Early symptoms of disaffection at Boston--Origin of the Revolutionary
War--First blood shed in 1770--Stirring eloquence of Joseph
Warren--Feelings of Sir William Johnson--His influence with the Indians
and Germans, and his unpleasant position--Last visit of Sir William to
England--His death--Mysterious circumstances attending it--Suspicions
of suicide unjust--His son, Sir John Johnson, succeeds to his title and
estates--His son-in-law, Col. Guy Johnson, to his office as
superintendent General of the Indians--Early life of Sir John--Joseph
Brant appointed Secretary to Guy Johnson--Influence of the Johnson
family--Revolutionary symptoms in Tryon County, fomented by the
proceedings in New England--First meeting of Tryon County
Whigs--Declaration of Rights--First meeting of Congress--Effect of its
proceedings--in England--Tardiness of Provincial legislature of
New-York--Spirit of the people--Notes of preparation in Massachusetts,
&c.--Overt acts of rebellion in several States--Indians exasperated by
the Virginia borderers in 1774--Melancholy story of Logan--Campaign of
Lord Dunmore and Colonel Lewis--Battle of the Kanhawa--Speech of
Logan--Its authenticity questioned--Peace of Chilicothe--Unhappy feeling
of the Indians.
It has been usually asserted by historians, that the first blood in the
war of the American Revolution was shed at Lexington; but such is not the
fact. The Boston massacre of 1770 was the beginning of that contest, so
fearful in its commencement, so doubtful in its progress, and so splendid
in its results. The storm had even then been gathering for several years,
and the public mind had become exceedingly feverish, not only in regard to
the conduct of the parent government, but in respect to the language and
bearing of the officers of the crown stationed in the colonies. When,
moreover, the people of Boston were subjected to what they considered a
still greater indignity, by the quartering of soldiers among them, the
irritation was such that but a small degree of forecast was necessary to
the perception of an approaching explosion. The affair at Gray's
Rope-Walk, on the 2d of March, increased the mutual exasperation; and the
massacre that followed on the 5th was but the natural consequence. The
first blow was then struck. The town was thrown into commotion, the drums
beat to arms; and the news, with the exaggerations and embellishments
incident to all occasions of alarm, spread through the country with the
rapidity of lightning. Every where, throughout the wide extent of the old
thirteen colonies, it created a strong sensation, and was received with a
degree of indignant emotion, which very clearly foretold that blood had
only commenced flowing; and although five years intervened before the
demonstration at Lexington, there were too many nervous pens and eloquent
tongues in exercise to allow those feelings to subside, or to suffer the
noble spirit of liberty that had been awakened to be quenched. Such
stirring orations as those of Joseph Warren were not uttered in vain; and
so often as the anniversary of the 5th of March returned, were the people
reminded by him, or by his compatriots of kindred spirit--"The voice of
your brethren's blood cries to you from the ground." The admonition had
its effect, and the resolutions of vengeance sank deeper and deeper into
the hearts of the people, until the fullness of time should come.
Sir William Johnson was too observing and sagacious a man not to note the
signs of the times. He saw the gathering tempest, and it is believed to
have given him great uneasiness. His sympathies, according to the
testimony of those who knew him, were undoubtedly with the people. He was
from the body of the people himself, having been the architect of his own
rank and fortunes; and those who were acquainted with, and yet survive
him, represent the struggle in his bosom to have been great, between those
sympathies and his own strong principles of liberty on the one hand, and
his duty to his sovereign on the other--a sovereign whom he had served
long and faithfully, and who in turn had loaded him with princely
benefactions. His domains in the Valley of the Mohawk were extensive; and
his influence, through a large number of subordinate officers and a
numerous tenantry, was correspondingly great. To the Indians, not only of
the Six Nations but those far in the west beyond, who had fallen within
the circle of his influence after the conquest of Canada and the
subjugation of Pontiac, he had been as a father, and they looked up to him
with veneration. Long association with him, and great Respect for his
character--which, from its blunt honesty, frankness, and generosity, not
altogether devoid of that roughness incident to a border population, was
well calculated to secure the attachment of such people--had also given to
his opinions the force of legal authority among the Colonists. The
population, aside from the Indians, was chiefly Dutch, in the lower part
of the Mohawk Valley; while in the interesting vale of the Schoharie Kill,
and the upper district of the Mohawk, it was composed of the descendants
of the German Palatinates, who had been planted there fifty years before.
It was not at that period a very intelligent population; and the name of
Sir William, who had been their friend and companion in peace, and their
leader in war, like that of the King, was a tower of strength. It was very
natural, therefore, that their opinions upon the great political questions
then agitating the country, should take their complexion for the most part
from those entertained by him. Hence, when the storm of civil war
commenced, the Loyalists in that valley were probably more numerous, in
proportion to the whole number of the population, than in almost any other
section of the northern colonies.
