USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. I > Part 28
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2 Burk, iii. 136, 137; Campbell, 99; Outline, in Howe, 90. Sir Wil- liam Keith has given this excellent Governor a flattering cognomen :
" The present Lieutenant-Governor, Major Gouge."-Hist. of Va., 174. b This Governor was the father of Richard Henry Lee, Burk, iii. 139.
436
ROBERT DINWIDDIE.
¿CHAP. VII.
tion, which greatly affected his general capacity for business." " (1751.) History can record in his administration, no event more important than the building of a theatre at Williamsburg, by a com- pany of comedians from New York, who felt a laudable desire to present some of the charms of the drama to the dull burgesses of Virginia Planta- tions.b
In 1752, Robert Dinwiddie arrived in the colony, with a full commission to preside over her counsels as her Lieutenant-Governor. 'Originally a clerk in a custom-house in one of the British West India Islands, he had powerfully commended himself to favour, by discovering a vast system of fraud, which had long been practised by his superiors. For this, he was rewarded by an appointment to Virginia, and immediately, took possession of his novel honours.e But it would be premature far- ther to speak of his character or his conduct. His name will instantly recall to our minds a period pregnant with important deeds and grand deve- lopements. A new era opens to our view ; great names are now to be recorded, and great events are to attend upon them. A hero is to appear, to whom the centuries of the past had produced no prototype ; and, as he enters upon the stage of being, we are not surprised to find him surround- ed by the light of a purer civilization-a more ex- alted philanthropy !
a Burk, iii. 141. c Burk, iii. 222; Outline, in Howe, 101.
b Ibid., iii. 140.
CHAPTER VIII.
Improvement in the colonies-Progress of knowledge-Benjamin Franklin -French and English possessions in America-Encroachments of the French-Ohio Company-French Fort on the River Le Bœuf-George Washington-Sent by Governor Dinwiddie to the French commander on the Ohio-His danger-His return-Preparations for war-Fort Du- quesne-Washington advances-Defeat and death of M. Jumonville- The Great Meadows-Fort Necessity attacked by French and Indians -Gallant defence-Honourable capitulation-Dinwiddie's wild plans- La Force, the prisoner-Major-General Edward Braddock-His army marches from Fort Cumberland -- Difficulties of the way-Washington's advice-Braddock's confidence-Passage of the Monongahela-A battle in the forest-Total defeat of the English army-Danger of Washington -Death of General Braddock-Colonel Dunbar retires to Philadelphia- -Indian cruelties on the frontier of Virginia-Prowess of Samuel Binga- man-Washington's distress-Lord Loudon commander-in-chief-Go- vernor Dinwiddie leaves the colony-His character-Francis Fauquier- William Pitt Prime Minister of England-General Forbes marches against Fort Duquesne-Defeat of Major Grant-Heroism of Captain Bullet and his men-Capture of Fort Duquesne-Burial of the remains of Braddock's army-Campaigns of 1758, 1759-Successes' of England -Peace of Paris in 1763.
As the English colonies in America increased in importance to the mother country, they began also to feel the glowing impulses which were at work in their own bosoms. Within the past cen- tury Europe had made enormous strides in the . march of science and civilization. Star after star had appeared above her horizon, to add brilliancy to her intellectual heavens, until it seemed at length as though all minor lights had been quenched in
438
SCIENCE IN AMERICA.
[CHAP. VIII.
the blaze of a sun that had risen never to decline. For many years America had felt but feebly the beams that were darting from every point of her mother's countenance. She had not improved in mind as she had expanded in body. But now a change, natural, but rapid and wondrous, was to be developed. The sun of learning did not, indeed, re- cede from the east, but as he ascended higher in the heavens his rays began toillumine the western world. The time of infancy had passed ; the struggle for existence was happily over ; the great battle with the spirit of the wilderness had been fought, and the victory was won. America did not pause in her onward course, but she had now secured the necessary and the useful, and she turned with the eagerness of new desire to the comforts and ele- gancies of social life. The arts grew in strength as though born upon her soil. Men of science successively arose, and already one was breathing her air before whom succeeding ages have rejoiced to kneel and be instructed. Printing presses be- gan to send forth the thoughts of her own children, not drawn from the mind of the old world, but en- gendered by the inspiration of a life more fresh, more vigorous, and more free. In the great sci- ence which teaches the rights of man and the me- thod of securing them, she was already far beyond the fettered sages of the best and wisest govern- ments then known to European kingdoms.
