USA > Virginia > A history of the valley of Virginia, 1st ed > Part 35
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The compass of a volume would scarce contain the events of our- progress through the wilderness ; but as they were uninteresting to any but us, I shall only ob- serve generally, that the difficulties of the journey were too great to have been endured by any who had less in- terest than life at stake, or a less terrible enemy than Indians to fear. Hunger, thirst and fatigue, were our
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constant companions. We traveled hard day and night, except the few hours absolutely requisite for repose, that nature might not sink under her oppression, at which period one constantly watched while the other slept. In this tiresome mode, we proceeded until the 15th of Sep- tember, having often to shift our direction on account of impassable bogs, deep morasses and hideous precipi- ces, without meeting any adventure worthy of note. On the morning of the 15th, as we were steering near- ly a north course in order to avoid a bog that interrupt- ed our course southeast, we found the bodies of an old man, a woman and two children, newly murdered, stript and scalped. This horrid spectacle chilled our blood. We viewed the wretched victims, and from what we could collect from circumstances, concluded that they had been dragged away from their homes, and their feet being worn out, had been inhumanly mur- dered, and left weltering in their blood. We were at a great loss now to determine what course to steer; at length we pitched upon a direction about northwest, and walked on as fast as possible to escape the savages, if practicable.
About noon this day we came to a good spring, which was a great relief to us, but which we had great reason a few minutes afterwards to believe would be the last of our earthly comforts. My companion, Richard Sack- ville, a corporal of Capt. Newman's company, stepped aside into the thicket, on some occasion, and returned with the account that a few rods distant he had disco- vered four Indians with two miserable wretches bound, sitting under a tree eating; and that if I would join him, he would either relieve the captives or perish in the attempt. The resolution of my worthy comrade pleased me greatly ; and as no time was to be lost, we set immediately about the execution of our design. Sackville took the lead, and conducted me undiscovered within fifty yards of the Indians. Two of them were laid down, with their muskets in their arms, and ap- peared to be asleep; the other two sat at the head of
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the prisoners, their muskets resting against their left shoulders, and in their right hands each a tomahawk over the heads of their prisoners. We each chose our man to fire at, and taking aim deliberately had the sa- tisfaction to see them both fall. The others instantly started ; and seeming at a loss to determine from whence the assault was made, feil on their bellies, and looked carefully around to discover the best course to take. Meantime we had recharged, and shifting our position a little, impatiently waited their rising. In a minute they raised on their hands and knees, and ha- ving as we supposed discovered the smoke of our guns rising above the bushes, attempted to crawl into a thick- et on the opposite side. This gave us a good chance, and we again fired at different men, and with such effect, that we brought them both down; one lay mo- tionless, the other crawled along a few yards. We loaded in an instant, and rushed towards them, yet keeping an eye on the latter, as he had reached his comrade's gun, and sat upright in a posture of defense. By our noise in the bushes he discovered the direction to fire, alas too fatally! for by this fatal shot I lost my comrade and friend Sackville.
At this moment the two prisoners who were close pinioned, endeavored to make their escape towards me ; but the desperate savage again fired, and shot one of them dead; the other gained the thicket within a few yarde of me. I had now once more got ready to fire, and dis harged at the wounded Indian. At this dis- char -? I wounded him in the neck, from whence I per- ceivel the blood to flow swiftly; but he undauntedly kept his seat, and having new charged his guns, fired upon us with them both, and then fell, seemingly from faintress and loss of blood. I ran instantly to the pin- ioned white man, and having unbound his arms, and armed him with the unfortunate Sackville's musket, we cautiously approached a few yards nearer the wounded Indian: when I ordered my new comrade to fire, and saw the shot take effect. The savage still lay metion-
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less. As soon as my companion had reloaded. we ap- proached the Indian, whom we found not quite dead, and a tomahawk in each hand, which he flourished at us, seemingly determined not to be taken alive. I, for my own part, determined to take him alive, if possible; but my comrade prevented me by shooting him through the body.
