USA > Virginia > Virginia, a history of the people > Part 30
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Such were the foundations of free government, laid broad and deep, by George Mason. The equality of men politically ; the enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness ; the responsibility of magistrates ; the right of the people to abolish oppressive govern- ment; suffrage to all men having a permanent interest in the community ; the freedom of the press ; the sub- jection of the military to the civil authority ; the free exercise of religion ; and an adherence to justice, mod- eration, and virtue : these were to be the burning and shining lights to guide the new generation in their march to the Canaan of the future.
Edmund Pendleton was the last of this small group of representative men. He was the conservative states- man of the time as opposed to the revolutionists ; a stu- dent and jurisconsult who wished to lop off abuses, not hew down the tree, and opposed the violent counsels of
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Henry as prejudicial to the cause. Like nearly all the leaders of the time, Pendleton was of royalist descent and a Churchman. He belonged to "a good family gone to decay," who had come to Virginia about a cen- tury before, and in his youth found that he had to make his own way. He was born in the county of Caroline (1721), where, at his estate of " Edmundsbury," he spent his life ; became clerk of the County Court and then a member of the bar ; and entering the Burgesses, at the age of thirty, soon rose to distinction. He may be styled the conservatist-revolutionist of the era, and said of himself that his great aim was to "raise the spirits of the timid to a general united opposition," and oppose " the violent who were for plunging us into rash measures." His patriotism and ability were amply rec- ognized in his generation; he was President of the Committee of Safety, of many of the Conventions, and finally of the Virginia Supreme Court; and left behind him a name eminent for integrity 'and piety.
In person Edmund Pendleton was tall, with blue eyes, which seem to have been common in the Revolu- tionary leaders, and manners of great sweetness. It was said of him that his face was " of the first order of manly beauty ; his voice clear and silver-toned and under per- fect control ; and his manner so fascinating as to charm all who came in contact with him." Of his rank as a public speaker there can be no question. He had "a perennial stream of transparent, cool, and sweet elocu- tion ;" but this description is that of a mere master of graceful rhetoric, and leaves, probably, a very incorrect idea of his real force. He was a lawyer of the first abil- ity, with an intellect essentially judicial ; and Jefferson said that he was " the ablest man in debate he had ever met with."
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Such was Pendleton, the conservative-revolutionist, who looked to "united opposition " and waited. It may be said of him, and those who acted with him, that they constituted the balance-wheel regulating the movement of the great time-piece, which was now about to strike the hour of revolution.
IX. VIRGINIA AND MASSACHUSETTS.
IN the spring of 1774 revolution was in the very air. The situation of affairs was now stripped of all ambigu- ity. England had resolved to subject the Americans to her will. The theory that they were entitled to all the rights of British subjects was openly repudiated. They had been reduced to obedience by Parliament in the time of Cromwell ; and Parliament, whether they were represented there or not, was to rule them still. Eng- land was to be master. The American Assemblies were to be mere municipal bodies for the transaction of small local affairs. Direct imposts were to be laid upon them ; and if they rebelled they were to be transported across the ocean to be tried by their enemies. The issue was thus made up : submission to wrong or resistance. Re- sistance meant war. Would the Americans risk that? It soon became evident what they liad decided upon : they were going to fight.
Boston was already occupied by British troops. Since tlie collision of the citizens and soldiery in 1770, known as the Boston "Massacre," all had been in commotion there. New England, always hostile to royalty and foreign rule, moved restlessly like a horse under the
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spur. In December (1773), an overt act of rebellion warned England what was coming. The tax on tea had never been repealed, and it was hoped that it would be submitted to. The East India Company was author- ized to export it to America free of duty, which made the price there less than it had been before the imposi- tion of the tax; and ships containing three hundred and forty-two chests arrived at Boston. The test was direct, and the Boston men met it. A party, disguised as Mo- hawk Indians, boarded the ships, threw the tea over- board, and quietly retired to their homes. When intel- ligence of this overt act of resistance reached England it aroused bitter indignation. Parliament struck back with the " Boston Port Bill; " on and after June 4, 1774, the harbor of Boston was to be closed. Under this blockade, stifling her, she would come to her senses.
