THE SHADOWS VANISH
I followed the river, the cord of the bow, and made good time where the
army would have had difficulty to get through. A dozen miles below the
falls and near the mouth of Kelly's Creek, where Walter Kelly was killed
by the Indians early in August, I came upon a scout named Nooney. We were
on the west bank and the river was two hundred yards wide at that point.
Nooney begged some tobacco and pointed out a fording-place and gave me the
"parole." This, very fittingly, was "Kanawha." He said I would speedily
make the camp and that Colonel Lewis was with the first troops.
I lost no time in crossing and had barely cleared the river-bank before I
was held up by an outpost. This fellow knew nothing of military red-tape.
He was plain militia, a good man in a fight, but inclined to resent
discipline. He grinned affably as I broke through the woods and lowered
his rifle.
"Gim'me some tobacker," he demanded good-naturedly.
"I suppose you'd want the parole," I replied, fishing out a twist of
Virginia leaf.
"I got that. It's 'Kanawha.' What I want is tobacker. Don't hurry. Le's
talk. I'm lonesome as one bug all alone in a buffler robe. See any footin'
over 'cross? I'm gittin' tired o' this outpost business. All foolishness.
We'll know when we strike th' red devils. No need o' havin' some one tell
us. Your hoss looks sorter peaked. S'pose we'll have a mess of a fight
soon? We boys come along to fight, not to stand like stockade-timbers out
here all alone."
I told him I had important news for Colonel Lewis and must not tarry. He
took it rather ill because I would not tell him my news, then tried to
make me promise I would come back and impart it. I equivocated and led my
horse on toward the camp, concealed from view of the river-bank by a
ribbon of woods. The first man I met was Davis, and the honest fellow was
so rejoiced to see me that he dropped his gun and took both my hands and
stood there with his mouth working, but unable to say a word. Big tears
streamed down his face.
I hurriedly related my adventures, and his joy was treble when he heard
that Patricia was safe at Howard's Creek.
"Shelby Cousin shot and kilt Dale. He told us 'bout that. Ericus thought
he knew it all. Wal, them that lives longest learns th' most," he
philosophically observed. "Powerful glad to see you. We'll be seein' more
of each other, I take it. How's my woman? Good. She's a right forward,
capable woman, if I do say it. Moulton's out on a scout. Silent sort of a
cuss these days from thinkin' 'bout his woman an' th' children. But a rare
hand in a mess."
"And Cousin?"
"Say, Morris, that feller acts like he was reg'lar happy. Laughs a lot,
only it don't sound nat'ral. He's a hellion at scoutin'. Poor Baby Kirst!
I must 'low it's best for him to be wiped out, but it's too bad he
couldn't 'a' made his last fight along with us. There's th' colonel in his
shirt-sleeves smokin' his pipe."
I passed on to where Lewis was sitting on a log. It was fearfully hot, as
the high hills on each side of the river shut out the free air and made
the camp an oven. On recognizing me, the colonel's eyes flickered with
surprise, as the report of my capture had spread far. He rose and took my
hand and quietly said:
"I knew they couldn't hold you unless they killed you on the spot. What
about Miss Dale?"
I informed him of her safety and his face lighted wonderfully.
"That's good!" he softly exclaimed. "A beautiful young woman, the kind
that Virginia is always proud of. Ericus Dale was lucky to die without
being tortured. Now for your news; for you must be bringing some."
I told him of the mighty gathering at Chillicothe and of the influx of the
fierce Ottawas. Lost Sister's warning to me to keep clear of the Great
Kanawha impressed him deeply. It convinced him, I think, that the astute
Cornstalk had planned to attack the army before it could cross the Ohio,
and that the Shawnees on learning of the assembling at the levels knew the
advance must be down the Kanawha. The Indian who escaped after Clay was
killed was back on the Scioto by this time. After musing over it for a bit
he insisted that it did not necessarily follow the attack would be in
force.
"That was Cornstalk's first plan. But now he knows Governor Dunmore has an
army at the mouth of the Little Kanawha. He may choose to attack him
instead of me. I hope not, but there's a strong chance he'll do that while
making a feint to fool me, and then float down the river and give me a
real battle."
He kindly offered to attach me to one of the companies as sergeant, with
the possibility of appointing me an ensign, but I preferred to act as
scout and enjoy more independence of action.
"That's the trouble," he remarked. "All these fellows want to be scouts
and range the woods free of discipline. They want to whip the Indians but
they want to do it their own way. They persist in wasting ammunition, and
it now looks as if we would go into battle with less than one-fourth of a
pound of powder per man.
"If any man speaks up and says he is the best marksman in Virginia then
every man within hearing challenges him to prove it. And they'll step one
side and have a shooting-match, even if they know Cornstalk's army is
within a couple of miles of us. They're used to bear- and deer-meat. They
don't want to eat bullock-meat. I'll admit the beef is a bit tough. And
every morning some of them break the rules by stealing out to kill game.
This not only wastes powder, but keeps the outposts alarmed."
Before I was dismissed I asked about Cousin. The colonel's face became
animated.
"Oh, the young man with the sad history? He's out on a scout. That fellow
is absolutely fearless. I am surprised every time he lives to return to
make a report. It's useless to lay down a route for him to scout; he
prowls where he will. But he's valuable, and we let him have his own
way."
On the next day we marched to the mouth of the Elk where Colonel Charles
Lewis was completing arrangements for transporting the supplies down the
river. While at that camp I went on my first scout and found Indian
tracks. One set of them measured fourteen inches in length. The men went
and looked at the signs before they would accept my measurements.
The camp was extremely busy, for we all knew the crisis was drawing close.
Our armorer worked early and late unbreeching the guns having wet charges.
