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Lord Dunmore's War, also known as Dunmore's War, was a brief conflict in the fall of 1774 between the British
Colony of Virginia The Colony of Virginia was a British Empire, British colonial settlement in North America from 1606 to 1776. The first effort to create an English settlement in the area was chartered in 1584 and established in 1585; the resulting Roanoke Colo ...
and the
Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...
and
Mingo The Mingo people are an Iroquoian group of Native Americans, primarily Seneca and Cayuga, who migrated west from New York to the Ohio Country in the mid-18th century, and their descendants. Some Susquehannock survivors also joined them, a ...
in the
trans-Appalachia Trans-Appalachia is an area in the United States bounded to the east by the Appalachian Mountains and extending west roughly to the Mississippi River. It spans from the Midwest to the Upper South. The term is used most frequently when referring to ...
region of the colony south of the Ohio River. Broadly, the war included events between May and October 1774. The
governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...
during the conflict was
John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore (1730 – 25 February 1809) was a British colonial administrator who served as the List of colonial governors of Virginia, governor of Virginia from 1771 to 1775. Dunmore was named List of colonial governors of ...
, who in May 1774, asked the
House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...
to declare a state of
war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...
with the Shawnee and Mingo and call out the Virginia militia. The conflict resulted from escalating violence between white settlers, who, in accordance with previous treaties, especially the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1768), were exploring and moving into land south of the
Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...
(modern
West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
, southwestern Pennsylvania, and
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
), and the
Ohio Country The Ohio Country (Ohio Territory, Ohio Valley) was a name used for a loosely defined region of colonial North America west of the Appalachian Mountains and south of Lake Erie. Control of the territory and the region's fur trade was disputed i ...
Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...
who had historical hunting rights in the south of Ohio lands of the
Iroquois Confederacy The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
. Resulting cross-river attacks by the Shawnee caused war to be declared "to pacify the hostile Indian war bands". The war ended soon after Virginia's victory in the Battle of Point Pleasant on October 10, 1774. In the ensuing Treaty of Camp Charlotte, the Native Americans surrendered their hunting rights south of the Ohio, and agreed to cease attacks upon travelers on the river and recognize the river, running nearly north–south at its eastern end, as the boundary between the Indigenous lands of the Ohio Country to the west, and the
British colonies A Crown colony or royal colony was a colony governed by England, and then Great Britain or the United Kingdom within the English and later British Empire. There was usually a governor to represent the Crown, appointed by the British monarch on ...
to the east. This was a major resetting of the Appalachian boundary defined by the
Royal Proclamation of 1763 The Royal Proclamation of 1763 was issued by British King George III on 7 October 1763. It followed the Treaty of Paris (1763), which formally ended the Seven Years' War and transferred French territory in North America to Great Britain. The ...
which ended the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War, 1754 to 1763, was a colonial conflict in North America between Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of France, France, along with their respective Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...
. Although the Indigenous leaders signed the treaty, conflict within the Indigenous tribes soon broke out. Some tribesmen felt the treaty sold out their claims and opposed it, and others believed that another war would mean only further losses of territory to the settlers. When the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...
broke out between the American settlers and the British in 1775, the war factions of the Indian nations quickly gained power. They encouraged the various Indigenous nations to ally with the British during the war, initiating the Cherokee-American wars that lasted nearly two decades.


