The Postmortem by Forbes: The Indian Ohio country
Fred Anderson in his Crucible of War book writes about Forbes concerns for the future.
"Forbes begged Amherst, "not [to] think trifflingly of the Indians or their friendship."
"If he hoped to preserve Britain's foothold on the Ohio, Amherst would need to "have [Indian Affairs] settled on some solid footing , as the preservation of the Indians, and the country, Depends upon it."
"Relations with the tribes had generally been misunderstood, Forbes wrote,"or if understood. perverted to purposes serving particular ends."
"In this regard the greatest problems had arisen from two sources: "the Jealousy subsisting betwixt the Virginians & Pensilvanians . . . as both are aiming at engrossing the commerce and Barter with the Indians, and of settling and appropriating the immense tract of fine country" around the Forks; and "the private interested views of William Johnstone [Johnson] and his Myrmidons."
"Unless Amherst exerted a strong hand, Forbes feared, the result would be chaos in the west and the loss of a country that he had literally given his life to win, " Fred Anderson sums up.
Forbes dies 11 March 1759. He leaves a reduced Fort Duquesne on 4 Dec 1758. He travels back on the road his little Army built. It takes about 6 weeks to get back to Philadelphia.
Source:
Fred Anderson's last page of the Chapter: Indian Diplomacy and the Fall of Fort Duquesne in his book, Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766, hardcover, published originally Feb 16, 2000 Third Printing March 2000 by Alfred a Knopf NY, page 284. Fred Anderson footnote cites: Quotations from Forbes to Amherst, 26 Jan and 7 Feb 1759, Writings of Forbes 283, 289. See also Forbes to Amherst, 18 Jan 1759, pages 282-3.
Days of Future Passed
All of what Forbes feared and predicted did come to pass.
Seige of Fort Pitt
Prediction 1:
If he hoped to preserve Britain's foothold on the Ohio,
Amherst would need to
"have [Indian Affairs] settled on some solid footing,
as the preservation of the Indians,
and the country, Depends upon it."
Pontiac's Rebellion ended up surrounding Fort Pitt with a siege in June and July 1763.
Ohio Country claims
Prediction 2:
In this regard the greatest problems
had arisen from two sources:
"the Jealousy
subsisting betwixt
the Virginians & Pensilvanians . . .
as both are aiming
at engrossing the commerce
and Barter with the Indians,
and of settling
and appropriating
the immense tract
of fine country"
around the Forks . . .
Both predictions did come to pass.
That's it.
That's our lead story.
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Compiled and authored by Jim Moyer 12/11/2022, updated 12/12/2022, 12/19/2022
Table of Contents
The relentless unstoppable migration
In the heart of the Revolutionary war PA and VA were administering parallel courts and taxes
Our Founding Fathers knew their Greek and Roman classical history
Pittsburgh in 1759
Once hostilties were ended in this region, a town built up around Fort Pitt.
See Pittsburg in 1795. You can see Fort Pitt and the feint outline of Fort Duqesne on the point.
That's just the tip of the iceberg. There are settlements all around this region.
This relentless mass migration and building of many settlements in the Fork area around Fort Pitt continued.
It continued despite the Easton Peace Treaty in Oct 1758, with the Indians.
It continued despite the line not to pass drawn in the Proclamation of 1763.
And what else did Forbes predict in his letter continue too?
The squabble over the same land continue between Virginia and Pennsylvania continued.
3 VA Counties overlapping PA
At one point both
Virginia and Pennsylvania
were both running
overlapping multiple counties
covering the same land,
right in the heart
of the Rev War through 1780.
The District of West Augusta,
created in 1775,
was carved up
into three counties in 1776:
Yohogania County (in red),
Monongalia County (in green),
and Ohio County (in blue).
Source: The Boundary Controversy between Pennsylvania and Virginia, 1748-1785, by Boyd Crumrine in Annals of the Carnegie Museum, Vol. 1 (1901) (opposite p.518)
See page 518
See page 524
Source also from: http://www.virginiaplaces.org/boundaries/paboundary.html
Myrmidons
More expanded story on Myrmidons can be found in this blog which includes information on Teedyuscung:
You might have noticed Forbes mentioning the Myrmidons.
"the Jealousy subsisting betwixt the Virginians & Pensilvanians . . . as both are aiming at engrossing the commerce and Barter with the Indians, and of settling and appropriating the immense tract of fine country" around the Forks;
and
"the private interested views
of William Johnstone [Johnson]
and his Myrmidons."
