History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 30

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 30

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In the morning (June 12th) his guard unbound him, and having again painted him with black, started out on horseback, driving Knight before him on foot, bound for the Shawanese towns, where the doctor was to suffer the torture. Passing by the spot where Crawford had suffered on the previous day, they saw all that remained of the colonel, a few burned bones, when the Indian told his horrified prisoner that this was his "big captain." They moved on towards the southwest, on the trail to the Shawanese town of Wapatomica, nearly forty miles away.

Knight had not wholly abandoned the hope of es- caping the torture, though his case looked wellnigh hopeless. He carried as cheerful a countenance as he could, concealed from his guard his knowledge of the import of the black paint on his face, and con- versed with him as well as he could, pretending that he expected to be adopted into the Shawanese tribe on arrival at their destination. Tutelu asked him if

he knew how to build a wigwam, and Knight assured him that he was excellent at that business. All this pleased the Indian, and to some extent threw him off his guard. The journey of the first day was about twenty-five miles. At the night camp Tutelu again bound his captive, and watched him closely through the night, so that the doctor, although he tried hard to free himself, did not succeed.

At daybreak Tutelu rose, stretched his limbs, un- bound his captive, and renewed the fire, but did not immediately prepare to resume the journey. They had been greatly tormented by gnats during the night, and the doctor asked him if he should make a smudge in their rear to drive the pests away. Tutelu told him to do so, whereupon Knight took two sticks (one of them about a foot and a half in length, which was the largest he could find), and holding a coal between them carried it behind the Indian as if to start the smudge, but as soon as he had got the right position suddenly turned and dealt the savage a blow over the head with all his strength, partially stunning him and knocking him forward head first into the fire. His hands were badly burned, but he immediately recovered himself, rose, and ran away, uttering a hideous yell.1 The doctor seized the Indian's gun and followed him, determined to kill him; but in his eagerness he broke or disarranged the lock of the piece, so that he could not fire. This being the case he followed only a short distance, and then returned to the place where they had passed the night.

Here the surgeon lost no time in making prepara- tions for a desperate attempt to effect his escape from the Indian country. He possessed himself of Tutelu's ammunition, his blanket, and an extra pair of mocca- sins, and without delay commenced his long journey, taking a course about east by north. All day he traveled without molestation or notable incident, and at night had emerged from the timbered country and entered the Plains, where he made his lonely bivouac. But he was too uneasy and anxious to remain long, and so after two or three hours' rest resumed his way, and traveling all night, guided by the stars, had crossed the open country and entered the forest to the east before daylight appeared. During this day (June 14th) he struck the track of the troops on their out- ward march, but having already received a severe lesson on the danger of following this he avoided it and took a north course, which he kept during the rest of the day. That night he camped in the forest and slept undisturbed.

The next morning he shaped his course due east, and moved on with greatly lightened spirits but ex-

1 Tutelu fled to the village of the Delawares, and was seen on his ar- rival by John Slover, who was then a captive there. He (Tutelu) re- ported the loss of his prisoner, with whom he said he had a hard battle, and had given the doctor fearful and probable fatal knife-wounds in the back and stomach, although (as he said) Kuight was a man of immense proportions and physical power. Slover told the Delawares that this was false, and that the doctor was a weak, puny man, whereat the In- dians ridiculed Tutelu without mercy.

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ceedingly weak from lack of food. He could shoot no game, for his utmost endeavors failed to put the lock of his gun into working condition, and finding at last that it was useless to make further attempts, and that the piece could be only an encumbrance to him, he threw it away. He caught a small turtle, and occasionally succeeded in taking young birds, all of which he ate raw. In this way, and by making use of nourishing roots and herbs, he succeeded in sustaining life through all the weary days of his jour- ney to civilization. As he traveled eastward he found heavier timber, and saw everywhere great quantities of game, which was very tantalizing, as he could not kill or catch any, although nearly famished.

For twenty days from the time of his escape from his guard Tutelu, Dr. Knight traveled on through the wilderness, unmolested by savages, but suffering ter- ribly of hunger and cold,-for he had not the means of making a fire,-and on the evening of July 3d struck the Ohio River about five miles below the mouth of Beaver. On the 5th he arrived safely at Fort Pitt,1 where he remained as surgeon of the Seventh Virginia Regiment until after the declara- tion of peace.

