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94

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

David Williamson, of Washington County, Thomas Gaddis and John McClelland, of that part of West- moreland which is now Fayette, and Brinton,

their rank and seniority being in the order as here named. Daniel Leet was elected brigade-major. John Slover, of Fayette County, and Jonathan Zane were designated as guides or pilots to the advancing column. Dr. John Knight,' post surgeon at Fort Pitt, had been detailed as surgeon to the expedition.

Instructions addressed " to the officer who will be appointed to command a detachment of volunteer militia on an expedition against the Indian town at or near Sandusky" had been forwarded by Gen. Ir- vine from Fort Pitt on the 21st of May. In these in- structions the general expressed himself as follows:

'•'The object of your command is to destroy with fire and sword, if practicable, the Indian town and settlement at Sandusky, by which we hope to give ease and safety to the inhabitants of this country; but if impracticable, then you will doubtless perform such other services in your power as will in their con- sequences have a tendency to answer this great end.

" Previous to taking up your line of march it will be highly expedient that all matters respecting rank or command should be well understood, as far at least as first, second, and third.= This precaution, in case of accident or misfortune, may be of great importance. Indeed, I think whatever grade or rank may be fixed on to have command, their relative rank should be determined. And it is indispensably necessary that subordination and discipline should be kept up; the

lis ll>is. Ell

Bose.ofGen.il in taking conm peditioii. Ue 1 Icii.ltlievolunt tlieii- own cunii thiit lie ilcsircil 1 Dr. .Julni li

,:.isei;Mnj.

iigtbcex-

aftc!

.-irds 1

1 cnlid

Sl.l.H Hft-

Augusta rcgii

listing lie was ma.lcas<-i-e;.ntliy Col. l'i..«i .iU,. innm. ,;.,. . i

of the regiment. On llie Otli of Au-ii^l, : i

geon's ninto in tlie Oth Virginia. Afim i

geonof llieTth Virgina(nnilercomni;ui'l . ! 1 I ' i i , '

thiit position in the same regiment at tlic time llie SiuiJusUy exiiiil Mils fitted out. He was tlien detaelied by order of Ccu. Irvine, ai the request of Col. Crawford, to act as surgeon of tlmt e.xiiedition. the 2Ist of May he left Fort Tilt to join the expeditionary forces reached the rendezvous at Jlingo Bottom on the 22d. After enc'.u ing all the dangers and hardsliiiis of the campaign, from which he

rith

i life,

on duty ns its surgeon at Fort Pitt till the close - military life. On the 14th of October, 17S4, he i of Col. Kichard Stevenson, who was a half-bii Subsequently Dr. Knight remi>ve<l to SIil'Hi.mi JIarch 12, 1838. His widow .1; i li v 1,1-'

of ten children. One of tl ; t i

Carr Lane, a prominent I'lii ii n ■'• i I " '

was the recipient of a pension 1 m . ■■ . :

lo, 1828.

- Tliese dirertions were observed. Sl.ij.Willinn second, and Moj. Caddis as third in command.

r the V

whole ought to understand that, notwithstanding thejf'j|j are volunteers, yet by this tour they are to get credil for it in their tours of military duty, and that this and other good reasons they must, while out o«(i^ this duty, consider themselves, to all intent, subje to the military laws and regulations for the govern ment of the militia when in actual service.

" Your best chance of success will be, if po.ssible to effect a surprke, and though this will be dil yet by forced and rapid marches it may, in a great de gree, be accomplished. I am clearly of opinion tha you should regulate your last day's march so as ( reach the town about dawn of day, or a little befor and that the march of this day should be as long i can well be performed.

" I need scarcely mention to so virtuous and disin- terested a set of men as you will have the honor t command that though the main, object at present i for the purpose above set forth, viz., the protectioij of this country, yet you are to consider yourselves ! acting in behalf of and for the United States, that t course it will be incumbent on you especially whq will have the command to act in every instance iri such a manner as will reflect honor on, and add repu^ tation to, the American arms, of nations or inde pendent States.'

"Should any person, Briti.sh, or in the service or^ pay of Britain or their allies, fall into your hands, i^ it should prove inconvenient for you to bring then off, you will, nevertheless, take special care to liberate them on parole, in such manner as to insure libert for an equal number of people in tb.eir hands. Ther are individuals, however, who I think should brought off" at all events should the fortune of wai throw them into vour hands. I mean such as havq

3 Yet the Sloravian measured abuse on tl UeckewcMer, ill his "

1 and their imitators have heaped i men who conipoi^ed this expedii

of the Ind-an Nations," calls the > iiii .i iv -,.ii.v,iniiihi-"IIistori

paign, as one of its objects was that if li ■ i I L ^f

and plunder witli the €lnistian Indians :it lli ii u: i u-mI li~liii the Saiulusky. The next object was tliat of destio.viiig the M

in this exped tiou not to spare the life of any Indians that mi into their hands, whether friends or furs. . It w nil = ■. m t long continuance of the Indian war bad ■! I • 1.-

of our population to the savage stat-- ^i ,;■ i ,i. m.imh-

many relatives by the Indians, and wif, ! i , i j ii [ i,,iinl

other depredations on so exti-':i>i\f I - il i \ : .ii'-ts

indiscriminating thirst for rL\.: _'- ! : - l ' mfc;

the B,avago character, and ]i;i\ : ^ 1, i 1 i t i-; : ' i .in] ] without risk or loss on their ]i;ni. ili \ i. . ,;\, ,i i,. j -n .m.l l.i Indian they could flml, whether fiiind or foe." Dies ii.,t the Gen. Irvinc'6 instructions to Col. CiawTord completely disprove t ga'.ious of Loskiel, Ilcckewelder, and Doddr:dge?

SI ilay's bukIi

'ffa.oialittlekefe

toiydltasloni

tosovirlMiisanilfi

THE REVOLUTION.

95

deserted to the enemy since the Dechinition of Inde- pendence."

The forces of Col. Crawford commeiK-cd thuir iiuirc-h from Mingo Bottom early in the morning of Saturday, the 25th of JIay. Tlicre was a path leading from the river into the wilderness, and known as "Wil- liamson's trail," because it was the route over which Col. Williamson had previously marched on his way to the Moravian towns. This trail, as far as it ex- tended, offered the easiest and most practicable route, but Col. Crawford did not adopt it,' because it was a principal feature iu his plan of the campaign to avoid nil traveled trails or routes on which they would be likely to be discovered by lurking Indians or parties of them, who would make haste to carry intelligence Ti of the movement to the villages which it was his pur- pose to surprise and destroy. So the column, divided

; into four detachments, each under immediate com- iiKuid of one of the four field-majors, moved up from

I the river-bottom into the higher country, and struck _Jj iuto the trackless wilderness, taking a course nearly ue west, piloted by the guides Slcvcr and Zane. The advance was led by Capt. Biggs' company, in which were found young William Crawford (ensign), James PauU, John Eodgcrs, John Sherrard, Alex- ander Carson, and many other Fayette Couuty vol- unteers.

Through the depths of the gloomy forest, along the north side of Cross Creek, the troops moved rapidly but warily, preceded by scouts, and observing every precaution known to border Warfare, to guard against ambuscade or surprise, though no sign of an enemy appeared in the unbroken solitude of the woods. Xo incident of note occurred on the march until the night of the 27th of May, when, at their third camp- ing-place, a few of the liorses strayed and were lost, in the following morning the men who had thus been dismounted, being unable to proceed on foot without embarrassing the movements of the column, were ordered to return to Mingo Bottom, which they ilici, but with great reluctance.

I On the fourth day they reached and crossed the Muskingum Kiver, and then, marching up the western side of the stream, came to the ruins of the upper Mor.ivian village, where they made their camp for tlie night, and found plenty of corn remaining in the I n.iged fields of the Christian Indians. This en- iiiipment was only sixty miles from their starting- I'liiit on the Ohio, yet they had been four daj's in Teaching it. During the latter part of their journey to this place they had taken a route more southerly *"**' J,„ D,iiJ!« than the one originally contemplated, for their horses Ji'dsdW '"'""'"' kad become jaded and worn out by climbing the iitilf,*!!*^'"''*, hills and floundering through the swamps, and so the

„M<»»^'**'

' Dr. Dodiliiilgo,

Doda.-ldge \

lis " Notes," eays, "The nrniy mniched along il, HS it was then called, until they arrived at the uprer I." In this, as in many other parts of his narrative, entirely mistaken.

commander found himself compelled to deflect his line of march so as to pass through a more open and level country; but he did this very unwillingly, for it led his army through a region in which they would be much more likely to be discovered by Indian scouts or hunting-parties.

Up to this time, however, no Indians had been seen ; but while the force was encamped at the ruined village, on the evening of the 28th of May, Maj. Brinton and Capt. Bean went out to reconnoitre the vicinity, and while so engaged, at a distance of about a quarter of a mile from the camp, they discovered two skulking savages and promptly fired on them. The shots did not take efl'ect and the Indians fled, but the circuni.stance gave Col. Crawford great un- easiness, for, although he had jireviously supposed that his march had been undiscovered by the enemy, he now believed that these scouts had been hovering on their flanks, perhaps along the entire route from Mingo Bottom, and it was certain that the two savages who had been fired on would speedily carry intelli- gence of the hostile advance to the Indian towns on the Sandusky.

It was now necessary to press on with all practica- ble speed in order to give the enemy as little time as possible to prepare for defense. Early in the morning of the 29th the column resumed its march, moving rapidly, and with even greater caution than before. From the Muskingum the route was taken in a northwesterly course to the Ivillbuck, and thence up that stream to a point about ten miles south of the present town of Wooster, Ohio, where, in the even- ing of the .30th, the force encamped, and where one of I the men died and was buried at a spot which was j marked by the cutting of his name in the bark of the

nearest tree. j From the lone grave in the forest they moved on 1 in a westerly course, crossing an affluent of the Mo- hican, passing near the site of the present city of Mansfield, and arriving in the evening of the 1st of June at the place which is now known as Spring Mills Station, on the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago Eailroad. There by the side of a fine spring they bivouacked for the night. In the march of the 2d they struck the Sandusky River at about two o'clock P.M., and halted that night in the woods very near the eastern edge of the Plains, not more than twenty miles from the Indian town, their point of destina- tion. They had seen no Indian since their departure from the night camp at the Moravian Indian village on the Muskingum, though they had in this day's march unknowingly passed very near the camp of the Delaware chief Wingenund.

On the morning of the 3d of June the horsemen entered the open countiy known as the Sandusky Plains, and moved rapidly on through waving grasses and bright flowers, between green belts of timber and island groves such as few of them had ever seen before. Such were the scenes which surrounded

ICibrary Inwfraita of JputHburgii

Darlington Memorial Library look ^«N ^ ^ —

■■■■ilplllp

3 1735 060 441 734

Vi^.

HISTORY

OF

FAYETTE COUNTY,

PENNSYLVANIA,

WITH

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES

OF MANY OF ITS

Pioneers and Prominent Men. •

EDITED BY '».'■'

FRA.^K:LI^ ELLIS.

ISSS ,e^. °':-

PHILADELPHIA:

L. H. EVERTS & CO.

188 2.

PRESS OF J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., PHILADELPHIi

/-

u

-^

^

vS^/A

\

/A

Digitized by the Internet Archive

in 2010 with funding from

University of Pittsburgh Library System

http://www.archive.org/details/historyoffayetteOOelli

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Historic Guoind uf Fayette— Location-, Boi xdaries, and TOPOGIIAI'HY l;i

CHAPTER II.

tTHK Works and Relics or an Extinct People 16 CHAPTER III. ♦ . The Indian Occupation 19

CHAPTER IV. The French ash Indian Claims to the Trans-Allegheny Region — George Washington's Visit to the French ' Forts in IVi.l , -22

CHAPTER V.

French Occcpation at the Head of the Ohio — Washington's

Campaign of 1754 in the Yoigiiiogheny Valley 2C

CHAPTER Vr.

Braddock's Expedition in 175J :i7

CHAPTER VII. ^ Captlre of Fort Du Qcesne— Erection of Fort Burd.. 49

U CHAPTER VIII.

J Settlement of the Covniv 53

(4i CHAPTER IX.

Dinmore's War CO

CHAPTER X.

The Revolution.

T roups Rfii8ed for tlie Field — Subsequent Disaffection— Lochry'a Expe-

ditiuu 7U

CHAPTER XI.

The Revolution {C<mthiiied).

•Williamsou'a Expedition— Crawford'a Sandusky Expedition 90

CHAPTER XII. Pennsylvania and Virginia Territorial Controversy — Establishment of Boundaries — Slavery and Servi- tude 114

CHAPTER Xlir. Erection of Fayette County — Establishment op Courts —

County Buildings 129

CHAPTER XIV. The Bar of Fayette County— Fayette Civil Lists- County Societies 138

CHAPTER XV.

The Whiskey Insurrection 157

CHAPTER XVI. Fayette County in the War of 1S12-15 and Mexican

War 180

CHAPTER XVII.

War op the Rebellion — Fayette's First Companies, Eighth

and Eleventh Reserves 190

CHAPTER Will. War OF THE Rebellion {r„„(,„„c./).

Elghty-liflli Iti't'iinenl iiud Second Artillcrj- 202

CHAPTER XIX.

War of the Rebellion {Coutiniiecl).

One Hundred and Slxteentli and One Hundred and Forty-second Regi.

"'oots 212

CHAPTER XX. War of the Rebellion (Contluueil).

Tlie Fourteenth Cavalry 216

rilAPTER XXr. War of the Rebellion (ConHiuicl).

Tlio Sixteenth Cavalry 2J4

CHAPTER XXir. Economic Geology- — Iro.n, Coal, and Coke.

The Mineral Itcsources of Fayette County 230

CHAPTER XXia.

Internal Improvements — Population.

Roads and Bridges— National Rond—Navigation— Population of the

County hy Decades 247

HISTORIES OF BOEOUGHS AND TOWNSHIPS.

UNIOXTOW.V BOROUGH. Early Taverns and Later Public-Houses— Incorporation of the Borough — Uuiontown from 1800 to 1825— Visit of Lafayette, 1823— Union Vol- unteers—Facta from the Bnrougli Records— List of Borough OtBcers— Fire Dc',.;iiliiir i t- P. -t-n:f n— Mail Robbery by l)r. Uraddeo— Press of Unii lit I' ;,.,- uf Uuiontown — Lawyer** — Schools— Churclu— i. liiiiincial Institutions— Fayette C<iunty Mutuiil lii. iii-uiLM < inpuiiy — lluilding and Loan As.suciation — Societies an.l dnl.is— Mills und Mannfactories— Gas-Worlts— Popnla- tion— Biogi aphical Sltetches 279

COXXELLSVILLE BOROUGH AND TOWNSHIP. Borough Currency— Vocations followed in Connollsvillo iu 182:i— Inde- pendence Day, 1824— Bridges Across the Yonghioglioiiy— Exliiiguish- ment of Files — l*ost-Oflicea and Postmasters- Financial Institutions^ Societies and Ordora-Pliysicians-Newspapers-Schools— Churches- Burial-Grounds — Railroads— Manufactories. The Township.— List of Township Officers — Manufacturing Establishments— Gibson ville—Bi. ographical Sltetches 3(ja

BROWNSVILLE BOROUGH AND TOWNSHIP. Incorporation of the Borough and Erection of tlio Township— Public Ground, Market-House, and other matters from tli.- n..roii;;li Records —Lafayette's Visit to Brownsville— Ferrir- I:ii:_r, ,,, Hunlap's Creek. etc. — Early Tavernsand Later Hot-!- ■ i 1 1 !m- Medi- cal Profession — Brownsville Schools— Ki : - iii : Miirial- Grounds — Extinguishment of Fires — P.^~t-'ii,h, .],n.i!i 1,: Iji.^iilu- tions— Manufacturing Establishments— Coal Mimsi.nd lokit- Works- Brownsville Gas Conipany — Societies and Orders — Brownsville Civil List— Biographical Sketches... 421

BRIDGEPORT BOROUGH AND TOWNSHIP. Incorporation of the Borough — Erection of the Township— Officers of the TownsitipandBoi-ougli — Market- House — Publx Warehouseand Wliarf — Ferries and Bridges over the SlonongaUela— Steamboat and Keel- Boat Building— Manufacturing Eslablishments— Medical Profession- Public-Houses — Fire Apparatus — National Bank — Schools — Religious History 465

5

CONTENTS.

BULLSKIN TOWNSHIP.

Civil Organizatiuu — General Intlustrics—Peunsville— Educational and

EkdigioUB 485

DUNBAR TOWNSHIP. Original Landholders— Tax-r^iy : m 17 < > l:iily Roads— Early Iron- workers—The Union Fnrii,.. I -' : ' III /ntion and Civil liist — VillageofEastLibertj — \i;. - li:. Milage of Alexandnn —Churches— Sdiools-Manul.uUiuc, l.iiu.UKS— Societies and Or- ders. New Haven Bonouaii. — Now Haven's rhysicians— Jnstices of the Peace— Borougli Incorporation anil List of Officers— Schools in New Ilaven—Post-Olflce-Religious— Biographical Notices 501

FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP.

Original l.andlioldcrs in Franklin-Franklin Tax-Payei? in 1785— Early

Roads— 'I'ownship Organization and Civil List — Scliools — Ciinrches —

Personal Sketches 549

GEORCES TOWX.'^IIIP.

Old Koada — Ashcniir- r It 11 in ;,iit -> n Tin Iii.Iii>:ri.is— Coke

Mannfactnre — Mill' l' ■ . i Ii i- Mi,,;.iiv Jlnnioirs—

Scliools— Churili.- 'I I : - v'l . ; Ai, -Faircliance

— Sniithfiold— Pliysii im- -■ : M.il.. i-- i ,,i |, nir, . i.ml Builders

— Coopers — Wagon-Miikris — ^ucielies and (jiders — Ct'orges Creek Trailing Conumny — Justices of the Peace— Biograpliical Sketches. 5G4

GERMAN TOWNSHIP. Physicians — Schools — Churches— Bu rial-Grounds— List of Towusliip Officers— Masonlown Biroiigh— SIcCk-llandtown— Societies and Or- ders— High House— Military Record of German Township — Various Statistics of German Township- Peraoniil Sketches SOU

HENRY CLAY TOWNSHIP.

Pioneers and Early Settlements— Roads— Tavern Stands— Township Orgaiiizatiun and Officers- Jockey Yalley—Markleysbuig— Religious Denoniiuations—Cemeleries— Scliools 605

JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP.

Early Kuails— TovvnshipOrganization and Civil List— Schuols — Churches — Co^il Prodncl ions— Biographical Sketches C14

LUZERNE TOAYNSHIP.

Early Roads — Township Organization and List of Officers — Schools —

Churches — Burial-Grounds — Village of Mcrrittstown— Biographical

Mention 633

MENALLEN TOWNSHIP. Early Roads— Early Taverns— Township Organization and List of Offi- cers-Town of New Salem- Upper Middletown— Churches— Bio- graphical 663

NORTH AND SOUTH UNION TOWNSHIPS.

NouTii Union.— Early Settlements— Erection of the Township and List

of Officers— Schools— Soldiers' Orphans' School— Religio\is Societies—

Jlauufactnring Industries. Souni Union.— Early Settlements— Erec-

tion, Boundaries, and List of Officers— Schools— Redstone Coke-Works — Chicago and Connellfiville Coke Company's Works. MoNnoE.-rTav- erns— Stores- Manufactories— Trip-Hammer Forge— Disliliery-Tho Professions — Churches — Sabbath-Schools — Schools — Biographical Mention 669

NICHOL,?ON TOWNSHIP.

List of Township Officere— Schools— Churches— Biographical 695

PERRY TOWNSHIP.

Erection of Township and List of Officers— Perryopolis — Lay ton Station

— Schools of the Township— Religious Worship — Burial-Grounds —

Biographical Notices 707

REDSTONE TOWNSHIP. Township Organization and Civil List — Schools— Churches— Biograph- ical Sketches 723

SALT LICK TOWNSHIP.

Roads— General Industries— Mercantile and Other Interests — Religious

and Educational 74]

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP. Roads — General Industries — Villages and Business Interests — Educa- tional and Religious — Biogriipliical Mention.. 751

SPRINGHILL TOWNSHIP.

Medical Men— Early Roads — Early Mannraclurers — Springhill Civil

List — Schools — Churches — Soldiers— Biographical 763

STEWART TOWNSHIP.

Pioneer Settlers— Civil Organization— Falls City— Various Industries of

the Township— Religious and Educational— Schools 774

UPPER AND LOWER TYRONE TOWNSHIPS. Early Settlements— Erection of Tyrone as a Township of Fayette County — Changes of Territory and List of Officers— Erection of Upper and Lower Tyrone— Religious Worship — Schools — Churches — Societies and Orders — Jimtown — Coke Manufacture — Railroads— Biographical Sketches 783

WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP. Township Organization and Civil List — Early Roads — Little Redstone

1 — Boi'- !e City 1 Ceme-

WHARTON TOWNSHIP.

Ill Graves— Battle- National Road — I'tllenient— Town- 's—Mail Service — lols — Biographical

-BxoG-:Rj^FiEj:xaj^T^.

Allebaugh, Samuel 005

Allison, James 067

Daily, Silas Milto :!55

Banning, Anthony R 545

Barnes, David 415

Barton, William B!l4

Blackstone, James 545

Bowman, G. II 4,-,7

Boyle, diaries E 352

Boyd, Archil.ald 031

Breading, David 051 j

-Breading, James E 650

Breading, Nathaniel 050

Britt, Robert 689

PAOE

Brown, Isaac 09a

Brown, John 827

Brownflehl, Bai-il 692

Brownfield, Evving 340

Burton, John 502

Buttermore, Smith 418

Campbell. George W 762

Caufield, Thomas 739

Chatland, William 462

Clement, Samuel M 691

Cochran, James 804

-Cook, Edward 825

Cook, John B 825

Covert, Benjamin 052

CONTENTS.