Settlement and resistance in the ''Kentucke'' country

The area south of the Ohio River and west of the
Kanawha River The Kanawha River ( ) is a tributary of the Ohio River, approximately 97 mi (156 km) long, in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The largest inland waterway in West Virginia, its watershed has been a significant industrial region of th ...
(long referred to as ''Kentucke'' country after a region around the namesake river in what is today eastern Kentucky) had been claimed by the
Iroquois Confederacy The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...
since their conquest in the 17th-century
Beaver Wars The Beaver Wars (), also known as the Iroquois Wars or the French and Iroquois Wars (), were a series of conflicts fought intermittently during the 17th century in North America throughout the Saint Lawrence River valley in Canada and the Great L ...
. Although they were the most powerful Indian nation in the Northern Colonies, other tribes also made claims to the area and often hunted the region. When, in accordance with the
Treaty of Fort Stanwix The Treaty of Fort Stanwix was a treaty signed between representatives from the Iroquois and Great Britain (accompanied by negotiators from New Jersey, Virginia and Province of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania) in 1768 at Fort Stanwix. It was negotia ...
(1768), British officials acquired the land south of the Ohio River from the Iroquois, many other Ohio Indians who had hunted in these lands refused to accede to the treaty and prepared to defend their hunting rights. At the forefront of this resistance were the
Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...
, the most powerful among the allied Algonquin tribes of the Ohio Valley. They soon organized a large confederacy of Shawnee-Ohio Confederated Indians who were opposed to the British and the Iroquois in order to enforce their claims. British officials worked to isolate the Shawnee diplomatically from other Indian nations. When full-blown hostilities broke out within a few years, the Shawnee would find that they faced the Virginia militia with few allies. Following the 1768 treaty, colonial explorers, surveyors, and settlers began pouring into the region. This immediately brought them into direct contact with Native Americans of the upper Ohio Valley, especially the
Allegheny River The Allegheny River ( ; ; ) is a tributary of the Ohio River that is located in western Pennsylvania and New York (state), New York in the United States. It runs from its headwaters just below the middle of Pennsylvania's northern border, nor ...
.
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
wrote in his journal for November 17, 1770, "The Indians who are very dexterous, even their women, in the Management of Canoes, have there Hunting Camps & Cabins all along the River for the convenience of Transporting their Skins by Water to Market."


The Boone incident

In September 1773, noted frontiersman
Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...
led a group of about 50 emigrants up the Powell River valley in Tennessee in the first attempt by white colonists to establish a settlement in ''Kentucke''. On October 9, 1773, just south of the
Cumberland Gap The Cumberland Gap is a Mountain pass, pass in the Eastern United States, eastern United States through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains and near the tripoint of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. At&n ...
, Boone's oldest son James, age 16, and a small group of men and boys who were retrieving supplies were attacked by a band of Delawares, Shawnees, and
Cherokees The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
. They had decided "to send a message of their opposition to settlement..." James Boone and Henry Russell, a teenage son of future Revolutionary War officer William Russell, were captured and tortured to death. The brutality of the killings shocked the settlers along the frontier, and Boone's party abandoned their expedition. By December, the incident had been reported in Baltimore and Philadelphia newspapers. The deaths among Boone's party were among the seminal events that culminated in Lord Dunmore's War. For the next several years, Indian nations opposed to the treaty continued to attack settlers, ritually mutilated and tortured to death the surviving men, and took the women and children into slavery.Faragher, ''Daniel Boone'', 89–96, quote on 93; Lofaro, ''American Life'', 44–49. Boone's expedition was the first of several as part of a scheme with land speculator Richard Henderson to establish the Transylvania Colony in ''Kentucke''.


Early Allegheny settlements

Starting in 1769, Ebenezer Zane, afterwards a famed "Indian fighter" and guide, known for Zane's trace, had established a settlement on Wheeling Creek just over the Pennsylvania border on the Allegheny he named "Zanesburg" (now
Wheeling, West Virginia Wheeling is a city in Ohio County, West Virginia, Ohio and Marshall County, West Virginia, Marshall counties in the U.S. state of West Virginia. The county seat of Ohio County, it lies along the Ohio River in the foothills of the Appalachian Mo ...
). Later, Fort Fincastle was sited there. Among the early settlers of the Allegheny valley beyond Pennsylvania was Captain Michael Cresap, the owner of a trading post at
Redstone Old Fort Redstone Old Fort — written as Redstone or Red-Stone Fort or (for a short time when built) Fort Burd — on Nemacolin's Path, the Nemacolin Trail, was the name of the French and Indian War-era wooden fort built in 1759 by Pennsylvania militia ...
(now Brownsville, Pennsylvania) on the
Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...
. Under authority of the colonial government of
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...
, Cresap had taken control of extensive tracts of land at and below the mouth of Middle Island Creek (now St. Marys, West Virginia.) He went there in the early spring of 1774 with a party of men to settle his holdings.


