A MIGHTY MINGO CHIEFTAIN
LOGAN, THE ORATOR AND WARRIOR
The Mingo chieftain known as Logan, had a fame which reached the other
side of the Atlantic; he was the author of perhaps the best known
speech ever delivered by one of his race, and his life was marked by a
pathos that must touch every heart.
Logan was a chief like his father, but lived most of his life in the
West, probably at Sandusky, or on a branch of the Scioto. A number of
his warriors made their homes at these places. Why, if this chief was
an _Iroquois_, is he called a _Mingo_? The explanation lies in the fact
that the two words mean the same. The Iroquois are sometimes spoken of
as the Mingoes, Menwes or Maquas.
Logan, although one of the bravest of men, always loved peace above
war. Throughout the dark years before and during the plotting of
Pontiac, he took no part except that of peacemaker. In time he became
a most bitter enemy of the white race and if ever an Indian had good
reason for such enmity, he was Logan.
In the spring of 1774, several white explorers in the Ohio country
said they had been robbed by Indians of a number of horses, though it
is by no means certain that such was the fact, or that, if the theft
took place, that the thieves were not white men. Be that as it may,
the explorers claimed that the Indians should be taught a lesson that
would prevent any more outrages of that nature.
The infamous Colonel Michael Cresap gathered a party of men as evil as
himself, the members coming together on the site of the present city
of Wheeling, West Virginia. Learning that some Indians were near at
hand, Cresap made ready to attack them. The question of their guilt or
innocence was of no concern to him. He knew he had enough men to defeat
the small company, and that was all he cared to know before acting.
As if to help in the fearful crime, a canoe was seen coming from the
other shore. It contained one warrior and several women and children.
Hiding themselves, Cresap and his companions waited till the party had
landed, and then each picked out his victim. When the guns were fired,
not a single man, woman or child escaped. All these people belonged to
the family of Logan, known far and near as the "friend of the white
man."
This fearful outrage against the red man brought on a war in which
occurred one of the most remarkable battles between the two races that
has ever been fought in our history. The event, for some reason, has
not attracted the attention it deserves.
Logan was changed from a warm, unselfish friend of the white people
into their bitter enemy, and who can blame him? In July, 1774, he left
his home with only eight warriors. Instead of attacking the settlements
on the Ohio, where everybody expected the first blow would fall, he
passed them by and made his way to the Muskingum, where nobody dreamed
of danger.
The first white men seen were three who were pulling flax in a field.
One of them was shot down, and the others taken as prisoners.
[Illustration: THE INDIANS FRIENDLY TO WILLIAM PENN.
The fairness, justice and generosity of William Penn in buying from the
Indians their lands and privileges, secured for him and his settlers
protection not enjoyed by the other colonists.]
[Illustration: DEATH OF THE INDIAN KING PHILIP.
This famous Indian chief was for many years friendly with the whites,
but finally united the Indians in a final effort to drive away the
invaders. He was killed by an Indian enemy in 1675.]
They traveled a long distance through the forest to the Indian village,
where it was ordered that the captives should run the gantlet. This, as
you may know, consists of the unarmed person dashing between two rows
of his captors, standing a few feet from each other, all armed with
clubs or knives, with which they strike at the unfortunate as he speeds
forward and tries to dodge the cruel blows. If he succeeds in reaching
the extremity of the double line, he is sometimes spared or allowed to
make a break for liberty. But the ordeal is so dreadful, that not one
in a hundred survives it.
Logan did not like any kind of torture, and he told one of the captives
how he could escape many of the blows aimed at him. The man failed,
however, and the Indians condemned him to be burned to death at the
stake. Logan pleaded for his life, and, when it was refused, he cut the
cords and caused his adoption into an Indian family.
The Shawnees and Delawares had suffered many wrongs and outrages, and
they now joined in the war against the whites. The Virginia Legislature
was in session when the news reached that body, and Governor Dunmore
ordered the preparation of three thousand men to march against the
Indians. One-half of this force, under the command of General Andrew
Lewis, was to march to the mouth of the Kanawha, while the governor
was to lead the other half to a point on the Ohio, in order to strike
the Indian towns between the two. The movement of Lewis was to draw
off the main body of warriors, leaving the way open for the governor.
Having destroyed the towns, he was then to form a junction with General
Lewis at Point Pleasant, subsequent action of the army to be guided by
circumstances.
General Lewis with eleven hundred men began his march on the 11th of
September for Point Pleasant, distant one hundred and sixty miles on
the Great Kanawha. The whole distance led through a wilderness without
trails, but the force had a veteran scout of the frontier to guide them
over the best route. They reached their destination on the last day of
the month, and formed an intrenched camp. Lewis waited for more than a
week for the coming of Dunmore, but he did not arrive, and the officer
was in a quandary. The action of Governor Dunmore laid him open to
the gravest charges. The various explanations of his conduct will be
referred to presently.
On the morning of October 10, while General Lewis was still wondering
and perplexed over his failure to hear from Governor Dunmore, a white
man came to him with a startling story. While he and a companion were
hunting deer, they ran upon a camp of a numerous body of Indians in
their war paint. They fired upon the hunters and killed one, the other
escaping with great difficulty by fleet running.
The news brought by this messenger left no doubt that a large force
of red men were hurrying to attack the soldiers. It is said that
General Lewis coolly lit his pipe and smoked for several minutes while
reflecting upon the situation. He then ordered his brother, Colonel
Charles Lewis, and another officer of similar rank, to reconnoitre the
approaching enemy, while the commander arranged to support them. The
two regiments had gone barely a fourth of a mile, when they met the
Indians, advancing to the attack.
