USA > Pennsylvania > Border warfare in Pennsylvania during the revolution > Part 7
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1 Haldimand MSS., Book 122, p. 26.
2 Ibid, pp. 54 and 75.
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their hands "in order to drive the Rebels from their land, while his ships of war and his armies drove them from the sea." The Indian nations accepted the axe with great cheerfulness and unanimity; but the Delawares were not altogether to be depended on, since the chiefs present at the council could speak for only sixty of them.
Hamilton's intrigues at Detroit had become known to Congress before 1778. On November 20th, of the pre- vious year, 1 that body, having in its possession some of his proclamations lost by the Indians where they com- mitted their murders, concluded that he was responsible for the "barbarous and murderous warfare." They also traced the disaffection, so prevalent then in and around Fort Pitt, to his agents and emissaries. A commission was therefore appointed to repair to Fort Pitt without delay to investigate and suppress the disaffection in that quarter, and to concert with General Hand a plan to capture Detroit. This commission reported to Congress, April 27th,2 and confirmed all the reports and suspicions that led to its appointment. Defensive warfare was ac- knowledged to be inadequate and an expedition to reduce Detroit was ordered on the 11th of June, and the Indians along the route were to be compelled to sue for peace. To facilitate the success of the expedition, and the sooner to compel the hostile tribes to cease their war on the frontier, another expedition was to be organized at Albany to chastise "that insolent and revengeful nation," the Senecas. About the same time, General Hand, to undo the mischief done by McKee, Elliott and Girty among the Delawares and Shawanese around Fort Pitt, held a con- ference with these nations. That he was partially suc- cessful was proven by the fact that so few Delawares had
1 Journals of Congress, vol. 3, p. 409.
2 Journals of Congress, vol. 4, p. 244.
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come to Hamilton's council at Detroit. With the Sha- wanese, he could do but little. The three renegades, "of that horrid brood called refugees, whom the devil has long since marked as his own,"1 had been quite success- ful with these, as they had serious grievances. 2
It was well that Congress made this change of policy, from defensive to offensive warfare, for the Indians had come into Westmoreland county as early as April, 3 at- tacked a company of rangers, killed nine of them, wounded the captain and took nine guns. It was a larger body of Indians than had ever before appeared at once and their attack was much more vigorous. Lieutenant Lochry pre- dicted a general evacuation of all the posts except Fort Pitt, with the next appearance of such a body of the enemy. General Hand, having been recalled by his own request, was succeeded, at the suggestion of General Washington, by General Lochlin McIntosh, of the Georgia Line, 4 a soldier with whom Washington parted at Valley Forge with much reluctance, as his services were sorely needed there. McIntosh did not arrive at Fort Pitt until early in August; so Congress resolved that the expedition to Detroit should be deferred for the present, but that he should proceed to destroy some of the Indian towns west of the Ohio. But this order did not change his purpose. 5 It seems that Congress did not consider the army he could raise strong enough to undertake the reduction of Detroit. Before the expedition was planned, Washington had ordered the Eighth Pennsylvania to the assistance of General Hand. This regiment consisted of seven com- panies from Westmoreland and one from Bedford, and
1 History of Allegheny county, p. 84.
2 Washington-Irvine Correspondence, p. 14.
3 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 6, p. 495.
4 Washington-Irvine Correspondence, p. 20.
5 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 12, p. 118.
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numbered in 1778 about 340 men.1 It was raised for the defense of the Western frontier by a resolution of Con- gress, passed July 15th, 1776.2 But it was needed "be- low" soon afterwards, and in November, received orders to join Washington in New Jersey, or wherever he might be.3 One of the men wrote at the time :
"Last Evening, We Received Marching orders, Which I must say is not disagreeable to me under ye Sircumstances of ye times, for when I entered into ye Service I judged that if a necessity appeared to call us Below, it would be Dou, therefore it Dont come on me By Surprise ; But as Both ye officers and Men understood they Ware Raised for ye Defence of ye West- ern Frontiers, and their famelys and substance to be Left in so Defenceless a situation in their abstence, seems to give Sen- sable trouble, altho I Hope We Will Get over it. . . We are ill Provided for a March at this season, But there is nothing Hard under some Sircumistance. We Hope Provisions will be made for us Below. Blankets, Campe Kittles, tents, arms, Regementals, etc., that we may not Cut a Dispisable Figure, But may be Enabled to answer ye expectation of ower Coun- tre."
