History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 8

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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

mains were thus saved from being cut to pieces. The eneiny were baffled, and Bullet covering the retreat, the command was successfully carried back to the Loyalhanna camp. The loss of the British and col- onists was about three hundred.1

The slowness of acting which at first had marked the French and their Indian allies is partially ac- counted for by Capt. James Smith, at that time a cap- tive among the Indians. He states that reinforce- ments from the camp-fires at Detroit, expecting the approach of the English in the summer of 1758, left for Fort Duquesne; that they expected to serve Forbes as they had served Braddock ; that during all the fall they had full accounts of the army from Indian runners ; but that withal Grant had stolen a march on them, they not looking for a thing so im- probable. However, after this engagement they had a council, and resolved to march out and meet the army, for the Indians were becoming dissatisfied, and as it was late in the year they were compelled from necessity to go into their own country and get food for their squaws and children that these in the severity of the winter might not starve. Having been so long on the war-path and from their wigwams, many of the helpless ones it is believed had perished during the previous seasons. And in truth the influence of the French over their allies was somewhat waning. So it was proposed to attack the army under Bouquet in their own camp, and if fortunate close the campaign by one battle.

Instead of being disheartened at this unforeseen or- currence, Bouquet resorted to more active measures in securing his camp and holding it till reinforcements came; for, flushed with this victory, it was not un- looked for that the enemy should be emboldened to attack him. This they accordingly did. The repulse of Grant was suffered on the 14th of September, and four weeks from that time all the force of the garri- son, which now was composed of more French than Indians, from their desire of holding the position, came out in battle array and filled the woods around the camp at Loyalhanna. The number of the French was estimated at twelve hundred ; that of the Indians at above two hundred. They were under command

1 " The French had the day before received a reinforcement of four hundred men from Illinois, under Capt. Anbrey, commander in the at- tack on Grant, who met with a bloody defeat on the hill where our court-house now stands, and along through the woods to where the bing. gage was kept with a guard on the slope above the Two-Mile Run. Grunt was captured but soon exchanged. In 1760 he was Governor of East Florida. He afterwards rose to high rank in the British army, and served in it during part of the war of the Revolution. He was in the battle of Germantown and of Monmonth Court-House; at the latter he commanded, and defeated the American Gen. Lee. He died at his seat at Ballendalloch, near Elgin, Scotland, May 13, 1806, in the eighty-sixth year of his age. At the time of his death he was Governor of Stirling Castle. Cipt. Aubrey, the French commander, was taken prisoner the next year nt Niagara. He was afterwards Governor of the French colony at New Orleans. Returning to France in February, 1770, he lost his life by the sinking of the vessel off the French coast, near the mouth of the Garonne."-Win. M. Darlington, E~]., "Pittsburgh in the Last Century."

of De Vitri. On Thursday, the 12th of October, 1758, their combined forces attacked Bouquet. The engagement commenced in the forenoon about eleren o'clock, and lasted till three o'clock in the afternoon. The enemy were repulsed on all sides. They again renewed the attack at night, but Bouquet throwing shells from his mortars into the woods among them they were forced to desint. They retreated under cover of the darkness. The loss of the British was 67 rank and file, of which twelve were killed.

The Indians now, for the first time in this long and bloody war, showed signs of dinaffection. They could not be prevailed upon to carry on the war, but left the war-trail for their hunting-grounds. It had been only by artful promises that they were held so long, and when the first signs began to appear of their warfare being unrewarded with booty they treacher- ously withdrew. The French were not able of them- selves to fight successfully against the English and their auxiliaries.

All the meagre accounts of this engagement at Ligonier that we have yet met with are stated above. Few have paid a more than passing notice to the fact that here in Westmoreland County, in Ligonier Val- ley, in the heart of a great wilderness, part of the renowned organization which had been perfected by Turenne and Luxemburg, which had sustained glory on the fields of Belgium, had ravaged the Palatinate, and had been marshalled against the Stadtholder king and Marlborough, were brought face to face with their immemorial foemen. But it is true that here, under the lilies of France, the soldiery of Louis again closed in conflict with the soldiery of George under the royal cross of England. Here in miniature was fought over the conflict of Namur and of Landen.

