USA > West Virginia > History and government of West Virginia > Part 4
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE STATE.
public service was ended and after a narrow escape from death from drowning when crossing the Alle- gheny river he re- traced his steps over the mountains to the English border.
WASHINGTON AMID THE ICE OF THE ALLEGHENY.
19. First Attempt at a Settlement on the Upper Waters of the Monongahe- la .- The first effort to settle on the waters of the Mon- ongahela was made by David Tygart and a man named
Files in the year 1754. Files settled on the creek still bearing his name, which empties into the Ty- gart's Valley river near Beverly, the present seat of justice of Randolph county. Tygart settled a few miles above Files, on the river, in the name of which his own is preserved. They found it difficult to pro- cure provisions for their families and they determined to remove eastward, but before this could be done, the Indians attacked the family of Files and killed all except one boy who was some distance from home at the time of the attack. He fled and warned the Tygart family, all of whom were saved by flight. Thus ended in disaster the first effort to establish civilized homes on the waters of the Mon- ongahela.
58 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
20. The Oldest County in West Virginia .- Hamp- shire is by twenty-five years the oldest county in West Virginia. It was formed by an act of the Vir- ginia House of Burgesses in 1754, from Augusta and Frederick counties, but owing to continuous war, it was not organized until 1757. It was within the Fairfax Patent and derived its name from the follow- ing incident. Lord Fairfax happening to be at Win- chester, one day observed a drove of fat hogs, and inquiring whence they came, he was told that they were from the South Branch of the Potomac. He then remarked that when a new country should be formed to the west of Frederick, it should be called for Hampshire county, England, so celebrated for its fine hogs.
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CHAPTER VI.
THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
From 1754 to 1763.
1. The Conflicting Claims to the Ohio Valley .- Both France and England continued to assert their claims to the Ohio Valley, in which was included nearly all of West Virginia. Neither occupied the land, yet both were determined to possess it. The courts of London and Versailles watched with jealous eyes the actions of each other, and it became evident that the final struggle for territorial supremacy in America was near at hand. "The country west of the Great Mountains is the center of the British domin- ions," wrote Lord Halifax, who with other courtiers was determined to possess it.
2. The Beginning of the Struggle .- Great Britain was ably seconded by the Virginia Colony, and a company of West Virginia pioneers was speedily collected in the Hampshire hills, who, under the command of Captain William Trent, crossed the mountains, and in January, 1754, began the erection of a fort at the forks of the Ohio-now Pittsburg. This work was prosecuted until April 16th, when a large force of French and Indians from Canada, hav- ing descended the Allegheny river, appeared on the
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60 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
scene. Contrecœur, the French commander, sent a summons to surrender. Resistance was vain. Captain Trent had returned to the East, leaving Ensign Ward in command; he surrendered the unfinished structure and marched up the Monongahela. The French completed the work and bestowed upon it the name
1 of Fort Duquesne, in honor of Marquis de Du- quesne, who had become Governor-General of Canada in 1752.
3. Erection and Surrender of Fort Necessity .- Meantime, Virginia was mustering a force for service on the Ohio. Lieutenant-Colonel Washington with two companies reached Will's Creek-now Cumber- land City, Maryland-where he learned of the sur- render of Ensign Ward at the forks of the Ohio. Without awaiting the arrival of an additional force, Washington pushed into the wilderness, and on May 9th was at a crossing of the Youghiogheny river. From here he proceeded to the Great Meadows where, hearing that the French and Indians were advancing against him, he halted and built Fort Necessity. May 28th, the Virginians by a forced march, surprised and captured the French advance, but the main body came on and attacked the fort which Washington surrendered July 4th, 1754, and in great discomfiture began the march back to Will's Creek.
4. England's Preparation for War .- The year, 1754, closed with the French in complete possession of the Ohio Valley; but a war had begun which was to change the geography of a continent. Both
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THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
nations speedily mustered veteran regiments fresh from the battle-fields of the Old World, to do service in the New. The Duke of Cumberland selected Gen- eral Edward Braddock to command the British troops destined for American ser- vice, and from London, Braddock went to Cork to hasten preparation for the embarkation of the army. GENERAL EDWARD BRAD- The delay was irksome and DOCK .* the commander sailed in the ship "Norwich," accompanied by the "Centurion " and "Syren," on December 14th, 1754.