Hcnl) MiiiiiiLe

Herl erti ii, John

IIiliU DiiMil

IIil b<!, Siiiniiel C

IIill AlcMiiKlci and Alexanilci J

Hogt Grorgo

Ilog^ Willium

llo^sott. Hoi crt

Ilontli ^^llll>nl

IIoA^ill Jushnii B

Houtll Mficd

Hunt, Willjiim

Huston Joliii

lI^nilDmn I Iv, inl K

Jiickson, U bolt

Johnson I)a\ul

Ron 1 ill IiiaiL P

	PAOE		TAOE
Craft Janios W	740	IlnlKj Lutelliis	406
Cr)v»laM.I,A J	54n	ly J">i"b M	738
Cn.«»land (.iconHberry	300	Ljnn Doiiton	827
CumnunKs David	419	MitrchamI L mis	627
UaMlMin Jolinll	721	Jlnlhoil Htnrj I!	687
naMlnon Thoiiiaa It	40'>	. M.c 1(111 Ali-xaiidir	302
DainlBon Damil R	400	JMUaiiio H bnt^	638
Danbon John I	4(H	Mill 1 L •?	032
Dot»>nlU8 Artlinr B	544	Milloi Willlumll	40!
D\U,U,»,y	700	Ml OH J W	(94
Drax IilinF	415	Moigan, loliM	773
Dnntan Ihonnis	459	^<■«cmlOl,Goorgo W	417
Duman \Mlln.m S	400	Nc«m,er,l-S	4iO
Dnijii luhtim	090	Niitt \damC	1.8
Ilunn rhinnis	.50:1	Ofelcvce loKopli	"641
Elll tt lOBOpll h	G28	Ollphant, F H	582
Elliott ^^llllanl	628	Ohiilmnt S D	104
E»inK Willmtn	or,i	I'altoreon Mfied	351
FcrfeOBH. IdlnnndM	414	I'attcraon William G	0)0
F.rgns)!. Walton	415	Paiill Jiimcs	5i8
liuWi Rdiirt	7:i7	I'ursol James	721
Foniyth William	028	Pfii-sul Jtromiali	067
Franks, M W	705	PhlllipH FllH	641
Fnck Ilmr) C	414	11 vf.id w n	1>3
Fri^bro, lohn D		I iiinUtmo Mm	700
Fulkr, smith	347	III II 111 11 limes Hum 18	3o8
Gallatin Albdt	771	It . 1 Jamts SI	540
Gil son \Io\andci	052 •	11 lb rl8,Giimtli	738
Cans LillouHll	77:i	Itobinsoii Ml ucr	301
Gibs ni J slllla 0	404-	Itibinsin lames	590
G .0 Ilonrj li	029	I ^ 1, Mm sK	419
Goe.J linS	c;'.o	I 1 < 1	840
Graham Hugh		III It	io4
Gmno \\iN>n	7(1.-,	1 1 1 11	412
Giiflin William I>	7U0	^ II \l 1 w	■-»
Grimih SamuilC	820	s infill Willmii	01 >
Hngn, lliubon	589	"51.1 u 1 la ,b	03

Ml 1 hens, I 01 B >inilin„ John Stirling T mllMii

004 liiuiei Wilhrnill

ril Wells Josiph

U04 Willcj limes

722 Woodwaid Diun,

410 WoodiMiid loseih

741 Woik Samuel

J.LLTJSTR.^TI01TS.

Adims, John Q , Itesidcuce 0

Allebaiigh, Samuel

Allisiiii, Janios

Bail} Silas Miltnn

Banning, Anthoii} II

Barton William

Biniis, Oib>on, Itesidonci of

Blacl ^tune, Jam( s

Bon man, G H

Bojd, Alehlbald

facing O.;o Biijle, C E

faeing 355 bctnecn044, 54i

facing 09i

020

lictwoen j44, 545

facing 4j7 betneen 630, G31

Braddoek 9 Grive

Brtnding James p

Butt Kobcrt

Browneller, DaMd, Residence of

Brow n, laale

Biimn luhn

1 3o2, 353 ing OoO

CONTENTS.

Campbell, George W	762 facing 740		7A0E
Leisenring, John Lenhart, Leonard Lindley, Lutcllus Linn, James M	" 410
Cbatlaud, William Clement, Samuel M	between 462, 463 " 690, 691 facing 804 between 520, 621 " 520, 521 826 " 134 " 620 between 652, 653 " 740,741 527 feeing 5« between 360, 361 facing 418 " 244 " 408 " 720 " 405 between 544, 545 " 706, 707 facing 415 " 469 " 460 between 688, 580 facing 663 between 628, 629	between 740, 741 facing 4U6 " 738
Connellsville Coke and Iron Company's Works Cook, Edward	Map, Battle of Great Meadows Map of Coke Region Map of Fayette County, 1832 Map, Geological Map, Outline of County	facing 830 ■' 280 between 240, 247
'	facing 250
Cope, Emmor, Residence of	•' 230 " 13
	Marchand, Louis Mathiot, Henry B Mcllvaine, Robert A Miller, L.S., Residence of Miller, William H Moore, J. W	" 627
	" 587
Crawford's House Oroesland, A. J Crossland, Greensbcrry	" 538 " 462,463 facing 694
Davidson Coke-Works Davidson, Daniel K Davidson, John H Davidson, Thomas R De SauUes, Artbur B
Newcomer, George W Newmyer's Opera-House	" 417 " 382
Nutt, A. C, Residence of Oglevee, Joseph Oliphant. F. H	facing 298
Dravo, John F Duncan, Thomas Duncan, William S Dunn, Justus Dunn, Thomas Elliott, Joseph S	" 582
Patterson, Alfred
Peireel, Jeremiah, Sr Peirsel, Jeremiah, Jr Phillips, Ellis Playford, W. H	" 667
E«ing, William	facing 651	between 544, 545
Ferguson, Walton Finley, Robert First Methodist Episcopal Church, Uniontown.... Ford, Charles, Residence of Forsyth, James S., Residence of. Forsyth, William Franks, JI.W Flick, II. nrvC Frisb«,.lol,MD Fuller, Smith Gallatin, Albert Gans, Lebbcus B Gibson, Alexander Goe, Henry 1! Goe, John S Graham, Hugh Greene, Wili!on Griffin, William P Griffith, Samuel C Hague, Reuben Hansel, Geo. W Healy, Jlanri.,- Hibbs, I'Hvi.l Hibbs. S;,rnn,lC Hill, .\!. .iri.i .1 HoK_-, -	•' 414,415 facing 737 facing 620 " 620 between 028, 629 " 704,705 facing 414 " 416 " 347 " 771 " 773 between 652, 653 facing 629 between 630, 631 669 facing 705 between 706, 707 facing 826 between 588, 689 facing 841 " 542 " 402 ■. 739 :fecing 7;ia between 458, 4.V,.	between 704, 705
Redburn, J. T Red Lion Valley	. facing 368
" 620 " 540
Roberts, Griffith Robinson, Eleazer	738 facing 361
Rogere, James K	facing 419
Rush, Sebastian ScUnatterly, Thomas B Schoonmaker, James M Searight,Wm	facing 840
" 412 " 665 between 562,563
, Shepler, Joseph T Smith, Robert Soisson, Joseph Soisson & Kilpatrick, Brick-Works Springer, Levi Staufler, J. R. & A., Flouring-Mills of. Stantfer, J. R. i Co., Dexter Coke-Works	" 544, 545 " 562,563 " 420,421 facing 4(95 between 690, 691 facing 802 " 803
Steele, Samuel Stephens, Levi	" 4C1 between 826, 827 " 8-26,827 facing 602 603 facing 303

" 352, 353 ..facing 356 leen 360, 361 ..facing 369 .. " 409

668

\ eeu 458, 459 " 604, 605 ..facing 091

Kendall, Isjiac I King,Ju8iah

Sturgeon, Daniel

Swart?., Joseph, Residence of.

Thompsou, Jasper M

Tinstman, A. 0

Trader, William H

Cniontown Soldiers' Orphans' School..

WVlls, Joseph .-...

Wilkey, James

Woodward, Davis ,

Woodward, Isaac C, Residence of.

Woodward, Joseph

leen 590, 591 678, 679

HISTORY

OP

FAYETTE COUxNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORIC GROUND OF FAYETTE— LOCATION, BOUN- DARIES, AND TOPOURAPIIY.

There are within the State of Pennsylvania very few counties whose boundaries include ground more historic than that which is comprehended in the do- main of the county of Fayette. A century and a quarter ago, when the two great European rivals, England and France, contended for dominion over the vast region watered by the head-streams of the Oiiio, the latter nation claimed the summit of Laurel Hill as her eastern boundary ; and in the strife which- followed — the contest by the issue of which that claim was extinguished forever — it was in the ravines and on the hillsides and meadows lying between the Youghiogheny and Monongahela Rivers that the forces, marching respectively under the Bourbon lilies and the cross of St. George first met in actual shock of arms; it was the soil now of Fayette County which drank the first blood spilled in that memorable contlict. Years afterwards, when a scarcely less fierce controversy sprang up between the States of Penn- sylvania and Virginia, the Old Dominion insisted on extending her limits eastward to that same Laurel Hill summit, while Pennsylvania, willing at one time to recognize the Monongahela as the division line, peremptorily refused to yield an inch east of that stream ; and so Fayette County, with contiguous country lying to the west and north of it, became the theatre of a conflict of jurisdiction which almost reached the extremity of open war.

It was here, within what is now Fayette County, that George Washington fought his first battle, and here he made his first — and last — surrender to an enemy. Across these hills and valleys and streams the army of the brave Braddock marched in pride and confidence to assault the French stronghold at the head of the Ohio; and when the survivors of that proud host re- turned by the same route, flying in disorder and panic from the bloody field of the Monongahela, it was here

that their dauntless leader died of his wounds, and here, in the soil of Fayette County, they buried him. On the shore of the Monongahela River, in this county, wa.s held the first, as also the last, public meeting convened by the insurgent leaders in the famous insurrection of 1791-94; and when at last the government sent an army to enforce the laws, the military column marched through Fayette, and the commanding general established his headquarters at the county-seat, where he received assurances of sub- mission from the disaffected leaders. Detailed men- tion will be made of all these historical fiicts, with numberless others relating to this county, including the construction of the great National road ; the building, in Fayette, of the first steamboat that ever descended the Monongahela, the Ohio, and the Mississippi Rivers ; the erection here of the first iron-furnace west of the Allegheny Mountains ; the first recorded instance of the use of the bituminous coal of Western Pennsylvania as fuel ;' its first application to the man- ufacture of coke, and the subse(i\ient development of that industry to an extent which seems destined, in the near future, to place this county among the most pros- perous and wealthy of the State.

In regard to its location and boundaries, Fayette may properly be described as one of the southern tier of counties in Pennsylvania, and the second one from the western line of the .State. It is joined on the west by the counties of Greene and Washington ; on the northby Westmoreland, of which itonce formed a part ; and on the east by Somerset. Its southern boundary is formed by the north line of the States of West Virginia and Maryland. This is identical with the famed " Mason and Dixon's line," and thus for many years the southern border of Fayette County formed a part of the free-State frontier against the dominion of African slavery.

The two principal streams of the county are the Monongahela and the Youghiogheny Rivers. The

1 By Col. Burd, near licdstooe Creek, in t'iO.

It

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

former (and the larger) stream takes its rise in West Virginia, crosses tlie State line into Pennsylvania at the extreme southwest corner of Fayette County, and flowing thence in a meandering but generally north- ward course, marks the entire western boundary of Fayette against the counties of Greene and Washing- ton, for a distance of nearly forty-seven and a half miles. After leaving the northwestern limit of Fay- ette, the river continues in nearly the same general course between Westmoreland and Washington and through Allegheny County to its confluence with the Allegheny River at Pittsburgh.

The Youghiogheny — a mountain stream of clearer and purer water than that of the Monongahela— runs from Maryland into Pennsylvania, crossing the line into this State at the extreme southeast corner of Fay- ette County. Flowing in a generally northward course from this point, it marks for a distance of fifteen and one-half miles the boundary between Fayette and Somerset Counties. From there, turning somewhat abruptly towards the west, it leaves Somerset, and, ! with the highlands of Fayette on either side, passes through this county for a distance of more than forty- four miles to the north line. Its general direction tlirough Fayette is nearly northwest ; its current rapid, rushing and tumbling over a rocky bed in many places, , and broken at one point (Ohio Pile) by falls of con- siderable height. From the north boundary of this county it enters Westmoreland, and flows on in nearly ! the same course to its junction with the Monongahela at McKeesport.

Besides these two rivers, Fayette County has a great number of smaller streams, but among these there are few that are of eufiicient size and import- ance to deserve separate mention. Cheat River, which has its sources in West Virginia, enters Penn- sylvania, and flowing a short distance across the ex- treme southwest corner of this county, joins its waters with those of the Monongahela. Nearly five miles f u-tlicr down the river is the mouth of Georges Creek, which stream is entirely within this county. Dun- lap's Creek and Redstone Creek are both also wholly witliin the county, from mouth to head-springs. The iormer enters the Monongahela between the boroughs ! of Brownsville and Bridgeport, and the latter about one and a quarter miles farther north. Jacob's Creek, flowing in a westward direction, forms the northern boundary of Fayette County for a little more than twenty miles (by its meandering course) eastward from the point where it enters the Youghio- gheny River. The other principal tributaries of that river within the territory of Fayette are Mounts' Crock, which rises in the mountainous region in the northeast part of the county, and enters the Youghio- gheny just below the borough of Connellsville; Indian Creek, which also takes its rise in the northeastern highlands, and flows into the river from that direction, about eight miles above Mounts' Creek ; and Great Meadow Run, which flows from itssources in the Laurel '

Hill range, first southeasterly, and then towards the northeast, entering the river through its left bank'near Ohio Pile Falls. Big Sandy Creek and Little Sandy Creek rise in the southern part of Fayette, and thence take a southerly course into West Virginia, where their waters join those of the Cheat River, and through it find their way into the Monongahela.

In that part of the county which lies northeast of the Youghiogheny are two mountain ranges, extend- ing from Westmoreland County in a direction nearly south-southwest and parallel with each other to the river. The more western of the two is called Chest- nut Ridge, and the other Laurel Hill, the crest of which latter forms a part of the county boundary between Fayette and Somerset, the remainder of that line, about fifteen miles, being marked by the Youghio- gheny River, as before noticed. The valley between these ranges, broken somewhat by detached hills, is drained by Indian Creek and its small tributaries. Its soil is better adapted for grazing purposes than for the production of grain. West of the Chestnut Ridge is a valley drained by Mount's Creek and its branches. Beyond tliis the land rises into hills, of which alongand high rangelies between the Youghio- gheny and Jacob's Creek, sloping away towards both streams, along the margins of which are narrow bot- tom-lands.

On the southwest side of the Youghiogheny the name of Laurel Hill is applied to the mountain range, which is in fact the prolongation of that known on the other side as Chestnut Ridge. This Laurel Hill range extends from the Youghiogheny southwest- wardly nearly by the geographical centre of the county, and about two miles east of L'niontown, the county- seat ; its summits being more than two thousand five hundred feet above se.a-level, and one thousand feet above neighboring valleys. Across the southea-i corner of the county, extending southward from thr Youghiogheny to and across the State line, is a ridge of rugged hills, which may properly be termed th. prolongation of the Laurel Hill range on the other side of the river. These hills are, however, in general much lower and more flattened, there being among them but one summit (Sugar- Loaf ) which in hciglit appro.ximates to those on the northeast side of the river.

West of the Laurel Hill range, and extending in :i direction nearly parallel to it across this part of tie county, is a beautiful valley several miles in width. drained on the south by York's Run and Georges Creek, and on the northwest and north by Redstone Creek and several small tributaries of the Youghio- gheny River. This valley is the "Connellsville' Coal Basin," extending west to the " barren meas- ures," about four miles west of the countv-seat. West of this valley are elevated uplands, undulating, and in many places hilly, particularly as they ap- proach the Monongahela, where they terminate some- what abruptly in what are termed the " river-hills,"

LOCATION, BOUNDARIES, AND TOPOGRAPH i'.

15

which descend to the rich bottom-liinds, rarely ex- ceeding one-fourtii of a mile in width, which lie along the margin of the river.

In all thia part of the county west of the Laurel Hill, including the broad valley, the rolling upland, the hilly lands (often tillable to the summits), and the river bottoms, the soil is excellent for the production of grain and fruits, and the country in general well adapted to the various requirements of agriculture.

l)cl:iiK'y's t'avo, situated in Fayette County, is a wonderful natural curiosity, which appears, from the descriptions of many who have visited it, to be scarcely inferior to the celebrated Mammoth Cave in Ken- tucky. Its location is about nine miles in a south- easterly direction from Uniontown. A great number of descriptions of the cave have been given by per- sons who have visited it from time to time, but most of these accounts bear the appearance of too great embellishment. The description which is given be- low was written by Mr. John A. Paxton, who visited the cave in 1816, and published his account of it im- mediately afterwards in the American Telegraph of Brownsville. Mr. Paxton was a Philadelphia gentle- man, who being in this section of country in the year named, engaged in the collection of material for a gazetteer of the United States, was detained by an accident to his horse, and obliged to remain two or three days at Uniontown. While there he heard of the great cave, and determined to see and explore it. A party was accordingly made up, consisting of Mr. Paxton, William Gregg, John Owens, James M. John- ston, John Gallagher, and Epliraim Dougla.ss. These having provided themselves with refreshments, can- dles, tinder-box, brimstone niatche-s, lanterns, com- pass, chalk, and a line for measuring, set out on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 1816, and proceeded southeast- wardly to Laurel Hill, and ascended the mountain towards the cave. They left their horses at the farm- house of Mr. Delaney (from whom the cave was after- wards named), and requested him, in case they should fail to return from their exploration the following morning, to have the people of the vicinity aroused to search for them, as they had heard the story of two young men— Grain and Merrifield— who had been lost in the cave for nearly two days, and were found at the end of that time locked in each other's arms and des- pairingly waiting for death. It was about the middle of the afternoon when the party, fully equipped, .set out on foot for the entrance of the cave, and the story of their exploration was narrated by Paxton, as fol- lows :

" Laurel Hill Cave, which I have taken the liberty to name, it being in want of one, is situated in Pennsyl- vania,—Fayette County, Georges township, — on the top of Laurel Hill Mountain, nine miles southeasterly of Uniontown, three miles easterly of Delaney's farm- house. At four o'clock p.m. we commenced our operations. We first descended into a small pit, on

the side of which wc found the mouth, about three j feet by four, which we entered, and immediately found ourselves in a passage about twenty feet wide, and descending about fifty ilegrecs for forty feet in a j northwest course, when we found a less declivity and I smoother floor; here we left our great-coats and things we had no immediate use for, and proceeded in the I same course a short distance, when we found that the j passage forked into two avenues more contracted, I both leading, by a considerable descent, into the first I room ; this is about twenty-four feet in diameter, with a roof of rock about twenty feet high. A large de- scending passage leads from this room, the same course, with a very high roof, and is about twelve feet wide for .some distance, when it becomes more j contracted and leads into the second room, which is j fifty feet by one hundred, with a large body of rocks I on the floor that have fallen from the roof, which is not very high. At the end of the passage is a running spring of excellent water. In this room the person who had the tinder-box unfortunately let it fall among the rocks, which opened it, and by this acci- dent we lost nearly all our tinder. A very narrow, uneven,, and descending passage leads from the second room, in a northeast direction, to the narrows, — a )ias- sage two and a half feet high and about fifty feet broad, leading horizontally between rocks, with a small descent for about one hundred and fifty feet to a perpendicular descent over rocks; through this small passage we had in many places to drag our- selves along on our bellies, and the buttons on niy coat were torn off' by the rocks above. This passage evidently was formed by the foundation of the nether rock being washed by the veins of water, which caused it to separate from the upper rock and formed the route to the perpendicular descent, which we found to be twenty-two feet. I descended by a rope ; but my companions found their way down by cling- ing to the rocks. We now found ourselves in a very uneven rocky passage, which ascended about twenty degrees for two hundred and thirty-four feet; but as we could not find an outlet from this, after the most particular search, we returned and ascended the per- pendicular precipice, and to the right of it discovered a passage which had a great descent, was very rocky, uneven, and so contracted for about eighty feet that it was with the greatest difficulty we made our way through it; this led to a second perpendicular de- scent of thirty feet over rocks, which we with great difiiculty got down. We now found ourselves in a large avenue, or Little IMill-Stream Hall (as I called it), with a very high roof and about twenty-five feet wide; it had a sandy floor, with a stream of water running through it sufliciently rapid and large to turn a grist-mill. On the sides of this stream were some large rocks which had fallen from the roof. This avenue- is about six hundred feet in length, with a considerable descent tn where the water loses itself through a small ajicrture in the rocks.

IG

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

"On returning from the bottom of the avenue ^-e discovered a passage leading horizontally and at right angles from the side of this avenue, the entrance of which is elevated about eight feet above the floor. We found this a. very pleasant passage in comparison to the rest ; the roof, sides, and floor were quite smooth, and we could walk upright. It is one hundred and twenty feet long, and leads into the last and largest avenue, or Great Mill-Stream Hall. This we found to be very spacious, being about from twenty to thirty feet wide, from thirty to eighty feet from the floor to the roof, and twelve hundred feet in length, with a stream sufficient to turn agrist-mill running its whole length. From the source of this stream, where there is a considerable collection of white spar, formed in flat cakes and cones, caused evidently by the constant dripping of water, the avenue has a descent of about thirty degrees to where the stream disembogues itself through a small aperture in the rocks. Before we arrived at this aperture the avenue became so con- tracted that Mr. Gregg and myself had to creep on our hands and knees through the water for about fifty feet. Here in the sand we found the name of ' Grain' written, which we considered a mortifying discovery, as we thought we were the first persons who had penetrated so far in this direction. We wrote our names likewise iu the saud and then joined the rest of the party.

■' In our search through this great avenue we had to climb over or creep under a thousand craggy rocks that lay scattered on the floor, and which had fallen from the sides and ceiling. I have every reason to believe that no person except us ever visited the source of the stream and head of the avenue, as we found no sign of human invention within many hun- dred feet of the spot, and which was very common in every other part of the cave, as the sides of every place that had been previously visited were covered with names and marks made with coal, and if any pirson had penetrated this far they certainly would have left some token of their perseverance. We now found ourselves at the end of our exploring expedi- tion, and as we had plenty of candles left and had taken the precaution to mark with chalk an arrow on tlie rocks at every turn, we were confident of being able to retrace our steps to the entrance.

