COSTS OF CAMPAIGNING--MEASURES FOR PUBLIC SAFETY--WASHINGTON IN COMMAND--
HEAD-QUARTERS AT WINCHESTER--LORD FAIRFAX AND HIS TROOP OF HORSE--INDIAN
RAVAGES--PANIC AT WINCHESTER--CAUSE OF THE ALARM--OPERATIONS ELSEWHERE--
SHIRLEY AGAINST NIAGARA--JOHNSON AGAINST CROWN POINT--AFFAIR AT LAKE
GEORGE--DEATH OF DIESKAU.
Washington arrived at Mount Vernon on the 26th of July, still in feeble
condition from his long illness. His campaigning, thus far, had trenched
upon his private fortune, and impaired one of the best of constitutions.
In a letter to his brother Augustine, then a member of Assembly at
Williamsburg, he casts up the result of his frontier experience. "I was
employed," writes he, "to go a journey in the winter, when I believe few or
none would have undertaken it, and what did I get by it?--my expenses
borne! I was then appointed, with trifling pay, to conduct a handful of men
to the Ohio. What did I get by that? Why, after putting myself to a
considerable expense in equipping and providing necessaries for the
campaign, I went out, was soundly beaten, and lost all! Came in, and had my
commission taken from me; or, in other words, my command reduced, under
pretence of an order from home (England). I then went out a volunteer with
General Braddock, and lost all my horses, and many other things. But this
being a voluntary act, I ought not to have mentioned it; nor should I have
done it, were it not to show that I have been on the losing order ever
since I entered the service, which is now nearly two years."
What a striking lesson is furnished by this brief summary! How little was
he aware of the vast advantages he was acquiring in this school of bitter
experience! "In the hand of heaven he stood," to be shaped and trained for
its great purpose; and every trial and vicissitude of his early life, but
fitted him to cope with one or other of the varied and multifarious duties
of his future destiny.
But though, under the saddening influence of debility and defeat, he might
count the cost of his campaigning, the martial spirit still burned within
him. His connection with the army, it is true, had ceased at the death of
Braddock, but his military duties continued as adjutant-general of the
northern division of the province, and he immediately issued orders for the
county lieutenants to hold the militia in readiness for parade and
exercise, foreseeing that, in the present defenceless state of the
frontier, there would be need of their services.
Tidings of the rout and retreat of the army had circulated far and near,
and spread consternation throughout the country. Immediate incursions both
of French and Indians were apprehended; and volunteer companies began to
form, for the purpose of marching across the mountains to the scene of
danger. It was intimated to Washington that his services would again be
wanted on the frontier. He declared instantly that he was ready to serve
his country to the extent of his powers; but never on the same terms as
heretofore.
On the 4th of August, Governor Dinwiddie convened the Assembly to devise
measures for the public safety. The sense of danger had quickened the slow
patriotism of the burgesses; they no longer held back supplies; forty
thousand pounds were promptly voted, and orders issued for the raising of a
regiment of one thousand men.
Washington's friends urged him to present himself at Williamsburg as a
candidate for the command; they were confident of his success,
notwithstanding that strong interest was making for the governor's
favorite, Colonel Innes.
With mingled modesty and pride, Washington declined to be a solicitor. The
only terms, he said, on which he would accept a command, were a certainty
as to rank and emoluments, a right to appoint his field officers, and the
supply of a sufficient military chest; but to solicit the command, and, at
the same time, to make stipulations, would be a little incongruous, and
carry with it the face of self-sufficiency. "If," added he, "the command
should be offered to me, the case will then be altered, as I should be at
liberty to make such objections as reason, and my small experience, have
pointed out."
While this was in agitation, he received letters from his mother, again
imploring him not to risk himself in these frontier wars. His answer was
characteristic, blending the filial deference with which he was accustomed
from childhood to treat her, with a calm patriotism of the Roman stamp.
"Honored Madam: If it is in my power to avoid going to the Ohio again, I
shall; but if the command is pressed upon me by the general voice of the
country, and offered upon such terms as cannot be objected against, it
would reflect dishonor on me to refuse it; and that, I am sure, must, and
ought, to give you greater uneasiness, than my going in an honorable
command. Upon no other terms will I accept it. At present I have no
proposals made to me, nor have I any advice of such an intention, except
from private hands."