In connexion with the troubles which every man of ordinary sagacity could
not but perceive were fermenting, Sir William visited England for the last
time in the Autumn of 1773, returning in the succeeding Spring. He
probably came back with his loyal feelings somewhat strengthened. It was
not his fortune, however, good or ill, to see the breaking out of the
tempest, the near approaches of which he had been watching with an
intenseness of observation corresponding with the magnitude of his own
personal interests, which must necessarily be involved. He died suddenly,
at Johnson Hall, on or about the 24th of June, 1774.
It was reported by his enemies,--or rather by the enemies of the
Crown,--that he perished by his own hand, in consequence of the clouds
which he saw darkening the political sky; and such an impression is yet
very generally entertained. The tradition is, that on the day of his
decease he had received despatches from England, which were handed to him
while sitting in Court, and with which he immediately left the Court-house
and walked to his own house. These despatches, it was afterward reported,
contained instructions to him to use his influence with the Indians in
behalf of the Crown, in the event of hostilities. Another version of the
tradition is, that on the day in question he had received despatches from
Boston, the complexion of which, in his own mind, indicated that a civil
war was near and inevitable. In such an event he saw that he must either
prove recreant to his principles, or take part against the Crown; and, to
avoid either alternative, it has been extensively believed that he put an
end to his life. [FN-1] But there is no just ground for this uncharitable
conclusion. It is true that he had, on the evening of the 24th, received
despatches from Massachusetts, the tenor of which, by excitement, may have
hastened the malady to which his system was predisposed. It was a busy day
at Johnstown. The Circuit Court was in session, at which, however, Sir
William was not present, being engaged in holding a treaty with some of
the Six Nations. In the course of his speech to the Indians on that
occasion, he alluded to the despatches he had received, and stated to them
that troubles were brewing between the Americans and their King--advising
them not to abandon the cause of the latter, who had always been
benevolent and kind to them. "Whatever may happen," said the Baronet, "you
must not be shaken out of your shoes." [FN-2]
* * * * *
[FN-1] Mr. Campbell, in his "Annals," favors this opinion. He
says--"There is something still mysterious connected with his death. He
had been out to England, and returned the previous Spring. During a visit
which he made shortly afterward to Mr. Campbell, an intimate friend of
his at Schenectady, the conversation turned upon the subject of the
disputes between the Colonies and the Mother Country. He then said, _he
should never live to see them in a state of open war._"--Ann. p. 12.
[FN-2] MS. statement of a gentleman whose father was with Sir William
that morning, and was present at the Indian Council.
In the afternoon of that day Sir William was taken with a fit. Colonel
Johnson, his son, was absent at the Old Fort--distant nine miles. An
express was sent for him, and, mounting a fleet English blood-horse, he
rode for the Hall with all possible haste. His horse fell dead when within
three quarters of a mile of the house, having run upward of eight miles
in fifteen minutes. The Colonel hired the horse of some one standing by,
and pushed forward to the Hall. On entering the room, he found his father
in the arms of a faithful domestic, who attended upon his person. He spoke
to his parent, but received no answer; and in a few minutes afterward the
Baronet expired [FN]--of apoplexy, beyond a doubt. This was early in the
evening. While the judges of the Court were at supper in the village, one
mile distant, a young Mohawk Indian entered their apartment and announced
the event.
* * * * *
[FN] MS. statement of Colonel William Feeter, in possession of the
author. Col. F. is yet living (May, 1837.)
Sir William was succeeded in his titles and estates by his son, Sir John
Johnson; but the reins of authority, as General superintendent of the
Indian Department, fell into the hands of the son-in-law of Sir William,
Colonel Guy Johnson, who had long been in office as the Assistant, or
Deputy of the old Baronet. This officer was assisted by Colonel Daniel
Clans, who had likewise married a daughter of Sir William. On the decease
of his father, Sir John also succeeded to his post as Major General of the
militia.
Of the early life of Sir John Johnson not much is known. He was not as
popular as his father, being less social, and less acquainted with human
nature and the springs of human action. He accompanied his father on some
of his warlike expeditions, however, and probably saw considerable
service. Soon after the termination of the French war, he was sent by his
father, at the head of a small expedition, to the Mohawk canton of
Oghkwaga,[FN-1] to arrest a Captain Bull, and some other malcontents and
disaffected Indians, who were charged with being engaged in an effort to
enlist the Six Nations in a war against some other Indians, or possibly
to win them over to the designs of Pontiac. For this purpose young Johnson
had a choice corps of men placed under his command, most of whom had
served with the Baronet against the French. He had also a detachment of
Indians with him. The expedition was arranged somewhat with a view of
display--for the purpose, as it was conjectured, of giving eclat to the
young commander. The enterprise was successful--Bull and his adherents
were taken, and brought in irons to Johnstown. From thence they were sent
to Albany and imprisoned for a time, but were all subsequently discharged.
Before the Revolution commenced, Sir John married Miss Mary Watts, of the
city of New-York.[FN-2]
* * * * *
[FN-1] The author has found much difficulty in attempting to determine
the orthography of this place. It is now generally written Oquaga. In the
Congressional journals of the Revolution it was spelled Oneaquaga. By
some writers it is written Oghquaga. The late highly intelligent Mohawk
chief, Norton, always wrote it Oghkwaga, which orthography has been
adopted by the author.
