Chapter I (3)

In the course of a few days after Hannah Dennis had gone from Clendennins, a party of about sixty warriors came to the settlement on Muddy creek, in the county of Greenbrier. That region of country then contained no inhabitants, but those on Muddy creek, and in the Levels; and these are believed to have consisted of at least one hundred souls. The Indians came apparently as friends, and the French war having been terminated by the treaty of the preceding spring, the whites did not for an instant doubt their sincerity. They were entertained in small parties at different houses, and every civility and act of kindness, which the new settlers could proffer, were extended to them. In a moment of the most perfect confidence in the innocense of their intentions, the Indians rose on them and tomahawked and scalped all, save a few women and children of whom they made prisoners.

After the perpetration of this most barbarous and bloody outrage, the Indians (excepting some few who took charge of the prisoners) proceeded to the settlement in the Levels. Here, as at Muddy creek, they disguised their horrid purpose, and wearing the mask of friendship, were kindly received at the house of Mr. Clendennin.[14] This gentleman had just returned from a successful hunt, and brought home three fine elks--these and the novelty of being with _friendly Indians_, soon drew the whole settlement to his house. Here too the Indians were well entertained and feasted on the fruit of Clendennin's hunt, and every other article of provision which was there, and could minister to their gratification. An old woman, who was of the party, having a very sore leg and having understood that Indians could perform a cure of any ulcer, shewed it to one near her; and asked if he could heal it--The inhuman monster raised his tomahawk and buried it in her head. This seemed to be the signal of a general massacre and promptly was it obeyed--nearly every man of the settlement was killed and the women and children taken captive.

While this tragedy was acting, a negro woman, who was [71] endeavoring to escape, was followed by her crying child.--To save it from savage butchery, she turned round and murdered it herself.

Mrs. Clendennin, driven to despair by the cruel and unprovoked murder of her husband and friends, and the spoliation and destruction of all their property, boldly charged the Indians with perfidy and treachery; and alleged that cowards only could act with such duplicity. The bloody scalp of her husband was thrown in her face--the tomahawk was raised over her head; but she did not cease to revile them. In going over Keeny's knot on the next day, the prisoners being in the centre, and the Indians in the front and rear, she gave her infant child to one of the women to hold for a while.--She then stepped into the thicket unperceived, and made her escape. The crying of the infant soon lead to a discovery of her flight--one of the Indians observed that he could "bring the cow to her calf," and taking the child by the heels, beat out its brains against a tree.

Mrs. Clendennin returned that night to her home, a distance of ten miles; and covering the body of her husband with rails and trash, retired into an adjoining corn field, lest she might be pursued and again taken prisoner. While in the corn field, her mind was much agitated by contending emotions; and the prospect of effecting an escape to the settlements, seemed to her dreary and hopeless. In a moment of despondency, she thought she beheld a man, with the aspect of a murderer, standing near her; and she became overwhelmed with fear. It was but the creature of a sickly and terrified imagination; and when her mind regained its proper tone, she resumed her flight and reached the settlement in safety.[15]

These melancholy events occurring so immediately after the escape of Hannah Dennis; and the unwillingness of the Indians that she should be separated from them, has induced the supposition that the party committing those dreadful outrages were in pursuit of her. If such were the fact, dearly were others made to pay the penalty of her deliverance.

This and other incidents, similar in their result, satisfied the whites that although the war had been terminated on the part of the French; yet it was likely to be continued with all its horrors, by their savage allies. This was then, and has since been, attributed to the smothered hostility of the French in [72] Canada and on the Ohio river; and to the influence which they had acquired over the Indians. This may have had its bearing on the event; but from the known jealousy entertained by the Indians, of the English Colonists; their apprehensions that they would be dispossessed of the country, which they then held (England claiming jurisdiction over it by virtue of the treaty of Paris;) and their dissatisfaction at the terms on which France had negotiated a peace, were in themselves sufficient to induce hostilities on the part of the Indians. Charity would incline to the belief that the continuance of the war was rightly attributable to these causes--the other reason assigned for it, supposing the existence of a depravity, so deep and damning, as almost to stagger credulity itself.

In October, 1764, about fifty Delaware and Mingo warriors ascended the Great Sandy and came over on New river, where they separated; and forming two parties, directed their steps toward different settlements--one party going toward Roanoke and Catawba--the other in the direction of Jackson's river. They had not long passed, when their trail was discovered by three men, (Swope, Pack and Pitman) who were trapping on New river. These men followed the trail till they came to where the Indian party had divided; and judging from the routes which, had been taken, that their object was to visit the Roanoke and Jackson's river settlements, they determined on apprizing the inhabitants of their danger. Swope and Pack set out for Roanoke and Pitman for Jackson's river. But before they could accomplish their object, the Indians had reached the settlements on the latter river, and on Catawba.

The Party which came to Jackson's river, travelled down Dunlap's creek and crossed James river, above Fort Young, in the night and unnoticed; and going down this river to William Carpenter's, where was a stockade fort under the care of a Mr. Brown, they met Carpenter just above his house and killed him. They immediately proceeded to the house, and made prisoners of a son of Mr. Carpenter, two sons of Mr. Brown[16] [73] (all small children) and one woman--the others belonging to the house, were in the field at work. The Indians then dispoiled the house and taking off some horses, commenced a precipitate retreat--fearing discovery and pursuit.

