Newspaper Articles all years
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1764 June 6th - Tells of the June 1764 Indian attack on the settlers of western Frederick County VA that took the lives of the Clowser, Thomas, Jones and Lloyd families on June 1st, 1764.
Page 2, 28 July 1764 - The Caledonian Mercury, Edinburgh Scotland.
Admin
Great find, Larry Allen Clowser Webb !!!! ... This is a real big starting point to research. There are some interesting names in that article to run down.
Nimrod Ashby (misspelled in the article) and Foreman are familiar. Foreman had a fort built to his name.
Richard Pearis (misspelled in the article as well as the wrong Pearis -- it's Robert, not Richard). And that was an easy mistake, because Richard Pearis is famous, well known then. Robert Pearis, his brother and lesser known, is the one who owned that settler fort on Indian Hollow Road just outside Winchester VA.
But some other names are not familiar to me, such as Colonel Kite?
Could that have been really Colonel White? The Whites, both father and son, had property and a fort in that area of the Clowser attack.
And Fort Edwards being burned down in 1764? That kind of matches the story in Kerchival's book that conflated this 1764 report with the original Battle of the Great Cacapon 18 April 1756.
And spellings? No big deal. George Washington wrote 6 or 7 different names for the miner who used black powder to blow up that hard rock limestone for the well that exists in Fort Loudoun. It was only in 1755 that the great Samuel Johnson came out with a real standard dictionary of spellings. Although that dictionary is not related to the spelling of names, it had the effect over the years to get even the spelling of names correct.
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1756 October 4th & 12th - 2 Ships boarded and taken off Virginia shores.
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Great find Larry Allen Clowser Webb !!! Another starting point for more research. Jacob's Horn? Often those sheep developed 4 horns. ... Name comes from Jacob in the book of Genesis.
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nSrdosoptea23l2cu201l3421912t70f3uchg599cf89f485hg8652g80au2 ·
1756 September 30th and October 7th.
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Great newspaper posts, Larry Allen Clowser Webb !!!
Ensign Smith caught my eye in there. He's a Lieutenant by 1757.
He's Charles Smith who Washington assigned as head foreman to build Fort Loudoun Winchester VA.
He learned the art of building forts from Captain Waggener who was head of building forts along the South Branch of the Potomac, such as Fort Pleasant.
Charles Smith was big in Battletown before it became Berryville.
Charles Smith was Washington's accountant for his Bullskin Plantations ...
Also Charles Smith did all the campaign treasury work buying the beer and rum for all the voters in the 1758 election while James Wood stood in for Washington to win his first political office in Winchester VA. .....
Last but not least .. . . . . . .
Charles Smith killed a man with just one punch in a Fredericksburg bar.
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At the top of the article that Col. Mercer is actually Captain Hugh Mercer.
He was under "Lt. Col. John Armstrong’s raid on the Indian village of Kittanning. Mercer was wounded during the raid but managed to escape through the woods, wandering injured, alone, and hungry for days until he reached Fort Shirley. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of colonel and, as a result, became close friends with fellow colonel George Washington."
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BTW that Hugh Mercer became even more famous because of a painting.
Just like Dr Joseph Warren became even more famous because of a painting.
Counties were named after the two in the 1830s. ......................................................... Bishop Larry W Johnson was recently hugely instrumental in Warren County renaming that bridge into Front Royal after Dr Joseph Warren. Trumbull painted several versions, including the one held by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (dated between 1815 and 1831). This was commissioned by the Warren family and passed down through the family before being acquired by the museum.[1] Another, larger version (dated 1834) is held by the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford, Connecticut.[2] "
Trumbull's painting of Hugh Mercer's death ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_General_Mercer_at_the_Battle_of_Princeton,_January_3,_1777
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Adam Long?
Turns out he is John Adam Long
And finally who is Adam Long? I could not find his name in my Virginia colonial soldiers book. But I found him here, as the name of "John Adam Long." It does not say what outfit he was from.
He returned to Fort Cumberland yet nothing of him can be found (yet) in Founders Online.
As Mark Twain said about Newspapers, " if you don't read them, you are uninformed. If You do read them, you are misinformed."
