USA > Pennsylvania > Huntingdon County > History of Huntingdon County, in the state of Pennsylvania : from the earliest times to the centennial anniversary of American independence, July 4, 1876 > Part 5
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The receipt of the Governor's message was acknowledged by Croghan on the first of May. He had laid it before the Indians at Aughwick that morning, upon whom, he said, it had the desired effect; that on the following morning all of them, excepting the women and children, would go with him to the camp; that he had dispatched messengers to all the tribes that could be found this side of the French fort, to meet him there, and had also sent for the Indians at the Susquehanna. He expressed a desire that the women and children too, should leave Aughwick, as he had no expecta- tion that the Assembly would make him any further allow- ances for their support ; and that, as he would be with the army all summer, some provision ought to be made for those that remained. He was ready to perform any duty that might be required of him, and had not nearly all of the Indians proved recreant, he might have rendered great ser- vices, but could not have changed the result of that dis- astrous campaign.
The appeal to the Indians to take part in the expedition was not very successful. The number who joined it was small. None came from the Lakes, the Ohio or the Susque- hanna. Croghan went with those he had at Aughwick, includ- ing the women and children, whom he had intended should remain behind. Braddock wrote to Governor Morris that he had between forty and fifty Indians from the frontiers of the province, and that he had taken Croghan and Montour into service. Richard Peters, who had been at the camp,
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reported to the Council that he found Scarroyady, Andrew Montour, and about forty Indians from Aughwick there, with their wives and families; that they were extremely dissatisfied at not being consulted with by the General, and frequently got into high quarrels; that the General had issued orders that the Indian women should not be admitted into camp, and insisted that they should be sent home. On the 20th of May, Croghan reported to the Governor, from Fort Cumberland, that he had about fifty men with him, and that he expected twenty more in a few days; that on the next day the women and children would start on their return to Aughwick; that after their arrival, there would be about one hundred and twenty there, and made some suggestions concerning their maintenance during the war.
But the pride of the sanguine Croghan, as well as that of the arrogant Braddock, was destined to be laid low. When the army reached the Little Meadow, there were but seven Indians with it. All the rest had gone from Fort Cumber- land to Aughwick with the women and children. Croghan, still hopeful, was expecting their return, and that he would be reinforced by forty or fifty more. But while so nearly deserted, his connection with the expedition was not entirely fruitless. We are told "that Sir John St. Clair had discov- ered, by the help of Mr. Croghan and his seven Indians, a party of between two and three hundred French Indians, and pursued them and drove them quite off; then they pro- ceeded in cutting the road toward the Ohio."
I am convinced by several coincidences, that these seven Indians were engaged in the battle at Braddock's defeat. In the following August, some of the Six Nations and Wyan- dottes, met the Provincial Council at Philadelphia, and among other speeches made was the following :
" Brethren of the Six Nations: You that are now here, to wit, Scarroyady, Cashuwayon, Froson, Kahuktodon, Atsche- chokatha, Kashwughdaniunto Dyaquario: You fought under General Braddock and behaved with spirit and valor during the engagement ; we should be wanting to ourselves not to make you our hearty acknowledgments for your
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fidelity and assistance. We see you consider yourselves as our flesh and blood, and fight for us as if we were your own kindred. By this belt we return you our hearty thanks."
It has been said that the part taken by Croghan in the battle could not be ascertained; but that he was in com- mand of the Indians to whom the thanks of the Council were afterwards given, is altogether plausible. And if such a conclusion be correct, then the only men furnished to Brad- dock's army from Pennsylvania went from Huntingdon county.
However much we may censure, for their want of valor, those Indians who deserted, we must certainly accord them praise for their discretion. They possessed more of the latter than Braddock himself. There may have been some reason in their disaffection. Scarroyady assigned a cause for it. In an address to the Provincial Council he said : "It is now well known to you how unhappily we have been defeated by the French near Minongelo (Monongahela). We must let you know that it was the pride and ignorance of that great General that came from England. He is now dead ; but he was a bad man when he was alive; he looked upon us as dogs, and would never hear anything what was said to him. We often endeavored to advise him and to tell him the danger he was in with his soldiers; but he never ap- peared pleased with us, and that was the reason that a great many of our warriors would not be under his command."