When Carpenter was shot, the report of the gun was heard by those at work in the field; and Brown carried the alarm to Fort Young. In consequence of the weakness of this fort, a messenger was despatched to Fort Dinwiddie, with the intelligence. Capt. Paul (who still commanded there,) immediately commenced a pursuit with twenty of his men; and passing out at the head of Dunlap's creek, descended Indian creek and New river to Piney creek; without making any discovery of the enemy. On Indian creek they met Pitman, who had been running all the day and night before, to apprise the garrison at Fort Young of the approach of the Indians. Pitman joined in pursuit of the party who had killed Carpenter; but they, apprehending that they would be followed, had escaped to Ohio, by the way of Greenbrier and Kenhawa rivers.[17]

As Capt. Paul and his men were returning, they accidently met with the other party of Indians, who had been to Catawba, and committed some depredations and murders there. They were discovered about midnight, encamped on the north bank of New river, opposite an island at the mouth of Indian creek. Excepting some few who were watching three prisoners, (whom they had taken on Catawba, and who were sitting in the midst of them,) they were lying around a small fire, wrapped in skins and blankets. Paul's men not knowing that there were captives among them, fired in the midst, killed three Indians, and wounded several others, one of whom drowned himself to preserve his scalp--the rest of the party fled hastily down the river and escaped.

In an instant after the firing, Capt. Paul and his men rushed forward to secure the wounded and prevent further escapes. One of the foremost of his party seeing, as he supposed, a squaw sitting composedly awaiting the result, raised his tomahawk and just as it was descending, Capt. Paul threw himself between the assailant and his victim; and receiving the blow on his arm, exclaimed, "It is a shame to hurt a woman, even a squaw." Recognising the voice of Paul, the woman named him. She was Mrs. Catharine Gunn, an English lady, who had come to the country some years before; and who, previously to her marriage, had lived in the family of Capt. Paul's father-in-law, where she became acquainted with that gentleman--She had been taken captive by the Indians, on the Catawba, a few days before, when her husband and two only children were killed by them. When questioned why she had not cried out, or otherwise made known that she was a white prisoner, she replied, "I had as soon be killed as not--my husband is murdered--my children are slain--my parents are dead. I have not a relation in America--every thing dear to me here is gone--I have no wishes--no hopes--no fears--I would not have risen to my feet to save my life."

[74] When Capt. Paul came on the enemy's camp, he silently posted his men in an advantageous situation for doing execution, and made arrangements for a simultaneous fire. To render this the more deadly and efficient, they dropped on one knee, and were preparing to take deliberate aim, when one of them (John M'Collum) called to his comrades, "Pull steady and send them all to hell." This ill timed expression of anxious caution, gave the enemy a moment's warning of their danger; and is the reason why greater execution was not done.

The Indians had left all their guns, blankets and plunder--these together with the three white captives, were taken by Capt. Paul to Fort Dinwiddie.[18]

-----
[1] Father of Dr. Archibald Alexander, sometime president of
Hampden Sydney College in Virginia, and afterwards a professor
at Princeton in New Jersey.

------

_Comment by L. C. D._--He was the grandfather of Dr.
Alexander.

[2] The attacks on the Roanoke settlement, mentioned by
Withers, occurred in June and July, 1755 (not the spring of
1757, as he states); that on Greenbrier, in September
following; and the expedition against the Shawnees did not take
place in 1757, but in February and March, 1756. Diaries and
other documents in the Wisconsin Historical Society's library
prove this. Dr. Draper estimated that Lewis's force was about
263 whites and 130 Cherokees--418 in all. The several companies
were officered by Peter Hogg, John Smith, William Preston,
Archibald Alexander, Robert Breckenridge, Obadiah Woodson, John
Montgomery, and one Dunlap. Two of Dr. Thomas Walker's
companions in his Kentucky exploration of 1750, were in the
expedition--Henry Lawless and Colby Chew. Governor Dinwiddie
had stipulated in his note to Washington, in December, 1755,
that either Col. Adam Stephen or Maj. Andrew Lewis was to
command. Washington having selected the latter, dispatched him
from Winchester about the middle of January, 1756, with orders
to hurry on the expedition. To the mismanagement of the guides
is attributed much of the blame for its failure. The
interesting Journals of Capt. William Preston and Lieut. Thomas
Norton are in the possession of the Wisconsin Historical
Society.--R. G. T.

[3] But Gallipolis was not settled until 1790, as has been
previously shown. Withers confounds the modern French town of
Gallipolis, whose residents were the sad victims of Indian
outrages rather than the abettors of them, with the old Shawnee
town just below the mouth of the Scioto (site of Alexandria,
O.). This fur-trading center was a village of log huts built by
the French for the accommodation of their Shawnee allies, and
was a center of frontier disturbances.--R. G. T.

[4] Preston's Journal does not lay much stress on Hogg's
delay. Norton's Journal, speaking of Hogg, says, "common
soldiers were by him scarcely treated with humanity," and he
seems to have regularly overruled and disobeyed Lewis. There
was much rancor in camp, and Norton writes of the Cherokee
allies, "The conduct and concord that was kept up among the
Indians might shame us, for they were in general quite
unanimous and brotherly."--R. G. T.

[5] This expedition was sent out under the auspices of Gov.
Dinwiddie--Fauquier did not become governor until 1758. No
countermanding orders were sent.--L. C. D.

[6] Audley Paul was first lieutenant in Preston's
company.--L. C. D.

[7] Withers, deriving his information from Taylor's
sketches, was misled as to any intention of establishing a
fort at the mouth of the Kanawha; and also as to Paul's, or
any one else's proposition to cross the Ohio, and invade the
Shawnee towns. The only aim was, to reach the Upper Shawnee
town.--L. C. D.

------

_Comment by R. G. T._--"Upper Shawnee town" was an Indian
village at the mouth of Old Town Creek, emptying into the Ohio
from the north, 39 miles above the mouth of the Great Kanawha.

[8] If such a journal ever existed, it passed into the hands
of Gov. Dinwiddie, or possibly to Gov. Fauquier; but no
reference to it is found among the _Dinwiddie Papers_, as
published by the Virginia Historical Society; nor in the
_Calendar of State Papers_, published by the State of Virginia.
It is to be remarked, however, that few of the records of that
period have been preserved by that State.--L. C. D.

[9] Shortly after, M'Nutt was appointed governor of Nova
Scotia, where he remained until the commencement of the
American revolution. In this contest he adhered to the cause of
liberty, and joined his countrymen in arms under Gen. Gates at
Saratoga. He was afterwards known as a meritorious officer in
the brigade of Baron de Kalb, in the south--he died in 1811,
and was buried in the Falling Spring church yard, in the forks
of James river.

[10] Preston's MS. Register of the persons of Augusta county,
Va., killed, wounded, captured by the Indians, and of those who
escaped, from 1754 to May, 1758, is in the Wisconsin Historical
Society's library. It is to be regretted that Col. Preston,
whose opportunities were so good, did not continue the Register
till the end of the Indian wars. It is a most valuable document
as far as it goes, and supplies many dates and facts hitherto
involved in doubt and obscurity.--L. C. D.

[11] Seybert's Fort was situated on the South Fork, twelve
miles northeast of Franklin, in Pendleton County. At the time
of this invasion, there was a fort located on the South Branch,
garrisoned by Capt. James Dunlap and a company of rangers from
Augusta county. Preston's Register states, that on the 27th of
April, 1758, the fort at which Capt. Dunlap was stationed, was
attacked and captured, the captain and twenty-two others
killed; and, the next day, the same party, no doubt, attacked
Seybert's Fort, killing Capt. Seybert and sixteen others, while
twenty-four others were missing. Washington, at the time,
placed the number as "about sixty persons killed and missing."

A gazette account, published at Williamsburg, May 5th ensuing,
says: "The Indians lately took and burnt two forts, where were
stationed one of our ranging companies, forty of whom were
killed and scalped, and Lieut. Dunlap and nineteen missing."

Kercheval's _History of the Valley_ gives some further
particulars: That Seybert's Fort was taken by surprise; that
ten of the thirty persons occupying it, were bound, taken
outside; the others were placed on a log and tomahawked. James
Dyer, a lad of fourteen, was spared, taken first to Logstown,
and then to Chillicothe, and retained a year and ten months,
when as one of an Indian party he visited Fort Pitt, and
managed to evade his associates while there, and finally
reached the settlements in Pennsylvania, and two years later
returned to the South Fork. It is added by the same historian,
as another tradition, that after the fort had been invested two
days, and two of the Indians had been killed, the garrison
agreed to surrender on condition of their lives being spared,
which, was solemnly promised. That when the gate was opened,
the Indians rushed in with demoniac yells, the whites fled, but
were retaken, except one person; the massacre then took place,
and ten were carried off into captivity.

Still another tradition preserved by Kercheval, says the noted
Delaware chief, Killbuck, led the Indians. Seybert's son, a lad
of fifteen, exhibited great bravery in the defense of the fort.
Killbuck called out to Capt. Seybert, in English, to surrender,
and their lives should be spared; when young Seybert at this
instant, aimed his loaded gun at the chief, and the father
seized it, and took it from him, saying they could not
successfully defend the place, and to save their lives should
surrender, confiding in Killbuck's assurances. Capt. Seybert
was among the first of those sacrificed. Young Seybert was
among the prisoners, and told the chief how near he came to
killing him. "You young rascal," laughingly replied Killbuck,
"if you had killed me, you would have saved the fort, for had I
fallen, my warriors would have immediately fled, and given up
the siege in despair."--L. C. D.

[12] The name is Renick. Robert Renick, who was killed on the
occasion referred to, was a man of character and influence in
his day. His name appears on Capt. John Smith's company roll of
Augusta militia as early as 1742; and four years later, he was
lieutenant of a mounted company of Augusta militia. Instead of
1761, the captivity of the Renick family occurred July 25,
1757, as shown by the Preston Register, which states that
Renick and another were killed on that day--Mrs. Renick and
seven children, and a Mrs. Dennis, captured; and the same day,
at Craig's Creek, one man was killed and two wounded. The
Renick traditions state that Mrs. Renick had only five children
when taken; and one born after reaching the Indian towns; and
corrects some other statements not properly related in
Withers's narrative of the affair.--L. C. D.

[13] In 1763-65, the great Shawnee village just below the
mouth of the Scioto (site of Alexandria, O.), was destroyed by
floods. Some of the tribesmen rebuilt their town on a higher
bottom just above the mouth (site of Portsmouth, O.), while
others ascended the Scioto and built successively Old and New
Chillicothe.--R. G. T.

[14] Where Ballard Smith now resides.

[15] Further particulars of this captivity are in Royall's
_Sketches of History, Life, and Manners in U. S._ (New Haven,
1826), pp. 60-66.--R. G. T.

[16] Carpenter's son (since Doctor Carpenter of Nicholas)
came home about fifteen years afterwards--Brown's youngest son,
(the late Col. Samuel Brown of Greenbrier) was brought home in
1769--the elder son never returned. He took an Indian wife,
became wealthy and lived at Brown's town in Michigan. He acted
a conspicuous part in the late war and died in 1815.

------

_Comment by L. C. D._--Adam Brown, who was captured as
mentioned in the above text and note, was thought by his last
surviving son, Adam Brown, Jr., whom I visited in Kansas in
1868, to have been about six years old when taken; and he died,
he thought, about 1817, at about seventy-five years of age. But
these dates, and his probable age, do not agree; he was either
older when taken, or not so old at his death. The mother was
killed when the sons were captured, and the father and some
others of the family escaped. The late William Walker, an
educated Wyandott, and at one time territorial governor of
Kansas, stated to me, that the Wyandotts never made chiefs of
white captives, but that they often attained, by their merits,
considerable consequence. It is, however, certain that Abraham
Kuhn, a white prisoner, grew up among the Wyandotts, and,
according to Heckewelder, became a war chief among them, and
signed the treaty at Big Beaver in 1785; and Adam Brown himself
signed the treaties of 1805 and 1808, and doubtless would have
signed later ones had he not sided with the British Wyandotts,
and retired to Canada, near Malden, where he died.

[17] It is highly probable that this foray took place in
1763. During this year, as features of the Pontiac uprising,
bloody forays were made on the more advanced settlements on
Jackson, Greenbrier, and Calf Pasture rivers, and several
severe contests ensued between whites and Indians. Captains
Moffett and Phillips, with sixty rangers, were ambuscaded with
the loss of fifteen men. Col. Charles Lewis pursued the savages
with 150 volunteers raised in a single night, and on October
3rd surprised them at the head of the South Fork of the
Potomac, killing twenty-one, with no white losses. The spoils
of this victory, beside the "five horses with all their
trappings," sold for £250. This was the most notable of the
several skirmishes which took place on the Virginia frontier,
that year.--R. G. T.

[18] Perhaps this affair is that related by Capt. William
Christian, in a letter dated Roanoke, Oct. 19th, 1763, as
published in the gazettes of that day--there are, at least,
some suggestive similarities: "Being joined by Capt.
Hickenbotham, with twenty-five of the Amherst militia, we
marched on Tuesday last, to Winston's Meadows, where our
scouts informed us, that they had discovered a party of
Indians about three miles off. Night coming on, prevented our
meeting them; and next day, being rainy, made it difficult to
follow their tracks. As they were on their return, Capt.
Hickenbotham marched to join Capt. Ingles down New River. I,
with nineteen men and my ensign, took a different route in
quest of them. We marched next day on their tracks until
two hours before sunset, when we heard some guns, and soon
afterwards discovered three large fires, which appeared to
be on the bank of Turkey Creek, where it empties into New
river. Upon this we immediately advanced, and found they
were on an island. Being within gun-shot, we fired on them,
and loading again, forded the creek. The Indians, after
killing Jacob Kimberlain, a prisoner they had with them, made
but a slight resistence, and ran off. We found one Indian
killed on the spot, and, at a little distance, four blankets
shot through, and very bloody. We took all their bundles,
four guns, eight tomahawks, and two mares. They had several
other horses, which being frightened by the firing, ran off
and were lost. The party consisted of upwards of twenty
Indians. By the tracks of blood, we imagined several of them
were wounded." This affair occurred Oct. 12th.--L. C. D.

[75] CHAPTER IV.

During the continuance of the French war, and of that with the Indians which immediately succeeded it, the entire frontier from New York to Georgia was exposed to the merciless fury of the savages. In no instance were the measures of defence adopted by the different colonies, adequate to their object.--From some unaccountable fatuity in those who had the direction of this matter, a defensive war, which alone could have checked aggression and prevented the effusion of blood, was delayed 'till the whole population, of the country west of the Blue ridge, had retired east of those mountains; or were cooped up in forts.

The chief means of defence employed, were the militia of the adjoining counties, and the establishment of a line of forts and block-houses, dispersed along a considerable extent of country, and occupied by detachments of British colonial troops, or by militiamen. All these were utterly incompetent to effect security; partly from the circumstances of the case, and somewhat from the entire want of discipline, and the absence of that subordination which is absolutely necessary to render an army effective.

So great and apparent were the insubordination and remissness of duty, on the part of the various garrisons, that Gen. Washington, declared them "utterly inefficient and useless;" and the inhabitants themselves, could place no reliance whatever on them, for protection. In a particular instance, such were the inattention and carelessness of the garrison that several children playing under the walls of the fort, were run down and caught by the Indians, who were not discovered 'till they arrived at the very gate.[1]

In Virginia the error of confiding on the militia, soon became apparent.[2] Upon the earnest remonstrance and entreaty of General Washington, the colonial legislature substituted a force of regulars,[3] [76] which at once effected the partial security of her frontier, and gave confidence to the inhabitants.

In Pennsylvania, from the pacific disposition of her rulers and their abhorrence of war of any kind, her border settlements suffered most severely. The whole extent of her frontier was desolated by the Indians, and irruptions were frequently made by them into the interior. The establishments, which had been made in the Conococheague valley, were altogether broken up and scenes of the greatest barbarity, on one side, and of the utmost suffering on the other, were constantly exhibiting. A few instances of this suffering and of that barbarity, may not be improperly adduced here. They will serve to illustrate the condition of those who were within reach of the savage enemy; and perhaps, to palliate the enormities practiced on the christian Indians.