On the very day that this letter was despatched (Aug. 14), he received
intelligence of his appointment to the command on the terms specified in
his letters to his friends. His commission nominated him commander-in-chief
of all the forces raised, or to be raised in the colony. The Assembly also
voted three hundred pounds to him, and proportionate sums to the other
officers, and to the privates of the Virginia companies, in consideration
of their gallant conduct, and their losses in the late battle.
The officers next in command under him were Lieutenant-Colonel Adam
Stephens, and Major Andrew Lewis. The former, it will be recollected, had
been with him in the unfortunate affair at the Great Meadows; his advance
in rank shows that his conduct had been meritorious.
The appointment of Washington to his present station was the more
gratifying and honorable from being a popular one, made in deference to
public sentiment; to which Governor Dinwiddie was obliged to sacrifice his
strong inclination in favor of Colonel Innes. It is thought that the
governor never afterwards regarded Washington with a friendly eye. His
conduct towards him subsequently was on various occasions cold and
ungracious. [Footnote: Sparks' Writings of Washington, vol. ii., p. 161,
note.]
It is worthy of note that the early popularity of Washington was not the
result of brilliant achievements nor signal success; on the contrary, it
rose among trials and reverses, and may almost be said to have been the
fruit of defeats. It remains an honorable testimony of Virginian
intelligence, that the sterling, enduring, but undazzling qualities of
Washington were thus early discerned and appreciated, though only heralded
by misfortunes. The admirable manner in which he had conducted himself
under these misfortunes, and the sagacity and practical wisdom he had
displayed on all occasions, were universally acknowledged; and it was
observed that, had his modest counsels been adopted by the unfortunate
Braddock, a totally different result might have attended the late campaign.
An instance of this high appreciation of his merits occurs in a sermon
preached on the 17th of August by the Rev. Samuel Davis, wherein he cites
him as "that heroic youth, Colonel Washington, _whom I cannot but hope
Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for some important
service to his country._" The expressions of the worthy clergyman may
have been deemed enthusiastic at the time; viewed in connection with
subsequent events they appear almost prophetic.
Having held a conference with Governor Dinwiddie at Williamsburg, and
received his instructions, Washington repaired, on the 14th of September,
to Winchester, where he fixed his headquarters. It was a place as yet of
trifling magnitude, but important from its position; being a central point
where the main roads met, leading from north to south, and east to west,
and commanding the channels of traffic and communication between some of
the most important colonies and a great extent of frontier.
Here he was brought into frequent and cordial communication with his old
friend Lord Fairfax. The stir of war had revived a spark of that military
fire which animated the veteran nobleman in the days of his youth, when an
officer in the cavalry regiment of the Blues. He was lord-lieutenant of the
county. Greenway Court was his headquarters. He had organized a troop of
horse, which occasionally was exercised about the lawn of his domain, and
he was now as prompt to mount his steed for a cavalry parade as he ever was
for a fox chase. The arrival of Washington frequently brought the old
nobleman to Winchester to aid the young commander with his counsels or his
sword.
His services were soon put in requisition. Washington, having visited the
frontier posts, established recruiting places, and taken other measures of
security, had set off for Williamsburg on military business, when an
express arrived at Winchester from Colonel Stephens, who commanded at Fort
Cumberland, giving the alarm that a body of Indians were ravaging the
country, burning the houses, and slaughtering the inhabitants. The express
was instantly forwarded after Washington; in the mean time, Lord Fairfax
sent out orders for the militia of Fairfax and Prince William counties to
arm and hasten to the defence of Winchester, where all was confusion and
affright. One fearful account followed another. The whole country beyond it
was said to be at the mercy of the savages. They had blockaded the rangers
in the little fortresses or outposts provided for the protection of
neighborhoods. They were advancing upon Winchester with fire, tomahawk, and
scalping-knife. The country people were flocking into the town for
safety--the townspeople were moving off to the settlements beyond the Blue
Ridge. The beautiful valley of the Shenandoah was likely to become a scene
of savage desolation.
