680 SCAROYADA.—SHOCKING MURDERS. [BOOK V. "But we must at the same time solemnly assure you, that if you delay any longer to act heartily in conjunction with us, or think to put us off, as usual with uncertain hopes, you will see our faces under this roof no more. We must shift for our own safety, and leave you to the mercy of your enemies, as an infatuated people, upon whom we can have dependence no longer." Tears were standing in the old chief's eyes when he finished his speech; but he was doomed to suffer yet greater perplexity, from the delay of the assembly to act upon the matter. This appeal of the chiefs was made on a Saturday, and an adjournment was immediately moved and carried, and no action could be had at that time. On the following Tuesday the assembly met again, but several days passed and nothing was done. The Friends hal a majority of members in that body, and they would not believe that war on any conditions was to be tolerated; and thus the good intentions of Scaroyada were thrown away, and the war was carried on with success by the enemy. Notwithstanding the neglect shown him on this occasion, we find him busily engaged in November following in his humane purpose of warding off the calamities from the frontier families. At one time he learned that a party of Delawares and Shawanees were preparing to strike a blow on the English border, and he forthwith repaired to Harris's Ferry, and gave the information in time to prevent the intended mischief. We hear no more of Scaroyada until 1757, in which year he raised a company of Mohawks, and in May marched to the relief of Fort Augustus. In 1742 mention is made of a chief named Skanarady, who was acting a conspicuous part among the Cayugas. He may be the same person, but of that we have no other evidence than the approximation in the spelling of the names. It may be mentioned that one of the chiefs, CayenQUILOQUOAS, who went to Philadelphia with Scaroyada in 1755, had two sons in an academy in that city, where they had been placed the year before to be educated. They were supported by the province. We will in this place recur again to an incident in the war of 1755, as it was a fulfilment of the prediction of Scaroyada, which probably gave Pennsylvania more alarm, and caused her greater consternation than any other in her whole history; not even excepting the war of the revolution, or the "Western Insurrection." The author of the view of that province in 1755, closes his work with this “POSTSCRIPT. I send you," he writes, "the following postscript to my long letter. The scalping continues! Yesterday [December 14th] the Dutch brought down for upwards of 60 miles, in a wagon, the bodies of some of their countrymen who had been just scalped by the Indians, and threw them. at the State-House door, cursing the Quakers' principles, and bidding the committee of assembly behold the fruits of their obstinacy, and confess that their pretended sanctity would not save the province without the use of means, at the same time threatening, that if they should come down on a like errand again, and find nothing done for their protection, the consequences should be fatal. A Dutch mob is a terrible thing; but methods are taking to pacify them, and prevent it.” The manner in which this serious affair is spoken of by honest JOHN CHURCHMAN, in his life and travels, deserves to be noticed, as well for its addition to the stock of historical facts, as showing how it was viewed by one of the strictest of the Friends' party. "The Indians," he says, "having burnt several houses on the frontiers of this province, also at Gnadenhutten, in Northampton county, and murdered and scalped some of the inhabitants, two or three of the dead bodies were brought to Philadelphia in a wagon, with an intent, as was supposed, to animate the people to unite in preparations for war, to take vengeance on the Indians, and destroy them. They were carried along several of the streets, many people following, cursing the Indians, also the Quakers because they would not join in war for destruction of the Indians. The sight of the dead bodies and the outcry of the people were very afflictive and shocking to me: standing at the door of a friend's house, as they passed along, my mind was much humbled, and turned much inward, when I was made secretly to cry, What will become of Pennsylvania?” The good man also said to himself, that the sins of drunkenness, pride, profaneness, and other wickedness, had not only polluted the borders where the murders were committed, but Philadelphia likewise, and that in the day of retribution blood would be required here also. Severe reflections were indulged in relative to the conduct of some of the Quakers. Nathaniel Grubb, member of the assembly, and a prominent character among them, was sent into the interior to learn the truth respecting the ravages complained of; he is reported to have said that "those killed by the Indians were only some Scotch-Irish, who could well enough be spared;" and such, it was further reported, was "the common language of many of that sect." But these charges are to be taken with large allowances. 