As the colonies thus grew in general intelligence, they approached nearer to each other, and encou- raged each co-attractive principle acting upon them.
1752.]
FRANCE AND ENGLAND. 439
More than a century before, the northern settle- ments had formed a sisterhood that had tended powerfully to increase their influence, their wel- fare, and moral power.ª A plan for a more extended union had been proposed by Daniel Coxe, in 1741, and twelve years afterwards, Benjamin Franklin presented to a convention at Albany, a scheme which, if carried out, would have drawn into the closest embrace, all the sisters now so rapidly de- veloping their charms upon the soil of America.b But the time for this measure, although approach- ing, had not yet arrived. They were to feel a more powerful motive than that furnished by mu- tual love and a common country. They did not yet confederate, but the causes binding them to each other were already sufficiently strong to array them in a united front against the enemy who first assailed them.
This foe was France. The peace of Aix-la-Cha- pelle, so inglorious to England, so favourable to her opponents, had settled none of the disputed points between herself and her hereditary enemy. It had left undefined the boundaries of Nova Scotia, the limits of English jurisdiction west of the Alleghanies, the right of maritime seizure and search, the operation of international law upon the claims of both parties in the valley of the Ohio and
a In 1643. Grahame's Colon. scheme is well known under the Hist., iii. 321. , name of "The Albany Plan of
b Grahame, iii. 377, 378. This Union."
440
FRANCE AND ENGLAND. [CHAP. VIII.
Mississippi Rivers.ª It had indeed done nothing definite, except surrender Cape Breton to the enemy, and send two English freemen into France as hostages for England's good behaviour.b It could not have been expected that such a peace could be long continued. It held out to both par- ties temptations to its rupture. To France it fur- nished stimulus to farther encroachment; to Eng- 1 land it gave constant cause for disgust and dis- content.
He who will accompany his review of the his- tory of this period by a glance at the map of North America, as it was then divided, will see the criti- cal state of affairs between the French and British interests, and the moral necessity urging them to a conflict. Along the whole Atlantic coast, from Halifax to Florida, the Anglo-American colonies were spread, and from the sea they extended to an indefinite and advancing line, that made yearly approaches to the Mississippi River. They were already powerful in population, in energy, in cou- rage, and intelligence. They looked upon the land as their heritage, and were ready to contest the claims of all who should oppose their progress. The French held settlements upon the St. Law- rence to its mouth. They claimed a few bleak points on the coast of Acadia or Nova Scotia ; and on the great lakes which now bound the English
a Smollett's Continuation, viii. 22, 23; Bancroft, iii. 466, 467; 384, 385, 387; Grahame, iii. 305, Marshall's Am. Colon., 276. 306; Sparks's Life of Washington, i. b Grahame, iii. 305.
441
1753.] MARQUETTE ON THE MISSISSIPPI.
domain in Canada, they had established forts, and gathered around them villages and towns. But this constituted but a small part of their claim. While their traders and colonists were yet strug- gling with the rigours of a northern clime, Indian narratives had told them of a magnificent stream, that swept through the whole country, from the north even to the Gulf of the south, and which had drawn from savage admiration the name of " The Father of Waters." In' 1673, Marquette, a Roman Catholic missionary, and Joliet, an envoy of the French government, in an open boat, with few attendants, had sailed down the Wisconsin and entered the great Mississippi. The one came to preach to the heathen the Gospel of the Prince of Peace; the other to explore and to assert title to their lands, as the appanage of an earthly monarch. Amid the silence of nature, they passed the mouths of the Missouri and the Ohio, nor did they arrest their course until they had claimed the river as their own, and could return to tell of the most beautiful valley in the world, added, by their enter- prise, to the supposed possessions of their sove- reign.ª Nine years afterwards, La Salle descended the river to its mouth. The country around re- ceived the name of Louisiana, from the reigning prince, and efforts were immediately made to plant
a Bancroft, iii. 157, 161; Mar- b Bancroft, iii. 168; Marshall's shall, Am. Colon., 277, dates this Am. Colon., 277. discovery in 1660. Sparks's Life of Washington, i. 22.
442
PROGRESS OF FRENCH COLONIES. [CHAP. VIII.
colonists from the mother land upon this inviting soil.
