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Washington to Build a Fort at Forks of the Ohio. Gov. Din- widdie drafted 200 men from the Virginia militia and placed them under the direction of Washington, with instructions to build a fort at the forks of the Ohio. The Virginia Assembly,
* Robert Dinwiddie was born in Scotland, 1690, and died in Clifton, England, Aug. 1, 1770. While clerking in the customs department, he detected his prin- cipal in the perpetration of gross frauds on the government. For his services in this exposure he was made surveyor of customs for the Colonies, and shortly there- after lieutenant-governor of Virginia.
He reached Virginia in 1752, and in the following December he submitted to the Board of Trade an elaborate report favoring the annexation of the Ohio Valley; hence his sending of Washington to Fort Le Boeuf. Subsequent to Washington's defeat at Fort Necessity, an alienation between the governor and his field marshal existed.
He was recalled to England in 1758, leaving in dispute an unsettled account of £20,000.
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forgetting temporarily its controversy with the governor, voted £10,000 to be expended for the purpose, but only under the direction of a committee of its own members.
Want of Co-operation with Dinwiddie. Dinwiddie found difficulty in securing co-operation from the other colonies in this enterprise. The attitude of the Quaker element in Penn- .. sylvania prevented that colony from giving the aid it might have furnished. Some backwoodsmen finally pushed across the mountains and began the construction of the projected work. These, however, were driven away by a superior French force, and the latter immediately began the construc- tion of Fort Duquesne on the site now occupied by Pittsburg at the confluence of the Allegheny and the Monongahela rivers.
Military Expedition to Forks of Ohio in 1754-Great Meadows and Death of French Commander. Gov. Dinwiddie was en- gaged, meanwhile, in organizing a regiment of militia, under Colonel Joshua Fry, with Washington second in command, to support the backwoodsmen in their work. Washington had advanced with a portion of the command to Will's Creek, now Cumberland, Md .; and later, with 150 men, he reached Great Meadows, where he learned that the French had been reinforced and were sending out a party against him. Through the assistance of an Indian, Half-King, who had the previous year been with him on the expedition to Fort Le Boeuf, Washington learned that the French, under Jumonville, were in lurking for him. With this assistance the French were defeated and their leader killed.
Fort Necessity Built-Washington's Surrender. While wait- ing for reinforcements under Colonel Fry, Washington threw up imperfect intrenchments at Great Meadows and called them Fort Necessity. Finally, Fry's men, some 300, arrived without their leader, he having died on the journey. With this force, increased later by a company of South Carolina troops, Washington was attacked, July 3, 1754, by a greatly superior body. From eleven in the morning to eight at night
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he held his ground. Then surrendering with the honors of war, he led his troops back to Will's Creek and abandoned the Ohio Valley to the French.
A roster of the troops commanded by Washington in the Battle of the Big Meadows, in 1754, including 263 men, wounded 43 and killed 12, can be found in the Virginia Magazine of History, Vol. I, pp. 278-284. The original rolls are on file in the War Department in Washington.
English Resist Encroachments. Notwithstanding peace by treaty existed between France and England, every precaution was taken by the latter country to repel encroachments on the frontier, but not to invade Canada. Accordingly, all move- ments were made with these purposes in view.
Arrival of General Braddock in America. On the 20th of February, 1755, there landed at Hampton, Va., for co- operation with the colonies against the French in a war soon to break out in all its fierceness, two regiments of British reg- ulars, under command of General Braddock,* the newly- chosen commander-in-chief of English forces in America. These troops were then transferred to Alexandria, Va., to which point all the Virginia levies were directed to repair.
Conference at Alexandria. On the 14th of April he held, at Alexandria, with Commodore Keppel, a conference, at which
* Edward Braddock was born in Perthshire, Scotland, in 1695 and died near what is now Pittsburg, Pa., July 13, 1755.
He had had forty years' experience in military operations and had attained the rank of Major-General.
He was thoroughly skilled in the science of war, as developed in the text-books and practiced among civilized nations. He was "proud, prejudiced and con- ceited;" or, as Walpole puts it, "a very Iroquois in disposition."
Ile resented all suggestions that might have aided him in his great expedition. To Benjamin Franklin's intimation that if he could reach Fort Duquesne he could doubtless capture it without much difficulty, but that the long, slender line his army would have to make "would be cut like thread into several pieces" by the hostile Indians, his reply was a "smile at his ignorance." He declared further that " these savages may indeed be a formidable enemy to raw American military, but upon the king's regular and disciplined troops, sir, it is impossible they should make an impression."