" Returning, we measured with a line the extreme distance we had been in, and found it to be three thousand six hundred feet, but we must have trav- elled altogether upwards of two miles. Our return was found to be much more tiresome, as it was an as- cemling route nearly the whole distance. We arrived in safc'ty at the mouth at ten o'clock at night, after having traveled incessantly for six hours. We were alinut sixteen hundred feet perpendicularly below the entrance. We heard the water running beneath the rucks in every part of the cave. The temperature we found agreeable, but owing to our great exertions we were kept in a jn-ofuse perspiration during the whole

time we were in. In different parts we saw a few bats, but a gentleman from Uniontown informed me that the roofs of the two first rooms were covered with millions of bats hanging in large bunches in a

, torpid state and clinging to each other.

I "This cave is composed of soft sandstone rocks,

j and has every appearance of having been formed by the veins of water washing them and their founda- tions away, which caused by their weight to separate from the standing rocks above. There is not the smallest doubt in my mind but this cave is consider- ably enlarged by the friction of the water each year, for all the rocks on the floors of the diflerent apart- ments would exactly fit the parts of the ceiling im- mediately above them. The rocks that now form this cave will certainly fall by degrees as their foun- dations are washed away, therefore it is impossible to form an idea of the very great spaciousness that it may arrive to. The knowledge that the rocks above are subject to fall is calculated to create the most in- expressible horror in the minds of persons who visit this subterranean wonder. The arches of all the avenues are formed by rocks meeting in the middle of

j the roofs, with a crack extending in each the whole length."

CHAPTER II.

THE WORKS AXD RELICS OF AN EXTINCT PEOPLE.

In Fayette County, as in many other parts of West- ern Pennsylvania, and in a great number of locali- ties farther towards the southwest, there exist evi- dences of a very ancient occupation of these valleys and hills by a people other than the native Indians who held possession at the time when the first white settlers came here. These evidences are found chiefly in curious mounds and otlier forms of earthwork, some apparently having been devoted to purposes of sepulture alone, and others having the form and ap- pearance of defenses against hostile attack.' The great age of these structures was proved, not only by their general appearauce of antiquity, but more de- cidedly by the fact that in many instances trees of the largest size were found growing on the embankments. In reference to these works and the evidence which they furnish that this region, in common with others, covering the entire Mississippi and Ohio River val- leys, had been anciently occupied by a people su-

1 Tlie Mornvian writer, Zeisberger, snys, in reference to tliis Bubjcct, " In war they [tlie builders of tliese cjirtben works] uscJ some ranip.Trl> about tbeir towns, and round hillocks, in the top of which they made a hollow place to ehcller their women and children in ; tliey placed them- selves around and uponitio figlit; in siicli batllcswere commonly niai ly killed, wliom tliey buried all in a heap, covering the corpses with tin? bark of trees, stones, eartli, etc. On the place where Scboi^nbrunu, (1il> Christian Indian town, was built [in OhioJ, one can plainly sec such a wall or rampart of considerable extent, and not a great way off, in llie plain, is such a burial-place, or made hillock, on which large oaks nuw Btai.d."

THE WORKS AND RELICS OF AN EXTINCT PEOPLE.

perior in skill and intelligence to the Indian tribes whom the first white visitors found in possession, ' Judge Veech says, —

" That these [the native Indians] were the succes- sors of a race more intelligent, or of a people of dif- ferent liabits of life, seems clearly deducible from the remains of fortifications scattered all over the terri- tory, and which are very distinct from those known to have been constructed by the tribes of Indians named or any of their modern compeers.

" These remains of embankments or ' old forts' are numerous in Fayette County. That they are very ancient is shown by many facts. The Indians known to us could give no satisfactory account of when, how, or by whom they were erected, or for what purpose, ex- cept for defense. While the trees of the surrounding forests were chiefly oak, the growths upon and within the lines of the 'old forts' were generally of large black- walnut, wild-cherry, and sometimes locust. We have examined some which indicated an age of from three to five hundred years, and they evidently of a second or third generation, as they were standing amid the decayed remains of their ancestors. How they got there, whether by transplanting, by deposits of floods or of birds, or otherwise, is a speculation into which we will not go. .-

" These embankments may have been originally composed of wood, as their debris is generally a veg- etable mould. No stones were used in their construc- tion, and among their ruins are always found some remains of old pottery, composed of clay mixed with crushed mussel-shells, even when far off from a river. This composite was not burnt, but only baked in ! the sun. These vessels were generally circular, and, | judging from those we have seen, they were made to ' hold from one to three quarts. I

"These 'old forts' were of various forms, — square, oblong, triangular, circular, and semicircular. Their superficial areas ranged from one-fourth of an acre to ten acres. Their sites were generally well chosen in reference to defense and observation, and, what is a very singular fact, they were very often, generally in Fayette County, located on the highest and richest i hills, and at a distance from any spring or stream of j water. In a few instances this was otherwise, water

being i

sed or contiguous, as they are generally ii

Ohio and other more western parts of the Missis- ' sippi Valley.

"Having seen and examined many of these 'old | forts' in Fayette County, and also those at Marietta, | Newark, and elsewhere in Ohio, we believe they are all the works of the same race of people, as are also, the famous Grave Creek mounds, near Elizabethtown, i Va., and if this belief be correct, then the conclusion follows irresistibly that the race of people was much superior and existed long anterior to the modern In- dian. But who they were, and what became of them, I must perhaps forever be unknown. We will briefly indicate the localities of some of these ' old forts' in '

Fayette County. To enumerate all, or to describe them sei)arately, would weary the reader. The curi- ous in such matters may yet trace their remains.

" A very noted one, and of most commanding lo- cation, was at Brownsville, on the site of ' Fort Burd,' but covering a much larger area. Even after Col. Burd built his fort there, in IT')!!, it retained' the names of ' the old fort,' ' Redstone Old Fort,' or ' Fort Redstone.'

" There was one on land formerly of William Gee, near the Monongahela River, and just above the mouth of Little Redstone, where afterwards was a settler's fort, called Cassel's or Castle Fort; and an old map which we have seen has another of these old forts noted at the mouth of Speers' Run, where Belle Vernon now is.

" Two or three are found on a high ridge south- wardly of Perryopolis, on the State road, and on land late of John F. Martin. Another noted one is on the western bank of the Youghiogheny River, nearly op- posite the Broad Ford, ou land lately held by James Collins.

"There are several on the high ridge of land lead- ing from the Collins' fort, above referred to, south- westwardly towards Plumsock, on lands of James Paull, John M. Austin, John Bute, and others ; a re- markable one being on land lately owned by James Gilchrist and the Byers, where some very large human bones have been found. There is one on the north side of Mounts' Creek, above Irishman's Run.

" A very large one, containing six or eight acres, is on the summit of Laurel Hill, where the Mud pike crosses it, covered with a large growth of black- walnut.

" One specially noted as containing a great quan- tity of broken shells and pottery existed on the high land between Laurel Run and the Youghiogheny River, on a tract formerly owned by Judge Young.

"There are yet distinct traces of one on land of Gen. Henry W. Beeson, formerly of Col. McClean, about two miles east of Uniontown.

" There was one northeast of New Geneva, at the locality known as the 'Flint Hill,' on laud now of John Franks.

" About two miles northeast of New Geneva, ou the road to Uniontown, and on land late of William Morris, now Nicholas B. Johnson, was one celebrated for its great abundance of mussel-shells.

" On the high ridge southwardly of the head-waters of Middle Run several existed, of which may be named one on the Bixler land, one on the high knob eastwardly from Clark Breading's, one (m the

^ Mr. Veech did not (as some of his critics have Appeared to suppose) intend to say thnt Burd's fort occupied the site and took the name uf Redstone Old Fort. It was Iniilt a short distance from the site of tlie old eartliworl;, and was always called Fort BurJ. But tlie tocalUy—a. prom- inent point on the Monongahela — did retain the appellation of*' Bedstone end Fort" for a great many years; and even at tlie present day no reader of history is at a loss to undei-stand that the name designate;) the site of the present borough of Brownsville.

IS

iiistohy of fayette county, pennsylyania.

Alexander Wilson tract, and one on theland of Den- nis Riley, deceased, formerly of Andrew C. Johnson. " These comprise the most prominent of the 'old forts' in Fayette. Of their cognates, mounds erected j as monuments of conquests, or, like the Pyramids of ; Egypt, as the tombs of kings, we liave none. Those | that we have seen are of diminutive size, and may j have been thrown up to commemorate some minor events, or to cover the remains of a warrior.

"Piles of stones called Indian graves were numer- ous in many places in Fayette, generally near the sites of Indian villages. They were generally on | stony ridges, often twenty or thirty of them in a row. In many of them have been found human bones in- dicating a stature of from six to seven feet. They also contained arrow-lieads, spear-points, and hatchets of stone and flint, nicely and regularly shaped, but how done is the wonder. On a commanding eminence overlooking the Youghiogheny Eiver, upon land now (1869) of Col. A. M. HilT, formerly William Dicker- son, there are great numbers of these Indian graves, among which, underneath a large stone, Mr. John Cottoni a few years ago found a very curious chain, consisting of a central ring and five chains of about two feet in length, each branching off from it, having at their end clamps, somewhat after the manner of j handcuffs, large enough to inclose a man's neck, indi- cating that its use was to confine prisoners, perhaps to fasten them to the burning stake. The chains were of an antique character but well made, and seemed to have gone through fire."

Of all the prehistoric works noticed in the above account by Mr. Veech, none was so tamed, none so ' widely known as the first one he mentions, — Redstone Old Fort. In the early years it was frequently visited and examined by antiquarians, and many descriptions of it (all of them, however, apparently exaggerated and embellished) were written. One of these ac- counts is found on page 84 of "American Antiqui- ties," by Josiah Priest, 1834, being taken from an earlier account in the "Travels of Thomas Ashe," who claimed to have visited the old fort and made some excavations there in the year 1806. The ac- count is as follows :

" The neighborhood of Brownsville, or Redstone, in Pennsylvania, abounds with monuments of antiquity. A fortified camp of a very complete and curious kind, on the ramparts of which is timber of five feet in diameter, stands near the town of Brownsville. This camp contains thirteen acres inclosed in a circle, the elevation of which is seven feet above the adjoining ground. This was a herculean work. Within the circle a pentagon is accurately described, having its sides four feet high, and its angles uniformly three feet from the outside of the circle, thus leaving an unbroken communication all around. A pentagon i'? a figure having five angles or sides. Each side of thu pentagon has a postern or small gateway, opening into a passage between it and the circle, but the circle

itself has only one grand gateway outward. Exactly in the centre stands a mound thirty feet high, sup- posed to have been a place of lookout. At a small distance from this jjlace was found a stone measuring eight feet by five, on which was accurately engraved a representation of the whole work, with the mound in the centre, whereon was the likeness of a human head, which signified that the chief who presided there lay buried beneath it.

"The engraving on this stone is evidence of the knowledge of stone-cutting, as it was executed with a considerable degree of accuracy. On comparing the description of this circular monument with a de- scription of works of a similar character found in Denmark, Sweden, and Ireland, the conclusion is drawn that at some era of time the authors of this kind of monumental works in either of those countries have been the same."

Having given the above account, as written by Ashe, it is proper to remark that he did, without doubt, enlarge upon the plain facts, — in some particu- lars, at least. Old residents of this locality — among them Mr. Nelson B. Bowman, who was born in 1807, within rifle-shot of the place indicated — say that the account is unsupported by anything they have ever seen or heard narrated by their fathers. Still, the fact remains unquestioned that the first white ex- plorers found here, within the present limits of Brownsville, and occupying an elevated site which commands the Monongahela River above and belo an inclosure of several acres, surrounded by an earthen embankment, evidently centuries old, antedating even the most ancient traditions of the Indians, and this mysterious work they christened Redstone Old Fort. But the hand of Time has obliterated all traces of it, and neither parapet nor central mound have been visible for many years. So it is with the mounds which have been mentioned as having existed in other parts of Fayette County. By the processes of agriculture, continued for generations, and by various other means, they ha:ve become so far leveled that in many cases not a trace remains, and in others the outline is barely discernible of works which a cen- tury ago stood out bold and clearly defined.

With regard to the origin of these ancient works and relics many theories have been advanced, some apparently reasonable and others wholly absurd. Some writers on the subject have believed that they were built by the French, while some have attributed their construction to the Spanish.' Others, with more

1 nr. W tt Cll It n	1 1 >i n 1 c» 1 li> rt I I ef e 11 c Nc« 1 rk III.,
1 c 1 S c n inl>.	1 11 IlHling to tlo xanoii. inirtbillc lleoias
1 1 a ci b d tl	lulliii of tloo » Iks. tuLur 1 f I 1 All
\ 1 11 \ 1 1 r f	1 11 1 1 1 U k 1 m 0 1 ronoi J soint % ara
g U ttU. .	1 II tl 1 1 ^1 k 1 Olio

THE INDIAN OCCUPATION.

19

Rppareiit show of reason, have endeavored to prove that the builders were the ancient Aztecs, and finally some have advanced thcopinion that they were erected by descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. What- ever may be said of these latter theories, the idea of their construction by the French or Spanish seems wholly inadmissible, on account of the number and e.\tent of the works west of the AUeghanies ; again, on account of their evident antiquity, many of them having from every appearance been erected long before the discovery of America, and finally by their form, which is entirely diti'erent from any system of Euro- pean fortification, ancient or modern.

This much and no more may be set down as reasonably certain, that these. works were roared by a people who preceded those found here by the first Eu- ropean visitors, but whether they were Aztecs, Toltecs, or of Jewish origin, as some have supposed, is a ques- tion which will probably never be solved. The imagi- n.ition, unrestrained by facts, may roam at will in the realm of ingenious speculation, but the subject is one of pure conjecture which it is not profitable to pursue.

CHAPTER III.

THE IXDI.VX OCCIPATIOX.

Theuk is nothing found either in written history or in tradition to show that the section of country which now forms the county of Fayette was ever the permanent home of any considerable number of the aboriginal i)eople whom we know as Indians, the suc- cessors of the mysterious mound-builders.

When the first white traders (who preceded the earliest actual settlers by several years) came into this region, they found it partially occupied by roving Indian bands, who had here a few temporary villages, or more properly camps, but whose principal perma- nent settlements were within a few miles of the con- fluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers,

its vicinity, lie at liist assigned it to tlie awiiie tbat generally, ns he saiil, attended the Spanish in tliose days, it being, in his opiniun, very necessary in order to prevent them from becoming estrays and to protect them from the depredations of the Indians.

"Lewis Dennie, a Frenchman, aged upwar U .r - v. 1,1 v , .nil who had been settled and nianied among thcCunr<'<I": t - ^ " ,11 i- fnrniore tlinn hiilfa century, told me in ISIO Ihni. i : litionsof

the ancient Indians, these forts were ore i i t ^ n i .n-. 1 >i';\i)iurde, who were the firet Europeans ever seen l-y th-Mu vtho French ne.vt, then the Dntch.nnd finally the English); that this army first appeared at Oswego in great force, and penetrated through the interior of the conn- try searching for the precious metals; that they continued there two years and then went down the Ohio." After giving several reasons why this account was to be considered unworthy of 1 elief, Mr. Clinton con- tinued : " It is equally clear that they were not the work of the Indi:ins. Until the Senecas, who are reuownfd for their national vanity, had seen tlie attention of the Americans attracted to these erections, and had in- Tented the fabulous accouut of which 1 have spoken, the Indians of the present day did not pretend to know anything about the origin of these works. They wore beyond the reach uf all their traditions, and were lost in the ai'vss of unexplored antiquity.'*

both above and below that point. These were com- posed of the Delaware and Shawanese' tribes and some colonized bands of Iroquois, or "Mingoes," as they were commonly called, who rei)reseiited the powerful Si.x Nations of New York. These last named were recognized as the real owners of the lands on the upi)cr Ohio, the Allegheny, and the Monongahela Rivers, and it was only by their permission- that the Delawares and Shawanese were allowed to occupy the

1 Zeisbergor, tho Moravian, wiys, "Tho Shawnnos, a warlike people, lived in Florida, but having been subdued in war by tho Moshkos, they left their land and moved to Susquehanna, and from one place to another. Sleeting a strong parly of Delawares, and relating to them their forlorn condition, they took them into their protection as grai)tlehildrcn ; tho Shnwaiios called the Delaware nation thiir .jmu.tfnlhet: They lived thereupon in tho Forks of tho Delaware, anil -.iil..l f.i .i luuc in AVy- ' oming. When they had increased again tl.i w I'tstotho

Allegheny." 'When they came from th.- i..^ ' ; : ■ .\ located

at and near Montonr's Island, below the ..onilu- 1 1 i;..' .\ll.-ghcny

and Slononguhela. Tho Delawares cnmo with tliern to Ih.. Wrat. both tiiUes having boon ordered away from tho valleys of tho Delaware and Susiiuehunua by the Iroquois, wheni they were compelled by conquest to recognize as tliclr nnistors.

! Tho fact that tho Six Nations wero tho acknowledged owners of this region of country, and that the Shawanese and Delawares wore hero only on sufl'eiance, seems clear. At tho ti-eaty held with tho Indians at Fort Pitt, in May, 1708, a Shawanese chief comidained bitterly to the English of their encroachniunt^, iind said, " Wo desired you to de- stroy your folts. . . . Wo also desired you not to go down tho river." In the next day's council, Guyiisullia, a chief of the Six Nations, rose, with a copy of the lrv:i I, f 1, l.nl liil, "By this treaty yon had a light to build fi-rts mi : 1 lu re you pleased, and to travel

the road of peace from 1 1 1 r- sun setting. Atthuttrcaty

the Delawares and .si,;, .. m ,. «. 1. «i;li uio and they know all this well; and they should nevei- have ajioU.-ii to .vou as they did yesterday." Soon after, the Shawanese chief, Kissinaughta, roso and said, apologetically, to tho English, "You desired us to speak from our hearts and tell you what gave us uneasiuess of iniial, and wo did so. We are very sorry wo should have said anything to give offense, and wo acknowledge we were in the wrong."

In 'tho same year (1708), when the Pennsjlvnnia commissioners, -Mien and Shippen, proposed t. il.. TriMuis t 1 =.-nd a deputation of

chiefs wini

ilitOE

white settlors who had located «r 1 : . n iho Monongahela Elver and Bedstone Creek, in wli.n i. n v, 1 i.ui 1. unity, the"Whito Mingo" (whose " Castle" was on tlie west side of the Allegheny, a few- miles above its mouth) and throe other chiefs of tho Six Nations wcio selected to go on that luisbioii, but no notice was taken of the Delaware or Shawanese chiefs in the matter, uliicli allows clearly enough that these two tribes were not reganliil .- 1 imi j n 1 Aiicrshipin the lauds. And it is related liy George c.._ nl of a treaty council

held with the Six Nations at Lo„ I ; 1, below Pittsburgh,

in 1751, that "A Dunkord from Vm„i..i.i ..ii.m I., town and requested leave to settle on the Yo-yo-gaiue [Yoiighioglieny] River, a branch of the Ohio. He was told that he must apply to the Onondaga Council aud be recommended hy the Governor of Pennsylvania." Tlie Onondaga

the central headquarters of the Six Nations.

Another fact that shows the Six Nations to have been the recognized owners of this region of country is that when the surveyors wero about to extend tho Mason and Dixon line westward, in 1707, the proprietaries asked, not of the Delawares and Shawanoao but of the Iroqin)i3 (Six Na. tions) permission to do so. This permission was given by their chiefs, who also sent several of their warriors to accompany tho surveying party. Their presence afforded to the white men tho desired protection, and the Shawanese and Delawares dared not offer any molestation. But after the Iroquois escort left (as they did at a point on tho ^larylaud line) tho other Indians became, in the absence of their masters, so de- fiant and threatening that the surveyors were compelled to ubaudon the running of the line west of Dunkard Creek.

Finally, it was not from the Delawares and Shawanese but from tho Six Nations that the Penns purchased this teriitory by tin-- treaty of FortStanwix in 1708.

20

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

hunting-grounds extending from the head of the Ohio eastward to the Alleghenies. Still thej' ahva3-s boldly claimed these lands as their own, except when they were confronted and rebuked by the chiefs of the Six Nations. At a conference held with the Indians at Fort Pitt in 17()8, " the Beaver," a chief speaking in behalf of the Delawares and Mohicans, said, "Breth- ren, the country lying between this river and the Al- legheny Mountain has always been our hunting- ground, and the white people who have scattered themselves over it have by their hunting deprived us of the game which we look upon ourselves to have the only right to. . . ." And it is certain that, though the Iroquois were the owners of these hunting-grounds, they were occupied almost exclusively by the Dela- wares and Shawanese. Washington, in his journal of a trip which he made down the Ohio from the mouth of the Allegheny in 1770, says, " The In- dians who reside upon the Ohio, the upper part of it at least, are composed of Shawanese, Delawares, and some of the Mingoes. . . ." And in the journal of his mission to the French posts on the Allegheny, seventeen years before, he said, " About two miles from this (he then being at the mouth of the Alle- gheny), on the south side of the river (Ohio), at the place where the Ohio Company intended to lay off their fort, lives Shingiss, king of the Delawares.'" The exact point where this '" king" was located is said to have been at the mouth of Chartiers Creek, and the principal settlements of his people were clus- tered around the head of the Ohio. From here and from the neighboring settlements of the Shawanese ■went forth from time to time the hunting-parties of those tribes, which formed the principal part of the Indian population of the territory of the present county of Fayette.

These Indians had, as has already been remarked, but very few settlements east of the Monongahela, and most of those they had wore more of the nature of temporary camps than of permanent villages. Judge Veech, in his " Monongahela of Old," men- tions those which he knew of as existing within the limits of Fayette County, as follows: "Our territory (Fayette County) having been an Indian hunting- ground, had within it but few Indian towns or vil- lages, and these of no great magnitude or celebrity. There was one on the farm of James Ewing, near the southern corner of Redstone and the line between German and Luzerne townships, close to a fine lime- stone spring. Near it, on a ridge, were many Indian graves. Another was near where Abram Brown lived, about four miles west of Uniontown. There was also one on the land of John M. Austin, formerly Samuel Stevens', near Sock. The only one we know of north of the Youghiogheny was on the Strickler land, eastward of the Broad Ford."

