History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 20

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314

USA > Pennsylvania > Fayette County > History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 20

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"In the Evening the Militia held a Council, when the Commander of the Militia told his men that he would leave it to their choice either to carry the In- lians as Prisoners to Fort Pitt or to kill them ; when they agreed that they should be killed. Of this Res- Intion of the Council they gave notice to the In- lians by two Messengers, who told them that as they had said they were Christians they would give them ime this night to prepare themselves accordingly. Hereupon the Women met together and sung Hymns & Psalms all Night, and so likewise did the Men, and cept on singing as long as there were three left. . In the morning the Militia chose Two houses, which hey called the Slaughter Houses, and then fetched he Indians two or three at a time with Ropes about heir Necks and dragged them into the Slaughter houses, where they knocked them down ; then they set these Two houses on Fire, as likewise all the

other houses. This done they went to the other Towns and set fire to the Houses, took their plunder, and returned to the Monaungahela, where they held a Vendue among themselves. Before these Informants came away it was agreed that 600 men should meet on the 18th of March to go to Sandusky, which is about 100 Miles from the Muskingum."

The number of Moravian Indians killed was re- ported by Williamson's party on their return at. eighty-eight, but the white Moravian missionaries in their account gave the number of the murdered ones as ninety-six,-sixty-two adults, male and female, and thirty-four children.

The result of this expedition gave great mortifica- tion and grief to Gen. Irvine, who tried, as far as lay in his power, to suppress all accounts of the horrible details. By those who were engaged in the bloody work it was vehemently asserted that their action was generally approved by the people of the frontier settlements ; but it is certain that the statement was unfounded. Col. Edward Cook, of Cookstown (now Fayette City), the county lieutenant of Westmore- land (who had succeeded the unfortunate Col. Lochry in that office in December, 1781), in a letter addressed by him to President Moore, dated Sept. 2, 1782, ex- pressed himself in regard to this Moravian massacre as follows :

. I am informed that you have it Reported that the Massacre of the Moravian Indians Obtains the Approbation of Every man on this side of the Mountains, which I assure your Excellency is false; that the Better Part of the Community are of Opinion the Perpetrators of that wicked Deed ought to be Brought to Condein Punishment; that without some- thing is Done by Government in the Matter it will Disgrace the Annals of the United States, and be an Everlasting Plea and Cover for British Cruelty." And the testimony of a man of the character and standing of Col. Edward Cook is above and beyond the possibility of impeachment.

CRAWFORD'S SANDUSKY EXPEDITION.

Even before the disbandment of the volunteers composing Williamson's expedition the project had been formed for a new and more formidable one to be raised to march against the Indian towns at San- dusky, the headquarters of the hostile tribes that were so constantly and persistently depredating the frontier settlements east of the Ohio. Mention of such a project is found in Linebach's "Relation" (be- fore quoted), where he says, " It was agreed that six hundred men should meet on the 18th of March to go to Sandusky. . . ." Whether this was the incep- tion of the plan or not, it is certain that immediately afterwards it was known to, and favorably entertained by, nearly all the people living west of the Laurel Hill.

As a matter of course, the first step to be taken was to lay the matter before the commandant at Fort

IIISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Pitt, Gen. Irvine, to secure his countenance and approbation. That this was successfully accom- plished is shown by the following extract from a letter written by the general to President Moore of the Council, dated Fort Pitt, May 9, 1782, viz. :

" A volunteer expedition is talked of against San- dusky, which, if well conducted, may be of great ser- vice to this country ; if they behave well on this oc- casion it may also in some measure atone for the barbarity they are charged with at Muskingum. They have consulted me, and shall have every coun- tenance in my power if their numbers, arrangements, etc., promise a prospect of success." There is in the tone of this letter an evident resolve on the part of the general that this new expedition should be very different in character from that which had so recently and so barbarously executed vengeance against the unresisting Moravians; and this was afterwards made still, more apparent by his determined opposition to Col. Williamson as commander.

