USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > History of Augusta County, Virginia > Part 25
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A large division of these Indians, on their retreat, passed within a little distance of another fort. In following their trail, a few days afterwards, a large poultice of chewed sassafras leaves was found. This is the dressing which the Indians usually apply to recent gunshot wounds. The poultice, having become too old and dry, was removed and replaced with a new one.
Examples of personal bravery and hair-breadth escapes are always acceptable to readers of history. An instance of both of these happened during the attack on this fort, which may be worth recording.
Abraham Rice, one of the principal men belonging to the fort of that name, on hearing the report of the deserters from the Indians, mounted a very strong, active mare and rode in all haste to another fort, about three and a-half miles distant from his own, for further news, if any could be had, concerning the presence of a body of Indians in the neighborhood. Just as he reached the place, he heard the report of the guns at his own fort. He instantly returned, as fast as possible, until he arrived within sight of the fort. Finding that it still held out, he determined to reach it and assist in its defense, or perish in the attempt. In doing this, he had to cross the creek, the fort being some distance from it on the opposite bank. He saw no Indians until his mare sprang down the bank of the creek, at which instant about fourteen of them jumped up from among the weeds and bushes and discharged their guns at him. One bullet wounded him in the fleshy part of the right arm above the elbow. By this time several more of the Indians came up and shot at him. A second
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ball wounded him in the thigh, a little above the knee, but without break- ing the bone, and the ball passed transversely through the neck of the mare. She, however, sprang up the bank of the creek, fell to her knees, and stumbled along about a rod before she recovered. During this time several Indians came running up to tomahawk him. Yet he made his escape, after having about thirty shots fired at him from a short distance. After riding about four miles he reached Lamb's fort, much exhausted with the loss of blood. After getting his wounds dressed and resting awhile, he sat off late in the evening with twelve men, determined, if pos- sible, to reach the fort under cover of the night. When they got within about two hundred yards of it, they halted. The firing still continued ; ten of the men, thinking the enterprise too hazardous, refused to go any further, and retreated. Rice and two other men crept silently along to- wards the fort, but had not proceeded far before they came close upon an Indian in concealment. He gave the alarm yell, which was instantly passed round the lines with the utmost regularity. This caused the savages to make their last effort to take the place, and make their retreat under cover of the night. Rice and his companions returned in safety to Lamb's fort. About 10 o'clock next day, sixty white men collected at Rice's fort for its relief. They pursued the savages, who kept in a body for two miles. The Indians then dispersed in small parties, and the pursuit was given up. A small division of the Indians had not proceeded far after their separation when they discovered four men coming from a neighbor- ing fort. The savages hid near the path and shot two, and the others fled. One of them made good his escape ; the other was overtaken by a savage. The white turned and snapped his gun at the red skin. The Indian threw his tomahawk at the white's head, but missed him. They then closed, and during the fight the Indian was killed.
AN EXPECTED ATTACK.
The following interesting account of affairs in a fort anticipating an at- tack is given by Kercheval, who was an inmate of Fort Dodderidge at the time. When advices reached the fort, in 1782, that the Indians were but a few miles distant encamped, it was believed that they would assault the place early next morning :
" In order to give the reader a correct idea of the military tactics of our early times, I will give, in detail, the 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 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 Braddock's defeat to the capture of that place by Gen. Forbes. He reminded us, ' that in case the Indians should succeed, we need expect no mercy ; that every man, woman and child
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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 would fall on our heads. We must fight 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 guns.'
" He then made a requisition of all the powder and lead in the fort. The ammunition was accurately divided 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 the 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. You must fill every vessel with water. Our fort is not well stockaded, and these ugly fellows may rush into the mid- dle of it, and attempt to set fire to our 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,' says he 'let every man gather in his axes, mattocks and hoes, and place them inside of his door ; for the Indians may make a dash at them with their tomahawks 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 contrary, 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 around the fort, so confident was our captain that the attack would be made before daybreak. I was at that time fourteen years of age, but ranked as a fort soldier. After getting my gun and all things else in order, I went into the garret of the house, and laid down on the floor, with my shot-pouch on and my gun by my side. I did not awake till sunrise, when the alarm was over. The family we supposed had been killed came into the fort about day- break. Instead of their house being burnt, it was an old log on fire near the house, which had been seen by our expresses."
INDIAN SUMMER.