Such had been the success of France in extend- ing her discoveries in America. Her attempts at colonizing had not, however, corresponded with the activity of her movements. Although she had planted settlers in Acadia before Englishmen ever saw the site of Jamestown, yet she had been often called to mourn over decayed towns and withered hopes. The genius of her people did not fit them for the labour of the colonist. They wanted not industry, but they wanted perseverance. They were not deficient in courage, but they sank easily under opposing obstacles. A hard soil dismayed them, and from the labour of the axe and the plough they turned away in disgust. Pliant, ex- citable, and fond of novelty, they preferred to trade with and to live among the Indians, rather than to fell trees, to turn furrows, and to build towns. Their success with the children of the forest was remarkable. The polite and graceful Frenchman and the grim warrior of the west were quickly united in bonds of amity ; and if we except the Six Nations, there were few tribes of America who did not yield more or less to the seductive influences of their allies from Gaul.a But Indian friendship alone would not promote the interests of their colo- nies. Their progress in numbers, in wealth, and in general improvement, was slow-so slow, that by the middle of the eighteenth century the French
a Mr. Burk's remarks, iii. 170, are judicious.
1753.] .
DESIGN OF THE FRENCH. 443
settlements from Louisiana to the mouth of the St. . Lawrence numbered but fifty-two thousand souls,a while between one and two millions were found upon the soil of the British colonies.
Notwithstanding this difference in numbers, the keen intellects which then governed France had not been slow in perceiving certain advantages of position, which, if properly used, would render their power formidable to British interests in Ame- rica. By an extravagant construction of interna- tional law, they claimed the whole valley of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, by virtue of their discovery in 1673. They insisted that the disco- very of a river gave title to all the country watered either by itself or its tributaries, and that therefore " the passing of Father Marquette down the Mis- sissippi in a canoe, invested his sovereign with a title to the immense valley bounded by the Appa- lachian Mountains on the one side and the Rocky Mountains on the other."> This claim, though perhaps not openly asserted, was secretly relied upon, and all the measures of the Court of Ver- sailles tended to enforce it. They had long before resolved to link together their possessions in Loui- siana and on the St. Lawrence by a chain of forts, which should extend along the line of the Ohio River, and which, if once permanently established, would have effectually shut in the English settle-
a Statement in note to Marshall's Washington, i. 23. See Chalmers's Am. Colon., 279.
b Jared Sparks, in his Life of Revolt of Amer. Colon. ii. 266.
444
. THE OHIO COMPANY. [CHAP. VIII.
ments to the narrow limits between the Atlantic and the Alleghany Mountains.a
Many years before, the acute mind of Alexander Spotswood had detected this scheme of French ambition, and had warned the English govern- ment to counteract it by commencing at once the erection of fortresses on the Ohio. He also advised the establishment of a company for the purpose of exploring this splendid country, and of selecting proper places for settlements or for trade with the natives.b But his warning voice and his advice were alike neglected. Had they been acted upon, it may be that a bloody war might have been averted ; but it is common for man to despise the counsels of wisdom, that he may taste the bitter fruits of folly. When at length information was received that the French had actually crossed Lake Champlain, and had built a fort at Crown Point, upon the soil of New York, the eyes of the English Ministry were opened to their designs, and they re- solved to meet them with corresponding preparation.
One year after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, the Parliament of England created a corporation, upon which was bestowed the name of the Ohio Com- pany.ª It was composed of merchants residing
a Burk, iii. 169; Sparks's Life of Washington, i. 21; Marshall's Life Grahame, iii. 360.
of Washington, ii. 3; Grahame, iii. 359, 368; Smollett's Continuation, 488, vol. viii. George ii. chap. iii.
c Smollett's Continuation, viii. 488;
( d Holmes's Annals, ii. 39. This was in 1749. Grahame, iii. 344; Smollett's Continuation, viii. 489 ;
b Campbell, 92; Burk, iii. 96-98; Burk, iii. 170; Chalmers's Revolt Grahame, iii. 360; Smollett's Conti- Am. Colon. ii. 262. nuation, viii. 488.
1753.]
THE OHIO COMPANY. 445
in London, and of wealthy planters in Virginia, who desired to engage in profitable trade. Six hundred thousand acres of land, bordering upon the Ohio River, were granted to them, and they were likewise invested with the exclusive privi- lege of trading with the Indians living within their bounds. This extensive grant was designed to carry out the scheme proposed by Spotswood, but it was unhappily managed, and it proved the immediate occasion of the fierce conflict which followed. .
