Swallow's Afterlife
There they were. Right there. They see each other. All froze, registering.
Boom. Then all is a blur.
Flying high with his hawk Swallow descends on his enemy to crack his skull open. That French enemy was musket ready.
He fires in to Swallow's head, Swallow's head explodes. His body falls from its lunging height, hitting the trail for a last time with a dead cat bounce.
His son gets shot in both legs.
The firing continues. Each knowing one shot has only one second act. Fight or Flight. Shoot. No time to reload. Charge with a tomahawk or knife.
Or run. Run away now.
That's what the French do. Their Indian allies had left them. So they were no match for the Cherokee chasing them.
The Cherokee and Baker's company of Virginia Regiment fly after the fleeing French.
The Cherokee and 1st Virginia Regiment men capture 3 Frenchmen.
Returning with these hostages back to the original encounter spot, the Cherokee find their fallen, ruined Swallow, his head a pie of mush.
They turn on their hostages, killing them all except for one, Belestre.
After that killing rage, they stand for a few seconds.
They assess. These woods are full of danger. There's no time.
The enemy will be coming after them.
They see Swallow's son's two legs shot.
They take turns shouldering Swallow's son, running.
They are on the run now.
There is no stopping.
They are running from a spot near the source of Turtle Creek. That was 5 June 1757.
Turtle Creek
This skirmish spot is almost equi-distant between the previous Braddock defeat 9 July 1755, and the future Battle of Bushy Run 5-6 Aug 1763. Further west of all this is the 9-11-2001 downing of airline Flight 93.
Baker's Company of the Virginia Regiment men travelled with Cherokee warriors, all on an equal status, if not deference to the skill of Cherokee warrior ability.
They all had come out of Fort Loudoun Winchester VA.
Colonel George Washington sent another party towards Fort Duquesne after he had sent the Baker Co and Swallow mentioned above.
"Outassity,2 with about 30 Indians, &c. and an Officer from my Regimt are marched from this, and intend, if they shou’d not meet with the enemy sooner, to go the length of Fort du Quesne."
2. For Ostenaco’s arrival in Virginia, see Dinwiddie to GW, 16 June 1757.
Source
This area is the Bermuda Triangle of trouble.
Most of it is still a primeval forest of huge trees, its canopy blotting out the sun.
In 3 days the Cherokee and Baker company are back at Fort Cumberland.
They survived on squirrels and spring onions.
All were assured of certain death if they did not run non-step towards home. A vengeance party is trailing them.
They had to do this while taking turns carrying Swallow's son, and holding on to their French prisoner Belestre.
Belestre, the Prisoner
Then at Winchester, there is a big argument on who has the right to question this prisoner.
The men take the prisoner, Belestre, to a tippling house, an ordinary. That is the tavern of the day as they were called. And that particular tavern in Winchester was run by Henry Heth. The prisoner was also taken to Henry Brinker's Ordinary.
Edmond Atkin, Superintendent of indian Affairs for the south, is incensed.
These subordinates took the liberty to talk to the prisoner without first forwarding the prisoner to their higher ups.
There's a lot of arguing about who has the right to interrogate this prisoner.
This prisoner Belestre needs to go to Fort Loudoun Winchester VA for interogation.
Colonel George Washington believes this Frenchman is a Gascon. That's an old province in France. And they got the reputation for lying. To this day that area holds a liars festival.
That's quite a story.
One Year Later
.A travelling delegation of Cherokee (kind of like a State Department) led by Cherokee leader Moyeman received a French Scalp taken in the Ticonderoga NY area "in symbolic replacement of Swallow Warrior killed the year before." It was presented by Sir William Johnson. It was presented to Moyeman, leader of the Cherokee delegation, a sort of State Department for the Cherokee.They travelled a long way from their nation in the Smokies, arriving 1 June 1758 in Philly, then going to NYC, then to Albany, then arriving at Fort Johnson in NY 19 July 1758. They left NY 12 Aug 1758.Fort Johnson was the forted home of Supt of Indian Affairs of the northern Department, Sir William Johnson. - -- His forted home was the site where many Iroquois constantly camped and traded on those grounds.
2 Years Later
But something else caught our eye.
