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

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 20

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Through all the Monongahela country and west- ward to the Ohio River there was great consternation and alarm and no little indignation at the with- drawal of the garrisons of the frontier forts, McIntosh and Laurens, and public meetings were held to me- morialize Congress and pray for the re-occupation of the posts. But Congress could do nothing, for the operations of the armies in the East called for all, and more than all. the men and means at command. So the borders were of necessity left for the time to take care of themselves and protect their exposed frontiers from savages, white outlaws, and the British.

Gen. McIntosh had retired from the command of the Western Department in 1779, and was succeeded by Col. Daniel Brodhead, who, as it appears, was invested with power to order out the militia of the western counties through the several county lieuten- ants. Early in 1780 the Indians commenced their work of devastation in the frontier settlements. On the 18th of March, Col. Brodhead, in a communica- tion to the president of the Council,1 said, "I am sorry to inform you that the Savages have already begun their hostilities. Last Sunday morning at a Sugar Camp upon Raccoon Creek five Men were killed & three lads & three girls taken prisoners. It is generally conjectured that the Delawares 2 have struck this blow, and it is probable enough, but it is possible it may have been done by other Indians. If the Delawares are set against us, with their numerous alliances, they will greatly distress the frontier, as my Force is quite too small to repell their invasions. I have wrote to the Commander-in-Chief for a rein- forcement from the main army, but I fear it will not be in his power to detach any of the troops. . . You may rely on my giving every possible protection & countenance to our settlements, but I have very little in my power without calling out the Militia, and for them I have no provisions. What Col. Geo. Morgan [congressional Indian agent] has been doing this two years past I know not, but I conceive that if he had been where his employment required we should have been much better provided."

On the 27th of April the commandant said, in a letter to the president of the Council, "I am glad to hear of the four Companies voted to be raised by the authority of the State for the Defense of the frontier, and as I flatter myself the Eastern parts of the State are at present freed from apprehensions of Danger, so I hope these Companies, when raised, will be or- dered to this District, where the Enemy are remark- ably hostile. Between forty and fifty men, women, & Children have been killed & taken from what are now called the Counties of Yoghogania, Monongalia, & Ohio since the first of March [meaning the country west of the Monongahela River], but no damage has

yet been done in the County of Westmoreland: It is to be lamented that our treasury is low, but as I always avoid an anticipation of evil, so I hope for better accounts from thence." On the 13th of May he again wrote the president,8 saying, " The Mingoes are again prevailed on by English Goods & address to disturb our repose. They have lately killed and wounded several people in Westmoreland County, & the Tracks of four parties have been discovered on that frontier within the last four Days, and two par- ties of Indians have crossed the Ohio between Logs- town and this place [Fort Pitt] since Morning. I have only the Cullings of the last year's men left, and can do but very little to prevent their incursions, but do all I can.

" The Delaware Indians continue their professions of Friendship, and some of them are now with my Scouts ; but having nothing but fair words to give them, I expect they will soon be tired of this Service. For heaven's sake hurry up the Companies voted by the Hon'ble Assembly, or Westmoreland County will soon be a wilderness."

In view of this alarming situation of affairs, Col. Brodhead conceived that offensive operations against the Indians west of the Ohio would be the surest means of securing peace and safety for the frontier settlements, and accordingly he at once commenced the fitting out and organizing of such an expedition, to be composed chiefly of troops drafted from the militia of the western counties. Reference to this proposed expedition is made in the following letter, addressed by Brodhead to Col. Joseph Beelor,‘ county lieutenant of Yohogania County, Va., it being a cir- cular letter addressed also to the lieutenants of the Virginia counties of Monongalia and Ohio, viz. :

" HEAD-QUARTERS, FORT PITT, May 9th, 1780.

"DEAR SIR,-I find it will not be in my power to provide for the number of men I have ordered to be called into service so soon as I expected. Besides, I have heard that a number of Artillery and Stores and two Regiments of Infantry are now on their march to reinforce my command. The account of Artillery and Stores I have received officially, and I believe the other may be credited.

"It will be essentially necessary for the leading officers of your County to excite the greatest industry in planting and sowing the Summer crop, and to have your troops at Fort Henry (Wheeling, Va.) by the 4th day of next month. The Militia should be drafted for two months, although the expedition will probably end in one, and let them be well armed and accoutred as circumstances will admit. Encourage them to bring two weeks' allowance of provisions lest there should be a deficiency.