Three brigades of horses were sent back to Camp Union for more flour. I
went with Mooney on a scout up Coal River and we found Indian signs four
miles from camp. Other scouts were sent down the Kanawha and up the Elk.
On returning, I found Cousin impatiently waiting for me to come in. He had
changed and his bearing puzzled me. He was given to laughing loudly at the
horse-play of the men, yet his eyes never laughed. I took him outside the
camp and without any circumlocution related the facts concerning his
sister and Kirst.
"Tell me again that part 'bout how she died," he quietly requested when I
had finished. I did so. He commented:
"For killing that redskin I owe you more'n I would if you'd saved my life
a thousand times. So little sister is dead. No, not that. Now that woman
is dead I have my little sister back again. I took on with this army so's
I could reach the Scioto towns. To think that Kirst got way up there! I
'low he had a man's fight to die in. That's the way. Morris, I'm obleeged
to you. I'll always remember her words 'bout sendin' a little sister to
me. Now I've got two of 'em. We won't talk no more 'bout it."
With that he turned and hurried into the woods.
The men continued firing their guns without having obtained permission,
and Colonel Lewis was thoroughly aroused to stop the practise. He directed
that his orders of the fifteenth be read at the head of each company, with
orders for the captains to inspect their men's stock of ammunition and
report those lacking powder. This reduced the waste, but there was no
stopping the riflemen from popping away at bear or deer once they were out
of sight of their officers.
I had hoped Cousin would return and be my companion on the next scout, but
as he failed to show up I set off with Mooney for a second trip up the
Coal. This time we discovered signs of fifteen Indians making toward the
Kanawha below the camp. We returned with the news and found a wave of
drunkenness had swept the camp during our absence.
The sutlers were ordered to bring no more liquor into camp, and to sell
from the supply on hand only on a captain's written order. This served to
sober the offenders speedily. The scouts sent down the Kanawha returned
and reported two fires and five Indians within fifteen miles of the Ohio.
It was plain that the Indians were dogging our steps day and night, and
the men were warned not to straggle.
We were at the Elk Camp from the twenty-fourth to the thirtieth, and on
the latter date the canoemen loaded their craft, and the pack-horse men
and bullock-drivers drew two days' rations and started down-river. It
rained for three days and on October second we were camped near the mouth
of the Coal. It was there that Cousin appeared, a Mingo scalp hanging at
his belt. He informed Colonel Lewis he had been to the mouth of the river,
making the down-trip in a canoe, and that as yet no Indians had crossed
except small bands of scouts.
Breaking camp, we encountered rich bottom-lands, difficult to traverse
because of the rain. Every mile or two there were muddy creeks, and the
pack-horses were nearly worn out. Several desertions were now reported
from the troops, a hostility to discipline rather than cowardice being the
incentive. Another trouble was the theft of supplies.
As we advanced down the river signs of small bands of Indians became
numerous; scarcely a scout returned without reporting some. I saw nothing
of Cousin until the sixth of October, and as we were finishing an
eight-mile march through long defiles and across small runs and were
entering the bottom which extends for four miles to the Ohio. The first
that I knew he was with us was when he walked at my side and greeted:
"There's goin' to be a screamin' big fight."
He offered no explanation of his absence and I asked him nothing. It had
required five weeks to march eleven hundred men one hundred and sixty
miles and to convey the necessary supplies the same distance.
As we scouts in the lead entered the bottom Cousin called my attention to
the high-water marks on the trees. Some of these measured ten feet. The
Point itself is high. From it we had a wide view of the Ohio and Kanawha,
up- and down-stream. It was Cousin who discovered a writing made fast to a
tree, calling attention to a paper concealed in the hollow at the base of
the tree. We fished it out and found it was addressed to Colonel Lewis.
Cousin and I took it to him. Before opening it, he gave Cousin a shrewd
glance and remarked:
"I am glad to see you back, young man."
"If I've read the signs right I 'low I'm glad to git back," was the grave
reply.
The letter was from Governor Dunmore, and he wrote to complain because our
colonel had not joined him at the Little Kanawha. He now informed our
commander he had dropped down to the mouth of the Big Hockhocking, and we
were expected to join him there. After frowning over the communication,
Colonel Lewis read it aloud to some of his officers and expressed himself
very forcefully. It was soon camp gossip, and every man was free to
discuss it.
Much anger was expressed against Governor Dunmore. And it did seem absurd
to ask our army to move up the Ohio some sixty miles when such a tedious
maneuver would lead us farther from the Indian towns than we were while at
the Point. Had the order been given for the army to go to the Hockhocking
there would have been many desertions.
I learned later that the letter was brought to the Point by Simon Kenton
and Simon Girty, who with Michael Cresap were serving as scouts with
Dunmore. While the camp was busily criticizing the governor our scouts
from the Elk came in and reported seeing Indians hunting buffalo. When
within six miles of the Point, they found a plowshare, some
surveying-instruments, a shirt, a light blue coat and a human under
jaw-bone.
Shelby Cousin said the dead man was Thomas Hoog, who with two or three of
his men were reported killed by the Indians in the preceding April while
making improvements. Cousin insisted his death had been due to wild
animals or an accident, after which the animals had dragged his remains
into the woods. He argued that an Indian would never have left the coat or
the instruments.
We passed the seventh and eighth of the month in making the camp sanitary
and in building a shelter for the supplies yet to arrive down the river.
Preparations also went ahead for moving the army across the Ohio. Most of
the scouts were sent out to hunt up lost beeves, while a sergeant and
squad were despatched with canoes to the Elk after flour.