By the 1st of November, 1758, the whole army under Forbes and Washington was around Ligonier stockade. Forbes, of delicate health, was now so feeble that he had to be carried on a litter by the men. It was getting late in the fall, and a council of officers was called to determine on future action. Winter in reality had already set in, and the tops of the Laurel Hill and Chestnut Ridge were covered with snow. It was considered hazardous to attempt an offensive campaign with the winter before them and without a knowledge of the country or the enemy. So it was about concluded that the army go into cantonments about the stockade till the breaking up of the season. But several French and Indians and a few captives falling into the hands of the English, the actual number of their enemy and the disaffection of the Indians were learnt. When this was known it was resolved to hasten forward speedily as possible towards the fort.

Washington, as colonel, was sent forward in ad- vance of the main portion of the army to take com- mand of the division whose employment it was to open the road. On the 12th of November, about three miles from the camp, he fell in with a number

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FORBES' EXPEDITION, 1758.

of the enemy, and in the attack which followed they killed one man and took three prisoners. One of these was an Englishman named Johnson, who had been captured by the Indians in Lancaster County, and from him was derived full and authentic infor- ination of the state of affairs at Duquesne.

Upon this occasion a most unfortunate accident happened the provincial troops. The noise of the firing from the detachment under Washington being heard at the camp, Col. Hugh Mercer, with a number of Virginians, was sent forward to his assistance. The .two parties, approaching each other in the dusk of the evening, mistook each other for the enemy. A number of shots were exchanged, by which a lieutenant and thirteen or fourteen Virginians were killed. Washing- ton was in the greatest danger during this melee, for soon as he comprehended the situation he ran in among his men and beat down their guns.1

On the 13th, Col. Armstrong, with a thousand men, pushed forward to assist Washington in opening the road for the artillery and baggage. On the 17th, Forbes, with four thousand three hundred effective men, pushed forward after leaving strong garrisons at Bedford (Raystown) and the Loyalhanna.

The advance under Washington cut its way through the morasses and over the hills in a more direct course than the course Grant had taken. They crossed the Loyalhanna at where it was afterwards called Coch- ran's Ford, about two and a half miles from Latrobe. Here they came out on the old Indian path, or Ohio trail, first used by the traders, which, as we have stated, ran direct to Duquesne. They followed the course westward, going past the settlement after- wards of Hannastown, and passing out of the limits of the county near Murrysville; thence, crossing the Turtle Creek, they went straight for the fort, keeping to the foot of the hills. The old Forbes road, or Hannastown road, as it was variously known, may be traced on some old maps of the county. In some

1 This affair has been greatly misrepresented, and in the traditions of the people of that part of the valley greatly distorted. It is hard to make some understand that Washington did not command there iu an engagement against the enemy.

The substance of this occurrence is derived from Sparks' "Washing- ton," and the account there made np from Washington's writings.

I was told by a very old gentleman of this county, now deceased, what was related to him as the substance of a conversation between Wash- fugton and William Findley, the first representative in Congress from this district. Findley said that Washington, speaking with him about this skirmish, said he had always considered that he was in more danger then and there than on any other occasion in his military career. At that time, which was long after the occurrence, he remembered the particu- lars well and described accurately the situation of affairs. He also called Findley's attention to the physical outlines of the entire region between Ligonier and Pittsburgh, and recalled certain observations made at the time he engineered the road, and which he yet attentively retained.

places it may be followed by natural marks. In few places is it used any more as a public road. It was, however, for many years after the only highway through our county, or, indeed, except the Braddock road, from the East to the West. But now, as it was opened first to the passage of the army, it may readily be imagined that it was pa sable only with the greatest of labor and care. The army, even that portion im- mediately under Forbes, moved slowly. The pioneers were nine days in going from the Loyalhanna to the Turtle Creek. The weather was chilly and damp, with falling snow and rain intervening. The soldiers were constantly on the alert, and a number of friendly Indians, who by the influence of Post were induced to take arms. in the assistance of the English, were out as scouts on all sides. On Friday, the 24th of November, the Indian scouts in the advance saw the sinoke arising from the barracks of Fort Duquesne. It had been fired by the French by order of their commander, De Lignery, and then abandoned. The army was about twelve or thirteen miles away. The French, taking boat, fled, some down the Ohio and some to Canada by way of the Allegheny. The gar- rison was only about four hundred. Forbes sent for- ward a company of cavalry under Capt. Hazlet to secure, if possible, some of the munition and to ex- tinguish the fire. The works were mostly destroyed, but a large quantity of war stores was saved.

