History of the Indians, of North and South AmericaGoodrich, Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold)
History
History of the Indians, of North and South America
Goodrich, Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold)
Indians of North America -- History; Indians of South America -- History
The war still waged with fury along the whole western frontier. The
siege of Fort Pitt was long continued, but after severe fighting,
in which the loss of the Indians was great, they were beaten. Fort
Niagara was also sharply assailed, but the enemy were finally driven
back. At last the savages began to feel the necessity of peace, which
was accordingly concluded in September, 1764, though the terms, being
dictated by the English, were unfavorable to the Indians.
In the summer of 1774, hostilities again broke out. This war had its
immediate origin in the incursions and outrages of the whites. The
earlier stage of it is known in history as “Cresap’s War,” from the
murder, by one Cresap, of the family of Logan, the Mingo chief,[13] who
had settled among the Shawanese in Ohio. This base act of treachery
and cruelty, which occurred in the spring of 1774, was followed by
another atrocity, committed by a man named Greathouse, who invited
a large number of Indians to drink with him and his men, and, when
in a state of intoxication, fell upon them and massacred them. These
and other outrages had the effect to combine several tribes in a war,
which resulted in the desolation of many of the remote settlements.
The governor of Virginia, Lord Dunmore, sent a large body of troops
under General Andrew Lewis, who marched towards the junction of the
Kenhawa with the Ohio. Here, on the morning of the 10th of October,
just at sunrise, he was attacked by a body of Indians, estimated at
from eight to fifteen hundred, consisting of Shawanese, Delawares,
Mingoes, Wyandots, Cayugas, and other tribes, led on by Logan, aided by
Cornstalk, his son, and the Red Eagle.
The Indians are said to have had the advantage of position, and in
the early part of the battle they compelled the Virginia regiments
to give way. But other troops being brought up, the Indians were, in
turn, forced to retreat, and fall back behind a breastwork of logs and
brushwood which they had erected. Here they made a valiant stand, and
defended themselves till night had nearly set in. Cornstalk cheered on
his men, crying out, “Be strong, be strong!” and he is said also to
have buried his tomahawk in the head of one who was seeking safety in
flight. The Indians, however, were at last outflanked by an unperceived
movement of a body of troops, who passed to their rear, and drove
them from their lines. Supposing that the Virginians had now received
reinforcements, they fled across the Ohio, and retreated to the Scioto.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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