History of West Virginia, Old and New - Chapter VI THE STRUGGLE FOR TRANS-ALLEGHENY CONTROL This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. All other rights reserved. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the WVGenWeb Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://www.usgwarchives.net/wv/wvfiles.htm Submitted by Valerie Crook, From The History of West Virginia, Old and New, by James Morton Callahan, 1923, Vol. I, pg. 57- [Transcriber's Note: Footnotes appear at the end of each page in the original book. All footnotes are located at the end of this work. vfc] CHAPTER VI THE STRUGGLE FOR TRANS-ALLEGHENY CONTROL The beginning of West Virginia history is closely associated with the final struggle between France and England for control in North America. It is especially connected with the Anglo-French struggle for control of the Upper Ohio valley into which the hunters, trappers, fur traders of Pennsylvania and Virginia were venturing by scores through the passes of the Blue Ridge and the Alleghenies by the middle of the Eighteenth century - a region which France had long considered her own. These adventurous borderers of the upland, frequently forced westward in search of new lands, understood the situation far better than the inhabitants of the tide water region of the middle colonies. They were the advance agents of British occupation, few in number at first, and frequently obliged to suspend their operations on the farther frontier and to fall back upon the border line of settlement distinguished by log cabins of men who were raising horses, cattle, sheep and hogs, or even farther back to the region occupied by the small, rough hold- ings of the border farmers. These frontiersmen, clad in primitive costume which was partly borrowed from the Indian, were rough in manners and speech, crude and unlettered, but among them were some of superior caliber who in time of great public need naturally assumed leadership and exercised an elevating influence on their fellow-frontiersmen. Many of these borderers who sought new and cheap lands which could be found upon the western frontier were Ulster Scotch-Irish who had emigrated in large numbers from northeast Ireland to America during the first half of the Eighteenth century, especially settling in Pennsylvania and in the Carolinas. Gradually, as the pressure upon available land became greater, the younger generations of Pennsylvania Scotch-Irish moved southwestward through the troughs of the Alleghenies, either tarrying on the upper waters of the Potomac and the South Branch or pressing on to the deep and fertile valleys of southwest Virginia and North Carolina. These Ulster bordermen, easily developing into expert Indian fighters, formed, with the English colonial adventurers and Protestant Germans who commingled with them, a highly important factor in the coming bat- tles for English supremacy in the new land beyond the mountains. The territorial claims of England and France were in conflict west of the Alleghenies. There had never been any commonly recognized boundaries. Under colonial charters, the English had a basis of claim to all the interior westward to the Pacific, although France, after 1700, was willing to allow them only the Atlantic slope to the Appalachians. In June, 1744, taking advantage of a clause of the treaty of Utrecht (1713), in which France acknowledged the suzerainty of the British king over the Iroquois Confederacy, the English obtained from the Iroquois at a great council held at the Pennsylvania outpost of Lan- caster a grant of the entire control of the Ohio valley north of the river which the Iroquois claimed by conquest in previous encounters with the Shawnee. This grant became a chief corner-stone upon which the English based their pretensions to the West. Soon thereafter a small group of agricultural frontiersmen in the neighboring valley of Vir- ginia made a settlement at Draper's Meadows (upon New river), the first permanent settlement of the English upon westward-flowing waters. Soon thereafter prominent Virginians recognizing a Virginian claim to the "Northwest" line mentioned in an early charter, planned to secure an advantage in the West over Pennsylvania which, because of internal dissensions, had been slow in taking steps to settle the Ohio basin. In May, 1749, they secured from the British king a charter for the Ohio Company which was formed for fur trading and coloniz- ing purposes in the region west of the mountains. By the terms of this charter, they obtained a half million acres south of the Ohio and along the Ohio - "which lands are his Majesty's undoubted right by the treaty of Lancaster and subsequent treaties at Logstown" (on the Ohio west of Pittsburgh). In return for this grant they agreed to build a fort on the Ohio and to plant on their lands 100 families within seven years. Meantime, France was taking steps to strengthen her claim. In 1749, a French reconnaissance force under Celeron de Bien- ville obtained