The Indians who had returned to Aughwick did not long remain there. Twenty-five of them arrived at John Harris', at Paxton, early in the summer, and at that time more were on the road to the same place. Scarroyady never resided at Aughwick after Braddock's defeat. In August we find him in Philadelphia, and before the 9th of September, within two months after the battle, he had gone up the Susquehanna river to settle at Shamokin. Of course the departure of the Indians changed Croghan's relations to the Government. His communications to the governor ceased. He no longer asked timidly for supplies, for compensation for his services, or for reimbursement for necessary expenditures.
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In October, 1755, he wrote: "glad am I that I have no hand in Indian affairs at this critical time, where no fault can be thrown on my shoulders."
CHAPTER VIII.
REVIVAL OF THE PROJECT OF FORTIFYING AUGIWICK-CONDITION OF THE FRONTIER SETTLEMENTS-REASONS WHY THEY WERE UNPROTECTED- CONFLICT BETWEEN THE GOVERNOR AND THE ASSEMBLY-CROGHAN COMMISSIONED AS A CAPTAIN AND ORDERED TO ERECT STOCKADES- WHERE THEY WERE TO BE BUILT-FORT SHIRLEY-CAPTAIN CROGHAN RECRUITS MEN TO GARRISON THIE FORTS-DIFFICULTIES CONCERNING HIS ACCOUNTS-RESIGNS HIS COMMISSION AND LEAVES FORT SHIRLEY.
Croghan now revived the project of fortifying Aughwick, which had been under consideration during the latter part of the previous year, but being out of the service of the Government, he looked for no assistance from that source. A regard for the safety of himself and other residents of that exposed region, led him to undertake the work with such help as he could obtain in the neighborhood. On the 9th of October, 1755, he wrote to a friend in Shippensburg, that he hoped to finish his stockade by the middle of the next week, and requested the loan of six guns, with powder, and twenty pounds of lead, promising to return them in about fifteen days, when he would get arms and ammuni- tion from the mouth of the "Conegochege."
At that time the frontier settlements were exposed to ex- treme danger. Consternation and alarm had spread through- out the entire country west of the Susquehanna, and those settlers who could escape the fury of the savages were flee- ing precipitately from their homes. The towns of Carlisle, York and Lancaster were daily filled with the refugees. But few remained, except those who paid with their lives and scalps for their temerity. At Aughwick, however Croghan had made his position sufficiently strong to prevent an attack. In the east there was great anxiety for his safety, and many rumors as to his fate. Scarroyady came down from Shamokin to Harris' Ferry, inquired after him, and on being informed that he was fortified at Aughwick, sent him advice to remove, or he would be killed. Gov-
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ernor Morris wrote to the Governor of Virginia, on the 2d of November, that "By letters of ye 29th and 30th of last month I am informed that the People of Aughwick & Juniata are cut off, and among others George Croghan." From intelligence then in the possession of the Governor, it is certain that no inhabitants remained on the Juniata. Croghan's situation is stated in a letter written by himself on the 12th of November: "I have butt a Stockade fortt at Aughwick, and have about forty men with me there, butt how long I shall be able to keep itt, I really can't tell."
The reasons for this unprotected and defenceless condition of the frontiers affords one of the most interesting chapters in the history of Pennsylvania. It was on account of a conflict between the legislative and executive branches of the government, a conflict which was the direct result of causes operating from the foundation of the province. The successors of William Penn in the proprietaryship were not Quakers, and their appointments to office and administration of the government were without regard, or rather in antago- nism, to the peaceful principles of their ancestor. But the Quakers still had sufficient political power to retain their ascendency in the Assembly. They tied the mouth of the public purse with more than a gordian knot. They voted neither supplies nor money, nor would they grant any au- thority whatever, for many years, for the enlistment of men and the forming of a militia. The complaints of Governor Morris were constant against the Assembly for adhering to a policy that prevented them from saving the lives of their citizens, and were made to the British government, to the Penns, to the Governors of the neighboring provinces, and to the Assembly itself. So completely was he deprived of military power, that not a man was furnished to Braddock from Pennsylvania, except Croghan and his few Indians. The teams for the transportation of baggage and supplies for the army were hired in York and Cumberland counties by Benjamin Franklin, on his own responsibility, and the Gov- ernor gathered a store of provisions at Shippensburg without legislative aid. The people were divided into parties upon
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this issue. Petitions from them were numerous, asking pro- tection on the one hand and opposing any warlike measures on the other. When, at length, the Assembly passed a mili- tia law, they did so without abandoning any of their religious scruples. Its character may be inferred from its title: " An Act for the better ordering and regulating such as are willing and desirous to be United for Military Purposes within this Province." It provided for the organization of a military force, but did not compel any body to join it. The whole spirit of the law is expressed in its opening sentence: "Whereas, this Province was settled by (and a majority of the Assemblies have ever since been) of the people called Quakers, who, tho' they do not as the World is now circum- stanced, condemn the Use of Arms in others, yet are prin- cipled against bearing Arms themselves." The complaints against the act were as loud and frequent as those that were made before its passage, particularly on the part of Governor Morris, but he was compelled to make the best out of the only legislation he could obtain.