Since we are covering the events of 1759 in this year of 2023, we find that very same French prisoner mentioned again in 1759
In Estatoe, numbers of Creeks, among them Ishenpoaphi of Coweta, brother of the dead Malatchi, had poisoned the air already tainted by the Frenchman Belestre, now living in the family of the dead Swallow Warrior.
Page 171 of The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, by David H Corkran, published by the University of Oklahoma Press 1962.
At first glance does this mean Belestre was staying at the family of dead Swallow?
Or?
If we read the appositive wrong, did that sentence mean Coweta was staying at the family of the dead Swallow?
There are some indications Belestre was there in 1759.
Dr Carl Ekberg says there was a prisoner exchange releasing Belestre, but an article by Stevan Resan questions whether the Cherokee gave up their prisoner Belestre.
In either case, the irony of either the Frenchman Belestre, or the Creek warrior favoring the French living with the family of the dead Swallow is interesting because Swallow was killed by a Frenchman.
A memorial
One day we would like a statue dedicated to Swallow and the Cherokee for their coming to Winchester and still decide to help Virginia, despite no promised presents available at Fort Loudoun Winchester VA. They were upset, angry. And after several days of debate, they decided to go north and help scour the woods for the enemy French and their Indians. Swallow meets his end on this fateful decision to go forward. We wish to one day dedicate a veterans service in his honor and to his fellow Cherokee.
That's it.
That's our lead story.
There's always more.
Skip around.
Read bits and pieces.
Compiled and authored January 2023, prior research on Belestre in 2021. updated 4/30/2023, 5/15/2023, 5/20/2023, 253pm 5/21/2023
Table of Contents
Swallow - why that name?
There's no written contemporary record telling the origin story of that name for this Cherokee warrior.
We can only look at the bird itself to glean some information.
They roost together at night in marshy areas or groups of trees. It is quite the spectacle to see them begin to swarm in a dense tight flock, restlessly rising and diving, landing in the trees, only to rise and swirl, before once again dropping onto their perches. This frenetic activity can continue for nearly an hour before they finally settle into the roost site at dark.
Tree swallows also rely on the support of the group to deal with predators. American kestrels, merlins, peregrine falcons, sharp-shinned hawks, and great horned owls all pose a threat to tree swallows. Generally the group will attempt to mob and dive bomb the predator, while giving frequent high-pitched alarm calls.
The Bird tribes - Cherokee Legend
" . . . while the little sparrow is called tsikwa'ya (the real or prinipal bird), perhaps, in accord with a principle in Indian nomenclature . . . "
Swallow's Last Chapter of Chance in Winchester VA
Swallow and over 140 Cherokee come to Fort Loudoun Winchester VA
Here is their anger and debates at being asked to help on this war and yet not provide presents promised.
Read the story titled, "The Great Men of Virginia are Liars."
Belestre, the French Prisoner
The French prisoner is a Gascon and therefore a liar
Who should interrogate this prisoner? Only he higher ups shouild.
Swallow's Afterlife
Swallow's story continues long after his death, suitable for honoring on both Memorial Day and Veterans Day. He was killed in June 1757. His story resurfaces in this year of 1758. It resurfaces up in New York. They honored him there. We in Winchester VA have not gotten around to that yet.Swallow is honored up there.A travelling delegation of Cherokee (kind of like a State Department) led by Cherokee leader Moyeman received a French Scalp taken in the Ticonderoga NY area "in symbolic replacement of Swallow Warrior killed the year before." It was presented by Sir William Johnson.
(Was it a scalp taken by Robert Rogers' men? We don't know. )
It was presented to Moyeman, leader of the Cherokee delegation, a sort of State Department for the Cherokee.They travelled a long way from their nation in the Smokies, arriving 1 June 1758 in Philly, then going to NYC, then to Albany, then arriving at Fort Johnson in NY 19 July 1758. They left NY 12 Aug 1758.Fort Johnson was the forted home of Supt of Indian Affairs of the northern Department, Sir William Johnson - -- on which many Iroquois constantly camped and traded on those grounds.
