History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 22

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 22

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4 Ibid., p. 85.

1 Pa. Arch., 1779-81, p. 743, 2 Ibid., p. 766. ª Ibid., 1781-83, p. 23.

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ward by our member from Westmoreland, Encourage- ment to the People there to co-operate with you in all Respects, & hope it will be attended with good effect. Wishing you Success equal to your Merit and good Intentions I remain," etc.

The member of the Council from Westmoreland referred to in the above communication was Chris- topher Hays, and it was understood to have been largely through his influence that the Council decided favorably to Clarke's views. Under the authority conferred by the President's communication, Gen. Clarke, on the 3d of June, addressed the "Council of Officers" of Westmoreland to secure their con- currence and assistance. The result was that the matter was laid before the people of that county at a public meeting held for that purpose on the 18th of June, at which meeting it was :

" ]st. Resolved, That a Campaign be carried on with Genl Clark.

" 2d. Resolved, That Genl Clark be furnished with 300 men out of Pom- roy's, Beard's, and Davises Battalion.

" 3dly. Resolved, That Coll. Archª Lochry gives orders to sd Colls. to raise their quota by Volunteers or Draught.

" 4thly. Resolved, That £6 be advanced to every volunteer that marches under the command of Genl Clark on the proposd Campaign.

"5th. And for the further Incouragement of Voluntiers, that grain be raised by subscription by the Different Companies.

" 6thly. That Coll. Lochry concil with the Officers of Virginia respecting the manner of Draughting those that associate in that State and others. # 7th, Resolved, That Coll. Lochry meet Geul Clark and other officers and Coll. Crawford on the 23d Inst., to confer with them the day of Ren- dezvouse.

"Signd by ordr of Committee, "JOHN PROCTOR, Prest."

It was not Clarke's purpose or desire to recognize the Pennsylvania county of Washington (which had then recently been erected but not organized) or its officers, so he applied to the officers in command of the militia of the so-called Virginia counties of Yo- hogania, Monongalia, and Ohio to aid him in securing men for the expedition. The result in Yohogania was a meeting of the officers1 of that county, June 5th, at the old court-house, near Andrew Heath's, on the west side of the Monongahela, above and in sight of the present town of Elizabeth, at which meeting a draft of one-fifth of the militia of said county (which, ac- cording to the Virginia claim, included the north half of Washington County, Pa., and all of Westmoreland as far south as the centre of the present county of Fay- ette) was made for the expedition. The people, how- ever, believing that the territory claimed by Virginia

1 This meeting and its proceedings were mentioned in a letter from James Marshel (county lieutenant of Washington) to President Reed, as follows:

" WASHINGTON COUNTY, June 27, 1781.

"S",-Since I had the honour of Addressing your Excellency last, the old Enemies of this government and their adherents have exerted them- selves to the Utmost to prevent this County being organized. On the 5th Inst. a Council of the Militia officers of Yohagena County was held at their Court-house, and in Consequence of sd Council, the fifth part of the Militia of sd County was drafted for General Clark's Expedition, but the people did not Conceive they were Under the Jurisdiction of Virginia, therefore they denied their Authority, and almost Universally Refused doing duty under any government whatever untill the line between the States is actually run."-Pa. Arch., 1781-83, p. 233.

as Yohogania County was really in the jurisdiction of Pennsylvania, denied the authority of the Virginia officers, and refused to submit to the draft until the question of jurisdiction was definitely settled. But the public notice given by Christopher Hays to the people of Westmoreland and Washington that he held in his hands money from the Executive Council to be expended for the protection of the frontier had the effect to quiet to a great extent, though not en- tirely to allay, the dissatisfaction, and the work of raising men in the two Pennsylvania counties (or, as Gen. Clarke expressed it, in Yohogania, Monongalia, and Ohio Counties, Va.) was allowed to proceed, though not without strong and bitter protest.

