USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Old Westmoreland : a history of western Pennsylvania during the Revolution > Part 8
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Brodhead put into operation a system of scouting along the border, from one fort to another, and from the regulars at Fort Pitt he organized a number of ranging bands, com- posed of the boldest and most experienced frontiersmen, whom he sent on extended tours into the forests. To com- mand these ranging parties he selected three of the bravest and keenest woodsmen in the Eighth Pennsylvania, Cap- tain Van Swearingen, Lieutenant Samuel Brady and Lieu- tenant John Hardin. It was in this work that Brady won fame as an Indian fighter and killer.
Daniel Boone said, in his elder days, that, while he had fought Indians for many years, he did not know positively that he had ever killed one. Such was not the case with Samuel Brady. His hatred of the red men was personal and he made it his business to kill them. He had abund- ant justification. The cruel death of his brother, in Au- gust, 1778, was followed by the killing of his father, Cap-
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tain John Brady, on April II, 1779. Captain Brady was conveying supplies from Fort Wallis to Muncy, on the west branch of the Susquehanna, when he was shot dead from his horse by three Iroquois Indians secreted in a thicket. His body was recovered unscalped and was buried at Muncy, where a handsome monument was erected by public sub- scription in 1879.2 Samuel Brady received news of his father's death about the time he was chosen by Brodhead as a forest ranger. It swelled his hatred of the Indian race, gave him additional eagerness on the warpath and nerved his arm to execute vengeance.
Only a brief review is possible of the Indian depreda- tions in Westmoreland county in that terrible spring of 1779. On April 15 Colonel Brodhead wrote to a friend in the East, "The Indians are daily committing murders in Westmoreland to such a degree that it is apprehended they have formed a camp on some of the waste lands of the in- habitants." Toward the end of April a strong band of Iroquois entered the Ligonier settlement, slaughtered cat- tle and hogs, killed one man and carried two families into captivity.3
It was probably the same band, estimated to be 100 strong and accompanied by several tories, that attacked Fort Hand on April 26. The garrison consisted of 17 men, under Captain Samuel Moorhead and Lieutenant William Jack. About I o'clock in the afternoon the savages fired from the woods at two ploughmen, who escaped unharmed into the stockade. The team of horses and the yoke of oxen with which they were working were killed by the In- dians, who then spread around the place and shot down all the domestic animals in sight. The savages hid behind stumps, fences and sheds and opened fire on the fort, which was returned with vigor by the garrison. Several women within the stockade molded bullets for the riflemen, and the firing kept up briskly until nightfall. Three members of
2 Meginness's History of the West Branch; Notes and Queries, vol. 1., p. 123.
3 Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, vol. vil., p. 345.
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the garrison were wounded and one of them died a few days later. He was Sergeant Philip McGraw, who occupied a sentry box in a corner bastion. A bullet entered a narrow porthole, and after McGraw had been shot and removed, a man of the name of McCauley was wounded in the same manner.
During the night the Indians continued to whoop and shoot at the stockade. They mimicked the sentinel's cry, "All's well !" About midnight the savages set fire to John Mckibben's large log house not far from the fort, and as the flames poured upward and illuminated the stockade, the tories among the Indians cried, "Is all well now?" There was but little wind and the fire did not spread. In the morning the savages were still about the fort, but during the forenoon they gave up the siege and went away to the northward. During the night a messenger had been sent out and he made his way to Fort Pitt for aid. Forty sol- diers were hurried to Fort Hand, but they were too late to intercept the marauders.4
During May Brodhead kept his scouts out along the upper Allegheny, to give warning of the approach of any other hostile bands, and he was employing every exertion to prepare for an expedition into the Seneca country. He was much hampered by the lack of supplies, which came with painful slowness over the mountain roads from the East. For many days his men were without meat. Flour was bought only at a high price. The soldiers were clothed in rags and many were without shoes. They learned to make Indian moccasins, and Brady and his scouts were clad almost entirely in the Indian fashion. On all their forest excursions they painted their bodies and faces as the sav- ages did, wore feathers in their long hair and were to be dis- tinguished only by close scrutiny from the red men whom they hunted. They were accompanied by a few Delaware warriors, who rendered excellent service in trailing the Seneca war parties. A young Delaware chief, Nanowland,
4 Washington-Irvine Correspondence, p. 39; Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, vol. vii., p. 362; Frontier Forts, vol. ii., p. 328.
