History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 11

Author: Smith, Robert Walter
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins
Number of Pages: 790

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Patterson's "History of the Backwoods " con- tains the following account of Capt. Mercer's escape, compiled from Robinson's narrative, which, though varying as to some parts of his journey from the foregoing account, which the writer has adopted as correct, is confirmatory of the fact that it was from Kittanning, and not from near Fort Du Quesne, that Capt. Mercer started on that lonely and perilous journey. It is there stated, "Capt. Mercer, who had had his arm broken in the engagement, was unhappily per- suaded by some of his men to leave the main party ; and, as they were old traders, they proposed to conduct him a nearer way home. They accord- ingly detached themselves from the company, but, unhappily, soon fell in with the Indians with whom Lieut. Hogg had had the engagement in the morning, by whom several of the party were killed, and the remainder dispersed. Mercer made his escape in company with two others. But the bandage on his arm having become loosed, they stopped to rebind it, whereby he grew faint. At that moment an Indian was seen approaching them. The Captain's two companions, having abandoned him, sprang upon his horse, from which

* He died at Carlisle, Pa., March 9, 1795.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

he had alighted, and hurried away. Having thrown himself behind the log on which he sat, which happened to be overgrown with weeds, he concealed himself from the Indian, who approached to within a few feet of him, when, on discovering the two others fleeing on horseback, he gave the war-whoop and pursued them.

" Shortly afterward, Capt. Mercer crawled from his place of concealment and descended into a plum-tree bottom, where, hidden by the thick undergrowth, he remained till night. Having re- freshed himself with the plums, which he found abundant, and which afterward were his only food for a whole month while he struggled on his homeward way, except a rattlesnake which the cravings of hunger had induced him to kill and eat raw.

" One day when he had reached the north side of the Allegheny mountain, he discovered a person whom he supposed to be an Indian. The other saw him. They both took trees and remained a long time. At length Mercer concluded to advance and meet his enemy; but when he came near he found him to be one of his own men. Both rejoiced to meet, while both were so faint and weary that they were scarcely able to walk. They pushed on over the mountain, and were not far from Frankstown, when the soldier lay down, not expecting evermore to rise. Mercer struggled on about seven miles further, when he also lay down on the leaves, aban- doning all hope of ever reaching home. There was at that time a company of Cherokees in Brit- ish pay; and being at Fort Lyttleton, some of them had been sent out to search along the foot of the mountain to see if there were any signs of In- dians on that route. Those Indians by chance came upon Mercer while he was unable to rise. They gave him food, and he told them of the other. They took Mercer's track and found the soldier, and brought him to Fort Lyttleton, having carried him on a bier of their own making."

Captain, afterward General, Hugh Mercer was a native of Scotland, born near Aberdeen about 1723, liberally educated, a physician who had acted as surgeon's assistant at the battle of Culloden. He emigrated to Pennsylvania and settled near the present town of Mercersburg, Franklin county, and thence to Virginia, where he settled. Before he engaged in Armstrong's expedition, he had been engaged with Washington in the Indian wars of 1755. Having been promoted to the rank of colonel, he participated in the campaign under Gen. Forbes, was present at the capture of Fort Du Quesne, and after its evacuation by the French and occupation by the English, was left in com-

mand of it, or rather Fort Pitt, during a part of 1759, and there judiciously participated in the conference held with the nine chiefs of the Six Nations, Shawanese and Delawares, from a town up the Ohio (Allegheny) about a hundred miles above Venango (Franklin), near the Boughelloor, on January 4, 6 and 7 of that year. They " came from Weayough, the king, or Great Chief of Kon- nawagogli," who had heard " that their friends, the English and Delawares, had talked together, and we (they) are come to talk with you likewise." Whether they came down the Allegheny or took the land route from Venango to Fort Pitt, is not stated. At that season of the year, when there was probably too much ice in the upper Allegheny for navigation, they likely took the other route. On the evening of the 6th five of the head-counsel- lors went to the tent of Col. Mercer, where he and Capt. Ward were present, who informed the chiefs that they were "to unbosom themselves and freely open their minds" to those officers, which they did, telling them, among other things, that "the Delawares and Shawanese are not to be depended upon." They made quite a long speech, giving assurances of their fealty to the English, strings of wampum, and finally a large belt. On the after- noon of the 7th, the officers of the garrison and a large number of Indians being present, the chiefs made another speech, to which Col. Mercer replied, concluding thus: "Brothers! When the French came here, they made us quarrel with our good old friends, and by so doing they have hurt both you and us; your brothers, the English, are a great people. Their eyes are now opened, and while the sun shines and the rivers run, they will never suf- fer a Frenchman to sit here. Brothers! I return you this belt; what you have now said must be told to General Forbes ; if you have a mind to send this belt to him, I will send one along with you." The Six Nations said: "Brothers! Listen and be attentive to what I say; I am sorry that you have returned the belt which I gave you; but if you will give me one keg of rum, I shall feel perfectly well again."