1 King Shingiss, liowover, was inferior in tank and power to Tanacli- arison, the Half-King, who was a sachem of tlio Six Nations, residing

There was also an Indian village on the Mononga- hela, at the mouth of Catt's Run, and it is said that this village was at one time the home of the chief Cornstalk, who commanded the Indian forces at the battle of Point Pleasant, Va., in 1774.

On the Monongahela, at the mouth of Dunlap's Creek, where the town of Brownsville now stands, was the residence of old Nemacolin, who, as it ap- pears, was a chief, but with very few, if any, warriors under him, though it is not unlikely that he had had a respectable following in the earlier years, before the whites found him here. It was this Indian who guided Col. Thomas Cresap across the Alleghenies, in the first journey which he made to the West from Old Town, Md., for the Ohio Company in 1749. The route which they then pursued was known for many years as "Nemacolin's path." Later in his life this Indian removed from the Monongahela and located on the Ohio River. It is believed that the place to which he removed was the island now known as Blenner- hassett's Island, in the Ohio, below Parkersburg, AV. Va. ; the reason for this belief being that there is found, in Gen. Richard Butler's journal of a trip down that river in 1785, with Col. James Monroe (afterwards President of the United States), to treat with the Miami Indians, mention of their passing, in the river between the mouths of the Little Kanawha and Hocking, an island called " Nemacolin's Island." This was, without much doubt, the later residence of the old chief of that name.

An old Indian named Bald Eagle, who had been a somewhat noted warrior (but not a chief) of the Dela- ware tribe, had his home somewhere on the Upper Monongahela, probably at the village at the mouth of Catt's Run, but whether there or higher up the river near Morgantown is not certainly known. He was a very harmless and peaceable man and friendly to the settlers, yet he was killed without cause about 1765, and the cold-blooded murder was charged by the Indians upon white men. Of the Bald Eagle and the circumstances of his death, Mr. Veech says, " He was on intimate terms with the early settlers, with whom he hunted, fished, and visited. He was well known along our Monongahela border, up and down which he frequently passed in his canoe. Somewhere up the river, probably about the mouth of Cheat, he was killed, by whom or on what pretense is unknown.- His dead body, placed upright in his canoe, with a piece of corn-bread in his clinched teeth, was set adrift in the river. The canoe came ashore at Prov-

- Withers, in his '-Chronicles of Border Warfare," states tlie coso dif- ferently, and gives the names of tho innrJer.is. He savs, "Tlio Bald

Eagle was an Indian of notoriety, not niil\ i>_ lil- . \mi uiition, hnt

also with the inhabitantsof the Nortli\V' ' uli whom ho

was in the liabit of associating and hiuitii._ ! v !>ils among

them lie was discovered alone hy Jiuvl' -^ n. N\ i ' ;.i Ihuker, and

Elijah Knnner, who, reckless of the conscqneiirr*, rdt-i cd him, solely

to gratify a most wanton thirst for Indian blood. After the commission of this most outrageous enormity, they seated him in the stern of a canoe, with a piece of juurney-cakc thrust into his mouth, and set Ilim afloat iu tlie Monongahela."

THE INDIAN OCCUPATION.

21

ancc's Bottom, where the familiar old Indian was at once recognized by the wife of William Yard Prov- ance, who wondered he did not leave his canoe. On close observation she found he was dead. She had him decently buried on the Fayette shore, near the early residence of Robert McClean, at what was known as McClean's Ford. This murder was re- garded by both whites and Indians as a great out- rage, and the latter made it a prominent item in their list of grievances."

A number of Indian paths or trails traversed this county in various directions. The principal one of these was the great war-path over which the Senecas and other tribes of the Si.x Nations traveled from their homes in the State of New York on their forays against Cherokees and other Southern tribes in the Carolinas, Georgia, and Tennessee. This was known as the Cherokee or Catawba Trail. Passing from the " Gen- esee country" of Western New York, down the valley of the Allegheny, it left that river in the present county of Armstrong, Pa., and traversing Westmore- land, entered the territory of Fayette near its north- eastern e.\tremity, crossing Jacob's Creek at the mouth of Bushy Run. From there its route was southwcst- wardly, passing near the present village of Pennsville to the Yougliiogheny River, which it crossed just below the mouth of Opossum Run ;' thence up that small stream for some distance, and then on, by way of Mount Braddock, to Redstone Creek, at the point where Uniontown now stands. From there it passed in a general southwesterly direction, through the pres- ent townships of South Union, Georges, and Spring Hill ; and crossing Cheat River at the mouth of Grassy Run, passed out of the county southward into Vir- ginia, on its route to the Holston River and the Caro- linas. From this main trail, at a point a little south of Georges Creek, in Fayette County, there struck off a tributary path known as the Warrior Branch,- which passed thence across the Cheat and Monongahela Rivers, and up the valley of Dunkard Creek into Vir- ginia. It was at this trail, near the second crossing of Dunkard Creek, that the surveyors who were run- ning the extension of the Mason and Dixon line, in October, 17(37, were compelled to stop their work, on account of the threats of the Delaware and Shawanese warriors, and their positive refusal to allow the party

to proceed farther west; and it was not until fifteen years later that the line was run beyond this trail.

An Indian path much used by the natives was one which led from the " Forks of the Ohio" (now Pitts- burgh) to the Potomac River at the mouth of Wills' Creek (where Cumberland, Md., now stands). This was known as " Nemacolin's Path" or trail, though it was doubtless traveled by Indian parties many years, and perhaps ages, before the birth of the old Delaware whose name it bore." This trail, starting from the head of the Ohio, joined the Cherokee trail in Westmoreland County, and from the point of junc- tion the two trails were nearly identical as far south as Mount Braddock, at which point Nemacolin's trail left the other, and took a southeasterly course, by way of the Great Meadows, in the present township of Wharton, the Great Crossings of the Yougliiogheny, near the .southeast corner of Fayette County ; thence it crossed the southwestern corner of Somerset County into Maryland. There were numerous other trails traversing the county of Fayette, but none of them as important or as much traveled as those above men- tioned.

These trails were the highways of the Indians, — the thoroughfares over which they journeyed on their business of the chase or of war, just as white people pursue their travel and traffic over their graded roads. " An erroneous impression obtains among many at the present day," says Judge Veech, " that the In- dian, in traveling the interminable forests which once covered our towns and fields, roamed at random, like a modern afternoon hunter, by no fixed paths, or that he was guided in his long journeyings solely by the sun and stars, or by the courses of the streams and mountains. And true it is that these untutored sons of the woods were considerable astronomers and geog- raphers, and relied much upon these unerring guide- marks of nature. Even in the most starless night they could determine their course by feeling the bark of the oak-trees, which is always smoothest on the south side, and roughest on the north. But still they had their trails or paths, as distinctly marked as are our county and State roads, and often better located. The wdiite traders adopted them, and often stole their names, to be in turn surrendered to the leader of some Anglo-Saxon army, and finally obliterated by some costly highway of travel and commerce. They are

* The place whoro this trail crossed tlie Yougliiogheny was identical with that where Gen. Braddock cruaacd his army, on his march towards Tort Du Quesnc, in 1755.

- Judge Ve<'ch describes the route of this trail (proceeding northward) naftdlows: ** A tributary trail called the Warrior Bninch, coming from Tennessee, through Kentucky and Southern Ohio, came up Fish Creek and down Dunkard, crossing Clieat Kiver at McFarland's. It mn out a junction with the chief trail, intersecting it at William Gans' sugar- camp (between Morris' Cross-Roads and Georges Creek, in Spring Hill township), but it kept on by Crow's Mill, James Robinson's, and the old pun factory (in Nicholson township) and thence towards the mouth of Bedstone; intersecting the old Redstone trail from the lop of Laurel Hill, near Jackson's, or Grace Church, on the N'ational road."

3 It received this name from the fact that when theold " Ohio Company" was preparing to go into the Indian trade at the head of the Ohio, in the year 1740, one of the principal agents of that company — Col. Thomaa Cresnp, of Ohl Town, 5Id.— employed the Indian Nemacolin (who lived, as before mentioned, at the mouth of Dnnlap's Creek, on the Monongahela) to guide him over the liest route for a pack-horse path from the Potomac to the Indian villages on the Ohio, a short distance below the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela. The old Indian pointed out the path in question as being the most feasible route, and it wils atlopted. In 1754, Washington followed its line with liis tmops as far north and west as Gist's plantjilion.in Fayette County ; and in 1755, Gen. Braddock made it, with few variations, his route of march from Fort Cumberland to Gill's, and tlience northwardly to near the point in Westmoreland County where lie first crossed the Monongahela.

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

now almost wholly effaced and forgotten. Hundreds travel along or plow across them, unconscious that they are in the footsteps of the red man."

The Indian history connected with the annals of Fayette County is very meagre. During the military operations of the years 1754 and 1700, when the op- posing forces of England and Franco marched to and fro over the hills and through the vales of this county, they were accompanied on both sides by In- dian allies, who did their share of the work of slaughter, as will be narrated in the history of those campaigns, given in succeeding pages. After the French and their Indian allies had e.xpelled the Eng- lish power from the region west of the Alleghenies, in 175o, nearly all the Indians of the Allegheny and Monongahela Valleys sided with the victorious French ; but many years elapsed from that time be- fore there were any white settlers here to be molested, and when they did come to make their homes here they suffered very little from .«uch outrages as were i constantly committed by the savages upon the inhabit- I ants west of the Monongahela. This was doubtless largely due to the fact that the red men regarded the people east of that river as Pennsylvanians, with whom they were on comparatively friendly terms ; while those west of the same stream were considered by them to be VirginianSj against whom they held feelings of especial hatred and malignity. With the exception of the murder of two men on Burnt Cabin Eun,' and the taking of some prisoners south of Georges Creek, the inhabitants of the territory that is now Fayette County were entirely exempt from the savage incursions and barbarities with which the people living between them and the O'lio River were so often visited during the thirty years of Indian warfare and raidings which preceded Gen. Anthony Wayne's decisive victory on the Maumee, in August, 1794.

1 The ch-curash	COS nttoiiaing this Iinlian mil.:,.-
hy Judge Veech :	Tliis case, iis leliit.il U I - i '	'• :; 111, 1,11, an uhl
Boldier unci settlor	iitthophicelinuw.nl- Ji , . 1,	1 MiMenallen
township, was llius	rAh.iiit three una;, II, 11 „n;
thosi.iuli "il-of 1	• r- ^\:h- or HentuU iMH.i. ulu, l, 1	•mis Horn the poor-
		\ rods of the roiiJ,
	: 1 lull Wouawaril, uro the rem	linsof anoldclear-
chilnrMV l« ..	::; ; !!'"!;;: "";',r,!'!ti"M'	reniaiiis of an (.111 l.-lilUl^, tllr.ll.lill

CHAPTER IV.

THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH CLAIMS TO THE TRANS-ALLEGHENY REGION— GEORGE WASHING- TON'S VISIT TO THE FRENCH FORTS IN 1753.

The written history of the section of country em- braced in and between the valleys of the Mononga- hela and Youghiogheny Rivers, like that of all this part of the State of Pennsylvania, commences at about the middle of the eighteenth century. At that time both France and England were asserting their respective claims to the dominion of this wilderness region west of the mountains ; and it was in the con- flict which resulted from the attempts of each of these rivals to expel the other, and to enforce their own alleged rights by the fact of actual possession, that the events occurred that are here to be narrated, and which mark the beginning of the history of the southwestern counties of Pennsylvania.

The claim which France made to the ownership of this territory was based on the fact that the adventu- rous explorer La Salle descended the Mississippi River in 1682, and at its mouth, on the 9th of April in that year, took formal possession, in the name of the French sovereign, of all the valley of the mighty stream, and of all the regions, discovered and to be discovered, contiguous to it, or to any and all of its tributaries. Sixty-seven years later (1749), Captain Celeron, an officer in the service of the king of France, and having under his command a force of about three hundred men, penetrated southward to the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers, where he took and confirmed the French pos- session of the v.allcys of these tributaries, burying metallic plates, duly inscribed with a record of the event, as evidences of actual occupation.

England, on the other hand, claimed the country by virtue of a treaty made with the Six Nations at Lancaster in June, 1744, when the Indians ceded to the British king an immense scope of territory west of the royal grant to Penn,'^ co-extensive with the limits of Virginia, which at that time were of indefi- nite extent. At a subsequent treaty held (in 1752) at Logstown, on the Ohio, below Pittsburgh, one of the Iroquois chiefs, who had also t.aken part in the Lan- caster treaty, declared that it had not been the inten- tion of his people to convey to the English any lands west of the Alleghenies, but that, nevertheless, they would not oppose the white man's definition of the boundaries.

The Six Nations in council had also decided that, notwithstanding their friendship for the English, they would remain neutral in the contest which they saw was imminent between that nation and the 1 French, both of which were now using every effort

1 snppospil at that t

Penn's Western 1

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S VISIT TO THE FRENCH FORTS IN 1753.

to strcngtlicn tliemsclves in the occupation of the territory bordering the head-waters of the Oliio.

In the year 1750 the "Oliio Com))any" (acting under an English charter and royal grant, the opera- tion of whidi will be noticed elsewhere) sent its agent, Cliristophcr Gist, to the Ohio River, to explore the country along that stream, with a view to its occu- pation and settlement. I'nder these instructions he viewed the country along the west bank of the river, from the mouth of the Allegheny southwestwardly to the Falls of the Ohio (opposite the present city of Louisville, Ky.), and in the following year (1751) he explored the other side of the stream down to the mouth of the Great Kanawha. In 1752 he was pres- ent, as agent of the " Ohio Company," at the Logs- town treaty, already mentioned, and took part, with Col. Joshua Fry and the two other commissioners of Virginia, in the proceedings with the chiefs of the Six Nations.

These and other movements on the part of those acting under authority of the British king, caused the French to bestir thcmselvesv, and move more energeti- cally towards the occupation of the country west of the AUeghenies. Early in 1753 they began to move southward from Lake Ontario through the wilder- ness towards the Allegheny River, and on the 21st of May in that year intelligence was received that a party of one hundred and fifty French and Indians " had arrived at a camping-jjlace leading from the Niagara to the head of the Ohio.'" Again, on the 7th of August, a report was received " of the passage of a large number of canoes, with French troops by Oswego, on their way to the Ohio."

This intelligence of the aggressive movements of the French caused the English home government to adopt more energetic measures than had ])reviously been employed to meet and resist their advance into the Ohio River country. Among the official commu- nications addressed by the Earl of Holderness, sec- retary of state, to the governors of the several Ameri- can provinces, w.-is one to Governor Dinwiddle of Virginia, containing directions concerning the French encroachments. The letter of the secretary was sent by a government ship, and reached Dinwiddie in Oc- tober, 1753. In pursuance of the instructions con- tained, the governor appointed and commissioned George Washixgton, then a youth of only twenty-

one years," but one of the adjutants-general of the military forces of Virginia, as bearer of dispatches to the commanding ofliccr of the intruding French on the Ohio,'' — charged, also, with the duty of ascertain- ing the numbers and efjuipmcnt of the French forces there, what forts, if any, they had erected, and vari- ous other items of military intelligence, which are made clear in his letter of instructions, of which the following is a copy:

" micrca-i, I have received information of a body of French forces being assembled in a hostile manner on the river Ohio, intending by force of arms to erect certain forts on the said river within this territory, and contrary to the dignity and peace of our sov- ereign, the king of Great Britain.

"These are therefore to require and direct you, the said George Washington, forthwith to repair to Logs- town, on the said river Ohio, and, having there in- formed yourself where the said French forces have posted themselves, thereupon to i)roceed to such place, and, being there arrived, to present your cre- dentials, together with my letter to the chief com- manding officer, and in the name of his Britannic Majesty to demand an answer thereto.

" On your arrival at Logstown you are to address yourself to the Half-King, to Monacatoocha, and the other sachems of the Six Nations, acquainting them with your orders to visit and deliver my letter to the

- Fulluwing is a copy of the cominiBsion : "To Gr.onaE Wasiiisotox, Esqiii:k, onr of the Apjitants-Gexerai

OF THE TlKJOrS AND KulUKS IX TIIE COLOXY OF VlKOIXIA.

" I, ii'p jsiiig I'spfCial ti u»t anil conlWujico in tlie ability, conduct, .iml li<lilily of you, the mill GEOliCE Wasuixoion, Imve appointed you my cxpi-css messenger; and you are hereby ntitliori/.ed nnd eiupowei-ed to jiroceed lieuce with all convonlollt and possible disputcli to tlie part

erOhio, the CO

the 1

nch I

I fort

Imv gl e d t e ii 11
thii »» k o of tie 11	1 1
03 tie II 1	1 e JO
nud tl 1 1	1 1 1 1 0 c t
CilJ f 1 1	e (1 0 of J 11 tl 0
Oltlo" 1 I	lol 1 1 tie; » ono Ij
iscia 1 1 II	lo 0 1 0 re^ 1 I tl 0 Allegl e j
«stl If 1 1 tW	si ton 1 J rn I an 1 1 s
paM 3 e t ene „ 8 b fc	I t i 0 tIeOl o A otler
mime which the French pive to the Ohio, iind applied to the stream
e en to;ihe head of the .\IIegheny, wa.	" La Belle Kiviire,"— The Beauti-

lit of tlie French forces n-sitlcs, in unler to deliver my letter ami nicsoijige to Iijm; hikI after waiting nut ex- ceo.lin- uito wi-ck fur nn answer, you aro to tako your leave aud reiiiru

1 'I [111— it m I liavo set my hand and caused the grent seiil of til- I 1,1 ii t I f iiiTixcd, at the ciry uf Wjlliauisburg, the seat of my •:"\--i i;ini)it, ilii- :;iiili day of Octol.er, in the twenty-seventh year of the rtign ot his M:jrsiy Giurge the Second, King of Ureut Britain, &c., &c., aniioipie Duniini ITJ^.

"RoBF.nT DlXWIDDIK.*'

And the following wns the tenor of the Goveniov's pu6?;[>ort :

"Wherea», I have npiKiinted George Washington, Keqniro, \<y cnm- mission under the great !<cul, my express messenger to the couiniandunt of the French forces on the liver Ohio, and as he is charged with busi- ness of great imiwrtancc to his Slajesty antl this dominion, ■ *■ I do herehy command all his Mnjosty's suhjects, and particularly re- quire all iu alliance and amity uilli the crown of Great Biitain, ami all others to whoni this passport may c^^me, agreeably to the law- of nations, ^• he aiding and assisting as a safeguard to the said George Wiishingloii and his attendants iu his present pa»sago to and from tlio river Olfio, as aforesaid.

"KOBEKT Dixwint)iK,"

3 He had previously sent a messenger on a similar errand. In a letter to the Lords of Trade he said, *• My last to you was on the ICth of June, to which I beg you to lie referred. . . . The person sent as a commis- sioner to the commandant of the French forces neglected his duty, and went no further than Logstown on the Ohio. lie reports the French were then one hundred and iifty miles farther up the river, and I believe

24

niSTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

French commanding cfBcer, and desiring tlie said chiefs to appoint you a sufficient number of their warriors to be your safeguard as near tlie French as you may desire, and to wait your furtlicr direction.

"You are diligently to inquire into the numbers and force of the French on the Ohio and the adjacent country ; how they are likely to be assisted from Can- ada ; and what are the difficulties and conveniences of that communication, and the time required for it.

" You are to take care to be truly informed what forts the French have erected, and where ; how they are garrisoned and appointed, and what is their dis- tance from each other, and from Logstown ; and from the best intelligence you can procure, you are to learn what gave occasion to this expedition of the French; liow they are likely to be supported, and what their pretensions are.

" When the French commandant has given you the required and necessary dispatches, you are to desire of him a proper guard to protect you as far on your return as you may judge for your safety, against any straggling Indians or hunters that may be ignorant of your character, and molest you. Wishing you good success in your negotiation, and safe and speedy return, I am, &c.,

"Robert Dinwiddie.

" Wii.LlAMSBVlto, 30 OctoljCM-, 1753."

On the day of his appointment Washington left Williamsburg, and on the 31st reached Fredericks- burg, Va., where he employed Jacob Van Braam as a French interpreter. The two then went to Alexan- dria, where some necessary purchases were made. Thence they proceeded to Winchester, whjre pack- horses were purchased ; after which they rode to Wills' Creek (Cumberland, Md.), arriving there on the 14th of November. " Here," said Washington in his journal of the tour, " I engaged Mr. Gist' to pilot us out, and also hired four others as servitors, — Barnaby Currin and John McQuire, Indian traders, Henry Steward, and William Jenkins; and in com- pany with these persons left the inhabitants the next day""

The party, now including seven persons, moved from Wills' Creek in a northwesterly direction, and crossing the Youghiogheuy River into what is now Fayette County, proceeded by way of Gist's place,^ to Frazier's, on the Monongahela, ten miles above its junction with the Allegheny. They had found the traveling through the wilderness so difficult that the journey to this point from Wills' Creek occupied a week. Referring to this part of the route, the jour- nal says, " The excessive rains and vast quantities of

1 Christoplier Gist, agent of the "Oliio Company," who, a few montlis previuiisly— in I7j3— had locate;! and liuilt a cabin nair tlie centre of the teniti>ry of tlio present county of Fayette, at the place now known as Mount Braddock.

- " According to the beet observation I could make," said Washington in his journal, "Mr. Gist's new settlement (wliicli wo passed by) bears about wcst-uorthwcrit, seventy miles from Wills' CreeUb."

snow which had fallen prevented our reaching Mr. Frazier's, an Indian trader, at tlie mouth of Turtle Creek, on Monongahela River, till Thursday the 22d. We were informed here that expresses had been sent a few days before to the traders down the river, to acquaint them with the French general's death, and the return of the major part of the French army into winter quarters. The waters were quite impassable without swimming our horses, which obliged us to get the loan of a canoe from Frazier, and to send Bar- naby Currin and Henry Steward down the Mononga- hela with oua baggage to meet us at the forks of the Ohio."

