History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 4

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967

USA > Pennsylvania > Bedford County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 4
USA > Pennsylvania > Fulton County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 4
USA > Pennsylvania > Somerset County > History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania > Part 4

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

On the 16th he induced Half-King and the other Indians to leave, and set out for Venango, which was reached on the 22d. There the chiefs were determined to remain for awhile, and therefore, accompanied only by Young Hun- ter, whom the Half-King had ordered to go with them as a guide, Washington's party was com- pelled to proceed. Washington's journal nar- rates the events of this stage of the journey as follows :

"Our horses were now so weak and feeble and the baggage so heavy (as we were obliged to provide all the necessaries which the journey would require) that we doubted much their per- forming it. Therefore myself and the others, except the drivers, who were obliged to ride, gave up our horses for packs to assist along with the baggage. I put myself in an Indian walk- ing-dress, and continued with them three days, until I found there was no probability of their getting home in reasonable time. The horses became less able to travel every day, the cold increased very fast, and the roads were becom- ing much worse by a deep snow, continually freezing ; therefore, as I was uneasy to get back to make report of my proceedings to his honor the governor, I determined to prosecute my journey the nearest way through the woods on foot. Accordingly, I left Mr. Van Braam in charge of our baggage, with money and direc- tions to provide necessaries from place to place for themselves and horses, and to make the most convenient dispatch in traveling. I took my necessary papers, pulled off my clothes and tied

myself up in a watch-coat ; then, with gun in hand and pack on my back, in which were my papers, I set out with Mr. Gist, fitted in the same manner, on Wednesday, the 20th."

The following day the two travelers fell in with a party of French Indians, one of whom fired on them, but fortunately missed. They took the fellow in custody, and kept him with them till nine o'clock at night, when they let him go and they continued on their way, walk- ing all night to be out of reach of pursuit. On the next evening at dark they reached the Alle- gheny river just above Shannapin's town. At this place, in crossing the river on an impro- vised craft, Washington was thrown off into the icy current, where the water was ten feet deep, but saved himself by clinging to the logs of the raft. . They were then obliged to land on an island, and to pass the night there, but in the morning found the river sufficiently frozen to enable them to cross in safety on the ice to the left bank of the river. They suffered severely from cold and exposure, and Gist had his fingers and toes frozen, but they succeeded in reaching Frazier's at the mouth of Turtle creek, in the evening of December 30.

Referring again to the journal, it says : " As we intended to take horses here (Frazier's), and it required some time to find them, I went up about three miles to the mouth of the Youg- hiogheny, to visit Queen Alliquippa, who had expressed great concern that we passed her in going to the fort. I made her a present of a watch-coat and a bottle of rum, which latter was thought much the better present of the two. Tuesday, January 1, we left Mr. Frazier's house and arrived at Mr. Gist's, at Monongahela,* Jan- uary 2, where I bought a horse and saddle."

The foregoing narrative of the journeyings of Gov. Dinwiddie's young envoy to and from the French fort "Le Bœuf," is given a place in these pages, less on account of the impor- tance of the events and the incidents related than because it has reference to the first appear- ance of George Washington in the territory originally a part of Bedford county, a territory which he frequently visited afterward, and in which he became largely interested as a real- estate owner. It was here he fought in his first battle, and here were first disclosed his superior

*" Monongahela " was a name applied at that time, not only to the river, but also to a wide scope of country adjacent to it. Gist's was then almost the only settlement in all that region. It was known as Monongahela, and that Gist had so named his set- tlement is shown by some of his letters.

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HISTORY OF BEDFORD, SOMERSET AND FULTON COUNTIES.

military abilities, as shown in the hasty and disordered retreat of Braddock's army from the ever-to-be-remembered field of disaster on the Monongahela.

CHAPTER IV. THE FRENCH OCCUPANCY -WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN.

The Ohio Company at the " Forks of the Ohio"- Captain Trent's Virginia Company - Their Capture by the French Under Contrecœur - Completion of Fort Du Quesne- Movements of the Virginians Under Col. George Washington - He De- feats a French Detachment Under De Jumonville - Death of the Latter - Washington Reinforced by Mackay's Company of South Carolinians- The French in Pursuit - Washington Retreats - He Builds Fort Necessity -The Battles -Sur- render of the English - Casualties - Further Movements of the French - The Vanquished English Return to Will's Creek - Erection of Fort Cumberland.

