this time existed which had gathered considerable headway among those who were inclined to British domination, which was obviated by the relenting of one of those engaged in it. The ob- ject of the conspirators seems to have been to awe the settlers into submission by the unexpected introduction of a large army composed of Indians and British to awe the patriots into submission by destroy- ing the property and taking the lives of the more prominent among them if they should persist in refusing allegiance to the British. This was one of the objects had in view by the army which attacked and attempted to reduce Fort Henry in September, 1777, but which was so signally foiled in its endeavors by the brave defenders of that fort. These malcontents kept up a regular and constant communication with Gov. Hamilton, the representative of the British authority sta- tioned at Detroit. Upon the discovery of the plot the excitement occasioned by its revelation threatened for a time to burst forth in vengeful ire; but the wise counsel of cooler-heads succeeded in calm- ing the turbulent passions and awakened prejudices which had been aroused. When we consider the infuriated state into which the feel- ings of the settlers had been wrought, and the little restraint which at the time was imposed upon the conduct and actions of individuals, it is really a matter of admiration that they did not requite upon the heads of these traitorous wretches the full measure of condign punish- ment in view of their premeditated wrongs. However, it was deter- mined that they should answer before a military court the charges preferred against them. For this purpose a court was convened by the authorities of the upper Ohio valley, and the county adjacent, which met at Fort Redstone, where three or four of the principal participants in the conspiracy were arraigned to answer for their offenses. Here they experienced a fair and impartial trial, and, after mature deliber- ation, the court concluded that as their object in great measure had been defeated by its timely discovery, and as no serious consequences had, or were likely to ensue, that they should go acquit, requiring them, however, before they were discharged, to take the oath of al- legiance to the continental congress, and the cause of the colonies, which was readily complied with on their part. In the exercise of the same spirit of fairness which characterized the arrest and trial of the conspirators, those also who were suspicioned as having aided or abetted in the killing of the chief conspirator, Jackson, were likewise
,
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arraigned and tried for the crime of murder, but the evidence of their guilt proving to be insufficient, they also were acquitted and discharged.
About this period there was an individual living on Short creek, in Ohio county, who had made a clearing and erected a cabin on the banks of that stream, who was an open and pronounced tory. He was among the earliest settlers on this stream, having appeared about the year 1770. He planted and raised the first crop of corn in what is now Ohio county. When the news of the outbreak of hostilities, be- tween the mother country and the colonies, reached him, his surround- ings became too warm for him, and he was compelled to abandon his cabin and leave the country and betake himself to a more hospitable region, and continued absent during the entire continuance of the war, returning to his old haunts only after the proclamation of peace be- tween the two countries. Upon his return his convictions, as to the policy of Great Britain toward the colonies and her policy of coercion toward them, were just as strong as they were before he left, and to his dying day he gloried in the name of tory, and on all suitable occa- sions he did not hesitate, in any company nor under any circumstan- ces, to advocate his views concerning the rights of the mother country which had been so successfully defied by the colonies in the wager of battle. He lived in the same place where he first settled, during the remaining years of his life which were prolonged to the extreme age of one hundred and fifteen years. He died in the early part of the sixties. He was always spoken of as a good neighbor - a firm and faithful friend, and a man of kindly and generous impulses. He died as he had lived -true to his sentiments- an implacable tory. Num- erous inducements were held out and unavailing pursuasions were employed to induce him to satisfy public curiosity as to where he had spent his time and in what he was employed during the continuance of hostilities, but he invariably refused to gratify his questioners by making any revelation which would throw light upon the enigma, and his secret died with him.
In the interval between the years 1777 and 1780 the Indians had committed many depredations along the frontier as well as in the country more remote, but in the early part of the year 1780, on the first appearance of spring, they became still more active and bold, and commenced anew their hostilities against the whites, pursuing their work of murder, rapine and destruction with renewed energies and in the most merciless and unrelenting spirit. Notwithstanding repeated efforts accompanied with the most flattering promises and urgent pur- suasions upon the part of the British to secure the alliance of the Delaware tribe of Indians, up to the year 1780, they had failed to in- duce this tribe to unite with them, but in this last named year they succumbed at length to the influences brought to bear upon them and declared for war.