This appears Forbes distrusted the Superintendent of Indian Affairs in the Northern Department, William Johnson, and his unquestioning followers. This distrust might have resulted from what he observed in the Easton Peace treaty negotiations.
Another person certainly knew he was betrayed by William Johnson and his Iroquois allies (aka the Myrmidons). It was Teedyuscung and his Delawares. The Iroquois asserting dominance over the Delaware (Lenape) sold the ground from under them. There's more on that story and the drunkeness and despair of Teedyuscung but that is for another time.
For more on Teedyuscung see:
This word, Myrmidon,
had a long history but has since fallen in dis-use in the modern age.
Myrmidon comes from a Greek word for ants.
Ants are known for their loyal, unceasing, tireless work for the Queen Ant.
A more modern version of this idea is Robot.
From Wikipedia:
The Myrmidons of Greek myth were known for their loyalty to their leaders, so that in pre-industrial Europe the word "myrmidon" carried many of the same connotations that "robot" does today. "Myrmidon" later came to mean "hired ruffian", according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Henry Fielding in Tom Jones (1749, Book XV, ch. 5) employs the term in the sense of "hired thugs": "The door flew open, and in came Squire Western, with his parson and a set of myrmidons at his heels."
The Royal Navy has had several ships called HMS Myrmidon.
The United States Navy has had one vessel named USS Myrmidon (ARL-16)
"The Myrmidons" was the name adopted in 1865 by a private dining society in Merton College, Oxford. It is thought to be the oldest continuously active dining society in the University of Oxford. Max Beerbohm was a member, and the club called "The Junta" that features in his Oxford novel Zuleika Dobson is probably modeled on the Myrmidons. Other former members include Lord Randolph Churchill and Andrew Irvine.
Source:
Mythical origins of the Myrmidons
Myrmidons; People from ants for King Aeacus. Engraving by Virgil Solis for Ovid's Metamorphoses Book VII, 622-642. ( Public Domain )
In one account, the Myrmidons are said to have originally been humble worker ants from the island of Aegina that were transformed into humans.
After Zeus seduced Aegina, daughter of the river god Asopus, the island of Aegina was named after her.
In a jealous rage, Hera sent a plague to wipe out the inhabitants of the island.
After the plague,
the only inhabitants of the island were Aeacus, the king of Aegina, and his sons Peleus and Telamon.
Aeacus prayed to Zeus that the island would be repopulated so that he could have people to govern. That night, after Aeacus made his prayer to Zeus, he dreamed that he saw a line of ants on a tree and the ants were transformed into human beings.
The next morning, Aeacus and his sons were greeted by a group of people who claimed that Aeacus was their ruler. These people are said to have been industrious, thrifty, and tenacious, unwilling to give up easily on a task. Aeacus called his new subjects Myrmidons, referencing their myrmecological origins.
Source:
Meeting with the Indians
Cubbison in his book on the Forbes Expedition writes:
Immediate feelers out to area Indians
Immediately upon capturing Fort Duqesne [Forbes] sent out feelers to the various Indian communities and leaders, requesting that a council be held at the first opportunity at the point of the three rivers. Unfortunately Forbes' health was so precarious, and the living conditions in the field so austere, that he could not remain until the Indians were able to reach him. Instead he deputized Bouquet to remain in his stead to confer with the Indians upon their arrival.
The Opening of the Talks
On December 4, Bouquet met with various Delaware chiefs in the camp. The council followed the traditional mores of such events, with the presentations of presents, in this case, gunpowder and lead, from Bouquet to the Indians to validate his earnestness. Once the presents were dispensed with, the conference continued with various greetings, lengthy oratory, and the exchange of strings or belts of wampum to serve as a record of the discussions, Bouquet told the Indians that the English had come merely to expel the French from the country, they would only maintain a small garrison to protect a trading post that they would erect at the point, and they intended to immeidately begin active trading with the Delawares.
At this point the British government and army had made no firm decision to construct a massive fortification at the Forks of the Ohio, so possibly Bouquet even believed that he was telling the truth.
Indians' feelings
The Delaware attested to their intent to abide by the provisions of the Treaty of Easton, and promised to assist the British garrison at the point, but stated they could not guarantee their safety. The Delaware also promised to meet with other Indian nations regarding recent events in the Ohio country.
Apparently Bouquet impressed the Indians, for one noted,
"[W]e were taken to the commander's house; officers marched before us to keep back the crowd . . . We found a fine man, who, after the most agreeable of receptions, remained standing as he spoke to us . . . during the four days we were among them, we did not hear a single word which did not tend toward good."
