 | CHAPTER VI. History of southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870 |  |
William Creswell
entered this place
July, 1776.
It has been stated that this is the oldest known grave in this section,
but such is not the fact. Poston's graveyard is situated on a
high knob in close proximity to the falls of the north fork of Holston
by a limestone rock upon which is inscribed, "Mary Boyd, died Feby.
17, 1773, aged 3 years. Alexander Boyd's child." Tradition says
that this death occurred by the capsizing of Boyd's boat in passing
over the falls, Boyd at the time emigrating to the extreme frontiers.
From the period that Mr. Cummings commenced preaching in
the Holston settlements up to the time of this attack the men never
went to church without being armed and taking their families with
them. On Sabbath morning during most of this period it was the
custom of Mr. Cummings to dress himself neatly, put on his shot
pouch, shoulder his rifle, mount his horse and ride off to church,
where he met his gallant and intelligent congregation, each man
with his rifle in his hand. The minister would then enter the
church, walk gravely through the crowd, ascend the pulpit, deposit
his rifle in a corner of it, lay off his shot pouch, and commence the
solemn services of the day.[16]
The Rev. Charles Cummings was what would be termed in
our day "a fighting parson." Immediately after the occurrence
above stated Mr. Cummings and about one hundred of his parishioners,
under the command of Evan Shelby, hurried to the relief of
the Watauga settlers who were besieged by the Indians in Fort Lee,
and he accompanied Col. William Christian on his expedition against
the Cherokee Indians in the fall of this year, preaching at different
points in East Tennessee to settlers and soldiers whenever the opportunity
offered itself, he being the first minister of the gospel to deliver
the message of peace in the boundaries of the present State
of Tennessee. In the year 1776 the ground now occupied by Martha
Washington College and Stonewall Jackson Institute was a dense
chinquapin thicket, and the lands between the thicket and Black's
Fort were cultivated in flax. During the summer of the year
1776 two men and three women were pulling flax near the fort
with Frederick Mongle stationed as sentinel to give the alarm
should the Indians make their appearance. The Indians, who had
hidden themselves in the bushes above referred to, quietly approached
and wounded and scalped Mr. Mongle, but the other
persons reached the fort in safety by dodging from tree to tree.
The men from the fort came at once to the rescue, and, attacking
wounds, and his relatives claim that his grave, and not William
Creswell's, was the first made in Sinking Spring Cemetery. But
this contention cannot be correct, for Mongle was not killed until
several weeks after the death of William Creswell.
During the summer several murders were committed by the
Indians. Two men, who had gone out to bring up their horses,
were killed almost in sight of a neighboring fort, and of the two men
who went with an express from Fort Black one was killed and the
other made his escape.
As a result of the trouble with the Indians Col. Wm. Christian,
Capt. Wm. Campbell, and Capt. Wm. Russell returned to
their homes from the regular continental army to assist in the
defence of their homes from the combined attacks of the British
and Indians. The Governor of Virginia at this time directed Col.
Wm. Fleming, of Botetourt county, to dispatch a body of the
militia of that county to the frontiers of Fincastle county for the
protection of the inhabitants, and pursuant to this order Capt.
Thomas Rowland was dispatched with his company to the frontiers.
The following is a complete list of Captain Rowland's company:
Capt. Thomas Rowland,
Henry Cartmill,
Martin Baker,
John Wood,
Thomas Bowyer,
James Leatherdale,
John Crawford,
David Wallace,
James Bryant,
William Bryant,
Robert Feely,
Elijah Vinsant,
John Moor,
Thomas Eagnew,
Isaac Richardson,
James Nicholas,
William Crawford,
William Kyles,
Martin McFattin,
James Esprey,
Samuel McFarrin,
George Rutledge,
William Calbert,
Edward Carbin,
Samuel M'Roberts,
Thomas Peage,
Stephen Holston,
William Henry,
George Givens,
James Cloyd,
Isaac Lawrence,
William Wills,
James McQuown,
James Robinson,
James Alcom,
George Hutchinson
(Botetourt parish),
Rev. Adam Smyth, pastor,
William Astin,
William Leatherdale,
Robert Woods,
Edward Guilford,
Joseph Bryant,
William McFarrin,
Jacob Kimberland,
Robert Birdswell,
Thomas Howell,
Samuel Blair,
David Harbinson,
Jonathan Wood,
Joseph Titus,
William Richey,
Joseph Kyles,
Samuel McClure,
Patrick Lockhart,
John Mills,
Henry Smith,
James Gaunt,
Joseph Carrol,
John Jones,
Henry Walker,
John Burks,
Thomas Arbuckle,
David Lawrence,
Patrick Lawrence,
John Frager,
William Ross.
This expedition accomplished nothing of value. This muster
roll is given as a matter of information to the many descendants
of these men who are now living in this county.
In the year 1776, at the time of the battle of Long Island Flats,
a man by the name of Lewis, with his wife and seven children,
lived in the bounds of the present county of Scott. He was
informed by Captain John Redd, that the Indians had declared war
and were on the warpath, and was advised to move into the settlements,
but he swore that he was in no danger, the Indians would
never find him, but, soon thereafter, the Indians visited his home
and killed and scalped Lewis, his wife and seven children. Among
the extreme settlers who left their homes and returned to the settlements,
was a man by the name of Ambrose Fletcher, whose family
consisted of himself, his wife and two children. Fletcher had
settled at Martin's Fort in Powell's Valley, and fled from that
point to Blackmore's Fort, on Cove creek, now in Scott county,
Virginia. He and his family remained in Blackmore's Fort for
a few days, when, the fort becoming very much crowded, Fletcher
built a small cabin, about thirty or forty yards back of the fort,
and moved into it. Shortly afterwards, Fletcher left his home to
go to a canebrake to get his horse, and, on returning, he found his
wife and two children tomahawked and scalped.
At this time the following forts were to be found on the waters
of the Holston and Clinch, so far as I can ascertain:
Thompson's Fort, located on the farm now owned by Huff Bros.
Edmiston's Fort, located on Snodgrass's farm at Lodi, Va.
Bryan's Fort, located at Kendrick's Mill.
Black's Fort, located at Abingdon, Virginia.
Cocke's Fort, located on Clyce Farm on Spring creek
Bledsoe's Fort, located —.
Shelby's Fort, located Bristol.
Eaton's Fort, located seven miles east of Long Island.
Fort Patrick Henry, located at Long Island.
Fort Lee, located, at Watauga.
Gillespie's Fort, located —.
Womack's Fort, located, near Bluff City, Tennessee.
Martin's Fort, located in Powell's Valley.
Priest's Fort, located in Powell's Valley.
Mumps' Fort, located in Powell's Valley.
Rye Cove Fort, located —.
Blackmore's Fort, located Cove creek.
Glade Hollow Fort, located in Russell county.
Hamlin's Fort, located near Castle's Woods.
Elk Garden Fort, located Russell county.
Fort Bowen, located at Maiden Spring.
Wynne's Fort, located Tazewell county, Wynne's branch.
Crab Orchard Fort, located Tazewell county.
At the same time that the Virginia settlements were suffering
from the invasion of the Indians, North Carolina, South Carolina
and Georgia, were experiencing like invasions. These four frontier
colonies decided to invade the Indian country and bring
them to their senses, by destroying their towns and chastising their
warriors. The Cherokee Indians occupied that vast country north
of the upper settlements in Georgia and west of the settlements in
North and South Carolina and Southwest Virginia. Their country
was divided into three sections, and the number of the warriors
in each was as follows:
| Middle Settlements and Valleys | 878 |
| In Lower Towns | 356 |
| In Over-Hill Towns | 757 |
| Total | 1,991 |
The Georgia militia, under the command of Colonel McBury and
Major Jack, invaded the Indian settlements on the Tugalo river,
routed the Indians and destroyed all their towns. The militia of
South Carolina, being about 1150 men, under the command of
General Williamson, in the early days of August, marched into
the Indian settlements and met and defeated, at Oconoree, Alexander
Cameron, who was in command of a large body of Indians
and white men. They burned a number of Indian towns and
returned to their homes. The militia of the State of North Carolina,
numbering about 2,000 men, under the command of General
Rutherford, marched into the middle settlements and valleys,
about the same time. Upon the approach of this army, the Indians
fled. Their towns were burned, to the number of thirty or forty,
and these troops returned to North Carolina. While the troops of
the States of Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina were
invading the middle settlements and lower towns of the Cherokees,
the Virginia authorities were making every preparation to invade
the over-hill towns.
On the 22d of July, 1776, the Virginia Council received a letter
from President Rutledge, of South Carolina, informing them that
hostilities had been commenced by the Cherokee Indians, and that
Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina had agreed to set
on foot an expedition against the lower towns and middle settlements
at once, and requesting the coöperation of Virginia, asking
that she carry war into the upper or over-hill towns. Thereupon,
the council directed Colonel Charles Lewis to march immediately,
with his battalion of minute men, to the frontiers. Upon the
receipt of this order Colonel Lewis immediately marched his battalion
of troops to the vicinity of New river in Fincastle county,
where it was ascertained that a number of his men were unfit for
an Indian expedition; whereupon, he was directed to discharge all
such and to recruit others in their stead.
