Annals of Augusta County/Chapter 4

Although the preceding chapter closed so peacefully, the war was not over. In fact the worst part of it was still to come, and for eight years longer there was no peace on the frontiers, and no feeling of security by any of the white settlers west of the Blue Ridge.

It is impossible to relate a tenth part of all the stories of adventure during these stirring times which have come down to us. Many of these are of doubtful authority, and others founded on fact are so marred by mistakes as to time, place, &c., that they have to be omitted. Nobody appears to have cared or thought at the time of making a record of passing events, and in the course of a few generations oral tradition became contradictory and unreliable.

Governor Gilmer and other writers relate that the house of Colonel John Lewis was assailed by Indians on one occasion when the sons and retainers of the family were absent. Though old and infirm. Colonel Lewis is said to have stationed himself at a port-hole and kept up a constant shooting at the Indians, whilst his wife reloaded the guns. His sons and servants hearing the report of guns returned home and drove the Indians off.

As related, this story is inconsistent with the authentic history of the times. It is not probable that any dwelling within two miles of Staunton was ever besieged or assailed by hostile Indians. We know, however, that before war had arisen, parties of Indians often traversed the country, calling at houses, and soliciting, and to some extent demanding, supplies, just as white "tramps" do now-a-days. Very likely, during this time, a party ​came to the house of Colonel Lewis, and becoming troublesome, the doors were closed, and guns fired to frighten them away.

Here we may give some particulars in regard to the sons of Colonel Lewis, all of whom were men of mark, and very conspicuous in the early times of the county.

Of Andrew Lewis we have already said much, and shall say much more in these Annals.

Thomas Lewis, the county surveyor, was disqualified for military service by defective vision, but was a man of culture and influence, and held various important positions. He was a member of the House of Burgesses and of the State Convention in 1775, and commissioner in 1777 to treat with the Indian tribes on the Ohio. He died October 31, 1790.

William Lewis is said by some of his descendants to have been a physician [see Peyton's History of Augusta county], while others deny or question the statement. According to Governor Gilmer's testimony, he was as powerful in person and brave in spirit as any of his brothers, but less disposed to seek fame by the sacrifice of human life. Says Governor Gilmer: "He served in the army only when required. He was an officer under Braddock, and wounded at his defeat. He was an elder in the Presbyterian church, of the old covenanting sort."

The fame of Charles Lewis, the youngest of the family, has come down to us as that of a hero of romance. From all accounts he was an admirable man, and if his life had not ended prematurely would have achieved great distinction. At an early age he was reported to be the most skillful of all the frontier Indian fighters. Once, it is said, he was captured by Indians, whilst out hunting, and suffered the usual treatment at their hands, but made his escape. He was forced to go with the Indians many miles, barefoot, his arms pinioned behind him, and goaded on by knives. Upon coming to a high bank, he burst the cords which bound him and plunged down the steep into the bed of a stream. The Indians followed him, but when his strength failed he fell among some tall weeds, and his pursuers failed to discover him. Before he could rise and continue his flight, a new enemy was discovered. A rattlesnake was coiled near his face and apparently about to strike; but on his remaining still, the reptile glided away. A Captain Charles Lewis was a member of a general court martial at Winchester, May 2, 1756. Charles Lewis, ​of Augusta, was then only twenty years of age. There was, however, another person of the same name, living at the time in Eastern Virginia, and he may have been the member of the court martial referred to.

During December, 1755, or earlier. Governor Dinwiddle planned an expedition against the Shawnee town supposed to be on the Ohio river, at or near the mouth of the Big Sandy. This expedition has been known as the "Sandy Creek Voyage." Washington did not approve of it, but at the request of the Governor, appointed Major Andrew Lewis to command. The distance from the settlements was too great; supplies for a large body of men could not be transported such a distance over so rugged a route, and the army could not find subsistence in the wilderness, and, moreover, it was doubtful whether there was any Indian settlement at or near the Big Sandy. But the Governor was full of his plans, and could not be dissuaded. He entertained high expectations, and wrote on the subject to nearly everybody—to Major Lewis and his subordinate officers, and to public functionaries in America and England.

In a letter of January 2, 1756, Governor Dinwiddle speaks of his efforts to conciliate the Cherokees, and says: "It had its proper effect, for they took up the hatchet and declared war against the French and Shawnesse, and sent into Augusta county one hundred and thirty of their warriors to protect our frontier. These people proposed marching to the Shawnesse town to cut them off. I agreed thereto, and ordered four companies of our rangers to join them."