THE result of Washington's expedition showed beyond all doubt that the French intended to occupy in force all the country bor- dering the headwaters of the Ohio river. Thereupon, Gov. Dinwiddie transmitted Wash- ington's statement to England, and mean- while, without waiting for instructions from the home government, began preparations for rais- ing a force to be sent to the " Forks of the Ohio " (Pittsburgh), to take possession of that point, and to construct a defensive work to enable them to hold the position against the French. A party had already gone forward from Virginia across the mountains for the same purpose, it being the one alluded to in Wash- ington's journal on the return from Le Bœuf. He said, "The sixth (of January, while pro- ceeding from Gist's to Will's Creek) we met seventeen horses loaded with materials and stores for a fort at the fork of the Ohio, and the day after some families going out to settle." But these were not troops sent by Dinwiddie, or under provincial authority ; they were merely employés and colonists going out under the directions of the "Ohio Company " to locate and to build a fort or blockhouse for the protec- tion of themselves and the company's interests on the frontier.

In January, 1754, the first English military force to move westward, having the Ohio river for its objective point, marched from Virginia under the command of Capt. William Trent. From Will's Creek Capt. Trent marched with his force of about thirty-three men over the same route which Washington had traversed

to the "Great Crossing of the Youghio- gheny," at the present village of Somerfield, in Somerset county, thence via Gist's settlement to the mouth of Redstone creek on the Monon- gahela, where a storehouse called the " Han- gard " was erected for the "Ohio Company." After completing it the march was continued to the site of the present city of Pittsburgh, which was reached February 17. There they met Christopher Gist and several others. A fort was immediately commenced, but not many days passed ere Capt. Trent returned to Will's Creek, Lieut. Frazier going to his home at the mouth of Turtle creek, leaving Ensign Ward the remaining commissioned officer in com- mand.

Work on the fort progressed slowly (on ac- count of the severe weather) for some two months, when suddenly, on April 17, Ensign Ward found himself confronted by a hostile force of about seven hundred French and Indians, hav- ing with them eighteen pieces of light artillery. This force, which had come down the Allegheny river in sixty bateaux and a great number of canoes, was under command of Capt. Contre- cœur, who at once demanded a surrender of the work and position. It was of course impossible for Ward and his small party to successfully contend against so large a force supplied with artillery, therefore, after some parleying, the un- finished fort was surrendered. The French com- mander treated Ensign Ward with great polite- ness -invited him to supper and provided comfortable quarters for the night.

On the following morning (the 18th) Ward took his departure, and with his men marched up the valley of the Monongahela to Redstone creek, thence across the country via Gist's and the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny to Will's Creek, Maryland, where they arrived April 22. The fort which had been surrendered to Contrecœur was completed by the French with all practicable dispatch, and named " Fort Du Quesne," in honor of the Marquis du Quesne, the French governor-general of Canada.

While the events just mentioned were in prog- ress, troops, intended for the occupation of the "Forks of the Ohio," were being raised and organized under the authority of Gov. Din- widdie, of Virginia,. and the first detachment of these was sent forward under Lieut .- Col. George Washington (who, on March 31, 1754, had received from the governor a commission

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THE FRENCH OCCUPANCY -WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN.

dated March 15, of that grade in the Virginia regiment, of which Col. Joshua Fry was the commanding officer), he being ordered to take the troops then quartered in Alexandria, Vir- ginia, and to march them to the Ohio, "there to help Capt. Trent to build forts, and to defend the possessions of his Majesty against the at- tempts and hostilities of the French."

The force, which consisted of two companies of infantry, commanded respectively by Capt. Peter Hogg and Lieut. Jacob Van Braam, marched out of Alexandria April 2. Subse- quently a small company under Capt. Stephens joined the detachment, bringing the strength of the command up to one hundred and fifty men. On reaching Will's Creek Washington met Ensign Ward, and on receiving Ward's account of the surrender of the fort to the French, a council of war was convened to determine on the proper course to be pursued in this exigency.

