USA > Pennsylvania > Beaver County > History of Beaver County, Pennsylvania, and its centennial celebration, Volume I > Part 13
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Fort McIntosh is noteworthy as having been the first military post of the United States established upon the "Indian side" of the Ohio, i. e., upon the northern side of the river. On the 8th of October, 1778, the headquarters of the army were re- moved from Fort Pitt to this place, where was assembled the largest force collected west of the mountains during the Revolu- tion. It numbered about thirteen hundred, and consisted, be- sides the Continentals, of militia, mostly from Virginia. To this post McIntosh also cut a road from Fort Pitt, locating it on the southern side of the Ohio, in order to secure the wagon trains from the danger of attacks from the Indians, to which they would have been exposed on the northern side.I
Here, then, the commander had secured a footing of con- siderable strategic importance, whence he could march, either westward into the Indian country, or in the more northerly direction to Detroit. A letter from McIntosh to Vice-President
1 This road was afterwards used by Brodhead, and is known to the present day as "Brodhead's road." It is frequently mentioned by that name in the road petitions pre- sented to the courts of Allegheny and Beaver counties.
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Bryan gives his own report of his operations at this point and elsewhere in the region, and reads as follows:
FORT PITT, 29th December, 1778.
DEAR SIR :-
As I have given the particulars of an Expedition to our friend, General Armstrong, by Colo. Bayard, I beg leave to refer you to him. I shall only inform you, that notwithstanding the season was so late, that we could not get a sufficiency of supplies, & the men so Tedious before they came & Joined me, with many other Difficulties I had to encounter; I erected a good strong Fort for the Reception & Security of Prisoners & stores, upon the Indian side of Ohio below Beaver Creek, with Barracks for a Regiment; and another upon Muskingum River, where Colo. Bocquette [Bouquet, Ed.] had one formerly near Tuscorawas, about 100 Miles West of this place, which I expect will keep the Savages in aw, & Secure the peace of the frontiers effectually in this quarter hereafter if they are well supplied, & also facilitate any future enterprises that may be attempted that way. But I must observe to you that all the Militia I had were from the State of Virginia, & none from Pennsylvania, nor would they be of any Service if they were willing, & had Joined me, as your present Militia Law, I understand, allows them, or, which comes to the same thing, does not oblige them to serve above two Months, one half of which will commonly be taken up in collecting them together & the other half with Incumbrances, Disappointments &c., always incident to Expeditions carryed on to any Distance, will not enable them to per- form near the march, before they are for returning home again; & one may as well attempt stopping the current of a River, as Militia when their times are out.
I mention this Inconveniency of your Militia Law as it now stands, to you, Sir, in hopes that you will endeavor to have it altered as soon as possible, at least before we are ready for a Campaign in the Spring; that if any advantage or Honor is acquired by it, your State may have its share; it suffers as much, or more than any other from the Incursions of the Savages, therefore your own Interest, & Justice to the Sufferers, as well as the reputation of the State demands every possible assistance to retaliate & cheque their repeated Barbarities and Ravages upon the poor, helpless & peaceable Inhabitants of your Country. & in my humble opinion, without a Law is framed to oblige ym to serve for six Months (if so long required) from the time they all appear at the place appointed by a Commanding officer for them to rendevous, & be made more Coercive. or until relieved by another Draft if there should be occasion; it will an- swer no valuable purpose. And should it be objected that this would be an Infringement upon their Liberty, let such Law continue or be in force only in such circumstances as we are now in, or at least until the Savages are subdued & our frontiers safe. I find there is an unhappy contest for Territory Subsisting here between your State & Virginia, in which I have carefully avoided interfering or having the least concern in, as it was out of my power to remedy it, altho' often applied to by both sides, & only
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mention it now, to observe & Submit it to you, if any part of your Claim should be conquered without your assistance whether it would not weaken your pretentions, & add proportionable force to those who gave the greatest help towards it. But I will submit these Reasonings to the Wisdom of your Legislature, & hope you will not think it Impertinent or Improper in my present situation that I request you to propose this alteration to them, as I know & have experienced it to be necessary in the present critical situation of the Department.
With every Mark of Respect, I have the honor to be, Dr. Sir, Your most obt Hble Servt. LACHN MCINTOSH, Commands west of the Mono.
