USA > Ohio > The biographical cyclopaedia and portrait gallery with an historical sketch of the state of Ohio. Volume I > Part 3
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The place where the troops under Major Macdonald were ordered to report was Wheeling. Here they met some time in June, 1774, and went down the river in boats and canoes to the mouth of the Captina, from which place they proceeded by the shortest route to Wapatomica, situated on the
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Muskingum, about sixteen miles below the present town of Coshocton. About six miles from the village they encountered a band of Indians numbering forty or fifty, who gave them attack, killing two and wounding several more. Of the Indians, at least one was killed and others wounded. When the army came into the village they found it deserted. The Indians had retreated to the opposite side of the river, where they formed an ambuscade, supposing the whites would cross at that place. This stratagem was discovered, and the major stationed sentinels up and down the river, to give notice in case the Indians should attempt to recross. Soon after the village was taken, the Indians from the other shore sued for peace. To their demand the commander was willing to listen, on condition of their send- ing over their chiefs as hostages. Five of them accordingly came, and were put under guard. In the morning they were placed in front of the army, which proceeded to cross the Muskingum. When they reached the Western bank they were informed that the Indians could not make peace without the pres- ence of the chiefs from the other towns. One of the chiefs was accordingly released to bring in the others. He did not come back, and a second was sent on the same mission ; but neither did he return. The army then moved up the river to the next village, about a mile off. Here they had a slight skir- mish with the Indians, in which one of them was killed, and one of their own side wounded. It was then discovered that during the time spent in negotiation the Indians had been employed in removing their women and children and property from the upper villages. These were burned, and the corn cut up. The troops then returned to Wheeling, bringing with them the three chiefs who were left, and who were sent to Williamsburg, then the seat of government in Virginia. These chiefs were released at the' conclusion of peace the ensuing fall.
The character developed by Dr. Connolly at Pittsburg was such as to excite universal detestation, and at last to draw down upon his patron, the Governor of Virginia, the reproof of Lord Dartmouth. He seized property and imprisoned white men without warrant or propriety ; and, in many cases, he treated the natives with an utter disregard of justice. It is not surprising, therefore, that Indian attacks occurred all along the frontiers from June to September, nor, on the other hand, that the Virginians, against whom, in distinction from the people of Pennsylvania, the war was carried on, became more and more excited, and eager to repay the injuries received.
To put a stop to these depredations, two large bodies of troops, numbering together about three thousand men, were raised in Virginia; the one from the southern and western part of the State, under General Andrew. Lewis, and the other from the northern and eastern counties under Lord Dunmore himself, who assumed command of the entire army and ordered its movements. General Lewis, with eleven hundred men, was directed to proceed down the Ohio to the mouth of the Great Kanawha River, where he was to meet the troops of Lord Dunmore. The forces under Lewis reached the spot agreed upon on the 6th of October; but as Dunmore was not there, and as other troops were to follow down the Kanawha under Colonel Christian, runners were dispatched toward Pittsburg to inform the commander-in-chief of his arrival. He then proceeded to encamp in the angle of land called Point Pleasant, where the two rivers meet. Here he remained idle until the 9th of the month, when dispatches from the Governor reached him, informing him that the plan of the campaign had been changed; that he intended himself to proceed directly against the Shawanese towns on the Scioto, and directing Lewis to cross the Ohio at once, and meet the army before those towns. But on the very day when this movement should have been executed (October 10th), the Indians, headed by Cornstalk, the able and brave chief of the Shawanese, appeared in force before the army of the Virginians. Associated with him were the Delawares, Iroquois, Wyandots, and others, under their respective chiefs, determined to avenge their wrongs and cripple the power of the invaders. Soon after sunrise General Lewis discov- ered the presence of the enemy, and ordered his brother, Colonel Charles Lewis, and Colonel Fleming
to reconnoiter the ground where they had been seen. This at once brought on a general engagement, which extended along the whole line from river to river. In a short time Colonel Lewis was killed, and Colonel Fleming disabled, and the troops began to waver. But Colonel. Field, with his regiment, came to the rescue, and they again stood firm. About noon Colonel Field was killed, and Captain Evan Shelby took command. The battle continued-until towards evening without decided success for either party, when General Lewis ordered a body of men to gain the flank of the enemy by means of Crooked Creek, a small stream flowing into the Kanawha about four hundred yards above its mouth. This
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maneuver was successfully executed, and the Indians retreated across the Ohio. Some idea of the vigor with which the Indians conducted the contest may be formed from the fact that, of Lewis's divis- ion, two colonels, five captains, three lieutenants, and more than one hundred rank and file were killed ; while the wounded officers and men numbered one hundred and forty more, many of them so severely that they died within a few days. Of course, the loss of the Indians was never known; but as the Vir- ginians were all good marksmen, they probably did equally effective execution. This was evident from the retreat of the Indians during the night, not again to appear nor subsequently attack either wing of the invading army.