The direction and control of the projected expedi- tion was, of course, with Gen. Irvine, as the command- ing officer of the department. "It was as carefully considered and as authoritatively planned as any military enterprise in the West during the Revolution. As a distinct undertaking, it was intended to be effect- ual in ending the troubles upon the western frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia. Its promoters were not only the principal military and civil officers in Following is a list of men from what is now Fay- ette County who accompanied the expedition. The the Western Department, but a large proportion of the best-known and most influential private citizens." According to the plan of the expedition, it was to be " Mingo Bottom, the site of the "Old Mingo Town," is on the west 1 Now Washington, the county -seat of Washington County, Pa. bank of the Ohio River, about two and a half miles below Stenbenville, 3 Butterfield, ia his " Expedition against Sandusky," says, " It is a tra- dit'ou-way, an established fact-that miany, nside from the ordinary ar- rangements necessary for a month's absence (not so much, however, from a presentiment of disaster as from that prudence which careful and thoughtful men ure piene to exercise), executed deeds 'io consideration of love and affection,' and many witnesses were called in to subscribe tu ' last wills and testaments.'" The commander of the expedition, Col. Crawford, executed his will before departing on the fatal journey to the 4 Lieut. John Rose (osnally mentioned in accounts of the expeditiea as Maj. Rose), an aide-de-camp of Gen. Irvine, who had been detailed for the same duty with the commander of this expedition, wrote to the gen- eial on the evening of the 24th fromn Mingo Bottom, and in the letter he said, "Our number is actually four hnudred and eighty men." This was a more favorable result than had been anticipated, as is shown by a let- Wyandot towns. Ohio. made up of volunteers, each one of whom was to equip himself with a horse, arms, and supplies; and it was given out, and not doubted, that the State of Pennsylvania would reimburse all who might sustain losses in the campaign. Great exertions were made to induce men to volunteer, and the result was a rapid recruitment. Many who were willing to serve in the expedition were unable to equip themselves for a campaign in the Indian country, but in nearly all such cases some friend was found who would loan a horse or furnish supplies. The dangerous and desperate nature of the enterprise was fully un- derstood, yet such enthusiasm was exhibited in all the settlements that in the early part of May the , ter written three days before (May 21st) to Gen. Washington by Gen. Ir- number of men obtained was regarded as sufficient for the successful accomplishment of the purposes of the campaign.

The volunteers composing the expedition were nearly all from the country then comprised in the counties of Westmoreland and Washington. Of those raised in the former county many were from the vi- cinity of Uniontown and Georges Creek, and from the valleys of the Youghiogheny and Redstone. These collected at Redstone Old Fort, where they were joined by men from the settlements lower down the Monongahela and Youghiogheny. Crossing the Monongahela at the mouth of Dunlap's Creek, they

proceeded northwestwardly, receiving considerable accessions to their numbers from the settlements on Ten-Mile and at Catfish.1 From the latter point they moved on through Washington County and across what is now known as the Pan Handle of West Vir- ginia (where their numbers were still further ang- mented) to the Ohio River, at a point on its left bank opposite Mingo Bottom,2 the appointed rendezvous of the expedition, where the volunteers had been directed to assemble on the 20th of May.

The enthusiasm in favor of the expedition was so great in the settlements and among the volunteers that as early as the 15th of the month a great propor- tion of them had made all their arrangements 3 and were on their way to the place of meeting. But they did not all arrive at the time appointed, and it was not until the morning of the 24th that the last of the vol- unteers had crossed from the Virginia side to the rendezvous. When, on the same day, the forces were mustered on the Mingo Bottom, it was found that four hundred and eighty + mounted men were present, ready and eager for duty. 5 Of this number fully three hundred were from Washington County, while of the remainder the greater part were from the terri- tory of the present county of Fayette, only a compar- atively small number having been raised in the other parts of Westmoreland, and about twenty in the Pan Handle of Virginia.6

vine, in which the latter said, " The volunteers are assembling this day at Mingo Bottom, all on horseback, with thirty days' provisions. . . . If their number exceeds three hundred I am of opinion they may succeed, as their march will be so rapid they will probably, in a great degree, effect a surprise."

3 " All were in bigh spirits. Everywhere around there was a pleasur- able excitement. Jokes were bnudied and sorrows at parting with loved ones at honie quite forgotten, at least could ootward appearances be relied upon. Nevertheless furtive glancee up the western hillsides into the deep woods kept alive in the minds of some the dangerous purpose of all this bustle and activity."-Butterfield's Historical Account of the Expedi- tion against Sandusky under Col, William Crawford.

G Col. Marshnl, of Washington Conuly, in a letter addressed to Gea. Irvine, dated May 29, 1782, claimed that of the 480 mee composing the forces of the expedition 320 were from his county, 20 from Ohio County, Va., and the reminder (or, as he said, nbont 130) from the county ef Westonorelaed, including the present territory of Fayette.