As much doubt remains in regard to many facts connected with this famous expedition, as surrounds the wars between the Greeks and Trojans. Various writers state that the expedition took place in 1757, and that the men were recalled, when near the Ohio river, by order of Governor Fauquier; but the Dinwiddle papers show that it occurred early in 1756, and that the survivors returned home more than two years before Fauquier became Governor of Virginia. To this day, however, the number of men led out into the wilderness by Lewis is uncertain, and also how many companies there were, and who commanded them. Governor Dinwiddle, in his instructions to Major Lewis, not dated, says he had ordered Captain Hogg, with forty of his company, to march on the expedition; that a draft of sixty men ​would be made from the companies of Captains Preston and Smith, to be commanded by the latter; and that Captain Samuel Overton's company consisted, he supposed, of forty men, and Captain Obadiah Woodson's of forty more. He says:

"One Capt. McMett and some others proposed some men on a voluntary subscription." "From the forementioned four companies," continues the Governor, "the Cherokee Indians and the volunteers, making in all 350 men, I think will be sufficient for the expedition; but if you should think more men necessary, I leave it to you." He appears never to have known the number of the men. In several of his letters he speaks of the Cherokees under Pearls as numbering one hundred and thirty, and in ​another as eighty; while his statements of the number of white men vary from two hundred to three hundred. Among the captains usually mentioned are, Peter Hogg, William Preston, John Smith and Robert Breckenridge, besides Captains Overton and Woodson. These were captains of rangers, then employed in guarding the frontier. Archibald Alexander commanded a volunteer company, and, it is said, that Captains Montgomery and Dunlap led other companies also raised for this special service. Certainly there was no scarcity of captains, but the size of the companies was small, and we are not sure that all the persons named accompanied Lewis. Captain David Stuart acted as commissary.

Of Peter Hogg and William Preston we have already spoken. John Smith was the ancestor of the late Judge Daniel Smith of Rockingham, Joseph Smith of Folly Mills and others.

Dr. William Fleming was a lieutenant, but in whose company does not appear. From a letter addressed to him, February 6th, by Governor Dinwiddle, it seems that he acted also as surgeon of the expedition, and was to be paid for his "extra trouble." Medicines were furnished by Dr. George Gilmer, physician and apothecary in Williamsburg.

Captain Overton's company was raised in Hanover county, and was the first organized in the colony after Braddock's defeat. To this company the Rev. Samuel Davies preached, by request, August 17, 1755, from the text: "Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God," &c. 2 Sam. x, 12. The preacher asks: "Is it a pleasing dream? Or do I really see a number of brave men, without the compulsion of authority, without the prospect of gain, voluntarily associated in a company to march over trackless mountains, the haunts of wild beasts, or fiercer savages, into a hideous wilderness, to succor their helpless fellow-subjects, and guard their country?" But the sermon is memorable chiefly on account of a note by the preacher, in which he speaks of "that heroic youth. Colonel Washington, whom," he says, "I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner, for some important service to his country."

Archibald Alexander was the executor of Benjamin Borden, the patentee, and ancestor of the well-known Rockbridge family of that name, and the late Mrs. McClung, of Staunton.

​The person referred to by Governor Dinwiddie as "one Captain McMett" was no doubt Alexander McNutt,^[1] a subaltern officer in Captain Alexander's company. He has been mentioned as the purchaser of a town lot in Staunton. It is stated that Lieutenant McNutt kept a journal of the campaign, which he presented to Governor Fauquier when the latter came into office, and which was deposited in the executive archives at Williamsburg. In this journal the writer reflected upon the conduct of Major Lewis, which led to a personal affray between Lewis and McNutt in Staunton,

For some years McNutt resided in Nova Scotia, but the popular belief that he was Governor of that province is unfounded. After the Revolutionary war began he joined the American army at Saratoga, and was afterwards an officer under De Kalb in the south. He died in 1811, and was buried in the Falling Spring churchyard, Rockbridge.

Major Lewis's command rendezvoused at Fort Frederick, which is stated by some writers to have been on New River, and by others, on the Roanoke, near the site of the present town of Salem. While waiting at the fort for horses and pack saddles, the Rev. Messrs. Craig and Brown preached to the soldiers.

In his instructions to Major Lewis, the Governor is very minute. Among other things, he says: "You are to do everything in your power to cultivate morality among the men, and that they may have dependence on God, the God of armies and the giver of victory." He does not omit to "recommend frugality."

To several of the captains, the Governor wrote also. Captain John Smith, it seems, wanted biscuit furnished for the expedition, but is told he must provide corn-meal or flour. Money to the amount of £100 was sent to the Captain, which "you must account for on your return," says the Governor. To one and all he recommended "care and diligence," "love and friendship." He sent £100 to Pearis, or Paris, reminding him, however, that it was to be accounted for, and enjoining "unanimity and friendship."

The Governor thought the expedition ready to start on Feb​ruary 6th, and so wrote to Governor Dobbs, of North Carolina, but in this he was premature; and finding out his mistake, he rebuked Major Lewis for his tardiness. At the same time he charged the Major to "take care [that] Mr. Pearis behaves well and keeps sober." The distance, he thinks, is 200 miles. He concludes as follows: "I have no further orders than desiring you to keep up good discipline- and your people in good morality, forbidding swearing and all other vices, and put your trust in God, the protector and disposer of all things."

We pause to mention that in February, 1756, John O'Neil was examined by the County Court on the charge of speaking treasonable words and acquitted, but being convicted of "abusing the government and cursing the Bible" he was held for trial.

The expedition having started at last, Governor Dinwiddle turned his attention for a time to other matters. He indited a long report to the Lords of Trade on the state of the province. In this he broaches the idea of a chain of forts from the head waters of the Potomac, upon the ridges of the Alleghany, to the North Carolina line, for the protection of the frontier, and also the establishment of another colony west of the Alleghany, with such indulgences in matters of religion, &c., as would induce Protestant Dissenters to settle in that region.

