USA > Virginia > Historical collections of Virginia : containing a collection of the most interesting facts, traditions, biographical sketches, anecdotes, &c. relating to its history and antiquities ; together with geographical and statistical descriptions ; to which is appended, an historical and descriptive sketch of the District of Columbia. > Part 15
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On General Forbes' arrival at Raystown he called a council of war, and, at his desire, Col. Washington drew up a line of march. Washington, at his own request, was placed in the advance, with a division of 1000 men. "The month of November had set in before General Forbes, with the artillery and main body of the army, arrived at Loyal Hanna. More than 50 miles, through pathless and rugged wilds, still intervened between the army and Fort Duquesne. A council of war was held, and it was decided to be unadvisable, if not impracticable, to prosecute the campaign any further till the next season, and that a winter encampment among the mountains, or a retreat to the frontier settlements, was the only alternative that remained. Thus far all the anticipations of Washington had been realized." A mere accident reversed this decision. Three prisoners were taken, who gave such representa- tions of the weak state of the garrison that it was determined to push on.
On the 25th of November, 1758, the army took peaceable pos- session of Fort Duquesne, or rather the place where it stood, for the enemy had burnt and abandoned it the day before, and gone down the Ohio in boats. This fortress, after being repaired and garrisoned, was named Fort Pitt, now the site of the flourishing city of Pittsburg, which place was then considered within the
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jurisdiction of Virginia. The remains of Major Grant's men were buried by Gen. Forbes in one common tomb, the whole army assisting at the solemn ceremony.
Gen. Forbes returned to Philadelphia, where he died in a few weeks, and Washington soon directed his course to Williamsburg, as a member of the General Assembly from Frederick county. The capture of Duquesne restored quiet and general joy through- out the colony. The war was soon prosecuted at the North with vigor. In the succeeding summer of 1759, Niagara and Crown Point fell into the possession of the British crown, and on the 18th of September, Quebec surrendered to the brave and gallant Wolfe. The treaty of Fontainbleau, in November, 1762, put an end to the war.
CHAPTER VII.
FROM THE TERMINATION OF THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR TO THE SUR- RENDER OF CORNWALLIS.
Encroachments of Britain . upon the American colonies .--- Spirited conduct of Virginia thereon .--- Patrick Henry's resolution on the right to tax America .- Death of Gover. nor Fauquier. - Arrival of Lord Bottetourt .- Continued aggressions of the mother country .- Death of Bottetourt .- Lord Dunmore governor .- Dunmore's war .--- Bat. fle of Point Pleasant .- Speech of Logan .-- End of the Indian war .-- Meeting of the Continental Congress .- Dunmore removes the gunpowder of the colony from the magazine at Williamsburg .- Patrick Henry marches down at the head of a body of volunteers and forces the Receiver general to make compensation .-- Battle of Lexing- ton .- Dunmore flees on board the Fowey man-of-war .- Termination of the Royal government in Virginia .- Meeting of the Virginia Convention .- Dunmore, with the British fleet, attacks Hampton .- Affair in Princess Anne .-- Defeat of the enemy at Great Bridge .- Norfolk burnt .- Delegates in Congress instructed by the Genera! Convention of Virginia to propose the Declaration of Independence,-A Constitution for the State Government adopted .-- Patrick Henry governor .--- Joyous reception in Virginia of the news of the Declaration of Independence .- Dunmore driven from Gwynn's Island .- First meeting of the Legislature under the State Constitution .- Indian war .- Col. Christian makes peace with the Creek and Cherokee nations .--- Revision of the State laws,-Glance at the war at the north .- Col. Rogers Clark takes Kaskaskias and Fort St. Vincent .- Illinois erected into a county .- Vi- ginia cedes her Western Territory to the United States .- Sir Henry Clinton appointed Commander-in-chief of the British army .- He transfers the sent of the war to the south .- Sir George Collier, with a British feet, enters Hampton Roads .- Fort Nelson abandoned .- The enemy take possession of Portsmouth, and burn Suf. folk .- They embark for New York .- The reduction of Virginia determined on by the enemy .- Gen. Leslie invades Virginia, and lands at Portsmouth .- The gor- ernment prepares to resist the enemy .- Leslie leaves Virginia .- Battle of the Cor- pens .- Arnold invades Virginia, lands at Westocer, and marches to Richmond .-- He returns to Westorer, and arrives at Portsmouth .- Washington forms a plan to cut of his retreat .- Clinton detaches Gen. Philips to the assistance of Arnold .-- Defence" less situation of Virginia .- Philips takes possession of Petersburg, and commits de. predations in the vicinity-Death of Gen. Philips .- Cornwallis enters Petersburg .-- Tarleton's expedition to Charlotteville .- Various morements of the two armies .-- Cornwallis concentrates his ermy at York and Gloucester .-- Surrender of Corn. wallis.
