Part 78
Following the destruction of the Indian town at Kittanning, September 8, 1756, by Lieutenant Colonel John Armstrong, and the Indian incursions which reached to every section of the frontier, a chain of forts was built the following year which extended from the Delaware River to the Maryland line. These were garrisoned by troops in the pay of the Province.
This defense was made possible only when the Assembly finally awakened to the serious danger and distress, concerted to pass a bill for raising by tax £100,000, with the exemption of the proprietary estates. They also sent Dr. Benjamin Franklin, as provincial agent, to London, to lay their grievance before the King.
Despite the wartime attitude of England, nothing was done to annoy the French or to check the depredations of the savages, until Dr. Franklin’s presence in London, and the fortunate change in the ministry, which brought the master mind of William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, to assume control of the government.
Pitt was endowed with a high order of intellect, eloquent, profound and patriotic. He seemed to possess in an eminent degree the full confidence of the nation and the command of its resources.
Franklin’s exertions resulted in gaining the influence of Pitt’s comprehensive mind, and soon his attention was directed to America, when the affairs in the colonies assumed an entirely different aspect.
Pitt’s plans of operation were grand, his policy bold, liberal and enlightened, all of which seemed greatly to animate the colonists and inspire them with new hopes.
The colonists resolved to make every effort and sacrifice which the occasion might require. A circular from Pitt assured the Colonial governments that he was determined to repair past losses, and would immediately send to America a force sufficiently large to accomplish the purpose. He called upon the different Governments to raise as many men as possible, promising to send over all the necessary munitions of war, and pledging himself to pay liberally all soldiers who enlisted.
Pennsylvania equipped two thousand seven hundred men, while the neighboring provinces contributed large quotas. Three expeditions were determined upon, and most active measures taken to bring them to the field of action.
General James Abercrombie was appointed commander-in-chief and General Jeffrey Amherst second in command, aided by Brigadier Generals Wolfe and Forbes.
The French were vigorously attacked on the northern frontiers of New York. General Forbes was charged with an expedition against Fort Duquesne, to be aided by the provincial troops of Pennsylvania and Virginia, under Colonel Henry Bouquet and Colonel George Washington. These troops rendezvoused at Raystown, now Bedford.
General Forbes, with regulars, marched from Philadelphia to effect a junction with the force at Raystown, but in consequence of severe indisposition he did not get farther than Carlisle, when he was compelled to stop. He marched to Bedford about the middle of September (1758), where he met the provincial troops under Washington.
The march and investment of Fort Duquesne are told in another story and the details will not be repeated here, except to state that Washington strongly urged that General Forbes should use the road cut by General Braddock three years earlier, as it was the most favorable route. But the Pennsylvanians were bent upon the policy of securing a new road exclusively through their province, and they succeeded.
Many weeks were consumed in cutting this road; but at length the army, consisting of 7859 men, penetrated the thick forest, and on reaching the Ohio River found Fort Duquesne abandoned by the French after they had blown up a large magazine and burned the buildings.
The French had retreated down the river, relinquishing forever their dominion in Pennsylvania. The fort was rebuilt, and received the immortal name of Pitt.
The posts on French Creek still remained in French possession, but it was deemed unnecessary to proceed against them, as the character of the war in the north left very little doubt that the contest would soon cease by complete overthrow of the French.
In 1759 Ticonderoga, Crown Point, Niagara and Quebec yielded to British arms and on September 8, 1760, Montreal, Detroit and all of Canada were surrendered by the French. The treaty of Fontainbleau, in November, 1762, put an end to the war.
But in our own province, our troubles were not as easily solved as were England’s under the great Sir William Pitt. A second great Indian conference was convened at Easton in October, 1758.
Tedyuskung, the great Delaware King, at this treaty received one of those insulting taunts from the Six Nations by which they, too often, exhibited their national superiority; taunts, however, that were deeply revenged upon the whites in after years, when the Delaware had thrown off the galling yoke.
