USA > Ohio > The Revolution on the Upper Ohio, 1775-1777 > Part 18
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83 Lieutenant Ward was without doubt a nephew of Capt. Matthew Arbuckle, and son of Capt. James Ward who was slain at Point Pleasant (see Dunmore's War, p. 276, note 93). There were several sons in the Ward family, of whom the eld- est at home was William. He afterwards removed to Mason County, Ky., where he served in the state legislature (1792- 95). About 1800 he removed to Ohio, where in 1804 he laid out the town of Urbana, in Champaign County. He died in this neighborhood in 1822 .- ED.
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AT FORT RANDOLPH
for there was never more than a dozen appeared [at] once I shall be glad how soon the messenger can re- turn that I may know how to proceed
I am your most Humb Servt
JOHN STEWART
N. B. please to send me some cach [itch] oint- ment by the bearer J. S.
Since I wrote a soldier of Capt Arbuckles arived from for[t] Randolph who Informs that they had but 3 or four days provision when he Left that and that the soldiers were determined to abandon the garrison in a few days unless a supply came from for[t] pitt, which was expected, the same person Informs he was sent by Lieut. Thompson who had been up the new river for corn, to the inhabitants there about Kelleys&# to let them know there was a party of Indians coming up the river which was dis- covered shooting Turkeys the particulars of this I cannot inform you as I did not see the man but had it from Capt Arbuckle
J. S.
On publick service to Colo. William Fleming Botetourt pr express
84 For the location of Kelly's place see Dunmore's War, p. II2, note 62 .- ED.
16
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REVOLUTION ON UPPER OHIO
SITUATION AT WHEELING
[Col. David Shepherd to Gov. Patrick Henry ( ?). ISS47 - A. L., draft in Shepherd's handwriting.]
WEELIN OR OHIO COUNTY March 24th 1777
SIR-By a Letter Directed to Majr David Rogers and Likewise the Order in Council of the 12 of Feb- ruary it was ordered that this County Should Send fifty men to the Little Kanawa and fifty men to the Mouth of Whelin, application being made to me I Called a council for that purpose of the field officers and Captins of the County and after Considering the State of the County and Our Militia not Consisting of more than 350 Affective men and having a fron- tier of Eighty Miles and that Laying the Nearest and most Exposed to the Indians and the Late alarm- ing accounts from the Indian towns85 I Receivd Inteliganc by way of the Kanaway that they have Burnt one white prisoner at the Shawnee towns Lately which alarms the people very much suposed to be a Soldier Named Elijah Matthews taken at Grave Creek, under those and many other Surcomstances of the Like Nature, and no garison being Built at the Little Kanaway and there Never been any men at that Station I hope Sir under those Sircomstances
85 See post for O'Hara's account of a war-party leaving the Shawnce towns. Early in March also, a band of Shawnee under Blackfish began to harry the few Kentucky settlements, hovering around Harrodsburgh, killing William Ray and cap- turing Thomas Shores, and attacking the fort itself on the morning of the 7th. The defenders sallied forth, and drove them away, with losses on each side. The same day a de- tached party of Indians appeared before Boonesborough, and before refuge was found in the fort killed and wounded two persons. See Draper MSS., 4B115-117 .- ED.
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AT WHEELING
you will not Consider our Disobaying of orders a breach of trust or Disafected to the Commonwelth ass our pressing Necessity forced it to we therefore thought it proper to order fifty of our militia to Whe- lin and fifty more to grave Creek and twenty five to the Beach Bottom 86 which places appeared to us to be the most fiting to Defend us against the Indians and protect the Inhabitants of this and part of the other Countys. according to your former order we have sent spies towards the Indian Country one part[y] of which Come across a party of Indians in Camp and fired on them wounded one which got of [f] by the assistance of the Rest a deep creek be- ing betwen them they got clear they Lef their Kit- tle a Number of Bows and arrows and had all the apperance of woryers [warriors].
[Col. David Shepherd to (?). 1SS48- A. L., draft in Shep- herd's handwriting.]
