USA > Pennsylvania > Early history of western Pennsylvania, and of the West, and of western expeditions and campaigns, from MDCCLIV to MDCCCXXXIII > Part 16
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(3) Col. Boquet's Letter to Hon. Wm. Allen, Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, dated Fort Du Quesne, Nov. 25, 1758 .- Appendix, 300.
(4) Capt. Haslet's Letter, Nov. 26, 1758, in Hazard's Register of Pennsylva- nia, Vol. VI., p. 226 .- Appendix, 301.
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141
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.
There were two magazines, one of which was blown up and ruined by the springing of a mine of powder. In the other were found sixteen barrels of ammunition, gun-barrels, a large quantity of carriage iron, and a wagon load of scalping-knives. Their cannon had been removed, but whether taken with them down the Ohio, or sunk in the river, is un- known.(1)
There were about four or five hundred Frenchmen in the fort, at the time of its evacuation, a part of whom went down the Ohio, and the re- mainder with Governor M. De Lignery to Presq' Isle and Venango.(2)
On the second of November, before the abandonment of the fort, a boy twelve years of age, who had been two years a prisoner with the French, made his escape, and reached the approaching army. He tes- tified that a quantity of dry wood was carried into the fort, and that five of the prisoners taken at Grant's defeat had been burned to death with it, and that they delivered others to the savages, who tomahawked them at once.(3)
On the arrival of the army numbers of the bodies of those who fell at the fatal skirmish with Grant, lay scattered around over the memora- ble hill, scalped and mutilated. The rites of burial were performed by the soldiers, and their remains consigned to the earth. Afterwards were gathered the whitened bones of those who fell on the bloody field of Braddock, and committed to a soldier's grave. The capture of Fort Du Quesne, was hailed every where throughout the colonies as the harbinger of better times. Gov. Denny communicated the particulars of the campaign to the Assembly of Pennsylvania, an I congratulated the province upon the triumph of the English arms. The Assembly drew up an answer to the address, responding to the tone of the Governor's Message, congratulating him upon the expulsion of the French from the Ohio, the regaining of the friendship of the Indians, and expressing a wil- lingness to co-operate with him in frustrating the ambitious views of the French in extending their settlements from Canada to the Mississippi.(4)
(1) Capt. Haslet's Letter in Hazzard's Register, Vol. VI., p. 226.
(2) Col. Bouquet's Letter to the Chief Justice of Pennsylvania.
(3) Capt. Haslet's Letter in Hazzard's Register, Vol. VI., p. 226.
(4) The following will be found in the Votes. of Assembly, 4th vol-1758. A Message to the Governor from the Assembly.
May it please your Honor :
The advices of the success of His Majesty's forces, employed in the re- duction of Fort Duquesne, which you have been pleased to lay before us in your message of the 21st instant, are so interesting and important, as well to the peace and security of this and the neighboring provinces, as to the British interest in general, that we shall not fail to do every thing, which can be rea- sonably expected from this young Colony, in frustrating the ambitious views of the French to destroy our settlements, and extend their own from Canada
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HISTORY OF
During the little time the French occupied this strong hold and key to the west, an immense amount of suffering and bloodshed had fallen upon the English. Four years and eight months had passed, memorable for the terrors and cruelties of unsparing warfare, since Ensign Ward, with a little party of forty one men, had fled, at the approach of the formida- ble motley-manned batteau and Indian canoe-fleet of Contracœur, from his unfinished fortification, upon which was erected Fort Du Quesne, and from the fire-scathed walls of which, now, at last, floated the proud flag of England.(1)
The success of this campaign produced the happiest effects upon the Indian tribes, lately the allies of the French. Conferences were held at he old site of Fort Du Quesne, when the Delawares immediately sued
(I) Patterson's History of the Backwoods, p. 117.
to the river Mississippi; and we hope the success of our late campaign, under Gen. Forbes, will greatly contribute to this good end. This happy event we agree, with your Honor, under divine Providence, and the courage, prudence and steady conduct of the General, is owing to the good effects of the several treaties held with the Indians, at the expense of this province; and especially the late negociations and messages with those on the Ohio, before and since the late treaty at Easton ; by which they were induced to withdraw themselves from the French, and observe a neutrality; in consequence whereof, the enemy have been necessitated to abandon the fort, from whence they have so frequently distressed our frontier settlements, and those of the neighboring colonies. The regaining the Indian affections, from which we always expect- ed the most natural barrier, and security of the extended western boundary of this colony, has been, and will still continue, the object of our strictest at- tention ; and we shall, whenever we receive sufficient information of the dis- position of the Indians on the Ohio, and the treaty held with them by order from Gen. Forbes, exert our best abilities to render it their true interest to join cordially with us, and by all means in our power, endeavor to revive, and effectually secure that friendship, which happily subsisted between them and us, till within these few years, from the first settlement of this province.
