History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 5

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 5

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traversed to the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny (at the present village of Somerfield), and thence to Gist's settlement. From Gist's he marched to the Monongahela, at the mouth of Redstone Creek, where his men were for a time employed in erecting a store- house (called the " Hangard") for the Ohio Company. After completing it they continued their march to the present site of the city of Pittsburgh, which place they reached on the 17th of February, and there met Christopher Gist and several others. They imme- diately commenced work in the construction of the fort, preparation for which had been begun by the party which Washington met on his way to Wills' Creek.

Not long after the commencement of the work, Captain Trent returned by way of the Hangard and Gist's to Wills' Creek, and Lieut. Frazier went to his home on the Monongahela, at the mouth of Turtle Creek, leaving the other commissioned officer, En- sign Ward, in charge of the men engaged in the con- struction of the fort.

The work progressed slowly (on account of the severity of the weather) for about two months, when suddenly, on the 17th of April, Ensign Ward found himself confronted by a hostile force of about seven hundred French and Indians, having with them eigh- teen 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 Captain Contrecœur, who at once demanded a sur- render of the work and position. The responsibility lay wholly with Ward, as he was the only commis- sioned officer with the force; but the Half-King, Tana- charison, who was present, and firm as ever in his loyalty to the English, advised the ensign to reply to Contrecœur, that as he was not an officer of rank, and had no authority to answer the demand, he hoped that the French commander would wait until the ar- rival of his superior officer, whom he would at once send for. But Contrecœur refused to accede to this, and demanded immediate surrender, saying that, in case of non-compliance, he would immediately take possession by force of arms.

It was of course impracticable for this ensign's com- mand of about thirty-three men to hold the position against a force of more than twenty times their num- ber, with artillery ; and, therefore, the unfinished fort was surrendered without further parley. The French

n letter from George Croghan to Governor Hamilton, dated March 23, 1754. In the letter first referred to, Dinwiddie says, " . . . In Jannary I commissioned William Trent to raise one hundred men; he lind got seventy and has begun a fort at the forks of the Monongalio." And Cioglumn ( who had then just returned east from the Ohio) said in his letter, "Mr. Tient had received a commission from the Governor of Virginia, and had enlisted about seventy men before I left Ohio. I left him aud lu s men at the month of Monongalio building a fort, which seemed to give the Indians great pleasure and put them in high spirits." (Colonial Records, vi, page 21.) Perhaps Croghan included soldiers and laborers, while Ward had reference ouly to the former. There seems to be no other explanation of the discrepancy in the statements.

FRENCHI OCCUPATION AT THE HEAD OF THE OHIO.

commander received Ensign Ward with great polite- ness, invited him to supper that evening, and enter- tained him for the night. On the morning of the 18th, Ward took his departure, marched his men up the valley of the Monongahela, and on the 19th arrived at the mouth of Redstone Creek. From that point he pushed on aeross the territory of the present county of Fayette, by way of Gist's, and thenee to the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny, and arrived at Wills' Creek on the 22d of April. The fort which Ward had been compelled to surrender to Coutrecœur was completed by the French force with all practicable dispatch, and named "Fort du Quesne" in honor of the Marquis du Quesne, the French Governor-Gen- eral of Canada.'

While the events already related were in progress,

1 The Following from the " Calendar of Virginia State Papers and other Manuscripts, 1452 to 1781, preserved in the capitol at Richnerd; ar- ranged and edited by William Palmer, M.D., under authority of the Legislature of Virginin, vol. i., 1876," gives authentic information as to Captain Treut's operations at the livad of the Ohio, and the surrender of the partially constructed fort by Ensign Ward to the French comman- der, viz. :

" Deposition taken March 10, 1777, at the house of Mr. John Ormsby, in Pittsburgh, &c. Agrevuble to Notice given to Cul. George Morgan, Agent for the Indian Company, before James Wood and Charles Simais, pursuant to a resolution of the Honbe the Convention of Virginia ap- polnting them Commissioners for Collecting Evidence on behalf of the Conunouwealth of Virginia ngninst the several Persons pretending to claim Lands with in the Territory and Limits thereof, ander Deeds uf Purchases from Indiauns.