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were present the following governors: William Shirley,* of Massachusetts, Delancey,t of New York, Morris,} of Penn- sylvania, Sharpe, § of Maryland, and Dinwiddie, of Virginia.
Four Expeditions Planned. To accomplish the purpose for which he was sent to America, Braddock projected four dis-
* William Shirley was born in Preston, England, in 1693. Having become a lawyer, he settled in Boston in 1734. He was royal governor of Massachusetts 1741-5; planned a successful expedition against Cape Breton in 1745; lived in England 1745-53; returned to Massachusetts, as governor, in 1753; treated with Indians, 1754; was commander-in-chief of British forees in North America at commencement of French and Indian War; appointed lieutenant-general in 1759; became subsequently governor of Bahama Islands; died at his residenee in Roxbury, Mass., in March, 1771.
t James De Laneey was born in New York City, Nov. 27, 1703, and died there July 30, 1760. He was graduated at Cambridge, England, and subsequently studied law in the Inner Temple, London. He returned to New York in 1725 and soon became prominent in publie life. He drafted, in 1730, a new eharter for New York City, and in recognition was granted the freedom of the eity, this being the first bestowment of such an honor. In 1733 he was appointed chief-justice of New York, and retained the position during the remainder of his life.
He convened and presided over, June 19, 1754, the first Congress ever held, in Augusta. At its session Benjamin Franklin proposed a plan for the union of all the colonies, by aet of Parliament, against the Indians.
He, as governor, granted the charter of King's (now Columbia) College, Oct. 31, 1754. The next spring he attended the conference of colonial governors at Alexandria.
Hle was a man of great learning and unusual personal influence.
# Robert Hunter Morris was lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania from October, 1754, to August, 1756. For twenty-six years he acted as one of the council of New Jersey, and for a period served as chief-justice, resigning in 1757, seven years prior to his death, which oeeurred February 20, 1764.
He responded to General Braddoek's invitation to the Alexandria Confer- enee.
¿ Horatio Sharpe, whose position as proprietory governor of Maryland from 1753 to 1769 made him a eonspieuous figure in colonial times, eame from London in the ship Molly, commanded by Captain Nicholas Coxen, and arrived at Annapolis on the 11th of August, 1753.
On February 4, 1754, he visited Baltimore town to study his people, and was received by the citizens with wild demonstrations of satisfaction.
In July of the same year he was commissioned lieutenant-colonel in the British army. IIe was one of the counsellors with Braddock at the conference in Alex- andria.
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tinct expeditions : Lawrence,* lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia, was to secure the right of England in that region ; Johnson, of New York, was to enroll the Mohawk Indians and lead them against Crown Point ; Shirley agreed to drive the French from Niagara; and Braddock, commander-in-chief, reserved the honor of recovering the Ohio Valley.
Expedition against Acadia. In the execution of this pro- gram Lawrence, with the advice and consent of his counsellors, decided to remove and disperse the entire French population of Acadia (or Nova Scotia) among the English colonies of North America. Colonel John Winslow, commander of the New England forces, known for the firmness, but humaneness of his character, was intrusted with the practical execution of this project. The purpose was to take those of the same neighborhood and, without severing family ties, plant them in a new station. In the execution of the scheme some 6,000 persons, men, women and children, were deported. The first embarkation occurred October 8, 1755.
Story of Evangeline. In the story of Evangeline, Longfellow represents these Acadians as a peaceful, simple-hearted people, and their houses as picturesque, vine-clad, strongly-built cot- tages-the embodiment of all that would be classified as ideal homes. Instead, however, the people are said to have been contentious and quarrelsome among themselves, and grossly superstitious under the priests who dominated them.
Expedition against Crown Point. General William Johnson, t
* Charles Lawrence was a British general of distinction. He died in Halifax, Nova Scotia, October 19, 1760.
In 1750 he built Fort Lawrence at the head of the Bay of Fundy. He was appointed lieutenant-governor in 1754, and governor in 1756. He was made a colonel in September, 1757, and a brigadier-general the 31st of the following December. He was present at the siege of Louisburg.
t Sir William Johnson was born in Smithtown, Ireland, 1715; died in Johns- town, N. Y., July 11, 1774. Was educated for mercantile life, but, disappointed in love negotiation, he finally located on a tract of land on the Mohawk river, N. Y., and became a trader with the Indians.