Eager to avail themselves of their privileges, the Company prepared to open the wilderness on either side of the Ohio. This was the disputed territory, for possession of which France and Eng- land were contending ; and, in their stern rivalry, they forgot the claims of another people, who were yet strong enough to render dangerous their enmity.
The rights of the Indians had not been extin- guished by purchases or treaties. They claimed the soil as occupants, and their rude settlements gave them a title which rigid justice would not have contemned.ª It would not have been diffi- cult for the English to have conciliated the red men by kindness, and by a few judicious gifts. So much were they averse to the French, from whom they had already experienced harsh treat- ment, that they would willingly have united with the other party, had they received any encourage-
a Sparks's Life of Washington, i. 23.
-
446
THE OHIO COMPANY. [CHAP. VIII.
ment.ª But the avaricious corporation had no policy so generous in their view. They were intent upon gain, and thought not of Indian rights and feelings ... Surveyors, with brazen instruments and measuring-chains, were speedily on the Ohio, marking the possessions to which the Company intended to lay claim. When the hapless natives saw these well-known insignia, their hearts sank within them. Driven backward from the ocean, they had hoped for peace in the deep valley be- yond the mountains, and now they beheld the omens of certain destruction still approaching their fields and hunting grounds. It is not wonderful that we read of a question proposed by two Indian sachems to Gist, the agent of the Ohio Company, while he was pursuing his surveys, upon this soil. "Where," they asked, " lay the Indians' lands ? for the French claim all on one side of the Ohio, and the English all on the other side."" There was a deep and bitter irony concealed in this question, which was soon to be merged in feelings more infuriated and relentless; but the agents of the Company gave no explanation to the savage diplo- matists. They observed profound mystery as to their design, finished their surveys, and returned to the east without molestation.
The crisis now approached. The French au- thorities on the Lakes sent forces towards the Ohio, and in a short time intelligence reached Williams- - burg, that a fort had been built on the river Le
a Burk, iii. 170, 171; Grahame, ' b Sparks's Life of Washington, iii. 345 ; Smollett, viii. 489, 490. i. 23.
447
1753.] ENCROACHMENTS OF THE FRENCH.
Bœuf, which takes its rise not far from Lake Erie, and is discharged into the Ohio. When the Eng- lish government were informed of these and prior encroachments, they made fruitless complaints to the ambassador of, France; but while negotiations were yet pending, they instructed the colonies to defend themselves, to repel force by force, to build two forts on the river, and to hold themselves ready for hostilities. Thirty pieces of light cannon and eighty barrels of powder accompanied these in- structions to Virginia, and all parties felt that a collision must soon take place. Determined to proceed by fair and pacific measures, Governor Dinwiddie prepared, as a final resource, to send a message to the French commandant on the Ohio, to remonstrate against his intrusion, and to warn him that war was inevitable unless he withdrew.b
For this hazardous and delicate duty a young Virginian was selected, who had but just attained his twenty-first year. Volumes have since been written concerning him; his name has gone abroad through all lands; the world claims him as her citizen, and honours him as her only spotless hero. To tell, therefore, of his birth, his childhood, his riper years, or his fully developed character, would be to repeat that with which all have rejoiced to render themselves familiar. Yet as he enters upon
a Sparks's Life of Washington, i. 370; Burk, iii. 173; Delaplaine's 21; Burk, iii. 171; Chalmers's Revolt Repos., part ii. 82, 83; Smollett's Am. Colon., ii. 265.
Contin., viii. 490; Frost's Pict. Hist.,
b Marshall's Washington, ii. 3; i. 108.
Sparks's Life, i. 24; Grahame, iii.
448
WASHINGTON. -
[CHAP. VIII.
the stage of active life, History instinctively pauses to gaze for a moment upon the man who is destined to confer upon her records, honour as imperishable as his own. Could she now call down upon him a ray of glory more brilliant than any that has yet darted on his name, she would win, by the deed, a most exalted triumph. But the task is vain. The name of George Washington may cause the heart of an American to beat with a quickened impulse, but it has already been placed too high in the tem- ple of renown, to be farther elevated by the praise of mortals.
