xt7tqj77tf60 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7tqj77tf60/data/mets.xml Thwaites, Reuben Gold, 1853-1913. 1912  books b92-100-27765936 English Wisconsin Historical Society, : Madison : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. United States History Revolution, 1775-1783 Campaigns. Ohio River Valley History Revolution.Thwaites, Reuben Gold, 1853-1913. Kellogg, Louise Phelps, d. 1942. Frontier defense on the upper Ohio, 1777-1778  : compiled from the Draper manuscripts in the library of the Wisconsin Historical Society and pub. at the charge of the Wisconsin Society of the Sons of the American Revolution / edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites ... and Louise Phelps Kellogg. text Frontier defense on the upper Ohio, 1777-1778  : compiled from the Draper manuscripts in the library of the Wisconsin Historical Society and pub. at the charge of the Wisconsin Society of the Sons of the American Revolution / edited by Reuben Gold Thwaites ... and Louise Phelps Kellogg. 1912 2002 true xt7tqj77tf60 section xt7tqj77tf60 



























FRONTIER DEFENSE ON THE
   UPPER OHIO, I777-1778

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 








DRAPER SERIES, VOLUME III



        FRONTIER DEFENSE

                   ON THE


Upper Ohio, 1777-1778



Compiled from the Draper Manuscripts in the
Library of the Wisconsin Historical Society
and published at the charge of the Wisconsin
Society of the Sons of the American Revolution

              EDITED BY

REUBEN GOLD THWAITES, LL. D.
       Superintendent of the Society
                AND
LOUISE PHELPS KELLOGG, Ph. D.
  Editorial Assistant on the Society's Staff



       MADISON
WISCONSIN HISTORICAL SOCIETY
          1912

 


























              Copyright, i912
BY THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN





           Published March, 19i2



         OSHKOSH
CASTLE-PIERCE PRINTING COMPANY



 










CONTENTS



Page



Introduction.  The Editors
Explanation
                        Docu ten ts



Hand at Fort Pitt .
Frontier posts on the Oh
News from Fort Pitt
Affairs at Detroit
Defense bf the Virginia
General Hand warned
Friendly Indian warning:
Suggestions from Goverr
Provisioning and strengtl
Sundry raids and skirmi!

Expeditions planned

The Tory conspiracy
The siege of Fort Henry
Situation at Fort Henry
Kittanning evacuated
Indians murdered by froi
Relations with the Delays



0o                                 3
                         5, I4, [28
                     7, 14, 230, 280
frontier  .6, 21, 69, 205, 209, 223
                               . 8
s    .                          25
ior Henry                       30
hening the forts             33, 46
shes         33, 36, 78, 93, [38, 15I,
                  248, 273, 294
         42, 48, 74, I00, 133, 145,
             154, 193, 197, 202, 278
                               51
                              54, 72
        50, 76, 83, 129, I 38, 245
                                82
utiers.nen               .      85
wares .    86, 93, 112, 164, 228, 241,
                   244, 269



Fort Hand built
Word from the Muskingum
Foreman's defeat
Aftermath of Foreman's defeat
Reinforcements for Fort Randolph



 97
. 100
. io6
. ii8
. I22



t, i 88

 









CONTENTS



                                                    Page
Troops for the Continental Army                      132
Good news from the East                              136
Tory drowned; Zackwell Morgan arrested                I42
Fort Randolph reinforced; Cornstalk detained         149
The murder of Cornstalk                  157, 168, 175, 240
News from Fort Randolph                      171, 194, 246
Indians of the Allegheny                         172, i88
Temper of Western Indians                 .78
The Kentucky settlements    .8i
Loyalists at Fort Pitt                               184
Plans for Clark's expedition             196, 226, 263, 271
The Squaw Campaign                               2 OI, 215
Oaths of allegiance                                  203
Conciliating the Shawnee                         234, 258
Report of Commissioners                              238
Loyalists escape                                 249, 274
Boat building                                    256, 276
Defense of the Southwestern frontier             262, 265
Relations with Spaniards                             289
Congress plans for the West                          293
News of the French alliance                          297
Muster rolls                                         300