The bearer Colo. De Cambray has accompanyed me since I have been here, & can give you any information required respecting the circum- stances of this department, he is a Gentleman of real Merit, & beg Leave to introduce him to your acquaintance.
Directed
Public Service,
The Honble George Bryan, Esqr., Vice President of the State of Penn- sylvania, Philadelphia.
Favored by Colo. Cambray.I
It would appear from this letter that the companies of Penn- sylvania militia had gone home before the active work began, or had been distributed among the other posts. The Eighth Penn- sylvania had been assigned to Fort Pitt.
The circumstances leading to the erection of the other fort spoken of by McIntosh, namely, that upon the Muskingum, were as follows. About the time that Fort McIntosh was com- pleted, the commander received intelligence that the Indians to the west who were friendly to the Americans were uneasy at his delay in pushing forward the expedition, and that there was danger of their being drawn into an alliance with the hostile tribes to oppose his advance to Detroit, when he should under- take that movement. It was therefore important to do some- thing to show the Indians that the Americans were in earnest in their threat to conquer the unfriendly savages, and to carry out the promise made in the treaty of September at Fort Pitt that a fort should be erected in the Delaware country for the pro-
1 Penna. Arch., vol. vii., p. 131. De Cambray, as elsewhere stated, was the engineer under whose supervision Fort McIntosh was built.
The reference in the above letter to a controversy existing between Pennsylvania and Virginia over territory will be fully explained later in this chapter.
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tection of the old men, women, and children of the tribes friendly to the American cause. Moreover, Washington's instructions to McIntosh had given him discretion in regard to an attack on the hostile Indian towns in lieu of the more comprehensive ex- pedition to Detroit that had been abandoned by Congress. Mc- Intosh therefore decided on an advance against the Wyandot villages on the upper waters of the Sandusky. Leaving one company under the command of Lieut. - Col. Richard Campbell, of the Thirteenth Virginia Regiment, to garrison Fort McIntosh and bring on the provisions which he had been long expecting, he set out on the 5th of November towards the wilderness, hav- ing with him about one thousand men. After a march of about seventy-five miles, he received word that the Indians had given up their opposition to his advance through their country, and also that he could not expect a sufficient quantity of supplies from his base at Fort McIntosh. He therefore decided upon a suspension of operations for that season, but he remained at the point that he had reached on the Muskingum long enough to build the fort referred to in his letter to Vice-President Bryan, and which he named Fort Laurens, in honor of the then Presi- dent of the Continental Congress,' and leaving there a garrison of one hundred and fifty men under the command of Col. John Gibson, with meagre supplies, he returned to Fort McIntosh.
The position of the garrison at Fort Laurens soon became one of great peril and hardship. At the opening of the following year, 1779, they were besieged by a large body of Indians, who harassed them for six weeks. By a ruse of the savages sixteen men were enticed from the fort, of whom all were killed but two, who were taken prisoners. Both sides being terribly reduced for want of provisions, the Indians at last offered to make a treaty of peace and leave the place if Colonel Gibson would send them a barrel of flour and some tobacco. This was agreed to, and the foe having apparently kept his promise, the invalids at the post were dispatched with an escort of fifteen men, led by Captain Clark, to go to Fort McIntosh. They had not gone far from the fort, however, when they were ambushed by the In- dians, and suffered a loss of two killed, four wounded, and one
1 This was Henry Laurens, in whose office in Charleston, S. C., McIntosh had once been a clerk, as stated above. Fort Laurens was below and not far from the site of the present town of Bolivar, Ohio.
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taken prisoner, Captain Clark and the others escaping to the fort. Colonel Gibson immediately made a sally in force, deter- mined upon punishing this treacherous deed, but could not come up with the savages, who had finally withdrawn.1
While this siege was in progress, Gibson had sent a friendly Delaware Indian to General McIntosh, with a request for succor. McIntosh responded promptly, and with a force of some seven hundred men and a large quantity of provisions marched rapidly to the relief of the straitened garrison, reaching the fort shortly after the departure of the besiegers. As the relief party ap- proached the fort, the garrison manifested their joy by firing a salute. The result was disastrous, for the pack-horses, taking fright at the sound of the firing, broke loose, and running into the woods, much of the precious provisions with which they were loaded was destroyed, the flour especially being scattered irre- trievably and lost by the tearing open of the sacks. Gibson's command returned with McIntosh, and a new garrison was left at Fort Laurens under Major Frederick Vernon, who were also left without sufficient provisions, and nearly starved.2 This post was finally abandoned in August, 1779.
