USA > Virginia > A history of the valley of Virginia, 1st ed > Part 25
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EXPECTED ATTACK, &C.
Indian. This he repeated several times. The Indian then threw his tomahawk at his head, but missed him, He then caught hold of the ends of his belt which was tied behind in a bow knot. In this again the Indian was disappointed, for the knot came loose, so that he got the belt, but not the man, who wheeled round and tried his gun again, which happened to go off and laid the Indian dead at his feet.
CHAPTER X.
Expected attack on Doddridge's fort.
When we received advice, at my father's fort, of the attack on Rice's block-house, which was but a few miles distant, we sent word to all those families who were out on their farms, to come immediately to the fort. It be- came nearly dark before the two runners had time to give the alarm to the family of a Mr. Charles Stuart, who lived about three quarters of a mile off from the fort.
They returned in great haste, saying that Stuart's house was burned down, and that they had seen two fires between that and the fort, at which the Indians were encamped. "There was therefore no doubt that an attack would be made on our fort early in the morning.
In order to give the reader a correct idea of the m.li- tary tactics of our carly times, I will give, in detail, tac whole progress of the preparations which were made for the expected attack. and, as nearly as I can, I will give the commands of Capt. Teter, our officer, in his own words.
In the first place he collected all our men together, and related the battles and skirmishes he had been in, and really they were not few in number. He was in
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EXPECTED ATTACK
Braddock's defeat, Grant's defeat, the taking of Fort Pitt, and nearly all the battles which took place between the English, and the French and Indians, from Brad- dock's defeat until the capture of that place by Gen. Forbes. He reminded us, "that in case the Indians should succeed, we need expect no merey : that every man, woman and child, would be killed on the spot. They have been defeated at one fort, and now they are mad enough. If they should succeed in taking ours, all their vengeance will fall on our heads. We must figli for ourselves and one another, and for our wives and children, brothers and sisters. . We must make the best preparations we can; a little after daybreak we shall hear the crack of their guins."
He then made a requisition of all the powder and lead in the fort. The ammunition was accurately divi- ded amongst all the men, and the amount supposed to be fully sufficient. When this was done, "Now," says the captain, "when you run your bullets, cut off the necks very close, and scrape them, so as to make them a little less, and get patches one hundred finer than those you commonly use, and have them well oiled, for if a rifle happens to be choked in the time of battle, there is one gun and one man lost for the rest of the battle. You will have no time to unbritch a gun and get a plug to drive out a bullet. Have the locks well oiled and your flints sharp, so as not to miss fire."
Such were his orders to his men. He then said to the women, "These yellow fellows are very handy at setting fire to houses, and water is a very good thing to put out fire. Yon nuist fill every vessel with water. Our fort is not well stockaded, and these ugly fellows may rush into the middle of it, and attempt to set fire to out cabins in twenty places at once." They fell to work, and did as he had ordered.
The men having put their rifles in order, "Now," savs he, "let every man gather in his axes. mattocks and hoes, and place them inside of his door : for the In- dians may make a dash at them with their tomahawks
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ON DODDRIDGE'S FORT.
to cut them down. and an axe in that case might hit, when a gun would miss fire."
Like a good commander, our captain, not content with giving orders, went from house to house to see that every thing was right.
The ladies of the present day will suppose that our women were frightened half to death with the near prospect of such an attack of the Indians. On the con- trary, I do not know that I ever saw a merrier set of women in my life. They went on with their work of carrying water, and cutting bullet patches for the men, apparently without the least emotion of fear; and I have every reason to believe that they would have been pleased with the crack of the guns in the morning.
During all this time we had no sentinels placed a- round the fort, so confident was our captain that the at- tack would not be made before daybreak.
I was at that time thirteen or fourteen years of age, but ranked as a fort soldier. After getting my gun and all things else in order, I went up into the garret loft of my fathe 's house, and laid down about the middle of the floor, with my shot pouch on and my gun by my side, expecting to be waked up by the report of the guns at daybreak, to take my station at the port-hole assign- ed ine, which was in the second story of the house.