WEELIN March 24th 1777
SIR-Please to Send by the Barer Daniel McClane the Barril of Powder which I chose and Likewise 1631b of Lead and 300 flints I should take it ass a great favour if you could Supply me with a Bar off Steel to Repair gunlocks and other things for the use of the militia that is Stationed on the River I hope
86 Beech Bottom Fort stood about three miles below Wells- burgh, and twelve above Wheeling, in what is now Buffalo District, Brooke County. It protected the settlement of the Hedges family. Occupied only in 1777; its history is related in subsequent documents .- ED.
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you will give Some Direction for the Victualing the Militia that will be Stationed at grave Creek Whelin an the Beach Bottom ass in our Council it was not thought proper to Send men' to the Little Conway and Leave our frontiers Defenceless and ass there was No garison built there Neither had we Di- rections for that purpose if we had the men to Spare it was thought proper
ALLIES TO BE PROTECTED
[Gov. Patrick Henry to the County Lieutenant of Ohio. ISS49-A. L. S.]
WMS.BURGH March 27th. 1777
SIR-I have recd. Information that the Delaware Indians apprehend a dangerous War with our Enemys, on account of their Fidelity to us. You are to use every means in your power to protect them. If they demand it, you are to send a party of Men to their Towns if in Virginia to assist them in builds. Forts, & in such a Number as the Exigency of Af- fairs makes necessary. While there they are to de- fend our faithfull allys to the last Extremity. If the Indians chuse to come into our settlements for Shel- ter, make them Welcome, & share with them all your provisions ammunition warlike stores as long as any lasts to divide. Any Injury done them, is done to us while they are faithfull. In one Word, support protect defend & cherish them in every Respect to the utmost. Act in concert with the Neighbouring
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IROQUOIS HOSTILE
counties & communicate these orders to Mr. Morgan the Agent & the commanders of the Regulars.
I am Sir Yr. hble servt.
P. HENRY JE.
The County Lieutenant of Ohio
THE SIX NATIONS HOSTILE
[Col. Zackwell Morgan to Capt. William Harrod. 4NN56- A. L. S.]
April 2d. 1777
I received your Letter by Mr MeLaughlin, and have sent you 1712 Pounds Powder. I have not one Sin- gle Pound of Lead, here but shall Endeavour to sup- ply you with some, on Monday, pray, try to have your whole Company together as soon as Possible, at Grave Creek & keep a sharp Lookout, for fear of the Indians I am informed Colo. Shepherd has Em- ployed a man to refit the Battoe, but if you want Pitch or Oakum, for it you must Send to Mr. Robert Campbell, at fort Pitt, who will Supply you those articles. be very active as much Depends on your Good Conduct, at Grave Creek. The Six nations have killd one man & taken another at the Kittaning and have Ordered us all to Quite [quit] this Coun- try, directly in Writting, besides their Leaving the Im- plements of Warr, Common to them, when they De- clare War87 This is Confirmed by the Delawares,
67 Early in 1777 the British officers at Niagara had, in obedi ence to instructions from headquarters, sent out the Indians against the frontiers. February 14, they captured Andrew McFarlane near the Kittanning fort. A month later, as Capt.
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REVOLUTION ON UPPER OHIO
and I think there is no Dispute of a War, with the Villians.
Mr. Chew 88 will bring Provisions, Amunition & Sufficient for your Journey Down the River Which I hope will be Prosperious, about the first of May [have] all things in readiness, when I hope no more Delays [will] Stop this Necessary Journey
I am your Friend & Hble Sert
ZACK11 MORGAN
William Harrod, Esqr
Samuel Moorhead was returning from the fort to recruit, he found (March 18) one by the name of Simpson killed, and his own brother, who had been with him, captured. By the corpse was a war-belt, a tomahawk, and a pouch containing a letter addressed to the inhabitants; for this letter, see Hil- dreth, Pioncer History of the Ohio Valley, p. 117. It was to this incident that Morgan refers; see Pennsylvania Historical Register, 2nd series, ii, p. 235. That the Six Nations were sent out by British orders is proven by the letters of Guy Johnson in N. Y. Colon. Docs., viii, pp. 711-713 .- ED.