THE REVOLUTION.

list (which is not claimed to be a complete one, but which certainly embraces the greater part of those who went from this county) is made up from various sources, but principally from the minutes of a "Court of Appeal" (a military tribunal) held at various times in the spring and summer of 1782 at Uniontown, before Alexander McClean, sub-lieutenant of the county, viz. :

James Collins.

Abraham Plunket.

John Alton.

James Wood.

Moses Smith.

James Rankin.

Thomas Patton.

Edward Hall.

Reuben Kemp.

James Downard.

Barnabas Walters.

Zachariah Brashears.

John Patrick. Josiah Rich. Michael Andrews. Peter Patrick.

Henry Coxe. John Chadwick.

John Hardin, Jr. George Robins.

Thomas Ross.

Dennis Callaghan.

Isaac Prickett.

Thomas Kendall.

William Ross.

Joseph Huston.

Crisley Cofinan.

Jeremiah Cook. James Waits.

Jacob Weatherholt. John Jones.

Thomas Carr.

Joshua Reed.

John Walters.

Richard Clark.

Charles Hickman.

Silvanus Barnes.

Henry Hart.

George McCristy.

Caleb Winget.

Joseph Moore.

Webb Hayden. William Jolliff.

George Scott.

Benjamin Carter. John Orr.

Edward Thomas.

Alexander McOwen.

Daniel Barton.

Obadiah Stillwell.

Providence Mounts.

Levi Bridgewater. Jonas Same.

Aaron Longstreet. William Case.

Matthias Neiley.

George Pearce.

Richard Hankins. John White.

James Clark. John Lucas. Jeremiah Gard.

George McCoy. -McCaddon. Nicholas Dawson. Daniel Canon.

John Rodgers.

Alexander Carson.

John Sherrard. John Crawford.

Richard Hale.

Robert Miller.

Uriah Springer.

John Custard.

· Christopher Beeler.

It was in the afternoon of the 24th of May that the force was mustered and divided into eighteen com- panies, their average strength, of course, being about twenty-six men. They were made thus small on ac- count of the peculiar nature of the service in which they were to engage,-skirmishing, firing from cover, and practicing the numberless artifices and strata- 7

gems belonging to Indian warfare. Another object gained in the formation of these unusually small companies was the gathering together of neighbors and acquaintances in the same command. For each company there were then elected, a captain, a lieu- tenant, and an ensign. One of the companies was commanded by Capt. John Beeson,1 of Uniontown ; another by Capt. John Hardin, with John Lucas as lieutenant ; a third by Capt. Joseph Huston, of Ty- rone, father of Joseph Huston, afterwards sheriff of Fayette County ; and a fourth by Capt. John Biggs," with Edward Stewart as lieutenant, and William Crawford, Jr. (nephew of Col. William Crawford), as ensign. One or two other companies were made up largely of men from the territory which now forms the counties of Fayette and Westmoreland, but of these the captains' names have not been ascertained. " Among those [captains] chosen," says Butterfield, in his narrative of the expedition, " were McGeehan, Hoagland, Beeson, Munn, Ross, Ogle, John Biggs, Craig Ritchie, John Miller, Joseph Bean, and An- drew Hood, ... and James Paull remembered, fifty years after, that the lieutenant of his company was Edward Stewart."

After the several companies had been duly formed and organized, the line-officers and men proceeded to elect field-officers and a commandant of the expedi- tionary force. For the latter office there were two candidates. One of these was Col. David William- son, who had previously led the expedition against the Moravian Indians on the Muskingum, and his chances of election seemed excellent, because he was a resident of Washington County, which had fur- nished two-thirds of the men composing the forces. His competitor for the command was Col. William Crawford, whose home was on the Youghiogheny River, near Braddock's Crossing, in what is now Fay- ette County. He was a regular army officer in the Continental establishment of the Virginia Line, well versed in Indian modes of fighting, and had already made an enviable military record; he enjoyed much personal popularity, and was also the one whom Gen. Irvine wished to see selected for the command.3

When the votes-four hundred and sixty-five in number-were counted, it was found that Williamson had received two hundred and thirty against two hundred and thirty-five cast for Col. Crawford, who thereupon became commandant of the forces of the expedition.+ Four majors were then elected, viz. :

1 In the minutes of the military "Court of Appeal," before referred to, is this entry, nuder date of June 5, 1782 : "Capt. Jolin Beeson's Coni- pany-9th. No Return for Duty, being all ont on the Expedition."

