University of Virginia Library

ENGLISH FOLLY—DUNMORE'S WAR.

The treaty which had continued inviolate since 1765, was now to be
broken on the part of the English. In the early part of 1774 several
Indians were murdered on the South Branch of the Potomac, by one
Nicholas Harpold and his associates. About the same time Bald Eagle,
an Indian chief of considerable notoriety, not only among his own tribe,
but along the whole western frontier, was in the habit of hunting with
the English, and on one of his visits was murdered by Jacob Scott,
William Hacker and Elijah Runner, who, reckless of consequences,
committed the act simply to gratify their thirst for Indian blood.

There was at this time an Indian town on the banks of the Little
Kanawha river, not far from the present site of the town of Elizabeth,
in Wirt county, West Virginia. It was called Bulltown, and was
inhabited by five families of friendly Indians, who were in intercourse
with the settlers on Buckhannon, frequently visiting and hunting
with them. There was likewise a German family named Strowd
residing on Gauley river, near its junction with the Great Kanawha.
In the summer of this year, when Mr. Strowd was absent from home,
his family were all murdered, his house plundered, and his cattle driven
off. The trail left by the perpetrators of this outrage led in the direction
of Bulltown; this led to the supposition that its inhabitants were
the authors of these murders, and several parties resolved to avenge the
crime upon them. A party of five men expressed a determination to
proceed forthwith in search of the supposed murderers. They were
absent several days, and, upon their return, denied having seen an
Indian in their absence. Future developments, however, proved that
they had murdered every inhabitant—man, woman and child—at Bulltown,
and had thrown their bodies in the river that their acts might

never be known. Here, then, was a sufficient cause to justify retaliation,
and forthwith there broke out a savage war along the entire western
frontier.

To meet this general uprising of the confederated tribes of the Northwest,
who had now determined to annihilate the inhabitants of the whole
western frontier, Virginia, ever ready with her treasure and the services
of her people, responded to the call of his excellency, Governor Dunmore,
and forthwith three thousand soldiers, chiefly from the counties of
Augusta, Botetourt, Frederick and Shenandoah, enrolled their names
and shouldered their rifles in defense of the defenseless frontier.

These troops were divided into two bodies, called the Northern and
Southern divisions. The Northern division was led by Governor Dunmore
in person, and the command of the Southern was given to General
Andrew Lewis. His command rendezvoused at Camp Union (afterward
Fort Savannah), now Lewisburg, in Greenbrier county, and by the first
of September General Lewis only awaited the arrival of Colonel Christian
and others from Lord Dunmore to begin his march against the
Indian towns north of the Ohio. In a few days a messenger arrived
with orders from Dunmore, who was then at the head of the Northern
division, at Williamsburg, to meet him on the 2d of October at the
mouth of the Great Kanawha. On the 11th the tents were struck, and
the army commenced its line of march through an unknown and trackless
wilderness.

Captain Matthew Arbuckle, who had traversed the Kanawha Valley in
1764, acted as guide and conducted the expedition to the Ohio river,
which was reached after a dreary march of nineteen days. Some days
after the march began several of the command were attacked with smallpox,
and were left where the city of Charleston now stands. Among
the number was Alexander Clendenin, brother of Captain William Clendenin,
and father of Andrew Clendenin, Esq., now of Mason county.
When General Lewis reached the mouth of the Kanawha, he was greatly
disappointed in not meeting Governor Dunmore, and still more so at not
hearing from him. In the absence of orders it was determined to go
into camp, and accordingly the tents were pitched upon the triangular
point of land between the right bank of the Kanawha and the left bank
of the Ohio, accessible only from the rear. This place was called by the
Indians, "Tu, enda, wie," signifying in the Wyandotte language, "The
junction of two rivers." The ground thus occupied by the Virginia army
is the same upon which the town of Point Pleasant has since been built.
Little did that band of sturdy Virginians think that ere they left that
place they were to fight the most fiercely-contested battle ever fought
with the Indians in Virginia, if not on the continent. It was not until
Sunday, October 9th, that a messenger reached General Lewis, informing

SCENE ON THE GREAT KANAWHA.

him that the plan of the campaign had been changed, and ordering him to
march direct to the Indian towns on the Scioto, at which place the Northern
division would join him.