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took an especial fancy to Brady and was with him so con- stantly as to become known as Brady's "Pet Indian."
About the first of June Brodhead was informed that a large band of Seneca Indians and tories, under Colonel John Butler, was preparing to descend the Allegheny river and ravage the settlements. He sent three scouts in a ca- noe up the Allegheny as far as Venango (the present Frank- lin). There they were discovered by a party of hostile In- dians, who pursued them in canoes almost to the mouth of the Kiskiminetas. The scouts had a narrow escape and the news they brought to Fort Pitt satisfied Brodhead that the threatened invasion was at hand.
The savages were not as numerous, however, as was supposed. There were but seven of them. They hid their canoes on the Allegheny and penetrated into Westmoreland county between Fort Hand and Fort Crawford. There they encountered a solitary soldier, and left him dead and scalped in the woods. They surprised the little settlement at James Perry's mill, on Big Sewickley creek, killed a woman and four children and carried off two children, half a dozen horses, blankets, jewelry and articles of female raiment.5
When the news of this raid reached Fort Pitt two par- ties were sent out after the Indians. One considerable company marched to the Sewickley settlement and attempt- ed from there to follow the Indian trail. The other band, consisting of 20 men under Brady, all painted and dressed like Indians, ascended the Allegheny river. Brady was satisfied that the marauders came from the north and would return in that direction, regain their hidden canoes and seek to escape by water. His experience told him that the sur- est way to cut them off would be to make a rapid march up the stream. His men kept a sharp lookout for the Indian canoes and toward an evening found them drawn up amid shrubbery, on the beach within the mouth of one of the large creeks entering the Allegheny from the east. The
5 Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, vol. vii., p. 505.
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authorities differ as to the identity of this creek. McCabe, who compiled a series of traditions concerning Brady's ex- ploits, says that it was the Big Mahoning. Colonel Brod- head. in his contemporary report to General Washington, says that it was "about 15 miles above Kittanning." This agrees with the location of Red Bank creek, and would make the scene of Brady's adventure not far from the place since called Brady's Bend.
The Indians had gone into camp in the woods, on a lit- tle knoll north of the creek, and were preparing their even- ing meal when discovered by Brady. They had hobbled the stolen horses and turned them out to graze on the mea- dow between their camp and the creek. This stream was very high and the scouts were compelled to ascend it two miles before they were able to wade across.
After nightfall Brady and his men stealthily descended the northern side of the creek until they were near the In- dian camp, and hid themselves in the tall grass of the mea- dow. Crawling on their stomachs, they approached closer and closer to the hill where the Indians and their prisoners were sleeping around the campfire. They were much an- noyed by the horses in the meadow, which threatened to betray the presence of the strange creatures in the grass, but the animals were probably too weary with their long journey of the day to make any demonstrations of alarm.
Brady and Nanowland, laying aside their tomahawks, knives, powder horns and bullet pouches, crept to within a few yards of the Indian camp, to count the savages and ascertain the position of the captive children. One of the Indian warriors suddenly cast off his blanket, arose, stepped forth to within six feet of where Brady lay, stood there awhile, stretched himself and then returned to his slumber. Brady and Nanowland then crawled silently back to their companions and prepared for an attack at day- break.
The whole party of scouts made their way amid the grass and bushes as near the Indian camp as was considered safe, and lay awaiting the dawn. By and by, as morn-
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ing began to come, one Indian awoke and aroused the others. They stood about the fire, laughing and chatting, when a deadly volley blazed forth from the ad- jacent bushes. The chief of the seven Indians fell dead and the others fled almost naked into the dense forest, two of them being severely wounded. Brady's own rifle brought down the Indian captain, and, with a shout of al- most fiendish triumph, Brady sprang forward and scalped the fallen chief. The traditions of the Brady family say that this chief was the very Indian, Bald Eagle, who had struck down and scalped Brady's younger brother on the Susque- hanna ten months before. Brodhead informed Washington that he was "a notorious warrior of the Muncy nation."