[FN-2] Sister to the late venerable John Watts, who died in September,
1836.
The successors of Sir William Johnson did not, however, possess the same
degree of moral power over the population of Tryon County, Indian or
white, as had been exercised by him. But they nevertheless derived
essential aid from "Miss Molly," who was a woman of talents as well as
tact, and possessing great influence among the Indians, who were her own
people, Molly was in turn aided by the counsels and exertions of her
brother, Joseph Thayendanegea, who had been much in the service of Sir
William during the latter years of his life, and who, on the death of the
Baronet, was advanced to the post of Secretary of Guy Johnson. These
gentlemen, however, (Sir John Johnson, Guy Johnson, and Colonel Glaus,)
living in great splendour, at, and in the neighbourhood of Johnstown, and
thus allied with the family of a powerful Mohawk sachem, were still
enabled to exert a decided influence, especially among the Indians. They
were likewise in close official and political alliance with Colonel John
Butler, an opulent and influential gentleman of that county, and his son
Walter N. Butler--names rendered memorable, if nothing worse, by
association with certain bloody transactions, which will be developed in
the progress of the present volume.
But, notwithstanding all their influence--and no family in America had
ever been regarded with greater deference by the surrounding population
than that of the Johnsons--they were not long in discovering that the
principles now openly avowed in Massachusetts, could not be confined
within the limits of that colony, or even of New England. Though less
openly proclaimed, yet as the waters of a fountain ooze through the earth
unseen until they have gathered force enough to break the surface and gush
forth, so was it with the principles of Liberty sent abroad by "the Boston
rebels," as they worked their way up the valley of the Mohawk; and the
successors of Sir William Johnson were not long in discovering, that
although they could still count among their retainers a large number of
adherents, the leaven of civil liberty had nevertheless been more deeply
at work than they had desired, or probably supposed. The celebrated
"Boston Port Bill," enacted in consequence of the destruction of the tea
in that harbour in 1773, had gone into operation only a month preceding
the death of Sir William; and in the next month subsequent to his decease,
a public meeting was held in the Palatine district, warmly seconding the
proposition of Massachusetts for the assembling of a general Congress,
for mutual consultation and counsel in the existing posture of the
political affairs of the Colonies. The original draft of the proceedings
of that meeting is yet in existence, in the hand-writing of Col.
Christopher P. Yates--a patriot who embarked early in the struggle, and
served to the end. They breathed the genuine spirit of freedom, and as a
declaration of rights, are well entitled to a place among the fervid
papers of that day, which were so powerful in their operation upon the
public mind. After setting forth the concern and sorrow felt by the
meeting, at the shutting up the port of Boston, and the tendency of the
acts of Parliament for raising a revenue in the American Colonies, which
they held to be an abridgment of the privileges of the people, the meeting
resolved: 1st. That they recognised the King as their lawful sovereign,
would bear true faith and allegiance to him, and would, with their lives
and fortunes, support and maintain him on the throne of his ancestors, and
the just dependence of the Colonies upon the crown of Great Britain. 2d.
That they considered it their greatest happiness to be governed by British
laws, and would pay cheerful submission to them, as far as they could do
so, consistently with the security of the Constitutional rights of English
subjects, "_which were so sacred that they could not permit them to be
violated._" 3d. That all taxes without their own consent, or the consent
of their representatives, were unjust and unconstitutional; and the acts
of Parliament upon the subject were denounced, as obvious encroachments
upon the rights and liberties of British subjects. 4th. That the act
closing the port of Boston was arbitrary and oppressive to the
inhabitants, whom they considered to be suffering in the common cause.
5th. That they would unite with their brethren elsewhere, in relieving the
necessities of the suffering poor in Boston, and in "any thing tending to
support our rights and liberties." 6th. Approving of the calling of a
general Congress, and of the five members who had already been appointed
by their brethren of New-York. 7th. That they would abide by such
regulations as might be agreed upon by the said Congress. 8th. Appointing
a committee of correspondence for that district, [FN] and recommending the
other districts of the county to do the same.
* * * * *
[FN] Christopher P. Yates, Isaac Paris, and John Frey.
The Congress met in Philadelphia in September, 1774, and after adopting
a declaration of rights, and setting forth wherein those rights had been
violated, they agreed upon an address to the King, exhibiting the
grievances of the Colonies, and praying for his Majesty's interposition
for their removal. An address to the people of British America was
likewise adopted, together with an appeal to the people of Great Britain,
as also a letter to the people of Canada. [FN-1] The Congress then
adjourned, to meet again in May, 1775. The papers put forth from that
august assembly had a powerful effect upon the public mind. They were also
highly extolled by Lord Chatham in the House of Peers, who declared, that
"In all his reading and observation--and it had been his favourite
study--for he had read Thucydides, and had studied and admired the master
states of the world--for solidity of reasoning, force of sagacity, and
wisdom of conclusion, under such complication of circumstances, no nation
or body of men could stand in preference to the General Congress at
Philadelphia." [FN-2]
* * * * *
[FN-1] Mr. R. H. Lee wrote the address to the American people, and Mr.
