CHAPTER XVIII.

```"I look'd, and thought the quiet of the scene

````An emblem of the peace that yet shall he,

```When, o'er earth's continents and isles between,

````The noise of war shall cease from sea to sea,

````And married nations dwell in harmony;

```When millions, crouching in the dust to one,

````No more shall beg their lives on bended knee,

```Nor the black stake he dress'd, nor in the sun

```The o'er-labor'd captive toil, and wish his life were done."

`````Bryant.=

[Illustration: 9473]

N hour before meridian I left the old church-yard at Jamestown, and

sauntered along the pebbly shore back to the little punt in which I was

to reach the mainland. I picked up two or three _Jamestown diamonds_,

and a small brass key of antique form, which lay among the pebbles, and

then left that interesting spot, perhaps forever. The day was very warm,

and I was glad to get within the shadow of the pine forests which skirt

the road almost the whole way from Jamestown to Williamsburg, a distance

of four miles and a half. Not a leaf stirred upon the trees, and the

silence of solitude prevailed, for the insects had gone to their winter

repose, and the birds had finished their summer carols.

A mile and a half from Jamestown, I crossed the Powhatan Creek, a

sluggish stream which finds its way into the James River through a fen

in the rear of Jamestown Island. On its northern bank, a few yards from

the road, are the remains of a fortification, which was thrown up by

Cornwallis in the summer of 1781. The embankments and ditches are very

prominent. Neighborhood tradition calls them the remnant of Powhatan's

fort. In this vicinity two engagements took place between the Royalists

and Republicans in June and July, 1781. The first occurred at the forks

of the road, one of which makes a circuit to the Chickahominy, the

other leads to Williamsburg. The place is known in history as _Spencer s

Ordinary_, from the circumstance that a man named Spencer kept a tavern

at the forks. Let us see what the pen of history has recorded.

In the spring of 1781, Cornwallis left Wilmington, in North Carolina,

and marched into Virginia, to join the invading forces under Phillips

and Arnold at Petersburg. After attempts to capture stores in the heart

of Virginia, and finding the forces of La Fayette, Wayne, and Steuben

rapidly increasing, the earl thought it prudent to return toward the

sea-shore. He accordingly retreated to Richmond, and from thence across

the Chickahominy to Williamsburg and Jamestown, and then down the James

River to Portsmouth, opposite Norfolk. From the stables and pastures of

the planters he took the fine horses which they had refused to Greene, *

and well mounted his cavalry. In his retreat he was closely pursued, and

greatly annoyed by La Fayette and Wayne, with about four thousand men.

**

Cornwallis reached Williamsburg on the 25th of June. (a) Informed that

the Americans had some boats and stores on the Chickahominy River, he

sent Lieutenant-colonel Simcoe, with his Rangers, and a company of

Yagers, under Major Armstrong and Captain Ewald, to destroy them, and to

collect all the cattle they could find. *** La Fayette,

* Greene, then in command of the Southern army, had left Steuben in

Virginia to collect troops, horses, and stores, and send them to him at

the South.

** There were 2100 regulars, of which number 1500 were veteran troops,

who had experienced service at the North.

*** Simcoe found but little to destroy on the Chickahominy, and

returning, halted at Dandridge's, within three, miles of the Diesckung

Creek, a branch of the Chickahominy. The next morning they marched

to the creek, repaired the bridge sufficiently to pass over, and then

utterly destroyed it. They then marched to Cooper's Mills, nearly twenty

miles from Williamsburg. Simcoe was anxious concerning his safety, for

he could not gain a word of reliable information respecting La Fayette's

movements. He promised a great reward to a Whig to go to the marquis's

camp and return with information by the next morning, when his

detachment should march. The Whig went; but instead of returning with

information for Simcoe, he piloted Wayne, with a considerable force, to

the place of the Rangers' encampment. The fires were yet burning, but

the coveted prize had departed an hour before.--See Simcoe's Military

Journal.

[[[Simcoe's Expedition.--Engagement between the advanced Guards of the

Belligerents.--Battle at Spencer's Ordinary.]]]

{464}with great circumspection, had kept about a score of miles in

the rear of the royal army while pursuing Cornwallis. He was at Tyre's

plantation, about twenty miles from Williamsburg, when informed of

Simcoe's expedition, and immediately detached Lieutenant-colonel

Percival Butler, a brave officer of the Pennsylvania line, to intercept

that partisan on his return. * Butler's detachment consisted of a corps

of Continental troops, two rifle corps, under Majors Call and Willis,

and about one hundred and twenty horsemen, under Major M'Pherson. Simcoe

accomplished his purpose without opposition, and was hastening back to

Williamsburg with a quantity of cattle procured from the planters, when

he was overtaken at Spencer's _Ordinary_ by M'Pherson and his dragoons,

and a very severe skirmish ensued. Both parties were ignorant of the

real strength of each other, and maneuvered with caution.

[Illustration: 9474]

Simcoe believed the whole force of La Fayette to be near, and Butler

supposed his detachment was fighting with the advanced guard of

Cornwallis's army.

The approach of the Americans was first discovered by trumpeter Barney,

of the Queen's Rangers, who was stationed as a vidette on an eminence

about half way between Lee's farm and the road along which the patriots

were approaching. A body of cavalry, under Captain Shank, were then

dismounted at Lee's farm, where they were foraging. Barney galloped

toward Spencer's, and this averted the blow which might have fallen

fatally upon the dismounted cavalry at Lee's, if they had been seen by

the Americans. The latter, perceiving the direction of the vidette's

flight, and concluding he was retreating to his corps, pushed on toward

Spencer's. The dragoons at Lee's immediately mounted, and, dashing

through the wood, made a furious charge upon the right flank of the

Americans. In this onset Major M'Pherson was thrown from his horse by

Sergeant Wright of the Rangers, and so severely hurt that he did not

again engage in the conflict. The belligerents swept on beyond him, too

intent upon battle to stop for prisoners, and his life and liberty were

spared.

The infantry and rifle corps under Simcoe were now brought into action.

Butler's riflemen had also reached the scene of conflict. The fence

on each side of the road had been thrown down by Simcoe early in the

morning, to allow greater freedom for his troops. The action became

general and fierce within an eighth of a mile of Spencer's. Simcoe soon

perceived that he could not win a victory by fair fighting, and turned

his attention to stratagem. While Captain Althouse with the

* Lieutenant-colonel Butler was Morgan's second in command at Saratoga.

* Note.--The letters in the above map have reference as follows: A,

American infantry; B, American cavalry; C, the Queen's Rangers halting

at the forks of the road; D, the Rangers in line, prepared for attack;

E, the cavalry of the Queen's Rangers, foraging at Lee's farm; F,

the British cavalry, and B, the American cavalry, contending at the

beginning of the battle; G, the Rangers after the battle; and H, I, the

line of retreat back to the road near Spencer's; K, trumpeter Barney,

when he first discovered the Americans and gave the alarm; L, the

Yagers, commanded chiefly by Ewald; M, a three-pounder near Spencer's;

N, Captain Althouse with British riflemen.

[[[Simcoe's Stratagem.--A drawn Battle.--The Loss.--Burial with the

Honors ot War.--March of Cornwallis from Williamsburg.]]]

{465}riflemen, and Captain Ewald with the Yagers, were engaged in fierce

conflict with the corps of Call and Willis, he moved the whole body of

his mounted Hangers to an eminence near Lee's, displayed them imposingly

in full view of the Americans for a few moments, and then withdrew them.

This maneuver, as was intended, deceived the patriots. The march of

Simcoe was concealed from them by intervening hills and woods, and they

did not suspect the party thus displayed to be that partisan's Rangers.

They believed them to be the front of a more formidable force deploying

in the rear, preparatory to a general charge. At the same moment a

three-pounder, which had been stationed upon the hill (M, in the plan),

near Spencer's, was discharged; and, while its echoes were booming over

the country, Shank, with his cavalry, made another furious attack upon

the main body of the Republicans, now gathered more compactly in the

road and the adjacent fields, a short distance from Spencer's. *

The idea that Cornwallis was advancing with artillery alarmed the

Americans, and, when Shank made his charge, they fell back in confusion

upon the reserve corps of Continentals in the rear, and the battle

ended. Simcoe was quite as much afraid of the advance of La Fayette and

his force to the support of Butler, as was the latter of the appearance

of Cornwallis. He immediately formed his corps in retreating order, and

pushed on toward Williamsburg. Butler thought it imprudent to follow

them; for he was informed that Cornwallis, on hearing the first fire,

commenced a march, with a strong force, to the support of Simcoe.

Neither party could fairly claim a victory, though both parties did

so. It was a sort of drawn battle. The Americans returned to Tyre's

plantation.

So widely different are the official accounts of the numbers lost in

this engagement that it is difficult to ascertain the truth. La Fayette

states the loss of the British at sixty killed and one hundred wounded,

while Cornwallis says that only three officers and thirty privates were

killed and wounded. The latter also states that three American officers

and twenty-eight privates were taken prisoners. The number of the

Americans killed has never been named by our writers. Simcoe says,

"It is certain they had a great many killed and wounded, exclusive of

prisoners;" but this was merely conjecture. He also says that his own

groom was the only prisoner secured by the Americans, the bat-men at

Lee's, who were captured at the commencement of the action, having been

rescued, except the groom. Cornet Jones, a promising young officer of

the Rangers, who was killed, was greatly beloved, and was buried at

Williamsburg, the next day, with military honors. **

At this time, Sir Henry Clinton, having received some intercepted

letters written by Washington, in which a plan for attacking New York

was divulged, *** became alarmed for his safety. He accordingly made

a requisition upon Cornwallis for a portion of his troops to be sent

immediately to New York. The earl, supposing himself too weak, after

complying with this requisition, to remain at Williamsburg, resolved

to retire to Portsmouth, near Norfolk. He broke up his encampment

at Williamsburg on the 4th of July, (a) [[ a 1781]] and marched for

Jamestown Island. He disposed of his troops in such a manner as

* Simcoe's Journal, p. 226--236. Lee's Memoirs of the War in the

Southern Department, p. 298--301.