In March, 1756, the Provincial Assembly passed an act providing for the construction of the forts referred to—"to begin at Henry Enoch's, on Great-Cape-Capon, in the county of Hampshire, and to extend to the south fork of Mayo river, in the county of Halifax."

In regard to the Dissenters in the province, the laws affecting them were always relaxed in times of war or public danger, and many of them were disposed to act as if all such laws were abolished. We find that the Rev. John Brown, of New Providence, was so imprudent as to perform the marriage ceremony twice in 1755 for members of his flock, but, discovering his mistake, he did not officiate again in that manner till 1781, when the law authorized him to do so. — [See list of marriages by Mr. Brown, published in Staunton Spectator of December 18, 1866.]

We are not done, however, with Governor Dinwiddle's report to the Lords of Trade. He had been endeavoring for more than four months to raise a thousand men for the protection of the frontier, but had not been able to recruit above half that ​number. He says: "They are a lazy, indolent set of people, and I am heartily weary of presiding over them." He estimated the population of the colony as 293,472—whites 173,316, and blacks 120,156. The number of white tithables in Augusta county in February, 1756, he states as 2,273, and of blacks only 40. Multiplying the white tithables by 4, as he did, the white population of the county was 8,992. All negroes, male and female, over sixteen years of age, were tithables, and therefore the black tithables were multiplied by 2, showing a total black population in the county of about 80.

After the departure of Major Lewis on his expedition, Governor Dinwiddle did not forget the enterprise. He continued to refer to it in his correspondence, and to express sanguine hopes. He had also sent commissioners, Peter Randolph and William Byrd, to conclude formal treaties with the Cherokee and Catawba Indians.

Major Lewis started from Fort Frederick on February 18, and reached the head of Sandy Creek on the 28th. Before the middle of March the supply of provisions began to run low, and soon afterwards some of the party were rescued from starvation only by the killing of several elks and buffaloes. On March 11 ten men deserted, and finally the whole body, except the officers and twenty or thirty of the privates, declared their purpose to return. It is related that on the westward march the raw hides of several buffaloes were hung upon bushes near a certain stream, and that on the return the men in the extremity of their hunger cut these hides into thongs, or tugs, and devoured them From this circumstance, it is said, the stream referred to received the name of Tug river, which it still bears. Some writers state that a day or two after the retreat began a party of Captain Hogg's men went out from camp in pursuit of wild turkeys and encountered a dozen Indians in war paint, who fired upon them. According to these writers, two of the white men were killed, and the fire being returned, one Indian was wounded and captured. What was done with him is not mentioned. This story, however, like many other things related of the expedition, is of doubtful authenticity. Governor Dinwiddle's letters imply that no hostile Indians were encountered.

It required two weeks for the men to reach the nearest settlement, and during that interval they endured great suffering from ​cold and hunger. Some of the men who separated from the main body perished.

At what date Major Lewis and other survivors of the expedition returned to the settlements, we have not found stated. Governor Dinwiddle alludes to their return, in a letter to Washington, dated April 8th. He takes no blame to himself, but indulges in sarcasm towards Lewis. "Major Lewis," he says, "and his men are returned, having done nothing essential. I believe they did not know the way to the Shawnesse towns. I expect him in town to give an account of his march, &c." To Governor Dobbs he writes, April 13: "The expedition against the Shawnesse proved unsuccessful. They were gone upwards of a month; met with very bad weather; a great part of their provisions lost crossing a river, the canoes being overset. They were obliged to eat their horses, and are returned, having taken the Frenchmen, who I believe are of the neutrals, bound to Fort Duquesne. The commissioners that went to the Cherokees, &c., are not returned, but write me the Cherokees and Catawbas are in good humor and profess great friendship. They are ready to assist us with their warriors, if they can have a fort built for their women and children."

Fifteen of the returned Cherokees visited the Governor at Williamsburg, and he endeavored to induce the whole party, reduced to sixty, to march to Winchester and join Washington.

Andrew Lewis made his peace with the Governor. At any rate, whether in wrath or as a token of favor, he was immediately ordered to proceed to the Cherokee country, now East Tennessee, and build the fort those Indians had stipulated for as a condition of their sending reinforcements. He was directed to enlist sixty men who could use saw and axe, "taking great care to be as frugal as possible," to be much on his guard "against any surprise from the enemy lurking in the woods," and to lose no time about the business. This order was issued April 24th. Of course it required some time for Major Lewis to get ready, and in the meanwhile he was the superior military officer in Augusta.