Tedyuskung again supported his station with dignity and firmness, and refused to succumb and the different Indian tribes at length became reconciled to each other.
October 9, 1759, Governor William Denny was superseded by James Hamilton. Governor Denny was removed by the Proprietary on account of having yielded to the demands of the Assembly in giving his approval to their money bill.
Governor Hamilton, son of Andrew Hamilton, was the first native of Pennsylvania to serve as Lieutenant Governor. At the death of his father, in 1741, he was left in possession of a handsome fortune, and in the appointment of Prothonotary, then the most lucrative office in the province.
He was first appointed Lieutenant Governor in 1748, serving until October, 1754, then again called to this executive position, which he filled until 1763. He held several other offices of distinction in the province, and enjoyed the confidence and esteem of the people, but his loyal feelings to the Crown caused him to be unfriendly to the Revolution.
The continued victories of the English put new inspiration into the people, who now returned in great number to the plantations from which they had been driven by the French and their Indian allies.
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First of Three Confederate Raids into Pennsylvania Began October 10, 1862
The part of our great Commonwealth which lies between the South and Blue Mountains, in the fertile and beautiful Cumberland Valley, since March 11, 1809, known as Franklin County, was from the very earliest recorded history of Pennsylvania the scene of many stirring events.
Being on the southern border of the State, it shared in the land and animated border fight between the proprietary Governments of Maryland and Pennsylvania.
It was in a valley loved as the home of the Indians and on the great pathway through the Tuscarora Mountains and was the scene of many terrible Indian incursions both before and after the French and Indian War.
As the County of Franklin was not erected at the time of the Revolutionary War its activities were not written into the martial story of Pennsylvania as a division of the great State.
In the War of 1812 the county played an active role and sent to the front eight companies organized within its limits.
But it is of a latter period that this county suffered at the hands of an invading host and on three occasions had its homes raided, stores plundered and part of Chambersburg, the county seat, destroyed by firebrand.
The Civil War was hardly begun when it became potent to every one that the Cumberland Valley would be the objective of any Confederate raid into Pennsylvania.
Easy of access from the Potomac and with the fertile fields as fresh foraging grounds for guerilla cavalry, the people realized that they were uncomfortably situated. This fear was well grounded from the fact that our southern border was virtually unprotected.
The first Confederate raid into Pennsylvania was planned and successfully executed October 10, 1862, by Generals J. E. B. Stuart and Wade Hampton with about two thousand troops.
This force crossed the Potomac River and by hurried marches pushed into Pennsylvania, reaching Chambersburg on the evening of that day. With the fall of night came a drizzling rain, in the midst of which the sound of fife and drum was heard, heralding the approach of a squad of officers and men under a flag of truce, who rode to the public square and there demanded the surrender of the town in the name of the Confederate States of America.
There was no military authority in the town to treat with the invaders, so the civil authorities, represented by the Chief Burgess, formally delivered up the town into their custody, and in a few moments the streets of the borough were filled with gray-uniformed soldiers, the tramp of horses, the rattling of sabers and spurs, and the dull thud of axes busied in demolishing store doors and in felling telegraph poles, which made sad music for the frightened inhabitants.
Chambersburg could hardly have been in worse condition for a raid. No soldiers were stationed there, and an enormous quantity of military stores was within its confines.
During the night the business houses were ransacked and the office and shops of the Cumberland Valley Railroad and the office of the Western Union Telegraph Company demolished.
The next morning their attention was turned to the attack on the military stores in the large brick warehouse of Messrs. Wunderlich & Nead, in the northern section of the town. These stores consisted of ammunition, shells, signal rockets and small arms, which only a short time previous had been captured from General Longstreet, and sufficient new equipment added for two full companies of cavalry, then being mustered in Franklin County.
Soon as every article of value to an army had been removed, the torch was applied to the building, and when the flames reached the powder an explosion took place which completed the entire destruction of the property. The rebels then beat a hasty retreat toward the Southland, leaving the inhabitants of Chambersburg in a terrified condition.