The council was never intended to do anything more than open a dialogue between the British and the Natives living west of the Alleghenies, and it succeeded admirably in this regard.
The modern concept of civil-military affairs did not then exist, nor had the great Prussian General Von Clausewitz yet written,"War Does Not Consist of a Single Short Blow."
GOALS OF FORBES
GARRISON
Yet, Forbes clearly comprehended that simply conquering Fort Duquesne would accomplish litte, and that only the lodgement of a secure garrison at the site of the French fort would ensure possession of the Ohio country.
PEACE WITH INDIANS
And Forbes realized that for the English garrison to retain such possession, they would have to first establish and maintain healthy relationships with tNative inhabitants who had until a short time previously been their armed and hostile opponents, and who great outnumbered them. . . . . .
Hiring the Indians and supporting their families:
The English garrison provided warriors with employment throughout the winter by paying them liberally for fresh meat they brought into the fort; helped the Natives' families survive the harsh northeastern winter by issuing the Indians with provisions; and earned their respect by requesting their assistance in monitoring the French. . . . .
Why it goes bad again
Later, after the English had constructed a massive fortification at this site without the Natives' permission, and permitted a settlement to grow upon the slopes of the hill fertilized by Grant's dead, this relationship would again disintegrate into conflict. . . . .
More Indian Talks
. . . another council was held between Lieutenant Colonel Hugh Mercer and nine chiefs of the Delawares, Shawnees, and Six Nations (Mingos) early in January.
Source:
Page 177-179, The British Defeat of the French in Pennsylvania, 1758: A Military History of the Forbes Campaign Against Fort Duquesne: by Douglas R. Cubbison. More on this author here. And a review here.
To Benjamin Franklin from Israel Pemberton,
11 December 1758
From Israel Pemberton9 ms not found; reprinted from extract in [Charles Thomson], An Enquiry into the Causes of the Alienation of the Delaware and Shawanese Indians from the British Interest, … (London, 1759), pp. 183–4.
At the late Treaty Teedyuscung confirmed the Purchase of 1749;* his Motives for this Confirmation, were to engage the Six Nations to confirm the Wyoming Lands to him and his People;2 but such Measures were pursued, by our proprietary Managers, to prevent it, and to set the Indians at variance with each other, that all our Arguments, Persuasions and Presents were scarce sufficient to keep them from an open Rupture.
The Business was shamefully delayed from Day to Day, which the Minutes are calculated to screen; but it well known to us who attended, that the Time was spent in attempting Teedyuscung’s Downfal, and silencing or contradicting the Complaints he had made; but he is really more of a politician than any of his Opponents, whether in or out of our proprietary Council; and if he could be kept sober, might probably soon become Emperor of all the neighbouring Nations.
His old Secretary not being present, when the Treaty began,3 he did not demand the Right of having one, and thought it unnecessary, as he was determined rather to be a Spectator than active in public Business, so that we are imposed on in some Minutes of Consequence.4 General Forbes’s proceeding with so much Caution has furnished Occasion for many imprudent Reflections; but I believe he pursued the only Method, in which he could have succeeded.5 Whether he is a Soldier or not I cannot judge, nor is it my Business; but I am certain he is a considerate understanding Man; and it is a Happiness to these Provinces, that he prudently determined from the entrance on the Command here, to make use of every rational Method of conciliating the Friendship of the Indians, and drawing them off from the French;6 so that since we had his Countenance and Directions, our pacific Negotiations have been carried on with some Spirit, and have had the desired Effect.
The Express left the General at Fort Duquesne (now Pitt’sburgh)7 on the 30th ult. and says he would stay to meet the Indians, of whom he expected five hundred in a Day or two, having heard they were near him on the other Side the River.8 He will, no doubt, provide for divers Matters shamefully neglected at Easton, where our proprietary Agents wisely releas’d to the Indians all the Lands westward of the Mountains,9 without so much as stipulating for the keeping a trading House in any Part of that extensive Country.
This Neglect is now much noticed; and as we are assur’d there will be a great Want of Goods there this Winter, I am fitting out two Waggons with about £5 or 600 worth of Strouds,1 Blankets, Matchcoats, &c. which shall be sent to the General either to be sold or given away in such Manner, as may most effectually promote the public Interest: The Weather being pleasant and mild, and the Roads good, I am in hopes they will be conveyed to Ray’s-Town in a few Days. Our Friendly Association have, out of their Fund, expended upwards of £2000 but the Cost of these Goods must be paid (if they are given away) out of the Contributions of the Menonists and Swengfelders, who put about £1500 into my Hands for these Purposes.2 I am, &c. [Note numbering follows the Franklin Papers source.]