General Andrew Lewis, who seems to have been possessed of military skill, acted with steadiness and decision in this emergency. But instead of fortifying the delta during the time he occupied it previ- ous to the Indian attack, he began doing so, but quite uselessly, afterward. In a few days, leaving his wounded fully protected, he marched, with the greater part of his command, up the south bank of the Ohio, to join Lord Dunmore at the mouth of the Hocking. The latter had already arrived, and directed his march to within three miles of the Indian towns on the Scioto. Here he intrenched himself in a regularly fortified camp on the Pickaway Plains, near Sippo Creek. Inclosing about twelve acres with a strong breastwork of trees felled for the purpose, in the center of this inclosure he built a citadel of logs, and surrounded it with a ditch and earth-work, the latter being so surrounded with timber as to render the place impregnable to a foe armed as were the Indians. In the center of the citadel was pitched the marquee provided for the commanding general and his staff, and over it proudly waved the English flag of the Governor of Virginia, who, in honor of his queen, had named the fortification " Camp Charlotte."
On sight of these works the Indian chiefs (among whom was Cornstalk), who had failed to destroy their enemy at Point Pleasant, were effectually disheartened; and, aware that the junction of the two invading armies only remained to take place for a general attack upon their defenseless villages, they sent into the citadel delegation after delegation for terms of peace. Lord Dunmore was fully advised of the cause of the war, and had no desire to consign the aboriginal possessors of the soil to general slaughter. He had better use for them; nevertheless, he desired to assure the Indians that if they per- sisted in their retaliatory measures they would certainly be all destroyed. Having received small detach- ments of their delegations, he had them recount their wrongs. During the progress of the negotiations the celebrated speech of Logan was brought in. He could not himself be prevailed upon to come into the camp, and Lord Dunmore sent out Colonel John Gibson, who was well acquainted with him, to inquire into the causes of his absence. On arriving at the Indian village, Logan came to him, and they both went into an adjoining wood, where they sat down on a log. After shedding abundance of tears, the Indian warrior narrated the story of his grievances in his own tongue, which Gibson well understood. The speech was faithfully delivered to the commanding general, who received it seated under an oak-tree that has been inclosed, and still stands in a field seven miles from Circleville, in a southerly direction. Gibson translated the speech sentence by sentence, and as it was delivered it was written. Its authen- ticity is placed beyond doubt, and it of right belongs, and forever will belong, to the history of Ohio. Of this speech President Jefferson said, "I may, challenge all the orators of the Greeks and Romans to produce its equal." It is as follows :
"I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry, and I gave him not meat ; if he ever came cold or naked, and I clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Nay, such was my love for the whites that my own countrymen, as they passed me, said, 'Logan is the friend of white men.' I had even thoughts of living among you, but for the injuries done me by one man. Colonel Cresap, last Spring, in cold blood and unprovoked, murdered all the relatives of Logan, sparing not even my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it. I have killed many. I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my ", country I rejoice in the beams of peace. But do not harbor the thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? Not one."