I now inquired of my new companion what course we ought to steer, and whence the party came, from whose power I had delivered him. He informed me with respect to the course. which we immediately took, and on the way let me know that we were within about three days' march of Fort Jefferson ; that he and three others were taken by a party of ten Wabash Indians four days before in the neighborhood of that fort ; that two of his companions being wounded, were imme- diately scalped and killed ; that the party, at the time of taking him, had in their possession seven other pri- soners, three of whom were committed to the charge of a party of four Indians ; what became of them he knew not ; the others being worn down with fatigue, were massacred the day before, and which I found to be those whose bodies poor Sackville had discovered in the thick- et ; that the other two Indians were gone towards the settlements, having sworn to kill certain persons whose names he had forgotten, and that destruction seemed to be their whole drift.
My comrade, whose name on inquiry I found to be George Sexton, formerly a resident of Newport, Rhode Island, I found to be an excellent woodsman, and a man of great spirit, and so grateful for the deliverance I had been instrumental in obtaining for him, that he would not suffer me to watch for him to sleep but one jour in the four and twenty, although he was so fa- Ligned as to have absolute need of a much greater pro- portion ; neither would permit me to carry any of our baggage.
From the time of being joined by Sexton, we steered a southeast course as direct as possible, until the 1Sth
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towards night, directing our course by the sun and the moss on the trees by day, and the moon by night. On the evening of the 18th, we providentially fell in with an American scouting party, who conducted us safely in a few hours to Fort Jefferson, where we were treated with great humanity, and supplied with the refresh- ments the fort afforded, which to me was very accepta- ble, as I had not tasted any thing except wild berries and ground nuts for above a week.
The week after our arrival at Fort Jefferson, I was able to return to my duty in my own regiment, which the latter end of August joined the army on an expedi -. tion against the Indians of the Miami village, the place in, which I had suffered so much, and so recently, and where I had beheld so many cruelties perpetrated on unfortunate Americans. It is easier to conceive than describe the perturbation of my mind on this occasion. The risk I should run in common with my fellow soldiers, seemed hightened by the certainty of torture that awaited me in case of being captured by the sava- ges. However, these reflections only occasioned a firm resolution of doing my duty vigilantly, and selling my life in action as dear as possible, but by no means to be taken alive if I could evade it by an exertion short of suicide.
My captain showed me every kindness in his power on the march, indulged me with a horse as often as possible, and promised to use his influence to obtain a * commission for me, if I conducted well the present ex- pedition. Poor gentleman ! little did he think he was soon to expire gallantly fighting the battles of his coun- try ! I hasten now to the most interesting part of my short narrative, the description of General St. Clair's defeat, and the scenes which succeeded it.
On the d of November we arrived within a few miles of the Miami village. Our army consisted of about 200 regular troops and nearly an equal number of militia. 'The night of the 3d, having reason to ex- pect an attack, we were ordered under arms about mid-
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night, and kept in order until just before day-light, at which time our scouts having been sent out in various directions, and no enemy discovered, we were dismissed from the parade to take some refreshment. The men in general, almost worn out with fatigue, had thrown themselves down to repose a little; but their rest was of short duration, for before sunrise the Indians began a desperate attack upon the militia, which soon threw them into disorder, and forced them to retire precipi- tately into the very heart of our camp.
Good God! what were my feelings, when, starting from my slumbers, I heard a tremendous firing all round, with yellings, horrid whoopings and expiring groans, in dreadful discord sounding in my ears. I seized my arms, ran out of my tent with several of my comrades, and saw the Indians with their bloody to- mahawks and murderous knives butchering the flying militia. I fied towards them filled with desperation, dis- charged my firelock among them, and had the satisfac- tion to see one of the tawny savages fall, whose toma- hawk was that instant elevated to strike a gallant offi- cer, then engaged sword in hand with a savage in front. My example, I have reason to think, animated my com- panions.