10000 CHAPTER XIV. Early western history-Incidents of battles-ESTILL'S DEFEAT-Simon Girty-Siege of Bryant's station-DANIEL BOONE-BATTLE of the Blue LICKS-Its disastrous issne-Massacre of Major Doughty's men-Harmer's Campaign-COL. HARDINHis first defeat-Narrow escapes of individuals-MAJOR WYLLYS-Second defeat -Majors Fontaine and Wyllys killed-Battle near Fort Recovery-Chiefs UNDERWOOD AND SALLAD-MCMAHON'S DEFEAT AND DEATH-Gallant action of Lieut Drake-Capt. Hartshorne killed-Fate of the chief SALLAD-PIOMINGO. Of all men, saving Sylla the man-slayer, Of the great names, which in our faces stare, -The present case in point I Cite is, that Boon lived hunting up to ninety. "Tis true he shrank from men, even of his nation, When they built up into his darling trees,—— H moved some hundred miles off, for a station Where there were fewer houses and more ease."-BYRON. As the tide of emigration rolled westward, farther and farther was carried from the Atlantic shores the van billow, which broke in blood as it rolled onward, and which will not cease until it has met its kindred wave, progressing from the western ocean, and both shall have swept down and buried in their course those forms of humanity, in whose name there will remain a charm forever; and which will strike the imagination stronger and stronger, as the times in which they were are seen through the dim distance of ages. We can yet view upon the hills of the west, as the sun sinks beyond them, the figure of one of the race, with his bow in his hand, and its production by his side, in his way to his humble wigwam in the glen to which its smoke above the tops of the lofty trees directs him. Is there a landscape in nature like this? Who that has even read of the Indian can efface it from his memory? But it is our ruling maxim not to indulge in descriptions merely to delight the imagination, but to give our space entirely to facts which should be remembered, leaving poetry to those writers better skilled in it. We shall here proceed to the detail of the events of one of the most sanguinary battles, considering the numbers engaged, ever fought in the west. On the 22 March, 1782, a company of 25 Wyandots attacked Estill's station, in Kentucky, killed one man and took a negro prisoner. The owner of the station, Capt. JAMES ESTILL,* a bold pioneer, was at the time absent engaged in scouting in defence of his neighbors, and having received intelligence of the attack upon his own house, hastened in pursuit of the party which had made it. Their trail led across Kentucky River, thence towards the Ohio, which Capt. Estill followed with ardor; and when he came within about two miles of Little Mountain, now the village of Mount Sterling, the Indians were discovered on the right bank of Hinkston's branch of Licking River. They immediately threw themselves into a position of defence, and Capt. Estill whose men numbered the same as those of the Indian chief, drew up his in In all the editions of Boone's Narrative it is Ashton, but it is an error. A county per petuates the name of the brave Estill. 682 SIEGE OF BRYANT'S STATION. [Book V front of them on the opposite side. All now depended on the greatest exercise of skill; for neither could claim to be better marksmen than the other if the whites were good, so were the Wyandots. They waited for the Kentuckians to begin the battle, which they immediately did, and on the first fire the chief of the Indians was severely wounded. This so disconcerted his men that many of them were for making a rapid retreat; but his voice rallied them to their posts, and the strife was now urged with the utmost determination on both sides. Each was confident in his own superiority in skill over his adversary, and for some time but few fell, owing to the covered positions both parties held. At length it was apparent to the chiefs that it would require a long time to decide the contest by that mode of action, and each waited impatiently for the other to make some advances by which advantage might be gained. It is unnatural for a white man to lie by a deer's path all day, waiting for it to pass, at the end of which he is quite as uncertain whether it will come in the course of another, or, perhaps, not till the end of ten days. It may be as unnatural for the Indian; but he will wait day in and day out without half the uneasiness which a white man feels. Thus, at the memorable battle of the Little Mountain, the whites would not wait for a change of position by the Indians, and therefore resolved to make one themselves. Experienced tacticians seldom divide their forces. The Indian chief kept his imbodied; but the Kentuckian divided his, and it proved his ruin. Capt. Estill despatched Lieut. Miller, with six men, with orders to cross the river, and come upon the backs of the Indians, while he would occupy them in front. Accordingly, Miller marched out on this design; and, to deceive the Indians, the captain extended his line in front, with the view of closing in on the flanks of the Indians the moment Lieut. Miller should divert them in his direction. Unhappily for the whites, that time never came; Miller was easily defeated; or, as some say, came no more into action. Yet Estill was enabled to continue the fight for more than an hour; meanwhile, his centre became weak, and being furiously charged by the Indians, his men broke and dispersed. Each man shifted for himself as well as he could; Capt. Estill, and his second lieutenant, South, both escaped from the field of battle; but