His courtesy, honesty and adaptability to circumstances gave him great power over the Indians, who made him a sachem.
At the council in Alexandria, April 14, 1755, he was commissioned by Brad-
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of New York, was intrusted with the expedition against Crown Point, on Lake Champlain. His forces came mainly from Massachusetts and Connecticut, New Hampshire also supply- ing one regiment which joined him at Albany.
At the head of navigation on the Hudson there had been established a fort, which, in honor of a boat commander, had- . been called Fort Lyman.
Fort Lyman Changed to Fort Edwards. The name was changed by Johnson to that of Fort Edwards. A garrison being left, Johnson, with some 5,000 men, including Hendrick, the noted Mohawk chief and his warriors, and such noted men as Israel Putnam and John Stark, started for the head of Lake George, and thence to Lake Champlain.
Attack on Fort Edwards and Death of Col. Williams. The French made every effort to check this advance. Baron Dieskau, collecting 200 regulars and 1,200 Indians and Cana- dians from the region of Montreal, determined to attack Fort Edward. Johnson detached 1000 men, under Ephraim Wil- liams, of Massachusetts, and 200 Mohawks, under Hendrick, to relieve the post. Advised of their approach, the French assumed a position in ambush. Presently the English were entrapped, and on the 5th of September (1755) were defeated, both Williams and Hendrick losing their lives. As they re- treated they were assisted by the cannon and forces in camp, and finally, after a five hours' contest, the enemy were com- pelled to retreat. In the rout the French and Indians were also assailed by the New Hampshire regiment on its way from Fort Edwards, and thrown into a panic-stricken condition, the commander, Baron Dieskau, being captured.
Though the success of the day was due largely to the efforts of General Lyman, the honors were assumed by General Johnson. He was subsequently made a baronet and given a bonus of £5,000.
dock "sole superintendent of the affairs of the six United Nations, their allies and dependents." He was also made a major-general and assigned to the leader- ship against Crown Point.
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Expedition against Niagara. According to the Alexandria arrangement Shirley was to march against Niagara. Colonel Philip Schuyler had command of the first regiment in this expedition.
At Oswego boats were constructed to carry 600 men by lake. Shirley, by way of the Mohawk, reached Oswego on the 21st of August. Delays of various kinds occurred. Finally, in October, a council of war decided that the attack on Niagara should be deferred one year.
Shirley's Failure. Shirley's great project proved abortive, and terminated ultimately in simply strengthening the de- fenses of Oswego, and leaving them in command of Colonel Hugh Mercer with 700 men.
Braddock's Expedition. Braddock's part in this grand move- ment now needs attention. His forces, designed to capture Fort Duquesne and clear the Ohio Valley, left Alexandria on the 20th of April. They crept along at the rate of three or four miles per day, stopping, as Washington said, "to level every mole-hill ; to erect a bridge over every creek."
Finally, on the 9th of July, with about one-half his army, Braddock reached the vicinity of the fort. No scout had been employed. The march was along a road twelve feet wide. Drums and fifes furnished martial music for the oc- casion.
Battle in Ambush. Suddenly the Indian war-whoop was heard. His columns were attacked, but no enemy was visible. Not heeding the advice of his subordinates, he directed his men to maintain organized form and fire in platoons. The result of this order was that many of his men were shot by their comrades.
Braddock's Defeat and Death. About half the force engaged -viz., 800 men-were killed and wounded. Sixty-four of the eighty-five officers were lost. Braddock was finally wounded and the command devolved on Washington. The latter cov- ered the retreat to Great Meadows, where Braddock died.
Thus ended, in supreme disaster, the leading one of the 2
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various campaigns planned by the general-in-chief of the Eng- lish army.
Formal Declarations of War. Though war had actually existed between France and England, thus involving their respective colonies in the New World, the formal declaration by England was not made until the 18th of May, 1756, and -- by France on the 9th of June following.
Montcalm-New French Commander. Marquis de Montcalm became the leader of the French in America. He was fur- nished with two battalions (1200) of men for operations in Canada. His entire command was about 4,000 men. The militia strength of the province was 10,000 to 15,000, but this was hardly reliable. Meanwhile, Montcalm strengthened the outlying forts, and endeavored to ascertain from Indian scouts the strength of the British in opposition. These scouts seemed to be open to negotiations, and hence were somewhat un- reliable.