I X                    307



vi



I NDEX



 









ILLUSTRATIONS



                                                 Pagc
Map of the Frontier of Northwest Virginia
   in the Revolution .    .   .    .      Frontispiece
Portrait of Gen. Edward Hand   .   .    .   .
Facsimile of portion of Gen. Henry Hamilton's
   report of Council at Detroit.   .   .    .       8
Fort Henry (Wheeling, W. Va.) in 1777   .   .      50
Portrait of Mrs. Lydia (Boggs-Shepherd) Cruger .      66
Blockhouse, Fort Pitt .   .    .   .    .          128
Monument to Cornstalk, at Point Pleasant, W. Va. .    i6o
Portrait of Col. Moses Shepherd.   .    .   .     222
Portrait of Gen. James O'Hara  .   .    .   .     278
Facsimile of portion of letter by John Campbell
   to George Rogers Clark .   .    .   .    .     298

 
This page in the original text is blank.

 








             INTRODUCTION


  The Draper Series, of which this is Volume III, is
devoted to the publication of original documentary
material obtained in the main from the Draper Manu-
script Collection, now in the Society's possession. The
task of selection and annotation, and of putting the
volumes through the press, has fallen to the present
Editors; but the cost of printing has generously been
borne by the Wisconsin Society of the Sons of
the American Revolution.   The first volume, a
Documentary History of Dunmore's War, I774, was
published in May, i905; the second, Revolution on the
Upper Ohio, 1775-I777, appeared in February, i908.
The present is a continuation of Volume II, and will,
it is expected, be followed by others, extending the
subject to the close of the Revolutionary War.
  Volume II closed with news of the coming to Fort
Pitt of Gen. Edward Hand. For the frontiersmen of
the Upper Ohio, this was an event of much impor-
tance. He had served in its garrison during the British
regime, and was well-known and popular throughout
the district. His appointment was a welcome assur-
ance to the borderers that the commander-in-chief
and the Continental Congress proposed, so far as
seemed then possible, to assist in their protection.
  But the barbaric enemy facing the frontier differed
greatly from the well-equipped, well-drilled profes-

 







x   FRONTIER DEFENSE ON UPPER OHIO



sional army from Europe that confronted the armed
men of the tidewater. The stealthy foes of the border
aimed their heaviest blows at the homes, wives, and
children of the settlers; no life was safe from them,
no person secure. Through long and bitter experience,
the backwoodsmen had come to understand the art
of defense by concentration within neighborhood
blockhouses and log forts. But a new danger pre-
sented itself. The Indians were now guided and stim-
ulated by the nation's white enemies, so that to their
native cunning were added the superior intelligence
and more astute methods of the English. The situa-
tion soon became desperate.
  The British authorities at Detroit were especially
active in urging the Indians to war against the Ameri-
cans. Permissory orders to that effect were received
by Lieutenant-Governor Hamilton early in June, 1777.
With consummate skill he roused the barbarians to
frenzy; under his stimulus they prepared to hurl
themselves upon the American Irontier. The invading
parties were provided by Hamilton with proclamations
prepared both by Governor Carleton and himself, call-
ing on the Western inhabitants to submit to King
George and take refuge within the British posts,
where a land bounty would be given them for loyal
service. This project was adroitly devised to mingle
terror and mercy, in the hope that the colonists' rebel-
lion would speedily be crushed on the Western bor-
ders; and that the Easterners, finding themselves be-
tween two fires, would be obliged to yield. The effect
of these proclamations, scattered by Indian raiders

 








