Three days after the attack on Presqu'île, Fort le Boeuf, twelve miles
south on Le Boeuf Creek, one of the head sources of the Allegheny
River, was surrounded and burned. Ensign Price and a garrison of
thirteen men miraculously escaped the flames and the encircling savages
and endeavored to reach Fort Pitt. About half of them succeeded; the
remainder died of hunger and privation by the way.
Fort Venango, still farther south, on the Allegheny River, was captured
by a band of Senecas, who gained entrance by resorting to the
oft-employed treachery of pretending friendliness. The entire garrison
was butchered, Lieutenant Gordon, the commander, being slowly tortured
to death, and the fort was burned to the ground. Not a soul escaped to
tell the horrible tale.
Fort Ligonier, another small post, commanded by Lieutenant Archibald
Blane, forty miles southeast of Fort Pitt, was attacked but successfully
held out till relieved by Bouquet's expedition.
Thus within a period of about a month from the time the first blow was
struck at Detroit, Pontiac was in full possession of nine out of the
twelve posts, so recently belonging to and, it was thought, securely
occupied by the British. The fearful threat of the great Ottawa
conspirator that he would exterminate the whites west of the Alleghanies
was wellnigh fulfilled. Over two hundred traders with their servants
fell victims to his remorseless march of slaughter and rapine, and goods
estimated at over half a million dollars became the spoils of the
confederated tribes.
The result of Pontiac's widespread and successful uprising struck untold
terror to the settlers along the Western frontier of Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and Virginia. The savages, roused to the highest pitch of fury
and weltering in the blood of their victims, were burning the cabins and
crops of the defenceless whites and massacring the men, women, and
children. Many hundreds of the forest-dwellers with their families
flocked to the stockades and protected posts. Particularly in the
Pennsylvania country did dread and consternation prevail. The
frontiersmen west of the Alleghanies fled east over the mountains to
Carlisle, Lancaster, and numbers even continued their flight to
Philadelphia. Pontiac was making good his threat that he would drive the
pale-faces back to the sea.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account