Three men came in from the Elk and reported that Colonel Christian was
camped there with two hundred and twenty men, that he had only sixteen
kettles, and was fearing his men would be ill from eating too much roast
meat "without broth." On the eighth there arrived more letters from
Governor Dunmore, in which His Lordship expressed his surprise and
annoyance because of our failure to appear at the Hockhocking.
This time Colonel Lewis was quite open in expressing his disgust at the
governor's lack of strategy. The Kanawha was the gate to Augusta,
Botetourt and Fincastle Counties. To leave it and move up-river would
leave the way open for the red army to stream into Virginia and work its
savagery while the colonials were cooped up on the Ohio or hunting Indian
wigwams in the wilderness.
In the package was a letter to our colonel from Colonel Adam Stephens,
second in command to His Excellency, which was given wide publicity.
Colonel Stephens reported very disagreeable news from Boston. It was to
the effect that General Gage had fired on the people at Cambridge. Later
we learned that while some gun-powder and two cannon had been seized by
His Majesty's troops there had been no massacre of the provincials. But
while the rumor remained uncontradicted it caused high excitement and
great rage.
On the evening of the ninth Cousin and I were ordered out to scout up the
river beyond Old Town Creek. Our camp was near the junction of the Kanawha
and the Ohio, almost at the tip of the Point. About a fourth of a mile to
the east is Crooked Creek, a very narrow stream at that season of the
year, with banks steep and muddy. It skirts the base of some low hills and
flows nearly south in emptying into the Kanawha. Half-way between our camp
and Old Town Creek, which empties into the Ohio, is a small stretch of
marsh-land extending north and south, with bottom-lands on each side.
Cousin and I planned to keep along the Ohio shore until a few miles above
Old Town Creek, when we would separate, one returning along our course to
keep an eye on the river, the other circling to the east and swinging back
through the low hills drained by Crooked Creek. This double reconnaissance
should reveal any spies.
The men were very anxious to cross the river and come in contact with the
Indians. They believed they would have the allied tribes within their
grasp once they reached the Scioto. They were cheered by the report that
the army would cross on the morrow. One tall Watauga boy boastfully
proclaimed that all the Shawnees and Mingos beyond the Ohio wouldn't "make
more'n a breakfast for us." Davis, because a man of family and more
conservative, insisted it would be a "pretty tough chunk of a fight."
This was the optimistic spirit Cousin and I left behind us when we set out
at sunset. Cousin was in a new mood. There was a certain wild gaiety,
rather a ferocious gaiety, in his bearing. His drawn face had lost some of
the hard lines and looked almost boyish and his eyes were feverishly
alight. He seemed possessed of superabundant physical strength, and in
pure muscular wantonness went out of his way to leap the fallen timbers
which littered the shore.
As darkness increased he ceased his wild play and became the prince of
scouts. We advanced most leisurely, for we had all night if we cared to
stay out. We halted when abreast of the marsh-land and seated ourselves on
the banks of the Ohio and watched the starlight find a mirror in the
water. After a protracted silence he abruptly asked:
"My sister said she was sendin' me a new sister, you say?"
"Those were her words."
"I wish she could know to-night I ain't needin' any new sister. Wish she
could know right now that she's always been my sister. When I reckoned I'd
lost her I was just mistook. She was just gone away for a little while.
She found a mighty hard an' rough trace to travel. I 'low the Almighty
will have to give her many belts afore He smooths out the path in her
mind. I 'low it'll take a heap o' presents to make up for the burrs an'
briers an' sharp stones she had to foot it over. Thank God she died
white!"
"Amen to that!"
After another silence he asked:
"You 'low she's with daddy an' mammy?"
"I do."
"That's mighty comfortin' to figger on," he slowly mused. "Much like a
younker gittin' mighty tired an' goin' back home to rest. Daddy an' mammy
will do a heap to make it up to her for what she had to go through. Yes, I
can count on 'em, even if the Almighty happened to be too busy to notice
her when she first crossed the border."
Dear lad! He meant no irreverence.
The night was calm and sounds carried easily. We had passed beyond where
we could hear the men singing and merry-making in camp, but the uneasy
movements of a turkey and the stealthy retreat of a deer seemed very close
at hand. The soft pad-pad of a woods cat approached within a few feet
before the creature caught the scent, and the retreat was marked by a
series of crashings through the undergrowth.
After a while we rose and continued up the river.
"No Injuns along here," murmured Cousin.
We reached Old Town Creek and crossed it without discovering any signs of
the enemy; nor were we looking for anything more serious than a stray
scout or two. We went nearly two miles above the creek and turned back
after deciding we would separate at the creek, he taking the hills route
and I following the river. We reached the creek and he was about to leave
me when we both heard a new note, a splashing noise, very faint. Our hands
met in a mutual desire to grab an arm and enforce attention.
"No fish made it," I whispered.
"No fish," he agreed. "There!"
The splashing came from across the several hundred yards of the Ohio's
deep and silent current. It was repeated until it became almost
continuous, and it gradually grew louder.
"Rafts!" shrilly whispered Cousin.
"They are paddling fast."
"No! But there are many rafts," he corrected.
We retreated up-stream a short distance and concealed ourselves in a deep
growth. To the sound of poles and paddles was added the murmuring of
guttural voices. Then for a climax a raft struck against the bank and a
low voice speaking Shawnee gave some sharp orders.
"One!" counted Cousin.
As he spoke another raft took the shore, and then they grounded so rapidly
that it was impossible to count them. Orders were given, and the Indians
worked back from the river and proceeded to make a night-camp. The landing
had been made at the mouth of the creek, but the savages had spread out,
and some of them were due east from us.
"There's a heap of 'em!" whispered Cousin. "Lucky for us they didn't fetch
any dawgs along, or we'd be smelled out an' have to leg it."
"I hear squaws talking."