5. The Army on the Ocean .- At length, all things were in readiness, and January 14th, 1755, the fleet, with the 44th and 48th Royal Infantry Regiments on
*General Edward Braddock was a son of Edward Braddock, a Major-General in the English army, and was born about the year 1695. He entered the army as an Ensign in the Cold Stream Guards, on the 11th day of October, 1710, and rose rapidly in the scale of promotion because of bravery and gallantry displayed on bloody fields, his superior officer being the Duke of Cumberland. That officer chose Braddock to command all the British troops to be sent to Virginia because his "courage and military discipline had recommended him as of ability for so great a trust." For nearly fifty years he had been connected with the Cold Stream Guards, and was a true soldier, but he knew nothing of the arts of war as practiced by the Indians of North America. The world knows the story of his march and of the fatal field of Monon- gabela.
62 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
board, left the harbor of Cork. It consisted of the following named vessels, the " Anna," "Halifax," " Osgood," "London," "Industry," "Isabel and Mary," "Terribel," "Fame," "Concord," "Prince Frederick," " Fishburn," " Molly," and the " Severn." This fleet was under convoy of the "Seahorse " and "Nightingale," two of the most powerful ships of the British navy. On February 20th, the "Norwich " with General Braddock on board, reached the coast of Virginia. The "Osgood " and "Fishburn" arrived on March 2d, and within the two succeeding weeks the entire fleet lay at Alexandria on the Potomac, nine miles below the present site of Washington City. Thus was a British army first landed in the New World.
6. The Army in America .- On April 14th, General Braddock met a number of the Colonial governors in a council of war at Annapolis, Maryland, and a general plan for the prosecution of the war was adopted. A part of this plan was the movement of General Brad- dock against Fort Duquesne. In compliance with this decision, the army left Alexandria, April 20th, and six days later it arrived at Fredericktown, Maryland, where it was joined by George Washington, who was made an aid-de-camp to the general.
7. The King's Army on the Soil of West Vir- ginia .- On April 30th, the army left Fredericktown, and crossing the Potomac below Shepherdstown, began the march over the soil of West Virginia. Cabin homes dotted the landscape of what is now Jefferson County, and to the inhabitants the army was an
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THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
object of the greatest interest. Slowly the splendid pageant moved on; long lines of soldiers in scarlet uniform contrasting strangely with the verdure of the forest, filed along the narrow paths, while strains of
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THE KING'S ARMY IN WEST VIRGINIA.
martial music filled the air. The route by Winches- ter was taken for the reason that at that time no road had been constructed up the Potomac river. After a brief rest at that place, the army moved in a north-
64 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
west direction through the present counties of Berke- ley and Morgan, and reached Little Cacapon Creek about six miles above its mouth, in what is now Hampshire County. Descending this stream to its junction with the Potomac, the army encamped for the night, and the next day, it crossed the latter river into Maryland, having spent five days in marching through the eastern part of West Virginia.
8. Arrival of the Army at Fort Cumberland .-- Leaving the "Ferry Fields " where the army crossed the Potomac, the march continued along the north side of the North Branch of that river, General Brad- dock proceeding in a chariot which he had purchased of Governor Sharpe, of Maryland. The army arrived at Fort Cumberland on the 10th day of May. This structure, named in honor of the Duke of Cumber- land, was erected in 1754-55, by Colonel Innes of South Carolina, commanding an independent com- pany from his own Colony, and two similar organiza- tions from the Colony of New York. Here, on the present site of Cumberland City, Maryland, Braddock's army went into camp.
9. The March into the Wilderness. - By May 19th, the entire force destined for the expedition, was col- lected at Fort Cumberland, and consisted of the 44th and 48th regiments, each numbering 700 men; 30 sailors; 1, 209 Colonial troops; 150 Indians and a train of artillery. There were 150 wagons and 2,000 horses. The 44th regiment was commanded by Sir Peter Hal- kett, and the 48th by Colonel Thomas Dunbar. Pat- rick Mckellar was the chief military engineer of the
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THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
expedition, and Sir John St. Clair quartermaster-gen- eral. On June 7th, the first division, under Sir Peter Halkett, left Fort Cumberland and on the 8th, the entire force took up the line of march, the objective point being Fort Duquesne.
