Executive Council of VA in March, April 1760
The Governor also communicated a Letter from Col. Byrd , dated Philadelphia March 30th signifying he proposes being at Winchester on the 6th of April , and that he has Orders from General Amherst , to hold the Regiment in Readiness to march on the earliest Notice from him .
That might mean Byrd will take some Fort Loudoun Winchester VA troops north to the ongoing building of Fort Pitt.
Captain Bullitt [See his story here] had been commander of Fort Loudoun and he had forestalled a Cherokee rebellion there. But now he is trying to protect his men who hadn't come back from their furloughs and if they should come back to Winchester VA they should be forgiven. They need soldiers. The VA Council agreed, as long as they all returned by 10 May 1760.
Also a Letter from Capt . Bullett , informing that several Soldiers belonging to the Virginia Regiment had overstaid their Furloughs and may probably not return from an Apprehension of Punishment for such a Breach of Duty .
Whereupon it was the Advice of the Council , and accordingly order'd that a Proclamation forthwith issue , promising a Pardon to all such Soldiers who shall join the Regiment at Winchester by the tenth of May next
Meanwhile, the Anglo Cherokee war is still going on in the Carolinas. Virginia has not overstretched itself to help. Virginia gets its troops close but no cigar. The Council of VA received a letter that the Indians have attacked those living on the Dan and Mayo Rivers. [The Mayo branches north of the Dan] The Council orders Major Andrew Lewis of the Virginia Regiment to take 80 men and officers to Halifax County on the Virginia southern border. Fort Mayo (was originally in old Halifax County of Virginia) is near Virginia's southern border. Colonel George Washington in the Fall of 1756 had inspected that area. See some history on Fort Mayo.
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The Governor communicated a Letter he received last Week from Col. Maury dated Halifax County March 28th signifying that on the 26th of the said Month he was advised by an Express from Capt . William Satterwhite , living on Smith River , that the Indians had fallen upon the People settled at and near the Confluence of the Dan and Mayo , and taken and killed many Persons ; informing what he had done and intended to do thereupon , till he received his Honor's Instructions .
South of where the Mayo forks into North and South Mayo rivers, the Mayo itself is branch of the Dan River.
See the confluence of the Mayo and the Dan in map below.
His Honor acquainted the Council , that upon Receipt of the said Letter , he dispatched his Orders to Major Lewis to send Eighty Men immediately with proper Officers into Halifax to be stationed in the most advantageous Manner for protecting the Inhabitants there ; which he judged more eligible than raising the Militia of the adjacent Counties ; that he at the same time signified this to Col. Maury , telling him he might provide for the Subsistence of these Men upon the terms of his former Contract ; and desired their Opinion if any more effectual Aid should be sent to the People in those Parts .
Upon which the Council were of Opinion that Nothing more at present was necessary to be done upon the Occasion , and intirely approved of the Measures his Honor had thought proper to take .
All print in orange italics is quoted from this source:
Near where the Dan River dips into North Carolina is where the Mayo River branches off. In this map, the Mayo is not as big as the Dan and is not shown.
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Compiled by Jim Moyer 3/31/2024
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