In the fall of 1754 about forty or fifty Indians entered that province, and dividing themselves into two parties, sought the unprotected settlements, for purposes of murder and devastation: the smaller party went about the forks of Delaware--the other directing their steps along the Susquehanna. On the 2nd of October, twelve of the former appeared before the house of Peter Williamson, (a Scotchman, with no family but his wife,) who had made considerable improvement near the Delaware river. Mrs. Williamson being from home, he sat up later than usual, and about 11 o'clock was astounded at the savage war whoop, resounding from various directions, near to the house. Going to the window, he perceived several Indians standing in the yard, one of whom, in broken English, promised that if he would come out and surrender he should not be killed; threatening at the same time that if he did not, they would burn him up in his house. Unable to offer an effectual resistance, and preferring the chance of safety by surrendering, to the certainty of a horrid death if he attempted an opposition, he yielded himself up a prisoner.

So soon as he was in their power they plundered the house of such articles as they could conveniently take with them, and set fire to it, and to the barn, in which was a quantity of wheat, some horses and other cattle. After inflicting some severe tortures on Williamson, and forcing him to carry a heavy weight of the plunder, which they had taken from him, they went to a neighboring house, occupied by Jacob Snyder, his wife, five children and a servant. The piercing cries, and [77] agonizing shrieks of these poor creatures, made no impression on the savages. The father, mother, and children were tomahawked and scalped, and their bodies consumed by fire together with the house. The servant was spared that he might aid in carrying their plunder; but manifesting deep distress at his situation as prisoner, he was tomahawked before they proceeded far.

Before they could accomplish farther mischief a fall of snow, making them apprehensive that they would be pursued by the united force of the settlement, induced them to return to Alamingo--taking Williamson with them.

On their way back, they met with the party of Indians, which had separated from them, as they approached the settlements. These had been lower down on the Susquehanna, and had succeeded in making greater havoc, and committing more depredations, than it had fallen to the lot of those who had taken Williamson, to commit. They had with them three prisoners and twenty scalps. According to the account of their transactions as detailed by the prisoners, they had on one day killed and scalped John Lewis, his wife and three children, and in a few days after had murdered, with almost every circumstance of cruelty, Jacob Miller, his wife and six children, and George Folke, his wife and nine children, cutting up the bodies of the latter family and giving them piece-meal to the hogs in the pen. Wherever they had been, destruction marked their course. In every instance the houses, barns and grain stacks were consumed by fire; and the stock killed.

The three prisoners who had been brought in by the last party, endeavored soon after to effect an escape; but their ignorance of the country, and the persevering activity and vigilance of the Indians, prevented the accomplishment of their attempt. They were overtaken, and brought back; and then commenced a series of cruelties, tortures and death, sufficient to shock the sensibilities of the most obdurate heart, if unaccustomed to the perpetration of such enormities.

Two of them were tied to trees, around which large fires were kindled, and they suffered to remain for some time, in the gradual but horrible state of being scorched to death. After the Indians had enjoyed awhile the writhings of agony and the tears of anguish, which were drawn from these suffering victims, one, stepping within the circle, ripped open their bodies and threw their bowels into the flames. Others, to emulate [78] this most shocking deed, approached, and with knives, burning sticks, and heated irons, continued to lacerate, pierce and tear the flesh from their breasts, arms and legs, 'till death closed the scene of horrors and rendered its victims insensible to its pains.

The third was reserved a few hours, that he might be sacrificed under circumstances of peculiar enormity. A hole being dug in the ground of a depth sufficient to enable him to stand upright, with his head only exposed, his arms were pinioned to his body, he placed in it, and the loose earth thrown in and rammed closely around him. He was then scalped and permitted to remain in that situation for several hours. A fire was next kindled near his head. In vain did the poor suffering victim of hellish barbarity exclaim, that his brains were boiling in his head; and entreat the mercy of instant death. Deaf to his cries, and inexorable to his entreaties, they continued the fire 'till his eye balls burst and gushed from their sockets, and death put a period to his sufferings.

Of all these horrid spectacles, Williamson was an unwilling spectator; and supposing that he was reserved for some still more cruel and barbarous fate, determined on escaping. This he was soon enabled to do; and returned to the settlements.[4]

The frequent infliction of such enormities as these upon the helpless and unoffending women and children, as well as upon those who were more able to resist and better qualified to endure them; together with the desolation of herds, the devastation of crops, and the conflagration of houses which invariably characterized those incursions, engendered a general feeling of resentment, that sought in some instances, to wreak itself on those who were guiltless of any participation in those bloody deeds. That vindictive spirit led to the perpetration of offences against humanity, not less atrocious than those which they were intended to requite; and which obliterated every discriminative feature between the perpetrators of them, and their savage enemies.

The Canestoga Indians, to the number of forty, lived in a village, in the vicinity of Lancaster; they were in amity with the whites, and had been in peace and quiet for a considerable length of time. An association of men, denominated the "Paxton boys," broke into their little town and murdered all who were found at home--fourteen men, women and children fell a prey to the savage brutality of those sons of civilization [79]. The safety of the others was sought to be effected, by confining them in the jail at Lancaster. It was in vain. The walls of a prison could afford no protection, from the relentless fury of these exasperated men. The jail doors were broken open, and its wretched inmates cruelly murdered.--And, as if their deaths could not satiate their infuriate murderers, their bodies were brutally mangled, the hands and feet lopped off, and scalps torn from the bleeding heads of innocent infants.

A similar fate impended the christian Indians of Nequetank and Nain; and was only averted, by the timely interposition of the government of Pennsylvania. They were removed to Philadelphia, where they remained from November 1763 'till after the close of the war in December 1764; during which time the Paxton boys twice assembled in the neighborhood of the city, for the purpose of assaulting the barracks and murdering the Indians, but were deterred by the military preparations made to oppose them; and ultimately, but reluctantly, desisted.

