McClung, in his valuable Sketches of Western Adventure, in describing this sanguinary battle, speaks of the Indians fighting from behind a breastwork; Stone, in his Life of Brant, says the Indians were forced to avail themselves of a rude breastwork of logs and brushwood, which they had taken the precaution to construct for the occasion. There must be some mistake in regard to this breastwork, as it is evident from the circumstances of the case, that the Indians could not, before the battle, have erected one so near the camp without discovery; and after the action commenced, it was too fiercely prosecuted for a rampart of this kind to have been thrown up.
In regard to the number killed on either side, there is no very certain information. Doddridge, in his Notes on the Indian wars, places the number of whites killed in this action at seventy-five, and the wounded at one hundred and forty. Campbell, in his History of Virginia, says the number of whites who were killed was upwards of fifty, and that ninety were wounded, which is probably near the truth. The Indian force engaged in this action has been estimated by different 033 writers, at from eight hundred to fifteen hundred men. It is probable that the number did not exceed eight hundred. They were led on by some bold and warlike chiefs, among them Cornstalk, Logan, Elenipsico, Red Eagle, and Packishenoah, the last of whom was killed. Cornstalk, the chief in command, was conspicuous for his bravery, and animated his followers in tones which rose above the clash of arms; and when a retreat became necessary, conducted it so successfully and with so much delay, as to give his men an opportunity of bearing off all their wounded and many of the killed, whose bodies were thrown into the river. The loss of the Indians was never ascertained. One of the historians already quoted, speaks of it as "comparatively trifling." The character of our troops, many of whom were experienced woods-men, familiar with Indian fighting, the long continuance of the action—from the rising to the going down of the sun—the equality in numbers and position of the contending parties, the known usage of the Indians in hiding their dead and carrying off the wounded, the number of killed found on the battle ground the following day, and the severe loss of the Virginians, all forbid the idea that the loss of the enemy could have been trifling. The Ohio and Kanawha rivers afforded them opportunities for concealing their dead, while the plan of retreat,—alternately giving ground and renewing the attack,—was no doubt adopted for the purpose of gaining time to remove the wounded across the Ohio. It is fair to assume that the loss of the Indians was not far short of that sustained by the whites.
All circumstances considered, this battle may be ranked among the most memorable, and well contested, that has been fought on this continent. The leaders, on either side, were experienced and able, the soldiers skilful and brave. The victorious party, if either could be so called, had as little to boast of as the vanquished. It was alike creditable to the Anglo-Saxon and the aboriginal arms.
After the Indians had recrossed the Ohio, they marched to the valley of the Scioto, and encamped on the east side of that stream, about eight miles north of 034 where Chillicothe now stands. Here a council was held to decide upon their future movements. Cornstalk, although true to the interests of the Shawanoes, was the friend of peace, and had been opposed to making the attack on the troops of general Lewis. Being overruled, he entered into the action determined to do his duty. He now rose in the council and demanded, "What shall we do now? The Long Knives are coming upon us by two routes. Shall we turn out and fight them?" No reply being made to his questions, he continued, "shall we kill all our women and children, and then fight until we are all killed ourselves?" The chiefs were still silent. Cornstalk turned round, and striking his tomahawk into the war-post standing in the midst of the council, said with his characteristic energy of manner, "Since you are not inclined to fight, I will go and make peace."