** The expression "buried with military honors" is often used, but,

I apprehend, often without a clear understanding of its purport. The

general reader may be interested in knowing in what consist "military

honors" in the sense here used. The rules generally adopted are as

follows: The funeral of a commander-in-chief is saluted with three

rounds of 11 pieces of cannon, 4 battalions, and 6 squadrons; that of

a lieutenant general with three rounds of 9 pieces of cannon, 3

battalions, and 4 squadrons; that of a major general with three rounds

of 7 pieces of cannon, 1 battalion, and 2 squadrons; that of colonel by

his own battalion (or an equal number by detachment), with three rounds

of small-arms; that of a lieutenant colonel by 300 men and officers,

with three rounds of small-arms; that of a major by 200 men and

officers, with three rounds of small-arms; that of a captain by his own

company, or 70 rank and file, with three rounds of small-arms; that of a

lieutenant by a lieutenant, 1 sergeant, 1 drummer, 1 filer, and 36

rank and file, with three rounds of small-arms; that of an ensign by 1

ensign, 1 sergeant, 1 drummer, and 27 rank and file, with three rounds

of small-arms; that of a sergeant by 1 sergeant and 10 rank and file,

with three rounds of small-arms; that of a corporal, musician, private

man, drummer, or fifer by 1 sergeant and 13 rank and file, with three

rounds of small-arms. The pall is supported by officers of the same rank

as that of the deceased; if that number can not be had, officers next in

seniority are to supply their place.

*** These letters, written by Washington for the express purpose of

deceiving Sir Henry Clinton, have been noticed on page 213.

[[[Movements of La Fayette.--Cornwallis's Stratagem.--March from Green

Spring.--Colonel Armand]]]

{466}to cover the ford, and the Queen's Rangers crossed over to the

island the same evening. The two succeeding days were employed in

passing over the baggage of the army.

La Fayette was exceedingly active and vigilant. As soon as he was

informed by Lieutenant-colonel Mercer, who had been sent to reconnoiter,

that Cornwallis had left Williamsburg, he moved forward and encamped

within nine miles of Jamestown. Upon the activity and skill of Wayne the

marquis relied with confidence. America had no truer or braver officers

in the field than the "French game-cock" and "Mad Anthony." The marquis,

who had steadily pursued the earl from Richmond, but always avoiding a

general engagement, now resolved to fall upon his rear, when the main

body should have passed over to Jamestown Island. Cornwallis suspected

this design, and prepared for the emergency. He encamped the greater

portion of his army on the main land, as compactly as possible,

and sheltered from view by a dense pine forest. He also cast up a

fortification on the right bank of Powhatan Creek, by the Williamsburg

road, the remains of which, I have just mentioned, are still very

prominent. He allowed but a few soldiers to make their appearance on the

edge of the wood; deployed those on the island to the best advantage;

drew in his light out-guards; suffered his pickets to be insulted;

and, by every means in his power, gave the impression that only his

rear-guard was upon the main. These maneuvers of Cornwallis, and

abounding false intelligence, completely deceived La Fayette, and caused

him to make an attack upon the British, a step which involved his whole

army in imminent peril.

La Fayette and his troops were at Green Spring plantation * on the

morning of the 6th of July. (a) At sunrise, the whole country was

enveloped in a fog; at noon, an un-[[ a 1781]] clouded sun poured down

its almost vertical rays with fierce intensity. Assured that only the

rear-guard of Cornwallis's army remained off the island, the marquis

moved from Green Spring, at three o'clock in the afternoon, for the

purpose of attacking them. This late hour was judiciously chosen; the

heat was less oppressive, and, if deceived concerning the numbers of

the enemy on the main land, the night-shadows would favor a retreat. In

front of Green Spring mansion, and extending to the Williamsburg road

from the lower ford of the Chickahominy, where I crossed, was low,

sunken ground, and a morass bridged by a causeway of logs. Over this, in

narrow files, the Americans were obliged to make their way, and it

was almost five o'clock before they arrived in sight of the British

outposts. La Fayette detached Wayne, with about eight hundred men, to

make the attack. His advanced guard consisted of the rifle corps of Call

and Willis, and a patrol of dragoons. These were followed by the cavalry

of Armand's and Mercer's troops, led by Major M'Pherson,

* See page 446.

[Illustration: 9476]

** Charles Armand, marquis de la Rouarie, was a French officer in the

Continental army, who had been ten years in military service before he

came to this country. On the 10th of May, 1777, Congress gave him the

commission of colonel, and authorized him to raise a corps of Frenchmen,

in number not exceeding two hundred men He was a zealous and spirited

officer, and did good service throughout the war. He was with La Fayette

in New Jersey, after the battle of Red Bank, in the fall of 1777, and

the next year was actively engaged in Westchester county, New York, in

opposition to the corps of Simcoe and Emerick, and the Loyalists under

Bare-more. The latter was captured by Armand, who, at one time, had his

quarters at a house which stood on the site of the present St. John's

College, at Fordham. He was stationed at Ridgefield, in Connecticut,

under General Robert Howe, in the summer of 1779. Belonging to his corps

was a company of cavalry called Maréchaussée * whose duties appertained

chiefly to the police of the army. Armand's corps, exclusive of this

company, was incorporated with Pulaski's in February, 1780. Armand was

with the army under Gates at Clermont, near Camden, in South Carolina,

and was directed by that general to form an advance attacking party in

the night-march against Cornwallis at Camden. He censured the conduct of

his general on that occasion very much. "I will not say," he remarked,

"that the general contemplated treason; but I will say, that if he had

desired to betray his army, he could not have chosen a more judicious

course." Armand was dissatisfied with the promotions in the army, for he

perceived no chance for himself to advance, yet he continued in faithful

service. He went to France in February, 1781, to procure clothing and

accoutrements, but came back again in time to join the army before

Yorktown in Oetober of that year. On the earnest recommendation of

Washington, who knew his worth, Congress gave Colonel Armand the

commission of brigadier general in the spring of 1783. He returned to

France in 1784. In a letter to Rochambeau, written in May of that year,

Washington strongly recommended General Armand as worthy of promotion in

his own eountry. He was married, in 1786, to a wealthy lady, belonging

to an ancient family, and on that occasion wrote a letter to Washington,

inviting him to come to Europe and partake of the hospitalities of his

home. In his reply, Washington remarked, "I must confess I was a little

pleased, if not surprised, to find you think quite like an American on

the subject of matrimony and domestic felicity; for, in my estimation,

more permanent and genuine happiness is to be found in the sequestered

walks of connubial life than in the giddy rounds of promiscuous

pleasure, or the more tumultuous and imposing scenes of successful

ambition. This sentiment will account in a degree for my not making

a visit to Europe." General Armand took an active part in the

revolutionary movements in his own country, and became a prisoner in the

Bastile, for a time, in 1789. He participated in the sanguinary scenes

in La Vendee, during the first year of the French Revolution. Sick

when the news of the execution of Louis XVI. reached him, it produced

a powerful effect upon his weakened system. A crisis in his malady was

induced, and, on the 30th of January, 1793, he expired. He was buried

privately, by moonlight; but his remains were disinterred by the

Revolutionists within a month afterward, and the papers inhumed with

him revealed the names of associates, some of whom were afterward

guillotined. General Armand was of middle size, dark complexion, urbane

in deportment, polished in manners, an eloquent and persuasive speaker,

and a practiced marksman. He was greatly beloved by his friends, and his

opponents were not his enemies.

* The Maréchaussée was a useful corps. In an encampment, it was its

business to patrol the camp and its vicinity, for the purpose of

apprehending deserters, thieves, rioters, &e., and soldiers who should

be found violating the rules of the army. Strangers without passes were

to be apprehended by them, and the sutlers in the army were under the

control of the commander of the corps. In the time of action they were

to patrol the roads on both flanks of the army to arrest fugitives, and

apprehend those who might be skulking away.

[[[The Baltic Order.--Attack upon the Outpost.--The Enemy in full

Force.--Retreat of the Americans.]]]

{467}who had recovered from the effects of his unhorsing at Spencer's.

The Continental infantry, chiefly Pennsylvania troops, under Wayne,

supported the whole. La Fayette, with nine hundred Continentals and some

militia, halted after crossing the morass, to be in readiness to

support Wayne, if necessary. Steuben, with the main body of the militia,

remained as a reserve at Green Spring.