This fort from the first was not intended to be more than a stronghold for a garrison and supplies on the line of the French occupancy from Lake Erie to the Forks of the Ohio. (9.) They, however, contemplated strengthening it as the occasion offered; and according to the statement of one John Adam Long, an escaped prisoner from the French (10), they were occupied during the winter of 1755 and summer of 1756 in collecting materials and making preparations to build stronger works.
Long said he was taken from Fort Duquesne about the last of April, 1756, to Venango, "where resided an officer in a small stockade fort with a command of forty men," and that a number of square logs had been "got together at that place sufficient to build a large fort on a pretty, rising ground in the Forks of Ohio and French creek."
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This is sourced in footnote 10 - History of Venango County, Ed. 1890. page 53
And about Fort Dinwiddie?
29–30 September 1756
Orders
GW left Winchester for Augusta County on 29 Sept. 1756 and did not return until 22 October. As was the case during his absence in September, the orders issued at Winchester and entered in GW’s letter book until 10 Oct. were given presumably by the aide-de-camp George Mercer. Mercer left Winchester on 10 Oct. to go to Williamsburg, and no further orders appear in GW’s letter book until 24 Oct. after GW’s return to Winchester.
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30 September 1756
Letter To George Washington from Robert Dinwiddie in Williamsburg
As Mark Twain said about Newspapers, " if you don't read them, you are uninformed. If You do read them, you are misinformed."
The only accurate thing in that sentence on Washington leaving Winchester for Augusta county is Washington leaving Winchester for Augusta county. No reference of a battle near Fort Dinwiddie is found in Founders Online. But we did find multiple smaller attacks in the area.
The Jackson River Massacre in Fall of 1756
In the fall of 1756, there are accounts of several setters being killed by Indians (who were being spurred on by the French) near the "Jackson's River" and other areas of Augusta County, Virginia. One of the more detailed accounts is regarding the family of John Bird of Jackson's River, whose family was destroyed by this Indian uprising:
Account of John Bird's murder in 1756 and family's kidnapping:
The Annals of Bath County: The Families of Greater Bath, p. 190: John Byrd, a brother-in-law to John & William DEAN, was killed by Indians 2 years after his purchase on Jackson's River in 1754. Of the wife & 6 children who were carried away, John Jr., is the only one we know to have returned. The family were trying to escape Fort Dinwiddie. The son became so Indianized that it was quite awhile before he could reconcile himself to the ways of his own people. He was a favorite of the red man & made at least one attempt to go back to them. His wife was a HAMILTON. There were 7 children but Andrew H., whose wife was Elizabeth Capito, was the only son to stay in Bath. A sister, 2 years older than John Jr. remained with the Indians. Another sister Sarah, born 1743, does not seem to have been carried away & chose John Dean as a guardian.
In a 1764 report, Colonel Henry Bouquet provides a list of prisoners he recovered. Listed on the report is Margarett Bard (Bird) and five of her children. At least one must have died in captivity. The list is located at the bottom of this page.
▼Killed or Captured in 1756 near Jackson River
From [Source:Chalkley's Chronicles]':
1756, February.-- Robt. Looney and a Dutchman, at Reed Creek, killed. March, John Lee, killed; Michael Mates, killed; Patrick Smith, killed; Moses Man, prisoner; Valentine Harman, at North River, killed; Jacob Harmon and one son, at North River, killed; Andrew Moses, at North River, killed.
June 25th, Thomas Davies, at Roanoke, prisoner escaped; Capt. John Smith, at Ft. Vanse, prisoner returned; Peter Looney, at Ft. Vanse, prisoner escaped; Wm. Bratton, at Ft. Vanse, prisoner returned; Joseph Smith, at Ft. Vanse, prisoner; Wm. Pepper, at Ft. Vanse, prisoner; Mrs. Vanscher (Vause) and 2 daughters, a negro, and 2 young Indians and a man servant, at Ft. Vanse, prisoner; Ican Medley and 2 daughters, at Ft. Vanse, prisoner; James Bell, at Ft. Vanse, prisoner; Christopher Hicks at Ft. Vanse, prisoner; _____ Cole, at Ft. Vanse, prisoner; _____ Graham, at Ft. Vanse, prisoner; Benj. Davies, at Ft. Vanse, prisoner; Lieut. John Smith, at Ft. Vanse, killed; John Tracey, at Ft. Vanse, killed; John English, at Fort Vanse, killed; Mrs. Mary English, at Fort Vanse prisoner; Wm. Robinson, at Fort Vanse, wounded; Tho. Robinson, at Ft. Vanse wounded; Saml. Robinson, at Ft. Vanse, wounded; Robert Pepper, at Fort Vanse, wounded.