I did not awake till about sunrise, when the alarm was all over. The family which we supposed had been killed, had come into the fort about daybreak. Instead of the house being burn", it was only a large_old log cu fire, near the house, which had been seen by our ex- presses. If they had seen any thing like fire between that and the fort, it must have been fox fire. Such is the creative power of imagination, when under the in- fluence of fear.
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CHAPTER XI.
· Coshocton campaign.
This campaign took place in the summer of 1780, and was directed against the Indian villages at the forks of the Muskingum.
The place of rendezvous was Wheeling ; the num- ber of regulars and militia about eight hundred. From Wheeling they made a rapid march, by the nearest route - to the place of their destination. When the army reach- ed the river a little below Salem, the lower Moravian town, Col. Broadhead sent an express to the missionary of that place. the Rev. John Heckewelder, informing him of his arrival in his neighborhood, with his army, requesting a small supply of provisions, and a visit from him, in his camp. When the missionary arrived at the camp, the general infornied him of the object of the expedition he was engaged in, and inquired of him whether any of the christian Indians were hunting, or engaged in business in the direction of his march. On being answered in the negative, he stated that nothing would give him greater pain than to hear that any of the Moravian Indians had been molested by the troops, as these Indians had always, from the commencement of the war, conducted themselves in a manner that did them honor.
A part of the militia had resolved on going up the river to destroy the Moravian villages, but were pre- vented from executing their project by Gen. Broadhead and Col. Shepherd of Wheeling.
At White-eyes's plain, a few miles from Coshocton, an Indian prisoner was taken. Soon afterwards two more Indians were discovered, one of whom was wounded, but both made their escape.
The commander, knowing that these two Indians
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COSHOCTON CAMPAIGN.
would make the utmost dispatch in going to the town, to give notice of the approach of the army, ordered a rapid march, in the midst of a heavy fall of rain, to reach the town before them, and take it by surprise. The plan succeeded. The army reached the place in three divisions. The right and left wings approached the river a little above and below the town, while the cen- ter marched directly upon it. The whole number of the Indians in the village, on the east side of the river, together with ten or twelve from a little village some distance above, were made prisoners without firing a single shot. The river having risen to a great hight, owing to the recent fall of rain, the army could not cross it. Owing to this, the villages with their inhab- itants on the west side of the river escaped destruction.
Among the prisoners, sixteen warriors were pointed out by Pekillon, a friendly Delaware chief, who was with the army of Broadhead.
A little after dark, a council of war was held to de- termine on the fate of the warriors in custody. They were doomed to death, and by the order of the com- mander were bound, taken a little distance below the town, and dispatched with tomahawks and spears, and scalped.
Early the next morning, an Indian presented him- self on the opposite bank of the river and asked for the big captain. Broadhead presented himself, and asked the Indian what he wanted. To which he replied, "I want peace." "Send over some of your chiefs," said Broadhead. "May be you kill." said the Indian. He was answered, " They shall not be killed .? One of the chiefs, a well looking man, came over the river and en- tered into conversation with the commander in the street ; but while engaged in conversation, a man of the name of Wetzel came up behind him, with a toma- bawk concealed in the bosom of his hunting shirt, and struck him on the back of his head. He fell and in- stantly expired.
About eleven or twelve o'clock, the army comuneneed
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CAPTIVITY OF MRS. BROWN.
its retreat from Coshocton. Gen. Broadhead commit- ted the care of the prisoners to the militia. They were about twenty in number. After marching about half a mile, the men commenced killing them. In a short time they were all dispatched, except a few women and children, who were spared and taken to Fort Pitt, and after sometime exchanged for an equal number of their prisoners.
CHAPTER XII.
Capticity of Mrs. Brown.
