USA > Pennsylvania > Early history of western Pennsylvania, and of the West, and of western expeditions and campaigns, from MDCCLIV to MDCCCXXXIII > Part 20
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In 1754, when the war broke out between France and England, he was soli- cited to serve as an officer in America; he consented. Having arrived in America, his integrity and ability soon secured to him great confidence, espe- cially in Pennsylvania and Virginia. Respected by the troops, confided in by all who had a share in the interior government of the provinces ; esteemed and beloved by all, he had but to ask, and he obtained all that it was possible to afford him, because it was believed that he had asked for nothing but what was necessary and proper, and all that would be faithfully employed in the service of the King and of the provinces. This good understanding between the civil and military authorities, contributed as much to his successes, as bis ability.
Immediately after the peace was concluded with the Indians, the King made him Brigadier General and Commandant of the troops in all the southern colonies of British America. He died in Pensacola, 1767, lamented by his friends, and regretted universally .- Hutchins' Historical Account of Bouquet's Expedition.
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In the ensuing spring, when the ninth of May, the time designated for holding the council for ratifying the treaty of peace, arrived, ten chiefs and about fifty warriors, accompanied by a large body of the Delaware, Seneca, Sandusky, and Muncy tribes, made their appearance at Fort Pitt, for the faithful fulfilment of their promises. They brought with them all the prisoners except a few, who they said were absent with their hunting parties-such as probably preferred a savage life.
The Shawanese now, as well as the other nations, expressed their entire satisfaction at the treaty of peace. Their tone was completely changed, and they seemed indeed rejoiced in perfectly brightening "the chain of friendship." Peace was ratified, and the Indians returned to their homes in the wilderness; and the deserted hearth stones of the white inhabitants, upon the frontiers, were again revisited, and the wave of population began to move on westward.
Thus closed the memorable Kiyashuta and Pontiac war-one of shor duration, but nevertheless, productive of more distracting disquietude, and serious injury to the frontier settlements, than had been experienced during years of previous hostility. 'The peace that now ensued lasted until a short time prior to the revolution, and gave confidence and secu- rity to the pioneers of the west. It was during this period of quietude that emigration to the valley west of the Alleghenies, was permanently commenced,-when the foundations were laid of great and powerful States, now holding a controlling influence in the American Union.
CHAPTER X.
LORD DUNMORE'S WAR OF 1774-THE CAUSES THAT LED TO IT-MURDER OF LO- GAN'S FAMILY, BALD EAGLE AND OTHERS-COMMENCEMENT OF HOSTILITIES- LEWIS'S EXPEDITION-THE BATTLE AT POINT PLEASANT-DUNMORE'S TREA - TY-HEROISM OF CORNSTALK-CHARACTER OF LEWIS-VOTE OF THANKS TO LORD DUNMORE-REMARKS.
We now come to the Indian war usually called "Lord Dunmore's War of 1774."
After Colonel Bouquet's Expedition in 1764, when he made a treaty with the Indians, and after the conclusion of the Indian War by the treaty made with the chiefs, by Sir William Johnson, at the German Flats on the Mohawk river, N. Y., towards the close of 1764, the western settlements in Pennsylvania and Virginia enjoyed peace, and all things wore an inviting aspect, until the spring of 1774, when fore- bodings of a sanguinary conflict presented themselves ;- a renewal of hostilities commenced, which, it must be conceded was occasioned by
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the whites themselves. Several murders were committed by the whites upon the Indians, (1) under seemingly justifying pretexts. * John Ryan
(1) Appendix, 203, 212, 214. 217.
* Extract of a letter dated at Redstone, October, 1774.
"It will 'not be improper to investigate the cause of the Indian war which broke out in the spring, before I give you a sketch of the history of the expe- dition which his Excellency Lord Dunmore, has carried on successfully against the Shawanese, one of the richest, proudest, and bravest of the Indian nations. In order to do this, it is necessary to look back as far as the year 1764, when Colonel Bouquet made peace with that nation. The Shawanese never complied with the terms of that peace; they did not deliver up the white prisoners; there was no lasting impression made upon them by a stroke from the troops employed against them that campaign ; and they barely acqui- esced in some articles of the treaty by command of the Six Nations. The RED HAWK, a Shawanese chief, insulted Colonel Bouquet with impunity; and an Indian killed the Colonel's foot-man the day after the peace was made .- This murder not being taken notice of, gave rise to several daring outrages committed immediately after.