In the meantime the earl of Dunmore, having procured boats at fort Pitt, descended the river to Wheeling, where the army halted for a few days, and then proceeded down the river in about one hundred canoes, a few keel boats and perogues, to the mouth of Hockhocking, and from thence over land, until the army had got within a few miles of the Shawanoe camp. Here the army halted, and made a breastwork of fallen trees, and entrenchments of such extent as to include about twelve acres of ground, with an enclosure in the centre containing about one acre. This was the citadel, which contained the markees of the earl and his superior officers.[23] Before the army of Dunmore had reached this point, he had been met by messengers from the Indians suing for peace. General Lewis, in the meantime, did not remain inactive. The day after the battle he proceeded to bury his dead, and to throw up a rude entrenchment around his camp, and appoint a guard for the protection of the sick and wounded. On the succeeding day he crossed the Ohio with his army, and commenced his march through a trackless desert, for the Shawanoe towns on the Scioto. Governor Dunmore, having determined to make peace with the Indians, 035 sent an express to general Lewis, ordering him to retreat across the Ohio. The order was disregarded, and the march continued until the governor in person, met the general and peremptorily repeated it. General Lewis and his troops, burning with a desire of avenging the Indian massacres, and the loss of their brave companions in the late battle, reluctantly obeyed the command of Dunmore; and turned their faces homewards. When the governor and his officers had returned to their camp, on the following day, the treaty with the Indians was opened. For fear of treachery, only eighteen Indians were permitted to attend their chiefs within the encampment, and they were required to leave their arms behind them. The conference was commenced by Cornstalk, in a long, bold and spirited speech, in which the white people were charged with being the authors of the war, by their aggressions upon the Indians at Captina and Yellow creek. Logan, the celebrated Mingo chief, refused to attend, although willing to make peace. His influence with the Indians made it important to secure his concurrence in the proposed treaty. Dunmore sent a special messenger, (colonel John Gibson,) to him. They met alone in the woods, where Logan delivered to him his celebrated speech. Colonel Gibson wrote it down, returned to Dunmore's camp, read the speech in the council, and the terms of the peace were then agreed on. What those terms were, is not fully known. No copy of the treaty can now be found, although diligent enquiry has been made for it. Burk, in his History of Virginia, says, that the peace was on "condition that the lands on this side of the Ohio should be for ever ceded to the whites; that their prisoners should be delivered up, and that four hostages should be immediately given for the faithful performance of these conditions." Campbell, in his History of Virginia, says, the Indians "agreed to give up their lands on this side of the Ohio, and set at liberty their prisoners." Butler, in his History of Kentucky, remarks that, "such a treaty appears at this day, to be utterly beyond the advantages which could have been claimed from Dunmore's expedition?" This is undoubtedly a reasonable conclusion. The statement in Doddridge, 036 that "on our part we obtained at the treaty a cessation of hostilities and a surrender of prisoners, and nothing more," is most probably the true version of the terms of this peace. If an important grant of land had been obtained by this treaty, copies of it would have been preserved in the public archives, and references in subsequent treaties, would have been made to it; but such seems not to have been the case. The conclusion most be, that it was only a treaty for the cessation of hostilities and the surrender of prisoners.
There have been various speculations as to the causes which induced governor Dunmore to order the retreat of the army under general Lewis, before the treaty was concluded. However desirous of a peace, the presence of an additional force would only have rendered that result more certain. It was believed by some of the officers of the army, and the opinion has been held by several writers since, that after governor Dunmore started on this expedition, he was advised of the strong probability of a war between Great Britain and her colonies; and that all his subsequent measures were shaped with a reference to making the Indians the allies of England in the expected contest. On this supposition, his conduct in not joining general Lewis at the mouth of the Kanawha, in risking his own detachment in the enemy's country, and in positively forbidding the other wing of the army from uniting with his, at camp Charlotte, has been explained. There are certainly plausible grounds for believing that governor Dunmore at this time, had more at heart the interests of Great Britain than of the colonies.