10. The Army in the Monongahela Valley .- Lofty mountains towered on every hand and so great were the difficulties of the march, that after ten days the army was only thirty miles west of Fort Cumberland. Braddock seemed to think that his engineers should bridge every little stream and cut away every bluff that obstructed the way. Washington, greatly dis- couraged, succeeded in securing a change. The army was divided. The general advanced with 1, 200 chosen men, and Sir Peter Halkett as brigadier, Lieutenant- Colonel Gage-afterward General Gage of the Revolu- tion-Lieutenant-Colonel Burton and Major Sparks, leaving Colonel Dunbar with the remainder of the troops and the artillery and baggage, to follow on as rapidly as possible. It was the evening of July 8th when the English columns, for the second time, reached the Monongahela river at a point ten miles distant from Fort Duquesne.
11. The News at Fort Duquesne .- From the time the army left Fort Cumberland, scouts hung upon its front and rear and carried news of its advance to Fort Duquense, where all was aların and excitement. Con- trecœur, the French commander, prepared to evacuate the fort; but Beaujeau, the second in command, pro- posed to go out and fight the English in the woods. A thousand savage warriors lounged around the walls
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HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
of Fort Duquesne. To these Beaujeau appealed Chiefs gathered their warriors, who, to the number of 600, accompanied by 250 French and Canadians fully armed, left the fort and marched away beneath the midsummer shades of the Monongahela Valley.
12. The Slaughter of Braddock's Army .- It was July 9th, 1755, and at the same time that the French and Indians left the fort, Braddock's army was cross- ing the river. Once across, the order to inarch was given, but scarcely were the columns in motion when Gordon, one of the engineers, saw the French and Indians bounding through the forests, and at once, a deadly fire was poured in upon the English columns. The Grenadiers returned it and Beaujeau fell dead, but Dumas, the second in command, rallied his forest warriors and for three dreadful hours, a storm of leaden hail was poured upon the beleaguered army. At the end of this time, of the 1, 200 inen who crossed the Monongahela, 67 officers and 714 privates were killed or wounded.
13. The Retreat of the Shattered Army .- General Braddock was mortally wounded, and Washington, collecting the remnant of the Virginians, covered the retreat of the shattered army. On the fourth day General Braddock died and was buried in the road near Fort Necessity. When Colonel Dunbar received the news, his troops were seized with a panic. Dis- order and confusion reigned, and the retreat degener- ated into a rout, which continued until the strag- gling companies reached Fort Cumberland. From there Colonel Dunbar marched the regulars by way of
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THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
Winchester, to Philadelphia, and Washington with the surviving Virginians, marched across what is now the eastern part of West Virginia, to Winchester. Thus ended in failure the campaign of 1755.
14. West Virginia Settlements After Braddock's Defeat .- The Indians, instigated by the French, now waged a relentless warfare against the Virginia frontier, and many West Virginia pioneers fell vic- tims to savage butchery, whilst almost the entire pop- ulation was forced to remain closely confined in places of safety. Of these, Fort Pleasant stood on the bank of the South Branch of the Potomac, one and a half miles above what is known as The Trough, now in Hardy county; Edwards'Fort was located on the west side of Cacapon river, in Hampshire county, within a mile of where the road leading from Winchester to Romney, crosses that stream; Furman's Fort was in Hampshire county, on the South Branch, between the present site of Romney and Hanging Rocks, while Williams' Fort was situated about four miles farther down the river; Fort Evans stood a short distance south of the present site of Martinsburg; Ashby's Fort was on Patterson's Creek, in what is now Mineral county, as was also Cox's Fort, the latter being dis- tant twenty-five miles from Fort Cumberland.
15. French and Indians Attack Edwards'Fort .- On April 18th, 1756, a large body of French and Indians, having traversed the entire extent of West Virginia, appeared before Edwards' Fort in Hamp- shire county. Captain John Mercer with forty men marched out to attack them, and when a short
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68 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
distance from the fort, came upon the enemy in ambush. A destructive fusillade was poured in upon the Virginians, sixteen of whom fell at the first fire. The slaughter continued until but six of the forty who left the fort, returned to it. Colonel George Wash- ington, with a small force, was at Winchester, twenty miles away. He wrote Lord Fairfax, commandant of the Hampshire county militia, the day of the attack, and urged him to raise a force at once to relieve Ed- wards' Fort, and gave it as his opinion that unless ammunition was supplied to the beleaguered garrison that night, all would be slaughtered.