We can not accord to Logan's speech the high praise bestowed upon it by Jefferson ; but, tricked
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out in rhetorical garb as it has been (perhaps by Dunmore himself), it undoubtedly reproduces some of the thoughts and feelings of the Mingo brave. It was originally given in the Virginia Gazette, a paper published at Williamsburg, early in 1775, and afterward printed, with some variations, in New York and elsewhere.
General Lewis was re-enforced by three hundred men just after the battle, and then started upon his march of eighty miles through the wilderness to the Indian towns on the Scioto. Himself and his troops were ferried across the river by Lord Dunmore's flotilla, and although met by a messenger bearing the command of the latter that he return with his forces to Virginia, as peace was about to be concluded, he ordered their march towards the new fort. On the 24th of the month he arrived within four miles of "Camp Charlotte," and fortified himself on a small branch of Sippo Creek, within a short distance of the old Chillicothe town. Lord Dunmore with his staff rode out to meet them, and had to repeat his orders peremptorily before General Lewis consented to obey. Even then nothing but the dissimilarity in the relative strength of the respective commands compelled obedience. Lord Dunmore had more than twice the force under Lewis, and besides could, with a word, turn the whole body of the Indians upon him ; consequently, though smarting under their loss at Point Pleasant, and urged by their feelings to revenge that loss on the Indians, the order of Lord Dunmore that they direct their march for home was obeyed. The latter tarried for some time in his fort, and until he had concluded a treaty, or rather a truce, with the Indians, when, with his command, he also returned to Virginia. Thus ended the Dunmore war.
A good many sentimental tears have been shed over the fate of Logan and his kindred, and his spirited revenge of their wrongs; but while he had many noble traits of character he was addicted to all the vices of his race, and did not rise superior to his surroundings. He was of a stolid temperament, but resentful when aroused; and, though capable of generous deeds, he became an incarnate fiend when he fancied himself injured. He had his hours of repentant leisure, but soon lapsed into his habitual moodiness, and yielded to the curse of strong drink when the evil spirit of his nature came upon him. He flung away all the better impulses of his youth, the religious teachings which he must have heard from the Moravian missionaries, and sank into utter depravity, self-abandoned and self-tortured. His end was a fitting close to his career. He died by violence at the hands of one of his own people, and is buried in an unknown grave.
At the conclusion of the campaign Captain Cresap returned to Maryland and cultivated the arts of peace in the midst of his family circle. Early the next Spring (1775), he hired another band of young men, and repaired again to the Ohio country to complete his undertaking of the year before. He did not stop at his old station, but descended to Kentucky, which seemed to offer better inducements, and there made some improvements. Ill health, however, soon compelled him to give up his enterprise, and he left his workmen, and departed for his home across the mountains.
Meanwhile the attitude of the mother-country towards her colonies became more threatening, and all hope of arranging the difficulties between them was at an end. Congress took measures to defend the interests of America, and passed a resolution to enlist six companies of riflemen, to serve for one year, unless affairs should admit of their discharge sooner. The delegate from Maryland addressed a letter to the Committee of Safety in Frederick County, requesting them with all convenient speed to raise two of these companies-the others to be formed in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
In consequence of this resolve of Congress and the letter from the delegation of Maryland, June 15, 1775, the committee of Frederick County immediately appointed Michael Cresap and Thomas Price captains, to command these two rifle companies ; and as the former had not yet returned from the West a messenger was at once dispatched to notify him of his appointment. He met him, on his way back, in the Allegheny Mountains. "When I communicated my business," says the messenger (John J. Jacob), "and announced his appointment, instead of becoming elated, he became pensive and solemn, as if his spirits were really depressed, or as if he had a presentiment that this was his death-warrant. He said he was in bad health and his affairs in a deranged state, but that, nevertheless, as the committee had selected him, and as he understood from me that his father had pledged himself that he should accept of this appointment, he would go, let the consequences be what they might. He then directed me to proceed to the west side of the mountains, and publish to his old companions in arms his intentions.