The derivation of the term, "Indian Summer," has given rise to much speculation. The best theory as to its origin is this : The term originated in the Valley among the early settlers, and the backwoodsman seldom heard it without a chill of horror, as it recalled painful recollections of its original application. The Indians were accustomed to make their preda-
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tory incursions into the settlements of the whites during the Summer. They seldom or ever visited the territory of the whites after the frosts and snows set in. The commencement of Winter was therefore hailed by the inhabitants with delight. During that inhospitable season they would enjoy peace and freedom from the confinement of forts. At the approach of Winter, therefore, the planters would remove to their farms with the joyful feelings of a prisoner set free. All was bustle and hilarity preparing for Winter-the gathering of corn, digging of potatoes, fattening pigs, beef and turkeys, and repairing their dwellings. It sometimes happened, how- ever, after the apparent commencement of Winter, the weather became warm ; the smoky time commenced, and lasted for a considerable number of days. This was the Indian Summer, because it afforded the Indians another opportunity of visiting the settlements with their destructive war- fare. The melting of the snow saddened every countenance, and the genial warmth of the sun chilled every heart with horror. Hence this season of calm, during which the settlers were distressed by apprehensions when not driven by actual attack into the detested forts for safety, was called the Indian Summer. It corresponds to " the halycon days " of the Greeks, a name given to the seven or eight days which preceded and followed the Winter solstice when the weather was very calm and the air genial. To- wards the latter part of February there was a fine spell of weather, during which the snow melted away. This was denominated the " palavering," or " paw-wawing season," as the Indians now held their War Councils, and planned their Spring campaigns against the settlements. Sometimes it happened that the savages ventured to make their excursions too late in the Autumn or too early in the Spring for their own convenience. A man by the name of Carpenter was taken early in the month of March, 1782, near the present town of Wellsburg. There had been several warm days, but on the night preceding his capture, there was a heavy fall of snow. His two horses, which the Indians took with him, nearly perished in swimming the Ohio. The savages, as well as himself, suffered severely with the cold before they reached the Moravian towns on the Muskingum. The morning after the first day's journey beyond the Moravian towns, the barbarians sent out Carpenter to bring in the horses, which, after being hobbled the evening before, were turned out to graze. The horses had made a circuit of the towns, fallen into the trail, and were making their way homewards. When Carpenter overtook them, and had taken off their fetters, he had to make an awful decision. He had a chance-barely a chance --- to make his escape, with a certainty of death, if recaptured. On the other hand, there was the horrible prospect of being tortured to death by fire at the stake. He was the first prisoner taken that Spring, and it was the Indian custom to burn the first prisoner every Spring. After spending a few minutes making his decision, he resolved on making an attempt to escape, and effected it by way of Forts Laurens, McIntosh,
26 ±
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and Pittsburg. The capture of Carpenter and the murder of two families, about the same time, contributed materially to the Moravian campaign and the murder of that unfortunate people.
THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE IN STAUNTON.
On the 5th of January, 1781, Benedict Arnold entered Richmond, which had recently become the capital of Virginia, and ravaged the place. The Legislature had previously taken refuge at Charlottesville, where they were pursued and dispersed by Tarlton. On June 3, the committee pre- viously appointed to prepare a bill to " establish martial law within - miles of our camp and that of the enemy," was enlarged by Messrs. Jno. Taylor, Nicholas, Francis Peyton, of Loudoun; Talbot, Campbell, of Washington ; and Triplett.
On June 4th, the House adjourned (so near were the British), to meet in Staunton on June 7th, where it met on that day, in the Episcopal church, according to adjournment. On Sunday, June 10th, 1781, the House met and resolved, That this House do adjourn until to-morrow morning, at ten o'clock, then to meet in this place ; but if there shall appear danger in so doing, from the enemy, then that this House be adjourned until Thursday next, then to meet at the Warm Springs, in this county, at which time and place, if a sufficient number of members to adjourn the House should fail to appear, the Speaker is invested with power, as well to adjourn the House from day to day, as to appoint, in case of necessity, any other time and place for the meeting of this House, as to him shall seem advisable.
On June 12th, Thomas Nelson, Jr., Esq., was elected Governor of the Commonwealth, and Wm. Cabell, Sam'l Hardy, and Sam'l McDowell members of the Council of State.
On June 13th, James Madison, Ed. Randolph, Jos. Jones, Theodorick Bland and John Blair were appointed delegates in Congress to represent Virginia for one year.
On June 14th, Mr. Henry reported from the Committee of Privileges and Elections that the committee had, according to order, inquired into the conduct of Zachariah Johnston (delegate from Augusta), upon the in- formation of Thos. Hughes against him, for being the principal instigator of an opposition which has been made by some of the people of Augusta in arms to a law passed by a former Assembly; and had agreed upon a report, and come to a resolution thereupon, which he read in his place, and were agreed to by the House, as followeth :
" It appears to your committee, from the testimony of various witnesses, that Zachariah Johnston hath uniformly recommended to the people of the county of Augusta an obedience to the law " for recruiting this State's quota of troops to serve in the Continental army," and did by no means instigate them to an opposition to the said law,
Resolved, therefore, That the said information is groundless."