The value of the Committees of Correspondence was now seen. Swift expresses brought the news to Vir- ginia, as on the wings of the wind; the riders traveled so rapidly that it was said of them that they "must al- most have flown." The House of Burgesses was in ses- sion when the intelligence reached Williamsburg; like the men of Boston they were called upon to act promptly or give up the contest ; and they acted at once. It was tlie blow aimed at Massachusetts which brought affairs to a crisis, and by uniting all the elements of resistance precipitated the Revolution in Virginia.
It may interest the reader to visit the little capital of Williamsburg at this moment, and see what followed. The events were like the shifting scenes of a drama. The old and the new were suddenly brought face to face : the old went out with music and the new came in with an ominous muttering. Lord Dunmore had now been
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in Virginia for about two years. He was far from popu- lar. From the first he had surrounded himself with the trappings of etiquette. A court herald had proclaimed a code of rules for the guidance of the Virginians in ap- proaching his Excellency. He entertained little, and made few efforts to establish cordial relations between himself and the society of Williamsburg, as Fauquier and Botetourt had done. His attitude toward the Vir- ginians may be summed up in the statement, that he saw the spirit of rebellion pervading all classes and meant to crush it.
This was the state of things at Williamsburg in the spring of 1774. The Virginians responded to Lord Dunmore's ill-disguised hostility by offering him a mark of courtesy. His family, whom he had left in New York, arrived at Williamsburg : " the Right Honorable the Countess of Dunmore, with Lord Fincastle, the Hon- orable Alexander and John Murray, and the Ladies Catherine, Augusta, and Susan Murray." This is the announcement taken from the " Virginia Gazette," which adds that the arrival of the Countess gave " inexpressi- ble pleasure and satisfaction to the inhabitants, who made a general illumination upon the happy occasion, and with repeated acclamations welcomed her ladyship and family to Virginia." Such were the rounded pe- riods of the reporter of the time, who it is to be hoped was welcomed, in turn, for his eloquent phrases, at the Palace. The ladies made an agreeable impression. One present at the time wrote : "Lady Dunmore is here : a very elegant woman. Her daughters are fine, sprightly, sweet girls. Goodness of heart flashes from them in every look." And in order to show their satisfaction at the arrival of the Countess and her family, the gen 27
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tlemen of the Burgesses, who assembled at Williamsburg soon afterwards, resolved to give a brilliant ball, in their honor, at the Capitol.
Suddenly the sky was overclouded. The news ar- rived from Boston that on the fourth of June the harbor was to be closed as a punishment for the destruction of the tea. The intelligence was met in the House of Burgesses " with a burst of indignation." The first of June was " set apart as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer, devoutly to implore the Divine interposition for averting the heavy calamity which threatens the civil rights of America." This action was taken on May 24 (1774). What followed is thus recorded in the " Vir- ginia Gazette" three days afterwards : -
"Yesterday, between three and four o'clock P. M., the Right Honorable, the Earl of Dunmore, sent a mes- sage to the Honorable the House of Burgesses, by the clerk of the Council, requiring their immediate attend- ance in the Council Chamber, when his Excellency spoke to them as follows: 'Mr. Speaker, and Gentle- men of the House of Burgesses, I have in my hand a paper published by order of your House, conceived in such terms as reflect highly upon his Majesty and the Parliament of Great Britain, which makes it necessary for me to dissolve you, and you are dissolved accord- ingly." ... "This evening there is to be a ball and entertainment at the Capitol, given by the Honorable the House of Burgesses, to welcome Lady Dunmore and the rest of the Governor's family to Virginia."
The ball duly took place. The Old Capitol which had been the scene of the passionate protest against the Stamp Act, and the bitter denunciation of the Boston Port Bill, was now to be full of the gay music of vio-
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lins, and to see a brilliant assemblage bowing low to her Ladyship the Countess of Dunmore. The Gov- ernor and his family were present, and the fine enter- tainment went on its way ; but the violins stopped at last, the Old Capitol was silent again, and the Bur- gesses went home to consider more serious matters than dancing-parties.