The following summer found the star of secession at its greatest height. Lee’s army was never in better spirits and every soldier looked with covetous eyes on the rich fields of Pennsylvania.
Lee succumbed to the temptation, and in the face of his better judgment, planned his northern campaign, and by a military movement, seldom equaled, marched his entire army across the border line of Pennsylvania, only to meet his Waterloo at Gettysburg. The approach of this great invading horde caused a mighty panic which shook with fear the very capital city of the old Keystone State, and every town and hamlet felt the alarm.
The fight at Winchester on June 13, 1863, forced the retreat of General Milroy, who stood alone as a barrier to Lee’s advance. On the following day General Couch removed his headquarters from Chambersburg to Carlisle.
About 9 o’clock on the morning of the 15th the advance of Milroy’s retreating wagon train dashed into Chambersburg, closely pursued by the rebels.
At the same moment General Jenkins with 1800 mounted rebel infantry rode into Greencastle. After a reconnoissance the town was occupied by the rebel horde and divested of everything movable, contraband and otherwise.
The rebels then pushed on toward Chambersburg, where they reached the outskirts about 11 o’clock that night.
Again the streets of Chambersburg resounded with the clatter of cavalry, and a second time the town fell their easy prey.
This visit continued three days during which time everything of value, especially horses, were taken without pretense of compensation.
General Jenkins on the 18th fell back to Greencastle, and then proceeded to Mercersburg, whence a detachment crossed Cove Mountain to McConnellsburg and down the valley. The main part of the invading force remained in the vicinity of Greencastle and Waynesboro, where plundering
## parties scoured that entire section.
The third terrible visitation of the Confederates in Chambersburg was the deliberate sacking and burning of the town by Generals McCausland and Johnson, on July 30, 1864.
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Colonel Matthew Smith, War Veteran, Elected Vice President October 11, 1779
On October 11, 1779, Vice President George Bryan resigned his office, whereupon Colonel Matthew Smith, a veteran officer of the French and Indian War, and one who commanded a company in Arnold’s expedition to Quebec, then a citizen of Milton, Northumberland County, was chosen to fill the vacancy, which he, too, resigned on the 29th of the month. William Moore was elected to the position, November 12.
On November 27, the Assembly after careful consideration, adopted a resolution annulling the Royal Charter, and granting the Penns, as a compensation for the rights of which they were deprived, £300,000.
They retained their manors, however, and were still the largest landed proprietors in Pennsylvania. They subsequently received from the British Government an annuity of £4000 for their losses by the Revolution.
The act for the gradual abolition of slavery in Pennsylvania was passed March 1, 1780. It provided for the registration of every Negro or mulatto slave, or servant for life, before November 1, following, and also provided, “No man or woman of any nation or color, except the Negroes or mulattoes who shall be registered as aforesaid, shall at any time hereafter be deemed, adjudged, or holden within the territory of this Commonwealth, as slaves or servants for life, but as free men and free women.”
During the year 1780, every effort was made to keep the State up to par by passing several measures which brought but temporary relief.
An agent was sent to France and Holland to borrow £200,000, with the faith and honor of the State pledged for its repayment, but the mission was unfruitful.
The army was without clothing and short of provisions. Subscriptions were solicited by the ladies to relieve this distress. The “Bank of Pennsylvania” was established and still the Continental money continued to sink in value.
Virginia was induced to accede to Pennsylvania’s proposition to appoint commissioners to adjust the boundary. Pennsylvania appointed George Bryan, the Rev. Dr. John Ewing and David Rittenhouse; Virginia sent James Madison, afterward President of the United States, and Robert Andrews.
These commissioners met August 31, 1779, and agreed that Mason and Dixon’s line should be extended due west five degrees of longitude from the Delaware River for the southern boundary of Pennsylvania, and that a meridian line drawn from the western extremity thereof to the northern limit of the State should be the western boundary.