On the 27th day of March, 1789, about 10 o'clock in the forenoon. as Mrs. Brown was spinning in her house, her black woman, who had stepped out to gath. er sugar water, screamed out, "Here are Indians." She jumped up, ran to the window, and then to the door, where she was met by one of the Indians presenting his gun. She caught hold of the muzzle, and turning it aside, begged him not to kill her, but take her pris- oner. The other Indian in the mean time caught the negro woman and her boy about four years old, and brought them into the house. They then opened a chest and took out a small box and some articles of clothing, and without doing any further damage, or set- ting fire to the house, set off with herself and son about two years and a half old, the black woman and her two children, the oldest four years and the youngest one year old. After going about one and a half miles, they halted and held a consultation, as she supposed, about killing the children. This she understood to be the sub- ject by their gestures and frequently pointing at the children. Toone of the Indians who could speak Eng- lish, she held out her little boy and begged him not to
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CAPTIVITY OF MRS. BROWN.
kill him, as he would make a fine little Indian after a while. The Indian made a motion to her to walk on with her child. The other Indian then struck the ne- gro boy with the pipe end of his tomahawk, which knocked him down, and then dispatched him by a blow with the edge across the back of the neck and scalped him.
About 4 o'clock in the evening, they reached the riv- er, about a mile above Wellsburg, and carried a canoe, which had been thrown up in some drift wood, into the river. They got into this canoe, and worked it down to the mouth of Rush run, a distance of about five miles. They pulled up the canoe into the mouth of the run, as far as they could, then went up the run about. a mile, and encamped for the night. The Indians gave the prisoners all their own clothes for covering, and add- ed one of their own blankets. Awhile before day- light, the Indians got up and put another blanket over them.
About sunrise they began their march up a very steep hill, and about 2 o'clock halted on Short creek, about. twenty miles from the place whence they had set ont in the morning. 'The place where they halted had been an encampment shortly before, as well as a place of de- posit for the plunder which they had recently taken from the house of a Mr. Vanmeter, whose family had been killed. The plunder was deposited in a sycamore tree. Here they kindled a fire and put on a brass kettle, with a turkey which they had killed on the way, to boil in sugar water.
Mr. Glass, the first husband of Mrs. Brown, wos working with a hired man in a field, about a quarter of a mile from the house. when his wife and family were taken, but knew nothing of the event until 2 o'clock. After searching about the place, and going to several houses in quest of his family, he went to Mr. Wells's fort, collected ten men besides himself, and the same night lodged in a cabin on the bottom on which the town now stands.
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CAPTIVITY OF MRS. BROWN.
Next morning they discovered the place from which the Indians had taken the canoe from the drift, and - their tracks at the place of their embarkation. Mr. Glass could distinguish the track of his wife by the print of the high heel of her shoe. They crossed over the river and went down on the other side until they came near the mouth of Rush run ; but discovering no tracks of the Indians, most of the men concluded that they would go to the mouth of Muskingum, by water, and therefore wished to turn back. Mr. Glass begged of them to go as far as the mouth of Short creek, which was only two or three miles farther. To this they agreed. When they got to the mouth of Rush run, they found the cause of the Indians. This was identi- fied by a proof, which goes to shew the presence of mind of Mrs. Brown. While going down the river, one of the Indians threw into the water several papers, which he had taken out of Mr. Glass's trunk, some of which she picked up out of the water, and under pretence of giving them to the child, dropped them into the bottom of the canoe. These left no doubt. The trail of the Indians and their prisoners up the run to their camp, and then up the river bill, was soon discovered. - The trail at the time, owing to the softness of the ground and the hight of the weeds, was easily followed. .
About an hour after the Indians had halted, Mr. Glass and his men came within sight of the smoke of their camp. The object then was to save the lives of the prisoners, by attacking the Indians so unexpectedly, as not to allow them time to kill them. With this view. they crept as slyly as they could, till they got within something more than one hundred yards from the camp. Fortunately, Mrs. Brown's little son had gone. te a sugar free to get some water ; but not being able to get it out of the bark trough. his mother had stepped out of the camp to get it for him. The negro woman was sitting some distance from the two Indians, who were looking attentively at a scarlet jacket which they had taken some time before. On a sudden they drop-
LEWIS WETZEL, 315
pod the jacket, and turned their eyes towards the men. who supposing they were discovered, immediately di .:- charged several guns, and rushed upon them, at full speed, with an Indian yell. One of the Indians, it was supposed, was wounded the first fire, as he fell and drop ped his gun and shot pouch. After running about one hundred yards, a second shot was fired after him, by Maj. M'Guire, which brought him to his hands and knees; but there was no time for pursuit, as the In dians had informed Mrs. Brown that there was another encampment close by. They therefore returned home with all speed, and reached the Beach Bottom fort that night.