Had the feelings excited in the minds of these misguided men, by the cruelties of the Indians, been properly directed, it would have produced a quite different result. If, instead of avenging the outrages of others, upon those who were no otherwise guilty than in the complexion of their skin, they had directed their exertions to the repressing of invasion, and the punishment of its authors, much good might have been achieved; and they, instead of being stigmatized as murderers of the innocent, would have been hailed as benefactors of the border settlements. Associations of this kind were formed in that province, and contributed no little to lessen the frequency of Indian massacres, and to prevent the effusion of blood, and the destruction of property. At the time the Paxton boys were meditating and endeavoring to effect the destruction of the peaceable christian Indians, another company, formed by voluntary league, was actively engaged in checking the intrusions, of those who were enemies, and in punishing their aggressions. A company of riflemen, called the Black boys (from the fact of their painting themselves red and black, after the Indian fashion,) under the command of Capt. James Smith, contributed to preserve the Conococheague valley, during the years 1763 and 1764, from the devastation [80] which had overspread it early after the commencement of Braddock's war.

Capt. Smith had been captured by the Indians in the spring of 1755, and remained with them until the spring of 1759, when he left them at Montreal, and after some time arrived at home in Pennsylvania. He was in Fort du Quesne, when the Indians and French went out to surprise Gen. Braddock; and witnessed the burnings and other dreadful tortures inflicted upon those who were so unfortunate as to have been made prisoners; and the orgies and demoniacal revels with which the victory was celebrated. He was subsequently adopted into a family, by which he was kindly treated; and became well acquainted with their manner of warfare, and the various arts practised by them, to ensure success in their predatory incursions, and afterwards to elude pursuit. He became satisfied from observation, that to combat Indians successfully, they must be encountered in their own way; and he accordingly instructed his men in the Indian mode of warfare, dressed them after the Indian fashion, and fought after the Indian manner.[5]

An instance of the good effect resulting from practicing the arts and stratagems of the Indians, occurred during this war; and to its success the garrison of Fort Pitt were indebted for their preservation.

After the ratification of the treaty of peace which had been concluded between England and France, war continued to be waged by the Indians on the whole western frontier. A large body of them had collected and marched to Fort Pitt, with a view to its reduction by famine. It had been invested for some time and the garrison being too weak to sally out and give battle to the besiegers, Capt. Ecuyer dispatched messengers with the intelligence of his situation and a request for aid and provisions: these were either compelled to return or be killed, as the country for some distance east of Fort Pitt was in the possession of the savages.[6]

At length a quantity of provisions were ordered by Gov. Amherst for the relief of the fort, and forwarded under a strong guard commanded by Colonel Boquet. The Indians were soon apprized of this and determined on intercepting the provisions, and if practicable, to prevent their reaching the place of their destination. With this object in view, a considerable force was detached, to watch the motions of Col. Boquet and [81] upon a favorable opportunity to give him battle. In a narrow defile on Turtle creek an attack was made by the Indians, and a severe engagement ensued. Both armies fought with the most obstinate bravery, from one o'clock 'till night, and in the morning it was resumed, and continued with unabated fury for several hours. At length Col. Boquet, having placed four companies of infantry and grenadiers in ambush, ordered a retreat. So soon as this was commenced, the Indians, confident of victory, pressed forward with considerable impetuosity, and fell into the ambuscade. This decided the contest--the Indians were repulsed with great slaughter and dispersed.

The loss of the British, in killed and wounded, exceeded one hundred. That they were not entirely cut off, was attributable to the stratagem of the retreat (a favorite one of the Indians;) the success of which not only saved the detachment under Col. Boquet, but likewise preserved Fort Pitt, from falling into the hands of the savage foe.

The loss sustained by the enemy, must have equaled that of the British; several of their most distinguished chiefs and warriors, were of the number of the slain: and so decisive was the victory obtained over them, that in the succeeding campaign against the Indians on the Muskingum, Boquet found not much difficulty in bringing them to terms. A cessation of hostilities was agreed to, upon condition that they would give up all the whites then detained by them in captivity. Upwards of three hundred prisoners were then redeemed; but the season being far advanced and the others scattered in different parts of the country, it was stipulated, that they should be brought into Fort Pitt early in the ensuing spring; and as a security that they would comply with this condition of the armistice, six of their chiefs were delivered up as hostages--these however succeeded in making their escape before the army arrived at Fort Pitt.[7]

The ill success which had attended the combined operations of the Indians, during this war, the difficulty of procuring ammunition to support it, and the fact that it had begun to be carried into their own country, disposed them to make peace. A treaty was accordingly concluded with them by Sir William Johnson in 1765. Previous to this however, some few depredations were committed by the Indians, in contravention of the agreement made with them by Col. Boquet; and which induced a belief that the want of clothes and ammunition,[82] was the real cause of their partial forbearance. It was therefore of great consequence, to prevent their obtaining a supply of these necessaries, until there could be some stronger assurance, than had been given, of their pacific disposition.

Notwithstanding the prevalence of this impression, and the fact, that a royal proclamation had been issued, forbidding any person trading with the Indians, yet in March 1765 a number of wagons, laden with goods and warlike stores for the Indians, was sent from Philadelphia to Henry Pollens of Conococheague, to be thence transported on pack horses to Fort Pitt. This very much alarmed the country; and many individuals remonstrated against the propriety of supplying the Indians at that particular juncture; alleging the well known fact, that they were then destitute of ammunition and clothing, and that to furnish them with those articles, would be to aid in bringing on another frontier war, and to lend themselves to the commission of those horrid murders, by which those wars were always distinguished. Remonstrance was fruitless. The gainful traffick which could be then carried on with the Indians, banished every other consideration; and seventy horses, packed with goods, were directed on to Fort Pitt.