The ill-success of this venture occasioned some dissatisfaction with General McIntosh on the part of Congress, and he found critics also of his undertaking at the mouth of the Beaver. The severest of these was, perhaps, Col. Daniel Brodhead,3 then his
1 The following letter from General McIntosh to Colonel Lochry, Lieutenant of West- moreland County, refers to this incident:
" FORT PITT, the 29th January, 1779.
" SIR :-
" I am Just informed that Capt. Clark, of the 8th Pennsylvania Regemt who was sent to Command an Escort to Fort Laurens, as he was returning with a Sergeant & 14 Men, three miles this side of that fort, was attacked by Simon Girty & a party of Mingoes, who killed two of our men, wounded four, & took one prisoner.
"I am also informed that a large party of the same people are set off to strike the In- habitants about Ligonier & Black Leg Creek, & send you this Express to inform you of it, that you may acquaint the neighborhood, & be upon your Guard. " I am, Sir, " Your most obt Servt. ' LACH. MCINTOSH."
-(Penna. Arch., vol. vii., p. 173.)
2 On the 5th of June, the following year (1779), after Brodhead had succeeded to the command of the Western Department, he wrote to President Reed from Pittsburg:
"General McIntosh has ever been somewhat unfortunate in his representations & ideas of matters in this Department and I suppose you have already been informed that the greatest part of the garrison at that post, Fort Laurens, were obliged to be sent in or perish about the 16th of last month. Major Varnum [Vernon] with only 25 privates kept it until the 26th and lived on Herbs Salt & Cowhides untill I sent him a supply to last a garrison 75 rank & file to the 19th instant and in doing this I was obliged to rob the other Garrisons of every pound of salt provisions, at a time too when I had no fresh meat to subsist them on."-(Penna. Arch., vol. vii., p. 465.)
3 Daniel Brodhead was born at Marbletown, Ulster County, New York, in 1736. In the same year his father removed with his family to Dansville on Brodhead's Creek, near Stroudsburgh, Pa. Daniel and his brothers became famous for their courage in conflicts
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subordinate, and afterwards his successor in the command of the Western Department, which he assumed early in the spring of 1779. In a letter to General Armstrong, dated Fort Pitt, April 16, 1779, he said:
The Board of War informed me before I left Carlisle that the views of Congress were then confined (suppose from conviction that it was too late to prosecute their main object) to an incursion into the Indian country only. But Gen'1 McIntosh was more ambitious. He swore that nothing less than Detroit was his object, & he would have it in the winter season-in vain was the nakedness of the men-the scanty supplies worn out-Starved horses-leanness of the cattle and total want of forage- difficulty under such circumstances of supporting posts at so great a dis- tance in the enemies Country, and other Considerations urged And it was owing to the General's determination to take Detroit, that the very romantic Building, called Fort McIntosh, was built by the hands of hundreds who would rather have fought than wrought. I
In a letter also to General Greene, dated August 2, 1779, he says :
General McIntosh was not regardless of the stores in some respects; in others he was. The hobbyhorse he built at Beaver creek, occasioned a delay of military operations and consequently an useless consumption of stores. 2
Col. George Morgan was also, as we have previously inti- mated, a severe critic of McIntosh's proceedings, as the following communication copied from his letter-book will show:
with the Indians. In 1771 he became a resident of Reading, where he was deputy sur- veyor. At the breaking out of the Revolution, Brodhead was elected a Lieutenant-Colonel (commissioned October 25, 1776), and subsequently became Colonel of the Eighth Penn- sylvania Regiment: his promotion dating March 12, 1777, to rank from September 29, 1776. He took part in the battle of Long Island and in other battles in which Washing- ton's army was engaged. As stated above, he marched with his regiment in the summer of 1778, to take part in McIntosh's proposed expedition, and after the abandonment of that undertaking remained in the Western Department until he succeeded to the com- mand the following spring. He remained in the command of the Western Department until September 17, 1781, making a very efficient commander, twice leading successful expeditions into the Indian country. He was superseded in his command at Fort Pitt by Colonel John Gibson. At that time he was Colonel of the First Pennsylvania Regiment, to which position he was assigned January 17, 1781. After the war he was Surveyor- General of Pennsylvania, being appointed to that office November 3, 1789, and serving in it eleven years. He had previously been a member of the General Assembly. Brod- head died at Milford, Pike County, Pa., November 15, 1809.
