USA > West Virginia > History of West Virginia > Part 6
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Slowly the splendid pageant moved on; long lines of soldiers in scarlet uniform, contrasting strangely
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with the verdure of the forest, filed along the narrow paths, while strains of martial music filled the air. Scouts carried intelligence of the advance to Fort Du Quesne, where all was alarm and excitement. Con- trecour, the commandant, prepared to retreat; but Beaujeau, the second in command, proposed to go out and fight the English in the woods. A thousand savage warriors lounged around the walls of Fort Du Quesne. To them Beaujeau appealed. Chiefs gathered their warriors who, to the number of six hundred, accompanied by two hundred and fifty French and Canadians, left the fort, and marched away beneath the midsummer shades of the Monongahela valley. It was the evening of the 8th of July when the English columns, for the second time, reached the Monongahela at a point distant ten miles from Fort Du Quesne. On the next day a crossing was effected, and once more the ranks were formed on the level plain before them. The engineers and light horsemen were in front, then came the advance numbering three hundred under Colonel Gage, and next came Brad- dock with the artillery and main body of the army, followed by the baggage.
The order to march was given, but scarcely were the columns in motion when Gordon, one of the engi- neers, saw the French and Indians bounding through the forest, and at once a deadly fire was poured in upon the English. The grenadiers returned it and Beaujeau fell dead, but Dumas, the second in com- mand, rallied his forest warriors and for three dreadful hours a storm of leaden hail was poured in upon the beleaguered army, whose commander continued to force them to form in platoons and columns as if they
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had been manoeuvring on the fields of Europe. The Virginians, contrary to his orders, took positions behind trees and fought the savages in accordance with their own mode of warfare, but many of them were killed. In the company commanded by Captain Perouny every officer had fallen except himself and one corporal. That commanded by Captain John Poulson suffered equally. In a Virginia company were two brothers- Joseph and Thomas Fausett. The former, in defiance of Braddock's silly order that the Virginians should not protect themselves behind trees, had taken such a position, when Braddock rode up and struck him down with his sword. The brother, who was near by, wit- nessed the transaction, and at once shot Braddock through the lungs. Of the twelve hundred men who crossed the Monongahela, sixty-seven officers and seven hundred and fourteen privates were either killed or wounded. Of the aides-de-camp, Captains Orme and Morris had fallen and Washington alone was left. Collecting the remnant of the Virginians, he covered the retreat of the shattered army toward Fort Cum- berland. On the fourth day General Braddock died and was buried in the road near the ruins of Fort Necessity. Afterward his remains were disinterred and removed to England, where they now repose be- neath the quiet shades of Westminster Abbey. When Dunbar was met, his troops were seized with a panic ; disorder and confusion reigned ; the artillery and bag- gage were destroyed, and the retreat degenerated into a rout which continued until the straggling companies reached Fort Cumberland. From there Colonel Dun- bar marched the regulars to Philadelphia, and Wash- ington, with the surviving Virginians, marched across
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what is now the eastern part of West Virginia, prob- ably through Hampshire county, to Winchester. Thus ended in failure the campaign of 1755.
The Indians, instigated by the French, now waged a merciless warfare along the Virginia frontier. In the spring of 1756, they destroyed the settlements on the Roanoke, Catawba, and Jackson's rivers; they pene- trated the lower portion of the valley, even to the Blue Ridge, committing many horrid murders, and seriously threatening the destruction of Winchester. The terror inspired by these atrocities influenced the General Assembly, in 1756, to direct the building of a line of forts from the Potomac through the Allegheny mountains, to the present northern boundary of Ten- nessee. This work prevented Virginia from participat- ing in the northern campaigns against the French during this year. But late in the autumn she equipped a force and sent it against the western Indians. This was what is known in border annals as the "Big Sandy River Expedition." The force rendezvoused on the Roanoke near the present town of Salem, Vir- ginia, and consisted of a company of regulars from the garrison at Fort Dinwiddie on Jackson's river, under the command of Captain Audley Paul; a company of minute men from Botetourt, commanded by Captain William Preston ; two companies from Augusta, under Captains John Alexander and Peter Hogg; and a party of friendly Cherokees, at whose head was Captain Richard Pearis; the whole commanded by Colonel Andrew Lewis. Captain Hogg's company failed to arrive at the appointed time, and Colonel Lewis, after delaying a week, marched forward, expect- ing soon to be overtaken by it. The object was the
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GENERAL. BRADDOCK MORTALLY WOUNDED.
