Andrew Lewis hostage
Andrew Lewis is hostage in Montreal Canada, 31 October 1758. He's allowed to write a letter.
He was captured from the battle of Grant's Defeat [14 Sept 1758] near that hill overlooking the French Fort Duquesne.
Major Andrew Lewis is 3rd in command under Colonel George Washington's 1st VA Regiment.
He is kept captive for almost 2 years, first at Fort Duquesne, then at Quebec city.
He is returned to Fort Loudoun Winchester VA on sometime in mid to late April 1760.
When does GW receive letter from Andrew Lewis?
He writes to Colonel George Washington on 31 Oct 1758.
At the time of Andrew Lewis is writing this letter,
GW is at Loyalhannon since 23 Oct 1758.
That site that had just been attacked by the French and their Indians 12 Oct 1758.
When does GW finally receive Major Andrew Lewis' letter?
Maybe a month later? Maybe right around the time Fort Duquesne was abandoned by the French?
Grant's Defeat
Andrew Lewis was captured during the battle on Grant's Hill overlooking Fort Duqesne 12 Sept 1758.
That day broke Paddy's heart. That's Major Andrew Lewis' nickname - Paddy.
Captain Thomas Bullitt
urged Major Andrew Lewis
to retreat
but the Major told Capt Bullitt,
"that he would not leave the field of battle as long as there was a man who would fight. "
"My heart is broke," said the Major. "I shall never outlive this day."
His Return
Norman Baker writes on page 54 of his book on Fort Loudoun,
"On April 14, 1760, Robert Stewart,
now a Major in the Virginia Regiment
under Colonel Byrd
and a Lieutenant
in the Royal American Regiment,
was back at Fort Loudoun.
Stewart reported that Colonel Byrd
was at the fort
and expecting in a few days Major Andrew Lewis,
who was captured during the Forbes campaign
in front of Fort Duquesne
and was returning after a one year imprisonment in Quebec."
I have not found an exact date on his release.
Taken Prisoner, Not Dead
Major Andrew Lewis wrote this letter from Montreal. He says at end of letter he will be going to Quebec soon.
Once there, he will meet two prisoners.
Those 2 prisoners were captured in 1754 at the battle at Fort Necessity - Capt. Robert Stobo (1727–1770) and Capt. Jacob Van Braam (1725–1784).
From Andrew Lewis Montreall October the 31t 1758
Dr Sir, I have the hapenass of Aquenting you that I ame in perfict helth. and tho.
I had the Missfortun of being made prisenor
the 14 Last month [14 Sept 1758] ,
ame as hapy and much more So, then I could have Expected under Such Sircomstances.
Nothing this Country Can afford but I have in plenty, with the Greatest Complesance.
The time as well as mannar of my Being releved I ame a Strangear to. Cash I have non nither Know I how to get a Suply unless you be So good as to procure a Bill of Exchange which may inable me to Draw my pay. Cloaths I must if posable have, and Should any Genteleman in this place advance me Cash for that purpos I should be Sorry to leve this Country with out paying him—
Colo. Skilar by home I have the plasure of Sending this, has promised if you Send the Bill to him, he will Send it So that I shall have it. [see footnote 1]
I supos I shall be Soon Sent to Qubeck [Quebec]
where I shall have the plasure of Seeing
Capts. Stobo and Vanbram,
I here they are in Good helth [see footnote 2 ] —
pray make my Best Complements to all the officers of my aquentance—
I ame Your Most Obedt Hble Servant Andw Lewis
Founders Online Footnotes:
1. GW knew by this time that the report of Lewis’s having been killed on 14 Sept. was false and that he was a prisoner. On 27 Aug. 1758 when the French commandant at Cataraqui on the St. Lawrence surrendered Fort Frontenac to Lt. Col. John Bradstreet of the Royal Americans, making any effective reinforcement of Fort Duquesne unlikely, Bradstreet arranged for Col. Peter Schuyler of New Jersey to be exchanged. Schuyler had been a prisoner of the French since the fall of Oswego in 1756.
2. By the terms of GW’s capitulation at Fort Necessity, 3 July 1754, the French took Capt. Robert Stobo (1727–1770) and Capt. Jacob Van Braam (1725–1784) as hostages first to Fort Duquesne and then to Montreal and Quebec. Stobo made his escape to Louisburg in May 1759; Van Braam was exchanged in 1760.