The main part of the force destined for Gen. Clarke's expedition (that is to say, nearly all except about one hundred and fifty men furnished by West- moreland, under Col. Lochry and Capt. Benjamin Whaley, as will be mentioned hereafter) was raised in Washington County, but it appears evident from cer- tain correspondence of that time that this was accom- plished, not by the action of the Washington County military authorities, but by the officers of the so- called Virginia counties which covered the territory of Washington. That there was a bitter quarrel at that time between James Marshel, lieutenant of the newly-erected (but unorganized) county of Washing- ton, and Dorsey Pentecost (successor of Col. Joseph Beeler in the office of county lieutenant of Yohoga- nia, Va.) is evident from the recriminating letters written by both these gentlemen to the president of the Supreme Executive Council. Pentecost declared (and no denial of the assertion is found in Marshel's correspondence) that it was chiefly through his energy and efforts that Gen. Clarke's main force was raised. And that the force was raised by some means, and placed in camp in a short space of time after the meeting of officers at the Yohogania court-house and subsequent refusal of the people to submit to the draft there ordered, is made apparent in a letter written by Col. Pentecost to President Reed, dated "Washington County, July 27, 1781."2 In that letter he says,-

" While Mr. Marshel was at Philadelphia, Gen'l Clark came here with an Intent to carry an Expedi- tion against the Savages, which was principally in- tended to have been aided by Volunteers from this County. He consulted myself with many others on the most probable Plan for Success. Every Effort was tried, but to no effect; the Frontiers were mur- dered every Day & the Militia could not be got out. The Field Officers for Yohogania County called on me & requested that I would take the Command of the same, & endeavor to save it from utter Destruc- tion. I accordingly swore into a Commission for that Purpose which had been in the County upwards of a Year, & which I had neglected to qualify to, on ac-

9 Pa. Archives, 1781-83, pp. 315-19.

THE REVOLUTION.

count of the apparent Probability there was for a Change of Government. Soon after this, Gen'l Clark had a meeting of the Principal People to consult on the most Plausible Plan to raise the Militia for his Expedition. They, after long Deliberation, Resolved that nothing could effect so desirable a Plan save my Exertions as County Lieu of Yohogania, and in the most pointed Terms (in an address to me) requested that I would put my Command in Force, and use every Exertion to facilitate the Expedition. The Day following, I was furnished with a Demand from Gen'l Clark for the Quota of the County. I went into the Business with Resolution, conducted myself with a steady Firmness, and with a great Deal of Fatigue, Trouble, & Perplexity, have accomplished that Busi- ness, and the Militia are now encampt." In another part of the same communication he says, "I am now in General Clarke's Camp, about three miles below Fort Pitt, and am about to leave this Country on the Expedition under that Gentleman's Command." And he further says, with regard to the course which had been pursued by Col. Marshel with reference to the raising of men for Clarke's expedition : " And he ac- cordingly did all he could to perplex the People, and advised them to pay no obedience to Draughts that I had ordered for Gen'l Clark's assistance, & has actu- ally offered Protection to some of 'em, though he be- fore, on a Request of Gen'l Clark's, declared he could do nothing as an officer, wish'd well to the Expedi- tion, & as a Private Person would give every assist- ance to promote it."

There is no doubt that in the enforcement of the draft ordered from the militia by the lieutenants of Yohogania and Monongalia Counties Gen. Clarke pursued the business with great vigor, and showed very little leniency toward those (and they were many) who were inclined to deny the jurisdiction of Virginia.1 Many bitter complaints were made against him for his stern methods of enforcing the draft, among which complaints in that particular are the charges made against him (as also against Dorsey Pentecost) in the following letter, addressed by Col. James Marshel to the president of the Council,2 viz. :

" WASHINGTON COUNTY, 8th August, 1781.

"S",-When I began to organize the Militia of this County, I expected the line between the States would have been run (at least by the Commissioners of this State) in May last; but Finding they did not arrive at neither of the periods given us to expect them, I thought it my duty to take the most favourable Op- portunity that would Offer to form the Militia. About the fifteenth of June last, I apprehended Appearances favourable and accordingly advertised