"Kiss the devil if you don't! There's boys' voices, too. They've fetched
their squaws an' boys along to knock the wounded an' dyin' in the head."
"Then that means they feel sure of winning."
And my heart began thumping until I feared its beating would be audible at
a distance. And before my inner gaze appeared a picture of Lewis' army
defeated and many victims being given over to the stake.
"Keep shet!" cautioned Cousin. "There it is again! A Mingo talkin', a
Seneca, I'd say--Hear that jabber! Delaware--Wyandot--Taway (Ottawa). With
a blanket o' Shawnee pow-wow. By heavens, Morris! This is Cornstalk's
whole force. They've learned that Dunmore is at the Hockhockin' an' will
be j'inin' up with Lewis any day, an' old Cornstalk thinks to lick Lewis
afore Dunmore's men can git along!"
It was now after midnight, and I knew we should be back at camp and
warning Colonel Lewis of his peril. I knew from my last talk with him that
he did not expect to meet the Indians in any numbers until we had crossed
the Ohio. Our failure to find any Indians at the Point and our prospects
for an immediate crossing conduced to this belief.
The day before all the scouts had been instructed as to our maneuvers once
we crossed the river and were searching for ambushes. It was terrible to
think of our army asleep only three miles away. I urged an immediate
return, but Cousin coolly refused to go until he had reconnoitered
further.
"You stay here till I've sneaked down to the mouth o' the creek," he
whispered. "'Twon't do for both of us to git killed an' leave no one to
take the word to Lewis."
"But why run any risk?" I anxiously demanded; for I feared he had some mad
prank in mind which would betray our presence and perhaps stop our warning
to the army.
"We must l'arn somethin' as to how many o' the red skunks there be," he
replied.
"To venture near their camp will mean discovery. They're very
wide-awake."
"I ain't goin' near their camp," he growled in irritation. "I want to look
over them rafts. I can tell from them how many warriors come over, or
pretty close to it."
He slipped away and left me to do the hardest of the work--the work of
waiting. It seemed a very long time before I heard the bushes rustle. I
drew my ax, but a voice whispering "Richmond," the parole for the night,
composed me. Feeling his way to my side he gravely informed me:
"There's seventy-eight or nine rafts an' a few canoes. It's goin' to be a
fine piece o' fightin'. At least there's a thousand warriors on this side
an' a lot o' squaws an' boys."
I estimated our army at eleven hundred and I thanked God they were all
frontiersmen.
Cousin now was as eager to go as I; and leaving our hiding-place, we
worked north until we felt safe to make a détour to the east. Our progress
was slow as there was no knowing how far the Indian scouts were ranging.
Once we were forced to remain flat on our stomachs while a group of
warriors passed within a dozen feet of us, driving to their camp some
strayed beeves from the high rolling bottom-lands to the east. When the
last of them had passed I observed with great alarm a thinning out of the
darkness along the eastern skyline.
"Good God! We'll be too late!" I groaned. "Let's fire our guns and give
the alarm!"
"Not yet!" snarled my companion. "I must be in the thick o' that fight.
We're too far east to git to camp in a hustle. We must sneak atween the
hills an' that small slash (Virginian for marsh). Foller me."
We changed our course so as to avoid the low hills drained by Crooked
Creek, and made after the warriors. About an hour before sunrise we were
at the head of the marsh, and in time to witness the first act of the
day's great drama. Two men were working out of the fallen timber, and
Cousin threw up his double-barrel rifle. I checked him, saying:
"Don't! They're white!"
"Renegades!"
"John Sevier's younger brother, Valentine. T'other is Jim Robertson."
"Then Lewis knows. He sent 'em to scout the camp."
"They're after game. James Shelby is sick with the fever. Yesterday
morning he asked them to perch a turkey for him. Signal them. They know
nothing about the Indians!"
Cousin risked discovery by standing clear of the bushes and waving his
hat. "There comes two more of 'em!" he exclaimed.
This couple was some distance behind the Watauga boys, but I recognized
them. One was James Mooney, my companion on the Coal River scout. The
other was Joseph Hughey.
I jumped out and stood beside Cousin and waved my arms frantically. One of
them caught the motion and said something. The four paused and stared at
us. We made emphatic gestures for them to fall back. At first they were
slow to understand, thinking, as Sevier told me afterward, that I was
pointing out some game. Then they turned to run, Robertson and Sevier
firing their rifles to the woods to the north of us.
These were the first guns fired in the battle of Point Pleasant. From the
woods came the noise of a large body of men advancing. A ripple of shots
was sent after the hunters. Hughey and Mooney halted and returned the
fire. A streak of red some distance ahead of the Shawnees' position, and
close to the river-bank, dropped Hughey dead. This shot was fired by
Tavenor Ross, a white man, who was captured by the Indians when a boy and
who had grown up among them.
Mooney, Robertson and young Sevier were now running for the camp, passing
between the Ohio bank and the marsh. We raced after them just as a man
named Hickey ran from the bushes and joined them. The Indians kept up a
scattering fire and they made much noise as they spread out through the
woods in battle-line. They supposed we were the scouts of an advancing
army.
It is the only instance I know of where insubordination saved any army
from a surprise attack, and possibly from defeat. To escape detection
while breaking the orders against foraging, the five men named had stolen
from the camp at an early hour.
By the time Cousin and I passed the lower end of the marsh small bodies of
Indians were making for the hills along Crooked Creek; others were
following down the Ohio inside the timber, while their scouts raced
recklessly after us to locate our line of battle. The scouts soon
discovered that our army was nowhere to be seen. Runners were instantly
sent back to inform Cornstalk he was missing a golden opportunity by not
attacking at once.
