University of Virginia Library

MURDER OF CORNSTALK AT POINT PLEASANT.

One of the most atrocious acts recorded in border warfare was committed
at Point Pleasant, at the mouth of the Great Kanawha, in the
summer of 1777. This was the shocking murder of Cornstalk, the celebrated
Shawnee chief, whose nobleness of character every student of
pioneer history has learned to admire. In the spring of the above year,
Cornstalk and Redhawk came to Fort Randolph at the mouth of the
Great Kanawha and declared that he and all his tribe were opposed to

engaging in the war on the side of the British; but, that all the other tribes
north of the Ohio were determined to do so, and that his people would
be compelled to do likewise. Captain Arbuckle, commandant at Point
Pleasant, detained his visitors as hostages, hoping thus to prevent their
tribe from becoming allies of Great Britain. We subjoin an account of
the murder from the memoir of Colonel John Stewart, who was an eyewitness
of the scene:

"During the time of our stay [at Point Pleasant] two young men
named Hamilton and Gilmore went over the Kanawha one day to
hunt for deer. On their return to camp some Indians had concealed
themselves on the bank among the weeds, to view our encampment, and
as Gilmore came along past them, they fired on him and killed him on
the bank. Captain Arbuckle and myself were standing on the opposite
bank, when the gun was fired, and while we were wondering who it
could be shooting contrary to orders, or what they were doing over the
river, we saw Hamilton run down to the bank, who called out that Gilmore
was killed. Gilmore was one of the company of Captain John
Hall, of that part of the country now Rockbridge county. The captain
was a relative of Gilmore's, whose family and friends were chiefly cut
off by the Indians, in 1763, when Greenbrier was cut off. Hall's men
instantly jumped into a canoe and went to the relief of Hamilton, who
was standing in momentary expectation of being put to death. They
brought the corpse of Gilmore down the bank, covered with blood, and
scalped, and put it into the canoe. As they were passing the river, I
observed to Captain Arbuckle that the people would be for killing the
hostages, as soon as the canoe would land. He supposed that they
would not offer to commit so great a violence upon the innocent, who
were in no wise accessory to the murder of Gilmore. But the canoe
had scarcely touched the shore until the cry was raised, `Let us kill
the Indians in the fort!' and every man with his gun in his hand, came
up the bank pale with rage. Captain Hall was at their head and leader.
Captain Arbuckle and I met them, and endeavored to dissuade them
from so unjustifiable an action; but they cocked their guns, threatened
us with instant death if we did not desist, rushed by us into the fort and
put the Indians to death.

"On the preceding day Cornstalk's son, Elinipsico, had come from
the nation to see his father, and to know if he were well, or alive. When
he came to the river, opposite the fort, he hallooed. His father was at
that instant in the act of delineating a map of the country and the waters
between the Shawnee towns and the Mississippi, at our request, with
chalk upon the floor. He immediately recognized the voice of his son,
went out and answered him. The young fellow crossed over, and they
embraced each other in the most tender and affectionate manner. The
interpreter's wife, who had been a prisoner among the Indians and had
recently left them, on hearing the uproar the next day, and hearing the

men threatening that they would kill the Indians, for whom she retained
much affection, ran to their cabin and informed them that the people
were just coming to kill them, and that because the Indians who
killed Gilmore had come with Elinipsico the day before. He utterly
denied it; declared that he knew nothing of them, and trembled exceedingly.
His father encouraged him not to be afraid, for that the Great
Man above had sent him there to be killed and die with him. As the
men advanced to the door, Cornstalk rose up and met them; they fired
upon him, and seven or eight bullets went through him. So fell the
great warrior, Cornstalk, whose name was bestowed upon him by
the consent of the nation as their great strength and support. His son
was shot dead as he sat upon the stool. The Redhawk made an
attempt to go up the chimney, but was shot down. The other Indian
was shamefully mangled, and I grieved to see him so long in the agonies
of death."

Point Pleasant did not flourish for many years. There was no
church—its social condition was at the lowest ebb. Judging from the
accounts of travelers who visited the place in its earlier days, one
would suppose that Goldsmith's "Deserted Village" was a paradise in
comparison. The popular superstition was that a curse had been
laid upon the place to continue for one hundred years—a punishment
for the fiendish murder. Patrick Henry, then governor, offered a reward
for the apprehension of the murderers, but without effect.