Annals of Augusta County/Chapter 3

From 1753, for more than ten years, war raged all along the frontier. We do not propose to give a history of the general war, and can only briefly sketch some of the principal events which immediately concerned the people of Augusta county.

Some account of the Indian tribes most frequently in contact with the white settlers of this region is appropriate here. Withers states, in his "Border Warfare" [p. 39], that when Virginia became known to the whites, the portion of the State lying northwest of the Blue Ridge and extending to the lakes was possessed by the Massawomees. These were a powerful confederacy, rarely in unity with the tribes east of that range of mountains; but generally harassing them by frequent hostile irruptions into their country. Of their subsequent history, nothing is now known. They are supposed by some to have been the ancestors of the Six Nations.

"As settlements were extended from the sea shore," says Withers, "the Massawomees gradually retired; and when the white population reached the Blue Ridge, the Valley between it and the Alleghany was entirely uninhabited. This delightful region of country was then only used as a hunting ground, and as a highway for belligerent parties, of different nations, in their military expeditions against each other. In consequence of the almost continuous hostilities between the northern and southern Indians, these expeditions were very frequent, and tended somewhat to retard the settlement of the Valley, and render a residence in it, for some time, insecure and unpleasant. Between ​the Alleghany mountains and the Ohio river, within the present limits of Virginia, there were some villages interspersed, inhabited by small numbers of Indians; the most of whom retired northwest of that river as the tide of emigration rolled towards it. Some, however, remained in the interior after settlements began to be made in their vicinity.

"North of the present boundary of Virginia, and particularly near the junction of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, and in the circumjacent country, the Indians were more numerous, and their villages larger. In 1753, when General Washington visited the French posts on the Ohio, the spot which had been selected by the Ohio Company as the site for a fort, was occupied by Shingess, King of the Delawares; and other parts of the proximate country were inhabited by Mingoes and Shawanees [Shawnees]. When the French were forced to abandon the position which they had taken at the forks of Ohio, the greater part of the adjacent tribes removed further west. So that when improvements were begun to be made in the wilderness of North-western Virginia it had been almost entirely deserted by the natives; and excepting a few straggling hunters and warriors, who occasionally traversed it in quest of game, or of human beings on whom to wreak their vengeance, almost its only tenants were beasts of the forest."

We have no statistics of Indian population in 1753. A Captain Hutchins visited most of the tribes in 1768, and made the most accurate estimate he could of their numbers at that date. The Indian population was no doubt much greater in 1753 than in 1768; ten years of war having thinned their ranks considerably. In the latter year the statistics were as follows, as reported by Hutchins: The Cherokees, in the western part of North Carolina, now Tennessee, numbered about two thousand five hundred. The Chickasaws resided south of the Cherokees, and had a population of seven hundred and fifty. The Catawbas, on the Catawba river, in South Carolina, numbered only one hundred and fifty. These last, although so few, were remarkably enterprising. They are said to have frequently traversed the Valley of Virginia, and even penetrated the country on the Susquehanna and between the Ohio and Lake Erie, to wage war with the Delawares. The more northern tribes were the Delawares, Shawnees, Chippewas, ​Wyandots, Miamis and other northwestern tribes, and had an aggregate population of about three thousand five hundred. The Shawnees, the terror of the inhabitants of Augusta county from the frontier to the Blue Ridge, in 1753, numbered only about three hundred in 1768. They then dwelt on the Sciota and Muskingum rivers, in Ohio.

Kercheval states that the Catawba and Delaware Indians were said to have been engaged in war at the time the Valley was first entered by white people, and that the feud was continued for many years afterwards. Several bloody battles were fought between these tribes on or near the Potomac. One of these occurred at the mouth of Antietam creek, in 1736, it is believed. "The Delawares," says Kercheval, "had penetrated far to the south, committed some acts of outrage on the Catawbas, and on their retreat were overtaken at the mouth of this creek, when a desperate conflict ensued. Every man of the Delaware party was put to death, with the exception of one who escaped after the battle was over, and every Catawba held up a scalp, but one. This was a disgrace not to be borne; and he instantly gave chase to the fugitive, overtook him at the Susquehanna river, (a distance little short of one hundred miles,) killed and scalped him, and returning showed his scalp to several white people, and exulted in what he had done." Other battles between these tribes occurred at Painted Rock, on the South Branch; at Hanging Rock, in Hampshire; and near the site of Franklin, Pendleton county. According to Kercheval, a few Shawnees continued to live in the lower valley till 1754, when they removed west of the Alleghany mountain.

According to tradition, a battle between Indians occurred on the Cowpasture river, near Millborough, Bath county, where there is a small mound supposed to cover the remains of the slain. In the spring of 1886 the floods washed away a portion of the mound, and exposed to view five large skeletons in a good state of preservation.

Europeans paid little or no attention to the claim of the Indians to the territory which they held, or roamed over. France held Canada and Louisiana, which latter was understood to embrace all the country west of the Mississippi river. The territory mentioned was conceded by England to France; but not content with this vast domain, the French claimed all the ​territory watered by streams tributary to the Mississippi. In pursuance of their claim, they built Fart Du Quesne, where Pittsburgh now stands, at that time, as held by Virginians, within the county of Augusta. In 1753, Governor Dinwiddie sent Major Washington to remonstrate with the French officer commanding on the Ohio, and to warn him that war was inevitable unless he withdrew. The French persisting in their claim, Dinwiddie began to prepare for the conflict, and invited the co-operation of the other colonies. The Indians, at first not specially friendly to either side, were conciliated by the French, and proved their faithful and efficient allies during the war.