After moving about a mile, the van patrol were attacked by some of the

enemy's Yagers, and the riflemen and militia commenced the attack upon

the British pickets at about five o'clock. A desultory fire was kept

up for a few minutes, when the cavalry made a furious charge, and the

pickets were driven within their lines in great confusion and with

considerable loss. The British outpost, which covered and concealed the

main body of the royal army, was now assailed by the riflemen, who were

stationed in a ditch, near a rail fence. They were under the immediate

direction of M'Pherson and Mercer, and terribly galled the Yagers who

garrisoned the point assailed, yet without driving them from their

position. The assailants were speedily joined by two battalions of

Continental infantry, one under Major Galvan, and another under Major

Willis, of Connecticut, supported by two pieces of artillery, under the

direction of Captain Savage. The Americans felt certain of victory, and

were about to leave the ditch and engage hand to hand with the enemy,

when more than two thousand of the royal troops were led from their

concealment into action by Lieutenant-colonel Yorke on the right,

and Lieutenant-colonel Dundas on the left. The brigade of the latter

consisted of the forty-third, seventy-sixth, and eightieth regiments,

the flower of Cornwallis's army. Yorke soon put to flight the American

militia on the right; but, on the left, the riflemen, cavalry, and the

Pennsylvania infantry sustained the unequal conflict with great bravery.

Superior numbers, however, overmatched skill and courage, and the

Americans, after a sanguinary battle of ten minutes, gave way; first

the riflemen, then the cavalry, and finally the whole body of infantry

retreated in confusion upon Wayne's line, which was drawn up in compact

order in the field in front of the present residence of Mr. Coke.

Wayne now perceived the whole breadth of Cornwallis's stratagem, and

the imminence of the danger which surrounded his troops. Already strong

detachments were rapidly outflanking him and gaining his rear, while a

solid body of veterans were confronting him. It was a moment of great

peril. To retreat would be certain destruction to his troops; a false

movement would involve the whole in ruin. Wayne's presence of mind never

forsook him, and, in moments of greatest danger, his judgment seemed the

most acute and faithful. He now instantly conceived a bold movement, but

one full of peril. He ordered the trumpeters to

[[[Wayne's Charge upon Ihe British Line.--Retreat of Cornwallis to

Portsmouth.--Tarleton's Expedition.--Williamsburg.]]]

{468}sound a charge, and, with a full-voiced shout, his whole force,

cavalry, riflemen, and infantry, dashed forward in the face of a

terrible storm of lead and iron, and smote the British line with ball,

bayonet, and cutlass so fiercely, that it recoiled in amazement. La

Fayette, who had personally reconnoitered the British camp from a tongue

of land near the present Jamestown landing, perceived the peril of

Wayne, and immediately drew up a line of Continentals half a mile in

the rear of the scene of conflict, to cover a retreat if Wayne should

attempt it. When the latter saw this, and perceived the flanking parties

of the enemy halting or retrograding, he sounded a retreat, and in

good order his brave band fell back upon La Fayette's line. Never was

a desperate maneuver better planned or more successfully executed. Upon

that single cast of the die depended the safety of his corps. It was

a winning one for the moment, and the night-shadows coming on, the

advantage gained was made secure.

Cornwallis was astonished and perplexed by the charge and retreat. The

lateness of the hour, and the whole movement, made him view the maneuver

as a lure to draw him into an ambuscade; and, instead of pursuing the

Republicans, he called in his detachments,[[ a July 9, 1781]] crossed

over to Jamestown Island during the evening, and three days afterward

(a) crossed the James River with the largest portion of his troops,

and proceeded by easy marches to Portsmouth. * The other portion of his

army, pursuant to General Clinton's requisition, embarked in transports

for New York. ** In this action, according to La Fayette, the Americans

lost one hundred and eighteen men *** (including ten officers), in

killed, wounded, and prisoners; also the two pieces of cannon, which

they were obliged to leave on the field, the horses attached to them

having been killed. The British loss was five officers wounded, and

seventy-five privates killed and wounded. ****

The Americans, under La Fayette, remained in the vicinity of

Williamsburg until the arrival of the combined armies, nearly two months

afterward, on their way to besiege Cornwallis at Yorktown.[[ b Dec 20,

1848]] I arrived at Williamsburg at noon, (b) and proceeded immediately

to search out the interesting localities of that ancient and earliest

incorporated town in Virginia. They are chiefly upon the main street, a

broad avenue pleasantly shaded, and almost as quiet as a rural lane. I

first took a hasty stroll upon the spacious green in front of William

and Mary College, the oldest literary institution in America except

Harvard University. (v) The entrance to the green is flanked by stately

live oaks, cheering the visitor in winter with their evergreen

foliage. In the center of the green stands the mutilated statue of Lord

Botetourt, the best beloved of the colonial governors. This statue was

erected in the old capital in 1774, and in 1797 it was removed to its

present position. I did not make a sketch of it, because a student at

the college promised to hand me one made by his own

* Lieutenant-colonel Tarleton and his legion were dispatched on the 9th

to New London, in Bedford county, nearly two hundred miles distant, to

destroy some stores destined for Greene's army at the South, said to

be in that district. Tarleton, with his usual celerity, passed through

Petersburgh the same evening, and pushed forward toward the Blue Ridge.

He was disappointed, for he could find no magazines of stores. He was

also informed that Greene was besieging Ninety-Six, and successfully

reconquering the districts over which the British had marched

victoriously. He returned toward the sea-board, and rejoined Cornwallis

at Suffolk on the 24th. The whole army then proceeded to Portsmouth.

** Before they left Hampton Roads, Cornwallis received orders to retain

these troops, and occupy some defensible position in Virginia.

*** Stedman says (ii., 395) the American loss "amounted to about three

hundred." That officer (who belonged to the surgeon's staff) was with

Cornwallis at Jamestown. He gives the whole number of the British loss

at seventy-five.

**** Marshall, i., 439, 440; Stedman, ii., 394, 395; Girardin; Simcoe's

Journal; Howison.

* (v) William and Mary College was founded in 1692, and the sovereigns

whose name it bears granted the corporation twenty thousand acres of

land as an endowment. In 1693 the building was erected. It is of brick,

and large enough to accommodate one hundred students. For its support

a penny a pound duty on certain tobacco exported from Virginia and

Maryland was allowed, also a small duly on liquors imported, and furs

and skins exported. From these resources it received ample support. It

was formerly allowed a representation in the House of Burgesses. There

is now a law school connected with the institution.

[[[Remains of Dunmore's Palace.--Brenton Church.--Lord Botetourt.--His

Reception in Virginia.--Ode.]]]

{469}pencil before I left the place. He neglected to do so, and

therefore I can give nothing pictorially of "the good Governor

Botetourt," * the predecessor of Dunmore.

I next visited the remains of the palace of Lord Dunmore, the last

royal governor of Virginia. It is situated at the head of a broad and

beautiful court, extending northward from the main street, in front of

the City Hotel.

[Illustration: 8478]

The palace was constructed of brick. The center building was

accidentally destroyed by fire, while occupied by the French troops

immediately after the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. It was

seventy-four feet long and sixty-eight feet wide, and occupied the

site of the old palace of Governor Spottswood, at the beginning of the

eighteenth century.

[Illustration: 9479]

Attached to the palace were three hundred and sixty acres of

land, beautifully laid out in gardens, parks, carriage-ways, and a

bowling-green. Dunmore imported some fine linden-trees from Scotland,

one of which, still in existence, is one of the finest specimens of

that tree I have ever seen. In vice-regal pomp and pageantry Dunmore

attempted to _reign_ among the plain republicans of Virginia; but his

day of grandeur and power soon passed away, and the sun of his official

glory set amid darkest clouds. All that remains of this spacious edifice

are the two wings seen in the engraving above; the one on the right was

the office, the one on the left was the guard-house.

A little eastward of Palace Street or Court, is the public square,

on which area are two relics of the olden time, _Brenton Church_,

a cruciform structure with a steeple, ** and the old _Magazine_,

an octagon building, erected during the administration of Governor

Spottswood. (a) The sides of the latter are each twelve feet in hori-[[

a 1716]]

* Norborne Berkeley (Baron de Botetourt) obtained his peerage in 1764.

He was appointed Governor of Virginia in July, 1768, to succeed General

Amherst. He arrived at Williamsburg in October, and was received with

every demonstration of respect. After taking the oath of office, and

swearing in the members of his majesty's council, he supped with the

government dignitaries at the Raleigh Tavern. The city was illuminated

during the evening, and balls and festivities succeeded. * His

administration was mild and judicious. He died at Williamsburg October

15, 1770, and was succeeded by John Murray, earl of Dunmore. The

following year the Assembly resolved to erect a statue to his memory,

which was accordingly done in 1774.

** This church was built at about the commencement of the last century,

and was the finest one in America at that time. Hugh Jones, who wrote

"The present State of Virginia,'' &c., and who was one of the

earliest lecturers in that church, speaks of it as "nicely regular and

convenient, and adorned as the best churches in London." I was informed

that the pew of Governor Spottswood remained in the church in its

original character until within a few years. It was raised from the

floor and covered with a canopy, and upon the interior was his name in

gilt letters.

* In an ode sung on the occasion, the following air, recitative, and

duet occur. It is copied from the "Virginia Gazette," first independent

paper published in Virginia.

AIR.

He comes! His Excellency comes,

To cheer Virginia's plains!

Fill your brisk bowls, ye loyal sons,

And sing your loftiest strains.

Be this your glory, this your boast,

Lord Botetourt's the favorite toast!

Triumphant wreaths entwine.

Fill your bumpers swiftly round,

And make your spacious rooms rebound

With music, joy, and wine.

Search every garden, strip the shrubby bowers

And strew his path with sweet autumnal flowers!

Ye virgins, haste, prepare the fragrant rose,

And with triumphant laurels crown his brows.

DUET.

Enter virgins with flowers, laurels,

See, we've stripp'd each flowery bed;

Here's laurels for his lordly head;

And while Virginia is his care.

May he protect the virtuous fair!