88 Maj. James Chew belonged to the Virginia branch of that family, and was the youngest son of Thomas, for many years magistrate of Orange, then of Spottsylvania County. James's elder brother, Colby Chew, was an early explorer in Kentucky with Dr. Thomas Walker. James was for a time surveyor of Monongalia County, and appears to have acted as special agent and commissary for the Ohio forts. He married (1765) Mary Caldwell, and died before January 27, 1783. See Draper MSS., 5ZZ76 .- ED.
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OPERATIONS SUSPENDED
PLUGGY'S TOWN EXPEDITION ABANDONED
[Gov. Patrick Henry to Col. David Shepherd. ISS51 - A. L. S.]
WMS.BURGH April 12tb. 1777.
SIR-The Expedition against Pluggys Town is to be laid aside by a Resolution of Congress.89
I am Sir Yr. hble servt.
Colo. David Shepherd, Ohio public Service by Express
P. HENRY
[John Page to Col. George Morgan and Col. John Nevill. ISS53 - transcript by Morgan.]
WMS.BURGH in Council April 15th. 1777
GENTLEMEN-As an Express was sent off to you last week in consequence of a vote of Congress to suspend the operations which were meditated against Pluggy's Town; and as Congress have under their consideration many of the important articles men- tion'd in your Letter now before us,90 & the ensuing
89 This resolution of Congress was adopted March 25, upon the receipt of a letter from Col. George Morgan, dated the fifteenth of the same month; see Journals of Congress, new ed., vii, p. 201. The letter of Morgan is printed by Bausman, Beaver County, p. 69. In it he deprecates any expeditions into the Indian country "which may involve us in a general & unequal Quarrel with all the Nations who are at present quiet but extremely jealous of the least encroachment on their Lands." This letter determined the authorities to pursue a pacific policy, and act only upon the defensive .- ED.
90 Referring to their letter of April, 1, 1777, printed in Penna, Archives, v. p. 288; Beaver County, p. 74; and Hil- dreth, Pioneer History of the Ohio Valley, pp. 119-122 .- ED.
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Assembly should be consulted on some of them- we can only at present recommend it to you to pre- vent an Indian War as far as lies in your power, & to be prepared against any attack in the best manner your situation will admit of
I am Gent". Your most obedt. servt. JOHN PAGE
P. S. We are as much at a loss to know where St. Louis is, as you can be, but suppose it to be where you mention.91
To Colo. George Morgan &
Colo. John Nevill at Fort Pitt.
To Colonel David Shepherd 92 Ohio County
On the public Service By Express
Recd. Fort Pitt April 27th GEO. MORGAN
[Gov. Patrick Henry to Col. John Nevill. ISS55- A. L. S.]
WMS.BURGH April 21, 1777.
SIR-Your Despatches by Express arrived here last Saturday; in answer to which I can only refer you to my former Letters respecting the Expedition against Pluggy's Town and as that Business is, by order of Congress laid aside, You must on that ac-
31 This was in reply to the following postscript to the letter mentioned in the foregoing note: "The County Lieutenant who is ordered to send 100 men to meet Cap. Lynn with the Powder, is at a loss to know how far to proceed, or where St. Louis, on the Mississippi is-there being one place of that name 160 miles above the mouth of Ohio & no settlement or Fort less than 400 miles below the Ohio-the nearest is at the River Arkansa."-ED.
32 This letter, copied by Morgan, was forwarded to Col. David Shepherd for his perusal .- ED.
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PROTECTING THE FRONTIERS
count incur no further Expence, indeed, as the Let- ter alluded to must have got to your Hands soon after the present Express set off I am in hopes it will give you full satisfaction with regard to all your Inquiries.
We are just informed by Congress that they for some time past, have had the critical situation at Fort Pitt, under their consideration and have formed a Resolution of sending one thousand Rifles for the use of the garrison, and for supplying such of the mili- tia, as may be hereafter called upon to defend that Post.93 I am Sir
Your mo. obt. Servt.