Our own company now reached the place we occu- pied, and aided by the regulars of other companies and regiments, who joined us indiscriminately, we drove the Indians back into the bush, and soon after formed into tolerable order, under as gallant commanders as ever died in defense of America. The firing ceased for a few minutes, but it was like the interval of a tor- nado, calculated by an instantaneous reverse to strike the deeper horror. In one and the same minute, seem- ingly, the most deadly and heavy firing took place on every part of our camp : the army, exposed to the shot of the enemy, fell on every side, and drenched the plains with blood, while the discharge from our troops, direct- ed almost at random. I am fearful did but little execu- tion. Orders were now given to charge with bayonets.
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We obeyed with alacrity. A dreadful swarm of tawny savages rose from the ground, and fied before us. But alas ! our officers, rendered conspicuous by their exer- tions to stimulate the men, became victims to savage in- genuity, and fell so fast in common with the rest, that scarce a shot appeared as spent in vain. Advantages gained by the bayonet, were by this means, and want of due support, lost again, and our little corps obliged, in turn, repeatedly to give way before the Indians.
We were now reduced to less than half our original number of regular troops, and less than a fourth part of officers, our horses all killed or taken, our artillery men all cut off, and the pieces in the enemy's hands. In this dreadful dilemma we had nothing to do but to at- tempt a retreat, which soon became a flight, and for se- veral miles amidst the yells of Indians, more dreadful to my ears than screams of damned fiends to my ideas, amidst the groans of dying men, and the dreadful sight of bloody massacres on every side perpetrated by the Indians on the unfortunate creatures they overtook. I endured a degree of torture no tung can describe or heart conceive ; yet I providentially escaped unhurt, and frequently discharged my musket, I am persuaded with effect.
Providence was pleased to sustain my spirits and pre- serve my strength ; and although I had been so far spent previous to setting out on the expedition as to be unable to go upon fatigue for several days, or even to bear a moderate degree of exercise, I reached Fort Jef- ferson the day after the action, about ten in the morn- ing, having traveled on foot to effect it.
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APPENDIX.
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The author of the History of the Valley had intend- ed to postpone the subject of the following pages, and give the subject matter thereof in a second edition ; but at the request of a highly respectable subscriber, and on consulting the printer, it is found that this addition to his work will not greatly increase the expense of the present volume. It is therefore deemed expedient to gratify public curiosity by giving the following sketches. If any one should be found incredulous enough to doubt the correctness of his statements, he can only say to such individuals, that they can have ocular proof of the truth of each by taking the trouble to examine for themselves.
I.
Face of the country.
That portion of the valley lying between the Blue ridge and Little North mountain, is generally about an average of twenty-five miles wide, commencing at the Cohongoruton ( Potomac ), and running from thence a southerly course to the commencement of the northern termination of Powell's Fort mountains, a distance of about forty-five miles.
This region, it has already been stated in a preceding
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chapter, when the country was first known to the white people, was one entire and beautiful prairy, with the ex- ception of narrow fringes of timber immediately bor- dering on the water courses. The Opequon, (pronoun- ced Opeckon) heads at the eastern base of the Little North mountain, and thence passing through a fine tract of limestone country seven or eight miles, enters into a region of slate land. This tract of slate country commences at the northern termination of Powell's Fort mountains, and is some six or eight miles in width east and west, and continues to the Potomac a distance of about forty-five mile .. The Opequon continues its serpentine course through the slate region, and empties into the Potomac about fifteen or sixteen miles above Harpers-Ferry. It is thought by some individuals that this water course is susceptible of navigation for small craft, twenty-four or twenty-five miles from its mouth. This slate region of country is comparatively poor, un- productive land ; yet in the hands of industrious and skillful farmers, many very valuable and beautiful farms are to be seen in it. About twenty years ago a scientific Frenchman suggested to the author the opinion "that this region of slate country was, at some remote period of the world, covered with a mountain, an abrasion of which had taken place by some great convulsion of na- ture. This he inferred from an examination of the base of the Fort mountain,-the stratum of the slate at the foot of which being precisely similar to that of the slate at the edges of the region of this slate country." The author will not venture an opinion of his own on this subject, but has given that of an individual who it was said at the time was a man of considerable philo- sophical and scientific acquirements.
