USA > Virginia > A history of Virginia : from its discovery and settlement by Europeans to the present time. Vol. II > Part 15
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a Virg. Debates, 1778, 2d. edit. 58; Wirt, 206, 207, and Appen. C.
229
SLAVE TRADE FORBIDDEN.
1778.]
mies, whose ferocity would have had no check but their ignorance ; to establish a plan for their gradual emancipation was a matter of extreme delicacy, and one for which the public mind was not prepared. But there was one barrier to the increase of the evil which the Legis- lature could erect; they could turn back the poi- sonous stream of importation which the British government had long forced into their land.a On the 5th of October, the Assembly enacted that from that time forth, no slaves should be imported into the Commonwealth by sea or land ; any person so importing should be subject to a fine of one thou- sand dollars for each one brought in, and the slave himself should be absolutely free.' From this law were excepted slaves brought by transient visiters to the state, those which might vest in the owners by descent, devise, or marriage, and those that might be brought by citizens of other states in- tending to reside in Virginia, and who should make oath that they did not intend to evade the law, and that their slaves had not been imported from Africa or the West India Isles after the 1st day of November, 1778.º Under these laws the slave
a See Bancroft, iii. 410-416.
b Hening, ix. 471.
c Hening, ix. 472, and read Girar- din, 312 .- Negroes from Africa were not the only servants whom England sent to Virginia; convicts from Great Britain were constantly sent, up to the time of the Revolution, and were sold to servitude in the Colony. From the Virginia Gazette, March
3d, 1768, I have copied the following advertisement, which will shed light on the subject.
"Just arrived-the Neptune, Cap- tain Arbuckle, with one hundred and ten healthy servants, men, women, and boys, among whom are many valuable tradesmen, viz .: tailors, weavers, barbers, blacksmiths, car- penters and joiners, shoemakers, a
230
ENGLISH COMMISSIONERS.
[CHAP. IV.
trade to Virginia was cut off, one immense source of increase was destroyed ; and if the curse was not removed, it was at least confined to narrower limits. Yet since this time, the process of natural propa- gation has kept slavery nearly even with freedom, and until within a few years past, the philan- thropist looked in vain for symptoms of its decline in the " Old Dominion."
Another act of this Assembly proved its jealous watchfulness for the common good. After France recognised the independence of the United States, and became their ally, the English Parliament were driven to a final "Conciliatory Bill" to re- cover their dominion. This act made many con- cessions, but it did not concede the great point of independence, and, without this, all others were of no avail. The Bill was carried to America by three special Commissioners, Lord Carlisle, Wil- liam Eden, and Governor Johnstone. Johnstone had before professed to be a friend of America and attached to the opposition, but after having " touch- ed ministerial gold" his eyes were opened to his errors, and he became a fit agent for the Ministry.ª The Commissioners sent the plan of conciliation to Congress, together with a letter from themselves. In this edifying composition abuse is poured out
stay-maker, cooper, cabinet-maker, reasonable credit will be allowed on bakers, silversmiths, a gold and giving approved security to silver refiner, and many others. The THOMAS HODGE." sale will commence at Leedstown, Then follows the regular permit for landing. on the Rappahannock on Wednesday the 9th of this instant (March). A
a Letter from a Virginia Delegate to Congress, in Girardin, 279.
1778.]
THEIR DISGRACEFUL CONDUCT.
-
231
upon America and France. Such men as Hancock and Adams are stigmatized as "audacious and wicked leaders;" Dr. Franklin is called "a dark agent ;" Congress is accused of "impudence ;" Louis XVI. is declared to have "exhausted every infamous resource of perfidy and dissimulation" in negotiating with the Colonies, and to have acted treacherously towards Great Britain. So gross was the insult offered to France, that the fiery young La Fayette challenged the Earl of Carlisle to single combat for words which as head of the Commission he had made his own! The Earl, whose discretion exceeded his valour, declined the meeting, on the ground that his conduct had been official, and that he was accountable for it to none except his sove- reign.ª
Congress treated the Commissioners and their offer with calm contempt, and rejected the plan of conciliation proposed by the Ministry. Foiled in each effort to obtain a more favourable decision, the agents now resorted to measures distinguished in infamy and violence. George Johnstone sought to open a secret correspondence with members of Congress, and, by a female agent, he offered to Mr. Reed, a delegate from Pennsylvania, ten thousand pounds sterling, and the best office in the Colonies that his Majesty could bestow, if he would use his influence in favour of the Conciliatory Bill. Mr. Reed's reply has immortalized him: "I am not worth purchasing, but such as I am, the King of
a Otis's Botta, ii. 146.