On the 27th of April, in consequence of a report that the French and Indians had invested Winchester, the Governor called out the militia of ten counties, and Major Lewis was ordered to speed the departure of the Cherokees under Pearis to join Wash​ington. The reports from Winchester were greatly exaggerated, and the alarm in that quarter soon subsided; but some new cause of anxiety had arisen in Augusta. On the 5th of May the Governor wrote to Lewis, in a very sulky mood. He was surprised at "the supineness of the people of Augusta," who were "intimidated at the approach of a few Indians," and most shamefully ran away. "They are always soliciting for arms and ammunition. Of the first," said the Governor, " I have none, and powder and lead they have been supplied with more from me than any six counties in this Dominion, and as they have not exerted themselves in any action against the enemy I fear those supplies have been misapplied, but still if they want a little powder I can supply them if they will send for it, as the other counties do, but I have no lead." That unfortunate wagon lost by Colonel Patton the year before, was still on the Governor's mind, and he declares that the county must pay for it. Colonel Jefferson, of Albemarle (father of President Jefferson), was ordered to take half of his militia to Augusta; but Lewis was on no account to remain here. He was, with all possible dispatch, to proceed to the Cherokee country and build the fort there. No time was to be lost. Captain Hogg would assist the people of Augusta. It was hoped that the Cherokees were on the march to Winchester.

We do not know in what part of the country this alarm arose. Probably it was the disaster at Edward's fort, April 18th, mentioned in a note on page 111. Volume I, 'Dinwiddie Papers. This note states that Edward's fort was on the Warm Springs mountain, now Bath county, but Kercheval, who was more likely to be accurately informed, says it was on Capon river, between Winchester and Romney. In 1756, according to the. note referred to, but in 1757, according to Kercheval, thirty or forty Indians approached the fort and killed two men who were outside. Captain Mercer, at the head of forty of the garrison, sallied out in pursuit of the enemy, but fell into an ambush, and he and all his men, except six, were slain. One poor fellow, who was badly wounded, lay for two days and nights before he was found, the whites not venturing sooner to collect and bury the dead.

The apprehension of the people, and the unwillingness of the men to enlist in the army, were naturaal and unavoidable. Au​gusta men were always ready to go on any warlike expedition when their homes could be left in safety, but to abandon wives and children to the merciless savages, who came by stealth to slaughter or capture their helpless victims, was more than ought to have been demanded. It was no common danger, and one which no courage could guard against. Governor Dinwiddle, in his comfortable quarters at Williamsburg, was totally unable to appreciate the difficulties and the spirit of the people.

The Governor's vituperation of the people of Augusta did not impair the intense loyalty of the County Court, however others of the population may have been affected by it. This spirit was carried to excess, and rather absurdly exhibited at times. It was in 1756 that one Francis Farguson was brought before the court "by warrant under the hand of Robert McClanahan, gent., for damning Robert Dinwiddle, Esq., for a Scotch peddling son of a b——," and found guilty. He was discharged, however, on apologizing and giving security to keep the peace.

Major Lewis did not get off till the month of June. The Cherokees brought out by Pearls refused to go to Winchester, but went home, promising, however, to come back with a larger reinforcement of their tribe. The Governor, on the 12th of June, addressed a stately message "to the Emperor, Old Hop, and other sachems of the great nation of Cherokees."

It was determined by a council of war, held at Fort Cumberland, that Captain Hogg should have the care of constructing the forts provided for by Act of Assembly. Washington addressed instructions to Hogg, dated Winchester, July 21, 1756. The militia of Augusta were ordered out to assist. The forts were to be twenty or thirty miles apart, to the southward of Fort Dinwiddle, on Jackson's river. Lieutenant Bullet was to be left at Fort Dinwiddle, with thirty privates of Hogg's company, and the other forts were to be garrisoned by fifteen to thirty men each. Hogg was instructed not to divide his force, but to keep his men together, and build fort after fort, without attempting to construct more than one at the same time. This precaution indicates the danger of attack by the enemy. The building of the forts was a scheme of the Governor's, disapproved by Washington, and resulted in no good

In a letter to Henry Fox, Esq., dated July 24th, Governor Dinwiddle says: "About one month ago, one hundred French ​and Indians came into Augusta county, murdered and scalped some of the unweary and unguarded people, but I think the militia drove them over the mountains." It is tantalizing that we cannot ascertain the scene of this raid, and other circumstances; but it probably occurred on the frontier, and more or less remote from the western limit of the present county. In a letter to General Abercrombie, dated August 12th, the Governor alluded to the raid just mentioned, or another—we cannot tell which. He says: "About a month ago, a hundred of them" [Shawnee Indians] "with some French, came into the county of Augusta, in this Dominion, killed and carried away prisoners twenty-four of our people. We killed sixteen of them."

The record book of Courts Martial held by officers of Augusta militia, from 1756 to 1796, has in part escaped destruction. Both backs have disappeared, and some leaves also here and there, but a large part of the volume remains.

We find from this volume that "a Council of War" was held at Augusta Courthouse, July 27, 1756, by order of the Governor, to consider and determine at what points forts should be erected along the frontier for the protection of the inhabitants. The Council was composed of Colonels John Buchanan and David Stewart, Major John Brown, and Captains Joseph Culton, Robert Scott, Patrick Martin, William Christian, Robert Breckenridge, James Lockhart, Samuel Stalnicker, Israel Christian, and Thomas Armstrong. William Preston acted as clerk. The William Christian mentioned could not have been Captain Israel Christian's son of the same name, who twenty years later was a prominent man, unless he was a wonderfully precocious boy in 1756.