Mooney was the first to reach Colonel Lewis, who was seated on a log in
his shirt-sleeves, smoking his pipe. Mooney shouted:
"More'n four acres covered with Injuns at Old Town Creek!"
Rising, but with no show of haste, Lewis called to Cousin and me: "What
about this?"
"An attack in force, sir, I believe," I panted.
He glanced at Cousin, who nodded and then ducked away.
"I think you are mistaken," the colonel coldly remarked. "It must be a big
scouting-party." I tried to tell him what Cousin and I had seen and heard.
But he ignored me and ordered the drums to beat To Arms. But already the
border men were turning out and diving behind logs and rocks even while
the sleep still blurred their eyes.
Colonel Lewis ordered two columns of one hundred and fifty men each to
march forward and test the strength of the enemy. The colonel's brother
Charles led the Augusta line to the right. Colonel William Fleming
commanded the left--Botetourt men. The two columns were about two hundred
yards apart, and their brisk and businesslike advance did the heart good
to behold.
No one as yet except the hunters and Cousin and I realized the three
hundred men were being sent against the full force of the Ohio Indians.
Colonel Lewis resumed his seat and continued smoking.
"You're nervous, Morris. It can't be more than a large scouting-party, or
they'd have chased you in."
"They came over on seventy-eight rafts!" I replied, turning to race after
Colonel Charles Lewis' column.
The Augusta men were now swinging in close to Crooked Creek where it
skirts the foot of the low hills. As I drew abreast of the head of the
column we were fired upon by a large force of Indians, now snugly
ensconced behind trees and fallen timber along the creek. We were then not
more than a quarter of a mile from camp. The first fire was tremendously
heavy and was quickly followed by a second and third volley. The Augusta
men reeled, but quickly began returning the fire, the behavior of the men
being all that a commander could desire. They were forced to give ground,
however, as the odds were heavy.
On our left crashed a volley as the Botetourt men were fired on. Colonel
Lewis ordered his men to take cover, then turned to Captain Benjamin
Harrison and cried:
"This is no scouting-party! But my brother will soon be sending
reinforcements."
He had hardly spoken before he spun half-way around, a surprised
expression on his face.
"I'm wounded," he quietly said.
Then handing his rifle to a soldier, he called out to his men:
"Go on and be brave!"
With that he began walking to the camp. I ran to help him, but he motioned
me back, saying:
"Your place is there. I'm all right."
So I left him, a very brave soldier and a Christian gentleman, to make his
way alone while his very minutes were numbered.
Half a dozen of our men were down and the rest were slowly giving ground.
Up to the time Colonel Lewis left us I had seen very few Indians, and only
mere glimpses at that. Now they began showing themselves as they crowded
forward through the timber, confident they were to slaughter us. Above the
noise of the guns, the yells and shouts of red and white combatants, rose
a deep booming voice, that of Cornstalk, and he was shouting:
"Be strong! Be strong! Push them into the river!"
We dragged back our dead and wounded as with a reckless rush the Indians
advanced over logs and rocks up to the very muzzles of our guns. But
although the Augusta line gave ground the men were not suffering from
panic, and the smashing volley poured into the enemy did great damage and
checked their mad onslaught.
Never before did red men make such a determined charge. In an instant
there were a score of individual combats, backwoodsman and savage being
clinched in a death-struggle with ax and knife. Now our line stiffened,
and the very shock of their attack seemed to hurl the Indians back. Still
we would have been forced back to the camp and must have suffered cruel
losses if not for the timely reinforcements brought up on the run by
Colonel John Field, veteran of Braddock's and Pontiac's Wars.
He led Augusta and Botetourt men, for it was no longer possible to keep
the two lines under their respective commanders, nor did any captain for
the rest of the day command his own company as a unit. With the coming up
of Colonel Field the Indians immediately gave ground, then charged most
viciously as our men pursued. This maneuver was one of Cornstalk's cunning
tactics, the alternate advance and retreat somewhat confusing our men.
The second attack was repulsed and the riflemen slowly gained more ground.
The firing on our left was now very heavy and Colonel Field directed me to
learn how the fight there was progressing. Some of our fellows were
screaming that Fleming's column was being driven in, and our colonel had
no intention of being cut off.
As I started toward the river I could hear Cornstalk exhorting: "Shoot
straight! Lie close! Fight and be strong!"
As I withdrew from the right column I had a chance to get a better idea of
the battle. The Indians lined the base of the hills bordered by Crooked
Creek, and were posted on all the heights to shoot any whites trying to
swim either the Ohio or the Kanawha. On the opposite side of the Ohio and,
as I later learned on the south bank of the Kanawha, red forces had been
stationed in anticipation of our army being routed.
As I neared the Botetourt men I could hear between volleys the Indians
shouting in unison:
"Drive the white dogs over!" meaning across the river.
The Botetourt men were well posted and considerably in advance of the
right column, as they had given but little ground while the right was
retiring after Lewis was shot. At no time did either column fight at a
range of more than twenty yards, and when I crawled among Fleming's men
the range was not more than six yards, while here and there in the deeper
growth were hand-to-hand struggles.
"A big chunk of a fight!" screamed a shrill voice, and Cousin was beside
me, wearing a brilliant scarlet jacket. As he was crawling by me I caught
him by the heel and dragged him back.
"You fool! Take that coat off!" I yelled. For the vivid splotch of color
made him a tempting target for every Indian gun. And the Shawnees were
skilful marksmen even if less rapid than the whites because of their
inability to clean their fouled weapons.
Cousin drew up his leg to kick free, then smiled sweetly and said:
"It's my big day, Morris. Don't go for to meddle with my medicine.
Everything's all right at last. I've found the long trace that leads to my
little sister. She's waitin' to put her hand in mine, as she used to do on
Keeney's Knob."