Colonel James Patton was "County Lieutenant," or commander-in-chief, of the Augusta militia, in 1754. In January of that year, Governor Dinwiddie wrote to him that he had determined to send two hundred men to reinforce the troops then building a fort on the Monongahela. He therefore ordered Patton to "draw out" the militia of the county, and from them obtain by volunteering, or drafting, fifty men for the purpose. The troops were to be "at Alexandria, the head of Potomack river, by the 20th of next mo. and if possible with their arms, &c." As the county was large, the number of men called for so small, "and the pay so very good," the Governor did not doubt that there would be a sufficient number of volunteers. They were to be commanded, he said, by Major George Washington. The company was no doubt raised and led by Andrew Lewis. At any rate, Lewis was with Washington, July 4, 1754, at the capitulation of Fort Necessity, and, although wounded and hobbling on a staff, by his coolness probably prevented a general massacre of the Virginia troops. Washington had been compelled to fall back to Fort Necessity, a rude stockade at Great Meadows. On the 3d of July, about noon, six hundred French, with one hundred Indians, came in sight, and took possession of one of the eminences, where, says Bancroft, [Vol. IV, p. 121,] every soldier found a large tree for his shelter, and could fire in security on the troops beneath. For nine hours, in a heavy rain, the fire was returned. At last, after thirty of the English, and but three of the French had been killed, De Villiers, the French commander, proposed a parley. The terms of capitulation which were offered were interpreted to Washington, who did not understand French, and, as inter​preted, were accepted. On the 4th, the English garrison, retaining all its effects, withdrew from the basin of the Ohio.

In his book called "Georgians," to which we have heretofore referred. Governor Gilmer relates an occurrence near Staunton as follows:

"In June, 1754, a party of twelve Northwestern Indian warriors stopped at John Lewis's on their return from the South, where they had been satisfying their revenge upon the Cherokees for some injury received. Some of his neighbors happened to be there, whose families or friends had suffered from attacks of the Indians. They insisted upon the party remaining until night, and exhibiting their dances. Upon their consenting, they left and employed the time until dark collecting the neighbors who had suffered from Indian murders. A beef was killed, and a large log fire made, around which the Indians assembled, cooking and eating to their stomach's content. They danced and drank whiskey until their lookers-on were satisfied with the display of their antics, and then went on their way homeward as far as the Middle river, where they lodged in Anderson's barn. As soon as they were sound asleep the whites were upon them with their axes, knives and guns. Only one escaped. For that night's doings many Virginia wives were made widows, and mothers childless. The government of Virginia endeavored to punish the perpetrators. All fled to some distant part of the extended frontier of the colonies, except one by the name of King, who lived a skulking life for a long time, always keeping his gun near him. He sometimes would go to the old Augusta church, the great assembling place for worship of the Scotch-Irish of that part of the country, where, seated upon the sill of the door with his inseparable companion, the rifle, in his hand, he listened to the words of the preacher, so necessary to the comfort of the Irish spirit, whether Protestant or Catholic. He was suffered to work out his own punishment, avoiding all men, and avoided by all."

We presume this story is substantially true as related. Governor Gilmer's mother being a daughter of Thomas Lewis, the surveyor and burgess, the facts had to pass through only one or two hands to reach him. We, however, think it probable that the occurrence took place a year or two earlier than the time mentioned; and we find no evidence in the proceedings of ​the County Court, or the voluminous correspondence of Governor Dinwiddie, of any effort to bring the perpetrators of the outrage to punishment.

Governor Dinwiddie, wisely or unwisely, precipitated the war between the English and French in America. After it began he threw himself into the fray with great ardor. He was indefatigable in recruiting troops, calling for help from neighboring colonies and England, writing letters, and scolding and blustering. He rivaled Horace Walpole, one of his correspondents, in the number, if not in the elegance, of-his epistles. His voluminous correspondence, published by the Virginia Historical Society, and edited by R. A. Brock, secretary, &c., is full of interest to those who have a taste for such literature. He was too much pressed for time and space to write his words in full, and often it is difficult to read his productions. He set the rules of grammar and spelling at defiance—especially when in a passion he rebuked a military officer, or abused the savages. The latter suffered terribly at his hands, being denounced as "wicked murderers," "insatiate cowards," "villainous," "banditti," "infidels," "vermin." He was economical to the extent of parsimony, demanding an account of every pound of powder or lead he issued to the troops. Without military training or experience he planned campaigns, and undertook to instruct George Washington and Andrew Lewis how to fight the Indians. He was punctilious in etiquette, and informed Washington: "The method that you are to declare war is at the head of your companies, with three vollies of small arms for his Majesty's health and a successful war."

Many of the Governor's letters were addressed to Augusta men, and others relating to events taking place here. We shall refer to some of them.

Writing to the Lords of Trade, July 24, 1754, Governor Dinwiddie gives a highly exaggerated account of the casualties at Fort Necessity. He reports the number of the enemy killed as three hundred, and "of our people," thirty.

He set to work energetically to repair the disaster and to organize another expedition to the Ohio. By his order, Fort Cumberland was built at Wills's creek where the city of Cumberland, Maryland, now stands, and Colonel James Innes was put in command of it. This gentleman was born in Scotland, ​but came to Virginia with some troops from North Carolina. He was a favorite with the Governor, who addressed him in one of his letters as "Dear James." Notwithstanding "the intolerable obstinacy of our neighboring colonies," as Governor Dinwiddle expressed it. North Carolina had sent some troops. One of the companies, commanded by Captain Bryan, on their march towards Cumberland on the 27th of July, "mutinied at Augusta Courthouse," says the Governor, "and would march no further till a friend of mine advanced £40." Innes was expected to proceed across the Alleghanies and assail the French, and Washington, then a colonel, was to co-operate Andrew Lewis was a captain in Washington's regiment, having been commissioned March 18, 1754.