two Battalion Elections, but soon found that Gen- eral Clark's preparations for his Expedition and the Extraordinary Freedom with which he and his party of the old Virginia Officers used with the people of this County stood greatly in the way ; they were In- defatigable in propagating reports of the General being a Continental Officer, having extraordinary Countenance and Authority from the State of Penn- sylvania, in pulling down my Advertisements, dis- suading the people from attending the Elections, crying out that I was everything that was bad, and was doing all this to hurt the Expedition, &c .; all which, however false, produced a Visible Indisposi- tion in the people towards attending the Elections ; and altho' I was not attempting anything with design to Injure his Expedition, I could not do anything to fill up the General's troops out of the Militia of this frontier County, not having Council's orders for that purpose. . . . I can only say at present I have acted such a part as I thought a faithful Officer ought to do in similar cases ; and that I Ever Conceived I had no right so much as to say any of the people of this County had a right to go with general Clark without your Excellency's Orders for that purpose ; much less that I should ly still on purpose that the Vir- ginia Officers should draft the Militia of this County for that service. If any complaint of what kind so- ever should be lodged against me, I hope your Excel- lency will favour me with a Coppy thereof, that I may have an Opportunity of doing myself Justice ; and as the Manner in which the Genl and his Un- derlings have treated the people of this and West- moreland Counties has been so arbitrary and unpre- cedented, I think it my duty to inform your Excellency the particulars of a few facts. The first instance was with one John Harden, in Westmoreland, who, with a number of others, refused to be drafted under the government of Virginia, alleging they were undoubt- edly in Pennsylvania, and declared if that govern- ment ordered a draft they would obey cheerfully, and accordingly elected their officers and made returns thereof to Col. Cook. After this the general, with a party of forty or fifty horsemen, came to Harden's in quest of him to hang him, as the general himself de- clared; but not finding the old gentleman took and tied his son, broke open his mill, fed away and de- stroyed upwards of one hundred and fifty bushels of wheat, rye, and corn, killed his sheep and hogs, and lived away at Mr. Harden's expense in that manner for two or three days ; declared his estate forfeited, but graciously gave it to his wife; formed an article in which he bound all the inhabitants he could lay hands on or by any means prevail upon to come in to him ; under the penalty of ten months in the reg- ular army, not to oppose the draft. Another man in Westmoreland, being in Company with Clark's troops, happened to say the draft was Illegal, upon which he was Immediately Confined, and Ordered to be hanged by the General. Col. Penticost, being willing to assist

1 Many of those people who had been willing and anxious for the es- tablishment of Virginia's claim, 80 that they might purchase their lands from her at one-tenth part of the price demanded by the Pennsylvania Land-Office, were now quite as ready to deny her right to demand mili- tary service from them.

2 Pa. Arch., 1781-83, pp. 343-45.

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

the General, Issued Orders to the Commanding officers of the old Militia Companys, to Raise an armed force and Collect the Delinqts; and altho these orders were Chiefly disobeyed, yet there has been several armed Banditties in this County under command of a cer- tain Col. Cox and others, who have acted nearly in the same manner as the general himself has done.

"They being in Quest of John Douglas (a Gent. Elected one of our Justices for this County) and not finding him the first attempt, broke open his house in the night time, Fed away and destroyed such a part of Rye and Corn (his property) as they thought proper; Drew their swords upon his wife and Chil- dren in order to make them Discover where he was ; the sª Cox and his party have taken and confined a Considerable number of the Inhabitants of this County, amongst which were Hugh Scott (one of the acting trustees of the County), altho' he was not drafted; in a word the Instances of high treason against the State are too many to be Enumerated, therefore shall not trouble your Excellency any more on the subject at present."

President Reed, in his reply1 (dated Aug. 25, 1781) to Col. Marshel's letter, said, " . . . As General Clark's proceedings have been the Occasion of so much Dissatisfaction in the Country, & it is given out that he has extraordinary Countenance from us, we think it necessary to state our Sentiments & the Facts respecting his Command. We were informed early last Spring that a Plan of an Expedition under Gen. Clark against the Western Indians was approved by Gen. Washington. Our Opinion of the Gentleman, from his former Successes and acknowledged Abili- ties, as well as our Belief that his Expedition would be beneficial to our Frontier, led us to give it our Countenance so far as to write to the Gentlemen of Westmoreland County, with a View that it should be communicated to you, that it was our Wish that Gen. Clark might be assisted so far as to encourage Volun- teers to go with him & to supply him with Provisions, if he should have Occasion to apply for them, he paying their Value. We also wrote to Gen. Clark himself, a Copy whereof is inclosed, by which you will see the Extent of the Countenance & Support he has derived from us. But while we utterly disprove the irregularities and hardships which have been ex- ercised by him [Gen. Clarke] towards the inhabitants, we cannot help fearing that too many, in consequence of the unsettled state of boundaries, avail themselves of a pretense to withhold their services from the pub- lick at a time when they are most wanted, and when an exertion would not only serve the country, but pro- mote their own security. We cannot help also ob- serving that, by letters received from the principal gentlemen in Westmoreland, it seems evident they approve of Gen. Clark's expedition, and that the lieu- tenants of both States united in the plan of raising

three hundred men for that service. As the state of publiek affairs had not admitted your forming the militia sufficiently to concur in these measures, we concluded that these resolutions would also include your county, and even now are at a loss to account for the different opinions entertained on the point by the people of Westmoreland and Washington Counties."