The Council unanimously agreed that forts should be constructed at the following places: "At Peterson's, on the South Branch of Potowmack, nigh Mill Creek," two miles from the northern county line; at Hugh Man's Mill, on Shelton's tract, 18 miles from Peterson's; "at the most important pass between the last named place and the house of Matthew Harper, on Bull Pasture" [the place afterwards designated was Trout Rock, 17 miles from Man's]; at Matthew Harper's, 20 miles from Trout Rock; and at Captain John Miller's, on Jackson's river, 18 miles from Harper's. The Council then say: "As the frontiers are properly protected by the forts of Captains Hog [Dinwiddle's], ​Breckenridge and Dickinson, there is no want of a fort unto the mouth of John's Creek, a branch of Craig's Creek, at which place a fort is to be erected." John's Creek was 25 miles from Dickinson's fort. Fort William, 20 miles from John's Creek, and supposed to be the same as Breckenridge' s fort, was deemed "sufficient to guard that important pass," and the next place to the southwest, 13 miles distant, designated for a fort, was Neal McNeal's. The remaining places named for forts are, Captain James Campbell's, 13 miles from McNeal's; Captain Vaux's [Vass's], 12 miles from Campbell's; and Captain John Mason's on the south side of Roanoke, 25 miles from Vaux's. From Mason's "to the first inhabitants in Halifax county, south side of Ridge," was 20 miles.

The Council ordered, subject to the approval of Captain Peter Hog, that Fort Vaux be at least one hundred feet square in the clear, with stockades at least sixteen feet long, and be garrisoned by seventy men. The other forts were to be sixty feet square, with two bastions in each. The garrisons, besides Vaux's, were to be as follows: Mason's and McNeal's thirty men each, Dickinson's forty, Dinwiddle's sixty, and each of the others fifty men.

The length of frontier to be protected was estimated by the Council as two hundred and fifty miles, and the number of men to garrison the forts as six hundred and eighty. The scheme was abandoned, however, only one or two new forts having been built.

The Courts Martial record book gives the names of the captains of militia in 1756. The captains of horse were Israel Christian, Patrick Martin and John Dickinson; of foot, besides those already named, Samuel Norwood, James Allen,^[2] George Willson, John Mathews, Joseph Lapsley, James Mitchell, Daniel ​Harrison, Abram Smith, Ephraim Love, Ludovick Francisco, and Robert Bratton.

The Governor had received no report from Major Lewis up to August 19th. Writing to Washington on that day, he says: "Col. Stewart, of Augusta, proposed and sent the sketch for fourteen forts, to be garrisoned by 700 men, but I took no notice of it, waiting for Captain Hogg's report of what he thinks may be necessary, and to be managed with frugality, for the people in Augusta appear to me so selfish that private views and interest prevail with them without due consideration of the public service, which makes me much on my guard with them." He appears to have cherished a bitter animosity towards Stewart, the name being then generally so written at that time, but now Stuart.

On the 20th, the Governor had tidings from Lewis, and was happy in the expectation of soon receiving a reinforcement of one hundred and fifty Cherokees and fifty Catawbas. He desired to have provisions for these allies at several points on their march to Winchester, and, not being acquainted with any person in Augusta he could confide in, ordered Colonel Clement Read, County-Lieutenant of Lunenburg county, to make arrangements for supplies at Roanoke and Augusta Courthouse. Colonel Buchanan had advised him that wheat could be bought at Roanoke for 2s. 6d., and if Read had "an opinion" of Buchanan, the latter might be employed to make purchases. Five chests of small arms and six barrels of gunpowder were sent to Roanoke for the Indians. To Lewis the Governor wrote on the 30th of August; "I have wrote Col. Washington that he may expect the Cherokees under your conduct, and I order you to march them with all possible expedition. They shall be supplied at Winchester with all sorts of ammunition, but no cutlasses to be had here."

Captain Hogg enjoyed the Governor's entire confidence, and was no doubt worthy of it—they were brother Scots. To him the Governor poured out his heart on September 8th:—"The behavior and backwardness of the militia in assisting you is unaccountable, or can I account for the dastardly spirit of our lower class of people in general, but that of Augusta county, I think, exceeds them all." Colonel Buchanan, commanding the Augusta militia, and probably then residing on the Roanoke ​river, is accused of inefficiency; and it turned out that Colonel Read "has no influence but in his own county." By the date of this letter, the writer had changed his mind about the forts. He thought as many as three unnecessary, and the one Hogg was then building, enough. "Dickinson," adds, the Governor, "is now here, and says he was sent for to the general muster when his fort was attacked. I told him he had no call to be there when he otherways was on duty, and he confesses his errors, but says he constantly kept centries and scouting parties from the fort for some months" [or miles] "round, and those that went after the Indians, he says, were militia under different officers, that he could not command them; that he had 120 pounds of powder and 200 pounds of lead when attacked. In short, I am of opinion, if there had been proper conduct they might have destroyed some of the enemy."