[[[Ancient Powder Magazine.--The Old Capitol.== Resumption of the

Historical Narrative.--Plan of Williamsburg.]]]

{470}zontal extent. Surrounding it, also in octagon form, is a massive

brick wall, which was constructed when the building was erected.

[Illustration: 9480]

This wail is somewhat dilapidated, as seen in the engraving. The

building was occupied as a Baptist meeting-house when I visited

Williamsburg, and I trust it may never fall before the hand of

improvement, for it has an historical value in the minds of all

Americans. The events which hallow it will be noticed presently.

On the square fronting the magazine is the court-house.

[Illustration: 8480]

It stands upon the site of the old capitol, in which occurred

many interesting events connected with the history of our War for

Independence. The present structure was erected over the ashes of the

old one, which was burned in 1832 Around it are a few of the old bricks,

half buried in the green sward, and these compose the only remains of

the _Old Capitol_ ** While leaning against the ancient wall of the old

magazine, and, in the shadow of its roof, contemplating the events

whieh cluster that locality with glorious associations, I almost lost

cognizance of the present, and beheld in reverie the whole pageantry of

the past march in review. Here let us consult the oracle of history, and

note its teachings.

At the close of the last chapter we considered the destruction of

Jamestown, the termination of "Bacon's rebellion," and the departure

and death of Governor Berkeley. To make the events connected with the

opening scenes of the Revolution in Virginia intelligible, we will

briefly note the most prominent links in the chain of circumstances

subsequent to the desolation of the ancient capital.

We have noticed the unrighteous gift of Charles the Second, of the

fairest portions of

* This view is from the square, looking southeast. South of it is a

neat frame building, whieh was occupied by President Tyler before his

election to the office of Vice-president of the United States.

** Jones describes the capitol which preceded the one in question, and

which was destroyed by fire in 1746. He says, "Fronting the college

[William and Mary], at near its whole breadth, is extended a street,

mathematically straight--for the first design of the town's form is

changed to a mueh better*---just three quarters of a mile in length,

at the other end of whieh stands the capitol, a noble, beautiful, and

commodious pile as any of its kind, built at the cost of the late queen

[Anne], and by direction of the governor" [Spottswood].... "The building

is in the form of an H, nearly; the secretary's office and the general

court taking up one side below stairs, the middle being a handsome

portico, leading to the clerk of the Assembly's offiee and the House

of Burgesses on the other side; which last, is not unlike the House

of Commons. In each wing is a good stair-ease, one leading to the

council-chamber, where the governor and council sit in very great state,

in imitation of the king and council, or the lord chaneellor and House

of Lords.... The whole is surrounded with a neat area, encompassed with

a good wall, and near it is a strong and sweet prison for criminals;

and, on the other side of the open court, another for debtors." On

account of other public buildings having been burned, the use of fire,

candles, and tobacco in the capitol was forbidden; nevertheless, it was

destroyed by fire.

*** This is from an engraving in Howe's Historical Collections of

Virginia, page 329. Mr. Howe obtained the drawing from a lady of

Williamsburg, to whose patriotic taste our countrymen are indebted for

a representation of the edifice whieh was the focus of rebellion in

Virginia.

* The original plan of Williamsburg was in the form of a cipher, made

of the letters W and M, the initials of William and Mary. Its site was

known as the Middle Plantation while Jamestown was the capital. Situated

upon a ridge nearly equidistant from the York and James Rivers, it was

an eligible place for a town, and there Governor Nicholson established

the capital in 1698. It was the residence of the royal governors, and

the capital of the colony, until the War of the Revolution, and was,

from that circumstance, the center of Virginia refinement. Yet, in its

palmiest days, the population of Williamsburg did not exceed twenty-five

hundred. Many of its present inhabitants are descendants of the old

stock of Virginia aristocracy; and an eminent seat of learning being

located there, no place South is more distinguished for taste and

refinement than Williamsburg, in proportion to its population.

[[[Culpepper.--Lord Howard and Nicholson.--Federal Union

proposed.--Orkney and his Deputies.--Spottswood.]]]

{471}Virginia to his two favorites, Arlington and Culpepper. (a) Two

years after this [[ a 1675]] grant, Culpepper, who possessed the whole

domain between the Rappahannock and Potomac Rivers, was appointed

governor for life. He was proclaimed soon after the departure of

Berkeley. Virginia was thus changed into a proprietary government, like

Maryland and Pennsylvania. Culpepper came to Virginia in 1680, and was

more intent upon enriching himself than advancing the prosperity of the

colonists. He was speedily impoverishing Virginia, when the grant

was recalled. (b) He was deprived of his office, and [[ b 1684]] the

province again became a royal demesne. Arlington had already assigned

his rights to Culpepper. The name of the latter is ignoble in the annals

of that colony, yet it is perpetuated by the name of a county given in

his honor, a distinction awarded generally to men whose actions were

praiseworthy.

Lord Howard, of Effingham, who succeeded Culpepper as governor, was

not more popular; for he, too, was governed by avaricious motives,

and practiced meaner acts to accomplish his purposes of gain than his

predecessor. Desiring to please his royal master, he put all penal laws

in full force, particularly those against printing and the restrictions

of the Navigation Act. The bigot, James the Second, the successor of

Charles, continued Effingham in office; but when that monarch was driven

from the throne, (c) the governor returned to England. William the Third

reappointed him, but with the stipulation [[ c 1688]] that he should

remain in England, and a deputy should exercise his functions in

Virginia. His deputy was Francis Nicholson, a man of genius and taste,

who came to Virginia in 1690. Two years afterward, Sir Edmund Andross,

the infamous tool of James the Second, was made governor, and succeeded

Nicholson. He administered the government badly until 1698, when he was

recalled, and Nicholson was reinstated. On the return of that officer to

Virginia, he moved the seat of government to the Middle Plantations,

and Williamsburg was thenceforth the capital of the province for eighty

years.

Governor Nicholson, who was a bold and ambitious man, conceived a scheme

for uniting all the Anglo-American colonies. His plan was similar in its

intended results to that of Andross, attempted twelve years before, when

James issued a decree for uniting the New England colonies. Nicholson's

ostensible object was the mutual defense of all the colonies against the

encroachments of the French on the north, and the Indians made hostile

by them along the frontiers. He submitted his plan to the king, who

heartily approved of it, and recommended the measure to the colonial

assemblies. Virginia refused to listen to any such scheme, and

Nicholson's ambitious dream was dissolved in a moment. Greatly

chagrined, he villified the Virginians; impressed William and Mary with

an idea that they were disloyal; and represented to the ministers

of Queen Anne (d) that they were "imbued [[ d 1704]] with republican

notions and principles, such as ought to be corrected and lowered in

time." He memorialized the queen to reduce all the American colonies

under a viceroy, and establish a standing army among them, to be

maintained at their own expense, declaring "that those wrong, pernicious

notions were improving daily, not only in Virginia, but in all her

majesty's other governments." Anne and her ministers did not approve

of his scheme, and the Virginians becoming restive under his

administration, he was recalled. [[1704]]

The Earl of Orkney succeeded Nicholson as governor, but exercised the

functions of the office through deputies. He enjoyed the sinecure for

thirty-six years. His first deputies were Mott and Jennings; the

first remaining in office one year, and the other four years. In 1710,

Jennings was succeeded by Sir Alexander Spottswood, * one of the most

acceptable

* In 1757, a son of Colonel Spottswood, who was with a company scouting

for Indians on the frontier, wandered from his companions, and was lost.

His remains were found near Fort Duquesne. An elegaic poem, founded on

the circumstances, was published in Martin's Miscellany, in London. The

writer assumes that he was killed by the Indians, and says,

"Courageous youth! were now thine honor'd sire

"May Forbes yet live the cruel debt to pay,

To breathe again, and rouse his wonted fire,

And wash the blood of Braddock's field away;

Nor French nor Shawnee durst his rage provoke,

Then fair Ohio's blushing waves may tell

From great Potomac's spring to Roanoke."

How Briton's fought, and how each hero fell." *

* See page 478.

[[[Character of Spottswood.--Conflicting Claims of the French and

English.--Injustice toward the Indians.--The Ohio Company.]]]

{472}governors Virginia ever had. He was liberal-minded and generous,

and at once reversed the usual practice of royal governors, by making

his private interest, if necessary, subservient to the public good. * He

promoted internal improvements, set an example of elegant hospitality,

encouraged learning, revered religion, and if he had been the royal

representative when the eloquence of Henry aroused every generous heart

in the Old Dominion, he would doubtless have been among the boldest

_rebels_ of the day. From the close of his administration in 1722, until

the commencement of difficulties with the French and Indians, more than

twenty years afterward, Virginia continued to increase in wealth, and

general happiness and prosperity prevailed within its borders. **

We have already considered the most important events connected with the

French empire in America which occurred along our northern frontier,

and alluded to the fact that, in the ambitious scheme for gaining the

mastery of this continent, the French made strenuous efforts to form a

continuous chain of military works from the northern lakes to the Gulf

of Mexico. Upon widely different grounds did the French and English base

their claims to the possession of the territory west of the Alleghany

Mountains. The former claimed a right to the soil because of prior

actual occupation; the latter claimed the domain as their own on account

of the discovery of the Atlantic coast by the Cabots, before the French

had made any settlements. The Pacific coast was considered as the

western boundary. Upon the principle of settling claims by drawing a

line interiorly at right angles from the coast discovered, the French,

from their undisputed province of Acadia, might have claimed almost the

whole of New England, and one half of New York, with all the lakes. It

was a difficult question, while the argument rested upon a foundation of

unrighteousness. **

The French had long occupied Detroit. They had explored the Mississippi

Valley, formed settlements at Kaskaskias and Vincennes (the former now

in the southern portion of Illinois, and the latter in the south part of

Indiana), and along the northern border of the Gulf of Mexico, when

the dispute arose. To vindicate their claims to the country they had

explored, they commenced building forts. These the English viewed with

jealousy, and determined to contravene the evident attempts to supersede

them in the empire of the New World.