With that he suddenly jerked his leg free and sprang to his feet and
streaked toward the savages, his blood-curdling panther-screech
penetrating the heavier vibrations of the battle.
He was lost to view in the brush and I had my work to do. I kept along the
edge of the timber, and answered many anxious queries as to the fate of
the right column. I reassured them, but did not deem it wise to tell of
Colonel Lewis' wound. I found the column quite close to the river and by
the stubborn resistance it was meeting I knew the Indians were strongly
posted.
"Why don't you whistle now?" they kept howling in concert, and referring
to our fifes which were still.
"We'll kill you all, and then go and speak to your big chief (Dunmore),"
was one of their promises.
And there were other things shouted, foul epithets, which I am ashamed to
admit could only have been learned from the whites. And repeatedly did
they encourage one another and seek to intimidate us by yelling:
"Drive the white dogs over the river! Drive them like cattle into the
water!"
While I kept well covered and was completing my reconnaissance I was
horrified to see Colonel Fleming walk into the clear ground. He fired at
an Indian who had showed himself for a moment to make an insulting
gesture. He got his man, and the next second was struck by three balls,
two passing through his left arm and the third penetrating his left
breast.
He called out to his captains by name and sharply ordered them to hold
their ground while he went to the rear to be patched up. He was answered
by hearty cheers, but his absence was to be keenly felt by his officers.
He started to work his way to the Point, but the exertion of bending and
dodging from tree to stump sorely taxed him. I ran to his aid just as
Davis, of Howard's Creek, sprang from behind a log and seized his right
arm. Between us we soon had him back in camp and his shirt off. The lung
tissue had been forced through the wound a finger's length. He asked me to
put it back. I attempted it and failed, whereat he did it himself without
any fuss.
On returning to the right column to make a belated report to Colonel Field
I ran across the body of Mooney, my partner on several scouts. He had been
shot through the head. It may here be said that nearly all the dead on
both sides were shot through the head or chest, indicating the accuracy of
marksmanship on both sides.
I found the Augusta men steadily pushing the Indians back. But when they
gave ground quickly, as if in a panic, it was to tempt the foolhardy into
rushing forward. The riflemen had learned their lesson, however, and
maintained their alignment. The advance was through nettles and briers, up
steep muddy banks and over fallen timber.
The warriors rushed repeatedly to the very muzzles of our guns, and thus
displayed a brand of courage never surpassed, if ever equaled, by the
North American Indian before. It was Cornstalk who was holding them to the
bloody work. His voice at times sounded very close, but although we all
knew his death would count a greater coup than the scalps of a hundred
braves we never could get him. He was too shrewd and evasive.
Once I believed I had him, for I had located him behind a detached mound
of fallen timber. He was loudly calling out for his men to be brave and to
lie close, when a warrior leaped up and started to run to the rear. Then
Cornstalk flashed into view long enough to sink his ax into the coward's
head. It was all done so quickly that he dropped to cover unharmed.
That was one of his ways of enforcing obedience, a mode of terrorization
never before practised by a war-chief to my knowledge. It was told
afterward by the Shawnees that he killed more than that weak-hearted one
during the long day. I saw nothing of the other chiefs who attended the
conference in Cornstalk's Town while I was a prisoner. And yet they were
there, chiefs of Mingos, Wyandots, Delawares and Ottawas.
"They're fallin' back! They're fallin' back!" yelled a voice in advance of
our first line.
And the scream of a panther told us it was Cousin. He had worked across
from the left column, and we were soon beholding his bright jacket in a
tangle of logs and stumps.
The men advanced more rapidly, but did not break their line; and it was
evident the savages were giving ground in earnest. Our men renewed their
cheering and their lusty shouts were answered by the column on the
river-bank, still in advance of us.
As it seemed we were about to rush the enemy into a panic we received our
second heavy loss of the day. Colonel Field was shot dead. He was standing
behind a big tree, reserving his fire for an Indian who had been shouting
filthy abuse at him. Poor colonel! It was but a ruse to hold his attention
while savages up the slope and behind fallen timber drew a bead on him.
Captain Evan Shelby assumed command and ordered the men to keep up the
advance.
The Indians gave ground, but with no signs of confusion. Observing our
left column was in advance of the right, Cornstalk was attempting to
straighten his line by pulling in his left. As we pressed on we discovered
the savages were scalping their own dead to prevent their hair falling
into our hands. From the rear of the red men came the sound of many
tomahawks. Cousin, who for a moment found himself at my side, exulted:
"Curse 'em! Their squaws an' boys are cuttin' saplin's for to carry off
their wounded! They'll need a heap o' stretchers afore this day is over!"
The sun was now noon-high and the heat was beastly. The battle was at its
climax. The left column was near a little pond and about fifty yards from
the river, or a fourth of a mile beyond the spot where Lewis was shot. We
had evened up this lead, and the battle-line extended from the river and
pond to Crooked Creek and half-way down the creek, running from west to
east and then southwest.
Cornstalk's plan was to coop us up in the Point and drive us into the
Kanawha and Ohio. There were times when our whole line gave ground, but
only to surge ahead again. Thus we seesawed back and forth along a mile
and a quarter of battle-line, with the firing equal in intensity from wing
to wing. Nor had the Indians lost any of their high spirits. Their retreat
was merely a maneuver. They kept shouting:
"We'll show you how to shoot!"
"Why don't you come along?"
"Why don't you whistle now?"
"You'll have two thousand to fight to-morrow!"
But the force that held them together and impelled them to make the
greatest fight the American Indian ever put up, not even excepting the
battle of Bushy Run, was Cornstalk. Truly he was a great man, measured
even by the white man's standards!
"Be strong! Be brave! Lie close! Shoot well!" flowed almost
uninterruptedly from his lips.