Richard Pearls, whose name is also written Parris, or Paris, was located on Holston river, Augusta county, in 1754, in order to trade with the Cherokees and other southern Indians. The Governor utilized him as far as possible. Some Indian depredations had occurred in that quarter, and the Governor writes to Pearis August 2d, "I am surprised the inhabitants on Holstein river should submit to be robbed by a few Indians." He sends his thanks to a certain Chickasaw warrior for "resenting the murder of one of our people." "Let the Chickasaw know I greatly approve of his conduct, and have a real esteem for him." He wishes to know whether "the Emperor," or "Old Hop" is the head man of the Cherokees. He exhorts Pearis to stir up the Indians to prevent the building of forts by the French in that quarter. The trader wanted to obtain "the long island in Holston river," and is encouraged to hope he may get it.

As we have seen, Governor Dinwiddle was all agog for a campaign immediately against the French at Fort Duquesne [Pittsburg]. Washington was opposed to it under the circumstances. The force which could be raised was too small, and the season was too late for a march over the Alleghanies. The Virginia Assembly at first refused to vote a supply of money. Some members of that body had opposed the original measures of the Governor, which resulted in the war. They were not sure that England had a just title to the region around Fort Duquesne, which was held and claimed by the French.—[Irving's Life of Washington, Vol. I, p. 103.] Under the pretext of protecting all settlers on the waters of the Mississippi, a supply was finally ​granted, and the Governor proceeded to raise a regiment of three hundred men, divided into six companies, of fifty men each. Joshua Fry was Colonel, and Washington, Lieutenant-Colonel; but the latter soon succeeded to the command, on the death of the former. Recruiting went on slowly, till bounty land on the Ohio river was promised to the soldiers. Early in August, 1754, Washington rejoined his regiment at Alexandria, and was urged by the Governor to raise the full complement of men, and unite with Colonel Innes, at Wills's creek.

Governor Dinwiddle wrote to the Earl of Albemarle, August 15, 1754, pleading for assistance from "home," as England was still called. Two regiments of regular forces, he said, would be absolutely necessary. To Earl Granville he wrote on the same day, that the French intended to build forts, not only on the Ohio, but on Greenbrier, Holston and New rivers, and "the back of North Carolina." On the 6th of September, he had heard "complaints from our frontier in Augusta county of many parties of Indians, &c., robbing and ill-treating our people." In another letter of the same date, he says: "The French and Indians are now making incursions among our inhabitants in Augusta county, threatening our people to depart from their plantations, and propose building forts on Holstein's, Green Brier's and other rivers."

"Therefore," wrote the Governor to Washington, September 11, 1754, "I now order you to give a detachment of forty or fifty men to Capt. Lewis. With them he is to march imediately to Augusta county, in order to protect our frontier from the incursions of small parties of Indians, and I suppose some French. Order him to march imediately, and to apply to Col. Patton, the County-Lieutenant, who will direct him where to proceed that he may be most usefull." A letter was addressed to Captain Andrew Lewis the same day—the first of a long series—of which we give a literal copy:

"Sir: I have order'd Colo. W. to give You a detachm't of 40 or 50 Men from his regim't; with them You are imediately to march for Augusta Co'ty. Apply to the Co'ty Lieut, for his direct'n, where You may be most usefull in protect'g the Frontiers of y't Co'ty. If You happen to meet with any Parties of French or Ind's, You are imediately to examine the Ind's, of w't Nat'n, and take them Prisoners, if they cannot give a proper ​Acc't of themselves, and if any Party sh'd be obstrepolous and comit any hostilities on our Subjects, in y't Case You are to repell Force by Force, but I expect You will be very circumspect in Y'r Conduct, and behave with good Discipline of Y'r Men, and a proper Courage, so y't You may recomend Y'rself to the Service of Y'r Country. You are to apply to Colo. Patton, Y'r Father, or any other Person for Provisions for Y'r Men. I recomend Frugality on this Head, and" [that you] "have Y'r Acc't thereon properly kept, and so just, y't You can swear to the Truth thereof, and it shall be p'd. You are to carry with You a suitable Qu'ty of Amunit'n, and if two or three Horses are wanted to carry the same, apply to Maj'r Carlyle, shew him this Let'r, and he will supply You therewith. You shall hereafter have my Orders w'n to return to join the other Forces. I now desire You to be as expeditious as possible in getting to Augusta, as I have several Letters of some Parties of Ind's, &c., Robbing and Plundering our People. Write me from Augusta. I wish You Health and Success in the Com'd You are ordered on, and I remain, Sir, Y'r Friend, &c."

On the 6th of October Captain Lewis was on his march to protect the frontier. He went somewhere west or south of Staunton, but to what point we cannot ascertain, and built a stockade fort there to check Indian raids—perhaps it was in the Greenbrier county, or it may have been Fort Lewis, near the site of the present town of Salem, in Roanoke county. He could not be spared, however, to remain there long, when an advance of the main army from Wills's Creek, or Fort Cumberland, was contemplated. The Governor wrote to him on November 5th: "You are to be in readiness to march to Wills's Creek on the first notice from Governor Sharpe" [of Maryland], "who now commands the forces, or by order of Colonel Stephens. I am now recruiting more men; if you can get any with you I desire you may enlist them, and if you want money for that service, if Colonel Patton or any other person advances it, draw on me, and I will pay it." It is matter of regret that we have no account of what Andrew Lewis did or suffered in this expedition.

In October, the House of Burgesses made a liberal grant for the public service, and during the winter of 1754–'5 ten thousand ​pounds were sent from England. The Governor became more energetic than ever. He determined to increase the number of companies to ten, and to settle disputes among officers about rank he reduced all the commands to independent companies, so that there should be no officer in a Virginia regiment above the rank of captain. Washington, considering it derogatory to his character to accept a lower commission than he had held, resigned and went home.