232
VIRGINIA REFUSES
[CHAP. IV.
England is not rich enough to do it."" The Com- missioners were stopped in their course by no con- siderations either of honour or prudence. With the hope of scattering disaffection, and of rending the Union asunder, they addressed manifestoes to the Assemblies of the separate states, and to the people generally, in which they sought to rouse individual prejudices, to awe the timid, to distract the brave, to seduce the wavering by hopes of pardon. They concluded their addresses by plain intimations that though leniency had thus far been practised, yet if the Colonies threw themselves into the arms of France, England would seek to make them useless to her enemy, by wasting their country with fire and sword !b
The manifestoes named the 11th November as the time within which the states must make sub- mission ; but, much to the chagrin of the agents, every where their offers were spurned with con- tempt. In the month of October, the Legislature of Virginia learned, through the executive, that a British officer had arrived at Fort Henry, from New York, bearing these addresses to the Speaker of the Assembly, the several members of govern- ment, and to all ministers of the Gospel. Major Thomas Matthews, who commanded the Fort, re- fused to receive these papers until he heard from the Governor. (Oct. 17.) The Legislature passed a resolution approving in warm terms of the con- duct of Major Matthews, directing him to express
a Gordon, ii. 378; Otis's Botta, ii.
b Otis's Botta, ii. 144.
142 ; note in Girardin, 280.
233
TO HEAR THEM.
1778.]
to the British officer their indignation at his con- duct, and that of his principals, and to order him instantly to depart from the state, with the assur- ance that any one making a similar attempt should be seized "as an enemy to America."ª Thus, the infamous designs of the Commissioners failed of success, and, in despair of effecting any thing, they left the country and returned to Great Britain. Of the whole wretched system pursued by the English Ministry towards America, no part was more dishonouring to themselves, and more efficient in uniting the Colonies, than the Bill and Commis- sion of 1778.b
I
While vigilant guardians were shielding the eastern counties from danger, events were passing in the "far West" which had a material bearing on the welfare of Virginia. We have, heretofore, in the progress of this work, glanced at the tide of migration which was filling up the country beyond the Blue Ridge, and we have seen that many things contributed to make this territory alike important in peace or war. Beautiful as were the vales, fer- tile as was the land, verdant as were the savannas of the West, it required more than ordinary men to people and reclaim them. But nothing could re- press the eagerness with which this task was pro- secuted, after some of its hardy charms had been tasted by adventurers from the north and east. The stream of settlement flowed yearly onward ; at first, a few dauntless woodsmen shouldered their
a Girardin, 283, 284.
his countrymen in this matter. See
b Even Stedman does not defend his " American War," ii. 3, 4.
234
BOONE IN KENTUCKY.
[CHAP. IV.
rifles and plunged into the wilderness, then a single wagon, carrying a brave family, and accompanied by the father and his sturdy sons, broke its rough way into the new country; soon other families came, and neighbours began to salute each other. As early as 1772 permanent settlements were made west of the Alleghanies, and between them and the Laurel Ridge, and the next year they reached the Ohio.ª
Six years before, Daniel Boone had entered the Kentucky of the Indians, "the dark and bloody land," often the scene of savage conflicts, and afterwards the battle-ground of natives and whites. Yet it was beautiful enough to have stilled human passions. Resting upon a bed of limestone, and abounding in mysterious caves and fountains, the land was yet generous and grateful for the slightest care. After retreating from the Ohio, it was elevated, even mountainous, and topped with heavy forests; in the south, under- neath a lofty growth of trees, was found a barrier of giant reeds, so thick and tough, that the adven- turer would shrink back discouraged; but in the vales through which the three great rivers ran, the ground was literally "the garden of the West." Grass grew, so green and tall that thousands of cattle might have feasted upon it; the ash, the walnut, the buckeye, the elm, the mulberry, the poplar, all towered in majesty, as though to assert their dominion over the land. The soil was so rich, that in after years it was found that many
a Doddridge, in Kercheval, 326.
1
1778.]
WESTERN PIONEERS.
235
crops of corn, hemp, or cotton must be raised, be- fore it was sufficiently reduced for making wheat.a Such a country could not remain long neglected ; it was settled from Virginia and North Carolina, and every year became more vigorous, until it was erected into a state in 1785.
