History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 13

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 13

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" Then the Young Man, one John Cox, a son of the Widow Cox, who had made his escape from Kittanin, gave the following information : That himself, his brother Richard, and John Craig in the beginning of

February last were taken by nine Delaware Indians from a Plantation two Miles from McDowell's Mill, and carried to the Kittaning Town on the Ohio ; that on his way thither he met Shingas [the Delaware king] with a Party of thirty Men, and afterwards with Captain Jacobs and fifteen, who were going on a Design to destroy the Settlements in Conegochege: that when He arrived at Kittanin, he saw there about one hundred fighting Men of the Delaware Tribe, with their Families, and about Fifty English Pris- oners, consisting of Men, Women, and children ; that during his stay there, Shingas' and Jacob's Parties returned, the one with nine Scalps and ten Prisoners, the other with several Scalps and five prisoners, and that another Company of eighteen came from Diahogo with seventeen Scalps fixed on a Pole, and carried them to Fort Du Quesne to obtain their reward. ...

"That they (the Delawares) with the prisoners during the whole summer have been in a starving condition, having very little Venison and corn, and reduced to the necessity of living upon Dog Flesh and the few Roots and Berrys they could collect in the Woods ;3 that several of the Prisoners have dyed for want of Food; That six Weeks ago about one hundred Indians went off from the Susquehanna to the Ohio for a Supply of Provisions and Ammuni- tion, and were expected back in thirty days; That while they were in this distressed Situation they talked several times of making Peace with the Eng- lish, and many of them observed that it was better to do so than starve, for that the Rewards the French gave were not sufficient to support them, not having received from them more than one loaf of Bread for each Scalp. But that old Makomesy, his [Cox's] Master and one of their chiefs, endeavored to dissuade them from entering into any peaceable Measures with the English, and had constantly encouraged them to continue the War; That while these things were in Agitation an Indian chief came among them, and in- formed them that the Mingoes could live with the English and be furnished with Provisions and every thing they wanted, while the Delawares were starving for carrying on the war against them. That about thirty days ago he saw several of the Indians going away, with an Intention (as he was informed) to know of the Governor of Pennsylvania whether the English would agree to make peace; but that he was told by Makomesy they were only gone to see whether the English were strong, and to get Provisions from them. . . . "

This prisoner had escaped from the Indians on the 14th of August, and reached Fort Augusta in safety. "The poor Boy," says the record, "was extremely reduced, had dangerous swellings on his Body, and

and children of men who lost their lives in the campaign. To the com- manding officer was presented a medal of honor, bearing the legend, " Kittaning destroyed by Colonel Armstrong, September, 1756," and on the reverse another, "The gift of the Corporation of the City of Phila- delphiia."

1 Early History of Western Pennsylvania.

2 Col. Rec., vii. p. 241.

3 It does not seem clear how the Indians could have been reduced to this starving condition when the region which they had ravaged, and from which they had driven away the white settlers, had been blessed (aa appears by the preceding statement of Armstrong and Hoops) with the most abundant harvest known in the memory of man.

INCURSIONS AND RAVAGES DURING THE FRENCH OCCUPATION.

was in a sickly condition. The Governor therefore ordered him lodging and the attendance of a Doctor."

The account which came to Philadelphia of disaf- fection among the Indians towards the French, and an apparent inclination to make peace with the Eng- lish, caused the Governor and Council to declare on the 10th of September a suspension of hostilities against the Delawares and Shawanese, and in Jan- uary, 1757, this was extended for a further period of fifty days. Finally, on the 4th of August, at a treaty council held at Easton, Pa., with Teedyus- cung, the king of the Eastern Delawares, a peace was concluded, and messengers were at once sent by the king to proclaim it to the Delawares at the head of the Ohio. "Menatochyand and Netowatquelemond, two of the Principal Men of the Ohio Indians," re- ceived the news favorably ; they acknowledged that they had been deluded by the French, and they re- turned this message to Teedyuscung: "We have heard'of the good work of peace you have made with our brethren the English, and that you intend to hold it fast. We will not lift up our hatchet to break that good work you have been transacting." King Shingiss, however, did not return any such assurances, but re- mained hostile, and held a large body of the Delawares with him. The Shawanese also continued hostile, and acted with the French, though considerably disaf- fected towards them.