Peter Hogg,^[1] born in Scotland in 1703, settled in Augusta with his brothers, James and Thomas, about 1745, and married here Elizabeth Taylor. He was a captain in Washington's regiment, having been commissioned March 9, 1754. He finally became a lawyer of some note in the Valley. In January, 1755, he was recruiting on the Eastern Shore, and on the 19th of that month Governor Dinwiddle wrote to him with characteristic bluntness: "When you had your commission I was made to believe you could raise forty men. You carried up to Alexandria only nine, and that at a very great expense. You have now been two months getting fourteen. There is not an ensign that has been recruiting but has had more success. * * The forces are all marched for Wills's Creek. I therefore order you to proceed directly with all the recruits you have raised either to Alexandria or Fredericksburg, and make what dispatch you can to join the forces at Wills's Creek." On the 1st of February the Governor wrote to Hogg: "I received your letter and am glad you have raised forty men, with whom I desire you to proceed the most ready way for Winchester and Wills's Creek, where I expect the rest of our forces are by this time." [In the foregoing extracts we have omitted most of the capital letters and written out many words in full.]

Andrew Lewis was left in Augusta till after February 12, 1755. The Governor wrote to him on that day: "I now order you to leave the Ensign, a Sergeant, or corporal, and eighteen private men at the fort you have built, and with the rest of your company you are to march imediately for Winchester, and there remain till you have further orders. * * If you can 'list some stout young men that will march with you to Winchester, the ​shall, after review, be received into the service, and be paid their enlisting money."

The ensign left to hold the fort was William Wright. The Governor wrote to him on the i2th, instructing him "to keep a good look out," to be exact in his duties, to make short excursions from the fort, and to apply to Colonel Fatten, in case of danger, to have some of his militia ready at an hour's warning.

The apathy of other colonies was a great affliction to the Virginia Governor. He wrote to Lord Halifax, February, 24, 1755: "But my heart is grieved, and I want words to express the obdurate and inconsistent behaviour of our neighboring colonies, not as yet awakened from their lethargy, North Carolina only excepted, who have voted £5,000 for the expedition. Maryland Assembly now silting. Pennsylvania Assembly adjourned without voting one farthing."

Where Andrew Lewis was and what doing from February 12, 1755, till the fall of that year, we cannot ascertain. Although ordered by the Governor, in February, to proceed with most of his company to Winchester, he could not have accompanied General Braddock on his disastrous expedition. In a letter to Colonel Stephen, April 12, 1755, the Governor refers to Captain Lewis as if he were not then at Cumberland, but he was probably in the vicinity of that place. Writing to Lewis himself, however, July 8th, he says: "You was ordered to Augusta with your company to protect the frontier of that county. We have lately a messenger from thence giving an account of some barbarous murders committed on Holston's river, which has greatly intimidated the settlers. Colonel Patton being here he carries up blank commissions for officers to raise one company of rangers of 50 men, for the further protection of the inhabitants. I, therefore, desire you will correspond with the above gentleman, and if occasion is, he has orders to send for you to assist in defeating the designs of these wicked murderers." But in a letter to Colonel Patton, on the 8th, he says: "Inclosed you have a letter to Captain Lewis, which please forward to him. I think he is at Green Brier; and another letter to Lieutenant Wright, who I think is at Holston's river."

Lieutenant Wright seems to have gone from his former post—the fort built by Lewis—to Holston river, and the Governor was dissatisfied on account of the poor speed he made. Writ​ing to the Lieutenant, also on the 8th, he says:—"I have been informed you was twenty- two days in marching six miles; this is not agreeable to the opinion I conceived of you."

General Braddock arrived in Virginia February 19, 1755, with two regiments of British soldiers, and proceeded to Alexandria, as the most convenient place at which to organize an expedition to the Ohio. Washington was summoned from Mt. Vernon, to act as one of the General's aides, and promptly undertook the duty. The command consisted of the two regiments of regulars, augmented by some Virginia levies selected for the purpose; two companies of "hatchet men"; six of rangers, from different provinces; and one troop of light horse. The whole composed an army of nearly twenty-five hundred men.

The Virginia recruits and companies were clothed and drilled to make them look like soldiers. They were ridiculed by young British officers, one of whom wrote: "They performed their evolutions and firings as well as could be expected, but their languid, spiritless and unsoldier-like appearance, considered with the lowness and ignorance of most of their officers, gave little hopes of their future good behavior." In a few weeks, however, the survivors of Braddock's army entertained a different opinion of the provincial troops.

The army set out from Alexandria April 20th, and proceeded by way of Winchester, Fredericktown and Cumberland. What Augusta men accompanied the expedition, we do not know. It is said that Peter Hogg was one of the Virginia captains, and we know nothing to the contrary. He was ordered by Governor Dinwiddle to repair to Alexandria, only a little before General Braddock arrived there. An humble member of the expedition was a negro slave named Gilbert, who died in Staunton, in 1844, at the reputed age of one hundred and twelve years.

Leaving General Braddock and his army to pursue their tedious and painful march, let us observe the course of a peaceful traveler who at the same time traversed the Valley of Virginia.

The Rev. Hugh McAden, a young Presbyterian minister, went from Pennsylvania to North Carolina on horseback in 1755. He kept a diary of his trip, which we find in Foote's Sketches of North Carolina. It appears from the diary that an excessive drought prevailed in the county during that summer.

​On Thursday, the 19th of June, Mr. McAden set off up the Valley of the Shenandoah, of which he says: "Alone in the wilderness. Sometimes a house in ten miles, and sometimes not that." On Friday night (20th) he lodged at a Mr. Shankland's, eighty miles from Opecquon (near Winchester), and twenty from Augusta Courthouse. On Saturday he stopped at a Mr. Poage's—"stayed for dinner, the first I had eaten since I left Pennsylvania."

From Staunton he went with Hugh Celsey [Kelso?] to Samuel Downey's, at the North Mountain, where he preached on the fourth Sabbath of June, according to appointment. His horse being sick, or lame, he was detained in the county, and preached at North Mountain again on the fifth Sabbath in June, and in "the new courthouse" on the first Sunday of July. The diary says: "Rode to Widow Preston's Saturday evening, where I was very kindly entertained, and had a commodious lodging." The lady referred to was the widow of John Preston, and lived at Spring Farm, now Staunton Water Works.