In expectation of a vigorous effort to be made upon the enemy in the next year, and at the requisition of His Excellency Gen. Amherst, we shall con- tinue the fourteen hundred old troops in the pay of the province, till our next meeting, at which time we hope to receive further information from our most gracious sovereign of the intended operations of the ensuing campaign.
Your Honor's care to discharge the new levies, in pursuance of their agree- ment, and the method you have taken to grant them certificates for their ar- rears, are very agreeable to us, as thereby the public faith will be preserved, should the last supplies fall short, till this debt can be provided for in the aids to be granted to His Majesty for defraying the expenses of the current year.
We return your Honor our thanks for your ready concurrence with the commissioners of the Indian trade in providing an early supply of goods for our Indian allies, which we hope will have a good effect; and if the act for preventing abuses in the said trade should, on experience, and a larger ex- tension of our trade, require any alterations, or a larger stock, we shall on all occasions be willing to make such alterations or amendments to that act, as may render it effectual. Signed by order of the House,
December 23, 1758.
ISAAC NORRIS, Speaker.
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WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.
-
for peace.(1) Gen. Forbes(2) ordered the fort to be repaired, left in it a garrison of two hundred provincial troops, built a block house near the Loyalhanna and manned it, and marched the remainder of the army to the other side of the mountains.(3)
Thus ended the campaign of 1758. It expelled the French, forever, from the confluence of the Monongahela and the Allegheny, and estab- tablished, in perpetuity, the possession of the Anglo Saxon race, in the great west.
(1) Sparks' Washington, Vol. II, p. 322. Appendix p. 127.
(2) Gen. John Forbes, died at Philadelphia, March 13, 1759, aged 49 years. The 14th he was interred in the chancel of Christ's Church in the city. He was a son of a Mr. Forbes, Esq., of Pentrief, in the Shire of Fife, in Scotland. " He was a gentleman generally known and esteemed, and most sincerely and universally regretted. In his younger days he was bred to the profession of physic, but, early ambitions of the military character, he purchased into the regiment of Scott's Grey Dragoons, where, by repeated purchases and faith- ful services, he arrived to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. His superior abilities soon recommended him to the protection of Gen. Campbell, the Earl of Stair, Duke of Bedford, Lord Legonier, and other distinguished characters in the army, with some of them as an aid ; with the rest in the familiarity of a fam- ily man. During the last war he had the honor to be employed in the post of Quartermaster General, in the army under his Royal Highness, the Duke, which duty he discharged with accuracy and dispatch. His services in Amer- ican are well known. By a steady pursuit of well concerted measures, in defiance of disease and numberless obstructions, he brought to a happy issue a most extraordinary campaign, and made a willing sacrifice of his own life to what he valued more-the interests of his King and country. As a man he was just and without prejudices ; brave without ostentation ; uncommonly warm in his friendships, and incapable of flattery ; acquainted with the world and mankind, he was well bred, but absolutely impatient of formality and af- fectation. As an officer, he was quick to discern useful men, and useful measures, generally seeing both at first view, according to their real qualities; steady in his measures, and open to information and council ; in command he had dignity without superciliousness ; and though perfectly master of forms, never hesitated to drop them, when the spirit and more essential parts of the service required it .- Pa. Gazette, January 18, 1759.
(3) Appendix p. 122, 126, 127, 132.
S
144
HISTORY OF
CHAPTER VIII.