Meanwhile the Governor of Virginia had formed an alliance with the Cherokee Indians of the South, by which the services of a large number of their war- riors were secured to act against the French and their savage allies. These Cherokees were sent out in par- ties under white officers to scout in the vicinity of the French fort and bring intelligence of the movements there. The first of these parties (being also the first force sent by the English to the vicinity of Fort Du Quesne after Braddock's defeat) left Fort Cumberland in the latter part of May, 1757, and returned on the 8th of June. What they did during their expedition is told in a letter written on the 15th of June by Col. George Washington to Col. Stanwix, at Fort Loudon, as follows :

" I have the pleasure to inform you that a scouting Party consisting of 5 Soldiers and 15 Cherokee Indi- ans that were sent out the 20th ultº. towards the Ohio under Lieut. Baker,1 returned on the 8th Instant to

Fort Cumberland with 5 Scalps, and a French Officer Prisoner, having killed two other Officers of the said Party. Mr. Baker met with this Party, viz., Ten French, Three Officers, on the Head of Turtle Creek, 2 Miles from Fort Duquesne (the day after they had parted with 50 Shawanese Indians returning from the War), And would have killed and made Prisoners of them all had it not been for the Death of the Indian chief, who being killed prevented his Men from pur- suing them. One other Indian was wounded and brought in upon a Bier near 100 Miles by the Party, who had nothing to live upon for the four last Days but wild Onions. ... Capt. Spottswood with 10 Sol- diers and 20 Indians, who went out at the same Time with but to a different Place from Lt. Baker, is not yet come in, nor any News of him, which makes me Uneasy."

On June 14th another Cherokee party brought to Fort Cumberland the alarming news that a large French force was marching towards that fort from the Ohio.2 In a letter written at Winchester, Va., June 16th, by Capt. William Trent to William Cox,3 the writer said, ---

" By an Express arrived here last Night from Capt. Dagworthy, at Fort Cumberland, we learn that Six Cherokees were arrived there, who report that they lay about Fort Duquesne some Days, where they saw a large Body of French and Indians and a great Number of Carriages and Horses. That they were obliged to go a Distance from there in order to hunt, as they were afraid to shoot nigh the Fort, and could get nothing to kill with their Bows and Arrows. After they had got some Provisions they returned to the Fort, where they stayed till they see them set off, and dogged them till they crossed the Monongahela at the Place where Gen. Braddock was defeated ; then they sent off these Cherokees with the News, and the rest of the Party followed them in order to send Intelligence from Time to Time of their Mo- tions. The Virginians in these Parts have not above 230 Soldiers. Col. Washington is sending off to raise the Militia. There is about 80 Indians in these Parts. A Party of Cherokees fell in with Ten ffrench Men, killed and took Six, Four of which were Commissioned Officers ; One Officer, the only Prisoner they saved, is expected in Town to-night ; The Swallow Warrior was killed and his Son wounded, which was the rea-

1 An account of another small reconnoitring party that was sent to- ward Fort Du Quesne a short time afterwards is found in Sparks (ii. 283), in one of Washington's letters, dated May, 1758, as follows: " An Indian named Ucahula was sent from Fort Loudon with a party of six soldiers and thirty Indians, under command of Lieut. Gist. After great fatigues and suffering, occasioned by the snows on the Allegheny Mountains, they reached the Monongahela River (at the mouth of the Redstone), where Lieut. Gist, by a fall from a precipice, was rendered unable to proceed, and the party separated. Ucahula, with two other Indians, de- scended the Monongahela in a bark canoe till they came near Fort Du Quesne. Here they left their canoe, and concealed themselves on the margin of the river till they had an opportunity of attacking two Frenchmen, whom they killed and scalped. These scalps were brought to Fort Loudon by Ucahula."

2 A letter from Governor Sharpe, of Maryland, to Governor Denny, of Pennsylvania, dated the 14th of July (1757), stated "that one Street, who was taken at Fort Granville by the French, and carried to & Place near Fort Duquesne, and was afterwards in the Fort, and had made his Escape from thence with a Negro Man, was examined on Oath, and on Examination declared that about a month before the Garrison in that Place consisted of between three and four hundred French and a few Indians; they were afterwards reinforced with two hundred French from the Mississippi in twelve Boats; that Seven Hundred more were ex- pected from a Fort on the Lake, with a Train of Artillery, and that an Expedition was intended against these Provinces, to be conducted by the Officers from the Mississippi."-Minutes of the Provincial Council, Colonial Records, vol. vii. p. 716.