Jay that to the people of Great Britain.
[FN-2] Parliamentary Register.
The Provincial Assembly of New-York was the only legislature in the
Colonies that withheld its approbation from the proceedings of the
Congress--the loyalists of that Colony being, from a variety of causes,
more numerous and influential than in any other of the provinces. In the
Valley of the Mohawk they were particularly zealous and active; and the
Johnson family, with their associates, were ceaseless in their efforts to
divert the revolutionary spirit, which was but too obviously abroad.
But like the bitter plant in the vegetable pharmacopoeia, the principles
of liberty only thrive more rapidly beneath a pressure, and the spark
which had been struck in the Palatine district, they not only found it
impossible to extinguish, but a measure of their own adoption had the
effect of kindling it into a blaze--and, once kindled, the fire of liberty
is as inextinguishable as the Greek.
In Massachusetts, however, other menacing measures besides the passage of
resolutions, were adopted toward the close of 1774. Governor Gage having
issued writs for the holding of a General Assembly, in October, afterward
countermanded the writs by proclamation. But the new members, to the
number of ninety, maintaining the illegality of the proclamation, met
notwithstanding. Neither the Governor, nor any substitute, appearing to
complete their organization, they formed themselves into a Provincial
Congress, and adjourned to Concord. From Concord, after some collisions
with the Governor, they removed to Cambridge; and in the course of their
sittings measures were adopted for the public defence, and the
organization of minute men, to the number of twelve thousand. Connecticut
and New Hampshire were requested to augment the number to twenty thousand.
Governor Gage complained bitterly that the edicts of this Congress were
implicitly obeyed throughout the country. Before the year had expired, a
royal proclamation was received, prohibiting the exportation of military
stores to America. This document caused general indignation. In Rhode
Island and New Hampshire the people at once seized upon the arms and
ordnance in their public places and garrisons, and other corresponding
measures were adopted by the Colonial authorities. In the more Southern
provinces signs of jealousy and discontent began to be more unequivocally
manifested. A meeting of the military officers of Virginia, under Lord
Dunmore, was held, at which resolutions, professing loyalty and looking
rebellion, were adopted. The Provincial Congress of Maryland approved of
the proceedings of the General Congress; and in South Carolina, Judge
Dayton, in a memorable charge to a Grand Jury at Camden, set the ball in
motion in that Colony. Doctor Franklin, being in London, was required to
attend a meeting of the Committee for Plantations, to whom had been
referred the petition of the Massachusetts Assembly for the removal of
Governor Hutchinson and Lieutenant-Governor Oliver. He supported the
petition, and was, the day after, dismissed by the Crown from the office
of postmaster for the Colonies.
It may readily be conceived that an excitement thus increasing from day
to day, and thus rapidly extending the circle of its influence, would not
long be confined to measures of remonstrance and petition. Most
unfortunate was it, therefore, that, just at this conjuncture, while all
sagacious men saw by the shadows what events were coming, and all good men
were solicitous for the preservation of the character and augmentation of
the physical strength of the country, a small band of bad ones adopted a
course well fitted to awaken the jealousy of the whole Indian race, and
exasperate a portion of them to the highest pitch of anger and revenge.
It was evident that the Colonies were about to measure swords with one of
the strongest powers in Christendom, and to strike for freedom. True
wisdom, therefore, required that the clouds of Indians darkening more than
a thousand miles of our border, and in the North forming an intermediate
power between our own settlements and the country of the anticipated foe,
should be at least conciliated into neutrality, if not courted into an
alliance. But a contrary course was taken by some of the frontier-men of
Virginia, and a hostile feeling awakened by a succession of outrages,
unprovoked and more cruel than savages, as such, could have committed.
The well-informed reader will at once anticipate that reference is now
had to the hostilities upon the North-western frontier of Virginia,
commonly known as Cresap's War, from the agency of a subaltern officer
of that name, whose wanton cruelty provoked it, and one striking event
of which has rendered every American ear familiar with the name of Logan,
the celebrated "Mingo Chief." [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] Mingo, Mengwe, Maquas, and Iroquois, are all only different names
applied to the Six Nations.
The wars and the conquests of the Six Nations had been the cause of
transplanting many families, among whom were some of distinction, over the
countries subjected to their arms. Among these was the family of Logan,
the son of _Shikellimus,_ [FN] a distinguished Cayuga sachem, who had
removed from the particular location of his own tribe, to Shamokin, or
Conestoga, within the borders of Pennsylvania, where he executed the
duties of principal chief of those of the Six Nations residing on the
Susquehanna. He was a man of consequence and humanity, and one of the
earliest to encourage the introduction of Christianity by Count
Zinzendorf. He was a great friend to the celebrated James Logan, who
accompanied William Penn on his last voyage to America, and who
subsequently became distinguished in the colony for his learning and
benevolence. Hence the name of the famous son of Shikellimus, so closely
identified with the scenes about to be described.