September 11th-12th, Ensign Madison, at Jackson River, killed.
September 13th-14th, Nicholas Carpenter, at Jackson River, killed; _____ Fry, at Jackson River, killed; Steven Sowel, at Jackson River, killed; James Mais (Mayes), at Jackson River, killed; James Montgomery, at Jackson River, killed; Nicholas Nut, at Jackson River, killed; John Bird (Byrd), at Jackson River, killed; George Kinkead (Kincaid), at Jackson River, killed; Mrs. Boyl, at Jackson River, killed; 3 Parsinger children, at Jackson River, killed; Joseph Swobe, at Jackson River, wounded; _____Willson, at Jackson River, wounded (other sources indicate that this was probably John Wilson, who was killed at Jackson River); 5 children belonging to Charles Boyl, at Jackson River, prisoners; David Galloway, at Jackson River, prisoner escaped; Mrs. McConell, at Jackson River, prisoner escaped; Joseph Carpenter, at Jackson River, prisoner escaped; Mrs. Bird and 6 children, at Jackson River, prisoners; Mrs. Kinkead and 3 children, at Jackson River, prisoners; Mrs. Parsinger (Persinger) and 2 children, at Jackson River, prisoners; 5 Carpenter children, at Jackson River, prisoners; Saml. Brown, a boy, at Jackson River, prisoners; _____ Swobe, a boy, at Jackson River, prisoners; John Robinson, at Vonse, killed; John Walker, at Vonse, prisoner.
William Preston in the American Revolution
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
https://libjournal.uncg.edu › article › download
by R Osborn · 2010 · Cited by 1 — Indian attacks began as early as mid-September in the. Jackson River area with thirteen colonists killed, two wounded, and five taken prisoner. The only
These questions about the forts and militia led to George Washington's first trip to Augusta County as commander and to his first meeting with Preston. On September 28, 1756 Washington left his Winchester headquarters for southern Virginia. Upon leaving he received word of Indian "depredations" and so attempted to raise a party of militia to "scour the woods" around Jackson's River. Washington got a firsthand illustration of the recruiting difficulties on the frontier. After waiting five days for Colonel Stewart to raise the militia, only five men showed up. Preston, who was also present, was subsequently "kind enough to conduct" Washington on the sixty mile journey to Luney's Ferry on the James River in order to get help from Colonel John Buchanan, then the leader of the Augusta militia. On the journey, Preston and Washington engaged in intensive conversations about the manpower problems on the frontier and undoubtedly on many other topics of mutual concern. Washington reported that he acquainted Preston with the motives that brought me thither. He told me with very great concern, it was not in his power to raise men; for that, three days before, some of the militia in a fort, about fifteen miles above his house, at the head of Catawba Creek, commanded by one Colonel Nash, was attacked by the Indians, which occasioned all that settlement to break up totally, even to the ferry at Luney's; that he had ordered three companies to repair thither, to march against the enemy, and not one man came, except a captain, lieutenant, &c., and seven or eight men from Beford.90 And there was little success in recruiting men after their arrival at Luney's Ferry. A survey with Colonel John Buchanan of Fort Vause and other forts in Augusta County followed and Washington concluded the trip in a deep "melancholy" feeling that it was not within his power to change "it to our satisfaction and interest."91 It is not known if Preston was present for the later stages of Washington's tour. The trip confirmed Washington's views of the need for at least two thousand regular troops on the frontier and of his disgust with the militia. He described them as 86"Preston's Register," PP-DM, 1QQ 83. 87Peter Hogg was commissioned to supervise the building of these forts. "Instructions for Captain Peter Hog," 21 July 1756, Dinwiddie Papers, 2:460-1. 88Washington to Dinwiddie, 23 September 1756, Washington Writings, 1:468-9. 89Dinwiddie to Washington, 30 September 1756, Dinwiddie Papers, 2:523. 90Washington to Dinwiddie, 10 October 1756, Washington Writings, 1:477-8. 91Washington to Lieutenant Colonel Adam Stephen, 23 October 1756, ibid., 1:482. 