The council decided on April 23 "that it would be proper to advance as far as Redstone creek, on the Monongahela, about thirty-seven miles on this side of the fort, and there to raise a fortification, clearing a road broad enough to pass with all our artillery and baggage and there to wait for fresh orders." After a few brief preparations Washington's forces moved out on the path leading to the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny, cutting out the road as they proceeded, so that it was not until May 9 that they reached the Little Crossings (Castleman's river). While at this place, on May 11, Wash- ington sent out a reconnoitering party of twen- ty-five men under Capt. Stephens with orders to scout as far as Gist's place, "to inquire where La Force* and his party were, and in case they were in the neighborhood, to cease pursuing and take care of themselves ; " also, "to exam- ine closely all the woods round about," and if any straggling Frenchman should be found away from the others, to capture and bring him in to be examined for information. "We were exceedingly desirous," said Washington, "to know if there was any possibility of sending down anything by water, as also to find out some convenient place about the mouth of Red- stone creek, where we could build a fort."

Washington's forces remained three days at

the Little Crossings, then, "May the 12th .- Marched away, and went on a rising ground, where we halted to dry ourselves, for we had been obliged to ford a deep river, where our short- est men had water up to their armpits." Within the next six days Washington was informed that Col. Fry with upward of one hundred men, Col. Innis with three hundred and fifty Carolinians, and Capt. Mackay with an independent company of one hundred men, were marching rapidly to join him; also, that the French at Fort Du Quesne were expecting reinforcements sufficient to make their total force sixteen hundred men.

The Great Crossings (Somerfield) was reached on the 18th, where the troops encamped for several days. The halt at this place was necessary to wait for lower water in the river, which had been swollen by recent rains ; but besides this, the young commander wished to explore the stream below, hoping to find it navigable for bateaux, or canoes of sufficient size to carry cannon and stores. There were those with him who doubted the possibility of opening a road suitable for the transportation of guns and other heavy material to the mouth of Redstone creek, and doubtless the idea was entertained of making his military base here on the Youghiogheny, the present southwest border of Somerset county, instead of on the Monon- gahela, as determined at the council of war. .

Whatever may have been his reasons, it is certain that Washington decided on and made the exploration, commencing the voyage on the 20th, in a canoe, " with Lieut. West, three sol- diers and one Indian." Following " the river along about half a mile," they were obliged to go ashore, where they met Peter Suver, a trader, who spoke discouragingly of their chances of finding a passage by water, " which," says Wash- ington, " caused me to alter my mind of causing canoes to be made; I ordered my people to wade, as the waters were shallow enough, and continued myself going down the river in the canoe. * " .We gained Turkey Foot by the beginning of the night." They remained some time at Turkey Foot on the morning of the 21st, " to examine the place," which they found very convenient to build a fort. From there they passed down the river, finding nearly every variety of channel, sometimes rocky and rapid, and then still and deep, until at last, at a computed distance of about ten miles below Turkey Foot, " it became so rapid as to oblige

*La Force, a Frenchman, had been sent out from Fort Du Queene about May 1 with a small party of French and Indians, ostensibly for the purpose of capturing deserters: but Washing- ton, who had received information from an Indian runner sent by 'he Half-King, believed they had other purposes in view, and therefore ordered the reconnaissance.

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HISTORY OF BEDFORD, SOMERSET AND FULTON COUNTIES.

us to come ashore." Thus ended Washington's explorations of the Youghiogheny.

Upon his return to the camp at the Great Crossings the troops were put in motion, and, crossing to the west bank of the river (the high waters having subsided), marched on northwest- wardly toward the Great Meadows, at which place they arrived in the afternoon of the 24th. In the morning of that day, while on the march, two Indian runners came in with a message from Half-King, saying that the " French army " was already on the march from Fort Du Quesne to meet Washington's force, also notifying him that Tanacharison and other chiefs would soon be with him to hold council, as Washington had requested in a dispatch sent from Will's Creek. During the same afternoon a trader came in from Gist's confirming the report brought by the Indians. Washington thereupon decided to remain at the Meadows for a time, and avail himself of the advantages offered by the posi- tion. There were here, as he said in his notes, " two natural entrenchments," which he caused to be strengthened, and within these slight defenses he placed a part of the troops and the wagons. On the 27th he wrote : " We have, with nature's assistance, made a good entrench- ment, and by clearing the bushes out of the meadows, prepared a charming field for an en- counter."