In the year following, several murders were committed by the Indians on New river ; and soon after, several men employed in the service of Wharton and Company, were killed on their passage to Illinois, and the goods belong- ing to the company carried off. Sometime after this outrage, a number of men employed to kill meat for the garrison of Fort Chartres, were killed, and their rifles, blankets, &c., carried to the Indian towns. These repeated hos- tilities and outrages being committed with impunity, made the Indians bold and daring. Although it was not the Shawanese alone that committed all these hostilities, yet, letting one nation pass with impunity, when mischief is done, inspires the rest of the tribes with courage ; so that the officers com- manding his Majesty's troops on the Ohio, at that time, not having power or spirit to pursue the Indians, nor address to reclaim them, mischief became fa- miliar to them ; they were sure to kill and plunder whenever it was in their power, and indeed they panted for an opportunity.
It is probable you will see Lord Dunmore's speech to some chiefs of the Six Nations, who waited on his Lordship; it mentions the particular murders and outrages committed by them every year successively, since they pretended to make peace with Colonel Bouquet. The most recent murders committed by the Indians before the white people began to retaliate, were that of Cap- tain Russell's son, three more white men, and two of his negroes, on the fif- teenth of October, 1773; that of a Dutch family on the Kenhawa, in June of the same year; and one Richard, in July following; and that of Mr. Hogg and three white men, on the Great Kenhawa, early in April 1774. Things being in this situation, a message was sent to the Shawanese, inviting them to a con- ference, in order to bury the tomahawk and brighten the chain of friendship. They fired upon the messengers, and it was with difficulty they escaped with their lives. Immediately on their return, letters were written by some gen- tlemen at Fort Pitt, and dispersed among the inhabitants on the Ohio, assur- ing them that a war with the Shawanese was unavoidable, and desiring them to be on their guard, as it was uncertain where the Indians would strike first. In the mean time, two men, of the names of Greathouse and Baker, sold some rum near the mouth of Yellow creek, and with them some Indians got drunk, and were killed. Lord Dunmore has ordered that the manner of their being killed be enquired into. Many officers and other adventurers who were down the Ohio, in order to explore the country and have lands surveyed, upon re- ceiving the above intelligence, and seeing the letters from the gentlemen at Fort Pitt, thought proper to return. Captain Michael Cresap was one of these gentlemen. On their return to the river, they fell in with a party of Indians, and being apprehensive that the Indians were preparing to attack them, as appeared by their manoeuvers, the white people being the smallest number, thought it advisable to have the advantage of the first fire, whereupon they engaged ; and after exchanging a few shots, killed two or three of the Indians and dispersed the rest ; hostilities being then commenced on both sides, the matter became serious."-Am. Arch. 1. 1016.
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killed three Indians, on the Ohio, Monongahela and Cheat rivers. Several were killed at South Branch, while on a friendly visit to that country. This was done by two associates, Henry Judah and Nicholas Harpold. Logan's family, the decided friend to the English, and others, were selected as objects upon whom the sworn enemies of the savages wreaked their vengeance. The instances of injustice done to these children of the forest, were numerous. Among many such at that time, was also the murder of Bald Eagle, an Indian of notoriety, not only among his own nation, but also with the inhabitants of the frontier, with whom he was in the habit of associating and hunting. In one of his visits among them, he was discovered alone and murdered, solely to gratify a most wanton thirst for Indian blood. After the commission of this most outrageous enormity, he was seated in the stern of a canoe, and with a piece of corn-cake thrust into his mouth, set afloat on the Monongahela. In this situation he was seen descending the river by several, who supposed him to be as usual, returning from a friendly hunt with the whites in the upper settlements, and who expressed some astonishment that he did not stop to see them. The canoe floating near to the shore, below the mouth of George's creek, was observed by a Mrs. Province, who had it brought to the bank, and the friendly, but unfortunate old Indian, decently buried.