The Clark Expedition to Kentucky

In spring of 1774, a group that included
George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American military officer and surveyor from Virginia who became the highest-ranking Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot military officer on the American frontier, nort ...
, who later became a general during the Revolutionary War, had gathered at the mouth of the
Little Kanawha River The Little Kanawha River is a tributary of the Ohio River, 169 mi (269 km) long,Gilchrist-Stalnaker, Joy Gregoire. 2006. "Little Kanawha River." ''The West Virginia Encyclopedia''. Ken Sullivan, editor. Charleston, WV: West Vir ...
(now
Parkersburg, West Virginia Parkersburg is a city in Wood County, West Virginia, United States, and its county seat. Located at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Little Kanawha River, Little Kanawha rivers, it is the state's List of municipalities in West Virginia ...
). They were waiting there for the arrival of other Virginians expected to join them before they moved downriver to settle lands in Kentucky. Clark's group began to hear reports that hostile Indians were robbing and occasionally killing traders, surveyors and others traveling down the Ohio. So they invited another settler, Captain Michael Cresap, who also intended to go to Kentucky, and who had combat experience, to join the group. Cresap understood that any provocations might result in war, so he suggested the group return upstream to Zane's small settlement at "Zanesburg" (the future Wheeling) and wait to see if Indian hostilities would decline. However, when they arrived, they found the whole area in an uproar. People were panicked by the stories of the survivors of the Indian attacks. They were upset by the Indian brutality towards captured settlers. Fearing for the lives of women and children, colonists living on the
frontier A frontier is a political and geographical term referring to areas near or beyond a boundary. Australia The term "frontier" was frequently used in colonial Australia in the meaning of country that borders the unknown or uncivilised, th ...
flocked to the town for protection. A message from John Connolly, the garrison commander at upstream Fort Pitt, indicated that the local tribes including Shawnee and Delaware, intended war. Cresap called a council on April 26. After he read Connolly's letter aloud, the assembly declared war against the Indians. After spotting some Indian canoes on the river the next day, settlers chased them downriver to Pipe Creek. There settlers engaged them in battle, with a few casualties on each side. The following day, Clark's party abandoned the original idea of proceeding to Kentucky. Expecting retaliation, they broke camp and retreated with Cresap's men to his headquarters at Redstone Old Fort.


The Yellow Creek massacre

Immediately after the Pipe Creek attack, settlers killed relatives of the
Mingo The Mingo people are an Iroquoian group of Native Americans, primarily Seneca and Cayuga, who migrated west from New York to the Ohio Country in the mid-18th century, and their descendants. Some Susquehannock survivors also joined them, a ...
leader Logan. Up until this point, Logan had expressed peaceful intentions toward the settlers. He and his hunting party were camped on the west bank of the Ohio at Yellow Creek, about above Zanesburg (near present day
Steubenville, Ohio Steubenville ( ) is a city in Jefferson County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located along the Ohio River west of Pittsburgh, it had a population of 18,161 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Weirton–Steubenville m ...
) and across the river from Baker's Bottom. On April 30 some members of the hunting party (Logan was not among them) crossed the river to the cabin of Joshua Baker, a settler and rum trader. The visiting
Mingo The Mingo people are an Iroquoian group of Native Americans, primarily Seneca and Cayuga, who migrated west from New York to the Ohio Country in the mid-18th century, and their descendants. Some Susquehannock survivors also joined them, a ...
included Logan's younger brother, commonly known as John Petty, and two closely related women. The younger woman was pregnant and also had an infant girl with her. The father of both these children was John Gibson, a well-known trader. Once the group was inside Baker's cabin, some 30 frontiersmen, led by Daniel Greathouse, suddenly crowded in and killed all the visitors except the infant. When Logan heard of the massacre, he was led to believe that Cresap, not Greathouse, was the man responsible for the attack. However, many people familiar with the incident (including Clark) knew that Greathouse and his men were the ones who had killed the party. Settlers along the frontiers realized that these killings were likely to provoke the remaining Indian nations of the Ohio Country to attack. Settlers remaining on the frontier immediately sought safety, either in blockhouses or by fleeing eastward across the
Monongahela River The Monongahela River ( , ), sometimes referred to locally as the Mon (), is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed August 15, 2011 river on the Allegheny Plateau in nor ...
. Many even traveled back across the
Allegheny Mountains The Allegheny Mountain Range ( ) — also spelled Alleghany or Allegany, less formally the Alleghenies — is part of the vast Appalachian Mountain Range of the Eastern United States and Canada. Historically it represented a significant barr ...
. Their fear was well founded. Logan and small parties of Shawnee and Mingo soon began striking at frontier settlers in
revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...
for the murders at Yellow Creek.