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This I did, and in a very short time collected and brought to him at his residence in Old Town about twenty-two as fine fellows as ever handled a rifle."
Captain Cresap had no difficulty in filling up his company, and in a short time was ready to take the field. In a letter from Fredericktown, Maryland, to a gentleman in Philadelphia, published in the Pennsylvania Gazette of August 16, 1775, the writer thus speaks of the young Revolutionary hero: "Notwithstanding the urgency of my business, I have been detained three days in this place by an occurrence truly agreeable. I have had the happiness of seeing Captain Michael Cresap marching at the head of a formidable company of upwards of one hundred and thirty men from the mountains and backwoods, painted like Indians, armed with tomahawks and rifles, dressed in hunting-shirts and moccasins; and though some had traveled near eight hundred miles from the banks of the Ohio, they seemed to walk light and easy, and not with less spirit than the first hour of their march. Health and vigor, after what they had undergone, declared them to be intimate with hardship and familiar with danger. Joy and satisfaction were visible in the crowd that met them. Had Lord North been present, and been assured that the brave leader could raise thousands of such like to defend his country, what, think you, would not the hatchet and the block have intruded on his mind? I had an opportunity of attending the cap- tain during his stay in town, and watched the behavior of his men, and the manner in which he treated them ; for it seems that all who go out to war under him do not only pay the most willing obedience to him as their commander, but in every instance of distress look up to him as their friend and father. A great part of his time was spent in listening to and relieving their wants, without any apparent sense of fatigue and trouble. When complaints were before him he determined with kindness and spirit, and on every occasion condescended to please without losing his dignity."
Yet this was the man whom Logan declared to be the cold-blooded slayer of his women and chil- dren ; whom Jefferson afterward affirmed to be "infamous for his many Indian murders ;" whom histo- rians and chroniclers have since, without investigation, asserted to be the originator of the war of 1774, but against whom his contemporaries brought no such accusation, and whom even Jefferson's chosen witnesses acquitted of the charge. His neighbors and acquaintances knew his character; they reposed in him the utmost confidence; they relied upon his patriotism and his prudence; and he was their first choice for leader of their troops in battle.
With this company of Maryland riflemen Captain Cresap proceeded to Boston, and joined the Amer- ican army under the command of General Washington, in August. He did not remain there long, how- ever; for continued and increasing ill-health prevented his engaging in active service, and he set out upon his return home, hoping to recover. When he reached New York he found himself too ill to go further, and there, after six days' fever, he died on the 18th of October, 1775, aged thirty-three years. He was buried on the following day with military honors, in Trinity church-yard. He left a wife and five chil- dren to mourn their loss, while his untimely death caused many sad hearts in his native province. Among his neighbors he was regarded as an active, brave, and patriotic man; honest and upright in all his business transactions, punctual to his engagements, a kind husband and father, and a hospitable friend to the poor. The wayworn stranger or traveler always received a hearty welcome at his house.
We have interrupted the progess of the narrative to trace the outline of Captain Cresap's life to its close, as his name has been so intimately associated with the history of Ohio; we have endeavored to rescue the memory of a true hero and patriot from obloquy, and to do justice to one who has been long regarded as the author of the outrages committed upon the family and kindred of Logan. We now turn again to the history of our own State.
The indefatigable Moravians established a mission among the Indians of Ohio as early as 1762. A ʹ strip of country twenty miles in length along the Tuscarawas River was formally ceded to the Christian Indians of this mission in 1772, and the principal station was named Schonbrunn. The land for the village was given to the brethren of the mission by Netawatwees, head chief of the Delawares. The Delaware nation was divided into three tribes, of which the Unami was esteemed the first in rank. The chief of this tribe was Netawatwees. He was a man of strong mind and commanding character. By his judgment and address he had acquired the reverence of the whole nation. The leader of the mission was David Zeisberger, to whom this chief was a powerful friend. It was owing to the friendship which the chief entertained for him that the offer was made for the Christian Indians to come and settle on the .