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destruction of the Indian towns in the Scioto valley. Crossing New river below the Horse Shoe Bend and proceeding up East river through the present county of Mercer, West Virginia, they passed over to the source of Blue Stone river, and thence to the head waters of the north fork of the Big Sandy, within the present limits of McDowell county. Descending this stream they halted at the Burning Spring, now in Logan county, opposite the town of Warfield, Kentucky, where they remained a day. Here two buffaloes were killed, and the skins hung up on a beech tree. Continuing the march down the river, they again halted near the mouth of Grayson's creek, now in Wayne county, within ten miles of the Ohio river. Here they were overtaken by the company of Captain Hogg. At the same time a messenger arrived with orders for the command to return home and disband. This pro- duced great dissatisfaction throughout the . camp. They had suffered much during their march from the inclemency of the weather, and from a want of pro- vision. They had borne these hardships without re- pining, in anticipation of chastising their enemy. And now, when they were within a few miles of the Ohio, they saw the result of their toils end in failure. A council of war was held, and it was determined to push on to the Ohio. This they did, and encamped two nights and a day at the mouth of the Big Sandy river. This was the first English military expedition that ever reached the Ohio, south of Pittsburg. From here the homeward march began, and on the second night, while encamped on the banks of the Big Sandy, some of Captain Hogg's men went out on the hills to hunt ; they fell in with a party of Indians ; several shots
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were fired, two of the Virginians were killed, and a Shawnee warrior was wounded and taken prisoner. The march was resumed, the men suffering intensely from cold and hunger. The pack-horses no longer serviceable were killed and eaten. And when the army arrived at the Burning Spring, the buffalo hides were cut into tugs, and eaten by the troops, after having been exposed to the heat of the flame from the spring. Hence they called the stream Tug river-a name by which the north fork of the Big Sandy has ever since been known. Then they subsisted on beech nuts. But a deep snow fell, and these could no longer be obtained. Then the army broke up into small detachments, the greater number of which, after un- told suffering, returned to civilization. But many had perished, and their bones lay bleaching amid the snow on the mountains of West Virginia.
Among the officers of this expedition were several prominent in pioneer history. Captain John Alex- ander was the ancestor of the Virginia family bearing that name. His son, Dr. Archibald Alexander, was long President of Hampden Sydney College, Virginia, and later a professor of Princeton, New Jersey.
Lieutenant John McNutt, of Captain Alexander's company, was, soon after the return of the expedition, appointed Governor of Nova Scotia, where he remained until the beginning of the Revolution. He adhered to the American cause and joined General Gates at Saratoga. Later he served with distinction in the brigade of Baron de Kalb. He died in 1811, and was buried in Falling Spring church-yard, at the forks of James river.
Captain Robert Breckinridge was a lieutenant in
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one of the Augusta companies. Emigrating to Ken- tucky, he became the founder of the Breckinridge family of that State. He was the first representative from Jefferson county to the first General Assembly of Kentucky, which met in 1792, and was chosen speaker of the lower House.
Captain William Preston, who commanded the min- ute men from Botetourt, was a son of John Preston, founder of the distinguished Preston family of Virginia. Few if any American families have numbered so many honored representatives as this. Captain Preston was one of the earliest pioneers of southwest Virginia. He long resided at Smithfield, Botetourt county, where he reared a large family, one of whom, James P., served with the rank of colonel during the second war with Great Britain, and became Governor of Virginia in 1816.