Prelude to war

The following month, a field
surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. These points are usually on the ...
named William Preston sent a letter of report to the head engineer of the frontier fort construction, namely
George Washington George Washington (, 1799) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. As commander of the Continental Army, Washington led Patriot (American Revoluti ...
, which indicates his understanding of circumstances just prior to the outbreak of Dunmore's War:
FINCASTLE May 27. 1774.
DEAR SIR Agreeable to my Promise I directed Mr. Floyd an Assistant to Survey your Land on Cole River on his Way to the
Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...
, which he did and in a few Days afterwards sent me the Plot by Mr. Thomas Hog. Mr. Spotswood Dandridge who left the Surveyors on the Ohio after Hog Parted with them, wrote me that Mr. Hog and two other Men with him had never since been heard of. I have had no Opportunity of writing to Mr. Floyd Since. Tho' I suppose he will send me the Courses by the first Person that comes up, if so I shall make out the Certificate and send it down. This I directed him to do when we parted to prevent Accidents. But I am really afraid the Indians will hinder them from doing any Business of Vallue this Season as the Company being only 33 and dayly decreasing were under the greatest Apprehension of Danger when Mr. Dandridge parted with them. It has been long disputed by our Hunters whether Louisa or
Cumberland River The Cumberland River is a major waterway of the Southern United States. The U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 8, 2011 river drains almost of southern Kentucky and ...
s was the Boundary between us and the
Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...
s. I have taken the Liberty to inclose to you a Report made by some Scouts who were out by my Order; and which Sets that matter beyond a Doubt. It is say'd the Cherrokees claim the Land to the Westward of the Louisa & between Cumberland M utilatedand the ohio. If so, and our Government gives it up we loose all the most Valluable part of that Country. The Northern Indians Sold that Land to the English at the Treaty of Lancaster in 1744, by the Treaty of Logs Town in 1752 and by that at Fort Stanwix in 1768. At that Time the Cherrokees laid no Claim to that Land & how the come to do it now I cannot imagine...


Dunmore's expedition


Mobilization and movements

Early in May 1774, Dunmore received word that fighting had begun at Yellow Creek and other points on the Ohio. He requested the legislature to raise regular military forces to quell the threat of growing violence. The
House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...
preferred temporary militia forces. The legislature spent their time in session showing support to
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
and discussing the border dispute with Pennsylvania, but failed to renew the expiring militia act. Dunmore dissolved the House of Burgesses on 26 May 1774 and used his executive power under the expiring Invasions and Insurrections Act to mobilize Virginia's county militias. According to historians Eric Hinderaker and Peter C. Mancall in ''At the Edge of Empire'' (2003):
With the new forces, Dunmore advanced toward the Ohio where he split his force into two groups: one would move down the Ohio from Fort Pitt (now
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...
), 1,700 men led by him, and another body of 800 troops under Colonel Andrew Lewis would travel from Camp Union (now
Lewisburg, West Virginia Lewisburg is a city in and the county seat of Greenbrier County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 3,930 at the 2020 census. History Lewisburg is named after Andrew Lewis (American general), Andrew Lewis. In 1751 Lewis, as a youn ...
) with the two forces rendezvousing at the mouth of the Great Kanawha River. Under this general plan, Dunmore traveled to Fort Pitt and duly proceeded with his forces down the Ohio. On September 30, he arrived at Fort Fincastle (later Fort Henry), recently built at Zanesburg at his direction. The force under Lewis, now 1,100 strong, proceeded from Camp Union to the headwaters of the Kanawha. From there, he continued downriver to the appointed rendezvous, reaching the river's mouth (October 6) where he established "Camp Pleasant" (soon to be known as Point Pleasant). Not finding Dunmore there, he sent messengers up the Ohio to meet him and tell him of the arrival. On October 9 Dunmore sent a dispatch announcing his presence at the mouth of the
Hocking River The Hocking River (formerly the Hockhocking River) is a right tributary of the Ohio River in southeastern Ohio in the United States. The Hocking flows mostly on the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau, but its headwaters are in a glaciated region. ...
, and that he would proceed to the Shawnee towns on the Scioto. He ordered Lewis to cross the Ohio and meet him at the Shawnee towns.


Fort Fincastle

Dunmore encouraged the county militia lieutenants to build small forts to protect inhabitants, and also for use by militias. Connolly sent William Crawford to build Fort Fincastle in June 1774, to oversee the mouth of Wheeling Creek. From here, Connolly planned to launch offensive operations.