In 1749, a royal grant of six hundred thousand acres of land on the Ohio

River was made to a number of English merchants and Virginia planters,

who, under the name of _The Ohio Company_, had associated for the

ostensible purpose of trade. The British ministry, anticipating early

hostility with France, had also sent out orders to the governor of

Virginia to build two forts near the Ohio River, for the purpose of

securing possession. But the order came too late; already the French

were planting fortifications in that direction. The establishment of

this trading company was the first positive intimation which the French

had received of the intention of the English to vindicate their claims.

They regarded the movement as the incipient steps toward a destruction

of their western trade with the In-

* I have in my possession a document, signed by Spottswood, to which is

attached the great seal of Virginia, a huge disk of beeswax, four and a

half inches in diameter, on one side of which is impressed the English

arms, and on the other a figure of Britannia, holding a scepter in one

hand and a globe in the other, and receiving the obeisance of an Indian

queen, who, bowed upon one knee, is presenting a bunch of the tobacco

plant to her.

** In the early part of his administration, Governor Spottswood led, in

person, an expedition over the Blue Ridge, beyond which no white man's

foot had yet trodden in that direction, and obtained glimpses of those

glorious valleys which stretch away along the tributaries of the mighty

Mississippi. In commemoration of this event, King George the First

conferred upon him the honor of knighthood, and in allusion to the

fact that he commanded a troop of mounted men on the occasion, he was

presented with a silver miniature horseshoe, on which was inscribed

the motto, "Thus he swears to cross the mountains."

*** In these discussions the natives, the original proprietors of the

soil, were not considered. The intruding Europeans assumed sovereignty

and possession without ever pretending to have purchased a rood of the

soil from the aboriginal owners. It is related that when Mr. Gist went

into the Ohio Valley on a tour of observation for the Ohio Company,

a messenger was sent by two Indian sachems to inquire, "Where is the

Indian's land? The English claim it all on one side of the river, the

French on the other; where does the Indian's land lay." The true answer

to that question would have been, "Every where," and the intruders

should have withdrawn from the soil and closed their lips in shame.

[[[Jealousy of the French.--Erection of Forts.--Dinwiddie's

Measures.--George Washington sent to the French Commandant]]]

{473}dians, and to break their communication between New France or

Canada, and Louisiana. With such impressions they resolved on defensive

measures--aggressive ones too, if necessary. A pretense was not long

wanting. While some English traders were engaged in their vocation near

the present site of Pittsburgh, they were seized by some French and

Indians, and conveyed to Presque Isle, now the town of Erie, on the

lake of that name. The object was to learn from them the designs of the

English in Virginia. In retaliation for this outrage, the Twightwees, *

a body of Indians friendly to the English, seized some French traders,

and sent them to Pennsylvania. Bitter animosity was now engendered, and

it was intensified by those national and religious feuds which had so

long made the English and French inimical to each other. Finally, the

French began the erection of forts on the south side of Lake Erie,

sending troops across the lakes with munitions of war, and forwarding

bodies of armed men from New Orleans. One fort was built at Presque Isle

(now Erie); another at Le Bouf (now Waterford), on the head waters

of the Venango (now French Creek ** ), and a third at Venango (now

Franklin, the capital of Venango county, Pennsylvania, at the junction

of French Creek with the Alleghany). The _Ohio Company_ complained, and

Robert Dinwiddie, *** the lieutenant governor of Virginia, within whose

jurisdiction the offensive movement occurred, felt called upon to send

a formal remonstrance to the French commandant, M. De St. Pierre,

and demand a withdrawal of his troops. The mission was an exceedingly

delicate one, and demanded the exercise of great courage, discretion,

and judgment. George Washington, then a young man of twenty-one, was

chosen, from among the hundreds of the Virginia aristocracy, to execute

this commission of trust. At the age of nineteen he had received the

appointment of adjutant general of one of the four military districts of

Virginia, with the rank of major. The appointment was as creditable to

the sagacity of Dinwiddie as it was flattering to the young officer.

On the 31st of October, 1753, Major Washington, bearing a letter

from Dinwiddie to the French commandant of the Western posts, left

Williamsburg. At Fredericksburg he engaged Jacob Vanbraam, a Dutchman,

to accompany him as French interpreter, and John Davidson as Indian

interpreter, and then turned his face toward the wilderness. Before him

was a journey of more than five hundred miles. At the junction of Will's

Creek with the Potomac (now Cumberland, in Maryland), fourteen days

journey from Williamsburg, he was joined by Mr. Gist (mentioned in a

note on page 472) and four other [[ a Nov 14, 1753]] men, two of them

Indian traders. (a) This point, at the mouth of Will's Creek on

the Potomac, was on the verge of civilization, and near the lofty

Alleghanies, then covered with snow. Over these the little party pushed

their way, enduring every hardship incident to a dreary wilderness and

the rigors of winter. The streams in the valleys were swollen, and upon

frail rafts the travelers crossed them; or, when occasion demanded, they

entered the chilling flood, and, by wading or swimming, accomplished

a passage. At length they reached the forks of the Ohio, (b) at the

present site of Pittsburgh, and, after resting part of a day, they

hastened onward twenty miles down the river, to Logstown (now [[ b Nov.

23]] in Beaver county), accompanied by Shingias, a chief sachem of the

Delawares.

There Washington called the surrounding Indian chiefs together in

council, (c) made [[ c Nov. 26]]

* According to Mr. Gist, who visited them in 1751, the Twightwees, or

Tuigtuis, as the Freneh wrote it, were a very numerous people, composed

of many tribes. At that time they were in amity with the Six Nations,

and were considered the most powerful body of Indians westward of the

English settlements. While they resided on the Wabash, they were in the

interests of the French, but left them, came eastward, and joined the

fortunes of the English. Some assert that the Twightwees and the Ottawas

were the same, originally.

** This is ealled Beef River on Bouquet's map.

*** The first successor of Spottswood in the chair of administration was

Hugh Drysdale, in 1722, who was succeeded by William Gooch in 1727. In

1749, Thomas Lee, president of the council, was acting governor, and, in

1750, Lewis Burwell held the same responsible office. Robert Dinwiddie

was appointed lieutenant governor in 1752. He administered the office

for six years, and was succeeded by Francis Fauquier. Ten years later

(1768), Lord Botetourt was appointed, and from the period of his death

until the arrival of Lord Dunmore, the last of the royal governors.

William Nelson, father of one of the signers of the Declaration of

Independence, was acting governor.

[[[Friendly Offices of the Indians.--St. Pierre.--His Letter to

Dinwiddie.--Washington's Journey.--Preparations for War.]]]

{474}known to them the objects of his visit, and solicited a guide

to conduct him to the French encampment, one hundred and twenty miles

distant. The request was complied with, and Tanacharison * (Half King),

with two other chiefs, ** and a bold hunter, accompanied Washington and

his little band. After suffering terrible hardships, they reached the

French camp. At Venango, a French outpost, attempts were made to detain

the Indians, though

[[Dec. 5, 1753]] Joncaire, the commandant, received Washington with

civility. The head-quarters of the French were higher up the stream,

at Fort Le Bouf, and there the [[Dec 12.]] Virginia commissioner was

received with great politeness by M. De St. Pierre. After a perilous

journey of forty-one days, Washington had reached his destination.

St. Pierre was an elderly man, a knight of the order of St. Louis.

He entertained Washington and his party for four days with cordial

hospitality, and then delivered to him a sealed reply to Governor

Dinwiddie's letter. *** In the mean while, Washington and his attendants

made full observations respecting the fort and garrison, construction

of the works, numbers of cannon, &c.; information of much value. After a

journey marked by more perils and hardships than the first, **** a large

portion of which Major Washington and Mr. Gist per-[[Jan. 16, 1754]]

formed alone and on foot, the former reached Williamsburg, having been

absent eleven weeks. (v)

Dinwiddie was greatly incensed when he opened the letter of St. Pierre.

That officer, writing like a soldier, said it did not belong to him as

a subaltern to discuss treaties; that such a message as Washington bore

should have been sent to the Marquis Duquesne, governor of Canada, by

whose instructions he acted, and whose orders he should obey; and that

the summons to retire could not be complied with. There could be no

longer a doubt of the hostile designs of the French. (vi) Governor

Dinwiddie called his council together, and, without waiting for

the Burgesses to convene, took measures for the expulsion of their

troublesome neighbors from Virginia soil. The council advised the

enlistment of two companies, of one hundred men each, for the service;

and the Ohio Company sent out a party of thirty men to erect a fort at

the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers (Pittsburgh),

a spot which Washington strongly recommended as most eligible, and to

enlist men among

* This chief was a bold and patriotic man. He warned both the English

and the French to leave the country. He had felt the encroachments of

the French, by their taking actual possession of large tracts of land;

but as yet he mistook the character of the English, and believed that

they came simply to trade with his race. He and his brethren soon

learned, by fearful experience, that the French and English were equally

governed by whatever policy was necessary for the accomplishment of

those acts of rapacity and injustice which are sanctioned by the law of

nations! "Fathers," said Tanacharison to the French, "The Great Being

above allowed this land to be a place of residence for us, so I desire

you to withdraw, as I have done our brothers the English; for I will

keep you at arm's length. I lay this down as a trial for both, to see

which will have the greatest regard to it, and that side we will

stand by, and make equal shares with us." The French treated him with

contempt, and hence he was the friend of the English.

