History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 11

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216

USA > Pennsylvania > Washington County > History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men > Part 11

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The mortally wounded general must have been suf- fering intense agony of mind as well as of body, but through it all, like the brave and faithful officer that he was, he never forgot that there were other maimed and suffering ones who sorely needed aid. "Despite the intensity of his agonies," says Sargent, " Braddock still persisted in the exercise of his authority and the fulfillment of his duties." On reaching Gist's he found that no provisions, stores, nor surgical aid had arrived there in obedience to the command sent by Washing- ton to Col. Dunbar, and thereupon he sent still more peremptory orders to that officer to forward them in- stantly, with the two only remaining companies of the Forty-fourth and Forty-eighth Regiments, to assist in bringing off the wounded. The wagons arrived on the morning of Friday, the 11th, and a party was then immediately sent back towards the Monongahela to rescue such of the wounded as could be found, and with a supply of provisions to be left along the road for the benefit of those who might be missed and come

news, and that the officers could not pass to the general by reason of the Indians ; that about nine or ten o'clock the same day this examinant saw and spoke with several wagoners who were come into Col. Dunbar's camp from Gen. Braddock's, and who informed this examinant that Gen. Braddock with his advanced party of fifteen hundred men had been attacked on the ninth instant within five miles of Fort Du Quesne by a great many French and Indians who surrounded them ; that the action lasted three hours; that the most part of the English were killed; that Gen. Braddock was wounded and put into a wagon, and afterwards killed by the Indians; that Sir Peter Hacket and Capt. Orme were also killed. And this examinant further saith that he saw some soldiers re- turn into Col. Dunbar's camp, who he was informed had been of General Braddock's advanced party, some of whom were wounded, some not ; also saw two officers carried on sheets, one of whom was said to be Sir John St. Clair, whom the examinant was informed had received two wounds; that about noon of the same day Col. Dunbar's drums beat to arms; and both before and after that many soldiers and wagoners with other attendants upon the camp took to flight, and amongst others this exam- inant. And further saith not."

BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITION IN 1755.

up afterwards. Of the movements of the general and his party on that day, Capt. Orme's Journal has the ; following entry :

" Gist's plantation, July 11th .- Some wagons, pro- visions, and hospital stores arrived. As soon as the wounded were dressed, and the men had refreshed themselves, we retreated to Col. Dunbar's camp, which was near Rock Fort. The general sent a ser- geant's party back with provisions to be left on the road, on the other side of the Yoxhio Geni, for the refreshment of any men who might have lost their way in the woods. Upon our arrival at Col. Dun- bar's camp we found it in the greatest confusion. Some of his men had gone off upon hearing of our de- feat, and the rest seemed to have forgot all discipline. Several of our detachments had not stopped till they had reached the camp. It was found necessary to clear some of the wagons for the wounded, many of whom were in a desperate situation ; and as it was im- possible to remove the stores, the howitzer shells, some twelve-pound shot, powder, and provisions were destroyed or buried."

The terror and consternation at Dunbar's camp had been constantly on the increase from the time when the first of the frightened wagoners had gal- loped in with the alarming news on the morning of the 10th. Through all that day and the following night terrified fugitives from the field, many of them wounded, were continually pouring in, each telling a fearful tale of rout and massacre, and all uniting in the assertion that the French and savages in over- whelming force were following close in the rear. This latter statement was wholly false, for the enemy had made no attempt at pursuit from the shores of the Monongahela ; but the tale was believed, and its effect was an uncontrollable panic at the camp.

On the arrival of Capt. Stewart with his escort, bearing the wounded general, a decision was at once arrived at to retreat without delay to Fort Cumber- land, destroying everything which could not be car- ried. It was a strange proceeding, and one which must now appear cowardly, for an army of fully a thousand men, many of them veteran soldiers, with sufficient artillery and an abundance of ammunition, to abandon a mountain position which might soon and easily have been rendered impregnable, and to fly before the imaginary pursuit by an enemy which was greatly inferior in numbers, and had already re- tired in the opposite direction. But if the retreat was to be made, then it was necessary to destroy nearly everything except a meagre supply of provisions, for there was barely transportation enough for the sick and wounded, who numbered more than three hundred. There were more than enough wagons to carry everything, but the number of horses was small, many of the best having been ridden away by the frightened wagoners and other fugitives, and most of those sent forward with the trains of the advance column having been captured by the enemy.