from the fickle Iroquois admittance through the Chau- tauqua gateway and proceeded to drive out the English traders and to take possession by planting leaden plates at the mouths of the prin- cipal streams tributary to the Ohio. The governor of New France planned for the immigration of 10,000 French peasants to settle the region before the English agricultural pioneers could reach it. The English quickly replied to the report that France was propos- ing to construct a line of posts along the Ohio from its headwaters to its mouth. The Ohio Company promptly sent Christopher Gist (in 1750) to explore the country to the falls of the Ohio (now Louisville), to select lands for the Company, and to carry friendly messages to the Shawnee. In 1750-51, he made explorations in territory now included in the states of Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia, and in western Maryland and southwestern Pennsylvania, and met many Scotch-Irish traders who were operating on the upper Miami, at Logstown on the Ohio and at Venango on the Allegheny. On his return via the Ken- tucky river and the Yadkin he made a favorable report which greatly stimulated interest in the West. In 1752, after accompanying Col. Joshua Fry to Logstown on a mission to conciliate the Indians, he built a cabin (still standing) near the site of the present town of Connells- ville, Pennsylvania. There Washington found him m 1753. Meantime the Company took another step toward occupation by con- structing a fortified trading house at Wills creek (now Cumberland, Maryland), and by securing the aid of Colonel Thomas Cresap and an Indian named Nemacolin in blazing a trail 60 miles long over the Laurel watershed to the mouth of Redstone creek (now Brownsville, Pennsylvania) on the Monongahela where another stockade was soon built (1752). Over this famous historic path came a few daring Vir- ginia settlers to plant themselves on the Monongahela which had become a river of strategic importance in connection with the French claim to the summits of the Appalachians. The French made the next move. In the spring of 1753 while the Virginians lost time in debating, French authorities built Port Le Boeuf upon a tributary of the Allegheny to protect the portage rout south- ward from the French fort at Presq'Isle, and soon sent a small detach- ment which seized the English trading post at Venango at the mouth of the Allegheny tributary. In November (1753) the Virginia governor, Dinwiddie, sent Major George Washington (who took Gist as his guide) to remonstrate against the French occupation of this region. Late in 1753, after considerable haggling with his Assembly (which had no love for the Ohio Company), he decided to force matters by sending a small body of men under Capt. William Trent of Hampshire county to build a log fort at the forks of the Ohio. In January, 1754, he decided to send a larger body of men under the command of Washington to protect Trent and to resist any at- tempts of the French. In order to stimulate enlistment, he offered 200,000 acres of land on the Ohio to be divided among the men and the officers. In February he was finally able to persuade the deputies to vote supplies for the enterprise - a slender allowance of 10,000 pounds. On March 31, Washington, with 300 Virginia frontiersmen, started to the Monongahela. At Wills creek, he met Trent and his company of men who, after beginning a stockade at the forks, had been compelled to surrender on April 17 by a force of French and Indians numbering over 300 persons. Continuing his march westward upon the over-mountain path with a determination to hold the strategic point from which Trent and his troops had been expelled, he arrived late in May at Great Meadows which he selected as his military base. On May 28, while leading a scouting party, he stumbled upon Jumon- ville who was suspiciously haunting his path. He promptly attacked and routed the enemy in a brief engagement which quickly precipi- tated a general conflagration. To protect himself against an avenging expedition from Ft. Duquesne which was proceeding in boats up the Monongahela to Redstone creek, he withdrew to Great Meadows and erected Fort Necessity where, after a desperate siege on July 3, by French and savages aggregating double his number, he signed articles of capitulation, in the midst of a fierce thunderstorm and, at day- break on July 4, marched out over Nemacolin's path toward Wills creek. The defeat, attributed by Governor Dinwiddie to the delay of the Assembly in voting the money for the expedition, resulted in the with- drawal of practically all the British traders and pioneers from the trans-Allegheny region to the older settlements, leaving France once more in complete possession of the West. Dinwiddie, strongly impressed with the gravity of the situation, and perceiving that a crisis was at hand, persistently appealed to the British authorities for assistance to regain the western country from France, and finally was able to