Here again we are ignorant of details. Dickinson's fort was on the Cowpasture river, some four miles below Millborough. Withers says [Border Warfare, page 75] the garrison was so careless that several children playing under the walls outside the fort were run down and caught by the Indians, who were not discovered till they arrived at the gate. He states that the circumstance occurred in 1755, but was no doubt mistaken in regard to the date. He, moreover, is silent as to an assault upon the fort; but in addition to the Governor's reference to one, there is a reliable tradition of an assault, during which a young girl aided in moulding bullets for the men. This young girl was the grandmother of Judge William McLaughlin. The incident mentioned of her may, however, have occurred in 1757, when Dickinson's fort was assailed again. Tradition also informs us that at one time, when a party of hostile Indians was believed to be at hand, a married woman, hastening with her family and neighbors to take shelter in Dickinson's fort, was seized with the pains of child-birth on the way, and was detained in the forest till her agony was over.

In September, 1756, the number of Indian allies expected by the Governor had grown to four hundred, and he was correspondingly elated. The Cherokees were highly pleased with their fort, but desired a small garrison of white men to hold it during the absence of their warriors. Captain Overton, with most of the ​men sent to build the fort, had returned by September 18th. Major Lewis remained to bring in the Indian reinforcement.

At a Court Martial held September 11, 1756, Colonel David Stewart presiding, several persons were exempted from military duty, among them one man for the reason that two of his children were "natural fools."

The alarm in Augusta still continued. "One-third of the militia from Augusta," wrote the Governor on September 30th, "and some from other counties contiguous have been ordered out for protection of their frontiers, but they are such a dastardly set of people that I am convinced they do not do their duty, which is the reason of the late invasion there. They have neither courage, spirit, or conduct." Again, on the 26th of October, to Washington: "I received your letter from Augusta, and observe its contents. The behavior of the militia is very unaccountable, and I am convinced they are under no command. I ordered part of the militia to the frontier and there to remain till relieved by others, * * instead thereof, they go and come at their own pleasure, and many of them come here with large demands as if they had done the duty ordered in a proper manner: they are a dastardly set of people, and under no management or discipline, much owing to their officers, who I fear are little better than the private men."

At last Major Lewis returned from the Cherokee country, and brought in only seven warriors and three women, to the Governor's "great surprise and concern."

The French, it was feared, had been tampering with the Southern Indians, and had seduced them from the English. One of the seven was sent back to remind the Cherokees of their repeated promises, and the others in Augusta were exhorted by the Governor to accompany Major Lewis to Winchester.

The fort built by Andrew Lewis was called Fort Loudoun. It was on the south bank of the Tennessee river, at the head of navigation, and about thirty miles south of the present town of Knoxville. In 1760, when garrisoned by two hundred men, it was beleaguered by Cherokee Indians who had become hostile. Reduced to the point of starvation, and without hope of rescue, the garrison surrendered. Accounts vary as to the fate of the prisoners. One account states that the Indians fired upon the ​whites and killed twenty-five or thirty of them the day following the surrender, but that the greater number effected their escape. Another account states that all the prisoners, except three, were massacred, and that the Indians made a fence of their bones. Captain Stuart, one of the three, was saved by a friendly Indian. The fort was destroyed.—[Ramsay's Annals of Tennessee.] The South-western boundary of Virginia was not defined at this time, and, until about twenty years afterwards, all the settlements on the Holston, even those now in Tennessee, were supposed to be in Virginia.

The middle of November, 1756, having arrived, Governor Dinwiddie, thinking there was no danger of invasion during the cold season, ordered Major Lewis to recall the men on the frontiers, and to reduce the Augusta companies in service to three. In the meanwhile, however, he was much concerned about the accounts sent in by the officers of militia in Augusta. Colonel Buchanan was instructed to scrutinize the accounts closely, with the assistance of Captain Hogg. These officers were to meet at Vass's fort, where Hogg was stationed. When December 23d came round, the Governor's wrath was particularly directed to Captain Robert Breckenridge, of Augusta, and Major Lewis was peremptorily ordered to "put him out of commission."

Early in January, 1757, Governor Dinwiddie was full of another scheme. This one was instigated apparently by Captain Voss, Vass, or Vance—the Governor writes the name all sorts of ways, but Vaux was probably the correct mode—and encouraged by Colonel Read and others. It seems that a number of persons calling themselves "Associators," proposed to raise two hundred and fifty to three hundred men for an expedition against the Shawnees. They were to choose their own officers, to be provided by the government with provisions, arms and ammunition, to have all the plunder, and to be paid £10 for every scalp or prisoner brought in. The provisions were to be carried to Vass's fort, and from thence on horses to the pass in the mountains, where the horses should be kept under a guard. The whole affair was to be kept as secret as possible, to prevent intelligence of it getting to the enemy. The Governor had the affair "much at heart," and on the 1st of February he wrote: "The expedition is very pleasable." It is observable that he wrote to nobody in Augusta on the subject. On the 5th ​of April he wrote to Colonel Read: "Last Thursday I arrived from Philadelphia, where I was much surprised after the sanguine expressions and assurances of three hundred men from Augusta, &c., entering an association to march against the Shawness towns is defeated by a presumption, they would not proceed with fewer than six hundred. This, I conceived, was intended to load the country with extraordinary expense, and to furnish arms, &c., for that number, which can't be done. * * I believe it's only a few persons that wanted command occasioned this hindrance, and I find it has been usual with the people of Augusta to form schemes of lucrative views, which, for the future, I will endeavor to prevent."