On Monday, July 7th, Mr. McAden rode out to John Trimble's, more encouraged by the appearances at North Mountain than in Staunton. He went on Tuesday to the Rev. John Brown's, the pastor of' New Providence and Timber Ridge. Mr. Brown had set apart a day of fasting and prayer "on account of the wars and many murders committed by the savage Indians on the back inhabitants," and vehemently desired the traveller to tarry and preach "in one of his places." He consented, and preached on Friday, July 11th, at Timber Ridge "to a pretty large congregation."

The diary proceeds: "Came to Mr. Boyer's [Bowyer], where I tarried till Sabbath morning, a very kind and discreet gentleman, who used me exceedingly kindly, and accompanied me to the Forks, twelve miles, where I preached the second Sabbath of July [13th] to a considerable large congregation. * * Rode home with Joseph Lapsley, two miles, from meeting, where I tarried till Wednesday morning [16th]. Here it was I received the most melancholy news of the entire defeat of our army by the French at Ohio, the general killed, numbers of inferior officers, and the whole artillery taken. This, together with the frequent accounts of fresh murders being daily committed upon the frontiers, struck terror to every heart. A cold shuddering possessed ​every breast, and paleness covered almost every face. In short, the whole inhabitants were put into an universal confusion. Scarcely any man durst sleep in his own house, but all met in companies with their wives and children, and set about building little fortifications to defend themselves from such barbarians and inhuman enemies, whom they concluded would be let loose upon them at pleasure. I was so shocked upon my first reading Colonel Innes's letter that I knew not well what to do."

This was Braddock's defeat, which occurred on the 9th of July. On Wednesday, the i6th, Mr. McAden left Mr. Lapsley's in company with a young man from Charlotte county, who had been at the Warm Springs, and was flying from the expected inroad of savages.

The speed with which news of the disaster was circulated is wonderful. Colonel Innes was left by Braddock in command of Fort Cumberland. He wrote to Governor Dinwiddle on the 11th, giving him the first tidings of the defeat, and the letter was received by the Governor on the 14th, Cumberland being distant from Williamsburg 259 miles. It is hardly possible that this was the letter alluded to by Mr. McAden, who was more than 150 miles from Williamsburg; but Colonel Innes no doubt wrote also to the County Lieutenant of Augusta, and the direful news was speeded through the country.

Thackeray, in his novel called "The Virginians," gives an account of Braddock's defeat, and refers to the marvelous rapidity with which tidings of the disaster were circulated. Alluding to Eastern Virginia, he says: "The house negroes, in their midnight gallops about the country, in search of junketing or sweethearts, brought and spread news over amazingly wide districts. They had a curious knowledge of the incidents of the march for a fortnight at least after its commencement. * * But on the 10th of July a vast and sudden gloom spread over the province. A look of terror and doubt seemed to fall upon every face. Affrighted negroes wistfully eyed their masters and retired, and hummed and whispered with one another. The fiddles ceased in the quarters; the song and laugh of those cheery black folk were hushed. Right and left, everybody's servants were on the gallop for news. The country taverns were thronged with horsemen, who drank and cursed and bawled at the bars, each bringing his gloomy story. The army had been surprised. The ​troops had fallen into an ambuscade, and had been cut up almost to a man. All the officers were taken down by the French marksmen and the savages. The General had been wounded and carried off the field in his sash. Four days afterwards the report was that the General was dead, and scalped by a French Indian."

We have further evidence of the widespread anxiety and alarm, in the sermons of the celebrated Samuel Davies, who then resided in Hanover county. On the 20th of July, 1755, he preached to his people from Isaiah, xxii, 12-14: "And in that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping and to mourning," &c. When he began to prepare his discourse, the news of the disaster had not been received, but full of forebodings the preacher, after referring to the peace and abundance lately enjoyed by Virginia, exclaims: "But what do I now see?—what do I now hear? I see thy brazen skies, thy parched soil, thy withered fields, thy hopeless springs, thy scanty harvests. Methinks I hear the sound of the trumpet, and see garments rolled in blood, thy frontiers ravaged by revengeful savages, thy territories invaded by French perfidy and violence. Methinks I see slaughtered families, the hairy scalp clotted with gore, the horrid arts of Indian and popish torture." So he proceeds for several pages, and then: "Thus far had I studied my discourse before I was alarmed with the melancholy news that struck my ears last Thursday. Now every heart may meditate terror indeed; now every face may gather blackness; now I may mingle darker horrors in the picture I intended to draw of the state of my country. For what do I now hear? I hear our army is defeated, our general killed, our sole defence demolished." The people are earnestly exhorted to rally and show themselves "men, Britons, and Christians on this trying occasion." "What," asks the preacher, "is that religion good for that leaves men cowards upon the approach of danger?" "And, permit me to say," he continues, "that I am particularly solicitous that you, my brethren of the Dissenters, should act with honor and spirit in this juncture, as it becomes loyal subjects, lovers of your country, and courageous Christians." At the close of the discourse he remarked: "It is certain many will be great sufferers by the drought, and many lives will be lost in our various expeditions. Our poor brethren in Augusta and other frontier counties are slaughtered and scalped."

​Braddock's defeat occurred, as stated, on July 9, 1755. It was a slaughter, rather than a battle. Colonel Dunbar, the British officer who succeeded to the command on the death of Braddock, retreated, or rather fled, with the remnant of the army to Winchester; and fearing for his safety even there, retired with the regulars to winter quarters in Philadelphia. Washington and other Virginians who escaped the massacre, returned to their homes deeply mortified and indignant at the inefficiency of the leaders of the expedition.