secure two Irish regiments of 500 men each under the leadership of General Edward Braddock who arrived at Alexandria, Virginia, with his regiments near the end of March, 1755. At Braddock's camp there was held, on April 14, a conference between the governor of Virginia and four other colonial governors. After- considerable delay in discussing the best route to the Monongahela and in obtaining wagons from Pennsylvania for the expedition, Braddock pushed west through Frederick, Maryland, to the Potomac at Williams- port, and, in order to obtain a satisfactory road, crossed the Potomac and marched nearly due south to Winchester, and from that point fol- lowed the road through Hampshire county across the Potomac at the mouth of Little Capon river and from that point followed the Potomac to Wills creek (Fort Cumberland) which was reached on May 10. Here he wasted a month waiting for his cannon and in arranging for Indian scouts to lead his army through the almost unbroken wilderness beyond. On June 10, he started to cross the divide. Finding that the old Nemacolin path (Washington's old road) was fit only for footmen and pack-horses, he set 300 axemen to work to widen the road for artillery and transport wagons. In reply to those who urged greater progress by making a temporary road, he insisted upon the importance of a per- manent highway for the future and directed that streams and ravines should be bridged and hillsides graded. In eight days he advanced only 30 miles. Although he moved westward at the rate of only five miles a day, he opened across the Alleghenies a good wagon road over which the Star of Empire later moved westward. Sixteen days after he left Cumberland, acting upon the advice of Washington, he pushed forward toward Fort Duquesne a part of his force, 1,200 men, with a few cannon and wagons and pack-horses, leav- ing Colonel Dunbar to follow at a slower pace with the heavy baggage and the reserves. On July 8, at the mouth of Turtle creek, a tributary of the Monongahela, eight miles from Fort Duquesne, he reached the fatal ravine where he was flanked on both sides by the French and their allies and defeated with heavy losses. Leaving the dead unburied, the retreating army fled rapidly in the direction of Fort Cumberland, led by Colonel Washington. On the route, Braddock died from his wounds received in the battle, and was buried near Fort Necessity. Dunbar, who had camped on the Laurel hills, destroyed his valuable stores following the panic which resulted from the news of the disaster, and joined in the disorderly flight to Fort Cumberland. Among his fleeing wagonners, riding a horse whose traces he had cut, was young Daniel Boone, later famous as a frontiers- man. The disaster was complete. It was a momentous crisis in the border settlements of western Virginia. Every frontier settlement was in im- mediate danger. Both settlers and traders withdrew promptly from the trans-Allegheny region. Contrary to expectations, however, the French and Indians did not pursue immediately, but, becoming panic-stricken in their fear of ven- geance, fled to Fort Duquesne almost as fast as the British and Vir- ginians retreated over the ill-fated path of Nemacolin. After the celebration of their victory they formed small parties to attack the English settlements. Before winter they were in absolute control of the trans-Allegheny country - a control which they retained for three years. Braddock's road, which had been cut through the wilderness with so much labor, furnished a convenient pathway for French at- tacks on the English border. Some idea of the conditions may be obtained from the following extracts from a journal kept by Col. Chas. Lewis while marching to Fort Cumberland to defend the frontier against the Indians after the defeat of General Braddock in 1755: Oct. 20. - We left Winchester under the command of Majr. Andrew Lewis and marched 10 miles to Capt. Smiths a very remarkable man. I was this day appointed Capt. over 41 men of different Companies. A remarkable dispute be- tween Lieut. Steinbergen and an Irish woman. - 10 Miles. 21st. - Marched from Capt. Smiths & crossed great Cape Capon, a beautiful prospect & the best land I ever yet saw. We encamped this night on the top of a mountain. The roads were by far the worst this day and our march was for that reason but 13 miles. Our men never the less were in high spirits, about 8 o 'clock this night a soldiers musket went off in the middle of our encampment without any damage. 22d. - This day we marched from Sandy Top Mountain to Little Cape Capon, the land very good. We encamped this night at a poor mans house entirely for- saken, the people drove off by the Indians, we found here a plenty of corn, oats, stock of all kinds, even the goods & furniture of the house were left behind. This night about 9 o'clock we were joined by the Honble. Coll. George Washington and Capt. George Mercer A. D. C. - 15 M. 23. - Very bad weather, snow, rain, we marched very slow today & arrived at the South Branch where we encamped at a house on the Branch, having come up with Coll. Washington, Capt. George Mercer A. D. C. - 9 Miles. Very ill na- tured people here. 24. - A very wet day, we marched to Patterson Creek on which we encamped in a house deserted. We found here good corn, wheat & pasturage. Before we marched we discharged our pieces being wet, and charged them in expectation of seeing the Enemy. Coll. Washington marched before with Capt. Ashby's Company of rangers. - 14 Miles. 