" QUESTIONs touching the power of the British Parliament to in- terfere with the concerns of the colonies had arisen more than once
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before the war. and during its continuance the delicate question arose, of the proportions which the several colonies should pay for the common defence. The British ministry proposed that deputies should meet and determine the amount necessary, and draw on the British treasury, which in turn should be reimbursed by an equal tax on all the colonies, to be laid by Parliament ; but the colonies were afraid to let the lion put his paw in their pockets, even to take back his own ; and this being no time to raise ditlical- ties, the colonial legislatures were left to their own discretion in voting supplies, which they did with a liberality so disproportioned to their ability, as to excite the praise, and in some instances to induce a reimbursement on the part of the mother country. Vir- ginia had always resisted any interference on the part of Parlia- ment. especially in the navigation acts, and asserted as early as 1624, that she only had the undoubted right ' to lay taxes and im- positions, and none other,' and afterwards refused to let any mem- ber of the council of Governor Berkeley, in the height of his popu- Jarity, assist them in determining the amount of the public levy. Again in 1676, even stronger language was used and acquiesced in by the king, to whom it was immediately addressed.
" The slight taxes imposed for the regulation of commerce, and the support of a post-office, were borne by the colonies without a murmur, being considered only a fair compensation for a benefit received. In March, 1764, the ministers declared it ' expedient to raise a revenue on stamps in America, to be paid into the king's exchequer.' The discussion of this was postponed until the next year in Parliament, but commenced immediately in America, and. the proposition was met by every form of respectful petition and indignant remonstrance ; which were, however, equally unavailing, and the stamp act passed in 1765. The passage of this act excited universal and indignant hostility throughout the colonies, which was displayed in the forms of mourning and the cessation of busi- ness ; the courts refused to sanction the act by sitting, and the bar by using the stamps. In the succeeding Virginia legislature, Patrick Henry introduced and carried, among others, the following resolution :---
" Resolved, That the General Assembly of this colony, together with his majesty, or substitute, have, in their representative capacity, the only exclusive right and power to lay taxes and impositions upon the inhabitants of this colony : and that every at- tempt to vest such power in any person or persons whatsoever, other than the General Assembly aferesaid, is illegal, unconstitutional, and unjust, and has a manifest tendency to destroy British as well as American freedom."
" After the passage of Henry's resolutions, the governor dissoived the Assembly ; but the people re-elected the friends, and excluded the opposers of the resolutions. The spirited conduct of Virginia fired the ardor of the other colonies ; they passed similar resolu- tions, and a general Congress was proposed. The deputies of nine states met in New York on the Ist of October; they drafted a. declaration of rights, a petition to the king, commons, and lords
14
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The stamp act was repealed, and Virginia sent an address of thanks to the king and parliament."
Francis Fauquier, Lieut. Governor of Virginia, died in 1767, and the government devolved en John Blair, until the arrival of Lord Bottetourt, the following year.
" The joy of the colonies at the repeal of the stamp act was short-lived. British ministers imagined that they could cheat the colonies out of their opposition to taxation without representation, by laying an import duty instead of a direct tax ; and accordingly, a duty was laid upon glass, tea, paper, and painter's colors ; but this was equally against the spirit of the British constitution, and met with a warmer and more indignant resistance on the part of the colonies, who now began to believe they had little hope from the justice of parliament. The legislature of Virginia passed very spirited resolutions, which it ordered to be sent only to the king ; upon the passage of which the governor dissolved it; and the members immediately met and entered unanimously into a non- importation agreement.