Source:
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That's our lead story.
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Read bits and pieces.
Compiled by Jim Moyer 10/17/2022, updated 10/18/2022, 10/23/2022, updated 9/27/2023
Table of Contents
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Sources
Grant's Defeat on hill overlooking Fort Duquesne:
Thomas Bullitt saving us from Cherokee rejection at Fort Loudoun:
Andrew Lewis
Source of Paddy nickname
1. Stewart was at Mount Vernon 4–6 April (Diaries, 1:261, 263). Paddy is Maj. Andrew Lewis of the Virginia Regiment who returned to Virginia after a year of imprisonment in Quebec. For Thomas Bishop’s whereabouts, see George Mercer to GW, 17 Feb. 1760, n.5.
Source
To George Washington at Mt Vernon from Robert Stewart in Fort Loudoun Winchester VA, 14 April 1760:
Dunmore's War & Rev War
Our Major Andrew Lewis however has a 2nd and 3rd act for which his is famous.
He is more famous for being head of the Army that battled Chief Cornstalk and the Shawnee and other of the Ohio lands at Point Pleasant in Lord Dunmore's War of 1774.
He is also famous for his pursuit of Lord Dunmore, Virginia's last Royal Governor to hound him out of the colony in the beginnings of the Revolutionary War.
French and Indian War
But for us, we see and know his contributions to our Colonel George Washington's Virginia in the French and Indian War.
Major Andrew Lewis led the famous Sandy Creek Expedition. Although this effort failed as GW had predicted, the Indian allies saw in Major Andrew Lewis a respectable man who was much stronger than those other White Men.
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Captain Robert Stobo
Captain Robert Stobo is one of the men Andrew Lewis may have seen in the city of Quebec. Andrew Lewis was first kept prisoner in Fort Duquesnes, but was moved up to Quebec when Forbes Expedition threatened annihlation of the French fort Duquesne.
From Fred Anderson's Crucible of War::
Wolfe sought the advise of only one officer, a man who knew Quebec better than anyone else on the expedtion, Captain Robert Stobo.
Stobo, on of the most vivid characters in a story that has no shortage of them, had lived in the city [Quebec] from 1755 the spring of 1759 as a prisoner of war. He was in fact, one of the British prisoners of longest standing, for he and Jacob Van Braam had bee the officers whom Washington had given up as hostages at the surrender of Fort Necessity. Thereafterhe and Van Braam had been moved from Fort Duquesene to Quebec for safe keeping, but not before Stob had drawn --- and, in folly or bravado, signed ---- a sketch of the fort's defences and arranged for Shingas to smuggle it out to the Pennsylvania authorities. The letter in which he descirbed the fort turned up in Braddock's captured baggage after the Battle of Monongahela. Before this damning document came to light, Stobo had the run of Quebec, mingling in its high society and even forming a business partnership with one of the biggest merchants. Once his role in revealing Fort Duquesne's defences became know, however, both he and Van Braam were arrested and tried as spies. The court acquitted Van Braam but found Stobo guilty and sentenced him to death ---a punishment he escaped only when the sentence was sent to Versailles for confirmation, and ordered suspended. Thereafter he enjoyed less freedom but eventually managed to move around the city and its immediate vicinity, carefully noting (as was his habit) the disposition of its defences.
Twice in 1757 he tried to escape; twice he was caught.
Finally on May 1, 1759,
he led 8 other prisoners, including a woman and 3 children, in the attempt that finally succeeded. Descending the St Lawrence --- first in a stolen canoe, later in a schooner that he and his companions hijacked, complete with Captain and crew --- he had reached Louisbourg shortly after the Quebec expedition had sailed. With barely a pause, he turned around and ascended the river, joining Wolfe's army in July.
Although no independent evidence survives to corroborate Stobo's own account, there is good reason to believe that it was he who told Wolfe of the footpath at L'Anse au Foulon (Fuller's Cove} [Wolfe's Cove?] --- a track that angled steeply up the bluff from the riverside to the Plains of Abraham, a couple miles west of the city [Quebec].