They had already taken a decisive step. On the morning of the same day (May 27, 1774), the Burgesses had assembled at the Raleigh Tavern ; passed resolu- tions against the use of tea; and directed the Commit- tee of Correspondence to propose a General Congress of the colonies. In this measure Massachusetts had fore- stalled Virginia by procuring the meeting of a similar body at New York in 1765 ; and now, before the action of the Southerners was known, the same colony made the same recommendation. It was felt that a solemn consultation between all the colonies was essential, and North and South moved together. The next proceed- ing of the Burgesses was to recommend the election of delegates to a Convention, to meet on the first of the ensuing August ; and the word Convention, like the word Congress, was ominous. Both bodies were to assemble without warrant from the royal authority. They were in every sense illegal and revolutionary ; but revolution was now the only resource. Either the Virginians were to wait patiently, and submit them- selves to the good pleasure of Lord Dunmore, or they were to take their own affairs into their own hands and proceed to act.
Events hurried on. The first of June was observed throughout Virginia as a day of fasting and prayer. The people went to church in mourning, and abstained
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from all occupations. George Mason wrote to a friend : " Please to tell iny dear little family that I desire my three eldest sons and my two oldest daughters may at- tend church in mourning." At Williamsburg a sermon was preached in Bruton Church from the text " Help Lord! for the godly man-ceaseth, for the faithful fail from among the children of men." The tea was sealed up or destroyed, and disappeared from every table ; lastly, as an evidence of earnest sympathy, money and provisions were sent to "our distressed fellow subjects of Boston ; " an early proof, and one of a long series of such given by Virginia, of her devotion to the sentiment of union.
Although Lord Dunmore had issued writs for a new Assembly to convene on the eleventh of August, the Convention duly met (August 1, 1774), at Williamsburg. It consisted of the first men of Virginia, and the pulse of the body beat hot and quick. Even Washington, the least excitable of men, in presenting resolutions passed in his county, Fairfax, made a passionate speech. " He was ready," he said, " to raise one thousand men, sub- sist them at his own expense, and march at their head to the relief of Boston." The main business before the Convention was to appoint delegates to the General Congress. It had been promptly agreed to by the other colonies, and was to mect early in September. The delegates appointed (August 11, 1774), were Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendleton.
The first Congress met at Philadelphia on the fifth of September (1774), and the men of the North and the South were at last in presence of each other. "It is
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such an Assembly," wrote John Adams, " as never be- fore came together of a sudden in any part of the world." By a singular chance the Psalter for the day of the month in the Prayer-Book, used in open- ing the Congress with prayer, contained the words : " Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive against me ; fight against them that fight against me." A long and deep silence followed, when Patrick Henry rose and made one of his greatest and most earnest speeches. " British oppression," he exclaimed, "has effaced the boundaries of the several colonies. The distinctions between Virginians, Pennsylvanians, New Yorkers, and New Englanders, are no more. I am not a Virginian but an American ! "
The action of the Congress was calm and moderate. Washington writing at the time said, that it was not the wish of the Colonies "separately or collectively to set up for independency." What was looked to was a re-, dress of grievances ; and the Congress agreed upon a Declaration of Rights, an Address to the People of Great Britain, and another to the People of the Colonies ; the last written by Richard Henry Lee, and concluding with the words that it behooved the Americans to "extend their views to mournful events." In October the body adjourned, to reassemble in the spring if necessary. Its moderation had made friends for the American cause in England and everywhere. Lord Chatham, in the House of Lords, said : " I know not the people or Senate, who, in such a complication of difficult circumstances, can stand in preference to the delegates of America assem- bled in General Congress in Philadelphia."
What the Congress had done was simply to state the American grievances with " decency, firmness, and wis-
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dom ;" but the vital circumstance underlying all was that the Americans had at last met in Council.
X.
THE FIRST BLOOD OF THE REVOLUTION.
IN the midst of these political events the Virginia border was the scene of a brief but bloody episode which has been described as " the first blood shed in the Revo- lution."