The two wounded Indians were trailed for some dis- tance by the drops of blood on the ground, but they quickly staunched their wounds with leaves and were lost in the dense thickets. Nanowland uttered the cry of a young wolf, the peculiar call of the Muncys, and it was twice an- swered by the fugitives; but further calls brought no re- sponse and the wounded savages could not be found. Three weeks later Brady was in the same neighborhood and ob- served a flock of crows hovering about a thicket. On searching there, he found the partially devoured body of an Indian.®
The children captured at Sewickley were recovered un- harmed and Brady and his men returned to Fort Pitt with the stolen horses and plunder, the blankets, guns, toma- hawks and knives of the savages. The punishment of this Indian band was so severe that not another inroad was made by the northern savages into Westmoreland county during that year.
6 Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, vol. xii., p. 131; Washington- Irvine Correspondence, p. 41; Hist. Coll. of Pa., p. 99.
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BRODHEAD'S RAID UP THE ALLEGHENY.
CHAPTER XV.
BRODHEAD'S RAID UP THE ALLEGHENY.
The raids on the Pennsylvania and Virginia frontier in 1778 were made by the Indians of the Ohio country ; those of 1779 by the Senecas and Muncys of the North, from the upper tributaries and headwaters of the Allegheny. The western tribes were temporarily disorganized by Clark's capture of Hamilton, the governor of Detroit, at Vincennes, in February, 1779, and by a destructive raid made by Ken- tuckians on the Shawnee towns on the Scioto, in May, 1779.
The Seneca tribe of Western New York was the largest of the Six Nations. Its warriors were second only to the Mohawks in courage and military prowess. Under Corn- planter, Guyasuta and other war captains they distressed a wide extent of country in New York and Pennsylvania and decorated their huts in the valley of the Genesee with the scalps of hundreds of white persons.
It was to these marauders that Colonel Brodhead di- rected his attention, and he begged General Washington for permission to lead an expedition into the Seneca land. Early in the summer the Commander-in-Chief directed the formation of a large army under General John Sullivan, to invade the Iroquois territory from the east, and about the middle of July Colonel Brodhead received permission from General Washington to undertake a movement of co-opera- tion up the Allegheny valley.1
1 See Brodhead's Letter Book in Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, vol. xii., Brodhead to County Lieutenants, July 17, 1779; Brodhead to Bayard, July 20, 1779; Brodhead to Washington, July 31, 1779.
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Amid great difficulty Brodhead acted promptly, for he was prepared to depart from Fort Pitt within four weeks from the time he received Washington's letter. He had been making preparations for such an expedition ever since he took command of the department. Workmen from Philadelphia had built 60 boats, some in the form of large skiffs and others hollowed out of great poplar logs. Extra provisions had been slowly collected, more than 200 pack- horses were ready, and a large drove of live cattle had been brought over the mountains. In June Lieutenant Colonel Bayard built a stockade at Kittanning, which was called Fort Armstrong, after General John Armstrong, of Carlisle. This served as a sort of way-station on the march. The last remnant of the garrison of Fort Laurens, on the Tuscara- was, came into Fort Pitt early in August and Colonel Brod- head was then ready to proceed.2
The expedition left Pittsburg on August 11, 1779. It numbered 605 men. Small garrisons of regulars were left in Forts McIntosh, Pitt, Crawford and Armstrong. A part of the force consisted of militiamen and volunteers from the surrounding country, to whom Brodhead had promised a share of the plunder. A small band of Delawares accom- panied the expedition, and acted with the scouting parties under Brady and Hardin.
The flour, liquors and other provisions were conveyed by boats up the Allegheny river as far as the mouth of the Big Mahoning. The main body marched along the eastern bank, past Forts Crawford and Armstrong. The cattle followed under a strong guard. Amid these conditions progress was necessarily slow. When the army reached the mouth of the Mahoning, a heavy rain set in and con- tinned for four days. Tents were insufficient to shelter the whole force. The men suffered great discomfort, and many were afflicted with rheumatism. The supplies were taken from the boats and loaded on the horses, and when the rain ceased the expedition proceeded under most unfavorable conditions.