Davis, of Howard's Creek, went by me, making for the rear with a shattered
right arm and a ghastly hole through his cheek. He tried to grin on
recognizing me. Word was passed on from our rear that runners had been
sent to hurry up Colonel Christian and his two hundred men. Among the
captains killed by this time were John Murray and Samuel Wilson. It was a
few minutes after the noon hour that Cousin emerged from the smoke on my
right and howled:
"There's old Puck-i-n-shin-wa!"
He darted forward, clearing all obstacles with the ease of a deer. I saw
the Shawnee chief, father of Tecumseh, snap his piece at the boy. Then I
saw him go down with Cousin's lead through his painted head. Two savages
sprang up and Cousin killed one with his remaining barrel. The other fired
pointblank, and by the way Cousin fell I knew his object in wearing the
scarlet jacket was attained. He had wished to die this day in the midst of
battle.
William White killed Cousin's slayer. The boy was in advance of the line
and his coat made him conspicuous. Doubtless the savages believed him to
be an important officer because of it.
Five of them rushed in to secure his scalp, and each fell dead, and their
bodies concealed the boy from view. Up to one o'clock the fighting raged
with undiminished fury, with never any cessation of their taunts and
epithets and Cornstalk's stentorian encouragement.
Now it is never in Indian nature to prolong a conflict once it is obvious
they must suffer heavy losses. They consider it the better wisdom to run
away and await an opportunity when the advantage will be with them.
Cornstalk had been confident that his early morning attack would drive us
into the rivers, thus affording his forces on the opposite banks much
sport in picking us off.
But so fiercely contested had been the battle that none of our dead had
been scalped except Hughey and two or three men who fell at the first
fire. By all that we had learned of Indian nature they should now, after
six hours of continuous fighting, be eager to withdraw. They had fought
the most bitterly contested battle ever participated in by their race.
Nor had they, as in Braddock's defeat, been aided by white men. There
were, to be true, several white men among them, such as Tavenor Ross, John
Ward and George Collet; but these counted no more than ordinary warriors
and Collet was killed before the fighting was half over. According to all
precedents the battle should have ended in an Indian rout by the time the
sun crossed the meridian. Instead the savages stiffened their resistance
and held their line.
Our men cheered from parched throats when word was passed that Collet's
body had been found and identified. Poor devil! Perhaps it opened the long
trace to him, where everything would be made right. He was captured when a
child and had responded to the only environment he had ever known.
The case of such as Collet--yes, and of John Ward and Ross--is entirely
different from that of Timothy Dorman, and others of his kind, who was
captured when a grown man and who turned renegade to revenge himself for
wrongs, real or fancied, on his old neighbors.
It was not until after seven hours of fighting that we detected any
falling off in the enemy's resistance. Even then the savages had the
advantage of an excellent position, and to press them was extremely
hazardous business. We continued to crowd them, however, until they were
lined up on a long ridge which extended from the small marsh where Cousin
and I first saw Robertson and Sevier, for half a mile to the east, where
it was cut by the narrow bed of Crooked Creek.
None of us needed to be told that so long as the enemy held this ridge our
camp at the Point was in grave danger. From the riflemen along the Ohio
word came that the Indians were throwing their dead into the river, while
squaws and boys were dragging back their wounded.
This had a heartening effect on us, for it indicated a doubt was creeping
into the minds of the savages. Once they permitted the possibility of
defeat to possess them their effectiveness would decrease. Company
commanders called on their men to take the ridge, but to keep their line
intact.
With wild cheers the men responded and buckled down to the grueling task.
Every patch of fallen timber proved to be an Indian fort, where the
bravest of the tribes fought until they were killed. It was stubborn
traveling, but our riflemen were not to be denied.
From along the line would come cries of:
"Remember Tygart's Valley!"
"Remember Carr's Creek!"
"Remember the Clendennins!"
And always Cornstalk's voice answered:
"Be strong! Be brave! Fight hard!"
So we struggled up the slope, gaining a yard at a time and counting it a
triumph if we passed a pile of dead timber and gained another a few feet
beyond.
When we were most encouraged the Indians began mocking us and shouting
exultingly and informing us that the warriors across the Kanawha and Ohio
had attacked our camp and were massacring the small force retained there.
This statement, repeatedly hurled at us with every semblance of savage
gloating, tended to weaken the men's one purpose. We could capture the
ridge--but! Behind our determination crawled the fear that we might be
assailed in the rear at any moment.
Captain Shelby was quick to realize the depressing influence of this kind
of talk, and shouted for the word to be passed that it was an Indian
trick, that our troops were guarding the Kanawha for half a mile up the
stream and that the warriors on the Indian shore could not cross over
without the column on our left discovering the move.
This prompted our common sense to return to us, and we remembered that
Andrew Lewis was too cool and shrewd to be caught napping. The Point was
sprinkled with huge trees and it would take a big force to clear it of our
reserves; and the bulk of the enemy was before us on the ridge.
With renewed vigor we made greater exertions and at last reached the top
of the ridge and cleared it. But even then the Indians were not defeated.
They charged up with ferocious energy time after time, and the best we
could do was to cling to our position and let them bring the fighting to
us. So different was their behavior from any we had been familiar with in
previous engagements we began to wonder if they would violate other Indian
precedents and continue the battle into the night.
It was not until three or four o'clock that we noticed any lessening in
their efforts to retake the ridge. At the best this afforded us only a
short breathing-spell. There were many warriors still hidden along the
slopes drained by Crooked Creek. Our line was so long there was always
danger of the Indians concentrating and breaking it.