The consternation was universal, and many of the settlers on the western frontier fled across the Blue Ridge, and even to North Carolina. Among the refugees to that province was the Rev. Alexander Craighead, with a portion of his congregation. Mr. Craighead came from Pennsylvania and settled on the Cowpasture river, near Windy Cove (now Bath county), in 1749. It is said he had a double motive for leaving Virginia—to escape the savages, and also the disabilities imposed here upon Dissenting ministers. He was a man of ardent temper, and could not brook the idea of holding the frontier and protecting the people of Eastern Virginia from savage inroads, while not permitted to celebrate the rite of marriage according to the ceremonies of his own church. He died in North Carolina in 1766.

The alarm about Staunton is described by the Rev. John Craig in his narrative. He says: "When General Braddock was defeated and killed, our country was laid open to the enemy, our people were in dreadful confusion, and discouraged to the highest degree. Some of the richer sort that could take some money with them to live upon were for flying to a safer part of the country. My advice was then called for, which I gave, opposing that scheme as a scandal to our nation, falling below our brave ancestors, making ourselves a reproach among Virginians, a dishonor to our friends at home, an evidence of cowardice, want of faith and a noble Christian dependence on God, as able to save and deliver from the heathen; it would be a lasting blot to our posterity." Mr. Craig urged the building of forts, one of which was to be the church. He says: "They required me to go before them in the work, which I did cheerfully, though it cost me one-third of my estate. The people readily followed, and my congregation in less than two months was well fortified."—[See Foote's Sketches, page 32.]

​In the above extract, Mr. Craig seems to refer to the building of the present stone church, and to fix the date as not earlier than 1755; but the tradition in the congregation is, that the house was completed in 1748. Possibly his reference is particularly to the fortifications constructed around the building, the remains of which are still visible. Many families took refuge, there upon occasions of alarm. The cattle were, of course, left on the farms, and the cows were likely to suffer by going unmilked. It is said that the Moffett family, whose residence was miles away, had a negro female servant who displayed courage and fidelity at such times worthy of a heroine. Every night, mounted on a black horse, as less likely to be seen by a lurking foe than one of a different color, she rode home, relieved the swollen udders of the kine, churned the milk of the previous night, and returned with the butter to the fort before daylight.

Governor Dinwiddle, never wearied in denouncing and ridiculing Colonel Dunbar for going into winter quarters in midsummer. Writing to Colonel Patton July 16th, he says: "I am sorry to hear a further dismal account of murders in your county, and I fear your people are seized with a panic in suffering the Indians in such small companies to do the mischief they do without raising to oppose them. Surely if they were properly headed and encouraged they would overcome them all. I have sent some powder, &c., to Colonel Stewart. I have ordered the whole militia of this dominion to be in arms, and your neighboring counties are directed to send men to your assistance on your application."

It is curious to discover that the people of Halifax county also were apprehensive of Indian invasion, but Halifax then extended westward to the Blue Ridge.

The Governor of Virginia found constant occupation during this time in writing scolding letters, but in writing abroad he stood up for the credit of the provincial troops. To Sir Thomas Robinson, referring to Braddock's disaster, he said: "All the officers and men raised here behaved well, but am sorry to hear the private men of the regulars were seized with panic, run away like sheep."

To Colonel James Patton, the Governor wrote, August 1st: "This day I have sent a cart load of ammunition, &c., to your Court House. How can you think I am able to order susten​ance to the poor people that have left their plantations? I wish they had not been seized with such panic as prevented their resisting the few enemies that appeared in your county." At the date of this letter Colonel Patton was in his grave.

Foote's Sketches of Virginia, second series, contain a long account of the circumstances attending the death of Colonel Patton, and of the captivity and escape of Mrs. Mary Ingles. Dr. John P. Hale, of Kanawha, a descendant of Mrs. Ingles, in his work called "Trans-Alleghany Pioneers,"^[2] gives a still fuller and, doubtless, more accurate account, and we shall mainly follow the latter.

Thomas Ingles, says Dr. Hale, came from Ireland when a widower, with his three sons, William, Matthew, and John, and settled first in Pennsylvania. According to tradition, he, in 1744, accompanied by his son, William, then a youth, made an excursion into the wilds of Southwest Virginia, going as far as New river. On this occasion, it is supposed, he became acquainted with Colonel James Patton. The latter then or soon afterward held a grant from the British crown of 120,000 acres of land west of the Blue Ridge, at that time Augusta county, but in the present counties of Botetourt, Montgomery, &c. The old town of Pattonsburg, on James river, in Botetourt, was called for him, and the opposite town of Buchanan was so named for his son-in-law, Colonel John Buchanan.

During the same excursion, probably, the Ingleses for the first time encountered the Draper family, who had settled on James river, at Pattonsburg. This family consisted of George Draper, his wife, and his two children, John and Mary. While living at Pattonsburg, George Draper went out hunting, and was never heard of again. About the year 1748 the Ingleses, Drapers, Adam Harman, Henry Leonard and James Burke, removed from James river and settled near the present town of Blacksburg, in Montgomery county, calling the place Draper's Meadows, since known as Smithfield.

In April, 1749, the house of Adam Harman was raided by Indians, but, as far as appears, no murders were perpetrated. This is said to have been the first depredation by Indians on ​the whites west of the Alleghany. It was reported to a justice of the peace for Augusta county, with a view to the recovery of damages allowed by law.

William Ingles and Mary Draper were married in 1750, and John Draper and Bettie Robertson in 1754. The marriages no doubt took place in Staunton, there being no minister nearer Draper's Meadow authorized to perform the ceremony.