McDonald's Expedition

In the first battle of the war, on July 26, 1774, forces under Angus McDonald crossed the Ohio River to attack the villages of Wakatomika. McDonald commanded a battalion of about 400 men divided into eight companies, including Michael Cresap,
George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American military officer and surveyor from Virginia who became the highest-ranking Patriot (American Revolution), Patriot military officer on the American frontier, nort ...
, and
Daniel Morgan Daniel Morgan (c. 1736 – July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia. One of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, he later commanded troops during the sup ...
as three of the company commanders. After making first contact on July 31 with 3 Native Americans on horseback, McDonald suspected a decoy initiated ambush, and organized the companies into three columns. The following day, they indeed encountered three Native American scouts who ran through a swamp, leading McDonald's battalion to an ambush. Prepared for this tactic, McDonald's battalion flanked the Native Americans, who conducted a fighting withdrawal. The battalion reported two dead and five wounded, with one Native American confirmed killed. The Virginians continued to the Muskingum River, where they exchanged musket fire with village defenders, killing one while suffering no losses. During the exchange, a Virginian named Joseph Nicholson and a Lenape man recognized one another, and the Lenape man crossed the river to speak with McDonald. He told McDonald that the Pennsylvanians had warned the area villages of the "cruel" Virginian's approach, and that the Lenape were friendly towards white settlers. The Lenape man left and returned the next day with two more Lenape men and one Mingo. After some discussion, McDonald sent them with a message that he would spare the nearby villages if they released two white women that had recently been captured, and offered three warriors to be held by the Virginians until the chiefs could meet in a council. While awaiting their response, McDonald sent two companies to cross the river downstream. When the Lenape did not return on August 2, 1774, McDonald ordered an attack. Along the way, they found the Mingo man from the previous day, who said the villages had refused their terms. McDonald kept the man as hostage. The two companies that had crossed the river, meanwhile, met an ambush of defenders. The Virginians outflanked their position and believed that they had killed or wounded several. The entire battalion entered the villages, which they found abandoned. They plundered and burned one Mingo and five Shawnee villages, but spared the Lenape villages since they were considered neutral. Shawnee defenders killed two Virginians and wounded several more, but McDonald was able to sack multiple villages and destroy their fields. They returned to Wheeling with three Shawnee captives and three scalps. Native American attacks continued; McDonald's campaign accomplished little, but convinced Governor Dunmore than overwhelming force was needed.


Battle of Point Pleasant

On October 10, before Lewis began crossing the Ohio, he and his force were surprised by warriors under Chief
Cornstalk "Corn stalk" or "Cornstalk" may refer to: * The stem of a maize plant * ''Dracaena fragrans'' or cornstalk dracaena, a flowering plant * Cornstalk (Shawnee leader), a Shawnee Indian chief during the American Revolution (1720–1777) * Cornstalk, We ...
. The Battle of Point Pleasant (at what is today its namesake Point Pleasant, WV on the WV/Ohio border) raged nearly all day and descended into hand-to-hand combat. Lewis's army suffered about 215 casualties, of whom 75 were killed, including Lewis's brother, and 140 wounded. His forces defeated the Ohio Confederacy warriors, who retreated across the Ohio, having lost about 40 warriors.Roosevelt, Theodore (1889)

Chapter XI "The Battle of the Great Kanawha"
Captain George Mathews (Georgia), George Mathews of the Virginia militia was credited with a flanking maneuver that initiated Cornstalk's retreat.Herndon, G. Melvin (1969). George Mathews, Frontier Patriot. The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 77, No. 3 (Jul., 1969) pp. 311–312