" Major Edward Ward Deposeth umnl saith that in the beginning of the yenr 1734, William Trent Esquire was appointed by Governour Din- willdie of Virginia, Captain of u Company to be raised, of which this Depo- nent was appointed Ensign, by the said Trent. Whoassembled the Chiefs and Deputies of the Six Nations, nud requested of them permission to Erect a Trading House at the Junction of the Allegheny and Mononga- hinle Rivers, to carry on a Free and open Trade with the Six Nations, and their dependants ; which was grauted by the said deputies, with this restriction, that he was to form no Settlements or improvements on the suid Lama, but on the Contrary to Evnenate the same when required by tre Six Nations.

" After which the said Capt. Trent iulisted a number of men not ex- feeding thirty-three, and proceeded to erect a Fort at the place before mentioned. That ou the 17th of April following, and before the Fort was nearly completed, this Deponent, who commanded in the absence uf Capt. Treut, wus pat to the necessity of surrendering the possession tu n Superior number of Troops, Commanded by a French Officer, who demanded it in the name of the King of France ; at which time the Half- King, aml a number of the Six Nations in the English Interests were present. This deponent further saith that in the year 1732, and before his surrender to the French, there was a small Village, Inhabited by the Delawares, on the South East side of the Allegheny River, in the neigh- borhood of that place, and that old Kittanning, on the same side of the said River, was then Inhabited by the Delawares; that about one-third of the Shawanese Inhabited Loggs Town on The West Side of the Ohio, ail tended Cora on the East Side of the River-und the other part of the nation lived on the Scioto Biver. That the Deputies of the Six Na- tivus after the surrender Joined the Virginia Forces, Commandeil by Colonel George Washington, who was then on his march at the Little Meadows, and contiuted with him in the servhe of Virginia till after the defeat el Monsieur La Force and a party of French Troops under his Commaml. And the deponent further saith thut subsequent to the de- feat of Colo. Washington at the great Meadows, the Shuwanese, Dela- wares, nud many of the Western Tribes of Indians, and nu inconsider- able number of Renegades of the Seneen Tribe, one of the Six Nations, joined the French, and Prosecuted a War against the Frontiers of the States of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, till the conclusion of the Pence with the Indians in the year 1739, but that he ever under- stooil that the Body of the Six Nations continued the firm Friends of the English. .

troops, intended for the occupation of the " Forks of the Ohio," were being raised and organized under the authority of Governor Dinwiddie, in Virginia, and the first detachment of these was sent forward under command of Lieut .- Col. George Washington, who, on the 31st of March, had received from the Governor a commission (dated Mareh 15th) of that grade in the Virginia regiment, of which Col. Joshua Fry was the commanding offieer, with others to take the troops then quartered in Alexandria, 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 attempts and hostilities of the French."

The detachment thus ordered forward under Wasl :- ington, consisted of two companies of infantry, com- manded respectively by Capt. Peter Hogg and Lieut. Jacob Van Braam.2" Besides the commanding officer and the two company commandants, the force con- sisted of " five subalterns, two sergeants, six corporals, one drummer, and one hundred and twenty soldiers ; one surgeon,3 and one Swedish gentleman, who was a volunteer."

On Tuesday, the 2d of April, at noon, the force marched out of Alexandria with two wagons, and eamped that night six miles from the town. From that time nothing of note occurred in fifteen days' marching, except that the detachment was joined by a small company under Capt. Stephen,4 bringing the total strength of the command up to about one hun- dred and fifty men.