Moyeman's "State Department" Tour
Cherokee leader Moyeman arrived in Philadelphia about June 1, [1758] but became ill with pleurisy and for two weeks hovered between life and death. Fearing that business might be delayed. the Pennsylvania authorities persuaded Moyeman to give his talk for the Delawares from his sickbed. A week later, carried to the Statehouse, he dictated the talk he had for the Iroquois. As Henley, his assistant, brought out tokens and implements in their proper order, the sick man gave the talk with full ritual of pipe, wampum, and the belts as he had memorized it in Keowee.
Learning that the famous Mohawk conjurer, Seneca George, was near, he called him to his bedside. Shortly the authorities received a petition from Moyeman reading,
"I desire Seneka George may have two bottles of rum, he thinks it necessary for my service and designs it as an offering."
Effectively doctored, Moyeman proceeded to New York where he taught another set of Colonial officials how to entertain Cherokee deputies. The New Yorkers, wishing to speed the envoys, had engaged a sloop to take the Indians to Albany the day after their arrival. But the Cherokees expected a full ceremonial hearing -- a four day affair with reception by the Governor and council, talks, and gifts. That is what they received, to the extent even of the Governor's visiting the ailing Moyemen in his lodgings. The gifts from the frugal council were, however, disappointing: saucepans, ribbons, gartering, vermillion, and six pounds of soap.
When the Cherokees arrived at Fort Johnson on July 19 [1758], Sir William returned from the Lake George frontier to receive them, and with his usual feeling for protocol and dispatch, launched without delay into the proper ceremonial. Condoling with the Cherokees for their losses in battle, he presented Moyeman with a French scalp taken at Ticonderoga in symbolic replacement of Swallow Warrior killed the year before.
On the twenty first [of July 1758] in the presence of Sir William and Mohawk, Oneida, and Seneca sachems, Moyeman delivered his talk and belts. Iroquois and Cherokees under English auspices sealed their friendship in a pledge to fight the French and thus laid the ghost of the backdoor intrigue for neutrality between Chota [Capital of Cherokee nation] and Onondaga [capital council house of the 6 nations of iroquois].
On August 12 [1758], the amenities completed, Sir William symbolically cleared the path to enable the Cherokees to depart in peace, and Moyeman and his companions set out on the long path of far return.
[Question: do they run into trouble through Virginia on their way home?]
Source:
Blue text from Page 156 to 157 in "The Cherokee Frontier, Conflict and Survival 1740-1762, " by David H Corkran, published by University of Oklahoma Press 1962, paperback published 2016
Ordinary
See Henry Heth's ordinary and Henry Brinker's ordinary where Belestre was taken by the soldiers.
14. Brit (in a restaurant or inn)a complete meal in which all courses are included at one fixed price, as opposed to à la carte service
15. a restaurant, public house, or dining room serving all guests and customers the same standard meal or fare
His location is based on a wonderful map showing many ordinaries in page 246 of Warren Hofstra's, The Planting of New Virginia, Settlement and Landscape in the Shenandoah Valley, published 2004, The Johns Hopkins University Press. The map below is Garland R Quarles' sketch of a 1752 addition to Winchester. The darker captioned text was added by Jim Moyer.
Warren Hofstra states on page 254:
Visits by these men to taverns, and worse, unlicensed gin-shops, soon became on of Washington's greatest problems. In mid-July 1756, just as work on Fort Loudoun reached its peak, the young commander warned, "all the towns people, that they must not allow the Soldiers to be drunk in their Houses, or sell them any liquor, without an order from a commissioned officer; or else they may depend Colonel Washington will prosecute them as the Act of Assembly directs. This caution must be particularly given to the Dutch Baker's, John Stewart, and Jacob Sowers."
Stewart and Sowers at least held tavern licenses, but Henry Baker possessed only a half lot in town, the deed for which he signed in German.
Washington's order did little to keep soldiers from spending their pay on drink, and two weeks later the colonel appeared in court accusing Stewart of "entertaining Soldiers contrary to Orders."
Both actions failed, and three days later Winchester troops received orders that "as many men as the Tents will contain, do immediately encamp" away from the taverns.
Only Henry Brinker, Henry Heth, and James Lemon could cater to soldiers . . .
See Atkin letter declaring that the French prisoner wasn't only taken to Henry Heth's Ordinary but also to Henry Brinker's Ordinary.