1 Penn. Arch., 1779-81, p. 140.

2 It was afterwards proved that the Delawares had no hand in or knowledge of this bloody business, and it was so announced by Col. Brodhead.

8 Pa. Arch., 1779-81, p. 246.

4 Col. Beelor was a resident on Chartiers Creek, in what is now Peters township, Washington Co. Therefore the letter has reference to the drafting of troops from the militia in the region now Washington County.

THE REVOLUTION.

" I have no doubt but you and all the good People of your County are convinced of the necessity there is for prosecuting some offensive operations against the Savages, and I trust that by a well-timed move- ment from the new settlements down the river to favour our Expedition we shall be enabled to strike a general panic amongst the hostile tribes. I am averse to putting too much to hazard, as a defeat would prove fatal to the settlements, and therefore I expect the full quota of men will be furnished, which with the blessing of Divine Providence will insure success. Indeed, I expect besides the Militia many will turn out volunteers to secure to themselves the blessings of peace.

" I have the honor to be with great respect,

" Yours, " DANIEL BRODHEAD, " Col. Com'd'g W. D."

In reference to the same matter the following cir- cular letters were addressed to Cols. Joseph Beelor, lieutenant of Yohogania, John Evans, of Monongalia, Archibald Lochry, of Westmoreland, and David Shepherd, of Ohio County, Va., viz. :

"HEAD-Q'R'S, FORT PITT, May 20, 1780.

" DEAR SIR,-I find it impossible to procure a suf- ficient quantity of provisions to subsist the Troops which were intended to be employed on an expedi- tion against the Indians in alliance with Great Britain; therefore you will be pleased to give immediate no- tice to such as are warned not to march until you re- ceive further notice from me. In the mean time I shall endeavor to give every possible protection to the settlements and amuse the Indians by speeches. I am sorry for having given you the trouble of drafting the militia, but the disappointments with regard to the means of getting supplies are very embarrassing, and must apologize for the alteration in our measures."

Another addressed by Col. Brodhead to the county lieutenants was as follows :

" HEADQUARTERS, FORT PITT, July 31, 1780

" DEAR SIR,-I am informed by Col'nl Beeler that he has had a meeting of his Officers, and that it is the general opinion fifteen days' allowance of salt pro- visions cannot be furnished by the Volunteers who were expected to aid the Regular Troops in the pro- posed Expedition against the hostile Indians, and that fresh provisions cannot be preserved for so many days at this warm season of the year. I believe the generality of the inhabitants in these new settlements have not meat of their own at this season of the year sufficient to spare for their subsistence on the expedi- tion. And I have the mortification to assure you that the public magazines are quite empty, and that I can- not yet see a prospect of obtaining a sufficient supply for the sustenance of the Troops already in service. Under these circumstances I find it indispensably necessary to postpone the rendezvousing the troops until our affairs wear a more favorable aspect. And

as I wish, in matters of such great Publick weight ! and concern, to have the advice and concurrence of the principal Officers, I must request you to meet your Brother Lieutenants of the other Counties at my quarters on the 16th day of next month, in order that measures to be adopted for the annoyance of the enemy and the defense of the Frontier Settlements may be well weighed and understood ; at which time, too, it will be in my power to inform you what Pub- lick Supplies can be procured for the numbers that may be deemed necessary to employ."

These letters from the commandant at Fort Pitt show the principal cause (lack of supplies) that com- pelled him to postpone from time to time his proposed expedition into the Indian country, a cause which, more than any other, delayed the execution of the project until the following year. At the time in question the officers commanding the few American troops west of the Alleghenies had great difficulty in obtaining the supplies necessary for the subsistence of their men. On the 7th of December, 1780, Gen. Brodhead said in a letter of that date addressed to Richard Peters,1 "For a long time past I have had two parties, commanded by field-officers, in the coun- try to impress cattle, but their success has been 60 small that the troops have frequently been without meat for several days together, and as those com- mands are very expensive, I have now ordered them in." He also said that the inhabitants on the west side of the mountains could not furnish one-half enough meat to supply the troops, and that he had sent a party of hunters to the Little Kanawha River to kill buffaloes, " and to lay in the meat until I can detach a party to bring it in, which cannot be done before spring."