The work of destruction and preparation for retreat were commenced immediately, and completed on the 12th. The howitzers and every other artillery piece except two were burst, as were also a great part of the shells. Some of the shells and nearly all the solid shot were buried. A great number of wagons (having no horses to draw them) were burned. Only a small part of the provisions was saved for the march, most of them being destroyed by burning, or thrown into the little pond of water that had been formed by dam- ming the spring a short distance below the camp. The powder-casks were opened, and their contents- stated at fifty thousand pounds of powder-thrown into the pool. Of all the immense quantity of ma- terial and stores which had with such great expense and labor been transported across the Alleghenies, and to the top of Laurel Hill, there was only saved the least amount that could possibly meet the neces- sities of the retreat to Cumberland.

It has been generally believed that the artillery . pieces were not burst, but buried at Dunbar's camp, as well as a great deal of other property. Stories were told, too, that a large amount of money was buried there by Dunbar on the eve of his retreat. As to the statement concerning the burial of the can- non, it was indorsed by and perhaps originated with Col. Burd ;1 but it was disproved by a letter dated Aug. 21, 1755, addressed to Governor Shirley by Col. Dunbar, and indorsed by his officers, in which they said, "We must beg leave to undeceive you in what you are pleased to mention of guns being buried at the time Gen. Braddock ordered the stores to be de- stroyed, for there was not a gun of any kind buried."

The question, who was responsible for the disgrace- ful retreat from Dunbar's camp, and the destruction of the stores and war material at that place, has gen- erally received an answer laying the blame on Dun- bar himself; and this appears to be just, though in his letter, above quoted, he mentions the order for the destruction as having been given by Braddock. It is true that the orders were still issued in his name, but the hand of death was already upon him, and he was irresponsible. The command really lay with Col. Dunbar, had he been disposed to take it, as he un- doubtedly would readily have done had it not hap- pened that the so-called orders of Braddock were in this instance (and for the first time in all the cam- paign) in accordance with his wishes.

In regard to the issuance of these orders by the dying commander, and Dunbar's very ready and willing obedience to them, Sargent-who, however, almost contradicts himself in the first and last parts

1 On the 11th of September, 1759, Col. Burd visited Dunbar's camp, and concerning this visit his journal says, " From here we marched to Dunbar's camp. . . . Here we saw vast quantities of cannon-ball, mus- ket-bullets, broken shells, and an immense destruction of powder, wagons, etc. Reconnoitered all the camp, and attempted to find the cannon and mortars, but could not discover them, although we dug & great many holes where stores had been buried, and concluded the French had carried them off."

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

of the extract given below-says, "Braddock's strength was now fast ebbing away. Informed of the disorganized condition of the remaining troops, he abandoned all hope of a prosperous termination to the expedition. He saw that not only death but utter defeat was inevitable. But, conscious of the odium the latter event would excite, he nobly resolved that the sole responsibility of the measure should rest with himself, and consulted with no one upon the steps he pursued. He merely issued his orders, and insisted that they were obeyed. Thus, after destroying the stores to prevent their falling into the hands of the enemy (of whose pursuit he did not doubt), the march was to be resumed on Saturday, the 12th of July, to- wards Wills' Creek. Ill judged as these orders were, they met with too ready acquiescence at the hands of Dunbar, whose advice was neither asked nor tendered on the occasion. . . . For this service-the only in- stance of alacrity that he displayed in the campaign-

· Dunbar must not be forgiven. It is not perfectly clear that Braddock intelligently ever gave the orders, but in any case they were not fit for a British officer to give or to obey. Dunbar's duty was to have maintained here his position, or at least not to have contemplated falling back beyond Wills' Creek. That he had not horses to remove his stores was, however, his after- excuse."