25. - Marched from Patterson Creek & passed many deserted houses. I was this day very curious in the examination of the mischief done in the houses & was shocked at the havoc made by the barbarous & cruel Indians. At one Mecraggins I found the master of the family who had been buried but slightly by his friends after his assassination, half out of the grave & eaten by the wolves, the house burnt, the corn field laid waste, & an entire ruin made. At half after six we arrived at Fort Cumberland cold and hungry. We had this day by Maj. Lewis' order two women ducked for robbing the deserted houses. - 20 Miles. 31st. - An Irishman arrived at the Fort with two scalps, it seems he was the Sunday before taken prisoner by a party of 52 Indians and being left in custody of two while the party proceeded towards the inhabitants, he with his guard arrived at the Shanoe Camp. Nov. 2. - Ensign Bacon arrived at the Fort from Pattersons Creek, where he had been to erect a fort. On his way he heard the Indian hollow & saw many tracks of Indians in the woods, this alarmed the Fort but being late 'twas not possible to send out a party, but orders were given for a hundred men to parade in the morning under Capt. Waggoner. 21st. - A very bad morning, it still continuing to rain. A party of one hun- dred men paraded under Capt. Waggoner to search for the Indians on Pattersons creek according to Ensign Bacons information of the day before. Maj. Andrew Lewis & myself went volunteers on this command we returned the same day with the party, no Indians or tracks of Indians to be seen. Dec. 5th. - This morning we marched for Fort Cumberland and met about five miles from Crissips a relief commanded by Lieutenant Lynn of twelve men, we accepted of this relief and gave up our command to Mr. Lynn according to order. 6. - Five deserters were this day punished each receiving one thousand lashes. In this last command I may with the greatest truth aver that I saw the most horrid shocking sight, I ever yet beheld, at a house adjoining the cornfield in which our soldiers were employed in gathering corn, we saw the bodies of three different people who were first massacred, then scalped, and after thrown into a fire, these bodies were not yet quite consumed, but the flesh on many part of them, we saw the clothes of these people yet bloody, and the stakes, the instruments of their death still bloody & their brains sticking on them, the orchards all down, the mills all destroyed and a waste of all manner of household goods. These people were in my opinion very industrious, having the best corn I ever saw and their plantation well calculated for produce and every other conveniency suitable to the station of a farmer. In the period of uncertainty which followed Braddock's defeat, Washington stood out as the guardian of the West. In measures for defense of the exposed frontiers, he was the choice of Governor Din- widdie who recommended the chain of forts along the Alleghenies from the head of the Potomac to the Holston river. For the protec- tion of 350 miles of open border, he had under his command less than 1,500 men, including many expert riflemen, but a turbulent and un- disciplined soldiery, without uniforms, electing their own officers, fixing their own terms of enlistment and proudly disdaining all manifesta- tions of authority which did not appeal to their individual judgments. His laborious task was a thankless one. His plans were restricted by the irritable and jealous Virginia Assembly which granted stores with tardiness and insufficiency and also by the frontiersmen themselves who had to be fairly driven into the unpopular service by means of the draft. Strongly feeling the obligation which rested upon him, he continued to pelt the governor, the Assembly and other influential men with letters appealing for necessary assistance. Recognizing the difficulty of redeeming western Virginia by a new expedition to the Mononhagela, Virginia, in the winter of 1755, planned an expedition by route farther south to strike a blow against the Shaw- nee towns in Ohio.