Immediately after its enactment a plan was devised for the defence of the frontiers. Five hundred men were to be taken into service, half of whom were to be stationed on the east and the other half on the west side of the Susquehanna. George Croghan was given a captain's commission, three or four of which were issued, under the new law, previous to December 18th, 1755, and his may have been the first. He was directed to superintend the erection of fortifications west of that river. The places for three stockades were to be selected by him, "one back of Patterson's, one upon Kisha- coquillas, and one near Sideling Hill," each to be fifty feet square, with blockhouses on two corners and barracks within capable of accommodating fifty men. He was also to employ an overseer at each place, who was to receive not exceeding one dollar per day, and workmen, who were to be allowed at the rate of six dollars per month "and provisions." All the circumstances seemed to point to Aughwick as the place for one of these forts. Its defense had occupied the attention of the government a year before, and the necessity for its pro-
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tection had greatly increased. Croghan had built a stockade at his own expense and labor, and the selection of the sites for the new ones was to a great extent under his control. It was natural that he should prefer the strengthening of the one he had built. And probably nothing more was required. He had been secure during the most dangerous times, and with a garrison, under military discipline, was ready to defy any force that could be brought against him.
The original idea of erecting three stockades of the same size and construction was not strictly adhered to. There were four built, one twelve miles from the Susquehanna, called Pomfret Castle, one at the mouth of the Kisacoquillas, called Fort Granville, one at Aughwick, called Fort Shirley, and one at the Sugar Cabins, called Fort Lyttleton. Gov- ernor Morris was upon the frontiers in the months of Decem- ber, 1755, and January, 1756, visiting this line of fortifica- tions. On his return, he arrived in Philadelphia on the 28th of the latter month, all the forts west of the Susquehanna having been completed, named and garrisoned before he left them. He placed at each seventy - five men and ordered them to range the woods in both directions towards the other forts.
He was highly gratified with these defences, writing to Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, Colonel Washington and General Shirley, concern- ing them. In his letter to the latter, he described them at some length, and says in reference to Fort Shirley :
"About twenty miles northward of Fort Lytellton, at a place called Aughwick, another fort is Erected, somewhat larger than Fort Lytellton, which I have taken the Liberty to Honour with the name of Fort Shirley. This stands near the great Path used by the Indians and Indian Traders to and from the Ohio, and consequently the easiest way of access for the Indians into the settlements of this Province."
The author of this work is indebted to Samuel McVitty, Esq., formerly of Shirleysburg, now of Clay township, this county, for information in relation to the position of Fort Shirley, with reference to the natural surroundings in its immediate vicinity. The site of the fort has been frequently
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pointed out to him by those who had seen it, and by Isaac Morgan, who claims to have forted in it in his boyhood days. It was a log fort of considerable strength and size, standing on the edge of the plateau, south of the Fort Run and west of the road entering Shirleysburg from Mount Union Aughwiek was situated about half-way between the fort and Aughwick creek, where the depot of the East Broad Top railroad now stands. Mr. Mc Vitty spent many of his youth- ful hours in gathering arrow-heads, stone tomahawks, beads and musket balls from this historic ground.
Captain Croghan, in addition to his duties as superintend- ent of the erection of these works, was entrusted with the recruiting of men to garrison them. This he did very ex- peditiously. No sooner were the barracks completed than the companies were ready to enter them. The province had obtained an officer who at once acquired a reputation for promptness. But these speedy enlistments were attended with a want of economy that was not gratifying to those who had the disposal of the public funds. Disputes arose between him and the Commissioners concerning his accounts, and he became dissatisfied with the manner in which they were adjusted. In fact, he had always thought himself illy recompensed for his services and expenditures at Aughwick.