In the height of the confusion Washington rode into the town. He had been
overtaken by Colonel Stephens' express. His presence inspired some degree
of confidence, and he succeeded in stopping most of the fugitives. He would
have taken the field at once against the savages, believing their numbers
to be few; but not more than twenty-five of the militia could be mustered
for the service. The rest refused to stir--they would rather die with their
wives and children.
Expresses were sent off to hurry up the militia ordered out by Lord
Fairfax. Scouts were ordered out to discover the number of the foe, and
convey assurances of succor to the rangers said to be blocked up in the
fortresses, though Washington suspected the latter to be "more encompassed
by fear than by the enemy." Smiths were set to work to furbish up and
repair such firearms as were in the place, and waggons were sent off for
musket balls, flints, and provisions.
Instead, however, of animated co-operation, Washington was encountered by
difficulties at every step. The waggons in question had to be impressed,
and the waggoners compelled by force to assist. "No orders," writes he,
"are obeyed, but such as a party of soldiers or my own drawn sword
enforces. Without this, not a single horse, for the most earnest occasion,
can be had,--to such a pitch has the insolence of these people arrived, by
having every point hitherto submitted to them. However, I have given up
none, where his majesty's service requires the contrary, and where my
proceedings are justified by my instructions; nor will I, unless they
execute what they threaten--that is, blow out our brains."
One is tempted to smile at this tirade about the "insolence of the people,"
and this zeal for "his majesty's service," on the part of Washington; but
he was as yet a young man and a young officer; loyal to his sovereign, and
with high notions of military authority, which he had acquired in the camp
of Braddock.
What he thus terms insolence was the dawning spirit of independence, which
he was afterwards the foremost to cherish and promote; and which, in the
present instance, had been provoked by the rough treatment from the
military, which the waggoners and others of the yeomanry had experienced
when employed in Braddock's campaign, and by the neglect to pay them for
their services. Much of Washington's difficulties also arose, doubtlessly,
from the inefficiency of the military laws, for an amendment of which he
had in vain made repeated applications to Governor Dinwiddie.
In the mean time the panic and confusion increased. On Sunday an express
hurried into town, breathless with haste and terror. The Indians, he said,
were but twelve miles off; they had attacked the house of Isaac Julian; the
inhabitants were flying for their lives. Washington immediately ordered the
town guards to be strengthened; armed some recruits who had just arrived,
and sent out two scouts to reconnoitre the enemy. It was a sleepless night
in Winchester. Horror increased with the dawn; before the men could be
paraded a second express arrived, ten times more terrified than the former.
The Indians were within four miles of the town, killing and destroying all
before them. He had heard the constant firing of the savages and the
shrieks of their victims.
The terror of Winchester now passed all bounds. Washington put himself at
the head of about forty men, militia and recruits, and pushed for the scene
of carnage.
The result is almost too ludicrous for record. The whole cause of the alarm
proved to be three drunken troopers, carousing, hallooing, uttering the
most unheard of imprecations, and ever and anon firing off their pistols.
Washington interrupted them in the midst of their revel and blasphemy, and
conducted them prisoners to town.
The reported attack on the house of Isaac Julian proved equally an absurd
exaggeration. The ferocious party of Indians turned out to be a mulatto and
a negro in quest of cattle. They had been seen by a child of Julian, who
alarmed his father, who alarmed the neighborhood.
"These circumstances," says Washington, "show what a panic prevails among
the people; how much they are all alarmed at the most usual and customary
cries; and yet how impossible it is to get them to act in any respect for
their common safety."
They certainly present a lively picture of the feverish state of a frontier
community, hourly in danger of Indian ravage and butchery; than which no
kind of warfare is more fraught with real and imaginary horrors.
The alarm thus originating had spread throughout the country. A captain,
who arrived with recruits from Alexandria, reported that he had found the
road across the Blue Ridge obstructed by crowds of people flying for their
lives, whom he endeavored in vain to stop. They declared that Winchester
was in flames!