Another conference commenced on July 4, and continued at intervals until the 16th, between George Croghan, deputy agent to Sir William Johnson, Col. Mercer, commandant, and a number of other officers of the garrison, and chiefs and warriors of the Six Nations, Delawares, Shawanese and Wyandots. About five hundred Indians were there during the conference. The object of this conference seemed to be the settlement and confirmation of peace, and the regulation of trade between the English and the Indians, the

HISTORY OF ARMSTRONG COUNTY.

finale of which was, that at the request of the Indians and with the approbation of Col. Mercer, Capt. Croghan sent a speech by two Wyandot to Venango, in which it was asserted, among other things, that "the English are not come here to war with the Indians, but to carry on trade and commerce with all nations of them, as far as the sun-setting," and sent along with the speech twelve fathoms of white wampum. Indians of the several nations there represented sent their speeches to enforce Croghan's.

At the beginning of the Revolutionary War Col. Mercer left a large medical practice and sided with the colonists. On June 5, 1776, he was appointed a brigadier-general. "It is not improbable," says Reed, "that his services were solicited by Washington himself," whose confi- dence he enjoyed beyond most of his fellow-offi- cers, " as it appears from his correspondence that the Commander-in-chief repaired to Philadelphia to concert with Congress plans for the organiza- tion of the army, and that he remained there until the day after the date of his commission, and those of two others of his most valued friends .* General Mercer soon left, and forever, his peaceful home, his young wife and children, and joined the army at New York."

General Mercer afterward won distinction, es- pecially in the battles of Trenton and Princeton. While at Bristol, Pa., his quarters were at Mr. Keith's, a little out of town. It is related that when the American army marched to McConkey's Ferry, he told Mrs. Keith that he had dreamed the previous night that he had been attacked and over- powered by a huge black bear.

In the battle of Princeton he commanded thie van of the American army. While exerting the utmost valor and activity his horse was killed under him. Being thus dismounted he was sur- rounded by some British soldiers, with whom, when they refused to give quarter, he fought des- perately until he was completely overpowered. After stabbing him with their bayonets and inflict- ing several blows on his head with the butt ends of their muskets they left him, under the impres- sion that he was dead, on the field, whence he was taken to the house of Thomas Clark, some of whose kindred now reside at Princeton.

Says Barber in his Historical Collections of New Jersey: "Mr. Joseph Clark states that Gen- eral Mercer was knocked down about fifty yards from his barn, and after the battle, was assisted by his two aids into the house of Thomas Clark, a

new house about one and a quarter miles from the college." He was nursed by Miss Sarah Clark and a colored servant. "Nor was his dying bed," says Reed, "a bed of utter desolation. The house whither the wounded soldier was carried was ten- anted during that day by two delicate females, who, wearing the garb and professing the principles of peace, were too brave to fly from the field of battle or the bed of death. While the conflict raged around their humble dwelling those tender, helpless women lost no confidence in the protection which the God of innocence rarely withholds-and when the dying warrior was brought to their threshold and left beneath their roof, their ministering charities were ready to soothe his solitary anguish and smooth the passage to the grave. One of these American women of better times has died near Princeton within the last few months (1840), aged upward of ninety years. It was part of her house- hold story that she had watched the deathbed of a soldier of the Revolution."

General Mercer died January 12, in the arms of Major George Lewis, a nephew of General Wash- ington, who was commissioned by his uncle to watch over him. His mangled corpse was re- moved under a military escort to Philadelphia, and there exposed in the Coffee House, with the design of exciting the indignation of the people. Though a lion in battle he was uncommonly placid, and almost diffident in private life. That he should thus perish at the age of fifty-six sent a thrill of anguish and indignation through every patriotic American heart. Gen. Wilkinson in his Memories 'remarks: "In Gen. Mercer, we lost at Princeton a chief who, for education, disposition and patriotism, was second to no man but the Commander-in-chief, and was qualified to fill the highest trusts of the country."