The other Indian, at the first fire, ran a little distance. beyond Mrs. Brown, so that she was in a right line be- tween him and the white men. Here he halted for a little to put on his shot pouch, which Mr. Glass, for the moment, mistook for an attempt to kill his wife with a tomahawk.
This artful maneuver no doubt saved the life of the savage, as his pursuers durst not shoot at him without risking the life of Mrs. Brown,
CHAPTER XIII.
Lewis Wetzel.
The following narrative goes to show how much may be effected by the skill, bravery, and physical activity .i a single individual, in the partisan warfare camied oi against the Indian, on the western hontier.
Lewis Wetzel was the son of John Wetzel, a Ger- man, who settled on Big Wheeling, about fourteen mike? from the river. He was amongst the first adventuret. into that part of the country, His education, like that
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LEWIS WETZEL.
of his contemporaries, was that of the hunter and war- rior. When a boy he adopted the practice of loading and firing his rifle as he ran. This was a means of making him so destructive to the Indians afterwards.
When about thirteen years old, he was taken pris- oner by the Indians, together with his brother Jacob, about eleven years old. Before he was taken he re- ceived a slight wound in the breast from a bullet, which carried off a small piece of his breast bone. 'The se- cond night after they were taken, the Indians encamp- ed at the Big Lick, twenty miles from the river, on the waters of M'Mahan's creek. The boys were not con- fined. After the Indians had fallen asleep, Lewis whis- pered to his brother Jacob that he must get up and go back home with hin. Jacob at first objected, but after- wards got up and went along with him. When they Ind got about one hundred yards from the camp, they sat down on a log. " Well," said Lewis, " we can't go home barefooted ; I will go back and get a pair of moc- casons for each of us;" and accordingly did so, and re- turned. After sitting a little longer, "Now," says he, "I will go back and get father's gun, and then we'll start." 'This he effected. 'They had not traveled far on the trail by which they came, before they heard the In- dians coming after them. It was a moonlight night. When the Indians came pretty nigh them, they stepped aside into the bushes, let them pass, then fell into their rear and traveled on. On the return of the Indians they did the same. . They were then pursued by two Indians on horseback, whom they dodged in the same way. The next day they reached Wheeling in safety, crossing from the Indian shore to Wheeling island, on a r ft of their own making. By this time Lewis had be- . come almost spent from his wound.
In the rear 17 32. after Crawford's defeat. Lewis went with a Thomas Mills, who had been in the campaign, to get his horse, which he had left near the place where St. Clairsville now stands. At the Indian springs, two miles from St Clairsville, on the Wheeling road, they
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LEWIS WETZEL.
were met by about forty Indians, who were in pursuit of the stragglers from the campaign. The Indians and white men discovered each other about the same mno- ment. Lewis fired first and killed an Indian, while the Indians wounded Mills in the heel, who was soon over- taken and killed. Four of the Indians then singled out, dropped their guns, and pursued Wetzel. Wetzel loaded his rifle as he ran. After running about half a mile, one of the Indians having got within eight or ten steps of hin, Wetzel wheeled round and shot him down, ran, and loaded his gun as before. After going about three quarters of a mile farther, a, second Indian came so close to him, that when he turned to fire, the Indian caught the muzzle of the gun, and as he expressed it, "he and the Indian had a severe wring." He however succeeded in bringing the muzzle to the Indian's breast, and killed him on the spot ._ By this time, he as well as the Indians were pretty well tired ; yet the pursuit was continued by the two remaining Indians. Wetzel, as before, loaded his gun, and stopped several times during this latter chase: when he did so; the Indians treed themselves. After going something more than a mile, Wetzel took advantage of a little open piece of ground over which the Indians were passing, a short distance behind him, to make a sudden stop for the purpose of shooting the foremost, who got behind a little sapling which was too small to cover his body. Wetzel shot and broke his thigh. The wound, in the issue, proved fatal. 'The last of the Indians then gave a little yell, and said, " No catch dat man, gun always loaded," aud gave up the chase, glad no doubt to get off with his life.