" Not long after the murder of Bald Eagle, another outrage of a simi- lar nature was committed on a peaceful Indian, for which the person was apprehended and taken to Winchester for trial. But the fury of the populace did not suffer him to remain there awaiting that event .- The prison doors were forced, the irons knocked off and he again set at liberty.
But a still more atrocious act is said to have been soon after perpe- trated. Until then, the murders committed were only such as were found within the limits of white settlements, and on men and warriors. In 1772, there is every reason to believe, that women and children like- wise became victims to the exasperated feelings of our own citizens ; and this too, while quietly enjoying the comforts of their own huts, in their own village.
There was at that time an Indian town on the little Kenhawa, called Bulltown, inhabited by five families, who were in habits of social and friendly intercourse with the whites on Buchanan and on Hacker's creek ; frequently visiting and hunting with them. There was likewise residing on Gauley river, the family of a German by the name of Stroud. In the summer of that year, Mr. Stroud being from home, his family
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were all murdered, his house plundered, and his cattle driven off. The trail made by these leading in the direction of Bulltown, induced the supposition that the Indians of that village had been the authors of the outrage, and caused several to resolve on avenging it upon them.
A party of five men, two of whom were William White and Wil- liam Hacker, who had been concerned in previous murders, expressed a determination to proceed immediately to Bulltown. The remon- strance of the settlement generally, could not operate to effect a change in that determination. They went; and on their return, circumstances justified the belief that the pre-apprehension of those who knew the temper and feelings of White and Hacker, had been well founded; and that there had been some fighting between them and the Indians. And notwithstanding that they denied ever having seen an Indian in their absence, yet it was the prevailing opinion, that they had destroyed all the men, women and children at Bulltown, and threw their bodies into the river. Indeed, one of the party is said to have, inadvertantly, used expressions confirmatory of this opinion ; and to have then justified the deed, by saying that the clothes and other things known to have be- longed to Stroud's family, (1) were found in the possession of the In- dians. The village was soon after visited, and found entirely desola- ten, and nothing being ever after heard of its former inhabitants, there can remain no doubt but that the murder of Stroud's family was requited on them." (2)
"The destructive war, that broke out in 1774, and threw the whole frontier into consternation, was provoked by the misconduct of the whites. In the spring of that year, a rumor was circulated that the Indians had stolen several horses from some land speculators, who were exploring the shores of the Ohio and Kenhawa rivers. No evi- dence of the fact was produced, and the report has since been considered to have been false. It was, however, believed at the time, and produced a general impression that the Indians were about to take up the hatchet against the frontier settlements. The land jobbers ascended the river and collected at Wheeling, at which place was a small station command- ed by Capt. Cressap.
Here a scene of confusion and high excitement ensued. The report that a canoe containing two Indians, was approaching, kindled up the in- cipient fires of hatred and revenge. Capt. Cressap proposed to take a party, and intercept the Indians ;* while Col. Zane, the proprietor of
(1) Appendix, 221.
72) Withers' Chronicle of Border Warfare, 105-106. "
* Doddridge.
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the place, decidedly objected to any act of hostility on the part of the whites, on the grounds that the killing of these Indians would bring on a general war, while the act itself would be a criminal murder, which would disgrace the names of the perpetrators. On the frontier, the counsels of humanity and peace are not often regarded as those of wis- dom. The party set out, and on being asked on their return, what had become of the Indians, the cool reply was, that " they had fallen over- board !" The fate of the savage warriors was not long a secret; the canoe was found bloody, and pierced with bullets ; the tribes flew to arms, and a sanguinary war was the immediate consequence of this and other acts of unprovoked outrage. One of these was an atrocious at- tack upon a party of Indians, encamped at the mouth of Captina creek, committed by thirty-two men under the command of Daniel Greathouse. On the same day on which the murder occurred, which we have just described, another was perpetrated at Yellow creek, by the same par- ty.(1) The whole family of the celebrated, but unfortunate Logan, were comprehended in the massacres at Captina and Yellow creeks ; and he who had always been the friend of the whites, and the efficient advocate of peace, was converted by the lawless acts of a few unprin- cipled individuals, into an active and daring enemy.