The main body with the general arrived the next day. Sunday, the 26th, was observed by general orders as " A Day of Public Thanksgiving to Al- mighty God" for their success, and the Rev. Charles Beatty, a Presbyterian minister, and chaplain to- Col. Clapham's Pennsylvania regiment, preached a thanks- giving sermon, which was probably the first Protest- ant sermon preached west of the mountains. On Tuesday, the 28th, a large detachment marched to Braddock's battle field to bury the bones of those still lying there, as the same duties had been done to the stark corpses which lay on Grant's Hill.

And now at last from the smoking walls of Du- quesne floated the English standard. . A new fort was laid out, which when built was called Fort Pitt, in honor of the distinguished premier, William Pitt. Hugh Mercer, with a garrison of two hundred, was left in command. The army returned to Philadel- phia, and in the early part of the next year, 1759, Forbes died. Brigadier John Stanwix succeeded Forbes as commander-in-chief of the middle division of colonies. He arrived at Pittsburgh in August 1759, and on the 3d of September the work of build- ing this " formidable fortification" was commenced by order of the British Secretary of State.

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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

CHAPTER VI.

FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN WESTMORELAND-BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN, 1763.

Settlers come Into Ligonier Valley, about Fort Phe, and along the Old Military Rund-Their Joulated Detnations, their Squalld Hula, Putatu Patches, and First Clearings-Condition of Indiau Affairs at the l'eace between England and France, 1702 and 1703-l'untiec-Furt Liguster made a General Deput-Officers Commandant at Furt Ligonher-The Great Upiking of the Northwestern Tribes-Fort Pist and Furt Lt guvier surrounded and cut off from connection with the East-Cape. Ourry and his Men from Bedford come to the relief of Ligaler aud hold the Fort-Bouquet marches-from the Last to the p lief of Fort Ligonier and Fort Pitt -- The Force with him-Bouquet fade the Frontier overras and the Inhabitants utterly destitute-He reaches Fort Ligonier (1:03)-He strengthens the Post, and with his &mall Army and a Convoy of Pack-Horses proceeds towards Fort Fitt-Hir is attacked by the Indisus Buder Kynshata, the Chief of the Senerms, and fights the Battle of Bushy Run-He Defeats and Scalters ble Enemy in the most successful Engagement fought with the Lustiles, aud carries bis Forces aud Provisions iuto Fort Pitt.

WITH the army of Forbes and immediately in its train came in the first settlers of Westmoreland. Some clustered & out the fort at the Forks of the Ohio, and some remained at Ligonier. The inost of them were soldiers who had served in the campaign, and who, with their families, remained. Some chose to settle by location ; in other words, they settled on land which they thought they had a right to merely by occupying it ; but most were allotted land by the military commandants empowered to do so, and these settled by military permit. One of the earliest of these settlements, after those at the two forts, was the settlement of Andrew Byerly. Byerly's settlement dates from 1759. It was situated on Brush Creek, contiguous to which was the manorial reservation of the Penns. The order for Andrew Byerly's warrant was the thirty-sixth in number, and called for two hundred and thirty acres. On this spot Byerly seated himself by permit from the commandant at Fort Pitt, and before any other settlers had located between Bedford and Pitt. He accommodated express-riders and military agents on this road. Within the next two years there were three or four neighbors to By- erly. Of these one was Christopher Rudabaugh.

Although Western Pennsylvania was then virtually within Cumberland County, yet the colonial authori- ties did not allow any one to take up land, either by squatting upon it or by purchasing from the Indians. It was not till 1769 that any title was given to those who had located by military permit and to those who received donations of land for service in the Indian war.