* * * * *
[FN] _Shikellimus_ was a contemporary of the famous _Cannassatego,_ and
is known in Colden's History of the Six Nations by the different names
of _Skickcalamy, Shicalamy,_ and _Shick Calamy.--Drake._
Logan had removed from his father's lodge at Shamokin to the Shawanese
country on the Ohio, where he had become a chief. He was a friend of the
white men, and one of the noblest of his race; not only by right of birth,
but in consideration of his own character. During the Indian wars
connected with the contest with France, which were continued for a
considerable time after the conquest of Canada, he took no part, save in
the character of a peace-maker.
The circumstances which transformed this good and just man from a sincere
friend into a bitter foe, will appear in the following narrative:--It
happened in April or May of 1774, that a party of land-jobbers, while
engaged in exploring lands near the Ohio river, were robbed, or pretended
to have been robbed, of a number of horses by the Indians. The leader of
the land-jobbers was Captain Michael Cresap. Alarmed at the depredation
upon their property, or affecting to be so, Cresap and his party
determined to make war upon the Indians, without investigation, and
irrespective, as a matter of course, of the guilt or innocence of those
whom they should attack. On the same day, falling in with two Indians,
Cresap and his men killed them. Hearing, moreover, of a still larger party
of Indians encamped at some distance below the site of the present town
of Wheeling, the white barbarians proceeded thither, and after winning the
confidence of the sons of the forest by pretended friendship, fell upon
and slaughtered several of their number, among whom were a part of the
family of the white man's friend--Logan. [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] Doddridge, in his History of the Indian Wars, states that no
evidence of the imputed theft was ever adduced; and affirms his belief
that the report was false, and the Indians innocent, even of a
comparatively minor trespass.
Soon after this atrocious affair, another followed, equally flagitious.
There was a white settlement on the east bank of the Ohio, about thirty
miles above Wheeling, among the leading men of which were one named Daniel
Greathouse, and another named Tomlinson. A party of Indians, assembled on
the opposite bank of the river, having heard of the murders committed by
Cresap, determined to avenge their death, of which resolution Greathouse
was admonished by a friendly squaw, who advised him to escape, while he
was reconnoitering for the purpose of ascertaining their numbers. He had
crossed the river with thirty-two men under his command, and secreted them
for the purpose of falling upon the Indians; but finding that they were
too strong for him, he changed his plan of operations, re-crossed the
river, and, with a show of friendship, invited them over to an
entertainment. Without suspicion of treachery the Indians accepted the
invitation, and while engaged in drinking--some of them to a state of
intoxication--they were set upon and murdered in cold blood. Here again,
fell two more of the family of Logan--a brother and sister, the latter
being in a situation of peculiar delicacy. The Indians who had remained
on the other side of the river, hearing the noise of the treacherous
attack, flew to their canoes to rescue their friends. This movement had
been anticipated; and sharp-shooters, stationed in ambuscade, shot numbers
of them in their canoes, and compelled the others to return.
These dastardly transactions were enacted on the 24th of May. They were
soon followed by another outrage, which, though of less magnitude, was
not less atrocious in its spirit, while it was even more harrowing to the
feelings of the Indians. The event referred to was the murder, by a white
man, of an aged and inoffensive Delaware chief named the _Bald Eagle._ He
had for years consorted more with the white people than his own, visiting
those most frequently who entertained him best. At the time of his murder
he had been on a visit to the fort at the North of the Kanhawa, and was
killed while alone, paddling his canoe. The man who committed the murder,
it was said, had been a sufferer at the hands of the Indians; but he had
never been injured by the object upon whom he wreaked his vengeance. After
tearing the scalp from his head, the white savage placed the body in a
sitting posture in the canoe, and sent it adrift down the stream. The
voyage of the dead chief was observed by many, who supposed him living,
and upon one of his ordinary excursions. When, however, the deed became
known, his nation were not slow in avowals of vengeance.[FN-1] Equally
exasperated, at about the same time, were the Shawanese, against the
whites, by the murder of one of their favourite chiefs, _Silver Heels,_
who had in the kindest manner undertaken to escort several white traders
across the woods from the Ohio to Albany, a distance of nearly two hundred
miles.[FN-2]
* * * * *
[FN-1] McClung, as cited by Drake.
[FN-2] Heckewelder.
The consequence of these repeated outrages, perpetrated by white
barbarians, was the immediate commencement of an Indian war, the first
leader of which was Logan, who, with a small party of only eight warriors,
made a sudden and altogether unexpected descent upon a Muskingum
settlement, with complete success. In the course of the Summer great
numbers of men, women, and children, fell victims to the tomahawk and
scalping-knife. Logan, however, though smarting under a keen sense of his
own wrongs, set his face against the practice of putting prisoners to the
torture, so far as he could. In one instance, he so instructed a prisoner
doomed to run the gauntlet, as to enable him to escape without receiving
essential injury. In another case, with his own hand he severed the cord
which bound a prisoner to the stake, and by his influence procured his
adoption into an Indian family.