In a letter by Christopher Hays, of Westmoreland, and Thomas Scott, of Washington County, to Presi- dent Reed, dated " Westmoreland, August 15, 1781," they said, " ... The truth of the matter is, the General's Expedition has been wished well, and vol- unteers to the service have been Incouraged by all with whom we corispond; but we have heartily repro- bated the General's Standing over these two counties with armed force, in order to dragoon the Inhabitants into obedience to a draft under the laws of Virginia, or rather under the arbitrary orders of the officers of that Government, without any orders from Virginia for that purpose, and this is really the part the Gen- eral hath acted, or rather the use which has been made of him in this country."

" With respect to Gen. Clarke's Proceedings," said President Reed, in his reply to the above, "we can only say that he has no authority from us to draft Militia, much less to exercise those acts of Distress which you have hinted at, and which other letters more particularly enumerate. His Expedition ap- pears to us favorable for the Frontiers, as carrying Hostilities into the Indian Country, rather than rest- ing totally on the defensive. We find the Gentlemen of Westmoreland, however different in other Things, to have agreed in Opinion that his Expedition de- served encouragement. . . . "

Gen. Clarke on his part accused several officials of Washington and Westmoreland Counties of using every means in their power, fair and unfair, to pre- vent the raising of men for the expedition and ruin its chances of success. In a communication dated at Wheeling, August 4th,2 and addressed to the president of the Council, he said, "I thank you for the favor- able sentiments and the Requisition to this country to give all possible aid to the Enterprise I am ordered on. Had they have done so, as their Interest loudly call'd for, I believe there would have been no Reason to doubt but our most Sanguine Expectations would have been answered. But so far from compleating your wishes, that part of them have taken every step in their power to frustrate the design (at a time when their neighbours were daily massacred) by confusing the Inhabitants and every other device their abilities would admit of, though small, are too apt to effect the minds of such persons as Inhabit this frontier. What put it more in their power was the unsettled Terri- tory, and no orders of yours appearing you mention you had sent by one of your members (meaning Chris-

1 Pa. Arch., 1781-83, pp. 367-69.

2 Ibid., pp. 331-32.

THE REVOLUTION.

topher Hays, of Westmoreland) with Encouragement for the people to co-operate with me in all respects. But he appears to have taken every step to disappoint the good Intentions of Col. Lochry1 and many other Gentlemen of Westmoreland County who have used every Effort to Raise men. But disappointed by those alluded to, I have Endeavored to make myself ac- quainted with the different persons who appeared to be busy in Ruining the sentiments of the Inhabitants and think it my duty as a citizen and officer to ac- quaint you with the principals, Believing that you are Imposed on as those bodies gain their Influence by opposing Every measure proposed for the publick good in the Military Department, strange that such Conduct should have those Effects among any class of People in This Dept. Every commanding officer has Experienced, and I think I can Venture to say you never will be able to have anything of Import- ance done in this Quarter until many of them are re- moved from their respective offices. The Inhabitants on my arrival was so Buoyed up at the thought of my carrying out an Expedition that promised them peace that it has Required all their little artifices to disap- point, which is too likely to be the case at present. Mr. M. [Col. Marshel], of Washington County, Lt .- Colos. C and D, I believe to be the perpetrators of these Evils. I fear this country will feel, after giving you my honor that I am not influenced by prejudice to point out those Gentlemen. I can assure you they are persons that will for Ever disgrace this part of the country while in power. As for Mr. M., he has, I learn, lived in Obscurity until lately ; his promotion has so confused him that his Conduct is Contradic- tory in his own publick writing, and as wavering as the minds of that class of mortals he has had the Honour to Influence . . . I learn that it is generally believed that the Inhabitants of the western country are disaffected. I do not think it to be the case, and was the line between the two states Established, and the whole well officered, they might in a short time be made Valuable Citizens, and any necessary force call'd to the field on the shortest notice. But at pres- ent scarcely a week passes but you hear of some massacre. Sufficient stores of necessaries provided to Enable them to Reduce the Indians, and yet those Inducements are not sufficient to draw them to action, owing to those principles before Recited."