So long as we stuck to the ridge on the defensive the enemy had the
advantage of the initiative. A runner brought up word from Colonel Lewis
to learn the strength of the savages in the hills along the creek, and I
was directed to reconnoiter.
I made for the creek from the south slope of the ridge. Sliding down the
muddy bank, I ascended the opposite slope and began making my way toward
the point where the creek cut through the ridge. I encountered no Indians,
although axes and knives on the ground showed where they had been
stationed before retiring.
I passed through the cut and was suddenly confronted by what I thought at
first must be the devil. The fellow was wearing the head of a buffalo,
horns and tangled forelock and all. Through the eye-slits gleamed living
eyes. The shock of his grotesque appearance threw me off my guard for a
moment. He leaped upon me and we went down the bank into the bed of the
creek.
He had his ax ready to use but I caught his hand. His hideous mask proved
to be his undoing, for as we rolled about it became twisted. I was quick
to see my advantage. Relying on one hand to hold his wrist, I used all my
quickness and strength and succeeded in turning the mask half-way around,
leaving him blind and half-smothered. I killed him with his own ax before
he could remove his cumbersome headgear.
As none of his companions had come to his rescue I knew this marked their
most advanced position in the hills. Having learned all I could without
sacrificing my life, I began my retreat down the creek and narrowly
escaped being shot by one of our own men.
Captain Shelby ordered me to report to Colonel Lewis, which I did, running
at top speed without attempting to keep under cover. I found the reserves
had thrown up a breastwork from the Ohio to the Kanawha, thus inclosing
the camp on the Point. It lacked half an hour of sunset when I reached the
camp.
Colonel Lewis heard me, then ordered Captains Isaac Shelby, Arbuckle,
Matthews and Stuart to lead their companies up Crooked Creek under cover
of the bank until they could secure a position behind the Indians and
enfilade their main line. I scouted ahead of this force. We circled the
end of the Indian line, but were at once discovered.
Instead of this being our undoing, it proved to be all in our favor.
Cornstalk's spies had kept him informed of Colonel Christian's presence a
few miles from the Point. He took it for granted that this force in the
hills behind his line was reinforcements brought up by Christian, and this
belief caused him to order a general retirement across Old Town Creek. At
that time Christian was fifteen miles from the Point. Sunset found us in
full possession of the battle-field.
Leaving strong outposts, we retired to the well-protected camp, rejoicing
loudly and boasting of more than two-score scalps. We carried off all our
dead and wounded. The exact Indian loss was never definitely settled but
it must have equaled, if not exceeded, ours. More than a score were found
in the woods covered deep with brush, and many were thrown into the
river.
This battle ended Dunmore's War, also known as Cresap's War and the
Shawnee War. So far as actual fighting and losses are considered it was a
drawn battle. But as Cornstalk could not induce his men to renew the
conflict, and inasmuch as they retreated before morning to the Indian
shore, the victory must be held to be with the backwoodsmen.
And yet the tribes were not entirely downcast, for during the early
evening they continued to taunt us and to repeat their threats of bringing
an army of two thousand on to the field in the morning. In fact, many of
our men believed the savages had a shade the better of the fight, and
would renew hostilities in the morning.
That night we buried Shelby Cousin on the bank of the Kanawha and built a
fire over his grave to conceal it. Colonel Christian arrived at midnight,
and there was some lurid profanity when his men learned they had arrived
too late for the fighting. One week after the battle eleven hundred troops
crossed the Ohio to carry the war to the Indian towns for a final
decision.
When thirteen miles south of Chillicothe, the town Governor Dunmore had
ordered us to attack and destroy, a message arrived from His Lordship,
directing Colonel Lewis to halt his advance, for peace was about to be
made. Hostile bands had fired upon us that very morning, and the position
was not suitable for a camp. Colonel Lewis continued the march for a few
miles. Another messenger arrived with orders for us to halt, for the peace
was about to be consummated.
We went into camp on Congo Creek, about five miles from Chillicothe. The
men raged something marvelous. They insisted that no decisive battle had
been fought and that we had thrown away nearly a hundred lives if the
fighting were not renewed. The Shawnees were in our power. What folly to
let them escape!
Dunmore and White Eyes, the friendly Delaware chief, rode into camp and
conferred with Colonel Lewis; and as a result we started the next day for
Point Pleasant and Virginia. The men were all but out of bounds, so
furious were they at not being loosed at the Shawnees.
Then began the talk that Dunmore brought on the war to keep our
backwoodsmen busy in event the colonies rebelled against England; also,
that he closed it prematurely so that the Indians might continue a menace
to the border and thus keep the frontier men at home.
I was as hot as any against His Lordship for the way the campaign ended.
We demanded blood for blood in those days; and never had the Virginia
riflemen a better chance for inflicting lasting punishment on their
ancient foes. And we were quick to blame His Lordship for a variety of
unwholesome motives.
But with political rancor long since buried we can survey that campaign
more calmly and realize that as a result of the battle the northwest
Indians kept quiet for the first two years of the Revolutionary War, and
that during this period Kentucky was settled and the vast continent west
of the Alleghanies was saved to the Union.
If the battle of Bushy Run took the heart out of the tribes confederated
under Pontiac's masterly leadership, then Dunmore's War permitted us to
begin life as a republic without having the Alleghanies for our western
boundary. Nor can I hold in these latter days that His Lordship was
insincere in waging the war; for England was against it from the first.
I believed he pushed the war as vigorously and shrewdly as he knew how;
and I believe his was the better judgment in securing the best peace-terms
possible instead of heaping defeat on defeat until the allied tribes had
nothing left to bargain for. So I give His Lordship credit for making a
good bargain with the Indians, and a bargain which aided the colonists
during the struggle almost upon them. But I was very happy when Colonel
Andrew Lewis drove him from Virginia.