To punish these atrocities, provoked, as all authorities concur in
admitting, by the whites, a vigorous campaign was undertaken by the
Governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, with a force of between two and three
thousand men. Eleven hundred of these Provincials, mostly riflemen, and
comprising much of the chivalry of Virginia, constituting the left wing,
were entrusted to the command of General Andrew Lewis, [FN] with
instructions to march direct for Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great
Kanhawa; while his lordship, proceeding with the right wing, was to cross
the Ohio at a higher point, and fall upon the Indian towns in their rear.
For reasons never satisfactorily explained, although the cause of some
controversy at the time, there was a failure of the expected co-operation
on the part of Lord Dunmore.
* * * * *
[FN] Andrew Lewis was, in fact, only a colonel; but he was in the chief
command of the division, and as he had a brother, Charles Lewis, also a
colonel, he has been designated as a General by courtesy, and for the
purpose of distinguishing the commander from the other colonel.
General Lewis commenced his march on the 11th of September. His course
was direct, through a trackless wilderness, one hundred and sixty miles;
over which all the supplies of the army were necessarily to be transported
on pack-horses. The march was very slow and tedious--occupying nineteen
days. Arrived at or near the junction of the Kanhawa with the Ohio, Lewis
waited eight or nine days to obtain tidings from Lord Dunmore, but heard
not a syllable.
Early on the morning of the 10th of October, two of Lewis's scouts, who
were about a mile in advance, were fired upon by a large body of Indians;
one of the scouts was killed, and the other escaped to camp with the
intelligence. It was yet half an hour to sunrise, and instant dispositions
were made to move forward and attack. Just as the sun was rising, the
Indians, who were advancing upon a like errand, were met, and an
engagement ensued, which continued with greater or less severity through
the day. The Virginians had bivouacked upon a point of land between the
two rivers, giving the Indians an important advantage of position,
inasmuch as, if defeated, retreat would be impossible for the former,
while the latter could fly at their pleasure. But such was not the purpose
of the Indians. Their numbers have been variously stated, from eight to
fifteen hundred, consisting of Shawanese, Delawares, Mingoes, Wyandots,
Cayugas, and several other tribes, led in chief by Logan, assisted by
other celebrated chiefs, among whom were _Cornstock, Ellenipsico,_ (his
son,) and the _Red Eagle._
The onset was impetuous upon both sides. Colonel Charles Lewis led the
right of the Virginians, and was in advance. He fell almost at the first
fire, mortally wounded, and shortly afterward expired--having walked back
to his own camp. The Virginians, like the Indians, sought every advantage
by fighting from the shelter of trees and bushes; but in the first part
of the engagement the advantages were with the Indians, and two of the
Virginia regiments, after severe loss, especially in officers, were
compelled to give way. Colonel Fleming, who commanded the left, though
severely wounded in the beginning of the action, by two balls through his
arm and another through the breast, bravely kept the field for some time,
cheering his men, and, urging them not to lose an inch of ground, directed
them to outflank the enemy. But the assault of the Indians was vigorous
and their fire so severe, that the left, like the right, was yielding,
when, at the most critical moment, Colonel Field's regiment was brought
with great spirit and resolution into the action, by which timely movement
the fortunes of the day were retrieved. The impetuosity of the Indians was
checked, and they were in turn forced to retreat--falling back to avail
themselves of a rude breast-work of logs and brush-wood, which they had
taken the precaution to construct for the occasion. Colonel Field was
killed at the moment his gallant regiment had changed the aspect of the
battle, and he was succeeded by Captain Isaac Shelby, afterward the brave
and hardy old Governor of Kentucky.
The Indians made a valiant stand at their breast-work, defending their
position until nearly night-fall. For several hours every attempt to
dislodge them was unsuccessful; the savages fighting like men who had not
only their soil and homes to protect, but deep wrongs to avenge. "The
voice of the mighty Cornstock was often heard during the day, above the
din of battle, calling out to his warriors, 'Be strong! Be strong!' And
when, by the repeated charge of the Virginians, some of his warriors began
to waver, he is said to have sunk his tomahawk into the head of a coward
who was attempting to fly." [FN]
* * * * *
[FN] Drake--who compiles his account of this spirited engagement, from
Withers, McClung, and Doddridge.