Treaty of Camp Charlotte

After victory at the Point, Dunmore and Lewis advanced from their respective camps into Ohio to within of the Shawnee towns at
Pickaway Plains Pickaway Plains is a wide area of rolling hills beginning about 3 miles south of Circleville, Ohio, and extending several miles to the north and south. This geological area was formed by sand and gravel deposited by melting water from the last glac ...
(present
Pickaway County, Ohio Pickaway County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 58,539. Its county seat is Circleville, Ohio, Circleville. Its name derives from the Pekowi ban ...
) on the Scioto. Here they erected the temporary Camp Charlotte on Scippo Creek and met with Cornstalk to begin peace negotiations. By the terms of the Treaty of Camp Charlotte (October 19, 1774), the Shawnee agreed to cease hunting south of the Ohio and to discontinue harassment of travellers on the River. Although Chief Logan said he would cease fighting, he would not attend the formal peace talks. It was here that an agent of Chief Logan (possibly
Simon Girty Simon Girty (14 November 1741 – 18 February 1818) was an interpreter with the British Indian Department during the American Revolutionary War and Northwest Indian War. As a child he and his brothers James and George were captured and adopted b ...
) recited a speech by Logan which became one of the most famous speeches in Indian and Ohio history, dubbed, '' Logan's Lament''. After the Mingo refused to accept the terms, Major William Crawford attacked their village of Seekunk (Salt Lick Town, now
Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
). His force of 240 men destroyed the village. These operations, and the submission of the Shawnee at Camp Charlotte, virtually closed the war. The treaty was reaffirmed in talks the following year at Fort Pitt, where commissioners from the
Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...
urged representatives from the Iroquois, Shawnee, Lenape, Wyandot, and Odawa to remain neutral in the growing conflict with Great Britain.


Fort Gower Resolves

In early November 1774, the army of Virginians arrived back at the point of land formed by confluence of the Ohio and Hocking Rivers and to the makeshift base camp they had established several weeks earlier named Fort Gower (for Earl Gower, a British Lord). There they were informed that the Continental Congress in Philadelphia had enacted a boycott of English goods in response to the
Coercive Acts The Intolerable Acts, sometimes referred to as the Insufferable Acts or Coercive Acts, were a series of five punitive laws passed by the British Parliament in 1774 after the Boston Tea Party. The laws aimed to punish Massachusetts colonists fo ...
. Recognizing the significance of what was essentially an act of rebellion, the Virginians, in a declaration of the increasing spirit of independence among the colonists, addressing King George and their fellow Virginians, wrote and had published what came to be known as the ''Fort Gower Resolves''. Among the soldiers present were many Virginians that later became famous in the revolution: William Campbell, George Rogers Clark, William Crawford, Simon Kenton, Andrew Lewis,
Daniel Morgan Daniel Morgan (c. 1736 – July 6, 1802) was an American pioneer, soldier, and politician from Virginia. One of the most respected battlefield tacticians of the American Revolutionary War of 1775–1783, he later commanded troops during the sup ...
, William Russell,
Adam Stephen Adam Stephen ( – 16 July 1791) was a Scottish-born American doctor and military officer who helped found what became Martinsburg, West Virginia. He emigrated to North America, where he served in the Province of Virginia's militia under Geor ...
and many others.
At a Meeting of the Officers under the Command of his Excellency the Right Honourable the EARL of DUNMORE, convened at Fort Gower*, November 5, 1774, for the Purpose of considering the Grievances of BRITISH AMERICA, an Officer present addressed the Meeting in the following Words: ''GENTLEMEN: Having now concluded the Campaign, by the Assistance of Providence, with Honour and Advantage to the Colony, and ourselves, it only remains that we should give our Country the strongest Assurance that we are ready, at all Times, to the utmost of our Power, to maintain and defend her just Rights and Privileges. We have lived about three Months in the Woods, without any intelligence from Boston, or from the Delegates at Philadelphia. It is possible, from the groundless Reports of designing Men, that our Countrymen may be jealous of the Use such a Body would make of Arms in their Hands at this critical Juncture. That we are a respectable Body is certain, when it is considered that we can live Weeks without Bread or Salt, that we can sleep in the open Air without any Covering but that of the Canopy of Heaven, and that our Men can march and shoot with any in the known World. Blessed with these Talents, let us solemnly engage to one another, and our Country in particular, that we will use them to no Purpose but for the Honour and Advantage of America in general, and of Virginia in particular. It behooves us then, for the Satisfaction of our Country, that we should give them our real Sentiments, by Way of Resolves, at this very alarming Crisis.'' Whereupon the Meeting made Choice of a Committee to draw up and prepare Resolves for their Consideration, who immediately withdrew; and after some Time spent therein, reported, that they had agreed to, and prepared the following Resolves, which were read, maturely considered, and agreed to ''nemine contradicente'', by the Meeting, and ordered to be published in the Virginia Gazette: ''Resolved, that we will bear the most faithful Allegiance to his Majesty King George III, whilst his Majesty delights to reign over a brave and free People; that we will, at the Expense of Life, and every Thing dear and valuable, exert ourselves in Support of the Honour of his Crown and the Dignity of the British empire. But as the Love of Liberty, and Attachment to the real Interests and just Rights of America outweigh every other Consideration, we resolve that we will exert every Power within us for the Defence of American Liberty, and for the Support of her just Rights and Privileges; not in any precipitate, riotous, or tumultous Manner, but when regularly called forth by the unanimous Voice of our Countrymen.'' ''Resolved, that we entertain the greatest Respect for his Excellency the Right Honourable Lord Dunmore, who commanded the Expedition against the Shawanese; and who, we are confident, underwent the great Fatigue of this singular Campaign from no other Motive than the true Interest of this Country.'' Signed by Order, and in Behalf of the whole corps, , Clerk.
The Resolves were published in the ''Virginia Gazette'' December 22, 1774. It was the first time colonists had asserted that they were prepared to use force of arms against the Crown to secure their rights—acts which, if executed, would be treason. These resolves were virtually a
declaration of independence A declaration of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the territory of another state or failed state, or are breaka ...
in Ohio by Virginia backwoodsmen six months before the shot in Concord "heard round the world" and fully a year and a half before the peal of the
Liberty Bell The Liberty Bell, previously called the State House Bell or Old State House Bell, is an iconic symbol of American Revolution, American independence located in Philadelphia. Originally placed in the steeple of Pennsylvania State House, now know ...
announced the freedom of the colonies. Dunmore's militia then retreated over the Alleghenies proceeding by
Redstone Old Fort Redstone Old Fort — written as Redstone or Red-Stone Fort or (for a short time when built) Fort Burd — on Nemacolin's Path, the Nemacolin Trail, was the name of the French and Indian War-era wooden fort built in 1759 by Pennsylvania militia ...
and the Great Crossings of the Youghiogheny RiverThis was a
ford (river) A ford is a shallow place with good footing where a river or stream may be crossed by wading, on horseback, or inside a vehicle getting its wheels wet. A ford may occur naturally or be constructed. Fords may be impassable during high water. ...
first used by George Washington in 1753; later a sandstone bridge was erected at the site.
to Fort Cumberland, and then to the capitol at Williamsburg.