John Slover, one of the guides of the expedition, was one of those who were captured by the Indians and condemned to the torture, but almost miraculously escaped. On the evening of the 5th of June, when the forces of Col. Crawford commenced their retreat from Battle Island, and the combined Delawares and Shawanese attacked the advanced battalion under Maj. McClelland, it will be recollected that the three other divisions precipitately abandoned the line of march and moved away on a route diverging to the west, and that soon afterwards the head of the column marched by mistake into a bog or swamp, where a number of the volunteers lost their horses by reason of their becoming mired in the soft muddy soil. Among those who were thus dismounted were the guide, Slover, James Paull (afterwards sheriff of Fay- ette County), and five others, who then kept together in a party and attempted to make their escape through the woods. They traveled on in safety until the 8th, when, at about nine o'clock in the forenoon, they fell into an ambuscade of Shawanese Indians, who had followed their trail from the Plains. The savages

fired on them, and two of the men fell. Paull ran for his life and made his escape, but Slover and two other men were taken prisoners and conducted back to the Shawanese towns on Mad River, which they reached on the 11th of June. On their arrival they were re- ceived by an Indian crowd such as always collected on such an occasion, and were made to "run the gauntlet" between two files of squaws and boys for a distance of some three hundred yards to the council- house. One of the men had been painted black (though why the Indians had thus discriminated against this man does not appear), and he was made a special target for the abuse and blows of the bar- barous gang. He reached the door of the council- house barely alive, but was then pulled back and beaten and mangled to death, his body cut in pieces, and these stuck on poles about the village.

Slover and the other man ran the gauntlet without fatal or very serious injury, but the latter was sent away the same evening to another village, and no more was heard of him. As to Slover, he was kept at the village for two weeks, during which time coun- cils were held daily and war-dances every night, to all of which he was invited and most of which he at- tended.2 The Indians also assigned to him a squaw as a companion, with whom he lived in comparative freedom during his stay at the village.3 Finally a council was held, at which it was decided that he should be put to death by torture.

The next day "about forty warriors, accompanied by George Girty, an adopted Delaware, a brother of Simon and James Girty,4 came early in the morning round the house where Slover was. He was sitting before the door. The squaw gave him up. They put a rope around his neck, tied his arms behind his back, stripped him naked, and blacked him in the usual manner. Girty, as soon as he was tied, cursed him, telling him he would get what he had many years deserved. Slover was led to a town about five miles away, to which a messenger had been dispatched to desire them to prepare to receive them. Arriving at the town, he was beaten with clubs and the pipe-ends of their tomahawks, and was kept for some time tied to a tree before a house-door. In the mean time the inhabitants set out for another town about two miles distant, where Slover was to be burnt, and where he arrived about three o'clock in the afternoon. They were now at Mac-a-chack, not far from the present site of West Liberty, in Logan County. Here there was

1 In a letter from Gen. Irvine to President Moore, dated Fort Pitt, July 5, 1782, he says, "This moment Doctor Knight has arrived, the surgeon I sent with the volunteers to Sandusky ; he was several days in the hands of the Indians, but fortunately made his escape from his keeper, who was conducting him to another settlement to be bound [burned]. He brings the disagreeable account that Col. Crawford and all the rest (about twelve, to the doctor's knowledge) who fell into his [their] hands were burned to death in a most shocking manner; the unfortunate colonel in particular was upwards of four hours burning. The reason they assign for this uncommon barbarity is retaliation for the Moravian affair. The doctor adds that he understood those people had laid aside their religious principles and have gone to war; that he saw two of them bring in scalps who he formerly knew."-Penn. Ar- chives, 1781-83, p. 576.

2 Having previously lived much among the Indians, Slover was well acquainted with their language, and spoke it, particularly the Miami and Shawanese dialects, with great fluency.

! 3 " There was one council at which Slover was not present. The war- riors had sent for him as usual, but the squaw with whom he lived would not suffer him to go, but hid him under a large quantity of skins. It may have been done that Slover might not hear the determination she feared would be arrived at, to burn him."-Butterfield.

4 James and George Girty, as well as Capt. Matthew Elliott, of the British service, were present at the Shawanese town, and took part in the Indian councils before mentioned.

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a council-house also, as at Wapatomica,1 but only a part of it was covered. In the part without a roof was a post about sixteen feet in height. Around this, at a distance of about four feet, were three piles of wood about three feet high. Slover was brought to the post, his arms again tied behind him, and the thong or cord with which they were bound was fastened to it. A rope was also put about his neck and tied to the post about four feet above his head. While they were tying him the wood was kindled and began to flame. Just then the wind began to blow, and in a very short time the rain fell violently. The fire, which by this time had begun to blaze considerably, was instantly extin- guished. The rain lasted about a quarter of an hour." 2