In the spring a party of borderers had murdered the family of Logan, an Indian chief living on the Ohio, and the rumor came that the red men were about to rise all along the frontier. What then appears on the surface is that Lord Dunmore resolved to go and crush them, for which purpose he assembled two divisions in the upper and lower Shenandoah Valley. Taking command in person of the latter he advanced, in the summer, through northwestern Virginia, directing the second di- vision to meet him at the mouth of the Kanawha.
This force was placed under command of General Andrew Lewis. Lewis was a representative man, the perfect type of the borderer and Indian fighter. He was born in Ireland about 1730, and was a man therefore of middle age ; of large and powerful frame, as brave as steel, full of enterprise and caution mingled, and the idol of the frontier population. His personal appear- ance is correctly exhibited in the bronze statue of him at Richmond, where he is represented in the fringed hunting-shirt of the border, with his rifle in his hand. He had been with Washington at Great Meadows; was known to enjoy his confidence ; and was now assigned
THE FIRST BLOOD OF THE REVOLUTION. 423
to command a wing of Dunmore's force. Early in Sep- tember (1774), two regiments, numbering in all 1,100 men, assembled near Lewisburg in western Virginia, and Lewis set out on his march for the mouth of the Kanawha. The advance was an arduous affair ; the country was a world of mountains, and no wheeled ve- hicle could pass through it ; the ammunition and provis- ions were borne on pack-horses ; and cutting their way through the pathless woods the division at last reached Point Pleasant, on the Ohio, at the mouth of the Ka- nawha.
Lord Dunmore was nowhere to be seen, and his where- abouts were a mystery. Vague rumor declared that he was advancing toward the Shawnee towns, the present Chillicothe ; and soon runners came with orders to Lewis to cross the river and move thither. Before the order could be obeyed Lewis was attacked and had to fight. Some men, who had crossed the Ohio, returned in haste reporting that the woods were full of Indians; and Lewis had just formed line of battle when a heavy force assailed him. His position was favorable for defense but not for retreat. Behind him was the Kanawha, the " River of the Woods," on liis left was the Ohio, and on his right a small stream called Crooked Run. Thus his flanks were protected, but if defeated there was little hope of retreat ; and the Indian force opposed to him seemed to largely outnumber his own. It consisted of the best fighting men of the Delawares, Mingoes, Cayu- gas, and Wyandots ; and their commander was Corn- stalk, one of the oldest and ablest warriors of the Ohio tribes.
A fierce struggle followed. The Indians swarmed in the woods in front, where they had erected a barricade,
424 VIRGINIA: A HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE.
and steadily advanced, delivering a scattering but heavy fire from behind every cover. Under this galling fire the Virginians grew discouraged. Many of their best men had already fallen, though the sun had scarcely risen above the woods ; among the rest Colonel Lewis, brother of the General, commanding the right of the forces. He was mortally wounded, and fell " at the foot of a tree," and his men fell back taking his body with them. Nearly at the same moment Colonel Fleming, commanding the left, was severely wounded ; and that wing also, deprived of its commander, was visibly shaken.
General Lewis, who had lit his pipe at the beginning of the action and had coolly watched its progress, now advanced with his reserve and made an obstinate attack. For some hours the hot struggle remained undecided, when Lewis put an end to it. He sent a party through the undergrowth, on Crooked Run, to surprise the In- dian rcar ; the sudden fire they delivered proved that they were behind the enemy ; and Lewis, rushing forward in front, with heavy volleys, drove the Indians toward the river. A panic had seized upon them at the fire in their rear, and Cornstalk in vain called on them to stand firm. He was seen in front, and heard shouting in the Indian tongue : " Be strong ! be strong !" and when one of the fugitives passed him he buried his tomahawk in his brains. But the battle was over; the Indians were routed and flying to the Ohio; and by sunset the whole force had disappeared.
The ground was covered with dead, and the loss of the Virginians was heavy. Two coloncls, seven cap- tains, three lieutenants, and seventy-five men, were killed, and one hundred and forty wounded. Out of
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THE FIRST BLOOD OF THE REVOLUTION. 425
every five men one was dead or wounded, and they were the flower of the youth of West Augusta. A sin- gle consolation remained to the border families who had thus lost their sons and brothers : this was the last of the Indian assaults. Between sunrise and sunset Lewis and his Virginians had put an end to the long drama of horror.