Crossing the Allegheny, Washington found Shin- giss, the Delaware king, who accompanied the party to Logstown, which they reached in twenty-five days from Williamsburg. On their arrival they found the Indian Monakatoocha, but the Half-King was absent, hunting. Washington told the former, through his Indian interpreter, John D.^vidson, that he had come as a messenger to the French general, and was ordered to call and inform the sachems of the Six Nations of the fact. The Half-King^ was sent for by runners, and at about three o'clock in the afternoon of the 25th he came in, and visited Washington in his tent, where, through the interpreter, Davidson, he told him that it was a long way to the headquarters of the French commandant on the Allegheny. " He told me," says the journal, " that the nearest and levelest way was now impassable by reason of many large miry savannahs ; that we must be obliged to go by Venango, and should not get to the near fort in less than five or six nights' sleep, good traveling." He told Washington that he must wait until a proper guard of Indians could be furnished him. " The people whom I have ordered in," said he, "are not yet come, and cannot, until the third night from this; until which time, brother, I must beg you to stay. I intend to send the guard of Mingoes, Shannoahs, and Delawares, that our brothers may see the love and loyalty we bear them."

Washington was anxious to reach his destination at the earliest possible time, but, in deference to the wishes of the friendly Tanacharison, he remained until the 30th of November, when, as it is recorded in the journal, "We set out about nine o'clock with the Half-King, Jeskakake, White Thunder, and the Hunter, and traveled on the road to Venango, where we arrived the fourth of December, without anything remarkable happening but a continued series of bad weather. This is an old Indian town, situated at the mouth of French Creek, on the Ohio, and lies near north about sixty miles from Logstown, but more than seventy the way we were obliged to go."

On the 7th the party set out from Venango for the

3 Tanacharison, the Half-King, was and always continued to be a firm and steadfast friend of the English, but lie lived less tlian a jear fmm tlie time when Wasliington met him at Logstown. His deatli occurred at Uanislurg, Pa. (Ihou Ilarris' Ferry), in October, 1754.

GEORGE WASHINGTON'S VISIT TO THE FRENCH FORTS IN 1733.

French fort, and reached it on the 11th, having been greatly impeded "by excessive rains, snows, and bad traveling through many mires and swamps." On the 12th, Washington waited on the commander, ac- quainted him with the business on whicii he came, and in the afternoon exhibited his commission, and delivered the letter from Governor Dinwiddle. While it was being translated he employed his time in tak- ing the dimensions of the fort and making other observations with which he was charged. In the evening of the 14th he received the answer of the commandant to the Governor; but although he wa.s now ready to set out on his return, he could not get away until the second day after that, as the French, although treating him with the greatest outward show of politeness, were using every artifice with his In- dians to seduce them from their allegiance and friend- ship to the English, and were constantly plying them with brandy, which made the Indians loth to leave the place. Washington could not well go without them, and even if he could have done so, he would have been very unwilling to leave them behind him, subject to the dangerous influence of the French offi- cers and French brandy.

Finally, on the 16th, he induced the Half-King and other Indians to leave, and set out from the fort for Venango, which was reached on the 22d. There the chiefs were determined to remain fora time, and there- fore Washington's party was compelled to proceed without them, accompanied only by the Indian, Young Hunter, whom the Half-King had ordered to go with them as a guide. The journal of Washington narrates theevents of this stage of the journey as follows: "Our horses were now so weak and feeble, and the baggage 80 heavy (as we were obliged to provide all the ne- cessaries which the journey would require), that we doubted much their performing it. Therefore, myself and the others, except the drivers, who were obliged to ride, gave up our horses for packs to assist along with the baggage. I put myself in an Indian walk- ing-^dress, and continued with them three days, until I found there was no probability of their getting home in reasonable time. The horses became less able to travel every day, the cold increased very fast, and the roads were becoming much worse by a deep snow, continually freezing; therefore, as I was uneasy to get back to make report of my proceedings to his Honor, the Governor, I determined to prosecute my journey the nearest way through the woods on foot. Accordingly, I left Mr. Van Braaui in charge of our baggage, with money and directions to provide ne- cessaries from place to place for themselves and horses, and to make the most convenient dispatch in travel- ing. I took my necessary papers, pulled off my clothes, and tied myself up in a watch-coat. Then, with gun in hand and pack on my back, in which were my papers and provisions, I set out with Mr. Gist, fitted in the same manner, on Wednesday the 26th."

On the following day the two tr:ivek'r.s fell in with

a jiarty of French Indians,' one of whom fired on them, but fortunately missed. They took the fellow in custody, and kept him with them till nine o'clock at night, when they let him go, and they contin- ued on their way, walking all nighl, to be out of reach of pursuit. On the next evening at dark they reached the Allegheny just above Shannapin's town. In crossing the river on an improvised craft, Washington was thrown off into the icy current,

, where the water was ten feet deep, but saved himself by catching at the logs of the raft. They were then obliged to land on an island, and to pass the night there, but in the morning found the river sufficiently frozen to enable them to cross in safety on the ice to the left bank of the river. They suflered severely from cold and exposure, and Gist had his fingers and toes frozen, but they succeeded in reaching Fra- zier's, at the mouth of Turtle Creek, on the Monon- galiela, in the evening of the 30th of December.

The journal proceeds : " As we intended to take horses here [at Frazier's], and it required some time to find them, I went up about three miles, to the mouth of the Youghiogheny, to visit Queen AUi- quippa, who had expressed great concern that we passed her in going to the fort. I made her a present of a watch-coat and a bottle of rum, which

I latter was thought much the better present of the two. Tuesday, the 1st of January, we left Mr. Frazier's house, and arrived at Mr. Gist's, at Monon-

I gahela," the 2d, where I bought a horse and saddle." From Gist's Washington proceeded on his return journey, and, without experiencing any notable inci-

j dent or adventure (except meeting a party bound for the forks of the Ohio for the purpose of building a fort there, as will hereafter be noticed), reached Wil- liamsburg on the 16th of January, 1754, and deliv-

] ered the letter of the French commandant to Governor Dinwiddie.

The preceding narrative of the journeying of Gov- ernor Dinwiddle's young envoy to and from the

1 Gist, howevor, in liis diao', does not nientiun any party or Indians, but only the one who flrcd (Hi tlicni. He snj'9, '• Wo rose early in the morning and set oTit al'ont two o'clock, and yot to ttio Murderingtown, on the sonlhojist fork of Braver Creek. Hero we met an Indian whom I thonpht I liad seen .it Joncuiro's, at Venango, when on our journey up to tlie From h f.irt. This fellow called me by my Inilliin name, and pre- (ended to be glad to See me. I thought very ill of the fellow, but did not care to let the Mtgor (Wnsliingtun) know 1 mistru ted him. But he soon mistrusted him as much as I did . . . It was very light and snow was on tlio ground. The Indian nuele a stop and turned aliunt. The filiijor saw him jwint his gun at us, and he fired. Sitid the Msjor, ' Aro you shot?' 'Xo.'said I, upon which the Indian ran forward to a big standing white*oak, and beg:tn luailing his gun, but wo were soon with him. I wonld have kitkd Mm, but the l>LiJor tcoiilil not mjfer me. We let him charge bis gnn. We found he put in a ball, then wo took care of

hiin."

- "Monongahela" point on the river al to a large scojio of portion of the prese

as a name at that time applied not only to the le mouth of Bedstone Creek, but also, indefinitely, uutry adjacent to it, comprising a considerable county of Fayette, between the rivers Mononga. ny. As Gist's w

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

French fort " Le Bceuf," is given in these pages at considerable length, less on account of the import- ance of the events and incidents related, than be- cause it has reference to the first and second appear- ance of George Washington in the territory of Fayette County, which he afterwards frequently visited, and became largely interested in as a property owner. AVithin this territory is the spot which has become historic as his first battle-ground, and here were first disclosed his highest military abilities, in the wild and disordered retreat of Braddock's army from the field of disaster on the Mouongahela.

CHAPTEE V.

FREXCII OCCrPATIOX AT THE HEAD OF THE OHIO — WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGX OF irOi IX THE YOUliHIOGHENY VALLEY. '.

The result of AVashington's expedition was to show beyond all doubt that the design of the French was to occupy, in force, all the country bordering the head- waters of the Ohio Kiver. Thereupon, Governor Dinwiddle transmitted Washington's statement to England, and meanwhile, without waiting for instruc- • tions from the home government, commenced prepar- ations for raising a force to be sent to the " Forks of I the Ohio" (Pittsburgh), to take possession of that point, and to construct a defensive work to enable them to i hdld the position against the French. A party had ] already gone forward from Virginia across the moun- tains for the same purpose, it being the one alluded to in Washington's journal of the trip to Le Bceuf, where he says, " The 6th (of January, on his return ! from Gist's to Wills' Creek) we met seventeen horses loaded with materials and storas for a. fort at the fork ! of the Ohio, and the day after some families going out to settle." ' But these were not troops sent by I)inwiddie, or under provincial authority; they were merely employes and colonists going out under the auspices of the "Ohio Company," to locate and to build a fort or block-house for the protection of them- selves and the company's interests on the frontier. !

The first military force that moved westward hav- ing the Ohio River for its objective point was a com- pany under Captain AVilliam Trent, which marched- from Virginia in January, 1754. From Wills' Creek Captain Trent moved his force of about thirty-three men^ over the same route which Washinston had i

traversed to the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny (at the present village of Somerfield), and thence to Gist's settlement. From Gist's he marched to the Monongahela, at the mouth of Redstone Creek, where his men were for a time employed in erecting a store- house (called the "Hangard") for the Ohio Company. After completing it they continued their march to the present site of the city of Pittsburgh, which place they reached on the 17th of February, and there met Christopher Gist and several others. They imme- diately commenced work in the construction of the fort, preparation for which had been begun by the party which AVasbington met on his way to Wills' Creek.

Not long after the commencement of the work. Captain Trent returned by way of the Hangard and Gist's to AVills' Creek, and Lieut. Frazier went to his home on the Monongahela, at the mouth of Turtle Creek, leaving the other commissioned officer, En- sign AVard, in charge of the men engaged in the con- struction of the fort.

The work progressed slowly (on account of the severity of the weather) for about two months, when suddenly, on the 17th of April, Ensign AVard found himself confronted by a hostile force of about seven hundred French and Indians, having with them eigh- teen pieces of light artillery. This force, which had come down the Allegheny River in sixty bateaux and a great number of canoes, was under command of Captain Contrecwur, who at once demanded a sur- render of the work and position. The responsibility lay wholly with AVard, as he was the only commis- sioned officer with the force; but the Half-King, Tana- charison, who was present, and firm as ever in his loyalty to the English, advised the ensign to reply to Contrecceur, that as he was not an officer of rank, and had no authority to answer the demand, he hoped that the French commander would wait until the ar- rival of his superior officer, whom he would at once send for. But Contrecceur refused to accede to this, and demanded immediate surrender, saying that, in case of non-compliance, he would immediately take possession by force of arms.

It was of course impracticable for this ensign's com- mand of about thirty-three men to hold the position against a force of more than twenty times their num- ber, with artillery ; and, therefore, the unfinished fort was surrendered without further parley. The French

■ from George Crogliau to Governor Hamilton, dntcd March •2.'J, In the letter firet referrcil to, Din« idilio snjs, "... In Jiinnarv lissioncd Willium Trout to irtise one hnndred men; he liad got

'31r. Trent had

FRENCH OCCUPATION AT THE HEAD OF THE OHIO.

commander received Ensign AVard with great polite- ness, invited him to 'sui)|)er that evening, and enter- tained him for the night. On tiie morning of the 18th, Ward took his departure, marched his men up the valley of the Monongahela, and on the 19th arrived at the mouth of Redstone Creek. From that point he pushed on across the territory of the present county of Fayette, by way of Gist's, and thence to the Great Crossings of the Youghioglieny, and arrived at Wills' Creek on the 22d of April. The fort which Ward liad been compelled to surrender to Contrecanir was completed by the French force with all practicable dispatch, and named "Fort du Qucsne" in honor of the Marquis du Quesne, the French Governor-Gen- eral of Canada.' While the events already related were in progress,

• Tlio following rr.Mii 111.) "CiilcM.liuof Vii;;liii:i Miinuscripts li;:.i; t..l>l, II -■!.. 1 IN II. .,, mngcd mid (dili'-l I' \' i I ^ 1 ,

Ltgblntnreof Vi.-ii _

Cll|ituillTreilfsop<.-l;ili..: - .11 I! - I..., I . 1 Hm (i:

llie pnrtiully coustructcU fuit hy Kusii^u \V;iid t <ler, viz.:

•' Dciuisilion token Mnrcli in, 1777, in I'ittjliiirgli, .U-. Agrcinl.le to Not Agent for llie lii(liini;i fonipiiM.v, Ik-Iuh' .Ii.jiks Wood mid Cliiiilw Siuinis,

(wiutilig tlicni CnniiissioiicTs r..r Collicliiij} Kvidvlico on bclmlf of tlie Coniinoiiwciiltli of Yiigiiiiii nguinst Uie sc-vcrnl I'ereons pretending to cltiim Ljiuds witli in tlio Territoiy and Limits tlicreof, under Deeds of Purclnises from IndinnR.

" .^Iiijor Kdwnrd Ward Deposetli nnd sjfitli Hint in the liegiuning of the year 1704, Willinni Trent K>,.inire «;,- ;,,.|. .,..;.. I I , d.v. ii„„ir I)in- wiildieuf Viiginiii,Cnplain oruCVilnl'iiiiv t . . '.^i .lliiriDopo-

went WHS mipointcd Ensign, by till- siiid 111 '. : IlicCliiefs

nnd Deputies of Hie Si.>i Niition?, iiuil i..i(.-i . i Hi. i ■ : ri.hiiiin to ErK-t a Tniding House at tlle Junetioii of tlie Alliglu'iiy and ilononga- liale Hivcrs. to carry on a Free and open Trade w illi the Six Nalions, nnd tlieir dependants ^wliiuli was granted liy tiie said deputies, with tiiis restiiclion, tinit he wa.^ to form no Settlements or iniprovcnieiits on the Riid Land, but on the Contrary to Evacuate tiiesjime when required by

**.\(ter wliich the said Capt, Trent iulisted n number of men not ex- ceeding tliiity-tiireu. and itruceeded to erect u Fort at the place Iietbro mentioned. That on the ITth of April following, and before thi- Fort was nearly completed, this De|ionent, who eonimauded in the absence ufCupt. Trent, whs put lo the necessity of surreudciing the possession to a Superior number of Tl-oops. t-onimanded by a French Odicer, who demanded it in the name of the ICin^ of France; at which lime the Ualf- King, and a number of the Six Nntions in Iho English Interests were present. This deiioneiit furlher saith that in the year 17.)J, and before his surrender lo the French, there was a snnill Village, Inhabited by the Delawares. on the Soulli ICast Me of the Allegheny Kiver, in the neigh- borhood of that place, and that old Kitlanuing, on the same side of the raid River, was tlieii Inhabited by the Delawares; that about one-third of the Shawanese Inhabited Loggs Town on the Wist Side of the Ohio, Rud tended Corn on the East Side of the liivcr— and the utiur part of the nation lived on the Scioto Eiver. That the Deputies of the Six Xn- tions alter the surrender Joined the Virginia Forces, Commanded by Colonel George Washington, who was then on Ins march at tlie Little Sleadows, and continued with him in the service of Virginia till afier the defeat of Monsieur La Force and a party of French Troops under his Command. And the deponent further saith that subsequent to the de- feat of Odo. Washington at the great Meadows, the Shawanose, Dela- wares, and many of the Western Tribes of Indians, and an inconsider- able number of Itenegades of the Seneca Tiibe.one of the Six Sations, johied the French, and Prosecuted a War against the Frontiers of the States of Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania, till the conclusion of the Pence with the Indians in the yei'.r 1759, but that he ever nnder- stooil tli.it the Body of the Six Nuti 'US continued the firm Friends of

troops, intended for the occupation of the " Forks of the Ohio," were being raised and organized under the authority of Governor Dinwiddle, in Virginia, and the first detachment of these was sent forward under command of Lieut.-Col. George Washington, who, on the 31st of March, had received from the Governor a commission {dated JIarch 15th) of that grade in the Virginia regiment, of which Col. Joshua Fry was the commanding officer, with others to take the troops then quartered in Alexandria, and to march them to the Ohio, "there to help Capt. Trent to build forts, and to defend the possessions of his Majesty against the attempts and hostilities of the French."

The detachment thus ordered forward under Wash- ington, consisted of two companies of infantry, com- manded respectively by Capt. Peter Hogg and Lieut. Jacob Van Braam.^' Besides the commanding officer and the tw^o company commandants, the force con- sisted of " five subalterns, two sergeants, six corporals, one drummer, and one hundred and twenty soldiers; one surgeon,^ and one Swedish gentleman, who was a volunteer."

On Tuesday, the 2d of April, at nnon, the force marched out of Alexandria with two wagons, and camped that night six miles from the town. From that time nothing of note occurred in fifteen days' marching, except that the detacliment was joined by a small company under Capt. Stephen,* bringing the total strength of the command up to about one hun- dred and fifty men.

Washington kept no regular journal on tl.o expe- dition, but he made hasty notes of many occurrences ; which notes were captured by the French at the bat- tle of the Monongahela in 175.5, and were by them preserved and published, though Washington said afterwards that they had distorted parts of them. One memorandum, dated April 19th, is to this effect: " Met an express who had letters from Capt. Trent, at the Ohio,'' demanding a reinforcement with all speed, as he hourly expected a body of eight hundred French. I tarried at Job Pearsall's for the arrival of the troops, where they came the next day. When I received the above expre-ss, I dispatched a courier to Col. Fry, to give him notice of it.

"Thc20ih.— CamcdowntoCol.Crcsap's[()ldTown, Md.] to order the detachment, and on my route had notice that the fort was taken by the French. That hews w.as confirmed by :Mi-. Ward, the ensign of Capt. Trent, who had been obliged to surrender to a body

- The same person who, in the preceding autumn, had accompanied Washington to Fort Le Btcnf as French interpreter.

3 Dr. Jamea Craik, aflerwards the f.imily iihysicinn of Washington, nnd his intimate and life-long friend.

* .\flerwards Gen. Stephen, of the Kevolutionar}' army, under Wash- iugton.

5 Capt. Trent appears to have attempted to conceal the fact that lie had absented lii'niself from his command at the Forks of the Ohio, leaving Ensign Ward in charge, an offense for which he was severely censured

:tialcd foi

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

of one thousand French and upwards,' under com- niaud of Capt. Contrecceur, who was come down from Venango with sixty bateaux and three hundred canoes, and who, having planted eighteen pieces of cannon against the fort, afterwards had sent him a summons to depart."

Ensign Ward, as before mentioned, arrived at Wills' Creek on the 22d. Washington, on receiving Ward's account of the surrender of the fort to the French, convened a council of war at Wills' Creek to deter- mine on the proper course to be pursued in this exi- gency. The council was held on the 23d, and decided "that it would be proper to advance as far as Bed- stone Creek, on Monongahela, about thirty-seven miles on this side of the fort, and there to raise a for- tification, clearing a road broad enough to pass with all our artillery and baggage, and there to wait for fresh orders." The reasons for this decision were, " First, That the mouth of Kedstone is the first con- venient place on the river Monongahela. Second, That stores are already built at that place for the provisions of the company, wherein our ammunition may be laid up; our great guns may be also sent by water whenever we should think it convenient to attack the fort. Third, We may ea.sily (having all these con- veniences) preserve our people from the ill conse- quences of inaction, and encourage the Indians, our allies, to remain in our interests." When the council had arrived at this decision, Ensign Ward was sent forward to acquaint Governor Dinwiddle with the facts as well as to make his own report, taking with him an interpreter, and one of the young Indians, while another Indian runner was sent to the Half- King, at the Ohio, to notify him of the projected ad- vance of the Virginians.^ " I thought it proper also," said Washington, " to acquaint the Governors of Mary- land and Pennsylvania of the news."

After a few brief preparations Washington's forces moved out on the path leading to the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny, cutting out the road as they proceeded ; so that it was not until the 9th of May that they reached the Little Crossings (Castleman's Elver). While they were at this place (May 11th) Washington sent out a reconnoitring party of twenty- five men under command of Capt. Stephen and En- sign Peyronie, with orders to scout along the line of advance, as far as Gist's place, "to inquire where La Force^ and his party were,— and in case they were itf

1 Ward overestimated the numbers of Contrec(cnr"8 force, as it -nas very natural that he sliould do, under tlie circumstances.

••; Thellalf-King had sent by some of his Indians to Washington, at Wills' Creels, an address or Biicecli with belts of wampnm. To tliat speech Washington now sent back by the runner a written reply, .as- suring him of the friendship and gratitude of the English, and that Uiey were moving towards the Ohio iu force, and clearing a road for a much larger army, with great guns. Ho also requested the Half-King to come up and meet him on the way, to assist him by his wise counsel. To this request Tanacharison responded by meeting Washington between the Yonghiogbeny and Gist's, as will be seen.

3 La Force was a Frenchman, who had been sent out from Tort du Qucsnc about the first of May with a small party of French aad Indians-

the neighborhood, to cease pursuing, and take care of themselves;" and, also, "to examine closely all the woods round about," and if any straggling Frenchman should be found away from the others, to capture, and bring him in to be examined for information. " We were exceedingly desirous," said Washington, " to know if there was any possibility of sending down anything by water, as also to find out some convenient place about the mouth of Red Stone Creek, where we could build a fort."