To meet the dangers of a new country, the luxu- rious, the feeble, the timid, would seldom offer. The pioneers and their families were among the wildest and most fearless of men pretending to be civilized. A rich planter coming from the East would hardly have recognised a feature among his brethren of the Alleghany and Ohio regions. Incessant watchful- ness and war gradually assimilated them to the Indians, until they even went beyond them in physical accomplishments. With as many wiles and stratagems, as much fierceness and patient endurance, they had more strength, more fleetness, more skill in using weapons. The western settler was clothed in a hunting-shirt which left his limbs free in motion, a tomahawk was in his girdle, a long rifle was grasped in his hand, his feet were protected by mocassins instead of shoes.' In this last point he fared better than his wife, who gene- rally went bare-footed in summer.c Hunting, among the men, became a serious avocation, and was brought to a system. In autumn the deer were pursued and taken in great numbers ; in win- ter the bear and wolf became the hunter's prey. Nothing could exceed their skill in using the rifle.
a Murray's Encyc. Geog., iii. 570 ; Adams' Geog., 157.
b Doddridge, in Kercheval, 338.
c Doddridge, 340.
236
GEORGE ROGERS CLARKE.
[CHAP. IV.
Solemn shooting-matches were often held, which to them at least, were as important as the Olympic games to the Greeks. It was common for the marksman at ninety yards to cut his bullet in twain on the edge of a knife, and to snuff the wick of a candle without extinguishing it. From early years the boys were trained to forest life; their very sports partook of this character. They imi- tated the cries of young animals so accurately that often the parents themselves were deceived and fell into the snare.ª In the long winter evenings, families assembled in their warm huts, and the younger members heard with delight from the old, tales of daring adventure, and " accidents by field and flood."b
4
As the West thus filled, it became more and more interesting to the belligerents of the Revolution. Hamilton, the English Governor at Detroit, was a man of firm character, but cold and cruel. He sought to bring all the Indian tribes under his control, and to rouse them against the Americans. He paid a tempting price for every white scalp brought by his savage allies; and with infernal ingenuity, he urged them to the work of death.c But his course was soon to be arrested. Among the people of Western Virginia, was Colonel George Rogers Clarke, a man so cool in danger, so heroic in combat, so prompt in difficulty, so untiring in
a Doddridge, 372, 373. c Withers' Border Warfare, 185;
b Doddridge says some imaginary Gordon, ii. 390.
" Jack" was always the hero of their
stories ; Kercheval, 375.
237
EXPEDITIONS PLANNED.
1778.]
toil, that John Randolph of Roanoke, has bestowed upon him the expressive title of "the Hannibal of the West."ª The whole territory west of her own and the Pennsylvania frontier, belonged to Vir- ginia, but as it was yet thinly inhabited by whites, she had not exercised over it direct jurisdiction. It now became important to secure this country, to drive back the savages, and to check the English by a well-directed stroke. Early in the fall, two expeditions were planned ; one, consisting of nearly a thousand men, was placed under the command of General McIntosh, and sent against the Sandusky towns, but this attempt accomplished little, and at last failed entirely.b Far different was the conduct of the other. By his own request, about two hun- dred and eighty men were assigned to Colonel Clarke; they were selected from the bone and sinew of the land, and with them he prepared for a daring attempt. Descending the Monongahela, he re-embarked at Fort Pitt, and went down the Ohio in boats until he reached the " Great Falls," about two hundred and forty miles from its mouth. Here the adventurers hid their boats, and taking on their backsas much food as they could carry, plunged into the forests north of the river. In three days their provision was exhausted ; they fed upon roots and mast found in the woods; yet with undimi- nished courage they pressed on. At midnight they arrived near the town of Kaskaskia on the Missis- sippi, about one hundred miles above the mouth of
a Note in Girardin, 321 ; Howe,
116.
b Withers' Border Warfare, 185, 187, 191-193.
238
KASKASKIA CAPTURED.
[CHAP. IV.
the Ohio. Worn down by travel and hunger, the Virginians yet resolved on an assault ; to conquer or perish was the only alternative. The town con- sisted of nearly two hundred and fifty houses, and was so fortified that it might have made formidable resistance, but the people had not dreamed of attack. Surrounded by forests, and nearly twelve hundred miles from the frontiers of the East, they had thought themselves secure. In the darkness they were roused by the summons to surrender ; and so skilful were the measures of Clarke, that not one man escaped captivity. The town was taken, and after receiving hasty refreshment, a body of the Virginians, mounted on fleet horses, proceeded up the river, and surprised three other French towns, equally unprepared for assault. Thus the whole region was reduced; Philip Rocheblane, the Go- vernor of Kaskaskia, was captured, and was sent to Virginia, together with the written instructions he had received from the English authorities of Quebec and Detroit, urging him to rouse the In- dians to war, and to reward them for every deed of blood.ª
The Legislature received with joy intelligence of these events. (November 23.) They voted warm thanks to Colonel Clarke, his officers and men, for their " extraordinary resolution and perse- verance."b Learning that the people of this region had willingly transferred their allegiance from England to the United States, the Assembly passed
a Withers, 186, 187; Gordon, ii.
b Resolution in Girardin, 319. 390; Girardin, 312, 313.