The Assembly of Pennsylvania ratified this on November 19, but Virginia proceeded to Fort Burd and occupied it. In March, 1780, the Assembly resolved to eject intruders under claims from other States, and authorized Council to raise troops for internal defense of the frontier; but Virginia afterward ratified the agreement and the southern line was run in 1784 and the western afterward.
Toward the close of September, 1780, the Supreme Executive Council received the startling intelligence of the treason of General Benedict Arnold, who had been in command of the American post at West Point. Among the people the news of the infamy of this officer excited the greatest indignation.
In Philadelphia a parade was held, three days after the arrival of the news, to give expression to the popular feeling.
During this demonstration an effigy of Arnold was carried through the streets and finally hung upon a gallows. The Council at once confiscated Arnold’s estate, and his wife was ordered deported from the State within fourteen days.
The arrest, trial and execution of Major André, and the escape of Arnold, his reward and price of dishonor, the sufferings and disgrace of his unfortunate wife Peggy are not within the scope of these stories.
If the proceedings against Tories in Pennsylvania had been fierce previous to this time, the feeling aroused by the defection of Arnold produced the bitterest animosity and hatred against all who were not in full sympathy with the American Colonies.
Many arrests were made, a number were tried and condemned, and one, a Quaker, of Chester County, executed for high treason. The property of prominent Tories was forfeited and sold, and, in fact, the most energetic measures taken to crush out whatever might be inimical to the cause of independence.
The situation among the soldiers from Pennsylvania in the Continental Army at this period was deplorable. About December 1, the division of General Wayne went into winter quarters in the environs of Norristown. The soldiers were wearied out with privations, and indignant at their officers, whom they accused of not properly representing their situation to Congress.
On New Year’s Day, 1781, there broke out such a mutiny in the Pennsylvania Line that it required the best efforts of Congress, the Government of Pennsylvania, and the officers of the army to subdue.
The Pennsylvania Line comprised 2500, one-third to two-thirds of the army, the soldiers from the other colonies having, in the main, gone home. Their terms of service had long since expired. They had not been paid for a year, and they were almost without clothes.
Then under the leadership of a brave sergeant, named William Bowser, they arose in arms and proceeded to settle matters for themselves. Two emissaries from General Clinton seeking to corrupt them they handed over to Washington to be hanged.
The terms of service of 1250 men had expired. They were discharged and the matter of indebtedness to them was arranged. The most of them re-enlisted.
However unjustifiable the conduct of the Pennsylvania Line was and should be deemed in the first instance, it must be acknowledged that they conducted themselves in the business, culpable as it was, with unexpected order and regularity.
Their refusing to accept the large offer made by the enemy, in delivering up the spies, and in refusing the hundred guineas they had so justly merited, exhibits an instance of true patriotism not to be found among mercenary troops who bear arms for pay and subsistence only, uninspired by their country’s rights, or the justice of the cause which they have engaged to support.
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Attempted Slaughter of Indians at Wichetunk, Monroe County, October 12, 1763
The expedition of Colonel Henry Bouquet, during the Pontiac Conspiracy, to Fort Pitt, in a great measure served to check the depredations of the Indians for a short time and the frontiers of Pennsylvania were quiet, and under the protection and assistance of 700 Provincial recruits the settlers gathered their harvests.
Had the Provincial Assembly acted promptly in the matter an effective defense could have been provided. The Government was deaf to all entreaties, and General Jeffreys Amherst, commander of the British forces in America, did not hesitate to vent his feelings in emphatic expression:
“The conduct of the Pennsylvania Assembly is altogether so infatuated and stupidly obstinate that I want words to express my indignation thereat. They tamely look on while their brethren are butchered by the savages.”
The Assembly finally authorized the raising of 800 troops and voted £24,000 to keep that force until December 1, but declared it was both unjust and impracticable for the province to defend a frontier of nearly 300 miles, which covered a greater extent than that of New Jersey and Maryland, without assistance from other provinces.