But settlers at this date came in cautiously. In rude and aqualid huts, crouched close to the stockade at Ligonier and scattered far apart from Frazer's, at the mouth of Turtle Creek, the settlers were always watchful and on the alert. The land, a complete wilderness, was all before them where to choose, and, paradoxically, the "flaming sword" was before them also. The only strip of light through the gloom of

the primeral woods was the narrow roadway from the mountains to the rivers. Far southward to the still unpeopled highway of Braddock, and far northward into perpetual winter, was a boundlem, rocky, deso- late, and gloomy wild. To the left and right beasts of prey crouched in their burrows, birds of ill omen nestled among the cliffs, and barbarians skulked amid the trees or made war-clubs and sharpened their flints in their tepees by the streams and in the vales where the sunshine scarce touched.

As stated, a stockade bad been built and a garrison was left at Ligonier Fort. An attempt was made by the soldiers posted here to raise corn and garden veg- etables, and with the coming year a few others came in to share the hardships with them. Their huts were built under the shadow of the stockade, and at night they rested in quarters guarded by the soldiers. The old Fort Ligonier stood somewhat back of the site of the present village, on a rise of ground which was the lowerinost range of Laurel Hill. The luca- tion was well adapted for defense and well calculated to sustain a settlement, for although the mountains surrounding are comparatively unfruitful and unpro- ductive, yet the valleys between are fertile and well watered.

Although the general war was not terminated, yet when the Indians were brought into contact with the English they, from the results of a wise policy, were conciliated. In 1758 a treaty was effected at Easton between the Delawares and Shawanese and the whites. The fury of the Indians, in the eastern part of the State especially, had somewhat abated, but on the western frontiers the Indians, under the French, still committed depredations. From the treaty of . Easton the minds of the people had been somewhat at rest. But none knew so well the treachery of that uncon- querable race as the settlers themselves. They, taking advantage of the lull in the war, pushed on farther into the West,-the first eddy of the great ware of empire. Point by point was reached and secured. Settlements were re-established along the Mononga- hela, several on the old Braddock road and at the Turkey Foot. While these were the forerunners of the English civilization in Western Pennsylvania and Virginia, others were worming their way far off in Northwestern Ohio. But all were watchful and on their guard. And good reasons had they to be on their guard. The old enmity between the races was not extinct. The defeat of the Indians had not been complete, they had been only baffled. On the edges of the border warfare had not at any time entirely ceased. The outposts were at any time open to sur- prise and attack. Far from the West, where the In- dians had gathered closer together, came mutterings of war. In restless expectancy did the few settlers of Western Pennsylvania and Virginia pass over & couple of years, from 1759 to 1762 and 1763. As the war between France and England was about termi- nating in 1762, the storm at length broke out. Nor

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FIRST SETTLEMENTS IN WESTMORELAND-BATTLE OF BUSHY RUN, 1763. 33

did the subsequent treaty of peace stop the aggression of these.

There was a daring and noble-if the word noble can be applied to a savage-a noble chieftain, who commanded a confederation of Indians which he him- self had organized. This was Pontiac. He was chief of the Ottawas, and his camp-fires were about the lakes at Detroit. Under instigation of the French, and from a love of great actions, he waged an unre- lenting and a deathless war on the English whites. He was possessed of an inherent genius both for com- mand and to execute. Besides this he was gifted to a wonderful degree with the power of persuasive ora- tory. The strength of his organization and the force of his arms were felt all over the colonies. While the fires of one war were covering over, the fires of another war burst out. The natives, under arrange- ments concerted with this great chieftain, attacked in squads and simultaneously nearly every one of the outer circle of forts and settlements which circled westward from the lakes to the head-waters of the Kentucky. The tribes of Ohio, headed by the main body of the Shawanese, the most powerful of the Mingo confederation, carried the war into the heart of our own State. So unexpected and so fierce was this incursion that the Indians were all through the country before the whites knew.1 Fort Pitt was com- pletely surrounded. It was feared that the fort would fall, a fear made more intense from a corresponding interest and by the great expectation of the English, who had after so much difficulty wrested it from their enemies, and who, when they had it in possession, boastingly asserted that it should remain in their pos- session forever. Environing this fort, they penetrated as far eastward as Bedford. At this time Ligonier was the only post between Bedford and Fort Pitt held by the English. In the forts, stockades, and block- houses the settlers sought safety. The alarm spread like wildfire, and the roads in the East were filled with frightened women and children. Ligonier was in a state of siege. From now till the end of the French and Indian war, properly speaking, and even after, all the inhabitants were either driven east of the mountains or else they were cooped up in forts.

