Centennial History
OF
Belmont County.
CHAPTER I.
DAWN OF CIVILIZATION IN THE COUNTY.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY-GEN. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK-A REVOLUTIONARY HERO-INDIAN OCCUPATION OF THE COUNTY-THE TRAGEDIES AT YELLOW CREEK AND CAPTINA-THE DISASTROUS DUNMORE WAR-THE FOREMOST AMERICAN HEROINE-SIEGE OF FORT HENRY-" WHISTLING TO START THE TUNES"-KILLING OF WILLIAM COCHRAN-THE TRAGEDY NEAR KIRKWOOD'S BLOCK-HOUSE.
THE NORTHWEST TERRITORY.
History inspires patriotism. It gives a classic character, a romantic value to the scenes of sacrifice and bloodshed enacted by the pioneers in opening tip the primeval forest to civilization.
No people of any country or age made greater sacrifices for the benefit of posterity than the first settlers of the great Northwest Territory. Virginia's claim to the Northwest Territory, of which Ohio was a part, was based on charters granted by James I of England, bearing date April 1, 1606, May 23, 1609, and March 12, 1611, but for 158 years, while not relinquishing her claim, Virginia made little or no effort to exercise authority over it, until Gen. George Rogers Clark, an eminent Virginiasoldier during the War of the Revolution, while floating down the beautiful waters of the Ohio, remarked the fertility and wealth of its western bank.
Repairing immediately to the old colonial capital of Virginia, he interviewed Gov. Patrick Henry and said a country that is not worth defending is not worth claiming, and thereupon laid before the Governor a comprehensive plan for capturing the whole Northwest Territory from the British and their savage allies. Patrick Henry approved the scheme and the Virginia Legislature appropriated £I2,000 for its execution.
GEN. GEORGE ROGERS CLARK.
Thus 25 years before Belmont County was organized Gen. George Rogers Clark of Virginia with less than 300 courageous Vir-
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ginians had captured every British fort in the Northwest Territory, and floated the stars and stripes over their battlements. When the Northwest Territory was thus thrown open to immigration, hundreds poured across the Ohio to occupy the land. Permit me to digress for a moment to speak of the sad fate of this gallant young Virginia soldier, who achieved so much for the people of the Northwest Territory.
Judge Burnett, in narrating a visit to Gen. George Rogers Clark before his death, found him poor and broken in spirit, his private property sold for supplies furnished to the needy comrades that followed him to victory.
He was a pauper and a bankrupt depending upon his brother's bounty. Then it was that Virginia sent him a sword in recognition of his gallantry. To his friend Judge Burnett he said: "When my country was in danger I furnished her a sword; when she is in peace and 'plenty and I am in need of bread, she sends me a sword." And this Revolutionary hero, the conqueror of the North-west Territory, died in poverty.
In 1888 through the efforts of Senator John Sherman, a national monument was placed above Gen. George Rogers Clark's humble grave.
It was not until the treaty of peace between the United States and Great Britain that Great Britain would admit the claim of the United States to the Northwest Territory However, the American commissioners insisted upon their claim upon the grounds of its capture by General Clark, and that claim after much contention was admitted by the conference. Previous to this, how-ever, Virginia had organized the Northwest Territory into the county of Illinois, a county lieutenant was appointed by Gov. Patrick Henry to regulate the unoccupied lands and. following the precedents of the French commanders in the Northwest Territory, the court granted the settlers 48.000 acres of land and this continued until the cession of the territory to the United States by Virginia in March, 1784, when land grants were forbidden by Congress.
Prior to the recovery of the Northwest Territory by General Clark, there had been a long and stubbornly contested war between France and England for the possession of the Ohio lands within the territory, a contention in which the Indian tribes were divided, part being on the side of each contestant. England finally conquered, and France by the treaty of 1763 ceded all these Ohio lands to England, who was in turn obliged to cede them to the United States in the treaty of 1783, because of their conquest by General Clark in the War of the Revolution.
After the cession of the Northwest Territory by Virginia to the United States, Congress continued to pursue the policy of discouraging and preventing settlements within its limits until the Indian titles had been extinguished, and the lands were regularly surveyed and ready for sale.
As early as 1785 a number of settlements were again attempted to be made on the west side of the Ohio, especially along the river front of Belmont County. The government at once took action in the matter to prevent them, and finally resorted to force to expel the squatters and destroy their improvements. The extent and location of these attempts at settlement at that early period within the present limits of Belmont County are shown by the report of Ensign Armstrong, who was sent down the river with a detachment of soldiers for the purpose of enforcing the government's order.
In 1785 Congress passed an ordinance for the survey and sale of certain lands in the Northwest Territory, included in which was the territory now known as Belmont County. Previous to this, however, many squatters' claims were effected, cabins built and lands occupied from the Muskingum River east to the Ohio and much trouble was anticipated. not only with the Indians, who still laid claims to the territory, but because of the conflicting claims of settlers.
Doddridge in his notes says: "Our people
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had become so accustomed to the mode of getting land by taking it up, that for a long time it was generally believed that the land on the west side of the Ohio would ultimately be disposed of in that way." Hence, almost the whole tract between the Ohio and Muskingum was parceled out in "tomahawk" improvements, but these latter improvers did not content themselves with a single 400-acre tract. Many of them laid claim to a greater number of tracts of the very best land, and thus in imagination were as wealthy as a "south sea dream." Many of the land jobbers of this class did not content themselves with marking the trees at the usual height, but climbed up the large beech trees, and cut their initials in the bark from 20 to 40 feet from the ground. In con-sequence of the refusal of the settlers along the west banks of the Ohio to remove in obedience to the orders issued by Congress Colonel Harmar was instructed to send a detachment of troops down the river to eject them by force, and destroy their improvements. But many of the cabins were re built, and many of the claims re-occupied when the troops departed. This was notably true at Norristown, now Martin's Ferry, in 1785. Indeed at Norristown there had been formed a little colony consisting of 40 or 50 souls in opposition to Congressional orders and this society had elected Charles Norris and John Carpenter, justices of the peace It was here in 1788 that Capt. Absolem Martin was granted by patent the land upon which Martin's Ferry now stands, and in 1795 he laid out a town and called it Jefferson, but, disappointed in his efforts to secure the county seat, he abandoned the town, believing it could not succeed as a rival of Wheeling. Notwithstanding there were many squatters' claims established as early as 1780-85 and little colonies had been established at many points, perhaps the first legal claim was 2,000 acres of land granted Captain Kirkwood by the government of Virginia in appreciation of his gallant services in the Revolutionary War.