Washington kept no regular journal on the expe- dition, but he made hasty notes of many occurrences ; which notes were captured by the French at the bat- tle of the Monongahela in 1755, and were by them preserved and published, though Washington said afterwards that they had distorted parts of them. One memorandum, dated April 19th, is to this effect : "Met an express who had letters from Capt. Trent, at the Ohio,5 demanding a reinforcement with all speed, as he hourly expected a body of eight hundred French. I tarried at Job Pearsall's for the arrival of the troops, where they came the next day. When I received the above express, I dispatched a courier to Col. Fry, to give him notice of it.

"The 20th .- Came down to Col. Cresap's [ Old Town, Md.] to order the detachment, and on my route had notice that the fort was taken by the French. That news was confirmed by Mr. Ward, the ensign of Capt. Trent, who had been obliged to surrender to a body

" The same person who, in the preceding nutamn, had accompanied Washington to Fort Le Bœuf as French interpreter.

3 Dr. James Crnik, afterwards the family physician of Washington, and his intimate and life-long friend.

4 Afterwards Gen. Stephen, of the Revolutionary army, ander Wash- ingtun.

& C'npt. Trent appears to have attempted to conceal the fact that he had nbsented hinisell from his command nt the Forks of the Ohio, leaviles Ensign Ward in charge, an offense for which he was severely cen-med by Gov. Dinwiddie, who, on discovering it, proposed to have him court- martialed for it.

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

of one thousand French and upwards,' under com- mand of Capt. Contrecœur, who was come down from Venango with sixty bateaux and three hundred canoes, and who, having planted eighteen pieces of cannon against the fort, afterwards had sent him a summons to depart."

Ensign Ward, as before mentioned, arrived at Wills' Creek on the 22d. Washington, on receiving Ward's account of the surrender of the fort to the French, convened a council of war at Wills' Creek to deter- mine on the proper course to be pursued in this exi- gency. The council was held on the 23d, and decided "that it would be proper to advance as far as Red- stone Creek, on Monongahela, about thirty-seven miles on this side of the fort, and there to raise a for- tification, clearing a road broad enough to pass with all our artillery and baggage, and there to wait for fresh orders." The reasons for this decision were, " First, That the mouth of Redstone is the first con- venient place on the river Monongahela. Second, That stores are already built at that place for the provisions of the company, wherein our ammunition may be laid up; our great guns may be also sent by water whenever we should think it convenient to attack the fort. Third, We may easily (having all these con- veniences) preserve our people from the ill conse- quences of inaction, and encourage the Indians, our allies, to remain in our interests." When the council had arrived at this decision, Ensign Ward was sent forward to acquaint Governor Dinwiddie with the facts as well as to make his own report, taking with him an interpreter, and one of the young Indians, while another Indian runner was sent to the Half- King, at the Ohio, to notify him of the projected ad- vance of the Virginians.2 " I thought it proper also," said Washington, " to acquaint the Governors of Mary- land and Pennsylvania of the news."

After a few brief preparations Washington's forces moved ont on the path leading to the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny, cutting out the road as they proceeded ; so that it was not until the 9th of May that they reached the Little Crossings (Castleman's River). While they were at this place (May 11th) Washington sent out a reconnoitring party of twenty- five men under command of Capt. Stephen and En- sign Peyronie, with orders to scout along the line of advance, as far as Gist's place, "to inquire where La Force3 and his party were,-and in case they were in

1 Ward overestimated the numbers of Contrecoeur's force, as it was very natural that he should do, under the circumstances.

2 The Half-King hnd sent by some of his Indians to Washington, at Wills' Creek, an address or speech with belts of wampum. To that speech Washington now sent back by the runner a written reply, as- suring him of the friendship and gratitude of the Englishi, and that they were moving towards the Ohio in force, and clearing a rond for a much larger army, with great guns. He also requested the Half-King to come up and meet him on the way, to assist ham by his wise counsel. To this request Tanacharison responded by meeting Washington between the Yonghiogheny and Gist's, as will be seen.

3 La Force was a Frenchman, who had been sent out from Fort dn Quesne about the first of May with a small party of French nad Indians.

the neighborhood, to cease pursuing, and take care of themselves ;" and, also, "to examine 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. Some accounts have it that they made the long halt at this place for the purpose of building a bridge over the river, but this is rendered improbable by the following entry, having reference to the day on which they moved on from their three days' encampment, viz. : " 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 shortest men had water up to their arm-pits." On the same day Washington received, by courier, letters informing him that Col. Fry was at Winchester with upwards of one hundred men, and would start in a few days to join the advance detachment ; also that Colonel Innis was.on the way with three hundred and fifty Carolinians. On the 16th the column met two traders, who said they were fleeing for fear of the French,-parties of whom had been seen near Gist's. These traders told Washington that they believed it to be impossible to clear a road over which wagons or artillery-pieces could be taken to the mouth of Red- stone Creek. On the 17th, Ensign Ward rejoined Washington, having come from Williamsburg, with a letter from the Governor, notifying him that Captain Mackay, with an independent company of one hun- dred men, exclusive of officers, was on the way, and that he might expect them at any day. Two Indians came in from "the Ohio" the same evening, and reported that the French at Fort du Quesne were ex- pecting reinforcements sufficient to make their total force sixteen hundred men.

On the 18th the column reached the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny (Somerfield), where the com- panies eneamped, and remained 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 ex- amine the stream below, hoping to find that it was navigable for bateaux, or canoes of sufficient size to carry cannon and stores. It is not improbable that the opinions so confidently expressed by the two fugi- tive traders, who came in on the 16th, and others, as to the impossibility of opening a practicable road for guns and heavy material to the mouth of Redstone Creek, had impressed him so strongly as to cause him

ostensibly for the purpose of capturing deserters; bnt Washington, who had received information from an Indian runner sent by the Half-King, believed they had other purposes in view, and therefore ordered the reconnaissance.

WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN OF 1754 IN THIE YOUGHIOGHENY VALLEY.

to entertain the idea of making his military base on the Youghiogheny instead of on the Monongahela as first intended.

Whatever may have been his reasous, it is certain that Washington decided on, and made, the explora- tion, commencing the voyage on the 20th, in a canoe, "with Lieut. West, three soldiers, 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."

On the morning of the 21st they remained some time at Turkey Foot, " to examine the place, which we found very convenient to build a fort.1 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 dis- tance of about ten miles below Turkey Foot, "it became so rapid as to oblige us to come ashore." Thus ended Washington's exploration of the Yough- iogheny, and then the party returned to the camp at the Great Crossings.

Upon the return of Col. Washington from his ex- ploring trip the troops were put in motion, and crossing the Younghiogheny without bridging (the high water having then in a great measure subsided), marched on northwestwardly towards the Great Meadows, at which place they arrived on the 24th, at two o'clock in the afternoon. In the morning of that day, when the column was a few miles southeast of the Meadows, two Indian runners came in from the Ohio with a message from the Half-King saying that " the French army" was already on the march from Fort du Quesne to meet the advancing force of Washington, and also notifying him that Tanacharison and the other chiefs would soon be with him to hold council, as Wash- ington had requested in the dispatch sent to him from Wills' Creek.

On the same afternoon that the troops arrived at the Great Meadows, a trader came in saying that he had come from Gist's, where the evening before he had seen two Frenchmen; he also knew that a strong French force was in the vicinity of Stewart's Cross- ings on the Youghiogheny. This report confirmed the news received from the Half-King, and thereupon Washington decided to remain for a time at the Meadows, and avail himself of the advantage offered by the position. There were here, as he said in his notes, " two natural intrenchments," which he caused to be strengthened to some extent artificially, and

within these slight defenses he placed a part of the troops with the wagons. The troops worked two or three days in strengthening the position, and on the 27th of May Washington wrote: "We have, with nature's assistance, made a good entrenchment, and by clearing the bushes out of the meadows, prepared a charming field for an encounter." Probably he never afterwards used so unmilitary an adjective in deserib- ing .the construction and surroundings. of a fortifica- tion.