2 Brodhead's Report to Washington, Pennsylvania Archives, vol. xii., p. 155; Mag. of Amer. History, vol. iii., p. 649.
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At this point the army left the river, which flows down from the northwest, and followed an Indian trail which ran almost due north through the forest wilderness of what is now Clarion county. The use of this path stretched out the army into a long, thin line, whose weakness was covered by the scouts, kept well out in front and on flank. This trail was so bad that on the return Brodhead preferred another route. Even now the country is a rough one. The woods were full of broken timber, and many swollen streams were forded.
The trail crossed the Tionesta near its mouth and re- turned to the Allegheny river at the site of an old Indian town which Brodhead called Cushcushing. This is a Dela- ware name, more accurately written Quoshquoshink, and means Place of Hogs. It had for a few years been de- serted, but was marked by the ruins of the Indian huts. It was not far from the present town of Tionesta.3
At Cushcushing the troops crossed the Allegheny river to the right bank and pushed on toward the mouth of Brokenstraw creek. At that place there had been an Indian town called Buckaloons, but this was known to be de- serted. Brodhead hoped, however, to strike the Senecas at their village of Conewago, at the mouth of what is now called Conewango creek, where Warren has been built.4
A few miles below the Brokenstraw, the expedition had its only fight with the savages. It was near Thompson, a station on the Western New York & Pennsylvania rail- road, where there is an island in the Allegheny river. In that neighborhood the river hills are high and so close to
3 This Indian village site has sometimes been confused with Kus- kuskee, at the fork of the Beaver river. Quashquoshink was visited by Rev. David Zeisberger, the Moravian missionary, in 1767, and he dwelt there for two years. The villagers were notorious for their immorality and debauchery, and were probably of the Wolf clan of Delawares. See Loskiel's History of the Moravian Mission. General Irvine, who surveyed this region in 1785, located "Cuskushing" 25 miles up the Alle- gheny from the mouth of French creek. Pennsylvania Archives, First Series, vol. xi., p. 516.
4 The stream then called Conewago is now Conewango and is the outlet of Chautauqua Lake. Conewago is the same word as Caughnewago, used to designate an Indian village near Montreal and a mixed band of Indians living in northern Ohio.
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the stream, that there are, in some places, very narrow passes. It was in one of these passes that the encounter took place.5
Lieutenant Hardin was in advance, with 15 white scouts and eight Delaware Indians, when they discovered, coming down the river, seven canoes, containing more than 30 Seneca warriors. The captain of this war party, on its way to raid the settlements, may have been Guyasuta. Tra- dition has assigned the command to Cornplanter, but at that time Cornplanter was in the Genesee country, trying to withstand the advance of Sullivan's army. Each party observed the other at almost the same moment. The Senecas at once ran their canoes to shore, threw off their shirts and prepared for battle. The Indians always entered a conflict as nearly naked as possible. The boldness with which the savages prepared for the fray shows that they did not believe their opponents to be numerous. They would never have prepared for the fight in this manner had they suspected the presence of a large force.
Both sides took to trees and rocks and began a sharp fusillade. For only a few minutes this conflict lasted, when another party of scouts, moving over the hills, took the Senecas in flank and poured down a hot fire upon them. At the sound of the firing in front Brodhead formed his column so as to protect the pack-train and then hurried forward with reinforcements. He was just in time to wit- ness the retreat of the Senecas. They quickly discovered that they were overpowered and took to rapid flight. Some of them leaped into the river and waded and swam across. The shooting of the scouts was so accurate that the savages dared not pause on the shore to push off their canoes. Most of the Indians escaped along the bank and were soon out of sight amid the trees and thickets.
Five dead Indians lay on the field. Several others had
5 Brodhead said, in his report, that the fight took place "ten miles this side the town," meaning ten miles below Conewago or Warren. Not being acquainted with the country, his estimate of the distance was not likely to be accurate. Thompson's station, supposed to be the site of the skirmish, 18 about fourteen miles below Warren.
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gone away wounded, leaving trails of blood. Eight of their guns were left behind, as well as their seven canoes, con- taining their blankets, shirts and provisions. Only three of Brodhead's men were wounded, and they so slightly that they continued on the march the following morning. One of the wounded was Jonathan Zane, the Wheeling scout and guide, who received a nip in the arm, and the two others were Nanowland, the young Delaware chief, and Joseph Nicholson, the interpreter.