He continued in command of Fort Shirley, and of one of the companies raised by him, until the latter part of March, 1756, three months after the fort was built. There were issued to him during that time, two hundred tomahawks, one swivel, twenty-nine small arms, and two hundred and forty blankets. He had also some arms belonging to himself, which were retained and receipted for by his successor in command, Captain Hugh Mercer.
Croghan may have had other reasons for leaving Fort Shirley than the difficulties about his accounts. The causes which had brought him there and which had probably in- duced him to remain, were removed. The Assembly passed an act exempting him from arrest for ten years. As he could then face his creditors without fear, he resigned his commis- sion and went to New York.
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CHAPTER IX.
COMMISSARY GENERAL OF MUSTERS VISITS AND PAYS TROOPS AT FORT SHIRLEY -LETTER FROM CAPTAIN MERCER-RECRUITING AT CARLISLE-STRENGTHI OF GARRISON AT FORT SHIRLEY-CONDITION OF HIS COMPANY-ARMS, AC- COUTREMENTS, PROVISIONS AND PAY-CAPTURE AND BURNING OF FORT GRANVILLE-PREPARATIONS FOR AN ATTACK ON FORT SHIRLEY-COLONEL ARMSTRONG'S EXPEDITION AGAINST KITTANNING-RENDEZVOUS AT FORT SHIRLEY-SURPRISE AND ROUT OF TIIE INDIANS-KILLING OF CAPTAIN JACOBS, THE INDIAN CHIEF-CAPTAIN MERCER WOUNDED AND MISSING- HE REJOINS HIS COMPANY-EVACUATION OF FORT SHIRLEY.
About the time Captain Mercer assumed command of Fort Shirley, Captain Elisha Salter was appointed Commissary General of Musters, and ordered to inspect and pay all the companies in Cumberland county. He performed this duty, visiting the forts on the frontiers. His presence at Fort Shir- ley is referred to by Captain Mercer in a letter to Governor Morris, written from Carlisle, on the 18th day of April, 1756. Captain Mercer had gone to that place to recruit men for his company. It is gratifying to have from him a de- scription of the situation of affairs at the fort, of the difficul- ties connected with the provincial service, and of the defi- ciencies in pay, arms, equipments and rations. The following is his letter in full:
" Honoured Sir: The Commissary General of the Musters, with your Honour's Instructions to review and Pay off the Garrison att Fort Shirley, arrived in a very lucky time, when the greater part of our Men were about to abandon the Fort for want of Pay. It was with great difficulty I could prevent their doing so for three weeks before, that is ever since the time of enlistment had been expired. I am sorry to observe that numbers of our best men have declined the Service, and re- duced me to the necessity of recruiting anew, thro' diffidence with regard to their pay, and I have been obliged to engage that even such as left us when paid off, should have the same allowance as formerly for their Overplus time, depending upon my being reimbursed, as without such ingagement it
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was impossible to prevent the fort from falling into the Enemy's hands. I am now about filling up my Company to Sixty Men, agreeable to your Orders, and have drawn upon the Commissionaries for £30 for this purpose. A Garrison of thirty Men are now att Fort Shirley, engaged to remain there till the first of May, by which time I am in hopes of compleating the Company, and shall immediately thereupon repair thither. It is to be feared that Our Communication with the Settlement will soon be cut off, unless a greater force is Ordered for the Garrison. As Your Honour is sen- sible that I can send no detachment to escort provisions, equal in force to parties of the enemy, who have lately made attempts upon our frontiers, and considering how short of Provisions we have hitherto been kept, the Loss of One Party upon this duty must reduce us to the last necessity.
" Mr. Hugh Crawford is upon the Return of Leutenant, and Mr. Thos. Smallman, who acted before as Commissary in the Fort, as Ensign to my Company. It will be a particu- lar obligation laid upon me to have an exchange of Mr. James Hays for Leutenant and Mr. Smallman continued. And Perhaps Mr. Crawford would be satisfied to fill Mr. Hays' place, with Captain Paterson. as members of that Company are of his Acquaintance. I have given Mr. Croghan a Receipt for what Arms and other necessary Articles be- longing to him are att Fort Shirley, a copy of which, together with my Journall and General Return, shall be sent by Cap- tain Salter, and find it impossible to Arm my Men or com- pleat what yet remains of our Outworks without them. The Guns are preferable to those belonging to the Government, and I hope will be purchased for our Use.