Captain Peter Hogg, commanding one of the Augusta companies, was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1703. Together with two brothers, James and Thomas, he came to Virginia about 1745 and settled in Augusta county. He received a captain's commis- sion March 9, 1754, and May 10, 1759, was granted license to practise law. On the 10th of April, 1772, Lord Dunmore appointed him attorney-general for the county of Dunmore-now Shenandoah. He died April 20, 1782. For his military services he received under Dinwiddie's proclamation of 1754, 8,000 acres of land, which he located on the Ohio river eight miles above the mouth of the Great Kanawha-now in Mason county, West Virginia.
The next year, 1757, the savage allies of France continued the war along the frontier, and in 1758, Vir-
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ginia mustered two regiments, the first commanded by Colonel Washington, the second by Colonel Byrd. In July the greater part of this force marched from Winchester through the eastern part of West Virginia to Fort Cumberland, and thence into Pennsylvania, where it joined the army of General Forbes in his campaign against Fort Du Quesne. The Virginians led the advance and the French, alarmed at their approach, burned Fort Du Quesne and descended the Ohio river in boats. On the 25th of November, 1758, the English took possession of the spot. They rebuilt the fortress and named it Fort Pitt, in honor of William Pitt, then at the head of the British ministry. The next year the war was prosecuted at the north; Niagara, Crown Point and Quebec surrendered and the treaty of Fontainebleau, in November, 1762, ended the war.
Thus the dominion and power of France ceased on this continent and no traces of her lost sovereignty exist, save in the few names she has left on the promi- nent streams and landmarks of the country and in the leaden plates which, inscribed in her language and asserting her claims, still lie buried on the banks of the " Beautiful River." Her temporary occupation of the country, the voyages of her navigators and the dis- coveries of her discoverers, live only on the pages of history and in her archives, where she has so carefully preserved them.
CHAPTER VII.
THE INDIAN TITLE TO THE TERRITORY NOW EMBRACED IN WEST VIRGINIA.
The Six Nations-The Tuscaroras-Treaty of Fort Stanwix-Indian Cession of Territory South of the Ohio-Deed of Cession-Other Tribes refuse to ratify the same-The Mississippi Company.
THE most powerful Indian confederacy existing in America since its discovery was that known as the Six Nations. Prior to the year 1713, it was called the Five Nations and was then composed of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas. The names of lakes and rivers in Western New York still indicate the sites of their former residence. In the last named year the Tuscaroras, of North Carolina, marched northward and entering the confederacy became the sixth nation. Fierce and warlike they tri- umphed over the Eries, Susquehannas and other east- ern nations. Then turning southward, they carried their victorious arms to the Tennessee and westward to the distant shores of Lake Superior, and in 1675, compelled allegiance on the part of the Delawares, Shawanees and other tribes residing in the Ohio val- ley. Thus by conquest they established their title to all the country lying between the Allegheny mountains and the Great Lakes. In defence of this title they allied themselves with the French during the French and Indian war. It was the warriors of this confed- eracy that shot down Braddock's army on the banks of
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the Monongahela, and continued the war after French sovereignty was lost in the valley of the Ohio. But in 1764 they were defeated in a pitched battle at Bushy . Run, in Western Pennsylvania, by the forces of Colonel Boquet, soon after which, by treaty, hostilities for the time came to an end.
A definite boundary line was now sought by both the English and Indians. That the former then conceded the title of the latter to extend eastward to the Alle- gheny mountains is a matter of record. John Blair, then Governor of Virginia, in his message to the House of Burgesses, May 31, 1768, said : " It will appear from data laid before you that a set of men, regardless of the laws of natural justice, unmindful of the duties they owe to society, and in contempt of royal proclamations, have dared to settle themselves upon the lands near Red- stone creek and Cheat river which are the property of the Indians; and notwithstanding the repeated warn- ings of the danger of such proceedings, and the strict and spirited injunction to them to desist and quit their unjust possessions, they still remain unmoved and seem to dofy the orders and even the powers of government."
In the same year representatives of the Six Nations, in an address to Major Crogan, the king's deputy superintendent of Indian affairs at Fort Pitt, said : " Brothers, it is not without grief that we see our country settled by you without our knowledge or con- sent, and it is a long time since we complained to you of this grievance. The settlers must be removed from our lands, as we look upon it, they will have time enough to settle them when you have purchased them and the country becomes yours."