To George Washington from Edmond Atkin, 19 June 1757
From Edmond Atkin Winchester 19 June 1757. Sir When the Swallows People came to Town this afternoon,1 with the Young French Officer their Prisoner, they came strait to my Lodgings, to pay their Compliment; and soon after carried him away to their own, to eat some Victuals, Hunger being uppermost in their Thoughts. In the Evening, before I would put you to the Trouble to attend (as I had determined to examine him then in the presence of yourself, & Mr Croghan Sir Wm Johnson’s Deputy), I Sent to inquire whether I might have him brought to me. And he was not to be found. Soon after standing at my door, I Saw your Quarter Master Mr Hamilton hastening by, in quest, as I learnt from himself, of my Interpreter (that is the King’s) Mr Smith, & of a Frenchman whose name he declined telling me, in order to carry them to Heath’s Ordinary to interpret for one or two Persons that wanted to talk with the Prisoner. In answer to My Question, how the Prisoner came there, he Said, he was carried there by an Indian and to another, who was it that wanted to talk with the Prisoner, I could get no Satisfactory Answer at all from him. At his Return with Mr Smith in Company, standing still in the Door, I charged the latter to go to Heath’s, & to bring away the Indian with his Prisoner directly to me.2 At the Same time directing myself to both I Said, I wondered how any Person whatever could presume (I beleive in my warmth I said also, dare) to take that Method to examine the Prisoner, before I myself, or you the Commanding Officer of the Forces here, had had an Opportunity of asking a single Question of him? Major Finnie coming up to me presently afterwards, I told him what had happened, that I could not conceive who it was had been guilty of So extraordinary an Action, and desired him to be So kind as to inquire into it, & help to get back the Prisoner.3 He said, he was Sure it could not be any of your Officers, because he had but just left them all at the Fort (and indeed not long after I Saw a great many pass by from that way towards Heath’s). In a little time Major Finnie & Mr Smith came back, with the chief Indian, & the French Prisoner in his Possession; telling me, that it was only Lieutenant Baker that came to town with them, & wanted them to drink a Glass of Wine with him. Here I thought the Affair might have ended.
I then sent Mr Davenport to acquaint you, that the Prisoner was with me, and I should be glad of your Company, as I purposed to examine him.4 He brought me an Answer, that you was So very busy writing Letters, you could not possibly come. Wherefore I put off the Examination till tomorrow. But to my great Surpris⟨e⟩ Major Finnie who had undertook to desire one of your Officers to Stand Interpreter of French on this Occasion, brought Me Word, that he found many of them at Heath’s, who were one & all So very angry thinking themselves affronted by me, that it was declared among them, not one of the Regiment should do that Service for me (that little Service for their King & their Country). It Seems your Quarter Master Mr Hamilton, had told Some at least of those Officers what he had heard me utter (with Some Addition), as a Message from Me to them. I endeavoured as a Gentleman, by means of Mr Croghan as well as Major Finnie, only to Set the Matter in its’ true Light, as I have now done to you. But in vain. They will have it, I have given an Affront; and not less than all must be concerned in it, and So forth. By the way, had I known which I did not, that it was one or More Officers that Sent for the Prisoner to examine him, there was nothing amiss in what I said, bating the Word dare, which indeed is not very genteel if Said to them. For that Officer must know very little of Military Duty, who imagines he may freely examine a Prisoner of War before, or without the privity of his Commanding Officer. Something may be discovered on Such Examination, that no Person else whatsoever ought to have had the least Knowledge of, and may be of the last Importance to the Service to keep concealed.
To compleat the whole Affair, learned Discussions have been held publickly on this Occasion, at another Publick House (Brinkers)5 by a young Ensign of your Regiment Supported by a young Volontier, who Says he thinks himself obliged to Stand by the Officers, right or wrong. This Ensign who pretends to know the Length, Breadth & Depth of my Rights & Powers by my Commission, in the End bid Mr Davenport in the hearing of one of my Domesticks & others, “to tell Atkin (mark his polite Stile) that he & every Officer in the Regiment had as much Right & Power to examine the Prisoner as I had.” This from Ensign Thompson, to his Majesty’s Agent & Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the four Southern Provinces.