Fort Ligonier had now become a general station, at which provisions and munitions of war were collected for the supply of the West. From here, on pack- horses, these were sent forward protected. There was no stated number of the garrison, for it differed at dif- ferent times. After Forbes left, Lieut. Lloyd was in

command for most part of the year 1758. Lieut. Samuel Miles commanded in the latter part of the year 1759, and had twenty men under him picked out of two bat- talions. At the time of this incursion the depot at Ligonier was in charge of Lieut. Blaine. Capt. Ourry commanded at Bedford. The garrison at both places was small. But to preserve this post was of the ut- most importance ; for had Fort Pitt and Fort Ligonier fallen the whole of the middle part of Pennsylvania would have been open to another invasion. To here within the walls of the stockade all those around fled. Byerly, in the night, brought in his family, for the Indians were between his station and Fort Pitt. Fort Pitt, with a small garrison under Captain Ecuyer, was isolated. The Indians, under the vigilant control of a bloodthirsty chieftain, Kyashuta, of the Senecas,- the confederate of Pontiac in the East,-had hopes to starve out the garrison before assistance reached them. Amid the commotion and tumult in the East, it was feared that with all their activity in this emergency no relief could be brought to either point. A cam- paign would have to be first organized, and a long stretch of mountainous country separated them. But the authorities and people appeared willing and able to help. If the besieged places could hold out it would not be long till Bouquet would again be among them. Some thought that all would be massacred before assistance came; others dreaded to hear any news, for their ears were open to that which would be the most sorro .vful.

In the mean time affairs were critical about Fort Ligonier. There was the greatest danger and the most widely spread fear of the post falling into the hands of the enemy. A party detached from the main body of the Indians had already attacked it, but by the good management of Lieut. Blaine and the bravery of his men, notwithstanding the fewness of their number and the badness of the stockade, those who attacked it were driven back.

As a matter of fact, the possession of this post was almost if not altogether of as much importance at this conjuncture as the post of Fort Pitt. Its situa- tion was such that it immediately covered the fron- tiers. But besides this at that particular time there were large quantities of military stores here. Should these fall into the hands of the enemy, they would be able to continue their attack on Fort Pitt, and prob- ably reduce the place before any help could come.

But at the same time in which the greatest appre- hension was felt that this post would fall, came rein- forcements. Captain Ourry, of Bedford, with a feeling and fearless heart, weakened his own garrison for the relief of this little band. He picked out twenty rifle- men, all good woodsmen, and directed them to exert themselves to reach the garrison in all haste. They started across the mountains, and evading the Indians on all sides by coming in on another route, appeared on the hill back of the fort. It was dangerous for the brave men to delay, for fear of being discovered, and

1 All the tribes from the Hudson to the Mississippi were in the confed- eration. So systematic was their attack planned, and so simultaneously was it executed, that out of the eleven or twelve of the principal British forts lying west of the Ohlo River by their preconcerted arrangement and their quick ness of operation only three were untaken. Le Bœuf, Venango, Presque Isle on Lake Erie, Lea Bay on Lake Michigan, Miami, St. Joseph, Ouachtanon, Sandusky, and Michillimackinac had been surprised and the garrisons massacred. Niagara, Detroit, and Fort Pitt alone remained uncaptured, but each was besieged by a large num- ber of savages, who had with them some French Canadians.

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HISTORY OF WESTMORELAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

it was dangerous for them to run towards the fort, for in doing so they might be mistaken for an enemy and fired upon. But they soon resolved on doing. Under cover of the bushes they crept near to the stockade. They were seen by the Indians and fired at, but under cover of the fire they ran for the entrance of the fort. The garrison recognized them and fired upon their pursuers, and flinging open the gates of the stockade heartily welcomed their arrival.

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History of the County of Westmoreland, Pennsylvania, with Biographical Sketches of Many of its Pioneers and Prominent Men, Part 8

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor Publication date: Publisher: Number of Pages:

Author: George Dallas Albert, editor
Publication date:
Publisher:
Number of Pages: