USA > West Virginia > Harrison County > History of Harrison County, West Virginia : from the early days of Northwestern Virginia to the present > Part 2
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
land, and there was also to be a council of like number established in Eng- land appointed by the King, called the Council of Virginia, which was clothed with the superior management and direction of affairs in the colony.
By the terms of the charter not much latitude was given the local council, and their duty seems mainly to have been to carry out the instruc- tions of the King, which were to be the laws governing the colonists, and he persistently held to this right all his life to their great detriment.
The details of the charter having been arranged the company set about securing colonists for the enterprise, and on the 19th. day of Decem- ber in the year 1606 three small vessels called the Discovery, Goodspeed, and Susan Constant, with one hundred and five souls on board, the whole commanded by Captain Christopher Newport set sail from London for the New World. The little fleet arrived safely in Chesapeake bay on the 26th. of April 1607. After passing the Capes they found the mouth of a large river to which they gave the name of the James, after the King, but which the natives called the Powhatan. They sailed up this river about fifty miles from its mouth and on the 13th. day of May 1607 selected a site for a settlement to which they gave the name of Jamestown, thus founding the first permanent English settlement in America.
The colonists who landed were composed of four carpenters, twelve laborers and fifty-four gentlemen, and were unfitted and illy prepared for the ardous labor of founding a nation in a wilderness filled with treacher- ous savages.
The first years of the infant colony were years of dissensions, wars, famine, sickness and death.
A dark cloud of misery, woe and human suffering hang as a pall over that distant period, and flitting as shadows through its sombre folds ap- pear the martial figure of the soldier ruler Captain John Smith, the able cruel and crafty King Powhatan, and the gracious gentle Indian maiden Pocahontas, around whose pathetic life clings a romance that has long been celebrated in song and story.
In June 1619 the first popular Assembly ever held on the North American Continent was convened by Sir George Yeardly, then Governor, and met at Jamestown, which at that time and for many years after was called "James City."
In 1624 the Crown suppressed the Virginia Company and assumed the powers granted to it, but the form of government remained unchanged in substance.
The extension of the settlements of the country from Jamestown to- wards the West was extremely slow and followed the streams, and it was not until 1670 that an exploring party sent out by the governor crossed the Blue Ridge and explored the upper valley of the Shenandoah and the James.
In 1716 a party led by Governor Alexander Spottswood, the Tubal Cain of Virginia, reached the summit of the Allegheny Mountains at a point supposed to be on or near the present territory of Pendleton County.
In the year 1732 Joist Hite, with others to the number of sixteen
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
families from Pennsylvania, moved to the Valley, and set up their homes near where Winchester now stands.
Within the next few years settlers located in considerable numbers along the Potomac and its several branches up almost to the mountains, which for a long time presented a barrier to keep back the flow of popula- tion to the virgin lands beyond their frowning summits.
After trails had been discovered by which the mountains could be passed the hostility of the Indian tribes and the claim of the French to the territory watered by the Mississippi prevented the occupation of the Western Country by the English for many years.
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
The French and Indian War.
In the year 1753 in the reign of King George the II. of England, and of Louis the XV. of France, matters had reached a crisis between the colo- nies of these two nations as to the possession of the valley of the Ohio.
The French had occupied the St. Lawrence and established military stations on the waters of the Ohio and Mississippi and had outlined the bold policy of extending a chain of forts from the great lakes to New Or- leans connected by canoe navigation. The English settlements occupied the Atlantic coast and were pressing forward with a view of crossing the mountains and possessing themselves of the Country west of them.
At this time Robert Dinwiddie was the Royal Governor of the colony of Virginia residing at Williamsburg the capitol, and the Marquis Du Quesne was the Governor General of Canada with Headquarters at Quebec.
Indian traders had for several years crossed the Allegheny mountains with their string of pack horses to the banks of the Ohio and its tribu- taries, and exchanging blankets, gaudy colored cloths, powder, lead and rum for valuable furs and skins with the several tribes of Indians who had their villages in the Ohio Valley.
Complaints were made to Governor Robert Dinwiddie that English traders while plying their traffic west of the mountains were robbed of their goods and driven out of the country by the Indians instigated by the French.
The officers of the Ohio Company also complained of the hostile con- duct of the French and their Indian allies as preventing it from settling and occupying the country in compliance with its charter.
The Governor resolved to send a written message to the French com- mander on the Ohio that the English claimed the Ohio Valley and warn- ing him to withdraw his forces from the disputed territory or he would be expelled by troops. He confided this message to George Washington then twenty-two years of age and he set out on his mission on the 30th. day of October, 1753.
After a toilsome journey impeded by swollen streams and storms, Washington reached Fort La Boeuf situated fifteen miles from Lake Erie on French Creek at the head of canoe navigation, a tributary of the Alle- gheny River, on the 11th. of December.
The letter having been delivered to the Chevalier Legarden De St. Pierre the commandant, Washington started on his return on the 15th. of December with the reply to the Governor's letter, and reached Williams- burg, the capital, on January 16, 1754, and delivered the communication to the Governor having been about seventy-eight days on the trip.
The reply of the French commander to Governor Dinwiddie's de- mand for his withdrawal from his position was to the effect that his letter would be forwarded to the Marquis Du Quesne, Governor General of
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
Canada at Quebec for his consideration. This was deemed evasive and together with the information obtained by Washington as to the inten- tions of the French convinced the Governor that they were preparing to descend the Ohio in the spring and take military possession of the Country.
Captain Trent was given authority to recruit a company of one hun- dred men and march with all speed to the forks of the Ohio, now Pitts- burgh, with instructions to build a fort of suitable strength to resist any ordinary attack.
The Captain reached the forks on the 17th of February, 1754 and commenced the erection of a fortification.
The Governor convened the General Assembly in February, 1754, to devise measures for the public safety. The event is chronicled as follows :
Anno Regni Georgii II.
Regis, Angliae, Scotiae, Francea, ct Hiberniae, Vicessinio Septimo.
At a general Assembly begun and held at the college in the city of Williamsburg on Thursday the twenty-seventh day of February in the twenty-fifth year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord George II by the Grace of God of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King defender of the faith &c., and in the year of our Lord 1752: And from thence continued by several prorogations to Thursday, the 14th day of February in the 27th year of his Majesty's reign, and in the year of our Lord 1754, and then held at the capitol in the city of Williamsburg, being the third sesssion of this Assembly.
The Assembly set forth its grievances as follows: "Whereas many of his Majesty's faithful subjects have been encouraged by the Acts of the General Assembly heretofore made to settle and inhabit on his lands in this colony in and near the waters of the river Mississippi, and it hath been represented to this general assembly, that the subjects of the French King and by their instigation, the Indians in alliance with them, have encroached on his Majesty's said lands, murdered some of his subjects, and taken others captive and spoiled them of thier goods and effects, and are endeavoring to seduce the Indians in friendship with us &c."
The Assembly appropriated ten thousand pounds to be applied towards protecting and defending his Majesty's subjects, who are now settled or hereafter shall settle on the waters of the river Mississippi.
The proper legislation having been secured the Governor authorized the enlistment of three hundred men for the expedition with the object of establishing a permanent military post at the confluence of the Allegheny and the Monongahela Rivers.
This position is naturally the key to the Ohio Valley in a military point of view. If it was garrisoned by French troops it would be impos- sible for English settlers to occupy the Country. On the other hand if held by the English the French would be excluded. For this reason both parties strove to first gain the prize upon which so much depended.
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
Both the French and English made every effort to conciliate the Indian tribes and secure them as allies in the coming conflict, but the French, those wily diplomats of the wilderness, were more successful than the English in ingratiating themselves with the Savages.
Joshua Fry was appointed Colonel and George Washington Lieu- tenant Colonel of this force. Colonel Fry having died, the command devolved upon Washington.
On the 20th of April, 1754, he reached Will's Creek now Cumber- land with one hundred and fifty men.
On the 25th Captain Trent's company, under Ensign Ward, arrived and reported that on the 16th day of April while they were engaged in the construction of a fort at the forks Captain Contrecœur, a French Officer, came down the Allegheny river with a thousand men, French and Indians, in canoes and demanded his surrender, which was com- plied with with the stipulation that he should retire with his men taking with them their property, working tools etc.
The French Officer took possession of the forks and at once began the construction of a strong fort which was named DuQuesne.
Washington, after many vexatious delays caused by the lack of supplies, want of transportation, the insubordination of his ill trained troops, on the 29th day of April, 1754, marched with a detachment of one hundred and sixty men.
After toiling painfully through swamps and forests and over rugged mountains, the troops reached the Youghiogheny River, near where Con- nellsville now is, where they were detained some days for the purpose of constructing a bridge.
On the 23rd day of May his scouts reported that a large number of French and Indians from Fort Duquesne were on the march to attack him. He fell back to an open glade called the Great Meadows about ten miles East of where Uniontown now is and just South of the old national road and began to construct a rude fortification to which he gave the name of Fort Necessity.
He was here joined by a small party of friendly Indians under a chief known as the "Half King."
The Indian scouts having reported that they had discovered a party of French and Indians encamped in a narrow valley not far distant, Washington set out with a detachment at night and surprised the enemy at day light of May 28th with the result of killing ten and capturing twenty-one. Washington's loss was one killed and three wounded.
The French commander named Jumonville was killed. He was a soldier of renown and his death was much regretted by his countrymen.
When the French commander at Fort Duquesne received a report of this affair he detached a large force against Washington, which arrived at his front on the 3rd day of July 1754.
Being nearly destitute of supplies, surrounded by a superior force and fearful that his entire command would be massacred by the savage allies of the French, Washington was compelled to surrender and articles of capitulation were signed on the night of that day, the terms of surren- der being that the garrison should march out with all the honors of war
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
retaining all public and private property except the artillery, which he did on the 4th. of July and commenced his march to Wills Creek now Fort Cumberland, seventy miles distant where he arrived safely after being harrassed and robbed by the Indians. Washington leaving his com- mand at Fort Cumberland hurried on to Williamsburg to present his report to the Governor.
Notwithstanding the unfortunate result of the campaign the conduct of Washington and his officers was properly appreciated and they re- ceived a vote of thanks for their bravery and gallant defence of their country.
The Indian chief "Half King" prudently withdrew his warriors from the Fort before the arrival of the French and retired to his agency on the Susquehannah and expressed himself thoroughly disgusted with the condition of things and with the white man's mode of warfare.
He said the French were cowards, the English fools, Washington was a good man but wanted experience. He would not take the advice of the Indians and was always driving them to fight according to his own notions, and for this reason he withdrew his people to a place of safety.
When the report of this campaign reached the home governments of England and France both nations prepared for war for the possession of that mighty empire watered by the Mississippi River.
Braddock's Expedition.
The British Ministry had devised a plan of campaign for 1755 against the French in America having for its object to eject them from Nova Scotia and to capture the Military posts at Crown Point on Lake Cham- plain, Niagara between Lakes Ontario and Erie, and Duquesne on the Ohio. The Virginia Assembly in May 1754 authorized the assembling of one hundred and fifty men.
Major General Edward Braddock was detailed to command all the troops in the colonies and to direct the prosecution of the plan of cam- paign. He was to personally command the army that had for its object the reduction of Fort Duquesne.
Braddock was a soldier of many years experience, a strict discipli- narian, familiar with military science, the details of the service and the routine of camp life as then understood in Europe. He had great confidence in his own troops and looked with contempt upon the awkward levies of the colonies that were to take part in the expedition.
He had no experience in the difficulties and delays in campaigning in a wilderness, and was impressed with the idea that the savages could not with their mode of warfare make any impression upon his regulars.
General Braddock arrived in Chesapeake bay February 20th, 1755, and disembarked at Hampton and proceeded to Williamsburg to consult with Governor Dinwiddie.
Shortly after a fleet of transports convoyed by two ships of war, the "Nightingale" and the "Seahorse" commanded by Commodore Keppel arrived and proceeded to Alexandria, where the troops disem-
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
barked and were soon joined by the General. On board these transports were two regiments of British Regulars the 44th and 48th. commanded by Sir Peter Halkett and Colonel Thomas Dunbar.
At the camp at Alexandria the General was joined by the colonial troops destined for the expedition, and George Washington was invited to accept a position as volunteer aide on the commanding General's staff, and his acceptance was announced in General Orders.
The troubles of Braddock soon commenced, and he fretted, fumed and chafed the contractors at their failure to furnish supplies and trans- portation and in this he was ably assisted by his Quarter Master Sir John St. Clair, who swore roundly at the agents of the colonies, for their negligence and told them that they were delaying the expedition and that the French might soon be upon them and lay waste the settlements and intimated that they deserved such a fate for their incompetency.
This energetic officer is still remembered in this country by a tribu- tary of the Potomac, Sir John's Run, being named after him.
General Braddock set out from Alexandria April 20th and by the 19th of May the forces were assembled at Fort Cumberland and on June 10th he entered the "Great Woods" and commenced the advance on Fort Duquesne, which was so fatal to him and disastrous to the British Arms.
The march was slow as roads had to be cut through the forests, streams bridged, wagons and artillery hauled up the hills by hand, that it was not until July 9th that the General with twelve hundred of his men, having left the baggage behind in command of Colonel Dunbar reached the ford of the Monongahela ten miles from the Fort and crossed over the same to the side of the river upon which the Fort was situated.
The command while marching up from the river through a small valley was attacked by the French and Indians from behind rocks, trees and logs and met with a crushing defeat.
Braddock displayed the greatest bravery and after having five horses killed under him received a mortal wound and was taken from the field in a tumbril.
Upon the fall of Braddock the rout became general. Baggage stores and artillery were abandoned. The teamsters and artillerymen took horses from their teams and guns and fled panic stricken from the field. The officers were swept away by the fugitives in their wild flight to the rear.
Braddock died on the night of the 13th and his remains were buried in the road so the grave could not be discovered by the savages.
The remnants of the army reached Fort Cumberland on the 17th of July and thus the campaign ended in "the most extraordinary victory ever obtained and the furthest flight ever made."
The British loss was very heavy. Out of eighty-six officers twenty- six had been killed and thirty-six wounded, and the loss of the troops in killed and wounded was upward of seven hundred. It was the most disastrous defeat ever sustained by an army on the American frontier.
The victorious force was composed of about 855 French and Indians sent out from the Fort by De Contrecœur, the commander, to check the
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
British at the ford. They were commanded by Captain De Beaujeau, who was killed early in the action.
Braddock's army was not pursued on account of the smallness of the opposing force and the usual desire of the Indians to plunder and gather the spoils of the battle field.
The site of the battle was for more than a hundred years known as Braddock's Field, but now is the seat of a flourishing community and known as Braddock.
Washington was actively engaged throughout this disastrous day in carrying the orders of the General and encouraging the soldiers.
He had two horses killed under him and bore himself through the turmoil of battle and defeat with distinguished gallantry.
The other expeditions in this year against the French in Canada on the New York border failed of their purpose and thus the closing of the year 1755 beheld the French thoroughly in possession of the dis- puted territory.
General Forbes Expedition.
The disastrous defeat and route of Braddock's Army spread terror and consternation along the frontiers of Pennsylvania and Virginia and left them open to the forays of bands of savages who spared neither sex or age.
Many inhabitants deserted their homes and retired East of the Blue Ridge which for a time became the line of the frontier.
The General Assembly of Virginia appropriated forty thousand pounds for the public defence and directing the recruiting of a regiment of a thousand men.
Washington was commissioned a Colonel and made commander in chief for all the forces raised for the defense of the colony.