The destruction of the guns, ammunition, and stores was finished at Dunbar's camp on the 12th of July, and on the morning of Sunday, the 13th, the retreating troops, composed of Dunbar's command and the remnant of the force that fought on the Monongahela, moved away on the road to Cumber- land. They took with them the only artillery pieces that were left (two six-pounders), a small quantity of provisions and hospital stores, and the remaining wagons, nearly all of which were laden with the sick and wounded. The commander-in-chief, now rapidly approaching his end, was borne along with the column. The entry for this day in Capt. Orme's Journal reads : "July 13th .- We marched hence to the camp near the Great Meadows, where the general died."

At the place where Dunbar's troops bivouacked after this day's march, about two miles west of Fort Necessity, at eight o'clock on that midsummer Sun- day night, Gen. Braddock breathed his last. He had spoken very little after the time when he was brought from the fatal field. It is related that on the first night he repeated, as if soliloquizing, " Who would have thought it ! who would have thought it!" and after that was silent1 until the fourth day, when he said to Capt. Orme, "We shall better know how to deal with them another time." He spoke no more, and soon after expired; Capt. Stewart, of the light- horse, having never left him from the time he re- ceived his wound until after his death. Washington

and Orme were also with him at the last moment, and it is said (by Sargent) that shortly before his death the general bequeathed to Washington 2 his favorite charger and his body-servant, Bishop, so well known in after-years as the faithful attendant of the patriot chief.

On the morning of the 14th of July the dead gen- eral was buried at the camp where he died, and the artillery pieces, the wagon-train, and the soldiers, moving out to take the road to Wills' Creek, passed over the spot, to obliterate all traces of the new grave,8 and thus to save it from desecration by the savages,

" Notwithstanding the many absurd accounts which have been given of the disagreements which occurred between Braddock and Washing- ton, and of the insolent and contemptuous manner in which the latter was treated by his chief, all evidence that is found tends to show that there existed between the two a friendship such as is very rarely known 88 between a commanding general and a mere youth serving under him without military rank, for in this campaign Washington held none, and was consequently never admitted to Braddock's councils of war. He was by the British officers below Braddock contemptuously styled "Mr. Washington," for they disliked him, principally because of the consideration shown him by Braddock, and partly because he was merely a " Virginia buckskin," which latter fact made Braddock's friendship for him all the more galling to them. In later years Presi- dent Washington, in speaking (see Niles' Register, xiv. p. 179) of Brad- dock, said, " He was unfortunate, but his character was much too se- verely treated. He was one of the honestest and best men of the British officers with whom I was acquainted; even in the manner of fighting he was not more to blame than others, for of all that were consulted only one person objected to it. . . . Braddock was both my general and my phy- sician," alluding in the latter remark to the time when he (Washing- ton) had been taken sick near the Little Meadows on the outward march, on which occasion Braddock gave his personal attention to the case, leav- ing Washington with a sergeant to take care of him, with medicine and directions (given by himself) of how to take it, also with instructions to come on and rejoin him (the general) whenever he should find himself able to do so.

As to the accounts, with which all are familiar, of Washington as- Buming command after the fall of Braddock, and saving the remnant of the force from destruction, its utter absurdity is made apparent by the extracts which have been given from Capt. Orme's Journal. Washington exercised no command in that campaign, and the only circumstance which can give any color to the story is that some of the Virginians, knowing him as an officer in the militia of that colony, were disposed in the confusion of the battle to follow him in preference to the British officers, who despised their method of backwoods fighting.

3 The precise spot where Gen. Braddock was buried has never been certainly known. Col. Burd, who visited it in 1759, when on his way to erect Fort Burd, on the Monongahela, said it was about two miles from Fort Necessity, and " about twenty yards from a little hollow, in which there was a small stream of water, and over it a bridge." Gen. Wash- ington said that it had been his purpose to return to the spot and erect a monument to his memory, but that he had no opportunity to do so until after the Revolution, and then, after the most diligent search, he found it impossible to recognize the spot where the general was buried on account of the change in the road and the extension of the clearing.