(1) This was the first English military expedition to the waters of the Ohio south of Pittsburgh. The expedition, consisting of about 350 men under command of Andrew Lewis, started February 18, 1756, from Fort Frederick in Augusta county, passed down New river and through the Drapers Meadows and by a difficult route through the woods with plans to reach the Indians beyond the mouth of Big Sandy. The route was partly through West Virginia, apparently by way of Tug Fork, and crossed into Kentucky near the mouth of Big Sandy. For some reason, possibly because of the loss of supplies in crossing the river and partly as a result of the cold weather the ex- pedition turned back and was broken up by desertions before its return, many members perishing from cold and hunger. Its failure probably encouraged new Indian assaults and foraging. Under the skillful supervision of Washington, the Virginia and Caro- lina borderers erected beyond the main settlements a line of stockaded block-houses at strategic points usually determined by the principal mountain passes. Among the most important affecting western Vir- ginia were: Fort Ligonier on the Loyalhanna (in Pennsylvania), Fort Cumberland on the Upper Potomac, Fort Chiswell on the gentle slopes of the Valley of Virginia, Fort Byrd on the upper Holston, and Fort Loudoun on the Little Tennessee. Around these log strongholds, which became famous in border story, raged a long contest of fierce and bloody warfare while the larger operations of the war were being conducted farther north. The importance of this border contest was its aid in re- taining the Ohio valley which really was the key to the situation. In addition to these important stockades many smaller forts were used as places of refuge but they were inadequate for the security of settlers. The following is a list of those built in the important settle- ments within the territory east of the mountains which is now a part of West Virginia: Fort Ohio, built in 1750 as a frontier storehouse of the Ohio Company, near the site of Ridgely (Mineral county) on the route later known as Mc- Culloch's path. Sellers fort, built in 1756, at the mouth of Patterson Creek (Mineral county); Ashby's Fort, built in 1755, on Patterson's Creek (near Frankfort, Mineral county) about 25 miles from Fort Cumberland; Fort Williams, six miles below Romney; Furman Fort, on the South Branch, three miles below Romney; Fort Pearsall, built in 1755 on the South Branch, near the site of Romney; Fort Buttermilk (sometimes called Fort Waggoner), built in 1756 on the South Branch three miles above Moorefield; Fort Pleasant, at Old Fields (near Moorefield) on the South Branch; George's Fort, in the vicinity of Petersburg; Fort Hopewell, on North Fork about six miles above Petersburg; Fort Pearson (or Peterson), built in the fall of 1756 near the mouth of Mill Creek (Grant county) ; Fort Upper Tract, erected in 1756, west of the South Branch near Fort Seybert; Fort Seybert, on the South Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac (twelve miles northeast of Franklin (Pendleton county); Ruddell's Fort (Riddle's) built in 1755 on Lost River (Hardy county); Fort Warden, near the site of Wardensville (in Hardy county) ; Fort Cox, built in 1755 on land of Friend Cox at the month of the Little Capon river; Fort Maidstone, built in 1755 or 1756 near the mouth of Capon; Fort Capon, at the forks of Capon in the Great Cacapon valley; Fort Edwards, near the present village of Capon Bridge; Hedges' Fort, on Black Creek (west of Martinsburg); Fort Evans, two miles south of Martinsburg; Fort Neally, on Opequon Creek. Fort Duquesne was a central hive from which savages swarmed to attack the Pennsylvania and Virginia settlers east of the mountains. It furnished the inspiration and the sinews of war to Indians of the Ohio region who followed the trails across western Virginia to attack the settlers of the South Branch county and those on the Potomac. In 1756 parties of Indians made unsuccessful attacks in Hardy county (on Lost river), and others committed depredations near the site of Martins- burg. In the battle of the Trough (near Moorefield) they killed many settlers. In 1757 another party, many of which were mounted on stolen horses, almost annihilated a company under command of Captain Mer- cer at Capon river, in Hampshire county. For two years bands of warriors under Kilbuck hung about the settlements on the upper Po- tomac. In 1758 they invaded Pendleton county via the old Seneca war path and surprised and burned the fort at Upper Tract, killing every occupant. Then they appeared before Fort Seybert on the South Fork (Moorefield river) and after inducing the occupants to surrender, mas- sacred all except a girl who escaped and one boy, James Dyer, who was carried into captivity. After burning the houses they retreated via Greenwalt Gap and the Seneca war path. Many of the backwoodsmen, uncertain of their security, retired to the Shenandoah or farther east, leaving their house unprotected from the Indians' torch. Finally, after a period of defeat and humiliation, important events turned the scale of war. In England, a master of organization in the person of William Pitt was placed in control and in the winter of 1757-58 he prepared for victory by using his substantial parliamentary majority to equip the dogs of war. In Pennsylvania too, preparation was made for greater efficiency in fighting. After