In July, 1755, Colonel Patton went to the upper country on business, and was accompanied, it is said, by his nephew, William Preston. He was resting from the fatigues of his journey, and also seeking recovery from sickness, at the dwelling of William Ingles and the Drapers. It was on Sunday, the 8th of July, says Dr. Hale—but circumstances had led us to fix the date at least a week later—that an unexpected assault was made on the house by Indians. Preston had gone to Philip Lybrook's to engage his help in harvesting. William Ingles and John Draper were away from the house. Foote says they and others were at work in the harvest field; but if it was on Sunday the statement is quite certainly incorrect. Mrs. John Draper, being in the yard, was the first to discover the Indians. She hastened into the house to give the alarm, and snatching up her sleeping infant ran out on the opposite side. Some of the Indians fired upon her, breaking her right arm, and causing the child to fall to the ground. Taking up the infant with her left hand she continued her flight, but was overtaken, and the skull of the child was crushed against the end of a log. At the moment of the assault, Colonel Patton was sitting at a table writing, with his broadsword before him. Being a man of great strength, of large frame, and over six feet high, he cut down two Indians, but was shot and killed by others out of his reach. Other persons killed were Mrs. George Draper, the child of John Draper, and a man named Casper Barrier. The Indians plundered the premises, securing all the guns and ammunition, and setting fire to the buildings, immediately started on their retreat, carrying with them as prisoners Henry Leonard, Mrs. John Draper, and Mrs. Ingles and her two children—Thomas four, and George two years of age. The unarmed men in the field could only provide for their own safety. The country was sparsely settled, and some days elapsed before a rescuing party could be collected.

​The Indians, on their hasty retreat, stopped at the house of Philip Barger, an old man, cut off his head and carried it in a bag to Lybrook's. Preston and Lybrook had gone back to Draper's Meadows by a different route from that taken by the Indians, and thus they escaped.

In letters written by Governor Dinwiddle on the 11th of August (nine letters were written by him the same day) he referred to Colonel Patton's death. To Colonel David Stewart, of Augusta, he wrote that Patton "was wrong to go so far back without a proper guard." He hoped the wagons with ammunition did not fall into the hands of the Indians; but he could not conceive what Patton was to do with ammunition "so far from the inhabited part of the country." Writing to Colonel Buchanan at the same date, he expressed regret that the men sent by Buchanan "after the murderers, did not come up with them." This is the only information we have of any pursuit.

Colonel Patton's will was admitted to record by the County Court of Augusta, at Staunton, at November term, 1755. It was executed September 1, 1750, and witnessed by Thomas Stewart, Edward Hall, and John Williams. The following are extracts:

"I commend my soul to God who gave it, hoping, through his mercy and the merits and intercession of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to be eternally happy. My body I commit to Providence, but if convenient to where I resign my last breath, to be buried at the Tinkling Spring, where my wife now lays. * * I order ten pounds to be paid to the Rev. John Craig, minister at ye Tinkling Spring, as his stepans due from October, 1740, until October, 1750, out of the money now due me by y't congregation, which money I have advanced for them to build their meeting-house, &c. Providing I do not pay s'd £10 before my death. I leave ten pounds out of the aforesaid debt when collected, to be layed out by the minister onley for a pulpit and pulpit cloth."

The testator divided his estate between his two daughters, Mary, wife of William Thompson, and Margaret, wife of Colonel John Buchanan, and their children. The Thompsons thus acquired Springhill and about 3,000 acres known as "Indian Fields," on the waters of Holston river. William Thompson and wife had a life estate in the property, with remainder to their ​son, James Thompson. The Buchanans appear to have had only one child, a daughter named Mary.

The executors appointed were John Buchanan, William Thompson, William Preston, and Silas Hart The last named declined to serve. Possibly he did not like the direction of the will, that any question arising between the executors about the estate should be finally settled by the minister and elders of Tinkling Spring congregation! The inventory of the estate shows that the testator was wealthy, independently of his lands.

It is unnecessary to say that Colonel Patton's request as to his burial place, was not complied with. It was impossible at that day to transport a corpse from Smithfield to Tinkling Spring. He was buried near the spot where he "resigned his last breath," and his grave was covered with loose stones. There is no slab or inscription. An idle report arose that a large amount of money was buried with the body, and the grave was desecrated a few years ago by vandals in search of the treasure.

Let us now briefly relate the adventures of Mrs. Ingles. On the third night out she gave birth to a female child, but was able to proceed the next day on horseback. She and the other prisoners were taken by the Indians to Ohio. Being a woman of extraordinary courage and tact, she ingratiated herself with the savages, making shirts for them and gaining their good-will in a hundred ways. Her two older children were, however, separated from her, and she then determined to escape, if possible. The narrative of her courage and sufferings on her trip home is almost incredible. She was absent about five months, of which time forty-two days were passed on her return.

With an elderly "Dutch woman," captured on the frontier of Pennsylvania and detained in servitude, Mrs. Ingles was taken by a party of Indians to Big Bone Lick, now Boone county, Kentucky, to make salt. This place was so called from the large number of mastodon bones found there—some of the ribs and tusks were so long as to be used for tent poles. She prevailed upon the old woman mentioned, whose name is not known, to accompany her in her flight. Her infant could not be taken along. It was therefore deposited in a crib and abandoned by its mother, whose grief may be imagined, but not described. Loading a horse with corn, the fugitives proceeded up the Ohio river. Before they reached the Big Kanawha the ​old woman became frantic from exposure and hunger. She afterwards made an insane attack upon Mrs. Ingles's life, and the latter only escaped by outrunning her pursuer and concealing herself.

Mrs. Ingles finally came to the remains of some abandoned settlements and found a few turnips which had not been consumed by wild animals. She had now been out forty days and had traveled not less than twenty miles a day. Her clothing had been worn and torn by the bushes until few fragments remained. In this condition she reached a clearing made in the spring on New river by Adam Harman. He recognized her call, and hastened to meet and carry her to his cabin. Mr. Harman took her on horseback lo a fort at Dunkard's Bottom, and there she was found the next day by her husband and her brother, John Draper, who had been making every effort in their power for the rescue of the captives.^[3]

The old Dutch woman found her way to the settlements, and in course of time returned to Pennsylvania through Staunton and Winchester.