At length the band of Indians, whose ravages had produced this
consternation throughout the land, and whose numbers did not exceed one
hundred and fifty, being satiated with carnage, conflagration, and plunder,
retreated, bearing off spoils and captives. Intelligent scouts sent out by
Washington, followed their traces, and brought back certain intelligence
that they had recrossed the Allegany Mountains and returned to their homes
on the Ohio. This report allayed the public panic and restored temporary
quiet to the harassed frontier.
Most of the Indians engaged in these ravages were Delawares and Shawnees,
who, since Braddock's defeat, had been gained over by the French. A
principal instigator was said to be Washington's old acquaintance, Shengis,
and a reward was offered for his head.
Scarooyadi, successor to the half-king, remained true to the English, and
vindicated his people to the Governor and Council of Pennsylvania from the
charge of having had any share in the late massacres. As to the defeat at
the Monongahela, "it was owing," he said, "to the pride and ignorance of
that great general (Braddock) that came from England. He is now dead; but
he was a bad man when he was alive. He looked upon us as dogs, and would
never hear any thing that was said to him. We often endeavored to advise
him, and tell him of the danger he was in with his soldiers; but he never
appeared pleased with us, and that was the reason that a great many of our
warriors left him." [Footnote: Hazard's Register of Penn., v., p. 252,
266.]
Scarooyadi was ready with his warriors to take up the hatchet again with
their English brothers against the French. "Let us unite our strength,"
said he; "you are numerous, and all the English governors along your
sea-shore can raise men enough; but don't let those that come from over the
great seas be concerned any more. _They art unfit to fight in the woods.
Let us go ourselves--we that came out of this ground._"
No one felt more strongly than Washington the importance, at this trying
juncture, of securing the assistance of these forest warriors. "It is in
their power," said he, "to be of infinite use to us; and without Indians,
we shall never be able to cope with these cruel foes to our country."
[Footnote: Letter to Dinwiddie.]
Washington had now time to inform himself of the fate of the other
enterprises included in this year's plan of military operations. We shall
briefly dispose of them, for the sake of carrying on the general course of
events. The history of Washington is linked with the history of the
colonies. The defeat of Braddock paralyzed the expedition against Niagara.
Many of General Shirley's troops, which were assembled at Albany, struck
with the consternation which it caused throughout the country, deserted.
Most of the batteau men, who were to transport stores by various streams,
returned home. It was near the end of August before Shirley was in force at
Oswego. Time was lost in building boats for the lake. Storms and head winds
ensued; then sickness: military incapacity in the general completed the
list of impediments. Deferring the completion of the enterprise until the
following year, Shirley returned to Albany with the main part of his forces
in October, leaving about seven hundred men to garrison the fortifications
he had commenced at Oswego.
To General William Johnson, it will be recollected, had been confided the
expedition against Crown Point, on Lake Champlain. Preparations were made
for it in Albany, whence the troops were to march, and the artillery,
ammunition, and stores to be conveyed up the Hudson to the carrying-place
between that river and Lake St. Sacrament, as it was termed by the French,
but Lake George, as Johnson named it, in honor of his sovereign. At the
carrying-place a fort was commenced, subsequently called Fort Edward. Part
of the troops remained under General Lyman, to complete and garrison it;
the main force proceeded under General Johnson to Lake George, the plan
being to descend that lake to its outlet at Ticonderoga, in Lake Champlain.
Having to attend the arrival of batteaux forwarded for the purpose from
Albany by the carrying-place, Johnson encamped at the south end of the
lake. He had with him between five and six thousand troops of New York and
New England, and a host of Mohawk warriors, loyally devoted to him.
It so happened that a French force of upwards of three thousand men, under
the Baron de Dieskau, an old general of high reputation, had recently
arrived at Quebec, destined against Oswego. The baron had proceeded to
Montreal, and sent forward thence seven hundred of his troops, when news
arrived of the army gathering on Lake George for the attack on Crown Point,
perhaps for an inroad into Canada. The public were in consternation;
yielding to their importunities, the baron took post at Crown Point for its
defence. Beside his regular troops, he had with him eight hundred
Canadians, and seven hundred Indians of different tribes. The latter were
under the general command of the Chevalier Legardeur de St. Pierre, the
veteran officer to whom Washington had delivered the despatches of Governor
Dinwiddie on his diplomatic mission to the frontier. The chevalier was a
man of great influence among the Indians.