It is easy to foresee the Tendency of this ill judged silly Spirit & Behaviour of the Officers. It cannot but affect me in my Office, & consequently in his Majesty’s Service; for which reason I think fit to lay it before you, not in the least doubting from your natural good Sense & Prudence, that you will check it in the Bud, & take proper Notice of Ensign Thompson & Mr Hamilton in particular. And I hope you will think this a proper Opportunity for making known to all the Officers of your Regiment (what I believe is not yet known to all), the Governour’s Proclamation concerning the Behaviour of People towards me & the Indians.
For my own part, as I have nothing in view but actual Service, So without entering into critical Disquisitions of the exact bounds & limits of my Right & Power, I shall always think it a part of my Duty to keep up a good Understanding with all Commanding Officers in the different Places I go to, as I know it will be their Duty also to countenance & support me to the utmost of their Power. I am Sir Your Most Obedt Servant
Edmd Atkin ALS, DLC:GW.
See the two footnotes 2 and 5 referening the letter Edmond Atkin wrote complain about handling this prisoner.
Founders Online Footnotes:
1. For GW’s account of the skirmish on 5 June in which the Cherokee warriors and the soldiers with Lt. James Baker killed eight of a party of ten Frenchmen and took one French officer a prisoner, see his letter to John Stanwix, 15 June 1757.
2. Richard Smith was the interpreter, and Henry Heth (Heath) operated a tippling house or tavern in Winchester.
3. Alexander Finnie (d. 1769) of Williamsburg, adjutant of the middle district for the Virginia militia, came up with Atkin from Williamsburg. In the account of his expenses in traveling between Williamsburg and Winchester which Atkin presented to the Virginia council on 14 Oct. 1757, Atkin included as an extra charge the “Expence of Major Finnie, his Servt & 2 Horses who was Directed by the Govr to Accompany me, from 28 May to 27. June inclusive” (P.R.O., W.O. 34/47, f. 164).
4. James Davenport was “engaged by the Govr to go with me [Atkin], to Act as Secretary, from 28. May to 5. October [1757], inclusive” (ibid.).
5. Henry Brinker, who kept an ordinary in Winchester, supplied food and liquor to some of the Indians who were in Winchester during this summer.
Source:
Dr Carl Ekberg's story on Belestre
See bio on Dr Carl Ekberg here.
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Adrian O’Connor’s Valley News column provided by Dr Carl J Ekberg is about Belestre:
About Adrian O'connor who wrote the above:
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Stevan Resan on Belestre
More on this prisoner is told in following links are from the French and Indian War Foundation newsletters.
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Please scroll down to reach the story on François-Louis Picoté de Belestre by Steve Resan on this French prisoner:
Part 1:
Part 2:
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Excerpt from Part 2 above:
After the interrogation, it would have been expected that Belestre, as a prisoner of war, would have been detained at Winchester or sent to Williamsburg. However, there is no record of this taking place. What actually happened appears to have been that the Cherokee refused to turn him over to the British and instead made him their Chief.ix
The refusal of the Cherokee to surrender prisoners was common. It had occurred just a few weeks earlier when Wawahachy, the other leader of the Cherokee that came north from the lower Cherokee towns with the Swallow Warrior, went to Fort Frederick with scalps and prisoners seeking gifts for their services. The Cherokee regarded goods that they received from the British as presents while the British regarded them as pay for scalps and prisoners. Wawahachy said “if they were not to have the goods that had been talked of unless they would purchase them with their prisoners or scalps they would return home” and that these “procured them most Honour among their own People”. He later declared that “nothing should tempt him to part with the prisoners.”x
It was also not uncommon to adopt prisoners into the tribe to replace warriors killed in battle. As Washington had noted Belestre was a braggart and it is possible the Ensign not only impressed the Cherokee as a soldier but as one able to procure better gifts from the French. His Father, Captain Francois Marie Picoté de Belestre, was popular among the Indians of the Pays d’en Hautxi and may have been known to the Cherokee as the leader of the French and Indians who captured Fort Vause in southwest Virginia the previous year.xii
When Governor Dinwiddie sent £240 to Atkins for “the scalps and prisoner bro’t in by the Swallow’s Party”, paying £30 per scalp “to make them thoroughly satisfied.”xiii It appears that by July 16 “the Indians having made no demand” the £240 was saved and given to Christopher Gist to pay for Wampum & Silver Ware for trade in Maryland and Pennsylvania.xiv Thus It may be that the “Swallow’s Party” and Wawahachy were dissatisfied and left for their village with their new chief.