Shirley Commander-in-Chief. After the death of Braddock, Shirley became commander of the British forces in America. His military training was inadequate, and his plans, though gigantic, were not successful. In his proposed operations against Crown Point, Lake Ontario, Fort Duquesne, and up the Kennebec river, he was anticipated and checked by Mont- calm, who easily took a number of the English forts and de- stroyed them.
Earl of Loudoun Succeeds Shirley. Shirley was succeeded by John Campbell, Earl of Loudoun, noted later for his " mas- terly inactivity and indecision." As a result, the year 1757 was not distinguished by any military movement of much importance to the English. In fact, it was to them the dark- est period of the war.
Capture of Fort George by Montcalm. Montcalm took the initiative, and with 7,606 men penetrated the country and invested Fort George. On the 9th of August the fort was compelled to surrender, with 2,264 men. By this victory the French acquired complete control of Lakes Champlain and
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George. The destruction of Oswego gave them control of the Great Lakes, and the retention of Fort Duquesne held control of the Mississippi Valley.
William Pitt, Head of English Ministry. A change in Eng- lish administration now began. William Pitt was placed at the head of affairs, and his letters assured all the colonies of a new order of things and inspired full confidence. He assured them of complete co-operation in the war against the French, and called for volunteers. Massachusetts agreed to furnish 7,000 men ; Connecticut, 5,000 ; New Hampshire, 3,000.
THREE EXPEDITIONS PROJECTED-LOUISBURG CAPTURED BY ABERCROMBIE.
Under the new regime three expeditions were proposed :
The first was against Louisburg. An army of 14,000 men, under command of Major-General Jeffery Amherst, captured the place July 26, 1758.
Attack on Ticonderoga. The second was that under Lieu- tenant-General James Abercrombie, successor, as commander- in-chief, of Loudoun in America, against Ticonderoga and Crown Point. The attack on Ticonderoga occurred on the 8th of July, 1758, and was quite disastrous, the English loss in killed and wounded being 2,000 men.
Forbes' Expedition against Duquesne. The third was the second expedition against Fort Duquesne. It began in Octo- ber, 1758, under the direction of Brigadier-General John Forbes. His command consisted of 1,200 Highlanders, 350 royal Americans, and about 5,000 provincials. In the latter number were 2,000 Virginians, under command of Colonel Washington.
Fort Captured and Name Changed to Fort Pitt. Though Forbes started from Philadelphia in July, he did not reach Raystown (now Somerset, Pa.) until September. He did not leave Raystown until October, and, owing to obstructions to his march, he did not arrive at Fort Duquesne until the 25th of November. " The garrison, being deserted by the Indians,
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and too weak to maintain the place against the formidable army which was approaching, abandoned the fort the evening before the arrival of the British and escaped down the Ohio in boats." An English garrison was placed, and the fortification had its name changed to Fort Pitt, in compliment to the new and popular minister of state.
General Amherst Succeeds Abercrombie. In the meantime General Amherst was appointed (Sept. 30, 1758) commander- in-chief of the English forces, his victory at Louisburg having led to the same.
Campaigns of 1759. The campaigns of 1759 were more favorable to the English. Under the skillful operations of Major-General James Wolfe, consummated by General Townshend, his successor, Quebec was captured in September. On the 25th of July Fort Niagara, under the command of Ponchot, was forced to capitulate.
Presque Isle, Venango and Le Boeuf were, in consequence of lack of support, easily taken by Colonel Bouquet, who had been sent to summon them to surrender.
Ticonderoga and Crown Point were taken with comparative ease; and the only point of importance uncaptured was Mon- treal. Finally, after concentrating at that place the various armies which had operated in Canada, the city capitulated and the English flag was hoisted on the 8th of September, 1760. The conquest was complete. It was the end of " New France."
Treaty of Peace. The end of the French and Indian War was fixed by the Treaty of Paris, February 10, 1763, by which the French king lost his entire possessions in the New World.
Pontiac's Conspiracy. Though the war had nominally ended, Indian depredations did not cease. Pontiac, chief of the Ottowas, who is supposed to have been present at Brad- dock's defeat, endeavored to form a union of the Indians against the English. In May, 1763, nine garrisons, ranging in position from western Pennsylvania to Mackinaw, were either destroyed or dispersed. From May 12th to the 12th
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of the succeeding October in the same year, Pontiac personally conducted an attack on Detroit.