East of this slate country commences another region of fine limestone land, averaging ten or twelve miles in width, and for its extent certainly unsurpassed in point of natural beauty, fertility and value, by any section of country in Virginia.
Powell's Fort presents to the eye much grandeur and
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sublimity. Tradition informs us that an Englishman by the name of Powell, at the early settlement of our country, discovered silver ore in the West Fort moun- tain, and commenced the business of money coining ; and when any attempts were made to arrest him, he would escape into the mountain and conceal himself. From this circumstance it acquired the name of Powell's Fort. The late Capt. Isaac Bowman, about thirty years ago pointed out to the author the site of Powell's shop, where it was said he wrought his metal, the ruins of which were then to be seen. Capt. Bowman also in- formed the author that several crucibles and other in- struments, which he had frequently seen, had been found about the ruins of this shop, so that there is no doubt of the truth of the tradition that this man Powell was in the practice of melting down some kind of me- tal, if he did not actually counterfeit money.
The grandeur and sublimity of this extraordinary work of nature consist in its tremendous hight and sin- gular formation: On entering the mouth of the fort, we are struck with the awful hight of the mountains on each side, probably not less than a thousand feet. Through a very narrow passage, a bold and beautiful stream of water rushes, called Passage creek, which a short distance below works several fine merchant mills. After traveling two or three miles, the valley gradually widens, and for upwards of twenty miles furnishes ara- ble land, and affords settlements for eighty or ninety fa- milies, several of whom own very valuable farms. The two mountains run parallel about 24 or 25 miles, and are called the East and West Fort mountains, and then are.merged into one, anciently called Mesinetto, now Masinutton mountain. The Masinutton mountain con- tinues its course about 35 or 36 miles southerly, and abruptly terniinates nearly opposite Keisletown, in the county of Rockingham. This range of mountains di- vides the two great branches of the Shenandoah river, called the South and North forks. This mountain, up- on the whole, presents to the eye something of the shape
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of the letter Y, or perhaps more the shape of the houns and tongue of a wagon.
The turnpike road from Newmarket, crossing Ma- sinutton and Blue ridge into the county of Culpeper, is held as private property. The dwelling-house where the toll is received stands on the summit of Masinut- ton, from which each of the valleys of the North and South rivers presents to the delighted vision of the tra- veler a most enchanting view of the country for a vast distance. The little thrifty village of Newmarket, with a great number of farms and their various improve- ments, are seen in full relief. On the east side of the mountain, on the South river and Hawksbill creek, are to be seen a number of fine farms, many of them stud- ded with handsome brick buildings. Upon the whole, the traveler is amply rewarded, by this gratifying sight, for his labor and fatigue in ascending the mountain, which is said to be two miles from its base to its summit. There is a considerable depression where the road crosses at this place, called Masinutton gap.
From the East Fort mountain, at a point nearly op- posite Woodstock, the South river presents to the eye precisely the appearance of three distinct streams of wa- ter crossing the valley from the western base of the Blue ridge to the foot of the Fort mountain. At the north- ern end of the West Fort mountain, from an eminence, Winchester can be distinctly seen, at a distance of not less than sixteen miles, air measure, and a great por- tion of the county of Frederick can be overlooked from this elevated point. 'There is also an elevated point about five miles south of Front Royal, on the road leading from thence to Luray, from which there is a most, ravishing view of the eastern section of the coun- ty of Frederick, and the tops of the mountains border- ing on the north side of the Cohongoruton.
After leaving this eminence, and proceeding south- erly towards Luray, from the undulating form of the country between the South river and Blue ridge, for a distance of 14 or 15 miles, it appears constantly to the
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traveler as if he were nearly approaching the foot of a. considerable mountain, and yet there is none to cross his way. The South river, for 70 or 80 miles on cach side, affords large proportions of fine alluvial lands-in many parts of it first-rate high lands, which are gene- rally finely improved, and owned by many wealthy and highly respectable proprietors. The new county of Page, for its extent, contains as much intrinsic wealth as any county west of the Blue ridge, with the excep- tion of Jefferson.