On the 25th several small detachments were sent out from the camp with orders to reconnoitre the road" and the Indian trails, to examine the woods and every part of the country thoroughly, "and endeavor to get some news of the French, of their forces, and of their motions." But these parties returned in the evening of the same day without having made any discoveries. On the 26th a messenger (Mr. William Jenkins) arrived, bringing dispatches-though of no great importance-from Col. Fairfax, who, with Gov- ernor Dinwiddie, was then at Winchester.

Early on the morning of the 27th, 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. Ile also said he had seen their tracks within five miles of the Virgin- ians' camp. On receipt of this information, Waslı- ington sent out a detachment of seventy-five men under Capt. Hogg, Lieut. Mercer, and Ensign Pey- ronie, in search of the French force. Information had already been received that a party of Indians, under the friendly Half-King, had come up the Mo- nongahela, and was probably not very far from the Great Meadows. On the evening of the 27th, an In- dian messenger from Tanacharison came to Wash- ington with the information that the Half- King- whose camp, he said, was only six miles away-had seen the tracks of two Frenchmen, which he followed stealthily, and had thereby discovered the French party encamped in a rocky raviue, secluded, and diffi- cult of access, and situated about half a mile from the trail.3

On receiving this intelligence, Washington was

2 That is, the path which had been slightly cleared by Cupt. Trent, and the Ohio Company's party which had preceded him in the previous winter.

3 " On the 27th of May the Half-King sent Col. Washington Notice that n Paity from the French Army was hankering about his Camp, if he would march some of his People to join them, he did not doubt of cutting them off. Col. Washington marched that Night and came up to the In- dians; one of the Indian Runners tracked the French Men's Feet and came up to their Lodgment ; they discovered our People about one hun- dred yards distant, few to their Arms, and a small Engagement ensurd. We lost one Man and another wounded ; the French bad Twelve killed and Twenty-one taken Prisoners, who are now in our Prison ; the In- dians sculped many of the dead French, took up the Hatchet against them, sent their Scalps and a String of black Wampum to several other Tribes of Indians, with a desire that they should also take up the Hatchet against the French, which I hope they have done."-Letter of Gor. Lineiddie to Gor. Hamilton, of Penumileunit, dated Jone 21, 1-34. : Coloni. I I. co vla, vi , p. 55.

1 This seems to show that he then lind in contemplation a change in the original plan of operations by making his base on the Y. ughlogheny instead of the Monongahela.

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

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 it. He there- fore ordered the ammunition to be placed in a safe position, under a guard strong enough to prevent it from capture in ease of attack, and then set out im- mediately, with the rest of his men,1 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 distinguish ; but they persevered, and in the morning at a little before sunrise reached the Half- King's camp,2 where, at a council, held with the old sachem, it was determined to proceed at once to attack the French eamp.

The party whose movements had been reported by Gist and others was the "French army," of whose departure from Fort Du Quesne Washington had been apprised. In some historieal accounts of the campaign it has been stated that it was under eom- mand of M. La Force, but this was not the case; it was commanded by M. de Jumonville,3 a French en- sign, who was accompanied by La Force, but the lat- ter was simply a volunteer, and held no military command in the expedition. Afterwards the French authorities and writers claimed that Jumonville him- self was not engaged in a military enterprise, but that he was merely an envoy or bearer of dispatches

1 Mest accounts have it that the force which Washington took with him on that night consisted of ouly forty men ; but the language of his notes -though not entirely clear-indicates that the number left to guard the ammunition was about forty, and that the remainder of his force accom- pmied him on the expedition.

" Mr. Veech places the site of the Half-King's camp on that night, "near a fine sjning, since called Washington's Spring, about fifty rods northward of the Grint Rork," in the northwest part of the present town- ship of Wharton, and very near the old National road.

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History of Fayette County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 5

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