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On the same day, William Campbell, Esq., was appointed a Major- General in the militia.
On Saturday, June 16th, Mr. Henry reported from the committee to whom the petition of John Poage was referred, that the committee had agreed upon a report, as follows :
" It appears to your committee that James Graham, deputy sheriff for the county of Augusta, was robbed of the sum of £35,000 ($175,000), be- ing the tax money of the said county, on his way to the treasury, and that a judgment has been obtained against John Poage, the sheriff of said county, for the sum of £35,345.05, on account of said money so stolen, and not paid into the Treasury,
Resolved, therefore, That the said petition is reasonable ; but that the final determination thereon ought to be postponed to the next meeting of Assembly, and, in the meantime, that the Public Solicitor be directed not to take out an execution on the said judgment."
On June 18th, the Speaker laid before the House a letter from the Hon. Major-General Marquis La Fayette, respecting the present state and move- ments of the army under his command, which was read and ordered to lie upon the table.
This resolution was agreed to by the House: That all horses impressed for the use of the army, by order of the Marquis La Fayette, Major-Gen- eral Baron Steuben, or Gen. Nelson, ought to be paid for by the Treasurer of this Commonwealth, by warrant from the Auditors of Public Accounts.
On June 21st, this resolution was passed : That the Treasurer do re- ceive on account any money which may be offered him by Henry Peyton, Esq., late Sheriff of Prince William county, so that if the said sales be con- firmed, he may be saved harmless from all penalties for the non-payment thereof, and if not, that the value thereof may be returned, according to the present state of depreciation, to the purchaser.
On June 22d, the Speaker laid before the House a letter from George Mathews, Esq., late Colonel of the Ninth Virginia regiment, containing a representation of sundry matters on behalf of himself and the officers of the said regiment, which was read and referred.
This resolution was adopted : That the Governor be empowered to ap- point a Secretary, who shall be allowed at the rate of 30,000 pounds of tobacco per annum.
On June 23d, the House came to the following resolution :
It appearing to the General Assembly that Col. Wm. Fleming (one of the gallant survivors of the battle of Point Pleasant), being the only acting member of Council for some time before the appointment of a Chief Mag- istrate, did give orders for the calling out the militia, and also pursued such other measures as were essential to good government, and it is just and reasonable that he should be indemnified therein,
Resolved, therefore, That the said Wm. Fleming, Esq., be indemnified for his conduct, as before mentioned, and the Assembly do approve of the same.
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And then the House adjourned to meet on the first Monday of October, 1781, at Richmond, and " if the movements of the enemy make it improper to hold the Assembly in said town, then the Governor, with the advice of Council, appoint it to meet at Fredericksburg, or at Winchester, in Fred- erick county, or at such other place as they shall deem expedient."
During this dark period in our history, considerable gloom filled the minds of members. Washington, who had been struggling against the British, in Long Island, was retreating through New Jersey and Dela- ware, the pursuing enemy wasting fields, destroying cattle, and committing every kind of violence upon the defenceless inhabitants. In this bitter hour of defeat, one of the members, recalling the history of Rome, who, when torn with intestine strife and deluged with blood, put a dictator at her head, suggested the idea of appointing Patrick Henry, Dictator. It found no countenance with Henry or the members, and one of them, Ar- chibald Cary, meeting Henry's brother-in-law, addressed him with heat in these terms : "Sir, I am told that your brother wishes to be Dictator: tell him, from me, that the day of his appointment shall be the day of his death, for he shall feel my dagger in his heart before the sunset of that day."
To all the numerous calls made for volunteers to fight the Indians and the British during the Revolution, the people of Augusta responded with an alacrity which evinced their spirit and patriotism. The writer much regrets his inability to supply a list of the officers and men furnished by the county to these wars. The following extract from a letter of Adju- tant-General James McDonald, of date Richmond, July 23, 1881, will ex- plain the cause :
To COL. J. LEWIS PEYTON, Steep-hill :
MY DEAR COLONEL : I duly received your letter, and regret to say that the office of the Adjutant-General, together with its contents, was de- stroyed by fire at the evacuation of this city by the Confederate forces in 1865. Consequently, nothing relating to the wars of the Revolution, of 1812, and with Mexico, can now be found in it. But I was anxious, if possible, to serve you, and accordingly set my friend, Col. Sherwin Mc- Rae, acting State Librarian, to rummage the State Library for informa- tion. He reports, after search, that while there are printed rolls of Vir- ginia troops in all those wars, the counties, &c., from which they come are not designated.