** Jeskakake and White Thunder.

*** Dinwiddie, in his letter, asserted that the lands on the Ohio

belonged to the Crown of Great Britain: expressed surprise at the

encroachments of the French; demanded by whose authority an armed force

had crossed the lakes, and urged their speedy departure.

**** On one occasion, an Indian, supposed to have been induced by

Joncaire, at Venango, attempted to shoot them. On another occasion,

after working a whole day in constructing a frail raft, they attempted

to cross the swift current of the Alleghany, then filled with drifting

ice. Their raft was destroyed among the ice, and the travelers, drenched

in the river, were east upon a desert island, where they laid upon

the snow all night. In the morning the ice over the other channel was

sufficiently strong to bear them. They crossed over, and toward evening

reached the house of Frazier (who was a lieutenant under captain Trent

the following May), near the spot where a year and a half afterward was

fought the battle of the Monongahela. The island on which they were cast

now bears the name of Washington's Island. It is directly opposite

the United States Arsenal, at Lawrenceville, two or three miles above

Pittsburgh.

* (v) See Washington's Journal. This journal was published in the

newspapers here, and also in England and France, where it excited great

attention.

* (vi) Washington says in his Journal, in reference to the imprudence of

Joncaire and his party, on account of too free indulgence in wine: "They

told me that it was their absolute design to take possession of the

Ohio, and by God they would do it; for that, although they were sensible

the English could raise two men to their one, yet they knew their

motions were too slow and dilatory to prevent any undertaking of

theirs."

[[[Expedition against the French.--Attack upon the Virginians.--Fort

Duquesne.--Fort Necessity.--Surprise of Jumonville.]]]

{475}the traders on the frontier. The command of the two companies was

given to Major Washington, one of which was to be raised by himself; the

other by Captain Trent, who was to collect his men among the traders in

the back settlements. Washington proceeded to Alexandria, while Trent

went to the frontier and collected his corps in the neighborhood of the

Ohio Fork.

When the Virginia Assembly met, they voted ten thousand pounds toward

supporting the expedition to the Ohio. The Carolinas also voted

twelve thousand pounds. With this aid, and promises of more, Dinwiddie

determined to increase the number of men to be sent to the Ohio to three

hundred, to be divided into six companies. Colonel Joshua Fry * was

appointed to the command of the whole, and Major Washington was made

his lieutenant. Ten cannons and other munitions of war were sent to

Alexandria for the use of the expedition.

Washington left Alexandria, with two companies of troops, on the 2d of

April, [[1754]] and arrived at Will's Creek on the 20th. He was joined

on the route by Captain Adam Stephen, the general who was cashiered

after the battle at Germantown, twenty-three years subsequently. When

about to move on, Ensign Ward arrived with the intelligence that Captain

Trent's corps, with those sent out by the Ohio Company to construct a

fort at the Ohio Fork (now Pittsburgh), had been obliged to surrender

the post to a French force of one thousand men, most of them Indians,

under Monsieur Contrecoeur. ** [[April 7]] This was the first overt act

of hostility--this was the beginning of the _French and Indian war_,

which lasted seven years. The French completed the fort taken from

Trent, and called it _Duquesne_, in honor of the governor general of

Canada.

Washington pushed forward with one hundred and fifty men, to attempt to

[[May 1, 1754]] retrieve this loss, confident that a larger force than

his own, under Colonel Fry, would speedily follow. He marched for the

junction of the Red Stone Creek and Monongahela River, thirty-seven

miles from Fort Duquesne, where he intended to fortify himself, and wait

for the arrival of Colonel Fry, with artillery. On the way, he received

intelligence from Half King [[May 24]] that a French force was then

marching to attack the English, wherever they might be found. Washington

was now a few miles beyond the Great Meadows, an eligible place for a

camp, and thither he returned and threw up an intrenchment, which

he called Fort Necessity, from the circumstances under which it was

erected. On the 27th, he received another message from Half King,

informing him that he had discovered the hiding-place of a French

detachment of fifty men. With a few Indians, and forty chosen troops,

Washington proceeded to attack them. They were found in a well-sheltered

place among rocks, and, assaulting them by surprise, he defeated them

after a severe skirmish of ten minutes. Ten of the Frenchmen were killed

(among whom was M. De Jumonville, the commander), one wounded, and

twenty-one made prisoners. Washington had only one man killed, and two

or three wounded. The prisoners were conducted to Fort Necessity, and

from thence sent over the mountains into Eastern Virginia. ***

*Joshua Fry was a native of Somersetshire, England, and was educated at

Oxford. He was at one time professor of mathematics in William and

Mary College, Williamsburg; was subsequently a member of the House of

Burgesses, and served as a commissioner in running the boundary line

between Virginia and North Carolina. With Peter Jefferson, he made a map

of Virginia, and by these employments became well acquainted with the

frontier regions. In 1752, he was one of the Virginia commissioners for

making a treaty with the Indians at Logstown. His integrity, experience,

and knowledge of the Indian character qualified him to command the

expedition against the French in 1754. He died at Will's Creek, while on

his way to the Ohio, on the 31st of May, 1754.

** Ensign Ward was in command of the post when the enemy approached,

Captain Trent being then at Will's Creek, and Lieutenant Frazier at his

residence, ten miles distant. The whole number of men under Ward was

only forty-one.

*** The French made a great clamor about this skirmish, declaring that

Jumonville was the bearer of dispatches; and French writers unjustly

vilified the character of Washington, by representing the affair as

a massacre. Cotemporary evidence clearly indicates that Jumonville's

embassy was a hostile, not a peaceful one; and, as Contrecour had

commenced hostilities by capturing the fort at the Ohio Fork, Washington

was justified in his conduct by the rules of war.

[[[Death of Colonel Fry.--Washington in Command.--Fort

Necessity.--Washington's Return home.--The Great Meadows.]]]

{476}Two days after Washington wrote his dispatch to Colonel Fry,

communicating the facts [[May 31]] respecting attack on the French,

that officer died at Will's Creek. His troops, intended to re-enforce

Washington, were sent forward, and swelled his little army to four

hundred men. On the death of Fry, the chief command of the expedition

devolved upon Washington, and with his inadequate force he proceeded

to attack Fort Duquesne. He held a council of war at Gist's plantation,

where information was received that the French at Duquesne were

re-enforced, and were preparing to march against the English. Captain

Mackay, with his South Carolina company, and Captains Lewis and

Poison, with their detachments, were summoned to rendezvous at Gist's

plantation, where another council was held, and a retreat was resolved

upon. The intrenchments thrown up at Gist's were abandoned, and, with

their ammunition and stores, the whole party reached Fort Necessity

on the first of July. [[1754]] There, on account of great fatigue, and

suffering from hunger, they halted, and commenced the construction of a

ditch and abatis, and strengthened the stockades. *

On the third of July, a French force under M. De Villiers, Jumonville's

brother, reported to be nine hundred strong, approached to the attack

of Fort Necessity. It was about eleven o'clock when they came within six

hundred yards of the outworks, and began an ineffectual fire. Colonel

Washington had drawn up his little band outside the trenches, and

ordered his men to reserve their fire until the enemy were near enough

to do execution. But the French were not inclined to leave the woods and

make an assault upon the works. At sunrise, rain had begun to fall, and

toward noon it came down in torrents, accompanied by vivid lightning.

The trenches into which Colonel Washington ordered his men were filled

with water, and the arms of the provincials were seriously injured. A

desultory fire was kept up the whole day by both parties, without

any decisive result, when De Villiers sent proposals to capitulate.

Washington at first declined, but on consultation with his officers,

and being assured there was no chance of victory over such overwhelming

numbers, he consented, and highly honorable terms were conceded. The

English were allowed to march out of the fort with all the honors of

war, retaining their baggage, and every thing except their artillery,

and to return to Will's Creek unmolested. Washington agreed to restore

the prisoners taken at the skirmish with Jumonville, ** and that

the English should not attempt to erect any establishment beyond the

mountains for the space of one year. On their march from the fort,

a party of one hundred Indians, who came to re-enforce the French,

surrounded them, and menaced them with death. They plundered their

baggage, and committed other mischief.

The provincials finally arrived at Will's Creek, and Washington, with

Captain Mackay, proceeded to Williamsburg, where the former communicated

to Dinwiddie, in person, the events of the campaign. *** The House of

Burgesses of Virginia approved generally of the conduct of the campaign,

and passed a vote of thanks to Washington and his officers. **** The

* The Great Meadows, where Fort Necessity was built, is a level bottom,

cleft by a small creek. Around it are hills of a moderate height and

gradual ascent. The bottom is about two hundred and fifty yards wide

where the fort was erected. It was a point well chosen, being about one

hundred yards from the upland or wooded grounds on one side, and about

a hundred and fifty on the other. The creek afforded water for the fort.

On the side nearest the wood were three entrances, protected by short

breast-works or bastions. The site of this fort is three or four hundred

yards south of what is now called the National Road, four miles from the

foot of Laurel Hill, and fifty miles from Cumberland, at Will's Creek.

When Mr. Sparks visited the site in 1830, the lines of the fort were

very visible.--See Sparks's Writings of Washington, ii., 457.