The two parties mentioned by Col. Brodhead as having been sent out by him, and kept for a long time in the country for the purpose of impressing cattle, were undoubtedly the commands of Capts. Samuel Brady * and Uriah Springer, of Westmore-

1 In the same letter to Peters, Brodhead made allusion to the furnish- ing of spirits for the use of the troops, and indicated pretty plainly his preference for imported liquor over the whiskey of Monongahela, viz. : " In one of your former letters you did me the honor to inform me that his Excellency the commander-in-chief had demanded of our State seven thousand gallons of rum, and now the commissioner of Westmore- land informs me that he has verbal instructions to purchase that quan- tity of whiskey on this side of the mountains. I hope we shall be fur- nished with a few hundred gallons of liquor fit to be drank."

2 Capt. Brady bad then recently returned from an expedition to the Indian towns in the Northwest. In a letter written by Col. Brodhead, at Fort Pitt, to President Reed, in the first part of the preceding June, he said, "Capte Brady, with five men & two Delaware Indians, set out for Sandusky, with a view to bring off a british Prisoner or some Indian Scalps. One of his Indians left him and returned to this place, sick or cowardly. He has been out teu days, and in as many more I expect him back again, if he is fortunate. I beg leave to recommend Capa Brady to the notice of the Hon'ble Executive Council as an excellent officer, aud I sincerely wish he may not leave the service for want of the pro- motion he has merited and is justly entitled to, ever since the resigna- tion of Captain Moore."

Capt. Lieut. Brady's return from his expedition was noticed by Col. Brodhead in a letter addressed to President Reed, dated Fort Pitt, June

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

land, the former a resident of that part which after- wards became Washington County, and the latter of that which became Fayette. Brady's party was sent up the west side of the Monongahela, and Springer's to the east side of that river and up the valley of the Redstone. The following letters, addressed by the commandant to those officers, show something of the nature of the service in which they were engaged, and the difficulties they encountered in performing it, viz. : 1

" HEAD QRS., FORT PITT, Sept. 21, 1780.

"Sir-As Money is not yet sent to this Department to pay for the Provisions necessary to subsist the Troops, & they have already suffered ; And as our endeavors to obtain a temporary supply from the Inhabitants upon the credit of the United States have not proved effectual, I am Instructed by the hon'ble Board of War prudently to avail myself of a license given by the hon'ble Executive Council of the State of Pena in the words following, viz. : [words not given] in the mean time we can have no objection to the using necessary Compulsion, rather than the Troops should suffer; I sincerely lament the necessity of using this mode of supplying the Troops under my command, & wish it could be avoided, but I hope the virtuous Inhabitants will judge rightly of the measure and chearfully submit to a temporary compulsion, for to gain an everlasting Right to dispose of their property, not only by their own consent in the Legislature, but by Inclination as Individuals. And I desire you will assure them that I have just reason to expect they will be generously & speedily paid the full value of such articles of Provisions as may be taken for supplying the Troops.

" An As't Purchasing Commissary is to attend you, and previous to your making use of Compulsory means you are to make the Inhabitants acquainted with your Instructions; after which, if they are of ability to spare Cattle or sheep to the Commissary upon public Credit, agreeable to the terms mentioned in his Instructions, & shall refuse to do so, then, & not otherwise, you will proceed to take from such of them refusing as afore- said as many Cattle & sheep as they can spare with- out Injury to their Families & further encrease; and all such Cattle & Sheep are to be immediately marked for the Public & drove to some Field, to be taken in

a convenient part of the Settlement for Collecting & herding them until a sufficient number be collected for the present exigency. For all which you are to pass Receipts agreeable to the valuation or appraise- ment of the Commissary & one reputable Inhabitant, which you will cause to be made. You are to acquaint me frequently by letter of your success, inclosing re- turns of the Cattle and Sheep taken and procured by consent.

" You are upon no pretence to take Cattle or Sheep from the poorer sort of Inhabitants, or from such as have been great sufferers by the Enemy ; but you are to take them from such as have lived more secure. The good Inhabitants are to be treated with the ut- most Civility, & you shall inflict immediate punish- ment on Soldiers guilty of Marauding or insulting the Inhabitants who conduct themselves inoffensively towards them.