The commander of the regiment at the time of its re- turn to the frontier was Colonel David Brodhead. He was a native of New York, but his father removed to a place in Northampton county, now East Stroudsburg, Monroe county. David was twenty when the French war commenced, and probably received his first lesson in border warfare when the Indians attacked his house, in 1755. In 1771, he removed to Reading, and became a surveyor. His first duty performed in the Revolution was that of delegate to the Provincial Convention, in 1775. The next year he joined the Continental army as lieutenant colonel. After the war he held the office of
1 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 6, p. 635.
2 Journals of Congress, vol. 1, pp. 411-419.
3 Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd series, vol. 10, p. 641.
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Surveyor General of the State for eleven years, and died at Milford, Pike county, 1809.1
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The advance of Colonel Brodhead's regiment towards Pittsburg began in June, but the march was interrupted by a detour up the Susquehanna to check the savages who were ravaging the West Branch and the Wyoming Val- ley. The command did not arrive at Fort Pitt before September. Previously to Brodhead's "late arrival," General McIntosh had been reinforced by the 13th Vir- ginia, likewise recruited on the frontier and sent back from Valley Forge. But his entire force available for the expedition, including the militia, was only about 1, 300 men. He had tried hard to have more. He resolved to break up the numerous small forts, which General Hand had been obliged to garrison, because his chief depend- ence was on the militia. These forts " were frequently altered, kept or evacuated, according to the humors, fears or interests of the people of most influence," 2 and re- quired a large body of militia to defend them. McIntosh also abandoned the numerous store-houses throughout the border counties, and built one general store-house in the fork of the Monongahela river, where all loads from across the mountains could be discharged without cross- ing any large streams. By this measure, the men that had guarded the stores became available for active duty. To guard the frontiers in his absence, he authorized the Lieu- tenants of Westmoreland and of several counties of Vir- ginia, to organize a few companies of rangers ; and to garrison the few remaining forts-Pitt, Hand and Ran- dolph-he raised independent companies. Through the efforts, also, of a Congressional commission, consisting of two gentlemen from Virginia and one from Pennsylva-
1 Pennsylvania Archives, 2ud series, vol. 10, p. 645.
2 Washington-Irvine Correspondence, p. 24.
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nia, 1 the greater part of the Delaware nation was made a close ally of the United States, and "the hatchet placed into their hands." They promised to furnish their best and most expert warriors, and a levy for two captains and sixty braves was afterwards made upon the nation. Probably the most important concession from them was the consent to march an army across their territory. 2
All these preparations being made, General McIntosh opened a road to the Beaver, and erected a post with bar- racks and stores, upon the present site of Beaver. It was called Fort McIntosh, and was built of strong stockades, furnished with bastions, mounting one six-pounder each, and large enough for a whole regiment.3 Early in Octo- ber, the headquarters of the army were removed from Fort Pitt to the new fort; but a forward movement into the Indian country was retarded by a want of supplies. A month later, cattle from over the mountains arrived, but they were poor and could not be killed for want of salt, which then cost $20 a bushel at Fort Pitt. 4 Being now reproached by the Delawares for his tardiness, McIntosh ordered 1,200 men to get ready to march ; and on the 16th of November the movement westward began. It required the rest of the month to reach the Tuscarawas-seventy miles distant from Fort McIntosh-the " horses and cat- tle tiring every four or five miles." Not meeting the enemy here as he had expected, and the supplies for the winter not having reached Fort McIntosh, the General's expedition against Detroit had to be abandoned for the year 1778. He erected Fort Laurens on the Tuscarawas, and garrisoned it with 150 men, under command of Colo-
1 Journals of Congress, vol. 4. p. 235.
2 Washington-Irvine Correspondence, p. 25.
3 Frontier Forts, vol. 2, p. 488.
4Washington-Irvine Correspondence, p. 27.