** This part of the capitulation the governor refused to ratify, because

the French, after the surrender, took eight Englishmen prisoners, and

sent them to Canada. Vanbraam and Stobo, whom Washington left with

De Villiers, as hostages for the fulfillment of the conditions of the

capitulation, were sent to Canada. The prisoners on both sides were

finally released.

*** It was during this campaign that the colonial convention was held

at Albany, noticed on pages 302 and 303, vol. i., of this work, where a

plan for a political union of all the colonies, similar in some of its

features to that proposed by Governor Nicholson fifty years before, was

submitted.

**** All the officers were named in the resolution of thanks, except

those of the major of the regiment, who was charged with cowardice, and

Captain Vanbraam, who was believed to have acted a treacherous part in

falsely interpreting the terms of capitulation, which were written in

French, by which Washington was made to acknowledge that Jumonville was

assassinated. A pistole (about three dollars and sixty cents) was given

as a gratuity to each soldier engaged in the campaign.

[[[Loss at Fort Necessity.--French Duplicity.--General

Braddock.--Provincial Governors.--March toward Fort Duquesne.]]]

{477}exact loss of the provincials in this engagement is not known.

There were twelve killed, and forty-three wounded, of the Virginia

regiment; the number of killed and wounded belonging to Captain Mackay's

Carolinians is not recorded. The number of provincials in the fort was

about four hundred; the assailants were nearly one thousand strong, five

hundred of whom were Frenchmen. The loss of the latter was supposed to

be more than that of the former.

When the British ministry called the attention of the French court

to the transactions in America, the latter expressed the most pacific

intentions and promises for the future, while its actions were in direct

opposition to its professions. The English, therefore, resolved to send

to America a sufficient force to co-operate with the provincial troops

in driving the French back to Canada. On the twentieth of February,

1755, General Braddock arrived at Alexandria, in Virginia, with two

regiments of the British army from Ireland, eaeh consisting of five

hundred men, with a suitable train of artillery, and with stores and

provisions. His colonels were Dunbar and Sir Peter Halket. At a meeting

of colonial governors, * first called at Annapolis, and afterward

convened at Alexandria, three expeditions were planned, one against

Fort Duquesne, under Braddock; a second against Niagara and Frontenac

(Kingston, U. C.), under General William Shirley; and a third against

Crown Point, under General William Johnson. The last two expeditions

have been fully considered in the first volume of this work.

General Braddock, with the force destined to act against Fort Duquesne,

left Alexandria on the twentieth of April, and, marching by the way

of Winchester, reached Will's Creek about the tenth of May. Here a

fortification was thrown up, and named Fort Cumberland. Washington

had left the service on account of a regulation by which the colonial

officers were made to rank under those of the regular army, but being

earnestly urged by General Braddock to accompany him, he consented to

do so in the character of aid, and as a volunteer. The great delay

in procuring wagons for transporting the baggage and stores, and in

furnishing other supplies, gave the French an opportunity to arouse the

Indians, and prepare for a vigorous defense.

On numbering his troops at Will's Creek, Braddock ascertained that his

force consisted of a little more than two thousand effective men, about

one half of whom belonged to the royal regiments.

[Illustration: 9487]

The remainder were furnished by the colonies, among whom were portions

of two independent companies, contributed by New York, under Captain

Horatio Gates, unto whom Burgoyne surrendered twenty-two years later.

Braddock separated his army into two divisions. The advanced division,

consisting of over twelve hundred men, he led in person; the other was

intrusted to the command of Colonel Dunbar, who, by slower marches, was

to remain in the rear. Braddock reached the junction of the Voughiogheny

and Monongahela Rivers, within fifteen miles of Fort Duquesne, on the

eighth of July, where he was joined by Colonel Washington, who had just

recovered from an attack of fever.

On the morning of the ninth, [[1755]] the whole army crossed the

Monongahela, and marching five miles along its southwestern banks, on

account of rugged hills on the other side, they again crossed to

the northeastern shore, and proceeded directly toward Fort Duquesne.

Lieutenant Colonel Gage, afterward the commander of the British forces

at Boston when besieged by the Americans under Washington, led the

advanced guard of three

* Six colonial governors assembled on this occasion, namely: Shirley,

of Massachusetts; Dinwiddie, of Virginia; James Delaney, of New York;

Sharpe, of Maryland; Morris, of Pennsylvania; and Dobbs, of North

Carolina. Admiral Keppel, then in command of his majesty's fleet in

America, was also present.

[[[Alarm of the French.--Passage of the Monongahela.--The

Battle.--Washington's Advance.--Death of Braddock.]]]

{478}hundred men in the order of march. Contrecoeur, the commandant of

Fort Duquesne, had been early informed of the approach of Braddock,

and his Indian scouts were out in every direction. He had doubts of his

ability to maintain the fort against the English, and contemplated an

abandonment, when Captain De Beaujeu proposed to head a detachment of

French and Indians, and meet them while on their march. The proposition

was agreed to, and on the morning of the ninth of July, [[1755]] at the

moment when the English first crossed the Monongahela, the French and

Indians took up their line of march, intending to make the attack at the

second crossing of the river. Arriving too late, they posted themselves

in the woods and ravines, on the line of march toward the fort.

It was one o'clock, and the sun was pouring its rays down fiercely, when

the rear of the British army reached the north side of the Monongahela.

A level plain extended from the river to a gentle hill, nearly half

a mile northward. This hill terminated in higher elevations thickly

covered with woods, and furrowed by narrow ravines. * Next to Gage, with

his advanced party, was another division of two hundred men, and then

came Braddock with the column of artillery and the main body of the

army. Just as Gage was ascending the slope and approaching a dense wood,

a heavy volley of musketry poured a deadly storm into his ranks. No

adversary was to be seen. It was the first intimation that the enemy

was near, and the firing seemed to proceed from an invisible foe. The

British fired in return, but at random, while the concealed enemy, from

behind trees, and rocks, and thick bushes, kept up rapid and destructive

volleys. Beaujeu, the commander of the French and Indians, was killed

at the first return fire, and M. Dumas took his place. Braddock advanced

with all possible speed to the relief of the advanced guard; but

so great was their panic, that they fell back in confusion upon the

artillery and other columns of the army, and communicated their panic

to the whole. The general tried in vain to rally his troops. Himself and

officers were in the thickest of the fight, and exhibited indomitable

courage. Washington ventured to suggest the propriety of adopting

the Indian mode of skulking, and each man firing for himself, without

orders; but Braddock would listen to no suggestions so contrary to

military tactics. ** For three hours he endeavored to form his men into

regular columns and platoons, as if in battle with European troops upon

a broad plain, while the concealed enemy, with sure aim, was slaying his

brave soldiers by scores. Harassed on every side, the British huddled

together in great confusion, fired irregularly, and in several instances

shot down their own officers without perceptibly injuring their enemies.

The Virginians under Washington, contrary to orders, now adopted the

provincial mode of fighting, and did more execution than all the rest of

the troops. The carnage was dreadful. More than half of Braddock's whole

army, which made such a beautiful picture in the eyes of Washington in

the morning, *** were killed and wounded. General Braddock received a

wound which disabled him, and terminated his life three days afterward.

**** Through the

* Mr. Sparks visited this battle-field in 1830. He says the hill up

which Gage and his detachment were marching is little more than an

inclined plain of about three degrees. Down this slope extended two

ravines, beginning near together, at about one hundred and fifty yards

from the bottom of the hill, and proceeding in different directions,

until they terminated in the valley below. In these ravines the enemy

were concealed and protected. In 1830, they were from eight to ten

feet deep, and capable of holding a thousand men. It was between these

ravines that the British army was slaughtered.--See Sparks's Washington,

ii., 474. Although nearly one hundred years have elapsed since the

battle, grape-shot and bullets are now sometimes cut out of the trees,

or, with buttons and other metallic portions of military equipage, are

turned up by the plowmen.

** It was on this occasion that the haughty and petulant Braddoek is

said to have remarked contemptuously, "What, a Virginia colonel teach a

British general how to fight!" It is proper to remark that this anecdote

rests upon apocryphal authority.

*** Washington was often heard to say, during his lifetime, that the

most beautiful spectacle he had ever beheld was the display of the

British troops on that morning. Every man was neatly dressed in full

uniform; the soldiers were arranged in columns, and marched in exact

order; the sun gleamed from the burnished arms; the river flowed

tranquilly on their right, and the deep forest overshadowed them with

solemn grandeur on the left.--Sparks.

**** General Braddock had five horses shot under him before he was

mortally wounded himself. He was conveyed first in a tumbril, then

on horseback, and finally by his soldiers in their flight toward Fort

Cumberland after the defeat. He was attended by Dr. James Craik. * He

died on the night of the 15th, and was buried in the road, to prevent

his body being discovered by the Indians. Colonel Washington read

the impressive funeral service of the Episcopal Church over it, by

torch-light. The place of his grave is a few yards north of the present

National Road, between the fifty-third and fifty-fourth mile from

Cumberland, and about a mile west of the site of Fort Necessity, at the

Great Meadows. It is said that a man named Thomas Faucett, who was among

the soldiers under Braddock, shot his general. Faucett resided near

Uniontown. Fayette county, Pennsylvania, toward the close of the last

century, and never denied the accusation. He excused his conduct by the

plea that by destroying the general, who would not allow his men to fire

from behind trees, the remnant of the army was saved.