The savages were amazed at this result, and per- haps regarded it as an interposition of the Great Spirit on behalf of the prisoner. They finally de- cided to allow him to remain alive until morning, when, as they said, they would recommence the tor- ture, and devote the whole day to it. He was then unbound, and made to sit on the ground, where he was beaten, kicked, and otherwise maltreated by the Indians, who continued dancing round him and yell- ing till nearly midnight. Three guards were then de- tailed to watch him during the rest of the night; he was again bound and taken to a house, where a rope was fastened about his neck and tied to a beam of the house. His guards kept awake taunting him about the torture he was to endure until towards morning, when two of them fell asleep, and not long afterwards the other followed their example. Soon they were all asleep, and when he was entirely sure that they were so Slover commenced attempts to unbind him- self. He had comparatively little difficulty in slipping the cords from one of his wrists, which left him at liberty to work at the rope around his neck. This he found much more securely tied, and he began to de- spair of loosening it, as the daylight had begun to appear and the Indians would soon be on the alert. At last, however, he succeeded in untying the knots, and rose from his painful position, free, but still in the greatest danger of discovery.

Stepping softly over the sleeping warriors, he quickly left the house, and ran through the village into a corn-field. Near by he saw several Indian horses grazing, and having with no little difficulty caught one of these, using the rope with which he had been bound as a halter, he mounted and rode away, first slowly, then more rapidly, and finally with all the speed of which the animal was capable. No alarm had yet been given in the village, and he had therefore reason to believe that the Indians were still ignorant of his escape.

Slover forced the horse to his utmost speed for a long time, but gradually his pace slackened and grew

slower and slower until about two o'clock in the afternoon, when, finding it impossible to urge him beyond a walking gait, he dismounted, left the ani- mal, and pushed on on foot. He had heard the dis- tant hallooing of Indians behind him, showing him that he was pursued, but he kept on, using every precaution to cover his trail as he proceeded. No Indians appeared, and he traveled on without a moment's stop until ten o'clock at night, when, being very sick and vomiting, he halted to rest for two hours. At midnight the moon rose, and he pro- ceeded on, striking a trail, which he kept till day- light, and then, as a measure of precaution, left it, and struck through the woods along a ridge at a right angle from his previous course. This he continued for about fifteen miles, and then changed to what he judged to be his true course. From this point he met with no specially notable adventure. On the third day he reached the Muskingum, on the next he reached and crossed the Stillwater, and in the even- ing of the fifth day of his flight he camped within five miles of Wheeling. Up to this time he had not closed his eyes in sleep since he left his cabin and squaw companion at Wapatomica. Early on the following morning he came to the Ohio River oppo- site the island at Wheeling, and seeing a man on the other side, called to him, and finally induced him to come across and take him over in his canoe, though at first he was very suspicious and unwilling to cross to the west shore. On the 10th of July Slover reached Fort Pitt.

As the volunteers who marched with Col. Crawford to Sandusky were during the campaign regularly in the service under the orders of the general command- ing the Western Department, there were of course muster-rolls of the several companies showing the names of all their members; but no such rolls are now known to be in existence. In the absence of these and of any unofficial list of those who composed the force under Crawford, very few names are now known of Washington County men who marched with the expedition to Sandusky. A few, known as residents of this county, have been incidentally men- tioned in the preceding narrative of the campaign, and the names of some others (but not many) have been gathered from different sources. Among them are those of John Canon, of Canonsburg, David Steele, of Peters township, Isaac Cox, James and Hugh Workman, of Amwell township, and William Huston, of Washington, all of whom returned from Sandusky in safety. In one account it is stated that William Huston never returned; but this is proved to be incorrect by an affidavit which is found, made by William Huston before Justice Samuel Shannon in 1798. John Campbell, William Nimmons, and William Johnson volunteered from this county, and marched with the expeditionary forces from the Mingo Bottom to the Sandusky Plains, but did not come back

1 The Indian village to which he had first been taken.

2 Butterfield's " Expedition against Sandusky."

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with the fugitives from the scene of disaster, and were never again heard of in the settlements. The names of these men, as volunteers from Washington County, were given by William Darby, whose statement has been published by De Hass, Butterfield,1 and other writers upon the subject of Crawford's ill-starred en- terprise.

The names of a few others who enrolled themselves with the volunteers who marched from Washington County in the memorable campaign of 1782 against the Wyandot towns are found in the minutes of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania, refer- ring to awards made some years afterwards in reim- bursement for losses sustained by various persons in that campaign. Such of the entries in those minutes as have reference to residents of Washington County 2 are given below (names of such as are known to have been residents of Westmoreland being omitted), viz .:

" In Council.

"PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 7, 1785.