Thus another well-laid plan came to naught. Of course, the people of Augusta were responsible for the failure! By this time the Governor was clamoring to be relieved of his labors—he was weary and sick, and doubtless nearly all the people in the colony desired his departure, the people of Augusta most of all.

We find from the correspondence, that two parties of Indian tramps, professing friendship, were roaming about in Lunenburg and Halifax counties, and committing depredations. They scalped one of their number in Colonel Read's yard, and otherwise behaved in a "rude and villainous" manner. The Governor feared that Paris was "the ringleader of all these enormities"; but advised caution in bringing the Indians to reason, as he greatly dreaded a war with the Cherokees.

The Governor's instructions to Washington, of May 16, 1757, state how sundry forts were to be garrisoned, &c. Fort Loudoun [Winchester], 100 men under Washington himself; Edward's, 25 men under a subaltern; Dickinson's, 70 men under Major Lewis; Vass's, 70 men under Captain Woodward. At the same time, as he wrote to the Lords of Trade, he had in service 400 Indians from the Catawbas, Cherokees and Tuscaroras. "I ordered them out with some of our forces," he says, "to observe the motions of the enemy, protect our frontiers, and go a scalping agreeable to the French custom." In another letter of the same date, he says: "I've ordered them out in parties with some of our men to discover the motions of the enemy and to scalp those they can overcome—a barbarous method of conducting war, introduced by the French, which we are obliged to follow in our own defence."

​On the 18th of May, one hundred and ten of the Catawba allies were in Williamsburg, on their way home, "pretending they discovered the tracks of Shawnesse and Dela wares marching towards their towns; that they must go to protect their women and children." They, however, brought the Governor two Shawnee scalps. On the 26th of May, only some Cherokees and eleven other friendly Indians remained on our frontiers. At that date the Governor complained of many disorders by the Cherokees, while marching through the country. They had killed a Chickasaw warrior, whose squaw, however, made her escape.

A party of thirty Cherokees was at Williamsburg on June 16th, on their way to Winchester, and the Governor was obliged to give them shirts, leggins, paint, &c. Old Hop promised to send out three other parties by way of Augusta.

From a letter written by Governor Dinwiddie to Washington, June 20th, we learn that there was a new alarm at Winchester. French and Indians were said to be marching from Fort Duquesne, probably to attack Fort Cumberland, and one-third of the militia of Frederick, Fairfax, and other counties, were called out. This apprehension subsided; but the Governor wrote to the Earl of Halifax: "I think we are in a very melancholy situation." On the 24th he wrote to Washington: "Major Lewis has been very unlucky in all his expeditions."

During the month of July there were "weekly alarms from our frontiers of the enemy's intention to invade us," and corresponding vigilance and activity on the part of the Governor. On August 3d he wrote to Colonel Read: "It surprises me that I have no account from Augusta of the terrible murders committed on the frontiers. * * I hope I shall have the news you write contradicted, or at least not so dismal as represented, though I am in great uneasiness till I hear from some of the commanding officers in Augusta."

We do not know the scene, and have no account of the circumstances of the disaster referred to in the letter just quoted. Perhaps, however, a letter of August 8th to Colonel Buchanan, colonel of Augusta militia, indicates the place. "Your letter of the 23d of last month," writes the Governor, "I did not receive till the 6th of this, so it was fifteen days coming to my hands. I am sincerely sorry for the many murders and cap​tives the enemy have made, and I fear the people in pay do not execute their duty. Where was Captain Preston and the people at Hogg's?"—[the fort built by Captain Hogg, and known as Vass's, or Vaux's fort] "Surely they ought to have been sent for, and repelled the force of the enemy, as the bearer assures me there were not above six attacked their house, and you must be misinformed of the number of two hundred at Dickinson's fort—that number, I conceive, would have carried their point, and I am informed Dickinson was not at his fort. This I leave you to inquire into, for I fear the country is greatly imposed on by neglect of the officers," &c. It seems that some people were captured and carried off by the Indians. "One thousand men," continues the letter, "could not cover the whole frontiers, and I am surprised the reinforcement from the regiment are not arrived in Augusta, as Colonel Washington had my orders the 18th of last month to send them directly, and I hope they are with you before this time. * * I am pretty well convinced the enemy must have returned to their towns before this. Let me know where Captain Preston is, and whether the men at Hogg's fort were apprised of the enemy's cruelties, and the reason they did not march against them. * * I am sensibly concerned for the poor people, and heartily wish it was in my power to give them a thorough protection." In a letter to Washington, on the 9th of August, the Governor refers to letters from Augusta, Halifax and Bedford, informing him that the enemy had murdered seven people and captured eleven.