The troops of Gen. Clarke's expedition, embracing infantry, mounted men, and several pieces of light artillery (but not including the Westmoreland County men under Col. Lochry, who were not ready to move with the main force), were gathered in camp on the Ohio River, most of them at Fort Henry (Wheeling), but a part encamped about three miles below Fort

Pitt, where they lay on the 27th of July, as is shown by the letter of Col. Dorsey Pentecost of that date, before quoted. From that point they moved down the river and joined the main body at the rendezvous at Fort Henry, where they were in camp on the 4th of August. It was the purpose of the commander to remain at that point until the arrival of the West- moreland detachment, but this was found to be im- practicable on account. of the desertion of his men. Accordingly he broke camp at Fort Henry and pro- ceeded down the river about the 10th of August.

At the mouth of the Kanawha River the forces were landed, with the intention, on the part of Gen. Clarke, to wait there for the arrival of the rear de- tachment. But here, although so far away from their homes, the men evinced even more determination to desert than they had at Fort Henry, having begun to realize more fully than before the dangerous nature of the service in which they were engaged. There- upon Gen. Clarke, finding that if he should remain there any considerable time he would find him- self without a following, ordered an immediate re- embarkation of the troops, and went on down the river, but even while on the passage the desertions continued, though they were of course less numerous than from the encampments.

The passage from Fort Henry to the point of des- tination consumed about three weeks. The banks of the river down which the expedition passed were occupied at various points by hostile Indians, but these dared not offer any attack on the forces because of the cannon which Clarke had with him, artillery being always greatly dreaded by savages of all tribes. After a journey which was especially tedious on ac- count of the low water in the river, the troops reached their destination at the Falls of the Ohio about the end of the month of August. There they waited for reinforcements from Kentucky, which never came, and for the arrival of the detachment under Col Lochry, but the waiting was in vain (for reasons here- after given), and the commander, having now no hope of reinforcement, and finding his force so much weakened by desertion that it would be madness for him to march with it in any expectation of being able to reduce the post of Detroit, or even of the Indian towns on the Sandusky, he reluctantly aban- doned the enterprise. . This disastrous ending of the expedition was the result of the desertion of the men, not only by reducing the strength of the main force, but by compelling the commander to move on from Fort Henry, and again from the mouth of the Kan- awha, without waiting, as he wished and intended to do, for the arrival of the detachment under Col. Lochry, thereby leaving that brave officer and his command to proceed on their way alone and unsup- ported to meet the terrible fate which overtook them, and which is now to be narrated.

The force raised in Westmoreland County (includ-

1 It is a fact beyond dispute that Hays, who was at first extremely fav- orable to the furnishing of men for the expedition, afterwards turned bitterly against it, the reason for this change being that he came to be- lieve (as did also Col. Marshel and others) that it was a project for the advancement of Virginia interests and the extension of the territory of that State in the West. (See his letter to President Reed, ibid., p. 369.)

100

HISTORY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

ing men from Washington County) for Clarke's ex- pedition, about one hundred and ten strong, as before mentioned, and under the command of Col. Archibald Lochry, proceeded to the rendezvous at Fort Henry, where the commanding officer expected to join the main body under Gen. Clarke. But on arriving there he found that the general had gone down the river the day before, leaving a Maj. Craycroft with a few men and a boat for the transportation of the horses, but without either provisions or ammunition, of which they had but a very insufficient supply. Clarke had, however, promised to await their arrival at the mouth of the Kanawha; but on reaching that point they found that he had been obliged, in order to prevent desertion (which his men were more than ever de- termined on), to proceed down the river, leaving only a letter affixed to a pole directing them to follow. Their provisions and forage were nearly exhausted ; there was no source of supply but the stores conveyed by Clarke ; the river was very low, and as they were unacquainted with the channel, they could not hope to overtake the main body. Under these embarrassing circumstances Col. Lochry dispatched Capt. Shearer with four men in a small boat, with the hope of over- taking Gen. Clarke and of securing supplies, leaving his (Shearer's) company under command of Lieut. Isaac Anderson. Before Shearer's party had pro- ceeded far they were taken prisoners by Indians, who also took from them a letter to Gen. Clarke, informing him of the condition of Lochry's party.

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 22

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