He held the rank of major in the colonial mili- tary establishment, and was already well known for his rare union of the virtues of zeal, prudence, and courage. Receiving from the Governor his instruc- tions, and a passport bearing the broad seal of the colony, he left Williamsburg on the 31st day of October, and passing through Fredericksburg, Alexandria, and Winchester, he arrived in fourteen days at Wills' Creek, on the Potomac.ª This point is now known as Cumberland, on the great western route from Washington City to the Ohio: it was then nearly the extreme of European settlement. Beyond it were gloomy forests, ice-bound rivers, rugged mountains, and treacherous savages. There was. enough in this prospect to daunt the boldest spirit, but it had no effect upon Washington, ex- cept to add caution to his firmness. His party now consisted of eight persons, among whom we find
a Sparks's Life of Washington, i. 25.
1753.]
WASHINGTON ON THE OHIO. 449
Gist, the former agent of the Ohio Company. Over the frozen Alleghanies, with their summits covered with snow, and their valleys flooded by impetuous streams from above, the adventurers slowly 'made their way. Rafts were often con- structed to cross the larger rivers, but they were useless in contending with mountain torrents. At length, after severe toil, they reached the point where the Monongahela and Alleghany Rivers unite and form the majestic Ohio. The eye of Washington instantly saw the importance of this place. He determined that if possible it should be defended by a Virginia fortress; but he then little knew the fearful interest with which the pas- sions of man were soon to invest it.a
Twenty miles below the fork, they reached Logs- town, a small settlement on the Ohio, and having convened as many Indian braves as he could find, Washington addressed to them a speech, telling them the object of his mission, and asking their assistance. Already the jealousy of the red men had been excited by the movements of the French, and Tanacharison, the Half King, had visited their fort, and with native eloquence had remonstrated against their intrusion. Finding their indepen- dence endangered, the Indians were disposed to look upon the English as guardians, and the Half King addressed the young envoy in terms of peace and confidence.
a Outline, in Howe, 90; Sparks's
b The Half King's speech to the Life of Washington, 26; Marshall's French commander, may be seen in Washington, ii. 4.
Sparks's Life of Washington, i.27,28. VOL. I.
29
450
ST. PIERRE.
[CHAP. VIII.
After a delay of a few days, Washington, accom- panied by the chief and three other Indians, set out for the French post, which was one hundred and twenty miles from the Ohio. Persevering pro- gress against many obstacles, brought him to the object of his mission. St. Pierre, the commandant, a knight of the military order of St. Louis, was al- ready advanced in, years, and added to the experi- ence of the practised soldier, the courteous manners of the gentleman. He received Washington with politeness, and read the message of Dinwiddie with respect, but in reply declared that it was not for him to determine territorial rights and treaty obli- gations ; that he would transmit the message to his superior, the Marquis Duquesne, then governing Canada, but that, in the mean time, he could not obey any summons to retire from his present posi- tion.ª
This answer might have been anticipated, and it was decisive of the question of peace and war. Al- though the French authorities treated Washington with marked respect, entertained him during his stay, and loaded his boat with wines and provision on his departure, yet they attempted to seduce the Indians from their duty, and to attach them to their own interest.' The youthful envoy hastened back to report the result of his expedition. Difficulties
a Burk, iii. 174, 175; Smollett's i. 88, gives St. Pierre's answer, in Contin., viii. 490, 491; Grahame, iii. a form more positive and less re- 370; Marshall's Washington, ii. 5; spectful.
Sparks's Life, i. '29; Outline, in Howe, 91. Gordon, in his America,
৳ Sparks's Washington, i. 30, 31.
451
PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.
1754.]
and dangers surrounded him. Winter had locked the wilderness in chains, and excessive fatigue and exposure had reduced even the feeble force with which he commenced his journey., As we follow Washington in his perilous course-often on foot amid snows and tempest, once assailed by Indian perfidy, now struggling to regain his raft amid the waves of the Monongahela, where floating ice threatened, his instant destruction-we tremble at the thought that a life so valuable should have been thus exposed. But he was shielded by the hand of One who already beheld and directed his exalted destinies. (1754.) On the 16th day of January,
- after an absence of eleven weeks, he reached Wil- liamsburg, and delivered to the Governor the an- swer of St. Pierre.ª
Nothing now remained but to make preparations for war .; The English government had advised the colonies to repel aggression by force; and when Washington's journal of his late embassy was pub- lished in London, it excited not only respect for its author, but a firm resolve to meet promptly the hostile approaches of France. Dinwiddie de- spatched messages to the other colonies, informing them of the crisis, and urging them to unite with Virginia in opposing the enemy's advance on the Ohio. North Carolina and New York promptly responded to the call, and prepared to send military
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