Of this hero Judge G. L. Cranmer in a recent contribution to the West Virginia Historical Magazine, says:
" A REVOLUTIONARY HERO."
"During a recent visit made by the writer to the rooms of the Delaware Historical Society at Wilmington in that State, among many other interesting curiosities which claimed his attention were the shoulder straps and military sash which were worn by Maj. Robert Kirkwood on that fatal field where the army of General St. Clair was defeated by the Indians in the month of November, 1791.
"The sight of these mementoes suggested the idea of collecting such data as bore upon the revolutionary life of this worthy and distinguished soldier and patriot in which we have not been altogether unsuccessful, but have secured enough to give a general idea of the deeds and character of the man upon which as upon a firm foundation rests his enduring fame and reputation.
"Robert Kirkwood was born in Mill Creek Hundred on a farm near to White Clay Creek Church in the State of Delaware.
"At the outbreak of the Revolution he was living with a married sister in Newark, Delaware, and was engaged in mercantile pursuits.
"He abandoned his business before the formal declaration of war which at the time was threatened and enlisted as lieutenant in Col. John Haslet's regiment, which was mainly composed of members from the counties of Newcastle and Kent. This was in the month of January, 1771.
"A few days after the reception of the news of the passage by Congress of the Declaration of Independence, orders were received for his regiment, then at Dover, Delaware, to march and report at the headquarters of the army, which were then located at New York. Upon its arrival there, it was brigaded with four Pennsylvania regiments and Smallwood's Maryland regiment.
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"On the 27th of August, 1776, young Kirkwood received his first baptism of fire in the disastrous battle of Long Island, where he showed conspicuous gallantry. The loss of his regiment in this battle amounted to 33 killed, including two officers.
"The next general battle in which he was engaged was that of White Plains, followed by that of Trenton, which latter occurred on Christmas day, 1776, where the British loss in killed, wounded and missing amounted to 900 men. Nine days after this occurred the battle of Princeton, where the colonel of his regiment was killed.
"Under a resolution of Congress, the quota of the State of Delaware was fixed at one battalion consisting of 800 men. The regiment known as Haslet's regiment was never re-organized after the battle of Princeton.
"Of this new regiment, Capt. David Hall, who had been an officer in the disbanded regiment commanded by Haslet, became the colonel, and Lieutenant Kirkwood became a captain, and his company was mustered into the service on the first day of December, 1776. The regiment joined Washington's army in the Jerseys in the spring of 1777, and in September of the same year they were engaged in the battle of Brandy-wine, and in October following in the battle of Germantown, also in that of Monmouth.
"In 1778 and 1779 they were actively engaged in operations in the Middle States.
"In April, 1780, his regiment together with the Maryland troops was ordered south, and were assigned to the command of Baron De Kalb. The following description of the appearance of these troops, as they passed through Philadelphia on this march, is taken from the letter of a lady who was a witness of the same, and was written at the time:
"What an Army, said both Whig and Tory as they saw them. The shorter men of each company in. the front rank, the taller men behind them, some in hunting shirts, some in uniforms, some in common clothes, some with their hats cocked, and some without, and those who did cock them not all wearing them the same way, but each man with a green sprig emblem of hope in his hat, and each bearing his firelock with what, even to uninstructed eyes, had the air of skillful training.'
"The first battle in the South in which Kirkwood's regiment was engaged was that of Camden into which it went 500 strong, and came out with only 148. In this battle his regiment was placed in the front division as were the Marylanders. They maintained their position with noble intrepidity until the retreat was ordered, undismayed by the conduct of the panic-stricken condition of the Virginia and North Carolina militia. Both the colonel and major of his regiment were taken prisoners and sent to Charleston, South Carolina, where they were paroled, but never exchanged.
"After this battle the Delaware regiment was reduced to less than two companies. This shattered remnant was placed under command of Captain Kirkwood as senior captain, who commanded it until the close of the war. De Kalb with his dying breath showered benedictions on the brave men for their stern courage and unflinching gallantry in the fierce tide of battle, and even Cornwallis. Rawdon and the bitter and cruel Tarleton praised their constancy and valor.
"It was at the battle of Cowpens with the aid of cavalry that Kirkwood's command saved the day. He relied much upon the use of the bayonet and amid the roar of the battle he would shout in stentorian tones, 'Give them the bayonet, boys!' An eye witness of this last mentioned fight wrote as follows: 'Capt. Robert Kirkwood's heroic valor and uncommon and undaunted bravery must needs be recorded in history through the coming years!'
"At the second action at Camden, which terminated unfavorably to the Americans, Kirkwood and his command showed the same indomitable spirit which characterized them in all previous encounters. General Greene, who succeeded to the command
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after the death of the lamented De Kalb, said: `The extraordinary exertions of the cavalry, the gallant behavior of the light infantry commanded by Captain Kirkwood, and the firmness of the pickets, rendering the advantage expensive to the enemy, highly merit the approbation of the general and the imitation of the rest of the troops. Also in his report to the President of Congress after the battle of Eutaw Springs, General Greene speaks in highly laudatory terms of Captain Kirkwood and his command. The battle of Guilford Court House, Waxhan and Ninety-Six were all scenes of his heroic fortitude and matchless bravery.
"Wherever danger called or disaster threatened, there Kirkwood and his little band of faithful Delawareans were stationed. The battle of Eutaw Springs was the last in which Kirkwood and his command participated and this was virtually the end of the war, as Cornwallis had surrendered and there was but little, if any, fighting afterwards. On the 29th of October, 1781, a resolution of thanks was passed by Congress in which the services of the Delaware battalion were specially recognized.