On the 25th several small detachments were sent out in the "endeavor to get some news of the French, of their forces and of their motions," but these parties returned without having dis- covered anything concerning the movements of the enemy. Early on the morning of the 27th, however, Christopher Gist arrived from his plantation, and reported that at about noon on the preceding day a French detachment of about fifty men had visited his house and committed considerable depredation there. He also said he had seen their tracks within five miles of the Virginians' camp. Meanwhile Washington, hav- ing learned that Tanacharison, the Half-King, and a considerable body of Indians, were near by,. sent ont a detachment of Virginians in search of the French. The latter were found encamped in a rocky ravine, secluded, and difficult of ac- cess. Suspicious that the secret movements of the French were part of a stratagem to draw some of his forces away from the camp and then attack them, Washington left his camp strongly guarded, and set out with the rest of his men

for the camp of the Half-King. The night was rainy and very dark ; the path over which they traveled was narrow, rough and hard to dis- tinguish ; but they persevered, and in the morn- ing at a little before sunrise reached the Half- King's camp, where, at a council held with the old sachem, it was determined to proceed at once to attack the French camp.

The party whose movements had been reported by Gist and others was the "French army," of whose departure from Fort Du Quesne Wash- ington had been notified. In some accounts of this campaign it has been stated that it was under the command of M. La Force, but this was not the case ; it was commanded by M. de Jumonville, a French ensign, who was accom- panied by La Force, but the latter was simply a volunteer, and held no military command in the expedition. Afterward the French authorities and writers claimed that Jumonville himself was not engaged in a military enterprise, but that he was merely an envoy. or bearer of dispatches, charged by the commandant at Fort Du Quesne with the duty of delivering a communication to the commanding officer of the English force ; and that the military party which accompanied him was acting simply as his guard while per- forming this service. If it was but a guard to a peaceful envoy, then most certainly its leader adopted a very strange course in lurking near Washington's encampment for two days and hiding his men in an obscure and gloomy ravine among rocks and thickets.

In proceeding to attack Jumonville's party, Washington's Virginians and Tanacharison's Indians left the camp of the latter and marched "Indian file " to near the French camp, where a line was formed with the English on the right, the Indians being on the left, and in this order the combined forces moved to the attack. It was not a complete surprise, however, for the French discovered their assailants before they were in rifle range. Washington's troops opened fire, and received that of the French. The fight raged only about fifteen minutes, when the French surrendered, having lost ten killed and one wounded. Among the killed was their commander, M. de Jumonville. All the dead were scalped by Tanacharison's Indians. The English lost but one killed and two wounded. The prisoners, twenty-one in number, were sent, under guard, to Winchester, Virginia.

On the 30th Washington " began to raise a

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THE FRENCH OCCUPATION-WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN.

fort with small palisadoes, fearing that when the French should hear the news of that defeat we might be attacked by considerable forces." The work evidently was but a slight affair, for on June 2 it was completed and religious ser- vices were held in it. Here he was joined by some thirty families of Indians, friends of the English, who had fled from Logstown and the lower Monongahela and other neighborhoods, fearing the vengeance of the French. A con- siderable number of Shawnees also came to the fort. But the presence of these refugees was very embarrassing to the commander on account of the prospective scarcity of provisions, and for numberless other reasons. On June 6 Chris- topher Gist arrived from Will's Creek with the information that Col. Fry, the commanding of- ficer of the Virginia regiment, had died at that place on May 30 while on his way to the Great Meadows with troops. By his death Washing- ton succeeded to the command of the regiment. On the 9th Maj. Muse arrived with the remainder of the regiment and nine small swivel guns, with ammunition for them. Although the entire regiment was now assembled, the total force under Washington was but little more than three hundred men, divided into six companies, and commanded respectively by Capts. Stephens, Jacob Van Braam, Robert Stobo, Peter Hogg, Andrew Lewis," Polson and George Mercer. Maj. Muse was detailed as quartermaster, and Capt. Stephens was made acting major.