In this situation of things, Capt. James Smith, (who had been with Boquet during the campaign of 1764, and was well convinced that a supply at that time of clothing and ammunition, would be the signal for the recommencement of hostilities) collected ten of his "Black boys," painted and dressed as Indians; and waylaid the caravan, near a place called the "Side long Hill." He disposed his men in pairs, behind trees along the road, at intervals of about 60 yards, with orders for the second not to fire 'till the first had reloaded, so that a regular, slow fire might be maintained at once, from front to rear.

As soon as the cavalcade approached, the firing commenced, and the pack horses beginning to fall by the side of their conductors, excited the fear of the latter, and induced them to cry out "Gentlemen what would you have us to do." Captain Smith replied, "collect all your loads to the front, deposit them in one place; take your private property and retire." These things were accordingly done; and the goods left (consisting of blankets, shirts, beads, vermillion, powder, lead, tomahawks, scalping knives, &c.) were immediately burned or otherwise destroyed.

[83] The traders then went to Fort Loudon, and obtaining of the commanding officer a party of Highland soldiers, proceeded in quest of the _Robbers_ (as they termed them;) some of whom were taken and carried into the Fort. Capt. Smith then raised about 300 riflemen, and marching to Fort Loudon, occupied a position on an eminence near it. He had not been long there before he had more than twice as many of the garrison, prisoners in his camp, as there were of his men in the guard house. Under a flag of truce proceeding from the Fort, a convention for the exchange of prisoners was entered into between Capt. Grant, the commander of the garrison, and Capt. Smith, and the latter with his men, immediately returned to their homes. [8]

Occurrences such as this, were afterwards of too frequent [84] recurrence. The people had been taught by experience, that the fort afforded very little, if any protection to those who were not confined within its walls--they were jealous of the easy, and yet secure life led by the garrison, and apprehensive of the worst consequences from the intercourse of traders with the Indians. Under those feelings, they did not scruple to intercept the passage of goods to the trading posts, and commit similar outrages to those above described, if there were any interference on the part of the neighboring forts. On one occasion, Capt. Grant was himself taken prisoner, and [85] detained 'till restitution was made the inhabitants of some guns, which had been taken from them, by soldiers from the garrison; and in 1769, a quantity of powder, lead and other articles was taken from some traders passing through Bedford county, and destroyed. Several persons, supposed to have been of the party who committed this outrage, were apprehended, and laid in irons in the guard house at Fort Bedford.

Capt. Smith, although in no wise engaged in this transaction, nor yet approving it, was nevertheless so indignant that an offence against the civil authorities, should be attempted to be punished by a military tribunal, that he resolved on effecting their release. To accomplish this, he collected eighteen of his "Black boys," in whom he knew he could confide; and marched along the main road in the direction of Fort Bedford. On his way to that place, he did not attempt to conceal his object, but freely told to every one who enquired, that he was going to take Fort Bedford. On the evening of the second day of their march, they arrived at the crossings of Juniata, (14 miles from Bedford) and erected tents as if they intended encamping there all night.

Previous to this, Capt. Smith had communicated his intention to Mr. William Thompson (who lived in Bedford and on whom he could rely,) and prevailed on him to obtain what information he could as to the effect produced in the garrison by the preparations which he was making for its attack; and acquaint him with it. That he might be enabled to do this with greater certainty, a place and hour were appointed at which Capt. Smith would meet him.

About 11 o'clock at night the march was resumed, and moving briskly they arrived near to Bedford, where they met Thompson; who communicated to them the fact, that the garrison had been apprized of their object that in consequence of having heard from them on the preceding evening, at the Crossings of Juniata, it was not expected they would arrive before mid-day, that their number was known, and the enterprise ridiculed. Thompson then returned to Bedford, and the party moved silently under covert of the banks of the river, 'till they approached near to the Fort, where they lay concealed, awaiting the opening of the gate. About day light Thompson apprised them that the guard had thrown open the gate, and were taking their morning's dram; that the arms were stacked not far from the entrance into the Fort, and three centinels on the wall.

Upon hearing these things, Capt. Smith with his men rushed rapidly to the Fort, and the morning being misty, were not discovered 'till they had reached the gate. At that instant the centinels fired their guns and gave the alarm; but Capt. Smith and his men took possession of the arms, and raised a loud shout, before the soldiers of the garrison could learn the cause of the alarm, or get to the scene of action.

[86] Having thus obtained possession of the Fort, Capt. Smith had the prisoners released from the guardhouse, and compelling a blacksmith to knock off their irons, left the Fort with them and returned to Conococheaque. "This, Capt. Smith says, was the first British fort in America, taken by what they called American rebels."