INTRODUCTION



throughout the American backwoods settlements, was
considerable. In some cases they were suppressed by
American officers, but the Loyalist disaffection in the
trans-Alleghany is largely attributable to this source.
  The herculean task confronting Hand on his arrival
at Fort Pitt was to defend the vast frontier (stretch-
ing from Kittanning on the north to the Great
Kanawha on the south) from the inroads of Indian
parties, and to overawe disaffection and active Loy-
alist measures within the settlements. To accom-
plish this result, Congress had given him a mere hand-
ful of regular troops, and left him to recruit militia-
nien and commandeer the supplies sufficient for his
needs. Four principal forts were placed at strategic
points-Kittanning, Pitt, Henry, and Randolph. In
addition there were numerous local blockhouses, for
every small community "forted" while danger hovered
near; but during a lull in hostilities, the men ventured
to attend to their home duties in the widely scattered
farmsteads and fields. To add to his difficulties, Hand
was much embarrassed by the active and often viru-
lent boundary controversy between Pennsylvania and
Virginia, both states claiming jurisdiction of the re-
gion around Fort Pitt.
  Fortunately for the final event, the tribesmen who
had declared war against the border were those known
to the frontiersmen as the "far Indians," with habitats
about Detroit and along the Sandusky, Maumee, and
Wabash rivers, where they were closely under British
tutelage. The Shawnee and Delawares of the nearer
wilderness had not yet forgotten the battle of Point
Pleasant (I774), and for the time adhered to their



xi

 







xii FRONTIER DEFENSE ON UPPER OHIO



treaty with the Americans made in 1775 at Pitts-
burgh-not only maintaining neutrality, but proving
their friendliness by giving timely warnings of the
approach of war parties. The Delawares in particular
acted as a buffer between the Americans and the
Indian allies of the British. Their chiefs went fre-
quently and freely to Fort Pitt, and the Moravian
m 4sionaries among them were useful agents for the
colonial cause.
  Had the frontiersmen but carefully distinguished
between Indian friends and foes, and kept the faith
as loyally as the former, much trouble might have
been avoided. There was, however, a savage spirit
among the rank and file of the borderers, that did no
honor to the American cause. Hand was obliged con-
tinually to intervene to protect the lives of the friendly
Delawares, for he had reason to fear their massacre
by the inhabitants around Fort Pitt. This dispo-
sition culminated in the dastardly murder of Chief
Cornstalk, with three of his tribe, in the autumn of
1777, while they were detained as hostages within the
walls of Fort Randolph. This same indiscriminately
revengeful disposition broke out against the Loyalists,
one of whose leaders, Hickson, was drowned while a
prisoner, apparently by the connivance of the militia
officer in charge. With Cornstalk's death vanished
the hope of neutrality for the Shawnee, and both the
Kentucky settlements and the Virginia frontier suf-
fered repeatedly from the avenging fury of this tribe.
  As a rule, Indian war-parties against the American
frontier were small. They sought to elude the garri-
sons, penetrate into the settlements before discovery,

 








1NTRODUCTION



strike a quick blow, and then retire. During I777,
however, considerable forces of the aboriginal enemy
twice appeared on the border, prepared for hostile
operations on a larger scale than usual. September i,
two hundred or more Indians invested Fort Henry,
determined, as White Eyes picturesquely put it, "to
carry Wheeling home" to the native towns. Although
forewarned by the friendly Delawares, the militia .41i-
cers had grown careless, dismissed the levies that had
come to their assistance, and on the morning of the
attack had less than a hundred men within the stock-
ade. The siege continued during two exciting days,
at the close of which the persistent enemy withdrew,
after slaying all outlying cattle and other domestic
animals.
  The attack on Wheeling aroused the county militia
of both Pennsylvania and Virginia, and company after
company poured into Fort Pitt to do garrison duty for
the outlying posts. Among the reinforcements sent to
Fort Henry was a band of men from the interior
county of Hampshire," whose inhabitants had for a
generation been free from Indian ravages. These new-
comers found the inaction at Wheeling irksome.
Toward the last of September, forty-six of them,
headed by their officers, started on a scouting expe-
dition down the Ohio, when twenty-one of the party
lost their lives in a native ambush at McMechen's
Narrows-the event known in border history as the
Foreman Massacre. For some time after this unfor-
tunate affair, savage raids on the Western border were