The British commandant at Detroit had made arrangements to or- ganize an attack upon northwestern Virginia, and had planned a cam- paign in which the Delawares as a tribe were to co-operate. It had been concerted that a combined force of British and Indians were to
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carry out the plans adopted. This army was to consist of two divis- ions of about 150 men each; one division of which was to cross the Ohio in the vicinity of Wheeling, and the other at a point some fifty or sixty miles further up that stream. The ultimate destination of each was Catfish Camp, where the town of Washington, Penn., now stands. The vigilant scouts which were scattered over the coun- try, immediately discovered the approach of the party which had crossed in the vicinity of Wheeling, and gave timely alarm to the set- tlers who at once fled for shelter and protection to the fort at this last named place, they supposing that it would be the object of attack. But in this they were mistaken, as the Indians proceeded on their march in the direction of Catfish, picking up prisoners as they ad- vanced, from whom they learned that the force of the settlements was concentrated at Wheeling, who were well provisioned and fully armed and ready for an encounter. This information had a depressing effect upon them, and apprehensive that a force from Wheeling might intercept them and prevent their escape across the Ohio, a council was called to deliberate on their movements, whether they should advance or retreat. The council concluded that it was advisable for them to retrace their steps and cross the river. Having reached this conclusion, the question arose as to what disposition should be made of their prisoners, of whom they had taken quite a number since entering the country. This they speedily settled by determining to murder them in cold blood. In carrying out this resolution they spared neither sex nor age, perpetrating upon them the most horrid and cruel tortures which the refinement of malignant hearts and sav- age dispositions could invent.
The perpetration of this wanton cruelty served to arouse to the utmost pitch the anger and indignation of the inhabitants, and preparations were made for at once taking the offensive against them. Hence, at the instance of Cols. Zane and Shepherd, Col. Brodhead, commander at Fort Pitt, was induced to make preparations for an expedition against the Indian towns on the Muskingum. The differ- ent counties were called upon to furnish their respective quota of troops, who were to rendezvous at Fort Henry. The quota of Ohio county consisted of seventy odd men. The date fixed upon for the rendezvous was the 9th day of June, but by reason of a failure to ob- tain necessary supplies, the expedition was posponed from month to month, and it was not until April, 1781, that they were in a condition to move. Leaving Wheeling in this last-named month, by a rapid march by the nearest route, the army, consisting of about 300 men, reached a village of the Delawares on the Muskingum on the even- ing of April 19, and completely surprised the Indians. The river not being fordable, such of the Indians as were on the west side of the river escaped, but those on the east side were captured without a shot being fired. A number of the warriors captured were scalped by di- rection of a council of war held on the spot. The next morning an Indian communicated from the opposite side of the river saying that
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he wanted peace. Col. Brodhead, who was in command of the expe- dition, ordered him to send over his chief, assuring him at the time that his safety should not be imperilled. But in the face of this prom- ise it is said that the chief was tomahawked by Lewis Wetzel, the terror of the savages. After the destruction of another village a short distance from the former, the army commenced its march homeward, carrying with them some fifteen or twenty prisoners, who were per- mitted to go but a short distance before they were killed by the sol- diers. A few women and children who were taken to Fort Pitt, were afterward exchanged for an equal number prisoners held by the In- dians. On his return Brodhead communicated with the Movarian missionaries and Christian Indians and endeavored to persuade them by reason of their liability to attack from the Indians on one side and the whites on the other, to abandon their villages in the Tuscarawas country and return with him to Fort Pit. But this they declined to do. Thus ended what was called the Coshocton campaign.
The following is the report of the expedition made by Col. Brod- head to Pres. Reed of the executive council of Pennsylvania:
" PHILADELPHIA, May 22, 1781.
"SIR: In the last letter I had the honor to address to your excel- lency, I mentioned my intention to carry on an expedition against the revolted Delaware towns. I have now the pleasure to inform you, that with about 300 men (nearly half the number volunteers from the country), I surprised the towns of Cooshasking and Indoachaie, killed fifteen warriors and took upwards of twenty old men, women and children. About four miles above the town I detached a party to cross the river Muskingum and destroy a party of about forty warriors, who had just before (as I learned by an Indian whom the advance guard took prisoner), crossed over with some prisoners and scalps, and were drunk, but excessive hard rains having swelled the river bank high, it was found impracticable.