Over a year later, 24 September 1758, Col Henry Bouquet reported that he had heard that Belestre was “still with the Cherokees” and that “The Governor of Virginia and Carolina made them offers of considerable sums, and presents for his ransom, but the Cherokees having lost in that occasion one of their chiefs refused absolutely then to release him.”xv
Captain Francois-Marie Belestre reported that his son Francois-Louis convinced the tribes to abandon the British side and join with the French. He said that Ensign Belestre remained with them for five years during which time “they have captured a fort on the Cherokee River, where there was a garrison of 500 men; they defeated on three occasions Major Grand and have ravaged all the settlements of Virginia and Carolina.
This same son led a number of chiefs of different villages to Monsieur Neyon [de Villiers], commandant in Illinois [i.e. at Fort de Chartres], where they made peace with the Indians of Illinois and Missouri. This commandant gave him fifty men to return to Cherokee country and to continue the war against the English.”xvi
Thus it appears that Belestre fought with the Cherokee through the Anglo–Cherokee War which broke out in 1758 and ended in 1761. Some of the Cherokee who were “convinced to abandon the British side” were forty men of the village of Estatoe (the village of the deceased Swallow Warrior) who had launched an unsuccessful attack on Fort Ninety Six in Carolina on Feb 2 and 3 of 1760. One of the Chiefs who led these pro-French Cherokee Indians was Wawahachy who had led the Cherokee north to help the British in 1757 and led the Cherokee south from Winchester with Belestre after his interrogation.xv
Footnotes to above
viii
www.cmhg-phmc.gc.ca Canadian Military History Gateway, Vol. 2, 1755-1871 The French take Fort William Henry. ix Archives Nationale, Paris, C11A/105.
x
The Correspondence of Governor Sharp Vol 6 pp 557-563, D. Wolstenholme and J. Ridout to Sharpe, 25 May 1757.
xi
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Vol IV, Picoté De Belestre, Francois Marie xii Douglas Southall Freeman, Washington, Vol 2, p.212 Charles Scribner’s Sons, NY, 1948.
xiii
Robert Dinwiddie to Edmond Atkin, 20 June 1757.
xiv
Amherst papers, Edith Mays Editor, Heritage Books 1999, Bowie Md. 29
xv
B.M., Add. MSS. 21652, f. 71, Df. Col Henry Bouquet to the Commander of Fort Duquesne xvi Archives Nationale, Paris. C11A/105
xvii
xviii
Marthe Faribault-Beauregard, La Population des Forts Francais, Vol. 2 pg 229.
xix
New Spain and the Anglo-American West (Los Angeles 19320), Vol. I, 259-261
Lt Baker's story on the skirmish
To George Washington from James Baker,
10 June 1757
From James Baker Fort Cumberland [Md.] June 10th 1757 Sir I Yesterday returned to this place with the Cherokees and have the Satisfaction to acquaint you that on the 5th Instant we fell on two Tracks about 35 Miles beyond the three Forks of Yohagany in a small path that led towards this place, we had not followed those Tracks above eight or Ten Miles, before we met 10 Frenchmen returning from a Scout, our foremost Indian discovered them first and sat down very cose we all following his example, when the Frenchmen came within about fifty paces they saw our Men all Naked, and called to us and ask’d who we were, at which time we all rising together fired on them which they returned, we waited not to lode again, but run in with our Tomahawks the Frenchmen then making of as fast as they cou’d, but the Indians out runing them took two of them prisoners, the French lost six Men two killed dead on the Spot, two wounded, and two taken prisoners[.] Our loss tho’ fewer in number is greater to us, the Swallow Warrior was Shot dead by a Ball in the head, and another Indian Wounded in both Thighs[.]1 The Indians was so enraged at the loss of their head Man that it was imposible to save the other prisoner. Among the Frenchmen there was three Officers, two of which was killed and the other we have here.2 I send the Instructions of two of the Officers here inclosed. We have suffered greatly on our return not tasting a morsel for four days, and carrying the Wounded Man on our backs. I cannot tell when I shall come down the Indians are not determined I am Sir Your Most Obt Humble Servant. J. Baker ALS, DLC:GW.