Soon after the conclusion of this war, the Shawanoes, with other tribes of the north-western Indians, took part with England in the war with the colonies; nor did the peace of 1783 put an end to these hostilities. The settlement of the valley of the Ohio by the whites, was boldly and perseveringly resisted; nor was the tomahawk buried by the Indians, until after the decisive battle at the rapids of the Miami of the lakes, on the 20th of August, 1794. The proximity of the Shawanoe towns to the Ohio river—the great highway of emigration to the west—and the facility with which 037 the infant settlements in Kentucky could be reached, rendered this warlike tribe an annoying and dangerous neighbor. Led on by some daring chiefs; fighting for their favorite hunting-grounds, and stimulated to action by British agents, the Shawanoes, for a series of years, pressed sorely upon the new settlements; and are supposed to have caused the destruction of more property and a greater number of lives, than all the other tribes of the north-west united. They participated in most of the predatory excursions into Kentucky. They were present at the celebrated attack on Bryant's station; they fought with their characteristic bravery in the battle of the Blue Licks, and participated in colonel Byrd's hostile excursion up Licking river, and the destruction of Martin's and Riddle's stations. In turn, they were compelled to stand on the defensive, and to encounter the gallant Kentuckians on the north side of the Ohio. Bowman's expedition in 1779, to the waters of Mad river; Clark's in 1780 and 1782, and Logan's in 1786, to the same point; Edwards' in 1787, to the head waters of the Big Miami; and Todd's in 1788, into the Scioto valley—not to name several minor ones—were chiefly directed against the Shawanoes; and resulted in the destruction of two or three of their principal villages, but not without a fierce and bloody resistance. The Shawanoes were likewise found in hostility to the United States, in the campaigns of Harmar, St. Clair and Wayne. They united in the treaty of Greenville, in 1795; and with the exception of a few who fought at Tippecanoe, remained at peace with this government until the war with Great Britain, in 1812, in which a considerable body of them became the allies of the latter power. Some of the tribe, however, remained neutral in that contest, and others joined the United States, and continued faithful until the peace of 1815.
WEYAPIERSENWAH, OR BLUE JACKET.
In the campaign of general Harmar, in the year 1790, Blue Jacket—an influential Shawanoe chief—was associated with the Miami chief, Little Turtle, in the command of the Indians. In the battle of the 20th 038 of August 1794, when the combined army of the Indians was defeated by general Wayne, Blue Jacket had the chief control. The flight previous to the battle, while the Indians were posted at Presque Isle, a council was held, composed of chiefs from the Miamis, Potawatimies, Delawares, Shawanoes, Chippewas, Ottawas and Senecas—the seven nations engaged in the action. They decided against the proposition to attack general Wayne that night in his encampment. The expediency of meeting him the next day then came up for consideration. Little Turtle was opposed to this measure, but being warmly supported by Blue Jacket, it was finally agreed upon. The former was strongly inclined to peace, and decidedly opposed to risking a battle under the circumstances in which the Indians were then placed. "We have beaten the enemy," said he, "twice, under separate commanders. We cannot expect the same good fortune always to attend us. The Americans are now led by a chief who never sleeps. The night and the day are alike to him; and, during all the time that he has been marching upon our villages, notwithstanding the watchfulness of our young men, we have never been able to surprise him. Think well of it. There is something whispers me, it would be prudent to listen to his offers of peace." The councils of Blue Jacket, however, prevailed over the better judgment of Little Turtle. The battle was fought and the Indians defeated.
In the month of October following this defeat, Blue Jacket concurred in the expediency of sueing for peace, and at the head of a deputation of chiefs, was about to bear a flag to general Wayne, then at Greenville, when the mission was arrested by foreign influence. Governor Simcoe, colonel McKee and the Mohawk chief, captain John Brant, having in charge one hundred and fifty Mohawks and Messasagoes, arrived at the rapids of the Maumee, and invited the chiefs of the combined army to meet them at the mouth of the Detroit river, on the 10th of October. To this Blue Jacket assented, for the purpose of hearing what the British officers had to propose. Governor Simcoe urged the Indians to retain their hostile attitude towards the United 039 States. In referring to the encroachments of the people of this country on the Indian lands, he said, "Children: I am still of the opinion that the Ohio is your right and title. I have given orders to the commandant of fort Miami to fire on the Americans whenever they make their appearance again. I will go down to Quebec, and lay your grievances before the great man. From thence they will be forwarded to the king, your father. Next spring you will know the result of every thing what you and I will do." He urged the Indians to obtain a cessation of hostilities, until the following spring, when the English would be ready to attack the Americans, and by driving them back across the Ohio, restore their lands to the Indians.[24] These counsels delayed the conclusion of peace until the following summer.