  1 Now in WVest Virginia.



xiii

 







Xiv FRONTIER DEFENSE ON UPPER OHIO



less frequent. This seems to have been due to the
defeat of St. Leger's expedition, and the terror in-
spired in the Western tribesmen by Burgoyne's sur-
render, together with the possibility of final colonial
triumph.
  In the frontiersman's calendar, winter stood for
peace. But the vengeance to be feared for Cornstalk's
murder made the winter of 1777-78 a time of busy
preparations for defense. Hand even hoped to con-
duct an offensive raid, to seize some stores at San-
dusky, and thus inflict a blow on the British fur-traders
and their tribal customers. Collecting a small force
from the western counties of Pennsylvania, he set
forth in February on the first regular expedition into
Indian territory since the outbreak of the Revolution.
A sudden rise of the waters defeated his plans. He
penetrated no farther than Beaver Creek, where he
raided two Indian camps, inhabited chiefly by squaws.
This expedition was thenceforth derisively known as
the "Squaw Campaign."
  During the winter, Pittsburgh and its vicinity was
a hive of activity, induced by preparations for three
important Western expeditions. Documents descrip-
tive of the voyage of Gibson and Linn to New Orleans,
to secure powder, were presented in Volume II of this
series. Encouraged by the success of that undertak-
ing, and by the strong sympathy with the Americans
evinced by the Spanish authorities at New Orleans,
two expeditions outfitted in Pittsburgh to proceed to
the lower reaches of the Mississippi. One originating
in Virginia, was led by Col. David Rogers and had for
its object the procuring of supplies. The one author-

 







INTRODUCTION'



ized by Congress was in the care of Capt. James
Willing; this was bolder in scope, and embraced a
plan to seize WVest Florida and hold that region for the
patriot cause. The third was under Col. George
Rogers Clark, a pioneer of Kentucky; but the destina-
tion of this expedition was as yet unrevealed. Colonel
Clark himself arrived at the neighborhood of Fort Pitt
early in February, and at once began the work of re-
cruiting, boat-building, and provisioning. Considerable
opposition was manifested by the inhabitants to de-
taching men from this exposed frontier at so critical a
juncture; but General Hand was admitted to the se-
cret of Clark's intention to capture the British-French
garrisons in the Illinois, and quietly aided him with
such supplies and support as he could furnish. Not
until Clark was well on his way down the river did the
news of the French-American alliance reach Pitts-
burgh. This important fact was communicated to him
with all speed, and no doubt contributed materially to.
his success among the French of the Illinois.
  Meanwhile communications were maintained with
the Spanish of Louisiana. In February a message
from the governor of New Orleans was received at
Fort Pitt; but as no one there was able to translate
this document, it was taken to Congress by Col. George
Morgan. Even in this body no satisfactory translator
could be found; consequently, Morgan's response,
forwarded  by  Captain  Willing, was necessarily
couched in vague terms of friendship, with a recapitu-
lation of the colonial victories and successes.
  Hand had in view for the spring of 1778 another
invasion of Indian territory; he was convinced that



xv

 