To Colo. John Nevill at Fort Pitt On public Service P. Express
P. HENRY
DEPREDATIONS ON THE FRONTIER
[Col. William Crawford to President of Congress. 14S121 - transcript by L. C. D.]
FORT PITT, 22nd April, 1777.
HONORABLE SIR-Having received orders to join his Excellency General Washington in the Jerseys with the battalion now under my command, which orders I would willingly have obeyed, had not a coun- cil of war held at this place (proceedings of which were transmitted to Congress by express) resolved
03 See resolution of Congress April 9, 1777, in Journals, vii, p. 247 .- ED.
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that I should remain here until further orders.º I am sorry to find the accounts therein contained are likely to prove but too true, and from the late dep- redations and murders which were committed by the Indians at different places in this neighbourhood, makes it appear to me as if a general irruption was threatened. On the 6th & 7th instant, they killed and scalped one man at Raccoon Creek, about twenty five miles from this place; at Muchmore's plantation, about forty five miles down the Ohio, they killed and scalped one man, and burnt a woman and her four children ; at Wheeling they killed and scalped one man, the body of whom was much mangled with tomahawks and other instruments suitable for their barbarity ;95
04 For a brief sketch of Col. William Crawford see Dun- more's War, p. 103, note 48. Crawford, at first appointed lieu- tenant-colonel of the 5th Virginia, next took command of the 7th regiment. He was sent to West Augusta in the autumn of 1776 to raise a new contingent, later known as the 13th (or West Augusta) regiment, enlisted on condition that if an Indian war should occur in the spring this command was to be retained in the West. The council of war to which Crawford refers was held at Fort Pitt, March 24, when it was determined that in view of the threatened dangers Crawford and his men should be retained on the frontier; sce Butter- field, Washington-Crawford Letters, p. 65, note. This letter is also printed in that collection. In August, Crawford's regiment joined Washington near Philadelphia .- ED.
95 For further particulars of these murders, see extract from Maryland Journal, post. Shadrach Muchmore died in 1775, when his will was proven in West Augusta district. His widow appears to have married again, probably to a man named Arnot. A son, Jonathan Muchmore, was captive among the Indians ; see his affidavit in Beaver County, p. 151.
The man killed at Raccoon Creck was a late emigrant from New Jersey, named Ogden. The one slain near Wheeling was Roger McBride.
The Delawares had warned the settlements that a party of
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PROTECTING THE FRONTIERS
at Dunkard's Creek, one of the west Branches of the Monongahela river, they killed and scalped one man and a woman and took three children ;96 and at each of the above places they burned houses, killed cattle, hogs &c.
I have taken all possible means for the protection of this country, as the nature of my circumstances would afford. I am at a great loss for arms; two thirds of the battalion have none. Had I been at this post when the accounts of the above cruelties came here, I would have transmitted them immediately to you; but being busily employed in putting the battalion to proper stations for the frontiers,97 this together with my bad state of health prevented my getting here sooner than the 18th instant, and finding that no au- thentic accounts had been transmitted to Congress, think it my duty to inform you of the above facts, and that I only wait further directions, as I have re- ceived no marching orders dated since the council held at this place resolved that I should wait till further orders.
I am with the greatest respect yr. honours most obet. and very humble servt.
W. CRAWFORD
Hon. J. Hancock, Prest. Congress
eighteen Mingo were out with murderous intent; but the warning was not in time. See Hildreth, Pioneer History, p. 123 .- ED.
96 This was probably the attack on the family of William Morgan, assigned to the year 1778. See Thwaites, Withers's Chronicles of Border Warfare, p. 240 .- ED.
97 The council of war of March 24 had determined that Crawford should send a hundred men to Kittanning, and sta- tion twenty-five each at Logstown, Holliday's Cove, and Cox's, upon the Ohio .- ED.