Aftermath

The peace did not stay for long following the treaty, however. On March 24, 1775, a band of Shawnee who apparently did not recognize the Ohio river boundary attacked
Daniel Boone Daniel Boone (, 1734September 26, 1820) was an American pioneer and frontiersman whose exploits made him one of the first folk heroes of the United States. He became famous for his exploration and settlement of Kentucky, which was then beyo ...
in Kentucky along the
Wilderness Road The Wilderness Road was one of two principal routes used by colonial and early national era settlers to reach Kentucky from the East. Although this road goes through the Cumberland Gap into southern Kentucky and northern Tennessee, the other ...
. Nonetheless, by the time of colonial victories at Lexington and Concord, there were several permanent settlements in ''Kentucke'' country: Harrod's Town, Boone's Station, Logan's Fort, and Lexington. In May 1776, as the
American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...
got underway, the Shawnee joined dissident Cherokee chief Dragging Canoe in again declaring war on the Virginia colonists. These were the
Cherokee–American wars The Cherokee–American wars, also known as the Chickamauga Wars, were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles in the Old Southwest from 1776 to 1794 between the Cherokee and American se ...
of 1776–1794. ''Kentucke'' country would go on to become its own county (1776) and eventually the U.S. state of
Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...
(1792); the northern portion, including Point Pleasant, would become the state of West Virginia. Fort Gower was abandoned after Dunmore's war. Its present location is believed to be underwater just beyond Hockingport, Ohio. Fort Fincastle, renamed Fort Henry by the colonial militia, along with Fort Pitt and the downstream
Fort Harmar Fort Harmar was an early United States frontier military fort, built in pentagonal shape during 1785 at the confluence of the Ohio River, Ohio and Muskingum River, Muskingum rivers, on the west side of the mouth of the Muskingum River. It was bui ...
in Ohio (1785) became major stepping stones for advancement of the trans-Appalachian frontier during the Cherokee-American and Northwest Indian wars. A series of forts were established at the Point during and after the Revolutionary War; all were abandoned. Settlement along the Allegheny was inhibited until the end of the Indian wars. About that time, a settlement grew up on the Point and was chartered Point Pleasant in 1794. File:CampCharlotte1.JPG, Treaty of Camp Charlotte location spot. File:CampCharlotte2.JPG, Treaty of Camp Charlotte location plaque. File:CampCharlotte3.JPG, Camp Charlotte Farm.