xvi FRONTIER DEFENSE ON UPPER OHIO



nothing else would prove efficacious in subduing the
tribesmen. At first, success seemed wholly probable.
But among the men surrounding the general was Col.
Alexander McKee, formerly an Indian agent, but long
suspected of Loyalist tendencies. He was necessarily
well-informed of Hand's plans. On the night of
March 28, McKee broke the parole which he had
given, and taking with him several confederates and
servants, escaped to the Indian towns, on his way to
place and preferment under the British flag.
  Hand had by now found his position intolerable.
Eager to serve his country, he was satisfied that, with-
out success, he had done all that any man might in the
circumstances, and that he could henceforth be more
useful in the Eastern army. A new commandant, bet-
ter supported than he had been, might, he thought,
win laurels on the Western frontier. His petition for
a recall was seconded by three commissioners then at
Fort Pitt investigating the Situation and the Loyalists'
movements, and received the assent of Congress. Gen.
Lachlan McIntosh was thereupon appointed to the
WAest, and being better equipped was able to take the
offensive from Fort Pitt and strike an effective blow
in the enemy's country.
  Hand, however, had ably performed a difficult ser-
vice. At a critical period he saved the frontier from
being pushed back upon the colonies. His watchful
care, his careful husbanding of resources, his aid to
far Western expeditions, and his successful mainte-
nance of local garrisons, mark his administration as
one of vigor and efficiency. His command at Fort Pitt
is memorable in the annals of the American Revolu-

 








INTRODUCTION



tion. Our volume closes with his recall to the Eastern
field.
  In addition to the material found in the Draper
Manuscripts we include a few documents from other
sources-some letters from Col. George Morgan's
letter-book, the transcripts of which have kindly been
furnished to us by Mr. Harrison W. Craver, librarian
of the Carnegie Library, Pittsburgh; three documents
obtained through the courteous offices of Dr. Arthur
G. Doughty, from the Canadian Archives at Ottawa;
and portions of the Hand letters to Yeates, of which
accurate transcripts were obligingly sent to us by Dr.
John Billings, director of the New York Public Li-
brary. Our acknowledgments are also due to Dr.
Victor Hugo Paltsits, late New York State Historian,
for information concerning the Oswego Treaty of
1777.
  The transcriptions from the Draper Manuscript Col-
lection are largely the careful work of Miss Daisy G.
Beecroft, of the Society's Library staff; the proof-
reading has been under the expert supervision of Miss
Annie A. Nunns, secretary to the senior Editor; and
the excellent map has been prepared by Miss Mary
Stuart Foster, also of the Society's staff.
                                       R. G. T.
                                       L. P. K.



Xvii

 








EXPLANATORY



  Following the names of the writer and recipient of
each document is given its press-mark in the Draper
Manuscript Collection, by which the original can read-
ily be identified if its further consultation is desired.
The capital letter or letters refer to the series to which
the document belongs; the volutne number precedes
the series letter, the folio or page number follows.
E. g., the press-mark I SS57 means Vol. i of the
Shepherd Papers, p. 57; the press-mark 49J13 is
equivalent to Vol. 49 of the George Rogers Clark
MSS, p. 13.
   Immediately after the press-mark, the nature of
the document is indicated by the descriptive initials
customarily employed in describing manuscripts:
  A. L.-autograph letter unsigned (usually a draft
in the author's handwriting).
  A. L. S.-autograph letter signed.
  L. S.-letter signed (text being in another's hand-
writing).
  D. S.-document signed.

 
This page in the original text is blank.



 



WFTC : SfXX t:f 0
k F::000L0:
:: g E X W: t::05
00X R X S 0000:0000000f;

X all
t0:00:0000 f:- j7eSUCCES ; f ff :; ::0;;:0:: 000 : ik
        (;F.SI K.\l. El)\\ffi\Kl) H.xl,



Irom Pennsylvkania AIrchives, A(1 series, x, p. 14


 