THE SUCCESS OF THE ENGLISH IN 1759-THE DEATH OF GEN. FORBES AND THE APPOINTMENT OF GENERAL STANWIX AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF IN THE MID. DLE COLONIES-THE ERECTION OF FORT PITT BY GENERAL STANWIX AND HIS CONFERRENCE WITH THE INDIANS-SPEECH OF THE WYANDOTT CHIEF- THE RETURN OF GENERAL STANWIX TO ENGLAND-THE CAPTURE OF MON- TREAL AND THE SURRENDER OF ALL CANADA TO THE ENGLISH, AND PEACE WITH FRANCE-THE FIRST EXPEDITION OF THE ENGLISH TROOPS TO THE UPPER LAKES-THEIR RECEPTION BY THE CELEBRATED PONTIAC-THE IN- DIAN STRATAGEM, CAPTURE OF MICHILIMACKINAC AND MASSACRE OF THE GARRISON-PONTIAC'S APPEARANCE WITH HIS WARRIORS BEFORE DETROIT. -HIS SCHEME TO SURPRISE THE GARRISON DIVULGED BY AN INDIAN WOMAN -THE BATTLE AT THE BLOODY BRIDGE-THE SCHOONER FOR THE RELIEF OF DETROIT ATTACKED BY THE INDIANS-THEIR REPULSE-FRONTIER SET- TLERS MASSACRED-MANY TAKE REFUGE IN THE INTERIOR -BOUGUET'S EXPEDTION AGAINST THE INDIANS-FRONTIER :FORTS IN DANGER-BOU- QUET'S ENGAGEMENT WITH THE INDIANS AT BUSHY RUN, AND THEIR DE- FEAT-BOUQUET ARRIVES AT FORT PITT.
In the year 1759, all the campaigns against the French in America, were crowned with brilliant success. On the approach of the for- midable force of General Amherst before Ticonderoga, it had been abandoned. Crown Point was likewise given up, and the troops with- drawn. The battle of Niagara had been fought and won by Sir Wil- liam Johnson, against whom the whole strength of Detroit, Venango, and Presque Isle had been brought; and to crown the whole, General Wolf had surmounted the plains of Abraham, and captured the fortress of Quebec, being deemed the citadel of French power in America.
At the conclusion of the campaign of the preceding year, General FORBES, who had suffered greatly from ill health during the whole of his command, died in Philadelphia, and was succeeded by General STANWIX, as Commander-in-chief in the middle colonies. During the summer of of 1759, he proceeded to the former site of Fort Du Quesne, and com- menced building a strong fortification immediately above the adjoining French fort. This fortification, when finished, was deemed strong enough to secure the British empire on the Ohio to the latest poster- ity !(1) This was called Fort Pitt, in honor of the great British states- man.
(1) An extract of a letter dated Sept. 24, 1759, in the American Magazine printed at Woodbridge, N. J .:
"It is near a month since the army has been employed in erecting a most formidable fortification; such an one as will, to latest posterity, secure the British empire on the Ohio. There is no need to enumerate the abilities of the chief engineer, nor the spirit shown by the troops in executing the im- portant task : the fort will soon be a lasting monument of both. Upon the
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WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.
General Stanwix continued at Fort Pitt during the year 1759, and part of 1760, strengthening it by fortifications, and cultivating peace and friendship with the Indian tribes. The happy consequences of these measures were soon apparent in the production of considerable trade between the natives and the merchants of Fort Pitt, and in the perfect security of about four thousand settlers, who now returned to the quiet possession of lands, from whence they had been driven by the enemy on the frontiers of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.(2) He held two conferences with the Six Nations, the Delawares, the Shawanese, and the Wyandotts, one on the fourth day of July, 1759, and the other the twenty-fifth day of October following. After lighting and smoking the pipe of peace, Gen. Stanwix made a speech, in which he told the Chiefs and Warriors of the several nations present, that "he hoped, as they were met in council to renew and brighten the chain of friendship, that they would no more hearken to the war counsels of the French, but travel in the road of peace from the rising to the setting sun. He also informed them, that the English had taken the city of Quebec, and soon expected to drive the French out of America."
The speaker of the Wyandotts then arose, and in a speech of some length in behalf of the assembled Chiefs, replied to all the points in the address of Gen. Stanwix, and then made the following beautiful con- clusion :
" Brothers : the French put the hatchet into our hands, at the begin- ning of this war, and the evil Spirit getting the better of our understand- ings, made us make use of it. In the presence of our cousins, the Dela- wares, and the other Nations here, we bury the hatchet."(2)
On the twenty-first of March, 1760, after building Fort Pitt, and cu !- tivating the friendship and alliance of the Indians, General Stanwix set
General's arrival, about four hundred Indians of different nations, came to confirm peace with the English : particularly the Ottawas and Wyandotts, who inhabit about Detroit. These confessed the errors they had been led into by the French, and showed the deepest contrition for their past conduct ; and promised not only to remain fast friends to the English, but assist us in dis- tressing the common enemy, whenever we should call on them to do it. And all the nations that have been at variance with the English, said they would deliver up what prisoners they had in their hands, to the general, at a grand meeting that was to be held in about three weeks. As soon as the congress was ended, the head of each nation presented the calumet of peace to the General, and showed every token of sincerity that could be expected, which their surrender of the prisoners will confirm.