8 Col. Rec., vii. 601.

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

son of their killing the Prisoners. 'Tis said the French Army consists of Two Thousand. . .. This Night I expect the French Army is at the Little Meadows, about 20 miles from [west of ] Fort Cum- berland."

This report of the approach of a strong French force created a general alarm. On the 16th, Wash- ington again wrote Col. Stanwix, saying that if the enemy was coming in such numbers, and with a large train of artillery as reported, Fort Cumberland must inevitably fall into their hands, after which they would without doubt march to the investment of Fort Loudon, where there was a very large amount of stores insufficiently guarded, and he plainly inti- mated his belief that they would have little difficulty in also capturing that work and the magazines. It soon appeared, however, that the first report had been considerably exaggerated. On the 17th, Capt. Dag- worthy, commandant at Fort Cumberland, wrote Col.

But it is probable that the reason why the first re- port was so much exaggerated was not so much be- cause the Cherokees who brought it were young war- riors and frightened as because Capt. Dagworthy had no competent interpreter to inform him of what they really said. This, at least, was the view taken of the case by George Croghan, and expressed by him in a letter to Col. Armstrong, dated June 28th, in which he says, "I have seen some of both Parties of Indians that brought the Intelligence of the March of the French Army, and upon examining them I find that Capt. Dagworthy has been at a loss for an interpreter. The Accounts of the Indians are these : The first party say they saw the French at Work before the Fort, mounting their Cannon upon Wheels, and that they saw a large Body of French and Indians march from the Fort with a great many Baggage Horses ; And that when they got to where Gen. Braddock was defeated, They heard the Cannon fired at the Fort. The last Party say they saw about 80 Indians in one Company, and a Body of French, a great number of Baggage Horses, and large Tracks of several Parties of Indians on both Sides the Road, the Number They

On the same day (June 28th) Col. Stanwix said, in a letter to Governor Denny, " Am of Opinion that a large Party of French and Indians did leave Fort Duquesne the 10th Instant, but without Artillery or Waggons; but what is become of them I cannot yet learn. As it was probable they might appear towards Ray's Town [Bedford], I augmented the Garrison at Fort Lyttleton 150 men, And ordered Scouts out to- wards Ray's Town, but no Intelligence of them, tho' now 18 Days since the Enemy was supposed to be in Motion. I have had ffour Spys out over the North Mountains; Some are returned, but without seeing any Enemy. I march a Captain's Piquet Two or Three Times a Week as scouting Parties, but as yet have found the Coast all clear." The event proved Stanwix the following further information in the | that the French and Indian force was not as large as matter,1 viz. : " Yesterday in the evening Six Indians from Fort Du Quesne, who left that Place last Sun- day, and brought with them two Scalps, which they - took within a Hundred Yards of the Fort. I learn from them that the ffiring of the Cannon and small Arms which I mentioned in my last was occasioned | by a large scouting Party leaving that Place to come this Way. They say the Indians who came in before made a false Report as to their bringing Waggons and Artillery, and account for it by their being Young Warriors and much frightened; this last Party lay some time in Sight of the Fort, but could not discover either Waggons or Horses, and but few Men."

think cannot be less than between Five and Seven Hundred ; They took the old Pennsylvania Trading Road, but they saw no Carriages or Tracks of Car- riages the Road they went."

represented; that it had no artillery, and that its designs were not against Fort Cumberland nor Fort Loudon, but against the settlements farther to the northward, in the region of the forks of the Susque- hanna. This was about the last of the forays in which the Indians were engaged against the English settlements during that year. At its close (in the latter part of December, 1757) seven Indians came to Philadelphia, having been thirty-one days on their journey from the Allegheny towns, and reported that when they left, some of the French officers were in the Indian villages "about twenty miles from the French fort called Onango" [Venango], with pres- ents and wampum belts, endeavoring to again stir up the Indians to go with them on a great expedition against the English; but that the head chief, Cas- teraqua, had gathered his young men together and told them not to listen to the French, but to remain at home. They remained entirely quiet from that time during the winter and following spring, by which time their disaffection against the French and inclination for peace became assured. On the 25th of March, 1758, Governor Denny, in a letter of that date, addressed to Col. Washington, said, “Several accounts have been brought during the winter, as if there was a disposition in the Western Indians to re- turn to their old friends the English; and as there has been little or no mischief done on the frontiers of this and the neighboring Provinces of late, it is not unlikely but the Indians are changing every day in our favour. From the mouth of the messengers who came directly from the Ohio by the way of Dia- hoga, they expressly declare that since the Peace Belts sent by these Indians, who were formerly our friends, have been so kindly received by this Govern- ment they are sure that on their receiving this news they shall be sent back immediately with an acco un of their separating from the French and coming to join our friendly Indians."