"The comptroller-general's reports upon the following accounts against the State for losses sustained, etc., upon the Indian expedition of 1782, under the direction of Colonel William Crawford, were read and approved, viz .:

". .. Twelve pounds to James Alexander; . . . six pounds four shillings and five pence to Noble Graham ; six pounds to Samnel Dualls; thirteen pounds to John Dean ; seven shillings and sixpence to Samuel

1 Butterfield, in his " Historical Account of the Expedition Against Sandusky," quotes Darby's account, as follows:

" From the fort [the stockade inclosing the house of Jacob Wolfe, in what is now Buffalo township, Washington County ] my parents removed to Catfish [Washington], and spent the residue of 1782, and to April, 1783, on the farm of Alexander Reynolds, recently owned by Dr. F. J. Le- moyne. On this farm we were living when . . . the militia army were defeated under Colonel William Crawford . . . James and Hugh Work- man were both in that expedition, and I fancy I see the two women now when James Reynolds came running to my mother, exclaiming, 'Jamy Workman is killed!' James Workman, who was a married man, was not killed, but returned to his family and lived many years afterwards. A like report came in regard to Hugh, and happily proved untrue, to the great joy of his betrothed wife, Peggy Bryson, living then with her brother-in-law, Thomas Nichol. John Campbell, of Pigeon Creek, was killed in the action." Butterfield then proceeds:

" The brothers Workman were in the same company when the army on its outward march left Mingo Bottom; but when Crawford selected his company of light-horse, Hugh joined it, leaving his brother James in the ranks of the mounted infantry. James was twenty-five and Hugh twenty-three years of age when they joined the Sandusky expedition. The former applied for a pension fifty years after, and was successful. Both were then living (1833) in Amwell township, Washington County." James Workman was one of those who became separated from the main body of Crawford's forces in the night of June 5, 1782, and while he and another man in the same condition were making their way through the woods in their attempt to escape, they met Nicholas Dawson, of West- moreland County (one of the volunteers), who had mistaken his course and was heading towards Sandusky, thus running directly into danger instead of escaping from it. They tried to convince him that he was wrong, but he obstinately insisted that he was not. Finding it impossi- ble to persuade him to change his course, they at last told him that as he would certainly be taken by the Indians if he kept on, and as it was better for him to die by the hands of white men than to be tortured by savages, they were determined to shoot him then and there unless he consented to turn his course and go with them. This wasan unanswer- able argument, and Dawson finally yielded to it, though with a very bad grace. He changed his route, joined company with the two men, and so succeeded in making his escape, and arrived in safety at his home be- yond the Monongahela.

? The greater part of those named are known to have been inhabitants of the county of Washington. It is not unlikely that some are included who were not such, but they are certainly very few.

Cane; seven pounds to Richard Clark; . . . fifteen pounds to Louis Heming; .. . and sixteen pounds to Joseph Barker.

"January 10, 1785, . . . thirteen pounds to James Woods; eight pounds ten shillings to Jacob Van Kirk ; thirty pounds to James Nicholl; ... four pounds nineteen shillings and sixpence to Joseph Parish ; . . . six- teen pounds to Jacob South ; ten pounds to Jacob Schwartz; . . . five pounds sixteen shillings and three pence to John Lucas; .. . five pounds to Alexander McDonald; .. . four pounds ten shillings to Robert Jack- son ; fifteen pounds to William Case; fifteen pounds to Aaron Rollins; eleven pounds to Lewis Duvall; three pounds eight shillings to Charles Burdin; . . . six pounds ten shillings to Dennis Stevens.

"March 2, 1785 .- Accounts approved of Craig Ritchie and Andrew Munro, for horses lost on the Sandusky expedition. Of the aforesaid Craig Ritchie, four rations due from the 20th of May to the 20th of June, 1782.

" August 30, 1785 .- The comptroller-general's report upon the accounts of William Shearer, of the county of Washington, for a horse lost on the Sandusky expedition, was read and approved.

"September 15, 1785 .- Upon the account of James Scott, for a horse, blanket, etc., lost on the Sandusky expedition.

"September 21, 1785 .- Of Peter Peterson, for rations due on the San- dusky expedition. Of Henry Taylor, for thirty days' rations furnished John Blean upon the aforesaid expedition. Note .- All the (3) three per- sons above named are inhabitants of Washington County.

" December 31, 1785 .- Of Richard Graham, for a horse lost on the San- dusky expedition.

" April 19, 1786 .- Of Hugh Sprouls, of the county of Washington, for a horse lost on the Sandusky expedition.