239
FORT VINCENNES.
1779.]
an act, erecting the territory into a county called Illinois, and establishing there a provisional govern- ment.ª But the triumph was not to be confirmed without a further struggle. When Governor Ha- milton heard of the successes of Clarke, he was excited to renewed effort by rage and disappoint- ment. He collected a body of more than six hun- dred men, chiefly Indians ; with these he designed to overwhelm the feeble force in Illinois, to sweep the Virginia settlements in Kentucky, to advance to Fort Pitt, and perhaps to carry ruin into the heart of West Augusta.' About the middle of December, he arrived at Vincennes on the Wabash, and having repaired the fort, he sent most of his Indians to attack the white settlements on the Ohio, reserving to himself only one company of men.
(1779.) Colonel Clarke perceived the danger. Happily at this time a Spanish trader arrived from Fort Vincennes, and told him how much Hamil- ton's force had been reduced. Quick as lightning, he seized the opportunity. Sending a galley filled with men, and armed with two four-pounders, and four swivels, to ascend the Wabash, he himself selected one hundred and thirty of his best men, and marched directly towards the fort. Great hardships attended them ; five days were employed in crossing the sunken lands of the Wabash, which were frequently overflowed, and at one time the men marched six miles up to their waists in ice and water. They would have been frozen had not the weather been remarkably mild. They arrived
ª Girardin, 318.
b Withers, 188 ; Girardin, 319, 320.
240
VINCENNES CAPTURED.
[CHAP. IV.
in front of the town, nearly at the time when the galley made her appearance on the river. Nothing could exceed the astonishment of the besieged. The people of the town surrendered at once, and joyfully transferred allegiance to Virginia; they even assisted in attacking the fort. But Hamilton was desperate, and for eighteen hours the fort was defended amid an incessant fire on both sides. (February 23.) During the night, after the moon went down, Colonel Clarke caused an entrench- ment to be thrown up, overlooking the strongest battery of the foe, and the next morning his marks- men commenced pouring rifle bullets upon the artillerists. The fire was not to be endured ; no man could show himself without being cut down ; in fifteen minutes two cannon were silenced. Go- vernor Hamilton demanded a parley, and on the next evening the fort and all its stores were sur- rendered, and the Governor and his men became prisoners of war.ª
Whether we consider the hardships endured, the courage displayed, or the results obtained in these achievements, we must alike assign to Colonel Clarke a high place in the temple of renown. It has been said that his conquest was afterwards re- garded as the true basis of the claim of the United States to a northern boundary on the Lakes. In the treaty of peace, England insisted on the Ohio as the boundary, and the Count de Vergennes, in behalf of France, was disposed to assent, but the
a Judge Burnet's Notes on N. W. Territory, 77, 78; Withers, 189, 190; Girardin, 321.
241
GOVERNOR HAMILTON.
1779.]
American Commissioners urged the success of Clarke with so much force, that their claims were at last admitted.ª We must ever deplore the seem- ing ingratitude of which this great man afterwards had cause to complain. The state had not made adequate provision for his soldiers, and in fitting them out he had himself contracted debts which were afterwards sued to judgment, and his property was wrested from him. Virginia sought to repay him and his men, by granting to them a large tract of land within the bounds of the present state of Indiana ; but its value was then nominal, and it yielded little to General Clarke. Disappointment drove him to intemperance; he sought to drown care in the bowl.' A sun which had risen un- dimmed, and had shone at meridian with splen- dour, went down at last amid clouds and gloom.
Hamilton and several of his chief officers were sent to Virginia. Meanwhile a change had taken place in her government. Patrick Henry had de- clined a re-election as Governor, believing that the spirit of the constitution forbade it. Thomas Jeffer- son was duly chosen on the 1st day of June to be chief magistrate of the Commonwealth. John Page was voted for in opposition, but this circumstance did not at all impair the good feeling existing be- tween these two friends.e A short time after Mr. Jefferson commenced his duties, the prisoners from Illinois arrived in Williamsburg. Written evi-
a Burnet's Notes on N. W. Ter- c See Jefferson's Letter to Page, Works, i. 162 ; Tucker's Jefferson, i. ritory, 77.
b Burnet's Notes, N. W. T. 80, 81. 125, 126.