It had been erroneously stated that Gen. Mercer was bayoneted after having surrounded. That statement is corrected in Custis' "Recollections of Washington." When Major Lewis expressed the extreme indignation which prevailed in the Ameri- can army at that treatment, the magnanimous Mereer observed: The tale which you have heard, George, is untrue. My death is owing to myself. I was on foot endeavoring to rally my men, who had given way before the superior discipline of the enemy, when I was brought to the ground by a blow from a musket. At the same moment the enemy discovered my rank, exulted in their hav- ing taken a rebel general, as they termed me, and bid me ask for quarters. I felt that I deserved not so opprobrious an epithet, and determined to die as I had lived, an honored soldier in a just and

* Joseph Reed, adjutant-general, and Stephen Moylan, colonel.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

righteous cause; and without begging my life or making reply, I lunged my sword at the nearest man. They then bayoneted and left me.

While the surgeons were dressing his wounds, of which he had received thirteen, the General remarked: "Never mind those; they are mere scratches. Look under my arm, and there you will find a fellow that will soon do my business."

Gen. Mercer was buried in Christ Church ceme- tery, Philadelphia, January 16, 1777, where for years a plain slab with the initials HI. M. denoted his last resting place. His bones, being remarkably well preserved, were raised November 26, 1840, and reinterred in Laurel Hill cemetery, over which an appropriate monument was erected, on tbe north side of which is this inscription: " He re- ceived a medal from the corporation of Philadel- phia for his courage and conduct against the Indian settlement of Kittanning." .

A fort on the Delaware, towns and counties in various states bear his honored and illustrious name.

CAPTAIN POTTER.

Captain, afterward General, James Potter,“ whose voucher or pay-list is alone given, was born "on the bank of the river Foyle, Tyrone, Ireland, in " 1729, and was abont twelve years of age when his father, John Potter, landed at New Cas- tle, Delaware. In 1742 he was a lieutenant in a border militia company, and captain in 1756, in Armstrong's expedition to Kittanning, in which they became attached friends. He was in active service as major and lieutenant colonel in 1763 and 1764, during all which period he was a suc- cessful farmer. He was eminent and influential in the agitation which preceded the beginning of the revolutionary war. There was not, it is said, a meeting of the patriotic inhabitants of the then large county of Northumberland held without his presence and influenced by his advice. He was appointed a colonel in 1775, and a brigadier gen- eral along with John Armstrong, John Cadwalader and Samuel Meredith-all of whose names, it will be perceived, in some of the more local sketches have been impressed upon the face of this county- April 5, 1877. Potter's services in the campaign of that year were very distinguished. With the troops under his commands in the counties of Philadelphia, Chester and Delaware he gained for Washington important information respecting the movements of the enemy, and with great vigilance

gave all possible annoyance to the foraging parties

sent out from Philadelphia. While the army under Washington were marching to Valley Forge, after a portion of it had crossed the Schuylkill `at Matson's Ford December 11, it was found that the enemy under Cornwallis were in force on the other side. Washington wrote: "They were met by Gen. Potter with great bravery and gave then every possible opposition till he was obliged to retreat from their superior numbers," and the next spring he wrote from Valley Forge: " If the state of Gen. Potter's affairs will admit of returning to the army, I shall be exceedingly glad to see him, as his activity and vigilance have been much wanted during the winter." He was Vice Presi- dent of this state; was commissioned a major gen- eral in 1782; and was one of the council of censors in 1784, when he was within a few votes of defeat- ing for President of the council the very distin- guished John Dickenson. He rendered military service during the entire revolution, and won the confidence of Washington, Greene, Pickering, Mifflin and his fellow brigadiers. He resided in Penn's Valley in the present county of Center from 1772 until his death in November, 1789, being then one of the associate judges of the courts of North- umberland county, and leaving a very large and valuable estate. He was stout, broad-shouldered, courageous, five feet and nine inches in height, with a dark complexion, a strong type of the Scotch-Irish race. His father was the first sheriff of Cumberland county, Pa. His family relations have furnished two other Generals Potter, one United States Senator, a Governor of this state, several law judges and members of the State Legislature. He served with marked fidelity and acceptance in the various civil and military positions which he filled, and was in private life one of the most enterprising and successful of all our revolutionary officers.