Depredations against settlers in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania were frequent. These were the result of a jeal- ousy felt by Pontiac because he did not receive from the Eng- lish the recognition which he considered due him. This feeling allied him to the French, and finally alienated his followers from him. In 1766 he made terms with the English.
Col. Bouquet's Expedition. Colonel Henry Bouquet was a British soldier of courage and ability. He co-operated with Forbes in the expedition which captured Duquesne in 1758. In 1763 he was ordered to go from Philadelphia with 500 Highlanders to the relief of Fort Pitt. At Bushy Run, on the 5th of August, he encountered a force of Indians, which he defeated with the loss, on his side, of 8 officers and 115 men. Two days later he relieved the fort.
Expeditions against Ohio Indians. In October, 1764, he conducted an expedition against the Ohio Indians and com- pelled them to make peace at Tuscarawas.
Lord Dunmore's War. Lord Dunmore, governor of Virginia from 1772 to 1776, was suspected of playing double. While efforts were being made by the General Congress, in 1774, to resist the encroachments of Great Britain against the colonies, and while the Indians were committing depredations along the western frontiers, the indignation of the people compelled their reluctant governor to take up arms and march against the very Indians whom he was suspected of having incited by intrigues to hostility.
Colonel Lewis' Victory at Point Pleasant. Lord Dunmore marched his army in two columns; the one under Colonel Andrew Lewis he sent to the junction of the Great Kanawha with the Ohio, while the other he led to a point higher up on the Ohio, with the alleged purpose of destroying certain In- dian towns and then joining Lewis at Point Pleasant. The real purpose, however, is suspected to have been the concen-
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trating of the entire Indian force upon Lewis and thus weaken- ing and humiliating Virginia. If such were his purpose, he was thoroughly disappointed ; for Lewis, with inferior numbers, but unusual skill and gallantry, met the Indians at Point Pleasant October 10, 1774, and after a day's hard fighting and the loss of nearly all his officers, completely defeated them.
The immediate effect was visible in the migration which at once began to seek homes in Kentucky, eastern Tennessee, and the more remote regions of the Northwest. It developed the pioneer movements of Boone in Kentucky, Robertson and Sevier in East Tennessee, and George Rodgers Clark in the Northwest. With this theory coincides the view that Lewis was a patriot and Lord Dunmore a traitor to the best interests of Virginia and the whole country.
We need not express surprise, therefore, that the name of Dunmore county was changed to Shenandoah in 1777, one of the delegates to the Assembly saying : "My constituents no longer wish to live in, nor do I desire to represent, a county bearing the name of such a Tory. I therefore move to call it Shenandoah, after the beautiful stream which passes through it." His motion prevailed.
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LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENTS.
LEGISLATIVE ENACTMENTS
THAT CONNECT THE PRECEDING HISTORIC SKETCH WITH THE ADJUDICATION OF THE RESULTING ACCOUNTS WHICH FOLLOW.
ACT OF ASSEMBLY STATE OF VA., MARCH, 1756,
For making provision against invasions and insurrections, &c., and for raising the sum of twenty-five thousand pounds, for the better protection of the inhabitants on the frontiers of this Colony, and for other purposes therein mentioned. Hening's Statutes, Vol. 7, page 26.
Section 3. And be it further enacted that there shall be raised and paid by the public to the officers and soldiers drawn out into actual service by virtue of this and the before- recited acts, and to the look-outs, after the rates following, to wit :
To the county-lieutenant, or commander-in-chief, ten shil- lings per day.
Horses.
A Colonet, ten shillings.
Lieutenant-Colonel, ten shillings.
Major, ten shillings.
Captain, ten shillings.
Lieutenant, five shillings.
Cornet, four shillings.
Per day.
Quarter-Master, two shillings.
Corporal, one shilling and four pence.
Trumpeter, one shilling and four pence. Trooper, one shilling and three pence.
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Foot.
A Colonel, ten shillings.
Lieutenant-Colonel, ten shillings.
Major, ten shillings.
Captain, ten shillings.
Lieutenant, five shillings.
Ensign, four shillings.
Serjeant, one shilling and four pence.
Per day.
Corporal, one shilling and four pence. Drummer, one shilling and two pence.
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