VOL. II. 16
242
HIS RIGOROUS TREATMENT.
[CHAP. IV.
dence accompanied them, showing that Hamilton had offered rewards for scalps and none for pri- soners ; that he had incited the Indians to many acts of cruelty, and that his companions had ap- proved and aided. Therefore the Council advised retaliation, and the Governor, acting under their advice, caused Hamilton, together with Dejean, a magistrate, and Lamothe, a captain of volunteers, to be confined in the dungeon of the jail, fettered with iron shackles, deprived of pen, ink, and paper, and forbidden all converse, except with their keeper.a Such rigour could do nothing but harm; it was unworthy of a generous people, even if Hamilton had been guilty of all the enormities ascribed to him; but one who had personal acquaintance with him has expressed the opinion that his nature was manly and upright, and that if he sanctioned Indian hostilities, it was under the express orders of his Government.b
General Phillips, the commander of the "Con- vention troops," who were then prisoners of war in Albemarle County, made a solemn protest against the treatment of Governor Hamilton and his sub- ordinates, as being alike unwarranted by the laws of war and the facts of the case. Much indignation prevailed among the British officers in New York and elsewhere, and threats were made that not one officer of the Virginia line should be released until the prisoners at Williamsburg were enlarged. On the 17th July, Mr. Jefferson wrote to the Comman-
a Tucker's Jefferson, i. 128, 129. b Note in Tucker's Jefferson, i. 129, 130.
243
RELEASED ON PAROLE.
1779.]
der-in-chief for advice, and Washington, with his accustomed nobleness of soul, recommended a leni- ent course. Accordingly, the captives were brought out, and offered liberty on parole, if they would en- gage neither to say nor do any thing to the preju- dice of the United States, until exchanged.ª After some demur, all assented, and in the following year, Governor Hamilton was allowed to go to New York.
Thus commenced Mr. Jefferson's career as Go- vernor. He was called to the office at the opening of a period of peculiar difficulty, and for the de- mands of which he was little suited. He was pro- found as a statesman, sagacious as a law-maker, and ingenious as a philosopher; but as a soldier and a general his skill existed in theory, and not elsewhere." The time was again coming when Vir- ginia was to be visited by actual war. The British commanders turned their eyes to the South, and re- solved to possess it by vigorous campaigns. Al- ready Georgia had been reduced to submission. While Patrick Henry was yet Governor, a serious invasion of Virginia was projected. Admiral Sir George Collier, with a fleet of armed ships and transports, carrying two thousand troops, under General Matthew, entered Hampton Roads on the 9th of May. The Virginians had built Fort Nel- son, on the west side of Elizabeth River, and not far below Portsmouth, to protect the Gosport ship- yard, and the town of Norfolk. The fort was
a See Notes A. and B., Jefferson's Works, i. 450-459, and Letters, pages 164-167.
244
GENERAL MATTHEW'S INCURSION. [CHAP. IV.
built of heavy logs with earth forced in between them ; it was strong on the water side, but almost uncovered in the rear. The British brought up the Rainbow sloop to batter it in front, while land forces prepared for an assault. Finding that he could not hold it, Major Thomas Matthews, the commandant, sent off his ammunition, spiked his guns, hoisted his colours, and then retreating before the enemy, found a safe refuge in the fastnesses of the Dismal Swamp.ª General Matthew took pos- session of the fort, and thence despatched strong bodies of men to Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Suffolk.
Every where the progress of the English was marked with devastation; they burned houses, de- stroyed live stock, ruined private furniture, and carried off booty. Defenceless women were vio- lated, and seven Frenchmen found at the Great Bridge were inhumanly put to death. The militia of the country offered but feeble resistance. The town of Suffolk, in Nansemond County, was very important to Virginia. Besides other stores, several thousand barrels of pork had been accumulated there for the use of the army. As the enemy ad- vanced, Colonel Willis Riddick made several ef- forts to stop them, but not more than one hundred and fifty militia could be collected, and these, of course, could make no stand against six hundred re- gulars. (May 13.) The British set fire to the town. Several hundred barrels of tar, pitch, turpentine, and rum had been stored in lots near the wharves;
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