16. The Declaration of War .- Notwithstanding the existence of hostilities for more than two years, a formal declaration of war was not made by England until 1756. On August 7th of that year, Governor Din- widdie made formal procla- mation thereof and copies of the same were sent to the troops on the frontier, a number of whom were sta- tioned at Edwards' Fort and 1 other points in West Vir- ginia. The Governor's order ROBERT DINWIDDIE .* required the commander to have his troops drawn up in line when the Declara-
*Robert Dinwiddie, a prominent character in American history, because he was the chief executive officer of Virginia during the French and Indian war, was a Scotsman, and was born in 1693. He was appointed a collector of customs in the Island of Bermuda in 1727, and eleven years later, received the appointment of Sur-
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THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
tion of War should be read at the head of the column. Volleys of small arms were then fired for the health of his majesty and a successful war. Thus was pro- claimed among the West Virginia hills a declaration of war by the English Parliament against a sister kingdom in Europe. .
17. The Big Sandy River Expedition .- In 1755 an expedition commanded by Major Andrew Lewis was undertaken from Virginia against the Shawnee towns at the mouth of the Scioto river and near that of the Great Kanawha; that nation then being in alliance with the French. The proposed line of march was by way of the valley of the Big Sandy river. The troops-235 Virgin- ians and 130 Cherokee warriors-rendezvoused at Fort Frederick, on New river, early in February, 1756.
18. Westward March of the Expedition .- Febru- ary 19th, the army began the mid-winter march to the Ohio river, two hundred miles away. The route lay through the present Virginia counties of Pulaski, Wythe, and Tazewell, by way of Bear Garden, on the North Fork of Holston river; Burk's Garden, now fifteen miles north- east of Tazewell Court-house; and thence across the upper
veyor-General of Customs, of the Southern Ports of the Continent of America. He was commissioned a Lieutenant-Governor of Vir- ginia, July 20th, 1751, and with his wife and two daughters, Eliza- beth and Rebecca, he arrived in the Colony November 20th follow- ing. The period of his accession as executive of the Colony was one of momentous presage in its history, for events speedily took place which changed the history and geography of a Continent. After more than seven years of faithful service, he was succeeded by Francis Fauquier, and returned to England, where he died July 27th, 1770.
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HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
tributaries of Clinch river, through one of the most beautiful and romantic regions of the Appalachian System.
19. The Army in the Valley of Tug River .- On the 26th, the army passed through a gap in Big Stone Ridge, and reached the source of Horse-Pen creek, the upper tributary. of the Dry Fork of Tug river, and encamped in what is now Big Creek Magisterial District, McDowell county, where it spent its first night on the soil of West Virginia. Thence the march was down the Dry Fork to its confluence with the North Fork of Tug river, the principal tributary of the Big Sandy. The encampment here was on the site of the present Iaeger Station, on the Norfolk and Western Railroad.
20. Failure of the Campaign: The Army Dis- banded .- Now there was great suffering. The supply of provisions was almost exhausted; the pack-horses were worn out; there were no tents, and the rain de- scended in torrents. It was a pitiable condition indeed, and the only hope now was to transport the ammunition: and remaining equipment by water. Major Lewis set the axemen to making canoes, while several companies marched down the river about fifteen miles and encamped near the present Wharncliffe. Between these two en- campments were the rapids of Tug river, long known as the "Roughs of Tug," the greatest tugging place on that river. Here the canoes were overturned, the ammunition and some of the arms lost. In addition, the men were starving, so that, after a few young men had proceeded as far as the present town of Devon, Mingo county, -the farthest western point reached, --
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THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
the object of the expedition was abandoned; the armny practically disbanded; and the men returned to their homes, after a march of sixty-one miles over the soil of West Virginia.
21. Massacre at Fort Seybert .- Fort Seybert was a frontier post which stood twelve miles northeast of Franklin, the present seat of justice of Pendleton county. Like other structures of its kind, it was a place of refuge for the settlers when threatened by a
FORT SEYBERT.
savage foe. In May, 1758, when between thirty and forty persons were within the enclosure, it was attacked by a body of Shawnees. Finding neither threats nor bullets of any avail, the cunning savages resorted to strategy, and that, too, with.most fatal suc- cess. They declared to the inmates that if they sur- rendered the fort their lives should be spared; but if not
72 HISTORY AND GOVERNMENT OF WEST VIRGINIA.
the siege would be continued until every one within should perish. This promise of safety lured the unfortunate victims and they yielded quiet possession of the fort. Perfidious wretches! What cared they for promises ? Of the number who surrendered, all except eleven, were at once put to death.