21 Journal of Backcountry Studies under such bad order and discipline, that they will go and come when and where they please, without regarding time, their officers, or the safety of the inhabitants, but consulting solely their own inclinations. There should be, according to your Honor's orders, one third of the militia of these parts now on duty at once; instead of that, I believe scarce one-thirteenth is out. They are to be relieved every month; they are more than that time marching to and from their stations, and will not wait one day longer than the limited time, whether they are relieved or not, let the necessity for it be ever so urgent.92 And he did not find the officers any better. During his visit to the forts he had found "whooping, hallooing gentlemen soldiers" who viewed with "derision and contempt" any matter of "order, regularity, circumspection, and vigilance." And only one or two of the forts "had their captains present, they being absent chiefly on their own business, and had given leave to several of the men to do the same."93 Dinwiddie's view of Augusta's militia went even further. He described them as a "dastardly set of People and under no managem't or Discipline, much owing to y'r Officers who I fear are little better than the private Men."94 He felt the residents of Augusta were under bad management and just wanted to make money "unjustly from the Distresses" confronting them.95 These feelings resulted in a rejection of accounts from militia officers in Augusta whose reports Dinwiddie thought were "falacious and a great Imposition on the Country."96 As an officer, Preston was probably under suspicion along with his colleagues, but no charges levelled against him through this period. Local residents, well aware of their militia's deficiencies, pled in a "most earnest manner" for regular soldiers.
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Chronology of the Southern Tour
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28 September 1756
Letter from Col GW to Lt Gov Dinwiddie:
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I arrived here last night, and find things in the peaceable state I left them on this Quarter;1 and therefore set out tomorrow for Augusta.
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29–30 September 1756
Orders
GW left Winchester for Augusta County on 29 Sept. 1756 and did not return until 22 October. As was the case during his absence in September, the orders issued at Winchester and entered in GW’s letter book until 10 Oct. were given presumably by the aide-de-camp George Mercer. Mercer left Winchester on 10 Oct. to go to Williamsburg, and no further orders appear in GW’s letter book until 24 Oct. after GW’s return to Winchester.
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30 September 1756
Letter To George Washington from Robert Dinwiddie in Williamsburg
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October 5, 1756
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Augusta County Monument. Like the 1840 Frederick County Courthouse, this site is the original location roughly of its first courthouse. Click or Touch to Enlarge.
Colonel George Washington most likely travelled the road Daniel Harrison built to reach the Augusta Courthouse in Staunton.
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Once there at the Augusta Courthouse he has trouble commandeering men to scour the woods for Indians to the west on the Jackson River where trouble with Indians is reported.
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But that doesn’t happen. Then he has trouble raising men to even travel with him anywhere. Then he has to decide whether to abort this southern tour or continue virtually alone.
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Excerpt from letter of 10 Oct 1756 :
Colonel George Washington wrote at Fort Mayo, 5 or 6 miles from the North Carolina Boundary. This part of the letter tells Lt Gov Dinwiddie what transpired at Augusta County Courthouse 5 Oct 1756:
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Click or Touch to Enlarge. See more about this historical marker.
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GW Met Captain McNeil at Augusta Courthouse
I wrote your Honor from Winchester, that I should set out the next day for Augusta;3 I accordingly did with Captain McNeil; and hearing at the Courthouse [Augusta County Court House ] , that the Indians still continue their depredations [(]although not so openly as at first)—
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GW Asked for men of Colonel Stewart (not our Captain Robert Stewart) to volunteer
I applied to Colonel Stewart, then present, to raise a party of the militia, and said I would head them, and march to Jackson’s River, to try to scour the woods, and if possible fall in with the Enemy. He gave me very little encouragement to expect any men, yet desired I would wait 4 days, until monday, and he would use his endeavours to collect a body: until Tuesday I waited, and only 9 men appeared. This being too inconsiderable a number to expose to a triumphant enemy;
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I was advised to apply to Colonel Buchanan [town named Buchanan VA after him ] for men, between whom and Colo: Stewart there was contention about command.4 As Col. Buchanan lived at Luneys ferry, on James River, 60 miles along the road to Vass’s, on Roanoak, where Captain Hogg was building a fort; to which place I did intend, if I could have got men to range along the Frontiers with me.