" The British ministers perceived their error, and determined to pause in their violence ; to effect this object the governors were directed to inform the colonies, that his majesty's ministers did not intend to raise a revenue in America, and the duties objected to should be speedily repealed. These assurances, made to Virginia by Lord Bottetourt, a governor whom they highly respected, served, with his own good conduct, for a time to allay her suspicions of the ministry ; but the course they pursued towards Massachusetts was more than sufficient to rekindle her jealousy. She passed a protest, declaring that partial remedies could not heal the present disorders, and renewed their non-importation agreement. In 1771 Bottetourt died, and Virginia erected a statue to his memory, which still stands in the town of Williamsburg. Wm. Nelson, then president of the council, occupied the chair of government until the arrival of Lord Dunmore, in 1772. The delay of Lord Dun- more in New York for some months after his appointment to the gubernatorial chair of Virginia, excited the prejudices of the col- ony, which his sending a man of some military distinction as a clerk, and raising a salary and fees for him out of the colony, were by no means calculated to dissipate. The first legislature that met compelled the governor to dispense with the emoluments of his secretary, Capt. Foy ; and the next, after thanking hira for his activity in apprehending some counterfeiters of the colony paper. strongly reproved him for dispensing with the usual forms and ceremonies with which the law has guarded the liberty of the citizen. The same legislature, having provided for the soundness and security of the currency, the punishment of the guilty, and required the governor to respect the law, turned their eyes to their sister colonies, and appointed a committee of correspondence* to
* This committee were Peyton Randolph, Robert Carter Nicholas, Richard Bland,
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inquire into the various violations of their constitutional rights by the British ministry. While Virginia was employed in animating her sister states to resistance, her governor was employed in the ignoble occupation of fomenting jealousies and feuds between the province, which it should have been his duty to protect from such a calamity, and Pennsylvania, by raising difficult questions of boundary, and exciting the inhabitants of the disputed territory to forswear allegiance to the latter province ; hoping thus, by afford- ing a more immediately exciting question, to draw off the atten- tion of these two important provinces from the encroachiments of: Great Britain. This scheme, as contemptible as it was iniquitous, wholly failed, through the good sense and magnanimity of the Virginia council. Lord North, fall of his feeble and futile schemes of cheating the colonies out of their rights, took off the obnoxious duties with the exception of three pence per pound on tea; and, , with the ridiculous idea that he might fix the principle upon the colonies by a precedent, which should strip it of all that was odious, offered a draw-back equal to the import duty. This in- duced the importation of tea into Boston harbor, which, being thrown overboard by some of the citizens, called down upon their city all the rigor of the celebrated Boston port bill. A draft of this bill reached the Virginia legislature while in session; an ani- mated protest, and a dissolution of the assembly by the governor, of course followed. On the following day the members convened in the Raleigh tavern, and, in an able and manly paper, expressed to their constituents and their government those sentiments and opinions which they had not been allowed to express in a legisla- tive form. This meeting recommended a cessation of trade with the East India Company, a Congress of deputies from all the col- onies, 'declaring their opinion, that an attack upon one of the colonies was an attack unon all British America,' and a convention of the people of Virginia. The sentiments of the people accorded with those of their Iste delegates ; they elected members who mot in convention at Williamsburg, on the Ist of August, 1774. This convention went into a detailed view of their rights and grievan- ces, discussed measures of redress for the latter, and declared their determination never to relinquish the former ; they appointed dep- uties to attend a general Congress, and they instructed them how to proceed. The Congress met in Philadelphia, on the 4th of Sep- tember, 1774. While Virginia was engaged in her efforts for the general good, she was not without her peculiar troubles at home. The Indians had been for some time waging a horrid war upon the frontiers, when the indignation of the people at length compelled the reluctant governor to take up arms, and march to suppress the very savages he was thought to have encouraged and excited to ho-tility by his intrigues.
Richard Henry The. Benjamin Harrison, Edmund Pendleton, Patrick Henry, Dudley Jagges, Dabney Carr, Archibald Carey, and Thomas Jefferson.