Braddock's defeat and the resulting attack of the Indians upon the unprotected frontier settlements, whose settlers had been unable to induce the peaceful legislature to pro- vide them with powder and lead and other warlike stores, the Quakers, who had always opposed appropriations for war or even the establish- ment of militia for self-defense, found themselves in a very embarrassing situation. Threatened with expulsion, in 1756 they voluntarily and public spiritedly retired to private life and patriotically allowed Scotch- Irishmen to be elected to the legislature in their places. Such a patriotic act of political disinterestedness, has seldom been paralleled in the history of legislative bodies. To the Scotch-Irish in no small degree was due the result of the final contest against the French in western Pennsylvania. They had no conscientious scruples against prosecution of war or the voting of a strong militia act for defense. Under the changed conditions, with Scotch-Irishmen in the lead, the legislature voted needed supplies of war for an expedition to recover the Monongahela and the Ohio. Immediately after the retreat of Braddock's army, Washington had begun the agitation for an attack upon the French stronghold at Fort Duquesne, feeling the futility of waiting on the frontiers to be attacked. In 1756 and again in 1757, he urged the necessity of sending an expedi- tion over the Alleghanies to drive the French from the Monongahela and the Ohio. In 1758 he was gratified at the decision in favor of a movement to execute his recommendations. Under the new British plans of offense, Brigadier John Forbes, with 1,900 regulars (including 1,200 Scotch Highlanders) and 5,000 provincials was ordered to recapture Fort Duquesne and to repair the loss occasioned by Braddock's tragic failure. Virginia and Pennsylvania decided to stand together in a common effort to drive the French from the Ohio. But what route should be used in crossing the Alleghanies? At first Forbes selected Williamsport, Maryland, as his base but following some advice from John St. Clair he changed his original plan and made Raystown (Bedford, Pennsyl- vania) his base of supplies. Apparently, however, he planned for a while to march by way of Carlisle and Bedford to Fort Cumberland with a plan to use Braddock's road from that point to the Monongahela. He planned to cut a road from Bedford to Fort Cumberland in May, 1858, when he ordered Washington's regiment to Fort Cumberland. Washington fully expected that Braddock's road would be cleared for use and in July wrote to Bouquet suggesting that Virginian troops should be ordered to proceed to Great Crossings and construct forts there, but he found Colonel Bouquet unalterably fixed on a new route to the Ohio from Bedford. Although Washington was prejudiced in favor of the Virginia route he gracefully accepted the final decision in favor of the new rival route, led the Virginians northward over the newly cut road to Fort Bedford, plunged westward to the Loyalhannon and himself supervised the cutting of Forbes' road westward from Fort Ligonier toward Hannastown (Greensburg) and Fort Duquesne. Washington, at the head of the Virginians, put new life into the expedition. He desired to push forward more rapidly. When the expedition reached Hannastown (on November 5, 1758) after fifty days had been spent in opening fifty miles of road, he was surprised to learn that General Forbes, who was so sick that he could not walk, had de- cided to stop the advance and go into winter quarters. Fortunately, however, following the arrival of news that the French garrison at Fort Duquesne was not in a condition for resistance, he was sent forward with 2,500 men to attack. In five days he advanced from Hannastown to a point within seventeen miles of the Ohio and on November 25 he reached the fort, a pile of blackened ruins. The French, deciding not to risk a fight, had burned their barracks and stores and scattered by land and water, some down the Ohio (to Fort Massac), others to Presq'Isle, and the commander with a small body guard to Fort Machault, the Venango of former years. Their retreat to Canada was rendered impracticable by the English control of Lake Ontario folio-wing the capture of Fort Frontenac. The power of the French in the Ohio valley was ended. Their few posts hundreds of miles further west were too remote to menace the Virginia frontier. The fate of western Virginia no longer hung in the balance. The way was cleared for the colonization which soon followed. The race best suited to conquer the wilderness had won. Settlements were threatened with delay, however, by two events which followed the treaty of Paris of 1763 and put the patience of the backwoodsmen to another test. The king, desiring to prevent conflicts with the Indians, commanded his "loving subjects" not to purchase or settle lands beyond the mountains "without our especial leave and license." The Indians of the West, the unconquered allies of France, were