1 Col. Rec., vii. 632.

CAPTURE OF FORT DU QUESNE AND EXPULSION OF THE FRENCH.

In 1758 the English ministry planned and sent for- Gen. Forbes with the main body of his army ar- rived at Loyalhanna early in November. A council ward an expedition much more formidable than that placed under Braddock, three years before, for the | of war was held, at which it was decided that on ac- capture of Fort Du Quesne. Gen. Abercrombie, who count of the lateness of the season and approach of winter (the ground being already covered with snow) it was " unadvisable, if not impracticable, to prosecute the campaign any further till the next season, and that a winter encampment among the mountains or a retreat to the frontier settlements was the only al- ternative that remained." But immediately after- wards a scouting party brought in some prisoners, from whom it was learned that the garrison of Fort Du Quesne was weak, and the Indian allies of the French considerably disaffected. Thereupon the de- cision of the council of war was reversed, and orders at once issued to move on to the assault of the fort. had been appointed commander-in-chief of His Ma- jesty's forces in North America, assigned the com- mand of this new expedition to Brig .- Gen. John Forbes. His force (of which the rendezvous was appointed at Raystown, now Bedford, Pa.) was com- posed of three hundred and fifty Royal American troops, twelve hundred Scotch Highlanders, sixteen hundred Virginians, and two thousand seven hundred Pennsylvania provincials, two hundred and fifty men from Maryland, one hundred and fifty from North Carolina, and one hundred from "the lower counties on Delaware," a total of six thousand three hundred and fifty effective men, besides one thousand wagon- ers and laborers. The Virginia troops were comprised in two regiments, commanded respectively by Col. George Washington and Col. James Burd, but both under the superior command of Washington as acting brigadier. Gen. Forbes arrived at Raystown about the 10th of September,1 but Col. Henry Bouquet had previously (in August) been ordered forward with an advanced column of two thousand men to the Loyal- hanna to cut out roads. The main body, with Wash- ington in advance, moved forward from Raystown in October. In the mean time Bouquet (perhaps think- ing he could capture the fort with his advance divi- sion, before the arrival of the main body, and thus secure the principal honor) sent forward a recon- noissance in force, consisting of eight hundred men (mostly Highlanders) under Maj>William Grant. This force reached a point in the vicinity of the fort,2 where, on the 14th of September, it was at- tacked on both flanks and in the rear by a body of about seven hundred French and a large number of savages, under command of a French officer named Aubry. Here Grant was defeated with much slaugh- ter, the Indians committing terrible atrocities on the dead and wounded Highlanders. The losses of Grant's force were two hundred and seventy killed, forty-two wounded, and a number of prisoners, among whom was Maj. Grant himself. The French and In- dians then advanced against Bouquet and attacked his intrenched position at Fort Ligonier, but were finally (though with great difficulty) repulsed on the 12th of October, and forced to retreat to their fort.

The march was commenced immediately, the troops taking with them no tents or heavy baggage, and only a few pieces of light artillery. Washington with his command led the advance. When within about twelve miles of the fort word was brought to Forbes that it was being evacuated by the French, but he remembered the lesson taught by Braddock's rash- ness, and treated the report with suspicion, con- tinuing the march with the greatest caution, and withholding from the troops the intelligence he had received. On the 25th of November, when they were marching with the provincials in front, they drew near the fort and came to a place where a great number of stakes had been planted, and on these were hanging the kilts of the Highlanders slain on that spot in Grant's defeat two months before. When Forbes' Highlanders saw this they became infuriated with rage and rushed on, reckless of consequences and regardless of discipline in their eagerness to take bloody vengeance on the slayers of their countrymen. They were bent on the extermination of their foes and swore to give no quarter, but soon after, on arriving within sight of the fort, it was found to be indeed evacuated and in flames, and the last of the boats in which its garrison had embarked were seen in the distance passing Smoky Island on their way down the Ohio.