2 It is not known that Capt. Biggs was of Fayette, but his lientenant, ensign, and many of the men of his company were residents of this part of Westmoreland.

3 Gen. Irvine wrote to Gen. Washington on the 21st of May,-" I have taken some pains to get Col. Crawford appointed to command, and hope he will be."

4 Duddridge, in h's " Notes" (page 265), says of Crawford that "when notified of his appointment it is said that he accepted it with apparent

Abraham White.

James McCoy.

Daniel Harbaugh. James Paull.

Philip Smith.

John Collins.

John Smilie. Michael Frank.

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

David Williamson, of Washington County, Thomas Gaddis and John McClelland, of that part of West- moreland which is now Fayette, and - Brinton, their rank and seniority being in the order as here named. Daniel Leet was elected brigade-major. John Slover, of Fayette County, and Jonathan Zane were designated as guides or pilots to the advancing column. Dr. John Knight,1 post surgeon at Fort Pitt, had been detailed as surgeon to the expedition.

Instructions addressed "to the officer who will be appointed to command a detachment of volunteer militia on an expedition against the Indian town at or near Sandusky" had been forwarded by Gen. Ir- vine from Fort Pitt on the 21st of May. In these in- structions the general expressed himself as follows :

"The object of your command is to destroy with fire and sword, if practicable, the Indian town and settlement at Sandusky, by which we hope to give ease and safety to the inhabitants of this country ; but if impracticable, then you will doubtless perform such other services in your power as will in their con- sequences have a tendency to answer this great end.

" Previous to taking up your line of march it will be highly expedient that all matters respecting rank or command should be well understood, as far at least as first, second, and third.2 This precaution, in case of accident or misfortune, may be of great importance. Indeed, I think whatever grade or rank may be fixed on to have command, their relative rank should be determined. And it is indispensably necessary that subordination and discipline should be kept up; the

whole ought to understand that, notwithstanding they are volunteers, yet by this tour they are to get credit for it in their tours of military duty, and that for this and other good reasons they must, while out on this duty, consider themselves, to all intent, subject to the military laws and regulations for the govern- ment of the militia when in actual service.

" Your best chance of success will be, if possible, to effect a surprise, and though this will be difficult, yet by forced and rapid marches it may, in a great de- gree, be accomplished. I am clearly of opinion that you should regulate your last day's march so as to reach the town about dawn of day, or a little before, and that the march of this day should be as long as can well be performed.

"I need scarcely mention to so virtuous and disin- terested a set of men as you will have the honor to command that though the main, object at present is for the purpose above set forth, viz., the protection of this country, yet you are to consider yourselves as acting in behalf of and for the United States, that of course it will be incumbent on you especially who will have the command to act in every instance in such a manner as will reflect honor on, and add repu- tation to, the American arms, of nations or inde- pendent States.3

"Should any person, British, or in the service or pay of Britain or their allies, fall into your hands, if it should prove inconvenient for you to bring them off, you will, nevertheless, take special care to liberate them on parole, in such manner as to insure liberty for an equal number of people in their hands. There are individuals, however, who I think should be brought off at all events should the fortune of war throw them into your hands. I mean such as have

reinctance." Concerning this, Butterfield, in his narrative of the expe- dition, says,-

" It has been extensively circulated that Crawford accepted the office of commander of the expedition with apparent reluctance, but Rose (Maj. Rose, of Gen. Irvine's staff) settles that question. His reluctance was not in taking command of the troops after the election, but in joining the ex- pedition. He left his home with the full understanding that he was to lead the volunteers. Gen. Irvine, it is true, allowed the troops to choose their own commander, but he was not backward in Jetting it be known that he desired the election of Crawford."