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In the autumn of the same year Richard Jackson and Benjamin Franklin, agents of the Pennsylvania colony at London, waited on the British secretary of state and requested that the boundary be at once determined. In compliance with their request orders were at once sent to Sir William Johnson, the king's superintendent of Indian affairs, commanding him to "at once complete the purchase of the lands from the Allegheny to the river Ohio."
Upon receipt of these instructions notice thereof was given to the governments of Virginia, Pennsyl- vania and New Jersey, and also to the Six Nations. Sir William Johnson appointed a Congress to be held for the purpose of carrying the king's orders into exe- cution, at Fort Stanwix, now Rome, New York. The above-named colonies appointed commissioners who repaired to the place of meeting, where they were met by a large number of chieftains and warriors of the Six Nations, and the conference was opened on the 24th of October, 176S, Sir William Johnson presiding. For five days the proceedings were conducted with all the decorum of a savage court. The right and title of the Indians to the territory in question was maintained with all the eloquence of these forest orators. The colonial commissioners admitted the same and tendered a sum of money, goods, etc., in payment therefor. The offer was accepted and the following deed of cession signed and delivered to the presiding officer:
GRANT FROM THE SIX UNITED NATIONS TO THE KING OF ENGLAND.
"To all to whom these presents shall come or may concern: We, the sachems and chiefs of the Six Con-
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federate Nations, and of the Shawnees, Delawares, Mingoes of Ohio, and other dependent tribes, on behalf of ourselves and of the rest of our several nations, the chiefs and warriors of whom are now here convened by Sir William Johnson, baronet, his majesty's superintendent of our affairs, send greeting :
" Whereas, his majesty was graciously pleased to propose to us, in the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty-five, that a boundary line should be fixed between the English and us, to ascertain and establish our limits, and prevent those intrusions and encroach- ments of which we had so long and loudly complained ; and to put a stop to the many fraudulent advantages which had been so often taken of us; which boundary appearing to us as a wise and good measure, we did then agree to a part of a line, and promised to settle the whole finally, whensoever Sir William Johnson should be fully empowered to treat with us for that purpose :
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" And whereas, his said majesty has at length given Sir William Johnson orders to complete the said boundary line between the provinces and Indians ; in conformity to which orders, Sir William Johnson has convened the chiefs and warriors of our respective nations, who are the true and absolute proprietors of the lands in question, and who are here now to a very considerable number :
"And whereas, many uneasinesses and doubts have arisen amongst us, which have given rise to an appre- hension that the line may not be strictly observed on the part of the English, in which case matters may be worse than before; which apprehension, together with the dependent state of some of our tribes, and other
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circumstances, retarded the settlement and became the subject of some debate; Sir William Johnson has at length so far satisfied us upon it as to induce us to come to an agreement concerning the line, which is now brought to a conclusion, the whole being fully explained to us in a large assembly of our people, before Sir William Johnson, and in the presence of his excellency the Governor of New Jersey, the commissioners from the provinces of Virginia and Pennsylvania, and sundry other gentlemen; by which line so agreed upon, a considerable tract of country, along several provinces, is by us ceded to his said ma- jesty, which we are induced to and do hereby ratify and · confirm to his said majesty, from the expectation and confidence we place in his royal goodness, that he will graciously comply with our humble requests, as the same are expressed in the speech of the several na- tions addressed to his majesty through Sir William Johnson, on Tuesday, the first day of the present month of November; wherein we have declared our expectations of the continuance of his majesty's favor, and our desire that our ancient engagements be ob- served, and our affairs attended to by the officer who has the management thereof, enabling him to discharge all the matters properly for our interest; that the lands occupied by the Mohawks around their villages, as well as by any other nation affected by this our cession, may effectually remain to them and to their posterity ; and that any engagements regarding prop- erty, which they may now be under, may be prose- cuted, and our present grants deemed valid on our parts with the several other humble requests contained in our said speech :
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" And whereas, at the settling of the said line, it appeared that the line described by his majesty's order, was not extended to the northward of the Owegy, or to the southward of the Great Kanawha river; we have agreed to and continued the line to the north- ward, on a supposition that it was omitted by reason of our not having come to any determination concern- ing its course at the Congress held in one thousand and seven hundred and sixty-five; and inasmuch as the line to the northward became the most necessary of any for preventing encroachments on our very towns and residences; and we have given this line more favorably to Pennsylvania, for the reasons and con- siderations mentioned in the treaty ; we have likewise continued it south to the Cherokee river, because the same is, and we do declare it to be, our true bounds with the southern Indians, and that we have an un- doubted right to the country as far south as that river, which makes our cession to his majesty much more advantageous than that proposed.