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nel John Gibson, the same whom Doctor Connelly sought to corrupt in 1775. He was a native of Lancaster county. At the age of eighteen he accompanied Forbes' expedi- tion, and then settled at Fort Pitt as an Indian trader. He was captured by the Indians, and saved from burning at the stake by an aged squaw. After remaining with the Indians for a number of years, he returned to Fort Pitt. He was active in securing peace with the Indians in 1774, and soon after was appointed colonel in a Continental regiment. He served with the army in New York, and in its retreat across the Jerseys. After the war he was prominent in civil life as a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1790, and judge of Alle- gheny county. He commanded a regiment in St. Clair's expedition, and was major general of the militia during the Whiskey Insurrection. In 1800, Jefferson appointed him Secretary of Indiana Territory, and later became its acting Governor. 1
With the remainder of his army, General McIntosh returned to Fort McIntosh, where he disbanded the militia "precipitately," for they had shown signs of mutiny. And no wonder, for, on the return, the troops had to eat roasted beef-hides that had been left to dry, so scarce were the provisions. Thirty-six hides were cut up and roasted in one night. 2 The Eighth Pennsylvania was assigned to Fort Pitt. The residue were divided among the principal forts, including Fort McIntosh.
An expedition of more consequence, both immediate and future, was that of George Rogers Clark. He arrived at Fort Pitt from Virginia early in 1778, authorized by Governor Patrick Henry to enlist men for a secret expe- dition against the Illinois country. He had sent spies
1 History of Westmoreland County, p. 96.
2 Washington-Irvine Correspondence, p. 28.
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thither, and learned that a number of the British posts were weakly garrisoned, the troops having been with- drawn to defend Detroit and Niagara against the expedi- tions planned at Fort Pitt and Albany in 1777. Clark had a hard winter's work in enlisting troops for his he- roic undertaking, because the backwoodsmen, ignorant of his true design, were opposed to it. So when, on May 12th, he "set sail for the falls" of the Ohio, on boats built at Fort Redstone, now Brownsville, Fayette county, he had only 180 men, but they were picked riflemen. Though Clark and all his men were in the Virginia ser- vice, some of them were Pennsylvanians at the time, and many others became such after the settlement of the boundary. General Hand furnished Clark with every necessity he wanted.1 The result of the campaign was the reduction of the British posts between the Ohio and Mississippi rivers-Kaskaskia, St. Phillips, Vincennes and others. When the treaty of peace was made, in 1783, these posts were held by American garrisons, and the con- quest of Clark helped to make the Mississippi river the western boundary of the United States. The expedition also had a salutary effect on Indian depredations, as it re- sulted in the capture of Hamilton the following year.
On the Northumberland frontier there was scarcely any lull in Indian ravages in the winter of 1777-1778. On the first day of the year, one of the settlers was killed and scalped two miles above Great Island, and eleven In- dians were easily tracked in the snow and two of them killed.2 Colonel Antes, who had built Fort Antes at the mouth of Nippenose Creek, and owned a grist mill there of great value to the people, was in command in that sec- tion. He came down to consult Colonel Hunter at Fort
1 Washington-Irvine Correspondence, p. 15.
2 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 6, p. 176.
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Augusta, and in consequence of the fright, the fifth class of militia, which was to join the army at Valley Forge, was ordered to remain at home. These and other availa- ble forces were held in readiness for a call to arms. After the snow had disappeared in March, great uneasiness seized Northumberland. There were only two rifles and sixty muskets in the public stores of the county ; and if the sixth and seventh classes of militia would have been called out then, they could not have been armed.1 For- tunately, there was no necessity for additional troops. When, about the first of May, the fifth class had served their two months, the sixth simply exchanged places. But now there was a scarcity of meat and flour, and pro- visions had to be forwarded from Lancaster and Cumber- land counties. 2 To provide for this want in some measure, the people were asked to preserve shad and barrel them up for the use of the militia.
News was now received from Bedford and Westmore- land that the Indians had been seen there. It needed no confirmation ; for scarcely had a week passed when they commenced to kill, scalp and carry off captives on the West Branch, and classes of militia from all the battalions had to be ordered out on their respective tour of duty. The Council, still in session at Lancaster, now acted with energy and promptness. Rifles, muskets, powder, lead, flints and provisions were ordered for Northumberland from Northampton Town (Allentown), York Town, Car- lisle and Lebanon ; and an appeal for help was made to Congress. 3 This body had frequently drawn on the State's supplies, and it was therefore right " to depend on their issues at this time." The Council now felt certain that
1 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 6, p. 392.