In 1812 a party of men who were engaged in working on the road dug out, near the bank of the small stream known as Braddock's Run, the bones of a human skeleton, and with them some military trappings; from which latter circumstance the bones were supposed to be those of Braddock, and it is not improbable that they were so, though there is no proof that such was the case. Some of the larger bones were taken away by the people of the vicinity as relics, but these were afterwards collected, and they as well as the others were reinterred about 1820, at the spot which has since been known as " Braddock's Grave," and which was so marked by the words cut or painted on a board which was nailed to a tree over the place of reinterment. This tree has since been cut down, the grave inclosed, and evergreen trees planted over it. The spot is a few rods north of the National road, in Wharton township, Fayette County.

1 This conflicts strongly with Sargent's statement that at Dunbar's camp he "issued his orders and insisted that they were obeyed."

INCURSIONS AND RAVAGES DURING THE FRENCH OCCUPATION.

who were expected soon to follow in pursuit .. The wagons containing the sick and wounded took the lead, then came the others with the hospital stores and the meagre stock of provisions, then the advance of the infantry column, then the ammunition and guns, and finally the two veteran companies of the Forty-fourth and Forty-eighth British regular regi- ments, with Stewart's Virginia light-horse as a guard to the rear and flanks. In the evening of the same day the Youghiogheny River was crossed by the last men of the force, and the rear-guard bivouacked for the night on the eastern side of the stream.

It seems that the progress made on the retreat was very rapid, for, although Braddock's road was rough and in many places barely passable, the head of the wagon-train bearing the wounded and sick arrived at Cumberland on the 17th, and three days later the last of Dunbar's soldiers reached the fort and lighted their bivouac fires within the range of its guns.

The expedition of Braddock, from which such brilliant results had been expected, had proved a dismal and bloody failure. The objective-point (Fort Du Quesne) was still held by the French, who, with their Indian allies, soon extended their domination over the country lying to the southeast. Gaining courage from their victory, they came to Dunbar's camp a week or two after his forces had left it, and there completed the little work of destruction which he had left undone. They held complete. possession and sway from the Ohio to the Potomac. There was not left west of the mountains in this region a single settler or trader other than those who were favorable to the French and their interests. And this state of things continued in the country west of the Alle- ghenies for more than three years from the time of Braddock's defeat on the Monongahela.

CHAPTER V.

INCURSIONS AND RAVAGES DURING THE FRENCH OCCUPATION - CAPTURE OF FORT DU QUESNE AND EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH-EXPEDITIONS UNDER BOUQUET.

SOON after the French had succeeded in expelling the English forces from the region of country west of the Alleghenies, and establishing themselves in the absolute possession of that territory, they reduced their force at Fort Du Quesne, sending a part of it to Venango and other northern posts, and many of their Indian allies scattered and returned to their homes, being in a state of discontent and incipient disaffec- tion, though still holding to their French allegiance. But it soon became apparent that they had no inten- tion to be at peace with the English, for within a little more than two months from the time of Dunbar's re- treat the Shawanese, and the Delawares under King Shingiss, had advanced eastward to the Alleghenies,

and made incursions beyond that range. About the 25th of September a body of one hundred and sixty Indians (afterwards found to be Shawanese and Dela- wares under command of Shingiss) set out from Fort Du Quesne and its vicinity on an expedition against the English, and a few days later they burst upon the defenseless people of the Maryland and Virginia set- tlements. On the 4th of October, Capt. William Trent wrote Col. James Burd, at Shippensburg : " Last night came to the Mill at Wolgomoth's an Express going to the Governor of Maryland with an account of the Inhabitants being out on Patterson's Creek ; and about the Fort (Cumberland), the Express says, there is forty killed and taken, and that one whole family was burnt to death in an house. The Indians destroy all before them, firing Houses, Barns, Stack- yards, and everything that will burn." A week later Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, wrote the Governor of Pennsylvania : "Within a few days I have received several Letters by express from Captain Dagworthy, who commands the Garrison consisting of one hundred and thirty-seven men at Fort Cumberland, and from some other people, advising me that the Indians have, since the 1st instant, cut off a great many families who lived near Fort Cumberland, and on both sides of Powtowmack, some miles eastward of the Fort. It is supposed that near one hundred persons have been murdered or carried away Prisoners by these barbarians, who have burnt the Houses and ravaged all the plantations in that part of the Country. Par- ties of the enemy appear within sight of Fort Cum- berland every day, and frequently in greater numbers than the Garrison consists of. As I presume it will not be long before these people pay a visit to your borders, I take this opportunity of intimating what I think may be expected."