[The writer regrets that he has been unable to ascertain the parentage, native place and antece- dents of Lieut. James Hogg, who so dauntlessly braved an overwhelming force of the enemy, im- mortalized his name and rendered Blanket Hill memorable by his sanguinary struggle and heroic death.]

Such are but glimpses of the illustrious careers of gallant soldiers who in September, 1756, mois- tened the soil of what is now Armstrong county with their blood in defense of the families, the homes, the security and the happiness of the set- tlers along the then frontier of the Province of Pennsylvania.

* Vid. Pa, Mag. of Hist. and Biog., Vol. I, p. 346 et seq.

CHAPTER II.

ARMSTRONG COUNTY IN THE WAR OF THE REBELLION.

Introductory-The First Companies-Camp Orr Established-Departure of the Regiments-Amount of Money Raised in the County for Relief of Soldiers' Families-The Amount of Bounty Money -Soldiers' Aid So- ciety -"In Perpetuam Memoriam" - Roster of Armstrong County by Regiments and Companies - Regimental Histories-" Brady Alpines"-Eighth and Eleventh Reserves-Fifty-Ninth, Sixty-Second and Sixty-Third Regiments-Seventy-Eighth Regiment-The One Hundred and Third-One Hundred and Fourth - One Hundred and Thirty-Ninth -One Hundred and Fifty-Ninth -Two Hundred and Fourth - Soldiers in Other Organizations- Militia.

W HEN the great Rebellion came, and men and means were needed to crush treason and preserve our cherished Union and the heritage of our Revolutionary fathers, the fires of patriotism glowed brightly and fervidly in the hearts of the great mass of the people of this county. The patriotic response to the reverberations of the first gun, fired upon Sumter, was prompt and willing.

The following facts speak more forcibly and elo- quently of that response than any words of mine can do.

In less than six days after President Lincoln issued his call for 75,000 men to aid the govern- ment in repossessing the forts, arsenals and other national property which had been violently seized by the insurgents, and in re-establishing law, order, and the dominion of the legitimate government, a company of 114 men of this county, under the command of Capt. Wm. Sirwell, left Kittanning by rail, April 18, 1861," for Pittsburgh, and thence went to Harrisburg.

During its tour of duty the company visited Harper's Ferry, where the gallows on which John Brown was hung was then standing, a piece of which Col. Sirwell has in his possession. Having served well and faithfully through the period for which they enlisted, the men were honorably dis- charged, at Pittsburgh, Pa., August 14, 1861, and on its return to Kittanning, where most of its members resided, was honored with an ovation.

On April 22, 1861, another company enlisted, which was afterward assigned to the 8th Regi- ment of Pennsylvania Reserves. And soon after the enlistment of the last named company fol-

lowed that recruited by Capt., afterward Col., S. M. Jackson, consisting largely of men from Apollo and elsewhere in the southern part of this county. It was assigned to the 11th Regiment of Pennsyl- vania Reserves.

Soon after the return of the first, or three months' company, Camp Orr was established on the Fair Ground, a short distance above Kittan- ning, where the 78th and 103d Regiments of Penn- sylvania Volunteers were recruited, drilled, and mustered into the United States service. The former, under command of Col. William Sirwell, moved by railroad to Pittsburgh, October 14, 1861 .*

The 103d Regiment, under the command of Col. Theodore F. Lehman, left Camp Orr, 24th Febru- ary, 1862.

Large numbers of people from this and other counties were present to witness the departures of, and bid reluctant farewells to, both of these gal- lant regiments, which, as well as the rest of the patriotic hosts that participated in that struggle, it was fondly though vainly hoped, would have re- turned, crowned with the laurels of final victory, from the battlefields of the Rebellion before the then next September equinox.