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REVOLUTION ON UPPER OHIO
[Col. George Morgan to Col. David Shepherd. ISS56- A. L. S.1
FORT PITT May 3d. 1777
SIR-The within letter Coll Nevill forwarded to me supposing it was intended for me & directed to him by mistake. Mr. Macaster arrived yesterday & as you had sent him & I did not write to the Govr. at all by him, & he tells me he has no Letter directed for you I suppose this was designed for you. I therefore embrace this first opportunity of sending it to you.º8 I desire you will store the Bacon you have bought in a very safe place under your own particular Care till further Orders & shall be glad to sug[gest that] we may settle & that I may take your Receipt for the Quantity
I am Dr. Sir Your most obt Servant
GEO: MORGAN
To Coll Shepherd.
ICol. Zackwell Morgan to Capt. William Harrod. 4NN54- A. L. S.]
May 7 1777
DEAR SIR-As Capt Lin is Got up with his Pow- der9 and no call for the men Down the River you will Pleast to Continue your Company at Grave
38 This refers to Gov. Patrick Henry's letter to Col. John Neville, dated April 21, ante. The letter of Morgan is written on the reverse of that sheet .- ED.
99 Linn arrived at Wheeling May 2, 1777. He brought with him ten thousand pounds of gunpowder, according to an affi- davit filed by Col. David Shepherd, ISSI3, as follows: "Ohio
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Creek untill the Express Returns from the Govenor for your being there is Looked on as a Grate safe Gard to us at this time Pleast send scouts Down about fish Creek and if you Should make any Dis- covery of any of the Dam theeves cuming in Pleast send in word Imediately from your friend and Humb Sart ZACKII MORGAN
To Capt William Harrod, at Grave Creek
[Transcribed by Draper from the Maryland Journal of Tues- day, May 20th, 1777.]
PHILADELPHIA, May 15.
By a gentleman lately arrived from the Ohio, we have the following intelligence. About the beginning of last month Mr. James O'Hara1 was trading at the
County June the 8th 1789 Sir-Agreable to an order of Coun- cil 29th of Decemr 1788 I have made Every Serch in my power and find Nothing worth Making Return of Except that in the Blank &c of Blank year a Certain Lieut William Lin and others from Orleans Delivered at the Mouth of Weelin within this County 10000 Weight or thereabout of gunpowder for the use of the State of Virginia the same was kept there some time and then ordred to the Station of fort pitt by a Continental officer Colo Wm Crawford." The powder was is- sued both by David Shepherd and Zephaniah Blackford, com- missary of stores, as is proven by receipts found in Draper MSS, ISS 24-28 .- ED.
1 James O'Hara was an Irishman who before 1773 entered the Indian trade near Fort Pitt. He enlisted in the 9th Vir- ginia regiment, being employed as quartermaster. During the Whiskey Rebellion he was quartermaster-general of the army, and served in a similar capacity under Wayne (1794). O'Hara's business capacity aided in the building up of Pitts- burgh, where in 1797 he established the first glass manufactory west of the Alleghenies. In 1804 he was director of the Pitts-
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REVOLUTION ON UPPER OHIO
Shawanese towns on the Scioto where he was in- formed that there was a gang of young Indian fel- lows ready to go to war, consisting of fifteen Shaw- anese, two Wiandots, and one Mingo; Mr. O'Hara was also informed that they intended to waylay him on his return to Pittsburgh; upon which he happily changed his course, and arrived safe at the above place with his people and effects.2 Two or three days after his arrival an express came to Fort Pitt, with an account that the widow Muchmore and her three children, were found almost burned to cinders, and her late husband killed and scalped near where the house stood, opposite the mouth of Yellow Creek on the Ohio. The same day another express arrived who brought an account of a man being found mur- dered near Wheeling; also one Ogden, a Jersey man, was found killed and scalped near the mouth of Rac- coon Creek. All the above murders were perpetrated on or near the Ohio. Two days after the above ex- presses, another arrived from Dunkard Creek, near the mouth of Cheat River, with an account of three men being killed and scalped there, and three others missing. Lieut. Mason,8 at the head of ten 'militia,
burgh branch of the Philadelphia bank; and died in 1819 leav- ing a large estate, mainly in landed property, part of which is still held by his heirs. His daughter married William Crog- han Jr., nephew of George Rogers Clark .- ED.