FRONTIER DEFENSE ON THE
        UPPER OHIO, I777-I778


     HAND TAKES COMMAND AT FORT PITT

 [Gen. Edward Hand to Col. David Shepherd.  ISS57-
                     A. L. S.]
  Whereas the Honourable the Continental Congress
have thought proper to appoint me to take the Com-
mand on the Frontiers of Virginia and Pennsylvania'
 to embody such of the Militia as I shall think ade-
quate to the Defence of the Country. And whereas
the late Murders committed by the Savages, encour-
aged  supported by our cruel Enemies evidently
point out the absolute Necessity of a perfect union
and Harmony amongst the Frontier Inhabitants in
Defence of their Lives, Liberties  Properties
  I do hereby declare, that in Execution of the Trust
reposed in me, I shall consider those persons as dan-
gerous  disaffected to the American Cause, who abet
or in any wise foment the present unhappy disputes
between the states of Virginia  Pennsylvania to the

1 Concerning General Hand and his appointment to com-
mand at Fort Pitt, see Thwaites and Kellogg, Revolution on
the Upper Ohio (Madison, z908), P. 256. He arrived June i,
escorted by a troop of Westmoreland lighthorse militia.-ED.

 








2   FRONTIER DEFENSE ON UPPER OHIO



public injury.2 The Love of our Country will I trust,
teach us to forget all Invidious distinctions  to pay
the proper attention to merit, unconfined to Party. we
shall do the most essential Service to the Common
weal by Carefully avoiding the giving any just cause
of offence to the Indians. Should a General war with
the savages be inevitable, I have the highest Confi-
dence in the fortitude of the Militia  their Zeal for
the public Service, which Comprehends their dearest
Interests. The knowledge I have formed of the Coun-
try  its Inhabitants by a long residence at Fort Pitt,
renders my present Command highly pleasing to me.3
Happy should I be if I can Conduce by my Labours to
the Safety of the Frontier.   Congress hath directed
the removal of the Continental Troops from this Quar-
ter except the 300 Men to be stationed at Forts Pitt,
Randolph  the Kittanning4 as these Companies are
not yet Compleated; I expect you will be pleased to

2 For the boundary dispute between Virginia and Penn-
sylvania, each claiming the site of Pittsburgh, see Ibid, pp. i8,
19.-ED.
3 General Hand came to America in 1767 with the i8th
(or Royal Irish) regiment, two companies of which were
stationed at Fort Pitt 1768-72. There Hand purchased a com-
mission as ensign in the regiment, which he resigned two
years later to settle in Lancaster, Pa.-ED.
4 Fort Pitt was built not far from the site of the French
Fort Duquesne not long after the evacuation of the former.
and was garrisoned by British troops until 1772, when it was
abandoned by them.   In January, 1774, it was restored
by Virginia authority and rechristened Fort Dunmore, after
the governor of that colony. At the close of Dunmore's
WVar it was again evacuated. until garrisoned by American
troops under Col. John Neville in the summer of 1775.
For Fort Randolph, see Thwaites and Kellogg, Dunmore's
WUar (Madison, 1905), p. 310, note 27: for Kittanning, Rev.
Upper Ohio. p. o00. note 30.-Ep.

 








HAND TAKES COMMAND



take the most effectual methods in your Power to have
the posts directed to be occupied on the Frontiers by
the late Board of Officers, kept up untill some more
advantageous regulation can take place.    If in the
mean Time any pressing Occasion should demand an
additional number of the Militia I hope they will be
in readiness to march on the shortest Notice.
  I rely greatly on your activity  public Zeal  have
the Honour to be yr. most obedt.  most Hble. Servt.
                              EWDd HAND B. G.
FORT PITT June 3d. 17,7.
On public Service to Col. David Shepherd at the Mouth
of Wheeling Ohio County Virginia.5

         FRONTIER POSTS ON THE OHIO
           [Memorandum, unsigned. iU54.
                            FORT PITT June ye 3d 1777
  Memorandum for General Hand of the Difrent
Post[s] from Wheeling to the Great Kanhaway
  The Kittaning 50 Mile from this Post Garrisond.
by on [e] Company of the WNestern Battallion of Con-
tinentall Troops and a CompY ordered from the West-
moreland Militia to Releve them6
  A small Guard of men Consisting of nine at a Stock-
aid Built at Munters bottom by the Adgecent [adja-
cent] inhabitants,