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GW Leaving Augusta County Court House with Captain Preston to see Col Buchanan (who the town of Buchanan VA is named after) east of Looney Creek (ferry at Luneys)
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I set out immediately for his house, attended by Captain Preston; who was kind enough to conduct me along, and acquainted the Colonel with the motives that brought me thither. He told me with very great concern, it was not in his power to raise men; for that three days before, some of the militia in a fort, about 15 miles above his house, at the head of Cattawba, commanded by one Colonel Nash, was attacked by the Indians which occasioned all that Settlement to break up totally, even to the ferry at Luneys:5 That he had ordered three companies to repair thither, to march against the enemy, and not one man came, except a Captain, Lieutenant, &c. and 7 or 8 men from Bedford.
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No Men to Join vs Going Back
Finding then that it was impossible to get a party to range and scour the frontiers, it remained only to proceed without men to see the situation of the Forts, or to return back again: the latter I was loth to do, as I had got this far; and was anxious to see what posture of defence they were in. I therefore determined to come forward, at least to Vass’s; and accordingly set out in company with Colonel Buchanan, who being desirous that I might see and relate their unhappy circumstances, undertook to accompany me.
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1 – 9 October 1756
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Colonel George Washington
on September 29, 1756 and
on October 5, 1756,
south of the
Daniel Harrison forted house.
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GW travelling on the Road built by Daniel Harrison?
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George Washington documents his meeting with Captain McNeil at the Augusta Courthouse:
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I wrote your Honor from Winchester, that I should set out the next day for Augusta;3 I accordingly did with Captain McNeil; and hearing at the Courthouse, that the Indians still continue their depredations [(]although not so openly as at first)—
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Capt John McNeil is listed as Captain October 9. 1756, in Colonel George Washington’s own Company within the Virginia Regiment.
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Colonel George Washington would have travelled the road Captain Daniel Harrison was assigned by the House of Burgesses to build.
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Captain Harrison was appointed along with brother John and Robert Cravens as overseer by the Court of Orange County in 1745 to lay out and clear the old Indian Road – “The Long Grey Trail” – through what is now Rockingham County. This was destined to be the most traveled highway in the Shenandoah Valley. In 1751 Daniel became Under Sheriff of Augusta County[4]
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See further down for a VDOT historical research on Augusta County Court House records that appear to confirm stretches of this road and other roads in the area were built by Daniel Harrison and his brothers Thomas Harrison (who Harrisonburg is named after) and John Harrison.
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October 20, 1756
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Colonel Washington,
after coming on his way back
to Winchester VA,
may have travelled by
the Daniel Harrison forted house
after his stop
at Augusta County Courthouse.
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Noisy, Careless Militia
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On the way back to Winchester VA from Fort Dinwiddie and forts on the Jackson River, Colonel George Washington writes:
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With this small company of Irregulars;
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Click or Touch to Enlarge. These are figurines offered by First Legion Ltd. See this site if you want to purchase some and start a diorama. This picture comes close to representing the “irregulars” Colonel George Washington travelled back from Jackson River forts to Augusta Courthouse. GW reports that these “irregulars” walked through the wilderness talking loudly with no care the enemy might be near.
with whom order,
regularity,
circumspection
and vigilance
were matters of
derision and contempt,
we set out;
and by the protection of Providence,
[ October 20, 1756 ]
without meeting the enemy;4
otherwise we must have fallen a Sacrifice,
thro’ the indiscretion
of these hooping, hallooing, Gentlemen-Soldiers!
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Source is letter GW wrote to Dinwiddie Nov 9, 1756 days after the southern tour was over Oct 22, 1756.
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It is interesting that Colonel George Washington chose not to admonish this militia.
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He chose to observe only.
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And what was on Colonel George Washington’s mind?
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Two more problems:
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His officers threaten to leave the service 5 October 1756.
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October 5, 1756
at the Augusta County Courthouse
after GW travelled by
the Daniel Harrison fort?
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Background
This Courthouse had a Council of War in July 1756. This gives more background to Colonel George Washington’s visit to this courthouse October 5, 1756.
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July 1756 Council of War
held at
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Before GW’s Southern Expedition, Sept 29, 1756 to October 22, 1756 , Two Councils of War held in July 1756, to decide where to build forts.
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