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" Lord Dunmore marched the army in two divisions : the one un- der Col. Andrew Lewis he sent to the junction of the Great Kana- wha with the Ohio, while he himself marched to a higher point oui the latter river, with pretended purpose of destroying the In- dian towns and joining Lewis at Point Pleasant ; but it was be- lioved with the real* object of sending the whole Indian force to annihilate Lewis' detachment. and thereby weaken the power and break down the spirit of Virginia. If such was his object he was signally defeated through the gallantry of the detachment, which met and defeated the superior numbers of the enemy at Point Pleasant, after an exceeding bard-fought day, and the loss of nearly all its officers. The day after the victory, an express arrived from Dunmore with orders for the detachment to join him at a distance of 80 miles, through an enemy's country, without any conceivable object but the destruction of the corps. As these orders were given without a knowledge of the victory, Col. Lewis was pro- . ceeding to the destruction of the Shawanese villages, when he was informed the governor had made peace.
" When the treaty was commenced, Cornstalk, the celebrated Shawanese chieftain, made a speech, in which he charged upon the whites the cause of the war, in conse- quence, principally, of the murder of Logan's family. Logan was a Mingo chief. ' For magnanimity in war, and greatness of soul in peace, few, if any, in any nation, ever surpassed Logan ' ' His form was striking and manly, his countenance calm and noble, and he spoke the English language with fluency and correctness.' Logan did not make his appearance among the Indian deputies. 'He disdained to be seen among the suppliants. But, lest the sincerity of a treaty should be disturbed, from which so distinguished a chief absented himself, he sent, by Gen. John Gibson, t the following speech, to be delivered to Lord Dunmore.'
"' I appeal to any white man to say, if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat : if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed, as they passed, and said, ' Logan is the friend of white men.' I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap,# the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and child- ren. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it : I have killed many : I have fully glutted my vengeance : for my country I rejoice at the beams of peace. But do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear.' He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan ?-- Not one .? "
The affairs between Britain and her American colonies were now verging to a crisis. The hostile attitude of the latter, soon occasioned orders to be issued to their governors to remove the military stores out of their reach. Accordingly, on the 20th of April, 1775, Dunmore secretly removed the gunpowder from the
* See Memoir of Indian wars, &c., by the late Col. Stuart of Greenbrier, presented to the Virginia Historical and Philosophical Society by Charles A. Stuart, of Au- gusta county, and the Chronicles of Border Warfare, by Alexander C. Withers, for a strong corroboration of these suspicions.
i The authenticity of this speech has been much questioned. The reader will find the deposition of Gen. Gibson in the American Pioneer, which gives full and satisfactory confirmation of its genuineness.
# Various evidence is given, in the Pioneer, that it was Capt. Michael Cresap, not Col. Cresap, who murdered the Indians on the Ohio.
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magazine at Williamsburg, to the Magdalen man-of-war, anchored off Yorktown. Thereupon, the volunteers of Williamsburg imme- diately flew to arms, and could with difficulty be restrained from seizing the person of the governor. The people of the town sent a deputation to Danmore, who remonstrated with him for this act, especially at a time when they feared an insurrection of the slaves. His reply " was everywhere considered as a mean and scandalous evasion." Fearful of the consequences of his conduct, he estab- lished a guard of negroes at his palace. Exasperated to the high- est degree, he openly swore, " by the living God," that if any injury was offered to himself, or the officers who had acted under his direction in the affair of the gunpowder, he would proclaim free- dom to the slaves, and reduce Williamsburg to ashes. Thesc savage threats wrought the indignation of the people to the high- est pitch, which spread like electricity throughout the colony. Over six hundred people of the upper country armed themselves, assembled at Fredericksburg, and offered their services to defend, if necessary, Williamsburg from the threatened attack of Dunmore. Thousands also, in all parts of Virginia, stood ready, at a moment's warning, to lend their aid. In the mean time, those ardent patriots, Peyton Randolph and Edmund Pendleton, transmitted their advice to the Fredericksburg meeting to abstain, for the present, from hostilities, until Congress should decide on a general plan of resist- ance.