  , For David Shepherd, at this time county-lieutenant for
the newly-erected Ohio County, see Ibid, p. I96, note 30.-ED.
6The 8th Pennsylvania regiment marched from Kittanning
in December, 1776, leaving one company to garrison the fort
at that place. This was an independent company under com-
mand of Capt. Samuel Moorhead. See a letter dated June
4, 1777, from General Hand to Colonel Lochry, concerning
supplies for this post, in Mrs. Mary C. Darlington, Fort
Pitt and Letters froni the Frontier (Pittsburgh, I892),
P. 223.-ED.



3

 








4   FRONTIER DEFENSE ON UPPER OHIO



  at a place Calld. Rordons bottom about 40 Miles be-
low this post an Officer and i5 men
  at the Mouth of Yellow Creek7 fifteen Miles below
the Last mentioned Place Built by the inhabitants an
officer and 20 men
  at the Mingo Bottom8 20 below Yellow Creek a
Lieut. of the Regelers and i8 men, to be releved if not
alredy don by Milititia
  at Wheeling9 a Company of Boutt [Botetourt]
Militia
  at the Mouth of Grave Creek twelve Miles below
Wheeling a Company of Ohio County Militia'0

  7 Yellow Creek was the scene of the massacre of Logan's
family, three years before the building of this fort. See
Dunmore's War, pp. 17-19.-ED.
  8 Mingo Bottom was on the west side of the Ohio, where
the town of Mingo Junction now is. Probably the fort was
opposite, on the Virginia side of the river, which may like-
wise have been called Mingo Bottom. The locality took its
name from a town of Mingo Indians established there during
the French and Indian War. Croghan in i765 speaks of it
as a "Seneca village" on a high bank on the north shore.
When Washington passed in 1770 there were twenty cabins
and about seventy inhabitants. Rev. David Jones in 1772
says the people of this town were wont to plunder canoes,
and that he was happy enough to pass in the night undiscov-
ered. The raiding of this band of robbers was one of the
inciting causes of Dunmore's War. Before that war they had
abandoned their town near Cross Creek, and retreated to the
headwaters of the Scioto. There Wood visited them the fol-
lowing year-see Rev. Upper Ohio, p. 48, note 77; also p. 217.
The locality of their former town on the Ohio retained its
name. It was the rendezvous both for the Moravian expedi-
tion and that of Crawford in the latter part of the Revolu-
tion. An important Indian trail led thence to the Muskingum
towns; hence the necessity of the garrison here noted.-ED.
  91For the garrison at Wheeling, see Rev. Upper Ohio,
PP. 232, 242-244.-ED.
  10 For this garrison, commanded by Capt. William Harrod,
see Ibid, index. It was abandoned in July, 1777, the troops
being concentrated at Wheeling.-ED.

 









MURDER BY INDIANS



  at the Great Kanhaway 2 CompY. of Regalors one
hundred Each to releve by Militia"'

              NEWS FROM FORT PITT
[Gen. Edward Hand to Jasper Yeates. Original MS. in New
     York Public Library; Hand Papers'2-A. L. S.]
                           FORT PITT ioth. of June 1777
  DEAR YEATES-Since I wrote to Kitty15 by Col:
Morgan14 nothing has happened in this part of the
World worth notice except the murder of One man
on the evening of the 7th. Instant at wheeling'5, I sup-
pose by a part of the Pluggys town Gang"'. the