" You are to consider these Instructions as confined to those Inhabitants only who have uniformly consid- ered themselves as Cityzens of Pena, as the license of the Hon'ble Executive Council cannot at present be understood to extend to such as in the unsettled state of the boundaries have acknowledged another juris- diction.

"I wish you great success and hope you will be enabled to obtain the necessary supplies for immediate Consumption by agreement & Consent.

"I have the honor to be, &c.,

" DANIEL BRODHEAD, " Colo. Command'g W. D. "CAPT'N SAML. BRADY."

" HEAD QUARTERS, PITT, Oct. 11, 1780.

"DEAR SIR,-I am favored with yours of the 9th inst., and am much distressed on account of the ap- parent aversion of the people to afford us supplies, and the more so as I see no alternative between using force and suffering. . .. Under our present circum- stances, we cannot admit a modest thought about using force as the ultimate expedient; and in case you are likely to meet with opposition, you must send notice to Captain Springer, near Little Redstone, who will doubtless detach a party to your assistance. The commander-in-chief's thanks to you are now in my pocket, and will publish them when you return. At present it will not suit to relieve you.

" I am, &c., " DANIEL BRODHEAD.

" CAPT. SAMUEL BRADY."

" HEAD QUARTERS, FORT PITT, Oct. 20, 1780.

"DEAR SIR,-I have this moment received your favor of yesterday, and am sorry to find the people above Redstone [vicinity of Brownsville, Fayette County ] have intentions to raise in arms against you. Disaffected, and conceive that their past and present I believe with you that there are amongst them many conduct will justify you in defending yourself by every means in your power. It may yet be doubtful

30, 1780, as follows: ". . . Captain Brady is just returned from Sandusky. He took Prisoners two young Squaws within a mile of their principal Village ; one of them effected her escape after six Days' march, the other he brought to Cuskusky, where he met seven warriors who had taken a woman & Child off Chartiers Creek. He fired at the Captain and killed him, and have brought in the woman & the Indian's Scalp, but the Squaw made her escape at the same time. When Captain Brady fired at the Indians, he had only three men with him & but two rounds of powder. He was out thirty-two Days, six of which he was quite des- titute of Provisions of any kind, but he has brought his party safe to this place. Capt. Lieut. Brady's zeal, perseverance, & good Conduct cer- tainly entitles him to promotion ; there has been a vacancy for him since the Death of Captain Dawson, which happened in last September, and I must beg leave to recommend him to the Hon'ble Executive Council as an officer of merit."-Pa. Arch., 1779-81, pp. 378, 379.

1 Pa. Arch., 1779-81, pp. 565, 566.

THE REVOLUTION.

whether these Fellows attempt anything against you ; but if you find they are Determined, you will avoid, as much as your safety will admit, in coming to action until you give me a further account, and you may de- pend upon your receiving succour of Infantry and Artillery. I have signed your order for ammunition and have the honor to be, &c.

" DANIEL BRODHEAD.

" CAPT. URIAH SPRINGER."

The tenor of these instructions to his subordin- ate officers clearly indicates that in the opinion of Col. Brodhead at least the sentiment of patriotism, which at the commencement of the war was almost universal among the people west of the Laurel Hill, had now become greatly diminished if not extinct with regard to a large proportion of the inhabitants of this frontier region. This belief on his part was emphasized by him in a letter written at Fort Pitt on the 7th of December following, in which he said, " I learn more and more of the disaffection of the in- habitants on this side of the mountains. The king of England's health is often drank in company." And he gave as his opinion, gathered from the observa- tion of many of his officers, including Col. John Gib- son, that "Should the enemy approach this frontier and offer protection, half the inhabitants would join them." Afterwards Gen. Irvine (who succeeded Brod- head as commandant at the fort) wrote, " I am confi- dent that if this post was evacuated the bounds of Canada would be extended to the Laurel Hill in a few weeks."