1 Penna. Arch., vol. x., p. 110.
2 Id., vol. xii., p. 146. Brodhead also writes to General Washington from Pittsburg, June 5, 1779, in criticism of this post as follows:
"As your Excellency has given Fort McIntosh the preference I shall order that to be the principal rendezvous for the Troops but I beg to assure your Excellency there is neither meadow, garden, pasture or spring water convenient to that post. I do not think it prudent to fence the Indian lands as it naturally excites a jealousy."-(Penna. Arch., vol. xii., p. 125.)
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January 25th, 1779.
To the Court of Enquiry
. now sitting at Fort Pitt.
GENTLEMEN :-
In answer to your Questions I inform you that in the course of last Spring & Summer-Eight thousand Kegs of Flour were provided by my Order for the late Campaign in this Quarter.
On Reference to the Proceedings of the late General Court Martial for the trial of Colonel Steel, you will find some of the reasons why great part of this Flour has never yet been brought to this place, but the principal Reasons as I apprehend, not only for this Disappointment, but also the present scarcity of Provisions, have been the ignorant, absurd & contra- dictory conduct & Orders of General McIntosh throughout this whole Campaign.
When this Gentleman's conduct comes to be canvassed before a proper Court, I shall afford such Lights as may be necessary; until then I hope to be excused from being more particular.
I am, Gentlemen, with great Respect, Your most Obed't Serv't
GEORGE MORGAN. I
After events, however, justified McIntosh's judgment in this instance, the fort at Beaver Creek proving to be of considerable importance in succeeding operations. The erection of both forts was, moreover, approved by the commander-in-chief, who wrote: "The establishing of posts of communication, which McIntosh has done for the security of his convoys and the army, is a proceeding grounded on military practice and experience." Brodhead, also, after he had succeeded to McIntosh's command, soon discovered that the office of the critic is an easy one, but that it is much more difficult to take the place of the subjects of criticism, and do better. He himself had a not too happy lot as Department Commander.2 General McIntosh was faithful
I But about a year after this, Morgan himself is blamed by Brodhead for dereliction in the discharge of his duty. March 18, 1780, in a communication to the President of the Council, Brodhead writes:
"You may rely on my giving every possible protection & countenance to our settle- ments, but I have very little in my power without calling out the Militia, and for them I have no provisions. What Col. George Morgan has been doing this two years past I know not, but I conceive that if he had been where his employment required we should have been much better provided."-(Penn. Arch., 1779-81, p. 140.)
2 From Pittsburg he writes to President Reed, December 13, 1779:
" I meet with little perplexity in the common course of my Duty but the want of many necessary articles for the Troops & Indians the want of money in every Department with the difficulty of getting the ordinary supplies & the trouble of the Indians who for political reasons I am obliged to admit Drunk & Sober on all occasions these with the undetermined State of the rights of the Garrison & a rascally set of Inhabitants at this place is sufficient to destroy the patience of Job."-(Penna. Arch., vol. viii., p. 39.)
To Washington he wrote, Sept. 16, 1779:
"The Troops here have at least nine Months pay due to them and there is neither money nor Paymaster to discharge the arrearages .- (Penna. Arch., vol. xii., p. 157.)
---
--
Tim
Anidi
From a plate in the Columbian Magazine, Philadelphia, January number, 1790.
·
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in the performance of his duty, and doubtless did all that it was possible for him to do in his circumstances. In the spring of 1779, sick and dispirited,' he was, at his own request, recalled, but in after years he still rendered good service to his country, dying, as we have said, at Savannah, February 20, 1806.