In the mean time Johnson remained encamped at the south end of Lake George,
awaiting the arrival of his batteaux. The camp was protected in the rear by
the lake, in front by a bulwark of felled trees; and was flanked by thickly
wooded swamps.
On the 7th of September, the Indian scouts brought word that they had
discovered three large roads made through the forests toward Fort Edward.
An attack on that post was apprehended. Adams, a hardy waggoner, rode
express with orders to the commander to draw all the troops within the
works. About midnight came other scouts. They had seen the French within
four miles of the carrying-place. They had heard the report of a musket,
and the voice of a man crying for mercy, supposed to be the unfortunate
Adams. In the morning Colonel Williams was detached with one thousand men,
and two hundred Indians, to intercept the enemy in their retreat.
Within two hours after their departure a heavy fire of musketry, in the
midst of the forest, about three or four miles off, told of a warm
encounter. The drums beat to arms; all were at their posts. The firing grew
sharper and sharper, and nearer and nearer. The detachment under Williams
was evidently retreating. Colonel Cole was sent with three hundred men to
cover their retreat. The breastwork of trees was manned. Some heavy cannon
were dragged up to strengthen the front. A number of men were stationed
with a field-piece on an eminence on the left flank.
In a short time fugitives made their appearance; first singly, then in
masses, flying in confusion, with a rattling fire behind them, and the
horrible Indian war-whoop. Consternation seized upon the camp, especially
when the French emerged from the forest in battle array, led by the Baron
Dieskau, the gallant commander of Crown Point. Had all his troops been as
daring as himself, the camp might have been carried by assault; but the
Canadians and Indians held back, posted themselves behind trees, and took
to bush-fighting.
The baron was left with his regulars (two hundred grenadiers) in front of
the camp. He kept up a fire by platoons, but at too great a distance to do
much mischief; the Canadians and Indians fired from their coverts. The
artillery played on them in return. The camp, having recovered from its
panic, opened a fire of musketry. The engagement became general. The French
grenadiers stood their ground bravely for a long time, but were dreadfully
cut up by the artillery and small arms. The action slackened on the part of
the French, until, after a long contest, they gave way. Johnson's men and
the Indians then leaped over the breastwork, and a chance medley fight
ensued, that ended in the slaughter, rout, or capture of the enemy.
The Baron de Dieskau had been disabled by a wound in the leg. One of his
men, who endeavored to assist him, was shot down by his side. The baron,
left alone in the retreat, was found by the pursuers leaning against the
stump of a tree. As they approached, he felt for his watch to insure kind
treatment by delivering it up. A soldier, thinking he was drawing forth a
pistol to defend himself, shot him through the hips. He was conveyed a
prisoner to the camp, but ultimately died of his wounds.
The baron had really set off from Crown Point to surprise Fort Edward, and,
if successful, to push on to Albany and Schenectady; lay them in ashes, and
cut off all communication with Oswego. The Canadians and Indians, however,
refused to attack the fort, fearful of its cannon; he had changed his plan,
therefore, and determined to surprise the camp. In the encounter with the
detachment under Williams, the brave Chevalier Legardeur de St. Pierre lost
his life. On the part of the Americans, Hendrick, a famous old Mohawk
sachem, grand ally of General Johnson, was slain.
Johnson himself received a slight wound early in the action, and retired to
his tent. He did not follow up the victory as he should have done, alleging
that it was first necessary to build a strong fort at his encampment, by
way of keeping up a communication with Albany, and by the time this was
completed, it would be too late to advance against Crown Point. He
accordingly erected a stockaded fort, which received the name of William
Henry; and having garrisoned it, returned to Albany. His services, although
they gained him no laurel-wreath, were rewarded by government with five
thousand pounds, and a baronetcy; and he was made Superintendent of Indian
Affairs. [Footnote: Johnson's Letter to the Colonial Governors, Sept. 9th,
1753. London Mag., 1755., p. 544. Holmes' Am. Annals, vol. ii., p. 63. 4th
edit., 1829.]