The action had continued extremely hot until past twelve o'clock, after
which it was abated at intervals, though a scattering fire was kept up
most of the time during the day, Toward night, finding that each
successive attack upon the line of the Indians in front but weakened his
own force, without making any perceptible impression upon the Indians, and
rightly judging that if the latter were not routed before dark, the
contest must be resumed under at least doubtful circumstances on the
following day, a final attempt was made to throw a body of troops into
the rear. Three companies were detached upon this service, led by Captain
Shelby. The ground favoured the enterprise. Availing themselves of the
tall weeds and grass upon the bank of a creek flowing into the Kanhawa,
those companies passed the flank of the Indian ranks unobserved, and
falling vigorously upon their rear, drove them from their lines with
precipitation. Night came on, and the Indians, supposing that
reinforcements of the Virginians had arrived, fled across the Ohio, and
continued their retreat to the Scioto. They had not the satisfaction of
taking many scalps--the bodies of a few stragglers only falling into their
possession. In the official account it was stated that they scalped
numbers of their own warriors, to prevent the Virginians from doing it.
Of those Indians first killed, the Virginians scalped upward of twenty.
[FN-1] The loss of the Indians was never known. It must, however, have
been severe; since, in addition to the killed and wounded borne away,
numbers of the slain were thrown into the river, and thirty-three of their
warriors were found dead upon the field on the following day. The loss of
the Virginians was likewise severe. Two of their colonels were killed,
four captains, many subordinate officers, and between fifty and sixty
privates, besides a much larger number wounded.[FN-2]
* * * * *
[FN-1] Official Report.
[FN-2] Doddridge states the number of killed at 75, and of wounded at
140. In the estimate given in the text, Thatcher has been followed. It
is stated by Drake, that a stratagem was resorted to in this action by
the Virginians, similar to one that had been practised in the early New
England war of the Indians at Pawtucket. The Virginians, concealing
themselves behind trees, would hold out their hats from behind and draw
the fire of the Indians; the hat being instantly dropped, the Indian
warrior who had brought it down, supposing that he had killed the owner,
would rush forward to secure the scalp of his supposed victim--only to
fall beneath an unexpected tomahawk.
Arrived at Chilicothe, a council of the Indians was convened to debate
upon the question what was next to be done. Cornstock, it was said, had
been opposed to giving battle at Point Pleasant, but had resolved to do
his best on being overruled in council. Having been defeated, as he had
anticipated, he demanded of the council, "_What shall we do now? The Long
Knives are coming upon us by two routes. Shall we turn out and fight
them?_" No response being made to the question, he continued, "_Shall
we kill all our squaws and children, and then fight until we are all
killed ourselves?_" As before, all were silent; whereupon Cornstock struck
his tomahawk into the war-post standing in the midst of the council, and
remarked with emphasis: "_Since you are not inclined to fight, I will go
and make peace._" [FN] Saying which, he repaired to the camp of Lord
Dunmore, who, having descended the Ohio, was now approaching the Scioto.
* * * * *
[FN] Doddridge.
Meantime General Lewis, having buried his dead, and made the necessary
dispositions for an advance into the heart of the Indian country, moved
forward in pursuit of the enemy--resolved upon his extermination. He was
soon afterward met by a counter-order from Lord Dunmore, which he
disregarded; and it was not until the Governor visited Lewis in his own
camp, that a reluctant obedience was exacted. Meantime the negotiation
proceeded, but under circumstances of distrust on the part of the
Virginians, who were careful to admit only a small number of the Indians
into their encampment at any one time. The chief speaker on the part of
the Indians was Cornstock, who did not fail to charge the whites with
being the sole cause of the war--enumerating the provocations which the
Indians had received, and dwelling with peculiar force upon the murders
committed in the family of Logan. [FN] This lofty chief himself refused to
appear at the council. He was in favour of peace, but his proud spirit
scorned to ask for it; and he remained in his cabin, brooding in
melancholy silence over his own wrongs.
* * * * *
[FN] Cornstock was a truly great man. Col. Wilson, who was present at the
interview between the Chief and Lord Dunmore, thus speaks of the
chieftain's bearing on the occasion: "When he arose, he was in no wise
confused or daunted, but spoke in a distinct and audible voice, without
stammering or repetition, and with peculiar emphasis. His looks, while
addressing Dunmore, were truly grand and majestic, yet graceful and
attractive. I have heard the first orators in Virginia, Patrick Henry and
Richard Henry Lee; but never have I heard one whose powers of delivery
surpassed those of Cornstock."
Of so much importance was his name considered by Lord Dunmore however,
that a special messenger was despatched to ascertain whether he would
accede to the articles of peace. This messenger was Colonel John Gibson,
an officer in Dunmore's army, and afterward a man of some distinction. The
"Mingo Chief" did not dissent from the terms, but gave not his sanction
without an eloquent rehearsal of his grievances--relating, in full, the
circumstances of the butchery of his own entire family, to avenge which
atrocities he had taken up the hatchet. His conference with Gibson took
place in a solitary wood, and at its close, he charged him with the
celebrated speech to Lord Dunmore, which has become familiar wherever the
English language is spoken:--
"I appeal to any white man to say if he ever entered Logan's cabin hungry,
and he gave him not meat; if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed
him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained
idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites,
that my countrymen pointed, as they passed, and said, 'Logan is the friend
of the white men.' I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the
injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last Spring, in cold blood and
unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women
and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living
creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it; I have killed
many; I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my country, I rejoice at the
beams of peace; but do not harbour a thought that mine is the joy of fear.