Some time after this, an attempt was made to apprehend Capt. Smith, as he was proceeding to survey and locate land on the Youghogany river. In the encounter which succeeded, a man (by the name of Johnson) was killed; and the murder being charged on Smith, he was confined for a time in Bedford jail; but fearing a release, the civil authority sent him privately through the wilderness to Carlisle, to await a trial for the alledged offence. On hearing this, upwards of three hundred persons (among whom were his old "Black boys,") proceeded to Carlisle to effect a rescue; and were only prevented the accomplishment of their object, by the solicitation of Smith himself. He knew his innocence, and preferred awaiting a trial; and how willing soever he might have been to oppose any encroachments of the military, he held in just abhorrence, an opposition to the civil authority of his country. He was put on his trial and acquitted.[9]

[87] Events such as those which have been narrated, serve to shew the state of things which existed at that day; and to point out the evils necessarily resulting, from an absence of municipal regulations. Man, in every station and condition of life, requires the controlling hand of civil power, to confine him in his proper sphere, and to check every advance of invasion, on the rights of others. Unrestrained liberty speedily degenerates into licentiousness. Without the necessary curbs and restraints of law, men would relapse into a state of nature; [88] and although the obligations of justice (the basis of society) be natural obligations; yet such are the depravity and corruption of human nature, that without some superintending and coercive power, they would be wholly disregarded; and human society, would become the field of oppression and outrage--instead of a theatre for the interchange of good offices. Civil institutions and judicial establishments; the comminations of punishment and the denunciations of law, are barely sufficient to repress the evil propensities of man. Left to themselves, they spurn all natural restrictions, and riot in the unrestrained indulgence of every passion.

-----
[1] At Dickenson's fort in 1755.

[2] When the Indians were most troublesome, and threatening
even the destruction of Winchester, Lord Fairfax who was
commandant of the militia of Frederick and Hampshire, ordered
them out. Three days active exertion on his part, brought only
20 in the field.

[3] Rather rangers, who seem to have been enlisted to serve
a year, and were re-engaged when necessary.--L. C. D.

[4] Peter Williamson had singular adventures. When a boy he
was kidnapped at Aberdeen, and sent to America, for which he
afterwards recovered damages. It is said that he passed a
considerable period among the Cherokees. He instituted the
first penny post at Edinburgh, for which, when the government
assumed it, he received a pension. His _Memoirs_, and _French
and Indian Cruelty Examplified_, were works of interest. He
died in Edinburgh in 1799.--L. C. D.

[5] Col. James Smith was born in Franklin county, Pa., in
1737; was captured by Indians in 1755, remaining in captivity
until his escape in 1759. He served as ensign in 1763, and
lieutenant under Bouquet in 1764; he was a leader, for several
years, of the Black Boys--a sort of regulators of the traders
who, the Black Boys thought, supplied the Indians with the
munitions of war. As the troubles with the mother country
began, Smith was selected for frontier service, and held civil
and military positions--captain in the Pennsylvania line; then
in 1777 as major under Washington; in 1778, he was promoted to
the rank of colonel of militia, and led an expedition against
the Indian town on French Creek. In 1788, he removed to
Kentucky; served in the early Kentucky conventions, preparatory
to State organization, and also in the legislature. He did
missionary work in Kentucky and Tennessee, and preached among
the Indians. He wrote a valuable account of his Indian
captivity, republished a few years since by Robert Clarke &
Co., Cincinnati, and a treatise on Indian warfare, besides two
controversial pamphlets against the Shakers. He died in
Washington county, Ky., in 1812, aged about seventy-five
years.--L. C. D.

[6] Captain Simeon Ecuyer, like Bouquet, was a native of
Switzerland; he did good service on the frontiers, especially
in the gallant defense of Fort Pitt in 1763. He became
disgusted with the bad conduct of his soldiers, especially the
grenadiers, and begged leave to resign. "For God's sake," he
implored Bouquet, "let me go, and raise cabbages."--L. C. D.

[7] Henry Bouquet was born at Rolle, in the canton of Berne,
Switzerland, in 1721, and at the age of seventeen he entered
into the service of the states general of Holland; subsequently
engaged under the banner of Sardinia, and distinguished himself
at the battle of Cony. In 1748, he was a lieutenant-colonel in
the Swiss guards, in the service of Holland. At length, in
1756, he entered the English army, serving in the Royal
Americans, and co-operated with Gen. Forbes on the campaign
against Fort Du Quesne, repulsing an attack of French and
Indians on Loyal Hanna. He afterwards served in Canada, and was
sent for the relief of Fort Pitt, when beleagured in 1763.
While marching on this service, he signally defeated the
Indians at Bushy Run, after a two days' engagement, in August
of that year, and relieved Fort Pitt. In 1764, he led an
expedition against the Ohio Indians, compelling them to sue for
peace. He died at Pensacola, September 2, 1765, of a prevailing
fever, in the prime of life, at the age of forty-four years. He
had attained the rank of general.--L. C. D.

[8] The following song was soon after composed by Mr. George Campbell
(an Irish gentleman who had been educated in Dublin,) and was
frequently sung in the neighborhood to the tune of the _Black Joke_.

Ye patriot souls who love to sing,
What serves your country and your king,
In wealth, peace, and royal estate;
Attention give whilst I rehearse,
A modern fact, in jingling verse,
How party interest strove what it cou'd,
To profit itself by public blood,
But justly met its merited fate.

Let all those Indian traders claim,
Their just reward, in glorious fame,
For vile, base and treacherous ends,
To Pollins in the spring they sent
Much warlike stores, with an intent,
To carry them to our barbarous foes,
Expecting that nobody dare oppose
A present to their Indian friends.

Astonished at the wild design
Frontier inhabitants combin'd,
With brave souls to stop their career,
Although some men apostatized
Who first the grand attempt advis'd,
The bold frontiers they bravely stood,
To act for their king, and their country's good
In joint league, and strangers to fear.

On March the fifth, in sixty-five,
Their Indian presents did arrive,
In long pomp and cavalcade,
Near Sidelong-hill, where in disguise,
Some patriots did their train surprise,
And quick as lightning tumbled their loads
And kindled them bonfires in the woods;
And mostly burnt their whole brigade.