AVashington's forces remained three days at the Little Crossings. Some accounts have it that they made the long halt at this place for the purpose of building a bridge over the river, but this is rendered improbable by the following entry, having reference to the day on which they moved ou from their three days' encampment, viz. : "May the 12th. — Marched away, and went on a rising ground, where we halted to dry ourselves, for we had been obliged to ford a deep river, where our shortest men had water up to their arm-pits." On the same day Washington received, by courier, letters informing him that Col. Fry was at Winchester with upwards of one hundred men, and would start ia a few days to join the advance detachment ; also that Colonel Innis was-on the way with three hundred and fifty Carolinians. On the 16th the column met two traders, who said they were fleeing for fear of the French, — parties of whom had been seen near Gist's. These traders told Washington that they believed it to be impossible to clear a road over which wagons or artillery-pieces could be taken to the mouth of Red- stone Creek. On the 17th, Ensign Ward rejoined Wasliington, having come from Williamsburg, with a letter from the Governor, notifying him that Captain Mackay, with an independent company of one hun- dred men, exclusive of officers, was on the way, and that he might expect them at any day. Two Indians came in from "the Ohio" the same evening, and reported that the French at Fort du Quesne were ex- pecting reinforcements sufiicient to make their total force sixteen hundred men.

On the 18th the column reached the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny (Somerfield), where the com- panies encamped, and remained several days. The j halt at this place was necessary to wait for lower water in the river, which had been swollen by recent rains ; but besides this, the young commander wished to ex- amine the stream below, hoping to find that it was navigable for bateaux, or canoes of sufiicient size to carry cannon and stores. It is not improbable that the opinions so confidently expressed by the two fugi- ' tive traders, who came in on the 16th, and others, as to the impossibility of opening a practicable road for guns and heavy material to the mouth of Redstone Creek, had impressed him so strongly as to cause him

ostensibly for the purpose of capturing deserters; but Washington, who I had received information from an Indian runner sent by the Half-Kieig, I believed they had other purposes in view, and therefore ordered tbo

WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN OF 1754 IN THE YOUGHIOGHENY VALLEY.

to etitcrtaiu the idea of making iiis military base on tlie Youghiogheny instead of oa the Monongahela as first intended.

Whatever may have been his reasons, it is certain that Washington decided on, and made, the explora- tion, commencing the voyage on tlie 20th, in a canoe, "with Lieut. West, three soldiers, and one Indian." Following "the river along about half a mile," they were obliged to go ashore, where they met Peter Suver, a trader, who spoke discouragingly of their chances of finding a passage by water, " which," says Wash- ington, " caused me to alter my mind of causing canoes to be made; I ordered my people to wade, ns tlie waters were shallow enough, and continued myself going down the river in the canoe. . . . We gained Turkey Foot by the beginning of the night."

On the morning of the 21st they remained some time at Turkey Foot, " to examine the place, which we found very convenient to build a fort.' From there they passed down the river, finding nearly every variety of channel, sometimes rocky and rapid, and then still and deep, until at last, at a computed dis- tance of about ten miles below Turkey Foot, " it became so rapid as to oblige us to come ashore." Thus ended Washington's exploration of the Yough- iogheny, and then the pju-ty returned to the camp at the Great Crossings.

Upon the return of Col. Washington from his ex- ploring trip the troops were put in motion, and crossing the Youghiogheny without bridging (the high water having then in a great measure subsided), marched on northwestwardly towards the Great Meadows, at which place they arrived on the 24tli, at two o'clock in the afternoon. In the morning of that day, when the column was a few miles southeast of the Meadows, two Indian runners came in from the Ohio with a message from the Half-King saying that " the French army" wiis already on the march from Fort du Quesne to meet the advancing force of Wasliington, and also notifying him that Tanacharison and the other chiefs would soon be with him to hold council, as Wash- ington had requested in the dispatch sent to him from Wills' Creek.

On the same afternoon that the troops arrived at the Great Meadows, a trader came in saying that he had come from Gist's, where the evening before he had seen two Frenchmen ; he also knew that a strong French force was in the vicinity of Stewart's Cross- ings on the Youghiogheny. This report confirmed the news received from the Half-King, and thereupon Washington decided to remain for a time at the Meadows, and avail himself of the advantage otfered by the position. There were here, as he said in his notes, " two natural intrencbments," which he caused to be strengthened to some extent artificially, and

rhis soems to show thnl he then 1 niigitml plan of opemtions bj" m:il :iul of tlic Muuongnhelii.

I contemplation a change in M< Imse on tlie Y. ngliioghcMy

within these slight defenses he placed a part of the troops with the wagons. The troops worked two or three days in strengthening the position, and on the 27th of May Washington wrote : " We have, with nature's u.ssistance, made a good entrenchiuent, and by clearing the bushes out of the meadows, prepared a charming field for an encounter." Probably he never afterwards used so unmilitary an adjective in describ- ing the construction and surroundings. of a fortifica- tion.

On the 25th several small detachments were sent out from the camp with orders to reconnoitre the road- and the Indian trails, to examine the woods and every part of the country thoroughly, "and endeavor to get some news of the French, of their forces, and of their motions." But these parties returned in the evening of the same day without having made any discoveries. On the 26th a messenger (Mr. William Jenkins) arrived, bringing dispatches — though of no great importance — from Col. Fairfax, who, with Gov- ernor Dinwiddle, was then at Winchester.

Early on the morning of the 27th, Christopher Gist arrived from his plantation, and re|)0rted that at about noon on the preceding day a French detachment of about filly men had visited his house and committed considerable depredation there. He also said he had seen their tracks within five miles of the Virgin- ians' camp. On receipt of this information, Wash- ington sent out a detachment of seventy-five men under Capt. Hogg, Lieut. Mercer, and Ensign Pey- ronie, in search of the French force. Information had already been received that a party of Indians, under the friendly Half-King, had come up the Mo- nongahela, and was probably uot very far from the Great Meadows. On the evening of the 27th, an In- dian messenger from Tanacharison came to Wash- ington with the information that the Half-King — whose camp, he said, was only six miles away — had seen the tracks of two Frenchmen, which he followed stealthily, and had thereby discovered the French party encamped in a rocky ravine, secluded, and diffi- cult of access, and situated about half a mile from the trail.'

On receiving this intelligence, Washington was

- Tliat i-i, tlie path whicli had been slightly cleared by Capt. Trent, and the Ohio Company's party which had preceded him In the previous winter.

3 " On tlie27lh of JIny the Ilalf-Kirg sent Col. Washington Xolice that a Taity from the French .\niiy was hankering about his Camp, if ho would march some of his I'eople to join them, he did not doubt of cultiuK them off. Col. Washington inarched that Night and came up to the In- dians; one of the Indian Runnei« tracked the French Men's Feet and came up to their Lodgment ; they discovered our People about one hun- dred yards distant, flew to their Arms, and a small Engagement ensued. We lost one Man and another wounded; the French had Twelve killed and Twenty-one taken Prisonei-s, who are now in our Prison; the In- dians scalped many of the dead French, took up the Hatchet against them, sent their Scalps and a String of black Wampum to scveial other Tribes of Indians, Willi a desire that they should also take up tlio ITntchet agiiinst the French, which I hope tliey have done."— Iri/er of Goc. litiiritlilie In Cor. jramiltou, of A'nK»ifrn»i:i, lUtcil Jiuie 21, IjdJ.

<;«, ^

30

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

suspicious thiit the secret movements of the French Avere part of a stratagem to draw some of his forces away from the camp and then attack it. He there- fore ordered the ammunition to be placed in a safe position, under a guard strong enough to prevent it from capture in case of attack, and then set out im- mediately, with the rest of his men,' for the camp of tlie Half-King. The night was rainy and very dark; the path over which they traveled was narrow, rough, and hard to distinguish ; but they persevered, and in the morning at a little before sunrise reached the Half- ! King's camp,^ where, at a council, held with the old sachem, it was determined to proceed at once to attack i the French camp.

The party whose movements had been reported by I Gist and others was the " P'rench army," of whose departure from Fort Du Quesnc Washington had | been apprised. In some historical accounts of the 1 campaign it has been stated that it was under com- mand of M. La Force, but this was not the case ; it was commanded by M. de Jumonville,^ a French en- j sign, who was accompanied by La Force, but the lat- ! ter was simply a volunteer, and held no military command in the expedition. Afterwards the French autliorities and writers claimed that Jumonville him- self was not engaged in a military enterprise, but that he was merely an envoy or bearer of dispatches I

1 Mostaccounts have it that the force which Washington took with liim o;i th.1t niglit coosisted of only forty men ; biit the language of liis notes — tliougli not entirely clear — indicatis that the ntiuiber left to guard the ammunition was about forty,and that tlie reinaiuder of his force acci>m-

sjlr. Vc' Ii il,,-- t!i< .;ir rib" Uiir-Kih-'s camp on that night,

"near 11 'r''"y. about fifty rods

iii)rllr,> i' I lit nf the present towu-

^ y.ill. _ ■ I i: -.iiImii uf tlie orders given by M. de Contrecoeur

"B'--ii I III. i, i[. tain of a company belonging to the dctach-

nicht .4 I. ii , iiiiiiiii.l(.r-in-cliief at the Ohio Fort du Quesne, Presqn' Isk- and KiviCro aux Bceufs, liath given orders to M. de Jumon-' ville, an ensign of the troops, to depart immediately, with one officer, llireo cadets, one volunteer [La Force], one Englisli interpreter, and twenty-eight men, to go up as far as the nigh Lands, and to make what discovery he can ; lie shall keep along the river Monongahelu in Peiia- guas, as far as the Ilangard, after which he shall nuirch along until lie tinds the road which leads to that said to liave been cleared by the Eng- lish. As tlie Indians give out that the English are on their march to attack 110 (which we cannot believe, since we are at peace), should M. do Jumonville, contrary to our expectations, hear of auy attempt in- tended to be iiiiulc by tbe ICii^'li^li on tilt- lands bi'loiiging to the French

senger i ' i ■ i ■ . . ■, 1 all the dis-

nions, and al^n lu bring us an answer from llietii, witli all possible dili- gence, after it is read.

" If BI. de Jumonville should hear that tlio English intend to go on the other side of Ihe Great Mountain [the Alleghenies] lie shall not pass the High Lands, ^or we would not disturb tliem in the least, being de- sirous to keep lip that union which exists between the two crowns.

Indiai iug oi

ville I

I upm

nrd II

charged by the commandant at Fort du Quesne with the duty of delivering a communication to the com- manding officer of the English force; and that the military party which accompanied him was acting simply as his guard while performing this service. But if it was simply a guard to a peaceful envoy, then certainly its leader adopted a very strange cour e in lurking near Washington's encampment for two days, and hiding his men in an obscure and gloomy glen among rocks and brushwood.

It having been determined to attack Jumonville's party, Washington's men and Tanacharison's Indians left the headquarters of the latter, and marched " In- dian-file" to near the French camp,* where a line was formed, with the English on the right and the Indians on the left, and in tliis order the combined forces moved to the attack. It was not a complete surprise, for the French discovered their assailants before they were within rifle-range. The right, under Washing- ton, opened fire, and received that of the French. The conflict lasted only about a quarter of an hour, when the French .«urrendered. Their loss was ten killed and one wounded. Among the killed was JI. de Jumonville." All the dead men were scalped by Tanacharison's Iiidians. Washington's loss was one man killed and two wounded.

The prisoners, twenty-one in number (among whom were La Force, M. Drouillard, and two cadets), were marched to the Half-King's camp, and thence to the Great Meadows. Two days later, they were sent to Winchester, Va., with a guard of twenty men, under command of Lieutenant West, who was also accom- panied by Mr. Spindorph.

On the 30th, Washington "began to raise a fort with small palisadoes, fearing that when the French should hear the news of that defeat we might be at- tacked by considerable forces." The defenses which his men had constructed at the Great Meadows' camp prior to this, probably consisted of parapets, formed of logs (laid horizontally) and earth, along the crests of the " two natural intrenchments," which have al- ready been mentioned, and tlie discovery of which at the Great Meadows, together with the advantage of a small stream that flowed near them, seems to have been a principal reason for his selecting that

* "Jumonville's Camp," says Mr. Yecch, "is a place well known in our mouutains. It is near half a mile southward of Dunbar's Camp, and about five hundred yards eastward of Bi-nddock's road,— the same which Washington was then making. . . . There is not above ground in Fay- ette County a place so well calculated for concealment, and for secretly watching and counting Washington's little army as it would pass along the road, as this same Jumonville's Camp." The spot is now well kuowu by residents in that part of the county, and is frequently visited by strangei-s fi-om motives of curiosity.

5 The killing of Jumonville was stigmatized by the French as tho assassination uf a peaceful envoy, and their writers have covered thou- ~:iih1- .1 ]i,i-. > \\itli accusations against Washington as commander of 111- iiM Kii,^ i.i..<. Even a greater amount of writing h,i8 been dono

ly A iiji lilMcrianstorefutethosofalseallegations. But the charac-

I. r .1 w \ ins ,1. X needs no vindication, and certainly none will be

WASIIINGTONS CAMrAIGX OF 1734 IX THE YOUGIIIOGHENY VALLEY.

31

place as a site for liis iDrtitioil <:iiii|) and ti'iiiiKiraiv base of operations.

The little stockade, whicli War>liin<;toii built alU-r the figlit at Jumonville's camp, was evidently a very slight and |)rimitive affair, for on the 2d of June if. was completed, and religious services were held in it. In the previous evening the Half-King had arrived, bring- ing with him some twenty-five or thirty families of In- dians, who had tied from the lower Jlonongnhela and the neighborhood of Logstown forfcarofthe vengeance of the French. The fugitive party numbered between eighty and one hundred persons, including women and children. Among them was "Queen" Alliquippa and her son. Her heart had evidently been touched in its tenderest chord by AVashington's present of a bottle of rum to her in the preceding December, and now she came to place herself under his protection, she doubtless had visions of future favors from him. But the presence of these refugees was very embar- rassing to the young commander on account of pros- pective scarcity of provisions, and for many otiicr reasons; and the inconvenience was afterwards in- creased by the arrival of other parties of non-com- batant Indians. One of these was a party of Shaw- anese, who came to the fort on the 2d of June, and others came in on the 5th and 6th. Washington wislied to be disencumbered of these hangers-on, and tried to have a rendezvous of friendly Indians estab- lished at the mouth of the Redstone Creek, but did not succeed in effecting his purpose.

On the 6th of June, Christopher Gist arrived from Wills' Creek, with information that Col. Fry, com- manding officer of the Virginia regiment, had died at that place on the 30th of May while on his way to the Great Meadows with troojis. By his death Washing- ton succeeded to the command of the regiment. On the 9th, Major Muse arrived from Wills' Creek with the remainder of the regiment, and nine small swivel- guns, with ammunition for them. But although the la.st of the regiment had now arrived, the total force under Washington was but little more than three hundred men, in six companies, commanded respec- tively by Captains Stephen, Jacob Van Braam, Robert Stobo, Peter Hogg, Andrew Lewis,' Poison, and George Mercer. Among the subalterns were Lieuten- ants John Mercer and Waggoner, and Ensigns Pey- ronie and Tower. Major Muse, as a man of some military experience, was detailed as quarterma.ster, and Captain Stephen was made acting major.

Major Muse, on his arrival, reported that Captain Mackay, of the South Carolina Royal Independent Company, had arrived with his command at Wills' Creek, and was not far behind him on the march to Great Meadows. He (Mackay) arrived on the follow-

1 Afterwards Generni Lewifi, wlio fuuglit the buttle of Point Pleasant in Bunmore's war of 1774. He was a relatire of Washington, and it is said that in 1775 Ilie Litter recommended Iiim for ttic appointment wliirli lie himself soon after received, that of connnander-iu-chief of the .\incri-

ingday (June 10th), having with him a force of about one hundred men, five days' rations of flour, sixty cattle on the hoof, and a considerable supply of am- munition. As Capt. Mackay was a regular officer in the royal service, he displayed from the first a disin- clination to act under the orders of a "buckskin colonel" of Virginia provincial troops. This feeling extended to the private soldiers of the Carolina com- l>any, but no act of pronounced insubordination resulted from it.

Two days after the arrival of Capt. Mackay, some of Washington's scouts brought in word that they had discovered a French party, numbering, by estimate, about ninety men, between Gist's and Stewart's Cros- sings of the Youghiogheny. This intelligence caused the colonel to start out with about one hundred and thirty men and thirty Indians to find them ; but before leaving the meadows, he took the same pre- caution that he observed when he went out to attack the party under Jumonville,— that is, he directed all his ammunition and stores to be placed in the safest possible position within the palisade, and set a strong guard over it, with orders to keep the strictest watch until his return ; for he still feared that the reported movement by the French was part of a stratagem by which they hoped to capture the work in the absence of a large part of its defenders. On moving out with his party, however, he soon met an Indian party, who informed him that the alarm was unfounded, for, that instead of the reported party of ninety, there were but nine Frenchmen, and these were deserters. There- upon he returned to the camp, leaving a small party to take the deserters and bring them in, which they accomplished soon afterwards.

Finding that there was as yet no French force in his vicinity, Washington now resolved to advance towards Redstone, and accordingly, on the 16th, moved out on the Nemacolin path towards Gist's, taking with him his artillery pieces, some of the wagons, and all his men, except the Carolinians, under Mackay, who were left behind at the fort to guard the stores. This was done to avoid a possible conflict of authority with Mackay, who was indisposed to have his com- pany perform its .share of labor in clearing the way for the passage of the train.

This labor was found to be so great that the force under Washington was employed thirteen days in making the road pa.ssable from the fort to Gist's, though the distance was only thirteen miles. Before reaching Gist's (on the 27th) Capt. Lewis was sent ahead with Lieut. Waggoner, Ensign Mercer, and a detachment of seventy men, to attempt the opening of a practicable road beyond Gist's, towards Redstone. Another detachment, under Capt. Poison, was sent out in advance to reconnoitre.

On the 29th of June Washington arrived at Gist's, and there received information that a strong French force was advancing up the Monongahela. Tlioreupon, he at once called a council of war, at which it was re-

32

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

solved to concentrate all the forces at that point, and there await the French attack. Intrenchments were immediately commenced and pushed with all possible vigor ; a messenger was .sent towards Bedstone, to call in Lewis's and Poison's detachments, and an- other to the Great Meadows, with a request to Capt. Mackay to march his force without deiay to Gist's. He promptly responded ; and Lewis and Poison also came in the next morning, having cut through nearly eight miles of road from Gist's towards Redstone. On their arrival Washington called a second council of war, which reversed the decision of the first, and re- solved, without a dissenting voice, to abandon the work at Gist's and retreat to Wills' Creek, over the route by which they had advanced. This decision was at once acted on.

In the retreat, the means of transportation being very deficient,' it is said that "Colonel -Washington set a noble example to the officers by leading his own horse with ammunition and other public stores, leaving his baggage behind, and giving the soldiers four pistoles to carry it forward. The other officers followed this example. There were nine swivels, which were drawn by the soldiers of the Virginia regiment, over a very broken road, unassisted by the men belonging to the Independent Company [Mackay's], who refused to perform any service of the kind. Neither would they act as pioneers, nor aid in transporting the public stores, considering this a duty not incumbent on them as King's soldiers. This conduct had a discouraging effect upon the soldiers of the Virginia regiment, by dampening their ardor and making them more dis- satisfied with their extreme fatigue."^

The journey between Gist's and the Great Meadows, which Washington, on his outward marcli, had been unable to perforni in less than thirteen d.ays, was now made in less than two days, notwithstanding the insuf- ficiency of transportation and the severe labor which the men were obliged to perform in hauling the artil- lery pieces and military stores; and the retreating col- umn reached the fortified camp at Great Meadows on the l^t of July.

It had been the intention, as before noticed, to con- tinue the retreat to Wills' Creek, but on the arrival at the Meadows, Washington found that it was im- practicable to go on, for, says Sparks, " His men had become so much fiitigued from great labor and a de- ficiency of provisions, that they could draw the swivels no farther, nor carry the baggage on their backs. They had been eight days without bread, and at the Great Meadows they found only a few bags of flour. It was thought advisable to wait here, therefore, and fortify themselves in the best manner they could till

1 Sill-gent says, "Two miserable teams, and a few pack liorses being I tlicir means of tmnsporting their ammunition, tlie officers at once l.le'l their own steeds to the train; and, leaving half his baggage be- ind, Washington, for four pistoles, hired some of the sokliers to carry

they should receive supplies and reinforcements. They had heard of the arrival, at Alexandria, of two independent companies from New York, twenty days before, and it was presumed they must, by this time, have reached Wills' Creek. An express was sent to hasten them on with as much dispatch as possible."

When it had been decided to make a stand at the fortified camp at Great Meadows, Washington gave orders for the men to commence, without delay, to strengthen the rude defenses which had already been erected. More palisades were added ; the stockade was extended, and salient angles formed, and a broad but shallow ditch was made outside the fort, materi- ally adding to the strength of the work. Outside this ditch there was constructed a line of defense, similar in character to the modern rifle-pits, — but all joined in one extended trench, — further protected in front by a low parapet of logs, embanked with the earth thrown from the trench. The work was done under the supervision of Capt. Robert Stobo, who had had some I experience in military engineering. When completed, I Washington named it " Fort Necessity," as expressive of the necessity he was under to stand there and fight, ' because of his inability to continue the retreat to j Wills' Creek, as he had intended. The extreme scar- city of provisions, and other supplies too, made the name appropriate.

Washington's selection of a site for his fortification has been often and severely criticised by military ' men as being badly calculated for defense, and com- manded on three sides by high ground and closely approaching woods. The location was undoubtedly chosen partly on account of the peculiar conforma- tion of the ground, which V/ashington called " natural intrenchments," and which materially lightened the labor of construction, and still more on account of the small stream (a tributary of Great Meadows Run) which flowed by the spot, and across which, at one point, the palisade was extended, so as to bring it within the work, and furnish the defenders with an abundant supply of water, a consideration of vital importance if the fort was to be besieged.

The size and shape of Fort Necessity have often been described by writers, but the difl^erent accounts vary in a remarkable manner. Col. Burd, who vis- ited the ruin of the work in 1759, five years after its erection, says, under date of September 10th, in tliat year, " Saw Col. Washington's fort, which was called Fort Necessity. It is a small, circular, stockade, with a small house in the centre. On the outside there is a small ditch goes round it, about eight yards from the stockade. It is situated in a narrow part of the meadows, commanded by three points of woods. There is a small run of water just by it. We saw two iron swivels."

Sparks, in describing the fort and its location, says, " The space of ground called the Great Meadows is a level bottom, through which passes a small creek, and is surrounded bv hills of moderate and gi-adual

WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN OF 1754 IN THE YOUGHIOGHKNY VALLEY.