The army went into camp near the scene of conflict, and on the following morning moved up to the Broken- straw. Here Brodhead decided to leave his stores and baggage and march light to Conewago. A rude breast- work, guarded by fallen trees and bundles of fagots, was constructed on a high bluff commanding an extensive view up and down the river. A captain and 40 men remained in charge, and the expedition pushed on for Conewago. There Brodhead was disappointed by finding the Iroquois town deserted and the huts falling to decay. This was as far as his guides were acquainted with the country, but the commander determined to follow an Indian trail which led over the hills toward the northeast.
After a march of 20 miles the troops came again within sight of the Allegheny river, and from a hilltop discovered a number of Indian villages, surrounded by great fields of splendid corn and patches of beans, squashes and melons. This Iroquois settlement extended for eight miles along the fertile bottom land of the Allegheny river, where the Corn- planter reservation was afterward established.
The soldiers hurriedly descended into the villages, but found that all the houses were deserted. The Indian spies had discovered the approach of the Americans, and the warriors had fled so hurriedly with their women and chil- dren that they had left behind many deer skins and other articles of value.
The Iroquois had long before this learned to build substantial log houses, even squaring the timbers as the white pioneers did. In this Allegheny river settlement there
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were about 130 houses, some of them being large enough for three or four families. In the uppermost village stood a great war post, painted and decorated with dog skins, and that village was evidently the dwelling place of the chief.
In his report to Washington, Brodhead wrote: "The troops remained on the ground three whole days, destroy- ing the towns and corn fields. I never saw finer corn, although it was planted much thicker than is common with our farmers. The quantity of corn and vegetables de- stroyed at the several towns, from the best accounts I can collect from the officers employed to destroy it, must cer- tainly exceed 500 acres, which is the lowest estimate, and the plunder taken is estimated at $3,000. From the great quantity of corn in the ground and the number of new houses built and building, it appears that the whole Seneca and Muncy nations intended to collect in this settlement."
On the return march the supplies were picked up at Buckaloons, and the troops marched across country to French creek. At Oil creek the soldiers rubbed them- selves freely with the oil which they found floating on the water, and received great relief from their rheumatic pains and stiffness. For many years this petroleum was called Seneca oil, and was supposed to be valuabale only for its medicinal qualities. The army reached French creek at the mouth of Conneaut creek, where the Muncy town of Maghingue-chahocking was found to be deserted. It was composed of 35 large huts, which were burnend. The Muncys formed a branch of the Wolf clan of the Delawares, and had long lived and associated with the Iroquois. Their reputation as thieves, murderers and general reprobates was very bad.
The army descended French creek almost to its mouth and thence returned to Fort Pitt by what is known as the Venango path. This was an old Indian trail running almost due north and south through the heart of Butler county. It crossed Slippery Rock and Connoquenessing creeks, and came down to the Allegheny river along the course of
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Pine creek. It was a much more direct route than that followed by the troops in marching northward, along the course of the Allegheny river.
It is said that Slippery Rock creek received its name from an accident that occurred during this return march. The troops crossed the creek at a point where the bed of the stream is composed of smooth, level rock, like a floor. On this the horse of John Ward slipped and fell and severely injured the rider.
The expedition arrived at Fort Pitt on September 14, without the loss of a single man or horse. In summing up the results, Brodhead wrote: "I have a happy presage that the counties of Westmoreland, Bedford and Northum- berland, if not the whole western frontier, will experience the good effect of it. Too much praise cannot be given to both officers and soldiers of every corps during the whole expedition. Their perseverance and zeal during the whole (through a country too inaccessible to be described) can scarcely be equaled in history."
The thanks of Congress were voted to Colonel Brod- head, and in a general order, issued on October 18, General Washington said: "The activity, perseverance and firmness which marked the conduct of Colonel Brodhead, and that of all the officers and men of every description in this ex- pedition, do them great honor, and their services entitle them to the thanks and to this testimonial of the General's acknowledgment."
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CHAPTER XVI.
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