Those alone who have resided upon the frontiers are aware of the thrill of terror, spread by such an event, among the scattered inhabitants of the border. Anticipating immediate retaliation, and not knowing at what moment, or from what quarter, the blow may come, the panic spreads with the rapidity of the wind. Bold and hardy as the border- ers are, when traversing the forest alone in pursuit of game, or when assembled for battle, they cannot, at the first rumor of an Indian war, avoid quailing under the anticipated terrors of a sudden inroad of savage hostility. They know that their enemy will steal upon them in the night, in the unguarded hour of repose, and that the innocent child and helpless female will derive no protection from their sex or weakness ; and they shrink at the idea of a violated fireside, and a slaughtered fam- ily. The man who may be cool, when his own life alone is exposed to danger, or whose spirit may kindle into enthusiastic gallantry, amid the animating scenes of the battle field, where armed men are his com- panions and his foes-becomes panic-struck at the contemplation of a merciless warfare which shall offer his dwelling to the firebrand of the incendiary, and his family to the tomahawk of the infuriated savage.
Such was the effect of the unadvised and criminal acts which we
(1) Appendix, 214.
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have related. A sudden consternation pervaded the whole frontier. A war unwelcome, unexpected, and for which they were wholly unpre- pared, was suddenly precipitated upon them, by the unbridled passions of a few lawless men ; and a foe always quick to resent, and ever eager to shed the blood of the white race, was roused to a revenge which he would not delay in obtaining. The settlers began to remove to the in- terior, or collect in log forts hastily erected for the occasion. Men who had acquired homes by years of perilous and toilsome labor, who had plied the axe incessantly in clearing away the immense trees of the forest, in making fences, in building houses, in disencumbering the land of its tangled thickets, and bringing it into culture-abandoned all, and fled in precipitation to places of safety. In every path might be seen the sturdy pioneer, striding hastily forward, with his rifle on his shoulder, casting wary glances into each suspicious dell and covert ; and followed by a train of pack-horses, burthened with his wife, his children, and such moveables as could be transported by this mode of conveyance.
After a few days the whole scene was changed. The frontier, so lately peaceful, liad become the seat of war. The fields of the hus- bandman were ravaged by the Indian ; the cabins were burned, and the labor of many years desolated. The few settlers that incautiously re- mained in their homes were slaughtered, or with difficulty rescued by their friends.(1) The prudent men, whose backs had lately been turned upon the foe, having placed their families in security, were now seen in arms, either defending the rude fortresses, or eagerly scouring the woods in search of the enemy. However reluctantly they had been forced into the war, they had now entered into the spirit of the contest; the inconveniences they had suffered, the danger of their families, and the sight of their desolated hearths and blasted fields, had awakened in their bosoms a hatred not less implacable than that of their savage foemen.
Expresses were sent to Williamsburg, the seat of government of Vir- ginia, announcing the commencement of hostilities, and a plan was im- mediately matured for a campaign against the Indians. The active commander was Gen. Lewis, of Botetourt county. The forces were to rendezvous in Greenbriar county. The Earl of Dunmore was to raise another army to be assembled at Fort Pitt, and thence to descend the river to Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Kenhawa.
On the eleventh of September, General Lewis, with eleven hundred men, commenced his march from his rendezvous in Greenbriar, for Point Pleasant, distant one hundred and sixty miles. The country to
(1) Appendix, 214-217.
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be traversed, was at that time a trackless desert, wholly impassable for wheeled carriages ; the ammunition and provisions were carried on pack-horses, and the army, led by a pilot acquainted with the passes of the mountains, and the Indian pathways, reached Point Pleasant after a laborious march of nineteen days.
Lord Dunmore, to the great disappointment of General Lewis, did not make his appearance, and it was not until after a painful delay of nine days, that he learned by an express from that nobleman, that he had changed his plan of operations, and marched for the old Chillicothe town, at which place he instructed General Lewis to join him.