The recruiting of several other companies and parts of companies for other regiments followed later in the conflict. Capt. W. C. Beck's for the 62d, Capt. C. W. McHenry's in part for the 63d, Capt. Joseph Steele's for the 59th (cavalry), Capt. James L. Mckean's and Capt., afterward Col., John G. Pan's for the 139th, Capt. John A. Cline's for the 155th, Capt. John E. Alward's for the 204th, Capt. J. K. Calhoun's (the short term for the defense of Pennsylvania) for the 22d, Capt. C. W. E. Welty's (who succeeded Capt. E. M. Daily, promoted), Capt. D. K. Duff's, Capt. W. H. Libbel's

* On April 18, 1861, a large concourse of people from the town and country assembled to witness the departure of the company of three mouths men, organized in pursuance of the call of President Lincoln. The sky was clear and the weather pleasant for an April day. The company formed in the Diamond, at the intersection of Market and Jefferson streets, where the ladies presented to each member a copy of the New Testament. The sum of nearly four thousand dollars was soon after raised by the people of Kittanning and vicinity for the support of the families of such of these as depended on their labor to subsist them. The night of August 14 was made memorable hy the return of that company, the first since 1812 that had gone hence to meet the hardships and perils of war.

* The regiment presented a fine, military, and, to most of the spec- tators from town and country, an unaccustomed appearance as, in the clear sunlight of that beautiful October day, it moved down Jefferson street to the depot.

· IN PERPETUAM MEMORIAM.

and Capt. R. M. Kirkadden's for the 159th or 14th Cavalry, and five of one of the companies in the 15th Cavalry or Anderson's Troop. How many other men of Armstrong county enlisted in other regi- ments recruited in other counties the writer can- not now state. The aggregate, exclusive of the latter, furnished by this county, according to Col. Sirwell's calculation, is, of officers, musicians and men, three thousand six hundred and fifty-two.

The amount paid out of Armstrong county treasury, by authority of law, for the relief of soldiers' families, from 1861 to 1866, was $57,- 063 54; for county and veteran bounties, from 1864 to 1867, $33,220 50. Total, $90,284 06 .* An immense quantity of clothing, provisions and other things were also sent to the men in the army from this county by Soldiers' Aid Societies and branches of the Christian and Sanitary Commis- sions, and by individuals.

SOLDIERS' AID SOCIETY OF KITTANNING.}

The ladies of Kittanning borough and its vicini- ty were active from the outbreak of the war, in collecting material aid for the comfort of the men in the field. Their efforts in this behalf finally crystallized in the organization of the Ladies' Sol- diers' Aid Society, March 28, 1863, the members of which were zealous and persistent in accomplish- ing its beneficent purpose during the continuanee of the war. It is to be regretted that the records of this patriotic society have not been preserved, so that from them a full and accurate statement of its transactions may be given. From some of the monthly presentations of its doings by its presi- dent, the late Mrs. Catherine Buffington, it appears that it was instrumental in collecting large quan- tities of lint, handkerchiefs, clothing, books, maga- zines, newspapers, fruits and vegetables, which were grateful to the soldiers in field or camp, while the reports of the treasurers, Misses Marga- ret McElhenny, Alice Colwell and Fannie E. Orr, show that the cash receipts and disbursements amounted to $1,489.54. The balance of $33.49, finally remaining in the treasury, was transferred to the society connected with the Christian Com- mission. Besides direct appeals to individuals for contributions, a supper was given by the so- ciety in 1863, the net proceeds of which amounted to about $250; in March, 1864, a grand musical concert was given in the courthouse, which was well patronized, but run the society in debt $4.20;

in December following Prof. Kidd gave two of his masterly elocutionary entertainments, and di- vided the proceeds with the society, from which the latter, without any trouble or expense, realized the sum of $32.25.

The people of this county may justly claim to hold a high rank among the patriotic hosts of other parts of our state and country, in aiding our imperiled government in maintaining the perpe- tuity of the free institutions, founded by the wis- dom, valor, patriotism and philanthropy of the fathers of our republic.

While attending the obsequies of a Union soldier in July, 1863, it occurred to the writer that the names and patriotie deeds of the hosts of sub- ordinate officers and privates who fell in the War of the Rebellion, should in some way be rescued from the oblivion into which the names of such usually fall, and so the ideas contained in the fol- lowing and closing paragraphs in this general sketch of our county then sprang up in his mind, which he subsequently shaped into an article pub- lished in the Kittanning Free Press, January 1, 1864, and which is here reproduced:

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History of Armstrong County, Pennsylvania, Part 11

Author: Smith, Robert Walter Publication date: 1883 Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins Number of Pages: 790

Author: Smith, Robert Walter
Publication date: 1883
Publisher: Chicago : Waterman, Watkins
Number of Pages: 790