On September 5 [1759], Wolfe ordered preparations for the move upriver, and on that or the following day met with Stobo. Then, evidently feeling he had critical secret information to communicate to Amherst, he sent Stobo off with a packet of dispatches on the seventh [7 Sept 1759].
pages 351-352
Fred Anderson in his Crucible of War The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 hardback published Feb 11, 2000
Captain Stobo, whom Wolfe had sent [to General Amherst ] with letters back on September 7 [1759], had arrived at Crown Point on October 9 [1759],.
Unfortunately for Amherst, he [Stobo] arrived without the dispatches; a French privateer had overtaken the shift near Halifax and he [Stobo] had thrown Wolfe's letters overboard lest they be discovered among his possessions. He [Stobo] had therefore been able to give Amherst general information only, leaving the commander in chief intensely frustrated, "I am not a whit the wiser." he complained, "except that [Stobo] says Gen Wolfe had got with allmost his whole Army above the Town & [Wolfe] thinks he will not take it."
page 369
Fred Anderson in his Crucible of War The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 hardback published Feb 11, 2000
Alberts, Robert C. (1965). The Most Extraordinary Adventures of Major Robert Stobo. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Craig, Neville B., ed. (1854). Memoirs of Major Robert Stobo of the Virginia Regiment. Pittsburgh: John S. Davidson.
Stobo's end
In November 1771 George Washington wrote a letter to Stobo concerning land claims under Governor Dinwiddie;[5] however Stobo killed himself on 19 June 1770.[6]
Source: Wikipedia
Here are two letters about him after his death.
From George Washington to George Mercer, 22 November 1771
To George Mercer Mount Vernon 22d Novr 1771 Dear Sir, Since my Letter of the 7th which will accompany this by Mr Adam, who I beg leave to recommend to your Notice; I have thought it advisable to purchase Stobo and Vanbraams Rights to the Land under Governor Dinwiddies Proclamation, provided they will take a trifle for it, and more than a trifle circumstanced as things are, I will not give.1 My only motive for doing this, is, that the progress of our Affairs may be less obstructed, by being more contracted—The whole trouble of late (in this Country I mean) has fallen upon me, and a good deal of expence which never has, nor indeed never can be, brought into Acct I have been Subjected to by my Activity in this matter; And, as it is very obvious that the whole Work must go on at the expence of a few, or not at all, I am Inclind to adventure a little further in order to take the chance of gaining in proportion to my loss; for no problem in Euclid is more clear than that those who do not choose to advance before hand whilst there is at least a hope of success will hardly draw their purse strings to reimburse the expences of others when even hope it departed from them. If you can give Mr Adam any assistance towards makg these purchases, I shall acknowledge it as a singular favour—Colo. Cresap who I have seen since his return from England gave it to me as his opinion, that, some of the Shares in the New (Charter) Government on the Ohio might be bought very Cheap from some of the present Members—are you of this Opinion? Who are they that would sell? And at what price do you think a share could be bought? I am Dr Sir Yr Most Obedt Hble Servt Go: Washington ALB, DLC:GW. 1. See GW to Robert Adam, this date.
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From George Washington to Robert Adam, 22 November 1771
To Robert Adam Mount Vernon 22d Novr 1771 Sir, In case of your going to England I should be obliged to you for using your Endeavours to purchase for me the Rights of Captns Robt Stobo & Jacob Vanbraam, to part of the 200,000 Acres of Land claimd by the Officers and Soldiers under Governor Dinwiddies Proclamation of the 19th of Feby 1754 which, by a late determination of the Governor and Council will be, if got at all, Nine thousd Acres to each of these Gentlemen.1 For neither of these shares would I give above an hundd pounds Sterlg at the Utmost because there is, in the first place a chance of our never getting the Land at all as it cannot yet be foreseen what difficulties we are to meet with from the Members of the Proprietary Governmt to the Westward of us; who have, it is said obtaind an actual Grant of the Country we are Surveying In2—In the next place if we do get them it is under every disadvantage and discouragement that the nature of the thing can possibly be attended with for instead of getting one half of the Land Contiguous to Pittsburg as we were entitled to do by Proclamation & where it would be valuable we are obliged to go 300 Miles below, and take the Land in large Tracts by wch means, & the Nature of the Country, we must necessarily Include a large portion of bad Land as we are confind to 20 Surveys & have made 10 of them in the most extensive bodies of good Ld we cd find & have not got near one third of our qty which besides the hardship