9. For the identification of the author and addressee of the letter from which this extract was taken and the circumstances of its first printing, see headnote to the document immediately above.
1. By the purchase of 1749, the Proprietors acquired title to a rectangular area bounded on the south by the Kittatinny Hills, on the west by the Susquehanna River, on the east by the Delaware River, and on the north by a line drawn “from Mahoniahy Creek on Susquehannah to Leheighwochter Creek on Delaware.” “Benjamin Chew’s Journal of a Journey to Easton, 1758,” Van Doren and Boyd, Indian Treaties, p. 317. This note was probably written by bf. Toward the end of the Easton Treaty Teedyuscung admitted that this had been a legitimate sale. Ibid., p. 237.
2. Teedyuscung wished to settle his people permanently in the Wyoming Valley. See above, vii, 282 n.
3. Charles Thomson arrived, however, no later than October 11. Chew’s Journal, p. 313.
4. Thomson had also complained of the untrustworthiness of the official minutes; see the preceding document.
5. Gen. John Forbes’s army captured its objective, Ft. Duquesne, on Nov. 25, 1758.
6. For Forbes’s assiduous efforts to conciliate the friendship of the Indians, see esp. Alfred P. James, ed., Writings of General John Forbes (Menasha, Wis., 1938), pp. 81–2, 109, 127, 137, 180–1.
7. “I have used the freedom of giving your name to Fort DuQuesne, as I hope it was in some measure the being actuated by your spirits that now makes us Masters of the place.” Forbes to William Pitt, Nov. 27, 1758, James, ed., Writings of Forbes, p. 269.
8. The express reached Philadelphia on or a little before December 11. Forbes enclosed a letter to Denny, dated November 26, in which he announced his intentions of conferring with the Indians. The General “also sent word to Philadelphia describing the need of goods” with which to supply the Indians. Pa. Col. Recs., viii, 232–4; Theodore Thayer, Israel Pemberton (Phila., 1943), p. 171.
9. See the preceding document.
1. Coarse warm cloth.
2. Although Pemberton dispatched the two wagons from Philadelphia on December 13, they did not reach Pittsburgh until April 30, 1759. While the goods were in transit, the trustees of the Friendly Association objected to his use of the Mennonite and Schwenkfelder funds; so he returned the money to the Friendly Association, paid for the goods himself, and traded them to Indians at Pittsburgh. Thayer, Pemberton, pp. 171–4; John W. Jordan, ed., “James Kenny’s ‘Journal to the Westward,’ 1758–59,” PMHB, xxxvii (1913), 395–449. Authorial notes
[The following note(s) appeared in the margins or otherwise outside the text flow in the original source, and have been moved here for purposes of the digital edition.]
º *This was a Purchase made by the Proprietors from the Six Nations, of Lands claimed by the Delawares.1
Source:
Research Notes
The Pennsylvania and Virginia Boundary ControversyJohn E. Potter
The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 38, No. 4 (1914), pp. 407-426 (20 pages) Published by: University of Pennsylvania Press
"Although he had doubted
[26 Nov 1758]
that he would survive the journey,
Forbes lived to reach Philadelphia
about 6 weeks later
[Jan 1759]. "
"There he recovered
only enough strength
to set his affairs in order
and to write a few letters:
the administrative and strategic testament
of a man
who could feel his life ebbing away. "
[ Forbes would die 11 March 1759 ]
"The most important of Forbes' last letters were addressed to Jeffery Amherst, recently named as Abercromby's successor. "
"Indian Affairs continued to concern Forbes,
for he worried that Amherst
(still inexperienced in wilderness warfare)
would assume
that the Indians were primitive
who would merely side
with the likeliest winner
and that relations with the Indians
could therefore be reduced
to a simple calculus of force. "
Source:
Fred Anderson' last page of the Chapter: Indian Diplomacy and the Fall of Fort Duquesne in his book, Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766, hardcover, published originally Feb 16, 2000 Third Printing March 2000 by Alfred a Knopf NY, page 284. Fred Anderson footnote cites: Quotations from Forbes to Amherst, 26 Jan and 7 Feb 1759, Writings of Forbes 283, 289. See also Forbes to Amherst, 18 Jan 1759, pages 282-3.
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