22. The French Driven from the Ohio .- Virginia was actively engaged in defending her frontier, and the war was vigorously prosecuted to the northward. In 1758, another expedition against Fort Duquesne was planned. General John Forbes was in command and his force was collected at Raystown, now Bedford, Pennsylvania. Washington joined him with 1,600 Virginians, a large number of whom were West Vir- ginia pioneers. In the march Washington asked that the advance be given to the Virginians and it was done. The French abandoned the fort and when the English army arrived, it was a mass of smouldering ruins, but it was speedily rebuilt and named Fort Pitt.
23. The French Power Broken .- French Supremacy ceased in the Valley of the Ohio. The following year, Niagara, Crown Point and Quebec surrendered to the English. The treaty of Fontainbleau, in November 1762, put an end to the war. The domin- ion and power of France ceased on this continent, and no traces of her lost sovereignty exist, save in a few names she has left on the prominent rivers and land-marks, and in the leaden plates, which inscribed in her language and asserting her claims, still lie buried on the banks of the Ohio.
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THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR.
24. Pontiac's Conspiracy .- The French army was gone, but the Indians continued the war on the border for more than a year. Pontiac, chief of the Ottawas, formed a conspiracy, which, if it had been carried out in detail, would have driven the English from every frontier post. The first settlement was made in the Greenbrier Valley in 1761, when Archi- bald Clendenin, Frederick See, Fetty Yolcom and others, established themselves in what is now Green- brier county. Here they were attacked by the Indians in 1763 and the settlement entirely de- stroyed. The wife of Archibald Clendenin was taken prisoner but afterward escaped and returned to civilization.
25. Romney and Shepherdstown: The Oldest Towns in the State .- Romney, the seat of justice of Hampshire county was laid out by Lord Fairfax, in November, 1762, on his lands, where 100 lots of half an acre each had been surveyed previously. It was so called from Romney, one of the Cinque Ports on the English Channel. Shepherdstown, then called Mecklenburg, was laid out a town in the same month and year, on forty acres of land, the property of Thomas Shepherd, in honor of whom the name of the town was afterward changed to Shepherdstown. In 1762, an Agricultural and Mechanical Fair -- the first on the soil of West Virginia-was authorized by the General Assembly to be held annually, twice a year-in June and October-at Mecklenburg, "for the sale and vending of cattle, victuals, provisions, goods, wares and merchandise."
CHAPTER VII.
AN ERA OF PEACE; PIONEER SETTLEMENTS.
From 1763 to 1773.
1. Expedition of General Henry Boquet .- The war which had raged furiously for years was now drawing to a close. During its continuance more than a thousand families on the Virginia frontier- now mainly West Virginia-and of Pennsylvania, had been murdered and driven from their homes. General Boquet left Philadelphia with a force of 500 men, and after defeating the Indians at Bushy Run, Pennsyl- vania, reached Fort Pitt in 1764. With his force increased to 1,500 men, among whom were many West Virginia pioneers, he marched into the Ohio wilderness, and, at the forks of the Muskingum, he concluded a treaty with the Indians, who delivered 206 captives, 90 of whom had been carried away from what is now West Virginia.
2. Peace on the Border .- Boquet's army returned to Fort Pitt and peace was established. The ten years through which it continued has been called "the hal- cyon decade of the eighteenth century." By the terms of the treaty at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which was afterward ratified by the British ininistry, it was declared that "the country to the west of the Alle- ghanies is allowed to the Indians for their hunting
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AN ERA OF PEACE; PIONEER SETTLEMENTS.
grounds." In compliance with this, the King of England, on October 7th, 1763, issued a proclamation forbidding all persons to hunt or settle to the west- ward of the Alleghanies, and Boquet, on his return to Fort Pitt, proclaimed a like order. But the tide of immigration flowed westward, and neither royal proclamation nor military orders could stop it.
3. Settlement and Fate of the Echarly Brothers. -Even while the war continued, daring men were seeking homes in West Virginia. In 1756, Dr. Thomas Echarly and two brothers, Germans from Pennsylvania, came to the valley of the Monongahela, and after extended exploration, reared their cabins on Dunkard bottom on Cheat river, now in Preston county, a few miles south of Kingwood. Here they resided for two or three years, when Dr. Echarly left the brothers in the wilderness home, and journeyed to the East to obtain a supply of ammunition and salt. This was obtained in the lower part of the Shenan- doah Valley, and on his return he stopped at Fort Pleasant on the South Branch, where the story of his residence on Cheat river was not believed. He was thought to be a spy in the service of the French, and a guard was sent with him into the wilderness. When the cabin was reached the brothers were found mur- dered and scalped. The savages had committed the deed. Thus ended in disaster the first attempt to settle the valley of Cheat river.
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