  11 For a sketch of Fort Randolph, at the mouth of the
Great Kanawha River, see Ibid, p. i85, note i8. Of the two
companies one was from Virginia, under Capt. Matthew
Arbuckle; one from Pennsylvania, under Capt. John Robin-
son. Ibid. pp. 230, 231, 239-241.-ED.
  12 A portion of the Hand Papers which are among the
Draper MSS. are in the form of transcripts made in 1852
by Dr. Draper. The originals of a number of these, how-
ever, are now in the New York Public Library, whose
director, Dr. John S. Billings, has kindly furnished us with
fresh transcripts thereof, and these are followed in the pres-
ent volume.
For a brief sketch of Jasper Yeates, who was commissioner
for the treaty of 1775, see Rev. Upper Ohio, p. i9i, note
25.-ED.
13 Kitty (Catherine Ewing) was Mrs. Edward Hand. She
was a niece of Jasper Yeates, whose sister Sarah was her
mother. General Hand was married in I775; his wife died
in i8o5, aged fifty-four years.-ED.
14 George Morgan, Indian agent, who had gone to Phila-
delphia to consult with Congress on the Indian situation. For
a sketch, see Rev. Upper Ohio, p. 3I, note 59.-ED.
15The man whose murder is here mentioned was Thomas
McCleary, a member of Captain Van Meter's company, who
with one comrade had gone fishing up Wheeling Creek. For
details, see Pennsylvania Archives, ist series, v, p. 445.-ED.
16 For the hostilities committed by this band of Indians and
the expedition against their town planned and then aban-
doned, see Rev. Upper Ohio, passim.-ED.



S

 









6   FRONTIER DEFENSE ON UPPER OHIO



Chiefs of the wiandots  Mingos are expect[ed] to
Assemble here towards the end of next month. hope
that nest may be removed. I have seen an Address
from some of the Principle Inhabitants of Philada to
the Inhabitants of Westmoreland, inclosing A Coppy
of one to the Board of War  Assembly of Pennsyl-
vania,  the Boards Ansr     when I saw it there was
but two Signers. I am tomorrow to Attend A Gen.
Meeting of Militia Officers at Catfish's Camp17.  it is
not unprobable that the Congress will send Comnmis-
sioners to meet the indians at the Approaching Treaty
I beg my love to every body  am     Dr. Yeates most
Affectionately yours
                                       EDWd. HAND
Jasper Yeates Esqr.
  A great Part of the most Valuable stores are Arived
the remr. to be at Hanna's Town"8 to day. the Gar-

  17 Catfish's Camp was the early name for the white settle-
ment on the site of the present town of Washington, Pa.
The land was taken up as early as T768, and a small settle-
ment developed, which was augmented during the Indian
troubles by removals from the Ohio. The name is said to
have been given in honor of Catfish, a Delaware Indian who
had his village in this vicinity. At the council of war held
at this place, it was decided that 2oo men, properly armed
and officered, should be drafted to relieve the militia then on
duty. June 27, the Monongalia officers held a council to
make preparations to carry out this draft.  Draper MSS.,
I U6o.-ED.
  18 Hannastown was an important station on the road to
Pittsburgh. being located at the junction of Forbes's road with
an Indian trail to the Kiskiminitas. In 1773 it was made the
seat of the newly-erected county of Westmoreland, and was
the first seat of justice west of the Alleghanies. During
1774-78 it rivalled Pittsburgh in importance. In 1782 the town
was captured and completely destroyed by a marauding band
of Indians. Although partially rebuilt, and remaining the
county seat until 1786, it never regained its earlier impor-
tance.-ED.

 









AN INDIAN COUNCIL



rison not Better Supplied with provision than you
found it.
  Give me leave to introduce Col: Russell the Com-
mandant of the West Augusta Battalion a very worthy
man'9.   Jessy is Well  Desires his love20.
                                             ED. H.

               OOUNCIL AT DETROIT
       [Official report of Hamilton.  49JI3-D. S.211
  Extract from the Council held at Detroit by the fol-
lowing Nations-Ottawas, Hurons, Chippewas, Pou-
teouattamis, Miamis, Shawanese, Delawares, Ottawas
from  Ouashtanon, Pouteouattamis of St. Joseph22
ca.
                                DETROIT 17tb June 1777
  Gover