On the 26th of December, 1776, Washington defeated the British and Hessians at Trenton, N. J., taking many Hessian prisoners, and severa hundred of them were sent to Staunton, where they remained for some years in custody. During this time, they built of bricks, dried in the sun,
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the house still standing on Spring farm, and occupied, in 1882, by the Superintendent of the Staunton Water-works.
The Revolutionary war closed in 1783, the British Government having, after the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, in 1781, abandoned all hope of conquering America. Provisional articles of peace between the two governments were signed at Paris, November 30th, 1782, a formal proclamation of a cessation of hostilities was made throughout the British army 19th of April, 1783, and the definite treaty, acknowledging the colo- nies to be free and independent States, was signed September 30th, 1783.
For eight years the Americans had been subjected to the miseries of a devastating war. In a short time, they found the Confederative system defective, and incapable of subserving the great ends for which it was in- stituted, and in 1787 Commissioners from all the States, excepting Rhode Island, assembled at Philadelphia, and their labors resulted in the formation of the Federal Constitution. The fundamental distinction between the articles of Confederation and the new Constitution, consisted in this : The former acted only on States, the latter on individuals ; the former could neither raise men nor money by its own authority, but was dependent on the discretion of thirteen different legislatures, and without their unani- mous concurrence, could not provide for the public safety or for the pay- ment of the national debt. The more perfect organization effected by the Federal Constitution in our system of government gave a new aspect to the political affairs of the country. A Constitution of more ample powers gave new vigor and efficacy to the measures of the General Government, and prepared the way for the wonderful prosperity which has since charac- terized our national annals.
Under the Constitution, religious liberty was guaranteed,-the liberty of conscience, or freedom of a man to worship God according to his belief and the dictates of his conscience, provided he docs not thereby disturb the peace of the Commonwealth. The Constitution makes no provision for the support of any religion, but the clergy are maintained by the volun- tary contributions of the people, and are excluded from holding offices under the Government.
Our English ancestors, in sustaining a religious establishment, acted on the experience of antiquity, for they regarded their clergy as the pre- servers, not only of a ritual, but of the truths which it symbolized, and saw united in them the spirit of the priest and the wisdom of the sage. While this clergy defended the faith, they advanced continually in a better knowledge of it, subjecting all dogmas to the discipline of reason. Under the churches of England and Scotland, religious and civil liberty reached maturity together. But even with these, the doctrines of blind obedience prevailed so far, by an old corruption of the blood, as to multiply sects and breed incurable miseries in the State. As far as possible to escape
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these miseries, the framers of our Constitution refused any longer to sus- tain a Church, and extended liberty of belief to all, trusting that each community would provide for its own instruction in morality, and choose its own ministers of religion. We are not, therefore, to suppose in them an ignorant carelessness, or a contempt for the office of religion ; but only that they held it to be unjust that one man should be taxed for the reli- gion of another; and there is little doubt that public instruction in the principles of virtue and religion would have seemed to them an object of the first importance, and to be sustained by legislation, had it been pos- sible to establish a religion or a system of morals in which all dogmas and superstitions might be reconciled and dissolved.
The following are the proceedings of the meeting referred to (ante p. 176), and may be found in 3d Vol. Am. Archives, 4th series :
" At a meeting of the inhabitants of that part of Augusta county that lies on the west side of Laurel Hill, at Pittsburg, the 16th of May, 1775, the following gentlemen were chosen a committee for the said district, viz: George Croghan, John Campbell, Edward Ward, Thos. Smallman, Jno. Cannon, John McCullough, Wm. Gee, Geo. Vallandingham, John Gibson, Dorsey Penticost, Edward Cook, Wmn. Crawford, Devereux Smith, Jno. Anderson, David Rodgers, Jacob Vanmetre, Hy. Enoch, Jas. Ennis, Geo. Wilson, W. Vance, David Shepherd, Wm. Elliott, Rich- mond Willis, Sam. Sample, John Ormsbey, Richard McMaher, Jno. Nevill and Jno. Sweringer.
The foregoing gentlemen met in committee, and resolved that Jno. Campbell, Jno. Ormsbey, Ed. Ward, Thos. Smallman, Sam'l Sample, Jno. Anderson, and D. Smith, or any four of them, be a standing commit- tee, and shall have full power to meet at such times as they shall judge necessary, and, in case of any emergency, to call the committee of this dis- trict together, and shall he vested with the power and authority as the other standing committees and committees of correspondence are in the other counties within this colony.
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