they fell by the tomahawk in their flight. Four only escaped from that sanguinary strife, excepting those under Miller, and those four were all wounded. The Indians were supposed to have lost half their number; but they were imboldened by this success, and other depredations followed. In the following August, that noted fiend and miscreant, Simon Girty, now twice a savage in disposition, came down upon Kentucky at the head of above 500 Indians, from the tribes of the Wyandots, Miamies, Pottowattomies, Shawanees, and Cherokees. Their object was the destruction of Bryant's station, on the Elk Horn, which fortunately had news of their approach in time to prepare for them. Nevertheless, Ġirty, relying on his numbers, determined to reduce it. A spring near the fort, which supplied it with water, was unprotected, and he stationed a considerable body near it, in concealment, to cut off such as should venture to it during the siege. Another party was ordered to post themselves in full view in front of the garrison, by which feint it was expected the main strength of it would be drawn out; in which event a third party was to storm a certain gate, and, if possible, force it, and thereby gain possession. The attack commenced in front; but Girty's design was fathomed by the shrewd backwoodsmen. They at once saw that but a small party began the onset, and rightly judged a much greater one lay concealed in their rear. They now determined to attempt a stratagem on Girty's camp, and with what success we shall next proceed to state. Thirteen young men were sent out to attack the Indians in front, while the remainder of the garrison (about 30) were prepared to receive the party in the rear. Girty was completely deceived by the manœuvre, for supposing the main body had gone in pursuit Gov. MOREHEAD, in his admirable address in Commemoration of the First Settlement of Kentucky. 633 of the small party in front, he rushed up with great fury to execute this part of his plan. At the same moment the garrison opened upon him a most deadly fire. This was entirely unexpected, and "the whole Indian army fled with the utmost precipitation, leaving the 13 brave men, who had made the sortie, at liberty to rejoin their friends. But the siege was not to terminate here; the fugitives returned in a short time, under cover of logs and fences, and for several hours kept up a continual firing upon the garrison. Meanwhile, word had been received at Lexington, that Bryant's fort was in imminent danger, and a party of about 50 men, horse and foot, set off to relieve it. The besieging Indians, being aware of their march, ambushed the road near the garrison, and were exulting in the prospect of cutting off the whole party; but such was the dexterity of that company of men, that they succeeded in dashing through the whole body of Indians, with the loss only of six of their number; and even those were lost, as it were, by accident. The company approached the garrison in two divisions at the same time, and the party first attacked did not lose a man, while the other, instead of proceeding directly to the fort, tacked and marched for the relief of their friends, and thereby came directly into the hands of the Indians, who had now nothing to do but to turn their arms upon them. In this affair Girty was knocked down by the force of a ball which lodged in his shot-pouch, without doing him any injury. Girty, being now well aware that a further waste of time and ammunition would be of no avail, resolved, as a last resort, to try the effect of a gasconade. Accordingly, crawling up as near the fort as he could find a covert, he hailed those within, and demanded a surrender; said they now had an opportunity to save their lives; but if they held out longer, he could not be accountable for their safety. And, besides, he said, he hourly expected two pieces of cannon, and a thousand more Indians, who, when arrived, would make deplorable havoc of every man, woman, and child; that now was their only chance of escaping that scene of blood. And, after extolling their bravery and courage, he closed with the announcement of the name of SIMON GIRTY, and that what had been promised was upon his honor; and demanded whether the garrison knew him. A young man, named Reynolds, was appointed to reply to him, which he did in a style of taunt which will long be remembered in Kentucky story. "Know you?" said Reynolds; "Ay, that we do. I have a good-for-nothing dog named Simon Girty. Bring up your reënforcements and artillery, and be dd to you; we will not fight you with guns, but have prepared switches with which to drive you out of the fort if you should get in;" with much more in like kind. If Girty was not satisfied before, he became so now; and, on the following morning, the whole army marched off towards their own country. Thus ended the celebrated siege of Bryant's station, August 17th, after about 36 hours' duration. The country had become alarmed over a wide extent, and, on the next day after the termination of the siege, a large number of men had assembled on the ground, eager to pursue the Indians. Among them were several officers of known valor, the chief of whom were Col. JOHN TODD of Lexington, Lieut. Col. TRIGG of Harrodsburgh, Lieut. Col. BOONE of Boonesborough, and Majs. HARLAN, MCGARY, and LEVI