The first blow struck by the Indians within the bounds of Pennsylvania was on the 18th of October, when they attacked the settlements on Mahanoy or John Penn's Creek, that flows into the Susquehanna about five miles below the confluence of the North and West Branches. Information of this incursion was sent to Governor Morris on the 22d by Conrad Weiser. "I take this opportunity," he said, "to in- form you I received news from Shamokin that six families have been murdered on John Penn's Creek, on the west side of Susquehanna, about four miles from that river; several people have been found scalped, and twenty-eight are missing; the people are in a great consternation, and are coming down, leaving the Plantations and corn behind them."

On the 23d of October a party of white settlers (forty-six in number) who had been to Shamokin to ascertain if possible where the party came from who did the murderous work on Penn's Creek were on their return fired on from an ambush, and four killed, four drowned in attempting to swim the river, and the rest put to flight. Upon this "all the settlements between Shamokin and Hunter's Mill, for the space

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

of fifty miles along the River Sasquehannah, were de- serted." Adam Terrence, one of the white party who were fired on, said, " As I understood the Delaware tongue, I heard several of the Indians that were en- gaged against us speak a good many words in that tongue during the action." The savages who attacked were supposed to be a part of a force mentioned by Governor Morris in a letter to the Governor of Vir- ginia, dated October 29th. He said, "I have received Intelligence that a large body of French and Indians were seen to pass the Allegheny Mountains, moving towards the Inhabitants of this Province, and that a party of them have since passed the Susquehannah, and killed all before them, and were within five miles of Harris' Ferry [ Harrisburg]. The people are mostly without arms, and struck with such a panick that they flee as fast as they can from their habitations." On the same date, John Harris, of Paxton, said in a letter to Edward Shippen, of Lancaster, "The Indians is cutting us off every day, and I had a certain account [from Andrew Montour] of about fifteen hundred In- dians beside French being on their march against us and Virginia, and now close to our borders, their Scouts Scalping our Families on our Frontiers daily. . . . I am informed that a French officer was expected at Shamokin this week with a party of Delawares and Shawanese, no doubt to take possession of our River; and as to the state of the Sasquehannah Indians, a great part of them is actually in the French Interest."

In the morning of Sunday, the 2d of November, the Indian allies of the French attacked the Great Cove settlement, in Cumberland County, killed six persons, and carried away seventeen prisoners. On the same day Benjamin Chambers wrote from Fallow Spring :1

"To the Inhabitants of the Lower Part of the County of Cumberland. If you intend to go to the assistance of your neighbours, you need not wait any longer for the Certainty of News. The Great Cove is destroyed. James Campbell left this Company last night and went to the Fort at Mr. Steel's Meeting- House, and there saw some of the Inhabitants of the Great Cove, who gave this account, that as they came over the Hill they saw their houses in flames. The messenger says there is but one hundred, and that they divided into two parts, the one part to go against the Cove, and the other against the Conollo- ways, and that there are no French among them. They are Delawares and Shawanese. The part that came against the Cove are under the command of Shingis, the Delaware King. The people of the Cove that came off saw several men lying dead; they heard the murder shout and the firing of Guns, and saw the Indians going into the Houses that they had come out of before they left sight of the Cove. I have sent express to Marsh Creek at the same time that I send this, so I expect there will be a good Company from there this day, and as there is but one hundred of the

Enemy, I think it is in our power (if God permit) to put them to flight if you turn out well from your parts."

On the day following the massacre and burning at Great Cove the settlements at Little Cove and Conolo- ways were attacked, all the houses burned, and several persons carried away as prisoners. Mr. Potter, sheriff of Cumberland County, reported "that of ninety- three families which were settled in the two Coves and the Conolloways forty-seven were either killed or taken and the rest deserted."

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 11

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co. Number of Pages: 1216

Author: Crumrine, Boyd, 1838-1916; Ellis, Franklin, 1828-1885; Hungerford, Austin N
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Philadelphia : H.L. Everts & Co.
Number of Pages: 1216