of compellg us to receive, will be attendd with much difficulty & great discontent at a division as it is almost impossible to divide the good & the bad in eql proportn amg the differt Claimts; add to this, that we are obligd to be at a dble expence; first in Survg the whole qty & then each Man saddled with the charge of layg of his own part seperately wch by the by appears to be subjected to the Manifest Inconvenience of being held in the Nature of a joint Interest & consequently no Man ascertaind of his particulr spot till the whole are ready & willing to divide, for which reason it is, I incline to buy, in order that this Inconv[ienc]e may be lessen’d by the principal Shares getting into fewer hands, & because hitherto the principal share of the advance (which has been upwards of £200) and almost the whole trouble has fallen upon me, otherwise I must have given up every hope of my own—Under these Circumstances which are justly and truely related I think those who have contributed nothing towards bearing the trouble, or expense of this business (among whom Stobo & Vanbraam are two) cannot expect much for their Shares & therefore I would give a trifle in order to take the chance of gaining as well as loosing as I must carry on the Work—Whatever Sums you agree for (& I have no doubts of yr purchag upon the best terms you can) I have desired Robt Cary Esqr. & Co. to pay;3 & I shall be much obligd to you for any trouble you may be at & will thankfully repay all expences. I have furthr to request the favr of yo., if it shd happen in yr way, to procure me a good Gardner; they, as well as other Tradesmen are frequently I am told to be had upon Indenture—Captn Jno. Johnstoun I know used to bring in more or less every yr in this manr, and sell them in the Country. I do not want one of yr fine fellows—a Man that can lay of a Garden, & will work hard in it afterwds, & who knows how to Sow Seeds in their proper Seasons is all that I desire. In short a good Kitchen Gardner is what I want—If he understd something of Fruit Trees & could Graft and Innoculate so much the better.4 The Gun herewith sent please to have handsomely Stockd—let the Stock be of the same Bend, & Substance at the Britch as the old one—The Barl to be sealed and properly cleansd on the Inside & to have a new Lock of a piece with the Barl—the whole to be done in a compleat mannr—with a pair of Bullet Moulds. A Neat Slip Cane, with a gold head (not expens⟨iv⟩e) with my Arms engravd thereon—Also a Plate with my Arms engravd & 4 or 500 Copies struck—A White Agate Stone fixd in the gold Socket sent with the Custis’s Arms engravd thereon for Mr Custis to whom it is to be chargd5—Heartily wishg you a pleast Voyage &ca I am with gt Esteem Dr Sr Yr Most Obedt Servt Go: Washington ALB, DLC:GW.
GW sent to London by Adam his letters to George Mercer, 7 and 22 Nov., to Robert Cary & Co., 22 Nov., to Robert Stobo and to Jacob Van Braam, both 22 Nov., and to Osgood Hanbury & Co., 14 December.
The text of the letter to Stobo and to Van Braam is printed here in note 1 and that to Cary as note 3. The text of the letter of introduction to Hanbury is: “The bearer of this Mr Robt Adam, a Mercht of Alexandria on Potomack River & a friend and Acquaintance of mine going to London I have taken the liberty of recommending him to your Notice, and shall think myself obligd in any Civilities you may shew him being Gentn Yr Most Obedt Hble Servt G. Washington” (ALB, DLC:GW).
1. See GW to George Mercer, 7 November. GW made the following copy in his letter book of his letters to Robert Stobo and Jacob Van Braam of this date: “Your claim to a share of the 200,000 Acres of Land under Governor Dinwiddies Proclamation has been entered, and the Governor and Council have settled the proportion’s which shall fall to each Man’s Lott (according to the Rank he enterd the Service with) by which each Field Officer is allowed 15,000 Acres—each Captain 9,000—each Subaltern 6,000—each Cadet 2,500—A Sergeant 600—a Corpol 500—and each private soldier 400 Acres a piece.
“The Solliciting this matter with some other expences that have attended the prosecuting of our Claim have cost a few Individuals upwards of £200 already and instead of getting one half the Land contiguous to the Forks of Monongahela (now Fort Pitt) where they are of some value, we are obliged to go down the Ohio near 300 Miles lower and take the Land in twenty Surveys, by which means, and the Nature of that Country which you know is very hilly and broken, we shall be obliged to include a large portion of bad Land so as not only to render the Grant of little value but will create a good deal of discontent at a division as it is absolutely impossible to make an equal distribution of the good & bad, nor divide it by Lott as differt Ranks are entitled to different quantities, and when all is done what plague and trouble we are yet to meet with from the Proprietors of the New Governmt to the Westward of us whose Grant Includes every Inch of the Land we are expecting under our Order of Council I know not time only can Reveal it.