33

descent. This bottom, or gliide, is entirely level, covered with long grass and small bushes [Wash- ington mentioned the clearing away of the bushes which covered the ground wlicn the work was com- menced], and varies in width. At the point where the fort stood it is about two hundred and fifty yards j wide from the base of one hill to that of the oi)posite. j Tlie position of the fort was well chosen, being about [ one hundred yards from the upland or wooded ground on the one side, and one hundred and fifty on the other, and so situated on the margin of the creek as to aflbrd easy access to the water. At one point the high ground comes within sixty yards of the fort, and this was the nearest distance to which an enemy could approach under shelter of trees. The outlines of the fort were still visible when the spot was visited by the writer in 1830, occupying an irregular square, the dimensions of which were about one hundred feet on each side. One of the angles was prolonged farther than the others, for the purpose of reaching the water in the creek. On the west side, next to the nearest wood, were three entrances, protected by stout breastworks or bastions. The remains of a ditch, stretching round the south and west sides, were also distinctly seen. The site of this fort, named Fort Necessity from the circumstances attending its erec- tion and original use, is three or four hundred yards south of wliat is called the National road, four miles irom the foot of Laurel Hill, and fifty miles from Cumberland, at Wills' Creek." If Sparks had been in the least aci)uainted with military matters, be probably would not have spoken of a fortified posi- tion as being "well chosen" when it was commanded on three sides by higher ground, in no place more than one hundred and fifty yards distant, with the opportunity for an enemy to approach on one side within sixty yards under cover of woods.

The best, and it is believed the only reli.ible de- scription of the form and dimension of the fort, is found in Vcech's " Jlonongahelaof Old," as follows: "The engraving and description of Fort Necessity given in Sparks' Washington are inaccurate. It may have presented that diamond shape in 1830, but in 1816 the senior author' of these sketches made a regular survey of it with compass and chain. It was in the form of an obtuse-angled triangle of one hun- dred and five degrees, having its base or hypothenuse upon the run. The line of the base was about midway sected or broken, and about two perches of it thrown across the run, connecting with the base by lines of about the same lengih, nearly perpendicular to the opposite lines of the triangle. One line of the angle was six, the other seven perches; the base line eleven perches long, including the section thrown across the run. The lines embraced in all about fifty square perches of land, or nearly one-third of an acre. The embankments then (1816) were nearly three feet

1 FreoQiau Lewis.

above the level of the meadow. The outside "trenches" were filled up. But inside the lines were ditches or excavations about two feet deep, formed by throwing the earth up against the palisades. There were no traces of ' bastions' at the angles or entrances. The junctions of the meadow or glade with the wooded upland were distant from the fort on the southeast about eighty yards, on the north about two hundred yards, and on the south about two hundred and fifty yards. Northwestward, in the direction of the Turn- pike road, the slope was a very regular and gradual rise to the high ground, which is about four hundred yards distant."

Leaving Washington and his little army in occu- pation of their frail defenses at the Great Meadows, let us take a brief glance at the enemy which was approaching them from Fort du Quesne by way of the Monongahela Valley.

The French force, which was marching in pursuit of Washington, was commanded by M. Coulon de Villiers, from whose journal of the campaign a few extracts are here given : "June the 26th. — Arrived at Fort du Que.sne about eight in the morning, with the several [Indian] nations, the command of which the General had given me. At my arrival, was informed that M. de Contrecreur had made a detachment of five hundred French, and eleven Indians of different nations on the Ohio, the command of which he had given to Chevalier le Mercier, who was to depart the next day. As I was the oldest officer, and com- manded the Indian nations, and as my brother- had been assassinated, M. de Contrecccur honored me with that command, and M. le Mercier, though de- prived of the command, seemed very well pleased to make the campaign under my orders

" The 28th.— M. de Contrecccur gave me my orders, the provisions were distributed, and we left the fort at about ten o'clock in the morning. I began from that instant to send out some Indians to range about by land to prevent being surprised. I posted myself at a short distance above the finst fork of the river Mo- nongahela, though I had no thought of taking that route. I called the Indians together and demanded their opinion. It was decided that it was suitable to take the river Monongahela, though the route was longer.

" The 29th. — Mass was said in the cami>, after which we marched with the usual precaution.

" 30th.— Came to the Hangard, which was a sort of fort built with logs, one upon another, well notched in, about thirty feet in length and twenty in breadth ; and as it was late, and would not do anything without consulting the Indians, I encamped about two mus- ket-shots from that place. At night I called the sa- chems together, and we consulted upon what was best to be done for the safety of our periaguas (large ca-

- Meaning U. do JumoDvlIlc,

I Villiers' bair-brolli.;r.

34

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

noes), and of the provisions we left in reserve, as also what guard should be left to keep it.

" July the 1st. — Put our periaguas in a safe place. Our effects, and everything we could do without, we took into the Hangard, where I left one good sergeant, with twenty men and some sick Indians. Ammunition was afterwards distributed, and we began our march."

The force of De Villiers consisted of five hundred Frenchmen, and about four hundred Indians.' March- ing from the Hangard iu the morning of the 1st of July (at which time Washington's force was approach- ing the Great Meadows on its retreat from Gist's plan- tation) the French and Indian column moved up the valley of Redstone Creek (over nearly the same route which was afterwards traversed by Col. Burd's road) towards Gist's, where De Villiers expected to find Washington, his Indian scouts having reported the English force to be at that place.

"At about eleven o'clock," continues the journal, " we discovered some tracks, which made us suspect we were discovered. At three in the afternoon, hav- ing no news of our rangers, I sent others, who met those sent before, and not knowing each other, were near upon exchanging shots, but happily found their mistake; they returned to us and declared to have been at the road which the English were clearing ;- that they were of opinion no body had been that way for three days. We were no longer in doubt of our proceedings being known to the English."

At daybreak in the morning of the 2d the French force left its bivouac of the previous night and marched towards Gist's. "After having marched some time we stopped, for I was resolved to proceed no farther until I had positive news; wherefore I sent scouts upon the road. In the meanwhile came some of the Indians to me whom we had left at the Han- gard; they had taken a prisoner, who called himself a deserter. I examined him, and threatened him with the rope if he otTered to impose on me. I learned that the English had left their post [at Gist's] in order to rejoin their fort, and that they had taken back their cannon. Some of our people, finding that the English liad abandoned the camp, we went thereto, and I sent some men to search it through- out. They found several tools and other utensils hidden in many places, which I ordered them to carry away. As it was late, I ordered the detach- ment to encamp there.' . . . We had rain all night."

1 Tho force of " five Immlretl French imd ekfen Iiuliiins," wliicli De "VilHcrs mentions in his joumnl as hiiving been detaolieil under com- mand of Mercier for tliis .-xpr'.iiiioii, Iiail been an{;niented by the large Indian force wliicli I)e YilljciB brought « ith him down the Allegheny to Fort du Quesne. - It will be recollected that Capt. Lewis, with about seventy men, bad ) attempt tlie opening of a road that thoy were recalled on the 29tli. It is •Niits had come upon some part of the work hwest of Gist's, but not the track between

been sent forward on the 27th

When day broke on the morning of the 3d of July the weather was still wet and gloomy, but De Villiers moved forward at once with the main body, scouting parties having been sent in advance the previous evening. The rain continued, and increased during the long hours of the march towards Fort Necessity, but the French column pressed on with energj', and with all possible speed, for, said De Villiers, "I fore- saw the necessity of preventing the enemy in their works." It also appears that he took the pains to ride away from the road into the woods, to make a flying visit to the rocky defile where Juuwnviile had lost his life five weeks before. "I stopped," he says, "at the place where my brother had been assassin- ated, and saw there yet some dead bodies," and then proceeds : " When I came within three-quarters of a league from the English fort I ordered my men to march in columns, every officer to his division, that I might the better dispose of them as necessity would require." His column was now within striking dis- tance of the fort, after a drenching and dreary march of seven hours from Gist's.

Meanwhile, at Fort Necessity, Washington had been apprised of the arrival of the French at Gist's on the 2d, and had been constantly on the alert during the night. Not long after sunrise on the 3d, some of the advance scouts of the French were seen, and one of Washington's men on picket was -brought in wounded, but after this three or four hours passed without further demonstrations. In the middle of the forenoon word came by scouts that the enemy in strong force was within two hours' march, and after- wards reports of their progress were brought in from time to time. Washington formed his forces in line of battle outside tho defenses, awaiting the enemy's appearance, and hoping to induce him to attack in the open field. Finally, at a little before noon the ^ French appeared in the edge of the woods towards

bis pursuit wore intrenching themselves at Gist's, 5t. de Villicre dis- encumbered himself of all bis heavy stores at the Hangard, atid leaving a sergeant and a few men to guard them and the periagnas, rushed on in the Hi'jhf, cheered by the hope that he was abi'Ut to .ncbievc a brilliant

tation' fi;i-r- ■ 'i ih.' i ,i!_..i li.h jl,|ii L;v;iy dawn revealed the

rude, liiill ' ■ I ! I . I , ■ ■ f I \\ 1 : 1 I I I ilicre begun to erect. Thislliil _. u.ral fire. There was

noresi ,i:. , ; . > I ., i . ■ ,i; . i I ,; . ...l .Imgrined, De Villiers

was about tn retrace his t-ti-ps, « hen up cunics a half-starved deserter from the Great Meadows, and discloses to him the wbereahoutB and des- titute condition of Washington's forces."

But De Villiers says the deserter was brought to bim while he was on the march to Gist's, and from him he learned that the camp at that place had beOQ abandoned by Washington, who bad tiken bis cannon with him; that, having learned this, they went to the place and "searched it throughout," finding tools and utensils concealed there ; and finally that, instead of reaching Gist's place iu ''the gray dawn" of the second of July, they arrived there so late in the day that the commander decided to go no farther, and nmde his camp there for the night. As to the statement that the Fjcnch, on coming to the stockade at Gist's, " at once invested it and gave a general fire," it is hardly to he supposed that an officer of De Villiers' experience would have shown sujb headlong im- pulsiveness as to pour a volley of musketry against the inanimate logs when no living thing was iu sight.

WASHINGTON'S CAMPAIGN OF 1754 IN THE YOUGHIOGHENY VALLEY. 35

the northwest and began firing at long range, but did no execution. After a time, finding tliat the enemy mnnife.sted no disposition to make a general attack. Col. Washington withdrew his men within the defenses, the Carolinians occupying the ritle-pit trenches behind the low log parapet which formed the outer line (though they were afterwards driven out, not by the enemy's fire, but the torrents of rain that inundated the trenches in which they were posted). The French, finding their fire ineffectual from their distant position in the woods to the north- west,' moved to the left, where, on the eastern and southeastern side of the fort, the forest-line was within fair musket-range of the work. From this new posi- tion they opened fire with more effect ; the battle be- came general, and continued through the remainder of the day. An account of the conflict at Fort Ne- cessity is thus given by Sparks :

"At eleven o'clock they [the French] approached the fort and began to fire, at the distance of six inm- dred yards, but without eff'ect. Col. Washington had drawn up his men on the open and level ground out- side of the trenches, waiting for the attack, which he presumed would be made as soon as the enemy's forces emerged from the woods, and he ordered his men to reserve their fire till they should be near enough to do execution. The distant firing was sup- poseil to be a stratagem to draw Washington's men into the woods, and thus take them at a disadvantage. He suspected the design, and maintained his post till he found the French did not incline to leave the woods and attack the fort by an assault, as he sup- posed they would, considering their superiority of numbers. He then drew his men back within the trenches, and gave them orders to fire according to their discretion, as suitable opportunities might pre- sent themselves. The French and Indians remained on the side of the rising ground which was nearest to the fort, and, sheltered by the trees, kept up a brisk fire of musketry, but never appeared in the open plain below.

" The rain fell heavily through the day, the trenches

* Do Vniiere' nccount of ttie opening of tlie fight was as follows: *' As we had no knowlodne of tho place, wo prosonted our linnk to the fort when thpy began to tiro upon us, and almost at the same time I perceived the English on the right, in order of hatlle, and coming towards us. Tlio Indians, as well us ourselves, set np a gie;it cry, and advanced towards them, hut they did not give us time to firo upon tlrem before they shel- tered themselves in an iutrenchment which was adjoining to their fort, after which we aimed to invest the fort, which was advantageously enough situated in a meadow within a musket-shot from the woods. Wo drew as near to them as possible that we might not expose his Majesty's subjects to no purpose. Tlie Are was very hrisk on both sides, auil I chose that place which seemed to me the most proper in cose we should be exposed to a sally. We fired so briskly as to put out (if I may use the expression) tho fire of their cannon with our musket-shot." But, concerning the first part of tlicaliove account by Be Villiers, Washington afterwards wrote: *' I cannot help remarking on Villiers' account of the battle of and transaction at the Meadows, as it is very extraordinary, and not less erroneous than inconsistent. lie says the French received the first fire. It is well known that in- received it at six hundred prices distance."

were filled with water, and many of the arms of Col.

Washington's men were out of orrler and used with

dilliculty. In this way the battle continued from

eleven o'clock in the morning till eight at night,

when the French called and recpiested a parley.'

Suspecting this to be a feint to procure the admission

1 of an officer into the fort, that he might discover their

condition, Col. Wa-shington at first declined listening

to the proposal ; but when the call was repeated, with

: the additional request that an officer miglit be sent to

them, engaging at the same time their parole for his

I safety, he sent out Capt. Van Braam, the only i)erson

I under his command that could speak French except

j the Chevalier de Peyronie, an ensign in the Virginia

1 regiment, who was dangerously wounded and disabled

from rendering any service on the occasion. Van

Braam returned, and brought with him from M. de

Villiers, the French commander, proposed articles of

1 capitulation. These he read and pretended to inter-

j pret, and some changes having been made by mutual

j agreement, both parties signed them about mid-

! night."

j It was a mortifying close to Washington's first cam- paign, and the scene must have been a most dismal one when he signed the capitulation at dead of night, amid torrents of rain, by the light of a solitary splut- tering candle,-' and with his dead and wounded men around him ; but there was no alternative, and he had the satisfaction at least of knowing that he had done his best, and that all his officers, with a single exception,* had behaved with the greatest coolne.ss and bravery.

The articles of capitulation were of course written in French. The following translation of them shows the terms granted to Washington, viz. :

" AuTici.F 1. — Wc grant leave to the English commander to retire with all his garrison, and to return peaceably into his

j 2 Tho account given by De Villiers of the closing scenes of the bottle, and of tho call for a parley, is as follows : " Towards six at night tho fire j of the enemy increased with more vigor than ever, and lasted until i light. Wo briskly relumed their fire. We took particular caro losecuro I our posts to keep the Knglish fast up in their fort all night ; anti after hav- ing fixed ourselves in the best position wo could we let the English know that if tliey Wi)Hld speak to us we would stop firing. They accepted tlio proposal; there came a captain to tho place wliere I was. I sent M. lo Mercier to receive him, and I went to the Meadow, where I told liim that as wo were not at war we were very willing to t.ave llicni from (lie cruel- ties to wliich they exposed themselves on : nni r ih. Tn. linns; hut

if they were stubborn we would take auav i i" i! m i < ;iis of es- caping; that we consented to be favorable t. ■ ' '1 ' ' i-wewere

come only to revenge my brother's ass.-\B~ii);iti n, lu I i - ' !]-'■ them to ; quit the lands of the king my master. . . ."

j 3 An officer who was present at the capitulation wrote: "When Mr.

I Van Braam returned with the French proposnlswe wereoMiged to take

the sense of them from hi.<; mouth ; it rained so hard that ho could not

give us a written translation of them, and we could scarcely keep the

I candle lighted to read them by."

♦ When, in the following .\ugn8t, tho Virginia House of Burgesses passed a vote of thanks to Wtishington and his oflicors "for their bravery I and gallant defense of their country" at Fort Necessity, tho names of all j the ofTicers were mentioned except that of the major of the legiment, j who wos charged with cowardice in the battle, and Cai)t. Van Braam, I who was believed to have acted a treacherous part in interpretinj^ the

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

1 country, nnd iiromisc to hinder bis receiving any insult n us French, and to restrain, as much as shall be in our

■•AuTicLf: 2. — It shall be permitted him to go out and Ih him all that belongs to them except the artillery,

illin? thereby

: the

the honors of ■

1 that wc

" AnTicLE I.— That as soon as the articles are signed by both parties the English colors shall be struck.

"Article 5. — That to-murrow, at break of day, a detachment of French shall go and make the garrison file off, and take pos- session of thc.fort.

"Article G. — As the English have but few oxen or horses left, they are at liberty to hide their effects and to come again and search for them when they have a number of horses suf- ficient to carry them off, and th:it for this end they may have what guards they please, on condition that they give their word of honor to work no more on any buildings in this place, or any part on this side of the mountains.

".■iiiTiCLE 7. — And as the English have in their power one ofiiccr, two cadets, and most of the prisoners made at the as- sassination of M. de Jumonville, and promise to send them back with a safe guard to Fort du Quesne, situate on the Ohio, for surety of their performing this ai tide, as well as this treaty, MM. Jaeob Van Braam and Robert Stobo, both captains, shall be delivered as hostages till the arrival of our French and Cnna- dians above mentioned. "NVe oblige ourselves, on our side, to give an escort to return these two officers in safety, and expect to have our French in two months and a half at farthest."

The capitulation was signed by Washington, Mac- kay, and Villiers. The latter had cunningly caused the articles to he so worded that the English officers (who knew nothing of the French language) were made to sign an apparent acknowledgment that the killing of Jumonville' was an act of assafssinafion. It was suspected that Van Braam, the so-called inter- preter, knowingly connived at the deception, and this opinion was firmly held by Washington, who after- wards wrote in reference to it as follows : " That we were willfully or ignorantly deceived by our inter- preter in regard to the word assassination I do aver, and will to my dying moment, so will every officer that was prfesent. The interpreter was a Dutchman, little acquainted with the English tongue, therefore might not advert to the tone and meaning of the wijrd in English ; but whatever his motives were for so doing, certain it is he called it the deaih or the loss of the Sieur Jumonville. So wc received and so we understood it, until, to our great surprise and mnrtiflcation, we found it otherwise in a literal trans- lation."

The numbers of the English forces engaged in the battle at the Great Meadows are not precisely known. The Virginia regiment went in three hundred strong, including officers, and their loss in the engagement was twelve killed and forty-three wounded.- Capt.

the English.'

"consent to sign lliat they

Mackay's company numbered about oue hundred, but its losses in killed and wounded were not of- ficially st.ated. On the French side, according to the statement of De Villiers, the losses were two French- man and one Indian killed, fifteen Frenchmen and two Indians seriously and a number of others slightly wounded.

On the 4th of July, at break of day, the troops of Washington filed out of the fort with drums beating and colors flying, and (without any transportation for their effects other than was aflbrdcd by the backs and shoulders of the men, and having no means of carry- ing tlieir badly wounded except on improvised stretch- ers) moved sadly away to commence their weary jour- ney of seventy miles over hills and streams to Wills' Creek.

Upon the evacuation of the fort by Washington the French took possession, and immediately proceeded to demolish the work, while " M. le Mercier ordered the cannon of the English to be broken, as also the one granted by capitulation, they not being able to carry it away." The French commander very prudently ordered the destruction of some barrels of rum which were in the fort, to guard against the disorder and perhaps bloodshed which would probably have en- sued if the liquor had been allowed to fall into the hands of the Indians.

De Villiers felt no little anxiety lest the expected reinforcements to Washington should arrive, which might place him in an unpleasant position and re- verec the fortunes of the day. He therefore lost no time, and took his departure from the Great Meadows at as early an hour as possible, and marched about two leagues before he encamped for the night. On the 5th, at about nine o'clock in the forenoon, he arrived at Gist's, where he demolished the stockade which Washington had partially erected there, "and after having detached M. de la Chauvignerie to bum the houses round about," continued on the route to- wards Redstone, to a point about three leagues north- west of Gist's, where his forces made their night bivouac. In the morning of the 6th they moved at an early hour, and reached the mouth of Redstone at ■ ten o'clock. There they " put their periaguas in order, victualed the detachment, carried away the reserve of provisions which they had left there, found several things which the English had hidden," and then, after burning the " Hangard" store-house, embarked, and went down tlie Monongahela. In the passage down the river, says De Villiers, " we burned down all the settlements we found," and about four o'clock in the afternoon of the 7th of July they arrived at Fort du Quesne.

As to the manner of the departure of Washington's troops from the surrendered fort, De Villiers said, "The number of their dead and wounded moved me to ]Mty, notwithstanding my resentment for their

BRADDOCKS EXPEDITION IN 1755.

37

hnving in such a manner taken away my brother's life. The savages, who in everything had adhered to my wishes, claimed the right of plunder, but I re- strained them ; however, tlie English being fright- ened (led, and left their tents and one of their colors." But Washington, commenting on these statements of De Villiers, said, in a letter written not long after- wards, "That we left our bagg.ige and horses at the Uleadows is certain ; that there was not even a possi- bility to bring them away is equally certain, as wc had every horse belonging to the camp killed or taken away during the action, so that it was impracticable to bring anything otT that our shoulders were not able to bear, and to wait there was impossible, for we had scarce three days' provisions, and were seventy miles from a supply, yet to say that we came off precipi- tately is absolutely false, notwithstanding they did, contrary to the articles, suffer their Indians to pillage our baggage' and commit all kinds of irregularity. Wc were with them until ten o'clock the next day ; we destroyed our powder and other stores, nay, even our private baggage, to prevent its falling into their hands, as wc could not bring it off. When we had got about a mile from the place of action we missed two or three of the wounded, and sent a party back to bring them up; this is the party he speaks of. We brought them all safe oft", and encamped within three miles of the Jleadows. The.se are circum- stances, I think, that make it evidently clear that we were not very apprehensive of danger. The colors lie speaks of as left were a large flag of immense size and weight; our regimental colors were brought off, and are now in my possession."-'

From his camping-ground, three miles southeast of the demolished fort, the Virginia regiment, with Mackay's South Carolinians, moved forward in the morning of the 5th of .luly, and fording the Youghio- gheny at the Great Crossings, retraced their steps over the route previously traveled, and reached Wills' Creek after a slow and very toilsome journey. From that place Washington went to Alexandria, and the "Virginia troops returned to their homes. Mackay's

1 "Wo nU know tliat the Froiicli are n people tliat never pny any re- gard to treaties lou?:er than tlie.v ninl tlicni consistent witli tlieir interest, anil this troalv [iho Fort S.n-ssity rapitnlation articles] tliey brolje ini- mediatt'ly, iv iriiiuj iln li. ;i m- i. m h-li and destroy everything onr people liit'l. ' -i . : I' II- r . tiiat uur wounded should meet

with no nil „ III Col. J.iiiia Iiiaa lo Gov.