On the first day of August, 1776, the Virginia Council ordered
that a commission issue appointing William Christian, Esq., colonel
of the first battalion and commander-in-chief of all the forces
raised for use in the expedition against the Cherokee Indians. It
was decided to send two battalions of troops upon this expedition,
which were officered as follows:
Commander-in-chief, William Christian.
Colonel, first battalion, William Christian.
Major, first battalion, Evan Shelby.
Surgeon, first battalion, Joseph Starke.
Colonel, second battalion, Charles Lewis.
Surgeon, second battalion, George Hart.
Captain James Thompson and his company formed the life
guard of Colonel Christian, the commander-in-chief, upon this
expedition.
The following captains, with their companies, accompanied this
expedition against the Cherokee Indians, so far as I can ascertain:
Captain John Campbell,
Captain William Russell,
Captain Robert Boggs,
Captain John Sevier,
Captain James Thompson,
Captain Isaac Bledsoe,
Captain John Montgomery,
Captain Daniel Smith,
Captain Aaron Lewis,
Captain Jacob Womack,
Captain William Cocke,
Captain Benjamin Gray,
Captain William Preston,
Captain Thomas Madison.
Captain Thomas Madison was appointed commissary and paymaster
upon this expedition.
But little is known of the participants in this expedition. I have,
therefore, gathered the names of the privates who took part in this
expedition, as far as I can obtain them. Their names are as
follows:
Robert, Campbell,
Thomas Hobbs, wounded.
Thomas Berry, wounded.
Christopher Watson,
Matthew Allison,
John Finley,
Andrew Wallace,
Humphrey Higgins,
James Sawyers,
William Crawford,
James Buford,
Joshua Renfro,
William Hogart,
Ephraim Dunlap,
Michael Ocheltree,
Benjamin Thomas,
John Wood,
Robert Finley,
William Wills,
Jacob Gardner,
Samuel Ewing,
George Caldwell,
Jacob Early,
James Berry,
Henley Moore,
Jacob Anderson,
John Adair,
James Robinson,
William Hicks,
David Getgood,
Samuel Gay,
Isaac Riddle,
David Smith,
Edward Ross,
Gideon Farris,
Jesse Womack,
John Furnham,
William Frogg,
William Milum,
Lance Woodward,
Francis Katherine,
Daniel Henderson,
Amos Eaton,
David Rounceval,
Samuel Douglas, wounded;
— Duncan, killed;
George Berry, wounded;
John Reburn,
Abraham Crabtree,
David McKenzie,
Christopher Irwin,
John Cochran,
James Young,
William Meade,
David Wallace,
Stephen Holston,
Patrick Murphy,
Isbon Talbert,
James Campbell,
Matthew Scott,
Thomas Logwood,
Robert Preston,
Robert Campbell,
Jacob Cogor,
Daniel Kidd,
John Goff,
Cuthbert Jones,
Samuel Campbell,
William Markland,
Joseph McCormick,
James McCockle,
Joseph Russell,
Jonathan Martin,
Gideon Morris,
William Ingram,
Robert Stewart,
James Berry,
Daniel Smith,
William Haynes,
John McClanahan,
John Phelps,
Abraham McClanahan,
James Arnold,
Hanrist Carlock,
Andrew Little,
Thomas Berry,
John Latham,
William Ramsay,
James Bradley,
Lambert Lane,
John Rice,
Joab Springer,
Onsbey Carney,
John Crane,
Benjamin Drake,
Benjamin Rice,
David Irwin,
George Miller,
Thomas Ramsay,
Thomas Fowler,
Thomas Smith,
George Coon,
William Rice,
Isaac Rounceval,
James M'Farland,
William Ross,
Philip Love,
David English,
James Tuttle,
Meredy Reins,
Michael Gleaves,
Christian Shultz,
Samuel Ingram,
James Newell,
William Bennett,
Littleton Brooks,
Michael Rowland,
William Mitchell,
William Rice,
Philip Williams,
James Harris,
Arthur Onsbey,
William Nettles,
John Harris, Jr.,
William Lane,
David Hunter,
Michael Ohair,
John Walker,
Ebenezer Meads,
Samuel Campbell,
Francis Hamilton,
James Daugherty,
Frederick Fraily,
William Edmiston,
David Carson,
James M'Cain,
James Steel,
Robert Gambell,
Daniel M'Cormack,
Jonathan Jennings,
George Parker,
William Peoples,
Valentine Little,
Samuel Fair,
Alexander Butler,
William Brown,
Leonard Helm,
James Greer,
Samuel Ewin,
Richard Thomas,
Robert Stephenson,
Robert M'Elheney,
Isaac Thomas,
John Craig,
Adam Brausteter,
Michael Dougherty,
James M'Carthy,
William Henson,
Charles Rice,
Jesse Henson,
Jonathan Mulhey,
Moses Winters,
John Harris, Sr.,
James Beets,
John M'Farland,
Nicholas Edwards,
James Kelley,
James Richardson,
James Hamilton,
George Newland,
James Williams,
Henry Whitner,
Henry Richardson,
John Muldrough,
Michael Francisco,
James Mason,
Solomon Kendrick,
William White,
Charles Cocke,
John Craig,
Robert McNutt,
Jacob Stearns,
John Simpson,
Thomas Price,
Peter Haff,
Henry Rice,
William Lane,
Philip Mulhey, Sr.,
Lewis Crane,
Isaac Lindsay,
Samuel Martin,
James M'Clern,
James Smith,
Lewis Whitner,
William Calvert,
Samuel Eason,
James M'Donald,
Samuel Montgomery,
William Carr,
John Gibson,
James Walker,
Philip Mulhey, Jr.,
Andrew Cowan,
John Adair,
James Cameron,
George Scott,
Joseph Perrin
Nicholas Edwards,
John Hounshel,
Adam Brausteter,
James Doran,
George Caldwell,
Jeremiah Rush,
Robert Hardwicke,
Joseph M'Reynolds,
Benjamin Logan,
Robert Cowden,
Andrew Irwin,
John Gordon,
Thomas Goldsby,
Peter Turney,
Anthony Bledsoe,
John Walker,
Evan Williams,
Edward Piggett,
Jacob Vance.
On the 26th day of July, 1776, the Honorable Cornelius Harnett,
president of the Council of Safety of North Carolina, informed
the Virginia Council that the Cherokees entertained the design of
cutting off the persons employed at the Lead Mines, whereupon, the
Council ordered William Preston, the county lieutenant of Fincastle
county, to raise, at once, a stockade fort for the defence of said
mines and to garrison the same with a force of twenty-five men.
On the first day of August, 1776, the Virginia Council gave the
following instructions to William Christian, commander-in-chief,
and Colonel Charles Lewis, in command of the second battalion,
of the forces in the expedition against the Cherokees.
"When your battalion and the battalion under Colonel Charles
Lewis are completed, you are to march with them and the forces
under the command of Colonel Russell, and such others as may join
you from Carolina, into the Cherokee country, if these forces shall
be judged sufficient for the purpose of severely chastising that cruel
and perfidious nation, which you are to do in a manner most likely
to put a stop to future insults and ravages and that may redound
reduced to the necessity of suing for peace, you must take care to
demand of them a sufficient number of their chiefs and warriors as
hostages, for the performance of the conditions you may require of
them. You must insist on their delivering up all prisoners who
may choose to leave them and on their giving up to justice all persons
amongst them who have been concerned in bringing on the
present war, particularly Stuart, Cameron and Gist, and all others
who have committed murder or robberies on our frontiers. You
may require any other terms which the situation of affairs may
point out and you may judge necessary for the safety and honor of
the Commonwealth. You must endeavor to communicate with the
commanding officer of the Carolina forces and coöperate with him,
making the attack as near the time of his as may be.
You are from time to time to write His Excellency the Governor,
giving him a full account of your operations, and requiring his
further instructions. Instructions to Colonel Charles Lewis of the
second battalion of minute men: You are to order the captains
under your command to march their companies to their respective
counties, then to discharge such of their men as are not properly
qualified to serve on an expedition against the Indians, and to raise
with all possible dispatch in their stead the best recruits that can
be found for the service, and, having so completed their companies,
to repair to the Big Island on Holston river in Fincastle county, the
place of general rendezvous."
And, on the 6th day of August, 1776, the Virginia Council
directed the keeper of the magazine to forward to Colonel William
Christian 1,000 pounds of powder, two flints to be used on this
expedition.
It required some time to organize and equip the forces intended
to proceed against the Cherokee Indians, which work was carried
on with the greatest possible expedition, until the first week in September.
| CHAPTER VI. History of southwest Virginia, 1746-1786, Washington County, 1777-1870 | |