Founders Online Footnotes 1. According to James Livingston, the wounded Indian was the Swallow Warrior’s son (Livingston to GW, 14 June 1757). 2. For the French version of the encounter see GW to John Stanwix, 15 June 1757, n.2.
Source:
NOTES
august 2021
april 2021
may 2021
Chronology to show
how packed the News
was from April to July 1757
Red Cloud of War hovering over Fort Loudoun Winchester VA.
Painting by local artist Eric Cherry, former illustrator of Batman for DC Comics.
Sitting on the left by the corner of Fort Loudoun is Colonel George Washington looking towards the West, as the sun is setting on a changing landscape out there, one of war, one of a clash of ways of life, one of war between white nations with those who came before in between.
A moment in 1757.
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April 24, 1757 148 Cherokee visit George Mercer at Fort Loudoun Winchester VA.
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They learn there are no presents as promised for their help in scouring the woods for French and their allied Indians.
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Here is the threat by the Cherokee to take what they want since the promise of presents by the Long Knives (Virginia) never materialized.
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On their way home from Winchester VA, the Cherokee make good on this threat.
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The White Settlers seek retribution. The Situation continually worsens as the Cherokee head south to home, culminating in the Anglo Cherokee War.
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May 5, 1757 Virginia Regiment relieved of responsibility for Fort Cumberland. Maryland is to take over completely.
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This reorganization sends Lt Col Adam Stephen and Captain Mercer to help Gov Littleton in Charleston SC.
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This reorganization stipulates Edmond Atkin is to control allied Indian affairs.
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June 9, 1757 Two Companies, led by Lt Col Adam Stephen and Captain George Mercer of the Virginia Regiment is in South Carolina, anticipating an invasion from both sea and land, according to Lt Gov Dinwiddie. Today is a Court of Enquiry at Fort Loudoun Winchester VA to determine why Lt John Campbell did not show up with Lt Col Adam Stephen in Charleston SC.
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June 10, 1757 Cherokee and Virginia Regiment Scout return to Winchester reporting that Cherokee Swallow was killed in skirmish. They bring back the French prisoner Belestre captured in that skirmish
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June 3, 1757, Edmond Atkin assumes control of Indians in Winchester VA, but he wants to extend his control of who get to interrogate the French officer Belestre first, 19 June 1757.
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June 25, 1757 Warning of invasion no longer true. Main enemy force heading to Fort Augusta PA instead
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July 29, 1757 Two deserters are executed by hanging at Fort Loudoun Winchester VA.
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letters to and from lyttelton
THE LYTTELTON EXPEDITION OF 1759: SOME THOUGHTS by Daniel J. Tortora
House of Commons Journals SC
‘News, Intelligences and ‘Little Lies’ Rumours between the Cherokees and the British 1740-1785 by Christopher Daniel Vernon
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The Colonial Records of the State of Georgia: Original Papers of Governors Reynolds, Ellis, Wright, and Others 1757
.Cherokee and Blacks
Oct 22, 2022
jimmoyer1
Cherokee Conjurers right near Fort Duquesne
Aug 5, 2022
jimmoyer1
Cherokee Townhouse
Jul 10, 2022
jimmoyer1
Cherokee Warriors, Politics and White Traders
May 4, 2022
jimmoyer1
The tally of Cherokee and Catawba allies in Winchester VA
Apr 24, 2022
jimmoyer1
Cherokee attacks on Massanutten and Short Mountain?
Apr 17, 2022
jimmoyer1
Warn the Cherokee at Fort Loudoun, Don't attack.
Mar 26, 2022
jimmoyer1
The Cherokee are coming Now? Why?
Feb 6, 2022
jimmoyer1
200 to South Carolina, 100 to Cherokee lands
Apr 18, 2021
jimmoyer1
Cherokee allies - oh they're coming too
Mar 29, 2021
Jim Moyer
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