It is said that Lewis Wetzel, in the course of the In- dian wars in this part of the country, killed twenty- seven Indians, besides a number more along the fron- tier settlements of Kentucky.
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CHAPTER XIV.
Adam Poc.
- In the summer of 1782, a party of seven Wyandots made an incursion into a settlement some distance be- low Fort Pitt, and several miles froin the Ohio river. Here finding an old man alone, in a cabin, they killed him, packed up what plunder they could find, and com- menced their retreat. Amongst their party was a cele. brated Wyandot chief, who, in addition to his fame as a . warrior and counsellor, was, as to his size and strength, a real giant.
The news of the visit of the Indians soon spread through the neighborhood, and a party of eight good riflemen was collected in a few hours for the purpose of pursuing the Indians. In this party were two brothers of the names of Adam and Andrew Poc. They were both famous for courage, size and activity.
This little party commenced the pursuit of the In- dians, with a determination, if possible, not to suffer them to escape, as they usually did on such occasions, by making a speedy flight to the river, crossing it, and then dividing into small parties, to meet at a distant point in a given time.
The pursuit was continued the greater part of the night after the Indians had done the mischief. In the morning, the party found themselves on the trail of the Indians, which led to the river. When arrived within a little distance of the river, Adam Poe, fearing an am buscade, left the party, who followed directly on the trail, to creep along the brink of the river bank, under cover of the weeds and bushes, to fall on the rear of the Indians, should he find them in ambuscade. He had not gone far before he saw the Indian rafts at the wa ter's edge. Not seeing any Indians, he stopped softly
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ADAM POE,
down the bank with his rifle cocked. When about half way down, he discovered the large Wyandot chief and a small Indian within a few steps of him. They were standing with their guns cocked, and looking in the di- rection of our party, who by this time had gone some distance lower down the bottom. Poe took ann at the large chief, but his rifle missed fire. The Indians hear- ing the snap of the gun-lock, instantly turned round and discovered Poe, who being too near them to retreat, dropped his gun and sprang from the bank upon them, and seizing the large Indian by the clothes on his breast, and at the same time embracing the neck of the small one, threw them both down on the ground, hinself be- ing uppermost. The small Indian soon extricated hi n- self, ran to the raft, got his tomahawk, and attempted to dispatch Poe, the large Indian holding him fast in his arms with all his might, the better to enable his fellow to effect his purpose. Poe, however, so well watched the motions of his assailant, that, when in the act of aiming his blow at his head, by a vigorous and well-di- rècted kick with one of his feet, he staggered the sa- vage, and knocked the tomahawk out of his hand. This failure, on the part of the small Indian, was re- proved by an exclamation of contempt from the large one.
In a moment the Indian caught up his tomahawk again, approached more cautiously, brandishing his tomahawk and making a number of feigned blows, in defiance and derision. Poe, however, still on his guard, averted the real blow from his head. by throwing up his arm, and receiving it on his wrist in which he was : c- verely wounded ; but not so as to lose entirely the use of his hand.
In this perilous moment, Poe, by a violent effort, broke loose from the Indian, snatched up one of the In- dian's guns, and shot the sinall Indian though the breast, as he ran up the third time to tomahawk him.
'The large Indian was now on His feet, and grasping Poe by a shoulder and leg, threw him down on the
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bank. Poc instantly disengaged himself and got on his feet. 'The Indian then seized him again, and a new struggle ensued, which, owing to the slippery state of the bank, ended in the fall of both combatants into the water.
In this situation, it was the object of cach to drown the other. Their efforts to effect their purpose were continued for some time with alternate success, some- times one being under the water and sometimes the oth- er. Poc at length seized the tuft of hair on the scalp of the Indian, with which he held his head under water, until he supposed him drowned.
Relaxing his hold too soon, Poc instantly found his gigantic antagonist on his feet again, and ready for an- other combat. In this they were carried into the water beyond their depth. In this situation they were com- pelled to loose their hold on each other and swim for mutual safety. Both sought the shore, to seize a gun and end the contest with bullets. The Indian being the best swimmer, reached the land first. Poe seeing this, immediately turned back into the water, to escape, if possible, being shot, by diving. . Fortunately the Indian caught up the rifle with which Poe had killed the other warrior.
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