The fort was found to have been mined, but either the enemy had left in too much haste to fire the train or the fuse had become extinguished. All the guns had been burst or sunk in the river. The troops at once marched up to take possession, Washington with his command being the first on the ground. On the following day he wrote to the Governor of Vir- ginia a report of the evacuation and capture of the post as follows :

" CAMP AT FORT DU QUEANE, "28th November, 1758.

" To Gov. FAUQUIER :

"SIR,-I have the pleasure to inform you that Fort Duquesne, or the ground rather on which it stood, was possessed by his Majesty's troops on the 25th instant. The enemy, after letting us get within a day's march of the place, burned the fort and ran away by the light of it, at night going down the Ohio by water to the number of about five hun- dred men, according to our best information. This possession of the

I On the 9th of September, Gen. Forbes wrote from Fort Loudon to Governor Denny, of Pennsylvania : " Everything is ready for the Arny's advancing; but that I cannot do unless I have a sufficient quantity of provisions in the magazine at Raystown. The road that leads from the advanced posts to the French fort may be opened as fast as a convoy can march it. Therefore my movements depend on his Majesty's subjects entering cheerfully in carrying up the necessary provisions. The new road has been finished without the enemies knowing it. The troops have not suffered the least insult in the cutting of it." He also stated that the road was then open to within forty miles of Fort Du Quesne.

2 This fight took place at "Grant's Hill," in the present city of Pitts- burgh. The commander and Maj. Lewis were taken prisoners by the French and Indians.

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

fort has been matter of surprise to the whole army, and we cannot at- tribute it to more probable causes than the weakness of the enemy, want of provisions, and the defection of the Indians, Of these circumstances we were luckily informed by three prisoners who providentially fell into our hands at Loyal Hanna, when we despaired of proceeding farther. A council of war had determined that it was not advisable to advance this season beyond that place ; but the above information caused us to march on without tents or baggage, and with only a light train of artillery. We have thus happily succeeded. It would be tedious and I think un- necessary to relate every trivial circumstance that has happened since my last. . .. This fortunate and indeed unexpected success of our arms will be attended with happy effects. The Delawares are sueing for peace, and I doubt not that other tribes on the Ohio are following their ex- ample. A trade free, open, and on equitable terms is what they seem much to desire, and I do not know so effectual a way of riveting them to our interest as by sending out goods immediately to this place for that purpose . . . "

Thus, after repeated attempts, each ending in blood and disaster, the English standard was firmly planted at the head of the Ohio, and the French power here overthrown forever.

The Indians had become greatly dissatisfied with the French, and had entirely ceased acting with them against the English. Gen. Forbes, in his report to Governor Denny, dated November 26th, after an- nouncing the capture of the fort, said that the French were " abandoned, or at least not seconded, by their friends the Indians, whom we had previously engaged to act a neutral part, and who now seem all willing to embrace His Majesty's most gracious protection." On the capture of the fort the Delawares sued for peace, which was granted to them at a treaty confer- ence held with them at the fort immediately after it came into possession of the English forces.

On the ruins of Fort Du Quesne another work was constructed-a weak and hastily-built stockade with a shallow ditch-and named " Fort Pitt," in honor of William Pitt, Earl Chatham. Two hundred and eighty men of Washington's command were left to garrison it, under command of Col. (afterwards gen- eral) Hugh Mercer, and the main army marched east. Gen. Forbes returned to Philadelphia, and died there in March, 1759. The new Fort Pitt was commenced in August, 1759, and completed during the fall of that year by a force under command of Gen. Stanwix. In the same autumn Col. James Burd was sent from Carlisle to open a road from Braddock's road on Laurel Hill to the Monongahela, and at the latter point to build a fort, the object being the establish- ment of a route for transportation from the East to Fort Pitt, with defensive works and bases of supply at intermediate points. The fort was built by Col. Burd's detachment, on the present site of the town of Brownsville, on the Monongahela, and a road was opened from it to Braddock's road on the summit of Laurel Hill. The work on the road was commenced on the 13th of September, and on the fort on the 24th of October. On Sunday, the 4th of November, a sermon was preached in the fort by his chaplain, the Rev. Dr. Allison, who on the same day left for Phila- delphia. The fort was completed a few days later, and named "Fort Burd." A garrison of twenty-five

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 13

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