unpacified and, organized under the superior leadership of Pontiac, formed an active "conspiracy" to resist the Anglo-French treaty of peace and to renew the war on their own account. The injunction of the king resulted in no great inconvenience to those who felt the call of the West. Pontiac's war proved more inconvenient. The seizure of English forts at Mackinac, Sandusky, St. Joseph and at Ouiatanon (near Lafayette) on the Wabash resulted in a reign of terror along the western frontier. Fortunately Detroit and Fort Pitt successfully withstood the attacks made upon them. In measures for defense on the upper Ohio, Virginia and Maryland were far more active than Pennsylvania whose conduct was critized by General Am- herst. Pontiac's blow fell almost simultaneously at all points from Illinois to the frontier of Virginia. In the reign of terror which followed, the settlers fled from the frontiers for protection. They deserted the Green- brier; they hurried to points east of the Alleghenies. More than five hundred families from the frontiers took refuge at Winchester. The Indians who prowled through western Virginia extended their raids to the South Branch of the Potomac. The Indians made a determined effort to take Fort Pitt. They tried treachery, deception and direct assault. They dug holes in the river bank, and burying themselves out of sight, kept up a fire for weeks, they tried to set fire to the fort by shooting burning arrows upon the roof. They offered the garrison safe passage across the mountains to the settlements if it would agree to evacuate, they falsely represented that resistance was useless. The commandant replied that he intended to stay and that he had plenty of provisions and ammunition and that additional armies were approaching to exterminate the Indians. Ap- parently discouraged by this answer, the Indians for a time ceased to push the siege vigorously. In July, however, they renewed the attack with great fury. Finally on the last day of July, 1763, evidently ex- pecting the arrival of General Bouquet from the East, they raised the siege and disappeared. Meantime General Bouquet was marching to the relief of Fort Pitt, with five hundred men and a large train of supplies. As he marched west from Cumberland he found the settlements broken up, the houses burned, the grain unharvested, and desolation on every hand, showing how relentless the savages had beep in their determination to break up the settlements. On August 2, 1763, he arrived at Fort Ligonier, which had been besieged, but he found that the Indians had departed. Leaving part of his stores there, he hastened forward toward Fort Pitt and on the route his troops were attacked at Bushy run. After a desperate battle which was closed by stratagem in causing the Indians to fall into a trap, he marched forward to Fort Pitt and prepared to end the war. Deciding that his force at that time was not large enough to enable him to invade the Indian country west of the Ohio, he proceeded to collect about two thousand men. In the summer of 1764 he carried the war into the enemy's country, and struck directly at the Indian towns in order to bring the savages to terms. Before he had advanced very far west of Pittsburgh, he learned that the tribes had resorted to various devices to retard his advance and thwart his purposes. But he proceeded rapidly, and with such caution and in such force that pre- vented any danger of an attack by the alarmed Indians, who now fore- saw the destruction of their towns and sent a delegation to ask for peace. Although he signified his willingness to negotiate peace on condition that the Indiana surrender all white prisoners in their hands, he did not halt in his advance to wait for a reply. Soon he was within striking distance, and the Indians in order to save their towns and having learned something from their defeat, promptly accepted his terms and delivered over two hundred prisoners, a large number of whom were women and children. Finally in 1765, after the Indians had become wearied of their confederacy and cowed by repeated defeats, the French induced Pontiac to sue for peace. Thenceforth until the beginning of the Revolutionary war, westward expansion beyond the mountains did not encounter more than customary local opposition from a few tribesmen who jealously watched the passage of the Appalachians. ******************************************************************************* Chapter Footnotes: (1) This expedition probably resulted in part from a recent Indian invasion on the upper New river. On the day before Braddock's defeat, the Shawnese com- pletely destroyed the Ingles-Draper settlement and escaped with their prisoners, crossing the New above the mouth of Bluestone and from thence passing over the northeast extension of Flat Top and via the site of Beckley over the trail to the head of Paint creek and thence down the Kanawha. After the return of Mrs. Ingles measures were adopted by Governor Dinwiddie to defend the frontier.