"Now, therefore, know ye, that we, the sachems and chiefs aforementioned, native Indians and proprietors of the lands hereafter described, for and in behalf of ourselves and the whole of our confederacy, for the considerations herein before mentioned, and also for and in consideration of a valuable present of the sev- eral articles in use amongst the Indians, which, together with a large sum of money, amount in the whole to the sum of ten thousand four hundred and sixty pounds seven shillings and three pence sterling, to us now delivered and paid by Sir William Johnson, baronet, his majesty's sole agent and superintendent of Indian affairs for the northern department of America, in the
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name and behalf of our sovereign lord George the Third, by the grace of God, of Great Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the faith, the receipt whereof we do hereby acknowledge; we, the said Indians, have for us, our heirs and successors, granted, bargained, sold, released and confirmed, and by these presents, do grant, bargain, sell, release and confirm unto our said sovereign lord, King George the Third, all that tract of land situate in North America, at the back of the British settlements, bounded by a line which we have now agreed upon, and do hereby estab- lish as the boundary between us and the British colo- nies in America; beginning at the mouth of the Cherokee or Hogohege river where it empties into the river Ohio; and running from thence upwards along the south side of said river (. Ohio') to Kitanning, which is above Fort Pitt; from thence by a direct line to the nearest fork of the west branch of Susquehannah ; thence through the Allegheny mountains, along the south side of the said west branch, till it comes opposite to the mouth of a creek called Tiadaghton; thence across the west branch and along the south side of that creek, and along the north side of Burnet's hills to a creek called Awandae; thence down the same to the east branch of the Susquehannah, and across the same, and up the east side of that river to Owegy ; from thence east to Delaware river, and up that river to opposite to where Tianaderha falls into Susque- hanna; thence to Tianaderha, and up the west side thereof, and the west side of its west branch to the head thereof; and thence by a direct line to Canada creek, where it empties into Wood creek, at the west end of the carrying place beyond Fort Stanwix, and
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extending eastward from every part of said line, as far as the lands formerly purchased, so as to comprehend the whole of the lands between the said line and the purchased lands or settlements, except what is within the province of Pennsylvania; together with all the hereditaments and appurtenances to the same, belong- ing or appertaining, in the fullest and most ample man- ner; and all the estate, right, title, interest, property possession, benefit, claim and demand, either in law or equity, of each and every one of us, of, in or to the same, or any part thereof; to have and to hold the whole lands and premises hereby granted, bargained, sold, released and confirmed, as aforesaid, with the hereditaments and appurtenances thereunto belonging ; under the reservations made in the treaty, unto our said sovereign lord, King George the Third, his heirs and successors, to and for his and their own proper use and behoof, forever.
"In witness whereof, we, the chiefs of the confed- eracy, have hereunto set our marks and seals, at Fort Stanwix, the fifth day of November, one thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight, in the ninth year of his majesty's reign.
ABRAHAM, or Tyahanesera, Chief of [*L. S., the Steel] the Mohawks. HENDRICK, or Saquarisera, Chief of [#L. S., the Stone] the Tuscaroras. CONAHQUIESO, Chief of [*L. S., the Cross] the Oneidas. BUNT, or Chenaugheata, Chief of [*L. S., the Mountain] the Onondagas.
* The mark of his nation.
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TAGAAIA, Chief of [*L. S., the Pipe] the Cayugas. GAUSTARAX, Chief of [*L. S., the High Hill] the Senecas.
"Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of
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