"Captain Salter will inform your Honour how unfitt the Arms in General are for Use, even after being righted by a Gunsmith, whose Account is very Considerable; besides, we have no Cartridge Boxes, nor any convenient pouches for Powder and Lead, so that in complying with Your Instructions of giving a Detail of what is wanting for the Company, I may mention in General, Arms and Accoutrements, besides Orders to the Commissary for a large Supply of Provisions.
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att Once, And regular pay Once a Month; it will put me to extream difficulty if the Commissionaries do not think proper to remit me Money to pay my Men by the first of May. I have wrote them to this purpose, and beg Your Honour will enable me to fulfill my engagements with the Company, without which I can hope for very little Satisfaction in serv- ing the publick.
"The trust your Honour has been pleased to repose in me in giving me the Command of Fort Shirley, calls for my warm Acknowledgements, and cannot fail of engaging my utmost attention and zeal in the execution of your Orders."
In July, 1756, the Indians from Kittanning, under their chiefs, Shingas and Jacobs, captured and burned Fort Gran- ville, killing and making prisoners of the garrison. Later in the season they prepared for new incursions against the frontiers and an attack on Fort Shirley. Governor Morris determined that they should not have the opportunity of striking the first blow. He concerted an expedition against them to be commanded by Col. John Armstrong, who was to have under him the companies of Captain Hamilton, Cap- tain Mercer, Captain Ward and Captain Patterson. These were the forces that garrisoned the fortifications west of the Susquehanna. They were to rendezvous at Fort Shirley, which they accordingly did, and marched from there on the 30th of August, in that year. Col. Armstrong was successful in surprising the Indians at Kittanning at daybreak on the morning of the 8th of September, in completely routing them, destroying their town of thirty houses, and in killing Captain Jacobs, the chief, who had declared that he could take any fort that would burn, and that he would make peace with the Eng- lish when they would learn him to make gunpowder. Captain Mercer was wounded in the arm early in the engagement and became separated from the main body of the troops. When the latter arrived at Fort Littleton, on their return from Kit- tanning, he had not rejoined them. The losses in his com- pany were seven killed, one wounded and nine missing. Among the latter was himself.
Captain Jacobs, at the time of his disaster, was upon the
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eve of setting out to take Fort Shirley. On that day two bateaux of Frenchmen and a party of Delawares and other Indians were to have joined him at Kittanning, and to have started with him the next morning.
Captain Mercer had not been captured by the Indians. In the following November he assumed command of his com- pany at Shippensburg, although his wound had not healed.
Before the starting of the expedition to Kittanning, Col. Armstrong had recommended the evacuation of Fort Shirley. He considered it not easily defensible and that there was danger of the supply of water being cut off from it, as the stream ran at the foot of a high bank, eastward of the fort. " I am of opinion," said he, "from its remote situation, that it can't serve the Country in the present circumstances, and if attacked, I doubt will be taken if not strongly Garrisoned, but (extremities excepted) I cannot evacuate this without your Honour's Orders. Lyttelton, Shippensburg and Car- lisle (the two last not finished) are the only Forts now built that will, in my Opinion, be Serviceable to the Publick."
On the 15th day of October, 1756, the Governor announced to the Council at Philadelphia, that Fort Shirley had been evacuated by his order. This was not done because the dangers against which it was intended to guard had passed away, but because they had increased to such an extent that it could no longer be relied upon as a protection. The enemy had become more powerful.
CHAPTER X.
SITUATION ON THE FRONTIERS AFTER 1754-WARRANTS GRANTED IN 1755- IN 1762-IIUGH CRAWFORD'S IMPROVEMENT-REVIVAL OF PURCHASES- DANGERS FROM AND DEPREDATIONS BY THE INDIANS-TIIE TOWN OF HUNTINGDON-ITS FOUNDER, DR. WILLIAM SMITH-SELINA, COUNTESS OF HUNTINGDON.
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