2 Ibid, p. 478.
3 Ibid, p. 536.
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the attack of the savages was concerted by the British, for the employment of such horrid allies was avowed in the face of the world. The Council, knowing that the border warfare was made in concert with the invaders of the eastern side of the State, felt that Pennsylvania had a claim to be supported by the force and money of the United States, as had been done lately for the Southern States.
By the close of May, 1 Colonel Hunter wrote to John Hambright, a leading citizen of Northumberland, then a member of the Executive Council at Lancaster :
" We are really in a Melancholy situation in this county, the back inhabitants have all Evacuated their habitations and Assembled in different places. It is really Distress- ing to see the inhabitants flying away and leaving their all. Especially the Jersey people, that came up here this last Win- ter and Spring, not one stays, but sets off to the Jerseys again."
On the second of June, 2 he wrote to Vice-President Bryan that the people had drawn up a petition to Congress for relief, and would lay it before the Council before present- ing it, for approval. The next day 3 John Harris, the founder of Harrisburg, wrote to the Vice-President, from Paxton, "I pity my bleeding Country, and am willing to assist the county of Northumberland by any means in my power." He feared that unless something were done quickly, the people would all move off and the crops would be lost. In a short time afterwards communication be- tween Antes' Mill and Big Island wascut off, and a bloody slaughter occurred at the present site of Williamsport, + in which four men, two women, one boy and one girl were killed and scalped, and five others taken captive. All these events were but forerunners of a disaster greater
1 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 6, p. 570.
2 Ibid, p. 573.
5 Ibid, p. 574.
4 Ibid, p. 599.
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than any of them. It would seem that Colonel Hunter had a presentiment of what was soon to happen at Wyom- ing ; for, on the 4th of July, the day after the massacre, and before he knew of it, he wrote to Vice-President Bryan, of the Council, now again in Philadelphia :1 " Wyoming will not long be able to oppose the rapid pro- gress of the enemy ; in that case we cannot say where they will stop, and Lancaster county must soon feel their rav- ages."
The massacre of Wyoming was not without its pre- monitory signals. The wave of joy which swept over the country after Burgoyne's surrender, and lifted it out of the despair of Brandywine and Germantown, struck this beautiful valley in Pennsylvania with the sound of a roar- ing breaker. It was feared that the Indians released from British service in northern New York, and now under no restraint whatever, would turn their dreaded arms upon the frontiers. And where was there another settlement so exposed to, and so much hated by, the savages as Wyoming ? Early in the spring of 1778, Congress was asked by the settlers for troops to defend them against the expedition that was reported to be organized against them at Niagara.2 General Schuyler wrote to the Board of War on the condition of Wyoming. Ransom's and Dur- kee's independent companies in the Continental army plead and remonstrated that their families, left defense- less, were menaced with invasion, and that they should be returned according to the conditions of their enlist- ment. But all that Congress did, though it had informa- tion of its own to confirm these fears,3 was to order a
1 Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 6, p. 624.
2 Journals of Congress, vol. 4, p. 113; Pennsylvania Archives, vol. 6, p. 371; Stone's Life of Brandt, vol. 1, p. 304.
3 Journals of Congress, vol. 4, p. 63.
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company to be enlisted from among the inhabitants, the men to find "their own arms, accoutrements and blan- kets." As in all other sections of the frontier, men and arms were exceedingly scarce, for the best of both had been drawn into the Continental service.
Unlike their behavior on the West Branch, the Indians committed no open acts of hostility on the North Branch until a few days before the massacre. In the month of May, scouting parties were discovered some twenty miles up the river, but they were after information rather than scalps. Soon after two Indians, once residents of Wyom- ing, came down with their squaws, pretending to be on a friendly visit. By freely administering rum to the vis- itors, it was learned that the settlement was to be cut off at an early day. This was the signal for defense. Steps were taken to form the company authorized by Congress ; the people in the outer settlements fled to the forts, and letters were dispatched in great haste to the men in the Continental army, calling upon them to come home. On hearing this news, every commissioned officer, but two, resigned, and more than twenty-five men, with or without leave, left the ranks and hastened to the Valley.1 Con- gress was now obliged to act. On the 23rd of June- only one week before the arrival of the Indians 2-the Westmoreland companies, numbering then only 86 men, were " detached from the main army for the defense of the frontiers."