1 Di. John Knight was a resident of Bull-kin township, in what was afterwards made Fayette County. In 1776 he lind enlisted in the West Angusta regiment (13th Virginia) as a private sudier. Suon after en- listing he was made a sergeant by Col. Crawford, the commandling officer of the regiment. On the 9th of August, 1778, he was appointed sur- gem's nite in the 9th Virginia. Afterwards he was promoted to sul- geon of the 7th Virgina (under command of Col. John Gi' s 41), and held that position in the same regiment at the time the Sandusky expedition was fitted out. He was then detached by order of Gen. Irvine, and at the request of Cul. Crawford, to act as surgeon of that expeil.tion. On the 21st of May he left Fort Pitt to join the expeditionary forces, and reached the rendezvous at Mingo Bottom on the 22. After ene- unter- ing all the dangers aud hardships of the campaign, from which he nar- rowly escaped with hus life, he returned to his regiment, and remained on duty as its surgeon nt Fort Pitt till tho close of the war, when he left military life. On the 14th of October, 1784, he married Polly, daughter of Col. Richard Stevenson, who was a half-brother of Col. Crawford. Subsequently Dr. Knight removed to Shelbyville, Ky., where ho died March 12, 1838, His widow died July 31, 1839. They were the parents of ten children. One of their daughters marriedl Jolin, A son of Presley Carr Lane, a prominent public man of Fayette County. Dr. Knight was the recipient of a peusion from government, under the act of May 15, 1828.

" These directions were observed, Maj. Williamson being designated as second, and Maj. Gaddis as third in command.

3 Yet the Moravian historians and their imitators have heaped un- measured abnse on the brave men who composed this expedition. leckewelder, in his " History of the Indian Nations," calls them a " gang of landitti ;" and Loskiel, writing in the same vrin in his " History of Indian Missions," said, " Tho same gang of murderers who had committed the massacre on the Muskingum did not give up their bloody design upon the remnant of the Indian congregation, though it was de- layed for a season. They marched in May, 1782, to Sandusky, where they found nothing but empty huts." The Rev. Joseph Doddridge, D.D., following the lead of these Moravian defamers, in his " Notes on the Settlement and Indinu Wars of the Western Parts of Virginia and Pennsylvania" (page 264), says of Crawford's expedition, "This, in one point of view at least, is to be considered as a secon i Moravian cum- paign, as one of its oljerts was that of finishing the work of murder andl plunder with the t'inistian Indians at their new establishment on the Sandusky. The next oljeet was that uf destroying the Wyandot tuwns on the same river. It was the resolution of all those concerned in this exped tion not to spare the life of any Indians that might fall into their hands, whether friends or foes. . . . It would seem that the long continuance of the Indian war luul debased a consideralde portion of our population to the savage state of our unture, Having lost so many relatives by the Indians, and witnessed their horrid murders und other depredations on so extensive a scale, they became subjects of that indiscriminating thirst for revenge which is such a prominent feature in the savage character, and having had a taste of blood and plunder, withont risk or loss on their part, they resolved to go on and kill every Indian they could find, whether friend or foe." Does not the tenor of Gen. Irvine's instructions to Col. Crawford completely disprove the alle- gations of Loskiel, Heckeweller, and Duddridge?

THE REVOLUTION.

deserted to the enemy since the Declaration of Inde- pendence."

The forces of Col. Crawford commenced their march from Mingo Bottom early in the morning of Saturday, the 25th of May. There was a path leading from the river into the wilderness, and known as "Wil- liamson's trail," because it was the route over which Col. Williamson had previously marched on his way to the Moravian towns. This trail, as far as it ex- tended, offered the easiest and most practicable route, but Col. Crawford did not adopt it,1 because it was a principal feature in his plan of the campaign to avoid all traveled trails or routes on which they would be likely to be discovered by lurking Indians or parties of them, who would make haste to carry intelligence of the movement to the villages which it was his pur- pose to surprise and destroy. So the column, divided into four detachments, each under immediate com- mand of one of the four field-majors, moved up from the river-bottom into the higher country, and struck into the trackless wilderness, taking a course nearly due west, piloted by the guides Slever and Zane. The advance was led by Capt. Biggs' company, in which were found young William Crawford (ensign), James Paull, John Rodgers, John Sherrard, Alex- ander Carson, and many other Fayette County vol- unteers.

Through the depths of the gloomy forest, along the north side of Cross Creek, the troops moved rapidly but warily, preceded by scouts, and observing every precaution known to border warfare, to guard against ambuscade or surprise, though no sign of an enemy appeared in the unbroken solitude of the woods. No incident of note occurred on the march until the night of the 27th of May, when, at their third camp- ing-place, a few of the horses strayed and were lost, and in the following morning the men who had thus been dismounted, being unable to proceed on foot without embarrassing the movements of the column, were ordered to return to Mingo Bottom, which they did, but with great reluctance.

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History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 20

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1314

Author: Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.H. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1314