Logan never felt fear. He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who
is there to mourn for Logan? Not one."
This speech has ever been regarded as one of the most eloquent passages
in the English language. Mr. Jefferson remarked of it--"I may challenge
the whole orations of Demosthenes, and of Cicero, and of any more eminent
orator, if Europe has furnished more eminent, to produce a single passage
superior to it;" and an American statesman and scholar,[FN-1] scarcely
less illustrious than the author of this noble eulogium, has subscribed
to that opinion.[FN-2]
* * * * *
[FN-1] De Witt Clinton.
[FN-2] Thatcher's Ind. Biography. It is due in candour to state, that the
authenticity of this celebrated speech has been questioned. On the first
publication of Jefferson's Notes, the relatives and friends of Cresap
made a great outcry against the charge of his having murdered Logan's
family. Among other arguments in his defence, it was contended that the
speech attributed to Logan had, in substance and almost in words, been
delivered to the General Assembly of Virginia by a sachem named Lonan,
twenty years before the date assigned to it by Mr. Jefferson. The speech
referred to was discovered in the travels of Robin, a Frenchman, who
visited the Colonies at an early period of the war of the Revolution.
The passage stands thus in the English translation of "Robin's New
Travels in America:"--
"Speech of the savage Lonan, in a General Assembly, as it was sent to the
Governor of Virginia, anno 1754:--
"Lonan will no longer oppose making the proposed peace with the white
men. You are sensible he never knew what fear is--that he never turned
his back in the day of battle. No one has more love for the white men
than I have. The war we have had with them has been long and bloody on
both sides. Rivers of blood have run on all parts, and yet no good has
resulted therefrom to any. I once more repeat it--let us be at peace
with these men. I will forget our injuries; the interest of my country
demands it. I will forget--but difficult, indeed, is the task! Yes, I
will forget that Major ---- cruelly and inhumanly murdered, in their
canoes, my wife, my children, my father, my mother, and all my kindred.
This roused me to deeds of vengeance! I was cruel in despite of myself. I
will die content if my country is once more at peace, But when Lonan
shall be no more, who, alas! will drop a tear to the memory of Lonan?"
If the date to this speech be the true one, there is an end to the claim
of Logan. But the resemblance in many manuscripts, between the figures
4 and 7, is so close as to induce a belief, (Dr. Barton's Journal of 1808
to the contrary notwithstanding) that the error may have been made by the
English translator. This opinion is strengthened by the similarity
between the name given by Robin,--_Lonan_--and _Logan._ The difference
consists in a single letter, and might well have been the error of the
Frenchman, when writing the identical story of Logan. In the course of
his investigations, Mr. Jefferson was furnished with a note, written by
Logan, and sent to a white settlement, attached to a war-club, by the
hand of an Indian runner, Heckewelder also says the speech was
authenticated by Col. Gibson, and adds:--"For my part I am convinced that
it was delivered precisely as it was related to us, with this only
difference, that it possessed a force and expression in the Indian
language, which it is impossible to translate info our own,"
Lord Dunmore, it is believed, was sincerely desirous of peace--from
motives of humanity, we are ready to believe, although writers of less
charity have attributed his course to a more unworthy feeling. Peace,
therefore, was the result of the council. But it will readily be conceded
that the Indian warriors could not have retired to their respective tribes
and homes, with any feelings of particular friendship toward the white
men. On the contrary, the pain of defeat, and the loss of the warriors who
fell, were causes of irritating reflection, in addition to the original
and grievous wrong they had suffered at the hands of Cresap and
Greathouse. The Six Nations, as a confederacy, had not taken part in the
war of the Virginia border; but many of their warriors were engaged in it,
especially the Cayugas, to which nation Logan belonged, and the warriors
of the Six Nations colonized on the banks of the Susquehanna and its
tributary the Shamokin. These, it may be reasonably inferred, returned
from the contest only to brood longer over their accumulated wrongs, and
in a temper not over-inclined to cultivate the most amicable relations
with the Colonies. In one word, the temper of the whole Indian race, with
the exception of the Oneidas, was soured by these occurrences of the year
1774;--a most unfortunate circumstance, since events were then following
in rapid succession, which within a twelvemonth rendered the friendship
of the nations not only desirable, but an object of vast importance.
But before the direct narrative leading to those events is resumed, it
may be well to end the melancholy tale of Logan, "which can be dismissed
with no relief to its gloomy colours." After the peace of Chilicothe he
sank into a state of deep mental depression, declaring that life was a
torment to him. He became in some measure delirious;[FN-1] went to
Detroit, and there yielded himself to habits of intoxication. In the end
he became a victim to the same ferocious cruelty which had already
rendered him a desolate man. Not long after the treaty, a party of whites
murdered him as he was returning from Detroit to his own country.[FN-2]
* * * * *
[FN-1] Allen's Biog. Dic.
[FN-2] Thatcher.