TODD. Col. Logan had been notified, and was believed to be on his march to join them; but such was the ardor of the men now assembled, though no more than 182, to have a fight with those Indians, whom they believed 600 strong, that they would not be restrained, and they marched on the evening of the same day, on their trail. This irrational impetuosity, it should be remembered, did not extend to such men as Daniel Boone, who coolly gave it as his opinion, that it was not prudent to pursue until a reënforcement should arrive; but this sage counsel was scouted by some, while others attributed it to cowardice. Like Little Turtle, before the The writer of the life of "Boon," in the "American Portrait Gallery," has not noticed the distinguished part he acted in the battle of the Blue Licks. This justly-celebrated man died in the house of his son, Maj. N. Boone, of Montgomery county, 26 September, 1820, in his 85th year. 684 DISASTER AT THE BLUE LICKS. [BOOK V. battle of Miami, Boone bore the insult in silence, but did his duty in the bat. tle which ensued. As this devoted band marched along, it was apparent to every man of experience which composed it, that the enemy expected pursuit, for they had, in many ways, left traces of their march, which an enemy not courting pur suit would never have made. Boone, and others of his mind, who had doubt. ed the propriety of the proceeding, hoped that the impetuous party would come to their reason as they approached the scene of danger, which doubtless would have been the case, but for the mad act of one man, and that was a Maj. McGary. After a march of about 40 miles, they came to Licking River, at the since well-known point called the Blue Licks; and as the hill opened to their view on the opposite side, a few Indians were discovered slowly ascending it, and leisurely disappeared on the other side. Here a council of war was called, and Col. Todd, the commander-in-chief, called on Col. Boone for his advice. It was given with candor, and caution was strongly recommended, as it had been before leaving Bryant's, on the preceding day. This course of the commander ought to have silenced all clamors, especially as none could but acknowledge the wisdom of Col. Boone. He well understood the nature of the adjacent country; he had made salt at the lick; hunted in its vicinity; and it was there he fell into the hands of the Indians in 1778, and suffered a long captivity. These considerations availed little. Spies were sent out; but they returned without making any discovery. Boone described a ravine, in which he did not doubt the Indians lay concealed, and proposed two measures; one of which he thought should be adopted. The first was to wait for a reënforcement; but if they would not consent to that, he advised that a part of their force should be detached up the river, to cross it and surprise the Indians; while the remainder should make a feint in front of their position. Here all deliberations were suspended by the war-whoop, not from the Indians, but McGary, who, spurring his horse into the river, in defiance of all subordination, called out for all that were not cowards to follow him—he would show them the Indians. The miserable "example was contagious among the fiery spirits;" and though a part remained with Todd and Boone for a short time, all were soon over the river, and, says Boone,* "we discovered the enemy lying in wait for us. On this discovery, we formed our columns into one single line, and marched up in their front within about 40 yards, before there was a gun fired. Col. Trigg commanded on the right, myself on the left, Maj. McGary in the centre, and Maj. Harlan the advance party in front. From the manner in which we had formed, it fell to my lot to bring on the attack. This was done with a very heavy fire on both sides, and extended back of the line to Col. Trigg, where the enemy was so strong that they rushed up and broke the right wing at the first fire. Thus the enemy got into our rear, and we were compelled to retreat with the loss of 77 of our men, and 12 wounded." Such is the summary account of that sanguinary battle by Col. Boone himself, a most conspicuous actor in it. The right wing was dreadfully cut to pieces. Col. Trigg was killed, with most of his men, while Boone sustained himself manfully in his position. Maj. Harlan, whom no danger could daunt, maintained his ground until but three of his men were left, when he fell mortally wounded. The tomahawk was now resorted to by the savages, and the remainder of the little army gave way, one wing after another, and a dismal rout ensued. Some regained their horses, while others fled on foot. They were a mile from the lick where they had crossed the river; and when they arrived there, the Indians in great numbers were upon them. No pen can describe the scene now begun. Col. Todd was here numbered with the slain. Boone very narrowly escaped, conveying away his son by a secret path, who, to his lasting sorrow, he soon found was mortally wounded, and he was obliged to leave him in the way. In a letter to the governor of Virginia, dated on the 30 August following the battle, appended to Gov. Morehead's discourse. The Indians were said to have lost the same number; but it is improbable. They burnt at the stake several of the whites who fell alive into their hands. |