? See Heckewelder's report of this incident in his Narrative, pp. 155, 156. The Wyandot attempted to waylay O'Hara near the Delaware towns, but by the interposition of the Christian Indians, and the Moravian missionary, he escaped .- ED.
" Samuel Mason (he spells the name Meason) commanded a company at Fort Henry during its first siege (Sept. 1, 1777), and was severely wounded in a sally against ambushed In- dians. In 1778 he commanded the same fort. He appears to
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PROTECTING THE FRONTIERS
gallantly followed the murderers of the Muchmore family, and after a pursuit of twenty-five miles, came up with the savages, who fought for some time and then gave way. Mr. Mason and his little party fol- lowed then some miles further, but having no pro- visions, and being in danger of falling into an am- buscade, returned to the field of battle, where they found one dead Indian, whom they scalped, some horses and other booty which the savages had taken from some white people. Mr. Mason thinks that they either killed or desperately wounded more of the In- dians, as much blood was seen on the ground. This brave young man was born near Winchester in Vir- ginia, and will no doubt meet a reward adequate to his merit. Another party followed the gang who committed the murder near Cheat, and it is hoped can give a good account of them. It was the general opinion, that the Indians had divided themselves into three parties, and committed the murders much about the same time.
The inhabitants of the above mentioned places were in the utmost consternation ; some flying one way and some another, and a few set about building forts ;
have lived first on Buffalo Creek, afterwards on Wheeling, a mile or so above the town, where he kept an ordinary. At the close of the Revolution he removed southward, settling about 1790 at Red Banks, now Henderson, Tenn., and later on the Mississippi. Here he became leader of a band of highway robbers, and committed many crimes between 1795 and 1803. At one time he was captured by the Spanish authorities, but succeeded in escaping. In the latter year. a reward of $500 was offered by the governor of Mississippi for his head. Thereupon he was shot and beheaded by two of his own gang of desperados. These men were afterwards apprehended and hung .- ED.
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but it is hoped that the arrival of Brigadier General Hand will dissipate all their fears, and add life and vigour to their undertakings.4 As Brigadier Hand is universally loved on the Ohio," the people will no doubt flock to his standard and cheerfully go forth to chastise the savage foe.
4 Upon the receipt of accounts of the hostile intent of the Western Indians and of the exposed condition of the frontiers, Congress resolved that an experienced officer should be sent to Pittsburgh to take command, embody the militia, and plan the defense. On April 9, 1777, the board of war reported in favor of Edward Hand, recently appointed brigadier-general. Congress voted a thousand rifles and five tons of lead to be sent to Fort Pitt. Hand was (April 10) ordered to this gar- rison, and the next day given discretionary power, being voted $4000 for works or supplies, while three tons of gunpowder were arranged for .- Journals of Congress, new ed., vii, pp. 247, 252, 256, 270. Hand arrived at Fort Pitt, June 1 .- ED.
5 Edward Hand, M. D., was born in Clyduff, County Lein- ster, Ireland, Dec. 31, 1744. Educated as a physician, he was in 1767 appointed surgeon's mate of the 18th Royal Irish in- fantry, and sailing from Cork reached America in July of the same year. The regiment was at once ordered to Fort Pitt, where Hand made himself popular with all classes. In 1772 he purchased an ensign's commission; but when his regiment was ordered East in 1774, he resigned and received his dis- charge, settling in Lancaster, Pa., where in 1775 he married Catharine Ewing. On the outbreak of the Revolution he at once enlisted, being appointed lieutenant-colonel of the Ist battalion of Pennsylvania riflemen. Joining Washington be- fore Boston, he was with the continental army at Long Island, and in the Jersey campaign. In April, 1777, he was appointed brigadier-general and sent to the West as commander-in-chief. Recalled at his own request early in 1778, he served through- out the war, being adjutant-general at the siege of Yorktown. After peace was declared, he retired to his estate near Lancas- ter and practiced medicine. He was a member of the old Congress in 1784-85 and of the Pennsylvania constitutional convention of 1790, and served several terms in the state leg- islature. In 1798 he was chosen one of the major-generals of the army in anticipation of a war with France. General Hand was of a genial disposition, popular with his superiors
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