Mrs. Draper was released six or seven years afterward. George Ingles died in captivity while still a child. Thomas was redeemed by his father when he was seventeen years of age. He was unable to speak English, and is said to have been a perfect savage in appearance and manners. His father sent him to school, but he never became fully reconciled to civilized life.

But let us follow the fortunes of Mrs. Ingles somewhat further. As stated, she was taken on her return to a fort at Dunkard's Bottom, on the west side of New River, near Ingles's Ferry. Feeling insecure there, her husband took her twenty miles further east to Vass's fort, where the settlers of that region had gathered for safety. This fort was near the head of Roanoke river, about ten miles west of where Christiansburg now stands. Many of the forts, so called, were merely log pens, and others were log or stone dwellings, larger and stronger than ordinary, which, however, afforded shelter from savages unprovided with ​artillery. Vass's fort was a small structure erected by the settlers as a place of temporary refuge.

Still fearing an attack by Indians, Mrs. Ingles prevailed upon her husband to take her east of the Blue Ridge. On the very day they left Vass's, that fort was captured by Indians, and every one in it killed or taken prisoner. John Ingles, a bachelor, and the wife and child of his brother, Matthew, were killed in the fort. Matthew was out hunting when the attack was made, and hearing the firing hastened back. He shot one Indian, and clubbed others with his gun, till it was wrenched from his hands. He then seized a frying pan that happened to be near, and belabored his foes with the handle till he was wounded and overcome. The Indians carried him off, but some time after, being released or escaping, he returned to the settlement. He never entirely recovered from his wounds, however, and died a few months after his return.

The fort is supposed to have been destroyed by the Indians. In 1756, however, a stronger fort was built there at public expense, under the superintendence of Captain Peter Hogg, and the latter is the fort alluded to by Governor Dinwiddle in his correspondence as Vass's or Voss's fort.

From early in 1755 till he finally left the province and went "home," Governor Dinwiddle's letters flew thick and fast. On the 11th of August he wrote to Captain Andrew Lewis, recognizing him as next in command to Colonel Patton, in Augusta, and enclosing blank commissions for the officers of a company of rangers. He also sent him £200 to defray expenses. To Colonel John Buchanan he wrote, recommending the employment of dogs for finding out the Indians. By the 25th of August he had four companies of rangers in Augusta. In another letter of the same date he speaks of five companies on the frontier of the county. He still had an eye to economy, however, and took time to advise Captain John Smith that forty shillings was too much to pay for a coat to be given to some friendly Indian warrior. He never did get over the loss of the wagon which Colonel Patton had with him in his last expedition. In a letter to Washington, dated December 14, 1755, the Governor complained of Captain Hogg's extravagance as follows: "Captain Hogg sent a messenger here for money to pay for provisions for his company. The quantity he mentioned I think was sufficient for ​twenty months, and charged £10 for a trough to salt the meat in, besides the barrels."

In pursuance of measures adopted by the colonial government, Washington was commissioned as Colonel and Commander-in-Chief of Virginia troops. The officers next in rank to him, chosen by himself, were Lieutenant- Colonel Adam Stephen and Major Andrew Lewis.

The records of the County Court always indicate the state of the times. At August court, 1755, Joseph Carpenter, having supplied several Indians with ammunition, whom he thought to be friendly, the court fearing they might be "allied to the French king," ordered the accused into custody till he should give security.

At October term, 1755, many claims were allowed for patrolling, for provisions for Captain David Lewis's company of rangers, for going on express, and for guarding the arms and ammunition sent for the use of the county. At November court a number of persons qualified as officers of foot companies.

A new courthouse was completed in 1755, and first occupied by the court August 21.

In several letters, Governor Dinwiddle expressed disapprobation of the conduct of Captain Dickinson, of the Augusta rangers, in allowing certain Indians to slip out of his hands. They were called "Praying Indians," because they professed to be Christianized, but were supposed to be partisans of the French. Some friendly Cherokees were expected at Staunton to be employed against the Shawnees, and the Governor wrote to David Stuart and Robert McClanahan to treat these allies well.

By October 11th, Washington was in command at Winchester, and at that date wrote to the Governor giving an account of affairs there. The utmost alarm and confusion still prevailed. The militia refused to stir. No orders were obeyed which were not enforced by a party of soldiers or the commander's drawn sword. The people threatened to blow out his brains. On one day an express, spent with fatigue and fear, reported a party of Indians twelve miles off, the inhabitants flying, &c. A second express ten times more terrified than the former, arrived with information that the Indians had gotten within four miles of town, and were killing all before ​them. Only forty-one men could be mustered, and on leading them out the colonel found, instead of Indians, three drunken soldiers of the light horse on a carousal. A mulatto and a negro hunting cattle and mistaken for Indians, had caused the alarm at the further point. The inhabitants, however, pressed across the Blue Ridge, firmly believing that Winchester was taken and in flames. Captain Waggoner, who had arrived from Eastern Virginia, reported that he "could hardly pass the Ridge for the crowds of people who were flying as if every moment was death."

Washington had lately made a visit of inspection from Fort Cumberland, on the Potomac, to Fort Dinwiddie on Jackson's river. On the 14th of October Major Lewis arrived at Winchester.

Badly as the Governor thought or wrote of our forefathers of Augusta county, he did not think more favorably of the people elsewhere. In October he condoled with Lord Fairfax, County Lieutenant of Frederick, for having to live among such a set of people.

After so much strife and excitement, it is a relief to close this chapter and the year 1755 with a peaceful extract. At a meeting of the vestry of the parish, November 27th, it was "ordered that the Rev. Mr. John Jones preach at James Neeley's on Roan Oke; at John Mathews, Sn., in the forks of James river; at Augusta Courthouse; at Captain Daniel Harrison's, and at any place contiguous to Mr. Madison's, at such times as said Jones shall think proper." The forks of James river was in the present county of Rockbridge, and Captain Harrison and Mr. Madison lived in Rockingham.