Col. Brodhead, although he did not abandon the pro- ject of an expedition against the Indian towns west of the Ohio, found it impossible to carry it out during the year 1780, not only for lack of provisions but from the difficulty (particularly in the latter part of the year) of procuring men from the settlements will- ing to volunteer for the campaign. . This unwilling- ness was, perhaps, caused by the fact that the Indians had made several incursions into the Monongahela country, which alarmed the inhabitants and made them particularly unwilling to absent themselves, leaving their homes unprotected. One of these incursions was announced by Brodhead to President Reed in a letter of September 16th, in which he said, "Intel- ligence is just received of Seven persons being killed and taken on Ten-Mile Creek by the Savages; but under our present circumstances I have not provisions to furnish a party for pursuit." Afterwards the In- dians made another attack on the Ten-Mile settlers, but with less bloody results.

On the 17th of October, Col. Brodhead wrote the president of the Council,1 narrating the obstacles which he had encountered in his attempts to organize and carry out the Indian campaign, as follows :

"In full confidence that a sufficient supply of

Provisions would sooner or later be furnished for the Troops in this District, as well as for such number of Militia as policy or the exigencies of affairs might render it necessary to call into action, I, with view to cut off the Wyandotts, and other In- dian Towns that were very troublesome to our Set- tlements, called for a Draught from the Militia at three different times, and was as often disappointed in obtaining Provisions, which, with the unsettled state of the boundary between Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia, has greatly discouraged the Inhabitants, and I apprehend given a handle to the disaffected. I take the liberty to inclose copies of letters lately received from Cols. Beeler" and McCleery, purporting some of the above facts.

2 The letter here referred to was from Col. Joseph Beler, heutehasn't of Yohogania County, Va. ,resident on Chartiers Creek, in what is now Washington County ), and ran as follows :

" October loth, 1780. " DEAR SIR,-I received yours of the 7th Inst. this morning, but it is not in my power to give you a just return, as you request, until the last of this week, for I have been obliged to issue orders to press horses aud draught men, as I could not get Volunteers enough, of which I have not got a return as yet. I am sorry to inform you that I am afraid we shall come but little speed; I find that the Government of Virge will not protect me in any thing I do by vertue of the laws of Virga since their last Resolution & the laws of Pensle have not as yet taken us under their protection ; all this the Country Is acquainted with, so that every thing I do is at the Risque of my Fortune, unless protected by the States. If it had not been to forward an Expedition, I should have declined acting a good while ago ; as no man ever had a more disagreeable time of it than I have at present, having no law to defend me. We are assured of your good intentions for the safety of the Countrey, and are very sorry that we cannot act with that spirit that we ought to. But hope the laws of Penª will either be extended in a few Days from this time, or the laws of Virg& be kept in force. It is very unhappy for this Countrey that the two contending States has not provided a better way for the defence of this Countrey than to let it fall between them boths until matters are set- tled between them.

" I have the honor to be, with the greatest " Respect, Dear Sir, your most obed& Hble Servt, " JOSEPH BEELER, " without Law to protect me."

The letter which Col. Brodhead refers to as from William McOleery was written by that gentleman as acting in place of Col. John Evans, lieutenant of Monongalia County, Va., and a resident in what is now Greene County. After stating that he writes for Col. Evans, who was absent, McCleery continues: "I went to the Officers of the Second Bat- talion of our County Militia, who happened to be then assembled in General Muster, & made the matter known to them, at the same time call'd upon them for a Copy of their Returns made to Colo Evans, that I might as near as possible comply with your request, & they (after sume consultation held on the matter, gave it me for answer, That as they found all their hopes of Relief from a Campaign being this fall carried out against their Indian Enemies abortive, and knowing that their frontiers were at 60 to 70 Mile in Length, were infested with the savages killing their People, have at last obliged them to say they can't spare any men ; further adding that they are heartily sorry that there should be the least seeming Jarr or descenting Voice from the orders of Col. Brodhead as a Commanding Officer for the defence of this Countrey ; but from his never having it in his power for want (as we conceive) of the necessary Supplies to put his Schemes in execution during the whole course of last Summer & Fall, & our unhappy People daily falling an easy pray to the Enemy, obliges them to throw off all dependence on any natural aid on this side of the Mountains this Full but that of themselves for their re- lief, and therefore they mean to embody and take the most plausible methods for their defense, and under these circumstances they think their number is already too small without any division. Notwithstanding they were ready twice last summer, both with Meu, Horses, and Provis- ons, to have comply'd with your requisition fully had you put your plan

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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

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