His head quarters were established at Fort Loudon at Winchester, and a chain of smaller forts were constructed along the Shenandoah and upper waters of the Potomac for the protection of the settlements.
England had been indifferent as to the protection of her colonies and her policy indicated that they should protect themselves, consequently the war dragged its slow length along and no formal declaration of war was proclaimed against France until 1756. But a change of the British Ministry and the assumption of power on June 29, 1757, by William Pitt, the Great Earl of Craltham as prime Minister, wrought a mighty change in the conduct of public affairs. He was endowed with a high order of intellect, was patriotic, a warm friend of the colonies had the entire con- fidence of his countrymen, and his mighty hand was felt in the remotest parts of the Kingdom, and his bold policy changed the destiny of the North American continent, and advanced England to the position of the greatest nation in the world.
The Military expeditions in the North against Canada in the years 1856 and 1857 were barren of practical results, and in 1858 an army of nearly nine thousand men composed of British Regulars and provincials from the neighboring colonies, Virginia furnishing a quota of about nine- teen hundred men commanded by Washington, was formed.
The army rendezvouzed at Raystown now Bedford, Pennsylvania,
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
and under the command of General John Forbes in September commenced its slow and toilsome march through the wilderness to Fort Duquesne.
Major Grant in command of an advance column of eight hundred men when upon a hill almost in sight of the Fort was led into an ambuscade and met with a most disastrous defeat, and was himself captured with a greater part of his command.
This hill was for many years known as Grant's Hill, now included in the limits of Pittsburgh, and the street running along it still bears his name.
As the army approached the fort the French Commander blew up his magazine, set fire to the buildings and embarked his force in boats and retreated down the river to their Forts in the West, and up the Allegheny River.
On the 25th. of November, 1858, Washington in command of the advance guard marched into the Fort, took possession in the name of the King and hoisted the British flag.
The fortifications were repaired and a strong guard placed in it and the name changed to Fort Pitt.
The possession of Fort Duquesne which had been the scourge of the Pennsylvania and Virginia frontiers, brought peace to those distracted colonies and terminated the struggle between France and England in the Ohio Valley.
Pittsburgh in 1908 celebrated the one hundred and fiftieth anniver- sary of the founding of this city, there being present members of the Pitt and Forbes families from England as the guests of the city.
The war in the North in 1758, resulted in the English under Major General Amherst, capturing Louisburg on the island of Cape Breton from the French.
The expeditions against the French Forts on Lakes George and Champlain in New York was conducted by General Abercrombie with an army of seven thousand regulars and nine thousand colonial troops, and an attempt to capture Fort Ticonderoga on Lake Champlain resulted in the disastrous defeat of the English with the loss of nearly two thousand men.
The British Army returned across Lake George, having failed in its objects.
In 1759 the English under General Amherst captured the French Forts at Ticonderoga and Crown Point and under General Sir Wm. Johnson the French Fort at Niagara.
General Wolf with an army of eight thousand men fought a battle on the 14th of September, 1759 on the plains of Abraham and totally defeated the French under Montcalm, both commanders being mortally wounded, resulting in the surrender of Quebec to the English.
In 1760 a large army under the command of General Amherst com- pelled the capitulation of all Canada, and by the treaty of Peace of 1763 France relinquished her claims to all territory in North America East of the Mississippi except New Orleans and was confirmed in her right to the country west of that river, while Spain ceded to Great Britain Florida and all its territory East of the Mississippi.
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HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY
Early Settlements West of the Mountains.
"I hear the tread of pioneers,
Of nations yet to be, The first low wash of Waves: Where, soon shall roll a human sea."
-WHITTIER.
At a very early period Great Britain developed the policy of settling the country West of the Allegheny Mountains in order to forestall the French who laid claim to the valley of the Ohio.
The Ohio Land Company was chartered in 1749 and King George the second granted to it 500,000 acres of land on the South side of the Ohio River between the Little Kanawha and Monongahela Rivers.
The charter required that the Company should build a fort and settle one hundred families on its lands within seven years.
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