At Dickinson's fort, in 1757, was a boy who in after years became quite famous. He was born in Augusta county, in 1742, and his name was Arthur Campbell. He had volunteered as a militiaman to aid in protecting the frontier. Going one day with others to a thicket in search of plums, the party was fired upon by Indians lying in ambush, and young Campbell was slightly wounded and captured. He was taken to the vicinity of the great lakes, and detained a prisoner for three years, when he made his escape and returned home. About six years before the Revolution, he removed to the Holston river, now Washington county, his father and family soon following. He was afterwards prominent in the assembly and the state convention of 1788, as well as during the Revolutionary war. One of his sons, ​Colonel John B. Campbell, fell at Chippewa, where he commanded the right wing of the army under General Scott. General William Campbell,^[3] the hero of King's mountain, also a native of Augusta county, was Arthur Campbell's cousin and brother-in-law.

By this time, Governor Dinwiddle was in an ill-humor with Washington, and wrote him a scolding letter on the 13th of August. Washington had sent in certain accounts, and the Governor complains that he could not tell whether the amount was £100 or £1000. "You have sent a detachment from the regiment to Augusta," says the letter, "but you do not mention the number, or do you mention the receipt of the small arms sent from this, or any account of the misunderstanding with the Indians at Winchester. You must allow this is a loose way of writing, and it is your duty to be more particular to me. * * I approve of your hanging the two deserters." Washington was directed, by the same letter, to give Paymaster Boyd, of the Virginia regiment, a small escort to Augusta Courthouse, where he was to deliver money to Major Lewis, for the men on duty in this county. Lewis appears to have been sent by Washington, with several companies of the Virginia regiment, from Winchester to Augusta, in pursuance of the Governor's order.

On the 15th of August, the Governor being much indisposed, Secretary Withers wrote to Major Lewis, leaving it discretionary with him as to abandoning Vass's fort. About one thing, however, the Major was left no discretion: he must forthwith suspend Colonel Stewart from command, "for raising false alarms, terrifying the people," &c. Stewart, or Stuart as now written, was a colonel of militia. He no doubt communicated to the Governor the recommendation of the Council of War in regard to the chain of forts, which, as we have seen, was contemptuously rejected.

The Governor had not forgotten Captain Dickinson. On September 19th, he wrote to Major Lewis: "Pray ask Captain Dickinson where he was when his fort was last invested. I hear ​he wasn't in it." The House of Burgesses had voted to raise three hundred rangers, and two hundred of them were intended for the Augusta frontier. The Governor desired Captain Hogg to command them, as he said in writing to Washington on the 24th. In this letter he accuses Washington of ingratitude.

The following extract from a letter of Dinwiddle to Washington, dated October 19th, though not a part of the Annals of Augusta, is too interesting to be omitted: "I cannot agree to allow you leave to come down here at this time; you have been frequently indulged with leave of absence. You know the fort is to be finished, and I fear in your absence little will be done, and surely the commanding officer should not be absent when daily alarmed with the enemy's intentions to invade our frontiers. I think you are wrong to ask it. You have no accounts, as I know of, to settle with me, and what accounts you have to settle with the committee may be done in a more proper time. I wish you well."

Captain Hogg was duly commissioned to command one of the new companies of rangers in Augusta, under direction of Major Lewis. The private men were to be paid twelve pence, about fifteen cents, a day, and find their own clothing. To Major Lewis, the Governor wrote, in October: "Recommend morality and sobriety to all the people, with a due submission and regard to Providence. Let swearing, private quarrels, drunkenness and gaming be strictly forbid."

The next victim of Governor Dinwiddle's displeasure was Colonel John Spotswood, County Lieutenant of Spotsylvania county. Some blank commissions had been sent to Colonel Spotswood to be delivered to company officers when appointed. Colonel Spotswood, however, had committed the offence of giving a colonel's commission to Benjamin Pendleton, and a major's to Charles Lewis. This was not, we presume, the Augusta hero of the same name.^[4] The offence was enhanced by the fact that ​Pendleton had no estate in the county, and kept an ordinary. As to Lewis, whatever his fault may have been, he "deserves no commission from me," says the angry Governor. Moreover, Thomas Estis and Aaron Bledstone had been appointed captains, although they were insolvent and not able to pay their levies. "This conduct," says the Governor, "is prostituting my commissions entrusted with you, and pray what gentleman of character will role with such persons that have neither land nor negroes"!

The Governor's last letter to Major Lewis is dated December, 1757. In this parting shot, he denounced again the "many villainous and unjust accounts" sent in from Augusta. He said: "Preston and Dickinson are rangers, and so must Captain Hogg's; but I don't agree to have any militia in pay, for they have hitherto been pick-pockets to the country."

Here we take leave of rare Governor Dinwiddie. He took his departure from the country, in January, 1758. On account of the historical value of his letters we could have better spared a better man.

The vestry of Augusta parish had established a "chapel of care" at the forks of James river, and paid Sampson Mathews a small salary for his services as reader at that point; but in the fall of 1757, the greater part of the inhabitants thereabouts "having deserted their plantations by reason of the enemy Indians," it was resolved that the chapel referred to was unnecessary, and the services of the reader were discontinued.

At the same meeting, it appearing that the glebe buildings had not been completed, it was ordered that suit be brought against the contractor, Colonel John Lewis. Our ancestors believed in law-suits, and were no respecters of persons. For a year or more the vestry were engaged in litigation with another prominent citizen, Robert McClanahan, who had been High Sheriff and collector of the parish levy, without accounting therefor, it was charged.