"The State of Virginia recognized and appreciated his services by making a grant to him in 1787 of 2,000 acres of land in the Northwest Territory, the grant being in what is now the State of Ohio.
"He married a Miss England of White Clay Creek Hundred in New Castle County, Delaware, by whom he had issue two children, a son and a daughter. Joseph, the son, removed to Ohio, and Mary, the daughter, married a gentleman of Dorchester County, Maryland. She died in 1850. Joseph, his son, married Margaret Gillespie in 1806, and during the same year removed to Ohio. They had issue, one son and eight daughters.
"Major Kirkwood's commission as 1st lieutenant of Delaware State troops is dated January 13, 1776, and is signed by John Hancock, President of Congress, and by Charles Thompson as Secretary. His brevet major's commission is also signed by thesame persons and is dated September 30, 1783. Both of these commissions are in the possession of one of his descendants who resides in St. Clairsville, the county seat of Belmont County, Ohio.
"He was engaged in 32 battles during the War of the Revolution. At its close he returned to Delaware and established himself in the mercantile business at Cantwell's Bridge, and occupied a house which is still standing, or was not long since, which is situated east of the Old Tavernhouse. In 1785 he moved to St. George's, Newcastle County, which is situated about one mile south of Kirkwood, a station on the Delaware branch of the Philadelphia, Wilmington & Baltimore Railroad. He remained here but a short time, when he removed with his family to what is now Belmont County, Ohio, and located on the Ohio River immediately opposite the present city of Wheeling, where he built his cabin, cleared the land and commenced farming. Subsequently he commenced the erection of a block-house, but before it was completed in the early spring of 1789 a large body of Indians attacked his cabin during his absence in the East on business. It happened that at this time Capt. Joseph Biggs with his company of scouts and others were in the cabin sheltering there. The savages fired the cabin and thus sought to drive the inmates out, expecting that they might fall an easy prey to their murderous ferocity. Those within, however, kept the fire in check with milk, water and damp earth. Finding themselves foiled, the Indians then attempted to burst in the door which had been firmly barricaded, in which they failed.
"The rapid exchange of shots between the besiegers and besieged was heard at Fort Henry (Wheeling). The swivel gun in the fort was fired, notifying the besieged that succor was at hand.
"The savages accordingly relaxed their efforts, and made preparations to depart, knowing full well that the inmates of Fort Henry would soon appear and that they
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would suffer from an attack in the front and rear. Hence they promptly gathered their dead and wounded and hastily retreated. Five of the defenders were severely wounded —one of them mortally. The wounded were Capt. Joseph Biggs, John Walker, Elijah Hedges, John Barrett and Joseph Van Meter. Walker, who had been shot through the hip during the siege, died the following day at Colonel Zane's cabin in Wheeling, where he had been transferred. He was buried in the old cemetery which then occupied the site of the present residence of George K. Wheat, Esq., on Main street in the city of Wheeling.
"When the army was organized under the command of General St. Clair to march against the Indians of the Northwest, Kirkwood volunteered his services, and was commissioned as captain. The rendezvous of the army was at Fort Washington (Cincinnati), from which place it took up its line of march on the 17th of September, 1791. It camped at Ludlow's station for two weeks, about six miles from Cincinnati. There was a tree standing there as late as the year 1837 with the fact and date of the encampment carved in the bark. They were delayed in their progress by the construction of several forts which were duly garrisoned and provisioned.
"On the night of November 2nd the army encamped near the Great Miami village, and on the following morning were attacked by the Indians in great force, which resulted in the defeat of St. Clair and the scattering of his forces. Of the distressing scenes witnessed by him on this occasion, Lieut. Michael McDonough wrote as follows: `We left everything behind, eight pieces of cannon, cattle, horses, flour, officers' and soldiers' baggage, officers' private property, in cash supposed to be of the value of £10,000, besides all their clothing. We retreated day and night for this place (Cincinnati), which is 98 miles, arriving on the 8th inst. The number of non-commissioned officers, musicians and privates who fell on the field were upwards of 600. More than 60 women werekilled and I saw some of them cut in two, their breasts cut off and burning, with a number of our officers on our own fires before I left the field of action. I saw Captain Smith just after he was scalped, his head smoking like a chimney. Some soldiers have come in with all the skin and hair taken close off their heads.
"The regiment to which Kirkwood be longed consisted of 258 commissioned, non-commissioned officers, and privates, III of whom were left after the battle and 42 of these were wounded, Captain Kirkwood himself falling in a bayonet charge against the enemy. But two officers, McDonough and Bissell, survived. Out of 1,200, nearly 800 officers, men and women were killed and wounded.
"Thus ended the days of a brave and gallant officer, who gave his life for his country after having passed unscathed through 32 battles during the stormy period of the Revolution, leaving as a legacy to his countrymen an untarnished name and a memory fragrant with noble deeds and chivalrous impulses."
INDIAN OCCUPATION OF THE COUNTY.
Belmont County, indeed the country immediately bordering on the upper Ohio River, was not occupied by the Indians as homes or villages, but was rather a vast hunting ground, a favorite resort where game of all kinds was found in abundance. And it is not surprising that the encroachments of the white man upon the western shores of the Ohio should be regarded with jealousy, or that the Indians should seek to repel it by driving the aggressors away.
The tribal towns were located as follows: The Shawnees in the central part of the State, and extending westward to the Indiana line, the Delawares bordering on the Muskingum and Cuyahoga, and the Ottawas bordering the Great Lakes in the North and Northwest. There was also a number of less prominent tribes, such as the Wyandottes, Chippewas, Miamis and Pottowatomies, sur-
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rounding the counties of Eastern Ohio, that contributed much to the annoyance of the first settlers of Belmont County.
However, for a period of 10 years tranquility prevailed through the eastern section of Ohio, because of the treaty entered into by the Delawares and Shawnees, and Colonel Bouquet, the French commander. Prior to the year 1774, many emigrants had crossed the Ohio, and acquired claims in the new territory, but as previously stated, some of these claims were only tomahawk rights, Encouraged by the peace and quiet that prevailed between 1764 and 1774, numerous land jobbers in addition to the regular settlers appropriated thousands of acres. This of course aroused the jealousy of the neighboring Indian tribes. This jealousy was intensified by the appropriation of lands below the mouth of the Scioto River, and claimed by the Shawnees as Indian territory. And now there were in circulation exaggerated stories of Indian outrages, retaliatory measures, such as thieving, plundering and robbing, and fears were expressed that the Indians would fall upon and slaughter the white intruders. In this emergency Col. Ebenezer Zane, who was in command of Fort Henry, just opposite Bridgeport, counseled peace and moderation, and if his advice had been heeded, the bloody Dunmore war would have been averted.
Doddridge in his notes says: "Devoutly might humanity wish that the record of the causes which led to the destructive war of 1774 might be blotted from the annals of our country, but it is now too late to efface it, the black lettered list must remain, a dishonorable blot in our national history; good, however, may spring out of evil. The injuries inflicted upon the Indians in early times by our forefathers may induce their descendants to show justice and mercy to the diminished posterity of those children of the wilderness whose ancestors perished in cold blood and by the scalping knife of the white savages."
THE TRAGEDIES AT YELLOW CREEK AND CAPTINA.
In the month of April, 1774, a rumor was circulated that the Indians had stolen several horses from some land jobbers on the Ohio and Kanawha rivers. No evidences of the fact having been adduced leads to the conclusion that the report was false. This report, however, induced a pretty general belief that the Indians were about to make war upon the frontier settlements, but for this apprehension there does not appear to have been the slightest foundation.
In consequence of this misapprehension of being attacked by the Indians the land jobbers ascended the river and collected at Wheeling. On the 27th of April it was reported in Wheeling that a canoe containing two Indians and some traders was coming down the river, and was then not far from the place. On hearing this Captain Cresap proposed taking a party and go up the river and kill the Indians. This project was vehemently opposed by Colonel Zane, the proprietor of the place. He stated to the captain that the killing of those Indians would inevitably bring on a war, in which much innocent blood would be shed, and that the action itself would be an atrocious murder, and a disgrace to his name forever. His good counsel was lost. The party went up the river. On being asked at their return what become of the Indians, they cooly answered, "They had fallen overboard into the river." Their canoe on being examined was found bloody and pierced with bullets. This was the first blood which was shed in this war, and terrible was the vengeance which followed. In the evening of the same day, the party hearing that there was an encampment of Indians at the mouth of the Captina, went down the river to the place, attacked the Indians and killed several of them. In this affair one of Cresap's party was severely wounded. The massacre at Captina and that which took place at Baker's,
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about 40 miles above Wheeling, a few days after that at Captina, were unquestionably the sole cause of the war of 1774.
The last was perpetrated by 32 men under the command of Daniel Greathouse. The whole number killed at this place and on the river opposite to it was 12, besides several wounded. This horrid massacre was effected by an hypocritical strategem which reflects the deepest dishonor on the memory of those who were agents in it. The report of the murders of the Indians near Wheeling induced a belief that they would immediately commence hostilities, and this apprehension furnished the pretext for the murder above related. The ostensible object for raising the party under Greathouse was that of defending the family of Baker, whose house was opposite to a large encampment of Indians at the mouth of Big Yellow Creek. The party were concealed in ambuscade while their commander went over the river under the mask of friendship to the Indian camp to ascertain their number; while there an Indian woman advised him to return home speedily, saying that the Indians were drinking and angry, on account of the murder of their people down the river, and might do him some mischief. On his return to his party he reported that the Indians were too strong for an open attack. He returned to Baker's and requested him to give any Indians who might come over in the course of the day as much rum as they might call for, and get as many of them drunk as he possibly could.
The plan succeeded. Several Indian men with two women came over the river to Baker's, who had previously been in the habit of selling rum to the Indians. The men drank freely and became intoxicated. In this state they were all killed by Greathouse and a few of his party. I say a few of his party; for it is but justice to state that not more than five or six of the whole number had any participation in the slaughter at the house.
The rest protested against it as an atrocious murder. From their number being by far the majority, they might have prevented the deed; but alas! they did not. A little Indian girl alone was saved from the slaughter, by the humanity of some one of the party whose name is not now known.
The Indians in the camp hearing the firing at the house sent a canoe with two men in it to inquire what had happened. These two Indians were both shot down as soon as they landed on the beach. A second and larger canoe was then manned with a number of Indians in arms; but in attempting to reach the shore some distance below the house were received by a well directed fire from the party, which killed the greater number of them and compelled the survivors to return. A great number of shots were exchanged across the river, but without damage to the white party, not one of whom were even wounded. The Indian men who were murdered were all scalped. The woman who gave the friendly advice to the commander of the men in the Indian camp was among the slain at Baker's house.
The massacres of the Indians at Captina and Yellow Creek comprehended the whole of the family of the famous but unfortunate Logan, who before these events had been a lover of the whites, and a strenuous advocate for peace; but in the conflict which followed by way of revenge for the death of his people, he became a brave and sanguinary chief among the warriors. The settlers along the frontiers knowing that the Indians would make war upon them for the murder of their people, either moved off to the interior or took up their residence in forts.
THE DISASTROUS DUNMORE WAR.
The apprehension of war was soon realized. In a short time the Indians commenced hostilities along the whole extent of our frontier.
Express was speedily sent to Williamsburg, the then seat of government of the colony, communicating intelligence of the certainty
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of the commencement of an Indian war. The Assembly was then in session.
A plan for the campaign for the purpose of putting a speedy conclusion to the Indian hostilities was adopted between the Earl of Dunmore, the governor of the colony, and Gen. Andrew Lewis. General Lewis was appointed to the command of the southern division of the forces to be employed on this occasion, with orders to raise a large body of volunteers from the southeastern counties with all dispatch. These forces were to rendezvous at Camp Union in the Greenbriar country. The Earl of Dunmore was to raise another army in the northern counties of the colony, and in the settlement west of the mountains, and assemble them at Fort Pitt, and from thence descend the river to Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great Kanahwa.
On the 11th of September the forces under General Lewis, amounting to 1,100 men, commenced their march from Camp Union to Point Pleasant.
The tract of country between these two points was a trackless desert. After a painful march of 19 days the army arrived on the 1st of October at Point Pleasant. General Lewis was exceedingly disappointed at hearing no tidings of the Earl of Dunmore, who was to form a junction with him at this place. Very early on the morning of the 10th, two young men set out from the camp to hunt up the river. Having gone about three miles they fell upon a camp of the Indians, who were then in the act of preparing to march to attack the camp of General Lewis. The Indians fired upon them and killed one of them; the other ran back to the camp with intelligence that the Indians in great force would immediately give battle. General Lewis instantly ordered out a detachment of troops under Colonel Fleming and another under Col. Charles Lewis, remaining himself with a reserve for the defense of the camp. The detachment met the Indians about 400 yards from the camp. The battle commenced a little after sunrise by a heavy firing from the Indians. At the onset our troops gave some distance until met by reinforcements, on the arrival of which the Indians retreated, and formed a line behind logs and trees. By this maneuver our army was completely invested, being enclosed between the two rivers, with the Indian line of battle in front, so that no chance of retreat was left.
An incessant fire was kept up on both sides until sundown, when the Indians retreated in the night across the Ohio, and the next day commenced their. march to their town on the Scioto. Our loss in this destructive battle was 75 killed and 140 wounded.
Among the killed were Col. Charles Lewis, Colonel Fields, and Captains Buford, Murray, Ward, Willson and McClenahan.
Colonel Lewis, a distinguished and meritorious officer, was mortally wounded by the first fire of the Indians, but walked into the camp and expired in his own tent. The Indians during the battle were commanded by the Cornstalk warrior, the king of the Shawnees. This son of the forest in his plans of attack and retreat, and in all his maneuvers, displayed the skill and bravery of the consummate general. During the whole of the day he was heard from our lines shouting with the voice of stentor, "Be strong, Be strong." It is even said that he killed one of his own men with his own hand for cowardice. On the day following General Lewis commenced his march for the Shawnee town. This march was made through a trackless desert and attended with great privations and difficulties.
In the meantime the Earl of Dunmore, having collected a force, and provided boats at Fort Pitt, descended the river to Wheeling, where the army halted at Fort Henry for a few days, and then proceeded down the river within eight miles of the Shawnee town. Before the army had reached the place the Indian chiefs had sent several messengers asking for peace.
With this request he soon determined to comply, and therefore sent a request to Gen-
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eral Lewis with an order for his immediate retreat.
It was with the greatest reluctance and chagrin that General Lewis returned from the enterprise in which they were engaged. The order of Dunmore was obeyed with every expression of regret and disappointment.
The Earl and his officers having returned to his camp, a treaty with the Indians was opened the following day. In this treaty every precaution on the part of our people was taken to prevent the Indians from ending the treaty in the tragedy of a massacre. Only 18 Indians with their chiefs were permitted to pass the outer gate of their fortified encampment, after having deposited their arms with the guard at the gate. The treaty was opened by Cornstalk, the chief of the Shawnees, in a lengthy speech, in which he boldly charged the white people with having been the authors of the commencement of the war, in the massacres of the Indians at Captina and Yellow Creek. This speech he delivered in so loud a tone of voice, that he was heard all over the camp. The terms of the treaty were soon settled, and the prisoners delivered up. Logan, the Cayuga chief, assented to the treaty, but, still indignant at the murder of his family, refused to attend with the other chiefs at the camp of Dunmore. According to the Indian mode in such cases, he sent his speech in a belt of wampum, by an interpreter to be read at the treaty. "I appeal to any white man to say if he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat; if he ever 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 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 relativesof Logan, not even sparing my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it. 1 have killed many. I full glutted my vengence; 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." Thus ended at the treaty of Camp Charlotte in the month of November, 1774, the disastrous war of Dunmore. It began in the wanton and unprovoked murders of the Indians at Captina and Yellow Creek and ended with an awful sacrifice of life and property to the demon of revenge On our part we obtained at the treaty a cessation of hostilities and a surrender of prisoners, and nothing more. The plan of operations adopted by the Indians in the war of Dunmore shows very clearly that their chiefs were by no means deficient in their foresight and skill necessary for making the most prudent military arrangement for obtaining success and victory in their mode of warfare. At an early period they obtained intelligence of the plan of the campaign against them concerted by the Earl of Dunmore and General Lewis.
With a view, therefore, to attack the forces of these commanders separately, they speedily collected their warriors and by forced marches reached the Point, before the expected arrival of the troops under Dunmore. Such was the privacy with which they conducted their march, that General Lewis knew nothing of the approach of the Indian army, until a few minutes before the commencement of the battle, and it is probable that if Cornstalk, the Indian commander, had had a little larger force at the battle of Point Pleasant, the whole army of General Lewis would have been cut off, as the wary savages had left them no chance of retreat. Had the army of Lewis been defeated, the army of Dunmore, consisting of but little more than 1,000 men, would have shared
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the fate of those armies which at different periods have suffered defeats in consequence of venturing too far into the Indian country. It was the general belief among the officers of our army at this time that the Earl of Dunmore, while at Wheeling, received advice from his government of the probability of the approaching war between England and the colonies, and that afterwards all of his measures with regard to the Indians had for their ultimate object an alliance with those ferocious warriors for their aid of the mother country in their contest with us. This supposition accounts for his not forming a junction with the army of Lewis at Point Pleasant. This deviation from the original plan of the campaign jeopardized the army of Lewis, and well nigh occasioned its total destruction. The conduct of the Earl at the treaty shows a good understanding between him and the Indian chiefs.
He did not suffer the army of Lewis to form a junction with his own, but sent them back before the treaty was concluded, thus risking the safety of his own forces, for at the time of the treaty the Indian warriors were about his camp in force sufficient, to have intercepted his retreat and destroyed his whole army.
THE FOREMOST AMERICAN HEROINE.
Perhaps the severest battle with the Indians, fought within the boundaries of Belmont County, was the attack on Fort Kirkwood in the spring of 1791, as narrated in the story of "A Revolutionary Hero." But there were many acts of heroism and deeds of daring and danger familiar to the people of that generation that history needs to preserve for generations to come. Perhaps the foremost is the thrilling adventure of Elizabeth Zane, the heroine of Fort Henry, and who was for many years a resident of Martin's Ferry, and her remains are interred there.
She was twice married, first to a Mr. McLaughlin of Martin's Ferry, and second to Mr. Clark, and her lineal descendants still reside in Belmont County. A few years ago President Roosevelt, in a circle of eminent literary characters in New York State among whom was William Dean Howells, pronounced Betty Zane the foremost American heroine. He said her daring deed in replenishing the powder supply at Fort Henry had never been surpassed, a sentiment in which Mr. Howells heartily concurred.
SIEGE OF FORT HENRY.
The story is briefly told in Judge Cranmer's report of the siege of Fort Henry. In September, 1782, a large force of Indians; headed by a company of British soldiers; laid siege to Fort Henry at Wheeling. East of and but a short distance from the fort stood the log dwelling of Col. Ebenezer Zane, attached to which was a small magazine containing the military supplies which had been furnished by the government of Virginia, and also a kitchen or outbuilding occupied by "Daddy Sam," so called (a negro slave owned by Colonel Zane, and to whom he was much attached), and his wife, familiarly known by the name of "Katey." On the occasion of the attack upon the fort by the Indians in the year 1777, Colonel Zane and his family had abandoned his cabin and sought shelter in the fort, at which time it was reduced to ashes by the besiegers. He then declared that if the Indians again made their appearance he would not abandon his dwelling, but would defend it to the last extremity. As an outpost for the protection for the fort, and as an annoyance to an hostile force, it could not be excelled.
Hence on the appearance of the Indians at this time he made all necessary preparations possible for its defense. Had he retired from it, all the military stores and ammunition stored there would have fallen into the hands of the enemy, and have been destroyed or appropriated by them.
The names of those who remained with
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him in his cabin are: Andrew Scott, George Green, Elizabeth Zane, Wallace Scott, Miss McColloch, a sister of Maj. Sam McColloch from Short Creek (who at this time was on a visit to her sister, Mrs. Zane); "Daddy Sam," and "Katey," his wife. The savages approached under cover of the British flag, which was unfurled to the breeze and waved in proud defiance by the color-bearer in the face of the little band of heroic defenders, Before commencing their attack they demanded the immediate surrender of the fort; in the name of His Brittanic Majesty, to which no other reply was given than by the firing of a shot by some one in the fort at the offensive colors which were flaunted before them. Thereupon the assault commenced in dreadful earnest, the frenzied savages rushing forward like mad men, and in their wild attempt striving to destroy the pickets so as to effect an entrance to the fort, and take it by storm. Colonel Zane had arranged and posted his limited force within his house to the best advantage, and where it could do the most execution.
As the Indians sounded their war whoop and made their desperate rush, he opened upon them with a well directed and brisk fire simultaneously with the one from the fort, so as to cause them to fall back in great disorder, and to seek cover where their persons would be less exposed.
But others, again, seeing the discomfiture of their comrades, promptly with loud and deafening yells rushed forward to take the places of those who had retired, only to be repulsed again, and although these charges were repeated again and again, they suffered a recoil. These unsuccessful efforts upon their part were continued until night threw her mantle over the earth and a brief cessation of conflict and a temporary rest was secured. Yet it was but for a brief time this respite was granted.
Their assailants were engaged in holding a consultation and deliberating among themselves how best to obtain possession of or destroy the cabin of Colonel Zane, which had proven so offensive to them in their repeated assaults on the fort and thus balked their efforts at its reduction.
The conclusion arrived at was to make an attempt under the cover of darkness to destroy it by firing it and reducing it to ashes. After an interval of an hour or two, when silence had settled down upon the scene and the campfires of the savages had been put out, and it was presumed that the whites had relaxed in some degree their caution and vigilance, a savage with a half burned brand in his hand crawled in the direction of the kitchen of the house, upon nearing which he slowly rose from the ground and waving the brand to and fro, and blowing upon it to rekindle it, was about to stealthily apply it to the building, when of a sudden the quiet was disturbed by the sharp crack of a rifle which rang out in the stillness of the night, which a moment later was accompanied by a sharp yell of pain and rage, ere the echoes of the shot had ceased to resound in the mazes of the forest. The vigilant and quick eye of "Daddy Sam" had detected the savage in time to foil him in his design and spoil his calculations, thereby saving his master's property from destruction. Other similar attempts were made on the same night, but in every instance "Daddy Sam" was on the alert, and always frustrated them. And here we will be pardoned if in passing we say a word or two concerning this individual.
He was an original importation from Guinea, and had all the characteristics of a native of the country, believing in charms, incantations and signs, and was a bundle of strange superstitions and beliefs, and these he retained until the day of his death. He and his wife were cared and provided for by Colonel Zane and his family until their decease.
This gentleman erected for them a cozy cabin on the upper portion of the island, immediately opposite the city of Wheeling. "Daddy Sam" died in peace and contentment, honored and respected by the whole
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community, worn out with age and its attendant infirmities. At his death he left strict injunctions to have his rifle and his ac coutrements—tomahawk, knife and silver snuffbox—buried with him, that they might bear him company to the happy hunting grounds of the African. So greatly was he esteemed that he was buried with military honors, and he was followed to the grave by an immense concourse of citizens, composed of the most prominent as well as the humblest members of society. In stature he was small and of light frame, with arms of unusual length, and a complexion as black as coal.
But to resume our narrative. At daylight on the following morning the lines of the enemy showed that they were tightly drawn and in compact order, but they were laggard in renewing the assault. However, they were not idle, but were actively employed in making preparations evidently for some important event. Shortly after dark of the preceding day a canoe, loaded with cannon balls from Fort Pitt and destined for the falls of the Ohio, had put ashore under the cover of the fort. It was discovered by the Indians, but its occupants succeeded in effecting an entrance for themselves into the fort, in their efforts to do which, however, one of them Daniel Sullivan, was wounded in the foot The savages secured the canoe and took possession of its contents. A new idea now dawned upon them—why not utilize these missiles and make them play a part in the reduction of the forts. The idea was approved and the suggestion was at once put into execution. Securing a hollow log which they deemed adapted for the purpose, they proceeded to bind it with iron chains which they found in the blacksmith shop of the village. Filling it with a heavy charge of powder, they rammed home as many of the captured balls as it could conveniently hold, and with as much accuracy as possible under the circumstances aimed it against one of the bastions. All was now ready assoon as it was primed, for which purpose a big Indian stepped forward, emptying from his powder horn a sufficient quantity around the vent. A crowd of Indians collected around to witness the new engine of destruction, and the effect produced upon the fort by its discharge, not doubting in the least that it would prove more or less destructive in its effects. In this supposition they were not deceived, but were sorely disappointed in the nature of the result which ensued. All things being ready, an Indian advanced with a lighted brand, which he applied to the vent hole and thereby stamped "finis" on the last page of his own and the life history of his curious companions who were near by him at the time. Several were killed, many were seriously and some slightly wounded, and all were terror stricken by the unexpected result. The unlooked for and unexpected havoc caused among their number, by the explosion of their wooden artillery which burst into fragments, led them to become wild and furious under their disappointment, and the loss and wounding of so many of their number, and wild with rage in their excitement they redoubled their exertions, renewing the assault with heedless desperation, and exposing themselves in the most careless manner to the shots from the house and the fort. At times it appeared that the Indians would succeed, but then the fortunes of the day would change, and the fortunes of the inmates of the fort appeared to be in the ascendant. Thus the conflict wavered until noon, when the forces of the Indians were drawn off temporarily. It was exceedingly fortunate for the little garrison that the savages desisted from their attack when they did, as the ammunition of the defenders of the fort was beginning to grow short. The alarm given by Linn of the approach of the enemy having, as we have stated, been so limited, and the fact that the fort was destitute to a great extent of any large supply of ammunition to enable it to withstand a protracted siege, it was discovered that the
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supply on hand was being rapidly exhausted, and some measures must be adopted to supply the need.
As before stated, there was plenty of powder stored in the magazine at Colonel Zane's house, but for all practical purposes it might as well have been a hundred miles away. The contingency which now happened could not have been foreseen, and the emergency now upon them was a grave one.
But it was one which had to be met, and the question was how could they best replenish their almost exhausted stock. An effort at least to obtain powder from Colonel Zane's house it was absolutely necessary should be made, for should the enemy return to the assault in their then condition the danger of the inmates was not only imminent, but their doom was almost sealed. Among the many propositions which were made and the one which seemed to obtain favor, was that one of the fleetest runners among the younger men should be selected for the perilous undertaking of obtaining a keg of powder from Colonel Zane's house and hasten with it to the relief of the besieged. It was an undertaking full of daring with the prospect of almost certain death to the person who should essay the task. But undeterred by the magnitude of the feat and the peril which attended it, at the call of Captain Zane for a volunteer, several brave men stepped forward, each one of whom insisted on being permitted to make the attempt. The loss of a single man at this juncture would have been keenly felt by the entire company. While Captain Zane was hesitating in arriving at a decision and making his choice from among those chivalric spirits who had so promptly offered their services, there came bounding into his presence his own sister, Elizabeth Zane, in the elasticity of her youthful strength, and volunteered to attempt the accomplishment of the errand, regardless of what might befall her if thereby she could be instrumental in saving the lives of others. When told that a man would encounter less danger by reason of his superiorfleetness, she nobly replied that the loss of a man under the circumstances would be more severely felt than her own. "You have not one man to spare," she said. "A woman will not be missed in the defense of the fort." All the arguments adduced by her brother and others to dissuade her from making the attempt together with the expostulations of the other females had the effect of only confirming her in her resolution.
Reluctantly they finally acquiesced in her purpose and her services were accepted. Divesting herself of all unnecessary clothing which might impede her in her progress, she appeared ready for the dangerous ordeal.
The gate was swung open and the young heroine sprang out in the swelling buoyancy of hope, knowing no such word as fail in the full confidence of success, and swift as a deer she sped away on her mission, arriving safely at the cabin of her brother, Col. Ebenezer Zane, who saw her coming and promptly opened the door to receive her. When the Indians saw her bounding along at the top of her speed they were amazed at her temerity but did not offer to fire at her, but contented themselves with simply exclaiming with contemptuous sneers, "A squaw, a squaw." Upon reaching her destination she lost no time in stating her business. After a brief breathing spell she announced her readiness to return, whereupon Colonel Zane, taking a tablecloth and fastening it securely around her waist with two of its ends, while the other ends were held by het in her hands, emptied into it a keg of powder when she again ventured forth on het return to the fort. Her black hair, like a banner, streamed out upon the air as with swift feet she lessened the intervening distance.
But she had not covered more than hall the space between the cabin and the fort when the savages, apprehending her purpose, showered a rain of bullets around her, none of which, however, did any execution, as she reached the fort in safety and delivered the powder without losing any percepti-
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ble portion of it. Subsequently in recounting her experience on this occasion, she would relate how the bullets whistled around her so thick and fast that the dust thrown up by them as they struck the ground blinded and confused her so that she could scarcely distinguish her way.
As she neared the fort the gate was again thrown open for her entrance when the Indians made an unavailing effort to reach it, before it could be closed, by making a sudden rush. Finding themselves foiled, they quickly withdrew. This act of heroism on the part of Elizabeth Zane doubtless saved the lives of the inmates of the fort, and enabled them successfully to withstand the siege. As night closed in, the enemy renewed their efforts to reduce the fortress, and continued them until daylight. Times almost without number, during that trying and eventful night, the enemy attempted to accomplish by the torch what they could not by superior numbers and advantage. Bundles of hemp and wood and rubbish were heaped by them against the pickets and set fire to at different places.