"In this, as in every thing that can secure the lasting peace and happiness of these colonies, the General is indefatigable.
(1) Smollet's History of England.
(2) Stanwix' Conference with the Indians, in Appendix, p. 139-141. 10
146
HISTORY OF
out for Philadelphia, escorted by thirty-five Chiefs of the Ohio Indians* and a company of soldiers, leaving at the fort seven hundred men, of which four hundred were Royal Americans, one hundred and fifty Penn- sylvanians, and one hundred Virginians. He arrived at Philadelphia, and sailed for England, where his services were duly appreciated by the Government.(2)
The almost entire strength of the French was now collected at Mon- treal. At this place the Marquis de Vaudreiul, Governor-General of Canada, collected his whole force. But General Amherst appeared be- fore the place, with his own corps, composed of ten thousand British and Provincials, and one thousand Indians, under Sir William Johnson, and a large force under General Murray and Colonel Haviland. Before this overwhelming force resistance was in vain. The Marquis, there-
* The following summary of the Indian Nations, &c., westward of the Ohio, is extracted from an account furnished to General Stanwix, by George Cro- ghan, Deputy of Sir William Johnson, Agent for Indian affairs, in 1759 :
1. The Delawares residing on the Ohio, Beaver Creek, and other branches of the Ohio, and on Susquehanna, their fighting men are 600
2. Shawanese, on Scioto, a branch of Ohio, 400 miles below Pittsburg, 300
3. Choctaws, on the Mississippi, above New Orleans,
2,000
4. Lazars, on the Ohio, from its mouth to Wabash,
400
5. Illinois, on the Mississippi, about the mouth of Ohio,
400
6. Waugweoughtannes, on the Wabash,
200
7. Twightwees, on the Miami River,
300
8. Pianquishaws, on the head of Wabash,
300
9. Wyandots, about Fort Detroit and Chenunda, &c.,
300
10. Ottawas, Chippewas, Putawatimes, or Shockeys, nations confede- rate, like the Six Nations, on the West side of Lake Erie, partly in sight of Fort Detroit,
2,000
11. Nottoweasses, called by the French Le Zue, or a river parallel with the Mississippi, in a country of 2000 miles extent,-some- times called Welsh Indianv,
1,000
12. Musquakees, on the Mississippi,
200
13. Sagaseys, lower down the Mississippi,
200
14. Webings, lower down the river, &c., these three mostly destroyed by the French.
20
15. Ouasoys, called by the French Le Grand Zue, or White Creek, a branch of the Mississippi,
4,000
16. Linways, on the Mississippi,
1,000
17. Missurys, on the Mississippi, opposite the Illinois' country, 400
18. Kekopos, about 80 miles beyond Fort Detroit,
600
The whole number of fighting men in these nations,
23,400
In which account the following are not included, viz :
1,500
Mingoes, or Five Nations,
1,500
Total,
27,900
If the fighting men be computed at one in five of all the inhabitants, this account will make the whole number,
139,500
Cherokees, to the southward,
Creeks or Chicksas, 1,500
(2) General Stanwix was shipwrecked in 1766. A Philadelphia paper, dated January 2, 1767, says, " It is with much regret that we announce the loss of the Eagle, on board of which was General Stanwix, his lady and only daughter, a relative and four servants, who all untimely perished."
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WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.
fore, in the month of September, 1760, surrendered by capitulation, Montreal, Detroit, and all other places in Canada, to the English. 'The French troops were to be transported to France, and the Canadians to be protected in their property and religion.
" Thus fell the great power of France in America. Possessed of the northern and southern parts of the continent, her encroachments became formidable to the British American empire. Her inordinate ambition goaded her into an attempt to confine her adversary to a narrow slip of sea coast, and brought upon her the united power of the mother and her colonies ; a force which she baffled when feebly directed, but which was irresistable in the hands of a wise and energetic ministry.