The valley of the North river, from the West Fort mountain to the eastern base of the Little North moun- zain, is generally fine limestone land, undulating, and finely watered. It is also highly improved, with a den- sity of population perhaps unequaled by any section of Virginia ; and it is believed there is more cash in the hands of its citizens than in any part of the state for the same extent.
It is hardly necessary to state that the three counties of Jefferson, Berkeley and Frederick, contain a greater proportion of fertile lands than any other section of the state : but unfortunately, it may with truth be affirmed that it is a badly watered country. There are many neighborhoods in which nothing like a spring of water is to be seen. - It is however true, that there are many fine large limestone springs, remarkable for the great quantity of water which is discharged from them. But nature appears to have distributed her favors in this re- spect unequally.
The counties of Morgan, Hampshire and Hardy, are remarkable for their mountains and fine freestone wa- ter. From the mountainous character of this section, it is but sparsely inhabited in many parts of it, The South and North branches of the Cohongoruton (Poto- mac) afford considerable quantities of as fine fertile al- luvial land as any part of the United States. Patter- son's creek also furnishes a considerable body of fine land. Capon river, Lost river, and Back creck, furnish much fine land, and are all thickly populatod.
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The western parts of Berkeley, Frederick and She- nandoah, include considerable portions of mountainous country. The Little North mountain commences near the Cohongoruton, having Back creek valley on the west, which extends about 35 miles into the interior, to the head waters of the creek. This mountain runs a southerly course, parallel with the Great North moun- tain, passing through the three counties just mentioned. This tract of mountainous land is comparatively poor and unproductive. It is, however, pretty thickly popu- lated, by a hardy race of people. In our mountains generally, wherever spots of arable land are to be found (which are chiefly in the glens), there scattered settlers are to be found also.
East of the Shenandoah river the Blue ridge is thick- ly populated, and many fine productive farms are to be seen. The vast quantity of loose stone thickly scatter- ed over the surface of this mountain, one would be rea- dy to believe would deter individuals from attempting its cultivation ; but it is a common saying among those people, that if they can only obtain as much earth as will cover their seed grain, they are always sure of good crops.
A public road crosses the Blue ridge, from the South river valley into the county of Madison. From the western base of the mountain to the summit, is said to be five miles. On the top of the mountain, at this place, there is a large body of level land, covered al- most exclusively with large chestnut timber, having the appearance of an extensive swamp, and producing vast quantities of the skunk cabbage. But little of it has been reclaimed and brought into cultivation. It proda- ces fine crops of grass, rye, oats, potatoes and turnips ; 'but it is said to be entirely too moist for the production of wheat, and too cool for the growth of Indian corn. The people in its neighborhood say that there is not a week throughout the spring, summer and autumn, with- out plentiful falls of rain, and abundant snows in the winter. In the time of long droughts on each side of
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the mountain, this elevated tract of country is abundant- ly supplied with rains. It is also said, that from this great hight nearly the whole county of Madison can be seen, presenting to the eye a most fascinating and de- lightful view.
On the summit of the West Fort mountain, about 15 miles south of Woodstock, there is also a small tract of land, remarkable for its depth of fine rich soil, but inaccessible to the approach of man with implements of husbandry. This tract produces immense quantities of the finest chestnut, though from the great difficulty of ascending the mountain, but little benefit is derived from it to the neighboring people.
In our western mountains small bodies of rich lime- stone lands are to be met with, one of the most remark- able of which is what is called the "Sugar hills," pretty high up the Cedar creek valley. This tract is said to . contain four or five hundred acres, and lies at the east- ern base of Paddy's mountain. It derives its name from two causes ; first, when discovered it was covered chiefly with the sugar maple ; and secondly, several of its knobs resemble in shape the sugar loaf. Its soil is peculiarly adapted to the production of wheat of the finest quality, of which, let the seasons be as they may, the land never fails to produce great crops, which gene- rally commands seven or eight cents per bushel more than any other wheat grown in its neighborhood. The Hessian fly has not yet been known to injure the crops while growing.
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