"On the receipt of this advice, they held a council, consisting of over one hundred members, who, by a majority of one only, concluded to disperse for the present. They, however, drafted an address, which was almost tantamount to a declaration of independ. ence, in which they ' firmly resolved to resist all attempts against their rights and privi. leges, from whatever quarter they might be assailed. They pledged themselves to each other to be in readiness, at a moment's warning, to reassemble, and, BY FORCE OF ARMS, to defend the laws, the liberties, and the rights of this or any SISTER COLONY, from unjust and wicked invasion. They then sent dispatches to troops assembled in Caroline, Berkeley, Frederick, and Dunmore counties, thanking them for their offer of service, and acquainting thent with their determinations. The address was read at the head of each company, and unanimously approved. It concluded with these impressive words GOD SAVE THE LIBERTIES OF AMERICA !'"
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The volunteers of Hanover, however, determined to recover the powder, or perish in the attempt. With Patrick Henry at their head, they marched from Hanover town to Doncastle's ordinary, within 16 miles of the capitol, their numbers swelled by accessions of volunteers from King William and New Kent. They here disbanded, (May 4th,) and returned to their homes, Patrick Henry having received ample compensation for the powder from Richard Corbin, the king's receiver-general. Two days after the above, Dunmore issued a proclamation against " a certain Patrick Henry, of the county of Hanover, and a number of deluded followers." and forbade all persons to countenance him, or others concerned in like combinations. On the 11th, Henry left Virginia to attend the Continental Congress, of which he was a member.
By this time, every county in Virginia was fairly aroused to the dangers that beset them. County committees were formed, who
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anticipated measures of defence, by arming and raising minute- men, and taking all practicable means to make an effectual resist- ance. The people sympathized with the sufferings of the Bos- tonians, and the citizens of Williamsburg assembled, and unani- mously resolved to subscribe money for their aid. The news of the battle of Lexington reached Virginia about this time.
The proclamation of Dunmore had scarce made its appearance, when some persons privately entered the magazine and carried away a great number of arms and military equipments. New causes of irritation between the governor and the people were con- tinually arising.
When Patrick Henry marched down to make reprisals for the gunpowder, Dunmore dispatched a messenger to the Fowey man- of-war, anchored off Yorktown, for aid. A detachment of 40 ma- rines and sailors was sent to Williamsburg. where they remained about 10 days. Previous to their landing at Yorktown, Capt. Mon- tague sent a letter from on board the Fowey to Col. Thomas Nel- son, threatening to fire upon the town if the troops were molested or attacked,-a message which still further increased the indigna- tion of the people.
On the Ist of June the governor convened the Assembly, and addressed them in a speech. With this commenced a political correspondence between him and the House of Burgesses, which was, on the part of the latter, a clear and forcible defence of the rights of the colonies. On the 8th of June, the governor, with his family, fled on board the Fowey, off Yorktown, from ill-grounded apprehensions of his safety at Williamsburg. Several communi- cations passed between him and the Assembly, relative to public business generally, the late disturbances respecting the removal of the gunpowder, and the governor's proclamation and course of conduct.
Dunmore " refused, upon invitation of the Assembly, to return to his palace or to sign bills of the utmost importance to the colony, and refused to perform this branch of duty, unless the Assembly would come and hold their meetings under the guns of his ship at Yorktown. In this emergency, the governor was declared to have abdicated, and the president of the council appointed to act in his place. His lordship, on the termination of the intercourse between himself and the Assembly, which was towards the close of June. sailed down the river." Thus ended the royal government in Vir- ginía.
The Assembly now dissolved, and, pursuant to agreement, the delegates, on the 17th of July, met in convention at Richmond, to organize a provincial form of government and a plan of defence. The following illustrious characters composed the committee of safety :- Edmund Pendleton, George Mason, John Page, Richard Bland, Thomas Undwell Lee, Paul Carrington, Dudley Digges, James Mercer, Carter Braxton, William Cabell, and John Tabb. The convention made arrangements to raise troops for defence,
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and the general committee met at Hanover Town, in Hanover county, on business connected with the military establishment, and then adjourned to Williamsburg about the last of September.
Previously, the committee of safety recommended to the dis- trict committees to direct the contractors in each district to pro- vide, among other things, a stand of colors, bearing on one side the name of the district, on the other, " Virginia for Constitutional Liberty."
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