Mtapiua	s Unit	the Half King	Tiir.acliaris
W,.hingto„-	SRldlit	vasamil.laryc	onininnder.	iud freely	expressed that
opiiuon to the India	1 agent and interpreter, Con	nid Weise.	who reiwrted

it as follows: "Tile colonel [Washington] was a good-nature<l man, but h:id no e.x-

would have tliein evei-y day upon the scotil. and to attack the enemy by themselves, but would by no means take advice frx>Di the Indians, lie lay in one place from one full uioon to the other, without making any furtitications except that little thing on the Meadow, whereas had ho taken advice and built such fortifications as he [Tanacliarisun] advised kim, he might easily have bent otT the French. But the French in the eugagement," he said, "acted like cowards, and the English like fools."

Carolina company remained at Wills' Creek, and to- gether with two independent companies from New York, — all under command of Col. James Innes, — erected the fortification afterwards called " Fort Cum- berland." This was then the western outpost of Eng- lish power, and in all the country west of the moun- tains there was left r.o bar to Freiuli oecui'atii n and supremacy.

CHAPTER VI.

i;i!Ari|iiH'K'.S liXPKDITIOX IX 1705.

' The news of Washington's defeat, and the conse- quent domination of the French over the broad terri- ! tory west of the AUeghenies, was forwarded without delay to England, where it produced a general alarm I and excitement, and roused the ministry to a dcter- 1 mination to retrieve the disaster and expel the French, i at whatever cost, from the valleys of the Mononga- hela and Allegheny Rivers. In pursuance of this de- termination, it was decided to send out a military I force, to march from the Potomac to the " Forks of ' the Ohio," there to wrest from the French, by force ' of arms, their most menacing possession, — Fort du ! Quesne.-'

The expeditionary force, which was intended to be a very formidable one (for that early day), was to be i composed of the Forty-fourth and Forty-eighth Royal Regiments of Foot,* commanded respectively by Col. Sir Peter Hulket and Col. Thomas Dunbar, with some other troops to be raised in Virginia and other American provinces. The command of the expedi- tion was given to Major-General Edward Braddock, of the regular British army, who was also made commander-in-chief of all his JIajcsty's forces in America. { Gen. Braddock sailed from Cork, Ireland, on the 14th of January, with the two regular regiments, on board the fleet of Admiral Keppel, of the British I navy. The fleet arrived iu Hampton Roads on the I 20th of February, and the general, with the admiral, disembarked there and proceeded to Williamsburg, Va., for conference with Governor Dinwiddle. There, also, the general met his quarterma.ster-gcneral. Sir John Sinclair, who had preceded him to America, and had already visited Fort Cumberland to make the preliminary arrangements for the campaign. "Vir- ginia levies" had already been raised for the purpose of being incorporated with the Forty-fourth and Forty-eighth Regiments, and these levies had been ordered to Alexandria, whither, also, the fleet wa-s ordered for disembarkation of the troops.

» There were, however, two other expeditions projected,— one against Kiagara anil Fronten;ic, under Gen. Shirley, and another against Crown Point, under Gen. William Johnson ; hut the principal one was that in- tended for the reduction of Fort dii Qiiosne.

■< These regiments, however, were far from being full, numbering only about tive hundred men each.

38

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.

Leaving Williamsburg, Gen. Braddock, Sir John Sinclair, and the admiral arrived on the 26lh at Alex- andria, which place was the headquarters of the ex- pedition for nearly two months, during which time (on the 14th of April) a council was held there, com- posed of the commander-in-chief, Admiral Keppel, Gov. Dinwiddle, of Virginia, Gov. Shirlej', of Mas- sachusetts, Gov. Delaucey, of New York, Gov. Morris, of Pennsylvania, and Gov. Sharpe, of Maryland ; at which conference the plan of the campaign' was de- cided on, and arrangements made to facilitate the for- warding of the provincial troops destined for the ex- pedition.

Sir John Sinclair was dispatched from Alexandria soon after his arrival with orders to proceed to Win- chester, Va., and thence to Fort Cumberland, to com- plete all arrangements for the army's transportation. By his advice Braddock adopted the plan of moving his force from Alexandria in two divisions, viz.: one regiment and a portion of the stores to proceed to Winchester, whence a new road was nearly completed to Fort Cumberland, and the other regiment, with the remainder of the stores and the artillery, to move to the fort (which had been designated as the general rendezvous) by way of Frederick, Md. Accordingly, on the 9th of April, Sir Peter Halket left Alexandria for the fort, by way of Winchester, with six com- panies of the Forty-fourth Regiment, leaving the other four companies behind under command of Lieut. -Col. Gage^ to escort the artillery. On the 18th Col. Dunbar, with the Forty-eighth, marched for Frederick, Md., and the commander-in-chief left Alexandria for the same place on the 20th, leaving Gage to follow with the artillery. When Dunbar arrived at Frederick he found that there was no road to Cumberland through Maryland,'' and accordingly, on the 1st of May, he recrossed the Potomac, struck the Winchester route, and nine days later was in the neighborhood of the fort. " At high noon on the 10th of May, while Halket's command was already encamped at the common destination, the Forty- eighth was startled by the passage of Braddock and his staff through their ranks, with a body of light- horse galloping on each side of his traveling chariot, in haste 'to reach Fort Cumberland. The troops saluted, the drums rolled out the Grenadiers' March, and the cortege passed by. An hour later they heard

I The council, liowcvei , liad renlly nothing to do willi the adoiition of he plan of operations, whicli was made entirely according to the niar- inet ideas and opiniMnsof the conunaniler-iu-cliief.

= The same Gagu « lu lui major-general commanded the British forces n Boston in 1775.

■■' Ca|it. Ornie, in his journal of the expedition, s.iys, " The general rdered a bridge to be built over the Antietuni, which being furnished nd provision laid upon the road Col. Duubar marched with his regiment rum Frederick on the 2Sth of April, and about ttiis time the bridge over heOpeccon was tiuished for the pass;i^ I II, ■ n ■ ill. i \ . atid floats were milt ou all the rivers and creeks." I, \ i, , im e mentioned

5 the same historic stream whose lu.ii-r niK-ssed the ter-

ific battle between the Union and L.tiii 1 i ,i, l,..-:. ler McClellan

till Lee, on the 17tb of SeptemLer, ISUJ.

the booming of the artillery which welcomed the gen- eral's arrival, and a little later themselves encamped on the hillsides about that post." The artillery es- corted by Gage arrived at the fort on the 20th.

Arriving at the fort on the 10th, the general re- mained there about one month, during which time his expeditionary force was completed and organized. Two companies, Rutherford's and Clarke's, had been stationed at the fort during the winter, and were still there. The Forty-fourth and Forty-eighth regulars had been augmented to a total of fourteen hundred- men by the addition of Virginia and Maryland levies at Alexandria. A company of Virginia light-horse, under command of Capt. Stewart, acted as the gen- eral's body-guard. A body of seventy provincials was formed into two companies of pioneers, each having a captain, two subalterns, and two sergeants, and with these was also a very small company of guides. A lieutenant, Mr. Spendelow, and two midshipmen from Admiral Keppel's fleet were present with about thirty sailors to have charge of the cordage and tackles, necessary for the building of bridges and the hoisting of artillery pieces and other heavy material over precipices. The other provincial troops brought the total number up to about two thousand one hun- dred and fifty, including officers, but exclusive of wag- oners and the usual complement of non-combatant camp-followers, among whoin were a number of women. There were eight friendly Indians who ac- companied the expedition.

The forces of Gen. Braddock were brigaded by his orders as follows :

First Brigade, commanded by Sir Peter Halket, composed of

The Forty-fourth Regiment of Regulars.

Capt. John Rutherford's ] Independent Companies

Capt. Horatio Gates' ' J of New York.

Capt. William Poison's Company of Pioneers and Carpenters.

Capt. William Peyronie's Virginia Rangers.

Capt. Thomas Waggoner's Virginia Rangers.

Capt. Eli Dagworthy's Maryland Rangers.

Second Brigade, commanded by Col. Thomas Dun- bar, composed of

The Forty-eighth Regiment of Regulars.

Capt. Paul Demerie's South Carolina detachment.

Capt. Dobbs' North Carolina Rangers.

Capt. Mercer's Company of Carpenters and Pio- neers.

Capt. Adam Stephen's ^

Capt. Peter Hogg's ;• Virginia Rangers.

Capt. Thoma.s Cocke's )

Capt. Andrew Lewis had been sent with his com- pany of Virginians to the Greenbrier River for the protection of settlers there ; but he afterwards rejoined Braddock's column on its way to Fort du Quesne.

vards Major-General Gates, to whom Burgoj-ne surrendered r

BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITION IN 1755.

39

The fielil-ofTicers under Brnddock were Lieutenant- Colonels Burton and Gage ; Majors Chapman and Sparks; Brigade-Major Francis Halket; Major Sir John Sinclair, deputy quartermaistcr-general ; Mat- thew Leslie, assistant quartermaster-general. The secretary to the commanding general was William Shirley, and his aides-de-camp were Capt. Robert Orme, George Washington,' and Roger Morris. Christopher Gist and Nathaniel Gist, his son, ac- companied the expedition as principal guides. George Croghan and .-\ndrew Montour were with the general as Indian interpreters.

" The soldiers were ordered to be furnished with one new spare shirt, one new pair of stockings, and one new pair of shoes ; and Osnabrig waistcoats and breeches were provided for them, as the excessive heat would have made the others insupportable; and the commanding officers of companies were desired to provide leather or bladders for the men's hats."'^

The transportation which was collected at Fort Cumberland for the use of Braddock's force consisted of one hundred and ninety wagons and more than fifteen hundred horses. When he landed in Virginia he expected that " two hundred wagons and one hun- dred and fifty carrying-horses" would be furnished by the provincial authorities, but when he arrived at Frederick, Md., lie found that not more than a tenth part that number had been raised, and that some of these even were in an unserviceable condition. Upon learning this he burst out in fierce invective against the inefficiency, poverty, and lack of integrity among the provincials, and declared that the expedition was at an end, for that it was impracticable to proceed without one hundred and fifty wagons, and a corre- sponding number of horses at the very least. But Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who was present at Frederick, told the general that the Pennsylvania farmers were able to furnish the necessary transportation, and that he (Franklin) would contract for a specified sum to

1 After liis return from the Fort Kocessity cnmpuign, Cid. Wnsliing- toii's rank, ns well as tliat of other coIuiuhI onicers, wivs reduced Ijy royal onier, wliiult caused liiiti to resign his coQiniift<ion,and iit tlie time of Gen. Braddock's arrival in .\nicricii lie was not in the militiry ser- vice. But Uraddcick, well aware of the importance of securing Ids sen-ices, urged WiLshington to take the position of volunteer aide-de- camp on his staff, and the offer, so earnestly pressed, was accepted.

Sparks, in his " Life of Washington" (page 58), in speaking of Wash- ington's acceptance of Bnidilock's pniposilion to accompjiny him on the expedition as a niemher of hJ9 military family, says, " His views on the suluect were explained, with a becoming rmiikness and elevation of minil, in a letter to a friend: 'I may he allowed,' said he, 'to claim some merit if it is considered that tho sjle motive which invites me to the field is the laudahle desire of serving my country, lu.t the gnitiflca- tion of Any ambitious or lucmtive plans. This, I flatter myself, will manifestly appear by my going as a volunteer, without expectation of reward or pronpcut of obtitiiiinfj (I cowmmul, as I am confidently assured U it not in Gencnit Eradflocfi's jioicer to gh-e me a commiMiou tliut I icould accept. ... It is true I have been importuned to make this camimign I'y Gen. Bradduck as a member of his family, he conceiving, I snp[)ose, that the small knowledge I had an op|)urtunity of acquiring of the country and the Indians is worthy of his notice, and may be useful to him in the progre-s of the expedition.' "

-Capt. Dime's Journol.

deliver one hundred and fifty wagons and the neces- sary horses at Fort Cumberland within a given time, whereupon Braddock proceeded on his march ; and in about two weeks Franklin had assembled the specified number of wagons and animals at the fort. Gen. Braddock was very grateful for this service, and he warmly complimented Franklin in a letter which he wrote to the Secretary of State, dated at Wills' Creek, June 5th, as follows:

"Before I left Williamsburg the quartermaster-gen- eral told me that I might depend on twenty-five hun- dred horses and two hundred wagons from Virginia and Maryland ; but I liad great reason to doubt it, having experienced the false dealings of all in this country with whom I had been concerned. Hence, before my departure from Frederick, I agreed with Mr. Benjamin.Franklin, postmaster in Pennsylvania, who has great credit in that province, to hire one hundred and fifty wagons and the necessary number of horses. This he accomplished with promptitude and fidelity; and it is almost the only instance of address and integrity which I have seen in all these provinces."

It has been said that, in procuring the wagons and horses from the Teutonic farmers in the Southern Pennsylvania counties, he was materially aided by the presence pf Braddock's quartermaster-general. "Sir John Sinclair* wore a Hussar's cap, and Franklin made use of the circumstance to terrify the German settlers with the belief that he was a Hu.ssar, who would administer to them the tvrannical treatment

3 This same Sir John Sinclair was a. man of very rough speech nnd imperious and domineerng rhnractor, as is made api>arent by the fol- lowing extract from a 1' tf'-r ^vr'tt' n I'V '^Tessrs. George Croghan, James Burd, John Arnistr.jiiu, N^ 1 . i m, and Adam Hoops to Gover-

nor Morris, of Peun-i I :! ' 'iiinberland, April 10, 1735, at

which time some of tl mi; i: ;. -, :i- w ill as Sir John himself, had

already reached the renclezviu*. The writers of the letter had been appointed to view and lay out a road over the mountains, i^nd had re- turned from their mission to the fort. In the letter they say, "Last evening we came to the camp, and were kindly received liy tho ofTicera, but particularly Capt. Rutherford. We waited for Sir John coming to camp from the road towards Winchester, who came this day at three o'clock, but treated us in a very disagreeable manner. He is extremely warm and angry at our province ; he would not look at our draughts, nor suffer any representations to be made to him in regard to the prov- ince, but stormed like a lion rampant. He said our commission to lay out tho road should have issued in January last, upon his first letter; that doing it now is dcdng nothing; that tho troops must march on the first of May; that the want of this road and the provisions promised by Pennsylvania has retarded the expedition, which may cost them their lives, because of the fresh number nf the FreiRli that are suddenly like to be poured into the < iiirti\ n it in-ti ili) mi:' Ling to the Ohio he would in nine da>s n,:r : ' i ' i.unty, to cut tho

roadH, press wagons, ft' li i ' , ; , i i ililier to handle an

axe, but by fire and swm i ' i I .i ili- mliil it mt t i ili. it, and take every man that refused to the Oiiin, tis h e hail yeetenltiy some of the Virginians; that he would kill all kind of cjitile, and carry away the horses, burn houses, etc. ; and that if the French defeated thei'. by tho dehi.vs of this province, that he would with his sword drawn pass through the prov- ince and treat the inhabitants as a parcel of traitors to his master; that he would to-morrow write to England by a man.of.war, shake Mr. Tenn's proprietaryship, and represent Pennsylvania as disaffected, . . .

ids for one he It

■ gene

Igivc uate

40

HISTORY OF FAYETTE COUNTY, PENXSYLVANIA.

they had experienced in their owu country if tliey did not comply with his wislies."

At a council of war held at Fort Cumberland the order of march was determined on, viz. : the advance was to be led by " a party of six hundred men, workers and coverers, with a field-officer and the ([uartermaster-general ; that they should take with them two six-pounders, with a full proportion of am- munition ; that they should also take with them eight days' provisions for three thousand two hundred men ; that they should make the road as good as possible, and march five days towards the first crossing of the Yoxhio Geni,' which was about thirty miles from the camp, at which place they were to make a deposit of jjrovisions, building proper sheds for its security, and also a place of arms for the security of the men. If they could not in five days advance sa far, they were at the exj)iration of that time to choose an advan- tageous spot, and to secure the provisions and men as before. When the wagons were unloaded the field- officer with three hundred men was to return to camp, and Sir John S' Clair with the first engineer was to remain and carry on the works with the other three hundred." '^

This advance detachment was to be followed by the remainder of the forces in three divisions, in the fol- lowing order: First, Sir Beter Halket's pommand, with " about one hundred wagons of provisions, stores, and powder ;" second, Lieutenant-Colonel Burton, " with the independent companies, Virginia, Mary- land, and Carolina Rangers," taking the artillery, am- munition, and some stores and provisions; third. Colonel Dunbar's brig.ide, " with the provision- wagons from Winchester, the returned wagons from the advanced party, and all the carrying-horses."

In accordance with this order. Major Chapman with a body of six hundred men, and accompanied by Sir John Sinclair, marched at daybreak on the 30th of May, but " it was night before the whole baggage had got over a mountain about two miles from camp. . . . The general reconnoitred this mountain, and deter- mined to set the engineers and three hundred more men at work on it, as he thought it impassable by howitzers. He did not imagine any other road could be made, as a reconnoitring-party had already been to explore the country; nevertheless, Mr. Spendelow, lieutenant of the seamen, a young man of great discernment and abilities, acquainted the general that in passing that mountain he had discovered a valley which led quite round the foot of it. A party of a hundred men with an engineer was ordered to cut a road there, and an extreme good one was made in two days, which fell into the other road about a mile on the other side of the mountain."

"Everything being now .settled, Sir Peter Halket, with the Forty-fourth Regiment, marched on the 7th of June; Lieutenant-Colonel Burton, with the inde-

l YuUgl,iogliei].v. : Oin.i^'s Jouiuul.

pendent companies and Rangers, on the 8th, and Col- onel Dunbar, with the Forty-eighth Regiment, on the 10th, with the proportions of baggage as was settled by the council of war. The same day the general left Fort Cumberland, and joined the whole at Sjjen- delow Camp, about five miles from the fort." ^ The name of this camp was given in honor of Lieutenant Spendelow, the discoverer of the new route around the foot of the mountain.

At Spendelow Camp a reduction of baggage was made, and the surplus sent back to the fort, together with two six-pounders, four cohorns, and some powder and stores, which cleared about twenty wagons of their loads, "and near a hundred able horses were given to the public service. . . . All the king's wagons were also sent back to the fort, they beingj too heavy, and requiring large horses for the shafts, which could not be procured, and country wagonsi were fitted for powder in their stead."

On the 13th the column moved to Martin's plan- \ tation ; on the 15th it " passed the Aligany Moun- tain, which is a rocky ascent of more than two miles, in many places exceedingly steep ; its descent is very rugged and almost perpendicular; in passing which we entirely demolished three wagons and shattered, several." That night the First Brigade camped about three miles west of Savage River. On the 16th the head of the column reached the Little Meadows, ten miles from Martin's plantation ; but the rear did not arrive there until the 18th. At this place they found Sir John Sinclair encamped with three hundred men, this being the farthest point he could reach in the five days specified in the orders.

At the Little Meadows the general adopted a new plan of campaign, — to move forward with a division composed of some of his best troops, with a few guns and but little baggage, leaving the remainder of his force behind to bring up the heavy stores and artillery.

This decision was taken largely through the advice of Washington, who, although not of rank to sit in the councils of war, possessed no small share of the gen- eral's confidence, by reason of the experience he had gained in the campaign of the preceding year. He gave it as his opinion that the movement of the army was too slow, on account of the cumbrous wagon- train, which on the march stretched out for a distance of more than three miles, thus not only retarding the progress of the forces, but aftbrding an excellent op- portunity for lurking parties of the enemy to attack and destroy some lightly-defended part of it before help could arrive from the main body. He had from the first urged the use of pack-horses instead of wagons for the greater part of the transportation, and although his advice was ignored by the general, its wisdom now became apparent. Ornie's Journal says that by the experience of the four days' march from Spendelow Camp to the Little Meadows, " it was found impos-

BRADDOCK'S EXPEDITION IN 1755.

41

I sible to proceed with such a number of carriages. The horses grew every day fainter, and many died; the men would not have been able to have undergone the constant and necessary fatigue by remaining so many hours under arms, and by the great extent of the baggage the line was extremely weakened. The general was therefore determined to move forward with a detachment of the best men, and as little en- cumbrance as possible."

The selected force destined to move in the advance consisted of between twelve and thirteen hundred men. " A detachment of one field-officer with four hundred men and the deputy quartermaster-general marched on the 18th to cut and make the road to the Little Crossing of the Yoxhio Geni, taking with them two six-pounders with their ammunition, three wagons of tools, and thirty-five days' provisions, all on carry- ing-liorses, and on the IDth the general marched with a detachment of one colonel, one lieutenant-colonel, one m.ijor, the two eldest grenadier companies, and iive liundred rank and file, the party of seamen, and eighteen light-horse, and four howitzers with fifty rounds each, and four twelve-pounders with eighty rounds each, and one hundred rounds of ammunition ftr each man, and one wagon of Indian presents; the whole number of carriages being about thirty. The howitzers had each nine horses, tlie twelve-pounders seven, and the wagons six. There was also thirty- five days' provisions carried on liorses." Tlie troops left behind with Col. Dunbar numbered about nine hundred, including four artillery officers. Eighty- four wagons and all the ordnance stores and provis- ions not immediately needed by the advance column "(vere also left in his charge.

The advanced force under IJraddock reached the Little Cro.ssings (Castleman's River) on the evening of the 10th, and camped on the west side of the stream. At this camp Col. Washington was taken seriously ill with a fever, and when the troops marched the next morning he was left behind with a guard and proper attendance' and comforts. As soon as able he