"Of Joseph Brown, of said county, for rations furnished to the militia employed on the said expedition. Of Thomas Brown, of said county, for rations furnished as aforesaid.

" December 8, 1789 .- Of George Tompoh, for his provisions, while employed as a militiaman on the frontiers of Washington County, and for a blanket, a pack-saddle, and two bags lost on the (said) expedition under Colonel Crawford, in 1782, amounting to two pounds seven shil- lings and six pence.

"Of John Hill, for a saddle, blanket, two bags, and a wallet or pack lost on the said expedition, amounting to four pounds two shillings and sixpence.

" Of Robert Taylor, for thirty days' provisions due him while em- ployed on said expedition, amounting to one pound two and sixpence. Of Richard Hopkins, for a horse lost on the said expedition, amounting to four pounds.

" Of John Turvey, for thirty days' provisions due to him while em- ployed on said expedition, amounting to one pound two shillings and sixpence.

"December 17, 1789 .- Of Robert Walker, Jr., of Washington County, for provisions furnished by him for the Sandusky expedition, under Col- onel Crawford, in the year 1782, amounting to one pound two shillinga and sixpence.

" February 18, 1790 .- Of Alexander Lashley, for a horse which was taken into public service and lost on the Sandusky expedition against the Indians, under Colonel Crawford, in the year 1782, valued at twelve pounds, and allowed.

" August 28, 1790 .- Of Moses Cook, for a horse which was lost on the Sandusky expedition against the Indians, in 1782, amounting to fifteen pounds,

" September 6, 1790 .- Of the estate of James Guffee, for a horse which was lost on the Sandusky expedition against the Indians, in 1782, amount- ing to fourteen pounds."

Proposed Second Sandusky Expedition .- It has been mentioned that a number of fugitives from the disordered forces of Col. Crawford reached the Ohio River considerably in advance of the main body in its retreat under command of Williamson. These stragglers immediately returned to their homes, and spread through the frontier settlements the most alarming and exaggerated reports3 of the disaster

3 The earliest reports which obtained currency were to the effect that the army of Crawford was almost annihilated, and that the Indians were pursuing them to the Ohio, and would doubtless cross the river and carry rapine and desolation through the border settlements. The fact was

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which had befallen the expedition. These reports unpardonable were I to pass them unnoticed." In a - letter of the same date, addressed to Col. Edward Cook, lieutenant of Westmoreland County, Irvine said, "Your people seem so much in earnest that I am led to think, if other parts of the country are 80 spirited and patriotic, something may probably be done, but as it will take some time to come to a proper knowledge of this matter, and that must be accu- rately done, there can be no harm in making the ex- periment. .. . I have no intimation of any plan being on foot in Washington County for this pur- pose, though it is said the people wish another expe- dition." not only caused great grief and extreme anxiety for the fate of relatives and friends who were with Craw- ford's forces, but the wildest consternation also, for it was feared and believed that the victorious savages- red and white-would soon be across the Ohio, and would carry devastation and butchery eastward to the Monongahela, if not to the base of Laurel Hill. When the grief and anxiety of the people was to a great extent allayed by the return of the volunteers, and the consequent discovery that the disaster was by no means as overwhelming as had at first been re- ported, the dread of Indian invasion still remained, and the bold frontiersmen, discarding the idea of The manner in which it was proposed to form the new expedition and carry it to a successful issue is indicated in a letter written by Irvine to the Secretary of War, Gen. Lincoln, on the 1st of July, from which the following extracts are made : waiting for the coming of the foe, and then merely standing on the defensive, began at once to urge the forming of a new expedition to carry the war into the heart of the Indian country, and to prosecute it to the point of extermination, or at least to the destruc- " The disaster has not abated the ardor or desire for revenge (as they term it) of these people.2 A number of the most respectable are urging me strenuously to take command of them, and add as many Continental officers and soldiers as can be spared, particularly offi- cers, as they attribute the defeat to the want of expe- rience in their officers. They cannot nor will not rest under any plan on the defensive, however well exe- tion of the Wyandot, Delaware, and Shawanese towns, for they believed that in no other way could security be had for the settlements along the border. It was the wish of the leading spirits-such men as Williamson, Marshel, and Col. Cook, of Westmore- land-that the proposed expedition should be made as strong numerically as possible, that it should in- clude besides volunteers from the militia of Wash- | cuted, and think their only safety depends on the total ington and Westmoreland Counties as many regular , destruction of all the Indian settlements within two Continental troops as could be spared from Fort Pitt, hundred miles; this, it is true, they are taught by dear-bought experience. and that it should be commanded by Gen. Irvine in person.

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History of Washington County, Pennsylvania : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Part 30

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