It was early in the morning and the battle opened immediately. The
Virginians had not forgotten the lesson of Braddock's defeat, and
fought in the same fashion as their opponents, taking advantage of
the trees, bushes, roughness of the ground, and every object that
afforded protection. The conflict was long and desperate. The uniform
of Colonel Lewis drew the attention of the warriors, and he soon fell
mortally wounded. The Indians speedily proved their superiority and put
the soldiers to flight, after having shot down a large number. In the
crisis of the disorderly retreat, when a general massacre was imminent,
reinforcements arrived and, by their firmness, checked the pursuit and
compelled the Indians in turn to take refuge behind a breastwork of
logs and bush, which they had been wise enough to prepare for such a
check.
[Illustration: AN UNEXPECTED ATTACK]
The redskins displayed rare military skill, for the breastwork alluded
to extended clean across a neck of land from river to river. They had
placed men on both sides of the stream, so that if the Virginians were
defeated, not one of them would have been able to save himself. It is
claimed that the battle which followed was the most hotly contested
of any ever fought between white and red men. The Indians did not
scramble for the breastwork, but gave way, foot by foot, as may be
said, contesting the ground with an obstinacy that more than once made
the issue doubtful. Colonel Lewis having fallen, his brother officer,
Colonel Fleming, was twice wounded, but kept his command and animated
others by his coolness and daring. When the reinforcements arrived at
the critical moment, the tide was turned, but Colonel Field, who was
leading them was killed, and Colonel Fleming, already twice hurt, was
shot through the lungs, but still refused to give place to any other
officer.
Behind that blazing breastwork were fifteen hundred brave warriors,
of the Shawanoe, Delaware, Mingo, Wyandot, and Cayuga tribes, under
the lead of Logan, Cornstalk, Red Eagle, and other famous chiefs.
Cornstalk was the head sachem, and the attacking soldiers heard his
ringing commands many times above the din of battle. When he saw one
of his frightened men trying to run away, he sent his tomahawk in
his brain. He dashed from side to side of the long line, cheering
all by his example. The battle lasted from morning until late in
the afternoon,--something, as has been said, unknown in similar
circumstances, and still the Indians held their ground, despite the
repeated and desperate charges of the soldiers.
General Lewis became intensely anxious. He was distressed at the sight
of the number of his men who fell at every rush. He saw that the
Indians must be routed before night, or the Virginians were almost sure
to suffer disastrous defeat. He sent three companies, who, favored
by the forest, reached the rear of the enemy unobserved. Then they
dashed to the attack. The warriors did not believe they were a part
of the force they had been fighting for hours, but thought they were
reinforcements and that the Indians' only safety lay in instant flight.
Just as the sun was setting they retreated across the Ohio and made for
their towns along that river.
The loss of the soldiers included nine officers and about fifty
privates, with nearly a hundred wounded. That of the Indians is not
known, but it is not likely it exceeded that of the whites. Judging by
those who were killed and wounded, the circumstances, and the length
of the conflict, the battle of Point Pleasant, in the autumn of 1774,
seems to justify the claim that it was the hardest fought one that ever
took place between the American and Caucasian races.
[Illustration: A BLOODY MASSACRE]
It has been said that grave suspicion was caused by the course of
Governor Dunmore. He set out with the purpose of attacking the rear of
the Indians and coöperating with General Lewis, and yet such could not
have been his real intention, for he was seventy-five miles distant,
and coöperation was out of the question. In the many attempts to
explain his course, it was said he meant to sacrifice General Lewis and
his men in order to add to his own reputation. Such a theory is absurd,
however, for he would have been denounced for his treachery, instead
of being praised. Others have thought that he felt the justice of the
Indians' cause, and tried to bring peace with the least destruction
and harm to them. To us, the more reasonable theory is, that Governor
Dunmore saw, as every one else saw, that the colonies were on the verge
of rebellion against England, and he was very anxious to keep the
goodwill of the Indians, with a view to bringing them to the side of
the mother country. You know he did all he could to befriend England,
and was rebuked by Patrick Henry and other patriots for too much
activity against their interests, when war was about to open.
After burying his dead, General Lewis withdrew agreeably to the
commands of Governor Dunmore. The latter advanced to within a few miles
of the leading Indian town on the Chillicothe, for the purpose of
treating with the tribes, from whom he had already received requests to
do so. The meetings were marked with distrust on both sides. Cornstalk,
in an indignant speech, laid the whole blame of the war upon the
whites, due mainly to the murder of Logan's family. Governor Dunmore
showed much tact, and, in the end, secured the pledges of the leading
chiefs to the peace he sought.
Among the sachems who signed the treaty the name of Logan did not
appear, nor would he go to the conference. Lord Dunmore was so anxious
to obtain his name that he sent a special messenger to the cabin of the
Mingo, a long distance away in the woods. When this messenger explained
his business to Logan, the latter led him a little way from his cabin,
and the two sat down beside each other on a fallen tree. The sachem
gave his assent to the treaty, and in doing so, uttered that memorable
speech, which will live as long as man can admire eloquence, pathos and
truth:
"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 long, bloody war, Logan remained idle in his
cabin, an advocate of peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my
countrymen pointed as they passed and said, 'Logan is the friend of the
white man.'
"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 relatives 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 harbor 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."