Capt. Mackay, of the "South Carolina Royal Independent Company," reached Washington's camp on June 10, having with him about one hundred men, five days' rations of flour, sixty head of cattle, and a considerable supply of am- munition. Capt. Mackay was a regular officer in the royal service, and from the first he evinced a disinclination to act under the orders of a " buckskin colonel " of Virginia provin- cial troops. This feeling even extended to the private soldiers of the Carolina company, but no act of pronounced insubordination resulted from it. Momentarily expecting an attack from the French, Washington remained at the fortified camp before mentioned, until June 16, when he determined to advance toward Red- stone. Accordingly on that day he moved out

on the Nemacolin trail toward Gist's, taking his artillery, some wagons, and all his command except the Carolinians, who were left at the fort to guard the stores. This, we are told, was done to avoid a possible conflict of authority with Mackay, who seemed unwilling to have his company perform its share of labor in clear- ing the way for the passage of the train.

The force under Washington was employed thirteen days in making the road passable from the fort to Gist's, though the distance was but as many miles. During the same time Capt. Lewis with seventy men was sent ahead to at- tempt the opening of a road from Gist's to Redstone, while Capt. Polson was sent out to reconnoiter in advance. On arriving at Gist's on the 29th, Washington learned that a strong French force was advancing up the Mononga- hela. He at once called a council of war, when it was considered best to concentrate at that point and await the French attack. Lewis' and Polson's detachments were called in, and Mackay was ordered to move forward to Gist's without delay. He obeyed promptly, as did also Lewis and Polson, they having completed nearly eight miles of road from Gist's toward Redstone. But on the arrival of all the forces a second council of war was held which reversed the decision of the first, and resolved, without a dissenting voice, to retreat to Will's Creek, over the route by which the advance had been made.

During the retreat, the transportation facili- ties being very limited,* " Col. Washington set a noble example to the officers by loading his own horse with ammunition and other public stores, leaving his baggage behind and giving the sol- diers four pistoles to carry it forward. The other officers followed this example. There were nine swivels, which were drawn by the sol- diers of the Virginia regiment over a very broken road, unassisted by the men belonging to the independent company [Mackay's], who refused to perform any service of the kind. Neither would they act as pioneers, nor aid in transporting the public stores, considering this a duty not incumbent on them as king's soldiers. This conduct had a discouraging effect upon the soldiers of the Virginia regiment, by dampen- ing their ardor and making them more dissatis- fied with their extreme fatigue."t

* Afterward Gen. Lewis, who fought the battle of Point Pleas- ant in Dunmore's war of 1774. He was a relative of Washington, and it bes faon related that in 1775 the latter recommended hin for the appointment which he himself soon after received, that of commander-in-chief of the American armies.

. Sargent says, "Two miserable teams and a few pack-horses being all their means of transporting their ammunition, the offi- cers at once added their own steeds to the train." t sparks.

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HISTORY OF BEDFORD, SOMERSET AND FULTON COUNTIES.

The retreating column reached the fortified camp at the Great Meadows in two days, or July 1, but on his arrival there Washington found that it was impracticable to go on, for, says Sparks, " his men had become so much fatigued from great labor and a deficiency of provisions, that they could draw the swivels no farther nor carry the baggage on their backs. They had been eight days without bread, and at the Great Meadows they found only a few bags of flour. It was thought advisable to wait here, therefore, and fortify themselves in the best manner they could till they should receive supplies and reinforcements. They had heard of the arrival at Alexandria of two independent companies from New York twenty days before, and it was presumed they must, by this time, have reached Will's Creek. An express was sent to hasten them on with as much dispatch as possible."

As soon as it had been determined to make a stand at the Great Meadows, no time was lost in enlarging and strengthening the rude de- fenses already erected. The work was done under the supervision of Capt. Stobo, who had some experience in military engineering, and when completed was named by Washington "Fort Necessity," as expressive of the destitution of his command, and the necessity he was laboring under to stand there and fight. This fort was located in the present township of Wharton, Fayette county, three or four hundred yards south of what is called the National road, four miles from the foot of the western slope of Laurel Hill, and. by the route then in use, sev- enty miles from Will's Creek, now known as Cumberland, Maryland. The site was a poor one, however, for purposes of defense, for, standing upon a bottom or natural meadow, it was commanded on three sides by higher ground, in no place more than 150 yards distant, with the opportunity for an enemy to approach on one side within sixty yards under cover of woods.

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History of Bedford, Somerset, Fulton counties Pennsylvania, Part 4

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co. Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Number of Pages: 967

Author: Waterman, Watkins & Co.
Publication date: 1884
Publisher:
Number of Pages: 967