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Muskingum. In order to make some preparations for the arrival of the large Indian congregation whose homes had been taken from them in Pennsylvania, Zeisberger, in April, 1772, left that State with five Indian families, in all twenty-eight persons, and reached the spot where the new village was to be built on the 3d of May. The spot was well chosen. There was a small lake, from which the river that flowed through the plain took its source. Its shores were verdant; there was good tillage ground, and plenty of game in the woods. Temporary cabins were constructed, and the land cleared and planted; the chief sending many of his people to assist the missionaries. The whole body of Indians who came to the new settle- ment, including the missionaries, numbered two hundred and forty-one souls. Such was the happy influence of practical Christianity on the Muskingum and the surrounding country through the two vil- lages Schönbrunn and Gnadenhutten, that the prospect was fair for the practical conversion of the whole Delaware nation. Many members of the tribes passed through the settlements, and their curiosity was especially awakened at seeing the industry of their Christian countrymen, and especially their buildings and plowed grounds. To all who came to the villages the Gospel was preached. Of these, many heard the Word gladly, and joined the congregation.
The war of 1774, though of brief continuance, was dreadful in its character while it lasted. During its continuance the settlements scarcely enjoyed a single day of rest. As the savages were greatly inflamed against the white people generally, the missionaries were often in great danger for their lives. Numerous troops of warriors marched through the settlements, some on the war-path, others returning with scalps and spoil, and both threatening that the settlements should be destroyed. Reports were often circulated that the enemy were actually on the way to burn their houses and murder the inhab- itants. Canoes were always ready, as the alarm came sometimes in the night, that they might take their instant flight. The women were repeatedly driven from their plantations at noonday; and all the people were confined to their habitations for days and weeks together, as several parties appeared in the vicinity with a view of seizing on stragglers. The joyful news of peace put an end to these fears and troubles ; and the Christian Indians set apart the sixth day of November, 1774, as a day of thanksgiving and prayer to God for his deliverance.
As the villages of Schonbrunn and Gnadenhutten were by the end of 1775 so prosperous as to contain four hundred and fourteen inhabitants, a third settlement was projected. This was within two miles of the forks of the Muskingum, and about thirty miles from Gnadenhutten. In April, 1776, eight families, under charge of their faithful leader, David Zeisberger-in all thirty-five persons-settled here, and gave the name Lichtenau to the new mission.
This mission prospered ; and the chiefs of the tribes being favorably disposed, and the people manifesting some interest, the Moravian Church increased, and the knowledge of the Moravian teach- ings spread among the Indians. Books were translated into their native tongue, and many of the arts of domestic and social life, with which they had heretofore been unacquainted, were taught them. Around these settlements grew up other villages and hamlets of Christian Indians, who had adopted in great measure the civilization of their teachers. For a while they were beyond the border and away from the influence and hostility of the white men, and away from the embarrassment of the border wars. The outbreak of 1774, narrated above, in no way affected them, except that it excited apprehensions lest the war might extend to their own country; and both the missionaries and the Indians were pre- pared to escape to the Cuyahoga River in case the whites had been beaten at the battle of Point Pleasant. But their peace was soon broken. They were between the two parties in the War of Independence. Detroit was the head-quarters of the British, and Fort Pitt, or Pittsburg, of the Americans.
The Wyandotts and part of the Delawares were partisans of the British ; but the Christian Indians, being non-combatants in accordance with their principles, were neutral. Though they declined to take sides with either party, they felt compelled by their religion to extend their hospitality to both. It was thus difficult to avoid the suspicions of partisanship. The combination of circumstances was such as to bring censure upon them, and they were at one time accused by the British emissaries of favoring the cause of the colonists, at another by the colonists of favoring British interests; now by the frontier settlers of siding with the Sandusky savages, then by the Indians of rendering assistance against them to the frontiersmen. The missionaries were at length charged with being spies and holding treasonable correspondence with the Americans at Pittsburg, and perhaps at other points, in the fall of 1781. Upon
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