[[[Washington's Skill.--Providential Care acknowledged.--Lord

Loudon.--New Expedition.--General Forbes.]]]

{479}stubbornness of that general, his contempt of the Indians, and the

cowardice of many of his regular troops, an army thirteen hundred strong

was half destroyed and utterly defeated by about one half that number,

a large portion of whom were Indians. * Every mounted officer, except

Washington, was slain before Braddock fell, and the whole duty of

distributing orders devolved upon the youthful colonel, who was almost

too weak from sickness to be in the saddle when the action commenced. **

William Pitt entered the British ministry at the close of 1757, and one

of his first acts was the preparation of a plan for the campaign of 1758

against the French and Indians.

Lord Loudoun, who had been appointed to the chief command of the troops

in America, *** was also appointed the successor of Dinwiddie, who left

Virginia in January, 1758.

[Illustration: 9489]

Loudoun's deputy, Francis Fauquier, a man greatly esteemed, performed

the functions of governor. Pitt, in his arrangements, planned an

expedition against Fort Duquesne. Every thing was devised upon a just

and liberal scale. Brigadier-general Forbes **** was intrusted with

the command of the expedition. The Virginian army was augmented to two

thousand men. These were divided into two regiments. The first was under

Colonel Washington, who was likewise commander-in-chief of the Virginia

forces; the second was under Colonel William Byrd, of Westover,

mentioned on page 441. After much delay in the collecting of men and

munitions, the Virginians were ordered to Fort Cumberland, on the

Potomac, at Will's Creek, to join the other portions of the expedition.

The illness of General Forbes detained him long in Philadelphia, and,

when able to move, his perversity of judgment placed many obstacles in

the way of

* In a letter to his mother, written at Fort Cumberland nine days after

the battle, Washington said, after mentioning the slaughter of the

Virginia troops; "In short, the dastardly behavior of those they call

regulars exposed all others who were inclined to do their duty to

almost certain death; and at last, in despite of all the efforts of the

officers to the contrary, they ran as sheep pursued by dogs, and it

was impossible to 'rally them." He used similar language in writing to

Governor Dinwiddie.

** Colonel Washington had two horses shot under him, and four bullets

passed through his coat. ** Secretary Shirley was shot through the head,

Sir Peter Halket was instantly killed, and among the wounded officers

were Colonel Burton, Sir John St. Clair, Lieutenant Colonel Gage,

Colonel Orme, Major Sparks, and Brigade-major Halket. Five captains were

killed, and five wounded; fifteen lieutenants killed, and twenty-two

wounded; out of eighty-six officers, twenty-six were killed, and

thirty-seven wounded. The killed and wounded of the privates amounted to

seven hundred and fourteen. One half of them were supposed to be killed,

and these were stripped and scalped by the Indians.

*** See volume i., p. 110.

**** John Forbes was a native of Petincenet, Fifeshire, Scotland, and

was educated for a physician. He entered the army in 1745. After serving

as quarter-master general under the Duke of Cumberland, he was appointed

brigadier general, and sent to America. The remainder of his public

career is recorded in the text. The fort at Will's Creek he called

Cumberland, in honor of his former commander, and the town since built

there retains its name.

* See page 241.

** Speaking of this in a letter to his brother, he remarked, "By the

all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond

all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my

coat, and two horses shot under me, and escaped unhurt, although death

was leveling my companions on every side of me." Dr. Craik, the intimate

friend of Washington through life, and who was in this battle, relates

that fifteen years afterward, while traveling near the junction of the

great Kenhawa and Ohio Rivers in exploring wild lands, they were met by

a party of Indians with an interpreter, headed by a venerable chief. The

old chief said he had come a long way to see Colonel Washington, for in

the battle of the Monongahela, he had singled him out as a conspicuous

object, fired his rifle at him fifteen times, and directed his young

warriors to do the same, but not one could hit him. He was persuaded

that the Great Spirit protected the young hero, and ceased firing at

him. The Rev. Samuel Davies of Hanover (afterward president of Princeton

College, New Jersey), when preaching to a volunteer company a month

after the battle, said, in allusion to Colonel Washington, "I can not

but hope Providence has hitherto preserved him in so signal a manner,

for some important service to his country." Washington was never wounded

in battle.

[[[Movements of Forbes.--Defeat of Grant Attack on Bouquet.--Abandonment

of Fort Duquesne.--Washington's Resignation.]]]

{480}success. Instead of following Braddock's road over the mountains,

he insisted upon constructing a new one farther northward; and in

September, when it was known that not more than eight hundred men

were in garrison at Fort Duquesne, and the British might have been

successfully beleaguring the fortress if Washington's advice had

been heeded, General Forbes with six thousand men was yet east of the

Alleghanies!

[Illustration: 9490]

It was November when he reached the scene of action, and then his

provisions were nearly exhausted.

In the mean while, Major Grant, of a Highland regiment, who had been

ordered by Colonel Bouquet to march _toward_ Fort Duquesne with

about eight hundred men, and reconnoiter the country, exceeded his

instructions, and made an unsuccessful attempt to capture it. [[Sept.

21]], The British were defeated with great loss, and both Major Grant

and Major Andrew Lewis, of Washington's regiment (who commanded a rear

guard), were made prisoners, and sent to Montreal. The retreat of the

survivors was effected by the skill and energy of Captain Bullit, who,

with fifty men, was left in charge of the baggage. The total loss on

that occasion was two hundred and seventy-eight killed, and forty-two

wounded. * The French, greatly inspirited by this event, determined to

attack Colonel Bouquet at Loyal Hanna, ** before General Forbes should

arrive from Fort Bedford. *** A force under De Vetrie, consisting of

twelve hundred French and two hundred Indians, marched eastward, and on

the twelfth of October attacked Bouquet's camp. The battle lasted four

hours, and the French were repulsed with considerable loss. Colonel

Bouquet lost sixty-seven men in killed and wounded. The Indians,

bitterly disappointed, left the French in great numbers, and went out

upon their hunting-grounds to secure a supply of food for the winter.

General Forbes arrived, toward the close of October, at Loyal Hanna,

about half way between Fort Bedford and Fort Duquesne, where he called a

council of war. The increasing inclemency of the season and scarcity of

provisions, made it appear inexpedient to attempt to reach the fort, and

they were about to abandon the expedition until Spring, when a

knowledge of the extreme weakness of the garrison at Fort Duquesne was

communicated by some prisoners who had been taken. Encouraged by

this intelligence, the expedition moved on, the regiment of Colonel

Washington forming the advanced corps. When he was within a days'

march of Fort Duquesne, he was discovered by scouts. Fear magnified his

numbers, and the garrison "burned the fort, and ran away by the light of

it at night, going down the Ohio by water, to the number of about five

hundred men, according to the best information." **** [[Nov. 25, 1758]]

The English took possession of its site the next day. The blackened

chimneys of thirty tenements stood in bold relief among the ruins.

(v) The works were repaired, and the name of Pitt was given to the new

fortress. After furnishing two hundred men from his regiment to garrison

Fort Pitt, Colonel Washington marched back to Winchester, from whence

he soon proceeded to Williamsburg to take his seat in the House of

Burgesses, to which he had been elected a member by the county of

Frederick, while he was at Fort Cumberland. The French being expelled

from the Ohio, and the fear of frontier troubles subsiding, Washington

determined to yield to the demands of enfeebled health and required

attention to private affairs, and leave the army. At about the close of

the year, he resigned his commission as colonel of the first Virginia

regiment and commander-in-chief of all the troops raised in the colony.

(vi)

* Marshall, i., 25.

** Now Ligonier, Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania, fifty miles west of

Bedford.

*** This fort was on the site of the present village of Bedford, the

capital of Bedford county.

**** Washington's letter to Governor Fauquier.

* (v) Day's History of Western Pennsylvania, page 140.

* (vi) It was on the occasion of his visit to Williamsburg, at the close

of this campaign, that a touching event in the life of Washington is

said to have occurred. He went into the gallery of the old Capitol when

the House of Burgesses were in session, to listen to the proceedings. As

soon as he was perceived by Mr. Speaker Robinson, that gentleman called

the attention of the House to the young hero, and greatly complimented

him for his gallantry. Washington, who was naturally diffident, and

never a fluent extemporaneous speaker, was much confused. He arose to

express his acknowledgments for the honor, but, blushing and stammering,

he was unable to utter a word intelligibly. Mr. Robinson observed his

embarrassment, and with admirable tact relieved him. "Sit down, Mr.

Washington," he said; "your modesty is equal to your valor, and that

surpasses the power of any language that I possess." Mr. Robinson, the

speaker of the House on this occasion, was the father of Colonel Beverly

Robinson, the distinguished Loyalist of New York during the Revolution,

whose portrait is printed on page 141. The last surviving son of Colonel

Robinson, Sir Frederick Philipse Robinson, died at his residence

at Brighton, England, on the first of January, 1852, at the age of

eighty-seven years.

[[[Development of Washington's Military Character.--Sir Frederick

Philipse Robinson.]]]

{481}In this rapid sketch--this mere birds-eye view of the colonial

history of Virginia, we have seen the development of those principles

which made that state so eminently republican and patriotic when the

Revolution broke out; and we have also seen the budding and growth of

the military genius and public esteem of him who led our armies through

that sanguinary conflict to victory and renown. We will now consider

some of the events of the war for Independence which distinguished the

peninsula below Richmond, lying between the York and James Rivers.

[[[Effect of the Stamp Act in Virginia.--Boldness of Patrick Henry.--His

Resolution in Opposition to the Act.]]]

{482}