" The share of the provincials in this grand result is too honorable to the early history of America, to be passed over without special notice. They had kept in the field an average force of twenty-five thousand men during the war, and contributed three millions, five hundred thousand pounds sterling, to the payment of its expenses. (1) Four hundred pri- vateers from their posts, " ravaged the French West India Islands, and distressed the commerce of France in all parts of the world." Their troops preserved the remains of the army wrecked by the folly of Brad- dock, and under Monckton, captured Beau Sejour, in Nova Scotia .- Commanded by Sir William Johnson, they destroyed the army of Baron Dieskau, took the General prisoner, and subsequently reduced Fort Niagara, one of the most important posts on the continent. The merit of these actions is to be ascribed to them solely. In all the marches and battles, they were the principal sufferers ; and where lionor was to be gained, the provincial was distinguished by his fortitude in adversity, and his promptitude and courage in the hour of peril." (2)
During the same year. 1760, the first detachment of English soldiers that ever penetrated the region of the Upper Lakes, was sent under the command of Major Rodgers, " for the purpose of taking formal posses- sion." It was during this expedition that the celebrated Ottowa Chief, Pontiac, first became known to the English. He is supposed to have been the principal leader in the battle of the Monongahela, with General Braddock. On hearing the approach of Major Rodgers and his men, up the Lakes, he set out with his warriors to meet him. " After his first salutation, he sternly demanded of the Englishman, his business in his territory, and how he had dared to venture upon it without his per- mission." Major Rodgers having answered that, " he came to confirm
(1) Walsh's Appeal.
(2) Gordon's Pa., 389, 90.
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HISTORY OF
peace with his nation, and open a friendly acquaintance for the mutual advantage of both." Pontiac replied: "I shall stand in the path you are walking in, till morning;" giving Major Rodgers to understand that he could not proceed without his permission, upon full deliberation.
Pontiac, after a time, permitted the detachment to proceed, and with his warriors accompanied it to Detroit, when he sent messengers to the neighboring tribes, soliciting them to embrace with him, terms of friend- ship with the English. He remained the friend of the whites for some time, but afterwards became their powerful enemy .*
After the reduction of Canada, a comparative tranquility reigned along the frontiers, and hopes were entertained for the most perfect and lasting quietude.
" The province of Pennsylvania now looked for the enjoyment of a long and undisturbed peace, since her mild and forbearing policy had conciliated the Indians, and their dangerous neighbors, the French, were removed. But the sources in which they sought for safety, were fruit- ful of dangers. The unprotected state of the frontiers, consequent on the discharge of the forces of the middle and southern colonies, held forth irresistable temptations to the whetted appetite of the border sava- ges for plunder. Their hostility had been rewarded, rather than chas- tised by Pennsylvania ; every treaty of peace was accompanied by rich presents, and their detention of the prisoners was overlooked upon slight apologies, though obviously done to afford opportunities for new treaties, and additional gifts. The mistaken and perverted humanity of the " Friendly Association," had softened down their offences, and its apolo- gies gave them confidence in their allegations of injuries received from the whites. 'Their reasons, however, are insufficient to account for the wide extension of the Indian confederacy, which was probably caused by motives of profound policy. The Aborigines beheld the French driven out of their whole country, themselves threatened by forts com- manding the great lakes and rivers, and they felt that an immediate and mighty effort was necessary to restrain the tide, which now unimpeded,
*There was more system employed by this distinguished man, than perhaps, by any other of his countrymen, upon any similar undertaking, not excepting even Metacomet or Tecumseh. In his war of 1763, which is justly denomina- ted Pontiac's War, he appointed a commissary, and began to make and issue bills of credit, all of which he afterwards carefully redeemed. He made bis bills or notes of bark, on which was drawn the figure of the commodity he wanted for it. The shape of an otter was drawn under that of the article wanted, and an otter was the insignia or arms of his nation. He had also, with great sagacity, urged upon his people the necessity of dispensing alto- gether with European commodities, to have no intercourse with any whites, and to depend entirely upon their ancient modes of procuring sustenance .- Drake's His. Inds. V. 31.
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WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.
would spread itself over the continent. A secret confederacy was formed among the Shawanese, the tribes upon the Ohio and its tributary waters, and about Detroit, to attack simultaneously all the English posts and settlements on the frontiers. Their plan was deliberately and skil- fully projected. The border settlements were to be invaded during har- vest : the men, corn, and cattle, to be destroyed, and the outposts to be reduced by famine, by cutting off their supplies. Pursuant to this plan, the Indians fell suddenly upon the traders, whom they had invited among them, murdered many, and plundered the effects of all, to an immense value.
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