See also

*
Pontiac's War Pontiac's War (also known as Pontiac's Conspiracy or Pontiac's Rebellion) was launched in 1763 by a confederation of Native Americans who were dissatisfied with British rule in the Great Lakes region following the French and Indian War (1754– ...
, an earlier rebellion of Native tribes against British forces in the Great Lakes region. *
Dunmore's Proclamation Dunmore's Proclamation is a historical document signed on November 7, 1775, by John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore, Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies, royal governor of the British colony of Virginia. The proclamation declared martial law ...
, a Revolutionary war offer of amnesty to slaves who agreed to serve in the British army * List of American Indian Wars *
Western theater of the American Revolutionary War The western theater of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) was the area of conflict west of the Appalachian Mountains, the region which became the Northwest Territory of the United States as well as what would become the states of Arkan ...
* American Indian Wars#Colonial periods (1609–1774) * Transylvania Colony, a 1775 failed attempt to colonize Kentucke country *
Vandalia (colony) Vandalia was the name in the late 1700s of a proposed British colonization of the Americas, British colony in North America. The colony would have been located south of the Ohio River, primarily in what are now West Virginia and northeastern Ken ...
, a post-1768 land speculation in the Allegheny Valley * Fincastle County, trans-Appalachian Virginia including ''Kentucke'' country


Notes


References

* Butterfield, Consul Willshire. ''An Historical Account of the Expedition against Sandusky under Col. William Crawford in 1782''. Cincinnati: Clarke, 1873. * Crumrine, Boyd. ''History of Washington County, Pennsylvania With Biographical Sketches of Many of Its Pioneers and Prominent Men''. Philadelphia: L. H. Everts & Co., 1882. * Dowd, Gregory Evans. ''A Spirited Resistance: The North American Indian Struggle for Unity, 1745–1815''. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992. . * Downes, Randolph C. ''Council Fires on the Upper Ohio: A Narrative of Indian Affairs in the Upper Ohio Valley until 1795''. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1940. (1989 reprint). * Faragher, John Mack. ''Daniel Boone: The Life and Legend of an American Pioneer''. New York: Holt, 1992; . * Hintzen, William. ''The Border Wars of the Upper Ohio Valley (1769–1794)''. Manchester, CT: Precision Shooting Inc., 2001. * Lewis, Virgil A. ''History of the Battle of Point Pleasant''. Charleston, West Virginia: Tribune, 1909. Reprinted Maryland: Willow Bend, 2000. . * Lofaro, Michael. ''Daniel Boone: An American Life''. Lexington, KY: University Press of Kentucky, 2003; . Previously published (in 1978 and 1986) as ''The Life and Adventures of Daniel Boone''. * Miller, Sarah E. "William Crawford". ''The Encyclopedia of the American Revolutionary War: A Political, Social, and Military History.'' 1:311–13. Gregory Fremont-Barnes and Richard Alan Ryerson, eds. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2006. . * O'Donnell, James H., III. "William Crawford". ''American National Biography''. 5:710–11. Ed. John A. Garraty and Mark C. Carnes. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. . * Randall, Emilius Oviatt and Daniel Joseph Ryan.
History of Ohio: the rise and progress of an American state, Volume 2
'. The Century History Company, 1912. (public domain, downloadable) * Randall, E. O. ''The Dunmore War''. Columbus, Ohio: Heer, 1902. * * * Smith, Thomas H., ed. ''Ohio in the American Revolution: A Conference to Commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Ft. Gower Resolves.'' Columbus: Ohio Historical Society, 1976. * Sugden, John. ''Blue Jacket: Warrior of the Shawnees''. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2000. . * Thwaites, Reuben Gold and Louise Phelps Kellogg, eds. ''Documentary History of Dunmore's War, 1774.'' Madison: Wisconsin Historical Society, 1905. Reprinted Baltimore: Clearfield, 2002. . * {{Authority control 1774 in the Thirteen Colonies Conflicts in 1773 Conflicts in 1774 Military history of the Thirteen Colonies Colonial American and Indian wars Shawnee history History of the Midwestern United States 1774 in the Colony of Virginia Mingo Cresap family