" After destroying the towns, with great quantities of poultry and other stores, and killing about forty head of cattle, I marched up the river about seven miles, with a view to send for some craft from the Moravian towns, and cross the river to pursue the Indians; but when I proposed my plan to the volunteers I found they conceived they had done enough, and were determined to return, wherefore I marched to Newcomerstown, where a few Indians who remain in our interest, had withdrawn themselves, not exceeding thirty men. The troops experienced great kindness from the Moravian Indians, and those at Newcomerstown, and obtained a sufficient supply of meat and corn to subsist the men and horses to the Ohio river. Capt. Kill- buck and Capt. Luzerne, upon hearing of our troops being on the Muskingum, immediately pursued the warriors, killed one of their greatest villains and brought his scalp to me. The plunder brought in by the troops sold for about {80 at Fort Henry. I had upon this expedition Capts. Mantour and Wilson, and three other faithful In- dians who contributed greatly to the success. The troops behaved
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with great spirit, and although there was considerable firing between them and the Indians I had not a man killed or wounded, and only one horse shot.
"I have the honor to be with great respect and attachment, your excellency's most obedient, most humble servant."
"DANIEL BRODHEAD, Col. Ist P. R.
"Directed His Excellency Joseph Reed, Esq.'
In the latter part of the summer of 1781 intelligence was received by the commander at Fort Pitt that a large force of Indians were on the march to attack the border with the expectation that Wheeling in particular was the object of their efforts. He at once sounded the note of warning and dispatched an express to Fort Henry with the information and urged upon them to guard against stratagem and defend the post to the last extremity, and assuring them that he would do all in his power to aid them. The warning was acted upon at once and the preparations to stand a siege were all made. Upon the appearance of the Indians in September all things were in readi- ness to receive them. They had expected to surprise the inhabitants, capture the fort and secure an easy victory, but instead they were the surprised. Finding themselves baffled, they contented themselves with burning some of the vacated cabins and running off such stock as had been left exposed. The first intimation those within the fort had of the presence of savages was through a boy named George Reikart, who reached the fort in a state of exhaustion from the efforts made by him to elude his pursuers. He stated that a large force of Indians were at the spring (at the base of the hill east of the fort) and that they had killed a boy who was his companion and had taken one David Glenn prisoner. So sudden and cautious had been the approach of the Indians, that the boy companion of Reikart was shot down and Glenn taken prisoner. Reikart was separated from the others at some distance and was engaged in nutting at the time. As soon as he heard the firing, he started to run towards the fort for shelter, but he did not escape wholly unhurt for just as he was enter- ing the gate of the fort a leaden messenger overtook him, striking him upon the wrist. The savages tarried a brief period taking their departure after demanding a surrender of the fort and bidding adieu to its inmates by indulging in the most insulting gestures and motions. One of the saddest tragedies which has left an imperishable stain upon the pages of American history is that of the unprovoked and heartless murder and unheard of tortures visited upon the Moravians in March, 1782, by an expedition under the command of Col. David Williamson, a brave, energetic and successful soldier of the Indian wars of the revolution.
These Indians, called the "praying Indians," had removed from the Delaware river as early as the year 1769, and had settled on three different places on the Muskingum river, called by them respectively,
* Penn. Archives, Vol. IX., p. 161.
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Gnadenhutten, Schoenbrunn and Salem, where they cultivated the arts of peace and civilization, seeking their mental and spiritual im- provement under the ministerial teaching and influence of such worthy men as Rev. John Heckewelder, Michael Jung and David Zeisberger. Their towns were situated in the southern part of Tus- carawas county and had become places of some importance. Their possessions were considerable, as they had several hundred acres of corn on the river lowlands, 200 cattle, 400 hogs and a large number of poultry. The British officers in the preceding year had attempted to secure their removal through the action of the Six Nations, who, although they considered the request in council, never took measures looking to a compliance. The fact is, the Christian Indians were really friendly to the whites, and frequently gave them intelligence of the approach of roving bands inimical to them. By reason of their geographical position they were objects of suspicion to the British, the British Indians and the Americans, and these suspicions were kept in lively exercise, occasioned either by the neutrality or friend- ship.they manifested. Their very virtues were made the excuse for their punishment.
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