In September and October outrages were committed as far east as the neighborhoods of Reading and Bethlehem, and it was believed that not only Fort Pitt but even Fort Augusta was destined for attack.
The road to Fort Pitt was interrupted. A supply of provisions, under a convoy of sixty men, was forwarded from Fort Bedford to Fort Pitt, but on gaining the foot of the Allegheny Mountains was compelled to return. The officers learned that the passages were occupied by the savages.
Some fragments of the Delaware and Six Nations remained at their settlements in the interior, refusing to join their brethren in arms, professing affection for the Colonists and avowing a determination to continue neutral. But the neutrality of a part, at least, of these Indians was very doubtful.
The situation of the frontiers became truly deplorable, and the Quakers, who were in control, suffered the censure of the people. Captain Lazerus Stewart, of Paxtang, expressed the views of those on the frontiers, when he said: “The Quakers are more solicitous for the welfare of the blood-thirsty Indians than for the lives of the frontiersmen.”
Colonel John Armstrong led 300 men of Cumberland County to Great Island, on the West Branch of the Susquehanna, the present site of the borough of Lock Haven, where certain of the marauders had their headquarters. On their arrival they found the place evacuated, horses, cattle and other spoils gathered in their forays being left behind.
With the main body of his men, Armstrong proceeded to another Indian village near Jersey Shore, where he found the late occupants had left in haste while eating a meal. So the expedition resulted in destroying their houses and corn fields.
Major Asher Clayton led a party from Harris’ Ferry to remove the Connecticut settlers from Wyoming and destroy their provisions, which were likely to be seized by the red men. When the party arrived at Wyoming, it found that the savages had been there before them and had burned the town and killed more than twenty persons in horrible torture.
A number of those Indians who had been converted by the Moravian missionaries around Bethlehem were murdered, as they were found asleep in a barn, by a party of Rangers, and the surprise and slaughter in turn of the latter increased the suspicion of the frontiersmen, who were neither Moravians nor Quakers, against the entire body of Christian red men, who professed a desire to live at peace and friendship with the English.
The Provincial Commissioners, indeed, reported their belief that those at Nain and Wichetunk (in what is now Polk Township, Monroe County) were secretly supplied by the Moravian brethren with arms and ammunition, which, in free intercourse with the hostile savages, were traded off to the latter.
About October 12 a number of armed men marched toward Wichetunk, but, waiting to surprise it by night, were frustrated by a violent storm just before nightfall, which wet their powder.
The missionary, the Rev. Bernard Adam Grube, then led the Indians to Nazareth, but the Governor suggested that to watch their behavior it would be better to disarm them and bring them to the interior parts of the province. The Assembly, actuated more by a desire to save them, agreed to the proposal.
Governor John Penn received the refugees from Nain and Wichetunk, but their arrival in the Northern Liberties of Philadelphia excited the lower classes nearly to a riot, and the soldiers refused to allow them any part of the barracks as a sheltering place, so that different arrangements were necessary.
For five hours these Indians were in great peril, but escorted by Quakers, they were finally taken to Province Island.
The conduct of the Assembly, in which there were twenty-one Quakers, failed to satisfy not only the royal and proprietary officers but also the Presbyterians, who were ready to take up arms, and particularly the Scotch-Irish on the frontier, who saw large sums of money lavished in the presents to Indians, while they themselves lay destitute from the ravages of an Indian war.
As every now and then some of their kinsmen or neighbors fell by the tomahawk, they became exasperated, coupling their vengeance against the guilty savages with jealousy of the Assembly’s partiality, and also suspicion against those Indians who were treated as friends.
A cry like the Covenanters came from their descendants in Pennsylvania; loud exhortations were heard on the frontier to carry out against the heathen red men the decrees of heaven against the Canaanites.
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Molly Pitcher, Heroine of the Battle of Monmouth, Born October 13, 1754