The enemy's preparation at Tioga Point to descend the river at the time of the " June fresh," was now well known. The Indians were no longer anxious to conceal their plot from the people of Wyoming ; for they felt sure of their victims. The wise men of Congress had been
1 Miner's History of Wyoming, p. 215.
2 Journals of Congress, vol. 4, p. 263.
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outwitted by the simple savage of the forest. While the Wyoming massacre was planning at Tioga Point, Seneca chiefs were in Philadelphia, ostensibly to negotiate a treaty, but in reality to deceive and prevent aid to Wyom- ing. Nor did they leave until the fatal blow had been struck.1 On the evening of the 29th of June, or the morn- ing of the 30th, 2 the enemy, consisting of 400 British pro- vincials, including many Tories from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, and 600 or 700 Indians, some of whom had come from Detroit, entered the Valley of Wyoming, near its northern extremity, through a gap of the mountain. They were under the command of Colonel John Butler, of Niagara.3 Whether Brandt commanded the Indians is a disputed question.4 The invaders took two small forts without opposition. In this they were aided by Tories residing in that neighborhood. One of the forts was burned, and several people were killed and taken captive.
When the inhabitants below learned of the approach of the British and Indians, they assembled in Forty Fort, so called from the circumstance that, at one time in the previous troubles of the settlement, it was occupied by forty men. Colonel Zebulon Butler, then at home from the army, assumed command. The women and children were ordered into the various forts of the Valley. The militia-some three hundred-were hastily mobilized, and with these Colonel Butler marched up the Valley to meet the enemy, and soon met a party of Indian scouts, who had just murdered some settlers engaged at work in a field. After killing two of these advanced guards, his
1 Journals of Congress, vol. 4, p. 285.
2 Miner's History of Wyoming, p. 217.
3 Stone's Life of Brandt, vol. 1, p. 339.
4 Winsor's Hand-Book of the American Revolution, p. 192.
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command had to fall back on Forty Fort for want of sup- plies.
On the 3rd of July, a council of war was convened at Forty Fort, for a request to surrender had been made twice already by the British commander. There was some hesitancy about taking the offensive just then, as reinforcements were expected. But as there was so little hope of succor now, the column of about three hundred men, old men and boys, marched from the fort. They had gone but a short distance when the three officers who had resigned from the regular army rode breathless and exhausted into Forty Fort. The privates who had started with them were still about forty miles off. Having snatched a morsel of food, they followed their gallant com- mander.1 It was evident now that he had to depend on his militia alone. When he met the enemy, their line was formed " a small distance in from their camp, on a plain thinly covered with pine, shrub-oaks and under- growth, and extending from the river to a marsh at the foot of the mountains." He formed a line of equal length, and the battle commenced. The militia bore up well at first ; but, unfortunately, the Indian commander-Brandt possibly-marching through the marsh, turned their left flank, commanded by Colonel Dennison. The latter or- dered his men to " fall back " to avoid capture and to re- form. They mistook his order for a " retreat," and the whole line took flight. Colonel Butler rode up and down the line, calling to the boys not to leave him. But it was too late.
The battle being ended, the massacre began. The Indians threw away their rifles, rushed forward with their tomahawks, making dreadful havoc, answering cries for
1 Miner's History of Wyoming, p. 221.
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mercy with the hatchet. Less than sixty of the Spartan band escaped either the rifle or the tomahawk. Twenty- three officers fell, most of whom while trying to rally the men when the retreat began. Durkee and Ransom, the veteran captains of the Line, were among the dead. Some of the fugitives escaped by swimming the river and flee- ing to the mountains ; and when the news reached the lower part of the Valley, most of the women and children likewise fled to the mountains. Those who could not make their escape, sought refuge in Fort Wyoming. The Indians, whose desire for blood had been satiated, pro- ceeded after the battle to satisfy the cravings of hunger by plundering kitchens and pantries. On the morning of the 4th, Colonel John Butler demanded the surrender of Fort Wyoming. There was not much disposition to re- fuse the demand, for everybody in the Valley that could get away was on the flight to the Wind Gap and Strouds- burg, some of them making their way to old Connecticut. The fugitives endured untold hardships, especially those who passed through the "Dismal Swamp," which from that time on has been known as the "Shades of Death." Some died of wounds ; others perished from hunger ; sev- eral children were born in the wilderness ; families were broken up, and in some cases they never saw one another again. But it does not appear that anything like a massa- cre followed the capitulation.
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