The hemp, fortunately being wet, would not burn, and the dry wood and rubbish proved also vain in accomplishing their end When the day dawned after that terrible and trying night, it was greeted by the besieged with a renewal of hope which had been well nigh banished. When the intelligence reached Shepherd's Fort, located at the forks of Wheeling Creek, of the investiture of Fort Henry by Indians and British soldiers, a party left the former fort with a view of rendering assistance to the inmates of the latter, but on arriving in the vicinity they found that it would be impossible to gain admission and therefore reluctantly determined to return.
This conclusion was arrived at in opposition to the views of their leader, Francis Duke, a relative of Colonel Shepherd. He insisted that if no one else would, he alone would make the attempt to gain ingress at the fort at the risk of his life. To all persuasions against the undertaking he turned a deaf ear. He recognized their force and complained not at the resolution of his men to return, but his chivalric character and determined spirit could not be curbed by argument or persuasion.
He did not regard the imminent danger attaching to the bold undertaking, but, subordinating this to the higher and nobler promptings of his nature which enabled him only to see the peril of friends, he spurned all restraint, and taking his life in his hands and putting spurs to his horse, he sped swift as his horse could carry him toward the gate of the fort, calling aloud as he rode, "Open the gate, open the gate."
He was recognized by those within the fort and the gate was swung open for his admission, but before reaching it he was pierced with bullets, and this young and gallant chevalier fell a martyr to his reckless daring and noble disinterestedness.
On the morning of the third day the enemy, despairing of success and abandoning all hope of the reduction of the fort, resolved on raising the siege. This resolution was announced to the inmates by a series of terrific yells and deafening whoops, which was the means adopted by them to give expression to their disgust at their failure. Turning their backs upon the scene, they took their departure and recrossed the river into Belmont County.
"WHISTLING TO START THE TUNES."
It was a trying experience for a young and refined woman like Mrs. Zane to be called upon to pass through—to sever the ties of home and kindred and forego all social advantages and the pleasures of civilized life, and be deprived of much of its conveniences, and plunge into the depth of the wilderness, the abode of savages and wild beasts.
Doddridge says: "This lady was said to have been the first convert to Methodism in all the country surrounding Fort Henry.
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The religious services were conducted by a `circuit rider,' Rev. Wilson Lee, in 1789.
"Her consistent work and Godly conversation was proverbial, and her zeal kept pace with her piety. It was esteemed no hardship those days to travel long distances to attend divine worship, and the meetings were largely attended by young and old.
"Not the least enjoyable feature of the service was the singing in which young and old participated.
"At one of these meetings there was no one to start the tunes. In this dilemma Betty Zane, the heroine of Fort Henry, volunteered to `whistle' the tunes, and those who could not sing might catch up the tune and `carry it along.' The proposition was accepted and the forest was soon ringing with the melody of their voices."
KILLING OF WILLIAM COCHRAN.
Judge Cochran of Martin's Ferry has often heard his grandfather tell the tragic story of his father's death. Said he: "About the time of father's death there were great disturbances on the frontier. It was customary for us to keep our horses hobbled or belled. One morning, failing to hear the sound of the bells as usual, father sent me to the block-house at West Liberty, while he and my older brothers started out in search of the horses. It was arranged between them after starting that they should separate and pursue the object of their search in different directions, my father taking one direction and the boys in company another. The latter soon discovered signs which led them to believe that the horses had been captured or driven off by the Indians, and they at once started on the nearest way leading to the block-house, upon reaching which they gave the alarm. From Billy Boggs, who was held by the Indians as a prisoner at the time, but who shortly afterwards escaped, we learned the particulars of father's death, as told to him by the Indians while he was in captivity.
"Father was a very active and resoluteman, and the savages wanted to capture him. It appears that they had caught the horses, and wrapping moss around the bell-clappers had led them away to a distance, placing six of their number in ambush, to capture father, or anyone who might venture to search for them. Not finding the horses, he started on his return toward the block-house, on the way passing in sight of his own house, in expectation, as he hoped, of seeing the boys. The Indians meanwhile had gone into his cabin. Intending to enter, he was prevented by having his suspicions aroused from certain appearances around and in the vicinity, which only the keen eye of a disciplined woodsman would detect, and which caused him to change his purpose, and start for the block-house at the top of his speed. The Indians at once started in pursuit of him, but when they found that the gap between the pursued and the pursuers was widening, and they could not overtake him, a half-breed, wearing the cognomen of `Dolway Jim,' suddenly dropped on his knees and, taking fatal aim, fired and killed him just as he was crossing a piece of rising ground. His remains were afterwards found and buried by a party from the fort on the spot where he fell. His scalp had been taken by the Indians to their camp, where it was flaunted in the face of Boggs, the prisoner, who recognized it.
"Boggs subsequently escaped, having run the gauntlet, and these details of my father's death he repeated to me and my brothers, as related to him by his captor."
THE TRAGEDY NEAR KIRKWOOD'S BLOCK-HOUSE.
About 1795 Lieut. Duncan McArthur and a posse of men, numbering in all a dozen, were stationed at the block-house on the lands of Robert Kirkwood. One morning they noticed a young Indian dodging along not far from the fort among the trees. He had been sent by a body of Indians, who had ambushed about three miles below, on the
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banks of the Ohio River, to decoy the soldiers from their fort.
As soon as he was discovered, Lieutenant McArthur and his men started out to catch him. They followed him as he ran down the river about three miles to where the Indians had secreted themselves, when 15 of the redskins fired into their number, killing six of them instantly.
So unexpected was the attack that the remaining six, completely bewildered and frightened, turned and retreated, McArthur behind. As he turned his head to take inthe situation his foot caught in a grape vine and he was sent sprawling on his face just as the Indians fired a volley of bullets after him and the limbs and leaves dropped all around him.
He regained his feet and started at full speed, following the course of his men. He was closely pursued by the savages, but being very swift of foot, the latter soon gave up the chase, and the remnant of the party gained the block-house in safety. Lip tenant McArthur was afterwards made governor of Ohio.