“The expence attending this Grant of Ours, is in a manner but Just beginning as we have not Surveyed a third part of the Lands yet, and are laid under the Inconvenience & hardship of first exploring the Country, then Surveying our whole quantity in twenty Surveys, and after that each Man his particular quantity seperately—A Grievance we have labourd much to get removd, but could not, It is therefore Incumbant upon you to appoint an Agent here to attend to your Interest in these Lands; who should be enabled to contribute your proportion of the expence, for without money the business cannot go forward even if the way was Smooth much less where there are difficulties in every Stage of it.
“What I have here said will just serve to give you some Idea of this Affair; to relate the whole proceedings, with the troubles and Vexation’s that have accompanied them in Stating our Claims, drawing Petitions, presenting Memorials &ca &ca would require a Volume and afford little entertainment I shall therefore only add that I am Dr sir Yr Most Obedt Servt Go: Washington. “Note, A Letter of the same date of the above, and word for word with it, I also wrote to Captn Jacob Vanbraam—& sent them both—together with the foregoing & following by Mr Robt Adam” (ALB, DLC:GW).
2. He is referring to the Walpole Company.
3. The text of the letter to Robert Cary & Co. of this date is: “I have Commissioned the bearer of this Mr Robert Adam a friend and Acquaintance of mine and one who I beg leave to recommend to your Notice to purchase on my Acct the Rights of two Officers to certain Shares of a Tract of Land granted by Govr Dinwiddies Proclamation in 1754 to the Troops that engaged in the Service of this Colony at that time—If he does this he may possibly have a call for about One hundred and fifty pounds Sterling to pay for them which I beg the favour of you to advance him on my account, charging me Interest thereon; or, if you have any unwillingness to do this, I then request that the money may be paid out of Mr Custis’s money in your hands and I shall allow him Interest for it here. “Mr Adam has also one or two other little Commission’s to execute for me which possibly may require from Ten to Twenty Guineas—this Sum you will please to advance on my Account also—among I have requested him to get me a Gardner, if one of an orderly, and Sober behaviour can be had upon good terms your advise in procuring of one may be of Service both to him and me and will merit my thanks as I am a good deal in want of one. Captns of Ships (Johnstoun in particular) I know make a practise of engaging Tradesmen of different kinds upon Indenture for four or five years and bring them over from whence I conclude a Gardner may be had in the same way but rather than fail I would give moderate wages—I do not desire any of your fine fellows who will content themselves with Planning of work, I want a Man that will labour hard, knowing at the sametime how to keep a Garden in good order and Sow Seed in their proper Seasons in ground that he has prepard well for the reception of them” (ALB, DLC:GW). 4. Inoculation, or budding, is the process of inserting a bud from one shrub or tree under the bark of another in order to raise flowers or fruit different from those of the stock. Robert Cary & Co. were unable to secure a gardener for GW in London. See GW to Cary, 15 July 1772. See also note 3. 5. Adam sent the following invoice to GW from London, dated 28 Mar. 1772: “Sundries purchasd & sent by Mr Robert Adam in the Martha Rawlins &ca1 Cane1. 0.0Jno. PayneA gold Cane head4. 0.0a pr of gold Pipes. 4.0Engravg a Coat of Arms. 6. S. ValliscureEngravg Arms on a Plate.14.0To Strikg 300 Prints. 6. Wm WilsonIn a Case. 2. A neat fowlg ps. Londn proovd4 feet blew Barl, ¾ boreBridle lock & brass furns.4. 0.01 pr Bullet Moulds. 1. New stockg a fowling ps. & best dble bridle lock1. 8. Cleang & Repg the old Lock. 2. £12. 3. Note, The above Gun & Bullet Moulds for Mr Ld Washington” (ALB, in GW’s hand, DLC:GW). Rawlins & Barron were tobacconists at 201 Borough; Stephen Vallescure was a jeweler at 2 Change Alley, Basinghall St.; and William Wilson & Co. were gunmakers at Minories, all in London.
PERMANENT LINK What’s this
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