On the next day, the Virginia troops were attacked in their camp, by a numerous body of Indians, composed of the Shawnese, Delaware, Mingo, and other tribes. General Lewis, keeping a strong reserve in camp, pushed forward a detachment, under Colonels Charles Lewis and Flemming, who met the Indians about four hundred yards in front of the camp, and formed in two lines for their reception. The battle com- menced a little after sunrise, by a heavy firing from the Indians, and so vigorous was the onset, that the advance was soon driven in upon the main body. Here they were rallied, reinforced, and led gallantly back- to their former position. The Indians were now driven until they en trenched themselves behind a line of logs and trees, extending from the bank of the Ohio to that of the Kenhawa, while our troops occupied the point of land formed by the junction of the two rivers. The brave Vir- ginians thus hemmed in, with rivers in their rear and on either flank, and a vindictive foe strongly entrenched in their front, were dependant on their courage alone for success, Their native gallantry, ably directed by the military skill of their distinguished leader, proved triumphant. The battle was kept up with great vivacity, and with little change of position, during the whole day, and at sundown the discomfited savages retreated across the Ohio.
Our loss in this sanguinary battle, was seventy-five killed, and one hundred and forty wounded. Among the killed were Colonel Charles Lewis, Colonel Fields, Captains Buford, Murray, Ward, Wilson, and McClenahan, Lieutenants Allen, Goldsby, Dillon, and some inferior officers. The number of Indians engaged was never ascertained ; but it was rendered certain that their loss was at least equal to ours. They were commanded by Cornstalk, the celebrated chief warrior of the Shawanese, who displayed the most consummate skill and bravery. During the whole of the day his voice was heard vociferating with ter- rific energy, in his own language : "Be strong ! Be strong!" On the
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evening preceding the battle, he had proposed, in council with his con- federates, to go personally to the camp of General Lewis, to negotiate peace. A majority of the warriors voted against the measure. "Then," said the intrepid leader, "since you are resolved to fight, you shall fight. It is likely we shall have hard work to-morrow ; but if any war- rior shall attempt to run away from the battle, I will kill him with my own hand." It is said that he literally fulfilled his threat upon one of his followers.
After the Indians had returned to the Chillicothe town, Cornstalk again called a council. He reminded the war chiefs of their obstinacy in preventing him from making peace, before the fatal battle of Point Pleasant, and asked : " What shall we do now ? The 'Long Knives' are coming upon us by two routes. Shall we turn out and fight them ?" All were silent. He again addressed them : "Shall we kill all our squaws and children, and then fight until we are all killed ourselves ?" Again a dead silence reigned among the stern leaders of the Indian host. He rose up, with the dignity of one who felt that he had discharged his duty, and striking his tomahawk into the war-post, in the middle of the council-house, said : "Since you are not inclined to fight, I will go and make peace." He did so.
In the meanwhile, Lord Dunmore descended the river to Wheeling ; and thence proceeded, with about a hundred canoes, a few keel boats, and some pirogues, to the mouth of Hocking, from which place he marched to a point within eight miles of Chillicothe, on the Scioto. Here the army halted, and threw up entrenchments of fallen trees and earth, which included about twelve acres, with an enclosure of strong breast-works in the centre, containing about one acre. The latter, as an early writer significantly remarks, " was the citadel which contained the markees of the earl and his superior officers."(1)
Before the army reached this place, the Indian chiefs had sent several messages, sueing for peace, which Lord Dunmore resolved to grant. He therefore ordered General Lewis to retreat. The brave Virginian, disregarding his mandate, continued his march until he joined his supe- rior, when the order was repeated and obeyed. The troops were greatly chagrined at this termination of a campaign which had thus far been successful. The murder of some of their relatives and friends, and the loss of many of their brave companions in the recent battle, had kindled a desire for revenge, which they were disposed to indulge by the de- struction of all the Indian towns in the region of the Scioto.
(1) Doddridge, 230, 233.
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The order of Dunmore was therefore obeyed with indignation and re- gret, and Lewis retired towards Virginia, while the Earl remained with his army to treat with the Indians.
On this occasion every precaution was used to guard against treach- ery, and only a limited number of chiefs, with a few warriors, were permitted to enter the fortified encampment. Cornstalk opened the dis- cussion by an eloquent speech, in which he boldly charged the whites with having provoked the war, by the murders at Captina and Yellow creeks ; and is said to have spoken with such vehemence, that he was heard over the whole camp.
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