Then arose a passionate demand on the part of Lewis's men : Where was Dunmore ? The attacking force had come from the direction of Chillicothe, where the Gov- ernor was said to have concluded a peace. Was the bloody business at the mouth of the Kanawha the result of it? The men raged, but Lewis said nothing. Bury- ing his dead and leaving the Indian corpses " to be de- voured by birds and beasts of prey," he erected a stock- ade, left a small party to hold it, and set out for Chilli- cothe, on the Scioto, where Lord Dunmore, in command of a thousand men, was quietly waiting. On the march he was met by an order to return to Point Pleasant. He continued to advance, without taking any notice of the order, and finally came to a halt within three miles of the Governor's camp.
A furious scene followed. Lord Dunmore, accompa- nied by an Indian chief, came to Lewis's camp. Why had he disobeyed orders? was the Governor's harsh demand. The answer of Lewis is not recorded, but it was prob- ably violent; and it was afterwards said that if he had not restrained his men they would have put Dunmore to death. What all this meant may be explained in a very few words. Lewis and his troops were firm in the con- viction that Lord Dunmore knew of the attack to be made upon them, and intended to allow them to be sac- rificed. The charge against him at the time was that
426 VIRGINIA: A HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE.
he had a private understanding with the savages : that they were to attack the frontier and divert public atten- tion from politics ; and by destroying Lewis, disable the colony for military resistance to England. Was this true ? It is not proved ; but in the spring of the next year Dunmore is known to have plotted to produce an Indian outbreak. His confidential agent, Conolly, was arrested on his way to the Ohio, and beneath his saddle were discovered papers bearing the signature of Lord Dunmore, showing that his mission was to arouse the Indians to attack the Virginians.
Lewis obeyed the Governor's order and marched back home with his divisions ; and Dunmore himself returned to Williamsburg. In his absence, as we have seen, many things had occurred. Conventions and Con- gresses had met and deliberated ; with every passing hour the spirit of resistance had gained strength. With the first spring days of the new year the rattle of mus- ketry and the thunder of cannon were going to mingle with the debate, and stop all further discussion.
XI.
VIRGINIA ARMING.
AT the opening of the next year (1775), it required no prophet to see that great events were on the march. With every passing day the public mind had become more inflamed ; and the people, following the advice of Richard Henry Lee, began to "extend their views to mournful events," and to prepare for them.
In the winter of 1774 Virginia was already under arms. Lord Dunmore, writing to his government in
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December, said : " Every county is arming a company of men whom they call an independent company, for the avowed purpose of protecting their Committees, and to be employed against government if occasion re- quire. The Committee of one county has proceeded so far as to swear the men of their independent company to execute all orders which shall be given them from the Committee of their county."
This picture of the state of affairs in the winter of 1774 leaves nothing in doubt. In every county of Vir- ginia was a Committee of Safety and an independent company ; and the " minute-men " were sworn to obey all orders received from the Committees.
In this feverish condition of the public mind the Vir- ginia Convention again met at the town of Richmond (March 20, 1775), for Williamsburg was no longer a safe place for treason-mongers. Lord Dunmore was in his Palace watching in sinister silence the movements of the Virginians ; and troops from his men-of-war lying in the river would make short work of rebel assem- blies.
The Convention met in " Old St. John's Church," on a grassy hill in the suburbs of the present Rich- mond, commanding a beautiful view of the foaming river. Edmund Pendleton was elected president, and the first proceedings were cautious. Resolutions were passed expressing a strong desire for the return of peace, but these were coupled with resolves to encourage the manufacture of gunpowder, salt, iron, and steel. There was an evident indisposition to act without deliberation ; and when Patrick Henry moved that steps should be taken " for embodying, arming and disciplining the militia," many of the members opposed the resolution.
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The result was one of the grandest of all the displays of Henry's oratory : " If we wish to be free we must fight !" he exclaimed passionately. " It is too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery. The war is inevitable, and let it come ! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms ! I. know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death ! "
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