DESCRIPTIONS OF FORT MCINTOSH
Fort McIntosh stood on the wide plateau on which the town of Beaver, the county-seat of Beaver County, is built, on the verge of the high bank above the Ohio River, its southwest bastion being perhaps twenty or twenty-five feet from the end of the present Market Street. It is difficult to arrive at a correct impression of the appearance which the structure presented. It is described as having been a regular stockade work,2 but the only picture of it which has any claim to genuineness represents it as being built of timbers laid in courses like masonry. This picture, of which we give a reproduction on the opposite page, should, however, be correct, as it was published in the Columbian Magazine, of Philadelphia, within a month or two of the date of the demolition of the fort, and was accompanied with the follow- ing text :
Account of Fort McIntosh-with a plate.
FORT MCINTOSH was situated upon an high flat, or level piece of ground on the west [north] side of the Ohio, and about half a mile below
1 The following reference to General McIntosh occurs in a letter from President Reed to Washington dated Philadelphia, April, 1779:
"General McIntosh is arrived in Town, but I have not had the Pleasure of seeing him, except once in the Street, & he was so much altered that I did not know him 'till he was past."-(Penna. Arch., vol. vii., p. 342.)
In writing of McIntosh, under date of February 20, 1779, Washington said:
" I wish matters had been more prosperously conducted under the command of General McIntosh. This gentleman was in a manner a stranger to me, but during the time of his residence at Valley Forge I had imbibed a good opinion of his good sense, attention to duty and disposition to correct public abuses, qualifications much to be valued in a sep- arate and distinct command. To these considerations were added (and not the least) his disinterested concern with respect to the disputes which had divided and distracted the inhabitants of that western world, and which would have rendered an officer from either Pennsylvania or Virginia improper, while no one could be spared from another State with so much convenience as McIntosh. He is now coming away, and the second in command, Brodhead (as there will be no military operations of consequence to be conducted), will succeed him. But once for all, it may not be amiss for me to conclude with this observa- tion, that, with such means as are provided, I must labor."-(Magazine of American His- tory, vol. iii., p. 132.)
2 See History of Pennsylvania, Rupp, p. 364; Doddridge, Notes, p. 244. This term seems to have been rather loosely employed. We are informed by Mr. John W. Jordan, Librarian of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, that Fort Mifflin on the Delaware, although a considerable work built mostly of stone, was sometimes called a stockade fort. Hon. M. S. Quay said to us recently that John Wolf, who came to Beaver a few years after Fort Mc- Intosh was torn down, had often described it to him as having been built with a double row of stockades, with a ditch around the outside and a banquette inside, and a gate in the rear.
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the junction of that river with Beaver-River, commonly known by the name of Big-Beaver-Creek. It consisted of a number of log buildings which altogether formed nearly a tetragon, at each corner of which there was a bastion. The Fort was entirely built of logs ;- and the houses for the accommodation of the officers and soldiers were very commodious; they were roofed with shingles, and the windows were glazed.
This fort was built by General McIntosh in 1779 [read 1778, Ed.] ;- and has, lately, been entirely demolished; it having been deemed unnecessary to continue a garrison of soldiers at this part of the Ohio. The latitude of this place is 40°, 41', 36".I
Beyond this picture (which evidently suggested the drawing published in The Frontier Forts of Pennsylvania), the most diligent inquiry at Harrisburg, Philadelphia, and Washington has not enabled us to discover any sketch or plans of the fort. If any were filed in the office of the Secretary of War by General Mc- Intosh, they may have been destroyed when the British paid their visit to the national capital in 1814. On a map by Daniel Leet, in the second volume of this work (see Appendix No. VII.), will be seen, however, a small outline of the fort. This map was made about four years before the fort was demolished.2 The blockhouse marked upon it near the fording has never been known to have been in existence; it was probably (we surmise) built there to protect the fording, or ferry, which connected with " Brodhead's road," which came down through the ravine opposite the fort. Some early writers speak of the fort as being possessed of six pieces of cannon, and as having had a covered way or tunnel leading to the river, through which the garrison would be enabled to secure water in case of a siege. This fortification was constructed under the immediate supervision of a competent military engineer, named Le Chevalier De Cambray, who is mentioned in McIntosh's letter previously quoted.
Arthur Lee,3 who was one of the United States Commissioners
1 The Columbian Magazine, or Monthly Miscellany, containing a View of the History, Literature, Manners & Characters of the Year 1790, Philadelphia, 1790, vol. iv., p. 3 (Janu- ary number). This is a very rare book, to which we had access in the Library of the His- torical Society of Pennsylvania.
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